The helicarrier descended, making a smooth landing onto the boat as Steve and Miriam stood from their seats.

"Where are we?" He questioned, blinking repeatedly as his eyes adjusted to the intense brightness and smell of seawater.

"Somewhere in the Atlantic," Miriam answered him, not wasting a second as the door dropped and Nat was waiting for them. "Come on, we can't waste time."

"Natasha," Miriam greeted her friend with a quick hug, grinning at the red head. It'd been almost a year since the last time the two had seen one another. "How was Banner?"

"A little rough but he's here." Natasha smiled as they pulled away. "You?"

"Well let's just say I have never jumped off a building to get away from someone but I think I did it. His ego or curiosity should bring him here soon, I can't believe you had to put up with that for so long." Miriam muttered under her breathe quickly as the two men stepped near them.

"Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers." Coulson introduced the agent to the super soldier.

"Ma'am," Steve nodded his head in a very gentlemanly way towards the red head.

"Hi," she nodded right back and turned towards Phil. "They need you on the bridge." Her body turned towards Miriam next. "And Fury wants to speak with you too."

Coulson parted ways with them as Miriam instead simply shrugged her shoulders, "I'll go after."

"You two know one another." Steve asked as Nat began to walked through the landing strip. There was an array of soldiers and workers running around them, nobody seemed to pay much attention other then a glance.

"We've been on a few mission but if we're being honest, Nat and I are best friends." Miriam nodded.

"Although it's a hell of a friendship considering somebody doesn't like to leave the jungle." Nat added on. She switched subject before they would start bickering. "There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask him to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" Steve questioned.

"Not yet, I think he got scared after the whole I watched you sleep incident." Miriam broke out into a grin when she remembered how hilarious it had been. She looked towards a still clueless soldier. "Coulson is probably your number one fan, he's got your trading cards."

"They're vintage, he's very proud." Natasha nodded.

Their conversation was cut short as they found the person they'd been looking for. Bruce Banner looked uncomfortable as he stood next to a jet, clasping his hands together. Steve held his hand out in a very friendly manner. "Dr. Banner."

"Oh, yeah. Hi." Banner shook his hand. "They told me you'd be coming."

Steve continued to smile as they talked. "Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about." Steve nodded

"Fortunately for you Dr. Banner, you're not the only word going around here. Miriam Morales, pleasure." Her outstretched hand was met with his own.

"Ms. Morales," he nodded. When they stepped away he turned back towards the blonde man. "Must be strange for you, all of this."

Steve turned, watching as a group of soldiers exercised. "Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

"Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath." Natasha cut in, noticing how the workers began to lock down the jets.

"Is this is a submarine?" Steve questioned although the men walked off before they could speak.

"What does Fury want?" Miriam questioned her friend as they watched the man. The ground below them began to shake, workers around beginning to place oxygen tanks on their faces. Natasha didn't comment back, earning herself a side glance. "That bad huh, what did Tony write me up for calling him arrogant."

"I guess you'll have to go inside and see for yourself."

|•|•|•|•|

The walk inside the Helicarrier was met with more workers for SHIELD and distant glances at the group. When they entered the base Steve seemed amazed, even more so then when the once makeshift boat lifted into the air.

Nick Fury stood on the highest podium, watching as parts of his Avengers crew came in. He looked smug as Steve dug around in his pocket and produced a $10 bill, handing it to the black man without looking in his direction. Nick pocketed the money and spoke to them. "Gentlemen, and Agent Morales." He looked kindly at Banner. "Doctor, thank you for coming."

Bruce nodded his head timidly. "Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh...how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, your in the clear."

Bruce seemed to perk up at this as he nodded and began to seem more animated. "Where are you with that?"

Fury looked pointedly at Coulson who was supervising over some workers. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

Natasha had been distracted by one of the agents typing away at the computer, Barton's progress on the screen as she shook her head and spoke up. "That's still not gonna find them in time."

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Bruce questioned, eyes narrowing as he continued to speak and learn. Miriam watched him, noticing how comfortable the doctor was beginning to appear.

"How many are there?" Nick shrugged

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" He removed the jacket, speaking in an orderly fashion as his tone was very different then the one.

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." Nick politely asked his agent although there was no room for discussion as she nodded.

"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys." Nat added as they walked past Miriam who now had Nick's full attention as the Captain was now speaking to Coulson.

Miriam raised a brow at his expressionless face. "Are you going to yell at me."

"It's taken you this long to come back to the states and you can't be a willing participant or bring me back Tony Stark." Nick began.

Miriam held up a hand as they began to bicker, although there tones were clam and she was smiling. "One, a diva like Tony Stark likes to make an entrance so trust me he will be here and two, you're not my dad."

"Your damn right," Nick scoffed at the last part. "You don't have a dad Miriam, and you're not leaving any time soon so get comfortable."

"Why!" Miriam retorted, dropping the smile. "I've been doing well, and I've got the squadron."

Nick stepped closer, speaking in a softer voice as his hands covered the tops of her shoulders. "I know that but you're of better use to me here then tracking down arms dealers and vibranium smugglers. Your squadron is fine, but for right now you need to stay here."

"You said I could leave once Tony was onboard." She muttered in annoyance.

"I meant literally." He turned away, walking back to the rows of computers with updates.

"Dammit Fury."

"We got a hit. Sixty seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy nine percent." One of the Agents spoke up, tapping away on his computer so there was a live feed of Loki.

Miriam walked up just as Coulson and Steve had done the same. "Location?"

The Agent types away until revealing where it was. "Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."

Miriam nodded and turned to Fury who was already looking at both her and the blonde man. "Rogers, Morales you're up."

|•|•|•|•|

"Are you sure jeans are the right way to go?" Steve was staring at Miriam's black jeans and military combat boots in confusion.

"It's not spandex," Miriam spoke pointedly at Steve's old get up. Some of the outfit had been changed around but it still looked like the same one from all the old pictures. "It'll do. I've fought in worse and besides it's all black."

Steve didn't understand why that was better and he went to question but Natasha cut them off from the pilot seat of the helicarrier. "I'm dropping you two off around the corner, you better hurry Loki is ready to execute."

The door opened behind them and Miriam watched as the super soldier did not hesitate to jump out. She rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck.

"Be safe." Natasha's voice was low and plain, almost as if she'd asked someone to pass the biscuits around a dinner table. Miriam didn't seem to notice the tone because those two words meant a hell of a lot coming from the red head. They were unlikely best friends and although most would not assume this they didn't care.

Miriam nodded her head without turning back around, "always am."

She dropped from the plane, landing on her feet in a swift manner. She hadn't flown in years so getting used too the sensation was tricky but it seemed like a necessary tool with Loki's plot unraveling.

"What's the plan?" Rogers stepped near her, shield in hand as he adjusted for the upcoming fight.

"One of us takes on Loki while the other makes sure the civilians are safe." Miriam answered. "Once we've got them out of the way we can take him down together."

"I'll take Loki."

"Steve—" her long exhale was met with silence as they encountered Loki, pointing his staff at a defiant older man. Rogers did not hesitate to step in as he pushed the muscles in his legs and managed to jump over half the crowd, landing directly in front of the man just as the blast from the staff hit and bounced off the vibranium shield. It went straight back, hitting Loki who fell back.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve announced himself.

"The soldier. A man out of time." Loki stood, seeming to have already known about him.

"Okay well, civilians it is." Miriam muttered under her breath. "RUN! EVERYONE RUN!"

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve retorted just as the quinjet came into view.

Guns draw all aimed directly at Loki, Nat's voice was heard over the speaker. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

The crowd began to disperse, Miriam helping the stragglers and pushing closer all while keeping her eyes on the battle.

It seemed an even match until the Captain threw his shield and it was flung in a different direction. He was thrown towards the concrete steps and Miriam decided this was where it would end.

She ran up, using her forearms to block the blue storm that came at her. Within seconds her hands were filled with a powerful black smoke that Loki was careful to avoid. He surprisingly smiled as she kicked and sent him back. "I've been expecting you Miriam."

"Here I am. What are you gonna do about it." Miriam huffed as she grew tired of this dance. Steve at some point joined them once more and now Miriam dropped the black smoke as she was too scared to hit the soldier.

She'd just missed the shot of energy Loki had blasted her way when Steve was hit with his own and flung off his feet a few feet away.

Miriam sent her fists flying, kicking her foot out as she met Loki's torso and went quickly back to blocking his scepter. Just when she thought blasting him with a bit of her own balls of death were enough to take him down Nat was at her ear. "Do not kill him. We need him to find the Tesseract."

"You're kidding." She huffed and kicked at him again, unfortunately Loki managed to swipe her with the staff, sending her up in the air before blasting a shot of energy into her abdomen.

Miriam was flung up in the air, past the Quinjet as she reeled from the pain. She assumed the only thing that would stop her would be the concrete of the ground or a building but instead she was met with cold steel.

"Agent Morales, I thought you could fly." Tony had caught her, arriving just in time to see her fly up he'd pushed the limits of his suit to catch the brunette.

"Stark, I told Fury you'd make a hell of an entrance. As for the flying, I haven't used it in a long time so I'm a bit rusty." She muttered, wincing at the pain that enveloped her shoulder. The force of their impact hadn't been soft as she could feel her shoulder throbbing.

"Jarvis." Tony muttered, holding her at arms length. The suit did a quick scan as it informed him her shoulder was dislocated and she had third degree burns on her abdomen as well as a few broken ribs. "Miriam you're down, I have to drop you. You've got a dislocated shoulder and your ribs aren't looking too hot."

"No," she muttered, watching as Steve was slowly beginning to lose. "Just pop it back in place."

She shook off Tony, staying in the air of her own accord as the throbbing from her body began to lessen. Her ribs were fusing back into place and the burns on her skin were almost nonexistent now.

"Miriam—"

"Tony for once listen to someone else's logic but your own!" She hissed.

He was speechless at her snap but decided to nod and place his hand around her shoulder. "Okay but... don't say I didn't tell you otherwise."

In one quick snap it was back and Miriam barely winced as the pain left. She nodded, turning her back, "now are you gonna help us or play concerned nurse?"

Tony was never more happy that his suit had an iron clad helmet over his face as the slight blush and grin that escaped his face was hard to resist, she was a hell of a women.

"Agent Romanoff, miss me." He muttered as he took over the system and played Shoot to Thrill.

Miriam smirked a she flew back and sent one of her dark clouds of death straight at Loki. It stunned him long enough to have him flying into the concrete steps but thankfully did not kill him.

Captain America ran up before Loki could make another move as Miriam landed and Stark lifted his metal hands.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games." Stark challenged. Loki seemed to understand this as he powered down and the horned helmet disappeared as well as the rest of his outfit.

"Mr. Stark." Steve acknowledged the Iron Man.

"Captain." Stark nodded, eyes lingering on Miriam, he had to admit how surprisingly impressive she was with each of their encounters.

|•|•|•|•|

"You were right." Natasha muttered to Miriam as she flew the quintjet along with her copilot. Since managing to stop Loki in Germany they'd arrested him and now were on board headed straight back to the Hellicarrier.

"I'm always right," Miriam responded, knowing exactly what she was referring too. It was the red and yellow man in metal who was currently speaking to the super soldier as they both kept their eyes trained on the Asgardian. "Can I go home now?"

"You miss your kids already?"

Miriam scoffed in annoyance, "I miss the peace. All this traveling is not good for my mojo."

Natasha rolled her eyes, "any idea why he's being so quiet."

"I don't know, whatever it is I can assure you it's not good." She responded, choosing then to turn around and do her own surveillance on the Asgardian.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Steve muttered, the brunette female detected a hint of annoyance in his voice and she had no doubt it was because Tony was already getting on his last nerve. She kept her lips sealed as she stood next to them though because the thought of telling him anything Stark related had slipped her mind.

Tony seemed to be thinking the same as his eyes flickered towards her oval face. "Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

A loud roar of thunder and lightening suddenly caused the jet to experience turbulence as Miriam grabbed onto the metal of Tony's shoulder for support while he darted his head towards her. She didn't seem to pay much attention to the small move, instead looking towards a paranoid Loki.

Eyes narrowed she turned back to Natasha. "Nat, please tell me that not what I think it is."

"I don't know." She muttered back, flipping switches and tapping screens as rapidly as she could. Her copilot doing the very same. "Where's this coming from?"

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve questioned Loki.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." He answered back, eyes towards the sky as the lightening raged on.

Stark opened the ramp, revealing a blonde male dressed in the same style as Loki. He barely paid attention to Steve and Tony, sending them into the nearest wall with the flick of his hammer. Dumbstruck, the two couldn't get up in enough time as he grabs Loki and both fly out of the ramp.

"Now there's that guy." Stark muttered as he placed his helmet back on.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha turned back just as the jet slowly began to gain control.

"Thor." Miriam nodded, she'd avoided the initial confrontation but there was no doubt that there's be another in a few moments.

"Think the guy's a friendly?" Steve stood up, followed by a hostile Stark.

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." He answered, turning towards the open ramp.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve tried to stop him.

""I have a plan." He answered back bluntly.  "Attack.

He flew off, leaving Rogers to look beyond frustrated back to the brunette who was calmly looking on. "Is he always like that?"

"I've known him for less then a week and yes he really is." She muttered. "My guess is he's probably gonna wage an all out grudge match with Thor and leave Loki free."

"So what's the plan Miriam?"

"I would sit this one out Cap," Romanoff called from the cockpit. "These guys come from legend, they're basically gods."

"I don't see how I can." Steve answered back, grabbing one of the parachutes and placing it on. "So Miriam?"

"You try and stop them from killing one another and I'll grab Loki. You're the only one between us that won't kill them." She answered back. She walked towards the edge of the ramp, feeling the bone chilling air hit her bare stomach. Beside her Steve stepped up and looked towards the ground. "See you down there."

She dropped off the flying jet, feeling cold air and clouds rush around her as she began to hit closer and closer towards the ground. From above her she noted Steve descending around the same speed, parachute wrapped securely around him. Miriam caught herself a few thousand feet off the ground, halting any movement the brunette took notice of the ground underneath her. She was going to let Steve handle the fight alone, he was probably the only level headed male and as for Loki she caught him running down the sides of a mountain.

With a turn of her body she braced as her feet hit sold ground, just a few short feet before the evil Asgardian.

"Don't even think about it," She muttered. "I promise you it won't end well."

Loki seemed to think it over, before slowly losing the defensive pose and letting his body relax, a smile on his face. "Finally, a proper introduction then."

Miriam was caught off guard by how carefree he sounded, stepping closer to him. "You've know who I was for awhile now, haven't you?"

"Yes, unfortunately you weren't in any intelligence packets, it appears SHIELD has kept you underground." He answered with his high class accent.

Miriam was slightly confused over his words and just as she went to question further Natasha was talking through the small ear piece. "Miriam, have you located Loki?"

"Yes," she answered, pressing down on the button to speak. "Hold your position though, I have a feeling this battle is about to get rough."

"Alright, call me when they're done." Natasha shut off the communication and Miriam was trained back on Loki. Eyes narrowed she attempted her best not to play into his games, although curiosity did seem to get the best of her. "Why were you looking for me."

Loki hadn't stopped grinning and it sent the fine hairs on her arm straight up, like a cat she was on high alert. "Why do you think, of all the creatures your worlds' able to manifest and you seem to stick out amongst them all. You, you truly are a wonder."

"Did you really expect me to join you, or even follow you?" She scoffed, mouth set in a tight line as her patience continued to run thin.

"Oh Miriam, you were never meant to follow me. You were meant to lead with me, because if there was one thing I did find about you was your past and no one can ever hide that." He answered her.

The ground shook under them, a blast so powerful hitting the nearest regions as the mountain groaned and shook with force. From the corner of their eyes Steve's vibranium shield has taken a powerful hit from Thor's hammer cause the eruption but this did very little to disturb the two above. Miriam tilted her head, finding a deep part of her intrigued by the words Loki has just uttered.

"The past never does go away, no matter how much you try to make up for it. It's always clawing in the shadows, reminding you of its presence." he softly spoke, eyes traveling downwards. There was no sleaze to it however, more so his eyes went to her hands which were limp at her side, but the unmistakable black smoke flowing from them caught his eye.

"Miriam, do you have Loki?" Steve interrupted the moment.

She sucked in cold air, ridding herself of the moment with a shake of her head as she touched the ear piece. "Yes, let's get him back to base."

Loki had been right, the past is always present in the deepest parts of your consciousness.

Go figure, she thought.