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"How did you find me?" I asked hesitantly, breathing in the steam of my drink.

"We never lost you, Alivia," Maria said, taking a sip from her cup, "We've kept our distance. Even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent."

"I know that. And I'm thankful for your help with that... incident last year. But you made it sound as though I had a choice when it came to joining S.H.I.E.L.D."

"You did, and you still do," Maria answered, looking sincerely at me, "I'm not here to force you to do anything. I'm here because S.H.I.E.L.D. is assembling a team of special skills agents to help take down a global threat. The Black Widow, Tony Stark, Captain America, Bruce Banner. You, if you're willing."

"And you think I belong fighting next to those guys?" I blinked, incredulous at the mere suggestion that I might be good enough to fight alongside them.

"We need all the help we can get to neutralize this threat. It has the potential to wipe us out."

"Us? As in the entire planet?" I asked, my heart hammering.

"Yes," Maria paused for a moment, extracting her phone and showing me a picture of a glowing blue cube, "This is the Tesseract. A few days ago it was taken out of our possession. And yes, it does possess the potential energy to wipe out the planet."

"And what am I supposed to do, cook it?" I chuckled in disbelief, "I don't think something like that is susceptible to fire."

"We captured the person who stole it, but we have yet to locate the Tesseract itself. Director Fury wants your help tracking it down and obtaining it, as well as containing the person who stole it."

"I can just barely light a tea candle at will, you really think I can find and take a magical cube from someone powerful enough to steal it from an international peacekeeping agency?"

"It isn't about what I think," Maria answered, leaning back, "But if you're interested in what I think, I think that S.H.I.E.L.D. could benefit tremendously from having someone with your skills on our side."

"And what if I say no? What will your Director do then?"

"It's entirely up to you what you choose to do. The only reason I'm reaching out in person to you now is because the situation is dire."

I looked down at my cup, still steaming like no time had passed since I'd made it. And yet it felt like everything had changed. Maybe because even then, even without thinking all that hard, I already knew what I would say. What I had to say.

"When do we leave?" I asked slowly.

"Now, if you're willing."

I nodded slowly. "I'll have to make a call. I have to cancel a dinner."

Maria nodded.

I dialed up Gale's cell, hurriedly explaining as best I could what was going on. Which was pretty hard considering I couldn't divulge any information regarding the Tesseract, Hill, or S.H.I.E.L.D. But Gale seemed to understand. The both of them didn't seem to be surprised by most things anymore since I'd told them about the magical space world of Asgard and my fire powers. I said goodbye, and they told me they loved me. I smiled. Gale's words offered me some comfort. But my hands still shook where they were wrapped around my cup.

I hung up, and Maria took me to her car. We both slipped inside, our destination being my apartment so I could pack my things. I started to give her directions, but she told me it wasn't necessary, and I flushed as I remembered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had apparently been stalking me the past year.

We arrived, and by then my drink had gone cold. I hadn't touched it at all. I didn't think I could stomach anything right now.

I dumped it in the sink when I entered, and hurriedly threw clothes and art supplies into a duffle bag. With a sad sigh, I placed the gift I'd been saving for tonight on Mae's bed, along with a note addressed to her and Gale, explaining what was going on in a little more detail. Hill was waiting for me in the car, so I was a little more free with my words. I folded it up and slipped it underneath the gift.

With that, I stepped out of my apartment, my bag over my shoulder.

I met Maria back in the car, tossing my stuff in the back seat. Then, she started to drive. When we'd left the city, she spoke aloud to her car, telling it to place a call to someone called Romanoff.

The dial tone sounded over the speakers, followed by the click of somebody answering.

"Hill?" A raspy female voice sounded on the other end.

"We've got Byrd," Maria said, giving me a sideways glance and a small smile, "You've got one more stop to make before the carrier."

"Where?"

"We'll meet you on a backroad," Maria answered, fiddling with the GPS affixed to the dash, "Otisville Road. Near Basher Kill."

"Be there in an hour."

With that, the call dropped. I recognized Otisville. It was some tiny town something like two hours outside the city. I estimated that we'd already been driving a good hour, so we'd arrive at roughly the same time as the woman on the phone.

"Look, I get the feeling you're expecting me to be able to wield a gun, do martial arts, and make—I don't know—fire swords," I said after a few moments. I lifted my hand and made an arc of flame dance over the dash, "That's about the best I can do with my fire. I've never held a gun, I'm halfway decent with a sword, and my friend Gale has been teaching me martial arts for less than a year. I don't think I can hold my own next to goddamn Captain America and Iron Man."

I remembered begging Gale to bring me to the dojo they'd been training at since they were a kid. After Asgard, I recalled feeling this burning desire to learn to fight. To protect myself. Clearly it would take a while to learn how to do so with my powers. So I decided to find other ways. I could hold my own hand to hand against a regular person, but someone strong enough to steal from S.H.I.E.L.D? No way in hell was I a match for that.

"We aren't expecting anything from you Alivia. Nothing apart from loyalty to us," Hill said, "We'll be able to provide a secure location for you to train, and in the meantime you'll work with the others to keep this threat under wraps."

I nodded, slow.

"And I'm sure if you ask nicely, you'll find that your coworkers will be more than willing to get you trained in combat and weapons."

After that, nothing but silence hung between us. Maria flicked on the radio, a rock station playing Another One Bites the Dust. I tapped my fingers on my lap to the beat, and the radio kept me occupied the remainder of the drive.

Finally, Maria pulled to the side of the road. Surrounding us on either side were trees. I heard a stream somewhere in the distance. The road was wide, and neatly paved, but we hadn't passed another car in a while.

"Where's your friend?" I asked.

Maria looked at me, and the peered over the steering wheel. Looking up. At the sky. I frowned, looking up as well. Then, as if on queue, a large black jet soared into view over the treetops. It hovered over the road, lowering slowly.

"Well, shit, I'm sure that's not going to attract anyone's attention."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. closed this road, and it stretches a few miles in either direction. We're entirely out of sight," Maria answered, grabbing my bag and exiting the car.

I watched from the safety of the passenger seat as the jet's door lowered, revealing two tall figures. One was a woman with short auburn curls, and the other a man with close-cropped blonde hair. They stepped out onto the road and greeted Maria. The woman, Romanoff, I assumed, peered past Maria to look at me. She gave me a wave and an amused smile. I fought the urge to sink lower into my seat, instead pushing open the car door and slowly closing the distance between us.

"You're Byrd?" Romanoff asked, folding her arms and peering down her nose at me.

"Alivia," I nodded.

"I'm Natasha. Romanoff."

"And I'm Steve—" the man started, extending his hand to me.

"Captain America, yeah, I'm familiar," I smiled, shaking his hand.

This was the guy we'd been taught about in history class. The guy who occupied an entire room at the Smithsonian. In front of me. Shaking my hand and smiling.

"It's great to have you on the team," Natasha said, draping an arm over my shoulders.

Maria handed Steve my bag, and headed back for the car.

"I'll see you guys up there," she said, before ducking inside her vehicle and making a U-turn, peeling off in the opposite direction.

Natasha and Steve led me up into the jet where a few others were huddled. My eyes travelled over them one by one.

One man I recognized as Tony Stark stood behind the chair of another man who piloted the jet. He gave me a polite nod when I entered, as the door behind me lifted shut. I was reeling slightly from being star-struck, meeting Iron Man and Captain America all in one day.

But that faded entirely when I heard a voice behind me.

"Alivia?"

I spun slowly, the familiar voice causing a chill to creep down my spine. "Thor?"

Thor stepped closer. In so doing, he revealed someone seated behind him, cuffed and strapped down. My stomach knotted as I put two and two together. The person who'd stolen the Tesseract. It was—

"No fucking way."

—Loki.

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