Invasions and Ice Cream

by Thrashing-Light

Loki had an invasion to prevent and two worlds to convince. Which is why he enlisted the help of an old friend of his, a certain stoic Demon Lord. Thanos and his Armada will come, and Loki and Sesshomaru will fight them. They just will also partake in ice cream, and two Avengers along the way. Just maybe they will all survive. AU Set after 1st Avengers movie: Sess/Tony, Loki/Clint.

36. Clint and the Hidden Intentions

Clint and the Hidden Intentions

*(*

Clint pulled back from the moment a bit.

He had to come to grips with the reality that Loki had his hot mouth slanted over his neck again and his smooth hands planted in his pants, with his long fingers curled around his ass.

Was his ass even that great? Loki sure seemed obsessed with it. Obsessed with all of him, actually. And maybe he was just a little overly concerned for the easily agitated god too. He shouldn't have pretty much flipped out that Loki had gone to Shanghai.

Loki's roving hands persisted in groping his ass and trying to get between his pants and the small of his back. Was now really the best time for this?

Loki moaned in his mouth as if to answer his mental question. Clint moaned back on reflex and equal desire.

But really. He shouldn't have assumed that Thor, Loki, Nat, Steve, and Jaken all went to Shanghai before confirming where Thor actually was. Sesshomaru had to stop him with his whip from starting something with Tony.

Tony was smart, sure. Genius smart, but he didn't know everything. He didn't know the scepter like he did and he shouldn't act like it. What happened in Sesshomaru's failed scry also hit too close to Clint's panic zone. The scepter just did things to him that threw his normal calm into spiked extremes. It changed everything about who he thought he was. It warped his skills, talents, work ethic into the exact opposite morals, and beliefs he held dear.

It made Clint question everything. What if SHIELD didn't end up recruiting him, but some terrorist organization? Could he have ever been something as amoral as the scepter made him be?

Loki slipping from the needy, hot and thirsty kiss by running the point of his tongue along his ear brought him out of his weird thought loop.

Clint exhaled shakily, Loki's tongue brought chills through his collarbones and down his obliques.

'I existed once. I truly did, you know that.' Loki's words still echoed in his head from time to time, but this was a really weird time for it to happen. He wanted nothing more than to prove Loki wrong, that he still did exist. I mean really how could a ghost make his gut fill with warmth better than any shot of whiskey?

Loki grazed his teeth down his neck and bit there, sucking. Clint's hands scrabbled down Loki's toned back, as if looking for something to hold onto. He wanted to hold onto Loki. He didn't want him to go, he didn't want him to stop either.

Loki stop being Loki? Impossible.

He shouldn't have even entertained the idea Loki would simply teleport Nat, Steve and Jaken to where the scepter was and not insist on helping retrieve it. He probably shouldn't have implied that Jaken wasn't ready for a mission like this. That only caused Sesshomaru to crack his knuckles and his ears to flatten.

Loki brought his face back up to his own, eyes dark and soft and devoured him in a hazy, velvet shadows again. But his mind was in overdrive. He couldn't stop thinking.

'I shouldn't have thrown the fact that I was with Fancy Pants seeing his mom over him. It was painfully obvious Tony was at least halfway jealous I went even though that wasn't my fault. I could tell I had floored Tony when I threw it in his face that I knew more about the scepter, and Fancy Pants' issues than he ever would. I could tell because his jaw slacked and he didn't have a witty comeback. Even though Tony, clearly, is way smarter than I am, and I let him have every opening to say so.' Clint inwardly sighed, for what was probably the twentieth time that day, trying to calm himself down. It wasn't working.

He really shouldn't have used his assertions about Jaken being in danger, and mentioning how just being near the scepter could control you, to compel Sesshomaru scry the situation ASAP. He manipulated Sesshomaru, just like accused his mother of doing to him, but he needed to know if Loki was alright, if the mission was even going to succeed.

---

"That…definitely felt like a knock on our front door. Felt…far away…somehow." Tony murmured, looking Sesshomaru dead in the eye. While Clint could tell by the hardening of Tony's lips he was nervous, Sesshomaru didn't so much bat an eyelash.

"One of the enemy vessels has arrived at this realm. According to Loki's reports, it is most likely the Aethon." Sesshomaru calmly informed, turning to the TV. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Clint's pulse sped up anyway.

"Sir, I put the D.E.M.O.N.S. disturbance at approximately 9,500 miles from Earth, directly above North Korea, yet well out of the Earth's outer most layer of atmosphere. The ship is estimated to be 2,200 feet long with a width of around 450 feet." Jarvis relayed the information, but it didn't reassure Clint. Whatever this thing was, was twice as long as a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Which meant also twice the as SHIELD's helicarriers.

"Which subsequently is well out of the range of our largest ICBM's. Thanos has done his homework. He probably examined the one I threw at him." Tony tapped a whole bunch of other screens. "Except us, no one knows about it and let's keep it that way." Tony pointed a stylus Clint, which probably cost how much he made in two months. He didn't appreciate the gesture.

"Didn't Loki say that one was the fastest, and smallest? And it's twice as big as the helicarrier?!" Bruce caught on fast too.

"They've got to be heading towards Shanghai. We have to do something like warn Thor and Loki somehow." Clint was mostly talking to Sesshomaru who was doing his best to ignore him.

"Point Break isn't with them. He went to save Dr. Foster and that other doctor who lost his marbles. And they're on a stealth mission anything we send them, even through Jarvis because he was hacked before, could tip off the redcoats in SHIELD of what they're up to." Tony kept messing around with that stupid stylus pen of his. Clint caught the smallest softening of Sesshomaru's shoulders. He relaxed, and Clint knew that it was because it was another person, along with Tony, himself, Bruce, and Rin who weren't a part of his scry.

"If Loki allows a city to fall to Thanos' weakest vessel, he has indeed lost his prowess." Sesshomaru haughtily exhaled through his nose. Clint got a little hot, cuticles itching. He liked to pick at them when people were purposely pissing him off.

"You can scry them though, can't you? What if the whole thing is a trap? What if they lured them out with the scepter, only to blast the whole city?" Clint had to be living in some alternate universe where people didn't panic over alien space ships about to enter earth's atmosphere and possibly destroy a city. Sesshomaru just blinked back at him slowly as if to say, 'Of course I can you dull human'.

"You've got some nerve. You are just a few arrows short of a quiver aren't you, Clint? The last thing we need is for Sesshomaru to go on a vision quest. Do you not remember him passing out and puking up a keg's worth of blood on my roof?" Tony shrugged when Sesshomaru shot him a caustic look. "You just got back, it sounds like you've been through hell, I can tell you probably don't want to go all green. The ship hasn't even moved on Shanghai yet." Tony crossed his arms. Sesshomaru didn't appear to be fazed, but Clint caught something soften in his facial features.

"Barton, it is sufficent to simply witness this unfold." Sesshomaru spaced his words evenly and his voice soothed over everyone in the room.

Until Jarvis.

"Ah, sir, the vessel, tentatively labeled 'The Aethon' as begun to move with a trajectory consistent with Shanghai." Jarvis announced and Clint threw his arms up and pointed at the TV. This was the beginning of the invasion, and they weren't prepared at all. Failure streaked across his mind, and the one person he would rather chew glass than talk to was the forefront to call to salvage the situation.

"Fine, then I'm going to have to call this in to Fury. If that ship decides to fire on that city, it could cost thousands or millions of lives." Clint then just remembered about his phone being tapped. "Fancy Pants at least pass me your phone." Though Clint phrased it like a plea, it was more a call of sanity. Sesshomaru made no move to do so, and Clint's blood pressure spiked.

Apparently their jaunt through his mother's skull tomb didn't give him phone rights.

"If you tell Fury we know about the ship now, and one of his little spies is there with him, it will tip Thanos' hand that we can sense him coming. Our singular advantage we have, poof, up in smoke. The ship will enter the exosphere any moment and soon be visible to all military. Just wait for then. Do you really want to blow all my hard work, our entire planet's best defense out of the water on a hunch?" Tony's voice grated and squared up to Clint. Clint bristled back. The fucking nerve of this guy! 'my hard work' my ass! Everyone here has worked hard and sacrificed a lot and sometimes brilliantly tailored plans go to shit and you just have to sit and bare it.

Clint bit back the barbed words itching to fling themselves from his mouth. Well. Almost all of them.

"Glad to know you view preserving your hard work first, and safety of the world is second. Clearly now I know where you stand. We don't know what kind of weapons that ship has! Maybe it can fire long range and send Shanghai back to the feudal era…ugh…sorry no offense Fancy Pants, before anyone in the Pacific can scramble anything. The nearest Helicarrier is near Hong Kong and if we tell them now maybe they can make it in time. This isn't only just countless nameless people to you Tony, this is Nat and Cap. This is Loki." Clint turned from Tony and Bruce to look at Sesshomaru. "This is about Jaken too, can he really handle himself in battle? He is afraid of Tony's bathtub!" Clint hammered home his point. It was then Sesshomaru slowly turned towards the room, his sharp, slicing eyes flickered from Clint, to Tony, to Bruce. Clint almost took a step back, as if he was needled between the eyes.

"For all your collected strength and intelligence, you both would argue with the other over a bone." Sesshomaru nearly growled out. He was on a short fuse today.

"Hey, being stubborn has gotten me to where I am today." Tony remarked with his usual grating snark and Clint's arms got goosebumps from the temperature drop caused by Sesshomaru.

Bruce made a 'maybe they have a point' gesture to both Clint and Tony.

"I really don't want to butt in, but something tells me that if it was a trap, they would want to capture Loki first then…open fire. That may give us some time…maybe." The words got caught up in Bruce's throat quietly and Clint cursed.

He couldn't let them get Loki again. It was an entire battleship against just them and whatever the Chinese could scramble which wasn't much at a literal moment's notice.

"Sesshomaru…" Clint exasperated gestured to the Demon who could eviscerate him with his hangnail. Sesshomaru vowed to not let him get captured again. Didn't he get how important this was?

Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles and green toxin seeped from his nailbeds.

"I shall take a closer look on what is transpiring and assist Loki, though I doubt he will truly need it, Barton." Sesshomaru's voice had that weird chill to it that put Clint on edge. Clint sometimes forgot that he was something completely different from either human or Aesir. The way Fancy Pants could direct his words would make long dormant alarm bells ring in his ears similar to when he was on an Op and it was about to be blown sideways.

But he would weather Fancy Pants' wrath if it saved thousands of people. If it could help Loki defeat a foe he probably didn't even know was about to beat down their door.

"I almost wish I went with them, it probably would have been less stress all around." Bruce simply sighed. Ugh, thanks big guy.

"I trust you Sailor Moon, but I'm not carrying you anywhere when you're wearing your boa because I've officially run out of lint rollers…So, don't pass out again." Tony continued with a question, his voice forced into a neutral tone. Clint could tell Tony was concerned and pissed at the same time. Clint knew Sesshomaru had a point though. There was no way they were ready for a war if they couldn't get over their differences.

But Clint wasn't about to back down on something as important as this. Sesshomaru didn't understand the scepter and what it could do. Loki would definitely need his help.

"This Sesshomaru is no drawn, yellow haired girl." Sesshomaru cut back, Clint could have sworn in a playful way. Tony looked shocked, then frowned petulantly the only way Tony could make half intelligent.

---

"You're clearly distracted." Loki grumbled glancing away from Clint moodily. Shit. Clint propped himself up and reached out to anchor Loki with a touch. Loki just looked at Clint's hand as if he couldn't decide whether he wanted to bite it or flinch away from it.

"It's not…. Crap it's not personal. There is just a lot, and I mean a lot, going on and…" Clint paused, mouth a bit dry. Actually, he didn't really know why he was feeling like a ball of static electricity. He just was really on edge. He could usually easily decompress after a bad battle, or hell even after the first battle of New York. He couldn't right now though, and nothing even terrible happened.

Just what was wrong with him? Man, Clint pull yourself together.

He still hadn't told Loki he could see those spirits too. That he was some sort of magic user too. He didn't think that Loki would care… really.

So, he really shouldn't be hesitant to tell him. Right? That couldn't be what was really eating at him. It had to be something else.

"What? You're calling this off then?" Loki pulled back, eyes intense and so much sharper and closed off than before. Clint focused on Loki's furrowed dark eyebrows. It was if just then someone had put his face into high contrast, the color had also drained from his face and he looked almost like a mannequin. Clint then figured out what he meant.

"Huh? No. Damnit, stop always jumping to conclusions. You are a category one catastrophic thinker. Look, I found something out when I went with Fancy Pants to his mother's freaky tomb… spirit castle thing." Clint said exasperated. He was really doing a bad job at this wasn't he? He wasn't even sure if this is what was bothering him.

He studied Loki for a bit, he wasn't hurt anymore, he was fine, more than fine. Loki not only survived the battle but was the only reason Nat and Cap did. God he owed so much to Loki, so many people did. Well, obviously Nat, Cap, and even little green Jaken ended up saving the damn day. Who knew Jaken had it in him?!

Poor Little Green was now stuck helping Tony contain the scepter in substorage room 3-b which was now being converted into a swirly youki room Bruce named the 'Rave room'. Clint was fairly certain that Bruce had no idea what a rave was. Though the rogue thought of a Hulk in a rave did crack a small smirk.

Though Loki, Steve, Bruce, and Natasha got angry Sesshomaru wouldn't destroy the scepter, Clint was the only one who knew that Sesshomaru couldn't because he couldn't destroy the Others' magic. He saw the way Sesshomaru flinched and grit his fangs because of that freaky carving on his arm.

Tony just seemed glad to have him back, and his carpet stain-free.

But if Sesshomaru would rather have half the Avengers pissed at him and keep his pride, he wouldn't tell Loki why Sesshomaru turned his back on the scepter, leaving it with Jaken.

"Well?" Loki really sounded irritated. But, as powerful as Loki was, it was still a really close call. Clint suddenly saw the deathly white figure, and the blood covered spear glinting off the rising sun.

"You know, forget it. It doesn't even really matter. What you did, though, was incredible. I had no idea how powerful you could be. And I'm not just talking about your shields, but you healed Cap and Nat. They told us about the poison gas." Clint complimented sincerely, and he noticed Loki positively beam.

"As I said before when we were wearing much less attire, flattery will get you nowhere. What you spoke of earlier most certainly matters to me. What did you find out? Did you find out anything of importance that could help us?" Loki probed, sort of uncharacteristically. It was like his eyes were backlit with green magic, showing off flecks of blue in his eyes.

"Not…really." He was not about to go into the whole 'where are the Demons now' thing. That was up for Fancy Pants to divulge. "I…uh…could see her. You know. His mom's spirit. Tony and I both could see that little white-haired demon spirit skewer you on TV. I can't wait to put one " Clint explained gathering momentum.

"How? How could you have seen them? Stark can only because he has started the mating process with Sho…but you?" Loki studied him, expression doing a complete 180.

Mating process? Did he miss something, again?

Never mind their drama, Clint so didn't need Loki acting overprotective and concerned over him when Clint himself had spent the better part of the day with his stomach percolating a nice fine ulcer over what was happening to Loki.

An image of Loki, holding his dagger to his throat and slicing it thick and deep across his neck. Eyes set, mouth hard. Loki nearly severed his jugular vein without even batting an eyelash. He wished he could chalk that up to Loki just knowing his limits, but he knew that sure motion meant one thing.

He had seen it before with Pietro, when Pietro gathered the weights they had for lifting, fitted them to a belt and stepped out into West Okoboji Lake, one sure step at a time.

Of course, from the distance Clint was watching, and the amount of alcohol that Pietro supplied him with, he had no idea Pietro had on weights. Clint thought he was just off to do some stupid stunt, like skinny dipping.

He knew, vaguely, that Pietro had never really learned to swim, but they had just had a fantastic night, watching Rounders and other stupid gambling movies. While sharing a couple bottles of tequila, Pietro admitted he wished he had Matt Damon's skill and luck. That the gambles he took would have eventually paid off.

That he could just as slick and smooth as quicksilver.

At the time, Clint thought he just meant joining the circus, it was a big gamble for him too. Everyday was difficult, it wasn't easy work. How could Clint have known that he meant the high stakes dice and poker games he spent most of his salary on to pay the coyotes back who smuggled, Vildan, Wanda, and Pietro himself into the country?

Easy, he could have wised up and watched, started really looking. But, it was cock-sure Pietro. Who always had an answer for everything, who always landed quick on his feet. He was never in over his head.

Until West Okoboji Lake was.

Clint remembered diving and diving and diving. He was not a great swimmer either and fuck was that water icy, black as pitch and he was still stupid drunk. Clint knew Pietro did that on purpose, if he was sober he may have made it.

He didn't see Pietro until everyone else saw emergency services haul his white, bloated body out of the lake.

He was too damn pale, just like how Loki could get.

Clint bit back a yell when he thought the same about Loki and the dagger to his throat. He would land on his feet. It wasn't just some stupid stunt like the snake-thing right?

"Sesshomaru said I am a priest. I first noticed something was off when I burned Colson with some purple light when you were a giant black cobra." Clint started finally, getting back on track. He didn't want to think of Pietro right now.

"Mamba." Loki automatically corrected. "Wait, you burned Coulson? I wish I was more cognizant to fully appreciate that. Did you burn him for me?" Something in Loki almost looked like it fractured open.

"Yeah, he was going to shoot you and I didn't have the leverage to stop him and all I remember was wishing that I wasn't just some…guy with a bow. That I had some special power within me too…and it just happened. It wasn't that cool, trust me. In trying to save your scaly ass I would have shot Sesshomaru in the head if Tony didn't grab Tenseiga. The magic itself was hardly a cigarette burn." Clint regretted saying anything, this was certainly going to go to Loki's head.

Loki, though, instead, appeared shell-shocked. Instead of a cock-sure grin of Clint defending him, his eyes looked through him, far away and almost a touch frightened. Clint didn't get it.

"You are far from just some mortal with a bow Clint. Even without your new found ability. Don't underestimate your strength, you'd do everyone a disservice if you continue to do so." Loki scoffed, running a finger down his chest to right where his tattoo was.

"Whatever. Fancy Pants said that you could train me, I can shoot purple, glowy magic arrows too. Guess it makes sense with me wearing purple all the time. The protection spell you put on me, without my permission mind you, awoke the power. I burned Fancy Pants' mom pretty bad, but she deserved it." Clint grinned a bit and Loki barked a dark laugh.

"I never met her, but by all accounts, I'd say you are correct in harming her. Funny, I had thought all the priests and priestesses of Midgard had been wiped out long ago, when the Demons vanished." Loki said and Clint stilled, hoping Loki wouldn't catch on that he knew what had happened to all of them.

Clint could only imagine just how pissed Loki would be at his old man when Fancy Pants finally got around to telling him. He knew it was important to Loki, but that wasn't his story to tell. He knew when something was deep and personal, and that was Loki and Fancy Pants to a T.

"If you're looking for me to train you, I can't, at least not well. Pure arcane magic is something I have never studied. Not even Frigga's magic is that pure, it's something only mortals can possess. I can try to assist you controlling it, but…. Wait." Loki then immediately vanished in what Clint had to assume was space time, because why not.

'He really. Really. Has to stop doing that. He better have not gone to Asgard and like kidnapped his own mom. I swear I should have never…' Clint grumbled and sat up when Loki reappeared with a golden bow. It gleamed in the light like gold at least, but Clint knew it couldn't possibly be solid gold. It'd make for a terrible bow.

"This is Ichaival, Odin's bow. He rarely used it. It was a special gift from the land of Ydalir and this may help focus your purification magic. I cannot guarantee anything, I could never make the bow work for me…at least I don't think I could. Maybe, it will serve you well." Loki held out the bow and Clint took it expecting it to be heavy, but instead it was surprising light. It also warmed his hand, like it had its own internal heat source.

But aside from having the same effect the grips on his Honda motorcycle had when he turned on the heat in winter, he didn't feel anything special. And he didn't want to shoot anything. And he didn't want Loki to teach him or solve his problems with more freaky magic.

It wasn't that he was anti-magic, or against using any advantage he got against these murderous aliens, he just wanted to do it on his own terms, by his own two hands with his own strength. At least, he deserved it to himself to give it his all on his own before resorting to what felt dangerously close to cheating.

Which was funny in its own way. Cheating against an enemy which could literally blow up their planet? Clint knew he should be scrabbling at any advantage they could have, hell he asked Fancy Pants for his help. He was being hypocritical. He got it.

"… I appreciate the gesture, but I want to try to do it without a magic bow. The ones I'm used to would make more sense to use." Clint pushed the bow back, whose name he didn't bother to remember.

Oh God. Please tell me it's not like, a real person like Bakusaiga or Tenseiga.

"No offense, uh… Val." The last syllable was 'val' right?

"Are you afraid Clint? Are you hesitant to know just how strong you are, or can be?" Loki challenged and damn, Clint really should have seen it coming. Clint's face flushed.

"No. That's not it. I want to do it my way, on my own terms. I don't want help from magic bows or other things I don't need and understand less." Clint said resolutely. Loki quirked a dark eyebrow.

"That sounded like something Sho would say, perhaps less articulately….so it's simply that you don't trust me." Loki expression soured as he continued and Clint flopped back onto the bed.

He just had to have this conversation shirtless didn't he?

"Yeah, Loki. That's it. I don't trust you. I would let just any dude tie me up with magic and fuck me. No, I'll do you one better. I'll let you, the guy who I used to hate more than malaria diseased mosquitoes into my life, tell him some of my deepest secrets from my past, but totally not trust him at the same time. It's. Not. About. You. I went from run-of-the-mill special agent to… purple magic priest, which either sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon or a pedophile, in a matter of days. Our planet is either going to get invaded or blown to hell, you almost lost your goddamn mind again to the scepter which of course is just floors away from us. Not to mention the only thing keeping us in the loop on when we can expect doomsday to happen is a youki barrier which doesn't do us much good if the ships all have shields that only two Avengers can disable. So yeah. Me wanting to try to control this new ability of mine…me wanting to control this one thing on my own, is totally about you." Clint released a ball of tension he had apparently been holding between his shoulder blades.

Loki leaned back a bit, assessing him silently. Clint couldn't keep his brain on track. His mind kept wheeling around and looping like one of Tony's satellite careening through orbit.

---

"Annnnd great. He's passed out again, and Backstreet Boy is all radioactive. Thanks 'Jumpy' for that one. Now his…stripes are all black and his eyes are rolled back in his head and I swear if he ralphs all over this white rug Pep picked out its coming out of your paycheck, not Agent's." Tony was legitimately pissed; he just hid it well under his humor, and one armored hand which was trying to keep Bakusaiga's green aura at bay. It didn't take a genius to figure out Tony, while trying to prop Sesshomaru up on the sofa, was probably plotting the thousand different he could get him back for sending Fancy Pants into another fit.

Clint didn't care if it helped Loki not succumb to the scepter, and to alert everyone of the presence of the spaceship. Sesshomaru always bounced back, it's what he did. he probably just got lightheaded and will come to any second now.

"Yeah, well, I might not get another paycheck if we don't save the day." Clint sighed.

"Oh, if we don't save your paycheck, you'll be damned sure I'll avenge part of it for this carpet…shoo!" Tony kicked at one of the roombas, (maybe the Kane Roomba?) who wasn't anywhere close to him. He really hoped whatever thing Sesshomaru's crackpot mom gave him actually worked and wasn't some ruse. He had to make sure Loki didn't lose his mind again, get captured or both. Clint cursed at himself, he sounded like a love novel.

"Oh yeah, it's the carpet you're worried about. Don't you think you should admit and focus on what really matters?" Clint clipped back, knowing it was a low blow because it was obvious to everyone that Tony was just barely masking his real concern for Fancy Pants and the rest in China but he was so done with Tony's nonchalant attitude.

"Lord Sesshomaru's pulse is faint and low, but steady sir. His brain activity however has all but ceased. He is in a comatose state" Jarvis sounded out and Tony didn't have a quip for that. Clint's guilt also ate at him because Munchkin had hunkered next to Sesshomaru on the sofa, eyes all soft and big. Tony cursed something under his breath as he brushed some hair out of his face with a quick flick of the back of his fingers.

If Fancy Pants were mentally there he probably would have tried to break one of those fingers. But he wasn't. He remained unconscious and propped up on the sofa because Tony wouldn't let them lay him down. His markings were still black and all swirly, even his eyelids, made his skin so pale by contrast it looked almost translucent. His breath came out the barest of ragged puffs.

"Let me know if his vitals change, J. We got bigger fish to fry it seems." Tony meant to sound furious, but he sounded weary. An unexpected wash of guilt doused Clint's stomach. Maybe he had laid it on a little thick.

"Clint, I get where you're coming from. I do, but you provoking Tony is not helping my stress levels." Bruce scratched his head, grimacing trying to get it together. Clint felt like shit but there was nothing they could do about it now.

"Yeah, yeah, lecture me later. I'm sure Fancy Pants will come around soon, his mom gave him a special necklace to go on the Astral…something and Bakusaiga isn't losing it anymore, she's calmed down. Tenseiga too. He'd definitely be freaking out if he was in any real danger, he can get real protective." Clint reassured, looking at the Bakusaiga and Tenseiga, remembering their Demon forms, still processing how such a thing could be possible. He liked them though.

Bruce and Tony exchanged a long look.

"She huh? You spoke to his mother? How? You both told me it was her tomb." Tony circled back on Clint like a shark. He could smell when something didn't add up.

"I can see them too. The spirits. It's a long story and I wish i didn't have to deal with it...and look there is more important things happening right now than a really dysfunctional family reunion." Clint blurted out, trying to ease Tony down off the storm he was riding.

"...Fine Long Island Medium, pray tell, why did you lose your shit like a black Friday shopper in the Walmart electronics section? It couldn't just be about Horns getting snatched, he is pretty good at evasion as we have all figured out." Tony's voice had dipped low and threatening, as if it wasn't a convincing story he would grab a guillotine.

"Remember 'Crabocalypse' and that failed scry where Fancy Pants saw his death? Well I saw what he saw. Turns out he saw us all get slaughtered like cattle in Shanghai, and not by the Aliens, but by Thor and Loki. In the scry, some blue skinned alien woman, like something out of a gritty avatar reboot, had the scepter and mind-controlled Loki and Thor to kill us one by one. What's worse is no one bothered to tell Fancy Pants about the scepter until I did today, he just thought Loki and Thor decided to play for the other team. Also, in the scry, a battleship was above Shanghai and the whole city was in ruins." Clint jutted his chin out with a gloomy grin in a 'yeah I had a damn good reason' expression.

"Oh, yeah that would do it." Bruce amended, Tony just watched Sesshomaru slumped on the sofa, Tony had made sure his precious hair didn't touch the floor lest a rogue Jonathan Toews #19 Roomba would run over it.

Clint thought it was a bit funny Tony fussed over the prissy Demon Lord so much when a spaceship could blow them all to kingdom come.

"Anything else from family reunion time you care to share with the rest of the class?" Tony egged on.

"Well his textbook-narcissist mother would give you a run for your money Tony. It's miraculous Fancy Pants came out this well-adjusted. She said basically there was no way he was surviving this invasion and that we should expect failure. Not only that, she said that Thanos has been here before, and that Sesshomaru lost the war against him five hundred years ago." Clint collapsed down onto the sofa next to Rin. Rin turned to him, tilting her head at Clint. He had forgotten she was still holding the daffodils Sesshomaru picked for her.

"Thanos was here before? And Sesshomaru lost to him? That's impossible because he's on my sofa. Wait. Time travel, Loki must have made two different branches in time." Tony paused and Clint could smell the smoke coming from Tony's burning brain. Clint nodded.

"Yeah, and she let him have it for losing the war too. She blamed it all on way Maleficent explained it, is that our timeline is the time Thanos came here looking for a cosmic gem and to enslave all of the Demons to be his army. When Thanos won the war, Fancy Pants' mom and Odin managed to seal away all the Demons somewhere, and I guess erase their whole existence. With nothing to win, Thanos moved on. The whole time she was having a conniption fit trying to convince him to leave us for dead, and go find wherever Odin hid the Demons and then rule them. I honestly probably should have just waited in the Quinjet." Clint began to feel the dull thrum of a migraine prickle behind his eye sockets.

"Lord Sesshomaru's mother must be really worried. Jaken told me Lord Sesshomaru's mother never reveals her true feelings." Rin frowned and Clint laughed a bit.

"Oh yeah. Real worried. First thing she does is thanking him for bringing her dinner, meaning me, then she tears into him for liking humans, which made Tenseiga go off. Fancy Pants didn't seem to care what his mother had to say. He cared more about the Meido Stone or whatever it's called, being missing." Clint admitted, noticing Tony remained seeped in anger, eyes not leaving Sesshomaru.

Clint noticed Bruce gave him a suspicious look, but didn't say anything.

"Ah! The Meido Stone is very powerful! It's what brought me back to life when Lord Sesshomaru's mother summoned a demon that sent Kohaku and I to the underworld! Jaken told me I died there." Rin informed and everyone turned to her surprised except Tony who took another swig of his drink. His mother killed Rin with a Demon from the Underworld? Just what in the hell? Like, literal hell? She was officially more terrifying than Nat.

"Yeah Jaken gave me the quick and dirty on Sailor Moon's mom." Tony slurred. "She has the maternal instincts of a XM25 grenade launcher." Tony turned away, hopefully to throw his almost spent bottle of scotch down the drain.

"That's one way of putting it. The Meido Stone is apparently one half of the cosmic gem which makes it even more of a headache." Clint leaned back, staring at the ceiling wondering just when things had gotten so complicated.

"Definitely sounds like A + parenting…wait the ship should be entering the atmosphere now….oh man these guys are good. They entered the atmosphere right above Shanghai." Tony brought up hacked video feed from who knows what camera. It wasn't even dawn quite yet but it already looked like it due to the slow moving fireball lurching across the night sky.

"Sir, Director Fury is currently coming up the elevator, he was granted permission by Miss Potts on the grounds he came alone, unarmed, and she and Happy have apparently held one of his own drivers hostage as some sort of collateral." Jarvis sounded. Clint stood and immediately assumed a tactical position behind Tony's minibar. He wasn't afraid of Fury damnit. No. He just didn't want Fury to know he was there.

Pause.

"Good thinking Pepper. Fine. Let him up. If he takes one step out of line I'll leave him to you Jarvis. One. Step. And he better have one fu-" Tony paused looking at Munchin. "fun olive branch…No, olive tree. No, all of Greece, to give me." Tony stole a glance to Fancy Pants and back to Munchin.

"Yeah, Fancy Pants is not going to be happy Fury is going to see him sleeping on the job." Clint scrunched his face. Wait…if Fancy Pants was on the sofa…well….he was literally hiding for nothing if he didn't want Fury to know they survived the crash.

"I have to commend Fury's impeccable timing. I don't think Sesshomaru over here would let him walk out of here…maybe not even the other guy would. I think I'll go on the roof to get some air." Bruce tugged at the collar on his shirt, skin clammy. Both Clint and Tony nodded like bobbleheads.

"Stark, I cannot tell you much I want to take a hot, steaming—" Fury came storming in, obviously completely forgetting what had taken place the last time he had been here.

"Language! Child present, and one I more than tolerate I might add. Oh, and Legolas is behind the mini bar, after going as Cap's date to the Yankees game he really caught that 'language' bug too. Play nice." Tony interjected. Rin smiled and waved.

Clint stood up from behind the mini bar as slowly as possible, face red as Stark's suit. He really, really hated that arrogant jackass sometimes.

"Hello Fury! Lord Sesshomaru can't talk because he is scrying master Jaken who is away helping uncle Loki on a treasure quest. Would you like a flower? You look grumpy, like when Uncle Inuyasha doesn't want to ask Lord Sesshomaru for help but has to." Rin hopped up and held out a daffodil to fury, beaming her bubbly smile.

Fury eyed Tony then Clint, then carefully took the flower stem in his hand, eye never leaving Clint.

"Thank you. Well, at least one thing has gone right today. I haven't gotten any god-darn intel from that crash, though Romanoff did sound a bit too composed on the phone with me to think anything seriously did happen to you." Fury spoke directly to Clint and to Clint's surprise, his tone actually lifted. Was it just because Rin was in the room, or did Fury really care that he was alright?

"No thanks to SHIELD. The rogue element in SHIELD planted the bomb on the Quinjet, it was only because of Sesshomaru I—" Clint was immediately interrupted from his rant.

"Yes, I know. I sent my people along with Coulson and Hill to round up the sweeper team in Iowa for interrogation. The real question is why you were going to the Salt Flats in the first place. It sure as hell wasn't just to race Ducatis, I was born on a Tuesday, but not last Tuesday. And please tell me why we picked up Thor's presence going across the Atlantic, and a faint blip of Loki's magic in Shanghai before our magic detectors went offline due to your stunt, Stark!" Fury's body had tensed up so much it was probably harder than Tony's suit.

"You want the short version or the long version?" Clint asked, migraine growing.

"The quickest and correct version you can give me so we can figure out a strategy for holding off the enemy space craft!" Fury sounded justifiably angry.

"Well, Fancy Pants and I got intel that the rogue element in SHIELD is conducting 'Operation Ultron'. Their plan was to eliminate me and Dr. Selvig, but more importantly to break into the SHIELD bunker in Shanghai, steal the scepter from SHIELD, and give it to…well whoever is piloting the Aethon." Clint reported, falling back uneasily into the rhythm he used to use with him when he was a SHIELD agent.

Whoa. Was. Was a SHIELD agent.

"Patches O'hoolihan, your spies are working directly with Thanos to give him the weapon that almost succeeded with in an invasion last time, and you've done nothing about this. In fact, the last time you graced us with your presence, you shot up my tower and tried to have Sesshomaru imprisoned. We had to send crazy eyes, with Capsicle, Natasha, and a gremlin to go stop your spies from dooming human existence. So, you better have a good way to help us, because I am sure as hell-lo— kitty not helping you." Tony's voice blazed through the room as the Aethon came out of its smoldering smoke cloud to hover above the atmosphere.

"I'm with Tony on this one, which is new for me to say. Things have changed and now we have to run point. SHIELD may have started the Avengers initiative, but now SHIELD has to answer to it." Clint crossed his arms.

"Run point for now. We've already scrambled the f-22s from the helicarrier in Hong Kong when we first got a read on it. They will be there in just under twenty-two minutes to assist China. We don't know how much effect they will have because we can't shoot it down on top of the city, and no, before you ask, the council has no authority to nuke the son of a bit-coin." Fury eyed the yellow flower in his hand. "This is unprecedented. The IFO we acquired recently is a toy in comparison to this thing. That ship could potentially raze Shanghai, a city with more than two time the population of New York, in a matter of minutes." Fury pursed his lips eye coming off of Rin, and we all looked towards the screen. Man, if Steve were here, he would be patting everyone on the back for adhering to his language pact.

"Don't worry! Uncle Loki and Jaken will stop them." Rin said simply while twirling a daffodil. She began to hum a song.

"I hope so, he doesn't have the best track record with defending Earth but now we will see if he changed his tune." Fury almost cracked a smile at Rin. Clint's blood immediately started to simmer but before he could get in anything to rebuttal Fury, Rin responded.

"Uncle Loki thinks of my Lord as his brother. He won't let him down. He likes it here, and Jaken can be strong too, even though he is annoying." Munchin was practically beaming. It reminded Clint of when he doubted Loki earlier, how Rin was one of the only people who really believed in him. It warmed Clint enough to clear his throat.

"I agree. If anyone can stop the Aethon it would be Loki. And effective immediately, Fury, I resign as a SHIELD agent. Considering what has happened though, it would surprise me if there was a SHIELD left after we root out the traitors." Clint double downed and stared unwavering into Fury's dark eye. Fury stilled, apparently processing the information.

"I'm personally not so sure about little green, but statistically speaking, Avengers with green skin haven't disappointed. Oh and, good call bullseye, SHIELD is a sinking ship. Current affairs actually accentuate this." Tony chimed in, which Clint definitely didn't need. It was sort of true, but he really didn't need Tony backing him up. It really irrationally irked him that he somehow Tony thought he needed to cosign on everything, but he wasn't going to say anything.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised, you can turn in you—" Fury started but stopped when Rin bounced up from the sofa.

"Uncle Loki is on TV!" Rin pointed. Of course, the eight-year-old noticed before anyone else did.

Clint locked on to a frantic looking man, long, tangled hair whipping in the wind. Clint didn't say a word as he tried to catalog any injuries he may have sustained. He was standing straight enough, he wasn't too pale, at least he didn't think so. Loki promised him that he wouldn't allow Earth to go up against Thanos alone, but it was then it finally dawned on Clint that he had never promised the same to Loki in return.

"He's alone against it. Fuck, he's all alone out there….and there isn't a damn thing we can do." Clint's voice came out more dark and brittle than he thought it would.

His fist was clinched and his shoulders rigid. Loki promised him he would never abandon them, but this sure as hell looked like that they sent him out as a fox for the hounds. Clint stole a look to Sesshomaru who was still passed out. Tony was studying the Demon intently though he put up a huge front that he wasn't.

---

"I've had enough of you staring into the sheets of this bed. They aren't even that high of a thread count. Hogunn could pick out a better set and he sleeps in what mortals call hemp!" Loki's teeth were clenched and Clint made a face.

"No, you aren't allowed to ask me how I know what sheets Hogunn has on his bed. Who…no. What? Give me something! I am the God of Lies, not a mind reader, Clint. I cannot fix something if I don't know what the problem is." Loki was shaking. Clint ran a hand through his hair, he didn't usually space out like this, he didn't usually well, do any of this.

"Loki I'm not something you can fix. I've just had a roller coaster, no, worse than a roller coaster of a day. I've talked to a Demon Spirit, got bombed out of a plane, got turned into light, got flown to Stark tower, resigned as a SHIELD agent, watched you get almost killed on some shitty cctvs by another Demon Spirit, and found out I can use magic. I can't get drunk because that's Tony's thing…I need to get laid. Yeah. I want you, now." Clint sputtered out. Did he really just say that? Yes. He did and he meant it.

"I was nowhere close to death. I would know." Loki sighed deeply and put the bow on the bed. He didn't say anything else, and well, didn't look enthused either. How could he seem so put out? He was just about to jump his bones! What was this?

Loki's pale hand slid over his own fisted one. The magic in Loki's skin tingled his hand and warmed it right up.

"You seem a little too tense, Clint. Maybe you need to get away…I have just the place." Loki smiled and magic now sparked in Clint's hand. Clint opened his mouth to say something but he caught the blue flecks in Loki's eyes light up from his magic. They weren't even considered fully green any longer, but a good part of Loki's signature green eyes now had that petrifying pool blue color.

"Lo—" His voice trailed off as space itself spun around him and maybe for the second time that day he had gone flying. The tall tell scent of pine darted into his nose as he inhaled sharply. He was annoyed Loki hadn't even thought of asking him first, but before he could tell him off he was sitting on a…very soft silky bed. It was green and black, this had to be one of Loki's hidden places.

"Did you just take me through a magic portal to your sex dungeon?" Clint looked around casually, trying not to get his SHIELD scanning training up and running.

Clint spotted old, beaten books, massive scrolls, a whole lot of rocks and crystals, the spear he saw Loki use against Fancy pants. All of it was tucked away cozily in little compartments, carved wooden boxes, or heavy, tall lacquered shelves. A sort of fantastical warmth radiated from the room, but it didn't necessarily feel lived in. Lanterns and sconces lit the room with a soft glow and in the corner of the room sat a massive treasure chest, just like one you'd imagine as a kid belonging on some pirate ship.

"No, I teleported you. I cannot create portals." Loki grinned with all his teeth and Clint just rolled his eyes.

"Ha. So, what's in the treasure chest, Captain Strapon? Big collection of dildos? Whips? Hulk sex-doll?" Clint hoped he didn't sound as nervous as he was. He hoped Loki would be open to taking things a little slowly. Clint still was white knuckling Loki's sheets. He got up hoping a little sort of innocent exploration would ease his mind. He jokingly went to the large chest to open the lid and Loki dropped the bow and reached out and stopped him

"Don't open it." Loki simply replied and Clint studied him. Hard. Loki was the God of Lies and while he had been trained by SHIELD to suss out lies, he was not as good as Nat. What was he hiding?

"Whoa, ok, I mean can I at least get a hint?" Clint evened his tone reassuringly. He knew Loki was secretive, but why bring him here if there was something so obviously tempting that he didn't want Clint to see?

"It houses something very important to me. It was given to me and then stolen from me. I finally managed to reclaim it. It is immensely powerful, hence why it is in such a robust container." Loki licked his lips, looking Clint directly in his eyes and he could still see the blue in them.

Clint instantly got cuticle-picking irritated again. He couldn't place why he was so agitated so he just changed the subject.

"I can see the blue in your eyes now. The same blue that is the color of the scepter and the tesseract. Fancy Pants earlier said you almost succumbed to the scepter, that he had to get Jaken to snap you out of it. You know he scryed that you were under control of the scepter, and you managed to break free right as Thor killed us all." Clint didn't know where he was going with this ramble, and he could tell Loki was antsy about it too. His fingers twitched.

"lease. We have an invading armada on our doorstep and you worry about my eye color. I'm fine, and worry even less about Sho's scrying. He scryed one possible future out of many. One that cannot even come to fruition now! It is not an accurate art for even master scholars like Frigga, and Sho knows next to nothing about magic." Loki huffed, sounding put out which only made Clint's throat itch in anger.

"Don't worry? My eyes were all blue when I was under the scepter's control but mine went back to normal when I got knocked out of it. It looks like it has some sort of permanent touch on you. And you're the one who made a big deal out of Sesshomaru scrying the first time!" Clint backed up from Loki to cool down before he did something stupid.

"Clint what are you really this worked up about?" Loki's green magic smoked out of his fingers and his eyes glinted hard. They were both on edge about something and it was about to ignite into something shitty.

"You almost got completely turned by the scepter today and you don't care and won't talk about it. I watched you slice your own throat! That Demon spirit, Haka-flacka or whatever was harpooning you, for fun. Nat and I have seen tough shit, and we have laughed off the scrapes we've gotten into, but we never…ugh we have never not cared about our own lives and that's how you came across today. Like if you died, or got brainwashed again it wouldn't matter because big brother Thor is here, and so is Fancy Pants. You're not expendable, we all have an important part to play." Clint burst out. Apparently, that thought had been clawing around in the base of his skull for the better part of the day. Clint decided not to get all mushy gushy on him and tell him he was important or something else that would really hand him in some lovey-dovey stuff he swore to Nat he'd never become.

Yet Loki reacted in way to his rant that he did not anticipate.

Loki laughed. It came out in brittle, sharp barks.

"I don't need you reminding me of the part I have to play, Clint. I am most fully aware of the magnitude of responsibility that rests on me. In fact, I do believe that I may be the most aware of any living being on this wretched planet. You say you don't like being treated like a child, so don't do the same to me in my own home." Loki clenched his fist and Clint clenched his jaw. He wanted out. This wasn't what he had in mind when he got reunited with Loki. When he ended up teleported back in Stark Tower, panting, covered in blood and shaking. He just wanted them to relax together. He could help Loki patch himself up and maybe…he didn't know…have a nice dinner, and maybe some 'dessert'. Not this.

"You're twisting my words! What I said wasn't condescending at all, you were downplaying the amount of danger you and everyone else were in." Clint's voice was raised again by this point, he had backed up, giving him space between him and Loki as if he could leave a room on his own volition that he had been teleported into by some imaginary door. He didn't have to be here, he didn't have to be taken for this ride.

"Again, inaccurate! I was well aware the plan to obtain the scepter was borderline madness, but it was necessary madness. It is not the same as Sesshomaru being pointlessly reckless and lunging into an unnecessary situation and letting things play out for his own pride. I precisely calculated that if we could get the scepter, that whatever happened after would be of minimal risk. I would have teleported myself, Jaken and the two mortals out of harms way if I thought otherwise. The Mad Titan has no need destroying an economic city with no hierarchical leaders within it, and in no way would I have allowed myself to be captured by that wretched lot." Loki's magic around his fingers coiled green and his voice a steady low tone.

Clint…hadn't thought about that.

"So, you stayed to help the city because you wanted to protect the people?" Clint asked, and Loki laughed again.

"The Nines, you should know I'm not nearly that selfless. I wanted to make a stand, to show The Mad Titan what I am capable of. It worked, almost flawlessly. The city is unscathed, his Demon Spirit army showed vulnerabilities to my blood magic, and their ships' shields, for all the magic they have plundered from me, can easily be overridden by an almost extinct race." Loki chuckled and Clint laughed a little out of reflex probably more to himself than to Clint, he suspected. Clint rolled the new information around in his head.

"Plundered? The Other stole magic from you? You never did tell me what happened. Well. Not that you have to. I'm just saying." Clint could have really kicked himself just then. They had just gone and turned the mood around and just he just took them back down. He really was no good at this…whatever it was.

He stilled on the bed, not looking at Loki in the eyes but instead at his chest. Maybe Loki thought of himself like that chest. He had just got something back he lost.

Pause.

"When I let go of the Bifrost…" Loki started and Clint's stomach chilled and plunged into his throat.

Let go.

Loki…let go? He didn't fall? That meant…

Clint's brown eyes flashed wide and tried to find Loki's but Loki's were fixated on a magic crystal he was turning over and over in his hands. It was glowing like one of those geodes under a UV light. He grabbed Loki's knee, hoping that what he had done with trauma victims in the past would work well here.

Nate. Pietro.

"I wished to cease to be. I learned then to be careful what you wish for. The void I fell through… it muddled and flattened all my memories and emotions attributed to them into a hazy, opaque puddle. I no longer had any magic, much less the ability to discern faces, events, conversations from my past. It was as if all the different parts of my soul were blended together in an incomprehensible solution." Loki began, runes appearing in the air around them like smoke rings, and Clint had a hard time following but he just clenched Loki's knee tighter.

"That is when the Other found me in Sanctuary. He took me back to his battleship, The Relentless, and reconstructed me. He forged and molded my memories back for me, but at a very expensive cost." Loki clutched the crystal like a lifeline and runes began to appear, glowing on its surfice. Clint's throat swelled shut. He had helped trauma victims before this, but nothing hit him this raw.

"He solidified my memories again by glassing them over. He also as a result, created false ones, and eliminated others all together. I can't even remember how I got Ichaival, or some of these magic crystals I must have obtained with Sho, among many other events. My memories became hard and cold, distant, and jagged. He infected all of me with the amplified emotions of hatred, resentment, jealousy, and shame, because it what I last truly felt when I was in Asgard." Clint pursed his lips, he had no idea what to say, so he just listened as Loki's voice strained not to crack. He wanted to push all of this out of Loki's mind.

"Bit by bit I flaked apart…he said I needed to understand my previous life, my previous destiny, was moot. He used my own previous insecurities, jealousy, resentment and hatred towards Thor, Odin, Frigga, Asgard and even to an extent Sho as well against me." Loki paused, the crystal glow dimmed into a dark blue.

"He said no one had ever truly wanted me." Loki's runes that had weaved themselves in the air lost their form and vanished. Loki thickly swallowed.

"In my new mind Thor always wanted to see me in his shadow, keeping me there and mocking me. Odin used me solely as a pawn in his political games, a mere means to an end. You see, Asgard never allowed me to become one of them. I was always an outsider and loathed for my cunning and magic arts. Frigga merely pitied me, like one would a flea-bitten stray mongrel, and I viewed had Sho abandoned me when I needed him most, thinking me weak and fickle." Clint furrowed his eyebrows at that. He could see Odin doing those, especially after what he did to him with the Demons and all he learned from Fancy Pants' mom. But, he couldn't comprehend Thor, Frigga, or Fancy Pants treating Loki like that, or seeing him in that way.

He didn't want Loki to stop talking though. He wanted to at least try to be a good listener.

"The scepter, when it very nearly ensnared my mind again in the basement of that tower, comforted me, and filled me with zeal and drive. Like in a children's folk tale when a magic power or destiny is bestowed upon the main character, and suddenly they are filled with a grand purpose. It is easier to align with the thought that someone sees you as special, as worthy of something spectacular." Loki paused and Clint scoffed almost silently, despite the pit deepening in his stomach like an ice-pick. He just got some stupid new magic ability and he certainly felt no sudden epiphany of moral purpose. It would probably most likely be a damned curse.

But, that paled in comparison to what happened to Loki. The torture Loki endured seemed like something most people, well beings, couldn't make it through.

"It was obviously a lie, a lie the God of Lies believed once before. If the God of Lies, is a Lie himself, what is he really? Oh, I suppose it matters not. But know this Clint, I cannot go back to the person I used to be. He made me into a weapon, I am no longer really Loki. I'm a monster and even if his magic does lay dormant, it is due to his magic I have a mind at all." Loki leveled his green eyes at him, and the blue shards flashed to life when green magic vines snaked out from his sleeves. Clint swallowed but knew he didn't have any words to say. He couldn't refute it even if he wanted to because he didn't blame him. He thought the same when he was under the scepter's control.

"I won't be so careless with my life again, knowing what it cost me the first time. The price of turning the God of Lies into a lie himself." Loki's voice bottomed out into a gravelly terse whisper. The crystal he had clenched in his hand began to pulse in a steady rhythm of light.

"It is why Clint I must have my revenge. He stripped me of my identity. He manipulated me to breaking one of the scant few oaths I ever made without the absolute intent on breaking. He made me his puppet, and by proxy, you. And what makes it truly intolerable, absolutely disgraceful, is that he did it without being smarter than me. I am vastly more intelligent than the Other. He beat me when I was at my lowest, when I frankly wasn't even me. He even fell for my failed invasion plans three years ago! I will feel his warm, tacky blood between the pads of my fingers. I will watch his eyes glaze over in death's embrace." Loki practically hissed, the crystal glowing a hellish crimson.

Clint thought Loki was done and opened his mouth to hopefully say something reassuring.

But he wasn't.

"I will kill him for killing me." Loki's eyes lit up an electric green. The whites of his eyes even flashed black for the smallest of instances and weirdly enough, a lightness filled Clint's chest.

He wasn't sure with Loki if he was supposed to encourage his homicidal rages, but it was better than whatever sour, depressed gloom he had slumped into. It wasn't that Clint didn't think Loki well, had good reasons to feel the way he did, it was that he just had no idea how to help him through it. Or even if he could. Or how right Loki was.

"You aren't dead Loki." Clint challenged, a thin smile slicked across his rugged jaw. No way was this troublesome firecracker anything but alive.

"Don't you dare presume to…" Loki warned suddenly, focusing on Clint.

"You're literally here talking to me." Clint deadpanned.

"You know that is not what I meant. I am not Loki, and you will never know who I truly am." Loki countered sharply, exasperated. Clint brushed off feeling mildly insulted about the jab that he would never really know Loki.

"You definitely weren't you under the scepter's influence just like I wasn't me. However, now you must be like how you used to be otherwise would Thor tell the difference." Clint reasoned, rubbing circles on Loki's knee with his thumb. He didn't plan on being that clever to think about Thor.

Loki scoffed, waving a hand. "Please. Thor, notice something that wasn't mead or a battle? Thor never even really knew the real me before. He just liked to think he did. Why exactly the oaf wises to try now is utterly vexing." Clint nearly rolled his eyes. It seemed that Loki still didn't think the best of Thor, and most likely that wouldn't change soon but…

"Fancy Pants knew the real you; you guys were literally thick as thieves. If he thought you weren't really you, I seriously would doubt he would have done any of this. And don't say he doesn't notice things, he might even notice more details than Nat. He noticed when I wanted to do archery instead of…no, not saying that." Clint stopped himself from rambling when Loki jolted from his spot on the bed to dark in front of him, both hands on Clint's knees, crystal forgotten.

Loki then planted a large, hasty, pine flavored kiss on Clint's lips. Clint reflexively returned it and tangled his fingers in Loki's long hair. Clint liked that reaction. He liked that a whole hell of a lot.

"You're…more brilliant than you look." Loki was gleaming. Positively gleaming. He had the biggest, cheekiest, most shit-eating grin on his face.

"And you're way more of an asshole than you loo…no your assholeness is always on full display. And one day you are going to tell me the truth about what happened in Asgard with Rin and Nat. I don't believe for a second you used them." Clint really did manage to sound exactly as serious as he meant to with that jab. Loki, unfazed, pushed Clint gently back onto the bed and loomed over him, teeth white, existential crisis seemingly forgotten.

"Fine. I didn't use them. My true intentions were to spare them from harm, though it was not entirely a selfless act. My version of the story is certainly valid. It felt splendid to feel so vindicated against Odin. One day, I promise I will explain the whole sad, tedious tale, but for now, let's liven the mood." Loki sounded all mischief and mayhem. Clint licked his lips in anticipation.

"Oh, Mr 'I'm dead' is going to liven the mood?" Clint smirked, hoping his humor wasn't too soon or too callous.

"I will make you regret provoking God such as I, in my domain." A switch flipped, and just like that Clint was instantly aroused. He didn't really think it would happen, the mood was pretty much decimated when they had their stupid fight but Clint wanted nothing more than to wreck Loki for thinking that about himself.

"Geez, and just when I might forget you're over the top, you go say something awful like that." Clint aimed straight for Loki's pale neck and bit and sucked at it knowing it would result in a high gasp from the God who always thought he had the upper hand.

He gripped the soft black fabric of Loki's shirt and tried something he had only seen in really cheezy pornos, he tried to tear it off of him.

"And yet you've become so forceful..." And, well really what self-respecting SHIELD agent would he be if he couldn't tear some polyester/cotton blend, right? The ripping sound of the fabric set something off in Clint, and his cock instantly twitched to attention. Maybe it was wrong of him, but had never tried to rip the clothes off a woman before. Maybe he thought he thought it would frighten them? He didn't bother to analyze it, he was probably just as much an asshole as Loki was.

"You suck, Oh you suck….Fuck, I want you." His voice melted as he ran greedy hands over smooth, yet scar marked skin. He wondered absently if that Hakudoshi left any scars on Loki's back. Clint left harsh, sucking, biting kisses up and down the column of Loki's neck. He would shoot that white-haired fucker in between his eyes and turn him into magic purple sand for what he fucking did.

But he didn't really want to think about that guy right now. His mind was flooded with Loki, all cream skin, green eyes, lean legs, big cock.

"Clint, how do you want me?" Loki groaned out and Clint finally snapped a peak at Loki's bulging pants from under his torn long-sleeved shirt. He honestly wasn't sure what he wanted, but he did have a clue what he didn't want.

He knew Loki knew he didn't know, which is why he was going to try his best to surprise him.

"I want…" Loki swooped in for a sloppy, hot kiss. "I want to be in your lap. Yeah, I wanna ride you, hard." Clint wanted it, bad, but mentally winced. He didn't know how to fucking do that! Yeah, women had ridden him, and once or twice he had walked in a circus tent to seeing two guys do it, but he had never done it! He knew he should have done some research.

Now it was too late though. Loki was a mile and a half more stubborn than he was, for better or for worse and he would just have to…well, learn on the fly. Clint reached out and unbuttoned Loki's ludicrous leather pants and yanked them down to his knees. In a flash Loki had his sinful pants off his legs entirely and flipped their positions on the bed so that now Loki was laying back on it and Clint straddled him somewhat awkwardly, half on the edge of the bed, half off.

If Loki sensed his apprehension he hadn't said anything yet.

"Well, let's be on with it Clint. I told you I don't bite." Loki's eyes flashed green and Clint's shirt disappeared and reappeared hanging on a corner of a shelf. Clint then got on top of him in a rush.

"Lies. All lies, you get off on biting me." Clint grinned and went to undo his belt which then, of course, vanished and appeared again on an ancient looking chair.

"I can hardly be blamed for the sensations you cause me. If I can repay you half of the euphoria you bestow upon me, I'll be most pleased." Loki's carnivorous smirk didn't match his word choice. Clint knew even though he was going to be on top, it was Loki who was really still in control.

Clint was….pretty ok with that. He was never a massive control freak to begin with, at least he didn't thi—Clint's thoughts were slashed short by Loki grabbing his hands by his cool hands and drew him towards him.

The predatory hunger in Loki's eyes almost caused Clint to pause. Only Loki ever looked at him like this. Like he was constantly on his toes from a jaguar prowling the jungle.

"You haunt me, taunt me, and cause me much more grief than I really deserve." Clint growled out as Loki cupped his balls. On the floor vines of leaves began to curl out of Loki's ankles. Clint's balls were already firm when Loki began to roll them in his hand and ring his dick at the base.

"Oh, and what do you dese—" Clint cut Loki off with a dominating kiss. He worked his tongue deep into his mouth and had to work himself fully onto the bed and straddling Loki to do it. He barely even registered he had. Loki fought back up against him and Clint eventually rocked back up.

The taunting, blunt end of Loki's cock right between his balls and his asshole fired him up. Loki already felt hot and wet.

"I deserve to torment you." Clint grinned down. No more words were had as Loki conjured another vial in his hand and ran his hands under Clint's hamstrings, his hair prickling from the magic and anticipation. Clint opened his eyes, not even realizing he closed them, and really looked down at Loki. He wanted to really see him.

He wanted to memorize the craving, the raw desire, the messy, sweaty mass of long black hair, his sharp, straight nose, his cream skin, his broad shoulders, flat abs all flushed unevenly. Loki was just as into it as last time, but there was something definitely more raw…more soft. It wasn't as It was even better the second time, though…this time was a bit different.

"Ready to get what you deserve Clint?" Loki asked, voice smoky like a campfire. Clint just grinned back, he couldn't understand how he was able to kneel above someone as gorgeous and messy as Loki. This was just crazy.

Here went something.

Clint lined himself up, or well, so he thought, and slowly eased himself down. There was no way he could possibly look good doing this. There was no way…

He felt his asshole stretch over Loki's hot and well oiled cock. God this felt fantastic. It shouldn't, but it did.

Clint shuttered, and it had to be visible because it was then he realized Loki had used his magic on him because it didn't hurt as much as the first time. He knew there was a virginity joke embedded in there somewhere, but he just didn't care. Clint just kept slowly easing himself down, filling himself with heat and a skin crawling need for more Loki. He had to look up at the ceiling to keep his concentration, but finally looked down at Loki between his knees.

Loki eyes were fluttering and his mouth was open in a gasp. All these curling ivy vines surrounded him like a web of leaves, or some lopsided halo.

Halo. Yeah right.

"Loki, you feel…god fuck. Hot." Clint garbled out as he still steadily slowered down Loki's long cock. How did it all fit inside him last time?

Clint wanted him all.

He wanted him to be inside him, all of him. He wanted to somehow share his skin with him. He wanted a full merge. Clint, emboldened, finally eased himself fully down on Loki's unfairly hot and twitching cock.

"Clint, you're tight. Blast you're tight. What are you doing to me?" Loki gasped out adjusting down beneath him and his thick cock inside Clint swiveled and Clint moaned. He was stretched to his limit and loved that Loki could take him to the brink of what he almost couldn't handle.

"Hopefully a whole hell of a lot." Clint moaned out like he was expelling a long dormant illness. Clint's jaw, slack and soft finally closed when he bit his lip, attempting to adjust. The smell of musk did something that really hit Clint just right.

Loki hinged forward, caressing his hands from his hips all the way up his sides leaving a trailing, heated tingle up his obliques and swooping onto his back. Loki leaned up as much as he could with upper body strength Clint had not seen from Loki. Loki planted a messy, desperate kiss right on his mouth. Clint allowed himself to greedily dissolve into the kiss, into the bond that they had. It was blazing, Loki's tongue sizzled deep into his mouth with his dick heated and throbbing inside him. He was ignited at both ends, Loki's tongue jammed into his mouth, and his dick fully up in his ass.

He wanted control, but it really seemed that Loki still had it despite his best attempt to be on top.

Clint slowly began to rise up and back down, riding Loki slow and deep. He hit his own prostate and a wave of self-indulgent pleasure rocked him. His own cock wet with precum as Loki took it and with a ring around the base of his cock, began to stroke it up and down.

"Loki slower, I don't want to cum yet." Clint warned before he realized how needy he sounded. Sweat began to run along his brow and bead across his shoulders. He could be a real sweaty bastard, but Loki didn't seem to mind, if he noticed at all. In fact, Loki's tangled hair seemed just as sweaty as his.

He had definitely seen him sweat before in the training room, but it got Clint going he could make Loki sweat like this. He grinned, only he got to run his own calloused hands over Loki's shoulders and chest. Only he got to see Loki let go, and indulge in his desires.

"You want me don't you? You ego maniac…" Clint didn't know why he said that, it just filled his chest with a humming warmth. He could always trust in Loki's desire of him.

His magic really started to unfurl now, magic alternating colors like the crystals in his room.

"Desperately." Loki gasped as Clint dropped down slowly, trying to tighten his anus as hard as he could. "Yes. I do." There was something really different about his time. Before he had thought Loki looked like a God. He still did, but now…there was something definitely more human about him. More…real. More viscerally there.

Maybe it was the smell. Loki's pine tinged musk. It smelled like a forbidden jungle and the forest behind his childhood home all at the same time.

Loki. He was in Loki's bed on who knows which planet but he never felt more at ease. Despite the impossibly luxurious sheets, the weird books, the crystals glowing like cheap UV lights in a gaudy gay bar, this felt more at home than back in Stark tower. This fit Loki. Loki, as if on que broke the kiss suddenly.

The pumping on his cock from Loki's incredibly talented hands increased and he worked his tight balls like beanbags. Clint exhaled deep, trying to think of anything to not cum immediately, but the only thing in his mind was Loki's ass and his rich, taunting laughter from his obvious reaction.

He quivered. That dark laugh, it was worth being the target of it to hear it again.

"But Clint please, faster. I want you faster." Loki broke from the kiss and hissed in his ear. The breath almost tickled. Well, wasn't he needy? Underneath Clint, Loki bucked tentatively at Clint and when Clint didn't protest (how could he?) he started to buck.

It was then it finally clicked for Clint. Loki wasn't an untouchable, unreachable God. At the same time, Loki wasn't a clumsy, fragile human. Loki was a cocktail of something he had to keep tasting. Loki was everything combined he was never taught to mix. He was a complicated combination of something Clint hadn't quite figured out.

Unlike Tony, he didn't have to figure everyone out. He could listen and absorb what was being thrown at him. He was on a level above Tony mentally. He got Loki enough, he didn't have to know or pry into all of his secrets. He could handle Loki's outbursts, Loki's plots, his schemes. Clint knew he was probably one of the only people who saw, who smelled, who dared hear Loki the way he did. Sex or not.

"Loki, I want you harder." Clint grinned and slammed down. Well, as fast and as hard as he felt Loki could handle. Or he could handle if he was really being truthful. Aaaaaannnd to be honest he was probably being a little over the top because that sort of kinda hurt. That hollow thud. But It didn't really matter. He wanted Loki, and he wanted Loki to know he could handle him.

He wasn't made of paper, but at the same time trusted Loki not to go overboard.

"How about this then?" Loki began to pump his cock harder and faster and that wasn't what Clint had in mind at all, but it felt like molten nothingness.

"Lo!" Clint panted, but Loki wasn't about to slow down, in fact more of that hot oil pooled in his hand and he ratcheted up his relentless rhythm. Loki never played fair!

"Tha…That's not wha—" Before Clint knew what hit him, Loki's thick cock his prostate just at the time that Loki brushed the vulnerable, tender head of his cock and he came hard, and again surprised all over Loki's chest, neck, and some of his hair.

Damn, did he really come so quickly again? It felt like they just started. He wanted more. He didn't want it to end yet.

"Fuck, I…" Clint, coming down off a high barely noticed when Loki helped lift him up and Loki eased out from under him.

Clint flopped back on his back on the silk sheets and Loki appeared hovering over him, tucking his sweaty hair behind his ears, face softer than he would have expected.

"I have a request Clint. An earnest one." Clint, face still slack and slightly stupid, laughed slightly when Loki's eyes darted around just like when he was nervous or caught doing something stupid. The ceiling behind him was framed with writhing, flowering vines which changed colors like led Christmas lights.

Loki definitely reminded him of Christmas, pine and all.

Clint lifted his eyebrows to prompt him to continue. It was then he noticed Loki must have magicked away the jizz out of his hair and off his chest. Perks of being a magic god.

He wished the guys in the circus had that sort of ability. The smell of their bunks!

"I want you on your knees. I wish to…have you from behind." The tone of Loki's voice made it seem like he was almost ashamed to want it, but the flush and lust brimming in Loki's glowing eyes screamed eager to rumble. It made Clint chuckle lowly.

Loki was talking as if doggie style was somehow beneath him, or he shouldn't want it for whatever reason. Clint somehow doubted Loki ever asked for it like this with his previous partners. He certainly hadn't, but then again he was pitching. They didn't have to stare longingly into each other's eyes like some honeymoon couple for sex to mean more than just sex.

"And here I thought you were going to ask me to go ass to mouth. Good to know your favors are definitely ones I can accommodate." Clint couldn't help but crack a joke at Loki's expense.

Clint barked with laughter at the sheer look of horror on Loki's face.

"I cannot fathom how you'd ever think I'd ever request something so unhyg…oh I see. Having a good go at me? I shall repay it shortly." Loki darkly smirked, his eyes sparking to life like turbines in a f-16.

"Prove it Diva." Clint used his own abs, they weren't there just for show, and kissed him quick on the mouth. He barely had time to look at the snowflakes deeply carved into the headboard when he got up and turned around when he felt Loki's heavy cock at his backdoor once again.

"Tread lightly Clint. I am in an adventurous mood." Loki had folded over Clint's back and humidly whispered into his ear. Clint, not falling for it since they haven't done anything but vanilla so far, leaned into the pressure and once more his ass managed to swallow up Loki's well lubed dick.

Clint gritted his teeth. Yeah he was stretched out already, but the lube was lacking. He then felt a warmth envelope his whole body and his muscles relaxed.

"I am also in a benevolent mood, it seems." Loki's voice sounded almost sweet. Clint smiled despite himself. Loki, sweet? Really.

"Benevolent huh? Seems like that won't backfire on me in some way." Clint could only imagine the look on Loki's face as he plowed into him hard, almost causing Clint to lose his arm leverage on the bed.

"Cliinnt." Loki yelped out, as Clint rocked back to meet Loki full force, catching him by surprise. Clint groaned when Loki increased his pace. He began to get hard again and he knew it had to be because of Loki's magic because of course he would do that trick again.

For seconds? minutes? hours? They were just wrapped up the tide they created between each other. Clint had never done slow sex, or anything like this before. It was…new. Lances of warmth jolted up his sides and raced through his bloodstream as he tried to get in some semblance of sync to Loki's rhythm.

He felt a little clumsy, but felt way more exhilarated. His confidence that even if he managed to do something a bit off Loki would still be somewhat turned on, ignited his chest to try harder.

"Cliiiinnnt, I…" Loki had leaned back and slapped his ass. Hard. The sting and the pleasure made it so much better. Clint knew it would leave a print, but before he could comment on it Loki managed to hit his proastate right again.

"Loki you ass." Clint moaned out and he heard Loki chuckle darkly as he did the dreaded reach around to cup his balls and begin to knead. More precum leaked out through Clint's tip and Clint hissed as Loki played with the slick liquid.

"What do you want Clint?" He heard Loki purr like a wildcat as he slapped his ass again. Fuck him.

"Ah. Loki!" Clint hissed as Loki's other hand continued to play with the tip of his penis making it oh so sensitive.

"Tell me. Clint. What do you desire?" Loki's voice quavered slightly in lust as he slammed back into him. Clint couldn't take too much more, so he rocked back into Loki hearing a gasp from the god as a reward.

"Go with what you want." Clint hissed back. "I have what I want." Clint saw grey as he rocked back into Loki. Loki's thick cock in him twitched and Clint moaned deep.

"Nines!" Loki shouted and folded over Clint again, long hair tickling Clint's back and shoulders.

"Damn….fuck this is hot." Clint's stamina had begun to finally run out as Loki erratically changed up the pace of his hand. Clint's knees began to buckle, his arms down to his elbows in a half plea to not be reduced to his face smooshed completely into the pillow.

"Lo…" With a few tired, spastic pumps, Loki spent Clint weary and eurphoric onto the dark sheets. It was then Loki finally slipped out of Clint, soft and quiet. Clint flopped over to his left where Loki had collapsed, both breathing heavy, sweaty, and gazing at each other's bodies in random places.

Clint had settled his gaze on Loki's left nipple. It did have one stray dark curly hair springing out of it. Maybe he should pull it to be a dick back.

Loki brought one of his stupid long soft fingers around Clint's rough jaw bringing it up to meet his green eyes flecked blue.

"What did you mean you had what you want? I don't like to leave my sexual partners unsatisfied and if you think reaching your peak once is satisfied in my account, you are mistaken, my dear archer." Loki's feral grin reminded him all again of how jaguar-like Loki could be.

When he first hooked up with Loki he expected an arsenal of intimidating weapons masquerading as sex toys and positions that involved swings and posts.

But, what that just was, was probably considered super vanilla sex by most. They hadn't even used any toys, not counting the magic vine restraints. Consider Clint officially thrown. Clint didn't doubt Loki had more than a few secret kinks, ok, more than a few….but Clint hoped that Loki would eventually reveal that side of them, or they could talk about it. Yeah, that wouldn't be an awkward talk.

"I'm…plenty satisfied. But Loki, you can't keep asking me what I want. It's…odd, it makes me feel like I'm with like a uh…sex worker. Both of what we want matter in this. Just take the lead if you want. I trust you won't do something…crazy without first running it by me." Clint found words he didn't even know he had to voice. It was like the sentence ran wild.

"….Right. Right. It has been a while since….I've taken that into account." Loki's gaze looked far away and Clint inwardly winced. He had went and stepped on some sort of hidden mental landmine didn't he?

Clint flicked his nipple and Loki dared to look offended.

"Hey, your purple magic archer isn't going anywhere, and we got time to get all this down. Don't worry so much, ok?" Clint knew he wasn't much good at alleviating concerns, or being the best listener. He tried, but sometimes he worried he wasn't that great at picking up on underlying issues or emotions.

He was also just blissfully drowsy.

"And I you, Clint. Remember what I said, I'll be your shadow of vengeance, if you will be my light of justice." Loki sat up suddenly, but fluidly like a cat would. Loki fisted his own hair back into a messy bun thing, looking down at Clint with a fondness that Clint craved, and an uneasiness that Clint didn't.

"Yeah. Yeah, sounds about right." Clint agreed. Clint finally had to trust what no one else on planet Earth could. Not Fancy Pants with his scying, or Munchin with her little girl gazes could understand Loki the way he could.

"Now, let's wash up. We have a Titan to slay, and with my impeccable talents have managed to gather some most interesting intelligence on the current state of the Mad Titan's navy. I may just have my vengeance, and you your justice, yet." All the vines that had snaked and looped around the room disintegrated into a green mist and the crystals had ceased to glow.

A warm, inviting darkness danced in Loki's eyes as he helped Clint off the bed. Clint liked the view.

Loki wasn't some victim. Loki wasn't some white knight hero.

Loki was a man on a mission. And so was he. And Clint was a thousand percent OK with helping Loki achieve his dream.

Even.

Even if it meant no one understood either of them until all the dust settled.

Clint nodded and on second thought, grabbed Ichaival from the polished wooden floor along with his clothes.

---

It's been a long haitus, but I'm back. After an emotionally draining and unhealthy relationship, I can finally find my fan fic legs back. Thanks to all who are still reading this. Please drop me a review telling me what you think. I'm still trying to get back into my character's heads.

You are all the best!

-TL