"How we looking over there, Selvig?" Kate asks, her voice tense as she desperately messes with some equipment. Selvig knows more about this than her — which is why he's with her in one of SHIELD's basements — even after her discussions with Jane in the past year. Fury upped Kate's clearance one more level, finally to match Clint and Nat, to work on this project.

The Tesseract.

Everything was going fine up until now.

"Her energy levels keep climbing," Selvig replies.

Kate pauses a moment. "Her?"

"I can't stop it. I turned everything off, but she turned it back on."

"So, we really are gonna die. Great," Kate mutters, still trying anyway even though the thing's probably going to explode. They're evacuating the base now, save the two of them, the researchers, Clint, Coulson, and Fury and Maria Hill, who just arrived. Hill, however, doesn't enter the lab with Fury.

"Talk to me, doctors," he says, walking towards Selvig and Kate.

"Director," Selvig says, while Kate says nothing. They lead him around the lab, first to the Tesseract itself, contained in a circular set up that takes readings, placed in front of a track leading to a platform — the future portal to outer space. It's no Bifrost, but it's still cool.

Or it would be if they weren't about to die.

"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury asks.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig replies.

Fury's lips turn down at the corners, making him look more irritable and stern than usual. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

Selvig shakes his head. "No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's... behaving."

"I assume you pulled the plug." He glances at Kate as he says it.

She sighs as they head for the equipment. "Yep."

"She's an energy source," Selvig explains. "We turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..."

"I will add that I don't approve of this personification of the Tesseract," Kate says. While the Tesseract does seem to have a mind of its own, it's just generally uncomfortable. And why her? It feels much more like a dude to Kate.

Fury sends her a glare. "Not the time, Kate."

She shrugs. "Well, if we're going to die, I wanted to be sure you-"

"We prepared for this," he interrupts.

"But our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation," Selvig answers.

"That can be harmful," Fury says, and Kate grimaces, knowing he's referring to Dr. Bruce Banner and his Hyde-like pal. "Where's Barton?"

Kate gestures to the high ceiling. "Up in his nest, as usual."

Fury speaks into his radio. "Agent Barton, report." Behind them, Clint lowers himself to the floor via rope, sliding down it like a fire pole. He hurries over to them, and Fury says, "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."

"Well, I see better from a distance," Clint says as they move away, but Kate, messing with the equipment, can still hear them.

"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?" Fury asks.

Kate's attention is taken away by Dave. "Dr. Carson, it's spiking again."

She hurries over to him, looking at the readings. "Dave... this is not good."

Now even closer to Fury and Clint, she catches the latter saying, "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end." It hits Kate, what's probably happening, and she moves away, hurrying over to them.

"At this end?" Fury asks.

"Yeah. Kate said the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space. Doors open from both sides," Clint replies. Kate is almost surprised that he was actually listening.

Before she can say anything, the Tesseract pulses, sending out blue light and a small influx of noise. It does it again and again, shaking the ground, the whole building. The energy pulses get bigger, and Kate wonders for the umpteenth time if she can withstand the Tesseract like she can fire.

The energy begins swirling, then shoots a beam to the platform, growing a massive portal. Kate can see the stars through it, the swirling galaxy of stardust and dark matter and a thousand mysteries waiting to be solved. "Oh, my stars," she breathes. "Literally."

"We're all gonna die," Clint says.

Just then, the portal explodes, the energy spreading through the room. It's like a strong gust of wind when it hits Kate, and considering everyone else is also fine, she figures her continued survival has nothing to do with her condition. She turns from Selvig and the researchers behind her to face the platform, and there's a being there, right under the moving cloud of blue on the ceiling. More blue energy is on the being as though it's on fire, burning it, but it doesn't seem to be in pain. Other agents, aiming guns at it, approach slowly. Kate's hands twitch.

It stands, and she realizes it's a man: long, black hair, slicked back, his clothes like armor, dark gray and hints of green, including his cape. It reminds Kate of Thor and his Asgardian friends. His eyes are wild, and he's holding a spear with a blue, glowing gem tucked under the curved tip.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury shouts.

The man looks down at it, almost as if just realizing it's in his hand. Then, he raises it, jerking his arm back. A blue blast hits equipment in the back of the room, forcing a researcher to hit the deck. The man quickly leaps off the platform at the other agents, who fire guns at him. It does nothing. He throws what Kate can only guess are ninja stars — or something similar — at other agents, then fires the spear again. All in a matter of seconds.

Clint pulls Kate down as he hits the floor. "Hold off for a second. You're our secret weapon here." He gets on one knee, firing a gun at the man, along with others.

"I don't want to be a weapon," Kate grumbles, but she listens, watching. The man turns towards them abruptly, then fires the spear. Clint pushes Kate over again as they dodge, her shoulder hitting the ground hard. She sees the man through gaps in the tables they're behind, whispering, "I think now may be the time for me to be a weapon."

"Just wait," Clint replies, getting up and going for the man. He grabs Clint's wrist, wrenching his arm around.

"You have heart," he says, his accent English, airy yet sinister. He touches the tip of the spear to Clint's chest, and Kate's heart seizes, but he doesn't push it farther. He leaves Clint alive. Why?

Clint puts his gun back in its holster, and Kate knows that something is wrong.

The man walks away, doing the same to another agent. He turns to Fury, who has a case in his hand. The Tesseract. "Please don't," the man says. "I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier," Fury replies as Kate gets to her feet.

"Of course it does," the man answers. "I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Thor's brother," Kate observes. He turns to her sharply.

His expression is dark, and Kate pushes down her fear as he stalks over to her. There's a growing smile on his face, dripping with creepy. "I know you. Kate."

"Yeah, well, I don't know you," Kate shoots back, shifting her feet, her hands ready but wavering at her sides.

"My apologizes. I forgot; when we met, you couldn't see me, but I could see you."

Kate scoffs. "Well, that's not creepy at all." He steps closer, the spear out in front of him, and Kate scoots back, arms raising. "If you come any closer to me with that thing-"

"What?" he taunts, sounding interested. "What will you do?"

Kate glowers, scared. "You'll back up and put that down unless you wanna find out."

"Am I being threatened?"

"Are we?"

He smiles again. "I like this one. You've got the temper." He gets closer, the spear headed straight for her chest. "You just need to open your heart-"

She brings her hands up, setting them ablaze quickly and crossing them back down, hitting the spear with her forearms. It falls out of his hand, clattering to the floor as she kicks him in the chest. He stumbles back, but quickly regains his footing and they both lunge for the spear. Kate beats him to it and spins it around before he can get any closer, burning hands shaking as she stares him in the eyes."That's what I'll do," she warns.

He studies her for a moment, eyes flicking from her face to the spear. "Give me the scepter."

"You're funny."

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the agent he touched with the scepter pull out his gun and aim it at her. Like he's controlling him — is that what happens when he touches him with the scepter?

She shifts, but doesn't give in. He can go ahead and shoot her, but she'll be sure to get off a shot with this thing first, even it means never finding out why he's here or how the scepter works or anything. Even if it means killing him, to save everyone else in here.

It's like he senses it; the agent's gun instead points at Clint. Clint's gun, out of the corner of her other eye — she won't look away from Loki, not for anything — points at Fury.

"We have no quarrel with your people," he says, not a hint of fear in his voice.

Loki smiles, walking closer to Kate. She can't bring herself to fire, not knowing who it will hurt. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

"You planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Kate spits, fighting to keep her voice from shaking.

"I'll tell you once you give me the scepter," he replies. "Now. Or your friends are going to die."

Kate glances at the agent, at Clint. Their guns cock. Her grip begins to slacken, and Loki walks closer, snatching the scepter right out of her hands. He winces, pulling his hand away and shaking it, trying to hold it in a cooler spot. Kate smiles, and he rolls his eyes, examining the bending staff of the spear with a frown.

"I have come," he says, walking away from her, toward the middle of the lopsided circle of everyone that's left, "to free the world from freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart-" he abruptly turns, touching the spear to Selvig's chest "-you will know peace." Selvig's eyes turn black before his irises go bright blue — Kate's sure of it. She look at Clint's eyes. They're supposed to be light blue, almost green. They're not. They're electric blue. The color of the gem.

"Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing," Fury says.

Clint speaks up. "Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us." Kate's heart sinks; he called Loki sir, and, truth be told, she forgot about that threat with everything else going on.

"Like the pharaohs of old," Fury says.

"He's right," Selvig adds. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. We have maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Unless your calculations are wrong," Kate fires back. She knows they aren't, but she's scared and desperate.

Loki looks at her. "I know who in this room can lie to me, torch. I'll take my chances with your colleague." He looks at Clint, who suddenly grabs his gun and shoots Fury.

"Fury!" Kate shouts, her fire going out as she runs to him. The bullet hit him in the shoulder; he isn't dead.

Kate looks up, finding Clint's gun on her, but he doesn't fire. His hand shakes, only slightly. Kate, on her knees, brings her own shaking hands up again, the flames growing larger. "I'll make that portal blow even faster, just try me."

Loki rolls his eyes, looks at Clint again. "I don't have the time for this. Let's go."

Selvig reaches for the case Fury dropped, but Kate lunges for it, extinguishing her fire again as she grabs it. Selvig gets his hands on it, and they fight, pulling it back and forth. He's stronger than Kate thought.

Suddenly, someone's arms are around her, one around her middle, the other her shoulders, yanking her back roughly. Clint. The other agent grabs her hands, which she starts to heat up gradually. She doesn't want to burn him badly; she knows he's an unwilling participant, just like the others. His, Selvig's, and Clint's clothes are definitely fireproof per her design, but their skin isn't. Her heart beats wildly.

"Come on!" Loki demands.

"Sending minions because you won't fight me yourself?!" Kate shouts. Clint pulls her shoulder down and forward, jerking her to the side. Selvig and the other agent pull the case free from her grip, and Kate lights up, throwing a fire ball at Loki. He dodges, glaring back at her. Clint throws her to the ground before taking off with the others, too quickly for her to give chase. And Fury's still bleeding on the ground besides. She crouches next to him again.

"Stop them," he groans.

"You think I can fight four people — one of whom has a magic spear — by myself? You've been shot, you need help, and we need to get out of here."

"Get my shot," he instructs, and Kate grabs the temporary pain killer/adrenaline from his jacket, putting the syringe in his hand. He injects it into his own arm, then grabs his radio. "Hill, do you copy?" he struggles as Kate helps him stand. "Barton has turned!" Hill doesn't respond. "They have the Tesseract! Shut them down!" They run out of the room as the blue energy starts pulling objects up towards itself. Including Kate and Selvig's research. But Fury's hand is on her arm, pulling her up the stairs so she can't turn back. Pulling her all the way outside.

Coulson's voice comes through Fury's radio as they make it to the helicopter. "We're clear upstairs, sir. You need to go."

Kate pushes Fury into the helicopter, and he grabs her arm again, pulling her up as the ground cracks beneath them. They take off, and Kate looks down as the whole base sinks into the ground, and her heart goes with it.

They pass over the road exiting the mountain, and a SHIELD truck speeds out of it, Loki in the bed. The helicopter circles around, getting closer to them. Fury flings the door open, fires at the truck as it turns off into the desert sand. Loki fires with his spear in retaliation, and the helicopter starts going down.

"Jump!" Fury shouts, grabbing her arm, and Kate has no choice but to follow him out the door, wondering how she ended up here.

She rolls as she hits the ground, definitely getting bruised but luckily not worse. The helicopter lands on its side, the spinning blades digging into the earth until it finally stops. Fury shoots at the leaving truck, but it does nothing. They're gone.

"Director?" Coulson asks on the radio, taking a small weight off Kate's heart. "Director Fury, do you copy? Where's Kate?"

Fury lifts the radio again. "The Tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"

"A lot of men still under. I don't know how many survivors," she replies, lifting another small weight.

"Sound a general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."

"Roger that."

"Where's Kate, Director?" Coulson insists.

"With me, Coulson," Fury replies. "Get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war."

Kate breathes in, turns and looks at where the truck drove off. Where they were before they slipped away — Selvig, Clint...

It suddenly hits Kate that Dave never ran out with them. That Loki probably killed him when he fired at the others. Kate closes her eyes, fighting tears and the heat in her hands.

"Don't worry," Fury says. "We have copies of your notes."

"That's not what I was thinking about," she snaps, hands flashing red.

He sighs. "I know."

She breathes in again, this time shakily, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "So, what now?"

Fury looks at her, clearly in thought. "I may have an idea..."

It hits Kate a second later, what he's talking about. "Is it... team up time?"