Everyone was thrown in different directions from the blast, Natasha and Bruce nowhere to be seen.

"Is everyone okay?" Olivia asked.

"If by 'fine' you mean I have no broken bones, then yes." Tony grunted.

"Put on the suit!" Steve said.

"Yep!" Tony replied, everyone in the room standing up and running to various areas.

"Hill?" Fury asked in his earpiece.

"Turn up that engine! Number 3 engine is down! Can we get a run in?" Hill ordered on the bridge. She went over to one agent. "Talk to me."

"Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there to make repairs while we're in the air." the agent replied.

"We lose one more engine, we won't be." Hill replied. "Somebody's gotta get outside and patch that engine."

"Stark, you got that?" Fury asked.

"Yep, I'm on it!" Tony's voice said over the comms.

"Coulson, initiate emergency lock down sequence in the detention section, then get to the armory! Move out!" Fury said into his earpiece.

"This isn't good." Olivia said, holding onto a railing on the bridge.

"You think?" Fury replied sarcastically. "Romanoff?"

"We're okay. We're okay... Right?" she replied.

"Brace yourselves." Olivia said.

"For what?" Hill asked. That's when a roar resounded around the area.

"That." Olivia replied.

"Bring the carrier inwards and head south. Get us over water." Fury ordered.

"Navigations re-calibrated after the blast. We're flying blind." an agent said.

"Is the sun coming up?" Fury asked.

"Yeah?"

"Then put it on the left! Get us over water! One more turbine goes down and we drop."

"Stark, relays?" Hill asked.

"Uh, working on it. Capsicle here had to learn what relays are." Tony's voice said over comms.

"Excuse me, may I?" Olivia asked Hill, gesturing over to a headset hanging at an empty station. Hill nodded at her. Olivia took it and put the headset on, sitting in a chair and touching a finger to the computer screen. She had a clear view of the damage, despite no cameras being close.

"Captain, can you hear me?" she asked.

"Loud and clear." Steve's voice said in her ear.

"There should be a red lever over near your head. Stand by so you can pull it when Stark gives you the word. It's gonna open up the vents underneath the rotors so Stark can escape." she said.

"Got it." Steve said into her ear. She touched the screen again and examined the detention level. She saw Loki sitting on his bench, barely even giving the chaos a second thought.

"Agent Hill, fortify the detention level. No one except for Thor and I must be able to get in." Olivia said.

"Since when is she able to give orders?" an agent asked.

"Shut up, Agent Williams. I need agents around the detention level, asap. No one except for special clearance should get in." Hill snapped.

"Get a full evac. on the lower hangar bay, The Hulk needs to stay contained." Olivia said. Hill nodded and started to leave the bridge before she started doubling back.

"GRENADE!" She yelled, before the blast shook the bridge, sending nearby agents to the floor. Some were dead, others injured. Those agents that remained began to fire on a group of hostiles.

"We have a perimeter breach. Hostiles are in SHIELD gear. Hold onto every junction." An agent said over the speakers. That's when the Hulk crashed into the lab. The agents turned their attention to the raging Hulk. He and Thor disappeared down the hall.

"Thor and the Hulk are in shuttle levels 2, 3, and 4." The same agent called.

"Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!" Hill called.

"Get his attention!" Olivia called.

"Escort 6-0, proceed to Wishbone and engage hostile, but don't get too close." Hill said into her earpiece.

"Agent Hill, cover me!" Olivia said, flying out of her seat.

"Where are you going?"

"The scepter is missing, I think I know where it went." Olivia said.

"There was a lockdown-"

"And all those agents are dead on the floor. Cover me!" Olivia said, charging down the hall.

"All power lost in Engine 1!" a voice said over the speakers.

Oh, damn it all. Olivia thought, still running. She turned the corner just in time to see Thor barrel into the cell, before it shut behind him.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" she heard Loki say. She turned around to see him approaching the computer.

"Loki, don't!" Olivia called. He finally turned to look at her.

"Why shouldn't I?" Loki asked.

"You have to stop this madness! This won't solve anything!" Olivia cried. Before Loki could reply, a guard near the other entrance fell down.

"Move away, please." Agent Coulson said, holding a massive gun in his hands. Loki moved away from the controls. "You like this? We began developing the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." He began to power up the gun.

"Coul-" Olivia started to say.

"Would you like to find out?" he said, before the real Loki ran him through with the end of his scepter.

"NOO!" Olivia and Thor cried at the same time as the agent fell to the ground. Loki stepped over Coulson's body to the control panel. Olivia was too shocked to interfere, staring at Coulson's body in horror. Loki opened the hatch and hit the button to send Thor in the cell tumbling below.

"Loki, why?" Olivia asked after a second, her voice shaking. Loki approached her, standing barely an inch in front of her. He looked down at her, a small smile gracing his features.

"Tell me something. What's stopping me from using this to take control of your mind so you'd stand with me?" Loki asked, stroking her face lightly with one finger.

"Because you love me too much to put me though that." Olivia replied with no hesitation. Loki looked at her for a good long moment. "Clearly if you keep trying to get me to come with you, you still love me, else you'd either disregard me completely or kill me. Tell me that I'm wrong."

No words passed between them, just one long look. Loki's eyes flashed green for one second, before going back to blue. Olivia stepped away from him, going over and bending down to take a look at Coulson. Loki continued to look at her, his eyes changing colors again. Her compassion for another reminded him of something... His eyes flashed blue again.

"You're gonna lose." Coulson said.

"Am I?" Loki asked.

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction." Coulson breathed.

"I don't think-" Loki started, before Coulson used the gun to blast Loki through a nearby wall.

"So that's what it does." Coulson said.

"Coulson, you have to hang in there. Don't die on me, please. We need you." Olivia said, attempting to quell the wound.

"It's okay." Coulson told her. She felt the ship level out and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm so sorry about this. I..." Olivia tried to say, but faltered to find the words. She saw Fury rush in and bend down.

"Sorry boss..." Coulson whispered.

"Just stay awake. Eyes on me." Fury said.

"No, I'm clocked out."

"Not an option." Olivia said.

"It's okay. This was never gonna work unless they had something... to..." Coulson said, trailing off as he breathed his last. Fury bowed his head, as did Olivia. The medical team arrived as Fury stood up.

"Time?" one doctor asked.

"8:47." the other said.

"Agent Coulson is down." Fury said into his earpiece.

"Medical team is en route to your location." someone replied.

"They're here. They called it." Fury replied. A silence seemed to hang over the whole ship. The medical team took Coulson's body away as Fury and Olivia headed back to the conference table. Steve and Tony were already seated. Fury pulled out a stack of small papers from his coat.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket pocket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." he said, tossing the bloodied cards on the table. Cap picked one up and examined it. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony stood up and left after that, not wanting to hear anymore.

"Well, it's an old fashioned notion." Fury said, before walking off as well. That just left Steve and Olivia alone.

"I'm so sorry." Olivia whispered.

"It's okay... I should probably apologize, too." Steve replied.

"No, no, it's fine. What happened in the lab... none of that was our fault." Olivia replied.

"So what do we do?"

"I... I don't know. This is far beyond what I ever imagined." Olivia replied, standing up and walking back to the detention level. Steve followed her inside and they found Tony overlooking the now closed pit.

"Was he married?" Steve asked.

"No, but there was... a cellist, I think." Tony replied.

"I'm sorry." Olivia said. "For everything, Stark. None of this should have happened. I'm slowly understanding what's happening here."

"But not accepting it and moving on?" Tony asked.

"I can't. It's like losing a part of your life you've had ever since you can remember. It's hard to let it go, especially if I know there's a way to fix it."

"Can you fix it?"

"Stark, I have the means to believe Loki is under a mind control of sorts as well. I know him well enough and spent time observing him. It's the only thing that makes sense. I don't know how, but I will fix this. For everyone we've lost." Olivia finished, directing her gaze at the bloodstain on the wall near her.

"He seemed like a good man." Steve said.

"He was an idiot." Tony replied.

"Why? For believing?" Olivia asked.

"For taking on Loki alone." Tony clarified.

"He was doing his job." Steve argued.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited, he should have-"

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony. Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

"We are NOT soldiers. I'm not marching for Fury's fife!"

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we have to put that aside and get this done." Olivia said.

"Now, Loki needs a power source. If we-" Steve started.

"He made it personal." Tony said as if realizing just then.

"That's not the point."

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He has to hit us all where we live, right?"

"To tear us apart."

"He knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it."

"He wants an audience." Olivia added.

"Yeah, I caught his act in Stuttgart." Steve said.

"Yeah, but that's just a preview. This, this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants to get the girl in the end." Tony said, gesturing to Olivia. "He wants a monument built to the sky with his name plastered..."

"What?" Olivia asked, noting that Tony had trailed off.

"Son of a bitch." Tony said.

"What??" Olivia pressed.

"My Tower. It has my name on it. That's where he's building the portal. Cap, Livvy-"

"Huh?"

"Nickname. Everyone gets one. Anyways, I want you two to find Nat. Get her ready." Tony said, breaking away from the pair and pointing in a specific direction. Olivia nodded as she and Steve found a specific door. It slid open smoothly.

"Time to go." Steve said.

"Go where?" Nat asked.

"We'll tell you on the way." Olivia said.

"Can you fly one of those jets?" Steve asked. That's when a new face to Olivia came up to them.

"I can." he said. Steve looked at Nat. She nodded at him.

"You got a suit?" Steve asked.

"Yeah."

"Then suit up."

***

Quinjet Hangar

Steve, Nat, Olivia, and the other man, Olivia learned his name was Clint Barton, started striding up to an open jet.

"So I take it you're the girl Loki was always jabbering about?" Clint asked her.

"I... I guess so?" Olivia replied uncertainly.

"H-hey, you guys aren't supposed to be in here." a technician said as they entered the jet he was cleaning.

"Son, just don't." Steve cut him off. The agent scurried away as Nat and Clint got into the pilot and co-pilot's seats. Steve and Olivia strapped into the seats in the back as Clint started up the jet.

They blew out of the hangar, putting in the coordinates for Manhattan island.

"Do we have a plan?" Olivia asked.

"Don't die." Clint said sarcastically.

"Clint." Nat said in a slightly scolding tone.

"Sorry, Tasha."

"I'm being serious. What's the plan?" Olivia repeated.

"I mean, what do we know?" Steve asked.

"There's a portal and aliens and an Asgardian's very angry Asgardian boyfriend." Clint said.

"Clint." Nat scolded him again.

"What?? That's what we know." Clint argued.

"Time and a place. Touchy subject." Nat said, rubbing her temples.

"Technically he's not Asgardian...." Olivia muttered, but no one heard her.

"So? We defeat the aliens and destroy the portal." Steve said simply.

"It might not be that easy." Olivia replied. "If we're dealing with what I think we are, it's not gonna be as easy as destroying the portal. Simply closing it might be the best option."

Truthfully, Olivia knows they were going after Infinity Stones. Objects that had existed since the dawn of time. They were extremely hard to destroy, some of which had never even been found before. But to her new friends, the concept would be too hard to explain.

"Then how do we close it?" Nat asked.

"I do not know. We'll just have to find a way." Olivia said. "How much longer?"

"Just a little while longer." Clint replied. Olivia started bouncing her leg, trying to run through scenarios and solutions in her head. Her agenda was probably quite a bit different from the others. Sure, close the portal and save New York were on the list. But at any cost, she had to get Loki back.

"Hey, you good?" Steve asked her when he noticed how jittery she was.

"As well as I can be." She replied.

"Look, we'll figure this out. I promise." Steve told her reassuringly. She sighed, sinking down in her seat.

"I hope so."

***

"Stark, we're on your three, heading northeast." Nat said into her headset once they had reached Manhattan.

"What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you." Tony replied. The Quinjet made a sharp turn upwards before leveling out. Steve and Olivia got out of their seats and grabbed onto the rails overhead, ready to get out.

"Nat?" Clint said.

"I see him." Nat replied, activating the jet's gun. She started firing on a currently unseen target by Olivia, who climbed her way to the pilot's area.

"Agent Romanoff, please be careful!" She said.

"Don't worry, Loki should be fi-"

"Agent Romanoff, I mean you need to look out!" Olivia snapped back as a blue energy beam from Loki flashed forward, making contact with the jet's engine. Alarms started blaring as the jet began to lose altitude.

"Hold onto something!" Nat called. Olivia and Steve held onto their rails as the haphazard flying made their bodies swing around. After a moment, a harsh impact caused the jet to lurch and die down. Once everyone felt stable, Nat and Clint unbuckled themselves as Steve grabbed his shield. Nat handed Olivia an earpiece that would allow her to hear them from far distances. The back door of the jet opened as the four of them filed out.

It was a war zone. Debris was everywhere and people were running for cover. The aliens were the worst. Hundreds filled the streets and the sky, blasting everything in sight.

"We've got to get back up there!" Cap said, gesturing to Stark Tower. They began to run until a loude groaning noise came from above them. Looking up, they saw a huge Leviathan emerge from the portal. It crashed into buildings as more alien soldiers bounced off of it.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Cap asked.

"Seeing, still working on believing." Tony replied. "Where's Banner, has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?"

"Just keep me posted." Tony said, before cutting the line.

"This is even worse than I imagined." Olivia said, looking at the destruction around her.

"Well, good news is I doubt it could get worse." Clint said. Olivia knew he was trying to reassure her, but she figured he was wrong. It could always get worse until it was all over.

The four of them broke for cover behind a nearby taxi car that was overturned.

"We've still got civilians trapped up here." Clint said before a squadron of chariots passed overhead. One of the riders was familiar to Olivia.

"It's Loki." She said, pointing. Explosions rocked the area as she followed the chariot until it was out of her vision. "Learn this lesson now, Agent Barton. It can always get worse."

Cap looked over the side of the bridge at a crowd of fleeing civilians.

"They're fish in a barrel down there." He said. That's when a group of the aliens approached them, firing their blasters. Nat returned their fire with her pistols as Olivia used magic to throw a couple at a nearby building, knocking them out. Clint dived over to a different taxi.

We've got this. It's good, go." Nat said.

"You think you three can hold them off?" Cap asked.

"Captain." Clint said. "It would be my genuine pleasure." He pulled out an arrow and shot an alien in the face, smaller darts flying out and hitting more. Cap nodded and flew over the side of the bridge. Nat continued her fire as Olivia and Clint started freeing people trapped inside a bus. Clint ran back over to Nat as Olivia opened the jammed door of the bus so more people could escape.

"Just like Budapest all over again!" Nat said.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clint replied.

Olivia admired their comradery. She gave a half hearted smile remembering what having a close companion like that was like. All the more reason to keep fighting to get him back. She loosed a burst of magic sending the current squad of enemies away from her, Nat, and Clint. It provided a short reprieve before more began to flow towards them.

"Well, we got it's attention. What the hell was step two?" Tony's voice rang in her ear.

"Make sure it follows you away from more people before we call for you." Olivia said.

"Sure. Easy."

Cap burst back over to them as more aliens went down, Nat having found one of their guns and using it to her advantage. That's when a burst of electricity electrocuted the remaining aliens around them. Thor touched down on the ground a moment later.

"What's the story upstairs?" Cap asked.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable." Thor replied.

"Thor's right, we gotta deal with these guys." Tony added.

"How do we do this?" Nat asked.

"As a team." Cap said.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Olivia replied.

"Yeah, get in line." Clint snarked as he cleaned off some used arrows.

"Save it." Cap snapped. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's gonna need us to-"

The sound of a motorbike came up from behind Cap. A tired looking Bruce Banner approached them.

"Well, this all seems horrible." He said.

"I've seen worse." Nat replied.

"Sorry."

"No, we could use... A little worse."

"Stark, we got him." Cap said.

"Banner?" Tony asked.

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

Not a moment later, Tony emerged from around a nearby building, trailed by the massive Leviathan. It crashed into the building as it came around. Thor growled and readied his hammer.

"I-I don't see how that's a party." Nat said.

"Dr. Banner... Now might be a really good time to get angry." Cap said.

"Well, that's my secret, Cap." Bruce said, looking over his shoulder.

"I'm always angry."

With that, Bruce turned around, turning into the enormous green rage monster just as the Leviathan came to their location. He smashed his fist right into it, slowing it down. It tilted upwards as it's armored plating cracked off, exposing it's skin underneath.

"Hold on." Tony said as he fired a small missile into the exposed area. The team shielded itself as the Leviathan exploded in a blaze of light. The head fell down below the bridge as the team stood up.

In a large circle, the Avengers readied their weapons, bracing themselves for another round.

"Guys..." Nat said uncertainly. They looked skyward as two more Leviathans emerged from the portal along with more aliens.

"Son of a Frost Giant." Olivia swore, even though she knew it was an insult used in poor taste.

"Call it, Captain." Tony said.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash." Cap ordered.

"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony said, before grabbing Clint and launching them both into the sky.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow em down. You got the lighting. Light the bastards up."

Thor flew into the air, heading for a nearby building.

"Olivia, you've got to try and find a way to herd Loki. Keep him around this area and/or corner him at the Tower. Use one of those chariot things and stay on his tail. Until we can figure out how to deal with him, don't let up on his ass. Wait here until you can find a ride."

"Got it." Olivia said. Cap turned to Nat.

"You and me, we stay on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk?"

The Hulk turned to face Cap.

"Smash." Cap said almost brightly. Hulk smiled as he lept onto a building.

A large blast of lightning, presumably from Thor, hit the portal, slowing down the stream for a moment, but more aliens continued to pour out.

"Stark, you've got a lot of strays sniffing your tail." Clint said.

"I'm just tryina keep them off the streets." Tony replied.

"Well, they can't bank worth a damn. Find a tight corner."

"I will roger that."

An explosion could be heard from a short distance away as Nat, Cap, and Olivia continued fighting aliens.

"Nice call... What else do you got?" Tony said.

"Well, Thor's taking down a squadron down on Sixth." Clint replied.

"And he didn't invite me."

"Do you always get along well?" Olivia asked.

"This is the first time we've all teamed up together, and some of us just met. So... Yes and no?" Tony replied.

"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing unless we can close that portal." Nat said, breathing hard.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Cap said.

"Maybe it's not about guns." Olivia suggested. "Nat, there's a squad incoming. Get a chariot."

"I could use a boost, though." Nat cut in. She looked at Cap expectantly

"You sure about this?" Cap asked.

"Yeah! It's gonna be fun." Nat said sarcastically.

"You need a boost?" Cap asked Olivia.

"No need. Agent Romanoff, you can follow me."

"Got it."

"Three... Two... One... GO!" Olivia said. Nat jumped up from Cap's shield and grasped onto a chariot by the edge. Olivia teleported onto the one right next to it, throwing off the alien riding it.

"You know how to fly this?" Nat asked her.

"I think it's just the pedals to accelerate and the handles to maneuver." Olivia said.

"Screw it, I'll just use this guy." Nat said. "Okay, turn, turn... Less, less!!"

"You do you, I suppose. Does anyone have eyes on Loki?"

"He's about seven blocks to your right and moving fast." Tony told her.

"Got it. I'll get him close to the Tower so you can find a way to get him off his chariot. Agent Romanoff, get in front of me." Olivia said, wheeling around to her right.

"On it!" Nat said, making a sharp turn to speed in front of Olivia. She could see Nat was crouching on one of the aliens, using knives stuck in it's back to control the thing. They saw Tony blow past them, blasting aliens all over before he crashed to the ground, helping Cap with some of his adversaries. A Leviathan with Thor and Hulk on it flew past Clint, who was shooting aliens with various kinds of arrows.

"Do you see him yet?" Olivia asked Nat.

"Not yet!"

"Cap, there's a bank on 42nd past Madison, they've cornered a lot of civilians in there." Clint said.

"I'm on it." Cap replied.

"You hanging in there all right, Agent Barton?" Olivia asked.

"Never better." Clint replied sarcastically.

"Nat, there are guns on your chariot, use them when you can." Olivia told her, using her own advice as she sped past a group of aliens. She started blasting them, creating craters in the pavement.

That's when she saw blaster fire whiz past her head, aiming for Natasha.

"Oh, you." Olivia heard Nat say.

"Agent Romanoff, direct him towards the Tower, I'm right behind you." Olivia said, making another sharp turn.

"Hawkeye." Nat said.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Clint asked.

"Uh, a little help!" Nat called as she carefully tried to maneuver around Loki's blaster fire.

"I got him." Clint said. Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia saw Clint loose an arrow right at Loki. Part of her was terrified for him, another part nervous that he had caught the arrow midair.

That is, until it exploded in his hand, sending Loki tumbling back to the Tower's balcony. Once she and Nat were over the Tower, they let go of their chariots, falling to the gravel roof.

"You good?" Nat asked.

"Sure. Go to the portal. Leave Loki to me." Olivia said. Nat nodded and broke for the portal mechanism. Standing up and dusting herself off, she teleported to the Tower's balcony.

She was almost horrified when she saw the Hulk smashing Loki around like a rag doll.

Staying hidden around the corner, she saw Hulk leave Loki on the ground, bruised and battered.

"Puny god." She heard the Hulk grumble. He kept out onto a nearby building and started climbing his way down, reminiscent of King Kong in the old movies she had seen on one of her trips to Midgard. Once the coast was clear, Olivia made her way inside of the penthouse. She approached Loki, whimpering in pain. He had massive gashes and bruises everywhere. She knelt down next to him, lightly touching his face.

"Can you hear me? Hold on..." She whispered. She started by removing her earpiece and placing a finger on a large cut near his hairline. Using magic, she started healing it, the blood disappearing slowly.

"I can't heal all your wounds all the way because it would take too much power. But I'll lessen the pain for most of them. Just be still." She told him, knowing he wouldn't answer her. His eyelids fluttered as he fought to stay conscious.

Olivia could see that his eyes were now the green she had always known. The blue was completely gone. She smiled to herself.

I guess the Hulk smashing him around was enough to trigger a cognitive recallibration, Just like Agent Romanoff did to Agent Barton. She thought. As she healed more wounds, she continued talking to Loki.

"Once this is all over, I'll make sure you won't be severely punished for this. Odin may throw you in the dungeons for a very long time, but I promise you that you won't be there all alone. I'll visit you. And I'll try my hardest to advocate for you. Odin must understand that mind control was at play. I'm sure Frigga will help out as well." She said to him. Loki's eyes were closed at that point, but he was still breathing. Perhaps he was just unconcious.

That's when she heard the sound of the portal being closed. The remaining aliens fell to the ground as the Leviathans crashed into buildings, completely immobile. Olivia breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's over." She said aloud, brushing a loose lock of Loki's hair back. She fixed up a cut on the bridge of Loki's nose. "We can put this behind us. They may lock you up, but you know that no matter what, I still love you. I have and I always will. Nothing will ever change that."

Olivia leaned down and lightly kissed the top of his forehead like he would do to her every now and again. She was about six inches shorter than he was, so he would often kiss her forehead when her lips weren't easily acessable.

"Alright, I think that's all I can do. You should wake up soon." She said. As if on cue, she heard the sounds of people coming up the stairs. Realizing she should probably hide so her healing would be less immediately obvious, she jogged over to the penthouse's large window and walked outside onto the balcony. When she saw her team surround Loki, she teleported over to them, making Clint jump.

"How is he?" Thor asked her.

"Alive. He will wake up soon, but he was knocked out pretty bad. Hulk saw to that." Olivia replied.

"Can you wake him uo?" Tony asked.

"Best not to. His mind is messed up as it is, he doesn't need me messing with it."

"So it was mind control?" Tony asked.

"Yes it was, I can promise you that."

"Wait, so he was also-" Clint started to say.

"Yes, Agent Barton. I have no idea who did it or how, but I'd imagine it was similar to your case." Olivia said. Clint simply nodded.

That's when Loki began to stir. He didn't notice the group of Avengers surrounding him as he pulled himself over to the stairs with great effort. Turning around to face them, that's when he noted their expressions and how their weapons were drawn.

"If it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now." Loki said, smiling a little. That's when he saw Olivia bent down in front of him. They shared a long look, various emotions in both of their expressions. Olivia pulled Loki towards her so their lips connected. Loki reached a shaky hand behind her head and pulled her in closer, stroking her hair softly.

For the first time in so long, the pair of them felt genuine happiness.

***

Central Park

Everyone had gathered in Central Park to see the Asgardians on their way back home. Loki of course had to be cuffed, but Olivia had her arm looped through his as Thor retrieved the Tesseract from Dr. Selvig. Placing it into the teleporting contraption that could take the three of them back to Asgard, the rest of the Avengers said their goodbyes.

"If you ever want to come back and help us out, you know where to find us. There'll be rooms ready for you." Tony said.

"Thank you, Stark. We will meet again soon, I swear it." Olivia said, shaking his hand. Natasha was next and embraced Olivia in a loose hug.

"I hope you get all of this figured out." Nat said.

"Thank you, Agent Romanoff." Olivia replied. After more send offs from the rest of the team, the Asgardian trio each took hold of one end of the teleporter (pretend it has three handles). Thor looked at his companions, and they nodded back at him, signaling they were ready to go.

Turning the handle, Thor, Loki, and Olivia's world became a rush of blues as they headed back to Asgard.

Back home.

***

A/N

I teased a bonus chapter in my art book a little while back. It's done and has been for a while, but it'll be posted tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed!

-TheAsgardianJedi