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Chapter Seventeen: The Tesseract

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"How did you find me?" I asked hesitantly, breathing in the steam of my drink.

"We never lost you, Alivia," Maria said, taking a sip from her cup, "We've kept our distance. Even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent."

"I know that. And I'm thankful for your help with that... incident last year. But you made it sound as though I had a choice when it came to joining S.H.I.E.L.D."

"You did, and you still do," Maria answered, looking sincerely at me, "I'm not here to force you to do anything. I'm here because S.H.I.E.L.D. is assembling a team of special skills agents to help take down a global threat. The Black Widow, Tony Stark, Captain America, Bruce Banner. You, if you're willing."

"And you think I belong fighting next to those guys?" I blinked, incredulous at the mere suggestion that I might be good enough to fight alongside them.

"We need all the help we can get to neutralize this threat. It has the potential to wipe us out."

"Us? As in the entire planet?" I asked, my heart hammering.

"Yes," Maria paused for a moment, extracting her phone and showing me a picture of a glowing blue cube, "This is the Tesseract. A few days ago it was taken out of our possession. And yes, it does possess the potential energy to wipe out the planet."

"And what am I supposed to do, cook it?" I chuckled in disbelief, "I don't think something like that is susceptible to fire."

"We captured the person who stole it, but we have yet to locate the Tesseract itself. Director Fury wants your help tracking it down and obtaining it, as well as containing the person who stole it."

"I can just barely light a tea candle at will, you really think I can find and take a magical cube from someone powerful enough to steal it from an international peacekeeping agency?"

"It isn't about what I think," Maria answered, leaning back, "But if you're interested in what I think, I think that S.H.I.E.L.D. could benefit tremendously from having someone with your skills on our side."

"And what if I say no? What will your Director do then?"

"It's entirely up to you what you choose to do. The only reason I'm reaching out in person to you now is because the situation is dire."

I looked down at my cup, still steaming like no time had passed since I'd made it. And yet it felt like everything had changed. Maybe because even then, even without thinking all that hard, I already knew what I would say. What I had to say.

"When do we leave?" I asked slowly.

"Now, if you're willing."

I nodded slowly. "I'll have to make a call. I have to cancel a dinner."

Maria nodded.

I dialed up Gale's cell, hurriedly explaining as best I could what was going on. Which was pretty hard considering I couldn't divulge any information regarding the Tesseract, Hill, or S.H.I.E.L.D. But Gale seemed to understand. The both of them didn't seem to be surprised by most things anymore since I'd told them about the magical space world of Asgard and my fire powers. I said goodbye, and they told me they loved me. I smiled. Gale's words offered me some comfort. But my hands still shook where they were wrapped around my cup.

I hung up, and Maria took me to her car. We both slipped inside, our destination being my apartment so I could pack my things. I started to give her directions, but she told me it wasn't necessary, and I flushed as I remembered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had apparently been stalking me the past year.