AN: Inspiration for this chapter brought to you by "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele. ;) Okay. I'm done being silly now. But seriously. It's a good song for this chapter.

Stark looked at me, then followed my gaze to where Loki stood. "You sure about this, Sunshine?"

I nodded. "It's the only way." I didn't have to say a word. Stark knew what I was planning.

"Sure thing." He kicked one of Loki's men out of the way and ran at me. I felt the metal of his suit latch around my waist and then we were flying through the air.

He dodged blasts and almost dropped me a couple of times. I held on for dear life. It struck me that Steve would probably be mad at me for not consulting him first, but I didn't dwell on it.

As we neared the hovercraft a particularly nasty blast shook Tony off course and his suit's jetpacks began to fail. Just a little farther and he could throw me onto the ledge of the ship. He lunged forward in midair and slung me at the ship before he went spiraling out of control and landed on the pavement twenty feet below.

I grabbed onto the edge, hoisting myself up and over it. Loki's back was to me. He was preparing to press the launch button when I grabbed a knife from my cuff and slung it at him. It caught the sleeve of his armor, stopping his hand in its tracks. He looked down at it and smirked.

"Feeling better, are we, Veronica?" he said without looking back at me. Just the sight of him made my knees go weak with what I was about to do. He turned his blue-green gaze to me. "I would say so."

"Loki. Please. Just stop. You're making a grave mistake."

He turned to me and let out a crazed laugh. "How? By purging this world of weakness?" he stepped closer to me. "Come now, Veronica. You know what I am doing makes sense. You say this is madness, but there be a method to it," he said, quoting Hamlet once again.

He turned back to the launch pad. "Loki!" I yelled. I stepped forward and brought my knife to his back. He stiffened, then let out another laugh.

"Would you really do that, Love?" he whispered. I could barely make his voice out above the noise. "After all we have been through?"

I faltered and he took the chance to turn around and knock the blade from my hand. He twisted my wrist at a painful angle. I let out a yelp as my upper body jerked to the side he had twisted my wrist to. "I have offered you so much," he said. "The least you could do is stay out of my way." He applied more pressure to my wrist. I let out a scream. I couldn't help it.

"Agghhh!"

"Do try to understand my side of things, My Love. It will get you far in my new world."

He released his grip on my arm and I stepped towards him, punching him squarely in the jaw. "Stop talking and FIGHT ME!" I yelled.

He smirked. "I will not hurt you, Veronica."

I hit him again. I had to hate him. I had to do my job.

Either he decided to fight back or he was just appeasing me.

He blocked my third blow and slung me to the side. I sprang back up and blocked his counterattack, ducking as his fist came at me. This was good. I needed things to be clean cut. When we were fighting he was the enemy.

We collided again and I cut his left cheek with a tiny blade. He swiped at me with his staff, but I jumped over it and landed in a tuck and roll behind him. I was on my feet in a matter of seconds, ready to come at him again.

He made to hit me in the gut, but faked me out and brought his staff crashing down on my head. I fell to the ground in a daze and he walked over to the launch pad.

This time he pressed the button. I could feel the energy of the bombs start up. On the panel next to them, there was a digital timer, counting down one minute until launch. I was too late.

Then an idea hit me. It was terrible, but it was what I had to do. I stood up, blinking stars out of my eyes.

I ran at Loki, throwing myself into his arms.

I looked into his eyes. His beautiful blue-green eyes, knowing this would be the last time I would do so.

I planted a hungry kiss on his lips. This was the first time I had ever instigated a kiss from him. He had always been the one to kiss me.

He was completely taken aback by my actions. I fought back tears as I gathered up all of the energy from the bombs into a ball.

I pulled away and brought my hand to his chest, just over his heart. And then I uttered the three words I had sworn I never would say to him.

"I love you," I said quietly. His eyes lit up as he realized what I had said.

Then I channeled the energy from the bombs directly into his heart. His body jerked violently before he dropped to the ground.

I choked back a sob. I looked over at the bombs. The panel indicated that they were disengaged. The energy that had resided in them had stopped Loki's heart.

I crouched next to him, checking his pulse. Nothing. At least nothing I could detect. I brushed a stray hair from his pale face.

"Veronica?" I heard a voice from behind me. It was Thor.

I turned around, not even trying to hide my tear-stained face. "It's done," I said bitterly. Thor nodded and then opened his arms, holding them out to me. I ran into them, letting him comfort me for at least a little while. He had finally forgiven me.

I should have been happy. The bombs were gone. The Avengers had won. But an empty space filled my chest where Loki had resided.

Thor led me down from the hovercraft. Tony was just starting to recover from the fall he had suffered. The armor had protected him from any crucial damage. Hawkeye and the others were safe too.

I didn't realize- and wouldn't until later- that Loki's heart was still beating and he was taking in shallow breaths as i walked away.

Two Weeks Later

I walked down the halls of SHIELD headquarters. A bouquet of white flowers was clutched in one hand while a small piece of cream colored paper was in the other. I was dressed in blue jeans and a white collared shirt. My hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

I entered the elevator that would take me to the hospital level.

I flashed my badge at the nurse station and made my way to the hospital room at the very end of the hall.

As I cracked the door open, I realized the room was dark. Like a morgue.

I walked over to the bedside and sat down next to it. I clicked on the light by the bed and looked down at Loki. He was peaceful. In sleep he wasn't the deranged psychopath hell-bent on taking over the world. He was the man I loved.

The heart monitor on the wall indicated a healthy, though slower than average, heart rate.

I looked into his face, remembering SHIELD agents picking him up and bringing him back to headquarters as a favor to Steve. I knew that Steve had only done it for my and Thor's benefit.

Against all odds, the doctors at SHIELD had saved Loki. However, he had been in a coma since I had sent that burst of energy through him. I set the flowers I had brought on the bedside table and laid the note next to it. It was a quote from Hamlet:

"Doubt thou the stars are fire;

Doubt that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love."

I found the quote sadly appropriate. After all, he had left me notes in my sleep before. It was only suiting that I should return the favor.

I stroked his face gently, wishing to see his blue-green gaze once more. The heart monitor was the only source of noise in the room.

"SHIELD's sending me out to California for a while," I said quietly. "I'll be able to do all sorts of research." It was true. I was supposed to leave in an hour, but I couldn't bring myself to leave Loki without telling him I was leaving. Even if he wasn't conscious.

I reached down for his hand, holding it in both of mine. I kissed it.

"Be safe," I said standing up. I bent over and kissed his forehead delicately. "They'll take care of you."

I turned away and walked out the door. Tony was waiting for me outside the hospital wing. He was to go with me out to California. "You ready, Sunshine?" he asked me as he held the door open for me.

I gave him a soft smile. "Yeah. I'm ready."

I would move out to California and I would be the best astrophysicist I could be.

Loki had chosen his destiny, now it was time for me to follow mine.

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And there will be another chapter… so don't get mad at me yet ;)