Do not think I am done with you, Kiara, Loki warned me. Our talk is not over.

For now, it is. Stop talking.

You could always tune me out if it bothers you that much, yet you don't. Why?

Why, indeed.

While Loki was being escorted to his cell, most of us met on the bridge. Cap and Natasha took seats at the table while Dr. Banner slowly paced behind them. We hadn't really spoken to each other, he was the one I had the least contact with since coming onto this Helicarrier. Stark was the only one who wasn't present, I couldn't remember where he'd run off to.

I stood beside Thor, feeling restless. My mind was alive; my body felt about ready to collapse. Though not human, I did need rest.

I could feel myself dozing off; Thor's nudges were what kept me awake.

"How did you manage to get here?" I asked him sleepily.

"It wasn't easy," Thor admitted. "Where have you been here on Earth?"

"New York." I rubbed my eyes. "It's really noisy; I doubt you'd like it."

"I assumed the worst when I did not hear you for some time."

I swallowed. "I know. I'm sorry for that, truly. I just...after what you told me...I figured there was no point in trying to contact you." I snorted. "He fooled us."

~*~

As much as I appreciated Todd's hospitality, I found Midgard not suitable for me. Being here only made my homesickness worse. I missed my parents, I missed Asgard, and I missed Loki. Despite what his jealousy was turning him into, I wanted to go back home and be in his arms. I wanted to go back and never leave Asgard ever again.

I had decided to head back to the place where it all began, the very place where Heimdall dropped me on Midgard. It was in the middle of nowhere, far away from humans to see me. I looked to the blue sky.

"Heimdall, I changed my mind," I called to the skies. "Get me back home, please."

Nothing happened. Strange.

"Heimdall! I know you are not deaf. Please, bring me back to Asgard!"

Again, nothing happened. I blinked confusedly. If I had a stronger bond with the Bifrost guard, I could reach him through his mind. He could surely tell me what was going on.

I had one other hope. If Heimdall could not help me, then perhaps the God of Thunder could.

Thor, I called loud and clear. If you can hear me, I have a question for you.

I have one for you as well, he answered. Where are you?

I let out a breath. At least someone was answering me. Midgard.

What are you doing there?

I left. You should know why, Thor. I miss home; it was a mistake thinking I could start something new here. What is wrong with Heimdall? He is not bringing me back home.

Kiara, the Bifrost is gone.

W-what?

I destroyed it.

What?! Why?

It was the only way to stop Loki from destroying Jotunheim.

You are the reason I cannot come home?

My sincerest apologies, Kiara.

I dropped to my knees, my mouth parted in horror. Warm tears spilled down the sides of my face. Loki. What happened to him? Where is he?

Thor was rather reluctant to answer. He...he is gone, Kiara. I am sorry to tell you.

Gone. What do you mean gone?

Must I explain? I could hear the pain in his voice. His tone only confirmed my worst fear.

Gone as in dead.

The one person who I thought would own my heart forever was gone. I would never see him again. I would not have been able to see him even if he were alive thanks to the Bifrost's destruction.

There was no choice for me now. I had to live in New York, with Todd, with no way of ever getting back home to Asgard. Unless...

Thor, is there a way to restore the bridge?

It is hard to say. You will have to remain in Midgard, Kiara. Think of it as a good thing, you would not have liked to see what Loki had become.

My lip quivered. If only I had decided to linger longer in Asgard. If only I had decided to try and help Loki fight off his demons. How much of an impact would I have had on the results? Would I have never come to Midgard? Would the Bifrost still remain?

One thing was for certain: I could not turn back time to fix this. What was done was done. Nothing could change that.

~*~

Another gentle nudge from Thor broke me out of my memory. That day had crippled me. That day had made me truly feel like a foreigner. I had gone back to Todd's place to conceal my feelings for a few days. I cried during the night, quietly so as to not wake him. One night he'd overheard. I'd told him it was just me being homesick. I wasn't lying when I'd said that, I couldn't tell him the truth behind my words then.

"In case it's unclear," I heard Fury's voice.

Suddenly alert, I looked around until I found the source of the noise. On the counter of the table lay a display from a camera, showing only Loki in his new room. I stood over Cap's side to watch with new interest.

"If you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass, it's thirty-thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" I could even hear the loud air through the camera's feed. "Ant, boot."

Loki chuckled. For now, he looked unaware of the camera. "It's an impressive cage," he commended. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard." He acknowledged the camera's presence. "A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?" Fury retorted. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill people because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close," Loki murmured, practically taunting Fury. "To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something."

It wasn't much longer after the conversation died down that the camera feed was over.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner said, breaking the silence.

I scoffed under my breath. He had no idea how true his statement was.

"Loki's going to drag this out," Cap theorized. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri," Thor began. "They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army from outer space."

"So, he's building another portal," Banner concluded. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor questioned.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

I looked to Thor questioningly.

"Loki has him under some sort of spell, along with one of ours," Natasha explained. She had her arms folded on the table, her hands gripping her elbows.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him," Cap wondered. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Banner suggested. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor said calmly. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

Not technically, but do you know that? I wondered.

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha deadpanned.

"He's adopted," Thor said quickly.

"I think it's about mechanics," Banner voiced. "Iridium...What do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," came a new voice, Stark's. He came walking in, talking in a hushed tone with Coulson. He addressed all of us. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." He passed Thor, giving him a pat on one of his thick arms.

Stark was near a few of the panels, full of things I couldn't comprehend.

"Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants. Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails." Whoever he was trying to command obviously didn't listen to him. "That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns," spoke an unfamiliar female voice. If I had to take a guess, the attire I wore now was her size. She looked beautiful, but she had an air about her like Natasha that said don't cross me.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube."

"When did you become an expert on thermonuclear astrophysics?" the agent questioned Stark.

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Slip away, Loki's voice entered my head. You and I are not finished, Kiara. Lie, and come find me.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Cap asked, helping me refocus.

"He would have to heat the Cube to one-hundred million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Banner explained.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Stark added on.

None of these words were making any sense to me. Two smart people in the same room. I feel like an idiot.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Cap asked, practically speaking on my behalf as well.

I know you are listening. It is not smart to ignore me. You know I will not let up until you agree, Loki persisted.

I kept my fists at my sides. Why should I bother with you?

You and I aren't done talking.

I don't even know where you are.

The detention level.

Yes, I assumed that much. I meant I have no idea how to find you, as in, how to get there.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube," Director Fury's voice pulled me back to the present. I guess I missed whatever Stark and Banner talked about behind my back and whenever Fury decided to join us. "I was hoping you might join him."

"I would start with that stick of his," Cap suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor questioned. "I do not understand."

"I do," Cap burst out. "I understood that reference." Even the man frozen in ice got something before me?

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Stark asked Banner.

"This way, sir."

I am becoming impatient, Kiara.

Oh hush already, would you?

"Something on your mind, Ms. Rivers?" Fury asked.

"Actually, could you mind telling me how to reach the detention level?"

His good eye narrowed at me. "And what business would you have down there?"

"I can maybe get Loki to tell me a little more about his plans. I was brought here because of him, after all."

Fury towered over me. "How do I know you won't let him out and let him escape?"

I scoffed. "You need to put a little trust in me, Director. Coulson brought me here, so obviously that means I am not on the wrong side."

Oh for Gods' sakes, pay attention, Loki snapped at me. I was taken aback as I was given a mental map of the Helicarrier: the hallways I had to travel down to find the detention level, the very door that separated me from him.

"Actually, on second thought, I'll try and find my way there myself. It shouldn't be too hard."

"I would prefer if you had an escort."

"Loki is behind glass, Director. As long as he remains there, I'll be fine. I don't think I'll get into any trouble finding my way to him either."

**Okay, so the gif was mainly for Kiara's flashback, as well as the song. I should probably start to tell you guys when to listen to the music to better your experience...**