Loki knew that giving the Lady the armor he had acquired for Sigyn had been the right thing to do. It had still been difficult for him to give it up. He had kept it for so long. He knew that Sigyn didn't need it anymore and the Lady needed it now. It was practical and Sig would kick his ass to Hel and back for letting her soul go into battle without protection if he had a way to help. So he had done the right thing and given the armor to the Lady.

Once he saw it on her, he had no regrets. It looked like it had been made for her, though that couldn't be further from the truth. It had been made for the original Sigyn. Still, it fit the Lady like a dream and she looked amazing in it. She looked over at him when she had donned it, clearly wanting his opinion. Loki inclined his head with a smile. "It suits you, Lady," he told her honestly. There was no need to sugar coat his words. The armor did, indeed, suit her.

"Thank you, again," she said, shifting a little to adjust to the armor. Loki could tell that it fit so well that she really didn't need to. She nodded to herself in approval. She would be able to move and fight like normal and be protected. It was the best of both worlds.

Their moment was interrupted by Nat peeking her head back in the door. "C'mon you two. We need to get going. Loki, you know your helmet won't fit in the SUV," she added with the hint that they'd had this conversation every mission.

"That is because your vehicle is inferior," Loki replied dryly as he headed for the door. He glanced behind him to make sure that the Lady was following, the gesture automatic. He didn't even realize he was checking on her until he did. He also vanished his helmet for the moment. He would summon it again when they got to the battle.

Nat and Loki led the way down to the SUV that the team would be taking to the battle. Loki had been on enough missions to know how they worked, even if he was still on house arrest. He opened the car door for the Lady before he went around the vehicle to get in on the other side. The Lady acted like this was such a surprise. Loki thought it was perfectly normal behavior, thank you very much.

Though perhaps it was perfectly normal behavior if one was courting a lady.

Loki pondered that thought as they drove to the battle with the team. No one had commented on Loki opening the door for the Lady, so no one else had noticed besides her. Stark likely would have commented, but he had already flown off to the battle, so he wasn't there to make snide comments, which was lucky for Loki.

They made it to the battle and Cap gave directions as to battle positions. Loki let him since he was the leader of the team. He would have spoken up if the Captain's strategy were unsound. Instead, he would do his assignment and try to be part of the team. This was supposed to be penance for the Battle of New York after all. He could pretend to be a team player when it suited him. Right now, it suited him to stay on the team's good side.

He would have helped the civilians regardless. He may have gone about it in a different, more Loki, way had it not been for the team that he was supposed to be working with. Working with the team was the hardest part of this so called penance. He wasn't exactly a team player. He never had been.

Loki shook those thoughts away. There were monsters to fight and civilians to save. His illusions filled the battlefield, leading civilians to safety while the real Loki engaged with the creatures Hydra had sent. He was a blur as he moved, mixing magic with physical attacks, unleashing skill that very few knew that he had, at least very few knew that he had until he had started working with the team.

The Lady was fighting nearby. It felt like old times again, off on a mission for the throne with his Sigyn. He saw her shooting bolts of magic, caught a glimpse of her shoving a blade into a creature. It was all so familiar and so different at the same time.

But, as with all missions it seemed, something naturally had to go terribly wrong. And not just Clint getting shot. That always happened no matter who or what they were fighting. No, this was worse, much, much worse.

Loki watched in horror as the creature came up behind the Lady. She wasn't going to see it in time. Loki ran, teleporting closer as he was running. "SIGYN!" He yelled, her name passing his lips without hesitation as he shoved her out of the way as the creature shot a blast of fire that would have roasted her alive.

Sigyn stumbled and fell as she was shoved bodily out of the way of the blast. But at least she was safe.

She looked up in horror from the asphalt.

"Loki, no!" She screamed as Loki's world erupted in pain and flame.