Don't own Marvel...

"And I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd.

You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud"

~It's My Life by Bon Jovi

~Veronica~

Rose. Rose was gone. Rose. My baby. Rose was with that monster… soon to be with another monster ten times worse: her own father.

I kicked a crate in my anger and desperation. I let out a scream and felt the familiar tingle of static form around my fingertips. I took a deep breath as I turned around to see Bobby and Logan standing in front of Xavier.

I walked straight up to Xavier, grabbing fistfuls of his lapel and looking him dead in the eye. "Where is Magneto's base?"

I felt Logan try to pry me off of the professor, but I shook him off. I gave the old man a gruff shake when he didn't respond. "Tell me. Now. There isn't much time."

This time Logan succeeded in getting me off of Charles. "Tell me!" I screamed. "She's all I have left!"

Only after I spoke did I realize the truth in my words. Rose really was all I had left. The rest of the Avengers were missing, Loki had gone crazy again, and all I had was this tiny little girl that had been kidnapped right out from under my nose. I struggled against Logan, and he let me go.

I knocked my bangs from my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest, refusing to let tears come.

"If Loki has Rose… It is only a matter of time before mankind falls completely, Charles," I said quietly. I wasn't sure how I knew this, maybe it was the fact that she was so powerful… and Loki could tell her anything. She was so… impressionable… "I have to find her."

Charles hadn't spoken a word until now. "I understand, Miss Parker, but an attempt to infiltrate Loki's headquarters would be suicidal."

"I don't care."

He shook his head. "I cannot offer my assistance on this matter. We are not ready for full-fledged uprising. "

"I need her, Charles." I sobbed after that, really embarrassing myself. Bobby threw an arm over my shoulder, awkwardly trying to console me.

ooOOoo

The next few hours I spent sitting in my room, staring at the wall. My mind reeled with what I could possibly do. Things were so far out of my reach. God knew where Rose was.

And here I was sitting, tearstained and puffy eyed, at a complete loss of what to do… until I felt an extreme bout of energy crash over me like a freight train.

I got up quickly, running out to the control room. Scot was at the computers, typing frantically as he attempted to figure out what was going on. "We got massive readings of electrical impulses coming in from the northern segment," Scot said quickly. "We think it's part of an Einstein-Rosenbridge."

That could only mean one thing. Thor had to be close. Very close.

I raced out of the bunker and into open air, not even bothering to cover my bare toes with boots as I stepped out into bare snow. I looked left, then right as I noticed a hulking figure staggering towards me from the snow, hammer raised as if to attack, but propped by a smaller figure.

"Thor!" I shouted as he attempted to charge at me. He stopped short several feet away from me.

"It is not you!" he said. "This is a trick. Do not test me, brother, for I am running short of patience today." He was struggling for breath. I could tell by his voice.

"Thor. It's me, Veronica," I said it slowly to prove my point. "How did you get here?"

The smaller figure cocked its head to the side as it considered what to say. Jane's voice was what drifted through the snow. "What was the first theory you helped me solve in Astrophysics?

The question caught me off then I realized she was making sure it was me. Only I would know the answer to that. When I answered Jane and Thor eased off a bit. "How are you here?" Jane asked. Thor looked really, really bad. I tried not to stare at the deep gash in his side.

I explained to them about Rose's powers and how we had gotten here. I started crying when I got to Rose's kidnapping. Thor's defensive gaze softened as he lowered his hammer completely. "Veronica," he said. "I am truly sorry. I can promise you that my brother will pay." He grimaced as his arm extended all the way to his side. The two had come right up to me now.

I wiped my nose with the back of my sleeve. "Where are the others? What's been going on?"

"Tasha, Clint, Coulson, and Captain Rogers are in hiding back in North America. The SHIELD agent Carter McIntyre is with them as well. We have been recruiting for a rebellion."

I swallowed as I tried to smile. That fact did make me happy. Some of the original Avengers were still alive.

"But, Veronica, something went wrong with evacuations. Tony, Director Fury, and Doctor Banner did not make it out. We believe they were captured." My knees went weak. Well, what was I to expect? Of course there were bound to be casualties.

"How did you get here?"

"Heimdall opened the bifrost for me to seek an audience with my father. We believe that the armies of Asgard- if my father is willing- will be the key factor in the defeat of my brother and the Magneto. I seeked an audience with the All-father just moments ago. He has agreed to bring forth an army, but what he needs is time. So instead of going back to America, I attempted to come to Sir Xavier's school. I… this does not appear to be much of a school." Thor wavered as he fell face first in the snow.

"What in hell happened to him?" I asked Jane as the two of us lifted him up and walked him toward the old shack.

Jane looked extremely worried. "We had a run-in with some mutants before we found you. One of them injured him. Where are we going?"

"Let me show you."

Perhaps I was stupid. This could very well be Loki in disguise. But would Heimdall aid Loki in opening the Bifrost? I highly doubted it. And I knew I hadn't imagined the powers I felt coming over me in my room. That was bifrost energy.

I explained to Jane about the hidden bunker, something that impressed even her greatly. Scot gave the three of us a strange look when Thor's armor set off the metal detector security device, but other than that, we were fine.

Doctors rushed around us, getting Thor on a gurney and wheeling the unconscious god into the operating room. Apparently a mutant had gotten to him with claws very similar to Wolverine's. Not a bone in my body doubted it was Victor. I shuddered as I remembered the long fingernails that had almost take my life.

"He'll be alright," I comforted Jane.

"He'd better be," she said through her tears. Then, after a bout of awkward silence, "He's going to be a father."

I ddi a double-take after what Jane said sunk in."What." I said it monotonously.

Jane gave me sheepish smile through her tears. "It's still really early yet, but… that's how I was able to get through the bifrost. Apparently the child protects me."

That sounded too familiar. I bit my lip to suppress the pain that threatened to surface. "Congratulations," I said.

-Loki-

Loki stood waiting for his child to come off of the helicopter. Mystique sauntered out, towing the little girl by her wrist.

Cool wind ripped at his hair, nose, and cheekbones and he suppressed a smirk as he watched the helpless thing before him. "Hello, Princess," he called.

Rose's eyes went wide as she took in the towering structure before her. Her gaze changed to fear when she saw her father. That bothered Loki slightly, but it did not stop him from walking up to her and bending down in front of her to make eye contact. He caught a stray hair from her face.

"Gods, you look like your mother, my princess," he whispered to her.

She was fighting tears. "I want mommy," she whimpered.

Loki rose to his full height. "I know. I want her to be with us as well. What do you say we find a way to bring her here!" His voice was only mocking a childish enthusiasm… and Rose seemed to see right through it.

"She wouldn't like that," Rose said quietly. She wiped snot from her little nose as she gazed back up at him. Loki exhaled in irritation. She was proving to be just as stubborn as her mother and he had been with her for a whole two minutes.

~Veronica~

Thor didn't get better. In fact, he got worse. Within a matter of days the gash that extended from his rib cage to his bellybutton had grown infected. Something by way of magic had poisoned him… and I knew exactly who had concocted it. I could imagine Victor dipping those awful fingernail claws into a vat of poison before an attack.

Jane was beside herself. Even math couldn't take her mind off of Thor… and the X-men were in desperate need of her services.

I sat outside the glass window that showed Thor's room, taking in the tragic scene of Jane sitting by his bedside, his hand in hers.

He had been unconscious since he had come out of the operation to stich him up. I knew what we needed to do. we needed to find Victor and make him tell about the poison that had been used. That was the way to save Thor's life… and it required taking a team into enemy territory to do it.

I turned around to see Logan, leaning against the door jam at the end of the hospital wing. His arms were crossed. "You see now why I wanted to kill him," he stated simply.

I walked up to him, arms crossed. "I understand why, but-"

"He was going to kill you, you realize that, right? He probably had that same stuff on him when he had you."

I showed Logan the fading scar that Victor had given me. It stretched from my right ear to the middle of the right side of my neck. "It barely broke the skin, but the poison that he used would have been strong enough to harm me if that was what he had. That poison was meant for Thor."

Logan let out a huff. "What do you propose we do?"

I bit my lip, wrapping my arms tighter around myself. "We find Victor."

ooOOoo

Once again, I was out in the woods with Wolverine. It was dark this time though… and I was scared out of my wits. I hated the dark. I never knew what was behind me or what could see me without me knowing about it.

We were heading back to the same village that we had seen Victor in last. That was our best bet.

We hadn't let anyone else know about our plans for the sake of secrecy. Plus it just seemed easier to go with two people. Charles- if I knew him- would want us to take a detail of men. When chasing a mutant like Victor… let's just say two was better than a large group.

I pulled my leather jacket around myself, shivering from the cold. I kept my sense alert, tensing at every sound.

When we reached the square, no one was outside. In this situation, that was their best bet to survival. But then we heard a crash in one of the alleys. We spun, Logan's claws elongating from his knuckles, the squishy sound of his flesh ripping sending chills up my spine.

Victor appeared from where we turned, a smile plaster on his face… only this time, he wasn't alone. To my right, three mutants stepped from the shadows, forming a circle around Logan and me. One of them had a flame dancing around in his hand, illuminating the smirk on his face. A few hybrids showed up as well, long pink tongues flicking out like a frog's.

"Logan," I said.

"I know," he replied. He had a lethal look on his face, brows furrowed in concentration.

I looked back at Victor, summoning as much energy as I could from the atmosphere. This was going to the most exercise I had had in months…

The battle lasted for a whole ten minutes. I dodged and kicked, zapped as many people as I could. Logan slashed one of the three mutant's throat open in one swipe of his claws on his way to Victor. Victor seemed to be content to stand off to the side and watch as the battle unfolded. A hell hound leaped onto Logan, and I zapped it before it could get its tongue near him. The thing fell over, dead. Apparently whatever Magneto and Loki had done to clone it had harmed its resilience factor. Which was good news for us, at least.

I leaped in the air, landing in a tuck and roll as one came at me. There were only a few left, and I dpdged several flame balls that the mutant with the fire slung at me. Something in my brain registered that this was too easy. These things were merely humoring us.

I saw Logan make it to Victor, elbowing the mutant in the nose. The two brothers began to spar, Logan gaining and keeping the upper hand. He was fueled by his rage towards his brother. That was what was making him strong.

Whatever Victor had done to him, I was sure I didn't want to make the same mistake. Logan was fricking scary when he was pissed off.

I ducked under a fireball that the fire-maker had sent my way, bringing my hands into a spherical motion and thrusting all my powers at the mutant. The boy flew through the air, landed against the wooden side of the building, and collapsed to the ground. he didn't get up.

When I turned back around to see Logan, he had pinned Victor to the ground. I grabbed a sedative from my belt and plunged it straight into Victor's leg. Immediately, the muscle relaxers took affect and the monster stopped thrashing.

"This won't keep him for long. His system is like mine and will burn the chemicals off within the hour. We need to get him contained." Logan spoke quickly as he hoisted Victor over his shoulder to carry him.

I nodded. But an old, grandfatherly voice stopped me in my tracks. "Tsk, tsk, Making trouble in the town square at this time of night? Mrs. Laufeyson, your husband would be ashamed."

I made contact with Logan, telling him to get the hell out of here before I spun on my heel to face Magneto.

AN: So? What did yall think? Was it fast-paced enough? Did it work out okay? Was it terrible? I NEED to know! Once again, I am headed into another rough week, so I can't promise on the frequency of my updates, but I will do my absolute best to get another up soon.

Thanks, guys. I love you all so much. The support I have received has been phenomenal and I only hope I can keep giving the right kind of writing to you!

Please, Please, please, tell me what you think!

~Sirius