"Lady (Y/N)," Thor exclaimed in surprise, beaming as he quickly scooped you into a bone-crushing hug.
"Thor," you couldn't help but smile back at his large toothy grin, leaving a hand resting on his arm after he released you, "It's great to see you." Your smile faltered as you looked over his shoulder, finding Loki who's eyes locked on yours. You couldn't read the emotion in them but, to be honest, you couldn't even name the chaotic mingling of emotions that were bubbling up inside of yourself.
"If I had known it was you who was watching over my brother, I would have come sooner," his words forced a pained smile from you. Tony's eyes were burning into your skull, so you turned to face him, swallowing the lump that was forming in your throat.
"I've met them before," you answered Tony's questioning glare, gesturing to the two men beside you, "Obviously," you added much quieter than before.
"Didn't think that was something worth mentioning," Tony asked, wrinkling his nose slightly as anger coated his words.
"Didn't really get the chance," you made eye contact with Tony, only peeling your eyes away to look at Cap who looked as if he was trying to read every emotion and thought you had. With a quick scan of the room, it was clear that Natasha already had and Clint held an almost sad expression on his face. Banner held the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, glancing between you, Thor, Loki, and Tony periodically.
"I've studied magic extensively. Asgardian magic, as you know, among them. I'm here to keep you in check," You had turned your body towards Loki, taking a step forward as you spoke, still doing your best to restrain the emotion that threatened to spill out through your tone. He only watched you, unwilling or unable to respond, so you turned back to Tony and Cap,"I can take him to his room and then we can talk," you offered and they shared a glance before nodding, "It was great to see you again," you squeezed Thor's shoulder.
"I won't let such a long time pass between visits next time Lady (Y/N)," He spoke softly and you smiled genuinely at him before opening the door for Loki. His feet remained in place for a few seconds before he finally shuffled from the room. As soon as the door shut behind the two of you, the silence seemed to tighten its grip on you. You made your way down the halls and up the elevator without a single word, the two of you glancing at each other, cautiously as to avoid the other noticing. The final few feet to his door was equally filled with the thudding of boots against the floor and nothing more until you both halted outside of his door.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet," Your eyes dragged up from the ground to the walls, eventually finding their way to Loki. There was a sense of sadness in his expression as he peered down at you, still silent.
"It's been ages, Lady (Y/N)," He finally spoke, the words leaving his mouth far quieter than you expected and you swallowed hard.
"Too long," you added. The corners of his mouth twitched but did not raise into a smile, "Despite the circumstances, I really am glad to see you Loki."
"You may be the only one," He quipped. You exhaled a resigned laugh through your nose.
"This is you," you reached past him in order to open the door, gesturing inside. You turned to leave but changed your mind as soon as your back was to him, continuing to turn until you faced him again, "and don't try anything will ya," you added with a wink. Loki finally offered up a small but genuine smile, watching you disappear back down the hall. He opened his mouth to say something—anything but found no words would leave him, not that you would be able to hear anything anyway over the sound of your own heartbeat drumming in your ears.
"I had a hard time even wrapping my head around it when you said they were coming, I haven't seen them since I was 17," you explained, now back in the room where everyone remained except for Thor.
"Two Asgardians just walked up to your dinner table one night," Banner questioned sarcastically.
"I ran into them and I wasn't even living at home at the time. It was a strange situation but it was a long time ago," Your neck ached from the strained way you were carrying yourself and you tapped your fingers nervously against your thigh, waiting for their response.
"You and Thor seemed pretty chummy," Tony observed and you nodded once towards him.
"Well," you began, tapping your tongue on the roof of your now dry mouth, "We became close at the time."
"How close," Cap spoke up now and your eyes darted to where he stood.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," he took two steps in your direction until he was just a foot or two away from you, "if it came down to it, would you be able to do what it takes?" Steve's words pulled your heart to the pit of your stomach as something close to anger rose within you.
"You make it sound like I'm supposed to kill him," you huffed out a laugh but Steve's expression remained unchanging, "Look, you fought him but I know him."
"Knew him," your eyes found Natasha who was leaning back in a chair, feet propped up on the table, "Are you sure that he's the same man you knew?"
"I have no idea," you admitted, though the words dragged up your throat, falling from your lips at just above a whisper. You kept your eyes on the stone floor, the sound of boots thudding against it and the swing of the door sounding. Finally, you glanced up, finding only Clint remaining. A sigh escaped you and you took a seat at the table. After what felt like an hour of silence, he joined you, the chair's leg scraping painfully against the ground.
"I just want to know how you ended up with two aliens," Clint's tone was laced with humor, no doubt intentionally, and it made you relax as you leaned back in the chair to look at him, "You know, I was with S.H.I.E.L.D when Thor first touched down and he didn't strike me as a frequent visitor."
"They didn't come to Earth," you began, earning an eyebrow raise from Clint as he waited for you to continue, "I went to Asgard."
The earth was soft and pliable beneath your bare feet, your heavy steps flattening the grass as you ran through the field, finding one of the lone trees within it. Your hands quickly found their place without much thought, your muscles working on instinct and familiarity as you propelled yourself to a far up branch, the current book you were reading clenched between your teeth to keep your grip free. Settling yourself in the nook of the branch, you opened the pages and began to roll your eyes over the words. This had long since become your favorite spot, hidden from the open expanse of the field. Your uncle never cared much where you ran off to, so you found yourself here during most of your free time, even though it was a good 20 minutes from your house. The first thing you noticed was the branch shaking beneath your foot that wasn't hanging in the air, followed by the branch beneath you. Tearing your eyes from the page, you looked around rather frantically, the tree only shaking harder. As quickly as you could whilst trying to maintain your balance, you made your way down, having abandoned your novel up in leaves. The ground vibrated almost violently and in your sheer panic, you began to run, your speed and the shifting ground blurring your vision. In an instant, the hazy green of the field was replaced with a blinding light, forcing you to stop in your tracks. The ground shook harder and tears streamed down your cheeks, the sound of a racing train surrounding you, and your hands searching blindly for the ground as you moved to sit. Only, you did not find the warm embrace of the grass and dirt, instead, feeling a cold stone substance beneath your palms.
"Little one," you whipped your head around frantically, trying to see who the deep commanding tone belonged to through your eyes still blurred with tears. Slowly, the large circular room came into focus, the arching columns, the black night that seemed to envelop it. Finally, your gaze focused on a large pair of golden boots stood just in front of you. Following them upward, a large man stared down at you, a golden-horned helmet adding several inches to his giant-like statute and accentuating his dark and stern expression. You opened your mouth but found no words would escape, you only crawled backward an inch or two upon instinct, "Come," he extended a hand to you but you only stared at his palm. He insisted, however, not returning his arm to its place after several seconds, so ever so hesitantly, you placed your hand in his. He helped you to your feet and began to lead you from the room, each step landing unsteadily as you tried to keep your knees from buckling. An audible gasp left your lips, first from the unexpected chill of something under your bare feet, and secondly from the realization of what exactly that was. A rainbow path of something you could only describe as cosmic glass stretched over an endless void, bridging the gap between the circular building and a city that could only have been out of someone's dreams. The glittering metal stretched up to a dusk sky and you found your eyes darting from every stripe of color and every sparkling beam as the man continued to lead you forwards. Guards of a slightly smaller but still intimidating statute met the two of you at the end and eyed the other man curiously.
"The Bifrost is experiencing a temperamental shift and we have an unexpected visitor, a Midgardian. I am unable to leave my post but take this girl to the king and tell him as such." The guards offered up no contradictions, one of them replacing the strong grip on your hand with their own without any further words. Your eyes were too overwhelmed and your thoughts to frantic to really register the distance you had walked, the only give away being the slight ache of your feet and the fact that you were now entering the gates of the palace you had spied before. The next few moments were all but a blur as you were ushered into the throne room, an enormous hall that concluded in a throne to oversee it all.
"Your Majesty," the guard greeted with a bow as you only stared up in shock, tongue-tied and breathless, "Heimdall sends a message."
"A message and a girl," Spoke the king, standing from his throne and taking slow steps down, so that he now stood just a step above the palace floor.
"He tells me that the Bifrost has experienced a shift and has given the kingdom a visitor, a Midgardian, my king," Odin watched you, bringing a hand up to smooth his beard, searching for something in your expression.
"Heimdall is a trusted advisor, I will implore Frigga to house her here until I am able to speak with him myself, you are dismissed." The guard released your hand and left as quickly as he had shuffled into the room, armor clanging lightly, followed by the opening and closing of the heavy throne room doors.
"Your name," He questioned you, stepping down the final step. Again, you opened your mouth but closed it again as he waited.
"Where am I," you managed instead, earning another curious glance from the king.
"Asgard, my child," He answered you.
"(Y/N)," you finally told him, only for the creaking of the door opening to stop any response before he gave it. Soon, you found a flowing dress beside you, its owner forming a soft expression as they looked at you.
"Frigga, my dear, Heimdall has sent us a visitor. She is to be housed here for the time being," Frigga nodded, offering you her hand, which you took, before she exited the throne room, guiding you down another hall.
"What do I call you dear," she spoke sweetly and it made you relax ever so slightly, but your shoulders remained stiff and your eyes still raked over everything they could find.
"(Y/N)," she smiled at your response, turning once more to begin walking down a slightly narrower hallway, still adorned with luxuries you had never seen and lined with thick columns with torches secured beside them for light.
"I'm Frigga, tell me, how did you find your way to our home," by home, you assumed she meant the palace, or perhaps, whatever the king had said before. Asgard? You had never heard of that country if it was even a country at all.
"I don't know," you decided on and she let out a quite 'hmm.' Before the two of you reached the door at the hallway's end, it burst open, making you jump.
"Mother," a boy, who looked to be about your age, boomed. His long blond hair was tousled and strands of it hung about his face. He raced up to the woman beside you, holding a luminescent green snake up to her, "Loki has turned my sword into a snake again," he whined and you looked up to her face only to find a small smile there.
"Loki," she began softly, petting the head of the creature with a single finger, "you've had your fun," with that, Thor dropped the snake to the ground and you stepped back, now free of the woman's hand. As you blinked, however, the snake disappeared, replaced with a slightly smaller dark haired bow, who extended a long sword to his brother with a wicked grin. Now that whatever quarrel they were having had concluded, both of the boys' attention fell to you. They cast a questioning glance to their mother, who ushered you forward so that you were beside her again, "boys, this is Lady (Y/N), she will be our guest for the time being," You glanced at the blond haired boy who broke out into a grin.
"I am Thor, the god of thunder," you raised your eyebrows but were unsure of how to respond. God? What did he mean by god? Your eyes flicked over to his brother who had rolled his eyes at Thor's introduction. His blue eyes latched onto yours, neither of you speaking. Thor, suddenly uninterested, turned and left through the door he had come through, sword happily over his shoulder.
"I am Loki," the boy answered, his brow crinkling ever so slightly, giving you the impression he was studying you, as you were him.