I was accused of being cheesy in the last chapter. Yes. Yes I was cheesy, and with very good reason. I thought that you (and our poor Tony and Loki) deserved a moment of happiness.

Believe me, they're gonna need it….

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The small party that Thor had envisioned swiftly turned into a proper celebration as the somewhat shotgun wedding sunk in. To be honest, a spontaneous marriage was hardly in Tony's top ten of Things I Should Have Put More Thought Into, and it seemed that spur of the moment unions were not uncommon to the Aesir. Evie was quite beside herself with glee - although that would possibly change later when she realised that she'd missed her chance to be a bridesmaid.

At Thor's insistence Loki changed a few of the flagons of water into rich mead and ale and Volstagg insisted that they put more meat on to cook.

It was some time before anyone tried to stagger back to their rooms.

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It was fair to say that Tony was pretty drunk. Taking into consideration that he hadn't touched alcohol in about five years, and that Aesir drink was extremely strong, he hadn't had much of a chance really. Likewise, Evie was a lot more giggly than usual and seemed to find everything absolutely hilarious. She'd only been allowed half a mug of ale (apparently Asgard had no such thing as under-age drinking laws), but it was strong stuff and she was both young and quite petite.

Loki wasn't in any way as badly affected, but was certainly finding it more funny than he otherwise would have as he towed his family back to their rooms. He managed to deposit Evie in her chambers and force Tony into the bathroom to wash up (as awesome as bonfires are, the smoke sticks around) before sitting down on the bed and trying to take stock of what had just happened.

Married.

Maybe it wasn't such a big deal to Tony - the customs were so different to human ones - but to Loki it was huge.

He tried to remember his first marriage, all those years ago, but whilst the memories of the actual ceremony had dimmed he would never forget how bitter Sigyn had been. That dark look of anger at the situation that neither of them had any control over. It had not been the most joyous of occasions.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tony sat down heavily next to him, his hair sopping wet. Loki hadn't realised how long he'd been sat there thinking.

"Nothing important." He ran his hands through the mans hair, drying it with a wordless spell. "You're sounding less drunk."

"I wasn't all that drunk to start with, more like high off the atmosphere."

"You were singing about a little goblin at one point."

"Okay, maybe I was a little drunk, but a very cold shower helped that quite a bit."

"Not too cold I hope."

"Huh?" Tony belatedly caught onto the trickster's meaning. "Oh, no, not too cold." He ran a hand through his hair again. "This doesn't seem real."

"Ceremonies on Earth have a little more pomp and circumstance. Here in Asgard we pay more attention to the treaties marriage brings with it."

"No one marries for love?"

"Oh of course they do, just…well, royalty do not usually manage to gain that privilege." Loki's grin turned sharp. "The moment my Father hears of this you can expect him to draw up some extremely complicated contracts outlining our union and what it means for our realms."

Tony drew back, his eyes widening as he suddenly considered the fact that if that was what Aesir considered a binding ceremony, neither of Loki's parents had been there. "Shit! Am I going to be in trouble over this?"

"Not with Father. He will undoubtedly be quite pleased – you are a man of very high standing in your realm. I am aware that the United States do not have royalty, so if I were to go by wealth and power you are certainly one of the single most powerful men in your country. These days I would actually class you on par with the president in terms of fire-power at your disposal. If it weren't for the lack of ground troops you could probably take over the planet quite easily." He watched the man relax slightly. "Of course, Mother is going to flay us both alive."

"Ah. Uh, is there a sort of reception thing we could do to appease her?"

"Not really." Loki seemed to sense that his partner was somewhat distracted in their conversation and frowned slightly. "Tony, what is troubling you?" He smirked. "You cannot be having regrets already – we have not even consummated it yet!"

"Of course not! And is that legally necessary? On Earth it used to be."

"It still is here, but these days an audience is not required. Once family and friends were duty-bound to observe and ensure that all went as it should, but nowadays it is considered distasteful and insulting."

"I should think so!" From the inventors expression it was obvious that he had the mental image of trying to have sex with the Avengers watching on. With Thor watching….Urgh.

"Quite. So if that is not the problem, what is?"

"It's just…" Tony waved his hands around, an odd gesture for a man who is usually so quick to find his words. "That was it, wasn't it? That is all we'll be able to have, because we can't do that on Earth. Not really, not properly. Oh, we could do it with false names and bribes and what not, but as Tony Stark and Loki of Asgard, we can't be married. Even if we had Fury officiate – I'm sure he's legally allowed to – it would still be off the records and not strictly official by human standards."

Loki shook his head slightly. "I do not understand, where is the problem here? I thought homosexual marriage was allowed now."

"Yeah, in some states, but this isn't about what we are, it's who we are. I just…I guess for once I don't want to be the billionaire inventor slash superhero that hogs the front page of every newspaper. I want to be able to get married without the world sticking their noses in. Tony Stark can't get married and live a peaceful life – you should have seen when Evie was born, it was hell! In the end I couldn't take her out of the tower – we were mobbed by the paparazzi wherever we went. My life is splashed across every TV screen in America, and if I were to marry, even in secret, then it wouldn't take long before some enterprising young journalist found out."

For a moment the trickster looked at him silently, then he blinked and his whole form changed. "That is not a problem either; I can be whoever I need to be in public. If you need a loving wife I can play that part to the cameras." To back this statement up, Loki now looked in every possible way the trim, beautifully put together celebrity wife. Manicure, hair extensions, huge chest, the lot.

"Uh…Wow." Tony shook his head and tried not to act as surprised as he felt at the transformation. Of course Loki would be stunning as a woman. "But, as nice as this image really really is, I want to be married to you, not some fake version. I want to show you off to the world." He stopped himself and then smiled slightly. "Ah, there we go – if I ramble drunkenly for long enough I find a point to make. I want to show you off to the world. And I can't."

"You are an extremely morose drunk."

"I'm trying to eloquently explain my feelings here!"

Loki laughed, holding up his hands in mock defeat. "I am not trying to belittle what you are saying, Tony, but you do have a long winded approach to saying it. I understand what you are saying, but I must admit that I think you are being entirely selfish by this point."

Tony's jaw dropped. "Huh? Selfish?!" He stared at the God as Loki shrugged slightly.

"Think about it for a moment, Tony. We spent two or three years stealing the odd moment, mostly in your bathroom, and always fearing being caught. And then Evie was born and we had even less time together." He drew his legs up onto the bed and crossed them as he began to gesticulate with his hands. "Twice a year, and even then both of those times were roughly only ten hours or so. That's less than a day each year. And again; total secrecy. And then need I remind you that I have just spent the past seven years in the esteemed company of the chitauri, during which time I think it is safe to say that we both assumed we would never see each other again. So yes; you are being selfish. We are together, we have our daughter, and we no longer have to skulk around for fear of either the chitauri or of being caught. For me at least it is more than I ever believed I would ever deserve or receive."

A myriad of different emotions moved across Tony's face at that rather harsh summation of facts. Finally he settled on a grudging nod of the head.

"Okay, yeah, I can get that. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You are greedy; did anyone ever tell you that?"

"Eh, my Mother did once or twice."

"Well she should have done so more often. Be thankful for your lot in life – we are together and quite frankly I do not want to be paraded around infront of your worlds media anyway. I appreciate your sentiments on the matter, but please be realistic."

Tony scowled, although not with any true heat behind it. "You don't sugar coat things, do you? Fine, I will stop being selfish about our relationship. Happy?"

The petulant tone made Loki groan and run a hand down his face. "Oh Norns; we really do argue about everything, don't we?"

"…It looks that way. Is it a bad thing?"

"I suppose that depends on how we make up afterwards." Loki's eyes gleamed. "I believe we still have that argument from earlier to sort out too."

"And a marriage to consummate." Tony finally grinned too. "I'm guessing we're not sleeping much tonight."

"It looks like that way – how inventive are you feeling?"

"Extremely inventive. You?"

The gleam in Loki's eyes went feral. "Oh you have no idea."

It was getting on for about six o'clock in the morning by the time either of them eventually fell asleep.

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Bruce was already awake and sat at the small desk in his room when there was a knock on the door. He didn't bother looking up from the Sudoku he was engrossed in, knowing that there was only one person it was most likely to be.

"Yeah?"

"You awake?"

"Evidently." Bruce smirked as he heard the door creak open, and glanced up briefly to see Clint slink in. "What's up?"

"Awake and bored."

"I have Sudoku if you're interested?"

"Nah – can't get my head round those. Do you have a cryptic crossword?"

Bruce threw one over to him and Clint slumped down into one of the armchairs with it.

"So; you don't normally come looking for conversation this early in the morning. Are you alright?"

Clint shrugged, pulling out a pencil to start scribbling in answers on his crossword. "I didn't sleep too great."

"I can imagine all of this is very confusing for you – having to accept Loki and everything."

"You can say that again." The archer frowned for a moment. "What's the chemical symbol for gold?"

"Au."

"Of course." He added the answer in before continuing his train of thought. "I guess when we go back to Earth he'll be coming too. I can't see Evie and Tony wanting to stay here. If nothing else, Evie's too obsessed with WoW and CoD to cope for long without them and it's been quite a while already."

"Does it bother you? The tower's huge – you would probably hardly see him."

"I'd know he was on the same planet. That's enough to bother me."

Bruce finished off the last row of numbers and pushed the sheet to one side. "Maybe you should talk to him some more. I saw you ask him about Sleipnir yesterday; that was a good start."

"I don't want to."

The petulant tone made the scientist smile. "He's actually not so hard to talk with. I think anyone who so obviously worships their children like he does can't be all that bad. And he could give Tony a run for his money in the smartness stakes. The guy's a genius."

"Doesn't mean I have to like him."

"No, it doesn't, but if you're really so worried about having him around in the future you'll have to learn to live with him. I heard from Thor that Loki specializes in using throwing knives in a fight; maybe you two might actually have something in common when it comes to projectile weapons."

Clint had a sudden memory of trying to hit the trickster with an arrow and for Loki to simply catch it as if he'd thrown him a football. Still – the ensuing explosion had been worth that little indignity.

"Yeah, maybe."

Bruce frowned at the noncommittal answer. "It's not just the whole Loki thing, is it? What's really eating you?"

Clint finished the last clue then threw his crossword onto the floor, ignoring his host's glare at the action. "Did Tony tell you that his medical problems have been sorted?"

"Yeah – some sort of magic water thing Loki found apparently. He said he was fully healed."

"Did he mention the immortality thing too?"

This time Bruce looked more guarded. "He did, why?"

"He said there was enough of the weird water for the rest of us." Clint shrugged. "I know you and Steve don't need it – you guys are already pretty much immortal – but it would work on me and Nat, if we decided to take it."

"Ah." Bruce nodded slightly. "That's why you're so torn up. Did you get a chance to ask Natasha what she thought?"

"No. She doesn't have a clue about any of it; they'd already left by the time Tony told me."

"Do you want to be immortal."

Clint looked at him with a frank, level, stare. "No. I don't. At least…I don't think I do. I keep changing my mind – and from what I can tell it's an all or nothing deal."

"And you can't discuss it with Natasha. Would you just go with what she decides?"

"Of course not! We're not joined at the hip! But I'd like to talk it through with her. We talk everything through."

"And I'm currently being used as a substitute?"

Clint grinned, somewhat embarrassed. "Looks that way. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead – no one seems to care if I'm that sort of doctor or not. Just don't expect profound wisdom or anything."

"Perish the thought."

Bruce pushed his chair round to face Clint and leant back in it, swinging one leg over the other. "Alright then. Tell me everything."

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Someone hadn't bothered to pull the huge curtains closed properly, which meant that before mid-day a ray of bright sunlight had managed to aim itself quite brilliantly right into Tony's eyes.

He groaned and rolled over but the damage was already done and he was awake enough to know that going back to sleep wasn't going to be an option. He hated that moment of realization – especially since he'd been having a good dream. True, he couldn't actually remember what it was about, but it had been a good one, whatever it was. Fine; he was awake.

Sitting up meant that the man dislodged the arm draped over his back and he looked down to see Loki sprawled out next to him, still completely dead to the world. The God was lying on his side, using his own elbow as a pillow and his other arm – now removed from Tony's back – was flung out lazily to one side. The livid gash left across the limb from his fight with The Other was healing nicely – now just a thin scab that ran down his arm – and the one on his cheek was just a red mark that would soon be gone entirely. Even the deep bruising that Tony had been so worried about was slowly fading from the trickster's stomach.

He was healing.

And also about five minutes away from drooling, if he kept his head at that angle.

Tony smirked, but didn't do anything to rectify the situation. In fact, after a moment's thought he grabbed his phone off the side-table and took a photo.

"Sir, I don't believe he will appreciate that."

"I won't tell if you don't." He leant over and brushed away the lock of hair that was threatening to fall into Loki's open mouth. "And besides, he looks cute."

"Even so, sir."

"I'm allowed to take photos of my husband, Jarvis."

"Whatever, sir." The phone went into idle shut-down, signifying Jarvis' distaste.

Tony rolled his eyes and tossed it back onto the table – confident that his AI wouldn't actually delete the photo without his consent.

Surely he was allowed to take photos of his husband anyway. It wasn't like he could stick it on social media or something. Actually, he had barely any photos of Loki as it was; that would have to change. All that was on file were those old ones from the invasion attempt.

"How will your friends have any time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?!"

That memory was worlds away from the Loki currently sprawled out next to him. It was hard to put the two images in one frame of mind really. The world conquering God consumed with anger and hatred and the recumbent figure who – no matter what he claimed – was snoring lightly.

Tony smiled slightly. Maybe he should make a recording instead, just to prove that he really did snore. Loki was adamant that he didn't.

On the other hand, Loki wouldn't thank him for it.

The man decided to leave it at that before he got himself into trouble. Besides, he was hungry. There was a notepad in his bags from Earth (he'd never bothered to actually unpack anything) and he ripped off a page to scribble a note saying he'd gone for food just in case of the unlikely event that Loki woke up before he got back. His tunic from yesterday was full of smoke from the bonfire, so he pulled out a t-shirt and jeans to wear instead and then stomped off to the main hall to see if breakfast was still a possibility.

Thankfully, it was.

The place was nearly empty, just a handful of soldiers off duty and – most surprisingly – Evie. She was sat on her own at one of the large tables, stirring a spoon through her bowl of porridge listlessly.

"Hey Birdy, what are you doing here all alone." Tony slid onto the bench next to her, and nudged her with his shoulder. "You're looking a little blue – you okay?"

"Yeah." The girl certainly didn't look okay. If anything she looked rather morose.

"You don't seem it. Is it about last night? I know it was all a bit sudden, but it kinda seemed like the right idea at the time."

"It was the right idea – I think it's great you guys actually decided to do something sorta official." The girl managed a watery grin.

"…You really don't seem alright; what's wrong Little Bird?"

"Nothing." Evie was swirling her spoon around in her bowl of porridge in a way that made it extremely clear that she was lying.

"Huh." Tony picked out a couple of bread rolls for himself and began to drench them in honey. "That's funny; you don't usually sulk when nothing's wrong."

"I'm not sulking."

"No, I know you're not. You're genuinely upset about something."

Evie smiled slightly. "Ooh, look who's trying to be perceptive about teenagers."

"I know next to nothing about teenagers; but I happen to be very good at picking up signals from women – and you're reading as 'really unhappy' right now."

"You don't quit, do you?"

"Nope."

The girl pushed her uneaten food away and looked down at her hands. "Is Möhðy coming down any time soon?"

"I doubt it; he was fast asleep when I left him. Why?"

"Dad…I want to go home." She wasn't just unhappy, she looked thoroughly miserable. "I've had enough of this place and I want to go home."

Tony abandoned his breakfast, far more concerned with what his daughter was saying. "What's brought this on? I thought you loved it here." He said gently.

"I did, I did. It's just…" She looked away for a moment, staring down the length of the large hall. "I bumped into some kids this morning; I guess they were about my age, figuratively speaking since with these guys it's hard to tell. Anyway, I thought I'd say hi, maybe see if I could make some friends around here. And, well, it didn't go so well."

"What happened? Did they say something?"

Evie was home-schooled, sheltered from the world around her and with few friends even back on Earth – Tony knew that her social interactions were more suited for conversing with adults than her own age group and that in itself would set her apart – let alone her half-breed status and parentage. The girl had never experienced bullying before…

"They weren't mean or anything." She managed a small smile. "I guessed that's what you were thinking. But they were just really…I dunno, distant. Like they didn't want to know, but were too polite to just tell me to go away. I felt like I'd done something really wrong. And then I came here hoping to find someone I knew and there wasn't anyone and everyone was staring like I was some sort of circus freak." She shrugged. "I know they've all been staring anyway, but it was different when I was with you or Möhðy; I felt safe, and this time I didn't. It was horrible."

"Oh Birdy…" Tony pulled her tight into a hug, ignoring the fact that they were probably being watched by the other diners. "Why the hell didn't you just come back to the rooms? Why did you go out on your own in the first place?"

"I was having a nose around. And I didn't go back because I only just avoided waking you when I crept out and you looked too cute to disturb if I went back. It's not like anything actually happened; it just made me realize that I'm sick of it here." She had her face buried in his shirt, so it was hard to tell if she was crying or not. As a rule she was a tough kid – but she'd been through a lot recently, and the silliest of things could easily tip the balance between coping and free-falling. "I stand out too much. Sure, I stand out at home; but at least that's only because of your celebrity status. I've grown up with that. This is different. I'm not even the right species – and they don't even know about the Jötunn thing! If that was known then…" She shuddered – not an affectation, but the proper full-body shudder of someone who can't bear to entertain a thought. "It's horrible; knowing that if that was known then I'd be hated, vilified. And there's nothing I can do about it; I can't change my DNA. Walking around with you guys I don't feel it so much, but on my own I felt like I was treading on thin ice the entire time – like one wrong move and they'd know and it would flaming torches and pitchforks time."

"You're safe here, Birdy; no-one's gonna hurt you."

"I know, but it didn't feel like that." She looked up at him, her eyes thankfully tear-free. "Dad, please can we go home?"

"Yes, we will." Tony kissed the top of her head. "I'll talk to your Möhðy and we'll see how soon we can leave."

Being fed up with the lack of internet access, or the weird food was one thing, but if his daughter actually felt physically unsafe there, it was time to do something about it. He could tell her to man-up over the separation from her beloved online games, but he would not stand to have her feel threatened, as unintentional as it might have been.

It was time to return to Earth.

"By the way Dad; I do think it's totally awesome you got married."

"You do?"

"Yeah – about damn time really. And, hey," She grinned, properly this time. "Means I'm legitimate now. You'll have to call me Princess."

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Loki, when he finally woke up some three hours later, was surprisingly amenable to the idea of returning to Earth.

"I must admit; I feared this would happen." He said quietly, after the situation was explained. "The Aesir are not the most accepting of people at the best of times, and your ties with me only make it worse."

"I thought you were currently Asgard's darling."

"That may be for now, but it is only a fleeting moment in the sun. I will be out of grace very soon, I always am. Not always due to something I've done either." He smiled, to take away the hurt his words carried. "And besides, I am fond of Midgard, and have missed it almost as much as Asgard; there is a lot to catch up on."

"I can make you watch Frozen." Evie said. Tony rounded on her.

"Do not start singing that infernal-"

"Let it go, let it go-"

"Damnit, Evelyn! That's going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the week now!"

Loki looked between them in amusement. "So that is where that song comes from; Sleipnir was singing it yesterday. I presume the two of you watched the film together?"

"Yeah, I think he liked it. And it's a catchy tune. My power flurries through the air into the –"

"Not another word Evie, I am warning you!" Tony could actually sound quite strict when he really meant something. Evie subsided into a sulky silence. "And speaking of Sleipnir – are you sure you want to leave him again so soon?"

Loki thought through the question carefully. No, of course he didn't want to leave Sleipnir. Soon or otherwise, he would much rather always be with his son, just as he'd always want to be with Evie. However, although Sleipnir had travelled to Earth with him before it had usually been on some adventure or other, and not with a view to actually just settle down in one place for any length of time. The horse did well on a battle field, or trekking across a desert, or any of the other journeys they had undertaken, but to stay in central New York would be wearisome for him.

He was a big horse, who could run faster than the average fighter jet could fly, and needed a lot of space to do so. Whatever Tony had to hand, lots of space wasn't it. Stark had numerous properties, and over the years Loki had seen them all at least once, but none of them were anything like big enough for Sleipnir to be comfortable and get the exercise he needed.

But staying on Asgard wasn't really a long term option – even if they did delay leaving Evie would just be getting unhappier by the day, and Loki wasn't fool enough not to realize that Tony was also beginning to get a little fidgety now and then. They were humans of the 21st century, and for all of Asgard's wonders it didn't boast any of the comforts that they had grown to expect as part of life. WiFi, television, microwaves, computers, lightbulbs, electricity in general…Even the lack of showers and insistence on bath-tubs only.

It was hard, but it made sense to part from Sleipnir. They had been apart many times before – mostly when Loki went off travelling on his own – and had learnt to deal with it. Evie, on the other hand, had had him forcibly wrenched from her side and considering her tender years, had barely spent any time with him at all before or after the parting.

"Sleipnir will understand." He outlined his reasoning to them, trying not to sound as heartless as he felt at effectively abandoning his son. "It will only be for periods at a time; we can come and visit as often as we like – and if we can work out a place for him on Earth he can come and stay with us for a while too."

Evie looked doubtful. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to leave me again; I don't think he'll want to either."

"He is much older than you, darling, and we have spent longer periods apart than this. I didn't get to see him for nearly two hundred years once."

"Where were you that time?"

"Vanaheim, actually. I was on a diplomatic mission which ended with my arrest. I was detained for a rather long time."

"What did you do?"

Loki grinned lazily. "Seduced the high priestess."

"What?!"

"Oh don't look at me like, Stark, this was back in Earth's Neolithic period – you were not even a glint in the milk-mans' eye."

"Yeah, but still…"

"If you really want a list of all my past conquests, we shall be here for an age."

Tony grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, fair enough. Mine's pretty damn extensive too."

"Do you guys have to have this conversation with me present?" Evie asked in disgust. "Otherwise I'm going to have to start breaking curfew to create my own list."

"Evelyn!"

"You're fourteen!"

"Then stop discussing your sex lives infront of me!"

"Then go into your own room and get packing." Tony retorted.

"Fine, fine, see you later."

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Packing – for Evie and Tony at least – did not take very long. Tony had never really unpacked to begin with, and the few clothes he had pulled out were just as easily stuffed back in. Evie had thrown her things all over her room, but as she hadn't brought much it wasn't hard to gather it all back up again.

For Loki, however, it was a more time consuming process, especially with his daughter and husband fluttering around like moths. He sent Tony off to talk to Bruce and Clint about returning to Earth whilst he tried to both sort out some of his more important possessions and fend off Evelyn at the same time.

"What is this?"

"A chalice."

"What about this?"

"A dried gourd."

Evie picked up a fine golden chain from the bookshelf and examined it. "Why's this lying around? It's really pretty; you should keep it somewhere safe."

"It has a death curse on it and I don't want it contaminating anything else." Loki smirked as his daughter shrieked and threw it back down. "Don't over-react – it only works if you put it on, I would not have let you touch it otherwise."

"Why do you even have that?! Never mind, I don't want to know." She poked the next object to take her interest gingerly. "What about this? It looks like a human mandible."

"Not bad; it is actually Homo erectus, which is nearly indistinguishable from Homo sapiens."

"Pffft, 'erectus'."

"Grow up, Evelyn."

The girl smirked and moved her gaze over the rest of the shelf. There was a pile of red cord that looked like it might have once wrapped up a parcel, some rocks that may or may not have been granite, and a pretty wooden box with a flower carved in it.

"This is beautiful, did you make it?" She didn't pick the box up – it looked quite heavy – but lifted the lid to peer inside.

"Don't touch that!"

The lid snapped itself closed and the whole box jumped back away from her, but not before she got a glimpse of a glaring bright yellow light inside. Then Loki's arm was around her waist, pulling her back.

"What the hell?!"

"Did you touch it?" He spun her round to face him, eyes alight with fear and concern. He lifted her hands up to examine them, as if looking for burns. "Did you?"

"I don't know, I only opened the lid!" Evie watched as her hands were surrounded by a bright green haze, before Loki shook his head in relief.

"You didn't."

"Uh…What would have happened if I had?"

"You would be dead."

The girl pulled away, glancing at the box – now hiding itself behind some books – in horror. "Jesus, Möhðy! What the hell are you keeping here?!"

"I'm sorry, I do not normally have nosey teenagers poking around – so there is no harm in keeping some dangerous things out. Sleipnir is long past the stage of getting himself into trouble."

"And Uncle Thor is past that stage?"

Loki smirked at that. "Ah, well, he occasionally learns hard lessons. Just like you would have done. Does your Father not tell you to be careful in his workshops?"

"Yeah, I guess. But most people don't go leaving around deadly objects of power in their bedrooms."

"Do I look like 'most people'? Just…" He looked around for a moment, then picked up a different box from a neighboring shelf – this one fine porcelain. "Here, all the trinkets in here are mostly safe, but you should find them quite interesting."

"Mostly safe?"

"One will turn your hair green if you mishandle it and another will cause you to lose consciousness for a few hours."

"Cool!" The girl sat down cross-legged on the bed and tipped out the array of small bits and pieces to start sorting through them.

A few moments later, Loki heard a soft thump and turned around to see his daughter sprawled out across the covers, completely unconscious. He turned back to his packing with a shrug.

"I did warn you."

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Tony had hunted down the other two humans in Asgard, and was pleased to be able to get them alone without any Aesir to interrupt as he explained the situation. When they heard that it was mainly due to Evie that they would be returning to Earth Clint declared that Bruce was 'bloody psychic' which made Tony suspect that they had already discussed this possibility. However, neither of the two men had any problem with it; in fact, Clint was looking rather thrilled. It really had got to the point where the comforts of home were becoming more and more enticing daily.

Of course; a member of the royal family cannot just decide to up and leave in such a manner without any preamble. Loki had to go and speak with Odin, and then explain to Thor, and then argue that no, actually there wasn't a way around this. Evelyn was unhappy, and he didn't want to let it become proper homesickness.

Then Thor decided that if Loki and the Avengers really had to go, then of course there had to be a massive feast for them all. Loki just as quickly decided that no there really didn't have to be one!

Maybe some things had changed between them; but intrinsically they were very much the same when it came to certain things. There was no way Loki was going to enjoy a gathering like that, and no way Thor would ever understand it.

Odin separated the two in the way that only a father who had spent far too long doing so could manage, and sent Thor off to go and make sure that Clint and Bruce didn't need any help. This left him alone with Loki – something that hadn't happened since the chitauri attack.

"Come, walk with me."

"Do I have a choice in the matter?"

The old king smirked slightly. "Not particularly."

Loki rolled his eyes but fell into step obediently, knowing full well that he should have expected this. Hopefully he wasn't going to get it in the neck too badly, but with Odin you never knew. They were in the main throne-room, but the Allfather led the way to one of the side passages behind the throne so that they were less likely to bump into anyone. The guards that usually accompanied him everywhere made to follow, but he waved them back and they silently returned to their posts.

Loki managed to wait for the doors to the corridor to swing shut behind them before snorting with laughter.

"Is something amusing?"

"No, just awfully familiar. How many times have you had to dismiss the guards so that you could tell me off?"

"More times than I care to remember."

"Precisely. Familiar." Loki flicked his finger at one of the intricate carvings on the gilded walls, sending a glow of light through the finely worked dragon so that for a moment it looked like it was going to breathe flame. "How much trouble am I in this time?"

"Well, your Mother is furious that you failed to invite her to your wedding for a start; but I will grudgingly admit that that, at least, was not your fault. Your human is very spontaneous."

"My husband, you mean."

"Yes, alright, your husband." Odin didn't sound pleased to be corrected, but he at least accepted the need for correction on that point. "At any rate – he is extremely presumptuous. Does he truly have no comprehension of the complexities surrounding royalty and the necessity for a political marriage of good standing? I know that you are well aware and have yet seemingly ignored those protocols."

"Oh please; I have already been marriage fodder once and that was a disaster; play your political games with Thor this time." Loki smiled wryly. "And besides; who would want me as a political marriage after everything that has happened? No lord of any realm is going to bargain off his precious little girl to a thing like me – and I would not want them to. So I made my own choice this time and rather than find some precocious royal woman with a head stuffed full of air, I skipped a level and went straight for the lord instead. Tony Stark is as good a match as you could ever find to tie Asgard and Earth, and there is the small bonus that he and I can actually stand each other – something I never managed with Sigyn."

"Do not try to pretend that this was purely done for political reasons. Romance has completely turned your head, Loki." Odin pressed his hand against the glowing carving, so that the light died away.

"Are you saying that I cannot make rational decisions?"

"I am saying that maybe you did not think this through."

"As opposed to what? I would be going to Earth with Tony whether we were married or not."

"I am simply concerned about your future."

"He is my future." Loki said simply. "Tony, Evelyn, what else should I want?"

"I thought you wanted a kingdom. To rule."

"And I thought you wanted to kill all the frost giants. Apparently, we can't always get what we want."

Odin looked surprised at the retort, then laughed quietly. "Well said. However, be that as it may, you have spent so little time with this human, and yet you have willingly tied yourself to him for eternity. Your courtship was unorthodox at best, and by all accounts you cannot be in the same room as each other without flying into an argument."

"Have you been spying on me?!"

"I have been concerned."

Loki turned away, his back to the king in a studied insult as he looked up at the carvings on the wall again. His gaze traced along a delicately formed horse as he tried to formulate a reply. Once upon a time he would have come straight back out with an angry retort, which most likely would have landed him in worse trouble, or he would have stormed off, which would have just postponed the inevitable argument. However, the past few years had, if nothing else, taught him the merits of waiting and thinking. To actually think through what the other person in the conversation might be saying, not just what his own feelings on the subject were. This had been a skill he'd always had, but never actually bothered to employ – it was probably time he started doing so a little more.

"All this talk of politics and arranged marriages…they are not truly your worry here, are they?" He turned back to look at Odin, watching as the king's single eye narrowed slightly.

"I do not believe you would really want to hear about what truly worries me, Loki; you have always hated talks of a sentimental nature."

"I have, but maybe I should learn to listen to them anyway; that way certain mistakes from our past will not be repeated."

There was wisdom in that, and Odin nodded. "Fine. I am concerned because I want to see you happy. Not just happy today, or for a year or so, but happy in a way that you will also still be happy many more centuries into the future. And I do not think I can ever completely trust anyone with that responsibility. You have taken it upon yourself to align yourself with this human – marrying him, making him immortal – and I still worry that it was not the right choice. After everything he has done for you I cannot see how there could be any better choice, but still I cannot help but worry for you."

"I am half a million years old, Father. There comes a point when you will have to stop worrying about me."

Odin huffed with quiet laughter. "And tell me, Loki; when have you ever stopped worrying about Sleipnir, or Evelyn? A parent never loses their concern for their child, no matter how old said child is."

That much was true at least. Loki still felt that icy knot of fear sit in his chest whenever Sleipnir rode out to battle; and even now he was here and having this conversation because he was concerned about Evie's welfare.

"Alright, yes, of course I worry."

"And it is no different for your mother and I. We worry about you just as we still worry about your brother also." Odin wasn't the sort of parent to make grand overtures of affection so settled for clasping Loki's shoulder. "What I am trying to say – badly, it would appear – is that we want you to be happy and if this is what you have chosen, then your mother and I support you in that decision."

"You're right; that was a pretty bad way of saying it. I had not really fathomed any of that in the least." Loki smiled at the unusual display of parental affection. "But I appreciate the sentiment now that I understand it."

"You are a nuisance, I hope you know that."

"I believe it goes with the job description of God of Mischief."

"Yes, and whichever of the Norns decided that that was to be your title was evidently cackling when she decided it."

Loki laughed, genuinely for once, which was unusual in a conversation between himself and the king. "It could be so much worse; at least mischief can be considered chaotic neutral. Imagine if I had been named the God of Darkness, or Evil, something of that ilk."

"Yes; we have seen the damage you can cause under your current title."

The trickster sketched a small bow. "I do try. Now, may I go? I have to pack."

"Fine, go ahead." Odin sighed at the imperious tilt of his son's head as the younger God turned to leave. "And Loki?"

"What?" Loki glanced back over his shoulder, looking somewhat annoyed at being called back.

"You are a terrible nuisance, but your mother and I are still very proud of you."

Loki's annoyance turned to surprise, then warmed to a smile. He bowed his head again, actually meaning it this time. "Thank you, Father."

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It was late evening by the time the group was ready to leave, and a considerable amount of that time had been spent on farewells. Sleipnir, in particular, had taken it very badly. He understood, and agreed that Loki needed to take Evie home, but that didn't mean he needed to like it. They spent about two hours together trying to find the words to say goodbye – as much as it certainly wasn't final.

Frigga was far more restrained than Loki had expected – having assumed that she would be concerned about wedding feasts and such. However, she congratulated him but didn't linger on the subject in defiance of everyone's expectations of her. Instead the Queen seemed reticent and although it was clear there was something troubling her, she didn't seem at all ready to share it. Loki knew the signs when she had foreseen something that severely disturbed her, but Frigga evidently didn't want to tell him and if the usually stoic queen clung to him far tighter than she usually would, he didn't say anything.

Thor was going back with them so it was a group of six standing at the end of the Bifrost as the sun began to dip behind the citadel.

"Are you sure you are not rushing into this, brother?" The older God asked quietly. "We can always leave tomorrow morning, there's no need to hurry away like this."

"One more night on Asgard? No, I believe everyone is ready to leave by now; not just Evelyn. Clint and Bruce want to go back to Earth just as much as she does – they couldn't pack fast enough! And Tony has said little on the subject, but he talks to Jarvis and arranges his schedule with Miss Potts whilst asleep. I believe they are all tired of Asgard."

"Have you said farewell to Sleipnir?"

"Yes, thank you. He cried."

"Ah." Thor knocked his shoulder against his younger brother's. "And you? Everyone else wants to go back, but do you?"

Loki shrugged lightly. "You know me; I rarely stay in Asgard for longer than I have to, I have always preferred to travel. I wish to move on with my life, and most importantly with my family – and that cannot happen here. There are too many memories here. Good ones, certainly, but many not so good ones too, and after everything that has happened over all these years I feel that I want to make a clean break of it all." He glanced at Thor's downcast expression and sighed. "Oh for Valhalla's sake! I'm coming back! And you are coming with us so it is not even like we shall be apart!"

"I know but these past few weeks…it has been like old times again and I had rather hoped it would last longer. It was like having my little brother back again."

"As far as I am concerned, you can have your little brother back again just as easily on Earth. In fact, said little brother may even be missing some of Midgard's commodities himself."

"What could you possibly miss about Earth?"

"For a start, daytime TV. If there is one thing above all else that Asgard needs, it is television. No, electricity. How we have not managed to advance past candles is simply beyond me!"

Thor laughed, shaking his head at Loki's indignant expression. "You have never been one for tradition, have you?"

"When tradition involves a stagnant culture, no I have not. Give me trashy TV, violent video games and fast food any day of the week." Loki smiled when he felt a hand fall onto his shoulder and glanced back to see Tony behind him.

"How does take-out sound for dinner, then?"

"Make it Thai and it sounds divine."

Thor laughed at the pair of them before raising his gaze up to Heimdall. "Gatekeeper, I believe it is time for us all to depart."

The group stood together inside the observatory, Odin and Frigga to one side. Evie had said her fond farewells to her grandparents and had already promised to visit again soon. Sleipnir hadn't come with them – his goodbyes had been said in private and he didn't want to have to actually see them leave. He had made it quite clear that he wanted to join them on Earth as soon as possible; he and Evie had already written up a list of places to go and visit, as well as a must-watch movie list.

Heimdall looked over the group before nodding once and moving up to the large podium. He caught Loki's eye and for a moment there was the slightest hint of a smile on the Watcher's face. "Travel in safety."

The Bifrost activated and the last view they had of Asgard was Frigga raising a hand in farewell with Odin stood beside her.

As the light filled the observatory the king lent in to his wife.

"You did not tell Loki about your vision."

"No. I could not bring myself to do so."

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The Bifrost journey was just as chaotic and unpleasant as it always was. However, it was also thankfully just as short.

The humans staggered upon arrival, and once again Bruce stumbled out of the immediate radius to throw up. On the plus side the Hulk didn't want to make an appearance, but the scientist was certainly feeling severely travel sick.

As it was, no one seemed to notice him leaning over and retching.

"I thought this site was monitored by Shield." Tony said in quiet confusion.

"It should be." Clint replied.

"So…Where is everyone?"

The New Mexico desert was completely devoid of life as far as they could see. The black symbols of the Bifrost were the only non-natural feature visible, which was a surprise considering there was supposed to be a Shield team on hand.

No vehicles, no tents, no personnel, nothing.

It was also freezing.

Well, compared to the warm Asgardian summer they had just left behind. It was hard to remember that on Earth it was actually still winter going into early spring – and therefore cold. New York was undoubtedly going to be even worse.

Evie was pressed in close to Loki's side, shivering violently in her thin t-shirt. A moment later a thick and surprisingly heavy green cloak materialized around her shoulders. It was far too big for her, but it was warm.

"Do you suppose they thought we would not come back?" Thor asked.

"Even so, they would still monitor the site." Tony was looking wary now, his fingers twitching on the handle of his suit-containing briefcase. Beside him Clint was fidgeting with his bow. "Something must have happened to call them away."

"I don't know why Fury would have agreed to pulling away the entire station, though. They should have at least left a skeleton crew. And there are no tracks – they've been gone a while."

"An attack?"

"I don't know. Wait here – there was a porta-cabin set up last time I was here, just over that bluff." Clint set off at a run up the small hill, and a moment later Thor joined him, Mjölnir in hand. The natural rise was not very high on the side that they ran up, but there was a steep drop on the other side that led down to a tiny grey building.

"Well, that is still there at least." Thor said quietly. "But it must be empty – they would have heard the Bifrost, or seen it."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? We'll check it over though – there might be something left to give us an idea what happened."

Back on the fading circle left by the rainbow bridge, Tony was on his phone trying to get through to Pepper. She was currently not answering, which was increasing the uneasy feeling of worry that was building. Loki had moved over to Bruce – still wretchedly throwing up – and gently touched the scientist on the shoulder.

"I can stop the nausea, if you wish." He offered cautiously.

"I would be extremely grateful." Bruce sounded thoroughly miserable. He braced himself against the expected blast of magic, but instead just felt a warm sensation trickle down through Loki's contact at his shoulder and settle on his stomach. It felt like eating a fresh, warm bread roll. He sat back on his heels, breathing deeply as the motion-sickness faded away. "Oh that's better! Thank you!"

"You are welcome. Are you usually motion-sick?"

"Only on boats, normally." Bruce managed to get to his feet, only for a glass of water to be pushed into his hands. At some point, he told himself, he'd ask how Loki managed to create things out of nothing in such a way.

"Pepper!" Tony's explosive exclamation drew everyone's attention to him. "Pep! God am I pleased to hear your voice; I've been trying to get through to you for the past ten minutes!" He listened to whatever the reply was, a frown beginning to furrow his brow. "Yeah, all of us. Came back just now. Where the hell is everyone? I thought Shield was monitoring this site and – What?!" The confusion on his face became alarm. "Okay, okay, calm down, I can't understand you." He was scowling at the ground now, the phone gripped tightly as he nodded. "What do you mean, gone. No, we've heard nothing from Steve or Nat, why? Are they alright?"

He looked up at a call from Clint to see the archer and thunder God running back to them. He held up a hand to quiet them as they both began explaining at once that the command post had been completely abandoned and all of the equipment was gone.

"Pep, Pep, you still aren't making sense; look, we're coming back to the tower and we can sort it all out then. We need to talk to Fury and…what…? No…What do you mean? He can't be…"

For a moment there was complete silence. Tony didn't need to clarify what Pepper had just told him; his face said it all.

"What happened?" He finally whispered. "Yeah, no, no I…alright, alright. In person, yeah. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Okay, good, good. Yeah, we'll be there in the next few minutes…" He took the phone away from his ear, closing down the call.

"Tony?" Loki was the one to step towards him, taking the phone from his hand as he simply stood there. "Tony, what has happened?"

Ironman turned to look at him, his face devoid of all colour as he tried to find what to say.

"Fury's dead. Shield's fallen."

The words rang in the horrified silence.

"But…they've only been gone for a week or so…" Clint said faintly. "It's only been a week…"

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Pepper's said to get back asap. She'll tell us everything."

"Fury's dead?"

"That's what she said."

Bruce looked green about the gills once more. "I think I'm going to be sick again…"

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Loki teleported the group back to the tower, landing them in the main sitting room of the living quarters. It was late at night by this point and the lights were on low because no one was in the area.

"We're back, Jarv, are you still there?" Tony waved at the ceiling so that the ambient lighting brightened.

"Hello sir, it is fantastic to see you again." The voice sounded so relieved that it was actually surprising. "I will begin synching with the mainframe in your phone to get my memory up to date."

"Sure, where's Pepper? And what the hell's been going on?! We've only been gone two months!"

Jarvis' surprised 'Sir?' corresponded with Loki's quiet 'ah' of worried understanding.

"Sir, you have been gone closer to five months."

"What?!"

"Five months?" Even Clint looked shocked.

"Did you not know?" Loki glanced between the humans, then glared at his brother. "Thor, did you not tell them? In all these years?" He didn't wait for a reply. "Times passes differently between the realms. What has been two months in Asgard was five on Earth."

"Huh." Tony realised that might explain why when Thor used to go home for what he would claim to be a brief visit he would take days at a time. Sometimes weeks. "Christ, five months. Jarvis, we need a debrief on everything. What the hell has been happening?! What's happened to Shield? Fury?"

"Hydra." The quiet voice came from the doorway and they all turned as one unit to see Pepper standing there. She was dressed down – obviously having finished the day not expecting company – and looked surprisingly vulnerable as she stepped into the room.

"Pep, what do you mean?"

"Hydra is back."

It was a very far cry from the happy reunion they had been expecting. Any happiness at seeing Pepper again was reduced down to cursory hugs as she tried answer all of the questions whilst asking her own mostly regarding Tony's health. Even introducing her to Loki – officially this time, considering she had seen him before – was brushed over.

As it was, Jarvis made life easier by calling up Steve and Natasha, who were back in residence and had been down in Tony's labs sorting through piles of encrypted Shield data. They were also very reserved in their greetings; and if it hadn't already been clear that something was awfully wrong the fact that Natasha still had her arm in a sling would have given it away.

No one bothered discussing what had happened on Asgard since the two had left – such things could wait – and instead all attention was on Natasha as she succinctly explained everything that had happened over the past few months. On the plus side, she at least put to rest the horror-story of Fury's death. As it happened, even Pepper hadn't been given clearance to know about the subterfuge until the Avengers were back together as a full group.

Hydra, Zola, the Winter Soldier, the attack on Shield…

The story was told to horrified silence. The humans knew the origins of Hydra, and even Evie was aware of the generics having grown up with Captain America in the household, so they were an extremely receptive audience to how awful this new situation was.

"They're in control of everything…?" Clint sounded horror-struck.

"It appears that although we stopped the main attack with the helicarriers, we didn't even scratch the surface. The infection runs right through."

"And here I thought we'd seen the end of all the bloody drama." Tony groaned, burying his head in his hands. "So much for living a nice quiet life now."

Steve smiled grimly. "I'm afraid we've rather grown used to it now. Fury is on the run – sorry about that by the way Pepper, we wanted to tell you – Hill now actually works downstairs as the tower's receptionist and the Council is scattered and unreachable, if they still exist." He shook his head. "It's a bloody nightmare to be honest. Hydra have complete control of Shield's stock, weapons, personnel, everything! The only reason they don't have the computer files too is because you integrated Jarvis through the servers all those years ago and he's locked them out."

"Good boy Jarv."

"I aim to please, sir."

"We've been wading through everything since it's all calmed down to try and find some leads to follow. We know Shield has multiple secret bases, but the main point is that they're secret and we have no idea where they are."

"There's all sorts hidden away there too." Natasha sounded like she was sick and tired of the whole thing. "We don't even know about half the stuff Shield was up to; there're prototypes to anything you can imagine, and all of it's deadly in the wrong hands."

"They'll have our files then." Bruce said slowly. "They weren't computerized."

"Fury shredded what he could, so we personally are safe enough." Steve looked between the two scientists. "You two were on their hit list though – they didn't actually know that you were off planet."

"What? They were going to send a hit team in?"

"No – they were going to hit the tower in their air-strike."

"Jesus!" That wasn't just taking out Tony and Bruce in a tactical maneuver, doing that would have killed hundreds! The tower wasn't just the small group of Avengers; there were the office levels where the company work was done, labs other than Tony's, whole levels of people just…being people. Tony didn't even know what half of them did. And then there would be the fallout from a blown-up tower – taking out all of the buildings around it as it fell, debris striking the streets. There was a metro line running nearby and should a million tons of masonry suddenly hit the road above it at speed…

Hydra apparently didn't care. Collateral damage wasn't a problem to them.

"Are we still in danger?" Tony's arm was around Evie now, where she sat next to him on the large sofa, still huddled under Loki's cloak.

"Yes. They don't have the fire-power at the moment, but they will be looking to pull apart the Avengers."

"Well, they will have to go through two Gods to do so." Loki said quietly. Steve looked up at him in surprise.

"You will fight with us?"

"Of course."

"We would appreciate it; you're a weapon of mass destruction all on your own. Not even slightly tempted at the world-take-over opportunities here?"

Loki smiled faintly. "More than slightly, but I do not think certain people around here would take too kindly to it."

"Let's destroy Hydra first, and then you can take over the planet, dear." Tony patted him on the knee. "Right, so, all of Shield's most important stuff is in the hands of a bunch of neo-nazi's and other than that being a really really bad thing we don't even know what we're facing up against here."

Natasha smirked at the summery. "Pretty much."

"Excellent. I do so love a challenge." Tony slumped back against the sofa cushions with a groan, then cast an apologetic glance at Loki. "Sorry, so much for a relaxing welcome home, this is generally as good as it gets around here. I leave for five minutes and everything goes to pot!"

"I believe it is about time we had some excitement back in our lives."

"Really? You almost didn't survive the last lot of excitement."

"Well, there is just an incentive to do better then, isn't there." Loki smiled at his husband briefly before turning back to Natasha. "Now. What aren't you telling us?"

"What?"

"Please. I may not be able to fool you, but likewise you cannot fool me. At least, not this time. Everything you said was true, but I know that you missed something out. What was it?"

The assassin exchanged an uneasy glance with Steve, who took over for her.

"Now may not be the best time…"

"Is there going to be a better one?" Bruce sat forwards, taking active part in the conversation again. "What are you not telling us?"

The super soldier sighed heavily. "Look, it's like we said; Hydra have been part of Shield from the outset. They helped create it to some extent, and have therefore been able to deal with internal threats to their cause as and when they showed up. Like, taking out people who were too powerful and they felt were a threat, people who maybe found out about their presence. They could organize accidents. A…a car crash, if necessary…"

If Steve's reticence confused the others, there was one person who understood what he meant. Tony stood up abruptly, shaking off Loki's arm that had been casually resting on his shoulders.

"A car crash."

"Tony…"

"Are you speculating or was there proof?"

Natasha's voice was soft, which almost made it worse. "There was proof. I'm sorry, Tony."

Evie looked between the other Avenger's and her father. She had seen Stark angry before, but the absolute rage crossing his face was terrifying.

"What's going on? I don't understand…" She turned to Loki in incomprehension. "Möhðy? What car crash?"

For once Loki completely ignored her. He rose to his feet and moved over to where Tony was now at the large windows, his back to all of them. The inventor had his arms tightly wrapped around his waist, his body langue reading as part way between incoherent fury and something much harder to decipher.

"Tony." The trickster came up behind his partner, gently grasping the man's upper arms so that he was pressed up against his partner's back. Tony's hand immediately came up to grasp his almost painfully tightly and Loki dropped his chin onto the man's shoulder. "Tony…"

"They killed them."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"I didn't particularly like them, but Hydra killed them."

"You always said you suspected something had happened."

"Yeah." Tony nodded with a shuddering breath. "Yeah, and now I know."

"Now you know."

"Yeah…" The man quickly scrubbed his free hand across his face. "Christ! I didn't imagine coming home to be like this! Everything was meant to go right for once!" He thumped his fist into the window pane. "Is it too much to ask for something to just go right?!"

"Tony." Loki felt his partner's grip on his hand tighten. "You have just helped me fight my war, now let me help you with yours."

"This really sucks, as home-comings go."

"Oh I don't know – mine was less than dignified. At least you are in one piece."

Tony let out a hollow laugh and nodded. "Heh, yeah, small mercies and all that." The tension in his body began to recede, though, and he sagged in Loki's gentle hold. "So, we're fighting a war?"

Loki released his hold so that Tony could turn around to see the rest of the group as well.

"War against Hydra?"

Steve snorted. "Way ahead of you. Nat and I are already in this neck deep, we're in." Natasha nodded in agreement.

Tony's gaze ran over his other friends, questioning. Clint shrugged and nodded readily enough.

"They hurt Shield; that means they've killed our own. I don't like that. I'm in." He glanced at Banner. "Bruce?"

"War? I don't know; I'm not really a soldier am I? More like an uncontrollable weapon – I'm hardly going to be useful. I mean, I was only useful last time through lucky chance. We can't guarantee the Hulk will side with you again…" He realised that he was surrounded by skeptical faces. "Oh fine, yes. I'm in."

"I will assist with this new threat to Earth." Thor proclaimed. Beside him Pepper bit her thumbnail, looking caught between fear and admiration.

"You guys are all nuts; how can you fight a war against a whole organization when there's just seven of you?"

"We managed the last time." Tony glanced at Loki, who grinned.

"I believe I wasn't on your side in that fight."

"Yeah, and we still wiped the floor with you. I think we're good for this one, Pep."

The woman smiled slightly, acknowledging the statement. "Alright. I'm no soldier, but I can make a damn fine logistics division. I'm in."

Tony thumped his fist into his other hand. "Right then. We're officially at war with Hydra, lots to get done! Jarvis; if you can make contact with any Shield personnel that you can guarantee are on our side, please do so."

Doing so now, sir." The AI sounded smug as it continued. "Patching through a direct line to Agent Coulson, sir."

The stunned silence across the room was the only answer Jarvis got. Finally Clint managed to splutter the one thing everyone else was thinking.

"Coulson?!"

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