Steve, Tony, Sophia, Victor and Sydney were sitting at the table in the control room, the adults on chairs while Sydney sat in her father's lap. While everyone held in, the little girl was softly crying. Hearing that Coulson was killed made her feel like she lost a part of herself. Phil used to watch over her when she was younger. She had grown to think of him as an uncle. And now, he was gone.

Fury held up a small deck of Captain America trading cards. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." He then tossed them on the table, wet blood splattering in the glass. "I guess he never did get you to sign them. We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor, Maddison, Maxx...even Creed. I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, Sabretooth as well, mostly because he was the first to know, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes." Suddenly, Tony stood and walked away. "Well, it's an old-fashioned notion."

Thor and Carter were walking around the field, trying to find Mjolnir. They saw it on the ground with the handle up. Thor went to grab it, but paused. Could he really bring himself to do what others wanted him to do? To fight his brother? As his thoughts raced through his mind, his fist clenched. Carter, ever so curious, stepped up and tightly gripped the handle. 'Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, she posses the power of Thor'. The statement kept repeating itself in her mind. Finally, she tightened her grip and pulled.

Rema was sitting at the top of the crater she and Bruce made. After a few steady breaths, her spikes sunk back into her spine. Her fangs retracted as well as her claws. She was still laughing at what had happened.

She was going as fast as she could. But nothing seemed to help. She saw fast they getting and to open her wings to catch herself. She watched the Hulk crash land into a ware house. Fearing the worst, she dove down and gently landed on what was left of the roof. Peering inside, she saw the Hulk still knocked out but wasn't injured. She jumped in and gracefully landed next to him. "Are you okay?" She heard, turning, she found a security guard. "Are you okay?" He repeated.

"We're fine." She answered, still weary of him. She just had to know. "Why aren't you afraid?"

He chuckled. "I may be retired, but SHIELD was never able to completely let me go."

"You're a SHIELD agent?"

"Retired. But I still keep tabs."

"Do you hate mutants?"

"Young lady, if I hated mutants, I would have never protected them while I was a SHIELD agent. After all, my daughter's a mutant. Has fish gills and webbed feet and hands, not to mention a fin on her back. And she couldn't be more proud of herself."

"Lucky her." Rema grumbled.

"Why? Aren't you proud?"

After a sigh, the mutant looked toward the security guard. "My mutation didn't appear over time, I was born with it. My mother and older sister hated me. But my father, even though he wasn't a mutant, loved me with all his heart. When I was seven, he was murdered right in front of me by mutant haters. The last thing he ever said was, 'If this little girl is a monster, then what does that make you?' Soon after, SHIELD found me, and the rest is history."

"Yeah, well, not everyone comes from the perfect background. But it's up to you on where you head from there. Either you live in fear and hide, or you embrace your mutation and be proud of it." He then turned around. "I'll try to find some clothes for your friend."

The old man was right, she needed to accept herself as she was. Rema then took off her image inducer and put it in her pocket. "You fell out of the sky." She heard the old man say. Looking over, she saw that he was talking to Bruce, who had shrunk down to his normal size.

As he sat up, he groaned. Turning to the security guard, he asked. "Did I hurt anybody?"

"There's nobody around to get hurt." He answered. "You did scare the Hell out of some pigeons, though."

"Lucky." Bruce muttered.

"Or just good aim." The security guard stated. "I thought you were awake when you fell, but I found out that you'd passed out."

"You saw?" Bruce asked.

"The whole thing. Right through the ceiling. Big and green and buck-ass nude." The old man then tossed some clothes to him. "Here. Didn't think those would fit you until you shrunk down to a regular-size feller." As Bruce dressed himself, Rema turned around so she wouldn't see. "Your friend followed you and watched over you while you were out."

Once his pants were up, Bruce turned and saw Rema sitting in a crouched position with her back to him and her wings folded over her shoulders, her tail swishing around like a cat. "Rema?"

She turned and smiled. "Hi, Bruce."

"You followed me?"

"Well, yeah. I couldn't let you get hurt." She leapt down and stood in front of him. "I mean, I care about you."

He sighed. "Listen, what I said earlier, comparing SHIELD to a freak show, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I-"

"No, it's not okay. I should've been more sensitive about it."

Rema smiled again and hugged him, and he slowly hugged her back. Once she pulled away, she said, "It's about time I accept myself for who and what I am."

"Are you an alien?" The security guard suddenly asked.

"What?" Bruce asked.

"From outer space. An alien."

"No."

"Well, then, son, you've got a condition." And with that, the security guard tossed a set of keys to them, which Bruce had caught. "It's best we got out here. Matter of fact, the only one we got out here." He then walked away.

Betty-Jean sat in the air ship, not speaking or blinking. Just staring ahead. One of the men touched her shoulder to get her attention. She glared at him before extending her claws and slashing his throat. He fell to the floor and choked on his own blood before finally dying. Loki raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're still mad?"

"You murdered a man who was very close to me." She said as a tear ran down her cheek.

"I apologize." He tried as he reach for her shoulder. She just yanked her shoulder away and briefly glared at him.

"No apology you give me can ever make me forget what you did. Phil Coulson was the first agent to willingly help me. At least he understood my family. He never discriminated us. And you took him away." After taking a breath, she sighed. "In Germany, you said we were alike. Well, we're not. You hate the world you live in mostly because you are different than everyone else. Me? I don't hate my world, I hate the idiots in it. Robert Kelly is a prime example."

"Who?"

"Senator Robert Kelly hated mutants because we're different than humans. He compared mutant children to hand guns, saying they were weapons in schools. I wanted to find him and skin him alive, but he died soon after. My dad told me he was turned into a mutant, but it didn't last. It eventually killed him." She turned to Loki. "Those are the people I hate. We as mutants already live in a prejudice world. Having someone like you ruling Earth will make us look worse. Don't hurt my world. We did nothing to deserve your anger."

"Daddy?" Sydney blinked.

"Yeah, baby?"

"What do we do now?"

That made Victor think for a little bit. Sophia sighed and said, "We get your sister back and go home."

"No." Victor said as he looked out the window. "We won't go home, not yet. I get your sister and stop this. With or without help. I'm not gonna let some jackass with a spear rule over us. We're ferals. We don't like being told what to do." He then turned to Sophia. "You and Sydney are staying here while I get Betty-Jean." Sophia tried to protest but Victor stopped her. "No, you're staying here. Both of you. Sophia, I'm used to this kind of stuff, you're not. Betty-Jean, I trust she can hold her own." She then kissed Sydney's forehead and Sophia's lips. "I'll be back soon." He then walked off to find the other "Avengers".

"Was he married?" Steve asked Tony.

"No." Tony answered. "There was a cellist, I think."

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

At that moment, Victor walked in, just in time to hear Tony say, "He was an idiot."

"Why?" Steve asked. "For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone." Ironman answered.

"Well, he had good intensions in mind." Victor inserted. "You gotta give him that."

"He was doing his job." The Captain added.

"He was outta his league." Tony scoffed. "He should have waited. He should've-"

"Sometimes, there isn't a way out, Stark." Victor stated. "Believe me, I know. Me and Jimmy faced countless situations like that." He then chuckled. "I still remembered when were to be executed by a firing squad."

"How'd you get out of that?" Steve asked.

"We didn't." The feral answered as he faced the Captain. "At eight hundred hours, we were tied to posts and the squad fired at us. Afterwards, we were thrown in a cell...all because we didn't die."

"Wow. No way out. Not only have I heard that before, but I'm pretty sure it's the name of a pro wrestling pay-per-view." Tony replied sarcastically.

"Is this the first time you lost a soldier?" Steve asked.

"We are not soldiers!" After a few seconds, he continued. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does." Steve said. "But right now, we gotta put that behind us and get this done."

"Well, for starters," Victor stated. "Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list-"

"He made it personal." Tony interrupted.

"That's not the point." Steve said.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart." Steve answered.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." Tony stated as he pointed to Steve.

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart." Steve added.

"And that was just previews. This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right?"

"Yeah. Nothing screams 'daddy issues' like the old 'look at me' act." Victor concluded.

"He wants flowers. He wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered-" Tony froze. It hit him full force. "Son of a bitch." He then walked off to get his suit.

Victor thought for a moment before he realized it. "Seriously? Stark Tower?" He asked Steve.

The Captain shrugged and they both walked out of the room.

Loki and Betty-Jean arrived at Stark Tower soon after she killed that man on the jet. When she saw Selvig, she let out a sigh. "Eric!" She yelled.

He turned to face her as she ran to him. She didn't care if he was still under that spell. She was just glad he was safe. Betty-Jean hugged him and didn't want to let go. Despite how much he irritated her, she still cared about the old man. Eric smiled gave her a quick hug. "Good to see you...my queen." He then took a few steps away from her and bowed.

Betty-Jean watched in horror. "No, Eric. I'm not a queen."

"Not yet." Loki said from behind her. She turned and glared at him. "Don't give me that look." He then roughly grabbed her left arm. "I've come too far to stop. Nothing will interrupt my plans." He then pulled her inside.

Carter pulled and lifted the hammer. Thor stared at her amazement. "You are worthy." He said in awe.

She held the hammer above her head. It was extremely light. Was she really worthy? She could hardly believe it. But she soon handed the hammer back to its master. "I don't want this, Thor."

The Thunder God raised an eyebrow. "Many have fought and died trying to claim this hammer. You are the first to lift it after me. Why don't you want this?"

"Because there's no point. What would I do with it? I can't throw it like you. I certainly can't summon lightning. What makes me worthy to lift it?"

Thor chuckled. "You believe it is my skill as the master that allows me to lift Mjolnir?" When she nodded, he continued. "You are wrong, Lady Carter. It is not the strength of my body nor my mind that allows me to lift this hammer. It is the strength of my heart. I swore to use this weapon to protect the Nine Realms. At first, I believed it to be fighting off any and all threats to Asgard. But it was only after I was banished to Midgard, as a human, that I realized it mattered not. What good is unimaginable strength if it has no true purpose?" He then looked at Carter. "I love my brother, Carter. And the moment I capture him, I plan to take him back to Asgard and beg the Allfather to give him mercy. My brother can be a good man...when he wants to be. And from what I have witnessed, Lady Betty-Jean is the one to bring him from the darkness."

A smile crept onto her face. "Are asking for Betty-Jean to go with you back to Asgard?"

"Not just her. Though she'd make a fine warrior, I'm sure another would be welcomed." Thor smiled back. "I'm asking if Betty-Jean and you would go back with me to Asgard."

"I'll give you the answer after we win the battle. But for now, you ready to kick some alien butt?"

Thor smirked as he lifted his hammer. The lightning struck and a bright light flashed. When it stopped, he stood in his full armor. "Does this answer your question?"