Pandora's Box

Disclaimer: I know, I know. *Facepalms* I bet you guys are all sick of OCXLoki pairings. Well, you're sort of in luck. This won't be anything too OC like that, but with be a reason for it's M status later. It's just an idea that was running around my brain begging me to write it. And damn it, it won't shut up. LOL. Well, this is (with much reluctance) my first Avengers fic I've ever written. As told from the aftermath. Well, if I have some things incorrect, I'll remind you it's my first shot so, if you see anything out of order, don't hesitate to let me know. It will also have a slight crossover with X-Men.

"Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increase are fruits of innocence and blessedness."

-William C. Bryant

"Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others."

-Oscar Wilde

By: VampireQueenAkasha

"He has disobeyed his king... his fate is in his own hands now."

-Odin

The Chitauri Threat

Thor and Loki sat alone together in the cafeteria. The sensation of their closeness was a bit uncomfortable, but Thor didn't seem to feel that way so much as he was beginning to take a drink from a pitcher of beer. After Thor pressed him many times to talk, Loki finally relented and told him about the issues he had with Beatrice and how he felt parting with her was necessary to keep her safe. Thor was stunned by Loki's move.

"I fear she may never again speak to me," Loki finally said, "But Thanos is sure to cause her harm."

Thor looked concerned. "Do we have any reason to believe you may return to him?"

Loki let out a caustic laugh. "No. My alliance with the Titan was merely a charade to begin with," he murmured, "I see that now. I was reluctant to partner with him, but I felt my options were limited given my perilous journey." He looked at Thor with a sarcastic smile. "Surely even you in all your purity can see that something like me had to find solace in the Void."

"But with Thanos? You're mad!"

Loki chuckled and stared down at his hands. "Yes. I suppose."

Thor glanced at him briefly before smiling to himself. "Loki...do you remember that time when we were children and you removed all of the heads from the statues in the healing wards?" he said.

Loki stared at him strangely. "As I recall you were the one who joined in on the prank as well."

Thor pretended to be thoughtful. "No. No. That was all your doing. I didn't have anything to do with it."

"I didn't see you trying to stop me either," Loki snapped, though his tone wasn't as threatening as it had often been. If anything, he looked annoyed, but a much more subtle annoyed. "And I also recall you painting those caricatures of the Warrior's Three on the walls as well!" He laughed bitingly. "Father was furious. And who did he put ALL the blame on? He put it on me. I was sent to bed with no dessert for a month! You were always getting me into trouble."

Thor smiled slightly. "But if you recall as well; it was I who would sneak them to you on that month of punishment."

Loki's anger melted a lesser degree and he sighed, letting out a small chuckle. "I suppose you did..."

"And remember Volstagg?" Thor asked, smirking. "How he would try to persuade the handmaidens for extra rations?"

Loki shared a small laugh with him. Then, his laughter died and the coldness in his eyes was back. But this time, it seemed to be coupled with pain. "Do you think that if you wheedle me back with tales of our childhood, it would be the same between us?"

Thor's smile disappeared as well. "Why can't it?" he asked, "When those around you offer love, you rebuke it with talk of your slights and hatred."

"Because you know as well as I do that it is a lie," Loki said, flatly, "And one good lie deserves another."

"And what of Beatrice? Does she deserve the treatment you've put on her?" Thor asked; when he watched Loki's mildly alarmed glare that he attempted to cover up, the Thunder God continued, "Yes. I may be a warrior of great force, brother; but I can surely understand that you have hurt her by looking into her eyes and seeing the way she avoids you. Though I do not understand what she did to merit such a thing. Would you hold her accountable for the misdeeds of others? Or of your own fear that she would ultimately reject you in the end?"

Loki stood up and wanted no more to hear of this. "This conversation is at an end, Thor."

"Don't run from it, Loki-"

Thor had started to rise, but Loki whirled so fast, he nearly lost his balance on his chair. The fallen God of Mischief's gaze was so poisonous, if he still had his magic, it could have very much burned Thor's head off.

"I will NOT be dictated to!" he spat, "I will not be threatened! I am a God! Not some petulant child whom you can play father to." He turned roughly and started to leave the cafeteria. "You've picked a fine time to pretend as if you care."

Thor simply watched him go with a heavy sigh. He was later joined by Tony who took a casual seat beside him. The man propped his feet up onto the table and tilted his head, watching the direction that Loki had gone.

"Ah, don't sweat it, blondie-locks. There's always one in every family." he told him.

Thor rubbed the bridge of his nose and sounded exhausted. "What am I going to do with him?"

A wry smirk touched Tony's face. "I have a few suggestions. But none that won't keep me out of jail."

Thor gave him a partially amused and reprimanding look.

O

Most of the time spent on the Helicarrier those passing days were of repairs and discussion for how to deal with Thanos. Loki was relieved to no longer hear Thanos' words in his mind, but also concerned as he had no reason to suspect that the Titan would so easily forget about their bargain. He knew that something was wrong, but in the days that passed, Thanos had made no attempt to contact him, which practically drove him mad.

Beatrice had recovered slowly and could now walk about, but required the use of a cane temporarily until she could properly walk again from the assault inflicted on her by the Chitauri. Loki could see her through the medical hall with Natasha and Clint. He could even hear their conversation through the blinds as they weren't too far from where he was standing. It appeared that Clint offered her her own bow and arrows to which she accepted with awkward amusement.

"You pretty resilient," Clint remarked, smiling in a friendly manner, "For a woman who's never fought like that."

Natasha gave him a chiding look before looking at Beatrice with actual honesty. "What you did was courageous," she told her, "Jane appreciates it as well."

"Did she leave today?" Beatrice asked.

The two Agents nodded their heads.

"She had to," Clint replied, with a serious look now.

Beatrice seemed to sit in silence for a moment, toying with the top of her cane before she looked up at them apologetically. "Hey, I'm sorry about what happened in the meeting room," she said, "You know, when I yelled and all that..."

Natasha and Clint glanced at each other before laughing in disbelief.

"We were all a little shaken by the attack," Clint said, "It's normal to feel a little frustrated with people sometimes."

"That wasn't what was on my mind."

"Really?" The two Agents looked doubtful.

Beatrice smiled sheepishly. "Well, it was on my mind, of course," she admitted, "But it wasn't what I was thinking about at the time I freaked out in the meeting room. I was thinking about how much I was afraid. Not exactly of the Chitauri but..."

"What else could it have been?" Natasha asked.

Beatrice's lips parted slightly, seemingly alarmed before she lowered her head with a sigh. "It's over and done with," she said, standing, "It's no big deal now."

For some reason, seeing her wince and struggle to lean on her cane made Loki feel the need to go to her, but he rebuked the thought. In fact, the more he thought of her, his arrogance took control and the angrier he felt. Not at her in general, but the fact that she suddenly had such audacity to treat him the way she was. He was a God! It should have been in his right to use her as he saw fit and be done with her as needed!

Beatrice made her was from the medical hall, leaning on her cane and leaving the two Agents to talk alone. Loki followed her until he was sure no one would see and grabbed her arm.

"We need to talk. Now." he ordered.

She glared at him, but made no move to protest as he led her into an unoccupied laboratory. When he closed the door, he paced around the room to make sure no one was inside before whirling to face her. Beatrice stood strong and glared up into those furious green eyes. For the moment, Loki said nothing and just stared at her, contemplating what he was going to do. He wanted to yell and scream, but for some reason, couldn't. But he was still very angry.

"You certainly place yourself in high regard if you feel I would ever be subject to your silent treatment, Beatrice," he hissed.

She uttered a scoff. "I thought it was what you wanted. Was that all a lie too?"

Loki tensed, his hands tightening into fists. He couldn't believe just how exposed he felt in front of a common Midgardian woman. Well, she wasn't so very common as the rest, but still someone who could have been beneath him.

"No. It really wasn't..." he mumbled, in a soft voice that was barely audible.

Beatrice smiled bitingly. "Is that how easy it comes for you?" she snapped, "To simply push away anyone who is genuine enough to want to help? And not only that, I actually..." She gritted her teeth and uttered a frustrated groan.

Loki stared at her with lips curled in a sneer. "So you're not as high-and-mighty as they say you are."

Beatrice's frustration diminished and now she looked dead serious. "Let me tell you something, princess," she said, pressing the end of her cane into his chest, "I spent the good of my time with you, exercising more patience than I ever have with anyone." She began to back him up toward a table. "I asked for nothing in return because when I saved your life, I had nothing to ask for and still do not ask for anything. I set my expectations so low, they're six feet under." Her features twisted with frustration again and she tilted her head at him. "And now, when I tried to show you any kind of kindness, you slap me down?"

Loki stared down at the cane pressed into his chest before smiling with contempt. "So there is a little bit of a deviant in you after all."

Beatrice scowled at him before she sighed and lowered the cane. "No. There's a little bit of a person in me who...despite everything...still holds you in the highest regard." She snorted and turned, starting to go. "And I'm completely out of my mind."

Loki grabbed her arm, just as she stepped out of the room. "Wait!"

There were two workers standing in the corridor when they noticed this. Their eyes slightly widened and the other two met their gazes. Loki scowled at them. "Is there something the two of you wish to add?" he snapped.

The workers quickly shook their heads and walked away. Beatrice glanced down at the arm holding hers and wrenched out of it, walking away and leaving him to ponder what had just happened.

O

Fury watched from topside as several Agents were dragging something in cuffs and chains toward him. Adler was also among them. When they drew closer, it became clear that the thing they were holding tightly was in fact a Chitauri warrior due to the armor and markings along its body. The creature's head was covered with a sack. He stared up at the Agents for an explanation and they smiled with satisfaction.

"We caught one of them," one of the Agents said with pride, "We figured we could get the information we need from him."

Fury knotted his brow and removed the sack from the Chitauri's head. Blue blood soaked its skeletal, reptilian face and its eyes were closed. "What happened to it?" he asked, looking at Alder now.

"It took several doses of tranquilizer to take it out," Adler explained, "Figured when it wakes up, we can beat some information out of it."

Fury nodded his head. "Take him to the lab."

The Agents dragged the unconscious Chitauri to the laboratories. When the news got to everyone that there was one of them inside the Helicarrier, Fury ordered the Avengers to come to the lab as well as several doctors. They strapped the creature down onto an examining table with extra restraints to take precaution against its strength and most of its armor had been removed. Its flesh was leathery and covered in bizarre markings.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Tony muttered, covering his nose.

"Guess they never figured out how to come across deodorant," Banner remarked.

Then, the claws of the Chitauri twitched slightly and its eyes flashed open. Everyone stepped back a bit on reflex, watching as the Chitauri studied its surroundings, maintaining a strange calm for something that was imprisoned.

Fury took a step close to the creature. "Do you understand me?" he asked.

The Chitauri looked up at him and uttered a sick, chattering sound in response.

"We're not going to have a pleasant conversation, are we?"

Once again, the creature responded with several clicks and chatters to which Bruce immediately thought of a solution of. "Wait," he suggested, "What about Beatrice? She can read mind, can't she?" When they looked at him, he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe we can bring her in here and see if she can translate for us."

Fury raised his hand to one of the doctors in the room and the man rushed out. Moments later, Beatrice entered the room with Loki tailing behind her. When they saw the bound Chitauri soldier, they looked surprised, though Beatrice's reaction was far more obvious. Loki merely reacted with a slight widening of his eyes and a forced swallow. The creature met their gazes and let out a reptilian hiss, but made no move to try and escape.

"What's going on?" Beatrice asked, "How'd you catch one of these things?"

Fury exhaled. "It seems we've come across a bit of a language barrier," he told her, "We need you to be a translator of sorts. Think you can handle it?"

Beatrice stared down at the Chitauri and a look of uncertainty crossed her face. "I didn't exactly enjoy touching their minds the first time."

"Unfortunately, we need to understand their plan," Fury argued gently, "Since Loki here is obviously in the dark as the rest of us, you're the only one who can read minds here." He gestured to the Chitauri on the table. "It has to be done. There's no other way."

Beatrice still seemed reluctant, but relented after a moment of hesitation. She offered the cane she leaned on to one of the doctors and approached the end of the table, standing over the Chitauri's head. The creature looked up at her with its reptilian gaze, hissing softly and seemed to comprehend what was about to happen as its gaze flickered with a hidden, bizarre light. Beatrice reached out with two hands slowly, placing them over the creature's temples and her own eyes closed.

Everyone in the room waited, tensed as Beatrice's head slowly moved back. Finally, her eyes opened again and they were no longer human, but pools of empty black. Those in the room stared at her for a moment and watched as she seemed to look around. Loki stood behind Thor, tensing at the sight. Fury caught the look before he returned his gaze to the situation at hand. He leaned forward and spoke carefully.

"Can you understand me?" he asked.

Beatrice looked at him and when she spoke, it was detached and devoid of any emotion. It was almost surreal and disturbing and when she spoke, the Chitauri chattered at the same time. It almost seemed as if she was no longer in control of herself. "Yes. I understand you."

"Who are you?" Fury asked.

"We are the Chitauri," Beatrice responded, in that monotone voice, "We are beings who need nothing, but desire everything. We are one in the same. The Chitauri live as one and die as one. We are a singularity... We are your death."

"Okay," Tony snapped, watching as she slowly turned to him, "So why did you come to Earth?"

"We came for the Tesseract. As promised to us by the Asgardian... Loki."

Loki tensed when Beatrice looked at him. She smiled, but it wasn't a smile that she would normally make. It was...hollow. "The deal was that I would try to retrieve the Tesseract," he snapped, "But your army has failed me as has its master."

Beatrice laughed, a dry, pitiless sound. "Asgardian...will you continue to make excuses for your own pathetic faults?" she sneered, "How utterly amusing. You were never in control of us. One so pathetic as yourself could never hope to achieve what our master had planned." She looked at them all now, slowly moving her head as she seemed to consider each and every face. "We know your hearts...your human desires and your weaknesses."

"We've beaten your army!" Steve snapped, stepping forward.

Beatrice's mouth quirked up at the corner. "You have defeated a mere handful of soldiers, Steve Rogers. The reality of our might is much...much worse than you can fathom. There is more and always will be more." she explained, "The war within the human city was merely a test to uncover what you were capable of. And we've learned everything." Her eyes landed on Tony in the corner. "Anthony Stark, a self-made hero born and raised in wealth amassed by war and greed. Arrogant and reckless. You would doom your own kind through such emotion.

Steve Rogers. Your heart is filled with compassion and love, and yet, who praises you for your efforts? You fight in the name of your country and your class, but do they look to you with gratitude? Do they smile and thank you for the life you risk every day? No. You're a puppet to their will, Steve Rogers. You smile every day when you arrive in the scene, but do they smile back at you? No. They rely on you, burden you with their problems."

Bruce Banner. The blood-thirsty monster who hides himself in the flesh and guise of a man. Your body is strong, but your will is ill-tempered and uncontrollable. You possess the strength of hundreds, yet you waste your gifts on the weak and the petty. How do you feel when they stare at you, seeing the beast you try to hide? What must it be like to exist with the eyes of judgment constantly bearing down on you?"

Natasha Romanoff, the woman raised only for the sake of murder. A hollow, broken toy who lives in bitterness and despair. You are weaker than those you judge, always dwelling in the past and bringing it to your present plate. Your mind is trained to bring about constant destruction to unsuspecting victims, all at the cause of your government; who are much weaker than any of your kind. How fascinating of a choice..."

Clint Barton, the warrior with the eyes of the hawk. You too share a similar cause; fighting for your country's political power. How fascinating that you would be led on a leash by lazy, unadmirable leaders. But then, consider your love for Natasha... Oh yes, we know of that too. Love...It is such a peculiar emotion for you to become burdened with for a comrade who is trained to use love as a weapon to kill her enemies."

Now, Beatrice looked at Loki. "And you...Loki. Prince of Asgard. We know your heart and we have seen its dreams, its pains...and its fears."

Thor looked at Loki, who appeared tense. "Loki. Do not listen to the creature!"

"You were least loved by the God who you once called father," Beatrice continued, "Least loved by your own family who preferred your brother. They brought the enemy into their court, even though they claimed to love you. How could you compare to the Mighty Thor? He who has always surpassed you according to the Asgardian code, he who has earned the favor of every woman he crosses paths with; even mortal women prefer his company over you."

Loki's lips tightened with increasing wrath. The others looked at him, wondering if he was going to lose it. Yet, the voice continued without consequence.

"They were much better off without the Jotun blood contaminating their precious courts, weren't they? Much happier than they could have been now. And what of this woman standing before you? Her heart desires you, but she would want someone better, wouldn't she? What are you, Loki, son of Laufey, compared to the rightful king of Asgard?"

Thor scowled. "Loki, it lies!"

"Odin confesses it when he is alone with his wife; he would have preferred only Thor as his son," Beatrice purred, the Chitauri seemingly understanding the nerve was being hit, "Maybe Beatrice would prefer him too. Who wouldn't prefer him? What woman would take you? You are nothing, Loki Laufeyson. And soon, the world around you will be nothing when we take it. Loki Laufeyson is...nothing. Nothing... Nothing...nothing..."

"No!" Loki spat.

Beatrice's face distorted with a grin and she sniggered wickedly. The Chitauri below her laughed along with, a dry sound. Finally, the laughter could no longer be endured by Loki and he seized a sharp scalpel on one of the trays, stabbing it into the Chitauri's chest with a fierce roar. The creature twitched and let out a screech of agony to which Beatrice was snapped out of her spell. The others quickly surrounded the sight and doctors pushed Loki away.

"Well thanks a lot, princess!" Tony snapped, glaring at an equally infuriated Loki, "We don't even know what their plan was!"

Beatrice shook her head violently and seemed as if she was attempting to control herself again. "H-He was blocking me somehow," she said, shock and alarm in her eyes, "I couldn't see his plan, but I felt it..."

"Felt what?" Fury asked her.

"Hate."