It was getting late. Despite the fact that Loki's new home had no windows, he could still tell when night was beginning to fall. He always could. Leon sat curled up in his lap, and hadn't moved for what seemed like minuets. Loki didn't have the heart to wake him and up.

The old amusement park was fun, Loki chuckled at the thought of Thor holding onto that stuffed alligator. Maybe next time the whole of the Avengers could come, even that guy with the eye patch. He seemed like he could use a little fun.

And then something changed.

Leon must have felt it as well, because his ears perked at the sound of…what was that? It had been sometime since Loki had hid himself away in Alfheim, so much so that the natural sounds of the realm simply became background noise to him. The wind through the trees, or the river against rocks, but this…this noise was foreign to this realm's soil.

"Midgardian." He gently grabbed Leon and placed him on the ground. "Stay here little one." He said in a quick whisper. He blinked twice, and was outside of his cave, with the distant sun sinking beneath the horizon. His dwelling sat atop a cliff that overlooked half the realm. He had chosen this spot, not for the strategic advantage, or the ability to gain intel on whoever dared to come looking for him, but for the view. In the morning light the dew on the grass shined like the jewelry from his mother's crown. The sun at noon reminded him of his brothers hair, and at night, the stars overhead made him dream of his father's eyes. He had learned long ago that he could never escape his family, or their influence on what he had become, so instead he decided to embrace it. If he could embrace a life without chaos, why could he not embrace a world that reminded him of his own family…adopted or otherwise.

Loki inched closer to the edge of the cliff, and his eyes widened.

"A…a jet?"

There in the distance sat one of the Midgardian flying machines he had seen so often. But how did it get here? Who could have possibly-

"So this is Alfheim?" A familiar voice bellowed, loud enough for Loki to hear.

Out stepped the man of iron, his armor plated across his chest. The stood the archer, and one by one they stepped out of the vessel.

"Aye Man of Iron. This is the realm of the elves."

"And this is where the tracer says Loki is."

Loki glanced down at an odd machine hooked onto Stark's armor. Did they…track him here? Even still, how did they get here? Such travel, especially without the bifrost, required so much magic that even Loki could only do it twice a day. Thor was no sorcerer, and even Odin had limits…so how did they manage to cross so many realms at once?

And then he sensed it. That pulse of magic that made his veins surge.

"…the stones."

In his youth Loki had heard tales of the Norn stones, relics of great power to be used only in the most dire of circumstances. Was he really worth all of that trouble? Even though his cloaking spell was in place, there was still no guarantee that he would be safe.

"That's strange." Tony said. "The tracker says Loki's to the east, but there's nothing there but…emptiness."

Loki took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and slowly appeared outside of his home, and right in front of Stark and his device. They were going to find him anyway, so why not be a hospitable host?

"Hello Avengers."

"Never mind." Tony said.

"Loki! We have come to take you back." Thor said, his voice so loud it could have been heard back on Asgard.

"Brother, we've been through this."

"You're right brother, we have. And this is the last time we will speak of this matter because your games are over."

Natasha stepped forward. "We're taking you back by any means necessary." She leaned down and grabbed her gun from its holster. She cocked a smile, as if to say "Please make this hard."

The good captain grabbed his shield, and the archer strung his bow.

"Honestly, all of this fuss because you want chaos?" Loki asked.

"No brother," Thor's eyes squinted. "We want the balance back. We want free will back. We want everything that your schemes took from us back."

What scheme?

"And now that we have these stones, it'll be easy. Even those extra powers of yours won't be able to measure up. So do yourself a favor and surrender."

Loki tried not to laugh. There was no doubt in the stones' power, but even if he did surrender, it would not yield the results they wanted.

"And if I don't?"

Captain America smiled. "Avengers…take him."

And like a trumpet signaling an army, each of them attacked ; Arrows flying like falcons, and bullets whizzing past Loki's ears. Though, nothing touched him of course. Loki weaved in and out. He danced through unova beams, and dodged hammers as if they were snowballs.

"Surround him on both sides." Steve said. But it was no good. Even if they could box him in, he would just find a way to escape.

"This isn't working." Natasha said as she laid down some cover fire. "We need a better strategy."

"The stones." Steve said. On their way here, Tony had told them that he had also found a way to hook the stones to his unova beam, but the results were untestable and completely unstable. He was sure it would be enough to stop Loki, but he did not know the after affects. Well, this wasn't the time to play it safe. It was them or him.

"Stark, that weapon. Use it."

Stark's eyes grew wide. "Are you crazy Capt.? We have no idea what it'll do."

"Look, we can't take any more chances. We've got to take this joker down. Do it!"

And with that his chest began to charge.

"Thor…try to hold him still for us."

Thor nodded, and like lightning he was by his brother's side.

"Thor I-"

"Hold thy tongue brother." Thor seized Loki before the trickster could even blink, his huge arms around Loki's chest. Too strong to break free. Man of Iron's chest was glowing, Loki felt the stones' power pulsing through every last cell in his body. Energy like that was almost…frightening.

"I am sorry it had to come to this my brother."

Was this moron serious? With both of them locked like this, Thor would be hurt as well. Did he not realize this? Did the great warrior not understand that he too was vulnerable to the stone's power?

"…Thor, I won't let you get hurt."

With one last magic trick Loki blinked himself and his brother out of harm's way, seconds before the beam could touch either one of them.

But it came at a great cost.

Stark and the stone's power shattered through Loki's cloaking spell, dispelling the illusion. The beam crushed into the mountainside and set the sky ablaze…and then…

"…no." The place he had called home was gone, vaporized before him. "…Leon?" He flew up towards the mountain top. All that was left was rubble. His books were in tatters, his chair a smoking ash, and there, beneath the rubble and stone, laid his cat's body.

"…Leon."

Loki tried every healing spell he knew. Every charm, every incantation, ever language that magic hid itself in…but it was all for nothing.

His cat never stirred.