Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing related to Marvel, either the comics, movies, TV shows, etc. All of that belongs to the Disney Corporation (though I might try kidnapping Captain America and Hawkeye some day, just for fun).

AN: At last: here is the sequel! I am so sorry that it's taken so long, but I got sick with a cold, and couldn't find the strength to hit the computer for a few days, so that's why it's late. Anyway, I'm better, and will do my best to post regularly. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review! Thanks!

Chapter 1: Aftermath:

After the whole thing with Loki was done, things were a pretty confusing mess for both me and Cap. Not that things were bad or anything –daily life was just difficult to work through.

First of all, New York City was a wreck –but after an alien invasion, what did you expect? I mean, at the end of alien invasion movies, nobody ever talks about what happened after the aliens were beaten, so it's easy to picture that things magically got back to normal (which is never the case).

Clean up efforts were in place, with city work crews out-and-about to clear the streets of destroyed vehicles, large chunks of stone, metal, and glass from buildings that had been shredded by either the invaders or The Hulk (who had been fighting the invaders). It was easy to sweep up the dust and smaller bits, but the larger debris was more difficult, as machines and large moving trucks had to be brought in to move it all. This took a long while, since the machines and trucks had to move from outwards in, and that took a lot of time and human effort.

Of course, a lot of the local politicians were furious about the cost of the clean-up; they kept saying that The Avengers were responsible for the alien invasion, and should be the ones to clean stuff up and pay for the whole thing. Even a few citizens were angry that their city had come under attack, but that was just how the world worked, I guess –some people just couldn't (or wouldn't) see that it wasn't The Avengers' fault that New York had been the epicenter of Loki's attempt at world domination.

To his credit, Tony Stark had offered to donate a nice chunk of change to help the city out. He wouldn't pay for the entire clean-up effort, of course, but I'd have thought that the city would be thankful for what money he did give them. The politicians, obviously, demanded that Tony pay up more than his offer, but he told them to "take it or leave it," and they wisely shut up and took the money.

With all sorts of traffic issues scattered throughout the city, thanks to the mess, getting around was difficult. As businesses began opening again, most people were forced to walk many blocks out of their way to get to work, school, or to the store, often through the cleanup efforts. Obviously, that tended to make a lot of people sweaty, dirty, and grumpy.

Also, a lot of businesses had been damaged in the invasion, some so severely that they might never open again. The banks weren't ready to help everyone who needed financial help, but there with the combined efforts of the local communities, the federal government, and a small flow of cash coming in from other nations, as well as other cities and states across America, the damaged businesses were slowly able to get back on their feet.

The problem was, with so many stores out of commission, it was hard to find food and other basic necessities. The businesses that had been totaled had been raided by citizens who were eager for 'freebies.' The more honest folks paid a little bit for products, but those were few. Lucky for us, Cap and I got our supplies from SHIELD, as Director Fury somehow managed to have agents sneak stuff into our apartment building without getting spotted. Given that he was the head of a super-secret spy organization, though, it really shouldn't have surprised me.

But damage to the city wasn't the chief problem; it was a few issues between me and Cap.

The main complication was the fact that The Avengers were (for the most part) being worshiped as heroes, and the worship wasn't merely confined to the States.

Nations all over the world hailed the group as saviors of the planet, and many had done their best to show their gratitude in not-so-subtle ways. Some painted huge murals on buildings; others had statues put in city squares or parks. Hundreds of make-shift memorials were created all over the place, where people lit candles and left little tokens in tribute and thanks to the ones who had saved the world.

In a few countries, the current leaders (presidents, prime ministers, and even dictators) had extended invitations for The Avengers to visit their lands, either on official business or for a 'vacation.' Tony, of course, received a lot of these, since the world knew he was Iron Man, and he rather liked the idea of all the honors and awards that might come his way if he accepted any of those invitations.

The only downside of Tony being the only widely known Avenger was that he also got the invitations meant for the other Avengers, because he knew who they all were. Now, Tony did not like getting other people's fan mail, but he did promise to send messages on to the others, if he could. Considering Thor was back on Asgard, Bruce was tucked away working in one of Tony's labs, and Natasha and Clint were off globe-hopping, I had a feeling there was a box on Tony's desk that was getting full of letters.

Cap, meanwhile, wasn't happy about people adoring is alter ego, nor was he thrilled about having Captain America's name and emblem splashed all over the television. He was a very humble guy who didn't possess any of Tony's love of the spotlight. On several occasions, I had to point out that having people admire him was better than them fearing or hating him, and that no one knew his secret identity, so he was safe from stalkers and rabid fans chasing him everywhere. Cap admitted that was true, but he really didn't want to be a celebrity. Any fan mail that Tony got on his behalf was simply left on the growing pile at Stark Tower.

Personally, I thought the way young kids ran around, wielding a Captain America shield while they played with their friends, was cute. Other youngsters painted their faces green, or had inflatable hammers or a bow-and-arrow set in their hands as they ran around the city, and more than a few had Iron Man helmets on. There were even a few girls who joined them, kicking butt whenever possible. I felt it gave everyone a chance to smile at the charming sight, even if Cap was uncomfortable with it.

But with all the new admiration for The Avengers, Cap didn't feel easy going outside, at least at first. He probably kept thinking that someone might recognize him, so I took him for a brief walk in the street, so that we could test that theory. When people didn't look twice at him, he started to relax, but still kept his guard up.

As weeks passed, things started to become a bit more settled down in the city, with the streets clearing up and businesses and shops opening up again, a sense of normalcy began to drift over everyone. Oh, it would take months before buildings were fully restored, but after more than three weeks of effort, everyone started to relax enough to go back to their normal lives. This included me and Cap.

During those weeks of clean-up, Cap and I had settled down in our apartment and done our best to avoid the messed up streets of New York. It was slightly claustrophobic, being inside for most of our day, but given our choices, we decided it was best, and only headed out on a couple daily ventures outside in order to stretch our legs and see how things stood with the cleanup.

Thanks to us living in a government-funded and run building, we had internet service, as well as power and both hot and cold water, so being inside wasn't too bad. Thank goodness we had internet, at least, because it made it much easier to give Cap his lessons in history and music, as well as the occasional bit of popular culture. Since the rest of the city had spotty Net access, at best, during this time, and since the library was closed until it could be cleaned up, it made for much easier means of teaching and learning.

To my relief, my computer had survived the attack on the city, and not long after Thor's departure, I finally got my tablet and other items back from the hovercraft. I had counted those items lost in the fighting that'd occurred there, but luckily, there wasn't a single scratch on any of it and the software worked like a charm.

As I'd said before, our food stuffs were smuggled to us, with Cap or myself occasionally opening the front door to find an agent with an armful of non-perishable items for the cupboards, as well as milk, eggs, and other hard-to-find items to fill our fridge. Between the two of us, we managed to put together decent meals every day, with Cap teaching me a few cooking tips in return for his lessons from me.

Sadly, our temporary confinement meant that I couldn't take my heroic student out to explore the food scene. Not that our meals were boring, but it would have been nice to go out for Chinese or Mexican food. I had to hide my die-hard cravings for Japanese sushi and noodles –I was a sucker for noodles, and we didn't even have a box of Ramen noodles or spaghetti in the place, because they weren't anything Cap was familiar with yet.

Our trips outside were few and brief; mainly they were to see how things were progressing out in the city, and to get Cap to and from the SHIELD gym for his workouts. Going to the gym was one of our old routines from before the attack on Earth, and it was nice having something familiar to fall back on during our day –like Cap taking his frustrations out on a punching bag, it was very therapeutic.

Now, with the city settling down to normal, I decided that there were a few things that needed to be touched on between me and Cap. He was almost back to his usual self, but I could tell that there was something bothering him, and I had a good idea what it might be. And it was time to fix it.

Like before, I sat and read a book or played a game on my tablet while Cap punched away at his target. Although he seemed a bit mellower than before, Cap still had issues, none of which he would talk to me about. I knew one of them had to be cabin fever; he didn't like being stuck inside all the time, even if I did my best to keep him busy.

The other issue I suspected had something to do with me. Cap probably didn't think that I guessed at it, but I had a feeling that he still felt bad about Loki kidnapping me almost from right under his nose. It was a topic I very much wanted to talk to him about, but with everything that was going on in the city, as well as him trying to catch up on the lessons we'd missed during the problem with Loki, there hadn't been time.

Today marked the one month anniversary of Loki's attempt on the planet, and New York was starting to settle down again. The large debris had been cleared off the roads, so traffic was back to normal, and people were out-and-about again. Buildings were being gutted and/or rebuilt, but it would take months or years before New York looked like its usual self. Life was moving forward, and now it was time for us to do the same.

"Cap, why don't you take a break?" I suggested, pulling out a bottle of water with some fresh lemon squeezed into it. Cap couldn't stand artificially-flavored water, and lately had taken to preparing his own before heading to the gym.

Sweating and looking a bit winded, Cap nodded and came to sit beside me on my bench, taking the water and gulping half of it as he settled into his seat. After he'd had a few minutes to cool down, I cleared my throat. "Um, Cap? We need to talk."

He froze. "About what?" he asked, looking a bit worried.

I quickly guessed that he expected me to be breaking some bad news about something, and hurried to reassure him. "It's nothing bad," I quickly said, putting a hand on his arm to give it a reassuring squeeze. "But it is something we need to discuss."

Cap relaxed a tiny bit, but none of the anxiety left his face. "Alright; what is it?"

I took a deep breath. "I know that you've been upset about something, and that you've been trying to blow off steam through your work out sessions. You and I have to talk about this, before you destroy all of Director Fury's punching bags, until there are none left."

The last part was sort of meant as a joke, but it was also kind of serious. For the most part, things had been going well, but whenever we were at the gym, Cap tore into his boxing routine, almost literally. Normally, he went through one or two punching bags before we called it quits; now, he was up to five. Given the huge jump, I knew something was wrong.

Cap went even tenser. "There's nothing to really talk about."

My hand on his arm squeezed even tighter. "Is it because Loki kidnapped me off of the ship?" I whispered. "Do you blame yourself for what happened?"

He went still, and for a second, I thought he was going to lose it. I didn't back down, though, nor did I try and apologize. Instead, I sat and waited, my hand still on his arm as I waited for him to answer.

There was nothing Steve wanted to do more than not answer her. Right now, he desperately wanted her to drop the subject and let him go back to breaking apart punching bags –it was better than having to think about how angry and disappointed he was in himself.

At first, things had been fine. Adena was safe, the Earth wasn't in danger, and Loki had been taken away to face Asgard justice. Steve had finally felt as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, and he could get back to living quietly, with Adena teaching him about the world, just like before.

But every time he looked out the window or walked down the street with her, that weight returned, as did the guilt. All of the destruction that still lingered in the city reminded him of how she could have been hurt or killed, and it would have been his fault.

'I couldn't protect her,' he always chanted inside his head whenever he hit the punching bag. 'I couldn't keep her safe. I couldn't keep Loki from taking her off the ship.'

Part of him knew that it wasn't entirely his fault –he'd been busy, watching Stark's back as he tried to keep the airship from crashing to earth, and keeping himself from being killed by rogue agents. He'd also seen to the well-being of those who'd been hurt in the attack.

But leaving Adena alone when everything had gone to hell had been all on him. Steve had truly thought that she'd be safe where he had left her; that she would go back to her room and stay there until the danger had passed. How could he have known that she wanted to be useful, rather than be happily tucked away, safe and sound, like most sensible people would?

The fact that she had confided in Tony Stark and not in Steve hadn't helped. Steve wouldn't admit it aloud, for fear of making Adena feel guilty, but it had hurt that she'd told Stark about her desire to be of use to the team, and not him. After all, hadn't she known Steve longer? How could she share her secrets with a man she'd barely known for a few hours, rather than someone she'd been sharing an apartment with for weeks?

So far, Steve had done his best to go on with life, but inside, he still felt as though he had failed her. Of all the people on the airship, Adena had been (and still was) the most helpless. Steve knew this, and as she was his tutor and friend, he had assumed the responsibility of keeping her out of harm's way. The fact that he'd let her down tore at him every day, and the only things that made him feel better was seeing her every day, safe and sound, and the feel of his fist meeting the punching bag every evening.

"It wasn't your fault, Cap," she said, scooting closer so that her words were heard only by him. "You couldn't have known what would happen. I don't blame you; nobody does. You need to let it go."

His shoulders sagged. "I can't," Steve grudgingly admitted. "I just keep imagining what might have happened if we hadn't won against Loki…what he might have done to you afterwards."

Adena went quiet, but it wasn't long before she asked, "Do you have nightmares about it?"

He sighed. "Sometimes," he admitted. Steve really didn't like admitting his weaknesses, but for some reason, saying them aloud to Adena made the pain and fear fade a bit.

She smiled. "I guess I'm the lucky one, then, because I haven't had one yet. I've been so busy trying to help you that I literally drop into bed, exhausted, every night. But I'll bet that if I did have nightmares, they'd be about all of the visions that Loki channeled into my brain while I was under his sleep spell."

Steve sat up and looked at her. "Visions? You never mentioned visions before."

"We were busy," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "But yes, Loki did show me what he'd had planned for after the battle, if he won. None of them were very pretty."

For a while, Steve listened as Adena described what she had seen. He felt sick to his stomach as she told him how Loki intended her to be his enslaved Queen, her mind locked away as her body functioned without her consent. Steve could only imagine what that would be like, and it scared him –he couldn't think how Adena must have felt, knowing that might have been her future.

Almost without thinking, Steve reached out and pulled her into a hug. For a moment, he was shocked at his actions, but when she put her arms around his shoulders, he relaxed.

"I know that you aren't going to forgive yourself overnight," Adena whispered into his ear, "But I'll help you pull through it. You've got friends now, and being there for each other is what friends are for."

He smiled over her shoulder, his arms still around her waist. For a moment, he couldn't think of anything to say to her; he wasn't suave like Tony Stark, who had the words to fit any occasion. In the end, he settled for, "Thank you."

Adena patted him on the back and pulled away slightly so that she could look up at him. "You're too hard on yourself," she firmly told him. "I know it's hard to accept, but you really can't protect everybody." She gave him a small smile. "Would it make you feel better if I said that I forgive you for not being the perfect superhero you try to be?"

Steve had to laugh at that. "Yes, it would, and it does." He smiled back at her as both of them dropped their arms from around each other. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Adena replied, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Am I missing something?" called a voice from behind them. "I hope not, but it sure looks like it."

Turning, Steve had to smile at the man who stepped into the room.

"Phil!" I cried, jumping up from the bench. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you!"

Seriously, no one would answer my questions about how one of my favorite SHIELD agents was doing after getting blasted by Loki. I pestered every agent that came to the apartment, but all anyone would say was that he was "still recuperating". I knew they had to be lying, considering I'd been hit with the same blast a whole month ago, but was obviously perfectly fine.

Now that I knew he really was okay, I ran over and threw my arms around him for a hug, which he returned. "Really, Phil! You don't call, you don't write, and none of your fellow agents would tell me anything," I lectured him as I pulled back a little to look at him. "What am I supposed to think when that happens?"

Phil gave me a rather sheepish smile. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Things have been more than a little crazy at headquarters. There's a lot to clean up, and we've still got to hunt down and deal with the human allies Loki managed to make while he was here. We've managed to nail down some, but there are probably more out there, so the Director's had me running around ever since I recovered from Loki's attack on the ship."

I smiled up at him. "Well, I'm just glad you're okay." I paused for a second. "You're not here with another mission for Cap, are you?" I asked suspiciously. "Because if you are, the answer is no."

"Adena!" Cap exclaimed. "You can't say no if it's a mission for me!"

I stepped away from Phil and tossed my hair over my shoulder. "Of course I can," I teasingly replied in a false-arrogant tone of voice. "After what you've just been through, you need stability and a bit of normalcy so that you can learn what I'm here to teach you."

Phil actually chuckled. "Actually, I'm in town for the day, and thought I'd come to say 'hello'. Oh, and to bring a little something for you, Adena," he said, producing a small box from inside his suit. "Special delivery, from Agent Romanoff."

"From Natasha?" I squealed, taking the box. "I love presents!"

Both Phil and Cap laughed. "Well, I have to be off," Phil declared, reaching out to pat me on the shoulder. "I'll call to tell you when I'm next in New York, okay? We can talk then."

I gave him another hug, and then it was me and Cap. Turning to look at my student, I told him it was time to go. "It's late, and you need to clean up before bed," I reminded him. "Tomorrow, we get started on your food lessons."

Groaning, Cap went to gather his stuff.

AN: Well, there's chapter one! More will follow soon, I promise. For now, please review?