"It's your own damn fault that she's gone so don't try to blame this team." Rogers pointed at Loki as they boarded the Quinjet. Loki shoved the captain out of his way and crossed his arms. He knew it was his fault. He knew that if he'd stuck to the plan it was likely that they would have Jak with them. But he refused to admit his flaws. He was still reeling from the events that had just transpired.

"It would have worked if-"

"No, it wouldn't have. We had a plan and you were way out of line."

"No one cares whose fault it is!" Stark stepped between them, "Did anyone else see Uriah Fenice make fire wings, flap after Jak, and then get hit by a car?!"

"Security footage shows he got shot in the face too," Romanoff said from the pilot's seat, "But he bounced right back up and flew off. Also, we need to discuss the fact that Uriah called Jak his daughter."

"He can't be her dad," the captain shook his head, "He looks just like Heinz Kruger. My memories of Jaklyn's dad are fuzzy, but I think I would remember if he was the Hydra agent who killed Dr. Erskine."

"Unless he wore a different face then," Stark pointed out, "These magical types are always switching faces. They're as bad as Natasha with that photostatic veil."

"Uriah is Jak's father," Loki confirmed, "The people I talked to said that he had been Johann Schmidt's ally and that he used to go by another name. He has magic like she does. When I spoke with him in the woods he was concerned that Jak and I were courting and disapproved. He was vetting dance partners for her. He's her father."

"But he was incinerated," Rogers insisted, "Jak's mother was very firm on that when she was trying to kill me. She says I burned him alive."

"Not to side with Jak's crazy mom, but it is weird that you can't remember incinerating a magical guy in the forties," Stark commented.

"An illusion, perhaps," Loki shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Uriah is Jak's father and now he's missing. Thor and Falcon have had no success in finding his home in the woods. We won't find him again unless he wants us to."

"That means our focus is Jaklyn," Rogers nodded, "And Bucky."

"Bucky didn't seem as crazy-psycho as usual at the end of the party there," Stark pointed out, "Do we think that he's on our side now?"

"You can't be sure with that guy," Romanoff shook her head, "I say we should continue to operate as if he's dangerous."

"Why is he following Jak's orders instead of Uriah's?" Loki asked, "He clearly helped her escape against her father's wishes."

"I saw his face before they got in the car," Roger's voice was raw with emotion, "It's him. He's back. At least partially."

"Still dangerous," Romanoff argued, "We don't know what his plan is, if he has one. He saw you were there and still ran."

"For that matter, Jak ran even after she saw Cap and Loki," Stark pointed out, "You think she would have seen Loki's performance and known there was a rescue in progress. I hate to say it, but I'm starting to wonder if she's just trying to start over. Maybe she got tired of parole hearings and being a janitor and took her chance to get out."

"She wouldn't," Loki and Captain Rogers spoke at the same time.

"Are you sure? Didn't she tell you she was glad to be getting away from you when she was supposed to be going to the city?" Stark raised a brow.

"How would you know about that conversation?" Loki seethed.

"You didn't think I would have Friday replay all of the final conversations Jak had before she disappeared?"

"Is that true?" Rogers turned to him, "Did she break up with you before she left?"

"No!" Loki felt like stomping his foot at these insects. They were so eager to villainize him. He found himself wishing Thor was there. His brother would stand with him even as the other Avengers turned on him.

"The kiss before she got in Uriah's car didn't exactly look like a break up kiss," Romanoff said, "Loki, tell us what happened. Did she seem like she wanted to run?"

"She was glad that we would be spending time apart only so that she could take a moment to find herself," Loki explained reluctantly. He hated to share any part of his private conversations with them, but they would not stop gnawing on this bone until he buried it. "She told me she wanted time away from me and all of you to ensure that she could still take care of herself. She said she never wanted to go back to being entirely reliant on another person as she had been when her mother controlled her. But she made it clear she would be coming back."

"So maybe she just got scared," Romanoff shrugged, "There was a lot going on back there and it seemed like she and Bucky already had a plan to get away."

"I did hear Bucky say they couldn't trust anyone," Rogers sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, "With everything happening so quickly, maybe they were worried that Loki and I were tricks of her father's. After all, we've been so slow to find her, why would she have any reason to expect us tonight?"

"We'll never know for sure what was going through her head unless we find her," Stark said, "So, where would she go if she was scared and trying to lay low? Or, where would Bucky go?"

"If I knew where Bucky's hiding places were we would have already had him back now," Rogers said. "Tony, can you work on accessing local security footage? See if we can run the plates of the car they took and alert law enforcement to keep an eye out for it?"

"We should leave the police out of this," Loki said, "Uriah might have paid off the local department. We don't need to help him find her."

"The owner is going to report it stolen anyway," Romanoff shook her head, "The police might be paid off, but there's a chance that they'll help us instead if we ask them."

"No one wants to be on the wrong side of the Avengers!" Stark was already at his computer, pulling up traffic cameras to look for the stolen vehicle.

"That's so untrue," Romanoff teased, "There are so many people over the years who have specifically chosen to be on the wrong side of the Avengers, right Loki?"

He didn't respond, instead sitting down and crossing his arms. He had no way to be helpful in locating Jak. His magic could not pull her out of thin air. He couldn't track her in the city. He'd ruined their chance at talking to her and getting her to follow them. The best he could do was sit and brew. There were many unpleasant thoughts to brew over.

The one that came to mind first was how he'd seen Jak and Bucky hold hands as they left the building. A reasonable voice tried to whisper to him that he shouldn't be upset. After all, she was just a woman. Not important, just a pleasant way to pass the time while he'd been stuck at the Compound. He'd had dozens of lovers over the centuries who he'd easily forgotten as days went by. He would eventually forget her too.

But when he closed his eyes, all he saw was her smile. He could picture her casting spells, dancing with her mop, and kissing him. And he knew he couldn't just forget her.

He supposed that meant he would have to get Bucky Barnes out of the picture.

"Ooh, hey, I didn't find Jak's getaway car, but it looks like Uriah collapsed in on the bank of the river," Stark exclaimed, "Let's go scoop him up!"

Loki's eyes flicked open as the Quinjet took off. He supposed Barnes could wait. First he needed to pummel the man who had taken Jak away in the first place. The man responsible for years of her misery. Misery that Loki was happy to return tenfold.

A note from the author: Don't you just hate it when your dramatic plan to rescue your girlfriend from the evil clutches of her father by convincing a bunch of Nazi's to bow down to you fails? And then Captain America has the audacity to blame you! SMH.

Thanks for reading! And special thanks to CrimsonWitch008 for your review. I'm glad to hear that it's not just a me problem with the email stuff! Hopefully FF gets that resolved soon.

Until the next chapter!