Three days passed since the events. And for three days, she'd been thinking. About a number of things. If the council's minds don't change, what would she do? Would she just let him rot in that wretched cell? Could she?

And if they agree, what then? How would they make this work? Would he drop down with luggage, move in and call her 'roomie'?!

But all of that was pushed aside when she'd come to realize something of vast importance, and she wondered how in the world she hadn't considered it earlier on.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

They were monitoring her every move. If they find out what she'd agreed to, who she'd agreed to bring down, it would spread chaos, erasing all her efforts.

The only way they would ever agree, was by locking him up in their own grasp, and most likely turn him into a weapon, like they'd planned on doing with the Tesseract.

She would not let that happen.

So, what would she do?

Thought led to thought, and a related thread made an appearance.

The Avengers.

They weren't just her teammates; they were her friends. She'd met with them on several occasions after the war, mainly planned by Stark and his lavish parties.

If she could have them on her side, she wouldn't have to give two thoughts on Nick and his untrustworthy gang.

But how? What would she say?

'Loki's gonna be living with me, just thought you guys should know. Hope you're okay with it.'

Well, yes.

Why was she making such a big deal out of it?

Because it was.

But still, she'd be the one handling him. He'd be living with her.

Really, it was no one else's concern.

Yes, or no, someone should know. Better the Avengers than Nick.

XXXXX

Alas, Thor descended with news. The council had agreed that Loki's supposed punishment, would best be banishment, not that Odin mentioned it was her idea.

Still, no more 'what ifs' remained. It was happening. In sixteen days' time, she'd have the God of Mischief, dropping at her door step.

She had to tell the others, soon.

Glaring at the phone intently, Snow pulled at her lip and shook her leg stressfully. She was at home, in the living room, having taken a day off from work, or, more accurately, working from home,

but pause that.

She wouldn't stall forever,

even if she wanted to.

She reaches out to the side-table next to the couch she was seated on.

She picks up the home phone,

punches in the numbers.

It rings.

…

…

Someone picks up.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" a voice on the other end of the line speaks. She smirks at his usual attitude.
"Hey, Tony," she replies, still fully stressed from what she'd have to say.

Things between them had been pleasant. Well, as pleasant as could be.

With Loki out of the picture, Tony being single, and Snow, being herself, the Stark did not attempt to deny his attraction to her, to himself, and Banner.

Banner didn't see an obstacle, he respected Snow, and considered her and Tony as his friends, so he went along with Tony's all too silly plan to seduce the White, merely agreeing to not get in the way, and offer an ear to listen whenever Tony felt like a banter.

Her, on the other hand. Getting into a relationship was the last thing she was thinking about. Besides, she didn't see Stark that way.

Oh, but she knew how he felt, and he suspected she knew as well, but she never said anything, which left him quite perplexed.

However, he simply assumed he hadn't won her over yet.

"How's her majesty been doing?" he teases. She chuckles lightly.
"Wishing someone else led the throne," she replies sarcastically.
"Too many suitors proposing?"
"More like, realm leaders calling for uncanny assistance," she says grimly, somehow still playing along.
"…You lost me," he tells, sounding confused.
"I'll explain, just, tell me, you can reach the others, right?"
"You mean, earth's mightiest heroes?" She could almost hear the grin in his voice.
"Yes."
"Course, I can. Why?"
"There's, uh, there's something I have to tell you guys, all of you."
"What is it?"
"It's too hard to explain over the phone. I need you to trust me," she tells seriously.
"…Okaaaay…"

And it was then, that it hit the Stark, like a brick to the face. The White's face only ever fell when they'd bring him up, even when simply reminiscing about battle time,

bringing him up,

always left her blue.

And he could practically hear the blue through the phone.

He panics slightly, feeling as though his plan was about to be thrown into the fires. He needed to be sure.

"On a separate note, the 'too hard to explain over the phone' situation…doesn't happen to be related tooo your long lost, prince charming

…does it?"

…

And the silence answers.

Now, he was more worried than jealous.

"Just…Call me back when you reach them," she tells tensely.
"Wait. Snow…Does it?"

She bites her lip.

"…Yes, Tony."

At that, Tony's heart pinches in disappointment. So much for his chances.

One would think he was giving up too easily, but Tony knew, oh he knew well, when Loki was involved, Snow was in a whole other world.

"And it's important, so, please, just-"
"Yeah, I know. Call you back. Don't worry," he replies quickly, brushing the irritancy off, but trying not to show it.

Still, one's heart was not a machine to shut down, even if his was connected to one.

"Just…be careful for me," he tells seriously.

Upon hearing his truest concern, Snow's heart pinches as well.

She frowns painfully, heart in irritable conflict.

"I will."

XXXXX

Having finally planned out when, Snow booked a jet to New York, and rented a room in a nearby hotel.

She'd been going crazy with plotting, planning, wondering how in the world she would convince them, how she would avoid looking like the devil's advocate in the eyes of her only friends.

Of all people, why her? Why did this have to happen to her?

But no more whining. She would pull up, and get this done, stressing again, that at the end of the day, it was her problem, not theirs.

And so, she pushed out of the car, thanking the driver put out for the owner of Chase Realty.

She inhales deeply, and walks in.

Controlled by Jarvis, the elevator greets Snow, something she was both impressed with, and never thought she'd get used to, it takes her to the floor everyone else was waiting on.

She takes a seat on a sole chair. Tony on the adjacent one, Steve on one opposite them. Banner on a couch, and Nat and Clint on another.

After quick greets and a pleasant reunion, Tony shuts everyone up, stating that Snow had something important to say, stressed as he was from the day before.

Steve had an elbow on a knee, resting his jaw on his clenched fist. Clint had an arm around Nat as she sat, cross-armed. Bruce mimicked her tense stance. Tony rested both arms on the chair, one leg held up by the other.

Snow was leaned forward, elbows on knees and hands intertwined.

And there she sat, in front of them, pale as a ghost, stumbling over thought by thought, till it

just

came

out.

"…Loki's coming to earth," she says.

Silence falls. Expressions of confusion, denial, and shock, danced across her eyes.

Then, laughter cuts through. They all turn to see Clint grinning. He raises a hand, leaning forward.

"I'm sorry, for a minute there, it sounded like you'd said, Loki was coming to earth," he chuckles. Snow stays her silence, looking to the ground as he laughed some more and the others studied her reaction carefully. Only Tony wasn't as shocked as they were.

Seeing she was still serious, Clint furrows his eyebrows. "You're kidding. She's kidding, right?" he turns to the others. She purses her lips.
"Snow?" Steve calls. She turns to him, and he could see,

she was dead serious.

He freaks out.

"You better explain, fast," Nat tells, also freaking out and snapping the White out of her daze.

"I will," she raises her hands, nodding. "About a week ago, Thor came to me, asking for help. He said he didn't think the council's decision, regarding Loki's punishment, was just," she tells.
"You mean, execution?" starts Clint sarcastically, raging up by the second as he seemed to realize she was being serious. "Because that's about as just as it can get, for a guy who killed hundreds of innocent people!" he shouts.

Snow turns to him furiously. "Not to make this personal, but how many people have you killed, Clint?" she asks seriously, cocking an eyebrow. He shakes his head irritably.
"That's…not the same," he tells.
"Isn't it? What about you, Natasha? How many people have you killed before getting tied in with S.H.I.E.L.D?" she asks.

Natasha cocks a daring eyebrow at her, clenching her jaw as Clint turned to her, wary for her reaction to Snow's harsh words.

But, one thing still remained.

Snow was right.

"Thor came, asking for my help. I wasn't going to shut him out," she defends.
"So, what did you do?" Bruce asks curiously.
"I said I'd help."
"Wait, so, Goldilocks took you to," Tony laughs suddenly, "to Asgard?"
"Yes," she nods. Tony blank-faces.
"Oh my god…" Bruce utters in bewilderment.

The others weren't as impressed by that as those two were.

"He wanted me to convince them, to take on another course of action, because of what I can do, because of what I'd seen," she fiddles with her nails, heart aching at memories of his pain.

"Did you?" Steve inquires. She eyes him as if painfully.
"That's why I wanted to talk to you guys," she says.
"So, you did convince them," deduces Tony, "that's why he's coming," his eyes go slightly wider.
"Wha-What the hell did you tell them?! Give him to us?!" Clint asks in disbelief.
"No," Snow assures. "Just me."
"Just you?" Tony asks in concern.
"He'll be staying with me."
"Is that so, miss White?" a voice asks.

They all turn. At the elevator, he stood, Fury. Maria was by his side, eyebrows knitted at what Snow had just said.

"Security breach!" Tony sighs at the ceiling, irritated by how easily Nick could override it.

Snow felt frozen in place. It was hard enough talking them through it, but Fury?

"We'd detected a lot of activity near your house, miss White," he starts, approaching them as Snow rose to her feet, Tony and Steve too. "Only recently, did we discover that the God of Thunder had been paying you visits. Now, politely, I'd come to ask why, only to find that you'd flied off to New York, like a fugitive! Now I know why," he scowls.

Snow plucks up her courage. As the others gaze as uncomfortably as they were still trying to grasp the situation and its facts.

"Nick, listen to me."
"No, absolutely not! Did you really think you could house Loki without my consent, without my involvement?!" he exclaims, fueling her rage.
"You know damn-well why I didn't tell you," she spits. Nick clenches his jaw.

Tony steps in.

"Okaaay. Let's just take a breather," he starts, Steve coming to Snow's other side. He turns to her. She explains.

"The council's final decision was banishing Loki to earth, powerless," she stresses the word for assistance.
"Earth. Not you," Nick states.
"Not you either," Steve retorts irritably. Nick turns to him.
"That's not your decision to make."
"Well, it sure as hell ain't yours," Tony tells seriously. "If my memory serves me right, Nick, last time you wielded something from Asgard, a war broke loose," he tells.
"That's-" Nick starts. Tony cuts him off once more.
"No! You pulled us together, because you needed fighters. Did you ever come to think of the day we'd stand against you?" he asks threateningly.

The air suddenly grows thick, shock, tension, frustration floating in the air as Nick glared daggers into the Stark's face.

"Tell me, Nick. What's your biggest issue with this, I mean really? He's coming down, powerless. He's staying with her-"
"In an apartment, in Charleston!" Nick cuts off. "What if he tries to escape, and wreaks havoc across the streets? Would you be happy then?" he asks Snow. Her heart clinches in fear of that, and frustration of hearing it, all at once.
"So, 'location'? That's the problem?" Tony offers sarcastically.
"Containment," Fury corrects.
"Okay then, they'll stay with me," he says.

Everyone's eyes go wide.

"Tony, I can't-"
"I can," he stresses, smiling calmly.

Maybe he was being reckless, but he honestly didn't see a problem.

Since the conversation had started, he'd managed to accept a sad fact. Snow was out of his reach now, but, was still his friend.

She called him, asking for help. She came to them, for help. This all started, because she was helping a friend.

It wasn't fair to stand against her.

Still, his suggestion was a bit much, so why'd he offer it?

Well, ever since the war, there was one, small, simple thing, the Stark had been finding near impossible to achieve.

Sleep.

He couldn't,

simply couldn't

sleep at night.

The nightmares. They were too nerve-wrecking.

And when he'd awaken to darkness, to the coldness, and emptiness of his tower, his heart would ache, and he'd find himself fighting back tears. It broke him.

The loneliness was too much, and the only way he could bypass it, was by burying himself in his lab, working on his suits. But that was a temporary, and exhausting solution.

And so, it came as no surprise, that he'd jump at the opportunity, of the nearest door out.

"It's a secure location. Me and Snow will both be keeping an eye on him, and you and point-break can visit any time you'd like, you know, when you're not plotting to use nuclear energy for the 'safety' of humanity and such," he smirks mischievously. Fury rolls his eye at him.
"And how would she be helping, if she's all the way in West Virginia?" he asks irritably.
"Well, that's easy. She can move into the tower," he tells, shocking them further.

The Avengers rolls their eyes at him. It wasn't the first time he'd tried to convince them to move in with him.

"You see, I'm secretly plotting to get everyone to move in, eventually," he grins.
"Secretly? You advertise it like a goddamn real-estate agent!" Clint exclaims from the couch behind, then turns to Snow. "No offense."
"None taken," she smiles slightly, turning to Stark. "Tony. You know why I can't move in," she says.
"Hey, look, it's either work from here and babysit the God of Mischief, or go home and let Nick deal with it," he sums up tiredly.

She purses her lips, and turns to Nick, who was waiting for her reply as well, somehow swayed by the Stark's better deal.

This was crazy.

If she'd agree, her whole life would be turned up and over. All of it!

And if she said no…

She'd thought of bad outcomes too many times now, and refused to see them through.

There was no other choice, even when Tony gave her two, she only saw one.

She would not let Loki fall to Nick's hands, and not just because she was worried Nick would use him,

she was worried about him,

even when she shouldn't

even when all sanity screamed 'don't',

she couldn't help the guilt succumbing her, for not acting.

And slowly, she nodded.

XXXXX

Startled, he rose in confusion, eyeing his surroundings of a meadow, everlasting, and a great tree, warily.

He jumps to his feet.

"Thor," Snow calls, appearing near the tree suddenly, shocking him.
"Snow? What are you…" he trails off, eyeing around once more, attempting to understand.

She approaches him calmly. "I need you to listen to me," she tells. He turns to her perplexedly. "There's…been a change of plans," she starts. "You'll bring Loki to Stark's tower, not my house, He'll stay with us there," she explains. Thor processes her words carefully.
"Okay? What…what happened?" he asks, still confused about his surroundings, but what she was saying was as equally important.

Snow inhales tiredly, turning on her heel and walking up the sloop to the tree, Thor following.

"Nick showed up, complicated things," she tells. At that, Thor's concerns rise. The last thing he wanted to do, was hand his brother over to his enemies. "But it's over now," she smiles assuringly. "He'll just, be staying with me and Tony in the tower. Is that okay?" she asks.
"I suppose. Yes. I…don't see a problem¬-what is this place?" he asks suddenly. She laughs lightly.

Snow explains his current state. He was as baffled as he was impressed.

She also explained that, should he need to, he would be able to commune with her, by simply calling out to her, and they would reappear in the Valley.

It would certainly come in handy.

"Have you told him yet?" she asks him. Thor shakes his head.

Thor grows silent. His face falls. "Yes," he tells, as if in disappointment. A look of realization falls upon her features.
"What happened?" she asks in concern.
"Nothing. He did not speak a word. He…refused to look my way," he explains.

Snow's heart clenches upon hearing this. She could see the hurt in Thor's eyes. She could feel it too, because they were in the Valley.

"He's confused, Thor. Scared…He'll come around. I promise," she assures. Thor locks intent eyes with hers. He flashes her a grateful smile.
"And when he does, he will be forever grateful to you," he tells firmly, hoping to please her, yet, only succeeding in the opposite. She shakes her head.
"I'm not doing this for gratitude, Thor," she tells.
"…

Then why are you doing it?"

he asks, honestly curious.

It seemed it was the question on everyone's mind these days, including her own. She looks down, fiddling with her nails.

"I don't know," she smiles in slight embarrassment. Thor nods, somehow satisfied with her answer. He places a firm hand on her shoulder. She turns to him.
"Our paths are not always clear at the start," he tells.

At that, she smiles at him happily, for being the first person to say something that seemed to make sense to her.

"Thanks. I really needed to hear that," she tells.
"Of course. What are friends for?" She grins happily at that.
"Yeah…"

XXXXXXXXXX