I felt weary, though I hadn't done very much.

Loki was seated aside from Natasha. Cap, Stark, and I all stood. Stark had taken the helmet off. He wasn't half bad looking with his tanner complexion, dark eyes, dark hair, and unusual facial hair.

Why come here of all places? Why bother? I asked Loki.

Do you think I'll tell you everything willingly?

You used to.

That was the past, my dear.

No pet names.

You're irked.

Just a little bit.

"Is he saying anything?" Fury's voice came over the radio.

"Not a word," Natasha reported.

"Just get him here. We're low on time."

He doesn't realize how true that is.

I wish I didn't have this ability, I growled.

"So, who are you really?" Stark pressed me.

I met his eyes. "My name is the one I've adopted since coming here to Midgard." Stark looked at me as though I had an extra head. "I've only lived here for a year. I'm from Asgard."

"Oh, great."

"You should have assumed that when you saw me."

"I thought you were a lab experiment gone wrong. I mean, you shouldn't have hands."

"My hands don't burn with my fire, obviously." I crossed my arms over my chest. "That isn't my only gift; it's not as useful as fire."

"What's the other?"

I can communicate like this, I said. Stark jumped as though someone electrocuted him.

"Don't do that again," he told me.

"Join the club," Cap told him. He flickered a gaze at Loki. "I don't like it."

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Stark asked.

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?" Cap and I asked.

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things doing time as a Capsicle. You haven't been around long enough to know a lot." This was directed at me.

"Well, my apologies for still being a newcomer to M—Earth," I corrected myself. "I can't learn everything about this world in a year. I'm lucky I know where I live and how humans talk and dress here."

"Oh yeah, there's so much more you haven't seen yet."

Turning into one of them, are you? Loki asked.

That was the point in moving to Midgard. I wanted to start over, and I did. This wasn't part of the plan.

Does anything ever go according to plan?

The all too familiar sound of booming thunder erupted overhead. I peeked through the window to see blindingly bright strikes of lightning.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha wondered.

I looked at Loki; his expression said it all for me.

"What's the matter?" Cap asked Loki. "Are you scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

A loud thud rocked the plane, nearly launching me into Cap and Stark. Stark put his helmet back on, heading towards the rear of the plane. He pushed a button that lowered the hatch.

"What are you doing?" Cap bellowed.

The plane moved again as a force hit it. I barely had enough time to comprehend that Thor had arrived before he hit Stark with Mjolnir, his magical hammer. Stark flew back into Cap and I, knocking us to the cold plane ground. Before I could even call out to Thor, he ripped Loki from the plane and they both jumped off into the air.

Damn it, Thor. I hoped he'd heard that, because I was thoroughly pissed with him.

Stark groaned as he got on his feet. "And now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha shouted.

"That guy's a friendly?" Cap asked as he and I got on our feet.

"Yes." I had to yell.

"Doesn't matter," Stark barked. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark, we need a plan of attack," Cap suggested.

"I have a plan. Attack." Stark shot off into the night.

"For Gods' sakes!" I fumed.

"Kiara!" Cap called after me. Before anyone could stop me, I got a running start, catapulting myself out of the plane, freefalling into the darkness.

I made myself as straight as a pole to get to the ground faster. I couldn't see Stark or Thor through the darkness, I was going to have to land and rely on my senses to find them both. Leave it to Thor to come at a good time for us, just when things were going our way. I hope he doesn't kill Stark. Stark doesn't know who he's dealing with. But how did Thor manage to get here if the Bifrost is gone?

As the wind hit me all around, I could see the ground coming ever so closer. I could just make out the outlines of trees in the distance. Where I was heading was an area of rock formations.

I contorted my body so that I could land on my hands and knees at the worst. I wondered if Cap had jumped out of the plane after I had. Was Natasha rerouting the plane, trying to find us in the night? For a team that was supposed to work together, I saw no cooperation whatsoever.

I continued to fall closer towards the earth. I closed my eyes, bracing for impact...

My landing could have been much worse. Sure, I hit the ground. Sure, I might have made a dent in the earth, but I still came out unscathed. My outfit was surprisingly intact. It was pretty durable; I had to give it that.

I got to my feet, seeing a thin jet of light in the air. That had to be Stark battling Thor. Ugh, Cap, you better get there before I do. I don't know how far away I am. Whether or not I sent that to his mind, I wasn't sure. If I did, it wasn't intentional.

"You've come to watch the show too?"

Though it had been less than twenty-four hours ago that I'd seen him again, the shock of him being alive hadn't really worn off. It had been gone temporarily in Germany thanks to adrenaline and the need to save peoples' lives.

Taking my time, I turned to the source. My eyes had adjusted well to the dark, so I was able to see Loki's features. His hair wasn't so slicked back like how I remembered; it went wild in many directions and was much longer. He looked, for the most part, the same; though I knew he was very different. I snorted, marching right up to Loki to pull him to his feet. I could feel him flinch under my grip.

"You think any of this is funny?" I didn't hold back the malice in my words.

"Someone has grown a bit dark since I last saw her. I would think you wouldn't be so sour, seeing me again."

I could feel my blood boiling. Easy. Let's not fry him. My emotions slipped, forcing me to show my hand. "I thought you were dead."

"And here we go again. Who else is going to tell me this?"

"For a year, I thought you were gone."

"I can say the same about you." He pulled himself out of my grip. "You were there one day, and then you disappeared the next. And who would have thought you were hiding here of all places?"

"I didn't hide, I chose to come here." I shifted my weight.

"You left everything behind."

"I wasn't going to stay in a place where I knew I would be miserable for the rest of my life."

"If you had stuck around, you wouldn't have been."

I shook my head. "You're so oblivious. And here I thought you were intelligent."

"I thought you were loyal."

I winced. "You know that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you? Why are you here instead of living amongst the humans?"

"I was persuaded to help stop you."

"And look how well that is going so far. You will all tear each other apart before I'm defeated, Kiara. Are you my babysitter? Is that why they really recruited you, to watch over me to make sure I do not escape?"

"I'm torn between embracing you and punching you." One of my hands went into a fist.

"I have gone through enough torment for one day," Loki said tiredly.

"Are you sure? You look fairly well."

"Looks are deceiving, my dear."

Even though I could easily give Loki hell, I didn't. It wasn't that he looked broken; a part of me wanted to live in this moment, acknowledge that Loki was really here before me and not some illusion.

I was very cautious about embracing him. I inhaled as I buried my head into his shoulder. How I missed being in his arms. How I missed him.

"You have dangerous behavior changes; you might want to get that checked."

"Shh. Don't ruin this for me."

"You abandoned a good future, you know," Loki whispered to me. "If you had stayed in Asgard—"

"Nothing good would have come out of it. Things would have happened the same, only I would have mourned you on Asgard instead of here." Our faces were inches apart. "Don't think this means that I have forgiven you for what you have done and what you plan to do."

"I would never count on it." He grinned slyly. "I should have known better than to count on you. You left without any notice, not a word. You just...vanished."

I held back tears. "It had to be done, Loki. Even now, your head is too clouded to see why I left."

"It does not have to be like this, Kiara. We do not have to be on opposing sides."

"I'm pretty sure we do," I admitted sadly. "I don't share your views on destroying Earth."

Loki chuckled. "Look how domesticated you've become. Take away your powers and you are practically a human! Which brings me to wonder: does that mean you were made to be ruled along with them?"

"No one commands me except for myself," I retorted.

"And someone has developed a sharp tongue while here as well! Living here has changed you, Kiara."

"Pretending to be dead has done the same to you."

"I do not want to give up on you." I allowed him to hold my face with one hand.

"Did you even miss me?"

Loki didn't answer, his eyes searched my face.

"Unhand her, Loki," demanded a new, booming voice.

I closed my eyes, sighing heavily through my nostrils. Not the best timing once again. "He isn't hurting me," I said quietly. I was pulled out of Loki's reach. "Hey!" I swung around, ready to give the God of Thunder a good punch to the face. Thor looked a bit stunned to see me, which was what stopped me from hitting him. If it was even possible, his stringy blond hair looked to have grown a little. He had an aged look in his blue eyes, not a good sign.

"Kiara." My name sounded foreign coming out of his mouth.

I attempted to smile at him. "Thor. Or should I say, Your Majesty." I noticed Stark and Cap as well. "So, you three sorted things out?"

"Eventually," Cap huffed, throwing a nasty look at Stark.

"Hey, I had a good reason for my actions," Stark retorted.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?"

"He took my stuff." He gestured towards Thor.

Apparently I am an object now? Loki asked.

Hush.

You are the only one who can hear me, Kiara. Remember that.

"Agent Romanoff is circling back," Cap reported. "She should be here any minute."

"At least we're all playing nice now, as nice as we can," I admitted. "What did it take?"

"Oh, you know. A bunch of downed trees," Stark said nonchalantly. "A lot of hits to the head. The usual."

"Just what do you think you were doing with him?" Thor demanded of me, acting as though Stark was invisible.

"I was...babysitting," I responded meekly. "By the way, hello to you as well. If it weren't for me, he could have very well run off!"

"If he," Thor threw a nod at Stark, "had not interfered, none of this would have happened."

"Hey, don't put the blame on me. You started this by grabbing Loki," Stark protested.

"You made it worse by attacking."

"You weren't any better, you fought back."

"The point is," I interrupted rudely; "we could have been running off after Loki again had I not found him."

"Doesn't look like you had to do much to keep him here," Stark noted. "What did you do, Blondie? Bat your eyelashes at him? Sweet-talk him?"

If Thor didn't have a hold of me, I would have lunged for Stark. I was sure he was completely unaware of my history with Loki. Still, his comment was very unnecessary.

The wind kicked up around us, alerting us to Natasha's arrival. Thor let me go only to grab a hold of Loki, who had a hard time taking his eyes off of me. I stole a few occasional looks at him, but neither of us said anything.

One by one, we all hopped onto the ramp of the plane. Once we settled in, Natasha closed the hatch, and we continued our journey back to the Helicarrier. 

**Well, who ships LokixKiara? Who ships something other than that? 

I think the further this goes along, the more you'll begin to find a pairing you'll ship your hearts out. 

Also, I thought the song on the side kind of set the mood for the talk between Loki and Kiara. Sort of heart-breaking in a way, really.**