Niang Niang

by Lalaith Quetzalli

-AU to Nightingale.- Sometimes it's not about tragedy, not about endings, or even beginnings. A woman lived her life, it was a good life, but when it should have come to an end, instead it went on. She was the daughter, the one that no one noticed… until she became the Mother, the one who would bring her children into a new age… (Can be Read as a Stand Alone)

So... this time the story is told a bit differently, pretty much because my muse wanted it and I couldn't think of a better way to tell the whole story without either confusing you, or myself. Italics mark flashbacks, and the whole story is basically running in two times, or I'm telling two stories at the same time, depending on how you wish to see it, though I think things can be understood quite easily.

This is the first fic in what I call 'Nightingale's Other Incarnations'. When I first wrote Nightingale it was supposed to be a Stand Alone story. Then I got a few ideas, and that's how the Sidestory dedicated to Peter and Gwen came, and the first few AUs. Halfway through those AUs I decided to make Nightingale into an actual series. It was also at that point that I decided to make her a reincarnation, and I created the story of Tinúviel (it's why, if you read the first AUs you'll realize that I speak of another mother for Hel, among other details).

Mostly I considered Nightingale as Tinúviel's reincarnation and that was that. For a while. Until I began playing with an idea in the back of my head. The chance that Silbhé might not have been the only Nightingale to exist; if not in her universe, that maybe in others, there might have been other versions of her. I didn't make up my mind to actually write these AUs until just before I wrote the last arch in the main timeline. And now, here we are. (More on that in the End Notes).

Dreamcast: Michelle Reis as Yeying.

Song for this piece: "I Was Here" as sung by Beyonce.

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Niáng Niang

(Alternative Universe to Nightingale)

By: Lalaith Quetzalli

Sometimes it's not about tragedy, not about endings, or even beginnings. A woman lived her life, it was a good life, but when it should have come to an end, instead it went on. She was the daughter, the one that no one noticed… until she became the Mother, the one who would bring her children into a new age…

There is no Truest Love than that of a Mother for her Children…

Sometimes it's not about Fate's cruelty. All lives have a beginning, and an end, from birth to death, that is what's normal, that is the cycle of all life. But sometimes… sometimes other forces may intervene, beyond Fate and even Destiny. The human will is ever-changing and many times unpredictable. And thus a life that was expected to end might unexpectedly find itself going on, a thread extending seemingly endlessly, twisting itself into the Tapestry, making of it something entirely different from what was once expected. But that was okay, Fate and Destiny could both deal with the changes made by Free Will…

xXx

The first time he met her it was in a small village, in the Guangdong province, not far from the border with Hunan. She was tall for a woman of her ethnicity, and very beautiful, with lightly-tanned unblemished skin and chestnut brown hair pulled together in a simple but elegant bun. She didn't look like she quite managed to fit in, and it wasn't just the pretty but somewhat old-fashioned deep robe, scarlet with golden embroidery on the hem, that she was wearing. It was almost as if she'd come out of a book, or a legend. And her deep, hazel eyes… She had him bewitched from the moment they met his own jade-green ones.

She was standing near a group of performers, on the edge of a park. They were all young, playing simple bamboo flutes to make the nightingales sing and fly around. All but one, the one that looked like the leader among the group was playing a stone dizi, and it was to him that most of the birds responded most. At least until she began singing…

It was like magic. The flute players hurried to create an accompaniment, but there was no doubt that it was her voice that was enticing the birds in both their flight and their song. Even more people began stopping to watch them then, fascinated by it all. Though while most would look around and marvel at the birds, he had eyes only for her…

Eventually the show had to come to an end, as all good things always did. And as she made to leave he finally gathered his courage to approach her. She stopped walking and her eyes widened briefly as she found him standing in her way, but while she didn't turn away, neither did she speak to him.

"That a lady of such beauty as yourself may grace me with her presence is a wonder in and of itself, may I be further blessed with your name?" He knew he was being overly dramatic, but he couldn't help but believe every word he'd just said.

She giggled, just a bit, at his words; but gave him an answer nonetheless, even if it wasn't the one he'd have preferred:

"Honored as I am by your admiration kind sir, I'm afraid that's something I cannot do." She replied, her voice soft, gentle, and as beautiful as the rest of her.

"Then I shall have to call you Yeying (Nightingale) for the beautiful creatures you just sang with." He decided after thinking it over for a few seconds.

She blushed, like a delicate rose, something that only enchanted him further. He didn't want to let her go… though it was clear she was leaving already.

"When can I see you again?" He asked, before she could walk past him.

She actually stopped and thought it over for a moment before giving him an answer:

"One month." She said. "I will be back next in one month."

That was the day Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard, met his match.

xXx

The battle had been long, and hard. More than anything any of the newly formed Avengers might have experienced before. Though that wasn't the part that stayed with them the most, once it was all said and done. No, the part that stayed with them the most, was that they hadn't been the only ones fighting…

The other team, they called themselves Sentinels. They were lead by a couple, called themselves a match: Quake, a Chinese-American woman in her early twenties, with chocolate eyes and hair of a brown so dark it's almost black wearing a royal blue top, dark jeans and a black-leather jacket; and Guardian, an American man, about thirty, with whiskey brown eyes and black hair in a blue-gray henley, dark jeans and a black-leather jacket. While the man seemed human enough (they saw him using a gun to fight the chitauri before he appropriated one of their spears and used that along with hand-to-hand), the woman was gifted, she could make things vibrate, shake, did it to the chitauri, their transports, and even to a couple of leviathans, breaking them into pieces with the force of her will alone.

The rest of her team were: Shock, a blonde, blue-eyed American in his mid-twenties wearing a burnt-red sweatshirt, tanned leather jacket and jeans; he could call on some kind of energy and use it either as a form of lightning or as blasts. Angel, of Ethiopian descent, skin that looked somewhere between golden and pale yellow, spikes (something like a porcupine's quills) took the place of all the hair in her body, though they were especially long and hard on her head, and for some reason on her back of her hands; she wore an Asian-styled long-sleeved dark tunic lined in red, with loose pants underneath; aside from the way she looked, there didn't seem to be anything special about her, though there had to be something for her to be part of the group, to have been there at all. Finally the last member of the team was Replica, Canadian, a redhead with green eyes, wearing a brown top, red pants and a khaki-colored jacket; she could create doubles of herself, each capable of independent movement and a sort-of hive mentality.

With the battle over, Tony Stark insisted on the Sentinels joining them for some shawarma (apparently he'd never tried it but had seen a place during the battle and decided he wanted to try it). No one missed the way all eyes turned to Quake, and hers to Angel, before the leader spoke her acquiescence. Of course, it was then that Captain Rogers reminded his team that they had some unfinished business in Stark Tower. So the two teams of superheroes headed there, even as Stark placed an order for the food (at some point deciding they might as well eat in the tower).

Of course, no one could have expected what would happen once they were all there. One moment the Avengers had been standing in formation, very dignified, imposing, looking down on their enemy as he pulled himself up a couple of steps and finally turned to face them:

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." He was probably trying for levity, not that it was every going to work in the company he was in.

"That's it!" Angel's call certainly pulled everyone's attention to her. "That's his voice!"

The Avengers of course didn't understand a word. From the start the Sentinels had made sure to speak only Chinese, unless they were talking to someone else.

"Are you sure?" Quake inquired, very serious.

"That's his voice!" Angel pressed.

That was all the leader needed to hear. Before the Avengers could think to stop her, could ask what was going on exactly, she went right through them and to Loki's side. Where she crouched beside him, completely serious.

"Are you Yu?" She asked him, still in Chinese.

Loki's instinctive reaction, the way his eyes widened minutely and he'd to fight to keep himself from wincing, said more than any word he could have pronounced.

"How do you know that name?" He asked, switching to English, knowing the Avengers wouldn't react favorably if they continued the conversation in a language most couldn't understand.

"Answer the question!" Quake demanded. "Are you Yu?"

"Only one person has ever called me by that name." Loki admitted very quietly.

"Yeying…" Quake finished for him, to confirm they were talking about the same person. "My name is Daisy Xiuying Johnson. The woman you know as Yeying, her name is Xinyi and she's my sister." She took a deep breath before adding. "We came here for you."

"Ah!" Stark yelled, loudly. "Stop right there little lady! Loki is a criminal! He must answer for the crimes he has committed!"

"Is he?" It was Angel who spoke then, also in English. "Are you sure about that?"

"Are we sure…?" Rogers looked at them in disbelief. "You just helped us fight the aliens he brought here!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" The Black Widow demanded at the same time.

"You have no idea what he did to me!" Hawkeye almost shrieked.

"Oh but I do." Angel assured him quiet calmly. "You're the puppet, made to follow another's will… while he, he was the one moving your strings, all the while not knowing there was another moving his own at the same time."

"Wh… what?!" Several of the Avengers blinked as they tried to parse that.

"She's saying that someone was controlling Loki, just like he controlled Katniss." Stark, the genius, translated, then turned to look at the would-be-conqueror, still sitting on the floor. "Look at me for a moment Reindeer Games…"

Loki turned in his direction, head tilted to a side in confusion.

Tony cursed, loud and colorfully and in at least three different languages, the moment he got to see the alien's eyes.

"What…?" All the Avengers began demanding. "Stark?!"

"His fucking eyes are green!" Stark snapped.

"And what's so great about that?" Rogers inquired, not getting it.

"That just before the battle started his eyes weren't green they're were freaking blue!" Stark practically yelled.

"Are you sure about that?" Romanoff asked, carefully controlled.

"Of course I'm fucking sure!" Stark growled. "I was quite close and personal at the time! The bastard threw me out of my fucking window seconds later!"

JARVIS, ever so helpful, activated one of the few screens still in working order in the penthouse, showing the recording of what Tony had just mentioned, pausing the video in just the exact moment for everyone to get a look at Loki's glowing blue eyes. The same blue that had been in Hawkeye's eyes while he was being controlled…

"Fuck!" Barton and Romanoff cursed at the same time.

"How did you know?" Rogers inquired, turning towards Angel.

"I saw it." The woman answered simply.

"What…?" Rogers didn't understand.

"It's what I do, Captain Rogers, I see." Angel answered serenely. "My name is Raina Campbell and I am a Seer."

All the Avengers blinked at that, trying to comprehend the kind of reality they suddenly found themselves in. Geniuses, super spies, enhanced, even aliens were one thing, but a psychic? For decades SHIELD had been convinced that they did not exist! But the woman, Angel, Raina, whatever her name might be, she'd known Loki by his voice alone, and she knew that he'd been controlled before it even occurred to any of them, even Tony, that such a thing was possible.

"Where is she?" Loki finally asked Daisy/Quake. "Where is Yeying?"

"Niang's home, where she's been all these years." Daisy answered, her voice turning apologetic as she added. "I am sorry. It's, I suppose it's our fault. That you never saw her again."

"How could that be?" Loki asked, then something else occurred to him. "You're her… She told me about you, never told me your name, we never used real names, from the beginning it just wasn't done. But she told me when her sister was born, how excited she was, how she was going to be the best big sister in the world… then she was gone, and I never saw her again."

"That was kind of my fault." Daisy admitted grimly.

"Our fault." Shock corrected from his spot. "We were all there after all."

"What happened?" Loki asked, concerned. "Last thing I knew… we were talking, and laughing, and suddenly that boy was there, with dark-glasses even though there was no need for it. He came out of nowhere, and demanded Yeying go with him. Said something about an emergency and, I couldn't really follow everything. She went with him, and I never saw her again."

"It's kind of a long story." Daisy said very softly.

"I think I deserve to know." Loki pressed.

"Yes, you do." Daisy agreed.

"You know, I think we're all going to need a drink." Tony intervened right then. "And some food. The shawarma should be here any moment."

xXx

Since she'd decided not to give him her real name, instead letting him call her Yeying, Loki followed suit, keeping his name to himself. She named him Yu which, among other things, meant jade, the color of his eyes.

The third time they met, a month or so after their second meeting, he gifted her with a beautiful black-jade dizi, very much like the one the lead performer had been playing the day they first met. She loved it and would play for him whenever they met (whenever he didn't manage to convince her to sing, he just loved to hear her sing, sure hers had to be the most perfect voice in all the Realms…).

He noticed almost from the start that while Yeying had mastery of the Chinese language and all its forms… she didn't quite fit. Her speech patterns, much like his, didn't fully fit with the times. Also, some of the people in the village would sometimes look at her like she was some kind of ghost, or perhaps a mirage. He wondered at that, but the one time he asked she'd told him something about legends and people choosing to remember things a certain way, even if they were wrong. He'd no idea what that meant, but considering his own experiences with what the humans held as Norse Mythology… decided it might be better not to press.

It didn't take him that long to convince her to go with him on little trips, after revealing he could travel through shadows. She was fascinated by his ability though, as he realized, him being gifted had left her absolutely nonplussed. The reason for which became clear eventually, when she finally found it in herself to trust him.

"I'm gifted." She confessed to him one day.

He'd guessed as much, but said nothing, waiting for her to do things in her own time.

"I… it's hard to explain." She murmured, a bit shy. "I've never really had to do it. Mama would not like it."

"I thought it went without saying, but if you need me to I will, I shall never betray your trust in me Yeying." He assured her.

"I know, I trust you." And she did, she really did.

Matter of fact, she'd tried to tell him her real name, but he refused. Stating that for him she was Yeying, and she always would be, just like he was Yu to her. And that had been the last of that.

"The place I come from, many of us are gifted." She finally explained. "I come from one of the oldest lines, the purest of all. Mama is the leader."

"Does that mean you're a princess?" He tried to make it sound like a joke, but he was serious.

"No." She shook her head solemnly. "I mean, I suppose it would. But I cannot. Because I'm a bastard, so I cannot be Mama's heiress."

"You what?" He wasn't expecting that.

"I'm Mama's illegitimate daughter. The Elders don't like me for that reason, they probably would have sent me away if they could but… but Mama won't let them. Also, since I was born with my gifts… they will not risk what I can do falling into the wrong hands. It's the sole reason why they endure my presence. I'm too useful for them to ignore me completely." She took a deep breath before finally explaining. "I'm a healer. Not on my own. But when Mama gives me energy, I can then use it to heal others."

"Your Mama takes energy?"

"She does, yes. Usually she gets to keep it, to heal herself and live longer. We're both much older than you may think, than we look."

"As am I."

"Yes, but you're not human. Even if you've never said where you come from, I know you're not from around here."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you don't feel like anyone else. I can tell when someone is human, and when they're inhuman, like us, because I can feel it in a person. And you don't feel like either."

"Fascinating…"

He was absolutely enchanted by her. Hadn't felt like that for as long as he could remember. He always made sure to be right there, in that small village in the Guangdong province whenever she was going to be there. Then, eventually, he taught her things, languages, enough to convince her to go with him to other places. He wanted to show her the world, to show her everything she'd missed, living in such a small, isolated community.

It was him who helped her discover that she could heal even without her Mama's energy, though it left her very exhausted. And when they became lovers she told him her most deeply guarded secret, her greatest regret:

"I can never have children…" She murmured quietly into the shadows of the room.

The hour was growing late, in any moment she'd have to leave. Even if he'd long since convinced her to let him take her closer to her village than Guangdong, all he knew for sure was that it was somewhere in the Luoxiao Mountains, in the Hunan Province.

"Why?" He asked her softly, a hand running up and down her bare arm.

"Remember how I told you I'm illegitimate?" She asked him in turn.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Asgard had a problem with bastard children too of course, but he'd a feeling there was more with her, more than just her being marked for not having a father.

"According to the Elders, I am a stain to the Family line." She explained, very quietly. "If I were to have children, that stain would only grow. So I am not to have them. One day Mama will find a husband, and have another child, and the Family line will continue through him or her. And while I hope to be there for them, as they'll be my family, I am forbidden from having any children of my own. Least my family's honor be forever crushed."

"What if you have children anyway?" He pressed, horrified by everything she'd just said.

"It's not allowed. I cannot allow it! If I were to try… it does not bear thinking about it."

She was becoming so upset by the mere though that he did not insist anymore. Did his best to distract her even. So much that they ended up being a bit late for her return but it was okay. He resolved never to bring the matter up again even if, after that day, he could never get out of her mind the image of a little girl, one who would look as perfect and beautiful as her mama…

xXx

They'd all eaten their fill and then returned to the somewhat damaged sitting room in Stark's penthouse, where their unwitting host fixed them all drinks. Daisy swallowed half of hers in one go, knowing she was going to need it for what was coming. It wasn't like she'd planned it. Really, aside from knowing that the mess in New York was their last chance to get Yu back to Niang (that's what Raina had said, and she was never wrong), they'd never made that much of a plan. Her husband didn't much agree with revealing too much, but Daisy knew that, if the world was as insane as she knew it to be, they'd be working together in the future, their two teams, so it might be better if they didn't end all hating each other.

They began with introductions. They'd initially just given their code-names. But if they were going to tell the story, they had to start with names. She and Raina had already revealed theirs. So it was relatively easy to add the others: Daisy's husband: Grant Douglas Johnson (he'd dropped his original surname the moment he'd the chance), Raina's husband Lincoln Campbell, and their friend and sister in every way that counted: Alisha Whitley.

It was Daisy who handled most of the telling, as it was only right.

"Thousands of years ago, an alien race known as the Kree, came to our planet." She began. "War had decimated their armies and they needed numbers. So they were working on experiments, trying to turn the inhabitants of more primitive planets into foot soldiers that would serve them. Eventually they left, believing the experiment had failed. Or at least, that's what we've gathered from what they left behind." She took a deep breath. "At first it didn't seem like they'd managed anything, but one or two generations later, it happened: one of the artifacts the Kree had left was discovered, it activated, and from those near it, those who were descendants of the Kree's original experimental subjects were forever changed. They became something other than human, they became Inhuman…"

The Avengers and Loki were all hanging to her every word.

"It took a while for anything to be understood." Daisy went on. "It seemed that those descended from the original subjects, while they were born perfectly human, when in contact with the substance inside the Kree diviners, what they came to call the 'terrigen', something hidden inside them, would change. It didn't always work, sometimes terrigenesis would fail and the person would die instead of becoming inhuman. They tried very hard for the lines to stay pure, but it didn't always work out. And even when they did… nowadays we know about genetics, we know that some times, some genes just don't get passed into the next generation. But back then… back then it was pretty much touch and go."

So many lives had been lost, family she'd never had…

"My mother was born the youngest daughter of the most important Inhuman Lineage, it was also the purest." Daisy continued. "According to Niang, she never wanted to go through terrigenesis. She just wanted to be a normal girl… but her parents wouldn't allow it. They were a proud inhuman line, how could they allow one of their own to remain human? So they made her go through terrigenesis. By that point half of her siblings had already been lost to it, supposedly their blood proving not to be strong enough for the change."

"Wait a second, wait a second." Tony managed to interrupt eventually. "Niang? But that means mom, doesn't it?"

"It does." She nodded. "When I say mother I mean my birth-mother, Jiaying Johnson, she's long dead. When I say Niang… Xinyi, Yeying, she's biologically my sister… she's also the only mom I've ever known, the only mom any of us has ever known."

Once sure no one else would interfere, or require any further clarifications. Daisy got back to the actual story:

"At first no one understood what the terrigenesis had done to my mother. She looked exactly the same physically, and didn't seem to be able to do anything special. Until the landslide. They had been visiting a village at the foot of the mountains, the household of one of the human families that had long since joined to one of the inhuman lines. The disaster buried the main-house, and everyone in it. It took nearly five days for the rescuers to move enough mud and rocks to be able to get to what had once been the main sitting room, by then Mother was the only survivor. Her power, previously unknown, had kicked in. She basically absorbed the life-force of those she touched, into herself. The energy allowed her to heal and, as she'd later learn, if done when healthy she'd also de-age." She exhaled. "Everyone in the house had been injured, badly so. There was nothing that could have been done for them. What my mother did… it allowed her to survive. She didn't know what she was doing, but even if she had, even if she had held back, the others would have died anyway. And probably her as well."

She needed them to know, to understand that Jiaying hadn't used her power for evil.

"We inhumans believe that the gifts we possess… they're not by chance. That there's a reason. That the gods, the spirits, the stars, a higher-power, whatever you might wish to call it. Some kind of force in the universe gives us each not just a gift we can handle, but one that is and will be needed in the future. With so many inhumans dying out, the risk for the lines becoming lost, some believe that my Mother was needed, her power was needed, in order to ensure that there would be stability. Following the landslide, Jiaying was the only survivor from all nine siblings there had once been. And aside from her, the only other member of her line was her father. Who at the time was the leader of Lai Shi, our sanctuary in the middle of the mountains in China."

Daisy took a moment to have a drink, knowing that the next part wouldn't be easy. There were parts of her Niang's story that were hard to tell, and if the Avengers were anything like her and her team (her family) they weren't going to like it.

"Niang was born… not in the best of circumstances." Daisy admitted quietly. "My grandfather had been seeking a good husband for my mother for what seemed like forever. Really, arranged marriages were quite normal, and she was the daughter of the most important inhuman lineage. Mother was a bit of a rebel, she kept looking for reasons to turn down the suitors, and when it seemed like nothing would be able to stop the marriage, she chose to bed someone. A man she was in love with. It was to be her final act of rebellion, giving all of herself to the person she chose, before her father could force another on her for the rest of her life. The only reason they were in that house the day of the landslide was because they were finalizing the details for the upcoming marriage! Both her intended and her lover, a man who served as one of her guards, died that day. And then, while the healers were making sure she'd be alright, they discovered she was pregnant. An unmarried woman, pregnant with an illegitimate child, from a man who'd not been chosen for her, from a line that wasn't pure… It was a scandal."

"Just when was all this anyway?" Bruce Banner asked, baffled.

"Honestly? No idea." Daisy shrugged.

"Before the 20th century the Inhumans remained in almost absolute isolation." Raina clarified kindly. "They only were in contact with the small villages at the foot of the mountains, in the Hunan Province, and with the rich, old families that were connected with them in one way or another. It is said that at one point the Inhumans had connections with the Royal Dynasties of the country, but as they weren't pure lines, eventually enough died in failed terrigenesis that it was decided simply not to offer it to them anymore."

"It was actually Shimû, the Lady Jiaying, who put in place a system, where candidates would be assessed over a period of time." Lincoln offered. "They all had to be in a particular age-range where they might be young enough to endure whatever change the terrigenesis brought them, while at the same time old and mature enough to accept it. Also, it couldn't be forced on anyone, it had to be their choice." He smiled ruefully. "It made things better. Mistakes were still made, but there weren't quite as many dead as there had been in the past. Which was good, especially as families had to be smaller than they had been in years past."

"Niang was born to a very precarious and complicated position." Daisy went on with the main part of the story. "Illegitimate children were seen as impure, as stains on the family honor. And yet, besides Mother, she was the only remaining child of the line. Grandfather was much too old to beget any children, and they'd yet to find a proper husband for Mother. So Niang got to stay, but she was never allowed to forget that she was less, simply because her parents hadn't been married. It only got worse when it was discovered that Mother had been already pregnant when she went through terrigenesis. That had never happened before, no one could have expected the consequences it had."

"It affected her, didn't it?" Tony guessed.

"She was born gifted." Daisy nodded. "A healer. She needed Mother to absorb the life-force and pass it on to her, but then she could use it to heal someone else. When Mother had only ever been able to heal herself. There were those who believed that Niang had stolen a piece of Mother's gift for herself, but Mother disabused them of the notion. She believed that the two were always meant to work together for the betterment of their people, our people. And so Niang earned her place in society. The Elders would still whisper about her, her status as a bastard daughter behind her back, but there were no more plans to get rid of her."

And there had been plans, they all knew that much.

"Mother was finally married to a man of her own Father's choosing, shortly before he passed away." Daisy continued. "They didn't love each other, but they respected one another, and they both were willing to do what was needed of them. They had three children, two boys and one girl. The girl and her father died during an Earthquake. The youngest boy during failed terrigenesis. While the eldest went through it and came out with a gift for manipulating the tides. He went out into the world, claiming he was meant for more than life in the mountains, he wanted to save the world… they never saw him again."

And just like that, it came down to Jiaying and Xinyi again.

"When WWII happened, the inhumans were living in a number of small settlements at the foot of the mountains." Daisy went on. "Most of Lai Shi had been lost in the Earthquake, years earlier. Making it necessary for our people to find new homes. It was supposed to be temporary, but no one knew how to even begin to rebuild, after such a loss, not just the buildings, but the lives. And even those who'd survived, found it difficult, to even think about returning." She exhaled. "We… we don't know how it happened, how they knew. But somehow HYDRA knew there were gifted in the South of China, they went looking. We think it must have been connected to the diviner they'd found. They were somehow using it to track us. They attacked several of the villages, killing those who resisted, and taking the Elders hostage. Looking for answers. They took Mother. She was the only inhuman they took, actually. The diviner, like the terrigen itself, kills those who aren't of inhuman blood. Many of the Elders died, all of them chose that rather than reveal the truth. And just before HYDRA could discover the truth by force, the place was stormed by the Allies, who released the prisoners that remained."

"When was this?" Steve Rogers asked, interested.

"Sometime early May of 1945, best we can estimate." Grant announced. "You were already lost Captain, but Agent Carter and the Howling Commandos apparently continued doing missions together until the official end of the war. They arrested Werner Reinhardt."

"Fat lot of good it did!" Alisha scoffed angrily. "The bastard still found his way to freedom later on anyway!"

"What?!" The Avengers weren't expecting that.

"We'll get to that." Raina stated gently. "Some stories are better told in order."

"When Mother returned to China she ordered that Lai Shi be rebuilt." Daisy took over the story again. "Not to be our home, but a sanctuary, a place we could go to and be safe when needed. So the place was rebuilt, but for the most parts the inhumans continued living as they had. And ever so slowly the lines began mixing with human families. They were still offered the chance at terrigenesis. Some accepted, some declined; sometimes it worked, others it failed, time kept passing, and life continued."

Like it always did.

"I don't know when exactly Niang met Loki, she's never really given us that much detail." Daisy said thoughtfully. "What we do know is that sometimes the village became too much for her. Even living among humans, most followed the lead of the inhumans, which meant that they still saw Niang as less for being illegitimate."

"She told me once she couldn't have children." Loki offered. "Would have been disavowed if she were to even try."

"Because it made the stain on the family name, created by her birth, all the bigger." Raina finished for him.

"That's… that's barbaric!" Tony Stark cried out.

Natasha Romanoff said nothing, but those who knew her, really knew her, and her past, they would have realized how those words got to her. The parallelisms. Even if in the case of the Chinese woman it was a choice and not something forced on her, it might as well have been, considering that just trying would have meant losing everything she knew, all the family, her way of life. And it also went against everything she'd been taught her whole life.

"It's insane, we know." Lincoln nodded. "We're not disagreeing."

"In ancient times, family was very important in China, and thus it was so for inhumans as well." Lincoln did his best to explain. "One had to respect their ancestors, their past, had to know and understand the family history. Family was everything. A marriage wasn't just about the bride and groom, it was a union of two families. An illegitimate child, was one that only had half the family they should, and that was wrong, it went against tradition. Against everything they were all supposed to believe in. Usually another member of the family could have adopted the child when he or she was still an infant, but with Shimû and Niang being the last of their line…"

"And couldn't a different family have adopted her?" Bruce inquired.

"It would have meant her giving up the family she was born to anyway." Alisha shook her head.

They didn't believe any of that, of course not. Or well, not exactly. They knew family was important of course, the most important thing in the world. But they didn't agree that a family had to be so by blood. They all considered each other siblings (when they weren't a match), and none of them shared any bonds of blood, Daisy was the only one with any blood-connection to Niang, and still, she was Mom to all of them. That was just how things were.

"Anyway," Daisy steered them back to what was important in that moment. "Niang made a habit of leaving our little, nameless village to visit other places, a few days every month. Mostly in the Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces. It was in the latter that she met Loki…"

"She was fascinated by a group of performers with flutes." Loki murmured, losing himself to the memory briefly. "Most were bamboo, but the leading performer had one made of stone. And the nightingales flew and sang around them. It's why I called her Yeying. She wouldn't give me her name so I called her that. She called me Yu, because of my eyes…" He shook his head briefly. "I remember that when I first saw her I thought two things, the first was that she was so beautiful, probably the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, and the second was that she didn't seem to quite fit with her surroundings, like she didn't quite belong to that village, to the world as a whole. I was right on both counts."

"When was the last time you saw her brother?" Thor asked very quietly.

"March 23rd 1993…" Loki whispered very softly.

"That was the day Mother was kidnapped." Daisy offered gently. "Along with every other Elder in every single mountain village on the Eastern side of the Hunan Province."

"I don't understand." Thor didn't get what she meant with that.

Daisy opened her mouth, then closed it again. Even if she hadn't been old enough to remember any of it, it was hard for her to go into such things. So her husband helped her.

"From what we've managed to piece together, following WWII, the government of the United States recruited Nazi scientists and the like through moves like Operation Paperclip." Grant explained things as simply yet explicitly as he could. "One of those Nazis was none other than Werner Reinhardt. We have no idea what he did all those years, but by the 90s he managed to make it back to his old Lab in Austria, where he set to continue the experiments he'd been working on back in the 40s. So he sent his people after the Elders. Jiaying was one of those he took. I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out."

"Niang wasn't in the village when they came." Daisy had finally pulled herself together. "That was probably the only reason why they didn't take her too. "My Father tried to save her and it cost him his life. Though we do know he managed to kill Reinhardt and all his followers, avenging her and ensuring our safety. As for us, Niang decided we were no longer safe in the village. If one monster had found us others would be able to do the same, so Lai Shi once more became the home of the inhumans."

"It's how we all became family." Lincoln stated. "Daisy, Raina, Alisha and I, we were all in the village at the time. What Reinhardt did, he didn't just take our Elders. He left people there to be able to use us afterwards, when it was convenient. Those inhumans who were active fought them back and many died. We all lost our families during the fight. So Niang took us all in."

"All of you, what about him?" Clint Barton inquired, signaling to Grant.

"I'm human." Grant shrugged. "But we'll get to that part."

"That day, during the attack." Alisha chose to intervene, noticing there was something no one had said yet. "Niang is a pacifist. She doesn't know how to fight, never learned. When those active inhumans who could fight, did, she went after us. Two of the monsters followed her. In the end she did the only thing she could think of, she threw one of the terrigen crystals to the floor. Releasing the mist into the room." She exhaled slowly. "It killed the monsters as well as two of the kids with us, those who hadn't inherited the inhuman gene, though we couldn't have known that at the time, of course. The rest of us, we gained our powers."

It was something that they knew had eaten at their Niang for many years. The idea that she'd caused the death of two innocent children. Even knowing as they all did that the men attacking them would have done that if not something much, much worse. The only consolation in the end was those she managed to save. It hadn't even been just them. There had been others, like Ho Yin, Lan, Leah, Kyle… but they all had had families who could take them in, or been old enough to choose to be on their own soon enough they hadn't made the rest of them into their family. Not like they had. As for them… Lincoln and Alisha had had distant family, but none of them active inhumans, no one who would have been able to understand them, would have had the slightest idea of how to deal not just with a growing child, but one growing with gifts.

"It was unprecedented." Lincoln informed them. "Niang was enough of a rarity having been born with her gift, even if no one knew for the longest time. We were activated when we were very young. Even before the protocols Shimû had implemented for choosing those who could go through terrigenesis, no one would have even considered using the mists on children."

"She did it to make sure you survived." Steve couldn't help but defend the choices of a woman he didn't even know.

"We know that." Alisha nodded. "It's not like we're complaining or anything. I mean, it was crazy, beyond crazy even. Growing up with powers. Raina had to be very careful with her thorns, careful not to hurt others, or herself. But sometimes… well, we were kids. And then when something happened Lincoln would get scared and he'd give people shocks whenever anyone touched him. If Daisy needed someone and they didn't answer fast enough… well, the whole house would begin to shake."

"And if they didn't answer when you called your doubles would come out and then there would be up to half a dozen kids crying instead of one." Lincoln deadpanned.

Alisha shrugged, not seeing the point to even try and deny it.

The Avengers couldn't help but laugh, it sounded definitely insane. They couldn't imagine a single woman looking after all of them on her own. She sounded like a truly remarkable woman, made them want to know her… and to reunite her with Loki, because none of them had forgotten that that was apparently the whole point of what the 'Sentinels' were doing.

"And how does a human end up involved in such a mess?" Tony Stark wanted to know.

All the inhumans turned to look at Grant. Silently communicating that it was his show, it was up to him how much he was willing to reveal of himself. After some consideration Grant just didn't see the point of holding anything back, not when everyone else was being so open.

"I was born Grant Douglas Ward." He announced straight on.

"What…?" Several asked at the same time.

"Wait, like the Senator Christian Ward?" Romanoff inquired.

"Exactly like him." Grant nodded grimly. "He's a monster, the whole family bar Thomas is rotten to the core. There's a reason why I dropped the name and took Daisy's when we got married." He shook his head to push that aside. "My mother was always the worst, she'd do awful things to Christian and I, though mostly to him. And then Christian would take out his anger on Thomas and sometimes on me. It only got worse when they began fostering a little girl: Emma… She became mother's favorite. Christian almost killed her once. It was so bad that Child Services took her away. Of course, then mother got it into her head that she wanted another. Like they were toy-dolls in a store! I knew that, given the chance, Christian would do much worse the next time." He ran a hand through his hair. "That was all supposed to be over for me. Father had sent me to military school and unlike many of my classmates, I didn't hate it. For me it wasn't a prison but freedom from the hell of a family I was born into. And then Thomas told me that they were adopting another girl. So I returned. I started a fire in the house, hoping to give a reason to Child Services to never allow a child to be fostered by us. As it happened, Christian was still in the house, and the fire department got there quickly enough. Everyone said I'd started the fire on purpose, trying to kill my brother. At least Child Services denied them the chance to foster anyone ever again! Anyway, I was sent to juvie and my mother was arguing for me to be tried as an adult, probably hoping to get rid of me permanently, when I met John Garrett."

"John Garrett?" Rogers asked, wondering why the name sounded familiar.

"He's a SHIELD Agent." Romanoff reminded him.

"No, he's not." Grant knew that the next piece was going to make things all the more insane, but he couldn't really keep it from them, if anyone deserved (needed) to know the truth, they did: "He's HYDRA."

The reaction to that wasn't quite what any of the Sentinels might have been expecting.

"They don't believe us." Raina clarified that part.

"It's just, he's John…" Clint did his best to defend his own disbelief.

"HYDRA's gone, has been gone since the war ended." Steve stated, trying so very hard to hold onto what he believed.

"Yeah… no." Lincoln deadpanned.

"You do remember that these guys were all for the 'cut one head and another rises in its place' thing, right?" Daisy drawled.

"But… we won…" There was such vulnerability in the Captain in that moment that Daisy immediately dropped his sarcasm and everyone straightened up in place.

"Sorry to be the one to deliver bad news Captain, but they're not gone." Raina was the one to voice what they were all thinking. "They never were."

"Reinhardt was HYDRA." Lincoln pointed out. "Back in the forties, and believe me when I tell you he hadn't changed his agenda any in the nineties, it's why he came after Shimû and the rest of the Elders all over again."

"Okay, lets suppose, for argument's sake, that you're right about Reinhardt, what makes you so sure about Garrett?" Romanoff wanted, needed, to know that.

She knew John, both she and Clint did, he was a very close friend of Phil's… the idea that he might be nothing more than a traitor…

"Aside from the fact that he told me?" Grant asked, brow arched.

"He was in China, back in 93'." Raina announced. "He was part of the team Reinhardt sent. It was his idea to go after the children, only he sent others ahead of him, it was the only reason why the terrigen mist didn't kill him. He didn't really know about the inhumans, only that one of his bosses wanted 'special' people from that place, and he'd no trouble with that, he loved being in a position of power. How he even survived the mess that day I have no idea. Even my visions haven't shown me that much. Though I have an idea that he's not exactly right anymore, not fully human in any case."

"Enhanced." Grant guessed. "It'd make sense." He shrugged. "He never told me much, of course. Only that SHIELD had abandoned him, left him for dead, and HYDRA save him, they gave him a chance at survival. I don't think he's actually loyal to HYDRA, it's more about survival, and about power to him."

"That only makes him more dangerous." Daisy murmured grimly.

"He's not our problem." Alisha reminded them. "We got Grant away from him. That was all we needed to do. Grant was the one that mattered, not Garrett."

"Thanks Ali, glad to know you care." Grant said with a drawl and a roll of his eyes.

Alisha scoffed at the same time she smacked his arm, to which they all laughed. There was such camaraderie between them all. It was clear to the Avengers that they weren't just a team; unlike the Avengers, they weren't in it just to fight the 'bad guy' and that was it, they were a family, had been for much longer than they'd had to fight together. It actually made a few of the newly named Avengers wonder if one day they might be just like them… a family all their own.

"How did you find him anyway?" Tony wanted to know.

"Raina." Grant said simply, as if that were answer enough.

"Raina had a vision, and she came to me with it." Daisy elaborated, then took a deep breath before getting to the important part. "She told me that my soulmate was standing on the edge of a knife and that if we didn't get to him before he fell, one way or the other, there might not be another chance to save him."

Whether that meant death or something worse they didn't know, never cared for asking.

"So I called Gordon and we convinced him to get us to Grant." Daisy continued. "It wasn't easy, because since Grant isn't inhuman, Gordon couldn't track him, the way he can track us. But, as we discovered, he could follow Raina's visions. So that's how we found him."

"In juvie?" Bruce Banner asked, trying to make sure he was following everything.

"No, I wasn't in juvie anymore by then." Grant shook his head. "When John went there to see me. He had this whole speech about how he believed in me, he believed I could do great things, I just needed a little guidance. Then he told me that my parents were pushing for me to be judged as an adult. If that happened… my life would be ruined. He made me an offer,"

"What kind of offer?" Steve asked, though he suspected the answer.

"The kind one doesn't refuse." Grant answer was much as the blonde was expecting. "He got me out of juvie and took me away. From what Daisy has found out since, the authorities looked for me for years before eventually declaring me dead. Which suited me just fine. Once I knew Thomas had gotten away too, that he was free, I wanted nothing to do with the Wards anymore." He shook his head, forcing himself to focus. "John took me to the middle of some forest and he left me there to survive. That was the first test. I was supposed to find a way to survive on my own, hunt for my own food, create shelter. My only aid was a dog, Buddy, he left with me. I was to prove I could survive against all odds. It was supposed to only be for a few weeks, he didn't return for six months."

"What?!" All the Avengers were horrified.

"How… how old…?" Steve couldn't even find the right words to finish the question.

It was also taking all of Bruce's calming techniques to keep from 'going green'.

"I was sixteen." Grant shrugged, it was all old history to him. "The first few weeks were rough, then I realized my thinking was limited, so I started raiding cabins. Got some tools, a tent, taught myself to shoot with the rifle John had left me. Eventually even managed to build my own cabin, not the best, but it was enough."

"Just how long did you stay in that place?" Tony knew it had to have been more than 6 months.

"Almost five years." Grant answered calmly. "John would visit every few months to see how I was doing and give me a few tips to improve my shooting. He taught me how to use a knife, to fight hand to hand. He told me about SHIELD, about how he'd been betrayed, abandoned, left to die; then he told me about HYDRA. I was willing to do anything for him. He was all I had… until the day four brats dropped in on me."

"Brats…?" Several asked at the same time.

"Just how old were you all?" Clint had a bad feeling.

"Grant was, what? Twenty, twenty-one?" Lincoln was clearly avoiding their own ages, but eventually it needed to be said.

"Lincoln and I were seventeen, Raina fourteen, Daisy was twelve." Alisha dropped the bomb.

"Oh my god…" Bruce was horrified. "You… you were just kids!"

"Trust us, we know." Lincoln nodded.

They all winced a bit to themselves, the memory of Niang's long tirade still fresh in their minds. Though what had stayed the most had been the look in her eyes, the way she'd been absolutely terrified for them. They'd been stupid, telling Gordon to take them, not informing anyone where they were going, not telling any adult anything. They'd learned their lesson.

They didn't go into any further details. The Avengers didn't need to know that the four inhumans had barely gotten there in time. Grant had already been packed and was waiting to go through with his last test before they could leave so Grant could start at SHIELD's Ops Academy. The task: kill Buddy. Grant hadn't been able to use the handgun, instead taking a shot to make the dog run. And then John told him to use the rifle… it was pretty much onto that, that Gordon and the others had dropped. Daisy's reaction had been instinctive, using her powers to take the gun apart, at the same time Alisha's doubles ganged up on John. There was no finesse, no strategy, only the advantage of surprise and numbers. And then had come the choice:

"It's your choice Grant, you can stay here, be John Garrett's little toy soldier, until the day you're no longer of use to him and he discards you. And you know the day will come, and he will do it. It's why he told you to trust no one, not even him. To John you're no one, not a friend, not a pupil, just a pawn, a tool to use until there's no more need for it. But to us… you could be family. I know it's asking you to take a hell of a chance. You don't know us, you've never met us. But I guarantee you, that whatever might come in the future, we will never leave you behind. You will be family, and family is forever."

It had been a risky choice of words, considering what his birth family had been like. But by then Grant had been away from the Wards for five years and hadn't considered them family for even longer than that. Even then, like Raina said, it had been a hell of a chance. Even close to a decade later the man had no idea what made him choose as he did. It just felt… right. All he asked of them was for the chance to take Buddy with him, they all agreed.

And so they'd gathered around Gordon and left. Leaving John unconscious beside a dismantled sniper rifle and a packed-up camp. No trace that they'd ever been there. They got back to Lai Shi, to Niang who was almost going crazy in her worry and started chastising them the moment she was sure none of them were hurt. Though she did take a moment to reassure Grant that whatever else might happen, he was very much welcome. Grant could hardly believe that a woman whom he'd never met, who'd never seen him before, could be so welcoming… he might have been a grown man by then, over his majority already, but that didn't matter. Niang was as much a mother to him as she was for the rest.

"We're going to have to do something about this." Natasha stated grimly.

Finally willing to accept that John Garrett might be HYDRA, and the implications of such a thing. It was insane but, much as they might hate to admit it, not impossible.

"Fury's going to go nuts over this." Clint pointed out with a sigh.

"I think there's something else we have to deal with first." Tony reminded everyone.

And really, while HYDRA might be a problem, and a serious one, they still had the situation with Loki in their hands.

No one expected it when Daisy stood from her spot and then went to kneel in front of where Loki himself was sitting.

"I offer you my sincerest apologies, in my name and that of my family." She told him softly but with a certain tone that showed she'd power, not just with her gift, but authority, and she knew it. "We are the reason you never saw her again after that day."

"Why?" Loki asked, and while his voice sounded the same as ever, there was a hint of what, in a lesser man, might have been called despair. "If she'd told me, if she'd only asked me…"

"Because she didn't want to take you away from your life." Daisy explained quietly. "Even if you never spoke of it outright, she always knew you were more than human. The fact that the two of you could only meet every month or so… it wasn't only for her, and she knew that. After the loss of Mother and so many of the active inhumans… we isolated ourselves again. Niang didn't leave Lai Shi for many years." She exhaled, sitting on feet as she went on. "After Mother's death, and with Yat-Sen the only remaining Elder, Niang was thrust into a position she never expected, one she'd have never been allowed to have under any other circumstances. But Mother was gone and I was only an infant, not even a year old yet."

"She was made Queen…" Thor whispered in realization.

The blonde Aesir couldn't help but turn to look at his little brother, remembering another who'd never been meant for a throne, and then thrust into the position unexpectedly. He still might not understand everything that had happened those days, two years prior, but he was beginning to suspect it wasn't quite as simple as his friends might have made it seem back then. Then again, was anything ever simple when his brother was involved?

"To those of the older generation, like Yat-Sen and the other Elders, she was Queen mostly in name only." Daisy admitted softly. "But for those of us who cared, she was more. For us of course, she was Niang, she will always be Niang. The rest of the inhumans call her Niáng Niang. It means Queen Mother. I think she liked it, not having power, but our people knowing she cared, and caring in turn. She didn't care if the old geezers saw her as nothing more than a figurine to keep tradition until a more 'appropriate' individual could take the position."

"Meaning you." Loki finished for her.

"Meaning me," Daisy nodded, then added with a little smirk. "And Grant."

And hadn't that one got them all into a tizzy?! Daisy had been sure Yat-Sen would have a stroke. Truth was that the younger generation didn't much care if their Queen had a human husband. Aside from the protocols for choosing those that would go through terrigenesis and the keeping of Lai Shi, the inhuman's Queen didn't have that many responsibilities. Perhaps in the future, when humanity as a whole knew of their existence that would change. Then they'd need someone to step up, to speak for them (something Daisy had always known, she was ready for it, she knew that at the pace the world was changing, it wouldn't be long before that day came).

"We married shortly after my eighteenth birthday." Daisy explained. "Took our positions right after the honeymoon. The first thing we did was to make her an official, legitimate part of the family. She's no longer Mother's bastard daughter, she's just her child, my sister, a member of our line in her own right. And of course, to many she will always be Niáng Niang."

"Why you? Why now?" Bruce asked, confused.

"What he means is, if you could do that, why didn't your mother do it, all those years ago?" Tony wanted to know.

"I think… Mother never had quite as much power as some might have believed." Daisy admitted with a quiet sigh. "To the inhumans she was never a Queen, they called her Shimû, which means teacher-mother, basically. Nowadays it's used to refer to the wife of a teach or something like that, but a long time ago, it was used to refer to a woman who was a teacher, probably someone who would 'mother' her students. It can get a bit confusing…" She shook her head, that wasn't the point. "The important part is that while she technically was the Queen of the inhumans, she never ruled alone. The Council of Elders was always there, always part of the decisions. No choice was ever hers alone. Now…" She closed her eyes briefly at the reminder of why things had changed. "Like I told you before, many of our Elders died, when Reinhardt sent his men into our villages. Only Yat-Sen remains of the old Council, and even he knows he's too far removed from the world, from today's society, to exert any kind of authority."

"So you're truly a Queen, more than your Mother, and probably more than many of your ancestors ever were." Natasha murmured in consideration.

Daisy nodded just once. It wasn't something for her to take pride in, not really. It was a huge responsibility, and she was very aware of that. She wouldn't back down though, she would be there for her people, just like Niang taught her.

For a few seconds no one said anything, and then Daisy turned her attention back to Loki, there was something else he needed to know:

"Niang left Lai Shi for the first time since the attack the very next day after we made her new status official." She announced. "She's been looking for you all around since then. Gordon helps her when he can, and when he cannot, she still travels on her own. It's been almost three years now… I fear she might begin losing hope soon."

"I didn't know where she was." Loki admitted quietly. "I kept looking for her after that day. Would visit all the villages where we'd meet, in Hunan, and Guangdong, would take long hikes by the foot of the Luoxiao Mountains, but I could never find her, or your village."

"You wouldn't have." Raina said kindly. "It is said that millennia ago, one of our people did a favor to someone, a powerful sorcerer, and in return she put a very powerful ward around Lai Shi, as long as the blood remains, our sanctuary will be protected."

"The blood…" Tony was the first to get it. "You mean your blood. Your bloodline. That's why your family is so important."

Indeed. While the family had ruled over the inhumans for more than a thousand years, the creation of the ward had, in many ways, cemented their position. It was why it was so important that Jiaying keep living, even when she'd so hated taking the life-force of others, why even the most traditionalist among the Elders had been willing to keep Xinyi around, just in case. And then there was Daisy. Even if she wasn't as pure as her ancestors had been, and her children would be less so, it didn't matter, it was still the same bloodline, and that was enough.

"She's still waiting for you." Grant said, making everyone focus again. "She'd probably wait for you to the end of time… though I've a feeling that if you're the kind of man we think you are, if you're to her what Daisy and I are to each other, what Lincoln and Raina are to one another, you won't be making her wait that long."

"No, I…" Loki broke off, turning to look at his brother in silence, knowing that he couldn't just take off whenever he wanted, not anymore, too much had happened.

"I will help you brother." Thor reassured him, a hand on his little brother's arm. "We will see you and your lady reunited."

"Well," Tony, same reckless, insane man as always, took charge. "What are we waiting for?"

It was absolutely insane. Fury was going to have a fit. Then again, the whole mess with HYDRA might be enough to distract him from the thing with Loki, and as long as the sorcerer gave him no trouble in the future the man might eventually forget about it all. Maybe… He'd certainly be thankful when the day came that he needed an ally and Loki was there to help, and the inhumans (not just the Sentinels, but some day the inhuman tribe as a whole). Also, the Avengers were still too much of a bunch of romantics (even if most of them would never admit it, what with their respective reputations to maintain) to not try and help.

xXx

Yeying was smiling, wide and bright, as she showed Yu the Polaroid picture of her baby sister. She'd gotten the camera in a second-hand shop in London, the last time he'd taken her there. It was a bit old, but well cared for and still worked, and she just loved taking pictures and later on showing them to others. Like how she'd take a few pictures of whatever place Yu took her to and then showed them to her Mama, and to Cal (the man was much too young to be her father, but he was kind to her, much kinder than her last step-father, Yeying liked him; also, he loved Jiaying, and wasn't that supposed to be all that truly mattered in the end?), and even to Gordon, the young boy Mama had last helped transition.

Yeying knew that her Mama was aware she was seeing someone, had been seeing someone for years. They never talked about it, the last thing they needed was for it to reach the wrong ears and someone to get it into their heads that she was trying to besmirch the family, or something else equally idiotic. Yeying could only hope that the day would come when the inhuman tribe would adjust enough to the modern times, enough to stop seeing her status as illegitimate daughter as some kind of curse, or a disease; enough to allow her to live her own life as she chose, to make a family of her own without fearing for them and for herself…

In any case, Yeying hadn't wanted to be too far from home, not then, and so she and Yu had decided to go to Hong Kong, visit the Night Market, watch the performers. It was a simple outing, but still very enjoyable. With the complicated lives they each lead in their own ways it was the simple things they enjoyed the most, like watching a man doing simple tricks on the street for a few coins while they shared some candy.

Neither of them was expecting the young man that suddenly was standing before them, blonde, dressed in a white and blue checkered long sleeved shirt, open over a dark blue wife-beater and blue jeans; the biggest oddity perhaps being the dark-glasses he wore despite it being late in the evening, with no sun in the sky anymore.

"Gordon…?" Yeying blurted out in shock.

She knew instantly that something was very wrong. In all the years that she'd been leaving the village, never had Gordon been sent after her, not even the few times when she'd be late in getting back. Or the first time she stayed the night away (Mama had known about it, of course, but she hadn't been sure what others might think about it).

"I need a word in private." He told her, purposefully using the most archaic form of Chinese they were taught.

She didn't tell him that Yu knew all versions of Chinese, and really, of most languages in the planet. There was no need. She just apologized to Yu and walked a certain distance away to talk to Gordon. When he gave her the news. About the attack, about the men still in the village, Yeying was horrified, she was also enraged. Not only had they taken her mother and their Elders, they were threatening everyone else in the village, including her baby sister! She was so full of righteous anger she almost forgot about Yu, almost.

"Wait for me on the edge of the market." She instructed Gordon. "I'll be with you in a moment."

"Hurry up, my lady." He told her, and then walked away.

Yeying nodded even as she went back to Yu.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" Yu didn't need her to say anything, he'd guessed as much.

"Something has happened, they need me." She didn't explain how the same people who had always seen her as less for being illegitimate suddenly needed her, and he didn't ask.

"When will I see you again?" He asked, he didn't want to think too much about it, but he'd a bad feeling about the whole thing, like he was about to lose her… probably for good.

"I… I don't know." She admitted, hating the mere thought of it.

"I'll be here, in this market, next month, waiting for you." He told her, seeking a promise he knew was probably impossible to make.

"I… I'll try I… I'm sorry Yu, I wish I could promise but I just…"

"You have a duty to your people, I understand that." He did, much as he might not want to. Much as the Aesir might not like him, if they ever needed him, he'd be there. "I'll still be here, hoping to see you again."

"I'll try." It was the best she could give him.

"I love you, I always will."

"Till the last star falls out of the sky..."

He'd known, even back then, that there was a chance they'd never see each other again. He'd hated it, but there was nothing he could do about it. Their lives were what they were, they just had to deal. And so he went back a month later, and the one after that, and the next, always waiting, hoping, praying… until the day came for Thor to be crowned and then everything went to the abyss!

xXx

It was late in the afternoon when the quinjet landed in a small valley just beyond the edges of Lai Shi. Loki hesitated all of a second, until the ramp of the jet was fully down and he could see the woman standing just inside the archway that served as entrance into the inhuman sanctuary. He knew her, she hadn't changed in the slightest in the twenty years since he'd last seen her. And even if she was no longer wearing the red deep robe she'd so favored when they first met, or the blue-gray high-necked tunic with the heavy embroidery he bought for her in the Hong Kong Night Market after they'd been together for years, she was still just as beautiful to his eyes. She was dressed in a simple round-necked, long-sleeved yellow tunic that reached her things, sand-colored loose pants underneath, yellow flats on her feet.

The moment Loki laid eyes on her, memories rushed to the front of his mind. He remembered the first time he saw her, her fascination with the performers and the nightingales in that small village in Guangdong; remembered the way her eyes would wide in wonder and her mouth would drop open just the slightest bit in surprise whenever he took her someplace new (and how he hadn't yet had a chance to show her all the marvels that lied beyond her world…); remembered how she'd looked when lying on that bed with him, in his safe-house in Cairo, without a stitch of clothing on, her eyes clouded by pleasure and her hair forming a halo around her on the pillow. They might never have said the words out loud, but he'd long since known that he'd never again love a woman the way he loved her…

He was standing right in front of her before anyone could so much as see him move, his magic responding to the wishes deep in his heart. He took a fraction of a second to take her in, all of her and then… then he kissed her.

Xinyi worried. She was a worrier, had always been, becoming the Niáng Niang of the Inhumans had only sharpened that part of her. And even with Daisy taking her place as the Queen, Xinyi knew some still turned to her for guidance, and they always would. The woman would fear that her little sister (her daughter) would take offense to that, but there was no way Daisy ever would. Not only because Xinyi had raised her to be better than that, but because it was clear that her child was so very happy not to have to bear such a burden alone. She had Grant, and she had her Niang, and she'd always have them both. Xinyi also understood that the only reason Daisy had claimed her position as soon as she could was in order to help her, to give Xinyi what she'd always needed and never dared ask.

She'd been so happy… the day she became more than the bastard daughter of her clan was one of the best days of her life, almost perfect. If only she'd been able to find him. She'd taken off for Hong Kong the moment everything was arranged. And even though she'd known the chance of Yu being there right then was small, almost negligible, she still couldn't help the pang of disappointment when she couldn't find him. A feeling that only grew as the days, weeks and months passed and she still failed to find him. She'd been to every village in China and Japan where they'd ever spent time together, visited every safe-house where they'd ever spent the night (or sometimes even a weekend). He was nowhere to be found.

After three years, Xinyi, or Yeying as he'd always called her, was at the end of her rope. It wasn't that she'd ever stopped loving him, because she certainly wouldn't; or that she wouldn't take him back if he were to ever show up, because she certainly would. But she just couldn't keep traipsing the world looking for him. The ever growing disappointment was almost too much for her old heart, and she feared that she might end up missing on important moments with her family, her children, if she just kept disappearing. Four of them were already married, it wouldn't be long before one or both girls became pregnant, and Xinyi wasn't going to miss that, and she certainly wasn't going to miss on the chance of spoiling the next generation, the children that would, for all intents and purposes, be her grandchildren.

Xinyi hadn't really been surprised when Daisy announced that they were going to New York, to help fight the alien invasion that was coming. From the moment Raina shared her most recent vision with everyone she'd known that was coming. Even before that she'd long since known it was only a matter of time. The world was changing, it may have started with Tony Stark's 'I am Iron Man', but it hadn't ended there. Xinyi had known for a while that, sooner or later the world would need the Inhumans, and Daisy would have to step up as their leader, their Queen. She'd been preparing for that day… and it had finally come.

What did worry the woman, was when Gordon told her that he'd heard from Daisy. The battle was over, they were all alright and they were flying back in a quinjet, along with some new friends. It wasn't that Xinyi thought they couldn't trust the Avengers; even if they were connected to SHIELD, and SHIELD to HYDRA, she wasn't about to blame them for the attack on their villages when chances were they hadn't the slightest idea of any of it! Still, living so long in isolation had made Xinyi worry more, instead of less, she could only hope that the so-called Avengers were worthy of the trust her children were putting on them. Though, just to be sure, she'd decided to be there, to 'read them', just a bit, just enough to be sure.

All thought of that, or really of anything at all, left her mind at the same time her breath was stolen in the most unexpected kiss she'd ever gotten. It took her several seconds to realize who it was that stood there, kissing her like his life depended on him; and then she responded with the same intensity.

In that moment Xinyi… Yeying, with him, to him she'd always be Yeying; she had no idea what was going on, how Yu had made it there, what had happened, nothing at all. But none of it mattered right then. Nothing except the man holding him in her arms, kissing her with a passion and a love she knew and mirrored perfectly.

"I love you…" The both whispered practically at the same time, just after drawing in the oxygen their burning longs were calling for.

"I always will." Loki added.

"Till the last star falls out of the sky." Yeying completed.

They were the same words they had used that day, the last time they'd seen each other before everything had changed, before they spent twenty years separated, missing each other. Dreaming and hoping for the day when they might be together again… and the day had finally come.

On the ramp to the quinjet Tony Stark opened his mouth to let out a catcall, only for Lincoln to put a hand over it before a single word could come out.

"Don't you dare interrupt them." Raina hissed at him at the same time.

"But I just…" Tony actually pouted.

"Really Tony, they've been waiting for twenty years to be together, let them have this moment." Steve chastised him gently.

"Fine…" Deep down Tony knew the Captain was right, Loki had more than earned some private time with his beloved.

When the lovers disappeared (teleporting straight to Xinyi's private home) Daisy and the other inhumans didn't even comment on it. They just lead the Avengers on a basic tour of the place and then to one of the empty buildings where they might be able to rest. It would probably be a while before Loki and Yeying joined them, and they were in no hurry to seek them out.

xXx

Early the next morning, the sun just beginning to appear from in between the mountains, the inhumans woke to something few had ever heard before: the nightingale singing… It was not something she did often in Lai Shi, and never for anyone other than her children. Quite ironic (and sad), considering that so many people in many different places around the world knew her voice, loved her singing. But for the longest time Xinyi/Yeying had been less among her people, it didn't exactly motivate her into singing. But that morning… she'd never before been as happy as she was in that very moment, and there was just so much love and joy inside her, she had to let it out. So she sang, she sang and as she did she let her voice communicate everything she felt:

"I wanna leave my footprints on the sands of time

Know there was something that, meant something that I left behind

When I leave this world, I'll leave no regrets

Leave something to remember, so they won't forget"

"I was here

I lived, I loved

I was here

I did, I've done everything that I wanted

And it was more than I thought it would be

I will leave my mark so everyone will know

I was here"

Yeying was old, older than most would expect when looking at her, even knowing that she was essentially immortal. No one actually knew just how old she was, not even she, the tribe hadn't always been the best at keeping records. Before the Wars, and especially before the Earthquake that made them have to leave the mountains, they didn't have that much of a connection with the outside world, and thus no need to keep up with any sort of modern calendar. In any case, Yeying was old, she'd seen more things than most would imagine, and even then, she still loved life, she loved watching the sun rise over the mountains, its light reflecting on the peaks of the snow-capped mountains. Loved watching the green valleys, the flowers, the running rivers and most of all, she loved watching her children grow, see them happy. Yeying honestly believed that being a mother was the greatest gift life could have ever given her (and to think there was a time when she believed it was one she'd never have!), it didn't matter if they hadn't come from her own body. Daisy, Raina, Lincoln, Alisha and even Grant, they were all her children and they always would be. And who knew? Perhaps one day she might even be able to give them a little sister…

"I wanna say I lived each day, until I die

And know that I meant something in somebody's life

The hearts I have touched will be the proof that I leave

That I made a difference, and this world will see"

"I was here

I lived, I loved

I was here

I did, I've done everything that I wanted

And it was more than I thought it would be

I will leave my mark so everyone will know"

Raina smiled to herself as the vision hit her. Of a girl with hair of a brown so dark it was almost black and eyes that looked like a swirling mix of red orange and black, like a gemstone. In an off-white tunic and playing with fire (literally!) under the watchful eyes of all her siblings… But the part that touched her the most, was that Méigui (that was her name, Raina knew it inside) wasn't the only child in that vision, there were others, a boy called Wilson with dark brown hair and his father's whiskey eyes, a little prince; and a baby girl with wild dirty-blonde hair and the bluest eyes, her little angel, her Tianshi… Raina was crying, inside the vision and out of it, what she'd just seen, it was everything she could have ever desired. And she knew it wouldn't be easy. They still had so much to do, enemies to fight, a world to keep safe, but the day would come when they'd be at peace, and their families would grow (her baby!), that was more than enough for her.

"I was here

I lived, I loved

I was here

I did, I've done everything that I wanted

And it was more than I thought it would be

I will leave my mark so everyone will know

I was here"

"I just want them to know

That I gave my all, did my best

Brought someone some happiness

Left this world a little better just because

I was here"

Daisy smiled, so wide she was sure her face would begin hurting at any moment, but she didn't care. They'd made it. Even though it had seemed so impossible at one point, they'd made it. She'd hated so much seeing her Niang suffer for the absence of her beloved, couldn't help but feel guilty sometimes because of it, that she was the reason they had to separate. Even though she knew it was insane, Niang would never blame her, and she'd been just a baby! But still, there was a reason why, the moment Raina told her Yu would be in New York she'd jumped at the chance of getting him back. Yes, they'd fought the aliens, had helped save the world. But that wasn't why she'd done it, not really, not deep down. She'd done it for Niang, they all had. Because she was their mother, and just like they all knew she'd do anything for them, so would they for her…

"I was here

I lived, I loved

I was here

I did, I've done everything that I wanted

And it was more than I thought it would be

I wanna leave my mark so everyone will know"

"I was here

I lived (I lived), I loved

I was here

I did (I did), I've done

I was here

I lived (I lived), I loved (I loved)

I was here (oh)

I did, I've done

I was here"

---

So, what do you think? Did you like it? I wanted to do something new with Daisy and the Inhumans and this was the only way I could think of. This wasn't actually the first 'other incarnation' fic I wrote, but it's the first I'm posting because I decided to post most of these ones in the order in which the incarnations came into the world, so-to-speak.

The way I see it, the Nightingale from the main timeline (and most AUs) was actually the last chance for her and Loki to be together; to the point that I've only cited incarnations that came after her in extreme situations, and either she'd already made a difference in Loki's life before her death, or there was time-travel involved... Without her I see Loki as going mostly down the path of MCU canon (with the obvious differences I made to Thanos and everyone else), not a hero, not a villain, and dying in some valiant way because he, at his very core, cannot stand to be without her for much longer.

These stories will have a format where I'll begin each one with a paragraph that will explain, vaguely, why that incarnation wasn't in the main timeline. As a way to establish a connection back to the original.

As always, full sized poster/cover and set of wallpapers can be found in my DA page, I go by Princess-Lalaith there.

I hope you enjoyed this story, and will enjoy the ones to come. See ya in a few weeks!