A/N: This takes place, timeline-wise:

616: post-Original Sin, pre-AXIS, post-L.A. Women, pre-Hawkeye vs. Deadpool, post-YA 2, pre-Avengers World #16

MCU: post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron

Firefly: post-Serenity, pre-comics

SnK: this information is currently irrelevant

o.o.o.o.o

Earth-616

It started during the twins' birthday party, really. They'd invited all the living Young Avengers, both current and former, that they could reach.

This did not include Nate.

(Nate had been persona non grata since Cassie and Jonas.)

It did, however, include Loki, who had been rather confused, but had come anyway under the condition that one Verity Willis could also come.

"Why do you need me there?"

"Meat shield."

"Loki."

"I'm not sure why they're asking me over for something so benign after I nearly got them all killed with my schemes, so if I bring a human, they're less likely to attack me, because you're fragile."

"That's not the whole truth, and we both know it."

"Oh, wow, would you look at that? We're here."

Well, Verity could amuse herself with watching Loki and all the kids, even if there probably wouldn't be alcohol… or even anyone near her age, really. The eldest they had was…

"Hawkeye. The girl one. Kate. She's twenty-one."

"Not too bad."

"You'd honestly probably be better off talking to David, though. He can speak your language."

"Sarcasm, wine, and nothing but the truth?"

"Actually, I was going to say math and physics, but the others are all true too."

"He's the one with the know-it-all powers, right?"

"Yep."

The door slammed open, revealing a head of white hair, hazy blue eyes, flushed cheeks, and a noticeably bare chest. Verity caught a faint whiff of alcohol, and decided that maybe the party wouldn't be that bad after all.

(It wasn't so much that alcohol was necessary for a good party, but around people that were, at the very least, three years younger than her, it would be helpful.)

"Yo, you made it!"

"Er… hello, Tommy." Loki looked rather uncomfortable, really. "I was under the impression that Billy was the one to invite me."

"Yeah, but he's busy trying to talk Noh-Varr down from playing weirdo sixties music all night." Tommy shook his head, leaning against the door. "He's a good DJ but his tastes are older than… shit, I can't say my grandpa, 'cause Magneto's, like… old."

"Indeed." Loki said stiffly, and Verity glanced over to catch sight of restless fingers rubbing over Gram's hilt. "I don't suppose you're going to let us in?"

Because this is making you uncomfortable and you really want to leave but you also want to stay and I'm pretty much the only reason you're not a nervous mess around these people, aren't I? Verity watched the proceedings without saying anything. Loki had told her about how he'd messed things up with these kids—

("They gave me a chance, and I earned their trust after I'd already betrayed them, and I never told them until it was too late. I nearly got them all killed because I was a selfish bastard, and I wouldn't be surprised if they never forgave me. Everything else I've ever done, especially in this second life, I could blame at least a little on someone else. Every other destroyed relationship, I could cast the blame somewhere else, but this… I screwed this up on my own."

"I thought half the problem was that you felt so guilty about it that your hallucinations were coming to life? That doesn't exactly sound like your fault. You didn't imagine up that 'league of evil exes' on purpose."

"That doesn't change the fact that I made the deal with Mother in the first place."

"So you're just avoiding them?"

"Why not? They already hate me. At least this way, I don't have to bother them anymore."

"You still care for them."

"More than I should. Why do you think I'm avoiding them?")

Verity hadn't needed to look at the blood dripping from the hand that Loki had clenched around Gram's blade, didn't even need her powers, to know how painfully truthful those words were.

"Yeah, I guess I should." Tommy pushed himself off the doorframe, but didn't move out of the doorway, just looking Loki up and down with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

"…What?"

"You have boobs." Tommy said, and Verity almost laughed despite herself, because that tone was just that perfect balance between confused and I-don't-even-care-anymore-just-don't-drip-blood-on-the-carpet that anyone even vaguely involved in the superhero business perfected eventually.

"I… yes? Yes, I have breasts at the moment." Loki paused, and then, "Is that a problem?"

"…You're not pretending to be my mom again, right?"

"Not in the slightest." Loki made a face. "I'm not one for repeat performances."

"That Sif lady?"

"No, Shepherd; as you can see, I am quite clearly myself."

"But you're a chick."

"I fail to see the problem."

Verity hid a smile behind her hand, watching as Loki dealt with the clearly inebriated mutant boy. She supposed it was lucky that it was the Young Avenger Loki had had the least amount of interaction with, barring Patriot or whatever the kid's name was. As it was, Verity doubted the kid was trying to be obtuse or bigoted… he was just really, really drunk.

"Tommy!"

And that, Verity guessed, was Kate Bishop, if the copious amounts of purple and scarily movie-esque contrast between hair and skin were anything to go by (Verity suddenly understood what Loki had meant while complaining about all the villains comparing the poor girl to a porcelain doll).

"Tommy, what's taking so… oh. Hey, Loki." Awkward, but not overly nervous or judging. Good. Verity liked her. Kate's eyes drifted down and back up, eyebrow quirked. "Should I ask about…?" She gestured vaguely at her own chest, sending a pointed stare at Loki's.

"Your boyfriend's been asking enough about those already." Verity finally spoke, arms crossed and leaning against the door, having resigned herself to the fact that she likely wasn't going to be getting in any time soon. Might as well join in on the fun, right?

"Not my boyfriend." Kate immediately said, though there was a weird vibe to her words that Verity placed as… not a lie, but definitely not the truth either. Denial, probably. She couldn't guess the situation more accurately without knowing a bit more backstory. "But I'll deal with his messes for now. What did he do?"

"Ask if I was impersonating the Scarlet Witch or Sif. Again." Loki shifted from foot to foot almost nervously.

Kate sighed, bringing a hand to her forehead. She seemed more exasperated by Tommy than anything else, though, so maybe this was what counted for normal for a drunk Tommy. "So… should I assume this is going to be a regular thing from now on? Permanent? What?"

"I…" Loki hesitated for half a second, just enough for Verity to note the surprise on her face, and then bulldozed on. "Regular, yes, permanent, no. It really all depends on how I feel on the day in question."

"Right." Kate poked Tommy in the shoulder, who seemed to be sobering up somewhat (that speedster metabolism, Verity guessed). "Remember Xavin? Sometimes a girl and sometimes a boy? Loki's a bit like that."

"But Loki's not a Skrull." Tommy said, and for the life of her, Verity couldn't tell if he was being deliberately dense at this point or legitimately that plastered.

"Skrulls are not the only shapeshifters in the realms, and one does not need to be a shapeshifter to experience changes in one's gender." Loki spoke almost stiffly, but that might have just been the lingering anxiety.

"…Yeah, okay." Tommy shrugged and turned around sauntering back into the party, weaving slightly. The three left in the doorway watched him go with varying levels of amusement.

Loki tilted her head. "He's completely hammered, isn't he?"

"Yeah, probably. Sorry about all that, he's not usually that bad, not about that sort of thing." Kate shook her head, looking back out at them. She held out a hand to Verity, smiling. "Hey. Kate Bishop, also known as Hawkeye."

"I'd guessed." Verity shook Kate's hand and gestured at Loki with her head. "She talks about you guys enough."

Loki looked studiously not-guilty.

Kate just snorted. "Yeah, okay. Anyway, we were just about to start karaoke, and I think everyone's hoping that the god of never answering the damn phone here might be willing to join in and make a fool of… herself," the word was deliberate, as though Kate had needed to stop and correct herself, "with the rest of us. You in, new girl?"

Verity glanced at Loki, who seemed to be calmer than before (if more confused), and shrugged. "I'm in if Loki is."

"Great."

o.o.o.o.o

"Hey, hey, hey, tattoo girl!" Tommy skidded to an unsteady stop in front of Verity, cheeks still liquor-flushed. "Have you ever been to space?"

"…No…" Verity drew the word out slowly, and saw her current conversation partner, a certain Miss America, snort and cross her arms. Loki was lurking around somewhere, trying to figure out why the only person that had try to call her out on anything so far was Eli (who was… eh, Verity didn't care where he was), and just altogether being a strange little hipster. Last Verity had seen her, she'd been dragged into some conversation about how country had been devolving over the past few decades with Noh-Varr, visibly uncomfortable but trying to get involved in the party after the karaoke had failed to provide any positive results.

"Great!" Tony spun around and cupped his hands around his mouth. "OI! EVERYBODY PILE INTO NOH'S SHIP! NEW GIRL'S NEVER BEEN TO SPACE, SO SOMEBODY SOBER TAKE THE WHEEL AND GET US ALL UP THERE!"

Verity stood, frozen, and stared at Tommy. This was a bad idea. There couldn't possibly be anyone left that was good to drive. She turned to look at America, wide-eyed. "This is a terrible idea."

"It may not be the multiverse, but maybe it's time to broaden your horizons, eh?" The corner of America's lip pulled up into a half-grin. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, tattoo-girl."

"Nobody's sober enough for this." Verity complained, though she wasn't completely opposed to the idea.

"Actually," Kate popped into the conversation, grabbing her jacket from the chair next to Verity. It seemed like everyone was getting ready. "Noh-Varr's got some stuff in his blood that keeps him sober. Nanites, I think? Or maybe it's just that he's Kree? I don't really know, but I don't think he can get drunk off the stuff we've got on Earth unless he tries antifreeze or something. Plus, David and Teddy are designated drivers for the normal cars. They can't fly the ship, though."

Verity quashed some of her fears, catching Loki's eye as the goddess sidled up next to her, wearing a grin for the first time that night. "Oh, Verity. This is one thing you should trust them on; space really is fun."

"Right." Verity muttered, not bothering to push Loki off as the goddess slipped an arm into the crook of Verity's elbow. "I can't back out?"

"I can't imagine why you would." Loki said, though it was clearly a lie, and both of them knew it. "I lived on the ship long enough to know that it's safe, even if I'm not overly fond of Kirby engines. Unless you have some kind of motion sickness…?"

"No. I'm just… not very used to that sort of thing." Space. She'd never expected to be going up in an alien spaceship. Maybe if she'd been more interested in astrophysics instead of the theoretical stuff, she'd have tried for NASA or SWORD and maybe hoped for it that way, but…

"If you feel uncomfortable, I could try to talk them out of it." Loki offered.

"No. Let's… let's do this."

o.o.o.o.o

"Holy shit." Verity breathed out, looking out the windows. She'd seen pictures in books over the years, dozens of them, but… this was just incredible.

"I told you you'd like it." Loki smirked, arms crossed and leaning against the wall next to the window. She was staring out as well, and after a few seconds, her expression softened into something almost fond. "All those people, going about their lives, and none of them realize just how insignificant they are to the universe. It's almost inspiring."

"And you're significant, then?"

"Indisputably." Loki answered with false bravado, and Verity could feel the stares of the Young Avengers on them. "In all fairness, I am one of the major players in the destiny of the multiverse in most realities, and this one is no different. I'm not the most important, certainly, but I'm a little more significant than those below. Not by much, no, not unless I truly try, but there are few in the multiverse that can affect destiny and fate to the point of being considered significant."

"Yeah, okay." Verity still hadn't looked away from the window. The next question was directed at whatever Young Avengers were still in the room. "How far out are we?"

"We're about fifteen thousand miles from the Earth's surface." One of them answered; David, she thought.

"Almost five radii from the center, then." Verity muttered. The earth was a little under eight thousand miles across, so the radius was about four thousand, and if they were about nineteen thousand miles from the center… yeah, that was about right.

Loki snorted, amused, but whatever she'd been about to say was cut off as she suddenly gasped, knees buckling and forcing her to use the wall to keep herself upright. On the other side of the cabin, one of the twins (Billy, right?) was experiencing something similar.

"Loki?" Verity tried not to worry (she'd seen the goddess covered in blood at least once, so she was getting used to dealing with Loki's messes).

"There's something… something wrong." Loki's eyes flickered around the room, breath shallow. "Magic, heavy and completely unfamiliar."

Verity felt like someone had poured ice into her veins. Yep, this was what she got for hanging out with supers.

"It's a transportation spell? I think?" Billy had gotten back to his feet, but was leaning heavily on Teddy. "I'm not sure. It's not chaos magic, though."

"Transportation, yes. Not chaos, no. It's…" Loki's face screwed up in concentration. "Something a lot more primal. Older. Not something any of us want to mess with."

Kate's voice came on over the PA system. "Uh, guys? Anyone wanna tell me what the ship is glowing purple? Not that I mind the color choice, but it's kind of worrying."

Billy and Loki's eyes locked.

"Please tell me you know what's going on and how to fix it, because I don't think pulling a Demiurge here is going to work."

"I'd need time, and that's something we don't have." Loki shook her head. "I don't work as instantaneously as you do."

"Right." Billy swallowed. "I'll just assume this isn't your doing, and try to keep us here?"

"We've got about a minute and a half left before this thing reaches peak capacity. You can try."

"I want us to stay here, I want us to stay here, I want us to stay here, I want us to stay here, I want us to stay here, I want us to stay here, I want us to stay here, I want us to—"

It didn't work.

o.o.o.o.o

Earth-199999

"Well, that was a disaster." Tony commented, leaning back against the inner wall of the SHIELD quinjet that the team was in. "Not that I'm all that surprised about finding HYDRA in the CIA."

"Shut up, Stark." Clint commented, though there wasn't any vitriol in the words. He was the one piloting them, and was the reason that they'd even managed to get ahold of a quinjet in the first place; most of them had been either destroyed or hijacked by HYDRA after the fall of the Triskelion. "We got the mission done."

"With more collateral damage than I'm comfortable with." Steve sent Clint a reproachful look. "We should have called in backup."

"Rhodey was busy in 'nam, and your friend's wings aren't done yet." Tony tilted his head. "Barnes is still off the radar, and it would have taken too long to get Thor's friends down here. Anyone else?"

"Nah. Bobbi's undercover, and she's pretty much the only living member of SHIELD that I'd trust and that could have helped." Clint tossed in.

"Oh?" Natasha's voice, exhausted as she sounded, was still vaguely teasing.

"You don't count, 'Tasha. You were already there." Clint grinned up at her, though his eyes didn't leave the path, even if they were flying over nothing but empty ocean. "Bobbi's off doing… whatever it is she's doing, and you were fighting HYDRA goons."

Whatever response Natasha had planned was interrupted by the sudden purple glow that infused the craft. No one said anything, tensely waiting for someone else to make the first move.

"…Stark?" Steve's voice was quiet, but it was authoritative and it carried.

"Nothing I've got experience with, but I'm having JARVIS run some scans." Tony's voice was muffled again, once more hidden behind the suit's helmet. "Thor?"

"Magic, but none I have experience with." The god shook his head, knuckles white from how hard he gripped Mjolnir.

"Can you get rid of it?" Clint asked, preempting any other question. It made sense, really; of all their experiences with magic, his had been the worst.

"No, I cannot." Despite his words, there was electricity sparking across Thor's skin. Behind him, Bruce was looking a little too deliberately calm, and the nervous looks that people kept shooting him weren't helping.

"Any precautions we can take?" Steve asked, eyeing the spies in the pilots' seats.

"The newer quinjet models can be sealed off and go underwater or through poisoned air without endangering passengers; I'm doing that now in case we go down." Clint flicked a few switches, and the sound of hissing filled the craft. "That happens, we've got enough air for at least three hours, including the air tanks. We can probably break out if we do go down, but…"

"Emergency measures. There any lifejackets on this thing?" Steve wasn't exactly the best at contingency plans, but he was better than most.

"Under the seats, same as most planes."

Natasha was the one to notice how uncharacteristically quiet a certain member of the crew was being. "Stark? How are you holding up?"

"I don't do well with water." Despite the deadpan tone, Natasha could practically feel the anxiety radiating off of Tony, and it wasn't hard to guess why. With the water torture in Afghanistan and the near-drowning after the Mandarin had bombed the Malibu mansion, Stark's list of water-related traumas only seemed to be growing. "Besides, if I talk, I might annoy Bruce, and nobody wants to do that."

Natasha took the deflection for what it was. "Dr. Banner? What about you?"

"Hoping we don't go down." Bruce shivered, though the green was thankfully still absent. "That wouldn't end well for everyone."

"Well, let's see to—"

They disappeared.

o.o.o.o.o

Unknown Dimension

"Well…" Teddy leaned against the window, one of the only people still standing. "We're still in space."

The entire crew was together in the main room, most of them sitting in the passenger seats with Noh-Varr at the controls. Kate was in the co-pilot's seat, but she, at least, had swiveled the chair around to look at the rest of them as they tried to figure out what to do next.

"Different space." Loki's eyes locked with America's, who nodded. "Different dimension, different part of the universe. We're at least a couple weeks out from this dimension's Earth, possibly months, if Earth even exists."

"The Marvel's a fast ship." Noh-Varr reminded him. "It may not take that long."

Loki shook her head. "At the very least, we're in a different star system. The Marvel may be fast, but last I heard, the warp drive was shattered."

Noh-Varr's lips thinned, clearly unhappy with the reminder.

"So we look for Earth specifically?" Kate tilted her head, propped up by one hand, cheek squashed. "Or do we hunt down some Skrulls or Kree or Asgardians or something?"

"There are a lot of stories in the multiverse," Loki muttered, aware of the eyes on her; she was one of the two people on the ship that could reliably take herself from one dimension to another, after all, and she had more experience with this sort of thing than all the others combined, if the memories of Loki-that-burned were taken into account. "But many of them, more than should be possible, lead back to Earth."

"We find Earth, we find out what happened, is what you're trying to say." David said, fingers tapping on the table in a staccato tattoo. "I'd say that Asgard's a more reliable source of information, though."

"She's gone bad in a good ninety-percent of the worlds I've seen." America jerked a thumb at Loki and shook her head. Verity squeezed Loki's shoulder in silent support. "Asgardians see her, we lose any help we might've gotten. Not a chance."

"I don't get the feeling that Asgard… exists here." Loki shivered. "Or rather, it existed, but has decayed into nothing but dead time. Whether they would have helped or not, I don't think they'd be able to."

"You can sense other Asgardians?" Eli demanded. "And you're saying there isn't a single other one in whatever this dimension is?"

"Correction." Loki made a face. "I can sense Asgard. Or Asgardia, in some of them. Asgardians themselves are a little more difficult."

"What about other versions of yourself? Is that a thing?" Tommy was out of his seat again, bouncing from foot to foot in an attempt not to start zipping around the confined area. "Is that a thing you can do?"

"I…" Loki shook her head. "Sometimes. However, I am a trickster, in almost any universe. I'm good at hiding, even from myself."

"Question." Billy raised a hand as though in class. "Why can't we use America's portals to get home? Other than that The Marvel can't fit through, I mean."

"They aren't working." America admitted after all the eyes in the room turned to her. "Can't do jack."

"And The Marvel lost its dimension-jumping abilities when Plex's mind was destroyed." The amount of anger, bitterness, and grief in Noh-Varr's tone was enough for Kate to put a hand on his shoulder in comfort; she rarely did that anymore, not since the incident with the fake Oubliette.

"So not only did something bring us here, but it's also preventing us from getting home." Kate pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Does anyone have any idea how we can at least start figuring out how to get home? Or where we are?"

Loki glanced at Billy, David, and America in turn: power, knowledge, and skill, all of which would be needed if they wanted to go dimension-jumping now. "I may have an idea, but it's going to require some blood."

The glares that landed on her were almost amusingly good at forcing her to backtrack and change her words. "Or jam? Jam works too. Not as well, but it does. I was going to use my own blood, but jam works."

"Stick to the jam, Loki."

o.o.o.o.o

Two hours later:

"Hello, this is your captain speaking. We may have a small situation up here." Kate's voice sounded almost cheerful over the PA system. Loki glanced up at the ceiling, then around at the other people in the room. In addition to Billy and David, who were there in their capacity of either having a lot of magic or knowing a lot of magic, Verity had stuck around as well, while Tommy doing supply runs for jam and whatever else they needed when necessary. America, Eli, and Teddy had been stuck with the unfortunate duty of cataloguing whatever food and other inventory was on board the ship so that they'd know how much supplies they had before there was a chance they'd run out. Kate and Noh-Varr were out doing piloting stuff and trying to use the stars to figure out where they were.

"It's my ship, Kate. That means I'm the captain."

"No, you're the pilot and the ship's owner. I'm captain of the team, so as long as this is considered a team ship in any way, I'm the captain."

"But—"

"We can talk about this later, Noh. Anyway! There's a ship showing up on the radar, maybe three miles out. We can't really see it yet, because space is dark and the ship is probably black or something, but we're about to make contact with them to see if they can provide any information. If you have any objections, now might be the time to make them."

Loki walked over to the crude intercom on the wall (crude because it had been installed years after the ship had been built, because before that, psychic links had done the dirty work), and pressed the button. "Give them as few details as you can about the people on the ship, and don't mention my name at all. If it seems like a version of someone we know, no matter what the dimension, a mass text would probably be a good idea."

"I was planning on most of that anyway, so sure thing. I'll also just assume that either you or The Marvel is the reason any of us even have a signal." Kate answered, a smirk in her voice. "I'll be broadcasting the conversation, but if you want to come up to the main room, you're welcome to."

Verity looked over at the magic-users and waved. "I'll go see what's going on. It would be nice for the captain to know if whoever we're talking to is lying, right?"

"Take David with you." Billy said, and then shrugged when people looked at him in askance. "What? We can handle the next part without you, and having a genius up front may be a good idea."

"I'll see what I can do." David gave a small wave as he and Verity left the room.

"Who do you think it is?" Billy asked, as though the answer would change anything.

"With our luck?" Loki snorted. "My brother."

o.o.o.o.o

"Hello, this is Kate Bishop, captain of The Marvel." Kate spoke into the microphone as steadily as she could, once she was sure that everyone that wanted to be present had arrived (more than half the team, really: her, Noh, Eli, Teddy, Verity, and David). "Please report your origin and intentions."

"Oh, hell, we finally got someone." And oh, wasn't that voice familiar, if a little gravellier than she was used to. Kate shot Noh-Varr a look, but didn't give any verbal sign of recognition; clearly, she didn't exist wherever these people came from, or at least wasn't as big a name yet. "This is Clint Barton, SHIELD agent and currently the pilot of this quinjet here. Said quinjet doesn't have a name because she's not meant to be out in space. We're from Earth, have no idea what we're doing out here other than some weird glowy purple magic, and I wouldn't be giving out this much information, but we've got about an hour and a half worth of air left and even that's questionable, so I'm kind of hoping we'll get some help from your end."

Kate paled, and glanced over at Verity, who nodded.

"...Our vessel is fully equipped with oxygen-producing life support systems, and we're willing to let you board so long as you harbor no ill will or violent intentions towards any of the inhabitants." Kate said as officially as she could. Noh-Varr was nodding out of the corner of her eye, and that, at least, made her calm down a bit. Even if Noh had messed up on Earth, he had been a diplomat-in-training, and if he approved of her wording, then that meant she was doing well. "Do we have your word?"

And then she heard a voice that, even if it was a teensy bit off, could only be Captain America. "We promise not to harm any of your crew unless attacked first, and harbor no ill will towards anyone aboard."

That you know of. Kate thought, because the chances that these Avengers hadn't had some negative experiences with some version of Loki were very, very low.

"In that case… If you would give us a few minutes to confer?" Kate hit the mute button on the microphone and looked over at the rest of the team. "Do we have anyone that can do an air shield of some sort? Noh, do we have a docking system or do we need to teleport them over?"

The Marvel was the pinnacle of Kree engineering (as was Noh-Varr himself), and it showed: the ship was made with dimension-bending technology that made it bigger on the inside.

"There's a dock." Noh-Varr confirmed. "They'll have some trouble maneuvering their way in, though, because some of their propulsion is propeller-based."

"And Billy or Loki can do the air shield while America flies out and pushes them in, and I can catch and hold the plane to get it settled until the artificial gravity kicks in." Teddy suggested. "That is, if you've got some kind of helmet for her so she can breathe?"

"I have several in storage, but I doubt that they will be necessary if the air shields are properly held." Noh-Varr had that look on his face that meant he was talking about his dead crew again, and Kate turned away as fast as she could. Nope, not going there.

"Great. We've got a plan for them, then." Kate pulled her finger away from the button. "Good news, Avengers, we've got a place for you to stay and a way to get you in. We'll be pulling up alongside you and sending someone out to get you in a minute or two. Just sit tight until then."

The silence on the other end of the line lasted a few seconds, just as Kate had predicted when she'd let that little name slip, and then the one they were talking to was Black Widow, and wasn't that just terrifying? "Exactly what makes you think we're the Avengers?"

Kate forced a laugh out. She knew the rest of the team was probably questioning her plan right now, but dammit, she knew what she was doing. "I've gone from one end of the multiverse to the other, and if I hear both Captain America and Hawkeye on a team together? Good chance they're Avengers. Usually. Don't worry, we're not sure which dimension this is either, and the purple magic thing happened to us, too. We'll talk more once you're on board. So, from one Hawkeye to another: see ya!"

She hit the kill button for the transmission and sank back into her seat, tension draining from her body.

"Are you sure that was a good idea, Kate?" David finally asked, and did so far more quietly than she'd expected. "They'll trust us less like this, you know."

"They might. On the other hand? They were bound to find out eventually. Now go get America. We've got some Avengers to welcome."

o.o.o.o.o

A/N: So… this is longer than anticipated.

And we haven't even met all our travelers yet!

By the way, I feel like I should explain Loki. However, I won't, because part of the fun is seeing how I'm going to interpret this. HOWEVER, I will say that a large influence on my interpretation of Loki and Kate's interactions with one another (which will come into play later), as well as with Noh-Varr, was Team Work by WolfenM.

Ja ne,

Phoenix