Disclaimer: I own nothing owned by someone else.

AN: Hi guys, thanks for coming back for yet another chapter. Finally got around to updating. *Rolling my eyes at myself*

Natasha looked about her in fascination as they walked through the strange city. Alien's with long thin pointed ears and a gracefulness about them walked about, passing by in perfect normalcy. Some looked at Thor in recognition and bowed to him in respect before passing Natasha and Thor by, some glancing at Natasha a moment before leaving.

Some of them looked at her strangely, though not impolitely. She supposed her clothing was probably odd to them given that their style of clothing seemed rather medieval while her clothing was more modern looking… Well, at least on earth.

They all seemed like calm and peaceful folk. They wore exotic golden, red and blue ear-rings and smiled at each other in quaint politeness, as though it were a small town, but it wasn't a small town, it was a great city and their friendly behavior baffled Natasha to say the least. It would have been nice if the people of earth were more like this. Very nice.

"Where are we headed?" she asked Thor, as they walked through what seemed to be a marketplace of sorts. Children ran about with peculiar looking toys and archaic looking gadgets through the place, as the adults looked about the small shops, buying odd trinkets and foods. The roads were a trail of pearl-ish white and blue mixes of color.

"See that tower far off there, isolated from the rest of the city?" Thor said, pointing to the far left.

She looked beyond his index finger and saw a tower on a hill, decorated with all sorts of designs that looked in between ancient runes and gibberish, and it was indeed a bit more isolated then the rest of the towers and perhaps smaller too. There was a quiet and noble elegance about it and yet it seemed such a peaceful, quaint cottage-like, place; much like the rest of the place. But somehow this place seemed more… Mysterious. It was very odd that she could call this one little tower strange or mysterious, when she was already out of the earth and in a baffling fairytale. She wondered what the place had in store for her and Thor.

Thor began moving, swiftly, and she followed him, still looking about her in amazement. The city was incredibly fascinating; the people were so kind, humble and peaceful yet regal, proud and noble at the same time. She really liked it. Something about the place made her feel so mesmerized, and it was not just because it was an entirely different world then earth, there was something else. She felt somehow at home in this place so far from her actual home. It was simply a beautiful place… and it was different. Very different, but that's what she loved about it. It was a thrill to discover something new and sometimes you feel most at home in places where you're most out of place, she supposed. It was the same feeling she got when she was a little girl discovering music only much stronger. She felt more or less comfortable. She liked Alfheim.

As they walked, she began to feel her legs going uphill and the city was beginning to be more and more far away.

As the mountain-like hill was just about to become too steep, they hit a rock staircase and the tower was beginning to feel closer faster, as Thor upped the pace.

..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..

Steve honestly did not know how he could help anymore. Tony and Bruce were busy checking Loki's vitals and seeing if he was too cold or too hot. They had to be really careful, because Loki was human and this was very, very dangerous for him. Even if he survived, being human might make the process injure him permanently.

But Steve had nothing to do but wait for Thor. He didn't know very much about what Tony and Bruce were doing. He was beginning to feel very frustrated, what with all the waiting and doing nothing else. He felt like an idiot sometimes. That's what he gets for hanging around with geniuses and dealing with unrecoverable bafflements all the time, he supposed. It really got to him sometimes, how odd the world really was, as opposed to his wildest imaginations as a child. He couldn't really complain, though. He liked adventure. He liked the adrenaline rushing through his veins at a zillion miles per hour, his heart pounding with an odd sort of ecstasy. But this was beginning to be dull fast and the only reason his heart was pounding was because he worried that Thor would come back too late and kill Barton. He didn't like this on-edge feeling very much.

"When do you think Thor's coming back?" Steve asked no one in particular. He hated to think what Thor might do if he came back too late.

"I thought patience was one of your virtues." Tony said, mockingly. Steve rolled his eyes in annoyance. He thought he understood by then why Tony was so jocular even on the worst of days. He was used to troubles like these. Making cheap jokes and sarcastic remarks numbed things out and made it seem more comical and cheerful. Of course it might just be Tony's personality, but either way Steve would have to admit that he enjoyed the comical-relief. It made things seem less dark and foggy inside. Everyone needs a Tony as much as they don't want one.

"Isn't there anyway to tell when Thor's coming back?"

"There's no way to tell when Thor will be back. Hopefully by the end of the day." Bruce said.

"If he comes back too late, then Barton's dead-meat." Tony remarked, a slight seriousness at the edges of his tone, underneath his somewhat carefree voice. "Hey, has anyone seen Natty?" Tony asked, suddenly. Bruce stiffened and a cold look grew on his face.

Steve shrugged shortly. He had no idea.

"Someone should probably go find her, before she tells SHIELD about Loki and gets us killed, or worse: expelled."

Steve scrunched his eyebrows in confusion at the last few words Tony spoke, before leaving to find Natasha, internally thanking Tony for finding him, Steve, something to do besides wait in anxiety.

Tony didn't know if it would be a good thing that they were saving someone who caused a mass genocide on a small patch of the great mother earth. A while back, if someone had told him he would be willingly helping to save Loki's life, he wouldn't really know what to say other than "Hahaha. Right." It would have been such a ludicrous statement, yet here he was. Helping the bad guy. But was he a bad guy? This was another thing that confused Tony. Was he actually going to help them rescue Odin, as some sort of redemption on his part, or was he in some way tricking them. Tony would be really angry at himself if this was some kind of trap. Really angry. He trusted Thor greatly as a friend and teammate, but he was beginning to wonder if he should tell SHIELD about Loki or something and maybe hide from Thor afterwards… He didn't want it to come to that, but Thor could be wrong about Loki's "benevolence". Loki could very well be tricking them and Tony might just have to tell SHIELD, before it was too late. Then again, Fury was going to find out eventually anyway, most likely. They weren't doing the bestess job hiding him. Given that one lady saw him in Stark tower and he may well have been recognized by someone when he was walking around in the city. Did he take a Taxi or something? Maybe Fury's peeps already knew and they were watching them in wait of something, but Tony had no idea. He could feel a headache coming on, it was only a matter of time. Tony rubbed at the bridge of his nose, tiredly as he yawned loudly.

"What're we gonna have for dinner later? Chinese?" Tony said. Bruce ignored him.

..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..

Natasha and Thor were standing in front of the tower. The smell of something burning, almonds and chocolate came to Natasha's nose. She wasn't sure if she liked the strange fragrance, it wasn't too sweet, and it wasn't a strong smell, but for some reason it made her feel uneasy.

Thor looked almost hesitant, as he looked at the slightly triangular shaped door. His face hardened, she could practically smell the aura of seriousness and determination coming from his eyes and posture. It made her tense up. She had no idea what was behind that door and she was about to find out. She felt nervous. Something that made Thor look almost scared? She wasn't sure if she was prepared for this, but she held her head high and her face hardened in equal determination. She was ready. If she was scared she would have to remind herself that she owed it to Thor to be strong and she was no coward for that matter. She could do this… Whatever it was that she would have to do, she could trudge through it. She was tired of her damp red ledger. Tired.

Thor lightly pushed the door open as Natasha let out her breath that she soon needed back again.

I'm very, very sorry about the slow update and I will be updating a lot faster in the future. Also I am evil for these constant cliffhangers, but I can't help myself, I think I have a problem o.o Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate it, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You guys are what make the world go 'round and all that rubbish. :)

Until next time, and I swear there will most definitely be a next time,

P.H.