Space Oddity

Summary: Captivity was not his favourite past time; he wasn't overly fond of torture and pain. Thor should have known that when he left Loki at S.H.I.E.L.D to have shawarma with his new best friends.

Someone riffled and dealt out the cards for a new game in which much is the same and yet everything is different. A mortal witch is on a quest to save Loki from himself.

The Tesseract has not lost its draw, the sceptre is in need of a new pawn to wields it, and somewhere in outer space The Other insists a deal once made must be fulfilled.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The Avengers belong to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, any characters or spells you recognize from the Harry Potter books belong to JK Rowling. Even the story title isn't mine; it's a song from David Bowie.

A/N There is some crossover with the HP universe, mostly the magic, but it's not enough HP to put it in the crossover section. This is as much a sequel to Children of the Revolution as there will ever be.

Chapter 1

Raven Snape and her friend Edie Black were sunbathing on the rooftop terrace when aliens attacked New York City. They, however, didn't take notice of any of that because the top floors of the building were protected by magical wards that kept the noises of the city at bay.

It was only when a spacecraft landed in her husband's greenhouse with a loud crash that Raven lifted an eye. A strange looking creature got off of its flying device and approached the two women. It didn't appear friendly, and most certainly it had not stopped for a cup of coffee, because it was wielding a bayonet like rifle.

Immediately, Raven jumped to her feet and brandished her wand. "Edie, get inside and stay there. I don't know how this-"

A flash of blueish light erupted from the alien's weapon.

"Protego!"

The surge from her wand sent the alien reeling backwards.

"Ah well, it's not immune to magic."

Meanwhile, Edie had rushed inside the Snapes' living room without looking back; she simply ran for the place she knew Raven kept a gun- even though her friend never used it. But to Edie it felt good and safe to hold a weapon in her hands as she slowly glanced around a corner towards the terrace.

There was a flash of red light, then a sparkle of blue that got countered by a white glow, and the alien lost its weapon when its arm was severed off. Grunting, it crashed to the floor., winced one last time and lay still.

"Is it dead?" Edie asked as she inched closer, aiming the gun at the lifeless form on the ground.

Cautiously, Raven gave it a scan with her wand, checking for vital signs, before she prodded it with her toe. "At least it doesn't move anymore- whatever it is. It's definitely none of the beasts known in the magical bestiary..." She glanced at her friend. "Oh, and Edie, if you want to threaten any known or unknown creature with a gun, you should at least remember to take the safety off"

Edie sighed and brushed a strand of midnight-blue hair behind her ear. When she was younger, she used to wear it in a Mohawk style but now, being older and not necessarily wiser, she preferred a geometrically cut bob. It failed to make her look more reputable, though, due to the many tattoos inked into her skin.

She put the gun away and moved a little closer to the strange creature as if drawn to it by some kind of weird fascination. Nothing could shock or surprise her anymore, not since the day, more than thirty years ago, she had learned that her friends were all magical and she was a Muggle. In the end, it didn't really matter. They were still friends and she was married to a wizard. "It's fascinatingly ugly, isn't it?"

Raven groaned. "Oh no, Edie, you can't possibly mean to-"

Too late. Edie had already pulled out her cell-phone and was taking pictures of the alien creature.

"Do you think we could possibly try to get off the helmet thing for a few close-ups?"

"Edie, this is madness!" Raven rolled her eyes. "Look around. New York is under attack. There are more and more of them coming from that weird hole in the sky and-"

"Yeah, it seems to be connected to that ugly Stark Tower." Edie observed quite correctly since the attack seemed to be focused to a few blocks surrounding said building, and the reason why she sounded slightly pissed off was because the Muggle billionaire Tony Stark had dared to build a higher tower than that of her husband, Regulus Black. "Oh look, there is the tin can man, zooming up to the wormhole- if that's where he gets his clean energy from then we're fucked up."

Apparently, that was not the case. A little later the wormhole or whatever you might call it was closed, the aliens were all gone and the flying device that had landed in Severus' greenhouse made one last buzzing sound. Fortunately, it hadn't harmed the Mandrakes for their cries could have been fatal.

Meanwhile, Edie was taking a few more pictures of the now decidedly dead alien and she couldn't wait to make the first sketches. She was a tattoo artist, renown for her detailed drawings of the ugly, the horror that some people loved to get inked into their skin. Not many of them knew, however, that most of her inspiration came from creatures that really existed.

"I don't like it," Raven mused, shaking her head ever so slightly as she glanced from the crashed space craft over the glassy balustrade of her terrace and into the streets of Midtown Manhattan where the fires were slowly ceasing. "This is so very not like Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and no friendly Starman is waiting in the sky 'cause he'd like to come to meet us-"

"Yeah, it's definitely more reptile-like than spidery... but well, Bowie recorded that in the early seventies when we were kids. A lot of things have changed in the meantime."

"True..."

Times had changed, that was for sure, and they had changed in the wizarding world, too. With the dawn of the new millennium, Muggles had become aware of the existence of wizards and witches- well not the ordinary Muggle in the streets, they were still oblivious to a parallel society just right next to theirs. But the governments knew. Or rather, the intelligence services.

In an age of globalisation threatened by terrorist attacks, intelligence was the new currency. Muggle technology was improving constantly and at a tremendous speed. Surveillance cameras where everywhere, satellite pictures made it almost impossible for the wizarding world to remain invisible. Fortunately, all of that had started some years after Lord Voldemort's final defeat when the wizarding world was at peace and therefore not a danger, not another threat for the Muggles.

Deals had been made between the International Confederation of Wizards and its Muggle counterpart, the UN, to ensure a friendly coexistence. So far, so good.

Of course, there were always some incorrigible pure-bloods who still believed in being superior to Muggles, not realizing how very wrong they were. Then there were the traditionalists, who wanted everything to stay just the way it was, the way it used to be since the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was first signed in 1689. Most of them withdrew from the Muggle world almost entirely, and many of them moved to Hogsmeade, which had grown from a village to a prospering small town in 2012.

On the other hand, there were also the younger and more progressive wizards and witches, mostly half-bloods and Muggleborns, who understood their advantage of knowing both worlds and opted against living in the medieval times of the wizarding world. They thought the old ways antiquated, wondering why one would use the dusty Floo Network or bother to send a Patronus when there were faster and more efficient means of communication- like Twitter and Facebook- so they rather used smartphones and computers, the magic of modern times. Especially since there were simple spells to prevent Muggle electronic devices from crashing in a magical environment.

There were even intelligence services run by wizards and Muggles. The FBI founded a team of Special Agents investigating paranormal crimes committed by wizards and witches back in 1998, after Lord Voldemort's second attempt to rule the world. And ten years later, the non-governmental WIIA (Wizarding Investigation and Intelligence Agency) was born when the FBI experiment went wrong. It was headed by the old, battle-worn Auror Alice Steel, Raven's friend, mentor and boss.

Edie said goodbye soon after and so Raven called Alice Steel to give a brief report of what she had just witnessed.

"Turn on the TV, lass, it's on every channel." Steel said in a voice that sounded as if she'd gargle with barbed wire every day.

"Yep, but one of them landed on my terrace- well, it crashed into Sev's greenhouse to be precise-"

"Oh dear, are the Mandrakes alright?"

"It's refreshing how you worry about my safety, Al."

"You can take care of yourself. But the Muggles suffered enough today, they don't need to hear the fatal cries of Mandrakes to make this day even worse."

"Speaking of taking care of myself- this alien thing reacted weirdly to magic. My Protego Charm seemed to be more efficient than a Stunner, and when I cut off its arm with Sectumsempra, it died. I would like to take it to our lab for a closer look."

"Aliens are none of our business, Raven. Apparently, a group of superheroes took care of them. Tony Stark's Iron Man and some others. But before curiosity gets the better of you and you autopsy it on your kitchen table (much to your husband's delight, I assume), I'll send a team to clean up and you can enjoy yourself tomorrow."

"Thanks, Al."

"It's always a pleasure to see you happy, lass, even if you've got weird hobbies."

Raven laughed at that. It was true, she was fascinated with the work of medical examiners ever since she watched Quincy, M. E. in her youth. After Auror Training and working as an Auror for two years, she went to a Muggle medicine school in a futile attempt to become a medical examiner herself, but never sat an exam when she realized real life was not a TV series and that she would hardly ever leave her workplace in the morgue to collect more evidence.

Nevertheless, she had worked as an intern for the chief medical examiner in the New York crime laboratory while studying medicine, and she knew how to do an autopsy.

"Meanwhile," Steel continued, "watch TV if you want to know more about the attack. At the moment, the media's still in control but it won't take long until they'll draw the curtain over it."

Since Raven had worked for the FBI- in fact, it had been Alice Steel who had introduced her to their Special Forces team- she knew very well who they were, even if they were faceless and nameless. The people in the background, pulling the strings, hushing up things. The very same people who had ordered the experiments. At first, they were covered as drug tests that every member of the team had to undergo on a regular basis. Only that they didn't check for drugs. Instead, they ran a thorough DNA analysis in order to find the wizarding gene, the one gene that distinguished wizards from Muggles. When they didn't find it they expanded the experiments on wizards and witches held captive at Quantico.

But now was not the right time to mull over whatever ethical or moral discrepancies had made her leave the FBI because Raven's phone was ringing again. The picture on the display showed her husband, and so she told Alice Steel to hold on for a minute in order to answer his call. First things first and Sev would always be her top priority

"Hey, love, you alright?" She asked, glad to know that the potions research lab where he was working was in the outskirts of New York and therefore far away from the mayhem that had happened in Manhattan.

"I worried about you when I heard the news. Are you alright?"

"Well, I actually didn't notice what the fuck was going on until that alien spacecraft thing crashed into your greenhouse- don't worry, your Mandrakes are fine. No harm done to them at all."

"Witch, you'll be the death of me," Severus Snape snarled at his wife. "I'm not worried about some fucking Mandrakes, I worry about you."

"I miss you, too, love. Come home soon, will you?"

He hang up, so Raven switched to the other line again when all of a sudden Severus appeared out of thin air, right in front of her,. "Al, I'll call you back."

She put her phone away in order to hug and kiss her husband, the well-established potions master Severus Snape.

They'd known each other since they were eleven years old, childhood friends that became lovers in later years even if their relationship had not been an easy one in the beginning. Now, however, they were an item for more than thirty years and had actually managed to get married fifteen years ago- not because she would have ever doubted her love for Severus but for a lack of time; Raven had simply been too busy studying forensic science while working three nights a week at the New York crime laboratory. Only to realize that she was a witch and not a Muggle scientist, and that she wanted a job where she could be both.

"Damn, Raven, you were so close to the middle of all this madness." Severus said when he finally let go of her. "But what actually happen?"

"Aliens attacked the city; superheroes saved us all." Raven turned on the TV and for a while they surfed from one channel to the next, each of them broadcasting the breaking news. As usual when big things happen, there were various experts explaining the events from their very own angle, and the more of them appeared on the screen the more diluted the truth became. Soon, the first conspiracy theories came up. The most absurd one was that Osama bin Laden had not been killed but managed to escape into another dimension where he found allies to launch an attack on New York City. Others explained the alien attack as a sign of the approaching apocalypse.

Then there were the survivors and eyewitnesses who had amazing things to report. A waitress said Captain America saved her life; one boy claimed he saw a huge green rage monster smashing the aliens; someone shouted, 'I love you, Thor!' Tony Stark's Iron Man was being mentioned and one anchorman spoke of a group calling themselves the Avengers. It didn't take long for a second-rank politician already on campaign to make demands on reparation due to the destruction caused by the Avengers (cunning as he was he knew he couldn't sue some dead extra-terrestrials)- that was the moment Raven turned off the TV because no relevant news would come from that.

"Garlic prawns and salad?" She asked Severus.

"Sounds great," he glanced out at the terrace and to his greenhouse decorated with an alien spacecraft, musing, "It shouldn't have gotten through the barriers..."

"Well, check on that while I prepare dinner."

Although Raven knew a fair bit about wards (it was part of her Auror training years ago), Severus was a master in warding a house. Since they had grown up during Lord Voldemort's first rise to power, it had been necessary for him to learn this art in order to keep them safe, and in later years he had improved his skills to make their home not only safe but also undetectable by any means Muggle surveillance could possibly come up with.

-ooOoo-

"If it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now." Loki said and smirked. He had been defeated but he'd been through worse without using his sense of humour.

The formidable group calling themselves the Avengers stared down at him. Grimly. Stark's lips twitched and he made a small move- well, it was his Iron Man suit that gave a metallic creak- as if he would actually consider to get him a drink. But perhaps it was more likely that Stark desired one himself. Probably he was upset about the destruction caused to his apartment. That, however, was not Loki's fault. He had not asked to get tossed around and smashed into the floor by that green monster.

But before anyone really moved, Thor grabbed Loki by the neck and lifted him to his feet. Every bone in his body screamed in protest and he wondered how many ribs the Hulk had broken. He knew they would heal soon...

An instant later, Loki tasted cold metal. A muzzle covered his mouth, and he heard the treacherous click of handcuffs made- his eyes widened- of finest Asgardian steel. Next, a collar came around his neck and chains rattled. But he didn't pay attention to the latter because he felt the sickening sensation of his magic being bound. Desperately, he tried to reach for it, but it slipped through his fingers like sand and there was only one little straw he could grasp- before the pain kicked in. It came over him in hot throbbing waves of red, and he knew there was no way he could heal his injuries now.

Damn.

They would not see him flinch, though. He could still keep up appearance and so he smiled, even if all they got to see was a glitter of feigned amusement in his eyes.

Thor pushed him forward.

"Shawarma, now?" Stark asked.

Thor glanced at Loki, who thought it clever to nod as if he'd been invited, too. "We cannot leave my brother here."

I'm not your brother, you stupid oaf. Loki wished Thor would not always forget that, but then again it was Thor, and he never accepted change easily.

"S.H.I.E.L.D has an operation base in the city." Barton said. "I'll call Fury."

When they arrived in the basement of S.H.I.E.L.D Central, Fury was awaiting them already. Six armed agents escorted Loki to the detention area, a room with white walls, white concrete floor, and bright lights that cast no shadows. In the middle of the room was- oh, surprise- a round glass cage. These mortals of S.H.I.E.L.D were just so predictably unimaginative.

This cage was smaller than the one on the Helicarrier, apparently not built to detain a huge green rage monster. Loki glanced around. He sighed, his last chamber had at least a small bench.

He would have loved to ask Fury for a magazine or tell Thor to bring him some shawarma, whatever that was. But it must be something really good if Thor was willing to delay their return to Asgard and leave him in this glass cage just to join his new friends.

Now what would Odin say to that?

Which reminds him that he wasn't that eager to return to Asgard either. He was so not looking forward to having one of those talks with his not father. At least the disappointment in Odin's eyes- eye, he corrected himself- wouldn't hurt anymore now that he knew Odin was not his father. He didn't strive for his praise anymore... it had been a futile aim in the past, anyway.

Loki paced his cage. He would have been totally bored by the time Thor returned if fighting back the pain had not kept him busy. Every little step hurt, but if he sat down on the floor he'd probably not be able to get up again... not gracefully, at least. Or he'd simply pass out. Both options were not the show he wanted to give his spectators in the other room, watching his every move. And he knew they were watching. He had learned a lot about Midgardian technology during his not so glorious visit here to know what all these little cameras were for. So before he gave them something to gloat over, he'd rather bore them with pacing, putting up a stoic face. And ignoring the pain.

Later, Loki saw Thor talking to Fury and heard him say him that he was going to face Asgardian justice, and he knew the meaning of those words. Thor would get a benevolent smile from the Allfather and he a look of disgust. Then, probably, another cell. Of course, he could beg and plead and call Odin father as many times as possible- the idea made him feel sick and it was not wise to get really sick when a muzzle covered your mouth.

Thor said something about the Tesseract then, and didn't he notice the slight twitch of Fury's upper lip?

Why was the Tesseract in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D again?

That very moment- how very opportune- Fury's phone rang.

Loki couldn't hear what Fury was saying until the director handed the phone to Thor with the words, "There's someone who wants to talk to you, calling from Norway."

Thor almost crushed the fragile device in his pranks.

"Jane? JANE! IS IT YOU? ARE YOU SAFE? THEY SAID YOU'RE IN NORWAY!"

Loki rolled his eyes. It was Thor's second time on Midgard and yet the oaf didn't seem to have learned anything about the technology of mortals, or else he wouldn't shout as if his voice had to carry his words all the way to Norway. This was so-

"We can fly her in, if you like." Fury suggested- clever manipulating bastard- and Thor- stupid, naïve Thor- agrees with a broad smile on his face. The prospect of seeing his beloved mortal again must have rendered him even more brainless than he usually was. Did he really not grasp what Fury was scheming?

The Tesseract was back with S.H.I.E.L.D and Fury was stalling. He was hoping to gain more time; time he would undoubtedly use for further research on the Tesseract. Time to finish Phase 2. Just in case. Because no matter how much he liked the idea of having a team superheroes to save the world, he trusted them as far as he could throw them.

Loki would have laughed out loud if nor for the damned muzzle. How very ironic, dear not brother, you came up with this really great idea of turning me mute just now...

-ooOoo-

Raven was just slicing tomatoes when the doorbell rang and two quite young, probably freshly recruited WIIA agents stood at her doorstep.

"Agent Ramirez and Agent Primrose, at your service Ma'am," a pretty Latino witch introduced themselves. "Director Steel ordered us to collect something from your terrace."

"Yeah, come in, please. You can help my husband to take that alien flying device from his greenhouse- oh, and don't forget the body.."

"You really killed one of those aliens?" The blond-haired wizard asked in awe. "Wow, that's pretty cool, ain't it, Camilla?"

"Primrose!" Agent Ramirez reprimanded him sharply. "We're here to do our job."

Oh, she's a fierce one, that little Latino witch. Raven smirked. Then she whispered to Agent Primrose, apparently a Muggleborn wizard. "You're interested in aliens? Well, take its body to the morgue and you can join Doc Higgins and me for the autopsy tomorrow."

"Yes, Agent Snape." Primrose answered obediently but he seemed to blanch a little; apparently he wasn't that interested in aliens anymore.

With a grin she watched them scurrying to the terrace, doing their job, while she busied herself in the kitchen again. That was the advantage of being a senior agent- she didn't have to clean up but could enjoy a pleasant evening with her husband instead. On the other hand, it also reminded her that she wasn't young anymore. Fortunately not, she thought sometimes. And having reached the age of fifty-two years wasn't even old when considering the life-span of wizards. Thanks to the longer life expectancy of the wizardkind, she didn't even look much older than thirty-something...

She dispelled these thoughts, shaking her head in disapproval. Why worry about a number? Annoyed at herself she sliced two cloves of garlic and added them to the hot olive oil in the pan, then decided to slice a third. She was a happy witch. She was married to the love of her life and she had made a career in criminal investigation all by herself.

"Ah, that smells good..." Without her noticing, Severus had entered the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the nape of her neck.

Raven turned around in his embrace to give him a quick peck on the check before she let the prawns drop into the pan, watching them sizzle in the aromatic oil.

"So, did agents Ramirez and Primrose do their job satisfactorily?" She asked at long last.

"Indeed." Severus whispered into her ear, causing a pleasant shiver to run down her spine. "They removed that extra-terrestrial flying device from my greenhouse; they removed the body. I tended to my Mandrakes. Now, we can enjoy our terrace again."

He uncorked a bottle of wine before he helped her to set the table outside. Despite the events that had occurred today, they were going to have a pleasant evening with good food, a good bottle of wine and good sex a little later. Raven was a happy witch.

"By the way, they asked me to tell you that Alice sent you some footage you might want to take a look at. Apparently she found something more interesting than what we watched on TV."

Her smile faded. So much about a pleasant evening-

"I guess that can wait until tomorrow," she decided then. After all, what happened today was not a case for the WIIA. Aliens are none of our business, Raven, Alice had said.

And yet, there was quite a lot of footage on her computer the next day. Raven stilled her curiosity because naturally, she was curious- you just didn't meet an alien every day, let alone witness hordes of them attacking New York. Thanks to the Avengers, everything had turned out well- or as well as possible- in the end. They had beaten the Chitauri (as these aliens were called), had prevented a nuclear strike on Manhattan (some idiot would always think that the only way to solve a problem) and so the city still existed the day after. Damaged, but still standing, still alive. Iron Man had redirected the nuclear missile aimed at Manhattan and shot it into that wormhole in the sky.

Raven was just a bystander, a witch with some magical skills but there was nothing she could have done. Her skills paled in comparison to the powers of superheroes like the Avengers. She didn't have a suit, she didn't possess extraordinary strength, she couldn't turn into a huge, green rage monster. She was no demigod like that Thor of Asgard... she was just a simple witch...

All she could do was to learn and to understand, and therefore she went to WIIA headquarters to enjoy a day in Doc Higgins lab.

The alien- Chitauri- body was already on the dissecting table when she arrived . Medical examiner Horatio Archibald Higgins beamed at her with excitement. He was a wiry Muggleborn wizard with tousled grey hair, wearing big, round glasses that made him appear like a funny insect. But despite his appearance he was a well-trained doctor of medicine, magical healer, and chief medical examiner for the WIIA.

Raven learned a lot from him these past four years.

"My dear, you gave me such a precious gift with this one." Doc Higgins gushed, pointing at the alien- Chitauri. "I examined many beasts before but this... this is extraordinary."

"Extra-terrestrial." She said quietly, not wanting to correct him with her statement.

"Yes... yes... a very strange life-form, indeed. Never knew something like this could exist. Just look-"

He had already removed the armour from the body- or at least as far as he could since it seemed to be attached to the body by wires- and made the Y incision to lay open the internal organs of the creature. They didn't look human at all.

"Interesting." Raven observed, moving closer. "It looks like a reptile... well, to be more precise, like a mixture of a reptile and a machine."

"Exactly! They have the three-chambered heart of reptiles but instead of two atria there are wires not running blood but energy. That's why it died... or should I say ceased to exist?- because you cannot kill what never really lived- when you severed its arm."

"So in case they ever attack again, I merely have to cut off a limb?"

Doc Higgins took off his glasses and pinched his nose before glancing at her again . "Well, so it seems... on the other hand, according to the footage Director Steel sent you, it might be even more effective to destroy their mother ship since they all seem to be linked to it."

"Great!" She said dryly. Although she had watched the Star Wars saga and could wield the Sectumsempra Curse like a Jedi light sabre, she wasn't prone to science fiction in general. She was a witch, and witches had nothing to do with aliens from outer space or wherever the Chitauri came from. There was no possible way she would ever fight them again- assuming it was true that the Iron Man really destroyed their mother ship when he sent the missile at it, as the footage she got from Alice Steel indicated.

About a week, while New York City was slowly getting back to normality and business as usual- because that's what the city that never sleeps always did, no matter how bad it had been hit- Director Steel called Raven and asked her to show up at headquarters as soon as possible.

"Oh no, another case..." she sighed as she kissed her husband. Severus was preparing to leave for a conference meeting of potioneers in Kathmandu, and she had hoped to accompany him. There was always so very little time left for them to be together.

Perhaps that was what has kept their love alive those past thirty plus years- time was precious.

"See you tonight, love." Raven kissed him again before she Apparated to WIIA headquarters.

It was located in an unobtrusive building in an unobtrusive part of town, hidden behind the windows of a flower shop that no one ever visited.

She passed the ghost of Frank, still running the flower shop even after he died in 1942, tying to ignore the sickening scent of decaying lilies as she urgently hit the button for the elevator that would take her down to the subterranean levels of the building.

Finally, the doors opened and Raven was face to face with Alice Steel, former Auror and director of WIIA, now.

She was sitting behind her desk, a table made of old mahogany wood, surrounded by computer screens. When Raven entered, she looked up and smirked, revealing a battle-scarred face crowned with a cap of shortly-cut white hair and a pair of very attentive green eyes.

"So good to see you," she rasped in that gargling barb-wire tone of hers. "How's your dear husband?"

"Just fine. Going to Kathmandu in a couple of days, as you may know, and I'd like to accompany him."

"No, you don't. I need you here."

"Why?" Raven asked, trying not to pout.

"Because Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D approached me with a request-."

"S.H.I.E.L.D? Aren't they the guys behind the Avengers, the superheroes that saved us all?"

"Aye, the very same." Alice replied.

Raven fell silent for a moment, clearly puzzled. "How can I be of any use to S.H.I.E.L.D? I'm a witch, not a superhero... this... this is so very out of my league. "

"So it seems. But oddly, Fury asked for a witch- well, for someone with magical skills." Alice smiled at her; it was a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"You don't like this either?" Raven concluded.

"After our experiences with the FBI? Honestly? S.H.I.E.L.D is just another of those big and faceless organisations- but I met Fury before and he seemed to be rather okay for a Muggle. Mind, that doesn't mean I trust him. But it's up to you to find out what he's up to. "

Raven nodded thoughtfully before she asked. "What do you want me to wear for the meeting, Al? Traditional robes? Business costume? Or sweet and innocent in pink?"

"Leave the pink and go for a modest, professional appearance; S.H.I.E.L.D will like that." Alice advised her before she told her all she knew about their newest assignment. "You will meet a certain Agent Hill in the lobby of the Excelsior hotel, precisely at 2 PM. Maria Hill is Fury's assistant. She will take you to S.H.I.E.L.D Central."