"What's my first task?"

Motivation was not hard to come by after learning of the horrible circumstance that fell upon my mentor. Even more than that... a fatherly figure to me. The hesitation left with his image on the top of the list of victims manipulated by this supernatural villain. There was no longer a question as to whether I would accept. No pros or cons to consider.

I accepted the mission in a heartbeat.

Stark didn't try to fight my decision, nor did he attempt to question. It may have been because I never gave him the chance, or he could hear the distress that took hold of my voice.

Nonetheless if I ever did offer him the chance of a word in, Coulson certainly wouldn't have. He wasted no time in giving instructions and sending me off to pack.

Five minutes later I was ready.

I was determined to do this right and save my mentor from this dreadful circumstance, and make this villain pay for what he did.

Even so...

My first mission. It was a dream come true; an opportunity to prove myself worthy of an agent title.

Coulson had long gone by the time I was packed, having many other places to be, but not before leaving instructions to meet him within the hour at the harbor. Meanwhile I strolled through the car garage, consciously modeling my black trench coat while shouldering a black, leather backpack - despite the lack of audience - holding the basic necessities I anticipated in needing, including my new spy gadgets.

I strolled through the garage and towards my motorcycle, when Jarvis gave an announcement through my earpiece. "Miss, Mr. Stark is on the line for you."

Probably looking for an update already. "Boy, hardly ten minutes and he's already on my back." I tapped my earpiece to answer. "What is it Tony?"

"Hey kid, I'm sending you a copy of the SHIELD files. I'm not the only one with homework."

"Thanks Stark, I'll look it over."

"You ready kid?"

"I hope so," I said with a sigh, slipping on my motorcycle helmet. "But it's SHIELD that's putting their trust in a teenager. I hope they're ready."

"None of this was ever in the job description," Stark explained. "We need all the help we can get."

Sounds like desperation. "My first mission and against something I've never faced. Yet here I am. A teenager meant to be an advantage."

"We've never faced something like this before. We're all in the same boat."

This was true. But I was inexperienced and didn't understand the struggle. "Well, I pray they don't regret their decision."

"You got this Jack. They picked you for a reason."

I scoffed slightly and mounted my motorcycle, itching to get on with the trip. "Let's hope I begin to think the same. I gotta go. See you at the base."

I hung up and flipped down the visor of my helmet, input the directions to the harbor, strapped down my backpack tight, adjusted my footing, tested the engine and sped off into the street.

Fury had requested my presence ahead of Stark so as to be of assistance in tracking down this magical personage. Although I knew nothing of this, having no exposure to another being of magic, let alone tracking one down, I wasn't sure how much help I could be being sent early. But I accepted. I knew it would give me a chance to make a good first impression for the Avengers as well as SHIELD.

I had a feeling their first glance would give them a reason not to rely on me. Could I blame them? So I had to show them what I was capable of.

As I sped through the city, snaking my way between the cars I decided to pass the time with some studying.

"Jarvis, what's my time frame?"

"You have precisely twenty-three minutes and sixty-six seconds until your arrival."

"Please, I can do better than that," I scoffed. "Nevermind. Pull up the SHIELD files Stark forwarded to me."

With a flick of my thumb I switched the controls of my motorcycle to auto so as to focus on my studying. From what I saw on Stark's screen, there was a lot to be done.

The visor was instantly filled with multiple windows containing more information than a library. Then again, with my brain capacity, I laughed in the face of libraries and scholars.

"Whatever this guy is up to he better have some good scientists on his side."

"How so?" Jarvis asked.

"Jarvis, this is... thermonuclear astrophysics. This is a subject of great complication requiring years of study and dedication. And not to be underestimated when used for the wrong purposes."

Then it suddenly occurred to me... the very reason this villain required the assistance of Dr. Selvig.

No wonder... I thought, scolding myself inwardly. "Dr. Selvig is an astrophysicist. No wonder he's needed. This villain needs him for his project. Wait... Jarvis, what is the name of this villain we'll be pursuing?"

Jarvis scanned through the files and pulled up the same image of the character I had seen back at the tower.

"Loki..." I read.

But as I read the name, it returned to me like an echo. Not as one of my own voice, but a voice I hadn't heard before, and yet a voice so familiar.

I shook the thought from my head and returned to reality, resuming the study of his image once again. "Loki. That sounds like a name of mythology. I know I've heard it once before."

"Allow me miss Stark."

Jarvis began searching the internet for any information of Loki, then pulled up a window of his results.

"Perhaps this will be of some use to you."

A smile spread across my lips as I read the description. "Norse mythology. Of course, I studied this when I was a kid. He's the god of mischief and lies, adopted brother of Thor and son to Odin." Wait... Norse gods are real?

None of it made sense. Here he had the Tesseract for some reason, one yet to be known by myself, and his name aroused all the more suspicion, especially since Norse was supposed to be exactly as it's stated: mythology.

That was a question for later.

"What could he possibly want here on earth when he has nine other realms to pick from?"

But there was something else behind this story. He had possession of the Tesseract, a cube of great energy and very dangerous in the wrong hands. He took it for a purpose, and I wanted to know why.

"Miss, Coulson is on the line."

Great. Now he's nagging me. "Put him on."

"Miss Stark?" Coulson's voice sounded.

"I'm on my way."

"Good," he replied. "Did you get the information from Stark?"

"I'm reading it now. This is some gnarly stuff."

"Trust me. It gets worse."

That's comforting. "Well, I do like a challenge."

"I'll be at the harbor upon your arrival."

"Don't get too anxious."

"Too late," he replied and hung up.