Don't own Marvel... or Carter McIntyre

"Should I let you fall? Lose it all?

So maybe you can remember yourself?"

~Sober by Evanescence

-Loki-

Several hours after SHIELD had fallen in England, Loki found himself standing in Magneto's office. The old man had wanted to have a meeting with him in private. The European front had fallen far more quickly than the two had anticipated. North America would soon be in their sights.

Magneto's eyes shining with the victory the two had gained. Loki had never imagined that this day would come so quickly.

"I must say I am very impressed, Erik," Loki said as he sat down in front of the old man's desk.

Erik nodded. "As am I, Mr. Laufeyson. With these countries under our power now, the rest of Europe will have no choice but to surrender." Loki nodded. "But-" Magneto began after a moment's pause. "There will be the issue of the remaining humans."

Loki crossed his legs as he looked Magneto dead in the eye. "I highly doubt it. Fear is a powerful ally."

Magneto pursed his lips- that was the only way Loki could describe it. "I am not satisfied with mere 'fear', Mr. Laufeyson."

Loki crinkled his brow in an attempt to understand what Erik was hinting at. Loki would have been happy with a continent of subservient humans, finally in their rightful place. To him, that would be more than enough.

"I am talking about revenge for what the human race has done to me," Erik said, his tone lethal and quiet.

Loki shrugged. "And what did you have in mind?"

Magneto drummed his fingers on the metal desk before he got up swiftly. "You remember the machine I showed you?"

Loki nodded. Of course he remembered it. It had impressed him highly.

"Well, as I told you, that machine has the ability to change mere humans from normal to mutants in mere seconds."

Loki nodded. He knew all of this.

"But I find myself in a dilemma. The power source is a very rare thing to come by."

Loki spoke up. "I can summon or create any materials you need. Just tell me."

Magneto looked as though he may laugh. "The power source, Mr. Laufeyson, is not an inanimate object, but a mutant." Magneto had sat back down now, steepling his fingers and looking over the tops of them at Loki. "An extremely powerful mutant must be in contact with its surfaces- primarily the railing you were standing at earlier- in order to emit the radiation."

An extremely powerful mutant? What was this man playing at?

"How powerful?" Loki asked quietly.

Magneto let out a deep breath before he answered. "Ahh. It would take great power indeed. The mutant would have to be exceedingly gifted with a strong familial mutant background."

Loki knew what Magneto was going to say before the words were out of his mouth.

"Someone like your daughter, Mr. Laufeyson."

~Veronica~

I was in my room now, preparing for battle. Apparently, Fury was dispatching a team to head out and attempt to stop Magneto and Loki from overtaking Europe. That same team also was supposed to follow Storm and Scot back to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

I was not on that team.

The team that was going consisted of Steve, Thor, and Natasha. I was to remain here with Rose alongside Thor, Barton, and Bruce in an attempt to hold down the fort and guard Mystique. We didn't have any idea when Magneto would break in on our home turf, and we needed to be somewhat prepared. Quite frankly, I saw no point in heading directly into enemy territory to check on a school. Surely it was overrun by now. What was the point in sending some of our best into the thicket? But Fury had made up his mind. I was not going to argue.

Rose watched me get ready with an intense gaze as she sat cross legged on the couch. Her dark hair brushed the tip of her collar and she constantly pushed it out of her eyes. Sitting there looking at me, she looked like she was five.

I slipped my boots on, sliding the old boot knife I owned into the side. The cold metal of my silver pistols heightened my senses as I loaded them. This was for real. I had thought I was done going into battles when I had married Loki. I hadn't known at the time that that would be the cause of my biggest battle yet.

Rose blinked once as she took in my new outfit. She had never seen me like this and it had to be weird for her. Coulson was supposed to be picking her up soon to transport her to a safehouse until we could sort this out. I wasn't interested in losing her to Loki's cause.

I shuddered to think that all it would take for him to get to her would be a flick of his wrist, a teleportation in and out, and she would be gone. At such a young age, he could tell her anything he wanted her to believe. I shook that idea from my thoughts as I turned to shrug into my jacket.

ooOOoo

"Be safe," I said as I gave Steve a hug bye. He nodded.

"Will do. Hopefully we can squash this uprising before things get too much worse." I nodded solemnly. Both of us knew things most definitely could NOT get any worse. A few minutes ago, SHIELD had gotten word that France had completely surrendered to the mutant army. Germany wasn't looking much better.

I would have said bye to Thor, but he and Jane were too, erm, busy. Let's just say I tried to keep my gaze away from the couple as they made their final goodbyes. Tasha brushed past me, not saying a word.

"Bye, Tasha. Be careful," I said quietly. She turned around, swinging her hair out of her eyes.

"You too, V," she said to me after deliberating for a moment. I saw a smile play around her lips before she boarded the plane behind Steve. Thor and Jane had pulled from each other's grasp now, and I saw Thor trudge solemnly up to the plane.

He laid a hand on my shoulder before he boarded. "Protect your powers. Do not give into him," he said quietly. No one else could hear us. "He is beyond help now." I bit my lip.

I knew this had to be hard for Thor too. I had forgotten that while I had lost a husband to Magneto, he had lost a brother for the second time.

Before I could respond, Thor had patted me on the head and boarded the plane.

I turned to Jane who was now being consoled by McIntyre. I could tell the young scientist was trying hard not to cry. She didn't know if she would ever see him again, or the rest of the team for that matter. The X-men had gone with them to take back the school.

"It'll be alright, Jane," Carter said. "He'll be back before you know it."

Jane just sniffled. We cleared the runway for the plane to take off after that, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek before she caught me looking and turned away.

ooOOoo

Back at SHIELD, I sat waiting with Rose for Coulson. I braided her hair to keep the shoulder length strands from landing in her eyes during the move.

"Mommy," she said. "Coulson coming soon?"

I smiled sadly as I nodded. "He is, sweetheart. He's gonna take you somewhere safe until we can get this mess sorted out."

Rose's mouth twisted with confusion. "You no come?"

I tucked a stray lock of her hair into the braid. "No, sweetie. Not this time. But I will see you soon."

She nodded solemnly. That was all she ever did anymore. Her only mood was a quiet understanding. I hated that she had to grow up in this type of environment. Jane walked into the room, red-eyed and puffy faced.

"hey, Jane," I said as I secured Rose's braid and she took off to her toys. Jane waved at me as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I just… I can't lose him again," she said pathetically.

I patted her on the back. "He'll come back, Jane. He will. You'll see." I realized I was consoling myself just as much as I was her.

She buried her face in her hands. "God. I'm so sorry, Veronica. I feel so pathetic right now. I hate it."

"I know what you mean," I said softly.

"Veronica?" she began her next statement, but she was soon cut off by a deafening siren that sent Rose running back to me, a Barbie doll in her hand. The power blinked out and a red emergency light took its place.

In a matter of seconds after, an explosion shook the entire building.

I grabbed Rose and shielded her from the dust that came loose from the ceiling. She let out a little cry. Jane had grabbed a pistol from the weapons table and was loading it already. Wow. Way to come back, Jane.

I readied my own pistol as I inched towards the door. Another boom shook the lower levels of the tower.

"Stay close, Rosie," I said as I took her hand in my own. She toddled after me and Jane brought up the rear. "We need to get to Fury and the others," I said to Jane. She nodded, eyes wide with fear. I tried desperately to stuff my own down deep into my brain. I couldn't afford to be afraid right now.

We inched down the hall to the communications room. I buzzed Fury, Hawkeye, and Tony. Bruce was already in the meeting room by the looks of the map along with Coulson. "We need to get there," I said, indicating the meeting room.

We inched farther down the hall, ears pricked for any sound. Another boom shook the lower levels. We reached the meeting room, and were relieved to find the others already there. The red-lights cast everyone in an eerie glow and I struggled to keep the memories of Oberon pursuing me through these very hallways at bay.

"We need a plan of action. Now," Fury said quickly. "What happened in Europe is happening now. The Brotherhood have infiltrated the premises. We have them locked in the lower levels for now, but it won't keep for long. They Cannot Take This Tower." He annunciated each word with care, as if to add onto the emphasis of how important it was we didn't fall. I think we all got it, even without the affect.

Hawkeye piped up. "I'll get to a sniper point. We need to get the little one out before anything else." He nodded to Rose.

Fury nodded. "Agreed, Barton. Coulson? Get Rose out of here to safety stat. Miss Foster, you'll need to go with them too." Jane looked as though she were going to protest, but bit her tongue when Fury gave her the eyeball. "As for you, Parker, get to the higher levels and see what you can do with the electricity. If you can get it up and running the security system will kick back in and at least hinder this mob. Stark? You're coming with me. I need someone to upset Doctor Banner."

"I'm touched that you thought of me," Stark said sarcastically as he reached for the glove that contained his suit. The communicators were passed around and I secured mine into my ear.

"You two will take the frontlines," Fury said as he spoke to Bruce and Tony. " Permission to kill hostiles is granted. They cannot get to Mystique. Is that clear?"

Tony gave a little half-hearted salute. Jane and Rose were escorted out by Coulson. Rose reached for me, not understanding completely, but she was out of sight before I knew much else.

Tony and Fury took off, with Bruce in trail. Taking a deep breath, I loaded my pistol and followed them. I broke off from the group to head to the top level when they went down and I went up.

I reached the top of the stairs, out of breath. I lunged down the hall to the security mother board. Before I could reach the keys, however, I felt a cool breeze tossle my hair and a chilling voice say my name.

I kept moving, rounding a corner… and stopping dead when I saw him standing at the end of the hallway, a smirk on that terrifyingly beautiful face and arms crossed triumphantly. He was spinning the key to the control room on his right index finger.

He was right next to me in a matter of seconds. Had he always been that fast? I felt his cool breath brush my shoulders, and I brushed past him, snatching the keys from the lazy position he had had them in and running for the door.

Before I could get more than three steps away, however, he grabbed my shoulder.

"Freeze," that was all he said, his hand on my shoulder, and my feet became part of the floor. My breathing quickened as he walked up to me. that was all he had said, yet his eyes made me afraid. Would he hurt me? I struggled a bit more to free myself. I heard him chuckle as he came around to face me. "You have obviously not experienced my full power, Love."

My heart beat violently against my chest as his cool finger traced my jaw. But what I saw next threatened to stop my heart in its tracks.

Because over Loki's shoulder, I could easily make out the image of my daughter, standing in the doorway, fear stamped all over her little face.

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