A Time of Gods

Cat was flanked by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents as she was taken to meet Nick Fury. She walked the very same path that Loki would tread within the hour, only turning off before she could catch a glimpse of the ships prison.

Nick Fury was waiting, the tension stretched tight across his shoulder blades. He rolled his shoulders -the first and only evident sign of the great pressure weighing on him because of his job. He was being backed into one corner after another until he could come up with a solution.

-And what greater foe than Loki to test him.
Fury suspected that the Demi-God was only the catalyst for something beyond human comprehension, but they wouldn't know anything more until Loki was questioned. So Fury should have felt a weight lift when he got the call that Loki was in custody, but they had yet to recover the Tesseract and discover what had become of the people Loki had possessed. Fury wasn't so ignorant as to believe locating Loki was the end of the struggle, it was only the beginning.

Now he had an unexpected visit from Felicia Hardy to deal with. Fury had gone out of his way to help her in the past but these last few years he had watched as she slowly grew closer to the ego he had feared. Felicia's intelligence and natural capability had grown rapidly, yet she had shed the humble naivety of her youth and developed a vapid attitude where she thought solely of her own needs.

His hope, was that perhaps he would see a flicked of who she used to be now that she had so much contact with someone as genuine as Steve Rogers.

Most of all, Nick Fury was tired, and Felicia showing up here was just another thing to deal with consuming more of the precious time he didn't have to spare. It was Agent Coulson who had told him to take her request, especially since she had come in when they had asked her before. Coulson was the person who still had faith in her, while Fury's was waining.

"Nick."
Fury looked up to see Felicia at the door, the agents still with her.

"Ms. Hardy." His response was formal.

"Your new base is impressive," Cat said approvingly as she moved in to the room, "I was so sorry to hear about what happened to the old place. I was going to send a condolence card."

With a nod of his head Fury dismissed his employees, leaving the two alone. "What was so important that you had to see me in person?" He asked.

"Has Loki arrived yet?" She enquired casually. Fury studied her for signs of bluff. It never failed to surprise him how she was so able to uncover restricted information. It made him remember the beginning, and how if she had chosen to work for him, she could now be a formidable spy to rival Black Widow.

"How much do you know?"

Cat perched on a desk. "I know that Loki stole the Tesseract, and that he has a handful of your agents to assist him, along with the beloved Hawkeye and Erik Selvig," Cat continued in her oh-so nonchalant way, ready to drop the bombshell, "and he wanted me too, but he just couldn't meet my price."

"Loki has approached you?"

Cat nodded, she had now begun to examine a careless fray in her left-hand glove, "I'm not sure what he thought I could do for him," she shrugged. "So, do you know what his plan is?"

"Not the full extent of it," Fury answered, and if had known he certainly wasn't likely to divulge sensitive information with Felicia. Cat was slightly disappointed, she wasn't going to learn anything new about Loki's plans here, she would have to wait until he was out. Fury's gut was telling him to keep an eye on her while she was here, if she was involved then there had to be more to this story than she was letting on.

"You once asked for my assistance," Cat said softly, "I could speak to Loki-"
Fury raised a hand to pause her thought, not that he was considering her offer anyway. He received message telling him that the team had finally arrived back.

"What took them so long?" Cat asked.

"They encountered a thunder storm."

Cat raised a brow, unable to hide her surprise. Had she expected the Asgardians to stay out of this?

Fury lead the way out of the room and Cat was able to keep up with his demanding pace. She didn't want Loki to see her yet, but she suspected he would guess she would show up at some point. He hadn't instructed her to -he had other means of escape, but he hadn't ordered her to stay away either. How would he react when he saw her?

She didn't need to worry -yet. Loki was already being escorted to the holding container, while she and Fury crossed paths with those who had brought him in. Her eyes landed first on Thor. Though she was familiar with his brother, Thor's presence still astounded her. He was broader than Loki and carried the legendary hammer Mjolnir. Cat realised it was another myth come to life. However, unlike Loki, Thor had a gentleness to his face which evident even with the fair lines on his brow to show the inner turmoil he was battling with.

Cat's eyes flicked past him when he looked at her, and she broke off from Fury, going to the soldier bringing up the group.
"Captain."

"Felicia?" Steve was confused, she was the last person he had expected to see here, "What are you doing here?"

"I never was one to miss a party," she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Steve pulled her against his body, welcoming her presence amongst all the craziness and losing his usual self consciousness for the moment. The couple were oblivious to the onlookers, and though Cat -Felicia- lost herself in that short, sweet moment, it wasn't long before the conflict was back in her heart.