"And then we sent Loki to lock Mephisto up," Scott concluded.

The five Avengers and twenty or so wizards (who had finished off the demonic horde in time to join in with the explanation) were all sporting an identical surprised expression, sat on either the edge of the bar or some of the barstools. They looked like a class of bemused children in school, and had been this way for pretty much the last 10 minutes. Though, upon learning their bodies had been used as puppets by the devil, who was now being escorted to his own prison by a god, whilst sitting calmly at a bar on the 200th floor of a burning building, Strange probably would've looked exactly the same way.

"That's the end," Stephen added helpfully. He'd conjured himself up some water, because until this point he hadn't realised how thirsty he was. "Any questions?"

Everyone still stared blankly. Carol and T'Challa exchanged a glance. "But, what now?" asked Carol. "This place is staying?"

Wanda nodded. "I have an idea on how we can make this place less... dangerous, then we can hand it over to the government and see what they want to do with it. I doubt they'll be pleased, but at least we neutralised the threat with zero casualties. It... could be worse."

Her face said it all – they could've failed. They could've died. They could've let thousands die. But they hadn't.

"Right," Captain Marvel said, rubbing her chin in thought. Her hair was still sticking up in static spikes. "What do you want us to do?"

"I'd really appreciate it if you and the other Avengers could go down to the city to make sure the citizens are safe," Wanda admitted. "I think the elevator's working again, if you want to go down that."

"We'll help with that," Wong added, referring to the wizards.

Wanda smiled at him. "Thanks Wong. It'd be very appreciated."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Sam. Everyone was making the most of question time.

"We need to stay up here for now," Wanda said. Neither Strange or Scott knew any of this part. "We'll wait for Loki to come back, then we have to do some magic – simple stuff really – to sort this place out. Scott's going to supervise. Then... a very long conversation with the government I suppose."

Sam nodded slowly. "Sure you don't want any help with that?"

"You really are too kind, Sam," Wanda said, kindly, "but no thank you. We got this covered."

Clint turned to Strange, a look of uncertainty on his face. "So... you're working with Loki?"

"Yep," Stephen said. He knew the first six Avengers had more of a history where Loki was concerned, but Clint had actually been brainwashed by him. He wouldn't be exactly thrilled to meet him again.

"So... he's not gonna appear out of nowhere and stab us all to death randomly then?" Clint asked. Strange shook his head. "Just checking."

Scott peered around Wanda to look at Stephen. "Where is Loki anyway? Shouldn't he be back by now?"

"I'd say he's probably enjoying annoying the heck out of Mephisto," Strange shrugged.

Then, not a second later, Loki materialised out of nowhere, right beside Strange's chair.

Naturally, everyone in the vicinity jumped and exclaimed in surprise. Out of habit, Clint drew his bow and Captain Marvel bought the magic to her hands in anticipation of a fight (though Strange couldn't take her seriously with her hair all static and spiky).

Loki, being smart, put up his hands in a surrender position, though he didn't look particularly frightened of them. "Hey, it's all good guys," he said. "I'm not going to stab any of you."

"How did you know we expected you to stab us?" Hawkeye asked, not putting away his bow.

"Um... because I'm incredibly used to people making that assumption the first time they meet me," Loki pointed out. That was a very good point. When no one relaxed, he let his hands drop dramatically and added, "Gods, guys I just teleported from downstairs. I'd like to see you survive two elevator trips of listening to that awful music."

Carol made eye contact with Stephen, who silently nodded to tell her all was good. Everyone relaxed and Captain Marvel extinguished the magic. No one looked like they really knew what to make of Loki – the only one who had actually met him recently was Wong, and they weren't exactly best buddies. They didn't fight each other simply because they knew for a fact Strange would send them falling for 30 minutes in an interdimensional portal.

Loki didn't seem fazed by their hostile expressions, probably because he was unfortunately pretty used to it. He just reported back the mission to Strange, Wanda and Scott. "He's safely locked in prison. I annoyed him so much on the way I think he was actually glad when I locked him in."

Scott shook his head in disbelief. "Who could possibly find you annoying, Loki?"

Loki couldn't fully hide the smile when he said, "Shut up, Scott. Anyway, carry on with whatever you were talking about before I interrupted."

"Actually, we were just waiting for you," Wanda told him, getting out of her seat to stand up. (The purpose of her standing up was...?) Somehow, as she did so, her new costume melted away to become what she'd been wearing before – the short black dress and red leather jacket. She faced the Avengers and the wizards. "Do you think you could go down the city now and check on the civilians? When we're finished up here I'll meet you down there."

Carol nodded, getting to her feet. "Of course, Wanda. come on then everyone. It was nice to meet you all... er, properly," she said. "If properly means you rescuing us from being possessed and trapping me in a jam jar. Which I am not mad at you for by the way," she added, noticing Scott tense up.

Scott sighed in relief.

"It was nice to meet you too," Loki said, smiling politely at them. He held out a hand for them to shake. Stephen, Scott and Wanda also started shaking hands, and the Avengers shook theirs a lot more willingly than they did to Loki. Well, Sam, Rhodes and T'Challa were alright, though both Loki and Clint were a little awkward when they shook. They all headed off towards the elevator afterwards. When it was Carol's turn though... Strange thought he was seeing things.

Captain Marvel full on blushed when their hands made contact. Loki didn't react weirdly, but Carol was really stiff and even made a small squeaky noise when she let go.

Strange had never seen her act that way, ever. It was truly a bizarre sight – the famous galactic captain of space who destroyed warships without trying... blushing like a school-girl when she shook hands with Loki?

She stood there awkwardly, looking a bit dazed, then followed the other Avengers to the elevators.

Strange looked at Loki. "What was that?"

Loki just shrugged. "What can I say? I have this effect on people."

Stephen punched him playfully. Loki didn't even stab him for doing so.

"So, what kind of spells are we doing, Wanda?" Strange asked her.

Wanda shrugged. "Bits and bobs. I was thinking, we should try and make the place less dangerous, since it's going to be staying here a while."

"So, like a basic flame-freezing charm?" asked Strange.

"Or we could do the magical air conditioning spell," Loki added.

"Anything you think will work," Wanda shrugged. "I think I'll go around the place magically cleaning up all the destruction we made from fighting. Scott, you want to come help?"

Scott frowned. "Do I want to go around helping you tidy up from a battle? Not particularly, but sure, I'll help you out. Then after we've sorted it all out, I promise I'll take you all out for a drink. I think we deserve it after this."

"You're damn right," Strange agreed.