I previewed the fic a little while ago and, apparently, small snippets of the story that I specifically remember posting aren't there. So, as a way to fix that just a little too late without going back and inserting them between chapters, I'll add them here. So sorry for that.

After the initial shock of Frigga's death...

The resentment, the anger and hatred that always lingered within Loki, slips through his fingers like sand, his eyes wide, shining with the look of shock as screams erupt throughout the room, people scattering like ants as they run for their lives.

Loki stands still, the chains around him feeling heavier than anvils, watching as his mother stares up at him with glassy eyes, blue oceans turned into grey storms as her face fades away from him, his vision turning an angry shade of red, the sudden need, the sudden pull, to take revenge bubbling up inside of him as he turns to Odin, who stares down at his wife with the utmost sorrow written on his face.

Thor immediately jumps into action, throwing his hammer at all the Chitauri he can hit, sending a bolt of lightning crashing toward The Other, and Loki looks up at Odin, standing by his golden throne, looking horribly lost and alone, just as Loki has been his entire life. He meets the trickster's eyes and, in that single stare, the meaning behind Loki's gaze is not lost to the All-Father.

That look is one of desperation, of thick sorrow pushed aside by fast flowing rage that seeps into the blood, Loki's hands curling into tight fists in front of him, his wrists chafing against the manacles that hold him there. Odin stands tall, unfazed by the chaos around him, and he doesn't even blink when another bolt of lightning whips past him, aimed for anything Thor can hit, the boom of thunder and crackle of energy surrounding them all.

Time freezes, screams slowing in the air, and Loki thinks, for a moment, that Odin will not comply, that he will let his golden son fight something he can't possibly hope to defeat, something that will take his life just as it took their mother's, and the rage returns like a tidal wave, crashing into him with full force as Odin blinks, noticing how Loki's eyes flash crimson, the monster within him waking at long last.

Odin slams his staff down on the floor, but it stops no one, and Loki's manacles fall from his limbs, the muzzle oppressing his tongue clinking against the golden marble, his eyes alight with bloodlust as his skin turns a dark shade of blue. The Other looks up from his struggle with Thor, throwing the thunder god against the wall with a blast of magic, and his black eyes shine with surprise.

The feral grin Loki sends his way, razor sharp teeth glinting in the light, leaves nothing to the imagination.

Upon arriving back at the base...

Steve paces around the conference table, his red, white, and blue outfit smudged and torn from the explosion, and Tony points to the map of the hotel clipped to one of the posters hanging around the room. "Why would they detonate the bomb when it was right beside them?" Tony asks, his dark eyes shining with disbelief. "That's just stupid."

Bruce pushes up his glasses, wincing as they scrape against one of the many cuts across his face. "That bomb hadn't been detonated yet. Maybe they planned to blow up another part of the lobby when they were farther away, but someone else blew them up before they could," he offers. Natasha shakes her head, frowning. "Another alien? Why would they do that to their own race? That doesn't make any sense", she says, leaning into her hand as she tries to avoid using her injured arm, "Maybe they were on a suicide mission. That would be more practical."

Clint nods beside her as Steve stops his pacing, whipping around to look at the map, analyzing it, his blue eyes flickering to every corner as they all look at him, curious gazes burning into his back. "Got something there, Capsicle?" Tony questions, smirking at how silent the Captain is being. "Maybe it was a suicide mission", Steve murmurs as he walks closer to the map, his finger pointed to the lobby, "to cover something up." Tony rolls his eyes. "What would aliens cover up? Their plan to destroy the world a second time, which, let me remind you, failed," Tony says, leaning back in his chair.

"Maybe…" Bruce trails off, lost in his thoughts as Clint stares at him. "Maybe there were just a bunch of aliens that got blown up. End of story," Clint offers, annoyed at the pain that lingers in his bones. Steve stands there for a long time, silently staring at the map, and shakes his head.

"I think we need to talk to Thor about this."

After they all agree to listen to Loki...

Loki's slender finger comes to rest on the map of the lobby, still clipped to a poster, and he clicks his tongue in boredom. "The aliens you saw in the hotel are Chitauri, the same kind you faced in Manhattan", and he eyes everyone warily, as if waiting for an ambush, "and the very same ones that swarmed Asgard yesterday." Thor chews on his nails at the table, worry shining in his eyes, and Steve watches, rapt with attention.

Loki shakes his head, dark locks falling from his shoulders, and shrugs, lost to his thoughts. "There is a being, an ancient entity that dwells in the shadowed realms, and he aims to collect an artifact from the weapons vault of Asgard, the Infinity Gauntlet, to either control the realms, or destroy them. He is very powerful, and the Chitauri were just a small bit of his army," he says, frowning in concentration as he looks to the map.

"You mean to tell us that the army, the alien worms and the spaceships and the lasers, all of that, wasn't even a quarter of the real threat?" Bruce asks, his voice laced with disbelief and panic. Loki nods and opens his mouth to say something, but Thor interrupts him. "And if we want to defeat this new threat, I suggest we ask my brother for his assistance, seeing as he's the only one to have interacted with this being."

The team looks to one another and Thor smiles up at Loki, the dark haired man narrowing his eyes, wondering what Thor's up to. As if he would ever help the mortals fight Thanos, the creature that shaped his will into something that was anything but free, that took his mind and gave him endless knowledge of ancient times beyond his imaginings. Loki scoffs in the silence.

"I will not help you defeat Thanos. I will not aid you pathetic mortals only to be squashed by his power. If I were you, I would find a place to hide while there is still a place left, because when Thanos comes, when he decimates this realm just as he will all the others, you will be begging for something as sweet as death. Perhaps staying on his good side will help you to achieve that," Loki spats angrily, emerald eyes bright and wild. Thor stands, his brow furrowed.

"Come now, Loki," he pleads, his voice filled with fresh grief.

But before he can reason with the god, Loki's body is racked with coughs that splatter blood across his hands, his thin, bony shoulders shaking, and he collapses in a lifeless heap as Thor yells, rushing to his brother's side.

Please R&R! Sorry for the confusion you must have felt. :/