...*comes in bringing cookies and regret for leaving you all for a year without an update*

Hello everyone, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to do this chapter but I first had a breakdown, and then lost my muse COMPLETELY for this story and its compadres. I'm so sorry, I swore I'd never be one of those writers yet here I am, leaving you all hanging for so long. However, I finally pieced together my old plan and I'll start writing again, I hope - but bear with me, I don't get on a pc much anymore, and most of my writing has gone to Roleplay as it's easier to do mobile. However, I will try to get out updates regularly again, and I promise to finish this story slowly but surely. After all, we are only halfway through, there's still so much to happen...though I may cut out certain stuff which will make it drag too long. Again, I'm so sorry, and here I hope you all enjoy. (also wtf happened to the breaklines?)

Tony felt really out of it, the voices above him enough to make him really curious and yet not caring. "I think he's coming around." a voice above him said, and the tone took a moment before it went through his mental recognition and the face of Reed Richards came to mind.

"Well that's good on one end... on another, it's not." A new voice said. "Loki gave me this, he said it could help save his life...but with that shard in him, I'm not sure it would help."

"Did he tell you how it works?" Reed asked. "Where is Loki anyway?"
The other person sighed. "Taking care of Shaw with Erik... and frankly I don't want to know what they did to him. When I got up there he was looking pretty terrified...I guess Loki was showing him what he was going to do."

Reed was quiet for a moment. "You don't think...? Bruce, you can't think that they'd—?"

"Frankly I both wouldn't be surprised, and think that the bastard deserves it."

Bruce! Tony Finally recognized the voice, although it sounded a bit out of pitch. Of course, hearing that Loki likely was doing something which was 'terrifying' was a slight concern. He may not entirely like the jackass, but to hear that he may be jeopardizing his probation was something Tony didn't like... after all, he was somewhat fun when he wasn't being insane.

"Is he awake yet?" Steve. Good ol' Steve.

"Tony?"

'Really?' Tony mentally screamed, of course he couldn't be heard.

'Don't count on that, Mr. Stark.' A feminine voice whispered in his mind, and if he could have jumped he would have. 'It's alright, I understand your surprise.'

'Who the hell-'

"-Is this?" Someone on the outside was on his wavelength.

"Bruce, Reed, this is Clara. She's a mutant here. Saved my life actually." Steve answered.

Tony heard Clara chuckle. "It wasn't hard to save. Just a matter of distracting him, after that it was easy." Her accent was British, and Tony mentally groaned. As if he didn't have enough British-sounding people already in his life.

"How's Tony?' Steve repeated.

"We're gonna get him on the Helicarrier soon. Clint's getting it started up so we can lifeflight him to LA. He's gonna need surgery." Reed answered.

"Have you seen Loki and Erik?" Steve asked, concern in his voice. "Have we found Lizzie?"

"Yes and no respectively." Higher-pitched Bruce replied. "Loki took Erik and Shaw god-only-knows where after he made sure I had Tony under my watch. Lemme tell you, I do not want to be in Shaw's shoes. The look in both men's eyes was insanity. I don't think I want to know what they do to him."

Tony could easily imagine what the pair had planned, and to be sure he didn't expect anything pretty – closed casket no less – that was, of course, providing that there was a body when they were done. If they did by any chance leave a body worth burial, Tony would light it ablaze and dance on the ashes.

"Tony thinks that with their backgrounds he expects no less than evisceration and incineration." Clara's voice cut through, and the men went silent.

"Sorry...what?" Bruce's hand touched Tony's shoulder, shaking him – although the force and the size of the hand shocked Tony. "Tony?"

"He's awake. Trapped in his mind at present."

'What. The. Hell. Woman?'

"Well, Tony, the short answer is that I am a telepath." The woman replied audibly. "And your thoughts are so loud that it's hard to concentrate on the actual conversation."

'Ooh, that's rough. Are you pretty at least?' A mental slap had him reeling.

'Hope you learned.' Her voice echoed in his mind. 'Now do please shut up.' She was a firecracker, and Tony wondered... 'no, Tony, I am not a redhead.'

'Legitimate inquiry.'

Thor groaned loudly, frustrated beyond belief that he couldn't find Loki. He was worried as well, hoping his brother didn't do something too horrible... for while he hated Shaw, he did not want for all the good work regarding Loki to be wasted via Loki's want for revenge. His eyes scanned the bodies around the complex, sighing heavily. So many lives were lost due to the blind ambition of a madman.

He felt a presence behind him, but it wasn't one he knew. Spinning around he prepared to let his hammer loose when the man – covered in blood and haggard – raised his hands. "Please don't hurt me." he begged. "I'm looking for Loki. "

Thor's brows furrowed. "And who are you?'

"Scott." The so-named replied. "Please, I need to find him urgently, he's the only one who can save her."

"Her?" Thor was confused, then his blue eyes dawned in recognition. "Elizabeth?"

Scott nodded, his eyes wide. "You know her?" Thor didn't answer, walking toward the man with purpose. "She's dying. I only know his name because she keeps whispering it – and I heard someone mention him over back there."

"I know not where my brother is." Thor replied sadly. "But if Lady Elizabeth is in danger, take me to her."

"Can you help her?" Scott asked. "Because if you can't—"

"Don't argue with me! Where is she?" Thor boomed, gripping his hammer tighter. He had no intention of killing the man, but he wanted results, and it didn't seem that the man was going to move otherwise.

Scott eyed the hammer, his powers rising up in him. He squashed the instinct to attack the man, a multitude of powers presenting themselves for his use should he want them. Powers of others. "All right, all right." he replied, walking up to him. "Fastest way." Grabbing his arm, he teleported him to the building where he had Lizzie.

The light flickered on above, and Thor's eyes squinted as they adjusted to the sudden flash. "Lady Elizabeth?" Thor murmured in shock. This wasn't the Elizabeth he knew, who was vibrant and healthy. He turned to the man.

"I told you, she's dying."

The knife in his hand was covered in blood, his thirst for the life now satiated as he looked at his companion whose eyes were fixed on their deeds. Alex Shaw was lying in a pool of his own blood. Dead. It was a gruesome sight to behold to say the least, and one which Loki was quick to eliminate by setting his body on fire. It had been a slow death, one which left both men's revenge fulfilled, and Loki's knowledge spread.

As it turned out, Erik's vengeance had to do much more with simply his granddaughter... it had to do with his wife. Unknown to Loki, Katherine Lehnsherr, Erik's wife, had been killed by the man who was now ablaze, and was the cause of his agony for many decades. The killing blow had been dealt by the mutant, who would forever treasure the terror in the eyes of his victim.

"Fifty years." Erik murmured. "Fifty years I hunted him – not including the twenty which Elizabeth exchanged."

Loki said nothing, but looked to the heavens where he knew Heimdall was watching. He would pay for this, he knew, though he was surprised that Odin had not already opened the bifrost and summoned him up to face trial and further punishment. His sentence on Midgard was over, he was sure, and he would be forever isolated to whatever punishment Odin put upon him.

But before such a thing happened, he needed to find Elizabeth.

"Come, we must return. I don't hear the sounds of fighting any longer." Loki said, turning to Erik who was watching as the body turned to ash.

"Agreed." Erik replied quietly, turning toward Loki. "We must find Elizabeth."

In a moment they were back in the compound. A flash of red caught Loki's eye, and he turned to see Natasha run up to him. "Thank god I found you!" she exclaimed.

"You're quite welcome." Loki quipped, but the feral look in her eyes caught his attention. "What is wrong?" Wordlessly, she handed him the papers she had found which he quickly leafed through.

He read, and with that his ire kindled once more. He would go to Hel and bring back Shaw if only to kill him again – he handed the papers to Erik.

"We should have found a way to prolong his death." Erik basically growled, his hands crumpling the papers as he re-read them, agony from his own youth beginning to spark and flame. "The things he did. Is she still alive?"

"I'd tell you if I knew." Natasha replied, and at Loki's questioning glance, she continued with. "I can't find her. Her room was empty when I entered the building, I've been looking all over but I—"

"LOKI!" Thor's voice roared, and Loki sighed. He didn't want to deal with whatever Thor had to say.

"Not now, Thor!" Loki snapped.

"Yes, now! Elizabeth is dying!"

Loki sprang into action. "Where?!" he demanded and Thor spun his hammer, grabbing his brother by the back of his armor before he flew into the air, landing across the complex. Scott stood outside, his face somber and full of pain. "Where is she?"

"Inside." Scott replied calmly, unaffected by the demigod's tone. "You're too late. She's dead."

Dead. The word reverberated in Loki's skull, and without another word to the man he ran into the building, the magic from the locket leading him straight to where she was – he didn't even know how he got there but before he knew it he was in the doorway. Her body lay on the bed, an exact image of what he had seen of her in his visions. The heart-monitor gave a steady tone, her heartbeat a single line of nothing. He stumbled forward, unable to think, the pain crushing him as he approached her, his hands reaching out to her face.

"Elizabeth..." he whispered, his hands laying on her cheeks for a moment, as if to establish to himself that she wasn't a dream this time. Her skin was cold, her eyes closed, and he scooped her up into his arms, cradling her small body to his chest. "Elizabeth..." he whispered more urgently, his hand brushing her hair from her forehead. "I've come for you..." His voice cracked with emotion as he felt as if his heart was ripped from his chest.

She couldn't be dead. She couldn't. Not after everything. Not after he'd come to save her, had worked so hard to find her. The Norns couldn't be so cruel, could they? Raising his face toward the ceiling, he let out a heartbreaking yell, rocking gently as he held her in his arms, tears now freely streaming down his face as he looked back into her face, his hand cradling her head against his shoulder his lips touching her forehead.

Erik watched from the doorframe, the familiar ache from when he lost his wife settling into him. He knew intimately the agony which the other felt, and he stepped into the room, coming around Loki to see his granddaughter. His hand reached out to touch her head, his thumb tracing circles on her temple. "Liebling." he whispered. He had never known her but for a few hours when she was young, but he had always kept an eye on her. He met Loki's eye, the pain in the green orbs intense, and he had no doubt that he looked much the same when Kate had died.

Suddenly, the heart monitor beeped...

Erik looked over, unbelieving almost as it beeped again. It was a shallow beat, but it was there, and with aged eyes filled with almost unexpected hope, he watched as it steadily continued. Loki's eyes flickered from the machine to the woman in his arms, just as shocked as his companion as his hand moved quickly to her neck, the flutter of a hearbeat against his fingertip. "She—she—" he couldn't complete his thought, his hand moving to her nose where he could feel a slight breath leave her... then again. His eyes roving over her form once more, he unhooked her from the monitor, cradling her in his arms as he left the room, Erik hot on his heels.

"Okay, I'm beginning to get really, really worried." Jane said for the fifth time since no one had made any contact whatsoever with the Tower and it had been over six hours.

Darcy rolled her eyes from her place at the bar, though inwardly she was just as frustrated with the lack of communication. "Jane, what do you expect them to do?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee. "Be all 'oh, wait, bad guy, I gotta call my girlfriend. Could you hold that particular blast until I let her know I'm alright?' and the bad guy is like: 'Suuure why not? Do you mind if I call my mother as well?'"

Jane leveled a glare on Darcy.

"Don't worry so much, Jane." Veronika added from her place on the couch where she was, flipping through baby pictures to cope. All that was left of her family was in danger since she'd sent Bella to Alaska as well, and she wasn't quite sure what would happen should she lose them all in one shot and not be there in some way to know she could have prevented their deaths.

Farbauti sat next to her, her green eyes studying her friend's face. She knew what was going on... she only hoped that Loki had been wise enough to give Elizabeth the elixir she'd given him. If he hadn't, she knew it might be too late to save her – the girl would be too far gone, the only option would be is if she went to Asgard for healing.

Out of thin air, Loki materialized, looking worse for wear and his eyes showing helplessness as he cradled Elizabeth in his arms. Erik stood beside him.

"Oh my God!" Darcy exclaimed as Veronika and Farbauti jumped up.

For once, Loki ignored any quips or remarks about that particular phrase and focused on Veronika. "You're a doctor aren't you? You worked in a hospital, you showed me memories of Elizabeth's labor – you were there." He rushed out.

"Yes, I'm a doctor." Veronika replied, her hand reaching out to touch her daughter, her heart gripped in fear. She may have been a doctor, but she wasn't sure she even knew how to help Lizzie in this case. "Jarvis, does Tony have medical supplies? IV's?"

"In his 'toy' room, Mrs. Donovan." the AI replied, surprisingly quite serious. "There is a room off of it which serves him as a medical facility."

"There's no time to lose getting there, touch my arm, I'll teleport us." Loki commanded, and without a second thought they were in said room, the alarms which Tony had set going off for a few moments before they were overrun by Jarvis. Loki moved quickly, and he and Vera entered the room which was mentioned a few moments later, and Elizabeth was set on the table there, her mother setting to work in no time.

Loki could only watch as Veronika worked quickly, setting IV's and various other equipment up to monitor Elizabeth. "Can you save her?" Loki asked, looking at Veronika with a lost kind of hope. She met his gaze, worried about him in a way she hadn't been before. Lizzie was his lifeline, his string to sanity... and she knew that if he lost her he would plunge into a darkness he would never pull himself from. "Veronika?"
"I don't know, Loki..." she replied. "I don't know."

His green eyes filled with fear as he looked down at his love. "Maybe I can—AAH!" He cried out in pain, a part of him feeling like he was being ripped apart. No... he couldn't lose his powers now. He had to save her! He tried to hold onto them, using his last tendrils of magic left to him as they dwindled to stabilize her, surrounding her with a green glow like Frigga had always taught him. It seemed that for some reason that the powers waited a moment, allowing him to fix a few internal injuries. Her lungs were so weak, and her heart barely was beating, it seemed that she was being killed from the inside...

. Suddenly, the glow faded and his powers returned like a snap to a whip to the locket as he saw stars from the recoil. "No!" he tried to protest as he lost consciousness, the struggle between himself and his powers too much.

He collapsed.

Several hours after Loki and Erik arrived, the rest of the crew returned – with the few extras they had picked up at Alex's compound. The returning flight had been a quiet one, and it was obvious from the looks on their faces that they were a mixture of relieved and worried. Relief came from the knowledge that Alex was no longer any kind of threat, but the worry had more to do with both the state of Lizzie and the fact that Tony was having a hard time breathing.

"We need to get him to a hospital." Natasha stated for the fifth time. "This is a medical procedure none of us are qualified for."

"At the same time, we should consider Tony and just what he would like." Clint replied, looking at Steve who held a three-foot-tall Bruce. "And I doubt that anyone could fix that."

"This isn't about what Tony wants." Steve said clearly, sighing down at Bruce who looked a bit put out that he wasn't large enough to do much. "We need to do what he needs."

"I could take him to Asgard." Thor interjected softly, looking at his friends. "We have much more skilled healers than those here." The rest of the crew were quiet for a moment, considering.

Bruce was the first who spoke. "You could take Lizzie too, couldn't you?" he asked, cringing at his slightly higher-pitched voice. "She was looking like she could die at any moment, that cordial thingy probably the only thing that stopped her heart from failing when Loki brought her to me." It was still so strange for the other Avengers to truly consider how Loki had acted, a complete difference to what they so clearly knew of him.

"Eir could help her, yes." Thor said, sighing. "I will speak to Loki. The sooner we get to Asgard, the safer everyone is." Looking to the Warriors three, he walked up and began speaking to them in Norse.

"So where'd they take Tony?" Clint asked.

"Medical room." Bruce answered. "Reed is seeing what he can do – but Reed isn't a medical doctor. In all fairness, neither am I so I shouldn't be too upset." A small smile crossed his small face, obviously as he was trying to find a bit of humor in the situation.

Natasha's brows furrowed as she looked around. "Where is Logan and Bella? And the...other mutants?"

"Logan decided to take them to Xavier's." Steve supplied. "he wanted them to meet the professor, he also wanted to see if there was a mutant at the school who had some kind of healing powers or something."

The group was silent for a moment, all thinking about one thing or another.

"Dr. Banner, Dr. Richards needs you in the medical room. And he says he needs you quickly, we're losing Mr. Stark." Jarvis suddenly spoke, and Steve looked down at the small man in concern.

With a nod, Bruce tightened his grip on the super soldier."Alright, I'm holding on."

Frigga paced, her golden gown swishing gently as she walked, a furrowed brow of concentration on her face. All that had happened on Midgard Heimdall had told her, his all-seeing eyes having been focused on both the battle and the aftermath. Good and bad had come of it, for Shaw being killed had been a relief.

But what were the Norns playing at?

She was worried, confused, and most certainly upset. Her visions had shown so much happiness, with only a minor setback of Elizabeth going to Alex – but nowhere had she seen this agony which she now was aware of. Elizabeth near death, and somehow she had missed what was going to happen to Tony Stark... well, she knew how that had happened. Her focus on Loki seemed to have distracted her from the rest of the Avengers as a whole – save Thor – if she had known she could have warned them. But now it was no matter, the damage to their bodies had been done.

She continued to pace, hoping that Thor would somehow convince Loki to send Elizabeth to Asgard, and thereby Tony, her latest vision something she had seen as the most serious. But she didn't think there was anything she could do, Thanos was about to strike Heimdall said, and Odin had told her she was not allowed to go to Midgard as she had hoped after Shaw's destruction, he had also told her to let Loki decide for once when it came to Elizabeth, as he had also been informed of happenings on Midgard.

Although she had not wanted it, it had turned into an argument regarding his concern over the mortal's life, and Frigga sorrowed that he was beginning to lose hope for their son. He had replied that Loki's murder of the mutant Shaw had been somewhat influential in his decision, as Loki had done the very thing he had been imprisoned for. He said he understood why he had, but that he should have found another way to get rid of the problem.

To Frigga, Odin's statement had it's truth, although her understanding of why Loki did what he did was far too strong. There was no other way. Should they have simply imprisoned the mutant, he would have eventually escaped, and once more terrorized Midgard – though this time with a vengeance. Perhaps Loki could have killed him a bit quicker, Heimdall's description of the way the mutant died making the Queen grimace. Yet, even that she understood. She always understood him where others did not, as if he were her very own.

Stopping in her tracks, she changed her direction, heading for her only source of communication with Midgard. Thor had to be warned, and although Odin had told her to stop interfering, she couldn't.

He was and always would be her son.

Darkness swirled around Loki, voices dancing around his head along with an irritating beeping sound. Crying could be heard in a corner somewhere, though it was in the darkness he was in. Was it himself? He didn't know, but it seemed he was living through a kind of distorted memory, a dream where Elizabeth was imprisoned by Thanos, where she was living through the hell he had gone through. He hated dreams. They always had to do with his past, with his fears... the place of his own torture where everything he worried would happen did.

When he was a child, it had been Frigga dying which he always feared, some monster killing her – of course, then it had been Jotuns who he had dreamed, and yet he was the monster he always had feared. When he had gotten older, more mature, and seen the horrors of killing and war, it had been Thor who he dreamed a death, from some idiotic battle he felt he had to fight out of some misplaced sense of proving himself.

But now... now his dreams were of Elizabeth and had been nightmares ever since she'd left. This nightmare he was having she was on a table, connected to every monitor known to Midgardian medicine, her heart barely beating and her breathing shallow. A nightmare. But where did visions blur with reality? The more he watched this particular nightmare, the more he began to realize it was more than simply a dream. He had held her in his arms as her heart had stopped... her body had been with him while her soul had flown off to Valhalla.

His eyes opened, the irritating beeping noise coming obviously from beside him. His head turned to see Tony laying in a bed, Richards and Banner – though much, much smaller – fussing over him. Turning his head to the other side, he was greeted by the sight which proved that his dreams were not simply visions of pain. She wasn't looking well, although the monitors which were attached to her said that she still lived. Her heart beat. She breathed. Living, in all techincal versions of the word... but was 'living' enough?

Getting up from his bed which was between them, he crossed the step of space which separated him from Elizabeth, his hand reaching for her face with a gentle touch. Shaw was indeed dead, she was safe from him forever, he had assured it. Yet, such an act had been too late, if her condition was anything to go by. Those precious first few days – or even had he been wise enough to whisk her away when they had been in Rochester – had cost her dearly.

"Loki..." Thor's voice sounded from a corner of the room, and turning he realized that Tony had been taken out while he had been thinking about Elizabeth, Thor somehow coming in soon after. "How is she?"

Loki sighed. "Her heart is beating... her lungs take in air... by definition she lives." he said, looking down at her. "But her mind, and her soul... I fear they are somewhere else."

Thor walked up beside him, his large hand resting on the rail of the bed. "Mother came to see me." he said softly, looking at Loki.

"Did she now?" Loki replied, his tone blank of any true curiosity. "And what did she say?"

This part, Thor knew wasn't going to go over well, and clearing his throat he braced himself for whatever words were about to be thrown his way. "She said that Elizabeth's condition is much worse than it looks. She regained the will to live, but it will not be enough. Lady Elizabeth can only keep her own heart beating for so long." he said, sighing. "Loki, we need to take her to Asgard. Eir can do far more, and mother will make—"

"No." Loki interrupted with a fire in his eyes. "I am not putting her in more danger."

"How can Asgard be danger?" Thor asked, slightly incredulous. "They are the best healers the Nine Realms have to offer—"

"They also view me among the worst of villains – save Thanos himself – and I have no doubt that there are many who would like to pay me back for all the trouble I've caused." Loki snapped. "There are many healers beneath Eir who wholeheartedly agreed at my trial that I should be shut away for the rest of eternity, do you think that they would be so idle as to ignore the fact that my love lies in a bed underneath their supervision?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "I think not."

"You are allowing your bitterness and concern to cloud your vision." Thor replied with fervor. "Asgard is the only place that she can find the attention she needs."

"Yes, at the hands of cutthroats." Loki mocked, smiling. "They would sooner send me to my death than help the woman who I wish to one day make my wife."

Thor shook his head. "You underestimate the fact that neither mother nor I would allow it."

"Oh? And you think that somehow the healers would give you more credence than the Allfather – who I've no doubt would rather that I was sent immediately to my cell the moment I stepped back in his precious realm?" Loki challenged, giving his brother a bitter laugh. "She's not going."

Thor resisted the urge to hit his brother, wishing there was some way he could get some sense into the head which was so stubborn. "Yet you would trust her to the hands of Midgardian technology? She is at more risk from them than Eir and her healers would ever give her."

"Veronika and Banner I trust. They care about her." Loki said stubbornly.

The Thunderer ground his teeth, shaking his head at Loki. "You say you love her... and yet—" His sentence was once more cut off as Loki shoved him against the wall, his fingers already wrapped around his throat as tears formed in Loki's eyes – anger and pain mingled.

"How dare you?!" He hissed. "How dare you question my love?!"

"Your stubbornness will kill her!" Thor roared. "If you let her stay here, she will die!"

Suddenly they found themselves at the other sides of the room, Sue Storm in between them. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, her eyes appraising them in turn like a scolding mother. "Fighting in the medical room? Really?"

Loki's eyes met Thor's with an intensity which the Thunderer could feel into his being. He had said the wrong thing, that was clear, and whatever progress he had made with Loki had been destroyed with that one phrase. Yet, they both had been right. Thor knew that should Elizabeth stay where she was, she would die – but he knew he could not assure Loki that she would be safe in Asgard. There were vengeful people there. Realizing that the woman in front of them was saying something, he decided to listen.

"If you're gonna act like children," Sue was saying. "You guys can take it outside. We all don't want – and know you won't want – to accidentally bump into one of the machines which are keeping her heart going. So let's go." Not really giving them an option, she used her powers to pull them off the wall and push them out of the room. Door shutting securely behind them, she left them in the hallway.

Loki's jaw was clenched, his eyes fixed firmly on the wall across from where they were standing, his mind running miles a minute. Damn Thor. Damn his ideas. Did only ever always think of himself? Yes, Thor thought his beloved Asgard was that which would save anyone who came into it's borders. Naive Thor. He sighed, turning to his once-called-brother with one last retort. "Elizabeth is staying here." he said with finality, walking back into the room.

Thor was left in the hallway, sighing heavily at his brother's back. Loki was too stubborn for his own good, but Thor wouldn't let that stubbornness kill the one woman who he cared about. He had to figure out a way to get her out of his brother's grasp, or his protectiveness would kill her.

"So tell me, what exactly do you remember?" Steve asked their newest recruit – Clara – the morning after. So far she had only met the Avengers themselves, catching glimpses of the various other members of their crowded team. She chuckled, taking a sip of her orange juice.

"I remember waking up in Alex's compound, and asking him what my name was." Clara replied, shrugging. "I suppose I just had a minor case of amnesia. Either way he decided my time was better served – after the initial tests – by his side. Of course, I kind of preferred it... the powers he gave me are a little... haywire."

Steve nodded. "So I've heard. Lizzie has that problem." he said.

"Ah yes, Donovan – or Anesthesia – I met her once. Alex kept us apart for the most part, dunno why. Guess he didn't want to have to choose which one of us became his right hand in the end." She replied with a snicker. "You know, I actually was liking my time off."

"How good did you know Alex?" Steve inquired. Clara shrugged.

"Not really good. He was trying to romance me though – and I do mean romance. For some reason he thought I'd be interested in him. Haven't the faintest why." Footsteps informed them that someone else was entering, and both turned to see Thor. "Oh hey, god of thunder, why lookest thou so distraught?"

Thor's head turned toward her with a small smile, and he sighed. "I'm looking for Magneto. Do you know where he is?"

"Magneto? Is that the guy that wears like... maroon?" Clara asked, looking at Steve for confirmation. Steve nodded. "I think I saw him leave with the redhead that I haven't met."

"Bella." Steve supplied.

"Bella." Clara finished with the new information. Learning it all was a task indeed.

The Prince nodded, walking toward them. "Thank you Lady Clara."

"Most welcome, your highness." Clara replied, and although her look was slightly flirtatious, her tone showed that she was truly only playing with him. "Though really, what's wrong? You look like someone kicked your puppy."

Her tone and style of humor reminded him of Elizabeth, and Thor felt somewhat sadder than he had before. "Yesterday, I made the mistake of angering my brother over Elizabeth. He has since made Veronika agree that only himself, herself, Banner, Richards and Lady Nell be allowed into the room. She insisted on Lady Nell, apparently she is some kind of healer, but Loki isn't sure just how well he can trust her." He said as Clara got up and poured him a coffee. He thanked her and turned to Steve. "My brother is stubborn."

Clara chuckled. "Sounds like your brother is paranoid." she commented.

"That too." Steve replied.

"Though who is... Veronika?" She inquired, blinking a bit as if the name left some signature of recognition in her mind.

"Veronika Lehnsherr, she's Lizzie's mom." Clint's voice added from behind as he slid into a stool at the counter. "Good morning. Any improvement, Thor?"

"None, friend Hawk." Thor replied soberly, turning to the fridge for something to eat.

Clint grumbled. "Tony's getting worse. Erik can only hold that shard away from his heart for so long – and when Erik is off in Germany to inform his little band of misfits that he isn't returning yet because he's decided to play house with the Avengers – it gets that much closer."

"Erik?" Clara wanted clarification again.

"Magneto."

"Oh."

"He's in Germany?" Steve asked. "Is he going to try to get the Brotherhood to join us?"

"Dunno. Maybe. Hope not."

"Why not?" Clara.

"Because they're about second when it comes to being bastards that Alex's little band was." Clint replied. "They've been causing havoc since the sixties."

Clara nodded. "Fascinating. Alex didn't tell me about them."

"Yeah well... Alex and Lehnsherr go a long way back." Clint said, getting up to rummage through the food Thor and wrangled from the fridge."What I recently heard from Rogue is that Erik's wife was killed by Alex originally. That's where his true feud starts with the guy."

"Alex killed his wife?" Steve asked incredulously.

"Yep. That's why he had a bone to pick with Alex. It was more than just his granddaughter, it was his wife – and Vera somehow plays into this when it comes to why she faked her death." Clint explained, looking miserably at the cereal he was eating. "You know, I'm so used to either Darcy cooking, or Lizzie – or your girl" Steve blushed at the reference to Emma. "I forgot what normal people eat like."

"Meaning you forgot that cereal is considered a breakfast food." Clara replied with an impish smile. Clint nodded. "What would you like?" The archer thought for a moment, but before he opened his mouth, Clara had already read his mind, practically danced over to the fridge and looked inside. "Gentlemen, you are in luck." She said, pulling out bacon and eggs, setting them down on the counter before turning to Steve, Thor and Clint. "I... am a cook."

Clint smiled widely, looking down at his cereal in distaste before heading over to the disposal and throwing it down. "And I... am a very hungry guy who needs more than cereal." he replied. "Can you help me?"

Clara only smiled, proving herself useful.

Okay so there's a chapter yayyy! I'm working on the next one already, and it will start to wrap up this final little plot point. But don't think it's over cause it isn't in any way. Hehe... Well faithful, patient, lovely people who I am once again sorry to... reviews?

Update: Sorry I'm reposting this chapter but I just -JUST- found the breaklines. Gosh Fanfic give a girl a break xD anyway 'm workingon the next chapter don't be alarmed haha