Author's note: I'm sorry I made you wait so many days for this update. I was stuck with an evil exam and I barely had any free time. Thank you so much for your lovely comments and feedbacks! And special thanks as always go to my beta Sara/cara-tanaka, who edited my chapter amazingly fast so I can update right now.
Chapter 10: Reunion
Thor's declaration left everyone speechless for several seconds. The god had Mjolnir in his hand but the strangely clean Asgardian clothes showed that he hadn't had a fight, yet. His face was tired, like he hadn't slept in an entire month and had aged ten years in just a few days.
"Thor! We thought you were on Asgard. What are you doing here?" Steve asked and all could hear the unspoken words 'without letting us know' from his voice.
The god lowered his hammer.
"I have been sent by my father. Heimdall perceived a power similar to the Tesseract in the hands of a mortal and I have been ordered to investigate." His voice became a tired murmur "But I was too late."
Clint had been staring at him since his arrival. Contrary to his usual self, Thor had a grim expression that spoke volumes of how well he was faring with his last duty. There was no trace of his usual smile, in its place there were just tiredness and bitterness and for a moment, Clint wondered if the god's change had other reasons apart from this new Tesseract problem.
Next to him, Clint saw Natasha narrowing her gaze, as she always did when she followed her own intuition.
"You mean, Loki perceived this power and came to get it?"
The archer almost winced at that name.
But even with the bitter taste of bile in his mouth because of the mention of Thor's bastard sibling, Clint couldn't deny his approval towards the redheaded spy. He had always been amazed by her ability to understand what the people didn't say and to put all the unimportant details together until she understood exactly what was going on.
Thor's gaze lowered, his eyes staring at the floor, like he didn't have the strength to behave like his proud, easygoing former self.
"I fear so."
And suddenly, Clint's mouth was too dry and he had to breathe deeply to avoid the sickness which was spreading in his gut.
"You sure it's Loki's work?" He asked Thor, his voice sounding more hostile than he had wanted to.
It wasn't the first time that the Avengers' and Loki's path met after the Chitauri invasion. They had fought against each other many times, during the last year but Clint still couldn't think of him without feeling a burning anger and, at the same time, a nauseating fear and humiliation, like the magic that had violated his mind were still inside him, ready to make him Loki's willing slave.
The horrifying feeling of belonging to someone else, body and soul, never ceased to torment him because he remembered everything. Loki hadn't erased Clint's personality, he had just bent the archer to his will, to become Clint's priority, his true and only god. And that had been much worst than a simple brainwashing: even when he had killed his S.H.I.E.L.D.'s allies, he had always been Clint. He had thought as Clint, lived as Clint, felt as Clint. He had always remained himself expect from his urge to gain Loki's approval because he had craved it like his one and only need. Clint had been a slave and had been totally glad about it.
It had been the worst violation he could imagine and he would never forgive the god.
Trying to suppress the hatred he felt towards Loki, he shifted his gaze from the wall to Thor, who was nodding at Natasha.
"The reason I was summoned back on Asgard was that my brother had stolen a powerful artifact. It is named as the Casket of the Ancient Winter, the heart of Jotunheim." The god pointed with Mjolnir to the ice cage where Schmidt's body was trapped. "That is its frightening power."
Clint clenched his fists.
How come those goddam gods couldn't even control Loki? Or at least, couldn't they fucking avoid giving the bastard new weapons to bring chaos on Earth?
He took a deep breath and swallowed the bile and the sickness that had threatened to fill his mouth.
"Bad guys fighting each other? Good news, for me." He said, with a forced smile he knew it wouldn't deceive Natasha.
"If Tony weren't in the middle of it." Steve scolded him, with a serious expression.
Confused, Thor took a look around.
"Where is Tony Stark?"
Steve's stern expression turned grim.
"He was captured a month ago, after you left for Asgard. This was where Hydra was holding him."
The god looked surprised, then his expression showed a glimpse of sadness which couldn't mean anything good and he shook his head.
"I explored this building before your arrival but I did not see the Man of Iron. Here, there are just fallen mortals I do not know."
Natasha was the first one to react, while the others were still trying to accept these words.
"I'm going to take a look around." She said. And with that, she was gone without waiting for an answer.
Clint just spared her a glance, since he was sure she could defend herself well enough even without them.
Next to him, Steve was explaining to Thor what had happened since his departure but Clint was too focused on his own anger and hatred towards Loki to listen properly to the conversation. Tony wasn't there and what was worse, Loki had been there before them. With a new weapon. A fucking godly artifact which the other gods hadn't been able to protect.
He took a couple of steps away, trying to ease his frustration before he unloaded it against the thunder god – and he knew he shouldn't have any ill feelings towards him but Thor reminded him of his little shit of a brother and of the other gods' failure to keep Loki caged.
To distract himself, he went closer to Bruce, who was still studying the strange block of ice.
"What do you think? He asked him, after a minute.
The doctor sighed.
"It still isn't melting." He took off his glasses to clean them with the hem of his shirt. "I fear it will be troublesome, now that Loki has this new power."
"You mean, more troublesome than usual?"
Bruce attempted a depressed smile.
"Yeah."
"Wonderful, just what we needed! A crazy, psychopath god with fucking magic powers who now can also freeze people at will." Clint couldn't avoid glaring at Thor, even if he knew it wasn't his fault.
But he was tired of those gods who couldn't even restrain one of their own kind. It almost seemed like they enjoyed being fooled by Loki. And with Tony lost who knows where, he couldn't control himself, especially now, after their hopes of finding him here had been so painfully destroyed.
Why are we always the ones who have to put up with the gods' shit and mistakes?
Before he said something he would later regret, Natasha was back.
No one heard her, she just appeared among them like she had never gone away.
"No survivors and no Stark. I checked all the dead bodies, he's not here." She spoke without any emotions and her face was impenetrable and collected but Clint knew her well enough to recognize the way she tightened her finger on the gun. "One of the cells has been used recently, though. And there was no body in it, just some dried blood."
It could be both good or bad news.
"The prisoner you interrogated said that he was sure Tony was still alive three days ago." Steve commented. "So we have two possibilities: some Hydra agents are still alive and had Tony transferred in another location or they killed him recently and disposed of his body." And the super soldier paled under his mask while saying the last words, even if his voice didn't falter.
Natasha hardened her gaze.
"Or Loki took him."
Thor turned to look at her.
"I do not understand. Why would my brother take the Man of Iron?"
Clint tensed, fighting the urge to shout at him. Thor was a friend and he respected the god's anachronistic sense of honor and his forthright mind but every time he referred to Loki as his brother, Clint wanted to punch him.
"If you found one of your enemies wounded and helpless, what would you do?" Natasha asked the god.
Thor looked unsure, like he were recalling the Asgardian honor code in his mind, in hope to find the right answer in it.
"I would use him to gain information." Clint answered in his stead. "Pity there's no survivor to interrogate."
At his side, Steve suddenly tensed. His gaze pointed to the block of ice, his lips were closed in a thin line and his fists were clenched so tight they almost tremble.
"We can ask him."
Before Clint could express how absurd the idea sounded to him, Bruce slowly nodded.
"Steve is right. He and Schmidt have a similar metabolism. If Steve has survived for seventy years in hibernation, maybe we can have our prisoner to interrogate."
Author's note2: No Loki and no Tony but the next chapter will be all about them. Also, I'm finally on holidays, no more exams for a while, so I should be able to update again in a few days. Thanks again for the comments, the favs and the follows, hope you enjoyed this chapter.
