Amy liked to consider herself a prepared individual. She was prepared to accept the existence of aliens, including a race of aliens known as the Time Lords. She was prepared to accept that one such alien had landed in her backyard of her boring home in small-town England (she was from Scotland, and felt a bit out of place), looking surprisingly human, when she was a little girl. She was prepared to accept that he could travel in time and space, had a ship disguised as a blue police call box that was bigger on the inside (called the TARDIS, for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), that he was the only Time Lord left, and that he liked to wear tweed and bowties and strange hats (on occasion.) She was prepare to accept that said alien called himself the Doctor, and that he would invite her to see every star and planet she could think of.

When traveling with the Doctor, Amy was prepared to deal with aliens, with danger, with near-death experiences, memories being rewritten, time itself being rewritten, marriage (to Rory, the boy who waited for her), pregnancy, and the birth of a daughter who was older that her, whom she had never raised (well, maybe not prepared, but she learned to deal with it all the same). She was prepared to deal with love and loss. She was prepared to be left behind when the Doctor deemed traveling with him too dangerous, only to be picked back up again in the name of another adventure and solving the mysteries of the universe.

Amy was prepared for a lot of things, but she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

It started with something strange over New Mexico.

The Doctor had seen strange energy readings on his TARDIS and set them down for the New Mexico desert, for the year 2012, for the sole purpose of figuring out what the weird energy readings were, and whether he should intervene.

The Doctor liked intervening, and Amy loved that about him. It meant there was never a dull moment and always adventure (and danger, but she tried not to think about that too much). Life in the TARDIS was never boring.

As the Doctor checked the readings again, leaning over screens on the central console, Amy lounged in a chair, staring up at the rather high ceiling of the central room. Rory was sitting under the glass floor, looking through a crate for books the Doctor said he could read.

The Doctor ran a hand through his unruly hair, and started playing with the various knobs around the console. A strange metallic groaning noise filled the air, the sound of the TARDIS materializing somewhere.

"So, something interesting?" Amy asked.

"Yes," the Doctor said. "It seems like a portal of sorts. One that has opened, and for some reason, it's over New Mexico."

"New Mexico?" Amy repeated.

"Yeah," the Doctor said. "The desert. Remember when we were in Utah? It's kind of like that."

"That," Rory called from underneath the glass floor, "was not fun."

"That was a special situation," the Doctor said. "I don't think this will be anything like that."

The TARDIS stopped groaning, and everything became still.

"Well," Amy said, twirling around to face the doors, "let's go!"

The Doctor gave Rory a slightly apologetic look and they followed Amy outside.

It was dusk. The air still had not lost its heat, and Amy tugged at the red sweater she'd worn. The Doctor seemed unaffected, even in tweed. He was always unaffected by temperature, though, and Amy suspected it had to do with his Time Lordness and all. That didn't mean she couldn't be annoyed at him for it.

Ahead, there were clouds forming, moving in a circular motion, stark against an otherwise clear sky. It seemed isolated.

"Tornado?" Rory asked.

"Not quite," the Doctor said, eyeing the funnel that stretched towards the ground.

"Of course," Rory murmured.

They were relatively close, and as they walked closer, the wind picked up, whipping at their clothes, at Amy's red hair, at the sand around them to the point where they couldn't really see.

"Stop!" the Doctor called. "Stop walking!"

Amy and Rory stopped, shielding their eyes against the onslaught of sandy wind. They waited. After a moment the wind died down, and the air became unusually still.

Amy opened her eyes.

"Oh…my…God."

Where the center of the funnel cloud had been not moments ago now stood a man. A tall man, with pale skin and black, long hair. He was thin, but covered in a strange sort of armor, colored green and gold, and holding a golden spear. And he did not look happy to see them.

"Not a tornado, right," Rory said.

The Doctor walked forward, and the man pointed his spear at them.

All three stopped moving, and the Doctor held out his hands as a sign of peace. It was then that Amy caught sight of the ground around the man—it was different. It was almost as if someone had taken different symbols and create a work of art in a perfect circle, at the center of which was this strange man. The Doctor seemed to notice too, but he focused on the stranger.

"I'm the Doctor," he said, "and I noticed a disturbance and came to see what caused it. Who are you? And how did you do this?"

The man's eyes swept over them, and Amy felt a chill sweep down her body as he looked at her, before setting his sights back on the Doctor. "I am Loki," he said, in an accent that sounded vaguely English, "of Asgard."

"No," Rory said, at the same time as the Doctor said, "Asgard?"

"What's wrong with Asgard?" Amy asked, the new word strange on her tongue, but no less strange than the names of other planets they had visited.

"It's a myth," Rory said.

"What?"

"He's right," the Doctor said. "Asgard is a place in Norse mythology, and Loki is the God of Mischief in this mythology."

"Loki" was still watching them. "You must have been exiled, if you don't know who I am," he said.

"I have been away for awhile," the Doctor admitted. "Please, tell me."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Your strange Midgardian myths are mere entertainment," he said. "I am the truth behind the myth."

"And what truth is that?" the Doctor asked.

Loki smirked. "I am all of those things your myths tell you and none of them. I am not required to tell you who I am or why I have come here. The better question—who are you?"

"That is the question indeed," the Doctor murmured. Louder, he added, "I'm the Doctor."

"Not a common human title," Loki said.

"Who said I was human?"

Loki looked even more intrigued.

The Doctor added, "What is that, around your feet?"

Loki looked down at the symbols around him, slightly surprised. "These are details of my arrival," he said after a moment.

The Doctor was about the respond, when he suddenly tilted his head to the side. Amy heard a slight rumbling sound, and turned her head to see dim lights in the distance.

"Someone is coming," Loki said.

"Well," the Doctor sighed, "this has all been fun and games, but I suppose you have two choices. Let the people who are coming find you, or come with me."

Loki stepped forward, so that he was closer to them. Something dangerous sparked in his eyes.

"And why, Doctor, should I come with you? The man who hides his very name."

The Doctor stiffened, and said, "My name is not the issue here."

"Who are you?" Loki hissed.

"Oh, come off it," Amy snapped, and Loki's head whipped around to look at her. "Does it really matter? That's what everyone calls him, and if you think that just because you have some pointy metal object doesn't mean—"

Amy found her words suddenly drowned out by the sound of a helicopter, and the winds around them kicked up.

She looked around and realized that two helicopters, black and rather large in size, were bearing down on them, and black vehicles were surrounding the area.

"I thought you said this wasn't going to be like Utah!" Rory yelled.

"I may have lied!" the Doctor shouted back.

Amy turned and found herself locking eyes with Loki. His eyes were a shocking green, and his smile razor sharp. "If we're going down, we're going down together," he said.

Amy shivered.

New Mexico was so very much like Utah it wasn't even funny.

They were surrounded by men with guns, in suits, with no way out. Last time Amy had needed to fake death to get around this, but that had been part of a plan (as had being chased around the desert for months). This was different. There was no plan. These agents would not be kind.

One young woman with brown hair, also in a suit, stepped forward to greet them. Or arrest them. Amy wasn't sure if there was a difference.

"Loki Odinson," she said.

Loki glared at her. "That is not my name," he said. "Odin is not my father."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "I don't know if you remember me," she said, "you were sort of busy blowing things up last time we met. I'm Agent Hill, of SHIELD."

"I know who you are," Loki said.

"And right now we are putting you under our custody."

"And you think that smart?" Loki asked. "The only reason I would let you take me is because I want you to. You cannot possibly hope to contain me. And from within, I could learn your secrets."

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Hill asked.

Loki sighed. "I shall come with you, but it is my choice."

"Any particular reason for the change of heart? It would be nice to know why you're coming so easily."

"None that I wish to discuss with you."

Hill motioned to a few of the other agents, who came over and put on some special cuffs, which were silver and fit onto Loki's wrists like strange bracelets. They were not bound together. Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Stark has been studying your magic," she said. "These keep you from teleporting."

"I see," Loki said. "And has he found a way to bind the rest of my magic?"

"Magic," Amy mouthed to the Doctor and Rory; the Doctor grinned madly, while Rory looked worried.

"He's working on it," Hill said. "Stark is a busy man."

"Oh, I'm sure."

Hill turned to the other three. "And you are?"

"Just passing through," the Doctor said, "though I have to admit, I've never heard of SHIELD before. This is very interesting. I've been out of the loop for quite awhile now, and –hey!"

A few agents were hauling the TARDIS into one of the helicopters.

"That's my ship!" the Doctor yelled.

"Your ship?" Hill asked. "Is that why it's in the desert?"

"Yes!"

"It looks like a police call box."

"It's a cloaking device," the Doctor said. "Look, I'm an alien, and I mean no harm, and you're probably not going to believe me. I was just here to explore the disturbance in the atmosphere, same as you, and now you're taking my ship!"

"Yes," Hill said. "Whatever your intentions, it is our job to study such abnormalities and to make sure that they are not a threat to this planet. And that includes you and your friends."

"Are you taking us into custody?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes."

The Doctor sighed. "As long as you don't hurt my friends."

"If you cooperate, no one will be hurt. Now, follow me."

They followed Hill and Loki to the nearest helicopter.

Once inside, Amy jabbed the Doctor in his stomach with her elbow.

"What was that for?" the Doctor asked.

"For never giving us a peaceful trip to America!" Amy snapped. "I'm tired of being captured by people with guns!"

"It's not my fault," the Doctor said.

"Yes," Rory said, "it is."