One Day At A Time

by PettyWhiteRose

With the Battle for New York over, Steve Rogers continues to learn about his new life. Loki is chained in a Midgardian cell, his magic stripped away, his mind muddled by Thanos. The one thing they have in common is the interest of a certain mutant woman who likes to interfere in both their lives. Well. She calls it helping. Sequel to "Learning The Ropes" Movieverse AU. No Slash.

37. Chapter 37 S: R & R

"Good one," Steve congratulated as Loki helped him up yet again.

"Your feet shouldn't be so exposed," the demigod replied flatly. His face fell just a bit. "I had similar trouble when I was training as a warrior."

"What did you do?" Steve asked.

Loki let him go and started unwrapping the protectors from his hands. "I discovered I would like to live through any battles I encounter, and began to act accordingly. I don't know what you'll do."

"I'll live." When did we go into life-or-death? "I don't want to die."

Loki glanced back with a grin. "You don't generally lie, and not well, so I can see you believe that. It would be more convincing if you'd support your words with the pillars of action. Coffee?"

"Coffee. Your place. I'm out of food again."

It was weird, Steve thought as they walked home in the early morning light, how much tearing the team apart had brought them all together. Loki hadn't gotten angry once in the days since their return. To normalcy, Steve hoped. But normal had taken on a new definition.

"… even think about it." Elle's voice ordered from behind the closed door.

Steve could hear her from the first flight of stairs. He slowed his steps, wondering if he should suggest a coffee shop. From the look on Loki's face, he'd discerned the argument already.

"I'll buy you a new one," Darren promised.

"No, shove it up your ass. I said don't put science in my kitchen."

"Cooking is one hundred percent science, dear."

"Well, go science at your house. Seriously."

"Love you. See you later?"

"Love you too. Stop breaking my apartment, though."

Darren met them outside the door. "Hey," he said, as though nothing was wrong.

"What did you do?" Loki asked.

"I… wondered if radiation would have the same effect on magic-infused palladium." The younger man dug into his pocket and handed Loki a couple of bills. "For when she decides to buy a new microwave," he explained.

Hopefully, Steve thought, one with a lock. He left Loki to jibe Darren a couple more times, and entered the acrid apartment.

It wasn't the same place it had been before Elle was taken. Darren practically lived here, and evidence of that lay in the various experiments left in different stages on the end table, island, and kitchen counter. There was also a lot of… stuff. Three computers— laptops for different reasons like gaming and science and miscellaneous hacking— and another block of a computer that didn't come with a screen, so the TV was now the screen, and the living room was only inhabitable if one knew how to navigate the wires crossing the wood floor.

Elle was stressed by the disarray. Clearly, with inhalations so sharp she coughed on them, and reminders to Darren to pick up after himself. And so was Loki, minus the reminders and the choking. But both of them had somehow managed this long under the pressure. Steve thought that Darren's days away researching might have helped with this. That and the fact that Elle hadn't been sleeping well at all, and Darren was more than willing to help her with that. But, Steve thought, still. The Stark had made this mess in the span of a few nights.

"Can you throw this out the fucking window?" Elle requested, whacking the smoking, once-white box hard enough to dent the top. "Ow." She coughed into her shirt collar.

"That seems dangerous," Steve said. A knot tightened in his chest; a sign of Eleanore's tension. "I'll carry it down to the dumpster."

"No," Elle said. "There are sanitation protocols." She slammed the microwave door, but it didn't hinge, so it hit her on the elbow when she tried to walk away.

"Are you fighting inanimate objects, now?" Loki asked, finally coming in the door. He brought a wave of fresh air that swept the smell out of the apartment to… somewhere.

"Yes," Elle decided. "Yeah. Will you help me?"

This request was for both men.

"Help you what?" Steve asked.

"I'm not destroying the machine further," Loki said.

"Help me get this shit out of here," Elle clarified. She gestured to the entire apartment. "I can't… I can't do this. Thought I could. Can't. Can you help me get it over to the gym? Sorry, I know you just came from there."

"Sure," Steve answered right away. He caught himself and added, "I'll help," so Loki didn't feel spoken for.

But Loki raised a hand poised to snap. "Are you certain?"

Elle nodded. "Can you do it without breaking the stuff?"

"Yes." And then everything was gone. Everything but the normal stuff.

Steve breathed a sigh as the knot uncoiled in his chest. It did look so much better uncluttered, without smoking plates of battery acid corroding things off of things to get other things.

"Thank you," Elle said wearily.

Loki walked into the living room. "Don't let the boy drag more refuse in, if you want to thank me."

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They returned to the gym early that afternoon, rested from a morning of reading and an art project that had white paint trapped in Elle's hair.

"I'll scrape it off when I shower," she said, pulling the curls into a loose braid. "Let's kick some ass."

The new 'normal' had their smaller team learning from each other more urgently. Steve was working on helping Elle and Loki think like a unit instead of individuals on a battlefield. Elle explained first aid, especially for 'weak human bodies,' as she had taken to calling herself and civilians. Steve knew about spinal boards, sutures, CPR, and the difference between shock and a real wound at this point.

Loki brought his own experiences with fighting into the mix. "Dead."

"But I'm not," Elle protested, wiggling the knife he'd handed her.

"You would be in an instant. That's not how you hold a blade."

"I don't typically use knives."

"Well." Loki firmed up her right hand's grip and placed a guarding blade in her left. "You should be prepared for anything. No?"

"Yes. How do you throw these?"

"First, you learn to hold them. And you don't wake up at four in the morning to cry into hot cocoa."

"Hey."

Loki laughed. "Now you're pointing the knife correctly."

Steve joined the lesson when the banter got even snarkier. Loki placed a temporary spell over his skin that acted as a metal barrier.

"I can hear your minds working," the dark-haired man said as his eyes faded from glowing green back to blue-ish. "This is going to drain your strength considerably against a stronger foe. Best to let your physical armor take most of the force and leave the magic to me."

"That's almost a song," Elle informed them with a light cough at the end. She started humming.

Loki hit the hilt of one of the knives, popping it out of her hand and catching easily. "Dead. As is that music."

"Are you going to show me how not to be dead?"

"Yes. The first thing you both need to learn is how to dodge. I thought that was basic survival instinct, but it makes sense that you two do not have it."

Steve tossed his own knife around. "We lived this long."

Elle poked at him with the knife she still had. It glanced off the spell with sparks. "Huh. Neat."

Loki frowned at them meaningfully. "My proof."

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"You are diseased," Loki said when Elle coughed again for the third time that hour.

"I'm not. It's hay-fever or something. Allergies," she clarified.

Steve found himself siding with Loki. "I've had allergies. This isn't them."

Elle eyed the pot of stir fry she was making. "I'll cough on both your plates and we can see if this is contagious, then."

"Please don't," Steve said, just as Loki said, "I won't be brought low by a pitiful mortal ailment."

"You guys are a—" Elle couldn't finish her sentence because she started coughing again.

Steve surreptitiously Googled her symptoms. He found results ranging from a common cold to TB to cancer, of course. "Why don't we visit Bruce just to get checked out?"

"Because I was there like four days ago. It's fine, Steve. Australia dust in my nose or something."

"Well, you look awful," Loki added.

Elle grinned at both of them. "I don't think that's anything new."

But she did look worse the next morning. Deep circles shaded below her eyes, and she moved painfully slow. And the cough was worse-sounding. Steve's mother would have said something like 'chest-deep'.

"She was up five times in the night just for the bathroom," Loki said. Then he closed his eyes, flipping a knife in his hand before hurling it into a bullseye across the target floor. "I never thought I would be reporting a mortal's bathroom habits."

"I'm glad you're keeping track," Steve said. "Better than me camping in the hallway."

"For so many reasons."

And Elle didn't improve with the day, even though they stayed at home most of the time. She tried to mask it behind reading and stillness, but she couldn't hide her discomfort during their sparring practice.

"You can go home," Steve offered. "We can go home. It's alright for one day."

"No, I'm learning," Elle insisted. "Look, this is cool." She tried to flip the knife between her fingers like Loki sometimes did.

The demigod popped it away yet again. "The goal is to avoid blood spurting from blade wounds."

"Yeah." Elle stifled another hack. "Thanks."

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"Is Eleanore… okay?" Pepper Potts asked Steve the next morning in Tony's lab.

Steve watched Elle cough, wipe her eyes, cough again, and swig water from her thermos full of ice. Loki teased her about it, while Darren rubbed her shoulder in concern. "I was hoping Bruce would decide that," he said.

Pepper— a really kind, generous, smart woman Steve had only recently gotten to meet— looked at the ceiling. "Jarvis? Could you ask Bruce to join us please?"

"Of course, Miss Potts."

"That was a good idea," Pepper complimented Steve. "Elle doesn't really listen to us that much, but she might listen to a doctor. You know, not a Tony-type of doctor. Good thing he's out with Natasha and Clint."

"It was Loki's idea," Steve admitted. "He brought all three of us here today."

"Huh," Pepper said. "I can approve of that kind of sneakiness."

"What kind of sneakiness?" Bruce asked, disembarking from the elevator.

"The kind where you go look at Eleanore for like one second and tell her she's sick," Pepper told him.

Bruce adjusted his glasses. "Wow, yeah, she does look bad. Sounds like it could be moving down already. I'll call in a 'scrip. Steve, when did this start?"

"Yesterday."

"Huh. Okay. Well, we'll get this medicine delivered, and then I recommend staying at home. Actually sounds like—"

A flash lit the sunny afternoon outside the lab's windows. The entire building shook.

"Is this cesium again?" Elle asked Darren.

"No, those experiments ended weeks ago," Darren replied.

Everyone rushed to the windows to gaze one hundred floors down to the streets.

"I can't even see—" Elle was saying when another bolt rattled the windows.

"It's coming from a mile in that direction," Loki said.

"Eyes in the sky Jarvis," Pepper requested.

A few drones— red and gold and small— disembarked from the Tower's lower levels. They whirred up the street until the screens in the lab lit with a glowing, arcing man.

"Is that the Magician?" Elle asked.

Steve noted Jet uncoiling from around her neck, where the dragon had taken up residence as a constant snake necklace since she got home.

"This isn't really magic," Loki said. "It's energy. I think not."

"Either way," Steve said, resigned, "let's suit up."

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"You guys sure…?" Bruce asked through the comms.

"We're alright," Elle assured him. "Right, Steve?"

"So far," Steve agreed, trying not to squeeze her middle too hard as Jet winged them through the sky.

They landed on a side street next to a police car. Jet puffed air over Eleanore once before surging upward again.

"Evacuation and containment," Steve reminded everyone with a hand to his ear.

"Containment is going to be an issue," Loki reported flatly. "Your newest problem has found an energy source."

The comms crackled. So did the power lines around them, sizzling until they snapped and flailed.

"Listen to this," Darren said.

Another voice took over. "The time has come for mortal men to kneel before the might of Vulcan!"

Elle scrunched her face. "Wow. Real Witch King mistake. I think I can just whack this guy, if he isn't aware women exist."

"We can whack him together," Steve offered. "First, let's get the civilians out of the way."

This was easier than they thought. It was a Sunday, and few of the office buildings were inhabited. Steve and Elle found a few overtime workers and sent them in the direction of local law enforcement and paramedics. They slowly worked their way closer to the actual fight.

"Steve!"

He didn't see the tank of a man coming until two walls blasted past. Steve threw himself off the guy, caught his breath, and watched his legs crumple as Elle clenched her fist.

"Thanks," Steve said. "We'll watch for more."

Elle knelt on the guy's chest. "Are there more of you? How many?"

The man spit at her, but it hit her helmet's visor.

"Cool," Elle said dryly. "Definitely going to let your legs heal at a normal pace now."

"I've got this phasing guy taking out cop cars," Darren informed them.

"One messing with wires in the traffic lights," Bruce added. "I can't tell if he's some kind of mutant or just… oh. He's melting the poles."

Steve and Elle finally emerged to the crumbling landscape.

"Found the pole melty guy!" Elle crowed, racing off.

Steve found the phasing-through-cop-cars guy. He was… not a guy, actually. Just a large woman in baggy clothes who tried to go through Steve and ended up knocking herself out on his shield.

"What even is vibranium?!" Darren asked, landing next to him.

Steve shrugged. "Aren't you supposed to know?"

Darren folded his mask back. "Huh. Well, no one else knows either. I mean, my grandpa made it into a Frisbee."

"If you're quite finished," Loki said, "Stark, your pitiful magic might actually help."

"That bad?" Steve asked. He started sprinting toward Loki after he zip-tied the phase lady's wrists to a pole. Hopefully SHIELD, en-route from their hidden New York facility, could find a way to contain her.

"Just stay away," Loki dismissed.

Steve didn't exactly listen. At all. And neither did the rest of the team. Elle joined him just around the corner from the blasts.

She bent double, hands on her knees. "What can we do?"

"People deep inside the brown building to my right are shouting about injuries," Loki informed them in a disinterested tone. Steve saw him targeting the Vulcan guy, who was shooting beams of energy into the foundations of every structure in sight.

Another brawny henchman shouted as he leapt over a dump truck. Elle flicked her hand to knock him back in midair, and Steve finished the job when the guy got up again. The 'Frisbee' was coming in handy today. He handcuffed the guy and raced over, coming around behind Loki's huge, golden, glowing magic shield to present less of a distraction. "I'm on my way in."

"Same," Elle said shortly.

"You guys are clear to enter. The building looks sound." Darren spoke up as Steve waited for Elle to join him. Steve was getting better about waiting for backup, as long as backup came quickly. He had to be a good example, or Loki and Elle would both throw it in his face.

Elle kept her helmet up, nodding at Steve as she came up beside him. They walked together into the darkened building.

"Must have cut the power," she observed quietly, digging in the medical bag for a tiny flashlight that she handed to Steve. "How loud can you yell?"

"Pretty loud."

"Then announce us, please," the regal tone had him grinning, even though he knew they'd find an injury ahead of them somewhere.

"This is Captain America!" Steve tried, not really sure what the people would respond to. "I have a medic here to help you out! We need your location!"

Silence followed his words, and the crumbling of plaster was all Steve's ears picked up.

"Loki, are you sure we went in the right building?" Eleanore asked, bringing a finger to where her ear would be.

"You doubt my superior hearing? I'm hurt." The crackling sounds on Loki's end were, Steve knew, caused by the huge amounts of energy the demigod was wrestling with. "I definitely heard screaming and pleas for assistance from that building. I also just heard the announcement of Captain America and company. So patriotic."

"We'll find them then," Steve assured him, not wanting Loki distracted with so much at stake. Vulcan was proving to be more of a problem than they had anticipated, since half their team was gone on another mission. Tony, Natasha, and Barton were on their way back from rounding up a terrorist group in a small village in France. Bruce was on standby at the Tower because Steve hadn't wanted to bring him close to a simple one-on-four fight. Of course, with the mutant henchmen, things were much more complicated.

"Heat readings toward the middle of the building," Eleanore informed him, moving ahead. Steve shone the light on the floor for her and tried to listen for any signs of life as they gingerly picked their way across the rubble-strewn tiles. It was only a three-story building in the riverside factory district, but it held offices with people inside. Or at least that was the working theory.

"Elevator?" he suggested, spotting the partially open metal box just twenty feet ahead.

"We can try it. My sensor is all wonky."

"Hello?" Steve stepped around Eleanore, wary of an ambush. There was no answer, and he stuck first his shield hand, then the flashlight inside the doors. Seeing nothing, he pulled them apart to reveal a collapsed woman with blood trailing from a glass shard in her thigh.

"Take it easy." Elle was already stepping around him, squeezing through the small opening. Steve stood watch at the door as she went to work, talking to the woman as she sat her up, looked in her eyes, examined the wound. "Okay, this is going to hurt. Steve, can you hold her still?"

"What are you doing?" the lady panicked, breathing faster and scrambling to her feet. Steve stepped closer, but he didn't reach for her. "You can't pull it out! I've seen the shows!"

"Ma'am, I'm a professional," Eleanore stayed calm, holding out her hands. "I'll get you healed up before you bleed out."

"Oh, you're that one." The woman snarled, recognition distorting her features with hatefulness. She braced herself against the wall and tried to stand. "I don't need your help. I'm getting out of here."

"Ruffian heading into your area," Loki informed them. "Not very threatening, but he has a gun and a backpack."

"Roger that," Steve responded, looking around and shining the flashlight across the limited space. His view was blocked by walls and two large pillars for the most part, but he didn't' hear any footsteps either.

"Don't go onto the street," Eleanore cautioned, even as the woman pushed her out of the way. Steve let her hobble by him, feeling anger rising over the 'that one' comment. "Look, Captain America is here. He'll help, and I won't even touch you." Elle stepped forward, raising her hands in surrender.

"Stay away from me, freak!" the woman shrieked, backing across the hall, hand on her side. Steve shone the light so she could see where she was going, even though what he really wanted to do was leave her behind and get out of the building. Or worse. Captain America helped everyone, but Steve Rogers didn't always like it.

"Go that way." Elle was still directing her away from the energy battle, pointing to the back exit that led into an alley. There was darkness in both directions, but that was this lady's best bet.

Something clicked off to Steve's left, and his eyes were drawn to the red glow of LED's shining at the base of a pillar fifty feet away, footsteps receding back toward the entrance. The clock was facing away from them, but Steve could make out the variations in brightness that meant a countdown. Backpack…

"Elle, down!" He didn't wait, didn't bother about the woman who was now stumbling to the back of the building, except to throw the flashlight ahead of her. He pushed Eleanore back into the elevator and hauled the door shut as quickly as he could, crouching and bringing his shield up above their heads.

"Steve, what the hell?" Elle asked, her voice still coming through the helmet. "Steve?" the click of her mask, a breath across his face, and she was shaking his arm. "Steve, answer me!"

"There's a bomb out there," Steve forced out, muscles still clenched in anticipation. "That guy's backpack."

"Are you… sure?" She sounded concerned more than afraid.

"I'm sure. It just hasn't gone off yet. Put your helmet back on." Steve was already feeling kind of ridiculous. They could probably have run out of the building by now. That hobbling mutant hater was likely long gone to find some human paramedics and expensive healthcare.

"Okay, what ti—" Elle was asking, ignoring his helmet order, when a roaring flash of heat rocked their metal container. Steve heard cables snapping, then a feeling of weightlessness had him holding Eleanore close in midair and rolling so his back could take the hit when they stopped falling. He held his shield above them with one arm in case the ceiling fell.

The drop wasn't bad, only fourteen feet or so, and the elevator absorbed a lot of the shock of impact. The building was still cracking around them, but they were in a strategic location: a metal box surrounded by mortar walls in the basement of a three-story building. As long as only the top floors collapsed, they should survive. Still, as soon as he landed he shoved Elle into a corner and crouched over her with his shield once again. Now there were three barriers protecting her at least, not including her suit. Was her helmet still down? He felt with one gloved hand and found her hair and ear, so he crouched closer.

"Helmet!" he tried to shout over the falling rubble. To his satisfaction, he felt the metal come up to encase her head once more.

The noise gradually subsided, going from more explosions to tumbling rocks to clattering metal to whispers of dust in a matter of moments.

"Steve? Elle? Can you hear me?" Darren's worried voice cut through the comlinks as Steve's ears readjusted to the quiet.

"We're here," he confirmed. "Elle, sound off."

"I'm fine, nothing hurt." She put a hand on his shoulder and pushed gently, so he moved out of her way. "Looking for my med bag for a flashlight," she explained, both to him and the people on the other end of the line.

"What's your status out there?" Steve asked, listening to her slowly feeling around the floor. A click sounded, and then white light made him flinch and blink.

"Vulcan is still putting up a fight," Darren informed them. "I think you guys exploding was supposed to be a distraction. Loki and Jet are attacking from every angle, and I'm shielding civilians, but he's just redirecting the energy. It's kind of a stalemate, but with lots of damage."

"I do not see you attempting to alleviate our situation," Loki remarked, sounding out of breath and frustrated. "Would not the green monster break through this more quickly?"

"You're right." Steve nodded, even though only Elle, sitting in the middle of the floor and checking over her supplies, could see him. "Darren, call in Banner."

"What about you guys? A building collapsed on you." While Darren's voice had lost its worried edge, Steve knew he'd still be itching to rescue them.

"We're good to wait." Elle spoke up this time, looking up and around through her helmet. "We're in the elevator, and it's holding up really well. Seems like we'd actually be okay for days. I'm going to shut off this light to conserve power."

"Prepare to wait, then. I will not be retrieving you any time soon." Loki remarked. Steve saw Elle shaking her head, and his imagination supplied the accompanying eye roll. Then she reached down and clicked off the flashlight, leaving them in darkness again.

"Keep your coms on, we'll update you." Darren was more helpful, as always. "I'm going to call in Bruce and direct him, though, so speak up if you get into trouble."

"Got it," Steve acknowledged, and the comlink went silent. He pulled his own hood-helmet off and ran a gloved hand through his hair.

"So, are you really okay?" Eleanore's muted voice approached him, and she sat down against the wall Steve leaned on.

"Yeah, just a few bruises." Steve chose to be truthful, since there was nothing very worrying about their situation at all. He wished to be out and in the battle, calling shots, protecting people, but at least they were safe in this trap. He had to keep thinking of things to be thankful for. It helped pull his mind from dark thoughts.

Eleanore was quiet for a long moment. Suddenly, Steve heard her shifting convulsively, and he reversed his thankful thoughts.

"Elle? Talk to me. Jarvis, put down her helmet." He reached out and caught what he hoped was her arm, but she just kept shaking in a familiar pattern. A metallic series of snaps, and a rasping, hacking cough filled the previously quiet space, echoing off the walls in strange patterns.

"—fine— just dust." Elle grabbed his hand and pushed something small into it. Steve messed with it and clicked on the tiny flashlight, finding her bent double on all fours, one hand on her chest. She spat a wad of mucus onto the floor, almost falling over in the process. "Water," she forced out, then kept choking, sounding and looking like she was coughing up a lung.

Steve pulled her bag over and found one of the tiny metal bottles she kept in the outer pockets. "Here," he held it out, and she held her breath long enough for a quick drink. Her coughing slowed and quieted until she was gasping for air.

"Look at me," Steve did what she would do if their situations were reversed. He set the flashlight on the ground and crooked a finger under her chin, turning her to face him. Flushed cheeks, labored breathing, hands shaking, tired…

"Bronchitis," Eleanore supplied, leaning sideways against the wall. "It's not dangerous. Or contagious. Don't—" she coughed again, less loudly, and sighed. "Don't worry."

"You knew this and went into battle." Steve had had bronchitis before, back before the serum. It shortened his breath to the point he couldn't walk up stairs. Bucky had brought him his homework the days he stayed away from school for lack of air.

"I was with Jet." Elle met his eyes defiantly, and Steve felt real anger directed toward her for the first time.

"You're not with him now. You're in danger now. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm not in danger, I'm in an elevator." Another cough wracked the small space. Elle wiped tears away, leaving brown, dusty tracks down her cheeks.

"You should be at home."

"I don't agree." She was unapologetic, lips drawn in a thin line, chin stuck into a stubborn angle, eyes wide, eyebrow raised.

"You put the team in danger." He was trying to get her to see his side, but he felt the futility of the situation as she doubled over again for almost a minute.

"I helped the team, actually. It's not even that bad. I self-diagnosed, and it's early stages." She straightened and retorted, voice weaker, attitude stronger. "Besides, if I stay home so does Jet. And we needed him for this one."

Steve figured that that explanation was as close as she would get to remorse. Another round of hacking took over so he put aside his argument, saving it for later, and gave her another drink.

"Here, sit back." He propped her against the wall and knelt in front of her, going through the medical bag. He found lots of bandages, gauze, supportive tape, a rolled-up blanket, a suture kit, antiseptic, aspirin, ibuprofen, a couple full sized bottles of water, syringes of adrenaline, and epinephrine. "None of this really helps."

"Give me the ibuprofen," she held out her hand and he placed one of the two-pill packets into it. "It will reduce swelling, at least."

"At least." Steve was still angry as he watched her nonchalantly swallow the pills and sit back, because the swelling was in her lungs. "Wait a second. Here." He pulled a handkerchief out of one of his pockets, careful to keep it clean, and poured water on it as they'd done in smoky buildings back in the War. "Dust mask."

"Thanks," Elle took it and placed it over her nose and mouth. "We should turn the flashlight off," she suggested. "Save battery."

"Didn't Stark Industries make this?" Steve examined the tiny plastic cylinder. It didn't have a logo on it.

"No, you threw that one after that…" she searched for the right word to describe the awful woman, "civilian. This is my backup that I usually use because I don't care if it breaks."

"Why'd you give me the good one, then?" Steve shut off the light, plunging them back into dusty darkness as he spoke.

"Because I use the crappy one. I thought, hey, I'll let my good friend Steve use the nice one. Not like he'll break it or throw it or a—" she dissolved again into choking convulsions. "This is why we can't have nice things."

"You sound… your breathing is still awful," Steve said bluntly, listening to the crackle of her lungs with every inhalation. It brought up memories of his mother's worried face, of cold washcloths and steaming pans of water that he had to crouch over with a towel on his head.

"I can't stop breathing," Elle responded sarcastically.

Steve rolled his eyes and sat next to her against the wall, putting things back into her pack the way he'd found them. "Just don't talk a lot." He advised. He remembered his mom saying that, that the vibration of the vocal chords could cause more coughing.

"Darren would laugh." Elle kept her response short, biting back another spasm, or maybe a chuckle.

"The whole team would," Steve agreed, knowing what she meant. Tony called her 'princess' quite a bit, not because she was royal. "I'll talk instead. Don't interrupt me." She told Darren that all the time, since the youngest Stark had quick ideas coming into his mind even as she spoke to him.

"Yes sir."

Steve was suddenly at a loss for things to say. Not that he didn't also give speeches to the team, handing out more orders than Eleanore, but she'd heard a lot of his opinions already. He didn't want to repeat himself with old war stories like a real 'old man.' He started sorting through recent events, coming up against a wave of frustration as he thought of the fact she shouldn't even be in this situation. A lecture, though, would make her respond, and he really did want to help keep her quiet.

"Will you tell me about boot camp?" she asked suddenly, her voice subdued.

"Sure," he hadn't talked at length about his life pre-serum, unless it was to mention very specific memories that came up in modern situations. He'd always figured people wouldn't care, since Captain America was born in the lab, and Steve Rogers was just a kid from Brooklyn. "It was in New Jersey. They closed it." He could still picture the dusty training ground shifting in the morning sun as his oxygen levels dropped from a lack of air. Peggy and the sergeant yelling at them as they did push-ups and ran endless miles in heavy boots and packs.

"Tough?" Elle asked, her breathing slowed and more even.

"I didn't think I had a prayer. All the other guys were already strong. There was this one guy, Hodge. I thought for sure they'd pick him." Steve kept his personal feelings about Hodge to himself, not wanting to speak ill of an old, probably dead, man.

"They were always going to pick you."

"Thanks, but you're not supposed to be talking, remember?" Steve grinned into the darkness at the annoyed sigh she gave in reply.

"Hulk's taking out henchmen left and right," Darren reported, sounding distracted. "But we've got bigger problems. Vulcan smashed into a large electrical substation and he's really bulked up on its power." There was a pause filled with static and yelling. Then Darren came back, sounding more strained than ever. "He's even gotten through Jet's defenses, and one wing is ripped. No flight. He and Loki are holding Vulcan in one place, but I don't know how long that'll last."

"Get Hulk to charge straight at Vulcan," Steve ordered urgently. "You attack from behind and above. Take him down."

"Jarvis, display available cameras in a hologram," Elle said quietly, holding out her hand. A bluish-white screen lit up from her palm, illuminating the room, showing Darren's point of view, a couple of Stark camera drones, and the situation from Jet's saddle side by side. She rested her arm on a bent knee and together they watched the bright flashes of energy, the smoke curling around Jet's hurt wing.

There were glimpses of Vulcan wielding white power tinged with red. He looked unharmed, and his expression was one of calm concentration. He was in an open area, at least, away from large crowds of evacuating civilians. The tendrils of electricity didn't reach far, and the most property that was being damaged were a few fences and the windowless side of an abandoned factory. Steve took a second to feel proud of his team, whose main concern was always protecting anyone they could.

Darren's camera was moving past tall buildings, landing right beside the Hulk as he smashed one of the henchmen through the sidewalk. The green giant gazed down at him until a silent order was given. Then they both took off back toward the main battle.

A drone switched from Vulcan to check on Loki, and Elle let out a startled gasp, the handkerchief mask falling forgotten to the ground. The dark-haired man was wavering, almost shivering, dripping sweat as he held back massive waves of lightning-fast attacks. They couldn't hear anything from him, so his com was probably fried. His teeth were bared in a savage grimace, and he looked like he was yelling from time to time, whether in frustration or effort Steve couldn't tell. Loki was usually so ridiculously strong and unflappable… Now his eyes burned golden-green with magic and he looked like he was about to collapse. Every once in a while, he dodged around a bolt and sent his throwing knives or a blast of his own to attempt an end to the assault, but Vulcan didn't spare them a glance. His energy shield ate them up in flames and sparks.

Jet looked even worse when a camera cut to him. His left wing wasn't just ripped, the skin at its tip was gone, exposing glowing white bones and crusted blue blood. He wasn't moving well, crouched as close to Loki as he could get, letting barrage after barrage of blue flames block blasts that would head toward the closest buildings and the demigod. His orange scales were dulled with dust, his tail lashing angrily like Charlie's did when he was playful. Loki yelled something at him, and he bounded off to attack from another angle about fifty meters away.

Darren hovered behind Vulcan and used both technology and magic to try to distract the criminal's attention from the demigod and the dragon. It wasn't working. Missiles and bullets only seemed to redirect or disappear, and Darren's magic was barely enough to deflect attacks centered on himself. Vulcan largely ignored him.

Steve squinted against the sudden light as Vulcan drew all his power inward for a moment, then let it loose in a huge, directed storm with two beams that went right for Darren and Jet.

"No, no, no, nononono," Elle whispered, leaning forward. Her eyes were wide and glassy with unshed tears. Steve didn't have time to reassure her, and he didn't know how he would. This was more than they'd ever bargained for.

The screen cleared to show all three of them still alive, with Jet and Darren unharmed. Loki, however, fell to his hands and knees, his head bowed, limbs shaking. His hands were steaming, and they looked… gray. Steve realized he'd shielded himself and the other two, or else they'd be seeing two dead bodies and one standing demigod. Loki looked up at Darren, straight into the camera, and his mouth formed one word: "Go."

Vulcan sent one last stream forward from his hands, and Loki was tossed through the air like a convulsing rag doll. He landed hard and slid to a stop in the middle of the torn up street. His eyes were closed, and Steve couldn't see if he was breathing or not. His body was smoking like a fog machine.

Vulcan turned and prepared to vaporize Jet and Darren when Hulk finally tore into view, launching into the electric hub and smashing the mutant man into the ground with two well-placed punches. Vulcan blasted him back and then it was an even match, with Hulk rushing in and Vulcan deflecting him with ever-increasing blasts.

"Anyone call for a brilliant inventor?" Tony's voice suddenly cut in, and his camera was added to the display.

"Stark," Steve said, his throat dry with strain and dust.

"Tony, do you have something?" Elle asked breathlessly, her eyes still trained on the battle.

"I have lots of things. I'm a billionaire." Tony pointed out glibly. "But just for you, I have a superconductor that'll take this guy's energy and release it all at once into the atmosphere."

"Oh, thank god." Elle sighed quietly.

"You have to be quick," Steve said. "We've been fighting Vulcan for an hour, and he's only gotten stronger."

"Quick is… not what I'm known for, if you know what I mean." Steve rolled his eyes as Tony flew into a drone's view, then launched upward. He was almost out of sight, high above the ground, when he started diving. He aimed as he went, holding a huge silver chunk of technology with six clawing arms out in front of him. "Everyone clear out!"

Tony slammed into Vulcan's back just as Hulk moved away. The claws took hold, gripping the mutant's chest and back, sucking in the energy around him. Tony flew backward and crouched over Loki's prone form just as the drones were turned to dust by a blast of energy that shot straight into the sky. Some of it dispersed and drew clouds over the entire horizon. Lightning flashed and rain started almost immediately. Vulcan was left lying in the wreckage of the substation, quivering and otherwise immobile.

"Darren, get Hill to send agents to collect him," Steve ordered, wanting the damn criminal in custody already.

"And get us the fuck out of here," Elle said frantically, fidgeting in frustration. Steve couldn't blame her.

"Hulk's heading over," Darren said. His camera showed him landing, stumbling over to where his father was still acting as a human shelter over Loki's body. "Loki's breathing, barely. Smells like he got burned, but I can't see anything yet. And some of his blades are right here," Darren's finger pointed to Loki's shoulders, chest, abdomen, thighs where the knives were buried up to their handles.

"Leave those alone," Elle commanded. Above their heads, rocks shifted and roars became closer and closer. "Darren, keep him still and keep the rain off him." She got up and put on her pack in the light of the still-shining holographic screen. Steve rose as well, picking up his now-muddy hankie and putting it back in his pocket. "Are you okay? Is Jet?"

"I'm fine, just tired," Darren reported. "Jet's right here." The camera moved in an arch, picking up first the tip of an undamaged wing deflecting raindrops from the crouched Avengers, the webbing of bones and veins as lightning flashed behind it, and a scaly side complete with legs and claws.

The ceiling of their elevator dented. Two sets of fingers punched through it, and then it was gone. Hulk stood above them, an accomplished smile on his face.

"Thanks, buddy," Elle said, reaching up with one arm to be lifted onto the building's rubble. Steve was last, and he surfaced next to an impatient Eleanore, bouncing precariously on the balls of her feet. "Can you get us over there?" she asked their panting teammate.

Hulk grunted and picked her up in one arm like a baby. He held the other arm out, but Steve stepped back and shook his head.

"Thanks, I'll walk. Meet you there." He wiped the drops of rain away with one gloved hand as his two friends bounded away in one gargantuan leap. Steve sighed, his chest tightening in anticipation for what he'd find when he reached them. He started leaping, too, from rock to angled rock until he was on the cracked street.

They weren't far away, only about a block. It felt good to sprint that distance after so much tense stillness. White light was glowing over Loki's exposed chest, where the embedded knives were surrounded by blistered burn marks. Their metal had acted as a conductor, sending the energy straight through Loki's body instead of just hitting him bluntly. When Steve walked up, Eleanore was pulling a knife out. No blood came with it, only cauterized flesh. Darren hadn't exaggerated the smell.

Loki's skin was fading to gray right before Steve's eyes. His features were slack. The lack of expression made him into an unfamiliar, passive version of the demigod they'd come to know. Black, vine-like things roped up his chest to his neck and arms, down to his hands, which were purple and black with swollen bruising.

"Pulse weak, breathing labored, unresponsive…" Elle was muttering, her suit discarded completely in favor of bare hands and comfortable clothes. Darren was right beside her, looking half-asleep and worried at the same time. Tony was standing, helmetless, just outside the shelter of Jet's wing watching Vulcan's still form just a few meters away. Hulk had wandered off to turn back into Bruce.

"Neck and spine intact, regular brain activity, at least for a human… I think." Elle continued rambling through her thoughts. Thunder roared overhead. The storm was gaining strength. "Steve, hold his head still in case he moves. Tony, I need some light here. Shit, it looks like he's getting worse. Loki, can you hear me? Try to focus on breathing. Darren, rest for—"

She was doling out professional-sounding orders that gained in urgency when a burst of energy crashed down only twenty feet away. Steve smelled ozone, heard panicked shouting, shielded Loki with his kneeling body, and tried to see through the spots dancing in his eyes.

There were two Asgardians standing on a patterned circle that was burned into the ground. One was a guard, complete with the spear and sword and aloof expression Steve remembered from the golden palace. The other was a woman clad in draped white, wearing a concerned look and carrying a large, brown leather bag. They walked forward hurriedly, and the woman went directly to Eleanore shoving the bag into her hands.

"Healing supplies," she explained. "I will show you how to use them."

"What the— okay." Elle adapted quickly, picking up the first object the other woman handed her. It was a tiny silver disk ringed with ridges.

"Place that on his temple to fully sedate," the woman ordered. When Elle complied and the disk lit up and stuck to Loki's skin, the woman offered a silver tube with several needles set into its end like a rounded fork. "Right into his heart."

Elle didn't hesitate, stabbing Loki in the chest with all the force she could muster and emptying the tube with the plunger. "What's that do?"

"It promotes the healing process," the woman in white explained. She got out a vial and a piece of cloth and handed both to Steve. "Captain, pour this liquid onto the cloth and press it to his lips. Only a few drops at a time."

Steve did as he was asked. The stuff smelled like some unfamiliar sort of mint, but it was bright yellow and almost the consistency of warm honey. "What's this do?" he asked, both out of curiosity and because he knew Elle was wondering.

"It will give him strength. Now," the woman patiently brought a small golden device with cords coiling out of it into view. She gave it to Eleanore. "One in each shoulder, two in his chest, one in his stomach."

Elle stuck the cords, which turned out to have barbed sorts of needles on their ends, to Loki's skin. "Stabilization?"

"Yes, very good." The woman gave a short smile and reached back into the bag. "These are the final touch. Healing stones. Used for open wounds of a non-fatal nature." She gave a rock to Eleanore. "Crumble it slowly and sprinkle the bits into the wounds." Elle did, and a bright blue glow swallowed each in turn, leaving regular, unblemished skin. The deep bruises remained, along with some of the deeper burns, but it was a definite improvement. "Over his legs as well. The stones will remove obstructions." They did, making each knife withdraw and clatter to the ground until there were just rips in the armor's material over still-gray skin.

"Holy shit," Tony muttered, still shining a beam on the scene. Steve had to agree, although he wished cursing wasn't Asgard's first impression of modern Earth.

"I will leave these extra stones with you." The woman rose and left the bag beside Eleanore. "Prince Loki should wake within a day, though he will be exhausted and very much weakened. Take the sedation disk off his head when you get him somewhere safe. Do not allow him to exert himself for a week, at least. He should not perform or handle any magic for that amount of time as well. Forgive our abrupt introduction. My name is Eir, first healer of Asgard's royal infirmary. My companion is Yngvar, second leader of the Einherjar."

"I'm Eleanore Engman," Elle started, staying close to Loki, one hand on his chest to measure his breathing. "This is Captain Steve Rogers, Tony and Darren Stark, and Jet."

"It is an honor to meet all of you," Eir said. "If circumstances allowed, I would enjoy knowing you further. As it stands, however, my orders are to return immediately to Asgard."

The guard, Yngvar, just watched them, glancing back at the circle from time to time and giving Jet a weird glare laden with distrust.

"Is everything okay?" Elle asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Asgard is well," Yngvar spoke for the first time in a deep baritone. "The Allfather simply wishes us to have no personal interaction with the traitor prince."

Did he really just say that? Steve stood up and turned to face them, feeling anger burning his lungs. "You're right, you should go." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, counting down from twenty. Ten was too short to keep him from saying something they'd all regret.

"And don't come back if you're going to talk about him like that." Eleanore had never been one for counting. Steve glanced at her and saw defensive anger shooting figurative sparks from her eyes. Elle would get mad or sad about cruel insults to herself if she didn't just brush them off, but she got over them quickly. Insults to her friends, however, were fought with venom and not easily forgiven. Steve doubted Yngvar would ever get respect from her again, even if she lived another thousand years.

Eir nodded, something like amusement or pride hiding behind her bland expression. "The equipment will last your lifetime at least, and if you need more healing stones, simply ask. Use them on your friends, but sparingly, in place of your own powers. It was an honor to work alongside you, Lady Eleanore. Farewell." With that, another beam descended through the clouds and took them back to the golden city.

The yellow stuff was almost gone. Steve poured the rest of it onto the cloth and finished wringing it out slowly. He timed the drops carefully so Loki wouldn't choke.

Elle checked Loki's vitals manually and breathed a sigh of relief. "Eir was cool, but that guy was an asswipe."

"Thought you were gonna rip his head off, Princess," Tony chuckled. Elle gave him a light version of the look and he cleared his throat. "He totally deserved it, of course."

"Of course," Darren agreed with a relieved grin. He placed his hand on Elle's shoulder. "So is Loki going to be okay?"

"Seems like it," Elle said, taking the wrinkled cloth from Steve and sniffing it. "Do you think this is Nectar or Ambrosia?"

"Wrong mythology," Tony shook his head. "Maybe it's Idunn's apple juice."

Steve cut in before they could get into a discussion about it. "Should we move him someplace more comfortable?"

"We called a medic team, but all of SHIELD's are working with civilians," Darren said. "This was a bad one."

"If we had a quinjet, we could get him to the infirmary." Elle looked Loki over. "Steve and I should stay with him if we do that, in case he freaks out when he wakes up."

"We could take him home," Steve suggested. "He's stable, and it's familiar."

"Still, how do we get him there?" Elle asked, frowning at the drizzle.

"A Stark quinjet is on the way." Tony held up a GPS map that showed a rapidly-moving dot. "It'll hover over your roof for five minutes, then return to the hangar."

"Perfect, thanks Tony." Eleanore smiled and stood. "Jet, let me have a look at that wing." She walked around the dragon and out of sight, leaving Steve kneeling beside Loki. A moment later she returned, looking tired already. "There we go."

There was a whirring noise and the quinjet landed. Tony stood, metal suit clanking. "I'll take Bruce back to the Tower. Darren, you coming?"

"Yeah," Darren stood up and kissed Elle on the forehead. "Let me know if you need anything. See you on Friday? Love you. Bye, Steve." He folded his helmet back up, picked up Loki's discarded upper armor, and took off with his dad, heading back home.

"So I'll go get a gurney, then we'll put him on the plane," Elle planned, dashing off without waiting for acknowledgment. She returned in a minute, rolling the black and silver bed with white sheets.

They got Loki situated gently, and secured the gurney in the plane. Jet turned back into a dog and hopped in beside them, curling up and falling asleep immediately. Steve sank into a seat with a sigh as the hatch closed and they rose off the ground. The autopilot was set for a round trip, and all they had to do was relax.

Elle checked Loki's vitals one more time before she sat beside Steve with a quiet cough. "This is the second time he's been injured on one of these things. That was scary."

"Yeah," he agreed. He forgave her, then, for putting herself at risk in the battle. Loki really had needed her, and she'd done a lot of good otherwise. Saved a lot of people. "You did well under pressure, though."

"Thanks. You did well not yelling at that jerk of a guard."

"Figured I'd let you handle that," Steve joked, earning a chuckle.

Elle smiled for a moment, then furrowed her brow with a frown. "I don't know what he's going to do when we let him go."

"He might go to another realm— not Asgard."

"That's the dumbest thing ever. Why would his parents not try to make a better place for him to come home to?" She was getting angry again, and frustrated.

"They might be trying. Don't worry about it yet," Steve advised. "People as a large group are slow to change."

"Especially when they're immortal, self-righteous—"

"— People who can hear you all the time," Steve reminded her.

"Only one of them," she protested. "Did you see Vulcan get taken away?"

"No," Steve tried to recall. "He might still be there."

"That might be against regulation," Elle grinned, then devolved into tired giggles. "Can't let the poor guy get all rainy."

Steve shared the smile, then put a hand up to his ear. "Jarvis, can you connect me to Agent Hill?"

"Right away, sir." There was a moment of silence, then a ring. "Hill."

"This is Rogers. Do you have the Vulcan in custody?"

"We…" Hill trailed off. "Captain, we thought he was with the Starks."

"No, Darren asked you to pick him up."

Hill's voice moved away from the phone. "I need eyes on Vulcan now… What do you mean where? Check with Tony Stark right now. Fuck." She came back, "Captain, he's not there."

"He was paralyzed," Steve retorted. "Where could he go?"

"We'll figure it out. For now, stay on high alert. We'll send agents to guard your building, and more to search. I'll keep you updated. Talk to you soon." Hill hung up, leaving Steve staring at his hands in shock. They'd lost the only guy who could take Loki out. Someone else had him, and it wasn't anyone affiliated with SHIELD.

"What happened?" Elle asked. Steve told her, and her expression changed from disbelief to horror. "God damn it."

"I know." He looked over at Loki. "We really have to stay with him, now. The whole team does. No more battles apart. Vulcan could show up any time and do the same or worse."

Elle nodded thoughtfully, still angry. "Or the Magician. Or whoever. Here." She reached around and got the brown leather bag out. "Take some healing stones. Did you see how she used the equipment?"

"Yeah." Steve pocketed three ordinary-looking rocks. He could feel worry coiling in his stomach, not his own. "We'll figure this out, Elle."

"I know." She drew her knees up to her chest. "We should probably try to stop making enemies though."

"We can try that," Steve agreed. He looked Loki over again. One former enemy among many. This one had saved their lives today. Many, many lives, in fact. "One day at a time, right?"

Elle nodded, resting her chin on her knees. "One day at a time."

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A/N: Action! Also, lights and cameras. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I have a large part of the next one written, so I hope to update again this week.

Lily Noir: Thank you for your reviews! I'm so glad you enjoyed each chapter! I hope this answered where Jet has been. He's a dragon, but my take on dragons is that they're reptiles, and they conserve energy as much as they can, so he doesn't participate a ton. Now, of course, he sticks a little closer.

Vendetta: I'm so glad you liked FitzSimmons! I love them in AOS, and I always thought they should show up a bit in the movies and that the movie characters should show up in the show.

Everyone Else: Thanks for reading! It's always great to hear your thoughts. Please rate and review!

Disclaimer for the sake of disclaimers: I only own my original characters. Any works or characters mentioned in this story are property of their producers, namely Marvel.

~PettyWhiteRose