A/N: I am so so sorry for making you all wait so long for a new chapter and rewarding your patience with such a short one. The organization of my ideas wouldn't allow for a longer update. Life has been particularly stressful for me lately and as a result, my writing has suffered. I hope this chapter is of acceptable quality. Thank you so very much for each and every review, fav, and follow. I really couldn't keep going with this without you. Some of the ideas expressed in your reviews have inspired me and I couldn't be more grateful. Please enjoy this and let me know what you think.

Chapter 4: Unconventional

"So, Holmes, what's the big fuss about? We're all here now. Spill." Hawkeye said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Molly Hooper has gone missing." Sherlock replied grimly and a sudden stillness came over the whole room. The others stared at him in disbelief. It was clear that the man was asking them for help.

"When did you last see Dr. Hooper?" Natasha asked. While she had had little interaction with the pathologist, she knew that she was a kind, intelligent person who deserved a medal for tolerating Sherlock Holmes' on the level that she did. The SHIELD agent was not about to let any harm come to her if she could help it. Her own respect for the detective and his clear attachment to Molly added to this.

"The last I saw of her, she was going to get me coffee." There was a pause in which something seemed to click in Sherlock's brain. "Is it possible for a person's eyes to rapidly change color?" At this, Hawkeye stiffened while the others seemed noticeably disturbed.

"Very possible. Did Hooper's eyes change color?" the archer responded with a grimace.

"They briefly became green shortly before she left to get coffee. Initially, I thought that it was some sort of hallucination of mine, but now I'm beginning to think otherwise." Upon hearing this, a look of realization dawned on the others.

"Molly Hooper was taken using magic. I am sure of it." Thor spoke up and Sherlock's intense gaze snapped to him. "As I am ignorant as to the whereabouts of my brother, Loki, at the moment, it is entirely possible that he is involved."

"More than likely, it sounds like." Tony chimed in, seriousness and slight anger in his voice. Sherlock appeared to ignore this statement as he continued glaring at Thor. John watched him carefully and after a moment, he realized what his best friend must have been thinking.

"No, Sherlock, don't even think about it. It would kill you." he warned and the dark haired man's gaze went to him in a flash.

"Or it might not. I'm willing to risk it." Sherlock snapped. John had never seen his friend willing to go that far for Molly and it was odd seeing him fret over the pathologist like this.

"Excuse me, but what are you two on about?" Steve asked, looking confused.

"Thor, I need you to raise the energy dosage during our training sessions. I need to learn faster." If the atmosphere could have gotten more tense, it did. There was a long silence in which Sherlock stared intently at Thor and everyone else stared at him. Then Natasha spoke.

"Do it, Thor." The detective and the spy locked gazes for a brief moment. Black Widow understood why Sherlock wanted this better than anyone else in the room. There was still a reluctance in the Thunder God's face that was clear to the Englishman and so he stood, walked straight up to Thor and tried to be as imposing as possible (even though there was no doubt that the Asgardian could crush him with very little effort).

"Raise the dosage." he demanded, his cold silver-blue orbs glaring into Thor's soft blue ones.

"Mr. Holmes, if it doesn't kill you, it could change you forever, possibly in a very negative way." Bruce Banner suddenly spoke up.

"Shut up! I've made my choice. My pathologist was taken and could very well be dead. I intend to deal with the person who did this as swiftly as possible. The sooner, the more likely my pathologist will be returned to me. I am well aware of the risk involved in taking high levels of energy into my body and I have assessed that the benefit outweighs the risk, due to the aforementioned situation. Do I make myself abundantly clear?" Sherlock snapped furiously, speaking rapidly and animatedly. Bruce seemed somewhat taken aback by this reaction and said nothing further, only nodding in reply. John couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Be calm, Sherlock Holmes." Thor said, placing a strong hand on the consulting detective's shoulder. "I will do as you ask."

"Hold on a moment-" John began to protest again, but Tony cut him off.

"If Holmes wants to electrocute himself because it might help him save his pathologist, by all means let him. There isn't a single person in this room who wouldn't drop everything for Molly, so I know you'd all do the same in his place." the billionaire contended, the subtext of his words clear to pretty much everyone but Sherlock. For a long moment, John appeared to be having some sort of intense internal conflict, and then he nodded acceptingly.

"I assume you wish to begin immediately." Thor said and Sherlock gave a short nod. "I would ask that everyone else leave the room." The others reluctantly hurried out the door, but hung back to listen. "Are you ready?" they heard the Asgardian say followed by an affirmative from Holmes. For a few more minutes, they heard nothing, but then they began to be able to make out suppressed groans of pain and zaps of lightning. The zaps grew louder and louder until they heard Sherlock cry out in agony. While the others looked merely very uncomfortable at this, John was wide eyed and panicking.

"I've got to go in and stop this! He's killing him!" The former army doctor made for the thumb scanner, but Steve stopped him.

"Don't! He'll be alright. Thor knows what he's doing." the super soldier warned. John glared at him in disbelief. How could they listen to this? That was his best friend in there sounding like he was having his organs set on fire.

"Or he doesn't and Mr. Holmes could be dying." Bruce put in, reaching over and opening the door before anyone could object.

Everything was a bit of a haze when Molly Hooper woke up. She was in a very dim room and she had no idea how she'd got there. The last thing she remembered was working on Sherlock's experiment. Suddenly, a little light appeared on the other side of the small room and she quickly realized that it was a candle. A few other candles lit and now the pathologist could make out much more of where she was. A tall, dark haired man sat in a chair nearby and for a second, she thought it was Sherlock, but then she realized that it most certainly wasn't. She'd never seen anyone with eyes that green and this man had an elfin face and long, straight hair.

"Hello, Molly Hooper." he greeted her in a smooth, eloquent baritone.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the woman demanded and he laughed.

"I am Loki, God of Mischief. As to what I want, I shan't tell you. I brought you here and you shall remain as such until I no longer have need of you." Noticing the anxious look on her face he added, "Do not fear. I have no intention of harming you, though if you provoke me, I may." Molly knew right away from his name that this was not a man to be trifled with. This was Thor's brother, the man who tried to take over the world only two years ago. "Now, the mortal man whom you serve, Sherlock Holmes. Tell me about him." For a minute, Molly only stared at Loki, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to pull a Mycroft and spill everything to such a dangerous man, but she also did not want to rile him in any way. Feeling brave, she compromised.

"Only if you tell me what you want with me." This earned her a dangerous smirk from the Trickster. He chuckled at her and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"A rather bold move on your part, mortal, but clever. I shall reward you." he replied. "You are of value to Sherlock Holmes. You are one of the most useful tools in his kit. One he would very much prefer not to do without. He will come looking for you. When he does, I will ensnare him as I did you and he will work for me." Suddenly, Molly remembered standing in the lab, when this strange man appeared and put his hand over her heart. He had laughed as he told her she was an easy target, wearing such a big heart on her sleeve. Then she had blacked out.

"What do you need him for?"

"I am hiding. I need him to help me deal with the threat I am hiding from."

"Why not just ask him? He's a detective, you know. He solves problems for a living."

"For the same reason I didn't just ask four SHIELD agents to help me. There is a little problem with willingness. After that little attempt to take over Midgard, I have been branded a demon and only a fool deals with a demon." At this, the whole reason she and her friends had been brought to New York was laid out for her to see. Loki had taken the missing agents and they were now his puppets. Molly wished she could tell everyone what was going on, but of course, that was impossible. She could feel her phone missing from her pocket, so it seemed he knew about mobiles.

"What are you hiding from?"

"ENOUGH!" Loki growled abruptly. "I agreed to entertain you but once, do not press your luck with me, mortal." With that, the emerald eyed man stood from his seat and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind himself.

The door of the conference room slid open to reveal Thor standing on one side of the room, aiming his hammer at Sherlock, who was on his hands and knees on the floor, as magical lightning arced from the weapon and hit him. He was clearly in excruciating pain, cries of agony escaping him relentlessly.

"SHERLOCK!" John bellowed and the dark haired man opened his eyes to look up at his best friend. Arcs escaped from the cold blue orbs, making them look even more terrifying than before. A mere moment later, Thor cut off the flow of electricity and Sherlock's body collapsed, shaking. John rushed to his side and turned him over on his back, putting his fingers on the side of his neck to feel his pulse. It was racing. Sherlock's eyes rolled back, closed and he grew still. "Sherlock, can you hear me?! Oh God, oh God, oh God..." It took a moment to confirm that Sherlock was still breathing, but had completely passed out.

"Son of Wat, please be calm. Your friend will be well. He is only in need of rest." Thor assured John, who was livid. Tony, Clint, and Steve were looking upon the consulting detective's limp form with a new respect. They'd never seen anyone with a normal body handle the Thunderer's power like that. Most people would have been unconscious at the first few bursts.

"No, you nearly killed him! It's not alright!" John snapped. Natasha approached the doctor, also kneeling beside Sherlock and looked him straight in the eyes.

"He will be fine, Dr. Watson. I will see to it myself." she told him and he fell silent, not having expected this from Black Widow. "Now, go get some rest yourself." John opened his mouth object, but her gaze hardened. "That's an order." It was a swift reminder that she outranked him in SHIELD status, but he was still hesitant.

"Doctor." Steve called and the Englishman finally gave in, though he didn't want to leave his friend's side. He followed Captain America and Bruce Banner out of the room. A moment later, Sherlock's eyes opened slightly and he began moving a little.

"Shit, man. You've got the fortitude of a damn bull." Tony commented as the detective shakily pulled himself into a sitting position.

"Indeed. You are a most exemplary Midgardian, Sherlock Holmes." The blond man put in with an earnest smile.

"Can you walk?" Natasha asked. Sherlock attempted to get to his feet, but he was too shaky and nearly fell. The woman caught him and kept him on his feet, allowing him to drape his arm around her shoulder and use her as support. "I'm taking him to his room to rest. Stark, do something useful like get medical equipment to monitor him and keep him stable. Barton, report to Fury, tell him what's going on." She left out Thor, always having felt weird about ordering him around. The other two men didn't object and Natasha helped Sherlock stagger out of the conference room. As they went through the halls of Stark Tower, the woman suddenly asked him a question that had been eating away at her for a while. "This pathologist, you owe her a debt, don't you?" It came out sounding more like an observation than a question. Sherlock looked down at her for a long moment as if he couldn't decide how to answer, but then he spoke in a soft rasp.

"Yes. I owe Molly Hooper my life. How could you tell?"

"Your behavior, because I am the same with Barton." The pale Brit seemed intrigued by this, but shook his head.

"Not true. You love him." He had seen the signs, the way her pupils dilated when Clint spoke to her or came particularly close to her. Natasha scowled at Sherlock in response.

"Love is for children. Hawkeye is my colleague and I owe him a life debt. That is all." At this, Sherlock found his respect for this woman grow even more. She was suppressing sentiment and he could see in the way she held herself and treated those close to her that it was to save herself and others the pain and destruction the emotion brought. He...sympathized with her. It felt strange. He did not reply to her the rest of the way to his room. When they got there, Sherlock flopped onto his bed with a groan and fell asleep seconds later.

A/N: Again, I'm sorry for the shortness. I hope I didn't make anyone OOC (I'm terribly self conscious about that). What did you think of the Molly and Loki section? Surprising? If I do things right, the story will start moving at a faster pace. Please share your thoughts on everything. It's of great help to me. Thank you! ~T.Z.