Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to The Avengers or any of its associations.


As soon as the plane landed, Thor took off using his mjolnir, with Tony close at his heels. The others piled in the car that was waiting for them, and sped down the dust road that passed through the vast wheat fields of Kansas, to the remote location that the scientists had been relocated to.

They pulled up to what looked like a rotting, abandoned shack and got out of the car. Just inside, the hideaway door in the floor had been torn clear off- presumably by Thor- and they were quick to descend down.

The basement was constructed to house the scientists for years. There were ample resources to sustain them, and space was provided for their equipment as well as any other necessities to keep them content. They'd been moved there right after Loki had returned.

As they descended the stairs, they found Thor and Loki locked in a vicious battle. Tony was nowhere to be seen.

Just as they reached the final step, Loki knocked Thor backwards and straight toward them, and they quickly spilled over the railing on either side to avoid being crushed.

Thor sat up slowly, and they moved to stand at his sides, all facing Loki before them.

He was breathing heavily, and he reached up to wipe just the slightest hint of sweat from his brow. He was clenching his scepter so tightly that his knuckles were a bright white.

''He has already gotten to Jane,'' Thor rumbled gravely.

As if on cue the beautiful scientist entered the room, led by Erik Selvig's hand on her arm, her eyes glowing blue. He moved her to stand beside Loki, before taking up position at his other side as well.

A commotion drew the attention of the Avengers, and Tony slowly emerged from a hallway behind them, the suit clanging noisily as he did. His suit was beaten and worn from a fight, and it was evident that he was suffering from a concussion by the way he moved.

After he came to a stop at Steve's side, he raised his hand toward Loki. Though he swayed slightly, his hand remained steady.

''That would not be wise,'' Loki stated menacingly. He stared at Thor as he brought his hand up around Jane's shoulders and moved her in front of himself in one swift movement.

He brought the blade of his scepter to her throat, and she stood there with no reaction, just staring blankly forward like a doll.

''What did you do to her?'' Clint asked, his brow furrowing.

''I broke her,'' Loki answered with a smirk.


Thor charged forward with an anguished cry, but Steve and Bruce grabbed his arms to stop him. Loki's grip on Jane's shoulder tensed and the blade made a dent in her skin, so near to breaking it.

''Take it back! Take it back this instant!'' Thor demanded, though it sounded more like a plea. Natasha had expected him to be angry, furious, but the pain in his voice overpowered anything else he may have been feeling.

He pulled his arms free of the others, and fell to his knees at Loki's feet.

They expected Loki to look satisfied, to smile in the face of his brother's weakness at that moment. But he frowned, and his face twisted slowly in anger. ''Get up, brother.''

Thor said nothing, just lowered his gaze to the floor.

''Take her back from me,'' Loki said, his voice rising.

Thor remained in place.

''Get! Up!'' Loki screamed at him.

Around Natasha, the others moved back slightly in surprise, but neither her nor Thor reacted externally. Natasha's chest tightened, her eyes flickering over Loki's face as he stared down in despair at his brother on his knees, watching his eyes well with tears.

Loki tossed Jane aside, to Erik Selvig, and advanced across the room quickly. He reached down and grabbed a handful of Thor's cape, forcing him to look up at him.

''This isn't how it's supposed to happen!'' Loki said, his voice still raised slightly. ''I have anticipated the day you would fall to your knees before me, ever since we were children. To prove to you and to everyone that you are not superior to me.''

''But to have my victory from this would be unsatisfying.''

He released his grip on Thor as if he had burned him, and went back to the scientists, taking Jane from Erik Selvig and tossing her to the ground in front of Thor. His eyes widened in surprise, but he was quick to scoop her into his arms.

''The day will come when you fall before me because you have met your equal,'' Loki growled. He turned his back to Thor, but looked over his shoulder to speak again.

''Unfortunately, today is not that day.''

The next moment, Loki disappeared with Erik Selvig, leaving them alone in the hideout with the unresponsive Jane.

Steve and Bruce helped the injured Tony to the car, and Clint and Natasha walked at Thor's side as he slowly lifted Jane and followed the others outside.


When they returned, Clint and Natasha disappeared in a room with Jane to do what they knew Thor would not, and returned with her limp and unconscious in Clint's arms.

Thor took her from them and went to his room to wait for her to wake.

The others went silently to their own rooms as well, and though for some it had not been an especially hard day, it weighed heavy on all of their shoulders.

For a long time, Natasha lay in her bed staring at her ceiling. Her mind endlessly replayed the events of the day in her head, and she kept stalling on Loki's anguished face, his eyes glazed with tears of anger.

It took her a while to come out of her mind enough to realize that she was not alone in the room. She did not feel the shift at the end of her bed from another's weight as it came to rest there. Only when she had gotten frustrated enough with herself and rose to leave her bed did she become aware.

''For some reason,'' Loki said slowly, keeping his back to her despite the weapon that was now aimed at it. ''I find myself here once again.''

''Why are you here?'' she demanded, staring down the body of the gun at him.

''I do not know,'' he admitted in a whisper.

Despite her heart beating rapidly in her chest and the fear that made her body tremble beneath her sheets, she slowly lowered the weapon to her lap. His scepter rested on the bed beside him, close enough that he could draw it if she were to attack, but not in hand to appear less threatening.

He sat there silently for a long time, before finally speaking.

''You spoke of manipulation when we last were here,'' he said softly. ''Of what Russia had done to you.''

He paused for a moment, as if finding the next words difficult to say. She wished she could see his face, confused as she was she hoped it would give her answers. But she was too afraid to move, too afraid to break the moment.

''When you found out... What did you feel?'' he asked her.

''Like a fool,'' she answered without thinking, the words spilling from her lips. She stared down at her hands in her lap, her past playing before her eyes, her ghosts coming back to haunt her.

His head lowered slightly as if to nod in agreement, but he did not raise it again.

She shook her head to clear it, looking back up at Loki. ''But Thor didn't know you weren't really Odinson,'' she stated.

''He knew I was different,'' Loki countered. ''He used it against me. It does not matter that he knew not of my real parentage, that I am Laufeyson.''

She didn't say anything, and her heart ached when she noticed Loki's shoulders trembling beneath his armor.

''I killed Laufey. I killed all of Jotunheim for Odin,'' he said quietly. ''I would have been king if I had not been taken from them. Instead I was raised in Asgard with false hope of such a thing, an aspiration I had no chance of obtaining. Odin would never put a Frost Giant on the throne.''

Loki slowly lowered his face to his hands. ''When I found out, it confirmed everything that I had ever feared. Every suspicion, every nagging thought at the back of my mind, every nightmare that woke me in the middle of the night.''

''Why are you telling me all of this?'' she asked softly.

''I thought that of all the people in this forsaken place, you would be the one to understand,'' he said honestly. He chuckled slightly at himself, and for once it was not menacing or frightening or chilling to the bone. It was weak, it was human.

''Do you think me a fool, Agent Romanoff?'' he asked her.

''No,'' she breathed.

The next moment, she crossed the short distance of the bed to him. She reached her hand around and turned his face towards hers, pressing her mouth to his.


Author's Note: I meant to update yesterday, but I was sick and didn't have a chance to write. But I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Please review!