When I first met Tony I was flying over Afghanistan in hopes of shaking Shield off my ass long enough to get more than 2 hours of sleep when I spotted a man struggling across the desert. I remembered hearing about billionaire Tony Stark being kidnapped while in Afghanistan a few months back while I was hiding out in North Dakota, but at the time I didn't really care. It wasn't my problem. I don't really know why I landed and helped this man who later introduced himself as Tony Stark, but I can tell you I wasn't doing it out of the kindness of my heart because during that time there was no kindness.

I spent three days with him while we waited for the helicopters to come save him and during that time I gave him shelter, food, water, and as much medical attention as I could give him. He begged me to stay with him when the helicopters arrived but I left with the promise of coming back one day. Of course I didn't make that promise just so I could check in on him, I had a plan. Tony had money and a big house and I had just saved his life. I had hit the fugitive jackpot and I was planning on cashing out.

I returned a few days later and just watched from a distance. I wanted to get a general idea of the layout of the house before I made my presence known. I told him I had just flown in from California and during the flight I had lost my wallet and he said he'd let me stay for the night. He showed me his suits and his newly improved arc reactor and he thanked me for saving his life. That night I had a chance to shower and change clothes and a chance to clean my guns and sharpen my knives and make a list for when I went on a supply run. Around 2 am with all my weapons and files laid out on the bed Tony came barging in, demanding to know who I really was. He had run the alias I have given him and he said I never existed. I was cornered, there was a possibility the police were already on their way, and my weapons were in pieces on the bed.

So I told him.

I said I had escaped from a cage and a group of very bad people were after me and I had to defend myself. I kept my abilities hidden from him and the fact that I had killed before. He let me stay permanently after that, built me my own suit and when he found out about the panic attacks he made my earpiece. He taught me how to build things and he taught me about the arc reactor. It eventually came in handy too when Obie took the reactor out of his chest and again when the palladium core almost killed him.

But none of that mattered anymore.

He was gone.

All around us the Chiturai let out an ear splitting scream and dropped dead on the streets. For a moment there was a sliver of hope that he would come flying out of the portal but he didn't. The expanse of space turned orange as the missile exploded.

It was over.

"Close it." Steve said quietly and with a clap of thunder the portal rapidly began to shrink. "This can't be happening, please let this just be a horrible dream." I begged. Just before the portal closed entirely a red speck came tumbling back down to Earth. "Dad!"

"He's not slowing down," Thor said as he began to spin his hammer to stop him but it was the Hulk who got to Tony first. I struggled to my feet as the Hulk landed a few feet away with Tony. Steve helped me over to where they had landed, Thor getting there first and ripping Tony's face mask off. "Dad? Dad, come on wake up this isn't funny anymore." I whispered as I knelt beside him. Steve leaned down and checked for any signs of breathing, but the thing that scared me the most was the fact that the arc reactor wasn't glowing anymore.

"I'm sorry Lady Eve." Thor said solemnly.

"No, this can't be happening! He-he's wearing his suit, Jarvis what's going on why isn't he awake?" The AI was silent. "Oh god." I could feel my throat tightening and my stomach knotted up a million different ways. The Hulk paced back and forth a few times before getting right in Tony's face and roaring.

Tony's eyes flew opened and he began taking in mouthfuls of air. "What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"We thought you died on us, dummy."

He looked over at me, his eyes going wide as he took in the sight of me. "Birdie, what the hell happened to you?"

"I..I uh, I got hurt."

"Eve, why don't you go get patched up? We can take care of everything else." Steve nodded behind me at two awaiting Shield Medics.

"Maybe I should stay just in case something goes wrong or-"

"Eve, I'm fine. I promise." Tony reassured, standing up just to prove his point. I reluctantly nodded my head and let the two medics help me up and take me away.

-/-

6 hours later I woke u in the infirmary, laying on my stomach which sent me into a full fledged panic attack. There had been too many times that I had woken up in that godforsaken place on my stomach. Tony, who had been sitting in a chair beside my bed the entire time, was able to talk me down until I could breathe normally again.

"Loki?" I asked, my voice coming out in a hoarse whisper.

"They're leaving in 2 hours."

I tentatively rolled my left shoulder to see how bad the damage to my wing was but nothing happened. There was no pleasant stretch of my back muscles and my wings extended, no jet black feathers appearing at my sides, nothing.

"They couldn't save your wings, Eve."

Fury came in almost right after that and said that my body had been too exhausted to heal itself and something about a dislocated shoulder and stitches but I wasn't really paying attention. My wings were gone. I had killed people trying to find a way to reverse everything that had been done to me and just like that it was all gone. Tony helped me down the hall to my room after Fury left and I was left alone with my thoughts as I changed.

All these years I've always known what I was doing, always had a plan, but what was I supposed to do now? I had been able to push everything I had done into the deepest, darkest corner of my mind and when I remember what I had done I convinced myself I had to do it, I had no other choice, I had to get answers. But now I had answers and I knew what I was and there was no justification for what I had done. I was a murderer, plain and simple. I carefully examined myself in the mirror, the bandaging for my back ran from just below my armpits and stopped just above my hips and my entire left shoulder was bandaged, my arm resting in an ugly blue sling.

My wings were really gone.

-/-

After I had changed I caught a ride with Tony and Bruce to Central Park, one of the few places that hadn't been destroyed during the invasion. I kept my distance from everyone, standing on my own around the small group that was beginning to form. In the middle of the group stood Thor and Loki who had been shackled and, under Fury's orders, been muzzled. Bruce pulled out a black briefcase from the car that had brought us here and Tony pulled out the glowing blue cube with a pair of tongs, placing it in the circular glass container Thor was holding.

With the Tesseract now secured, Thor held one side of the container and gesturing to Loki to hold the other end. I began walking forward from my spot in the back so I could stand in front of him and try to remember everything I could before he left. Before he grabbed his side, Loki glanced towards me and a splitting pain shot through my head as he tried to gain access. I let down my walls immediately so I could hear him whisper the words in my mind.

"I love you."

Before I had the chance to reply, he had taken his handle of the Tesseract's case, and Thor twisted it, both of them vanishing in beams of blue light, leaving nothing behind with them.

I stared blankly at the space where they once stood as the team began to disband with hugs, handshakes, goodbyes, and claps on the back. I joined in halfheartedly. We would all see each other again, we all lived in the same place for Christs sake.

Once everyone had said their goodbyes, I was left in the middle of Central Park, rejecting any offers of a ride home. I blankly stared at the space where the two God's stood again. I took a deep breath, a few tears rolling down my face as I whispered words in a late reply to Loki.

"I love you too."


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