Turns out this chapter was going to be too big, so it isn't the last one. But the next one will be
"I really need some sleep, I'm pretty sure I've been running on caffeine alone for the past few days."
Tony rubbed his eyes, groaning.
The entire team was together, not in the lab, for the first time in days. The only ones who didn't look tired, from the stress and near constant vigilance, were the two Asgardians, but Tony figured they could go for weeks without sleep and still be able to kick ass, they probably had. Even Steve had bags under his eyes.
"It's not like this is a new thing for you, Tony. If I remember correctly, you were working on something for three days straight and then someone attacked us. You were so out of it the only thing that kept you in the air was Jarvis."
"Well, star-spangled smart ass, what I was working on was important. When genius strikes you just go with it."
Steve smirked in response to Tony's crabby retort. Behind them, Clint hid a laugh with a swig of coffee.
It almost felt normal again, like they had just returned from a long fight and were tiredly victorious. Of course, there was still the underlying tension in the air that had been present sense this started.
"Hey Nat, how much coffee is left? I'm going to want some-"
A loud crash, the sound of struggling, and the appearance of two people, interrupted Tony and made everyone jump up in surprise.
The two people, one a man and the other a young woman, had appeared above a table, causing the crash as they fell onto it. The woman, whose dark hair and sharp features were strikingly familiar, had the man in a headlock.
Everyone stared in shock for a moment longer. Then the woman snarled something unintelligible and pitched the man downwards, slamming his head into the floor. He went limp and the woman threw him down with a vicious look.
"You all were some help."
The woman snapped at them, cradling her arms gently.
"Wait, Loki?"
"Who else would want to come here?"
Tony gaped, while Natasha bento down next to the man on the floor, feeling for a pulse.
"You didn't kill him, he's just unconscious. Is this the guy then, the one that did this?"
"Yes, and I didn't mean to kill him, he may have use to you yet, if you can contain him."
Loki gave the man a reviling glare before closing his eyes and slowly, painfully, returning to his normal self.
"Brother you look…we should do something about your arms."
Thor quickly masked his surprise but Loki arched an eyebrow.
"Do I look that bad? I haven't exactly had a good few days."
"Er, no you look just-"
"You look like a wasted drug addict who hasn't slept in days and is in dire need of a fix."
Clint muttered flatly, Loki half smirked.
"Wonderful, although none of you look that great either."
Loki surveyed the dark shadows beneath their eyes, something like hope leaked into his tone. There were a few moments of silence, then the team started talking all at once about their idea.
"We had this plan-"
"-but you need to be the one to get it-"
"-I'm not sure how you'll take this-"
Their words mixed and jumbled together. Loki blinked rapidly in surprise, taking a step back and wincing at his throbbing burns. He frowned at the only one who wasn't speaking, Sif, and she grimaced with exasperation.
"Enough!"
Her voice harshly cut through the others and silenced them, Loki suppressed a chuckle.
"I am starting to see that you all have a problem with talking over each other. We only need one person to explain, not six."
Everyone looked to Tony and Bruce, Loki followed their gaze expectantly. Bruce shrugged and motioned for Tony to speak.
"Oh, me, okay…if you didn't know, Loki, your blood fights the poison best while in Jotun form."
"Yes, I figured that out."
Loki nodded slowly as Tony took a relieved breath. Natasha quietly went to get something for Loki's arms. Tony resumed speaking with a nervous look.
"Good, good…well, Jotun blood is stronger against illnesses than Asgardian, or ours, that's what Sif and Thor said. So we think that if you go and get some full Jotun blood and-"
"No, you want me to-that could-no!"
"Yes, yes you are!"
"No, you have no idea-"
"What, that something could go wrong, what you'd think if something went wrong?"
Tony scowled, cutting Loki off harshly. Tension stilled the air as Loki glared at them all in disbelief. They remained silent until Natasha returned, who immediately assessed the tension and sighed. She ignored Loki's glares and held out a tube of some sort of gel.
"Those burns are pretty bad, I would say you should go to the hospital but we don't have the time for that. This is going to hurt, just warning you."
Her voice was neutral, but Loki grudgingly held out his arms. That act broke the silence they had been in and Tony started speaking again.
"We think the Jotun blood should be strong enough to fight of the poison and it should mix fine with your blood, but you are the only one who can get it."
"This is ridiculous, there must be some other way. You can't honestly expect me to-augh!"
Loki finished with a yelp, Natasha grimaced an apology.
"Sorry, I told you it would hurt."
"Quite…Anyway, no I do not think you understand."
"Then explain."
Tony tapped his foot impatiently. The rest of the team remained silent, watching Loki stoically.
"I cannot, you would not understand. You have obviously thought of the risks or you would not have reacted so quickly to my denial."
"Brother…I realize that you are firm on this decision, but it is your life."
Thor spoke up, stepping closer to Loki. Natasha had begun to wrap Loki's arms with sterile linens.
"I have had to rely on…it for the past few weeks, that's already far too long. If something goes wrong…I don't want to be like that all the time."
The crack of desperation in Loki's voice made Thor wince.
"I know, brother, I know. But if something does go wrong, if, then you have the magic to fix it as if nothing had ever happened. Please, Loki, if not for you, then for your friends, for us."
Thor spoke slowly and deliberately. There was a short silence following his words, in which Natasha finished wrapping Loki's arms with the cloth. Loki nodded in thanks and pulled his arms back in a protective manner. His gaze did not meet any of theirs, as the silence stretched on. When Loki finally spoke, it was in a small voice.
"What do you need me to do? We should hurry."
There was another small moment of silence as everyone processed Loki's quiet words. Then Bruce bolted towards the elevator.
"I'll go get the syringe we developed for it. Wait here, I'll be right back."
Loki still did not bring his eyes upwards, but silently nodded. Thor moved beside him, placing a hand on Loki's shoulder. Loki did not shake it off, but did not respond.
"Hey, Loki, do you want anything to eat before you go?"
"I just ate, but something small would not be unappreciated."
By the time Bruce returned, Loki had finished a slice of peace , changed the clothes he wore to his armor, and was standing above Allan, looking down at him with a dark look.
"Here, you just need to fill this, it should be enough."
Bruce passed the large syringe to Loki, who turned away from Allan and took it.
"Keep him restrained, if he wakes he won't be able to disappear if he is restrained, he doesn't have the strength of magic."
"Alright, we'll do that."
Tony confirmed, still suspiciously eyeing Loki's neutral expression and shifty eyes. He held out his hand to shake. Loki stared at it questioningly.
"You know, for good luck…or if something goes wrong."
Loki took it and was jerked down as Tony simultaneously hugged him and muttered in his ear.
"Don't do anything stupid Loki, it will be fine. And you can beat that asshole up when you get back."
Tony drew away and Loki cracked a small smile, still barely meeting Tony's eyes.
There was a shimmer of green-gold light and Loki was gone.
"I don't trust this, did you see his face? He's not convinced, what if he bails?"
"Tony, worrying about it isn't going to help. It's his decision now."
00000
Cold wind immediately buffeted Loki's face as he stepped out of the passage-between-realms. The menacing landscape loomed around him, wind howling through high spires and rock formations. Heavy snow found its way into his eyes and Loki rubbed it away.
A blizzard, just wonderful.
It would be simple to get the blood, finding a Jotun and getting close enough to draw blood would be easy for him, with no ill effects from touching them. He could be out of here in just a few hours, the blizzard was no large concern, more of an annoyance than anything.
This can be over, it can all be done…but something will go wrong, it always does.
Loki took the empty syringe Bruce had given him from his armor. Then took another out as well. Inside an inky black liquid glinted in the dim light. It was the one Allan had attempted to inject him with. Such a small looking thing, yet it had the power to destroy, simply administered through liquid or gas, it was suffering to those under its effects.
This large a dose on me, when it's already in my system, death would most likely be almost instantaneous. Allan is in custody, they won't let him get away. I could just…it would be safer.
The black vial held Loki's gaze, faint light reflecting off of it.
You're a coward, a pathetic coward. You would rather die than face consequences, it's always like that with you, isn't it? If there's a way out, you'll take it.
That thought bounced through Loki's mind. He did run, he always ran from his problems, even death was a way of running. He always did anything he could to escape consequences, responsibility, even the most extreme of escapes just to remain unburdened.
Asgardians don't run, they stand and face their fate, they are not cowards.
"I am not…"
You were raised like one, yet you are a coward.
The throbbing pain of his burns momentarily distracted Loki. He hissed but stopped his hands from going to his arms. The black vial soon returned to his attention.
"No, not like this, not now."
Loki raised his arm, as if to throw the syringe, but slowly stored it back within his armor.
"More use could come of you yet."
Strong gusts buffeted Loki as he made his way across the frozen wastes, eyeing the landscape warily.
I spent much of my life running from my problems, I'm not ending it that way.
00000
"Are you sure I can't punch him?"
"No, Tony, you can't."
Tony huffed at Natasha's reprimand. The, still unconscious, Allan was restrained in a chair with cuffs that Tony had originally developed for Loki, what seemed like ages ago. Everyone sat in a tense position, waiting for Loki to return, all around the man.
"You know, I thought he would be more…I don't know, not this normal looking."
Clint rested his head on his hands with a small frown. Most everyone nodded in agreement.
"Yeah…appearances can be deceiving, I guess."
Beside Tony, Natasha smirked. Tony arched an eyebrow.
"What's funny?"
"Nothing, just…reminded me of something I said to you once, it was in Latin though."
"What…wait, that's what you said? I thought it was something about getting a ride. You- did he just move?"
Everyone tensed even more as Allan shifted in the chair. He moved his head slightly, then looked up. There were only a few seconds of confusion in his eyes before they cleared.
"Ah…I see…and these shackles are…magic repressing, clever."
He flexed his hands but seemed disturbingly casual. Tony felt his anger growing and stood up.
"You have the guts to act innocent? Do you know-"
"Tony, sit down."
This time it was Steve who cautioned him. Tony continued to glare as he sat back down, but noticed Thor scowling darkly as well, which satisfied him. Allan didn't seem phased by his outburst.
"Where's Loki?"
"That's not your business."
"On the contrary, I believe it is."
Allan's smile irked Tony more.
"Well, because we have you and you're not going anywhere, why did you do this?"
"I don't have to tell you that."
A low rumble of thunder outside made everyone look to Thor. The god stepped closer to Allan.
"You will tell us why you did this and why you did it to my brother."
Allan was smart enough not to deny the angry god.
"Because why shouldn't I? Life is cruel, bad things happen to good people. Most don't seem to realize this, they should. And as for your brother, he's powerful and very good at causing mayhem, even when his heart isn't into it. It was just lucky that my work happened to coincide with his use of magic."
"You didn't make it especially for him?"
"Oh, no, that would have taken many more years. I simply had to modify my work"
The straining of Allan's wrists against the cuffs was not lost on the Avengers.
"You're not getting out of those, they were made for someone much stronger than you."
"Right, and again, where is Loki? At this stage my darling starts to affect him in, what I can estimate to be…less than an hour."
"Did you say, "Your darling"? Why the hell, you damn-"
"I'm glad to see how effective my plan has been."
His words silenced them, Tony scowled deeply.
"We should ship you off to S.H.I.E.L.D. so we don't have to hear you ramble anymore."
"Any empty threat, you haven't already, so you won't. I assume you don't trust them, or I would have gotten word of your involvement ages ago."
Allan spoke casually, as if he hadn't said something alarming.
"You have people within S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Is that surprising? Of course I do, or I would not act so calm as of now, all good things come to an end, after all, I accept that."
"We will find them, you do realize that?"
Natasha challenged firmly, her stance was unwavering and projected utter confidence.
"You might, but S.H.I.E.L.D. is already complex enough. Having to go through it and not knowing exactly who is trustworthy…it could take ages and that's not even counting those outside of S.H.I.E.L.D."
The static silence following Allan's words appeared to amuse him. Air seemed caught in everyone's throat. Steve was the first to speak after that.
"How big is your network?"
"Do you honestly expect me to answer that?"
"We can make you."
Tony's cold, hash tone caught everyone by surprise but Allan merely chuckled.
"I tell you what cannot hurt the network, none of this information will hold much relevance after tonight. Though I may have created it, the operation does not need me, nor I it. To start something that will leave a lasting mark on the world. That's all that I needed to do. I have no further need for this world, now I can join Naomi and Louise."
AS he spoke, Allan pushed his tongue against one of his teeth and it detached. Steve's eyes widened and he leapt forward but was unable to grab Allan before he bit down, shattering the fake tooth.
Dark liquid was loosed from the tooth, almost immediately turning to a foamy material. In a matter of seconds, Allan seized and was dead.
"I…I should have stopped him…I knew what he was going to do…I've seen someone do it before, I should have-"
"No Steve, I should have recognized the pattern as well. But there's nothing we can do now."
Natasha stared at Allan, a slight scowl mixing with her masked surprise.
"What the hell do we do now?"
AN: So this chapter wasn't the last one. I was writing and realized that it would have been about the length of two, so you get one more. I'm a few pages into writing it and hopefully won't take too long. What do you think about this chapter, things may not be exactly what they seem sometimes? I am so pleased by the feedback I've got on this story and will continue it with another, but will need time to figure out what exactly I want to do. Hopefully the last chapter will be out next week or sooner.