The Soldier's Goddess

Kari was sat in the gymnasium, watching her boyfriend pummel the punching bag like a steak being tenderised. He paused and turned to look at her, sat on the edge of the boxing ring, reading a book and every now and then peering over the top to watch him. He liked that; it made him feel warm inside knowing that another human being was there for him in a way no-one else had been before. Well, there was Peggy, but he never got to spend much time with her. Except maybe those stolen moments in England, or that time they were waiting for Howard Stark to arrive with the plane in Italy, so Steve could rescue those men from the HYDRA base. Kari, however, was something else altogether. In a good way though. Whenever she walked into a room, the whole place lit up. He knew everyone said that about someone they love, but with Kari it really was true.

Steve was amazing. Kari couldn't have asked for any more. She fell in love with him when he was just a plain, simple human, but now, he was a superhero. Technically, not much older than when she first met him. She hadn't yet taken him back to Stark Towers, but he had met Pepper when they were having coffee at their favourite cafe. She knew about Peggy; they had had a conversation late one night in his apartment about the past, their lives, their ex's. She tried to tell him about Loki, but she just couldn't. He knew she had an ex, who she had been close to - as close as he was with Peggy - but she hadn't said his name. She didn't want him to think any different of her if he found out she had been with a prince, the god of mischief of all people. He wasn't going to bother them anyway; he was back on Asgard, just as Peggy was now in England. Kari found out when going through some more of the files from back then. She was transferred about 3 years after Steve went down with that plane.
"What you thinking about?" Kari jumped. She hadn't seen Steve creep up gently behind her He wrapped his arms around her waist an nuzzled in to her neck, moving her hair about of the way. She liked it when he did that. Even after 4 months, it still gave her butterflies in her stomach. Putting her book down, she turned to see her boyfriend.
"Well, I was reading, and watching that cute backside of yours as you were training, but since you're here now, I'm wrapping my arms around your neck, moving in close and kissing you."
"Mmm, I like the sound of that." He leaned down, rubbing the tip of his nose gently against hers, brushing his lips down her cheek until he reached her lips, where he kissed her, hungrily. Her body reacted by tensing up and moving right into him, her tongue flicking the edge of his lips, teasingly, until he opened them. She was just running her fingernails through his hair when another voice made them both jump.
"Ahem." Nick Fury was stood a few feet away, trying not to grin. "I need to speak to you. Both of you." This couldn't be good. Mainly because he was holding one of those manila folders. They never contained anything good. Sitting down together, he turned to Steve. He was about to open his mouth, but Steve got there first.
"You know, when I went under, we were at war. When I woke up they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."
"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some quite recently," said Fury.
"Are you here with a mission, sir?" asked Kari. Fury nodded.
"Trying to get me back in the world," joked Steve.
"Trying to save it." He handed Steve the manila folder, and Kari peered over his shoulder to look too.
"HYDRA's secret weapon," said Steve, in astonishment.
"Howard Stark fished it out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we do; that it holds the key to unlimited, sustainable, clean energy."
"Who took it from you?"
"A man called Loki. He's er, not from around here."
"No that's not possible," whispered Kari, whose turn it was to turn pale.
"Sweetheart, do you know of Loki?" Steve asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"Listen, the world has changed alot since your time. It's gotten alot weirder."
"At this point, I doubt anything could surprise me."
"Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a debriefing packet at your apartment, Kari there is one for you waiting at Stark Tower. Is there anything we ought to know about the Tesseract?"
"Yeah," sighed Steve, with a stony look on his face. "You should have left it in the ocean."
Fury left them in the gym, and Steve turned to Kari.
"Do you know Loki?" he asked again, gently.
"Yes." Kari lowered her head. "You have to believe me though, I didn't tell you because I didn't think he would ever come back into my life." Steve looked patiently at his girlfriend, as she struggled with her inner turmoil over telling him. After a few moments, she opened her mouth again. "He's my ex."
"So he's from Asgard."
"Yes, it's probably why they need me. No-one else knows who he is to me, but I'm guessing because of where he's from, I'll have the advantage, the information for them"
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked softly.
"Because I didn't want you thinking I was crazy," she smiled, leaning into his shoulder as he hugged her.
"Don't be silly," he said, resting his cheek on her head, taking in the scent of her hair.

The following day, they were on the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet with Agent Coulson, on their way to the Helicarrier, in the middle of the ocean. Phil was telling Steve about how much of a fan he was of him, of Captain America. He has vintage trading cards, which took him two years to collect the full set. Steve was in mint condition. Kari wondered how long it would take him to ask Steve to sign them.
"I was there, when they found you," Phil was saying. "I watched you sleep." Steve looked at Kari, who was trying not to laugh. "Um, I mean, I was there, while you were unconscious," he was stuttering. Steve changed the subject, before Phil started too flustered.
"So this Dr Banner was trying to recreate Erskine's formula?" he asked, glancing at the folder in his hands.
"Yeah," said Phil, relieved to be talking about something else. "It went wrong though. He's one of the smartest guys of our time though." He went on to tell Steve about the uniform he would be wearing, stating that the stars and stripes may be old fashioned, but old fashioned was probably what people needed right now.
They arrived on the helicarrier, met with Natasha and Dr Bruce Banner, then went inside as the ship began to rise into the sky. Steve couldn't believe the sight he was seeing. The room was enormous, filled with all sorts of computers, people, things he had never seen before in his life. He wordlessly handed Fury ten dollars as he passed him. Fury chuckled to himself. So did Kari. After a briefing, and Stark arriving in his usual manner of attention seeking, Kari followed Natasha as she took her and Bruce to the lab. Steve, Tony and Natasha, along with a couple of other agents, would going to Stuttgard, in Germany, where Loki had been spotted.
"He's got Clint," Natasha said to Kari, the worry coming through in her voice, no matter how much she tried to hide it.
"Oh sweetie." Kari gave her a hug. "We'll get him back, it'll be ok," she tried to reassure her friend.

Three hours later, they were back, Loki in tow. As he walked past the lab, he looked into the window, and grinned. Kari calmly walked out of the door, and up to the eight agents securing him. They stopped in front of her. A calmness flooded through her, tinged with determination, and past hurt. Slowly she walked up to him, not taking her eyes off of his. It happened faster than anyone could react. Her hand came up behind her head and she punched him in the face - hard - just the once; and then calmly walked away and back into the lab with Bruce. Loki faltered for just a moment, shocked, but looked back into her eyes, with an evil grin, as she fought hard to keep the tears back. Everything she had been pushing down for the last couple of years, since he spat that chicken at her and ran off when she had told him she loved him, it was all starting to bubble up at the sight of him and her fists were balled up as he was taken to his glass prison. She followed Bruce to the debriefing room, as requested by Director Fury and gasped as another figure from her past was stood there.
"Thor!" she squealed, her face breaking into a smile.
"Kari, I was hoping you would be here," he smiled. Steve looked at her questioningly.
"Don't worry, he isn't an ex," she grinned. "Just a very good friend." They sat down and began to discuss Loki, and his possible plans.
"Thor, what's Loki's game plan?" asked Steve.
"He has an army of creatures called the chitauri. They are not of Asgard, nor any world we know of. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
"An army from outer space. Should be interesting," sighed Steve.
"So he's building another portal. That's what he must need Erik Selvig for." said Bruce
"Selvig?" Thor asked, his head flicking round.
"He's an astrophysicist."
"He is a friend."
"Loki has them under some kind of spell," said Natasha. "Along with one of ours."
"I want to know why Loki let us take him so easily. I mean, it's not like he can lead an army when he is trapped in here," Steve said.
"I don't think we should focus on Loki," interrupted Bruce. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him." Thor stood up to his full height, his chest puffed out a little.
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother."
"He killed eighty people in two days," snapped Natasha.
"He's adopted," Thor faltered slightly.
Stark walked in with Coulson at that point, and Kari, feeling she would be better off in the lab right now, left them to it.

Notes