Welcome back avid readers, once again a new chapter is here. I've managed to squeeze in some writing time before the exams this week. Short A/N today. Enjoy

Tony found Natasha in the main deck with ease, and was not surprised when he had to stand over two dead robots. Flipping open his visor he inspected the control panels with his own eyes. Everything was similar to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier but Tony also frowned.

Some of these didn't have labels, nor were they positioned in a standard group pattern.

Natasha was bent over one of the monitors that hadn't been destroyed.

"Can you access the mainframe?" Natasha said hoarsely.

"On it," Tony said, taking out a small chip from his armor and placing it into one of the device holds.

"JARVIS, hit me up, will ya?"

-It appears the algorithm previously programmed into this system has been altered; I'm unable to, sir."

"What does that mean?" Natasha pursed her lips. They really didn't have time for this.

"It means good old Fischer did some antivirus before she left. I'll have to go in manually."

"Please do," she said curtly.

As Tony attempted to regain control over the system, Natasha surveyed the scene below. S.H.I.E.L.D. was taking a huge hit as many of their large pieces of machinery were now rendered useless. Thor had managed to see their disadvantage and began to cover them. In between recharging for the next bout of lightning, the god swung Mjölnir into the cores of the NX3's while Steve used his shield to block off blasts. This allowed Thor to summon Mjölnir and repeat the process. Natasha could clearly see the Hulk as he burst through the ranks at the back. NX3's had surrounded the beast and began to smother his body with their own, climbing on top of him trying to find a weakness. As the Hulk tore their limbs apart, replacements merely repeated what their previous counterparts failed to do.

"Clint." Natasha pressed her earpiece.

"Up high."

Natasha looked to one of the standing buildings and barely made out the streaks of colours his arrows made, as they pierced through the night.

"Banner needs assistance."

Clint looked over to The Hulk. Pressing the button on his bow, he switched arrowheads.

"I got a good one."

Natasha smirked softly as a huge explosion engulfed the great beast. Surrounding robots burst into green flames while the Hulk was further enraged. Looking back over to Tony she frowned. He was taking too long.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

"She remodeled her system, there's no way I can find a kill code for these things… "Tony said, exasperated. Honestly, who had the time to do these things? Obviously a crazy rogue agent, he thought.

"Please tell me you can do something."

Tony and Natasha stood in silence for a few moments, gazing at the confusing control panels. Both remained deep in thought, Tony scratching his chin while Natasha folded her arms.

Tony put his hands on his hips and pursed his lips for a moment.

"What does this do?" He asked, deciding to push a large red button.

-Self destruct activated, T-minus five minutes,- the computer's voice spoke.

Tony instinctively flipped his visor down, just as Natasha's face entered his vision.

"That's. Not. Helping." She said through her teeth.

"I didn't think the red button would go all Hollywood on us."

"STARK!" Natasha yelled. "Quick!" Natasha began to type furiously on the monitors.

"Shouldn't we be leaving…" Tony pointed to the exit. "Impending explosion and all."

"Help me back track the carrier's logs; we need to find where this carrier took off from."

Oh yeah, Loki. Tony mentally slapped himself.

-Self destruct in T-minus four minutes-

If it had been in any other situation, Tony would have found it quite humorous, alas now wasn't the case. Instead, his mind was working in overdrive as he began to sift through the different locations the carrier had flown too. This meant sifting through quite a few coordinates, none of which jogged his memory.

-Self destruct in T-minus three minutes-

Tony really hated bombs.

"Wait!" Tony flipped open his visor.

"No time." She ignored him.

"I remember seeing an anomaly in the program, I can't find a kill code but I can possibly shut the NX3's momentarily."

"Like a reboot?" Natasha quickly stared at Stark, following his logic.

"It'll give them enough time to take most of them out while they get back online."

"Do it."

Natasha pressed her earpiece while concentrating on the locations.

"Do all teams copy? Once Stark shuts them down, aim all fire on the cores."

"Copy that." Were the unanimous replies.

Tony didn't need an order as he began to type as fast as he had ever typed in a few years. The last time being that it was used to impress an I.T. chick from – Tony made himself focus.

-Self destruct in T-minus two minutes-

"Here." Natasha pointed to the screen. "This one holds no future destination; it must be the initial take off location."

Tony quickly gave the glance over and logged the coordinates into JARVIS and he began to finish his momentary takedown. Entering the final lines of code, Tony kept his hand hovered over the button. He flipped his visor down and looked to Natasha. She gave a curt nod and Tony pushed the button. The leftover monitors began to flash as the hack code shut them down. Down on the ground the NX3's began to slow their moments, others twisted violently as the code began to shut down their system. Slowly the machines stopped in their tracks, posing as they were while their heads bowed.

"Thor! Charge up!" Steve yelled.

-Self destruct in T-minus one minute-

Tony used his pulsars to break the windows. The sudden break in pressure cause Natasha to momentarily loose her breath as the wind burst through with force. Tony caught her as she staggered and sped through the opening, trying to distance themselves as quickly as possible. Natasha reminded herself to breathe; it was easy enough for her to hold on to Tony, wrapping her legs around his torso so he could concentrate on direction. Tony didn't argue - he didn't want Black Widow bruises - but smirked in his suit. She'll never live this down.

Tony didn't turn around as he saw the sky in front of him turn a brilliant shade of orange, followed by a deafening explosion of burning metal. Without thinking, he carefully and gently pushed Natasha's head closer to his body, to protect her from the heat. Together they had flown enough distance that Tony merely had to make small corrections to his flight as the shockwave hit him. Tony made sure to land far away from Thor, knowing his suit would attract his bolts of lightning. It was not that he could appreciate a power boost, but Tony didn't want to fry Natasha. As Natasha clung to Tony, feeling the descent in her stomach, she also felt the hairs on her arms and hair begin to rise.

Soon enough a large bout of lightening struck nearby, illuminating the sky white, contrasting the burning orange. When she felt the suit stop, Natasha leapt off and began to ground herself.

"You alright?" Tony asked.

"How long until they restart?"

"About another minute."

"Then you're wasting time," she said, clearing her throat.

Tony saluted to her and blasted away to join the others. Thor had managed to make a crippling blow to the numbers surrounding the frontline of agents. Those remaining began to exit from their defense positions and systemically aimed for the cores. The Hulk began to take out NX3's at the sides while Clint aimed for clusters with one of his favorite arrowheads.

"Shoot their cores, Take em down!" Fury yelled with stressed relief.

From where Natasha stood she could see multiple explosions of green flames from multiple directions. The numbers were dwindling so rapidly that Natasha knew once the machines restarted, there would be almost none left to make any damage. She slowly sat herself down, unable to assist without her guns. This may have been a victory, but she didn't feel it in her heart.

She didn't have the heart to tell Thor… but she knew she had to.

There's still time, she reassured herself.

As the machines began to restart they had already become outnumbered. Agent's cheers of victory sounded through the base as the rest of the robots remaining were easily defeated. At first all avengers heard static until.

"Avengers… good work," Nick said softly.

Steve had taken his mask off as he looked around for his other team mates, like a good captain would do. Tony had quickly slipped away to another agent. Steve watched as the agent confusedly took off his pants and coat, handing it over to Tony… who gave the peace sign.

"Now's not the time for striptease, Stark," Clint said as he made his way to regroup.

Tony could hear the smirk on the bastard's voice.

"Gee Clint, didn't know you wanted to see Banner's body that badly," Tony remarked as he found Bruce hiding behind a tank.

Clint fell silent, unable to think of something.

Averting his gaze he merely sidestepped into position until the clothes he acquired from a rather nice fan received a tug.

"Your other pants kinda… exploded. I blame Fischer." He said as Bruce walked into his vision, pulling the clothes around him.

Did he say exploded? Bruce thought, unsure what had happened after he 'Hulked out'.

"Thanks…"

By the time they had all regrouped, agents had begun to secure the perimeter, reclaiming what they had almost lost. Natasha had appeared too, from the darkness. Thor looked sullen.

"Friends, we must leave with haste. Lady Natasha?" Thor looked at her expectantly.

Natasha opened her mouth, unable to speak. Looking into Thor's eyes, she quickly cast her gaze away. He had put his time into their cause and yet, she could do nothing for his.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't retrieve the stone in time."

Thor tilted his head in confusion, and lowered his hands.

"I do not…" he said shakily, his gaze flickering sideways.

"We can catch up to her, Thor," Steve said, but Thor immediately stood back.

He raised his hammer against his friends. The Avengers tensed.

"You know where he is, do you not?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes."

Thor's face was unreadable.

"Take me to my brother," he said.


The flight in the newly acquired Quinjet was silent. They had all thought that Fischer would have stayed, unable to leave her obsession. Tony had thought wrong. Her NX3's may have been taken down, but she was now untraceable, a ghost. Through the window the darkened sky was slowly turning into a soft hue of blue as dawn approached.

The stars continued to shine.

"Thor…" Steve said, placing a hand on his shoulder. This brought the god out of his trance. "We'll find him."

Thor merely returned his gaze to the window.

Inside Thor was battling against himself. Heimdall will heed my call, he repeated over and over.

"We're here," Natasha said as she spotted the secluded area. It was well concealed, covered by tree line and disguised paint, but the clearing of trees was a dead giveaway. It was an airstrip, and the right size of the carrier Fischer had flown in. Natasha and Clint landed close to the larger hanger doors of the base. Thor burst out with the other while the two assassins powered down the machine. As Tony neared the doors, he knew they were at the right place. He may have had a different perspective from the inside, but these doors were the same.

"Loki!" Thor yelled pushing the doors apart further, without effort, and dashed inside.

As they ran across the dome Tony directed Thor to where he had last seen him.

"Perimeters clear," Natasha whispered to the others, who hung back. "This place is deserted."

Clint looked up at the ceiling of the dome. It was unsettling… there was no sound, save for Thor's voice.

Thor crouched next to the large blood stain on the wall, and gazed at the same size stain on the ground close by.

"My brother lay here," Thor said softly.

"JARVIS, scan for biometrics."

-There are currently six persons in this building, sir.-

What the hell? Tony thought, looking around.

"Guys." Clint jogged back to the hanger doors and pointed.

There, lay a small smudge of red. It was placed in such a way that they had missed it coming in, but it was present to those going out. Particularly one person. Thor swung Mjölnir and sped through the doors without giving a second glance, leaving the Avengers to back track and try to catch up with Thor.

Thor landed in the middle of the airstrip, unsure of where his brother would go. He called out his brother's name, but got only silence. The stars had begun to fade, their duty to fall as the sun rose. Thor dropped Mjölnir as it landed with a heavy 'thud'. As the god turned to face his mortal allies, a flash of green so small one could barely register it, struck the corner of his eye… and Thor ran. Thor didn't stop when he left the concreted airstrip, nor did he stop when he skidded onto his knees in front of his brother.

"Loki…" Thor whispered as he crawled closer.

Loki's eyes were closed, no longer gazing at the stars.

Thor held his brother close, using the nook of his left elbow to cradle his brothers head, while he tried hold him up. Thor's gaze shot straight to the sky.

"HEIMDALL!" He bellowed, increasing the pressure of his hold when he was met with silence.

The other Avengers had stopped a distance behind Thor, hearing his cries for the 'gatekeeper'. Tony took off his helmet, his face stern. They could see what Thor held against his chest.

"Heimdall…" He pleaded with frustrated desperation.

But the sky did not split open in the brilliant blue the Tesseract provided, instead, only the warm glow of the sun. Thor bowed his head into Loki's chest, occasionally stoking his brother's hair. Thor felt a small movement and then a cold warmth around his wrist.

"Th…or?" Loki whispered.

Thor recoiled and grasped Loki's hand in his own. Squeezing it so hard he would have broken any other mortal's hand. Loki opened his eyes slowly and gazed at the hand. When nothing happened a silent question passed between them. Thor's breath shuddered, and he slowly shook his head. For a long time they remained still until Thor felt Loki's hand in his own hold its own grasp. As Thor looked down into Loki's eyes, he found nothing.

Nothing but calm.

Thor turned his head slightly to his friends, but they were still unable to see his face.

"Forgive me," Thor said. "I would like to be left alone with my brother."

The Avengers took in Thor's words and, with hesitation, slowly backed away - except for Natasha. She remained staring at the consequence of her failure, until she felt a tug at her elbow. Clint pulled her gently away from Thor and Loki.

"Thor."

Thor returned his attention to Loki, before his body gave a shudder and his figure flickered more transparent.

"You'll be fine." Thor tried to reassure Loki, if not more… himself. "Heimdall just needs to gather the energy for two souls." Thor squeezed his brother's hand. "And then we will go home."

"Home." Loki repeated softly as his eyes found their way to the sky again before changing to Thor's. "I lost, Thor… I couldn't…change…. I'll die here."

"No!" Thor's chest was beginning to burst; he couldn't contain a few heavy gasps of pain.

"Forgive me." Thor brought Loki closer to his chest as the sky began to warm with orange.

"Why?"

Thor continued to bury his head.

"It was my responsibility and I … I couldn't … I couldn't save you."

Loki slipped his hand to the back of Thor's head until the god looked at him.

"But you came for me." Loki smiled weakly. "And that's enough."

It was enough.

Thor sobbed out a smile and brought his head to his brother's. Long moments passed, and Loki enjoyed this company. It was not often he felt this calm, and for the longest time he had forgotten what it felt like to be comfortable.

"Brother?" Loki whispered.

"Yes."

"The mortal … Stark … did I help you aid your allies?"

"Yes." Thor said.

Thor could feel the sun warm his back as he felt the weight of Loki's legs against his own begin to lift. No! He screamed as he held his brother in a death grip. Thor's mind raced, if he held his brother tighter….

Loki took one more gaze at the sky and lay his head against Thor's chest. He smiled, feeling comfortable as the warmth radiated from his brother's figure.

"Your… warmth," he said, unable to speak more than a whisper. "To feel it …"

Thor made a sound of desperation as he felt all the weight lift.

"Is to…."

Loki's hand slowly relaxed within Thor's grasp.

"Feel my own."

Thor's grasp around his brother collapsed in on himself. His arms hitting his chest as nothing lay between them, his nails digging into his palms as no longer a hand slipped into his. Small emerald motes of flecked light replaced what had been, and with the wind they began to dissipate.

Thor gave a pained noise as he tried to grab the small lights, but they slipped through his fingers with ease and dimmed… silently becoming nothing but emptiness.

The only other sound that echoed was the 'clang' of two empty golden bracelets, as they fell to the ground.

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