Chapter 25

Raven woke up in a hole, a hole that showed the night sky illuminated with bright stars and a full moon. The air was cold and she felt weak and dizzy, her body was heavy and stiff. The wind blew sending a chill that transcended her clothes to her bones, a rousing breeze accompanied by the warmth of the earth. She moved to her side and her back ached, she had fallen down a hole, she remembered now, men were chasing her and they had hurt Loki. Bad men in dark brown clothes and olive skin. Had she gotten away? She wasn't in a cage and she heard no voices. She was alone so did that mean she got away? She rolled on her stomach, more pinches of pain, she pushed herself upright and her body yawned in protest. She remembered what Loki had said, what he told her to do if she was alone. She had to go to Asgard and find Thor.

I have to get out, she told herself, I have to get out. I have to get to Asgard and I won't find it if I'm in a hole. I have to keep going. She reached up for the sky, stretching for the open, for the edge of the hole digging her tiny nails in the hard earth. Whimpering through the aches she climbed out the hole rubbing her body along the rough dirt. She pulled herself out dragging herself on the ground, once her feet were clear of the hole she went limp panting on the ground causing dirt to blow into her face.

If you want to live, Marshall had told her, you have to fight for it. That's what the people on the Titanic did, they fought to live. If you want anything you have to fight for it, her Uncle Shane had said. Nothing worthwhile is just handed to you.

Fueled by the advice spoon fed to her since her mother had died Raven stood up wiping the dirt from her face. She wobbled and her feet felt weightless, she stumbled and swooned, her head fuzzy. Nothing looked the same, and it wasn't because it was night. The entire landscape had changed. The trees were in different places, they had different shapes, different colors, the grass was different. Everything was different. Completely different. She pulled out her flashlight from her bag, she brought it just in case. You never know what can happen on an adventure.

Nothing looked similar to the pretty forest Loki had shown her. The trees seemed straggly, twisted with pointy branches, the leaves on the bushes had dark and strange colors, there were no pretty fruits and berries or lush landscape. Everything was sinister, gothic, creepy.

She was not in Alfheim anymore. This she was certain of. So then where was she?

She glanced back at the hole, was it like those pipes in the super Mario games? If she jumped in would she go back to Alfheim? The pretty world with the scary mean. She wouldn't go back, she decided instantly, bad people were looking for her and she refused to walk into a trap. She had to go forward. She had to go forward. She had to go forward. To Asgard.

With her flashlight she ventured into the forest, bravely she walked into the cold night looking for somewhere to sleep. Somewhere that wasn't a hole, just in case it sent her somewhere else. Raven pulled up her hood hiding her face from the icy winds, if it got any colder she would be in trouble. Her teeth were beginning to chatter. It wasn't cold like winter, but it felt like autumn. Deep chills that wiggled under her clothes. The winds kept coming and at one point Raven had to huddle by a tree til it past. It was so cold it hurt.

She was not alone in the forest but she saw nothing except birds, and huge rats. The birds had huge, wide eyes that rarely blinked, some were owls others she had no idea what they were. The birds hooted and squawked, stalking her momentarily. Rats with beady eyes, jagged teeth, hissed and dashed off into the night. Raven heard other sounds too but she saw nothing. It made her search for shelter more urgently. Without shelter she was in deep trouble. It was the rule of the wild, no home, no safety. She also needed the warmth, that was very important. Being warm and safe.

As she crouched by a tree, a howl wailed through the air. She knew what it was the second it crashed through the atmosphere, she had heard it on the National Geographic Channel plenty of times.

"Wolves," she gasped.

Another howl sounded, it was loud like thunder making the ground below her tremble. Raven felt breathless, they were close, she was cornered by a wolf. She was half scared, half excited. She always wanted to see a wolf up close, she thought they were beautiful animals but like all wild animals you had to respect their space. The howl came behind the tree she was leaning against, she shined her flashlight in that direction, it sounded as if it was in pain. Was it calling for help?

Armed with lethal curiosity she followed the howl to a ledge, where below was a barren valley. Raven's gasp was stolen by the wind, warmth breath carted out her mouth that hung open at the sight her flashlight revealed. All pain and hunger faded, the cold and discomfort vanished, the urgency to get home not important, all that mattered was what resided below her feet. In the valley.

"Oh my God," she said as a howl raised from the bottom of the valley.

She knelt down and tried to see what her weak beam could not fully illuminate, she could see fur, four legs and a snout. All held down by rope. They trapped it. Whoever they were. Someone had trapped a poor wolf down there, nevermind it was a big wolf, a really big wolf. She couldn't just leave it there. But how to get down there? She flashed her light along the ledge when she saw the pile of boulders, that went up to the top to the bottom. She could climb down there, it didn't look too hard.

Turning off her flashlight, to save the batteries, she went over to the uneven ledge platform and cautiously climbed down backwards onto the first rock. She grabbed the ledge's edge and eased her body down until her feet hovered over the rock close enough so she could let go and land safely on her feet. She was a long way down from the bottom but she couldn't leave a hurt animal down there alone, all tied up. Raven opted to climb down forward rest of the way. She used the same technique, sliding down by her butt never loosing her paw-like grip until her feet were on the boulder or hovering over it. She did slip a few times but she didn't hurt herself although she did skin her knee. She refused to to sit and cry and pressed on. She was too close to give up.

"I'm coming," she called to the wolf. "Don't be scared I'm coming!"

Eventually she got there and she turned back on her flashlight, and to the wolf which seemed much bigger up close. The massive wolf was bigger than a horse maybe bigger than an elephant, it made her pause. Wolves were not supposed to be that big, no dog was that big not even a dire wolf. She was scared but then the beast whined and she wasn't afraid any more. It was hurt and scared, just like her. She approached the creature and rubbed it's gray fur, it barked and snapped but she knew that it was just as scared like she was.

"It's okay," she whispered, it's big yellow eye honed in on her, "I'll get you out."

The rope that bound the giant wolf were thick and rough, it went all around the poor wolf, under her belly, around her tail, across her snout, in her mouth, around her feet. It was painful just to see. Raven went into her pants pocket and pulled out her pocketknife. Flipping opened the blade, like Uncle Shane had taught her she began sawing at the rope. It was thick and hard but she didn't care. If she left now the wolf would starve or someone would come back and kill it.

Raven had been working on one rope until her arms burned from fatigue, the ropes were too strong. She thought about the pendant, Loki had said it was special and powerful. Maybe it could cut the rope and help the wolf? She rubbed it, pressing it wishing for her knife to become sharp, when she tried again the blade glowed blue and this time the rope snapped. By the time she finished sawing at the rope were fingers were sore and raw, but when the she-wolf broke free amazement was all she felt. There was a gush a wind when she rose, a rumble when she threw her head up and howled. Raven never ran she just gawked, then the wolf turned it's head to her. Without warning the wolf grabbed her by the scruff of her jacket tossing her into the air, just high enough so she would land on her back. Then she took off running.

There was no time to scream, protest or fight as it was impossible to see. All Raven could do was hang on for dear life she felt all the leaves hitting her as the she-wolf ran through the forest, seeing flickers of the dark sombre landscape and the hauntingly beautiful night sky. She only dared glance unless she felt no trees. When there was no trees she saw blurs of trees, but she felt so alive. It was like being on a roller-coaster and a mechanical bull. She was clinging onto the extra skin of the nape of her neck. The wind whipping through her, the speed, the adrenaline, it was the amazing.

The she-wolf came to a stop she had taken her to a cave. With a bump Raven slid off and the she-wolf once again grabbed her, this time by her fallen hoodie putting her her underbelly, like she was one of her puppies. She then began licking her, all over, her hands, her face, her hair, her clothes, her legs. Where she could reach, she licked. Once satisfied she curled swallowing Raven into her warmth, and with no fight she fell right to sleep.

It then struck her like whiplash, a giant wolf was cuddling with her, in a strange land far from home, in a cave. Raven snuggled into the reliving warmth but could not sleep, it wasn't her bed, there was no fuzzy toy to hold nor a Timber to hop on her bed panting on her feet. There was no Tony and Pepper downstairs. She allowed herself to cry for a moment when she thought about Tony, she missed him terribly and she worried for Loki, was he hurt? Did he get away? Where was he? So many questions buzzed around her head that it made her want to scream.

Something then caught her eye as she softly cried. In the cave the opening was tall and wide so the wolf could come and go easily without getting stuck, and because of it's size she saw something breathtaking.

It was the sky. In the city you hardly saw the stars unless you had a telescope but here, now she saw them. Even up in space she never quite saw them like this. The stars were fat with light, swells of eternal illumination in a violet sheet of sky. It wasn't so black and flat like New York's sky, Raven swore she saw charcoal and violet hues in the sky, not blues like Van Gogh. The trees below weren't blurs of darkness anymore, they were shifty sways of murky green and mud brown with touches of dust gray, the bushes fuzzy puffs. The ground below was scratchy looking like a weird tweed jacket, the horizon boundless and unique with every millimeter of her eyes' scale. She saw all of this because of the moon that hung like a french vanilla flashlight beam, a headlight in a car when you looked directly in it.

Did Van Gogh feel like this when he saw the sky with those china blue eyes? With her earth brown eyes she saw something that was hers, she wished she had her supplies to paint and draw but she could never capture this like Van Gogh. And for tonight it was alright for miles and miles and maybe even light years away from home, she found peace staring at the sky. Her very own Starry Sky.

The Starry Sky that she would paint someday.

It was nearing dusk when the Avengers, including Loki, arrived in Alfheim. Precisely where Loki had been last with Raven, there was still evidence of melting ice and her wet footprints were almost completely faded. Loki pulled out a stone from his jacket and it glowed from his touch, ignoring the invisible blades and guns aimed at his back he stared into the stone swiping his hand over it.

"So this is Alfheim," Bruce murmured keeping himself as calm as he could. The anxiety was completely audible. "Scenic."

"Where did you leave her?" Tony deadpanned his portable suit slung over his shoulder in a book bag fashion.

Loki who was still staring into the stone looked ahead. "Damn," he stared ahead of him, "this was where she ran."

"What is that stone Loki?" Thor asked glancing from the stone to the path.

Loki noted the lack of "brotherly compassion" in his address. His addressed him coldly in a near Odin-like tone, if anything it made more hostile.

"It is a form of tracking, it should lead us to Raven."

Steve halted, suited up minus his mask as always, halted in the slow cautious creep forward. "Should?" He echoed. "Did you just say should? What do you mean by should Loki?"

Everyone paused eyes fell on Loki and he knew that any lie here would cause more damage than gain.

"It should track her if she is still in this realm."

Thor's face was losing all kindness and became graver than their father's. "And how could Raven not be in this realm Loki? How would she be able to leave this realm without the assistance of Heimdall?"

Tony saw red when the dots connected. "You motherfucking sonofabitch!" He made a dead-on swing at him. "She has the tesseract! Doesn't she? You told her how to use the tesseract!" He grabbed the lapels of his jacket, "Are you insane?" He bellowed. He punched him again. "Answer me!"

The Avengers all looked horrified. Bruce became ashen while Tony just shook from pure rage, the power of the world was indeed in the hands of a child. They didn't want to believe that Raven could have had it but it was more than obvious. She had the single most destructive thing in the universe in her possession and she could tap into it. He had never even held the damn thing, Manhattan had nearly been nuked because of the tesseract. It was a gateway to all the doors to the different sides of space. Tony felt sick from rage and worry. Raven could be anywhere in the world, the Nine Realms, and those little places that the guardian of the Bifrost could not reach. A whole different dimension like the one he caught glimpse of. He wanted to strangle Loki so much, they all saw it and Steve pulled him off pushing him slowly onto a tree.

"Tony you need to breathe," he coached. "Remember we need to find Raven."

Neutrally Loki remarked, "She's trying to get to the Bifrost."

"What?" Clint snapped. "She's trying to get back to Asgard by herself?" An arrow in Loki's head was starting to look really good about now. "You told her to head back on her own if you took off?"

"If I took too long," Loki corrected tightly. "I gave her sufficient instruction to get to Asgard."

"She's seven!" Tony screamed against Steve's arms. "If you're gone for five minutes she gets skittish! She needs help grabbing her Pop Tarts! Just give me five minutes," he murmured to Steve. "Five goddamn five minutes."

"Tony, beating Loki to a bloody pulp isn't going to find Raven." He made a calm down gesture to his teammates whom were also slowly groaning rabid. "Let's search the area for any clues she might have left and just to make sure she's not here."

Bruce nodded, "I agree with Steve." He rubbed his hands, "She's a smart girl, she would have left a clue, on purpose or accidentally."

"Once we've finished here," Natasha added, "we can ask Heimdall to scout the realms again. Maybe since she's not near Loki we can find her."

Tony was losing his mind. Horrible scenarios were spinning around his head like vertigo, putting pressure on his temple like a sledgehammer to the skull. He wanted to scream til he was blue in the face, beat Loki until he was featureless. He was going to have a panic attack.

"Tony," Bruce's tone was low and urgent, "what is it?" He saw the quake in Tony's hands.

"She can't swim," he said. He sounded nearly defeated at the realization.

"If she's your daughter she won't go near anything deeper than a puddle," he responded. "Now breathe, she's isn't afraid of the dark is she?" Tony shook his head. "Then let's start looking in case she changes her mind on that."

The forest looked innocent enough, bright pretty colors, birds chirping, fruits growing in bushes, hanging from trees. Something straight out a fairy tale, but Tony wasn't fooled, as whimsical as this place was Loki had been tossed out like a drunk in a bar. Raven was either here hiding or, she had taken off and was lost in the worst way. In strange place that she had no idea what was good or bad.

It felt like they were wasting time but what else could they do? Go back to Asgard and twiddle their thumbs? Steve did have a point, Raven had a habit of leaving a trail but would she now? Loki had said she ran off. She never ran off. He didn't even know if she could run fast, sure he chased her sometimes but that was fooling around and he always let her get away. She was a tough little kid, but she still was a kid. A little seven-year-old kid that couldn't swim and had a fear of drowning.

When Raven had bolted she left a trail of footprints in her wake, Clint had discovered a consistent trail and followed them. She had definitely hauled ass judging by the way she dodged bushes and tress, but as soon as they picked up they came to a sudden stop. There were no intercepting footprints, or signs of a trap being set, then he spied it. Behind the bush she must have plowed through was a hole, causing the frail shrub to hang over making the hole partially concealed. He pulled back the bush and shined a light in the hole. An odd place to put a hole, a cylindrical hole. Which had a blood stained rock.

"Found something?" Natasha asked.

"Look at that," he pointed to the blood. "She went down here. All signs point to it but no Raven."

"I'll get Tony," she deadpanned.

When everyone got there the sight of blood was not welcomed. It no doubt was hers but the question hung in the air. If she landed here then where did she go? How badly was she hurt? It was a brooding cloud that was growing into a storm.

"She triggered the tesseract when she fell," Loki deducted. "That is the only explanation."

"Now could she trigger the tesseract it she fell head first?" Natasha wondered coldly.

"She landed on it of course," he replied with equal venom. "It was probably triggered by her panicked state of mind."

He may have been calm but Loki felt genuine concern and was already trying the deduce where she could have gone. Where in the Nine did she hop to? He refused to panic or moan because it did nothing to help the situation. He had faith in Raven while everyone fretted and fussed, she had fought and ran, she would do so again if need be. She was resourceful and wasn't scared easily. She would survive for now but he did search with haste. He didn't want her on her own as much as the Avengers did.

He never intended for it to escalate to this, to endanger Raven. He never wanted to hurt her, he wanted to hurt and humiliate the Avengers but not her. She didn't not deserve this. She had done no wrong. He would make it up to her, without the Avengers knowing, and he would bring her home. Home to that dull realm, and he was not going to allow blinding fear to get in the way of that.

He would not be rattled by a splash of blood. She would recover from that fall, she spilled much more when she fell in his presence. She could hold on. She was stronger than most.

Raven woke up to the a glow of light but no sun, it was odd, it was morning but it was horrible overcast like a storm was coming. Dark, gray and cold. The giant she-wolf who had taken her in nudged her with her muzzle. Raven toppled from the weighty nudge and the giant she-wolf gave her a big lick breathing in her face.

"Hi to you too," she yawned rubbing the front of her face.

The she-wolf licked and nuzzled her face, without a word she picked her up and threw her on her back and bolted off into the supposedly morning sky. Raven hung on for dear life but it felt as soon as the she-wolf gained speed it came to a stop, and with a slope of her back and tilt of her body she rolled off. When she landed and her vision had settled she saw a bush of violet, bruise colored, berries with silvery fuzz.

"Is this for me?"

The wolf bumped her butt with her nose and Raven took a strawberry sized berry off the bush and bit down, juice splattered on the ground, it was dark and the berry was bitter on the first bite. The more she chewed however the sweeter it got, it wasn't as sweet as the peach Loki had given her but it was sweeter than it was at first. Wasting no time she ate as many berries as she could until she was full, and she took as many as she could off the bushes to put in her satchel for later. The berries had left her fingers black, teeth and tongue stained, she looked wild with her unkempt hair and dirty clothes.

"Remain where you are!" A voice ordered.

A man appeared from behind the bushes, he was dressed in furs with a bow and a quiver of arrows. Seeing the weapon made her think about Clint, of home, Tony, and what she was supposed to be doing. The man stared down at her but with a loud whine from the wolf he lowered his weapon.

"Ylva," the man said a smile swiping all threat from his face. "Where have you been, old friend?"

The wolf yowled nudging little Raven with her nose pushing her closer to the man who's eyes had become wide.

"You helped her?" He asked Raven.

Raven nodded, unsure what had just happened. The man and the wolf had shared a conversation but it had only made a few barks. Not even she could understand Timber that well. The man looked up at the wolf again then back at her.

"What is your name child?"

"Raven."

His eyes narrowed at the bush, "That won't full you," he offered her his hand, "come child I am Varg. I have food for you to eat."

The man, Varg, was a weird looking man. He was fair skinned with black furs which matched his hair that he wore like a coat over loose brown pants and he had no shoes, he had yellow eyes that reminded her of a wolf in the dark. He was taking her through the forest, he made long strides which caused her to trot to keep up. She had no idea where he was taking her, not a clue and it made her very afraid.

"Uhhh, where are you taking me?"

"To my pack. Ylva has asked me to take good care of you, and that I shall."

"She did?" She turned her head back, the she-wolf was taking another path. "You can understand her?"

"I am an Úlfurson, we all speak to Ylva." He stopped and sized up her clothes. "You are not of this wood. Where do you hail from child?"

She was about to say Earth, New York but then she remembered what Loki had called Earth. "I'm from Midgard," she added, "but I need to get Asgard...please?"

His eyes regarded her with astonishment. "Midgard, the realm of the One Skins? And you wish to be led to Asgard?" He resumed walking, "I cannot do this for you but I know one who can. Until that time comes you have my pack's hospitality, Ylva has requested this."

"She has?" The way he talked made her dizzy and thing were happening so fast like when Auntie Irene had sent her away.

"You helped her from a trap set by those who wish to hurt my kind. But fear them not," he dismissed. "This kindness will not be forgotten." He paused for a moment listening to a distant howl and began walking again. "You helped our guardian, the daughter of our father Fenrir. Such kindness will not be forgotten."

"Okay...your welcome, I guess." She had done something awfully important, very awfully important that she didn't quite understand but it was getting her help so she went along with it.

They came to a clearing in front a massive cliff with various caves going up like a stone beehive, people dressed similarly peeped out while those gathered in the clearing stopped and starred. She realized how odd she must look to them, sneakers, cargo pants, a dirty hoodie, a scratch on her head, blood on her sleeve. She wanted to hide but she had nowhere to hide, Varg took her by the hand and everyone else backed up.

"This child of One Skin is the reason our Ylva has returned to us!" The people whispered at this. "Ylva has asked for us to show her our thanks. She will be member of this pack, until Ylva has said otherwise!"

Oh boy, she thought as everyone looked at her. I don't like this.

With a beckon from Varg a woman came forward taking her by the hand escorting her into a cave where other children sat, they whispered at her arrival and watched her with awed expressions. They were all eating meat on sticks, with the same black berries she had taken among others that looked even weirder. The woman who had brought her in handed her a stick of smoking meat. Although it had no seasoning, and was nothing but a shredded chunk of questionable meat, the smell made her mouth water and her stomach growl.

"Eat child, after I'll fetch you some furs."

She didn't hear what the woman said about furs, she had began tearing at the meat ignoring the tang of blood and pure taste of untampered meat. She was too hungry to care. As she ate a young girl in auburn furs and blonde hair approached her with wide wondered yellow eyes.

"Is it true what my father said?" Raven turned to look at her. "Did you really free Ylva?" Unable to speak due to the chewiness of the meat she nodded. "Wolves that chase the sun," she exclaimed. "My name is Eyolf."

Raven swallowed. "Raven."

"Outlandish name," Eyolf remarked.

"So's yours," she quipped.

Eyolf paused contemplating whether the comment was an insult or a compliment, and then she smiled considering it the latter. Raven smiled back too and the girls shared a laugh for no reason at all.

"So now what?" Tony grumbled eyes bloodshot. "We've searched Alfheim and nothing, that hole was a fucking dead in. So now what?" His glare was bleary and wild, "Two days. It's been two days. Where in the hell could she be?"

The Avengers had returned to Asgard where Heimdall was searching the realms for Raven. They were tired and more anxious than they had ever been, the probability of bad news was rising with every minute, every second, every hour. Raven had not just disappeared, she fell off the grid, she was under the radar. She was in no man's land. Loki was also restless, he sat silently keeping his ideas to himself knowing that they were not welcome. The tenseness was not because of the missing child, but the tesseract as well, the power of the universe was in the possession of a child. A child with PTS. There was no doubt she would use it but how and to what magnitude? And would the gamma radiation effect her?

It was amazing Bruce hadn't gone Hulk already, Tony no doubt would have in his position. He did keep away from the others though, the stress was beyond taxing and he needed to be alone to keep himself grounded. The beauty of Asgard was lost on them, the place was gray and black, flat and lacking of texture, a space in time with no life. Tony hadn't slept and he could feel his body waning because of it, everytime he closed his eyes he saw horrible vision-like images he dared not repeat even in thought. He fought sleep to avoid them.

"Stark?"

Thor's voice was a light tap to his senses.

"What?" He growled.

"I come to see how you fair," he said. "And to bid that you rest, for your sake."

"I'll rest when I'm dead," he grumbled. "And as you can see I'm not in the mood."

"Heimdall has had no sightings of Raven," Thor took a deep breath, "many fear that..."

"Don't you dare!" He roared. "Don't you dare say that to me!" Tony grabbed him by his armor, "Don't you dare say that she's... that she's... that she's..."

Thor grabbed Tony's shoulders eyes filled to the brim with sympathy and pain. "She is even blind to Loki," he explained. "He knows not where she may be and if she knows how to return."

He watched as the man, the father's face cracked with grief, rupturing with rage and agony. Thor beheld as his friend was forcing down the truth, the probability of what they were preparing him for, and it was destroying him from the inside out. It coming on to him like the bright light you supposedly saw when you died, the angel of death with the chariot behind it. Reality was choking hope.

"Rest friend, I beg you."

"Where's Loki?" He seethed incensed with fury. "I'm gonna break his neck." Thor held his where he stood, "Let me go!" He shouted. "I said let me go!"

"Hurting Loki will bring you no peace," he muttered hollowly.

"Oh yeah?" He snarled. "Give me ten minutes and I'll get five minutes sleep!"

He struggled against him trying the break free and take out his sorrow and unfiltered rage on Loki whom had caused this whole thing. He hollered and fought the wall of the man with his bare hands. Thor stood there and took it, he watched as the man whom had a reply for everything was reduced to a man incapable of anything but revenge.

Without hesitation he punched him and caught the man as he fell out cold. He had anticipated this reaction as did the Avengers who watched the scene hidden, their faces like a funeral precession.

"It had to be done," Natasha said to her silent partners. "The sooner he accepts the worse the better."

"No it's not," said Steve, "he's going to skin Loki if we can't find her." He pointed at the unconscious genius, "He's either going to get Raven or Loki's head."

"He'll be out for awhile at least," Clint pointed out. "By then we can think of a better plan."

"He's never going to get over this," Bruce's voice rang through like a death toll. "Loki is going to pay and Tony may never return to S.H.I.E.L.D., or worse he may lose the will to keep up his weaponless Stark Industries."

Everyone became solemn, and Bruce pulled out a beaded bracelet, it was green with a single shamrock charm hanging from his pocket and Steve rubbed his unkempt head suddenly feeling the years he had missed.

"Raven gave me this," he mumbled unnecessarily. "To give me the luck of the Irish she said."

"He's never going to get over this is he?" Steve stared at the bruise forming on Tony's face.

"I've seen mothers who lose their children to preventable diseases," Bruce caressed the charm. "It's like a piece of them dies, it's like they die with their child but they keep living. And the wound lingers, no matter how much time passes. You see it in their eyes."

"We may lose Iron Man," Clint said heavily.

"Is that all you can think about?" Demanded Steve. "A little girl is stranded in another world that no one can find! She can't go home and you're here worrying about everything else!"

"What do you suggest we do?" Natasha spat calmly. "Search the Nine Realms? Thor says it's a lost cause if Heimdall can't find her with his omnipresent ability. We need to plan for the future and make sure Loki pays for this." She stared directly at Thor, "Life for a life."

"For Tony's sake," Clint agreed.

"She could be out there," Steve protested. "Trying to get home."

"She may be Tony's daughter," Natasha voice was steely, "but she still is a child."

"Not any ordinary child," barked back Steve. "Her grandfather is Howard Stark! Her father is Tony Stark! She's not going to sit down and wait for help. No Stark can do that!"