{Chapter Twenty-Six}
Amber Barton stood beside Agent Phil Coulson, pulling her blazer tighter around herself to protect herself from the cold, as the helicopter carrying Agent Hill and Director Fury landed. She smiled at Maria Hill as the agent walked towards the two closely followed by the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"How bad is it?" Nick asked the two.
"That's the problem, sir," Coulson replied as Amber sighed.
"We don't know," The blonde woman frowned as she opened the file she was holding.
The four agents made their way through the facility speaking urgently to one another.
"Doctor Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago," Coulson spoke.
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase." Fury reminded them causing Amber to chuckle nervously.
"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. Spontentanious even." Amber replied chewing on her bottom lip anxiously.
"It just turned itself on?" Maria asked looking at the blonde in surprise.
"Where are the energy levels now?" Fury asked them.
"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered an evac." Coulson explained.
"How long to get everyone out?"
"Campus should be cleared in the next half an hour." Agent Coulson nodded.
"Do better." Fury instructed causing the man to sigh before walking away.
Amber followed Director Fury he heels clicking against the floor as stray hairs blew behind her. Amber had been working at S.H.I.E.L.D for three years and loved every aspect of her job. She was one of the youngest agents to work with the division but it never bothered her.
"Sir, evacuation may be futile," Hill announced to her boss.
"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury asked sarcastically.
"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance," Maria explained.
"I need you to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out." Fury instructed her.
"Is that really a priority right now?" Amber asked her boss in shock.
"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech lab below. Every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone, Bambi, you're with me," Fury instructs the two.
Both women nod speaking simultaneously, "Yes, sir."
When Fury's back is turned Amber turns to the older woman and muttered under her breath, "If that guy calls me Bambi one more time I'll strangle him with his eyepatch."
"I heard that," The director called out as the women laughed.
Amber smiled at her friend before following after her boss.
"Talk to me, doctor," Nick spoke as the two made their way down the steps.
"Director," Doctor Selvig greeted smiling at Amber.
"Is there anything we know for certain?" The director questioned as anxieties ran high.
"The Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig replied.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury's voice was serious as he raised an eyebrow at the doctor.
"No, it's not funny at all." Selvig's eyes were tired, his skin pale as he walked towards the two, "The Tesseract is not only active, she's...behaving."
"I assume you pulled the plug." Fury stated.
"It's an energy source," Amber spoke up, "If we turn off the power, it turns it back on. If it reaches peak level..."
"We prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space," Fury spoke sternly.
"But we don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete. And she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation," Selvig explained.
"That can be harmful," Amber said looking towards the Tesseract in fear.
"Where's Agent Barton?" Fury asked before glancing over at Amber, "The other Agent Barton."
"The Hawk?" Sevig scoffed, "Up in his nest as usual."
Amber smiled looking up to where she saw the figure of her older brother sat. Clint and Amber Barton had grown up together. When Amber went off to college at sixteen the two grew apart. It wasn't until six years later that the two got back in touch and became closer than ever.
Clint came down from where he sat smiling at his sister as he approached her and Director Fury.
"I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury scolded the man.
"Well, I see better from a distance," Barton shrugged.
"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Amber asked him.
The three continued to walk discussing the blue cube when one of the workers calls out to Doctor Selvig, "Doctor, it's spiking again."
"No one's come or gone. And Selvig's clean. No contacts no IMs." Clint told them, "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't on this end."
"'At this end'?" Amber asked glancing between the two anxiously.
"Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides," Clint shrugged before looking over at his now pale sister, with a kind smile, Clint placed his hand on her ar rubbing it in a soothing manner.
Suddenly, the Tesseract explodes, the ground beneath their feet trembling like an earthquake. A long beam of light erupts from the metal machine holding the Tesseract and the large portal tears through the open space before them.
Lights flicker in the facility, and it trambles with unsettling colours of blu and black. Clint grips his sisters arm tightly pulling her towards him as a tsunami of blue energy flared out, blanketing them in its flood.
Amber stared wide-eyed at the new figure in the room. The figure was male, tall with long dark hair. His skin was sickly pale and he had a menacing smirk on his face sending a shiver down Amber's spine. In his hand, he held a glowing staff.
"Sir, please put down the spear," Fury called to the figure from where he stood. He and Clint had both placed themselves protectively in front of Amber planning to take anybody down to keep the blonde safe.
The man holding the spear glanced down at his weapon before aiming it at the three agents. Clint grabbed Amber and Fury sending them crashing tot he floor avoiding being hit by the spear's attack.
From her spot on the floor, Amber glanced up at the spear-wielding maniac, her head dripping with blood from where she had managed to hit it. She slowly wen =t to stand, her attention soon caught b her brother who was attempting to fight the man off. When she noticed her brother was losing her eyes widened and she stepped forward.
"Clint, no!" She screamed, but she was too late.
The unknown subject had placed the tip of his spear against Clint's chest causing the eldest Barton's eyes to glaze over. Clint stopped struggling. Instead, he stood up straight and holstered his weapon. When Amber stepped close enough he became defensive grabbing her arms and holding her so that she couldn't fight back.
Amber's eyes widened, her heart beating out of her chest as her brother held her back, leaving her defenceless. The stranger looked at Amber staring into her sea-green eyes, his head tilted slightly to the side. Amber slowly stopped struggling against her brother's hold and stared back at the man.
"Let he go," The stranger instructed, instantly causing Clint to free his sister.
Amber was frozen in fear, she didn't even notice as the villain began to speak.
"I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
"Loki, brother of Thor."
It was all white noise to the young Barton woman. She was only snapped out of her trance when Fury took a hold of her shoulders giving them a shake.
"Amber?" Fury called out to her as her eyes began to focus again, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Amber looked up at her boss shaking her head slightly causing the man to sigh.
"This place is about to blow, okay. We have to go." Amber nodded shakily at the man following him as he spoke to Maria Hill over the radio.
Amber followed Fury out of the facility, her eyes becoming blurred, to the helicopter he had arrived on with Agent Hill. Once the blonde was in the helicopter her eyes began to droop. Slowly the girl fell into a dark nothingness, not hearing the panicked calls of her name coming from the Director.
A few hours later after Amber was checked by a doctor she was ready to get back to work, ready to save her brother. Fury had filled her in on the new plan, which was how she found her self entering an old looking gym in hopes of greeting a war hero.
The two spies stood in the doorway of the gym watching as the supersoldier punched the bag, his frustration showing. Amber smirked slightly when the bag flew from its hood and split.
"I've got to admit, this guy looks good for his age." She spoke giggling slightly at her awful attempt at a joke, while Fury just rolled his eyes.
They watched as he picked up another bag and placed it on its hook ready for another round.
"Trouble sleeping?" Fury called out to him, causing the man to turn and look at them.
"Slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill." The man replied causing Amber to frown slightly.
"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world," Fury told him as he continued to punch the bag. The man looked up at Fury, his eyes flickering over to Amber and resting there before he turned around.
"When I went under, the world was at war. When I wake up, they say we on. They didn't say what we lost." Amber looked at the man, her heartbreaking for him.
"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently." Fury agreed.
"Are you here with a mission sir?"
"I am." Fury nodded.
"Trying to get me back in the world?"
"Trying to save it," Amber spoke up giving the man a small smile as she handed him a file.
The man smiled at Amber tightly as he took the file sitting down to read it, "HYDRA's secret weapon."
"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought, what we think." Fury said, "The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That is something the world sorely needs."
"Who took it from you?"
"He's called Loki." Amber tenses at the mention of the god, something that does not go unnoticed by the two me, "He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."
"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."
"Ten buck says you're wrong," Amber replied quietly, but the man still heard her loud and clear. He could hear the fear and sadness in her voice causing his heart to hurt for her.
The two spies watch as the man stands up walking over to the punching bags. Fury glances over at Amber sending her a nod.
"There is a debriefing packet waiting for you back at your apartment. For now, Agent Barton is going to be shadowing you." Fury spoke as Amber followed the blonde man, "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract, that we ought to know?"
"You should have left it in the ocean."
Amber rushed to keep up with the man she had yet to be introduced to. Her heels clicked against the pavement, as the two walked through the nighttime streets of New York. The Barton woman didn't know what she was supposed to do. She had been told to shadow the super-soldier until Phil Coulson arrived to accompany them to the Helicarrier. SH felt rather awkward just following a stranger through the streets.
"So you've been put on babysitter duty, huh?" The man asked looking back at her.
"Something like that." AMber sighed, brushing her hair out of her face.
"You don't dress like a spy." Amber usually wore business wear to work. A skirt and blouse or a dress, something you would expect a businesswoman to wear.
"I usually just work on computers, I rarely go out into the field." Amber shrugged.
"You're young." The man stated.
"Twenty-five," AMber nodded, "I graduated High school at sixteen and college at eighteen. Then I took some time off before coming to work for S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I'm Steve, by the way," The man, Steve, finally introduced himself, "I don't think I caught your name."
"I'm Amber." She smiled at him.
"Amber Barton."