I'm not really a one for fanfic, I've always preferred to play in my own sandpit with my own characters than somebody else's but somehow the assorted Avengers stuff has dragged by Muse kicking and screaming into that world. A lot of this is probably going to revolve around original characters but it's also my take on the whole issue of why Loki goes from being a trickster to being a complete psycho after his fall from the Bifrost and how maybe, just maybe he could be helped back from the abyss within.

Wherein Thor turns out to be a bit brighter than people give him credit for and Stark and Fury finds out that you should never quite trust a Medicine woman who's old enough to be your granny and where Loki finds out that Odin's idea of tough love and visible justice is….well, very Old Norse, heavy on the tough.

Lo, There do I see my Father
Lo, There do I see my Mother and
My Brothers and my Sisters
Lo, There do I see the line of my people back to the beginning
Lo, They do call to me
They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla
Where thine enemies have been vanquished
Where the brave shall live Forever
Nor shall we mourn but rejoice for those that have died the glorious death.

Prologue

Fury read the file for the third time and realised that Stark was right, the Avengers did need to expand their support staff and actually plan for things going wrong. It had apparently been Steve Roger's idea, he was after all a soldier and it seemed odd to him not to have their own medical personnel. Yes, if one of them was gravely injured they pretty much had a room reserved at County but it was laughable that Banner, the one who as often as not was green and smashing things ended up as the one stitching them up after their battles.

How stark had found the candidate he didn't know but not two hours after they'd waved Thor and his megalomaniac brother goodbye the list of who the Avenger's intended to hire had arrived on his desk. Note; not a list of possible candidates for his approval but a list of who they were going to hire. It wasn't a long list really, four nurses to cover shifts and absences – each one of them ex-military and they passed vetting easily enough, a physiotherapist to work when needed also made sense but the last name was the one that still, after 48 hours, had his ulcer burning and he still couldn't argue with their choice. She was the ideal person for the job and he admitted to himself that the only reason he was delaying was that he didn't want to have to work with someone who'd told him to go shove his offer of a job at SHIELD where it would sting most and when he'd tried to strong arm her she'd laughed in his face and then told him she held no grudges as she'd watch him die of old age soon enough…after she nearly tore his throat out.

With a sigh he signed the papers and passed them to Stark.

Annie Running Cat

The cabin sat on a rise at the top of the lakeside meadow, far enough up to be safely above any chance of flooding and far enough out from the trees that although the forest broke the force of the wind the occupant would, if needed, have a good view of anyone approaching on foot. Of course he wasn't on foot but his suit was far from quiet and as he landed no more than a few feet from the door Stark heard the uncomfortable sound of a gun being cocked. Armoured or not, being shot at by the person you want to employ is not likely to be a good plan.

He raised his hands in as none threatening a way as he could. "Steady on there, I just want to talk." He scanned the front of the building and spotted her holding what looked like an antique Colt. "Really, I'm here to make you an offer…"

"I told Fury five years ago I had no intention of getting involved in his killing game and I've not changed my mind. I'm through with working for the Government." She did however seem to relax as she stepped out from the shadows at the end of the porch. The gun now back on her hip. Tony has only seen one picture of her and it was a black and white image of her in a nurse's uniform with a date scribbled on the back of July 1940. But somehow he was still surprised that she looked the same. She was all of five and a half feet tall, black hair of course and her flawless skin glowed. He was used to working with a Norse God and mutants but even he felt a shudder as he finally made eye contact and felt, just for an instant the weight of her years and experience.

"I...I don't know what SHIELD wanted from you in the past but I'm here to ask you to consider helping the Avengers." He felt about twelve and the words tumbled out. "I found your file on the SHIELD server and you're the obvious choice, please, we need a medic… we needs a healer. Someone who can deal with the physical injuries and be there for the other stuff, someone who understands what it's like not being 'normal'." His lip curled in contempt at the last word and he looked at the ground for a moment. When he looked up there was a hint of a smile on her face and she exhaled slowly.

"You'd better come in. But take off the metal work – my guests don't need armour."

Inside the cabin was surprisingly modern and airy, the walls decorated with native crafts and old photos. She made good coffee and he was immediately drawn into conversation, within a few minutes he knew she was the right person for the job…and so did she.

Less than a week later she moved into the avengers temporary HQ in his mansion and as soon as the new medical suite was completed she proceeded to bully every single one of the staff, including him, into sitting still for a full medical, complete with baseline readings, scans and full blood work. She ransacked Banner's knowledge of the team and then proceeded to extract as much technical information from Stark himself as she could at every opportunity.

He'd known she was intelligent, she'd picked up Doctorates in Nursing, Medicine, Psychology, Pharmacy and Biochemistry as she'd moved through the 20th century but he'd assumed that was a way to constantly move on as her unusual lifespan made her conspicuous, not that she had such a pure passion for learning - and that itself was her greatest asset for gaining their trust. She was clearly determined to know everything she could to prepare herself for the inevitable time when one of them was injured and in the mean time she had the easy camaraderie of a career soldier getting to know a new posting. Hardly a surprise since as far as he could tell she'd served at least twice and worked with the VA for a total of three decades.

It didn't take long before the new facilities were tested. The archer was bleeding profusely from a jagged wound that ran the length of his calf and as Rogers carried his wounded team mate into the newly outfitted infirmary her team, already alerted by JARVIS, performed flawlessly. A few hours later he was sat in the common sitting room enjoying the company of the team, his wound stitched and bandaged and a drip keeping him perfectly in the zone of pain free but able to participate in the post mission chill out – she did however sternly draw the line at him drinking alcohol much to his chagrin.

It had been less than a month since the end of the Chitauri invasion and the conversation turned to speculation about how soon the final member of the team would return from Asgard.

Natasha looked at her and grinned. "Just wait till you meet Thor, he's like a natural disaster."

Banner, who'd not been drinking either, was far more serious about the whole thing. "He's the one person who's not likely to give you any business Doc, he doesn't get injured or if he does he heals so swiftly it amounts to the same thing." That led to the two of them spending the rest of the evening talking shop, much to the groans and occasional thrown popcorn of the rest of them.