I was antsy. Anyone would be given Loki was being brought in but the other agents were very aware I was on edge given the number of sweets I'd just made. Murmurs had started up because of it—they had unfortunately been quick to discover that when I'm on edge desserts would be made—so it wasn't surprising that Coulson dropped in.

"Stressed, Agent Sterling?"

I winced, looking at him and then awkwardly back at the dough I'd been kneading; both it and I covered in flour. "What makes you think that?"

"Well…" He wandered over and picked up a cookie from a plate, taking a bite and eyeing the tray of cooling brownies. "...the large number of pastries for one. Talk to me, Sterling. What's this about?"

I reached up and wiped my cheek with the back of my hand, smearing flour over my face, and dropping the dough onto the table. "We're bringing the person who wiped out a whole facility smack in the middle of our flying metal ship. I think I'm allowed to be a bit on edge."

"He'll be secure."

I scoffed, giving him a look. "Yeah, let's just keep telling ourselves that."

Coulson went quiet as I rolled out the dough and cut it, twisting it and placing it on the baking tray. He let me work in silence for a moment and once the cinnamon rolls were in the oven, he spoke up again.

"Do you regret working for Shield?"

The question felt out of place and put me on edge. I felt like it was a test of my loyalty but I could see his reflection in the glass of the oven and that 47 above his head and his expression told me otherwise. Still, I felt as though telling the truth here wouldn't help. Lying also wouldn't help. The threat of that number dropping because I lied suddenly felt overwhelming and I hated that it had gotten to this point. That my relationship with Coulson, which I had been desperately trying to keep at the basic subordinate-mentor level had grown into more of a friendship.

I never wanted to work for Shield in the first place. I just got stuck in someone else's body and have to somehow get through this. I couldn't tell him this though and… despite having no choice, I didn't exactly hate working for them. They provided a lot for me and I had more freedom than one would expect for someone who worked for a government spy agency. Having the bare minimum of training also meant I wasn't someone getting sent on dangerous missions where my life was being threatened and my morals tested. It was honestly just an overpaid office secretary position. The only problem was knowing what was coming.

"I don't," I finally muttered, moving away from the oven and starting to clean up the kitchen. "I just… wonder sometimes if what we're doing is… right."

He hummed in understanding. "Sometimes it isn't always about what's right and wrong but more about how many people we can help. I know that might not mean much now but… If you need a break, let me know. After the Tesseract is dealt with, I'm sure I can give you some well-deserved time off."

Yeah, sure. Before or after the alien invasion? I shook the thought off and his pager went off, sending him out of the kitchen after snatching a few more sweets. After cleaning up and icing the cinnamon rolls, I gathered the sweets and made two plates. One for the staff room and the other for the meeting table on the bridge, since I knew the Avengers were gathering there as Loki was brought in. What I hadn't expected was to nearly run into said villain as he was being escorted to his prison cell.

My breath caught in my throat as he walked past, sparing me the slightest of glances of disinterest as he was walked down the hall to his cell. I let out a shuddering breath and turned to head to the meeting room. 0… I expected less but I suppose he just doesn't care about anything that's not on his radar. A grunt like me wouldn't make a difference to him. It's like a bear caring about an ant. Still, he unsettled me and the tension in my body didn't leave as I entered the meeting room where a video feed of Fury talking with Loki was playing for the Avengers.

"How desperate am I?" Fury's voice echoed from the video feed as I stepped in with a tray of desserts and a tray of drinks. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill `cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh," Loki hummed. "It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, you let me know if 'Real Power' wants a magazine or something."

The feed went black as Fury left and Banner cracked an uneasy smile.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's going to drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor turned back toward the table at Steve's question. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army? From outer space?" Steve questioned, nodding to me as I placed a drink in front of him and moved to Thor, who looked pleasantly surprised as I offered a grimace of a smile and handed him a lemonade.

The number's gone up… 7 now, huh? He's easily friendly, I noted as they continued to talk.

"So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor questioned, perking up at the familiar name.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell along with one of ours." Natasha jumped in too as I passed her a glass of wine this time.

Lord knows they'll need something stronger the longer this goes on.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him," Steve pressed. "He's not leading an army from here."

Maybe because he wants to manipulate you all into infighting so he can do what he pleases while you sort yourselves out? Not to mention getting the Hulk out of the picture… at least for a moment. I winced, pushing the thoughts aside, knowing that I shouldn't be thinking about it given I wasn't about to do anything to stop it.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell the crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor cautioned him. "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha reminded him, making him fidget awkwardly.

"He's adopted."

He's smart, is what he is. He's hardly crazy, I mused, moving off to the side to wait for further instructions or until Coulson would come in and dismiss me again. Loki is being manipulated by his thirst for power and control. He doesn't bother with anything other than his personal goals but that doesn't make him crazy. A bit… psychopathic or sociopathic, sure, but he is very much sane.

"Iridium," Banner chimed in. "What did they need the Iridium for?"

Tony stepped in with Coulson then, chatting with him as I wandered over with his drink. "It's a stabilizing agent. Oh, thank god. You're a lifesaver, uh… Sampson?"

"Sterling," I corrected, giving him the malt Scotch as his number barely moved up to a 2. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Right, yeah," he brushed me off, turning to Coulson and offering him a trip before rambling to Thor as he pat his arm. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long as Loki wants." He moved over to the main controls then, speaking toward the staff below. "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the topsails! That man is playing Galaga!" He suddenly pointed out and I glanced to see one of the guys hastily switching his screen.

That's… Agent Marks. Coulson will want his name later. I'll make note of it.

"How does Fury do this?" Tony questioned then, covering one eye and Agent Hill watched him in mild annoyance.

"He turns."

"Well, that's exhausting. The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily," he went on, getting back on task. "Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill challenged.

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

I hesitantly lifted my hand, drawing his attention as he tilted his head curiously.

"Really?"

I nodded awkwardly, not having meant to really gain his attention but he had been looking around the room to see if anyone did. "It's my job to… to understand the files provided and organize them properly for easy access and understanding."

Tony suddenly pointed at me and turned to Coulson. "Can I have her?"

Coulson smiled easily as I whipped to him in shock and regret. "Anything you need."

"B-But sir!"

He raised a brow and I winced, knowing I'd stepped out of line by raising my voice over this in a more public setting and I begrudgingly muttered an apology as Steve brought us back to the task at hand.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Banner informed him as Tony hummed.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked, rather lost as the two shook hands in respect.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster," Tony said, getting a half smile from Banner as he looked sheepishly at the ground.

"Thanks."

Fury stepped back in then, seeing how everyone was getting along. "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

"I would start with that stick of his," Steve offered. "It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand," Thor said as Steve perked up.

"I do! I understood that reference."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Shall we play, doctor?"

"This way, sir," Banner agreed and they started to head out, making me hope they'd forgotten I was supposed to be with them only for Tony to pause at the door with a whistle.

"Come on, Sampson. With us."

"It's… Oh, never mind," I sighed, getting a pat on the back from Coulson as I passed him and Tony pointed over at the table.

"Grab the pastries too, would you? I could do with a bite."

He's only at 5. Why is he bothering with me at all?

"Chop, chop! We've got work to do."

"Yes, sir."

I… wasn't sure why I was here. Tony had dragged me along but given I didn't know how to handle any of the technology being used, I was mostly just waiting off to the side while they looked over Loki's scepter. It was very neat though. Nice craftsmanship, anyway…

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract, but it's going to take weeks to process," Banner chimed in as he scanned it and Tony hummed, moving over to the case he brought where a set of holographic controls were waiting for him.

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops."

"All I packed was a toothbrush," Banner teased, making Tony smile before he bit into one of the brownies I'd brought.

His eyes widened and he turned to me, lifting it. "You make this?"

I hesitantly nodded.

"Wow. Since when do agents bake?"

I glanced awkwardly away. He's at 6 now… because of a pastry… "We're allowed to do as we please when not on duty, though… as a direct subordinate of Agent Coulson, I do have some privileges that allow me access to the kitchen to make anything that may be needed."

"You cook too?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I can but only basics. I… I bake, mostly, and can do some bartending and make decent coffee and tea. Nothing fancy though."

"Nothing fancy?" He scoffed, holding out a cookie to Banner as he grabbed another for himself. "You try these?"

Banner hesitated but took the offered one, trying it and looking a bit surprised too. "It's good."

"Course it's good. Secret Agent Sampson made it," Tony scoffed as I sighed.

"My name is Sterling."

He pointed a screwdriver-looking device at me, ignoring my correction. "Listen. You need someplace to go when you get sick of this place? Come to New York. I could do with a new secretary, Sampson."

Yeah, no thanks. You can't even be bothered to remember my name, I mused, going to clean up the crumbs he'd scattered on the table.

"Speaking of, you should come by Stark Tower sometime," he told Banner. "Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it. It's Candy Land."

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke Harlem."

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension. No surprises," he offered before jabbing at him with the device, which sparked.

"Ow!"

Unfortunately, Steve had taken that time to step in and got angry. "Hey!"

"Nothing?" Tony asked Banner, ignoring him.

"Are you nuts?"

"Jury's out," he told him, looking back at Banner. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed? Baking? Hm?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve argued as I eyed the group uneasily, knowing that Steve and Tony would never get along.

"Funny things are."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doctor."

"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things," Banner replied, looking as uneasy with the two as I was.

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut," Tony urged, only fanning the flames of Steve's frustration.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Steve asked then, looking at me as I hastily apologized.

"Sorry. I didn't know—"

"Hey, don't pick on her," Tony countered. "You got a problem, then deal with me."

"The only problem here is the one you're not focusing on," Steve countered, thankfully turning away from me.

Though his number ticked down to -1… Figures.

"You think I'm not focusing?" Tony challenged. "Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asked then, hesitantly glancing at me.

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony gestured to Banner. "It's bugging him too. Isn't it?"

"Uh… I just want to finish my work here and…" Banner tried but Steve looked hesitant now too.

"Doctor?"

Banner gave in easily. " 'A warm light for all mankind,' Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it."

"Well, I think that was meant for you," he said, gesturing to Tony and taking the second offered cookie. "Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big, ugly—" Steve cut himself short at Tony's look. "—building in New York?"

"It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"

"That's just the prototype," Tony added. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."

"So, why didn't Shield bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"You got any thoughts on this, Sampson, or are you just silently taking it all in to report back to the big boss later?" Tony questioned me and I winced as they all looked at me.

"I… I'm just a secretary."

"Yeah, but what sort of secretary can hack past my firewalls, bake pastries like a God, and go silently unnoticed for this long with enough brains to read and comprehend thermonuclear astrophysics?"

I struggled to try and defend myself, flushing a bit in embarrassment. "I-I don't really—I mean, I kind of understood it but—"

Tony rolled his eyes and headed over, pointing the device he'd prodded Banner with at me and making me swallow uneasily. "But you're just the person to give us intel."

"Tony, leave her alone," Steve said, seeing I was uncomfortable.

"No. No, because see, what's the worse they can do? Fire her? I've already offered her a place working for me and since I've taken notice of her, they can't get rid of her unless they want to lose me."

"Y-You barely know me!" I countered, a brief glance at the number above his head now showing 10.

"And? Besides, even if you don't give anything away, my decryption programmer will finish breaking into all of Shield's secure files in a minute."

Steve turned to him in shock. "I'm sorry, what did you say…?"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, we'll know every dirty secret Shield has ever tried to hide." Tony held out the plate of pastries. "Brownie?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" Steve scoffed.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible. Them bypassing Sampson there is proof." Tony looked over at me. "Secretary or not, you already said you read, understand, and organize all of Shield's files, right? Kind of gave yourself away as a valuable asset there."

I groaned and dragged a hand down my face, trying to think as they bickered a bit more. I can't tell them anything. They'll find out anyway, right? Telling them risks far too much for me. My position, Coulson's respect, and possibly my life depending on how angry they are about me leaking secrets.

"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" Banner offered and Steve went quiet for half a second before heading toward the door.

"Just find the cube."

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice," Tony complained before glancing at me. "So? You going to help or not?"

I grimaced before answering. "I'm sorry. I can't."

He clicked his tongue as the number 10 dropped down to a 3. Seven points? Seriously? Does every increase to him matter that much?

"I-I just—"

"It's fine. Your choice but if you're not going to help then you might as well go. We've got no use for you here," he cut me off with a wave of his hand and Banner gave me a small sympathetic look before turning back to his work; his number also having dropped a point.

It hurt far more than I wanted it to and a part of me wanted to defend myself, to speak up and explain why I wasn't helping. But… I can't. I can't get more involved with them. This is what I wanted from the beginning, right? So, begrudgingly, I bowed my head and left the lab, questioning my motives for the first time since I ended up in this universe.

Morning came far too quickly and with it, the disaster that was Loki's plan. I had been almost grateful that I wasn't in the lab with the Avengers when the engine had been blown, but things outside the lab weren't much better. Agents scrambled to get to their stations with the more combat-trained grabbing weapons to do their rounds around the ship while the technicians tried to figure out how they could keep the ship in the air. I, unfortunately, didn't really have a station in emergency situations. My job was to do anything that was asked of me by Coulson, provide files or information, and secure the databases if there was an electronic breach.

"Sterling! With me!" Coulson shouted, snapping me out of my daze to hurry after him as he left the bridge.

"Sir?"

"We need to secure the detention facility and access the armory," he informed me and I stopped for half a step before catching up.

"Sir, I really don't think any weapon would put us on equal footing with someone like Loki. Even with a weapon, he's more likely to use tricks to—"

"Sterling," he silenced me with a sharp look as we stepped into the armory and an announcement was made on the intercom.

"We've got a perimeter breach! Hostiles are in Shield gear. Hold onto every junction—"

"Our job is to do our absolute best to minimize civilian casualties. The first step to that, at this moment, is making sure Loki stays put through any means necessary. Is that clear?"

I pursed my lips but nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Take a weapon," he demanded and I hesitantly did, picking up a simple pistol since it was the only gun I had somewhat decent aim with.

Still, nothing will stop Loki. There's nothing that can stop him. Coulson is going to—

"Be on guard, Sterling," Coulson said sharply under his breath as we reached the detention area where Loki had already escaped. "You take the guard."

I nodded but my mind felt foggy like everything was happening all at once. I was scared, honestly. I suddenly wanted to help, to keep Coulson alive but I wasn't sure what I could do if there ever was anything I could have done to better myself to help him now. I was desperately trying to think of something to stop this but time wouldn't let me. Time just kept moving and I knocked out the guard and ensured he was down as Coulson faced Loki who hardly looked surprised.

"Move away, please," Coulson demanded and Loki took a small step back as he lifted the gun. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you want to find out?"

"Phil!" I shouted, moving as quickly as I could to try and get behind him but so many things weren't going my way.

Loki knew I was there. I had never bothered to try learning combat techniques other than the basics. My reaction time wasn't as quick as it could be. There was too much space between us. I had no plan, no idea of what I could have done.

Pain rippled through my side but it was like a scratch in comparison to the spear piercing through Coulson.

"No!" Thor bellowed as Coulson fell to the ground and I grit my teeth, lifting my pistol only for Loki to knock it out of my hand and easily throw me to the ground.

I forced myself semi-upright and shuffled over to Coulson, pressing my hands to his wound and doing what I could to try and stop the bleeding. There was a ringing in my ears and the wound on my side went ignored as more and more blood flowed out from between my fingers. I-It's not stopping. Coulson is… My wide eyes went to his as tears fell down my face but his gaze was on Loki as he opened the pit below the cage holding Thor and dropped him. Loki closed the hatch and started to leave before I grit my teeth and spoke.

"You're going to lose," I spat making him pause and look at me.

"Am I?"

My gaze snapped to him, full of anger and self-loathing. "I've seen it."

He frowned, watching me for a moment. "Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction," Coulson breathed and Loki scowled but I spoke up again.

"Your disadvantage is allowing someone to control you. You're being manipulated by someone who makes your petty tricks look like a medieval clown's. Thanos will kill you without a second thought the moment you start to second guess him and until then, every action, every thought you have will be one he put in your head."

Loki took a threatening step forward, lifting his scepter. "What do you kn—"

A blast was fired off though and I whipped around to Coulson as his gun powered down.

"So that's what it does," he breathed out with a grimace before turning his gaze to me. "Are you… okay?"

I felt my heart ache, glancing down at my blood-soaked hands with a broken chuckle. "M-Me? Coulson… Phil, I-I'm hardly… God, this is all my fault."

He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and making me worried until he lifted a hand and placed it on my neck. "Y-You've always been… too hard on yourself Sterling."

"No… No, you don't understand. I… I could have stopped this. If I had just—"

"Aiden," he said, silencing me as I bowed my head and clenched my eyes shut tight.

"Sorry. I-I'm so sorry."

"You've got potential," he murmured, hand falling from my neck and leaving a streak of blood as I started to hear people heading our way. "D-Don't waste it. You are so much better… than some secretary."

Fury and a few other agents rushed in then, taking one look at the both of us before kneeling down in front of him.

"Sorry, boss. The God rabbited," Coulson apologized as Fury grabbed his chin lightly.

"Just stay awake. Eyes on me."

"No. I'm clocked out here."

"Not an option."

"Take care of Sterling," he muttered. "She's… good, you know. One of the best and… it's okay. This was never going to work… if they didn't have something… to…"

He took one last breath and went still as I dropped my hands from the injury and the medic team came in. It didn't take them long to call it before moving on to check my injury. I let them do what they wanted in a daze as Fury alerted everyone over the comms.

"Agent Coulson is down."

"A medic team is on the way to your location."

"They're here. They called it." He looked over at the medics then as they finished stitching me up and bandaging my side. "How is she?"

"She's not—"

"I'm fine," I replied, pushing them away as I rose to my feet, hiding a grimace of pain.

He watched me for a second before turning away, starting to walk out only to pause. "With me, Agent Sterling."

I gave Coulson one last glance, taking a shuddering breath before turning away to follow him. "Yes, sir."

Tony and Steve sat solemnly at the meeting table with Fury while I remained dead silent and refused to look at anything other than the tablet in my hands. I wasn't doing anything on it, tacking away numbly at a sudoku game, but I couldn't look at anyone without feeling the guilt of Coulson dying when I was right there. The pain in my side was honestly the only thing keeping me focused on the present as Fury finally spoke up.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them."

Blood-soaked trading cards were tossed onto the table in front of Steve and he slowly reached out and picked one up.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming," Fury said, waiting a moment and then addressing something that had come up with the group earlier; before Loki made his move. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea—Stark knows this—called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony got up and left as Fury watched him go.

"Well, it's an old-fashioned idea."

Steve got up as well and I soon felt eyes on me. I pointedly ignored Fury's gaze, though I did abandon my sudoku game to try and do anything I could to get some sort of signal or file access on the tablet.

"You know, I never expected much out of you, Sterling," he said as my grip tightened slightly. "When Coulson suddenly walked into my office with your file and said he wanted you on his team, I thought he'd finally done something I disapproved of, but he reassured me that there was potential. He told me that the facility's coffee dispenser was someone with the potential to become a great agent if given the right opportunity and the right push. I took one look at your mediocre results from the training course, your mostly empty file that lacked anything noteworthy, and told him 'on your head be it.' I never expected him to prove me wrong."

My patience finally snapped and I tossed the tablet onto the table haphazardly, turning to him with an angry, tired, and defeated look.

"What? What do you want me to do?" I demanded. "Because if you haven't noticed, nothing I did or could have done back there saved his life. So as far as I'm concerned, going back to delivering everyone's coffee is exactly where I belong."

Fury remained calm, reaching over to the tablet and typing a few things on it before sliding it back across the table toward me. "Phil never thought so."

I grit my teeth, wanting to snap back at him again when a recording started to play.

"Month 3. She's finally agreed to take the extra classes I assigned for her… with a bit of pushing. She's convinced she won't get very far but we'll see about that."

It was Coulson's voice and my anger quickly faded as I looked at the tablet full of reports Coulson had sent in.

"Month 3 and 2 weeks. Two whole weeks and she's already surpassed my expectations. Her teachers are saying she's quick to pick things up and retains things exceedingly well. Give it a few days and we'll see how far that can go. I'll bet she can hack through Stark's servers in under ten minutes if she applied herself. Still needs a bit of polish but after years of self-degradation and doubt, it won't be easy. She needs a backer, is all. The right motivation and she could be better than anyone could have expected."

I picked up the tablet silently, stopping the recordings as Fury leaned against the table with his arms folded.

"He never once doubted that you could go beyond anyone's expectations. He pushed you because he knew you could. I've never seen the man give anyone praise but you. He never asked me for anything unless it was in regard to you. So, I'll see to it that you never serve another cup of coffee in your time here as an agent of Shield, not because I owe him that, but because he's shown me that you deserve that. Now, it's up to you to figure out what you want. I hope you make the right decision."

Tony and Steve were arguing in the detention area while I stood just outside, gathering the courage to step back into the room where Coulson had died. My side throbbed at the reminder but I took a deep breath and let it out.

"We are not soldiers," Tony spat as I stepped into the room, catching Steve's attention. "I am not marching to Fury's fife."

"What about to mine?" I spoke up, making Tony whip around, flexing his fists and turning his gaze away sheepishly; not knowing how much I overheard. "You won't follow Fury and I'm fine with that, but if you want to do something about this, then let me help."

"We asked you to help," Tony muttered.

"Yeah, except one thing has changed between then and now," I said coldly; my voice sounding dead in my ears and probably in theirs too. "Now, I've lost the only person I'd consider a friend and… I have nothing left to lose."

Neither of them said anything, though they bowed their heads in slight shame before I tossed the tablet in my hands toward Tony, who scrambled to catch it.

"What—"

"Loki needed a power source and he's cocky and narcissistic. He drove a wedge between you guys so he could sit here and watch you all burn in the one place you thought you were safe. Now, he's going to throw a party on the biggest, brightest building he can find that covers all of the things he wants. Your building."

"Sonofabitch," Tony spat, seeing the specs of his building on the tablet I gave him.

"But we can't fight him by ourselves," Steve commented as I took back the tablet, typing away on it easily.

"Get out onto the runway where the Quinjet is. I'll get the rest who are here and locate the others."

"How?" Tony asked, curious as that number ticked up to 5. "They said communications were down."

"By using your suit as a gateway into your system," I replied, shooting him a look as he gaped. "Now shut up, get your suit, and go."

His mouth snapped closed as his number bounced back up to 7 and we went our separate ways. He and Steve went to suit up while I blocked the cameras and went to the medical room where Clint and Natasha would be. I opened the door, surprising them before gesturing to the hall.

"Time to go."

"Go where?" Natasha asked, suspicious.

"I assume you both want to beat the shit out of Loki for what he did to you and to Coulson. Steve and Tony are going to the Quinjet now and as much as I would love to suddenly learn how to fly it in the next few minutes, having you two would be far more helpful."

"What about you?" Natasha asked, and in normal circumstances, I might have been surprised to watch her -5 to go to -3 but I didn't care about it now.

"I'm doing what I can and that's all that matters."

She nodded and I left, leaving them to suit up as I went to the Quinjet, kicking out the pilot easily with a lie about a reassignment. The one good thing about being the secretary of Shield is no one questions you when you come to them with reassignment orders. I settled down into one of the seats and continued to use the tablet to search for where Thor and Banner might be. It wasn't long before the others showed up. Nothing was said as they got in and sent the jet off—Tony flying out ahead of us in his suit. Steve was the first to speak to me, attempting to break the tension.

"I'm… sorry for what happened."

"Don't," I said shortly, glancing up from the tablet for only a brief moment. "I've put out a warning for the civilians to evacuate or move underground. Authorities have been notified to stand down and do nothing but rescue operations for now. Banner is off the radar but the damage from falling from the Helicarrier isn't too far from here, and Thor is on his way."

"How did you—"

"Freak lightning storms closing in on the city," I answered simply. "Doesn't mean casualties will be any lower otherwise but given an army of aliens are dropping into a heavily populated city, you'd be hard-pressed to do anything better."

"Yeah, but hang on a minute," Clint spoke up from the pilot's seat. "I thought you were just the coffee lady. When did you figure out how to do all this?"

I went quiet, closing the tablet and looking away solemnly. "Coulson thought I had potential."

"He wasn't wrong," Clint offered before we closed in on the city and Natasha contacted Tony.

"Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast."

"What? Did you stop for drive-through? Swing up Park. I'm going to lay them out for you."

We took a light hit from one of the smaller alien crafts but circled around to the top of Stark Tower where Loki and Thor were fighting on the roof. Loki took out one of the engines before we could do much and Clint crash-landed us as best he could. The group of us rushed from the Quinjet and out onto the street where we could see the tower.

"We've got to get back up there."

We hurried out further only for a low guttural roar to echo out from the portal. A large armored whale creature flew out, flying right over our heads as more aliens were shot from its side and into buildings.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked.

"Seeing. Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"He'll show up within the next few minutes if he took a car," I answered. "He hadn't landed far from here."

"Just keep me posted."

"Go for the eyes or get it to eat something explosive," I tacked in, drawing surprised gazes to me. "You can't armor the inside of a beast and the eyes are the quickest way to the brain."

"Do I want to know?"

"I like horror movies. Take it or leave it."

"Don't get on the bad side of the coffee lady. Got it."

We ducked behind an overturned car as more aliens dropped into the area we were in. Steve noticed a group of people who were getting cornered and Natasha sent him off to deal with them as she and Clint started taking out creatures. I worked on getting people out of a stalled bus while they dealt with most of the aliens, telling them to move past 39th street without stopping. Taking cover won't help them now. I was doing good staying out of the way of the aliens while occasionally tossing a bit of rubble to distract them for Natasha or Clint. A quick check on my tablet made me crack a small smile.

"Thor's on his way!" I called out, ducking under the swing of an alien and drawing my pistol, firing it up through his skull and shoving it off me before spotting something else. "And there's a motorcycle heading our way. Tony, bring the whale over here."

"What!"

"Uh, sorry, can you repeat that? I'm hoping I misheard."

"I swear to God," I spat, turning to the next alien that had come toward me, getting one shot fired off before my pistol jammed.

I dropped it and ducked, grabbing a piece of broken rebar, swinging it around, and then stabbing it through its chest as I hissed through the comms.

"Get your ass down here now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Thor landed near me as I kicked the alien off the rebar, having overheard me. "You have a plan?"

"No, I just wanted to get eaten by a giant alien whale. Yes, I have a plan."

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked him then, having rejoined us.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

"Thor is right. We've got to deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Natasha added as Steve gave the only answer he could.

"As a team."

"I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Yeah, get in line," Clint complained at Thor's comment.

There was a hum of a motorcycle approaching then and I spoke up.

"Yeah, my plan's here. Tony? Are you on your way?"

"I'm bringing the party to you. You got Banner?"

"You bet your ass we do," I said as Banner pulled up and I turned to him. "We've got a massive alien whale on its way if you wouldn't mind."

"I'm sorry, a-a what?"

I pointed behind him as Tony flew around the corner.

"Now might be a really good time for you to get angry," Steve muttered as he moved to the front of the group, cracking a small smirk over his shoulder.

"That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."

He transformed into the Hulk and slammed a fist into the incoming creature, flipping it upward. Tony fired a shot that tore it in half as Thor covered me and Steve covered Natasha from the blast. The aliens roared in annoyance as the Avengers gathered but I poked my head out from behind the car where Thor had moved me.

"Yeah, guys? They have more."

Their gazes turned to the portal as more whales and aliens swooped down into the city.

"Call it, Cap," Tony said and Steve nodded, dividing up the labor as best he could given the circumstances.

Clint was sent off to the rooves with Tony on the perimeter. Thor went to bottle-neck the opening of the portal and the Hulk was sent off to smash whatever he got his hands on, leaving Steve and Natasha on the ground to fight what they could. Steve turned to me then, hesitant and I huffed.

"Save it. You think I don't know already? I'm as useless as a civilian in this situation. I don't need you to tell me that."

He went to say something but closed his mouth, knowing there was nothing he could say to help. I didn't care either. I had another plan. One that no one knew about because I was damn tired of being useless. It was about time I did something right with the knowledge of the movie that I had. So, I snuck off under the guise that I was leaving to join the civilians and instead made my way toward Stark Tower. Always went unnoticed in Shield until Coulson spotted me… getting through here is almost too easy.

I ducked through half-standing buildings, knowing that the aliens weren't about to check places close to the epicenter of this mess since there were no civilians there. This enabled me to get into the tower easily and given I'd hacked the system once, I was able to get access to the elevator again. Problem was, Loki must have expected this and posted a guard who lunged out the second the doors were opened.

I struggled against its weight and grimaced as I fought to keep some control of its weapon. It screeched loudly at me and once I'd finally thrown it off and went to deliver the final blow, pain rippled through me. I'd still managed to lodge my small blade into its throat, killing it, but it had dealt a heavy blow itself. A blade attached to a small gauntlet on its wrist had snapped out and pierced through my chest. I had no choice but to pull it out, choking as I felt my punctured lung struggle. No… No, not yet. I-I need to finish this.

I pushed myself up onto my feet, ignoring the warmth of blood soaking into my shirt, and headed up to the top level. And no one should be up here because Loki flew off. Dr. Selvig would be the only one and he's unconscious. I just need to get the scepter.

Once on the roof, I moved to the edge, checking for where the scepter was and scooping up Loki's abandoned dagger just in case. I found the scepter and carefully dropped down to get it, pulling myself back up only to spot Dr. Selvig staring at me in surprise.

"Please tell me you're not under control right now," I breathed and he nodded, dazed. "Sweet."

There was a blast then, drawing my gaze upward as Loki was blasted off his transport and onto the roof. He hadn't noticed me and thankfully wouldn't, given the Hulk had just tackled him inside. I ignored the sounds of him getting thrown around and hastily went over to where the machine with the cube was, Natasha—who'd also landed on the roof—spotting me.

"Sterling?"

I glanced at her with a small grimace of a smile. "H-Hey. Probably should have mentioned that I am bad at following orders… occasionally."

"Why do you have the scepter?"

"Let's just say, I know a few things," I muttered, aiming the scepter at the device and turning back on my comms—which had been turned off as I snuck around. "Tony, do you know about the council?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Bit preoccupied to be answering riddles."

"You'll want to know this one because the council overwrote Fury's order and there's a nuke headed for the city."

"What? How long do we have?"

"Three minutes," Fury's voice chimed in. "Agent Sterling, how did you—"

"Like I said, I know some things," I grunted out, starting to shove the scepter into the device. "Tony put the nuke in the portal."

"What!"

"Are you mad!"

"God, you know, I am so tired of you people," I complained, head spinning and vision foggy from blood loss. "I never wanted any of this. Shield, aliens, Avengers. I fucking died and got put in the body of a damn trainee and thought, 'Hey. This world is full of so much shit, let's just lay low and go unnoticed. Let's survive somehow in this shitty world.'"

"Sterling, what are you talking about?" Natasha asked.

"Sterling, Sterling, Sterling. You know Coulson was the only person here who used my first name? It's not even my name but I think… I think I owe him one. I'll start by closing this damn portal as soon as that nuke's in there."

"Close it now!"

"You were always my least favorite, Steve. Hope you know that," I bit out.

"Sterling, you have to close it."

"Yeah, fuck you, Fury. You were never really my boss, you know. I just did as I was told because it was the easiest way for me to survive." I watched as Tony flew up into the portal and another set of hands grabbed the scepter. "Natasha, I will fucking stab you."

"He's gone, Sterling. If more of those things come out of there—"

I whipped around and Natasha choked on her words, looking down at the short dagger stuck in her side.

"I did warn you," I muttered, grabbing back onto the scepter and eyeing the sky for that last little speck to fall back down. "When someone sees him, grab him because I'm pretty sure he's knocked out."

Finally, I spotted him and pushed the scepter further in to close the portal. Once the energy around the device dissipated, I dropped the scepter and sank to my knees, holding onto the machine for support.

"S-Sterling, you—"

I let out a bitter laugh as I turned to sit on the ground, revealing to her the injury she hadn't noticed earlier. "W-What? Did you really think… a damn secretary w-would stand a chance on her own? F-Fucking idiots."

"Why did you come with us?" She questioned. "You didn't have to—"

"Because I'm an idiot," I sighed, exhausted. "Because one person… one took notice of me and saw I could be better… and he went off and died before I could do that. Before I felt deserving of that praise. So… I had to do something for him… even if it killed me."

She headed over to me, looking at my injury as I weakly brushed her off.

"D-Don't. It's too late. I-I was… dying in the elevator.

"He wouldn't want you to die," she pressed. "Especially not after stabbing me."

"P-Please. It's nonfatal. I-I learned that much in—" I choked a bit, grimacing at the tang of copper on my tongue. "—w-whatever fucking class it was. Just… don't forget him."

"We won't. Not him and not you either."

I scoffed, eyes slipping closed. "I-I'm just… a secretary."