Hello everyone! It is my last Thursday as a sophomore (YEEEEES).

Anyway, just as a fun fact, I got to watch Thor again last night as my mom and I showed it to my dad who hadn't seen it yet. My mom and I both share a love for Loki, so we kept talking about him the whole time.

Jayc Black: Thank you! I love that too, it just seemed so right :)

LittleMissMia123: Haha I love how you say that it is cool how Tony's running from the cops MADE ME LAUGH. :D

garnet86: Thank you so much for your comment about making Tony in character. He's the one I worry about the most. Thanks!

Maroon5Maniac: Thank you! Also, I know present you with virtual cookies for giving me my 100th review. PARTAY PARTAY

Itsgoose2u: I'm glad you think Gwen's power is cool (I do too) but unfortunately, Gwen such a party pooper and hopefully Steve can stop that.

miller330: Thank you very much!

Kittyjs123: Do not feel ashamed my friend! At least you still found it! First of all, thanks for a long review. I love those the most (seriously). As for the whole black hair thing with Agent Maxwell and Loki, it was that detail that gave me the idea to do that, as well as reading over the first chapter. When I started writing, I had no idea he was Loki. I was just as shocked as everyone else when I figured it out haha :) So thank you!

HauntedMonster: Thank you! (Lovely is also one of my favorite words)

Chapter Seventeen

It wasn't long before Gwen and Steve were interupted in the gym by Agent Hill striding in, her dark hair in its trademark bun.

"Fury would like you both in the conference room right now," she said.

"Why?" asked Steve. "Did we get something on Loki?"

"No," she answered, supressing a smile. "Stark's become a fugitive."

And with that, she left the gym.

Gwen turned to Steve, her eyebrows raised. Steve shrugged and went to change out of his sweatpants. Gwen waited, wondering what Tony did. She assumed it had to do with the plane crash, but she never actually thought they'd try to arrest him. Who in their right mind would try to arrest Tony Stark?

Once Steve was changed, the two walked quickly through the helicarrier to find the conference room where none other than Tony Stark was sitting, still in his Iron Man suit. He was drinking a juice box with the bendy straw that came with it.

"Don't judge me," he said as Gwen raised her eyebrows at him and sat down next to Clint. Natasha, Bruce and Thor were already in the room.

"Stark," said Fury who was standing in the front. "What made you think that shooting gas at a dozen police officers and shooting through the windows was a good idea?"

"I actually had a dream about it," he said, pointing at his head. "That's what made me think it was a good idea."

Fury ran a hand over his shaved head. "You are a wanted man now. Do you get that?"

"Oh, I get that. What made you think that I didn't know that?"

"Maybe it was your carefree attitude?"

"Maybe that's something you need to look into getting, Fury."

"The world is threatened, we don't have the time for this nonsense."

"How is it threatened if we can't find the threat?"

"We are doing the best we can."

"You're not doing enough!"

"Stop it!" exclaimed Gwen suddenly.

Everyone looked at her, ignoring the now flickering lights.

"Your face..." trailed off Natasha.

Gwen slipped out her phone and looked at the black screen. Her reflection scared her. There were lines in her face, not like wrinkles, but like cracks. The skin around her eyes was dark again.

It was just like before the accident.

What was strange though, was that Gwen hadn't even noticed the anger that was building. Watching Fury and Tony fight seemed to irritate her far more than she thought.

"Sorry," she mummbled, sinking down into her seat as if she'd become invisible this way. She felt something grasp her hand and looked to see Steve's hand around hers under the table. She looked over at him, but he was looking over at Tony and Fury, his cheeks slighly pink. Gwen smiled and could already feel herself calming down.

"Stark," continued Fury, "there is a warrant for your arrest."

"I know," answered Tony. "But once this whole Loki thing is over again, then I'm sure I can get the police to drop the charges."

"He planned this," added Gwen.

Everyone turned to her. Her face was back to normal now, though she was deep in thought, remembering something Loki had said to her when she first woke up in the warehouse.

"What?" asked Clint.

"Loki had said something about getting Tony in trouble for the plane crash," explained Gwen.

"There, y'see Fury?" asked Tony, pointing his juice box in Gwen's direction. "Loki admitted to it."

"So you think that Loki was trying to get Stark arrested?" asked Natasha.

"I think so," answered Gwen. "But wouldn't he expect Tony to avoid it?"

"True," agreed Fury. "There must be something more to it then."

"Like what?" asked Bruce. "D'you think he's planning something that has to do with Stark?"

"Maybe he just wanted him out of the way," suggested Clint.

"He would've killed him then," argued Steve.

"My brother would not have killed the Man of Iron," said Thor.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Here we go with the whole 'my-insane-homicidal-brother-comes-in-peace' thing again."

"Loki is not insane, he is just hurting."

"Seriously, they should call you 'Overly Accepting Thor.'"

"Anyway," interrupted Fury, "we'll have to keep a close eye on Stark Tower. I can't imagine Loki wanting to use it again for whatever he wishes to do."

"But then again, this is Loki," argued Bruce. "This is the god of mischief."

"What, so we should go looking in joke shops or something?" asked Tony. "It's not like we're dealing with the god version of the Weasley Twins. This guy's just nuts."

"You do not understand, Man of Iron," said Thor.

"And what is it I don't understand, then?"

Thor was silent for a moment. "I believe he only wants to rule Midgard because he wants to be equal to me."

"Enslaving the human race is always a great way to go."

"No, that is not what he wishes. I am to rule Asgard while he is to remain in my shadow. This is my fault."

"Hey, you're not the one making Loki's desicions," argued Steve. "That's all on him."

"But I made him this way."

"That's sort of true," said Bruce. "Villains aren't born. They're made."

Gwen couldn't believe how sad and serious the conversation turned. She had expected to leave the conference room, laughing at whatever Tony was up to. But now she couldn't help but feel bad for Thor. He obviously felt guilty. But then Gwen thought of an idea.

"What was Loki like?" she asked suddenly, leaning forward over the table. "Before he went crazy?"

Thor smiled in remembrance. "He was always a trickster. I can remember him changing my helmet into a real bird as he always made fun of the feathers on it."

"But then what happened?"

"Father explained to me that Loki is not Asgardian. He is a Frost Giant."

"Frost Giant?" asked Tony. "I admit, he seems pretty cold, but shouldn't he be shooting ice out of his hands or something then?"

"He grew up in Asgard. My father adopted him into our family. When he found out, something snapped."

Gwen thought for a moment. She tried putting the pieces of what Thor said together. Loki was made a villain because the truth was kept from him. And Thor had mentioned Loki lived in his shadow. So that obviously meant people never really saw Loki. They only saw Thor. That probably included their parents.

Gwen, of course, now felt sympathy for Loki, but she still remembered that he was the one who kidnapped her and took control of her mind. But she knew she wanted to face him again. Loki was someone who used words as his ultimate weapon. Maybe Gwen could turn that power against him.

After the meeting came to a conclusion, Gwen and Steve went back to her living quarters. They did not walk hand in hand, but Gwen couldn't help but think about holding it again. She seriously needed to stop this.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Steve as they stopped at her door.

"You already did," Gwen pointed out.

Steve rolled his eyes, but smirked slightly. "I was just curious...why did you join SHIELD?"

"Oh," answered Gwen. "Well, Tony convinced me to."

"That's weird, considering I get the feel that Tony isn't SHIELD's biggest fan."

Gwen licked her lips as she debated how to explain why she joined the agency.

"I'm not sure if you know or not, but Tony had been taken hostage in ... and that's where he built the Mark I," she explained. "He escaped and was rescued. He eventually built new versions of the Iron Man suit and became a superhero when he defeated a guy named Obediah who went sort of power crazy. I was working for Tony at this time, programming computers and whatnot at the Stark Industries building. Tony was eventually approached by SHIELD. Tony didn't want to join, of course. But then I was approached after he ended up bragging about how well I was with computers. Tony got this idea stuck in his head that I should join because he thought I'd be able to use their technology to find the doctors who experimented on me. Unfortunately, once you join SHIELD, you can't turn back. And so here I am."

Steve nodded.

Suddenly, Gwen noticed how close they were standing. Their faces were merely inches away from each other. She could've sworn that Steve had glanced down at her lips for a second and then back up to her eyes, but she wasn't sure. Then, as though coming back to reality, Steve back up and cleared his throat.

"Well," he said, "I guess I should be going."

"Steve, wait!"

He stopped just as Gwen put her arms around his middle and pulled him close to her. At first, it seemed Steve wasn't quite sure how to respond, but then he placed his arms around her and returned the gesture. Gwen let her head rest upon his chest and listened to his strong heartbeat.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For being there for me. Even though we haven't known each other that long."

Gwen could nearly hear Steve's smile and she just barely felt a gentle kiss from him being placed on the top of her head as though he wasn't sure if he should be doing that.

"No problem," he answered.

Gwen reluctantly pulled away, a smile stretching across her face. She backed up and entered her living quarters, leaving a beaming Steve outside in the hall.

Within the large throne room in the palace of Asgard, Odin sat upon his throne in silence. There were guards around, of course, but he still felt very lonely. Frigga was not beside him like she normally was. Instead she was with some healers as they tended to the wounded of Asgard that had come back from a recent battle.

But the worst part was not having his sons beside him. Despite Thor's arrogance when the god was younger, Odin had still loved him. Despite Loki's mischief throughout the centuries, Odin had still loved him. But now neither of them were in Asgard. And it pained the All-Father to know he was partially to blame for it.

Of course it had taken a while after Thor's departure when the realm came to know of the tesseract's and Loki's disapperances for Odin to realize what he had done. Actually, it was a conversation with Frigga that brought him to the light.

"He is your son!" exclaimed Frigga as Odin thought of ways that Loki would be punished upon his return.

"He has threatened Jotunheim and now for the second time, Midgard. He must be punished."

"Have you not realized why he is doing all of this?"

Odin paused as he looked at his wife in confusion. "Loki seeks power. That is why he wants Midgard for his own."

"No, my King," answered Frigga. "He wants equality."

"What?"

"He wants you to love him as much as Thor. That's what he's always wanted. Your approval, your acceptance. I have done my best to love them both equally. You must do the same."

After thinking for long time afterwards, Odin realized that Frigga was right. That was why Loki let go on the bridge. That was why he wanted to rule a realm.

He wanted to show his worth.

And Odin felt terribly guilty.

He was taken out of his thoughts, however, when a woman with long dark hair approached him. She got down on one knee and placed her right arm across her chest, making a fist over her heart.

"My Lord," she said.

"Yes, Lady Sif?"

"I have spoken with the prophetess Volla."

Odin supressed an eye roll. "And what is it she predicted?"

"She claims that all nine realms are in danger."

"Are they not always?"

"She said that someone seeks the Infinity Gauntlet."

This shocked Odin. He could clearly remember realizing the power of the Gauntlet and ordering for it to be separated from the gems and have them all placed randomly within Midgard so that no one could ever harness that power.

"And did she tell you who this person is?" asked Odin.

Sif shook her head. "No. She does not think him human. Or god. Do you think it is a Frost Giant?"

"No. The Frost Giants owe Thor a debt from when he destroyed the Bifrost to save Jotunheim. They would not attack."

"The elves? The dwarves?"

"No, they mean us no harm."

"Then who?"

Odin looked down and shook his head. "I fear we will not know until it is too late."