The Panther and The Rose

by Difference-Equals-Normal

Briar Rose Stark is quiet, painfully shy, and definitely NOT a hero like her brother. But when the super villains are set free, and the world needs heroes, Briar doesn't have much choice to go beyond her shell and discover herself. But with danger at every turn, the real people she can count on come out. Especially a certain mysterious super-hero, calling himself the Black Panther.

28. The Siege of Asgard

Oh, my word...IT'S THE FINAL CHAPTER! *cackles like crazy* Finally, the end is nigh! I can get this over and done with...and start on second season. But who cares! *does happy dance* ...Okay then, while Den goes to her happy-crazy-psycho place, why don't the rest of us sane people move along?

Disclaimer: The Management of Chaotic Inc. wishes to advise the reading audience that this chapter is rated M; there is minor adult content. If said content offends you in anyway, then please remind yourselves that you were fore warned. Also, all of the smutty goodiness can be blamed on the author (she tries to blame it on Panther, but really, it's all her).

DEADPOOL! WILL YOU BEAT IT ALREADY?!

Chimichangas!

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The Siege of Asgard, part 2

"Nervous?" I nearly jumped out of my skin when T'Challa snuck up beside me. As it was, I leaned my back against Voltaire's side as the giant dog dozed in a light slumber.

"What, me nervous? No, of course not," I answered in an attempt to sound up-beat, "We're only sailing in a wooden ship through the galaxy, on our way to the location of quintessential chaos, with no clue of where the other Avengers are, and no chance of back up. Why should I be nervous?" And why do I keep shooting myself in the foot when it comes to things that scare the Hell out of me?

T'Challa saw quite easily through my bluster, and curled himself against my side as his arm wound itself around my shoulders to pull me closer into his body. Taking up his silent offer of comfort, I buried my face into his chest, grateful for the warmth and safety I felt in every inch of his hug. Comforted by the strong sound of his heartbeat, and his quiet voice humming a tune, my mind went back to only an hour or so ago when we were back in Alfheim.

Once everyone was in agreement over my plan, Faraday offered himself as help to get into Asgard, whilst Ranger suggested we travel by way of a ship. "Loki will no doubt have the Bifrost Bridge watched and guarded." He explained as he showed us the vessel in mind. Since there was no other way to get to the palace, the only thing we had to do was get Hawkeye and Faraday kitted out with Asgardian bows and arrows.

T'Challa did try to convince me to stay behind, but quickly gave in when I gave him an exasperated look. Not that he always tried to do this whenever something is super dangerous, but because as much as he's grateful for me being rescued from the evil wolves, he'd want to keep a closer eye on me himself—which is a tad hard to do when I'm in one place and he's heading to another, so I was tagging along.

One problem did pop up once we got sailing—me and motion sickness. Rather than have my stomach contents end up everywhere, I crawled into the cabin with Voltaire and managed to get some sleep.

After my little nap, I did feel better now that I wasn't seeing stars fly by my head, but then I started to worry over my plan to get into the palace and free Thor, especially since he might be under his adopted brother's watchful eyes. My boyfriend came in to check up on me (as he often did), and saw the queasy look on my face and correctly assumed that I was worried—which brings us to the now.

"Could we talk about something else for a while, please?" I asked him, "I'd rather not think about what's to come, other than it's going to be bad." In hindsight—that was a rather silly move, because T'Challa merely smiled that same heart-stopping, blood-racing grin of his, pulled my body against his so that we were now chest to chest, with arms of steel pinning my arms to my sides, brushed his mouth closer to my ear.

Then the fiend began to describe what he would do to me once we saved the day and went back to the embassy. Described in great detail, and while it started out harmless…let's just say that it had potential to become another 'elevator madness' moment, or something even more scandalous.

"Will you two keep it G-rated back there?" Hawkeye complained after my squeals got a tad too loud.

"Panther started it!" I dobbed and said man pouted at me.

"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!" Hawkeye threatened. Knowing that he would, and feeling not all that keen to find out how, I managed to shimmy out of the Panther's grip. Voltaire very conveniently chose to wake up right then, lifting his head to shake the cobwebs from his head. Taking the opportunity that was there, I was shifted so that Voltaire's head was now between T'Challa and me, much to my dog's confusion. My boyfriend, however, just smiled a silent message: this isn't over, my love. For the sake of decency, and the sanity of everyone else on board, T'Challa pulled his mask back into place and stood up and joined Hawkeye and Faraday at the helm. Hawkeye must've said something, because the next second I heard him yelp in pain as something went smack.

"Starky, your boyfriend hit me!" Hawkeye whined even as Faraday began to laugh lightly. Rather than give in to the urge of throwing back childish retorts (or maybe even hit him myself), I ran my hand over Voltaire's furry head, scratching at all of his favorite spots.

I had just finished scratching the spot behind his left ear (his absolute, reduced-to-a-massive-puddle, favorite) when Faraday spoke. "We must be careful now. Loki will have the guards along the walls on high alert for intruders." He informed us all, meaning we were now approaching Asgard. Cautiously, I crawled over to the window and peeked out over the top. Past the three males, I could see a great brick wall, with the top of the palace just beyond. And, boy, what a palace! Mind you, I think I much prefer the palace in Wakanda—a whole lot less opulent.

"So what's the plan now?" I called to the others, "I can't imagine that we can just sail up to the front door and knock." Indeed we couldn't; however Faraday knew of another entrance that not even the majority of Asgardians themselves knew about.

: Wow, they have sewer entrances, even here is Asgard. : My inner voice sassed. Please, whichever Heavenly person listening right now, don't let it be a sewer entrance!

Faraday carefully steered the ship, somehow avoiding being sighted, and eased the side of the ship up to the hole in the wall. Up close, it actually looked like a tunnel…why do I get the feeling that my worst wish in about to come true? "This aqueduct doubles as a secret exit, mostly for when some foolish soul wishes to sneak food from the kitchens of the palace." The Light elf explained to us. By mutual silent agreement, the three of us didn't comment, but that didn't stop me from forming an internally private opinion.

Making sure that the ship was secured, Faraday easily led us through the tunnel; we stayed absolutely quiet, talking only in hushed whispers and only when it was necessary. "After all, I am not the only person who knows about these passage ways: it is fortunate that we haven't been found yet." He commented.

…Yeah, that wasn't exactly reassuring.

After a few more minutes we finally reached the end of the tunnel. There was a series of steps leading to a stone cover—this would lead us into a lane not that far from the back of the palace. Carefully, T'Challa eased the stone from where it rested, allowing a nearly blinding bright light to fill the tunnel. But the lid was barely opened when a terrible din began to sound, freezing all of us in place with fear. Our elf-friend was the first to recover, silently moving to crouch beside T'Challa to peer out of the crack.

"Luck is on our side," He whispered, "It wasn't us that triggered an alarm." If I could, I would slump over in relief—but seeing as we're deep in bad guy territory, slumping would have to wait.

"So, if we didn't set off the alarm, then who did?" Hawkeye demanded…then there came an all too familiar roar.

"The Hulk did." Both Hawkeye and I answered at the same time.

"Is that—he—a friend of yours?" Faraday asked as T'Challa carefully lowered the stone lid back into place.

"Yeah. So now what?" I questioned, "The Hulk can handle himself, at least for a while—we could use the distraction to sneak in." I barely finished the sentence when Faraday began shaking his head.

"Now that the alarm has been raised, there will be guards everywhere. We won't be able to use the tunnel now."…Great, so much for that plan then.

"It may be an idea to go to his aid." T'Challa declared, "As strong as the Hulk is, not even he is completely invulnerable. We may also need his help in freeing Thor." Hmm…that idea is not without merit…mostly because we had no other plan.

######

Back-tracking out of the secret tunnel wasn't as much of an adventure and neither was going through space—motion sickness aside—whilst avoiding being spotted by the guards. No, what was the really fun bit was some bright spark (FARADAY) deciding to use the sail-barge as a battering ram. The reason why he decided to use the ramming method was due to the Hulk encountering a few Frost Giants, plus a few smaller ogre/troll creatures, all things that were giving him trouble.

Normally I'd be in a good mood about trying to do a good thing for the right reason, just maybe not when the result of aforementioned good thing is not only sending the intended target(s) floating into space, but also KO-ing one of your own allies—namely me. The impact of the wooden ship ramming into a large, heavy creature sent me pitching into the front wall of the cabin with enough smacking power that left me seeing stars and triple of everything for the next couple of minutes.

When I could finally see straight and somehow past the massive migraine, the skirmish was thankfully over.

Voltaire had stayed by my side, gently licking the side of my face to help bring me around. When I was awake, he carefully helped me to my feet, and let me lean against him as I tottered outside where all the good guys seemed to be milling about. I have no idea who spotted me first, but one second I'm seeing Giant Man reaching out his hand towards me, and the next second I'm sitting on the fabled rainbow bridge, my eyes following a person's finger as it slowly moved from side to side. "Briar, can you hear alright?" Hank's voice asked me, "Can you tell me how you're feeling right now?"

"You mean aside from the migraine, minor nausea, blurry vision and minor fatigue? I have the inexplicable urge to introduce a certain Light Elf to the Laws of Physics—in particular the one about stopping abruptly without shouting 'brace!'" Once the blurry vision subsided, I started scowling at the grins on the faces of certain Avengers. At least Faraday had the nous to look apologetic.

But rather than focus on my indignity, I asked the more sympathetic looking Ant Man for an update of our current position in the grand scheme of things. Or, in my rather groggy and abrupt state, just how gorked were we? Also, why the heck was he wearing plated armor, or even doing here in the first place? If 'here' was where I think we really are.

"By 'here', I assume you mean Asgard?" He replied, "Well, destroying the Norn Stones opened up a wormhole, pulling us through to various realms. Wasp and I were in Jotunheim before we were rescued by Lady Sif and some Valkyries." Mentally wondering where the mentioned pixie-sized Avenger had gotten to, I turned an interesting hue of green and nearly tossed my cookies when she flitted a little too close to my face.

"As for the armor, that's nothing!" She gushed excitedly, "I rode a flying horse through space!" The blank 'either-get-out-of-my-face-or-I'll-puke-on-you' stare I was giving her did nothing to squash her enthusiasm, so I settled for looking at the others, mostly Black Panther.

"Rose presented a theory earlier, which the Light Elf Faraday confirms: that Thor's adopted brother Loki is attempting to conquer each of the Nine Realms." He explained, more so to the others than just to me, "Though I suspect we stalled his plans on Earth."

"So…the Masters of Evil work for Loki?" Wasp asked in a skeptical way as she flew to his shoulder.

"Doubt it," I answered instead, "Zemo is the very definition of arrogance and pride—he'd never be a cat's paw for someone else if they're going after the same thing he's wanted for years. No offence about the pun, Panther." I really, really didn't mean to say that.

"None was taken, my love." He assured me, "I also agree with your other theory: the Enchantress must have been carrying out his plan, and used the Masters as pawns to help further his goals." From behind us came a disgusted exclamation, reminding us that we had other Asgardians to deal with.

"Amora the Enchantress; I should have known that witch would be involved with this," The only conscious female declared, her animosity for a common foe visible for all of us to see. "I shall enjoy making her pay. Come, Warriors Three—let us teach Loki and his lackeys the error of their ways." The Warriors who-know? Oh, those guys. For the first time, I noticed the other three men standing with her—a rather rotund man with a very impressive ginger beard; a moody looking, Mongolian-inspired fellow; and a cheerful-yet-solemn Medieval/Robin Hood-esque man with a blonde mustache and goatee…the last guy actually looks rather handsome.

: I beg your pardon? : Hey, just because I'm dating T'Challa doesn't mean I can't observe another man in a detached manner, like at a fashion show. In any case, I don't really think I could like men with facial hair, despite their handsomeness.

: …Fair enough. Observe away, then. :

Ignoring the little voice, I then spotted from the corner of my eyes a slim shadow sneak from behind a fallen Frost Giant to one of the unconscious Valkyrie. Stepping from the shadow slightly, a delicate hand extended to the brow of her target—the hand and build gave it away—and began to glow with a soft pale yellow energy.

Wow, my head must have been whacked harder than I thought, because I could swear that the energy was very soothing, even from this distance.

I wasn't the only one who felt it—Sif, the Warriors Three and Faraday suddenly tensed up, the Robin Hood one looked like he'd been slapped in the face. Moving swiftly, Sif traced the source of the magic and drew her sword against the unfortunate soul. The raven-haired warrior must have recognized the person, and grabbed them by the arm and threw the unlucky girl at our feet, the girl crying out in slight pain of the rough landing.

"Well, if it isn't Lorelei the Fair?" Sif sneered. By her tone and aggressive stance, the others began to tense up in readiness for a fight. Everyone, that is, except me, Voltaire and Mr. Robin Hood. He looked a little relieved to see this new girl, but then it morphed in an expression of uncertainty…though it looked like he still cared for the woman. I guess he knows her on a more personal level than the others did.

Voltaire—being more intelligent than any of us gave credit—walked over to the hooded Asgardian and stuck his nose under her hood in his effort to get her scent. I bit my lip in an effort to not smile but her startled squeal and the way Robin Hood wanted to go over and protect her from the 'beast' was really hampering my efforts. Everyone (mostly the other Asgardians) looked at the sight in stunned surprise as Voltaire then began to lick the poor woman's face, his tail wagging happily. When he finally sat beside the girl with a happy, lolling-tongue-grin, I made my choice.

"Whelp, that's a good sign as any." I declared—almost everyone jumped in shock before they remembered I was still here—as I carefully eased myself to my feet and shambled over to the pair. "You must be a good person, because Voltaire doesn't take to most people, especially if they're bad. He'll only settle with good, or neutral at the least."

Sif snapped out of her stunned stupor and leveled a deadly glare at me (T'Challa nearly launched himself at her) before the look turned onto Voltaire, and she foolishly made to force my dog away from this Lorelei woman.

"Uh, I wouldn't—" Hawkeye tried to warn her, but it came too late as Voltaire spun around and snapped at her wrist—Sif dropped her sword—before pushing her to the ground with a deep, dark snarl, pinning her down. The two Warriors and Faraday made to help her, but stopped uncertainly when the Hulk calmly put his hand in their way.

"Dog's smart: trust him." He grunted to the worried lot.

"As I said, Voltaire doesn't take to most people." I repeated in a grave tone, "Especially when the fool doesn't think before attacking any friend of his." Was it stupid of me to insult a person who was much stronger than I? Perhaps, but at this point I wasn't caring about Sif. Without further ado, I offered my hand to Lorelei, which she took hesitantly. By now the other Avengers had taken their cue from Voltaire and me, carefully relaxing with a slight edge to their guards: they were willing to be allies, but they didn't exactly trust her yet. That was something that really surprised the other Asgardians, especially Lorelei.

"Thank you." She spoke in a guarded tone as she stood at her full height-only an inch taller than me (because of her shoes). Once her hand was free of mine, she pushed back her hood to reveal a very pretty face with the most dazzling pair of lavender eyes. Her long golden hair (it shimmered in tones of sun-ripened wheat, crystallized honey, and ripe apricots) tumbled from the hood to fall down near to her waist.

Adding to her prettiness, she wore a deep blue dress, the box-pleated skirt falling to her knees, with tall black heeled shoes. The top of her dress had off-the-shoulder sleeves the extended over her knuckles, and the hood was actually a large snood that settled around her shoulders.

There was something very vaguely familiar about her—mostly in the face—but I couldn't quite place it. Mind you, the pounding in my skull wasn't helping at all.

"Call me Briar." I smiled nicely, "And please don't add 'lady' to it; the only people to get away with it are Thor, and whoever is telling me off for some sort of mess—usually of my own making." Something I said must have appealed to her, and resulted in a genuine smile.

"I am Lorelei, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Briar." She introduced herself with a proper curtsy, "And likewise." As we gave a polite laugh, Sif gave a disgusted noise, earning a snarl from the ever-watchful Voltaire.

"You are a fool if you trust her so easily, mortal." The older female sneered at me, "Tis a great weakness and folly if you ally yourself with the sister of the witch Amora." Oh, so that's why she looks familiar… sort of…maybe…kinda?; and probably why Lorelei suddenly looked upset and infuriated by the accusation. Having heard that our newest addition was Amora's sister, the other Avengers—apart from Hulk and T'Challa—looked a bit unsure. So it was left to me to put an end to this stupidity right now.

I made a show of looking Lorelei up and down, walking in a circle till I faced her again, then narrowing my eyes as I leaned closer to look at her face, to her concern.

"I don't see it." I finally announced, "I mean she's got the same cheekbones, but I can't see how Lorelei and Amora are related. For one thing, Lorelei doesn't have her sister's smug, disrespectful attitude about magic."

"Of course I do not!" Lorelei suddenly exploded angrily, quickly wiping away any angry tears. "I am a healer first, a sorceress second!" Ooh, a healer? I must keep a mental note about that.

"Secondly, Lorelei isn't any near showy as Amora is about her beauty or her talents." I added, placing my hands under my chin as I looked thoughtful.

"Ugh, how can she stand looking like a trollop all the time?" Lorelei huffed, not noticing that some of the others were snickering quietly.

"And more importantly, Sif," I spoke pointedly, "Lorelei seems to lack the typical 'I am Asgardian, therefore I am better than everyone else in the Nine Realms' personality that everyone seems to have…particularly you and Amora." The last bit I directed right at Sif, to which she took a great insult at, but couldn't do anything thanks to Voltaire holding her down.

"Well…most of them." Lorelei quickly corrected me, "There are some that have a degree of respect for others." While she spoke, she glanced at Robin Hood with a little blush, before quickly averting her gaze when he caught her looking his way. When I looked at him, he gave me a grateful half smile, probably for sticking up for Lorelei.

"If you don't mind the asking, Lorelei," Hank carefully asked her, "How is it that neither Loki nor the Enchantress has forced you to work for them?" Huh, that's actually a pretty good question.

"Loki looks at me the same way he looks upon you 'mortals'—with disdain, mockery, and that I am not worthy of thinking about, let alone holding a conversation with." She simply shrugged, "As for my sister…I might have said something that was unflattering and untrue…of the creature I compared her with." The cheeky little impish smile said everything.

As impressive as all of this was, a sudden powerful thud in my brain alerted me that if I didn't get medical attention, and quickly, then what Project Spindle Thorn did to me was going to look like nothing compared to this latest boo-boo.

"Uh, getting back to your 'healing first, sorcery second' bit," I raised my voice a little bit to get Lorelei's attention again, "Can I take advantage of your healing powers, please? We still have to fight Loki—probably soon—and my brain feels like it wants to leak out from my ears."

Lorelei looked a bit taken aback at my bold request, but it didn't last long when she learned of my injury, she gently pressed her hands at my temples and let her magic get to work. I was right about her magic being soothing: if felt like I was floating in warm sunshine, on the most comfortable bed off clouds. The healing but was surprisingly brief, but the soothing feeling lingered while the pain in my poor noggin' went away.

The relief on my face, and the goofy little smile, must have said everything to everyone, if Lorelei giggling softly was any indication.

"Right-o then," I declared once Lorelei pulled her hands away, "Since I'm not dead, or turned into a toad or something icky, you do indeed respect other people, unlike your sister and Miss Arrogance down there, so you up for helping my friends and I in stopping Loki once and for all?"

"As if you need ask," She scowled in a stern tone. Clearly she was becoming very determined to prove that she was nothing like her sister in any way—despite how a certain Asgardian wishes to paint her as a villainess.

"I shall assist you, as well." Mr. Robin Hood finally spoke and politely bowed at the waist, "I am Fandral of the Warriors Three." I hid a smirk as he rose to his full height and stood just behind Lorelei's shoulder—to her surprise. "Anything you need, you have but to ask." Why do I get the feeling that he was speaking to only Lorelei when he said that? I was proven correct when Lorelei thanked him, and Fandral preened at her acknowledgement. The single cough from Hawkeye, and his-not-so-subtle look between the Black Panther and me, proved that we weren't the only lovebirds around.

: I suspect that Fandral may need a helping 'push' into making him and Lorelei a happy couple. : My inner voice commented in a slight sing-song tone.

"As shall we," I jumped—and all thoughts of match-making fled from my mind—as the big, ginger-beard warrior declared in a booming voice. "Volstagg the Enormous, and Hogunn, at your service, Lady Briar."

I'd be annoyed at being called 'lady' with a capital L, but I gave it up—sometimes a man will be chivalrous and respectful, no matter what. Plus the impending battle and a few of my friends snickering behind my back had a helping hand as well.

"Shush, you lot." I gently admonished as I turned to the other Avengers, "Now then—we have allies who know a lot more than we do about what we're likely to encounter; we have the gutsy, gung-ho and can-do attitude, brains and brawn of all shapes and sizes. Am I missing anything?"

Without a beat, everyone turned to look at the still pinned down Sif…ah.

"Yeah, good luck trying to win her over." Clint dryly scoffed.

"I don't like to say the word 'impossible'," Ant Man said as he gave me an apologetic look, "But like most other Asgardians, Sif is quite proud. I doubt she'll even consent to helping us, especially not if Lorelei has agreed to aid us." Most everyone looked like they agree with him, with only the Hulk and my boyfriend seeming to think otherwise.

T'Challa only nodded in an encouraging manner while the Hulk nudged me in the back with his elbow and said "Get to it, Short-stuff."

Challenge: accepted.

I walked over to where Sif's head was, and knelt down so that the others wouldn't be able to hear what was about to be said.

"Save your breath, mortal." She growled, "I'd rather die than let that witch's sister help me retake Asgard." All righty then, miss Grumpy Pants: time for Little Miss Big Guns with ATTITUDE.

"Oh, do shut up, you pathetic bilgesnipe." I blithely retorted—paying more attention to cleaning my now popped out claws, something that made Sif hesitate and look uncertain. "Now then, Sif, you have two options available to you. One—you admit that Loki caught you off-guard, and blind-sided everyone. Acknowledge that you have more arrogance and self-pride than is healthy, and that the aforementioned will more than likely definitely get you kill…unless you accept our help, Lorelei included. Then we'll go fight Loki with such prowess, they'll be singing about it for ages to come.

"Option two—you completely disregard the first option, which will only serve to prove that you are the same as Loki and Amora, and I will have absolutely no problems what-so-ever in tossing you off this bridge, leaving you to drift throughout space without any chance of someone saving you in time. Also, bear this in mind: you have now become a hindrance, and nothing more. Choosing either option will decide if you are a useful hindrance or not.

"So, with all that said and done, make your choice and make it fast."

: …If we somehow survive this, remind me to KILL YOU! :

######

Miraculously, Sif agreed to aid us all—to the shock of nearly everyone present. I'm pretty sure that Hawkeye and Lorelei (out of everyone present) were the most curious as to how I managed that, but I think that was one secret that I'd keep till my grave.

Once everyone was (finally) on board, there were still two hitches to any plan that we'd make—No Iron Man, and no Captain America. As T'Challa and Hank acted as the voices of reason, they pointed out that we may need all of the Avengers—in addition to our Asgardian allies—in order to take on Loki and his forces. However, Lorelei informed everyone that (when she was sneaking out of the palace, after hiding during the initial onslaught) Loki had spread his forces across the conquered realms, leaving just a token force at the palace, therefore leaving said megalomaniac vulnerable.

Unfortunately, Sif had to point out the most serious flaw in that last bit of information. "Loki has somehow tapped into the Odin-force." She told us all, "So it will not matter if he has the most, or the least, amount of lackeys to protect him; he will be nigh unstoppable by himself."

"Perhaps, but not quite," Fandral interjected, "Lorelei is more skilled at the long forgotten ancient magics than Loki could even dream off—to our good fortune. She may prove more than a match for him." The woman in question didn't say anything—negative or positive—about her talents, but the curious tilt of her head (and the raised eyebrows of his fellow Asgardians) did ask how he could have possibly of known that.

Fandral for his part said nothing for a moment—his cheeks did turn an interesting shade of pink, though. "I uh…I might have watched as you…as you studied." He explained in the most sheepish, and adorable, way possible. Volstagg had the biggest, cheekiest grin on his face—something Lorelei chose to ignore whilst her own face turned a lovely shade of pink, and her shy smile clearly said that she approved of his praise…and that Fandral took an interest of her to begin with. That little smile made Fandral straighten up proudly and grin, a hopeful look in his eyes.

By now, I was so desperate to give those two an almighty shove (into a closet), but the more rational part of me (and the amused-yet-exasperated-head shake that T'Challa gave me) said 'deal with Loki fist THEN you can play match-maker'.

Getting back to the main problem at hand—we had a pretty tough call to make about if we go on with our attack, or hold on and wait for either more help or a better time.

It got to the point where the Hulk got fed up and took the decision out of our hands…namely by heading by striding to the gates while the rest of us were still talking. Whelp, no point in putting this off any longer! Besides, I had faith that both Tony and Steve will show up when we'll need them the most. Dramatic entrances are my brother's specialty, after all. And Steve always has that uncanny knack of knowing when his men (or his team) needed him the most, and so will promptly show up not two seconds later.

The matter was finally settled as we chased after the Hulk; Lorelei chose to display a sample of her magnificent talent in the arcane arts by levitating every one of us and flying us after the green giant. After catching up to him, we tried to come up with some semblance of a plan. In the end, Hawkeye won with his basic plan of 'let the Hulk knock on the door, we go in, and we take down everything and everyone that shoots at us'.

"I like it," Fandral commented cheerfully, "Simple, easy to remember, and it leaves room for improvement and inspiration." By the sole virtue of having her flying right beside us, I exchanged a hidden smirk with Wasp as we saw Lorelei gaze at him with an expression of fondness and adoration, and I'm pretty sure that her heart skipped a beat. Oh, Hell—I definitely am going to be playing match-maker after this.

We reached the gates without much hassle (oh-kay, I find that a little scary) and Lorelei deposited us all on the ground just as the Hulk knocked on the giant door…with enough force to create a large amount of dust and rubble that almost blinded us all. But hey! We now had a hole to get in and out of.

"I'm afraid to point out the glaringly obvious." I mentioned to everyone as we climbed through the hole and into the massive courtyard of the palace. In a typically gentlemanly move (which he clearly copied from T'Challa), Fandral helped Lorelei through the hole, even lifting her to the ground. The pair of them would have been quite happy to make goo-goo eyes at each other if somebody (Hogunn) didn't clear his throat, a highly amused but very tiny smirk on his face—the pair promptly parted with exacting blushes on their faces.

"Do I wish to know what this 'glaringly obvious' even is?" Faraday quietly asked me, only for someone else to answer him.

"Knowing Briar, it'll be something that jinxes us." Hawkeye commented, "So don't say anything, and that goes for everyone else!" Suddenly, from within the palace bellowed a loud trumpet note, which was soon followed by an ominous, thunder-like boom.

"I swear I didn't say a thing!" I immediately blurted out. The next boom rattled my bones in a near painful, near terrifying way. Lorelei looked scared—as in Freddy Kruger is standing right behind me scared—with the next boom sending her scurrying into Fandral's arms, burying her face in his chest as his arms wrapped around her in a protective embrace. If I wasn't so scared stupid, I'd say 'aw!', but right now: T'Challa, sweetie?

: Ah…is it me, or is the thing making that noise getting closer? : My inner voice inquired timidly. It was sadly proven true when said next boom was indeed closer, meaning I really had no problem in fleeing to the safety of my boyfriend's awaiting arms.

"What is that: more giants coming?" Wasp asked anyone.

"Sounds bigger." Hulk told her. I was about to say how I really didn't want to find out just how big he was thinking, or what even said thing was, when from the mist appeared the silhouette of a….frack me sideways with a porcupine.

"Told you," Hulk grunted to Wasp, even though she and everyone else looked on in mounting fright as—simply put—THE. BIGGEST. ICE WOLF. APPEARED.

"Someone—please tell me that's not what I think it is." I begged, following T'Challa as he took a step back, like the others were doing, as the freakingly massive wolf came closer. A deep, low, guttural snarl coming from within its barreled chest: if I was standing any closer, I'd know how a champagne glass would feel if someone left it on top of a sub-woofer, and someone cranked the volume to 50.

No one got the chance to answer me when the monster took a deep breath in—Lorelei screamed for us to run as she dragged Fandral to shelter—and exhaled an ice blast that made Maleketh's look like nothing, the ice hit the ground with a big spray and only just missing people's legs by a mere inch or two. We regrouped as our two archers shot an arrow each at the giant ice wolf, but the tiny, little toothpicks did diddly-squat in hurting that thing—the only thing they did do was bounce of its fur.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Hawkeye demanded in equal parts frustration and fear.

"Loki had gone mad!" Sif gaped, "He has summoned Hoarfen the ice wolf!"…oh, thank you Whoever-is-Up-There! It wasn't who I was poop-scared it was.

"Again—what is it?" Wasp repeated Hawkeye's question, her stingers having no more effect than the enchanted arrows earlier.

"Long story short—whoa that was too close!—is Hoarfen is the offspring of a Frost Giantess—watch the paws, watch the paws!—and the Fenris Wolf." I chimed instead, running (sometimes almost dancing) out of dangers many paths. "Also, just be very grateful that we're fighting this thing."

"…I'm gonna ask. Why should we be grateful for this thing?" Hawkeye asked.

"The Fenris Wolf is capable of eating Odin himself in one gulp, starting the apocalypse…oh and wiping out all of existence that makes the big-bang look like a baby frog's burp." If someone were to take away all the noise Hoarfen was making, you could hear the cricket chirp in the silence.

"You just had to ask, didn't you?" Hank sarcastically asked. Everyone then proceeded to scatter as Hoarfen began to try stomping on the annoying, squishy little humans when shooting an ice blast didn't get us. Nothing we did seem to make as much as a little paper-cut, let alone some sort of injury that'd hurt the wolf in any way.

Well, nothing except for Lorelei's magics—that did something, as least…even if all she did was catch Hoarfen's attention from time to time.

Unfortunately it became rather obvious that, as fantastically versed in the arcane and healing arts as she was, Lorelei hadn't had much opportunity to gain experience in the practical field. To put it bluntly, she hadn't grasped the 'cast-spell-and-run-at-the-same-time' concept. In all fairness, at what point would Lorelei actually be on the battlefield, especially if Fandral was anything like T'Challa and did his very best to keep said lady-love as far away from a fight as possible.

Eh, maybe I should tell—OH, COME ON ALREADY YOU MANGY BEAST!

Skidding a foot against the snow, I managed to sharply turn and throw myself at Lorelei just as Hoarfen's paw came down in her direction. My shoulder caught her in the side, and the pair of us tumbled out of the way—the air just behind us whooshing as the paw of doom slammed into the ground—the back-draft slammed into us ad pitched us even further out of the way.

"Are you two okay?" Clint called to us as T'Challa and Fandral helped us to our feet. I was fine, and said as much, even as Lorelei had a bruise or two, and quite a bit of snow in her hair. Ant Man's sharp yell caught all of our attentions, alerting everyone that he had been stepped on—his giant form taking the brunt of the impact, but was then frozen into the ground as a result. While Hulk took the chance to try attacking the ice wolf, Lorelei took advantage and defrosted the poor man, to his relief.

By this point, however, it didn't really seem to matter that much—we are totally and royally fecked.

"This is it, isn't it?" Wasp gulped weakly as the same thought echoed in the minds of everyone else. I felt the large hand clasp mine, and I turned to bury my face into Panther's chest, his arms wrapping around me—a comforting gesture, even if it was the last.

I whimpered as Hoarfen opened his giant maw of a mouth—filled with plenty of sharp teeth much bigger than myself—and came towards us…only for something to slice across its nose, finally causing a significant amount of damage. Our heads spun as we followed the flying object to see it return quite neatly into Captain America's out-stretched hand. SEE?! I TOLD YOU!

"Hawkeye, Panther, and Wasp: go for the eyes and mouth! Giant Man, Hulk: take a leg and take it down!" He immediately ordered us all (well nearly all but who cares?) and leapt into the fray, "Let's move, Avengers!"

"Good to see you, Steve!" I grinned as I tackled him in a bear-hug, which he returned in a one-armed hug. In front of us, Giant Man and Hulk moved first ad did as they were instructed.

"You too, Briar," He smiled grimly back then gestured to the ice-wolf as he let me down, "If this doesn't work, do you have any idea how to stop it?"

"I do," Lorelei interjected, "But I need time. Stall as long as you can." Not even batting an eye, Cap took off after the others. Lorelei took the briefest of moments to calm down and sat cross-legged in mid-air, adopting a calm repose even as she began pulling insane amounts of magic to the boil. Leaving her to it, I focused my attention on the Avengers vs. Hoarfen fight. Our extreme heavy-hitters grabbed a hold of the ice wolf by his fore feet, tipping him off balance so badly that he pitched forward, muzzle-first into the ground. Voltaire, now standing beside me, winced in sympathy, despite Hoarfen having tried to kill us not a few minutes ago.

Taking advantage of the ice-wolf's momentary disorientation, Hawkeye and Faraday shot an arrow just under each of Hoarfen's eyes; Wasp zipped along after them and set them alight with a bolt of her stingers. If the enormous bellows of pain were anything to go by, then I really don't want to feel that sort of pain for myself.

As Hoarfen roared in rage and pain, the Black Panther shot forward and upwards, grabbing a hold of a tooth. Uh, just what was he planning on doing up there? At some hidden gesture, Captain America tossed his shield up to T'Challa just as an ice blast blew out of Hoarfen's throat. Okay, seriously what the plan?! Hulk leapt up to Panther's side—and the ice wolf's mouth just snapped closed with the both of them inside.

"NO!" My scream tore through the air as fear and horror began to tear at my insides. No, he couldn't be…he can't be…

Hoarfen gave a strangled, garbled noise of confusion and opened his mouth again, revealing that both the Hulk and T'Challa were safe and that the Hulk had quite literally grabbed the ice wolf's tongue in both arms and yanking on it hard. On a side note, I really don't want to know what that felt like. I couldn't see from down here—"Lorelei? We're on the clock here!"—but T'Challa must have done something, if only because of the familiar vibranium sound filling the air. I then noticed Giant Man perched at the back of the wolf's head, grabbing large fistfuls of skin and fur—effectively steering Hoarfen.

"Aim him at the palace!" Lorelei suddenly yelled—I hate it when people scare me like that! Leaving it to Giant Man, the Hulk and Black Panther leapt down from the beast's mouth: I felt it much easier to breathe now that T'Challa was out of there…and he was definitely in for it when this was over! Giant Man finally pointed Hoarfen in the direction Lorelei wanted, and she began to form her spell. Wait, she wasn't going to—

Lorelei unleashed the full power of her spell, sending it right…okay; now THAT was really uncalled for!

"Really? A magical enema?" I couldn't stop myself from dryly commenting to the amusement of the others.

"Wait for it." She replied mysteriously. I puzzled over her words as Hoarfen's reaction to the magical enema—more like an almighty boot up the backside—threw the wolf forward, right into the walls of the palace. Ooh, he's totally going to hurt after all of this.

With a humongous puff of smoke, magic and dust, Hoarfen was knocked unconscious—and most definitely feeling tender around his tail—allowing both the Avengers and the Asgardians to walk through the smokescreen and into the throne room. Once the whole gang could see again (thank you Lorelei) the first thing we noticed was Thor on his knees, his head and hands trapped in a thick plate of stone that was chained and bolted to the floor.

The next thing that caught all of our attentions was the man standing in front of him—the one and only Loki. Compared to Thor, and most other Asgardians, Loki looked thin and meek. But clearly what he lacked in physical power, he more than made up for in mind tricks and deceit.

"Surrender." Captain America ordered the free standing Asgardian villain. I know the good captain asks that of all of his opponents (some at least), but I really don't think Loki has any desire to take that option…ever. And I was proven right with Loki began to laugh at us in a maniacal way.

"Looks like he wants to do this the hard way," Hawkeye remarked, even as Lorelei and I exchanged uneasy glances with each other. This wasn't going to end well for us.

"Avengers, take him down." Cap ordered. The Hulk charged first…and it pretty much went to Hell after that, with everyone being knocked down in a brutal manner. Lorelei managed to last a while longer—surprising all of us, including Loki. I had a really bad feeling when he started taking a keen interest in her, and I wasn't the only one to think the same thing. Sadly, I was the only one in a decent enough position to do something about it.

"Lorelei, get down!" I yelled, managing to throw myself at the girl, knocking her out of the incoming magic blast only to catch it myself. As I landed in a somewhat awkward position, I could only be eternally grateful for the vibranium armor, otherwise this would have been a butt-load more painful.

Glaring at all of us with crazed satisfaction, Loki descended to where Captain America was; a twisted gleam in his eyes….yeah, that's not good. As Steve reached for his trusty shield, Loki placed his foot on top to keep it pinned to the ground.

"Surrender?" The power-crazed demi-god mocked, "You really have no idea with whom you speak, do you, mortal?" As if to prove his point in the most painfully memorable way possible, he thrust the trident head of his staff into Captain America's shield. My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as the power Loki channeled through the spear and in the world's most indestructible on Earth, and shattered it.

The resulting explosion sent Cap flying back to the rest of us, the uncomprehending look on his face saying what the rest of us were thinking. A shadow passed over me, and as I tilted my head back, I was looking at Loki himself.

Crap.

######

All any of the other Avengers or Lorelei could do was watch in dismay as Loki approached the defenseless Briar Stark. For the Black Panther, it was the most agonizing to see his love in such peril, but unable to help her: his armor took the worst of it, but not even thrice-blessed vibranium armor could resist all of the Odin-force power.

"Ah, and what do we have here?" The villain gloated as he stared down at the girl, "The weakest link in the Avenger's chain." For said people, they felt a rush of anger fly through their veins, and they all redoubled their efforts to move. Briar was not—or ever will be—their weakness; she was the heart of the teams, where many saw her as a figure of great inner strength. Even when she had been faced with insurmountable odds and terror, she braved through it with a will and the aim to win.

The Black Panther snarled in primal rage and fear as Loki aimed his trident at his beloved Rose, now more desperate than before to move. His. DAMNED. BODY!

"I cannot begin to understand why you, of all the weakest mortals, should still be alive after all I have wrought upon you." Loki mused out loud, "if facing your former lover did not kill you, then those wretched, degenerate relatives of yours and that over-grown ape should have."

Nobody seemed to have noticed it, but a gleam of understanding entered the terrified doe-like brown eyes; now knowing that it was because of Loki that Briar had to suffer as she did with Justin, and with N'Jadaka…the fear turned into a fiery, righteous anger, and determination.

"No matter," Loki scoffed, "The pleasure of your friends and lover seeing you die a painful death before their eyes will more than make up for earlier failures." Without further preamble, Loki sent a wave of magic at the girl, enveloping Briar from head to toe in blue fire.

The others might have cried out, but they were drowned out by the roar of the Black Panther, his heart wrenching itself in half as his precious Rose was engulfed in the magic fire, her cry tearing at his soul.

Loki, now satisfied that the Avengers were now completely shattered by the death of their ally, turned to deal with the young sorceress Lorelei. "I must say, I am quite surprised at you, Lorelei." He remarked as he advanced on the terror-stricken woman, "Your powers are great enough to rival mine." His face then morphed into a dangerously clear expression, which did not bode well for poor Lorelei. "This cannot be allowed." He spoke.

Somehow—perhaps in fear of the same fate as the poor Midgardian girl who now fell silent—Fandral pulled himself to his feet, stumbling slightly as he placed himself between the innocent Lorelei and the psychotic demi-god.

"If you wish to harm her, Loki, you will have to kill me first." Fandral bravely declared as he drew his sword in hand and raw determination in every fiber of his aching body.

Loki gave the Asgardian warrior a baleful sneer, noticing the renewed—and ever rising—fear within the lavender eyes of the sorceress. It seemed that Loki had found a new plaything, with a great weakness for him to exploit; for as long as Loki held the warrior's life in his hands, the Aesir Lorelei—the greater sorceress than even Amora—would be his to control and use.

But before Loki could put his new little pet to work, he had a point to prove.

With the most negligent toss of his hand, Loki sent the warrior Fandral tumbling head-long into a wall with a near sickening crunch, and then slammed him into the floor with the horrible sound of bones breaking—all of Loki's actions made the young Lorelei scream and beg for mercy, pleading with the god of mischief to spare the life of the warrior she loved.

Others tried to come to Fandral's aid—Hawkeye attempted to shoot at Loki with an enchanted arrow, but the demi-god merely flicked his fingers and the bow and arrow were sent scattering out of the archer's grasp.

The Black Panther managed to surprise Loki, catching him off guard. As the Asgardian villain returned to torture Fandral—and bat away Lorelei's magic—the Avenger leapt from behind, his claws guided by his rage and his sadness as they struck the demi-god across his face. A rush of savage exhilaration filled the Wakandan king as his prey cried out in pain, his face now scarred in his own blood.

The distraught king's animalistic moment in glory was short-lived, as Loki used his trident to slam the Black Panther away as he came in for another attack. During the Avenger's sneak attack, Lorelei managed to crawl her way over to Fandral's side, cradling his head in her arms, her tear-streaked cheeks gleaming as her croaking voice called his name over and over till he began regaining his senses.

Fandral was in bad shape; his body now covered in bruises, bones broken, his eye battered shut, his lip and nose trickling with blood. Despite it all, the warrior managed to give Lorelei a dashing (though lopsided) smile.

"I have always wished to see your eyes from this close." He muttered to her, his smile widening a titch as she gave a short, weak laugh.

"You fool. Why did you do this?" She demanded in a teary voice, her fingers gently brushing back his fallen fringe from his eyes. Fandral grew somber and places his large gloved-hand against her cheek in a gentle gesture.

"I would do this over again, if only to see you safe from harm. To smile once more." He told her, hoping that she could see the truth in his eyes and words. She did.

"And I would have you live, so that we could be together forever more." Lorelei whispered back to him, her tears now fallen against his cheek.

"Oh, spare me." Loki's snidely remarked, dispelling the moment of safeness and alerting the pair that the Black Panther had been dealt with harshly. Even with every inch of him (internally and externally) protesting, Fandral falteringly raised to his knees, pushing Lorelei behind him, much to her protest and terror.

"Your platitudes of love sicken me." The evil demi-god sneered at the pair, his hands beginning to glow with the magic of the Odin-force. "Such a weakness as yours is exactly how these pathetic souls fell to my power. What makes you think your fates will be any different?"

"BECAUSE THEY HAVE ME TO STOP YOU, LAUFEYSON," A disembodied voice replied, sounding as if the ancients of Asgard and beyond had spoken as one. All turned to face the source of the new person, and all recoiled in shock and confusion as the magical fire that had once consumed Briar Stark now receded inwards as the mortal stood tall.

"IN YOUR HASTE TO DESTROY ALL, YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN A GRAVE FACT ABOUT THIS MORTAL WOMAN, LAUFEYSON." Briar's mouth opened and moved, but the voice was not her own. Loki looked on in uncomprehending fury as the Odin-force all but disappeared, the only indicator that the mortal shell contained the single most powerful magical force in Asgard or the Nine Realms being the eerie, unnatural glow within Not-Briar's eyes.

"THIS MORTAL CANNOT BE KILLED BY YOUR HANDS OR THOSE OF UNNATURAL BIRTH." Not-Briar reminded the villain, the voices never betraying any smugness over the simple fact. And, with cruel irony, Not-Briar raised her hand—the power within her body channeled into both the gesture and the act of sending Loki into a wall with a sickening crunch.

Reluctantly answering the simple beckoning gesture, Loki was pulled towards the woman, and thrown to the side with a roar of pain as she swiped at his face with her own cat-like claws, in scary mimicry of what the Black Panther did earlier.

Over and over did Not-Briar viciously assault the demi-god, with borrowed magic and her own hands, as her friends and dear lover could only watch on in awe and slight fear. Many of them would question how she was even alive, let alone able to take on an Asgardian who was fueled by the same Odin-force as she, but all that worried the Black Panther was if he would ever separate his love from this terrible power…or if she could even survive such an event like this.

They all winced (even the Hulk himself) as Not- Briar grabbed the disheveled looking Loki by the edge of his cloak and proceeded to slam him onto the floor with a resounding boom—the ground beneath his body breaking from the force—and lifted him over her head to slam him into the ground on the other side: all of this Not-Briar did again, and again, and again until she seized the cloak's edge in both hands and began to spin around. Using the centrifugal momentum, Not-Briar let go and sent the beaten demi-god flying head first into the throne: if Loki had of been mortal, there was every chance that not only did every bone in body break, but they did do in a violent explosion.

And yet, to the disbelief of all but one, Loki still lived—though mightily battered and bruised. Not-Briar simply stood watching as Loki struggled to his feet, his crown askew and his bottom lip bleeding.

"ENOUGH!" Loki shrieked in crazed anger, his now disheveled and bleeding appearance make him more terrifying than before. "I am a GOD, you dull, witless worm! I have watched all of you insects all of this time—all of you scared and alone!" He never noticed Not-Briar tilting its head, as if hearing something coming towards them just as Voltaire heard the same thing.

"On Midgard, you may play at being heroes, but here you are less than NOTHING!" Loki continued to screech, not really seeing Not-Briar take two steps backwards, using her portion of the Odin-force to ease the other heroes back as well. "Without Thor, you will never defeat me! You have no chance of-" The reason Not-Briar moved everyone backwards became clear when the ceiling above their heads exploded in a bolt of lightning—the same bolt only just missing Loki—and Iron Man descended to stand in front of his sister and teammates.

"Avengers assemble." Iron Man ordered, his words a rallying call to the others. They all rose to their feet even as Loki glared at the latest Avenger in anger beyond description.

"You dare to" The demi-god cut himself off when he realized just what the new armor was made of, "That armor…the metal is uru!"

"Yeah, the same as Thor's hammer, I know," Tony Stark remarked nonchalantly, and then his voice turned to steel. "Now get away from my sister, and my people, before you get so hurt you can't move for the rest of your pathetic life." Seeing as the aforementioned sister now wielded a part of the Odin-force, and Iron Man wore an entire suit of uru-metal, Loki began to feel a trickle of fear, for his life and his plans of revenge.

"Do you think to threaten me, man of science?!" Loki questioned in a tone heightened with hysteria, "Do you not realize the power I wield?!"

"It wasn't a threat." Everyone almost leapt out of their skins when both Iron Man and Not-Briar spoke as one, followed by the both of them raising their hands to send beams of energy/magic at Loki. The 'god' created a shield to deflect the attacks, but it quickly dissipated under both beams.

"Free Thor—I'll hold him off." Iron Man instructed the rest of the team before taking to the air, Loki flying after him. Once the pair disappeared out of their sights, Captain America roused himself first and began to shout out further orders as he lifted Lady Sif's shield.

"Hawkeye, Panther, Ant Man, and Briar: get to Thor! Hulk, Wasp: you're with me!" As Captain America led the other two Avengers to aid Iron Man, and Hawkeye and Ant Man converged around Thor to free him, the Black Panther slowly walked over to Not-Briar.

The shell of his beloved girlfriend turned to face the conflicted Avenger, none of her recognizing him at all, making the Black Panther's heart ache all the more painfully. He has to get his Rose back—he just had too! He needed to see her entrancing hazel brown eyes, feel her soft skin against his own, and smell her scent of warm-melted vanilla ice cream and fresh-from-the-oven biscuits, but how?

"Rose?" He whispered as he stood before the being that resembled his girlfriend—but so distant, so cold—and hoped that his voice could bring her back to him. "Rose, please…come back to me."

As he softly begged Rose to return—with each silent response, T'Challa felt another tear fall in despair—the Not-Briar being stood there, watching him with those unnatural glowing eyes. T'Challa stopped himself from speaking when Not-Briar lifted both of its hands to his neck and carefully lifted the cowl from his head.

The material settled at the nape of his neck, allowing Not-Briar to see the tear-streaked, grief-filled face as T'Challa stared back at the strange being. Not-Briar studied him, its facial features betraying no emotions, even as the man before it failed to choke back a sob of despair and sorrow.

"Please…let Rose come back to me." He pleaded with Not-Briar. Receiving no answer, T'Challa almost began to weep…when Not-Briar tenderly clasped its hands on either side of his head and carefully pulled him closer to her.

"CALL TO HER, SON OF BASTET." The inhuman creature softly instructed him, "LET YOUR LOVE FOR HER BE THAT WHICH RETURNS HER TO YOU." To say that T'Challa was startled by the gentleness of the creature would be fair, but when he was presented with a means to save his beloved, he didn't really care.

Without hesitation, T'Challa slid his arms around Not-Briar's shoulders and waist, pulling her body tightly against his, and pressed his mouth against her in a kiss that robbed them both of the world around them. As T'Challa poured his very being into the single kiss, he felt the hands move from his cheeks—one hand moved to wrap around his shoulders, the other hand lowering to clutch at the material covering his heaving chest.

He could hear the creature quietly moan in response to his actions, its body pressing tighter against his…wait, were those inhuman voices fading away? They were…had he…had she…?

T'Challa opened his eyes as the shell of Briar pulled back slightly, its own eyes closed. Inhaling sharply, he felt his body tense in hope and fear, his mind and heart wishing like mad that it had worked…

The eyes before him began to open…to reveal…dazed hazel eyes.

"Kitt'n nood'le?" T'Challa gave a watery splutter of joyous laughter as Rose—his sweet, beloved, heavenly Rose—steadily became more conscious of herself, her surroundings, of her friends speaking in the background, and of every kiss that T'Challa pressed to her face. When she became fully cognitive, and was about to say something, T'Challa once again slanted his mouth against her—this time in a series of kisses so passionate, so breath taking, that all Rose could do was clutch at his shoulders with a bewildered-but-happy-squeal as her knees threatened to give out from beneath her.

######

I am so glad that T'Challa was holding me so tightly, because he was making my knees turn to jelly with each one of his intense and passionately hot lip-locked, tongue-on-tongue kisses. Every kiss sent a tingly thrill up my spin, my toes curling in my boots, and made my blood feel like it was on fire. All of it was enough to make me temporarily forget that I hurt all over in incredibly painful pins and needles, that my insides were simultaneous freezing and melting, that every bone was constantly breaking and fixing themselves over and over, and that every inch of skin feels extremely brittle to the point that it now felt cracked and bleeding from even the tiniest of movements.

"And a hearty 'howdy-do' to you too," I croaked in a hoarse voice when T'Challa pulled back to breath in heavy gasps of oxygen. When he could finally breathe again, he began rubbing the tip of his nose against mine, a soft watery chuckle escaping him. From behind us came a disgruntled groan, curtesy of Clint.

"I swear if they start singing like some sappy Disney couple, I'm gonna puke all over them." He complained loudly to both Ant Man and Thor, to their amusement.

"Back off, mood-killer." I warned him as T'Challa laughed heartily, slipping he arm around my waist as he led us over to the other men.

"Glad to have you back, Briar." Ant Man greeted with a cheeky smile, "Uh, you'll understand and forgive me if I just wave 'hello' to you, right?" Right at that moment, the thigh bone in my left leg decided to shatter and rebuild itself, nearly sending me to the ground, to the worry of everyone.

"I'd prefer that, actually." I grimaced, "The Odin-force is still inside of me, and it's wreaking havoc on me: every odd second one my bones decide to obliterate itself then rebuild itself again." It was pretty much the worst possible thing I could tell my still frantic boyfriend, but this was definitely something I couldn't ignore—the sooner I got every bit of this power out of me, and the sooner I got into a nice warm bath, the better…I hope.

"Then we better get moving." Hawkeye declared and fired an enchanted arrow into the slab of stone holding Thor, shattering the stone with a flashy light show. As the last bit of rock and chain fell from his neck and wrists, Thor gratefully rose to his full height after so long kneeling.

"Yggdrasil is the source of the Odin-force." He informed the four of us, "Loki has corrupted it. You must find a way to break Loki's connection to it."

"Hang on, us?" Hank nearly yelped in shock, "What are you going to do?" Thor bent down to retrieve his winged helmet, standing tall as he placed it once more on his head.

"I am going to have words with my brother." He answered sternly. And on that happy note, we left it to him. On our way through a large doorway, I spotted Lorelei in a corner with Fandral's lead on her lap, the sorceress carefully stroking at his face with her healing powers.

"Uh, I take it that Loki did all of that to Fandral?" I questioned when I managed to catch up to the others at the base of Yggdrasil….it was a big tree. Thor never said it was a big tree.

"Pretty much, yeah," Hawkeye nodded, "The nut-job would've killed him, too, if you and Panther hadn't of stepped in." Hmm…then everything I dreamed of from the time I got hit by the Odin-force to when T'Challa (pretty much) snogged my lights out was in fact real.

In that case…I want to have a serious word with you, Alenka!

Before I could be distracted by my full-blown panic attack, I looked up at the giant world tree and felt a twinge of dismay in my stomach…actually scratch that. That was just the Odin-force imploding my entire intestinal track and rebuilding it again. Either way, that hurt!

"Not to be the misery chick here, but how are we going to do this?" I asked the other three men, "There was only so much Norse mythology/Asgardian history I could find on Earth, and none of them said 'hey, here's a how to for resetting a flippin' magic tree of all creation as we know it'!" Me, being hysterical? No, I'm not hysterical! NOT AT ALL!

: Uh-huh, sure thing, Pinocchio. :

"Perhaps we should start with that, Rose." T'Challa spoke, stopping me from starting an internal squabble with myself. "If the tree is a source of magic, then I shall be able to see it." How the heck is he going to…?

: You completely forgot about the last trip to Wakanda, didn't you? : Actually, my occasionally twining (and now reopened and closed over again) scars would like that forget that little foray into insanity, thank you very much.

"So tell me again how you can 'see' magic?" Hawkeye asked my boyfriend as he studied the tree; Hawkeye and Ant Man both catching me before I fell: that was my spine that just went kaput and healed itself.

"Thor allowed Wakandan scientists and shaman to study his hammer." My boyfriend patiently explained, "It was…informative." When it wasn't panic stations because I ran headlong into danger—yet again—then yes, I had to agree. The look on Hawkeye's face said that he didn't like that answer at all…or was convinced that T'Challa was even firing on all cylinders.

"Specially adapted lenses to see energy fields," I repeated in an easy-to-understand term, "Like heat vision, night vision—stuff like that." Now Hawkeye understood.

Choosing to ignore the pair of us for a brief moment, T'Challa stepped closer to the tree, absolutely fascinated by whatever he saw through the lenses in his Panther mask. A niggling little thought wanted to know what I looked like through said lenses, but quite frankly I'm rather too scared to find out.

"Yggdrasil—it seems to be the focus of the energy." Hawkeye stared at him for a moment longer before turning to me.

"Yggdrasil is like a satellite dish: it receives data, and we get the sports channels." I said with a straight face, though I swear I heard both Ant Man and T'Challa give an amused snort of laughter.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Hank asked, the tiniest of smiles curling the corners of his mouth.

"When I doubt, blow it up." Hawkeye offered, to which T'Challa and I protested—loudly in my case. Bad idea, Clint: very, very bad idea!

"In mythology, the Tree of Life holds together all of reality." T'Challa explained, "And, as all of reality seems to be feeding this tree, perhaps we should consider this."

"Meaning we could destroy all of reality if we blow up the tree." I summarized, and winced as several ribs (back and front) gave an audible crack as they broke and rebuilt. "Plus, with me storing some of the Odin-force in my body, we don't know what will happen to me if the tree is gone." The absolute, completely terrifying thought was that I became the new Yggdrasil, and I—for one—was not willing to find out if that was to be the case.

And if it was, DAMN YOU, ALENKA!

Grumpy that he couldn't blow something up—or that I might be the replacement of the tree in case of said destruction—Hawkeye pouted as he looked around the room. I felt something in my hands go crack, and my skin also began splitting and healing itself—so I didn't notice or hear him make a comment about 'birds', but then we were all suddenly too busy writhing in agony because of a never-ending, ear-splitting, headache-and-vomit-inducing shrill cry filled the air. Clamping my hands over my ears didn't help at all: my mind couldn't tell if it wanted to explode out of my ears or through my nose.

Struggling with the mother-load of all pains, I vaguely saw Ant Man shrinking down and disappearing some place—that seemed like as good an idea as any. Even though everything inside of me shook like I was caught in the middle of a 9.1 earthquake, I managed to stagger over to T'Challa and braced the side of my body against his back, trying to get him to move.

It was hard—I didn't have much strength to keep myself moving, let alone get T'Challa to move—until Hawkeye helped me, slamming his shoulder into Panther's back to make him head to the door, leaving me to shamble along after them. We just got past the stairs when Ant Man turned into a giant and grabbed the tree in the biggest bear-hug possible and began to pull it from the ground.

The good news: with the tree moving so violently, whatever was making that dreadful noise had stopped, and my brain wasn't in danger of leaking out. The bad news: if felt like I was the one that Ant Man was bear-hugging.

As Hank gave one last all-mighty yank, the last of the tree roots cleared the ground to reveal something glowing from beneath. The glow shot upwards, morphing itself into a new Yggdrasil. That was my last conscious thought before falling over sideways into the dark oblivion.

######

I had no clue as to how long I had been out of it: I did notice, however, that other than a massive, Hulk-sized migraine, nothing else. And there was a warm-but-holy-crap-that's-rancid breath fanning my face as something wet and slobbery carefully swiped itself against my face.

"Please stop that, Voltaire." I mumbled. My plea was answered with a happy little yip as I cracked open an eye to see him lying beside me, a good grin on his face. I gingerly lifted my head to see if the others were around—or a bottle of heavy-duty painkillers even—but there was no one, and my head demanded to be lowered back to the blissfully cold floor again. Since there wasn't any immediate danger, I did as demanded, closing my eye again with a sigh. Maybe no one will mind if I sleep here for a while.

I enjoyed my little nap for about a minute before I heard quiet tip-toed steps as someone crept over to me, knelt by my head and a hand tenderly pressed against my brow. If it weren't for the feeling of floating on warm sunshine, on the super comfiest bed of clouds and my migraine fading away, I would've set Voltaire on their butts.

"Remind me to say 'thank you' when I can stand up, Lorelei." I mumbled out loud, smiling a little as she gently laughed in reply. Once I was deemed to be healed, Lorelei helped me stand up and walk out of the room, my arm slung over her shoulder. A good thing she was holding onto me—those first few steps were a real lulu. By the time we got back to the throne room, I could walk and stand all on my own, which was good because a not-so-battered-and-bloodied Fandral looked up from where he was talking to the other Asgardians, saw Lorelei and broke into the biggest grin as he trotted over to her.

Sensing that these two needed a moment, I walked over to the foot of the stairs to the throne. Voltaire beat me and stretched out on the floor, not even grunting as I sat against his side and used him as a pillow. Folding my arms over my chest, I smiled as Fandral placed his hands on Lorelei's waist and lifted her into the air, spinning as they both laughed. As soon as Lorelei was back on the ground, she went to playfully scold him, but Fandral just pulled her close and kissed her soundly on the mouth.

"Well, at least I don't have to play match-maker now." I reflected positively to Voltaire, something he huffed in agreement. Lorelei and Fandral were so caught up in their own little world that not even the arrival of the whole Avengers team and Odin himself bothered the two love-birds. When Clint and my brother spotted the pair, and saw me nearby, they gave a pointed look to T'Challa then to me—I could only shrug and smile in response. Thor looked at the new sweethearts in approval and amusement as he followed his father over to the throne—if they want me to move, forget it.

"I'm guessing that since your dad is up and about, and I don't feel as if I'm about to shatter to pieces and then rebuild myself, we won and Loki is defeated?" I asked him as the other Avengers came over, T'Challa taking a seat beside me.

"Indeed, Lady Briar." He nodded, "As we speak, Loki is now receiving his punishment." A thought bubbled into the forefront of my mind that his punishment might involve a serpent who drips burning acid into Loki's forced-open-wide eyes, like it says in Norse mythology. Whelp, better him than me!

"How do you feel, by the way?" Ant Man asked as he knelt on my other side and proceeded to give me a quick check-up, "Once the old tree was replaced with the new Yggdrasil, all the Odin-force inside you and Loki went back to where it belongs."

"You also hit the ground pretty hard, too." Clint added.

"Ah, that would explain why I woke up with a Hulk-sized pounding headache." I remarked to the laughter of the others, "well, I no longer hurt like crazy anymore, and Lorelei patched me up when I came to a few minutes ago." Satisfied with my coherent answers, and satisfied that I was indeed fit as a fiddle, Ant Man declared me in perfect health—I just need food and rest.

"Speaking of rest—if anyone needs me for some life-threatening feats of daring-do, I'll be parked right here snoozing, and not waking up till I feel good and damn ready to do so." I informed them all, "Any and all unnecessary interruptions will result in either Voltaire biting your sorry butts, or me giving the moron a demonstration of what happened to Loki."

When no one tried to stop me, I titled my head back onto Voltaire's side and closed my eyes, determined to get some shut eye before anything else happened. It took a few seconds, but between Voltaire's rhythmic breathing, and T'Challa quietly watching over me, I was out like a light, only somehow catching a few snippets of what went on around me.

Tony mentioned something about giving something back to a dwarf king; Thor and his father quietly discussing what happened to me in a private moment—once I heard Thor mention Alenka's name, I tuned out and chalked up the Odin-force incident as part of her spell to not let me die. Though she could have at least done something about that damn thing not tearing me apart and putting me back together like that!

Other Asgardians began to show up after a long while. Someone called Balder reported that all of Loki's followers were captured and being dealt with, and at one point Ranger himself showed up to report that the innocent people that had been captured were all returning to their homes. As for Hoarfen the ice-wolf…turns out that Lorelei had turned him into a puppy, an Earth-sized puppy. They found him while restoring the throne room, and with Odin's blessing, Lorelei was allowed to keep the puppy…until he grew back to his true height, at least.

Knowing that Fandral may protest having an ice wolf as a pet, I cracked my eye open in time to see the poor soul be subjected to a double puppy pout attack from Puppy-Hoarfen and Lorelei…Fandral caved. I closed my eye as I attempted to contain my laughter, but a *splork* got the better of me when I felt T'Challa shaking in silent laughter beside me. Poor Fandral—and anyone else if they decide to poke fun at Lorelei for keeping the puppy!

Lorelei was needed to help with the clean-up, so she left Puppy-Hoarfen in our care. That could have been a recipe for disaster if Voltaire hadn't put his paw down, literally. Now trapped between Voltaire's forelegs, Puppy-Hoarfen tried putting up a fight, but soon succumbed to sleep, squeaking a little in protest when Voltaire dropped his larger head over the tiny body, but that was about it.

"I almost wish that I had a camera." I mumbled sleepily to T'Challa, and smiled when he chuckled in reply but said nothing else.

A few more hours passed until Lorelei came back and gently shook us awake. Since the room was beginning to fill up with other Avengers, my nap was over. I got to my feet and stretched my arms over my head, yawning loudly as my arms fell down and I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"You certainly do look more refreshed now, Briar." Lorelei teased me as she scooped Puppy-Hoarfen up into her arms and cuddled his head against her cheek. It was so weird seeing that puppy innocently schmooze up to her, especially since it was only hours earlier that he was a freaking giant ice wolf that wanted to kill us all.

"Just you wait, Lorelei." I teased her back as T'Challa and Voltaire got to their feet as well, "I think Fandral may want to make you look 'refreshed' later on." The playful wiggle of my eyebrows had her spluttering with a bright red face, even as T'Challa snorted out a laugh or three and led me and Voltaire over to the other Avengers. Her face still flaming, Lorelei hurried over, though she was pulled to Fandral's side. Not saying anything…

"Rose, stop humming the wedding march, please." T'Challa quietly chastised me.

"Spoil sport…and get outta my head. I don't need you putting ideas in there." Our whispered conversation was cut short as a hush descended upon the entire throne room, everyone turning to face Odin as he stood up. Giving the Avengers an assuring smile, Thor answered his father's silent summons and walked over to the foot of the stairs.

"My son," Odin spoke, his deep voice reaching the entire room. "You've returned to Asgard in its time of need. You have freed us all." A majority of Asgardians looked on in great pride at the Thunderer, even as Lorelei and a few other people knew that it wasn't just Thor that saved them all. Before they, or even Clint, could say something, Thor beat them all to it.

"No, father, I have not." Thor gently corrected the king, to the shock of many. "I, myself, was freed—by the Avengers." Stepping aside, he presented us to all those assembled in the room. I felt very conscious of every eye on us and fidgeted a little—my hair looks atrocious, I just know it!

"Mere…mortals?" Odin asked his son, sounding very confused.

"These mortals just saved all the Nine Realms. They deserve our respect." Thor announced as he walked over to us. I felt myself blushing under all of the curious stares, and really hoped that my hair was at least semi-presentable. All thoughts of my hair disappeared as Thor then kneeled before us.

"Avengers, I thank thee." He told us, his voice conveying more than just average gratitude. "Truly, I am honored to count myself among you." Okay, the sudden weight in my stomach needs to go, right not: I don't like Thor bowing to us, even in thanks. With as much as calm and grace as I could summon on extremely short notice, I walked over to our friend and held my hand out to him. Surprised, Thor then smiled warmly as he took my hand and stood back up.

"You've never bowed to us before." Iron Man remarked with a smile, "We're not gonna let you start now. Not when a handshake does the same thing." Seeing the gesture for what it truly was, Thor did just that and grasped my brother's hand in his own. Going to Panther's side, I noticed that many of the Asgardians present had begun to change their opinions about us mortals, hopefully for the better.

Solemnly, the king of all Asgardians descended from his throne to meet us on equal ground. "You have the thanks of Asgard, mortals. You have our respect." He acknowledged, and turned to the entire room, "To the mightiest heroes in the Nine Realms—hail Avengers!"

With that, all of them began to cheer for us at the top of their lungs, the very room thrumming with the energy. Glancing at the faces of my teammates, I could see them all happy to accept the praises of the masses—except Ant Man. I felt bad for him, and I hope that—with time and patience—he'll one day look back on this moment and he'll remember all of the good that he did here, and all of the lives he helped save.

"Rose." I turned my head to face T'Challa, making a questioning noise in my throat. At a loss for words—for once—T'Challa just slipped his hand into mine, entwining our fingers together and gently squeezed. Smiling back at him, I squeezed in return and rested my head against his shoulder.

Words would never be enough for us to tell each other how proud we felt, or even describe perfectly just how grateful we were to have met each other on a team such as this, and found something more. In the end, all we could do is let our hearts fuel our actions, and let them speak for us.

Speaking of talking, however…

######

"Geez, Asgardians sure know how to throw a party!" I exclaimed as T'Challa and I walked into his bedroom back on Earth—a full ten hours since we first started the day. "I don't think I can eat breakfast tomorrow, or lunch either." But at least I'll be able to sleep soundly through my food coma.

"I agree." He chuckled in reply. While a senior member of his staff came by to talk about something with T'Challa, I had first go in the shower—oh, it felt so good to get rid of the accumulated grime and dirt, not to mention the dried sweat. Scrubbed head to toe in a lavender and vanilla scented soap, I wrapped a towel around my body and stood in front of the sink and brushed my teeth. As my toothbrush worked back and forward and all around, over and over, I let my mind go over the events that happened before we came home.

After showering us with their praises, there was a massive feast to celebrate our victory, and once the food and drink got started, everything became a bit chaotic though in good fun. Tony and Hawkeye got involved with a drinking game, along with Thor and Volstagg—it became really obvious that the alcohol of the gods was a bit more…potent than the stuff on Earth, though it surprised many that it was Captain America himself who won the game…and the ones after that, to the amusement of all. The Hulk and Voltaire were busy eating all they could, though Voltaire would take a break to find someone to scratch an itch he had. Said puppy dog was now on the couch in the next room, dead asleep to the world around him, and his belly in the air.

Wasp had been in deep conversation with Lorelei—possibly about fashions of Asgard—as Fandral looked on in pride of his new girlfriend, not minding (or noticing) that Puppy-Hoarfen was stealing tidbits from his plate. At the beginning of the celebration feast, Hank had been rather quiet and glum, until Faraday, Ranger and Hogunn approached him and the four of them were in deep philosophical talks. As for T'Challa and I, we were content to sit quietly and watched everyone else having fun, laughingly fending off any offers to join in with Tony, Clint and Steve. I should probably point out that T'Challa kept some sort of bodily contact with me the entire time, either by holding hands with me, or his knee touching mine.

Now that everything was calm, I let my mind go further back in time and memories, to when I flying over Argentina, in deep thought about whether I should move in with T'Challa or not…or, might be the better question, if that was even an option.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when T'Challa gently called out my name. "Here!" I called out—when the Hell did I walk into my wardrobe? Quickly drying off the last of any water drops, I donned some underwear, a pair of pajama shorts and an old shirt before walking out into the bedroom, rubbing the drier part of my towel over my hair.

Pulling the towel from my head, I saw that T'Challa had also showered, dried and dressed in a pair of loose pajama pants, and climbed into his side of the bed with a book in his hands. The room was dim except for one of the bed-side lamps.

"Are you all right, Rose?" He asked as I tossed my towel into a laundry hamper and crawled into bed beside him.

"Yeah, just thinking of something." I assured him, trying to sound up-beat even as the butterflies in my stomach refused to stop fluttering like mad.

"Is this a troublesome 'something', perhaps?" T'Challa asked in concern, his eyebrows arching in emphasis of his concern. I made to protest that everything was okay—no internal freaking out whatsoever—and that he shouldn't worry so much, when he gave me The Look.

"…It's too obvious, isn't it?"

"Very; you also forgot to comb your hair. I know how much you hate dealing with it the morning after." He pointed out, "You also forgot to say goodnight to Voltaire, despite him being deep asleep."…Well, any chance of avoiding the question just turned to a flat out zero.

Rather than immediately ask for answers, T'Challa put down his book, pulled me so that my back was pressed against his chest and began to comb his fingers through my hair, carefully getting out any tangles and smoothing out my hair. Minutes ticked by, and with each touch of his fingers against my scalp, I felt myself feeling more and more relaxed. Through the somewhat drowsy haze in my mind, I registered that T'Challa had finished combing my hair and wrapped his arms around my stomach, his velvety soft lips pressing kisses to my neck, somehow relaxing me further against his chest even as a small fire began to ignite inside me.

"Do you feel up to telling me what is troubling you?" He carefully asked between kisses. I hummed in soft reply, enjoying his slow—and now sensual—kisses against the length of my neck, my eyes fluttering closed even as I titled my head to grant him better access. I almost swallowed my tongue a few times—damn, that tongue of his is good—my soft moans only just egging him on further…

…Or until his mouth lifted from a newly discovered sensitive spot to tease the shell of my ear. "Rose…" He rumbled out in a deep, richly smooth way, cutting through my now-very-turned-on fuzzy brain. Seeing as he was determined for an answer, I huffed in annoyance as I turned myself around to that T'Challa and I were face to face, with me now lying on top of his chest.

"Just thinking of a question Clint asked me hours ago." I told him honestly, pressing soft kisses to his collarbone as he wrapped his arms around me again, his chest rising and falling in a deep sigh.

"I feel as if I should be very concerned." T'Challa rumbled in a playfully grave tone, even as he began to sound huskier the more I kissed his skin, adding a few tiny nips here and there.

"No, nothing like that," I promised him. Since I was going to ask him a rather important question, I edged myself over to his side—to his mewls of protest—and propped my head up on my hand, my other pressed against the middle of his chest. "He was just asking about you and me, and our relationship."

"Ah, the usual questions then." He chuckled, "Whether we have matching outfits or not, or some other ridiculousness. I am surprised that he did not ask if we ever plan on moving in together." And here comes the gossamer-covered hammer.

"He did, actually." I admitted softly, feeling the muscles in his chest tense slightly. When he didn't immediately scoff or shoot down the idea, I carefully explained further. "He pointed out that since I'm here so often, I'm pretty much living here. So he wanted to know why I haven't made it official, or asked if I even can." Okay, that last little bit was more or less my input, but T'Challa doesn't need to know that. Or he already knew that, and was gearing himself up for something.

"Would you?" The question caught me off guard. T'Challa turned his head towards me, his hand now resting on top of mine, his golden brown eyes shining in curiosity and in hopeful wishing.

"Would I move in with you?" I carefully asked back. He nodded in agreement, and all rational thought shot out of my brain so fast that I was left speechless for a few seconds. "Is that allowed—me moving into the embassy I mean?"

"I don't see the staff having any problems in accommodating you on a permanent basis." He mused out loud, "As you said before, you are here so often that they become disappointed the days you aren't. They even enjoy Voltaire being around them when he decides to go exploring—he brings a lot of smiles and happiness to everyone here."

Knowing that the other people who lived and worked in the embassy already approved of me and Voltaire was one thing, but what did T'Challa himself think of the whole idea?

"And you? You would be okay with me moving in here permanently?" I carefully questioned. The best and realistic answer I was hoping for was 'Maybe it's too soon, but eventually yes'; the worse being a very regretful 'no, there are so many protocols and rules of propriety'. Either one I could deal with (the last one I could, with some trouble, but I'd completely understand). I was taken by surprise when T'Challa propped himself on his elbow, his other hand cupping my cheek as he leaned in close and pressed his mouth against mine in a very slow, very sensual kiss that made my head spin and the fire in my body begin to spread like a wildfire.

He took the kiss a step forward, rolling the both of us over so that I was on my back and T'Challa carefully pressed his bigger frame on top. The arm that had propped him up now curled underneath my head; the other hand slowly trailed down the side of my body, setting my skin all a-tingly as his hand crept down and behind my thigh, lifting the limb to hook over his hip.

Once my leg was curled over his, his hand crept back up my side to cup my cheek again, moaning deeply as my hands clutched at his back, my body moving against his. When we slowly parted to breath, and my eyes flickered open, I felt whatever breath I regained be stolen by the warmth of his love and sincerity shining brightly in his eyes.

"I would wish for nothing in my life if I had the greatest pleasure of walking up beside you like that every morning, of every day, for as long as we wanted." He began in a deep, husky voice, "I relish the idea of seeing you beside me at breakfast, lunch, dinner and desert. The idea of you sharing my personal rooms, bathroom and my bed makes my heart so giddy with excitement that my head begins to spin."

His head wasn't the only one spinning, especially if this was for real and not the product of wishful thinking…or raging hormones that he had sent all aflame.

"So you wouldn't mind having me in your personal space?" I whispered as I brushed my lips to his in little butterfly kisses, nipping at his bottom lip a tiny bit. "Or Voltaire since we're a package deal after all?"

"I would absolutely jump for joy if the two of you were in my personal space." T'Challa answered as he trailed kisses over my cheeks and brow, "Though there will be a few times where I'll much prefer you invading my space than our fur child." As if the emphasis his point, his ground his hardened hips against mine in a manner that had me gasping for air, and for more.

Between that, and hearing him call Voltaire 'our fur child', my cheeks were blushing so brightly I swear I could almost be glowing.

"You also remember that I have—ah!—have an overprotective brother and—oh god!—an extended family, right?" I reminded him, though it was pretty hard when T'Challa lowered his mouth to my neck and began to nibble and kiss at the increasingly sensitive skin. "Plus I tend to—god right there!—keep odd hours doing random things, so-"

"Rose." T'Challa finally interrupted, lifting his head up to look into my eyes with a wide (and frankly down-right sexy) grin. "Will you move in with me already?" I shyly bit my bottom lip as I thought about it…for three seconds.

"Yes." I finally answered. His grin grew bigger, and sexier, as he then proceeded to kiss me soundly on my lips.

"Say that again." He begged between kissing my mouth, cheeks and neck—particularly that now extremely sensitive spot on my neck. Without even thinking about it, I felt my fingernails dig deeper into the flesh of his shoulders, and my hips press themselves tighter against his (Good Heavens, he is!), and let myself be nearly lost in his actions, every moan that came from my mouth just egging him further and further, like the fire inside of me.

"Yes." I panted heavily in rising excitement, "Yes, yes, YES. OH GOD—YES, T'CHALLA!" And just like the moment in the elevator, my mind went blank as I saw stars and my body simply sang. When every fiber in my body finally relaxed again, I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment, though I didn't get teary-eyed again. I opened my eyes to look up at T'Challa, smiling shyly. He only smiled in gentle love before pressing an equally gentle kiss to my forehead.

"Briar Rose Stark," He spoke in a calm tone, "Will you do me the honor of moving in with me?" I had to give a little laugh, moving my hands from his shoulders to around his neck, pulling him down to kiss the tip of his nose.

"Yes, T'Challa, I will move in with you." I answered him brightly. My smile matched his in happiness and joy, and the pair of us brushing our noses against the others, till we began to feel sleepy. While I got up and changed into clean pajamas (I have got to figure out a way to pay him back for this!), T'Challa moved into the center of the bed, pulling me into his arms when I came back, so that I was curled into his side, his arms around my shoulders and waist. My head was pressed against chest, my leg crossed over his.

My boyfriend (and now roommate) exhaled happily as he turned to press a warm kiss to the top of my head and bury his nose in my hair. "I love you, Rose." He whispered happily.

"I love you too, T'Challa." I whispered back sleepily. Feeling him grinning like a fool in love, I smiled as well as I snuggled into his arms as I grew more and more tired.

Whelp, I guess a new chapter of our lives starts now. I can't wait to see what comes next, because there is no way anything could ever beat this.

---

And we are done! Holy Hell and a yeah-haw; we are done and dusted...till second season, of course. That may be a few weeks: I tend to research first then start writing, and since there's a LOT of things going into second season, it's gonna be chaotic...it also doesn't help that somebody got out of his cage again.

Aw, you love me! You really love me!

...Anyway, be sure to review, favorite and subscribe! A reminder that any mean comments will be sent to the Hulk and me! to be dealt with. This is Den, saying bye-bye!