Summary: Admittedly, there wasn't much that rattled Kagome Barton to her core. She's endured transcending time and fighting demons over some stupid magic marble. Her days time-hopping are over, but days of leisure are far from reach when she's recruited to the Avenger's Initiative following the appearance of Loki.

Pairing: Undecided

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Three

Even as she urged herself towards the conflict ahead of her, she felt her senses trying to pull her to a stop. The sheer power in the aura of the unfamiliar God set her on an edge she didn't enjoy. It traced over her own aura like lightning. It didn't burn or sting her but gave her a jolt as the unfamiliar aura brushed her own. She certainly didn't appreciate it, that was for sure.

She felt her steps slow when a faint aura came from the left of her. She recognized it, the longer she thought about it. A low rumbling growl came from beside her, and Kagome froze automatically at hearing it. Her wariness at the noise was only present for a second or two before she recognized the new aura now nudging warmly along her senses.

She turned just in time to watch as a large, cream-colored saber-toothed cat trekked out from the semi-intact treeline. Kagome's eyes lit up as a bright smile overtook her face at the sight that would probably send anyone else running. She turned to face the cat, arms outstretched a bit in encouragement for her to come to her.

"Kirara!" Kagome exclaimed as she took in the sight of the large, saber-toothed demon cat. "What are you doing out here?"

Kirara rumbled in response as she approached the raven-haired girl. She rested her massive head in between her outstretched arms, and Kagome began to gently scratch behind her ears, much to her happiness. A low, content pur emanated from her chest as she let Kagome keep scratching behind her ears. After a second or two, Kagome was keen to notice the red ribbon bound around her neck. Slipped securely below it was a folded piece of paper. Curiosity got the better of her, and the miko carefully removed the paper and unfolded it to see what was inside.

For a second, her eyes widened in surprise. It faded, and a gentle smile lifted her lips into a delicate curve. She read over the contents a few times just to be sure she'd really read the words written.

With a low hum, she lowered the letter and tucked it under one of her pieces of shoulder armor for safe-keeping.

"I wonder if giving them a warning might help…" she muttered softly to herself. It'd certainly let them be aware of the force they couldn't stop- no matter how hard they could possibly try.

Surprisingly enough, or maybe not so surprising at all, Sesshoumaru had been filled in by her mother not long after she left at all. So, in his own words, he'd come join her. All she had to do was patiently wait for his aura to show. He didn't say if any of the others would be joining him, or if it'd just be him this time.

"Either way, he better not be doing this just to protect me," she glanced at Kirara, who rumbled in response. Talk about insulting her strength and abilities… "Anyway, if he sent you, then he must've caught onto my scent, huh?" she asked Kirara. She responded in a rumble that made her think her guess was right. "So, he means for me to wait where I am," she concluded a second later.

She wasn't complaining about the idea. The last thing she wanted to do is get caught up in a rumble with the God that was on the loose right now. She knew, if it came down to it, she'd have to, but the thought alone made her feel ill.

Anyway! Maybe Tony and Steve would have it all under control. She'd done what she set out to do- and that was to make sure Loki stayed put, and he wasn't going anywhere until she took the spell she'd placed on him down.

She decided to wait where she was for the demon ally from her past to finally come and join her. She didn't have to wait long, either.

Sesshoumaru's aura brushed along her senses, getting stronger and stronger as he got closer to her. By now the sound sounds fighting in the distance seemed to have settled down, and she silently wondered if the three had come to some sort of even ground. She could still feel their auras- none of them hurt, at least not seriously. The air had calmed, and she knew that if they were done with fighting then they'd find their way back to Loki any minute now.

… Not that they'd be able to move him or anything.

With a slight shake of her head, she turned just enough to watch the treeline as a familiar figure finally waltzed into her line of sight. She was keen to notice he'd come alone, and she figured that was for the best. Sesshoumaru was more than enough of a surprise.

"To what do I owe this meeting?" Kagome asked as she carefully made her way over rocks and fallen branches in order to meet up with him.

Gold eyes met her blue ones, and Kagome came to a halt a few paces away from him. "Well, mostly concern from them. This is my excuse to get away from the incessant whining before I snapped and killed one of them," he responded as he threaded his fingers through silver locks, pushing them back over his shoulder.

Her thoughts went to Inuyasha and she wasn't able to find a reason to think otherwise of his claim. "Yeah, Inuyasha probably got insufferable when mom told him why I ran off." To be fair, she hadn't expected a visit from her demon companions so suddenly, and it was her luck that it had to be not long after she left with Natasha. It hadn't been all that long since the last visit, after all. "Without me there, I can't really just make him sit and shut up." Kagome caught her words a second too late and inwardly flinched.

She really hoped there was some sort of distance limit- otherwise, she'd have to put up with a pissed-off Inuyasha the next time she saw him. She often avoided that word entirely, unless he irked her a bit too much.

Kagome sighed and shook her head. "I can practically hear him in my head." And she could. She could hear him whining and lamenting about how she ran into action without his say on anything- but honestly, the idea of putting up with it made her skin crawl. "That idiot…" she added on after a brief pause, a faint smile on her face. He should know by now that she didn't need him to protect her, but she supposed old habits die hard.

"Not just him, but your kit as well," Sesshoumaru added on once she fell silent, and Kagome picked her head up in order to meet his gaze again. "He kept whining about coming along."

Kagome felt her smile soften. Shippo hadn't wanted to leave the last time they'd paid a visit to the shrine, and she had expected them to let him stay, but that hadn't been the case.

"I relented and was bringing him back to you so both he and Rin could spend time with you for a while, but you were no longer there when we got to the shrine," Sesshoumaru said. "So for now, they're staying behind there."

Kagome nodded. "That's probably for the best," she said softly. She felt Sesshoumaru's gaze level on her, the pressure of it unable to be ignored.

"So you're really going to deal with a God?"

His question made her frown and a frustrated groan fell from her lips. "What choice do I have?"

He could think of a few, but he doubted she sincerely wanted to hear them.

Kagome shook her head and sighed. "I should go ahead and go now," she said quietly. "By now, they should have already regrouped back to where Loki is." If the location of their auras told her anything, it was that they'd found their way over to the captive finally. She spared a look at Sesshoumaru, brow arched. "I take it you're coming with me, right?" she asked. It was phrased as a question, but deep down she knew the answer already.

"Naturally."

The aura pinning Loki to the ground was noticed by Thor the moment he felt it. He came to a halt in his steps, gaze lingering on the soft pink glow that lit up the darkness of night.

At the sight of the pink arrows, Tony nodded. "Alright, looks like she was here after all," he said off-handedly. "No telling where Short-Stuff ran off to, though," he added on as an afterthought before shrugging and going to take Loki by his arm to tug him back up. To his surprise, a pink barrier flickered up around him the moment he got too close, and Tony rose his eyebrows in fascination. "Huh… would you look at that..."

"What business have you with a Priestess?" Thor questioned. His gaze lingered on the pink aura for a second longer before he chuckled. "No matter, you mortals have no hope in getting past a barrier such as that one."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, and for a moment, Thor looked at him. Just as he was about to respond, a light and airy voice beat him to it.

"So-orry for the wait boys," Kagome's voice rang out in a sing-song tone as she finally caught back up to them. "Lost track of time back there."

Eyes went to her, and it was soon discovered that she didn't return alone. With her were two new figures. One was a tall man with long silver hair, and the other was a small cream-colored cat with twin tails. She paid the puzzled stares from both Steve and Tony no mind as she lifted a hand and snapped, letting her arrows finally dissipate from where they'd been pinning Loki down.

"Hope you all settled everything," she said then, looking to Steve for confirmation to something she already knew. When he looked her way, he knew that, and he smiled as he nodded. "Good!" Kagome exclaimed.

It was then that she let her gaze finally roam to the newest figure, the one that had appeared so suddenly with the thunder and lightning. He was watching her just the same, and she hid her urge to frown.

"So does this mean he's gonna be sticking around?" she asked the others for confirmation to that also, despite already knowing the answer to that, too.

"For now, yes," Steve said, and Kagome tightened her hands a bit tighter, blunt nails digging into her palms.

"That's great," she said after a brief pause on her end.

"What is your name, Priestess?"

Kagome turned towards the voice, her gaze landing on the God they'd been speaking about. "Kagome," she said after a moment's consideration.

He abruptly moved towards her, and she took a reflexive step backward in hopes to keep space between them. Only, it didn't quite go as she hoped. He kept coming, only to pause within reach of her. A second later, his hand had come up and now rested on her cheek.

She bore no claim of allyship to another, and her power was eye catching. She was among a rarity. Priestesses were rare enough as it was.

"Shall you be my Priestess?"

Her brows shot up at the question, and, for a moment, she could've sworn she felt a flare of amusement within Sesshoumaru's aura. "... what?" It had been no demand at all, but a question. An offer. Definitely not what she has anticipated from him in the slightest.

At the thought of him, she heard as Sesshoumaru spoke up. At once, her surprise was replaced by annoyance.

"Come now, you can hear properly," Sesshoumaru commented. She glanced at him, the others around slowly looked his way, as well. "He asked you to be his Priestess."

That bastard had the faintest of smirks on his face! Go figure he'd finally develop a sense of humor at her expense.

Her eyes narrowed, and she could've sworn she heard a faint chuckle come from where Loki was. She ignored it promptly and swatted Thor's hand from her face. "So sorry," she said, turning away from the blonde man without any sort of apologetic tone or aura about her. "I'm already owned- by me," she said sharply.

She was no one's property.

"What just happened?" Steve asked, and Kagome huffed as she shook her head, walking past him.

"Don't worry about it," she said indignantly. "Just get Loki and come on," she added on. A moment later she paused and glanced back over her shoulder. "Sesshou, let's go."

As Sesshoumaru fell into pace alongside Kagome, Steve looked at him with unhidden confusion.

"Alright, I'll bite," Tony said. "Who is he?" He motioned to Sesshoumaru before continuing, motioning to Kirara, "and what is that?"

Her irritation melted away for a moment, and she came to a pause. She glanced up at Sesshoumaru and smiled warmly.

"That's Sesshoumaru. He's a friend of mine," she finally introduced him to them as she waved towards the silver-haired demon along with her. "He sniffed me out once my mom told him where I was and why." A second later, she lifted Kirara in her arms, a bright smile on her face as she mewed. "This is Kirara!"

"Sniffed you out? You mean he's got some sort of tracker on you?" Tony asked as he joined the discussion. Kagome arched a brow, shaking her head a second later.

"No, don't be silly. That's ridiculous," she said, flicking her hand with a huff as she went ahead of them. Sesshoumaru went alongside her, not bothering to weigh into the topic, instead listening to her comments. "He literally sniffed me out," she said. "Fill you guys in later."

"What the hell kind of secrets do you have?" Tony turned to face her departing backside. Kagome paused for a brief second, if only to glance back at him.

"The kind that'll blow your mind," was all she said before she turned and trotted along.

"Oh, good," Tony said as she left. "I love those kinds."

"How's it going?" Kagome asked as she stepped into the lab where Bruce had stayed behind at. He seemed focused on his research on Loki's scepter. It'd been brought back as quickly as possible in order for the research on it to start. He looked up upon hearing her voice, and he spotted as she walked in and let the door close behind her. He glanced at his work before looking back at her, stepping away for a moment.

"I'm doing what I can," he said, and she nodded. "How'd it go out there?" he asked, and Kagome shrugged in response. She leaned against the table.

"Aside from the hindrance of Thor suddenly popping up, it went better than anticipated," she said, her words catching his attention. "He gave himself up.

"Weird guy," Bruce said, and Kagome nodded in agreement.

"You're telling me…" she muttered to herself. A second later, she felt the approaching aura of their captive entangled to many more. She picked her head up and nodded towards the windows along a wall of the lab, and Bruce looked to where she'd motioned. "There he is, entourage and all," she said.

Loki glanced in as he passed the lab, smiling and nodding at the pair inside. Kagome looked at Bruce after he'd gone, and she saw as he shook his head, lifting a hand to push his hair back some.

Kagome pushed herself away from the desk and started on her way to the door. "Anyway, let's get going," she called over her shoulder, and Bruce looked at her, puzzled by her statement. She turned, taking a few steps backward as she tilted her head to the side. "I was sent to get you. You're needed for a meeting."

"Oh, right, right," Bruce said. With those words, he went to follow the raven-haired girl as she led him to the others.

They all- sans Tony- had already gathered in the briefing room as they listened to Loki and Director Fury talking, the video and audio from the room they were in being shown on a monitor in the room they were in.

Kagome was quiet as she listened, Loki speaking briefly of a mindless beast of sorts. She didn't know what he meant by those words, but from Bruce's slight shift in his aura, she could pick up that he'd been talking about him at the very least. She assumed it had to do with the strange aura that surrounded him. Still, despite not knowing the meaning behind the words, it still rubbed her the wrong way.

Such awful words…

She could also feel the pain in Thor's aura, and she picked her head up just enough to look at him. He wasn't even watching the monitor like the others. He was turned away from it, a faraway look in his eyes as he listened.

"Yikes..." Kagome sighed softly. Talk about a megalomaniac...

"Yeah, he grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce spoke once she broke the silence, and she looked his way.

She sighed again and shook her head to push her thoughts back.

"He's gonna drag this out for as long as he can," Steve said. Kagome looked at him before nodding in agreement.

The sudden conversation served to pull Thor from his thoughts, and he blinked a few times as he resurfaced to reality. "Loki has control of an arm called the Chitauri," he said, and eyes went to him. "They are not of Asgard, nor any known world."

Kagome nodded, not liking the eerie feeling in her stomach at the mention of that. "And the reason you're telling us this is because he's intending to use that army against Earth, right?"

Thor nodded. "Right," he said. "They are intended to win him the Earth. I suspect he plans to offer up the Tesseract in return."

"An alien army?" Steve was taken aback by those words, and she could feel the surprise in his aura.

Kagome looked at him. "Stranger things have happened," she said. "I can personally attest to that."

"So he's trying to build another portal," Bruce said. "That has to be what he needs Erik Selvig for."

The name caught Thor's attention, and he turned to Bruce. "Selvig?

"He's an astrophysicist," Bruce explained, and Thor turned away with a tight expression.

"I know him," he said. "Selvig is a friend."

"He's under some kind of spell from that scepter Loki used," Natasha said. "Him, and one of our own," she added on quietly.

Kagome heard her statement, and she folded her arms over her chest, glancing down. The thought of her father returned to the front of her mind, and her unease came back all at once. "Right…" she said softly.

Steve heard her as she said that quiet word, and he glanced back at her. He didn't like the way she looked so worried, but he also knew he could do nothing to help her at the moment. That left a bad taste in his mouth the moment he realized it. He looked away from her, glancing down at the table he sat at. "What I wanna know is why Loki just let us take him," he said. "He's definitely not leading an army from here."

"We probably shouldn't be focusing on Loki right now," Bruce said, shaking his head. "You can smell the crazy on that guy."

Kagome snorted. "I can feel it."

"Have care how you speak," Thor said. Kagome turned to him as he spoke. "Loki may be beyond reason, but he is still my brother. He is of Asgard."

"He's killed over eighty people in two days," Natasha said, her voice flat. Thor looked at the ground, a bit more subdued than before.

"... Well he's adopted," he said finally.

Kagome shook her head. "Let's move away from this," she said, picking up on the sensitive subject. "We won't get anything out of this in the long run." She turned back to Bruce and nodded his way. "What should we be focusing on for now?" she asked, and Bruce took the opportunity to speak.

"I think it's all about the mechanics of this plan," he said. "Iridium, for example. What is it needed for?" As he asked that, Tony finally walked in alongside Phil, talking about something too quiet for the rest to hear.

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony said. He leaned in towards Phil and said something else before finally moving away from him. "He needs it so the portal won't collapse in on itself like the one at SHIELD did." He looked at Kagome, noting her new companions weren't anywhere to be seen. "Where's Mr. Majestic Flowing Hair?"

Kagome had to fight back her snort of laughter at his nickname for Sesshoumaru, and it was no easy feat for her. She shook her head. "He doesn't have the clearance to join in on this conversation," she said. "Jokes on you guys," she added on a second later, talking to the other agents around them. "He's probably able to hear every word clearly from where you made him wait."

Tony nodded and pointed at her. "I am gonna love hearing more from you, I just know it."

C.R: Woo, these ANs at the end are getting longer it seems. Made the chapter a bit longer to compensate for the essay at the end lmao. The next chapter will probably be a bit longer too.

About the pairing:

I wanna clarify really quickly that the three options I listed in the last update aren't the only options. You can suggest other options. I listed them because they (Wanda, Pietro, and Vision) are my personal favorites, but I'm also open to different suggestions. (Like Steve, Bucky, Sesshoumaru, etc.) It'll be a while before a pairing is incorporated into the story, though, so you can also wait until it gets closer to that point in order to see how she acts around characters.

On that note- a bit more pairing talk:

A three-way pairing doesn't sound bad to me, but I'll say incestuous relationships are gonna be off the table. (It's not my thing personally, so it's the only thing about a pairing that's final at the moment.)
With Pietro, it'd be funny with his dynamic with Clint (and adding Kagome to the mix.) Regardless of the endgame pairing, the cheeky flirting will most likely be there, even if they don't become the final pairing.
Since he's been suggested a few times, I'll reconsider the option of Loki. Even if they aren't a pair, they'll still have an interesting dynamic. Eventually.
Tony I'm not 100% on. He's one of those whose relationship with her can go either way depending on what happens throughout the story. He's also quite a bit older than her, so I'm also unsure with that.

Moving onto other options I like (Despite a bigger age gap between them and Kagome) For now, I'm just gonna put them in a different category as potential options.

There's Sam. At the very least, if there's no romantic pairing between them, they'll still have a special relationship either way.
T'Challa is another option that would make for an interesting path. Killmonger sounds interesting, but it depends on how it'd be done. I'm definitely open to it, to say the least.
Doctor Strange is another who, regardless of endgame pair, is someone who will have a decent relationship with Kagome.

How do you guys feel about a bigger age gap?

A bit on her demon allies- Aging wise for Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, they don't look all that different. I don't think 500 years would be very long for an adult demon. Shippo will have shown more age (for a physical age of between 7-10 in human years.) On the topic of this, I'll also say that I had Rin turned into an Inu-demon to be Sesshoumaru's daughter.

Anyway, that's it for now. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~