Tony flew through the New York skyline, followed by the jet. Shortly after receiving Jamie's call – distress call, to be precise – he had had the jet's rear ramp lowered. Pepper had also sent clearer copies of the camera feeds, and these only served to confirm Tony's suspicions. Loki's face had jumped out at him on each of the images, and Tony certainly didn't waste any time slipping his helmet over his head and leaping out of the jet.

"She's at Stark Towers," he had called over his shoulder. "See you kids there!"

Jarvis hadn't terminated Jamie's call, so he could hear everything that was going on in the building.

"She's in the lobby Sir," Jarvis told him.

"Activate the security system," Tony instructed.

"It appears it has been destroyed in the initial blast, Sir."

"Oh Jesus Christ," Tony swore. He flew through the city, ignoring the surprised shouts of the people who saw him. The jet flew smoothly above him, but the propulsion packs on his boots (another Stark sibling invention) allowed him to keep well ahead of the aircraft.

The explosions grew louder, and Tony could make out the smoke that was coming from Stark Towers.

"You know, I'm getting sick of these interdimensional people trashing my place," Tony muttered. "Can't they target someone else's pad next time?"

A crowd had gathered some distance away from the entrance to the building, and Tony noted that most of the smoke was coming from the ground floor – the lobby, specifically. As his boots touched the ground, he heard the jet hover somewhere above him.

Natasha was the first to jump out, followed by Clint, Bruce, Thor, and finally, Steve.

"Not going green on us are you, Doctor?" Tony asked Bruce, who merely smiled.

"No need to unleash the Hulk just yet," Bruce answered.

"Well we may need him soon." Tony strode across the road. It was then when he heard Jamie's scream, and his eyes widened. "Son of a bitch."

Tony ran to the building and skidded to a stop. The Other and Jamie were engaged in a mini gun fight; Jamie was using the small plasma ray that was hidden in the front desk.

"Enough!" The Other declared furiously, raising his hand. "This ends now."

"Not if I have something to say about it," Tony said, walking into the lobby. The other Avengers had drawn their weapons, and Clint was in the process of fitting an arrow into his bow. "You just messed with the wrong family, pal."

Tony could see Loki bleeding on the floor; the god's brief time on Earth wasn't doing him any favors. Already he looked thinner than before, and his hair was messy.

And of course there was the small fact that he was bleeding to death.

The Other smirked and laughed darkly. With one sweep of his hand, The Other blasted the Avengers out of the building and straight across the street. The Avengers landed painfully inside the lobby of the opposite building.

"Should've seen that coming," Tony grunted, as Thor helped him to his feet.

"Loki's injured," Thor said. "We must defeat The Other, or else he may take my brother back to his realm."

"That's one of the first things I have on my list for the day." Tony flexed his shoulders and stood up, noting that he felt slightly dizzy.


Back at Stark Towers, The Other had set his sights on Jamie. She had managed to avoid the attack by ducking behind the front desk, which was now nothing more than a pile of rubble.

"Why is a female Midgardian standing up for the one who tried to subjugate her realm?" The Other wondered throatily, walking towards her. He knocked the plasma ray away from her and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her so that they were face to face.

"Because he only wanted to prove himself worthy," she gasped, as The Other's grip on her neck became tighter and tighter. "He was just misunderstood."

The Other chuckled. "And am I not misunderstood?"

"No. You're pure evil. You wanted to use the Tesseract as an unlimited power source," Jamie replied, still struggling to free herself from The Other's vise-like grip. "And after seeing the things you could – and would – do, I know you would have used it for evil."

"Touching. Such sentimental creatures, Midgardians. But you have stood in my way for far too long, female. I will not allow you to do so anymore." The Other looked deep into Jamie's eyes and smiled.

"Time to die."


Loki didn't expect to know what it was like to be within an inch from death. Yet there he was, his blood gushing out onto the floor like a fountain.

He knew he should have just followed Jamie's instructions and ran away, but strangely he felt at peace. If he had been given a second chance to relive the past twenty minutes, he would have done the same thing all over again.

Like push Jamie out of the way and take a powerful energy blast on the side of his body.

But why? Do I – dare I think it – care for her? Loki thought. His eyes flitted from The Other to Jamie, who was huddled behind the small marble slab that was left of the front desk. She was looking at him, mouthing words he could not understand.

The Other had blasted the Avengers out of the building, and Loki was unsure where they landed – or if they were even conscious. No one was coming to save them now, and Loki knew that they were all completely at the mercy of The Other, a being who did not know the meaning of the word 'mercy'.

A choking sound filled Loki's ears and he saw The Other walking towards Jamie, who was scrabbling for the plasma ray.

Leave her alone! he wanted to say, but the Thread of Silence held firm. You want me, take me!

But he was too weak to move, too weak to even lift a finger.

"Why is a female Midgardian standing up for the one who tried to subjugate her realm?" The Other asked Jamie, knocking the plasma ray away from her reach. He bent over and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground so that he was looking directly into her eyes.

"Because he only wanted to prove himself worthy," she gasped, and Loki saw her face turning purple. "He was just misunderstood."

Give me the strength, Loki thought. Just give me the strength to fight him off her, and you may take me.

The Other chuckled. "And am I not misunderstood?"

"No. You're pure evil. You wanted to use the Tesseract as an unlimited power source," Jamie replied. "And after seeing the things you could – and would – do, I know you would have used it for evil."

"Touching. Such sentimental creatures, Midgardians. But you have stood in my way for far too long, female. I will not allow you to do so anymore. Time to die."

The Other further closed his grip around Jamie's throat, further cutting off her air supply. She gave a few feeble kicks, and her eyes slowly rolled back to the side of her head. Loki watched the scene, noticing that he wasn't getting weaker; rather, he was feeling stronger as the seconds ticked by. He could feel his magic practically trickle back into his body. Loki closed his eyes, relishing the moment as his magic – and godlike abilities – returned to him in one fell swoop.

"This is the last time you will ever meddle in my affairs," The Other hissed into her ear.

"And this is the last time you will ever touch her."