SO... I know it's been a while and you're all probably wondering what's going on. Well, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy it because it took some time for me to finish it. Let me know what you think.

Chapter Five: Avengers Reunite

The storm raged all night, and didn't stop it's relentless howling until morning had well and truly risen above the horizon. The small group of people could be found fast asleep in the bunker, huddling near one another for warmth. Rune was the first to awaken, inhaling sharply as he raised his head, waking Sonja as well.

"What is it?" She murmured quietly, rubbing her eyes sleepily while her husband looked up at the hatch above them. He then stood up, making the others jerk awake. Thor cleared his throat while asking in a husky voice, "What's happening?"

His eyes widened as Rune climbed up to the hatch, listening intently before hissing down to the others, "There's someone out there."

They all quickly got to their feet as the creaking sound of the hatch opening came to their ears. Rune raised an arm over his eyes as the door opened and a stream of sunlight filtered down into the bunker, hurting their eyes. They all stared up at the two faces that appeared in the hatch way, a voice calling down to them, "You have no idea what a pain it's been for us to find you."

All giving quiet cries of joy, they all quickly followed Rune out the bunker and out into the snow covered ground and chilly air. Stark sighed heavily, turning to Rocket and Nebula while expressing his thanks in a low, husky voice, "Thank you. I don't know how much longer we could have stayed in there."

"Don't mention it." Rocket waved his words away, turning to Thor and telling him, "We better get out of here while we can. Looks like there's another storm coming our way."

He pointed over to the dark mass of clouds that were steadily crawling towards them. Rune and Sonja glanced at each, before the latter turned back to the raccoon and asked, "What about my people in the village? What has become of them?"

They all turned to Nebula as she spoke in that robotic voice, "The storm was too strong for the buildings. We've scanned the area, but it doesn't look like anyone's survived."

Sonja gave a soft gasp, and turned to her husband who collected her in his arms, whispering comforting words. Thor gave a quiet sigh, lowered his head, saying to the pregnant woman, "I am sorry about your people. But we must move on, take you and my own people to Earth."

Nodding slowly, Sonja turned back to Thor and told him, "Lead the way. There's nothing left for us here."

Banner glanced over at Thor, before pointing over to the ships that stood nearby and begun to lead the way. Sonja looked over at her husband, who nodded and told her quietly, "You go ahead. I'll get our things from the bunker and join you shortly."

Rune waited as she muttered agreement and followed Banner towards the ships, Odin bounding behind her. Thor watched as the black haired man climbed back down into the bunker, before following him. Rune waited as Thor turned to face him, before saying, "I'm quite capable of collecting these items. You don't need to help."

"I want to." Thor replied, picking up a bag that lay on the floor. Rune took a deep breath and turned to the other items in the bunker, saying over his shoulder, "A year ago… I woke up in here. I don't remember anything that happened before that. I only knew that my head hurt, I was bleeding and there were lights flashing and loud sounds calling for my attention."

He stepped into another section of the bunker, Thor frowning slightly as he followed. Rune gave a quiet groan as he lowered himself into the seat that stood in the section, while Thor looked around at the buttons and consoles with wide eyes. It was a few moments before he muttered in a low voice, "It's an escape pod!"

Rune glanced up at him, before giving a slight nod, replying, "Yes, I came to the conclusion that this vessel was a stranger to this planet like myself. I remember climbing out of here… but that's the only thing that I remember clearly. I've mostly had to rely on what Sonja's told me of my first few weeks here."

Thor watched as Rune frowned slightly and leaned forward, feeling around for something under one of the consoles, giving a soft groan as he sat back, holding something large and gold in his hands. Thor felt his jaw drop as he realised that it was Loki's helmet, a shiver running down his spine as Rune ran his hand over a patch of dried blood that lay on the gold of the helmet.

"We should, um… get back to the others." Thor murmured quietly, turning back to the hatch. Rune nodded slowly, following him closely while placing the helmet in his bag. They remained silent as they walked through the snow, which had grown deeper since the night before. Rune watched Thor curiously as the two stepped into the ship, stomping their boots free of any remaining snow.

Sonja stepped over to Rune, while the door closed behind them and the ship's engines slowly started up. Thor stepped into the cockpit where Stark and Nebula sat, asking them quietly, "Where are my people?"

He turned to Stark as he pointed at the other ship in front of them, answering, "They're over there with the raccoon and Banner. Don't worry, Thor, we'll keep in contact with them at all times."

Nodding slowly, Thor turned to go but stopped as Stark took a quick breath and turned to him, saying, "A message came in while you were gone. Cap wants to talk with you. There's a free screen over there."

"You should talk to him with me." Thor patted Stark's back, and stepped over to the screen that had been indicated. Stark gave a quiet groan, moving to stand beside his friend while Rune and Sonja watched silently from their seating position behind the two men as they turned on the screen. Two other faces appeared, both lined with shock as they stared at Stark, the blonde woman saying, "Tony. Glad you're alive."

Stark smiled grimly, replying, "Same here. How're things back home?"

Romanoff glanced at the man beside her, before shrugging and replying quietly, "About what you'd expect. Even now, everyone's still asking what happened. Did you find any of your people, Thor?"

Thor gave a short nod and replied, "Yes, we were successful in finding some of them, including Val. The valkyrie." He added quickly at their confused faces.

Giving nods of understanding, the man then frowned and said, "You don't sound too happy about that. You sure everything's alright, Thor?"

Clearing their throats, Thor and Stark exchanged glances before looking over their shoulders at the two behind them, making Sonja and Rune place their gazes elsewhere, while Thor answered in a low voice, "Everything's fine. We just came across something a little… unexpected."

Rogers frowned and looked down at Romanoff, who continued to watch the two men curiously, asking, "What do you mean?"

"You'll see soon enough. We're making our back home." Stark answered, tapping on the screen to show their flight plan while adding, "We should be there… sometime tomorrow."

He tapped the plan aside while Rogers nodded and said, "Alright. We'll see you then. And Tony…"

Stark, who had been about to step back over to the seat beside Nebula, paused and turned back to the screen as Rogers told him, "It's good to see you again."

Clearing his throat slightly, Stark shifted his feet and replied before returning to the seat, "Yeah. You too."

Thor muttered a farewell, ending the call and then turning to face Sonja and Rune, who were watching him curiously. Sonja looked at her husband, before asking Thor quietly, "What will happen to us when we arrive at this planet?"

"I am taking my people to Earth so they can start a new life. I will make sure that you are accommodated as well." Thor answered and waited as Sonja gave a small nod and lowered her head. But Rune frowned at Thor and spoke quietly, "What about me? I doubt that your friends are going to willingly let me roam their planet freely."

He continued to stare at Thor, who lowered his head while biting his lip. It was a few moments before he took breath and answered, "I don't know. But I promise that I will do my best to make sure that nothing happens to you, brother."

Rune gave a quiet sigh, biting his lip to hold back the retort that had risen to his tongue, glancing at his wife as she placed her hand on top of his own. Thor closed his eyes, realising what Rune had reacted to. He took breath and told him, "I'm sorry. It's hard for me to… not call you what I've known you to be my entire life."

Sonja looked up at Thor, giving him a small smile while speaking for her husband, "It's okay. We both understand how difficult all this is on you. But I think it's only fair to ask that you present some understanding on your part as well. After all… this memory loss challenges Rune's patience far more than your own."

Thor's eyes widened as Sonja stood up and made Rune stand up as well, before pulling him away to another area of the ship, away from the others' untrusting sight. Thor looked over at Stark and Nebula, feeling highly confused as he sat down and listened to the whir of the spaceship engines.

"Thor!" Rogers called as he and Romanoff approached the two ships that had been landed outside of the New Avengers Facility, making Thor turn around to face them. He gave a relieved smile and shook Rogers' hand, before backing away to stand next to Stark and Banner, saying, "Thank you, Captain, for helping me locate my people."

He glanced over to his people who were being led inside the Facility, all looking around them with uncertain gazes. Val broke from the crowd and stepped over to them, asking Thor, "Where are they being taken?"

Rogers held up a held, telling her, "It's alright. They're just being taken to where they can get some food and rest."

Val looked him up and down, before giving a slight nod. Thor gave a quiet sigh, turning back to his friend and telling him, "This is Val. She has been leading this group for the past year."

"Don't worry, you'll see them soon." Romanoff told her and waited as Val gave another nod in response. Banner cleared his throat, his gaze following two men who stepped into the ship behind them, before saying, "So, uh… what's been going on since we left?"

He turned back to Rogers as he sighed and crossed his arms, looking towards Rocket and Nebula who stepped over to them while Romanoff answered, "Riots have died down, some of the new world leaders are discussing a global peace treaty… and Colonel Rhodes wants all of you to come inside as soon as possible."

"Rhodey?" Stark raised his eyebrows in interest, making Romanoff give a small smile. Before anymore could be said, the two men walked out of the ship with Rune, Sonja and their dog closely following them, one of the men calling over to Rogers, "Sir. We found these two on the ship."

Giving a short nod, Rogers sent the two men away while the group stepped over to the couple. Rune turned to Thor, a soft smile curling the corners of his lips as he said to him, "I guess your… little surprise came sooner than you would have liked, Thor."

Thor nodded and bit his lip, glancing over at Rogers and Romanoff as they stared at Rune, their mouths opening and closing as they struggled to form words while placing a hand on their side arms. They then turned to Thor, Romanoff hissing quietly, "You said that Loki was dead."

"Ah, there seems to be some confusion in that area." Rune spoke, drawing their wide eyed gaze back to him as he held out his hand and added, "My name is Rune… not Loki."

When they didn't shake his hand, Rune let it fall while taking a deep breath, glancing at his wife as she patted his arm. Sonja turned to the shocked two, telling them, "You may know him as Loki, but a year ago he lost his memory and since then he's been Rune."

Rogers cleared his throat and turned to Stark who gave a small nod and told him, "It takes a bit of getting used to. To be honest, I'm still not entirely convinced of this memory loss."

Thor placed a hand to his forehead, giving a quiet groan before saying, "It might be better if we talked about this inside."

All agreeing, they begun making their way inside, Roger and Romanoff glancing over their shoulders at Sonja and Rune, who looked around them with wide eyes in awe as they walked through the hallways. After some minutes, they entered what appeared to be a conference room, where a man sat at the end of the long table. The man quickly stood up as the group stepped into the room, his face breaking into a smile as he walked over to Stark, calling, "Tony! Where have you been?"

"Rhodey." Stark embraced his old friend, a relieved smile spreading across his face, before backing away, saying, "I'm glad you're alright."

Giving a short nod of agreement, Rhodes turned to Thor and Banner, welcoming them as well. He then looked over at Rune and Sonja, frowning slightly as he took in the tall man's appearance, his short, black hair falling onto his forehead and his beard covering most of the lower half of his face. Rhodes looked back over at Stark, asking quietly, "Isn't that…"

He trailed off as Stark nodded, patting his back while replying, "Trust me, there's a lot of that going on."

Nodding slowly, Rhodes watched as Rune and Sonja seated themselves with the others before quickly taking a seat himself beside Stark. They all looked around at each, waiting for someone to say something. Stark sighed and tapped the table, before saying, "Well… it might be a good idea if we approach the elephant in the room."

They all turned to Rune, who looked around him in confusion, repeating questioningly, "'Elephant'? What is that? Are you referring to me?"

Stark sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head while Thor leaned towards Rune, telling him, "It's a very large creature of Earth."

"The point is," They all turned their attention back to Stark, who opened his eyes and looked back over to Rune, saying, "What do we do about him? His memory may be the only key we have to finding Thanos."

Rogers frowned slightly, replying, "I agree with you Tony, but… how are you planning on getting his memory back? Hitting him over the head."

"Tried that." Stark answered quickly, while Rune cleared his throat and looked down at his bandaged hand, feeling the cuts on the left side of his face. Romanoff shook her head, muttering quietly, "Of course you did."

Banner glanced around at the others, before saying, "Well… what can we do? I want to find Thanos as much as you, Tony, but we can't just… I don't know, hypnotise him or something."

He waited as Stark's eyes began to sparkle, his gaze turning to Rune as he whispered, "Now that's an idea. Hypnosis."

"I may not have much of a memory, but I know what hypnosis is and I don't care much for it." Rune replied, shaking his head slowly at Stark, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. Rogers frowned, asking quietly, "Has somebody tried to get your memory back by using hypnosis?"

Sonja sighed quietly, turning her gaze to the tabletop while nodding slowly and answering, "Not 'somebody'. It was me. I'm quite skilled in magical arts like hypnosis, but… Rune's mind was too difficult for me to enter."

Thor glanced around at the others, before frowning and asking quietly, "You didn't succeed in gaining any memory?"

Rune looked down, biting his lip slightly while Sonja glanced at him before answering, "There… was one thing."

All of them turned to Rune, his eyes out of focus as he whispered softly, "It was a vision of beauty. A palace of gold and a rainbow bridge. But not only was it beautiful… it was terrifying as well. Fires burning, the city being destroyed and battles being fought."

He paused, looking at all of them from beneath his eyelashes. Thor glanced around the others, his jaw dropping slightly in shock as he turned back to Rune, muttering, "Asgard. So not all hope is lost for your memory, brother."

"Do you think you could do it again?" Rogers asked Sonja, who turned to him with wide eyes. She glanced over at her husband, before shaking her head slowly, replying, "You don't understand. The last time…"

She stopped, clenching her hands together to stop them from shaking, while Rune placed a comforting hand on her back and continued for her in a low voice, "I, uh… pulled a blade on her. I nearly killed her."

Rune lowered his gaze, his face somber. Thor looked around at his companions, before turning back to Rune, saying, "What if we made sure that you couldn't harm anyone? Would you try then?"

Thor waited as he watched the two, Sonja looking towards her husband, who continued to stare at the table top with a thoughtful expression on his face. It was a few moments, before Rune took a deep breath and gave a short nod, answering, "Only if Sonja is willing to take that risk."

He turned to Sonja, who gave a weak smile and a short nod, her eyes wide and wet with frightened tears. She took a shaky breath and looked over at the Avengers, telling them, "When shall we start?"