Revelations

Loki had escaped.

That much she knew, standing in front of the spot where the glass cell had resided likely only moments ago. Now, all that remained was the metal hatch.

And Phil Coulson’s body, which rested across the room, unmoving with his eyes still open and staring right at her - through her, even. Adelina didn’t need to check for a pulse to determine he wouldn’t be rising again.

She had been too slow, too distracted by a guilt that she didn’t deserve to feel. Once again, Natasha Romanoff had been the cause of her plight.

That realization only added fuel to the fire already blazing within her.

She was on the move before she could even process where her feet were taking her. She walked swiftly through the halls of the Helicarrier, eyes moving rampantly across the agents she passed as if she expected them to stop her. But none did, still conveniently unaware of the threat she had become. That only made things much easier for her, especially when she happened upon the detainment of a brainwashed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

“I’ll take over from here,” Adelina declared to the two agents standing beside the restrained man. “Fury needs you both in the command center.” One of the agents furrowed his brows as he shot a glance to his partner who looked at Adelina in disbelief.

“With all due respect, Ma’am, this man is still acting under Loki’s orders and until we can determine how to reverse whatever currently controls him, he’s still a violent threat. I don’t think it’s smart to -“

Adelina scoffed, crossing her arms across her chest, as she quickly interjected, “I am perfectly capable of handling him. Fury would not have ordered me to do so if he believed otherwise, but if you would like to question him, yourself, go ahead. We all know he loves that.”

The agent’s mouth twitched as he seemed to flounder for a response before he sighed and nodded to the other who had remained silent, awaiting his supervisor’s decision. Adelina’s nails scratched against her palms, her skin itching with the power beneath it, ready to be used if necessary.

“That won’t be necessary, Ma’am. He’s all yours.” The agent said after his slight hesitation. Adelina smiled sharply in return before moving to grab the man from their custody. She placed a hand on his shoulder and made to direct him down the hallway as the other two agents nodded towards her and began their brisk walk to the the command center.

As soon as they were out of sight, Adelina shoved the man into an empty room a few doors down. He stumbled against a table before stiffening as she moved towards him. She could see his wrists straining against the cuffs, but his face remained passive as she closed in on him.

“Where is Loki?” No response. The man only seemed to stare through her, trapped in whatever prison the scepter had formed around his mind. Loki had been his warden and without him, the man may as well have been in solitary confinement.

“Alright.” Adelina rolled her eyes. “Time for a transfer,” she muttered as she planted her palm against his forehead. The man faltered, his eyes blinking rapidly as a new energy invaded him. Adelina narrowed her gaze on his own, watching intently as the ocean blue essence of his irises began to swirl, transforming into a mixture of blue-violet. She pressed down harder on his skull, unleashing more of her power as she fought against the source of energy that was so similar to her own.

She wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed before his eyes mirrored her own, pupils enveloped by amethyst hues. She kept her hand against his forehead as she caught her breath before speaking.

“Where is Loki?” Adelina asked once more. This time, the man responded.

“He is in route to the Tesseract.”

“And where is the Tesseract?”

“Stark Tower.” Adelina stiffened, her brows furrowed as she pieced it together. Why hadn’t she thought of that, herself? Stark Tower was exactly the power source Loki needed, and the god was the epitome of a diva. Not only would using Tony Stark’s achievement to unleash hell on Earth be a blow to Ironman, himself, but Loki could feed his own ego at the same time.

“I’m going to remove these cuffs, and you are going to take me to Stark Tower,” Adelina ordered, finally removing her hand and placing it against the metal around his wrists. She rolled her shoulders back as she released a tendril of energy through the chains, causing them to fracture steadily before falling to the man’s feet in pieces. She raised her eyes to look him over, then handed him the black mask that the armored agents typically bore, one that she had managed to obtain from another agent as they rushed past her earlier. Just in case Fury had her face plastered across the Helicarrier. But for now, it seemed she was safe enough.

“Let’s go,” she muttered, moving towards the door with the man following behind. She didn’t need, or want, to know his name, so she refrained from asking as they began their trek through the now empty halls. “We’ll take a Quinjet. I’m assuming you know how to pilot one.”

“I do.” So did Adelina, but she preferred not to. It had already taken her enough time to get used to flying, despite having done so quite often since she was a child. She needed to conserve her energy, anyways. And figure out her plan for trampling Loki’s own.

Adelina found herself aboard a Quinjet only ten minutes later, seated behind the door to the cockpit as she listened to the agent entering the coordinates. The window across from her displayed the dwindling chaos of the Helicarrier, but to her luck, they paid the Quinjet no mind as it began to move steadily across the runway.

She was just beginning to relax as they plunged into the sky when static sounded through the speakers, and suddenly Nick Fury’s overbearing voice filled her ears.

“Agent Tanase, turn the jet around. Now.”

Adelina swiftly entered the cockpit, meeting the director’s eyes through the screen of the video comms. The agent beside her remained unmoving from their course, confined to Adelina’s orders alone.

“Where would the fun be in that?” Adelina quipped, sending a sharp smile towards the camera. Her nails scraped against her palms.

“If you don’t stand down right now, I won’t have any choice but to consider you a threat and a target. This is your last chance.”

“You have always considered me a threat. That is why you lied to me, is it not?”

“There are many reasons why I was unable to give you answers, but if you just return to base, I’ll explain everything.”

“Your arrogance is astounding for you to think that I will ever again believe a word you say.”

“What’s your plan then, Tanase? To help Loki take over the world? To become a criminal, to threaten the lives of everyone, including your friends?”

“I don’t have any friends, here. I don’t belong here…You already knew that, though.”

“What about Romanoff? You don’t care that she almost died because of you?” Adelina stilled for a fraction of a second, her heart pounding against her chest as relief nudged at her, but she ignored it. She exhaled a breath.

“Romanoff should have died months ago, but I was stupid enough to let her live. I don’t care what happens to her, or anyone, for that matter.”

Fury closed his uncovered eye, pausing as if to reconsider his approach. Adelina barely gave him a second before adding insult to injury.

“I would like to believe that you know why I’m doing this, Fury… But I know how nearsighted you can be when it comes to taking responsibility for your own actions, and their consequences. You may think that I’m a threat, that I’m a monster - but who made me into one? I came to you three years ago in search of the truth, and you promised me that you would deliver it…But here we are… All because you failed to keep your word… So if you can find it within yourself to be honest, for once in your miserable life, who’s truly to blame for what may happen next?”

By the way Fury’s lip curled and the crease forming between his brows, Adelina knew she had struck a nerve - had forced him to realize something he desperately wanted to ignore. She only smirked at him and uncurled her fists as she moved towards the control panel.

“Make me a target if you desire. But we both know I won’t be an easy one… Goodbye, Fury.” Adelina pressed the button, disconnecting the comms, before hacking into the computer system to disable the tracker.

“ETA?” She asked the agent as she returned to her seat.

“Less than fifteen minutes.”

“Perfect."