As Banner boarded the S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet, Betty climbed into the car Fury had arranged to take her home. Exhausted, she fell asleep as soon as she settled into her seat.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she woke to find the car stopped in an unfamiliar location.
"Agent Barton, where are we?" Betty asked, puzzled to see the driver replaced by someone else—Hawkeye, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent she had seen at her house before.
"Come with me." Hawkeye opened the car door and extended a hand toward her.
Looking around at the desolate surroundings, Betty felt a twinge of unease. She had no idea where she was and knew she'd never find her way back alone. Reluctantly, she decided to follow him.
They walked for what felt like a long time before a building came into view in the distance.
At the entrance sat a man dressed strangely, savoring a glass of wine. "Barton, is the mission complete?" he asked.
This place was Hawkeye's new hideout, a temporary refuge for Loki to evade S.H.I.E.L.D.'s pursuit.
Though he bore the blood of the Frost Giants, Loki always considered himself an Asgardian. With the pride of Asgard, he didn't see these mortals as a threat. Still, his cautious nature led him to heed Hawkeye's advice to first dismantle the Avengers.
"We need to locate iridium quickly so I can stabilize the portal," said Selvig, stepping out from inside the house.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Betty interjected, bewildered by their conversation. "Barton, take me home now. It's already dark."
The man at the door turned his gaze to her. "My dear lady, I have a small favor to ask. Once it's done, you'll be free to leave."
Realizing she had been kidnapped, Betty quickly assessed her surroundings and formulated an escape plan. She bolted without hesitation, but before she could take more than two steps, Hawkeye caught her arm.
"Let go of me!" Betty threatened. "You should know, my boyfriend's over ten feet tall and could crush you with a single punch. You'd better think twice before kidnapping me."
"Relax," Loki said with a smirk. "I only need you to stay for a while."
Betty was dragged into the house, where she saw two others tied to chairs. One of them was Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. Were they kidnapped too?
"Barton, does Garus have any weaknesses—family, perhaps?" Loki asked, clearly wary of the young man who had dismantled the Destroyer.
"He has a school for mutants and some students you've met before," Hawkeye replied. "But his friends aren't to be underestimated."
Hawkeye's words brought back memories of the students who fought the Destroyer. Individually, they weren't particularly strong, but their numbers could be troublesome.
"I've already planted some bombs near Azeroth Tech's headquarters," Hawkeye added.
Betty, meanwhile, was fuming as the ropes dug into her wrists. Her frustration simmered to the point that her eyes began to show a faint green hue.
"Hawkeye, take Dr. Selvig and some men to retrieve the iridium," Loki instructed. "I'll handle the Avengers."
The next day, the Avengers and Garus gathered aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
"What is it this time, Director Fury?" Tony Stark asked impatiently.
Of all the people present, only Garus seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation. He hadn't expected the battle to escalate so soon. The New York confrontation was already on the horizon, and his fleet was barely assembled.
Fury addressed the group, his tone heavy. "Loki has reappeared. He's stolen the Tesseract and taken control of Agent Barton and Dr. Selvig."
The loss of the Tesseract weighed heavily on Fury. This was the second time it had been taken, and their security seemed laughably inadequate against such powerful foes.
"We need to find that bastard and retrieve the Tesseract," Fury declared.
Garus spoke up, "Director Fury, do you remember our agreement? If you lose the Tesseract again, I won't be returning it to you. You can't protect it."
Fury recalled their earlier deal and replied grimly, "We'll discuss that once you've found it."
A suspicion crept into Fury's mind: had Garus foreseen this all along? He had been oddly willing to hand over the Tesseract before.
"All this for a defeated foe?" Tony scoffed. "Even if Loki shows up with that... what was it called? The Destroyer? Garus can handle it alone. In fact, I used the materials from last time in one of my projects."
"That was merely a minion," Fury countered. "Loki plans to use the Tesseract to open a portal and summon the Chitauri army to invade Earth."
He turned to Bruce Banner. "Dr. Banner, can you pinpoint where Loki might open the portal?"
Banner, engrossed in the Tesseract's data, nodded. "To create a stable, sizable portal, he'll need iridium and a device to serve as a positional anchor."
According to the timeline, Loki was likely to appear in Germany soon—and Thor would arrive shortly after.
Before Garus could voice his thoughts, Tony suddenly tore off his earpiece, cursing. "Damn aliens!"
"What's wrong?" the others asked, startled.
"Pepper's been kidnapped," Tony growled, his face darkening. "I'm going back."
Garus was taken aback. This wasn't part of the story—who would kidnap Pepper now?
Steve Rogers stepped forward, trying to calm Tony down. "Tony, think this through."
"Think it through?" Tony snapped, shaking off Steve's hand. "You wouldn't understand, Captain. Do you even have family left?"
Steve's jaw tightened, but he held back his anger.
"Wait, Tony," Fury interjected. "I suspect Loki took her. We'll find him and get her back."
"Why is Earth such a magnet for trouble?" Tony muttered as he paced.
At that moment, Agent Hill appeared at the door. "Director Fury, we've received a video transmission. The sender claims to be Loki."
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