"We got Strucker.", Stark clarified. The color once again drained from Kara's face as she stared at her friends. Out of everyone, Loki and Steve had the most concerned looks on their faces. Natasha was prepared to catch her if ever she passed out again.

"Everyone, suit up.", the captain ordered, his features returning to their stern state. At the mention of these words, the Avengers headed their separate ways, all in the direction of their individual rooms. Loki grabbed this chance to wrap Kara in his arms, resting his chin on top of her head.

"Are you all right?", the god inquired, clearly upset. The brunette didn't answer his question, though; her mind was filled with questions at the moment, as well.

One of those questions was, "what the f**k was he doing with Wanda again?" Kara couldn't help but grit her teeth at the concept.

The prince noticed how she refused to respond, and how she didn't envelop his frame in her arms like he did. "What's going on in that beautiful mind of hers?", he thought. With this, Loki pulled away but kept his hands on her shoulders, afraid she would walk away from him or vanish.

"Is there something wrong?", he asked, earning a soft scoff from the woman.

So, there was.

"Is there something you want to tell me, darling?", the god pushed, trying his best to remain patient. Kara stared at him directly in his bluish-green orbs, practically boring themselves into his skull. Her eyes were beginning to turn glossy again, so she shut them and sighed heavily.

"I don't. Do you?", Kara replied. Loki's eyes furrowed together, puzzlement written all over his face. "I'm afraid I don't understand-" He was cut off by Kara using her powers of intangiblity and freeing herself from his grip.

"You heard the captain. Time to suit up.", Kara added blankly, turning on her heel and heading to their room. She left the Asgardian prince all alone in the hallway, still processing what had just happened.

Before Kara could enter their quarters, a voice called her from afar. She faced the person, only to see it was none other than Captain America himself. "Yes, Cap?", she asked, not looking him in the eye.

Steve sighed, the thought of Kara in a violent mood invading his mind once more. He put a hand on her shoulder, much to the dismay of a certain god, and gazed at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Kara. But I think it's best you stay here."

Kara stiffened. "Wh... what?" The young lady could not believe what she was hearing. The blond soldier pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kara, as much as I hate to say this, you don't seem fit to come with us on this mission at the moment."

The brunette blinked several times. Steve watched as she shifted back and forth from the visible spectrum, turning invisible and back to being visible. It was like she was... glitching.

"Your emotions are affecting your powers, Kara. I can't risk that.", he added, trying to reason with her. "Yeah, right. I'll just ruin your 'mission'. ", she retorted while avoiding his gaze, emphasizing the last word with air quotation marks.

"I can't risk losing you.", Steve admitted. This made Kara look back up at the man, only to see something she had not seen before in his ocean blue orbs: a hint of vulnerability. Her mouth opened slightly at his sentence, obviously taken off-guard.

By now, Loki had enough. "The boldness of this man to try and pry her away from me?", he exclaimed in his thoughts. He marched over them and stepped in between, his glaring eyes on Steve the entire time. "Captain, I believe you have a team to manage.", Loki snapped, his fists balling up and streaks of green light being emitted from his hands.

Kara knew that something would happen if she just stood there, so she quickly took hold of Loki's wrist and pulled him away from the scene. The god, however, still held his deadly gaze on the super-soldier, who merely reciprocated his actions.

As soon as they reached the room, she let go of his arm and plopped herself down on the bed. Loki simply stood there, studying her.

"Go. They're probably waiting for you.", she muttered, not once looking up at him. She began fiddling with her fingers again, causing Loki to approach her and take her hands in his own. "You know how I hate it when you do that."

Kara found it odd how she didn't feel the familiar sparks of his touch, nor did she melt at the sound of his husky voice. She blamed it on her thoughts, images of Wanda and him together yet again. "Go on, Loki. I'll just stay here.", she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. Kara pulled her hands away gently from his, cautious that he might get the wrong idea.

Little did she know, Loki already had that idea. He stood up straight, a hurt expression on his face, and gave her a curt nod. "We will talk about this when I get back.", he stated, his voice sounding rather grim. No more words were spoken between the two, as Loki exited his quarters.

-x-

The Avengers stood outside the building where Strucker was supposed to be. What they found odd was that there were no guards roaming the grounds. "Seems Strucker needs to have a security upgrade.", Sam commented, viewing them through his enhanced goggles.

"Don't let your guard down. For sure, there must be cameras around.", Steve replied, his eyes searching for possible traps.

"That's witty, Cap. Don't let your 'guard' down! Get it? 'Cause there are guards and all...", Clint piped up, amused at Steve's unintentional pun. Instead of snickers, all he heard were sighs and the occasional cursing at the other end of his earpiece. "Yeah, you guys are fun.", the archer muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Don't worry, Barton. I laughed. Just, on the inside.", Stark commented, and it was Rhodey's turn to roll his eyes.

"Focus. We're here to save Fury and whoever else is in there.", Steve interjected, devising a plan in his head as he continued to study the perimeter. "Now, all of you. Listen."

...

Meanwhile, Kara had the compound all to herself. Well, almost all. She had some fellow SHIELD agents to keep her company and in check. Not to mention, her ex-friend who absolutely despises her guts.

For what seemed to be the first time in like, forever... Kara was alone. No one to talk to, no one to annoy, no one to watch television with.

"You're exaggerating. They're on a mission, which you could have gone with if it weren't for your damn overthinking.", she told herself as she stared at the ceiling of the god's room, hugging her small frame.

"Blaire isn't wrong, though.", another voice started, which Kara recognized as her subconscious. She rolled her eyes and slammed a pillow over her face, trying to block out her negative thoughts. "It's obvious that your friends view you differently now, with your little show back there.", it continued, scolding herself.

"It wasn't my fault. It was Blaire's!", Kara yelled back, throwing the pillow across the room. It landed on the ground, inches away from hitting the mirror hanging on the wall, much to her relief.

"Sure. That's what you do every single time. Blame.", the voice continued. Kara buried her head in her hands at this. "I don't know what to do."

"To add, Loki and Wanda seem to be hanging out again.", her subconscious spoke, causing the brunette to perk her head up. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you ask him where he was that night he went missing in bed?" Kara shook her head. "He probably just went to get a glass of water or something-"

"Kara, he's a damn sorcerer. If he wants a glass of water, all he needs is to snap his fingers.", the voice cut her off. The brunette shut her eyes, covering her ears in an attempt to make it all stop. "Admit it. You're too scared to find out what he was really doing, aren't you?"

"I-", she was interrupted from her words once more as she heard a loud thud from outside. The hairs on her arm stood up, and all she could do was mutter 'oh no'.

...

As Loki stealthily walked along the halls with Natasha and Clint by his side, he heard a ringing in his ear. The god tilted his head to the side immediately, putting the two assassins to a halt. "What's wrong, Loki-"

"Shhh!", he shushed the agent, sensing around for some possible danger. The prince couldn't explain why he began to feel so uneasy, like something was off. His worrisome thoughts were broken as soon as he heard his rival's voice through his earpiece.

"Where are you? Have you disabled the cameras already?", Rogers whisper-yelled. Loki rolled his eyes, opting not to answer his question. Natasha responded, instead. "We're almost there, Cap."

"Hurry up." The Asgardian scoffed. "The impertinence of that idiotic senior to order us around. Need I remind him of how I kicked his ass back in-", Loki stopped once he heard the sound of footsteps making their way to them.

"Sh*t, there are guards.", Clint muttered, preparing his bow and arrows. Natasha had her weapon, the "Widow's Bite" ready and pointed at their direction.

Once the guards came into view, they expected to see their wide eyes and hear their yells. Instead, they walked past them like nothing happened. One of the guards even tipped their hat off. Natasha and Clint exchanged glances. "What just happe-" Loki shrugged, smirking at the two agents.

"Master of Illusions.", the god boasted, peering at them in a ridiculing manner. "You can wipe those stupid looks on your faces. We have some cameras to take down."

...

Gunshots were heard in the compound. Kara hid under the bed in fright of what was occurring outside. "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t.", she repeatedly cursed, her heart pumping a thousand times per minute. Images of the ways she could die filled her mind, and were not helping her anxiety at all.

Her thoughts shifted to Blaire, who she realized was still in her cell. Without second thought, Kara crawled out of her spot and stood up in a rush, a look of determination on her features. "I'm going to make things right."

With all concentration, she shut her eyes and felt herself shifting from the visible and spectrum the physical realm. She noticed that she would revert to her original state from time to time, so she took in deep breaths to relax and calm herself. "Here goes nothing."

Kara exited the room, both powers in use. The first thing that caught her eye was the sight of an agent being thrown like an object onto their glass table. She covered her mouth to prevent the gasp from escaping her lips. As she stepped forward, a humongous man came into view, huffing in all ferociousness. He had jade eyes and ashy blond hair.

"What the f**k is that?", she muttered to herself, her eyes roaming the man's body. He was undeniably an enhanced individual. "Must be one of Strucker's.", Kara continued. She bent down slowly to pick up one of the agents' guns. With a touch of her hand, the weapon became invisible like her, and she gradually pointed it at the man.

"I sense something.", another person announced. Kara whipped her head to see who had entered the room: a woman with a petite frame with fiery red hair which was complemented by her ruby eyes. She glanced warily at her surroundings, extending her arm and moving it from left to right.

The brunette didn't know what to do. So, she simply stood frozen in her place. "What is it, Sabrina?", the man asked, only to be shushed by the woman.

"Shut it, Rick. I'm trying to concentrate." Kara held her breath as Sabrina's arm stopped where she was currently standing. The young lady smiled wickedly. "We're not alone."

Before Kara could even blink, she was knocked over by another intruder. What startled her more was the fact that this person came from the ceiling. The newcomer landed on the floor with his cat-like reflexes, and Kara had a good view of him. He had steel blue eyes which matched his blue-black hair. "Interesting. She can turn invisible.", the young man remarked as he crouched down to take a good look at Kara.

"Off, Nathan. We're supposed to kill her, not flirt.", Sabrina retorted with a sneer, earning an eye roll from Nathan. "Fine, whatever. Let's just get this over with and go."

In an instant, Kara managed to turn invisible once more and throw a jab straight at Nathan's jaw, sending him backwards with a thud. Sabrina and Rick were startled at this, but their shocked expression was replaced with a look of outrage directed at Kara.

Rick cracked his knuckles and his neck, and practically lunged towards the brunette. Being intangible, Rick only passed right through her, hitting the wall face-first.

Sabrina face-palmed. "Never send a man to do a woman's job.", she commented, feeling around for Kara again. Once she sensed her, Sabrina balled her fist up, and conjured up a big ball of fire. Kara's eyes widened at this, and as the fireball advanced closer and closer, she focused all of her energy and shut her eyes.

The ball of fire passed through her again.

Sabrina groaned in frustration. "How am I supposed to kill this girl?", she whined. "I have no idea.", Nathan interjected from behind. Kara grabbed her weapon again and began firing multiple shots in their direction.

They gasped in unison. Just as they were about to take cover behind the now-destroyed couch, Rick acted as a human shield and stopped the bullets. The sound of the magazine running empty brought a smirk to their faces.

"Not so tough now without your gun, huh- oof!" Nathan was cut off by a punch in his stomach. Kara ducked down and kicked Sabrina's legs, causing her to lose her balance. Rick, who was noticeably angry, tried to grab her numerous times, but failed. Kara placed a number of blows in different parts of his body, stunning the man. One last uppercut did the trick.

When all of them were down and groaning in pain, Kara headed to Blaire's cell, hoping she was all right. "Blaire!", she called out, only to be met with a horrific sight.

The cell door was completely damaged, and there was no sign of her friend.

...

"Search every room. Fury must be here somewhere.", Steve ordered. They split into teams of three: Steve was with Sam and Wanda, Tony was with Rhodey and Vision, while Loki was accompanied by Clint and Natasha, with the addition of Thor. They started to unbolt every door they ran into, desperate to see their director again.

"Hang on, Nick. We're coming.", Natasha whispered to herself. Clint patted her on the back, while Loki merely stayed silent, for his mind raced of thoughts about Kara. "I think we shouldn't have left her behind.", the prince spoke softly, but everyone heard it nonetheless. "No one asked for your opinion, Laufeyson.", a familiar voice snapped, and the God of Mischief pressed his lips into a thin line while clutching the dagger in his hand tightly. Natasha hummed, making him look at her. She shook her head slowly, and Loki rolled his eyes at her.

"Where are the other subjects? Didn't Kara mention that there were others like her?", Rhodey inquired, to which Tony shrugged. "No sign of them yet. Let's find Fury first. Poor guy must be bleeding to death right now.", the billionaire responded.

As the moved further into the building, they started to lose hope. "Where is he?", Vision asked no one in particular. "I don't know, Vis.", a voice he recognized as Wanda's responded. The android swallowed and pretended to not hear a thing. Wanda shot her teammates a defeated look.

Just as they were about to give up, Thor caught sight of something. "Brother, what is that?", he inquired, gesturing to a silhouette with a spotlight shining on it. Loki's eyes widened, and so did the two spies. "Cap, I think we've got him.", Natasha muttered.

...

"No... Blaire...", she trailed off, pulling on her hair in spite. A blast of energy hit her with intense force, propelling her in the air and making her back make contact with the wall. She whimpered at the harsh action, and her vision became blurry.

Despite this, she could make out two people standing in front of her. One of them, she recognized as Blaire, free from her bangles. Blaire inhaled in satisfaction, raising both her arms and making the lights flicker at her will. The power then went off shortly afterwards, and all Kara would see was her shadow-like appearance.

The person next to her, on the other hand, was glowing with all brightness. Energy was surging through his body, highlighting his electric green eyes and platinum hair.

"I don't believe we've met.", he began, gripping her hand rashly. Kara winced at the contact, and could feel some of his energy burning through her skin. "I'm Max. Pleasure to meet you."

A blinding light shot throughout the facility, and all one could hear from afar was a mix of the screams of those inside.

...

As the team regrouped, they found themselves staring at the shadow. Wanda was about to approach it, but was stopped by Vision's hand. "We are not sure who that is.", he stated, failing to see the look of love Wanda was giving him at that moment.

Steve, with his eyebrows furrowed, cautiously walked towards the silhouette. He was followed by Tony, Thor and Loki, all with anxious expressions on their faces. "Director?", the soldier uttered, trying to get a better view of the person. The uneasy feeling returned in Loki's stomach, and this time, it was worse than the first.

"Stark, I don't think that's-", Thor's sentence was cut short when Steve tilted the person's head up, only to discover it wasn't Fury at all. What disturbed them the most was the fact that this was a corpse of what seemed to be a teenager, tied up in a chair.

As Natasha and Wanda joined them, they gasped in horror. "Wh-who is this?", Nat asked. Wanda felt her temple and shut her eyes. "He was one of the subjects.", she replied, tears welling in her eyes at the sight of the horrible tortures he endured.

"Something's written on his shirt.", Tony remarked, pointing to it. "Loki lifted up the fabric to see letters, which seemed to be written in blood, saying, 'Nice try'.

"What's that blinking over there?", Rhodey pointed to the blinking red light under the chair.

It didn't take long before they all put two and two together, with Steve yelling "Everybody, clear out!" as they scurried out the room. In a few seconds, the bomb exploded and debris started flying their way. All had their eyes shut in anticipation, but luckily, Wanda's force field kept them safe.

"Good job.", Vision commented, giving her a soft smile. he witch reciprocated his expression.

"I can't believe it was a damn trap.", Sam stated, vividly annoyed. "But, why?", Clint inquired.

Had they all given Loki a second glance, they would have seen the color draining from his face. "Brother, why have you gotten pale?", Thor asked, looking at Loki with genuine concern. His normally cold body got even colder at the one thought that had been on his mind as soon as they left the compound.

He managed to breath out a single word.

 "Kara."