New Start: Chapter 38

THIS CHAPTER IS VITAL! Just thought I would mention that. :/ So you can skip this one and MISS ALL OF THE PLOT REVEAL or you can read it and review to tell me how much of a genius at plot twists I am ;) JK but you MUST REVIEW! o.0

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!)

Dead Certain

The Avengers were down the stairs before the alarm even finished blaring. Unfortunately, even that was too late. They found Natasha carefully stashed behind a cement pillar, unconscious, but stirring.

"Tasha? Hey, Tasha, come on. Wake up." Clint lightly tapped her cheek, cursing Loki in his head for hurting his partner. The spy did wake eventually, and the others moved out of the way to let Bruce have a look at her.

"Jarvis, you see what happened?" The AI was quick to respond.

"Yes, Sir. Mr. Rodgers, Loki and Ms. Romanov all entered the garage together exactly five minutes and forty five seconds ago. A small portal opened in front of them, and Chitauri soldiers came out. As they fought with the Captain, Loki knocked Ms. Romanov unconscious and laid her down behind the pillar. He waved at the camera and he followed the Captain and Chitauri through the portal."

"Damn. Guys, they've got Steve. But...I don't even know- Jarvis, could you tell where the portal led to?" If he could, Tony was sure that Jarvis would be rolling his eyes.

"I did manage to calculate the coordinates, but it is not any known part of space. I have programmed them into your suit already, Sir. However-" Tony interrupted the AI.

"The Chitauri apparently took Steve off planet. Jarvis managed to get the coordinates. How's Natasha doing?" Tony walked up to the rest of the team gathered around their fallen comrade. Bruce was running his fingers through her hair and gently over her scalp.

"No concussion, surprisingly. Just no sudden movements for a little while and be careful about taking hits, as I am sure I could never talk you out of coming with us." Natasha gave him a look that dared him to even start that conversation.

"Sir, I found some strange readings-"

"Not now, Jarv. Hey, Hammer Time, anyway you can get Daddio to lend us the Tesseract? We need to make a portal and fast. I have a feeling your all seeing telescope won't be able to watch over the situation given his convenient track record for observing things." Thor refused to be insulted on Heimdall's behalf and thought the request over.

"I can see what I can do, Man of Iron. I can not promise that my father will heed my request, but I will try." He stepped away and was gone in a flash. Tony even ignored the new scorch marks to his floor. It was just the garage after all. He turned to the rest of the team. All four of them that were left. It felt wrong, standing in Steve's place as leader, like walking in shoes two sizes too big. But their leader, and he would never admit it, his friend was just taken. They were going to get him back.

"Alright, weirdos. Time for Operation: Get Capsicle."

Distant stars watched on, indifferent to the evil that had infected the drifting rocks around them. Did nothing as creatures shunned by all things good and pure sought a place to burrow in and fester. Refused to call to the Watcher when He returned and made the scattered roaches a collective force. Remained silent as He brought back his prize, the one He had influenced and commandeered over a great deal of time and space. The one even the stars knew as The Trickster.

Loki landed on his knees, short of breath and freshly bloodied. He wrapped one arm around his mid-section in vain, and settled for ignoring the pain. Thanos remained in Steve's body, despite them being so very far away from the Avengers. It seemed a blaspheme to watch the good, wholesome blue eyes of the Captain's scrutinize his wounds with a disturbing mirth. A hand grabbed his jaw and wrenched his head from side to side to give the monster a better look.

"I have missed this, Runt. You have no idea how beautiful you look, painted in your own blood. Though, I think this would give you a more...natural look." Loki felt like his skin was peeling off, and barely held in a scream. It did not last long, Thank the Norns, but the effect was one Loki had particularly dreaded.

Blue hands mocked him, and raised ridges made it so he could not deny his true heritage. He ripped his ruby red eyes away from himself, before his stomach started churning. Thanos laughed at his reaction to his body.

"Can you not even stand to look at the monstrosity that you are? That you were born as? You are weaker than I thought." Before the words completely worked their way through Loki's slightly fogged mind, a large hand was tangled in his raven locks, and his head was yanked up to face 'Steve'.

"I've got something for you, Runt. A nice reminder of who you belong to." Something from behind was wrapped around his throat and pulled as tight as possible without making it impossible for him to breathe. There was an ominous click behind him that held a ring of finality to it. A collar! Thanos had put a collar on him like he was a beast to be tamed. As the vicious being leant down to get a better look, Loki felt a burst of foolish courage and rage rush through him, causing him to spit in Thanos's face. A backhand to his cheek was barely a bee sting at this point.

"Do not deny who is your real master, Trickster. You are mine. You have always belonged to me. From the day you were abandoned on the waste of an ice realm, you were mine to use and dispose of as I wished." It was his tone that made Loki's heart skip a beat. That thing that had been rattling about in the back of his mind for so long was getting more and more insistent as Thanos spoke. Once his words all sunk in, it finally dawned on him. Thanos laughed at the horrified look on his face.

"Yes, Little One. The day you were left in the temple, you were not left there to die. Your father in one last effort to spite the Asgardians, offered up his weakest son to Death, to be formed into a weapon of destruction against them. It was not Death that heard his cries, but myself. I looked through the stars and saw nothing more than a squirming blue worm left to slaughter. I had no intention of letting you live, that is until Odin Allfather stole you away." His head was shaking of its own accord.

"Nonononono..." He couldn't believe that. He couldn't. 'Steve' squatted in front of him and laid a gentle yet mocking hand on his face where he had slapped him not two minutes earlier. Thanos took on a condescending father look and spoke to him as he would a child.

"Yes, Little One. You were given to me, and I allowed you to be taken in by Odin. I watched over you and when the time was right, I steered you down your destined path. You are meant for evil. You are like me, a monster." No! How could he believe that he was destined to be nothing but chaos and destruction? Evil and monstrous?

"No. You turned me into this. I never wanted to hurt Thor, or Midgard!" Again Thanos gave him mock sympathy.

"All I did was reveal your true nature to you. Why should you feel that you betrayed your family? They were not your family. I am." Loki pulled away from him and tried to use his magic to blast him back. However, the spell seemed to putter out and die before it had any effect.

"Do not insult my intelligence, young one. I have watched over you your entire life. I know the strength of your powers. That collar is more than just an accessory." Thanos stood and turned away to give orders to a lone Chitauri general. Loki felt around the collar and let his fingers run along the runes that were gouged into the metal to hinder his powers. When Thanos finally turned back to him, he had a triumphant smile on his face. Loki glared at him, best he could.

"What do you want from me?" Thanos's seemed to grow darker and more hungry at the question.

"There was a time, before even the Allfather's father, that I had access to my beloved Tesseract. Its power surrounded my day and night. However, the Tesseract is not merely an object of power; it is a sentient being. A piece of the Norns. It needed a vessel to be able to fully unleash. I was able to communicate with the Tesseract, and it told me that one day there would be a powerful sorcerer with strong ties to the world tree Yggdrasil. Only he could completely wield its power. When I lost the Tesseract, I thought I had lost everything. Until I found you." Loki knew his purpose now. He thought he had heard the call of the Tesseract when he had custody of it on Midgard, but his mind was too jumbled to be certain. Now. Now he knew. He was never meant to be anything more than a vessel. A weapon to be used when needed and tossed aside when finished with. Thanos kept talking, even though Loki was obviously lost in thought and only half paying attention.

"And since you couldn't do it for me, I'll just have your little Avenger friends bring me the Tesseract. They shouldn't be too long, as I am sure they are desperate to save their beloved Captain." He knelt down again and tangled his fingers in Loki's hair and pulled hard, shocking Loki out of his thoughts. His face, Steve's face, was distorted with the strength of the scowl that played upon it.

"I will have the Tesseract, and you will do what you were born to. You will unleash its power for me, and then I will let you die like the worthless runt that you are." A resignation settled in Loki's heart, one that accepted his time to die was drawing near, but there was also a determination that joined it. If he was doomed to die, he would not go alone. Thanos would be leaving this world with him. That he would make certain.

What was Jarvis trying to warn Tony about? Hmmmm... What do you think?

Crazy amount of plot in this one. Getting close to some major action as well. :) What did you think? Like my waxing poetic? I can do more like the 'Distant stars...' paragraph if you want.

Review please!

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