Author's Note: Okay, so I had a bit of a hard time writing some scenes, but I finally finished this HUGE chapter! Because I just finished it and am posting it today, I might not get to post Monday, but hopefully, I will get hit by a wave of inspiration and will write hundreds of pages in five minutes! Inspiration should be coming soon...any minute now...any time...*cricket chirps* Okay, I also wanted to thank my readers for the wonderful and kind reviews I have received over the last few days! Reviews are probably the best thing you guys can do for authors, and it makes us feel so special, so thank you! I am so lucky to have wonderful readers like you! I did have a reader make a very good comment. Jingerr asked why reader didn't just ask Friday where the eastern lawn is to say goodbye to Thor and Loki in chapter 11. Well, I am here to say that I have a very important answer for you! The reason is...because...um...Tony?

Tony: There weren't any Friday ports around.

YES! There weren't any Friday ports around! Hopefully, my wonderful and well-thought-out-response answers your question! Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 32: Memories #6

The library is incredibly old. Not only does it look old, but it also smells old. And musty. Dust is constantly suspended in the air, made more obvious by the sunlight shinning in through the windows. But, above the slight tinge of mildew, you mostly smell old, crackly parchment. All of the books on the shelves look too fragile for anyone to open without having them crumble in their hands. But, you know better. The old, cracked, and ripped books have more strength than they show.

You pull out one, looking at the title before opening it. You scan the contents, holding the book with one hand and pushing hair out of your eyes with the other. You sigh as you don't see anything remotely close to what you are looking for. You feel frustration bloom to life inside of you. After all, Doctor Strange only brought you here to help you master the powers with the other Infinity Stones. Mostly, he has been teaching you to harness their powers instead of letting them take control over you. You are able to use the Mind Stone's power for more than just energy to destroy stuff (which is actually pretty cool). The last thing you managed to do was to make people feel different emotions. It is actually incredibly useful, which you didn't think it would be. Not only were you able to stop a few fights by making people feel calmer, but you also are able to make people laugh at your jokes. Bonus.

That hasn't been the only thing you learned to do though. As of late, you have been able to call on other Infinity Stones (not just the Mind Stone) to use their powers. Some of the Stones are too dangerous, but you did successfully teleport by borrowing the Tesseract's power. While the Mind Stone is part of you, the other Stones are more like neighbors, where you can walk over to their doors and ask to borrow something. Normally, the Stones give you their power willingly, but somedays, they seemed closed off. However, something has been bothering you lately: you can't feel the Power Stone as well. Sometimes, the Stones blink on and off, but the Power Stone usually pulses bright. Not only that, but the last time you sensed it, you could feel that someone was using it. You felt it being used a few months after SHIELD fell, but it was rather dormant since. This was worrying you. That is why you are in the library: looking for answers.

You were about to ask Doctor Strange, but he brushed past you, telling you that he had some important errands to run. You let him go since you still don't know him that much, and you don't want to push him. After all, when you first met him, you did freak a little at his magic and almost froze him in an ice-cube. Seriously, though, the guy creeped you out when he was in front of you, you turned, and he was behind you. Weird.

You reach your hand up to a book on the high shelf, when you stop. You hear something rattling down the hall. It is so quiet that you hold your breath so that you can hear it better. The rattling gets louder before stopping and starting again. You get down off of your tip-toes and peek out of the shelves. On the other side of the room, the magical artifacts move or twist or glow mysteriously. But, none of them are making the sound.

You look one way, before looking the other. Suddenly, you jumped back as an umbrella zips past the bookshelves, nearly taking your head off as it goes. You blink, before frowning and looking back out only to immediately pull back in before the now-racing-the-other-way umbrella almost spears you.

You raise your eyebrows before and adventurous grin breaks out on your face, and you follow the wayward umbrella. It has been too quiet lately, and you need an adventure, even if it is just chasing after an umbrella.

You follow the umbrellas path of broken glass, mayhem, and overall destruction. You jump over broken pedestals, climb over tipped bookshelves, and dodge falling debris.

Finally, it leads you to the main stairway. You jump down the stairs two at a time, before pausing in the middle of the grand-staircase. Your mouth drops open slightly as you see Doctor Strange standing next to a very familiar friend. You feel your heart lodge in your throat at the thought of a friend.

"Thor," you whisper, a desperate smile breaking out onto your face.

Thor smiles, his electric blue eyes brightening. "Y/N," he greets.

Before you stop yourself, or maybe you never wanted to stop, you rush forward and barrel into Thor, knocking him back a step. You almost feel a sob in your throat. "Oh man, Thor," you say quietly as he bear-hugs you back. You feel your spine crackle, and you sigh happily. Definitely a Thor hug. You pull back, looking up at the smiling yet slightly concerned face, and you realize that your vision is swirling. You quickly reach up a hand to wipe away a few stray tears.

Thor frowns in concern. "Y/N, what happened?" he asks, cupping your face for a second as he looks you up and down for injury.

Your face falls as you remember everything that has happened over the past month. Tony, Steve, the jail, and you are now a fugitive. "Too much," you say, almost sobbing again.

A slightly mischievous smile crosses Thor's features. "I think I might know what will cheer you up," he says. "I am going on an adventure to find my father. Would you like to come?"

You smile and almost laugh. "Yes, please!"

Doctor Strange clears his throat, and you look over, remembering that he is basically your teacher. "Oh, if it is okay with my schedule and you," you add.

Doctor Strange looks at the ceiling. "Oh, no need to worry. It's not like you would actually take my advice anyway," he says not bitterly. You hide a smile. When you first got here a month ago, you didn't take much of his teachings to heart, letting instinct guide your actions. Now, though, you are more receptive.

"Where are we going?" you ask Thor, bouncing up and down on the balls of your feet.

Thor points behind you, and you see a glowing, golden portal swirling. Looking in the middle of the spinning portal makes you dizzy, but you make out beautiful grassland. The tang of salt fills your nose as you get closer, and you breathe in deeply as you smell the sea. A soft, chilly wind blows out of the portal and brushes your hair away from your face.

"Can we get going?" you ask excitedly.

"Yes, oh, but, I will need my brother," Thor says quickly to Doctor Strange, giving you a worried side-glance.

You frown as what he says begins to register, but before you can comprehend it fully, Strange opens another whirling portal. Loki falls, screaming, onto the ground so hard that you feel it vibrate under your feet.

Flipping his hair out of his face, Loki growls, "I have been falling…for thirty minutes!"

Your eyes are wide as you stare at Loki. At first, you almost rush forward, but you feel as though a brick wall stops you and suspicion fills your mind. What is he doing here? Why…how is he alive? Part of you wants to rush over and hug him and cry, but another part of you is telling you that that is weak. What if he did that all on purpose? What if he hurt everyone just to get past their guards? What if he is still the Loki from Germany?

What if he's not?

What if he is?

What if he's not?

You are so torn that you simply stare at him as he gets up, his back still towards you. You look at Thor, betrayal in your eyes. "Thor," you breathe so softly that you can't even hear it.

However, Loki whirls around when he hears you, his eyes full of shock. You and he look each other up and down for a moment, neither quite sure what to do. Do you attack? Do you simply come up with a stinging retort? Surely, the least you should do is to slap him. Right?

"Thor," you say, ignoring the hitch in your voice.

Thor nervously looks up at you, shifting his weight from side to side. "Yes?" he asks tentatively.

"You remember when I said too much happened?" you ask thickly.

"Yes," he repeats.

"THIS ISN'T HELPING!" you shout at the top of your lungs, pointing at Loki. Right now, you have decided that what you are going to feel is anger. "What is going on? How are you alive?" you blurt out, so angry that your eyes glow. Literally. You stomp forward, one hand raising into the air as anger almost completely takes you over. Blue energy sweeps around your fingers, but you stop. You close your eyes a grit your jaw. You clench your hand into a fist, sucking the energy back into you. "You died…" you breathe hoarsely.

Loki purses his lips, and his eyes almost look regretful. "It…was a matter of perspective," he says.

"Don't Obi-wan me," you growl. Your eyes begin to glow with blue light again, and you quickly close them. Loki never knew about your power, and now he does.

Loki takes a step back, one eyebrow raised as he looks to where your power used to be.

"Don't even think about it," you sneer, turning on your heel.

"I wasn't," he says softly.

You halt in your tracks, trying to think of what to say. Again, you simply don't know what to think. You sigh, your shoulders falling as you rub a hand down your face. "Let's just find your guys' father," you say.

With that, you, Thor, and Loki walk through the portal.

As you walk through the portal, you think about the opportunity you lost. Honestly, it would be interesting to see Loki go up against Doctor Strange. You can't help but smile a bit when you remember him falling out of the portal. While Doctor Strange is incredibly talented, Loki has had literally centuries to perfect his magic. You also know that Loki isn't one to back down from a fight. Loki would probably do something like pull out knives, Thor would probably do the least he can to stop him, and Doctor Strange would probably like throw a portal at them. Probably.

You step out of the portal, and are hit with a blast of sea wind. It seems to wake you up, and you smile is the salty air brushes your hair from your face. The green grass around you rustles like an ocean of green, contrary to the blue one below. The fresh, cool air is very different from the stuffy, moldy air of the library. You feel like you haven't actually breathed in weeks.

About thirty feet ahead is a boulder where an old man with long white hair sits. He looks weak and frail, and he sways back and forth with the wind. You raise your eyebrows in surprise when you see him. He seems so different when last you saw him…but that was probably because his wife had just died. You gingerly reach your subconscious power towards his, and you suck in your breath as you realize the old king is dying. It saddens you. You had heard many stories about him from Thor, and you wish that you could have seen the honorable king at his best. You know that he had made mistakes as a father, but he had done what he could.

Thor strides forward and Loki tentatively follows. You stay back, not wanting to interrupt the brothers last time with their father. The thought saddens you. You know that there is much Odin wishes to tell both boys, you can feel a slight strain of regret in his emotions. You pull back your powers, knowing that if you read anything else, you would start crying. You also feel that Odin does not need you reading his emotions in his last moments.

"Father," Thor questions, sitting down on one side of Odin while Loki stiffly lowers himself on his other.

Odin seems to sense his sons' presence, but he doesn't move to acknowledge the word. "Look at this place," he breathes softly. "It's beautiful."

Thor casts a weary glance at Loki before trying again. "Father, it's us," he persists.

Odin heaves a long, heavy breath as though he has a mountain on his shoulders. "My sons," he greets quietly. "I've been waiting for you."

Loki blinks at the title and clenches his jaw. Thor, however, gains a hint of a smile before continuing. "I know. We've come to take you home."

"Home, yes. Your mother, she calls me," he sighs longingly at the memory of his wife. "Do you hear it?"

Loki sits stock still as you realize he knows what is happening. However, by the way Thor's eyes flick up and down his father, you guess that he is refusing it. A painful grimace crosses his face and he looks up at his brother. "Loki, lift your magic," he warns.

Loki looks at him, and you see the painful wistfulness on his face: he wishes it were his magic so that he could. His eyes are heavy with dark sorrow.

Odin smiles to himself. "Took me quite a while to beak free of your spell," he says, but he is not admonishing Loki. "Frigga would have been proud."

Loki's face is tight with emotion and you can feel the waves of anguish rolling off of him. Thor is beginning to build anger, but Odin calms him by putting his hand on his son's shoulder. "I don't have much time," he warns.

"I know that we failed you, but we can make this right," Thor argues desperately.

"I failed you," Odin says, his tone growing darker. "It is upon us…Ragnarok."

You have no idea what that means, but the word sends chills up and down you, made worse when Odin discloses the existence of Hella.

At their father's words about their sisters, the two siblings send each other disbelieving looks.

"Her violent appetites grew beyond my control. I couldn't stop her, so I imprisoned her. She draws her strength from Asgard, so if she gets there, her powers will be limitless," Odin says.

"We can stop her," Thor says, almost pleading with his father. "Together."

Odin takes Thor's hand and moves to touch Loki. "No, we won't. I'm on a different path now. This you must face alone," he says.

You can feel the emotions billowing up in Thor like the sea crashing on the shore below. Thor gives his father another begging look, desperate for him not to go. He feels frantic but also hopeless and his eyes brim with tears.

"Look at that," Odin says, pointing at nothing. "Remember this place. Home."

Then, like ash in the wind, Odin dissipates into golden dust, floating away on the sea wind. Thor and Loki stand to watch as the stardust flows to greet their mother.

Thor almost breaks down, but not before you feel the agony morph into a deep, dangerous rage.

You jump when you hear the crack of thunder that splits the sky. Dark clouds roll over the earth, blocking the sun and the wind turns bitingly cold. Electricity crackles around Thor's fingers as they curl into fists.

Loki notices the change too, and you feel him tense. "Brother," he warns.

Thor is breathing hard as fury fills him. "This, was your doing," he pants through shaking breath.

Loki's own hands clench into fists and you can see the fight in both of their eyes.

"Thor," you say quietly, but your voice carries across the field.

Thor turns to you, visibly shaking and you can see the grief clearly written on his face. Your own face is contorted with sadness, and you shake your head slightly. "Don't," you say softly.

The brothers glance at each other before relaxing slightly, but you don't need powers to see their sorrow.

Suddenly, you feel a burst of energy behind you and black sludge seems to pull the scenery apart in a portal.

You quickly back away, feeling shocked at what you are seeing. As you stagger back, the princes march forward, meeting you in the middle.

You can see both of their anger pointed at the shadowy portal. Thor bangs his hammer down on the ground, and a lightning bolt crashes over him, revealing armor. Golden light flickers across Loki's black suit, transforming it into his gold and green battle armor. You raise your hands, but instead of the ice you called, fire bristles over your fingertips and dances in your eyes.

The black sludge slowly comes together to morph a woman. Her hair is ragged, her clothes tattered, but her eyes are wild and bright with vengeance. On her pail, almost white lips, plays a smirk. She swaggers out of the portal, eyeing your trio malevolently. Behind her, the portal collapses into nothing. "So he's gone?" she rasps, her voice hard just as her eyes. "That's a shame, I would've liked to have seen that," she says, almost teasingly.

Thor regards the woman carefully. "You must be Hella. I am Thor, son of Odin," he says, his deep voice booming.

"Really?" she drawls. "You don't look like him."

"What exactly are your intentions?" Loki demands, his own voice cold.

"You sound like him," she says, almost as though she is impressed.

Loki shifts from side to side, his adrenaline on high. Thor grips his hammer tightly, and your fire flickers.

Hella smirks. "Kneel," she commands.

Loki's eyes narrow dangerously. "I beg your pardon?" he asks, magic swirling around his hands.

"Kneel," Hella repeats, emphasizing the word. "Before your queen."

Thor's hands clench in preparation for the battle. "I don't think so," he challenges, launching his hammer strait at the woman's face.

Instantly, her hand snatches the hammer, and you can hear the straining moaning from the hammer as it frantically tries to pull back to Thor. Hella smiles at its futile attempts.

"It's not possible," Thor grunts under the strain.

"Darling," she chuckles before her voice turns dark. "You have no idea what is possible."

Her sharp fingernails dig into the metal as white cracks appear in the hammer. In a flash of blinding light, the hammer explodes, its chunks crashing to the ground.

Thor staggers to his knees, and you step back in surprise.

Hella smooths her hair back with her hands. Her hair seems to harden into long, jagged spikes that form a black head-dress. She flicks her wrists and serrated swords seem to grow from her hands as she leisurely advances.

"Please tell me you guys don't have hair hats," you say as you back away.

Loki magics long knives into his hands and he switches to a defensive stance. Though you can feel the panic inside of him and he is a survivalist, he isn't known for running from fights. Before anyone can do anything, a bright beam of light shoots down from the sky, engulfing the four of you, and you feel the gravity reverse as you are pulled up to Asgard.

"No!" Thor screams.

You are closer to Thor, and you look below you. "Loki, look out!" you shout.

Before even looking below him, Loki throws one of his knives down, only to have Hella deflect it back at him. Loki blocks the knife, but the sheer force from Hella drives him out of the Bifrost.

You gasp. What happens to a person outside of the Bifrost? Was Loki practically jettisoned into space? If he was, by the time you reached Asgard he would probably be dead…again…

Your thoughts come to a screeching (almost literally) halt as you realize that Hella is targeting you.

You pull out on your power instinctively. You don't know what fire, a not-really-solid would do in the Bifrost, so you pull out ice. You send a blast towards her, but she is unable to deflect it since it explodes as soon as it hits her. She jags one of her swords at you, and you just manage to fling yourself out of the way. But, it is in vain as she punches you in the stomach, before round-house kicking you right into Thor.

And propelling you both out of the Bifrost.

You and Thor had been talking all afternoon, walking along in the circle that never began. This place is so weird, and you are still trying to wrap your head around everything. So is Thor. You both discuss what your plan to get out is. However, other than fighting in the gladiator sport, you aren't sure how else you can escape.

"Thor, there is one thing I don't understand," you point out, pausing your pacing for a moment.

"What is that?" Thor asks, waiting for you to continue walking.

"Why did the Bifrost open up?" you ask. "None of us called for it."

Thor shrugged, but his eyes looked heavy. "I believe that once word got out that Loki had been portraying as my father, my friends must have gone to the Bifrost to pull us out. While they may not have Heimdall's gifts, the sheath which houses the sword and activates the Bifrost can flash when there is danger. I am guessing that is what happened," he says.

"Oh," you say, piecing together that now Hella was with Thor's friends on Asgard. You hope they are okay. "Everything happened so fast."

Now it is Thor's turn to stop. "Yes, it did," he says, his voice crackling.

You then realize how Thor hasn't actually had time to grieve. You mentally sigh, realizing that you should have given him space instead of pestering him with questions. But, what else could you do? You were stuck on an alien planet, with crazy death-ladies out there, Loki alive, and no idea how any of it happened. You decide that it might be time to give yourself a little slack and Thor a little space.

Thor doesn't seem to realize that you have walked off as his eyes remained glazed, and you are glad that you can walk far enough away so that Thor does have some privacy. When you figure that you are far enough away (or at least as far as the circle will let you), you outwardly groan. You turn towards the wall and lean your head onto it, ignoring the greasy feeling. You realize that not only has Thor not had time, neither have you. While you aren't exactly grieving, you certainly don't feel happy. How are you going to get home? Do…do you even want to go home? The civil war between you and your friends tore everything apart, and you can no longer even go to Walmart without having someone call the police. You want to help Asgard, and you tell yourself you will win. But if you do, what then? Will Thor intervene on earth, or would that even be a good idea? You wish that the world would leave you and your friends alone. As soon as things start picking up, everything comes crashing back down again with interest.

Your breathing hitches as you realize that…you want to go to the Avengers Complex. That's the home you want to go to. You haven't been there in months, and this is not something you are used to. You wish you could walk through the common area, see all of your friends smiling like usual, walk up to your room, and flop on your bed. You wish to hear JARVIS asking if you need tea or anything (you think that is the British in his programing). Mostly, you want to hear Tony's voice. You want to hear Steve's. And you want to hear the peacefulness in both of them, telling you that there will never be another split in their group. Your face contorts as tears start to seep through your closed eye-lids. You hear them splash against the wall. This separation between you and your friends is beginning to have bad side effects. You wish none of this had ever happened, you only wish the friendships remained. But, even those are fractured. Just like you right now. Even though the battle between Steve's team and Tony's isn't over, you feel like neither side will win.

Right before you break down crying, wishing to be home with healed friendships, you feel a presence behind you. You push away from the wall with one hand and wipe under your eyes with the other as you turn.

"Loki," you greet softly. You clear your throat when you hear how croaky your voice sounds. Why did he have to come now? Couldn't he leave you to mope in peace? You suddenly become aware of the fact that your face is probably puffy and red and you clench your jaw grumpily.

"Hello, Y/N," he says, equally quietly.

"What do you want?" you ask, still not fully turned towards him.

"You want to go to Asgard don't you?" he asks, almost in disbelief.

"What, you don't?" you ask, trying to keep your voice level.

"I believe that we should consider our alternative options, for lack of better word," he says.

You turn towards him fully. "Alternative options? That's why you're hear isn't it? You're trying to convince us to leave Asgard to be destroyed by Hella."

"I'm trying to convince you to listen to reason," he says.

"Reason? Really? Loki the trickster talking about reason?"

"If reason means keeping you both from getting killed," he says sharply. "Hella beat Thor without even moving a step towards him. Now, she is on Asgard, and I think that we should be more prepared before rushing into a battle we can't win." You blink when you feel the sudden surge of emotion from Loki. It was angry but a protective kind of angry. That was…strange.

"Why would you care? Or more importantly, why don't you? This is your home we are talking about, and you can't just let it burn," you say.

"Adopted," he says bluntly.

"Ugh!" you groan. "Listen, the Avengers Complex is my home, and it is already broken. But I am doing everything I can to fix it, even though I'm not related to anyone there. Blood doesn't equal family. I feel constant guilt that I failed them, couldn't keep them from separating, couldn't stop the fighting no matter how hard I tried. And fear that I can never bring the broken parts together again. But I am still going to try and I will find a way someday to make it seem like this never happened, because that's what heroes do. Asgard is your home, so why don't you feel any of that fear and guilt that come with loving something?"

Loki was silent for a long time, looking completely emotionless. "I'm not a hero," he answers.

He turns, and his edges start to flicker with magic light. You shake your head in disappointment, rubbing your fingers against your crinkled brow.

"Odin loved you, you know," you say softly.

Loki pauses, half of him immersed in golden light, the other half still visible.

"I think you know what my power is already, and I could feel his emotions. He felt so much love but also regret that he wasn't able to show you it enough. The love wasn't a one-time thing because he was on his death bed. It went back thousands of years to the first moment he saw you," you say. "Whether you want to admit it or not, your family loved you and still does."

You both stand, half turned towards each other for a few minutes in crushing silence. Loki's edges flicker gold, and you get the impression that it is almost like holding your finger above the hang-up button on a phone. Then, you feel the empty hollowness in Loki, and you realize that it used to be filled with the guilt and love you were talking about. But then, he closes himself off to you and disappears in a flash of gold.

You sigh, feeling incredibly strained. For some reason, you want to help Loki. You don't know where this sudden surge of loyalty came from. After Germany and New York, you swore that your unbreakable loyalty would never be given to him. After all, your loyalty was what almost broke you after Tony and Steve…the Avengers were disbanded. You decided that you subconsciously gave Loki your loyalty. You just hope with all of your might that it won't be a bad investment.

"All right, guys, see ya later," you say, giving a salute before jumping out of the ship.

"Hopefully!" Valkyrie shouts, which you choose to ignore.

You send a blast of ice out of your hands, slowing your fall as you land in a carefully practice super-hero pose. You smile sort of fangirly to yourself when you think of the long hours you spent perfecting your cool landing. After all, what was a superhero if she couldn't land awesomely?

You stand and walk forward, meeting Heimdall in the middle of the bridge. That was your job. Banner and Valkyrie would provide air support, and you would help Heimdall defend or wrangle the refugees.

"Hello, Mr. Heimdall," you say, smiling when you meet him. "Long time no see."

"For you, at least," he says, his amber eyes twinkling. "We need to get these people to the Bifrost."

You nod, now serious. You look over your shoulder at the golden dome of the Bifrost. "We might have a bit of a hard time doing that," you grumble.

Stationed in front of the Bifrost is a handful of un-dead soldiers. The skeletons twitch awkwardly and green mist seeps from their eye sockets, and lime colored light shines through the kinks in the armor. They croak and snarl as they jerk forward. But, that is not what stopped you. In front of them, is an enormous wolf. The hound's fur is so black that the dog looks like a shadow that peeled off of a wall. Its muzzle is laced with scars, and the bridge beneath if crackles as its sharp almost cat-like claws scrape through the glass. It snarls, dripping saliva and exposing razor white teeth and a lolling black tongue. Its eyes are a piercing emerald green, shining through the black of its fur.

"Okay, big doggie," you say wearily, opening your palms to let ice flood out.

"That is not our only problem," Heimdall warns, looking over his shoulder.

"How many?" you ask, knowing that you won't be able to see the army on the other side of the refugees.

"At least one hundred," he says.

"Great! This is going to be a fun day," you answer. "Do they need protection?"

"Asgardians are good fighters, capable of handling their own," Heimdall replies, his deep voice booming over the bridge.

"Good. Then let's get this started," you say, thrusting your hand down at the bridge. Ice shoots from your hand, skidding along the bridge before forming a giant icicle that spears up towards the wolf. The hound bounds out of the way, only for the icicle to impale several squirming, gross zombie soldiers.

The wolf hurtles towards you, each of its feet sending spiderweb-cracks splintering across the bridge whenever its feet touch ground. Behind it, the soldiers lurch forward, shrieking war cries.

You throw more ice at the dog, but you usually end up hitting the soldiers behind it. You are starting to worry as the wolf gets closer and closer.

Just as you thrust your arm forward, you feel something inside of you that throws your aim off, completely missing your target. You shake your head, trying to clear it. You feel something from the wolf. Something that doesn't fit with the picture.

Gritting your teeth, you push past the feeling and throw more ice, but you keep getting a strange sensation.

Suddenly, Bruce flies the ship low, and the dog stumbles back as Valkyrie fires upon it.

The dog shakes its head as though trying to rid itself of an annoying fly. It opens its mouth to howl at the ship, and you suddenly feel a blinding flash of anger and pain from the dog.

You stumble back as you try to fend off the undead soldiers. But the emotions the wolf is feeling are all wrong. Suddenly, you look up and your eyes meet the dog's green.

Emerald green.

Too pure of a green. Definitely not a natural emerald, and a different hue than the soldiers. It has the same vibrant green as…a blue color you remember very well.

You blink as you suddenly realize that the wolf might not want to be fighting you.

"Cover me!" you shout to Heimdall, backing up. Closing your eyes, you stretch out your hand. You immediately feel your consciousness reach out, weaving through the lime colored lights that you assume are the soldiers. Your mind races over the bridge, rushing past every soldier, and heading straight for the animal.

Then, you feel everything from the dog. Every scar left over from wars, its fear, anger, wounds, everything…

But it's not natural. The dog is angry and hateful, but not because of its own doing. Hella made him that way. The dog had seen too many battles, and Hella clouded its judgement with the pain of war, transforming it into the snarling brute.

You feel the black in its mind, and it reminds you of Bucky. This isn't the wolf's fault.

"Wake," you say, sending blue light flooding through the dog, clearing it of all its hate.

You gasp when you open your eyes, feeling your energy depleting.

The dog gives one last howl before it stumbles, almost falling over. It shakes its head, and its eyes fade to a forest green. Then, it slides back onto its haunches, watching everything in confusion.

The wolf is very close, but you still have to fight your way towards it. The zombies don't even seem to notice the hound.

The dog looks up at you with sad eyes as you approach it. It holds old wounds, deep inside of its heart, filling it with regret and sadness. As soon as you get close to it, the soldiers stop attacking you too. You stare into its dark face, gently probing it with your mind. The dog can feel you, and it winces a bit. But you let it know that you aren't here to hurt it.

Tilting your head, you slowly reach out your hand, and the wolf lifts its lips in a growl. You bring back your hand a bit before adding, "I'm not going to hurt you."

The dog's lips lower, and it sniffs you.

"I know you are in pain from all of those wars, and I know that Hella hid you amongst those bad emotions," you say. "But you're going to be okay now. You can be you and choose what to be. You're a good boy."

You scratch him under his chin, and he closes his eyes. Then, he leans back to look at you, and you have reached an understanding. He doesn't want to be what Hella made him. His eyes are lighter when he looks at you. You give him a smile, and the dog seems to be smirking back at you.

Then, you turn around, ice in your hands as you prepare to fight again. The wolf lets out a low growl and stands, his head low as he stalks behind you.

Then, you both bound into the fight, you freezing the skeletons, and the dog chomping them to bits. At one point, he grabs one and shakes it around like a chew-toy, banging it several times onto the bridge so hard that it cracks, before throwing the soldier off into the ocean.

You can't help but laugh when you see the look on Heimdall's face. "I made a friend!" you say excitedly.

The Asgardian smiles. "You did indeed," he says.

You throw ice everywhere, making weapons out of it, and coating skeletons in ice. You kick back a soldier before slamming your fist down onto the bridge. Ice crackles beneath you, and five icicles jut out of the bridge and slice several skeletons apart.

A constant glow of ice is formed around your hands, and snowflakes dance in your eyes as you advance, leaving a trail of empty armor in your wake. You send an iceberg crushing over several skeletons before slicing across them with more ice.

You weave deeper and deeper into the army, no longer paying attention, but freezing everything. You quietly register the sound of loud engines and you can just see the refugees filing onto a ship, or something. At one point, Hulk goes flying overhead after he decided you guys could use a little help. But you have no idea where he is. Right now, you are focused on defeating your enemy.

Abruptly, something hard hits you in the back of your knees, toppling you forward.

An undead solider kicks you in the chest, and you land on your elbows, grunting from the blow. The green, glowing skeleton above you raises its spear to finish you off, and you let out a cry as you try to push yourself backwards.

Suddenly, something gold flickers over you, impaling into the soldier's chest. The light fades and the skeleton falls to the ground, twitching, as you see a familiar golden knife buried deep in the decomposed and rusted breast-plate.

Rolling over onto your stomach you see Loki standing behind you, a confident smirk on his face. "You look like you need some help," he says, holding out his hand.

Slightly shocked, you take it, and he pulls you up. "Loki. You came back," you say.

A shy smile crosses his features. "I figured I might try the hero thing," he says almost too quietly to hear.

You almost laugh, and you look around you at all of the chaos and fighting. "Two against hundreds? What do you say?" you ask challengingly.

"I don't think they stand a chance," he answers.

"Oh, not at all," you say.

At the same time, you and Loki pivot so you are back-to-back, and right as Loki throws a knife into a soldier, you spear one with an icicle.

You both fight in perfect sync, each fighting to the other's moves. When Loki advances, you retreat. When you lunge, Loki parries. When you stumble, Loki suddenly whirls around and throws a knife before helping you up. When one falls, the other protects. You are both fighting together as a team, working together through trust. That is something you would never have thought you would have with Loki, but you are now doing it instinctually.

In a matter of minutes, you both are standing on a pile of black armor as more zombie soldiers clammer up onto to be either stabbed by Loki or frozen by you.

Suddenly, the sky cracks in half as lighting splinters through it. A blinding flash hits the castle, breaking it down the middle. Loki and you smile confidently when you see Thor, bristling with lightning, fly down to the bridge before electrocuting half of the army.

You look around yourself, expecting to fight more, but then see every soldier around you is now just a pile of bones.

You look over your shoulder to see Loki eyeing you. Both of you are breathing hard, but the thrill of success rushes through you. You look up and see that everyone is on the ship.

"We have to get to Thor," Loki says, and you and he trot towards his brother.

"You know, this doesn't mean we are friends or anything," you say, slighting smiling.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Loki responds.

"Hey, Thor?" you ask, gently pushing past a person as you make your way towards your friend. The hall is quite crowded, since this is where everyone is hanging out.

"Hello, Y/N," Thor says, smiling. His eyes are tired, but he does look relaxed.

You pull on your fingers nervously, biting the inside of your lip as you think. "So, um, Asgard is kinda destroyed, right?" you ask awkwardly. You don't want to bring up that detail, but you have no choice. You need to talk to Thor.

You feel a wave of guilt at the sadness that leaks into Thor's expression. He nods quietly, casting his gaze down to the floor for a moment.

"And, the Tesseract was on Asgard?" you ask.

"Yes," Thor clarifies.

"So...it should have been destroyed, right?" you ask.

Thor nods, a weary look seeping into his eyes.

You take a deep breath before blurting out, "I still feel it."

Thor looks momentarily shocked.

"I know I shouldn't, I mean, it's destroyed. But, I didn't feel anything remotely close to it exploding or dying, I guess. I still feel its energy, so much so that I could even use it," you say. "If anything, it feels stronger."

You wring your hands nervously, and Thor pats your shoulder, almost knocking you to your knees. "Take a deep breath," he says, and you suck in air. "I'm sure everything is fine. Even if it isn't destroyed, it is floating in the vacuum of space, surrounded by burning debris that will act as a barrier for anyone trying to get to it. I'm sure there is nothing..."

Thor trailed off and his eyes traveled behind you. Frowning, you turn and see Loki talking with Heidmall. Your mouth drops open, and you whirl back around to look at Thor, shaking your head. "You don't think-" you say.

Thor grimaces. "I mean, it might be possible."

"There is no way he would steal it again, right?" you ask, almost trying to convince yourself. "And, even if he did, he'd give it back, right? Right, Thor?"

An irritated look crosses Thor's features. "I don't think we should hold our breath if he does have it," he grunts to himself. "But, just in case, keep an eye on that flickering light inside of you."

"Okay," you say, miserably. Great. Now, Loki had one of your Infinity Stones. This was going to be fun...

You, Thor, and Loki quietly stare out the window into the deep, beautiful, emptiness of space. The stars glisten, and the blue dust of a nebula fogs some of the view. A few space rocks go floating by, and the rays of a nearby star pulse as though beating to a heart beat.

You let out a small, contented sigh. You feel perfectly relaxed, which you honestly didn't think you would. Asgard was destroyed, but the citizens were safe. Your wolf had also safely gotten onto the ship and had protected the Asgardians.

Loki was rather astonished by the wolf of legend. While no one knew about Hella, there was a large, black dog present in History books. Loki had tentatively reached out a hand and touched the wolf's forehead. The dog bowed its head and closed its eyes. Loki looked incredibly shocked.

"His name is Fenris," he says.

"Whoa! How did you know that?" you ask as Loki gently strokes the dog.

"He told me," he answers.

You pause. "Wait, you speak dog?" you ask in confusion, earning a withering glance from Loki.

"Telepathically. I do have magic, you know," he says.

"Oh," you say, feeling your face grow red.

You half-smile at the memory, but your smile is washed away by another, more concerning one. Hella had sensed your power when you were fighting her. She grabbed you by the neck and pinned you to the bridge before sneering, "You feel different."

"What can I say, I'm a rebel," you choke, inwardly panicking.

"What are you?" she demands, throwing you a few feet away.

You cough, barely able to throw ice at her, which she easily blocks.

"You changed my wolf," she growls.

"You did that," you say, jumping to your feet and suddenly feeling incredibly angry. "But he's my puppy now!"

You thrust out your hand, and she sidesteps the icicle before grabbing your wrist and twisting it painfully. You grunt in pain, your eyes watering. Hella tightens her grip, causing something inside of you to flare up. Without your consent, Mind Stone energy flares out of you, completely blowing Hella back.

You stumble back a few steps, staring at the woman with wide, terrified eyes. "What did you just do to me?" you pant.

Hella stands, a hungry look in her eyes as she advances. "So that's what you are…" she says before continuing the fight.

You shake your head to rid yourself of the memory. Somehow, Hella had activated your power. Or, she knew it would act on instinct. It is almost as though your power came out by itself to protect you. Now, there is protective stones.

Loki interrupts the silence of the room when he asks, "Do you really think it is a good idea to go back to Earth?"

"Of course. They love me there," Thor says as though it is obvious.

"Yeah, I should probably get back before my curfew," you grunt under your breath.

Both look at you with odd expressions on their faces. "You have a curfew?" Thor asks.

"Yeah. Believe me, you do not want to be late for Captain Over-protectiveness's curfews," you say, smiling to yourself at the thought of Steve.

There is a pause before Loki decides to ignore that. "Let me rephrase that," he says darkly. "Do you really think it's a good idea to bring me back to earth?"

"Oh no," you answer immediately.

"Probably not," Thor says at the same time, giving his brother a smile.

As Loki rolls his eyes, Thor pats him on the back, making him stumble forward a bit. "But don't worry, brother," Thor says. "I have a feeling that everything is going to work out."

You sigh at the thought of everything working out. That would be a nice change for once.

Suddenly, the light from the star flickers before going out all together. In concern, you look up to see a gigantic ship looming over yours. It easily dwarfs the Asgardian ship, and its presence commands respect and fear.

You suddenly feel a burst of emotion from both of your friends. Thor grits his jaw and you feel a burst of energy: Thor is ready and almost eager for another fight. But, he is also irritated. He would like a small moments peace.

But Loki's raw terror slices through you like a blade of ice. It makes you stagger as you feel fear rolling off of Loki in waves as he looks up at the ship. His face is extremely pale, and his eyes shine with fear.

This. Is. Bad. Never have you felt any sort terror from Loki.

Thor is braced and ready for a new fight. Loki, for the first time ever, wants to run.

"Who's that?" you ask bluntly, making them both jump.