"Why are all Asgardians so stubborn?" Tony muttered as he walked next to Steve, his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he looked at the woman in the blond's arms.
Steve stole a look at him but said nothing as he continued walking to the woman's room. Only Tony and Pepper had joined him. The others had left, and he had briefly heard Natasha announcing that they had some things to discuss.
"You must not blame her," Pepper muttered as she looked at the gardener. "She is just desperate. It is obvious that she cared for him very much."
"How could she?" Steve murmured as he looked at the Asgardian in his arms. "Loki has killed many people, how could she feel the way she does?"
"She has been my gardener for the last fifteen years," Tony answered, "we don't know if she actually knows what Loki has done."
"How could she not?" he raised an eyebrow. "She was in New York when it had happened."
"Could we not try to justify her feelings?" Pepper exclaimed, her eyes wide as they reached the Asgardian's room. "We have more important problems than Zoë's feelings."
The two men turned their heads to her, but the blonde only rolled her eyes at them. Without saying anything else, she opened the door leading to the gardener's room and gestured to them to get inside. Steve got in first, closely followed by Tony and lastly Pepper herself.
The blond laid her on the couch and proceeded to raise her legs up in the air, so that some blood would return to her brain. They waited for some time, and finally, she seemed to be waking up.
Zoë let out a soft groan and slowly, she opened her eyes. The first person she saw was Steve and then Pepper and Tony, all smiling at her. She could not tell if their smile was one of relief or not.
"What happened?" she asked as Steve let her legs fall on the couch. The woman immediately tried to push herself up, but before she could actually do it, Tony pushed her back down on the couch.
"Now, Flowergirl, you are not going anywhere." She tried to protest but Tony shot her a look. "You are not fainting again on my watch."
Zoë let out a sigh. "I fainted, then?"
Pepper and Tony exchanged a look. "Zoë, there was really nothing you could do-"
"Odin said that I could," she cut in as she closed her eyes. "He said that I had the power to do it. I just have to try again-"
"You are doing nothing of the sort!" Tony protested. "Who knows what might happen to you if you try again!"
"Zoë, I am sure that you hate the fact that you couldn't bring Loki back," Pepper mumbled, "but you really can't try again. Not so soon, at least. Give it a day or two, and then you could try again."
Tony shot her a look, but the woman said nothing as she simply looked at her gardener. Steve just stood there, simply listening in their conversation. Meanwhile, Zoë let out a sigh.
"I don't want to wait," she muttered. "But something did happen."
"Flowergirl, nothing really-"
"Mr Stark, I know that something happened," she cut in as she closed her eyes. "I saw memories. Memories of my time with him. Just before I passed out, though, I saw a memory that was not mine. It was a memory of his I had not been in. I saw the way he died!"
The three mortals exchanged looks full of disbelief. Zoë, even with her eyes closed, could understand that they did not believe her. Perhaps she had imagined the memories? But how could she? After all, she had not known the way he had died.
"Zoë, I believe you have to rest," Pepper murmured after some time.
The Asgardian opened her eyes immediately. "I am fine, I don't need to-"
"Flowergirl," Tony cut in, "sleep. Take some rest."
Zoë protested no more. She watched as Steve, Tony and Pepper left the room, the latter sending her a smile before closing the door. The blonde let out a sigh as she turned around so that she was not facing the door and closed her eyes, in hopes of sleeping.
Perhaps that was all she needed to clear her head from things. Perhaps, after sleeping, she would be able to think of a way to actually bring her beloved back.
"Seeing memories," Pepper mumbled, "I doubt that she would make that up."
"She would not make anything up," Tony shook his head. "She just needs to rest for a bit."
"And then what?" Steve asked. "She will try to find a way to revive Loki again, and in all honesty, I do not know if I want him alive. He was the man that had killed eighty people in New York some years ago."
"Perhaps he is different now?" Pepper suggested, but as soon as she noticed the looks of disbelief on the men's faces, she shook her head. "Maybe not."
"It's only been some years," Steve shook his head, "how could one's character change so drastically?"
"Thor still believes in him, doesn't he?" Pepper pointed out. "That's got to mean something."
"Yeah, it means that he is a lunatic," Tony shook his head. "Let us forget about Loki for some time."
Steve nodded in agreement as they got to the room Zoë had mourned Loki in just the previous night. The rest of the team was there.
"How is she?" Rocket asked as he hopped on Rhodey's lap. The man looked at the animal in bewilderment, but said nothing.
"She will be fine," Steve assured him, "she is just sleeping. She needs some rest."
"Good, that means that we can actually talk without her around," Natasha spoke up. "Does anyone know how she got exiled?"
"You still don't know?" Bruce asked as he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Bruce, don't," Tony intervened. "She will tell them if she wants to."
"Come on, Tony, we've got to know who she is," Rhodey protested.
"You really don't."
"Come on Stark, get on with it," Natasha huffed. "Just tell us."
Tony pursed his lips but said nothing. Pepper frowned, but it was Bruce who actually replied.
"If I do tell you, you'll stop being so suspicious of her," he said, no hint of a question in his voice. His decision was final. Slowly, those who did not know nodded. The doctor decided to actually let them know.
"Her father, after killing her mother and brother, tried to kill her, and she killed him on accident as she tried to defend herself," he mumbled.
"Her father had been drunk," Tony supplied, and the doctor nodded in response.
"Her king thought that she was dangerous, and so, he banished her from Asgard."
Those in the room did not speak as Bruce stopped talking. Steve was the first to react in some way.
"We have to apologise," he shook his head, "she did not deserve such treatment from us."
"We would have understood her struggles if she revealed why she had been exiled," Rhodey mumbled. "You are right, though. We shouldn't have been so quick to judge."
"How do we know that was she claims is true?" Natasha asked. "We have nothing but her word. How can we be sure that she is not lying?"
Pepper shook her head. "I don't think she would lie-"
"She kept her identity a secret for years, and you don't believe she could lie?" Natasha cut in. There was no response from those in the room, until Tony shook his head.
"She seemed genuine," he mumbled. "We'll just have to take her word for that."
There was some silence, until Rocket jumped off of Rhodey's lap and on a nearby table, landing just next to a chessboard.
"Am I the only hungry one here?"
A small smile appeared on Pepper's lips, and without saying anything, she left the room. Rhodey followed just behind her. Bruce, Natasha, Steve, Tony and Rocket were left in the room, once again silent.
"Well, since we are all here," Bruce mumbled as he looked from Tony to Steve and then Natasha, "what happened while I was gone?"
"It's quite complicated," Natasha muttered as she looked at Tony and Steve.
"About that," Tony cleared his throat, "I've been meaning to ask you. Are we fine?"
"We are fine, yes," Steve nodded without thinking much about it.
"I made some sandwiches," Pepper's voice was heard as she got closer. A small smile was on her lips as she walked in holding a plate full of sandwiches. Rhodey followed just behind her, holding a plate full of food as well.
"Perfect," Rocket exclaimed as soon as he saw the food. The blonde, with a kind smile, gave him a sandwich. He started eating immediately.
"I was indeed very hungry," Bruce said as he grabbed some food. "Thank you, Pepper."
"Rhodey helped too," the woman smiled.
"Well, you did most of the work," Rhodey smiled back as he let Tony have a sandwich.
Once again, they all fell silent. Even if the time of conflict had passed for the time being, they could not relax fully. Not when they could feel the absence of others that should had been there with them.
Rocket missed his friends, even if Thor was nice and the others had not been hostile with him. Steve could not help but think about Bucky, how he had probably lost him forever. Rhodey missed Sam, his companion in the air that he had lost. All Tony did was remember the kid he had dragged into this mess he called his life, how he had vanished in his arms.
They all missed Wanda, Vision and even T'Challa, with whom they had not shared much, but who had proved a loyal ally. They would all be missed and remembered, that was for sure.
"How come you are so silent?"
They all turned to the voice, only to see Zoë some ways behind Pepper and Tony. There was no smile on the woman's lips, she just looked at them. Without saying anything, Pepper offered her a sandwich, but the Asgardian shook her head.
"I am not hungry," she mumbled, "thank you for the offer, though."
"Zoë, would you like to play a game of chess with me?" Bruce asked as he gestured to the chessboard.
The blonde seemed like she was about to decline, but she thought over his suggestion again. What harm could a game of chess do? It would actually help her get her mind off of things, and she did not have anything interesting to do. And so, she nodded.
Bruce smiled as she sat down opposite him. As he had picked the white pieces, he started playing first. The two started playing back and forth, moving pieces as they wished, not noticing that everyone in the room seemed to be looking at them. It seemed like the game of chess was the most interesting thing in the room.
Zoë actually found herself pushing the thought of Loki to the back of her mind as she tried to win. Once or twice, she had caught herself smiling as Bruce actually flinched every time she did something that ruined his plans.
"Bruce, don't move the bishop there," Natasha cut in at some point. "Don't you see her Queen?"
"Nat, I know what I am doing," he mumbled.
"She is right, you are sacrificing your bishop there," Tony cut in as well. Soon enough, everyone had gathered around Bruce, who seemed to be getting angry as the time passed.
"Bruce, don't-"
"I know what I am doing, alright?" he burst at some point, and Zoë smiled slightly at the agitated tone of his voice. "I've been playing chess since the time I was five, you won't-"
He stopped talking abruptly, and Zoë, that was looking at the chessboard, thought that he had realised his fault. But as he did not say anything else and he did not move any piece, she started getting confused. With a small frown on her lips, she looked up, only to see Bruce along with every other person in the room looking at something behind her, surprise clear on their features.
"What is it?" she asked, as she slowly turned around. "What-"
She did not finish her sentence. Her eyes fell on two men that were standing some feet behind her, both of them looking straight at her. Zoë's eyes widened and for some time, she seemed unable to speak.
It was him.