Author's Note: My God this took forever…

But I'm alive! As I said before, the updates are not going to be as quick as before but I am continuously working on this when I have the time and energy so never fear!

But seriously, I am so happy this chapter is done. It took me like forever. I would not say I was blocked but I just couldn't seem to think. You see, I know exactly where I want this story to go and I write an outline for each chapter that I am currently working on but sometimes it is difficult to get from point A to point B. And school didn't help with that.

Anyways, I won't keep you any longer because this is when everyone finally comes together. Yay! Enjoy the chapter and so sorry again for the wait.

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Chapter Thirteen: A Little Too Convenient

Strange did not explain who these three groups were or how he knew where they were. Most people would understand that the questioning gazes pointed at him would mean, explain. But Strange just turned to Quill and told him, "Go and wake up the others because we haven't the time to waste. We need to leave, now."

Quill didn't move a muscle. He turned his gaze to Loki, who nodded. "Do as the good Doctor says. He probably knows what he's talking about." Quill gave him a quick nod and then quickly went back through the tunnel to reach the others, who were more than likely still asleep in the cavern.

"Probably?" Strange asked, a hint of resentment in his voice.

Loki half shrugged. "I don't know. Do you know what you are talking about?"

"Yes."

"Do you care to share how you know where these three groups are?"

"No, not practically at the moment."

"Hence the use of the word "probably"."

Strange took one step forward, his face was void of emotion except for his eyes. In Strange's crystal clear gray eyes there was an underlining bit of irritation, urgency, and even anxiety. "We need to find the members of your search party and the people they are with as soon as possible."

Loki should probably just let it go, but the man was acting so, for lack of a better word, strange. He crossed his arms and asked, "Why?"

Strange inhaled deeply and then slowly let it out. "Because."

"That's not a sufficient enough answer."

"Well, it's the answer I'm giving you."

"Oh, God help us there's two of them," Bucky muttered under his breath.

Loki turned to the metal-armed man. "I assure you that besides our magic, Strange and I are not remotely alike." Bucky shook his head, not believing him.

Strange sighed and stepped closer to Loki still. "Look, let's just say that with Thanos still out there it is best that we do not just sit here dilly-dallying around waiting for the most powerful being in the entire multiverse to figure out what we are doing."

Oh…

"Well…that makes sense." Loki glanced away from the Doctor's never ceasing gaze. He should have let it go, but what could he say? The way Strange was acting, it just didn't seem right. Oh well. It didn't matter now. They did need to find the others out there and he supposed it didn't really matter how Strange knew where they were. "Next time can you just start with that? That way we can save time."

Strange half smiled. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. But if luck is on our side, and it should be, there will not be a next time like this again."

There he was again, acting so damn odd. "I remember you being annoying, Doctor, I do not remember you being this cryptic."

"Believe me, I am not trying to be. When everything is said and done, this will all make sense. Now, I am going to make sure that the entrance to the cave is clear of any threats. When everyone is ready to leave meet me there." And with that the tall doctor sorcerer turned on his heels and walked in the direction leading to the cave's entrance, his rich and full cloak flowing behind him.

Loki twisted his hand and conjured up some more non-dangerous green fire to light up the dark cave; with Strange gone so was the only source of light. He glanced back at Bucky and Wanda and saw that Bucky was staring at his hand with the flickering fire in awe and that Wanda had her arms crossed and a, really?, look plastered all over her face. "What?" he asked her. "What is it? What did I do now?"

She half chuckled and half shivered, "Y-you didn't need to act so childish a-about Strange knowing where we need to go."

"Oh, come on, Wanda. You can't say that him just showing up and proclaiming that he knows things that he should not be able to know isn't just a little too convenient."

Bucky nodded. "Yeah. I mean, he found us wandering around in this winter wasteland and he just led us to this cave like he knew exactly where he was going. Like he's been here before."

"Maybe he just knows things," Wanda said. "Sometimes, because of my powers, I just know things. I'm not going to be suspicious of Strange or his actions because he wants to help and what he knows is going to help us save more people."

Loki nodded his head, understanding what Wanda was saying, but there was some part of him that just couldn't shake an uneasy feeling about Strange hiding information from them. Was this how most people felt about him? If that was the case then he understood why it seemed like people hardly trusted him in the past. "You have a valid point and it's probably nothing but…I don't know. Something about the way he's acting. It's just…wrong. It's like he knows something horrible is going to happen and he's just trying his best to pretend that everything is peachy."

Both Wanda and Bucky seemed to look a bit more concerned when he put it that way, but neither of them had a chance to speak any of their concerns because Peter followed by Quill and the other two Guardians, who were still wrapped up in their blankets, walked through the icy smooth tunnel to where they all stood. "Hey!" Peter exclaimed upon seeing Wanda and Bucky. "It's you two! Uh, Scarlet Witch and-and…um, sorry can't remember your name. And Mr. Loki said it last night and everything."

"This is Bucky Barnes and Wanda Maximoff," Loki said so that could be cleared up.

"Oh! The people you spoke about!" Mantis mumbled into the warm blanket. Loki nodded.

Peter nodded as well. "Yeah. That's right, Bucky Barnes. I remembered you even before Mr. Loki talked about you though. Because you had the awesome metal arm! You remember me? I was on Mr. Stark's side in that whole fight in Germany against Captain America."

Bucky nodded in remembrance. "Yeah, I remember. How could I forget? It was such a shocking moment to be in the middle of a fight and realize that you are fighting a young kid."

The smile left Peter's features in an instant and his downright annoyed expression made Loki chuckle out loud. "Seriously? Everyone, for the last time, I am a grown adult man!"

Quill half smirked and shook his head. "You're just never going to let that go are you? Well, anyways, we should see where this wizard man leads us."

"And this wizard," Drax started as they all slowly started walking towards the entrance of the cave. "He's the one who helped us with the fight on Titan and has the Blanket of Death, correct?"

"The Blanket of Death?" Wanda questioned.

"His cloak," Mantis clarified. "It moves on it's own accord."

"That's right!" Peter exclaimed, his chipper attitude back as soon as it left. "That was so cool. Like, Dr. Strange just sent his cloak and it flew by itself and attacked people! I mean, how does a cloak even do that by itself?"

"Am I the only one confused as to why this one," Bucky pointed to Drax, "called Strange's cloak "the Blanket of Death"? He could have just said his cloak."

"I think I have the answer," Loki muttered. "The Guardians of the Galaxy are the overly dramatic ones…except Rocket. He's fine."

Quill scoffed, "Dude, if you knew Rocket for more than just two days you'd think he was part of the quote overly dramatic ones unquote too. Mark my words."

"Okay, they're marked. However, I really, really doubt it."

"Who's Rocket again?" Bucky asked.

"He's a snarky talking raccoon," Drax said bluntly.

"I'm sorry, a talking what now?" Peter asked looking incredibly surprised.

Bucky on the other hand nodded his head remembering the raccoon. "Sure. I remember. He asked me how much to buy my gun and then how much to buy my arm."

"What in the world would a raccoon do with a metal arm?" Peter asked, still looking surprised and now confused.

Bucky shrugged. "Hell if I know. Oh, and by the way I feel really lost because besides this Star-Lord fellow here, I don't know anyone else's names."

"Oh!" Peter said. "Well, I'm Peter Parker. The woman with the antenna is Mantis." Mantis waved at Bucky, who slightly waved back. "And this big guy is Drax."

"Drax the Destroyer," Drax added with a sense of being proud of his title.

"Okay," Bucky mumbled. "I got a feeling I'm still gonna be lost but okay."

The cave tunnels began to get less and less dark, as they got closer to the cave entrance. When they came into view of the opening of the frosted cave and saw the tall silhouette of Dr. Strange and the pools of new daylight shinning outside, Loki twisted his hand and made the green flickering fire disappear. The Doctor stood with his back to the group with his arms crossed. "Everyone ready to go?" he asked over his shoulder before the small group had even made it all the way to where he stood.

"Yup," Quill said. "Ready as ever."

"Wonderful," Strange said with little enthusiasm. He uncrossed his arms and spun his arm in a large circle to open up an orange sparkler portal that appeared to lead to the autumn section of the Soul World. He turned to the group and motioned his hand towards the portal. "This way. We haven't the time to waste."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Quill muttered, practically running towards the portal. "I am sick of the cold." Not surprisingly, Drax, Mantis, Peter, and Wanda were quick to follow. Loki hesitated for a second because whatever was up with Strange was still bothering him. It was like this nagging little thought that just would not go away.

"We have a limited amount of time," Strange said again, although this time when he said it he almost sounded pleading.

It took Loki aback and snapped him out of dwelling on this nagging thought. "Yes, I know. I'm going. Just wanted to soak in the cold before we go back to the warmer climates," he lied. Whether Strange bought that or not, he still nodded and motioned to the portal. Loki stepped through it, followed by Bucky, and then Strange himself. The portal closed up behind him. Drax and Mantis had folded up their blankets and everyone looked thrilled to be out of the winter section.

"Follow me," Strange commanded as he started walking at a fast pace to the West. Everyone followed him, quickly trying to keep up with him.

"Strange is acting a bit strange. I agree with you on that," Bucky told Loki.

"Yeah. And apparently nobody of importance is in the winter section or else we wouldn't have left it."

Bucky nodded and then said, "I noticed you didn't seem to be bothered that much by the cold."

"You either. I'm a Frost Giant meant to live in the extreme cold, what's your excuse?"

Bucky shrugged. "My base of operations was in Russia for sixty some years and when I wasn't out being an assassin for Hydra, I was put on ice. So, the cold doesn't really bother me."

The tiredness that came through Bucky's voice made Loki feel for the man. He already did. After all, he was the only one who knew exactly what it felt like to be brainwashed and have your head filled with thoughts that weren't your own. Well…actually Agent Barton did. But back to the actual point, hearing Bucky's story before and now this little additional part made Loki want to do two things. One, he wished to talk with Bucky about his time with this Hydra thing and about his own time aboard Thanos's ship. It would be a depressing melancholy subject to talk about but he just wanted to talk with another person who really could relate. And two, he just wanted to do something to make the long brown haired man not look so empty and alone. He couldn't talk about the former right now, but he could do the latter. He half smirked and said, "Whatever you do, don't say the cold never bothered you anyways, because then Peter will get all excited and tell you the whole story of Frozen."

Bucky squinted his eyes at him. "The story of Frozen? What the heck is that?"

Wanda turned around. "It's a really cute Disney movie."

"Oh dear. She knows it too," Loki muttered.

Wanda smiled slightly and slowed her pace so that she could walk with the two men. So, this is how it went, Strange led the way through the autumn forest with its colorful leaves, with Peter close behind him, the three Guardians were behind them, and Loki walked with Bucky to his left and Wanda to his right. After a few minutes of walking in a comfortable silence Wanda turned to Loki and said, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Loki nodded. "Of course."

"When things are not so…dramatic, could you maybe, teach me how to do magic?"

That threw him for a loop. He hadn't expected that question at all. "What?"

Wanda fidgeted with her rings as she tried to explain. "The thought crossed my mind on the Quinjet but I never said anything and then after spending the last day with Strange, I thought it might be a good idea. It might be something that I am really interested in."

"What does Strange have to do with it?"

Bucky knew the answer to that. He half chuckled, "The second after we found the guy and told him who we were he kept on talking about his darn magic that he can do. And he kept asking Wanda all of these questions, are your powers magical? Have you ever considered learning magic? Did you know that with your powers, magic would probably be a cake walk for you? It was like he kept harping on her so that she would want to learn."

"Well, whatever the reason," Wanda said pulling Loki's attention back to her, "I have decided that it is something I would like to learn."

Strange was right. With her abilities, magic would no doubt be easier for her to learn then the average person. He had a feeling she would do wonders with it. He just hadn't expected her to ask him to teach her. It was honor he did not take lightly. "Okay. If you want to learn then, um, I'll teach you when everything calms down."

"Why not now?" Mantis called over her shoulder. Apparently she and the others had been listening to their conversation.

"Beg pardon?"

"Why not teach her now?" Mantis repeated. "We are not doing anything but walking through the woods. You could give her the essential lessons."

"Well…"

"Yeah!" Peter said, turning around and walking backwards for a brief moment. "And that would be so cool because we can listen too. We all could learn!"

Loki shook his head. "Alright, first off learning magic is like learning any subject in school. It takes time and concentration, which we have neither right now. And second, anyone can learn magic, but only a small few actually are…how do I put this…"

"Are any good at it?" Bucky asked.

"Exactly."

Peter shrugged and went back to walking the correct way. "I don't know about myself or anybody else, but I'm sure that the Scarlet Witch would do wonderful at it."

Wanda beamed. "You're a sweet boy, you know that?"

Loki sighed. "Look, Wanda, I will teach you. I promise. I just don't know if right now is the best time to do so." The fair haired girl nodded her head in a sort of understanding way but there was a bit of disappointment in her expression.

Congratulations, you just disappointed the girl you consider a sister and a friend.

Again, it wasn't that he didn't want to teach Wanda. To do so would be wonderful. To pass on his mother's teachings to someone else was something he could not pass up on. However, like he had said to learn magic took an awful amount of concentration. One must focus on it and it alone. But maybe he was wrong. Maybe he could do what Mantis said, just teach her the first few essentials. The introductory part if you will to the mystic arts. Before he could say anything on the matter, Strange called out to Wanda and said, "Wanda, I can give you a few pointers that the Ancient One taught me at Kamar-Taj since Loki doesn't seem to want to."

Loki glared at the back of Strange's head. "Now, wait one second. Did you not listen to a word I said? I will teach her!"

"Yeah, but later. I can start right now."

"Oh, no you don't. I will not have you teaching her your simplistic harnessing magic. If she's going to learn, it should be the dying art of traditional magic. So just back off and go about your business of leading us, Doctor."

Quill scoffed and turned to Drax. "Well, that was a turn of events."

The muscular man nodded. "And an intriguing one at that."

Wanda started to say, "Loki, if you don't want to teach me until later then you don't have to feel like-"

But Loki held out his hand to silence her. "Nope. I'm doing it now because of a certain annoying wizard that will remain nameless."

"I bet it's Strange," Drax whispered to Quill as if it was some great big secret. Quill slapped his hand to his forehead.

Loki took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, the first thing you must do when learning traditional magic is you must clear away any and all conceived notions that you already have of it. Whatever you think it will be like, it more than likely will not be anything like that. So, erase all previous thoughts and open your mind for new possibilities, because when it comes to magic anything can happen."

At that moment Drax stepped into some sort of a rope trap that got caught around his leg and lifted him up five feet into the air. "Ahhh!" Drax cried when he suddenly was lifted upwards. Loki, Wanda, and Bucky all froze, Quill and Mantis both jumped, and Strange and Peter spun around to see what was going on.

"Oh, man!" Peter shouted, when he turned around and saw the man dangling by his left leg.

Quill sighed at seeing his friend up in the air. "Oh, boy." He turned to Loki and muttered, "Sound advice. But unfortunately just as anything can happen involving the magic crap, anything can happen in the real world too."

"How about instead of talking all philosophic, we get this guy down?" Bucky said walking closer to the group that was now encircling Drax.

Drax nodded as he struggled against the rope keeping him suspended. "I agree with this muscular bearded man, whose name I forgot."

"Here," Mantis said, reaching out to try help Drax who wouldn't stop struggling.

Quill grabbed her by the shoulder though and pulled her away. "No, Mantis, get out of the way. I'd hate for Drax to land on you. He'd smash you as flat as a pancake."

And it was at that moment that Loki realized that they were close to the boarder of another season. About ten feet in front of them was a section filled with rich green trees and rolling hills of the same hue as the trees. Possibly it was the summer section of the Soul World. And before Loki could think what this meant, before anyone could make a move to free Drax from the trap, there was the telltale sound of a sharp crack of a branch being stepped on behind them. As if on cue everyone spun around preparing themselves for confrontation. Loki conjured up two daggers, Wanda brought up her red energy that danced around her hands, Strange had two shields around his hands, Quill had both blaster guns pointed in the direction of the sound, Bucky and Mantis both took a fighters' stance and Peter held out his hands ready to web up anyone who came through the bushes that everyone now stood staring at.

And someone did come through the bushes. Or rather, jumped through them in a sort of urgency with her silver sword drawl. It was a green skinned woman with thick black hair that had crimson red tips, dressed in black outfit with an amber light weight coat. From the few glances he had seen on Thanos's ship, the description that Nebula told him, and the shocked, wide eyed look from Quill, Loki knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was Gamora.

This was further confirmed when she quickly eyed all of them and saw Quill, Drax, and Mantis. Her eyes focused on Quill and Quill alone. She gasped softly and let her sword drop to the ground. "Is it really you?"

Quill lowered his blaster guns, happy tears shinning in his brown eyes. He stepped forward slightly and whispered, "Gamora."

"It is you." They didn't just stand there staring into each other's eyes after that. Quite the opposite. At the same time, Quill and Gamora ran to each other and threw their arms around each other in a loving and relieved embrace. Upon seeing that this was not an enemy everyone else relaxed and watched the couple's reunion. Gamora pulled away from Quill to look at his face, tears were in her eyes. "It really is you," she said softly, trying not to cry.

Quill smiled and cupped her face gently with his hands. Both of her hands softly latched onto his wrists. "Yeah. Yeah, it's me. It's all of us. And it's you. It's really you." He pulled her back to him. "God, it was so terrible when Thanos said you were gone…I just lost it."

Gamora nodded and said in a reassuring voice, "But you're here now and we're together again."

It was a beautiful and calm moment for the couple who had both been through so much and nobody wanted to ruin it by interrupting. But Peter didn't mind softly saying to the group still standing by the suspended Drax, "Aw, it's so romantic."

Drax nodded sincerely. "Yes. It is. I almost feel guilty for wanting to interrupt so that someone will get me down." Quill and Gamora both heard him and glanced at the man. "It would appear I have gotten their attention."

Quill sighed annoyed. "Dude, you couldn't have given us ten more seconds before being all like, somebody help me down?" Drax sort of shrugged looking all innocent for kind of ruining the couple's moment. "Fine. Let's get him down."

"Here, allow me," Strange said as he created another orange shield but this one he threw upward like a Frisbee and it cut the rope holding Drax up. It disappeared once it cut the rope.

And once the rope was cut, Drax fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "Ahh! …I'm okay." Then he slowly got back to his feet with the help of Bucky and Mantis.

Gamora, still holding onto Quill, shook her head. "I'm sorry you got caught up in that Drax. I made the trap to ensure our safety."

""Our"?" Bucky asked.

Gamora nodded and told them, "Yes. I found a woman and a little girl. They're the only living souls I have come across, well, I say living…" Her features suddenly grew serious and her happiness was gone. "Thanos succeeded with his plan. Half of all life has been wiped from existence."

Loki figured that this would be the best time to start explaining to her this whole Soul World thing. It was amazing how many times he felt like he had to repeat himself. "Yes, but you are not dead. Nobody here is dead. You all are merely trapped here in the Soul World."

When Gamora turned to face him, she appeared confused, probably as to what he was talking about, but when she saw him her eyes widened slightly. "Who are you?" she asked, looking at him from head to toe.

She recognizes you.

Before he could say anything, Quill started to explain, "Oh, yeah. When you got taken, Drax, Mantis, and I came across some of those Avengers people and-"

Gamora walked away from Quill's embrace, staring at Loki, obviously trying to remember where she knew him from. "I know you, don't I?" At the single sentence, Quill turned with wide eyes to Loki. His expression screamed, you know my girl, how do you know my girl? Gamora ignored her boyfriend's confusion. "I've seen you…somewhere. Haven't I?"

Loki slightly nodded, trying not to get sucked back into the dark memories of Thanos's ship. "A lifetime ago."

The green woman continued to stare at him but she didn't have a chance to say anything because another voice, a female and oddly enough, familiar voice, called out, "Gamora? Is everything alright? You didn't come back and we were starting to get…" And who should come out of the bushes next? None other than the Jane Foster. Never in a hundred years would he have guessed to see the brunette scientist that his brother had given his heart to. But here she was, traipsing through the thick leafy bushes carrying a little girl with pigtails. She saw Gamora and the others but not surprisingly when she spotted Loki, her gaze stayed locked onto him. Her mouth fell open slightly in shock but then she closed her mouth and glared at him. "You."

"Oh, stars above," he mumbled, taking a step backwards. He had a feeling that he knew what was about to happen.

"You," she repeated louder than before. In one graceful motion she had set the child down on the ground, spun back to face him, and started marching for him.

Well, this is not going to go over well.

He held out his hands, trying to calm her down. It wasn't working. "Now look, Miss Foster, before you do anything rash-" She did something rash. She had walked right up to him and slapped him across the face.

Damn, she still hits hard.

The others standing nearby all either gasped or shouted out in surprise. Peter was loudest of them all. "Whoa! Did she seriously just do that?"

Quill couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Uh, that would be a yes. Look, lady I got no clue who you are but I like you already."

Drax turned to Loki and said, "It would appear you have a complex history with this woman."

Loki half chuckled, rubbing his left cheek. "You could say that."

Miss Foster ignored everyone and instead started shouting at him. "You've got some nerve being alive! You know how broken up Thor was about your death? Hmm? Do you? He was heartbroken and now you're just alive?" It was funny how it seemed that her real source of anger for him all stemmed from him hurting Thor. That was funny because he was pretty sure that most broken up couples didn't stay close. Miss Foster shook her head, lost in her own thoughts of what him being alive meant. Then she started to advance again. "Get over here. I'm going to hit you again."

Loki quickly jumped backwards and literally grabbed the closest person to pull them in front of him to use as a shield. That person just so happened to be Peter. "Hey!" the boy shouted, confused.

"You wouldn't hit an innocent child would you?" Loki asked her.

Wanda scoffed, amused by these turn of events. "Are you seriously using the kid as a shield?"

"I'm a man," Peter whispered. Miss Foster looked from Peter to Loki and crossed her arms unimpressed. Well, at least she wasn't going to be trying to slap him again.

"Could someone please just explain the relationship?" Bucky said after a moment of nothing but Miss Foster glaring at Loki and him still cautiously holding Peter in place.

Loki told him, "This is Jane Foster, my brother's ex."

"Oh. In-law troubles, huh?" Quill mused. "I can kinda relate to that, because you've all seen Thanos. Talk about the worst father in-law ever."

Gamora rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "Peter."

"What did I do?" the young teen asked with raised hands.

Quill shook his head. "Not you. My name's Peter too."

Peter was silent for maybe two seconds before his eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Really? Hey, man, that's so cool! We could be the Two Petes! Or the Two Ps. Or maybe-"

Miss Foster interrupted the excited boy. "If there was ever trouble with the "in-laws" then it was because of," she pointed directly at Loki, "that weasel nosed jerk."

Quill could barely contain his laughter. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better."

"Well, that was a little harsh," Mantis said in disapproval of what the brunette had said.

"Yeah," Drax said in agreement. "The Key that is Low does not have a weasel nose, he is quite elegant."

Loki rolled his eyes. What was with this guy and not being able to say his name? He really had to resist the urge again to flick his hand and turn the man into a frog. So instead he turned to Gamora and asked, "How do you put up with these Guardian people without stabbing them?"

Gamora didn't even blink or seem surprised by his question. She just shrugged and said, "I have great restraint."

Loki scoffed, "Sounds exhausting."

Wanda clapped her hands together, gaining everyone's attentions. "Alright, everyone shush for one minute and I mean it." She walked up to the defensive scientist. "Without going too much into detail, Dr. Foster, Loki did not fake his death but merely survived the incident in the dark world. Yes, he's a bit of a handful and he can be very childish-"

Loki's mouth dropped open. "I'm childish? Me? She's the one who hit me!"

Wanda just went right on talking. "The point is, we're all in this together now… I've heard a great deal about you, so it's nice to finally be able to meet you."

Miss Foster nodded and let out a deep breath. "Yeah, thanks. Same about you. You're pretty cool actually." Wanda smiled at the complement.

Well, it appeared that he didn't need to use Peter as a shield anymore, so he let go of the teenager. And then said teenager asked no one in particular, "Uh, does anyone else feel left out of the conversation now?"

"I do!" the little girl sitting off by the bushes cried.

While most everyone in the group had noticed the girl that Miss Foster had set down, this was the first time that everyone truly saw the little girl. "Why hello!" Mantis said with a wide smile and a higher pitched tone of voice than usual. "Aren't you just the most adorable thing ever?"

Wanda smiled at the girl and stepped over towards her. "Hello, Lila. It's good to see you again."

"You too!" the girl said excitedly. "I'm glad you're here, too."

Wanda chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yeah." She knelt down next to the girl and told the group, "She is Clint's daughter."

Loki nodded. "Ah, I see." And he could. The tiny child had Barton's eyes.

"I don't," Quill muttered to himself.

"Clint? As in Clint Barton? As in Hawkeye the awesome Avenger archer?" Peter questioned.

"The very same," Loki told him. "Although I would hardly say he was "awesome"."

"Loki," Wanda said in an even tone, never looking away from the child.

"What? I can't have my own opinion?"

Wanda ignored him and instead focused all of her attention on the girl. "My goodness, what have you done to your leg, Lila?" Everyone saw what Wanda saw. The girl's leg was a horrible shade of black and blue.

Gamora came over and sat down on the other side of the little girl. "The sweet thing was trapped under a tree limb. But ever since then she hasn't cried a bit." She smiled brightly at the little girl and tasseled her hair in a sort of motherly way. "Such a brave little thing."

"Yeah," Miss Foster said in agreement. "If it was me with the banged up leg, I probably would be bawling right now."

For the first time in a long time Strange spoke up. "That sounds like it is broken. I better have a look at it."

As he started walking forward, Gamora held out her hand to stop him. "And you are?" Her protective nature for the child she barely knew certainly was endearing.

"Dr. Stephen Strange, former neurosurgeon now master of the mystic arts."

Peter glanced at the Doctor in shock. "Wait, hang on. You're a real doctor?"

"Yes," Strange said as if it were obvious.

"Oh," Peter whispered.

Quill threw his hands in the air. "Dude, what did you think he was? His name is Doctor Strange."

"Well, I didn't know," Peter mumbled crossing his arms over his chest. "I just thought that that was his made up name. Like-like "Hawkeye" or "Scarlet Witch"." Then he pointed to himself when he added, "Or "Spider-Man"."

"You're the Spider-Man?" Miss Foster asked skeptically. Her skepticism was understandable. Here was this fifteen year old boy in sweat pants and a hoodie who got really excited really fast, and who just gave away his secret identity to a complete stranger. He didn't exactly seem like he was the traditional superhero type.

Peter stared at Miss Foster for a few seconds before sighing, "Man, I just can't keep my secret identity a secret lately. First my Aunt May, then Mr. Loki, and now Mr. Thor's ex. Man." Loki chuckled and patted the boy's shoulder sympathetically.

"Alright, now that the introductions are done, may I examine the girl's leg?" Strange asked Gamora, who nodded her head that it was fine. Strange knelt down and gently felt her poor bruised leg. "Yup. It's definitely broken."

"Here," Loki said taking a step forward. "I can fix it as good as new."

"He really can too," Wanda told Lila.

"Hang on," Strange said standing up and holding his hand out to stop Loki. "You may want to hold onto your strength."

"Why?" When Strange didn't say a word and instead just stared at him with that odd expression of his, Loki sighed. And to think that he had thought that they had gotten past all of Strange's cryptic behavior. Apparently not. "Are you going to tell me what's going on or…?"

Strange really looked like he didn't want to budge on the matter but when it became clear that Loki was not leaving until he knew what was happening he gave up trying to hide a secret from the master liar. "We have to go to the spring section of the Soul World. In a large red wood tree Scott Lang, Sam Wilson, King T'Challa, and Nebula are all trapped. They are trapped up there because a giant scaly snake is waiting for them at the bottom." Loki blinked in surprise.

So did everyone else in the group. Gamora shook her head. "How do you know all of that?"

"Isn't that just the question of the day?" Loki asked sarcastically.

Strange sighed, looking a bit guilty but he pushed it away. "Look, I wish I could explain but right now I cannot. So you are all just going to have to put a little faith in me and stop asking all of these questions."

"Fine," Loki said begrudgingly. "Now you said there was a giant snake?"

Strange didn't even hesitate. "Yes."

Loki felt a slight headache pounding in his temples. "Excellent. Well, since you seem to know everything, Doctor, what's your plan of attack?"

Again, Strange didn't hesitate with his answer. "Let the Guardians go and rescue the four stuck in the tree, while you and I distract the snake. Everyone else can either help the Guardians or stand back and watch our six."

"Sounds like my job," Bucky muttered when heard the part about watching their six.

Loki agreed but he had one condition. "Alright. But it's you, myself, and Wanda who distract the snake."

Wanda started at that. "Me?"

Loki nodded. "Yeah. You. I trust Bucky to watch our six and the others to get Nebula and the other three out of the tree but the only other person I would trust with the job of distracting a giant snake would be you."

Wanda shook her head as she glanced between Loki and Strange. "I would get in the way. I'm not as powerful as you two."

Strange turned to face her. "Don't be too sure of that. You have your own strengths and abilities that neither I nor Loki possess. Hence why you would do so well with learning the mystic arts."

With that little boost of confidence, Wanda got to her feet and nodded in agreement. "Alright. If this is our plan then shall we?"

"Yeah, let's do this!" Peter exclaimed, more than ready to go do something mildly dangerous.

Strange shook his head. "You should stay here with Miss Foster and Lila."

"What? But I-"

"To make sure they stay safe."

Peter sighed and nodded, not holding back his disappointment. "Okay. I'll be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and watch out for these guys."

"Good," Strange said. "Now we can leave."

"One moment, you forgot something," Loki said. With a twist of his hand he made a semi-automatic machine gun appear in Bucky's hands with a flash of green. The metal-armed man chuckled amazed. "Now he can watch our six."

"I'll watch your six too," Quill said taking out both of his blaster guns again. He tried twirling them around his hands but ended up dropping one and then in a feeble attempt to catch it dropped the other one. Gamora rubbed her forehead in a tired manner. Quill stood back up with both his guns trying very hard but failing to not look embarrassed. "I swear to God I know what I'm doing."

Strange sighed after a while and said, "Okay, fine. Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Drax said. "Why can't we just tell the people in the tree to get down and we all take on the huge snake?"

"Because we are not going to kill the creature, we are just going to distract it," Strange said. "It is trapped here just like all of us and the four in the tree may need help."

Gamora shook her head in agreement. "Yes, and Drax, the last time we took on a giant creature you let yourself get swallowed up by it because you thought that the skin would be easier to pierce on the inside."

Loki shared a confused glance with Bucky and Wanda. You know, he should not be surprised to learn that the dumb muscular man would do something like that but what could he say? The fact that someone would do something that stupid surprised him. "How did you even survive that?" Peter asked from where he stood near Lila.

Drax shrugged. "Because I single-handedly vanquished the beast before it could start to digest me."

Quill scoffed, "Dude, you did not single-handedly vanquish the beast."

"Yes I did."

"No. You didn't."

"Yes. I did."

Loki rolled his eyes. And Wanda said that he was being childish? Thankfully, he wasn't the only one getting more and more annoyed by the second. Strange semi-snapped, "Everyone just stick to my original plan. Got it?" That made Quill and Drax stop their petty argument.

Miss Foster eyed Strange and then muttered under her breath, "He's a bit moody, isn't he?"

Mantis nodded and added, "Maybe a smidgen."

Gamora clapped her hands together, similar to the way Wanda had a few minutes earlier. "Come on guys, let's just focus on the mission. Because I want to go and save my sister."

Of course. Poor Nebula stuck in a tree with Scott and Sam. If she had any hair, she would probably be pulling it out in frustration right about now. At least T'Challa was there to keep the peace. The young king did seem to have a great interest in keeping the peace. "Alright," Loki started, "to recap: Wanda, Strange, and I distract the snake, Bucky and for lack of a good reason, Quill watch our six, Mantis, Drax, and Gamora save the four in the tree, and Peter stays here and watches after Lila and Miss Foster. Did I forget anything?"

"I do not believe so," Strange said. "Now that everything is settled, let's go." He opened up a portal leading to a forest that was filled with dainty flowers and blossoming cherry trees.

While little Lila got really excited at that, Miss Foster's jaw dropped open. "Whoa, how did you-what kind of tech is that?"

Strange half smiled. "No tech, just some grade A magic."

"Well…huh, that's new."

"The world just keeps on gettin' crazier and crazier," Bucky muttered with a smile.

"Isn't that the truth?" Loki said in agreement. With that, everyone except Peter, Miss Foster, and Lila walked through the portal into the light and breezy spring section. They all walked in silence for about two minutes through the forest until they came across a large red wood tree surrounded by little pink bell shaped flowers and laying curled up in the shade of the huge tree was the giant jade, scaly snake. Strange, who was leading the group, held up his hand to stop everyone from continuing forward and stepped behind a tree. The group followed his example and split up into two groups hiding behind two trees that were close together.

Upon seeing just how monstrous this snake was, Bucky muttered unenthused, "Well, this should be fun."

And Drax not understanding sarcasm, nodded. "It appears like it would be." He glanced at Loki, Wanda, and Strange and said, "You three are so lucky. I wish I could take on the slithering beast too."

Bucky stared at the man standing so close to him and it seemed to dawn on him. "You're not all there in the head are you?"

Quill scoffed, "You don't know the half of it." Gamora hit him in the arm. Hard. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"For being rude and mean to your friend, that's what that was for."

While Quill rubbed his left arm and his wounded pride, Strange continued to survey the situation. After a moment of thought, he glanced at the people around him. "Alright, I'll open a portal for you three," he nodded towards the three Guardians, "so that you are next to the tree once we get the snake's attention-"

They should have just left Quill with Miss Foster and Lila and had brought Peter with them. Sure, Peter was only a child but at least he wouldn't have done the stupid thing that Quill did. He ran out from behind the tree he was hiding behind and shouted, "Hey, Sir Hiss! Over here!" And then he started firing his blaster guns at the curled up snake. It furiously hissed and started to uncoil itself.

Loki just wanted to bang his head against a wall. "So much for being stealthy."

"Well, the snake's distracted now," Strange mumbled as he opened a portal for Gamora, Mantis, and Drax, who all quickly went through it and ended up next to the red wood but away from the man-eating snake. Strange glanced to Bucky. "Quill's on the left so you go right." Bucky nodded sternly and ran off to the right side of the snake and fired a few shoots. The snake just seemed to grow more agitated. "Shall we?" Strange said with a motion of his hand.

"Sure, why not," Wanda said as she, Loki, and Strange all stepped out of their hiding spots and walked closer towards the snake. The giant creature was constantly being attacked from its left and right and it was so confused and angry that it didn't seem to know if it wanted to attack Bucky or Quill first. So when they both stopped firing their guns, it shook its big head, sticking out its long forked tongue, and focused all of its attention of the three who were only about fifteen feet away. Suddenly the snake lunged forward.

Conjuring up their shields was like second nature to the three, so the snake's head just slammed up against the giant orange, green, and red shield of combined magic and energy. The snake tried to burst through their shield but it couldn't, so it tried to go around it, but Bucky and Quill were both there to keep it in its place with their continuous firing. Holding their shields in place, preparing for when the monstrous creature would ram its head against it again was tedious work. When the snake hit their shield with a very brute amount of force, Wanda flinched and let out a strained sound.

"You okay?" Loki asked as he felt his hands start to shake. Thank the stars that he wasn't by himself like he had been the night before when the Frost Creature had tried to break through his shield, because if he had been alone he doubted that he would be able to hold the snake off at all.

"I'm fine," Wanda said breathlessly. Her resolve to keep her shimmering scarlet energy in place was impressive and just showed how powerful she truly was to be able to "keep up" with Loki and Strange who were a bit more seasoned when it came to fighting off scary otherworldly creatures.

But then again, Strange was looking a little winded himself. "This is more difficult than I previously thought."

"Which part?" Loki started, deciding to pick on the semi-annoying Doctor. "Casting spells or defending yourself against a monstrous snake?"

"The snake part," Strange grumbled.

"Well dear me, Doctor. Have you never fought a monstrous snake before?"

Strange sighed deeply and Loki could just about hear the eye roll in his tone. "You know Loki, this is why you wouldn't have done well at Karma-Taj. Not everything has to be so dramatic."

"Of course it does! And it's not because I prefer it that way, it's because drama just seems to follow me around."

"Well, I wonder why."

"Will you two please just shut up?!" Wanda yelled at them. "Some of us are actually trying to focus!"

"Terribly sorry," Loki said softly.

Though he doubted if she even heard him because at the same time he said that, Gamora shouted, "Everyone's down from the tree! We need to leave!"

Loki glanced to Strange. "You focus on getting the others to safety. Wanda and I will handle the snake." Strange nodded and did not hesitate in dropping his hands to run off to a place where he could see the others. While he was off to the sidelines opening portals, Loki and Wanda stayed where they were, feeling the strong force of the angry snake. They couldn't hold out forever. "Strange are you finished?"

"Just a second."

"It would be better if you were done now!" Loki called over his shoulder.

"Hang on!" Strange twirled his hand and opened a portal next to Quill, who ran through it, then he opened one next to Bucky, who did the same. "Everyone's safe. We can leave now."

"Easier said than done," Wanda muttered under the strain.

"Brace yourselves," Strange called to them. Loki didn't have time to wonder what he had to brace himself for because suddenly a portal opened up underneath his and Wanda's feet and they both dropped through it. What was it with Strange and dropping people through portals? At least he didn't fall for thirty minutes like last time. After about four seconds of falling they both made contact with the soft grass of the ground. Well, they might not have fallen far but it still was humiliating to fall flat on your face in front of everyone. Especially when two seconds later, Strange jumped through another portal and landed perfectly on his feet. Strange, in spite of himself, quietly chuckled to himself at the sight of Loki and Wanda laid out on the grassy ground. "You two alright?" he mused.

Loki glared at the tall Doctor. "Oh, will you just go away?" He got himself up, brushed himself off, and offered a hand to a tired looking Wanda.

She breathlessly shook her head. "If my powers are constantly regenerating as you said and I am still this wiped out, I can hardly think what it's like to use traditional magic."

Loki shrugged. "It-well, it really is a bloody nuisance sometimes but…I can't complain too much. So, don't you worry about being able to handle having your strength drained when you haven't even learned much of anything just yet, okay?" Wanda shook her head looking slightly relieved. Was she really worried that she wouldn't be able to handle the pains of traditional magic? From what he saw of her, she was more than capable. She just needed a good teacher and to be honest, he wasn't sure that was himself.

Loki, Wanda, and Strange all stood next to a tall tree with golden yellow leaves, directly to their left was Bucky standing close to where Peter sat with little Lila and Miss Foster, and off to their right was three of the four Guardians standing next to T'Challa, Sam, Scott. And nearby them was Gamora, holding Nebula into a death hug. Everyone seemed to have their attentions turned to the reuniting sisters. So much so, that Loki began to wonder if any of the people had seen him and Wanda fall to the ground. Gamora half whispered half cried, "Nebula, you're okay. I'm so glad that you're okay."

"S-same thing about you," Nebula said quietly. It was one of those few times that Nebula's emotions were shining through more than just her eyes. And it was understandable. She had her sister back. It made Loki smile softly.

Gamora held her sister out at arm's length, looking her over. "I was worried that Thanos was going to kill you. That in his mind he would have no use for you and…and…" She shook her head, lost in the horrors that had gone through her head of what could have happened to her sister.

Nebula's beautiful black eyes had never shinned so much in her life. "And you. I-I thought you were gone…forever." She looked as if she was going to start crying. So did Gamora. So instead they both went back to their embrace.

It was one of those moments that again nobody wanted to ruin but yet some idiot managed to ruin it anyways. This time that idiot was Scott Lang. He whispered to Sam, "Man, this has got to be the sweetest thing I have ever seen. And I have a daughter who likes Disney movies, so I've seen a lot of sweet things."

Nebula's overjoyed expression was gone in an instant and that death glare of hers was set right on Scott. "Lang." Scott pretty much jumped at Nebula's irritated and harsh tone. And Loki honestly couldn't tell which was funnier, the scared man or Nebula's never ending feistiness. But regardless he chuckled and gained the blue woman's attention. The look of surprise was slightly unexpected, but then again maybe she had been so focused on having Gamora back that she didn't notice anything else. The surprise mellowed into a mild and contained happiness and she nodded to him. "I see you've been busy." She was referring to him finding the huge group of people that now stood all around them. Of course he couldn't take the credit for finding everyone but in this moment of finally knowing that she was safe, he wasn't going to go off about how he had had some help.

He half smirked and motioned to the three men next to the Guardians. "I've notice that you have been too." The slight mischievous smile Nebula gave him made everything else just fade into mist. There was no one but just two old friends.

And then the confused Gamora glanced between the two of them. "Wait…you…? You two know each other?"

"Yeah," Quill answered. "Weird isn't it?"

Who knows what would have happened next. Maybe Loki and Nebula would have tried to explain without going into too much detail or maybe Gamora would have questioned her sister, but regardless, no one would know because Scott interrupted with something completely off topic. "You know," he said clearing his throat. "I just gotta say something about that rescue plan…that was amazing! Like how did you guys do all that? Because first this guy," he pointed to Quill, "was over here firing at the snake like a boss."

Quill smiled a stupidly smug smile at the entire group. "Like a boss," he repeated cheerfully.

Scott nodded and continued on. "Yeah and then the three who got us out of the tree…are you guys like aliens?" Before anyone could even think to answer Scott's ridiculous question, he was already talking about the next thing. "And then last but certainly not least, these other three," he looked to Loki, Strange, and Wanda, "…like wow! You guys are like some badass wizards when you work together!"

Wanda smiled and said causally, "The two men don't like the term "wizard" and technically I'm a witch."

Scott shrugged. "Yeah, but still. Awesome."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and it is so nice to finally be out of that tree and away from that snake." He glanced around at the large and vastly diverse group around him. He cleared his throat, almost uncomfortably. "I'd thank you all, but besides Wanda, Barnes, and the God I don't know who any of you people are."

Peter raised his hand in the air. "Mr. Falcon, sir, you know me. Well, you should. I'm Spider-Man."

Sam blinked a few times, staring at the boy sitting with little Lila, with an air of remembrance and shock. "The kid in the red and blue suit who talks too much during fights? You're that kid?"

"Yup. That's me." And then Peter quietly added, "Except I'm not a kid."

Loki sighed, "You're fifteen, yes you are."

Basically everyone ignored him and Quill stepped towards Sam. "Well, to answer your question sir, I'm Peter Quill, also called Star-Lord and the leader of a little group called the Guardians of the Galaxy." Quill pointed to Gamora and Drax. "The superhot green lady here is my girl, Gamora. And the muscular dude over here is Drax." Drax cleared his throat. Quill rolled his eyes. "Sorry. Drax the Destroyer."

"Thank you," Drax said sincerely with a light nod.

Quill continued on by motioning to Mantis. "This gal is Mantis."

"Hi!" she said, waving excitedly at T'Challa, Sam, and Scott.

T'Challa smiled at the girl's enthusiasm, Sam half waved back, and Scott waved back almost just as excited. "And there's this guy," Quill said glancing at Strange. "He ain't part of the Guardians or anything but I figure I should introduce him. Dr. Strange. And he should not be mistaken for Dr. Strangelove."

Strange narrowed his eyes at the rugged man, looking anything but pleased. "Thanks, Quill."

Quill smirked and gave the Doctor a thumbs up. "No problem." Strange rolled his eyes. "And you said you already knew the Jedi girl, the metal-armed dude, and Mr. Green Jeans, so-"

"Mr. Green Jeans?" Sam jeered.

Loki rubbed his pounding temples and shook his head tiredly. "Don't even get me started."

"Point is," Quill went on, glancing to where Peter, Lila, and Miss Foster stood, "that leaves the second Peter, which you kinda met, the kid of some Hawk-Man or whatever, and a really fierce lady who bitch slapped Mr. Green Jeans."

Sam, Scott, and T'Challa all started with surprise and turned to stare at the brunette woman sitting with Lila. Loki knew their looks only too well. They were thinking, that harmless looking woman, slap a man who was basically a god? Yeah, well, he learned a long time ago to not underestimate Jane Foster. "Did you really do that?" Scott asked, almost timidly.

Miss Foster glanced at the three men and nodded her head. At that Sam let out a roaring laugh. "Ah, man! You guys should've recorded the God gettin' owned. Bet it would've been the funniest thing ever." Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Quill smirked and said, "Oh, it was. It was."

Sam's attention was drawn back to Quill at that comment and he smiled. He held his hand out towards him. "Sam Wilson. The Falcon."

"Cool name," Quill said, taking Sam's hand and shaking it.

"Yeah," Scott agreed, off to the sidelines of where the other two men stood. "But it's not as cool as Star-Lord. Really neat. I'm Scott by the way. Scott Lang. Ant-Man." Quill nodded and shook his hand too. "So, how'd you come up with your code name anyways?"

Quill smiled in quiet remembrance. "Well," he started, happy to have somebody's attention for once, "it's this funny little story-"

"Oh, I fear for humanity," Loki muttered, not caring that he was interrupting. He glanced at the three annoying men. "But then again I suppose I shouldn't be overly shocked that you three would get along."

Sam and Quill both gave him a smoldering look and Scott just looked confused, which apparently was just his go to look. And bless T'Challa, because he decided to draw everyone back on track. And he managed to do it with only two sentences. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet all of you," he said glancing to everyone in the group. "And I thank you all for your help with saving us from our predicament."

Loki half smiled. The genuine thankfulness and humility that always seemed to come out of T'Challa's words never ceased to astound him. A good king he was indeed.

"You're the King of Wakanda, right?" Miss Foster asked, standing up from the where she had been sitting next to the full leafy bushes.

T'Challa nodded with a hint of a smile. "I am."

Miss Foster blinked a few times, almost shell-shocked. "Wow. I…I have read so much about the technology and the science you have. All the breakthroughs you and your people have made is fantastic." Of course, the woman in love with science would have read all about Wakanda and its wonders.

"Thank you, but it is more my sister then myself. And speaking of which," T'Challa suddenly seemed more serious as he turned to Loki, "how is Shuri?"

Translation: Is my sister alive?

Loki said, "She's alive and well. A bit heartbroken maybe…" T'Challa let out a sigh of relief to know that his genius sister was okay but almost as quickly as he looked relieved, the worry came back. The young king did not have to voice his emotions because they were so clearly painted on his face. He felt guilty that his sister was alone and he felt an urgency to get back to Wakanda to see to the wellbeing of his people. Loki quickly added, "But she and your mother both seemed optimistic when we developed our rescue plan." T'Challa nodded appearing slightly less concerned.

There was a few seconds of silence, followed by Strange muttering almost regretfully, "We still have another stop to make."

"A stop?" Scott asked.

Drax nodded. "Yes. The wizard with the Blanket of Death has lead us to groups of people that we need to find and the Key that is Low has been suspicious the entire time."

Loki sucked in a deep breath and decided that he was done with Drax getting his name wrong. So he turned to Wanda and started continuing on with the basics of magic as if they hadn't been interrupted. "Second lesson of learning magic is to not do magic but to feel it. It should become second nature until you don't even think about it. Observe." He twisted his hand and a light flickering green glow grew around his hand. Suddenly the glow engulfed Drax and he was turned into a slimy, jade colored frog.

A chorus of shocked cries rose up from the group. Quill exclaimed, "Holy crap man, not cool!"

Peter shook his head and said, "That's not at all what I was going to say! That's awesome!"

Loki smirked, feeling a sense of pride for his action. And let's face it, the confused and downright stunned expressions of everyone, except for Strange who looked about ready to hit Loki and Nebula who looked about ready to laugh, was quite enjoyable.

"It's like the Princess Frog!" Lila said happily.

Gamora squinted her eyes at the small jumping frog, not believing Drax had been changed into such a meek creature. "How'd you-what?"

"The God can do some tricks," Sam explained, crossing his arms. "But I didn't know it was anything like…that."

Mantis bent down to grab the frog but he kept on jumping. You couldn't blame him. He had no idea what was happening. "Drax," Mantis said running after the frog. "Drax! Stop trying to hop away!" She managed to clasp her hands around the small slippery frog and keep her hold on him. "Drax, stop squirming!" Drax didn't listen.

"Well…" T'Challa started glancing from Loki to the young woman holding what used to be a person back to Loki, looking at a loss for words. Probably was the first time that had ever happened. "Good to see you are still so…mischievous."

"Typical," Miss Foster muttered.

Nebula scoffed, "Please, dramatic is as good as his middle name."

Loki smiled softly again looking into those deep eyes of Nebula's once again. "Oh, you know me so well."

"Okay," Wanda interrupted, "Feel the magic, don't do it. I get the picture. Thank you. But you should probably change him back now."

Loki half-heartedly shrugged. "Well…"

"Dude! Seriously?" Quill half yelled, looking at him in disbelief.

Loki sighed, "Fine. You people just want to suck the joy out of life." With another twist of his hand and another flash of bright green, the frog in Mantis's hands was changed back into the idiotic muscular man. No longer was Mantis holding a frog but Drax's arm.

"Drax? Are you okay?" the pale girl asked.

Drax spun to face her and then glanced all around him. "That was…weird." He focused his sights on Loki and said sternly, "Do not do that again."

Loki retorted back, "If you don't want to be a member of the amphibian species, then stop calling me the Key that is Low." Drax swallowed and slightly nodded in agreement.

"Alright then," Strange said tiredly, rubbing his temples. "Now can we make our next stop?"

"Do I need to keep my strength for this stop?" Loki asked. Strange shook his head no. "Then one second." He had strength enough to heal up the little Lila's leg, so he took the opportunity to do so. Another flash of green was sent from his hand but this time it went over the girl's leg and transformed the black and blue skin back to its healthy pink complexion.

"Hey! My leg!" Lila exclaimed upon seeing her leg looking considerably better. She didn't even wait to see if it was all better, she just sprung to her feet. She happily smiled at Loki. "Thank you, that's so nice of you."

Loki smiled down at the girl. Miss Foster stared at the scene in confusion. "Okay…not typical."

Wanda chuckled and told her, "You may find that the God of Mischief is very different from how you remember him."

Nebula turned to the fair haired woman and eyed her with curiosity. "Oh, yes," Loki said following Nebula's gaze. "You two haven't officially met yet. Nebula, Wanda Maximoff. And Wanda…well, you get the point."

The two women met each other's eyes and both nodded with a pleasant look on their faces. They both had heard so much about the other that they both felt like they knew the other one. "Nice to meet you," Wanda said.

Nebula half smiled. "Same to you. It's good to put the name with a face."

Sam squinted at Nebula appearing confused. "Alright, where was this lady with her nice hospitality when we were stuck in that damn tree?"

Nebula spun to face him, a dangerous spark in those eyes of hers. "She was annoyed as hell at two men who were acting like stupid children."

Before Sam or anyone else for that matter could say a word, Strange cleared his throat in a not so discreet way. Bucky sighed and told the whole group, "We should go. 'Cause when Strange does that it means he wants to leave."

"And where are we going?" Sam asked.

"To find a few more people," Strange said.

When it became clear that Strange wasn't going to say anything else, Scott asked, "Uh…could you maybe be a little more specific?"

Without hesitation Strange replied, "No." The almost offended look on Scott's face was hilarious. Strange went about opening yet another portal, this one leading to a grassy and hilly woods. "Just through here," he said with a motion of his hand.

Sam, Scott, and T'Challa were the only ones in the group to seem hesitant. And for good reason. They did not know Strange and they did not understand why he was very obviously holding information from them. As the others made their way to and then through the portal, Loki stayed back and told the three men, "Just do what he says, because he will not elaborate."

T'Challa seemed to understand and he followed the others through the portal. When he went to leave, Sam and Scott both silently agreed to follow him and put aside their distrust for Strange. Loki glanced at Strange, who appeared to be grateful. "Thank you."

Loki didn't say a word, he just stepped through the portal and was met with a thick cloud of humidity and heat. He honestly felt like he had walked into a wall. "Stars above!" he exclaimed. This place was truly horrible. Sure, it looked nice, with rolling hills covered in thick glossy grass, and smaller trees that were more spread apart then most of the never ending forest they had seen before now, but the heat… He glanced at Strange as he closed the portal. "Let me guess, the summer section?" Strange nodded with a sympathetic smile. "Perfect," he muttered.

Strange once again took the lead, with all of the Guardians and Peter close behind him, Wanda, Bucky, Sam, and Scott followed them, and Loki, T'Challa, Nebula, Miss Foster, and little Lila were in the back. They were quite the large group, stumbling around in the little shade from the boiling sun. Their last stop would have to be in the hottest place. They couldn't just stay in the autumn woods or even the spring area. Stars, how he hated summer.

The voice of T'Challa right beside him shook him out of his thoughts. "Your friend, Nebula, told us this endeavor was your idea."

He glanced at the man who was still in his Black Panther uniform. "Well, sort of. I had a bit of a breakthrough and figured out you were all trapped here, but I'm not per say responsible for this search party. That was all the responsibility of the dear Captain."

T'Challa nodded, but said, "Still, I hate to wonder where we all would be without you."

Loki shrugged. "Someone would have figured it out. My role is not…is not that vital to the group." When T'Challa did not say anything for a minute or so, he turned to face him and saw the kindly king smiling at him. "What?"

"Your modesty is astounding," T'Challa told him, repeating what he had said sarcastically on the battle field. This time, however, there was no sarcasm in his tone, only deep and genuine respect.

Before he could say anything or think to say anything, Nebula came up beside him and added, "It's also slightly annoying. The things he should take credit for, he shrugs off like they are no big deal."

Loki turned to Nebula, remembering way he missed her feisty attitude. "Thank you, Nebula, I get the picture. Apparently you would prefer for me to gloat about all of my accomplishments." He smirked at her glare that said, that's not what I meant at all and you know it. "But speaking of slightly annoying, that reminds me. Sam?" The man wearing his winged jetpack glanced over his shoulder at the sound of his name. "I apologize for saying you were the annoying one."

"Really?" Sam asked, completely surprised.

Loki nodded. "Oh, yes. I spoke too soon. That title obviously belongs to Quill." Said man that he just named the most annoying, turned around only to scowl at him.

Scott rubbed his chin, pondering. "You really think that Star-Lord is the most annoying guy ever?"

Loki nodded again. "Yes, but don't worry. You are the runner up."

Scott was silent for two seconds before he realized that he should feel insulted. "Hey, that's not-"

A voice rang throughout the forest of smaller trees. "Is someone out there?"

The entire group, all fifteen of them, paused. Bucky glanced around the woods. "I know that voice."

Sam nodded, following Bucky's example. "Yeah, so do I. Rhodey! Is that you, man?"

There was three or four seconds of silence and then the tired sounding voice called, "Sam?" The voice was enough to confirm that it was in fact Rhodey, but then the man came into view about ten feet away. Rhodey was a sweaty mess. His gray shirt was practically drenched in perspiration. Sam was the first one to start running towards his friend, followed by the other members of the Avengers. Everyone else made their way more slowly over. Rhodey stood in the shade of apple tree watching the large group of people coming towards him. "Wow. Been busy much?" he asked no one in general.

"Bit of an understatement," Wanda said stepping over to the exhausted looking man. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he nodded, breathlessly. "It's a little hot out."

Loki scoffed, "Now that is the true understatement."

"Where's the obnoxious arrow man?" Nebula asked Rhodey.

"Clint should be coming along. He was behind me but he has to keep his two kids with him so-"

"My brothers are okay!" Lila exclaimed happily.

Gamora smiled down at the girl. "It would appear so, sweetie."

Rhodey pointed at the girl, realizing who she was. "Ah, you must be Lila. Your dad will be so happy to see that you're okay." The tired man glanced around at the group again, appearing a bit out of sorts. But then again the heat could do that to a person.

"Excuse me," Miss Foster started, "I don't mean to interrupt, but is that a walking tree?" She pointed behind Rhodey. And sure enough, they all saw the small outline a free roaming tree. Not just any tree though.

"Oh, yeah," Rhodey said wiping his forehead. "Almost forgot about him."

As the short human shaped creature came closer into view, the Guardians all looked relieved. Quill smiled and shouted out, "Hey! Groot!"

Groot's eyes widened when he saw his friends. "I am Groot?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, man! It's us!" Quill shouted with his arms spread open, looking almost as happy as he did when he was reunited with Gamora. Groot blinked a few times and then with a smile ran over to the Guardians. He was met with not only with Quill's open arms, but all of the Guardians' open arms. It was an odd but still touching group hug. The single oddest and most touching part was how Groot grew his limb arms to hug all the Guardians.

Everyone was so transfixed with the reunion of this strange group of people, that nobody heard Barton come up to where Rhodey was standing in the shade. "What in the world?" he barely mumbled.

Rhodey spun to face the archer, startled. He hadn't heard him either. "Clint."

With that one word, little Lila turned her gaze from the Guardians to her father. "Daddy!" she exclaimed and she ran from where she had been standing with Miss Foster and Peter. Lila's reaction was enough to tear some of the group's attentions from the Guardians to Barton, who had his bow in one hand, a cute little two year old boy in the other, and another boy who was about nine next to him.

Barton looked like the happiest man on the planet as he knelt down and hugged his daughter. "Oh my God! Lila! Well, hello…it's so good to see you."

Between the two heartfelt reunions, everyone was content with just watching. Peter had a small smile on his face and he whispered, "Seriously, the sweetness will not stop today."

Groot seemed to realize for the first time that there was other people around him. He glanced at everyone, recognizing the ones who were on the battlefield in Wakanda, and he slowly brought back his elongated arms. "I am Groot?" he asked, sounding curious.

"What did he say?" Miss Foster asked.

"That's his way of speaking," Mantis told her, still in a tangle of tree limbs.

"Yeah," Quill said, "and he asked who all you guys are. They're the Avengers… Well, except for Mr. Green Jeans, apparently."

"He should be though!" little Lila exclaimed, getting into their conversation. "He healed my broken leg!"

Barton's head jerked upward in surprise. He glanced at his happy daughter and then his gaze slowly turned to Loki. He appeared shocked. "You…you healed her leg?"

"Yes?" Loki said, and for some reason it came out as a question.

"Well…uh, I…" Barton turned his head slightly and saw that Rhodey was giving him a, I told you so, look. "Yes, Rhodey I deserve that look." He stood up and faced Loki head on. "I guess I should say thank you… Thank you."

"Of course," Loki said with a nod.

"Right," Barton said nodding as well. He glanced down at the ground. "Well…right. Um, good, okay… Everyone happy? I'm trying to be civil."

"Oh, I am happy," Wanda said with a big smile.

"I'd be happier if we enacted the spell to get us back to Earth," Strange mumbled to himself. Loki sighed.

Hint dropping is not his forte.

Barton eyed the wizard doctor, probably recognizing the style of robes that he wore that were so similar to Wong's. "We haven't officially met yet. I'm Clint Barton."

"Yes, I know. I'm Dr. Strange and forgive me for the brush off but it is imperative that we leave. Now."

"We can't leave yet," Scott said, sounding a little worried. "I promised Hope I would find her parents."

"Hope?" Miss Foster asked.

"A feisty woman with slightly poor taste in men," Loki told her.

"The point is…" Scott suddenly stopped and turned to face the trickster god. "I just got what you said and it was not cool!"

Strange sighed, "Mr. Lang, I realize that you wish to keep your promise to Hope but all I'm saying is that we should all go back and regroup. I mean, look at the size of our group. We're growing by the minute."

Loki couldn't help but stare at the Doctor. This entire time, Strange had been hiding something and not telling everyone what he knew. But this was different. This wasn't a half truth, it was a deliberate lie. Loki could tell the difference between sincerity and deceptiveness. "All I'm saying is that we should all go back and regroup." Strange didn't really believe that.

Gamora nodded in agreement of what Strange had said. "Yes. Besides with the kids and Groot, I think it's best if we leave this place even if only for a while."

"I am Groot!" Groot exclaimed.

"Now what did he say?" Bucky asked.

Quill answered, "He wanted to know why Gamora piled him in with the group of kids. And the answer is, because you are a kid yourself, dude."

By now, Groot's arms were back to normal size and he crossed them over his chest. He defiantly said, "I am Groot."

"Yes, you are too a kid," Quill retorted back.

Peter walked over to Groot and said, "I know exactly how you feel, man."

Loki glanced at the group around him and saw that they all seemed to have slightly agreed to Strange's plan of leaving. Loki sighed. Before the group got diverged into one of their epic and time consuming conversations, he figured he should say something. "I guess, if everyone is in agreement about leaving, then I…I should enact the spell."

"Allow me," Strange said stepping up to him. "You have used up an awful lot of your energy in the past couple days. I would hate for you to reach your limit." Loki smirked, not believing him. "What?"

Loki half chuckled and conjured up Wong's book. "Here," he handed it to Strange with the page turned to the page with the spell. "You should be able to work it out. You are mildly talented."

"Mildly?" Strange asked, almost offended. He took the book and read through the spell. "Yes, I can work this out." Loki continued to eye the Doctor. "What?" Strange asked, annoyed.

"Just a word of advice, Doctor. Very few people are able to deceive me. You are not one of them. So, if you are not going to tell us the whole story, fine. I won't be suspicious of you because I know how it feels but please do not insult me with your feeble attempts at lying."

Strange didn't say a word about what Loki had said and instead told the group, "Everyone stand together. You also might want to shut your eyes because it's going to get bright." The Guardians, half of the Avengers along with Barton's charming looking children, Miss Foster, Nebula, and Loki all stood together as Strange placed the book on the ground. He then started to enact the spell in the same way that Loki had done, two days before. He rose his hands into the air and twisted them around, conjuring up a faint glow. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the glow until a light orange burst of magic began to encircle the group.

"Whoa," Peter mumbled with wide eyes.

"It will be good to get back home," T'Challa said to himself.

Gamora having heard him and said, "Thank God for Strange then. He knew exactly where to find you."

Loki shrugged. "I still say it was a little too convenient." Wanda hit his arm. "What?" She rolled her eyes at him. Strange slowly brought his hands down to his sides, and as he did so the shimmering and bouncing magic became brighter and brighter, until it was almost white and blinding. And then they left the mysterious Soul World behind.

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Author's Note Again: You'll have to tell me, was that any good? I know I ask this a lot but this time I really mean it. I have been working on this chapter for like ever and I was so sick of it for a while and then and then and then… and now, I don't know. You'll just have to tell me if you like it or not.

So…it's been a while since I did this.

Again I am so sorry that it took this long to update. I didn't expect it to be this long. I don't want to make excuses but, well, let's face it, I am. School has been busy and hectic, but I am happy to report mostly As and Bs in all my classes. I was sick with a cold for about a week. My birthday is tomorrow so I have been planning that. So…yeah. I guess that's all on the excuses.

I hope, I really, really hope to get the next chapter out a whole heck of a lot sooner than I did this one. I am really looking forward to next chapter. It's going to be another rollercoaster of events, leading us into the next section of the story. (And I know I have Clint being civil, but don't bet that that is going to last very long.) Let's just say that we finally get to see what Howard wrote to Tony and everything about Loki's past finally comes to light.

I know. I got you all excited! I'm so mean! (Seriously, sorry…)

Well, I guess that's all for now. And I am assuming that everyone already saw the Captain Marvel trailer and there's no need to ask? Okay. Cool. Thank you to all of my reviewers, favoriters, followers, and readers. Thank you for always making writing a joy. Have a lovely day!