Thor began to seriously worry about Loki over the next few days. After he had shattered the mirror in their bedroom, Loki had become distant again. He held him and tried to comfort him as much as possible, but it seemed like his brother- no, love, was becoming vacant to him. The others had noticed his lack of eating and Thor had woken in the night to find him staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes like someone was whispering to him. Other times he saw him staring sullenly into the bathroom mirror or sometimes whispering. Today he had managed to coax Loki out of their shared room to do some sparing which Loki hadn't necessarily agreed to.

"Come now, exercising will do you well!" The taller smiled taking him by the shoulder and steering Loki toward the indoor gym. They could already hear the sounds of someone grunting and walked in to see not only Steve was working out on a punching bag but Natasha repeatedly causing grown men half her size to be taken down. Loki did not comment and stood watching the woman for a few moments while Thor went to speak with Steve. Back in Asgard, Natasha would have given Lady Sif a fair fight. The redhead narrowed her eyes at him before taking down yet another man.

"Like something you see?" She asked and nailed a body guard of Stark's in the groin. Happy went to the ground with a whimper. Loki almost felt his pain as he slumped to the floor, Happy's eyes slightly bulging from their sockets. "I do not think there is a correct answer that you wish to hear from me." She nodded, "Good assessment." Loki continued to watch her as only a few men out of those who were lined up decided to try again. They mistook her smallness for weakness and because she was a female they thought she was easy. He had experienced the feeling of others looking down on his for his lithe build, at least until he had beaten them.

"Didn't even get a full workout today…" She muttered rolling the man out of the ring with one foot. "Anyone else?" The men, seven of them including the two still trying to get up from the floor, backed away slowly with their hands raised. Loki was tempted, very tempted. Natasha turned to him, "What about you? I've never beaten a god in sparring before." The said God raised his eyebrows. "You haven't? Meaning Thor has not tried to challenge your strength yet?" Thor seemed to gravitate toward his name with Steve right behind him.

"You should try it brother! I have not dared go against the 'Black Widow' since she is deadly as her title proclaims." Loki smiled, still not taking his eyes away from hers. Natasha's lips were pursed and Steve chuckled, "It's why I hate Tony sometimes. As Iron Man, he's on our level. He can fly, he can blow things up, and he can take a beating. But at the end of the day, he can climb out of his suit, and he can be like everyone else." Thor laughed, "I suggest not telling the man of iron that you believe him to be like everyone else. It would cause great offense and possibly a drinking and donut eating binge that Midgard is not prepared for."

Loki decided that maybe it would be… interesting. The past few days had been... and now he could have a little fun. (Not that fun was in the form of violence, of course, for an individual such as himself.) He climbed into the ring with the woman. She immediately took a fighting stance. "You should not have taken me up on my offer." Natasha muttered. "And leave you to punish Stark's bodyguards?" Loki asked with a sharp, white toothed grin, "Why not give you a challenge?" She let out a cry before leaping at the God. He used her own force against her and let her go flying past him in a swift duck.

She leapt again, like a spider and Loki let himself start falling to the ground before she could hit him now they rolled. They jumped to their feet and started circling each other. Natasha had her eyes narrowed, so far the God had stayed in the ring precisely nineteen seconds past the others. She charged him; Loki hadn't thought she was the type of fighter to do such a thing so it caught him off guard. The woman head-butted him, sending them to the ground once again. Loki could hear Steve and Thor muttered and the pack of men groaning in sympathetic pain.

Loki used her lighter weight against her and tossed her off. She twisted her body in mid-air so she landed on her feet, running at Loki again before he had a chance to recover. The God couldn't help but grin; this was one of the most exhilarating spars he'd been in in quite a while. Thor refused to spar with him out of idiotic fear that he'd 'break' him. Natasha swung her fist and Loki only barely managed to catch it, twisting her arm behind her back. She flung her head backwards into his face and collided with his nose. Then her foot slammed down on his and he shoved her away. They exchanged more blows, getting into a tangle so badly once or twice Thor nor Steve could tell which limb belonged to whom.

Natasha attacked him with blind rage, still angry at him for what he said to her when he was locked up on the Shield airbase and what he had done to Clint. It felt satisfying for her to be able to punch the living delights out of him. Every grunt, every groan that he exhaled made her happy. But then again, he was doing his own damage. The God didn't have nearly this much fun in spars because everyone so bent on trying to show how much stronger they were. Natasha used strategy and power, not just mere strength. It impressed him.

Natasha went to punch him in the gut that would finish him if she aimed in the right place- then Loki grabbed her wrist in mid swing and her hip and lifted her up. He was planning on tossing her away out of the ring but she wrapped around his arm, using her legs to choke him and bit him on the hand. The men once again screamed exaggerated howls of pain. Loki smiled and let gravity take effect, he dropped, trapping her underneath his weight long enough for him to get the upper hand. It was short lived when she kneed him in the groin. Causing the God to make an inhuman sound of pain before crumbling. Steve raised his hand, "Hey Tasha, I think he's-." He was cut out by her kicking him the chest sending him on his back with a whoosh of air leaving his lungs. He was on his back with Natasha straddling him. The room was silent and he lost it. Loki couldn't help but laugh and she started chuckling as well before laughing with him.

The people around and Tony who had joined in the crowd of onlookers thought the two had gone completely insane for a moment. Natasha stood up and offered a hand to him; Loki briefly considered not taking it but took it as a sign of friendship since no had ever done it toward him in Asgard besides Thor. She pulled him to his feet and shook hands with him. "Natasha Romanoff, that was good match." The God smiled, "Loki Laufeyson, indeed you are a warrior of highest standards. It was an honor." He bowed and exited the ring feeling the bruises she had inflicted start to throb. Loki only took a few steps before the computer named Jarvis spoke to the room, "Avengers, Director Fury has asked you all to assemble in the meeting room. He asks for the presence of the God Loki as well." There was a shared look between all the Avengers in the room that sent Loki's heart racing.

Loki stood in the back of the conference room in between Stark and Thor. Steve was on Thor's other side while Bruce stood between Natasha and Tony. They were in a straight line as Fury paced at the other end of the table. "Barton sent us a message from his base of operation with Agent Coulson in Antarctica. He was investigating the recent readings of forces similar to the Tesserach." Loki's eyebrows shot up, "So their last meeting wasn't completely about me... That's almost refreshing." The dark skinned man stopped pacing and looked at the group in front of him with his one good eye. Loki briefly wondered how he saw everyone but banished the thought since the air was so thick.

"Barton found something. I'd love to find out what it really is." He snapped his fingers and a video appeared on screen. Clint was onscreen, heavily wrapped up in clothing. His voice was scratchy and the screen cut out every few seconds. "This is Agent Bar-… Reporting from Base-… 112 in Antarctica-… We found something-… Some kind of-… mutation or maybe-… -thing from another world… It looks female… it's trapped beneath… ice of the glacier… We're going to try to transpor-." There was a roar from behind him and he turned. The only clear words in the whole transmission came across, "Oh my god…" Then Barton's voice came over when the skin completely faded out, "Coulson-… everyone get-… transports-… hurry!" and human screaming broke in before it cut off completely.

The room was grave as Fury snapped his fingers and the monitor went off. "We have no information on whether Agent Coulson, Agent Barton, or anyone else sent on that mission are still alive. Judging by their past records there is a high chance that they are. I'm going to be putting together a strike team for this rescue operation." His gaze met on Loki's, "After much deliberation and the council telling me where I can put my black ass, I personally have decided to offer you a position in the Ave-."

Stark Tower shook violently sending the Avengers crashing into one another and Fury holding onto the desk for support. "Jarvis, status report on whatever the hell that was!" Tony yelled out getting helped up by Steve. Jarvis immediately answered, "It seems a plane has crashed into Stark Tower, Sir! There are five passengers and two are identified at Agent Barton and Agent Coulson." Everyone shared a look with each other before scrambling upward, "Where?" Bruce asked and they rushed out the door of the conference room together. Loki followed, not knowing what else to do. "The roof, Doctor Banner. I am sending for a medical team from floor twelve up to deal with the wounded." Natasha swallowed and Loki felt something tighten in his chest suddenly. "Sirs and ma'am, there seems to be something of non-human origin that was on the plane. Please proceed with the utmost caution!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The medical team had yet to arrive and the Avengers started helping pulling the five people out of the wreckage. The plane had crashed its nose into the top of the tower and tittered over the edge. Natasha dragged one man who had been forced through the glass of the cockpit to safety. Loki watched his brother and Steve pull two more people out. Even Stark, who was the most rash men on the planet was diving into the chaos and dragging Agent Coulson out without his suit on. He didn't know why he helped, but dove into the chaos as well. Bruce started out trying to start CPR on one of the men and Loki swallowed. The God heard Natasha ask, "Where's Barton?" and before he knew what he was doing he was rushing into the open hatch that the other's had failed to be able to get through. He searched through the smoke to find the last of the men.

"Stop this Loki! You are saving your enemy! An action they clearly would not do for you!" The voice that had taken shape into a much darker entity instead of his own voice in the past view days and he had learned to resist it. Loki pressed on until he found the man, a gaping wound in his side that bled on the floor in large drips through his fingers. He looked up at his with eyes clouded with pain. "Damn, if you're the angel taking me to Hell I want a redo." Loki chuckled, "I apologize; I'm not your angel." He picked him up and hoisted him over his shoulder. "It has never crossed my mind that in all my life I would ever be rescuing a mortal…" He had to followed the path back through the aircraft, feeling it tilt and groan with his steps until he forced the man through the hatch he'd squeezed through in the top of the plane. Thor and Steve pulled him up and then Loki. Clint groaned as he was set on the rooftop and Bruce came to his side. Loki whipped away some of the soot that had gotten on him from the hatch and went by his side as well.

"What are you doing?" Bruce said as Loki held his hand over Barton's wound. The man didn't have enough strength in him left to complain since his insides and ribs were in clear view of them all. Natasha went pale as the rest of the medical crew made it onto the roof. Fury was shouting orders and held a soldier's wounded to keep pressure on it, as was Tony with the soldier Bruce had been working on before. "What does it look like? I'm trying to heal him." Loki said concentrating his sorcerer magic on the wound beneath his hand. A mix of blue and green misted into the wound and Clint let out a cry as the skin regrew. "Will that even work?" The doctor asked and Loki cast him an incredulous look. "Well it certainly works on Asgardians, let us hope it works on mortals as well."

Clint moaned again, his eye brows furrowed at cuts on his arms and face healed themselves. "Someone gag him before he breaks my concentration." Loki said lowly, his brows furrowed trying to reattach the skin and put back together all the organs that had been torn. Normally his magic was for trickery or dark ideals. He'd only learned healing magic because the younger Thor was notorious for getting battle wounds. He was severely out of practice in this form of magic and he had to keep his eyes focused on the injury so hard a vein started to stand out on his head. Steve looked around widely, "Didn't Jarvis say there was something alien onboard?" Thor went to go back to the plane when the weight of the wreckage pulled it over the other end. There was only a large fountain below so there wasn't a danger of it hitting anyone. The two looked over the edge, "This does not sit well with me." The taller God said to Steve, who nodded understanding. "Agreed."

After healing Barton's wound now he was in no immediate danger, Loki stumbled away. The magic he had used had drastically drained him for some reason. It wasn't normal and he felt something draining him from other source. His voice caught in this throat and he felt his knees give out as he stumbled away from the man. Thor caught him before he hit the roof and laid him down. "Loki?" The younger tried to keep him in his view but his lids slowly slid shut.

XXX

A woman watched them from a rooftop across the city. Her long dark hair blowing in the wind and her emerald green eyes tight on the edges as she grinned. "My little Loki… You've grown so much." She whispered, wrapping herself tightly in her fur cape and walking away, disappearing into the air with a blue shimmer. Her voice trailed behind the shimmer, "We shall meet very soon."