So much making out ...

Jormungand had to admit to himself that he was thoroughly knackered. He walked into the elevator and reached for the button for the medical floor, hating even that movement. His body had been healing like his life depended on it, sapping all of his energy. And he didn't know whether that was elephant tranq or what the Widow had used on him but that bad bitch should think twice before using it again because the subsequent ache in his skull was relentless. He felt like Thor and Heimdall were having a particularly loud sword fight in there or something. And then there had been the fucking emotional family blow up over breakfast. Man, Hel really knew how to make a scene. She likely had known exactly what she was doing but couldn't she have given them the slightest warning? He tiredly nodded to Fandral as he passed into the med lab and stopped at the sight before him. Loki was asleep in the chair next to Darcy's bed; his long hair wet form the shower and wearing fresh set of pyjamas. These were too big, the loud print on them enshrouding him with all manner of giant tropical leaves, and a few emerald pythons thrown in for good measure. So that was fucking adorable. But then there was the fact that he had reached out a hand to softly grip Darcy's, his head laid on the bed beside her. Her amazing little spell must still be in effect because his face and shoulders were completely relaxed in sleep, the tiniest smile in his face. Jormungand waved a hand over his father's forehead and smelled roses and ginger. Fuck yeah, that tiny work of magic was still in effect. He whistled. Well, at least one thing had gone right in the last few days.

Jormungand turned his attention toward the floating fairytale princess. Her still body was lifted from the bed, filled to the brim with energy from the arc reactor. The question was, if he took her out of the spell now, how much of the energy would remain in her system, and what would it do when it had no clear instructions or outlet. It could very easily burn out her organs or something, or, you know, give her unexpected superpowers. He paused as he noticed a pulse of energy flow over the knuckles of Loki's free hand. He leaned closer and saw that as usual, his dad was a few steps ahead of him. No, he wasn't holding Darce's dainty hand in an uncharacteristic sign of affection, but he was creating a pathway for the energy to escape her body once the spell broke, which was far more like the Loki Silvertongue they all knew. He sighed gratefully, and ran a hand through his hair. Well that was that problem taken care of.

"Need any help?" Jormungand turned to see Steve hovering by the door just as his brother entered the room from the bathroom, freshly showered and towelling at his hair.

"Uh, the person who could really help is my sister but she buggerd off back to Helheim and all its happy souls." Jormungand said gruffly, or as gruffly as he ever got, which wasn't really gruff at all. "But I guess you guys can help. Ah." He rubbed his temples with his thumbs while thinking of logistics. He grabbed a light sleep potion, to help ease Darcy's body back into the land of the living, and he turned to the half dressed Fenrirr. "Hey you, get over here." He noticed that Fen's beard was still dripping. He never seemed to take the time to dry properly it was hilarious. He flicked the end of the beard and water went everywhere. Fenrir pushed him in the chest. He could hear Steve chuckle behind them. "OK. So we ah..." He rubbed at the back of his head and looked at his brother sheepishly. "The spell needs to be broken by true love's kiss."

"Jormungand." Fenrir all but whined and shoved him again, Jormungand danced backwards laughing. "What the fuck? We're not- We haven't even..."

He shrugged "Well, you know, traditionally that is how the spell works; it's a twist on the Sleeping Beauty thing. Didn't you know? That's where Hel found the original spell from that she used on Dad. Any way it's not what you think. We wanted it to be really specific. You need to give her a tiny lick in your wolf form."

"That's why you needed my saliva?" Fenrir was super flustered it was hilarious.

Jormungand bit his lip and looked at him innocently. "Well it wasn't like Dad or I were about to kiss her. I mean I could. Maybe i'm her true love?"

He had to run and hide behind Steve to escape a punch in the face. "Hey, whoa. So are you saying...?" Steve turned around to look at Jormungand, a little embarrassed he had to ask. "That Sleeping Beauty..."

"Actually happened? Yeah. A few times. There are certain stories that keep repeating. Unfortunately one of those times it was Hel who was cursed. It's a pretty handy spell though when not used for nefarious and creepy purposes." Steve didn't answer, clearly thinking of the half told tales of the morning. Jormungand placed his hands on Steve's shoulders and ushered him to Darcy's bedside. "Alright my Captain, I'm going to need you to be a hero and catch her when she falls. She's going to be a little bewildered and disorientated, it will be adorable. I'll have to administer a light sleep spell so that her body and brain can do some adjusting in a healthy, normal sleep, as opposed to the state that she is currently in. Fenrir will be a wolf, so he won't be able to catch her." His brother rolled his eyes and transformed. The fucker was absolutely huge when in wolfy form, his wolf back reaching Jormungand's very high elbow, and his giant wolf head higher still. Steve strolled over to the other side of the bed and readied himself for beauty catching duty.

Jormungand broke the wax seal on the potion in his hand and nodded to Fenrir. He wondered if he should wake his dad but shrugged, he'd leave him to his nice dreams, his body would be using all that excess energy to finish healing and sleep could only help with that. Wolfy leapt gently onto the bed and passed into the capsule, looking a little like he was under water in the blue light. He sniffed Darcy's hair and nuzzled her neck. He then tenderly licked her on the cheek and leapt softly from the bed.

Sleeping Beauty gasped, inhaling the rose mist and most of the blue light in one go. The power travelled from her to his father, who's back arched but otherwise stayed unchanged. It was a moment before Darcy fell into Steve's arms and breathed in again, opening her eyes in shock. "Heeeey doll, easy it's all OK." Steve's soothing voice sure made Jormungand calmer and Darcy looked marginally less terrified. He stepped forward.

"Aliens! The gun! Jormungand they shot me!"

Jormungand ran his thumb between her brows and his fingers through her hair. "Yeah, you're totally right but it's all OK, you're safe now. I'm going to need you to take some medicine."

Darcy looked up at him, her eyes fantastically blue with residual energy from the arc reactor, her body spasiming every few seconds as it left her body. "Fenrir?"

Fenrir stepped forwards, back in humanoid form, and Darcy's eyes widened comically at his shirtless state. Jormungand held back a snort. The darling girl was so cute. Fenrir leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "It's OK baby take the potion. I'll be here when you wake, and you'll feel a lot better." He kissed her again and pulled back. Darcy looked at Steve, and Fenrir and then Loki, whose hand she thankfully hadn't let go of. She closed her eyes, and then looked at Jormungand, giving him a faint smile.

"Thanks Magic Man."

Jormungand laughed and stroked her hair again, lifting the vial. "You ready my little witchy witch? You need to swallow all of it. And we'll see you when you wake up." Another spasm rocked her body.

"Totally." She opened her mouth and Jormungand poured in the silver liquid, her eyes dropping closed almost immediately. She relaxed into Steve's arms, her head lolling on his shoulder.

"I told you. Adorable." Steve grinned and tenderly laid her down, Jormungand steadying her head and placing it on the pillow, her hair fanning out beatifically. They stepped back; Fenrir spread a blanket over her sleeping form, one of their grandmother's. The most beautiful needlework depicting a pack of wolves streaming down a hill on a vivid red background. Jormungand sighed and brushed a hand over the fine wool; thank gods that was over with. Now he could finally sleep. He touched a hand to Steve's shoulder. "Hey, ah, you know how you mentioned spare rooms?"

Steve blushed. His hand going to the back of his head. "Yeah, ah, you know they're all sort of taken now that Volstagg is here... but I mean, you can totally crash at my place." Jormungand smiled sweetly, easily hiding the smugness he felt.

"Really? That would be amazing, you know if you try to sleep around here you end up getting interrupted or, you know, tranqued or something every few hours. I just need a few hours of uninterrupted shut eye to catch up." Steve winced at the mention of the tranq.

"Yeah, totally, ah, follow me." Jormungand couldn't help but notice Fandral's less than subtle thumbs up and wink and he allowed the smugness to show on his face as he walked past the warrior. They may have even exchanged a silent high five but Steve was oblivious. He turned back to see Fenrir's eye roll and subsequent fond grin as he waved him away.

In the elevator Jormungand remembered that he was going to speak to Pepper about living arrangements for Darcy. He mentioned it to Steve, who looked to the ceiling. "Hey Jarvis would you please ask Pepper if she would mind stopping by my apartment in the next ten minutes? Jormungand is concerned about Darcy's living situation."

"Certainly Captain."

"Thank you Jarvis."

Jormungand smiled at the way Steve spoke to the AI. It was clear that he was basically another member of the Avengers by now.

"Excuse me, Captain, Jormungand."

"Yes, Jarvis?" Steve looked at the ceiling again.

"Miss Potts would be very happy to meet Jormungand at your apartment. She asks whether you have any coffee there."

"Ah, no, Jarvis, I'm sorry I don't."

Another pause. "That is fine Captain, Miss Potts will bring her own. She will meet you there presently."

"Thank you." Steve looked at Jormungand, a little embarrassed. "Man, there's so much to learn these days, how have you coped over the years?"

Jormungand sighed and leaned his head against the wall, thinking of all the years he'd spent on this planet. "Well I never went to sleep for forty years, so I've never had to adjust that way. There are definitely some things I miss though, like that Italian place, what was it, Tony Sorci's? That was the shit."

Steve's eyes lit up at the mention of one of his favourite neighbourhood pizza joints from his Brooklyn days. He gave a sad smile, full of memories. "Yeah, I mean, I find there have been some pretty great moves forward though." His eyes grew distant and close all the same and Jormungand somehow knew exactly what he was thinking. No, it hadn't been easy liking boys back in the day. He gave him an understanding look back, and worried at his lip with his teeth. The door dinged at the residential level and Steve ushered him out with a soft hand on his back, sending a tiny thrill down Jormungand's spine from where the soldier's calloused thumb rested.

Pepper was waiting at Steve's door and Jormungand lit up, she sure was a foxy lady. In the sharp, cunning meaning of the word. She smiled back. "Jormungand, it's good to see you looking a little less beat up today." She held out a hand, because she was totally a professional, hand shaking kind of gal. He might have swooned a little. Her strawberry blonde hair was perfect, brushing the shoulders of her perfectly sexy-but-at-the-same-time-presentable power suit, complete with exquisite Jimmy Choos. Jormungand didn't often allow himself to feel under dressed, wearing whatever he wished, which at that point was a pair of worn high waisted jeans from the eighties and a t-shirt he had bought in a tiny surf shop somewhere in California in 1995. He currently wasn't even wearing shoes. Pepper Pots made him feel a little underdressed, but he sort of loved it. Like, Hell yeah, she's the queen, she should be way better dressed than me, even though I'm technically royalty. He shook himself out of his wardrobe trance.

He ducked his head, running his hand though his hair, which he hadn't bothered plaiting that morning in all the fuss. "Yeah, though I admit I'm looking forward to a little more rest." He smiled. Steve opened his door, they all entered his place and oh wasn't it adorable.

Pepper stepped in. Looking a tiny bit like a high end real estate agent. "Actually I'm really glad that we're meeting here, because you can see how we totally design each place according to each person's tastes."

Jormungand took it in. You couldn't say that the place was straight out of the forties, because that wasn't true. Sure, he had a juke box in the corner, next to a pinball machine, and a few things here and there, including some cuuuute pin up posters- he even spotted some cheeky boy pin up posters which was totally hot and Jormungand was pleasantly surprised at the Captain's brazen display of homoerotica, no matter how harmless it was- but the whole feel was warm and sort of nostalgic in a comforting kind of way. It was totally tasteful. He couldn't keep the smile from his face if he tried.

Pepper lead the way to Steve's natural coloured leather couch, a gorgeous, butter soft perfectly aged thing which completely added to the relaxed feel of the place. She powered up her tablet, which had pinterest open. She smiled a little conspiratorially. "I found her pinterest account, so thankfully we have something to work with. She looked to where Steve's balcony was, a slick wall of glass including a sliding door hidden seamlessly within the window. "I feel like Stark tower is slightly too corporate for her tastes. From what I can see, she'd prefer a sort of mix between Manhattan loft, Brooklyn factory space and a bedroom from an eighties romance film."

Jormungand nodded, grinning "So basically the apartment from Flash dance then?" Pepper laughed her perfect, tinkling laugh and Steve looked adorably confused. "Darling you'll love it, it's like an updated version of your lovely pin up girls, complete with ballet dancing and welding on the side."

Pepper smiled "And a cute dog too."

Steve laughed and they all bent over pepper's tablet. "So I was thinking that she could have another window, like a partition a few yards in, some factory windows. And she can keep her plants in there and have a little bench for all of her witchy things, because Tony will insist she moves it soon and she'll probably want that separate to the kitchen. Would you be able to give us the necessary specifications for such a place?"

Jormungand may have had a little tear in his eye as he nodded. Pepper had some plans already drawn up and he had to admit they were pretty perfect. It was a little bit loft-like, but had a large kitchen and entertaining area, and a separate bedroom and ensuite bathroom. There were massive walls to hang her art collection and a corner for her instruments. There were a lot of aspects to Darcy which she never really talked about, but the girl was wildly talented. Anyone who spent five minutes in her home could tell that. "Pepper! I mean, I couldn't tell you for sure but I feel like this is perfect. I think she'll love it. Oh, fuck knew you'd be amazing at this!"

The lady had the grace to look relieved. Steve got up to put the kettle on, throwing a "Tea, anyone?" over his shoulder. Jormungand nodded gratefully.

"Actually Jormungand I need your help with the more difficult challenge." Jormungand quirked his eyebrow. "We're getting an apartment ready for your father. I can tell that he would have exacting tastes, but ... I'm not sure what they are. Thor mentioned books, and curtains and a fire pit. I mean in Asgard his bed is apparently shaped like a longboat! We may have money, but we could never reach the level of ... grandeur that he is used to."

Jormungand gave her an open smile, so touched that she was this concerned about his father's happiness. "My father is a scholar. He is... really rather eclectic in his tastes. He lived in the palace in the Golden City but he also happily lived in a tent with us in Muspellheim Ah- very similar to the Mongolian ger, actually. Rather strange, that coincidence- and he was happy enough on hunting trips with Thor and Sif in his youth." Jormungand smiled cheekily "Though that might have more to do with Sif sneaking into his tent at night than anything else." Pepper giggled. "But you get my point. He is totally able to live simply, though he does appreciate aesthetic functionality and efficient design, high quality craftsmanship. I would look to the Japanese and the Scandinavian design schools for him I rather think. Actually, I saw this one place one time. He took the tablet she offered and went hunting. Thankfully he found it rather quickly. The design was full of bespoke wooden furniture built into the space, with walls and walls of shelves made from the same material.

"Oh Jormungand this is gorgeous. You really think he could be happy in a place like this?"

The Silver Son nodded. "Lots of space for books and arcane objects? I really think so."

"Thank you, I'll call these architects right away." She rose gracefully, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. He gave her a somewhat watery grin, which he tried to hide under his lashes. Oh, he was such a sentimental fool.

"No, thank you. You have no idea how much it means for the old man to be welcome someplace. It's... amazing." He squeezed her hand and she gave him a dazzling smile.

"Oh Jormungand don't you know? We're all a bunch of rejects and misfits here. He'll settle right in eventually, just you wait. We'll all be dreading the dreadful pranks that he pulls with Tony and Bruce will try to get meditation techniques out of him and Darcy will have him reading Harry Potter novels and making Parks and Rec references."

Steve laughed and she disappeared out the door, rushing to another meeting. Jormungand wiped at his leaking eyes subtly as Steve brought him a mug of tea and a bacon and tomato sandwich. "Thank you lovely. Now Steve, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?" the super soldier sank into the comfortable couch and looked completely cuddlable. Jormungand restrained himself like a hero and only settled back into his own side of the couch crossing one long leg over the other. Steve watched the movement before meeting his eyes. Jormy held his gaze before taking a sip of tea. "Mmmmm, this is good."

"Yeah, Jarvis orders me this brand, it's probably really expensive but I like it. You know, alcohol doesn't really do anything for me so I have to find other little pleasures."

Jormungand smiled at that. "Yeah, I hear you. If my delightful sister didn't keep me in Muspelheim's finest, I don't know what I'd do. Hey maybe you should try some, it might get you somewhere."

Steve perked up. "Yeah, that would be amazing. I mean, it's not like I'm desperate or anything but it kind of blows when everyone else is loosening up and all you have is tea."

Jormungand smiled, "Yes, it's nice to have the option."

Steve nodded. "Exactly. Hey, uh, so Musblehime is where you were born?"

He sighed, oh, those tears might not be going anyway after all. "Yeah, our mother was chieftan of a fairly large tribe. It's an incredible culture actually. Really different from anywhere else, which is how my father met my mother in the first place. He wanted to study them." Steve didn't respond, just waited patiently while Jormy took another sip of his tea. "Ah, but that is a story for another time, a sordid affair full of controversy and midnight trysts in magical places." He waggled his eyebrows. "I'll tell it to you by candlelight while we drink my sister's booze some day, but I can tell you of the place right now if you like." Steve smiled at his antics and took a bight out of his own giant sandwich. "Muspellheim is rather hot. It has two suns and four moons, so it has very long, hot days, though because of its odd rotation there are parts of it which are far cooler but housing several volcanoes. A landscape much like Earth's Iceland. And it is in these regions that the dragons live. They love the fire, you understand, and thrive in the sulphuric atmosphere. They sort of own that territory, and then the people of Muspellheim, the fire Giants, roam most of the rest of it. The culture is a matriarchal society, but not only that, the women roam, and war and trade horses, while their husbands and sons live in quaint little villages and farm the land in a mild environment by the sea. The menfolk also fish extensively, owning boats and nets. So we see it as the Men being from the ocean and loathe to be parted from it while the women are untameable wild things, unable to be tied down and like to travel all over the world. The two groups meet a handful of times a year, to see each other and, you know." He raised his eyebrows and smiled cheekily again. Steve was an excellent student; despite having destroyed his sandwich in the time Jormungand was speaking, reminding him that he had a tasty morsel of his own. He bit into the sandwich happily while Steve absorbed what he'd said.

"So. Only a few times a year. What if they're in love?"

Jormungand smiled. "You must remember that we're a very long lived people, so the time isn't as desperately short as it is for a human. And we are a fierce independent kind of people. We love passionately, sure, but it is not only a person that we love. The men are as in love with the ocean as they are with their women, and ironically the ocean is just as unknowable, untameable as their mates. The women would only wither away if they had to stay at home in a village and so they ride and they hunt and they war. It is in their blood, like fire in their veins. And there is the troll problem."

"The... troll problem?"

"Yeah," Jormungand stretched his legs and sipped his tea. It really was excellent tea; he'd have to ask JARVIS about it. "There are trolls on Muspellheim also. They travelled there some millennia ago from Alfhiem and have been trying to take the land ever since. The woman fiercely work to stop that from happening."

"And the men? They don't?"

He laughed, "Pretty crazy, from a patriarchal point of view isn't it? I mean they can totally fight. They can defend their villages and livestock most of the time. But ... I don't know if you've noticed, but Fenrir and I are a little quieter of spirit than that spitfire we call sister."

Steve nodded slowly, absorbing the information certain things clicking into place. "And you guys have a farm?"

Jormungand smiled, seeing his beloved home in his mind's eye. "We do. I mean don't get me wrong, we have been caught up in so many of Earth's wars over the years. You know I saw you once, during the war."

This brought him to a stop. "Really? Which ... ah...side were you fighting with?"

Jormungand tipped his head back, remembering... remembering the horror. "The RAF, speaking of spitfires. Fenrir and I both signed up, seeing as we were quite proficient at driving spaceships it seemed like the best place to help out. I wish I hadn't, I- we shouldn't have. We should have slipped out of the country using Fenrir's magic and gone to Iceland, or an island off of Norway. But we didn't. Beautiful Germany had gone so wrong. We found out about what was going on earlier than most and we couldn't bring ourselves to turn away, abandon our friends and neighbours...I – I thought of going AWOL so many times." Steve was silent and held perfectly still; sensing a story that needed to be told, bless his heart. "It is a perfectly atrocious way to do war, don't you think? I mean I guess it's all you know but I can see why other places in the nine realms, warriors like Sif stick to their swords and their shields. I mean, it is still war, still grizzly, murderous and hateful but you have to look at your enemy in the eye. You have to see whose life you are ruining, ending. Instead of... dropping bombs in the middle of civilian areas. Where children..." Jormungand collected himself. "Anyway, Fenrir crashed in the middle of occupied France and then remained and worked with the resistance. I was graciously allowed to move my aid to the medical side of things, and though it was still thoroughly awful, I survived. Soul somehow intact. Fenrir returned, further subdued, though I didn't think it possible at the time. And we moved to New York State, a little plot of land where we lived in a barn and got some horses and eventually expanded it into what it is today." He smiled fondly. "It really is gorgeous Steven. We grow so many types of roses and dahlias and poppies and tulips. The most beautiful peonies. You should come visit some time."

Steve's smile lit up his face. "Yeah, it sure sounds like someplace I'd love to see." Jormungand hummed and sipped at his tea sleepily, his fatigue suddenly returning tenfold. "Hey, sorry pal, I have kept you up. Here." He rose from the couch and Jormy followed him into a large bedroom with a solid looking bed. Super humans needed bespoke furniture, he guessed. "Do you need to borrow any clothes or shower or anything? The sheets are fresh."

Jormungand gave him a grateful smile. "No, that won't be necessary. Is that window- Do you have a blind?" Steve turned and found a switch by the bedside and clicked it, a beautifully translucent blind automatically moving down to bring the room into cool shadow. "Sweet."

"Anything else?" Steve was about half a meter away and Jormungand could think easily of ten other things he would like form the Captain, but he shook his head.

"No, thank you ever so much."

Steve smiled in the half light and surprised him by reaching up and stealing a kiss on the lips. Jormungand responded slowly, smiling into Steve's mouth and moving his hand to cup the back of his head and Steve opened his mouth ever so slightly, sweetly nibbling the other's lips while moving his hands to the small of Jormy's back, stroking with his thumbs. Jormungand closed his eyes, simply enjoying the feel of lips, hands, breath. That was enough, for now, and he pulled away softly with a little sigh. Steve smiled, slightly nervous "Was that OK? I just... you're so beautiful in this light."

Jormungand bit his own lip and he knew his eyes said it all but he said it anyway. "It was more than alright. It was perfect." He gave the super soldier one last soft peck and made sure his fingers wove through a little of Steve's hair as he brought his hand away. Steve looked at him from under his lashes as he reluctantly removed his hands from Jormy's waist.

"Perfect. Alright, I'll ah, probably be working on some drawings in the other room if that's OK."

"Hey this is your place, do whatever."

"Swell. I'll see you later then. Sleep well."

"I will. Hey- do good drawing." He gave a silver wink.

Steve chuckled as he slipped out the door. "Sure. I'll try."

"Hey." Jormungand had an idea. "No pressure, but what do you think about maybe drawing something awesome for the Little Witch when she gets her new place? Consider it a commission, I'll pay whatever."

Steve thought for a moment. "Darcy? Sure. Got anything in mind?"

He pondered. "She has a lot of prints, a lot of photos of mountains, oceans... band posters, movie posters, but maybe something that represents how much we all love her. Something that is ... you know?"

Steve bit his lip, eyes narrowed... "I think so. I'll see what I can come up with." He turned and softly closed the door and Jormungand smiled a little smile to himself, before shedding his clothes and burrowing into covers that smelled pleasantly of Steve and freshly laundered linen. He dreamed of the ocean, which he really missed and would have to visit soon, and just like every time he closed his eyes, he saw dragons...

...

Sif Stood in her quarters in Asgard staring at nothing in particular, the golden light of sunset leaned in from where she had her balcony windows open, overlooking the ocean. Standing there as she had so many times before, she barely recognised herself. After fifteen hundred years of being alive it had only taken a handful of months to change her, The Lady Sif, so constant and unchanging. She shivered in the golden light. It was like she was in a new skin, as yet unfamiliar. The Allfather had asked her whether she wanted to be reassigned back to the Golden City and she had refused. And why? She had nothing for her on Midgard, her relationship with Natasha had ended the moment she placed a blade at the Prince's throat. But she had still refused. Her eyes fell to the bracelet she still wore around her bicep. A gift from the queen. The magic linking her to the Prince was gone, yet she wore it still. She growled, balling her hands, remembering laughing green eyes, remembering how frail he had felt under her hands as she had inspected his neck. It could not be. She could not be so stupid... and yet she cared for him, that was no secret. Oh, but they had been friends for so long. She shook her head. There would be time to think on such things later. Or never, she wouldn't mind. Hogan knocked at her door. Time to go. She turned to her quarters, wondering when next she would be here. She checked her magical pack. In it she had placed some more weaponry and a few books for the Second Prince. She also reluctant for the sentimentality, decided to bring her few objects from her mother, a blanket and a locket. Hogan cleared his throat. Sif nodded. Yes, time to go.

The rainbow bridge gleaned in the sunset as they rode to the bifrost. Her beloved horse was very upset they had spent so little time together. She kissed his nose, feeling much the same. Heimdall gave no comment as the two warriors stepped up to return to New York, though he might have looked at Hogan askance, which Sif found odd. They only nodded their readiness and were away, riding the rainbow bridge to Midgard.

A tiny note on the use of 'bitch' in my fics. It may not be obvious, but I just wanted to point out that it is only ever used in respect of the woman described, even if, at that point the person using it is grumpy, like Jormungand in this chapter, he still has a lot of respect for Natasha, as a woman who isn't going to let anyone get in the way of what she intends to do. Anyway, just wanted to point that out.