"Nice to meet finally meet you, Captain." Loki grinned. "Love the beard."

The Captain looked briefly amused. "You too... Loren, was it?"

"Indeed."

"And you're Asgardian? Like Thor?" He asked.

"In the ways that matter." Loki shrugged, collapsing back into a chair and throwing her legs over the arm. It was a really uncomfortable chair, but she looked good.

Loki was terrible at portal creation - so she had used the sling ring she'd stolen from the Sanctum to get here (she had paid close attention to what Strange did when he created a portal to send her back to the Avengers Facility). It was far quicker and more impressive than any of Stark's planes. The Midgardian artefact really didn't agree with her though, and she felt completely drained.

By sitting down, she got to relax and look fine (a word she'd found new context for with the help of a mister Peter Parker) while doing so.

Rogers seemed to consider that answer for a bit, but moved past it without further questions.

"On the phone you said that you'd spoken to a king of some place?"

Rogers nodded. "T'Challa, he rules Wakanda. It's this place in Africa... which is a continent - like North America."

Loki smiled in bemusement. "I know what Africa is."

"T'Challa said that the wiping of half the world obviously concerned Wakanda too. He wants to team up with all of us to stop Thanos."

"Is Wakanda a strategic advantage to us?" Loki asked.

"They have a mountain of vibranium."

"The metal your shield is made from." Loki replied. "That is interesting. They've made weapons from it?"

"I haven't asked, but I'll get you in contact with him. Even if they don't, their technology is amazing. That's not much coming from me, but they did more for Bucky than anywhere else could."

Loki nodded. "So I suppose we must travel to Wakanda then? It'll be far easier to move people to a country than a country to people after all."

"Terribly sorry, Ms. Loren." A voice cut into her head.

She had to take a minute to reassure herself. This was the calm-natured Vision, not the Other. He could access nothing but the thoughts Loki wanted to share. Still, linking to the mind stone once more made her stomach churn.

As soon as she'd arrived with Vision, the Captain had told him the location of someone called 'Wanda' and he'd ran off immediately. Loki had tried to remember Wanda from the times she'd looked to Midgard while on the throne. There was someone called Maximoff with a lot of red leather and untouched magical potential. She was a bomb waiting to explode and Loki would love to see what would happen when she did.

"What is it?" She thought.

"Wanda and I seem to have found ourselves in a spot of trouble. Our attackers don't look to be from Earth."

She let out a frustrated noise and Rogers looked far too concerned for a stranger. "What is it?" He asked.

"I believe some of Thanos' order may have arrived." Loki answered. "Although, who knows. It could be different aliens. They're attacking Maximoff and Vision. The rest of your exiled teammates, they're close?"

He nodded. "I'll send word to them. Give me a location and we'll meet them there."

Loki looked for where Vision was broadcasting the location of the infinity stone to her and tried to focus in on the location. He repeated what he saw to the Captain, who yelled it down a phone as the two of them began sprinting in the direction of the fight. Valkyrie, who was waiting outside the building ("Diplomacy is boring. Grab me if we have to kick some ass.") with a half-empty bottle of whiskey, abandoned the alcohol and ran with them.

Loki's own phone rang and she answered it without checking for the caller. She put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Mx. Loren?" Peter's voice came out shaky over the phone's speakers.

"Is this important?" Loki asked. "We're in the middle of something."

"Well I was kinda wondering if you were coming back to New York soon? A giant ring appeared in the sky and now we're fighting some alien dudes and I'm kinda on the flying ring because I thought that was a good idea? I was trying to get Doctor Strange back."

Loki cursed something old and norse. "I'll be there soon, Peter. But aliens have arrived here after the mind stone, and I must make sure they can't take it. Make sure that neither Strange nor Stark tries anything apart from preventing the attack. Try to get Strange back, but leave if the ring starts moving."

"Oh okay! I'll be fine. Probably. I think War Machine might be coming anyway. He's pretty cool and-"

Loki had to cut off the call when she and Rogers arrived at the battle.

Black Widow has seemingly arrived before them, Loki briefly wondered where'd she been - nearby in case 'Loren' was another Asgardian invader and the captain needed assistance?

She couldn't help but be impressed by the spy, who had her thighs wrapped around the neck of Corvus Glaive - one of the Black Order.

The was one other member of the order on the scene, Proxima Midnight. She and the young Wanda were battling it out, while the Vision switched back and forth between the two fights to help whichever woman needed his help most.

Corvus grabbed the widow from his shoulders and threw her to the ground. She groaned, but was still back to her feet in a split second.

Still connected to Vision's mind, she send another message. "Help with Midnight, the captain and I will assist Ms. Romanoff, I'll send Valkyrie to you."

Vision sent her his understanding before severing the mental connection. Loki pretended it wasn't a relief.

"Brunnhilde. Would you assist in the fight with the flying robot? The Captain and I will take Corvus."

Brunnhilde didn't question it, and ran to fight Proxima. Her focus was absolute, Loki could see why she was one of the Valkyries.

"Captain," Loki said, reaching into her pocket space to grab what Stark had given her earlier. "An olive branch from Tony Stark."

She handed him his shield. She supposed it was an emotional moment to him, Stark was reaching out and he was taking up the mantle of Captain America again by accepting the shield, but Loki didn't care. He was giving the captain his main weapon, that was as emotional as it was going to get.

He gingerly, but quickly, took the shield and put the straps over his arm. He didn't hesitate to rush towards Corvus.

Loki sighed. She'd bet the throne of Asgard that the fool didn't have a plan.

She didn't have much energy to spend on illusions and shapeshifting, so she simply reached into to her dimensional pocket and drew forth her knives. There was another weapon that sat there too, the Casket of Ancient Winters (could you blame a gal for stealing the object that emotionally scarred her before destroying Asgard?), but she didn't have enough energy to control it's powers at the moment, and trying could condemn Midgard to an eternal, deadly winter.

She ran to the fight, stopping where Steve had been immediately thrown to the ground, a wound on his shoulder form Corvus' Glaive. "We must take his weapon from him and destroy it." Loki told him. "As long as it remains intact, he can recover from any injury."

"Do you know how to destroy it?" He asked.

Loki shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea. I'm sure I'll figure it out."

He rushed at Corvus again, his shield out in front of him. Loki ran to the other side of the enemy, and as Steve hit him back with the shield, she attacked him with a flurry of slashes. The Widow was by his side, and shocked Glaive with her electrical batons. He was momentarily distracted by the pain they inflicted, and the captain went for his weapon.

Corvus' grip was far too tight for Rogers to simply grab his weapon, and he knocked the captain back with his elbow before wiping Loki's feet out from under her with his own and knocking the Widow aside with the length of his glaive. Rogers went to rush him with his shield again but Corvus thrust the glaive forward and it cut forward through the shield like it was butter. The glaive glowed yellow and the cut extended until the captain was holding two separate halves of his beloved weapon.

Another emotional moment for the man, Loki was sure. She could practically hear the dramatic swelling music coming to a full stop for a moment like a punch to the gut.

She wondered if the Wakandans, with their knowledge of vibranium, could repair it.

A large explosion came from the direction of the other fight. Corvus started, a brief look of concern flashing across his features. Loki was almost glad that Thor was dead, it meant she didn't share the same weakness. Valkyrie and Peter meant something to her somewhat, but she could easily sacrifice them for the greater good (even if the greater good was her own life). Sentiment would be Corvus' downfall.

She pointedly ignored that her main motivation for fighting Thanos was sentiment, and instead chose to believe it was because if Thanos killed half the universe, she could be among those dead. She was always driven by three things: self-preservation, validation, and vengeance.

With Corvus momentarily distracted, Rogers dropped the broken shield and yanked the glaive away from him. He didn't hesitate before throwing the weapon to Loki. Loki caught it and used what little energy she had left to make herself and it appear invisible. Rogers and Widow attacked Corvus again, so that he'd be forced to defend himself instead of pursuing Loki.

It didn't matter how good they were at fighting though. Corvus would eventually win no matter what as long as his glaive remained intact, Romanoff and Rogers would gain more and more injuries while he healed from each and every one.

Loki was distracted from her task when he caught sight of Maximoff knocking back Proxima with a blast of energy. She tried to listen to the seiðr, feel the way it worked. It felt the same as the aether and the mind stone, reality and mind bending powers so powerful that Loki couldn't even comprehend them, and yet the girl had barely scratched the surface of what she could do.

She got an idea.

As Vision and Brunnhilde took on Proxima, Loki ran to Maximoff before she could join in for another attack. At the same moment, a winged man dropped from the sky to kick Proxima in the face. Sam Wilson, Loki knew from her time on the throne. She didn't know much about him other than 'bird guy' to be perfectly honest.She dropped her cloak of invisibility and grinned at the Ms. Maximoff. "Wanda, right?"

"Yes. You're the Asgardian - Loren? Nice to meet you."

"I need you to break this." Loki said, thrusting the glaive into Maximoff's hands. "Think you can?"

She furrowed her eyebrows and took the glaive. "I don't know? I normally just blast energy out and twist minds. How am I supposed to break it?"

"Somehow you have the power of the infinity stones, I can sense it." Loki said. "I can feel the reality stone's power flowing through your veins, and I bet you can too."

She nodded, and Loki continued. "You must let that energy flow out, like you do when you cast your spells normally, but direct it into the weapon. Imagine it filling in the space between the atoms and then will it to expand. You have the power to do whatever you can imagine, you just need to believe you can. Visualise it. Ask your magic to do it and it will respond."

The fight with Proxima was getting closer to them, but Loki wouldn't need to intervene yet. A look to Corvus' fight with the others told her the same. They had time to break his glaive, but not much.

She could tell Maximoff was concentrating, her eyebrows even more furrowed, her lips twisting up. Red light twisted around her fingers into the glaive and the weapon glowed with magical energy. Loki decided to step back and readied a shielding spell, the waiting magic itching at her fingers.

It was another moment she was sure was much more important for the person she was watching. I'm not a liability, she could imagine Maximoff thinking. Or maybe, All I cause is destruction. Loki almost wanted to know which it was.

It was a moment where the fighting around them stopped momentarily, everyone's eyes drawn to the source of the red light the filled the entire street. The glaive explode outwards, it's shrapnel too small to see. Loki still let the shielding spell activate, as to not be pushed off her feet.

Everyone bar her and Maximoff flew backwards. Loki was pushed back, but remained on her feet, her shield fizzling out. Proxima took the opportunity to get on top of Vision and tried to pry his stone from his forehead.

"Get her." Loki told Wanda. "If she gets the infinity stone The Vision will exist no longer."

With impressive determination, Maximoff sprinted towards Midnight.

Loki turned back to the fight with Corvus, her knives back in her hands. Her vision of the world was spinning, and she stumbled as she tried to walk forward, but she would not let that stop her.

Corvus had a small dagger out. Loki was impressed, she had assumed the man to believe he'd never lose his favoured weapon and wouldn't carry another.

The captain had already gotten stabbed in the side, so it seemed from the dark stain growing there on his uniform. He was still fighting though, which was formidable.

She suspected the widow's wrist was broken by the way she held it, but she too seemed no less determined. That was until Corvus managed to grab her by the neck and fling her backwards. She landed rather roughly and didn't seem to be getting up.

Loki ran forward with her knives and attempted to get a hit on Glaive, but her slow movements were easily countered. She was knocked back, and her dizziness pushed her to the ground.

Rogers was fighting the alien alone, but his determination at the defeat of Romanoff seemed to set him as an equal match to Corvus. If Loki had her magic, or could just stand, the fight might be over in seconds.

Her hand came to rest of the sash around her waist, and its magic buzzed in response. "Entend." She thought. "Wrap yourself around his neck and tighten."

To her surprise, the sash obeyed without complaint or zapping anymore of her energy. It extended and snakes its way across the air to Corvus, wrapping itself around his neck several times and squeezing.

Corvus was startled and grasped at his neck. The captain hit him with two hard punches to the face before sweeping his legs out from underneath him.

Corvus was struggling to breath, but when moved too close to his arms, he grabbed the man by his legs to bring him to the ground too. With a quick movement, he sliced his dagger through the sash. The fabric around his neck went limp while the length attached to Loki's waist recoiled.

The other end of her sash went to join in, but Loki stopped it. "Wait. I have an idea."

The extended end shortened until it was back to its original size and Loki held up her hands to use the sling ring.

"Move away, Captain." She called out.

Rogers complied, rolling out of the way as Corvus got to his feet. She moved her hand in a circle and regretted this plan for how much it would drain her.

A portal opened beneath Corvus feet and he fell through. When the lower half of his body had fallen through, Loki slammed the portal shut.

Corvus lifeless upper body fell back with a squelch, blood and body parts leaking out (the portal had let to the Sanctum, so Loki hoped that Strange enjoyed cleaning up the mess left by his lower body)

Black spots danced across her vision and she didn't have the strength to hold herself up any longer.

"Loren?" The captain asked.

"I am fine." She waved her hand lazily. "Check on Ms. Romanoff or assist the others in the fight against Proxima."

As she mentioned her name, Proxima let out a pained scream. Loki managed to look her way. She didn't seem to have been hurt, but she had caught sight of Corvus.

Proxima looked around. Brunnhilde's sword was inches away from her throat, Maximoff had magic pooling off her, Wilson had his guns pointed at her, and the captain seemed ready to join the fight.

"You will pay for this." She sneered, before pressing a button on her wrist and disappearing.

Maximoff helped Vision to his feet from where he sat on the ground. It had seemed that trying to seperate the mind stone from his body was affecting him badly, he looked how a regular person would look sick.

The widow stirred and slowly got to her feet. Rogers went over to check her for a concussion, holding his side. Wilson followed after him, seemingly unhurt.

Brunnhilde was suddenly at her side. When had she walked over? Loki wasn't paying attention.

She was talking, but Loki didn't realise until her sentence was nearly finished. "-okay?"

"What?"

"I asked if you were okay." Loki simply groaned in response. Brunnhilde grinned. "That bad, huh?"

She was aching. The way to sling ring used her magic left her feeling empty and sore. "I'm never using Midgardian magic again."

Brunnhilde chuckled. "Still, it worked."

"I suppose." Loki grinned before realisation shot through her. "We have to get to New York. Others from the Black Order were attacking there."

"I don't think you're going anywhere."

"I must." Loki insisted.

"Then get up." Brunnhilde challenged.

With much effort, Loki managed to push herself up to a sitting position. Her arms trembled and her dizziness increased tenfold. She was going to be sick.

"I hate you." Loki said, accepting that Brunnhilde was indeed right.

Brunnhilde bent down and lifted Loki into her arms without a problem.

"This is humiliating." Loki muttered.

"You lying on the ground was humiliating," Brunnhilde pointed out, "So you should be thanking me."

She rolled her eyes. "My hero~"

Loki didn't register much else of the conversation. Captain Rogers said something about a stolen plane at one point, but that was about all she could catch.

The stolen plane in question wasn't very far away, or maybe it was and Loki wasn't lucid enough to keep a reliable sense of distance and time.

Brunnhilde put her down on an uncomfortable chair at some point. "You should sleep, recover as much of your magic as you can. I'll wake you if anything exciting happens."

Loki didn't need to be told twice. She was too tired to have a sense of pride.