New Start: Chapter 37

I have had an entire week off due to snow, and yet I have not been wanting to write. Sucks. It's always when I'm doing something that the urge strikes... Grrrr.

PS Plot revealed! Some. XD

Please enjoy and review! :)

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or the Avengers:( No sueing please! Only reading.

Warnings for angst and pain. (Shameless in Loki!whump and proud!)

Believable

How could they-? Why? What could possibly-?! "ARGH!" Another wave of magic consumed the room, but the walls absorbed it all effortlessly, leaving Loki without any satisfaction. There weren't even any cameras in the room for him to break, because they didn't react well to magic. Tony figured it would be a waste, but now Loki wished he had at least something in here that he could break. Rage had filled him as soon as he entered the room; rage that was mostly stirred up by hurt and no small sense of betrayal. Again, his lack of sleep was pushing him to the edge, and messing with his head. And yet- something tickled back there. He heard the words the Other had said and knew that one on the team had been or is currently in the process of being influenced by their poisonous prose. Loki knew first hand that they do not make idle threats. Someone he trusted was being controlled by the Chitauri, but who would they choose? Were they the reason the team thought such things of him? For surely he did nothing to knowingly put such a doubt in their minds. He just needed to get himself under control, before he faced them again, otherwise he would only be proving the suspicions in their minds.

The door slid open and closed being him, and the gait told him who it was.

"Captain, unless you want to get hurt, I would suggest you wait outside the room." Loki heard him get closer.

"Oh, I highly doubt you would be able to hurt me, Pet." His heart had stopped. Loki turned ever so slowly, every single muscle strung tight as a bow string. When he had made the complete 180, he immediately cringed at what he saw.

'It' (for he refused to think of him as his ally, but as a puppet) looked exactly like Steve. It sounded like Steve. It walked like Steve. But one look at its face, and you knew Steve wasn't there. A crooked smile, devoid of any sane glee stretched across the lower half of the face, and there was just a hint of malice in the chuckle it brought forth from behind perfectly white teeth. But it was the eyes that did it. Steve had naturally bright blue eyes, not too unlike the Tesseract's own hue, but now they were sparkling with another's soul and will. This was not the Tesseract. This was Thanos.

"So, did you miss me, Little One? I know I missed you. All of our darkness together, your screams, your tears," 'Steve' stepped closer as Loki was completely paralyzed, and raised a hand to ever so gently sweep it across the Trickster's cheek, inducing a shiver. "Your fear. And I must say, I believe I made a good choice in choosing Steven. He is strong for a Midgardian. I assume as they put it 'more evolved'. But the best part, is who would suspect the 'All American Boy'? Captain America? Goody Two-Shoes? The Midgardians have many delightful names for things, including their people. I believe the dear Captain would fall under the 'hero' category. Either way, I have been getting used to him for a while now, and I have made myself quite at home. Not even you saw it. And why is that Laufeyson? Too comfortable with your new 'family'? You are getting soft on me. You know I don't appreciate soft."

A sharp slap snapped his head around to the side, but instead of scaring him, it brought him out of his stone state. His gaze grew hard and cold, and his nails dug painfully into his palms, hard enough to break the skin. 'Steve' seemed to like the reaction, as his previous scowl brightened into a pleased smile.

"It's good to see that you haven't lost your spirit. You are going to need it. You see, the director of that special club of yours is calling for you in chains, as is Mummy and Daddy dearest. Something about...oh what was it?" Loki was confused and didn't know whether to believe anything that was coming from its mouth or not. When Thanos deemed it long enough, he snapped his fingers as if a lightbulb had just come on.

"That's right! The little shrew who fancied herself a warrior was killed a little while ago. She was getting a bit of a big head, and well, I have a 'No Tolerance Policy' as the Midgardians like to say. So, a pretty little dagger was found in her neck. Can you guess where I got it from?" Seemingly out of nowhere, a dagger, one of Loki's own was being waved about carelessly in Thanos's grasp.

"I believe you left a few of these behind during our last encounter. Would you like it back?" His hand, for Loki could no longer deny that it was a menacing who that held the Captain's body captive, was holding out the dagger hilt out, just handing it over. Loki, not hesitating for a second, took it in hand and held it's side to the man's throat. His eyes were searching through 'Steve's' for some level of the true man buried deep inside. When he found none, his grip tightened ,and he forced himself to press the knife deeper to draw a drop of blood. Thanos seemed to find all of it very amusing and chuckled, hands held up in surrender.

"Now that's what I like to see. This is the real you. The monster. Do not deny your true nature. Do it. Kill him." Loki pressed harder...but. His hands were shaking from being clenched so tightly around the dagger, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Not when he was looking right into Steve's face and being unable to see anything more than morals and Disney movies and brilliant drawings. Then the man under his weapon laughed.

"I knew it. Sentiment. Well, if you are going to let it rule you, I will use it to my advantage. Your little team is expecting us to come upstairs soon. I, being the ever-so-perfect Captain that I am, who came down here to escort you, instead found himself attacked by none other than the Wanna Be King of Midgard. I will then proceed to take you into 'custody', where I have a special ride waiting for us. You will do this, or I will kill Every. Single. One of them. Starting with that golden brother of yours. I can and will do this. Or you can play the part and give them a fighting chance. What do you say?" There was no way out of it. What was he to do? Loki knew first hand Thanos's power. He would make each of them suffer a fate worse than death after he'd make them beg for it. He...he had to do it. Finally, Loki nodded, clenching his eyes shut and willing the nightmare away. Thanos smiled in triumph and leaned forward, so his breath ghosted over Loki's ear.

"Make it convincing." Loki lunged.

"Sir, there is an issue downstairs between Loki and Mr. Rodgers." Tony whipped his head up.

"What is it? On screen." A big screen burst to life in front of them, and their hearts fell then hardened at what they saw. Loki had a dagger in his hand and was slashing at Steve with it. The Captain appeared to already have a bruise forming across his jaw from where Loki must have made contact. Tony was already preparing to run down there, as was Thor when he pulled back from his shock, when Clint called for them to stop.

"Wait, guys. Steve's got him." It ended as quickly as it had began. Steve had gotten the upper hand, reaching out and grabbing the wrist holding the knife and pulling Loki into a full force punch. Loki was stunned, and Steve leveled him, then finding something from the lab table to restrain the Trickster. They were already on their way upstairs, Loki appearing to be spewing foul things at Rodgers the whole way.

Bruce was turning green. How could they have let themselves be fooled into trusting him? Hulk even liked him. It couldn't have been so simple for him to just waltz in here, steal their trust and friendship, then rip it all away. The doctor slowed his breathing, blocking it all out.

Natasha couldn't say she was surprised. She had noticed something was going on with the Norse god a while ago. Unlike the others, she had never let her guard down around Loki, hadn't let him in, because deep down she knew something like this would happen. It always did.

Thor felt numb. He was hanging off of the Bifrost, holding on to the spear for dear life, watching his brother slowly lose all hope, then fall. Thunder crashed lowly outside the tower. He had lost his brother again, but the worst part, was realizing that he had never had him back in the first place. Thor no longer had a brother.

Tony was sure that if he had a heart it would have stopped beating. He had been many times called a metal man, iron hearted, long before he had conceived Iron Man. There was a reason for the distance. Get too close, and you get burned. Emotions make you distracted. Distractions get you hurt, Tony. Pay attention. His father had taught him one thing, and he always stuck to it. This just goes to show that his dad was right. You get close; you get hurt.

Clint was angry. Pissed at himself for letting himself be fooled by all of it. He was the one that convinced them that Loki was controlled. He was the one that brought the crazy god into their lives so much more intimately than from behind glass. He was the one that had helped him. 'Saved' him. He had been a fool and trusted the Lie Smith. And he would never make the same mistake again.

The slide of a door broke the silence suffocating the room. Steve walked in looking disappointed, but professional, one hand wrapped securely around Loki's upper arm. His hands were secured behind his back, but he held his head high and smirked at all of them.

"It has been fun, but it appears my time with you has come to a close. I must say, that I am surprised that it took you all this long to figure it out. I must be a better actor than I give myself credit for." Loki examined each and every one of them, trying to commit all of their faces to memory. He knew that he would never see them again, and he was afraid he would break the facade upon seeing them. The betrayal and coldness he saw in their eyes, however, showed that his little act was enough.

"Why, Loki? Was this all a game to you? Did you have fun doing this?" Loki tilted his head to the side as if contemplating his brother's question. No. Not brother. Not anymore.

"Hmmm. Well, you did help me a bit, I will admit, so it wasn't entirely a game. For that I will thank you. But after a while, I was just curious to see how long I could go, slipping into your lives. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. You might want to work on that." He chuckled, letting his memories of the hate and blue light that had controlled him seep out like muscle memory. When he felt a slight squeeze on his arm, he knew it was time to go. He gave them all one last look. His team. No more.

"I'm afraid I must be going now. You know. Places to go. Worlds to conquer." He was tugged away to the elevator. When the Captain pulled him in, he felt relief flutter for a moment.

"I'll come with you." The relief was gone. He felt dread fill him as Natasha followed them. 'Steve' caught him starting to panic and shot him a warning look. But he also gave his arm a more painful squeeze than the last. It was a silent 'You are going to deal with this.' The ride down was a silent one, but Loki made sure to keep a self-satisfied smirk plastered on the whole time. Once the doors dinged open, Steve escorted him out. Natasha stayed completely parallel with him as they walked.

It was when they entered a garage of sorts, that Loki knew what Thanos meant by 'special ride'. He must have sent out a signal when they were in the elevator. He felt more than saw the agent tense up and reach for a gun, ever present on her hip. Loki knew what he had to do. Without hesitation (otherwise it would never work) he stepped back, and when Natasha had her attention momentarily diverted by the Chitauri foot soldiers in front of her, he slammed her head into a nearby cement pillar. She went down as he knew she would. Knowing it would never make up for anything he did, he still caught her limp body and tried to gently lay her out of harms way without seeming too obvious.

Apparently, Thanos had given orders before hand to the Chitauri, because when Loki turned back to them, he found the man 'struggling' against the creatures as they 'tried to push him through' the portal. Loki spotted a camera in the far corner and gave a little smile and wave, before he too went through and disappeared from Midgard. He refused to let the tears that threatened to fall, out of his eyes. They never did any good before, and they wouldn't help him now. That he knew with utmost certainty.

Didn't expect that did you? Steve! What are you doing?! You'll just have to wait and see where this goes next week. :) You know you love me, or at least Loki. Let me hear ya!

Review please!

*****As always, open to suggestions and prompts ;)*****