That morning...

"We're gonna have breakfast, Kara. Come on.", Nat said, pointing towards the outside of her door. Kara merely responded with a groan, pulling the covers over her head. Natasha rolled her eyes, prying the sheets away from her grasp.

"Hey!", Kara whined, but rather hoarsely due to her voice cracking. The redhead's heart sunk at the sound. "You've got to eat.", she scolded, arms crossed over her chest.

"Please, Nat. I don't want to see him, or both of them, for that matter.", the brunette pleaded, not looking her in the eyes. Romanoff sighed in defeat. "I'm gonna bring you some bread, or whatever's on the table, then. Wait here." Upon saying those words, she shut the door.

Kara roughly lay back down on the bed, shutting her eyes as she let the tears escape her eyes once more. She had cried herself to sleep while in Nat's room. She thought all would be better in the morning, but memories of last night kept flooding her brain, that it was impossible to be 'okay'.

As Nat exited her room, she found the rest of the team already gathered around the table, all with judging looks at Loki and Steve. Natasha awkwardly shifted gazes from one teammate to the next, cautiously pulling out a chair for her to sit on.

"Where's Kara?", Loki asked, his hands on his lap and his eyes boring into the spy's own. The others focused their gazes on Romanoff, who simply shrugged at him. "She doesn't want to talk to you.", she replied sternly, reaching towards the pieces of white bread on one of the plates.

"That wasn't the question-"

"Obviously, she doesn't want to answer it, Laufeyson.", the soldier interjected, jaw clenched at the god. Loki paid him no attention, but was tracing circles on the handle of one of his daggers.

Thor sensed the tension, and attempted in diverting the topic. "Agent Barton has something to announce about Director Fury.", he began, patting Clint on the back, causing the latter to almost choke on his drink. "Gee, thanks Thor."

"Well?", Rhodey inquired, after setting his coffee mug down. Clint sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I woke up extra early today since I remembered something."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "What is it?", she asked, cocking an eyebrow. Clint shrugged. "You remember the secret-spy thingy we did back in Sokovia, when Ultron captured you?", he began, quoting Tony's words. It was the billionaire's turn to roll his eyes.

"Get to the point.", Tony stated, leaning back on his chair with his arms behind his head.

"What I'm saying is, we could do it again on Fury, to find out where he is.", Clint continued, a smug grin on his face. The rest of them had wide eyes. "That's... actually the best idea you've contributed, Barton.", Sam remarked, making Clint stand up and bow in exaggeration. "Thank you, thank you. You're all too kind.", he mused, much to the entertainment of the others.

While The Avengers took the time to hurl playful insults at Clint's way, all Loki and Steve could think of at the moment was the woman who had managed to crawl her way in their hearts, and how they screwed their chances with her. Steve watched as Loki stood up from his chair, leaving them to their jokes and laughter.

He proceeded to the balcony, his and Kara's favorite spot in the building. Loki bowed his head in sadness, gripping the railings tightly due to his frustration at himself. "I should have known better.", he told no one in particular, massaging his temples in an attempt to calm down.

How he just wanted to barge in Natasha's door and zip straight to Kara, pin her down on the bed and kiss her like there was no tomorrow, a way of apology he knew Kara adored in the romantic-comedies she watched. Sadly, in real life, he was aware of how she wanted the man she loved to respect her boundaries, to use his gentle words rather than his mouth, to give her time to heal and allow her tend to her emotional wounds on her own.

This was not a rom-com film.

A presence of another individual broke him from his thoughts. From the corner of his eye, Loki glared at the man, trying so desperately to maintain his composure, dismissing thoughts of him pushing Steve to his long and pathetic death.

As the god turned on his heel to leave, a voice stopped him in his tracks. "I came here to apologize.", Rogers started, catching the prince off-guard. Loki slowly met his gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"Do my ears fool me?", he asked, making Steve scoff. "I'm not repeating that.", Steve continued, shifting his body and staring off at the distance. Loki returned to his original spot.

"When I found her here last night, she was crying her eyes out.", the soldier continued, causing a sharp pain to pierce Loki's cold heart. "Do you mind if I ask what happened?"

The prince sighed. "She caught Wanda and I at the wrong place, wrong time and wrong context.", he replied, clasping his palms together. Steve nodded. "You and Wanda aren't a thing, right?" Loki's head snapped in his direction.

"Good heavens, no. I view her as a little sister of sorts.", he responded, obviously quite uneasy at the notion. Rogers chuckled at this. "Good, 'cause you really don't wanna mess with Vision."

It was Loki's turn to chuckle. "Or rather, he would not dare mess with me.", Loki boasted, earning an eye roll from Steve.

"It seems you have a... 'thing' for Kara, though.", Loki added, emphasizing the word. Steve bowed his head and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I just... she's so broken and pure, that I just want to help her.", Steve admitted, and the awkwardness returned.

"I am aware of that, Captain.", the Asgardian replied, agreeing with him. "However, I still do not find it amusing how you took advantage of her rage with me by stealing a kiss from her.", he continued, his tone laced with firmness and tepidity.

Without warning, Loki threw a jab aimed straight for the soldier's jaw, causing the latter to fall back in a daze and wince in pain. "That, Captain...", he began, crouching down to his height. "... is for kissing the love of my pathetic and miserable life."

Steve didn't reply, nor could he due to the shock and discomfort he was feeling at the moment. "I will let this slide, Laufeyson.", Rogers finally stated, pointing a finger at the prince, who merely shrugged in response.

The sound of footsteps rushing their way broke their somewhat civil conversation. Both men turned to look at the source, only to see Vision and Thor seemingly relieved at having found them. The android and the God of Thunder exchanged glances of bewilderment at the sight of the two together.

"Are we... interrupting something?", Vision asked, eyes flickering from Thor to the other two men. Thor was pleased at seeing his brother making amends with Steve, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Vision, still confused at what was going on, mimicked Thor's actions.

Loki let out a heavy sigh. "Stupid oaf.", he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes at his brother's childishness. Steve did the same at Vision's antics. "I think that would be an understatement.", the blond soldier continued.

Thor squinted his eyes at Rogers. "Captain, what is that on your jaw-"

"What were you about to tell us?", Steve cut him off, making Loki snicker to himself.

"Oh. Clint and Natasha told us to get you, both of you.", Vision answered nonchalantly. Steve and Loki raised their eyebrows, edging him to give them more details.

Vision sighed. "They found him. They found the son of a b-"

"Language!", Steve yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "By the Norns, Vision! Hanging with Tony has not been helping you, at all.", Thor expressed, cleary not expecting his choice of words.

Loki, on the other hand, had wide eyes. "We have no time to waste then."

-x-

A knock on the door awoke Kara from her nap. Startled, she sat straight up, making her feel nauseous. "Yeah?", she asked as she held her head in her hand, trying to see properly.

She caught a glimpse of a familiar clump of red hair approaching her. Kara smiled to herself upon seeing her. "Hey, I brought some bread, as I promised.", Nat spoke softly, laying the tray of food in front of her friend.

"Thanks.", Kara said, taking a good look at the plate of white bread and a glass of orange juice on the tray. "You're the best, Nat.", she remarked, taking a bite of the slice of bread. The spy grinned sympathetically at her.

"Don't thank me yet. Now, eat up.", Romanoff stated, the last sentence coming out more as an order than a request. The brunette furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"

"We found Fury. For real this time.", she answered while standing up. Kara was surprised, unable to chew her food. "Wow. That's... great.", she said, a noticeable change in her mood.

Natasha cocked an eyebrow. "What's with the face?", she asked, placing her hands on her hips. Kara shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm just... gonna be left all alone here again.", Kara replied, adding a light chuckle at the end.

Natasha shook her head in disagreement. "What are you talking about? You're coming with us."

That was enough for Kara to choke on her drink. "Pardon?", she asked, immediatelt regretting her chose of words. "Great, I sound like him now.", she reprimanded herself, internally smacking her forehead.

Nat smiled. "Tony!", she called out, leaving the room. In a matter of a few minutes, the genius entered the room, holding something behind his back.

Kara tried to get a peek of it in suspicion, but Tony won't budge. "Listen, kid. You gotta promise me not to tamper with this, okay? It's imperative that this be given the most absolute care.", he stated with pleading eyes, much to Kara's confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about-"

"I think you're ready enough. Consider this a gift from all of us.", Tony added, walking towards the bed. Kara simply stared at him, no idea what he was rambling on about.

With utmost gentleness, Tony ultimately set the thing behind his back on the bed, swiftly turning around and exiting the room. "Hurry up. Cap says we're leaving in ten minutes."

Kara dropped the bread in her hand, gobsmacked at the sight of her brand-new suit laying on the bed. Her hands were trembling as she reached out to caress it, her fingers delicately running across the cloth and protective gear.

"It's about damn time.", she remarked, a look of determination evident in her face.

-x-

"Everyone ready?", Steve asked, looking around to see if all his teammates were present. As a result, he gained a bunch of "ready" answers and nods in agreement. Loki, on the other hand, was searching for only one person in particular.

Wanda, upon noticing his restlessness, patted the god on the shoulder. "Girls take longer to change, Loki.", she joked, trying to ease the tension. The prince gave her a small smile. "She'll come. I know she will.", Wanda continued, reassuring her friend.

"I think that's her right now.", Vision said, cutting both of them off. As soon as the words escaped the android's lips, both of their heads shut straight up, getting a full view of a geared up Kara wearing her very own silver suit, accented with violet hues. Her usually free brown hair was now tied up in a clean ponytail, a few curly strands of her framing her face.

"Hey, has anyone seen Ka- wow.", Tony remarked, the iron mask covering his face lifting up, allowing him to see her with his own eyes. This caused the rest of the Avengers to look in her direction, all in awe of the sight before them.

Nat walked towards her with pride in her eyes. "You look so badass.", she said in a whisper only audible to both of them. Kara smiled at this. "So this is what it feels, being in a catsuit.", she commented, admiring her clothes.

"Ehem.", Tony coughed, making Kara look at him. With an amused expression plus a roll of her eyes, she hugged the billionaire tight, catching him off-guard a bit. "Thanks, Tony.", she stated with a smile. Stark reciprocated her gesture.

"My, my, Lady Kara. What an upgrade!", Thor remarked, giving her a high-five. Kara giggled at hic actions. "Awesome.", Clint muttered, nodding his head and clapping slowly.

All of her teammates had wide grins on their faces, but as Kara's eyes landed on Steve, her smile faltered. She held his stare for a moment, but just as the soldier opened his mouth to say something, she tore her focus away from him...

... to Loki.

Everyone grew silent the moment the God of Mischief's feet moved closer to Kara. "We'll... wait in the jet.", Rhodey said, ushering everyone out of the scene. Kara didn't notice Wanda linger a bit, staring at her with longing eyes, until she was led away by none other than Vision.

"You look...", Loki started, finding an appropriate adjective to describe her. The brunette looked at him expectantly, arms crossed over her chest. "...", he trailed off, palms suddenly growing sweaty.

"When did I perspire?", Loki asked himself, weirded out about his body reactions.

Kara scoffed at this. "Well, if it takes that long to find something to describe me, don't bother.", she interjected, brushing past him rather forcefully. Loki shut his eyes at this, letting out a sigh of defeat. He followed her as she walked towards the jet, not daring to engage her in conversation.

-x-

"We're here, everyone.", Rogers said, tapping a sleeping Clint harshly on the shoulder. Everyone gave him funny looks as he woke up. "Seriously, Clint? Sleeping on the job?", Natasha asked, unamused. "Technically, there's no job yet, so..."

"Oh, for goodness' sake.", Sam remarked, unbuckling his seatbelt. The captain signalled everyone to huddle together and listen to him before they left. "We have a plan. So, we follow it. Don't make any improvisations unless, and only unless, necessary.", he ordered, voice with all seriousness.

"By necessary, you mean 'life and death situation', right?", Wanda asked, an eyebrow raised. Kara rolled her eyes, while Steve nodded.

"Three teams again: Stark, your team's in charge of freeing the test subjects...", Rogers continued, looking at him dead in the eye. "My team is in charge of locating Fury...", he added, nodding towards his colleagues. "... and Thor...", he continued, making the God of Thunder meet his gaze. "... beat the sh*t out of anyone who gets in our way."

Everyone exchanged looks feigned looks of horror and appalment. The soldier squinted his eyes at them. "What-"

"LANGUAGE!", they all cried out in unison, laughter erupting afterwards.

"Shh! You imbeciles are going to blow our cover!"

-x-

As they hid behind the trees a few meters away from the compound, the team immediately caught sight of the number of security cameras placed outside the gates.

"Strucker sure doesn't want anyone getting past him, does he?", Clint commented, eyes flickering from one camera to another. Natasha, who had her binoculars with her, nodded in response. "Cap, you sure you want a stealthy approach to this?", she asked him through her earpiece.

"I'm sure. We have no idea how many men are in there.", Steve answered, also studying the perimeter. "So, what do you suggest we do, Rogers?", Loki asked.

"Well, it's why we brought her, isn't it?", the blond soldier replied with a smug grin on his lips, peering over at Kara, who looked at them with wide eyes. "Me?"

"Everyone, come over.", Steve commanded. In a few seconds, the whole team was gathered around them, awaiting the next set of orders. "Kara, you need to use your powers and get us in there.", he said.

All eyes were on the brunette at the moment. Kara fiddled with her fingers in nervousness. "I haven't tried it with all of you. I don't think I can do it-"

"Yes, you can.", Loki interrupted. The rest fell silent, fighting the smiles breaking out on their faces. "Stop questioning your worth and show everyone how worthy you are.", the god continued in hope of encouraging her to listen to him.

"I think this is the first time Loki said anything I can say I am proud of.", Thor commented, earning snickers from his teammates and a punch on the shoulder from his brother. Kara tried to hide the smile threatening to show, shaking her head a few times.

After one deep inhale, she let out a heavy sigh. Looking at all of them, she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "All right, let's do this." Cheers were heard from the group, and they positioned themselves behind her.

"I need someone to hold me, two people on either of my hands.", she said. In an instant, Loki stepped forward to take hers in his own, making Kara look at him with slight annoyance and a hint of disgust. "What? You said anyone.", he replied, smirking at her.

Another hand grabbed her own, making Kara regret her words even more. "Great. This is just peachy.", she said through gritted teeth. Wanda sheepishly adjusted her grasp. "Hi.", she uttered, voice barely above a whisper.

Rolling her eyes, she set her eyes forward. "The rest of you, hold on to them. This might take a while, so be patient with me.", Kara added.

"Ew, why do I get to hold hands with you?", Rhodey whined as Tony grabbed his best friend's hand, causing the billionaire to cock an eyebrow in offense. "What are you talking about, we do this all the time.", he answered, earning teasing remarks from the others and a shudder from the lieutenant.

"I didn't know your hands were so soft, Captain.", Natasha joked, smiling flirtatiously. Clint gave them a weird look. "Stop flirting in front of me, Nat."

"GUYS, SHUSH!", Kara scolded, instantly shutting everyone up. The brunette focused her head straight ahead again, relaxing her thoughts.

"You're gonna screw this up, just like you always do-", she interrupted her own thoughts before letting them get to her. "Not this time, b*tch.", she mused, smiling wide and hell-bent on doing conquering her demons.

As she opened her eyes, she took a step forward. "Everyone, walk with me."

Upon saying so, the Avengers found themselves mimicking Kara's steps: right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot.

"Are we invisible now?", Sam asked, looking at his own body but still seeing himself. Clint shook his head. "I don't know. I kinda feel different, though-"

"Shush! Kara needs to concentrate!", Wanda scolded, whipping her head at the two men, who pressed their lips in a straight line at her words. "Okay, geez.", Clint muttered.

All of the team members looked warily at the huge electric gate in front of them. Tony gulped in nervousness. "That is one big-ass gate.", he remarked as they all continued to move forward.

Loki felt Kara's grip on his hand tighten as they inched closer and closer to the gate. With a look of pure determination on her face, the god gave her a gentle squeeze of encouragement, causing the brunette to avert her focus from the gate on to him.

The Asgardian didn't need to say any more words, as he shot her a soft smile and nodded her way. Kara blinked at this, suddenly feeling a wave of confidence surge through her body.

"Hold on tight, everyone.", she ordered, picking up the pace as they headed straight for the gate. As they were centimeters away, everyone had their eyes closed, bracing for any sort of impact.

Instead, they didn't feel anything.

The Avengers slowly opened their eyes, only to see that they had made it past the first barricade. The rest of them gasped in awe and amazement at their friend, some uttering words of praise and appreciation at what she's done.

All these brought smiles to Kara's face. "Thanks, guys. But, it's not over yet-"

Just before she could finish her sentence, a trio of HYDRA agents stopped in front of them. This gave the group mini heart attacks, and Kara could feel beads of sweat forming on her temples. The superheroes found themselves frozen in position, as more and more agents came into view.

"Everyone, keep calm. No one say a word.", Wanda spoke in each member's heads, watching them with all intent.

The HYDRA agents then began walking, but not away. In fact, they were walking straight through them. "Let's hope this works.", Kara thought, shutting her eyes and calming her nerves once more.

The agents passed through them like they were merely spirits floating in the air. As Kara opened her eyes, she saw how agents were coming and going from different directions, all walking through them like they weren't even there.

"This is stupefying.", Vision commented, a huge grin on his face. "She really is something.", he added, whispering to Loki, whose lips were twitching upwards in a smile.

"Let's find Fury.", Natasha stated, an undaunted expression on her face.

-x-

"How are you doing, my sweet?", Strucker's sick voice echoed through the walls of the room. Blaire rolled her eyes, but held back any retort from escaping her lips.

"I'm doing fine, Werner.", she answered blankly, wrapping a bandage around her wrists. The bangles The Avengers had given her were so tight, dark and painful bruises appeared after she had taken them off.

Werner hummed in response. "You're friends have missed you.", he added, extending his hand to the direction where Sabrina, Max, Nathan, and Rick stood. Sabrina inched closer to Blaire, a mischievous smirk plastered on her face. "It's a shame we had to knock that Kara girl out, though.", the redhead uttered, twirling her hair around with her index finger.

Strucker shurgged, but Blaire felt her fists balling up. "I gave her a chance to come home. Every person in the room knows what happens when you don't grab the opportunity hanging right in front of you.", Werner continued, cracking his neck, making him groan in satisfaction.

"This would have been easy if Rick here did his f**king job.", Nathan interjected, glaring at the large man. As a response, Rick's eyes widened, huffing several times before lunging towards the fit young man. Upon Strucker's command, the taser on Rick's neck went off, sending him into shocking and falling flat on the floor.

"Nice work, Doctor.", Werner remarked, smiling evilly at Bruce, who had made himself visible to the rest of the team. Bruce responded with a curt nod, too afraid to speak what was on his mind. "Keep this up and this antidote...", Werner began, pulling up a familiar vial from his jacket pocket and waving it at Bruce's face. "... is as good as yours.", he continued. Banner stared at the vial, feeling his arms rising up to reach them.

Before he could, though, Strucker tucked it back in his pocket and away from Bruce's reach, much to the disappointment of the scientist.

Just as Werner was basking in his complacency, the sirens started going off. The enhanced individuals beside him were confused and quite edgy at the strange sounds. "Has this happened before?", Max inquired, he and his colleagues in their battle stances. Werner gritted his teeth. "Yeah, in my deplorable excuse of a father's laboratory. Come.", he ordered, running his ID through the door, allowing them to exit.

Pointing a finger to Bruce, Strucker warned him to stay put. "No one comes in and out of this unless it's one of us. Keep those tests up and running.", he spat, to which the awkward scientist. nodded at.

As Werner and his Dark Avengers passed the hallways, they were met with the sight of whining and crying HYDRA agents, all on the floor and with fearful looks in their eyes. Those who were silent were either knocked unconscious or badly-beaten.

"What the f**k happened here?!", Werner yelled, grabbing one agent by the collar and shaking him violently.

The agent merely continued wailing out of horror. "Sir, get it out of my head! I can't take this anymore!", he begged, tears streaming down his face like waterfalls. Werner's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement, releasing his grip and letting the poor agent fall down on the floor with a loud thud. Strucker watched as the other agents rambled on about their fears, pathetically clinging on to him for some sort of relief from their nightmares.

"GET THE F**K OFF OF ME!", he yelled. Without saying another word, Max clasped his hands together, sending an energy wave throughout the hall, and giving them stunning blows.

"She's here. The witch.", Sabrina commented, looking around warily. "Nice trick, I'll hand her that-" Sabrina was interrupted by a slap on her left cheek. "I did not bring you out here to commend that b*tch for her work. Do what you were all made for, and find that witch!", Strucker cried out, the veins showing on his neck due to his intense rage.

The Dark Avengers did as they were told and headed their separate ways. Werner, on the other hand, strode towards Fury's holding cell.

Opening the door startled the director from his moment of solitude. Werner didn't give an ounce of care, briskly approaching Fury with bloodshot eyes.

Strucker harsly wrapped a hand around the man's neck, tightening his grip gradually. "What did you f**king do?", he asked, voice dangerously low. Fury didn't speak, he couldn't even if he wanted to. Only gags escaped his lips.

"You f**king called them, didn't you? You f**king smartass spy!", Strucker continued to curse, almost feelings smoke come out from his ears at his fury. Nick's eyes were beginning to close shut, and Strucker had no choice but to remove his hand from the director's neck.

"Guard!", Strucker yelled, eyes still boring into Fury's own. They both heard the door opening, and a pair of footsteps rushing in.

"Watch this motherf**ker. No one gets to him other than me, understand?", he screamed at the agent, who only had his head bowed down.

Strucker glared at the agent for not responding, but paid him no attention. With one last death glare shot at Fury's way, he bumped the agent's shoulder roughly and stormed out of the room.

Nick coughed and coughed because of what Strucker had just done to him. "That guy could use a mouthwash.", he commented, laughing at his own joke in between coughs.

The agent walked to him, stopping beside the director. Nick looked at the guard, anticipating another form of harsh treatment. "Let's get this over with.", Fury stated, leaning his head back on the chair.

Instead of what Fury was expecting, though, this guard crouched down, hastily untying him from his bounds. Fury was utterly confused at this agent's intentions but remained cautious.

The guard took out a clean towel from his side pocket and used it to wipe the blood and sweat from Nick's face. The director grabbed the agent by the wrist, stopping him from what he was doing.

"Who are you?", Fury asked, trying to make out the face of the guard who appeared to be helping him. The agent tilted his head up, revealing a mask covering his face.

Sighing, the guard took the mask off, shocking Fury and giving him a sense of relief upon seeing who it was.

"I believe this is the first time I've seen you smile, Director.", the agent said, who revealed herself to be a 'she' than a 'he'.

"I hope it's not the last.", Fury replied, standing up and shaking her hand. "It's good to see you back, Agent Hill."