Oh man. Stuff goes down in this one.

Tippy: Lol yeah, Armored Barbie. I'm not gonna be able to look at a Barbie the same again. And she's definitely going where you think she's going.

crimson. blood. witch: Thank you!

BuckyBarnes07: Bad things happen next, but it's so good!

DarylDixon'sLover: Thank you!

Ryane: Yeah, she's making a stupid mistake, but she's stubborn!

Enjoy!

I should have gotten there sooner. I should have known something bad would happen. That sick feeling had been eating away at my stomach since I stepped foot on the helicarrier. But there was nothing I could have done. Coulson was already injured when I got there. Maybe if I had gotten there sooner...but that was a fool's hope. I was quickly going to learn I was out of my league.

I manage to muster a small shockwave, sending it towards Loki, but he deflects it easily. It's then I realize I don't have the power to hold him off. The buzzing in my ears is loudest here, so loud it's nearly impossible to concentrate. I manage to get a protective bubble around myself as the god walks towards me, moving slowly. We both know he's the stronger of the two in this situation. Even if I could muster a shockwave strong enough to knock him over I would risk knocking the helicarrier out of the sky and killing everyone on board. Plus, it would only phase him. I can feel the power radiating off of him, and I try not to let my fear show.

He stops right in front of my bubble, smirking at me. "Such power but yet you fear it. You should accept it."

The tip of his spear is still soaked in blood. Coulson's blood. The thought has my emotions flaring, my bubble wavring.

"You are weak, little lamb."

He touches the tip of his scepter to my bubble and it crumbles like glass. All of my energy is drained and I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. I fall back against the wall behind me, helpless to his next move. He could easily kill me now.

"Let me show you real control."

The tip of his scepter touches my chest and ice floods through my veins, my whole body going cold as something inside me tells me to sleep. I'm helpless to do anything but listen, my vision going dark.

3RD POV

Tony didn't know whether to be relieved or panicked. His daughter wasn't anywhere on the helicarrier, and the last person who had seen her was dead. He was relieved he didn't find her body anywhere, but that meant Loki had taken her. Loki wouldn't kill her. It was too much of an opportunity. His daughter had power. Not just her abilities, but she was an achilles heel too. He had made impossible promises before when her life was on the line. More than likely he would make them again if it meant saving her. He knew she had gotten off on the wrong foot with Steve, but he wasn't the type to let an innocent girl suffer at the hands of someone like Loki. Tony would do anything to get his daughter back. But right now...he didn't know where to start.

Loki had killed Coulson like it was nothing. One wrong move and his daughter could suffer the same fate. He had just gotten her back and he couldn't lose her now. They had gotten Barton back, the man who had saved his daughter's life once. But they had lost Banner, Thor, the cube, the scepter, Loki and Zinnia. Their odds weren't exactly high right now. But that was always where Tony thrived.

Tony had walked away from Fury's speech. He needed to clear his head. Think about where his daughter could be. If she had still had the phone he'd given her, she could have been traced easily. But that had been left in Malibu when she'd gone missing two years ago, the night of his tragedy of a birthday party back when he was dying.

He doesn't notice Steve had followed him until the Captain speaks. "Was he married?"

"No. There was a cellist, I think." Tony says, recalling his conversation with Coulson the day before when he'd first arrived.

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

"He was an idiot."

"Why? For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone. Both him and Zinnia."

"He was doing his job."

Tony scoffs. "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Steve moves closer to the billionaire.

"Right, I've heard that before." Tony made to leave. He needed to find his daughter, but Steve's next words stop him.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

"We are not soldiers. I'm not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now we've got to put that behind us and get this done. Now, Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list..."

"He made it personal."

"That's not the point."

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart."

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah. That was just the previews. This is opening night. Loki, he's he's a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants act monument built to the skies with his name plastered-" Realization hits Tony like a brick. "Son of a bitch"

Tony works as fast as he can to fix his suit so it's suitable for flight. It had taken damage when he had fixed the helicarrier engine. He didn't know why it had taken him so long to figure it out. Of course Loki would go to the tower. It would give him all the power he needed to use the Tesseract and it gave him a prime vantage point.

He flies out as soon as the suit is ready, still barely held together, but as long as he can get to the tower, he can get a new suit. He doesn't quite know what to expect as he flies towards the tower. He tries not to think about what Loki could have done to her during the time it had taken him to realize where she was and get there.

Loki is standing outside on the tower balcony as Tony lands, the machines coming up to take the armor off him as he walks towards the door. Loki follows, using the door on the other side of the balcony to enter. Tony's eyes scan the room, searching for his daughter. He needs to know she's okay. He feels partly responsible for this. Afterall, every time she'd been kidnapped by a psychopath, it was his own stupidity that had caused it.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki says, snapping him out of his search.

"Actually, I'm planning to threaten you." He forces himself to stay calm, putting on his usual Stark nonchalant attitude as he moves behind the bar.

"You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah. It's see a bit of mileage and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no. Threatening. No drink? Are you sure? I'm having one."

"The Chitauri are coming. Nothing can change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers." Tony says, pouring himself a drink. "That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. 'Earth's mightiest heroes' type thing."

"Yes, I've met them."

"Yeah. Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a headcount here. Your brother, the demigod, a super soldier, a living legend, who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger management issue, a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan."

"Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Tony moves from behind the bar.

"I have an army."

"We have a hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off."

"You're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." Tony moves closer to the god as he speaks. He still didn't see his daughter.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?"

Loki touches his scepter to Tony's chest, but the reactor keeps it from doing any harm.

"This usually works."

"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five-" Loki grabs Tony by the throat, tossing him to the floor. "JARVIS, anytime now." He says, standing back up.

Loki smirks down at Tony. "If I can't use you, then I'll use her."

His daughter walks forward, tall and confident as ever, but her normally dark chocolate eyes are bright blue. He doesn't have time to check her over for injuries before he's grabbed again by Loki and dragged over towards the windows.

"You will all fall before me."

"Deploy!" Tony yells before Loki throws him out the window.

Tony wasn't usually scared of falling from heights because he was normally wearing his suit. He didn't know if this would even work, and if it was, his suit was taking its time. Finally it locks on to the tracker he'd put on when he entered the tower, the suit forming around him seconds before he hits the ground. He scares some civilians as the thrusters fire off and he shoots back into the sky, flying back up to the broken window.

"And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil." Tony blasts Loki back, feeling great until a portal opens above the tower, aliens coming through. Of course. What else?

Inside Zinnia helps the God of Mischief to his feet, Loki unphased by the blast from Tony's suit.

"Orders, sir?"

"Stay here with me. We will watch the world fall together." Loki says.

Zinny follows Loki outside as the Chitauri fly down from the portal, starting to move through the city. Thor lands on the deck below Loki a few minutes later. Zinnia starts to move towards him, but Loki stops her.

"Loki!" The God of Thunder yells up at his brother. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it."

"You can't. There is no stopping it. There is only the war."

"So be it."

Loki jumps down, attacking his brother. One of SHIELD's jets flies around to Stark Tower, trying to get a shot at Loki. Zinny looks to the preoccupied Loki before sending a shockwave towards the jet, shredding one of the jet's wings causing it to spiral to the ground below.

"Look at this!" Thor yelled as he has Loki pinned. "Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?"

"It's too late. It's too late to stop it."

"No. We can, together."

Loki pauses, looking at Thor before stabbing him in the side. "Sentiment." He scoffs before Thor starts fighting him again, tossing him on to the deck from over his head.

Loki rolls over the side, landing on one of the Chitauri's flying chariots. Zinnia glances at the God of Thunder before jumping as well.

Their brigade shot at cars, sending debris flying and people running for cover. Loki watches as one of the Leviathans is destroyed, the Chitauri screeching in anger.

"Send the rest." Several more Chitauri and Leviathans come through the portal. Loki turns to Zinnia. "Find the others. Start with the Captain."