Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel franchise.

Chapter 26

Playing Games

Xandar

She was beautiful as ever even when in distress. Her hair was matted to her forehead due to the sweat. Her lips pursed together in concentration. Her eyes the shade of a brewing storm; it roamed around frantically. Her breathing was labored; her body was alert and sharp.

Panic surged inside him when it occured to him that she was in the middle of a fight. Her blue dressed, not appropriate for combat, swayed with every move. He saw her try to summon energy to blast it to what looked like an Iron Suit of Tony Stark.

He tried to call out to her when she was thrown backward. 'Is this a dream? Or am I having a vision?' He thought as he tried to move to help her but his feet was stuck on the ground he was standing at.

Clio slowly stood up and shot another wave of energy to the approaching enemy. His breath hitched when another appeared behind her. It hissed something making her turn in surprise.

"NO!" his own voice yelled when he saw how it plunged a sharp object in her stomach.

A laugh echoed to the dream as he watched his most beloved punched the android away from her and staggered backward. Blood seeping from the wound and mared her beautiful dress.

The laugh though, it sent shiver down his spine. The same shiver he gets whenever he remembered his captor.

'Loki,' someone called.

His breathing labored as he remembered that voice.

'You have failed me, child.'

Loki tried to block the voice in his head as he tried to cover his ears.

'Stop!'

'-and for that you will pay dearly'

'Be quiet!'

'-I will take your beloved's life.'

"No!" A yelp escaped him as he sat up straight bolting awake. He was breathing rapidly as he took in his surroundings. He was still inside the ship and Peter was looking at him funny; of course he wouldn't let him see how startled he was when he yelled.

"Nightmare's a bitch, right?" He said as Loki tried to calm himself down.

'It was only a dream. Nothing more,' he thought. 'But it felt so real.' He unconsciously fingered his necklace under his shawl. Somehow, it was unusually heavy.

"Want to talk about it-?"

"No," he quickly dismissed. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried to calm himself down. No, he knew nothing bad happened to her. Odin took an oath to protect her in exchange with this escapade.

With that in mind, he allowed himself to sigh. Odin may have been the worst father he ever had but one thing he knew most of his adoptive father was that he knew how to keep his promise.

"Okay," Peter replied and sighed defeatedly. "Good thing you're awake. We're here now."

Loki glanced at the front to see they are approaching a planet which he figured was Xandar.

Xandar was very much like Earth's civilization as seen from above and prosper like Asgard. But unlike Asgard, Xandar was filled with blue and green much like the planet he tried to conquer years ago.

"Here we are, Xandar," announced his companion.

The whole ride to their destination, Loki developed an intense headache due to the blabbers of the guy and the song that blasted on his speakers. Halfway through the ride, Loki almost regretted his decision to ride. In the end, he let sleep take over his mind to stop himself from doing something that would require hiding a dead body.

"I need to talk to the Broker that you mentioned," Loki informed him.

Peter glanced at him and raised his eyebrow. "What for? You're not going to steal my prize, are you?" He accused, his brows creasing at the Jotunn.

Loki sighed. "No," he answered shortly. His patience was running thin and his fingers itched to stab him to death. If he wasn't thinking, he might have done it already. "I just need to ask him a few questions."

"About that Ronan guy?" He probed. "I don't know about you but I feel this guy means bad business."

"I don't care," he answered curtly. "You will take me to him."

"Hey, just so we're clear here I'm not good at following orders," he informed him.

"You will be if you want your device to stay attached with each other."

Peter glared and pointed a finger at him. "You said I'd get you out of Morag and I'll have it back. Now you want another deal?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"No deal."

"Then say goodbye to your-"

"Okay! Okay, fine!" He immediately cut off. "Jeez! I have to drop Bereet first and eat before I go to the Broker."

Loki was silent, mulling over the thought of food made his stomach growl. It's been a while since he last had something to eat that was not a ration.

"...fine."

"Alright!" He cheered as he steered his ship over to a vacant lot. "Hey, Bereet! We're here, get your ass out now!"

"Coming!"

The three of them walked out of the shop and went over to a diner that was located nearby. Loki was lucky enough to steal a few money at the last civilization he jumped into for he knew that his companion would not resort in to paying his food.

"So, why do you want to know about this Ronan guy so badly?" Peter asked with a mouthful of mush. Loki didn't grace him with answer thus only grunted in return. "Oh come on, man, there must be a story behind this one! You don't looked like the kind of guy who would blackmail someone into doing things," he complained.

Loki glanced at him, his eyes glinting with mischief at his words. Oh, how he missed those old days! "How do you know I don't blackmail someone into doing things?" He asked, voice filled cockiness.

Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, I don't know," he muttered. "Just thought maybe you could tell your story."

Loki hummed and smirked at him. "What about you, human? Why are you in a place like this?" He asked.

"Like I have a choice," he grumbled under his breath. "I was kid-"

"-kidnapped from Earth by a Ravager named Yondu Udonta," Loki finished with a smirk at the expression of the man in front of her.

"H-hey! W-wait a minute, how did you-" he paused and then suddenly a grin appeared from his face making Loki creased his brows in confusion. "You heard about me, didn't you?! Oh, man! I knew I was famous!" He exclaimed and pumped his fist up in the air.

"What?" Loki sputtered in confusion. "No, I didn't."

Peter, still grinning from ear to ear, wiggled a finger at him. "No, don't deny it. I thought I was not making enough-"

"I read your past, you dumb idiot," Loki hissed, his face flaming with annoyance. "I can enchant spells and see your past!"

Peter's grin vanished. "What do you mean by enchant spells?" He asked suddenly curious. "I thought you were a Jotunn? Jotnar don't do magic, they just make lots of ice!"

Loki sighed and rubbed his temples. "My mother is a Vanir," he explained hoping this answer would shut him up.

"Oh," he responded. "OH! So, that's why you're skin is not blue! I heard Vanirs can do lots of magic trick, can you make this spoon disappear?" He asked with excitement.

Loki glared at him. "I will make your device disappear if you don't shut up," he threatened and that did the trick.

The three of them ate in silence. After Peter dropped the girl outside the diner, the two proceed to where the Broker was located.

An automatic door opened when Peter pressed a button. The two of them entered and behind them the door closed.

"Yo!" Greeted Peter at the alien behind the counter who was cleaning few relics on it. "Broker," he called out.

"Mr. Quill," greeted the said alien thus looked expectantly at Peter. The human grabbed something from his coat pocket which was the orb and presented it to him.

"The orb as commissioned," he said and drop the relic on the table next to the other relics.

"Where's Yondu?" he asked and glanced at Loki suspiciously who was standing next to Peter.

"Wanted to be here, really," Peter lied as he morphed his face in a more sympathetic expression that almost put Loki to shame for he was the God of Lies too. "He sends his love and told me to tell you that... you have the best eyebrows in the business."

The Broker smiled, completely swayed by the words, and nodded in return.

"I thought you work alone, Mr. Quill?" he asked, eyeing Loki next to him.

"Yeah, he's new," Peter quickly answered. "Yondu wanted me to show him how the Ravagers work."

"Hm," Broker responded but then shrugged. "Well, I'll transfer the units then. Tell Yondu-"

Loki stepped up and spoke immediately. "What is that thing?" he asked referring to the orb.

The Broker glanced at him with a brow raised as if his question was a joke. "It's my policy to never discuss my clients or their needs," he explained simply.

Peter, also curious about it, spoke. "Well, we almost died getting it for you, you know."

He stared at them with fake sympathy and sighed. "Oh, an occupational hazard, I'm sure in your line of work," responded Broker.

"Well, some machine headed freak working for a dude named Ronan-"

Broker who was looking uninterested a while ago glanced up in surprise at the mention of the name.

"Ronan?" he repeated; Loki noted the sudden change of his mood from bored to fearful. "I'm sorry, . I truly am. But I want no part of this transaction if Ronan is involved!" he cried surprising the two gentlemen as Broker gave back the orb and tried to push them to the exit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Peter exclaimed and stand his ground.

Loki pushed away the Broker's hand and summoned a knife. "Tell me who is Ronan," he threatened and pointed the knife at Broker's neck.

"Hey, Kil, chill out, man," Peter interjected as he tried to push Loki's hand down but to no avail. He turned to the Broker, "Answer his question now."

"Ronan is a Kree-fanatic, outraged by the peace treaty who will not rest until Xandarian culture, my culture, is wiped from existence!" he explained frantically as he tried to push back the knife. "He's someone who's bad side I'd rather not be on!"

"W-What about our bad side?!" Peter tried to threatened.

"You're not making any sense," Loki growled and kicked the Broker on the chest sending him backwards.

"Whoa!" Peter exclaimed.

"Why don't we talk over some cup of tea, shall we?" Loki suggested but there was an underlying threat in his words; his eyes shining bright red instead of green that Broker gulped in response and nodded.

In the end, the two men sipped some tea while Broker was left tied in a chair cowering from the two who was glaring at him.

"Who is your client?" asked Loki calmly, his eyes were still bright red for intimidation. Quill was silent the whole ordeal as to not cross with his companion.

Broker gulped and shivered nervously. Quill he could take but the new guy was something else. His aura was sinisterly dark almost in comparison to Ronan.

"I-I t-told you, I-I'm not supposed to b-be talking a-about-" a yelp escaped his lips when a knife whizzed past his ear grazing it just slightly.

"Fun facts about me," Loki begans twirling a knife between his fingers. "I have a bad obsession with knives."

"No wonder they keep coming out of nowhere," Quill commented before he took a bite from his bread.

"Another fact is, I don't miss my target," Loki added as he threw the knife again this time embedding in between Broker's feet.

Quill gave out a snort of some kind that turned into a coughing mess when crumbs of biscuit was stuck in his throat.

"Lastly, I don't do mercy," Loki added again and then threw two knives this time hitting both the Broker's feet.

Screech of pain echoed throughout the room while Quill gave out a disproving gasp.

"Come on, man, is that necessary? That's too gory," he complained to which fell on deaf ears.

Loki produced another set of knives and this time Broker shook his head in fear. "Okay, okay! It's Taneleer Tivan," he sprouted. "My buyer's name is Taneleer Tivan."

Loki tensed while as Quill's brows creased.

"Tan-what?" He asked turning to Loki who was frozen in surprise.

Broker sighed in defeat. "H-he is also known as the-"

"Collector," Loki finished.

Earth

Clio typed furiously on her computer, her heart racing with dread. No matter how much she tried to retrieve her files, it always came back empty.

She sagged back on her seat as she stared at her screen dumbfounded. All her hard work was gone just like that.

The others were outside trying to retrieve the lost files and clearing out the area from the destroyed Legionnaires.

There wasn't much she can do about it now. With a defeated sigh, she walked back out of her office and joined the others.

She sat with Helen and Maria as they check each computer system in the room. Tony was staring blankly at one of his Iron Suit on the table, the one she blasted off to pieces. His face void with any emotions as his mind wandered somewhere far away from them. She debated whether to talk to him or not but she also got a problem on her own so she stayed put.

Bruce, on the other hand, was trying to locate his files in his computer, his brows were creasing.

Natasha tried to access the internet but to no avail. They've been doing the same thing for a whole ten minutes before Bruce broke it up.

"All our work is gone," he acknowledged glancing at Clio who looked crestfallen too. "Ultron cleared everything and used the internet as his escape route."

"Ultron," muttered Steve and then hung his head low.

"He's been in everything," piped Natasha as she straightened from hunching over the computer. "Files, surveillance, probably knows more about us than we know each other."

"He's in your files, he's in the internet," Rhodey said as he walked forward. "What if he decides to access something a little more... exciting?"

"Nuclear code," realized Maria, gaping at the soldier.

"Look, we need to make some calls assuming we still can," suggested Rhodey.

"Nukes, he said he wanted us dead," Natasha said.

"He didn't say 'dead', he said 'extinct'," Steve corrected, his brows creased.

"I don't see any difference," Clio said as she stood up. "He wants our extinction or the whole human race's extinction. Either way, we'd be dead if we don't figure out what he's up to."

Clint took a step forward. "He also said he killed somebody," he said.

"There weren't any other person in the tower except for us," Maria said with a confused look.

Tony sighed making everyone turn to him. "There's one," he muttered finally as he tapped his holographic phone in the air.

A gasp came out of Clio's lip at the sight of a scattered holographic image of what supposedly be J.A.R.V.I.S.

Bruce, eyes widened, walked slowly over the image. A look of horror was on his face and so did the others while Tony looked away painfully at the sight.

Clio was overcome with grief at the sight of her beloved AI who she had been with since she was a kid. She couldn't imagine the feelings Tony was experiencing right now. It must have been more painful to her father who he considered the AI his first family after his parents died.

"This is insane," muttered Bruce.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. was the first line of defence," Steve spoke up. "He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"No," contradicted Bruce. "Ultron could have assimilated J.A.R.V.I.S. quickly. But this," he said pertaining to the image. "This isn't strategy. This is rage."

There was heaviness that weighed down on everybody in the room as the words sink in slowly in their head.

A heavy footsteps echoed the silence and they turned around to find Thor just in time for him to grab Tony by the neck and lift him up to the air making Clio gasped in surprise and the others spring on their feet.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rogers exclaimed stepping up but Thor had him already in the air.

"It's going to come around," commented Clint as he watched the others watch the scene warily.

"Come on, use your words, buddy," provoked Stark as he clutched the God's hand.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," threatened Thor; eyes glaring at the man he held.

Clio, body on defense automatically, quickly grabbed Thor's arm. "Let go," she demanded in an equally dangerous voice. Her eyes turning a shade darker almost black as she glared at her friend.

Steve put a hand on her shoulder and the other in front of Thor; whether it was for the God's safety or for the Xhylorian, he wouldn't know. "Thor," he called out before anything happens. "Report on the legionnaire."

Thor, having no desire to have a fight with his most trusted friend, let go of her father as he heaved an angry sigh.

Tony groaned and slumped on the floor while Clio quickly tend to his aid.

"I'm fine," he muttered as she helped him up.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out. But it's headed north," he reported then glared back at Tony. "And he has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it back. Again."

"The genie's out of that bottle," spoke Natasha with her arms folded across her chest. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," began Helen and glanced at them with confusion. "You built this program. Why is he trying to kill us?"

Tony slowly entangled himself out of Clio's hands and ruffled her hair with a smile.

Clio's brows creased further when his smiles turned to a low chuckle.

"This isn't the time to be laughing," she pointed out and pushed away his hand. Bruce, who was beside them, shook his head at him trying to warn him of something.

"You think this is funny?" asked Thor with calm rage.

Tony turned to him and shook his head but his smile was still intact. "No," he answered. "It's probably not, right?" he asked turning to the others.

"Dad," she called him out but was ignored.

"This is very terrible. Is it so..." he continued then corrected himself before giving out a short laugh. "Is it so... it is. It's so terrible."

"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," snarled Thor and stepped up but stopped when Clio raised her hand. "Try and protect him as you like, Clio but what I say is true, is it not?"

Clio heaved a sigh but didn't lower her hand. Her head turned when a hand grabbed hers and lowered it down.

"I'm sorry," Tony began still grinning as he held back his daughter's hand. "It is funny. It's hoot that you don't get why we need this," he added as he stood up in front of Thor who was staring at him with dagger eyes.

"Tony, maybe this isn't the time," Bruce called out, acting nervous all of the sudden.

Everybody turned to the doctor, visibly surprise that he knew about this.

"Really?" Tony said aghast at him. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?"

"Only when I've created a murder bot," answered Bruce.

"We didn't," insisted Tony his eyes now glaring at the doctor. "We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface? We called it off when we couldn't."

"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here," answered Steve. "The Avengers were supposed to be different from SHIELD."

Tony whirled around to face Steve. "Any body remembered how I carried the nukes through the wormhole," he said.

"No, it's never come up," Rhodey muttered.

"-saved New York?" Continued Tony.

"-never heard that."

"-recalled that?" He looked at everyone in the eyes; challenging them to speak up. "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. And we're standing 300 feet below it!"

Clio gave out a sharp intake of breath. "But, dad, I thought that-"

"What about her, huh?" He asked then glanced at everyone as he pointed a finger at Clio. "My daughter faced the dark elves! She fought the Chitauri in the Battle of New York. If... If something... If something happened to her I wouldn't..."

Clio instantly felt the guilt ripped inside her chest as realization dawned on her.

Tony sighed, calming himself down. "Hundreds of people died at the Battle of New York. We don't even have a first line of defence against those creatures. How do we plan to defeat them?"

"Together," answered Steve without second thought.

Tony take a step forward to Rogers. "We'll lose," he warned.

Steve didn't even bat an eye at him as he answered, "Then we'll do that together, too."

There was a dead silence in the room as the two men regarded each other before Tony finally looked away.

"Thor is right," continued Steve as he walked around the room. "Ultron is calling us out. Now, I want to know where he is before he's ready for us. The world is a big place. We'll start by making it smaller."

He, then, began instructing everyone in the room and get the job done. Clio, on the other hand, walked over to Tony who was suddenly silent.

He turned to her cautiously when he felt her presence. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he put an arm around her shoulder to hug her and kissed her temples.

Clio nodded. "I understand why you did this," she said. "And I'm sorry, too, for making you worry most of the time."

Tony nodded his head and caressed her hair. "Not your fault, Sugarplum," he said.

"But Steve is right," she said and grabbed his hands to hers. "We need to do this together. It's not your fight alone, dad."

Tony sighed before nodding his head. "Okay," he answered before giving a genuine and determined smile. "Let's finish this together, then."

Xandar

Peter walked out of the building, grumbling under his breath. .

Loki told him to wait for him outside as he untied Broker and cast a spell in his memories.

The orb still lay heavy inside his coat. They couldn't just leave it to Broker. The fact that he didn't get the units he needed made him curse out loud.

"What happened?" A voice asked.

Peter quickly turned to face the voice and was startled to see a beautiful woman whose skin was green and was eating a fruit as she leaned casually on the wall. He couldn't help but gape at the green beauty in front of him. After all, he's still a guy.

Clearing his throat to try to save some dignity. "Ah, this guy just backed out a deal on me," he explained as he tried to look and sound cool. "If there's one thing I hate, it's a man without integrity."

A smirk appeared on his lips as he took a step forward. "Peter Quill, by the way. People call me Star-Lord," he introduced.

The lady, unfazed by this, regarded him slowly. "You have the bearing of a man with honor," she commented.

Quill was easily flattered by this as he unconsciously grab the orb that he was touching in his coat pocket and twirled it in his fingers. He did miss the glint in the lady's eyes at the prize, though.

"Well, you know I wouldn't say that," he said as he threw the ball up and catching it in his palm. Something he'd do when he's nervous.

There was a shuffling inside signaling for Loki's exit. As he opened his mouth to speak again, he was kicked back on his stomach as the lady, now with the orb, ran away.

"What happened?" Asked Loki, alarmed when he saw that the orb was gone.

"Shit," Quill cursed as he grabbed one of his rope device and threw it forcefully at the lady. The device tangled around the lady's feet throwing her off balance.

Quill and Loki instantly on their feet running for the orb.

"I'm gone for a moment and now you got the orb stolen?" Loki growled and dodged the lady's foot that was now free but he didn't see her fist coming in contact with his shin making him fall down. "Feisty, aren't we?" He commented as he tried to give Quill enough time to get the orb.

The lady, knowing what he was planning, grabbed one of his hand and twisted it making him yelp and drop the knife he was carrying.

She grabbed the knife and threw it at Quill's hand who was about to pick the orb. He instantly retracted his hand and faced the lady.

"Oh come on, woman!" He growled but suddenly his eyes widened when the woman came barreling towards him.

They instantly went on hand-to-hand combat as Loki stood up still grimacing from the pain on his arm. His shoulder might've dislocated from its socket which was a rare occurrence. This lady was something else if she could do that to a God.

"Hey, Kil! The orb!" Quill warned and the lady's eyes widened in shock when Loki dove for the orb.

She tried to fend him off with her legs and with Loki's other arm dislocated, she managed to fight both men equally.

Suddenly, out of nowhere as she was about to deliver a final blow to the man named Peter, something was thrown at her head and clawed on her hair blocking her view.

"Get him, Groot!" A raccoon on the lady's head suddenly ordered a walking tree carrying a sack.

But instead of any of the men, the one named Groot extended its limbs towards the female who was still struggling from the raccoon.

"No! Not her! Him!" Pointed the raccoon at Quill. "Learn genders, man!"

Loki instantly grab the orb and kicked Quill up and the two were quickly running away from the scene.

A screech was heard behind them and they knew instantly that the lady got out. What they didn't expect was a knife passed through at Loki's hand grazing it slightly making him drop the orb and it rolled away.

Quill stopped and tried to grab the orb before it falls down further to the other floor but was too late.

The lady jumped down and grabbed the orb and ran.

Loki, too, jumped down and pursued the woman. Quill, still up above, ran over and then jumped down as the woman passed by. They both fell to the ground with the lady underneath. But the lady twisted them so she was on top.

"Fool, you should have learned," she mocked.

"I don't learn," he answered as Loki appeared behind the unaware lady as he put something behind her. "It's one of my issues."

The lady's eyes widened as Loki snatched the orb from her hand. She tried to snatch it back but Quill pushed a button that sent her flying.

"Man," he said with a sigh as Loki helped him up. "That was tough."

"We need to get out of here, quickly," as soon as those words left his mouth, his body suddenly shook.

"Hey!" Quill called as he dropped to the ground. Behind him was the raccoon from earlier.

"Surprise!" It said before a sack fall upon him.

"What the-" a scream erupted from the sack as he flailed his arms trying to get out but was not able.

"Quit smiling like an idiot, Groot. You're supposed to be a professional."

"I am groot," answered the tree as he touch the other guy with his foot.

"Leave him. We only need the other guy," answered the Raccoon but when he turned around he sighed in exasperation as the lady from before appeared in front of him. "You've got to be kidding me."

He was tossed aside when she walked over to the tree and amputated its arm with her sword earning a gasp from the crowd who grew thick from the commotion.

The sack fell from its grip and the lady opened the bag. Her eyes widened when Quill emerged with a gun pointing at her.

He pulled the trigger and she was instantly electrocuted. He quickly got out of the sack and ran towards Kil. He pocketed the orb before he slung Kil's arm around his shoulder. But before he took a step, a shock ran through his body dropping his Jotunn companion and afterwards dropping next to him, too.

Darkness soon seeped in his consciousness as he clutch the orb in his coat.

"Jackpot," he heard a voice said behind him before everything went blank.

Author's Note: Hey guys! Here's the new update! I hope you like this one!

Oh, by the way, this is the point where I'm going to change a little bit of the timeline of the MCU. Anyways, it's a fanfiction. So no need to point out things like I'm not following the correct plot or timeline. I'm the author of this fanfiction so I get to play with the rules.

Does anybody here misses Clio and Loki together? Should I include a third party? hmm?