Mered stormed back into the group of agents. Without warning, they trained their weapons on him. He didn't care. They wouldn't fire unless he did something stupid. His eyes were set on Mobius.

"You didn't tell me that she was enhanced!" He shouted. Mobius hushed him. He was right in front of the head agent now. He followed his request and lowered his voice. "At what point were you going to tell me? Right before she snapped my neck?"

"It was need to-"

"Don't give me that bull! This was exactly the type of thing you should have told me! Not only that, but you sent me in unarmed. How did you think that was going to end up?"

Mobius shrugged. "I figured you had enough sense to negotiate. Your file mentioned your skill in diplomacy."

Mered fought the urge to strike Mobius. Normally, he wouldn't resort to such violent reactions, but this man tried his patience. If he was trying to show Mered that they were on his side, he had a terrible way of showing it.

"Look, I've done all I can," Mobius said in defeat, "but we've got a lock on their general location and we're getting them out of here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mered could see the TVA agents' guns still aimed at him. If he had to, he could use Mobius as a shield. But there was still the issue of the device that controlled the time collar around his neck.

Mered nodded his head towards the hunters behind him. "So, what's with the hostility?"

"It's just a precaution" There was an unsteadiness in the man's voice. "I'm sending you back to the TVA."

Mered started to take a step forward, causing the armed agents to tense up. He slowly eased back. "You can't be serious! You brought me here to gain my trust, send me after your target, and almost got me killed!"

"I know this looks bad, but-"

"But what? I do seventy-five percent of your job and you sideline me to make it easier for you?" Mered balled up his fists. He had to calm down. Remember his training. "You have to let me see this through."

Something in Mobius's expression seemed sincere, but he was still bothered by him. Too many people held up masks. Nothing proved him any different. "Look, I get it. You don't trust me, but I can't trust you yet. Don't make this harder than what it needs to be."

He was right, obviously. Mered nodded, more for himself than for Mobius. Get in, play the part, be a good little soldier for now. He noticed two of Mobius's men flanking him. Mobius stepped to the side and pulled out a device like the one that had opened up the portal that had gotten them into Asgard. Mered walked in without putting up a fight.

It wasn't long before he was back in the plain beige coveralls again. He could feel a dozen eyes on him as the minutemen escorted him to wherever they planned on keeping him. They took him past several rooms labeled "time theaters". As they passed one of the rooms, he could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door.

Continuing down the labyrinth of hallways, the walls shifted to white. The walls were set diagonally, turning the hall into a hexagon. At the end was a large circular door that took up most of the space in the hall's end.

With a press of a button, the door slid open revealing a cell room with an orange energy shield at the back. The minuteman gestured for him to go in. Mered complied.

The man was caucasion, about an inch under six feet tall. His black hair peeked out of the bottom of his helmet. Mered walked forward and mistepped. He stumbled forward and grabbed onto the guard to catch himself. Without a word he walked into the cell, and the door closed behind him. He took a look around the room.

A pure white room from the floor to the ceiling. The cell smelled like a hotel room. It was larger than it had first seemed. To his left were three beds with a couple feet separating each. Behind him to the right was a couch and a couple of stuffed chairs surrounding a coffee table.

It could've been worse. He'd been in worse conditions trapped in enemy territory. He almost wished it were a situation like those. At least then he'd have an idea of where to go, how to get out. Anything from here was going to be a blind leap. Thoughts kept swirling through his head when a voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, new roomie!" A woman's voice shouted. The voice was energetic and outgoing. It was then that Mered had realized that he hadn't finished examining the room. In the right corner in front of him sat a thin, pale brunette in a chair at a dining room table with cards laid out. She was probably around his age, not that long out of college. Her beaming smile took him by surprise. She was wearing the same kind of coveralls that he was and a pair of black glasses over her brown eyes.

"Woah your eyes are so cool!" She said, referring to the differing colors of his eyes. The young woman seemed unphased by Mereds confused stare. She looked over her shoulder and called out to a door in the middle of the wall behind her. How much had he failed to notice? "Hey, Pete! The new guy's here."

The young man, whose name was apparently Peter, walked in through the door.. He looked slightly younger than the woman. Standing just under six feet, he had brown hair, a little lighter than his cellmate. The coveralls made him look scrawnier than what he already appeared.

Peter gave Mered an awkward wave. "Hey, I'm Peter. Peter Parker." He pointed bluntly at the woman. "And that's Darcy."

"Hey," Darcy snapped, "I wanted to tell him my name."

Peter put his hands up in defense. "You didn't say anything. I was trying to be polite."

Darcy looked back at Mered. "I'm Darcy Lewis."

"Jane Foster's assistant?" Mered asked.

She stared at him, taken aback. "And an electronics engineering major. Wait a minute, how do you know who I am?"

Mered took a deep breath. "Darcy Lewis: former political science major, intern to Erik Selvig, and later assistant to Jane foster. That's about all that's in the S.H.I.E.LD. files on you besides family background and financial history, call logs..."

"You're with S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Darcy interrupted.

"I was."

"What year are you from?"

"2014."

"That explains a lot."

"What's S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Peter asked, interrupting Darcy's questioning.

Mered took a moment to think of a response. "S.H.I.E.LD. stands for Strategic Homeland-"

"Hey!" Peter said before he could finish. He was looking at the playing cards on the table. "Darcy, you peeked didn't you?"

"Maybe a little." she replied guiltily.

These two were a mess. Whose decision was it to put him in with these two? They were chaotic and unfocused. "Guys, bring it in."

The two of them gave him confused looks. They acted like he was speaking a whole other language. Their stares looked almost like lost puppies. Civilians were often difficult to deal with. He could be social with them, but he often found it taxing.

"Look," Mered finally said, "how long have you two been here?"

Darcy and Peter looked at each other, back at him, then at each other again. Peter shrugged. "I don't know. Darcy, you've been here for what, six weeks?"

Darcy thought for a moment and sat up straight. "Yeah! And you showed up about a week later."

"And none of you ever thought of trying to escape?" Mered asked.

Peter shook his head "Nope. Been pretty comfortable so far. And I can't use my powers."

"What powers?" Mered's eyes widened with interest.

"I'm- uh, sticky." Peter said awkwardly. Darcy snickered with her hand over her mouth.

Peter sat back at the table and the two continued whatever game they were playing. Darcy told Mered to take the middle bed. He nodded and sat on the mattress. It was soft, but firm. He put his hand in the pocket of his coveralls and pulled out a small device so that it just barely showed from the opening. He examined it. The sound of loud voices filling the cell made Mered flinch. Peter and Darcy were bickering over their game. Mered shook his head.

Children.