Back and forth, back and forth. The blue flame paused on her thumb, flickering in the air from her soft breathing. Waiting for it to stop she started again once more, back and forth, back and forth. Rolling the little blue cluster of sparks and heat into a ball and flicking it between her fingers. She changed its shape again in her palm, ball to flame to dagger and back to flame again.

Kayla sighed, closing her fist around the flame, effectively extinguishing it in a puff of smoke and sparks. It had been a week since she had gotten her strength back enough to use her aura, and she wasn't making any progress. She pulled her shirt up a little, inspecting what was left of the wound on her side, they had pulled the stitches out a few days ago. She shook her head, letting her soft black pajama shirt drop from her hand, replacing it with a pencil. She tapped the edge of it on the small desk they fixed over her hospital bed so she could write. Her eyes scanned over the pages of a book that lay open next to a long page of paperwork. Resisting the urge to set it on fire, she started scribbling down words in the blanks and reviewing the mission reports.

A knock on the door made her head snap up. "Come in" she replied to the knock without looking up.

The door clicked on its stopper and boot heels snapped on the tile floor as the guest walked up to her desk, tapping a black gloved hand on the corner. Her blue eyes swung up to the owner of the hand's face, Xavier.

"There has been a... complication" he stated, she sighed taking her glasses off and rubbing the skin between her eyes with her fore finger and thumb. "Your previous mission, we thought there was just one shadow, it turns there were two. The other has been growing and we think that the best time to face would be in New York. Here are the specks, come and get me when you feel good enough to go." He tossed a pile of papers onto her desk and with a stiff salute he turned and walked out the door.

Picking the first paper up off the desk she sighed again, placing her glasses back on her face. "God Xavier needs to lighten up, and start making the mission briefs a little shorter while he is at it." She started scanning through papers once again.

~6 months later~

Kayla perched on the edge of a building in the usually beautiful New York, smoldering remnants of her portal behind her matching the destruction below. People ran in different direction and screams echoed up into the sky, her head was filled with the stench of smoke and death. She had spent hours watching footage and timing the exact moment she would need to enter the Stark tower. She stood up watching as the group of superheros dubbed the Avengers, cornered the man who was once the sweet little boy she knew. Soft footsteps echoed into the building through the broken glass and the group whipped around, ready for action, save for Bruce and Clint. They kept their eyes trained on the figure clad in green, whose curious green eyes met hers in shock, fear and anger and behind it all a pleading cry from the little boy he once was. Tony readied his repulsers, despite her out-turned palms like white flags. A huge smile spread across the face of a certain thunder god.

"Kayla, it is so good to see you my friend" He swept her up into a bone crushing hug.

"Wow Thor, you've gotten big! But could you let me go your kinda crushing my ribs" She hit the floor with a thunk as she breathed in the sweet, sweet air again.

"I'm sorry mam, but you would be..." Soft blue eyes filled with nervousness and concern swept over her as she was helped up.

"Kayla, its nice to meet you" she replied shaking his hand "I'm not here to do any damage or anything and I know you want to deal with Lokes here." Loki blushed crimson at the mention of his childhood nickname and the many of the company snickered "but I hate to tell you that we have bigger fish to fry."

"You mean to tell me it's not over" Natasha replied

"Yeah, sorry, but your going to have to trust me, this is not something you can deal with, I need you to start evacuating people now."

"We just dealt with reindeer games and his alien invasion here and you mean to tell me it could get worse"

"Sorry mam, but I don't think you know how capable we are, and theres no way a small girl like you could handle something we can't"

"If I may interrupt" The group whipped around once more priming their weapons on Loki "she is right, not that my word has much credit, but I have seen her take down things that are alien to even Asguardians."

"I could prove it to you but honestly I don't think we have enough ti..." The building rocked as an explosion rang out. The Guardian's eyes widened enough that you could see whites around the entire iris. "It's here"

"Get people out of here, NOW! There is no time to argue" Black tendrils raced through the broken glass. A teal blue pane surrounded the group and sparked with light as the tendrils banged into the shield over and over like little fingers tapping on glass. "On second thought, don't leave. Its too late now."

"I want to help" Clint said eying the shield.

"All of us do." Natasha added grimace on her face. It was one of those I don't know who you are but, since you seem to be protecting this city we will help you.

"I don't know how you can help honestly, but Loki can." Their faces expressed more shock than was already there. "Loki, your magical powers are controlled by your aura, although you might not know that. Auric weapons are the only thing that can hurt these things." He nodded and added his green aura to hers in the shield to strengthen the cracks that were already forming. Millennia of practice since she had last since him had made him an accomplished controller of his aura.

"I have an idea that might or might not work." He said glancing at her, voice strained through the focus of maintaining the shield. "Thor remember when I coated Mjollner with that sticky green magic"

"Ay, but what of it brother?"

"Loki, your a genius. That just might work." With that she went around the group, coating Hawkeye's arrows, Thor's hammer, Captain America's shield and so on and so forth.

"Okay, thing is I need to get to that thing's head so I can destroy the source of it." They gazed at the monster as it finally came into full view, towering several stories over Stark Tower. "Now I can fly but I need a distraction or I will never make it up a story. Both Loki and I's strong auras make us a target so we will both need protection. The coatings on your weapons will wear off so it will be Loki's job to keep them up and running."

"Alright..." Tony nodded his helmet snapping down "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE"