AN/: Hi guys!

I can't even tell how incredibly sorry I am, I'm a horrible author to keep you hanging like that. I'M SO SORRY! It's just been so stressful lately. I had my finals and failed one of my classes and I'm trying to reach out to my professor to ask if I have to rewrite the paper or repeat the course and no one is answering and ARGH!
I'm just so incredibly sorry and at the same time so touched that you worry about me. You don't know how much this means to me! I love you!

Okay, but let me explain myself a little more on why I didn't update earlier than this other than my finals and two term papers I have to write. It's just that I suffered from such a massive case of writer's block and I really wanted to give you guys a long chapter as an apology but I just couldn't. So I modified what I had and update my story now (in the middle of the night because I just love you guys, and I wanted to give you something ^^') hope you still like it. I've got an idea where the next chapters are headed but feel free to send ideas my way maybe they'll end up in the story ;)

On a happier note, guess what James tells Bucky a little about this chapter… You guys have been asking for this since the end of my last story so I hope it satisfies you a little to get in insight into T&J's big day… ;D

Also, my best friend and I are considering – well… we kinda started – to write a Harry Potter fanfiction and I just wanted to ask you if you'd be interested to read something like that? It's about the next generation and focusses mainly on two OCs so… yeah. Let me know if you'd like to read something like this.

Again, I'm sorry it took so long, but thank you all for reviewing and being so loyal to me. I love you so much!

Okay, enough said. I hope you like this chapter and I'll see you in the next chapter.

Lots of love,

Your Annie :*

Not quite as planned

Kane hurried down the corridor and straightened his collar and cloak while doing so. He was late. Again. He was researching anything he could on the anomalies that occurred in Asgard and on Earth. He had been in the archives and the library all day and night for the last… actually, he didn't know for how long he had been there. All that mattered to him was that he barely got any information. All he got from the description of the anomaly – that it looked like a black floating liquid or a shadow - was that all tried criminals that committed crimes beyond redemption are send to the Realm of Shadows to be slowly robbed of their memories, identities and dissolve into shadow. There was no escape. The water of one of the outside realms is said to have no gravity and has a certain degree of intelligence but not enough to do what the anomalies are doing.

Groaning he combed his hand through his wild hair when he stopped in front of a set of large doors that lead to the small council. Everyone who had even the smallest say in what was going on in Asgard would be there. Meaning his mother - the unofficial queen -, his grandfather, grandmother, great-uncle, the head of the guards and the High Masters. And every single one of them was looking at him when he stepped through the doors.

"Excuse my delay." He said when he walked over to his seat on his mother's right. "What did I miss?"

Three of the attending were smiling at him, being his mom, grandfather, and great-uncle. The rest was simply looking at him with disappointment, either on their faces or in their eyes. His mother gestured to the people sitting around the table while speaking. "We just discussed if the military should be further involved and if we should lead a campaign against the threat."

"Which would be the logical way to proceed and deal with the random attacks that kill our land, animals, and people!" Argued the head of the guards.

His great-uncle snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Oh please, quit that bullshit. We all know that our forces would be useless against something like that!"

"With all due respect but what would an ex-criminal know about the military?" The commander said, glaring at Loki.

"What I know? Are you seriously asking me what I know about the military?!" Loki asked outraged, slowly stood up and put his fists on the table, glaring at the commander. "I bend an entire species to my will and used their forces for my cause which would have worked if my brother and his friend hadn't intervened! You have no idea what I'm capable of and what I know, so shut up and listen to me for once before you kill another legion!"

The commander and everyone in the room just stared at Loki in shock and for a few long seconds, no sound was heard. That was until Thor burst out laughing and clapped his hand on the table repeatedly. "Gods, I was waiting for you to lose it."

"Father, this is not helpful. Uncle, thank you for your input. And commander, you will not lead another of our legions to their certain deaths." Thorunn said in her 'queen-voice' before she turned to look at her son. "Kane, darling, did you find anything on the anomalies?"

The redhead sighed and shook his head. "Nothing that is logical or possible. Nothing can escape from either of the realms and I have peace treaties with every populated realm. There is nothing we know of that could do such things."

"That's why we need to send military forces to intervene as early as possible to-" The Commander tried again, only to be cut off again.

"Commander!" Thorunn cut in with power in her voice. "We talked about this, no military intervention!"

The Commander lowered his head in defeat. "As you wish, your Majesty."

"Well, if no one has any other ideas then-" The Queen began only to be interrupted by a guard bursting through the door.

"Yo-Your Majesty! W-We…" He panted while he clung to the door, sweat beads on his forehead and fear in his eyes. Kane shot out of his seat and hurried to the guard when he saw that his side was bleeding. "Vanaheim is under attack. Th-The Shadow, i-it has shown itself and is destroying villages, killing our guards there."

Kane's eyes widened while he supported the guard. "Mother…"

Thorunn's face morphed into something dangerous, an expression that her son had never seen before and he openly admitted that it scared him. "Don your armors and arm yourselves. We won't risk our soldiers' lives for a matter that we can settle now, once and for all." Kane saw his grandfather, great-uncle nod along with the commander before his mother pulled her sword from behind her chair. "Call for the Elite, and tell them that we are at war."

Steve and Bucky were standing on one of the upper balconies above the training hall of the headquarters when the latter tried to move his left arm just to have it cease its movements before he grabbed his arm with his right hand. "Damn…" Bucky mumbled when his arm wouldn't budge. "Stuck again."

Steve frowned at him, looking confused. "What?"

His old friend sighed and tried to move his bionic arm. "My arm needs a monthly maintenance and when I forget to get it checked by Dean it gets stuck."

Steve chuckled and shook his head at his friend. "You were never the best at remembering things. Like my son's wedding day…"

"Oh, come on, are you going to hold that against me for the rest of our lives?" Bucky complained while rolling his eyes at Steve.

The latter shook his head and looked down onto the training session again. "We could get Pym to look at your arm. He's a genius if he doesn't get it back to work no one can."

"Then let's, cause this is annoying as fuck…" The Winter Soldier grumbled.

Steve looked affronted. "Language!" He scolded, causing Bucky to look at him as if he grew horns before bursting into hysterical laughter.

"Oh man." Bucky breathed in between his laughter. "And here I thought you have gotten over this shit, man. How are you even handling not being Captain America anymore and not being able to scold people?"

Steve grumbled and strutted past the brunette towards the technic labs. "James and Aiden are doing just fine filling my footsteps." Sighing he relaxed his posture and pace before facing his friend again. "How's it been going for you? Raising your son without his mother and then Stephanie…"

Bucky chuckled. "Well, I'd be lying if I said that it was easy, he's got Dinah's temper and her shrill voice if he wants to. When he was a child that was horrible but I got a hang of it. And then when I thought I wouldn't have to take care of a child again he told me he was going to be a father, man I tell you that was something."

"I feel you. But who would've thought that you would have an affair with Dinah Barton, the Black Canary." Steve said with a grin on his face. "How come you didn't marry her?"

Snorting at that comment Bucky shook his head and looked at the Captain again. "How come? You and I both know that I'm far from marriage material and she was too. It was nice and damn she was good with that tongue of hers but it wasn't enough for marriage. And when she got pregnant… well, call it a conscious decision of ours that I would raise our son alone and she would do her thing. She planned on being a part of his life but… you know what happened. And after she died it was just him and me."

"You did great considering the circumstances." Steve clapped his old friend on the back before he pushed the door to the lab open.

Bucky smiled slightly. "Yeah… I was a pretty lousy father sometimes, taking him on my missions and fighting with him strapped to my chest." He laughed at Steve's widened eyes. "But he survived and managed to start a family of his own. For a moment I thought he would lose hope when Stephanie's mother died in childbirth but the little thing healed his heart. He's a bit strict with her in order to keep her safe but that girl does what she wants to do."

"Children… Kane did also tend to do what he wanted before he was introduced to the obligations of Asgard's Crown Prince. And James was a terror when he was a child. I think the name is the cause for that." Steve quipped, smirking.

But before Bucky could retort to that another voice cut through the silence. "Good to know I was a terror as a child, father."

The two adults turned quickly to see James standing next to a desk with highly technological instruments on it with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Pym sat behind him at the desk and seemed to be working on James's shield. "Hello, son. Shouldn't you be down there training with your team?" Steve asked, skeptical.

James chuckled. "Still my drill sergeant I see. To your information, Captain, I was training until my shield bugged. So I came here to get it fixed. Why are you here, anyways?"

"My arm got stuck and I need to get that fixed," Bucky replied, whereupon Pym's head perked up.

"Gimme a minute." He quipped and finished the work on the shield. He put it down and walked over to the Winter Soldier. "May I?" The latter nodded whereupon the mechanic got to work.

Sighing Bucky turned to the redhead who just tried his shield on. "So, what did I miss on your wedding? Sorry by the way that we couldn't make it."

James laughed and shook his head. "No offense but I think if you two would've been there the situation would've escalated more quickly than it had…"

Bucky frowned. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that an old friend of the bride tried to kidnap her and kill me so he could marry her in my place." James said casually while activating his shield.

"The fucker did what?!" Bucky's eyes widened and his hand balled into a fist. "Oh, I would've-"

"Yeah, I know. Believe me, no one was happy about that. Thor lost his shit when that guy grabbed her on her way to the altar. The guy got my arm before we managed to beat him up." James shook his head and pulled his shirt up a little more to reveal a nasty scar on his upper left arm. "Thorunn was so shaken that her hands still shook when we went to bed that night. She didn't sleep properly for a month. I'll never forget the helplessness and fear I her eyes when he got her and hurried away. I still can't believe that the High Masters only banned him from the capital and that my mother-in-law dared to invite him to our wedding…"

"Never liked that woman, I might mention," Bucky grumbled and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry to hear that. I hope that shithead is locked up or dead."

James shrugged and looked at his namesake. "Might as well be both. They send him to the Realm of Shadows."

Bucky just nodded at that and began to move his bionic arm again. "Finished, Doc?"

"Almost done," Pym replied.

"Good. Then let's head back to the training hall. I'm not sure Aiden's got everything under control…"

"Oof…" air was knocked out of Aiden's lungs as Steph delivered a strong kick to his chest. To prevent hitting the mat he made a back flip. When he landed on his feet he immediately crouched down and kicked Steph's legs out from under her and pinned her down on the ground. "Not bad…"

Steph smirked and swung her leg up to kick his back and the back of his head to roll on top of him. When she was on top Steph quickly pinned him down with a knee on his chest and grinned at him. "Thank you. I pride myself in never being beaten before."

"Is that so?" Aiden asked an eyebrow raised. With a quick movement, he threw her over his shoulder, locked her knee next to her chest on the mat and her hands over her head. "Then that makes two of us… If you count out my brother."

Steph glared at him and was about to reply when a bright light interrupted her, causing her and Aiden – as well as the rest of the Avengers – to look in its direction. When the light disappeared Aiden recognized the red hair that belonged to his brother, who seemed to be wearing an Asgardian armor and… was that blood?!

Aiden's eyes immediately widened and he sprang to his feet. "Kane!" He called as he ran to his brother's side who just then began to sway and collapse in his arms. "What happened? Kane, talk to me, who did this?!" He was furious. Why would Kane be so foolish and fight without him, without his right hand, without his brother?!

Kane swallowed and tried to catch his breath. A few strands of hair were sticking to his sweaty forehead and the paleness of his skin could rival their sister's. Wait, sister… Lyra! Just as he thought that the girl fell on her knees just in front of him and began to examine his wound.

"Kane, you idiot! Why didn't let the healers treat you? This wound doesn't look good at all, you need a doctor!" She told her stoic brother, who just shook his head.

"N-No… we… M-" He tried to say as another member of their family came into the room. "What the- … Kane!" James hurried over to his children and took in the image of his oldest son, bleeding, on the floor of the training ground. "What happened?! Why are you wounded? You need a doctor, fast and-"

"SHUT UP!" Kane roared before panting again and leaning his weight on his brother. "W-We were attacked. The Shadow… the Anomaly…"

"What?" Aiden asked, eyes wide. "That's impossible, it shouldn't have-"

"Bro, please… shut up." At the desperation in his voice, Aiden decided to quit asking questions and focused on stopping the blood flow. "Th-They… It… He…"

James shook his head and tried to get his son to focus again as he was on the edge to pass out. "Kane, hang in there… What happened?"

The younger redhead swallowed and lifted his head to look at his father. "He's got mom."