zero
New Mexico
"I wonder what the aliens on the other side look like." Hayden asks, to no one, in particular.
Clint Barton turns to his temporary partner, giving her a shrewd look.
"What? Oh come on, Clint. don't tell me you don't atleast wanna know what's on the other side. I mean it is pretty interesting if you think about it."
"Agent Barton. Gonzales. report."
"Duty calls." Hayden declares. Together, she and Clint rapel down from the catwalk in the ceiling to meet Director Fury.
"I gave you two this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury says, as he and the two agents walk around the facility in a discreet manner.
"Well he sees better in a distance, and I was just giving him company." Hayden says. Clint smirks at her casual tone and continues to follow Fury around. They stopped when a scientist calls for Dr. Selvig in panic.
"Doctor, it's spiking again."
"No one's come or gone. It's oven is clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering sir it wasn't at this end." Clint reports.
"At this end?"
"Yeah the cube is a doorway to the other end of space right? the doors open from both sides."
Hayden had strayed from the duo, moving to stand beside Dr. Selvig who was clacking away on the keyboard on his desk. Judging by the horrified expression on his face, Hayden guessed he had just seen his worst nightmare on the monitors.
As if one cue, the tesseract flares, thundering and shaking the entire facility so much, Hayden wondered if Agent Hill and Coulson felt it too.
The flaring rings and glow of the cube spout out brighter and louder, like a pot of boiling water. The tesseract's energy builds up into a beam much like the Bifrost bridge, then hits the end of the platform that is wired to the CMS device--the machine that holds the cube.
The beam then forms a vortex, growing wider until it expands into a portal.
Hayden caught the shortest glimpse of outer space before the portal closes so fast, sending a wave of blue energy clouds that manifested into the top of the facility vacuum chamber ceiling.
By the way it kept flaring and making deep rumbling noises, Hayden guessed what was happening what not good. it was almost like what happened that night.
No. Hayden thought. You have to focus. don't let it control you.
The room had become abnormally quiet, except for the sounds of heavy breathing. the smoke surrounding the platform cleared, revealing a crouched figure from where the portal had opened.
S.H.I.E.L.D guards approach carefully, weapons in their hands, their eyes trained on the figure. Hayden had one of her guns in her hands, it's safety clicked off. the person on the platform raises his head, and Hayden recognizes the mischievous smile that sent chills down her spine.
"Loki," she muttered, her gun still trained on the god himself.
"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury says in a firm tone. Hayden shakes her head discreetly. That's not going to work on him. She moves toward Fury slowly and warily, keeping her eyes on Loki, who was staring at her with a wild look in his eyes.
