"I can't believe any of these are still around." Steve Rogers said as he signed Coulson's vintage Captain America cards laid out on the conference room table. He now understood why Fury had given him the marker.

"There aren't many. It took me awhile to track them down." Coulson said. "Never thought I'd ever be able to have them autographed. I was there, after they found you. It's still hard to believe...was it just like being asleep? Did you dream?"

"I'm not sure. I don't remember any." Rogers answered and not entirely honestly which was unlike him. He knew for certain that he had dreamed at least one dream as he recalled it quite vividly He had often replayed it in his mind since he had awakened, the memory of it his and his alone, sacred, not to be shared with anyone. Rogers finished signing the last of the cards and capped the marker, slipping it into his pocket.

"After all this is over, I thought maybe you'd like to see my collection. There's a lot I'm sure you'd recognize. Maybe you could answer a few questions I have about a couple of them."

"Yeah, sure." Rogers said, watching as Fury, Banner and Pym who had been talking together filed out of the conference room, Barton, Romanoff and Stark who had been conversing with Loki and Verda following, leaving the two Asgardians behind.

"The closest I came to meeting an alien before today was reading science fiction magazines. They usually weren't the good guys. Can we trust them?" Rogers asked Coulson in a quiet voice. Coulson glanced in the two Asgardians' direction.

"Yeah." Coulson said. "Just don't meet him at the bar for a drink."

***************************

"They have it. What are you-" Verda began after she and Loki had entered the quarters that Coulson had shown them to after their arrival, they having decided it would be more expedient to remain on earth. Loki put a finger to his lips indicating for Verda to be silent as he stepped over to the radio he had earlier asked Coulson to procure for him that now sat on a chest of drawers. Loki switched it on, turning up the volume.

"They may be listening." Loki said quietly as he returned to Verda and took her hand, leading her to seat herself along with him on the edge of one of the two bunks in the room. "The Tesseract must not remain here on Midgard. Their intentions for it are not limited to a warm light for all mankind to share. In any case, he will come for it." Loki said quietly. "I believe the time has come to revisit the agreement my father made with Midgard. They don't need the Tesseract. There is much knowledge that we could share with them that would resolve many of their difficulties."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. Even that knowledge would likely be misused by such beings." Verda replied. "They continually war amongst and slaughter each other, often over trivial matters as they have for millenia. I fail to understand what it was about Midgard or mortals that Randolph became so enamoured with that he wished to remain and live amongst them. In the future I come from, after you, even after Thanos, after learning they were not alone in the universe when one would think their eyes would have been opened they continued to do so. Would it not be better to allow such ignoble beings to continue to go their own way until they bring about their own inevitable end?" Verda responded. Loki, considering her words, appeared thoughtful.

"They are not all so ignorant or ignoble." Loki said, recalling Erik Selvig and Jane Foster.

"No, but it is true of far too many. Midgard poses no danger to Asgard or other realms, but if you were to pass on to them such knowledge, that could change."

"You've given me much to think about." Loki said, contemplating.

"Is that not one of my duties?"

"Yes, it is." Loki said. Verda glanced around the room.

"Speaking of duties..." Verda turned her head to look at Loki with a smile, "we're alone."

***************************

"So you're the guy my dad never shut up about. Surprised he didn't name me after you." Stark said as he entered the library, spying Steve Rogers seated in one of the oversized chairs, flipping through a large volume of 20th century history. Rogers raised his head, Stark making his way to the matching chair opposite Rogers.

"I was sorry to hear about the accident. Howard was a good man."

"No, he wasn't." Stark replied. Rogers recalled Fury's earlier warning.

"I suppose you got to see a different side of him than I did. I never knew my dad. He died in the war...the first one...before I was born."

"You're lucky." Stark said, Rogers giving him a confused looked. "I know, it's an asshole thing to say. I'm the biggest asshole you'll ever meet, ask Fury. But it's true. Think about it. Even if he was a bastard like my dad, you got to grow up thinking of him as a hero who sacrificed his life for his country. You never got to see the chinks in the armor."

"I guess that's true. Never thought of it that way."

"Of course it's true. You can always count on an asshole to tell you the truth." Stark replied.

"So you're the man to go to when I want someone to tell it to me straight." Rogers said, a touch of sarcasm evident in his tone.

"You're damn right I am. And I'm giving it to you straight when I say you should be careful who you trust around here, especially the ringmaster leading this circus."

"Fury?"

"I'll take liar, liar pants on fire for $500, Alex. You forgot to phrase your answer in the form of a question....'who is Nick Fury?' That's the question you should be asking yourself."

***************************

Sleep evaded Verda as she lay nestled beside Loki who, in contrast, slumbered soundly on the bunk that had clearly not been designed to comfortably accommodate two, though it was not that fact which kept Verda from her rest. Carefully sliding from under the blankets out of the bunk to avoid waking him, she located her clothing that had earlier been enthusiastically discarded, dressing in the darkness and slipping silently out of the door.

As Verda neared the library, Stark exited, a dark expression having overtaken his features, Verda holding herself back from once again kneeling in deference.

"Good eve-" Verda began to say in greeting to the man she knew as he who had claimed the honor of ending Thanos, Stark passing by her without acknowledging her presence. Verda watched him until he rounded a corner in the corridor before she continued on to the library, reaching the entrance just as Rogers stood, placing the book he had been reading on the coffee table in front of the chair in which he'd sat. Verda took note of Rogers' troubled demeanor linking it with that of Stark's.

"Is everything alright?" Verda asked uncertainly as she stood in the doorway, unsure if she should enter. Rogers, who had not noticed her arrival, looked from the book on the table in her direction.

"Yeah...Fury told me Stark carried some baggage...surprised he can get that suit off the ground with the size of the chip on his shoulder." Rogers replied.

"I know nothing of that. I know only that he is an honorable and selfless man." Verda responded. Rogers emitted a sarcastic snort.

"I'm not sure we're talking about the same Tony Stark. I don't know what Fury was thinking. A guy like that will have people turning on each other in no time. It's bad for morale. I think the only thing he fights for is himself. I don't see him as the kind to make the sacrifice play."

"You might be surprised."

"Maybe. Wouldn't be the first time. Were you looking for me?" Rogers asked.

"No. I couldn't sleep. I thought I would find something to read."

"I know the feeling. I was asleep for seventy years. Sometimes I'm afraid if I go to sleep...that maybe this is some kind of dream...that I'm still back there, in the ice...but then considering the state of the world I woke up to, that might not be such a bad thing. Before I went into the ice we were fighting a war, when I woke up, they told me we won, they didn't say what we lost."

"We have both been given a second chance. However it came about, that is a gift that most people, Midgardian and Asgardian alike, never receive."

"That's one way to look at it. This is the first time I've ever teamed up with someone from another planet. In the stories that were written about your people, from what I can remember, Loki wasn't exactly someone you'd want to depend on. Coulson tells me we can trust you. Is he right?"

"Those stories are fiction. We share a common enemy as well as a common goal." Verda answered.

"That's the basis of most alliances. It's good enough for me. Think I'm gonna turn in." Rogers said, making his way to the door past Verda.

"Give Stark a chance to prove himself." Verda said.

"I give everyone a chance. That's all I wanted a long time ago."

Rogers left the library, exiting into the corridor. Verda walked to the bookshelves, perusing the offerings, pulling one from the shelf and opening it.

"Verda..." Verda turned towards the entrance, startled as she heard Loki's voice.

"Loki...I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to wake you."

"Come with me." Loki told her as he approached her, holding out his hand. Verda replaced the book back on the shelf before reaching out and taking it, Loki leading her from the library.

***************************

Banner and Pym stood in front of separate computer monitors as they watched data scroll down the screen. Pym appeared exhausted as he rubbed his eyes, Banner taking notice.

"Go get some sleep. I'm still running on Asian time. I'll be good for a few more hours. I'll come get you when I need some z's." Banner suggested.

"Yeah...ok." Pym said, stepping away from the monitor. As he did so, a trilling sound came from Banner's computer, the scrolling series of numbers halting, the last that had come up flashing green.

"What the…that can't be right." said Banner, typing hurriedly on the keyboard.

"We got a hit?" Pym asked, perking up.

"Yeah…"

***************************

Loki led Verda into the large cavernous room Loki had seen in his visions filled with an array of equipment, where who was to have been his future self had been transported via the Tesseract.

"Why did you bring me here?" Verda asked, looking about the room. Loki held out his hand, a large glowing blue cube, identical to the one Fury had shown them, materialized within it. "How did you…?" Verda asked in confusion. Understanding dawned on Verda as she began to step away. "You're not-" Loki reached out, grabbing her arm in an iron grip.

A stream of blinding, blue energy shot from the Tesseract towards the ceiling overhead and spread out like a swirling cloud. As Loki pulled Verda to him, she reached up, grabbing the gold chain of the necklace around her neck, wrenching it from her neck, breaking the clasp, dropping it to the floor before she and Loki vanished.

***************************

Loki, Rogers, and Stark gathered in the corridor outside the living quarters as a grating alarm sounded.

"Ok... who pulled the fire alarm? I'm looking at you, God of Mischief." Stark quipped.

"I had no part in this. Verda...where is she?" Loki asked.

"She was in the library. Said she couldn't sleep." Rogers answered. "I passed you after I left, you were headed that way. I figured that was where you were going."

"It could not have been me. I only just awakened at the alarm." Loki replied.

"No one's there now." Romanoff said as she approached.

"We have to go!" Banner called out as he and Pym approached from the other end of the corridor. "They were here with it, used it to create some sort of energy surge. This whole place is going to come down on top of us! Where's Fury?"

"Right here. I'll put out the order to get the hell out of Dodge, that includes all of you." Fury said as he moved swiftly towards those gathered from down the corridor.

"He has her!" Loki exclaimed, rushing down the corridor, leaving the others behind.

"Who has her?" Rogers called out as he followed after him.

Loki entered the room from his vision, a bright blue glowing mist of energy swirling on the ceiling. Staring up at it, a sense of deja-vu overtook him for a moment, before he looked away from it across the empty chamber, a glint of gold reflecting the blue light from above catching his eye. Hurrying to the spot, Loki looked down to see Verda's necklace. Reaching down, he picked it up, holding it in the palm of his hand, noticing the broken clasp before looking back up towards the ceiling.

"We have to go! Now!" Rogers called from across the room.

"He's taken her."

"At least you know she's not here! We're running out of time!" Rogers said insistently. Loki, closing his hand around the necklace, rushed after him.

***************************

Rogers, Loki, Banner and Pym piled into the back of a pick up truck as Stark, having donned his suit, lifted off from the ground, flying towards the exit.

'Hold on. It could be a rough ride!" Barton said as he swiftly made his way to the driver's door, throwing it open, Romanoff entering the passenger side of the truck's cab. Barton started the engine, gunning it as he followed Stark, racing towards the exit of the garage and out under the clear night sky of the desert to safety, a row of vehicles following, Fury and Coulson in the car directly behind the truck.

Those riding in the bed of the truck watched in horror and wonder as the facility from which they'd just exited appeared to collapse in on itself, as if sucked into a sinkhole as they continued to race away. The ground itself began to give way, Barton pushing the truck's engine to its limits, as did the drivers of the vehicles trailing behind, the last vehicle in the convoy disappearing as the roadway vanished beneath it. Loki couldn't help but think of the trap he had as a child set for Thor in the forest, the one Verda had inadvertently stumbled upon.

Loki opened his hand, staring down at the pendant within it.

***************************

"Loki, please, listen to me. I know you don't remember me but-" Verda pleaded as Loki dragged her towards a cell, one that looked far more like that of a dungeon than those on Asgard.

"I do...you're the sniveling brat with no sense of direction." Loki said as he practically hurled her into the cell, Verda losing her footing and falling to the stone floor as she heard the cell door being closed and locked behind her. Verda pushed herself up by her arms, rising and turning to face him.

"She's enchanted you. She's using you!"

"Well done." Verda heard Lorelei's voice say to Loki as she came into view in the dim light as she neared the cell. "Hello, sister...how does it feel to be the one locked away?"