A/N: Hello everyone!
I spent some time putting together a Spotify playlist over the holidays for those of you like me who like listening whilst reading, simply search Fireheart by Gweconomix on Spotify (sorry if you use a different platform!).
Mostly, the songs are a mix of character vibes, Avengers vibes etc but I've also added songs I think heavily relate to specific scenes/moments throughout the series. If you have any recommendations or suggestions please let me know, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
All the love as always, Gweco.
Strange blue light filled Amelia's dreams, it coiled around the edges like writhing smoke, its movements almost lifelike. Pictures, fragments really, of a dark, cavernous room flickered behind her eyes. Echoes of bullets ricocheted and a voice, a silvery voice preaching the freedom of a mad man slunk in between lucid thought.
"Remind me again why I'm here?" Amelia prompted as she straightened Barton's bowtie, shaking her mind free from the fading memory, rolling her shoulders to shake the shiver running down her spine.
Amelia had slapped on a lot of makeup, more than she was comfortable with, to hide the shadows under her eyes from the restless sleep. The dream woke her with a start, bolting upright as a trickle of sweat leaked from her forehead, her entire body covered in a thin sheen. The dream, or nightmare, unsettled her and lingered in the crevices of her mind all day.
Barton gave her a smile, smoothing his hand along the edge of his black dinner jacket. "Because your name gets us into places we otherwise wouldn't have access to." He offered her his arm.
Amelia took it, her tall heels clicking on the shining floors as they made their way into the lobby, handing the steward their gilded invitation. "Welcome, Miss Stark." The steward greeted with an extra special smile, waving them inside.
"I don't recall the great Hawkeye ever needing help getting into a place before." She murmured, smiling and nodding at those who recognized her as they joined the growing crowd.
Amelia didn't know half the people who approached her at these events, and ever since taking on her role at SHIELD and Stark Industries, she'd been to a hell of a lot of them. Drinking in the faces, learning the names and forgetting them a second later. With each new invitation she understood a little better her father's past behaviour.
"He doesn't." Barton agreed, eagle eyes scouting the glossy ballroom. "But sneaking in takes a hell of a lot more effort."
"And getting dressed up, doesn't?"
"For you, maybe." Barton eyed her up and down, raising an eyebrow at the flowing dress with the long sleeves and treacherous neckline, "We're not gonna be here that long, you didn't need the whole nine yards."
A confident smile slipped onto her red lips. "I refuse to go into battle looking any less than my best."
"We're not fighting anyone, but sure." Barton shrugged his agile shoulders, releasing her arm to take a glasses case from his jacket pocket, "Come on, we got work to do."
Amelia slipped her earpiece in, disguising it with a brush of hair behind her ear, as Barton set the thick framed glasses onto his broad nose. "Coulson, you copy?" Barton murmured, flashing Amelia with a smile as if amused by a joke she told.
"Loud and clear." Came the agent's reply, "Hope you brought your dancing shoes."
Barton held his hand out for Amelia as the orchestra struck a delicate chord. "Please tell me you know how to dance." He queried.
Amelia gave him a flat look as she placed her hand in his. "You didn't think to ask before?"
The two of them swept onto the dance floor where other couples had gathered, her other hand atop his shoulder and his settled on her waist. "I didn't want to make it awkward." He excused, sweeping her into the first steps.
"Ballroom dancing came with a classic education." Amelia answered, eyeing up Barton's practiced steps, "I'm more curious where you learned."
The corner of Barton's lip perked, "I grew up in a circus, kid, I learned a lotta dances."
"Focus up." Coulson interjected just as her curiosity piqued. "He's coming over."
"Excuse me." A hand appeared on Barton's shoulder, stopping the two and they broke apart to allow their host to interrupt.
Carl Kaxton, the short, gravelly voiced CEO of the Roxxon Corporation, set himself between them, twitchy eyes weighing up Barton. "Watching you dance with this man at my party has made me quite jealous." He explained sincerely.
Amelia cracked a smile, "Well, I had to get your attention somehow."
"May I?" Kaxton directed the question to Barton, holding his hand to Amelia.
"Like you said." Barton answered after an assured look passed between him and Amelia. "It's your party." Kaxton nodded graciously and Barton moved between them, accidentally catching Kaxton in the shoulder and pausing to apologize before disappearing into the throng.
Amelia set her hand in his, letting him tug her close, and his earthy aftershave wafted to her nose. "And you told me you were on holiday." He smiled down at her as the next song began. "You know, when I imagine a holiday it's sandy beaches and sun lotion." Kaxton smirked, "Not grouchy politicians and canapés."
Amelia gave him a smile, "You and I obviously have different definitions of a holiday."
"You want me to grab you a dictionary?"
Amelia made a point of glancing around the sparkling ballroom as if searching for one as they danced. "If you can find one." She challenged and brought a laugh from the man.
"What are you doing here, Miss Stark?"
"Dancing." She replied, "With you."
Kaxton spun her round, the two of them meeting again in the middle. "Now, why don't I believe that?"
"Because I'm the daughter of your closest competitor." She answered with an alluring smile, "And quite a thorn in your side, apparently."
"To the point." Kaxton spread his hand along her back, lowering her in a dip. "I like that." He pulled her up and the two continued along the tiles. "But it doesn't answer my question."
"I come bearing a peace offering." Amelia finally explained as the final chords of the song trailed off, the two of them clapping the dance with the other guests, and Kaxton drew her to a quiet corner. "It's true, Stark Industries and Roxxon haven't seen eye to eye in the past, but we can both agree on one thing."
"What's that?" Kaxton swiped two bubbling champagne flutes from a passing tray.
"Congress is looking for a new weapons manufacturer after Hammer Industries took a rather costly fall."
"A fall you had a hand in, as I understand."
Amelia accepted the offered glass. "We both knew Hammer's days were numbered, even before he fell in with criminals." She gave a delicate shrug. "I merely unlocked the gun cabinet."
"And loaded the bullets, from what I hear."
"The point is…" Amelia drew them back on track, "There's a vacuum in DC and someone has to fill it."
"I thought Stark Industries didn't deal in weapons production anymore."
"We don't." Amelia nodded, "But I have it on good authority the Senate is eyeing up Cordco for the top spot."
Kaxton's jaw clenched as he took a sip. "I'm listening."
"Neither of us want Jefferds at the head of this country's military production."
"What are you proposing?"
"A united front."
Kaxton narrowed his eyes, "Go on."
"If Stark Industries were willing to stay quiet during the bidding, it would allow you to sweep the board." Amelia glanced out at the murmuring guests, spotting several representatives amongst them all. "And we both know Jefferds doesn't have the strength to put up a fight without us."
"It would all but guarantee us those contracts." Kaxton surmised, nodding as he took another sip, but then he narrowed his eyes. "And it would put Roxxon above Stark in the markets."
"Hate to interrupt." Barton called down her earpiece, "But I could do with those magic fingers of yours."
"Really?" Amelia smiled innocently.
"On the other hand, you haven't yet told me the price to your silence."
"Well, how about that."
"What is Miss Potts asking in return?"
Amelia took a sip of champagne, fluttering her lashes. "We only ask for access to the production lanes on the west coast."
"And allow Accutech to become your subsidiary?" Kaxton exclaimed, "That's a big ask."
"It's a big weapons contract." Amelia countered, "One that kept Stark Industries top of the food chain for decades."
"Anytime now, Stark." Barton hurried as a charming smile slipped onto her lips.
Amelia set aside her glass, stepping in close to Kaxton as she lowered her voice. "Take some time, think it over." She whispered, grasping his arm as she slipped her hand into his jacket.
"What game are you playing, Stark, there's gotta be more." Kaxton studied her closely, catching her arm as she drew away.
"I've told you all that's in play." Amelia told him, "Miss Potts wishes to keep Cordco from gaining anymore traction, that's the only game afoot." She slipped her arm free of his grasp. "Balls in your court now."
"Stark, confirm." Coulson urged as Amelia stepped away from the night's host. "Did you succeed?"
Amelia slipped the key card into her clutch purse, making her way through the crowded ballroom towards the bathrooms. "You fellas owe me one." She whispered, ducking down the carpeted corridor. "I thought you said you could get in without my help?"
"So did I." Barton replied, "You think you can make it?"
"If you think I'm crawling through the vents in this dress, think again." Amelia pressed herself to the wall, watching the camera slowly turn in the other direction before slipping into its blind spot, moving along with it.
Amelia took a breath before making her next move. From what she remembered from the briefing, there was only a thirty second window where the cameras didn't overlap, giving Amelia thirty seconds to unlock the door and slip inside. She took out the key card, looking closely for the cameras, and sprinted over to the door once they had turned, swiping the key card along the reader, her heart pounding as she waited for it to turn green, and disappeared inside just in time, softly closing the door behind her.
"Glad to see you could make it." Barton quipped, leaning against the desk.
"You two better get a move on." Coulson urged, "Kaxton's getting twitchy."
Barton skipped around the desk, twizzling the chair round for Amelia. "Milady."
Amelia took a seat, setting her purse beside the keyboard, and the monitor brightened when she double tapped the space bar, illuminating a lock screen. She swiped the glasses from his nose, tucking them atop her own, and blasted her way through Kaxton's security network, disguising each step along the way to keep the intrusion hidden.
"What am I looking for, Coulson?" Amelia asked, bringing up a long list of files.
"Anything remotely related to extra-terrestrial power sources."
"Because Kaxton is likely to have a file called 'space junk'." Barton quipped whilst Amelia started sifting through all the information.
"He's no stranger to abnormal research." Amelia told him, "Kaxton has an eye for the extraordinary."
"And the ordinary it seems." Barton observed, "Multitasking, are we?"
Amelia shrugged, opening and closing another file when it bore no fruit. "Pepper's been nagging me about this Cordco situation for weeks."
"Is that the only reason you agreed to this?"
"Two birds, as the saying goes." Amelia stopped at the next file, opening the results of a series of experiments and made to move on when Coulson interrupted.
"That's it, that's the one."
"Really?" Amelia raised an eyebrow, "It's just more specifications for design, it has nothing to do with energy."
"That's the one, Miss Stark." Coulson insisted.
Amelia shrugged, took the glasses from her nose, and broke off one of the arms, inserting the end into the USB port and downloaded the file.
"Alright, you two, time to go." Coulson instructed once the download completed.
"Hang on." Amelia interjected as another file, communication between Roxxon and Cordco caught her attention.
"No time." Barton insisted, "We gotta get the card back to Kaxton."
"There's always time for a little corporate espionage." Amelia insisted.
One quick swipe of the keyboard and Amelia linked the file to the disc before Barton tugged it from the monitor, reconnecting the arm to his glasses and pocketing them safely inside his jacket.
"Kaxton knows." Coulson informed them anxiously, "Get out of there."
Amelia wormed her way free of the security system, setting everything back where she found it, and Barton lifting the clunky window. "Out the back." He ushered as Amelia climbed through, struggling to bunch her skirts into one hand.
Barton jumped out after her, landing amongst the expertly cut grass, and the two crouched beneath, hidden by the wall as the study doors burst open. They crawled along to the next room, her white stilettos digging into the mud, and in through another window to a dark room.
A sliver of light illuminated Barton's leathery face as he cracked the door an inch, shouts echoing through, and he curled a finger at her. The two slipped out into the hallway and Barton tugged Amelia close, the two of them laughing their way through security as nothing more than a couple who'd had too much to drink.
"Excuse me." Coulson apologized as he bumped into her and Amelia dropped her purse.
A smile curled her lips as he bent to retrieve it. "No harm, no foul." Amelia replied, accepting the purse.
"You have a good evening, ma'am." Coulson nodded graciously, disappearing again into the crowd and Amelia's smile tightened.
She split from Barton, wading through the guests as security swarmed the ballroom and Kaxton reappeared, scanning everyone.
"Ma'am, seriously?" Amelia scowled as she found her target. "Are you kidding?"
"You deserved it." Barton retorted, "We should be making our escape."
"Miss Stark." Kaxton plucked her from the swarm just as she latched onto the swaying senator's arm. He gestured to one of his attending security guards. "Take her purse."
"Excuse me." Amelia exclaimed as they snatched the purse from her hands, one of them holding her arm in an iron tight grip.
The guard rifled through her things, her lipstick dropping to the tiles, and the senator retrieved it for her. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, his words surprisingly clear despite the haze in his eyes.
"We've had a security breach." Kaxton snarled, "You'll excuse me if I don't automatically trust our esteemed guest."
"You've gotta be kidding." Amelia exclaimed, "Corporate espionage? As if I have the time."
"Seriously?" Coulson quipped in her ear; the piece hidden with the curling folds of her black hair.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to release her." Barton appeared from behind, setting aside the two glasses he'd found out of nowhere, and broadened his shoulders.
He took an intimidating step closer when Kaxton said nothing, the move persuading him, and the security guard released his hold on Amelia.
"This young lady has been with me the entire evening." The senator roared, "How dare you accuse her."
Amelia ran her hands along her dress, smoothing it out, and snatched her purse back from Kaxton, giving the senator a grateful smile as he plopped the lipstick back inside.
"I don't understand." Kaxton frowned, "I thought…"
"You thought what?" Amelia interrupted, "That just because I belong to your main competitor I'd sink to such levels?"
"But my key card…" Kaxton narrowed his eyes, "You were the only one who could've taken it."
"I suggest you check again." Barton murmured and stared Kaxton down as he started tapping all his pockets, pulling the card from his pants with a confused look.
"Miss Stark, I…" Kaxton scrambled for an apology, "Is there anything I can do."
A sly smile spread across Amelia's lips, and she clicked her purse shut. "I can think of one thing." If Kaxton's expression hadn't dropped before, it certainly did now. "You've got until the House vote next week." She told him, "Shall I tell Miss Potts to expect your call?"
Kaxton said nothing, stuffing his card back into his pocket, straightening his dinner jacket and Amelia turned to the senator. "A pleasure, as always."
He winked, taking her hand and placing a soft kiss on the back, "The pleasure is mine, Miss Stark."
Barton gestured for her to lead on, and Amelia strode through the curious onlookers with her head high, forcing them to return to their drinks, their gossip as the show ended.
"That went well." Coulson observed as they made for the exit.
"How'd you know the senator would stick up for you?" Barton wondered and they broke free of the ballroom.
"Senator Dondis has a penchant for drinks and women in red." Amelia answered, "Plus he loathes Kaxton and will take any excuse to shove it to him."
She glanced over her shoulder at the entryway, finding Kaxton watching them and offered him a final wink as the attendant called for their car, the valet pulling up in the sleek black Mercedes. He held the back door open for Amelia and she slipped inside, crossing one leg over the other as Barton took the wheel. They turned the corner once, took a right, then a second right, and pulled up beside a patient Coulson who ducked into the passenger side.
"Overall, I think that went well." He surmised as Amelia popped the earpiece from her ear, dropping it into her purse.
"Nice save with the key card." Amelia complimented, taking out the laptop hidden beneath the black leather seats.
"You could've jeopardized the entire mission." Barton scolded, "Even your own reputation, you know."
"My reputation is impervious." Amelia responded, clicking her fingers for the glasses, "That's what happens when you're America's most famous heiress." She caught Barton's eyes in the wing mirror. "Everyone already knows my secrets."
"Was it worth it?" Coulson queried, "Whatever you risked getting caught for?"
"Oh, yes." Amelia nodded enthusiastically as Barton handed them over, bending his arm around the chair to keep his eyes on the road.
It seems Kaxton had been talking to Jefferds in secret, he didn't need Amelia to tell him the government were considering his bid, and it turns out he knew what would happen if they lost it. Jefferds was in a sticky situation indeed and Amelia raised her eyebrows at the number he agreed to. Lowballed, indeed.
She transferred the information to a private server and moved onto the stolen file. It didn't look like energy transference to her. Years ago, her grandfather pulled a glowing blue orb from the ocean searching for Captain America, they hadn't known what to do with it then, but Fury had an idea, and he was using Amelia's skills to test it. If they could somehow harness the cube, they could power entire cities by Amelia's guess. Such power shouldn't go to waste just because they didn't understand this alien crap. Finding a way to develop clean energy, to utilize it to better mankind, it was exactly what her father sought to do now. The first test for their new reactor began tomorrow, Amelia was headed up first thing in the morning, but she would never place all her eggs in one basket. The reactor, though revolutionary in concept for clean energy, was finite. It would power Stark Tower for a year at best, nothing more, but the cube's possibilities were endless.
"Is this what you pulled the Stark card for?" Amelia muttered unconsciously.
Why did these designs look like nothing more than equipment? Machinery used for construction, perhaps, to boost efficiency? You could certainly build a lot more if it took half the time.
Coulson slapped the laptop shut before Amelia could even get past the first page. "Hey!" She exclaimed as he tugged the drive free for good measure. "I was reading that."
"Not anymore." Coulson disagreed, locking the file in his super-secret briefcase.
"Whatever." She slumped back in her seat childishly, "I'll probably get to read them eventually."
"Not this one, you won't."
"Why is Fury going to Roxxon for equipment?" Amelia asked, "He has his own engineers for that, heck, he has me."
"Maybe Kaxton has a flare for technology that you don't."
Amelia shot a pointed finger his way, her tone dropping. "You take that back."
"Oh, you've done it now, Phil." Barton whistled, staying well out of this.
"Come on, it just doesn't make sense." Amelia stressed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Save it, Amy, we've been over this."
"I don't like not knowing." She complained.
Barton shared a look with Coulson. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing in this industry."
"It's both." Coulson told him, "She's just in the wrong department for it."
Too freaking right, Amelia thought. Amelia had been kept at arm's reach, called in when they had a security system to crack and no Black Widow on hand, or if they needed a second opinion when upgrading their software. Other than her energy project, Amelia found SHIELD to be rather withholding. Fury knew she had a lot more to offer them, so why didn't he let her? It was as if he liked keeping her close only when it benefited him, or the agency. Or, like tonight, when they pulled the Stark card, and used her as a way in. It wasn't the first time they used her name like a key, unlocking doors they'd otherwise need a lockpick for. Or a good kick, as was so often the way. Amelia's name brought subtlety, it brought secrecy, and it brought her a whole lot of questions. At least tonight, she had an excuse. Pepper needed that deal, she needed Cordco out of the way and access to the west coast, if they ever intended to go ahead with their plans. In the past, Amelia had no such excuse. Just rocking up for the fun of it, apparently.
The SHIELD headquarters was fully lit by the time they arrived, staving off the night's darkness, with hundreds of streetlights winding down the roads. People buzzed about the compound, trainees on late duty, security guards on their rounds and workers heading home, even at this late hour. Amelia spotted a white lab coat walking between two of the buildings so enraptured by the report in his hand he failed to miss the stone bench in front of him.
The campus itself was made of three large office buildings, a garage and an airstrip. Smaller buildings dotted the place, mostly used for barracks and storage, it wasn't just the workers who lived here, a lot of them brought their families with them. SHIELD housed all of it.
"Were you successful?" Maria Hill greeted them with her usual blank expression and straight to the point personality, hands clasped behind her back as the car pulled into the garage.
"You even need to ask?" Amelia answered, skirts spilling out after her as she slipped from the backseat, shoving the door shut and striding towards the massive white building.
"Where are you going?" Hill questioned.
"To get a look at this thing for myself." Amelia quipped.
"In that get up?" Barton called after her, his bow tie undone, jacket slung over his arm, and Amelia stopped to glance down at the dress.
She raised a finger without turning, "Good point."
Instead of delving deep into the belly of the beast, Amelia switched direction and headed for the lockers, cracking her way into Natasha's and swapping the long red gown for the black pants and beige sweater inside, zipping up leather boots to replace the sharp heels, and paused to send the assassin a quick text.
You need a new locker combination.
This side of the building contained many of their research laboratories, a few cavernous rooms underground built for testing, and an office had been cleared out somewhere on the top floor for Amelia. She never used it, but Fury wanted a space for her nonetheless, somewhere close by. The labs were where she was headed now, strolling down linoleum floors, flashing her access card against the scanners and shoving open unnecessarily heavy glass doors. Her first day here, Amelia got herself completely lost and ended up over in the chem labs chatting to a very polite young lady, no older than Amelia and with just as many qualifications. SHIELD bred them young, it seemed, and Amelia was glad she wasn't the only woman on payroll without a lifetimes experience.
Anticipation buzzed in her blood as she took the steel-clad elevator down to the lower floors, twirling her lanyard through her fingers idly until it spat her out in a well-lit basement, the concrete walls leading her to another set of spiral stairs. She piled her black curls atop her head in a pathetic bun as she descended even further down, securing it with a loose hair tie and snagged a lab coat from a hanger as she entered.
Unbelievably, this was her first time coming down here. Amelia usually kept to the labs upstairs, running tests, algorithms, or squeezing into a khaki overall to get her hands dirty with the other engineers. Since coming here, she'd been asked to do all sorts, from fixing jeeps to building a machine capable of harnessing alien tech. No biggy.
This particular lab, on the lowest floor beneath the compound and shaped like a rectangle, was filled with scientific equipment. Rows of screens lined one half of the room, thick cables scattered across the floor, threatening to trip you with every step, all of them leading across to the glowing cube that cast the room in a misty blue hue.
"Doctor Selvig." She greeted and approached a tubby man with thinning blond hair and tired features, his plaid shirt tucked neatly into tanned pants. "It's nice to meet you in person."
"Miss Stark." Selvig set aside his notes to shake her hand, "Likewise."
"I read the paper on the Einstenrosen bridge you wrote with Doctor Foster." Amelia stepped past him to get a look at the readings on the monitors. "It's truly fascinating."
"Jane's work has helped us understand a little of where this thing might've originated." Selvig replied, settling his glasses atop his nose to read them alongside her.
"Space stuff."
"To put it simply." Selvig chuckled. "Although I must admit, your input has helped bridge a few gaps, where did you learn all that?"
"Energy is kinda my thing." Amelia told him, scrolling through all their research, skimming across the notes. "The first book I remember reading was my grandfather's research on the first arc reactor."
"That makes sense." Selvig took off his glasses, folding them up. "Howard Stark was the first one to study the Tesseract."
"Right." Amelia murmured idly, pushing away from the monitors, heading over to where the glow emanated. "Speaking of…"
A container had been constructed to hold the cube, using some designs Amelia whipped up based on the arc reactor itself, only the very foundations built to her specification, the rest of it circled around the cube belonged to the other engineers gathered in the underground lab.
The cube glowed with an electric blue mist, the glow leaking outwards, bathing the metal in a ghostly hue.
"So, this is what all the fuss is about." she whispered as she stepped closer.
That strange blue light drew her closer yet, bending to stare deep into the cube, and it suddenly filled her vision, locking her in its mysterious pull. Suddenly her odd dreams snapped to the forefront of Amelia's mind, as if enticed by the blue coiling mist, and Amelia's lips parted. Before she could stop herself, Amelia was reaching for it, the cube begging to be touched and she obliged.
The second her fingertips touched the cool surface sparks pinged from the machine and a huge pulse erupted from the cube, the force throwing Amelia backwards and the next thing she knew everything went black.
"The Tesseract has awakened." Came a gravelly, hauntingly scraping voice from the darkness. "It is on a little world, a human world." Amelia saw the darkness split by dozens of stars; stars she didn't recognize. "They would wield it's power." Continued the voice, "But our ally knows its workings as they never will."
Pain threatened to split her head apart but still she saw the gold, curved helm, the glow of an ethereal orb on the end of a magnificent sceptre. "He is ready to lead, and our force, our Chitauri, will follow."
"Stark, Stark, wake up!"
The other voice, the familiar one with deep tones, could barely be heard over the monstrous chittering as thousands, millions of glowing eyes lit up like the constellations above, filling the empty space with a daunting dread. "A world will be his, the universe yours."
Fire ripped through her thoughts, disintegrating the memory, burning it to ash, and Amelia's entire body rippled with tiny shocks, an ear-splitting scream threatening to crack her head open.
"And the humans, what can they do but burn?"
Music swirled through Amelia's mind, it danced with her memories and twirled around her thoughts in mesmerizing circles, striking a fire on the floor with each high kick. With each dip and flick. It lulled Amelia onwards, towards the raging fire that constantly consumed her. Amelia wrapped herself in its warm embrace, letting it lead her forwards into the unknown.
"Stark!"
Amelia's brown eyes snapped open, and she sucked in a breath, sitting bolt upright, reaching about frantically until someone grasped her arm. A familiar someone, someone Amelia knew, and she stared into thick features and a leather eyepatch. "Fury." She breathed, her mouth unbearably dry. "What… what happened?"
"You tell us." Fury replied, settling in a crouch in front of her as Amelia pressed a palm to her pounding forehead.
Everything moved slowly for Amelia, as if she waded through syrup, and she blinked hard to rid herself of the haze clouding her eyes, groaning at the unbelievable pounding in her head, as if she'd been hit with a shovel. Fury gave her a hand up, pulling her to her feet, and Amelia settled back against one of the metal surfaces, unaware of the frantic beeping from the monitor it held.
"You good?" Fury worried, watching her carefully, and Amelia gave him the slightest nod.
"What happened?" she asked again, working moisture back into her mouth.
"You were studying the Tesseract, and it didn't like it." Fury answered, "That was four hours ago."
"What?" Amelia blurted, her brown eyes popping, and she snapped her head over to the cube.
Blaring alarms rang out in time with the rhythmic headache and Amelia finally noticed the red flashing lights, the frantic scientists buzzing around the equipment. "It was fine just a minute ago." Amelia muttered, grazing over the dishevelled readings, the surge in power emanating from the cube.
"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury queried as Amelia rubbed at her temples, trying to appease the horrific pounding behind her eyes.
"The Tesseract is misbehaving." Selvig answered.
One of the physicists drew a steel needle close to the cube, the delicate mist sparking, almost attacking it, and the pulse made Amelia's headache grow. Her entire body felt oddly numb, as if she'd spent years trapped in a tub of ice cubes, stray strands of black hair falling from her precarious bun.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury remarked, hovering near Amelia and Selvig stepped across to them both.
"No, it's not funny at all." Selvig loosened his grey tie around his neck. "The Tesseract is not only active, she's…" he paused, searching for the right word. "Behaving."
Amelia waved off his misplaced worry, brown eyes drawn to the cube and it seemed to glow brighter than before, the mist swirling about inside.
"I assumed you pulled the plug." Fury guessed.
"She's an energy source." Amelia quipped, "You can't just flip a switch, she does that for you."
"If she reaches peak level…" Selvig began to worry, taking a console with out-of-control readings scattered over the screen.
"We prepared for this, Doctor." Fury interrupted, "Harnessing energy from space."
"But we don't have the harness." Selvig pointed out and Amelia breathed out long and hard, both their gazes flickering her way. Not an accusation, she supposed, but then again, she felt very judged.
"Hey, calculations like that take time, okay?" Amelia justified, "I'm working on it."
"And she's throwing off interference, radiation." Selvig continued and added quickly, "Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."
Fury glanced warily over his shoulder, returning an anxious look. "That can be harmful." He said carefully. "Where's Barton?"
"The Hawk?" Selvig scoffed, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "Up in his nest, as usual."
Amelia glanced up at the rafters, the high ceiling cast in several shadows, as Fury pressed a finger to his ear. "Agent Barton, report."
They heard the clink of something pinging off a metal railing and a dark form slid down a rope from the upper walkway as Barton appeared from the shadows, swapping his dinner jacket for black combat trousers and a protective vest, his hands wrapped in fingerless gloves. "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury reminded him disappointedly, the archer falling into step with Fury.
"Well, I see better from a distance." Barton replied as the three of them stepped over to the thing in question.
"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Fury pointed to the cube, and they stepped up onto the rigging, a pace away from the matrix holding the Tesseract.
Barton flashed Amelia a strange look, lip quivering as if weighing up his answer, and she frowned confusedly at him. "No one's come or go and Selvig's clean." He eventually answered as Fury peered at the cube, studying it. "No contacts, no IMs, if there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."
Fury's head snapped up, hands resting on his hips. "At this end?"
"Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right?" Barton nodded, puzzling it out, "Doors open from both sides."
"And when Amelia touched it?"
Barton gave her that same look, considering. "A coincidence?"
"You know better, Agent Barton, there are no coincidences."
"It's space magic." Barton shrugged, "An entirely new ball game, we don't know the rules."
Amelia clenched her jaw uncertainly just as the floor rocked, the blue glow rippling, spiking and they heard a distant rumble echo down to them.
Fury nudged Amelia's arm, the three of them stepping back as the cube began to lash out with misty tendrils, snapping and sparking, a ball of energy growing around it until the rumbling sounded again, louder this time. A long beam of stark blue light shot out from the cube, accumulating in a bubble of glowing, watery light at the other end of the long lab and slowly, mesmerizingly, a gateway opened out of nowhere. Amelia's lips parted as she watched misty clouds writhe around, complete darkness protruding from the gateway and she let her eyes grow wide when she recognized stars on the other side. Unfamiliar stars, but they were stars, nonetheless. Her heartbeat quickened.
The gateway collapsed on itself in a flash, a surge of watery light emanating from the implosion, ruffling Amelia's hair and she stumbled back as if something snapped in her chest, leaning softly against a counter.
"Amy?" Barton murmured worriedly, his head half turned towards her, his hand hovering at his thigh holster and she gave him a wave.
Amelia took a deep breath, the strange pang subsiding as the light gathered atop the domed ceiling and she heard a frightening sizzling as she glanced up. The far panels were seared and glowing, burned by the implosion, and smoke crawled along the panelled floors. The security guards each raised their weapons and Amelia straightened when she spotted their target.
A man crouched exactly where the gateway erupted, slick black hair combed back, his clothes a pattern of green and black leather and he clutched a majestic golden spear in one hand, a glowing blue orb set at the peak. He stood slowly and Amelia's breath quickened as he lifted his head to reveal refined features drawn back in a monstrous smile.
"Sir, please, put down the spear." Fury ordered calmly, calling over to the man.
He glanced at it, weighing it up in his hands, and thrust it towards them, firing a lightning-fast beam of light towards them. Barton caught Amelia's shoulders, shielding her as he pushed them both from the platform and the beam exploded in a burst of bright white sparks as it hit the equipment behind them.
Barton tucked her behind the workstation as bullets pinged off the concrete and Amelia covered her head with her hands, crouching behind the cover as Barton took out his gun, firing at the intruder along with them. Amelia squeezed her eyes shut, hands over her ears, and another explosion sounded, the sparks dancing along the panels, reflected in their clear sheen.
A few seconds of bedlam passed and then suddenly quiet, the broken equipment sparking, startling Amelia, but she released her head, glancing up to see the intruder pressing the sharp tip of the sceptre to Barton's chest. Something took over the agent, his far-seeing eyes clouding over briefly, and then he was holstering his gun, completely at ease before the man.
Amelia crawled around the workstation as the man strode to another security guard, repeating the same thing, and she caught sight of Fury sliding the Tesseract free of the matrix, locking it in a silvery briefcase. He jerked his head when he saw Amelia, frantically gesturing for her to follow, and she swallowed, pushing herself out from behind the workstation, ducking behind metal crates to keep herself hidden.
"Please don't."
The intruder's voice sent chills through Amelia, his charming accent, deep tones washing over her as she reached the last box, her gaze drawn to him yet again. "I still need that." He told them confidently.
"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury warned.
"Of course it does." The man argued, "I've come too far for anything else." Amelia got a better look at him now, the curling black hair, the thin sheen of sweat covering his refined features and his lips were pale and dry, round blue eyes sunk back in his skull, circled by haunting black shadows. "I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
"Loki, brother of Thor." Selvig blurted and it seemed to agitate the man.
"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury promised with a calming hand.
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot."
Fury dropped his hand, tilting his head. "Are you planning to step on us?"
"I come with glad tidings." Loki smiled again, mirthlessly, "Of a world made free." He strode over to Selvig,
"Free from what?"
"Freedom." Loki answered, "Freedom is life's great lie." Amelia swallowed again, wiping her hands along her pants. "Once you accept that, in your heart…" Loki twisted, tapping the sceptre to Selvig's chest and the scientist gasped, his eyes hazing over just as Barton's had. "You will know peace."
"Yeah, you say peace." Fury snarled, "I kind of think you mean the other thing."
"Sir, Director Fury is stalling." Barton announced, coming to stand beside the deranged god. "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us." Amelia's gaze snapped to the writhing mass of blue energy gathered in the dome and she sucked in a breath. "He means to bury us."
"Like the pharaohs of old." Fury bragged, thick lips curling.
"He's right, the portal is collapsing in on itself." Selvig confirmed, taking in the readings from one of the remaining monitors. "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."
"Well, then." Loki said with one instructive look at Barton.
The archer drew his weapon and Amelia sucked in a breath as he shot Fury point blank, the director groaning as he fell backwards, dropping the briefcase.
Loki's new security team hurriedly escorted him from the lab and Barton scooped up the briefcase, stepping over Fury, tossing it into Selvig's arms as they departed.
Amelia pressed herself against the crate, inching around as they came into view, waiting with short, shallow breaths as their footsteps receded. "Stark." Fury cried through gritted teeth as Amelia finally peered around the edge of the crate, scampering over to the fallen director.
She helped him sit up and he tapped at his jacket, cringing in pain as Amelia dug out his radio, holding down the button so he could speak. "Hill." He groaned, "Do you copy?" Fury tugged the bullet from his protective vest with a snarl, a touch of blood staining the gold casing. "Barton has turned." Amelia hooked his arm over her shoulder, the two of them hobbling over to the exit as the portal began pulling things into its swirling blue mass, the force tugging at Amelia's lab coat, her poorly done hair. "They have the Tesseract." Fury reported as they broke free of the lab, "Shut them down!"
Fury pushed himself free of Amelia to clutch at his chest, keeping a hand on her arm, and they broke into a run down the corridor, sparks dancing as the portal began to curl in on itself, some of the metal rafters falling as the rumbling began, the ground softly shaking underfoot. Fury drew her into the stairwell, pushing her up first, and she took them two at a time, her heart racing, pounding in her chest with each threatening shudder. Amelia shrieked as the railing broke away beside her, the steps randomly dropping away, and the two of them dove into the lift.
"Is this even safe?" Amelia cried, the metal cage shuddering and screeching as it shot upwards.
"Happy thoughts, Stark." Fury snapped back, leaning against the steel wall.
Soon enough, though not as soon as Amelia would've liked, they were free of the lift and bursting through the corridors, jumping through the doors, the glass panes shattered from the quaking ground. The floor suddenly gave way beneath Amelia's feet and a scream slipped her lips, frantic arms shooting out to be caught by Fury and he pulled her back, clinging to her as they ran the remaining length of the corridor.
"We're clear upstairs, sir, you need to go." Coulson reported over the radio as they burst free of the building and out onto the helipad.
Amelia's arms shot to her head as the streetlights exploded around them, sparks lighting up the dark sky, and Fury all but threw her into the helicopter, diving in after her as the wheels left the ground, the gushing wind formed by the spinning rims tearing her black hair free of its loose tie.
The ground cracked under the helicopter as it took off, caving inwards, and a matter of seconds later the entire compound began crumbling into the earth. Amelia watched, aghast, as it all disappeared in a flash of fire, blowing up huge dust clouds. "Oh my god." She breathed, clutching her fingers tightly in her lap and working to ignore her frantic heartbeat.
The helicopter swerved around, keeping low to the ground, and Fury drew a handgun from somewhere in his jacket, leaning out the side door to aim, the gunshots barely audible over the violent wind.
Another shriek tore from Amelia's lips as a bolt of energy struck the helicopter, the force throwing her into the door, and fire ripped through the tail end.
"Stark!" Fury yelled, grabbing her arm with a gloved hand, and yanked her out of the helicopter as it began to spiral out of control.
The two of them hit the ground hard and Amelia bit her tongue from the jolt, tumbling into the dead grass as the taste of coppery blood blossomed. The helicopter tore into the earth as it ground to a halt several paces above them, throwing up puffy clouds of dust and the roaring flames lit up the night like a beacon as Fury lifted his gun again, firing aimlessly at the escaping god and his gaggle of stolen servants.
"Director?" Amelia caught Coulson's voice emanating from Fury's radio as he awkwardly stood. "Director Fury, do you copy?"
Amelia rolled onto her back, eyes closed against the chill night air, breathing out heavily as the adrenaline seeped into the dusty earth beneath her. "The Tesseract is with a hostile force." Fury reported, speaking into the radio, "I have men down, Hill?"
"A lot of men still under." She replied and she sounded tired, "I don't know how many survivors."
"Sound a general call." Fury instructed, "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."
Amelia rolled her head sideways, finally able to catch her breath, and opened her eyes to stare at Fury, studying the dread, the blunt fear in his usually unreadable features.
"Roger that."
"Coulson, get back to base, this is a Level Seven." Fury's tone darkened and Amelia pushed herself into a sitting position, propping herself up with one arm and her breath stopped with Fury's next words.
"As of right now, we are at war."
A/N: And yes, for those of you wondering, I stole the dancing scene from Red Notice because it fit so perfectly.