Avengers 1. Prologue: Before

**Turning Tables**

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**Prologue: Before**

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_Songs (In Order of Usage): Epic Celtic Music- King of the North; Fantasy Medieval Music- Rise of the Fallen; Owl City- Dreams and Disasters _

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**The House of Healing: Asgard: [Midgardian Time] October 23, 2007**

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"I do _not _miss Thor! I mean, he- it is _Thor!_"

Sif and the Warriors Three watched knowingly as Ailis flitted about the House of Healing, her long white robes trailing out behind her. No patients filled the numerous beds, but they had a feeling she did not quite realize that, as she had a habit of being scatter brained- at least when she was distraught.

Which Ailis clearly was.

Even if she would not admit it.

"So you will not be journeying to Midgard with us?" said Hoggun pointedly. Not one for words, he only ever lost his patience around Ailis, who, quite frankly, annoyed him dearly with her hot temper and constant scowls.

Ailis hesitated a moment, then shook her head, biting her lip. "I cannot," she murmured, after casting a furtive glance around the otherwise empty room. "I am a head Valkyrie; Loki would realize I was missing and know immediately where I had gone."

"Then we shall go without further adieu," said Fandrall, turning on the heel of his boot. Hoggun followed him without a backward glance.

Volstagg stayed behind, as he actually liked Ailis- Fandrall found her quick temper unattractive, and Sif didn't like anyone, really, except Thor- and shrugged. "Maybe next time?" he said hopefully. "I am sure Thor will be wanting for adventure once we have brought him home. We could go to Alfheim again. That was fun."

"Ah, I cannot wait to heal all of your wounds- again," said Ailis drily.

Deciding to take her comment as a joke, Volstagg chuckled. "Come Sif," he called over his shoulder. "Fandrall and Hoggun must be nearly at the BiFrost by now."

"Just a moment," said Sif.

Once Volstagg's lumbering form had disappeared behind the large oak door, she approached the Valkyrie, who was frowning down at nothing in particular, a conflicted look in her eyes.

"You do miss him."

Ailis jumped and then glared at Sif, saying petulantly, "I do _not_! Well- maybe a tad- but... Ugh!" She stomped her foot in frustration. "By the Norns, Sif! Can you not let me win _for once_?"

Sif smirked condescendingly. "That would be a no, I fear," she drawled, tapping the edge of her sword against the stone floor. "I take it there is something you can do to assist us?"

That conflicted light had appeared in Ailis's eyes again. She paused for a long moment before unclasping the golden medallion around her neck with trembling fingers and placing it in Sif's calloused hand. "Take it," the Valkyrie muttered. Her face had become gaunt and pale in but a moment. "It is my token- my life force is tied directly into it. So long as you wear it, I can protect you. I am at your command. Should you need aid, just call. I will do what I can."

Tightening her fingers around the precious circle of gold, Sif nodded vehemently. "I will protect it," she said in a grave voice. "You have my word."

Ailis did not look amused. "Just bring that oaf back," she said in a tired voice.

And, with another nod, Sif left.

* * *

**Somewhere Off the Coast of Greenland: Midgard: November 2, 2007**

* * *

Audrey officially hated SHIELD.

She probably shouldn't have, what with the whole working-for-them thing. But seriously, orange? Orange parkas? With black lining? Apparently it was for safety purposes; if anyone fell out of the boat they'd be spotted about fifty miles away. And why Greenland? What could Nick Fury possibly want to find in freaking Greenland?

There was nothing but ice. Tons and tons of ice.

It made sense that they would tell the scientists exactly what the heck it was they were supposed to be searching for, right? Apparently not to Fury. Nope, they didn't have the _clearance _to know.

Screw clearance. Audrey wanted to know the reason why she had been freezing her butt off on a boat in Greenland for the past two months.

"Catch anything on the radar?" she asked in a bored voice- the same bored voice she'd been using since Day 24. And yes, she was counting

Bill, a radio wave specialist with a handle bar mustache and a beer belly, sighed and leaned back in his rolling chair, causing its hinges to squeak in protest. "Not a thing," he replied. "Same as the other eight hundred times you've asked me today."

"You sure?" Audrey asked doubtfully, sending a dubious look in the radar's direction. "Maybe you missed something."

"Are you kidding me?" He scoffed. "_Me_? _Miss something_? I think the sun must be getting to you or something, Cathcart. I'm the best in my field. Why else would SHIELD have recruited me?"

That was the thing about Bill. He liked himself, maybe a bit _too _much. And that was saying something coming from Audrey, because she was arrogant. Like, really, _really _arrogant.

Before Bill could start talking again, the boat screeched to a stop, sending his chair rolling right into the table, and loud, blaring sirens started to squeal.

"Best in your field, huh?" Audrey mocked, smirking at the trapped scientist.

"Help me!" he called after her, but she was already gone, slamming her way out of the bridge and running as fast as she could in her orange- you guessed it- SHIELD issued snow boots to the deck, where she saw what, exactly, was causing all the panic.

A huge iceberg- more of an island really- was directly ahead of them, and they were straight on a collision course for it. How had Bill's radar not picked this up? At the speed the ship was going, it would be the Titanic 2.0.

"Brace for impact!" Nick Fury's voice commanded from somewhere above Audrey. She turned and saw him standing on a walkway, his face perfectly calm, considering the fact that they were probably about to die. (_He _wasn't wearing orange, Audrey noticed).

There was a screech of metal on ice as they collided with the island, and Audrey went flying across the deck, nearly falling off of it if it hadn't been for a helpful agent grabbing her arm at the last moment.

"What _is _that?" she screeched at him once the world had righted itself again. Somehow the ship was still intact. Although, it was a SHIELD command base, so she shouldn't have been that surprised.

He just shook his head and released her arm. "Look and see for yourself."

So, with an angry scowl at him, she followed the long line of people hopping over the edge of the prow and onto the ice, and immediately froze.

Which was ironic, considering where they were.

There, suspended in a solid wall of ice, was a man.

But not just any man. This guy was _huge_. Six pack, arms as big as tree trunks, the works. He wore a tattered blue suit and had blond hair, and Audrey would recognized him anywhere.

The emblem on his chest and the shield in his hands kind of gave it away.

"Captain America," she breathed.

That wasn't all, though. Buried in the ice at his feet was a brightly glowing blue cube.

"Now do you understand, Miss Cathcart?"

Nick Fury had snuck up behind her while she'd been staring, transfixed, at her childhood hero. Audrey was sort of surprised he even knew her name, actually.

Instead of letting loose one of her usual snarky remarks, she just nodded dumbly. "So... All this time...?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

Fury didn't nod his head or anything, he just strode forward, black boots clomping against the thick ice and creating little puffs of snow wherever he stepped. She followed him to the column that held Captain America in it. "Yeah," he confirmed, still not looking at her. "But he's not what we're here for."

"What, then?" Audrey found herself asking. Because, really, if Captain America wasn't who they were there for, then why had she been asked to come along anyways? She was a WWII historian, so _of course_ she knew everything there was to know about Steve Rogers and Hydra and Bucky-

"This." Fury scuffed his boot over the glowing blue cube, and Audrey frowned down at it.

"This?" she echoed. "But it's... What is this, exactly?"

And then, the director grinned. "This, Miss Cathcart." She felt a sense of dread in her stomach, for some reason. "Is the Tesseract."

* * *

**Puente Antiguo New Mexico, USA: Midgard: November 15, 2007**

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"I don't care about Thor, Darcy."

_Yes you do,_ Darcy wanted to yell at her, _I know you do! You'd be insane not to! We all do!_

But she stayed quiet, because that's what Darcy did these days, and she let Jane stare blankly at her computer screen, typing something up that would probably make Darcy's head explode if she tried to comprehend it. Instead of speaking her mind like she wanted to, she just turned around and trudged back into her bedroom.

She'd been doing stuff like that lately. Giving up.

A part of her wished that Thor just hadn't come- because maybe then Jane wouldn't have fallen head over heels in love with the guy, and then she wouldn't have gone all beyatch on Darcy and Erik when he barely even realized she was of the opposite gender.

But then the part of Darcy that liked Thor and had made friends with him immediately felt really guilty and then she felt like crap.

Shaking her head, Darcy grabbed the first DVD she laid her hands on- Burlesque. Since when did she own a copy of Burlesque?- and slapped it into her laptop.

* * *

**Stark Tower, New York New York, USA: Midgard: January 3, 2008**

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"Wait. You want me to... What?"

Sunday blinked confusedly up at- What did he say his name was again?- Tony Stark, running a hand through her blond hair; which was, by the way, a mess. Dust from the dessert and the flight to New York was tangled in it, and she really wished she had something to tie it up with because she plain wasn't _used_ to having it down like this.

Tony- _Tony Stark_. What was she doing with Tony Stark?- smirked down at her, and she noticed the laugh lines around his eyes.

"Like I said, Blondie, I want you to work for me. Stark Industries. Sound good? Yeah? Great. You can crash here- 'cuz, you know, us super geniuses have to stick together 'n stuff." He chuckled then, and Sunday's head was spinning.

"But- but." She stopped, shook her head, and shivered. Why wasn't she wearing shoes? "What happened?" she asked finally.

Tony's laughter stopped. "You don't remember?" He was frowning now, and the laugh lines had disappeared. "You seriously don't remember?"

Sunday shook her head and shivered, again. She was only wearing a lab coat and Januarys in New York were a lot different than they were in Mesquite Creek.

"No." Her throat had gotten really thick for some reason, like she was trying her hardest _not _to remember, even though she wanted the exact opposite. "I was just walking into my lab this morning, and, next thing I know, Iron Man- _freaking Iron Man!_- is flying me to New York and I'm covered in scratches and I have no idea what happened, and-"

"Hey, chill," Tony said awkwardly, because Sunday was starting to cry, and she really, _really _didn't want to cry in front of _Tony Stark_. "I'll tell you what I know, okay?"

She nodded and started fiddling with the edges of her lab coat as he explained.

"So uh... I was taking the new suit out for a spin- it works great, by the way- and I see this little figure come running like she's on fire, or something, out in the middle of nowhere Arizona, and then Jarvis tells me"- Sunday frowned at that. Who was Jarvis?- "that it's you. And Jarvis tells me that you're a super genius. So I'm all like, 'Okay, why is this kid running like that?'. And then I see some weirdo with big gold horns chasing after you so I swoop down, save the day, and." He shrugged. "Well, here we are."

Sunday wanted to cry again. But she didn't.

Because this was Tony Stark- Tony _freaking _Stark. And he was offering her a job. In person. After saving her life. And she was in New York. Without shoes. And without a way to get back to Mesquite Creek. And she figured- Hey, why not? So, awkwardly and hesitantly, she told him that, yes, she would work for him, and then he was smiling, and someone called Pepper was walking out onto the heli-pad and yelling at him, and then she was being guided into the building, listening to Pepper chastise Tony like only a girlfriend could, and, before she could help herself, she was smiling.

* * *

**SHIELD Headquarters, New York New York, USA: Midgard: February 7, 2008**

* * *

The beeping on the monitor sped up. Audrey held her breath, waiting, _watching_.

His eyelids were fluttering. The pink of them crinkled and turned white a few times, and then, for the first time in over fifty years, they peeled back to reveal sparkling, azure blue eyes.

And then he was awake.

Captain America was really awake.

And then he was leaping from his bed and pinning her to the floor.

"Who- where? Who are you?" he demanded, eyes narrowing.

Audrey was frozen. Somehow, she managed to get her numb lips to form the words, "Audrey Cathcart". Slowly, Captain America released her and climbed back to his feet, watching her wearily.

"Where am I?" He glanced around the room nervously, taking in the heart monitor and the TV and the IV bag and all the different electronics around the room. "Where is this place?" he asked again in a stronger voice. "Hydra headquarters?"

"N-no." Audrey licked her dry lips and shot a look up at him. She wasn't normally this tongue tied. But, come on, she was talking to _Captain America_, and he thought she was one of the _enemy_. "You're at SHIELD headquarters." And, seeing his look of confusion, she thought it would be best to elaborate. "They're the guys who turned you into, you know,"- she gestured lamely at his muscle-bound body- "_that_. And you're safe, I promise."

The Captain relaxed slightly and looked around the room. "What is all this?" he asked in a soft voice.

Audrey, because someone was eventually going to have to tell him and she might as well just get it over with, cracked a wry, rueful grin, and said, "Welcome to the twenty first century, Captain."


	2. Dead and Gone and Past

**Turning Tables**

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**Chapter 1: Dead and Gone and Past**

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_Songs (In Order of Usage): All Time Low- Therapy; Megan Nicole- Safe and Sound; Fall For You [Second Hand Serenade]; Fantasy Celtic Music- Heart of Fire_

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**Stark Industries, New York New York, USA: Midgard: February 29, 2008**

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"Miss Kontis? Mr. Stark has returned with a guest."

"Hmm?" Sunday glanced up idly from the computer screen, glancing around the lab for the source of the voice before remembering that Jarvis could talk and looking back down at the screen. "That's nice," she muttered, her work already beginning to absorb her. "It's probably just Pepper again... Or something like that."

There was a blessed few seconds of silence, and then Jarvis's strangely British-accented voice was talking again and Sunday was distracted from her research- _again_.

"Mr. Stark's guest does not appear to be Miss Potts, this time. In fact, he appears to have brought home a male."

A _normal _person might have immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed into the living room to see if Tony Stark had actually strayed off of the straight and narrow, but, Sunday was Sunday, so she wasn't normal.

But then the door slid open with a loud- interrupting- whoosh, and Tony was striding in, smiling broadly, and spinning Sunday away from her precious research.

"Sunday!" he sang, leaning over her. "Guess what I brought!"

Sunday blinked a couple of times, eyes adjusting to staring at a real life thing and not a bunch of mega pixels and calculations. "Uh... a puppy?" That was something people would bring home, right?

"Nope!" Why did she feel like this wasn't exactly a good thing? "Sunday Kontis, meet Thor Odinson!"

"Greetings, Lady Sunday!" a loud- way, too, freaking, loud- voice boomed from the door. And then this huge- and Sunday meant _huge_- man was striding into her lab, wearing honest-too-goodness armor and carrying a huge hammer in his hands.

"I am Thor, Prince of Asgard!"

Tony grinned evilly, and Sunday couldn't help but wonder what he was planning. "I found him near the Brooklyn Bridge. And we're keeping him! Should be fun, huh?"

"Um, sure?" she replied carefully.

Before she even knew what had happened, Thor had yanked her from her nice, comfortable rolling chair and pulled both her and Tony into a bone crushing hug- and _ow!_ That armor was hard!

"We shall go on a great many adventures together, my new companions!" Thor announced proudly. "And together, we shall save Midgard from the dark forces which conspire against it!"

"What is he talking about?" Sunday whispered.

Tori grinned evilly again and shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough."

* * *

**Puente Antiguo New Mexico, USA: Midgard: March 1, 2008**

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Jane's eyebrows creased together as she tugged harshly, the tip of her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth. "Just a little further," she urged, giving another tug. "C'mon little buddy, you can do it- yes!"

With a self-satisfied grin, she patted the top of her now-closed suitcase and took a step back, sending a last, slightly sad, look around her trailer.

It was bare; most everything had been packed up in cardboard boxes already and shipped to the SHIELD research center in Maryland. And that was okay. Because the fringed lamp her mother had given Jane before she died was really ugly and never lit up all the way. And the pictures of the Aurora Borealis kept her awake for too long when she was trying to sleep. And all the dusty books piled up all around her bed made her sneeze. Really hard.

So no, Jane wasn't going to miss her trailer. She was moving on to something better.

A new life. With Erik and Darcy. In Maryland. Studying an ancient artifact that may or may not be the key to interplanetary travel.

"Oh who am I kidding?" she mumbled, before grabbing the handles of her suitcase with a grunt and swinging it off of her narrow bed.

"Need some help with that?"

Jane gasped and swung around to find her intern- err, assistant, now, apparently- standing behind her, having come in through the door while she'd been distracted.

"Uh, yeah, thanks Darce," Jane said with a smile, motioning to a shoebox of pictures sitting on her nightstand. "Sorry. You scared me."

Darcy snorted and pulled the box into her arms. "Join the club," she said cynically, pushing the door back open with her hip and leading the way out in to the cool dessert night.

Jane blinked up at the star-lit sky, smiling softly at the familiar pinpricks of light. Was it just last month that she had hated doing that? Because of Thor? He was a god, after all. An Aesir. Of course he wouldn't have been interested in a mortal- like her. Jane almost wanted to laugh at how silly the entire thing had been. Had she really been pining after the Norse god of thunder?

Her eyes slid closed and a content smile appeared on her mouth. "I think I'll miss it," she murmured, knowing that Darcy would be able to hear her. "How 'bout you, Darce?"

Darcy was quiet for a while- for once in her life- and then she said, in a soft voice, "Yeah, I think I will. You know... I'd never seen the entire Milky way before I came out here to work for you."

Jane let out a short, barking laugh. "Well duh." She opened an eye and smiled at the younger girl. "You grew up in New York. It's kinda expected."

"Whatever." Darcy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Let's get inside." She cocked her head to the lab, glowing with bright white light. "Erik's waiting for us. It's our last night, so he wants to make it count."

* * *

**The BiFrost: Asgard: [Midgardian Time] March 1, 2008**

* * *

Ailis shifted furtively from boot-clad foot to boot-clad foot, looking warily down at the expanse of stars spreading out below her, visible from where she stood on the edge of the broken BiFrost. Without Loki's considerable magic, they had been unable to fix it, and it remained shattered, which meant that inter-realm travel was now impossible.

For everyone but Thor and the Valkyrie, apparently.

They had been able to make it through- Thor with his father's assistance and the Valkyrie to do their jobs; selecting soldiers from the battle field and either letting their soul pass on, or bringing them to Valhalla.

It was neither an easy nor a pleasant task, but someone had to do it, and after nearly a millennium of being that someone, Ailis was used to it.

Still though, that did not assuage the strange emptiness she felt at Thor's having departed while she was gone.

"Lady Ailis, what a surprise to see you here. I would have thought you would be with the other Valkyrie, resting after your long journey."

Ailis turned and swept into a low curtsey. "My Lord Kvasir," she muttered respectfully.

The All-Father's right hand man grinned thinly and motioned for Ailis to rise. She did so quite awkwardly, watching him with wary eyes. She had never liked Kvasir- which was no surprise, since she did not like anyone, really- and he had never spoken to her before, until now.

"Do you know where the Prince has gone?" he asked suddenly.

Ailis shook her head, and then, remembering her place, answered, "No, my lord, only that he has gone to retrieve Prince Loki and bring him home."

For a moment, she thought that she had done it, and then, Kvasir smirked.

"Liar."

Ailis's eyes widened, and then narrowed. "I apologize," she said, still respectfully, but now very suspicious. "But the All-Father instructed that I not tell anyone- not even you, my Lord."

"So you will not tell me?" said Kvasir in a surprisingly small voice.

She shook her head, and, feeling brave in a way that she had not since Balder had been alive and had told her he- no, not the time for that- she said, "No. I will not."

Before she knew what was happening, Kvasir's cold, _cold _hand was wrapped around her throat, suspending her above the endless blackness that spread out below them.

"Then you may go _find _Thor," he snarled, baring his bright white teeth at her.

Ailis could barely breathe. One hand clutched at the vise around her neck, while the other scrambled to reach her dagger, Wasp, which was strapped to her waist. Kvasir gave her no time to fight back. With a smirk that reminded her strikingly of Loki, he released his hold on her and she was falling.

* * *

**Puente Antiguo New Mexico, USA: Midgard: March 1, 2008**

* * *

Erik bolted upright when the first bolt of lightning laced against the sky. He didn't need to look over to know that Jane and Darcy had woken up too.

"You don't think..." Darcy said warily from her spot curled up in the arm chair.

Erik fumbled for his glasses on the coffee table, slid them on, and then looked outside. Yep, that was definitely lightning. "Yes," he answered, clambering off of the couch, "I do think so."

Jane was still frozen, sitting up on the love seat. "What if it's not him?" she asked hoarsely.

There wasn't much Erik could say. He studied Jane for a moment, before shrugging, offering her a tight-lipped smile, and sliding a wind breaker on over his t-shirt and flannel pj bottoms. He knew, just as well as she did, that a part of her still cared for Thor: A very big part, so of course she was hoping it would be him.

But Erik didn't think it was.

For one thing, there was no thunder this time, just wind, and lightning, and rain.

No thunder.

"Let's go," Darcy said, breaking the awkward silence. Just like she always did, Erik realized. He shot a grateful look at her as they rushed over to the truck, but he doubted she would be able to see it in the dark.

Jane drove, as usual, and Darcy sat in the back, also as usual. Erik could see how white Jane's fingers were against the steering wheel, as she clutched it in a death grip, her face grim and amazingly blank.

Maybe they were going faster than Erik had realized or maybe time had just flown by, but in what seemed like only a few seconds, they had reached the BiFrost sight and were slamming their way out of the car. Stumbling through the storm to the piece of rock they _knew _whoever had come would be lying on. Staring, as they finally saw the figure.

Whoever it was, they definitely weren't Thor.

For one thing, Thor wasn't a woman. For another, he probably would haven been curled into a ball, whimpering.

Erik looked at Jane with wide-eyes before they rushed forward and knelt down in the sand next to the girl. The storm had finally stopped, and they were able to see her face.

She was pretty, Erik supposed, but not beautiful. Not striking. Her eyes were a nice color blue and her face was heart-shaped, but it was lacking something, something he couldn't put a finger on.

The girl blinked up at them, coughing, trying to get the words out. "Who are you?" she finally wheezed. "Where am I?"

Darcy had run up behind them, taser at the ready. "Okay big guy, you ready for round two-? You're not Thor."

A frown appeared on the girl's mouth. "Certainly not," she said impetuously. "How could you confuse me with _that _idiot?"

Erik almost snorted. She reminded him of Jane, almost. "What's your name?" he asked, not unkindly.

The girl looked at him hesitantly, before something in her eyes softened and she said, "Ailis. Ailis Dellingdoiter. A pleasure, sir." And with that, she rose shakily to her feet and swept into a curtsey.

* * *

**SHIELD Headquarters, New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 2, 2008**

* * *

"So, you're really leaving? This is really goodbye?"

Audrey shifted awkwardly on her feet, refusing to meet Steve's gaze. It was still kind of hard to believe that she was talking to _the _Captain America, but, over time, it had gotten better. And now? Well, now she was being relocated to the research facility in Maryland to try and help with the Tesseract.

And she probably wasn't going to see Steve again.

"Yeah," she muttered, hefting the strap of her back pack higher up on her shoulder. "So... I guess this is it."

Steve scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah," he echoed. "I guess it is."

They stared at each other for a few minutes, neither of them quite sure what to do. That was how they were though, always skirting around each other, both of them a little hesitant to actually talk to each other. So, finally, because she couldn't take anymore silence, Audrey turned around.

"Bye," she called over her shoulder, and then walked to the plane without looking back.


	3. Like It Was Meant To Be

**Turning Tables**

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**Chapter 2: Like It Was Meant to Be**

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_Songs (In Order of Usage): Owl City- Paper Tigers; Olivia Holt- Fearless; Nine Days- Absolutely_

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**Stark Tower, New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 8, 2008**

* * *

"Come, friends, to the room of living, where we may partake in the enjoyable moving pictures that tell stories!"

"But- but... _Research_!"

"You gotta stop staring at that computer so much, kid. It'll ruin your eyes- I swear, it's almost like you're looking at cat memes or something on there. Should I be watching you?"

"What are these 'cat memes' you speak of, friend Tony?"

"Pictures of cats doing things that humans do."

"Thor?"

"Thor."

"Thor!"

"Hey, Tony? Can I go back to my lab now?"

"Screw it, I need a drink."

* * *

**Central Park, New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 9, 2008**

* * *

"Tony Stark, you need to come with us."

Tony was expecting handcuffs, guns pointed at him, tranquilizer darts maybe; what he wasn't expecting was for two SHIELD agents to grab an arm each and start lugging him toward the totally _not _suspicious, all black van parked illegally on the grass of Central Park.

"Hey, wait!" He struggled, trying to get them to release him, but their grip stayed firm. "Hands off the the billionaire- that's gonna bruise you know!"

The agents didn't say another word. Instead, the simply dragged him the rest of the way to the van, slid open the door, and tossed him in. He landed with an ungraceful "oof" and rose from the floor of the vehicle, dusting himself off as it began to move.

As if it wasn't bad enough that some idiot at the bar he'd been to the night before- or, maybe he was the one who had done it. He couldn't remember- had decided to dress him up like Ronald McDonald, now SHIELD had probably discovered he had been hiding Thor from them and would lock Tony up in one of their many, _many _prisons. He doubted there was any good alcohol there- or parties, for that matter.

"I take it you're the infamous Tony Stark."

He glared up at the speaker- a wiry man with bags under his eyes and over grown, dust brown hair- because, well, he was hung over, and irritable about being kidnapped, and didn't really have time for witty banter because Thor might be burning down Stark Tower right about now and Sunday would probably be too busy "researching" or staring at shirtless pictures of Channing Tatum to notice.

"Depends on who's asking," Tony drawled, leaning against the side of the van as it carried them off to God-only-knew where- Well, he did, but that was because he was sort of a super genius and could figure stuff out like that. It also helped that he had hacked SHIELD's computer system last spring.

The guy grinned knowingly and held out a frail hand for Tony to shake. He didn't. "Bruce Banner, nuclear physicist."

"Wanna tell us why you're dressed like that one clown from McDonald's?" a voice from the bench on the opposite wall said. He was wearing one of those stupid muscle shirts- the kind that didn't have sleeves- and tight pants, with a quiver of arrows strapped to his back.

"Not particularly," said Tony. "I wouldn't mind knowing your name though, since you two oh-so-obviously know all about me."

"That's Agent Barton- Clint Barton. Of SHIELD," Banner said helpfully. "He goes by Hawk Eye, though."

"Dang it, Banner! If I wanted him to know who I was, I would have told him you know," Barton or Barty or whatever his name was growled.

Tony ignored them. "Yeah, okay- so, why am I here, again?"

"Avengers Initiative," was all Billy had to say. Tony paled, if that was even possible, considering the amount of white face paint he was currently wearing.

"Crap," he muttered.

"Am I supposed to know what that is?" Banner asked.

Tony was scrubbing furiously at his face as he talked. "I'd assume so, considering you must be a part of it if you're here. SHIELD wants to form a team of super heroes. Congrats, Brucey-boy, guess you made the cut."

"Oh no," Banner growled. He'd jumped to his feet, nearly toppling over as the van turned a corner. "I came here to find a cure for my _problem_, not to be a part of Fury's pep squad!"

Benny frowned. "Your problem?"

"The Hulk," Tony answered. He yanked the curly red wig off of his head and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. He probably smelled like alcohol. _Thank you_ Thor. "Couple years ago, Brucey here" -he smirked at him- "got in a little gamma radiation accident. He turns into a huge green giant-of-mass-destruction when he gets upset. Kinda cool, actually."

"How did you-?" Banner started to say indignantly, but Tony cut him off.

"Super genius, remember?"

"Then why were you pretending not to know who I was if you already did?"

Tony shrugged, kicking off the over-sized red shoes. Where had he even gotten those anyways? "To annoy you," he answered simply.

Buffy was taking it all in warily. "Well," he said carefully, "I was told you were here for a different reason, Banner... We had this engineering genius- Sunday Kontis- on call, but she went missing a few months ago, so we decided to call you in instead. We assumed that the man we're after captured her for her research- and because of the phone call Agent Coulson got from her."

Tony chuckled drily. He was standing in a plain white shirt and boxers now, the Ronald McDonald costume discarded in a pile on the floor of the van. "Yeah, about that... I've kinda got her."

Banner and Benji's mouths dropped open. "What?" Bob demanded.

"I kinda sorta saved her from this guy in a golden helmet about two months ago." Tony shrugged. "She's at Stark Tower with Tho- the _puppies_ right now. Yeah, puppies, she loves 'em." He laughed nervously, trying to hide the fact that he had almost said Thor. "She's been working for me. Doesn't have a clue what happened- amnesia, I think."

Luckily, the van skidded to a stop before Tony had to invent even more horse crap, and he hopped out the second the door slid back open, never mind that he wasn't wearing pants.

Nick Fury was waiting for them in the hangar of SHIELD headquarters, looking just as stoic as ever in his black leather and eye patch. He took in Tony's appearance without comment.

"Stark," he growled. "You haven't changed one bit."

"Nick, buddy! Nice to see you again- hey, the eye patch is lookin' good. Like a pirate, cool!" Tony drawled sardonically. He didn't look to see if Banner and Bucky had followed him out of the van.

Fury sighed in exasperation. "We've got a job for you."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony mocked. "Avengers Initiative. World in danger- I get it, I get it. It's all the same with you people, isn't it?"

"The guy's been using your tech to do it."

That sobered him up quickly. "I'm in," he muttered.

Fury grinned. "Nice to know you're on board."

* * *

**Stark Tower, New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 9, 2008**

* * *

Sunday was about ready to kill Thor.

And no, it _wasn't _just because he was keeping her away from her research- and so what if it was? It was important dang it!- or because he had shorted out her laptop two weeks ago. No, this time it was much, _much _worse.

Chick flicks. The Norse god of thunder and battle wanted to watch _chick flicks_.

But no, not just any chick flick. Pride and Prejudice. The extended. Three-hour-long version. Pride and Prejudice.

"Curse that Wickham! He is no better than bilgesnipe!" Thor was bellowing at the moment. He leaped off of the couch, causing Sunday to fall, and waved his hammer angrily at Tony's flat screen.

"It's a movie, Thor," she moaned, curling up into the fetal position. "A movie. These people don't actually exist."

But the angered Aesir most likely hadn't heard her, because he continued to yell profanities at the screen in a language that sounded sort of like Norse. Sunday shot a longing glance at the sliding, metal door to her lab, wondering if she would be able to sneak in without Thor noticing. With a resigned sigh, she pulled herself back onto Tony's leather couch and started picking at the bowl of popcorn. It was pointless. Sunday had tried twice and Thor had caught her both times.

Stupid super hero abilities.

Where the Steve Jobs was Tony?

As if in answer to her question- Sunday nearly cried in relief- the doors to the elevator opened with a 'ding', and Jarvis announced, "Guests, Mr. Odinson, Miss Kontis."

It wasn't Tony that strolled into the room though.

"Phil?" she gasped. Then, a little louder, "Phil!"

He looked more than slightly shocked to see her sitting in Stark Towers watching a chick flick with an illegal alien.

"Sunday?" he demanded, stepping out of the elevator. Two women followed him, one with short red hair and a black catsuit, the other with dark blond hair and a wary expression. "What are you _doing _here? We thought you had been captured or killed!"

"I don't know." Sunday shook her head and stepped over to him. "I don't really remember. But Tony saved me, I think, and I've been working for him since January."

Phil sighed in exasperation, fiddling with the end of his tie, before pulling her into a quick hug. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried- especially after that call from you."

Sunday furrowed her eyebrows. "Call?"

And then, something hit her.

* * *

_"Phil! PHIL!"_

_"Sunday? What's going on?"_

_She panted, crouched down behind her upended desk. "I don't know! There's someone here, and he wants my research, and he's got a staff, and-"_

_There was a bang as the desk went flying, Sunday following it. She landed on the ground of the lab, panic button first, and her connection to Phil was cut off._

* * *

She shook her head, wrinkling her nose a little, and shot a glance at the two women who were still standing behind Phil.

He noticed the direction of her stare, and said, "Sunday, this is Agent Natasha Romanov, but we refer to her as the Black Widow."

Natasha gave Sunday a once over, crossing her arms over her prominent chest. "A pleasure," she said in slightly-accented voice. Sunday couldn't quite figure out exactly _what _the accent was.

"And this," Phil continued, "is-"

"Ailis," Thor interrupted, shoving Phil aside and striding toward the blond girl. "What are you doing on Midgard? Did Father send you?"

Ailis scowled up at Thor. "Not precisely," she mumbled. "I did not come here of my own free will, you know."

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown. Sunday hoped she wasn't the only one who found it strange that he could go from giddy to serious in the blink of an eye.

"Kvasir." Ailis shot a furtive glance up at Thor's conflicted face before continuing. "He threw me off of the BiFrost when I refused to tell him where you had gone, Thor. I fear the worst."

"So do I," Thor muttered. The look on his face was half murderous and half worried.

Sunday just wanted her computer back.


	4. Drown the World

**Turning Tables**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Drown the World**

* * *

_Songs (In Order of Usage): Bastille- Pompeii; Mordred's Lullaby; In the Heights Blackout Song_

* * *

**SHIELD Research Facility, Just Outside of Baltimore Maryland, USA: Midgard: March 25, 2008**

* * *

Sirens blaring from the hallway, a fist hammering on her door and a voice yelling at her to "get to command immediately!" wasn't the way Audrey had been planning to wake up. As a matter of fact, she hadn't really wanted to wake up at all, since it was a Saturday and she shouldn't have to work on a Saturday. (Apparently Nick Fury had other ideas. No surprise there.) But, as much as she wanted to just stay in her surprisingly-comfy bed, Audrey got up, threw on some flip flops, grabbed her Ipod and her much-too-heavy bag of research books, and raced out the door.

The entire base was in chaos. Scientists and SHIELD agents were running around like headless chickens, screaming something about "The Cube lighting up" or "Fury having a cow" at the top of their lungs. And that stupid siren was still wailing at all of them.

Darcy Lewis- astrophysicist Jane Foster's assistant with whom Audrey shared a mutual love of snark- was standing there, watching all of it with a surprisingly calm look in her eyes.

"Hey, what's going on?" Audrey asked her.

"'Apparently the cubey-thing is going berserk." Darcy shrugged. She didn't know a whole lot about what they were studying, so it shouldn't have been that surprising she wasn't freaking out as much as the others were. "I decided to make myself scarce, since I was only really getting in the way."

"And how's the Hawk feel about it?" Audrey asked with a wry grin.

Barton was weirder than he usually was around Darcy- and he was _always _around Darcy. It was pretty clear to everyone that he liked her. Or something. Maybe he just thought she was a spy or whatever. Either way, he definitely would have noticed she was gone.

Darcy shrugged. "Don't know. He's probably too busy with the cube to really care about me all that much right now. Speaking of which, you should get down there. Fury's here, and he'll get angry if you're not there."

Audrey groaned and drug a hand over her still-sleepy face. "Right," she muttered. "I've gotta go. Later Darce. If, you know, the Tesseract doesn't blow us up or anything."

And with that, she took off toward the lab, text books bouncing up and down in her tote. She kind of wished someone was there to carry it for her, but didn't have a whole lot of time to dwell on that since the security system was scanning her and then the doors were sliding open with a whoosh.

"There you are," Fury barked at her once she had entered. Audrey was kinda surprised he could even see her, because of, you know, the eye patch and the eight thousand other people running around on the catwalks leading to the large lab on the ground floor

Fury looked like he was about to kill somebody. "Get down there. Foster and Kontis may need your help."

There were a billion "go screw yourself" or "go shave your arse" comments Audrey could have made at that point, but considering the fact that it was her boss and he could probably have her mind wiped, she decided to just follow orders and head down to the lab.

"What's the 'sitch?" she asked, watching with mild amusement as Sunday darted back and forth between what seemed to be a bazillion key boards and screens.

Sunday was a weird one, that was for sure. She didn't talk a whole lot and didn't really have a life outside of her work. To be perfectly honest, the insane- probably- scientist really just creeped Audrey out.

"We don't know," Erik Selvig said excitedly. He was weird too. But not just weird, no, borderline crazy. Bonkers. Off his rocker. Audrey was _definitely_ creeped out by this guy. "But isn't it beautiful?" he added happily.

Jane was looking at him strangely. "No," she replied. "Not really. Not if it blows us up. Which, by the way, it might."

"So I assume this isn't good," Audrey said carefully. She was a historian, not a scientist. Kind of like a walking Encyclopedia on all things Tesseract that they liked to keep on hand. Not that she was complaining. She didn't have to do a whole lot, SHIELD paid good money, and room and board were included. What's not to like?

Well, besides her co-workers, and her boss, and Coulson, and the hard-arse agents. And, you know, being bored all the time.

"You assume correctly," Jane answered. She shot a slightly-frightened glance at the madly pulsing Tesseract and ran a hand through her golden brown hair. "We were kind of hoping that you might be able to tell us if this has happened before."

Audrey bit her lip hesitantly, racking her brains for any sort of knowledge she might have. She _should _remember if she had heard anything about it before. But no, she hadn't, so she shook her head and unclasped her tote.

"There might be something in one of these. But I doubt it. I've read them about a billion times each, so I would remember..." she muttered, rifling through the heavy text books.

Jane held a hand up to stop her. "No need. Like you said, it's probably pointless... You think Barton might have any ideas?"

"Have you tried asking him?" Audrey grinned and turned her head up to one of the many catwalks. "Hey Hawk Eye! Mind comin' down from the nest?"

Barton didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, but then he was swinging down from his perch on the highest catwalk and landing beside them with a clunk. "What can I do for you?" he asked. His hand was tight around the flashlight-looking thing he always had with him.

"Do you have any ideas about what's going on?" Jane asked eagerly.

He shook his head. "No. Sorry. Not exactly a genius like you guys."

Jane sighed and her narrow shoulders dropped, like Barton had been her last hope or something. "It's okay. We'll figure it out," she replied in a resigned voice.

Barton looked like he was going to say something to her, but then the Tesseract let out a bigger, _brighter_ surge of light, and the sirens grew even louder, if that was possible.

"What's going on?" Audrey yelled over them, holding her hands tightly to her ears.

Sunday looked scared, which was strange, because she didn't really show emotion very often. "Something's drawing on the Tesseract's energy," she answered. "But I don't know how! Or what it even is! It's almost like-"

She cut herself off with a high-pitched scream as another surge of light came pulsing out of the cube and the entire base started shaking wildly. Audrey stumbled; her bag swung forward in her hands, flying into Barton's stomach and sending both her and him to the ground.

There was another pulse of light, but this one didn't flow outward, it went up, surging and coalescing until it formed the shape of a tall, slim figure. When the light faded, it revealed a man, dressed in dark green robes and golden armor, with a horned helm on his head.

He grinned at all of them with a mad glint in his eyes, and Audrey sucked in a sharp breath.

"Move," Barton muttered. "Move everyone!" he yelled, breaking the trance that they had all slipped into.

Audrey shook her head and rolled off of him. Her bag was lying a few yards away, books spilling out of it, but there was no time for that. Jane seized Selvig by the arm and pulled him away from the man. Sunday was just standing there, staring at him, transfixed, her mouth hanging open.

And then the Tesseract exploded and she went flying.

* * *

**SHIELD Headquarters, New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 25, 2008**

* * *

"Coulson to Maryland. Do you read? Coulson to Maryland! Coulson to Maryland!"

"What's going on?" Steve demanded, rising to his feet. The other Avengers around the table looked just as worried as he felt.

Coulson cursed and pounded his fist against the desk on the second level of the meeting room. He let his hand fall away from the device attached to his ear and looked down at all of them. "I don't know," he growled. "Last I heard, our Maryland Research Facility was having issues with what they were studying. The contact was just cut off."

"So what're you gonna do about it?" Stark asked in a bored voice. Steve didn't like Stark. He was too cocky, too arrogant. And he didn't take anything seriously.

Coulson considered it for a minute, then his face turned grave. "Avengers, assemble."

* * *

**SHIELD Research Facility, Just outside of Baltimore Maryland, USA: Midgard: March 25, 2008**

* * *

Jane lifted her head up with a groan, surveying the wrecked lab. The man who had appeared was still standing there, that same mad grin on his face, watching the chaos with undisguised glee.

"Who the heck are you?" Fury demanded from the catwalk.

If possible, the man's grin just got wider. "I am Loki," he responded. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

There was a quiet whimper from somewhere behind Jane. She pulled herself up to her knees and saw Sunday, lying in a limp heap in the wreckage of the computer bank. The left side of her face was tilted up for Jane to see, and she was tempted to puke when she saw the blood that was seeping out of it. Sunday's face and neck were mutilated to the point where the skin looked like raw hamburger meat.

Clint had already gotten to his feet and was shooting arrows at Loki, who had begun firing bolts of light from his staff. Audrey was a few yards away, tugging on Erik's arm, trying to get him to come with her.

"No," he muttered, staring at Loki and the Tesseract with a manic, blue light in his eyes that Jane had never noticed before. "It's glorious, Miss Cathcart."

Audrey dropped his arm and backed a few paces away from him, frowning darkly. "Selvig, what are you talking about?" she asked carefully.

Erik threw his head back and laughed. A bubble of blood grew from the corner of his split lip and burst. "The Tesseract speaks the truth."

"Erik, what're you-?" Jane started to scream at him as he climbed up onto the computer bank next to Loki, but Director Fury cut her off.

"Barton," he barked, "Get Foster, Cathcart, and Kontis out of here."

Clint nodded, then hoisted Sunday up over his shoulders in a fire man's lift. "Let's go," he yelled at Jane and Audrey.

Audrey nodded and turned to follow him, but stopped and looked back at Loki. The crazed man, or alien, or _whatever he was_ had scooped the Tesseract up into his hand and was forcing it into the clawed top of his staff. With a malicious grin, he pointed it at the historian and took aim.

Jane screamed, expecting Audrey to go flying the same way that Sunday and the other scientists had, but she didn't. Instead, the blue lightning bolt sunk into her chest, and the same crazed look that Erik had appeared in her previously brown eyes.

"The Tesseract speaks the truth," she mumbled dreamily.

Clint didn't spare her a glance. "Come on," he yelled at Jane, grabbing her arm and taking off toward the emergency exit. The research facility was beneath a small lake, and there weren't very many ways to get out from the main lab.

With a last, desperate look at Erik and Audrey, Jane nodded and followed him up the mesh, metal ramp to the exit, trying not to think about how Loki could probably take perfect aim at her back right now or how Erik had been brain washed or even how she had no idea where the _heck _Darcy was-

There was another loud bang and one of the catwalks came crashing down, blocking their escape route. A shout tore its way out of Jane's mouth as she and Clint were launched backwards. Loki had started laughing, and when Jane lifted her head up, she saw that she, Clint, and Sunday were some of the only people left in the lab that hadn't been brainwashed. Fury had made his way down to the floor and was reasoning with Loki- or at least trying to, anyways. His hands were behind his back, fumbling with a device that looked suspiciously like a remote control.

Then, cool as you please, without batting an eye, Loki shot a bolt of light at Clint, who straightened up, dropped Sunday to the ground with a clang, and said, "The Tesseract speaks the truth."

"What is Nick Fury holding behind his back?" said Loki calmly, tilting his head.

"A remote device that controls the base," Clint answered monotonously. "He's activating the self-destruct sequence."

Fury went stock still, but then shook his head and started talking again. "Well played," he muttered grudgingly. "But you're a bit too late."

Loki snarled, angling his staff toward the director. "No. I have secured what I came here for. The Tesseract is in my hands, as well as numerous workers of yours. You, however, are the one who will be met with misfortune very soon."

Without answering, Fury turned and dashed over to Jane- shoving Clint out of the way as he went- before grabbing her by the arm, throwing Sunday over his shoulder, and making a mad dash for a ramp up to the higher levels of the lab.

Surprisingly enough, Loki let them go, instead turning and leading the way out of the room through a tunnel that Jane knew led to the hangar.

"What's going on?" she panted, trying to keep up with Fury's fast pace. "What's the plan?"

Fury didn't look back at her. "Not go down in flames with the base."

Jane gulped and looked down at the destroyed lab. "Oh," she said in a small voice. "Okay."


	5. Meteorite

**Turning Tables**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Meteorite**

* * *

_Songs (In Order of Usage): Imagine Dragons Bleeding Out; All Time Low Backseat Serenade_

* * *

**Over the SHIELD Research Facility: Just outside of Baltimore Maryland, USA: Midgard: March 25, 2008**

* * *

Thor braced for impact as Mjolnir set him down with a thud on the pebbled bank of a small lake. Mechanical monsters- like the one that had collided with him what seemed like years ago- were surging out of openings in the grass surrounding the lake, and Thor realized that SHIELD's base must be underneath the ground. The Man of Iron was shooting across the sky, leaving a trail of black smoke behind him, and a flying contraption that contained the rest of their companions followed him.

As Thor watched, the water in the lake began to ripple, and two figures bobbed to the surface, one slight and limber, the other lopsided, as though it were carrying something on its back.

Without a second thought, he twirled Mjolnir around its handle and flew over to the figures, only to stop and stare when he saw who they were.

The first was Jane Foster, who had taken him in when he landed on Midgard for the first time. She winced with each stroke of the water, as though the movements caused her pain. The second was Nicholas Fury, and upon his back was Lady Sunday.

Thor sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the state she was in, and descended down toward them to get a better look.

Ye' Norns how that must hurt.

"Odinson!" Fury barked when he caught sight of the god. "Get down here and help us!"

There was a whirring sound as the Man of Iron caught up to Thor and swooped down, scooping Jane and Sunday out of the lake and flying them over to the bank. Scorch marks marred Jane's water-logged clothing, and burns criss-crossed her legs under the edge of her torn trousers. Thor pulled Fury up by the arm and threw Mjolnir in the direction of the shore.

"What has happened?" he asked as they flew.

"Your brother," said Fury. Thor felt his features harden. "He attacked the base and stole the Tesseract- not to mention most of my scientists and agents."

Thor growled under his breath. "Loki shall not go unpunished," he assured the director. "I will drag him back to Asgard if I must."

Fury snorted. "He'll be facing our justice system first if I've got anything to say about it."

Thor did not comment- which, as Ailis would say, was a first for him- and instead set Fury down next to Jane and Sunday on solid ground.

The aircraft had landed and the rest of their team had disembarked. Captain America, who had been assigned as leader- much to Thor's annoyance-, watched the scene with wary eyes, keeping his shield close at hand.

"Where's the enemy?" he asked. "For that matter, who's the enemy? Hydra?"

Fury shook his head, managing to look intimidating despite the water rolling off of him in rivulets. "Things have changed since you were around, Rogers," he said, snapping the lapels of his long coat. "Hydra is still up and running, but we haven't heard from them in years. No." He shook his head. "This time around, it's Loki."

"What happened to her?" said Bruce Banner with a slightly worried look at Sunday's bloodied face.

"The Tesseract sent out a pulse of light when Loki used it to teleport here," said Jane in a hoarse voice. "It hit Sunday in the face... I don't know how it'll affect her blood stream. For all we know, she might not ever wake up." A look of pain crossed over her features as she said this, and they all went quiet for a moment.

"Ailis," said Thor suddenly, having had an idea. "Mayhaps you can heal her?"

The Valkyrie bit her lip hesitantly and looked down at Sunday, brushing an errant lock of hair away from her face. "I will attempt to, but if the wound was caused by the Tesseract, then there is not much that I can do."

"Do you know something about it? The Tesseract, I mean." Jane was scrambling to her feet, sand sticking to the burn marks on her legs.

Ailis shook her head, watching Jane warily. "I do not know very much," she said carefully, "as it was lost to us long ago. The All-Father and his right-hand, Kvasir, are all who know what it is truly capable of. The rest of us may only presume. Although, based upon his actions this day, Loki may know more than we are aware."

At that moment a mechanical beast, significantly larger than the others, came roaring out of the underground fortress, and Thor managed to see Loki's signature golden helm at the front of the monster.

"I must go _talk _with my brother," Thor growled, tightening his grip around Mjolnir. "I will be but a moment."

"Thor, wait-" Tony began to say, but it was too late. Thor had already taken off.

Captain America frowned after the muscled Viking. "I'll go after him," he muttered, already beginning to run.

"As will I," said Ailis, rising from where she had been crouched over Sunday's limp form. "I have put a stop to his stupidity many a time before. Besides," -she cast a glance down at the mortal at her feet- "there is not much that I can do here."

Steve nodded, and they both dashed after Thor, who, with a toss of Mjolnir, had flown directly over to Loki and landed on the hood of the automobile.

"Brother," Thor bellowed over the wind rushing past him, "cease this madness! Release the mortals and return home with me."

Loki snarled at him, rising from his seat menacingly. "I am not your brother. And that _palace of lies_ is no home to me."

A cloud of darkness settled itself over Thor's chest in a heavy curtain. "So be it."

Sunlight glinted off of silver and gold as their two weapons collided. Loki threw one hand up to balance out Mjolnir's weight on his staff, and managed to throw his brother back. Thor very nearly fell off of the hood of the mechanical beast as it sped onward, but caught his balance at the last second and managed to roll out of the way as Loki's staff crunched into the spot he had been not a moment before, sparks flying.

There was a grunt as Captain America launched himself at the vehicle and swung himself up into the truck bed, taking out two brain-washed SHIELD agents with his shield as he went. He turned and pulled Ailis up, as she was not gifted with powers of the super speed or flying sort.

Thor turned back to his brother, narrowly missing yet another swing of Loki's staff. He threw up Mjolnir, and there was a clang of metal on metal once again. Thor sprung to his feet and circled Loki around the hood of the car, feeling unsteady as the vehicle swerved beneath him, the driver trying his best to throw them off.

"What fascination do you have for these mortals anyways?" Loki scoffed, sending a disdainful look in the driver's direction. "They are naught but animals, fighting tooth and nail to get ahead. I would rule them; turn their wasteland of a planet into a Utopia."

Thor snarled and swung his hammer. Loki stepped back, and the weapon missed his plated chest by a hairsbreadth.

"Give them the credit they are due, Brother," Thor panted, stepping back to gauge the battle warily. "You have not lived with them as I have. They are far more capable than you would believe."

Loki smirked. Thor could not help but wonder what there possibly could be that he found so amusing. "I shall have to witness that before I believe it," he drawled sardonically, launching another blow at Thor's head. He sidestepped; Loki chuckled. "You would do well to watch your back, Brother."

Thor frowned. "Wha-?"

There was a twang, as when an arrow was loosed from its bow, and something sharp imbedded itself into his back with a thud. Mouth hanging open, Thor fell, tumbling in the dirt of the road and watching as the mechanical beast zoomed off into the distance.

With two nearly identical cries, first Ailis and then the Captain were thrown from the mechanical beast, until it disappeared in a burst of light.

Ailis rose to her feet shakily. Thor saw that there was a small cut on her face, across her cheek. "By the Norns," she muttered with a shake of her head. "I did not realize mortals could be so ferocious."

The Captain groaned and mumbled a curse, then immediately apologized to Ailis and drug a gloved hand across his face. "I didn't mean to swear in front of a lady," he said, "but... Audrey was there, ma'am. I didn't even stop to realize she would be here."

"This 'Audrey'," said Thor musingly. "Is she your lady?"

"Oh shucks, no!" said the Captain, looking aghast. "She's just a gal I met. She was there when I woke up, you see? We're pals."

"'Pals'," said Thor. The word felt strange in his mouth. "I presume that Loki has control of her, then?"

The Captain did not answer, choosing instead to glance in the direction of the lake with a forlorn sigh. "Come on," he instructed them, picking up his shield where it lay in the grass a few paces away. "Let's get back to the others."

* * *

**Sick Bay: SHIELD Headquarters: New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 27, 2008**

* * *

Sunday's heart monitor beeped quickly, one after another; each one coming more and more rapidly until, finally, the device was going haywire and there was no more pause between each noise.

Her legs began to move at an inhuman pace, and she trashed back and forth against invisible restraints. Tony and Phil exchanged a worried glance and sprung to their feet.

"Sunday!" Tony called, shaking her shoulders. "Sunday calm dow- oof!"

One of her legs tore free from the sheets and collided with his stomach. He doubled over in pain and clutched a hand to his abdomen.

"I think we know the Tesseract's side effects," said Phil, as calmly as one could while attempting to pin his apparently super-powered cousin to a hospital bed.

Tony then suggested Phil do something that probably wasn't anatomically possible.

* * *

_There was a splat as the doughnut collided with the man's golden helmet. It slid down the shining helm, leaving a trail of glaze in its wake, before it flopped pathetically to the floor of Sunday's lab. The man watched it with obvious disdain._

_"Pastry," he scoffed in a soft voice. He looked back up at her, icy blue eyes glinting dangerously. "And what, exactly, did you hope to accomplish by throwing it at me?"_

_Sunday didn't answer. Instead, in another surge of panic, she launched the next thing in her hands at him: A cup of coffee. The man managed to dodge this one, and it burst against the back wall in an explosion of Styrofoam and scorchingly-hot, light brown liquid._

_"You should not have done that," he warned, taking a few steps closer to Sunday._

_Terrified, she whirled around and searched for something else that she could use to defend herself. All that was left beneath the wreckage of her desk was a length of electrical chord; she yanked it out with a hard tug and held it out in front of her pathetically._

_The man threw his head back and laughed._

_"W-who are you?" Sunday asked in a wavering voice._

_The man tilted his head back down and locked eyes with her, smiling menacingly. "I," he announced proudly, "am Loki. God of magic and lies."_

_Something hissed, and the chord Sunday held in her hands squirmed. She looked down and saw that it had turned into a snake, with black scales and acid green eyes. She dropped it with a shriek and backed away, tripping over her broken computer._

_"Surrender now," Loki said calmly. "I do not wish to harm you, but I shall."_

_Sunday, barely even realizing what she was doing, sprung to her feet, and dashed away as fast as she could._

* * *

Her eyes flew open and she launched out of the bed, screaming loudly, before a restraining hand pressed down on her chest, forcing her back down. She struggled against it, only relaxing when her cousin's concerned face appeared above her own.

"Phil," she tried to say, but the words wouldn't come out.

"I'm glad you're safe," he whispered, smiling slightly.

"Phil," Sunday tried to say once again. Again, nothing came out of her mouth, and he frowned, finally realizing that something was wrong.

Tony's face appeared next to Phil's. "Hey, what's with the fish mouth, Blondie? Need water or somethin'?" His voice was half mocking half serious.

Sunday shook her head, close to tears, and felt something scratch against her cheek. It hurt. _Bad._

"What happened?" The words felt strange in her mouth, numb. At least sound came out this time, garbled and painful. She choked down a gasp of pain at the sensation and continued. "Why does my face hurt?"

Phil and Tony exchanged a pained expression.

"Kid," Tony started to say warily, "I don't think you want to-"

"Show me!" Sunday cried. Her vocal chords throbbed in protest, and she sank limply down into her pillows as Phil handed her a mirror.

She looked into it with trepidation, shakily peeling the gauze off of the left side of her face.

Ugly, dark red cuts traced in lines down her cheek, like her skin had shattered into a thousand pieces. The lacerations extended from her hairline all the way down her neck to her collar bone, slicing through her lip and curling around her nose and eye.

She was hideous.

Sunday didn't even know that she was crying until she felt the salty tears sting her wounds. The pain caused more tears to fall, and so on, until she was full out bawling.

"The Tesseract blew up in your face," Tony said awkwardly. This was the _second _time he had seen her crying, and he didn't really like it. "Apparently you've got super powers now. That's cool. Right?"

Ignoring him, Sunday let out a sob and buried her face into her blankets.

"Let's go," Phil mouthed. And, with a last look at the weeping scientist, Tony followed him out the door.


	6. The Longest Journey

**Turning Tables**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Longest Journey**

* * *

_Songs (In Order of Usage): Hero/Heroine- Boys Like Girls; Hans Zimmer- Chevaliers de Sangreal_

* * *

**Break Room: SHIELD Headquarters: New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 28, 2008**

* * *

"Hello."

Darcy's jaw dropped open. It was probably a pretty funny thing to see, seeing as she had four Styrofoam cups of coffee in her hands- one for Jane, one for her, one for Bruce Banner, one for _Tony freaking Stark_- and needed to wipe the steam off of her glasses. But that didn't matter. Actually, it did, because what living female _wouldn't _feel self conscious and inadequate when Natasha Romanov was standing in front of her?

Said SHIELD agent looked extremely uncomfortable... Which was strange. Because when Darcy had seen her, she had looked really angry- but confident. And Darcy had gotten the whole confident vibe from her.

"Hey," Darcy squeaked, then cleared her throat and said again, in a normal voice, "Hey."

Romanov surveyed her warily before responding, "Yes, hello, Miss Lewis."

"Darcy," she amended, spitting a lock of hair out of her mouth. "Just Darcy. No Miss Lewis. I'm, like, twenty dude. Definitely not Miss status yet."

A slight smile tugged at the corners of Romanov's mouth, and she cleared her throat. Darcy thought, maybe, it was to hide a laugh. But then the smile dropped and a dark cloud passed over Romanov's face.

"You were at the research center in Maryland, correct?" Romanov asked, an anxious look appearing in her eyes.

Darcy nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm kinda Jane Foster's intern... Err, assistant. Actually? I'm not totally sure what I am anymore. But, whatever. The point is, yes, I was in Maryland."

With a sigh, Romanov sat herself down in one of the egg-shaped plastic chairs in SHIELD's break room and cocked her head at the seat across from her. Darcy took it warily. The two women stared at each other, brown eyes meeting blue, until, finally, Romanov sighed again and sat back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You met Clint Barton there, yes?" she asked, although it sounded more like a statement than a question. "He is- _was _my partner."

Darcy frowned and set the coffees down on the table, a heavy feeling starting to congeal in the pit of her stomach. "'Was'?" she asked warily. "What do you mean, 'was'?"

Romanov bit her lip hesitantly. "I was told you two developed a friendship, of sorts. You were close, no?" Darcy nodded quickly. What did Romanov mean 'was'? "I also assume that you know Loki, the man who attacked, had some sort of mind-control device with him?"

The blood leeched out of Darcy's face. Her previously tense shoulders slumped as the realization hit her. It was cold and hard and not sugar-coated in the slightest.

"Clint's been captured by Loki, hasn't he?"

Wince. Bite lip again. Nod. Another wince.

She took a deep breath. "Oh," she said in a small voice. "I- I didn't... I... It just..." She shrugged and sank further down into the uncomfortable egg chair. "_Oh_."

There was another extended bout of silence. Romanov broke it again this time.

"We'll get him back." Her voice was determined and certain, and Darcy's head snapped up. Romanov looked so sure that it was frightening. "We _will _get him back. I owe Clint way too much to just let him... Let him _go _like this. We've been through too much together, and I promise you Darcy, I will find a way to get him back again."

Darcy smiled weakly and shrugged. "Thank you," she said honestly, "but I'm not quite sure why you've singled me out like this... Clint and I weren't exactly close. We just sort of... connected, I guess. And yeah, I miss him, but I'm sure there are other people out there who have more of a right to be upset about this than I do-"

Romanov held up a hand to stop her. A look of fury had dented her brow. "Do not _say _that," she hissed. "_Тише!_ Do not say that! You do have a right to mourn, Darcy. Clint does not hesitate to give his friendship to those he deems worthy. I believe his heart may be too big, actually." Darcy cracked a smile at that. "He would be saddened to hear you say that, so do not."

Not quite sure how to respond to that, Darcy nodded slowly. The coffee had probably gone cold by now, but she found that she didn't really care about that anymore. Sure, Tony would complain, but he _always_ complained- or at least, he had always been complaining for the past two days...

At Darcy's dumbfounded look, Romanov cracked a smile.

"I can see why Clint took a liking to you," she commented pensively. "You are something else, Darcy Lewis."

And with that, she took her leave.

A minute passed as Darcy sat there in silence. Barely even realizing what she was doing, she had risen and walked down the metal hallway to Jane's lab, where the three resident geniuses were gathered- minus Sunday Kontis, who hadn't been released from the sick bay yet. Tony _did _end up complaining about the coffee being cold, but, as usual, Darcy just ignored him.

She had a lot to think about.

* * *

**Avengers Center: SHIELD Headquarters: New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 29, 2008**

* * *

"That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

"What is a 'Galaga'?" Ailis muttered hesitantly from across the conference table. No one answered her. Instead, they all watched Tony Stark harass the SHIELD agents with exasperated frowns.

He approached the central computer control system and frowned, holding a hand over his eye. "How does Fury even see these?" he demanded, turning to Maria Hill, hand still over his eye.

Hill raised an eyebrow and dead-panned, "He turns."

Tony snorted and dropped the hand. "Sounds exhausting," he called over his shoulder as he jogged down the glass staircase to the central floor. "Okay Avengers, what do we got?"

"Ha, yeah, not an Avenger," Bruce reminded them all, feeling annoyed at Tony. "Just for the record, you know."

Tony dropped into his seat at the head of the table- Steve Rogers scowled- and shrugged. "That's what Fury's calling you."

A buzzing started up in Bruce's ears at that.

No. No. The Hulk was pressing against his chest. No. Deep breath in. Let it out. No. He was in control. No.

With another deep breath, Bruce responded, "Yeah, well, Fury isn't exactly the most perceptive of men, now is he?"

"_Touche`_."

"I'm sorry, but, what am I doing here?"

Every head snapped up to stare at Jane Foster, seated next to Steve at the table. She flushed bright red and seemed to shrink a little. "Just asking," she mumbled, looking down at her hands in her lap. Bruce felt slightly bad for her. After all, she was a perfectly normal human being- albeit a genius- forced into close company with a monster, a super soldier, a maniac billionaire, an assassin with a vendetta, two characters from Norse mythology, and a- apparently- mutant.

"I can answer that, Doctor Foster," Fury's voice called from the second level of the command center.

Bruce took another deep breath, trying to focus on the rise and fall of his chest and the constant thrumming of his heart.

No. No. No.

Fury descended the same glass stair case that Tony had a few minutes ago, looking at them all appraisingly. He stopped when he reached the table.

"It's simple," he continued. "You're here to help us find Loki- same goes for you Banner."

"Tracing the Tesseract's energy signature, I'm assuming?" Bruce asked, raising his eyebrows.

Fury nodded in affirmation. "Yeah. Same goes for Foster. And Kontis."

"I'm an engineer," Sunday said in a cracked, painful-sounding voice. Bruce realized he hadn't ever heard her speak before now. "I don't know how to track energy signatures."

"Just tell us the truth Fury," Tony finally blurted out, impatiently. "Why are we here? Why _us? _We all know what you're planning. You want us to be your little team of super heroes. And don't try to deny it! Sunday and Banner too- that's why they're here. But why us?"

Fury sent a surly glare at Tony. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, and Bruce thought he might explode at the billionaire. Tony didn't even flinch, he just stared right back at him.

"Doctor Foster," Fury finally said in a strained voice, "would you mind leaving the room? And kindly take Miss Lewis with you. She's been harassing my agents for thirty minutes now."

There was a ghost of laughter from the second level, and Bruce saw Darcy prance away from the agent that had been playing Galaga on his computer.

Jane sighed and stood. She left the room after glancing warily at Thor. Bruce didn't think the hulking warrior noticed.

Fury sighed tiredly. These people did that a lot, didn't they? Sighing?

"Alright Stark, you want the truth? Here it is." Fury glared at Tony again. Tony grinned cheekily and wiggled his fingers in a mocking wave. "You? I chose you because you're predictable. Annoying, but predictable. Rogers is _Captain America_. There's a reason he's in charge of the team. Thor knows Loki enough to take him down. And Ailis? I can't exactly send her home, now can I? As for Romanov, she's one of my most trusted agents. Banner"- Bruce leaned forward in interest- "is the equivalent of a living, breathing atomic bomb. I'd be an idiot _not _to have him join. And Kontis over there wasn't planned. She's here because I wanna see what she can do, and, quite frankly, this is the only thing we _can _do with her. We can't let her run around with powers like that, and we can't just get rid of her. So she's here. You happy now?"

The silence in the room was deafening. Even the agents were quiet. The only sound was the repetitive 'pew pew pew' of the Galaga game. Tony was the first to say anything.

"Screw this," he muttered, rising to his feet. "I'm out, Fury. Come on Sunday."

Sunday looked skittishly around the table. Bandages still covered the left side of her face. She nodded and jumped up after Tony.

"Woah, woah, woah," Fury barked, moving to stop them. "Where are you going?"

"Away from here," Tony said with an eyebrow raise. "We're not toys, Fury- you can't do whatever you want with us. And besides, didn't the Council of World Security tell you that the Avengers Initiative was too dangerous to work?"

A look of utter, well, _fury _crossed Fury's face. It had turned a dark purple and red that couldn't have been very healthy. "How- when did you-?" He shook his head, and, if looks could kill, Tony would have been dead. "I recognize that the Council made a decision," Fury muttered evenly. "But given that it's a stupid decision, I've chosen to ignore it."

"If the Man of Iron has chosen to depart, then I will go with him," Thor said. "We are brothers in arms, and will remain together."

"Aw," Tony cooed, pinching Thor's chiseled cheek. "You care!"

"Hugs?" said Thor hopefully, extending his arms.

Tony chuckled and took a step back. "How about no-" Thor ignored him and pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace. "Okay then. Hugs it is."

Ailis was watching the scene with an inquisitive expression. "If Thor goes, I very well cannot stay," she murmured hesitantly. Thor released Tony and stared at her with incredulity.

To everyone's surprise, Steve stood up then, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "I agree with Stark," he muttered, not meeting any of their eyes. Tony's smile was so big that it was quite honestly terrifying. "If the government doesn't approve... Then I can't be a part of this. Sorry director."

"Nice one Captain!" Tony congratulated, clapping him on the back. "Finally sticking it to the man! We'll make a rebel out of you yet."

Steve looked pained. "Please don't."

Romanov looked uneasy. "I do not know I feel about this, Nick," she said hesitantly. "You did not tell me of this..."

"I didn't want to be here in the first place," Bruce found himself saying, rising out of his chair, following after Tony, Steve, Thor, Ailis, and Sunday.

"Wait! Stop- you can't!" Fury was calling after them.

Tony threw him a smirk over his shoulder. "I think we just did."

* * *

**Stark Towers: New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 30, 2008**

* * *

"You know," Stark commented, breaking the awkward quiet that was filling the cramped elevator, "I'm glad you're coming here, Brucey. Top ten floors, all R and D. You'll love it. It's Candy land."

To Steve, Banner looked annoyed. He didn't blame the scientist. Stark was incessant.

"Thanks, but I'm not exactly looking forward to this," Banner commented. "The last time I was in New York... I sort of broke Harlem."

Stark smiled cheerfully, fiddling with some sort of metal contraption in his hands. "Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No surprises." And with that, he slammed the device onto Banner's shoulder, who promptly jumped half a foot into the air and let out a yelp.

"Ow!" Banner groaned, rubbing his shoulder.

Steve frowned inquisitively. "Hey! Are you nuts?" he demanded, glaring at Stark. If what Fury had told him had been true, then Banner was unstable and could turn into a raging monster at any moment. If he did so inside of an enclosed space- such as the elevator they were standing in right now- it could be bad. Very bad.

Stark, much to Steve's chagrin, ignored him and addressed Banner. "Nothing? You've really got a lid on it?" He poked Banner's shoulder. "What's your secret? Relaxing jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" He grinned at that one and turned back to the elevator's doors.

How long could it take to travel up one hundred stories?

Steve glared at Stark. Again. "Is everything just one big joke to you?" he asked.

Stark shrugged. "Funny things are!"

The elevator doors finally opened with a clang- Steve made the sign of the cross as a thank you to God- and Stark strode into his living room, arrogantly describing the various amenities that made up Stark Towers. Steve felt like punching him. There wasn't a single surface of the room that wasn't controlled by technology- even the _couch _had adjustable temperature settings- whatever that meant. He just wanted to curl up and go to sleep.

But no. Steve was a soldier. Duty first. They needed to decide what to do.

He stood awkwardly by the elevator as the others disembarked. Banner sank down onto the shining leather couch, and Ailis sat primly next to him, folding her hands demurely into her lap. Thor strode over to the black marble bar and leaned against it, swiping up a glass tumbler of some sort of amber liquid- whiskey, probably- and draining it in one gulp. Sunday Kontis dashed over to a metal door on the right wall- inhumanly fast, new found superpowers at work- and punched a few buttons on a white box next to it. The doors slid open and she was gone.

"Should we...?" Steve started to say, but Stark just shook his head.

"She does that," he amended with a nonchalant wave of his hand. Steve bristled. "Anyway. We need to plan- obviously. So uh... What're we gonna do? Quit? Let Fury manipulate us? Join Loki? Go back home?"

Ailis's jaw had dropped open. "We will certainly _not _be joining Loki!" she spluttered. Steve was surprised at how quickly she heated up. "And I will not be letting Fury manipulate _me _anytime soon!"

Stark whistled through his teeth. "Yeesh, calm yourself child. You sure you're not the one who has anger-management issues instead of Banner over there?" Steve was forced to agree with that statement.

Ailis huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Silence, mortal," she muttered contemptuously. "Valkyrie I may be, but it is painfully obvious that I bear no patience for stupidity."

"Hey!" Stark exclaimed. "Who's the super-genius here? Oh right, me! _I _am not stupid."

"And here I thought humans were more evolved than this," Ailis sniffed contemptuously.

"Oh," Stark scoffed, "I'm sorry. But, excuse me, did we come to _your _planet and blow stuff up?"

"I have not 'blown anything up'!"

"Silence!" Thor bellowed. He wasn't slouched anymore, and was instead standing ramrod straight, glaring at Ailis. "Have a care how you speak. Tony has graciously welcomed us into his home in our time of need and we _will be respectful_, Ailis."

To her credit, Ailis had the grace to look ashamed. "Of course," she muttered, shooting Stark a furtive glance. "I-I... apologize."

Stark surveyed her warily. "Yeah, whatever," he sniffed, turning his back to her and addressing the others. "Like I was saying, we need to decide what to do-"

"Is that even a question?" Banner interrupted. Steve couldn't help the expression of shock that crossed his face. "We need to be fighting Loki. The guy's brain is a bag of cats. You can smell the crazy on him. And he kinda has a weapon of mass destruction in his possession. Not a good combo."

Steve grinned at that and nodded his approval. "You're loyal, soldier. I like you."

Banner raised an eyebrow. "Me?" He shook his head. "Nah, I'm not a soldier."

But Steve just ignored him and motored on. He was starting to get into mission-mode right about now. Tactics and maneuvers had always come easy to him. The only problem had been carrying them out. At least until he had taken the super-serum. Now he had the muscle to back up his plans.

"Thor, what's his play?" Steve mused, turning to the armored giant.

Thor frowned, unnaturally pensive. "He has an army, called the Chitauri. They are not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth."

"But for what?" Stark interjected, plucking at his goatee. "What could they possibly get out of this?"

"The Tesseract, I suspect," Ailis finally piped up, in a more subdued tone of voice.

Steve could have been knocked over by a feather. "An army," he whispered. "From outer space."

Stark turned to him, grinning. "Things ever get this weird in your day, Captain?" he asked cheekily.

Steve shook his head, still thinking. "Mythological characters on a rampage? Homicidal aliens? Nah. In my day, it was weirder."

The look on Stark's face was priceless, and, in hindsight, Steve wished he could have looked at it for longer, just to remember that he had actually managed to surprise Tony Stark.

"So he's building another portal," said Banner from the couch. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked

"He's an astrophysicist," Banner explained.

Thor shook his head. "No," he said firmly, features growing dark once again. "He's a friend."

Steve frowned, remembering the dazed look on the aging scientist's face, as well as the blank one on Audrey's. "Loki has him under some kind of spell," he growled. "As well as some others."

A look of abject pain appeared on Thor's face. He began pacing across the floor, talking as though he were trying to convince himself. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother."

"He killed twenty people in the explosion," Banner pointed out.

"And disfigured Sunday," Stark added. "And turned her pretty much mute as well."

"He's adopted."

Steve had paled. "Loki's the one who did that to her?" he asked. Stark nodded, and Steve whistled through his teeth. "Poor kid." He shook his head. As sad as it was for Sunday, there were more important things at hand. "So, this cube thing, it's dangerous?"

Banner shrugged and motioned toward the sliding metal door. "I don't know much about it," he said apologetically. "Sunday should, though. She was the one working on it."

"Jarvis?" Stark called. Steve jumped when a voice replied back, "Yes, Mr. Stark?"

He grinned evilly at Steve. "Can you get Sunday out of the Bat cave for me? We need her brain."

"Right away Mr. Stark."

A moment later, the metal doors had opened and Sunday poked her head out. A white lab coat covered her SHIELD issued clothing. She didn't say anything and took a seat next to Banner on the couch.

"Is the Cube dangerous?" Stark asked pointedly, getting straight to the chase.

Sunday nodded. "Very," she muttered in a hoarse voice.

That was all Steve needed to hear. He turned to Banner. "Word is you can find it."

Banner smiled wryly. "Is that the only word about me?"

Steve shrugged. "Only word I care about," he replied

Banner didn't seem to mind all that much. Stark winced in his stead. "Ooh, burn man. Hey. Does anyone else realize that it's two am right now?" He switched topics so quickly, they all had to think for a moment to process what he had said.

"Your point?" Banner asked.

Stark stood and started walking toward a long hallway next to the elevator. "I don't know about you super-powered freaks,"- Banner bristled- "but us normal people need our sleep."

"So, what, we're just going to wait until tomorrow?" Steve asked incredulously. He found that he wasn't quite so tired anymore.

"Later today!" Stark called from the hallway. "It's technically already tomorrow!"

Banner got to his feet and grinned sheepishly. "Stark's got a point," he admitted. "It's late, and it's been one whopper of a day." And with that, he left. Ailis followed without another word, and Sunday had disappeared while they were talking.

"Are you not tired?" Thor asked dubiously.

Steve shrugged, staring down at his feet. "I've been sleeping for seventy years," he muttered. "I think that's enough to last me a life time."


	7. Begging On Your Knees

**Turning Tables**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Begging On Your Knees**

* * *

_Songs (In Order of Usage): Where the Shadows Cannot Reach- AdrianvonZiegler; Boys Like Girls- She's Got a Boyfriend Now_

* * *

**Stark Towers: New York New York, USA: Midgard: March 30, 2008**

* * *

_Moon lace was a most precise plant, in that it only bloomed when each of Asgard's nine moons was full and bright in the sky. The night was silver and gleaming; mysterious and enchanted; magical and surreal in its dreaminess. Ailis had not worn shoes that evening, and the soft, springy grass of the garden scrunched between her toes as she walked._

_Her waves had grown out, so that they were too thick to hold curl, and now hung in soft, golden swoops around her face. Ailis had the front strands pulled away, as hanging locks were often singed by stray embers from the potion fires. She wore a night gown of parchment cream, bare shoulders exposed to the midnight breeze and skirt swinging out behind her._

_Ailis was not remarkable by Aesir standards, and certainly not by the standards of Valkyrie. The maidens of Valhalla were legendarily beautiful, with a soothing touch and sweet disposition- She had none of these things, as the others would be quick to tell you._

_"Good evening," said a voice from the willow tree at the center of the garden. "I did not expect to find another wandering soul at so late an hour."_

_Beneath the long-hanging curtain Balder sat, his golden hair turned silver in the light of the moon. Ailis flushed and swept into a curtsey._

_"Prince Balder," said she. "I did not expect to see another, either."_

_Balder rose and walked to her, pushing aside the glittering branches of the willow tree as he went. "Rise, lady, there is no need for such formality among friends." He punctuated this statement with so gay a smile that Ailis could not help but return it._

_"I am no lady, but, all the same, it is kind of you to say so," she said. "And, pray tell, Prince Balder, why do you claim me as 'friend'?"_

_Another grin curved at Balder's mouth. "Because, Ailis, I am friend to all, especially those who are waifs of the night as well."_

_Ailis laughed at the eagerness with which he said the words. "In that case, Balder, I am overjoyed to have found in you a kindred spirit."_

* * *

"Ailis," Thor's voice called from the corridor. "Are you awake? The Man of Iron wishes us to meet him in the place of living!"

"Just a moment," she called back, wiping the tears out of her eyes that the dream had brought.

Thor did not answer, and she assumed that he had left. Ailis took a deep, shaky breath, and rose from her bed, picking up the armor she had discarded on the floor the night before and tugging it back on. SHIELD had given her Midgardian garments while they had kept her, and it was something of a relief to wear her own clothing- even if it were armor. Ailis preferred her Valkyrie robes to the battle clothing, but she was at war, and there was no helping it.

With a look of distaste she strapped Wasp, her stiletto dagger- Balder had named it once upon a time- to her side and exited her chambers. The hall was empty and quiet- the ones at SHIELD had been chaotic and bustling at all hours- and her footsteps echoed against the white walls as she walked to the rest area.

The others were already gathered there, staring at the black box that was displaying moving pictures. None of them looked rather interested in what the moving pictures were portraying, and Ailis assumed that they had been awaiting her arrival.

Stark was the first to notice her. "Great," he chirped, rubbing his hands together, "angel-girl is here, now we can talk!"

"Angel-girl?" Ailis huffed, but the annoying mortal man did not seem to hear her.

"So, last night. Where did we leave off?" he asked, chugging a cup of some bitter-smelling, light brown liquid.

Banner wrinkled his nose. "How do you take so much creamer in your coffee? And sugar too? Gross," he mumbled.

Coffee? Creamer? What?

Stark shrugged and set down the cup. Thor was quiet- for once in his life- sipping on his own drink and smiling in contentment. The small blond girl- Sandie, or something of that sort- was seated next to him. The disfigured side of her face was visible, and Ailis flinched when she saw it. Rogers was sitting with perfect posture on one of the stools at the bar, an untouched cup of brown liquid in front of him.

"Banner knows how to find the Cube," volunteered Rogers. "And that the Cube is dangerous."

"Speaking of which," said Banner with an inquisitive expression, "what I wanna know is how Loki used it to turn half of SHIELD into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand," said Thor before Ailis could.

"I do!" said Rogers, looking overtly proud of himself. Stark rolled his eyes. "I understood that reference!"

"Whoop dee do," said Stark sarcastically, twirling his index finger in the air. "Back to the subject."

Was Ailis the only one who found that statement odd? Stark himself was rather easily-distracted. He had displayed as much the previous night. Or was it early this morning? Time was strange on Midgard...

"What're we gonna do?" Rogers, apparently, had finally burst. "Do we join back up with SHIELD? Go off on our own-"

"Calm down!" Stark was pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeesh, Cap's. It's too early for this. You're giving me a headache."

"It's eleven am," Banner commented wryly.

Stark waved a nonchalant hand through the air. "Yada yada. Personally, I don't think we should team up at all." Seeing their looks of incredulity, he shrugged. "What? It's obvious we wouldn't work well together. I mean, we've been awake for, what, thirty minutes? And already we've had, like, twelve arguments."

Rogers looked as though he had just kissed a bilgesnipe. "We can't just- but the team... How're we gonna stop Loki by ourselves? We can't just- We can't just turn our backs on the world! We can't just leave them defenseless!"

Stark shrugged again. "Let the Justice League handle it. They're more than capable. Or the X-Men, for that matter."

"Who?" said Ailis curiously. Once again, she was ignored. She was rapidly becoming irritated with this.

"Tony's got a point," said Banner. "But... I can't go off on my own again. The Hulk... Well, I don't think I'd be able to control him now that... After the past week. No- just- no. It's not gonna happen." He cracked his knuckles awkwardly. "Sorry, but, uh... You guys are sort of stuck with me."

An evil grin- the sort that Loki had worn more often than not what seemed like eons ago in Asgard- had appeared on Stark's features. "Oh that's fine," he said smoothly. "I don't mind. 'Sides. I'm a big fan of your work... and the way you turn into a huge, green rage monster when you get upset."

Banner sighed in resignation. "And then there's that."

Thor looked grave. "I cannot turn my back on my brother's actions," he said hesitantly, and Ailis knew that he was speaking for both of them. "I must fight Loki. It is my duty... I would prefer to do it with present company as my brothers in arms, but, if you do not find the prospect appealing..."

Stark groaned and pulled at his scraggly beard. "I'm gonna end up joining you idiots, aren't I?" he mumbled. None of them deigned him with a reply. He sighed. "Alright, fine. I'm in. Don't know how. Don't know why. But I'm in."

"Excellent!" said Thor brightly, crushing Stark to his side. "We have glorious battle before us, my friends- victory is ours!"

"Not so fast big guy." Stark was attempting to extract himself from Thor's embrace. "There's still a lot left to figure out." He finally managed to break free and stumbled backward a few steps. Thor pouted in disappointment.

Stark stopped suddenly and pointed at the small blond girl. "Sunday! I forgot you were here. Ya' know, 'cuz you're short, and quiet, 'n stuff. Anyways! What do you want to do?"

Sunday thought for a moment. The cuts on her face stretched in what looked to be a painful way. She shrugged finally, and sank back into the couch.

Stark grinned. "Alright then!" he whooped. "Good to know you're on board."

Ailis raised an eyebrow. Rogers and Banner were looking at Stark as though he had lost his mind. He simply ignored them and kept going.

"Next order of business... SHIELD." His face twisted in distaste. Ailis decided it was time to contribute something to the conversation.

"It is quite simple," she said coldly. "They have deceived and manipulated us. We should associate with them no further."

"Gonna have to agree with you, angel-girl," said Stark, to Ailis's distinct shock. "SHIELD's screwed up one too many times for my liking. I mean, seriously, what did Fury expect? That the Council of World Security _wouldn't _notice us running around, killing a bunch of aliens?"

Rogers nodded, rising to his feet. "You won't hear me say this often, but I feel the need to 'stick it to the man', as you put it, Stark. SHIELD doesn't seem like a trustworthy organization. Maybe we'd be better off doing this on our own."

"You make a good point," said Banner. Ailis had forgotten he was even there. "But there's an issue. SHIELD's the one with all the information. We know practically nothing."

Stark had that evil grin again. Ailis thought that it probably did not bode well for them. "Ah, but you see Brucey." He was walking around the back of the couch, coming to a stop over Sunday's shoulder. "We have two computer geniuses in the building. Getting what we need from SHIELD shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Ailis nearly killed someone when the voice spoke from the ceiling.

"Call from Agent Coulson."

There was a shrill bleating sound, and then the Son of Coul was speaking from the ceiling. "Mr. Stark. We need to talk."

Stark scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark," he parroted in an annoyed voice. "Please leave a message."

"This is urgent," said the Son of Coul.

"Then leave it urgently," snapped Stark.

There was a ding as the doors to the moving box slid open, and the Son of Coul himself waltzed into the room, pocketing some sort of communication device. Romanov strode in behind him.

Stark turned to him, pointing an accusing finger, and yelled, "Security breach!" He looked up at the ceiling, where the voice had been coming from. "Jarvis, this one is on you."

Ailis sent Thor an incredulous- and slightly terrified- glance. For his part, the prince appeared perfectly at ease with the entire situation. Good for him.

"Mr. Stark," said the Son of Coul, glancing around the room. "Avengers."

"Don't call us that," snipped Banner, breathing harshly. Coulson looked wary for a moment, until Banner appeared to calm down. "Sorry," he muttered, not sounding as though he meant it at all.

"Phil," came Sunday's pained whisper from the sofa.

"Phil?" Stark sounded doubtful. "Uh, his first name is 'Agent'. And how do you know this guy anyways, Blondie?"

"We're cousins," said Coulson, when it did not seem that Sunday would offer an explanation. A strange mortal, that one was. Stranger than Darcy. Maybe. "Maternal side."

Stark raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" he asked incredulously. "'Cuz, I know a robot when I see one. And you...? Suspicious, to say the least."

Coulson sighed heavily and tugged at the length of black fabric tied around his neck. Ailis thought it looked terribly uncomfortable. "Look Stark, SHIELD wants you back."

Stark snorted. "That's nice." He was smirking again, but there was anger in his eyes, and the round piece of metal embedded in his chest- visible through his thin shirt- glowed dangerously. "But the thing is, we don't want to."

"I know," muttered Coulson. "And I apologize for that. Fury shouldn't have deceived you, but he did. It's for the greater good. He knew that if he told you, you wouldn't want to have any part in it."

Banner frowned. "Yeah, great idea," he said sardonically. "An intelligence agency that _fears_ intelligence? Historically, not awesome."

Coulson did not try to deny it. "SHIELD's screwed up," he admitted. "Majorly. But not Fury. I'll be the first to tell you, he's got his issues, but in the end, he knows what's best. How can you not trust him?"

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Stark. "He's a spy. He's _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets!"

"Just- hear him out. Please?" said Coulson.

"And why should we?" demanded Stark. "Give me a _damn_ good reason, Coulson."

It was Romanov, who answered this time. "Because he needs you. We all do. Loki's been spotted in Germany. There's no one else who can get to him."

"The Justice League?" said Banner hopefully. "The X-Men? Spiderman, for crying out loud! There's got to be _someone_-"

Romanov shook her head. "The Justice League is dealing with the League of Shadows in Asia right now. The X-Men are still trapped in the neuron-dimension. And Spiderman? Against a homicidal, alien maniac?"

An expression of honest shock had appeared upon Stark's face. "So there really is no one else," he whispered in a voice Ailis doubted she would ever hear from him again.

Coulson shook his head, smiling sadly.

The Avengers exchanged desperate looks with each other. As much as Ailis was at loathe to admit it, SHIELD really did seem like their only option at present. Of course, they could attempt to take down Loki themselves, but without the support of a government, they would be unable to function. They would collapse in on themselves. They would be agents of their own destruction.

Stark seemed to have reached the same conclusion that Ailis had. "We'll go," he said, not without surliness. "We'll go get Loki. But be sure to tell Fury he can't play with us like that."

Coulson nodded, muttered a "thank you", and went to wait for them on the ground floor without further comment.

There was silence for quite a while.

Stark muttered something decidedly vulgar, and scowled up at the ceiling. "Jarvis," he yelled. "Get Pepper!" He turned back to them then, a terrifying light in his eyes. "Suit up," he ordered. "There's an ass in Germany that's just _asking _to be kicked."


	8. A Pity

**Turning Tables**

* * *

**Chapter 7: A Pity**

* * *

_Songs (In Order of Usage): All Again For You- We the Kings; Kryptonite- 3 Doors Down_

* * *

**SHIELD Quin jet: Over Germany: Midgard: March 30, 2008**

* * *

Sunday looked weird.

There was just no other word for it. She looked _weird_ man! Like- like a SHIELD agent, or something. Tony thought that, well, she actually was one now- they all were. And that was a weird thought: Him, working for SHIELD.

Why did Sunday even need a suit, anyways? It wasn't like she was going to go fight Loki or anything. She had no training. Tony wasn't letting her go out there; she'd get herself killed.

He wasn't gonna lie though, her suit was pretty cool. It was bright blue, made of some kind of smooth, aerodynamic fabric that let her limbs move freely. SHEILD's logo- an eagle with spread wings- was plastered across her chest in black, to match her boots, and a metallic grey belt was clipped around her waist. They had given her a long, collapsible pole for some reason, tipped with electricity on both ends. Sunday's eyes were covered by dark sunglasses, which was probably the weirdest thing to Tony. He was pretty sure that she'd fallen asleep and they hadn't even realized it.

Although, she was tapping away furiously at a tablet, so he doubted it. Then again, maybe she was sleep-typing?

Was that even a thing? It should be.

"Drop site in two minutes," Agent Hill announced from the front of the Quin jet. "Stuttgart, Germany." Tony sighed and tore his eyes away from Sunday, who had stopped being so interesting about an hour ago.

"Loki's not exactly hiding, now is he?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

Rogers shook his head. His dark blue mask was in his similarly gloved hands. "I don't think he wants secrecy," he mused, frowning. "He wants publicity. He _wants_ people to fear him."

Thor looked troubled, but said nothing.

"Captain, you're up," Coulson said. He looked like he was about to wet himself as he stared at Rogers with undisguised admiration. Tony wanted to barf.

"What about me?" he demanded, as the Iron Man suit started to assemble itself around him.

Coulson didn't even look over at him. "You, Banner, Kontis, and Natasha are dropping in afterwards. Then Thor and Ailis. Captain is our frontal attack. That's why he's team leader."

Tony laughed fakely and loudly. "Oh, that's funny. I thought you said Sunday was going in." He let the smile drop and glared at Coulson. "She's not, by the way. Since she has no training."

Coulson shrugged. Sunday glanced up from her tablet and slid off the sunglasses. She didn't say anything, as usual, but Tony could tell she was kind of relieved not to be going down there. He didn't blame her. If he were in the same situation, he wouldn't be rushing into any battles with the guy who made him look like _that_. There was no getting around it: Sunday was hideous now. Not that she had been much of a looker before hand.

"Directly over drop site," Agent Hill said.

Rogers pulled his mask over his head and tightened the strap on his parachute. With a salute at Coulson- who looked like he might squeal fan girlishly- he jumped out the open door.

"Show off," Tony muttered.

He looked around the Quin jet again, realizing that he had grown bored, _again. _Sunday was still staring at that stupid tablet. Now Banner, Romanov, and Thor were too. Tony frowned and leaned over Sunday's shoulder to see what the big deal was.

Of course. They were watching the fight. Sunday had managed to hack into Stuttgart's street camera system- child's play for computer geniuses- and they were sizing up the situation, getting ready to jump in.

Some guy with huge gold horns- Tony assumed that this was Loki- was bellowing something at the Germans.

"Kneel before me," he ordered.

Tony snorted. "That's so stereotypical," he scoffed. "Might as well just say 'bow to me, puny mortals'!" He added a pseudo evil cackle in there for good measure. "And what's with the helmet, anyways? He looks like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."

"What is this red nose, you speak of, friend Tony?" Thor asked curiously.

"It's Steve!" Banner said, and Tony turned back to the screen.

Rogers had dropped into the crowd and stood over an old man, shield held aloft.

"You know," he commented, looking around the square, "the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

Coulson made a noise that might have been a squeal from behind Thor. Tony rolled his eyes.

Loki sneered at Rogers, looking thoroughly underwhelmed. "Ah," he said contemptuously, "the soldier. A man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Rogers snarked right back.

Tony was almost proud of him. Almost.

"He's all over the place," Romanov muttered thoughtfully as Loki sent a jet of blue light at Rogers. Sunday winced when she saw it.

"Stark," Coulson ordered, back to himself again. "Get down there."

Tony saluted, just like Rogers had. Only his was quite a bit more mocking.

"Kneel!" Loki yelled.

"Not today," Rogers shouted.

Before launching himself out of the Quin jet, Tony plugged a flash drive into the bank of computers. "Just a little present before I go," he said with a smirk, falling backwards out of the drop chute.

"_I'm a Barbie girl_  
_In a Barbie w-orld!_  
_Life's fantastic_  
_When you're made of plastic!"_

"STARK!" Coulson roared through the ear piece.

Tony snickered, shooting a blast of energy at Loki from the arc reactors on his palms and landing in the square. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

Looking thoroughly disappointed, Loki set his staff on the ground and put his hands in the air.

The mask of the suit rolled down, and Tony smirked at the surrendering deity. "Good move."

The Quin jet landed with a torrent of wind, and Romanov came marching out, carrying a set of plastic handcuffs in her hands.

"I don't like it," Rogers muttered as Romanov snapped them onto Loki's wrists.

"What?" Tony asked, frowning. "Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

Rogers scratched the back of his head. The two men started to follow Romanov's svelte figure to the waiting aircraft. "I don't remember it being this easy," he explained. "It _shouldn't_ have been this easy. That guy packs a whollop."

Tony snorted and looked at him appraisingly. "Still, you were pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"

The look Rogers gave him made it pretty clear what he thought about Tony. "What?" he asked.

"It's like calisthenics," Tony said, climbing up the Quin jet's ramp. "You might have missed a couple of things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

Rogers scowled at him, and Tony took pleasure in the fact that he had successfully made the super soldier angry.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," Rogers growled crossly.

Tony let his own features twist into a sneer. "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Romanov was standing over them, looking exceptionally annoyed. "If you two are finished with your penis joust," she said pointedly. "Stark, would you mind getting rid of that stupid song? You scared Thor off."

With a smirk, Tony climbed the last few steps into the Quin jet and took a seat next to Banner. "Nah," he said dismissively. "I think Loki here needs to get a good taste of some classic Midgardian culture."

Ailis wrinkled her nose. "You people refer to this as _culture_?"

Tony shrugged as the Quin jet began to whirr beneath them, rising into the air. "To each their own," he replied mysteriously.

* * *

**Hulk Containment Unit: SHIELD Hellicarier: Over the English Channel: Midgard: March 30, 2008**

* * *

Thor strode through the halls, boots pounding angrily against the metal floors, Ailis scurrying after him.

"Think this through, Thor," she said. "You should use tact. Not just burst in there like some rampaging bilgesnipe-"

He pushed through the door to Loki's cell and then let it slam in her face.

"Where is the Tesseract?" he demanded.

Loki looked up from his seat on the bench with a smirk. He rose and approached the wall of glass, looking perfectly at ease in the prison. "Brother," he cooed, "I missed you too. We did not get to talk much the last time we met, did we?"

Thor frowned, remembering the fight on the mechanical beast. And the humans Loki had enchanted. And Jane and Sunday's wounds.

What he said then was not what was supposed to come out of his mouth. "I thought you dead," whispered Thor in a broken voice.

The look that crossed Loki's face was one of absolutely mirth. "And did you mourn?" he asked mockingly, raising an eyebrow.

"We all did," answered Thor honestly. Because they had. "Our father-"

"_Your _father," Loki corrected, eyes growing dark. "He did tell you of my true parentage. Did he not?"

Thor shook his head vehemently. Odin had revealed to him Loki's past and heritage after the battle on the BiFrost, but Thor could not find it in himself to see his brother any differently for it. True, it was startling to know he shared no blood with Loki. But, in all truth, did that really matter?

"We were raised together. We played together. We fought together. Do you remember _none_ of that?" said Thor. His voice cracked. He had not wanted it to.

Loki's face twisted into one of hatred and disdain. "I remember a shadow," he spat contemptuously, "living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I who was and should be king!"

Hand tight around Mjolnir's handle, Thor drew back. This was not the brother he remembered. "So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?" He shook his head, anger rising up inside of him. "No," he continued, steely determination seeping into his voice, "the Earth is under _my _protection, Loki."

A laugh made its way out of Loki's mouth, but it was not the honest, slightly hoarse sound that Thor was used to. This laugh was mad and hysterical. Bitter and dark. Macabre.

"And you're doing a marvelous job with that," said Loki sarcastically. "The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly threat. I mean to rule them. If that is the case, then should I not-"

"Think yourself above them?" Thor finished.

"Well." Loki pondered it for a moment, and then shrugged. "Yes."

Thor shook his head sadly. "Then you miss the great truth of ruling, Brother. A throne would suit you ill."

Loki's face twisted again. "I have seen worlds that you have never even known about," he growled dangerously. "I have grown, Odin's son, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract. And when I wield it-!"

"Who showed you this power?" Thor demanded. Loki's voice had grown high-pitched and feverishly wanting. It had scared Thor. "Who controls the would-be king?"

"I am a king!" Loki shouted, finally loosing his composure.

"Not here!" Thor bellowed back in turn. "You give up the Tesseract!" he ordered. "You _give up_ this poisonous dream! And. You. Come. _HOME_!"

"I don't have it," Loki replied in a smaller voice, a satisfied smirk on his face. "You need the cube to send me home, but I've sent it off. I know not where."

And that was the breaking point. Thor lifted Mjolnir in his hands, so that Loki could see. "You listen well brother," he growled.

The door slid open. The Captain entered.

"I'm listening," Loki replied innocently, before turning in Steve's direction. "Ah, Captain," he said. "How nice of you to join us."

Rogers looked at the two Asgardians warily. "Ailis sent me," he said carefully. "She said something about you two killing each other."

Loki grinned wolfishly and sent a sly glance in Thor's direction. "Ah, Ailis," he purred. "Your little Valkyrie, brother. I remember now. You brought her along, did you?"

Thor glared at him. "She fell. Kvasir threw her off of the BiFrost and she landed here."

A look of honest shock had appeared on Loki's face. "Kvasir? What quarrel could he have with Ailis?" he muttered, almost to himself.

"Who?" said Rogers. He shook his head, and stepped closer to the glass wall that partitioned Loki off from the two Avengers. "Never mind. Look, one of the scientists you took, Audrey Cathcart, where is she?"

"Who?" said Loki, innocently again.

"Audrey Cathcart," Rogers replied snappily. "Long brown hair. A World War Two historian? Big mouth?"

Loki grinned. "Oh. The annoying one," he replied, almost dismissively. "Yes. I fear, Captain, that she is... no longer with us- I suppose you Midgardians would put it. Yes, she is no longer with us."

"What?" Rogers asked in a cracked voice.

"I had no use for her, so I had Barton dispose of her," said Loki, with a shrug and a malicious grin. "I apologize if that upsets you, Captain."

With a roar of anger, Rogers lept at the wall and slammed his fist against it. The glass quivered, but nothing else happened. Loki did not even flinch. Fuming, the Captain stormed away.

"You killed an innocent mortal in cold blood?" said Thor in a quiet voice.

He did not wait for Loki to answer, and instead followed the Captain out of the cell. It would take far more than a simple conversation to bring back the brother Thor had once known.


End file.

Avengers, Adventure, Romance