One With Earth

It was warm out that day so his mother let him out to play. The boy, so small and feeble, was constantly bullied by the other children in his neighborhood. He went around the back of the building to run from his problems.

He ran from his problems but was met with his destiny.

Around the corner he was met with a girl. And not only did the girl already look out of the ordinary with mahogany skin and green hair, but she was on fire! The blonde boy panicked, and stood there gaping at her for what seemed like hours, but really it was only moments before he ran to the side of the building and picked up a small bucket filled with rainwater. He struggled getting back to her, but he did. He tipped the bucket over his head and let the water splash and soak her.

The fire went out and the boy breathed deeply. He stayed in place, waiting for her to do something. She kept her head bowed. After a while he began to worry. And he thought about running to get an adult. But then she moved, slowly and carefully. She raised her head and lifted her hair out of her face with her arm. She blinked a couple times before she laid eyes on the boy, she grinned widely showing two rabbit teeth.

The boy relaxed then, he lowered the bucket from over his head, his arms sore, and set it in the grass next to him. "You okay?" he asked.

She tilted her head but nodded. "Okay."

"Where are your mom and dad? Your parents?" He looked around for the two beings that could have made the creature in front of him.

She shook her head. "Not here."

He heard his mom call out to him, a little fear in her voice not seeing her only child playing in the front yard where she left him. He started to run towards her voice.

"Name?" she called after him.

He stopped and turned his head. "Rogers, Steven Rogers, but you can call me Steve."

ANNA

I followed behind Director Fury and Agent Hill, observing my busy surroundings closely. People were bustling, it was only when things really hit the wall the Director would pay a visit. According to the debrief things were looking really grim. I barely caught the words exchanged between them and Agent Coulson before he was off to do something Fury had assigned. We were met with stairs and before I realized it Maria broke off from us and I did a quick sprint to catch up to Fury.

"Stay close Roarke." he spoke to me as we entered a humongous room filled with scientists in lab coats, wires, and other gadgets, but the most horrifying thing was the pulsating blue cube in the middle of the room. It screamed danger, and its screaming was giving me a headache. I flinched away from it and turned my attention elsewhere.

"Talk to me, Doctor." Fury said to the older man standing by.

"Director." he acknowledged.

My attention was taken away once again when I noted a familiar life force in the room. I'd know that signature anywhere, my eyes searched and found my old sparring partner cooped up in the railings above us. I smiled at him and he gave a curt nod back.... Right, business mode. I hardened my face once again and went back to the two men in front of me.

"How soon until you pull the plug?" Fury questioned.

"She's an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..." he trailed off looking almost longingly at the pulsating cube. I hated how he referred to it as 'she', it is not living-- and it will only bring death. The Tesseract was as animate as a Duracell battery. I took a sneak peak at its file, sneak because I didn't have the clearance level to even know of its existence at the time.

Fury didn't accept his answer. "We've prepared for this, doctor, harnessing energy from space."

"We don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation." he brushed it off but my eyes widened at the mention of that particular radiation.

"That can be harmful. Where's Agent Barton?" Fury looked around for any sign of Hawkeye.

"The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual." He gestured behind him.

Fury called Clint over the coms and I couldn't help but smile as he repelled from the railings and made his entrance... Fury wasn't so excited. I followed him as he met Clint halfway and we walked around the facility trying to be discreet.

"I gave you this detail so you could keep an eye on things." he spoke.

"I see better from a distance." Clint replied.

"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?"

"No one's come or gone. Selvig is clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end." He ticks his observations off the list.

"At this end?" Fury and I both ask.

"Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? The doors open from both sides." the archer explained.

I bit my lip and brushed my hair out if my face, this wasn't good. I stole another glance at the cube. "Who could be trying to open the door on the other side?" I muttered to myself

I shouldn't have asked that...

The room started shaking as a vortex formed around the sinister cube then turned into a beam which turned into a portal. I gasped and stepped in front of Fury, shielding him from whatever may come. When the portal dissipated we were left with the figure of a man, kneeling. Guards surrounded him and he looked up at us, mischievous smile on his face, he stood, staff in hand.

I got a good look at him, attractive, but something inside me was screaming 'run away'. Probably the fact that he came from the Tesseract. Overall, he was terrifying and I was a deer in headlights.

"Sir, put down the spear." the director called to him.

The new man looked at the scepter in his hand like he didn't even notice it was there. He smirked and before I knew it I was tackled to the ground with a blue wave barely missing me.

I stood up and stayed protectively in front of the director while Clint and some other soldiers in the area took the direct approach and went to attack the new arrival. It was no use, the man deflected bullets and took out guards with the energy from his scepter and small silver throwing knives. Then the raven haired man held his spear up to Clint's chest and I saw his eyes turn black then glow blue as he put his gun away. My eyes widened. "Clint, no." I whispered. His aura was engulfed in blue and he was lost.

Behind me, Fury was busy. He took the ominous cube and placed it in its case. He motioned to me and we tried to leave the lab discreetly while everything was in chaos.

"Please don't, I still need that." the man appeared behind us.

I turned my head to look at him and I narrowed my eyes at him. "Haven't you done enough?" I felt my skin heating up when his eyes brightened and he smirked at me. At a closer look he seemed tired and worn. I sneered at him.

Fury put a hand on my shoulder as he turned to face the new comer bringing me with him. "This doesn't have to get any messier."

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose." His silk voice spoke the words as if they were rehearsed.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Asgard?" I whispered to myself. I've heard of that before.

"Loki? Brother of Thor?" The crazy doctor stepped behind the crazier man.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury said, a little confused.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." he smiled, I grimaced.

Fury raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free." A grin was growing on his face and it made me sick.

"You sure about that?" I said quickly.

"Free from what?" Fury asked.

"Freedom." he said it like it was the only answer possible. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart-" he cut off, turning to the doctor, putting the scepter to his chest. The older man's eyes turned black and he was gone. "- You will know peace."

"Yeah, you say peace, I kinda think you mean the other thing." as the director said this the energy cloud above us builds rapidly.

Clint stepped in. "Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow, dropping a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

Fury smirked. "Like the Pharaohs of old."

Now the crazy doctor spoke. "He's right, the portal is collapsing on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"That doesn't sound good." I looked cautiously to Director Fury.

"Well then..." Loki said looking at Clint and I didn't even have time to react before he pulled the trigger and I blacked out.

ANNA

I regained consciousness on the helicopter we arrived to the massive building in. I sat up and pulled the bullet out of my vest and reduced it to ashes with the red hot fire my hands produced. If that's what being shot with a bullet proof vest feels like, I'd hate to be shot at full on. I felt the back of my head, it was sore so I must have hit it when I hit the floor.

"About damn time!" Fury blurted and I snapped my head in his direction. Bad idea because my headache got worse. "I know that was your first time being shot at that range and this is your first real field mission but you're not allowed to take a rest like that next time. I don't want to have to contact your S.O." he said quickly.

I raised an eyebrow, still a little foggy, and not fully understanding him. He pointed outside the window. We were just lifting off and the building we were in was collapsing. I sobered up then. "What do you need me to do?"

"Attack." he said and opened the helicopter door, immediately firing at a moving vehicle. I shot fireballs at it but few hit before Loki retaliated with his spear, and the helicopter was sent barreling down. We jumped out and hit the ground before the helicopter. It landed yards away from us, aflame with the sharp blades cutting the earth. Fury still shot at Loki, but it was no use, he was too far away now.

"I can catch up to them." I said taking a step forward.

He held his arm out in front of me, stopping me. "No. That isn't a one man job." The look on his face told me he was afraid of losing me to Loki.

"Director?" the walkie talkies at each of our hips squawked with Phil Coulson's voice. "Director Fury? Agent Roarke? Do you copy?"

"Roarke is here." Fury responded. "The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"

It was a few seconds before she replied and the wait almost made me have a heart attack. I let out a sigh of relief when she finally responded. "A lot of men still under. I don't know how many survivors." she sounded winded.

"Sound the general call. I want every living soul not on rescue looking for that briefcase." Fury said, still looking into the distance, but Loki and his new crew of Brainwashees were long gone, and out of sight.

"Roger that." Maria confirmed.

"Coulson get back to base. This is a level seven. As of right now, we are at war." as Fury said this my eyes widened. Only ten months on the job and this? I was told I was handpicked along with Maria by Fury to operate on his personal detail. I was fresh from the academy, just assigned my Supervising Officer, or S.O. a month before I was called in to work for Fury. Did he really think I could be apart of something like this?

"What do we do?" Phil asks.

Fury stands there looking up. Hope evident on his face. I looked up with him, faintly in the distance a couple of stars were twinkling. "We call in the people who can handle this."

"Sir, you don't mean..." Phil trailed off.

"The Avengers." the Director finished for him. He turned to me. "I think we might have to call in your S.O. after all."

____________ÆÆÆÆÆÆ____________

I stood outside the door, making sure no one could interfere as Fury entered a room to talk to the World Security Council. I don't think they knew I could hear their conversation. Or maybe Fury did know, and he wanted me to hear what they were saying. I listened, coming to the conclusion that the director knew because, 'enhanced senses' was definitely something they put on my file.

"This is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control." one of the Council members spoke.

"You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?" Fury tried to reason with them.

"You're saying that this Asgard has declared war on our planet?" humor and disbelief evident in his tone.

"Not Asgard. Loki." The director clarified.

"He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother?" the woman spoke.

Brother? Oh right, I remember now. That Thor guy who leveled a small town a few months ago. Weren't they gods? Why isn't this guy more afraid? I remember the stories my mother told me about Asgard, they weren't things you took lightly.

"Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile force. But he's worlds away, we can't depend on him to help. It's up to us."

Why couldn't they see that this was the only way?

"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase 2, it was designed for exactly-"

"Phase 2 isn't ready, our enemy is. We need a response team." the Director cut him off.

I didn't have the clearance for Phase 2, but I still shuddered at the thought of what it might be.

"The Avengers Initiative was shut down."

"This isn't about The Avengers." Fury argued.

"We're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of human race to a handful of freaks?" He scoffed.

I rolled my eyes, full of themselves, much? I'm sure the human race would be way better off without them, that's for sure.

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone." he concluded. "We need a response team. These people maybe isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need."

I raised my eyebrow. Who could be possibly be talking about? I've never heard anything about any Avengers Initiative, but I'm only a a level five, so not knowing about that is expected.

"You believe?" one Council member asked with doubt.

"War isn't won by sentiment, Director." another Council member chastised.

"No, its won by soldiers." with that I heard him turn off the electricity in the room. The knob turned and he stepped out, he sighed.

"Sir." I acknowledged him.

"Roarke." he nodded back at me. "How do you like boxing?"

I tilted my head. "Boxing, sir?"

He thought about it and nodded. "Suit up. We're going to go watch a legend."

ANNA

He attacked the bag with everything he had. It was passionate. It was frightening. It didn't look like his mind was here right now, somewhere else, somewhere where you had to fight to live, and fight hard. I didn't see his face. Just the broad span of his strong back and shoulders and a glimpse of his gold hair. He kept punching, like he needed it to breathe, like if he let up for a second he would die or something terrible would happen. He was stressed, I could tell that clearly from the tense muscles in his back, but his aura was screaming in pain, that along with confusion and a little guilt. Who was this massive man? Why were we standing in a doorway watching him assault a punching bag? Why was he so stressed?

The bag landed with a thud as it flew off the chain holding it after a really good left hook. Should I be frightened, was this guy friendly? Or was he a foe? Did Fury bring me here to take him out? Or were we recruiting him? He breathed hard for a few moments, then he walked over to a row of punching bags to pick up one and bring it back over. Fury took a step closer to him, I followed behind.

"Trouble sleeping?" the director asked and the man's face snapped towards us.

I felt my heart stop. One glimpse at his face and memories came rushing back in. This was the face of the young skinny boy I stayed friends with until he became a man and my body stayed looking like that of a child's. But it couldn't be him. His son? No. They had the same exact face. Cloning, maybe? Did we really have cloning technology? But then again, why would they want to clone that small feeble man I knew just to turn him into this? Eighty years has past, and why him? I decided to play it cool. As cool as I could manage with the face of my first childhood friend staring back at me.

Wait. Staring? I quickly glanced at my hand to make sure my camouflage was still up, deep red mahogany skin and green hair has been a cause for dropped jaws in the past. My skin was fine, a nice rich brown, a few tones lighter than that of the man standing next to me. My hair, which was pushed back in a low ponytail had to be black, or Brown in the right light, and my normal bright yellow eyes were a golden hazel. I could easily be mistaken for Fury's daughter like this, which would be great for covert op missions. I decided to tune back into the conversation, hoping to figure out why he was looking so intensely at me.

"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently." Fury spoke.

"You here with a mission, sir?" he said to Fury, but his eyes were locked with mine. He was sitting, unraveling the tape from around his hands.

"I am." Fury confirmed.

He finally stopped staring and his eyes slowly traveled to Fury's face. "Trying to get me back in the world?" He laughed without humor.

"Trying to save it." the Director corrected. He held out a file and the blonde man took it, curiously and cautiously.

His blue eyes were bright has he opened the file and took a look. "Hydra's secret weapon." He stated.

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs." Fury explained.

He raised an eyebrow. "Who took it from you?" he asked handing the file back.

"He's called Loki. He's not from around here." the Director said slowly, probably still mad over the fact he lost to the alien. But maybe to help the man take it all in better. "There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

He raised his eyebrows and frowned a little. "At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."

Fury smirked. "Ten bucks says you're wrong." the blonde man started getting his gym bag together. "There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment." the large man then hoisted a punching bag over his shoulder, and then turned to walk past us towards the exit. "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury asked turning to look at the man walking out.

"You should have left it in the ocean." He called out, not looking back at us.

"Well that's very helpful information." Fury said to me. My eyes stayed at the door where a man with the face of my first friend just walked out. "I'm sure you might have a few questions, Roarke."

I nodded and turned to look at him. "A few." I confirmed.

"Come on, I know a great chili place around the corner, we can talk there. They even have a vegetarian menu." he walked out and I followed after him. We walked to the small restaurant in silence. We sat down and he ordered for the both of us. After our food arrived and I took a bite he finally spoke. "Good isn't it?" he asked.

I smiled and swallowed. "Yes, sir." then I furrowed my eyebrows. "Who was that man?"

"You've heard of Captain America, right?"

"The world's first superhero? Of course. But what does he have to do with anything?"

"You just met him."

That made me even more confused. "But he looks like-"

"An old friend?" he asked.

I nodded. "Exactly, Sir."

"That's why I brought you along. I had to make sure he would join our cause, and what better way to do that than to show him a good friend is apart of the team?"

"Does that mean he's my... That he's the same Steven Rogers from so many years ago?"

"Yes."

"Does he..."

"Remember you?" he asked and I nodded again. "Who could forget someone as unique as you?"

"But I look different." I frowned.

"You both do." he noted.

"Right." I raised my eyebrows. "When I met him he was a small and weak kid, I don't understand how he's here and how he looks like he does."

"Well I'm going to let you in on a secret that wasn't put in the history books at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. Mr. Rogers was the first and only candidate for the super soldier serum."

"Serum?" I asked.

"An old science project. It turned your weak friend into the hero he is today."

I smiled. Steve always did want to help those who needed it the most. He always talked about how his father was in the war how he wanted to be like him, a hero. But I wondered if this new power changed him in any way. Back at the gym it seemed something was haunting him. What happened to him after I left? Maybe he was like that because I left.

STEVE

I got to my apartment and unlocked the door quickly. I stepped in setting the punching bag down by the entrance and closed the door behind me. I grit my teeth as I walked over to my bookshelf. My eyes scanned the rows of books for two seconds before I found what I had be looking for. I took the book and walked over to my kitchen counter where I noticed the debriefing file was.

I flipped through the pages of the book from the shelf, looking at all my old sketches. The book was one of the only things that remained from my past, this book in particular was very special. It was with me before the serum, before the army, even before Bucky. I finally found what I was looking for and I felt numb. A drawing I had done when I was a kid, of a girl with green hair and reddish skin. I turned the page and on the back of it I found a better sketch I drew after art school and the serum. I was testing out my abilities and decided to draw her from memory.

I set the book down and went to look for a pencil. I quickly found one and hurried back to my sketch book. On the page across from my last sketch I began to draw the woman I saw today from memory.

I took a deep breath when I finished and set the pencil down. I looked at both pictures. They had the same eye shape, nose, and mouth, the woman's face was more slender but it was still the same heart shape. A niece? Granddaughter? I kept looking back and forth between the pictures. If I removed color from the equation this would be the same girl if she aged ten years. But she couldn't be, if this was her then she should be, well, my age.

I looked at the file that was left for me. I opened it and scanned through it looking for answers. I stopped and took a step back when I came across a picture of the woman I saw today. But she didn't have brown skin and black hair, she was the same shades of green and red from my memory. There were small stats under her picture, I read them quickly.

Agent Isabellianna Roarke

Level: 5

Gifted Index n° 403

Powers: Controls and summons most elements

detects lifeforms and reads auras

communicates in any language, human and animal

slight appearance altering qualities

I furrowed my eyebrows. The element thing sounded familiar, the rest I guess she discovered once she stopped visiting me, or maybe she knew all along and she was hiding it from me. But without a doubt that had to be Izzy.

Before I continued I decided to make a quick cup of coffee. I started it and by the time I went to go back to the file it was finished. I shook my head at these new inventions, everything built to go faster. I took a sip from my mug and finally went back to the file. I kept scanning through her stats until I came across something shocking.

Age: 182

I spit out my coffee.

__________ÆÆÆÆÆÆ_________

I stayed up all night going over Fury's debriefing package. I ended up with a few more questions than answers, but I was ready for the job. It was around five A.M. when the knock came, the time I would usually be leaving out for my morning jog. I was escorted out of my apartment and to an all black car that looked like it could survive a nuclear bomb. We drove for about fifteen minutes before we reached our destination: a football field sized clearing with a quinjet in the middle.

I got out of the car and followed two men dressed like soldiers to the plane. Before I took a step on board I was handed a laptop, I took it and walked inside, the hangar door closing behind me. Both soldiers stayed with me. I looked around the aircraft, the soldiers went to take the seats behind the controls and I sat across from a man in a suit. I felt the jet rise from the ground as we took off.

I opened the laptop and there were four video files displayed on the screen. I opened the first one and it showed a redhead and an archer dodging explosions and taking out foes. Black Widow and the now compromised Hawkeye. They were tactful and deadly, they moved fluidly together. "Agent Romanoff was an assassin before she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.?" I raised an eyebrow.

The suit across from me shrugged, brushing it off. "We believe in second chances. she's a great asset to the team." he justified it.

I went on to the next file. Iron Man suiting up on a race track, fighting a man with electric whips. He was pretty good, aside from the obvious overconfidence in his moves. He followed his father's legacy pretty well. The third video showed the giant green Hulk raging and destroying everything in his path.

"We're about forty minutes out from base, sir." The pilot spoke to the suited man.

"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" I asked the agent.

"A lot of people were." he admitted. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

I looked back at the screen. Erskine kept his formula a secret for a reason. Watching hulk tear through cars is a good reason. "Didn't really go his way, did it?"

"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." He said in awe and I tilted my head, confused. "He's like a smart person." he explained. I nodded. "I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially." I smiled at him. "I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."

My smile faltered. I knew he meant well, though, I'm sure. I looked down at my feel then closed the laptop. I stood and walked over to the front of the quintet, behind the pilots. I looked out the window and wondered what country could be forty minutes away from the middle of the ocean.

"I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice." he tried again. "You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board." he smiled.

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job." I looked down then looked at him.

"Oh, you are. Absolutely." he confirmed. "Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input." he boasted.

I raised my eyebrows. "The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?" I asked.

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned."

ANNA

We arrived on the helicarrier and I wasn't surprised to see workers and soldiers and agents running around. I followed the Director around, Maria did the same, though she got here before us. We were checking and double checking things when a voice over the intercom announced the landing of an aircraft.

"Why don't you play the role of the welcoming committee, Roarke." Fury spoke to me. I nodded and went out on the deck. I already knew who it was.

My bangs flew back from the wind of the quinjet landing. I blinked and smiled when the familiar redhead made her entrance full of confidence and power. Behind her a shy looking Dr. Banner more hesitantly left the smaller aircraft to set foot on the helicarrier.

Natasha strutted over to me, her red tresses bouncing and gleaming in the afternoon sun. Bruce followed nervously. We wrapped our arms around each other in greeting. "Long time no see Ms. S.O." I grinned when we pulled away from each other. I looked over to the scientist and held my hand out. "Dr. Banner, nice to meet you, Agent Roarke." I introduced myself.

He shook my hand firmly. "Delighted." He said distractedly, still looking around. His aura told me just how uncomfortable he really was.

I gave a sympathetic smile. "We're glad to have you on board. Our friend Captain Rodgers will arrive shortly. Feel free to take a look around the place." I gestured behind him to the rest of the deck.

"Uh. Thanks." He said quietly and walked away slowly to explore the aircraft.

I turned back to Nat; her face had turned to stone and her eyes made contact with mine. "You were there when it happened?" She asked.

I immediately knew she was talking about Clint. I nodded gravely. "It all happened so fast." I looked down at my feet.

"I'm glad nothing happened to you." She took a breath. "We're going to get him back." She gave a small reassuring smile.

"Without a doubt." I said confidently.

"How's your homework coming along?" She asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes playfully. She had assigned me endless research projects to make me more 'well rounded'. From the biggest city in Greenland to how to play the harp; I had to learn it all. "Its coming along okay, Fury keeps me pretty busy but I get around to it."

"And are you practicing creating the other elements?" She raised an eyebrow, inquiring on my special gifts

I grimaced. "No, still just fire. And believe me, I practice every day." I try to create earth water and wind but I can only produce flames. Controlling the elements was a piece of cake as they were already there for me to manipulate but actually creating them from nothing was something else entirely and I just couldn't grasp it.

"Do you remember if your mom could control all four?" She asked.

I shrugged. "She never used her powers, she didn't want my father to find out about her." Sad memories started flooding in.

"Right." She whispered, she knew about my parents. My alien mother and my human father. Annalisette and Roarke. They died on the same day, this was back in the 1800s but I remember it so vividly. I was only five, though I looked older, and this already frightened my father. My mother and I always had secret talks we kept from him. It was lucky I matched her camouflage from the moment I was born; but I think she was hoping that because I was half human I wouldn't get powers. I did. And when I did I didn't understand why I couldn't tell my dad. I was out playing in a field somewhere practicing moving flowers or leaves or whatever I could find when mom and dad came to check on me. Whether he was just shocked or horrified or both I'll never know, he died of a heart attack and my mom of heartbreak when she realized her lover was gone.

I was left alone. I never used my powers a lot after that. I stayed away from people. I didn't want to kill anyone else. But decades passed and it got harder and harder to stay secluded. One day I couldn't take hiding anymore, I stopped camouflaging and I started a fire in my hands. I didn't care who found me. I was lucky it was Steve, though. The small boy startled me when he poured the water on my head and I barely understood the look of worry he had on his face. He had to leave quickly but I came back the next day and the next, and he met me every single time. I watched him grow in front of my eyes, not much but it was noticeable. He offered to introduce me to his mother once, I declined. He offered to introduce me to his other friend, James, or Bucky as he usually called him. I watched him grow and I got anxious when I didn't do the same.

Our last day together was unexpected. I had been telling myself that I had to leave weeks, months before, but I never did until that day. He was thirteen and becoming a young man. I was about seventy and still looked about ten. He was changing, subtly, but surely. Who knew how long I was going to stay the same. Our last day started out like any other, he met me in his backyard and we talked for a good hour. He showed me a picture he drew of me, I smiled, we laughed, it was normal. It was a cloudy New York day, we decided to go to the beach when no one else would be there. We walked along the sand of the coast, skipping stones, picking up seashells. We were having a good time but in the back of my mind I kept telling myself that had to be the day I would leave for good. I didn't know it would be true.

The day with him ended perfectly. I don't know if he planned it but I felt like he somehow knew it would be the last time he saw me. We walked back to his house and ate apples on his back porch. His mom called him from the front of the house and he stood, I mirrored him, expecting him to run off quickly like he usually did. When he didn't I tilted my head. He was staring at me and I stared right back. His mom called him a second time and he leaned in. His pale face was flushed. I understood what he was doing when he leaned in even closer and closed his eyes. I smiled and placed my lips on his. I remember exactly how the kiss felt, and how it made me feel. He finally left and I walked off into the sunset, telling myself that I was right to leave then, his last memory of me could be a happy one.

"Nat?" I called her name quietly, pulling her out of her own thoughts.

She looked up at me. "What's up?"

"Why didn't you tell me Steve was Captain America?"

Her eyebrows raised. "I thought you knew? Everybody knows that."

"Well I didn't know." I frowned. "I didn't make the connection."

"Looks like you need more training, you're falling off the wagon." She smirked.

"Oh no." I groaned but smiled and my heart started pounding as I saw the quinjet approaching in the distance.

STEVE

The rest of the jet ride went by quietly. I went back to my seat to finish the last video. I opened the file and smiled immediately. There was Izzy sparring with Hawkeye and winning. We started to land and I finished up the video. As the jet touched down Agent Coulson stood and I followed him

We dismounted the aircraft and my eyes had to adjust to the direct sunlight. I saw we were in fact in the middle of the ocean. The agent and I walked forward and there was Black Widow, standing next to her, Izzy.

"Agent Romanoff, Roarke. Captain Rogers." Coulson half greeted and introduced.

"Ma'am?" I nodded to Natasha.

She smiled. "Hi."

"Izzy," I grinned, she wasn't in her normal colors but she was still her.

Her hazel eyes lit up and she returned the smile. "Steve."

"They need you on the bridge." Natasha turned to Agent Coulson. "Face time."

"See you there." he smiled and walked off.

Natasha turned to me. "There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice." They both started walking off and I followed. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" she inquired.

I tilted my head. "Trading cards?"

"They're vintage, he's very proud."

Dr. Bruce Banner was unknowingly walking over to us. "Dr. Banner." I acknowledged him. Holding my hand out for him to shake.

He looked surprised but shook my hand firmly. "Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming."

I nodded. "Word is you can find the cube."

He shifted. "Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about." I said the sentiment wholeheartedly.

He gave a small thoughtful smile, "Must be strange for you, all of this." he gestured around.

I looked around and glanced at Izzy. "Well, this is actually kind of familiar." I admitted. Planes, soldiers, S.H.I.E.L.D., all stuff I dealt with in my past.

"Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute." Agent Romanoff smirked behind us.

"It's gonna get a little hard to breathe." Izzy added.

"Is this is a submarine?" I ask.

"Really?" Banner deadpanned. "They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" we both went to look over the edge. As the water started clearing from blades we started rising. We took a few steps back. "Oh no, this is much worse." Banner deadpanned, I was speechless.

We both turned and followed the women inside. Fury was there at a control panel. Another agent stood next to him and Izzy took the place next to her. There were a bunch of other people on the lower levels, monitoring computer screens, talking yelling out protocols and updates. Something on a screen caught Natasha's eye and she stopped to watch it.

"We're at level, sir." the agent next to him spoke.

"Good. Let's vanish." the director told her.

Suddenly, the whole ship rises even higher, and then it is covered in what I guess is mirrors. My jaw drops as I take all of it in.

Fury turns around to greet us. "Gentlemen." I walk over to him, pulling out some money. As he holds his hand out to shake mine I put a ten dollar bill in it. I walk past him to get a better view of everything.

"A lot to take in, right?" Izzy's voice sounded as she walked up beside me.

I looked at her then back out the window. "I keep thinking I've seen it all, then something else comes along and surprises me. Everything is just moving so fast."

"You'll catch up." she smiled. "You'll learn to adapt, sooner or later."

"It seems you did, easily." I noted.

"Well I didn't take a seventy year nap." she mused.

"Right... How-?"

"Alien, I'm an alien." she cut me off. "Well half alien, my dad was human."

I grimaced, that wasn't an answer I was expecting to hear. "Of course." I thought for a moment. "This Loki guy, he's an alien, are you two the same..?"

She shook her head. "He's from a planet called Asgard, I'm from somewhere different." she explained. "I'm one of the last of my kind." she added, looking down.

I gave a small smile. "But you're part human, too, and there's billions of us."

She laughed. "That's true."

I looked down then back up at her. "So no more Izzy? Should I start calling you Anna, or Agent Roarke? Or do you have a codename?" I asked.

"Izzy, Isabel, Ianna, Anna, Ann." she listed. "They're all me, you can call me whatever you like."

"I'll stick with Izzy." then I grinned. "So why aren't you wearing your true colors?"

She shrugged. "Not a lot of people are used to it, and I don't have time for a bunch of questions."

"Well I for one like them, they're unique, they're you."

She looked away. "Thanks." she said, brushing her hair out of her face and smiling. "Why don't I show you around this place?" she offered and I accepted.

____________ÆÆÆÆÆÆ____________

"Yeah, and that's pretty much it." she shrugged, we stopped in an empty hall, next to the kitchen door. It was quiet, and as she spoke her hair fell in her face. Before she could reach up I brushed it away for her, tucking it behind her ear. She looked up into my eyes, her camouflaged hazel one's looking intently back at my plain blue ones. She slowly stepped closer to me. I leaned down and her lips met mine halfway. It felt perfect. It felt right.

It was a small kiss but it said so much. We both pulled away from each other. "Maybe we should get back to the others..." I whispered, looking into her eyes again.

She nodded, licking her lips. "Right." she said quietly. She led me back to the briefing room, Agent Phil Coulson came over shyly. Izzy grinned at him and patted my shoulder, giving us some space; I watched her go. He stood, looking out over the railings at the window, mirroring me.

"So, I was wondering, I have these trading cards..." he started, still looking forward. "Do you think you could sign them?"

I smirked. "Sure."

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble." he said quickly.

I shook my head. "No, no. It's fine." I insisted. I was just surprised I still had fans in this day and age.

"It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all." he bragged. "Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but..."

"We got a hit." he was cut off by an agent on the lower level. We all turned out heads to him. "Sixty-seven percent match. Wait- crossmatch, seventy- nine percent."

"Location?" Fury asked.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Königstrasse." he read and turned to us. "He's not exactly hiding." he grimaced.

The director turned to me. "Captain, you're up." I nodded. "Roarke, board the jet with Natasha." she gave a curt nod.

We walked down a long hall and at the end was a door. "Right in there." She gestured then smiled. "See you on the other side." she turned to walk away but I pulled her in for another kiss.

"Right." I returned her smile. She went to walk back down the hall and I stepped in the room. I know I didn't have enough time to just stand around but I couldn't help but freeze when I saw the suit. It was different but still brought back all the old memories. I snapped out of it quickly and suited up.

ANNA

We watched as Loki rounded up the people like cattle. We were edging closer and closer.

"Drop me off here." Steve said behind us. Natasha and I shared a look as she opened the ramp. He jumped down and ran to the scene, just in time to save an older man from being executed. We flew up behind the Captain. "I'm not the one who's out of time." we heard him say to the alien.

"Weapons hot." I told her and she nodded.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Nat spoke over the intercom. And before I knew it, we were swerving out of the way of one of Loki's attacks, but that gave Steve the chance to catch him off guard and throw his shield at him. They began to fight and we stood back and watched.

"Kneel!" the emerald alien ordered Steve as he pushed the tip of his spear to his helmet.

"Not today!" Steve does a flip and knocks him out of the way.

Natasha is watching intently next to me. "The guy's all over the place." She mutters and I bite my lip.

"What the-" I say as a song starts playing over the intercom, I start pressing buttons to see where the interference is coming from. Then my favorite rich guy spoke.

"Agent Romanoff, Roarke, did you miss me?" Tony greeted us and I grinned.

Iron Man flew in on the scene and pointed his whole arsenal at Loki. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

The alien put his hands up and shrunk back. His armor fading away like a dream. I narrowed my eyes.

Tony accepted it and put his weapons away. "Good move."

I turned to Natasha. And she was already looking at me, eyebrow raised. "Stay on your toes." she told me and I nodded.

After the people cleared out we landed and the men boarded. I focused on Loki's aura, but that didn't tell me much. It didn't tell me what he was planning. He sat quietly and Steve and Tony conspired in the back as we took off again.

Nat called up Fury. "Target captured, en route back to the helicarrier now."

"ETA?" he asked in our headsets.

I checked the flight gauge. "T-minus twenty minutes." I spoke.

"Said anything?"

Natasha shook her head. "Not a word."

"Just get him here. We're low on time." he told us and then hung up.

I shifted in my seat as I felt his eyes on my back. He was tied up and cuffed to his seat but something told me that if he wanted to leave, he could, easily. I took a deep breath and focused on co-piloting the quinjet.

My eyebrows knitted as I watched the storm form over us. "Where's this coming from?" Natasha muttered looking at the ominous clouds.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve spoke to Loki.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." the trickster spoke and I felt fear radiating off of him and it clicked on my head just as a blinding light hit the jet and it shook as something-someone landed on top of us.

The ramp opens and Thor in all his greatness comes in and scoops his brother up and leaps out. Tony immediately suits back up.

"Now there's that guy." Tony whined.

Natasha looked to me. "Another Asgardian?" I nodded to her.

Steve was still in shock. "Think that guy's a friendly?" he asks.

"Doesn't matter." Tony answered him. "If he kills Loki or frees him, the Tesseract is lost." he turned to jump out after the gods.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve yelled at the billionaire.

"I have a plan," he closed his helmet, "attack." and he jumped out after them. I rolled my eyes at him.

"What are you doing?" I asked Steve as he grabs a parachute to follow.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap." Natasha said cautiously.

"I don't see how I can." he shook his head and secured the parachute.

"These guys come from legends." she explains "They're basically Gods."

Basically, I scoffed.

"There's only one God, Ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

I opened my mouth to say something but he already leapt out of the jet. A growl came out instead.

Natasha looked at me. "You're red." she noted and I looked down at my hands and tried to calm myself... It wasn't working. "Go." she told me.

"Go after them, get Loki back, you're more capable than all of them."

I bit my lip but followed her order. She was right, of course. I took off my headset and unstrapped myself from the seat. I looked back at her before I flew out of the jet. She closed the ramp behind me. I searched the forest for Loki's aura signature. I found it easily. I flew down closer to him I found he was left alone on a cliff. I facepalmed at the men. I landed quietly a few feet away from him. I walked up to him and he turned around at the sound of my footsteps, ready to fight but then he saw it was me and he smirked.

"Ah, it's you," he purred. I got a good look at him, he was looking much more healthier than last time, less crazed, less ominous.

I narrowed my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest defensively. "Yes, me. The one who won't think twice about incinerating you if you blink the wrong way." I told him.

"Well, I don't think you would do that, your heart wouldn't be in it anyway." there was a glint in his emerald eyes. "You think yourself brave, but you are no different from the humans you surround yourself with, Medjordian."

My eyes widened as soon as he spoke my peoples name and I backed him up to the cliff side. "Don't you dare speak that name, Asgardian. You have no right. Your people idly stood by and watched as mine were taken out, one by one."

"But you see, love, they are not my people, Thor not my brother and Odin not my father." he explained and I wanted badly to wipe the smirk off off his face.

I shook my head. "You were raised by them, they are your people. Never speak that word again." I warned him, growling.

He put his chained hands up in defeat. "You are more spirited than your ancestors. You'd think if they'd have been more like you then you would have a family and a people to claim-"

I cut him off with a slap to his perfect pale face. When his head snapped back he was grinning at me. We stared at each other.

"Uh, Izzy, we've come to an agreement." Steve spoke behind me and my head snapped in his direction to see the three heroes standing together. Thor's mouth was hanging open, Tony's helmet was up and he smiled at me, Steve looked concerned. I walked up to them.

"Next time, maybe don't leave the captive alone to have a pissing contest." I told them.

"We held no such event." Thor said confused. I rolled my eyes.

"You can land now, Nat." I spoke to Natasha over my com.

"Copy." she spoke in my ear.

ANNA

We were stunned in the briefing room after the screens that were showing Loki locked up went black. I looked over to his brother, Thor, who looked torn apart. It was silent for a while then Bruce spoke up.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" he laughed awkwardly.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So," Steve, sitting next to me, turned to the other blonde in the room. "Thor, what's his play?"

He didn't make eye contact with any of us as he spoke. "He has an army called the Chitauri." he said and I nearly choked. Everyone looked at me except Thor.

"They are ugly things, they don't belong to any world, and they killed my race." I explained, my blood boiling. Under the table, Steve grabbed my hand and I gave him a small smile.

Thor nodded. "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army?" Steve spoke up. "From outer space?"

"So he's building another portal." Bruce concluded. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked, concerned.

"He's an astrophysicist." he explained.

"He's a friend." The God corrected.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Nat spoke and I looked down thinking of Clint.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him, he's not leading an army from here." Steve asked and I nodded.

"My thoughts exactly." I spoke up.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki, that guy's brain is a bag of cats, you could smell crazy on him." Bruce shook his head, I agreed with that too but I still wanted to know why he went along with us so easily.

"Have care how you speak." Thor warned Banner. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha deadpanned.

"He's adopted." Thor grimaced.

"Iridium," Bruce spoke again. "What did they need the Iridium for?"

Tony walked in, lead by Phil. And as they started talking science stuff I tuned out and stood, walking over to Natasha. "So how are you going to approach this?" I asked her.

She smirked. "I was thinking Protocol Eight."

I raised my eyebrows. "G.C.B.C.?" I asked and she nodded. "With who?"

"You, you're going to be my bad cop." she explained.

"But.. I don't-"

"It's good, you already hate the guy, just let that loose and butter him up for me."

"You sure about this?" I bit my lip.

"You'll do great." she assured me.

____________ÆÆÆÆÆÆ____________

I took a deep breath and gave a last glance to Natasha as I was sent in to face the monster. She nodded me on. "Just don't kill him before I can get to him." she joked behind me.

He was pacing slowly when I walked in, and when he saw me he smirked. I kept my face expressionless. I sure did feel like slapping him again.

"So you've come back for more?" his crooked smile almost sent a shiver down my spine. Almost.

"Please," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "You know why I'm here."

"Yes," he nodded. "You want to know why I'm here. And the simple answer is, you captured me." He grinned.

I shook my head. "No, I know why you're there in a cage." I played dumb. "I want to know why you would dare to show your face here on earth."

He laughed. "You talk as if you don't enjoy my company." he pouted playfully. "You are a magnificent creature, aren't you?" he whispered quietly to himself, probably not knowing about my hearing. His eyes took me in.

"I don't enjoy looking at your ugly face, that's for sure." I sneered, growing a little uncomfortable under his gaze.

His eyebrows knitted. "Your friend Clint warned me about you. It seems you have grown spoiled by your time here on earth, Medjordians used to be such humble people."

"What did I tell you about using that word!" I yelled at him, getting closer to the glass.

He mirrored me and stepped closer. "What will you do about it? I'm already caged. Will you kill me?" He gestured to the red button that would release him to the hands of gravity.

I bared my teeth at him. "Who do you think you are, I should kill you! You're bringing the same race that killed my people to help you take over my home!"

"Selfish woman! This isn't about you!" he yelled at me, a tint of blue under his pale skin.

"Everything can't go the way you want it!" I yelled right back, I was sure my skin was going red. "Stubborn man!"

"Foolish girl!" he spat.

"Idiotic disgrace!"

His eyes widen and he takes a step back as he goes silent for a few moments. "Who exactly do I disgrace?" he asks quietly, the blue in his skin disappeared.

"Your home, your people, and your family." I told him.

"I have no family!" he insists.

I sigh. "The people who raise you are your family. They took you in, cared for you, and you hurt them."

His jaw was clenched. "But you know not the wrongs they did onto me. You know firsthand what kind of people they are." He spoke slowly. "If I were king at the time of the fall of your people I would have sent help." he tried appealing to me.

A laugh bubbled from my lips. "No you wouldn't," I shook my head, "you only care about yourself, you wouldn't have given my people a second thought. You're just like your forefathers." I said, a smile on my lips.

"I'm nothing like them!"

"You keep telling yourself that," I shrugged. "that's all I got for you." I turned, walking away.

"You should show your true colors more, Medjordian." I could practically hear the smirk that curved his lips.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours, Jötunn." I called to him, not turning around.

I walked out of the room with a smile on my face. Nat was grinning. "You were perfect!"

"Thanks," I said sheepishly. "I think I worked him up good enough for you, he'll just want to yell at someone right now."

"And he won't care what he yells." she confirmed. She waved to me as she went in next. I watched her on the screen outside of the door. Loki was expecting her. But she gave a few sensitive details of herself. And in no time he was ranting and yelling at her.

"This is my bargain, you mewling quim!" he insults her.

Natasha turns away from him, faking disgust. "You're a monster." she says quietly.

Loki laughs confidently. "Oh no, you brought the monster."

Her head shot up and my eyes widened, realizing. She turns to face him again, all signs of distress gone. "So Banner.... That's your play."

Loki's expression changes quickly. "What?"

"Loki means to release the Hulk." she speaks into her coms. "Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." she then turns to Loki. "Thank you, for your cooperation." she turns and walks out quickly, she looks at me and pulls me along with her. We leave Loki in his cage, wondering what just happened to him.

ANNA

We got to the lab and everyone was already there except for Thor who walked in a little after us. Bruce looks at Natasha.

"Did you know about this?" he asked gesturing to a weapon on a desk in front of us and files on a screen in front of Tony. I tilted my head. What were they talking about?

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Nat said cooly.

"I was in Calcutta." he remarked. "I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you." She explained.

"And you've been doing what exactly?" he quipped and I raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't come because I batted my eyelashes at you." she argued.

"Yes," he agreed, "and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"What?" I asked.

"Because of them." Fury admits, pointing at me and Thor.

"What?!" I repeat.

"Us?" Thor asks looking to me then back at Fury.

"We knew about Anna and we were already preparing for the worst even though she claimed she was the last of her kind." He explained. "But last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match we learned not only that Anna was not the last, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

I took a step back. "He is not my kind, he was as much a legend to me as he was to humans." I argued.

"My people want nothing but peace from your planet." Thor said, his eyebrows knitted.

"But you're still not the only people out there, are you?" Fury asked rhetorically. "And, you're not the only threat. The worlds filling up with people who can't be matched, and can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve added in.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." Thor clarified. "It is a signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve asked in disbelief.

"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something." Fury tried to justify himself.

"Nuclear deterrent?" Tony spoke up. "Cause that always calms everything right down." he said sarcastically.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark." Fury said and everyone just blew up. I took a step back from everything. I saw as the gem on Loki's scepter glowed brightly.

"Uh, guys...." I muttered but they weren't listening. I felt faint life forces surrounding the helicarrier.

Now Tony and Steve were arguing. "Guys?" I started to bite my lip. I glared at Steve, he should at least be listening to me, but no, arguing, and ignoring me.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-" The director spoke.

"Where?" Bruce cut him off. "You rented my room."

Fury grimaced. "The cell was just in case-"

Bruce cut him off again. "In case you you needed to kill me! You can't! I know, I tried!" he admitted and my mouth dropped open. Everyone quieted. "I got low, I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" he ranted.

He looks to Natasha. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff?" I took a step back again as his hand went out for Loki's scepter. "You wanna know how I stay calm?" He picked up the scepter and Natasha and Fury both went for their guns.

"Bruce!" I warned.

"Doctor Banner," Steve spoke up cautiously. "put down the scepter."

Bruce looked down to his hand quickly, shocked to see he's holding the weapon. The computer beeps and we all turn to it. Bruce puts the scepter down and walks over to the computer. "Sorry, kids, you don't get to see my little party trick after all."

I finally thought everything calmed down again then Steve and Tony were at it again. I had enough. "What did I just say about pissing contests!?" I yelled at them and they turned to me. "Listen to me-"

Bruce cut me off. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed and then everything was shaking at once. We were thrown on every direction. I landed with Natasha and Bruce. My ears rang and I groaned.

"I'm okay." I heard Natasha say quietly. I heard Banner breathing heavy and I looked to him, trying to shake of my headache. "We're okay, right?" She looked at him and then to me.

We saw he was struggling, but he was changing slowly. I tried to get up on wobbly legs, I saw Natasha was trapped and was trying to get herself free while trying to calm Bruce down.

"Bruce, you gotta fight it, this is just what Loki wants. We're gonna be okay, listen to me." she insisted. I went over to help her with her leg. At this time I wished I had super strength. I felt two people approaching and I looked up in their direction. Natasha and I both quickly tell them to leave. "We're gonna be okay, right? I swear on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never-"

She is cut off my his growl. "Your life?"

There were more growls and my eyes were wide on him, I saw him change right in front of my eyes.

"Bruce?" she asked just as I got her leg free, I pulled her up and started running, she was slow, her leg probably still sore, I looked at the Hulk running behind us and I took a deep breath and threw her under some stairs, out of his sight. I kept running and thankfully he followed. I bit my lip and started to fly instead of run and that's when I saw him.

Well it wasn't really him, the image in front of me had no aura, no life force. "This way." it spoke. And I don't know why, but I followed his directions, turning corners, up stairs. Loki led me and the Hulk followed, inches behind me. Finally I was led into a room with a steel door and when I entered it the door closed immediately behind me, right on Hulk's nose. I turned to face the door as he banged at it repeatedly. A noise sounded down the hall and he bounded for it. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Then I noticed him there, by the door, smirking. And I noticed where I was. The room where he was being held, but the cage was open, and the snake was out. I took a step back from him. "Why?" I growled.

He scoffed. "You should be thanking me. I doubt you would be alive right now if you were left to the hands of that green monster."

It was true, but the green monster in front of me right now annoyed me more. I rolled my eyes and stepped toward him. "Well I can't let you leave, Loki, you know that." I told him, ready to restrain him, but he surrounded me, like he did those people in Germany.

"The feeling is mutual, love." the image of him in front of me spoke. I turned around to the real him but he kept jumping. Then he caught me, cuffing my wrists behind my back. I grimaced and tried to burn them off, but it didn't work. "Special cuffs, dear, you're my captive now." he whispered in my ear behind me, barely any space between his chest and my back. A familiar shiver went down my spine.

ANNA

Thor arrived, and was tricked and now he's caught. Loki enchanted me, no one can see or hear me, but I can view everything that's going on. I couldn't fight back either. Fire was the only element I could create and not just control and I didn't want to risk burning the helicarrier out of the sky, it already lost another engine. I could fly, but where would that take me before I would be caught in one of his tricks again? Phil came in holding a big gun and I smiled, there was hope.

"Move away, please." he tells Loki nicely after he knocks out the guard and I groaned. Now was not the time to be polite. Loki stepped back and then I realised it was just an after image. Phil kept talking. "You like this?" he asked, gesturing to the weapon. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." he changed the weapon and my eyes widened as I sensed Loki coming up behind him. "Do you wanna find out?"

I froze as he gasped and Loki stabbed him through the chest. I felt tears come to my eyes. "No.." I whispered as Thor yelled it. Loki throws Phil up against the wall and I feel it as his life starts fading, I drop to my knees finding it hard to breathe. Then he walks over to the red button and sends his brother out of the ship, down towards the earth. I started shaking, gasping for air.

Loki looks down after his brother, his face showing no regret. He closes the hatch and walks over to retrieve me.

"You're gonna loose." we hear Phil say. I look up at him and Loki turns to get closer to the dying man.

"Am I?" he asked.

Phil smiles, though the pain on his face is clear. "It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky, where is my disadvantage?" he asks, tilting his head.

"You lack conviction."

Loki scoffs. "I don't think I-" he was cut off by the blast Phil sent his way with the gun he was holding. Loki gets sent through a wall and I find myself laughing.

"Huh. So that's what it does." Phil remarks, smirking.

I look to Loki still lying in the rubble and I try to make a run for it but he shows up in front of me me right after I get through the door. I gasp in surprise and then narrow my eyes at him and growl. He pulls me along with him, not roughly but fast enough that he's practically dragging me. We get on a jet and we are off, speeding away from the helicarrier.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." he said quietly next to me.

"The part where you literally stab my friend in the back or when you metaphorically do the same to your brother?" I growl. "Oh! Or was it when you were put on your ass buy a dying man?"

He narrowed his eyes at me and I did the same to him. "All of it. A lady should never have to see the gore of battle."

I sneered at him. "I can't tell if you're lying or being really sexist right now."

"I am being sincere." He argued. "I'm sure that was your first witness of death of someone close to-" he said softly. "by the way you reacted."

I laughed. "You know nothing about me." I shook my head, still laughing. "My parents died within minutes of each other. My father of a heart attack when he witnessed my powers, and my mother of a broken heart when she felt him die. I was too young at the time to realize, to know what life felt like. My people were created to take care of life on earth. We were made to care for humans. Not love. Love was too strong. A human's life was too short. That's why we stayed on our planet and helped from a distance. But the Chitauri saw us and our peaceful ways and saw it as an opportunity for free land. They killed us, they killed my family. The ones who survived were forced to scatter. My mother was alone. Her parents and brother long dead. She decided to go to the one place she cared about. And she fell in love. She was made to care but she loved, she loved with all of her heart, all Medjordians do. And when that love was ripped from her, she was torn too. We weren't meant to love them, because we end up loving too much. And then they die. And we feel it. We feel their life leaving.

But I'm part human. I think I'm safe, but every time someone close to me dies I die a little too. Not completely. But just enough to feel a piece of my heart chip off. You don't know me, you don't know how it feels to be scared to make a connection with anyone around you for fear that you might fall in love and then they'll die. To be scared that the next death you witness might be the last because you don't think your heart can take it anymore. To have to run away before you realize you're falling in love with someone. To tell yourself everyday that you can't fall in love even though you know you've already fallen. And hard.. " I ranted, tears falling from my eyes, I looked down at my shoes.

I felt Loki's eyes on me. "Which mortal do you feel this way for?" he asked. What was I expecting? He wasn't a fool, though his actions at the moment my say otherwise.

I gave him a look out of the side of my eyes. "Steve." I admitted. What did I have to lose? What could he do about it?

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that the one with the shield or the metal one?"

I laughed, wiping away my tears. "I don't know why I'm telling you this." I shook my head. "The shield."

Loki stood, I didn't notice we landed. "Then he is to die first." He stood me up gently, tenderly, and we walked out of the jet.

I smirked. "I'd like to see you try. But hey, two birds with one stone if you succeed." I shrugged.

He stopped in his tracks. "No, I don't plan on your death."

"Uh, what?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You will be at my side when I rule this world, my queen." he grinned.

"Haha, uh no. Over my dead body." I spat and knit my eyebrows, who did he think he was?

"No dear," he started, "over Steve's."

ANNA

I sat on Tony's expensive couch and watched Loki order Selvig around. I figured they must've been setting up for the portal. Loki steps inside and I closely watch him as he walks over to me.

"In less than an hour the Chitauri will arrive and then the earth will be mine- ours." he grinned.

"So when are you going to brainwash me with your scepter?" I ask tilting my head, wanting to know how long my mind would be mine. I noted how the color of the inner edges of his aura matched that of the tesseract. I looked out at Selvig and frowned, he looked terrible, and he had that same electric blue tinge.

Loki scoffed and turned his nose up at the idea. "I'm not."

I raised my eyebrow. "Well I'm not going to go along with you of my own will." I chuckled. Bruce had been right Loki's head was a great big bag full of cats.

"Oh, but you will." He insisted. "I am everything you wish for, I can gift you with anything you desire."

I snorted. "Everything I wish for? Uhh, buddy I think you have yourself confused with someone else."

He came over and knelt in front of me. My eyebrows raised. "Think on it. The only reason you are still here, on earth, is because your purpose draws you to the mortals, and it's making you miserable. If you keep falling in love with them it will surely lead to your death; but if you stay with me, you can live, you can be happy."

"Think on it." I mimicked him. "I could never love you, you're bringing the same godforsaken race that killed my people to kill the ones I care about most."

He ducked his head, bowing under my words. "It's not my fault." he whispered in a foreign language.

"You sure about that?" I asked him in plain English.

His head shot up and he searched my eyes. "You understand?" He asked in the language.

I nodded slowly, an eyebrow raised. "You really know nothing about me. I can understand all languages, I can speak most. What language is this?" I asked in his new foreign tongue.

His green eyes were wide. "It is a secret language my m- Frigga and I created, only she and I speak and understand it."

"Well now all three of us do." I shrugged.

"This is perfect!" he exclaimed and I leaned back. He saw this and reached out for me. "Please, do not be frightened. I am not in full control over all of my actions. I am just like your friends, controlled by the scepter. I am but a puppet on a string. I don't want to rule the earth, it is Asgard I covet."

I rolled my eyes. "You know I don't believe you, right?"

"How can I make you believe?" he asked, his eyes desperate.

I bit my lip. He seemed serious, I didn't want to believe him. To trust him. He was the literal God of lies and tricks. "Lose the fight. Go home with your brother." I said quietly.

He shook his head gravely. "If the Other saw me surrender he would surely find me and kill me."

"Then give up convincingly." I told him sternly. "I'm sure it won't be too hard for a liar like yourself."

"You still don't believe me?" he grimaced.

"Would you believe you?"

He looked down again. "Well, no." he looked out the window. "I'll do it, on one condition."

I gave him sidelong look. "And what's that?" I ask.

His head turned slowly and once again his eyes were staring into mine. "You come with me to Asgard."

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because staying here is killing you, why do you think your ancestors stayed away? There is so much on Asgard. Many accounts of your people, you could learn so much more than what your mother told you in her short time. You could end the life of walking on eggshells and hold your head high. Odin would surely show mercy on you, his guilt over his father's actions. You could live a life you would never have dreamed of. You could wear your true colors and drop this chameleon act." He spoke hopefully.

"And what's in it for you?"

"The presence of your company." He grinned. "I know not what my punishment will be, but if you would visit me I could bear whatever Odin has in store."

I looked down. Why me? He was right, about staying on earth. It was killing me slowly. I did miss my green hair and russet skin. I did have to double check every move I made. I was made to protect them.... Protect them, not live with them. This decision would protect them. And protect me. But it could just be a trick. I looked back into his eyes. I wished I had the power to tell when people were lying. His aura told me he was being truthful, aside from the ominous blue that loomed; but maybe he knew how to manipulate it. Maybe I shouldn't have joined S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe I shouldn't have become friends with Steve. Maybe I should have given myself to the earth right when my parents died. The ultimate sacrifice and power Medjordians have.

I looked around the room, it was spacious but it was making me feel claustrophobic. My hands were still restrained behind my back. I was his captive but he promised me a life of freedom. I thought back to when I first saw him, back at the Pegasus lab. He looked horrible. I thought he looked handsome. Terrifying, but handsome. My gut told me to run away. My gut now told me to trust him. I thought of Steve. It hurt me to love him. Literally. He was human, even with his enhancements, he wouldn't live as long as me. He wouldn't be as sturdy as me. He should be with another human, someone like him. Natasha needed someone, maybe they could get together. I shouldn't have kissed him. Twice. I shouldn't have made a connection with anyone. I should have just helped from afar, like Loki is offering me the chance to do now.

I looked at his calm face, patiently waiting for an answer. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "You can't kill any of my friends." I confirmed.

He took a sharp intake of breath. "Is Thor your friend?" he spoke in English.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Loki." I warned.

"Alright, alright." he put his hands up in defeat. "You have my word, my beautiful Isabelliana." My eyes widened and a chill was sent down my spine. This was the first time he had ever said my first name and I was totally unprepared.

My mouth opened and closed like a fish not able to find words. I was saved when I looked out of the window when I felt a familiar life approaching. "You have company." I nodded towards Tony in the Iron Man suit. "Look alive."

He nodded and stood and went out to meet Tony, who tried to shut the machine down and just caused it to backfire and knock Selvig out. I watched intently as he landed and started to remove the armor, walking inside. Loki followed. He saw me and nodded, I returned it and kept quiet.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki says, a smirk on his face.

Tony casually walks over to the bar. "Uh, actually, I'm planning to threaten you." I raise my eyebrow as he says this.

"You should have left your armor on for that." the God remarks.

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage. You've got the blue stick of destiny." he gestured to Loki's scepter. "Would you like a drink?" he asked him.

He shook his head. "Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no! Threatening. No drink? Anna?" he asked me. "I'm having one."

I gave a bemused smile. "Sure."

Loki looked at both of us. "The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers." He said it like it was obvious. Loki looked confused and I grinned.

ANNA

"The Avengers." he said it like it was obvious but Loki looked confused. I smiled. "That's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's mightiest heroes' type of thing."

"Yes," Loki grins, looking back at me. "I've met them."

"Yeah, it takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one." he walked from around the bar, coming over to set the drink in front of me, it was either vodka or water. I smiled at the genius. "But let's do a headcount here. Your brother, the demiGod;" Loki grimaced. "an ancient alien girl with untapped potential, a super soldier, a living legend who kinda lives up to the legend; a man with breathtaking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, have managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki spoke.

"Not a great plan." Tony retorted. "When they come- and they will. They'll come for you."

"I have an army." Loki boasted.

"We have a Hulk."

The God smirked. "I thought the beast had wandered off?"

"You're missing the point." he shook his head. "There's no throne, no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned sure we will avenge it." he spoke and I struggled but applauded him best I could.

Loki strides over to him, raising his scepter. My eyes widened and I bite my lip. "How will your friends have time for me when they're too busy fighting you?" Loki puts his spear to Tony's chest and I watch his eyes but nothing happens. Loki tilts his head and tries again. "This usually works." he mutters.

"Well performance issues," Tony remarks and I let out a giggle. "One-in-five-" He's cut off by Loki's hand on his throat and I let out a small yelp as he is thrown across the room. He mutters something I don't quite make out by the time Loki's hand is back around his neck.

"You will all fall before me." He tells him and I stand from my seat and gasp as he throws Tony through the glass window.

"What the hell-" I start to yell then a pod comes up out of an elevator racing after Tony. I sigh in relief as he comes back into view.

"And there's one more person you pissed off!" he calls to Loki. "His name was Phil." and as Loki raises his scepter Iron Man raises his arm and fires first sending Loki flying back. I took the chance and sat down bringing my knees to my chest, and my arms around my legs. I stood facing Tony holding my bonded wrists above my head.

"A little help?" I asked him. He fired expertly and the cuffs fell off. Just then the tesseract beams into the sky like when it did when it brought Loki to earth. A portal opens up and my mouth hangs slack.

"Right. Army." Tony says gravely. He flies up to it and I go to follow him but Loki catches my shoulder and turns me around to face him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asks sinisterly.

I smile as I make the water in the glass raise behind him. "Out." I simply say.

"I don't think so-" he gets cut off by the water slapping him in the face and I race out of the broken window, following Tony.

I stop some distance away from where the portal was. From where the deadly, ugly creatures were entering. Their auras were dark with a blue tinge. Tony was holding a few back, but he was only one, and they were hundreds.

I froze up. Medjordians weren't made to fight. And that's why they died so many centuries ago. The Chitauri took them out and they hardly fought back. But no one was threatening Earth, the place they cared so much about, no one was thinking about it.

I am also human. Humans fight and make war everyday. How could I be made of two parts that were so contradictory? Peace and war? What side would I choose? But now humans lives were in danger. I had to fight. I had to protect them.

I snapped out of it and charred the few Chitauri that slipped past Tony.

"Nice going, spitfire!" the rich man in the tin can appraised me. I rolled my eyes but smiled as I destroyed some more of the vile creatures. We were actually holding them back.

I saw Thor fly over to Loki and smirked. He would get some sense knocked into him, hopefully literally. Tony flew close to me and held something out for me in his hand while sending little missiles flying at the aliens. I took the com unit from his metal covered hand and put it in my ear.

"Hey guys guess who's not a zombie soldier for the God of self entitlement?!" Tony spoke and I could hear the smirk in his voice. He started flying toward his tower, leading the Chitauri away. I followed him.

"Hello everybody." I giggled.

"Izzy." I heard Steve's relieved sigh in my ear, boy did these have good quality.

"Hi, Cap." I greeted him.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." I said a little sadly.

Natasha's voice spoke in my ear before Steve could reply. "Stark, we're heading north east."

"What, did you stop for drive-thru?" He scoffed. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you." We got closer to his building and I broke away to fight off the stragglers who were attacking the scared New Yorkers. I saw the quinjet fly in and looked away to protect a few humans who were running for shelter. I looked back and saw the jet was blown out of the sky. My eyes widened in horror and my heart raced as I flew over to the crash site. I saw them a few yards away and flew down to greet them face to face. They smiled when they saw me, the biggest smile was on Steve.

All happiness was cut short when the city went silent. There was a chilling roar overhead and my eyes widened to see the large chitauri leviathan coming through the portal. It floated through the air, a bunch of little chitauri soldiers broke off and went to cling on buildings.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked in disbelief.

Tony matched his tone as he spoke over our coms. "I'm seeing, still working on believing." I saw him just hovering in the air. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

We all quirked an eyebrow at Tony's question "Banner?" Steve asked. Last time I saw him he was trying to pummel me.

"Just keep me posted." He requested. And I saw him file in behind the Chitauri leviathan in the air. "Hey, Spitfire, I could use a little help up here."

I nodded. "On my way." I flew up into the sky and caught up with him quickly. "What's the situation?" I asked him.

"Keep tailing him." He directed me and I nodded, he flew around a building to the side of the leviathan, firing missiles at him. My eyes widened in horror as the big guy roared in annoyance and started following Tony.

"What now?" I asked him over the com's unit.

"Still figuring that out myself, gimme a second." He spoke in my ear and I groaned. Things were not looking good for us at the moment.

ANNA

Things were not looking good for us at the moment. I swooped down to save a few people who were going to be trapped by falling debris. The Chitauri leviathan was still following Tony, to where, I don't know.

"What's the story upstairs?" I heard Steve speak.

"The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable." I heard the other blonde in our ragtag group, Thor say gravely.

"Thor is right." Stark told us. "We gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team." Steve concluded and I smiled. He was right, we all bring something different to the table, together we could beat these ugly creatures.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor stated and I scoffed.

"Yeah well-" Clint started but I cut him off.

"Get in line, Thor, let's focus on the bigger problem here. You can finish your business with him when we send him packing back to Asgard." I nearly yelled over the coms. "Pissing contests, I swear." I said under my breath.

"Exactly, Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark and Izzy up top they're going to need us.." He trailed off.

"What?" I asked, a little afraid.

"I've seen worse." Nat says.

"Seen what?" I ask fervently, I was confused and they were really scaring me right now.

"No, we could use a little worse." She said softly.

"Stark?" Steve called for the billionaire. "We got him."

"Banner?" He asked, surprise and relief on his voice.

"Just like you said." Steve confirmed.

"Well tell him to suit up." He says excitedly.

I shook my head, my pulse slowing down, these humans will be the death of me. I sighed and kept following Tony, helping a few civilians here and there. I saw the team gathered together in the distance, Tony was bringing the leviathan toward them. My eyes widened. "Tony..." I started.

"I'm bringing the party to you." He rounded a building and was flying right at them.

I sped up to fly in front of the monster... And the leviathan. I met the team in record speed. I touched down next to Nat.

"I- I don't see how that's a party." The Russian spoke quietly.

Tony dips and the big ugly flying fish does the same behind him. They are right above the street and coming in hot. I ready myself for the worst. I knit my eyebrows as Bruce starts to walk toward the beast.

"Dr. Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry." Steve suggests.

"That's the thing, fam I be always mad. I can suddenly control my power whenever it's convenient for the plot. Fax." And he turns into that enormous green rage monster and and fucking kills the leviathan with the help from one of Tony's mini-rockets. Chunks of Chitauri fly everywhere and I dodge them like I was in the Matrix. Things were looking up for us. I smile, maybe Loki would uphold his end of the bargain and surrender convincingly.

But the thought of that made my smile fade. I would have to leave my home and the people I love. Sure, they were going to be the reason for my demise but they were family, friends... Lovers. Would I fit in on Asgard? Would I find new people to spend time with? There was Thor, but he was a total blockhead. Were all the men on that planet like him? Sure, Loki was definitely different but he was evil, wasn't he? I didn't really know anymore. He was very smart, that's for sure, just not a great decision maker. He kept me on my toes.

Steve on the other hand was smart too, but he was different than the Steve I first met. I don't know if he's the same Steve I fell in love with. I don't know if I'm the same girl that fell in love with him. It's been too long, we've both changed. And even with that serum he's still fragile, all my friends here were fragile, I could lose them any day. Natasha, Clint, hell even Fury. I don't even want to think about what already happened to Coulson.

I was pulled out of my grim thoughts by the horrifying sight of hundreds of thousands more Chitauri swarms strolling through the portal. I searched for Loki in the sky, silently cursing his name. So he was pure evil after all. Guess that makes it easier for me. I'm gonna sever his handsome head from his lean body.

"Guys." Natasha calls out to the rest of the team to get their attention.

They all turned and gawked at the overwhelming sight. "Call it, Cap." Tony spoke through his metal mask.

Steve snapped out of it quickly. His soldier side switched on its max setting as he thought of a game plan. "Alright, listen up." I could see his mind reeling behind blue eyes. "Until we close that portal up there, we're going to use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash." He ordered.

"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony.

"Right, better clench up Legolas." He said and they were off.

"Izzy, Thor, you've got to try to bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the fire and the lightning. Light the bastards up."

I nodded and flew up after Thor, going to the opposite side of the portal as him. He got most of the big groups out of the way but it took him a while to charge up all the power so while he was doing that I was torching. We made a pretty good team, but soon too many strays started slipping through our grasp. Thor went off to help containment down below and I stayed focused on the portal. They just kept coming through, exactly how many soldiers did they have?

A flash of regal green and gold caught my eye, and I knew he was watching me. I groaned and rolled my eyes. But then I see him shoot at something... Someone rather.

"Nat, what are you doing?" I hear Clint ask the spy.

"I second that question." I say, my heartbeat speeding up.

"Uh, a little help?" She said desperately.

Loki wouldn't shoot her down would he? I started to fly over to her. "I'm on m-"

"I've got him." Clint said and the next thing I know an arrow is whizzing the God's way. I bit my lip hoping he wouldn't dodge it. I saw him catch it and raised my eyebrows. He wouldn't fall for that old trick would he?

I saw his eyes flicker to me as the arrow blew up in his face. I was speechless. Was he...? Could he really be giving up? I frowned as I saw him fall onto Stark's landing pad below me. I prayed that he would just stay down; but part of me prayed he didn't, that he would get up again and really try to take over the world, to show no mercy. I was literally shaken out of my thoughts when a bolt of energy clipped my arm. I turned around and saw a three Chitauri soldiers on chariots surrounding me. They screeched out "Surrender! The War Lord gave us orders not to harm you!"

I scoffed. "Like Hell I will! Burn!" I replied to them in plain English and sent a big fire ball their way. More came and tried to contain me and I fought them off the best I could, none of them could fly on their own and they would have to severely injure me to ground me so I was at an advantage. That didn't stop them from giving me flesh wounds. The energy they shot at me had a cold burn to it, but I had to push through.

ANNA

It seemed we've been fighting these creatures for a lifetime, but I knew it couldn't have been that long. I sighed, out of breath when another swarm of Chitauri soldiers surrounded me. "Ugly.. Stupid.... Ugh!" I let out of clenched teeth as I attacked them. Would this ever end? I saw Thor and Steve on the ground handling their load, Hulk was getting attacked by the big guns, Clint was on his rooftop, Nat was working with the doctor below us, and Tony was.... Flying away from the fight?

My attention was pulled back to Natasha as she spoke in my ear. "I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down."

My heart leapt for joy at those simple words. I swear I could have cried.

"Do it!" Steve called the order.

"No, wait!" The man in the metal armor interrupted.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve complained.

"What are you planning, Tony?" I asked him, turning my head to watch him, still flying off away from the city.

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. I know just where to put it." He informed us.

"Good plan." Was all I could get out. My mind was reeling. Who sent the nuke? Fury? While we were still here? No... that's not his MO, I'd hope it wasn't at least. The Council. This had them written all over it. So they were just gonna destroy us and all the civilians without a second thought? I let out a growl.

I saw Tony heading back to the portal holding the nuke. I descended so I wouldn't be in his way. I decided to pay a certain god a visit. I landed on the part of the tower where I saw him last. He wasn't there but I noticed a path of destruction that had to belong to a familiar green beast. I followed the path and I found the god hanging out in a hole in the ground. I smirked and headed to the bar on the other side of him. I saw his eyes were closed and I quickly changed that when I stepped on and over his abdomen. He cringed and groaned in agony. I giggled and walked behind the bar, leaning over the counter.

"Morning, sunshine." I grinned at him. He eyed me wearily, a long frown on his face. I looked away for a second as Steve spoke in my ear giving Nat the order to close the portal. I then took the com's out of my ear and smiled. "Guess who just saved the world!"

"Whoop-dee-doo." He deadpanned breathlessly.

"I thought you would be happier." I grinned talking in his secret language. "I'm gonna go to Asgard to keep you company."

He perked up a little then, though still wincing in pain. "Truly?"

I nodded. "A deal is a deal."

His frown seemed to get deeper then. "Isabellianna." He whispered my name in the accent of the foreign tongue and I was prepared for the familiar chill that went down my spine.

"Loki." I returned the gesture.

"I don't want you to go anymore." He spoke quietly.

I scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "I well I'm going, soo...."

"If the Titan sees through my ruse he will surely come to kill me, and you would be next on his list."

I put my hand over my heart. "I'm honestly offended. I thought you knew better, Jötunn, I am nothing like my predecessors, let today be an example."

His eyes ran over what he could see of my body. "You're hurt." He noted.

I didn't even look down, I felt the burns on my skin but I pushed the pain away. "I'm going and you can't change my mind." I looked out the window where Clint, Steve, Tony, Thor, and the Hulk had gathered on the roof with Natasha. "Look presentable will you, my buddies are coming in." They started walking over quickly.

He groaned and started to get up as they gathered behind him. He gripped the bar counter to lift himself up and his green eyes met mine for a split second until he lost his grip and fell on his ass. He looked up to see the Avengers, ready and willing to attack at a moment's notice. My heart swelled a little with pride and a little sadness.

"If it's any consolation, I think I'll have that drink now." Loki said in defeat.

"Drinks are for good little gods who don't try to take over the world." I reprimanded, crossing my arms over my chest. I saw Steve's blue eyes flicker between me a Loki a few times. His gaze finally settled on the god, eyebrows knitted in anger. His aura was a little green. I rolled my eyes, nothing to be jealous about, Cap. "Cuff him, Thor." I said like they did in those golden age cop shows Natasha has made me analyze.

Thor's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Right." And he went over to handcuff his brother.

"Um Anna, you're a little... Red." Natasha pointed out and I looked down at my hands quickly, she was right. I must have dropped my camouflage while focusing on the fight.

I shrugged. No use in camouflaging anymore, I didn't care, I was leaving anyway.

"Alright, we need to do a little regrouping, count our losses. Meet back somewhere after everything has cooled down." Steve spoke.

"Hey spitfire, we're going to get shawarma, you in? I'm paying." Tony informed me delightedly.

I sneered at the thought of it. "No, thank you, who's going to watch the God?" I nodded toward the Raven haired man who sat, broken on the floor. They all looked at each other. I sighed. "I'll take him to Fury."

"Jet's on its way." Clint chimed in to tell me as he mixed a drink. I nodded to him.

"We'll meet back at Central Park at ten AM tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" I asked quickly. "Why not tonight?"

"We have to get some rest, Izzy." Steve's eyebrows knitted.

"We have to get some rest Izzy!" Loki mocked the spangled man, turning into him."

I pouted. "I guess." I whined, but then I looked away. Was I eager to leave them? To go live with people like Thor and Loki? To leave the world I was born in? Where I grew up? I twirled a strand of my greenish gold hair absentmindedly.

"They're here." Clint spoke.

I nodded and walked around the front or the bar counter to pick up Loki. He looked up at me in admiration but I ignored him. I grabbed his arm and went to help him up. I struggled for a couple of seconds before Steve helped me, manhandling the mischievous prince. I actually felt sorry for him. We walked to the jet and I secured Loki in a seat. Steve was just standing there like he didn't want to leave us alone. I turned to face him, looking up into his innocent blue eyes. He pulled me into a hug, I returned the embrace, immediately feeling tears come to my eyes.

He leaned away and caught my chin with his large hand. "I'm glad you're okay." He whispered huskily.

"Same here." I put a small smile on my face.

He leaned in to kiss me and I placed my hands on his wide chest and turned my head away. Loki caught my eye, he was looking straight ahead of him, a grimace on his face. "Izzy?" The blonde called my name.

"I... I can't." I looked back at him.

He started to let go. "Alright." He said sadly. He pulled away from me completely, I took a step back. "Be safe, see you in the morning."

I wrapped my arms around myself and looked down. "Yeah, see you." He turned around quickly and walked off the jet, the ramp closed behind him and the pilots began the procedure to take off. I collapsed in the seat next to Loki.

"Well that went well." Loki spoke to me still looking forward.

"Shut up." I groaned and rested my head on the jet wall behind me.

ANNA

I walked off the jet, my hand firmly gripping Loki's bicep, dragging him along with me. He stumbled along sloppily and I narrowed my eyes and wondered if he was doing it on purpose to make my life harder. Fury and Hill met us on the deck of the helicarrier.

"Nice work out there, Roarke." Fury praised me and I smiled.

Maria put her hand on my arm awkwardly and I raised an eyebrow, physical contact wasn't really her thing. "You did good." She said simply.

I nodded at her attempt at sentiment. "I tried." I sighed and gestured to the restrained God. "We have to keep him overnight."

She nodded and the 'all business' Agent Hill was back. "Right." She called two soldiers over and they took him away, she followed them and I watched them all leave. I turned my head to the Director.

"So," I started. "Who sent the nuke?"

"That's classified." He said concisely as he turned and started walking off.

I followed after him, we went inside and there were people everywhere. Some working on computers, others moving debris or other things around. "I know it wasn't you, I know it was those council people." I spoke low so only he could hear me.

"Is that so?" He asked, uninterested.

"Sir, this is a matter of serious business." I informed him.

He stopped finally and turned back to face me. "Nothing is keeping you from speaking it seriously." He spoke cryptically, giving me a slight headache that I didn't appreciate at this moment but I knew he was being forced to speak this way. Was he being watched somehow? Like Loki? Or maybe he already knew my plans, to leave with the gods, to abandon earth.

"I'm here to put in my notice for resignation." I said with all the confidence I could muster. He didn't even blink... Or wink or whatever. "Effective immediately." I added. "Like tomorrow." No reaction. "I'm going to go live with the Aliens!" I exclaimed. Nothing.

"Make sure you send a postcard." He told me then turned again and went about his life.

I was left speechless. I snapped out of it, though, when I saw people staring at me. "Don't you people have walls to fix?!" I yelled at them frustratedly. They jumped into action and I groaned and walked off. I went to the open kitchen/cafeteria, to look for something to eat. I was starving. I opened up the refrigerator and found a salad. I grabbed a bottled water and went to a small table in a dark corner in the back of the room to eat it in peace.

I felt like crying, yelling, and laughing all at once. I put my head in my hands. I felt tears fall down my cheeks and I laughed, well that's two down. And I laughed again.

"Hello." A familiar voice spoke across from me... Time to make it three for three.

I lifted my head, not removing my hands from my face, and looked at the disowned prince through my red fingers. "What in the hell are you doing out of your cage?!" My voice rose with every word.

He put his hands up in surrender. "Fret none. I am only projecting myself to you. My physical form rests in the cage." He smirked.

"Oh great so people watching me will think I'm talking to myself!" I groaned and covered my eyes again.

"No one watches you, they wouldn't chance it. Their fear for you is too great."

I scoffed. "Sure yeah, but what about you?" I wiped my tears and eyed him closely.

He knew exactly what I meant. "Separation from my scepter has cleared my mind of the Other's influence."

I tilted my head. "So everything you do now is all you?" I asked him doubtfully.

"I am fully in control of my actions." He confirmed.

"We'll see." I opened up my salad and began eating it.

Loki watched my closely. "If you were hungry why not dine with your friends?"

I grimaced at the thought. "They were going to eat meat, I'm a vegetarian, I don't eat meat."

"That is... Peculiar." He noted.

"Not really, my mom was the same, when you can actually communicate with animals and feel their pain you find it's easy not to eat them." I explained.

"You are able to communicate with animals?" He asked, surprised.

I nodded. "Uh, yeah. Didn't I tell you I can understand all languages, that includes animals."

His face was thoughtful. "Can you understand this?" He asked in a foreign tongue.

"Yes I can." I replied in the language.

"And this one?" He raised an eyebrow.

I nodded. "Yes."

His eyes widened. "That is magnificent. What else can you do?" He asked me fervently, a wide grin on his face like a giddy school boy.

I smiled shyly. I wasn't used to people being fascinated with my powers. Back at S.H.I.E.L.D. academy when I would try to show off everyone would just get freaked out, calling me a freak in return. That caused me to suppress my powers, I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. "Well, I can fly..... I can create fire I can also control it, along with water, earth, and air as you have somewhat witnessed already." I spoke quietly. His amazed expression told me to continue. "I can feel life, like I can tell there are one hundred and fifty..... -six people on this craft including you and me. Every living thing has its own life signature so I can tell them apart, and plants have a different type of signature than animals, and theirs are different from humans, and theirs are different from Asgardians." I looked at him again but went on. "Oh yeah and I can read auras. Different colors and where they are tell me how a person is feeling... And that's pretty much it." I ended with a sigh, feeling a little bad about ranting.

There was a smile- not just a smirk- but a happy smile was on his pale face. "Such wonderful gifts you have been blessed with." He said breathlessly. My eyes widened. Gifts? I've never had someone describe them like that, powers? Enhanced Abilities? Yes. Never gifts. And blessed with them nonetheless. I feel like that's pushing it. They've caused me too many problems in my life to be a blessing. "What's the matter?" He asked, I didn't notice we had been staring at me.

"Just an internal argument." I smiled and brushed it off.

He turned his head away. "Keeping your problems internal is what's killing you." He noted.

I had two options, admit he was right or get angry. I chose the latter. "Why don't you keep your mouth shut?!" I yelled at him. "You have no filter and that's what's killing you!"

"I'm only stating an observation." He tried to justify himself.

I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my head, looking away from him. "Yeah, well me too!" I grit my teeth. "Why don't you just leave?! You're disturbing my peace and quiet, haven't you ruined my life enough? Go away!" I turned to face his direction again and found he was already gone. I frowned and ate my salad in solidarity. God damn gods who think they know everything.

I finished the salad and threw away the container. I went to my room on the helicarrier and looked around and an idea hit me. Would I need anything to go to Asgard with? Well I didn't have much here in the first place. I took my backpack off the floor beside the bed and went over to the small closet and grabbed some clothes, I made sure to avoid anything with the S.H.I.E.L.D logo on it. I went over to the shelf on the other side of the room and grabbed a few of my favorite books and stuffed them in the bag.

I set the bag by the door and went to the bed, I didn't even realize how exhausted I was. I sluggishly removed my boots and my leather pants so I was left in a tank top and my boy-short underwear. I got under the blankets and shut my eyes but I couldn't fall asleep. A certain green eyed monster was haunting my thoughts-- and I wasn't talking about the Hulk. I groaned knowing why he was on my mind. I knew I was wrong when I yelled at him. I laid on my back and put my hands over my face again in frustration.

"Loki?" I whispered but then cleared my throat. "Loki. I'm sorry." I apologized to the air and immediately felt better. I smiled softly and made myself comfortable in the bed. I was dozing off in no time. I could have sworn I heard someone whisper 'good night, Isabellianna' but it might just have been the start of a dream.

ANNA

My body clock woke me up as I couldn't really tell what time it actually was since there wasn't a clock or window in sight in my room. I got out of the warm bed and stretched. I was sore, and it wasn't an all night training session sore, every part of my body ached and burned. I laughed at my pain. My first real fight and I was already running away. If I couldn't handle humans what makes me think I could handle gods. Well... Nothing can get worse than this, right? I went into my private bathroom and looked at myself in the small mirror bolted above the sink. I turned the faucets, got my hands wet and rubbed my face. I looked in the mirror once more. Sad gold eyes looked back at me. I sighed and turned on my heel, facing the shower. I turned on the water before stripping and stepping under the shower-head.

The hot water relaxed my bones and I almost forgot about everything troubling me. Almost.

I started sensing my surroundings. One hundred and two lives on the helicarrier, including me. I could feel Loki's life signature, he was pacing in a room. There were five lives surrounding him, standing in place. Fury and Maria were walking swiftly through halls. It was hard for me to not focus on anything. It has always been this way, I'm always sensing my friends to make sure they're okay, I'm always focusing on them. Never on me, never on what I need and what makes me happy. But seeing them happy made me happy right? Wrong. It just made me jealous knowing I could never have what they had. That's why I was pulled to Natasha, she had no one like me, and we both enjoyed Clint's company even if we both knew about his little secret. Natasha even played his love interest on many occasions to help him hide it.

Of course now I could have Steve, but I couldn't do that to him; being with each other would only hurt us. He needed someone without any baggage, a simple human girl who didn't have a world to protect. He deserved it. Me? I deserved to die alone. But hey maybe I'll find someone on this alien planet, I was an alien after all. Well half alien. Why did things have to be so complicated for me?

I sighed a frustrated sigh and shut off the water. The sudden chill embraced me at the absence of hot water. I pulled the shower curtain back and the towel of the rack and wrapped it around my frame. I grabbed another towel and dried my hair with it. I stepped out of the shower and caught my reflection in the mirror as I was walking out. I stopped in my tracks and looked at myself. My skin was its natural reddish brown and my eyes were golden yellow and the few curls that peeked from under the towel were green and gold where they caught the light. I didn't belong here. But I didn't really belong with the Asgardians now, did I? Thor was blonde haired and blue eyed, he could be Steve's long lost older brother. Sure, he was stronger than any regular human on Earth and had the muscles to show for it, not to mention a hammer that only he could lift. But he still looked more human than me. Loki had black hair and emerald eyes, but he did have magic. But neither god looked like me. They were each special in a way like me. I would fit in more with the Asgardians than I ever did with humans.

I walked out of my bathroom and to my closet. I dried the rest of my body and put on some fresh underwear and a tight black shirt. I pulled on some black yoga pants and some short socks and running shoes I pulled my long green hair into a ponytail and put on some sunglasses. I grabbed my leather jacket and pulled my arms through the sleeves. I looked at the room and sighed. I could sense Thor approaching the helicarrier. I picked up my bookbag at the door and put my arms through the straps. What was he doing here this early? I picked up my watch from the top of the dessert and my jaw dropped. So much for my body clock. It was almost eleven o'clock, I was late. I strapped the watch on my wrist and opened my door.

I walked into the halfway and confronted the first agent I saw. "Why did nobody wake me?!" I gave him a death glare.

He put his arms up to surrender. "Fury told us to not even go near your door."

I growled and walked past him down the hallway to the door to the deck where Fury and Hill were waiting for Thor. I swiftly walked over to them. They were chatting about something. Blah blah tesseract blah blah gods etcetera etcetera. "Why didn't anyone wake me?" I asked them, interrupting them.

Fury didn't miss a beat. "There was no need to." He didn't even turn to look at me.

I grit my teeth. "Uh yeah there was, our rendezvous time was ten, now you dragged Thor all the way here." I pouted.

"We have unfinished business with Thor." He stated bluntly.

I raised an eyebrow. "What unfinished business? The war is over his brother is detained. He's going to take Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard where they belong. So they can handle their own problems."

The blonde warrior touched down in the middle of my short speech. "You took the words right out of my mouth, Anna. We will take back what belongs to us. Your people can live in peace." He argued.

Fury turned and walked past Thor to look out over the edge at the water. He was quiet for a while. "But how can we trust you?" He finally spoke.

I took a step up. "You don't have to." I said with as much confidence as I could muster. Maria and Thor both looked at me expectantly "Trust me. Earth is my first priority, I would die before I'd let anything befall it. You know me, you might not have raised me but you shaped me and that's what counts." I didn't realize the truth in my words until they actually left my mouth. "Earth is my first home and it has been my only home for my entire life, I'll be distant, but I will always watch over my home."

The director turned to look at us again. "I suppose there's no use arguing so I won't." He started to walk back to the doors to the inside. "Hill, get a quinjet ready." He ordered her before the door closed behind him.

I was busy watching him when Thor's large hand made its way to my shoulder. "You will be accompanying us to Asgard?" I turned to him and his expression showed confusion.

I forgot he didn't know, I forgot none of the heroes knew, not even Steve. I held my ground, summoning all my confidence. "Asgard will be my new home."

ANNA

I sit in the quinjet, across from Thor and Loki and I feel bad for the trickster god. His restraints look uncomfortable and he looked miserable. Maybe it was an act for his brother, his aura told me that he was actually very calm. Thor's beefy arms were crossed over his chest and he looked out of the windshield. I only glanced at the blonde brother before going back to Loki. My eyes took him in from his feet to his head and as I was going back down our eyes met. The green pierced me and I looked away as quickly as possible. I still felt his eyes locked on me, I didn't want to return his stare but I didn't want to seem like a coward. I slowly let my eyes turn to look into his again.

His eyes started twitching then. His eyebrows raised methodically. I mind immediately picked it up and recognised it as a language. I felt like chuckling but didn't want to freak out Thor. I wondered if Loki just made up this eye language.

"How did you sleep?" He asked me with the small subtle movements of his eyes.

"Spectacularly." I replied sarcastically. "Did you just make this up?" I asked my burning question.

I imagine he would be donning a sly half smile had his mouth not been covered. "Over the night." He confessed.

"Five minutes until landing." One of the pilots announced to us.

I bit my lip in anticipation. Five minutes until I'm off this jet and on my way to Asgard. Five minutes until I face my friends and tell them the news, five minutes until I'm away from this planet, five minutes until I'm free. I was ecstatic, all my worries have gone and there was nothing left besides happiness. Earth would move on and thrive without me, and I can do the same without Earth. I looked at Loki.

"Excited?" He asked.

I grinned. "Very." I replied and we started landing. I was nearly bouncing in my seat.

We unboarded the jet, Loki in the middle of us, Thor and I had a hold on each of his arms. We escorted him to the rest of the Avengers. Everyone's eyes were on me. I smiled politely at each of them, because weather they were staring because my colors, or because of the backpack I was carrying I didn't care.

Steve came up to me as Thor went over to the scientists to grab the Tesseract. He smiled down at me and I returned it. I felt Loki lean away from us even though I still had the death lock on his arm. "So, Izzy, I was thinking... Maybe you'd like to come live with me after this?" He tried, I knit my eyebrows together.

"Sorry, Steve. I'm... I'm going to live on Asgard." I let it out quickly, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

He took a step back. He shook his head. He narrowed his eyes. The only two words he could get past his lips were "What?" And "Why?" He was a baby-faced sputtering mess. I let go of Loki's arm to embrace my first love.

"I have to Steve, I just have to." I confessed.

He hugged me back, stroking my hair. "We just got reunited." He spoke quietly.

"And this won't be the last time, I'll come visit whenever I can." I assured him.

"You're leaving with them?" I didn't notice Natasha make her way over to us.

I pulled out of the hug with Steve to give one to Nat. "Yeah," I told her simply.

"Good." She said and I pulled away to look into her eyes, they were sad but she was smiling. "It's where you belong, Anna."

I grinned at my mentor, my SO. "Thank you for understanding."

She smiled and rubbed my arm before walking back over to Clint who I saluted, he nodded and smiled at me. Thor came back over, the cube in a clear tube. He held out one end with a handle to us. Loki took it reluctantly.

Time seemed to freeze and everything was silent as I took a last look around at my friends, my home. My heart beat steadily in my chest as I lifted my hand and placed it on the handle next to Loki's. Our fingers brushed the others and I found my head turning to face him. My eyes locked with his just as Thor turned his handle then we were surrounded by light. We were racing through space and I felt free. I broke my gaze with the emerald eyed man to look around at all the lights passing us, all the stars, the planets, the space.

We touched down too soon for me. I was without speech. I was in awe.

"Anna, are you alright?" Thor asked me and I looked to him, confused. Of course I was alright, I was perfect. Nothing at all could be wrong. "You're crying." He pointed out, worriedly.

I touched my face and sure enough tears wet my cheeks. I wiped them away laughing. "I'm crying because I'm happy."

I noticed there was another person in the place we arrived in. I turned to look at him. He had beautiful, smooth dark skin. He wore mostly gold which matched his eyes... Which matched mine. Nobody on earth would ever have the same eyes as me yet the first person I meet on Asgard shares this trait with me. I grinned at him.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Isabelliana." He spoke carefully, and his gold eyes never focused on anything.

"Anna, meet Heimdall, the all-seeing and hearing guard of the Bifrost." Thor introduced.

"It's nice to meet you too." I told him. It was the truth.

"The All-Father requests your presence, Thor. And you alone." He informs him and I raise an eyebrow. I look to Loki who seemed to be simmering, beneath all of that I knew he was glad to be here. I was glad to be here.

"I will show you to a place where you can rest and then I will go speak to my father." The blonde tells me.

____________ÆÆÆÆÆÆ____________

I sit in my new room and I finally let it sink in. I was away from my weakness and I even felt stronger. I have transcended, I have evolved. I am not the same person I was back on Earth. I am better and I will keep getting better. I am not afraid of what the future holds, the future should be a afraid of me. By being away from Earth I can be stronger to protect it. If a force comes along that they can't handle I will be at the front line fighting for them. Medjordian. Einn med jord. One with Earth. The best way to protect them is to be away from them. The best way to love them is from a distance. I am half Medjordian, my people's purpose pushes me to care for humans. I am half Human, my mother fell in love with one and died because her love was too strong. I will not let that happen; I will protect them, but I will not fall in love with one.

"The soldier searches for old allies, it seems your presence sparked a fuel in his heart. Moving on from you is not in his agenda, currently. He understands your actions even if he does not support them.

"The femme fatale searches for love, you were the point of all her attention for so long she finally gets to move on, she is happy. She wants you to feel the same, no matter what.

" The archer spends more time with his family, he is torn between his two worlds. He would not want you to feel the same way. His keen eyes saw through your simple excuse although he believes that getting away was the right choice for you to make.

"The metal man tinkers. He is still distraught from the battle. He is scared that in your absence something terrible might happen, he prepares for the worst.

"The beast finds purpose in new friends and technological outlets. He recognizes when someone has to become in control of their emotions. He wishes you the best."

Isabelliana sighs in relief. "Thank you, Heimdall."

"It is my pleasure. Do you not wish to know what the prisoner really thinks about you?" There was a gleam in the seer's distant eyes.

The Medjordian woman smirked. "I think I'll let him show me himself."

The dark skinned man nodded. "As you wish, I hope you enjoy your life among Gods."

Hi there! This is the end to OWE but not the end to Anna's story. Be on the look out for the next installment of her life.

I would like to thank all the readers, voters, commentors, the old and the ones who have yet to come. You give me inspiration to write and you all are greatly appreciated.

Of course I want to thank everyone at Marvel for creating the universe I was able to build my story off of cause I definitely don't own Marvel!

I'd like to thank my legs, for always supporting me; my arms, who are always by my side and lastly my fingers, I can always count on them... Lol jk, my thanks goes to my fans, my sweethearts, I love you guys 💖

You are my brother. I don't care if you are not bound to me by blood. We were raised together, we played together, we fought together, does that mean nothing to you? Odin saved you and raised you as his own. Our mother loved and adored you-- she still does. Our sisters always treated you better than they treated me, they looked up to you. Ygritte a little too much. What is the point of all this? The point is you never wonted for anything. Our family has brought you up to be a skilled fighter and a smart man. This is not the Loki I know. He wouldn't take his anger out on the weak and innocent. This is not a trick my brother would go through with. This is beneath him. This... This war you are set on starting is not the Loki I know. This is not the Loki I was raised with. You wouldn't change just because you found out Laufey was your real father. You can't be angry that Odin didn't tell you when you were younger, would you have really wanted to know? You can't hate him for not telling you when you were older, you had just begun your tricks and mischief, he didn't want to risk losing you, like he did now. As soon as you found out you rebelled. You disappear and you resurface now? Wanting to rule Midgard? You wouldn't slaughter millions of innocent lives just to rule. I know you. You're too proud. You want to earn your rule, you want people to choose you because they want you not because you would kill them otherwise. I keep waiting for you to laugh in my face for falling for your lie, for you to tell me it was all a trick. You can't imagine how relieved I would be if that were the case. How happy I would be to learn it was just a game to make us worry. Frigga is the most concerned of us all. Does that make you happy? To know you are causing our mother grief? Causing her pain? It shouldn't. So come home. Return to Asgard and your family and your friends. End our suffering. Brother, Loki, please.

"Do you miss her?"

"Of course I miss her. But I'm glad she's gone."

"She was like a daughter to you, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm used to people abruptly leaving my life. It's a thing."

"It shouldn't be a thing--"

"But it is, how's the wife?"

"She's good, are you bitter about that too?"

"I'm not bitter."

//

"Okay, maybe a little but I'm totally okay with it. I'm happy when you're happy."

"Liar."

"The best."

"Don't I know it."

//

"I honestly can't wrap my head around why she would go."

"She didn't belong here, Clint."

"Yeah but didn't we make it homey enough? She fit in with us."

"And what would happen when we outlived us, huh? Where would she fit in then? She'd have to keep starting over again. Being with the other Aliens is the right thing for her."

"I guess, but I don't like it."

"Steve absolutely hates it."

"I can't say I blame the guy. A friend from the past pops up only to disappear again. He must be devastated."

"He keeps busy."

"That's not healthy, he needs to vent about it."

"Would you volunteer to lend him your ear?"

"Well... You see, I have my own problems I need to work through."

"Exactly, nobody wants to hear the guy out, it's unfair. We have each other."

"Bruce and Tony are getting along."

"And Thor has his friends and Anna."

"So what you're saying is we need to get Cap a friend."

"He needs someone."

//

"I miss her."

"Empty nest syndrome at its finest."

"You think she'll ever come back to visit?"

"Can't say, I'm sure she's having the time of her life hanging out with gods."

"That's not the answer I wanted to hear."

"She'll definitely come back, she's gotta come back to learn the rest of your 499 ways to kill a man with your bare hands."

"Thanks."

\\

Ygritte, 

I hope you and your sisters are treating your new guest accordingly. I wasn't so... 'pleasant' I suppose you could say. I cannot disclose much information, just know I was not exactly myself. You have always been an ally to me, I hope you won't stop now. I know I was gone, without any word to you or anyone, but I need one last favor. After that you won't ever have to do anything for me.

I need you to keep Isabellianna away from me. She's just too pure, and you are aware what I am. 

My sentencing is soon, and I'll be rotting in a cell anyway, but if you could just do this for me I would be forever in your debt.

Your brother, Loki