Guest- Your wish is my command: here's the more : )

zaylo267- Yeah, Loki is definitely not going to have a good time if he sees Thanos again. But he should've known that just dropping off the radar like that would be seen as a little bit suspicious lol

When she got back to the Avengers compound, and sent her driver on her merry way with a very generous tip, Miriam was surprised to find that she actually felt rather guilty about skipping out and having a grand old time while everyone else had to stay home and train to take on the big threat that was coming their way soon. There were guards out front and patrolling the perimeter, just like there always was, but Miriam couldn't help feeling like this time there was something a little off.

She narrowed her eyes, and wondered if there was anyone who'd dare to attack her friends. If there was, then surely they'd regret it. Miriam stopped short in the middle of casing the place to try and figure out the current problem. Were the Avengers her friends? She'd started to think that they were, before the aether, but then they'd been so opposed to the idea of her gaining back the powers that had been rightfully hers in the first place.

And going back to the time before the Avengers, the only friend she really had to judge the whole friendship thing by was Ar'iaal, and that hadn't exactly ended well for either of them. Though maybe it wasn't fair to judge their entire thousands of years of friendship just based off of a few less than pleasant events that had taken place near the end. The slap and following disappearance had obviously been bad for both of them. Then Miriam had been locked up for a while, through no real fault of Ar'iaal's beyond the fact that he wasn't around to stop her from doing anything crazy. And now Ar'iaal was moonlighting as one of the most feared monsters that was going to come and probably kill everybody on every planet he came across, since that's what it sounded like he'd already been doing anyways. So that was really only a couple of things. Did that outweigh all of the good times?

While she stood there thinking, one of the guards slowly walked over to her, looking surprised to see her there. "Miriam? Is that really you?"

Seemed like a pretty stupid question to ask, because either it was really her and there was no reason to doubt it, or she was some kind of imposter, and there's no way that she'd confess so easily. Not that Miriam should've really expected any better from the people who worked with the Avengers. There seemed to be very few Midgardians capable of actually being smart when it was required of them. "What would you do if I said it wasn't?" The man immediately started to reach for his gun, and Miriam sighed. "Relax, I was just joking around. Don't you people know how to take a joke?"

The man stared at her with big eyes, one hand on his gun, though he didn't actually pull it out. Yeah, the Avengers definitely needed better security. "Are the others with you?" There was an unprofessional amount of hope in his voice, and since no one was with Miriam, she almost felt bad about the fact that she was sure to let this guy down.

"No one's with me. Why?"

The man's shoulders slumped down, and he looked far too tired for someone just going about their usual duties of guarding the compound. "We were all arguing about it. You went missing before the others, so some of us thought there was no connection because we know you like to travel around, while others thought that you were just the first one taken."

Miriam furrowed her eyebrows, and she didn't like the knot building up in her stomach as the man spoke. "What the hell are you talking about? Who's gone missing?" From the way he was talking, it seemed easy enough to assume, but Miriam didn't want to think that her assumption could actually be correct.

The guard let out an exhausted sounding sigh. "The Avengers. No one's seen any of them in almost a month. They just vanished without a trace. We managed to get into contact with Mr. Stark, and he said he would use every resource available to find them, but he hasn't succeeded yet."

"Has Thor been around at all?"

The guard shook his head. "No. No one's seen him since he left with you on some top secret mission."

Miriam sighed, and tried to think about what the hell could've happened. She could just teleporting to every single location on the planet until she found them, but without any more specific location, that could take a very long time, because there were a lot of places around, even if it was a relatively small planet. And if they were on the move, then that would make things even more difficult. She had no idea who this 'Mr. Stark' was, but he sounded important. Maybe Miriam could go to him for help.

But first she should probably double check with Asgard, because maybe Thor had just been bumming around there for a while, unaware of the fact that his shield siblings were in danger. Or not. They were just gone. They could be perfectly safe, happy, and healthy wherever it was that they'd gone off to, as unlikely as that seemed.

She figured it would be mean to take off without saying anything, since the guards all seemed at least a little bit traumatized by the fact that the Avengers were gone, and they'd all failed at their job of guarding. "I'm going to Asgard to see if Thor's there, or if not, whether there's anyone who can tell me where he is. I shouldn't be gone too long." Then after a brief moment of hesitation, she reached over to pat the man on the shoulder. That was a comforting thing to do, right? That's what people do for each other?

Then she blinked, and a moment later, she was standing on the steps to the palace. She furrowed her eyebrows as she wondered why she hadn't just appeared in Loki's room like usual, but then decided that that wasn't the biggest issue at the moment, considering the fact that the people most likely to be able to defend Midgard were all missing.

She easily walked past the armed Asgardians who stood outside the palace, since they'd seen her around with Loki often enough to know that she was allowed inside whenever she wanted. Worst case scenario she could've teleported inside, but some strange instinct inside of her was saying that she should try and navigate this situation on foot.

The halls were all as lavishly decorated as they normally were, but they felt strangely silent, and empty. In fact, for a place that was usually a bustling hub of movement, it was very bizarre to see not a single Asgardian walking around inside. Especially after finding out that all of the Avengers were missing. Had the Asgardians gone missing too? And was Miriam really obligated to find them if they were? She didn't think that she was. Finding the Avengers was one thing, but there was no reason that the Asgardians of all people were in any way her responsibility.

Instead of heading towards the stairs and making her way to the royal quarters, she paused and strained to hear any noise that would indicate the whole place hadn't turned into a total ghost town. The guards outside had still been present and alive, but that really didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

She thought she heard something coming from the direction of the throne room, so she decided to check that out first before heading up to see if Thor or Loki were around. The closer she got to the throne room, the more certain she was that that's where the faint noises were coming from, though the walls and doors were so thick that it was impossible to make out a single word that was being said.

Miriam could just teleport into the room, but since she wasn't really sure what was going on, and she was familiar with the layout of that particular room, she was just as likely to wind up teleporting partway into another person or interrupting an important meeting as she was to do anything else.

She pressed her ear up against the door, but that didn't help her hear any better. She hoped that no one would see her, and that the doors wouldn't be too noisy, and she pushed the door open just the tiniest bit so that she could peer inside to see and hear what was going on. It looked like every Asgardian in the palace was crammed in there, and they were all staring intently towards something that Miriam couldn't see from where she was.

Since everyone was mostly angled away from the doors, Miriam didn't think anyone would notice if she were to push them open just a tinier bit more. So she did, and slipped into the room. She could hear somebody shouting, but she couldn't see over all of the ridiculously tall Asgardians, who apparently didn't like to sit down during presentations. What was going on that had them all so enthralled? She didn't think that it sounded like Odin speaking, and who would they be as ensnared by that wasn't their king?

Trying to cause the minimal amount of disruption possible, Miriam began pushing and shoving to make her way to the front of the crowd. Most of the Asgardians remained silent even when she blatantly shoved past them, and Miriam tried not to think too hard about whether that was a good thing or not.

After a couple minutes of trying to force her way forward, someone reached down to grab her arm, and they squeezed hard enough to actually hurt. She was ready to abandon all pretense of subtlety, and she looked out to yell at the Asgardian for daring to hurt her. But then her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Thor looking down at her. She couldn't quite read the expression on his face, but when he raised his free hand to press a finger against his lips, Miriam understood that he needed her to be quiet. She wanted to ask him what was going on, but when no one beyond the person up front was talking, she was afraid that it would be too noticeable. And dragging someone like Thor back out into the hallways would be impossible, because everyone would notice him pushing through.

It was a big enough crowd that they might not notice him simply disappearing, though. Nobody had their attention on the crown prince, and Miriam really needed to talk to him. Both to question what was going on in Asgard, and to see if he knew anything about the missing Avengers.

While Thor was still gripping her arm, she teleported them out into the hallway, and hoped that it hadn't been anything particularly important going on in there. Well, obviously it was based on how many people had been in there, listening like it was the most amazing speech they've ever heard before, but she was sure someone would be willing to offer Thor a summary later. "Where the hell are your Avengers?" She'd brought them up to Loki's room, which was empty and far enough away that they could talk loudly without being overheard.

At first it had looked like Thor was going to argue with Miriam, but after hearing her question, his face twisted up in confusion. "My Avengers? Why are they my Avengers?"

"Well I certainly don't want them if they're not even capable of keeping themselves from being disappeared."

Thor frowned. "What are you talking about? Which of them is missing?"

Miriam sighed. "All of them, apparently. I was hoping that you'd know something about it, but apparently disappointment is something I should start learning to expect."

Of course that brought a troubled look to Thor's face. He couldn't be happy to learn that some of his close friends had dropped off the map. They could be anywhere, with anyone, having anything done to them, and that was a pretty worrisome thought. "That is not our only problem at the moment," he said quietly, or at least as quietly as was possible for the Asgardian. "My people were not gathered in the throne room for a joyous event. We are being held hostage. The others are all hiding in their homes, hoping that the trouble won't spread to them."

"What? Who could hold a room full of stubborn butt-heads like the Asgardians hostage? And why? What do they want from you guys?"

Thor hesitated for a moment before answering. "You probably won't like the answer to that. Men claiming to work for Thanos came to herald his arrival. They got here early this morning, ordered everyone in the palace to gather in one room, and said that Thanos would be here soon. We don't yet know what they want, but it isn't looking good."

Miriam crossed her arms over her chest. "And are you going to explain to me why a room full of hundreds of your people can't fight back against a couple of intruders?"

Thor sighed, and he looked his age for once. "We have not been given the chance to talk amongst ourselves to form any sort of plan. But even if we just rushed them, and managed to take them down, it won't stop Thanos from coming here, and would probably only make him more angry to see his people hurt. Now you must take me back to the throne room before anyone notices my absence, and then go back to Midgard and search for the Avengers. They need you."

That sounded tempting, but Miriam wasn't going to just run away. She knew Thor wanted to get her far away before Thanos arrived, which was sweet of him, but she couldn't just leave. "You need me too. None of you stand a chance against Thanos. At least I can try and stand up against him. You're my… friend, Thor, and I'm not just going to abandon you. Is Loki down in the throne room too? He could make an illusion that the two of you are still down there while the three of us actually discuss a solution up here."

Thor's frown deepened. "I am unsure of where my brother is. When you left after returning from retrieving the aether, he was disappointed, and holed himself up in his room for a while. Then he said he had important business to take care of, and took off a couple weeks ago. And before you ask, no, there's no chance that he went to Midgard to kidnap the Avengers. Please just return me to the throne room. I don't wish to abandon my people or cause them any trouble by leaving them."

Well this certainly wasn't ideal. But Miriam wasn't going to just take off either. Of course she was worried about the Avengers, but they'd already been missing for a month, and if they were still alive, then they could survive a few more days wherever they were. Thanos was the much more immediate, and intimidating, threat. The stories that had been passed around about him did not make him out to be a pleasant person in any way, no matter how many good memories Miriam had of the Eternal.

She grabbed Thor's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before bringing them back down to the throne room. She closed her eyes to concentrate so that she could make sure they ended up in the exact same spots they'd taken off from, since that was probably the only open space in the room at this point.

A moment later, there were lots of loud gasps, and Miriam quickly opened her eyes to see what the problem was. Oh, yeah, that would be a problem. Despite how little standing space there had been earlier, all of the Asgardians had managed to press themselves up against the walls, clearing a space in the center of the room. Which was exactly where Miriam and Thor had just appeared.

She wanted to apologize to the Asgardians for kidnapping their prince- and boy wasn't it a strange day where Miriam of all people was willing to apologize to the Asgardians about anything at all. But before she could, there was a loud, achingly familiar voice. "Prince of Asgard! What is the meaning of this?"

Thor and Miriam both whipped around, and while Miriam wasn't sure of what it was that Thor and the others saw, she knew immediately what she was looking at. There was Ar'iaal, looking so stupidly perfect despite the anger on his face. She took a hesitant step forward, and it was so obvious the moment that Ar'iaal actually saw Miriam, because it felt like the whole world froze around them. As their eyes met, a flurry of emotions rushed across Ar'iaal's face, and then he stared at her like he was seeing a ghost.

And suddenly Miriam wanted nothing more than to run forward and pull her best friend into a tight hug and never let ago. Sure, he'd done some awful, despicable, unexcusable things, but so had Miriam. She was no better than him just because her good period came after the bad while Ar'iaal was vice versa. She opened her mouth to say something, anything. To beg forgiveness or demand an apology for him or ask why he'd left her behind. Or maybe just punch him in the face for stealing her name and leaving her for dead.

But before she could even make up her mind about what she wanted to do or say now that she was finally standing in front of Ar'iaal again, he pointed to her with a look of fury that could not be rivaled. "Kill that imposter immediately!"