The apartment hadn't been terrorized by aliens. There was the chance Todd could be out somewhere, or the chance that he was...

No, he would have been smart about the invasion. He would have done what was necessary. He would have survived.

I stood before the door, hesitant. My hand hovered, waiting for me to let it knock. I wanted to, but fear was grabbing a hold of me once again. What if I had to break the door down? What if I found the place empty? If there were casualties, the news would have broadcasted them. Still, I'd only watched the news once since the battle, and that was this morning.

"This is your apartment, right?" Cap joked.

"Yes, it is."

"Did you have someone housesit for you?"

"No, I share with a friend. He's the reason why I know some things about Earth like I do. He's not from Asgard, he's human. I've wondered what his fate is. It's scary to think about, it's even scarier to find out."

"Kiara, it's the only way to know."

"Can you stay, in case something goes wrong?"

"If you need me to, I will."

"Thank you."

Get a hold of yourself, Kiara. You faced Chitauri yesterday, and they were ten times more intimidating than this. Knock for Odin's sake! I exhaled loudly before knocking a few times on the door.

The silence that followed was agonizing. Maybe it was me just being impatient, but normally Todd was at the door by now. My heart pounded in my chest. No, he can't be. I shook where I stood, afraid to even accept it.

"Kiara?"

I tried again, this time more rapidly, more knocks. I hyperventilated now, getting more worked up than a few seconds again. No, this can't be real. Todd couldn't have been lost yesterday. I refuse to believe it.

I turned slowly to Cap, who only looked at me sympathetically. I felt like I was walking through water as I moved away from the door. My eyes downcast to the pavement, unable to pick themselves back up. I was only gone for a few days. I'd just seen him less than a week ago.

Todd was a good friend of mine, perhaps a best friend. He was my guide to learning the ways of the Midgardians as I'd called the humans last year. Now, my guide was taken. First Loki was taken by his jealousy, and now Todd was taken by the Chitauri, and in a way, by Loki.

I believed that the universe was trying to tell me something: I needed to stay away from men, no matter what realm they were from.

"Maybe he's just sleeping," Cap offered.

"No, he's a light sleeper. He couldn't have moved out either. Let's face it, Cap..."

"Kiara—"

"Please don't."

"No, Kiara, turn around."

Through my slightly blurry eyes, I saw that the door was open. I nearly fell to my knees and sobbed. The one person I promised to come back to was alive and well, and shower fresh.

I ran to Todd, nearly tackling him into our apartment. I tried my hardest to not squeeze the life out of him.

"You're here," I whimpered. "You're alive."

"I've missed you too," he chuckled. He smoothed out my hair, a sign of reassurance. "But you were only gone for a few days."

"I felt like I was gone a year. I promise that it won't happen again."

Todd cleared his throat. "I think an introduction would be nice, Kiara."

"Oh." I stepped away from Todd, getting his hint. "Todd, this is Steve Rogers. Steve, this is Todd."

"Nice to meet you," Cap said.

"Thanks for bringing her back. I thought she disappeared after yesterday," Todd said flatly.

"I crashed at someone's place," I said in my defense. "I would have made it home last night, honest."

"God, I can't tell you how much I've missed your accent, as stupid as that sounds."

"Surely you didn't mope around while I was gone."

"I should be getting back," Steve said awkwardly.

"No, please, you don't have to go," I begged. "He can come in for a bit, can't he?" I looked to Todd imploringly.

"Yeah, sure," Todd said. "Really, you won't be intruding. We insist."

"I guess it'd be rude to refuse." Cap smiled bashfully.

"You're just going to leave your bike out here?"

"Where else can I put it? Besides, with the way things are right now, I'm sure even the criminals have changed their attitudes, even if it's only temporary. If someone does happen to try and get my bike, well, they won't know who they'll be dealing with."

I laughed. Todd looked at me strangely, like what Cap said was an inside joke.

"You can tell him who I am, Kiara. I'm sure if he's good with your secret he can keep mine."

"What secret?" Todd asked.

"Wait until we're inside first," I told him. "We've got some catching up to do."

Todd was utterly star struck when I told him who Cap really was. He swore immediately to never tell anyone Cap's real identity, and Cap he knew he'd keep his word. He kind of threatened Todd only if Todd told the wrong people.

Todd bombarded Cap with questions, making his visit turn into story time. To read up on someone was one thing, to actually hear their story straight from their memories and mouths was an entirely different experience. From Cap, Todd and I learned all about how he came to be what he was now, about Hydra, and about how he'd fallen in love in the midst of all the craziness around that time. His love story had a tragic end; he'd never gotten that dancing date with Peggy.

I guess we shared something in common other than being gifted: we got love, but something took it away. While it was doubtful there was hope for Cap with Peggy, as she'd be very old by now, there was a slim—slightly better—chance of romance with Loki. Though, considering we were worlds away, and he was stuck in prison, I doubted that would ever be restored to its former glory.

It was extremely late by the time Cap decided he'd overstayed his welcome. By this time, Todd and I were on the verge of passing out, me more so than him. I saw Cap out while Todd got ready for bed.

"Imagine if everyone knew your real identity," I told Cap. "You'd have a lot more Todds after you."

"You've got yourself a good friend, Kiara. I wouldn't lose him."

"I would never think about it." I sniffed. "So, what's going to happen to you now?"

"Oh, the usual. I'll go back to busying myself."

"Maybe that'll include seeing me every now and again? Don't make yourself isolated. Explore the ever-changing world we live in."

"You sound a little too cheerful; you're really tired, aren't you?"

"Is it that noticeable?" I joked, suppressing a yawn. "Take care of yourself, Cap."

"Please, Kiara, you can call me Steve."

I smiled bashfully. "It'll be weird to."

"You'll get used to it."

"If I see you often enough, I just might. I'll always call you 'Cap' to others."

"Are you and him...you know...?" He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Together? Oh Gods no, we're friends." I yawned. "I can't picture being with him like that. It's purely platonic. You curious?"

"I figured I'd ask." He shrugged.

"You have a place to stay?"

"I do." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, then."

"Hopefully not for forever."

I should have just settled for the traditional handshake, because Cap—I mean Steve—was still technically an acquaintance. But a part of me felt like we'd connected the most in these past few days. I nearly took him to the ground when I hugged him.

"Kiara, I need to breathe," he gasped.

"Oops." I let go. "Sorry. Sometimes I forget how strong I really am." Heat rose in my cheeks.

After I watched Cap—Steve—drive off into the night, I went back inside the apartment. I went back into the room I had dearly missed and changed into the baggiest things I had. I wanted to feel comfortable and safe again.

Once I did my normal pre-sleep routine I came back in only to see Todd in my bed instead of his own room. I wondered if he'd moved into my room during the time I was gone. I padded my way across the floor to slip into the sheets. I got as close to him as possible, feeling his natural heat radiate off him.

I put a hand on his face, accidentally stirring him awake.

"Have you been doing this since I left?" I inquired.

"Once or twice," he admitted sleepily. "I forgot how quiet it was without you around. I tried to not worry about you, but I did. Every second, every day, I wondered if I was going to lose my best friend."

"Well, you didn't." I smiled in the dark. "I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"Looks like you're famous now."

"You've been watching the news?"

"I watched it as things were going on. Since people can probably recognize you now, you're going to have to keep yourself in disguise."

"I am not donning a wig, Todd. They look very uncomfortable."

"Then dye your hair."

"Would that even be enough?"

"If worst comes to worst, you lock yourself up in here."

"I don't want that," I protested. "I'll deal with it if people know who I am. What kind of names were they giving me?"

"Oh, you know, ones that only related to your fire ability. Inferno. Ember. Someone called you Girl on Fire."

"Oh, Stark has called me that a bunch of times. Seems too long for an alter ego name, though." I wrinkled my nose.

"I don't agree with the hate that you guys are getting. If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't be here right now. They're just too freaked out by your abilities to accept you into society and accept that you saved their lives."

"We'll get people like that. It won't bother me."

"Oh, I know that won't. I'm afraid of what other things will."

I yawned. "How am I still awake?"

"You started it by waking me."

I lightly hit his shoulder. "Go to sleep, Todd."

"If you stop talking to me, I will."

I felt no weirdness with this, with Todd being this close to me in bed. It didn't take me long to get that a lot of people suspected best friends to end up marrying and having kids. Well, that was the goal, I guess, when it came to marriage: you wanted to marry your best friend. But I couldn't picture myself dating Todd. It wasn't because of our bloodlines or anything; he was just a good friend to me, now a best friend since he'd said the words out loud. He had been since day one, and I could never see him as anything different.