Loki's mind was hazy as he opened his eyes, his ears ringing, his surroundings blurring together into a nothingness he didn't care for. His hands were limp at his sides, but he could tell there were restraints to hold him in place.

His eyes lazily drifted to his right arm where there was a metal device filled with liquids flowing into his arms. A group of men entered the room with clipboards, scribbling notes down as they prodded at him, lifting his eyelid and shining a bright light into his eye, making his eye water, a tear falling down his face.

Voices warbled all around him, faces becoming disproportionate and blurry. His fingers tingled and twitched as if they had a mind of their own. His vision was fading. Then it was gone.

And he was asleep.

Tony sighed, tossing a rubber ball into the air and catching it. "Hey, Pep! When are you going to finish that meeting thing?" He asked the phone in his hand.

"Oh! I don't know at all! Maybe soon, maybe later!" He mimicked her voice.

"No hurry! You don't have to tell me either! I'll be sitting right here... all day... working on my Iron Man suit... drinking over-carbonated Sprite..."

He threw the phone at the nearest couch and groaned. Pepper hadn't called him in three days now, and he was getting bored. He had gotten arrested twice, drank too many bottles of Sprite (Pepper wouldn't let him drink alcohol while she was away), and destroyed one of his suits. He chucked the rubber ball at the nearest wall a few times before it flew away from him. He was too lazy to get up and get it.

"Sir, there is a Shield Agent who wishes to speak with you. Shall I let her in?" The AI in the ceiling asked.

"No. I don't really want to talk to Shield right now."

It was silent for a moment before Jarvis came back on. "The Shield Agent has bypassed my protocols and is on her way in."

Tony sighed and sipped at his fourth Sprite that day.

A woman came through the doors a few seconds later. At first, Tony thought it was Natasha. But it wasn't. Her hair was a red velvet color, and she was a little taller. About as tall as Pepper, if you subtracted the black stilettos the lady was wearing. A pair of shades, in which he could see his reflection, covered her eyes. A black cat suit with a Shield badge, along with two guns, were strapped onto her hips.

"Yes! Natasha has finally been replaced!" Tony grinned.

The woman grinned too, surprising the billionaire. Shield Agents never grinned. Or smiled. Or laughed. He had once spent an hour trying to tickle a laugh or smile out of a Shield guard that stands outside the control room.

"Sadly, no." The woman responded, her perfectly straight teeth glinting with the grin. "And I don't look at all like her. Just because I have red hair..." She was cut short as the Agent on the other end of her earpiece told her to focus.

"Fine! Whatever... Yeah... wait... Carl? Ugh, Agent Farner? When does my shift end? What?! Four more hours?" Tony watched in amusement as this went on for another few minutes before Agent Farner cut off the connection. "Sorry about that. There are some people who are a bit too grumpy."

"What does Fury want now?" Tony asked, chucking his empty Sprite bottle at the couch with the phone.

"He needs the Avengers to have a little get together at the Helicarrier. Something about that dude named Loki."

The named sent chills down his back as he remembered what had happened just a year ago. The woman seemed not to feel any importance for the name, as if Loki were just another average criminal.

"Tell Fury I'll be there." Tony sighed, rubbing his temples.

Cherry put her car into park, turning it off. She sat there in silence, listening to the nothingness that filled her ears. She had only been gone for a few hours, her captors inexperienced and foolish enough to leave a trail right to her and Loki, contact the Heli to ask for ransom, and post minimal guards outside her cell, using a normal metal door instead of a sliding door, which would have made it impossible for her to swing open and crack the man in the forehead with blunt force.

Common prisoner knowledge.

Dealing with the Avengers was stressful. She had talked to Tony Stark and Bruce Banner today, trying to convince them that Shield had nobody better but them to do a certain job that involved their old pal, Loki.

She sighed, grabbing her purse which held only her phone, shield badge, and some change. She pulled out her phone and turned it on, checking her texts. There were three texts from Damian and one text from her little sister, Abby.

do you know where the mac and cheese is

Cherry turned off her phone and put it back in her purse. Her sister lived with her, and now that she was home, she could just tell her where it was.

She got out of her car, swinging her sniper over her shoulder like a purse, locked her car and walked up the steps to her townhouse, fumbling for her keys. She could hear sirens in the distance, the constant traffic of the city. At least it wasn't so loud out here in the sort-of-in-between-the-city-and-suburbs suburbs. She turned the key and opened the door, flicking on the light.

"Abby?" She called. "The mac and cheese is in the pantry!"

"Okay…" A voice came from upstairs. Her younger sister appeared a few seconds later in a tank top and sweats. "I heard you got abducted again." She commented calmly.

Cherry ran a hand through her hair, sighing, then rubbed her eyes, smearing her makeup. "Yeah. Seems to happen a lot, huh?" There was a long, awkward pause. Cherry cleared her throat. "So, anything interesting happen at school?"

Abby opened the pantry door, stretching to see the top shelf. "Nothing much. It was my birthday…"

Cherry nearly dropped her sniper. "What?!" Her greenish brown eyes widened.

Abby glared at her. "You're too busy getting kidnapped to pay attention. I tried to call you."

Cherry scratched her elbow sheepishly. "Sorry… I forgot. And it's not my fault people have an obsession with holding me for ransom. What do you want? A gun? I could get you a bazooka. Or some ninja stars."

Abby slammed the pantry door shut, tears falling down her face, surprising Cherry. "Why can't you just be normal?! You don't have to be some weird assassin lady! You could work at a candle store for all I care! But you are always missing or taking off in the middle of the night! And there's over a hundred loaded guns in this house alone! How many are in your car?!"

Cherry blinked, her velvet red hair falling into her face. "You know why I have to do this."

Abby furiously wiped the tears from her eyes. "No. You don't. Just because mom and dad are dead, doesn't mean-"

"That's enough, Abby." Cherry snapped. "It's a job. It's not like I'm sneaking through the city killing random people. I protect people! That means I have to make personal sacrifices so that the Chitauri attack doesn't happen again!"

"You're never here anymore." Abby's mouth was a wobbly line. Cherry moved to give Abby a hug, but the younger girl snapped, wheeling away. "Leave me alone!" The teen charged up the stairs, a door banging loudly.

Cherry groaned in annoyance, trying not to lose her temper. She set the sniper on the kitchen table, trudging up the stairs to Abby's room. She knocked once. "Abby!" She called. There was no response.

Cherry shuffled into her bedroom, closing the door softly. She flopped onto her bed, falling asleep almost instantly, spiraling into dreams of monsters and explosions and death. And Loki. Always Loki. Because it was his fault her life was like this.

Thanks for reading! If any of you know me, I'm the author of Sorrow's Pain and YES... this is the story that I gave you a Sneak Peek to. Please... you know... do those things that every author on this site tells you to do after reading a chapter of their story... follow... favorite... comment :D Come on board and join me! I give out free imaginary chocolate chip cookies!