Love in the Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 20

"Castle on the Hill" - Ed Sheeran   

It's...just as beautiful as I remember.

    Since a forest is where we entered the portal on Zathea, a forest is where we come out of the portal on Revenia. Lush green grass covers the ground, meeting the dark blue roots and trunks of the trees, the leaves varying different hues of blue and purple, covering the top of our heads so the sky is barely visible to us. A little ways away we can hear a river that runs along the edge of the forest, the color a vivid light blue. The mountains in the distance, the open meadow I know is just beyond here, and the several towns scattered around the planet.

I'm home.

"Your home is beautiful Mia." Steve says, his hand squeezing mine to show support.

A breeze comes through, carrying the scent of the river. I take in a deep inhale, the memories of my life here coming to the forefront of my mind. I step away from Steve and come to a nearby tree. I place my hand against the trunk, feeling the connection I have with Revenia. I take in another deep breath, feeling the energy flowing through us as the bark slightly expands.

"Did that tree just breathe?" I hear Tony whisper behind me.

I can't help but chuckle, having to remind myself that there's a lot here that's going to get that kind of reaction from them.

I turn around feeling so grateful for what they just did for me. "Thank you guys...for making this trip with me." I say, tears pooling in my eyes.

They all give me a soft smile, and it's clear they were happy to help. They always have been.

"What now?" Thor asks, looking around.

Tony lifts his hand, pointing towards the area behind us. "There's a city in that direction. Is that where we're heading?"

I turn around, spotting our capitol town off in the distance. "Yeah..." I say, suddenly realizing something. "Listen guys..." I give them a cautious look, knowing they might not like this. "I think it would be better if I went on my own first."

"What?" they all say at the same time.

I bring my hands up, trying to keep them all calm. "We've talked about this before, I don't want to risk anyone getting hurt. I'm just worried that if we all show up they're going to be scared and attack before even realizing I'm with you guys."

"We're not going to go in charging or anything." Tony says, trying to reason with me.

"No but the Asgardian clothes might scare them a bit." I say looking over at Thor and Loki.

Loki looks down at his outfit before suddenly conjuring up some magic, causing his outfit to change into some simple slacks and button down shirt. He then looks over at Thor, like he's the only one who's at fault now. Thor notices Loki's change and then narrows his eyes before rolling them at his brother.

"Just let me get close enough to make contact with someone." I say, appreciating that they just want to help.

They all hesitantly look at each other, but I can tell none of them are going to object, especially considering I'm the only one who's ever been here before, so I need to take the lead on what to do.

Steve comes up to me, his eyes pulled down with worry. Not because he thinks anything will happen to me physically, but he's worried about my mental health if I go out there alone. "I'll be okay." I say, sliding my hand along his neck and pulling him down to me until I can press my lips against his. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

He nods his head, trusting me. He steps away, heading back towards the others.

"Do we just wait here?" Tony says as he nervously looks around. "The trees aren't going to start swinging at us if you leave right?"

I chuckle. But I suppose I can't blame him for being nervous. "This isn't Narnia dad." I say, knowing the nature around here has never really been violent. Though on occasion...

I turn towards the forest, looking up at the top of the trees. "Don't drop anything on them." I say to them, knowing when they decide to have a temper tantrum, they can cause some damage.

The guys chuckle amongst each before their smiles drop and they all turn to look at me.

"That was a joke, right kid?" Tony asks as I start to walk away.

"Try not to wander." I say to them, giving them one last teasing smile before heading through the trees.

I start to walk, heading in the general direction of the capitol. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for what I'm going to say if I see someone. What are they going to say? What if they look at me with absolute hatred? What if they don't even want me to be here?

No...stop.

I'm curling my fingers into fists, remembering what Tony taught me as I try to stay calm. I know my people, and they know me. They have more trust in me than I'm giving myself credit for. Even if they did have questions about my disappearance they would let me explain myself. I have nothing to worry abou–

A twig snaps behind me and I'm suddenly very aware of my surroundings. I hear the rush of air and I duck out of the way, just narrowly avoiding getting hit by a staff. I barely get a chance to steady my stance when the guy swings at me again. But this time I manage to catch it. I take a firm grip and pull it down, digging one end of it on the ground, causing the guy to stumble forward. I use the staff as support, bringing my leg up and kicking the guy to the ground.

This is clearly a Revenian guard since he's wearing the hooded uniform of one and using a traditional fighting staff. And I don't know if he just doesn't recognize me or does and is pissed. But he needs to know there's not a lot of people on this planet that can wield these staffs better than me.

The guy recovers from the hit, sitting up and looking ready to go again. I dig the staff out from the dirt and spin it around me before holding it in a fighting stance. I don't want to hurt him, but if he continues to charge at me I will continue to lay him on his ass–

"Mia?" the guy says, standing up from the ground as he starts to pull his hood down.

"Emory." I say recognizing one of my oldest childhood friends.

I can see the disbelief in his eyes as he comes towards me. "You're alive." he says with a shaky laugh.

"So are you." I say, dropping the staff just in time to wrap my arms around him.

I feel a rush of relief, any doubts I've had about being unwanted here slowly start to dissipate as the reality starts to set in. Finding someone I know. And not just someone, one of my best friends here. It's all finally starting to feel real.

Suddenly I feel Emory turn me around, placing me behind him as he reaches for his staff and aims it in front of him. I look over and find Tony, Steve, Thor and Loki all coming towards us, ready to fight to defend me.

I jump out from behind Emory and place myself in between them, putting my hands up to stop them just before they can collide. "Woah! Hey they're with me!" I say to Emory. "It's okay, they're with me." I turn towards the guys, trying to let them know that everything is okay.

"They're Asgardians." Emory says, his eyes taking particular interest in Thor and Loki, who's now back to his old outfit.

"Two of them are." I say trying to keep Emory calm. "But they're good. These are the people who took care of me while I was gone.They helped me get back."

I can see him look over the guys, carefully trying to analyze the situation. But when his eyes find mine again I can see him start to relax before he lowers the staff. He may not trust them, but he trusts me. And he knows I would never bring people here who would cause this place or the people any harm.

Once everyone calms down I finally relax. "This is Emory. An old friend." I say to the guys.

Behind me I hear Emory scoff. "Friend? Ouch."

I turn to him, giving him a strong warning glare. "Emory I swear..."

He chuckles, knowing exactly what he's doing, but not realizing just how dangerous the game he's playing is.

I head towards the others, wondering why they even came after me. "I told you guys to wait for me." I say, knowing this could have gone so bad.

"We heard you. We thought you might be in trouble." Steve says, his eyes still on Emory as he comes up close to me. "Friend?" he asks, his gaze dropping down to meet mine.

I press my lips together to suppress a smile, liking the jealousy in his eyes a little too much. But obviously I'm not going to toy with him right now. "You remember the guy I told you who tried to court me?"

"The one your brother made cry." he asks.

That would be what he remembers about that story. "Yeah." I say with a chuckle.

Steve nods, clearly no longer feeling any amount of concern over him.

"Is everything okay?" Tony asks, looking back at Emory and still trying to analyze the situation.

"So far so good I guess." I reply, knowing I didn't exactly get much time to ask him anything considering they guys showed up so quickly.

"Callen is going to lose it when he sees you."

I feel everything suddenly freeze around me, and I try to convince myself that I just made up those words in my head. With my breath caught in my throat I slowly turn around, looking over at Emory in complete disbelief.

"Callen's alive?"

And I see it in his eyes, it never once crossed his mind that I believed otherwise. "Yeah he's alive." he says, his eyes full of sympathy now that he knows I thought my entire family was dead.

Callen...brother.

Maybe...

No. If my parents were alive he would have said "your family" instead of just Callen. They're probably...but what if...maybe...

"M-my parents?" I say with a shaky voice, and I feel Steve hand slide into mine, grasping hard for support.

Emory's face falls, telling me all I need to know. "I'm sorry Mia."

I let myself have that small amount of hope, and now it hurts all over again.

I turn around, trying to keep it together, reminding myself that this is what I was expecting. I had prepared myself for this news. And yet...

"Mia," Steve says, and the sympathy in his voice gives me the comfort I need to break apart, even if it's just for a moment. I clutch onto Steve's shirt, pressing myself against his chest as I let out a soft sob. His arms come around my shoulders, holding me close, making it clear that he's got me.

"I'm so sorry, kid." I hear Tony say, and then feel his hand on my head.

I take in a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. "Callen's alive." I say, still trying to wrap my head around that. "That's more than I was expecting." Steve grabs onto one hand, Tony the other, both of them giving me a gentle comforting squeeze.

"He's Revenia's leader." I say as I turn to Emory, the thought suddenly hitting me.

Emory smiles. "I don't know what we would have done without him."

They were taken care of. Revenia, it's people. They were in good hands. They were in the best hands.

I look out into the distance, the city so close that I can see where my old home sits on top of the hill.

Emory looks back to the city and then turns to me as he gives me a soft smile "Let's go home Mia."

I should be excited...and I kind of am. But I can't help the fear that's coursing through me as we get to the town entrance.

Emory is up ahead of us, leading us in to prevent any alarm from happening. I'm close behind him with Steve at my side for support. Thor and Loki, being the ones who would cause the most concern are behind us with Tony at the back to put them in between us.

Our first path is through the homes closest to the forest. Some people are hanging out outside of their homes, curiously watching the second we are visible to them. As soon as we're close enough, I can see when the first person notices me. Her eyes widen in disbelief and she slightly stumbles back.

I remember her. Her name is Enya and, at least before I left, she helped run the bakery in town. She is kind, caring, and found so much passion and love in making sure everyone here was well fed. I smile at her, feeling the fear start to go away, and a wave of reassurance takes its place. 

We continue to walk forward as more and more people start to notice us. People are coming out of their homes when they notice a commotion, some running to go grab their family members once they notice who is here. Everyone is in shock to see me.

Suddenly I see someone burst out of one of the homes and come running towards me. And I barely get enough time to recognize who it is before she wraps her arms around me and scoops me up into a big hug.

"Calista." I say holding onto the third member of our old friend group.

She pulls back, placing her hands on my cheeks. "Holy shit." she says, like she doesn't believe what she's seeing. "Mia you're here. Your home." She pulls me back in, hugging me tight.

"I'm home." I say.

Emory, Calista and I were all close friends. It kind of reminds me of the Bucky, Nat and I, although if I'm being honest Calista reminds me more off–

"And you brought hot guys with you." she says pulling back again and stepping up to Steve extending her hand out. "Hi I'm Calista."

Steve nervously looks down at her hand before shaking it, and I think back to Ana causing the same reaction from him.

"That one's mine." I say to her.

She immediately pulls her hand back, as if Steve's touch is disgusting to her now. "Good to know." she says before turning back to me. She gives me another look of disbelief before her eyes suddenly soften, and I can see the sympathy in them. "Mia, I don't know if you know yet but..."

"I know." I say, seeing the same look in her eyes that Emory had.

"I'm really sorry." she says, giving me another hug.

"Thank you." I reply. "I'm just glad you guys are still here. And Callen."

She nods, looking up onto the hill. "We'll catch up later." she says, stepping back to allow us to continue.

I look around and see more people have now come out of their homes and gathered along the path up the hill, word having spread through the town about our arrival. My people look on with curiosity, disbelief, and excitement.

We start to walk again and then slowly, I see my people start to drop down onto one knee.

"Are they bowing for you?" Steve whispers to me.

"Not exactly." I reply, just as we see everyone reach one hand down, spreading their palm against the ground. "They're connecting with the planet. Sharing the gratitude they feel because..."

"Because you're home." he says, finishing what I couldn't say. I nod my head, looking around at my home, my people, hating myself for ever doubting their love and loyalty.

We continue up the hill, people gathered on either side of us, like we're a parade passing through the town. As we get closer to the top I can see my old home, and I know I'm about to see him. I can feel my breathing start to pick up, knowing I'm not going to fully believe it until I see him.

I'm scared. Scared that this isn't real. Scared that this is some cruel joke, or a crazy dream and I'm going to wake up and find out that everyone's actually gone.

He's okay...he's alive...he's...

Suddenly the front doors burst open, a few people rushing through.

He's panicked, eyes frantically looking around, until he finally spots me.

Oh my god.

"Callen!" I cry out, rushing towards him, feeling like my legs are going to give out and running on pure adrenaline. He meets me halfway, coming towards me until we collide.

I throw myself into his arms as he wraps them around my waist, catching me and practically holding me up as I clutch onto him. I lose all control of myself and start sobbing into his shoulder.

"Mia." Callen says, his voice breaking on my name. "I'm so sorry." he cries as his hand slides up to head, cradling it. "I'm so sorry."

We take a moment, holding each other, crying with each other, just taking in the fact that we're actually together again.

"I thought you were dead." I say, my hands clutching to him tighter, still feeling like he's going to disappear at any moment.

"I'm right here little sister." he assures me, then pulls back, placing his hands on my cheeks. "Mia I swear I was making a plan to go and find you." he says, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I promise I wasn't going to abandon you. Please believe me."

"I know Callen." I say, trying to reassure him. "I just beat you to it." I tease. "It's not like it would be the first time I beat you at something."

He opens his mouth to say something, his first instinct clearly to exchange banter with me. But instead he just chuckles, probably just happy to be able to hear his little sister teasing him again. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me back in for a tight hug.

I take in a breath, feeling a weight come off of me. This has gone much better than I thought. And while my fear of my parents was confirmed, having Callen alive, knowing my people were taken care of with him here, it's more than I thought I was going to find here.

"The Asgardians are with you?" I hear Callen say, and he steps away from me, his eyes locked on the guys behind me.

I wipe my tears, turning to find them patiently waiting for me. "This is Thor and Loki. They're friends." I say, knowing one of the things I want to work on while I'm here is trying to mend this broken relationship we have with the Asgardians. "They're the only reason I'm here." I say before turning the attention to the other two people who are responsible for me being here. "And this is Steve and Tony. They're from Earth."

Callen looks over all four of them, still trying to gauge the situation. After what happened I don't blame him. I know he's just trying to be cautious of any newcomers. "Also friends?" he asks as he looks over at me.

"A little more than that." I say with an embarrassed smile. "It's a long story."

I think he has an idea and he looks back towards all four guys. "Welcome." he says, feeling a little calmer about the situation. "Thank you for taking care of her in whatever capacity you may have done."

I look over at all of them, smiling at both of my worlds coming together. And all I can think about is hopefully one day being able to bring more of my family on earth to meet my family here.

"Mia?" I hear a voice say, and I look back towards the house and see another familiar face coming through the doors.

"Della?" I say with a surprised gasp. I run towards her, wrapping my arms around her as she lets out a delighted chuckle. Della was one of the leaders in our guard, and my brother's girlfriend, so we had gotten pretty close. She's the kind of person who would give her life to protect everyone else, I'm so grateful to see she's alive.

"I knew we'd see you again." she says, hugging me close.

And I feel something I hadn't felt in her before. There's a new energy flowing through her body, a stronger connection to Revenia, and to me, which can only mean...

I turn back to Callen as I hold onto Della's hands. "You two...?" I say, feeling something against her finger as I turn it around.

"Married." she says, just as I spot the band around her finger.

I look back at Callen, wanting to say I told you so. "I knew you would." I tease, remembering how easy it was to see that he and Della were meant to be together. He chased her for years, but she was focused on her training as a guardian. Once she was appointed as a leader within them she finally agreed to go out with him. But Callen was already so in love with her, I knew they were going to be together.

"We've done a little more than that actually." Callen says, his eyes shifting behind Della as someone else comes out of the house...someone, carrying another little someone. Della steps back, taking the baby that can't be more than a year old. She brings him closer and I feel like my heart is going to burst with excitement. "This is our son, Esmond."

I let out a soft gasp, feeling the tears pool in my eyes as I hear my father's name. I try to control myself so I don't scare their son, my nephew.

"Hi Esmond." I say in a soft voice, gently reaching my hand out to him. His little hand reaches out, all of his fingers wrapping around two of mine. I send a soft pulse of energy towards him, letting it pass from me to him, showing him our connection.

He looks down, amused at the feeling before looking back up at me, a huge smile coming across his small face. He extends his arms towards me, nearly falling out of Della's arms as he leans forward.

"Can I?" I ask her, as Esmond continues to try and reach for me.

"Of course." Della says, extending him out to me. I put one arm around his legs to support him, the other coming around his back as I cradle him to my body. His little arms come around my neck, holding onto me like he's known me his entire life.

I'm practically shaking, so many emotions going through me, and I'm trying so hard not to scare him. I hold him for a few seconds before stepping back to Della, handing him back to her, knowing I'm about to lose it again. Della takes him and I hear a slight whine come from him. And as much as I want to continue holding him I step away, turning into Callen's chest as I start crying again.

I'm so happy to have him, I'm happy to have Della. And as much as I'm so happy to have met Esmond, I can't help but mourn the loss of my mother and father. His grandparents that he's never going to know.

Callen puts his arm around me, his hand rubbing up and down my back to try and soothe me. He doesn't ask why I suddenly started crying, but just holds me for a moment before saying, "I want you to see something."

We leave our bags and then Callen walks the five of us back down the trail through town, Della and Esmond staying behind along with Emory.

We head towards the forest, but instead of going through it, we walk around the outside of it, along the bank of the river. Callen and I are up front, while the guys walk a few steps behind us. They offered to let Callen and I go alone, but I didn't think leaving them alone with everyone would be a good idea. They might believe me that they mean no harm, but they're still strangers to everyone. I didn't want them or the others to feel uncomfortable, so I asked them to come along.

While we walk I give Callen a very brief un-detailed update on what happened after he sent me away. I mention that after ending up on Earth I lost my memory, which obviously he didn't take too well knowing Fury purposefully took it from me, but I calmed him down from that. I explain how I lost it again, then ended up with the Avengers, got my memory back, asked Thor to help me get home and then I ended up here. For obvious reasons I leave out details about Steve and Loki, and I don't mention anything about Velaria showing up to find me. I don't want to worry him right now.

We make a turn and I stop, seeing what he wanted to show me. In a small open field, trees on one side, the river on the other, and in between is a statue of my father and mother, at their feet a small plaque that reads:

For Esmond and Fay
Our leaders and guardians. May the power of Revenia forever shine for you.

"They built this shortly after the attack. As a reminder of why we're still here." Callen says, as he looks down at the plaque.

"What happened?" I ask, hoping that I can handle hearing it right now.

Callen sighs, his head dropping down. "Once they saw they were losing, the Citreleans started targeting innocent people instead of our guards. Our father guided them away from the towns and he died defending them." he says, his voice breaking during that last part.

I feel a tear run down my cheek as I step closer to him.

"Our mother..." he pauses, letting out a soft sob. "She died protecting me."

I slide my hand into his, leaning my head against his shoulder as we take a moment together to remember them, honor them, and thank them for what they did. I don't need the details, I know they'd be just as hard to hear as they would be to tell. So I don't ask for anything more from him.

"I can't pretend that I'm not upset at what you did." I say, knowing we need to get this out there. "I could have been here, Callen. I could have helped, I could have protected people."

"Or you could have died too." he says, turning to me with fear in his eyes at just the thought. "Mia, the only thing that got me through all of this was knowing that I still had you. That even though you were far away on Earth you were still alive."

If only he knew how many times I was close to not being alive. "You didn't know that for sure." I say, realizing of course that he had no way of knowing the dangers Earth had.

"Yeah I did." he says with a smile. "Because I knew that, barring a full out war like we had here, almost nothing's going to take you down."

If only he knew that the war followed me there.

I probably should tell him. He should know that it's not over. But he's still dealing with so much here, I can't distract him with something that's going to happen on a different planet when he's still trying to rebuild this one. I have to have confidence that all of us back home will be able to handle it. And I'll just tell him when it's over...or someone will tell him if I can't.

"It's the blonde one right?" Callen says, and it's then that I notice he's looking back towards the guys. They're standing back closer to the trees, giving us a bit of privacy. "Not the Asgardian, the other one." Callen continues on. I turn back forward, suddenly realizing what he's actually asking me. I give him a curious glance, wondering why he's asking. "The way he looks at you, I can just tell." He chuckles as he also looks forward. "The dark-haired Asgardian looks at you that way too so I guess it could be either one of them." I laugh, definitely hearing it in his voice that he would prefer one over the other. "Please tell me it's not the Asgardian." he says when I don't respond.

"You know I think it's time we let go of this animosity we have with the Agardians." I say, deciding to throw in my request right now. "We should work towards building a new peaceful bond with them."

Callen stares at me with a knowing look. "So it is the Asgardian."

I laugh as I give him a playful shove. "No it's not the Asgardian." I say. "Not anymore at least."

I turn and find him glaring at me, hard.

"If it makes you feel any better..." I say with a playful shrug. "That happened while I was still here."

"No Mia, that does not make me feel better." he says as he rolls his eyes. "What about the other guy?" he asks instead. "Tony I think you said his name was."

Right...that conversation still needs to happen.

I clear my throat, hoping he doesn't get hurt by this, especially considering where we're at right now. "Tony..." I say looking down and away from Callen and the statue of my father. "...is my adopted father." There's a moment of silence, and it only makes me panic more. "I had lost my memory I thought I had no one, they took me in and he–"

I feel his hand on my shoulder. "Mia stop," he says, cutting off my rambling. "You don't have to explain anything. I'm really glad you found them. I'd hate the thought of you being alone all this time."

I look up at him and see that it's all completely genuine. He isn't hurt, he doesn't feel like I've betrayed him or my biological father.

I let out a sigh of relief. "I'm grateful to have them in my life." I say as I turn towards them. "And it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you." I don't want to admit it to him, because I still want to be mad, but I can't hate what he did, because even if it brought a lot of pain and loss, it also brought me love and a new family. It's bittersweet, but I have to be glad that it happened.

I turn when I spot Callen start to walk away from me and seemingly towards the guys. "Where are you going?" I ask.

He turns back to me with a playful smile. "To make peace." he says before stepping up to both Thor and Loki. I smile, appreciating that he's actually doing what I asked of him. I head back to Steve who's just standing nearby, as if just waiting to be needed.

"Are you okay?" he says, his body shifting forward, as if he wants to reach for me. But he holds back, his hands in his pockets as if to help control himself.

"Yeah." I say as I step towards him. But he takes a step back, keeping a distance between us. "What are you doing?" I ask, wondering if he's feeling weird about this whole thing. I haven't had a chance to check in with him yet, but I can't imagine what could possibly be bothering him.

He nervously looks over at Callen, who's still nonchalantly talking with Thor, Loki is mainly standing off to the side. "You got me a little worried with what you said on our date." he says as he looks down at the ground. "I want your brother to like me."

I told him that Callen would hate him just because he was with me, so he's afraid to show any PDA for fear of getting on Callen's bad side. I feel bad for putting that fear in him, though I wasn't lying when I said it.

"Okay, then if I ask for a favor are you going to say no?" I say, wanting to respect the boundaries he's trying to set, but really needing him right now.

"What favor?" Steve asks, and I can see the concern in his face.

There's been so much going on in this visit, and while having Callen back has been a comfort, I'm still trying to process a lot of things, like the death of my parents. Steve's always been a comfort to me, and right now, I need him. "Can you hold me?"

He doesn't hesitate. His hands immediately come out of his pockets and he wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. I hook my arms underneath his shoulders, resting my head against his. I don't cry anymore, but just take a few moments to take everything in. I can feel Steve take in slow breaths, and I match mine to his. He kisses the top of my head as his hands rub soothingly up and down my back.

I look over at Callen and catch his eyes shifting towards us constantly. He doesn't seem upset, but rather trying to analyze the situation. Even though I told him that Steve and I are together, he doesn't know him, not yet. I wouldn't expect him to be fully comfortable with this.

I pull away from Steve, feeling like I've collected myself enough now. "Where's Tony?" I ask, looking around when I notice he isn't nearby. Then I see him, down on one knee at the base of my parent's memorial.

I walk towards him, getting a little concerned. "Dad, are you okay?" I ask as I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah I was just..." He runs his hand over his face before standing back up. He looks up at my parents, and I can see the gleam in his eyes. "I was thanking them for bringing you into this world." he says, his voice breaking mid-sentence. "And I promised them that I was going to take care of you." He takes in a shaky breath as the tears start to roll down his cheeks.

"Dad..." I say, feeling myself start to cry again. He pulls me towards him, crushing me in a tight hug. This feels so healing, for both of us. At the foot of the memorial for my birth parents, finally getting an answer about them, being able to mourn them properly, and in the comforting embrace of at least one of my adoptive parents. I wish Pepper could have been here. But I hope one day, I can bring both of them here, and share a moment with my entire family.

"Callen." we hear someone say, and we turn around to see Emory approaching us. "We have a visitor coming in."

Callen goes into high alert leader mode as he approaches him. "A ship." he says, looking like he's ready for anything.

"Not exactly."  Emory says with a smile, and considering how calm he is, I don't think we need to be concerned right now.

Suddenly something comes across the sky, causing all of us to look up. A white beam of light travels along the clouds, heading straight for the top of the hill and our home.

There's a sight I haven't seen in a while.

"She lives." Callen says, sounding just as shocked to see that as I am. I give him a confused look, wondering how long it's been since she visited last. Callen can see the silent question in my eyes. "She hasn't been back since..."

Since...?

Oh my god. Since I left? Since I last saw her. God even then that was a while before this whole thing happened. I hadn't even met Loki yet.

"She has no idea what's happened?" I ask him, though the question is kind of rhetorical since that's exactly what he was implying.

"Should we be worried, kid?" Tony says, and it's then that I turn towards the four people who have no idea what's going on and I see the concerned look on their faces.

"No, it's okay." I say, trying to keep them calm. "She's just an old friend."

"Friend?" Steve and Loki ask at the same time, almost the same look of jealousy in their eyes.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." Callen says with an amused chuckle.

We all make our way back to the town, and up the hill to our home. While it's not exactly a castle, it is definitely a bigger home and land that we have here. Mainly because we train the guards on this land. We also house those that wish to stay with us. Most do when they first begin training, but when they find a partner they usually end up finding their own place to live. We have several towns spread out, all under our protection but each with their own leadership within it. So we house and train volunteers from any of our towns as guards, and they only need to serve as long as they wish and are capable. So people come and go pretty frequently.

We head up the stairs, past the courtyard and the housing buildings, and into the main one where my family and I lived. We walk through the door and immediately see Della holding Esmond as she speaks to someone new.

I see her golden hair rest against her classic red and blue suit, and I'm suddenly forgetting the present as the memories of the past come rushing in.

They both turn around once they hear us enter and the moment she spots me she gives me that flirty smile that used to bring me to my knees...and damn, it still might.

"Carol!" I shout out, before running towards her. Her smile gets bigger as she steps forward, her arms opening up for me. And if she wasn't as strong and powerful as she is, I might have knocked her down with how hard I crash into her.

My arms are around her neck as hers wrap around my waist and I hear her let out a soft chuckle as she turns into me. "Hi Kitten." she whispers, using the nickname she gave me during her first visit when I became obsessed with her cat Goose, who technically isn't a cat.

I pull back, feeling us getting a little too close, especially considering things have changed since we last saw each other, and she has no idea about any of it.

"Callen." she says, turning and giving my brother a quick hug, definitely nowhere near the one she and I just shared. I step back feeling a little embarrassed at my reaction.

I turn back and find Steve and Loki in nearly identical poses. Both of them standing with their arms crossed over their chests, their eyes darting back and forth between Carol and I. Beside them Thor and Tony both look like they're about to burst out into laughter.

"Good to see you again Carol." Callen says.

"Would have visited sooner, if I could have." she says. Which means she tried to enter during the time I was gone, but just like when Thor and Loki tried, Revenia was blocked off.

"A lot's happened since you were last here." Callen says as he looks over at me.

"Della was filling me in on some things." Carol says, and I can hear the deep sympathy in her voice as she looks between the both of us. "I'm really sorry about your parents."

"Thank you." Callen and I say and there's a silence between us for just a moment, before Carol realizes there's people she doesn't know standing behind us.

"New friends?" she asks, curiously looking at the guys.

I turn back, realizing they've been awkwardly standing behind me often during this trip, and I appreciate their patience as they give me space while I deal with all of this. "Carol, this is Thor and Loki, they're from Asgard."

Her eyes immediately widen. "Seriously?" she says, already knowing the kind of relationship we have with the Asgardians.

"We're making peace apparently." Callen teases.

"And this is Tony and Steve." I say, knowing this news will definitely be more interesting. "They're from Earth."

"Earth?" Carol asks, definitely shocked by the news. She looks over at the guys and suddenly I see a hint of recognition in them. "Wait, Steve...as in Steve Rogers aka Captain America?"

I see Steve's shocked reaction as he suddenly gets nervous, his cheeks slightly blushing. He probably never thought he would find another person who would be shocked to find him alive after recognizing his persona from the 40's.

"Like we said, a lot has happened." I say, as I look over at Loki, and then Steve.

Carol and I had a...interesting relationship. Loki was the first person I really fell in love with, but technically, Carol is the first person I sort of dated. And I say sort of because she would leave and then come back to visit when she could so we didn't want to make anything official since we knew it was always going to be temporary. So we were never really together, but when she visited, we were kind of together.

And now...for the first time since we met, she's here, but I'm not single.

She catches the look I give Loki and Steve, and then her gaze wanders over to me, and I can see the question lingering in her eyes. 

"I think you two should catch up." Callen says, interrupting the growing silence. He turns towards Thor, Loki, Tony, and Steve. "You guys want to help prepare dinner."

"Yeah." Tony nervously says. They all looked shocked to be asked, but willing to help. Surprisingly, even Loki.

"Sure." Steve says, seeming the only one really hesitant, but I have a feeling I know why that is.

Callen starts to guide them away, and Steve shifts towards me, like he wants to approach me. But he pulls back, his eyes looking over at Carol. He wants to come over and let her know that I'm taken, but he doesn't want to overstep and maybe wants to make sure I give her that news instead. Although, it doesn't really matter now since Carol's not an idiot and she probably caught onto all of that.

When everyone leaves, some heading over to the kitchen, some of the guys heading out to do a little hunting and gathering, Carol and I head over to our common room, sitting together on the couch.

Della had already told her about the Centrelian attack on Revenia, about Callen sending me away and the death of my parents. So I fill in my side of the story. I tell her about finding Loki after she left, about the fight and Callen sending me away. Then I once again retell the story of Aubrough, ending up with the Avengers, getting my memory back, and then making my way over here. I ran through the information so fast, becoming an expert on telling the minimized version.

"Wow." Carol says, clearly not expecting to get that much information so quickly.

"Yeah." I say. If I hadn't lived it, I don't know if I would have believed it myself.

Carol reaches over, placing her hand over mine and squeezing tight. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that."

I turn my hand over, grabbing hers as I try to comfort her so she doesn't feel as bad for me. "It got me to where I am now. I'm grateful for a lot of things I have."

Carol looks down at our joined hands, a smirk coming across her face. "Like Captain America?" she says, her eyes coming up as she gives me a teasing look. "He didn't even want to leave you alone with me." she chuckles.

Oh god...I should not be enjoying this this much. "Is that jealousy Danvers?" I tease.

She laughs as she rolls her eyes, but neither confirms nor denies my question. "Is it serious?" she asks me, her eyes carefully searching mine. "Did I lose my chance with you, Kitten?" she whispers in a sultry voice, the one she knows could always make me do anything she wanted me to.

I pull my hand away, having to remind myself why we didn't work, why I could never fully give myself to her, why she never let me. "You lost your chance when you chose saving the galaxy over staying here with me."

I can see the regret in her eyes. "Mia..." she sighs out.

I put my hands up, only wanting to tease her and knowing I can't judge her at all for that decision. "I get it. It was the right choice. And you told me to move on."

"I did." she says with a soft nod. "And you did...twice."

I didn't even have to tell her about Loki, she could easily tell. Always so perceptive.

"Are you happy with him?" she asks, and I can see it's not about her being jealous anymore. It's about her being protective. I nod, knowing that all it would take was her seeing us together for a few seconds to be able to see it. She smiles, the sadness in her eyes mixing with happiness for me. "That's all I care about." she says.

"And you?" I ask, a little nervous for the answer. "Have you found someone you're willing to leave the galaxy for?"

She chuckles. "I don't have much time for that. Besides, if I was going to do it for anyone, it would have been you, Kitten." She's still flirting, she probably will for as long as I know her.

"Hey," we hear a soft voice say, and we turn to see Steve coming out of the kitchen. He looks over at me and I can see he genuinely feels bad for interrupting. "Ms. Danvers, Steve Rogers." he says, walking over to Carol and extending his hand out to her.

They shake hands and Carol continues to look at him like she can't believe he's alive. "Yeah, that's so weird." she says with a soft laugh.

"I've heard a lot about you." Steve says, nervously looking over at me. I didn't exactly tell him a lot about Carol, just enough. Maybe he asked Fury about her.

"Have you really?" she asks, looking over at me with curiosity. I know she has a handful of sarcastic comments she can make to him. But I give her a warning glare to behave. "Well I've heard a lot about you too. Not from Mia obviously but from...you know you being Captain America."

He laughs nervously, and I know it's because his past fame embarasses him a little.

"How's Revenian cooking doing?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

He sighs, like it was the toughest thing he's done. "Well I didn't burn anything, mainly because I strongly advised Della to keep me away from the actual cooking."

I laugh as I look up at him, knowing it was a little unfair of me to throw him in with people he just met and expect him to thrive in a world he's never been in before. But he tried, in order to get to know my family and to give me some time alone with Carol. And I love him for that.

I look back towards Carol and find her watching me intently. "What?" I ask, curious about the smirk on her face.

She smiles as she shakes her head. "I've just, never seen you look at someone like that." she says.

Like I said, it only takes seeing us together for a few seconds.

I clear my throat, feeling like I'm once again dealing with an ex and my current boyfriend, despite the fact that Carol and I never officially dated. "You're staying for dinner right?" I ask, and the look of indecision on Carol's face makes me nervous. "Carol, it's been so long and who knows when we're going to see you again." I've learned to accept the fact that I'll always spend less time with her than I want to. But considering I don't live on Revenia anymore, and I know for a fact she has not been back to Earth since the 90's, I think it will be even longer until I see her again. "Please."

I can see she had her mind made up, and I can also see that I just changed it. "Okay." she says with a sigh. We get up from the couch as a huge smile comes across my face, causing Carol to laugh. "I never could say no to you."

She told me from the first time we met that she wasn't going to stick around. She always warned me that what we had would be temporary. So I never actually asked her to stay with me. I can't help but wonder...

Steve clears his throat, as if he feels the need to remind us that he's still here. "Relax Captain." Carol says, giving him a playful shove. "I'm not going to try to take her from you." she chuckles as she starts to walk away. "Not that I think I could even if I wanted to."

"Do you want to?" I say in a flirty tone as I start to follow her. Steve immediately puts his arm in front of me, cutting me off before I go any further, and it causes Carol to laugh.

"She's fun isn't she." Carol says to Steve, then gives me a wink before heading into the kitchen.

I grab onto Steve's arm, wrapping it around my waist and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek, reminding him that I was just teasing him. He smiles as he holds me to his side, leaning down to kiss my lips.

"So that's Carol Danvers." he says, as he looks down at me.

"Yeah." I say, finding his jealousy over her kind of adorable.

"The first person you ever..." he stops, not wanting to say it.

"Slept with." I say, finishing his sentence. "Yup."

He knew this, but I honestly didn't talk about Carol beyond the fact that we just hooked up. So I can see how curious he is over the relationship between her and me. "There seems to be unresolved things there." he says, and more than jealousy, I can see he's more concerned over my well being. "Did you love her?" he asks, genuinely curious.

I shrug. "I could have." I reply, thinking about what could have been. "But she always kept a distance because she knew she couldn't offer me an actual relationship. When she visited she would only stay for a few days at most. Enough for me to get to know her, enough for us to know there was something there. But..." I sigh. "Not enough for her to want to stay."

I felt more than I should have for her, considering I knew she was never going to stick around. But I protected myself enough to not fall in love with her. Losing her, or I guess, never really having her, did hurt me. But not as much as it would have if I had been stupid enough to completely fall for her. Maybe if she had come back one more time, if I hadn't met Loki...who knows.

I shrug again, knowing I can't exactly blame her for the decision she made. "But how can I ask someone to choose me instead of being a hero."

Steve gives me a quick glance, before stepping in front of me and grabbing both of my hands in his. "Ask me."

I let out an amused scoff. "Steve..."

"I'm serious. Ask me." he says, almost seeming offended that I'm not taking him seriously about this.

I slide my hands against his stomach and around his waist. "You are the epitome of sacrifice to save the world and it's one of the many things I love about you. You don't have to prove anything."

He brings his hands up to my cheeks as he tilts my head back, his eyes staring intently into mine. "Ask me." he says again, this time his voice soft, comforting.

I know the type of person he is. I don't expect anything else. He's a hero. He'd sacrifice himself to save the world. And yet...

"Will you choose me?"

"Every fucking time." he whispers, before leaning in and crashing his lips to mine. He kisses me hard, as if trying to erase any preconceived idea I had of what his answer would be, and he's trying to assure me of the one he just gave me. "Wherever you go I go."

I guess in a way he kind of did do that, or at least offered to do that. Despite Earth needing him, despite knowing he could do some good and help protect the planet he was born on, he offered to live here on Revenia with me. He chose me.

I slide my hands up his chest, wrapping them around his neck as I pull him closer. His arms come around my waist, hauling me up against his body until my toes are barely touching the floor. We're laughing against our kiss, enjoying each other in this small moment of privacy that we've managed to get, the first in a while.

"Dinner's almost ready."

Steve practically jumps back, letting go of me so quickly that I nearly lose my footing and fall. We turn and find Callen glaring at us, arms crossed over his chest. A look I've been getting a lot today from several people.

Steve clears his throat, walking away from me and past Callen, quietly apologizing to him as he heads towards the kitchen.

I walk over to Callen, giving him my own death glare. "Will you stop scaring him?" I say as I give him a solid punch in the shoulder. "I kind of like this guy."

Callen looks back to where Steve disappears, rolling his eyes as he turns to face me again. "You have no idea how badly I want to hate him."

"Just because he's dating me." I scoff.

"Yes." he replies, showing no remorse for his answer. "That is my job as an older brother."

"You never hated Carol."

He shrugs his shoulders. "You and Carol never really dated."

I can't help but laugh. "So let me get this straight. Casual hookups are okay, but god forbid someone actually loves me."

He has no response, because he knows his logic doesn't make sense. "I mean, when you put it like that..."

I shake my head, wanting to be mad, but knowing I missed this banter between us. "Wait, you said you want to hate him...but you don't?"

He sighs, his demeanor changing. "At the memorial," he says, "I saw the way you turned to him for comfort, and I saw the way he helped." I remember the way he was watching us,and it's nice to know he was seeing what Steve means to me. "You really love him." he asks me, and I can see he's trying to accept this.

I nod. "We've been through a lot."

"Meaning?"

I don't think he needs details, I'd hate for him to have a grudge against Steve when I'm just getting him to like him. "We've had to fight through a lot to get to where we are." I say, thinking back to the beginning of our relationship. "Yes the usual relationship crap, doubts and fighting and exes but..." It's because of who we are, of what we do, there's been so many reasons that could have caused us to just let things go. So many things trying to keep us apart.

"But?" Callen asks, wanting to hear more.

"He risked his life to save me...twice." I say, knowing I can never repay him for that. "He nearly died the second time." I take a deep breath, hating the memory that comes up. "A few days ago I nearly..." I see Callen's brow furrow, clearly interested in the end of that sentence. But I can't tell him. Not right now. "There were so many times when I didn't think we were going to make it." I say instead. "And here we are."

Callen's eyes watch me carefully, trying to figure out what it was I didn't say, and I think he kind of knows, but he doesn't ask me about it."You're happy with him?" he asks, even though that should be obvious, but I nod anyway. He sighs, and I can see part of him giving up on the animosity he has. "I guess that's all I can ask for." he says, rolling his eyes as if he's unhappy with that idea.

I laugh, knowing that as annoying as he is, I'm enjoying having my protective big brother back. I step forward, wrapping my arms around his waist as I lean against his chest. "I missed you Callen."

He takes in a shaky breath, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. "I missed you too Mia." he says, hugging me so tight I let out an uncomfortable groan. He keeps his arm around my shoulder as we walk into the dining room.

While others finish up with dinner, a few of us start to set the table. I send Emory to go get Calista so that she can eat with us. We extend the dinner table out to accommodate the eleven of us who will be eating together.

Pretty soon the food is brought out and placed on the table. I look around at all the food that was prepared, glad that it's all things I think Tony and Steve will be able to handle since they have the least experience with food from a different planet. We obviously don't have the same animals and plants that Earth does, but it's a similar type of taste that I think they will actually like.

When everyone arrives we sit down. Callen sits at the head of the table, with Della and Esmond to his side. Besides Della sits Carol, then Emory, and then Calista. On the other side of Callen is where I am, Steve by my side followed by Tony, Thor and then Loki. Callen stands up, grabbing his glass of water and holding it up.

"I would like to say a few things." he says, gathering the attention of everyone before we start to eat. "First I want to say how grateful I am to be able to have my little sister back home. Ever since I sent her away, there wasn't a day that went by where I didn't question whether or not I did the right thing. But seeing her happy, seeing that she's found people who she loves, makes me feel a little better about the decision." His eyes meet mine and I take a shaky breath, trying to control my emotions as I smile at him. "And on that note I'd like to say thank you to Mia's new friends. Thank you for taking her in, thank you for keeping her safe, and thank you for making her happy." underneath the table I grab onto Steve's hand, squeezing tight as I take in a deep breath. "I said friends, but based on what she's told me, I guess you guys are more like her family. Which makes you guys our family."

"To family." we hear Tony say, as he raises his glass up to a toast.

"To family." everyone else says at the same time, and I can't hold back the tears anymore.

I look around at everyone gathered here, seeing my two families come together as one. I'm so happy right now, and as scared as I am for what's to come, I try to give myself a small amount of hope as I think about the day when this table will get even bigger, and everyone that I love can be here, together.

We begin to eat, and I have to walk the guys through everything we have here. They all bravely taste everything, surprised by how much they enjoy most of it. And we get a bit of a laugh at the things they don't really enjoy. I can admit some of the Revenian traditional dishes are even a little too much for me. But we all laugh and talk, the two sides getting to know each other more.

Calista tries to flirt with Loki, but the nervousness he shows lets her know that he's not really interested. I almost wish he would have indulged her a bit, thinking that maybe even just flirting with someone will help him move forward. But Calista just moves onto Thor, who is actually recently single and highly enjoys the attention.

Once we're finished we all help clear the table, and then head into the common room to continue to talk with each other. But before we can even get comfortable, Carol tells us that she has to get going, and I can tell she had to go before dinner, but stayed just to make me happy. 

"You can't stay for one more day?" I ask her, hoping to be able to get her again.

"No, I need to get going." she says, and I can see she wants to talk herself out of it, but she needs to get back to saving the world. "I'd really only come down here to make sure everything was okay." She gives Della a hug goodbye, shaking Esmond's little hand before going and hugging Callen.

"We appreciate your concern over us." Callen says as they pull apart.

"You're doing good Callen. I know none of this has been easy, but your people are safe and happy. That's a reflection of a great leader."

He smiles, and I can tell he's doubted himself a lot throughout this whole thing. "Thank you Carol."

She steps closer to me and I can see that same sad smile on her, the one she would give every time she had to leave. I give her a tight hug, hoping that it isn't too long before I see her again.

"Don't look so upset, Kitten." she whispers into my ear. "I promise to go visit you on Earth."

"Good." I say as I pull away. "I know Fury will be happy to see you."

She grabs onto my chin, tilting my head up as she gives me a small pout. "You're not going to be happy to see me?"

"Hey!" Steve calls out, drawing a line at her touching me like that.

Carol let's me go holding her hands up in a defensive pose. I can't help but chuckle, turning to Steve and blowing him a kiss so he knows he's still my number one.

"You just had to be in a happy relationship didn't you?" Carol says as she rolls her eyes at us.

"Yeah, can't exactly apologize for that." I say.

She gives me a smirk before turning towards Steve. "Hey," she says, getting his attention. "If I ever find her single, you're not getting her back."

Steve's mouth drops open, probably shocked that she would even admit that and I have to press my lips together to stop the stupid grin that wants to come out. 

"He's not the only one you'll have to fight to get her." Loki says, establishing his presence as next in line.

Carol looks Loki over, trying to analyze the threat level. "I like those odds." she says, giving me a playful smile. "Take care of yourself Mia."

"You too Carol." I say, taking one last shaky breath in before she turns around, heading to the balcony and then lifting off into the sky, leaving a trail of light behind her until it disappears.

"You enjoyed all of that way too much." Steve whispers into my ear, and I laugh as I turn around wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down so I can give him a quick kiss of comfort. I know I flirt a lot, but he knows by now that he has nothing to worry about.

"Excuse me." Callen says, walking right in between us and forcing us to separate.

I see Steve get nervous again, almost like he forgot that he was supposed to be careful around Callen. I chuckle as I grab his hand, walking him back to the common room where everyone starts to sit and talk.

Callen and Thor continue to chat about Revenia and Asgard, both of them educating the other and trying to build that bridge between both worlds. Calista, Emory and Della talk with Steve and Tony, all of them exchanging stories about me, most of them causing me to roll my eyes at them.

I turn and see Loki alone, not really wanting to join either group as he wanders around the room, looking at all the different artifacts scattered around; some paintings of my family, of the leaders before us, past battles. Some just things from different worlds that have been gifted to us. He seems to be intrigued, but I can't help but feel bad that he's alone.

"Emory." I say, pulling him to the side so I can talk to him. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"My friend Loki..." I say, pointing in his general direction. "Can you try to talk to him, just to loosen him up a little."

Emory doesn't even look over as he nervously clears his throat. "The Asgardian?" he says, as if I didn't just say Loki's name.

I give him a knowing look, letting him know that he's not fooling me. "Say what you want but...I've seen you looking."

Emory and Loki exchanged quick glances through the entire dinner. I don't even think they noticed they were doing it. But it was clear that the most interesting thing they found at that table was each other.

A shocked expression comes across his face, and I wonder if it's because he didn't think he was really doing it, or if he didn't think anyone noticed."I think you two would really hit it off." I say.

Despite the fact that he can't deny he's interested, he still gives me a curious glance. "Isn't he your ex boyfriend?"

"You have my full blessing. And as my ex-boyfriend I happen to know what he likes." I say in a playful tone. "You and I are friends because we're a lot alike." I know Loki and Emory would like each other if they gave it a chance. Not sure if they can actually make anything of it, but even a new friendship could do Loki good.

"Revenians and Asgardians don't exactly mix." Emory says, and I can tell he's trying to convince himself of this more than me. Because obviously I know otherwise.

"That's changing." I say as I signal towards where Callen and Thor are still talking. "Besides, he and I made it work. And if Callen hadn't sent me away, we would still be together." Emory looks over at Loki, his eyes full of curiosity. Because I can tell he's interested, he's just letting our past perceptions of these guys hold him back. "Just go talk to him. And if it goes somewhere then it goes somewhere. I just don't want him to be alone."

He hesitates, but he eventually caves into it. He goes to where the drinks are and pours two glasses of our alcohol, a little stronger than Earth's, but nothing Loki can't handle. I watch as he goes over to him, extending the drink out before Loki even realizes he's at his side. Loki eyes lock with Emory's, a bit of surprise passing through him before he looks down at the drink Emory's holding out to him. He takes it, giving Emory a nervous smile before they both turn and look at the painting Loki was in front of. Emory starts talking to him about it and I turn away, leaving them to do their thing.

Eventually the groups shift, Loki and Emory still off talking on their own, Calista goes home to get some rest and Thor joins the others while Callen and I step away to talk on our own.

"Can I ask you something?" I say, prompting Callen to nod. "What happened after I left?" I ask. I know hearing this is going to be hard, but I need to know, in case I don't get another chance to ask. "How did you get them to leave?"

Callen sighs, the memory clearly still hard for him. "After both our parents were dead and you were gone, our people knew how close we were to losing everything." His jaw tightens. "You know they're not warriors and I would have never asked them to risk their lives to protect Revenia, because that's our job as its leaders. I mean we're literally gifted with powers to do just that." He takes a breath, trying not to get riled up by the memory. "But they stepped up. And once their general, Zaros, knew he was outnumbered, they retreated."

"Senkalth?" I ask, knowing it's not like their king to retreat from a battle, even if his army was getting killed.

Callen shakes his head. "Had already left. He thought victory was imminent and he left Zaros in charge to finish it. I'm sure he wasn't too happy to hear that he failed."

"I can't imagine Senkalth letting Zaros live after that." I say, suddenly remembering something Velaria said to me. Your death will be what I need to prove myself to my king. "That explains..."

"Explains what?" Callen asks, his eyes intently on me. He knows I'm keeping something from him, he's practically begging me to tell him.

"Why they left." I say, keeping the conversation on what happened here. "Senkalth would have never given up."

I can see the disappointment on Callen's face, but he lets it go. "I agree." he says. "That's why we put the barrier up immediately. Just in case they decided to come back."

They're going to try and come here, but just getting close they'll be able to tell the original family is still alive just by the energy this planet gives off. I doubt she'll think it's Callen, she wouldn't have gone to find me if she thought he was still alive. Which means if she goes back to Earth, if she ends up finishing what she started with me, she's going to come down here. "What if they decide to come back now that the barrier is down?" I say, needing to know they're going to be protected in case I fail to stop her on Earth.

"In the time we were blocked off we've made technological advancement to help detect anything that gets near us. We'll see them coming and be fully prepared. They won't catch us off guard again." Callen says, clearly having thought it through. Of course he did. He's smart and tactical. I know this world is in good hands. "Besides, after Revenia granted Della her powers, there's no chance we'll lose."

Della! Of course. Now that they're married she becomes part of the leading family. Which means the planet would have given her powers to help protect it and the people.

"She kicked ass without them, I can only imagine what she can do with them." I say as I look over at her. "What did she get?"

A huge smile comes across Callen's face, and I can see how proud he is of his wife. "Sweetheart." he says, looking towards her. "Mia wants to see the powers you were gifted after we got married."

Della gets up from the couch, shifting Esmond in her hands. "Steve, can you hold him please." she says, handing Esmond off to Steve who, while caught off guard, takes him and sits him on his lap. Esmond looks up at Steve, a little nervous to be handed off to a stranger. But after a few seconds, after sensing the energy around him, he happily calms down.

Della steps away from everyone, heading towards the end of the room. And it's then that I notice there's part of the floor that's different from the rest of the room. It's a large rectangle with what looks like a regular ground floor separated from the concrete around it. Della steps inside of it, standing in the middle. She holds her hands out beside her, palms facing down as she starts to crouch until she touches the ground beneath her. Suddenly she lifts her hands up, pieces of the ground beneath her following the motion and lifting off the floor and into the air.

Esmond, still on Steve's lap, claps his hands and I have a feeling Della does this to entertain him all the time.

She lowers her hands back down, the ground following her and settling into place. 

"She could rearrange a whole mountain if she wanted to." Callen says, watching his wife like she's the most amazing thing in the world. Della comes over to him, leaning down to give him a quick kiss.

"Definitely not worried anymore." I say as I watch them. And I'm so grateful that Callen has someone here. I'm glad he wasn't alone when having to deal with losing our parents.

"What powers do you have, Callen?" Tony asks, now that we're on the subject.

"Mine are similar to Mia's in the sense of energy creation. But mine are used to create weapons." Callen extends his hand out, a pulse of energy coming through. Unlike my force fields which are practically clear, Callen's energy comes out as a dark gray color as he forms a sword.

"Does that mean Esmond has powers too?" Steve asks, his eyes looking down at my nephew as they both get more comfortable with each other. He's lifting his hand to get a high five from him, both of them repeating the gesture like it's a game.

"He will." I say, answering the question. "They develop when we're older and are more capable of understanding how we're supposed to use them." I can't take my eyes off of them, a huge smile on Steve's face as Esmond giggles at him.

"Seriously, Mia, give that man a kid already." Della says, catching everyone's attention.

"No." Callen immediately replies.

"Don't say that." Tony says, almost at the exact same time.

"Don't even put that energy out there."

"They're not even married yet."

"It's way too soon."

I mean...I agree with them but they don't have to seem so offended by it. "Tell me how you really feel." I say with a chuckle.

Della laughs as she rubs Callen's shoulder before stepping away from him and heading back to Steve and Esmond. "Well, it's way past this guy's bedtime." she says as he reaches down for him. "I'm going to put him to bed." Esmond whines as he's pulled from Steve's arms, and the sound makes Steve flinch, like he can't stand the thought of this kid being sad.

I stand up, making my way over and taking a seat next to him on the couch. "Are you pouting?" I tease, finding his whole reaction adorable. "Baby fever Rogers?"

He chuckles, a small blush coming across his cheeks. "Maybe someday." he admits as he turns to look at me. "For now I just want you."

He said just the right thing.

I slide my hand behind his neck, pulling him down until our lips meet. Now more than ever I know I want a future with this man. I want everything with him.

"Seriously Mia!" Callen calls out

"Come on kid!" Tony shouts, both of them protesting our kiss.

"Oh for fuck's sake." I say, standing up and then sitting back down onto Steve's lap, tilting his head back and crashing my lips onto his. Steve chuckles against my kiss, but he doesn't pull away. Instead he wraps his arms around my waist, apparently deciding that kissing me is better than being liked by my brother.

Della comes back and we all talk for a little longer. I stay on Steve's lap the entire time, proving my point and he gladly holds me there.

But pretty soon I can see those of us on a different sleep schedule seriously start to feel the fatigue hit.

"You guys look tired. I think we should call it a night." Callen says as he watches me practically start to fall asleep on Steve's shoulder.

"We've set up some of our guest rooms for you guys to sleep in." Dells says as she stands up.

Emory says his goodbyes and I can't help but notice Loki looks a little sad to see him go. He may still be trying to get over me, but I can tell there's part of him that finally understands he can feel something for someone else. Maybe it'll just be friendship, maybe it'll just be casual, but as long as he sees that the possibility is there.

Callen and Della walk us through the halls, dropping Thor and Loki off at two rooms across from each other. We keep going until we reach what was once my room.

"Mia, obviously you have your room and Steve, we have a room down the hall over there." Callen says, and I can't help but roll my eyes at him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Callen. He's staying with me." I say, knowing he seriously needs to grow up about this.

Callen shakes his head. "There's no need. We have plenty of spare rooms." he says, purposefully acting like he's doing this out of convenience for us and not because he doesn't want us sleeping together.

I narrow my eyes at him. "But Callen, if he's in another room how are we supposed to have sex?"

"Jesus Mia." Steve says, looking behind him like he should get ready to run.

Callen looks like he's about to explode as he turns towards Tony, almost like he's asking for advice on how to handle this.

And Tony understands the cry for help. "Yes, she does this all the time. No, you never get used to it. Your best option is to live in denial about it."

I throw my head back laughing, although I can't deny I do feel kind of bad for making this so hard on them. "Goodnight Callen. Goodnight dad." I say, opening the door and grabbing Steve's hand as I pull him with me.

"He's literally going to kill me." Steve says when he closes the door behind him. I see our bag already on my bed along with some extra blankets for us.

"He's harmless...most of the time at least." I say, and I take a moment to look around. Nothing changed. It's clear they only ever came in here to clean considering it's not all dusty. But other than that it's untouched.

"This is the room you grew up in?" Steve asks as he looks around.

"It's changed over the years but yeah essentially." I say, and as much as I want to spend some time here, particularly on the bed, there's something else he desperately needs to see. "Come here, I want to show you something." I say, grabbing one of the blankets and then his hand as I drag him towards the double doors that lead out to the balcony. I open them up and before us is a sight that I have desperately missed.

"Wow." Steve gasps out, eyes wide like he can't believe what he's seeing. One of our moons is so close you'd think it was crashing into us. Hundreds of thousands of stars are scattered across a sky of blues and purples. And off in the distance one of the highest mountains in Revenia sits, a large waterfall cascading down the edge as the water is illuminated to look like it's glowing. 

I close the doors, then lay the blanket on the floor for us. "Sit." I say, crouching down as I lean back onto the door. Steve joins me down here, and I lean my head against his shoulder as we enjoy the sight just over my balcony.

"I can't believe this was your view every night." he says, his eyes still searching around, finding new things to look at.

"Not every night." I say. "This only happens once a moon cycle." If this was my view every night, I don't think I would have ever slept.

"Like once a month?" Steve asks.

"In a sense." I say. "We measure time a little differently here. It's a little longer than a month but the same concept."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, watching as the lights across the sky shift, giving us a new view every few seconds. It's like the aurora borealis back on earth, except the lines of the lights are as defined, and they're more scattered around. But just like the beauty of the aurora borealis the first time I saw it, I truly can't believe this is real.

"Can I ask you something?" Steve says, breaking the silence between us. "When you first met Esmond..." he pauses and I tilt my head back to look at him. "I mean I know not all kids get shy of new people but, he practically threw himself at you. Like he knew exactly who you were to him or like he already knew you."

I know that must have looked a little odd to the others, but he has no idea how natural it is for us. "Give me your hand." I say, holding mine out to him and he places his palm over mine "Focus on just our touch." I give him a few seconds, letting the silence surround us so there's no distractions and then I push an energy pulse into his hand.

I feel him slightly flinch, caught off guard by it. It's not the same as my force field pulse, which he's used to. And it's why his brow furrows in confusion. "What was that?"

I smile as I shift my hand, interlocking our fingers together. "Our connection. Everyone here in Revenia...everything here in Revenia is connected. Some people have stronger connections than others and therefore will feel that surge of energy a little stronger. Esmond may not have known who I was at first, but he felt our connection, and he knew he was just as safe with me as he was with his parents. He could feel we were family."

"Esmond did that against my arm." he says, as if suddenly realizing it. "I thought I was just nervously twitching or something but..."

"He was testing you." I say with a smile, "He calmed down as soon as he felt you were a good person and he was safe with you."

Steve smiles, as if getting Esmond's acceptance means the world to him. "You've never shown me that before." he says with curiosity in his eyes.

"I can only do it here." I say with a small shrug. "The energy that flows through this planet is what connects us. It's unlike any other place."

That's what makes it so desirable to others. That's why it's so important for us to protect and preserve this world. If it falls into the wrong hands, Revenia will die off. If it isn't respected and cared for the way it cares for us, then it won't do it anymore. Those who try to take over don't ever understand that. They think it's just something to take over, a place that will just give them powers. They don't ever think about the fact that, if you let Revenia die, the powers will die with it.

I look out to my beautiful world, knowing I would do anything to protect it. It's what I was born and raised to do. I only hope I don't mess things up.

I look back up at Steve, finding him watching me carefully. "What?" I ask him.

He shakes his head as if to say nothing, but answers anyway. "You just look so happy to be home."

"I am." I say, cuddling closer to him. "But honestly I think I'm mostly happy knowing they're okay here. I mean I came in so convinced that my entire family was gone. But I still have Callen and Della, and now Esmond. And after everything that happened, everyone here seems to be thriving under his rule." I sigh, knowing it was such a weight off my shoulders knowing they weren't going to depend on me. I would have done anything they needed in order to help. But I know myself, I'm not the leader Revenia deserves. But Callen is. "Although I can't lie, it feels so good to be able to see this again." I smile, watching the colors reflect off the sky and to the ground, the whole world illuminated.

"I'd still do it." Steve says, prompting me to look back up at him with curiosity.

"Do what?" I ask.

"I know you no longer feel obligated to stay but, if you still wanted to...I'd stay here with you."

After the panic we went through just thinking about the possibility, I'm surprised to hear him say that. "Really?"

He nods, no trace of uncertainty in his eyes. "I just want you to be happy."

He really means that. He'd shift his entire life to make me happy. "I love you." I say, sliding my hand along his cheek and leaning in to press my lips to his. "And I appreciate the thought but...as much as I love being back, when I think about my life and my future, it's back home, on Earth."

I can see his eyes searching mine, trying to find any hint that I may be hiding my true feelings just to make him happy. "Are you sure?" he asks.

"Yeah." I say, linking my arm around his as I rest my head back on his shoulder. "Besides, I think I'd miss Bucky too much."

"Oh really?" he says, shifting himself so that he leans over me as his hands reach for my sides. "You'd miss Bucky too much." he repeats in a mocking voice, pinching my sides and making me laugh as he presses my back onto the blanket.

He covers my mouth with his, kissing me softly, lovingly, allowing us to share a romantic moment under this beautiful night sky.

I slide my hands up his arms, shoulders, neck and into his arm, fisting my fingers into his hair and pulling him closer to me. He lets out a deep groan, his hands gripping my hips as he holds me in place.

"We should...head back inside...we're tired..." he says in between kisses, and I think he's trying to talk himself out of going any further than this.

"Okay." I say, knowing he's nervous about my brother being in the same building, despite the fact that his room, and all the others, are too far to hear anything.

He gets up, extending his hand out to me to help me off the ground. We pick up the blanket and take one last look at the beautiful night sky before heading back in.

I set the blanket on the bed, grabbing our bag and rummaging through it to try and find our pajamas. I turn and find Steve leaning against the double doors, his eyes taking me in as he has an internal battle with himself. The man is hungry, always is, but he doesn't know if he should go through with what he really wants to do.

I walk over to him, giving him a knowing smile before grabbing onto his shirt and pulling his lips down to mine.

He doesn't hesitate, his mouth moving against me hard and needy. "Mia..." Steve whispers, before wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to his body. I start to tug him towards the bed. "Maybe we shouldn't..." he says, his hands betraying his words as they slide down over the curve of my ass, squeezing as he pulls our hips together.

"Okay." I say, turning us so that I can push him against the bed. He leans back, shifting up the bed to give me room to climb on. I straddle his hips, and he reaches up, sliding his hand behind my neck and tugging me back down to him. He kisses me hard and desperate, his tongue slipping in between my lips.

"Maybe...out of respect for you brother." he says, really trying to be a good person.

I kind of feel bad that he's feeling guilty over this so I pull away, giving him a soft smile. "If you're really not comfortable, we don't have to do this." I reassure him.

He bites down on his bottom lip. He wants to do this, I can feel underneath me how bad he wants to do this. But he still nervously looks at the door.

I don't want him to feel so conflicted, so I start to get off of him hoping that he understands it's really okay. But he immediately grabs onto my hips, pulling me back down on top of him. He pushes and pulls my hips, grinding me against him as he throws his head back, letting out a deep groan.

I think he's decided, so I lean back down and start kissing him again. I bring my hands down, sliding them underneath his shirt, pushing it up as I run my fingers along his stomach. Steve sits up slightly, just enough so I can pull his shirt off of him.

"What if he hears us and comes in here..." Steve says, looking nervously towards the door to see if it's locked.

"He's not going to hear us." I say, turning his head back to me as I kiss him. "I've had sex with Carol many times here, trust me we're good."

Steve's hand comes up to my shoulder, pushing me back as he gives me an annoyed glare. "Yeah, not exactly making me feel better about this."

"What?" I ask innocently, reaching up and pacing my hand over his. "You don't like the thought of me with another woman?" I tease, grinding my hips against his erection as I slide his hand up and around my neck "Not your kind of kink Cap." I whisper, pressing my fingers over his and against my throat.

There's a rumble deep in Steve's chest before he suddenly moves, wrapping one arm around my waist as he flips us around so that he's now on top of me. "The thought of anyone else touching you like this drives me fucking crazy." he says, as his hand slides down over my chest, gently kneading my breast as his lips replace his fingers against my throat. He grazes his teeth against my skin as he grinds into me. "You're mine Mia."

I moan, practically panting with need. "So take what's yours Cap."

Steve pulls back, and I no longer see any hesitancy in his eyes. He reaches down, pulling my shirt up and above my head. I reach down, undoing his belt and the button of his pants. Steve gets up off the bed pulling off his pants and briefs so that he's completely naked for me. He leans back over me, hands at my hips as he pulls my pants down my legs, tossing them on the floor. He starts to kiss my stomach, my ribs, working his way up as his hand dips between my legs.

He moans once he feels how wet I am, sliding his fingers against my entrance, collecting it and dragging it up until he can rub it against my clit. He settles himself in between my legs, and while on his knees he slips one arm underneath me, lifting me off the bed until I'm straddling his lap.

He lifts me up, grabbing his cock and placing himself at my entrance. I sink down on top of him, both of us gasping as I take him in as deep as I can. I start grinding my hips, letting him slide in and out of me.

Steve reaches up and unhooks my bra, pulling it off of me. He leans in, placing his mouth over my nipple, sucking and teasing as I continue to move. He shifts over to the other one, giving it just as much attention. Slide my hand into his hair, gripping tight as pull his head back, and crash my lips onto his. I kiss him hard, our moans intertwining into each other as I lift up and down, his hands at my hips to help me.

We keep going like this, bodies pressed together, his mouth on mine, on my neck, shoulders, any part that he can reach as my hips grind, push, move in circles on top of him. 

"Mia..." Steve pants, and I can tell he's getting close. Every push and pull of my hips has us moaning out in pleasure. His grip on my hips tightens as he moves me faster, harder against him.

"Steve...fuck...I'm gonna..." I'm so close...it's so good...

"Come on Mia...come on my cock baby."

I cry out, completely coming apart as I lean back, Steve's hands on my waist catching me. I continue to grind against him, riding out my orgasm and squeezing Steve until he suddenly pulls me to his chest, letting out a guttural groan as his hips jerk up and he comes inside of me.

With my arms wrapped around his neck and his around my waist we're both holding onto each other, completely out of breath as we come down from such a high. When I can finally lift my head up off his shoulder I bring his gaze to me watching the euphoric post sex state he's in. I smile as I lean down, kissing him gently.

Once we can finally think again we officially get ready for bed, knowing the time difference is literally torturing us right now. But we can't be too mad considering we chose sex over immediate sleep.

We lay in bed, not even bothering to put on our pajamas anymore and just sleep naked. I'm laying on his chest, not being able to really sleep with something still on my mind. I can hear Steve's steady breathing, and I know he's tired, but considering he's still caressing my arm, I know he's not out yet.

"I haven't told Callen," I say, my hand sliding along his stomach. "About Velaria."

"Why not?" Steve asks, no judgment in his voice, but just an opening to allow me to talk.

"Because I know he's just going to panic about the whole thing." I say, knowing either way I'm going to feel guilty about this. "Maybe even try to leave here and help."

"And you don't want that." Steve says, saying the words that I won't.

"Our people need him." I say. "He can't just leave with our guards to fight a battle on another planet. It would be repeating the past all over again."

Steve shifts so he's on his side and he can look me in the eyes. "He's your brother Mia. Of course he's going to want to help protect you."

"Exactly." I say, knowing that's my whole problem. "Which is why I don't feel like I can tell him." I hate lying to him, and I know he's going to hate me when he finds out. Even more so if I don't make it out of this alive. "Is that horrible of me?"

"You have the right intentions." Steve says as he slides his hand up my cheek in a comforting touch. "And honestly, you're the only one who can truly know what to do here. This is your home world, your people, your brother. I know you said you don't think you'd make a great leader but listen to what you just told me. Despite knowing that someone is coming after you and knowing your brother and the guards here would be more protection for you, you're putting him and your home first. No matter what that may mean for you." I can see how hard this is for him. Because if he wanted to be selfish he would encourage me to tell Callen the truth so that we would have more people on Earth defending me. But he won't make that decision for me. "Trust that you know what's best, even if it feels like the wrong thing to do because you're keeping something from your brother."

I could be wrong. I could be making a huge mistake. But this is the decision I'm making. For the sake of keeping my brother and my people safe, even if it means my life.

—----------------------------------------------------

Alright!

Not to alarm anyone but...I think I only have 2 chapters left of this story. A lot is about to happen lol.

Quick PSA to anyone who didn't catch it in the comments, the casting in my head for Callen and Della are Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.

With the end in mind I want to start putting ideas out there for the next story but I really want to know what you guys think. I had already posted some songs on my instagram for the next stories, and only recently revealed what character's they're about. But now I'm going to post a synopsis for each story. I don't know how exactly I'm going to make the decision, but I'm thinking, comment on the ones you like and the one with the most comments will win. I'll revisit this in the next chapter as well but I just want to put these out there so you guys can start to think about them.

Future stories synopsis:

"I'm Not Yours"
What started as an interview for a low level position at S.H.I.E.L.D. ended up with Cali Bennet placed in a trial-based job with the Avengers. But trying to keep up with these literal super heroes isn't going to be her biggest challenge. The biggest threat to her sanity is the two super soldiers she finds herself caught in the middle of. What starts as friends with benefits with one, ends up as a really good time with both. But it's all fun and games, until it isn't. What happens when people start wanting more? When sharing isn't enough for anyone. When feelings start to cross and things become much more than casual. Can Cali figure out what her heart really wants before someone gets hurt? Or will love and desire cost her her dream job, or worse, come between two best friends?

"Wildest Winter"
After meeting out on the battlefield, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Ivy Adams can't seem to get Bucky Barnes out of her head. Especially because he's the only reason she made it out of that mission alive. And after Tony Stark and Steve Rogers offer her a chance to join the team, things only intensify when she ends up living in the same house as him...and in the room next to his. But, despite a seemingly mutual connection there's one thing holding her back; her relationship to a fellow agent. She's determined to remain faithful, he's determined to respect her relationship. But every moment they spend together blurs the line they're trying so hard to keep between them. Can they resist the temptation, or are they willing to risk the consequences in order to give in to it all?

"Cruel Summer"
After a less than favorable first encounter at a bar one thing is very clear; Steve Rogers and Aria Mitchell do not get along. So imagine his surprise when he finds her at his job the next morning as a newly hired mission analyst for the Avengers. He can't stand her sexually actively lifestyle, she hates his highly moral demeanor, but despite the constant bickering between them, they can't seem to stay away from each other. Can they put aside their differences for the sake of the team, or will their inability to admit their true feelings push them to a point of no return.

"Then There's You"
One last mission. Avery Harper promised her boss one last mission, big enough to pay her what she needs to get out of this lifestyle she fell into at a very young age. Unfortunately that mission gets interrupted when mercenary Marc Spector, and inadvertently his other half Steven Grant, gets involved. Soon Avery realizes that she underestimated just how dangerous this job was. Now she's forced to work together with Marc and Steven in order to at least stay alive while still trying to finish her mission. Steven Grant is kind and caring to her. Falling for him was easy. Marc Spector clearly wishes they had never even met. Being near him is difficult. And along with fighting to survive, she also has to fight her heart, and the hard realization that she wants them both, even if they don't both want her.

"Make Me"
Ever since her mom passed away when she was younger, Lily Campos has been struggling to make ends meet. So in order to avoid having to live in her car for the next few months, she has agreed to take the temporary job as a live-in housekeeper for the best-selling murder novelist Harlan Thrombey. It seems like a decent enough job, she's definitely done worse ones, and she'll get to work alongside her best friend Marta. But an easy job turns difficult when she meets Harlan's grandson Hugh Ransom Drysdale, a man who's arrogance and entitlement immediately clashes with Lily's grounded, work based mentality. She quickly realizes how much she hates him. And even worse, how much she can't stop thinking about him. Lily knows she needs to tread carefully, because she needs this job, but Ransom has made it his sole mission to get on her last nerve and make her quit.