At Azzy's words, all of the adults snapped their heads towards him and the kids cringed. “Don't freak! He's doing a pretty good job. I mean, he hasn't tried to mangle anyone on the job. No escape attempts.” She smiled cheerfully and rocked on her heels. “Yeah. For now. Look, I got shit to do. I'm outtie.” Basil was obviously still displeased with Victory not being on the team, but nobody really gave a damn. As he stormed out, Benjamin bashfully bowed his head.

“I-I-I must ag-ag-agree. L-Loki's been beha-behav-behaving himself lately.” He cursed himself for his stutter, but with Lina so close to him and wearing his favorite outfit of hers, it was difficult not to. It was just as hard for the Avengers (and spouses) to believe that Loki was on the team. Damn - Astrid was good. At the same time, they should have seen it coming. With their suspicions about their children, how could they have not known that Loki was a tagalong?

---

Astrid bit down on her bottom lip before sliding her gaze to Loki. She had been thinking long and hard on what she would say to him next. “What do you know about my mother?” If he denied anything, she would know. She saw the way Johanna and Gunnar would look at the pictures of "Ingrid" and then to each other. She remembered how Thor had initially greeted her, as though she were his own daughter or old friend.

Astrid ate dinner with her family in silence, hardly listening as Benjamin and Orfelina gushed with Bruce about their new project. Nick, Azzy, James, and Caelan had forsaken their meals to engage in arm wrestling matches. Soon after, they all retired to the home theater to watch action movies filled with explosions and blood and romance. Astrid had decided that she would wash the dishes instead when she heard a car pull up in the driveway. Who would come to see them this late?

Tensing to attack, she approached the door and pulled it open to see Thor with his hand poised for knocking. There was immediate recognition in his eyes that made her wince. She was only wearing a sports bra and daisy dukes, exposing her athletic figure and her scars. Her blue eyes narrowed as he immediately wrapped her in a tight hug. “By Odin, you look...” He paused and noted her confused expression. She looked so much like her mother but Freya wasn't here anymore. He wasn't supposed to talk about it - Astrid and Ásbjorn were supposed to find out on their own. “Beautiful. Your parents must be proud...Is your father about?”

She was young then - Perhaps fourteen or so. She had chalked up his behavior to just being weird. An Asgardian thing, perhaps. But these dreams and all these signs said that there was more. She slid from her perch and set her food aside before approaching the god and leaning her frame over his. Her hair slid over her face and shoulders as she placed one hand on the back on his chair and the other on the table. “If you are inclined to share with me what you know, I may be inclined to bargain with you and offer something in return.” Her voice was smooth and even, her expression unclear as she blinked slowly.

Asbjorn watched as the events unfolded: as expected, the Avengers seemed suddenly concerned, with Lina jumping in, hoping to quell their possibly chaotic emotions. Basil suddenly got mad and left, and Azzy watched him leave with concerned eyes. It was common knowledge, at least to Asbjorn, that Basil wasn't too fond of Loki in the slightest - and a little too fond of Victory. There was some reason behind it - something about Victory being a hard one to get - that he left alone, but it still made him anxious. They really didn't need a lot of in fighting within the ranks, but it couldn't be helped as long as Loki was there.

Benji then stuttered out something, to which Asbjorn forgot his problems to give a playful smirk towards the kid. Azzy had to sympathize with the BFG - Big Friendly Giant for those who don't know the term - as Azzy had to guess that this whole scenario was quite taxing on such a shy guy. Plus, Orfelina was wearing that cute shirt about something science related, which Azzy had to guess made Benji even more nervous. Oh, the things he knew. Azzy refocused himself back onto the task at hand, and spoke once again, this time walking towards the rest of the group and joining them. His tone became business like and confident, just like how he would normally address a more formal meeting. "I didn't bring it up to cause concern, only to explain the whereabouts of our guest. So far, we have had issues with schemes or plans by him, and Astrid is showing herself more than capable at being his ward." He paused for a bit before continuing. "That doesn't mean, however, that I have any intentions of casting any form of trust his way: he is still far from powerless. So he will receive the treatment equal to the rest of the human race." Azzy glanced at Thor, hoping to get an approving look - though not entirely sure why, Azzy had always trusted Thor's ideals of justice along with his Father's. They gave him the balance he needed to look at things logically.



Loki raised an eyebrow at her question, not entirely taken aback by its nature and yet slightly intrigued at her approach. It only took her a few seconds to push past the fog and nonsense and get straight to her point. It was so much more fun to twist words around and around in conversation, yet Loki was always bemused by Astrid's stylistic conversations. To accompany said style of conversation, Astrid got right up behind Loki and basically pinned him in from one side, her voice quite tediously blank as she said that she may be able to bargain something if he had answers. A small smirk appeared on the god's lips as he continued to stare straight ahead, as if to ignore her.

"My my, getting ahead of ourselves, are we?" His sideways glance caught her eyes, the smirk slightly fading. "Attempting to extract information from a former god through bribery? I thought that was beneath your kind." His glance remained solid as he spoke, his smile returning as his head pivoted slowly to face her. "What could you possibly offer me that I cannot achieve on my own, or that would avoid being a breach in exile by the glorious Odin himself?" The last three words laced with venom and sarcasm, Loki turned back to staring straight ahead before speaking again.

"Besides, how are you so certain that I contain information on your mother, let alone you?"

At Loki's words she rolled her eyes. Did he really have to ask that? Was he so deluded that he thought he could escape her grasp without fulfilling his conditions? What could she say that would entice him? Would she offer to let him blow off his steam and vent his distaste for the majority of the human race by allowing him to join her on her next murderous rampage? No – That was her little secret and she was sure that he enjoyed his few short hours of unmonitored freedom when she disappeared to God knows where. There was still much that she could offer that she was sure he would be interested in, but she couldn't make the offers. She didn't trust him not to say anything and ruin it all and possibly send her to prison or worse have her executed. And she didn't want to reveal just how much she was like him. But. There was one thing. A sigh escaped her as she moved around to sit in front of him, a glowing chair materializing as her body lowered. She met his gaze, for once showing some emotion in her expression when approaching Loki. What was it though? Concern, hope, or yearning? “You can delude yourself for as long as you want that you have a shot at taking over Midgard, enslaving the human race, or making it back to Asgard anytime soon by simply doing what you're doing now, going by a fake it to make it philosophy. You're going nowhere fast. Truth is, without me you're dead. You have no powers and everyone on earth wants you dead. And you've seen that there's more than just humans. People who actually can hurt you. You're intelligent. Quite intelligent, I'll give you that. You're good at manipulating people, sure. But I know people who are better. Honestly, if I didn't give two flying fucks about trying to make you a genuinely better person by making you learn on your own, I would have long since I had my stepmother or grandfather brainwash you and rewire you to being Prince Charming. I pride myself on being a good person. Or I'm just trying to work on my patience. I haven't figured out why just yet.” She shrugged before clearing her throat. “But, I am humble enough to admit that I need you as much as you need me.” She canted her head to the side some, closing her eyes. She was highly aware of her rather abrasive demeanor. She wanted to change, really she did. Loki was her key to change. “ you want to get back to ask card and the only way that's going to happen is when I say you're ready and you weren't exactly making any progress, does the blame falls equally on me. I suppose I can make this a little bit easier for you. We can help each other. In exchange...You will tell me what you know about this woman.” She pulled her locket from between her breasts and opened it to show the woman within. “Don't lie to me and say you know nothing. Thor is about as subtle as screen door during a hurricane and you have wandering eyes. Either you think my mom's a total babe or you really do know something. When Ásbjorn and I first met both you and Thor, you both looked upon us with brief recognition and slight surprise before quickly averting your gaze. The name Ingrid Northman is in a few databases, but not her face. My mother was a very physically strong woman who claimed Scandinavian descent and hasn't been seen in decades. I've been scanning international satellites since I was fourteen. I would have known if she popped up. My brother and I have an unidentified gene and blood type. Not to mention that I feel entirely too comfortable and too familiar wearing what I assume is Asgardian armor. I know that you and your brother know who our mother is. I want to know where she is, why she left, and what her name is. You will take me and Azzy to Asgard with you when you return.”

Loki was unfazed as Astrid grilled him, saying that he wouldn't last a minute without her, how she could have brainwashed him by now, etc, etc etc. Truth be told, Loki already knew most of those things, but they hardly fazed him: it made things much more interesting that she was looking out for him, but he was confident that he would always have the last card to play, regardless of what they decided to do with him. After all, what card can beat the inability to die? None, and that was just how Loki liked it. So there he sat through most of her speech, the shadow of his smirk still lingering as he watched her with dead eyes. It was then that she finally got to the point, saying she would go easier on his assessment of him and then pulled out her locket

Oh Freya, how you put me in a compromising position, no? He thought to himself in a slight chuckle. Astrid didn't stop though, kept going on about how he had wandering eyes, Thor wasn't subtle and that they were pretty different than the rest. But the true show happened when Astrid finally finished her rant with the strangest line: You will take me and Azzy to Asgard with you when you return.” Loki fell silent for a second, until a deep rumble came from within that turned into a chuckle, before a little laugh escaped from him. He couldn't help it, the whole situation seemed so bizarre and odd that it was quite humerus now. Not to mention entertaining.

"And what makes you think that you'll be able to just waltz into Asgard without any problem, hm Miss Fury?" Loki contained his laughter before finally cooling himself down. "You are correct in assuming that I am dead without your... humble protection, but the fact of the matter is quite clear - even if we helped each other, I do not believe that anything will change." He paused, the smirk still there and slightly growing. "Again, you are right to presume that I have some intelligent knowledge of your mother, but then again, you have also failed to ask the simple question of exactly how many of Midgard know of such a secret? I can safely tell you that there are more people in with information than you previously assumed." Loki gave a dry smile to her before finishing off.

"Besides..." He gave a small smirk before it quickly fell into a wistful tone. "There are more things to fear than being killed here on Midgard because you wanted answers. So to answer your demand, I cannot truly 'share' information pertaining the exact identity and knowledge of your mother, nor can you simply walk into Asgard because you are hungry for information. But whose to stop you from finding the information out on your own, hm?" After Loki's little open ended speech, he sincerely hoped that Astrid got the little innuendo at the end - he severely overestimated her if she couldn't. Why would he bother telling her she could find out on her own? Well, Loki wanted to give away the location of every person that might know, especially of the ones within the Order that had been lying to her this entire time.

Oh the things that would burn if she found out.

“What are you...?”

Astrid stepped away from Loki with a slightly puzzled expression. She let her mind wander, her fists curling after a few moments. lf Loki knew...and Thor knew...That meant that Johanna and Gunnar knew as well. If her mother was in Asgard, they would know. They were there all the time. Wouldn't her mother have asked them how she and Azzy were doing? Gun and Jo had spent a lot of time with the twins — Certainly more than Thor and Loki. Why wouldn't they tell them?! Astrid partially blamed herself — Maybe if she had been less of a bitch. Been closer to them. They would be inclined to tell her then. She closed her eyes some and ran her fingers through her hair before looking at Loki. “l know for a fact that my mother is in Asgard and I'm pretty sure that Odin will welcome me if I request to travel there. After all, I'm the one that's keeping you from doing something incredibly stupid. I'm the one that's going to set you on your path to be a better person. I've heard that Odin is a wise and kind King — I don't think that he would keep Ásbjorn and I from seeing our family. And...if my calculations of genealogy are correct Thor is my uncle somewhere down the line. I could always just ask him.” She gave a shrug with an apathetic expression before returning to her meal. What eluded her was the reason behind all of the secrecy. Her mother had sworn that she would see them again when they grew stronger and met their destiny. What destiny?! Both of the twins were their own one-person-army. Wasn't that strong enough? Or had she meant strength in the mental and emotional sense as well. If so, they were both fucked seven ways to Odin. Maybe Loki being assigned to her was her destiny. She needed to help him to help herself. But what was Azzy's destiny? And how was she supposed to teach Loki about love? What the hell did she know about love?

---

“Hi, I'm Trevor. Trevor Malone. I'm your new intern.” Orfelina turned around to come face-to-face with a young man of green eyes and dark blonde hair smirking softly at her. “The girls at MIT were hardly this pretty. Nice contacts.” He looked into her violet eyes and reached out to grab hold of her hard -most likely to kiss it - but Lina took a step back and lifted her brow. “l didn't hire any intern.” She turned her back to him and quickly rolled up her blueprints as he came around to peek at them. “Uh, no. But Mister Stark did. I'm sorry — I forgot your name...lt's Orfelina, right?” He gave a soft snort in attempt to hold back a laugh. “Your parents
must have really not liked you.” Her fingers curled into a light fist as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Sorry. But anyways — I do have an impressive resume. I graduated high school when I was thirteen and I graduated top honors in advanced computer programming at MIT when I was seventeen. I really think I have a lot to offer you." He was obviously quite proud of himself, adjusting his posture so that he seemed a little taller. The gypsy opened her eyes and turned to face the boy with a polite smile.

“That's Doctor Howlett to you, kid. And I'm not a girl; I'm a woman twice your age and you have literally nothing to offer me. Your resume is hardly impressive enough for me to want to have you working for me. I graduated high school at the age of ten and by the time I was your age, I already had PhDs in Quantum Physics and Molecular Genetics. I was twenty when I got my PhDs in Nanoengineering and Theoretical Physics. I've spent seventeen years prior in the Marines. Now, I don't know who you think you are, coming in here like you're the smartest man alive, but I don't like you. You're cocky and you're stupid and I don't have the time to teach some sanctimonious little prick the difference between a cold fusion reactor and an arc reactor. And I really don't like people peeking at my blue prints. I will speak to Tony later and let him know that he can take your MIT degree and shove it up your ass. Now, leave my lab before I escort you out.” She gave a wink before turning back around and pulling out her phone to send Àsbjorn a reply to an earlier text. “I don't have to go anywhere. I work here.” Trevor was indignant, his face pulled into an irritated expression that turned into surprise as she quickly spun around and slammed her fist into his jaw, knocking him out cold. She hoisted him over her shoulder and made her way out of the lab, leaving. him in the hallway with a sticky note on his forehead reading 'No interns allowed. -Gypsy'.

“l thought he was going to wet his pants!” The crimson haired wonder squealed as she bounced in her seat at a local diner in Staten Island. Lina had just finished dealing with the intern when Ásbjorn rang her up and asked her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat. She definitely was willing to get out of the lab for a breath of fresh air. As much as she loved science and wished that she could build vehicles and weaponize random things all day every day, she was less apt to train idiot interns with her valuable time. She tucked her hair behind her ear before looking to Ásbjorn with an exasperated expression. “Normally, I hate bullies. Though, I have to admit that I rather enjoyed it when he was about to cry. God — He was such a pious dickhead.” She gave a wide grin before taking a sip of her water. “So, how's your case going?” The forty-three year old woman turned her gaze towards her young, lifelong friend, a softer smile playing more softly on her lips. She didn't look anywhere near her age, holding all the vitality and youthful appearance of a woman half her age. The retired Marine veteran and now pursed her lips some before setting down her water.

Loki's smirk faltered until it fell off completely as Astrid began to rhyme off 'facts' and assumptions about things, which almost made Loki disappointed that he had told her. He was hoping for something more explosive, more emotional: instead, he got logically assumed thesis with little supporting pieces to boot. Yet that was Astrid for him, which made the smirk slowly return - the fact that she had kept her cool - while made things much less interesting - was one of the reasons she intrigued him so much. How could a mortal be so indignant and calm, yet not at the same time? Loki enjoyed fitting the pieces of that puzzle together, no matter how slowly.

She returned to her meal as Loki remained silent, musing over what words would be the best to say before finally looking back up at her. Loki's green eyes seemingly pierced the darkness, his smug grin illuminating his face. "My my, you are making quite the presumptions Miss Fury. These ideas of your mother being in Asgard are truly a stretch indeed, but to go as far to say you are related to Thor? Preposterous." Loki's voice was purposely layered with irony and satire, and he knew that it wouldn't take much of Astrid's brain power to figure out he was playing with her. "While I am not at liberty to tell you anything, it is also clear that this matter won't just disappear on its own like it is with your twin. "Though I must ask you this after such a powerful speech: you already have made your assumptions on who knows of this 'secret'. So who would have enough influence over so many powerful people to keep such a large 'secret' under wraps?" Loki was purposely leading Astrid on, since he was bound by Odin's breath that he was unable to directly speak of the Fury twins' heritage, or face imminent exile to some asteroid. But that wasn't stopping him from helping the process along, now was it?

---

You know how hard it is to focus on a murder accusation when a gorgeous woman keeps texting you extremely interesting conversations? Very, and Azzy knew that for a fact. He had been hired by 15 families - roughly 60 people in total - to accuse one Mr. Camide of 15 counts of rape, 13 counts of 1st degree murder and 2 counts of 2nd degree murder. This was probably the largest case that Azzy had ever had to deal with; even the judge was somewhat sympathetic with him, with Judge Martin extending the trial to 3 weeks longer when it became apparent that Azzy was, on some days, running himself ragged with raw information. Even his superhuman abilities could barely keep up with his schedule, let alone his other commitments. Azzy still had to check up on his sister every now and then, making sure that Loki wasn't being a prick or something.

So Azzy was constantly being texted by a friend that he had known for most of his life, the eccentric Orfelina, and their conversations rarely stopped. He finally got around to checking the time, realizing that it was around lunchtime, and gave up for food; literally. He was knee deep in papers, the assistant that he had hired when the case started was probably buried under one of those stacks of evidence, and Azzy was sick of seeing words on white paper. So after he called up Orfy to grab some food, Azzy found his assistant - buried as expected, trying to sort things - grabbed his blazer and cane before heading out. He caught up with Orfelina at a local diner, and finally the past had caught up to the present.

Azzy was trying hard not to laugh hysterically at Orfelina's story of her new 'intern', her exctatic personality rubbing off on him as she continued talking in her unusually fast paced, scrambled way. Just another thing he found adorable about her, he guessed. For a while now, Azzy was noticing that he was observing Orfy more often than normal. She was undeniably beautiful, with her red locks and the body of a lady barely older than Asbjorn. It also certainly helped that she had a hyperactive personality. However, she asked him a question he was expecting: “So, how's your case going? He gave out a sigh of playful annoyance, stretching his arms quickly before he grabbed his own drink of tea and taking a drink.

"Let's just say that my assistant may quit if this keeps up. I don't think I've ever seen that many papers on one desk in my life." He gave another sigh, before a smile crept onto his lips. "But we are getting there - I guess the fact that there is so much evidence is just helping me. Still, it would be nice to have a break from paper for at least a day." He took another sip of his tea before setting himself to relax once more. This was definitely a step towards a refreshing break that he knew he needed, but couldn't grasp. Good thing that he was closing in on finalizing his case, or else he would be stressing more.

It had been two months since Astrid had approached Johanna and Gunnar about hers and Ásbjorn's mother, but they immediately could only apologize that they could say nothing. Astrid didn't have it in her to beat the answers out of them as she normally would do any other person. She knew all too well how it was to be bound to the words of your parents. She kept silent and began heavier research, though unable to get too far. She would find nothing in earthly books and considering Thor and Loki looked nothing like anything any ancient scholars had portrayed them to be, she wouldn't be able to compare the images of her mother to any of the Goddesses of Asgard. She was aware, however, that most Asgardians were related to each other the way people in small towns were; lf not by blood then by marriage. She knew that she was for sure related to Johanna, Gunnar, and Thor after taking a blood sample and having Orfelina examine and compare it. She confirmed that they were possibly her cousins and that the previously unidentified element in their genes was in fact somewhat close to the Aesir gene, but a slight bit different. She left it alone for a while. keeping her brother out of the loop in the hopes of being able to figure out who their mysterious mother was and wanting to surprise him. She began to focus her time instead on helping Loki. She was still unsure of whether or not he was faking but it seemed as though he began to grow more genuine in his actions and words.

Still he was with his sharp words and taunting sneers. She brushed them off with her own composed and calm visage, often giving irritable sighs and cutting glances. And even still she did find herself feeling closer to him and more comfortable in his presence. By the time December had come around she had even felt comfortable leaving him at the house by himself and letting him roam New York City without her supervision. Well, she had people keep an eye on him while he was in town. She didn't trust him that much. Even the kids that they worked with had taken a shine to him. Their reaction to him was like that of Agnes to Kyle in Despicable Me. Astrid hated to admit that she found it adorable how attached they had gotten to him even when he would try to push them away. There were a lot of things that she hated to admit lately. Especially that she had been growing close to Loki. Her father had felt something was wrong and attempted to remove her from the case around Thanksgiving time, wanting to ship Loki back to Asgard and announce failure in his reform. Astrid fought vehemently to keep him on Midgard and under her custody and protection, convincing Nicholas that he was changing. She had managed to maim a few agents in the process who had spoken against her and insinuated that she was having sexual relations with the God of Mischief. Agent Saunders had a cracked skull and Agent Tilly had two broken arms and four cracked ribs.

Orfelina, meanwhile, had been furthering her research in the fields of computer sciences, every day missing her life in the Marines where things were exciting every day. One moment she could be working on a new computer chip to contain all of the nation's secrets and the next she could be whisked away on a jet to blow people's heads off. She made up for it by acting as a masked crusader in the night. She dressed up like Batgirl and used one of her jet boards to fly around New York, D.C., New Jersey, and everywhere in between to stop what crimes she could. Yeah, she was that bored. The good thing was that she had made a major breakthrough in Gracie's defensive capabilities and was that much closer to finalizing her papers on AI units as well as bionics. She was a bit sad that she didn't seem to have enough time in the days to further her research in molecular genetics as much as she could her computer science studies. Still, she had hacked into North Korea's military database and gained access to the blueprints of their nuclear weapons just long enough to fuck up their blueprints and turn it all into gibberish. She didn't have as much personal time as she would have liked, but the time that she did have was spent with her friends and family; Namely Asbjorn. The young man was...well. A lot younger than she was. About half her age, really. But Orfelina didn't mind. She spent a lot of her life avoiding any deep attachments to anyone, especially relationships. She had felt the pain that others felt when loved ones died and she was in no way willing to force herself through the pain of falling in love, marrying, having children, and then watching them waste away as she forever appeared no older than twenty.

There was no guarantee that her children would inherit their grandfather's X-Gene from Orfelina and Lina didn't want to take that chance. To spend centuries going through that vicious cycle seemed painful. Even just to think about it. She was glad that her father and brother were forever. To live a lonely life was not really living at all. But Asbjorn, he would be able to live on. It was rare to find people with halted or slowed aging process. Or even immortality. Even more rare to find them with advanced healing factors. He was also smart, powerful, and attractive. He was an ideal candidate above all others for her to pursue a romantic relationship. To quote her favorite character: “It's only logical.” She enjoyed the time spent with him and frequently attempted to explain her work him. She knew she wouldn't be able to get him to fully comprehend quantum physics, but basic physics was enough to get our point across. He was no genius concerning the areas of science, but their conversations still held some depth. More often than not, their conversations turn toward the directions of popular news media and talks of the military, funnily enough. Most people didn't enjoy talking about war with the terrible things in the world but she loves discussing with him all the things that could be done differently so that the world could be better.

---

Friday – December 13, 2013
10:15pm

Astrid was silent as she walked down the dark streets of Harlem with Loki d her side, having earlier made her way to a friend's house to enjoy a nice dinner. Maria's daughter Jezebel had just been released from the hospital after her cancer had mysteriously gone into recession after being told only days ago that she had a mere few days left to live. To be honest...Astrid may have had a hand in it. She had been working at the hospital for so long, she couldn't help but to call in a friend to give the kids a little push towards health when announced terminal. She worked there silently as an RN, hardly doing much to gain notice. But she would visit the children on her days off, disguising herself through taking on a full light form, appearing to have wings emerging from her back. She would sing to the children and play with them, telling them that they'd be okay. For the ones she knew were diagnosed as terminal, her heart would break and she couldn't help herself from calling in a friend to give them a little nudge back towards recovery. These children didn't deserve to die. They hadn't even begun to live yet. Not to say that the elder patients to die either, but Astrid felt that they weren't really getting any younger and they had already lived a full life. These kids hadn't even had the chance to drive their first car or go to college. She just couldn't bear it.

Little Jezebel knew her secret though and demanded that she and Loki come to her welcome home party. Her parents were hesitant in Loki's presence, as was everyone else. The seven year old held no issue clambering into Loki‘s arms though and giving him as big a hug as she could muster before introducing him to her hamsters.

Astrid watched with a silent smile from a comer the whole time before they all sat down and enjoyed a very large and delicious traditional Mexican meal. Astrid wasn't even close to being full by the time that they left but she did thank them for the meal, informing Loki under her breath that they were going to head for a diner in Harlem that made the absolute best hamburgers and steaks. She felt like throwing back a few pints of beer with him. The thing between them was confusing and she hardly bothered to explore it, feeling that it would be much better to simply leave it be. There was no need to go and complicate things at this point in time. Or any point, for that matter. Even if she zoned out, working by internal GPS and failing to notice that she walked ever closer to Loki, having them appear to be a couple out for a late night walk on the town. She did notice at one point and quickly moved away from him, her face glowing a fierce crimson before she hushed down the soft light.

As they came upon the small diner, she gave a sigh of relief and pushed the door open, going in to take a seat at a booth in the back. She didn't glance at the menu, instead waiting for a waitress. As the waitress came over, she had a scowl on her face and an attitude in her tone. “We're about to close. Sorry.” Astrid was no stranger to this reply. People weren't exactly clambering to serve the fallen Prince of Asgard. He did try to take over the world. Still, Astrid did not tolerate disrespect. A sigh escaped her as she turned her steely cold blue gaze to the young woman and lifted her chin some. “Look. Whatever your issue is, lose it. You don't know his story so you've got no right to walk around with your holier-than-thou attitude. l don't like that in people. It's grossly unattractive.” Astrid lifted a brow and watched the girl's face turned red while she simply removed the beret from her blonde head and set it down beside her. “I don't care what his story is. Don't mean he can come to our place and rape and kill our women and children. Sick fuck.” The teenager working the late shift decided to catch an attitude. Lovely. Astrid slowly stood up and towered over the other female by about three inches. She removed her jacket to reveal the cut muscles and the heavy scars and tattoos on her body, making the other female hesitate and backdown.

“This country was founded by men that killed and raped women and children to obtain the land. This land was founded on the belief of "see it, want it, take it by force". Native American villages were pillaged, blankets infected with variola major -smallpox- were thrown on the men and women and children, they were shot down with guns and forced out of their homelands, tricked out of their ancestral homes by colonists, and treated like idiots because they preferred to live as one with nature rather than as its master. l'm quite sure that you certainly aren't fighting for Native Americans to regain the land that is rightfully theirs. If it weren't for Chinese laborers forced to work the railroads for less than five cents a day, it might have never gotten done. Let's not forget what happened to anybody with dark skin and curly hair. Still goes on today. At least Loki wasn't being discriminatory. And nobody was raped during the War of New York City. Less than one hundred people died. That's about as many people as would have on a plane crash. Hardly a genocide. You're just being stupid and trying to make things seem more than they are. Simple fact is that a man saw a world terribly out of shape and thought to rule it. Sure, he shouldn't have gone all Semi-Hitler on us. But he had his heart in a good place. Now, I plan on spending at least two hundred dollars here on my meal alone. But I'll be taking on a different waitress because I don't want your stupid disease to rub off on me. l can already feel my lQ dropping. Now move along before I have you arrested for the coke that you snorted before you came to work. By the way, you've got a little on your shirt. And just under your nose.”

She offered a polite smile, her voice calm as she seemed almost pressed against the girl, having backed her against the counter. The girl looked like she was about to cry but Astrid didn't care; Such was the price to pay for being stupid. As the girl dabbed at her nose she rushed away to fetch another waitress and Astrid took her seat, snapping her fingers. “I'll take five porterhouse sixteen ounces, seven fully loaded Harlem stuff burgers, and throw in an order of seasoned fries and a salad. Also, I'll take a pitcher of orange juice and ask Tito if he's got something strong back there.” She smiled before looking to Loki for his order.

On the other side of town, Orfelina was at the carnival with Ásbjorn. She absolutely loved it when it came to town, having shown off to her "date" with her acrobatic skills as she swung through the air, catching others and flipping with them. It was just exhilarating. When the Big Top closed down, the rides and other attractions remained open as the night staff took their shifts for the nocturnal patrons. Bundled up for the chilly weather, she laughed as she picked at a funnel cake and sipped on a warm beer. “They're going to be making it illegal in a few states to have any alcoholic beverage at any sort of carnival or amusement park. There was a woman who went to Schlitterbahn back in July. She got crazy drunk at one of their little minibars and totally destroyed all of the ribs on her right side after taking a nasty fall from one of their rides. And she's suing.”

She shook her head in disapproval before her eye was caught by the house of mirrors. “Oh, God! C'mon!”, she squealed. She all but dropped the things that she had bought, just barely missing the trash bin near her as she clapped her hands and dashed off to the large house of mirrors. lt was more than a house of mirrors, the inside turning out to be a puzzling maze that went from a mirror room to a walled maze to having to go down a slide and then up a ladder and a whole series of random other obstacles that didn't seem to fit into the small building. Orfelina found herself confused at first, wondering if she hadn't caught how wide the attraction was. But it was no optical illusion. lt was a mindfuck for hell from kids. She figured someone working at the fair was capable of manipulating reality and had turned this simple house of mirrors into a fun little playground. She could hear children crying, her brow furrowing in confusion. She didn't do well with tears. She understood them, yes. She just didn't like them. And she didn't like people making children cry for the fun of it. “Azzy! Where are you?” She tried to sniff him out, but she couldn't hear him or see him. “Azzy!” She had almost made it out when she found herself back at the start and no way out behind her. She moved forward some more only for the mirrors to close in around her. She immediately panicked and started throwing punches. She was going to get a lifetime of bad luck for it, but she wasn't having fun anymore. Her ears rang with children crying and the sound of shattering glass as she littered the metal floor with her blood and shards.

“Woah! Woah! Why is whenever we are in same place together, things break?” A wicked cackle rang in her ears and she found herself suddenly outside staring into the green eyes of a familiar face. Warren looked rough and worn, scars and callouses on his hands and face, his right eye seeming to fade in color. “Warren! You sorry piece of shit! You leave those kids in there alone!” She drove a punch into his ribs with a half grin before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. “How you been?” The two were war buddies, part of an elite and top secret black ops team that even the presidents were unaware of to this very day. The two melted into conversation as her knuckles healing, the shards of glass falling to the ground below them as children piled out of the crazy house and into their parents' arms being quickly whisked away. As her Ukrainian comrade went into detail of his new cover, her eyes kept moving towards the funhouse as she waited for Azzy to emerge. Warren caught this and immediately gave a Chesire grin. “This man you are here with. The young one – He is your lover?” Lina's face immediately turned red as she shook her head quickly. “No! We're just friends. Good friends.” Warren wasn't buying it, immediately taking to Ásbjorn's side as he emerged. “I am Warren. You may call me War. I am good friend with your lover, Captain Howlett. We all go drink now, yeah?”

December: Loki's POV

Loki was beginning to get concerned for his rehabilitation process: instead of growing in vengeance and knowledge in ways to become the leader of Asgard, he was being attacked by little Midgardian children. Seriously, those things that Astrid had introduced him to suddenly thought him as the most exquisite playmate - which lead to the unknown reasoning that he was their friend and always wanted to play. It was like they weren't even in NYC when he attacked, and only saw the God as a plush toy. But boy could they grab, and their endless energy exhausted his limited supply. He still hadn't gotten used to the idea that he was entirely mortal, and it stung his pride like thousands of bees. And yet... there was something about the children that were refreshing - sure they were easily manipulated and lovely to work propaganda with, but there was an innocence about them that Loki just had to admire. The fact that they were not phased by reality in the slightest gave him bittersweet feelings - he envied their ability to block out all of their problems, and yet also naive for not understanding the real world. But that was all behind him now.

Loki narrowed his eyes as he walked, his smug expression rarely changing. Astrid was always dragging him around places nowadays, and for some reason Loki was always finding himself complying without hesitation. Sure, he still had his dry tone of mocking and sarcasm - like that would ever change - but it was like he had slightly accepted his mortality and the need for change. The mere thought that he was becoming more mundane almost made him gag, it was so ludicrous. They had just left that one food place that Astrid had called 'Mexican' - whatever that meant, Loki cared not - and were now heading towards some place that served 'hamburgers' (Loki obviously knew what a steak was). It was passing the part of dusk on this planet, and Loki spoke nothing as they walked. At one moment, Astrid moved away from him suddenly, to which Loki gave a questionable look to her as if to ask 'Now why would you go and do something like that?' Truly, he was still having difficulty understanding normal Midgardians, and this Astrid was simply one of a higher caliber. He liked that about her, the way she was different. Differences were easily manipulated.

So Miss Fury's face was oddly red when they entered said diner, and then the problems began. For some reason, Astrid always insisted that Loki show his given face - the one that he used in his attempt take over - instead of allowing his minuscule to mesh his face into that of somebody else. It never made sense to him: Loki just wanted to go about his own damn business, get back to Asgard, and enslave everything while watching this planet burn, and walking around with his original face seemed like a back pedal. It forced others to accept him, instead of allow him to slip in unnoticed. So of course, the one diner human got quite flustered at his presence and lied about their closing. How could he tell she was lying? Easily: Loki was basically the god of liars. Regardless, Astrid took offense to this petty excuse, and bluntly went straight to the point.

Loki's expression only changed mildly at two occasions. Firstly, his one eyebrow raised when the waitress accused him of raping and killing children. Did they think him that barbaric? No, the God of Evil was much more sophisticated then that: where was the purpose in fulfilling carnal desires in such a chaotic way? Needless slaughter was a given at the end of a plan, but rape was rarely justified - it didn't help anything, nor further any plans. Now, consensual sex, on the other hand, helped his plans immensely when it tarnished the names of his enemies. But more on that later: the other change in his face were when Astrid took off her jacket - a first in such a public area, if he could recall correctly - and said he went 'Semi-Hitler' on them. Loki was slightly offended that he would be degraded by Astrid to below a Midgardian. Loki then slowly took a seat as Astrid belted out an order, and then looked at him as if he were to know exactly what to order in such a peculiar predicament.

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly, before turning to the waitress. "If I may, I will have this sandwich known as a 'hamburger' with 'everything', along with a glass of water." His voice was completely composed, before he turned to Astrid as the waiter left and gave her an odd look. "If you are going to insult my abilities in combat, at least do it more straightforward. Only semi-Hitler, it's like you barely know me." His dry humor could have evaporated the water in his cup, and he gave a small smile. "Though I am quite surprised that, once again, you have defended me on the pretense of nothingness - truly, you do wound my pride." Loki crossed his leg and leaned on his elbow, a smile coming to his lips. Hopefully the 'something strong' would get some answers out of her for Loki - after all, Loki was a Frost Giant: alcohol was the second best thing they were good at, besides making everybody else's blood run.

---

Meanwhile...

---

Asbjorn exhaled in happiness, the water vapour exiting his mouth condensing instantly, his breath being visible as he walked. Orfy had become ecstatic when the carnival came to town, dragging him into going - more like she gave him the idea, and he decided to tag along for the fun of it. While Lina was always a bubbly person, it seemed to be amplified as she was surrounded by the circus; everywhere they went, she was giggling or jumping in excitement. Truly it was like watching a child in a candy store, or a teenaged girl - Orfelina never really did act her age, but that was just one of the things he found likeable about her.

So here they were now, his scarf around his neck, his cane in his left hand and a beer his right. Normally he wasn’t one to drink beer, but it was just the moment - besides, Orfy had one too, so he might as well join in the festivities. So when she started going on about a legal issue - the attempt to ban alcohol in a few states - Asbjorn instantly began grinding through procedures and hearings that he had read, and was thinking about starting a conversation, until he heard a squeal from his side. Within seconds, Orfelina was off into the house of mirrors - all Azzy could do was laugh and hobble his way in. Instantly, upon entry, Azzy could tell something was awry. His senses of smell and hearing faded ever so slightly, and instantly could deduce that some carnie was altering the reality of the area. Not much of a problem for a guy like Azzy: after all, mind games were something he excelled at. Being one with shadows, it just seemed to work. He heard Orfelina call out to him in confusion, and then yell his name again. When he finally got around to getting words ready, the smashing of mirrors began to commence, and he winced: Orfelina was seemingly busting her way out the violent way. The cry of a child soon followed, along with the voice of what sounded like a Eastern-European man, and that was all he could really focus on after that without the sound getting muffled by the mirrors and space warp.

Azzy finally found his way out, stumbling upon a large hole in the fun house instead of breaking the illusion himself. To his adjusting sight, Asbjorn saw Orfelina talking quite happily with a man of large roughness, one of rugged and worn features. He had seen it before on veterans of wars, and was curious as to how Orfelina would know such a man: was he part of her regiment or platoon, or something else? All he knew was that he turned to Orfelina after noticing him, and his brow furrowed at his large smile, though he couldn’t help but crack a smile at Orfelina’s blush, which looked quite cute on her. He continued walking towards the two, even though he didn’t entirely hear what the question was before the man took to his side and introduced himself as Warren - though for some reason tacked his own nickname on as well. But it was the line I am good friends with your lover, Captain Howlett that threatened to make Azzy’s normally brown complexion turn an odd shade of red. He hadn’t thought this guy would get such the idea so quickly - it was as if he wanted to latch onto the idea simply to embarrass Orfy and himself; and it sure as hell was working.

However, Azzy was good with these sort of confrontations, and a wiry smile made it to his lips before he laughed and introduced himself. “Asbjorn Fury - and it's a pleasure to meet a friend of Orfelina's. And I could definately go for a drink - that is, of course, if our host is paying.” He winked a little with his bad right eye before giving a laugh, then turning to Orfy. “Well, we didn’t finish our last drink, and I’m still sort of thirsty. So I’m in.”

“There's nobody I can really compare you to. Hitler was simply the only reference that she would have understood Not all humans are quite as educated as they believe themselves to be. The closest comparison that I can provide is perhaps, Eric Lensherr. Though, I do believe that you are beneath him. He is a great man with a great vision. Like you. But you both lack tact.” She gave her own coy smile as she teased him, pushing hair away from her face. She had come to enjoy theirbantering quite a bit more than she should. A light shade of red rose to her cheeks as he pointed out her recent habit to come to his defense which she quickly hid with her hands. “When presented with a traumatic situation from it, you can only walk away with one of two new points of view. You can either learn from it and become enlightened by it. Or you can be a fucking moron and become a bigot. I've found that most people — humans in particular — tend to walk away as fucking morons and bigots. They only seen in black and white. There is no reading between the lines with them They are slaves unto the media and their primitive instinct to react before thinking. Not all of them, of course. But a good majority of them.” She gave a light shrug before popping a french fry in her mouth as soon as the new waitress brought their food. “Oohh. Devil's Cut and Grey Goose. Fancy.” She eyed the bottles of liquor as it was brought to them with two glasses of ice. Pouring the dark alcohol into the glasses, she slid one over towards her companion as she continued talking. “l believe that everyone deserves a second chance if they are making a genuine attempt to better themselves. Nobody reserves the right to take away from them that second chance. Not even their sanctimonious invisible bully of a God.” She could see people glaring at her sacrilegious remarks. She was walking on thin ice with them — Between arriving there with Loki and speaking out against God in public, it was obvious that they thought she was just as bad as he was. She didn't seem to care much — She couldn't remember the last time she did give a fuck. Going against the flow. It was just what she did. “Besides, dum-dum. That's what charity is about. I feel as though I've overestimated your intelligence. Or maybe you're still just trying to tigure me out.” She gave a light smile before chugging her Devil's Cut whiskey. “It's fun watching you try. The truth of the matter is that even if you spent a lifetime at my side, you'd still be trying to put all the puzzle pieces together.”

Warren managed to give a hearty laugh, slapping Asbjorn on his back. Were it not for Ásbjorn's immense strength and endurance, he might have broken his back. “Of course I buy! We go now!” They were soon off to Orfelina's car with War teasing the pair the whole way. Where did they end up? This lovely little place he knew of in Harlem called Taste of Tito. As they walked in laughing. Orfelina immediately caught notice of Astrid with Loki. She was genuinely caught by surprise (a rare thing for a woman who could see the future) by the fact that Astrid's jacket was off. And she was smiling. And laughing. Was she flirting with Loki? They would have a serious girl talk later. Sighing. she let Warren lead them to a booth where he gave a big grin. “Only diner I ever know that serve good liquor and has bar. Good things here.” He hadn't noticed Astrid or Loki yet, focusing his attention on embarrassing the two before him. “So, how long have you two see each other?” He thanked the waitress as a round of tequila shots were sat down in front of them, immediately downing seven of them with a hearty laugh. “Warren, we're not fucking.” Tiny Lina huffed softly, her face continuously growing more red as she took her own few shots of tequila. She honestly wasn't going to bother attempting to explain the relationship to Warren. What if Ásbjorn did like her and felt friend-zoned by something she said? But what if he didn't like her and she stepped out of line with something she would say? Jesus — Was it always this difficult to establish a relationship? Or maybe it was just because she liked him so much.

Loki's eyebrow raised as Astrid began to give her own coy lecture to him, his smug expression never leaving - yet within, his curiousity and conductive skills were churning. By her voice, Astrid seemingly saw herself above the humans; Loki liked that about her, a sense of pride and almost self-righteous that silently snuck in to her speech made him smile ever so slightly. Did she ever realize that, or did she simply not care? It mattered not - Loki's small smile grew in proportion to the redness of her cheeks as she attempted to explain herself. While her explanation would have worked on everybody else, Loki rarely bought such a lame excuse, even though it was one he was quite familiar with. A drink was shoved his way as he sat in silence as she continued upon a different path than she had started with, explaining her sudden moral views, which quite contradicted her previous statement about how the world was apparently full of 'fucking morons' - vulgar language, this Midgardian english.

Then she made a random jab at his intelligence - which in reality, was starting to hurt at the annoying turns that her conversation was taking. Apparently, he would never be able to figure her out - Loki gave a smug grin before easily downing his drink, no flinching. "My my, do I hear smug superiority leaking into your tone, or am I just hearing myself on repeat?" He rested his elbow on the table, leaning over with a grin. "You mock me with your words, Miss Fury - you make it out like I have nothing, and you hold all of the metaphoric cards. But I wouldn't care to be within your company if you didn't think in such a way - no, that would be boring." Loki poured himself another drink while he spoke. "You seem to assume that your personality so complex, and yet it isn't that much different for mine own - and it isn't too difficult to figure it out when one simply understands such a fact." He finished pouring and drained that one too before smirking once again. Your move, Miss Astrid Fury. His thoughts rang clearly in his own mind, quite enjoying this little banter.

---

Not too far away...

---

Asbjorn never knew that just going out with Orfelina could get so heated - and not in the way most would think. The entire drive Azzy felt uncomfortable, as Warren drilled him with questions and such, teasing the two of them about their apparent relationship. Good thing Warren would alternate between teasing and just talk, or else Asbjorn wouldn't be able to handle the man for much longer. He had a certain rugged charm to him that made Azzy like talking to him, but those random teasing jabs would get old fast. It certainly didn't help that he couldn't tell why Orfy had blushed earlier: was it because she was embarrassed that her friend was hitting the nail on the head, or because simply the idea of them being together was embarrassing?

Asbjorn didn't bother dwelling on the point, as the trio walked into the restaurant - Taste of Tito, the man was good - laughing and talking the entire way. However, he didn't need Orfelina's glance over to a table to feel something: his sister was near. Sure, they didn't have an empathetic link link some twins claimed to have, but Asbjorn just seemed to have an indicator whenever his sister was closer to him. He didn't bother looking around until he was about to sit down, when Azzy glanced across the building to see Astro with the man of the hour: Loki. To his left eye, he only saw his sister without her jacket on, laughing away and conversing. His right saw two anomalies: one of blinding white, the other a fuzzy and distorted black and grey. Azzy downed two of his drinks in an instance while his mind wandered in anger: what in the hell were they doing here? Why was she getting so damn cozy with the bastard? His thoughts preoccupied him, and he only caught the last two words of Orfy's sentence, having completely ignored Warren by accident.

Azzy turned back to his companions, a distant look in his eyes as he downed another shot without really paying attention to what he was doing. He shouldn't neglect his companions - especially Orfelina - just because he was now annoyed, but it was hard to jump into conversation when his thoughts were seemingly elsewhere. "Here's the better question: how long have you two known each other?" Asbjorn hoped he cut at a time when the conversation was in a lul, and fortunately he did. He also hoped to keep the conversation away from him and Orfelina: now wasn't really the time to be discussing whether or not he had feelings for her.

“ls that your grand theory, then?” She had moved on to her third steak and fifth glass, this time downing the vodka. Astrid wasn't exactly the kind of girl who ate salads and drank water in public so people would think she was classy. The girl went through food and alcohol like a fish went through water “That's what it all boils down to?” She gave a coy smile as she set her glass down, the liquid burning the linings of her stomach, warming her chest, and making her throat and head tingle. “Please, elaborate on this....notion. I'd absolutely love to hear how you came. To your conclusion.” She had to pause for a minute, shaking her head as she downed an entire glass of straight vodka. Her eyes fell upon her brother and his two companions and she could already tell that he wasn't happy She could also tell that both Lina and Azzy were both going to shake her down for information later on. What would she tell them? What was there to tell? Loki was doing well...that was all. How did they expect him to become more humane if he was treated like a criminal? Like an animal? She sighed through her nose before placing her fingers against her necklace She felt somehow that as she became closer to Loki, she was becoming closer to her mother as well. But those thoughts were quickly pushed from her mind She would remain devoted to her current muse — Which was helping Loki ascend to the throne of Asgard as a worthy King.

Warren had dropped the teasing for a little while, taking a bite out of the buffalo wings delivered to the table. “I have known Captain Howlett for many years. If I remember correctly, it is near seventeen We were in the Dragon Brigade together.” He quickly stopped right after mentioning the brigade, both he and Lina exchanging glances. The Dragon Brigade was not something that Orfelina talked about at all. Ever. Not even to her father. It wasn't that she had done things that she wasn't proud of. But it was those seventeen years that were hell on her. She couldn't count on all of her fingers and toes how many times she had been shot in the head, blown up by a grenade or lED, and pushed off of a cliff. She had died more time than she could remember and it wasn't exactly something that she brought up in polite conversation. Warren knew that she didn't want to talk about it and immediately muttered an apology. He diverted his glance only to catch the sight that the other two had already noticed earlier. His eyes narrowed and he gave a snort. “Can you believe that the government is going to give him a pardon if he "reforms" within one year?” He watched as Loki took shots with Astrid, her every smile and giggle making his blood boil “Pieces of shit like him do not deserve such chances. People like him do not change. He should be publicly executed as a warning to all other stupid fuckheads who would try to take over this world!”

His voice became a snarl and Lina had to grab his arm front across the table, narrowing her eyes “You're no saint yourself.” Warren had done things. Maybe not as bad as Loki, but there was red in his ledger too. The Ukrainian ripped his arm from Orfelina's hold and took seven more shots of the bourbon in front of him. “With all due respect, Captain. Do not dare to compare me against that monster.” He leaped up from his seat and marched over to Astrid's table. Astrid looked up and lifted a brow. She was buzzing hard, her body giving off a brighter glow than usual as she suppressed a giggle. “Can I help you?” She downed another shot coupled with a few crunchy fries. Her eyes narrowed as his muscles twitched before he curled his hand into a fist and swung towards Loki's face. Like a cobra strike, her own arm shot out and she grabbed Warren's thick wrist. “You're really killing my buzz. Get lost before I break your arm.”, she hissed at him with dangerously narrow eyes. Before Ásbjorn or Lina could make it over to the table, Warren cocked back his other fist and slammed it into Astrid's face, successfully breaking her nose. “Fuck!” He didn't just break her nose. His punch dove her through the wall and right out into the alley behind the diner. “Warren! Stop it!” Orfelina cried out above the screaming of the other patrons who were either breaking out their phones or running away and taking the opportunity to skip out on paying their tab. Warren shoved Orfelina out of the way and swung at Ásbjorn as Astrid staggered in through the rubble.

“This man does not deserve life! l dedicate my life to killing fucks like him! Captain, what happened to you? Huh? The Captain I know would never stand for this! To watch him walk around a free man, suffering no consequence! Before this night is over, I will kill him. If you or his whore or your lover get in my way, I kill you all with him.” This was exactly why Orfelina had not spoken to him in so many years. He was wild and reckless and bloodthirsty to boot. “Who the fuck. Are you calling a whore?” Astrid stumbled towards him, her body glowing red. Warren disregarded her as he pulled a knife from his boot and turned towards Loki. “I'm not done with you! Don't. Fucking! TOUCH HIM!!” Her voice rose considerably, taking on a dangerous tone as she looked at him through blurry vision. “Stay out of my way, Ásbjorn! You too, Lina! He's mine!”

She warded off her brother and friend lunging at the large man who turned with ease, jamming the knife into her abdomen. Were he a normal human, the knife wouldn't have made it two inches through her thick flesh and muscle tissues. However, that was not the case with this man of immense strength. It went straight through her down to the hilt. He gave it a few twists as she placed her hands against his face as though trying to push him away or claw his face off. Willing the light emanating from her hands to move faster and energize, she gave a cry of pain and frustration. There was a bright flash of rainbow light and a loud boom that sent Warren flying back and causing tables and booths to fly out of place. Warren was clutching at his face as the scent of charred flesh wafted in the air. The ambulance arrived just as Astrid began to sway, seeming to fall in slow motion towards the floor. The knife had gone deeper than the hilt and she could swear that the man had almost driven his fist into her. Perhaps his knuckles grazed one of her ribs. As her vision flickered, she could see Warren rising with a nearly healed face. What the fuck? No mutant outside of the Howlett family healed so fast...

Holy fuck.

“Warren! Stop acting like a child! This is none of your damn business! Everyone, get out! Ásbjorn, you help me until S.H.I.E.L.D. gets here. Loki, get Astrid outside somewhere safe! Tito...we'll write a check!” Orfelina immediately assumed command as everyone cleared out and she pushed the rubble off her body, moving to help Ásbjorn as Warren stumbled towards Loki and Astrid.

---

OOC: You can control Warren's action for your posts!

---

Loki gave her a smirk as he twirled the cup around his fingers, his third drink held within the glass with a bit of magic. Her question barely fazed him, as his little grin never left as he downed his drink with ease before pouring another. "In essence my dear, your question is your answer: talking with you is like talking to myself - or do you just reserve such a tone for me?" He downed that drink as well before continuing. Well, he would have if he had his hearing not kicked in and he heard a very angry tone about how he should be 'executed' and other vile Midgardian words. Loki dismissed the man instantly, until of course he made his way over to their table while he was about to take another drink. Astrid seemed to be slightly intoxicated by the alcohol - Loki felt nothing, as this was water compared to the shots he had been forced to down back on Asgard.

Things took an interesting turn when the man tensed up and swung towards Loki's face until Astrid grabbed it. In truth, Loki had been seconds away from funneling what little power he had left into diverting such a punch, so the quick grab was quite nice. Well, Loki would have appreciated it more had the man not cocked his other fist back and plowed through Miss Fury's face, launching her. The rest of the scene panned out with Loki simply remaining in his seat, looking particularily unfazed as the fights and accusations emerged. Out of the corner of his eye the brother of Astrid - Asbjorn if he recalled correctly - seemed to be moving silently towards the scene, which caused a tinge of excitement for the god. Asbjorn held within him a power over darkness and vaccuums - two things that were beautifully chaotic and mischievous. If Loki could grab a hold of that man, he could do a lot, but that wasn't going to happen with the anger that vented from him every time the Jotunn entered the same room.

Regardless, Loki actually did fear the violent man; just in a different way. The man wouldn't just kill him easily and quickly, allowing him to reincarnate within a few hours. No, that man would probably beat him to death, bludgeoning Loki for hours until Loki wouldn't be able to take it, and still continue until death. That prolonged agony made him slightly uneasy. And yet, there was also a security that he felt, one that made him even more uneasy in himself. It was as if he knew that Astrid would protect him - which she was, and that unsettled him. When did he become so reliant on another, to the point that he didn't even have to bribe or manipulate them? It annoyed him greatly, ruining the odd pride he had in his own abilities and ways to fend for himself. He then leaned back slightly as the assaulter flew across the restaurant.

---

Meanwhile, Asbjorn was awfully confused. At one moment, Warren was teasing them and having a good time, the next he was yelling for vengeance. Backing up, he knew that he shouldn't have been so transfixed on his sister in discontent. It was her decision to take Loki on as his guardian, and her decision alone: regardless of how much he and his father had argued against it. Granted, Azzy did see an ulterior motive to having Loki, one that he didn't even think his father would predict as it was that radical: if Loki ever reformed, he would be able to return to Asgard. By that time, he would probably have a connection with earth strong enough that he could be their man on the inside in case things go south. Yes, Asbjorn knew that they should trust the Asgardians, but they had their own agenda. Just like Earth had its.

Anywho, back on track, Asbjorn watched as Warren got up and swung at Loki, and it was only when he smoked his sister in the face that he surged towards the man in rage. How dare he take out his anger at his sister, when it was only her job to be his caretaker? Under law, he had just committed assault with murderous intent, and Asbjorn would probably be able to tack on all of the destruction of property charges to this man as well. Warren then proceeded to shove away Orfelina before swinging at Azzy, to which he easily dodged before jumping back. The man wasn't human, that much was clear. The next bit was a blur as Warren called his sister a whore, seriously pissing him off in his buzz, and then he stabbed his sister before she blasted him off. An ambulance was arriving at roughly the same time, and Orfelina was trying to get a hold of the situation. Asbjorn took a deep breath before hobbling his way to between his sister and Warren, a few feet from Loki. The emergency response unit were about to enter the room before Asbjorn opened his mouth, directing his own tone at those that hadn't left or were watching from outside. "Under the authority of the law, get the FUCK out!" His voice came out as nearly a command and a roar, spurring those that weren't moving to run for the exits before he faced Loki and stared at him hard. "You. Take my sister and get out of my sight."

Loki stood up and gave him a little smirk before a slight mock bow. "Anything else before I leave you to such glory?" Asbjorn wasn't in the mood, but Loki either didn't seem to notice or care. The god made his way over to a stumbling Astrid, his posture and articulation still pristine regardless of the outside effects. "Apologies Miss Fury - this may get slightly uncomfortable." He touched her on the shoulder, and their bodies looked as if they were violently contorting before disappearing.

Asbjorn stared at Warren who had basically recovered, fierce determination and anger in his eyes as the man roared at him. "You defend the whore of a monster! Why-" Asbjorn cut him off with a yell that overpowered the other mans. "She's not his whore - she's my sister you bastard!" They both stared venomously at each other before Asbjorn growled. "I don't give a flying fuck about Loki - what I do care about is you slandering my sister and my friend!" Asbjorn was shaking, he was that mad - he rarely got this mad, and he noticed it quickly by taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "So when were you going to introduce me to the rest of your family, Orfy - after all, no other bloodline in the world can match this level of metabolism and self-constitution." He narrowed his eyes, but not at Orfelina; no, he could never blame her for this.

"However, my good sir, you have violated many rules of the law: assault with murderous intent, destruction of property, and many other public disruption laws and slanders. And since court cases would take forever..." Warren seemed to scuff them off, yelling as he ran at Asbjorn mid sentence. Azzy, on the other hand, hit his cane on the ground, and slid the sword out, parrying the man's attack with ease. "I'll judge you myself!" Azzy roared as he smashed his hilt into the side of Warren's face, sending him flying to the back of the restaurant, away from the doors. While he recovered, Azzy quickly turned to Orfy, the shadows twirling around his feet as he prepared for an onslaught of difficulty.

"What are we entirely up against?"

---

Somewhere far away - okay, like a block away in an alley...

Loki and Astrid landed not too far from the scene, Loki falling to the ground instantly and clawing for air. That was as far as he could teleport on Midgard; before, he could take you to Paris, and then scuba dive in Australia if he so felt like it. While those places meant nothing to him before, now he couldn't even get to them. Once he was finally able to breath again, Loki made his way to his feet, checking on Astrid beside him. The teleport had taken merely a fraction of a second, but it was quite awkward for those that may not be accustomed to it. In an odd act - also knowing he wouldn't be getting anywhere without her - Loki used his remaining magic to shape-shift into a medic as he supported her out onto the street. "I hope that wasn't too uncomfortable for you, Miss Fury." His tone, this time, was quite monotonous, with on a hint of smugness within. Loki knew it was time to be serious, and he did so. "So I can either hand you over to an ambulance, or not. Preferences?"

While Warren was disabled, taking time to recover from Azzy's blow, Lina cringed at Ásbjorn's statement. "He's my cousin. I met him when were in the Marine Corps together. Dad, Caelan, Laura, and I try our best not to talk to Uncle Victor and his brood. As you can see, they're all quite...extreme. I was going to tell you right before he went crazy." While Logan's side of the family tended to keep more to themselves and carry out their jobs with stealth...the same could hardly be said for Victor Creed and his spawn. They were twice as brutal, tactless, and enjoyed making a mess with their work. Lina didn't mind sharing a drink with them every now and again, maybe brawling a bit at the Dragon Brigade bar. But after such a brief encounter she was fine to not see them again for another couple of decades. It may seem harsh, but when you've got forever it seems far too short. Orfelina pulled out what looked like a thin sheet of glass before pressing her thumb against it. The small device verified her identity and a screen immediately popped up revealing the image of...well. Her. But with vividly purple hair. "Yes, Miss Howlett?" The other her cocked her head to die side slightly, speaking in gentle tones. "Call father and Laura. Warren is rampaging. Taste of Tito in Harlem. Also, notify Kurt to pick up Astrid and a passenger in approximately two minutes.", she ordered. "Of course, Miss Howlett. Contacting them all immediately."

The screen closed and she shoved it back into her pocket before bringing her wrist up chest level, pressing a red button on the side. A screen projected upwards while the sound of a ringing phone came softly. Soon the image of Ásbjorn's father graced the holographic screen. "Director Fury, we're going to need some help here. Maybe not Hulk-level help. But it'd be nice if you send some of your more talented agents. I already sent you our location. We're going to need a vibranium containment unit, vibranium shackles, and heavy sedatives. Enough to take down a herd of elephants." She could tell that he was a bit irate, but then again he always seemed pissed off. Hard to really tell what a guy was feeling when you only had one eye to read and a facial expression that always seemed angry. As he gave a nod, the screen disappeared just in time for Warren to burst through the rubble with a howl of anger. "Increased strength that allows him to lift up to five tons with ease and strike with the force of a jet moving approximately three hundred miles per hour. Increased metabolism and reconstitution that allows him to recover from fatal wounds in less than an hour and minor wounds in only seconds." For the moment, she was cursing that she didn't really have more offensive powers like her other siblings and her father. Her strength couldn't do much for her, but her endurance and dexterity could.

As she began rattling off Warren's stats, she moved through the rubble with acrobatic grace, dodging and ducking his blows, sliding between his legs and rising behind him to leap onto his back where she quickly covered his eyes with her gloved hands so that he began yelling and bumbling around blindly while she yelled over him. "Most of the Howlett and Creed genetics come with increased reflexes and dexterity but Warren's ridiculous amount of muscle mass has rendered him with the reflexes and dexterity of an overweight human being. Once he builds enough momentum, he can't stop himself manually or turn without crashing! He's pretty much a self-healing Juggernaut without the suit!" She yelled out as Warren finally was able to grab her ankle and pull her off of him, flinging her through a wall as though she were a mere rag doll before turning to Ásbjorn. "Sister or no, you would defend her even as she makes eyes with a killer? I know there is rage in you and you wish you could kill him. Let me go. I spare the who-...your sister." He attempted to make a deal, knowing very well that Ásbjorn could prevent a bit of an issue with getting away if he would stay and fight. Orfelina knew it too. Ásbjorn was stronger than Warren. But Warren was more durable and healed faster. All Ásbjorn had to do was get in a few good blows! But Warren needed to be worn down and distracted first. Hence the need for tranqs.

Speaking of which... "Hey, bub." Warren turned only for his face to connect with his uncle's fist, sending him stumbling right into Logan's female clone, Laura. The no-nonsense woman immediately let her claws slide out, sending them deep into the man's stomach, her knee driving into his face when he doubled over. Warren was having none of this. He yanked Laura's claws out of his body and threw her into Lina who had just gotten up. He turned for his uncle, catching him midair by his face, throwing him through the front of the diner and out into the streets where S.H.I.E.L.D. had arrived with six agents and two Iron Man suits. Warren made a move towards Ásbjorn, extending his hand with malice in his eyes as he spoke in a low snarl. "This offer is good only once..."

Meanwhile...

Astrid wasn't a happy camper, gasping for air from both the sudden teleporting and the increasing loss of her blood. Still, she was Astrid. She had been through worse and she wasn't going to make a fuss over this. Okay, she had never been injured on this level before. She had never been attacked by someone who could get a knife more than a centimeter past her outer flesh. Except her brother and that was only when they were sparring. She was panicking. Was she going to be able to recover from this? How? She was losing blood so fast and her vision was becoming increasingly blurry, her heart rate wanting to drop but unable to from the adrenaline shooting through her body, and her breaths getting caught in her throat. As Loki shifted into a medic, she grasped at his shirt and clung to him while shaking her head vehemently. "Humans can't help me." Her voice had unintentionally came out in a snarl filled with...was that hatred? "They will not put their needles in me. Never again." Okay, now she was just plain hissing and there was definitely some strong hatred there. Since the day she and her brother had escaped back home from those horrid labs, they had never once spoken to anyone -not even each other- about what had happened, leaving everyone in the dark. They had never had any episodes...At least not in front of other people.

The thought of being put in a hospital bed and surrounded by people prodding her with needles, cutting into her flesh, and injecting her with sedatives made her mind go to a different place and immediately brought a different sort of hate out of her that was far worse than that which she displayed when defending Loki. Giving a groan, she pursed her lips together and let loose a high pitched and warbling whistle that shot into the night air, giving off a distinct melody. lt carried on through the night and went on for miles as she put every bit of her heart and soul into that whistle. Without further ado, there was a loud 'bamph' next to them, revealing a very blue man who was lacking only horns to complete his demonic appearance. He gave a light gasp at her appearance before grabbing onto both of them without a word. With another bamph, they disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke. When their molecules reformed, Astrid had forsaken her whistle to vomit a load of blood. It was not a pretty sight to behold as she was bustled down a corridor. The blue man disappeared again and reappeared with a man bearing wings upon his back.

They removed her from Loki's hold and lay her atop a bed in what looked to be a medical bay. They were at the Xavier mansion. Beneath it, actually. Kurt had followed the sound of Astrid's whistling at the prompting of Orfelina's android, horrified to find her as she was. He then brought her here and woke up Ulric Worthington so that he could heal her. They boy eyed Loki warily, but decided that tending to Astrid was more important than grilling him for information. Astrid had yet to bring her companion to her grandfather's home and school. In fact, she hadn't really introduced him to any mutants other than her brother and Orfelina. She often hinted at knowing a gathering of those who were more than human but she had never dared bring him near them. To be honest, she feared to do so. Why? Because at that point in time, he wanted the world. Their world. One year ago when he attacked New York City, the amount of mutants living within the city alone could have easily thwarted him without breaking a sweat. But the fact of the matter was that they didn't care to. His speech in Germany specifically targeted humans. ln every one of his monologues, his disdain was directed towards humans.

They weren't human.

They didn't get involved, waiting to see how it played out. Had they gotten involved on Loki's side and he lost, they would receive more persecution and possibly have signed their death warrants. Had they gotten involved on the Avengers’ side and they lost, they were definitely going to die at the hands of aliens. So it was best to watch from the sidelines and hop onto the bandwagon of whomever won. Still, Astrid knew he was manipulative and feared that he would attempt to make an army out of the mutants who held disdain for the humans that subjugated them. Luckily, he had no idea just how bad the human vs. mutant war was. While it wasn't plastered all over the media, it was there and going on every day. The last thing she needed was for him to take up on the mutants' side and manipulate their fear and hatred so that he could finish what he started. Especially since she didn't know whose side she was going to be on. No, she kept him away from mutants, keeping him in the dark about how many there were and just what they could do, and pretty much everything else about them. She had no choice in the matter now though.

She lay there on the bed as Ulric removed her shirt to reveal a gory wound. It was the knife still in her body, blood leaking all around it. Part of the hilt was snapped off though. Probably from Warren having such a grip on it and being blown to kingdom come while trying to twist and push the metal object deeper into her abdomen. Kurt did his best not to vomit as Ulric hovered his hands over the broken knife, using his telekinetic gift to lift it out of her body and set it on a nearby tray. He then placed his hands against her wound, pushing down hard with glowing hands. "Her life energy is slipping away rapidly. With the blood loss, I don't know if she'll be able to regenerate quickly enough on her own. I'm going to go ahead and speed up her healing process. Kurt - Go get Caelan. l need him to make sure her soul stays with her. Get Maggie as well - She can use her blood manipulation after I've healed the wound to replenish the blood that Astrid's lost. Hurry!" He gave a light frown, concentrating all of his energy on the woman before him as Kurt disappeared again, reappearing briefly after with the requested pair.

Maggie was a tiny thing, but that was because she was only nine. She was quite a medical genius for her age though, intending to be a doctor one day like her father. The small, blonde and blue haired girl wet a rag and moved towards her father, using a stool so that she could reach the body, dabbing at the blood staining Astrid's caramel flesh. Caelan, the burly Marine made his way over with pain in his eyes, shooting a glare at Loki before looking back at Astrid with longing. They hadn't spoken in so long...He trembled a little as he placed his fingertips on either side of her face to get a stronger sense of her life force, the three of them working in tandem to ensure that she lived. It wasn't too hard for them, having to deal with injured people every day, bringing them back from the brink of death. No biggie. They were gentle with her, knowing that the wrong movement could have her wake in fit and blast them all through the wall. They were careful to take very good care of her, Ulric's hand tenderly slipping through her wound for a little while as he repaired her damaged organs. He pulled his hand out just in time for her would to close and leave yet another jagged scar.

It was Maggie's turn now. The young girl's eyes glowed red as she put the rag away to hover her small hands over Astrid's flesh, slowly lowering them until she was pressing down on her stomach, forcing Astrid's blood cells to replicate at a rapid pace. She was done shortly, giving a yawn and throwing up a deuces sign before trudging back off to bed. Warren proceeded to attaching small
circular items with wires stemming from them and trailing back to a machine onto her chest as Caelan pulled his hands back. Warren moved to her head, placing his hands around her cranium as he mended her fractured skull, brain hemorrhage, and broken nose. Finished with that, he reached into her mouth and removed three teeth; They'd grow back in a few minutes. Caelan glanced over at Loki, seeming to hover protectively near Astrid, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She'll probably want to wake up to a more familiar face. She's not going to want to see a human around when she wakes up. So you should probably just go. People here. Don't really like humans around here."

They didn't know that Loki was....Well. Loki. All they saw was a human medic. Well, Caelan and Kurt didn't. Ulric knew better. Loki's thoughts were hardly those of a human medic. Before he could comment, someone else did. "He's no human, Caelan. And while I appreciate your concern for my daughter, my father and I can take over from here." Alexandra walked through the doors, her father rolling in behind her. Caelan spared them no mercy with his murderous glances either. "So you can rifle through her thoughts while she's unconscious? I don't think so. I'm staying right here." Before Charles could stop his more...outspoken daughter, she stepped forward with a light smirk that made Kurt disappear and Ulric purse his lips, lower his head, and take a step back. “If we wanted to rifle through her thoughts without her permission, we would have done so years ago and there's not a damn thing anyone could have done to stop us. Hell, she probably wouldn't have even felt it. So, what exactly do you think you can do to stop us even if we wanted to?" Alexandra didn't like a lot of things. Specially being accused of bullshit. She immediately forced her way into Caelan's thoughts, taking over his bodily functions and forcing him to punch himself in his face before relinquishing her hold on him. "l don't know how many times we're going to have to have this talk, but you don't own Astrid. Isn't this behavior what made her remove you from her life in the first place?"

Caelan rubbed his jaw, frowning deeply. But he couldn't retort. It was true - Astrid would probably deck him if she saw him when she woke. He shoved past Alexandra and Charles on his way upstairs. The beautiful telepath turned around and gave medic Loki a smile. "No need to hide your appearance here. Nobody here harbors ill will towards you." She spoke with light assurance as she held out a hand to shake. "We haven't met, but I've heard quite a bit about you. I'm Alexandra Fury. It's a pleasure to finally meet the man that's been living with my daughter for the past nearly half of a year." She gave a playful smile as her father shook his head with his own light smile, rolling over to Astrid who was twitching in her sleep. Ulric was taking the time to admire the tattoos adorning her body while he monitored her heart rate; Yggdrasil on her right hip, its roots tangling down her thigh. Ancient Nordic runic symbols painting her left side, all of them seeming to glow more than the rest of her flesh.

---

---

OOC: Okay, so I may have had a little too much fun with this post lol. Love the dramatic scenes! Anyways, again - All NPCs are open for your control. Also, just for the facial recognition, Alexandra FC would be Catherine Zeta-Jones, Warren FC would be Brock Lesnar, and Laura Kinney FC would be Kate Beckinsale

---

---

Azzy nodded at the confirmation made by Orfy before turning back to stare at the rubble while she made a few calls for backup and such he heard her mention Kurt, and he got a little confused - where would Kurt take his sister? When he heard her say Director Fury, he instantly turned and saw the silhouette of his father, and all he could do was nod. He looked like he was in a good mood today from what he could tell. Then the howl came from the rubble, and Orfelina went right back to her cute, bubbly facts. Asbjorn absorbed it all as she went over to him in an attempt to subdue him. Warren began to struggle, and he took a few steps towards the two when Orfelina was thrown off, and he couldn’t help letting out a little yell in her direction. “Orfy!...” He knew she would be fine, it was just the suddenness of the throw that made him jump.

Then Warren attempted his negotiations. Asbjorn narrowed his eyes as Warren talked about his sister, and then asked for Azzy to spare him. Now, those looking on would have taken his sullen inability to move as a sign that he might relent to the man, but in this case, it was just the opposite. Asbjorn instantly caught onto that slip of the tongue, his anger flaring slightly - he could tell that this man really didn’t give two shits about his sister, insisting on almost calling her a whore again. Azzy was grinding his teeth just at the thought of relenting to this man - how dare he still think of his sister as a whore just for doing what she thought best! Granted, he would still have to grill her about her little thing with Loki, but still...

Asbjorn was about to make a move when a nonchalant voice cut him off, and Warren went flying, replaced by the always ‘popular’ Logan. Or James Howlett. Azzy got confused sometimes as to what to call him, which would have to seriously be straightened out if he was going to remain friends with Orfelina or ever go any farther - not that he would admit that was his motive. However, in a few seconds, it was back to the way it was before with Logan now out the door, and Laura with Orfy, Iron Man suits outside and Warren alone with Azzy, still having the audacity of threatening him.

Azzy’s teeth ground again, his only real eye flaring up as if on fire. The man was threatening him: more specifically, his family. His friends. And while he didn’t like where he was standing to fight metaphorically, he would. Azzy removed his blazer, dropping it into the shadow made by himself and letting it disappear into his little storage unit. Next went his sword, which probably confused some as he looked back to give the reinforcements a stare that simply stated: Stay put. He then turned back to Warren and began to spit out his words. “I don’t negotiate...” The shadows that had been pooling around his feet sent a tendril up to his hand until it formed a spear, and as he quickly launched. “with terrorists!” The shadow spear rocketed towards Warren, giving him only enough time to spin slightly away so the spear shot through his shoulder instead of his heart, launching him back to the wall. Wasting no time, Azzy threw himself at the crater on the wall, shadowy chains snaking their way up Warren’s body until he was ‘subdued’ - really, they wouldn’t hold him for long. Sure, they were made of an ethreal substance, but that didn’t mean invincible to brute force. They would break after a while, Azzy just didn’t know when and didn’t plan on letting him find out.

He ran up to Warren and grabbed him by the throat before speaking in a gravelly voice. “You.. had the audacity to think I’m not mad? Mad that my sister is wasting her time with a monster who can’t change?” His voice began to raise as Warren strained against the chains, but Azzy was a bit too distracted in his rage to care. He could feel Nexus just bubbling to the top of his mind, almost in amusement in this whole thing. “I’ve been watching for a year and a half, every day a painful experience just to watch! And yet you, you come storming in and demand to extract vengeance?! The air suddenly exploded outward, and a vacuum was created around the two of them. Azzy hadn’t planned on in, but he guessed it was from his anger. As he stood there, not affected, Warren was starting to choke on the lack of oxygen - well, that and a hand on his throat. But then Asbjorn felt massive pain in his gut, and suddenly he was flying backwards into the alley that his sister had flown. Warren, even without oxygen, came up with a plan and broke only one chain, allowing his leg free to jab Azzy in the stomach, which released more the chains for a punch to the chest.

The world looked a lot different when you were run over by a train, but Azzy had experienced something like this while he was in captivity - a car dropped on his leg for hours. And while he did black out, and swear a lot as he was certain a bunch of things were broken, as soon as Azzy awoke he began clawing his way back into the diner, and roared when he saw Warren. “Don’t you fucking dare walk away from me!” Asbjorn didn’t care what happened, who took control - he wanted Warren dead at his feet. It was roughly around this time that Nexus decided to take control, and as Azzy clawed his way back in, he felt his control slip. It was only a matter of time.

---

On the flip side...

---

Loki - for now, MedicMan - stared at his injured protector as she insisted that Humans couldn’t help her. While Loki made a curt nod, on the inside he had a dark smile on his face. His analysis of Astrid had only been confirmed by her anger towards the humans and their needles. Loki wondered if Asbjorn knew of her underlying hatred, until he realized that the only reason he cared was that he could manipulate them both at the same time if they didn’t. The fun he could have. So Loki continued onward until a random blue man appeared out of nowhere, slightly confusing the god - even moreso when he was grabbed by the blue man, and then the setting changed. From what Loki could tell, they were whisked down the corridor of a very old building, and the blue man returned with a dude with wings. While Astrid look positively sick, teleportation was something he was entirely used to - what he wasn’t used to was his lack of powers. The winged man - and most of the people that would show up - looked at him warily, which Loki then remembered he looked like some random human medic.

As they worked, Loki stood in the corner and assessed the area and the building. Old was his original assessment, but now he decided now that his thought was wrong: the building was ornate, not old. It was in perfect shape, with all of the Midgardian styles everywhere. He could faintly hear something above him, which made him guess they were in the basement, and he continued to remain silent throughout the procedure. Another assessment: these people were not human. They were all ‘mutants’ as the Midgardian term put them, and his eyes narrowed slightly. They seemingly had a problem for humans, so where were they when he invaded? He hadn’t even known they existed, so his take over would have completely omitted them. Then a burly man came in and said that Astrid would want a familiar face instead of his, and a small smirk couldn’t help itself as it crept up, until someone had to show up and ruin his fun. She came in with a man in a wheelchair, as the three newcomers had a petty argument about something that Loki didn’t care about. The burly man punched himself - Loki assumed the lady was a mutant with some mental prowess - and left.

Finally, the telepath woman gave MedicMan Loki a smile and introduced herself. Loki was straight faced as the human, but confirmed everything within his head. Alexandra Fury, the woman married to Nicholas Fury and adoptive mother of the twins. But Loki couldn’t help himself and his smirk grew onto his face early as the golden flame light moved from the bottom of his body to the top until he was completely revealed as the man he truly was - or at least, how he wanted them to see him. He was fairly certain that burly man might have caught a peek at him shifting back, but he cared not.

“Ah yes, the substitute mother for Astrid Fury. However, you’ll have to excuse me when I state my unwillingness to believe you.” His face lost its smirk, now realizing there was a connection that he and Astrid had - neither really knew their actual mother, but were raised and loved their adopted mother. Damn him for realizing that, for now he seemed more human. He gave a shrug to himself before returning to look at the wheelchaired man, still having not a clue who he was. “I would also appreciate it if you kept your Midgardian head out of mine - without my ability to use magic, your infiltration of my head is most likely as easy as a newborns. And if I remember correctly, humans have morals.” There wasn’t a smirk in his middle statement, nor his ending. He was a little more annoyed in the fact that he had no ability to stop them if they did, so he was resorting to asking. Pitiful.


OCC: (Don't worry about it, I'm fairly certain mine got a little dramatic - at least Azzy's part - as well xD)

Alexandra and Charles both gave Loki polite nods in agreement. He truly was a snarky one, wasn't he? Neither of them would enter Astrid's mind without her permission, despite Caelan's accusations – Especially not with her unconscious. Alexandra had tried once, knowing that when Astrid went into her week-long slumber she was as good as dead to the world. It immediately woke her up (despite Alex's previous lie that Astrid wouldn't notice) and Alexandra had been thrown through a wall by a blast of light as Astrid's luminescent shield exploded. Her stepmother had been lucky – The light guarding her could have energized and she would have been incinerated by the formed laser. No, they let Astrid keep her thoughts to herself. She would speak on them when she was ready. What they could do was soothe her when she did wake. Ulric was crouched down, his fingers moving lightly over her thigh with eyes wide with wonder. He pressed gently against the nine worlds that were curled in the roots of the great tree. He wondered when she had gotten the Scandinavian tattoos...and why did they glow more than the rest of her skin. Fascinating. He moved his hand then to the runes located on her side just above Yggdrasil. As his fingers touched upon the first rune there was a bright flash of light and suddenly there was a tight grip on his wrist. As the light faded down you could see her eyes were open wide and unblinking. “Keep your hands to yourself.” Her voice was low and whispered as she released him and he nodded. She removed the needles and patches attached to her before sitting upright and letting her legs dangle from the side.

Charles and Alexander watched her carefully in silence before she closed her eyes. “Why do I smell like Caelan?” She frowned, her nose invaded by Caelan's strong musk of Old Spice, motor oil, and sweat. And death. He always smelled like death. She had no idea how fitting her previous relationship with him had been; He, a bringer of death and ferryman of souls and she, the daughter of the leader of Valkyries. But they were no longer such a couple. Once upon a time she had managed to be with him, holding him while he had his nightmares and soothing him when he woke up. But when he had begun to treat her more like she was a shiny toy, she had enough. He had the audacity to place her in a bet. That he lost. She was not fond of some piece of trailer trash grabbing on her and trying to force her to go home to his one bedroom mobile home in the middle of bumfuck nowhere in a field like she was some sex doll for them to trade like a goddamn Yu-Gi-Oh card. So, what did she do? She beat the shit out of both of them. She killed Caelan. Beating him until he couldn't move and every one of his limbs were broken and then putting a miniscule, high-powered laser through his brain, leaving him there. But he didn't die. He never really died. Just like everyone else in his family, he would only sleep for a little while before waking back up. She hadn't spoken to him or had anything to do with him in years because of that one incident. She dry heaved at his scent and shook her head before sliding off of the bed and running her fingers through her hair. “We're going to spend the night here.” There was no reason for them to – She just hadn't seen any of them in six months. Since she had taken Loki as her charge.

She felt normal, except for the blatant lack of...something. She was just a bit drained. But why? Her health had been fully restored and there wasn't a scratch on her. The way she felt was comparable to how most people felt when they woke up at eight in the morning to see dark and cloudy skies with the sound of rain on their windows. She felt lazy. Heaving a heavy sigh, she struggled to keep herself upright for a few moments before plopping back down and looking over to her step-relatives. “How are the kids doing?” She was constantly worried about them – She didn't know why though. They were well guarded and pretty much anyone who wanted to decide to trespass would be hilariously outgunned even against some of the toddlers. “They're quite alright. The question is: How are you?” Charles seemed to always have a smile on his face, wheeling over in front of her to look into her eyes. “I'm fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. Nothing I can't handle.” Even though she had to have help this time, she was still fine. But he shook his head and placed a hand on her lap causing her gaze to falter for a few seconds. Her eyes glazed over for a few minutes as she remained in silence before she cleared her throat. “I'll be alright. I always am.”, she whispered softly. He gave a brief nod and turned to leave now that he knew she was fine, calling over his shoulder. “You know where I'll be if you want to talk. Maybe a game of chess.” As he disappeared down the hallway she gave a flicker of a smile. Of course she knew. And she would play chess with him later. Chess with him was always peaceful. There was no talking or much movement. Just a lot of silence and thinking, moving only to move their pieces.

Alex's gaze flitted between Loki and her stepdaughter before she gave a mysterious smile and began to leave as well. “I'm going to go ahead and get back to my beauty sleep. I don't suppose your father's going to be getting off work tonight...?” Astrid shook her head and Alexandra just nodded before disappearing. Now, while she was sure she was making some sort of progress with Loki and had gone so far as taking him out several times for dining or simply to walk and talk, there was one thing she wasn't going to do while she was still sane: Ask for his help. She straightened her back and held her chin up before making her way towards the door. “Let's go upstairs. I'm still hungry.”, she muttered, a walking cane of light forming to aid her in her traverse.

---

OOC: I'm working on Lina's post right now. I'll have it up ASAP. Just need some inspiration C:

---

Having received their polite nods of agreement to his not-so-kind statement, Loki returned to the background as the winged brethren of this world began to trace Miss Fury's tattoos, his expression a mix of wonder and confusion. Loki was, more or less, intrigued by the confusion on the man's face - were these not the people that Astrid 'hung with'? The slang stuck to his mind like a disease, but it couldn't be helped; it was the most accurate statement he could think of. Nevertheless, Loki's eyes traced the man's hand until another hand grabbed it, and Loki gave a small smirk to see his guard dog wide awake and seemingly annoyed at the man's touch. Loki could have warned the man, but he knew he would be scoffed at - after all, Loki was, of course, the man that was on the outside compared to these folk. Surely these people must know more about her than he. How silly of him.

Astrid heaved herself up, asked about that burly useless man that had passed by earlier, and that told him they would be staying the night. No thought, no care, just a cold statement of formality; intriguing. Loki mused as to why she would want to stay in such an abysmal place if she reacted so negatively to her saviors, but who was he to judge? Then there was the menial conversation between the crippled man in the chair with wheels about children, her health - nothing Loki really cared about. Except for this game called chess Astrid spoke of: if what Loki remembered was correct, it was a fabulous strategy game. He would have to give it a try someday, show off his mental superiority to these folk; at least, that was the idea.

With the step-mother saying a few useless words, Astrid's composition was still the same as it was a few moments ago; oddly sluggish. Loki had never seen her so... fatigued? Was that the word? It didn't matter. Astrid did not seem to be all there at the moment, but Loki watched as she straightened up and almost instantly returned to her original form. A short staff-stick object of light appeared as she told him to head upstairs, and Loki remained quiet for a piece as they were mobile. However, Loki was never one to remain quiet forever.

"I'm uncertain as to whether or not you wish to stay in this ornate building because you are not fit for travel, or because you actually wish to converse with these..." Loki paused, a silence that quickly filled the void as he attempted to find the right word. "people." It was really the only word that came to mind when discussing these mutants. He couldn't call them that, for what would he be? After all, in their eyes, he was probably just a super mutant, not a god like he was supposed to be. "Though I am curious about these people that live in these halls: I did not know mutated Midgardians even existed - as I do not count the... Avengers... as on the same wavelength." While he nearly spat out the word Avengers, his question was still sincere: he truly had not a clue that these people had even existed. Yet they knew him, which left out the main question: if they held contempt for the average Midgardian, where were they when he fell?

Orfelina and Laura both shoved their way through the rubble just in time to catch sight of Warren turning around to charge Ásbjorn. He didn't get too far before an Iron Man suit slammed into him and the face part of the helmet with a soft clink to reveal the face of none other than Anthony Stark. The other suit landed next to him and revealed to be none other than his best friend, Rhodey. The two were about to let loose a lame comment usually found in comic books, though their words began shouts of terror as Warren lifted himself and tried to charge them. Before they could blast him with their cannons, Wolverine had leapt from behind them and landed on his nephew's chest to drive his fist right into his face. By now, a circle had formed around Warren and the scene was comparable to that of children bulling a child in a movie. Punch after punch after kick after kick was thrown, shoving him in different directions. A punch from Wolverine would drive him backwards and he would bounce back after getting kicked in the back of the head by Lina and passed off to Ásbjorn. They almost seemed to be enjoying this. Warren was wearing out, his punches growing blind and weak as he only hit air and spun himself into receiving another hit. “Ásbjorn! Finish him!” Orfelina shouted, throwing a punch as hard as she could. Warren spiraled towards Wolverine and met with blades in his gut. His back was decorated with several tranquilizer darts that had injected him with enough serum to take down a herd of elephants. As he fell towards Ásbjorn, Orfelina paused and her eyes grew wide. The violet color shimmered before taking over the entirety of her eyes and giving a soft glow. What. The. Fuck. Was she looking at? She couldn't hear anything Astrid and Loki were saying but it was the same as usual otherwise; She was like a ghost watching life take place. She watched as Loki kneeled before an injured Astrid, his hands tracing gently over her eyes. Her eyes...It looked as though someone had thrown acid in her face. She herself looked awful, her arm in a sling. She wasn't wearing anything but bandages and a sheet. What was happening here? She saw Astrid and Loki both smile and give small laughs...Right before the kiss. She could feel her eyes widen as she watched the two kiss. Astrid was glowing brighter than she had ever seen her glow before. The vision began to fade and Lina caught a glimpse of Astrid donning what looked to be royal clothing and...Were those bells? The last thing she heard was the loud and resounding...

“I do.”

Lina fell to the ground in shock, passed out as the others took care of her cousin.

---

As they entered the elevator and exited out into a hallway, the elevator closed behind them and looked as nothing more than a wall. She sighed and directed him to the kitchen where she wasmet by a young boy with a wild mane of red curls, large glasses, and green reptilian skin. “Astrid! You're back! Ron said that you died. But I knew you didn't!” The boy wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and she let her walking aid shimmer away to pick the nine year old up in a tight hug as well. “Well, you can tell Ron that I'm not dead. And that if I see him I'm going to throw him across the lake. You should be in bed, Texas. I promise I'll be here in the morning.” The boy pouted and began to protest but was sent away with a smile and a kiss atop his head. Before she could get in a word to Loki, an all too familiar Cajun drawl filled the air. “Well, look at what the cat dun dragged in.” Remy LeBeau strutted in with all his Cajun swagger, immediately wrapping her in a hug and lifting her up with a squeeze.

“I din't tink we'd be seein' you 'round here any time soon. Thought you was off busy playing guard dog. Least, that's what Lina told us. But imagine my surprise when I hear from little Greg that you down in the kitchen with the man of the hour himself, all messed up and walkin' 'round in soe bloodied clothes.” Astrid had probably given off an irritated vibe enough for those treating her to forget to get her clean clothes. So she was stuck with her bloodied clothes. She gave Remy a light smirk and a scoff before shaking her head. “Remy...Can we have this random conversation later? I've got some stuff to take care of.” She adored Remy, she really did. He was a sweet guy and so much fun. It was hard to be moody around him. The man held his hands up in mock surrender before grabbing the beer he came for and exiting. Astrid rolled her eyes and grabbed one of Logan's bottles of Grey Goose before sitting on top of the counter.

“Yeah. As much as humans like to pretend that we don't exist...We do. Mutants. Humans are always looking for someone to blame but their own selves. I'm pretty sure that's where religion came from. Satan made me do it. I was possessed by a demon. I was doing God's work. I've heard it all before. The thing is...They see themselves as...” A smirk came to her face as she looked towards Loki and tilted her head, her tone of voice changing to one of amusement. “They see themselves as ants. And us as boots. So they've been fighting back even when there's nothing to fight. They fear that which is stronger and smarter. Sure. They fear a war and think that the best way to handle it is to put us on leashes. They think that we're barbarians. Sure. Some of us are. But we don't all want war. We just want what we deserve; Equality. But they're too scared. Too stupid...”

Her voice was low, her eyes narrowed as she took on a dark glow that soon became nothing more than a shadow around her as she sucked in all the light. “We aren't the monsters...they are.” Her jaw clenched as she forced a flashback to stay at bay and a tear to stay put. She was buzzed and babbling. Downing the Grey Goose wasn't really helping. Or was it?

---

"Lina!"

His eyes grew wide, his throat became parched; Azzy watched in horror as Orfelina fell to the ground in what seemed to be a form of shock, just a few moments after yelling out his name in a way that meant 'get off your lazy ass and finish this!' Yet watching her fall to the ground for no reason set something off in him. Asbjorn wasn't entirely sure what it was that was being set off, but his vision started to look sort of funny - red started to tinge his only good eye, while shades of black began to thicken in his right eye. His body felt lighter, yet awkward at the same time - but being thrown to a wall had a tendency to do such things, so why did it feel different now?

His first attempt to drag himself up was a failure: Azzy's broken bones hadn't mended yet, and they felt completely weak and painful beneath him as he tried to hoist himself up. Granted, this was right before Lina had collapsed, so really that would make sense. However, this new feeling he was having seemed to work wonders on his body, even if the pain was still present as Asbjorn was finally able to stand once again. Only, Asbjorn didn't entirely feel like he was in control; it was the little things, like a flickering of movement of the wrist, a cock of the neck that wasn't meant to be. It was only when a voice rang through his brain that Azzy began to get nervous of himself.

Seems you were unable to finish the job, loser. I mean, what kind of super human are you if you can't even stop a raging dolt? Asbjorn's eyes narrowed instantly at the sound, which he recognized instantly; it sounded like him, but at the same time, it didn't. There was an air about that guy, an arrogant swagger that just seemed to exude from him. Made the irony even thicker, since shadows were supposed to be seen and not heard, but that was never the case for Nexus. Asbjorn was breathing raggedly as he tried to continue to stand, but it was made even more difficult by the constant battering that was going on within his head. Nexus kept goading him, taunting him, and yet was silently plotting. Asbjorn always got nervous when Nexus started talking, especially since Nexus and he were the same damn person. Or were they? Azzy couldn't tell anymore, and the lines were starting to blur.

It was right about then that the floor got a heck of a lot closer, and Asbjorn realized he had fallen to his knees in fatigue. Sure, he hadn't done much, but what would one expect? Getting blasted in the body by a freight train and trying to get up instantly was difficult. But Nexus' voice - or was it his own? - kept going on in the background, reminding him that Lina was on the ground right now because he couldn't finish the job. That he was being useless and letting others fight his battle. Azzy nearly yelled at him to shut the hell up until Nexus spoke one last line: "You're just weak and pathetic, and haven't helped anybody; not your sister, who's probably fucking Loki right now, and certainly not Lina."

The moments following such a speech cannot be documented particularily well by Azzy - as it always has been, the world got hazy with red and black hues, outlined in a deep purple. To continue the scene with the proper justice, one would have to follow the footsteps of 'Nexus'; the man that really wasn't a man. Now fully allowed to do whatever he wished, Nexus began secreting shadows in all directions as he was able to manage a wobbling, awkward standing position. A shadow rescued his cane and sword, but he stored them for later, a little grin forming on his face, one that clearly was hoping to enjoy these next moments.

His healing was still going at a rapid pace, but not fast enough for the man: Nexus started walking towards Warren, not even bothering to give Lina a glance as the shadows continued to seep through the room. They were beginning to crawl up the walls when somebody took notice, but by then it was much too late; Nexus muttered only a simple sentence before the world began to fog with darkness. "I'd scatter if I were you."

The fog descended faster than he had anticipated, but he cared not - his right eye could see perfectly through his own fog, and his movements were becoming quieter with every footstep until he became silent; an assassin of the night, as one would say. Shoving over a few of the people that Asbjorn would have called comrades - not that they would have known it was him in the fog - Nexus spoke in Warren's direction. "Nice going, asshole; riling me up like that. Just had to get me all worked up about the possibility of a lowlife god fucking my sister. Real charmer, you." Since Nexus and Azzy were technically the same person, he always referred to himself as, well, himself, even if he didn't always feel that way. The voice of the Shadow-Tamer continued to echo, yet was somewhat muffled. "Now that you've got me all pissed off, let's see how well you fight in the dark. Geez, now I've got to fucking kill you - what a waste of time."

Warren thrashed in the dark at the sound, and suddenly felt a slash across his right shoulder - he could faintly make out blood working its way down. Not too much of a problem, since he healed almost instantly, but then another slash came across. And another. And another. Soon Warren lost count of the metal entering his flesh as Nexus lashed at him with tendrils of sharpened shadow. Chains even made their way out of the ground to wrap around Warren's body once again, but the onslaught did not cease. His healing couldn't keep up as the attacks got faster, until they suddenly stopped. Warren had been thrashing around, looking for his assailant, never realizing that the more he thrashed the more the shadows stuck to him.

Nexus appeared out of the fog, that smug grin just barely remaining. "Having fun? Your probably tired, so I should make this quick. Unless you're one of those sick freaks that likes it long and drawn out." Warren thrashed, but his body could barely move - in fact, as the fog began to dissipate, it became clear as why he couldn't move. Warren was effectively being dragged into the ground by the shadows, with Nexus standing above him. The vacuum started up around them once again as it did before, but this time with much more of a certainty and harshness to it. As it removed the fog, it revealed Nexus just staring down before kicking Warren in the face with the heal of his boot, a grin on his face. "How's it feel down there, tough guy? I hope it's comfortable, cuz where you're going..." Nexus lost his humor before stomping him in the face again, and again, not really feeling the need to stop. "There ain't no comfort."

---

Meanwhile, in the less violent section of the roleplay...

---

Loki shadowed Astrid's movements as they made their way through the quaint Midgardian building. The mobile room known as an elevator took them up somewhere, only to have their company interrupted by a small child and a man with an annoying speech impediment. Honestly, Loki wasn't sure which of the two he despised more, so he let it drop completely and continued following Miss Fury. He sat down at the kitchen finally as Astrid began to talk, his expression rarely changing from the mildly interested phase. He came to many conclusions throughout her ramblings, like that she should probably stop drinking by now if she wanted to keep secrets. But that wasn't a conclusion he cared for; no, he liked her hatred towards humanity more. Towards those that believed themselves to be of higher power. It made him almost... empathetic.

What was he saying, that he could actually understand and emote with Astrid Fury? Preposterous on paper, and yet actually existent in real life. There was something about the fact that they were more alike than he cared to admit, something about how he didn't hate her guts anymore; and it was driving him mad. How could he actually emote with a huma- Loki stopped himself, did a little psychoanalysis, and started to grin once again. Now it made more sense; after all, she wasn't human.

So Loki listened to her rabble on about how humans were monsters, that they were just there for equality and that nonsense. When she finally finished, Astrid kept drinking that liquor in her hands, her fists clenched and the light just a little dimmer. Loki couldn't help but smile: after all, she was the perfect person to manipulate, even if he really had gone past manipulating her. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Not all of you want war, hm? Seems to me that many of you do; more than enough to fight for your precious equality. Or even better, to fight for dominance: and yet here you sit with me, the downsized god with a bottle of vodka in your hands and curses on your lips. Why?"

Warren was down and out for the count and the black fog of shadows receded and revealed the small diner to be destroyed completely. Everyone inside looked over to see Ásbjorn stomping the face of an unconscious Warren. Logan and Laura were holding onto an equally unconscious Lina, trying to get her to wake up. Everything seemed to go by so quickly as Nick had to pry his son away from the downed tank while Iron Man and Iron Patriot were hauling Warren off into a nearby vibranium containing unit to be taken to a base nearby. “Where's your sister? And Loki?” He immediately went on edge more than usual and looked around for his daughter, a tight grip on his son's bicep, holding him back.

Ásbjorn still wasn't entirely himself when his loving Father showed up, prying him off of the man. A look of complete annoyance mixed with confusion set in as Nexus slowly receded his grip on Azzy's conscious - but that didn't stop a biting retort from escaping. "Well hello to you too, Father. Glad to know you care." Nick's eyes narrowed on him, to which Azzy blinked a couple times to actually process the question, just noticing the vice-like grip on his arm.

"I... I don't know. She was thrown against a wall, and we made Loki get her out of here. They shouldn't have gone far..." Azzy was completely dazed, somewhat confused as to the extent of the damage he had just caused. He shook off his father's grip somewhat easily for how tight it was on his arm, rushing towards the wall in which he had last saw his sister before stumbling slightly, his leg seizing up. Gritting his teeth, he made it to the hole, only to find the trail of blood vanishing. "I... I don't...." He babbled, stabilizing himself on the pieces of crumpled wall.

Out of the shadows rose up his sword cane, put back together once again, as he made his way over to Lina. She was still unconscious, something he felt somewhat guilty about even if he had done nothing. Kneeling down beside Logan and Laura as they tried to get her awake, Azzy reached for her hand, hoping to comfort his knocked out friend. Right as his hand contacted hers, a small voice screamed for him not to, and then contact was made, and Azzy nearly crumbled in sheer shock. Visions and images flooded his head, of bells and lights and people - now he truly understood why he had never touched her hand. Nick came rushing to him, but Azzy couldn't see anybody or anything as the visions compressed into his brain. To call it stressful would be an understatement.

“Great.”, Nick mumbled as he curled his hands into fists, watching his son go have a mini breakdown. His daughter was injured and missing with that son of a bitch and they had no idea where they might be. He looked over to where Lina was still lying unconscious; If anyone would be able to find her, it was her. He moved towards her and squatted down near Logan and Laura just as Ásbjorn came to her as well and grabbed onto her hand. Lina's eyes snapped open and he watched as a violet glow lit up both of their eyes. “What's going on?” Very few people were privy to what Lina was capable of and Nick was not one of them. Lina hated telling people what she was capable of because they always wanted to use it without realizing or just not caring the effect that it had on her. Logan and Laura just looked at Nick before shaking their heads.

Lina's lips pulled into a frown as the glow receded and she immediately snatched her hand from Ásbjorn's. “I'll call in a personal cleanup crew and PR.” She seemed to recover immediately, glaring at Ásbjorn. She didn't like having people in her head. Hell, most times, she didn't even like being in her own head. “Don't. Ever. Do that. Again. My thoughts are my own.” It looked as though she were about to cry as she stood up with her father's aid. “Astrid's safe. Don't worry.” She attempted to dismiss the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. but he had grabbed her by the arm and turned her so that they were staring each other down. “Where's my daughter?” Neither of them looked ready to back down, so Logan stepped forward and pried the younger man's hand from his daughter. “She's at the Med Bay at her grandfather's. You can call Alex and ask to make sure. Don't touch my daughter, bub.”

The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a knife as Lina walked away, joined outside by her AI android. Nick turned to his son and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a light shake. “What happened?”

Ásbjorn was finally able to focus again as Lina glared at him dangerously - her look was as if he had invaded her privacy on purpose. To Ásbjorn, it was like a child walking into his parents' room and getting more than he bargained for just because he had yet to learn to knock. His father's light shake brought him back into reality, and the question asked helped him focus. Ásbjorn shook his head quickly, muttering "Nothing, just a relapse." before standing up and hobbling out the direction that Lina went. The tension that had filled the room was completely ignored by Azzy as he made his way outside, calling out to his friend.

"Orfy." The night sky was cloudy with the light pollution, and the constant lights of the city were starting to affect him: yes, even at night there were days when Ásbjorn would need his sunglasses; it was just another thing he had. Azzy shuffled a little, putting more weight onto his cane than usual to steady himself before speaking. "I... apologize for... whatever happened there." He huffed out, his breath a little awkward and heavy. Truly, he wasn't sure how to apologize for that episode, but what else could he do? After a silence, he continued. "Regardless of what I did, however, I would like to know just what..." Azzy caught his breath, and continued in a less formal tone. "what in the fuck I just saw." He didn't want to talk about what he saw in the slightest, so he didn't. He just made reference to it, and hoped Orfy would kindly understand.

Nick watched as his son went to go talk to Orfelina who was conferring with Gracie to contact some friends she knew with specific powers that would aid in repairing everything in Tito's without breaking a sweat. Her purple orbs turned towards her date and she bit the inside of her cheek. Tonight had been going great – She shouldn't have let Warren take them out for a drink. She should have known better. “Look – I'm sorry. For everything that happened tonight. I should have just told Warren that we were going home.” She felt guilty for what happened to Astrid. For not attempting to look into the possibilities of what could have happened. She hadn't perfected or even come close to mastering how to look into the future out of free will. But she should have tried! Nothing good ever came from being around Warren.

“It wasn't a vision, Az. It was just a dream I had. Don't ask me if I'm sure because after over three decades, I can ID my visions from my dreams and thoughts. Ásbjorn.... I don't like people in my head. I don't even like being in my head. Forty years of my own memories. Nearly three hundred from my father's. And at least another thousand or two from everyone else. Not to mention over two hundred years' worth of information on everything under the sun.” She looked like she was about to cry as she lied through her teeth, knowing full well that he had caught a glimpse of what was a vision. But she trusted Astrid and to see her so happy... Orfelina wasn't going to ruin that.

Ásbjorn nodded solemnly, staring out at the carnage that had been created just moments before. While he knew that his mind should be focused on helping these people and straightening things out with Astro, he couldn't shake the 'dream' that Orfelina had. Since when would Lina have vivid fantasies in which Loki and Astro... Azzy couldn't finish his thought without cringing internally. It wasn't something he wanted to think about, but the thoughts lingered: what would this mean for him now that every time he would see them together, he would be reminded? Astrid was just starting to get better, and Ásbjorn was really happy for her - he had been working from the shadows to hopefully push her forward to become what she was before their kidnap, and her progress was becoming phenomenal.

But how far would her return go was what Ásbjorn feared most; if she held feelings for Loki, would he be able to accept that? Ásbjorn shook his head, letting out a pensive sigh: like it or not, he would be watching his sister more carefully from now on, even if he hated the idea. Without looking at Orfy, he spoke again. "Well, I'd better head back with dad, and check on Astro: with any luck, his lecturing won't be too long." He gave a small smile, before beginning to hobble back the way he came out, his physique starting to strengthen with every step. "Good night, Orfy." He didn't stop to hear if she responded.

---

Down on Graymalkin Lane...

---

Astrid turned her gaze to Loki as she set down the bottle of vodka. Light encompassed the doors and windows in the kitchen, shutting and locking each one as she slid down from her perch and approached him. Her eyes were... Empty. Devoid of any emotion as she peeled away her bloody shirt and turned her back to him, revealing the scars that nobody had ever seen before. She pulled her hair to the side to reveal the bar code on the back of her neck.

“Three years. Ásbjorn and I were waterboarded, shot, stabbed, cut, crushed under cars, stoned, electrocuted, beaten, mocked, defecated on, spit at. There was a point where they broke every bone in our bodies just to see how fast we would heal. I was raped. I sacrificed my body to spare my brother every ounce of pain that I possibly could. I've had children. Some of them were miscarriages. Beaten out of me. Two children they allowed me to birth. And then they made me kill them. Do you know what it's like to be the passenger in your own mind? Three hundred and fifty-seven people. Including my own children. That's how many I had been forced to kill. Forced to enjoy. I remember all of their faces. The fear in their eyes as I killed them. I couldn't look away. I dread every day when the time comes for me to close my eyes and sleep, forced into a week long nightmare, trapped with nothing but my thoughts... We nearly drowned to escape that place and had to walk home until our feet bled.”

She turned to him with hatred in her eyes, her voice strong and filled with determination and malice as she opened up. By now, the room had grown dark as she sucked up all the light, her body being the only source at this point as she approached him until there was so little space between them that you couldn't even slide a magazine between the pair. Her hands were resting against her breasts as she looked into his eyes. “Do you really think that I'm such a fool that I don't have my own plans? That with my connections... I don't have a Plan B in case things get out of hand? Where do you think I go every night when you go to sleep? I know you've noticed my absence.” Killing. That's where she went every night. Lina would join her sometimes. It almost hurt her feelings that Loki took her for such a pushover. She turned her back to him again to grab her shirt and pulled it back on. “I'm hardly that naïve.”, she muttered as she grabbed the bottle of vodka and took another gulp. “You should get some sleep.”

Loki raised a simple eyebrow in Astrid's general direction as she lifted her shirt above her head and turned around to explain her story. As she did, Loki absorbed it all, including the intricate pattern the scar tissue made upon her mortal flesh. In a creepy way, he quite admired the artistic style in which each scar curved and molded into her muscle tissue - it wasn't all that morbid for him to think in such a way, being the god of Evil and all. As Astrid turned to face Loki, he noticed the considerable change in light that had previously been contained within the room. It almost distracted him from the fact that now Astrid was barely an inch away from his own body - almost.

Her tone was that of almost a snarl, one that Loki knew from the countless hate-filled words that had been spent between himself and the others of Asgard as Astrid dared to mock his intelligence. As if she thought he didn't know what she was doing, late at night, murdering random Midgardians that thought themselves superior to this interesting breed of mutated humans. She then reassured herself that she was not naive, and told him that he should sleep, and that was that. Astrid took another swig of the Midgardian alcohol called vodka, and stopped speaking entirely.

Loki himself had remained adamant the entire time, his mild amusement hidden within the depths of his mind. Truly, he had come across a rare and unique opportunity: not to mention, the interesting person that opportunity was held within. He had known that Astrid Fury was different from the others that had been assigned to him over the years, but not on this scale: no, this scale was much more useful. She trusted him enough to speak of events that he had not heard of, events that he was sure that many others had not heard either. Oh, the fun he could imagine; but for now, the present, and his patience, were needed.

"I do believe, Miss Fury, that the alcohol has begun to set in; why else would you share something of such importance?" He took the bottle from her and drank a little less than she before setting it down. "Quite the contrary to your belief, I do not see any naivety in you: but I do see determination, something many seem to lack on this planet." A slight smirk became visible as he leaned back. "But as you say, I shall sleep if you so wish. However, I am still curious as to why you would share all of this with one such as myself, whose planning and scheming has been considered legendary."

She watched him as he took the vodka, the light returning to the room as she canted her head to the side. “You've had centuries. Millenniums of practice. You've mastered the art of figuring out everything about everyone. Who am I, but a humble mutant of Midgard, that you haven't already figured me out?” She approached him again, this time connecting directly with his gaze. “You should really go to bed.” She patted the side of his face with a drunken smile on her lips as the doors and windows became open once more.

---

As time went by...

---

Christmas had come and gone as it did every year. She had a few friends keep an eye on Loki from the shadows to make sure that her father and brother didn't hassle her until she woke and was able to defend him herself. Everyone was worried about her. She could read them like books – They were constantly watching her and Loki. The way they interacted and spoke with each other. Her father was happier though. His little girl was smiling again. She had left Loki to engage in a game of chess with her grandfather Charles so that she could curl up in her father's lap like old times and watch football on the television. She had sprayed him with soda and littered him with popcorn when her Giants beat his Ravens. It was the first truly happy Christmas that the Furys had in years. When Astrid rose from her slumber, she was actually smiling. She and Loki had not spoken of their conversation from their night after the beat down. And when she woke they resumed their normal schedule. The children still adored him, especially after they showed up with presents shortly before they returned home for her to enter slumber...

---

---

---

Astrid had gotten used to people shuffling away from her and crossing the street immediately as soon as they saw her coming down the sidewalk with Loki walking alongside her. But she was glad that it had lessened. After what had happened at Tito's, she went on television with Orfelina's Public Relations crew and played the part of the victim. Well, she was the victim. But her trauma level was at a negative ten. She turned it up to a nine for the cameras. She recounted to the news crews how she had been working tirelessly for months to help Loki redeem himself and get in touch with his compassion and inner humanity. She told them of the various charity events that they had attended and how they would work in hospitals and soup kitchens and shelters every day to bring smiles to the people's faces.

She could see the crowd smile as she told them of how Loki had gotten to the point where sometimes he would ask to visit the children in the hospital on his days off or rush her when she was moving too slow on their way to deliver food to the shelter. He was changing and she needed the help of everyone to aid in his...recovery. They took it surprisingly well. People would smile at them and wave as they passed by. Sometimes small children and teenagers would stop and ask him for a picture. He even found himself getting flirtatious giggles from women. And a few men. Astrid lost count of how many numbers had been slipped into his pocket.

The two were on their way home from a charity event for the NYPD when Astrid pulled over outside of a bakery. “They make the best organic cookies here! Come on!” She scrambled out of the car, careful not to tear her new little black dress as she rushed towards the bakery before they could close. Unbeknownst to her, a man had been following them. A black car parked across the street from them as she entered and the mysterious figure got out of the car. He was wearing all black -as if it weren't suspicious- and had his hand shoved into his pocket. Pulling it out, he revealed a gun. It was a small .45 that he took and aimed at Loki as the god got out of the car. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. People on the street screamed, ran, and ducked down as the shots rang out. Astrid had come to a screeching halt and turned around to see the man with the gun running away. “Loki!”, she cried out as she ran towards him.

Loki had been enjoying his last few months, if he could use the word enjoy truthfully. After Astrid went on T.V and played the beautiful card of the damsel, life was becoming easier. He could walk through the streets of New York without being stared at in resentment; though he wasn't entirely finding it useful that they were now staring at him in wonder and happiness. The Midgardian children that asked for his photo were mildly amusing, but the large amount of numbers that somehow found their way into his pockets was starting to become grading. He was not here to bed Midgardian women (even if he was tempted by a few) and he was quite confused by the few men that apparently thought him attractive.

Nevertheless, things were going quite marvelously, and Loki had to thank Astrid for most of it. Sure, he was still plotting to take over this filthy rock, but it made things much easier when most of the people were not trying to shoot you. Funny story, but more on that later. In the meantime, Loki had noticed Astrid also warming up to him even more - she was letting him go on his own. Well, by on his own, he meant playing chess with Charles Xavier, a man that Loki nearly bested in the game but ended up losing to. Loki had to admit the man's intuitive perception, but after that Loki had it personal, and so far no victor had been decided for the past few games.

Back on topic, Astrid got distracted by a bakery on the way home from a charity event - in which Loki was forced to look into the eyes of every police officer of the New York City, who a few still held distrust and discontent in his presence. Nevertheless, Astrid ran out of the car to the bakery in eagerness, and Loki slowly followed suit. He wasn't one for running for such trivial matters such as cookies.

The next few details were where things got a little hazy: as Loki turned to close the door, there was a sharp jab to his right shoulder, knocking him forward in confusion. While his muscle density was quite higher than most, the object in question dug into his flesh quite violently as another jab hit him in the midsection of his back. This continued for another three shots, each hitting him in a different location of his back until the shots ceased, and the pain caused Loki to fall to the ground. He felt a liquid slowly begin to seep through his clothing, pooling underneath him in his fading consciousness - it even got to his face, the vile stuff. A far off voice screamed his name, and everything just seemed to flutter about. Where was he? Loki had no clue, but it wasn't a trip he had been wanting to take.

The man tried to get away, but Astrid wasn't having it.

Her cry of frustration, anger, and pain echoed throughout the streets as a ball of light formed in her hand and shaped itself into a whip. With expertise, she cracked the whip before catching his legs with it and tossing him high into the air. She lashed out with the whip again and caught him by the ankle, bringing him down and slamming him onto a platform of light that formed just five feet under him. She prayed to whatever god was listening that it broke every damn bone in his pathetic body as the platform lowered him to the ground and disappeared. Words could not do justice to the fear that was wracking her mind as she made her way to Loki and knelt into the pool of blood that was forming under him. She knew that Odin had weakened him before locking him down on Midgard, but she had no idea that it had been this much. The bullets would have simply bounced off of Thor's flesh like in that Superman movie. But, Loki wasn't of Asgardian genetics. She wasn't sure about Jotun genetics at all. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she scooped him up into her arms with ease. Leaving her car there, she bent her knees and leapt into the air. Her 'surfboard' of light formed under her feet and carried her through the night to the nearest hospital.

You could imagine the surprise on the doctors' faces as she touched down and immediately demanded medical attention for Loki as she pulled out her phone and dialed up both of the Banners. She just needed these guys to stabilize the wounds until they arrived. She held onto Loki's hand all the way to the Emergency Room where she stood in a corner and did her best not to pressure the doctors as they held him down and expertly fished the bullets from his body before applying bandages. They left it at that and allowed Astrid to spend time alone with the recovering man until the Banners arrived. No dialogue was exchanged as the two men worked to observe the passed out god, Astrid pacing in a corner and helping them when they asked for help. Benjamin was the first to leave, bidding them both good night. Bruce approached Astrid and gave her a tight hug before patting her shoulders. “He's going to be fine. When Odin left him here, he stripped him down. He's basically a mortal now. Well, not completely. We looked over his cells and he's healing faster than a human but much slower compared to how fast he used to. Give him about a day or two. He'll be fine.” Bruce gave a light smile and hugged her again before leaving quickly with his equipment; He was still uneasy around the man.

Astrid sighed as she approached the bed and sat next to him when the door closed. “This was my fault. I shouldn't have let my guard down.”, she mumbled softly. She glanced down to see that she still had his blood on her and closed her eyes before turning to look at him again. She had never seen him like this before. Even when he slept he looked like he was scheming. But right now... She had never seen him look so weak and frail even after the Avengers had him in their custody. Her eyes fell upon his pale face that was paler than usual – Not just because of the lack of sun in these winter months, but the massive blood loss as well. She felt her hand moving as though with a mind of its own, her fingertips brushing against his cool flesh. He was changing. Even if he was probably denying it to himself every day so that he slept better at night. Just as he observed her, she observed him as well. She might not have the practice that he did, but she had been doing her research. He wasn't a bad person. Extreme? Yes. Evil? No.

She hadn't noticed that she had been moving closer to him, her face so close to his now. This was madness!! But was it? He was just like her, so was it not natural for the attraction she felt? She knew she shouldn't. It was dangerous. But she couldn't deny that over the past few months, she had been looking at him differently. He wasn't an Adonis as far as his physique was concerned, but he wasn't unfit either. She hated to think herself so cliché to fall for the 'bad boy', but maybe it was some of that danger factor he carried that she liked. Or maybe that he wasn't afraid to push past her barriers when everyone else was. Everyone was always so scared of sending her into a fit of PTSD, but he was the first in ages to treat her...normally. As his eyes began to flutter open, hers had closed. As did her lips close around his, shooting warmth through her body.

Loki felt like a ghost as the events transpired around him, leading to a climax at a white room, presumably a hospital. Nothing made any real sense to the god, but it wasn't entirely supposed to: he had been shot at by Midgardian weapons, and made fool by them too. Pathetic, if he could say that allowed. Through the fog, a feminine voice he recognized as Astrid echoed, carrying a saddened tone; but he could not make out the words. As she spoke, his world became less of a hazy fog and more clear, until he was finally able to flutter open his eyes. While he couldn't see much of anything, his lips felt something soft against them. Loki made no movement as he was finally able to focus his eyes completely on the one who dared to place their lips on his, and found himself looking at Astrid Fury herself.

To say that he had mixed emotions would be slightly understating the confusion in which he felt. But that didn't change what he saw in the corner of his eye: Ásbjorn Fury. While Loki had no idea when the man showed up, it didn't matter, as Loki could feel the heat in which that stare gave off.

In truth, Azzy had just shown up merely seconds ago to check up on his sister. He was still unable to shake the feeling that things were moving a little too fast between the god and his sister, but so far he had no proof. Banner said that Astrid had shown concern, but that was about it. But what he just witnessed did not put his mind at ease.

"Am I interrupting something important?" His voice was low, but not soft as one would normally expect from Azzy. No, instead, a tone of anger and shock rang through, making his voice more gravelly sounding: almost akin to his father. Loki would have backed away, hell even thrown himself to the other side of the bed if he could: alas, he could not in his state. Instead, his eyes just contained confusion and shock at the events. Ásbjorn's, on the other hand, contained pure shock and anger. "Or should I come back later." He bit those last words out before awaiting
her response.

She could feel him. That was the funny thing about them. While most twins claimed (and some even had) a psychic link between each other, that wasn't the case with them. It was their powers that allowed them to sense each other and others with similar abilities. Whenever they were near each other, they could feel the light and shadow seem to fight each other for dominant space. Right now, she was really wishing he hadn't showed up. Pulling away from Loki and sliding off of the bed, she turned to face her brother with her usual expression of apathy. “Don't you dare take that tone with me, Ásbjorn. What do you want? Oh - Let me guess; You're still spying on me. I know you have been. You can't hide from me.”

In the past, this was where Ásbjorn broke down to his sister. It had always been that way, even after the experiments: she was the strong willed, cold one while he was more of a guy for emotions and logically being helpful. But at the moment, he could not and would not back down. This was something that he couldn't just let slide. "I could say the same thing back at you, sister. But I will take a tone if I must, and I have felt that it would be appropriate for this situation, seeing as what was going on here." He gave a stare a Loki, who couldn't do much besides look pale and sick. "I don't even know what to say right now!" His tone changed again, mostly to one of exasperation. "I know they told you to help Loki out, but I never ..." Understandably, he couldn't finish his sentence.

Ásbjorn was right about one thing – She had always been the strong willed and stubborn was. He was too, but she was more adamant than he was. Before they had been kidnapped, she was always tagging along behind her brother as though he were older than her by a few years, aspiring to be just like him. She was the baby.

But not anymore.

Everything that she once was, she became tenfold and then some in the following three years. Her passion for life and helping people and loving people was so much more than it had been. But so was her hatred, determination, and distrust. At least he didn't launch into the speech from when she had been with Caelan. About how she was obsessed with fixing that which was broken. And just broken guys in general.

“Don't treat me like I'm a child, Ásbjorn. I am a grown woman and I can make my own choices. And don't look so surprised – You've walked in on seeing me do worse things.”

He really had. Sex. Cutting herself. Drinking herself into a stupor. Bathing in liquor and her own tears. Yeah. He had seen her at her worst.

“So. Why does it bother you so much? You don't want to be the guy whose sister is sweet on Loki? Too late for that. Or you don't want to hear everyone mumbling that they were right about your sister fucking Loki? Don't worry. Not too late for that. Or... Wait. You don't trust me?” The last phrase was said with her eyes narrowed as she dared him to say he didn't.

“You think that I wouldn't recognize a trap if I were walking into one? Or you just don't want to see him hurt me? Either way... I'm surprised at you. I thought this is what you and dad wanted. To see me smiling and laughing again. Rejoicing in life and beauty all around me. Walking out in public with shorts and t-shirts like I used to. Not looking around every corner for someone to snatch me up. For me to feel secure. Well. You guys got your wish. So what's the problem?”

Ásbjorn knew that he wouldn't be able to get through to her with just once sentence, but her complete defense of her actions startled him somewhat, and he would be lying if he said that they didn't. It was always funny - while they were kids, he was always the one to take the lead, and yet at the same time he had always been the one to hide behind his sister when things went wrong: he was the big softy, the kid that sat in his room, reading or watching TV, content with life and fearing many things.

But the Ásbjorn at the moment could not act such a way, especially after Astro began to rile him up. She was goading him with her comments, that much he could tell - but her constant looping of words was beginning to aggravate him. "Your baiting won't work on me, Astro: what do you think I've been working towards ever since those days?" His eyes too narrowed at her, as a slight feeling of dread set in. This wasn't going to end well: even Nexus knew that, and was laughing in the background of his head. "Yes, you are a grown woman - but please define what you would consider 'worse', because as much as your attraction to him may not look harmful, I still see it as such." Ásbjorn paused, turning his head to stare straight at his sister.

"If I hadn't wanted you to become what you were, I wouldn't have helped you try to get back on your feet: but this method of returning your security isn't going to go anywhere, and you know that. You know that once father finds about you two, his," Ásbjorn jutted a finger towards the sickly Loki. "ass is gone, and you will be left here." A silence fell from the sky, until Ásbjorn's lowered voice spoke again. "This security is fake - and it doesn't matter if I trust him or not: he isn't here to stay, and you know that better than all of us."

“I don't need him to stay for my security to remain, Ásbjorn. Yeah. I like the guy. Not exactly a big fucking secret. And yeah. I know he's going to have to leave soon. A lot sooner than you think. Why? Because of all this. All that I've done! Me! Not you, not daddy, not Coulson. None of you helped me! You didn't think that what I was doing was going to work. But it fucking did, didn't it? You've been spying on us. You know that I even let him go out on his own. Where does he go? He grabs a drink. He goes down to the shelter. He reads fucking stories to the kids here. Do you know how many kids I can hear already crying because they saw Loki coming in here hurt? How many of them are begging their parents to go get him flowers and teddy bears? People are beginning to care about him. And even though he'll deny it all the way to fucking hell, he cares about them too.” She took a step towards her brother, straightening herself out so that she was eye level.

“I care about Loki, Ásbjorn. I'm not in love with him.” Her voice had grown more gentle. She had put Ásbjorn through a lot of shit and right now wasn't the time for her to recede back into that woman. That wasn't her anymore. “I'm just doing my job and helping him. I've fixed him up this much. Don't fuck up my progress.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, causing her light and his shadow to immediately collide and coat them both, her with shadow overlying her light and he with light overlying his shadow. “He's fixed a lot of things about me too. But nobody can ever fix my heart. I know that in the past, I've said a lot of hurtful things to you. But I never once insulted your ability to do your job. So don't insult mine.”

Asbjorn kept his eyes narrow throughout her entire rant on him, his skepticism evident and his anger constant as she straightened herself in front of him and they stared at each other. While she was a few inches shorter than he, Asbjorn never felt like he was really ever looking down her, just like now.

However, his anger began to melt as her tone softened, talking about how he shouldn't mess her up. When their elements began to mix, she spoke again about her not insulting her job, and Asbjorn was having a difficult time keeping his original anger steady. How could he argue with most of her logic? She was a grown woman, who could deal with her own problems, and make her own decisions. She wasn't the girl that needed Azzy to watch over her and care for her all day just in case she injected something into her bloodstream. A sigh escaped him as his shoulders slumped; defeat was almost imminent for him, and he knew it. But one glance at Loki gave him enough fire to finish off the arguement himself.

He brushed Astro's hand off of his shoulder and turned to the door, his posture slightly slumped compared to his normally straight figure. "I'll leave you to your work then: I didn't mean to insult your job Astro, but unlike you, I can't bring myself to trust him. He reminds me of too many others..." Asbjorn was mumbling now, not entirely audible as he began to leave the room. "But if what you want is to do your job, then so be it; but don't lie to me about your feelings for him." With that, Azzy walked out of the room with his slight limp, and continued on his way. This whole day had gone horribly, and the only person he could blame was himself. Would he tell father? Probably not - but he would tell Orfelina when he could. Asbjorn was starting to get the feeling that Orfy wasn't telling the entire truth to him about her dream.

Astrid watched as her brother left, closing her eyes and issuing a sigh. What had she just done...? She grit her teeth as she walked past Loki's hospital bed and perched herself upon the window sill, pushing open the unlocked glass portal. The cool night air blew in as she pulled out her phone and let her fingers slide across the screen. She needed to talk to someone. Right now, Alex and Lina were her choices. She couldn't talk to them right now because she needed to get her thoughts together, but she did manage to rope them into a sort of Girls' Night Out on the Saturday coming up. Loki could play chess with her grandfather while the girls drank and talked it out. She couldn't let her father take Loki away – Not after how far she's already gotten. She wasn't lying to Ásbjorn... She wasn't in love with Loki. Was she?

No! Of course not. He was just a major key to her Plan B. She couldn't have Loki getting removed from her custody and taken to their New Mexico base. If he ratted her out... But he wouldn't. Would he? She sighed and looked over to Loki, her voice low. “Forget everything that happened tonight.”

Loki closed his eyes and murmured as he rotated his head as far as he could so that he was facing the ceiling. "As you wish, Miss Fury." Loki couldn't understand what was going on at the moment, and his fragile body certainly wasn't helping himi at all; in all seriousness, he was quite miffed at how weak he was. The fact that he couldn't even take a bullet without this happening to him was humiliating - if Odin was watching, Loki hoped his eyepatch would tighten around his throat.

Loki ignored his companion for a while to honestly contemplate what exactly was going on around him. For starters, that show of affection had his head wheeling: did Astrid actually care for him in such a sensual way? How on Asgard did that come to life? Loki mused on all of the days that he had been on the rock, carefully disecting things that might have given it away. She was much more amiable than she had been, true - but from what he gathered, that didn't always create affection. So.. how? And why him?

His weak mind could not continue that thought process, so he moved onto the arguement that had just occured. From what Loki could make out, Asbjorn did not approve of whatever Astrid had in her head in the slightest. Asbjorn's case was that Loki was a dangerous influence, and attaching to him when he was leaving did not fare well for her; basically, Loki got out of the man's entire arguement was that he was overprotective and fearful. However, Astrid mentioned something about a plan B? Whatever was that? Loki didn't know, but he did have a few guesses. Yet at the moment, he had no will power to invest thought into figuring them out: right now, he just wanted to be healthy.

---

Orfelina had received a text message from Ásbjorn asking her out for a midnight snack at Tito's. You'd think the man would have told them to never come again, but Lina had some friends who could manipulate time. They just used their collective power and energy to focus on Tito's and restored everything. Not to mention he was given five hundred stacks for the trauma and what was damaged anyways. She found herself getting excited like a teenage girl who had just been asked to the prom by her crush.

She curled the ends of her red hair and let them bounce around her shoulders. She also got a text from Astrid to pick up her car and drop it off at her place. What was that all about? She was sure Azzy had some stress that he'd like to relieve. So, of course she was all ears. Right now she was smoothing out the wrinkles in her blue skirt, setting her jacket off to the side to reveal a cotton tank top. Sure, it was freezing outside. Didn't bother her. Besides, she was always looking to show off her tattoos.

Clasping her unusually delicate hands around a piping hot cup of coffee, she looked around anxiously before lighting up a cigarette and alternating between taking a few drags and then taking a few sips of the black coffee.

The door opened, and the cold air rushed into the little restaurant that only almost a month ago had been completely obliterated, and one of its assailants so happened to be the one entering. The clang of Asbjorn's cane ran through as he entered, though it looked slightly out of place by his clothing choice. Instead of his standard suit or blazer, Asbjorn was wearing a dark blue Aeropostale hoodie with matching shorts to boot - and underneath his hoodie was his black muscle shirt. While many would be confused, this was usually his workout attire, which was where he had been to hopefully relieve some of his pent up stress before talking with Orfy.

The cold not really bothering him right now, Asbjorn made his way over to Orfy and sat down, ignoring her habit of smoking and waving over a waitress. "Milkshake, as thick as you can get it." He was hoping to refuel a little after his workout session, and a milkshake seemed to be the best thing. She looked at him funny, but then left as Asbjorn relaxed.

"Thanks for, you know, showing up. " He murmured. "I know that it was a little out of place for me to drag you out here this late."

“Why wouldn't I? You know I hardly sleep. Saved me from a massive migraine - I've been working on a particle accelerator.” She gave a bashful smile before putting out her cigarette and turning her eyes to his. “Something's on your mind...”

Asbjorn stayed silent for a second, before letting his head drop. "I... I saw Astrid kissing Loki in his hospital room." It all just dropped out of his mouth - then again, he was never one for witholding information. "And.. I caught her. I confronted her. We fought. I left." It came out in short bursts as he hung his head.

“Was he raping her?” Her tone was genuinely one of curiosity as she brought her elbows to the table and rested her chin atop her hands.

Asbjorn jumped back, startled at her response. "What? No. Why would you think that?" His milkshake arrived, but he didn't look at it.

“So – What's the problem?” She lifted a brow, seeming to be extremely confused. She wasn't confused. Or surprised. Lina knew all. Not really everything, but Ray Charles could have seen it coming.

"Oh not you too." Asbjorn threw his hands up before putting them back down in defeat. "Am I the only one that is concerned by this development, or is this just a normal occurance? I mean, my sister has the hots for a supervillain, and so far the two people I've talked with have thought this to be perfectly fine!"

“Azzy. Look at me.” She moved from her seat to sit next to him, cupping his face in her hands as she made direct eye contact.

“Seven months ago we had no idea that Loki was going to be stuck here, much less tethered to Astrid. After all we've done in twelve years... Look how far he's gotten her in just seven months. She's a smart girl with a lot of power. Don't underestimate her and don't overestimate him. Especially since he's little more than human now. And c'mon - Supervillain? Where are we? In a comic book? Am I about to see Joker and Batman duking it out on the roof over there?”

She teased him with the last statement for dropping one hand and using the remaining one to grasp his chin gently. “Loki's different now. Still a jackass and still scheming. But she's melting his little Jack Frost heart. It's grown three times in size in seven months.” Always with the references, this nerd.

His composition failed him and he slumped into his seat completely after her speech to him. "That's my problem though. She's attaching herself to a guy I can't bring myself to trust in the slightest - a guy that will be gone as soon as his heart 'melts' as you so kindly put it." He smirked a little, the worry in his face. "I don't care if he is becoming a good guy - I could care less. What I'm worried about is what will happen to her when he leaves." Asbjorn paused, finally taking a sip of that milkshake and easily getting a bit before speaking.

"She attaches to broken things, fixes them - and then they leave her behind. What will happen to her when he leaves? I.. I don't think I could handle her going back to the... well, the way she was." He whispered out the last words, softly reminding himself of the days he would have to stop the needles, walk in on sex; pick her up and take her home, all broken.

“...” Lina said nothing. But she couldn't stop herself from glancing at the locket that was always around his neck. Same as Astrid. Same as Nick. “Az, it's almost like you're praying for her to recede as soon as he leaves. That way he won't have it over us that he changed her when we couldn't. Look - You've just got to have faith. And trust me. You know I know everything that was, is, and has yet to come.” She gave her usual mysterious smile and dropped her hand before tilting her head to see if her words would soothe him.

"Yeah, about that..." Asbjorn didn't want to sound like he was within the court room, but a slight tone came out anyway. "I'm starting to doubt your 'dream' as being merely that." He brought his hand to his head. "Look, I'm sorry for doubting you. I severely hope your right about her. But that little dream of yours has not only made me paranoid, but it seems a little too..." He fished for the right word in his head. "coincidental. Are you sure it was just a dream?"

“No. It wasn't. But I couldn't have you running your mouth off to your dad. He's beyond overprotective. Again - Really would have ruined shit for Astrid's recovery. You weren't thinking straight that night.”

"No, you're right there. Hard to think straight after getting the shit kicked out of you." Asbjorn stopped, realizing he swore, gave a sigh. "In hindsight, you make sense. However, the fact that you don't trust me enough to keep something from my father worries me: I mean, you could have just told me not to tell my dad and explain yourself."

“Yes. I was going to explain to you right there with S.H.I.E.L.D. and all of its agents and bugs why I saw your sister and Loki being happy together.” She spoke sarcastically before taking his hands gently. “You know that I trust you with my life, Az. Don't forget that.”

"Point made: but you didn't have to lie to me regardless." Asbjorn really doesn't like liars, if that wasn't made clear by now. "And now, I'm just supposed to sit and wait for the 'inevitable' that my sister and Loki will..." Asbjorn shook his head and stared up. "I can't even think about it."

“Jesus Christ on a fucking sandwich! Will you stop looking at the down side? I know what the hell's going on. Nobody hides shit from me. Got it? You think Charles and Alex weren't the first people to ask me to keep an eye on her? Shadow her so I could get as many future visions as I could? I love Astrid like she's my sister. I care about you too, alright? Don't sit here and think that you're in this by yourself. Do you know how many people would die for her...?”

"Isn't it my job to always think on the downside though?" A mild smile came to his face at his own retort. "And you're right. I know you care for her as I do: I shouldn't worry- wait, did you say you were shadowing her?" Asbjorn's eyes were incredulous. "Since when did you start spying on people?"

“After a little over two decades in the Marines, you pick up a thing or two. Please, lovely. I'm capable of a lot of things that would surprise you. I know things too...”

"I wouldn't doubt it." Asbjorn wasn't sure if he was to smirk, or stay solemn, so he did neither. "But that isn't entirely what I meant..." He paused. "I meant since when did you start spying on my sister, your friend? I mean, why all the subterfuge?"

“If she doesn't want Alex and Charles in her head nor does she want to talk to anybody about her personal life, what makes you think she'll make an exception to me playing as body guard? I have a lot of work to do so she of all people would have easily noticed how little time I was spending at work all of a sudden to spend time with her. I had Gracie cover me at work.”

"Exactly my point. Astrid will find out eventually, and if I know her, she isn't going to like that." Asbjorn paused, taking another drink, and staying silent for a bit. "I don't know anymore, things just seem to be moving along at a pace that I'm not used to; and that's saying something."

---

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched and monitored, every single one of their words being recorded. Loki was back home with Astrid the very next day, neither of them speaking to each other due to the awkward feeling in the air. She was surprised that Loki couldn't even manage to tease her with his sarcastic remarks. Before either of them had the chance to say anything, Astrid found herself off the case and assigned to another while Loki was shipped off to their New Mexico base. Orfelina had managed to get closer to Azzy than she had before, the two of them actually going out on a date. Other than the waitress spilling soda all over Azzy, Lina thought it went well. But trouble was brewing as Warren Worthington II hit the news with the bombshell of a cure for the disease that was the mutant gene. And it was Astrid's job to protect him from those who wished to assassinate him. Her father had forbidden her from letting her personal interests get in the way of her job again. To make sure, he set Azzy on the case as well. They were fighting. It meant that she couldn't talk to other mutants, her father fearing that they'd get in her head too. Like Loki had. The Avengers weren't allowed to get involved either because the government didn't want them interfering with human – mutant relations.

---

---

Asbjorn had been through some horrific times in his life, but never had he ever been so torn in so many ways than he had been over the past month. It all had to start just because his father decided that spying on his kids was a good idea and found out about Loki and Astro, which set him off pretty quick. Then came the fighting: dear God, Asbjorn didn't know two people could fight like that with only words. Sure, Azzy had been pretty miffed that their dad had spied on him (though under the same circumstances, Azzy can't say that he wouldn't consider the thought) but it was nothing compared to Astrid's fury. See that pun? The Fury's wouldn't have, as they were too busy fighting.

And now here he was, stationed at Warren Worthington's house, a man that even Asbjorn had difficulty resisting the urge to punch. Loki, on the other hand, was in New Mexico - somehow just thinking of Loki made him wistful of the times that were before - hell, they were better than bodyguarding this prick. His date with Orfelina was becoming a distant memory now, even though he had quite a wonderful time. Granted, he had to get his pants cleaned afterwards, but nevertheless it was a nice night out.

But back to the present: Astrid was somewhere within the house, most likely fuming and sulking in anger at her situation, and Asbjorn was having difficulty staying neutral. Astro couldn't speak to any other mutants, was stuck with a guy that was hoping to 'cure' their disease; it must be hell for her. Asbjorn, on the other hand, could safely say he was coping the best he could. He was still allowed outside contact, still got to leave some odd times, still got to work out. Yet it still felt like he was caged within his own devices.

Did he feel guilty? Of course he did - because he blabbed to Orfelina about his fears, Nick found out. If he could keep all of his worries and concerns to himself, maybe life would be different. Then again, it was hard not to entrust worries and concerns when you had a fear of being alone. So Asbjorn was in a room of the man's mansion, the TV quietly on in the background so that he had the feeling that he wasn't the only one in his room, and stared outside through the window. He would be lying if he said that Orfelina wasn't on his mind, especially after the fond memory of their date kicked back in. Though he did wonder: where was she now?

---

In the middle of freaking nowhere, New Mexico...

---

Loki was probably the most worst off out of the posse of people that were attached to the twins. Having suffered through an extremely awkward spell that hung over the air between himself and Astrid for a few days, Loki found himself taken from his ward and placed in a laboratory. It certainly didn't help that his solitary confinement on this rock was worse than on Asgard: instead of a luxury chair and interesting books, he had a stool. The patrolled his cell constantly, as if they feared that the weakened god would call upon his ancestry and smite them all where they stood if they did not keep a keen eye on him.

It was truly pathetic, but what else could they do: after all, this was not New York City. These people seemed to care little for his transformation, nor did they share the love that the people had slowly given him. Odd for him to use the term love, but he didn't know what else to use: the people of NYC somehow came to like him. He wasn't sure whether to be appalled or ecstatic: perhaps both would be the wisest choice. Needless to say, Loki's life was dull, and boring here in New Mexico.

Pissed didn't even begin to describe how Astrid was feeling. It seemed like everything her father had done in the past few weeks had been just to push her buttons: Taking Loki from her custody after so much progress on his end and hers, insulting her ability to do her job properly, and assigning her to protect a man from shit that he had coming to him. From listening to Warren Worthington II, she could tell that his heart was in the right place but he hadn't thought of how other people would use his creation for the extinction of an entire race.

She now sat in the shadows as the older man talked with his scientists, making yet another appointment to visit the young boy who called himself 'Leech'. She had to admit – The man seemed to show a great amount of care for the young boy and had fired several people simply for speaking out against the boy's species. She would have loved to talk to him about what he was doing and get more of a feel of why, but her father forbade her and had Ásbjorn babysitting her as well as working with her.

She could feel her brother lurking outside, deciding that her ward would be safe, and left the room with a single nod towards the man and left without a sound, her footsteps silent. There was a S.H.I.E.L.D. issued .45 at her waist despite her absolutely not needing it. She wasn't about to advertise her powers around these people – She thought that many of the people he worked with were shady and wasn't about to be caught off guard and shot up with The Cure. Pfft. Cure what? Mutations weren't a disease; They were an evolution. You'd think that scientists, of all people, would support mutant rights. So, a gun it was. Primitive things. Showing absolutely the same amount of emotion that she had since she'd arrived (ie none), she walked up on her brother and stood alongside him, her glow absent. “Penny for your thoughts?”

---

For the first time in ages, Orfelina had dressed up. Blazer, slacks, and boots. The works. Of course, she had a sparkly bow to match her violet suit. A smile on her face, the black-haired female walked with a suitcase in her hand and determination in her violet eyes. Nothing stood in her way as she flashed her ID and papers to everyone who tried to stop her, leaving a stream of unhappy people in her wake. She didn't make a long ass trip to the middle of bum fuck New Mexico and then head all the way out to the middle of the desert just to be turned away by these nobodies.

Adjusting her glasses (though she didn't need them with her perfect vision), she approached the cell that Loki was being contained within and flashed her ID and papers. “I didn't receive word that he'd be getting any visitors.” The young man guarding at the time glared down at her, towering over her petite form. Lina set her briefcase down and removed her glasses, tucking them into her front pocket. “Look, kid. I don't have time for your shit. Director Fury has no say in this. Call him if you want. And then tell him to call the Council.” She attempted to move past him but he stepped in her way.

Much to his bad luck, her arm snapped out and she grabbed ahold of the pressure points in his shoulder, squeezing until he collapsed and passed out. She moved back as he crumpled, grabbing her suitcase and approaching the cell. Lacking the passcode, she pulled out a small device and began pressing buttons until there was a high-pitched beep and the doors slid open. “Hello, Loki. Got a minute to chat?” She flashed him a smile as she continued pressing buttons, the cameras in the cell and the room outside the cell shutting down.

"You know how I feel." Asbjorn didn't look at her right away, instead deciding to stare out at the expansive nothingness that he cared to view, his sunglasses firmly on his face. A sigh escaped his lips before looking down in annoyance, and turning to Astro. Once again, she looked like a dead woman walking, the only evidence that she had any life being the fact that she was still breathing and spoke.

"I'm wasting my time here, and I'm still miffed about how dad thought it would be a good idea to spy on my conversation with Orfelina. I might have done the same if I were him, but... like really..." He scrunched his face up in annoyance before letting it settle back down again as he turned back to look at whatever was out there. Yeah, his eyes were unfocused and uncaring about his surroundings, but he had felt that his mind was becoming dull from the lack of actual events going on; it was in this wake that Asbjorn decided to just spill and rant, because why not. "I fucked up, and this was way too drastic; there, I said it. Neither of us are needed here, and I to be honest I don't give two shits about what goes on within this house. Whatever goes on in there, I don't deal with: my job is to fix the problems, not prevent them." A huff escaped him. "I would rather be protecting Loki, which actually concerns me, than be here. At least I can punch him if I'm in the mood: right now, I'm more like a glorified babysitter, and it's pissing me off."

He turned back to Astro, letting his steam slowly seep out of his body until he returned back to his normal composure. "But that's just me rambling. Before you ask, I'm restricted to this state and all information within: I can't find out anything about Loki, no more than you can." He looked at his sister, hoping to get something, anything out of her, before finishing off. "I feel useless here, Astro: I can't work. I'm only allowed to converse with others about trivial things; no serious conversations, no questioning dad's motives, nothing." He spoke as if that was what pissed him off most. "With my luck, dad caught that on camera. How are you holding up?"

---

Again, back to the middle of god-forsaken nowhere

---

Another day felt as if it had gone by since Loki had last paid attention to the noises outside, when really it had only been a few minutes. Or was it hours? There were no mechanisms to tell Midgardian time within the walls of his cell, which made things difficult. The only indication of time was the intervals in which he was given food and forced to sleep. If he recalled correctly, he had been given food a while ago, which was his second meal: was it the afternoon? Perhaps. Then again, what good would knowing the time of day, when it mattered not to a god stuck within four walls and a roof?

Loki opened his eyes finally, after musing for a while, to stare at the ceiling. He had been in a horizontal position in the centre of the room since he had finished his meagre meal, his shimmering eyes deciding to close to hopefully pass the time. Instead, his thoughts had drifted to corners of his mind that he had not expected: such as the length of his duration, the wellbeing of Miss Fury, and what exactly was going on in such a remote place that would require his confinement. He should be plotting an escape, seeing as it would be fairly simple; security cameras and personal could be manipulated, yet he had felt no motivation to do so. The reasoning for his lack of motivation escaped him.

It was then that his ears began to pick up faint sounds of speech. Normally he did not bother decrypting it, as he found it to be menial and dull to the ears. Yet the feminine voice that seemed to be closing in on his cell was different than the rest, and the mystery intrigued Loki: who would bother getting this close to him? Were they coming to visit, perhaps? He found it odd that seeing another would bring comfort, but it was most likely the solitary confinement that was beginning to addle his brain.

The distinct sound of a body crumbling truly piqued his interests, but he continued to stare at the ceiling as the familiar pitch of the doors opening, with a familiar voice ringing through. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki finally saw who his interrogator for the day was: Orfelina, the one that Master Fury had been with constantly, the apparent relative of that brute that destroyed that one quaint restaurant. Her speech was either made to be a cruel joke, or an annoying pun, to which Loki cared neither for.

"Ah, Miss Orfelina, do come in. I'm afraid the accommodations may not befit you, but it is the best a captive can do." Loki raised a leg over the other, turning his head to face her slightly. "Tell me, how is dear Asbjorn? While I may not remember him fondly, I'm quite certain that you do." Loki looked at the cameras that were shutting down in his cell with a raised eyebrow. "Well, it seems that this will not be a documented interview, now will it? What would have you in such a conundrum to come all this way to talk to me without the watchful eyes of your Director, hm?"

Astrid listened to her brother as he ranted a bit, mostly about their father and his careless thought to place them both where they were now. She could not agree with her brother more, silently nodding her head as he spoke. The young woman waited a few moments after he questioned her own state of being, letting her lips part just slightly before issuing a shrug. “Dad...not completely trusting me. I can understand that. I...I shut all of you out for so long and when I opened up, it was to the man that he hates more than anything else. Who also tried to take over the world. So – I can understand him going so far as to placing me on guard duty instead of back in the field. But he had no reason to place you here. From my understanding, you're as much against my....” She had to pause.

Her what? Her attraction to Loki? No. She couldn't say that. “My curiosity towards Loki as he is. You'd think he'd give you a pat on the back for trying to 'steer me in the right direction', as he said.” She gave a silent huff before she suddenly felt anger roiling within her. “But even as pissed off as he is...He has no right to put us here of all places. Placing us to guard a man whose creation could wipe us out, placed in the wrong hands.”

She clenched her fists as she closed her eyes, which had begun to glow as they often did in frustration. “I was making progress. With Loki. With myself. And...” She had to pause again, looking to her brother. “I was so close. So close to finding out where mom went. Who she really was. I don't know what dad's doing to Loki. Or the other agents. They could cause him to regress and everything I've worked for...lost.” She unclenched her fists and hung her head in defeat. She felt like she should cry, but she didn't. She hadn't cried in fifteen years and she wasn't about to start now. “Nothing good will come of this, Azzy. I can feel it. I know you can too.”

Back in New Mexico...

Orfelina gave a light smile towards Loki, having shut off all the cameras inside of and outside of his cell and overriding the security system to shut and lock the door of the brig. “I've been in worse cells; no biggie.” She was cheerful as usual, taking a seat in a chair that sat across from the annoyingly creaky cot that Loki had been given to rest on. Jeez – All that money and S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't afford a damn blanket? Or pillow? Or mattress? Nah, they had the money. They were just being dicks because they were dealing with Loki. But, she wasn't really there to negotiate his current living situation, for she had something else on her mind. Still, she was inclined to chat with him as though he were an old friend and they were just catching up. As if he weren't considered a threat to the entire human race – and the universe, and she hadn't just practically broken into one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most heavily guarded bases.

She crossed one leg over the other, like any lady would, and put away her small device only to bring out a tablet with an 'HT' emblazoned on the back. While she did work for Tony (when she felt like it) and saw his inventions as marvelous, she preferred her own tech. “Ásbjorn isn't very happy right now. Neither is Astrid – Their father is being a bit of a jackass. But I'm sure that a handsome bad boy like you is no stranger to fathers not wanting their daughters to show interest in you.”

Her tone was teasing as she straightened her posture and let her eyes travel over his features. She wasn't checking him out, as someone looking on might have thought, rather she was studying his movements. “And Nick isn't my Director. I don't work for S.H.I.E.L.D. They wish I would work for them. But I don't. I mean, don't get me wrong. I grew around Nick and he's a nice guy. But we have a love/hate relationship. I suppose that's what happens when two people with a lot of secrets but heads.”

She gave a shrug and leaned a little closer. “I'm here for an entirely different reason, actually. And I'd appreciate it if you were honest with me. You see, Astrid may be over twenty years my junior, but she's a very dear friend and you and I are both aware of just how smart and capable she is. So, let me ask this plainly: What's going on with you two?” And just like that, she became Doctor Phil. “Don't worry – My lips are sealed.”

Asbjorn was a little taken aback when Astrid gave the assumption that he would get a pat on the back for what he did, but ultimately said nothing. The worst part was that she was right; Asbjorn had been expecting his dad to side with him on this one, even if he hadn't fully looked at the repercussions of his actions. Now look where he was; Astrid was furious, Loki was in the middle of New Mexico, and he was here fuming over his misguided actions. Good job there, Asbjorn The voice lurked in the back of his mind, but he refused to acknowledge it. Right now wasn't the time to get all worked up; he needed to stay focused and get this stupid mission over with. Nick even went far enough to give Asbjorn the 'honorary agent' badge, to make the mission look less suspicious; yeah, it really didn't work.

Astrid finished her own little rant confirming what he already knew: that something was coming. He had not a clue where or what, but that gut feeling was always present. Perhaps it was just how uneasy he felt with the whole situation of 'guy invents a so called cure that could be used by mutant terrorists and human extremists alike' that got him worked up. It was then that Asbjorn realized that he had somewhat spaced out throughout Astro's explanation, and began to recap everything she said just to not make her feel bad.

Which lead to Asbjorn turning back to his sister quickly with an incredulous look. "Wait, why were you using Loki to find out about our Mother?" The whole idea made no sense to him; was that the ulterior motive she had, that he had come to expect within his family? But how in the world would Loki help - what good could he pose? Better yet, why was Astrid even trying to find their mother? Asbjorn had given up basically all hope of finding their biological mother after the experimentation; if she was a true mother, wouldn't she have at least stuck around, or anything? Hundreds of questions ran through his head, but his exterior began to stiffen, his face becoming cold as he stared away from his sister. "I thought we agreed to stop looking for a ghost." An icy undertone formed without his knowledge, one that he realized a little late and tried his best to remove. "So how was Loki supposed to help in finding her?"

---

---

Meanwhile

---

---

Loki gave a dry laugh halfway through Orfelina's rundown on the outside world: he couldn't help it. She truly was a witty one, albeit a little too insightful for her own good. Nevertheless, the little jabs she made at Fury's expense, tagged along with the analogy that she made between himself and the Fury twins was simply too much. She even had a tone of teasing, one that normally turned Loki off to humor; teasing was what he did, and when others attempted it on him, it was usually a dimwitted attempt and a nuisance to bother listening to. Orfelina, on the other hand, continued after watching him intently. He knew those eyes: they weren't the ones that were investigating the attractiveness of a man. No, those were the eyes of a combat veteran, watching for sudden movements and posture changes. She was intelligent, charming and prepared; cautious wasn't the right term to use in this situation.

However, Loki began to lose interest when Orfelina leaned forward and stated her actual business. Loki rolled his eyes, returning his eyes to tracing the cracks in the ceiling as she spoke of how capable and 'smart' Astrid was, and then finally got to her point. It made it even worse when she added the sentence in which Loki only thought existed in Asgardian comedic plays, or cheap Midgardian television shows.

However, he question did pose itself on a level that he had been avoiding. "What indeed..." Bemused, Loki murmured his statement out loud, a small smirk formed on his lips as he kept steady eye contact with the ceiling. It was quite a conundrum, whatever this business between himself and Astrid had become. In the beginning, Loki thought he had it all figured out; Astrid would try to convert him over to being a 'nice guy' while Loki instead would just go with the flow, extending his influence in a way he hadn't thought possible during the time of his first invasion; public sympathy and support. So many pathways opened up to him that didn't even require a lot of bloodshed and violence that he nearly broke character and started laughing; the worst day had to be when he was reading to a daycare, and realized how easy it would be to brainwash the children of Midgard into thinking he was a great person, and take over simply because the youth loved him.

Yet at the same time, Astrid would always reign him in on possible tendencies to go do what he wanted. After a while of going to these places - the soup kitchen, a daycare, the hospital - it became more of a pleasure than an automated response. Loki found himself enjoying the company of the less fortunate, as he could more easily relate with them; they lost what belonged to them, kicked onto the streets to beg for food and money. Yet they were also horribly sympathetic and humble, which continued to puzzle him.

So how did any of this tie back to Orfelina's question? It really didn't, but it did at the same time. Loki was changing, and he didn't like to admit that to anybody - yet Astrid knew it. Astrid, who had encouraged him to help out those at the bottom of the pile while she fought against the bias of her 'race'. Astrid, who stuck with him regardless of his past. So what did that make them? Loki finally turned to Orfelina after a long break, and spoke plainly.

"If I knew what was going on, I would not allow myself to be within four dirt walls, enclosed by a race I have deemed inferior for centuries, and still do." He gave a floor shrug, and gazed back up to the ceiling. "Your guess is as good as mine, Miss Howlett; nothing on this rock makes any sense to me anymore. So I do not intend to answer this question completely, for that would be lying; though what puzzles me is the nature of this entire visit." He turned back to her, his eyes mischievous. "You break into a base belonging to a dear friend, disable all traces of monitoring, and risk punishment; all to talk to me about social confusions?"

Astrid sucked on her tongue for a minute, trying to figure out how to answer her brother. Where did she start? She finally just sighed before taking on a serious expression. “I've been having...dreams. They started a few days before Thor and Odin came to drop off Loki at the Fridge.” The Fridge being S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most secure base for the meanest of the mean and the baddest of the bad. She knew her father didn't have Loki there because it would be the first place she'd look if he thought she would look or send others to look. And because he was weak enough that he didn't need to be there. “I saw mom. And me. And you. We were smiling and happy. The clothes we wore were...elegantly primordial. In the Asgardian fashion. When I woke...” She had to pause, closing her eyes. “It didn't feel as strange as I thought it would. It felt natural. But that's not what made me start thinking.”

She squatted down, her fingers brushing over the grass and the dirt. “A few months ago, I had a dream. I was standing on top of the Empire State Building in my S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. But everything started changing. The city became Asgard as mother used to describe to us. And my uniform became the armor that was worn by the Valkyrie figurines at home. Loki was here. He was laughing at me and telling me that I knew what we were. That I just refused to admit it...That he knew more about us than we do.” She looked up at her brother with hopeful, desperate eyes. “Think about it! Mom's name, her face! Nowhere! We've searched pictures, birth certificates, everything! She's not in a single international database. She had no family.” Okay, so she sounded like an orphan under Witness Protection.

“She said she was from Scandinavia but she spoke with a Surrey accent. All of our bed time stories were about Thor and Loki and Balder and Freya and all the others in the Norse Pantheon. Everything she said was in vivid detail and looking back, there was nostalgia in her eyes and in her voice. I couldn't recognize it then, but I read people well enough now that I know what it was. And remember that time a stray dog came in the yard and tried to bite us? She kicked it and it flew over fifty yards away. C'mon, Ásbjorn! Think about how Thor and Odin looked at us when they saw us! Recognition! Gunnar and Johanna always look guilty! They told me that they know who our mom is. They aren't allowed to tell us. She is from Asgard. Orfelina compared our DNA against Thor's, Johanna's, and Gunnar's. It's a close match as far as species is concerned. Lina suspects that it's something...called Vanir. It's like the sister race of the Aesir.”

She was absolutely spewing information now, having stood up and damn near gotten into her brother's face. Excitement raced through her. “All I had to do was get through a year. Change Loki. Asgard would have a worthy prince again and Odin would owe us.” She seemed almost hysterical as she ran her fingers through her hair, slipping back into her former self that used to go on rants, pulling her hair out and resembling someone on drugs. “Dad ruined everything! He's always ruining shit for me! FUCK!”

–

New Mexico...

–

“Oh, so you're falling in love.” She didn't ask it. Nor was the tone accusatory or teasing. She was stating it as a fact. “You can deny it if you want. Fight it. Whatever helps you sleep better at night. Whatever makes you feel like you're still supreme ruler of evil and mischief. But the thing is...” She leaned forward a little more, her purple eyes lighting up before fading out. “I'm always right. I see all that was, is, and ever will be.” Her dimples deepened as she gave a chuckle and stood up. “I came here because her life is in danger. Not just hers, but everyone's. A war is coming. So very soon. And you're the only person who can stop it. I'm not sure how. But we'll find out when that time comes.” She canted her head a little bit before checking the watch on her wrist. “Well – That's all the time we have for today. I'll see you in about four days. Hopefully.”

Her speech wasn't exactly straightforward, but she seemed content. As quickly as the cryptic woman had arrived, she was soon leaving, the cameras coming back to life as she left Loki to ponder her words.