Riley snuck a glance over her shoulder, careful to not let Loki out of her sight, so she could survey her surroundings: Stark tower. Back at the beginning.

"Oh come now," Loki finally answered her, gingerly rubbing his reddening cheek with an innocent smirk on his lips. Riley moved her gaze back to look at him, a brown brow quirked in his direction. "That was only some fun—"

"That punch was just a taste of what I can do," she cut in. "Touch me again and I'll show you real fun."

"Ah yes, I was meaning to ask about that," he replied, smiling pleasantly. "Your magic, I mean…It doesn't seem altogether…Asgardian in its form."

The manner in which she conjured those shadows and manipulated dark matter, the altogether foreign and almost bitter taste of its aura…None of Riley's magic struck Loki as Asgardian power, which he was well-versed in. In his youth, he'd cultivated every known form of Asgardian magic he could get his hands on, perusing Asgard's libraries as he fed himself eons of knowledge. Therefore, he found it difficult to accept the fact that this woman was half-Asgardian.

"Well, it is," Riley huffed, almost defensively.

"If it is, then it's tainted somehow. From whom did you learn it?"

"I…taught myself."

Oh, Riley, but you've had such a good teacher. Give credit where credit's' due, no? Valek was encircling Loki now, amber eyes lidded as they indolently raked over the other man's body. Ironic, isn't it, that he would accuse our magic of being something impure? I mean, it is, of course—it's my own personal brand—but I find it amusing that a Jotun of all beings would talk of impurities.

"You cannot lie to the God of Lies, dear," Loki chuckled, surprisingly calm for a guy in the middle of losing a galactic war.

A Jotun? Riley's nose wrinkled. What the hell is that?

"You never did give my previous offer much consideration."

A Frost Giant. What, you've really never heard of Jotunheim? Exasperation colored Valek's tone. You really don't know anything, do you?

"It would just be…a little exchange of information, you know. All harmless."

Yeah, well apparently knowledge isn't everything, since I've managed to keep you bound to me for so long.

"You tell me about your magic, and I tell you about your heritage. Seem fair?"

Ahh, you're so cute when you're cocky. You'll give in eventually, Riley. Everyone does at one point or another.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Riley's conversation with Valek popped from her mind like a bubble. Re-focusing her vision, she found Loki standing across from her with his arms folded firmly across his chest, viridian eyes narrowed in a glower, his prominent jaw set and thin lips pressed together.

"Sorry, no, I actually wasn't. What were you saying?"

Apparently, that was not the reply he was looking for.

Loki rushed her then, charging with voluminous waves of green energy pulsing from his fists. His attack caught her off-guard, so she didn't have enough time to react properly, her instinctual reaction being to merely stare like a fly being met with a swatter.

A monstrous roar rippled through the air, and just before Loki reached Riley, the god was thrown back as the Hulk smashed through the only un-broken window on the tower, tackling Loki like a deranged football player. Loki was sent soaring backward, and the Hulk skidded on massive bare feet, coming to a halt in the middle of the room. He turned his huge face on Riley, nostrils flaring chest heaving, and she felt as though she had shrunk about twenty feet.

"Oh, uh…hey, Bruc—I mean, Hulk. Thanks."

He merely grunted in reply.

"Enough!" Loki had, amazingly, gotten back to his feet, positively fuming now. "You are all of you beneath me! I am God, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by—"

The Hulk promptly seized Loki by the leg and began to smash him violently against the floor, repeatedly, back and forth, then tossed him aside to the ground. The impact crushed the tiling beneath him, leaving a Loki-sized dent behind in the floor.

The Hulk snorted as he turned away, all but disgusted with Loki's verbal assault. "Puny god." Virtually ignoring Riley, he thrust himself back out the window, proceeding to return into the line of fire.

Riley let out a low whistle. "Oof. Wouldn't want to be on his bad side." Her eyes darted down to Loki. "I mean, ouch, right? That looks like it really hurt."

Loki's eyes shifted to look at her, filled with a combination of hatred and pain, but he either was too shocked to say anything, or simply couldn't.

"Now, the question is, do I need to sit here and babysit you, or are you going to stay down there like a good little god, so Mum can go beat up more of your friends?" said Riley.

Loki glared at her. His cracked, bleeding lips parted to say something, but Riley's earpiece suddenly buzzed. Turning away from him, she switched it back to 'on.'

It was Natasha. "I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!" Steve's voice ordered

"No, wait!" Tony yelled back.

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute...And I know just where to put it."

Riley frowned. "Wait, Tony, what do you mean? What are you doing?"

But Tony didn't answer her. Riley gave Loki one last look (he was still lying in the same position, wincing), then fled to the window, leaping out onto the ledge where Natasha stood next to the portal. She was holding the scepter up at the power source, just barely holding back from piercing the billowing blue fumes.

"Harrow," Natasha acknowledged. She was pretty badly bruised and scuffed up, but none the worse for wear.

"Romanoff. What's Stark doing? Have you seen him?"

Natasha needn't answer. In that next second, Iron Man rocketed past them, gripping a large white missile in his hands. As Riley watched in horror, he re-directed it in an upward trajectory, toward the entrance of the portal.

"Oh no," said Riley, bringing one hand up to cover her mouth. "He isn't doing what I think he's doing...is he?"

"I don't know what you're thinking," said Natasha, "but I'm thinking this might be the last time we see him."

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip," Steve pointed out.

Tony didn't answer him. Instead, he said, "Give Rock of Ages one last kick for me, all right, Winn-Dixie?"

Riley knew right away that he was referring to her. "Give it to him yourself." He'd be fine, right? Couldn't he just…let go of the missile, and return back down? Or would the lack of gravity and space's atmosphere power down his suit?

And Tony disappeared into the portal, vanishing from sight. Natasha hesitated, holding the scepter poised to attack the portal. Riley could only silently pray, doing her best to ignore the influx of taunts from Valek.

There was the faintest BLAM! that could only be the work of the missile, and Steve yelled, "Close it!"

Natasha gave the portal one last fleeting look, then jabbed the scepter at the power source. The gateway slowly began to close in on itself, and the hole from which everything kept entering through shrunk, smaller and smaller, until—

At the last second, just as the open gap snapped completely shut, Iron Man plummeted out from it.

"Oh man, how's that for last-minute?" said Riley, but she was grinning like an idiot.

"Sun of a gun," said Steve.

Natasha shook her head, also smiling now. "Leave it to Iron Man to—"

"He's not slowing down!" Thor interrupted. Riley looked back and, sure enough, Tony continued to fall at a rapid pace. Evidently he'd been knocked out...or worse.

"Thor, Steve!" Riley shouted into her earpiece, no doubt hurting their eardrums. "One of you stop him before—"

But just as Tony was halfway down the side of one of the many destroyed buildings, Quinn came flying out of absolutely nowhere, just barely managing to catch him in her arms. She appeared to struggle with his weight, face scrunched up from the effort, but the woman managed to slowly pump her wings downward, carrying him to one of the ruined city streets. Riley skidded down the side of the building with Natasha in hot pursuit, jumped about seven feet away from the ground, and staggered over to Tony's side, kneeling down at his head. His mask had been removed.

"Stark? Stark, can you hear me?" Rilley gave his side a rough shake. "Stark, hey! Don't you dare be dead, come on..."

But Tony's face remained blank, lifeless, his eyes shut tight.

"Guys," Quinn murmured, checking his pulse. "I don't think—"

The Hulk leaned down, brushing Quinn surprisingly gently aside, and gave another tremendous roar right into Tony's ear.

Tony startled heavily in shock, his eyes snapping open at the sound. "Whoa! What the hell? What just happened?"

A collective laugh rang out among the group, and Riley finally relaxed, collapsing on her hands and knees. They had done it.

"Please tell me nobody kissed me?"

"I did," said Riley.

"What?" Tony demanded, turning to look at her in alarm.

"Chill out," Riley laughed again, grinning. "I was just kidding. No worries."

Tony relaxed. "Good. Because if that was the case, I would have had to seriously hurt you, Old Yeller."

"We won," said Steve breathlessly.

"Alright. Hey, alright! Good job, guys. Let's...just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

Riley rolled her eyes, but the idea of food was very tempting to her empty stomach. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd eaten something.

"We're not finished yet," said Thor, indicating Stark Tower with a nod.

"…And then shawarma after," said Tony determinedly.

They returned back to Stark's penthouse, stepping around scatters of glass shards. Loki was only just now beginning to sit up, groaning softly in pain. He didn't notice the group for a moment, as they crowded around him, all drawing their weapons.

With a great deal of effort, Loki turned to face them, not in the least bit surprised to see them all there.

"If it's all the same to you," he said quietly, managing an innocent half-smile, "I'll have that drink now."

...

"So, I suppose this is where we say our goodbyes," said Tony, extending one hand to Riley.

"I suppose," she agreed, taking the handshake proudly.

"You know, for a British crossbreed mutant creature, you're not half bad."

"And I could say the same about you, Mr. Conceited, over-inflated ego," said Riley.

Tony grinned. "Take care, all right, Balto?"

"I will. And the same to you, Stark."

Riley moved to each Avenger in turn, saying her goodbyes. They were incredibly bittersweet—although she'd only known them for a short period of time, she'd come to actually enjoy the company of this band of misfits, and would be sad to see them go.

"Romanoff," said Riley, giving Natasha a short hug.

"Harrow," Natasha returned. "I hope to someday see you again at SHIELD, if at all possible."

"You will, I'm sure. Maybe even in the flesh," she added, gesturing widely to her face. She had finally ditched the layers of clothing and masks in favor of casual attire, feeling that, if these weirdos could go around unmasked, then it probably wasn't that big of a deal.

"Miss Harrow," said Steve, patting her on the shoulder.

"I prefer Riley," Riley answered, beaming. "Maybe sometime I'll come visit you, huh? Bring you up to speed on some of the current things around here?"

Steve nodded, and he flashed her a pearly-white smile. "I'd like that."

Riley fist-bumped Clint Barton next and chatted for a bit, slightly longer than the others.

"Sorry you didn't exactly get to know me very well," said Clint, running a hand through his hair. "You know, because I wasn't actually me for half of the time."

"That's all right. From what I gathered, you're a pretty decent man. And you really need to help me with my archery skills."

"Fine by me."

Riley then shook hands with Dr. Banner, surprised to find that he was pretty engaged with talking to Quinn.

"It really was a pleasure to meet you, doctor. Both as you and as the 'Other Guy'."

Bruce smirked. "I find that second bit hard to believe, but thanks anyway."

Finally, Riley reached out to shake Thor's hand, but he seized it, planting a light kiss on the top of her knuckles.

"Um...th-thank you, I guess," Riley stammered; she had a feeling she'd never get used to that. "I hope your trip back to Asgard goes smoothly."

"About that," said Thor, releasing her hand. "If you're at all up for it, I'd love for you to accompany me to Asgard."

Riley's jaw dropped. "You...you mean it?"

Thor nodded, grinning at her reaction. "Yes. Why so shocked? I just figured that you would want to visit your 'home planet,' considering you are half-Asgardian."

Riley stammered, fumbling over her words. "I just...wow. Asgard?"

"Yes."

"Yes!"

Riley hadn't known him for quite as long as the others, but she found herself pulling him into a big bear-hug, absolutely giddy with the idea of seeing her home planet—or any planet apart from Earth, really. Thor stared in surprise, but was quick to return the gesture, lifting her quite literally off of her feet.

At last, she came to Quinn.

What words could be said? "Hey, sorry about the whole pretending to be dead thing? Yikes, that was stupid?" What was she supposed to say under circumstances like these?"

"Hey, sorry about the whole pretending to be dead thing," she recited, having come up with nothing better to say. "Yikes, that was stupid, huh?"

Quinn lunged at her again, and Riley prepared for the well-earned blow, only to find herself wrapped firmly in another hug. "You never changed," she murmured against Riley's shoulder, sniffling as she fought back tears.

"Is…is that a good thing?"

"Yes." Quinn sighed into her hair, then finally parted, smiling the smile of a broken woman who'd done her best to glue back the pieces—which was exactly what she was. Riley had always admired the blonde for a multitude of reasons, and it left a burning in the pit of her heart that Quinn still wanted to remain friends (or at least, that was the assumption).

"I'm, uh…going to Asgard, I guess," Riley laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "But when I get back…You wanna, like…catch up? Get coffee or something?"

Quinn only nodded, still wiping her eyes. It seemed that both women understood that this was not some empty promise.

And now…what? She was going to go gallivanting off to Asgard? It wasn't like Riley had much going on here on Earth—few friends, no family to miss her. Fury would probably be pretty pissed when he found out she had skipped town, but it wasn't like it would be a permanent arrangement. As for things to pack…Riley had very little to her name. Her weapon was already tucked in her pocket, and she imagined her stay there wouldn't be too terrible long, so…

Riley turned back to Thor, offering him a hand, which he placed atop the Tesseract (which had been enclosed inside a tube of sorts). Beside them, Loki had been muzzled and bound like a wild animal—which seemed unnecessary, but Riley. wasn't in the mood for his quips, and imagined that Thor wasn't, either.

"Why do you appear so apprehensive?" Thor asked her as she gripped the tube's edge a bit too tightly. "You will be welcomed as a hero."

Loki rolled his eyes. A hero, he thought, scoffing internally at the idea. Why lie futher to the girl? Asgard is no place for a mortal, let alone a half-breed.

"I really didn't do much, honestly," said Riley modestly, but she was beaming brighter than a star.

Thor answered her in only a returned grin. At that moment, they were swept up into the Tesseract's power, and the last thing that passed Riley's line of vision was Steve Rogers, climbing aboard his motorcycle and waving goodbye to her. A swirling sensation erupted in Riley, tugging at her stomach and making her feel sick. A blue-violet color engulfed the trio, and Riley felt her feet lift off of the ground.