Steve had the whole thing planned out. They were going to head to the waterfall. He had packed a few things in a bag for the picnic then went to find the woman he hoped would become his wife. Gem was outside chatting to T'challa when Steve joined them.

"You ready?" She asked, eyeing the bag.

"As I'll ever be."

Gem gave him a look. He'd been acting odd, since her father had left 3 days before. He had insisted on this walk. An hour later they arrived at the waterfall. Steve pulled a blanket out of the bag, along with some food and champagne. Gem gave him a puzzled look.

"I feel like I'm missing something." When Gem turned to face him, Steve was down on one knee and was holding a small box out towards her.

"I've been thinking about this for a while. You are the love of my life. I can't imagine waking up without you. So please do me the great honour of becoming my wife?"

Gem just stared at him. Had he truly just asked her to marry him? Had that been why her father wanted to speak with him. Father had always known when someone was hiding something. Gem noticed Steve starting to get nervous. She must have spaced out a little too long clearly. Her mouth was dry when she tried to speak at first, but she finally managed to get her answer out. "Yes, Steve, I'll marry you."

Steve jumped up and kissed her, spinning her round. When he placed her back on her feet, he slipped the ring on her finger. Gem poured them some champagne and they sat together looking out at the waterfall. did they ever have to leave this place? It felt so safe here, so normal. but normal never lasted long in their lives.

On the way back to the palace, they called to see Bucky. they had placed him in a little cottage on the edge of the city. Gem loved visiting him, he would always make her feel at home. He gave her a big hug and shook Steve's hand. Gem was standing away from them when Natasha landed the quinjet not far off from the front door.

"About time you made an honest woman out of her. She is still too good for you." Bucky winked at Gem.

"She is. but she makes me want to be better." Steve smiled over at her.

"Your captain America, I didn't know they came better than you." Bucky said rolling his eyes,

Steve gave him a brotherly punch to his good arm, "Maybe you'll find one like her one day."

"Maybe, she got a sister?"

They both laugh. Gem comes over with Natasha at her side. "T'challa has people waiting to greet us." Steve said goodbye to Bucky. they headed back to the palace.

A few months later in the early hours of morning, Steve woke. Gem was tossing and turning in her sleep. He tried to wake her, but she wouldn't wake.

Gem was watching the ship get ripped apart. Thor was been choked, her father was trying to help, trying to use his mischievous side to trick this being.

Loki came to her while the hulk was fighting. "You have to warn them."

"Warn them of what."

"You have to tell them that Thanos is coming. He wants the stones." He gripped her arms and moved them further into the shadowy corner.

"Father, I don't…" Tears were running down her face.

"You are strong enough to help defeat him. but you have to warn them to be ready.'' Loki kissed her forehead and went to leave her.

"Please don't leave me again."

"I won't. I promised I would tell you about your mother and I will. The captain is a good man. He's not who I would have chosen for you, but he will do." He gave a final smirk and kissed her cheek. "I love you, my little Gem. You remember that."

Gem watched as he left. He hadn't called her that since the day before he was sentenced. She sat and watched as the life was choked out of him. It was at that moment, just as his body fell, that she woke. Steve was shaking her; tears were running down her face and she clung to him for dear life. She had no idea how long she had wept into his arms. minutes, hours. When she could finally speak, she told him what she had seen.

"Where is Vision?" She asked when her mind cleared fully.

"We haven't heard from Wanda in a few weeks, I think they will be together."

"We have to go find them." Gem went to move out of bed, but Steve brought her back.

"Me, Nat and Sam will go. Stay here. grieve. you need to think straight before going out there."

"But Steve…."

"I also need you to help get Bucky back in the game. He is quite the farmer these days."

"Don't get arrested?"

Steve kissed the top of her head. "I promise."

Steve went to fetch Natasha and Sam, he hated leaving her so soon after her loss, but they needed to find vision.

Gem made her way to see bucky, he was sitting outside. "Hey Buck."

"Hey, you ok?"

Gem explained everything to him. Bucky got up and hugged her.

"You ready for a war."

"Is that where this is gonna go?" He asked, sounding exhausted already.

"You didn't see him; my uncle is one of the strongest guys I know, and he was…. and my father wasn't the strongest, but his magic couldn't stop him. He gave…."

Bucky noticed her tears; he could only imagine what watching your family being murdered in front of you felt like.

"Whatever comes, we will face it together."

"You sound like Steve." Gem laughed half-heartedly.

"He gets all his best lines from me."

Gem smiled at him. Bucky was healing nicely. His mind was starting to recover from the mind control and damage done to it. He and Steve spent a lot of time together. Gem understood why. Steve, like her, was out of place and though he tried to fit in, being with Bucky. He was someone else who understood what he was going through.

A few days past and Steve arrived back with everyone; Vision had been injured. Thanos' children were coming for the stone.

T'challa started giving out orders, his last one. "And someone get this man a shield!"

Gem smiled. Yes, a shield. He didn't have his, he had left it with Tony, Steve found Gem changing into her suit. T'challa's sister, Suri, had made this one for her, it had elements of both Asgard and Wakanda in it. She tucked her dagger into her leg brace.

She turned to see Steve. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" He asked her a look of worry shadowing his face.

"They helped kill my father. They will pay for it." Gem stated. She closed her eyes bringing up all the memories of her father. His laughing face when he would watch her play. His calm voice when he would talk her to sleep. All the times they had watched the stars together and their reunion only a month ago. Then she brought up the memory of him looking at her from his cell on Asgard. A caged beast lashing out at Odin. He deserved the cell then, but not what she herself had taken from him. Gem took the anger of all that had been taken from her and used it to focus her mind and set her nerves. This was it; she would not run. She would fight. She was the true born daughter of Loki Laufeyson, Rightful King of Jötunheimr and prince of Asgard. Should she lose she would see him again in Valhalla. Gem opened her eyes and walked towards Steve, picking up the golden spare she had been given on the way.

Steve noticed a look in her eyes he had never seen there before It reminded him of Thor, no not Thor, her father. She looked like Loki. From head to toe as she stood in front of him in her navy-blue suit and bronze cloak. She looked like the warrior goddess that she was. She said nothing to him as she approached, only nodded towards the others. They jumped on the ships taking them down to the Wakanda broader. She stood with Sam and Bucky, as Steve made his way down to talk to the enemy.

The opposition stood calmly; they had clearly come to fight, there would be no reasoning with them. Gem was quite happy to make them regret that decision. She wanted a chance at Thanos. The order was given for part of the barrier to be lifted and battle began. Two sides running at each other, clashing in a bloody battle spread across acres of lush green land and turning it to broken clay. The first Chitarie to attack her she spared through the throat while stabbing its partner in the gut with the other end. Pulling it from them she spun and sliced the leg off another. She had always hated to see others in pain as a child and didn't care for war. However, the sound of its pain satisfied the beast within her. An eye for an eye until the whole bloody lot of them are blind. Gem continued fighting, picking her battles wisely to save energy for when she got to their leader. If she got to him. There were so many of them.

Gem had no idea how much time had passed, when she saw the lightning crack violently across the smocking sky. She knew he had survived; her uncle was here. Help from the gods was exactly what they needed, however now that it seemed to be only him and the others in spirit, she did not yet dare hope for a quick end to this lengthy battle.

Gem watched overhead as the last Valkyrie fell from the sky as she climbed the pile of dead beasts to get a better view of the field. It wasn't long after that, that things started to go wrong. She could see themselves slowly being encircled. The only way out was to head for the woods, so with a call across the field that's what they did.

Gem had lost sight of Steve. She turned to ask the others if they had seen him when something started to happen one by one close friends and allies started to disappear. All Gem could do was watch as the people around her started turning to ash. He had done it, she realised, Thanos had done what he set out to do. He had rid the Universe of half of its population. They had lost.

Steve! His face flashed across her mind, where was he? God, what if he had gone too. She began running through the woods as fast as her war weary legs would carry her. At last after what felt like hours, she found him on his knees in front of visions body. Her uncle wasn't standing that far away. for a moment, she was relieved, they were still here. But reality soon hit home. Thor and Steve may be alive but how many had they lost?

…..

A few days passed. They were all trying to group together whoever was left of the avengers. Millions of people had been lost, including losing some of their own. Clint had lost his wife and children. His loss hit all of them the hardest. He had fought so hard for so many years to keep them out of harm's way and now this. Steve was also grieving. He had lost both Sam and Bucky. Gem grieved for her father and the other in her own way. She spent a great deal of time with her uncle while Steve and Nat were trying to keep everything together.

She found Thor near the woods. "He would have been proud of you." He said softly.

"We lost." Gem muttered.

"I lost. I had him. then…." Thor trailed off.

Gem didn't know how to comfort him. He was right. He had had him, and he should have gone for the head, but he didn't, and they lost. Though in the end would it have mattered if her uncle had aimed somewhere else? Her father had aimed for his head and he died anyway. Deciding to be strong and hide the same lost feeling that he felt away she placed her hand in the crook of his arm and put her head on his shoulder. "Tell me a story uncle. One about you and father." Distracting him was the best idea she could come up with, as for the others she would work it out as she went along. She would be there for those who were going to need her.

She was in their room when Steve came in. He looked exhausted. Gem walked over and took his large hands in hers. "You need to sleep."

He ignored her comment. "We have made the decision to go back to the compound. It's where everyone will headfirst, well those that are…." Steve's voice broke, seeming to not be able to finish what he meant to say.

Gem took his face in her hands and slowly pulled his head up to look him in the eyes. "We will figure out how to get them back. I don't think anyone is ever truly gone."

"What if we can't do it. What if they are gone forever?" He asked, looking like a lost child.

She didn't have the answer to that question no matter how much she wished she did. Gem kissed him lightly, wanting him to know she was there. They packed their belongings up a short while after and joined everyone on the quinjet. The flight to the compound was silent. the whole place felt different.

Gem and Steve walked to what had been his room in the compound. On the way they passed the rooms of those they had lost. A heavy sense of sorrow came over her, but she pushed it to the side. She had to be strong for Steve now.

The few agents that were left were kind of just milling around not really knowing what to say or do. It was Nat that seemed to take charge now that Steve wasn't really an option. They were trying to work out who they had lost. Pepper had arrived, but Tony was still missing, he had been on one of the ships heading to the fight, but they had no idea if he was still alive or if they had turned to dust like many of the others. The list seemed to go on and on. With each name added the light of hope dimmed just that little more.

Gem helped out where she could, including trying to bring some form of normality to the place. This was why Steve wasn't fully surprised to find her in the kitchen, she was trying to tidy up and make things look as orderly as Tony always insisted, they be.

"You don't have to do that." He said quietly from where he lent arms folded on the kitchen island.

"I know, but I feel like I have to do something." She sighed, turning to face him. "We don't seem to be able to find Tony and I thought knowing him the first thing he'd say to us would be 'that kitchen better be tidy.'" Steve gave a sad smile in agreement. "Then there Thor, he's a mess, I've never seen him so quiet, it unnerves me. I don't know what to do to help him. I don't know how to help you. Odin knows I want to help Nat and Pepper but I …."

Steve kissed her. He knew she had lost people too and she was trying to hold it all together, but her father had died, and even if they found a way to bring everyone else back, there was no way of bringing him back. "Let's get some lunch and sit out on the balcony? If you say yes, I'll tell you why Tony is always going off on one about the kitchen." Steve encouraged placing his hands on her waist.

"Okay, but you are staying well away. Took me ages to clean that oven." She stated, laughing as he rolled his eyes.

The pair took the hot philly steak sandwiches outside along with a pitcher of water and a smaller one of iced tea. "So…" Gem said swallowing the first bite of her sandwich. "Why does Tony have a thing about clean kitchens?"

"Ah well, funny story that. You see the fridge in the lab was full and Dr B wanted to see the reaction of these fungi on something to make some for all medicine. Anyway, he had put them on a normal plate and Tony mistook the injected fungi for some posh type of mushroom he likes and ate the lot."

"You're joking." Gem had just taken a sip of her iced tea and almost spat it out.

"Nope."

Once they finished Steve took their plates in to wash promising not to make a mess. Gem stayed out on the balcony. As she looked out over the grounds the image of her reunion with her father came into her mind. She sighed and closed her eyes hoping to bring more life to the memory. Her father stood in front of her holding out his cloak for her. She could feel the coffee still burning her leg as she stepped towards the man that had meant everything to her in her childhood. Nothing in his face gave away what he was feeling. He had tried to teach her that when she was younger. She hadn't been very good at it, but according to him neither was her mother. With that more memories came flooding back and this time she felt only happiness.

It was spring, the cherry trees in Frigga's garden were blooming and she and her father were walking with her grandmother down the garden path towards the benches. The adults were talking, and her childhood self was paying no attention to them. She was more interested in the little petals falling in front of them. Now that she was watching as a second party she could hear and understand them.

"Mother, honestly I'm fine." Loki said with an annoyed sigh.

"You are not fine dear, and you know it." Frigga's brow was furrowed slightly as she looked at him. "This is the first time you have come to see the child in over two weeks."

Gem walked a little closer to them. She remembered him being gone a long time around spring, but he never told her why.

"I am well aware of how long it has been mother. Are you honestly chastising me for visiting where we were most happy?" He turned on her then. "It is a year tomorrow since I lost her. I intend to be here for our daughter on her birthday, so I decided to shed my tears somewhere else."

"But two weeks, Loki? I love her dearly, but she is a nightmare to look after." The two looked at her a moment and then something happened that Gem did not remember. Loki turned and faced exactly where she stood. "No mother, she is a mischief." Her father smiled at her and picked two blossoms from the tree, placing one on the pillar right next to her and the other he gave to Frigga. "Now enough of this talk let us enjoy lunch." As they walked on Loki looked back and smiled.

Gem didn't know what to think she felt odd. Like this memory had been taken over by someone else. Deciding to test her theory she went to pick up the blossom and instead of her fingers dipping through the vision she felt the soft petals as she picked it up.

She opened her eyes at the shock only to find the blossom still in her hand. how could that be?

She just started to rise from her chair when the ground started to shake. Gem ran into the sitting area and put the flower between the pages of her book before she headed to meet everyone else as they all ran outside. A ship was being brought in by something or someone. The door opened and Tony was being helped out of the main hangar door. Steve ran to him and Nat grabbed her hand, a smile spreading wide across the agent's face. Tony hugged pepper, who then continued to chastise him. Inside Bruce gave him some fluids and Gem found him some soup. She stood back as the questions started, then the anger. Tony was so angry at Steve that their shouting match resulted in him collapsing.

Bruce sedated him and then the talk turned to finding Thanos again. The new girl seemed very confident that she could kill him. A little too confident in Gem's eyes but she said nothing. Thor was still sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. He blamed himself for so much. Gem still didn't know what to do with him. How do you kick a god up the arse?

As it turns out all it took was for Gem to ask him to back her up when she asked for the honour of torturing the bastard if things went that way. Thor looked her up and down for a moment and then laughed. At first the sound was coarse and rough and then he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Your father would be proud. Your mother on the other hand would have clipped you round the ear for your language." Gem blushed. "Come on let's find the angry rabbit."

….

When they arrived at the garden, they wasted no time in going ahead with their plan. The plan being attacked. Captain Marvel was to go first, followed by Bruce in a suit Tony had made for him and then Thor, he was to swing stormbreaker and take Thanos' hand. Which he did in one powerful move and there now lay the glove.

Rocket turned it round, but the stones were gone. Steve asked where they were, but the answer that he gave sent ice threw her veins. He'd destroyed the stones. Their only hope to bring their friends back was gone.

Something in Thor snapped and he swung stormbreaker for a second time only now Thanos's head lay on the floor. "What did you do?" Asked a shocked Rocket.

"I went for the head." He said breathlessly and walked out.

Everyone slowly made their way back towards the ship in silence. Gem noticed the look on everyone's faces, this had been their last hope and now it was gone. She had no idea what to say or do so did nothing and just sat next to her uncle and looked across at Steve.

…. end of chapter 9