Living for Now

There hadn't been any improvement finding out where Loki was hiding, making everyone still anxious as the face trace carried on. Bridget wasn't as concerned, though. No, she was more concerned over the fact that she still had yet to receive an alert from the apartment on Magnolia Road. It was odd for Lily to not move about throughout the day. She might have been a bit lazy on some occasions, especially so when it came to schoolwork, but she was still a college student, always wanting to go out and enjoy what the world had to offer.

Off to the side of the bridge stood Coulson and Steven, both males making small chit chat as they awaited the results of the face trace.

“Bridget tells me that you have some vintage trading cards of... me?” Steve questioned, crossing his arms as he thought about what he was saying. The fact that he was on a card was still rather amazing to him.

“Yes,” Coulson smiled, giving a soft chuckle while thanking Bridget for bringing them up as he'd asked. “I was wondering, would you maybe—”

“Sign them?”

Nodding his head, Coulson added, “If it's not too much trouble.”

“No, no, it's fine.” Steve reassured.

“It's a vintage set,” Phil pointed out proudly. “It took me a couple of years to collect them all.” The agent stared up at Steve admiringly and continued his ramble. “Near mint. Slight foxing around the edges, but—”

The computers around the bridge began to go haywire, the sound of frantic beeps going off as one crew member spoke up. “We got a hit.” The four words seemed to snap everyone to attention, and the agent further explained. “A sixty-seven percent match. Wait, cross-match, seventy-nine percent.”

Bridget rose from her chair, putting away the phone she had been staring at and walking over along with Coulson. “Location?”

“Stuttgart, Germany. Twenty-eight Konigstrasse.” The computer screen zoomed in on the area where he had been spotted, a public camera being used to further close in on the Asgardian psychopath who was now wearing fine clothes fit for a high-end party. “He's not exactly hiding.”

As people began to block the view of him, Bridget looked to the agent. “Find another angle to see him at.”

Nodding his head, the agent tampered with settings, the screen losing the image but gaining a new one. It was a sight that made Bridget's heart stop and her blood boil with fury. Beside that lunatic was a brunette dressed in a fine green dress, her light blue eyes looking dark with terror and her arm being held onto far too tightly for comfort by Loki.

“It appears he's not alone.” The agent began. “I'll look into her immediately.”

“There's no need to.” Bridget glowered. “She doesn't pose a threat.”

Natasha, who was now standing beside everyone else, knew there was only one way that Lily would have been there. Barton had taken her, and if Romanoff knew Bridget like she thought she did, she knew her fellow agent would rip him a new one.

“Barton's a dead man walking.” Spencer mumbled.

Steve was looking at Bridget confused, wondering what brought upon this whole new attitude. His eyes darted to the screen and he realized that Bridget may have known the girl. Was she a friend? One thing his eyes noticed was how much the two women looked alike, the girl on the screen only have a few different features in her face like her jawline. Still, he was boggled by the coincidence.

“Captain,” Fury's voice rung throughout the room, the man's dark eyes looking to Bridget before they landed upon Steve. “You're up.”

Bridget's mind was buzzing, racing with thoughts of how she was going to get Lily away from that madman and back into society. She knew Fury was aware of her granddaughter and that he'd be damned if he let Spencer go with permission and jeopardize the mission. To him, Lily wasn't the person of utmost importance here. It was Loki. As long as he knew he had Loki locked away, he wouldn't care.

Steve walked out of the room to get ready for his return as the Captain, and when Fury wasn't looking, Bridget followed right after him. Bridget was getting on that damn Quinjet, with or without her employer's consent.

Waiting outside of Steve's assigned room on the Helicarrier, she stood upright when he came out in his full costume, taking a moment to take him all in. He looked good, and she had to admit she was a bit in awe of him, though the thoughts of Lily entered her mind and she was back to herself again.

“Bridge,” Steve looked surprised to see her. “What's wrong?”

“Rogers, I'm going with you,”

“Fury gave you permission?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes,” he chuckled, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. “Don't worry, Bridget. This isn't my first time going out into the field. I'll bring back your friend, Bridget.”

Her friend? It was then that Bridget realized that while she was having a mild heart attack, Steven had no idea who Lily was. He had no idea that he had had a child or a granddaughter, that he had family besides her. If Bridget didn't feel the need to go before, she sure as hell felt it right then. She needed to make sure that Steven never found out.

“Steve,” Bridget began, putting in as much emotion into his name as she could, her hands taking his arm into her grasp tightly. “Please, I wanna go with you.”

His heart was racing as he heard those words leave her lips. Was this really happening? Was she finally opening up to him? He couldn't help himself as he grinned. “Okay,” he caved. “C'mon,”



Lily didn't know how this had all come about. She didn't know how her life had gone to shit in a mere few days. It was all too sudden to comprehend. After having all this happen, she found herself wondering and worrying about things she had never considered doing before, like how she was now worried that she'd be killed before she even got married, fell in love, or how she would never raise a child like her mother raised her.

Mom, she thought. I could really use a hug right now.

She shone in a Forest green strapless dress, the end of which flared out like a mermaid. The fabric was as soft as could be, and it had easily flowed across her skin when she had put it on. Around her neck and upon her ears were a beautiful silver necklace and pair of stud earrings, each adorned with glittered diamonds that brought out the best in her blue eyes.

A hand gripping onto her arm forcefully brought her to her senses, her eyes darting to see it was that man – Loki – who was grasping onto her forearm with such a tight hold. “You're hurting me,” she winced.

“Good,” he grinned. “Once I get what I desire, Barton will collect you. You still have to play your part in all of this.”

“This isn't it?”

Scoffing down at her, he smirked. “Not in the least, girl. Now,” he pulled her into his body, knowing fully well that this would put her in the most discomfort that she could imagine. “Smile for the camera. They're watching.”

Who the hell is he talking about? She questioned, squirming around in his arm as he led them into the building.

An orchestra was playing gentle melodies as people chatted lively in their mother tongue of German, the language completely unintelligible to Lily as she was led throughout the event by Loki. The pair were by the railing of the second floor, gazing down at the scene below as the man who had discovered what Selvig needed began a speech, the crowd listening respectfully to every word he spoke.

“You are to stay here and wait for Agent Barton. Should you leave, you will regret your poor choice and pay for it dearly. Do I make myself clear?”

No words left her lips, though Lily answered his question with a vigorous nod, the man giving the usual smirk as he walked down the staircases with a new spring in his step. The brunette watched him nervously, and as he reached the bottom flight, he flipped the scepter he held in his grasp around in the air so he could grab the other end, everything turned to chaos as he struck down a bodyguard with the weapon.

The bulky man was knocked out cold, Loki then rushing towards Dr. Heinrich Schäfer and pulling him along with a brute amount of strength that Lily had no idea the lanky man could possess. Tossing him atop the table, everyone in the room looked shocked and scared, unsure of what to do as they watched the assault in horror. Pulling out a sinister looking device from his coat pocket, Loki opened it up, three sharp points sticking out from its three legs. Driving it into the man's skull over his left eye, the crowd below began to scream in terror and started to make a dash for the exits.

Lily could feel her stomach begin to churn as she watched Loki look about devilishly while carrying out his plan, the man flailing about on the table in pain as he device did its job. The demi-god's eyes met her own and she turned around immediately, not wanting him to see her look so frightened. Her knees buckled as the man's shouts continued and she was soon leaning against railing, her hands covering her ears in an attempt to muffle them.

She didn't know how long she sat like that, but she stayed that way until she was collected by Barton moments later.



Outside, Loki was herding the people like the worthless animals he believed them to be. “Kneel before me.” They were too panicked to listen, too upset to comprehend his orders as they all remained standing in a crowd. “I said... kneel!”

The crowd was silenced instantly with his loud shout that seemed to ring in their ears. Finally, they obeyed, all of them lowering themselves to the ground till they all knelt before him. His ego began to grow as did his smirk, the sight before him pleasing him greatly. These were to be the first to realize his rightful place as the king of Midgard.

“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power... for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

An elder man listened to his words with scrutiny, knowing quite well that his words were no more than the ramblings of a madman obsessed with power. Slowly he rose, defying Loki and earning his interest. “Not to men like you.”

Loki chuckled humorlessly, being entertained by the man's statement. “There are no men like me.”

“There are always men like you.”

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.”

Raising his spear, Loki shot out blue energy from the tip that had started to glow a bright blue ominous color. The man's eyes widened as he realized this would be his end, but as it was about to make contact, a shield with a star fell before him, deflecting the attack and sending it right back at its caster.

Captain America rose from his kneeling position and stared at Loki. “You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.”

“The soldier,” the demi-god snickered. “The man out of time.”

“I'm not the one who's out of time.”

The whirring of the Quinjet's engines could be heard and soon the craft began to hover above the scene, Romanoff and Spencer who were piloting the liner turning switches and arming themselves for anything and everything.

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” Romanoff's voice flood out from the P.A. system.

“It's over, Loki.”

The second voice the came out of the speakers made him grin with excitement. It carried such hatred, such malice within it that was directed at him that he knew it had to be that woman – Spencer.

Nonetheless, he fired, shooting off more Tesseract energy with his spear towards the plane that dodged with ease to the side, both women being careful of how close they got to the neighboring buildings. A fight then broke out below, Loki and the Captain exchanging punches and attacks with one another as the crowd disbanded within seconds, all of them scattering to safety.

“The guy's all over the place,” Natasha mused.

While Bridget was concerned for Steve, especially when she thought Loki might have gotten him, her eyes were searching for any sign of Lily. As she did so, the sound of AC/DC began to come out of the speakers, a voice coming soon after.

“Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?”

It was not a second later when a blur sped past the Quinjet's view of the scene, a metal suit landing upon the ground after shooting a blast of energy towards Loki that sent him flying back. His armor produced more weapons, aiming themselves at the lunatic who was staring at him in surprise.

“Make your move, Reindeer Games.”

Loki surrendered accordingly and without much of a hassle, he was brought aboard along with Stark and Steve. As soon as they were back in the air, Fury's voice came in over the radio.

“Is he saying anything?”

“Not a damn word,” Bridget muttered.

“Well, get him here. We're low on time. And Spencer, don't get carried away because of what he did. We need him alive.”

“Yes, sir,” Natasha replied.

Steven and Tony began to exchange words, Steve becoming annoyed with the amount of disrespect Tony was showing and not being afraid to hide it. Bridget couldn't help but smile when Tony inquired if Steve did Pilates or yoga because of how “spry” he was. Though she had never met Tony before today, she could tell that this was his true nature.

Thunderclouds enveloped the Quinjet in a moment's notice, white streaks of electricity surging throughout the sky and Loki becoming anxious.

“Where is this coming from?” Natasha murmured.

Noticing a change in Loki's demeanor, Steve questioned him. “What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?”

“I'm not overly fond of what follows.”

There was a loud thud atop the liner that shook the entire craft in the air, startling all of them. Bridget opened up the hatch for Tony to check what it might have been and before he finished putting on his helmet, a figure dropped down onto the ramp, walking in and towards Loki.

Taking a glance back, she saw it was a muscular man with long locks of blond hair that whipped around his face wildly due to the wind. His clothes were like something out of the Renaissance Fair with a bold, red cape fluttering behind him.

Tony raised a hand to attack, but before he could, the man used his hammer to send him flying back a few feet. He walked over to Loki, took him from the restraints and flew away by spinning his hammer rapidly.

“Another Asgardian?” Natasha questioned.

“That guy's a friendly?” Steve looked at where he had vanished to in confusion.

“Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost.” Tony replied, heading towards the ramp to follow after them.

“Stark, we need a plan of attack!”

“I have a plan: attack.”

Tony blasted off, leaving Steve frustrated aboard the craft. Steve wasn't going to stand idly by and await for their return. He needed to get out there and do his part. Unbuckling a parachute from the side of the wall, he began to secure it around himself.

“I'd sit this one out, Cap.” Natasha warned.

“I don't see how I can.”

“Steve, Natasha's right. These guys come from legends. They're basically gods.” Bridget agreed.

Smiling, Steve shook his head in disagreement. “There's only one God, Bridge, and I doubt he's dressed like that.” With that said, he walked off the ramp and began to free-fall towards the earth, heading right after Thor and Tony.