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Natasha made for the door as she talked into her earpiece, not bothering to wait for me, or even tell me where she was going. It stung, until I remembered what Loki had said to me. About befriending someone as awful as he is. She probably thought my opinion of her had plummeted.

She stopped at the door. "Thank you," she said to Loki politely, "For your cooperation."

I turned my gaze slowly to Loki as she left, a venomous glare plastered across my face which seemed only to delight him.

"Ooh, I do hope I haven't tarnished your new friendship," Loki winced.

I took a couple steps closer. When I'd summoned the fire a few moments ago, I'd seen something flash in his eyes. Fear. The moment I'd registered it, it was gone. But it was enough. Knowing he was afraid of what I could do was enough. I was still afraid of him, but I wouldn't let that fear stop me from facing him.

"What happened to you, Loki?" I asked, folding my arms.

"I told you, all that time ago. I told you I was not the man you wanted me to be," he said, his smirk never leaving his face.

"But you were never this," I said, giving him a once over. His whole demeanor had changed. He walked with pride, but he walked like there was a weight on his shoulders. He walked like he would cut down anyone in his way to lift that weight. And I was putting myself directly in his way.

"This, pet, is what I have always been," he said, as he pressed a hand against the glass, "It only took Thor's ascension to the throne, and the discovery of my true parentage to become what I am now. What I always should have been."

"A villain?"

"A king."

"I knew you, Loki," I said, shaking my head. "I don't care what you tell yourself, but I did know you. I don't anymore."

"You'll soon find out who I am," he laughed, "But I know you, Alivia. I know you very well. And however you may have pieced yourself together on the surface, I know your powers will spiral again, as they always have."

"You don't know me," I said, turning for the way Natasha had gone, "You never did."

I retraced my steps to the lab, and wasn't surprised to find Natasha, Bruce, Tony, Thor, and Steve gathered there. But I frowned when I saw Fury. And when I caught a piece of their heated discussion.

"I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction," Bruce said as I entered, pointing to a screen that displayed some in-depth blueprint for a weapon.

I blinked, folding my arms and glaring pointedly at Nick. "I'm sorry, what now?"

"Little Al, just in time," Stark said, putting his arm on my back and leading me toward the screen, "The three of us have uncovered a secret plot. Riveting stuff."

"We're building weapons because of him," Fury said, pointing to Thor.

"Me?" Thor looked taken aback.

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned," Fury said.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor defended.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve asked accusingly.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war," Thor explained.

"A higher form?" I asked, my frown deepening.

"You forced our hand," Fury shot back, "We had to come up with some—"

"Nuclear deterrent," Tony shook his head, "Cause that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury raised his brows.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep—"

"Wait, wait. Hold on how is this now about me?" Tony interrupted Steve.

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

I tuned out of the conversation as it spiraled into an argument, everyone cutting in with their own opinion, jab, insult, or input. I felt my skin prick with heat, and I reminded myself to take deep breaths. In for five, hold for five, out for five, hold for five, repeat.

"Guys," I finally spat out, stepping beside Fury into the centre of the group, "I'm sorry to interrupt this excellent team building, but how exactly is this helping anything?"

"We aren't a team," Bruce shook his head, "No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb.

"You need to step away," Fury said carefully.

Tony put his arm around Steve. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

"You know damn well why!" Steve growled, shoving Tony, "Back off!"

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."

"For Christ's sake," I rolled my eyes.

"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve asked, getting in Tony's face.

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Tony answered coolly.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I've seen the footage," Steve argued, "The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

"Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"

"Oh my god, you're both useless," I rolled my eyes, stepping between them, "This isn't helping anyone."

"You people are so petty..." Thor remarked, laughing, "And tiny."

Bruce shook his head, "Yeah, this is a team."

"Agent Romanoff," Fury began, "Would you escort Dr. Banner back to his—"

"Are you serious?" I spluttered, turning to face him, "He isn't going to just blow up at the drop off a hat. If that's how we're doing things, you should lock me up too. Never know when I might explode."

"Besides," Bruce put in, "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case..." Fury began.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried!" My head snapped up and I met Bruce's gaze from across the room. His head sunk. "I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" Bruce's voice began to shake with anger, as his gaze shifted slowly to Natasha. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

"Doctor Banner..." Steve began cautiously, "Put down the scepter."

My eyes had been locked on Bruce's face. I hadn't even noticed him pick up Loki's scepter. Bruce looked down, seemingly surprised that he'd picked it up, as though he'd done it unconsciously.

Suddenly, the computer produced a tone that drew everyone's attention to it.

"Got it," Tony said.

Bruce set the scepter down, and stalked over to the computer. My eyes never left him. "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."

"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"I could get there fastest," Tony cut in.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it." Thor insisted.

"You're not going alone," Steve said, as he grabbed Tony's arm to stop him.

"You gonna stop me?"

"Tony, come on," I glared at him.

"Put on the suit and let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Or just continue like I'm not even here," I tossed my hands up, "Just cause I'm short doesn't mean I'm invisible, guys."

From behind me, Bruce inhaled sharply. I turned.

"Oh my god," he breathed, removing his glasses.

"Wha—"

Before I could get the question out, the ground imploded. A deafening boom shattered my eardrums. Fire enveloped me, but it wasn't mine.

This time, it burned.

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