⋆.ೃ࿔*:･𝐢𝐢𝐢. ever reviled by everyone except her own father

𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐃 𝐒𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄, 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐖. The screen flickered with Nick Fury's interrogation of Loki, though it didn't seem to capture her interest. She rubbed her temples, fighting off the overwhelming urge to sleep, her eyelids heavy and her mind drifting. The room was filled with the low hum of machinery and the occasional rustle of paper.

Suddenly, her father’s familiar voice cut through the haze of her drowsiness, snapping her back to the present

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce remarked, his eyes never leaving the screen.

Ingrid straightened up in her seat, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. She looked over at her father, who gave her a reassuring nod. She managed a small, tired smile in return, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve Rogers interjected, his voice steady and commanding. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor's eyes darkened as he leaned forward. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

The room fell silent, the weight of Thor's words sinking in. Steve Rogers' expression was serious as he processed the information. "An army? From outer space?" he asked, his voice steady but laced with concern.

Bruce immediately started connecting the dots. "So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for," he pointed out.

"Selvig?" Thor echoed, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"He's an astrophysicist," Bruce explained.

A flicker of recognition crossed Thor's face, followed by a softer, more personal note. "He's a friend," Thor said, his voice tinged with a mix of concern and determination.

Natasha leaned forward, her eyes serious and voice steady. "Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours."

Steve frowned, his mind racing to connect the pieces. "I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."

Bruce shook his head slightly. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him." His comment elicited a small giggle from Ingrid, momentarily lightening the heavy mood.

Thor's expression hardened, and his voice carried a note of warning. "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

Natasha's eyes narrowed as she shot back, "He killed eighty people in two days."

Thor paused, the weight of the statement hanging in the air. Then, almost defensively, he added, "He's adopted."

Bruce furrowed his brow, deep in thought. "I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium—what did they need the Iridium for?"

Before anyone could respond, Tony Stark strolled in, casually conversing with Agent Coulson. "It's a stabilizing agent," Tony said, his voice confident and brisk. "I'll fly you there. Keep the love alive. Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD."

Tony turned to Thor with a smirk. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants. Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails." He paused, spotting a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent at a computer. "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." Covering his eye with his hand, he scanned the room. "How does Fury do this?"

Maria Hill, standing nearby, replied dryly, "He turns."

Tony sighed theatrically. "Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

Maria Hill arched an eyebrow, her tone incredulous. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

Tony shot back without missing a beat. "Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Steve focused on the core issue. "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

Bruce explained, "He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony added.

Bruce's eyes widened slightly at the thought. "Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

Tony Stark sauntered over to Bruce Banner, a confident smirk on his face. "Finally, someone who speaks English," he quipped, extending his hand.

Ingrid watched as Tony shook hands with her father. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Bruce glanced down, embarrassed. "Thanks."

Tony's gaze shifted to Ingrid. "This yours?" he asked, pointing at her. Ingrid furrowed her eyebrows, ready to snap back at him, but her father’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"This is Ingrid, my daughter," Bruce explained, his voice calm and steady.

Noticing her stiffness, Tony's tone softened. "Calm down, kid. I'm just messing with you. Wouldn't want you to blow this place up."

Ingrid's eyes dropped in shame, remembering that most of the people here knew little to nothing about her powers. She felt a surge of vulnerability, but her father's reassuring squeeze on her shoulder provided a small comfort.

Nick Fury walked in, his presence commanding immediate attention. "Dr. Banner and his daughter are only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join them," he stated, addressing Tony.

"I'd start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon," Steve suggested.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys," Nick Fury responded.

"Monkeys? I do not understand," Thor said, his confusion evident.

Steve, seizing the rare opportunity to understand a cultural reference, looked proud. "I do! I understood that reference," he said, while Tony rolled his eyes.

Tony turned to Bruce with a smirk. "Shall we play, doctor?"

Bruce nodded, a faint smile on his lips. "Let's play some." He motioned for Ingrid to follow them. "Come on."