Loki asked Heimdall to send down Thor the next morning. Thor arrived just after lunch and immediately hugged Loki just to annoy him.

"Brother!" Thor announced as he walked into the kitchen and pulled Loki into a bone crushing hug.

I tried to hide my laugh behind my hand as I heard Loki groan from how tight Thor squeezed him. Loki heard me and looked over at me with a frown as Thor finally released him. I blew Loki a kiss as I stood from my seat and walked over to them.

"Little sister!" Thor said and wrapped me in a much less crushing hug, proving my theory that he was just trying to annoy Loki.

"Hi, Thor!" I chuckled.

"Careful with her. She still hasn't healed fully." Loki told Thor. Thor pulled back and frowned down at me.

"What did you do this time?" He asked.

"Wha- I did nothing!" I protested.

"She almost died, again." Loki huffed. I gasped and turned to look at him.

"Snitches end up in ditches!" I said and pulled away from Thor. Loki rolled his eyes at me. "And I didn't almost die... I just passed out."

"No, you almost died." Steve said, walking into the kitchen.

"Traitor!" I accused as Steve walked over to us.

"Hey, Thor. Glad you could make it." Steve smiled at him and put his hand out for him to shake.

"Of course! Where is the fight?" Thor asked and took Steve's hand.

"That's the thing, we don't know." Steve replied and walked over to the fridge to grab a water.

"Then why was I called for?" Thor asked and looked down to me. "What did you do?"

"Why are you asking me?" I protested. "Why not accuse the god of mischief of doing something?"

"Because last time I was called down to Midgard, it was because you absorbed the Aether."

"Ok, fair, but I haven't gone and absorbed any more infinity stones." I replied. "Oh, but I can do this." I said and slammed my hand on the table. From where my hand touched, everything turned to bright gold within a six foot radius of me. At the look of astonishment from Thor and Steve, I dropped the reality shift and let everything go back to normal.

"What was that?" Thor questioned.

"Apparently some of the Aethers powers bled into mine." I shrugged. Loki only sighed and walked up behind me to wrap an arm around my waist. I had already explained all of this to him.

"How is that possible?" Thor asked with furrowed brows.

"I don't know. It didn't happen to Jane when she absorbed the Aether in the movie." I told him.

"So, you can... bend reality?" Thor questioned.

"Yep." I nodded. "Only for a small area though. I'm nowhere near strong enough to do what I could with the Aether, but maybe over time it could be something."

"Wait," Steve interrupted, "I'm confused. What did you just do?" He asked.

"Oh, right." I said and turned to face him. "You missed this part. So, two years ago I absorbed this thing called the Aether. It was an incredibly powerful power source that could bend reality." I explained.

"Right..." Steve nodded hesitantly, "and where is it now?"

"With the Collector, I presume." I told him and looked at Thor.

"Yes, Volstagg and Lady Sif assured its arrival." Thor guaranteed me. I nodded before turning back to a confused Steve.

"Should I even ask?" Steve questioned.

"Probably not." I shrugged.

"Also..." Thor started hesitantly causing everyone to look at him. "Odin hasn't given up the idea of you being Asgard's future. He said that the test proved what he already knew."

"And did you tell him there is no way in hell thats happening?" I asked annoyedly. Loki tightened his arm around my waist and kissed the back of my head to calm me down.

"Odin... wants you to be the future... of Asgard...?" Steve trailed. "What the hell happened on Asgard?"

"Nothing worth repeating." I huffed and stared down at my fingers as I picked at them.

"He wanted to go after you immediately after you left, but I got him to wait. I'm not sure how long he'll give us though." Thor said.

"Yes, well Odin's never been very patient." Loki added.

"He can't force you to become Queen, or anything like that." Thor told me. I gave Thor a look that said 'BS' and he sighed. "He wouldn't do that." He said more to convince himself.

"I wouldn't put it past him, Thor." Loki told his brother.

"If he wants you to be Queen, who does he expect to be King?" Steve asked. We all glanced at him and he immediately understood by how Loki's stance became defensive and Thor's looked guilty as he leaned his arms against the counter. "Oh-" Steve said, surprised. "He can't do that!" Steve voiced.

"Unfortunately, he can." Thor told him. "But he won't. I could never do that to my brother. The entirety of Asgard sees Sammee as Loki's love, not mine. They wouldn't stand for her betrothal to me. Odin knows that." He explained.

"You really think he cares what they think?" Loki asked. Thor shifted uncomfortably for a second.

"Well, we also have our secret weapon." Thor said.

"What's that?" Steve asked. Thor pushed off the counter to stand straight.

"Queen Frigga, our mother." Thor told him. "She will never allow it, so it will never happen." Thor said with a smile. "Not unless father wants the silent treatment for the next two thousand years."

"How is she?" I asked Thor. He looked at me and smiled warmly.

"She's well, all thanks to you." Thor said.

He was about to say something else until Bucky walked into the kitchen. As soon as he walked in, he froze like a deer in the headlights.

"Hey, Buck." Steve said to break the silence. "Come meet Thor."

I could tell Bucky was tense as he slowly walked over to Steve's side. Bucky glanced at me and I gave him an encouraging smile and a small nod.

"Thor, Son of Odin." Thor introduced and held his hand out to Bucky.

"Bucky, uh, Barnes." Bucky responded and hesitantly shook Thor's hand. I knew Thor made him nervous. If I didn't know Thor before HYDRA, he would have scared me too. He was a big dude.

I broke away from Loki and walked over to the two.

"So, what is your purpose here?" Thor genuinely asked, dropping Bucky's hand and crossing his arms. Bucky looked at me for help and I rested a hand on Thor's arm.

"There's a lot I need to catch you up on." I patted his arm before I started explaining.

I caught him up on the whole year he missed and explained who Bucky was. I also told him that HYDRA had the scepter. Thor was eerily silent after I was done explaining.

Everything happened quickly. Thor spun and grabbed Loki by his throat before pinning him to the wall. Steve moved instantly, but I was too stunned to move.

"How could you allow them to take her like that!" Thor asked angrily. The sudden loud boom of his voice snapped me out of my shock.

"Thor, I went willingly! Let him go before he stabs you." I scolded the god as Steve pulled him away from Loki. Loki cleared his throat and straightened his collar before responding.

"What is with everyone blaming me for something 'she' chose to do?" Loki growled. "I," he emphasized, "was against the idea."

Thor turned to me quickly.

"You chose to live under HYDRA, for over a year?" Thor asked, still upset, but also confused. "For what, for him?" He asked accusingly and pointed to Bucky.

My calm attitude went out the window as soon as Thor brought Bucky up like he wasn't worth it. I stood up straighter, automatically holding myself in a fighting position as I stared Thor down. Bucky, noticing the shift in my posture, moved behind me in case he was needed. Old habits die hard...

"Thor," I started in a tone that was definitely threatening. "I love you, but I will hurt you if you try to tell me it wasn't worth it."

Thor glanced between me and Bucky gagging the situation. He then sighed and dropping his shoulders.

"I apologize, Little sister. I did not mean to offend." Thor told me.

"Sister?" Bucky questioned.

I nodded to Thor to let him know I accepted his apology before turning to look at Bucky. He was standing so close that I only had to glance over my shoulder.

"Thor is Loki's older brother." I explained. "And since Loki and I are together..." I shrugged and let him figure it out himself.

"But you said you two weren't married." Bucky frowned.

"We're not." I agreed.

"Yet," Loki said sternly. My cheeks instantly burned red as my eyes snapped to where Loki had been standing since Thor released him. He was glaring at Bucky.

"You can't just say things like that to piss people off." I scolded and shook my head. Loki's glare softened as he looked at me.

"I'm not," he told me. "I would marry you tomorrow if I could." Loki continued. "But you're not ready yet and that's ok, I'll wait." He smiled softly at me as I suddenly lost the ability to function.

Apparently, Loki shocked everyone because it was dead silent until Bucky huffed and turned to walk out of the room. Steve muttered a quick 'excuse me' before he turned and went after him, but I couldn't seem to care as my brain tried to reboot.

"Thor," Loki told him sternly and glanced at him.

"Right," Thor said awkwardly. "I'm going to go find Stark and Banner." He continued before leaving the room.

When everyone was gone, Loki turned back to me and slowly walked forward, his hands behind his back.

"What's wrong, my love? Does it scare you knowing that I want to bind myself to you in that way?" Loki asked and tilted his head.

I opened my mouth to say something, but words wouldn't come. I ended up not doing anything. Loki sighed as he stopped in front of me and raised a gentle hand to my cheek, his other hand going around my waist and pulling me close.

"This isn't me asking. I told you I'll wait. Just know that I plan on marrying you in the future."