I found my house packed with all my friends. They'd even stopped to pick Mom up before coming down. While New Jersey hadn't even been touched by the invasion, I was glad they had been far away from it. The house erupted into shouts as I walked inside. Everyone rushed me, all of them talking over each other and asking the same questions. I felt Liv hug me from behind and she shushed them all.
"Give her some air, guys. She just survived a war, jeez."
I smiled and patted her arms. "I'm fine. Clean up is starting in the city, the aliens are definitely done for, and Loki is in custody."
There was a general sigh of relief. "So what'll happen to him?" Robby asked. "They can't keep him here."
I shook my head. "No, Thor is taking him to Asgard. He'll face his sentence there." More sighs. They sat me down and listened as I described all that had happened - from Loki taking me and Liv to his surrender, I explained it all. Robby leaned across the couch and squeezed my hand.
"Listen, I know this is hard and I know we fought a lot. But I'm glad you're okay. And this is over."
I smiled. "Yeah. Me too."
Liv clapped once and stood. "Okay! Everyone's fine. Eb needs some rest, so let's start packing up and getting home guys."
"Maybe we should stay with you?" Mom asked, her brows furrowing. I shook my head.
"I have to go back to SHIELD in two days. I'll be fine, honest. But I am really tired." I looked pointedly at Liv and she nodded.
"Yep!" She said. "To bed with you. I'll clean up and we'll be going." There was another round of hugs. Everyone started packing up. Liv followed me to my room. She closed the door. "So why does SHIELD need you back?"
I sighed. "They don't. Thor offered to take me with him. To Asgard."
She sat down slowly, her hands folded in her lap. "Oh. So you're leaving? In two days? Just like that?"
I sat beside her. "I don't know if I can do that."
We were silent for a long time. Everyone else was talking outside, laughing and calling to each other to make sure they had everything. I didn't know if I could bring myself to tell them, much less to actually leave them. Sure, I lived all the way out here and saw them only a few times a year. But that was better than never. That was better than knowing they were a world away rather than a ten hour drive.
"Do you want to stay with him?" Liv asked.
I looked up at her. "I don't know."
She raised unconvinced brows and I couldn't help but smile. "Yes. Yes, I do."
She nodded slowly. "I mean, you can always visit."
I looked away again. "That's the thing." I said softly. "Their transport was destroyed. Thor's father sent him here and they're using the Tesseract to open a portal back. But then it's going in the vault and I'd be stuck there until they rebuild their transport."
"Oh."
"And I don't know how long that takes. What if it's years, decades before I see you again? And it's not so simple as picking up and leaving! I have to sell my house, quit my job, do something with my money and stuff. But... But mostly, I don't know when I'll see you again."
"Oh." She whispered.
"But at the same time, Thor wants me to present Loki's case. And I can't have the baby unless I go with him. And..." I trailed off, shaking my head.
"And Loki needs you." She said. I nodded. "Do you want to go?"
"Yeah, but I want to stay!"
She bit her lip and stood. Going to a large jar I kept full of coins, she fished out a quarter. I narrowed my eyes at her. "I'm not basing a life changing decision on a coin toss."
"Heads you stay, tails you go."
"Liv."
"Heads you stay, tails you go!" Rolling my eyes, I gestured for her to toss it. She flipped it and we watched it spin until it began to fall. Snatching it from the air, she flipped it onto the back of her hand and looked at me. "What do you want?"
"Huh?"
"Just say. What do you want it to be?"
Tails. It hit me like a train and I stared at her hands, praying it was heads so I wouldn't have to say the truth out loud. I could consider the decision made and tell Thor no. Maybe one day, when the Bifrost was fixed, he would come and I could see Loki again. But I wanted it to be tails. She waited for me.
"Tails." I said sheepishly. She lifted her hand and I stood to see it. Heads. The crushed feeling in my gut could only be named disappointment. Liv looked at me.
"Go with him." She said softly.
I frowned. "But it's-"
"Go, Eb. He needs you more than we do."
"But-"
"Listen." She tossed the quarter away and took my by the shoulders. "You have this gift, okay? When you were born, I felt like I was here for something. Like I mattered because I had to take care of you. Mom had you and thought she really could kick the drugs. Loki came here and you made him happy when nothing else could. You just... You help people, Eb. It's what you do. So help him! Go! You'll regret it if you don't and you know you will. Besides," she grinned, "you'll be the first human in another galaxy. And we'll always be here."
I swallowed back tears and nodded. "Okay." I mumbled.
"Just remember where you came from, yeah? Don't forget about us."
I threw my arms around her and hugged her as tight as I could. "I won't. I'll yell at Odin a bit, get him to hurry up and fix the Bifrost."
She laughed quietly. "Whatever that means, yeah. Do that."
"Yo, Liv!" Robby called. "You ready?"
She sighed heavily. "We have to tell them."
I nodded. "I'll tell them before I leave. Just not now."
Her arms tightened briefly and then she let me go. "Get some rest. And go see a doctor before you leave, okay?" I waved her away but made a mental note to call Doctor Castor later.
Once I had waved them all off and closed the door, I trudged to bed.
Doctor Castor was happy that I had chosen to keep the baby. I told her I was moving and she assured me she would send all my information to my new doctor when I was ready.
Lily was, of course, devastated. "Loki's gone and now you're going away too!" She whined. With a smile, I hugged her tightly.
"I'll see if I can get Loki to call you sometime, okay?"
"Okay." She mumbled.
Most of my other clients were okay with it. My boss promised me a good reference if I needed one. Liv said she would handle selling the house and most of my things. I didn't have a lot that was really important to me. My books and music and notebooks of course, she would keep in her basement. Maybe one day I could bring them to Asgard. Maybe one day I would come home. For two days, it was a lot to get done.
Natasha picked me up at the airport and brought me to SHIELD's New York base. I went to Thor and asked him to give me two hours. He frowned and looked away, thinking.
"Please?" I said. "It can't hurt." With a sigh, he nodded. I-80 was packed with traffic, so unlike the day of the attack. It didn't leave me much time to explain everything to the gang and leave. But I had to do it now.
Liv had called Mom and told her to come over so everyone was there and waiting when I walked in. They were eating lunch and all came into the living room when I motioned to the couches.
It was a strangely quiet explanation. No one shouted or told me I was crazy. I suspected Liv had prepared them for this already. I was just thankful that they didn't try to stop me. I gave all of them long, tight hugs and promised to come home as soon as I could.
I wiped my eyes and sniffed. "The uh, the baby makes me cry a lot now." I waved away their concern. "I'm fine. It'll be fine."
It wasn't like this was forever, right? Everything would be fine.
I returned to SHIELD with puffy red eyes and a heavy heart. Fury let me into Loki's cell to fulfill one last promise. I called Lily's dad and asked to speak to her. Walking over to Loki, I handed him the phone. He took it warily and put it to his ear. I could hear Lily answer and watched as his eyes lit up. He smiled tiredly.
Turning around, I left the cell and let him speak to her for as long as he wanted.