The fae woman knew she had to keep a low profile. The courts were still looking for her. She'd been hiding in the human realm for years by that point. So she hid her pointed ears, wore contacts and illusions over her eyes, and claimed she dyed her hair the Seelie red.

She tried to keep a low low profile.

Really, really, she tried.

But she'd ended up in New York and things just... happened in New York.

There was so much metal around that it dulled her presence from those who were hunting her, though it seemed to dull her magic as well. She had to ration a lot more carefully than she ever had in Underhill, but she made due in order to be safe.

It also didn't help that she lived a whole three blocks from the Avenger's tower.

Bad things just seemed drawn to the Avengers. And they were just so... inept wasn't quite the right word, but they were untrained, inelegant about fighting those bad things. And she... wasn't, not after everything she'd been through in her life.

So it was really their fault that she kept jumping in to help them when she saw them fighting. Especially if it looked like they needed help. Granted, they always looked like they needed help. Besides, she was a trained warrior as well as being one of the fae and therefore a more than proficient mage.

Plus it was fun to jump in, help, and vanish again before she got caught up with them.

Or worse.

Caught.

*

Everything changed when the Avengers added a new member. The fae lady couldn't help watching the new member with appreciation, and... more. He was a slim man with raven hair and green, gold, and black armor. He looked so... familiar... like she'd known him for centuries, but she couldn't quite place how or why.

Obviously, she recognized Loki from the alien attack a year and a half ago. If she ever met him, she'd have to thank him for that; but, he seemed more familiar than from just seeing him on TV screens.

Still, she jumped in to help them, to help him. Something drove her to help him more than the others. Something drew her to him. She teleported in front of him and killed a monster for him. His eyes widened in shock at her appeared. "Lady Fae! Wait!" he called before she could vanish. She saw passing interest in his eyes, intrigue, and was that the same touch of familiarity that she felt? He recognized her, just as she recognized him.

But how?

Why?

She knew then, though, that he had the same goal as the others: to bring her in. She didn't know why or how they were planning on doing that. Why the Avengers wanted her so badly when all she'd done was help them. But she knew that was their goal.

And not her desired outcome.

Not with the hell she'd been through in Underhill.

*

The team needed help.

Again.

They were fighting monsters downtown and they were currently scattered as they tried to regroup. Loki was the only one she could see at the moment. And was about to get his ass blasted with fire from one of the hellhounds. So she allowed her form to shimmer, green dragonscales appearing on her body as she jumped into the fray. She'd stay just long enough to help them and then get the hell out of dodge. That was her usual plan and it worked out well for her so far. She just had to not get caught. She blocked the ball of fire from Loki using her own forearms as shields. With dragon scales as armor, the fire couldn't do any damage to her. Loki was a frost giant. She knew no one was supposed to know that, especially with the illusions he hid himself under. It was a secret, but he was the prince of Jotunheim. She could see it in his truename. "Go!" she told him firmly "Fire can't hurt me!"

She knew the team had warned Loki to apprehend the strange magical fae girl at the end of the battle if he ever saw her. She tended to use her magic more than her blades, though she was equally skilled with both. They could never manage to catch her. She fled too quickly and they always waited until the evil was defeated before they attempted it. It gave her plenty of time to flee. At least from her point of view.

Loki wasn't so accommodating.

Loki zeroed in on her the moment she appeared. He had been warned about the fae woman and how she helped the team and that they had to bring her in before Shield decided to step in for themselves to capture the rogue magic-user. He was intrigued by her and something seemed so familiar. It had since the first time he saw her and he didn't know why. He also knew of so very few fae in existence. It wasn't that hard to figure out she was one of them. She looked the part with her delicately pointed ears, sidhe red hair, and tri-colored eyes of gold, emerald green, and jade green. As with any of the long-lived races, it was hard to tell her age, though she looked to be in her twenties, as humans measured ages.

Loki didn't wait until she'd finished helping them to confront her. He could fight the monsters and confront the fae at the same time. She would have less of a chance to escape that way. "You need to come with us, Lady Fae!" he told her firmly. He knew of her habit of running and didn't seem willing to let her flee, especially when he knew that Shield and the team were after her. It was safer for her to come with him now.

"How about no?" she replied a bit snarkily as she threw ice at the hellhound, subduing it. Her form shimmered, losing the dragon scales so she was in her 'natural' form again. "That's not how this works. I jump in, help you lot, and get out of here before I get captured and experimented on again," she told Loki just as firmly. He was new to this game, so clearly he needed the explanation. She threw a couple of bolts of magic, cast a couple of quick spells to subdue the worst of the monsters, and since Loki's attention was still on her, allowed her fairy wings to grow from her back. She flapped them a couple of times to flee before she was caught.

She nearly missed the quick piece of magic he worked. It was an impressive feat of magic and she wasn't sure she had seen better in centuries. Unfortunately, he chose to bind her feet to the ground before she could take off. "You are not the only one with magic here, Lady Fae. You would do well to come with us," he insisted, but gentled his tone some. He knew what it was like to be captured, to be held against one's will. He didn't want to do the same to her, but it was necessary.

"Let me go!" she told him firmly, practically shrieking with rage at being held, already fraying his magic with her own power. She had to get out of there before the team finished with the rest of the monsters. She didn't think she could take them all if they worked together. They may be borderline inept, but they still usually managed to get the job done eventually. And she didn't want all of their focus on her.

Loki raised an eyebrow, watching her curiously. "Why flee after helping the team? What are you so afraid of, little one?" he asked her gently. His accent and voice were so familiar. Something about the way he said 'little one' triggered something, some old hint of a memory. She couldn't quite place it. Why was his accent so familiar?

"I'd really rather not getting experimented on again," she told him grumpily while her magic frayed the bindings he placed on her. "I just got out of Underhill and the lovely treatment of the fae there 2 years ago. I do not want to go back to that kind of life," she informed him, spilling more to him than she ever would have to anyone else. Why was her tongue so loose around him? Why in the nine realms did he seem so familiar? Odin's beard this day was strange.

Odin's beard? Where had that curse come from?

He chuckled in reply, again, it sounded so commonplace, that particular sound, though, not quite the same, something about it had changed. "And you actually believe these fools would experiment on you? What do you know of the Avengers?" He asked her, curious and seeming not to realize what she was doing to his spell.

"They fight monsters and things attacking the city. And are incompetent oafs about it, though they mean well. I know nothing about that Shield organization that they insist wants to get to know me. So I help them out if I'm around and then flee so I don't have to find out what Shield does want with me," she told him as she finally snapped his spell and took off with a couple of flaps of her wings before he could try that nasty trick again. Though trickery was in his nature. Wasn't it?

Now, why did she know that?

She heard his groan of frustration and saw him teleport away as she flew from the scene, not risking getting caught.

He fought not to roar in frustration at losing her. Again. At losing his chance to get to know the intriguing little fae who seemed so... familiar. So he decided to just teleport back to his room at the tower, not wanting to deal with the team, not wanting to face his failure.

Thor caught up with him after the rest of the monsters had been defeated. "You lost the Fae Lady?" Thor asked him, gently for the usually boisterous thunderer. He was clearly wondering how his brother had managed to lose the fae lady, especially with all of Loki's magic at his disposal. Loki should have been able to stop her and Thor had stressed how important it was that she be brought in. "I fear we are running out of time to bring her in safely. Shield believes she has too much power to be out in the world alone," Thor added, hoping to press upon his brother how important it was that he not fail the next time they spotted her. Though he'd already beaten this point into his brother already. Loki was their only hope of getting her in safely. "They are talking of hunting her down..."

Loki rolled his eyes. "She surprised me. We need to convince her to come in instead of trying to capture her. And if you wish for her help, you need to make sure Shield has nothing to do with this, brother. She will not come if she feels the team wishes to do her harm," Loki reminded him. Again. His brother really was an idiot.

Thor huffed. "As if I wish to do her harm. I wish for her to be here where she will be safe with us. You have gotten the closest to her since we first saw her..." he added softly. The fae lady really didn't stick around no matter what they tried.

She really did not want to be captured again.