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Everything about this felt wrong. It wasn't that the dress wasn't too snug or anything. Actually, it was quite the opposite. She felt far too exposed as her skirt drifted around her knees. It was a lovely dress made of red silk and she couldn't begin to imagine how much it had cost. It extended to her knees and fluttered about loosely, whereas the upper area was tightened around her waist and chest, the most comfortable part to her. It covered her breasts nicely, cutting in a sweetheart neckline and yet it didn't show much cleavage. Natasha had made a comment of how it was this dress or another, more risqué one that Tony had his eye on. Apparently it showed a lot more than intended. The straps formed a halter around her neck and there was a small red belt around her waist, occasionally interrupted with a belt loop.

As much as she hated to admit it, she really did enjoy the article of clothing.

The shoes upon her feet matched the dress in color, but they only had a slight heel so she would not trip and stumble over herself as she normally would in anything except her boots. As she came to the intricately decorated doors of the German building, she marveled at them for a moment before passing into the room. Marble floors and statues as well as accents of gold lined the room. She wondered what the building was really for, but she knew, with the speed Natasha had flown here, that they were indeed in a desperate situation to capture Loki. She pondered upon these things as a kind man in a suit took her small bag from her to situate on a rack nearby. She had nothing of particular use in the bag, just a few things she had been given to fix her makeup with just in case.

Aimee released a breath nervously, unsure of what to do exactly until she gained sight of Loki. They knew he was going to be here, or that he was here already. They had gotten face recognition from a camera in the area and had sped here as soon as they possibly could. It didn't take them long at all to get to Stuttgart, Germany, but the question was how long it would take them to get out. There were some rather nasty features they had to fly back over to get to the Helicarrier again. It had been a nice view on the way over, but storm clouds had collected in the distance. She would normally think nothing of them, but, considering Loki was involved, she couldn't help but wonder a few things. She wondered if Thor would show up. She had serious doubts, though she wouldn't put it past him.

Her shoulder was tapped by another man in a suit, who was carrying a silver platter with a single drink upon it, and a rose. "These are for you, ma'am." He spoke in German, a language she knew well. Germany had been one of her favorite places to come during her directionless travels.

"Thank you. Who are they from?" She took the glass into her hand, staring down the blood-red wine, and delicately held the rose in the other, avoiding getting pricked by thorns.

"A tall man with dark hair and these…glowing green eyes sent them." He didn't seem to have any other words to describe his eyes with, and it immediately clued her into who sent them her way. "He said, 'Take these to the enamoring woman in red.' Is that all, miss?"

Aimee nodded at him, giving him a smile. "Yes, thank you very much."

Phil Coulson's voice sounded in her ear, since she was one of several connected to the listening device she carried, "Ooohhhh. A rose and some wine."

She rolled her eyes, speaking quietly as though to herself, "Hush up, Phil. It doesn't mean anything." Not that she knew of at least. Her gaze was transfixed on the rose, attempting to put a purpose to it, but she could find none no matter how hard she tried.

Aimee was only half-decent at deciphering riddles and couldn't do so nearly as well as some people she knew. She was no Tony Stark that was for sure, so she didn't understand what the rose was for. Whether it was a threat from Loki or just a simple and kind gesture from him, she honestly didn't know. The wine, on the other hand, could prove to be a true threat if it were poisoned or bewitched with some type of magic. Lowering her nose to it, she sniffed at it almost disapprovingly, but drank in every ounce of the scent that she could. It traveled through her olfactory system and processed in her brain. There was nothing pungent about the smell, so she touched it. Yet, Carmen sensed no use of magic on it.

Why then? She couldn't grasp the reason.

Hesitant, she took a small sip, enjoying the explosive flavor on her tongue. She always enjoyed tartness. Wine was merely grape juice with alcohol in it; that was her simple deduction at least. She shrugged lightly to herself and drank some more. Though alcohol burned rather quickly through her system – Carmen gave her a monster metabolism – she still did enjoy the taste. She doubted it would kill her either or even slowly rot away her liver. So, she stood there, surveying the party with silent eyes as people mingled about with one another, attempting to decipher the meaning of the rose. A man eventually came and discarded her empty glass for her, and she was left to stare helplessly at the rose.

A rose could mean any number of things. It could mean love and peace or war and hate. A rose was something of a contradiction, truly, a contradiction she loved. The petals and the smell of the flower were very intoxicating and beautiful. It was the most popular flower around the world, mostly known as a symbol of love. However, there was something very painful about the rose as well, even dangerous to some creatures: its thorns. They were sharp and, by nature, perfectly capable of drawing blood. Everything in nature had a natural defense that protected them from their enemies, their predators and stalkers. Whether it was thorns or a set of razor teeth, the defense was necessary.

"A wild rose is beautiful, but willing to draw blood in its defense…" She muttered the statement.

"Honestly, that sounds like someone we know." Natasha's voice entered her ear.

"Who does it sound like?" Aimee asked her, truly curious.

"It sounds like you. You are not only the Black Rose, but…" The redheaded woman paused in her sentence, "…you are definitely willing to draw blood in your defense as well as anyone else's. The beauty statement is obvious. It's completely true."

Aimee rolled her eyes. For a reason unbeknownst to her, Natasha had always been kind to her and such things had increased in the recent years. Though their contact had been minimal, the Black Widow always seemed to have something gratifying to say to the brunette. Perhaps it was because they shared a few things in common. They had both gotten onto S.H.I.E.L.D.s radar in a bad way, but it had ended well for them because certain people made different calls than what they had been told to do originally. However, even she often wondered if she was better off having been killed. Not quickly, but slowly, made to suffer as she bled out on the ground. She often wished an ending like that for herself, but she knew it would never come easily.

Should she even want to die? Most people would normally ask why she wanted to die. After the things she had done, there was nothing more that she wanted than to end her own life. She wasn't worthy of the world, let alone the people in it, especially she people she truly cared for. When Tony and Remy had forgiven her for what she had done to their family, she had appreciated it, but it didn't matter to her. She loved them, she did, but she didn't want their forgiveness. Bri's forgiveness mattered the most to her and it was the one thing she wanted very much. She didn't want it as much as dying, though, and if there was a punishment that was harsher than death…she would take it in an instant. However, a life for a life seemed rather fair to her.

In her seemingly endless travels, she had tried to end her life before. Carmen was stubborn, though, intent on keeping the woman alive whether she liked it or not. The wolf would override her mind and psychically halt whatever she was attempting to kill herself with. Bullets and knives were rendered useless, so she resorted to a number of other things. Dying "accidentally" in a fight, falling off a cliff, and even poison were a few of those things. Carmen would block the killing blow, create a net of crystals – which was quite painful, though it saved her life – and she would just burn the poison from her blood as attempted to go through her system. Carmen was intent on keeping true to the orders Odin had given her about Aimee, but how was that fair when she wanted to die?

A light went off in her head, another old saying she knew about roses, "'But he that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose.'." It was something a teacher had told her once, many years ago.

"But he that craves the beautiful rose must first respect its infamous thorn."

At the voice, she found her body having pivoted a complete 180 degrees to face the owner of the voice. Loki stood there, dressed nicely for the party in black pants, shirt, and jacket, but there was a scarf of mingled gold and emerald hanging around his neck. There was a staff in his hand, the one she assumed was what he had been carrying before, but it was in a different form than the sharp ended one they had been attacked with. It seemed to merely be a walking stick of some sort, nothing more, though she knew of its powers well enough to stay away. She eyed it warily as well as him, waiting for any sort of attack that would assuredly come her way.

An overflow of emotions took her by surprise. When he was dressed like this, he looked even more similar to that man from her past, the one who claimed he could help and only harmed in the end. Terror took her at first, then anger, and then she felt aimless, as though she really had nothing to do but gawk at the rather handsome man. She could hardly believe she was admitting to herself that he had nice looks, but she felt she couldn't help herself. She was scared, and there was a sense of foreboding in the room as well as defenselessness on her part. Carmen invaded her mind with a burning fury, raising a loud growl in her head.

'Get your head out of the clouds, child!' The wolf snarled. 'Otherwise, render your body useful to me and I will kill the mangy bastard now.'

Get out of my head! I will surrender nothing to you! You caused my pain in the first place.

'Are you so sure?'

The statement passed over her head as she forced the monster out, refusing to listen to her twisted words and double meanings. Instead, she focused on Loki, no clear expression on her face. Her emotions were jumbled as it was. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, Black Rose."

She felt a few muscles stiffen in uneasiness, glancing around them to see if anyone else had heard. It didn't seem that way. "I don't go by that. My name is Aimee. You may call me such, since it seems we have reached the stage of formalities." As much as she hated herself for the things that she had done, she hated being labeled as a murderer, even though it was basically what she was for S.H.I.E.L.D. Assassin was just a kinder term for it.

"You wish to know the purpose of the rose?" He had ignored her statement, retreating to her earlier question, and her murmurings of the phrases she knew so well. "It burns you to understand the purpose of the beautiful flower, does it not?"

He saw through her easily, picked up on the tiny notes most people couldn't. It was those notes that could very simply be someone's undoing, just as it had been his brother's. Thor was ridiculously easy to fool and in more ways than one. He had caused his brother's exile on purpose in the first place and had not allowed him to return to Asgard once Loki had taken the throne from Odin, something that had put him in a bad situation. He had never expected Thor to learn anything on Earth, let alone a life lesson that would lead to the burly man returning to Asgard to overthrow him. Even when he watched from afar, Loki could still see those little notes that would undo him, just as he could see them in the woman's haunting grey eyes.

Aimee glanced at the flower. "Yes, I suppose I do."

"I will say it again: but he that craves the beautiful rose must respect its infamous thorn." He allowed it to sink in for but a moment. "You are the rose in this situation."

She was confused. He craves me? If that is the case, I have to wonder in what manner he does crave me and whether or not to fear such words… Yet another tricky moment. I must choose my words wisely.

Before she could speak, Loki stepped towards her, closing most of the distance between them. He leaned down– he wasn't much taller than she was, but he wanted no one else to hear what he had to say to her –and whispered in her ear with a nearly threatening tone, "I know what you are, though not who you are. I know of the demon you hold inside of you. Ah, that expression of surprise always pleases me. You did not think I would find out? After all, Carmen is one of my father's pets. I recognized that fire after much pondering. Unfortunately, the Mutt and I have never particularly gotten along."

There was a heavy lump in her throat, one that prevented her from forming any words or sounds. Her expression was plastered with not only pure shock, but fear as well. Her heart pounded quickly in her chest, thrashing against her chest walls and threatening to spill its contents on the floor. There were a number of threats behind his words, and it was bad enough that he even knew of the wolf inside of her. She knew he had to find out eventually, but she had prayed to whatever deities above that it wouldn't be until much later when she had worked out a solution with Carmen in order to use her power against Loki. He had caught her early in the game, a setback for her, and it was a great advantage for him. Her eyes were widened with a multitude of emotions, her mind reeling in an attempt to solve the situation.

Loki could do anything with her if he could only persuade her to change sides, which could be easy if he threatened the right things. If he threatened something meaningless towards her, then she would kill the man there without hesitation. She could hear Carmen snarling in the back of her head, furious with a blind anger that he knew of her presence, and she was all too eager to fight the man. She slammed against the walls of her cage, tugging on Aimee's heartstrings and consciousness, trying to force herself out of the trap she was imprisoned in. She wanted nothing more than to tear Loki to pieces with her own teeth, an opportunity seldom presented to her, as she had never been allowed near the younger of the Odinsons when she had her own domain in Asgard.

Aimee could be used as a weapon or as leverage, though the first was a far better option. When it came to the ones she loved, she would still do anything for them, even take a bullet. She was not below sacrificing herself for the benefit of the people she adored, but she feared what Loki would do with her, no matter what it was, if he could get his claws around her. She feared that if she did not comply with his demands, then the others would perish a horrible death she would not be able to stop. Then there was being used as a weapon against those people she loved. That was far worse. She had done her dirty deeds in the world, but never once had she laid a harmful finger upon them. It would be of the worst betrayal.

Nick's voice broke in over the listening device, "Aimee, keep it together! We will not allow him to get the better of you. I know you love these people, but you are stronger than that. You can protect them from this side and do not have to agree to his demands!"

The words comforted her somewhat, and her expression steeled once more. "So, you figured it out. Bravo, Loki, bravo. But what do you plan on doing to me now? Capture me? Sway my loyalty through the use of your stick?"

He seemed slightly surprised by her sudden bravado, but he gave her a cunning grin. "No, none of those are what I wish to do to you. You would make a strong ally if you could control the beast within you, but it seems you cannot. Do not become aggravated! It will be your biggest downfall. Now, my dear, if you would not mind, I must excuse myself."

Maria Hill's voice snapped harshly at her, ripping her from any reverie she could have been in, "Aimee, stall him! Whatever he is after, we must find out what it is before he gets it!"

What the hell was she supposed to do? A flurry of comments from Maria resounded in her head, some "advice" she had given her before they had taken off. It was about acting like a woman to distract him if that was the case, but she honestly had little clue of how to do that. She was a decent actress and could pull him away from his intended target if she needed to. Now would be that moment to do so. Grinning brightly, as fake as it was—she and Loki both knew how fake it was –she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from whatever it was he was targeting. She either just saved someone's life or only bought them more time. Regardless, the longer she could distract him, the less people died.

"Come now, Loki, it is a party, after all." Aimee chided him gently, a faux disappointment in her tone. "I really would enjoy talking with you. A social event does require that."

He raised an eyebrow at her, hesitating for a moment, but followed after her anyways to the opposite side of the room where there was a plethora of people chattering with one another. "Does it truly require irrelevant and idle chat?" Humans often disgusted him, though it depended on who he was looking at. While he knew Aimee and her companions were far from completely human, only one or two ever did catch his eye. She was one of them. Such an odd being with such a fire she was. The girl was good and the demon was evil, yet she held an overall neutral presence and stance on everything. He had only believed her to be a conflicted soul, but then he uncovered Carmen within her. It was there that he decided to make things very interesting.

While it would be fun to see her fight against her teammates, something he would more than likely resort to in the end, he wanted to see her squirm helplessly first. She was the vessel of a creature that could overthrow Odin himself. It had been his foster father's one mistake when it came to his four pets. He had made them incredibly strong and, whether he intended it or not, he had made them stronger than himself. It was something that had been repeatedly proven when Carmen threw one of her infamous temper tantrums. Earth would not know of such fits, but most other planets did. From what he could remember, two had been destroyed by her unquenchable fires during the tantrum. Of course, there were others on purpose, by order of Odin. Carmen had always been a favorite war weapon.

Loki smirked to himself, enjoying the plots that whirled swiftly in his mind as he toyed with the idea of using the wolf as a war weapon. It would be for his purpose, but he first had to get the Mutt to boil. After he had gotten her to boil, he needed her to explode. Yes, it would be quite fun to watch Carmen usurp Aimee's authority and overthrow Odin's demands. In turn, it would most likely single-handedly decimate S.H.I.E.L.D.s little response team. While the other one—he could not recall her name –carried Tabitha, there was nothing else that could stop the wolf. If angered enough, and bewitched with his dark magic, Carmen would obliterate them and conquer the places he wanted so desperately to rule.

"What is it you wish to speak of with me?" He paused when she finally stopped, nestled in the center of a large group, most of which obscured his vision of his target. "Or shall I slaughter you now and just seize my prize?"

Aimee rolled her eyes. "You can try to kill me all you want. In the end, Carmen is on my side and won't allow me to die. As for what I wish to talk about, I wish to talk of you." She wasn't sure if it was an empty threat or an invitation for him to try.

"Me?"

She nodded. "What do you want with the Tesseract? Honestly, of what purpose is it to you? Based on legend and a few of the things Carmen has told me, the cube originally belonged to your species, the Frost Giants. It was seized by Odin when he defeated them in a war and has been in his treasure room for countless years. Then it fell to Earth, though I don't know how. Apparently, you are not here to retrieve it for him, so what do you want with it?"

He pursed his lips. She was an intelligent woman and knew more things than she needed to, but he supposed that it was the fault of Carmen. "I will tell you only because I respect the thorn."

"Be careful what you wish for." Her tone was venomous. Just because someone respects the thorn doesn't mean the thorn respects them. "Such words will not make us companions."

"I do not intend it, though you are a better ally than enemy, but you love these pathetic humans too much to realize your true potential." His tone nearly matched hers in ferocity. "I plan to open a door that will release my army into the world. I plan to seize this world, rule it like the king I am. Nothing you can do will ever stop me."

Her expression soured. "Are you sure you can win?"

He frowned, the confusion evident. "How do you mean?"

"It's a simple question, honestly." Aimee told him, her arms crossed tightly. "How can you expect to defeat the most stubborn people on this planet when all you offer in your offense and defense is a mere army? Whether they are human or inhuman doesn't matter. Alien or Asgardian doesn't matter. You would most likely have the advantage in number."

Loki's rage was growing steadily with her words. "Trust me; I have many more advantages than you and your pathetic, dull, and weak team."

Ignoring him, she continued, "Nothing is ever about quantity. It is about quality. Spirits here cannot be broken, whether you like it or not. Humans are a stubborn species, but so are the monsters that hide within the same society. Bri can drown your army, Steve can outlive it, Tony can explode it, Bruce can rip it to shreds, Natasha can slaughter it, Clint can outshoot it, and I can burn it. If anything, you are outnumbered because you lack the very things that are essential in being a ruler. You will fail."

She had spoken it with such conviction that it made him think. For the first time, his mind actually doubted whether or not he could do this at all. She made fair points, points he did not like in the slightest, and it worried him. He feared, for once, that she was allowing Carmen to cooperate with her. The wolf was far wicked than he and was far more capable of something like this. Had Carmen's own twisted thoughts combined themselves with the young woman's? If that was the case, then he was most certainly in trouble. He didn't want to think about it and strengthened his conviction in his actions once more. His target happened to be walking by, and he would take the opportunity to get away from her schemes.

"Once again, my dear," his voice was taut with a number of emotions, "but I must really excuse myself this time."

Loki swiftly stepped past her, harshly grabbing the arm of a suited man and dragging him aside. The man was bald and old, and Loki flipped him onto a nearby stone table. Pinning him down with one arm, the God of Lies retrieved a silver device from his coat pocket and clicked it open. Aimee's eyes widened, shocked that he would resort to such a thing when he could just kidnap the man and use him for whatever he needed. Instead, he stabbed him in the eye and hit the button. An irritating whirring noise was heard, much sharper to her sensitive ears, and screams burst out in the crowd. Upon the attack, the people in the building fled in terror. She was bumped against lightly as people passed, but she could only stand and stare, feeling somewhat queasy.

The room had emptied and he continued to drill into the man's face, so she retreated out the doors and behind a tree. She composed herself, although sickened by what she had just witnessed, and pressed her finger to the listening device in her ear, "Steve, I hope you can hear me. Get down here as soon as you can. He knows about Carmen, and I believe he's going to exploit it to his benefit. That and I cannot fight in a dress."

"I'm right behind you, Aim. No worries."

She wished it were that easy. Aimee remained behind the tree even as Loki exited the building, cornering all of the people with images conjured by magic. She could tell which was real, considering the illusions flickered faultily. He seemed to be in his traditional Asgardian clothing, with the horns and cloak included. The staff had returned into the scepter it had been in their first encounter. He preached to them, "Is not this simpler?"

He's forced them to their knees, to kneel to him… She marveled at Loki's gall.

"Is this not your natural state?" He droned on. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity: that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. It is your identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end…you will always kneel."

Peering around the bark of the tree she was concealed behind, she watched an elderly man get to his feet and announce, "Not to men like you."

Loki chuckled, "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you." The old man shook his head disapprovingly.

She could see the slight irritation at the insubordination at the man's boldness, and Loki lifted the spear to point it at the man. "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." The crystal in the staff made the sound she recognized when it powered up before striking. From the memories of the room where the Tesseract had been, anyone human blasted by it would be obliterated into ash.

Debating it for a split second, Aimee summoned fire to her hand and emerged from her hiding place, aiming her arm up to strike Loki in the back. The people noticed her and he did not. He fired the weapon before she could react, but Steve made his appearance and deflected it with his shining shield. The shot reverberated from the shield and hit Loki with force, knocking him to the ground in the midst of the people. She could see from where she stood that his staff was only an arm's length away from where he lay. She whistled loudly and beckoned people from the places they kneeled, and they ran to her fearfully. She shooed them away, despite their interested eyes, and forced them to leave so the fight could ensue.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing over everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve said.

Loki had a snarl upon his face, but chuckled darkly, "The Soldier. The man out of time."

Steve smirked. "I'm not the one who's out of time."

Aimee kept the same distance as Steve, though from the opposite side, and balled the fire in her hand excitedly. Often times she would forget the exhilaration of a fight like this one. The extent of Carmen's powers was seemingly endless and such things would lose themselves in her mind so easily. It was hard to remember the thrill it brought her when she used them, especially when pure adrenaline pumped through her veins at an alarming rate. Whenever she would use these powers, she knew what it felt like to hunt prey as Carmen did. The excitement and victory that waited, even with the chance of failure, was incredible. It was a wonderful feeling, but one she was conflicted about. This is what made her a killer.

The plane she had been transported here on hovered over them, an automatic weapon lowering from its belly. Natasha could be heard over the PA system, "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Ignoring the command given, he fired a shot towards the plan, but Natasha maneuvered it out of the way in time. Steve flung his shield, hitting Loki in the chest and caught it as it came back to him. As Loki struck out at him, Aimee grasped his arm and wrestled for the staff. Steve came after him, but he was kicked into one of the concrete rises containing the tree she had hidden behind. Grappling for the staff, he pulled at her hands as she attempted to rip it from him, but her hold would not give way. Her palms seared with fire, burning through his clothing and bringing the overbearing heat straight to his skin. Crying out in surprise, he kicked out her legs from beneath her, leaving her on the ground. He hovered over her with his staff to her neck.

"Well, this is a familiar position."

"Yes, except I can actually kick your ass this time."

She took the pause between them and reared her heel into his stomach, making sure the thinner point of the shoe would pierce his belly harshly. It didn't break skin, but he made a guttural sound that indicated his pain. He was suddenly whipped away from her, but she didn't have her hand on the staff, so she lost it as Steve took him aside. There was a flurry of punches thrown between the two of them before she could reach them. Even as she did, Steve was thrown into her with a power they didn't expect. The pair flew backwards and hit the concrete hard. His shield went another direction, out of their reach enough to give Loki an advantage. The God of Lies got to his feet and aimed a deadly blow at them.

A figure flashed out of nowhere. Burly and light blue, it tackled Loki to the side, separating him from his staff. Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, picked the staff away and landed nearby. Aimee and Steve got up in time to watch the massive saber-toothed cat pin Loki onto his back with a paw larger than his head. It was Bri, in the form Tabitha had. She and Aimee could transform into their demons while relinquishing control, but with Aimee and Carmen, that was less of a possibility. The nice thing about Bri and Tabitha's relationship was that they actually like each other and could get along. This was not a form she took often. Aimee had seen it used quite a few times, though, and every time she could not help but marvel at the sight of the cat.

Tony pointed a number of weapons at Loki. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

Flames flared up Aimee's hands as she stood beside Tony and Steve collected his shield beside Bri, who growled threateningly in his face and kneaded her claws into the fabric of his shirt. It was a warning, stating if he tried anything, she wouldn't hesitate to rip his heart from his chest. Bri was an assassin the same as Aimee. Tabitha didn't care for it, but she loved Bri with all of her heart and would not go against her wishes. Besides, protecting people was her job. She was the Goddess of Life, after all, of healing and other things, too. Carmen had turned sour throughout their childhood, for reasons the wolf's host did not know. She didn't really care to know, though, but she had learned that Bri knew basically everything about Tabitha because she had befriended the cat. Even now, the thought of befriending Carmen, as distasteful as it was, crossed her mind and seemed like a good idea.

Loki put his hands up in surrender, returning to the clothing he had arrived in. His cape and headgear vanished. Tony lowered his weapons, "Good move."

Bri snarled once in his face, then stepped back, communicating through speech, though her mouth did not move, "You have a lot of gall to do such a thing to these people, Loki."

"So I have been told," was all he said.

Natasha lowered the plane and opened the rear hatch. Bri returned to her human form, wearing black pants, a light blue shirt, and black boots. The S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia was on the back in reflective material that matched the color of the shirt, wavering like water every time she moved. Aimee was given clothes much like it, though with red instead of blue. It was new to her, but the fabric was stretchy and comfortable. It was impenetrable by bullets, she had been told, but she doubted such. Although, she would not put it past Nick's scientists to be able to create something like this. It was entirely possible, just difficult to believe because it was not standard-issue.

After she had finished changing, they entered the aircraft in silence, strapping Loki into one of the seats towards the hatch. If they needed to, they could throw him out. He could not fly, though they were doubtful his magic could even save him, and it would be an easy way to solve the problem. Bri chatted with Natasha while Aimee, Steve, and Tony did the same with one another. They stood in a small circle, intense gazes focused on the God of Lies, watching for any movement that would allow them to predict his actions. Something didn't settle well with the three of them nor did it settle well with the three in the front end of the plane.

Steve was the first to speak of it, his voice lowered, "I don't like it."

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony posed.

Aimee nodded. "He just quit when Bri pinned him…almost as if he knew better than to challenge her." It just struck her as odd.

"Yeah, but I don't remember it ever being that easy." Steve muttered. "This guy packs a wallop."

Aimee almost laughed at his use of words, but Tony carried on, "Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow. What's your thing, Pilates?"

"What?" The Captain was lost.

"You may have missed a few things doing time as a…capsicle."

The conversation was rather humorous to Aimee, and it was all she could do to keep from laughing. She simply grinned instead. Harsh lightning flashed in the sky, lighting everything up and nearly striking the aircraft they rested in. Loki gazed around warily, seemingly spooked by the sudden flash. She had to think about why, of all things, he would be afraid of lightning. Perhaps it wasn't the lightning he was afraid of. It could be something else; she just couldn't immediately assume what it was. Tony and Steve also noticed his sudden uneasiness. They appeared amused that someone so bad and strong was afraid of something so trivial.

"You're not scared of a little lightning, are you?" Steve mocked.

Loki looked at them, genuine displeasure on his face. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Bri had come up to Tony's other side, exchanging a knowing glance with Aimee. The backs of their necks tingled uncomfortably and they cursed simultaneously, "Shit."