AN: AND AN UPDATE! I know it's not long but we'll get into some action next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews and everything! I hope you like!

I own nothing.

Chapter Ten:

Clint could hear fire engines screaming towards their location. Smoke was thick in the air, burning Clint's nose and lungs. He was sore all over and wanted desperately to lie down but was filled with overwhelming anxiety over his sister. To top it all off, Loki, the assumed dead god of mischief and SHIELD's most wanted criminal, was standing in front of him, shaking him by the shoulders. And the dude had his hair in a ponytail. Clint rubbed his forehead with his knuckles.

"I said, shall we rescue your sister?" Loki shook Clint again. "I do not know where your team is so I am relying on you to take us to their location."

Clint shook his head and squinted through the smoke. Yes; he was without a doubt looking at Loki. "You're supposed to be dead."

Loki used every ounce of his being to restrain himself from knocking the archer out. "There is time for that later. Your sister has been taken."

Clint finally snapped out of his shocked stupor. "I don't know where they've set up headquarters. Are you sure Waverly's not in there?"

Loki nodded. "The one called Cinder took her. He used some kind of magic to teleport out of the building."

By now, Steve and Natasha had arrived on the scene. Neither were in uniform, in order to keep their cover, but both were armed with hand guns. Natasha had seen Clint crash from the warehouse onto the adjacent building's fire escape. She called up to her partner.

"Clint, where's Waverly?" As she spoke, the assassin scanned the surrounding area, looking for the hostiles.

Steve nudged Natasha and gestured up towards Clint. "Who's with Barton?"

Before either of them could figure it out, Loki had teleported himself and Clint to the ground beside the other two Avengers. The second he got his footing, Clint began barking commands. "Nat, take us back to base. Steve, you help the firemen get the blaze under control."

Steve nodded and ran off towards the fire trucks screeching to a halt nearby. Natasha was not about to follow along so easily. "Clint, who's this?" Natasha's gun was trained on Loki's exposed chest.

"Later. Come on."

Back at base, Fury wasted no time in interrogating Clint. The SHIELD director along with Agent Hill and the remaining Avengers were seated in the makeshift debriefing room. On the wall sized screen behind Fury, live footage of the warehouse fire was displayed.

"What happened back there? Where is Ice Hawk?" Fury barked out questions before Clint's brain even had time to comprehend them. "Where did the hostiles go? Were there civilian casualties?" Then, Fury spotted the strange man Clint had brought back to base. "Who the hell is this?"

Clint exchanged a glance with Loki. The latter sighed and rolled his eyes. "Listen well mortals, because I am only saying this once."

From across the room, Thor narrowed his eyes and gazed at the newcomer with confusion.

"Since it seems you humans have one track minds, I will tell my story so that we may get on with rescuing Waverly." Loki strode to the middle of the room. He allowed his magic to dissolve his disguise so that he was dressed in his usual leather and gold armor. "Yes, it is I, Loki. You all thought me to be dead. I faked my death in order to escape imprisonment by your agency. It was my hope to find a way to elude you whilst securing myself a life with the human girl. Now that she has been captured, it was time for me to make my presence known."

Thor stood up so fast, his chair was knocked backward onto the floor. "Brother! You live! I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear of this!" Thor walked briskly around the table and enveloped his brother in an enormous bear hug. Beneath Thor's bulging muscles, Loki scowled and squirmed his way out of Thor's grip.

"This is precisely why I wanted my presence to remain a secret."

The rest of the room was not as… overjoyed as Thor was. Tony swore and ran a hand through his hair.

"I knew it. I knew it. Loki being dead was just too good to be true."

Next to Tony, Bruce was looking astonished. Meanwhile, Natasha was looking at Loki with narrowed eyes. The second he had transformed back into his usual appearance, she had aimed her gun at his head.

"Please, Miss Romanoff. Isn't that a bit much?" Loki drawled.

Fury finally regained his voice. "I'd say it's not nearly enough. Damn, Loki you are in such deep shit right now."

Thor, who was completely oblivious to the fact that the rest of the room still saw Loki as a criminal and a threat, draped one of his meaty arms over Loki's shoulders. "We must inform Mother at once! She was heartbroken to hear of your death… again."

"Slow down, Thor," Fury said. He walked over to the other side of the table, taking a pair of handcuffs from his belt as he did so. "Loki is a wanted criminal. He has to face justice."

For what felt like the millionth time in just a few short minutes, Loki focused all his energy on not lashing out at these insolent buffoons. "I believe," he said, his voice strained, "Our top priority at the moment is retrieving Waverly."

Clint sighed through gritted teeth. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Loki."

Fury clenched his jaw while he assessed the current situation. They had teamed up with Loki once and things went all right; that is until Loki 'died,' thereby escaping punishment. These two new criminals, Cinder and Ash, obviously SHIELD and the Avengers were not prepared to take them on; maybe Loki's help could prove beneficial. There was this 'other force' the pyrokenetics kept mentioning. Who knew what that could be? If Loki was willingly offering his help, it might be wise to take him up on his offer. Once Cinder and Ash had been taken care of, Fury could deal with Loki.

"Teaming up with you was supposed to be a one in a million kind of thing," Fury finally said. "But, it looks like we," Fury paused before choking out the rest of his sentence through his clenched jaw, "require your assistance once more."

Loki couldn't help but smile smugly. "Naturally."

"Cut the attitude," Fury spat. "Now you or Clint, someone explain to me what happened back there."

Clint and Loki then recapped the events of the recent past. Loki informed the team that he had tried to intervene and rescue Waverly, but it was as if Cinder had anticipated his appearance. He explained how Cinder had fled with Ash and Waverly by using some type of magic.

Fury furrowed his brow in thought. "Magic? I thought they could only control fire."

"That is what I do not understand," Loki said. "Magic is a difficult art to master. I don't believe the serums these humans have been injected with could grant them these abilities."

"There is that other force they keep harping on about," Clint interjected. "Cinder said something about it enhancing their powers."

"Or," Natasha spoke up, "The other force could be what transported them from the building."

"I think this other force needs to be our focus," Fury said. "Cinder and Ash seem to be your typical egomaniacs; they're a dime a dozen. Stark, can you and Banner go through our files and see if you can glean any info on this mysterious force?"

Tony nodded.

"We can analyze an energy signature of what's left of the warehouse," Bruce added. "That might give us some clues."

"Good. It could also point us in Cinder and Ash's direction." Fury turned to face Loki and Clint. "Can I trust you two to work together and organize a team to rescue Ice Hawk."

The god of mischief and the archer locked gazes. It was a tense moment but both nodded.

"Thor will go with you; to keep Loki under control."

Loki suppressed an eye roll. Right now, his pride needed to take a back seat. Saving Waverly was his top priority.

Waverly didn't know where she was. She was dazed and confused and sore all over. Tyson was dragging her down a dark hallway, his nails digging into her forearm. Some kind of magic had taken them away from the burning building to this new place. Wherever they were, it was stifling hot but dark as night; the only light came from a tongue of fire flickering above Tyson's palm. Waverly tried desperately to get a good jet of water to erupt from her body, but even if she could, it would do no good. Unless she could freeze Tyson, the pyro would just capture her once more. Tyson hadn't said a word since they left the warehouse and Waverly was still in such shock, she didn't think she could form proper syllables. When they had reached the end of the hall, Tyson finally spoke.

"Just so you can't get away." He pulled a syringe from his pocket and plunged it into Waverly's arm.

She winced in pain and clutched her arm with her other hand. "W-what was that?"

"I invented it just for this purpose." Tyson shoved Waverly against the wall while he unlocked a thick steel door beside them. "It's not enough to undo what Project X did, but it'll inhibit your powers for a while." Tyson pushed the door open and steered Waverly into the room. "You'll get your powers back once you decide to join us."