Author's Note: Wow! One hundred reviews and counting, thank you all so very much! When I first discussed the last chapter with my beta buddies, it was agreed that Steve HAD to walk in on them. And be embarrassed. I'm glad it went over so well. Yes, there is hope for Loki, not much, but for a man who had no hope whatsoever, it's a miracle. I live for your comments!

… …

Kara stopped short as she entered her redecorated suite. A mahogany four poster king-sized bed with a golden canopy and gold and burgundy bed coverings rested against the far wall under the area that previously housed the embedded wall clock. A reading area with a soft chair and a bookcase that matched the bed and night tables sat near the entrance to her bathroom. The Persian rug was mainly burgundy, with gold, blue and green in the intricate design. A new mahogany breakfast table with a burgundy tablecloth and matching chairs sat under the window. She sighed. It was totally different from her previous predominately green and wrought iron decor and it helped, but being here alone was still going to hurt. "God, Loki, I miss you so damn much," she whispered.

Pulling herself together, she strode into the walk-in closet and hung up her latest purchase, a gold and burgundy evening gown for Tony and Pepper's engagement ball. She snorted. Yeah, an actual ball. It hadn't been Tony's ideal for his engagement celebration, or Pepper's, but Stark Industries Board of Directors had insisted. It was also going to be a charitable fundraiser. Half of the proceeds from the fifteen hundred dollar per person tickets was going to the NYC Small Business Relief Fund, and the other half would be used to fund 'Avengers, Inc.', which would be headquartered here in what would soon be known as 'Avengers' Tower'. The event had just been announced this morning and tickets were well on their way to selling out. "Lady Kara, Mr. Stark asked that I remind you that Director Fury should arrive in fifteen minutes."

Gah, now that was something she was not looking forward to. "Thank you, Jarvis. Please call me Dr. Gunnarssen or Kara." She'd had this conversation with the AI several times, but the system kept reverting to the form of address programmed by Loki after using her preferred name for a few hours. Tony had found a loop in the programming that reset it, but had not been able to find a way around it. It kept the pain fresh…hmm. "Jarvis, when you call me Lady Kara, it makes me sad all over again. This form of address is seriously hindering my recovery."

"My apologies, Dr. Gunnarssen, it won't happen again," Jarvis replied. "Shall I advise Mr. Stark that you will be joining them in the observation lounge shortly?"

"Yes, thank you." She pulled a pair of black slacks from their hanger and draped them over her arm as she mulled over a choice of tops, finally settling on a cream colored cable knit sweater with gold metallic thread accents. Taking the selected items into the bathroom, she changed and then brushed her hair up into a casual bun.

"Almost ready?" Nat asked as she poked her head in the open bathroom door. Kara looked up in the mirror and nodded. "Let me get some concealer under your eyes, okay?"

"Sure." Kara sat and faced the other redhead. "Not that it matters."

"Actually, it does. They don't need to know how little you're sleeping. As far as they're concerned, you're absolutely fine."

"Nat, Raj is an empath, he'll know I'm not fine." She sighed as Natasha grimaced. "I can project being pissed with S.H.I.E.L.D. to cover it, though."

"Good. Have you decided whether we're exaggerating your physical condition?"

"Yes. It will keep the council off of our backs until we find out if Thor is able to get help for me or not." She bit back another sigh. "After I kind of challenged Odin, I seriously doubt he's going to agree to it."

The Black Widow shrugged. "He may respect your courage. Look, I'm sure Thor will find a way to make him agree. If nothing else, he can get his mother on the job. Banner tells me that Loki admitted that Frigga loved him every bit as much as Thor."

"True. Hopefully that will be enough. The neurologists have even less of a clue than Bruce and I do, so I'm not going to get any help here." She peered back into the mirror as Nat stepped back. The dark circles were now hidden from the casual observer, and even when she looked closely, it was so skillfully done that she might have missed it if she hadn't known what to look for. "Thanks, Nat. That's much better."

"I am an expert and sleeplessness is a lot easier to cover than bruising from a fight."

… …

Steve frowned as Agent Hill stalked into the room behind Director Fury. There was just something about the woman that didn't sit right. She was always too eager, always too stern, always too…something. And she seemed to hear everything. It was spooky. He nodded to Dr. Nassar who trailed behind the other two with his customary half-smile. He was okay, and he didn't think it was because the doctor was a shrink and knew how to make people trust him. "Good afternoon, Captain Rogers, how are you?" Nassar asked.

"Fine, sir, thank you," he replied politely.

Tony walked in, stopped, and then frowned. "Director, I didn't invite Agent Hill to this meeting, she'll need to wait with your ride," he told Fury.

Fury's visible eyebrow rose. "Agent Hill is my deputy, I asked her to be here."

"And I'm asking her to not be here. She doesn't have enough clearance."

Hill frowned and Steve bit his lip to hide a grin. "My clearance is equal to that of Director Fury," she snapped.

He snuck a glance at Tony, the self-described genius was smirking. "Honey, that's for S.H.I.E.L.D.; in case you didn't notice, this isn't S.H.I.E.L.D., get the hell out."

She turned to Fury, her jaw working in anger. "Go wait in the Quinjet, Hill. I'll fill you in later on anything you might need to know," Fury told her.

"Yes, sir." The woman turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, giving Dr. G and Nat a venomous glare as they passed her on their way in.

Nat looked at him and winked. "So sorry to see her go, aren't you, Steve?"

"Um, not really," he muttered and then frowned as Nat rolled her eyes. "Oh, uh, yes, absolutely." He frowned as he felt his cheeks heat. He just wasn't any good at this sarcasm stuff. He felt marginally better when Dr. G stepped in close and squeezed his bicep reassuringly. She looked pretty good considering how hard the past two days had been for her, he thought.

"Sorry I'm late," Dr. Banner said as he rushed in. "I had to get that comparison running."

"No prob, bud," Tony told him. "Can someone go pull the Hawk out of his nest?" he asked. Nat nodded and went out the door that led to Stark's launch area. "Thanks, Nat." They all settled down to wait for the assassins to return.

… …

Raj Nassar thought it very interesting that Stark had banished Agent Hill from the meeting. He and Nick Fury had been speculating as to the man's reason for calling them here, and they had a bet riding on the outcome. Kara Gunnarssen looked distracted…and terribly unhappy, he realized suddenly. Reaching out with his admittedly minor gift, he tried to read her mood only to have her flash him an annoyed look. A rock solid barrier slammed down between them. "Okay," he heard Tony Stark say and he turned to look back at the billionaire. "We're all here, time to get this meeting started. Cap, you're up."

Steve Rogers stepped away from the edge of the bar he'd been leaning against and Picked up a stack of papers. He marched, there really was no other word for it, over to Nick and handed the stack to the startled man. "Sir," he began. "These are official resignations and terminations of contract signed by each member of this team and witnessed by a notary. I think you'll find them all in order."

Nick stared down at the papers with his one eye and then back up at the solemn soldier. "I refuse to accept them," he said calmly.

"I'm afraid we're not offering you a choice, sir," Rogers told him, his voice firming. "You will accept these resignations and terminations of contract, or they will be released publicly and simultaneously, all over the globe."

"Let me rephrase that, captain," Fury said. "I am not authorized by the council to accept them. I can assure you that the council will not release any S.H.I.E.L.D. assets at this time."

Rogers frowned fiercely. Raj could feel righteous anger emanating from him. "None of the people in this room are merely assets, sir. They are people, and they have the right to work for whomever they want, and that does not include your organization." The man's shoulders squared even more impressively than usual and his posture shouted aggression. "We are not giving your council a choice. Don't make us play hardball."

Raj bit the inside of his cheek as Fury laughed. "Are we all grown up now, Captain Rogers?" he asked. "Just yesterday you were a naïve soldier, trapped out of his own time. Have you really come to terms with the twenty-first century so quickly?"

"Choosing to believe the best of people and organizations until they prove unworthy of it may be idealistic, Director Fury, but it's not naïve. S.H.I.E.L.D. has used and abused every member of this team and it stops now."

"Really, Steve?" Nick said, changing to a fatherly tone. "What do you think you can do about it?"

Stark stood up. "I'll take that question, boss, if you don't mind?" he said to Rogers.

"Sure, go ahead."

"You see, Nick, Loki left us a really nice parting gift," Stark began.

"Parting…" Raj found himself asking.

"Oh, yeah, did we forget to tell you? Thor stopped by for his little brother and his friends a few days ago. They all went back home. So, in thanks for hosting them so kindly, Loki left us a present. Did you notice, by the way, that your hacker made a return visit about four days ago? No? Guess he didn't want you to know. Well, we inadvertently left the Norse god of mischief alone for an afternoon and he got a bit bored. This time, instead of just leaving sarcastic comments, he pulled a lot of highly classified information from your systems and packaged it up for us, nice and neatly. Included in this gift were the names and locations and such for each and every one of your clandestine council members."

"You're bluffing," Fury stated firmly.

"Am I? Jarvis, start running the file." They waited while a screen descended and profile pages with detailed information began scrolling on it. Fury's complexion became ashen and it was obvious that he recognized the men and women being identified. "Your council is going to accept those resignations and such or they will be outted to every media outlet of every type world-wide. And no, it isn't blackmail because we're not asking for a payoff. We're insisting you accept legal resignations and terminations of contract."

"And what of the Avengers Initiative, Stark? Is that going away?" Fury half-growled.

Raj frowned as he saw a large object being dangled from a crane pass in front of the windows. The object swung slightly and as he realized what it was he began to smile. He nudged Nick and directed his attention to the window in time to see the large letter 'V' being grabbed by the hands of construction workers. "No, not at all," Stark told them. "It's simply undergoing a metamorphosis. As of today, this is Avengers' Tower, and 'The Avengers' team is a 501(c)(3) classified non-profit organization."

Nick pursed his lips and held out a hand to him, rubbing his fingers together. Raj chuckled and pulled out his wallet, plucked a twenty from the billfold, and slapped it into his old friend's waiting palm. "I should know better than to accept a wager from you by now," he said.

… …

"Yes, you should." Nick grinned at the startled faces of the Avengers. "I brought Agent Hill as a test, I didn't think you were foolish enough to let her stay."

"We trust her even less than we trust you," Stark told him.

"Good. I hope you know that you can trust me, but there will be times that I cannot do the right thing, regardless of what I want to do. As with the damned nuke, sometimes the council goes behind my back. I took out one of the birds they sent, unfortunately, they scrambled two and I wasn't able to stop the second one."

Rogers whistled. "You sacrificed one of your own?"

"As soon as he obeyed orders other than mine, he ceased to be one of my own." Nick shrugged. "I was not going to sacrifice millions of people to save one man. I had faith in all of you and you needed time to succeed."

"What about me, Nick?" Kara Gunnarssen asked bitterly. "Was I a sacrifice?"

He sighed heavily. "I didn't have much choice there. I had to get you out of headquarters where council toadies might notice the full extent of your abilities, and I had to ensure Loki didn't get out of hand. Two birds, one stone. I realize I put you in a difficult position, but…"

The woman shot to her feet. "A difficult position? You son of a bitch. You trashed me. I was fine. I had my research, I was helping people, lots of people. I saved lives, I saved property, then you blackmailed me into joining S.H.I.E.L.D.. Now, thanks to you, I have a broken heart and a broken body. How the hell do you sleep at night?"

"Kara," Raj Nassar interjected. "Let's talk about this."

"It's so far beyond talking, Raj, that it's not even funny. Didn't you get the report from your neurology specialists? I'm dying. I've got four to six weeks before I won't be able to function normally, maybe twice that before I'm a total vegetable. I'll be dead inside of a year. And there's not one damn thing any of you can do about it. I won't need help to get over Loki. I'll be dead and beyond caring before any therapy could possibly make a difference."

Nick swallowed. He had read the reports and he'd forwarded them on to the council. It was the one thing that might allow all of this to work…the council's belief that the Avengers' potentially deadliest weapon was going to be neutralized. "I sleep at night only because I'm exhausted from walking a damn tightrope every minute of every single day, doctor." He hated this, all of it, but if he didn't do this job, S.H.I.E.L.D. would end up becoming a private army for certain radical members of the council instead of a force for good. He frowned, considering. "Does Thor know about your condition?" he asked.

"Yes, but there's nothing he can do. Unfortunately I kind of burned my bridges there," she muttered, flushing.

His eyebrow shot up. "Did Asgard not want Loki saved?" he asked.

"That wasn't it. I, um, once I got the whole story and figured out what Loki's issues were, I, um…kind of challenged Odin and said I would take him down. Apparently their gatekeeper, an all-seeing and all-hearing god named Heimdall heard me and reported it to Odin."

Christ, Nick thought. There goes that avenue of hope. "And he's holding a grudge. Damn. I am sorry, doctor."

She shrugged. "Sorry doesn't do me any good. I just hope you'll learn something from this and leave well enough alone in the future. Oh, and you'd better support this," she said, her hands spreading to include her teammates. "Otherwise, keep in mind that I don't have one damn thing to lose now, and I do know where everyone holes up and thinks they're safe."

… …

Bruce allowed himself a small grin as the Quinjet took off. "That went well," he said."

"Yeah. You and Kara guessed right about Fury and Nassar. And Cap was right about Hill," Tony said, reaching for the bottle of scotch. His friend looked at the bottle in his hand for a minute and then put it back down, unopened. "Huh. Habit, I guess," he muttered. "I don't need that."

"No, you don't. Come on, let's hit the kitchen and I'll make a fresh pot of coffee."

"Cool beans. Well, hot beans, I guess," Tony snickered as they walked to the shared kitchen. "How come your coffee tastes better than anyone else's?"

"Since I don't drink the stuff, I actually follow directions."

Tony snorted. "Following directions is going to get your man card revoked, big guy."

"Nope. That's asking for directions. Totally different rule."

"Could be." The billionaire hitched himself up onto one of the stools and idly played with the salt shaker. "So, Kara is being totally close-mouthed about her condition. How much was she exaggerating?"

Sighing, Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "She halved the first part of the estimates. Kara has two, maybe three months before she's going to be in a wheelchair. She'll go downhill rapidly from there, but we don't know quite how fast it will happen. Her year on the outside was probably on target."

"Jesus. Thunderball better put the hammer down on his dad pretty damn quick. Do you think Foster is making any progress on us opening a wormhole of our own?"

"Not that she's said. Oh, Selvig called. Their contracts run out in two months. They'll refuse to renew them, so we've got two months to get all of the equipment they need set up here in the tower."

"Pepper already has the list and has procurement working on it. Shit, I was hoping that if all else failed we could go to Asgard ourselves and lean on Thor's old man. Jarvis? What is the status of Dr. Foster and Dr. Selvig's procurement order?"

"Twenty-five percent complete, Anthony," the AI replied. Bruce laughed helplessly as Tony paled.

"Oh, shit, what the hell?" he moaned.

"You used a snarky nickname for Thor, it must have reset the programming on how you're addressed."

"That sneaky son of a bitch."

"Yeah, he is that. I love it."

… …

Natasha watched Hawkeye work through the gymnastics equipment they both used for exercise. His compactly muscled body whipped through the twists and turns of the obstacle course they'd created with the different types of bars, ropes, walls, and such with practiced ease. It truly was breathtaking. She checked the timer function that had replaced the current time on the digital display in the far wall. Clint was going to beat her record if he kept to this pace. Frowning, she wondered if it was because something was troubling him or if he'd gotten his confidence back. He came off of the final piece of equipment with a triumphant yell. Oh yeah, the Hawk was back. "Two full seconds under my record," she told him as he straightened.

"No shit?" Clint looked over at the display that was now blinking with his final time. "Hot damn. Uh, I was just in the groove for a change," he said, trying to downplay his accomplishment.

"You did great," she told him. "Jarvis, note Hawkeye's time in the record, please."

"Yes, A…M…I apologize, but you are no longer Agent Romanov, which form of address would you prefer?"

Hah. Anything other than 'Lady Natasha' would be fine, she thought. "Natasha will do, Jarvis. Thank you for inquiring."

"You are most welcome, Natasha. Master Archer's time has been updated."

Clint grinned. He was getting a kick out of Loki's joke, so Kara and Pepper had let that one be. "You don't know what a load off of my mind being out of S.H.I.E.L.D. is," he told her. She raised her left eyebrow and gave him a eloquent stare. "Uh, on second thought, you're probably the only one who does know."

She let the corners of her mouth curve up into a sultry smile…an honestly sultry smile for a change. "We're finally free, and we're in the hero business instead of the assassin business," she agreed.

"We can pick and choose assignments, except when it comes to saving the world."

"And we have the number one technical genius on the entire planet ready and willing to make anything we need to do that world saving. It's…inspiring," she said, closing the distance between them.

"Nat, I'm sweaty as all hell," he grumbled as she ran a hand from his neck down to his waist.

"I know. A hard bodied man fresh from a workout is such a turn-on." Clint laughed quietly, as she knew he would. "Why don't we go up to your place so you can get some fresh clothes and then over to mine and christen that new Jacuzzi that was just installed?"

"You know what the best thing about being independent is?" he asked. Natasha smiled and shook her head. "If anyone notices, they'll just be cheering us on or teasing the hell out of us, not ratting us out."

"Yet another perk," she whispered as their lips met.

… …

"Wow, you're really talented," a woman said from behind him as Steve finished sketching in the last two missing letters on his drawing of the Avengers' Tower. He looked up as the waitress that had served him the last time he'd stopped here moved up beside his table. "What can I get you today?" she asked.

"Um, just coffee, I guess."

The pretty blonde smiled. "Not hungry? Our turkey sandwich is really great. We slow roast real turkey breasts and slice them thick, and the molasses oat bread it's served on is to die for. Oh, and our cook slices and deep fries Idaho potatoes for the best homemade potato chips ever," she enthused.

He just had to smile back, her expression was that infectious. "You know what, that does sound great."

"Wonderful. Oh, would you like a pickle with that? We brine our own kosher dills."

"Sure. Do you have malts?" he asked and braced for a negative.

"Yep, traditional malts, nice and thick. Should I get you one of those instead of the coffee, or do you want both?"

"Instead of, thanks." She nodded and dashed off between the tables and he went back to his scribbling.

"Hey, stud. Why don't ya ask the dame for her number this time?" an old man grumbled at him. He looked up. It was the same guy in the cap who'd called him a moron the last time he'd been here.

He grinned at the guy. "Yeah, I think I will. Thanks."

The waitress returned with a glass of water. "Your malt will be ready in just a minute and I'll have your sandwich in about five, okay?"

"Sure, that's fine." She stood there, staring down at him with an odd expression. Before he could ask her what was wrong she crouched down next to him.

"You're him, I know it. I don't want to spoil your day out, but I wanted to say thank you," she whispered.

"Uh, him who? And for what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Captain America," she said, still whispering. I-I recognized you when you saved us during the battle. You, um, lost your mask and I guess I was kind of staring at you last time you were here, you have this really cut jaw and I, um, well remembered you. And your voice. I knew it was you."

He flushed. "Oh. Hmm. Thanks for being quiet about it," he said softly. "And you're welcome." He shrugged. "I was just doing my job."

"No, you did a great thing, and we all appreciate it." She stood. "I'm Beth Anderson. What's your name?" she asked in a normal tone.

"Steve," he told her. "Steve Rogers."

"It's very nice to meet you, Steve," she said, holding her hand out with a huge grin.

He had to grin back as he took it and squeezed it lightly. "Likewise."

"I'll go get your malt…be right back!"

"Moron, you still didn't get her number. What's with you kids these days?" the old man asked.

"I like to take things slow, sir," Steve told him. "It's polite and respectful."

"Boy, you're in the wrong decade for that."

He sighed. "Don't I know it." Beth came winding back through the tables, balancing a tray above the heads of the other patrons.

"Here we go," she said. "Your food was ready too. I brought you mayo and mustard and some Thousand Island since I forgot to ask which you wanted." She set the plate of food down in front of him and then the malt beside it before pulling a straw from her apron pocket. "Let me know if you need anything else," Beth told him as she pulled a ticket off of her pad and placed it just above his meal.

He picked it up and looked at it. There was no charge listed, just some zeros over a long number. "Uh, Beth?" he asked. "What is this?"

She came back and looked down to where he pointed at the three zeros written in the total charge box. Leaning in she whispered, "My boss said it's on the house. He was walking me to the subway that day, you saved us both."

"Oh, I couldn't…" he trailed off at her frown. "Um, thanks, that's really nice." He looked down at the ticket again. "What's this?" he asked, pointing at the long number underneath his order.

Beth rolled her eyes. "That's my cell number, silly. Call me if you want," she said as she sashayed off.

"Hot damn, son, you scored," the old man told him, cackling with laughter.

"Yeah, I guess I did." Steve put some mayo and after tasting it, some of the 'Thousand Island' on his sandwich, picked it up and took a bite. It was amazing. He swallowed the bite and crunched a few of the lightly salted chips and then took a bite of the pickle. "Things are looking up," he said as he lifted the glass holding his malt and saluted Avengers' Tower with it.

… …