Bruce Banner glanced up from his work in the scientific lab on S.H.I.E.L.D's flying base, to spot a certain god of mischief smiling darkly at him as he was escorted down into his new cage.

      The glass compartment compressed as Loki stepped inside and the lock closed. He looked around, trying to figure out how it worked.

      "In case it's unclear," Fury asserted, ambling over to the control panel in front of the cage. "If you try to escape," He flipped open a flap and began to dial in a sequence. "If you so much as touch that glass,"

       The floor underneath Loki opened up to reveal the clouds and sky below as he gazed down at it, air whooshing inside.

       "It's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap!" Fury yelled to be heard of the gusts of wind. "You get how that works?" He punched in a couple more buttons to close the floor together. "Ant," He gestured to Loki, and then to the control panel. "Boot."

        The god of mischief chuckled. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

       "Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury admitted grimly.

       "Oh, I've heard." The raven-haired man glanced to his left at the nearby camera. "A mindless beast."

       We listened on, sat around a circular table at the huge aircraft's control room.

        "Makes play he's still a man." Loki continued, making me flinch and clench my teeth. "How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

       I stared down at the small screen in front of me, trying to memorize his features. He looked like the Loki I knew... but he wasn't acting like it. How did this happen?

       I let a deep breath escape my lips, and my eyes widened in panic when it came out smokey like the rest of the room was colder than it should've been. I hadn't even known I was affecting the temperature. I delicately took my necklace from my throat and stuffed it into the pockets of my undershirt.

      "How desperate am I?" Fury, who I had been informed was the director of this establishment, shot back. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun." He stepped closer to the cage. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

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

        Fury glared at the Asgardian, before letting a small smirk cross his lips. "Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something." The man began to descend down a couple of steps when Loki called,

       "Wait." He turned to look into the camera beside him once more, even though he was speaking to Fury. "I'd like to see.... Thor's companion, (Y/N). There are certain matters we must continue to discuss."

        Suddenly, everyone's eyes fell on me, and I felt my face heat up. Whether from embarrassment, anger, or both, I didn't know. I swallowed thickly as a few of the agents around us began to shiver.

         Fury didn't answer Loki, and instead continued walking away.

       I felt a hand settle on my shoulder, and I almost jumped in surprise from the warmth of it. I turned to meet Thor's worried gaze.

       "Are you alright, (Y/N)?"

       I shrugged him off, waving my hand dismissively. "I'm fine."

        "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" The scientist, Banner, joked once the camera feed had been cut off.

          "Loki's gonna drag this out." Steve Rogers, the one in the blue suit, sighed. "So, Thor, (Y/N), what's his play?" He glanced up at us, lingering on me for a moment.

           Probably wondering why I'm the only one Loki wants to see.

         I let Thor answer, because I honestly didn't know what to say, or I either had too much to figure out than to be focusing on the task at hand.

         "He has an army, called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people." Thor announced. "They will win him the Earth, in return, we suspect," He nodded in my direction. "For the Tesseract."

        "An army." Cap repeated. "From outer space."

           "So, he's building another portal." Banner suggested, removing his glasses. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

          "Selvig?" Thor and I asked simultaneously.

         My stomach churned anxiously as I thought of what twisted revenge Loki was after, and if he had captured Jane and Darcy as well.

       "He's an astrophysicist." Banner explained.

        "He's a friend." Thor clarified.

       "Loki has him under some kind of spell." Natasha, the beautiful woman with red hair said. "Along with one of ours."

         "I wanna know why Loki let us take him." Rogers revealed quickly. "He's not leading an army from here."

         "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him." Banner argued, putting just the slightest smile on my face.

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

         "He killed 80 people in two days." Natasha recalled sourly.

           "He's adopted." Odin's son retaliated.

         I was about to let a chuckle escape my lips when Steve Rogers pointed to me and said, "You seem to know him quite well, and you've been awfully quiet."

       I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. I didn't want to seem pathetic and freakish by expressing how if I joined the conversation and argued over what Loki's plan could've been, I just might've frozen the whole damn base. So instead I said, "All I know is that Loki likes to be prepared and almost all of the time, this tactic gives him the advantage of being five steps ahead of us. But there are certain... flaws he has." That was an understatement. "He tends to underestimate aspects of people."

     "I think it's about the mechanics." Bruce bickered. "Iridium. What do they need the Iridium for?"

       "It's a stabilizing agent." Tony Stark, the man who I quickly learned was the one inside that humanoid metal contraption, resolved as he strolled into the room followed by Agent Coulson. "So I'm just saying, take a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland." He whispered to the man. "Keep love alive."

       Coulson, who looked extremely embarrassed, nodded weakly and left to do his job, while Stark turned to address us once more.

      "It's means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." The billionaire delineated, before he tapped Thor's bicep with the back of his knuckles. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." His eyes landed on me for a moment, almost as if calculating something.

        I shifted awkwardly under his gaze. "Sorry for blasting you with ice earlier."

        He hummed in response, and went back to explaining the iridium. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long as Loki wants." Stark stopped in front of a couple of control panels and gestured dramatically with his hands. "Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails."

        The agents around us stopped their work to gawk at the man.

        "That man is playing Galaga." Stark pointed in the direction of his right. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

        I felt the corners of my lips lift upwards in the slightest. This man was certainly something different. He almost walked into the room as if he owned it. The reactions of Steve Rogers and the other agents made it all the better.

        Stark's brows furrowed as he placed his hand over his left eye for a moment and flourished at the control panels around him. "How does Fury even see these?"

        "He turns." Agent Hill replied nonchalantly.

         "Sounds exhausting." Stark expressed, dragging his finger along the monitor screens. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton could get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density." His hand trailed down under the monitor for a fragment of a second, but no one seemed to mind.

         I quirked a brow as he continued, "Something to kickstart the Cube." His gaze knowingly landed on me once more, probably expecting me to rat him out.

       I pursed my lips and turned in the direction of Hill as she asked, "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

        "Last night." Tony shrugged, tearing his eyes from mine. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

         "We only got here a few hours ago." I recalled, waving a hand in Thor direction.

        "Does Loki need any particular kind of energy source?" Captain Rogers questioned.

        "He would have to heat the Cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Banner muttered, pacing back and forth.

        Stark nodded. "Unless Selvig has figured how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect."

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

          "Finally, someone who speaks English." Stark smiled, taking Bruce's hand in his own.

        "Is that what just happened?" Rogers mumbled, looking around at the others.

          I hadn't understood a word of what they just said, but at least it sounded smart.

          "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner." Stark greeted. "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."

            I let a sigh escape my lips as I physically willed myself not to facepalm.

            "Thanks." The Doctor said uncomfortably.

           "Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube." Fury announced marching into the room. "I was hoping you might join him."

            "I'd start with that stick of his." Rogers advised. "It may be magical, but it works an awful like a HYDRA weapon."

          "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube." Fury compromised. "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 gawked.

        I felt my eyes narrow in confusion as Steve's face lit up, and he gasped, "I do."

         Stark rolled his eyes behind the captain as Rogers looked rather proud of himself. "I understood that reference."

         "Shall we play, Doctor?" Stark turned towards Banner.

        "This way, sir." He replied, gesturing to the corridor behind them as they left.