May 8, 2012

Ever since Stark had woken up after going through the portal, Natasha could that something was off with him.

He had known. Stark had known Anna was his daughter—Natasha was sure of it, because why else would he have reacted so poorly when Anna's body had been stolen from him? But now he was calm as a clam, and not in the way that he'd accepted she was gone. No, if she'd judged his actions correctly, then it seems like he'd forgotten his discovery.

Natasha knows that no one else aside from her and Loki had deduced Anna's parentage—primarily because none of them were outright stating it—but everyone, even Rogers of all people, could tell there was something off about the big picture.

But that wasn't the point. The point was, how had Stark forgotten about his daughter? Was it an effect of going into space? Was it during that time his arc reactor had failed? He didn't even react badly to Clint when they regrouped for the after-battle shawarma, though there was still a touch of coldness whenever he spoke to her partner.

And that was another can of worms she couldn't get out of her mind. Thanos said Clint had been Anna's lover in the future, but Anna couldn't have been more than twenty when she came to the past, and she wasn't even born yet. Clint was in his 30's now. That would make him around 50 when he and Anna…

Natasha drops that line of thought. Age didn't matter in such circumstances, and if Clint had loved her, then who was she to judge? After all, they weren't together before, they weren't together now, and apparently, they'll never get together at all.

But why was that? She knew well that Clint wouldn't refuse any advances she made, so did she simply never give into her attraction to him? And Clint would obviously be alive enough to date Anna, so what—had she died? Had she moved away? Did they have a bad fight and simply never make up?

…did it really matter? He'd chosen another girl, in the end.

Damn. She was so compromised, wasn't she? Maybe…

Maybe this was why they never got together. Being compromised—having a weakness that anyone could find out about and exploit…

A huff escapes her. If Ivan could see her now, he'd probably give—

"Agent Romanoff, might we speak?"

Her thoughts disrupted, Natasha looks up and finds Loki hovering beside the empty seat across her. "Have a seat," she agrees, gesturing for him to sit. The park was still empty aside from the odd S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to keep watch on the place, and even those last few graveyard-shift people were being replaced by the morning crew. Natasha had come to make sure everything was going well, burning out that restless energy she'd accumulated after being forced into taking a paid vacation.

But a vacation meant there'd be time to think about some things, and needless to say, she'd much rather be working.

"I need to…what's the term? Pick your brain?" he half-asks as he slid elegantly onto the bench. "I've been pondering some things, and I believe you to be aware of Lady Anna's true parentage."

Of course issues like that weren't easy to get rid of.

Natasha represses a sigh. "I am," she nods, resting her hands on the picnic table between them. "Does Thor know?"

"No," he replies. "My brother was…is still very upset at her death. I thought it best to let the matter lie."

She folds her arms. "Does he blame Clint?"

"Yes," Loki sighs, a tinge of exasperation in his tone. "Despite Lady Anna's confirmation of Thanos's claim. He knows she used the magic of the World Tree to bring about her own death, but he cannot forget that it was Agent Barton who fired the arrow that killed her. He understands, but he has not forgotten."

She'd thought so. "You have my sincerest condolences," she tells him, realizing that the words hadn't really been said—to either god.

"On behalf of my brother, I thank you." Loki smiles wryly. "Though he never truly knew her, Thor feels responsible for her, and if Thanos's claim about her rank as an Asgardian duchess was true, then it means he had petitioned the Allfather to allow Lady Anna to join his personal court. He refuses to accept that she is not truly the daughter he believes he will have," he adds with a shake of his head. "I admit, his stubborn musings about her being second in line for the throne was what drove me here."

Natasha swallows as the similarities between her and Anna Stark suddenly become very vivid. "But she's not his kid," she states. "Does that mean she's not a duchess? If so, then she can't really be a part of Thor's court, right?"

"No, I believe she was, on both counts," Loki answers, frowning thoughtfully. "There had to be some foundation to Thanos's claims, after all. And though we know her to be…" he glances around in paranoia, "not Thor's daughter, even I would not think to call someone a duchess instead of a princess."

"So you think her title as Duchess of Asgard is accurate," Natasha summarizes. "What's the problem there?"

"I simply do not understand why Thor would bid the Allfather to grant Lady Anna entry into Asgardian court," he tells her, his brow furrowing in frustration. "She is not his daughter, nor does she share blood family with him. At best, he is a titular uncle to her."

That sparks an idea in Natasha's head. "You know," she says slowly, "we have a practice here on Earth where parents assign guardians to their children in case they can no longer fulfill their parental duties."

"How would one fail to be a parent?" Loki asks, looking bewildered.

Natasha's gut tightens. "Death or even mental, emotional or physical incapacitation are the most common reasons for us humans," she replies, her mouth drying as her own words paint a dark picture of the future Anna Stark must've faced.

Loki's face lightens in understanding. "Ah yes," he muses. "But that would mean that either of Lady Anna's parents…"

"Yeah," she nods, sharing the somber mood that engulfed him. "Maybe Thor was her legal guardian."

But why Thor? What about Colonel Rhodes? He was the closest friend Tony Stark had—Pepper would have at least listed him as a potential foster parent in the event of…well. And if Natasha knew Tony Stark as well as she thought, then the colonel would've been his first choice as a guardian. The fact that Anna had even needed a guardian implies that her parents had been...incapacitated while she was young. In all honesty, Natasha thinks that Thor would've been chosen as her guardian only if…

Rhodey must be dead too, Natasha realizes. And maybe even Happy Hogan, whom she knew was a loyal friend to both Stark and Ms. Potts. Banner might even be in the running as Anna's guardian, though there was a big possibility that Pepper might have nipped that idea in the bud. And while Rogers and Stark were only just becoming friends, he would have probably been honored to be Anna's guardian.

And the only way the immortal god of thunder would've ended up as Anna's guardian was if everyone else was gone too.

"So he took her as his ward," Loki murmurs, interrupting her morbid thoughts. "That would indeed be enough for the Allfather to consider his request, though Lady Anna herself would have had to pass the test given to her."

"Test?" Natasha prods, stuffing her empathy into a box to focus on collecting facts.

"Well, we can't just accept anyone into the family, can we?" he points out.

Okay, now she was really curious. "What kind of test would she have faced?"

Loki shrugs slightly. "I know not for certain what test she was given," he says, "but if I know my…the Allfather," he amends, "he would have tried her wisdom, courage, strength of will, and perhaps even her skill with weapons."

"And whatever it was, Anna passed her test," Natasha murmurs, feeling a chill move up her spine as she realizes that they had never really seen Anna in action. Thanos had been the main concern, and before realizing—or believing—whose daughter she was, the most they had really worried about was Anna's motives for coming to the past.

Suddenly, guiltily, Natasha's glad the girl was dead.

Clearing her throat, she looks up at Loki, who was observing her closely. "You and I are much alike, Agent Romanoff," he says quietly. "We know what things we should fear."

That surprises her. "You were afraid of her?" she asks. "Why? You're a god."

Loki stares blankly at her for a moment before a cynical smile quirks his lips. "I may be a god," he agrees, "but even I make mistakes."

"What mistakes?" she whispers, dread sinking its claws into her bones as her ears register the wariness in his tone. Loki glances away to look around, and when he turns back to her, there was something in his eyes that looks too much like trust.

"My magic is instinctive, it always has been," he shares. "As I've said before, magic is conducted through the soul, and every spell cast is made with intention. And when my future-self sent Lady Anna back…" Loki shakes his head. "He used most of his magic to power the spell that released me from Thanos's control. The last dregs of my soul were then used to send her here, and the spell..." His lips purse briefly. "Let's just say that it takes a great amount of power to cast it."

Natasha stares at him, shocked at the subtext she was getting. Because if she wasn't interpreting it wrong, then Loki— "You died."

"For a…good cause," he says with another bitter smile. "And for revenge," he adds, looking down at the table, and Natasha had to push away the emotional aspect of it before her sympathy could overwhelm her logical side. "I received the...the backlash of the spell, if you will, and realized what my future-self intended. He…I," he amends, "sent Lady Anna here to die.

"But I had forgotten, I think—or perhaps I simply ignored it in favor of pursuing vengeance for myself," he tacks on thoughtfully, "—that our bargain would cause a bit of my magic to linger inside her body, to ensure that Lady Anna lived to complete her task. My magic is instinctive," he repeats, "and it must have adapted to the dangers Lady Anna faced when Thanos possessed her. I believe this is why Thanos couldn't overcome her will, no matter how hard he tried to break her. My magic must've protected her from death until she used Yggdrasil to ensure Thanos's demise."

It—all of the things he'd just shared with her—should've set her on edge. Loki trusting someone? Please. And with so much detail, too.

But despite the logical step she should take, her gut tells her that Loki was honestly extending one tiny leaf off an olive branch to her, that he was just as wary about her as she was him.

Why, though? Why was he doing this? Telling her all these things? Why share it—share, because he didn't exactly ask for anything back, did he?—with her? Why her? What was the point?

…of course.

Natasha internalizes her doubts and nods, taking it all in and realizing that Loki did indeed have a point he wanted to make. "And?" she prompts when he kept staring at the tabletop.

Loki looks back at her again. "It still has not come back."

She shakes her head. "What does that mean?" she asks, trying to think about it rationally. "Is that why someone took her body—to get at your magic?"

"Hela needs no more of my magic," Loki says with a sad, rueful smile. "And my relationship with her is quite positive."

"Hela," Natasha echoes, searching through the myths and legends she had poured over while she and Banner had been heading to the Helicarrier almost a week ago. "She's your daughter, yes?"

He tilts his head and shrugs lightly. "Of sorts," he replies. "So again, she needs not Lady Anna's body to harvest my magic. No," he adds, "I believe that Hela has done something much unprecedented—thus the reason why it took me a while to think it."

"What?" she prompts.

Loki looks straight at her and doesn't stutter at all. "I think Hela brought Lady Anna back to life."

With the portal closed far earlier than Fate had scheduled, the destruction surrounding Manhattan wasn't as grave as it had been the first time around. Anna couldn't help but be pleased, and she revels in the sounds of happiness around her as she lounges back in her tree branch, the homemade telescope she'd built late last night held to her dominant eye. It's a little pervy and stalker-ish of her, but she couldn't resist seeing her family together one last time.

Her father and uncles—with the exception of Uncle Rhodey—are all there, along with Loki, the old man she realizes is Aunt Jane's mentor Dr. Selvig, a wheel-chair-bound Agent Phil Coulson, and a seemingly inseparable Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. Anna couldn't help but smile bitterly at the sight of them standing so closely together.

Thor and Loki shook hands with everyone, the latter even dropping a kiss on the Black Widow's knuckles before shaking hands with Clint and Dr. Selvig. This time around, Loki isn't the enemy, and he looks pleased to be welcomed in the little group. He would make a great unc—

Her happy mood turns sour as she remembers what she'd given up to secure this future.

Technically, she is his niece, Thor's adopted daughter and a duchess of Asgard. It had already happened to her, and Odin had never bothered to revoke her titles, which were apparently tied into her soul if her interaction with Hela was anything to go by.

But this time around, her adoption into the House of Odin was never going to happen again, because she never going to exist again.

Movement draws her attention back to the scene, and she watches Thor and Loki grab the handles of the elaborate container holding the Tesseract. Standing in the middle of the circle drawn on the ground, Loki turns the handle he was holding to activate the Tesseract's power, and currents of white-blue light engulf them before blasting up into the sky. A second later, they were gone, blue lights and all, leaving five disguised superheroes, a recovering S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and an aging astrophysicist standing around the circle, looking up at the blue sky.

That's about the only time she notices that her nicely-dressed father was wearing white-bottomed sneakers, and the surprise that sneaks up on her at the sight of his outfit has her snorting a laugh.

"Anya." Startled, Anna looks down to see the face of her assigned keeper. "Stane just accepted your invitation to dinner," he tells her, giving the phone in his hand a pointed wiggle.

A smug smile curls her lips upward. "Let's head back then," she says to him as she tucks her small telescope into her pocket and leans back to fall off the branch. She lands on her feet with enough flourish to draw several oohs and ahhs from the children nearby, and Anna waves at them with a bright smile before looking towards her friend. "Shall we?" she asks playfully, taking the leather jacket he offers to her and leading the way to the curb where her new bike was parked. "There's still much I need to do before dinnertime comes."

He frowns. "Are you sure you want to associate yourself with such a man?" he eventually asks her, his tone full of worry.

Anna glances back at him as she straightens the jacket over her frame. "Vanya, are you worried about lil ol' me?" she asks fondly, pulling her sunglasses from the V of her shirt.

"Yes," he answers bluntly. "Anushka, make no mistake, I don't doubt that you have a plan, but the people you've been approaching…" He shakes his head slightly. "I'm not sure you realize how dangerous they all truly are. Even a man such as Ezekiel Stane."

Another bitter smile crosses her lips as her mind brings up unwanted memories of the Black Room and the too-sweaty hands that came from the darkness.

"Happy sixteenth birthday, Miss Stark. Let me give you your present, hm?"

She hikes a leg over her bike. "Trust me, Ivan," she says as she slips her sunglasses on and looks up at him, "I know exactly what that man is capable of."

Ivan grabs her arm before she can wheel off, cutting her dramatic exit short. "You have faced him before. Is it revenge you seek, then?"

"Partly," she replies, impulsively reaching out to smooth her thumb over his jaw. Ivan stiffens, but didn't pull away. "But don't worry, Mister Peterson. I know better than to let him know I'm his enemy."

Ivan looks even less pleased now that she'd clued him in to her intentions. "This is a dangerous game you're playing, Miss Volkova," he warns her, releasing her elbow. "I'd thank you to take great care on how you proceed. Your life isn't the only thing you risk should you lose."

Anna glares at him and purses her lips, feeling anger sizzle under her skin. "I know what I stand to lose, Mister Peterson," she says coolly. "And I'm not playing games," she adds, almost sneering as she places her hand back on the bike handle. "I'm winning a war."

Tony couldn't contain his grin as he slid into the car with Bruce. No, he wasn't pleased at the fact that he was about to drive the big guy to the airport, but at the knowledge that Bruce had agreed to keep in touch and let Tony know where he was disappearing off to next. Not even S.H.I.E.L.D. had managed to extract that promise from him, but that wasn't surprising. Bruce clearly adores Tony.

And so does Hulk.

"Mwahahahaha."

"…what was that?" Bruce asks, eyebrows raised high.

Tony clears his throat. "Nothing," he answers in as innocent a tone as possible.

"I knew it," Bruce says dryly with a slight groan. "I got into a car with a madman. You probably drive like one too."

"I resent that," he replies, flooring the pedal and zooming off, earning a loud curse from Bruce as he grips his seat tightly. Another evil cackle escapes Tony, and Bruce starts laughing as well.

"You're insane," he declares as Tony eases up on the gas and turns to follow the street.

"Jury's out," Tony grins. "So," he adds as he flips on the radio, "you like hip-hop? No? RnB? Oh no, don't tell me you're a jazz fan." He misses whatever Bruce says next though, his attention caught on a seemingly arguing handsome couple. He particularly eyes the slim brunette straddling a sleek unmarked black motorcycle, because while she's straightened and added some extensions to her hair and exchanged the stolen uniform for a casual getup of Chucks, jeans, white T-shirt and black leather jacket, there's still no mistaking the pretty face hiding behind a pair of generic Ray Bans.

Anna Thorsdóttir.

She was speaking to a new pal of hers—a man with graying hair and a good-looking face—with a wry expression that contrasted against the man's grim countenance, which was emphasized by the grip he had on her elbow. When Anna moves her hand to brush her thumb over his cheek, Tony commits the guy's face and her motorcycle's plate number to memory, vowing to have Jarvis run scans when he got home.

It was about time he had a chat with their mysterious time-traveler, face-to-face.

Tony turns his attention back to the radio and cranks up the volume when the first strings of Shoot To Thrill began blasting obnoxiously through his customized speakers. At that, Bruce shoots him a look filled with such resignation and exasperation that Tony can't help but give his best smile. "AC/DC it is."

And then he steps on the gas and peels out of the park.

Anya/Anushka/Ms. Volkova: Anna's new alias. (Anya and Anushka are two of several traditional Russian nicknames for 'Anna.')

Ivan/Mr. Peterson: Anna's new ally. I won't tell you who he is for now, but if you're really curious, you can always translate his last name to Russian and run a Google search.

Ezekiel Stane: Anna's new/old enemy. I won't tell you who he is either, but feel free to run a Google search on him too. :) …and yes, I'm going to make a sequel. This is too fun to drop anymore.

And why did I put Natasha's POV, you ask? Why not Loki, since he, Tony and Anna are our biggest players? Well, spoilers here, but our Agent Romanoff is joining the Big Three (no, not Zeus, Poseidon and Hades) as a major character in the new Avengers timeline I have going on here. Why? Well, all the clues are in her POV.

This chapter also holds a lot of plotlines that will be explored in the sequel, so if you think you can spot them—they're in all three POVs, btw—then go ahead.

Oh, and tell me what you find—I wanna know if I gave you enough clues. Guess, my darlings. Guess. ;)

Thank you so much for reading part 1 of the Time-Traveler Arc.
~E