I'm just winging Thanos, because I don't know much about him. Hopefully he's sufficiently creepy.

Working Visa

The first thing Loki registered when he woke was that had fallen back into his natural Jotunn form, and it was cold. When he was in human, or Asgard, form he had often felt cold in the Earth's atmosphere, but his Jotunn form had always seemed highly tolerant.

It was a testament to just how cold it was, and made it clear to Loki that he was no longer on his adoptive planet, Earth.

He knew better than to ask where he was or if anyone was there. It was a bad idea to draw attention to himself before he could assess the situation, so he tried flexing his limbs, shifting them slightly to determine whether he was tied to the hard slab. He wasn't bound or gagged or restrained, which was odd.

It meant that the person who had taken him did seem his as a threat.

Which was bad. Very bad.

He wasn't going to survive.

He could not hear anyone else's breathing, but that didn't mean much; there were many species that had no need for air. So he took the risk anyway and opened his eyes.

The room was surprisingly bright, ice blue and completely empty. He shifted his head slowly, as to not draw immediate attention, and took note that there were no visible doors or vents; just the rectangular, slightly too short slab of ice which was elevating Loki off the ground.

Pulling himself up, Loki tried to reach around with his magic to sense anything beyond the walls. Even though he was still on shaky ground with his abilities he knew how his magic made him feel when he tried to use it, and now its absence shot pain through him like trying to move a muscle that was frozen still.

Loki hissed in agony as, for a small moment, his whole body seized and his magic tried to free itself before he flopped back down into the hard surface.

"If you are planning on killing me," he spoke lowly, without a doubt that his captor could hear him, "then I would like to know how you managed to bind my magic. From what I understand that should be impossible."

He didn't get an answer.

She wondered what those agents used to be, that would make them want to disappear so utterly.

This 'K' was on friendly terms with Thor, matching the god with his dripping clothes and stained hair, and seemed different from the boys she had tried to interrogate.

Natasha didn't listen to exactly what the man was saying; she would filter through that information later. But as the Avengers sat around the combined tables, the diner closed for an hour by Agent Kay's request, she listened to him.

He'd left something behind for the job. She could tell by the way he talked and by the way he approached his work. He wasn't working to redeem himself, like she did with S.H.I.E.L.D, but instead he was working to make the job worth what he left behind.

She wondered how that felt.

"Do we have any way of knowing where they took him?" Roger's voice came from her left. Natasha carefully kept her gaze on Agent Kay, and not on the other's speaking.

"I have an idea."

There was a pause, where Captain America waited for an elaboration that didn't come.

"Your partner, Jay,' he continued, "promised that we would work as equals. If you don-"

"Jay is impulsive." Kay cut in, face carved like stone. "He shouldn't have promised you anything." He leant back into his chair softening slightly but not fazed by the increasingly unwelcoming group around the table. "The infiltration of the MiB headquarters means that the higher authorities will be even more hyper-vigilant about any relocation on or off Earth. I believe that the Chitauri took Loki and had already prepared his transport off this planet."

"So, he's long gone?" Clint asked.

"I highly doubt they're still on Earth. One of the Chitauri was inside the MiB so they know we're looking for them."

Natasha frowned, "How many ways are there to move off the planet that you can't detect?" She was pleased to find that nothing changed in Agent Kay's gaze when he switched his focus from Rogers to her. No additional emotions because she was a woman. Good.

"None," He spoke, "all methods we know of we have a way of tracking."

"So it's a method that you don't know." Steve said, and if he wasn't the Captain, she would have detected something like smugness creeping into his voice.

"It's not a vehicle; they're too hard to pass through our sensors. The most probable method would be a portal of some sort."

The Tesseract, Natasha thought, but that was on Asgard and if the Chitauri had made a move in Asgard then their future king would have been informed. So far in the meeting Thor had sat quietly, eating hash-browns and gravy and not looking up at the others. It was odd, because he should have been angry, yelling at them to stop talking and start acting. He shouldn't be... grieving.

Not yet, anyway.

"A portal would require energy," injected Banner, "That's why the Tesseract worked so well; it was a power generator too. If there were any other portals on earth the energy could be traced."

The agent nodded expectantly. "If our headquarters was not currently being swept for leaks we would have the means, but, as it is, we do not."

"We might," a subtle sharper edge entered Bruce's voice for a moment, but was replaced by insecurity almost immediately. "S-Stark would probably have the facilities that you could use to do that. And if he doesn't then I'm sure he could find them. Or build them."

"That could work."

Natasha nodded at the conclusion, satisfied at the cautious progression.

She had no fuzzy feelings for Loki, and she didn't want to put anyone at undue risk to save him.

Pain was burning through his nerves like acid. His body, now spread out across the stone ground, tensed and he tried to claw at the stone, desperate for something to grab onto and ground him.

His body was rejecting him without magic. He needed his magic back.

He had lost his ability to breathe, but he hadn't died. Jotunn bodies could survive without oxygen, but it was not a pleasant experience. Gasping and convulsing, Loki was sure he was going to die from the experience, tortured to death without even being privy to who was torturing him.

Instead he got a voice.

"It's a form of withdrawals." The captor drawled happily, "Painful, isn't it?"

Loki hissed. The only noise he could make when his tongue was rigid against the roof of his mouth.

A deep chuckle, "I thought so. I pulled it out of you rather quickly. I've never experience it before myself, of course, but it does present a rather striking image. You look... so close to death"

His voice took on a more tangible quality with his last words, and Loki instinctively curled towards the flux of magic that invaded the room. He let out a small, involuntary mewling noise as he flipped onto his back, looking up around the room with too sensitive eyes and searched for the new presence. He twisted his body around, rolling with the little energy he could muster to try and get a better view.

The man was a rusted red colour with bright blue eyes, dark armour and definitely not matching the recorded characteristics of a Chitauri.

"H..." Loki managed before he choked, rolling back over onto his stomach to try and put pressure on the pain in his chest.

"Who am I?"

Loki nodded, his nose brushing against the floor.

"Soon, that information will have no importance to you."

"W-W..."

"Because you are a bringer of death; of the 'Ragnarok'. Death is entwined in your very being..." He rolled Loki over, the hand burning Loki's blue skin with its touch as he ran down his cheek, "I bet you die beautifully, Loki."

There was more to the story than Loki's employment, and Thor was going to tell her.

"So you've been working with the Men in Black?"

"Indeed," Thor rumbled from the passenger seat, "The Men in Black offer me work and I must heed their plea; it is a condition of my Visa."

Natasha smiled at the pride that crept into Thor's voice when he mentioned Earth's acceptance of him. "But you don't have to accept their offers, just hear them out?"

"I believe they know I will accept if it is to help someone. I cannot refuse anyone aid."

"And you wanted to aid Loki."

"... I have always desired to help my brother," His voice quietened, the normal enthusiasm in his voice dimming, "That's all I've ever wanted to do for him."

Nodding, Natasha kept her eyes on the road, not wanting to look over and make Thor feel self-conscious. It was clear that Thor felt like he had failed his brother by allowing Loki to be kidnapped. It was a natural response, she felt, to blame oneself for something like this. She wondered if Thor blamed himself for everything Loki had done, and how much of a hand the older brother actually had in spurring Loki's decisions.

"And now," Thor continued, "he doesn't need me."

Natasha glanced over at him.

"What?"

"He no longer needs me as his brother. He has another family now, with a father and a brother who have done more for him in a few months than I have in our entire time together." There was some shuffling around and a subtle sniffle somewhat covered up by the fidgeting before Thor settled down.

"I'm... sure you did a lot for him, Thor." Natasha responded, calmly awkward in the presence of the excess emotion, "even if he doesn't always appreciate it."

"It no longer matters. He is who he wouldhave been had I not failed as a brother."

She glanced over, "Has he really changed that much working with the MiB?"

"There are elements of my brother still within him, but we are our memories. I had thought that," Thor sighed, "that despite our differences and my brother's troubles, I understood him; his childhood, his betrayal by my father. I had thought..." his voice caught, "I had thought that we at least... we had some good memories together... when we were children... we... How can that mean so little to him that he would throw that away?"

Natasha stared out at the traffic, not quite seeing the car in front of her as she drove.

She reached over, still not taking her eyes off the road, and awkwardly rested her hand on Thor's shoulder.

Then the implication of his words ran through her.

Loki had no memories.

"Please." Loki gasped for breath. "please, just give it back, just a little, please." He squeezed his eyes shut, tears running down his face.

"No."

Loki snarled. "Then just kill me already! That's what you want so just do it!"

"Hmm," footsteps circled him, "it's tempting. However, the time, I believe, is not quite right. And I know some people who would be thoroughly disappointed if they missed their chance to witness your demise."

More movement.

"I don't know... I don't..." Loki struggled through another wave of pain. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Shhh. The pain will subside soon, yet you will die regardless. And if the others come, those who wish to rescue you, they will follow you into death."