(A/N): How's it going guys? You all doing well? Feeling prepared for the upcoming holidays? Because I'm certainly not. I have so many things I still need to buy.

Shoutouts to aiyaiy13, AvengingAngeli, birningice, iChaos, Sora Loves Rain, Alyxia, peachx89, Westcoast222, lilphipp, Lost O'Fallon Girl, Catzandbookz8, toomanyfandoms98, and Guests for reviewing! I loved hearing all your thoughts- I especially enjoyed how a number of you were going "Hermione is awesome!" and the rest of you were going "Oh nooooooooooooooo". It was very nice seeing all the different perspectives.

This was actually a super tough chapter to get it out. I ended up having to rework it multiple times in order to get it to be what I wanted- though I'm still not sure I'm 100% happy with it. I've accepted how it turned out, but I also don't want to ever have to read it again for a good long while.

This chapter was unbetaed because no one feels up to the challenge to try and keep up with my crazy thought-train and plot ideas. Not that I really blame them- it can get pretty weird up in here.

Thank you all for reading! Enjoy!


"I need a favor."

Tony stopped tinkering with his suit and glanced up to see his sister standing next to him. "Do siblings do favors?"

Mia frowned. "Of course. Why wouldn't they?"

"Dunno," Tony shrugged. "I just thought they would do other stuff. Give demands, expectations, promises that'll never be kept- that sort of thing."

"Well, since I'd rather not have this be a promise that you won't keep, I'll have to settle on asking for a favor."

Setting down his tools, Tony sat up and stretched his arms above his head. "You have my attention."

Slowly sinking down on the stool next to him, Mia seemed to waver for a moment. "I know that Fury requested your help with a project he's currently working on," she finally told him. "Do you know exactly what it is he's trying to achieve?"

Her brother shrugged, but his eyes sparked with interest. "Considering that he's asking for my help designing a couple of repulsor engines, I'm going to guess some kind of aircraft, but I haven't actually met with him yet. Smart of him to ask me really, after the mess that happened on that last ship. Why? Do you know something?"

"I do," Mia admitted. "But I can't tell you what's going on."

Pouting, Tony demanded, "Why not?"

Mia pressed her lips together. "Do you trust me?"

Tony froze. He hadn't expected her to ask him that and he had never seen her look so serious before. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Do you trust me?" she pressed.

"Of course I do," he answered without hesitation. "Always. Do you trust me?"

"Always," echoed Mia. "That's why I came to you- I need a no-questions-asked favor."

Making sure to hold her gaze, Tony asked, "What do you need me to do?"


The plane shook as shockwaves from the explosion hit them.

Clinging to a handle hanging from the ceiling, Steve barked, "Tony! What's going on? What just happened?"

"MIA!"

Steve's stomach dropped at the agony and fear in the other man's voice. "What about Mia?" he asked urgently. "Is she alright?" When Tony didn't answer, Steve's voice grew louder. "Tony! Do you have eyes on Mia?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw Brock shifting closer to him and knew the other man was trying to listen in on the conversation.

"Steve," Natasha called, and her tone made him rush over to her. They were still a ways away from the Kree ship but it was now in sight and Steve was just able to make out a golden dot arching away from the now burning ship and towards the ground some distance away.

"Take us down!" he ordered, tightening the straps of his shield onto his back.

"We don't know who that is," the redhead protested. "You can't be sure that it's-"

"It's either her or it's someone who knows what happened on that ship. Take us down there, now." Turning away from Natasha, Steve strode to the back of the plane and hit the button so that the door would open.

"What is he doing?" he heard one of the newer STRIKE members shout over the howling wind. "We're too close to the ground for him to be able to parachute out!"

Steve watched as the golden light crashed into the ground, causing a large crater to form into the desert sand. As soon as they were close enough, Steve leapt from the jet and plummeted to the ground.

When he touched down, Steve rolled across the sand to spread the shock of the impact through his body without breaking anything. Once he began to slow, he jumped to his feet and raced over to the crater. He knew in his bones that it was Hermione down there and he didn't bother pulling his shield off his back.

Hopping down into the surprisingly deep hole, Steve froze at the sight of Hermione's seemingly lifeless body curled up in the sand. "No," he breathed, kneeling beside her. It took only a second but felt like an eternity to find her pulse. She was alive. There was something wrong with her though- her breathing was uneven, and she was flushed and covered in sweat.

"I've got her," he called through his comms. "I've got Mia. She's unconscious though and it feels like she's got a pretty high temp."

"Get her out of here," Tony ordered. "There are still survivors from the ship and I doubt any of them are friendly."

Steve hesitated, torn. The strategist in him knew that they needed to get Hermione out of the line of fire as soon as possible and that, since he was the one with her, it was only logical he be the one to do so. The soldier in him wanted to stay though- wanted to find the people who hurt her and rip them apart himself.

Gathering Hermione in his arms, Steve jumped up out of the hole in time to see Brock and the other STRIKE team members running towards him.

"We gotta get her on the jet," Brock ordered, eyes scanning the area.

Nodding sharply, Steve led the way back towards the quinjet.


Thor and the other Asgardian's jumped into action as soon as the ship was destroyed, moving as a well-oiled machine into the burning wreckage to fight the large number of Kree who had managed to survive.

Loki and Carol moved in the opposite direction, searching for Yon-Ragg. Carol knew his M.O. and led Loki away from the crash site and towards a collection of large boulders.

She couldn't feel Mia. That was the only thought running through Carol's head. She couldn't feel Mia and it was all Yon-Ragg's fault and where the fuck was her kid?

"I've got her," Steve called into the comms- Carol had easily been able to patch herself into their frequency previously to communicate with Stark. "She's unconscious though and it feels like she's got a pretty high temp."

"Get her out of here," Tony ordered. "There are still survivors from the ship and I doubt any of them are friendly." Carol glanced up and saw Tony zooming ahead of them in his suit.

"Go," Loki told her, and Carol flew up and past Stark in the blink of an eye.

"Steve," she called. "About how high is her temperature?"

If he was surprised to suddenly hear Carol's voice in his ear, Steve didn't show it. "It's gotta be well over a hundred."

"You can't take her onto the jet," Carol told him, eyes scanning the ground for her former commander. "If her temperature is that high then she's probably not fully in control of her powers."

"We can't just leave her there!" Tony argued.

"Thor and the others have the Kree warriors handled," she reminded him firmly. "And we're about to take out their leader. Just get Mia away from any civilians and wait for us to get there."

Steve was silent for a long moment before finally agreeing. "I'll get her to somewhere clear but I'm not leaving her." She knew it'd be pointless to argue with him so she didn't bother. If he ended up getting burned, then that was his own fault.

Spotting a shock of blue out of the corner of her eye, Carol zoomed forward and dropped to the ground with a thud. Crouching in the dirt in front of her was Yon-Ragg and as she stared at him, Carol felt so many emotions crashing into at her all at once that it almost made her dizzy.

Rage at what this man had done to her- had stolen from her. Horror at what he might have done to her daughter. Disgust for all the damage he had caused throughout his life but had never given a shit about. And finally- the biggest betrayal of all- a twinge of relief in the very back of her mind at knowing that he hadn't been killed the moment he'd landed on Hala when she'd sent him back all those years ago.

"Hello, Vers," he greeted evenly, staring up at her.

That twinge meant nothing now though and Carol could only think of one thing to say to him. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."


Tony landed on the ground in front of Thor. "Way to make an entrance," he greeted, scanning the destruction around them. "I gotta admit though, it might have made things a little easier on all of us if you guys had shown up earlier."

"Apologies, Friend Stark- we came as soon as we heard. I was not aware of the situation happening here until Lady Carol came to retrieve my brother."

"Yeah, about that." Tony lifted off his visor so that he could look Thor directly in the eye. "What the hell were you thinking bringing your psycho brother back to Earth?"

One of the men standing behind Thor snorted in amusement while the man in question just frowned at Tony in confusion. "I had thought it would be obvious. Mia is Loki's daughter and as such he had every right to join us in our efforts to retrieve her."

Tony snorted. "Maybe, but we can't exactly tell people that, now can we? So now it's just going to look like no one on Asgard cared that he brought an alien army to attack Earth."

"Loki was not the one responsible for leading the Chitauri army here- you know this!" Thor argued.

"But nobody knows that, Thor! And nobody can- if we tell anyone what happened, we'd have to explain just where we got that information from and that's not an option." Tony was feeling too many feelings right then and he was not enjoying the sensation. The main two emotions were also at war with each other because part of him wanted to rush to Mia's side and try to help Steve with her while the other wanted to find Carol and Loki and murder the asshole who hurt his baby sister. Finally, with a sigh, Tony reattached his helmet. "Steve's with Mia a couple hundred yards that way," he pointed. "Whatever that Kree bastard did to her fucked with her powers so we can't safely get her out of here yet. You go join them while I go get your brother."


Climbing to his feet, Yon-Ragg casually started, "I must admit, Vers, that this day did not go as I had thought it would."

"And how did you think it would go?" Carol spat.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to meet your daughter." Giving her a small smile, he asked, "Who's her father?"

Raising her hand, she shot a blast of energy at her former commander and he went flying back into the boulders.

"The question of who her father is is absolutely none of your business." Carol was almost shaking with anger. "You should be far more concerned about the fact that I'm her mother."

"Why wouldn't I be concerned with my own flesh and blood?"

"SHE IS NOT YOUR DAUGHTER!" Carol shouted. "SHE IS NOT YOUR DAUGHTER- SHE IS NOT YOUR ANYTHING. SHE IS MY DAUGHTER!"

"I may not technically be her father, but my blood still runs in her veins, just as it runs in yours," he taunted. "She's more like me than even you'd like to believe- everything that happened here just proves it. That girl blew up an entire ship, murdering innocent civilians who were also on board, just to save herself. I could see it in her eyes you know- she knew I wasn't lying and she made a choice. A choice you would never have made. But one I absolutely would have. I wonder who she got that from."

"I believe I can answer that," came Loki's smooth response. Stepping out from behind the rock Yon-Ragg was leaning against, Loki sneered down at the Kree. "So, you're the infamous Yon-Ragg. I'll admit, I have been wishing to meet you for quite some time."

"And you are?" Yon-Ragg asked, face turning disinterested.

"My apologies- how rude of me to not introduce myself. I am Loki of Asgard."

Yon-Ragg's eyes widened. "Really? And here I thought your father had locked you up and thrown away the key."

Loki chuckled. "Oh, I imagine that is what he had hoped to do but there were others there sympathetic to my plight. After all, how could they keep me locked up in good faith when my child's life was at stake?"


"Cap, what are you doing?" Brock asked, following after Steve as he abruptly veered away from the jet.

"Her temp's too high," Steve answered shortly, coming to a stop a few hundred yards away and carefully lowering Hermione to the ground. "We don't know what happened to her and I was warned that it might be too dangerous to try and move her right now."

Brock stopped a few yards away. "You think they did something to her?" Well, no one could say that the man wasn't quick on the uptake.

"What happens if anyone manages to slip past the others and come to retrieve her?" Brock prodded when Steve didn't answer him.

Steve didn't look away from Hermione. "Then we stop them."

She was still shaking. Her temperature was too high, she was covered in sweat, her eyes kept flickering beneath her closed lids, he had no idea where her uniform was- and the implications of just what had happened to it made him feel a little sick- and Steve didn't know how to help her.

God, he'd just left her. He'd abandoned Hermione to go to D.C. because she'd hurt his feelings and what if he never got the chance to make it up to her? Sure, they had cleared the air a bit before they went to Australia, but they hadn't really spoken since. What if this turned into another missed opportunity- just like Peggy. Except, this time, he'd be the one getting left behind.

You and Tony and Pepper and… you're my people. And I'm so tired of losing people. I can't lose any more.

He understood that feeling. Steve understood that fear.

Reaching out a faintly shaking hand, Steve carefully brushed some of Hermione's hair off her forehead. "I can't lose you," he whispered to her. "I'm tired of losing people too. So please," Steve pleaded, though whether it was to Hermione or to God he wasn't quite sure. "Please don't make me lose anyone else."

The sound of rushing air made both men look up in time to see Thor descending towards them. "Steve!" he shouted in greeting, landing a few feet away from them and striding over. "How is my niece?"

"Niece?" echoed Brock, raising a brow.

"Yeah," Steve scrambled to answer, shooting a quick glare at Thor. "Thor apparently sees Mia as family."

"Yes," the blond agreed- thankfully catching on quick. "Just as it was during my first trip to Midgard, my short time here previously still allowed me to form strong bonds with those I met."

The STRIKE captain nodded in understanding, but Steve could tell that he didn't really believe them. He had no idea how they were going to explain any of this to S.H.I.E.L.D. and he honestly wasn't looking forward to trying. They couldn't know about Hermione's true identity or her powers. Some of the agents- like Rumlow- might know that she had magic but that was it. Because if they knew any more, then things would get really bad really quick.

Hermione shifting drew everyone's attention and then she groaned.

"Hey," Steve called softly, leaning in. "Mia? Can you hear me?"

Her eyes slowly fluttered opened and she stared hazily up at them. "Steve?" she whispered hoarsely.

"I'm right here," he reassured her. His hands hovered over her without actually making contact. "Are you alright?"

"No," she whispered, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks, and she began to shudder violently.

"Hey," Steve called to her, cupping her face in his large hands. "Stay with me."

"Too hot," whimpered Hermione.

Steve looked at Thor, who was staring down at Hermione with a clenched jaw. "What's happening to her?"

"I do not know," the Asgardian admitted, voice tight. "These types of things were where my brother excelled, not I."

"Then where is he?" Steve demanded impatiently. "Where are the others? What's taking them so long?"


"You're her father?" Yon-Ragg asked in disbelief.

"What, you couldn't guess?" Loki taunted.

Turning to Carol, Yon-Ragg demanded, "How did you meet an Asgardian?"

She folded her arms over her chest. "That's really none of your business."

"Also, not really what we're here for," they heard Tony state as he landed on the ground next to Carol with a loud thud.

Yon-Ragg raised an eyebrow at him. "And, you are?"

"Oh, me? I'm just the one who's going to kill you if she doesn't do it first."

"How descriptive," the Kree snorted. "I'm trembling in my boots now."

"If you had good sense, you would be," Carol sneered. "But, let's be honest, that's one thing you've always lacked. After all, if you had any, you wouldn't have stuck around with the murderous Kree Empire for so long."

That managed to get a rise out of the Kree's former shining star of an officer. "Unlike you, Vers, I don't turn my back on my people in order to make myself stand out. What is it you're considered now, the protector of the universe?"

Carol gave a harsh bark of laughter. "Yeah, no. You see, I'm self-aware enough to know that I'm no protector. Because if I was, I would have killed you all those years ago after I ripped a few of Ronan's ships apart. Instead, I left you and him alive to terrorize the galaxy. I didn't protect those people who you and he went on to hurt. I didn't save those lives."

"But, when we kill you now," Tony interjected, "I think it'll probably be spun as 'protection'. I just want you to know though, that us killing you actually has nothing to do with protection and everything to do with revenge."

"You went after my daughter," Loki hissed, moving to stand beside Carol. "And you'll pay for that mistake with your life. The fact that your death will ensure that no one else find out about her, and may help save a number of other lives, is just a bonus."


By the time Loki, Carol, and Tony reached them, the Warriors Three and Sif had already joined the group.

"How is she?" Carol demanded, crouching down by Mia's head and resting a hand on her forehead.

"Her temperature went up again and she keeps going in and out of consciousness," Steve answered. "You guys find the guy who did this?"

"Yep," Tony answered, pulling off his helmet. "He's not gonna be a problem for us anymore."

"Her temperature is way too high," Carol interrupted. Glancing over at Rumlow for a brief moment, she continued, "If it goes up any more…"

Thor glanced over at Loki, who seemed almost frozen in place. "How do we go about fixing this?"

Carol debated their options. The easiest way would be to wake Mia up and have her release her powers until her temperature stabilized- Carol was pretty sure it was the unused energy that was wreaking havoc on Mia's internal systems. However, since S.H.I.E.L.D. was here, that wasn't an option. "Can you still lower your core temperature?" she finally asked Loki.

Loki blinked and glanced at Carol. "I can," he finally answered. "Do you believe that will be enough?"

"Enough for now," she answered shortly. "We just need to keep it from going up until we get her out of here."

"Sorry, but who are you?" Rumlow finally interrupted, looking between the blond and Loki.

"Huh, I thought the uniform would have kind of given that away," Carol commented dryly as Loki moved forward, his uniform shimmering into a plain pair of black pants and a thin white shirt. Bending down, he pulled Mia into his arms. His skin began to take on a faint blue tint and Mia sighed at the contact, shifting closer to the man and automatically burying her face into his shoulder.

It only took a moment for it all to click for Brock. "You're the one who took care of the nuke last year in New York."

Carol smirked but said nothing as she followed Loki and Steve to the quinjet.

"Carol," Natasha nodded in greeting when the blond reached the plane, ignoring Loki entirely.

"Natasha." She didn't know much about the other woman except that Mia seemed to dislike her and that she was apparently one of Fury's favorites. Considering all the things Fury had recently pulled, Carol wasn't sure that that was a good thing. Clint seemed to trust her though and Carol had grown to like the archer.

"Natasha," Thor rumbled in greeting.

"Long time no see. Who're your friends?"

As introductions were made, Loki sat down in the closest available seat- ignoring the agents standing around him with their hands on their guns. Carol sat next to him and stared at their daughter. "Anything?" she asked him softly.

"Her temperature hasn't gone up."

"Small comforts."

"Where to?" Natasha asked Steve, walking towards the front of the jet.

"We need to go to D.C. to-" Brock started.

"Take us to Manhattan. Now." Tony interrupted.

For a moment, it seemed like Brock was about to argue the point before he finally just shrugged. "Alright then. I'll call Fury and let him know. Just out of curiosity though, anyone want to explain just what Mia was doing out here?"

"No," Tony and Steve answered at the same time.


Mia's head rolled off of Loki's shoulder and she moaned. When her eyes opened, she stared upside down at her mother. "Mom?" she whispered, too quiet for any of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to hear.

"Hey," Carol responded softly. "You're okay- you're safe."

"Mom," Mia repeated, voice choking on a sob. "Mom. I think I… Mom, I think I really messed up."

"Shh," she chided softly. "Everything going to be okay." Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to Mia's forehead as she had done thousands of times before when her daughter was growing up.

Mia flinched. "I killed them. I knew there was people on there and I killed them." She started to hyperventilate. "I killed them. I killed them-"

"Stop," Loki ordered firmly, shifting Mia so that her head was upright again. "You did what you had to in order to survive. You did nothing wrong." When it seemed like she was going to continue arguing, he softly told her, "Sleep now. All will seem better tomorrow."

Carol watched with sad eyes as Mia did as she was told, eyes immediately slipping closed again.

"What's she talking about?" Tony asked quietly, eyes glued to his sister's face.

When it was clear that neither Carol nor Loki were going to answer, Thor stated, "That is a discussion best had elsewhere."

Steve didn't say anything- didn't even move slightly in his spot across from Loki and Mia. What happened before didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that Hermione was going to be alright.


Pepper and Fury were waiting on the roof when they landed at the Tower. As soon as the door opened, Pepper was racing onto the plane.

"Where is she?" she demanded before spotting Mia in Loki's arms. Not pausing for even a moment, Pepper moved to kneel in front of the Trickster and placed a hand on top of Mia's head. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"She will be," Carol reassured, moving to shift the woman far enough out of the way for Loki to stand. "We need to get her inside."

"Carol," Fury greeted. "Glad you could make it."

"Save it," she snapped, walking off the ship with Pepper and Loki. "You want to hear about what happened- ask Rumlow or Natasha."

"What do you need?" Tony asked, stepping up behind them along with Steve.

"You finished up her training room?" Carol asked softly.

He knew exactly what she was referring to. "Yeah, it's right near Banner's Hulk-out room. This way." Tony stepped in front of them and brought them through a hall to a flight of stairs and down a floor.

This floor only had two doors, one on either side of the hall, and one side was paneled with windows looking into the room. The room behind a bright green door was clearly for the Hulk while the other plain silver door must have been for Mia.

Throwing open the door, Tony ushered Steve, Loki, and Carol through but stopped Thor and his companions before they could enter. "Nope, sorry, but you're gonna have to wait out here." When Thor started to protest, Tony cut him off. "Look, normally I would just let you in but if I let you in, I'm guessing your buddies will want to come in too and that's too many people- she needs breathing room. So, you wait out here and watch and, if Fury tries to come down here, use whatever force you deem necessary to keep him and his minions away."

There was a tense moment of silence before Thor finally nodded. "Very well then."

Watching him closely for another second to make sure he was being honest, Tony finally turned on his heel and walked into the room.

As soon as he entered, Loki demanded, "Is this room strong enough to withstand Mia using her powers."

Scowling, Tony answered, "Yes. She and I designed it ourselves so that she'd have a safe place to practice- not that she's actually been using it. Why?"

"Whatever Yon-Ragg gave her is affecting her powers- that's why her temperature is so high. She needs to release the energy building up in order for her body to stabilize itself," Carol explained as Loki set Mia down on the padded floor. "It's going to be too dangerous for any of you to be in here while we do this, so you'll have to wait outside."

"I'm not leaving her," Tony said stubbornly.

"You stay in here and you're going to end up fried to a crisp," the blond told him bluntly as she moved to kneel beside her daughter. "Even Loki can't be in here while we do this. We're going to be releasing a large amount of energy is a short span of time- I'm sure you can figure out how that'll end for your if you stay."

Steve glanced at Tony, unsure what to do. He also didn't want to leave Hermione but, if Carol was right, then they didn't really have a choice.

Tony seemed to realize that too and he threw his arms in the air. "Fine! But I will be right outside the door."

Carol squinted at him. "What exactly do you think is going to happen here if you leave? She's my kid, remember?"

Without saying another word, Tony marched out of the room. Before following after him, Steve knelt down next to Hermione and brushed his fingers over her cheek. When she stirred and squinted up at him, he forced a smile and said, "Be careful."

"Too late for that," Hermione responded, coughing lightly.

Steve's heart clenched at the pain in Hermione's voice, but he forced himself to stand up and walk away.

"You're sure of this?" Loki asked Carol. "Despite Stark's claims, there's no guarantee that this room will be able to handle the amount of energy you will be releasing. If it does not, you could destabilize the entire building and kill almost everyone inside."

"I know," Carol sighed, shifting Mia so that her head was in her lap. "It would have been safer to do this outside but with all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents around, that really wasn't an option. I'll just have to make do- if I help Mia release her excess energy at a lower level but for a longer amount of time, it should have the same effect as it would having her release it all at once."

"You hope."

"You got a better idea? Because I am all ears."

Mia was out of time though. Her body began to faintly glow and her eyes snapped back open, her brown iris' completely hidden by the glowing light.

"Fuck," Carol swore. "Get out of here, Loki!"

For once, Loki did as he was told, racing out of the room and slamming the door behind him just a wave of energy exploded out of his daughter.


"Pack a bag," Maria ordered her daughter, pushing her out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

Monica twisted around to stare at her mother in confusion, even as she took the stairs two at a time. "What? Why? What's going on?"

"Just got a call from Fury," the older woman snapped. "Carol's back."

"And that's causing you to freak out why?"

"Because a Kree warship was also just spotted in Utah."

Separating at the top of the stairs, each woman went into their rooms and grabbed their go bags. They always had one at the ready and it would only take them a minute or so to finish collecting anything else they wanted to bring. "It's been almost 20 years," Monica called to Maria. "Why are they back now?"

"If I had to guess, I think it has something to do with what mini-Carol did in New York." Maria remembered how worried Carol had been after everything went down- scared that someone would find out about her daughter. She couldn't know for sure that the Kree were here for Mia, but Maria had the sinking feeling that it was all connected. If anything happened to her baby girl, Maria wasn't sure what Carol would do. Either way though, Maria wouldn't leave her oldest friend to face the aftermath alone.

"Where are we headed?" Monica asked when they met back in the hall.

"New York City. We're going to pay a visit to Stark Tower."


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