Heya everyone! :D I bet you really wanna read this chappie doncha, since I left off on a positively thrilling cliffie last chapter! MWAHAHAHAHAAAA! *evil grin*

Well this chapter has got a bunch of thrills and chills so hold on to your pants peeps! :D

Little upset no one tried to guess the fandoms...I thought they were both obvious. Welp, they were Doctor Who and Bones, first and second. The whole Bow ties are cool is the Eleventh Doctor's catch phrase, and for Bones, the line about gunshot victims is a nod to the episode in season eight where Dr. Brennan gets shot with a blood bullet. (because she said it felt cold when she was shot)

Anyway...yeah. Time for review replies!

Review Replies from Chapter Nine:

AglonAuthor- BOW TIES ARE AWESOME! ...OAO nooo don't beat your head think about your poor computer...here here's the next chapter DOn'T KILL YOURSELF PLEASE! Thanks for reviewing though, I take it you liked the cliffie ;)

CrystalClear98- haha thanks a bunch for sayin so! Yeah I love Bones! I just wish PELANT FREAKING DIED ALREADY JGWHEGSGJSMFSK *scuffles break loose* (thanks for reviewing)

AmericanAirman- ahh...thanks! and thanks for reviewing!

EDIT: From the future teehee XD! I got a review from good ol Liberty Bell this morning and she had a question for this chapter, so what the heck!

Liberty Bell's question, for Natasha: How do you feel having another (way younger) girl with you guys? Change of pace, right? Or are you as indifferent as I expect you to be?

Natasha: You should never expect anything. If anything though, expect the unexpected. As for Tori, well, I agree it is different. She seems like a sweet girl and everyone's having fun with her. It's just not what we can do right now with Loki trying to take over Earth, and with that I really do feel bad.

Time for the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I do not own anythin but my OC!

Avenger'd

Chapter Ten

It was black, pitch black, and the only sound I could hear was a faint dripping of water.

Am I dead?

That's the only thought running through my mind. I remembered it all. I was drowned by a big black octopus that used to be the green and gold bird. Ironic, I'm supposed to save people from drowning but I manage to get drowned myself.

A warm light began to shine and illuminated the area. I was lying in a forest clearing, the same as my dream. All in a sudden wave, everything felt heavy and unmovable, my head, my legs, my arms, even my breathing felt constricted.

"Am I dead?!" I voiced my thoughts, practically screaming into the open. There was nothing but silence that mocked me, and I began to cough. There was though, a soft sound that began to resonate through the wood, a melodic sound. It grew closer, and as it did, I could ascertain that the melodic sound was a laugh, bright and cheery, although it did nothing to raise my spirits. I struggled to lift my head and I growled as I saw that the origin of the laugh was none other than the bird.

"Oh sweet little human, you're not dead," the bird chuckled, landing atop my chest, to my disdain. It cocked its head in thought. "But then again you're not really alive either."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You remember! You drowned; you gave those superhero friends of yours quite a scare. Lucky they got to you as fast as they did or you might have been dead."

I started, and my body tensed, causing the bird to flutter off and land next to me. The Avengers…saved me…but…

"Why am I dreaming then? If they saved me, shouldn't I be awake or semi-conscious by now?" I inquired, persistent, but relieved that the others got to me. The bird smirked at me.

"It's not that easy, Tori Matthews. You are in a state of in between life and death," it explained. "You won't get to either side with something as simple as what happened."

I frowned in a petulant manner. Great…now what was I supposed to do? As if the bird heard me, it flew upwards and landed on my head.

"Well now, you and I can spend some more time together. Won't that be fun?" it asked playfully with a grin. I growled and shook it off.

"No way bird-brain, last time I spent 'quality time' with you in this dreamscape I nearly died by falling off a rocky spire. No way in hell," I spat vehemently, glaring daggers. The bird stared at me for a while with a curious look before laughing darkly. A blinding electric blue glow erupted from the bird, similar to before in the pool, and it rose up in the air. After a few seconds, the light subsided and the bird was replaced with a large tiger, with shimmering gold fur and black stripes, and it had large emerald eyes that gave a paralytic gaze.

"Who exactly is the bird-brain, human?" the tiger asked coyly. I shuddered in terror. The voice of the tiger was essentially the same, except it had a deeper tone and it was a silky snide that sent chills down my spine and was helplessly enthralling.

"Well….ah…" I couldn't form words; my mind was drawing a blank. The tiger stalked and placed its paw on my chest, making a loud gasp exit my lips. It stared down at me, and instantly I felt like a rabbit about to be eaten. The golden tiger grinned maliciously, showing off its huge white fangs.

"Let's take a little trip, shall we, Tori Matthews?" it purred, pressing down on my chest, and only too late I realized that a large black hole was growing beneath my back and as the tiger pushed down, I sank further into the darkness, until there was nothing but black.

Dr. Banner and Tony stood on opposite sides of the bed where they had taken their unconscious friend, and the others were gathered in between them.

"How long has it been, doc?" Steve asked quietly, perfectly aware since the time he asked five minutes ago. Bruce understood this and figured he'd humor the captain as well as everyone else who probably felt the same way.

"Six hours, almost seven. Ask me in another fifteen minutes and it'll be there," Bruce deadpanned with a grim smirk. Steve didn't notice the dry humor, but almost paled at the implication of time.

"Seven hours?" he rasped, and Tony frowned deeply, as well as the archer and Thor. The Black Widow had no expression, but her eyes were full of storm clouds. Tony snorted heavily through his nose and shook his head.

"We shouldn't have let her leave with Loki still out there," he hissed under his breath. "She's just a kid, she didn't even wanna be here for crying out loud!"

Clint's face darkened as he responded to Tony. First he gets manipulated by Loki, now this…

"She's not dead is she?" the archer whispered, not taking his eyes off of the teen. The gamma scientist and the billionaire both shook their heads.

"She's still got a pulse, and she's still breathing, albeit slow for both," Dr. Banner said slowly, as if convincing himself of their wayward friend's life.

It was then that the super-spy noticed the teen's closed fist. She blinked curiously at it then alerted her comrades.

"Why is her hand closed? If she drowned, wouldn't her body go limp, including this?" she asked. The others nodded and then Steve subconsciously volunteered to pry her hand open. Except it wasn't working so well, to everyone's surprise.

It was as if her fingers were locked shut and even Captain America with his super-human strength had a hard time. Thor frowned and he, as gently as Æsir-ly possible, reached to assist in the prying. With the two of their combined strengths, they managed to crack open the fingers and a bright light escaped them and to the team's utter dismal loathing, the light was the familiar electric blue hue of the Tesseract and the gem that powered the god of mischief's staff.

They all sucked in a collective sharp breath, and Clint really wished he could shoot through Loki's eye socket or both of them while he was at it.

That damn god just made things personal…again. Which had seemed impossible, but after the events of the past few days, the archer had learned to dismiss the meaning of impossible.

Steve's jaw hardened and he glared at the blue glow. "So, what the hell is that son-of-a-bitch doing with Tori? What is she to him besides the thing that came instead of his alien army?"

"That, Captain, is what we must find out," Thor stated monotonously, his heart aching for his brother. Why, Thor wanted to know. Why his brother, whom he loved as one despite his monstrous origins, had betrayed him and then attacked an innocent, another sign of betrayal, even after Thor had extended a hand of peace, to forget his conquest and return to Asgard.

Tony glared hard at Tori's hand, pulsing and thrumming with light, and exhaled.

"Let's get moving then. For the maestro," he added softly, gazing sensitively at the teen that became like the kid sister he never had. "One of us should stay with her, at a time, in case something happens."

Natasha raised her hand quickly and sternly but fondly glanced at the unconscious girl. "I'll volunteer," she said humorlessly, but with a dry twang. "You and Dr. Banner should run that algorithm you were talking about to track the Cube and Thor can sense the magic somewhat, right? And Clint and the Captain should be on lookout. I'll stay here."

The aforementioned team members nodded with vindication burning through them and they left, the Widow staying and sitting beside the bed, as if she could try and read the unconscious expressions on the teen's face.

I was floating in an abyss of darkness, cold and alone. I had partially, but disdainfully, hoped that even the bird-turned-tiger could give me company at the very least. I had given up trying to awaken a while ago, and my head was a jumble of confused haze that didn't make sense.

I had even given up trying to cry about it. Yeah, apparently, tear ducts didn't work in this dream (even though they worked in my other one where I was falling to my doom due to that strange morphing creature, duly noted). All of a sudden, a dull yellowish glow appeared beneath me and I was dropped into a dimly lit tunnel of some sort…well 'dropped' might not even be the right word, as I was floating…and still was floating…

Aaghh all of this confusing crud was messing with my braaainnnn! It took me a few seconds, of course, but soon I realized I wasn't just hovering anymore: I was moving towards something…or someone. This tunnel lead somewhere, and where it went, I was most likely floating to.

Closer…and closer…I could barely make out the silhouette of a person, of course, my eyes could have been playing tricks. I'd seen nothing but animals up to this point…although each animal had distinct human characteristics: the snide smiles and laughter, the piercing eyes and the voice.

And as I continued to draw closer, my fears became whole. The image became solid, and the figure was revealed to be a man, quite tall, with those practically glowing emerald eyes and that wickedly cruel smile. He had long raven-black hair and he was wearing a dark suit and a rather small scarf. He had something behind his back that I could not see, but whatever it was gave a distinct blue hue around his figure.

"Well hello there Victoria Matthews," he said with a positively dodgy silk in his tone. His smile disappeared and was replaced with a curious smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Or do you prefer the informal Tori?"

This man held the piercing and paralytic look that the tiger had possessed. I was completely shell-shocked, unable to think or speak, let alone answer his question. The man laughed at my expression before leaning closer to my growing horror.

"Come now, it's rude to ignore a person's question, is it not?" he prodded with a toothy manic grin. I shut my eyes and took the deepest breath I could muster.

"t-The l-latter," I muttered quickly, fear flooding my system. The man chuckled once more.

"See that wasn't so hard," he replied, before humming thoughtfully. "Isn't it also rude to not look at a person when he is speaking to you?" I shook my head wildly, even though I knew he spoke the truth. There was no way though. I couldn't talk, let alone think, when I looked at him. He laughed, as if he could read my thoughts. "Dear Tori, won't you look at me, I'm hurt."

Nope. Not gonna do it.

"Open your eyes and look at me when I talk to you."

Not gonna. I made up my mind.

"Open your eyes now."

…my eyes had grown minds of their own. I was betrayed by my own body. Dammit. Within seconds of this whispered order, I was once again staring into the dark emeralds that were the mysterious man.

"That's better," he said with a sickening smile. The wheels began turning in my head just enough for the light bulb to light up.

"y-You…" I forced out, getting his attention. "y-You're the bird…a-and the octopus…and the tiger…you're the one who almost killed me and who's been invading my dreams and my mind!"

This accusation only seemed to make him happier, or just smile even more broadly (which I guessed meant it was undoubtedly true). He seemed just to not care, as if he was egging me on. I gave him a confused look, which also I used to hide my fear although I had a suspicion that wouldn't matter.

"And?" he taunted, grinning devilishly and sending chills down my spine. "You must have guessed the impossible by now. I am not human. I am much more than any mere human."

The person chuckled and gave me a manic glint in his beastly green eyes. Slowly, he stepped to the side, revealing a bright, glowing electric blue cube that hummed and pulsed with energy and life. My eyes widened in terror and I looked agonizingly slowly from the man to the cube and back again. Hazy memories flashed into my head.

"The Helicarrier is more than apt to track Loki and it has all of the systems you used to track the Cube."

"Even someone like Loki couldn't have known the powers of the Cube, something in that weird magic relic could have offset his original plan."

"That tornado could've sent interference with the Tesseract and caused it to malfunction."

"Normal humans do not just fall out of the sky or disrupt the Tesseract!"

"Loki!"

I gaped dumbly at the figure standing proudly before me. It was as if all of the puzzle pieces of the world fitted into place. It all made sense.

"Loki…as in…God…of Mischief," I muttered, recalling my thoughts from when the Avengers first uttered the name. The figure only grinned expectantly. "You…you're…you're…" I couldn't get myself to say it. After everything that had happened, I couldn't wrap my head around this. "But…you can't be…and that can't be…" I looked to the bright glowing Cube that was giving me a bad feeling.

"It is and I am," the god purred silkily. "You finally figured it out."

"But…why?"

The unspoken phrase I didn't have the strength to say was 'Why me? Out of all of the other heroes…'

Loki grinned. "That's an easy one. You have a connection to the Tesseract and I have the power to use that connection to my advantage. Those blasted humans and my brother ruined my plans, and if not an army I wield, then their newfound little friend."

My throat was becoming dry and my mouth moved without words.

"Why tell me?" I managed to ask. Loki gave a positively melodic, but wickedly dark laugh.

"You foolishly naïve girl, what makes you think I'll let you leave with this memory intact?"

My eyes widened significantly, but before I could protest, he flicked his hand and my mouth immediately shut.

"Before you ask, I brought you here so I could see you. I admit the animals were amusing, but it's quite a different feeling when I am as I am," he explained, raising his eyebrows and oscillating on his feet casually. "I must say, up close, you are quite an interesting human, very interesting. Unlike that Romanoff. Much less…red."

Loki snickered at his own statement. He reached out and grabbed my chin and pulled me closer. "I am afraid…our time is coming to a close," he whispered into my ear. "My magic will only allow this for so long, so…" with his other hand he wielded a staff, with a glowing blue gem at its top.

He pressed the gem to my forehead and a blinding white exploded in my vision before my eyes drooped and I was falling into the god's arms, though apparently fading away.

"Until we meet again, Tori Matthews."

Tori's chest rose as she sighed, and the spy noticed as the blue glow dimmed and the teen's fist opened to reveal a small blue stone, still radiating a small amount of energy.

"This isn't good…" Natasha muttered, glaring daggers and hoping that her teammates had progressed.

Edit: (again from the future teehee XD)

They don't call Loki "the Silvertongue" for nothing! MWAHAHAHAA!

And now the team's got serious worry on their hands! OH NUUU and now you guys the readers know something that the other characters don't! (that's called irony my friends!) OH NOO THE SUSPENSE OF NOT KNOWING WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT!

XD I had a lot of fun writing this sequence and now I'm probably gonna hit another bump (because honestly I have two ideas and neither of them are liking me)

Loki: Why don't you write a whole chapter dedicated to me?

Me: ...what do you think this was? i was giving ya some face-time with my OC and a whole little power and manipulation thing WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT

Loki: Do you really wanna know?

Me: ...nope. ;) hahaha

Alright then dear readers, please be good readers/writers and leave feedback in either clicking the button, or using that convenient little box riiiigghhht below these words! Feel free to ask questions, seriously, and those who review get chocolate covered strawberries. Or yogurt covered in case you like those better.

AND REVIEW ABOUT THE CHAPTER PLEASE don't just be one of those people who write like one word or leave the box open and I get a review that says "Type your review for this chapter here..."

Because it's happened. and it's not that funny...we writers get our hopes up when we get emails labeled "Fanfiction"! Reviews are the lifeblood of a writer's life after all.

Anyway...REVIEW! (and sorry if I seem pushy it's just...I get a little ticked off after the last three reviews for another story of mine were those :P)

~DarkMousyRulezAll, signing out to brainstorm (And get ready for school in a weeeekkkk NOOOOO)