Dudes. Hi. I have no idea if anyone is still out there on this site or still reading this, but if you are, please give me a shoutout...I remembered this thing existed and I'm seriously considering doing a wrap-up of sorts, maybe finishing the full thing I had planned, maybe a more condensed version, but definitely something for closure/finality, but tbh, only if anyone is out there and would like to see it. I might write it anyways for myself but. Yeah.

I found what's posted below in my document; I'd written it but never actually shared it. One last vestige! Hope you enjoy! I am thinking about Carmen and her baby and Mr Loki now and I forgot I loved them! Have fun with this fluff/budding angst combo.

xxxxxxx

"How do you feel?" Bruce was all doctorly concern, his eyes roving her body for any signs of distress.

"I'm fine," Carmen reassured him. The shot he'd given her still stung, especially since it had been in her neck, but she'd felt worse. Much worse. "So that's all you need from me? Really?"

"The serum is one Tony and I have been working on….well, SHIELD had been developing it before Loki came, but we've perfected it. It's a mix of biochem, nanotech -"

"Just tell her what it does, Banner," Natasha said, somehow managing to be both blunt and playful.

"I'd love to hear the science later, when we have more time, but…."

"Of course Carmen, Natasha." Bruce wrung his hands and restarted. "It'll track your heart rate and blood pressure, since it's circulating through your bloodstream, and track your position as well; it'll make everything else we've discussed possible."

Carmen nodded; that made sense, and she knew the plan. "I won't let you down."

"Yeah, let's hope not, because we've basically got one shot at this and if you mess up, we're screwed." Tony, naturally.

"She won't mess it up," Leah said quickly, lacing her fingers through Carmen's in a gesture of solidarity.

"I want him beaten as much as you all do," she shrugged. "You know that." A dull ache crept into her abdomen, not enough to make her wince and draw attention to it, but enough to be disquieting: she had no idea what could be causing this particular kind of pain this early in her pregnancy.

Thor's large, gentle hand on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. "May speak with you for a moment, Carmen? Alone?" He was kind, earnest, clearly taking care to be delicate with her.

"Of course," she smiled, removing her hand from Leah's. To the rest of the Avengers, she asked, "Do you all need me for anything else at this very second?"

Natasha spoke for them. "It can wait until Thor's done; just don't take forever." There was an unspoken implication in words that all of them knew to be true: Thor's stake in this battle was more personal than any of his fellow heroes', so he deserved some measure of priority.

Carmen walked with the Asgardian to the long table that sat a short distance away. Thor made no move to sit, but the pain in her middle drove Carmen to slump into a chair with a sigh, at which point he joined her. "Do you want to hear about your brother?" She didn't mean it spitefully; it was an honest question. She just wanted to know what she had to prepare herself to say.

"Yes." He swallowed. "But Asgard first; she is of more importance. What state is the realm in?"

"Um." She furrowed her brow, trying to recall anything she could, which was a bit difficult considering she never got out that much. "It hasn't fallen to ruin, I don't think. The palace is in good shape, or the parts of it I've seen are. There are a lot of guards around….I'm sorry, I'm only allowed to be in a few specific places, so I don't really know."

Thor nodded, thoughtful. "Thank you." There was a long pause, where he seemed to be struggling with what to say, how to start.

"Is it Loki?" she asked gently. Carmen knew it had to be hard for him. She didn't know what Loki had been like before, but it was obvious that Thor still cared for him despite the horrors he'd caused. Her fingers traced absent lines, swirling patterns, over her belly. "Tell me what you want to know." She could help him by talking, she was sure of it; what she had to say might not be the most pleasant, but at least he wouldn't have to wonder. Knowing was better than guessing.

"You do not mind?" He frowned.

She shook her head. "No."

"Hm." He seemed quietly impressed by her unwavering response. His own question, however, came out much more unsure. "I know that Loki has done….horrible things, but he….remains my brother. I do not doubt the need to bring him to justice, and justice he shall face, but….is there any hope for him? You said he had changed, slightly, but not enough to be of importance; what did you mean by that?"

Ah. Of course he would ask about the one thing she herself was no longer sure of. "I mean he, well, he hasn't been quite so cruel, it's not….it's the lesser of two evils, but barely. He wouldn't want me to see if he was softening, though, so it's hard to tell." She sighed; she wished she could tell him something more substantial. "I don't think he's changing fast enough for it to amount to anything, and I don't want to stick around to see how long it takes."

"I would not ask you to remain with him," Thor said firmly.

"And I wouldn't say yes," she replied with a slight smile. "Honestly….part of me just wants to stay here. On Earth. I haven't seen a McDonald's in so long, or a skyscraper, or anything normal, really. I miss it." Carmen's short laugh had a bitter edge to it. "But he'd follow me. Chase me down for me as much as the baby." The thought certainly had crossed her mind to just leave Asgard behind, but it had been immediately followed by the obvious conclusion that no, that was impossible; Loki wouldn't let her get away that easily.

Thor's eyes went down to her belly, where her hands still rested. Once again he seemed to be struggling with words, with what to say and how to say it, how to be sensitive while still asking what he needed to know, trying to figure out what he even needed to know in the first place. Balancing his desires with her needs.

Loki would've gotten his information regardless of what it did to her.

Finally he spoke. "Both you and your child will be welcomed with open arms on Asgard when my brother is vanquished, if you ever wish to return; you need not fear ill treatment of your child due to the father. May the Valkyries pass over me on their flight to Valhalla if I lie."

Carmen didn't have the heart to tell him what was destined for her son, nor did she feel like repeating it and seeing pity take over their faces, especially when they'd been treating her so normally. They'd already dealt with another toy of Loki's with Leah; a mother carrying a doomed-to-death child was something else completely, and she had no guarantee that they wouldn't change. It was just so nice to feel ordinary again.

"Thank you," she murmured, smiling softly, her own gaze drifting down to her abdomen. Her voice was more serious now. "He won't be like his father."

"I do not doubt it," he nodded. He looked behind her, and sighed ruefully. "It seems Leah grows impatient for you."

That was surprising, to say the least; Leah used to be the one who could wait in silence, stone-faced, for hours. Carmen got antsy much more quickly in comparison. She would've done better getting pregnant than me; I bet she would've loved sitting alone in Loki's room and reading those god-awful epics all day. But when she looked back over her shoulder, her smile grew: though she was talking to Natasha, Leah couldn't seem to stop herself from looking over at them every other second, and her fingers tapped an erratic, fidgety beat on the side of her thigh.

"I guess I'd better go see what she wants. But Thor….thank you." Her voice became softer. She swallowed. What she was about to say, she in no way wanted to, but she'd do it for Thor. "I'll see if there's hope. For Loki. I'll try to, at least, before you come. So you'll know." She quite honestly doubted she'd see the marked improvement he was looking for before the Avengers came, but she would at least try not to overlook any signs. Thor deserved to know accurately what his brother was. How much of a monster he is.

"Thank you, Carmen." His voice was low, grateful. "Go to your friend."

She gave him one last smile, albeit a small one, before rising and heading over to where Leah and Natasha, as well as Steve and Clint, now waited. Tony and Bruce, it seemed, had now moved away from the group, choosing to focus instead on some apparently very interesting computers and screens. They were probably double- and triple-checking that the serum in her was working properly. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Unacceptable." That was the first word Clint had spoken, and she couldn't tell if he was joking or what; he just looked so damn stoic. "We don't have time to sit around while you chit chat with Thor."

There was a pause, awkward for Carmen, until Clint bust out laughing. "Wow, you really fell for that? Shit, Carmen, I'm not a robot."

"No, you're just a little shit," Natasha chimed in with her eyebrows raised, though there was a definite smile playing on her lips.

"It's true." Now it was Leah's turn to play the stone-faced stoic. "As an uninvested third party, I can confirm that Clint is, in fact, a lil shit."

"Uninvested my ass," he muttered. "You're all just jealous."

"Well that's a damn lie," Steve whistled.

"Language!" called Tony from across the room.

"Language!"

"Language!"

The word was passed around the room until she and an eye-rolling Steve were the only people who hadn't joined in. She heard him mutter something under his breath, about one time and it's the twenty-first century, and she couldn't help but giggle herself. This didn't feel like a group of coworkers; this felt like a family.

Natasha was the one to finally bring it back in with a prim little hm hm. In an equally genteel voice, she said, "Now, now, boys, let's not get distracted; I've got to teach Carmen how to kill a man with her thumb."

"Wait, really?" she asked excitedly. "I know you can do that, you're the Black Widow, but you're going to teach me?"

The redhead shrugged. "I'll do my best. How long do you have here?"

"Um." Carmen wasn't too sure. All she knew was that she needed to be back before Loki, and that the growing ache in her abdomen wouldn't allow her to remain here for long. "Probably not too long. How long will this take?"

Natasha thought for a moment. "We can do this quickly; I'll just show you some pressure points and basic moves. Clint and Steve, back off so Leah and I can demonstrate." She made a shooing motion with her hand that ushered them away.

"Nat's been teaching me how to fight," Leah confided with a little smile that looked ready to burst into something more.

"Yeah? Can you take out a grown man with your pinky yet?"

"No!" Leah laughed. "That's a Black Widow-only thing; I'm just her lowly trainee."

"And since you're my lowly trainee, you get the privilege of standing there and helping me demonstrate," Natasha cut in. Seeing the look of panic that flashed across Leah's face for a split second, she gave that sly smile of hers and added, "I won't go full-force, since we don't have mats in here; it would be a shame if all of my training on you was wasted."

"Yeah, definitely," Leah nodded, looking clearly relieved as she stepped closer to Natasha, standing about an arm's length in front of her. "Is this okay?"

"Turn around - good. Carmen, this is something you can do from the front or the back; the back would be more useful though, because your target can't see you coming. First you need to make a knifehand; point your fingers straight out - keep them together - so they're in line with your arm. Make sure your hand is strong. Now watch this carefully. You use the pinky side of your palm to strike." Natasha made a quick, sharp swing with her hand to the side of Leah's neck, stopping just before she made contact. "That will stun your target, but you have to hit them just right or you'll miss the nerve."

Carmen bit her lip, focusing, as she tried to recreate Natasha's "knifehand"; that part wasn't so bad. It was more the strike itself, aiming, that she was worried about. "Can I, ah, practice?"

Natasha snorted. "Of course. We'll work on this one, then there are a couple more that should be useful."

They spent the next hour going through similar strikes and blows, ones that were simple and easy to grasp, but could do enough damage to distract even a god like Loki for at least a few moments. As they worked, though, she could feel the strength leaving her body, but this wasn't the normal weariness that came with physical exertion: this was draining. This was energy flowing inwards, fiery, leaving a scorching trail that began at her fingertips and toes and traced its way through her arms, legs, chest, ending at her abdomen, where she could feel the strength growing. Her stomach was the only place that did not burn.

But the pain was not unbearable. At least at first. She could grit her teeth and push through it, swinging her arms and kicking her legs like nothing was wrong, but at the end of that hour her resolve was wavering and her concern was growing.

"I think I should go back now," she said, regretfully.

"Are you feeling alright?" Natasha asked, full of sharp concern.

Carmen hesitated, then shook her head. "It was just an ache, in my stomach, but now...now my stomach's the only thing that doesn't hurt." Her hand moved to the swell and rubbed in gentle circles. "I don't know what it is. It feels unnatural."

"Magic?" Leah suggested. Her eyes carried a deeper worry than Natasha's; she had seen, experienced, first-hand how much pain Loki and his power could bring. But who knew what this was, if it was even him?

Carmen, for one, didn't want to wait to find out. "Maybe," she shrugged helplessly. It was taking all of her strength to keep up this facade; she didn't want them to see how much pain she was truly in, lest they decide she couldn't handle her mission. Something in Natasha's face said the spy didn't truly buy it, but she wasn't saying anything. Maybe she knew that Carmen wouldn't let anything stop her, least of all a little physical agony. That was something she was all-too familiar with: that was something she could get over. "It's nothing I can't handle."

Tears shining in her eyes, Leah nodded. "Okay," she whispered, before wrapping Carmen in a bear hug. "Stay safe, alright?"

"As much as I can," she said wryly as she relished in the warmth of Leah's embrace. "I'll see you soon. I promise." Carmen pulled away and looked at each of the Avengers as steadily as she was able. Their expressions varied, but there was a common thread: faith. They had faith in her, even now; what choice did they have. Addressing them all now, not just Leah, she promised, "I won't let you down."

Then she pulled the gold cuff off of her wrist and dropped it; the floor it landed on was once again plush carpet, rather than the grey concrete of the Avengers' compound.