Still a bit shaken agent Coulson ran his hand over his short hair and touched his tie, watching at his own reflections from the elevator's reflecting wall. He couldn't be happier to have his own form again since Loki's spell had worn off the moment he had walked out from his prison. He was cautiously surprised that director Fury and agent Romanoff had believed him and set him free. Apparently they had already been aware that Loki had escaped with Emma Morgan before they had come down in the prison section picking him up.

"How could you tell it was me?" Coulson asked from Fury and agent Romanoff who stood next to him in the elevator.

"Call it a hunch," Fury said in a dry tone. But he was glad that agent Coulson was alright. Loki could have done more harm to him than just locked him up and change his appearance.

An uneasy grin visited Natasha's face as she glanced at Coulson. "Yeah, and we got some proof on that. With all due respect, sir, if you would grab my ass I would elbow you in the face instead," she said, handing him a SHIELD tablet before Coulson had a chance to ask what on earth did she mean by that.

Phil Coulson stared down at the small screen that was showing a video clip from that same elevator where their fake doubles performed a school example of sexsual harassment at work; someone looking like Coulson grabbing from Romanoff's ass and she elbowing him into stomach.

Coulson knew the moment he saw the video that those two were Loki and Emma in their disguises, and the STRIKE guy next to them in full gears had to be Logan. "This is not me," he clarified hastily. "It's Loki and Emma…"

"I know," Fury grunted. "But what I don't know is that how the hell did they manage to escape? We are in one of the most secured places in this country and yet they slipped through our fingers. They had help. This guy here," he continued pointing at the mystery man in the video. "Who is he?"

Coulson looked suffering, letting out a quiet hesitating 'er', knowing his decisions had gone beyond the margin of error. "He is Wolverine, sir."

Nick Fury blinked his one good eye staring at agent Coulson. "Come again!"

"Logan, sir. One of the X-men…"

"Yeah, I know damn well who Wolverine is," Fury gasped. "But what in the name of Almighty was he doing here? Why was I not informed?"

Coulson grimaced mildly as his gaze wandered on the bullet holes on the walls. Someone should have fixed those already!

"Sir… Emma Morgan is Logan's daughter. They had never had any contact to each other before. I admit I made a mistake by bringing him here but I honestly believed that her meeting with her father would have helped her to…"

"Wait! What? You brought Logan here? Oh, for years I have been hoping that he wouldn't cause us any reason to go after him. I would hate to go dealing with him!"

"Should I know about him?" Natasha asked, puzzled.

"You don't want to even meet this guy. He's a nasty one. He simply won't die. Hang on! Did you just say that Emma Morgan is his kid?"

"Yes, sir."

"That would explain a few things for sure."

They walked out from the elevator into the great hall and walked side by side along the hall.

"Sir, I'll take full responsibility of this mess. I know you have always trusted my judgement, and I'm afraid in this case I might have gone more or less against my better judgement. You'll have my resignation on your desk at the end of this day."

Fury stopped walking and faced Coulson greatly confused. "Whoa-whoa-whoa! I don't want you to quit, Coulson!" Fury protested loudly. "I won't accept you resignation. That's not an option. I want you to help me fixing this problem. You are one of my best men. You're the one who keeps it cool when there's a shit storm raging."

"I don't know about that anymore, sir. I messed up."

Fury stared at Coulson giving the man a pat on the arm. "I need you!" he said emphasising the matter with full eye contact. "You are my one good eye."

"Speaking about a storm, we're fully operational again, sir," Natasha informed.

Coulson was filled in with the latest events with Thor helping Loki while they went to the parking house checking another mess that was left behind by the runaways. The rest of the STRIKE team was down and the question was why they had been trying to stop Loki without their combat gears and especially without Fury's orders. Why the surveillance cameras were turned off again when things had gotten messy? There where too many questions left without answers. Phil Coulson also learned that his precious, leased company car lied now on the bottom of the river since Thor had smashed the bridge in half under it. Coulson found it shocking that Thor, of all people, had turned against them.

They were on the move again as they reached back to the great hall from the parking house.

"So, we're back in the square one. Loki and Morgan are on the loose. Assumingly Thor is helping them now and so it this Wolverine character. We are following every traffic and surveillance camera in case they would pop up from somewhere. There has been no trace of them after they drove to North from here. Our tactical teams are out there trying to find them but it is like if finding a needle in a haystack. I guess Loki pulled another trick from his sleeve to hide them from us," Natasha went over about what they knew and sighed. "Local forces are informed and told to stay back and let us know if they see anything."

"Coulson, you said that Thor wouldn't be a problem," Fury recalled.

"I did, sir. He gave an oath to protect Earth."

"From himself too, huh? You mentioned that Thor became acquainted with a woman in New Mexico?"

"Er… yes. An astronomer called Jane Foster. Apparently they became close. Thor asked us to see that she is safe when we were searching for Loki. I believe that she was set on a tour, lecturing about her research of… wormholes?"

"I want agents trailing her. We'll bring her in. If Thor wants to play this game then we'll raise the stakes high enough."

Coulson heaved a worried sigh. "Yes, sir."

"If Thor and Loki are actually working together now, I've got this nasty feeling that I know what they are after," Fury grunted.

Coulson gulped. "The Tesseract, sir?"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

Natasha Romanoff looked slightly worried. "Are they able to find it, sir?"

"I hope not."

"What happens if they do?"

Fury stopped walking and looked more annoyed than worried about this mess. "That thing contains unlimited energy, enough to blow up a few planets for starters. I don't want to even think it as on option that Loki would find it. We won't let him!"

Natasha swallowed. "Well, it's a relief that you're not worried, sir."

"We have no afford to be worried. We'll find them and we'll stop them with extreme measures if that's what it takes."

Agent Coulson seemed to be million miles away, slipped deep into his thoughts. At first thinking that Loki had tried to pull the information of the Tesseract's location out of him and then recalling that Emma Morgan had actually saved his life. He had seen the bodies of the killed STRIKE agents down in the parking house right next to the empty parking space of his car. And he felt partly guilty of those deaths. He had already kind of trusted Emma Morgan. And what was funny about that; a part of him still did, hoping she would do the right thing eventually.

"She questioned my life's choices," Coulson pondered in a silent voice, staring down at the floor. "She said I should quit my job, get married and raise kids…"

Fury and Romanoff both turned their puzzled gaze at him, the question 'what the hell?' hanging in the air without a voice.

"Alright, now I'm worried!" Fury murmured. "You're alright there, Phil?" Fury asked cautiously his voice pitching with growing concern.

"Ever since I joined SHIELD I've never questioned why we're doing this. I've always believed that we are protecting lives, doing the right thing, doing something that matters. I'm dedicated to this job. It determinates who I am. Please tell me we still are the good guys, sir," Coulson said as if struggling with the monumental questions of life.

"Of course we are. We're the kings of the good guys. Look, I understand this has been a tough case. You need to talk with someone? Maybe a few days off would do you some good?" Fury asked and Coulson only shook his head.

"I'm fine, sir."

"Did Loki mess with your head too?" Natasha asked genuine worry in her voice.

A small smile lifted the corner of Coulson's mouth. "It takes more than a god lacking conviction to mess my mind," he assured but then his face turned darker. "But Loki tried to make me tell the whereabouts of the Tesseract. When I refused he was going to kill me. Against all odds Emma Morgan stopped him. She talked him out of it. She was very determined. And she made him to drop his intentions, whatever they were, with the Tesseract. Needless to say but she saved my life. Actually twice today."

Fury had a hard time believing that. "Are you talking about the same Emma Morgan with ice claws, who killed our men? She helped you?"

"She's not our enemy. She is just lost. She has developed some trust issues but…"

"Yeah, she's got a lot of issues," Romanoff added, giving a questioning sideways glance at Coulson.

"It was so hard to build her trust but we reached a turning point," Coulson said defensively. "She already kind of joined us and accepted our training before Logan returned to bust her out. Yes, it is Loki who we should be worried about but can't you see, sir, that she is the reason why Loki has been holding back whatever his plans were for Earth. They two have a connection. So, frankly, sir, maybe I'm not objective when it comes to her but I don't want to lock her up like you do. I want to train her to become one of us. She has so much potential. Sir, I'm talking about the Avengers initiative here…"

"Yeah? I think she's already chosen her side. You know she would be a risk investment; a loose cannon. Why do I get this feeling that maybe it was not Loki who messed your head? Maybe it was her. I strongly recommend you to take those few days off, agent Coulson."

Natasha Romanoff noticed Tony Stark coming along, dragging his suit behind him. It was dripping wet, leaving a small stream of water on the floor. "Oh-oh! An angry, playboy-millionaire alert!" she grimaced.

Tony Stark dropped his damaged suit in the middle of the floor as he saw the talking agents and power walked to them with a foul expression. "Oh, you're the ones I wanted to see. This just got personal! Thor destroyed my Mark 6 prototype! What are you going to do about it?"

"We have bigger problems than your suit, Stark," Fury grunted. "If you didn't notice they destroyed a bit more than just your suit!"

"Without my suits there is no Ironman!" Tony reminded and was about to protest of the lame compassion he had received when his phone gave a peep and he picked it up from his pocket.

At the same time Romanoff's phone signalled a text message.

"Did you just text me, agent Coulson?" Tony asked with an amused frown since Coulson never sent text messages. Not to him anyway. He read the short message aloud: "Loki escaped and locked me in his cell. Get your tin-ass down here and get me out of here! – Phil C." Tony grimaced slightly. "Ah…? That doesn't sound like you, Phil C."

Natasha tapped her finger against her phone, biting the inside of her cheek, reading her own message. "Mine's nearly the same, except it has an additional PS; When this is over you wanna go for a cup of coffee with me, doll?" she read it aloud and lifted her questioning gaze at Coulson and he winced. "Um… sorry, sir. I never date my bosses."

Being a victim of a minor identity theft Coulson was too professional to be awkward. He was only surprised since he hadn't sent those messages but he had a pretty good hunch who had. "Ms. Morgan took my phone! She sent those messages," Coulson realized, being touched by her concern for his welfare and annoyed of her meddling with his personal life.

"She wanted to make sure you'll go free? Well, I'll be damned! I'm almost starting to like her. It seems you made an impression on her after all, agent Coulson. Doesn't this make you think that she wants to get caught?" Fury asked and picked up his phone, contacting the tech-department. "I want Coulson's phone tracked! Right now!"

"I'm already on it!" Tony said, asking Jarvis for tracing it, being one step ahead already.

Then Fury's phone signalled a message, and with an amusedly curious expression Fury opened it as the sender was 'Coulson' again. After checking his message, he lifted his worry-filled gaze from his phone's screen at Coulson. "You should see this."

"Sir, what is it now?" Coulson asked, getting concerned.

Fury showed him the message containing a photo of an official SHIELD document and a text saying;

'Hydra tried to kill agent Coulson for this! Secretary Pierce is somehow involved!'

Phil Coulson went quiet, reading the message again. "An authorization agreement for Emma Morgan's relocation? I've never wrote this. Her relocation was supposed to be fully classified, without the paper work. Who ordered this? Did Pierce know about it?"

"Not from me," Fury assured him. "What the hell is going on?"

"Got it!" Tony smirked with a glee of a vengeful brat, turning back at the others. "Agent Coulson's phone has been tracked. What are we waiting for?"

Maria Hill rushed through the crowd to Fury and the others carrying a special secured laptop. "Sir!" she shouted from a distance and was slightly panting as the got to them.

"Tell me you've got some good news," Fury asked cautiously.

Right after the incident in the Helicarrier he had asked one nerd from the tech-team to fix the problem (on the quiet) with the security cameras if the cams were turned off for an unspecific reason.

"Sir, here are all the footage from the parking house. And I mean all of it. It is in an encrypted form and will open only with your identifications."

"Good. Now I can show you what kind of cold-blooded nutcase your girl Morgan really is," Fury promised to Coulson.

… …

Only half an hour later Fury's SHIELD team had pulled over an old, red Dodge pick-up truck near the town of Baltimore heading east. The young male driver was blissfully ignorant for the reason why he had been pulled over and treated like a worst criminal.

The tracked signal of Coulson's mobile phone had led them on to that specific vehicle and the heavily armed agents had secured the perimeter, creating road blocks and security checkpoints on the roads. But there was no sign of the runaways. That much Coulson had predicted. He knew that Ms. Morgan would have gotten rid of his phone and they had to expand the searching range at least 80 miles.

Agent Coulson stood next to Fury on the side of a freeway under darkening sky as a younger male agent finally brought him an envelope that had his name handwritten on it:

To Agent Phil Coulson, SHIELD, Washington D.C.

So much trouble for his mobile phone that was sealed inside of that simple white envelope and hide on the back of the pick-up truck under the bed cover.

Coulson turned the envelope in his hands. It was the same he had given to Emma Morgan earlier on that day with her new IDs on it. It had the small SHIELD logo on the other side and a handwritten word 'Sorry' with a drawn smiley face as if for a small consolation for their troubles.

Fury shook his head but broke into a tired chuckle, staring down at the envelope as Coulson opened it and picked up his phone from it.

"Do you find this funny, sir?" Coulson asked, bemused.

There was also a folded paper inside the envelope. The same document she had sent with the message to Fury's mobile phone.

"Yes, because once we'll find Emma Morgan, I'll personally make sure that she will learn the concept of being sorry for letting Loki out and forcing us to chase them across the country," Fury promised and went talking to the driver of the pick-up truck for some more information.

When checking his phone, Coulson took note that he had one missed call. He had also received a new voicemail and he sat on the backseat of one of the agents SUV's to hear the message better.

"Hi. It's me."

Coulson's ears sharpened as he recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to Emma Morgan and he could hear sorry and hesitation in her voice. Greatly surprised to hear from her, he pulled the door close to block out the commotion of the road.

"I hope you'll get to hear this and you're alright. I'm not really sure why am I doing this but I guess I'm trying to make up the mess we left behind. Look, I know you don't believe me but we wanted to get out without anyone getting hurt. Those guys in the parking house; they weren't there to stop us. They didn't even know that it was us. They were there to get you. They were Hydra. That document that they wanted you to sign should explain things a bit. They were going to kill you for protecting me. Luckily it was Loki and me instead of you in there…" Her voice quivered as she heaved a sigh and it sounded that it wasn't easy for her to continue.

"Agent Coulson, I'm sorry I got you in trouble. I didn't realize how fucked up the situation was with Hydra in there. And I'm so sorry for letting you down. You're a good guy. Maybe you're a bit of a stoic but you have a heart unlike those other assholes there. You saw something in me. Something that I wish I could have lived up to. So, I wanted to give you a heads-up. I really hope it's not too late. I fear that Hydra is after you now. Those STRIKE guys mentioned someone called Pierce, secretary or something. Don't know if he's a friend of yours but I wouldn't turn my back on him if I were you. Seriously, I think you should get out from that place and away from those people. You're in danger. Fake your own death and move to Caribbean or Tahiti, or anywhere far away from them. You're the James Bond, you figure out something. I don't want you getting hurt because of me. Too many already has… and I have to somehow learn to live with that. Shit! I totally messed things up this time."

Coulson heard Logan's voice on the background shouting 'Come on, kid!'

"Yeah, I'll be right there," she spoke off the phone and then continued the voicemail, her voice sounding a bit brighter. "So, I have someone to call a father now. I owe you thanks for that. Oh, and… um, sorry about your car. It was Thor by the way who broke the bridge. Blame him. Loki and I had nothing to do with that. Don't worry about us. We'll be good. I'll make sure Loki behaves from now on. He's not into that world domination anymore. He's cool." She took a breath and her voice sounded sad as she continued. "So, this is the last goodbye. Please, don't get this wrong, but I really hope we don't see each other again. Buy, Coulson. This is me dropping the mic."

The voicemail ended and the dumbfounding silence filled the car. Coulson realized that the message he just heard was actually received two hours ago. So, they had to be already far beyond of their searching range, he realized.

Coulson put his phone down and stared a moment out through the side window at the agents swarming on the road, taking in what she had said in her message. He checked the folded paper in the envelope again, the authorisation paper that could have cost his life.

Earlier during their Quinjet ride at the site, he had seen the footage of the parking house cameras that were believed to been turned off. And the truth of the happenings in the parking house left his speechless. It had very much looked like the STRIKE team had been there to kill him and agent Romanoff. And it highly seemed that Emma Morgan (and Loki) had saved his life for the third time on that same day.

Fury pulled a door open and sat next to Coulson on the backseat, they both staring straight ahead, upset and tired like to two old men.

"They are at least two hours ahead of us, sir," agent Coulson informed glumly. That was nothing new anymore!

Fury heaved an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, that's what I figured. I talked with the driver of the pick-up truck. He told that he saw a girl matching Morgan's descriptions on a gas station in Great Falls. That's only a stone thrown away from Washington. She had ditched your phone long before we received any of those texts. Must have been some kind of delayed message system?"

"Yeah. It was nice of her to left me a voicemail, though," Coulson said and handed his phone to Fury and let him to listen it. "She doesn't sound like a cold-blooded nutcase to you, does she?"

Fury took the phone and listened, taking his time. Then he turned his eye at Coulson. "Now you're just bragging off, Coulson!"

"Sir?"

"Well, this asshole admits that he was wrong and you were right about her. You saw something in her all right, something I missed because I was so damn concentrated with Loki and his schemes. Hydra has been on our midst all along. And Emma Morgan lured them out because they really wanted her back and I don't even dare to imagine why. It sounds like your time spent with her didn't go all waste. You got through to her. She trusts you and apparently in some level cares. She wouldn't have sent those messages otherwise. We need to bring her back."

"I agree, sir."

"Oh, hell! If you'll convince her to return and switch onto our side, we'll make her an 'Avenger'."

Agent Coulson smiled contently. That's had been his plan all along. "That's a deal, sir!"

"She also had another good point; if Hydra is after you, you're in danger. We can't take a risk on that," Fury explained and pulled out his gun, taking out the magazine and changing it to another from his pocket with blue-headed ammos. Coulson watched him playing with his gun, understanding what was he planning as he handed him a couple of exploding "blood-patches" to hide under his shirt. "How do you feel about making a scene, agent Coulson?"

Coulson grimaced. "I would rather not, sir."

"Well, your life depends on it. So make it happen. That's an order! You're going to Tahiti for a few days," Fury said and got out of the car.

As agent Coulson was about to follow his boss out to fake his own death, his mobile phone rang in his hand and he answered it, sitting back down, absent-minded. "Coulson."

The voice on the other end was quiet and hesitating, a faint woman's voice. "Mr. Coulson?"

The female's voice sounded very familiar to him. "Ms. Morgan?" he asked hopefully, believing it was Emma because she sounded exactly like her and he had to cover his other ear to hear her better.

She was quiet for a moment. "This is Aileen Lange. You called me a couple of days ago and told me about Emily Morrison? "

It was Emma Morgan's mother! Coulson realized. The timing was horrible. He took a moment to consider his words, listening to her voice that had the same kind of rhythm and soft tone than Emma had but was more matured, and he found it pleasant. "Er… yes, Mrs. Lange. How can I help...?"

"Please tell me you are not of those people," she said interrupting him, a sharp edge in her voice, "who took her eight years ago."

"Mrs. Lange I assure to you that we're not. People responsible for that have been arrested years ago."

"When you called, I didn't believe you. I thought it was a cruel joke. I thought you were one of those monsters who took her and I went into a panic. Oh, god… I've been waiting and fearing for that call for eight years. Mr. Coulson, you said that I could see my daughter? That she needs me…"

"Yes, ma'am, but…"

"I want to see her now. I tried to reach you a few hours ago when my plain landed on Washington D.C. I had to arrange things, I have two small children. But I'm here now. I want to see my Emily. Just tell me the address and I'll be there."

Agent Coulson grimaced, feeling a sting in his heart, feeling that this case was getting under his skin too personally. That was a new thing to him. "Mrs. Lange, are you still at the airport? I could come to pick you up and we could talk face to face. I would rather not talk about this matter through phone. You see things got a bit complicated on our end here…"

"What do you mean? Is Emily all right? Has something happened to her?" she asked anxiety and worry returning into her voice.

"She's fine. She is all right," Coulson hurried to reassure her and thought a lie enough close to the truth to tell her. "But the thing is that… she is with her father right now since I couldn't reach you then. I'm sorry but she left from Washington today with him."

Silence answered back at him at first. "With… Logan? But how…?" she gasped. For six long seconds she couldn't get a word out of her mouth. "That's… ah… good, I think," she whispered in frustration before her voice broke into tears.

"Are you all right, Mrs. Lange?"

"No… No, I'm not. I came to see my daughter. And it's too late. I'm always too late." She was holding back her cry and thinking, pulling herself together. "How… how can I reach them?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't have Logan's current address, but we are doing our best to find them. Are you staying in DC? Do you think we could meet and talk later?"

"I… I suppose so."

… …

The evening was falling upon them under the darkening sky of West-Virginia as the sun had sunk behind the mountainous horizon. Logan kept driving his camper on small roads and avoiding bigger towns. Thanks to Loki's illusions they had managed out from the big city and slipped away from SHIELD with ease. But Logan knew too well that they weren't safe yet.

He had been thinking to take Emma and the Asgardians (like the E.T. boys had been calling themselves) to the X-mansion. But then he had reasoned that the Xavier's mansion was the first place SHIELD would be looking for them and he didn't want to put the mutant kids and his friend there in risk.

Thor was sitting next to Logan, in the front seat. The god of thunder glanced at his brother who sat on the back in the dim van with Emma holding her under his arm since she had fallen in sleep in Loki's arms after the hard day.

To Thor they seemed to be very much in love, and as if they would have been seamed together they shared slightly mischievous and ambiguous (even bawdy) sense of humour. They had been making fun about the size of his hammer and he hadn't quite follow it but he'd assumed it was some sort of jesting on his expense. And to his small disappointment, his title as the god of thunder aroused no respect or admiration among these two mortals. In fact Logan had dared to imply that Thor's powers were nothing special, that the man had a friend who could do the same; summon thunder and storms. Of course Thor wouldn't believe that. No mortal could have such powers that only belonged to a god.

Thor had to admit that he was getting a bit envious to his brother for that deep affection Loki and Emma shared and showed to one another. He couldn't help but to think of Jane while watching at them. He missed her and he kept thinking that he should pay her a visit before leaving Midgard. He owed her that, he had promised to return.

"It was very kind of you to give us a lift, Logan," Thor said then, trying to put a sparkle into a dried up conversation with the grumpy Claw-man. The man obviously hadn't forgiven him for smashing the roof of the campervan.

"Yeah," Logan murmured, not so eager having his little van suddenly so crowded. He glanced in the mirror, checking up on Emma who sat on the back in the arms of her alien boyfriend. They were a bit too close to one another for his taste. "So, is there somewhere I can drop you guys off?"

"Well, if it is not too much to ask then to the Mojave Desert, please," Thor answered, recalling Heimdall telling him that that's where the Tesseract was held by the SHIELD people.

Logan blew air out of his nose, amused. "Area 51? That was an alien joke, right?"

"No. I was being serious."

Logan knitted his brows giving the big blond a glance. "That's on the other side to the country. And this is a hell of a big country, bub!"

"There is this ancient Asgardian artefact that we need for getting back home, a transportation of some sort…" Thor explained, getting excited about the matter.

"So, you mean if you'll find that thing, you'll go home?"

"Yes, that was the plan."

"And you'll take this wiseass Prettyboy with you?" Logan asked, pointing his thumb behind him at Loki.

Thor turned at his brother again and met Loki's curious expression as though he had just paid attention to their conversation. "Well yes, if he wishes to come. That is up to him."

"He will!" Logan grinned wryly. "Sure. Why the hell not! I'll give you a lift there," he said, picking up his half smoked cigar from the ashtray, thinking that maybe this could prove out to be a good thing.

"You are not being overly kind just to get rid of me, are you, Logan?" Loki retorted quietly with a dry smile.

Logan snorted, chewing his cigar. "Yeah, that's the only reason I'm doing it, Loki!"

They were driving through a small town and Logan's camper needed refuelling so he pulled into a gas station. "Anyone hungry? Do you E.T. boys eat? Anything?" Logan asked and turned off the engine.

"Well, yes, but…" Thor begun but Logan wasn't really waiting for an answer.

"Great. I'll fill up and grab us something to eat. Hey, kid! Wake up! Keep an eye on these two, will you? I won't be long," Logan yelped at Emma, making sure she was awake before leaving her with those aliens.

Emma opened her eyes and smiled lazily as she met Loki's tender gaze, her head leaning against his shoulder. Logan's voice and him slamming the door close had awakened her but it was Loki who she saw. "Hi," she whispered to him and took his hand, having no hurry to move at all.

"Hi," Loki answered back softly, cradling her, his arm around her, his other hand's fingers interlocking with hers. "Slept well?"

"Hmm, yeah. This is the way I want to wake up every time," Emma sighed falling into his eyes, unsure the time of the day. All that mattered was that he was there with her now.

"Sitting uncomfortably inside of your father's old stinking van?" Loki suggested with a grin, stroking her back.

Emma grinned back at him making a quick check of her surroundings. She heard Logan filling up the tank. "As long as you're with me I don't mind if I'd wake up in a sewer."

"Oh, how lovely thought. A pity I cannot ever meet your high expectations."

They both laughed, and Thor cleared his throat to express his presence as it seemed they were going for a kiss. "Perhaps we should discuss about the quest of the Tesseract?" Thor suggested.

Emma puckered up her brows unpleased. She had so forgotten about the other godling who was hanging around with them now. "Or, we should wait until the dust has settled," she said turning towards Thor. "We stirred up a nasty hornet's nest. You said that SHIELD has that thing you want. We'll be having very angry agents up against us there."

"Emma, your Father already agreed to transport us across the country to it. I think we should waist no time."

"And I assume that you want to go there with 'a big boom', making your way through at least hundred of their best warriors?" Loki smirked dryly, knowing his brother style of handling tough situations.

"Actually no," Thor said quietly and moved towards the two, hunching down inside the van. His every step rocked the small camper. "I was thinking that maybe you could use your tricks so we could walk in without a battle?" he said in a conciliatory tone.

Loki gave him a surprised frown. That was the first time ever when Thor gave some recognition to his magical gifts and not making jests about it. "Where is the fun in that?"

"It may not be fun, but someone once said that a wise king never seeks out war…" Thor recalled his Father telling them once in their childhood.

"But he must always be ready for it," Loki continued, and the brothers stared each other in the eye significantly, those words bringing back some forgotten memories. "I thought we were going to do it like in Nornheim?"

A width grin spread on Thor's face. "We are. And as I recall you veiled us into a smoke, in Nornheim. Remember, my brother?"

Loki grinned back at him. That was the way he had recalled it, not Thor. "I only remember you being ridiculously nervous," he reminded like an annoying little brother, and they both chuckled.

"No, I was not nervous," Thor defended himself to Emma, feeling a need to explain when she watched at them two amused. "But I have to admit that there was this time once when Loki turned me into a frog… then I was a bit nervous."

So, that thing really had happened! Emma winced and gave him an uneasy smile. "Yeah, I know the feeling. He turned me into a sheep in England."

"Oh?" Thor turned at Loki again. "I knew it!"

Loki only smirked to them, taking pride in those good tricks.

And Emma watched at the both thinking that she should have given them some time to talk in private. "Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to… go," she said quietly and unbuckled her seatbelts.

"Where are you going?" Loki asked as she slipped on her feet between him and a small table. He got on his feet too, taking a hold of her hand. He didn't wish to stay there alone with Thor, ending up into a difficult talk with his brother. "You were not planning to send any more of those secret messages to that agent, were you?"

"I told you I just wanted to make sure he'll get free. That's all," Emma reassured and squeezed his hand with a smile as she moved to the door. "You two, try not to break anything, please. I have to answer the call of nature. I'll be right back."

She went out. And Loki smiled, bemuse, following her with his gaze through a tiny window as she went talking with Logan and then into the gas station.

"We are speaking the same language but some times I cannot understand the half of what she is saying to me," Loki pondered aloud.

Thor sat on a small sofa-kind of seat and watched at his brother with compassionate eyes. "But you do understand each other in some way?"

Loki turned back at Thor with a curious smile. "She understands me far better than anyone else."

"Maybe even worryingly too well. You two are playing the same game; resorting to lying and cheating when you see it fit," Thor said and got Loki's disapproving frown. "But even so, she has done the world of good to you. I have seen you with her, and it seems to me that you are a different man when you are with her. I see now that Father was right when he sent you here in Midgard."

A great confusion swept over Loki and he took a step closer to his brother. There weren't really many steps to take inside the small van but he wanted to get closer after Thor brought Odin into this conversation. His face darkened and so did his voice. "What do you mean; Odin sent me here?"

"Did you think it was pure luck you ended up here instead of being trapped in an endless void of space?" Thor asked and his question dumbfounded Loki who sat opposite him. "Loki, our Father used all the dark energy he could to guide you safely here. He said you need to find your own path, to find your bearings and become the man you are destined to be. I am sorry I came to spoil it for you when you were getting there on the right path on your own. I should have waited in Asgard as Father asked me."

"Odin sent me here?" Loki repeated, sounding almost angry, thinking about all the suffering he had gone through. The quickly risen darkness in his gaze was fading and was replaced by a sad smile. "He wanted me to find my way? And… to become what? A king? Or perhaps to learn some humanity? Oh, I know; to finally become an Asgardian self-centred, blood-thirsty brute?"

"Loki," Thor sighed stretching his name in a gently disapproving manner. "He wishes that you will learn to accept yourself as you are. And maybe, someday find your way back home again, to us. Father believes in you, Loki. And he loves you like he has always done. We all do. He wishes you to return. And so does Mother."

Loki opened his mouth to speak but was quiet for a moment, his gaze dropping down. "Why? Why would they want their unworthy son back?" His voice shivered. He nearly shivered. "Odin admitted he took me for only one purpose; to bring about an alliance with Jotuns. Now those plans buried and Jotunheim in ruin… Yes, I can imagine them welcoming me back home with open arms," he said sarcastically.

Thor leaned his arms against the table, watching into his brother's eyes with determination. "I swear to you, my brother, we can fix everything. Together."

Loki slumped back on his seat. "You are overly optimistic of this reunion."

"Well, Jotunheim still exists. We can make a new peace treaty with the Frost Giants. If they say no, I will let my hammer do the talking," Thor suggested and they exchanged slightly amused glances. "And once we find the Tesseract, I would be honoured if you would take it back home with me. Think, Loki. We could face everything side by side again. We can rebuild the Rainbow Bridge that was destroyed in our battle. Let that become a symbol of our new equal union."

Loki gave it a short thought, a small smile returning on his lips, but he didn't look happy. "It is too late. I have come to realize we never were and will never be equal. Soon you will take the throne and…"

"I don't want the throne!" Thor interrupted and Loki stared at him puzzled as he kept a small pause to think how to explain it. "I am not ready for it yet. Who am I fooling? I am not sure if I'll ever be."

"That is the one thing you have been waiting for your whole life!" Loki yelped with resent, his gaze nailed at Thor with a murderous gleam and his jaw clenched.

"Loki, I know," Thor said in conciliating tone. "I want more than ever to defend and protect Asgard and the Nine Realms but I understand it now that I cannot do that while sitting on the throne."

The emerald eyes narrowed curiously. "Is it because of the woman you love? You fear Odin forbids you to rule having her by your side?" Loki asked.

"This has nothing to do with Jane. I am not ready for the sacrifices… I cannot send our warriors into battle and stay behind. To rule Asgard… to have all that power… I fear it would change me too much. I would rather be a good man than a great king."

"Well…" Loki's shoulders relaxed and a funny twinkle filled his green eyes as he sank back into his seat. "If you feel unfitting for the job, I can take it off your hands. I do not want to brag but I gained some experience on that."

Thor frowned. "Yes, you surely did," he said blankly.

But then, little by little they both smiled and burst out laughing like in the good old days.

When Emma returned to the van she stayed a while outside, listening to the brothers' laughter and jovial chattering. She had been slightly worried while leaving them alone in the small campervan they could have easily broken in pieces in a minor fight. But it sounded that they were really getting along. And it made her very happy.

… …

Thanks for reading! So, there was a lot about SHIELD in this chapter. The next one will be concentrating more on Emma and Loki. And I'll try to get it updated soon, it's almost done.

Emma's mom was introduced in here quickly and I'd like to know if you are interested to learn her side of the story.

Also, I know that there are people who love Jane Foster and those who hate her. Which side are you on?

Thank you so much for the reviews and following. I will be answering to the reviews by PM from now on.

SenSen-Chan, I'm always so happy to receive your comments. Thank you! And you must be a bit of a psychic yourself since you're clearly predicting my next moves. ;)

Novachec, thank you again for you positively praising review. I'm so very happy if you like the story. Please, do let me know how am I doing in the future too.

Everybody stay safe!