"I think it's about the mechanics." Bruce stated. "Iridium. What did they need iridium for?"

"It's a stabilising agent," a sudden voice sounded behind me. My head whipped around to see Tony stepping in with Coulson and muttered something to him which I was only able to catch, "We could just take you on the jet and fly you over." I rolled my eyes at his suggestion. He always tries to invite people over, trying to impress people with his fame when the whole world already knows who he is.

"It means that the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did in S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony said as he walked up to everyone, leaving Coulson to do his work. He walked over to Thor then patted his shoulder. "No hard feelings, Point Break. Just a mean swing." He stated to Thor then continued to walk to the controlling panels that I just noticed.

"It also means that the portal will be able to be open as wide and as long as Loki wants," Tony said and I shook my head. But iridium is very hard to get anyways. He suddenly muttered something as all the agents looked at him, including Maria.

His arm then pointed out. "That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice but we did." In the corner of my eye, I noticed Steve looking around for the guy.

Tony covered hus left eye with his hand for a second then looked at the panels. "How does Fury even see these?" He asked, referring to Maria.

"He turns." She explained.

Stark scoffed and continued turning around looking at the panels. "Sounds exhausting," Let the sarcasm begin. "The rest of the raw material that agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily will be majorly componentry needs is a power source or high energy density." And then his hands did the click with his fingers and looked at everyone. "And that will kick start the cube."

I snorted slightly at his sudden thinking. But something stopped me from continuing my snort. Ms sharp eyes noticed Tony placing something on the lower part of the control panel. Now what has he done? I'll have to ask later for that question.

"When did you become an expert in thermal nuclear astrophysics?" Hill asked.

"Last night." Tony answered. "The package, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory paper? Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Finally, Steve spoke up. "Does Loki need any particular power source?" He asked.

"He meant to heat the cube just to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the cool barrier." Bruce said.

"Unless Selvig firgured out how to stabilise the quantum - taulen effects." Tony came in.

"Well if you want that, you want to achieve the heavy ion fusion in any reactor in the planet." Bruce continued.

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony said.

"Is that what just happened?" Captain said and glanced at everyone.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner," and I believe his inner fangirl is about to blow out. "You're work on atni- electro collisions in unparalleled." Bruce nodded kindly at Tony's words. "And I'm a huge fan of the way.... you lose control.. and turn into a enormous huge green monster." With that statement, Bruce looked down at his hands and nodded, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Thanks." Bruce nodded.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube!" Said a booming voice. I looked behind me to see Nick Fury walking in. "And I was hoping you might join him." Fury said, nodding to Tony.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may look magical but it works a lot like a HYDRA weapon." Steve stated and looked at the two geniuses behind him. My ears perked up at the mention of HYDRA. Oh yeah.. Steve knew about HYDRA more than anyone from what I know.

"I don't know about that but it is powered by the cube," Fury commented. "And I want to know how Loki turned two of my sharpest men into his flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor asked, confused. "I do not understand.

"I do!" Steve said. As if he achieved something. "I understood that reference..." He said, looking at everyone.

Tony rolled his eyes and then looked at Bruce. "Shall we play, doctor?" He asked.

"Let's play some." Banner replied and off they walked together.

"Nera, if you'd like, why not know more about the Hellicarrier until we call you for anything?" Nick offered. I looked at him as he was about my height then nodded. "Careful not to break anything." He stated then turned around. I then rolled my eyes behind his back and began to walk off into the corridors.

"Can I have a stroll with her, Nick?" Steve asked politely and Fury nodded. Steve then jogged up next to me and I looked at him, giving him a questioning look. Steve only shrugged and walked by me as the silence flowed between us for the rest of the time.

~~~~~

"May I ask a few questions?" Steve suddenly asked as we headed to the second floor. I kept my head straight and just nodded.

"Go ahead." I answered.

"How did you become," He hesitated at how he was going to continue. I looked at him with a small smile. "this creature?" He wondered but also gave me a look saying 'what am I supposed to say?'

"Since you seem to know about HYDRA," that made him stiffen his posture as we walked. "I was basically experimented on." I explained, looking ahead. The memories suddenly rushed into my mind as if the events happened yesterday. I shook my head then glanced at Rogers.

"So I believe you can't change back to your normal self?" He asked, feeling the curious tone edging in his question. I sighed then shook my head.

"I've tried a few times but it never worked," I continued. "So now, I've accepted of who I am today and let it be." Steve nodded.

We walked up to a room that was surprisingly empty and it's walls were just windows. There were chairs placed around the room. I walked up and watched the view. Steve came and sat down beside me. The memories suddenly came back and then I decided to let it all out and tell Rogers.

"I was 14 when it all started," I started.

----

A young black haired and short girl hurried down the night streets of New York. It was known that it was unsafe for small kids and girls like her to roam around the streets. Yet she had no choice.

The moon and stars shone down, lighting the streets for her. The night was chilled and Nera rubbed her exposed arms. Her blue eyes watched around her as she walked fast to her home. She had tried to call her father with her small, broken cellphone but no answer cane out. She sighed and walked home.

Her apartment takes about 10 more minutes to reach from her spot. Suddenly, Nera's small ears caught footsteps behind her. She looked back to see 3 men walking in the same direction she was. Suddenly, she began to worry.

Nera walked down the streets finally nearing her home. As she glanced back, the three men were only a few feet away. Then she began to run in fear. Her feet carried here as far aways she can. But soon the men began to sprint behind her.

The young girl screamed but was then covered by the mouth shortly and was dragged into an alleyway. The hand was removed so she can breath.

"Get it out! Now!" One of the men on her right spoke.

"P - please don't hurt me." Nera whispered. She lost hope because she knew if she screamed, no one would here her since no one was outside in the night.

The man on her left grabbed her arm roughly and jabbed a needle in to her arm. She yelped and tried to move back but she was held to the ground. Nera kept on trying to struggle but her body had gotten weak from that needle.

"No!" She whispered and kept fighting but it was no use.

Black spots covered her vision and by the second, she was out cold.

----

They've now kept Nera in a prison-like place for about a year. She was now 15 years old and trying to depend on herself.

She sat huddled into a corner of her big cell that had nothing at all except for for a broken bed on her left corner and that's it. Although, they've been feeding her well.

She couldn't know where she is since there was only a small window up on the roof, giving her the light she needed for the day and a small light bulb next to it.

Nera's door cell began to open and she sat back, worried. She had given up hope that her parents were ever going to look for her.

"C'mon, kid. You're up." The American said to her. He came in and picked her up by force. She couldn't fight back because he looked strong. He put her on the ground and held her shoulder forcefully so she won't run away.

Sighing, the young girl was dragged into another room. Other prisoners had sympathy for her since she was the youngest one around but some were nasty to her, spilling things on her for no reason.

As she went into a room, it had metal all over the place. The floors, walls and ceiling were metal. The room had all the medical equipments you could think off.

Being pushed forcefully, the young blue eyed girl was lead to a hospital bed in the middle of the room. Seeing all the equipments, that scared her more every second.

"Sit down." The man said harshly in his deep voice. Nera winced then did what she was asked. She didn't want any trouble. So she hopped up and sat silently, looking at her hands and thinking what they could do to her.

She's been a year in this place and heard things but didn't know if they were true. Nera heard that people were tortured in different places of the place she was in. After hearing multiple similar stories, her fears grew.

Big footsteps made her jump in her place and looked up to see and bold doctor coming in. He wore a black leathered jacket and black pants with of course, glasses. A sick smile grew on his lips which made chills run up and down Nera's spine.

"You may leave, Curt." The German accent clear in hisvoice. The man that was with Nera nodded and walked out.

"Nera Malkoff. How are you?" He asked as he walked up to her. Nera stayed silent. "My name is Baron Strucker." He introduced. Nera only kept her head down while the man walked around getting things ready for the poor girl that didn't know what was happening.

"What are you going to do with me?" She asked quietly yet still heard. Strucker was slightly surprised that she finally spoke.

"Young girl, I will help you achieve something that you never had in your life," He said and turned to her, motioning for her to lay down. Nera sighed then layed down. "We'll make become you something valuable."

The word 'make' made Nera freeze. What do they mean make? Baron walked up to her and brought a needle. The container it had was of course red blood but you can spot yellow dots in them. Nera was never a fan of needles. She squirmed away but then Strucker held her arm forcefully and dug the needle into her arm. "Now now, Nera. We don't want to have any trouble." He spoke. Nera's eyes watched the container empty as it was sent into her blood streams.

"What are you doing?" She suddenly asked in fear as soon as he pulled the needle out.

"Like I said, Nera. You'll bec-" his smile suddenly faded as he noticed a change in appearance in Nera's arms. Before the little girl realized his facial expression, pain shit up through where the needle came in and then travelled up to her chest. She yelped and jumped back to the floor, landing in her back.

The pain then spread all over her body which soon became unbearable. She groaned but couldn't scream as she felt her throat dry so suddenly. She curled into a ball as the pain kept going through around.

"Guards! Take her!" Strucker called out. A sudden mix of a whimper and a growl escaped Nera's lips. Her body jerked around a few times until she was curled into a corner. By the time, soldiers were coming down the halls to the lab.

Nera's eyes looked down at her hands as they were being covered by what looked like red scales. Pain traveled mostly to her back and lower spine. As she looked wide eyed at her hands, they were now covered with full red scales. Her nails grew into yellow claws. The deep pain suddenly made her cry out. The cry made everyone freeze in the lab. The cry wasn't a human cry but an animal roar. The young girl's hair began to fall and soon replaced by horns and scales.

The guards proceeded but Baron stopped them. "Wait." He said as he observed the dark figure in the corner move. The figure suddenly stopped moving. Nera's body was so weak by now and she couldn't do anything. The amount of pain soon made her black out and her body layed limply on the ground.

Strucker then nodded. "Take her back," feeling amazed, Strucker was smiling victoriously. The guards came and 3 of them held her up, since her little body size changed which doubled.

Being thrown into her cell, the prisoner in the opposite of her looked at her shocked. Everyone that saw her was shocked yet felt sympathy.

Later on, years passed as everyone had gotten used to her looks. Nera was 19 by now. She was never set out and she's been wanting for it. Her friends who were prisoners were now closer to each other. Every night, they spent the times planning their escapes. And luckily, they were ready to be released since all the prisoners around her were now mutated like her yet no appearance had changed but only their powers have been added.

Tonight, it was the night everyone can escape. As the night fell, everything was dark and no one except for a guard was left checking the halls.

One of the prisoners began to groan and whimper loudly from pain which he was faking. "Help! I need help!" He cried out. The guard walked passed her cell as everyone watched until he was out of sight. They all waited until they heard a cell open then a thump and a thud was heard. The next moment, everyone heard the sound of keys dangling. People smiles happily as the prisoner opened each door.

As soon as everyone was free, they all began to head out. They found a fairly large window that was enough to fit two people through. They all glanced at each other then lastly at Nera. This was very easy for a prisoner to escape. 'Why would they build something like that though?' She thought. Sighing, she stretched her newly scaled wings upwards and crouched.

In the next second, Nera was sprinting until she smashed herself into the window which broke into pieces. She fell out and landed down at hard yet soft ground. As she looked down, she noticed that she landed on snow. Looking up, she heard the shouts of men as they hopped out but stopped as they looked at the view.

Nera stood up and looked at the same direction. The place they were in was on a very high mountain. One of the prisoners came next to Nera.

"You will be able to fly off and we will be getting down from here," the American said. I looked up at him with a small smile.

"Thank you, Jack." Nera smiled as he patted her neck softly. She then looked around and noticed that it was worth the risk.

Alarms blared in the building behind everyone. "Ah shit. Go! Now!" Jack shouted and pushed Nera.

"I can't leave you!" She shouted.

"Leave us. We'll take care of this. Promise me you will go and never turn back!" He told, looking at her sadly but happiness was in his eyes.

Nera nodded and sighed. "I promise." She whispered and stepped back. She looked behind her and spread her wings that she never used before. She allowed her wings to feel the smooth air for a few moments.

Before Nera took off, gun shots were heard and she looked back in worry.

"Nera! I said go!" Cybe shouted as he ran with a few others in the other direction. Nera nodded and saw few soldiers aiming their guns at her. Her eyes widened and she quickly ran up without thinking and spread her wings, flapping them quickly which took her up higher into the air.

Having the new feeling, her wings moved rapidly up and down and trying to keep her balance. The sky was thick with fog but as she escalated, she reached a point where everything was clear. And Nera finally let out a breathe that she was holding.

For now, she only had to focus on flying and try to stay hidden. Her wings were surprisingly large since the past year they were smaller.

"Okay, let's try this." She whispered to herself nervously. Her now yellow eyes looked at her wings as she kept them straight. She was now flying at a high speed and thought of maybe trying to keep them flattened. The wind pushed harshly at her wings but Nera fought back. She kept on doing this until it was finally night and was glad that she ate a large meal to keep her alive for a while.

It was kind of cold at night but it didn't affect her. Her paws landed on something slightly soft. Nera looked down to see sand. She looked up and viewed her surroundings. She was in a desert. Sighing, she walked around for what felt like an hour and finally spotted a cave from a far.

Each year, the day landing on the day she had been turned, each sense grew stronger. By now, she had everything or that's what she thought.

She walked into the cave and stayed there for the night then took out the next morning.

-----

"And after a few days, Tony found me and well.... We looked after each other." I finally looked up at Steve to see him staring amazed with his eyebrows up and looking at his hands.

I chuckled then looked turned around. "Okay it's enough. Let's check up on the geniuses." I said and was followed my Steve down the halls moments later.

----

HEYO!

Ugh... I'm a terrible person. Sorry for not updating.

But dayum... longest chapter I've ever done..

Okay so I have something really important to post next later on. And I NEED EVERYONE TO COMMENT! Please..

Don't forget to vote and comment! :D