Scene 4: Earth
Once more in the airship, Fury is none too impressed of Thor's surprise visit but he seems to have shown up with a serious matter. He stands in a smaller part of the airship – a conference room for unofficial business. There lies a simple rectangle table in the middle of the room with four chairs around it. Fury stares angrily at Thor from across the table, Agent Hill – standing awkwardly between them. The only door into the room remains locked and the demi-god fidgets impatiently. He needs to talk to Fury as soon as possible.
"So you're here," Fury hissed, "because we apparently have a serious impending threat that we don't even know about."
"Yes."
"You come to our planet, damage OUR airship and WE have the problem?"
"Please," Thor exclaimed, "I do not have much time. Your planet is on more danger than it realizes. I could not afford formalities."
Fury sighed. "Well, if you had the nerve to show up here, it can't be good."
"Is it one of the other planets?" Agent Hill asked.
"No."
"The tesseract?"
"No."
"The chitari?"
"Even worse."
"What the hell can be worse than that?" Asked Fury.
"Loki."
Fury and Hill looked at each other.
"LOKI." Hill stated. "Isn't he imprisoned on Asgard?"
"Was. He has escaped."
"What do you mean escaped?"
Thor looked away, almost embarrassed. "Last night Loki was freed from his cell. We cannot locate him, with his magic not even Heimdall can find him. I came here to tell you that he may have returned to Earth."
Agent Hill didn't hesitate. Even before Fury could tell her, she was already out the door.
The director kept his eyes on Thor.
"You're going to have to give me the whole story."
"What story? I told you what you must know."
"You told me what happened. I need details. You assured us that your brother would not be able to escape and now you tell us that HE is on the loose and YOU don't know where he is."
"We do not have time!"
"I DON"T CARE!" Fury exclaimed. "If there is a threat, you need to tell us EVERYTHING."
"We cannot remain here and argue. Loki has been free for twelve of your hours, there is no telling what he may be plotting!"
"What's the problem in here?"
Thor and Fury turned. The 'locked' door was wide open and a familiar figure stood in the doorway. Fury relaxed, realizing who it was but Thor was petrified.
"Son of Coul?" Thor stuttered as Agent Phil Coulson of SHEILD walked into the room. "You are meant to be dead."
"Yes, so I've heard." He stood in front of the demi-god, who placed a hand on his shoulder.
"This is impossible, how can you be here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Phil replied. They both burst into laughter.
"It is good it see you again, friend."
"It's good to be back."
"To be honest," Fury stepped in, "we would have tried to contact you if you hadn't shown up. As you can tell, we've been having our own… unusual circumstances." He motioned to Agent Coulson. "I suggest we try to figure out how exactly Loki broke out of your 'inescapable' prison."
"We do not know." Thor said. "All that we know is that he did not do it alone."
Coulson and Fury stared at him. "Loki could not have done it without assistance. Part of his prison cell contained an enchantment that prevented the use of magic, therefore making escape impossible."
"So someone helped him." Couslon concluded. Thor nodded.
"Just before Loki fled from Asgard I was able to stall them for a brief time."
"So you were able to get a look at his hunchman?"
"Woman would be more precise."
"A woman?"
"That's irrelevant." Fury stated. "But do you have any idea who she is?"
Thor shook his head.
"She is not of Asgard and from the power she used during their escape she is not from Earth either."
"Power? What kind of power?"
"Two of our guards were killed, frozen. A third was affected by a potent sleep elixir. She was also able to hold back the destroyer, which only the greatest of warriors can accomplish."
"Wait a minute!" Fury remembered something, he approached Thor. "An elixir?"
"Yes."
"As in a potion?"
"Yes…" Thor replied, unsure where Fury was headed.
"Can you give us a description?"
"I'm sorry?"
"THE WOMAN. Can you describe her?"
Thor's brows furrowed.
"I… do not believe… I-"
"Tall?"
"Yes…"
"Black hair? Blue eyes?"
"Well, yes. How did you-"
"Attractive?"
"Quite."
"Follow me." Fury then turned on his heel and walked out the door. Thor and Coulson looked at each other, neither of them understood what Fury could be going on about. Despite that, they followed the director in silence. Their journey took them to the control center of the ship, the conference room with its many screens and all-too-familiar round table. Fury had his back to them as he gazed into a dead monitor. The man and the demi-god stood behind him.
"Agent Coulson," Fury began, "When Loki attacked the airship, as you remember, you had your… unfortunate… accident."
"It wasn't an accident – it was murder." Thor grumbled.
"Regardless, what occurred on the brig is common knowledge. However…" The screen flickered – turning from a black to the infamous blue screen of death. "I would have preferred keeping this information confidential. The fact of the matter is, Coulson, we did not tell you everything about what happened."
"What?" Coulson stammered.
"As this is an official term of base for SHEILD, we have complete security fixtures throughout the entire airship. Motion detectors, heat sensors security doors and sound monitors to prevent people from getting IN, as well as key cards, retinal scans and passcodes to prevent people from going into things they shouldn't. One thing we do have, above else, are security cameras." The screens flickered again, several small pictures came up, all over the airship: control room, engines, corridors, and…
"The containment unit cameras."
"In that sector of the ship we have over a dozen lenses, one of them showed a certain inconsistency that is of a certain interest." He turned to a keyboard to his left and began typing, several moments passed, and a new image came onto the large screens. The sound was off, but the clear image of Coulson on the ground, a circular blood stain on his shirt, was enough to get his heart racing. Fury came into the frame and kneeled in front of him. They exchanged what were their last words. "Now watch closely."
Just as he said it, the Fury on the screen stood up and moved to the left. The camera, being almost at waist height and clearly damaged, gave a clear view of the corridor behind Coulson's body. The glass door that gave a perfect reflection of the scene – Fury's body hid Coulson's reflection from view.
"What are we looking for?" Coulson asked.
The image of Fury had a phone to his ear, turning away from the body he took a few steps back. Then it hit them. "What the HELL?"
Incased in the reflection, standing next to Coulson's lifeless body was a woman. She looked down on the corpse, every feature filled with despair. Fury's back was to the visitor, who kneeled before the cadaver. Her pale blue dress folded lightly on the floor and in her hands was a small, round vial filled with a glowing golden liquid. She popped the cork, shifting her weight so she could hold the potion over the body. Very carefully, she tipped the liquid – three drops. They fell into the wound in its chest. The vial was raised, moved over its face. A gentle hand lay against its cheek, the strange liquid fell upon its mouth – until the vial was empty. The woman stood up once more, watching the body as a yellow light radiated from its chest, fading away almost immediately.
A small smile appeared on her face. At the edge of the screen, Fury placed his phone back into his pocket. He walked between the mirror and the camera, passing through the view – and she disappeared.
"What the hell?" Coulson whispered.