Guest 1: Parseltongue was tied to the Horcrux..he wouldn't keep it, sorry.

Guest 2: Thank you! Glad you liked it :D

Castlepotion: Aww thanks :3

Lolxx: well, he is kindof a Green Beans on steroids…xD

Axcel: …someone told me in the earlier chapters and it slipped off my mind; although the people mentioning his weapons (Gale, Klaus, etc) didn't have the word for them, so I kinda used it for an excuse ^^" But thanks for the reminder. And maybe an assassin would be long gone before seducing her target all the way, but there is still the matter of the bait. She must look good for the fish to think 'I'm getting lucky tonight' ^^. Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying it! :D

Many thanks to Blue for beta-ing!


The Widow and the Wizard

10.

If anyone had told him he would find himself in a confined space in the company of a 'god of thunder' and watching his mentor interrogate the one that wizards called 'The Trickster', Harry would have tagged them mental. And yet here he was, staring at the screen with the huge man (not as big as Hagrid though, never as big as the giant he had come across on his eleventh birthday), mentally praying she would manage well enough to find a way back to Clint.

Loki had been pacing back and forth for the past hour and had missed her entry. Then demigod paused in his step, realizing that he wasn't alone anymore and turned around.

"There are not many people who can sneak up on me," he said with a hint of appreciation and a smile that gave the wizard the creeps.

"But you figured I'd come."

"After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm, and I would cooperate."

Good move, Harry thought, watching Thor from the corner of the eye. He wasn't certain the alien would appreciate hearing Fury's classical type of interrogation and making a move before the Director was catching Loki off-guard, whether he showed it or not.

"I want to know what you've done with agent Barton"

"Told ya'," he whispered to his fellow co-workers. Klaus rolled her eyes, Annam didn't blink, Thor didn't react either.

"I've expended his mind."

Why did that sentence not reassure him one bit?

"And once you've won, once you are king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?"

"Is this love agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for children; I owe him a debt"

Ouch, Harry wished Clint never, ever saw this footage. The archer might misunderstand her meaning. As far as the wizard was concerned, Natasha did love Clint in her own way. As far as he could remember, she hadn't mentioned a lover who had lasted as long as he had, or that she had spoken of with any kind of affection. Then again, Clint seemed to get to her like no other, so maybe he would understand. Not to mention Natasha's tone had turned a bit stern, like every time she tried to avoid a subject thatshe wasn't found of…

"Tell me," Loki encouraged. Natasha moved to a bench –or was it a box? –and started the story:

"Before I worked for Shield, I made a name for myself. ...I have a very specific skillset, I didn't care what I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."

Harry noted she had carefully left his presence out of the rest. Was she trying to keep the focus on her? Why?

"What will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki went on eagerly.

"Not let you out," she replied, sounding vaguely amused.

"No but I like this. Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man."

"Regimes fall every day, I tend not to weep over that. I'm Russian. Or I was."

"And what are you now?"

"It's really not that complicated, I've got red in my ledger, and I'd like to wipe it out."

Her sentence made Loki's maniacal grin even more…maniacal.

"Good god he's a creep," Klaus muttered between her teeth. Harry could only nod in approval.

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire? The boy you pretended to rescue but turned into one of your own kind? Barton told me everything."

Harry gritted his teeth angrily. While his recruitment into SHIELD along with Natasha was no secret, he hated when it was stated that his mentor had forced him into that road. He had chosen it fully aware of the consequences.

"Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is sentimentality; this is a child at prayer! Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you, and they will never go away."

The wizard swallowed heavily, knowing he was close to wearing the current expression of horror on Natasha's face. Lisa Drakov's face returned to his mind, blank eyes, opened mouth and still body. Loki's words had touched a sensible chord within him, reminding him of his mistakes, and he hated the semi-god even more for it.

"I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams I'll split his skull. This is my bargain you mewling quim!"

As Loki, something wavered over the glass of his prison. It barely took a blink and had they not been watching so intensely they would have missed the rune engraved in the glass.

"What's that?" Annam frowned.

"That uh would be my doing," Harry admitted, smiling awkwardly. "It felt weird setting up a cage for a magical person when you know an MID agent could just Apparate away. So I casted a protective charm around."

"You set up a shield?" Annam asked in shock. The wizard shook his head.

"No, just a basic kind of sensor. It won't hold him back if he ever tried to run away but I'd be alerted immediately. Even if I'm not sure I could do anything against him on my own."

"You're a monster," Natasha spoke again, dragging his attention back on the screen. She had her back turned to Loki, shoulders tensed and looking a lot more vulnerable than he'd expected. Either she was an amazing actress pulling the big show, or she was genuinely upset. Harry figured it could be a bit of both; Clint had turned their lives upside down for the best after all. Next to him, Klaus snorted, fooled by Natasha's action.

"Yeah, she really should have let one of us do the interrogation if she can't handle him." Harry didn't comment and kept watching. Natasha had Loki right where she wanted him, and he better concentrate if he didn't want to miss the finale.

"No, you brought the monster."

By the time Natasha's shoulders relaxed, that she turned around and faced Loki with completely dry eyes, Harry had reached the same conclusion that was forming in her mind.

"Banner," he said in synchronization with the redhead on screen.

"What?" both Klaus and Thor spoke before realization dawned upon the two witches and the demigod.

"He means to unleash the Hulk," Harry went on, heading straight to the door. "We need to get him away from here."

"Potter, lead Thor back to the geniuses' lair," Annam ordered sharply. "Klaus; with me. We are paying a visit to the Trickster and let's pray some shields of our own will be enough to keep him in."

TWATW

The reunion was, to say the least, quite heated. The two lab geniuses, Captain, Fury and Natasha were already there. Apparently Stark had finally gotten his hands on Phase Two plans and Rogers got his hands on the prototype. The Director was not pleased, but not apologetic enough to show any kind of remorse.

"He agrees the idea sucks too!" Stark suddenly said, pointing his finger at Harry. The wizard wasn't sure what had been the exact conversation, but he had a vague idea. "He saw me place the hacking device and didn't say a thing."

Harry nearly rolled his eyes; he hated when people tried to divert the focus on them onto someone else. Fury of course lived up to his name and glared at him.

"And you didn't feel inclined to inform us of Stark's shenanigans?"

"You didn't ask," Harry replied evenly. In truth, he thought the whole 'Phase Two' thing was a mistake, but who was he to voice his thoughts to the Director of SHIELD? He was an MID agent after all. And while Stark might be a major pain in everyone's ass, he wouldn't let Fury get away with using outer-space magic for muggle weaponry. It sounded so…wrong, mixing the two worlds. Like crossing a dolphin with a turtle. Different worlds, different standards, different weapons. Plain clear and simple.

But according to Fury entranced glare and Natasha's exasperated eye roll, his opinion wasn't shared.

"This was not your decision to render or set information public," the black man growled.

"Yet I think I still have the choice to do what I deem is right, do I not?"

He glanced at Natasha intensely, wanted to remind her that she had given him that kind a speech a while ago. Given the sour expression on her face, she did.

"It doesn't change the fact that now that we know Loki's plan, we should still relocate Banner."

"I think I'll stay right where I am," the doctor sneered. "You dragged me out of Calcutta to bring me here."

"To find the Tesseract," Harry snapped back. He didn't understand why he suddenly felt so angry. "Not to unleash Mr. Hyde on the bloody Helicarrier of all places."

"And why is SHIELD building weapons of mass destruction?" Banner demanded, pointing at the schematics of the new weapon.

"The Council is scared other aliens will come and bomb the place out," Harry replied before Fury could open his mouth. He knew the Director was more or less partial to the plan, but he still didn't want the man to aggravate the situation, especially with Thor in the same place. "How to do reply to threats over here? You build bigger guns."

"And that is why Loki came here," Thor suddenly spoke, realization and anger dawning in his tone. "Other realms will know Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"You forced our hand; and your people won't give a hand in this kind of fight," Fury added, glaring at Harry. Natasha stepped closer to him and glared at Fury in turn.

"Not everything is fixable with a snap of a finger," she retorted, and the wizard felt grateful she was willing to back him, even if he knew she was more supportive of Fury's cause.

"No, they prefer weapons. That solves everything, doesn't it?" Stark piped in. Harry had the urge to smack him.

"Remind me how you made your fortune?" Fury replied with an irritated nonchalantly, soon seconded by Rogers.

The tension was rising even more. The situation was getting out of hand. But Stark, Rogers and Banner were still worked up by the last conversation and Fury far from done. Natasha started joining the argument on Fury's side. Harry blinked, feeling the beginning of a headache. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, annoyed with the constant rising bickering. He hadn't gotten much sleep since he had heard about Clint's situation yesterday. This was nothing like an ordinary mission; this concerned a part of his family, a man he felt protective of, perhaps even more than Natasha. She tended to be a lot more prudent on missions than some might believe; Clint loved some action to spice up his missions from time to time.

"Captain America is on a watch list?" Banner asked incredulously. And Stark replied mockingly:

"How are you supposed to keep them in check? By sending candy-eye like Romanoff to ensure their loyalty again?"

Harry's attention snapped on Stark, who had made the remark. The redhead looked indignant but too used to such formulations to pay too much care; especially since she had used her 'candy-eye' skill to keep an eye on Stark, so she couldn't quite object. But Harry was having none of it.

"Hey-" someone interjected but Harry was past listening. He eyed Stark, his blood boiling so harshly it nearly caught him off-guard.

"Apologize," he hissed. The room quieted again and all stares were on him. Most were staring in mild-interest (Thor, Rogers and Banner) others in wonder (Natasha and Fury) and the last one flippantly.

"No need to get so worked up," the man replied with a nonchalant shrug. "I was just-"

The genius never finished his sentence; an invisible force pushed him back effortlessly far against the closest wall. Everyone took a step back while Harry moved forward, eyes narrowed and fists tensed. He hadn't had a burst of accidental magic in a while, but the difference here…this happened to be a very controlled burst in reaction to his anger. No-one messed with Natasha in his presence. No-one.

"You fucking sorry excuse of a man, apologize!" Harry nearly shouted in anger. Stark's eyes were wide in shock, his hands batting uselessly as he tried to get a grip over something –but was met with nothing but air. It felt good to see the fear run over his face, the uneasiness after facing the unexpected. The wizard knew if he held on too long, he might crush the man against the glass but he was gone too far to think of stepping back.

"Harry, enough!"

A hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him back harshly. As fast as the anger had flooded in, it drained out. Stark fell on the floor in a limp, coughing hard. Banner ran to his side to check on him. Harry blinked in surprise and looked around. The rest of the room stared in various stages of surprise and mistrust. Only Natasha had that severe expression when he had failed an easy exercise she had set upon him.

"What do you think you're doing?" she growled warningly. "You think you are allowed to lower your guard in the middle of a fight?"

The redhead was furious, but also scared he realized. Her tone and gestures were stiff but her eyes were…uneasy. Harry stared warily at the scepter. The blue part was in turmoil, seeming to explode under its glass container. Now that the anger had deserted him, he could feel its magic floating in the room.

"I think I've just found one reason more not to let MIDs around that stuff," he said blankly. He had felt so angry when he usually kept a good grip on his feelings… "Scientists realized Annam and I were triggering something with the Tesseract back in New Mexico. Maybe it was trying to reach out to us since we have more affinity with…that."

"You might as well say you were under Loki's influence," Natasha said bitterly. "Now I want to shove you off the Helicarrier too."

Harry froze at her words.

"Annam and Klaus are headed to his prison right now," he said slowly, and Fury and Natasha's face tensed simultaneously. "If that thing puts me off, what will the Trickster do if they meet face-to-face?" he picked up a paper laying on the desk, wrote a few words and brushed it with the tip of his fingers whispering 'mercarry' softly under his breath. The paper folded itself on its own and flew through the door. Hopefully his message would find Annam in time.

A heavy silence, only interrupted by Stark's heavy breathing and Banner's attempt to reassure him, lingered a few moments. The searching software suddenly beeped, indicating the Tesseract had been found by detectors. Banner hurried behind the panel, followed by Fury and Thor who had returned to arguing about the cube's future owners. Harry glanced at Stark, still on the ground, who was staring at him with wide open eyes. There was no fear in them now, but rather a cool distance and curiosity.

"Oh my God," Banner mumbled, staring in shock at the screen.

Seconds later, the platform exploded.

TWATW

Loki smirked as he heard the Hulk express his rage. The plan was working marvelously well so far, thanks to his loyal lieutenant. Barton had been a good choice; the man knew SHIELD inside and out and even more. While he had to applaud the organization in itself, the resources it had, he had understood the tensions in SHIELD's hierarchy. The Council, the Director, the so-called Avengers Initiative and even the special MID section that hosted wizards… Oh yes, he was eager to meet them all, and had not been disappointed so far. They were all puppets, easily controlled and manipulated. The redhead woman –Romanoff, Barton's lover –had matched his lieutenant's words. He had yet to meet 'Harry', the young man who held so much 'promise', but it was only a matter of time.

Barton had been an extraordinary asset, but not irreplaceable. He had a promise to uphold with Romanoff, and he intended to fulfill it.

He rose from his seat and took a few steps in the cage. No magical barrier had been set around it –foolish midgardians, Loki thought, amused, as if this glass would hold him back. He teleported outside his prison and melted against the wall. A flick of a finger and a copy of himself was created inside, locking the illusion of his presence there. Then he waited.

A few moments passed before he heard a growl behind him. Turning around (had he missed someone entering the room again?) he spotted a huge white bear showing impressive teeth at him. A polar bear, his mind supplied. The animal's black eyes set on him, the whole body moving in a defensive position. Loki hesitated on whether he should laugh or not; of all things, they had sent a bear to fight him? He was the Trickster, he could take up any appearance should he will it. He briefly wondered whether this was one of those wizards Barton had mention.

"Welcome, friend," he spoke clear and loud. "What may I do for you?"

The bear growled threateningly again. Bits of magic rose into the air, surrounding the animal slowly but surely. Loki was puzzled once again. Was the bear a human or truly a beast? Barton's knowledge on the MID had been sparse at best. He did not know much about the wizards among them, aside from that 'Harry' and Harry sounded like a very ordinary human. But wizards had not been sent to guard him either…he wondered what to think. In the meantime, the conjured magic was swirling together slowly, forming an invisible cage to human eye. Loki snorted and raised an arm, ready to break the uprising spell.

The bear roared and raised on its back legs, standing a full two feet taller than him. Loki didn't bat an eye and prepared to use some magic against it. But before he could move, the bear moved first and plunged onto him, sharp claws ahead, narrowly missing him. He underestimated the beast's speed as it immediately jumped after him, the two prominent fangs chasing after him and a paw as large as his head grasping for his clothes. A claw caught the fabric of his cape and tore it apart. The semi-god gritted his teeth and threw a blast of energy in its direction. The bear backed off, barely ducking, but then was right back on him.

"Blasted animal!" he cursed and projected a shield around him for protection. The bear roared frustratingly, patting the exterior of the golden bulb that had the semi-god surrounded. Loki could feel the pressure of the animal's paws on his protection and made a split-second decision. Using his abilities, he shifted into a black bear and roared for battle. The polar bear stepped back, growled ever harder and threw itself back at him the moment the shield vanished. Still unused to his new body, Loki was unable to dodge the first attacks and got clawed a few times before retaliating.

Until suddenly, the white bear turned around and stormed out of the room. At first, Loki wondered whether he had injured the animal hard enough to make it flee, until he realized something unusual. The bits of magic he had felt earlier had gotten stronger and strengthened around the room. He tightened his fists in anger and glared at the door the bear had run out from. A huge circle of runes were drawn across it, shining in bright green light, completing a series of other drawings through the room. Drawings that weren't there when he had first been brought in.

Loki cursed and ran to the door, tried to activate it. The door opened but the drawing remained, now in complete sync with the others and forming a magical shield that was preventing him from moving out of the room. The moment he would brush the green barrier, he would feel a jolt of electricity running through his body and sending him backwards. Cursing louder this time, he threw another energy blast against the field; to no avail. He let a loud, long, frustrated yell echo in the empty corridors and kept casting energy blasts on the same point. The green barrier kept reflecting his spells, glowing even harder.

He halted eventually and stared into the corridor. Much to his surprise, two women were standing there, pointing sticks at him.

"What?" he barked. He hadn't sensed them arrive or even move. One was a black-skinned young woman, staring with a bit of awe but with a definite smirk on her face. Loki's fingernails dug into the flesh of his palm. He could sense the magic of the runes from her. The second was an older woman with disheveled white hair and a few bleeding scratches over her face and arm. So she had been the polar bear. Both were on guard, but looked rather pleased with themselves.

"Wizards can measure up to a Norse semi-god," the younger one said smugly. The elder smirked in return.

"Thank you for bearing my presence, Trickster. The pleasure was definitively mine."


I just want to say I didn't want to watch Thor 1 again (once was enough) so I checked some videos of Loki's prowess and his Wikipedia page…and they wrote other than being a master shapeshifter and illusionist, he could project energy –which I translated into 'blasts' here. So, there goes. Hope you enjoyed!

Also 'mercarry' is a deformation of mercury, the Latin god of messengers.

Next chapter teaser:

And suddenly, there was no floor under his feet, just an empty space in the platform and the wide blue sky underneath. The last thing Harry saw before slipping out of the Helicarrier was Natasha's wide eyes and her mouth opened wide as she screamed his name.