Revelations

The projection of the warning alert seemed to drown out the humming of the helicopter as it sunk to the ground, startling Adelina from her restful position against its leather seats. She turned her gaze to the window beside her, watching as the agents below scattered chaotically across the pavement.

“Let’s go,” said the man to her left, already gripping the handle on the door just as the helicopter began to settle against the landing pad. She followed his lead, steadily exiting the aircraft and planting her feet on solid ground.

As long as Adelina had known him, Nick Fury had always been a little too uptight for her taste, but this particular night, he was more on edge than ever before. She had spent the majority of the flight observing his behavior, taking note of his strangled posture and the restless fidgeting of his foot as he subconsciously tapped it against the floor of the helicopter. She found his apprehensiveness to be somewhat comedic considering his incessant desire to appear in control. However, Adelina was surprised to see the man’s composure restored as they strutted across the landing pad, his shoulders pulled back and head held high - back in character.

“How bad is it?” Fury questioned as they halted in front of Agent Phil Coulson. Adelina met the eyes of another agent, Maria Hill, on his left, sending a curt nod in her direction.

“That’s the problem, sir,” Coulson declared, adjusting his blazer as it stuttered against the wind. “We don’t know.” Adelina scoffed, rolling her eyes at the insufficiency of his report. Fury sent her a sharp look before ambling towards the building, the rest of the group in tow.

“This is not the time for you to act like a child, Tanase,” the man chided, digging his fists into the pockets of his leather jacket. “This needs to be taken seriously - and if you can’t do that, I’ll have no problem sending you back to Headquarters.”

This wasn’t the first time Adelina had faced one of Fury’s idle threats. But as far as she was concerned, they held no weight. He needed her, regardless of her antics, and she knew that.

“I apologize," she said," but you have to understand the absurdity of this entire ordeal - I mean, evacuating this entire place in the middle of the night, preparing for the worst of national security breaches - not to mention, dragging me out of bed to fly all the way out here - just for the minute possibility that there’s an issue with that rock you’re obsessed with. Forgive me, but I just can’t help but question the rashness of this little field trip.” Adelina ignored the two agents on either side of her as they eyed her brazen response to Fury’s warning. At this point in her career, she was quite used to the judgement. It was inevitable when one never truly learned to filter their words.

Adelina could feel the irritation prickling within Fury. She always thought it was quite comical - a man always so furious with a name so fitting for his temperament. She often found herself intentionally pressing his buttons out of her own boredom, and as it was amusing for her to play on his vexations, she ultimately became one of them.

“You don’t need to question my decisions,” Fury started as they entered an elevator, preparing to transit to the lower level of the facility. “You just need to stand there and do as your told. You know exactly why I requested you for this and I can assure you, it isn’t because I enjoy your company.” Adelina bit her tongue, resisting the urge to mutter a few unsavory words under her breath. “Now, Coulson, brief us on the situation.”

Adelina fell into step alongside Hill as they exited the elevator. She watched as Coulson trailed behind Fury, straightening his posture before speaking. Anyone could tell that he only admired Fury out of fear - as it was for most people.

“Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago,” Coulson stated, pausing for only a second before he was interrupted by Fury.

“NASA didn’t authorize Selvig to go to test phase.”

“He wasn’t testing it,” Coulson clarified. “He wasn’t even in the room. Spontaneous event.”

“It just turned itself on?” Hill questioned, a concerned look in her eyes as she turned towards Coulson. Adelina raised her eyebrows at the idea, finally seeking interest in the matter. With no other source of entertainment in sight, it seemed that this would have to due for the time being. After all, this had to be more exciting than the protective detail she had been assigned to for the past four months.

“Where are the energy levels now?” inquired Fury, disregarding Hill’s question as he led the group around a corner. That was just one of the things Adelina couldn’t stand about Fury - his domineering belief that the world revolved around him. A simple question couldn’t be answered unless it was spit from his own mouth.

“Climbing. When Selvig couldn’t shut it down, we ordered evac,” Coulson answered, causing Fury to send a sharp look in Adelina’s direction as he recalled her earlier remark about the futileness of the evacuation. She rolled her eyes in response, not bothering to vocalize her standing thoughts on the matter.

“How long to get everyone out?”

“Campus should be clear in the next half-hour.” That didn’t seem to sit well with Fury.

“Do better,” he snapped, coming to a halt by a staircase. Coulson nodded before spinning around and rushing off to follow Fury’s order. Adelina chuckled to herself at the man’s inclination to fall for the director’s intimidation tactics - something she would never fall victim to.

“Sir, evacuation may be futile,” Hill contended as the three continued down a spiral staircase. Adelina couldn’t help but to agree, causing Fury to exhale sharply.

“We should tell them to go back to sleep?” he barked, though Hill didn’t falter. That was one of the things Adelina appreciated about her. Hill always maintained her confidence around Fury, often calling him out on his impulsivity. In fact, if Adelina ever decided to indulge in a friendship, Maria Hill would be her first choice. Though, that was unlikely to happen considering Adelina's last indulgence. 

“If we can’t control the Tesseract’s energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance,” the agent declared, a worried look in her eyes.

“I need you to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out.” Fury was quick to change the subject, something he did when he didn’t quite feel like listening to a voice that wasn’t his own.

“Sir, is that really a priority right now?” Hill questioned, narrowing her eyes at the man as they stopped beside another set of stairs. Adelina crossed her arms as she leaned against the railing, becoming impatient as she had yet to do anything worthwhile after being pulled from the comfort of her home so late at night. Now, here she was, listening to Fury spout order after order for something that likely could have waited until the next morning.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on,” he pronounced. “Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone.” His tone was rigid and his word was final - even Hill had to accept that.

“Yes, sir,” she said before returning up the stairs.

“Are you done ordering people around now?” Adelina quipped, walking alongside Fury as they moved towards the center of the room. He ignored her, but she took interest in the giant platform ahead, raising her eyebrows at the cube that seemed to be the cause of all of this chaos. The room was ablaze with the blue light emanating from the small object as the substance from within seemed to be expanding, sparks of energy shooting from its core.

“Talk to me, Doctor.” Adelina shifted her gaze to the older man that stood beside the platform. She had met him only once before, when he had first been recruited for S.H.I.E.L.D. and tasked with studying the Tesseract. That was the only other time she had been witness to this particular controversy, which explained her curiosity as she wondered why exactly Fury chose to bring her with him that night. Although he seemed to be under the impression that she was aware of his reasoning, Adelina could only speculate that it had everything to do with his pompous desire for a bodyguard - a task that she had been tormented with quite often over the past three years.

“The Tesseract is misbehaving.” Adelina chuckled at the expert’s remark, casting a glance at Fury as he rolled his eyes.

“Is that supposed to be funny?” Fury asked, sending a sharp look towards the scientist.

“I thought it was,” Adelina declared, stepping past the two men to get a closer look at the Tesseract. The closer she moved towards it, the more she could feel the energy radiating from the source within. It was enticing, the power it emitted - and familiar. That same feeling existed beneath her own skin, a sort of magic that she had harnessed for as long as she could remember.

“She’s an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level…” Selvig explained, a slight raise to his voice as the concern grew, and Adelina withdrew from her daze. She turned around as Fury spoke, words of a slowly fading confidence.

“We’ve prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing the energy from space.”

“We don’t have the harness,” Selvig refuted, gesturing widely with his hands. “Our calculations are far from complete. Now she’s throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful - low levels of gamma radiation.”

“That can be harmful,” Fury said, narrowing his eyes at the older man as he moved to access a nearby computer system. “Where’s Barton?”

“The Hawk?” Selvig acknowledged before answering. “Up in his nest, as usual.” Adelina turned her gaze in the direction of his gesturing hand, meeting the gaze of Clint Barton where he resided along the railings, watching them below.

“Agent Barton, report,” Fury ordered through the earpiece he always seemed to dawn. They watched as Barton rappelled down from the raised catwalk before swiftly making his way towards the small group. Adelina stepped towards the man as he joined them, offering her hand in greeting.

“Adelina Tanase.” She introduced herself, having only met the prestigious Hawkeye through glimpses of commendations within files. He was a person of interest to her for the mere fact that he was a simple man apt with the normalcy of humanity, yet his ability to wield the creation of archery was exceptional enough to earn him a spot in the Avengers Initiative - albeit inoperative.

“Clint Barton,” he responded, firmly grasping her hand. The sensation prickled at her skin as she felt the slightest bit of his own distress seeping within her, a stark contrast from the indifference clouding his eyes. She quietly exhaled upon releasing his hand, ridding herself of the foreign emotions.

“Introductions over. Let’s walk,” Fury directed, setting a slow pace as they discreetly moved through the facility. “I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things.”

“Well, I see better from a distance,” Barton replied, remaining passive in the face of Fury’s apparent irritation. Adelina was quiet, listening to pieces of the conversations around her.

“Doctor, it’s spiking again.” Adelina tilted her head in the direction of the NASA scientist as she peered from behind a monitor. Something was about to happen. She could feel it, a whisper of an imminent power surging through the air around them.

“No one’s come or gone. And Selvig’s clean. No contacts, no IMs. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn’t at this end.” Adelina turned towards Barton, her brows furrowed as she considered his words, before Fury voiced her own thoughts.

“At this end?”

“Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? The doors open from both sides,” Barton supplied as the three stopped to glance at the Tesseract.

Suddenly, Adelina found herself gasping, clutching at her head as the room began to quake. The sensations around her were overwhelming - the dull sound of a keyboard beating irrationally against her eardrums, the starched smell of leather grating her nostrils, and the metallic taste of blood coating her tongue. It was a relentless, unyielding form of torture - one that forced her to the ground.

And then came the chaos.

As the two men reached for Adelina, the Tesseract convulsed, its energy matching that of actual thunder as the entire building trembled beneath them. The room was enveloped in a blue ring of light, expanding by the second. Much like the sun, no one could bear to look directly at it - no one, but Adelina.

From her place on the ground, she found herself able to breathe once again. She could hear nothing but the vibrations of energy as they sifted through the room. She could see them, too. Small swirls of blue light moving ever so slow, as if time had ceased to exist. It was alluring, a type of beauty that was only produced from the madness it embodied.

She watched as the light spiraled recklessly along the edge of the platform, forming a vortex of ocean luminesce. And there he stood, in the center of the chaos.

Adelina lifted herself off the floor, eyes focused on the man before her. He raised his head, a malicious smile covering his face as he took in his surroundings. It wasn’t his smile that caught her attention, though. No, it was his eyes, and the way they glistened with light as blue as the Tesseract, itself - pools of chaotic energy amidst his ghostly complexion.

“Sir, please put down the spear.” Fury broke the silence, drawing Adelina from her trance as she noticed the scepter within the foreigner’s possession - a familiar blue energy radiating from its head.

The man peered down at the object, looking almost surprised to see it within his grasp, before he lifted his gaze, meeting challenge in Fury’s own eyes. The decision was made in less than a second, it seemed, as he raised the staff and fired a sharp blast of energy in the agent’s direction.

Adelina barely had time to react as she inhaled and turned towards Fury, shielding him with her own body as she pushed him to the ground, Barton following suit opposite of her. The room quickly became a war zone, filled with the harsh sounds of guns firing as the surrounding agents attempted to subdue the invader.

“Stay down,” Adelina muttered to Fury. Pushing herself from the floor, she turned to see Barton discharging his own weapon before a storm of blue light struck at his feet and he tumbled against the metal ramp. She watched as another agent was launched across the room, striking the wall as he slid to the ground, unconscious - as were most of the others.

Adelina narrowed her eyes as she observed the attacker, slowly moving towards him with cautious grace. His own eyes shifted wearily throughout the room as he appeared to catch his breath, although he hadn’t quite taken notice of her yet. She could practically feel the anxiety dripping from him, much like the sheen of sweat that glistened across his forehead.

“I don’t know who you think you are, and nor do I care, but you might want to rethink your next move because I don’t lose quite often - well… ever, really… if I’m being honest,” Adelina jested, managing to catch him by surprise as he whirled around to face her, spear prepared to attack. His lips curled into a venomous smile before he tilted the weapon towards her, sending a spiral of blue in her direction.

As it struck, her image faded into a shimmer of purple light.

“I’m starting to wonder if you can even speak,” Adelina voiced from behind the man, meeting him with an inquisitive gaze as he swiftly turned, his own brows furrowed in surprise. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before aiming the spear at her once again - and just like before, he found himself to be unsuccessful as her figure dissolved. He stepped forward, poised to attack, as he observed his surroundings, searching with narrowed eyes for the small girl who had managed to fool him twice thus far.

“I must admit, I did not expect such petty tricks from a mid-guardian such as yourself - however, it would be foolish of you to believe that I can be bested by them all the same.” His words sliced the air, as snarky as the grin on his face. Although, his arrogance was short-lived as Adelina dropped from the platform above, knocking him to the ground, now weaponless.

“Ah, so you can speak,” she remarked, stalking towards him as he raised his head, sneering at her advancement. “Good to know.” She stopped a few feet from him, eyes cautiously roaming the area as she attempted to locate the fallen scepter.

“You would do well to surrender now,” the man spit, climbing to his feet. She glanced at him, eyes dark with annoyance, before noticing a reflection of blue light from a monitor to his right. Steadily, Adelina moved forwards, acting as if he was her destination - grateful for the fact that he had yet to realize that the object was no longer in his possession.

“I’m not really the type of person to heed advice. Nothing personal,” she uttered, releasing a small exhale as she made a sudden turn in direction, launching herself towards the spear at the last second. To her surprise, he managed to react just as quickly, reaching for her arm before she even got close enough to graze the hilt of the staff.

She was jolted to the side, but as his grip remained, she used it to her advantage, pushing herself against him as she drove her foot into his knee, effectively dislodging him from her side and sending him tumbling backwards. However, he recovered just as quick, and as she returned to her initial path, she found her eyes watering at the sharp tug of her hair as he wrapped his fingers through it, pulling her towards him.

“You will die before this is over,” he breathed against her, a whispered promise that she had every intention of breaking.

“We’ll see about that,” Adelina retorted, sending her elbow into his chest with a force evidently more powerful than he expected. It sent him reeling backwards, hand still lodged within her black waves, albeit loosely. She turned swiftly, ignoring the headache that was brewing, before striking him with her fist. He finally released her hair, wrapping a pale hand around her wrist before she could touch him. A second passed and she was on the floor, breathless.

Blinking, she inhaled before jumping to her feet. He was only a few feet from where the scepter had been thrown, which meant she had to act fast.

Adelina exhaled, pushing herself forward before a much simpler plan came to mind. She paused and stretched out her hand, pulling the weapon’s harnessed energy to mingle with her own. It twitched along the ramp before flying towards her - only a second before her opponent reached for it. He whirled around, eyes widening at the display of absolute wizardry from the girl he could not shake. She smiled, cheekily, as the scepter moved into her grasp, but before her fingers could close around its hilt, it trembled against the air as he sought its energy, too.

“Now you’re starting to piss me off,” Adelina muttered through clenched teeth. She dug her fingernails into the palm of her idle hand, clearly frustrated as the spear hung in between the two of them, refusing to be claimed.

His own irritation was evident by the sneer painted across his face. He had clearly been expecting a lesser fight, but Adelina was resilient if not prepared.

Catching his gaze, she winked before closing her raised fist and dropping to the floor. She performed a somersault as the weapon teetered in the air, and leaped to her feet at the last second. The man’s surprise caused him to hesitate and he stumbled forwards in an attempt to reclaim the spear as it began to fall from its suspension.

Time slowed as the two raced for its retrieval. Adelina was only a foot away before it clattered against the metal of the ramp, but with the flick of his wrist, her opponent sent her flying across the platform. She landed with a thud, groaning in aggravation as she returned to her feet only to see him with the scepter in hand and a growing smirk on his face.

“This has been a delight,” he began, strolling towards her, a malevolent glint in his eyes, “but, all things must come to an end. Nothing personal.” Adelina rolled her eyes at the mocking jest of his words, prepared to dodge his attack. She lurched forward, acting as if she intended to charge him, but veered left as he moved to aim. However, she didn’t expect for him to anticipate this. He swiftly changed direction, firing a perfectly blue orb of light that shattered into swirls of colored flame, igniting her skin upon impact.

Adelina found herself sprawled across the ground, disoriented from the overwhelming sensation that pulsed within her veins. The energy vibrated against her skin, beating against her eardrums as it washed over her. She trembled with the intensity of electrocution, yet the rebound was intoxicating - a vigorous spark of power which consumed her.

As she lay there, basking in this newfound vitality, Adelina couldn’t help but to resign herself to the intensity of its force as it wrecked havoc within her own mind. It was a desperate mixture of desire and rage that enveloped her, flooding her every sense and wrenching her from the grip of reality.

At the same time, it was a breath of fresh air. Adelina had never felt more free than she did at that moment. It was as if she had been pulled from beneath a rising tide and she was now able to watch it fall from the shore above. It was glorious - the sense of relief that doused her.

However, just as Adelina was about to succumb to the force which had consumed her, the building quaked, trembling beneath her. She grasped at the ramp to her side, attempting to catch herself as she lost her balance, clumsily striking her head against the edge of the railing.

As if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head, Adelina gasped in shock, reeling backwards from the railing and falling onto her hands and knees into a pool of sensations. Anxiety, despair, fear, devastation - the emotions clawed at her, tearing at her skin like a knife. She raised her head, biting her lip to hold back the scream that was threatening to escape. As she scanned her surroundings, she found the room to be nearly quiet - a stark contrast to the commotion within her. Numerous agents were scattered across the ground, many unconscious, and those that were lucid struggled to return to their feet.

“You have heart.” The voice caught her attention and she whipped her head around in spite of the part of her that desperately yearned to ignore the break in the silence. As her eyes landed on the two men, she lunged forward in a wasted attempt at pulling herself from the ground. A harsh breath escaped her lips as she watched Barton’s eyes grow black before flooding with a familiar blue hue. The raven haired man continued, selecting agents at random to fall to the same fate.

Adelina felt useless, drained of her energy as she struggled to combat the emotions that threatened to consume her. It wasn’t often that she found herself grappling with the magnitude of her abilities; she had learned to control them at a young age, but she had also never faced a threat such as this. It was maddening.

“Please don’t.” The request pulled Adelina from her thoughts, having finally regained control of her breathing. She tore her gaze from the floor, catching Fury’s rushed movements from across the room as he attempted to recover the Tesseract. “I still need that.”

“This doesn’t have to get any messier,” the senior agent responded. He somehow still managed to maintain his intimidating demeanor, but Adelina didn’t even need her powers to be able to see through it - to see the fear radiating from within that he so desperately tried to cover with such a stoic facade.

“Of course it does,” the other man declared, raking his gaze across the room. “I’ve come too far for anything else.” He paused as Fury turned towards him. “I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

At this, Adelina inhaled and pulled herself from the ground. Her lips trembled as she spoke but she managed to keep her voice level.

“Loki? Brother of Thor?” The man’s head whipped towards her, eyes widening slightly as if in disbelief as they met her own beneath the light that washed over her from the sparks of an electrical flare. Adelina didn't have the chance to question it, though.

“We have no quarrel with your people,” Fury interjected, causing Loki to return his gaze

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot.” His voice sent shivers down Adelina’s spine.

“Are you planning to step on us?” She spat, pushing her shoulders back as she glared at the Asgardian. His lip curled as he glanced in her direction.

“I come with glad tidings,” he started, moving towards the center of the room as he scanned his surroundings, “of a world made free.”

“Free from what?” Although it was a question, Fury’s anger enveloped it like a demand. Adelina kept her eyes trained on Loki as he stilled, tilting his head up in an arrogant manner.

“Freedom.” He uttered the word as if it were obvious - as if there were no other answer to the question. “Freedom is life’s great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart…” He paused as he turned to face Selvig, placing the spear against his heart. Adelina stumbled forward in an attempt to help the older man, but it was too late. His eyes glazed over as he stilled and Loki raised his eyebrows at her in jest. “ - you will know peace.”

“Yeah… you say peace… I kind of think you mean the other thing,” Fury muttered as a thundering noise swept the room. Adelina glanced up at the ceiling where the vacuum chamber was clouding rapidly from the Tesseract’s energy.

“Sir, they’re stalling,” Barton informed, peering from behind Loki. “This place is about to blow - drop a hundred feet of rock on us. They mean to bury us.” Adelina’s brows furrowed as she glanced at the man, realizing exactly what the scepter’s energy had accomplished. The men were brainwashed.

“Like the Pharaohs of Odin,” Fury quipped, a small smirk gracing his features.

“He’s right,” Selvig confirmed as he glanced over one of the remaining monitors. “The portal is collapsing in on itself. You’ve got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.”

“Well then…” Loki looked to Barton, as if providing a silent command - one that Adelina was oblivious to as she felt her focus drawn to the scepter in the Asgardian’s hand. Despite her attempts at dislodging it, the longing for its power clung to her, called to her. 

The sound of a gun firing tore Adelina from her trance, a gasp slipping past her lips as she searched for the target with widened eyes. Her gaze landed on Fury as he fell to the ground, hand clutching his chest. As she rushed towards him, she failed to prevent Barton from retrieving the case holding the Tesseract, choosing to help Fury rather than stall the others’ escape plan.

“I told you to stay down…” She muttered, grappling with his jacket as she searched for the wound. He swatted her hands away before pulling the material to expose a ballistic vest. Adelina sighed, rolling her eyes.

“You underestimate me, Tanase,” Fury muttered, struggling to grasp the bullet.

“Let me,” Adelina offered, moving her hand over its entry and curling her fingers as she used the energy within them to surface the bullet from the vest. She wrapped her fingers around the warm metal before tossing it to the side and pulling the man to his feet. She was relieved to feel only a whisper of distress as her hand collided with his own - nothing compared to the emotional overload from earlier.

“I need you to go after them. I’ll try to radio Hill, but you’re our best asset right now.” Fury nodded towards the exit as he retrieved the radio from his side. Adelina exhaled before moving quickly from the room. She heard Fury following behind at a much slower pace as he managed the comms.

As she reached the garage, she caught sight of Hill rushing towards one of the vehicles. Stumbling slightly against the quaking cement, Adelina launched herself onto the back of the truck, steadying herself with the caged railing of the bed.

“Mind if I tag along?” Hill sent her a tight lipped smile in response before stepping on the gas.