Thor sets up the computer to watch the interrogation with the help of Phil Coulson. The agent also pulls up some information that he thinks will make Thor feel better. "As soon as Loki took the doctor, we moved Jane Foster. We've got an excellent observatory in Traunsee. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe."

"Thank you." Thor nods, now gaining some respect for the agent. "It's no accident Loki taking Erik Selvig. I dread what he plans for him once he's done. Erik is a good man."

"He talks about you a lot. You changed his life. You changed everything around here." Coulson knows that none of this would have happened without Thor. Without him, they wouldn't have rushed to build the very helicarrier they are hiding out in right now.

"They were better as they were. We pretend on Asgard that we are more advanced, but we come here battling like Bilchsteim." Thor says casually.

"Like what?"

Thor turns to look at Coulson who has a confused face. "Bilchsteim? You know - huge, scaly, big antlers. You don't have those?"

"Don't think so." Coulson shakes his head, surprising Thor.

"They are repulsive, and they trample everything in their path." Thor walks over to the side of the ship and looks down. "When I first came to Earth, Loki's rage followed me here and your people paid the price. And now again. In my youth I courted war."

"War hasn't started yet." Thor turns to the new voice and sees Nick Fury standing there. "You think you can make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?"

"I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield. It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance upon me." Thor looks back out the window. "There's no pain that would prize his need from him."

"A lot of guys think that until the pain stops." Nick slowly starts to walk down the stairs.

"What are you asking me to do?" Thor is starting to get a bit angry. This Nick character can't possibly understand what he's going through.

"I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?"

"Loki is a prisoner!" Thor uncrosses his arms and turns around to look at Nick.

"Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?" Thor doesn't answer Nick's question, catching onto what he's trying to say. There has to be something that they're missing, and hopefully they can figure it out soon before anything drastic happens.

Step, step, step. Loki folds his hands behind his back and looks down as he walks back and forth around his cell. All he has to do is wait, and he has enough patience to last a while. Suddenly, Loki stops walking and turns toward the entrance of the room to see Black Widow. "There's not many people who can sneak up on me."

"But you figured I'd come." Natasha turns on her interrogation act. One of the many skills she acquired during her time as a spy.

"You, or," Loki smirks and glances at the camera in the corner of the room. "that alien girl who seemed more set on catching me than any of you."

Natasha is surprised that Loki guessed the two females who indeed want to interrogate him, but she doesn't show her shock. "I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton."

"I'd say I've expanded his mind."

The spy feels her nerves kick in as she thinks of all the many answers Loki can give to her next question. "And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?"

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Loki smiles, amused that Natasha could be able to express that sort of emotion in the first place.

However, Loki's theory is proven wrong when Natasha quickly answers, "Love is for children. I owe him a debt."

Loki's smile doesn't falter and he turns around to sit down. He gestures toward Natasha to continue her story. "Tell me."

"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., I uh, well, I made a name for myself." Natasha chooses her words carefully, knowing this conversation is being recorded. "I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asks with genuine curiosity.

"Not let you out." Natasha has been hanging around Tony for too long. Her response was too much like something he would say.

"Ah, no, but I like this." Loki leans forward in his seat and his grin widens, if that was possible. "Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or I was." Natasha cocks her head to the side when she mentions her past identity.

"What is it you want?"

"It's really not that complicated." Natasha walks toward the glass of the cell and uncrosses her arms. "I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter?" Loki pauses and stands up, slowly walking toward her. "São Paulo? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?! This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer... pathetic!"

Loki reaches the glass and stares down at Natasha. "You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are apart of you, and they will never go away!"

The criminal slams his fist on the wall of the cell. It seems like his voice turns into someone else's, and his eyes glaze over with a crystal blue color. "I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you, slowly, intimately, and in every way he knows you fear. Then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim."

Natasha turns around, sniffling. Her voice is quiet and fragile. "You're a monster."

Loki laughs, loving the feeling of the power and his voice turns back to his normal self. "No, you brought the monster."

The spy lifts her head and slowly turns around, knowing she got exactly what she needed. "So, Banner, that's your play?" Loki seems confused and Natasha holds her hand up to her earpiece. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." Before she leaves, Natasha turns to Loki one more time. "Thank you for your cooperation."

The door to the prison chamber opens and Natasha walks out. As she passes Agent Virgo, she says, "I got him warmed up for you."

Adrena nods and walks in the room. She slowly makes her way up to the control panel, her eyes landing on Loki who is sitting down on his bench. There wasn't a computer where she was waiting, so Adrena wonders what Natasha said to him.

"And what could you possibly want?" Loki grimly asks, clearly miffed that his plan somehow slipped out of his mouth, what can he say? He was caught up in the moment. "I don't remember doing anything to get on your bad side."

"Starting a war with this planet for one." Adrena keeps a straight face and walks up to Loki. "Who gave you that scepter?"

Loki chuckles and stands up, hiding his hands behind his back. "A being of untold power, but I'm sure you already knew that. Haven't you had a taste of his power already?"

"Save it. You're little mind games won't work on me." Despite her words, Adrena clenches her fists. "Where are they hiding?"

"Straight to the point, I see." Loki waits for Adrena to respond, but she just glares at him. Suddenly, Loki's mind runs blank. "I... couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. It's a place that can not be found unless on accident, even for people who've been there before."

"Nice lie, now let me ask you another question. The one you work for, what is his name?"

"Err... hmm... I don't think he ever told me." Loki scratches his head and his eyes turn crystal blue again. "But he knows you."

Adrena's white eyes widen when she hears the change in his voice. She backs up a bit, now a tad scared of the prisoner. Loki's puts his hand up to the glass. "You murdered his daughter. How can you say you're any different than he is? Letting all of your agents die, you're just like the spy. Trying to clear your name, trying to get revenge, but you'll accomplish nothing! Why? Because no matter what, you're still the last. You're still alone."

The pink skinned girl waits for Loki's rant to be done. Trying to keep her voice as level as possible, she watches as his eyes turn back into their normal form. "Last question... Are you working for the order?"

Loki doesn't respond to this question, too shocked to say anything. Adrena gets the hint. "Because they are the reason I'm here."

Not trusting herself to say anything else in fear of breaking down into tears, Agent Virgo turns around and leaves. Once she exits the door, she presses a button on her glove. She knows that Loki was trying to get to her, and therefore was probably going to leak out information about her. So, while she was waiting for Natasha, she used a device on her glove to mess with the cameras in the room, making the conversation private.

Adrena takes a deep breath and curses. She didn't get anything from that interrogation! All Loki said was that he didn't know, which could probably just be a way to not answer. However, Adrena somehow knows he was telling the truth.

And what was with his voice changing? That can't have been Loki. Adrena hasn't seen what the mind controlled people's eyes look like, but she bets they are crystallized blue. Maybe Loki is just a pawn for whoever gave him the scepter. One thing is for sure though, Loki has a master plan and Adrena has to warn the others that something bigger is going on.

Director Fury walks into the lab, surprised to see that Tony and Bruce are just lounging around, not working on the scepter. "What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

"Uh... kind of been wondering the same thing about you." Tony stands up and walks next to his computer, waiting for Jarvis to complete his scan of Fury's secret files.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are." Bruce points to a second computer that shows a scan of the globe. "The model is locked and we are sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"And you'll get your cube back no muss, no fuss." Suddenly, Tony's monitor shows a collection of secret files. "What is Phase Two?"

Steve Rogers and Lauren Thompson place the guns they found from the storage room on the table. Steve's voice is agitated from being lied to. "Phase Two is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons."

"Sorry, Tony, you're computer was running too slow for us." Lauren smirks and crosses her arms over her beige jacket.

"Thompson, Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean-" Fury is cut off by Tony.

The billionaire turns his monitor around to show pictures of weapons. This confirms Captain America and Sigma's claim. "I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?"

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve recalls the bet they made when Nick first approached him in the boxing ring.

Natasha and Thor storm into the room, making Bruce's anger rise. The scientist glares at Natasha and points to the screen. "Did you know about this?"

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Natasha asks in more of a demanding tone.

Bruce chuckles. "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you." Natasha warns, sensing that Bruce is getting on his last nerve.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?" Bruce stands up, but doesn't move to another spot in the room.

Lauren senses tension in the room, but she couldn't care less. At this moment, she realizes that everyone was tricked into coming here. "He's right. Who's to say you're not better than Loki?"

Natasha feels everyone staring at her, but she keeps her cool composure. However, she doesn't have to say anything back as Wendy enters the room, wearing her Air Runner uniform. "We all had a choice of coming here, don't blame the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents. They just persuaded you."

"And what's the difference, if I may ask?" Lauren's green eyes stare into Wendy's blue ones, waiting an answer.

Wendy clenches her fists, trying to hold back her anger. "Watch it, Greek Girl. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

Adrena quickly enters the room, glad that she finally found everyone. "He's planning something. There's something big going on in the shadows that we don't know about."

"And here she goes again!" Tony sighs and rolls his eyes, becoming tired of Adrena's constant warnings.

"Show her some respect!" Thor stomps over to Tony while gesturing to Agent Virgo. "You're not the smartest one here, even though you claim to be. Not everything is about you, Stark!"

"Back off!" Lauren steps between Thor and Tony. "He doesn't want to be here any more than you do!"

"Banner, come with me." Natasha knows when a fight is going to happen and thinks it's best if Bruce isn't around to hear it. To prove she's not trying to be manipulative, Natasha says, "You didn't come her because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Bruce points to his monitor that shows the secret weapons. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Nick Fury waits a moment before pointing at Thor. "It's because of him."

"Me?" Thor looks around, confused, and points to himself.

Fury nods and starts explaining. "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."

Lauren rubs her right thumb over the rainbow glass which rests in the same hand. Her eyes widen, and she starts silently hyperventilating. She remembers the myths of Asgard having a rainbow bridge made out of solid light. How come she never thought if this until now? Could it be?

She doesn't get the chance to ask him about it because Thor speaks up first. "My people want nothing but peace with your planet!"

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

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve smartly remarks.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." Thor places the blame on S.H.I.E.L.D. once again. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?!" Wendy tries to imagine what Thor means by that.

Adrena steps forward. "If you would have just lived out your life in peace, none of this would have happened. You can't meddle with something you don't understand."

"Thor forced our hand. We had to come up with something-" Nick is cut off by Tony for the second time.

"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down." Tony sarcastically says.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury brings up the days when Tony used to build weapons for America's military.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep." Steve crosses his arms and turns to Tony.

Tony faces Steve and dramatically points to himself. "Wait! Hold on, how is this now about me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve asks, pointing out Tony's enormous ego.

"You two," Lauren walks over and stands between Steve and Tony to stop a potential fist fight. "need to calm down."

Wendy scoffs and flips her hair without using her hands. "You're so demanding, Lauren."

The blonde says nothing, but Adrena pulls on Wendy's arm to make her turn to face her. "You need to desist! This is not how partners are supposed to act!"

"Oh so we're partners now." Wendy shoves Adrena's hand off her arm. "We don't know anything about you, and you automatically command that we trust you?"

Thor glares at Wendy. "I thought humans were more evolved that this."

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury turns around to look at Thor.

Thor gestures to the entire room. "Did you always give your champions such mistrust?"

"Are you all really this naïve? S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats." Natasha responds.

Bruce becomes surprised and he points his pen at Steve. "You're saying that Captain America is on a watch list?"

"We all are." Natasha crosses her arms and glares at Bruce, not really caring about getting him away from the room anymore.

"See, now that's the real reason for getting us all together." Lauren clenches her fists. "To eliminate all threats!"

"That can't mean us though, right?" Wendy puts a hand over her heart, asking her question in a confused voice.

"If I knew that something like this was going to happen, I would have just taken Loki and left." Adrena starts to raise her voice, becoming more angered by the second.

"Well that would have just saved us the trouble, now wouldn't it? Still leaving a bunch of brainwashed victims behind, giving us no way to cure them as you take Loki away." Bruce takes a deep breath after he says his comment, trying not to get too angry.

"I assure you, Adrena only means well." Thor backs up the alien, not realizing his mistake until it's too late.

Adrena's jaw drops open and she turns to push Thor. "Are you serious?!"

Thor, Adrena, Wendy, and Fury start arguing about the safety of the Earth. Natasha and Bruce fight on their perspectives about the use of the Tesseract. Steve and Tony argue on Tony's past with making weapons. Lauren tries to stop the fight between Tony and Steve, but she finds its no use and joins in the argument. Unbeknownst to all of them, the blue gem on Loki's scepter glows brighter than ever.

In the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, a voice communicates through an earpiece. "661 Bravo, please relay your pass code. What is your hull, over?"

"Arms to ammunition, over." Clint responds from inside a quinjet. He gets suited up along with his comrades. The brainwashed Hawkeye pulls out his high tech bow and arrows.

Back in the lab, the argument continues. It doesn't look like it's going to let up any time soon. Thor's facial expression becomes amused. "You speak of control, yet you court chaos."

"It's his M.O., isn't it?" Bruce clenches his fists and leans backward in the table behind him. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no, we are a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." Nick orders, knowing that Bruce is about to lose it.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony casually raises his arm and puts it around Lauren's shoulders. His hand hits Steve's shoulder.

Steve snaps and smacks Tony's hand away. "You know damn well why! Back off!"

Lauren turns to Steve to restrain him, but Tony pushes her aside. "I'm starting to want you to make me."

Steve chuckles under his breath. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony replies without having to think about it. Natasha raises her eyebrows and nods, thinking that's exactly how she would describe him as well.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. And I've seen the footage." Steve's voice changes tone. "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." Tony quickly replies, crossing his arms.

Steve smiles and nods, knowing Tony always has a comeback. "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you?" The light in Tony's chest glows a bit brighter as his heart rate increases. "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. The only thing special about you came out of a bottle."

Lauren can't take it anymore and puts a hand on Tony's shoulder to keep him from walking closer to Steve. She looks at Steve with pleading eyes mixed with a glare. However, Steve is too riled up to care.

Hawkeye notches an arrow and aims for a second before letting it fly. The arrow attaches itself to the outside of the third engine of the helicarrier, and it starts beeping.

Tony stares at Steve, now a bit more calm since Lauren's arm is on his shoulder. Steve seems more annoyed that Tony isn't getting angry. "Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds."

Thor laughs, genuinely amused. "You people are so petty... and tiny."

Tony rubs his head and turns away from Steve, making Lauren beyond relieved. Bruce rolls his eyes. "Yeah, this is a team..."

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Doctor Banner back to his-" Fury is cut off by the gamma radiation scientist.

"To where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case..." Fury raises his hands in a surrender motion, trying to think of a nice way to put it.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know, I tried!" Everyone stares at Bruce for a long second as his voice gets louder. "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 the freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

"Doctor Banner." Bruce turns to the voice to see Captain America. "Put down the scepter."

Bruce looks down in shock when she sees he is holding Loki's scepter. Suddenly, one of the computers starts beeping and everyone looks toward it. Tony decides to break the silence. "Got it."

Bruce puts down the scepter and walks over to the computer. "Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all."

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asks.

"I can get there faster." Tony starts walking toward the door, but Steve stops him.

"Look at all of us!" Steve gestures to all the super powered beings in the room.

"The Tesseract can not be contained by any of you. If Loki can't control it, then certainly none of you can!" Adrena quickly says to make Tony stop walking.

"The cube belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Despite Thor's words, Tony starts to leave again.

Steve grabs Tony's arm and makes him look at him. "You're not going alone!"

"You going to stop me?!" Tony yanks his arm free, now becoming angry again. He doesn't know why, but Tony wants to prove to Steve that he can do something heroic. He wants to put Steve in his place.

"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve encourages the fight.

"If you two are going to fight, then we will all get involved!" Lauren tries in a feeble attempt to stop the argument.

"What? Are you going to back him up now?" Steve turns to Lauren.

"Steve, this can all be resolved if we just-" Steve cuts Lauren off.

"Then why don't you put your suit on?!"

Tony grabs Lauren's upper arm and yanks her next to him. "We aren't afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on your suits." Steve glares at both of them. Of course Tony would want someone to partner up with. He doesn't want to lose. The Captain doesn't care, though. He will fight both of them if he has to.

Bruce's eyes widen when he sees what's on the screen. He is about to tell the others what he noticed, but-

BOOM!

A huge explosion shakes the room, completely demolishing one of the walls. Thor and Adrena fall next to each other, Natasha and Bruce fall to another level of the helicarrier, Fury and Wendy are pushed to the wall that's no longer there, and Lauren, Tony, and Steve fall on top of each other.

Steve looks at Tony and Lauren. "Put on your suits!"

"Yep!" Tony agrees. The two quickly help a dazed Lauren up off the floor, and run into the hallway to get Tony's Iron Man suit. Lauren takes off her beige jacket and tosses it to the side to reveal the aqua blue Sigma. The three run shoulder to shoulder now with the same goal: save the helicarrier.