The mission in Samara went well, despite the fact that the Hydra operatives knew they were coming. Even with the extra back up that had been sent to defend the base, they still lost to the Avengers within a few hours and the base was raided to see if the scepter might be there. Loki knew it wouldn't be, but he had something else to find.

Eventually, he found that Blaze had used a spell to paint a note on one of the walls in one of the labs. Loki looked over it and tried to memorize the information that she'd given him, still not quite believing that he could trust it to be accurate.

According to the crazy woman, the scepter was in some place called Sokovia. It was one of the most heavily guarded bases and one of the main leaders of Hydra, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, was working there and experimenting on Midgardians with the scepter. Blaze had also helpfully listed three more bases in Brazil, China, and three in the United States. One of them was even in New York, right under the Avengers noses in an old recreational center. Luckily, Loki had a good memory and stored all of this information away to use strategically.

"Find anything?" Iron Man popped up beside Loki suddenly and he flinched.

"What?"

"Did you find anything? You've been staring at that wall for a while. You think it's a secret door?"

"How absurd. Of course it is not a secret door. Hydra wouldn't put stupid secret doors in their bases, would they?"

"They might," the mask of the Iron Man helmet lifted to show Stark's smiling face, "That would be cool, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose," Loki rolled his eyes, "Are we ready to take our leave? There is no trace of the scepter here and all of the operatives have been subdued."

"Yeah, just as soon as Barton is done using their bathroom we'll turn this place over to the local government agency and be on our way."

"Good."

Loki glanced once more at the magically hidden instructions on the wall and noticed that Blaze had signed it "see ya soon, princey, hugs and kisses - Blaze". He rolled his eyes and flicked his fingers, erasing her spell from the wall, just in case anyone else happened to be able to see it. Having the Avengers know that he was conspiring with an ally of Hydra's would not be good. Especially since if the Avengers knew he was communicating with Blaze then Maisy would find out. That would almost be as bad as her finding out that he'd killed Egil.

When they returned from Samara Maisy was the first person to greet them. As usual, she was annoyed that Loki was last off the jet. He irritated her every time they came back from a mission and then tried to play a trick on her. This time there were approximately fifteen Lokis that walked into the Tower, all of them identical and smiling broadly at her.

"Hello, my lady," they all said, "Glad to see us?"

"Loki, you're a pain in the butt, you know that?" She moved toward the copies and started waving her hands through them until she hit one that was solid. Hugging that one, she smiled up at him and was pleased to see that, apart from some smudges of dirt on his face, he was unscathed.

"I think I am owed a kiss, am I not?"

"What for?"

"Continuing to save Midgard from Hydra? Returning to you safely? Just because I am so dashing when I wear my battle gear and you cannot resist me?"

"All good points," she pressed her lips to his, fingers reaching up and tangling in his hair while his hands pressed her waist closer to him. They stayed like that for a few moments, until someone cleared their throat and interrupted.

"Sorry, um, but Loki needs to finish debriefing with the team," Captain America said, picking at the paint on his shield awkwardly. There was even a red tint to his cheeks.

"Ugh, fine," Maisy let go of her husband and gave him a light push in the direction of the rest of the Avengers, "Don't take him for too long, okay? I've got to get to work in two hours and I want to see him before I go!"

"Of course," the Captain nodded, "We should be done soon."

"Who knew this hero work required so much paperwork and discussion," Loki sighed and gave Maisy one more quick kiss.

They left and Maisy decided sit in the common area living room for a while and work on her designs since she had her sketchbook with her. She sat down and dropped her backpack on the floor, pulling out the sketchbook and a few pencils in order to get to work.

Her boss, Eva, had asked her to design a few items for the shop and Maisy was more than happy to comply. Even if she wasn't working in a world famous house of fashion like she'd always dreamed of doing, she was designing in New York City and so far people had liked what she made. Of course, when shopping in a little boutique that is off the beaten path, not many people ask to know who the designer is and that meant there was no opportunity for Maisy to become well known as a designer, but perhaps that was for the best. If people knew that the wife of an intergalactic - though semi-reformed - terrorist was making the cute day dresses sold in the boutique, they might not come back.

Slowly people's opinions of her and Loki were changing though. Her father had contacted the news stations again and made sure they knew that he was now somewhat in support of the union. Maisy had given him a script and he'd dutifully stuck to it. Now no one was claiming that she'd been stolen away by Asgardians and mind controlled into marrying Loki. Of course, that meant more people thought she was insane or evil, but at least they knew she wasn't being forced into the relationship.

Loki was earning the earth's forgiveness at a snail's pace, but he was still doing it. Tony kindly made sure to include Loki in any press conferences about the work they were doing to destroy Hydra and, though they had their differences, Captain America even said on TV that Loki was a huge help. That didn't stop people from hating him for what he'd done, but they were at least starting to view him in a similar light that they viewed Hulk: dangerous, unpredictable, not to be trusted, but hopefully on the right side when worst came to worst.

They had a long way to go, but the things Maisy had said at Christmas were starting to be true. Loki working with the Avengers was making him into a hero. And he seemed to like the attention. He always agreed to interviews - though Tony canceled many of them - and whenever the Avengers were on television he made a good show of being the righteous hero. Very, very, very slowly the earth was beginning to warm up to him.

And Maisy couldn't have been more proud.

She smiled as she sketched a dress and thought about how much she'd come to enjoy the roles she and Loki were filling on earth. Part of her knew that they'd have to go back to Asgard eventually. Odin wouldn't just let them play house on earth forever, especially with Loki reinstated into the royal family. Just like Thor, they'd be summoned back eventually. Maisy just hoped it wasn't for a while. There was so much to be gained from living on Midgard.

A note from the author: Still alive! Though, it hasn't really been that long since I've last posted. Hopefully I'll get another chance to post tomorrow what with it being a day off work for many Americans such as myself. Did you know it's also Steve Roger's birthday tomorrow? In the movie universe he'll be 101 and in the comic universe he'll be 100! I think... it's been a while since I learned that fact, I may have messed it up. Either way... Happy Fourth of July to the Americans who read this and Happy Steve Rogers Day to all the non Americans. :D

Speaking of non Americans or non English speakers, I wanted to let you know that there is a slight chance that my stories may be translated into German. I'll let you know more details as I get them! :)

Thank you so much for reading/favoriting/following!

Special thanks to my reviewers:

Ceres Friggadottir: I guess Blaze had better watch her back! ;)

Dragoncat: Or, maybe he'll enchant Cap to permanently look like he's wearing a suit made of black garbage bags. Let's be real though, he'd probably look good even in that.

Ninja Squirrel: *Linn jumps into the ball pit of the PFoD* "Yee haw! Dis is the coolest place ever! I fink I just made some more friends!" (She would probably be in heaven at the Pillow Fort of Denial lol.) As for Blaze... if you're rounding up woodland creatures well... I just hope Blaze has had her shots. She might need them.

xlokiswolfx: Darn Hiddles, wiping all of our minds of any other males in existence. Such an inconvenience. XD Glad you enjoyed the fluff!

ferbette: Just imagine if they ever become actual parents... they'd probably baby proof all of Asgard. Including Loki's helmet.

Guest: I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I love writing cute things. I have a few really cute one shots that I'll post after this story is done, it'll be great! :D

You guys are the most awesomest readers and reviewers on all of Fanfiction. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

Until next time!