Warnings: Violence and Death.

Normalcy

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
Maya Angelou

The windows are fogged as the air outside had cooled considerably over night and the Helicarrier is surrounded by clouds. The light is dimmed, rain is sure about to come and still Loki had never seen such a bright day. He stretches his back and legs as he opens his eyes. Thor's arms still hold him close, giving him not much room. The blond is fast asleep, on his face is a little dreamy smile. Loki reaches up to touch the bearded cheek, softly caressing it.

For the first night in an eternity he had slept well, woke up more rested and calm than before he went to bed. His lover's embrace is comforting, warm and familiar. Loki wonders how he ever could fall asleep without it. Not even when seeing Thor had he realized just how much he had longed to be held by him again, how much easier it is to face life with his big brother lying next to him. Not even the threat of Thanos seems half as bad now that Loki can depend on Thor again.

Thor still loves him. He had sworn that. Loki's body tingles with the power and the strength he draws from that knowledge alone. Slowly the blond Asgardian stirs and directs his sleepy smile to Loki.

'Morning, love.' His arms flex and Thor pulls him a little closer. His voice is still husky from sleep. Loki's staring must have awoken him.

'Good morning to you too, my love.', Loki answers, unable to keep the grin from his face.

The blond cups his face, his thumb traces Loki's cheekbone. 'So you do forgive me?'

After everything he still has doubts, Loki thinks. He leans up and kisses Thor on the lips. 'I love you. And missed you greatly. There is nothing to forgive.' Though his words had failed him yesterday when Thor declared his love and devotion, they do not now. Sometimes Thor just knows what to say to shut Loki up. Even now the memory makes Loki's throat constrict from emotions. 'I know how I felt when I lost you. And I knew you were fine. I understand why you did what you did, gave me time to think when I asked for it. It was my fault as well. I kept pushing when I wanted you near.' He takes a deep breath. 'So, I do not need to forgive you. I love you, Thor.'

'Good.' Thor smirks as he pushes Loki into the mattress, hovering over him. 'You are beautiful. In each and every form.', he whispers, stroking black hair. Tender love practically radiates from his gaze alone. He leans down to capture Loki's lips for a kiss. The ravenette smiles and suppresses a chuckle. It feels like no time passed since the last time they could be this carefree. He runs his hand through the blond hair, guiding Thor back down to enjoy kissing his long lost lover some more.

'You know.', he murmurs against soft lips.

'I care not. Loki, you will always be more to me. You will always be family.'

'Thank you, brother.' Loki blinks back tears. Thor leans down to press one last kiss on his lips, then he sighs. Loki strokes his cheek. 'We can talk about this after we saved Midgard.', Loki speaks what both Thor and he think.

Thor nods and stands up, a grim expression settles on his features as if someone had flipped a switch. 'Yes. Have you found out where it is?'

'My magic has returned though it is still weak. But in an inactive state the Tesseract is still almost invisible when I am not already somewhere near it.', Loki explains, sitting up as well. There would be enough time for soft whispered words of love and affection later. As much as he would like to stay in bed and forget about the universe, they got worlds to save.

'Well, then we should speak with the other mortals and assist them with their research, brother.' The grim warrior he is so famous for, surfaces. Loki is glad that though so many things between them changed and will never be the same again, his brother still is there to rely on.

Loki swings his legs over the edge of the bed and stands up. Even though he spend his whole life in this body except for such a small time, it still feels glorious and strange at the same time to inhabit it again. Every day he still expects to lose it again, waking up in the female prison and having only dreamed up the past few days.

'Hey, are you alright?', Thor asks. Loki blinks a few times to come back to the present. It doesn't matter what has been and it will do no good to linger on his martyrdom. It won't change what happened nor how he feels about it. And he won't forget about it any time soon, so there will be enough time to think things over after finding the Tesseract.

'No.', he answers honestly. 'But it will be.'

Loki quickly dresses in a new shirt Tony had lend him which he had altered to fit his larger frame. Thor is still in his Asgardian armor. He must have no spare clothes with him, believing a fight with his lover would be all that is in front of him when he left Asgard.

Loki had seen these past two years more than he ever wanted, had experienced torture, death and rebirth, he lost his life and struggled to find a place in his new one, he had found new friends and new enemies. It changed him, if for better or for worse would remain to be seen.

When they reach the lab of Tony, they find that their new comrades in arms had already assembled there. Bruce looks still tired out but much better than the past week. Transforming into the Hulk had taken its toll on him. Lady Natasha's injuries had faded and just determination had been left. Whatever reservations she might have had about stopping her former friend Barton seem to be erased. She usually prowls around the lab now, just waiting for news. Tony types away on his keyboard, not noticing the two men when they enter the room.

'Anything?', Loki asks, not bothering with any formalities.

'What do you think?', Tony answers with a sigh. 'We checked all the satellite pictures of any dessert nearby, ships that are near the coast. They are still hiding.'

'But they won't be for long.', Thor says.

Tony curses and swipes the keyboard off the table. It hits the floor with a loud thud. 'This leads to nothing. As far as we know they could have already build that stupid portal and activated it. God, Selvig certainly is clever enough for that.'

They go through some more satellite pictures, some more readings as the Helicarrier floats through the air but find no sign of anything. It's like they vanished from the Earth. That's when Loki hears it.

An indefinite hum floats through the air. Loki can't place his finger on it, can't quite grasp it. Thor seems to hear, or rather feel it as well though he is not very adapt to the thrum of magic.

'What is that?', Thor asks with a tilt of his head. His eyes almost close as he tries to make sense to it. The others stare at them with confusion.

'What is what, Point Break?' Tony frowns and his eyes flit between Thor and Loki.

'It's the Tesseract.', Loki whispers in answer to his brother. First it had felt vaguely familiar but now he recognizes the feeling. Being in his human body the only other time he had experienced it, it had felt quite different and made identifying the strange hum difficult. But now he is sure to have felt the same energy surging from the cube when it had activated to lend the imposter the strength to cross the distance between the Sanctuary and Midgard.

Tony throws him another annoyed glance. Loki sighs and explains. 'We feel it, it is being activated.'

'Damn. Can you feel where it is?' His eyes brighten up as this new thought crosses his mind. Thor closes his eyes, his brow furrows in concentration.

'Yes. It is still weak but that means we still got some time. Will you help me, brother?' Thor opens his eyes and nods. Doubt is evident on his face, he doesn't think he'll be of great use to Loki. If he just would know how weak the ravenette still feels when it comes to magic. He and Thor draw back. Loki has the nagging feeling he already knows where the slaves of the scepter went.

Though Thor is not very skillful in the use of magic, he still possesses quite a lot of potential. As Loki begins to meditate he takes Thor's hands and slowly draws a little bit of energy from him and starts to follow the hum that's in the air and is getting more pronounced by the minute. Not even ten minutes later he opens his eyes and they look at each other. Loki's suspicions were merely confirmed. Thor looks exhausted but nothing that will hinder him greatly.

'The Tesseract is at your Tower.', Loki informs the brunet man when they rush back into the laboratory.

'You aren't serious, right? That son of a bitch!' Tony's confusion turns into rage.

'Barton must have known all about your new Tower. It's in the middle of the city, in the center of attention and it's probably the only building nearby with a reactor strong enough to power up the cube.', Loki explains as the mortal paces up and down, clearly too agitated to speak.

'We must go at once. It is powering up already.', Thor reminds them.

Natasha sighs and shakes her head.'The Helicarrier is too slow. It would take hours.'

'Where are we?'

'Somewhere over the Atlantic.', she answers.

'Well, then it's just us.' Tony shrugs. 'Best we have right now.'

Within minutes they have informed the Director and the Captain and are already devising a plan to get there. Tony suggested one of the smaller Quinjets. Half an hour later everyone is on board. Fury isn't very happy about them going alone but had to accept the necessity. As the engines come to life, Loki feels the familiar surge of adrenaline that always comes with battle.

'This will be a glorious battle, my friends!' Thor's voice carries through the small aerial vehicle. Loki rolls his eyes about the boisterousness of Thor but a fond smile still creeps on his lips. This feels just like the old times, like nothing changed, like they were still teens pretending to understand the workings of Yggdrasil. He can't help but feel not anxious but excited about the upcoming battle. It has been a while since Loki had been in a real fight where he would not have to hold back and be able to rid himself of any aggression and tension. And Thanos had made sure there are a lot of both in him.

The mortals don't feel the same call for battle, he assumes, as they seem to brood over something, are tense and reserved. None of them share the heightening vibe. Thor begins to retell old battle stories, laughs about old jokes and generally tries to lighten the mood. Loki feels infected by his high spirits.

The flight takes some hours but Thor just gets more and more excited. Asgard hadn't been at war in a long time. Loki draws back after a while to have some last peace before the storm. He misses his potions as they would grant him agility, strength and stamina, things he would now have to use magic for to gain. It is weak but fortunately they are not up against an enemy knowing the workings. Maybe Loki could still be of use. His main task is to close the portal or prevent it from being opened at all. How he is supposed to archive that, he doesn't know yet.

'Love.' Loki turns around to see Thor standing in the doorway, closing it behind him. The ravenette finds himself engulfed in his arms.

'I love you.'

'And I love you.', he answers. 'Promise me to be careful.'

Thor pulls back a little. 'I will never part from you again, Loki. Never.', he swears and kisses his lover.

xXxXx

They all sit in the small Quinjet in tense silence. Except for the Asgardians none of them had ever fought an intergalactic battle and are accordingly nervous. Tony himself is no stranger to a fight but he never had to fight non-humans, much less had to fight to save the whole planet and its inhabitants from extinction.

Tony might not have admitted it but he would have felt better if SHIELD would come to New York as well to help them. Their stupid weapons suddenly don't seem to be such a bad idea anymore. At least that would have stopped the intruders. If he is honest he is not sure if their 'team of misfits' as the false Loki had put it, has it in it to win this desperate fight. And how he is supposed to feel about the little Hawk choosing Tony's home as their military base, he isn't sure.

Hopefully Barton and Selvig had not harmed Jarvis because he is sure his AI would have never permit them entrance after what happened at the NASA base. But Tony fears they might have used that magical scepter to gain entrance by force. He hadn't been able to get into contact with his AI for the communicator in his suit was destroyed beyond repair and with his other methods he hadn't gotten any response for the past few hours. Tony is scared for his friend though it makes little sense and he is on pins and needles.

Loki had expressed his worry about getting the men fighting against them their minds back when this is all over. The scepter is powerful enough to make a god mortal and it had drained him enough to prevent him from fighting back, what chance does a human has? Barton and Selvig are friends for them, and though they are currently working for the foe, the team cannot wait to get them back to their side.

'Can you get me to the top of my tower or at least quite close to it?', he asks Natasha who is steering the Quinjet. He still tries to fix his suit but most of the parts are too damaged though Tony has brought the systems back online. He desperately needs his newest suit if he should stand a chance in the upcoming battle.

'I'll try.' The red haired woman looks at the shattered helmet in his hands, understanding the necessity. They don't know where exactly the cube is in the Tower and how heavily it is guarded. Tony is confident the Mark VI would get him through the worst trouble but without the others a few of Barton's arrows might just stop him without Tony having contact to Jarvis before going in there.

'Good, but don't get to close, you don't need to get into unnecessary danger. Just, save the city.' He tries a weak smile but it won't quite reach his eyes.

'What about Loki? He wants to shut down the portal if they already opened it.' She clenches her jaw and forces the words out.

'He will find another way. Short distance teleporting is no problem, he said.' Briefly his curiosity awakens and he wishes they'd be back at the lab so he could dissect what Loki calls 'magic'. But one thing at a time. 'The Asgardian brothers probably will just part if absolutely necessary.'

'You can't go in alone.', she decides.

Steve steps behind Tony. 'I'll go with him.'

'No, Cap, the city needs you more. I just need to get my suit, then I can defend myself.' He scratches the back of his neck. He would just need to get into contact with Jarvis, then his AI would send him his suit and he would be able to maybe defend his Tower and keep the little Hawk and Selvig from accessing the arc-reactor at all. Then maybe there would be no fight against freaking alien-y humans after all.

'I can take the elevator down, you build in the middle of the city, there they will be the most hostiles.', Spangles reasons. He crosses his arms as if daring Tony to reject his offer.

'Good plan, Captain Rogers. Stark, we shouldn't go on our own.', Romanov agrees immediately. Sighing Tony agrees and readies his completely damaged suit. Fortunately the Mark VI could be activated once more but it is otherwise not battle ready. Too many systems are still offline for it to be of much use in a battle. Tony would have to lie to say he'd stand a chance against Bruce when he is not the Hulk.

The hours creep by slowly with the rising sun. They are all worried of what they might find in New York but Loki reassures them that the portal hasn't been activated, the cube is still sucking up the energy and is powering up. When the city finally comes into sight around an hour after noon, Tony breathes a sigh of relief. SHIELD decided against evacuating the city since the team needs to arrive in stealth mode to at least have a chance to stop this whole thing from happening. And till three hours ago it had been impossible to say where the invasion would start. The people would have panicked or simply ignored the threat, treating it as a hoax.

Natasha flies over the city, rapidly nearing the Tower. A lot of persons seem to stand on the roof along with a strange machinery but she flies lower to where she has more space to drop the two men off.

The Quinjet hovers over the outside area of his apartment. Already people clad in protective armor rush out of the doors onto the platform and fire at the hovering vehicle. Steve throws up his shield and repels some of the bullets with it though most of them are brought of course from the slipstream of the Quinjet. Tony doesn't doubt that either of them is a good shot, otherwise Barton would not have chosen them to defend the Tower.

'I can't bring you further down!', Romanov yells over the rushing of the wind. Tony nods in her direction and places his helmet on his head though he refrains from pulling the face plate down. The interface isn't working anyway, this way he at least will see where he goes. The repulsors come online as Cap jumps down the remaining meters and rolls over to catch his fall. Tony is right behind him, trying to keep himself up with just three repulsors, all not working properly. Several people shoot at him as the Quinjet lifts off again.

A vibration goes through the air. That and a bullet that hits one of his boots finally bring Tony to the ground. He falls and rolls over his shoulder which is not working optimally. It sure is going to bruise but the brunet man fights himself up and already has to defend himself as several man try to tackle him. Cap is fighting three men at once some meters away. Tony has to remind himself that these men aren't fighting them free willingly and he really, really shouldn't hurt them. The blond is knocking them unconscious with that shield of his, Tony already feels the strength of his suit fading.

The red, white and blue shield claims one of his opponents when he knocks another one over. Together they quickly make their way towards the doors as more and more men pour out of the doors.

Tony hears the shouts and glances up for a brief moment, before rushing inside. The picture still burns itself onto his retina, he still sees it in front of him as he pushes aside some of the hostiles, evades them or tries to fight in his damaged suit. A black hole had opened in the clear blue sky, undefinable objects flying out of it. It looked surreal, like from a bad horror movie. Unfortunately that nightmare is their reality. The portal is open. Cursing silently he continues to fight.

'Jarvis!', he yells up to the ceiling, panting as he tries to hold his ground against a (probably) trained assassin. The man manages to cut with his knife the wiring of Tony's right arm, effectively paralyzing it. Damn his heavy suit design.

'Sir?' The familiar voice lets his heart beat faster. It is weak though, just coming from one speaker in the far corner.

Tony knocks back the man and tries to shrug off his suit. The man already scrambles back to his feet but Tony runs down to his lab. 'Ready the Mark VII!'

'Right away, Sir.' His friend sounds happy, maybe even grateful that Tony is there. 'I was able to keep them out of your workshop but they have reached the reactor. Dr. Selvig..'

'I know, pal. I saw. Just, get me a working suit!'

The big man tackles him from behind. Where Steve is he doesn't know. Tony tries to keep the knife away from his throat. The ghastly blue eyes of the man are fixed on him, some blood trickled down his temple. He looks mad and possessed.

'Sir, it is just a prototype.', Jay reminds him.

'I don't care!', Tony yells past the man attempting to slice his throat. 'Just get it here!'

The suit knocks the man off him when it arrives some moments later, crashing through a wall. Tony jumps up and quickly tosses the remaining parts of his old suit away. Jarvis readies the suit and opens it so when Tony finally pulls the last remnants of his beloved Mark VI from his body, he immediately steps into the waiting suit. The elevator dings as soon as the helmet slots into place and Jarvis pulls up the interface. A whole bunch of armed men run out and immediately start shooting. Tony tells Jarvis to get contact to the others and starts his repulsors. To hurt the men would be no real option. Tony lifts off and turns in the direction of the windows. A black swarm of somethings spreads over the city. He loses no further time and hurls himself out of his apartment, leaving it to the men. Later would be enough time to take care of them.

The com cracks online. 'Where are you, Cap?'

Grunting can be heard on the other side. 'Stark? Are you alright? I am downstairs.'

'I'm fine, get outside. We can take care of this later.'

Steve agrees and Tony hears the noise of fighting slowly fade away. He flies of the edge of the outside area of his Tower and takes a look around, then heads up towards the center of attention. The black hole in the sky is still there, pouring black undefinable objects out into this world.

Tony hadn't realized how much he had missed his friend in a fight at his side. The familiar voice informs him of incoming vehicles. Tony catches a better look of them as he flies next to one. They look like gliders, steered by three of those creatures. A kind of armor covers their faces, otherwise they are of hideous appearance. They are tall, pale and Tony figures he doesn't want to know what's beneath the mask. Jarvis runs a scan of the vehicles and finds him a weak spot. The metal coating the machines that make these things fly is thicker than he anticipated but a well-aimed repulsor ray to the back of it brings the Chitauri down.

Unfortunately they don't stay down that easily though falling from a hundred feet usually proves to be enough. The people on the streets are fleeing and in uproar. Screaming they point up into the sky, some are too paralyzed to run away. Tony sighs. He has to get the hostiles away from the civilians before the innocent citizens of New York are attacked. The creatures fortunately see him as the bigger threat and try to eliminate him but there are enough that start attacking the buildings and cars on the street.

Tony flies by his building once more and spots the machinery on the top of it. It appears to power the portal. Though he has no illusions about it, he fires to shots in the direction of it. They merely bounce off the energy ball surrounding it and disappear into the crowded sky. Well, that's that then, Tony thinks. A deep resonating sound is carried through the speakers of the helmet. The foghorn like sound makes him stop in midflight.

Out of the portal comes.. well, something. If Tony were supposed to name it he'd go for a gigantic whale. That floats through the air. And has integrated weapon systems.

'Guys, do you see that too?', he asks with a slightly shaky voice, hoping he might just be imagining things or that the visor of the Mark VII might be malfunctioning. Jarvis already shows him the results of the first scan. Long silence replaces the fighting noises of the others as everyone tries to comprehend what exactly they are seeing.

'Leviathans.', Loki whispers over the com.

'Fuck, so they are real? How do we kill them?', Tony asks as Jay can't spot any weak points.

The same awkward silence stretches again. 'No idea. Their armors are powered by the warships but they are not on this side of the portal.'

'What do you mean?', Rogers interrupts him.

Loki sighs. 'They are not able to breath Midgard's air, they can't survive here without their armor. The energy of that armor as well as that for the Chitauri comes from their main ship.'

'So if we destroy that ship..'

'It is on the other side.' Blasts are heard, then some slashing of a blade. Loki pants heavily. 'It is impossible to get there.'

His own weapon systems barely scratch that thing but the Hulk soon gets involved with it. Just when he and Thor bring that beast down and more Chitauri pour from its belly, Jarvis informs him of an incoming message.

'Stark!' An alarmed voice cracks in over the com. He recognizes the voice as Maria Hill.

'What is up?', he asks, shooting some other aliens in midflight. They start to crawl up the buildings and threaten the inhabitants. There are just too many to shoot them all or to even make much of a difference. By now he sees that six people just aren't enough to fight back an entire fleet of cybernetic advanced beings and their whales. If his team mates don't find a way to close that damned portal soon, the city will be flooded and they overrun.

He hears her breathing hard over the com, trying to calm herself. Her voice still seeps with panic and worry. 'Tony, there is a nuke heading for the city.'

xXx

'Lady Romanov, come up to the roof of Stark Tower.' Loki sounds stressed over the com. He must be more exhausted than he lets on, as all of them.

The fight had been going for what feels like hours and more Chitauri keep pouring out of the portal by the minute. Natasha had been busy trying to get the civilians out of the way, Cap had joined her not long after she had been forced to leave the Quinjet due to some critical damage it had sustained when the aliens began their attack. Fending of these creatures with their own weapons is much more effective than with her tasers and stingers. Their armor seems to be too robust for that to cause a lot of damage. She had obtained one of the spear-like guns and is shooting the aliens with them.

Natasha immediately steers the glider she had taken from the Chitauri to the Tower, losing no time in asking what had happened. All the while she still tries to shoot other enemies out of the sky and evade them in return. Loki vanishes the second he sets eyes on her. Selvig sits on a chair next to a strange machinery, his head rests in his palms. Loki had stood right next to him to make sure his friend is not alone before helping where he is needed more sorely. She chooses to ignore his staggering and goes over to Eric.

'Dr. Selvig?' She slowly approaches the man. He startles up and she notes that his eyes are no longer of that ghastly blue. He looks confused and sad, his shoulders are slumped. 'I am Natasha Romanov.'

He looks around, the desperate hope vanishes from his eyes when he sees that Loki is gone. 'How bad is it?', he asks, almost choking on the words.

Wordless she looks up as the portal is exactly above their heads. The vehicles of the Chitauri still pour out of it, somewhere in the dark sky that is visible through the window to the other side of space she spots one of these gigantic whales in armor. He follows her gaze and draws a deep breath.

'Is there a way to close it?', Natasha asks when he rises to his feet.

'Loki already tried to close it by force. It didn't work. The energy barrier is too strong.' Eric points at the discarded scepter lying on the ground. Natasha curses silently. That had been Loki's only idea as how to access the cube to power it down. That's why he had sounded so grave, he had given up the attempt before he would waste his remaining strength in trying to access the cube and instead help his companions in fighting the incoming enemy and maybe make a difference.

Selvig rubs his face as if to wake himself further. Natasha goes a little closer but he immediately holds her back, placing a hand on her arm. Then a thought seems to cross his mind.

'The scepter doesn't go through, the energy barrier keeps out everything powerful. That's why Loki could not cross the line but an ordinary human being isn't stopped by it.' He swallows hard.

'So we could shut it down?', she asks for confirmation. Selvig nods. 'But there is a problem.'

He nods rigid. 'But it will incinerate flesh within seconds. Though, we could maybe close it like that. There is a way to power it down.' Eric takes a deep breath. 'I will do it.'

'No.', Natasha decides. 'We need to find another way.' They had lost enough lives already today, not one more if there would be any way around it.

'There is no other way.'

'Then I'll do it.' She is a trained assassin, she was trained to die should it ever be necessary. Natasha is no innocent civilian, she is prepared to lay down her life for this world as it would maybe be enough to erase all the red in her ledger.

Eric shakes his head. 'It is impossible, we don't have enough time for me to explain this to you, just tell the others we are ready to close it, just don't mention the how.', he asks of her.

'Eric..'

'It is my fault it even exists.', the scientist interrupts her. 'I build it, I am at fault. It is my call to make.'

'It's not your fault, Eric. They forced you.'

'No, Miss Romanov, this is not for you to decide. Tell them.' He faces the strange devise and straightens his back. Natasha sees the determination in his gaze. She closes her eyes briefly before she tells Steve that they have found a way to close the portal.

xXx

'Rogers, we can close the portal, do you copy?' Romanov's voice sounds strange over the com. Steve beats another of the Chitauri to the dust.

'Copy that.', he answers as more of these creatures close in on him. He reflects their blasts with his shield but more and more keep coming. 'Then do it.'

'Wait.' Stark sounds distressed. Doesn't he realize they are already losing this battle? Steve had seen enough of war to know that they won't be able to fight off these masses for long. A blast hits the blond in the back and makes him lose his balance. 'There is a nuke heading for the city, Rogers.' His words nearly paralyze Steve but he rolls over and stands once again just as one of the creatures throws itself at him. 'And I know just where to put it.'

The fight momentarily distracts Steve. The nuke still won't leave his mind. Who would have agreed to such a thing? There are millions here in the city and he doubts the bomb would close the portal permanently. The damage it would inflict on the enemy is minimal. The Tesseract is too powerful to be destroyed, the Chitauri too many to actually care about the losses. Just new ones would come through the portal and start to destroy what's left before moving on to other cities with no one being here to stop them anymore.

Steve is near the center of the invasion, almost at the foot of Stark Tower. They have been able to contain the aliens until now but it won't be long until they just ignore the tired heroes and move on to other parts of the city and world. Getting the civilians out of harms way had been their highest priority. He looks up briefly when he hears the whooshing sound of a speeding missile.

Tony rockets up into the sky, right over the top of the skyscrapers. The nuke speeds him up even more until all Steven can see is a red streak heading for the Tower. He almost forgets that the fight around him is still going on as he stares up into the sky to follow his friends with his eyes. Just his reflexes make him raise his shield in time to parry another blast off before it hits him again. Steve's attention is drawn back to the battle and the advancing Chitauri around him. Though the suit keeps off most of the hits he had taken, the blasts from those energy weapons really hurt.

The Captain would have thought fighting humans would weight more heavily on his consciousness but their whole demeanor is nothing like anything he had ever seen. The Chitauri don't remind him of humans at all, so Steve finds it easy to push the little fact about their origin aside.

When he looks up again after killing three of these monsters Tony has gone alongside the nuke. Steve scans the sky again but can't see anything apart from the black hole in the sky, Chitauri still pouring out of it.

'Cap! We need to act now.', Natasha reminds him after some moments. She doesn't sound more happy about this matter than he is.

Damn. Come on, Tony. Steve gets nervous before he closes his eyes to focus. Tony wouldn't want the world to end because of himself. The amount of ships still coming from the hole tell his soldier side what he needs to know. Tony would already be back if he'd still be alive. The nuke would explode any moment now and still contaminate the city should the portal still be open by then.

'Close it.' He keeps his eyes closed when he orders the death of his friend.

xXx

Tony and the Captain jump from their Quinjet at the Tower when Loki feels the new spike in energy around him. Thor turns to him with worry in his eyes. They are too late, crosses Loki's mind. The portal is already opening. When the vehicle goes down due to the attack of the Chitauri Loki teleports the remaining Avengers out of the vehicle instead of going straight to the machinery on top of Stark Tower. Without the scepter he doubts he can do much anyway.

He would have never thought he'd see these creatures again that were responsible for so much of his pain. Loki felt weak for the first few minutes but the energy the Tesseract emits had revived him. Now is not the time to despair but to fight and show Thanos that he can't have everything.

'Ready, brother?', Thor asks as they stand on the roof of a building, watching the invasion begin for real.

Loki merely nods.

Natasha is brought to the ground by Thor who afterwards lifts off with Mjolnir to destroy as many of the oncoming ships as possible. Dr. Banner doesn't require any help, the rage of the Hulk is this time directed at the right people. Soon enough the small ships reach them and the Chitauri jump of them to start attacking the humans. Hulk smashes whatever of them gets into his hands.

Loki wears his old battle attire though it had been defiled by the imposter. He would have to get a new one as soon as possible but for now it would have to do. His daggers are still hidden away. The small blades help him greatly with his plan of attack. One after one he teleports onto the small ships flying through the city to kill its passengers. His magic drains quickly so he figures out how to fly the gliders and leads the following Chitauri to places where he can kill them with one bigger magic blast instead of small ones.

An arrow almost hits him in the face. In the last moment he swerves to the left to prevent the glider he is flying from crashing into another. Within seconds he spots the source of the arrow as another one comes flying his way. A flick of his wrist and it instead kills the pilot of another glider.

He teleports the last distance and manages to grab onto Barton's bow before another arrow can be send his way. Loki yanks it from the blond archer. He hates using Barton as his lab rat but when he grabs a hold of him and forces the blue eyes to look at him, he knows that he has to. The blond won't give him the information he needs without making a fuss for which Loki has no time.

His magic reaches out into the occupied mind, looking for the connection to the scepter and eventually cut it. Barton tries to draw back immediately but Loki holds on to him. His eyes snap open and he sees the distrust and confusion in the blond's gaze. 'Where is the scepter.'

Barton still tries to get away. 'You're on their side.' Right, Loki thinks. His last clear memory is that of Loki attacking a military base. The Chitauri are attacking the city in the background.

'No more than you are, Clint. Now tell me where the scepter is.', Loki demands, finally letting go of him. He crosses his arms and waits.

Barton seems uncertain but eventually he relents and tells the ravenette where in the Tower he had put the scepter. 'I have killed people, haven't I?' Slowly be remembers some fragments of the time he spend under control of Thanos. His memories of that time will always be blurry but hopefully vanish with time.

'Well,it's time to correct that.', he merely says. He taps his ear to activate the communicator. 'Barton is on our side. I'll bring him to you, Lady Natasha.' He deactivates the com to not hear the doubting voices. 'Time to prove your worth, little Hawk, and no time to doubt or to regret. You can do that later. Right now, we need you.'

Barton nods. Loki takes a hold of his arm and searches out the red haired assassin, finding her in the streets a few hundred yards away from the Tower. She casts a weary look at the blond but accepts his help easily. A lot of explanations would be needed but there is time for that later.

Loki teleports into the Tower and fights the few guards of the scepter that are left. At the top of the building the people had drawn back when Loki attacked them downstairs. Just Eric is left. Freeing him from the spell and figuring out that the scepter and his magic are of no use to close the portal, he calls Natasha and leaves to help fighting the intruders. There are more and more pouring out. Somewhere the thunder rolls when Thor kills one of the Leviathans. Loki trembles but the adrenaline pumping through his body keeps him standing.

When Loki hears they can close the portal it itches on his tongue to ask how. The scepter had proven to be useless in that matter, so how had the mortal figured out a way to close it when he himself hadn't? But he chooses to leave it alone for now. Something tells him he doesn't want to know.

Somewhere in the back of his mind that isn't occupied with fighting and staying alive, he hears Tony's risky plan to put the nuke through the portal. It's so crazy it might just work but then the feed to him is cut. Loki nearly rips off the head of the next despicable creature that comes his way when Rogers orders the portal to be closed. The ravenette knows he is right but that doesn't make it hurt any less.

When suddenly the Chitauri drop to the ground in unison, Loki knows it worked. He looks up to see the portal growing smaller and there is still no sign of Tony. Probably at the last possible second a red and golden form falls through and speeds up towards the earth. Loki tries to summon his magic but the rest had been used in the fight to enhance his reflexes and strength. All he can do is watch Tony fall out of the sky. Hulk jumps to his safety but he doesn't doubt it was still no nice landing.

Loki almost collapses when Tony's voice sounds over the com, asking for a break and some stupid snacks. A light-hearted laugh leaves his lips. Within minutes Loki is picked up by Thor and they fly to the Tower, all drained enough to sleep one week straight. Thinking becomes an almost impossible task as the adrenaline leaves his system.

The apartment is damaged beyond repair so they sit down on the floor to discuss the battle and decide what to do next. They are all battered and could do with some rest. Natasha walks into the room some moments after Loki had leaned into Thor's side. He is tired out, barely able to keep his eyes open. The past weeks finally take their toll. Thanos is fought back for now and Loki finally allows himself to relax. The dead bodies of the Chitauri may still rest down there in the city but sooner or later this nightmare would be over for everyone.

'Where is Eric?', Loki asks, his head still resting on Thor's shoulder but his eyes open once more. He hadn't seen him in Tony's apartment and wonders where Natasha took him to keep him safe. When she doesn't answer a cold despair claws at his heart and he sits up completely. 'Natasha, where is he?', he asks again with more emphasis.

She swallows but her face stays in the well known masque. 'He's dead.'

xXxXxXx

Hello!

Just some small notes. As some of you probably already have seen, there is a small companion piece out for this story. It is not necessary that you read it but if you like Stony you might give it a try. It probably won't be mentioned here ever. Or maybe just on the side. :)

Second of all, I actually planned this story to end with the Avengers movie (meaning like 4 to 5 chapters left) but a review actually inspired me and made me realize: I don't want this story to end with the plot thread of Thanos unresolved so this story will be much longer, I fear, than I originally intended. Yeah, just so you know. Furthermore I will probably change the category for this story since it is more of a cross-over by now. To give you some time I will do this next week at the earliest.

This was my first fight scene and I hope it was bearable. So please, be not too harsh about it. Reviews are really welcome, I would love you forevermore. Thank you for all your support. I am happy for every reader :3