Across the Universe

“You two came up with this in the last three hours?” Jinx’s eyes were wide as she stared at the calculations displayed on the large screen along the far wall of the situation room for all to see. Tony and Bruce had just finished vaguely explaining their plan only moments ago and hoped to put it into action as soon as possible. They were both eager to see the fruit of their labors.

“No, we didn’t come up with this in the last three hours.” Bruce seemed all too pleased with himself. Hanging out with Tony was having some kind of a weird effect on him; he seemed to be having fun. Well, maybe not so much having fun, but rather, he was enjoying the company he was keeping. S.H.I.E.L.D. was filled with brilliant minds but none so brilliant as Tony Stark. Most people were turned off by Tony’s particular brand of smug, but Bruce could look past the attitude and find what seemed most important to him; the truth. Then again, he had basically agreed to help Tony lie to his girlfriend, but he knew the truth, so there was that.

“Not only did we come up with this but we also built a prototype.” Tony chimed in, nodding to Mickey who he’d recruited to wheel in said prototype when the time was right. The prototype was a crude looking round device and several long cylindrical poles. It didn’t seem very impressive but judging by the smile on Tony’s face it was probably much more fantastic than it seemed. The reception from his comrades was rather lackluster for his tastes. “What? Just because I didn’t paint it gold and put flames on it no one’s impressed?”

“Without an explanation, not everyone can understand what this is.” Natasha approached, arms folded over her chest. She’d arrived an hour ago and was none too happy to learn of what had transpired while she was gone. There were several comments about leaving them alone for a few hours and this was what happened.

“Ah yes,” Bruce picked up the larger round piece of machinery and placed it on the front most desk of the situation room. “You see, it’s a trap.”

“Alright, Admiral Ackbar, we gathered that much.” Steve folded his arms over his chest and was surprised when everyone stared at him. “What? I’m not allowed to make a reference every so often? I watched Star Wars. I’ve been catching up.”

“Anyway, it’s a trap for whatever’s been crossing over. The way I see it, if we don’t let this creature cross over we can’t possibly stop it. From the readings I recovered from the Geiger counter Scarlett’s been carrying around, Mr. Stark and I have been able to gather a few things.” Bruce held up the small device that was still as fried as it had been hours ago. He’d not had the time yet to repair it.

“The shadows that you saw weren’t shadows.” Tony grinned smugly.

“I could’ve told you that.” Scarlett nodded her head but let them continue. It had only appeared to be a shadow but what she had felt had clearly been something tangible, only bathed in shadow.

“If they’re not shadows then what are they? They sure seemed shadowy.” Clint tried to redirect the conversation. He wanted to avoid an argument if he could.

“We don’t actually know yet.” Bruce cleared his throat.

“But that’s only because we haven’t seen the true nature of this thing yet.” Tony finished up when he saw the others objecting. “We keep talking like this thing isn’t here yet and it’s trying to make its way through and yet we keep thinking we’re fighting something tangible. We’re not. Whatever it is, we can’t hurt it because it’s behind some kind of veil. It’s only half here. Obviously it’s strength is beyond anything we could’ve predicted it would be.”

“How do you figure?” Coulson was listening thoughtfully all the while looking over the device. Jinx seemed to be checking the math on the screen set up in front of them but wouldn’t find any mistakes even if she didn’t give up halfway through the equation.

“Think about it.” Tony shrugged and rubbed his beard. Now that his mind was preoccupied from his social life the fact that he hadn’t shaved that morning was driving him crazy. He was itchy. “Not only is this thing creating some kind of mass energy that can travel between… god only knows where, it’s manifesting this darkness that is attacking us and keeping us at bay. It’s strength is so great that when it fails it practically leaves craters in its wake. Ask the caped crusader over here, I bet he knows all about how much strength it takes to accomplish that.” Tony nodded to Thor who didn’t seem to realize caped crusader meant him but seeing as he was the only one wearing a cape it made sense and he didn’t seem offended.

“His assumption is correct. There are not many creatures in this universe or any other that could accomplish such a feat with such destruction unguided.”

“Exactly.” Bruce nodded. “Which is my only worry. If we’re not right with our calculations then our trap might not work and this thing could cross over unchecked.”

“That’s a pretty big worry.” Coulson disapproved greatly.

“We can only estimate what this thing’s power really is without drawing it over and examining it. Which I think is a good idea.” Tony wasn’t so sure how good an idea it would be but without being able to see what they were truly up against they were at a pretty big disadvantage. “This thing is going to make its way through to our side one way or another I’d rather it get through on our terms than its own. If we can be on top of it from the moment of its arrival then we have a better chance of controlling the outcome.”

“You have a point.” Natasha scowled, going over the paperwork that Bruce had brought in along with the machine. It hadn’t taken her long to get the basic idea of what they’d encountered in the mall. She was not a fan of being out of the loop.

“What we thought was disappearing from one world to the next isn’t that at all. And that’s why I think this is a good idea.”

“Well, then what is it if not disappearing into their portal? There are huge chunks of our planet missing and if it’s not in some other universe then where is it? How do you explain all the missing matter?” Jinx sat on a desk next to Mickey who had rejoined her after having done her duty for Tony and Bruce.

“It’s a bomb.” Scarlett finally spoke up, having been thoughtfully going over the equations in front of her. Mitchell nodded to agree next to her. Everyone stared at them, waiting for more information on how they had figured that out.

“Y-yes.” Bruce furrowed his brow. He’d expected a shocked reaction but hadn’t gotten one. Tony turned away, hiding the smile on his face. Would a playful smack on the butt be out of line? Probably. Maybe later, he decided.

“We figured it out earlier.” Mitchell shrugged nonchalantly.

“It’s the only thing that made sense. If it couldn’t pass on its own and keep that portal up long enough then how could it have taken something from our side? Surely that requires just as much energy. Mitchell only passed through it because she portal travels to begin with. That woman who attacked me used the portal to her advantage but we have no idea what sort of magic she possesses. I don’t think she’s related to this incident, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it.” Scarlett was grateful that there wouldn’t be a woman who looked remarkably like her running around. One of her was enough trouble for their universe, god forbid there was a second more sinister version of her. However, she was curious. She’d store that information away for another day when things were less crazy in her current life.

“It’s true that we don’t know how strong this creature is but we do know it is not strong enough to pass between worlds without gathering energy first. When it gathers the energy it dispels radiation to compensate. That radiation and the energy mix and when it’s too much it combusts. Like a bomb.” Mitchell continued to explain.

“So when it was first making attempts to cross over the damage was minimal in comparison because it hadn’t gathered what it needed and lost control.”

“I wouldn’t call turning a building into Swiss cheese minimal.” Steve grimaced at the memory. “The damage was pretty catastrophic.”

“Because it was in the middle of a building.” Tony picked up the conversation, not to argue with Steve but to explain. “I don’t know why it appeared in multiple places like that, my guess is that this creature is not in as much control of this energy as we think it is. It’s getting better with time obviously, but that incident? It was sporadic so instead of setting off one big explosion it was several smaller ones. If it hadn’t happened in a Manhattan high rise it wouldn’t have done nearly as much damage.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Steve thought it made as much sense as anything else.

“This creature can summon power that is beyond its control. There is very little more dangerous than that in my experience.” Thor grimaced.

“Now we have to treat this like containing an explosion?” Mickey stared curiously at the device Bruce had set down in front of them.

“Very good.” Tony pointed at her like she was a student who had done well in his class and she reacted as such.

“Not just like any explosion. It’s not a normal bomb; this is radiation. Gamma mostly but there are some levels of things we can’t seem to identify.”

“They’re not of this earth.” Thor interjected and Tony nodded though it wasn’t a term that he liked to use.

“I prefer undiscovered but yeah, that’ll work.”

“So what this does is… uses its energy against it. This device here will combat it.” Bruce touched the larger of the devices they’d built for the occasion. “Gamma radiation is naturally occurring but not in large quantities. You can find some in the air after a lightning strike, near radium, but mostly it is a type of electromagnetic radiation. If this creature dispels this amount of radiation then we can assume one of two things, either he’s made from radium or electricity or uses it to harness his powers.”

“I’m guessing electricity.” Scarlett held up her hand though her arms were still folded over her chest. “There were lightning storms inside the shadow when it came after me. I kept seeing flickers of lightning, but it wasn’t normal, it was… discolored. Unnatural.”

“That would have been handy to know earlier…” Tony frowned disapprovingly.

“You figured it out anyway, didn’t you?” Scarlett couldn’t see what difference it made. There had been too much going on that afternoon. It was partially why Scarlett didn’t like working with others. She had all the information she needed in her head, she didn’t need help figuring it out. But now she was going to have to share every damn little detail or get in trouble for it or screw something up. Either way, she didn’t like it.

“Yes, we did. Besides, after everything that’s happened today it would have been impossible to recall all the details considering.”

“Lightning creatures are not uncommon across the realms.” Thor knew that he was a creature of lightning himself, or at least his hammer gave him the power to control it. “If your device is going to require electrical impulses to trap this creature I would be happy to give it a boost.”

“That could come in handy if something goes wrong. We’ll call it a failsafe.” Tony had already considered that Thor would be helpful, but the device he’d created with Dr. Banner was self sustaining and wouldn’t require any external force unless things went terribly wrong.

“We’ve equipped the machine to work like an X-ray machine, emitting a small amount of x-rays in order deflect the gamma radiation. From what we know these two forms of radiation are drastically different and both harmful in large doses so I’m going to ask everyone to stay out of the way if they can help it. Particularly you, Miss Mitchell if you don’t mind. I’m not sure what your demonic half and magic is constructed of and I would hate to do you any long term damage.”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Mitchell wasn’t used to being spoken to so formally but who was she to object?

“We’ll feed it just enough energy to break through then blast the x-rays and trap it all in with this high frequency electronic fence.” Tony held up two of the longer cylindrical devices that they’d built. “I’m going to ask you not to touch these things, it’s not going to be pleasant once they’re up and running.”

“Hey guys?” Jinx was sitting behind one of the computers now but went unheard.

“With any luck these two things combined will be enough to pull this creature through without setting off any more explosions. The electrical fence we’ve designed operates at such a frequency that it’s not going to do this thing any favors. It’ll be trapped and we can figure out what to do with it from there.”

“I hate to interrupt but…” Jinx continued, still tapping away at the computer in front of her.

“How can we be sure this thing works?” Coulson was skeptical that the plan was going to work, in fact, the whole thing seemed dangerous. Electrical currents, emitting radiation into the atmosphere? It sounded like the opposite of what they should be doing as protectors of the peace. If it went wrong wouldn’t they be making the explosion worse?

“We can test it on you right now if you like but it’s going to be pretty uncomfortable.” Tony smirked.

“There’s only one way to find out, really. I’m not the type to run these sorts of reckless experiments, but we don’t really have a proper set up to experiment and test our hypothesis.”

“This is the best bet we have. Take it or leave it, Coulson.” Tony challenged him and the room was left in silence.

“Coulson, Jinx has picked something up.” Natasha stood over the woman’s shoulder after having heard her proclamations. She had since gotten swept up on the computer and had given up on interrupting the room full of egos.

“What is it, Agent Bennett?”

“After deciphering the data from Dr. Banner’s device coupled with what we learned from the shopping mall I’ve been able to narrow down the phases of this event.” Jinx didn’t look away from the screen. “From beginning to end we see different spikes of gamma radiation and whatever it is that Dr. Banner has picked up and we’re calling the unknown variable.”

“And?”

“I think we just found where the next event is going to take place.” She finally stopped clicking away at the keyboard.

“So soon? How long do we have?”

“Two hours. My guess is that by midnight, this thing is going to make another attempt to pass through to our world.” Jinx leaned back in her chair and allowed the computer to finish up with its commands.

“Greenfield, Massachusetts.” Natasha looked over the map that had come up on the screen with the tiny red dot that was blinking, readings floating above it. Jinx tapped at the screen again and allowed the image to transfer to the larger one so that everyone could see.

“We’ve got to act now or we’ll never get there in time.” Scarlett dusted herself off and then walked over to the device.

“Coulson?” Maria Hill had been watching in silence but wasn’t going to take another step in any direction if they didn’t get the approval of their boss.

“Fine. But you make sure that civilians are evacuated to a safe distance before you set this thing off. Agent Hill, you take a team and work the evacuation. Tell them it’s some kind of gas leak or something as not to create a panic.”

“Why is it always gas leak? Do you have no imagination?” Scarlett objected and Coulson threw her a look that silenced her but she still smiled, amused by her own observation.

“Stark, can you get there and start setting up ahead of time? Your suit travels faster than the rest of us can.”

“I’m flattered.” Tony nodded toward the device and then to Scarlett. “Help me get this upstairs.”

“Sure, I have nothing else better to do.” She picked up pieces of it despite her objections. In all honesty, she was still just happy to give Tony a hard time no matter what they were doing or how annoyed at him she was.

“Damien, Romanoff, Barton, Rogers, Pierce, you’ll take the jet and meet Stark up north. Mitchell, Thor, you are welcome to accompany them but seeing as I have no control over either of you the choice is yours.” Coulson directed then turned to Bruce. “Dr. Banner, I’m going to ask that you join the others on the jet in case your device needs fine tuning while you’re there.”

“I was going to request it be so.”

“Agent Bennett?” Coulson turned to Jinx who had returned to the computer. “You’re the overhead eyes and ears.”

“It’s kind of what I do.” Jinx wasn’t being condescending or sarcastic, she simply knew her role very well when it came to dispatching S.H.I.E.L.D. teams.

“Good. Dismissed.” Coulson walked over to Jinx and kept her company at the computer. Despite the amount of strong willed stubborn people on their taskforce the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were able to, relatively quickly, put their plan into action. Scarlett aided Tony with packaging up the device so it could be carried by his suit. Afterward, Mitchell accompanied her onto the jet that had been prepped for their departure. The very bottom floor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, far underneath even the prisons, stood a loading dock specifically for transportation. There were two exits into the outside world, through the ocean and an elevator to the parking lot above. This particular jet would leave through the ocean and then make its way into the air above.

Natasha wouldn’t let Scarlett fly the jet, mostly because Scarlett had never flown a jet before. Scarlett insisted she would never learn how if Natasha wouldn’t let her try. Mickey was uncomfortable with the conversation as a whole and tried to mediate but then both the powerful women insisted that Mickey try to fly the jet. Steve reminded them they were on a time crunch but his insistence went ignored and besides, he was enjoying that everyone seemed to be getting along so he couldn’t complain too much. Bruce was explaining to Clint how the machine would work again but Clint kept suggesting that they bring in a bomb squad since they’re dealing with bombs so the conversation became circular. Thor had decided he would travel on his own to the location once Jinx had shown him exactly where he would be needed.

The flight seemed agonizingly long for how short it actually was. The moment the jet touched down in Massachusetts Bruce and Scarlett were jumping out of it. Bruce pointed toward a clump of nearby trees enclosed in darkness. Clouds from the south had covered up any light nature would have provided them.

“According to Miss Bennett, the signals are coming from just over there.”

“I bet you that’s where Tony is too. Come on.” Scarlett adjusted the glove she’d placed on her left hand and with a click, snapped it closed tightly in place. With a shake of her wrist the wires inside of it lit up. Bruce started toward the trees but then stopped abruptly, holding his laptop open in his hands and waiting for the screen to load.

“It’s going to be dark, we need flashlights.”

“I’ve got you covered.” Scarlett held up her glove and the creases in between the metallic pieces that formed it light up brightly. “Come on. Tony’s a walking flashlight in his suit anyway.” Bruce nodded and followed her into the woods. Not far behind her was the rest of the team that had flown in on the jet.

“This way!” Bruce kept glancing at his computer screen and leading them meandering through the trees.

“You know, they have handheld devices that can do what you’re doing on that laptop far more efficiently… and less… ridiculously.” Scarlett peered over his shoulder, holding her hand in front of them to keep the ground lit up as they walked.

“I prefer this old thing.” Bruce tapped the brick of a laptop in his arms.

“Personal attachment or something? It’s like a dinosaur.”

“I prefer the term fossil, Miss Damien.” Bruce chuckled under his breath but then caught himself as he tripped over the root of a tree.

“Over here!” They could hear Tony calling through the trees up the hill. “Scarlett? I’m almost completely set up over here!” He called again. Bruce ran ahead and Scarlett stopped and peered through the trees at something peculiar. She could’ve sworn she saw something out of the corner of her eye, but all in all she wasn’t sure what had made her stop. The others were running past her but Steve stopped when he noticed her staring. He looked in the direction she was and searched for anything out of the ordinary but saw nothing.

“What is it?” He nudged her arm when she didn’t acknowledge him. Scarlett held up her hand and didn’t turn her gaze away.

“Something’s wrong.” Scarlett started through the trees without looking back.

“Could you be a little more specific?” Steve followed without hesitation, following the light of the glove she held in front of her. He’d meant to ask her about the device, it was awfully impressive.

“It just feels wrong.”

“Now that I understand.” Steve stopped her before she could walk too far. “Can it wait? They’re going to need us up there.” Scarlett was oddly struck by that. Steve was following her even if she hadn’t asked him to. He’d taken on her intuition as his own and had decided to follow her. What was that all about? Last night he couldn’t trust her to wash her hands by herself, now he was letting her lead?

Scarlett couldn’t have explained to Steve what she felt just then. She hadn’t seen anything, she hadn’t heard anything, but something had felt wrong. She felt followed. Hadn’t she had that same problem earlier when the shadow had shown itself? Hadn’t it proven to be Mitchell? This time it wasn’t Mitchell, she was already up on the hill, prepared to help contain whatever creature was crossing over. Maybe it had something to do with the electrical field that was building up in preparation for their trap that made her feel uneasy. Or maybe she had grown paranoid over the last year.

“Yeah, you know what? It can wait.” Scarlett turned around and started back up the hill. Steve stopped her again.

“Are you sure? You seemed pretty concerned.”

“It’s nothing. It’s been a weird weekend, that’s all.” Scarlett went to continue on to thank Steve for actually putting some faith in her.

“Scarlett? Captain Spandex?” Tony’s voice echoed through the trees and seconds later he ran through them, without his suit. It had occurred to him that radiation and electrical pulses could render him useless if he stayed within it despite several safeguards he’d installed. If he had to suit up again it would take mere seconds, so he wasn’t worried. “It’s starting, come on.” Tony grabbed Scarlett’s hand and Steve mentally deflated at the terrible nickname before following them up the hill.

Sure enough, when the trio rejoined the group on the hill, the light that they’d seen earlier that day within the mall began in a small pinpoint and then began to grow. Scarlett pulled free of Tony and moved closer to the light. She wanted to see what this creature that had disrupted their universe was. More importantly, she wanted to see that woman again, the one who looked like her. Scarlett had a number of questions for her and she wasn’t afraid to be hostile about it.

“Don’t get too close to it.” Bruce warned under his breath, unsure of what the effect would be if any of them crossed between the trap and the light. His calculations told him that the effect of the machine shouldn’t have been harmful to anyone, except for maybe Mitchell, but who knew what it could do? Besides a nasty shock, the results could either be nil or catastrophic. If only they’d had more time to run tests and study the phenomenon.

“Are you sure that this machine is going to do what you claimed? Your technology is very good but there are things in this universe that not even the Allfather understands.” Thor crossed his arms thoughtfully over his chest. He had flown there, following the man of iron to their destination.

They’d put the trap together on the fly and while so far it seemed to be working and charging the way it was supposed to, keeping the energy contained inside the of poles that Tony had set up before their arrival, Bruce had the sinking feeling that they should’ve run a few extra tests before they’d put the plan into action. Unfortunately they hadn’t been afforded the luxury of time so they had to roll with the punches as they flew.

“It’s oddly beautiful, don’t you think?” Natasha tilted her head to the side curiously, standing far from the machine. She was the only one there who hadn’t experienced the phenomenon firsthand thus far besides Tony who was far more concerned with the way the machine was functioning. He was using his phone to help Bruce take readings and try to gauge when they should trigger the actual trap to try and imprison whatever it was that was crossing over.

“Yeah, super pretty when shadow monsters aren’t trying to kill you.” Clint chuckled but kept his eye on the glowing orb. Where was the shadow that had attacked them in the mall? It’d attacked while the orb was still growing as a distraction. Was the machine Bruce and Tony built actually containing any attempts it made to defend itself? Or maybe it was no longer threatened by them. Both possibilities left the group feeling unnerved.

“It is, in a way, beautiful.” Thor was on his guard, half expecting his brother to come walking through the portal at any second. What wicked magic had this creature conjured up in order to split the fabric between universes? He wouldn’t put it past Loki to find something so terribly destructive.

“Okay now! Everyone stand back!” Bruce shouted and Tony moved around holographic images in front of him. The poles surrounding the light snapped to life and electricity charged through them. Each member of the group backed up except for Scarlett who stood closely by and watched to the best of her ability. The round metallic object placed in the ground between the poles snapped open and began to spin rapidly.

A light so bright that they were forced to look away flashed and there was a loud popping sound, like a flat tire, and then a metallic whir that hurt their ears.

“Is it supposed to do that?” Mickey yelled above the noise. “That doesn’t sound good!”

“No!” Tony and Bruce shouted in unison. Scarlett was no longer listening. There was something inside the circle now that the light had died, something more than the machine and it wasn’t what they had expected. The whirring died away, at least in Scarlett’s ears and she could hear very distinctly a sound that she’d heard earlier that day.

Crying.

In the center of the circle, surrounded on each side by brilliant arcs of energy was a young girl, no older than fifteen and she was sobbing hysterically. She was worse for wear, to the say the very least. Scarlett wasn’t the only one who had noticed her.

“Turn it off! Turn off the machine! There’s someone caught in there!” Mickey shouted, horrified that someone had gotten into the crossfire of their attempt to save lives. It occurred to Scarlett that the girl in the center of the trap could have been the creature that was trying to cross over, but something struck Scarlett about the girl. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but it was an overall feeling.

This girl was in trouble. She needed help.

“How the hell did she get in there? Did anyone see her run past?” Clint shouted, covering his ears. “Is she in some kind of danger in there?” He directed his question at Bruce.

“It’s not like we ran human trials! I don’t know!” Bruce looked to Tony who was doing quick calculations in the air in front of him.

“I’m not waiting!” Scarlett took a few deep breaths, pumping herself up for what she was about to do and then ran straight past the electrical barrier and into the trap.

“No! Miss Damien!”

“Scarlett, are you out of your mind?” Tony echoed Bruce’s sentiments but their objections were too late. Steve and Natasha immediately followed to the perimeter of the trap in case Scarlett needed their help or it went horribly wrong. The electrical barrier hurt about as much as she had expected it to, but after the amount of times Scarlett had been struck by a taser in the last year, she was sure she could handle it. The tingling in her toes and fingertips was annoying but nothing she couldn’t handle.

“There’s a risk of overexposure!” Bruce shouted again but Scarlett was no longer listening nor did she care. If there was a risk to her then there was a risk to the girl already trapped and in such a clear state of shock that she was trembling from head to toe. Instinctively Scarlett wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her to her feet. Every part of the girl seemed weak and frail. Scarlett could feel her bones through her skin and knew that the girl had been starved. Something terrible had happened to her!

“Are you alright?” Scarlett looked into the young girl’s wide brown eyes but she couldn’t respond. There was terror behind those eyes that Scarlett had seen many times before but only in situations far more dire than this. What had this girl seen? What were the odds that she’d stumbled inside the trap at the exact time they’d triggered it? Had she perhaps been lost in the woods and drawn to the light?

What if that had been what had stopped Scarlett earlier? Had she sensed someone else in the woods and it had been this girl? Maybe she’d led the teenager to her fate.

“She’s hurt!” Scarlett shouted over the whirring of the machine which seemed somehow less from inside of it. There was no sign of the light or the phenomenon that they had earlier witnessed. Maybe the girl had disturbed it in some way or maybe their trap had kept it from crossing over.

“That’s it, I’m going in!” Steve shouted and used his shield to deflect some of the electricity coming toward him so it wouldn’t hurt him on the way through.

Mitchell ran forward to join them. If something was happening she wanted to be a part of it.

“No way!” Bruce grabbed Mitchell by the wrist and she grunted in frustration and tried to pull her wrist free. “Don’t! We don’t know how it’s going to affect your magic! You could get seriously hurt!” Mitchell curled her lip in annoyance but stood down and pulled her wrist free of Bruce. It wasn’t worth the risk. She had understood how their machine worked when they’d shown it to them earlier in the situation room. If it would have any affects on her, they would be negative, and she was having enough problems as it was.

“If she cannot go then I will!”

“Same problem, Asgardian God!” Tony shouted as though this were obvious. “I don’t care what kind of immortal you claim to be, I don’t want to be responsible for you turning into a radiation god, alright?” Thor hesitated but then stopped, clutching his hammer in his hand. He was not a fan of inaction but he knew that the mortals were right. They wouldn’t know the affect the machine was going to have on those who had already passed through the electrical field. The more people who passed through it, the more lives were at risk.

“Are you alright?” Scarlett tried to calm the girl enough to at least get her to walk, but she stayed fixed to the ground.

“What’s your name?” Steve shouted over the whir of the machine but the girl cringed at the sight of him. He was intimidating to those who had no idea he was basically a giant teddy bear. Scarlett held her hand up to signal Steve to stay back, at least until she’d reassured the girl that nothing was going to hurt her. If she ran through the energy without their help, who knew what could happen.

“I’m…” The girl looked up to Scarlett hopelessly. Her eyes were sunken in and her skin was pale. Upon further observation Scarlett noticed something unsettling about her. Tugging on the back of her shirt, Scarlett saw scarring down her back. Horrible red blotches were appearing right in front of her eyes. Her stomach twisted in knots instantly. “I’m so tired…”

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Scarlett pulled the girl away from her just enough to look into her weary brown eyes. She placed her hands on either side of the girl’s face and forced her to keep eye contact. “I’m going to take care of you. I promise.” She offered a reassuring smile and the girl began crying once again.

This time she threw her arms around Scarlett and clung tightly to her, as though something terrible would happen if she let go.

“What is that?” Steve whispered after he had gotten close enough to Scarlett and the teenager to notice the burns on her back.

“You have to turn off the machine!” Scarlett shouted over the whir, looking over her shoulder and locking eyes with Tony through the gap between the electrical field.

“But what if…”

“These are radiation burns.” Steve gasped, his heart sinking in his chest. If this girl was covered in radiation burns just from being inside the trap for such a short time what would happen to the two heroes that had passed through it? He was a super soldier but as far as Steve knew, Scarlett was mortal, very, very mortal. “Radiation burns! Kill the machine! The radiation is doing damage!”

“There shouldn’t be enough radiation to do that!” Tony shouted, perplexed. There was no way his math was that off.

“Turn it off!” Natasha commanded, pushing Tony out of the way. His ego would have to take second chair for the time being.

“I tried!” Bruce looked up to Natasha and pointed at the screen of his laptop. The entire program had locked up and refused to shut off.

“Something’s wrong.” Tony grunted, moving them both out of the way so he could get to the computer. “Scarlett, get the hell out of there!” They’d all been thinking the same thing. If the amount of radiation the phenomenon had given off after the trap had accomplished its task was, in fact, far greater than they had anticipated it would be, then they were all in some serious trouble. They could have very well created a bomb much more dangerous than anything that would have happened without their interference.

The poles stuck in the ground were sparking and one of them very quickly burned out. The machine in the center overcompensated and spun faster but began grinding shortly afterward. Sparks rained from the poles, onto the ground around it, striking up fires in the grass, in the trees.

“Let me take her!” Steve shouted to Scarlett. He could carry them both to safety if he had to. He reached for the girl but she screamed bloody murder and pulled Scarlett so hard they nearly fell to the ground.

“I’ve got her, Rogers!” Scarlett steadied herself and reassured the girl by holding her just a little bit tighter. “Just clear the way for me!”

“Got it!” Steve hurried and held the shield in front of the electrical current, burying his feet in the mud to stay steady. Scarlett started toward the path that was cleared but once they were close the girl stopped her and pulled her close.

“I can’t!” She shouted, looking to Scarlett desperately. She wanted to tell her something, to share with her what had happened. In those very few seconds where Scarlett had risked herself to save the girl, a bond had formed between them. She trusted Scarlett, she wanted her help, but something was stopping her.

“We can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous! You’re sick, I need to get you to help. My friends can help you but we have to go!”

“You don’t understand!” The girl started crying again and Scarlett knelt down in front of her, holding both the girl’s trembling hands.

“Help me understand!”

“Scarlett, we don’t have time for this!” Clint shouted from behind Captain America. Natasha had taken Tony’s phone and was now helping him to try and disarm the trap but the entire program had locked up. There was some kind of external force working against them.

“Tell me your name. Look, my name is Scarlett.” Scarlett looked behind her worriedly and then back to the girl. “I can get you help but we have to go or you could die.” Again the girl threw her arms around Scarlett and as Scarlett moved to simply lift the girl off of the ground and carry her away whether she liked it or not something stopped her dead in her tracks.

The sobbing against her shoulder was no longer. The little girl’s voice changed. At first it became high pitched and turned into a squeal and then it became cruel and almost turned into a growl. Scarlett froze. Those around her froze. The only one who kept working was Natasha, otherwise all eyes were on the scene taking place inside the trap.

Scarlett pulled the girl away from her shoulder where she’d been comforting her but she was no longer the teenager she’d been so eager to help. Her appearance was the same but her pupils were completely dilated and then the whites of her eyes turned at first red and then black.

“She’s no longer with us.” The creature spoke in a dual toned voice, the sounds overlapping and echoing. Her mouth opened wide, wider than humanly possible with the cracking of bones and she screamed and howled. The sound shook the ground around them and knocked over the remaining poles, sending sparks through the air. Even Natasha had to cover her ears and cringe in pain from the noise.