This one's shorter, I know; it really should've been with the last chapter, but I didn't want to keep you waiting that long. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to leave both positive reviews and those with criticism :)

"Leah," she breathed when they pulled apart, her eyes misty. "You're okay. God, you don't know how happy that makes me."

Leah's face echoed her relief. "Same. I was so worried about you, there, with him." She cast a furtive glance at the Avengers. "They didn't think you would make it long enough, but I knew you would. And I was right." Her smile was bold, self-assured.

She's changed. The Leah she knew had been quieter and harder, but that was before Loki broke her, which would've changed her enough on its own, just not like this; that change would've shattered her. This Leah was grinning and confident. "You've changed," she said, her lips quirked into a half-smile. But then something she said made Carmen's brows furrow slightly. "Make it long enough for what?"

"Well, I guess I can explain it to you now, but….wow." The other girl's eyes suddenly flicked down to her abdomen, then froze and widened, fixated on the gentle swell. "Carmen?"

Somehow she had hoped that no one would notice. Her arms instinctively moved to cover her stomach and she took a step back, eyeing the Avengers warily. They were watching her now. She had no reason to think that they would harm her, an innocent girl, for a situation outside of her control, but when it came to others' feelings about Loki and the danger he represented there was no knowing for sure; all she knew was that she had to protect her baby.

Her voice was low when she spoke. "He's not going to hurt anybody. I know the monster his father is, better than most of you, I'd dare say, but this child is….is probably never going to live. He's no danger to you." She swallowed, growing stronger; it didn't matter that these were Earth's mightiest heroes. If they threatened her baby she would show them just how mighty she was. "I won't let you hurt him; I would go back to Asgard first." As she spoke, she realized how true those words were. As horrible as Loki was, and as miserable as her existence was in his palace, she would spend the rest of her life there to protect her child.

"We don't hurt children." That was Captain America, firm and commanding. His blue eyes focused on each of the other Avengers — Bruce, who had come over from his screen, and stood arms crossed and thoughtful; the two hard assassins muttering in each other's ears; cocky Tony with his eyebrows raised; and Thor, whose expression was one of internal contemplation — and he seemed to dare them to disagree. Cap's still in charge; good. He's predictable, and honorable, too.

Hawkeye took their leader up on his dare. "How do we know she's right? This is Loki's kid. Sorry." He winced slightly, and six pairs of eyes turned to stare at her, as if waiting for a time bomb inside of her to detonate.

"What?" she said defensively. "I'm not going to explode because he asked a question; you'll have to do more than that to scare me." She knew the archer wouldn't truly hurt her, not with all of the others around and not when his tone was so matter-of-fact; she'd gotten good at telling when threats were real, and from what she'd seen just now, this one was as substantial as smoke.

"The name doesn't bother you?" Bruce asked, genuinely curious. "It's not a trigger in any way?"

She shrugged. "I hear it all the time; he doesn't like it when I use it, so I don't, usually, but it doesn't bother me. Why? Should it?"

"I couldn't hear it when I first came down," Leah explained. She hadn't shrunk, per say, but there was a shadow of a past hurt in her wide eyes. "It brought back memories. It would be different for you, I guess, since…."

"Since I'm still living the nightmare?" she said wryly. "Yeah. If I balked every time I heard his name I'd never have a moment of rest."

The brunette looked at her with an expression of tentative hope. "Is he….do you get more rest now? Because of your baby?"

Carmen smiled ruefully; now that was the question. "Yes and no? He certainly hasn't let up on using me, it might even be more now, but he's….I hate to say it, but he's changing, a little." She snorted and shook her head as she remembered the night before. "Last night we had dinner. Yeah, dinner; in his room, just the two of us, and we talked and it was incredibly weird."

Leah's already wide eyes grew even larger. "You're kidding me. Really? And he didn't even-"

"Nope, he was perfectly decent." She shuddered. "Which is why I have this horrible feeling something bad's about to happen."

"Perhaps he has changed." Thor's voice was soft and thick with emotion, and when Carmen looked at his face she saw heartbreak. This was a man who didn't quite believe what he was saying but still clung to the hope that somehow, maybe, it was true.

"I don't think so," Carmen said quietly. "Maybe slightly, but not enough to make any real difference."

The blond shook his head, as if he was disappointed with himself. "I did not mean — I know what he has become, my lady. And I am truly sorry for all of the pain he has caused you; it is inexcusable."

She swallowed and tried to smile. He's everything his brother isn't. "Thank you. Just….bring him down, okay? Don't let him keep doing this, don't let him get away with what he's already done. Take him down."

"You have no loyalty to him?" It was the Black Widow, speaking for the first time; she was shrewd and calculating, but not unkind. Not cruel. She just needed an answer.

"No," Carmen said firmly. "He's the last person I would stand behind."

"Does he know that?"

She frowned. "Probably. But I think he's so full of himself that if I did back him, he wouldn't question it too much." A glance down at her stomach. "He'd probably think I was doing it for the baby; my love for my little one is no secret."

"Good," the redhead nodded. "We might need that."

"So….you actually have a plan?" Was that hope in her voice? It was hesitant, to be sure, but at the same time, why wouldn't they have a plan? They'd been hiding out here all this time; they had to know what they were doing. And Leah seems to trust them. That in itself spoke volumes, even more so than their reputation. Leah didn't give trust easily. "I'll help," Carmen said, voice firm. "Just tell me what I need to do."

"It could be dangerous," Captain America cautioned.

Leah rushed in to add, "But we won't put you in unnecessary danger."

She offered a slight smile. "You can put me in all the danger you want as long as you win."