Valdis sighed, shaking her head. He'd just brought up a whole new potential problem, and she didn't like it any more than the other scenarios.

"My powers can also kill on a massive scale, Tony," she replied, "People fear what they do not know, but I'd rather be feared than played with. Thank you for bringing that up."

She took another drink, still fairly calm.

"It's less that I don't want to help and more...fear of what might be unleashed if scientists start messing around with the magic of the planes , fear of what they might discover."

Valdis swirled the coffee around her mug, thinking, "Has anyone ever ripped your heart out of your chest for the sake of science," she asked casually.