"Agent Hill?"

The short-haired woman gave a small laugh, ignoring Kara, Loki and Natasha shocked expressions. "In the flesh."

"Bu-but... ho-how... wh-why?"

"I told you, eyes and ears everywhere.", Maria replied. "I apologize for the location. This is my favorite food place, after all.", she continued, taking a quick look at the diner they were currently in. The God of Mischief sneered at her remark.

The trio began bombarding the agent with questions, and Hill was starting to get annoyed.

"All of you, sit down.", she cut them off, her face turning serious. The other two complied with her demand, eyes still on Maria who was sitting opposite them.

"I knew someone was missing back at HQ.", Natasha piped up. Maria shrugged. "Goes to show how invaluable I am to SHIELD."

Kara shook her head quickly. "Don't say that Maria. You are one of SHIELD's finest, if not, even the best.", she remarked, causing Natasha and Loki to look her way and raise their eyebrows at her.

"Enough of the compliments. We don't have much time.", Maria stated, looking around wearily. Kara leaned forward in anticipation, Loki rested his back on the chair, and Natasha had her fists on the table.

"I'm going to get straight to the point here.", she started. "Fury isn't Fury." With this, Loki slammed one of his fists on the table. "Ha! I knew something was off with that stupid mortal-"

Maria glared at him. "Hey. Say what you want about the impostor, but don't disrespect my boss."

"Then who is it?", Kara asked, reminiscing what had transpired the night before. Hill gazed at her curiously. "I don't know. But, remember the day you all arrived from your little outing?", Maria asked. The rest of them nodded.

"I took a sample of the blood writing on the wall. It took a few days before I got the results from the lab, but I managed. You wouldn't believe whose blood it was.", the agent said, before taking a sip from her coffee.

The trio merely stared at Hill, urging her to go on.

"It was Fury's."

Kara, Loki and Natasha exchanged glances, all had puzzled and slightly horrified expressions on their faces. "Do you recall what happened that day?"

Maria paused, bowing her head down. "Everything was normal. Fury was preparing the compound for your arrival. I was in-charge of roll call that morning.", she narrated. "Then, we suddenly heard shots being fired outside, and the screams of my colleagues. I remember the director telling me to stay inside and to alert everyone. He went outside, only with his gun in hand.", Maria added.

"The power suddenly went off, so the emergency lights kicked in. The sirens started blaring, and all I could see was red light. Someone was attacking us, I just didn't know if he came alone, or with backup."

Kara felt the urge to hold the agent's hand. Surprisingly, Maria didn't flinch.

"When did you start to suspect something was wrong with Fury?", Natasha inquired.

"First of all, his wounds had healed quicker than I expected. I still have my gash from that day.", she stated, pointing to a nearly-healed wound on her face. "Plus, he started acting... strange. His routine was different, and in all my years of working for that man, he always did the same things everyday."

Kara grew silent at Maria's words. That must be the unexplainable feeling that lingered in her stomach every single day, the feeling of being watched. Was this impostor watching her?

"Is that why you left? You were scared?", Loki asked, crossing his arms. Maria scoffed and shook her head. "He threatened to hurt my family, Laufeyson. Not only my family, but also you, Kara."

The god and the assassin glanced at the brunette in between them, who turned pale. "There was an attempt last night to kidnap Kara.", Nat stated, and Maria looked at the young lady with concern.

"Did you get hurt?", she asked, worry lacing her tone. Kara simply gave her an awkward smile. "She was kicked repeatedly on the stomach.", Loki answered for her. Sensing her discomfort, he reached her hand from under the table and intertwined it with his own. Kara unconsciously tightened the grip on his hand, resulting in a faint blush appearing on Loki's cheeks.

Maria shot her a sad smile. "I'm sorry to hear that. Look, when you head back to HQ, warn everyone.", Maria said, her jaw clenching at the last statement.

"Catch that son of a b*tch, and go find Fury."

-x-

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that feeling.", Nat remarked, clutching her head in her hand as she tried to regain her footing.

Kara shrugged. "Eh. It starts to grow on you, though. A few nights ago, when Loki took me out of the compound-"

"Loki did what?", the redhead cut her off, eyes open wide. Kara realized what she just said. Loki, on the other hand, seemed suddenly interested on the stray thread of his clothes.

"A few nights ago, huh? Tell me, where did you go?", the spy pushed, her arms crossed over her chest. Kara rubbed the back of her neck. "Er... um." The god beside her was mentally facepalming himself.

Natasha let out a breath of disbelief. "You...", she stated, pointing at the couple. "... have a lot of explaining to do once this is over."

"Sneaky little sh*ts.", Natasha added, muttering under her breath.

As their headquarters came into view, Kara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't realize she was still holding the god's hand until he squeezed hers gently. "I'm right beside you, darling.", Loki assured her, and Kara glanced up at him. It was as if time froze, and they could feel some sort of energy pulling them closer and closer to each other.

"Ehem.", a cough broke their moment. Natasha looked at them in mock-disgust, and rolled her eyes. Kara sheepishly looked away, while Loki snickered. "Bitter, Romanoff?"

"Shut your mouth, Laufeyson.", Nat retorted, walking towards the building. Kara and Loki followed suit. "Wait.", the god called out. The two ladies stopped in their tracks, with Kara eyeing the Asgardian curiously. Loki grabbed her arms and disabled the bangles, causing them to fall on the ground. He knelt down to pick them up, and made them vanish in thin air.

"Now, time to put your training to good use.", he interposed, giving her a look of encouragement. Kara smiled and reciprocated his expression. "Let's go.", the redhead spoke.

The first member they bumped into was Sam. "Sam, where are the others?" The man looked at them strangely. "Nat? But, I was just talking to you a while ago-"

"That wasn't me. It was an illusion.", she replied. Instead of getting clarity, Sam only got even more confused. "What are you-"

"No time to explain, Wilson. Be of use and tell us where they are.", Loki interrupted, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice. Sam rolled his eyes. "Clint and Thor are in the kitchen, I think. Wanda is in Vision's room. Don't know where Tony is. Rhodey and Cap's all over the place."

Kara nodded. "I need you to gather everyone, Sam. Someone's in here, someone dangerous."

As if it was coincidence, all of the lights shut off. The emergency lights turned on almost immediately, and the sirens began blaring once again. "Sh*t, we've got to move fast.", Kara remarked.

"Sam and I will get the others. Loki, help Kara find the impostor.", Nat ordered, running off with Wilson. Loki took Kara's hand and started searching around.

"What do you mean 'not Fury'?", Steve questioned, sprinting along with Nat and Sam. "Cap, stop being so damn slow!", Sam exclaimed, catching sight of Clint and Thor. "You, two. With us, now!"

"What's going on?", Thor asked, a bag of chips in his hand. "We need to find the others. We have a breach in the facility." The God of Thunder nodded at this, extending his hand. Mjolnir came rushing over, and as soon as it made contact with Thor's hand, Asgardian armor replaced the god's Midgardian clothing.

"I wished I changed that quick.", Clint remarked, and Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose. "Everybody, suit up!", Steve yelled, about to knock on Vision's door. Just as he did so, the android passed straight through his door, causing the archer to hold his chest in fright.

"Vision, you need to stop doing that.", Natasha commented, putting her hands on her hips. Vision gave her a curt nod, and a few seconds later, Wanda joined them.

"Is Kara okay?", she inquired, a concerned look in her eyes. Steve turned to glance at Natasha, who merely nodded in response. "Where are they now?", the captain questioned.

"Loki!", Kara exclaimed, as the God of Mischief was thrown on his back. Kara glared at 'Fury', who had a wicked grin plastered on his face. "I see you know my little secret, Kara."

"Where is Fury?", the woman yelled, lunging his way. She ducked just in time to dodge the man's jab. "Right here.", he replied, kicking her leg and knocking her off balance. Kara landed butt-first on the floor.

The impostor was about to grab her hair when he was suddenly pushed forward. Loki grabbed both of his arms and pinned them behind his back. Just as he did so, the man managed to break free from his grasp, grabbing a gun from his pocket.

The raven-haired prince quickly cast multiple clones of himself, surrounding the impersonator. 'Fury' lowered his weapon, but began shooting at clones, failing every time. "DIE, YOU PIECE OF SH*T-", he cried out, pulling the trigger numerous times. Meanwhile, Loki's clones proceeded to beating the heck out of the fraud.

When 'Fury' was out of bullets, Kara used this opportunity to turn invisible and place several blows to the man. The impostor helplessly accepted the punches in his face and body, but still attempted to shield himself from the attacks using his arms.

"You almost tried to kill me!", she yelled, after jabbing him straight in the jaw. "What do you f**king want from me, you creep?!", Kara asked between breaths, allowing herself to become visible to the eye.

"I WANT YOU DEAD, YOU B*TCH!", he screamed back, grabbing something from his pocket. He was about to throw it at Kara when a dagger suddenly struck his leg, causing 'Fury' to shriek in pain. Kara's eyes widened at this, and her head snapped in Loki's direction. The god was glaring at the man while he held another dagger in his hand. Loki strode towards 'Fury', but the brunette stopped him from approaching any further.

"We need to know who he is first.", she said softly, putting a hand on his chest. The god was still boring his eyes into the pretender's own, so Kara took his chin in her hands and made him face her.

"Shh.", she cooed, running her hand through his hair. When she was sure that Loki had calmed down, she slowly made her way to 'Fury', who was still crouching down and whimpering.

"It's your own fault, you f**ker.", Kara spat, squinting her eyes at him. She was met with an unamused laugh from his lips, and the sight of piercing grey eyes. Kara blinked.

"Why do those eyes look familiar?", she thought, eyebrows furrowing as she studied the individual beneath her.

"Is everyone alright?", Steve asked once he entered the room. His eyes immediately landed on Kara, then to Loki, and lastly on the bleeding impostor. "Yeah, I think we are.", the lady responded, standing up. The rest of the team surrounded 'Fury', all in their battle stances.

The fraud glanced up at them, shape-shifting into Steve at first. The soldier scoffed at this. "Nice trick. Not the first time I've seen it, though.", he said, causing Kara to glance up at him.

'Steve' grinned, then turned into Romanoff next. She continued mimicking the appearances of every Avenger, Kara being the last. "Oh, look. I'm a b*tch.", she commented, doing a pitiful impersonation of the brunette.

Kara was a bit angered at this, but calmed herself down. "Touching. Now, show yourself, coward."

"I'm the coward?", 'Kara' asked, noticeable stupefied, pointing to herself. "Says the one who left her 'only friend' behind while she basked in her freedom."

The others exchanged weird looks. Kara seemed utterly bewildered at the statement. Her mind rushed to remember who this person could be, who she left behind at Strucker's lab.

When she finally remembered, it was like the pieces of the puzzle fit in together. Her mouth opened in disbelief, as she crouched down in front of, well, herself. She reached out her hand, but the woman slapped it away in resentment.

"I had my reasons, Blaire."

"Blaire?", everyone else asked in unison. 'Kara' gritted her teeth, and slowly began to reveal her true form. Kara's eyes began to tear up, and she covered her mouth at the sight of her colleague. Loki knelt down next to her, a hand gripping her waist possessively.

"You know this woman?", Steve asked, focus fixed on Blaire. Kara gulped, staring at the lady on the ground with a mixture of regret and contempt.

"I used to."