Last Plan

by Lalaith Quetzalli

-AU to Nightingale.- They had a plan, a good one... then she fell, and the plan fell with her. With all chance for the old plans lost, the god and his match will have to step out of the shadows and do what they never have before: improvise. This time she will take charge, and the universe will know who the true heroes are. (During the 1st Avengers movie) LokiOFC ThorJane

1. Fall

So, I said I'd be away for four weeks and I ended taking four months... I'm not gonna apologize, I don't see the point. Everyone who's in this knows that sometimes Real Life can get messy, and sometimes the muse just refuses to cooperate... and sometimes other fandoms just call to us (in my specific case: Hobbit and Sherlock). Now, while I won't say Avengers 2 is the best movie I've ever seen... it at least helped call me back (though I'm still extremely disappointed by the absence of my dear love... that so wasn't fair!)

Anyway, here we are. As you should know by now, I don't own the Avengers, or anything about this. I technically do own Nightingale, though not the actress I choose to use for her in the posters and wallpapers.

If you find the story familiar when you begin reading, that's completely intentional. The story starts the same as Plan B, though diverts soon enough. I just couldn't get a certain scene out of my head at it all snowballed from there.

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Last Plan

(Alternative Universe to Nightingale -and Plan B-)

By: Lalaith Quetzalli

They had a plan, a good one... then she fell, and the plan fell with her. With all chance for the old plans lost, the god and his match will have to step out of the shadows and do what they never have before: improvise. This time she will take charge, and the universe will know who the true heroes are.

Fall

We had a plan, then the unexpected happened, and the plan was scrapped.

It was one of our escape-weekends. With just the two of us in a location unknown to everyone else; the time we took for ourselves, free from any and all responsibility… And yet, that Saturday morning, I couldn't help but worry, particularly when I learnt that what we'd been preparing for during the last months was finally going to happen…

"So, it will all go down in the next few days." I returned to the main topic.

"Yes." Loki nodded. "I've done all I could, stalling Thanos so the humans would have time to prepare themselves for the battle, also making sure the right information gets to the right people. It will happen now, whether I want it or not. If I resist Thanos will either kill me or go ahead with the invasion on his own…we both know Midgard stands more of a chance if I lead the army."

"I do." I nodded. "Doesn't mean I have to like it though."

"That human, Fury, has a list of empowered people I'm sure he'll be calling on the moment it all begins." Loki reminded me. "And Odin will be sending Thor as well soon."

"Your brother is not going to take well seeing you again."

"No he won't. Particularly not with the part I have to play. And of course he won't be taking in consideration the favors I've done for him…"

"I will make sure he knows." I had made up my mind.

"My Nightingale…"

"No my Maverick. I've allowed this distance to remain between us this long because I knew it was for the best. You needed to infiltrate Thanos's army, and I needed to be in place in case plan B needed to be put in motion. Once the shit hits the fan, that will no longer apply. Also, we both know nobody is going to even consider the possibility that you're trying to do what's right. So, once the battle is over I will be finding you, I don't care if I have to break into S.H.I.E.L.D.s HQs to do it. Then I will deal with whoever I have to, to make sure everyone knows all the truth."

"You know if you do that, they'll never leave you alone." He said. "Right now you're just a young prodigy to them, a scholar…"

"A nerd, I know." I nodded. "I also know that when Fury realizes how much he's missed he'll be livid. I don't care. All I care about is you, being by your side, I will do whatever is necessary for that to happen."

"I do not know what I ever did to deserve you…"

"You took interest in an eleven-year old who knew nothing of the world, gave her the gift of music and her very first friend." I reminded him tenderly. "Then, at fourteen, you gave her a second chance at life, at a life she could have never dreamed of at first. Then, at nineteen, you decided you loved her enough to make her your wife…It is I who's not sure what I ever did to deserve you. And not because you're a god, or immortal, or a sorcerer…"

"I know. You love me for me." Loki interrupted me. "And that is the very reason why you deserve me. You are all I ever wanted yet never knew to ask for…"

I pressed my body against his, the same as our mouths, and that was enough to lose ourselves in each other all over again.

xXx

That had been on Saturday, and while then I allowed myself to get lost in our passion, by the next morning I knew there was something he wasn't telling me. Still I chose not to insist until it was absolutely necessary, which was that evening (I wasn't about to ruin what was likely to be our last peaceful weekend in a while… no way I would allow myself to think 'ever').

"There's something you're not telling me." I went straight to the point.

He didn't even try to deny it, just sighed before sitting beside me, on my window-seat (we tended to spend most of our weekends in my mansion, as it was far more private than any hotel, only leaving to eat, dance or for the theater at times).

"They are not ready…" He admitted with a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

"What…?" For a moment I wasn't sure what he meant.

Or more like, I really, really, didn't want him to mean what I thought he meant…

"The humans, S.H.I.E.L.D., the so-called heroes, and especially not Asgard." Loki elaborated with an annoyed huff. "I've stalled Thanos and his Chitauri for a full year! And they still aren't ready. The Agency is more worried about creating weapons, weapons they cannot possibly control… rather than finding a way to protect themselves. The so-called heroes… just no, I swear if someone decides to ever get them together they are as likely to destroy the world themselves as they're to save it! And Asgard… Odin is far more worried about the lack of communications brought about by the destruction of the Bifrost, than the fact that a being that shouldn't exist is about to send an alien army to Midgard!"

"Is there any chance the Allfather doesn't know what's coming our way?" I asked.

"If he doesn't, it's because he doesn't want to." My love muttered indignantly. "But then again, he's never cared much about any world not his own. And Thor is so completely focused on his woman… the world could burn and he wouldn't notice as long as it didn't affect her."

Sad, but true. It still didn't help us any.

"What are we going to do?" I inquired, mentally preparing myself for anything.

"We?" He raised a brow.

"Of course we." He should have expected that. "I've told you time and time again I would stand by you, always." I took a deep breath. "Now, does this mean we'll be setting plan B in motion? Or something entirely different?"

"Plan B, with some minor adjustments."

"Then I better send my resignation already."

Yes, there had always been a plan b, even if I never expected we would actually be needing it. I even had my resignation letter ready to go. I just needed to put the right date on it and send it to both Phil and Jane. As part of my contract I didn't actually have to give them a reason besides it being something personal. It's not like I was a vital or critical member of the group…

Darcy phoned me half an hour later. They had just seen the e-mail and were quite surprised by my abrupt resignation.

"Look Darcy… and Jane, and Phil… Wow, did you all get together to make this call? Don't answer that… Anyway, yes, I know it's sudden… I said it in the letter, personal reasons… Yes Darcy, Luka has got to do with it… Luka is my boyfriend Jane. As good as my fiance in fact… No gals, I've not been keeping him from you. You've known I was in a relationship all along! Darcy, you're the one who drives me to Santa Fe! … Well, we always knew we wanted our relationship to last, we just never talked about dates, or places, or things like that… Yes, we suddenly decided now was the right time … Hey! I take offense to that, I can be impulsive when I want! … No, this isn't really being impulsive. This is me deciding to live my own life, out of the shadow of S.H.I.E.L.D. … Nothing against you Phil. You always knew this day would come. I cannot spend the rest of my life working as a consultant for a secret government organization. That's not how it works… I accepted the job because I thought I could do good through it. Now… now it's time for a new chapter in my life."

There were a lot of murmurs going on through the phone, and I could only catch some of them. So much was being left unsaid, and I knew that when the shit hit the fan all three of them were going to take offense to my decisions, particularly the fact that I hadn't said a word of anything to any of them before things happened. But I couldn't tell them.

From the very day I'd first set foot in New Mexico I knew the day would come when I would have to give it all up. I knew it even before that, in fact. It was something I accepted as necessary. Even without the need for Plan B, the day would come when I would stand by my love's side before the rest of the world, and not everyone would understand… I just never expected to like them so much, to become friends with them: Darcy, Jane, Phil… I knew that when they set eyes on me again, standing by Loki's side, the disbelief, shock, probably even disappointment, horror, that I expected to see in their eyes, was going to hurt. And yet, regardless of how great friends they might be, and how much I might care for them, no one was more important than my match to me, no one…

In the end they told me I didn't have to return the next morning if I didn't want to. The girls just needed to do some reports on the most recent (failed) project; they didn't need me for that. In forty-eight hours Phil would pass notice of my resignation to his superiors and that would be that.

"Thank you guys." I told them through the phone. "All of you, you've been awesome friends, the best anyone could ever ask for… I could never forget you Darcy, none of you. You're all very dear to me… Yes, I'm sure we'll meet again someday. Who knows? Maybe it'll even be soon…" I just couldn't resist adding that. "Farewell… Take good care of yourselves… Love ya all…"

"Don't forget to invite us to the wedding!" Darcy yelled right before I hung up.

My love actually chuckled at that.

"Wonder if she'll still say that when she finds out just who I really am?" He commented, only half-sarcastically.

"Well, we'll be finding out in less than two weeks." I pointed out.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked me, very serious.

"Completely." I nodded, just as serious. "We're doing this Loki. I will be by your side, like I've been promising you since the very beginning…"

"It's one promise that's always made me happy."

"I know. No matter how hard things might get, trust me that I'll never regret it. There's no one, and nothing, more important to me than you."

"I believe you."

"Good. Now, we better get some rest. Something tells me things will be getting hectic soon."

"More than hectic. But if we don't deal with it now, they might be even worse."

"I know. Things will work out, you'll see. No matter what happens, everything will be alright."

"We will be together. Anything else is secondary to that."

I agreed completely with that. I truly believed that together we could achieve anything…

xXx

On Tuesday night, our lovemaking was bittersweet with the knowledge of what was coming. I half woke up early, before dawn, sensing him leave, but was too tired to stay up more than a few seconds, sending him my love. Then I spent all of Wednesday morning playing carelessly on the piano in the music room, trying to keep myself from pacing, or doing something else as I waited tense for my love to return. He finally did so late that afternoon. He looked even more stressed out than I had been all day, and had a lost look in his eyes.

"Love…?" I asked, very worried about him.

"I hate that fucking scepter, that frigging jewel!" Loki hissed as he pulled at his own hair. "The power it has… the power I wield with it… it's just… unnatural."

"Loki?" I called again.

I rarely called him by his actual name, but I knew we needed to be serious.

The scepter, which had been given to him by the Titan (or at least that's what we called him), it had a blue crystal that connected to the Tesseract, the Mind Gem. I knew the kind of powers he was talking about: taking control of someone. It was like brainwashing, but not exactly; it was skewing someone's perception so they would do certain things, follow orders, even if they were things they wouldn't have done normally. It made them think it was all their idea, and that they agreed to everything, they never even knew they were being pretty much controlled…

I also knew why he hated it, after how close he'd come to falling under the same kind of mind-control after his time with the Titan and his Chitauri in the abyss. It made me nervous to know how close the whole situation had gotten, how close I came to losing him…

"Oh my Nightingale…" He whispered embracing me.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one helping you?" I asked in turn, laying my head on his chest.

"You do my love, every day, just by being here." He assured me.

For a few minutes we just stood there, in each other's arms, in the middle of the music room, with the darkening garden behind a glass-wall at the back of the room.

"How did things go?" I asked eventually.

"Pretty well, all things considered." He admitted with a sigh. "I got the Dr. as we planned, and the Eye of Hawk. As well as a number of Agents I managed to get out before the whole base collapsed on their heads."

"What do you mean collapsed on their heads?" That wasn't in the plan.

"Turns out my use of the Tesseract to make my entrance caused some kind of catastrophic chain reaction that culminated with an explosion which blasted at least half a dozen sub-levels of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, subsequently making everything on top of those, collapse. Taking the Cube when I did staved off the reaction enough so that a considerable number of agents managed to get out, and the actual destruction wasn't on the scale it could have been." He shook his head. "Still, it was painfully obvious the Agency was not ready, and this is just the beginning."

"It will be alright." I tried to reassure him. "Hawkeye will make the whole thing personal, hopefully enough to make Fury not only call the Avengers in, but to convince them all to work together…without making things worse."

"That will truly take a miracle, my Nightingale." He pointed out. "You know that as well as I."

"Yeah…" Yes, I knew. "Still, one can hope. I will be in close contact with Selvig to make sure he does things as he's supposed to."

"Tell me no more." He interrupted. "Plausible deniability and all that. The less I know of what you'll be doing to ruin the Titan's plans, the better, in the end."

"I know. Have you made any plan on how we're supposed to contact S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Aside from the general idea we made originally, no. But I'm confident an opportunity will present itself eventually."

I nodded.

xXx

He was right, an opportunity did present itself. It came on Sunday evening, after Hawkeye told my love he needed a distraction and… an eyeball. The last part made me queasy, but I knew it couldn't be helped… or at least that's what I kept telling myself. I'm no fool, I've always known that Loki is no innocent, he's done some bad things, most of them justified, but still. And while I might hate the idea of him killing people, or being responsible for their deaths in any way; I promised to stand by his side, and that's what I'll do. Doesn't mean I won't try to help if the chance presents itself…

The time had come for me to step up to my promises. It was all part of our secondary plan, and as hard as I knew things were bound to get, I wasn't about to back down.

Loki procured a dress for me just for that night. It was sand colored, with semi-transparent short-sleeves, v-necked, knee-length asymmetric dress with what could be called an ice blue flower on my right hip. With that I wore a collection of thin silver bracelets on my left arm, along with my nightingale pendant and triquetra earrings, black strappy flats and a black and ice blue clutch-bag; the deamarkonian and the claddagh tattoo remained unseen. My hair was in loose curls over my shoulders and down my back, as my love liked it. My match, for his part was wearing a very elegant dark gray suit with a green scarf around his neck; the scepter, turned into a cane for the time being, was held loosely in his right arm, while I held onto his left.

After using the Shadow Paths to transport ourselves (well, Loki used them, I tagged along), we appeared in the shadows of a few trees close to a huge building where a party, a gala, seemed to be taking place; I understood the reason for the fancy clothes right then. It took just listening to some people passing talk to realize we were in Germany, though I still didn't know where in Germany exactly, I didn't ask either, it wasn't that important, not right then.

"Do we have to get to work right away?" I asked softly.

"No." He smiled at me.

I knew that the moment we stepped out of the shadows all bets were off. We were a distraction for what Hawkeye was doing, which meant we weren't being stealthy. Loki would be seen sooner or later, and everyone would notice I was on his arm. He directed a last look in my direction, as if silently asking me if I was ready, I just nodded and straightened to my full height (which, granted, wasn't much, but still).

We entered the building along with a number of other people, a quick spell from Loki stopping the security people at the doors from asking us for invitation, identifications, or anything of the like. They didn't even seem to notice that we didn't have any coats, unlike other guests.

The place was huge, and the luxurious and elegant decorations hinted to a lot of money; the event must have been organized by either a millionaire, or a politician, or maybe he or she was both. In any case, we had things to do there. I turned to ask my love who it was that we were looking for, when he smiled and extended a hand to me, theatrically bowing his head.

"Would the lady do me the honor?" He asked in a very Shakespearean tone.

"The lady would be delighted." I replied with a small giggle before placing my hand in his.

We began dancing right then. It was something I enjoyed a lot, dancing with him; we did it quite often, either when we went for dates to England, Italy, France, or some other part of Europe, or just in the mansion, with Loki placing a spell on the instruments from the music room so they would play the music.

We shared a number dances together before walking for the refreshments table; I had some water, since alcohol was just not my thing, he chose a martini for himself. After that I followed him to the second floor; from where we had a perfect view of everything going on. I watched him as he looked for his target (I hated seeing it like that, but I still knew what we were there for). He either couldn't find him or decided to leave it until later, and instead escorted me to a nearby balcony.

The view was wonderful. Germany in the middle of the night, while there was so much light on the ground that not many stars could be seen, the sky still looked quite pretty. Also, despite it being May already, the night was still a bit cool, which prompted Loki to embrace me tightly to his body in an attempt to preserve body heat.

And so there I was, in his arms, my back against his chest. I was so small when compared to him that I couldn't even reach his neck, but I was in a good enough position that, just twisting my head a little, I could place my ear right above his heart. The sound helped calm me and steel my nerves for what was coming. I could hear Loki sigh briefly before he kissed the top of my head, I just let out a breath, the time had come, and we both knew it.

Without saying a word he slackened his hold on me, allowing me to turn in his arms to face him.

"Let's do this." I stated, with more confidence than I actually felt.

"You know you don't have to do this…" He reminded me one last time. "I can still get you back to the mansion and then come do this on my own…"

"My mind's made up, love." I assured him with a smile. "I'm not backing down."

He nodded. He had given me a last chance, the time had come to get on the move.

"Let's do this." He agreed.

With that I took his arm again and we stepped into the building. It took no time to get to the stairs. We stepped down them slowly, surely, projecting all the image of a rich couple; then, as we reached the lower floor, I let go of his arm.

Loki was efficient. He knocked out a man close to him with a hit from his cane. The man would be quite sore when he woke up, but aside from that nothing had happened to him. On the other hand, the move called everyone else's attention. I wondered at the fact that they had all just seen one man hit another, straight on the face, for no reason at all, and yet instead of trying to get away, they were all just standing there, like fools.

My love's next actions, at least, got a more logical response: the people around screamed as they watched him take hold of the scientist who had been talking on a microphone earlier. I turned away as Loki raised a device meant to allow Hawkeye to get the eyeball he'd asked for.

Finally the people began fleeing the building. They didn't make it very far, as Loki followed right after them, shifting his gray suit into his Asgardian tunic, leather and armor. I followed just a couple of steps behind, just taking a second to send a slight pulse of magic to the unconscious scientist, I couldn't give him back his eye, but I could make sure he would not bleed out and die because of what had happened.

Loki shot a blast of energy from the cane turned staff to the police car approaching us. It hit the engine, making the vehicle flip and the skid upside down. I raised my own hand a second before the vehicle had hit the pavement upside down, focusing on making sure the people inside wouldn't be too hurt. I hoped it would be enough.

I stayed back as Loki called on a number of illusion-clones to herd all the people who had just fled the gala, and then the act was on:

"Kneel before me." He called authoritatively. "I said kneel!"

Eventually everyone did, terrified by the power already being displayed. Of course they did not know that most of what they were seeing were illusions; I was actually worried as I noticed they were flickering. That was never a good sign.

I didn't bother hiding from the cameras, as part of the distraction I was supposed to be seen. So I made sure to stand where people would be able to look at me, and with the fact that I was still on my feet they might even be able to realize whose side I was on; still, at the same time I made sure I wouldn't end up bothering, either my love, or anyone else (because we both knew S.H.I.E.L.D. would be sending someone sooner or later…)

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" My love was certainly laying it on thick as he strode in between the kneeling people. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel…"

I would have rolled my eyes at his theatrics, but if the cameras were filming me it might look strange. So I stood there, as impassive as I could possibly be.

And then… one thing my love and I hadn't planned on: an old man got on his feet. We had not contemplated something like that happening, though we probably should have. I worried briefly wondering what my match might decide to do, though I didn't let it show on my face, staying where I was, not moving at all.

"Not to men like you." The old man declared with a strength I had to admire.

"There are no men like me." Loki replied in a somewhat snobbish tone.

"There are always men like you." Was the man's reply.

I had an idea in that moment, of who that man might be, not personally, but as part of a whole. A Jew… and if he was a survivor from the camps, like I suspected, that might explain why he was refusing to kneel before Loki. That still didn't help our situation…

"Look to your elder, people." The God said coldly. "Let him be an example."

It took all I had not to move a muscle even as I wondered if he was truly about to murder an innocent man. Granted, other people had already died, on Hawkeye's side, and on my match's orders, but I just wasn't sure if I could stand there and watch it without doing anything. And then, as he raised his staff I sensed something, something I was sure he'd sensed too.

Loki fired a beam from the staff, but instead of hitting the old man it hit Captain America's shield, as he had arrived from spirits-know-where and got there just in time. The attack was deflected by the shield and hit my love, throwing him to the ground among some of the still kneeling guests of the gala. I had to bite my lip not to scream and lock my muscles so as not to rush to his side immediately.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Captain America stated in a hard voice.

"The soldier…" Loki called dramatically as he got on his feet. "The man out of time…"

"I'm not the one who's out of time." The Captain quipped.

A stylized black plane arrived from behind the Captain, obviously his backup, and we all heard a woman call something over the speaker, though I did not pay much attention.

The people finally had the good sense to begin running, right as the illusion-clones flickered off for good and Loki and Captain America began fighting. I followed the exchange with my eyes until, abruptly, my love knocked the super-soldier's vibranium shield to a side, the side where I was standing. It took me by surprise and I had to through myself to the ground on the opposite side from where the shield to be spinning, It still went right past the spot where I'd been standing just a moment before.

The small yelp I let out as I ended half on my knees, half laying on the ground made my love react. He attacked Captain America furiously, in a matter of seconds getting him on his knees, the base of his staff against the back of the super-soldier's head.

"Kneel!" Loki hissed.

"Not today." The man replied stubbornly.

Somehow the man managed to twist and deliver a spinning kick to my love, throwing him a few feet away. Then their fight resumed.

I kept an eye on the black vessel in the sky, I didn't think they would fire with the risk of hitting their own soldier, but I still worried. And then one more person joined the party…

"Iron-Man…" I couldn't help but whisper.

The song that began blaring out of the plane's speaker's caught me off-guard. It wasn't really my kind of music, and even with the dramatic entrances my match so loved, it seemed a bit much.

The Captain was on the ground, and Loki was about to attack him again, when they both stopped to see who it was that had just arrived. The distraction, however brief, cost my love (though, on hindsight, it most likely was intentional). Iron-Man fired some kind of attack from his palms, it hit Loki and sent him flying a few feet, landing on the steps, not too far from me.

It took all I had not to scream out my love's name as I saw him laying there, especially when he was so close to me.

"Make a move, Reindeer Games." Iron-Man challenged as he landed.

When he proceeded to prepare over a dozen guns in all sizes that seemed to be a part of his suit I couldn't help but huff quietly. That truly was overkill.

For all answer my love raised his hands, allowing his armor to vanish.

"Good move." Iron-Man backed down.

I decided that would have to be good enough, as I hurried back to my feet, stumbling a bit as a foot caught on the edge of my dress (I just hoped I didn't ruin it, the dress was gorgeous). Then I rushed to Loki's side.

"Hey!" The two 'heroes' cried out, in obvious shock at my presence there.

"What the hell is going on here?" Iron-Man demanded, drawing his guns again.

I could see the way my love's eyes hardened, he didn't like Iron-Man threatening. Being careful not to be noticed by the other two, I placed a hand on his arm, trying to send some reassurance. It was the way things were supposed to be.

"Ma'am…?" Captain America called.

With that I turned to look at them, raising my head in what I hoped was confusion, letting them see my bright blue eyes…

xXx

The trip to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier was not pleasant, not at all. I had to listen to Iron Man insulting my love, everyone calling me a victim like I was some stupid girl who didn't know better, and then the thunderstorm began, and things got exponentially worse. One moment I was hearing Stark and Captain Rogers half-banter half insult each other, and then the lightning and thunder began; abruptly enough I knew it wasn't natural.

"Where did this come from?" The woman at the front, Agent Natasha Romanoff... or Natalia Romanova from what Barton had told us, asked.

My Maverick reacted instinctively, leaning forward and looking around, expectant. I couldn't help but react to his own mood, shifting restlessly in my own place, playing with the buckles that held me to my seat, across from my match.

"What's the matter?" The Captain asked almost mockingly. "Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." My love admitted grimly.

He turned to look at me then, and I knew what I had to do. We planned for Thor's arrival; maybe not exactly in that moment or that way; but we both knew that the moment Loki revealed himself and took the Tesseract Odin would send his son to Midgard to 'handle things'. And yet, somehow, once things began happening, things didn't really go according to plan.

It began simply enough: a bang on the jet's roof announced Thor's arrival (even if the people sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on). Rogers hurried to arrange the cowl on his head, while Stark put on his helmet before opening the back hatch, probably believing it was better to control that, rather than risk having the new arrival tear a hole on the plane to get in. It was actually a good plan. What I wasn't counting on was the harsh wind and the moment I lost hold of my purse.

I reacted instantly the moment the clutch bag slipped from my fingers. There were many things, important things, in that purse. I cared little for my phone, money, even the IDs, but my jade flute was there, and the vials with healing powder and elixir that I always carried, just in case. I could not lose that bag! So, in an instant, I unbuckled myself and dropped to my knees to take hold of the purse before it could slip further down and out of the jet.

I barely missed being hit by Iron Man the moment Thor shoved him, making Stark crash into Rogers. I

didn't really notice any of that, making me also miss the danger the moment I got back on my feet... next thing I knew someone was pushing me aside, I lost my balance too close to the ramp... suddenly I was slipping, and then falling.

I screamed.

I have no idea how long I fell, though to me it seemed like half an eternity. I could vaguely sense Loki's presence in the back of my mind but couldn't really hear him. All I could hear was the wind rushing past me, all I could truly feel was the panic. And then... it's like my mind blanked out, there was no more fear, no more hysteria, only one thing: the absolute certainty that I was about to die, and it was followed by a need that was stronger than my previous panic... I needed to take the deamarkonian off. I needed to unlock the bracelet before I died... it was all I could think of anymore.

I pulled at my nightingale pendant almost desperately, trying to dislodge the key hidden behind it without losing it in the fall, when suddenly I was no longer alone. There was someone with me, falling through the sky just like me, and he pulled me to his body. The moment I laid a hand on him I knew who he was. Between the wind, and the fear, and the newly-found single-mindedness I couldn't really see him, but I knew who it was:

*Loki!* I practically screamed his name mentally.

*My Nightingale...* He whispered into my mind, and I knew it was because there was no way I could possibly hear him over the wind and the beating of my own heart. *It's okay, it's alright. You are safe now my love. Hold onto me. You are safe.*

*I have to...* I began mumbling, and then went quiet.

From one second to the next I was no longer sure what it was I was supposed to be doing. So instead I did as he told me. I could fell his arms holding me around my back and beneath my knees, he was holding my body tight against his chest, and I wound both arms around his neck, curling into him as much as I could, hiding my own face in the crook of his neck.

We were still falling, and a corner of my mind wondered if we would continue falling forever. I just closed my eyes tightly, praying that, whatever happened, we would survive...

It felt like every single bone in my body rattled against one another when we finally stopped falling. Loki was in a half-crouch, holding me up against his body, and while I was quite sure he was alright (because had he been in any significant pain I would have felt it); I still worried.

"Are you alright?" He asked me before I could.

"I should be asking that." I told him promptly. "You just saved my life..."

That was as far as our private conversation got, for a second later, in a rumble of thunder, Thor arrived, landing just a handful of feet away from us.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor demanded right away.

"Oh-ho, I missed you too..." Loki drawled sarcastically.

I wondered if my Maverick felt some sort of compulsion to provoke his brother... I also wondered if the Thunderer was so oblivious he hadn't realized what had happened to me...

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Thor practically snarled at my love.

So apparently he hadn't noticed yet. I knew I was small, but really? My match seemed to have picked up on the fact and it was fueling his desire to antagonize Thor as much as possible.

"Oh, you should thank me." Loki drawled in his most sarcastic tone. "With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth..."

Thor dropped Mjolnir then, moving to take a hold of Loki and yet, to touch him he would have had to touch me. And I reacted to that, involuntarily, in a way even I could have never expected:

"Don't touch me!" I screeched.

I was trembling, quite violently too. I had Loki's tunic gripped with both hands, hard enough my knuckles were white, and I wasn't about to let go.

"My lady!" Thor cried out, obviously not having seen me before. "You should get off..."

"Don't you dare touch me!" I wailed the moment I felt the lightest touch from him.

The mere idea of him touching me... I kept remembering the moment his hand had touched me on the plane, lightly, carelessly, and then I'd slipped. While my mind insisted that he wasn't really a bad guy, my instinct kept connecting him with danger, pain, death... a part of me was convinced I would only be safe as long as I remained in Loki's arms, therefore I wasn't letting go.

"I don't think the lady likes you very much." Loki commented flippantly. "Though considering how you threw her out of a plane, that might not be surprising..."

"I did not..." He broke off, possibly realizing what he'd done. "Oh Norns... I am so sorry..."

He reached to me again. This time I had enough control over myself to actually let go of Loki with one hand, slap Thor's away before holding onto the green tunic again.

"I do think she might prefer for you not to touch her." Loki pointed out with a half smirk.

He was thoroughly enjoying the way I was treating his brother, I could feel it. I could also sense his worry, as normal as he knew my late-reaction to be, he still wished to help me. However, we both knew nothing could be done, but what he was doing already, holding me, reassuring me.

"My lady..." Thor called to me in what I imagined must be his most soothing voice, kneeling less than three feet away from me. "You have my most sincere apologies, I give you my word, whatever harm I may have caused you, it was without intent..."

"Do you... do you realize what you did?" I asked him, fighting to keep myself, my voice, calm. "You... you threw me out of a moving plane, thousands of feet above the ground, and you didn't even notice! You could have killed me and never realized it! I realize I'm human and far beneath the notice of gods like you but..."

Loki began growling at my words, but before he could say anything, Thor interrupted me.

"Of course not, my lady!" He cried out, horrified. "I have the utmost respect for all midgardians... I am a protector of this realm..."

"And what a great protector you are..." Loki drawled. "When the first thing you do upon arrival is nearly kill a human!"

"I... I am deeply ashamed of what has transpired..." He insisted to me, trying his best to ignore Loki's taunts. "But I really, truly believe you should come with me, my lady. While I know you have no reason to trust my word, you need to know that my brother is far more dangerous than I could ever be..."

"That's debatable..." Loki told him flippantly. "And I am not your brother..."

"Not this again..." I was truly in no mood for a rehash of that argument. "Loki, please..."

"As you wish..." He nodded at me.

Thor turned to look at Loki then at I, as if trying to make out what he might be missing, what the connection between us might be. What made Loki act so pleasant to me? What made me trust him so much? The Thunderer knew he was missing something, but not what.

After spending a few more minutes in the same position, eventually Loki got on his feet, with me still in his arms. I couldn't even think about letting go, much less getting on my feet.

"So, you cannot touch me, or her." My Maverick commented with a half-smile. "What will you do then, 'brother'...?"

Thor reacted to the tone, the mocking way in which Loki had said the word 'brother', instantly.

"You listen well brother..." He began almost threateningly...

And that's as far as he got, for Iron Man appeared out of nowhere, knocking Thor off the cliff we'd all been standing on...

From our vantage point we watched Iron Man fight Thor. The two were supposed to be good guys, and yet they wouldn't stop to listen to the other; they wouldn't wait to see if the other was friend or foe... it only got worse when Captain America joined in.

There was a huge explosion when Mjolnir connected with Captain America's shield. I knew that with it being made of vibranium it was unlikely to break... in the end it created a concussive wave that destroyed a good number of trees all around them.

"And these are the people who are supposed to save the world?" I couldn't help but ask out-loud. "The world is going to burn."

And apparently I did so loud enough to be heard.

"Indeed..." Loki agreed with a sigh.

I finally realized why he considered Plan B necessary and yet... I wasn't sure if I could do it. The moment the three men stopped fighting they went back to where Loki and I stood; whenever any of them approached me I would flinch, or even jump, and even all coaxing couldn't get me to let go of Loki (though I was, finally, back on my feet).

In the end Loki and I followed them to a nearby clearing where Romanoff and the other Agent had landed the jet. I ended up sitting beside Loki this time, still refusing to let go of his arm.

"I'm not sure if this is normal..." Rogers commented, worried.

"After Point Break over there tossed her off the quinjet to her death, and Reindeer Games, for whatever the reason, saved her life?" Stark called, voice heavy with sarcasm. "Her not wanting to let go of the one person who's helped her any? Trust me, perfectly normal."

"But... he's a criminal." Rogers insisted.

"As far as she's concerned, he's the man who saved her life." Stark pointed out.

"We still don't know what she was even doing in Stuttgart, why she went to him when he chose to stand down..." Rogers began, he sounded truly worried.

"She was with Loki from the moment he arrived to the event, over an hour before he acted out." Romanoff pointed out from the front.

"That's another thing." Stark commented. "Why arrive and then do nothing for over an hour?"

"Oh, they did something." Romanoff told him immediately. "They were dancing..."

"What?!" That seemed to truly throw everyone for a loop.

I could only wonder if they planned to keep talking about us like we weren't there...

In the end, they didn't talk much. Thor hardly said a thing. He looked several times like he might try, but in the end he didn't; either he considered the topic too personal to speak up with so many people around, or he just didn't know what to say...

On the way to the helicarrier I practiced several meditation exercises, they were a good way to release the traces of panic and anxiety still in me, and I knew I would need to be ready by the moment we arrived to the helicarrier if we were to keep to Plan B, at least as much as we could considering the thoughts Loki's daring rescue of me might be causing in everyone's minds, as well as my refusal to be separated from him. My part could be explained on the spell I was supposed to be under, but Loki's actions... those didn't fit the part he was to play.

*Will you be alright, Nightingale?* Loki asked me through our bond.

*I... I think so...* Even in my mind I wasn't completely sure. *I just... I don't know if I have it in me to be separated from you, Maverick. Not right now, not...*

*It's quite alright.* He assured me. *I understand. Near-death experiences are easy on no one. I will let none take you from my side.*

I felt infinitely thankful for that, knowing I could trust him.

Truth is, I never imagined someone, I, could ever feel like that. Apparently there was a huge difference between being sick and knowing that any day you just might not wake up... and falling thousands of feet to your death. The first I had accepted with a quiet serenity (at least until Loki intervened and changed the game), the second had caused a terror in me like none I could have ever imagined... There truly was a difference between a peaceful, quiet death and a violent one. And I truly couldn't understand why some people preferred the idea of dying violently! Were they completely insane?!

Until that day, when I stepped out of the quinjet, back pretty much pressed against Loki's front, I'd never seen the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I knew who he was, of course: Nick Fury, I knew his name, his legend, but I'd never met him. The highest ranked Agent I'd ever met was Phil. Because even though my boss kept saying I was important due to my studies... truth is I wasn't that important. Not until Loki became their enemy, in any case, and by then I was gone...

I made an effort to return to the blank expression I'd had when first dashing past Iron Man and Captain America after they had 'defeated' my Maverick. I knew that, thanks to a small glamour we had applied to myself no software would be able to identify me. The only way would be for someone who knew me to recognize me, and the only such person on the helicarrier was Phil... I would worry about that when the moment came.

Not a word was said as we were escorted, by no less than a dozen armed Agents, through several halls in the helicarrier and to a cylinder-like structure with metal floor and roof and a glass wall going all around. It was odd and not something I was expecting, as far as S.H.I.E.L.D. cells went (and I had heard a lot on the rumor mill about such things).

"In case it's unclear," Fury said with a strange glint of satisfaction in his eyes. "You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass..." he pressed a button, opening a hole beneath the cage. "Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?"

I couldn't help it, I froze, even as my grip on Loki's cape tightened. I'd just fallen off one jet, and they were threatening to throw us of another?!

"Ant... Boot..." Fury finished his speech dramatically.

I couldn't help but wonder what exactly my love had said to make Fury say that in return... probably something very melodramatic...

"It's an impressive cage." Loki half complimented him. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury retorted.

"Oh, I've heard..." He turned to the closest camera. "A mindless beast... makes play he's still a man." His smirk widened dangerously. "How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?" The Director seemed to be making honor to his surname at that point as he began enlisting: "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did..."

*Good, I've fulfilled all the points in the list!* My match drawled mentally.

I almost let out a chuckle at that, instead sent a mental smack to my love. Really, it was an effort to keep a straight face with all his melodramatics, the least he could do was not make it harder.

"Oh..." He murmured dramatically out loud. "It burns you to have come so close... To have the Tesseract, to have power... unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?" He smirked at the camera and the sneered at Fury. "And then to be reminded what real power is..."

"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something." Fury smirked at my match with obvious satisfaction.

Before he could leave, Loki called his attention back.

"What about her?" Loki inquired, pretending not to care.

"What about her?" Fury repeated in turn, curious.

"Your people find me with a human girl and you care not to even ask her name?" Loki inquired in return. "May it be that you're not as merciful and compassionate as you would have your people believe?"

"I don't know who she is, or what you might have done to her." Fury said calmly. "All I know is that she was with you in Stuttgart, and that my men couldn't pry her away from you. In any case, her life is not worth the risk I might bring upon my people if I let her out of there. No, she'll stay in that cage too..." He turned our back to us, but then added. "You criticize my lack of concern, and yet, you saved her when she fell off that jet... that doesn't seem exactly like the 'god' who claimed to be a giant to human-ants..."

So that was what he meant with the 'ant' 'boot' comment!

"I see... does that mean you care just as little for Agent Hawkeye, and Dr. Selvig?" Loki taunted with a wide smirk. "Maybe this will be an opportunity for your men to see how little you care for all their lives..."

"My people know what the priorities are." Fury hissed, finally turning back to us. "We keep the world safe, of dangers most don't even know exist. We do it even if the price to pay is our own lives... every single man and woman in this ship, in this organization know that..."

"Really?" Loki's voice, strangely, went from mocking to ice cold. "Did the dozens of people in that scientific facility know how easily you would push their deaths aside when you recruited them? They were not your Agents, were not your Warriors, yet you care as little for their deaths as you do for the possible demise of everyone in this ship..."

"A leader that cares not for those he leads is no leader..." I whispered in a low voice, with a cadence that made the words almost sound like the line of a song.

Someone in my words seem to finally be enough to make Fury snap. He stared at me with so much anger for just a moment, then left abruptly.

*Well, we certainly drove the message home... better than I thought we would, actually.* My love admitted in a thoughtful tone.

*Maybe* I admitted in return. *But will it be enough?*

*That I know not, my love.* He said with a sigh.

I knew Loki would focus his magic so he could spy on the gathering 'heroes'. I stood with my back against the glass wall of the cage, wishing I could sit down and meditate some, knowing it would help me focus...yet if I sat I knew I risked ruining the pretty dress Loki had gotten me. So I just stood there, with my eyes closed, doing some breathing exercises, making an effort to relax. I knew that regardless of how hard I tried, a part of me wouldn't take it well if Thor came too close, or anyone tried to separate us. Still, I ignored that and kept trying to center myself as much as was possible. It was as if my brush with death had brought out in me a need to be with my match all the time...

*It's the bonds...* My love told me quietly.

*What...?* I didn't understand.

*The bonds were pulled taut when you fell.* He explained with a sigh. *They came so close to breaking... when I caught you and you held onto me like you did, it was a reaffirmation of their existence, and somehow also a reinforcement... We're now more tightly bound to each other than we used to be... than we've ever been, actually. The new level of the bond isn't quite stable yet, which is why you feel we cannot be apart... it even explains your reaction to Thor, beyond the fear you might feel for the part he played in your fall... you see him as a threat to our bond. You know that if he succeeds in his own plan we will be separated, and that is something you feel you cannot allow. I feel the same...*

*But then... if that's true...* I didn't dare finish the sentence.

However, that I didn't dare speak it, didn't mean he didn't know it already.

*The plan is a bust.* He deadpanned. *We cannot be separated until we're balanced again, and that won't be happening for days, possibly more. Which means we cannot use Plan B anymore. It simply isn't possible.*

*But we have no more plans!* I was on the edge of panicking.

*Then we shall have to improvise...*

*You hate improvising...*

*True... but right now I hate nothing more than the mere thought of leaving you. And even if we tried to just adapt Plan B, I would never do such a thing as taking you with me when I have to get the portal ready. I'm not letting you anywhere near those monsters...*

Truth be told I had always hated him being near them, especially after what had happened to him that first month, the condition he'd arrived to me in... that was one image I would never be able to erase from my mind, it would always haunt me... it was one thing I would fight to my last breath to make sure never happened again...

*So... we improvise then?* I inquired, still not quite sure.

*We improvise.* He agreed.

The chance to do exactly that came not even fifteen minutes later. Loki warned me that Thor was coming; he'd somehow managed to convince Fury to let him talk to his brother (as he insisted on referring to Loki, regardless of my love's insistent denials), try and convince him to 'repent'. If the so-called God of Thunder ever learnt what was really going on he would deeply regret thinking of his brother in such a way... either that or I would discover he wasn't the man Jane loved so much and tried so hard to be reunited with; the man I knew my love admired greatly (even if he also believed him an idiot half the time...).

By the time Thor entered the room, getting the guards to leave so the conversation was more-or-less private (though I was quite sure Fury and the so-called heroes were listening in to every word) I was standing in the spot farthest from where we expected the God of Thunder to stand. I kept my eyes half-closed, with the intent to pretend I was either half-asleep or under hypnosis; though I was perfectly alert and ready to intervene if it became necessary.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor demanded, standing right on the other side of the glass.

"That again?" Loki sighed, almost disappointed. "Are you a broken record? Because I believe we already had this conversation..."

"I asked questions you never gave answer to." Thor pointed out angrily.

"Some questions I may not want to answer, and some may have answers you might not want to hear..." Loki told him haughtily.

For a few seconds not a word was said, by either of them. I was beginning to think that Thor would give up, when he spoke again. The line of conversation so different I almost blinked in surprise, and I could even sense Loki's surprise; though he hid it, as always, behind sarcasm and his usual dramatics.

"I thought you dead." Thor murmured, a hand on the glass, as if wanting to touch the one he still called his brother.

"Did you mourn?" Loki forced an almost mocking tone on his voice, but I could sense how much the answer truly mattered to him.

"We all did. Our father..." The Thundered began.

"Your father." My love interrupted. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

There it was, the most important question of all, the one answer that would either make or break any relationship there might ever be between Thor and Loki...

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together." Thor enlisted as he began pacing outside the cage. "Do you remember none of that?"

"I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness." Loki told him in the sincerest tone I'd ever heard from him. "I remember being pushed into that shadow time and again. Having my cleverness, my wit, my gift, being labeled as nothing more than 'tricks', while your recklessness, wild and downright idiocy was celebrated as though you were Yggdrassil's gift to the universe! I was always second best, sometimes not even that..." His tone turned dark. "For so many years I've been nothing more than a trickster, a liar, a cheater... until the day I turned into a monster.. except, as it turns out, I've always been that... and now you come and tell me you're surprised that I am finally making justice to the blood that runs through my veins?!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?" Thor demanded. "No. The Earth is under my protection, Loki."

"Valiant protection!" Loki sneered at him. "Might we go back to what exactly you did upon first arriving to this realm tonight?!"

"I have offered my apologies for my fault!" Thor snapped in turn. "My deepest regrets... but the lady refuses to so much as lay eyes on me!"

"If she does, there must be a reason for it." Loki hissed at him.

"You have her under your spell!" Thor snarled. "Just like you do Eric, and that Agent I was told you took from the human research facility. You killed so many people Loki..."

"You would believe me wicked enough to keep a woman by my side against her will!" Loki cried out, deeply offended. "You're blind Thor! The truth is right in front of you, yet you do not wish to see... Those people would have died, regardless of my own actions. Humans... so eager, so willful, and yet so incredibly ignorant and naive at times... to think they could awaken a relic as powerful as the Tesseract without there being any consequences!" He shook his head. "My arrival might have worked as a catalyst that night... but the truth is that kind of destruction was always going to happen. And had I not taken the Cube when I did, it could have been much worse. The humans have no idea what they've caused by activating that relic..."

"And you do?" Thor's eyes narrowed.

"Better than you, for sure." My Maverick retorted. "I was always the scholar among the two, you could never be bothered to read anything if it didn't have to do with war. And now... things have changed even more! I've seen worlds you've never known about. I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, it's true reach..."

"Who showed you this power?" Thor wanted to know. "Who controls the would-be-king?"

Loki's eyes narrowed sharply, and I couldn't help but open my own wide, 'king', what did that have to do with anything? Did Thor still believe that Loki wanted Asgard's throne?

"You know nothing!" My love practically snarled at him.

"You give up the Tesseract; you give up this poisonous dream!" Thor insisted, pained. "You come home. Brother..."

"I don't have a home and we're not brothers!" Loki insisted, almost desperate.

"Enough..." I murmured, voice getting louder as I got on my feet. "Enough. That's enough!"

Both brothers turned to look at me at the same time.

*Nightingale...* My match whispered in my mind, shocked at my sudden change in attitude. *What are you doing?*

*Improvising.* I answered simply.

Then, before he could say anything I turned to look at Thor, staring at him for a minute, before looking past him, to the closest camera, I was still staring straight at it when I spoke, voice clear and loud, the words I knew would change everything:

"My name is Silbhé Arianna Kinross Salani-Hveðrungr... I am the Nightingale." I ignored Thor's gasp before delivering the final bombshell. "I am Loki's wife and match."

"The Nightingale...?" Thor mumbled, shocked. "You are... but... I cannot understand..."

"Wouldn't be the first time..." My Maverick mumbled under his breath before turning to me. "Are you sure this is how you want to do things?"

"It's time we act and stop just reacting to the things around us." I told him softly but firmly. "I know how you love your plans my love but, regretfully, what plans we made are no longer possible." I sighed. "A year ago I vowed to always stand by your side, to never turn my back on you. And to that vow I stand... except this time I'm choosing how we go about things. In the past I've trusted you to take the lead, will you trust me this time?"

"To the end of time and space..." He assured me vehemently.

With that I turned to speak to the camera once again.

"Nicholas Fury, I know who you are, even if I imagine you haven't the slightest idea who I am... ask Phil, he'll know." I smiled. "By the way, I'm sorry for the lack of warning Phil, I never meant for you to find out about things like this... it kinda just happened..." I took a deep breath. "There is a lot we need to discuss, some very important things, which the safety of the Earth, possibly even the universe, might depend on. Also, I hope you'll send someone to actually talk to us because, talking to empty air gets tiring really fast..."

"Are you really the Lady Nightingale?" Thor asked quietly, strangely focused.

"I am." I nodded serenely. "Like I said, my actual name is Silbhé, but Loki has called me Nightingale practically since we met... so that's pretty much who I am."

"I see..." Thor nodded absently.

It seemed, indeed, like he was seeing, more than I was actually saying... it was almost scary. As were the shadows in his sky eyes as he turned to Loki again.

"I know you not at all, do I... Loki?" The Thunderer asked, ever so softly.

For an instant I felt as if the ground beneath my feet had vanished and I were about to fall all over again; then the feeling vanished as fast as it had come and I realized the feeling hadn't been mine at all, but Loki's... he was interpreting Thor's words, his use of my match's given name, as the Thunderer giving up, finally, and that hurt... it hurt him so much I felt like I couldn't breathe... until Thor opened his eyes again (and when exactly had he closed them?) staring at my love with such intensity my mind blanked, as I'm sure did Loki's.

"I'm still not giving up." The blonde announced. "I may not be the brother you deserve, and you may not be the brother I thought I knew... but if there is one thing I'm sure of, beyond any shadow of doubt, it's that we are, indeed, brothers... everything else we can fix."

The sense of relief, and wonder and... the pure love that filled my match in that moment was so great, like nothing I'd ever felt before. I knew he loved me, of course, I knew, it was one thing I would never doubt. But this love was different, it was a kind of love I did not know, for I had no siblings; the closest I could compare it to was the deep friendship I shared with Darcy and Jane, and still... I knew perfectly well nothing could compare to the love of true brothers (whether they were so by blood or word, or deed...), especially brothers who'd been so for centuries, who had shared as much together as they had... I wondered if I'd ever get to experience that? Maybe one day, if the coming days went well, I would even get to share that with Thor... and Jane.

Loki didn't get the chance to reply to Thor's words, not that I think we would have been able to say anything at all in that moment; Phil arrived right then.

"Silbhé...?" He called, approaching the cage, confused. "Is it really you?"

"It is really me, Phil..." I nodded with a small smile.

"It cannot be." He shook his head suddenly.

"What makes you think that?" I was confused by his sudden statement.

"Silbhé's eyes aren't blue." He practically blurted out before turning to Loki. "Did you do this to her? Did you take control of her, like you did with Dr. Selvig and C...Agent Barton?"

"Ah... I remember now, Agent Coulson... Phil." Loki nodded.

"My eyes..." I sighed.

I could have smacked myself for forgetting that. Of course, the original plan had me pretending to be another victim so I could be close and still help S.H.I.E.L.D. some... a plan that was no longer viable. So things would have to change.

It was also at that point that I remembered the bracelets around my left wrist, made of pure, compressed magic, so I could call on spells as needed. As I turned my attention to them I noticed that I had less than I should have... when had I used them? The answer came to me a beat later: that moment when Loki and I'd been falling together, and I'd prayed for us to survive... it would seem that I had, unknowingly, called on magic to protect us.

*I was wondering when you would notice that.* Loki smiled mentally.

I shrugged, nodding yet choosing to push that aside for the time being. Instead I waved a hand before my face, allowing the blue in my eyes to vanish, revealing my usual hazel, at the same time I also took off the light-glamour that made it impossible for face-recognition programs to work on me. Such measures were no longer necessary.

"It truly is I, Phil." I insisted calmly. "I am not under any spell, I promise you."

"I don't understand..." Phil murmured. "Silbhé... you're supposed to be home... you told us... wait a second, where is your fiance? Where is..."

"Luka?" I finished for him.

He just nodded.

I could tell by his expression that he was sincerely worried. Even though he'd never met the man; no one but Darcy had, and even she, it was just for a minute at most. He was worried about what might have happened to him, simply because he was important to me, and Phil cared, genuinely, about me, as a dear friend... I hated hurting him with my secretiveness.

"Luka Hveðrungr." My match called right then, bowing dramatically. "At your service."

"You..." Phil was completely speechless.

"It's my midgardian alias." Loki confirmed easily. "I've been using it for the last nine years or so. Maybe a bit more, though I'm quite sure you will find no record before that point."

"And why is that?" Phil was truly curious by that point.

"Because before that point I didn't care about doing anything with that name." He shrugged. "Unlike most people of Asgard, and of any other realm really. I've been in Midgard before, many times in fact. There is a certain level of... chaos in this world that I find very appealing. Far more interesting than any other realm really, even Asgard. When things never change... it gets tedious after a few decades. Midgard, from all the worlds in Yggdrassil, is the one in constant change... always changing, for better or for worse, never standing still... it's absolutely enthralling... and it appeals to my nature of mischief, mayhem and chaos..."

"You'd been in Midgard before..." Thor focused on that. "Before my exile even..."

"Many times." My love nodded as if it were normal. "At first I took a long while from one visit to the next, the Dark Ages were not a time I enjoyed seeing... but later on, especially in the last century... like I said, Midgard appeals to me."

"It appeals to you... and yet you're here to enslave the human race?" Phil muttered.

"Whoever said that?" Loki cried out in fake offense.

"You did!" Phil told him, growing exasperated. "With all your theatrical talk about the lies of freedom and ruling humanity..."

"Ah... that..." Loki nodded with a shrug.

"You truly love being overly dramatic, don't you?" I couldn't help but blurt out loud at my love. "Really, the drama club at Norwich would have loved you!"

"Oh, I was part of a troupe once, in the late 16th century." Loki nodded, wistfully. "Those were good times. Will was such a talented young man... it was so sad that men died so young back then. I left his company after a couple of years, and by the next time I dropped by, he'd passed away. The Bard of Avon some called him... I still like to watch companies put on the plays he wrote every once in a while."

I smiled, remembering the time he'd taken me to see one such play. We'd been in London at the time, the play was Coriolanus... it had been such an amazing thing to watch...

"Will..." Phil gaped. "Are you seriously talking about William Shakespeare?!"

"He was just Will back then." He shrugged. "And Anna, his wife, was such a delightful woman. Even when he had to live in the capitol to work in the theatre while she stayed in the farm to take care of the family, they were such a wonder to watch together. I'm quite sure I was one of the few to ever have that privilege... And their children..."

He broke off at that, and I knew perfectly well who he was thinking of: Hel...

Phil shook his head. I imagined it must be hard for him to reconcile the idea of someone having met William Shakespeare; and not only that, the way my love talked about him, like they'd been good friends... it probably went against every idea Phil (and everyone else in S.H.I.E.L.D.) had regarding my match.

"You have still to explain how you now claim Midgard appeals to you and to have no interest in conquest... when you said exactly the opposite upon arrival, brother." Thor reminded him.

"True." He nodded, before turning back to Phil. "Son of Coul, by all records you are a smart man. My match holds you in high regard... so tell me, what is the best and fastest way to get a team of completely different and ultimately incompatible individuals to work together?"

"Give them a common goal." Phil answered instantly.

"And when that fails?" Loki insisted. "When saving, protecting, and other such things are not enough? What then?"

Phil did not answer, though I could see in his eyes the thought was there, so could Loki.

"I believe you Midgardians have a saying..." My love drove the point home. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend..."

"You made yourself the enemy..." Thor gasped in shock.

"Bingo!" Loki actually cackled at that. "You're not that lost brother, I commend you."

"But why?" The Thunderer insisted. "Why you? Why not someone else?"

"Simple." My Maverick shrugged almost dismissively. "While you could defeat me, if I allowed it... you could never defeat the true commander of the army coming at you..."

"The Chitauri's true leader..." Thor mumbled, seemingly understanding. "Who is he?"

"Someone even you and I fighting together would stand no chance against, brother..." Loki admitted very quietly.

"What?!" The God of Thunder was in complete denial at the very possibility. "What creature could possibly hold such power as to take down both of us at the same time?"

"Someone I imagine most of the realms either ignore or deny the existence of." His brother told him, completely serious. "You would not believe it, if I were to reveal to you his identity."

"I will believe you brother." Thor insisted. "I will trust you."

After what had happened just a few minutes earlier, I knew Loki couldn't help but want to trust his brother; I just prayed the blonde wouldn't betray that trust...

"Thanos..." Loki finally revealed quietly. "They call him the Mad Titan and he... you haven't the slightest idea just how insane he is Thor... He claims to wish to court Death... as if she were a real, living being. And as a proof of his love he will kill and destroy any and all he possibly can. Beginning with this realm..."

"Thanos..." Thor repeated, suddenly breathless. "I thought... all the books we studied claimed he was nothing but a myth!"

"Yes, well, they also claimed all who fall into the abyss would die... yet I'm here, am I not?" Loki muttered, half-annoyed.

"I am not doubting your words brother, I'm just trying to understand how a being with such power, at least as much as the myths claim he posseses... could exist and yet still be considered a myth by Asgard." The blonde explained.

"It's pretty simple actually." I deadpanned. "Someone doesn't want you, doesn't want Asgard, and possibly even the rest of the realms, to know that Thanos, maybe even Titans as a whole, exist. Someone with enough power to control what is believed to be truth and what is believed to be a myth... someone who, realistically, has to know that a being such as the Mad Titan exists..."

"You do not mean..." Thor was in obvious denial.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" I shrugged, then sighed. "I know you don't like it Thor. To be perfectly honest, neither do I; though for entirely different reasons, I'm sure. The point is, there is no other reasonable possibility. Also, it's not like this would be the first time he lied, in a big way, caring little about the consequences of those lies..."

"Maybe he thought the Titans were dead..." Thor insisted.

He was trying so hard to hold onto the image, the ideal he had of his father... it was endearing and also very sad. I felt for him. I might have never felt like he did, like Loki had, but that was only because I'd never had a good relationship with my own father... at least not since I was nine (and a lot of my memories from before that were fuzzy, due to how sick I'd been at times).

"Even if he did... and I'm not saying I buy that excuse." I qualified. "Shouldn't he have made sure that at least some people knew the truth... just in case?"

"Why would he have lied?" Thor insisted. "I understand... I mean, with Loki... I can somewhat understand that... but the Titans...?"

"Because if he admitted their existence, or even just his... he would have to admit to not being powerful enough to vanquishing a creature of such power, that represents a mayor threat to the whole 9 Realms." Loki told him solemnly. "After all, it's not like the Mad Titan's obsession with Death is a secret, even the 'myths' mention it."

"I... I honestly know not what to say." The Thunderer admitted quietly.

I could feel, almost tangibly, the disillusion. He accepted that Thanos existed, was behind the chitauri, and a threat to Earth; he also conceded, at least in part, that Odin had lied... he still had a hard time wrapping his head around what it all meant about who his father truly was... I could almost feel Loki's pity/compassion towards his brother. As much as my Maverick might dislike, at times even despise Odin, he'd never wanted Thor to be in such pain... it was such a terrible tragedy, even if a necessary one.

"Say nothing." My match stated after a few seconds. "Just accept it, and move on. Remember, you still have a battle coming your way. And if you mean to truly protect this realm, to fight the chitauri and their leaders when they come... you will have to be focused. Forget about Odin and his lies, those aren't important. Focus on what really matters, right here, right now. Are you not the protector of this realm?"

"I am." Thor nodded, taking a deep breath to center himself. "And so will you be."

"Excuse me, what?" Loki was in shock at that.

Before any more questions could be asked, or any complaints voiced, the door to the cage slid open. I couldn't believe it when I saw it was Phil himself opening it.

"Phil... do you realize what you're doing?" I asked him quietly, still not moving from my spot.

"I do." He nodded solemnly. "Just make sure I don't regret it."

"Fury is going to kill us all for this..." I couldn't help but mutter.

Then, as if the tension weren't thick enough by that point, the very man I'd just mentioned had to appear in that exact moment:

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't..." He declared, completely focused on my match. "The last thing we need right now is an psychotic megalomaniac on the lose... but then again, that's not what you are, in fact, you're the exact opposite to that, aren't you? Someone so clever you knew what it would take to bring this team together, even before most of them knew they were to be a team; and with enough will and valor to play double agent with no backup but a mortal girl, and play villain to a bunch of would-be heroes, until they're ready to face the true evil..."

"Your so-called heroes will never be ready to face true evil." Loki shook his head stoically. "Not the kind that dwells in the emptiness of the abyss... but as long as they're capable of guarding this realm, they do not need to either."

"Explain yourself." Fury demanded.

"Thanos is very powerful, indeed, but he is not ignorant to the fact that he alone would never be able to conquer a realm as ever-changing and chaotic as Midgard." Loki explained calmly. "It's what he has the chitauri for. They're a lost, forgotten race, once inhabitants of a realm that died so long ago even the myths have forgotten about it..." He shook his head. "The point being, take down the chitauri with enough force to either scare them away or even completely destroy them, and you will be able to keep your realm safe even from Thanos... at least for a time."

"Until he gets his hands on another army." Fury muttered, obviously not satisfied. "Why not take him down for good?"

"It's not that simple, Director." My love shook his head. "Like I've told my brother already, it is unlikely that even the two of us working together would be enough to take him down. Your human warriors would be so far over their heads it wouldn't even be funny..."

"I do not like leaving the fate of this world in the hands of people I do not know, people I do not trust." Fury said in a hard voice.

"No one likes it, but what else can you do?" My match inquired.

I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but my love sounded almost... challenging as he said that. It made me wonder if he knew something I did not... was something else going on I (and possibly others) was not aware of? Likely, I just hoped it wasn't something that would blow up in all our faces at some point. We so did not have the time for that.

My Maverick was hesitant as he stepped through the cage's open door, though I was sure hardly anyone noticed it through his masks... Thor, somehow, did.

"Everything alright, brother?" He inquired quietly.

"Acting in the open is really not my style." My match tried his best to shrug. "I prefer more doing things from the shadows..." He sighed, turning to me. "But my Nightingale has made the choice this time, and I trust her... more than I trust myself sometimes. So we will do things her way..." He turned to Fury. "And I guess, in a sense, we will do things your way. So, what will you have us do then, Director?"

"How about we start with you giving our people back?" Fury inquired.

Loki nodded easily enough. We'd both seen that one coming.

"I could retrieve them... but I seriously doubt you would be willing to let us go on our own." My love told him, considering the possibilities.

"I would be willing to let you go, provided that she stays." The Director qualified. "While I might not know your people, the professor has referred to herself as your wife, and we have found the records that confirm this. I believe, if she stays, you will come back, for her if for nothing else."

"A sound plan." Loki nodded with a hint of respect. "Except for one detail: I cannot leave her."

He said it so calmly, my reaction had been more much visual: as I'd hurried to his side, pressing myself to his body, holding onto his arm tightly.

"You know, it's when she acts like that, that we are pushed to believing there's magic somehow involved with the two of you." The Director stated flatly.

I sighed. It was my fault... they were going to distrust us again, unless...

*It's up to you, my match.* He said simply, mentally.

*We need to tell him.* I decided after a few seconds of quiet contemplation. *They need to understand that we cannot be separated. And they need to learn to trust us...*

*Not sure the second is possible, but we shall at least try.* He agreed.

"It's not so much a matter of us not wanting to be separated, as a matter of not being able to." I stated as calmly as I could.

"There is magic involved." Loki agreed. "Only not the kind of magic you've been implying. I have, in no way, compromised her mind, her ability to decide for herself, or the way she sees reality. I would never dishonor her in such a way."

"But you would dishonor others..." Fury accused him.

"If anyone should understand about doing whatever is necessary to achieve something, it should be you, Director..." Loki retorted coldly. "At the time those events took place, I... we had a plan, and it was the only way to get things done."

He could have said so much more... reminded him of things he had ordered done, and others he'd done himself, some bad... some worse, all in the name of S.H.I.E.L.D. and fulfilling a mission. We knew, Hawkeye had told us some things; and others we'd known before. S.H.I.E.L.D... they weren't the good guys, the white hats; because such people simply do not exist. There is no black and white, only shades of gray. In the end, what S.H.I.E.L.D. was, was an organization filled with people willing to do what was necessary to keep most of the world safe; and if that meant choosing one of two evils, the lesser one... they did it and moved on. As simple as that.

For idealists, for people like me, or the me I used to be at least, that was horrible. However, being with Loki had changed me. I knew he wasn't a good guy, not really. He had good intentions, most of the time at least. But he'd done bad things, the most recent of which was the man he'd killed in Stuttgart, taking his eye so Hawkeye could use it to get the iridium. That, my love had done in front of me; there had been no doubt, no hesitation. He'd simply done it, he'd known I didn't like it; and he'd also known I wouldn't try to stop him, or hate him afterwards. Because I understood that, sometimes, even bad things were necessary.

So maybe I wasn't a good person anymore either. I hadn't kill anyone, but I was, in a way, turning a blind eye, condoning killing, and hurting of others. I knew a day might come when I would have to pay for my sins... but even then, I was willing to do those things, I loved Loki enough to stand by him, no matter what.

I might have been an idealist at some point, and while I still was one in some ways, in others I'd become a realist. I knew how the world worked, the real world, and the universe as a whole. I knew that, sometimes, violence was necessary to protect. I hated violence for its own sake, fighting just because; but if it was to protect others, I was quite willing to do it (even if I wasn't that much of a warrior). In the end, sometimes the only way to protect something or someone was by hurting someone else... it didn't make things right, not really; but we each had to make our own decisions, choose what we were willing to do, how far we were willing to go, how many shades of gray we could paint ourselves with... I'd made my choices, and they all came down to one thing, one person: Loki.

I was brought out of my musings as I heard Thor speak, he was so solemn, so serious, so different from the wild, arrogant, reckless man Loki had described to me at one time. At the same time, he was the kind of man I could imagine Jane falling crazily in love with...

"You called yourself Loki's match." He told me with a piercing gaze. "You know..."

"I know exactly what it means, yes." I interrupted him softly. "Loki and I are, indeed, a match. The legal records here on Earth have us married just a few days ago, but that's only because we didn't care for such things at first. We bound ourselves to each other by the Ancient Rites. I made the choice and we took the vows last year, after he returned to me from the abyss."

"The Ancient Rites..." Thor was understandably shocked. "Wait a second... returned from the abyss? Last year?!"

"You wouldn't expect me to have stayed lost for months, would you?" Loki didn't give him a chance to answer. "It took me a month to get out, I shall give you that. But the only reason I got lost in the abyss in the first place, was because I was too... I wasn't well-enough after our fight on the Bifrost to get out right away."

He refused to say he was weakened, though we all understood.

"Besides." Loki went on. "When would Nightingale and I have gotten the chance to make our plans if I'd spent all the last year in the abyss?" He shook his head. "Brother, you know I'm perfectly capable of traveling the realms without the Bifrost."

"It's why the elves call you Sky-Treader." Thor nodded. "You can travel the realms through the Hidden Roads..."

"And the Shadow Paths, forget not those." Loki said, almost smirking. "I prefer them above the Roads. Much more direct and less easily found..."

By the looks of Fury and Phil, it was obvious they did not understand what the brothers were talking about; and I wasn't interested in letting them know. It was always good to keep some secrets to ourselves, especially secrets that might save our lives, if S.H.I.E.L.D. ever decided to double-cross us for whatever the reason.

What I wasn't expecting was the detail Phil chose to focus on.

"If you can travel through worlds on your own power, why use the Tesseract a few days ago, then?" Phil inquired, very seriously. "So many lives could have been saved if the Cube hadn't been activated when it was, caused that cave-in."

"Because I had to make Thanos believe I needed the Tesseract." Loki admitted quietly. "It's the only way I could delay his attack... otherwise this would have happened months ago! Only by making him believe that I too needed the Tesseract to properly cross into this realm, could I convince him to wait. Not my finest plan, I'll admit, but it gave us a year... gave you a year." He shook his head. "The loss of life is regretful, a terrible tragedy. But things would have been much worse if Thanos had made his attack eleven months ago! That's how long he's been ready." He let out a breath. "On the other hand, if you had been more careful, it is possible more lives would have been preserved. Playing with a relic of such power... you simply weren't ready for the consequences of such a thing. What happened that day... it would have happened eventually, even without my meddling. And lives would still have been lost. In this instance you might place the blame on me, but it would have happened anyway..."

"We humans live such short lives, and want to do so much with what little time we do have... sometimes we fail to plan things through." I murmured, speaking mostly to myself, though I knew they heard me. "At times we might be lucky, others not so much, and yet... and yet I cannot help but think S.H.I.E.L.D. should have known better. After the things you knew HYDRA had done with the Cube during WWII... how could you just experiment on it and not be prepared for a huge catastrophe?"

Nobody answered me, but that was alright, I wasn't actually expecting an answer anyway. While Loki might be willing to shoulder the blame for what had happened that day, I was also willing to force Fury and even Phil to face the fact that at least some of that blame rested on them. It was S.H.I.E.L.D. who had made the call on retrieving the Tesseract from the ocean, and then what they'd called Project Pegasus (and some things I shouldn't even know about... but Darcy and I were curious, and she's a hell of a hacker... bad combination)... S.H.I.E.L.D. really should have known better, at least enough to prepare for a disaster. Yet they hadn't, they didn't, and innocent people paid the price, with their lives. Hopefully, in the end, the good achieved would surpass the bad, otherwise the loses would never be worth it; there was a chance they still wouldn't be.

xXx

We somehow managed to convince Fury to allow us both to go. I didn't like the idea of getting on the quinjet again after what had happened the last time, but knowing it was necessary, I made no complaint. Like the previous time, Black Widow was there, as were Captain America, Iron Man and Thor; instead of the other Agent who'd been helping Romanoff before, Phil went. It was a rescue mission, but at the same time no one expected there to be much trouble.

At least I was no longer in the beautiful but highly impractical dress I'd been wearing in Stuttgart. Instead Loki had summoned a change of clothes for me, dark jeans, a sleeveless top and a zip-up dark jacket; with that went a pair of dark boots too. Very comfortable, easy to move in, and the fact that they were my own clothes also helped, a lot, put me more at ease. I also still had my favorite earrings, the deamarkonian, the silver magic-bangles and the nightingale pendant with enough magic to protect me from almost anything.

The scepter with the Mind Gem was in a lead case, thick enough to hold its power at bay; we still had it because Loki and I knew the power of the Gem was the best way to undo what had been done by it before. There were other ways to break the mind-control, but most were either too harsh or simply not safe enough.

Phil and Romanoff seemed to have a hard time believing it when we gave them the coordinates; the temporary base was in the outskirts of New York, so close to S.H.I.E.L.D. HQs it made it seem like we were mocking them... which might have worked with my love's original plan, but the reason had been much more simpler: it was easy to get energy, odd people always came and went in NY (which meant the people working for us would go unnoticed); and, of course, the subway system... after all, the base itself was an old, abandoned station.

The minute we arrived we knew something was wrong. It was as if something were stealing the oxygen from the earth... the very life from the ground beneath our feet.

"It's here..." Loki muttered.

In an instant he was covered in full battle armor, even the helmet in place, a conjured dagger already on one of his hands.

Thor reacted instinctively to his own brother's actions, summoning his own armor and taking a hold of Mjolnir.

Phil just followed the lead, taking his gun and unlocking the safe; Rogers and Romanoff doing as he did without a question.

"What the hell is going on?" Stark demanded. "Who's here? You're supposed to be the former bad guy, right? So who could possibly..."

"The Other." I didn't care about interrupting him. "It's here..."

"Which means Thanos already knows I've betrayed him." Loki added grimly.

"Does it count as betrayal when you were never on their side?" I couldn't help but ask.

"For him it does." Loki shrugged. "His reaction is not going to be pretty." He turned to Phil. "If you want to save your men we need to move now. If the Other is here I can no longer guarantee their well-being..."

"Who's this 'Other'?" Romanoff inquired, even as she got on guard.

"I know not if he is of any race, if he's ever been, but right now he's Thanos's 2IC, and almost as insane as he..." My Maverick informed them seriously. "If you want to get your friends back alive we need to get moving, now!"

Nothing more needed to be said. We were on the move immediately. I knew Loki didn't like having me there, but there was nothing that could be done about it. We couldn't separate more than a few feet... at least I wasn't defenseless, I knew some hand to hand (just enough to protect myself) and I had magic at my disposal. I also had a taser (a gift from Darcy), I had placed in my bag almost as an afterthought, it was the same when I chose to put it in my jacket before leaving the helicarrier to retrieve Hawkeye and Selvig.

The battle began almost from the moment we stepped through the doors into the temporary base; which might have been because the Other knew we were coming, or simply because Iron Man chose to blow it open rather than try and be secretive. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway, or that's what I wanted to believe anyway.

Things went from there. Pretty soon Loki was locked in combat with the Other, with Thor acting as backup, mostly keeping anyone else off his brother's back; while the others focused on all the 'enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D.' Loki had recruited during the last few days. Most weren't even truly combatants, so it wasn't that hard.

I kept an eye on everyone, calling on shields whenever a stray attack threatened someone. In the end the scepter wasn't used. The fight at some point caused a piece of pretty heavy equipment to fall on Selvig, knocking him out (and resetting his brain, so-to-speak). While Romanoff chose to do things her own way and deal with Barton's 'cognitive re-calibration' herself.

What the Black Widow wasn't expecting was when she ended up with a heavy, unconscious Hawkeye in her arms, and no way to leave as the whole place had caught on fire at some point. I was the only one to notice, as Loki was still busy with the Other, while Thor focused on getting everyone else out before it was too late. So I focused and then jumped through the flames, appearing by the two Agents' side.

"What are you doing here?" Romanoff asked gruffly, either because of the smoke, her bad mood, or maybe that was usual for her.

"What does it look like?" I replied. "I'm getting you out!"

I ignored her disbelieving look. She didn't trust us, but I wasn't expecting her to, not after what Loki and I had done to Barton, we knew how close she was to him, it was part of the reason why we'd chosen him in the first place: to make it personal. Still, it's not like I was asking her permission to save her!

I waited, just long enough to make sure Loki was gone, then I reached to touch both of the Agents, focused on the last bracelets on my arm, on my match's presence in the back of my head, and allowed myself to fall.

It was a horrible feeling, having the ground seemingly disappearing from beneath you, feeling like a free-fall with no security rope... only to then have ground beneath you again. There was a reason I'd learnt to jump when teleporting, it made the whole thing easier to bare. But there was no way I could have jumped with how I was doing things in that moment. So I had to swallow my fear, my absolute terror (after my recent near-death experience, the whole idea of falling was even worse than before), and called on the magic anyway.

We appeared on the open hatch at the back of the quinjet; the first thing I heard being my match demanding to know where I was, and how no one had noticed I wasn't with them when they ran. He noticed me the moment we appeared there, and in the next instant I was in his arms, being held so tightly I might have had trouble breathing, if it weren't for the fact that I wasn't breathing anyway at that point. Not until I managed to calm myself enough to remember to do so.

"I was making sure we all got out alive..." I told him in a subdued tone.

It was then that they all noticed Romanoff and Barton still on the ground. Phil immediately rushed to them, and with Rogers' help they managed to get the two inside the quinjet.

As the Black Widow was walking past us she stopped, looking intently at my match before focusing on me. I waited, wondering what was going through her head; when she finally spoke, her words floored me:

"Thank you..." She whispered in a rough voice.

I didn't get my bearings in time to say anything to her before she was gone, taking a seat beside the unconscious Barton.

"We need to leave before this whole place blows up." Stark announced.

That made them all react, and soon enough we were in the air.

As it turns out, the mission was a success. We managed to retrieve the two assets, and neither of them was under mind-control anymore. Phil had also managed to get the Tesseract before we were all forced to run. So, despite the mess and the fact that the Other apparently was on Earth... things hadn't been all bad.

Fury, of course, did not share my rather positive view of things.

"You say this 'Other' is now on Earth." He demanded, eyes fixed straight on Loki. "What does this mean for us? For our world?"

"It means you need to track him down and to be ready to act the moment you detect a chaos portal forming." Loki told him directly. "They may have lost the Tesseract, but Thanos will not give up. He has enough power to create a chaos portal to get his army to this realm; depending on how he goes about it, that kind of portal could appear pretty much anywhere in the planet."

"If he can create something like that, why did he wait for the Tesseract?" Phil inquired, confused.

"The Tesseract is more power, more order." My match explained. "A chaos portal is, like its name implies, chaotic. It could close on him at any moment, possibly even before he has achieved his goals; on the other hand, if done right, it could also open wider and for much longer than any of us would want it to."

"So, what do we do then?" Hill wanted to know.

We were back on the helicarrier, on the bridge this time.

"Keep track of the energies in your atmosphere, and the moment the chaos portal begins to form, send your best Warriors there." I said. "If you're fast enough, you might be able to deal with things before too many chitauri get through..."

"And how are we supposed to be able to detect these... portals?" Fury insisted. "It's not like they are something anyone in this world studies!"

Loki and I could only look at each other, not quite believing he'd just said that.

"But you do have someone." Loki pointed out. "You always have had... your Dr. Foster."

"Jane." I agreed. "She can find that portal." I realized something right then. "Where is she, by the way? Considering everything that is going on I would have thought she would be here..." I could sense the tension. "Where is she?"

"We put her on a plane right after Selvig was taken." Phil told me. "Both she and Darcy. Would have included you if you hadn't sent in your resignation days before..."

"You sent her away?!" I went through two octaves in my disbelief. "The only person with the capacity to understand portals. The one person who not only has seen them, but could study them, and who is able to even detect them! Someone who could, potentially, create an Einsten-Rosen bridge of her own with the right materials and an appropriate energy source... and you decided to send her away when you could potentially need her the most?!"

"We did it for her own safety." Hill practically snapped at me. "After Dr. Selvig was taken, and knowing it was Loki behind it, we thought her connection to Thor and to New Mexico might put her in danger as well. She's an asset and needed to be protected..."

"You thought I would go after her?!" Loki was the one reacting indignant then. "While, granted, my attitude at the time might have suggest such a thing... no one with half a mind for strategy would have ever done that. All it would have achieved was push Thor over the edge. He would have been useless, to you, and to me... regardless of which side I was truly working for."

Cold, but accurate. Thor would have gone crazy, he would have been unable to focus; also, he might have hurt Loki, even killed him before my love had a chance to explain things to him or, if they'd truly been enemies: he would have never been able to take on my husband when his mind was somewhere else completely.

"Where is she?" I couldn't her the curiosity.

"An observatory in Tromso... Norway." Phil informed me after a second of hesitation.

I simply couldn't hold back the laughter that spilled from my lips at that.

"Norway?" I repeated, still laughing.

"So ironic..." Loki agreed with a smirk of his own.

After a few seconds we quieted, growing serious again. We all knew how things were, even if most were unwilling to state things openly.

"We need to get her back." I finally said. "Pronto. If we are to have any hope to detect that chaos portal with enough time to get your warriors there to battle the chitauri... we need Jane."

By the look in Thor's eyes I knew he did not like it; however he also understood that Jane was needed. The safety of thousands of people (and potentially the whole world) might depend on her. Also, he knew as well as I did that Jane would never forgive him if he did something stupid (like getting himself, or someone else, innocents, hurt) just because he was trying to protect her. Jane was a big girl, she knew the kind of danger she put herself in, working on the things she did, especially since joining S.H.I.E.L.D., but she still did it. It was a decision that needed to be respected. Also, it wasn't like anyone was sending her to a battle-field; she would be safe enough in the helicarrier. No one needed her to fight, just to be able to tell the actual fighters where to go and when so they could do the fighting.

With an order from Fury, Hill immediately made arrangements for a few agents to retrieve both Jane and Darcy and get them to the helicarrier.

"Do you think the plan will work?" Thor asked my love quietly.

"I don't know." Loki answered honestly. "But I do know this. If the people on this vessel cannot protect this realm, no one can. This time you and I aren't enough, brother."

He was right, of course. I just hoped they would be enough in the end.

---

This marks the beginning of the second round of AU. I will do my best to update every other week, though this time I'm not making any promises.

For those interested, I'm also currently posting a series of unrelated short HLV fix-it fics (those who've watched the show know what that means), some full Sherlock, some crossovers; the first few can be seen as Gen or Pre-Slash, but most (or all, if you choose to see them that way) are straight-out Johnlock.

As always, full-sized poster and set of wallpapers can be found in my DeviantArt account, under the name Princess-Lalaith.