Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to The Avengers or any of its associations.
For the second night in the short time that he had been with S.H.I.E.L.D., Loki was rudely awoken from his slumber. This time, Natasha was not standing before him, but he heard her moving around across the hotel room. He sat up enough to see her slipping from under the covers of the bed to flip the screeching laptop open. He was surprised at how graceful she was even in the middle of the night, and he questioned if she had even been asleep at all.
Loki gave a small sigh of relief when the noise died, and he pressed his index finger to his temple to ease the throbbing. It was very apparent that humans did not value sleep as much as the Asgardians, but Loki did not want to alienate himself further by complaining about such a trivial thing. He would adjust eventually.
Loki abandoned the couch that he had used as a bed to join Natasha's side, taking his position just as Director Fury's image assaulted the screen. The image blurred and fizzed, and such a loud noise emanated from the speakers that Loki almost wished the other sound back in its place.
Director Fury was barely visible in the screen, the background giving almost no light to him. Loki spared a glance at Natasha, and found her brow furrowed and her expression grave. Her face told him that this awkward transmission was not a common thing.
''Director, what's happening?'' she demanded.
''We're under attack,'' Director Fury shouted to her over the noise, his demeanor calm despite the situation. ''The Tesseract created some kind of portal. Something came through and attacked us. It's not human.''
Loki felt a sudden anger burn in his veins. Natasha seemed to sense it, because she spoke before he could. ''I thought you stopped the experiments?'' she said, though it was more of a question than a statement.
Director Fury's face was grave, but it held no remorse or sentiment. ''I authorized the experiments to continue.''
Loki moved forward to speak, his anger bubbling in his throat about to spill over, but Natasha touched his arm to calm him.
It did not so much calm him as surprise him, and he turned to look at her. While he was distracted, Natasha told Fury they would head straight to headquarters to help and slammed the laptop shut.
She did not look at him as she started throwing the few things they had brought with them into a duffel bag. He watched after her, his anger keeping him frighteningly still. Natasha didn't look at him, knowing the moment she did she would be the target of it.
In the end he did not wait for her to. He stood just as she was about to pass him, and she stopped dead in her tracks. He used her surprise against her, moving forward and forcing her back and into a wall.
''Why did he authorize it?'' he demanded of her. ''I told him the consequences he would face.''
''We don't have time for this-'' she started, but he slammed his hand against the wall beside her head. She was not angry, not at Director Fury, and it meant that she understood his motivations, at least enough not to question his decision.
She swallowed hard, and for only the smallest moment he saw a flicker of panic in her eyes at being cornered by an angry man she knew nothing about. Her face was blank not a moment later, and she raised her chin defiantly, though it was more in defiance of her fear than of him.
''I do not know for sure,'' Natasha told him. He opened his mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. ''I have my suspicions of his intent,'' she admitted. ''I will think on sharing them with you after we stop whatever came through the portal.''
Loki said nothing, just moved abruptly away from the wall. He paced the room as she resumed packing, though he felt her eyes watching him every now and then.
As he paced, his anger continued to grow and bubble in his veins, rising and rising to the brim until it finally spilled over.
''I cannot believe I am subject to the stupidity of your race after only such a short time here,'' Loki spat at her suddenly, and her hands stilled of their task. Her fists closed over the fabric of her bloodied dress that she had been in the process of shoving into the duffel bag, and her face was expressionless as she looked to him.
''I knew of your shortcomings, but I did not expect this magnificent of a fault,'' he seethed, speaking between his teeth clenched in anger.
There was a long moment of silence before Natasha braved to speak. ''Are you finished?'' she asked, and he saw just the slightest flicker of anger in her eyes.
''Hardly,'' he said, approaching her again. This time he did not catch her off guard, and she stood her ground even as he invaded her personal space.
''I was not meant to be here. I was meant to be so much more than this,'' he said, and though the words came out angry Natasha could see the barest hint of fear in his emerald eyes. ''I will die for your mistakes as if they are my own before I am ever to live up to my potential.''
''You know what came through the portal?'' she questioned, surprised by the extreme of his reaction.
''No,'' he said, his anger dissipating, and he moved back from her and ran a hand nervously through his hair. ''No, but I have a few ideas.''
He looked to her, and his eyes were wide. There was no anger left, only fear.
''Whatever has come through the portal, Agent Romanoff,'' he said to her, his voice grave enough to make her heart race and her fear spike in her veins. ''You are not prepared for it.''
He was right.
Clint had been out on mission in Germany when the attack happened, so he swung by in a S.H.I.E.L.D. issue aircraft and picked them up in London. They made it back to headquarters in record time, but even by then the place had been nearly completely destroyed and abandoned.
The Tesseract was gone, but the portal remained.
Director Fury ordered them to search the building for any agents left behind while he and Agent Hill secured the Tesseract, as well as eliminate any alien life force that remained at the site. It was unlikely that they would find anyone, at least not alive, and they needed to be out before the portal collapsed.
They split up to make the search quicker, though Natasha was hesitant to leave Loki alone. It was partly due to the fact that he was from another world himself and couldn't be trusted. Mostly, she worried that if anything happened to him they would lose a valuable insight on what this alien life force was and what they wanted.
When she watched him disappear, it was with a heavy heart.
Loki knew the second they stepped off of the aircraft what exactly had come through the portal. The stench of the Chitauri's wretchedness was one known to all, so ingrained that one did not have to encounter a Chitauri to know it.
It was confirmed when Loki passed by a sole dead warrior as he explored the wreckage of the human military base. He stepped over its deformed, twisted body with an expression that barely masked his disgust.
He was only searching for fifteen minutes when he felt a shiver run through the remnants of the building, alerting him that the portal was close to collapsing. Director Fury's voice buzzed over the speaker a moment later, calling for everyone to evacuate immediately, but a noise just a short distance from Loki made him ignore the warning.
He ventured down the pitch black hallway after the noise, but as he moved further he noticed that there was an unearthly light illuminating from the depths. It made him hesitant, weary of his human body and how it could hold up against the Chitauri.
Loki stopped dead when he could finally see the source of the light, and his breath left him in a ghost of a gasp. The figure stepped into the light its spear was casting, the energy at the center of the blade the blue of the Tesseract itself. Loki was in such awe of the creature before him that he did not move even as the spear started down in his direction.
The figure stopped its movement only a moment before the blade would have struck home, and withdrew the threat entirely. ''I know of you,'' the figure said, it's voice deep and haunting. A tremor of foreboding and fear ran through Loki, and he swallowed hard.
''The Fallen One.''
''Is that what they are calling me now?'' he asked, smirking bitterly despite the fear choking in his throat.
''There are other names for you,'' the figure stated. He did not say any more than that. ''Do you know who I am, Asgardian?''
There were not many history books that included the Chitauri, but Loki had delved into the deepest depths and crevices of the palace library when he was a child. He had seen the crude drawings, the shakily scribbled descriptions of the man that stood before him. He knew to fear him, to loathe him, even before his name escaped his lips for confirmation.
''The Other.''
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it took me so long to post. Look forward to the assembly of the rest of the Avengers in the next chapter. Please keep reading and reviewing.