The fire fight was massive, and unbeknownst to him, Bella had modified these pistols to shoot tranquilizers. Rule one; never kill someone who didn't deserve it. These men were just doing their jobs, and eventually they fought their way back to the Impala, hidden carefully under several fallen branches.

"We have to get to Asgard!" Loki yelled over the pounding storm.

"Why?" Tony yelled back, "this is our problem, not theirs," he tore away the larger branches.

"You weren't there for the war, I was," Loki bit back, "he will tear your mightiest heroes to shreds. He nearly killed me," he snapped, "and this sucker's gonna be hard to kill."

Tony shoved him into the back of the car, "oi, Stark, no manhandling the aliens," Bella snapped at him getting into the driver's seat as Tony sat in the front next to her.

"So what's going on then, Reindeer Games?"

Loki thought for a long time, "there was a war, a long time ago," he said, "Utgarda's province, un-imaginarily called Utgarda, was a province of Jotunheim. Utgarda was strong enough that he started to challenge Laufey's power, and a war started between them," Tony nodded, "I guess Odin must have been on a humanitarian kick then because he sent Thor and I to diffuse the situation. We stayed with Utgarda for a night, where he proceeded to humiliate us. The next day, Thor lost his head, tried to hit the man, but then he disappeared and took the entire city with him," Loki shrugged, "nothing is known of whether he still exists."

"What about that other dude, Lough?"

Loki shrugged, "He has been my best friend for centuries and came back with us to Asgard because that was his only way to get back to Muspellheim. On the way back to the Bifrost site, our party was attacked. We managed to fight them off just in time."

"Sounds like he's pretty powerful," Tony stroked his chin, looking dignified beyond his years, "but why couldn't he kill you? Are you Harry Potter or something?"

Loki shrugged, "I'll believe anything."

"Why can't Heimdall see him?" Tony asked.

"Did I not just say that he is powerful?" Loki snapped, "I am no good under stress," he muttered, "think of a calm lake," he muttered to himself, "far from here."

"How do we get to Asgard?" Bella asked, "Ask Heimdall to beam us up?"

"Even if we could get to the site in time, I doubt tall, dark and creepy will let us in," Tony said for him, and he scowled.

"Portal travel," Loki perked up, "the closest one around here is at a place you call Rock Creek Park."

"But there's only one of us that can fly," Tony reminded them.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot Luke lost his Skywalker."

Loki either wasn't listening or no longer cared what he was being called for he got that little mischievous glint in his eye and a half smile curled on his lips, "where is the nearest airport?"

"I see why you did not argue when Fury took your badge," Loki protested, glancing through her other box of fake or stolen identification cards, FBI, CIA, SHIELD, the works.

"That and I still have all my teeth," Bella replied, selecting a card for him and for herself, "and I am very proud of that,"

Loki smiled at her, really, honest to God smiled.

Stark would follow in his suit. He was not comfortable that his friend was working hand in hand with the man who had destroyed New York, but he could deal with it for the moment.

"Chris Jacobs," he read the card that he had been given, "oh, no, I am not using this card."

"Why not?"

"It says 'Bikini inspector'," he snapped back.

"No one will ask to see it," she slapped his shoulder, getting out of the car. Loki followed suit, setting his boots on the tarmac. She was already at the back of the car, piling on every weapon that she could think of and strapping it across her shoulders, anywhere she could fit extra weapons. Loki loaded up too, knives in particular.

A pilot was prepping his Cessna on the runway, and Bella flashed her ID at him, "agent Williams, FBI, we need to commandeer your plane," the old man looked at her skeptically, "I'll bring it back."

"Okay," he handed over the keys to her, "you break it, you bought it."

"C'mon Probie," she mentioned to Loki, who scowled, but otherwise followed her into the cabin of the small plane and began to unload some of their weapons.

The owner of the plane just looked at them for a moment, "damn kids."

She sat in the pilot's seat just before Loki. He growled a little, "I am the pilot," he snapped at her.

"You flew spaceships," Bella replied, strapping herself in with the safety belt, "sit over there, guide me to this portal. Tony will be following."

He did as he was told, albeit grumpily, "I thought the Corps didn't have an airborne division," he crossed his arms defiantly.

"I got my creds through the Navy," Bella replied flatly, "the Corps don't have flying schools, neither do they have medics, they're all Navy."

Loki arched an eyebrow, "great mystery solved," he huffed, "I still think I should be flying this bucket."

Bella sighed, "You're cute," she said, "so why do I want to hit you all the time?"

Loki shrugged, "perhaps because you like hitting things."

She flicked some switches and turned a couple of knobs, but then began to taxi the Cessna down the tarmac, ready for takeoff, "out of you and I," she put her flight headphones over her ears, and Loki followed suit, "who's hit more people in the past week?" she got him.

After that, all there was, silence and the ever persistent whine of the twin engines as the plane lifted off. She could see Loki's face twist into a pained scowl and his hands tighten on the armrests.

"Nervous?" she asked.

"Yes."

"First time?"

"No, I've been nervous lots of times."

"We've all got to be afraid of something," Bella smiled at him as she made the plane climb into the air, "it's only natural."

"What are you afraid of?"

She didn't have to say anything, she just looked him in the eye, and his face softened slightly.

It was then that Loki's head cleared, and for once he felt although he was in the right place at the right time. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew why. Bella Rodriguez had taken him into her home, fed him, clothed him and cared for him like no one had before, and Sophia was smart, gentle and inquisitive, she reminded him of himself which was slightly creepy in a way. They had adopted him into their family, and he was doing to do his damn best to defend his family.