1.2

"So I seriously can't ask about the stuff back here?"

"I mean, you can, but that's practically the equivalent of my bedroom. That's a personal space, my whole home; I may not be too comfortable with you digging through everything."

"Well, what about this?"

I glanced through the rearview mirror and into the back portion of my van. I smiled and shook my head as Tony sat on my mattress, which was where the middle row of seats would have been, and held up a heavy-duty case the best he could in a moving vehicle. The mattress he sat on was covered by plain sheets and an old, stained comforter. The floor's "car carpet" had been covered with "house carpet," and everywhere that wasn't mattress was dressers and boxes that were bolted to the floor with their drawers tied shut; I fit what I could, and then a bit more, so my van was a bit cluttered. The walls of the van were bare when it came to decoration, but they were covered in throw blankets in an effort to insulate the van from the cold of the previous winter.

'Side note,' I thought. 'Take down the blankets. They've been up for too long.'

I glanced back at the road, remembering that I was driving. "It's a guitar, Mr. Stark."

"I know that! And it's Tony." The man reminded me for the fifth time that car ride, sending me a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Keep reminding me, and I may just go back to calling you 'Stranger.' I'll get to a first-name basis when I'm good and ready, sir!"

I saw him shake his head and roll his eyes at me. I stuck my tongue out at him through the mirror. The guy scoffed in response, turning back to the case in his lap.

I suddenly felt like I was back in Moss Creek, helping teach a preschool class like I did in my college days. It seemed that Tony had an almost child-like curiosity, digging through my van like some sort of archaeologist, and it was something that I couldn't help but find a bit sweet. I never imagined Tony Stark to be the kind of man that would want to know anything and everything about a new teammate. I always just assumed he would think himself so above everyone else. I guess I was wrong.

Then again, he could just be exceedingly cautious. Yeah, that seems more likely.

Tony was sitting on my mattress when I saw a four-way stop ahead of us. "Yo, Stranger, which way?"

Tony got up, placing a hand on my chair behind my shoulder and leaning forward to see the road. "Uhh, Yeah." He pointed to our left. "Turn left on Mason."

"Then straight 'till we hit the airport?" I asked, thinking back to when he gave me the directions all in one, long list.

"Yep." Tony popped the "p" as he replied, smiling at me as he patted my shoulder.

I took the turn as he returned to the "back seat." Then, seeing as we were the only ones on the long, bare road, I decided to glance at the man through my mirror once more. He sat on my "bed" and went straight back to my guitar case. He undid the clasps and pulled out my Gibson parlor acoustic. I felt myself tense up for a moment. That rosewood guitar was my dad's. It's one of the few things I took with me when I started traveling more than settling, and that guitar still means a lot to the man; I was lucky that he let me have it at all. But I could see in the way that Tony held it that he knew how to handle a guitar, or he at least knew that he needed to be careful with the thing, and I relaxed.

"How long have you played?" He asked. "Know any AC/DC?"

I watched for a moment as he adjusted the instrument on his knee and softly strummed on the strings. I snorted softly; I didn't think that Tony knew his way around a guitar anymore. If anything, he just knew what he may have seen on TV.

"Which hand is your dominant hand, Mr. Stark?"

He looked up at me in confusion. "My right?"

"You're holding the thing backwards."

"Huh?"

I met his eye through the mirror. "If you're right-handed, you use your right hand to strum the strings. You'll use your left to press down on the strings on the neck."

I watched as he crinkled his eyebrows in disbelief. "But wouldn't you want your dominant hand to press down on the strings to get the right notes?"

"You'd think so," I looked back at the road. "and some people do play it that way, but I've always explained it by saying that strumming uses more of an active arm movement. So, using your dominant hand will be a bit easier because -- "

"You'll be used to using your arm for longer periods." Tony interrupted.

"Exactly." I confirmed.

"So, what," Tony flipped his hold on the guitar. "are you're a music teacher, now?"

I met his eye. "I've been giving guitar lessons for years, Mr. Stark." I shrugged at his intrigued expression as I began to elaborate. "I've also been tutoring, babysitting, catering for parties, you name it. When you never really settle, you take whatever work you can and whatever work pays. Giving guitar lessons is one of those jobs that always pays, so that's one of the constants in every town I visit."

I could see the gears turning behind his eyes, and I could tell that he wanted to ask about my work and my van - but, to my surprise, he never did. He just nodded with a simple, "That makes sense." I watched as he placed his fingers over the strings and strummed a few more times, playing both existing and non-existing chords.

"So," He started, staring at the neck of the guitar as he continued strumming. "back to my other question; can you play any AC/DC?"

"I know a little." I answered his question as I looked back at the road, noting that we were getting closer to the airport. "My last student was a huge fan, and she wanted me to teach her to play, uhhmm..." I paused to think. "I think it was 'You Shook Me All Night Long.' Yeah, that was it."

"Girl's got good tastes." Tony commented absentmindedly.

I chuckled. "The girl was listening to a song about having sex at nine years old. Personal opinion here, but I'm pretty sure those tastes could have waited a few more years."

Our conversation ended there, seeing as I had turned into the airport parking lot. That, and Tony seemed to have received a pretty important phone call. I pulled into an empty parking space and waited for him to finish.

"Already?" He asked the person on the other line. "So, no meeting yet? ... Where are we going? Stuttgart, like, Germany? ... And when do we need to get there?"

There was a pause, and then Tony looked up at me and put a hand over the phone. "Hey, you don't need a suit do you?"

I blinked in surprise, but managed to shake my head. "I've never used one before, so I guess not."

He went back to his phone call, a small smirk finding its way to his face. "She says she's good for now, and don't worry; backup's on its way."

He hung up, quickly putting my guitar back in its case as he said, "Well, Ms. Breaux," He turned to meet my eye. "it's time to see what you can do!"

----------------------------------

I held onto Tony's neck and waist as tightly as I could like a desperate koala. My eyes were squeezed shut, and the wind was whistling loudly in my ears.

"I'm glad I'm wearing a suit!" I heard Tony chuckle through a speaker in his mask. "I'm pretty sure you'd be choking me, otherwise!"

"Well," I shouted over the wind. "when you said we were flying to Germany, I thought you meant in a plane. I didn't expect you to have me clinging to you as we blasted into oblivion!"

"Now, Ms. Breaux, flying in my suit is hardly 'blasting into oblivion'."

"It might as well be!" I jolted with a squeak as Tony adjusted our flight direction, then I squeezed even tighter. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" I shouted sarcastically, trying to ignore Tony's laughter. "How much longer?"

"Not long at all. Looks like we're here."

Without even waiting on a comment of any kind from me, and without warning, he turned off his hand-jets and pulled me away from his chest. I was understandably terrified, and I am not at all embarrassed to say that I squealed as he moved to hold me bridal-style without once slowing down. I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck once more, only to hear him chuckle near my ear.

"You might wanna open your eyes. Not only are you missing an awesome view, but you're gonna want to see where we're landing when I put you down; we might be flying straight into a fight, you know."

I whined under my breath, but I forced myself to pry my eyes open. I slowly turned my head, looking down at the ground. We were, indeed, approaching Stuttgart, Germany. It was a large-looking city (I wouldn't know. I know nothing about Germany.), and it was lit up with bright signs, streetlights, and other night-life brights. I scanned the crowds below, trying to distract myself by looking for either our team or our enemy. Just as I noticed people running in a panic, I heard something that sounded faintly like AC/DC playing in the distance.

"Jarvis,"

I looked up at Tony as he addressed his AI.

"Call Agent Romanoff."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. 'Did he just broadcast music to make an entrance???'

"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?"

I narrowed my eyes. 'He did.... He actually did that.....'

I shook my head, turning back to the ground just as Tony readjusted his hold on me. My nerves vanished once I caught sight of a man in dark green and bright gold armor fighting a man in a leather suit. I didn't make a sound as Tony flew towards the ground, gradually shifting his hold from my sides, to my arms, and to my hands.

"Get ready," He told me, his voice entirely serious in comparison to the fly over.

"Whenever you're ready," I answered him instantly, preparing myself for a fight.

"Heads up!" He shouted.

I looked at where he intended to drop me, my eyes widening in surprise as I saw the second man get thrown into my drop zone.

"Mr. Stark, hold -- "

I didn't even get to finish as he released his grip on my hands. The man below swiftly rolled out of the way, and I fell into a roll to keep my kneecaps from snapping. I popped back up fairly quickly, looking up to where Tony was flying towards the armored man. He blasted the man back, and I watched as the armored man landed on some stairs, groaning loudly in pain. I winced, cringing as Tony landed right in front of him.

'I think he's got this one...'

I turned back to the leather-clad man I almost landed on and, seeing him making a move to stand, I jogged back in his direction. I held out a hand to help him up. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, but I saw the recognition in his eyes when I smiled at him.

"Sorry I almost fell on you."

He shook his head, grasping my hand firmly with a polite grin. "It's alright. It's not really your fault, Miss..."

I helped him to his feet, keeping the firm grip on his hand to shake it in greeting. "Jamie. I'm Jamie Breaux."

"Steve Rogers."

He released my hand, and we started walking towards where Tony had the armored man raising his hands in surrender. Steve's face fell back to a neutral, guarded expression as we walked. He moved to stand on one side of Tony. I moved to stand on the other. I watched as the armored man glanced back and forth between the three of us. I was thrown off when his armor started shimmering like some kind of pixie dust, but I didn't let it show on my face as I watched his armor disappear entirely.

"Good move."

I glanced at Tony from the corner of my eye as he put all of his weapons away. He also glanced towards Steve, but he looked back at our non-armored man just as quickly.

"Mr. Stark," Steve greeted Tony curtly.

"Captain." Tony did the same.

The silence was tense for a minute as a fancy-looking aircraft landed behind us. I didn't like the silence one bit, and I was starting to fidget uncomfortably. I decided enough was enough, and I clapped loudly; the three men surrounding me flinched in surprise.

"Well, I guess we better get going!" I said, letting my voice take on a chipper tone. "We've got places to be!"

I ignored the faces that Steve and our little buddy made at me (I couldn't really see Tony's face, but I can easily assume that he was smirking under his mask or something. The stinker.) as I took a few steps towards our new prisoner. I held out my hand towards him with a smile.

"So," I wracked my brain for a split-second to remember his name. "You're Loki, right? Prince of Asgard?"

He looked back and forth between my face and my hand. My expression dropped as his face flooded with disgust.

"Dude, I'm offering to help you stand up. Last I checked, I don't have leprosy."

He didn't comment with anything other than a scoff.

I narrowed my eyes with a pout. "Look, if this is about us locking you up, you had this coming. Don't make that face, either. You bully the kids, you get a timeout. That's how this works."

I reached down and grabbed his hand without waiting for a response, looking back at his face with a cheeky grin. "Equivalent Exchange, if you will."

Our non-armored Loki was pretty light, so I pulled him onto his feet without a problem. I had a feeling that he would have normally fought back when I whipped him around and held his arms behind his back, but I did it anyway.

"I've already surrendered, you sniveling mortal!" He snarled and I started leading him towards the aircraft, the other two walking behind us. "Unhand me!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "As long as you play nice, so will I. I was going to let you walk on your own, but you decided to be stubborn, so."

I turned my head to face Tony, who had since raised his mask. "Anyway, Mr. Stark,"

He raised a finger. "It's Tony."

"Correction," I looked ahead once more. "I meant 'Stranger.' Anyway, Stranger, did you seriously call a norse god 'Reindeer Games'?"

The four of us walked up the ramp and into the aircraft. While I got Loki onto a bench and sat down next to him, Steve grabbed a pair of handcuffs from the wall to put them on our friend. Tony found a corner to stand in, crossing his arms and smirking at me slightly.

"Did you not see the guy's helmet?" Tony gave the space above his head a small point. "They looked like antlers."

I shrugged, shaking my head. "I saw the helmet, but they looked more like horns to me."

Then it was Tony's turn to shrug. "Whatever, he's 'Reigndeer Games,' now."

I rolled my eyes when that was said, turning to Steve instead as he was finishing with Loki's handcuffs. "So,"

He stood up straight, crossing his arms stiffly before looking at me.

"It's nice to meet the man who made the history books!" I paused. "Sorry, that sounds like a little much. Anyway, what do you want me to call you?"

I tilted my head to the side as he cocked an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean?"

"Well," I began to explain. "I mean, I'm cool with everyone calling me 'Jamie', and I call that guy over there 'Stranger'." I ignored Tony as he tried to correct me on his name, and I continued. "Should I be calling you 'Steve'? 'Mr. Rogers'? Should I call you by your rank: 'Captain'? Your whole title: 'Captain America'? Or maybe I could call you 'Mr. America'?"

I could see him getting a bit tense, and I had a feeling that my rambling antics were starting to get on his nerves.

'So he's one of those people that are super serious in these kinds of situations. Good to know. So, we've got 'Serious Steve' and 'Toddler Tony'. I've gotta remember that.'

Just seeing how his jaw clenched, I decided it would be a good time to stem the flow of nonsense coming out of my mouth. So, I backtracked a bit.

"I just wanna make sure I'm not calling you one thing when you'd rather be called another, you know?"

I watched as the gears started turning in Steve's head.

"Well, we just met not ten minutes ago," He said. "So, I guess just 'Captain' or 'Mr. Rogers' will work for now."

I nodded, sending the man a grin. "Alright then, Mr. Rogers, it is!"

"And how come he get's to choose what you call him when you call me 'Stranger'?"

I turned to Tony with a nonchalant shrug. " 'Cause you made such a big deal about it."

"So, if I stop asking," He paused for a moment to remove his helmet entirely, placing the metal onto a nearby, easy-to-reach surface. "then you'll stop calling me that?"

"Probably not."

"Are you serious?"

I couldn't help but laugh at the whole exchange. I leaned onto my knees, stemming my laughter into mere chuckles as Tony shook his head at me.

"Just how old is she?" Steve whispered in Tony's direction, moving to stand next to him.

"Five at heart, she says." Tony whispered in return.

At that point, the two started to catch up, you know, in their own "We Know Each Other But Things Are Kind Of Tense-slash-Awkward" kind of way. So, I turned to the man sitting next to me. He was, obviously, upset about being there, but he still sat up straight. He seemed to hold on tightly to that regal air that I assume he was raised with. Part of me wanted to be impressed, but the bigger part in that equation knew that I'd seen this attitude plenty of times in plenty of criminals; this was nothing new, and this was nothing too impressive.

I propped my chin on my elbow as I looked at him, not even bothering with the seatbelt on my chair. "Soooooo,"

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"I know you're not gonna tell me why you want the magic cube, or even what it does, so why not tell me about Asgard?"

His eyebrows scrunched up in disbelief. "What?"

"Well, that was your home for years. Even if things aren't so good up there right now, there must be something about it that you love and miss, right?"

He stayed silent, shaking his head in annoyance and turning to face the wall. I kept going, not bothered in the least.

"What about a place that you used to play in as a kid? Or a place that you liked to read in that was super quiet? You seem like a reader. I love reading, especially if it's a good romance! And no, I don't like reading those smutty adult romance novels. To be honest, I still read those books you'll find in the young adult section. You know, those books that people are making movies out of. There's a good reason they're making movies out of those and not the adult stuff. What kind of books do you like to read?"

I waited patiently for him to respond. He remained silent. I shrugged.

"Don't feel like talking? That's understandable. I'll just keep you company. I mean, I can talk all day. No problems here. Anyway, I feel like you'd be really into those noir detective novels. Of course, that could just be the aesthetic you've got going. I mean, you've got a lot of black on you. Then again, maybe you're one of those tough guys with a soft squishy centre. Do you like romances? Or maybe fantasy? Ooh! Next time we get the chance, I'll let you borrow my copies of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series. Being in a holding cell, and with how quiet you are, I'm sure you'll have the time to read them all. Or maybe you're more into manga and graphic novels? I really like Fullmetal Alchemist and Library Wars; two very different manga, but both awesome. The March Trilogy was pretty good, too; I read it in college. It's a more adult graphic novel that tells the story about John Lewis and his role in the Civil Rights Movement. Then again, you might not like it too much since you're trying to enslave the human race, but maybe it'll do you some good. You know what? I'm gonna lend you that one instead of all the fantasy stuff. You need the freedom message much more."

"I don't like it."

I looked over at the boys, an eyebrow raised at Steve's comment to Tony.

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony questioned.

Sending Loki a quick goodbye smile, I stood from my seat and moved to meet the guys in their corner. I shoved my hands in my pockets, and Steve turned so that the three of us were facing each other.

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

He flicked his eyes over my shoulders to look at Loki, and Tony did the same.

"Still," Tony piped up. "you are pretty spry for an older fellow."

I softly slapped Tony on the arm, sending the man a chastising gaze. "Hey, play nice. My rules apply to you too, Stranger."

He ignored me. "What's your thing, Pilates?"

I glanced at Steve, noting any changes in his stance or facial expression.

"What?" The Captain asked.

"It's like calisthenics," Tony explained. "You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

I watched as Steve stiffened ever so slightly, completely unnoticeable to anyone other than myself. I saw the questions, uncertainty, and defensiveness flash in his eyes. Pretending I didn't notice a thing, I turned back to Tony, raising an eyebrow at him and crossing my arms.

"Was that really necessary, Mr. Stark?"

He turned back to me, his expression flat despite the innocence leaking through his tone of voice. "What? Did I say something insensitive?"

I knew his jabs were made on purpose, and I'm sure everyone listening in knew, too.

'This Fury guy is putting together this team of super people, and he's choosing people that already seem to have grudges against each other? I'm seriously questioning this man's choices. He must have a reason though, and we did just meet. I'll have to trudge through the peacekeeping for now, I guess... Maybe it'll get better after a while.'

I shook my head at Tony with a sigh. "I would just think that we should be a little careful with what we're saying. We're supposed to be working with each other - building bridges, not walls, you know?"

While both men heard what I had said, no one had built on it.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in," Steve stated, staring at Tony.

"Yeah," Tony confirmed. "there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

"So Fury's the secretive type, then?" I used the comment to my advantage, trying to turn the conversation away from what would have led to two grown men bashing each other.

Tony sent me a nonchalant shrug. "You could say that, yeah."

Steve glanced at me from the corner of his eye; he caught what I had just done. I sent him the tiniest of grins. He sent me the tiniest of nods.

Suddenly, the ship hit a bit of turbulence. It wasn't much, but it was just enough for us all to notice. Thunder boomed outside, and we all looked towards the windshield of the jet as a flash of lightning shone outside. I glanced at the men next to me, then at Loki. I saw a flash of a feeling in his eyes, but I couldn't quite make it out. What I did read, loud and clear, was the blatant discomfort the man felt as he shifted in his seat.

"What's the matter?"

I looked back at Steve as he addressed the prisoner.

"Are you scared of a little lightning?"

Loki's expression never changed. He only turned his eyes to the ceiling as he replied, "I'm not overly fond of what follows..."

And then it clicked.

"I guess that's big brother, then?" I asked.

He met my eye for a moment. "What do you think?"

There was a loud bang on the roof as something landed roughly on top of the ship. I shot my eyes upwards, feeling everything slow slightly around me as my heart pounded with adrenaline. Steve and Tony each turned away from the other to grab their masks and throw them on. As soon as Tony's mask had secured itself to his suit, he confidently strode towards the far wall.

"What are you doing?" Steve called out to Tony as the armored man pressed a nearby button. The button opened the rear hatch, and Tony didn't hesitate to approach the exit.

As he walked, another man landed onto the open hatch. I watched him closely as he stood, noting the armor, cape, hammer, and deadly serious air that he brought with him. I subtly glanced at everything and everyone around me, taking inventory of my surroundings. Tony and Steve both seemed battle-ready, Steve specifically looking a bit surprised by a flying man with a hammer. The pilots were behind us; I needed to make sure that they wouldn't be harmed in any way. The feeling behind Loki's eyes slowly seeped into his face; he showed just the smallest hint of fear. The man in front of us, who I assumed must have been the Norse god, Thor, must have been powerful if everyone who had already known of him was either ready to run or ready to fight.

Without a word, Tony lifted a hand to blast Thor out of the sky. In retaliation, Thor lifted his own arm and swung his hammer right into Tony's chest. The blast from Tony's weapon hadn't even finished warming up, and the armored man was sent flying across the room. I quickly sidestepped out of the way; Tony hit the floor right where I was standing, taking Steve down with him. Taking a quick breath, I made myself seem as small as I could and raised my hands in front of me.

I walked towards Thor. "Look, I don't -- "

I didn't even get to finish my attempt at a peaceful approach when Thor grabbed ahold of my shirt, spun me around, and shoved me back to where I was with an intentionally measured push. The push was merely to get me out of the way, and it was not nearly enough to throw me to the floor.

'At least he realized I wasn't gonna try to fight him.'

By then, Tony had managed to pull himself off the floor, and he gently caught my arms to help me regain my balance. As this was going on, I heard Loki grunt softly and a distinct ripping sound from behind me. I turned back to the two gods to see that Thor had grabbed Loki by his collar, ripped him out of his seat and seatbelt, and was dragging him to the rear hatch. Before any of us had a chance to separate the two, Thor had already begun swinging his hammer and flew off into the night with Loki in his grasp.

"Well," I said aloud, not caring who decided to listen. "that didn't work."

I looked up at Tony as he let go of my arms and walked around me towards the hatch, all the while muttering, "And now there's that guy..."

"Another Asgardian?" One of the pilots asked.

I glanced back at her, recognizing her instantly now that I could see her face; her file said her name was Natasha Romanoff.

'I guess I'll have to introduce myself later.'

"Seems like it," I answered her.

"That guy's a friendly?" Steve turned to Tony, slowly managing to drag himself off the floor.

"Doesn't matter."

I quirked an eyebrow at Tony's response. "Doesn't matter?"

He turned back to look at us. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark," Steve called out to the man as he started towards the exit once more. "We need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan. Attack."

And with that, he blasted into the night after the Asgardians.

I shook my head. "Well that's not much of a plan, now is it?" I looked up at Steve with a shrug. "I guess we should follow him before he hurts himself."

Without waiting for a response, I quickly made my way towards the parachutes. Of course, at the time, I had no idea what a parachute looked like, so I took a lucky guess. But I got the right thing in the end, so, awesome. Anyway, Steve shook his head with an exasperated huff, following behind me and grabbing a parachute for himself as well.

"I'd sit this one out, guys," Natasha called back over her shoulder.

Steve and I slung the parachutes over our shoulders, both of us shrugging off the woman's warning.

"I don't see how I can," Steve said in response.

She continued, "These guys come from legend. They're basically gods."

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

I nodded, agreeing with the captain as I tightened my harness. "No, he does not."

Then I looked up to meet Steve's eye. "Can you check me really quick to make sure I have this on right? Never worn a parachute before, and I'd rather not die because I tightened something wrong."

The man looked down at me, his eyebrows rising in disbelief. "Are you sure you're going?"

I shook my head at him, bending down to grab his shield for him. "Look, I don't know if you read my file or not," I handed him the shield with a serious expression. "but there is a reason that Fury put me on this team. I'm going to help if I can."

"Now," I did a quick spin as if I were showing off a new skirt. "Did I put the thing on right?"

He shook his head at my childish behavior, but nodded his head in confirmation as he walked past me towards the rear hatch. "If you're sure about coming, then let's go." He jumped off the hatch without another word.

I did a quick step-jog towards the hatch and did the same as Steve. I held out my arms and legs, falling through the clouds like some kind of skinny starfish. I didn't know any kind of skydiving techniques, so I just hoped that I could "pull the right wire" when the time came. The wind whistled in my ears, and the air around me bit at my skin. I had half an idea to close my eyes to keep them from drying out, but I fought the urge. I wasn't even sure if I should be screaming in fear or laughing in joy at the experience as a whole.

Sooner than I expected, I found myself watching Steve pull on a portion of his parachute. I swerved out of the way of his deploying chute. I turned my head to look at him.

"What do I do?!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, turning to face the ground and the battle beneath me that was getting a little too close for comfort.

"Pull the string on your left!"

I faintly heard Steve's voice above me, and I followed his instructions. My parachute billowed out. I slowed to a more acceptable falling speed, and I placed my hands on the releasing mechanism of my harness. I watched as Tony flew headlong into Thor's person, and I smirked when they found themselves right underneath me. I pulled the releasing mechanism, falling right on top of the god of thunder. I gripped his neck and waist as if he were giving me a piggy-back ride. He stumbled a bit, but he didn't fall.

"Hey, man," I said, holding tightly as he tried to shake me off. "please don't thrash too much. I don't have a suit or shield to protect me if you decide to throw me or something."

He reared his hammer back to hit me, and I leaned my head back slightly to avoid the impact. I grabbed the wrist holding his hammer and yanked it back, hoping that I could make him drop the weapon altogether. However, I should've known that it would do nothing for me to compare my raw strength to the strength of a Norse god; absolutely nothing happened. Instead, he used my grip on his wrist to fling me forward and onto the ground in front of him. I stared up at him for a moment, examining his face. But I didn't have too long to do that, seeing as he swung his hammer down towards my exposed midsection. I quickly rolled out of the way, popping onto my feet just as quickly.

Tony just stood back and watched. I assume he wanted to see how I did in a fight with someone stronger than the average armed person or mugger. While I was a bit frustrated with the thought, I didn't say anything; I was more focused on the man trying to take me down with a freaking hammer.

"You know," I piped up, cleanly dodging Thor's hammer for the eighth or ninth time. "You do realize that while we're out here having our catfight, the boy we're fighting over is probably getting away, right?"

The man swung his hammer a couple more times, only for me to spin, duck, or jump out of the way.

"Hey!"

Just as Thor was about to respond to my comment, he was hit upside the head with Steve's shield. I watched as it ricocheted off of the god and flew back into Steve's hand.

"That's enough," The soldier commanded, jumping from his perch to meet us on the ground.

"Now," he continued. "I don't know what you plan on doing here."

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes," Thor declared.

"Then prove it. Put that hammer down."

'Oh no...'

"Uh, yeah, no." Tony finally piped up. "Bad call! He loves his hammer."

I barely ducked out of the way as Thor threw his hammer above my head and into Tony's face, calling it back to himself magically when Tony hit the ground.

"You want me to put the hammer down?!" Thor shouted, his face twisting in fury.

'OH NO.... NONNOONONONNONONNO!'

"Whoa! Wait a minute! Hold on!" I jumped in between Thor and Steve, my hands raised between the two.

I met Thor's eye, trying my best to ignore how he gripped his hammer tightly and shifted on the balls of his feet. "Just from what you've said, it sounds like we're all trying to do the same thing. I understand that this is your brother, and you think that you need to deal with this yourself. Believe me, I get it; I'm an older sibling, too. But standing here fighting about it isn't going to solve anything."

I looked between the three men; they were still tense and ready to fight, though Steve's gaze softened just a smidge.

I met Thor's eyes once more. "Look around you. Look at the damage that we've already done. What if we'd ended up doing this in the middle of a busy street? And, like I said before, while we're trying to see who's the biggest, baddest, macho-man, Loki could easily be getting away!"

By now, Tony had stood up and walked back to where he was standing before. He stared at me through his mask in silence; I had no idea what was on his mind.

Steve seemed impressed with the move I was making, and he seemed more than willing to take the peaceful road I was trying to steer them toward. However, he kept his gaze trained on Thor, his muscles tense underneath his suit.

Thor was contemplating my words. Although, I could easily see through every ounce of his body language that he didn't know me, and he didn't know if he could trust me. I assume his thoughts were the same for the other two men.

None of them relaxed, none of them made any moves, none of them spoke.

I lowered my arms with a sigh. "Look, none of you guys seem like the best of friends right now, but what if we just met up with the rest of our team together? Better to take care of the issue together than to spend all our time playing a game of cosmic-tug-of-war. You guys can go back to the jet, I'll go get Loki, and then we can share what we know and take care of things. Alright?"

None of them relaxed, none of them made any moves, none of them spoke.

I gave each man one more wary glance before turning around and walking in the direction that Thor had originally brought Loki in when they flew from the jet. I walked through the forest silently, looking around me and listening for any sign of Loki - or any sign that the men had resumed their catfight. Then, I happened to glance up. I cocked an eyebrow, shaking my head in amusement as I saw Loki perched on the edge of a cliffside, hands still cuffed, watching the scene below as if he were watching a theatrical event. I looked at the climb between Loki and myself, my amusement twisting into frustration as I huffed.

"Why couldn't my powers be flight or super speed or something? Why'd it have to be death-day every day?" I glared up at the cliffside as I started trudging up the nearby pathway. "Or maybe shapeshifting? You know, monkey-time, climb up the side no problem. But nooooooooo..... I get to die. Glorious...."

Suddenly, I heard something akin to a church bell ringing. Seconds later, I felt an intense wind behind me, and I felt myself be lifted off the ground from the force. Luckily for me, it sent me the rest of the way up without me having to walk. Unfortunately, I was rolling the whole way up, hitting trees, the ground, rocks, with pretty much every part of my person.

Upon reaching the top, I fell at Loki's feet, groaning in pain.

"You made a valiant effort!"

I heard Loki's sarcasm leak from his chuckle, and I groaned once more in response.

"Oh, shut up..."

I forced myself to sit up, turning to the ground where I'd left the men behind. My eyes widened as I saw whole trees turned over and the three men standing in a circle breathing heavily.

"Holy shit..." My amazement fell back into annoyance fairly quickly as I narrowed my eyes. "I swear, I'm gone for five minutes..."

I shook my head, grumbling to myself as I brought myself to my feet. I noted my various scratches, bruises, and my dislocated arm. However, I ignored every bit of it. I grabbed Loki's forearm using my uninjured arm, and the two of us walked back to the clearing in silence. The men were there waiting for us, the jet having landed there mere seconds before we arrived. The three stood just through the rear hatch - Tony's mask up and arms crossed, Steve leaning against the opening with shield in hand, and Thor flipping his hammer absentmindedly.

I took a deep breath as Loki and I walked into their line of sight, and I forced a smile, trying not to show my frustration. I loosened my grip on Loki's arm, catching the surprised raise of his eyebrow.

"Glad to see everyone in one piece!"

The three looked up at me, and I shook my head "in amusement" as the three looked over my person in surprise.

"What happened to you, Breax?" Tony asked, not hesitating to step aside so that I could lead Loki back to his original seat.

"What, you worried about me, Stranger?" I asked, forcing out a chuckle and walking past the men once more to get to the console on the wall. "Don't worry, I'm fine. There was just this random burst of wind that sent me up the mountain. That's all; no biggie!" I pressed the button, and the hatch began to close.

I turned back to them with a wide grin, oozing as much ignorant energy as I could while the three quickly glanced between each other with a mixture of embarrassment and the slightest bit of guilt. Then one of them saw my arm hanging limply at my side.

Thor gasped lightly. "Ma'am, your arm -- "

"Is dislocated?" I interrupted him with a grin, glancing down at it. "I almost forgot about it, actually. Thanks for reminding me! Hold on a sec..."

I took a step closer to the rear hatch and I looked at my shoulder. After a moment of examination, I nodded to myself. I swung my shoulder back into the face of the hatch.

A loud crack could be heard throughout the jet.

"Oooohhhhh! Ouch!" I winced, laughing a bit when most of the pain had passed. I whistled, rolling my newly-relocated shoulder and rubbing it with my other hand. "I guess that's that, then!"

I put my hands on my hips, donning my smile once more as I felt my annoyance with the three begin to dissipate.

"So, where were we meeting up with the team again?"