Aria stared at the monstrosity flying down from the portal, her stomach turning at the sight. At least the monster in her head was just in her head, that was easier to swallow. He wasn't running rampant trying to kill everyone at the moment like this heathen. To make matters worse, multiple Chitauri were expelled from the sides of the damn thing. Not only was it a monster capable of destroying things but it was also transport. Aria tore her eyes away from the spectacle, surveying the scene around them. Currently the intersection was clear but below them there was a hoard of chaos ensuing. Multiple Chitauri were blasting away at people, buildings, even at things like chairs.

They are just programmed to destroy, aren't they?

These creatures aren't the smartest of the galaxies but they can definitely cause chaos.

Hmm…makes me wonder how smart you really are considering you're the epitome of chaos.

Watch your tongue little one.

"Stark are you seeing this?" Cap's voice broke through her inner monologue. She turned to look at him, his eyes still wide in wonder and fear.

"Seeing. Still working on believing. Hey is Banner here yet?"

"You really think he's going to show?" Aria questioned into her own mic.

"Just keep me posted."

"Okay. But Stark, take me to the flying creature. If you can get me on top of it, I'll be able to take it out." Aria spoke out, gripping onto her dagger tightly.

Hati...I'm gonna need your help.

Of course you will.

"Are you crazy?" Rogers stepped towards her, concern visible on the facial features uncovered.

"I am. But crazy is what we need right now...how's the pick up looking Stark?"

"Err give or take five minutes. I need to shake off some strays."

At that moment a group of Chitauri landed from the buildings onto their road. Aria smirked before rushing to meet them quickly. She sent energy into her arms before throwing out her daggers to two, having to dance between the beams of their weapons before getting close to a third. She jumped over the alien before pooling energy into her fist as it connected with the aliens back, expelling the energy outward. Just like the debris, the alien exploded with a mulching sound. She brought her hand back, it covered with blue goo before being kicked in her back pushing her into a nearby car.

"Well that wasn't very nice was it," she said mockingly as she grit her teeth. She got up and rolled her shoulders back before continuing forward.

Rogers was at her side in a moment using his shield to block against their beams, "If you can take out the big one, get on it. We'll take the ones on the ground."

Nodding her head, she summoned her daggers back to her to sheathe them before falling behind the trio, looking up after hearing the whirring sound of Starks suit. She thrust her hand up and started running to the car Natasha was using as cover. She sent a small amount of energy into her legs as she jumped onto the hood, crouching low before pushing up to get in the air. Within seconds her hand was gripped with Tony's and they were in the air. Aria's stomach flipped at the speed they were going and continued to flip as they neared the beast. With her free hand Aria grabbed one of the cuffs from her pocket and snaked it on. She would probably need it once she finished taking down the creature.

"Here's your stop Aria," Tony's voice cackled through her earpiece as they soared above the clueless creature.

Nodding her head, Aria let go of his hand and fell towards the alien's back. She landed in a roll, the armor feeling cold as ice against her skin. She flipped her head up, seeing that some of the Chitauri stayed on the beasts back. She made quick work of the few that were there but exhaustion was beginning to creep on her. The amount of energy she expelled today was the most she had ever before and when she molded it into her arm for a punch, she found there was damage lacking. She put her dagger back in favor of the sword before plunging it into the armored back. Aria knew it wouldn't likely scratch the beast's skin but she needed to catch her breath and balancing on this thing wasn't easy. So she made a makeshift anchor as she planned. Holding onto the hilt, her breathing coming in and out too quickly for her liking, a gnawing feeling began to emerge in her stomach. Unfortunately, she knew why. At that moment Haiti's voice bellowed through her head.

If you keep at this rate with just your own energy, you'll end up depleted and helpless.

What would happen if I used it all up without tapping into yours?

The energy you're using now is the amount that unconsciously blankets your organs. Once that's gone, so is your protection of those things. You naturally heal faster and the energy helps the process even more, so I believe you can assume what can happen.

What normally wouldn't take me out will. Well I need your energy to take this thing out anyways so will you get on with it?

Of course.

Aria closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. It was either take on his power or starve hers to her own death. Plus, even with all her energy there was no way she would be able to take this down on her own. She needed Hati as much as she hated to admit it. She breathed out as she felt a surge of his power go through her whole body, so much so that her skin prickled at is swirling through her. Standing up, she yanked the sword out while she pooled a large amount into her right arm. Sheathing it quickly, she walked forward to where she assumed was the thinnest part of the armor and punched down expelling every ounce of their energy. She was thrown back from the force of the impact and the shrill scream from the monster made her smirk. She got up quickly and repeated the process, surprised when her punch went through the metal and blue goo erupted everywhere. She was then thrown backward again as the creature dropped face first towards the ground. Unable to gain a stable footing, Aria gritted her teeth as she kept falling back while trying to find out how to use the gadget on her wrist. Fumbling with it, she finally found a small button and pushed it, throwing her arm out and watching as a steel cable shot out towards the building closest. A small shriek was ripped from her throat when her whole body snapped in that direction, her eyes unable to keep up with the speed she was moving at.

The building loomed closer quickly and Aria balled herself up to crash land through a window. However, as she crashed, she wasn't sure if the bracelet would retract on its own so she braced herself for pain to wreck through her arm and inevitably it did as her body met the floor in the building. She groaned before wriggling her arm free of the bracelet. Aria got up and rubbed her wrist, pain engulfing her whole arm. She glanced at her shoulder and confirmed with herself that it was dislocated. Huffing out in anger and pain, she forced it back into place with a snap. She looked out the window to see the creature dead in the street. The Chitauri yelled out at the fact and Aria felt triumphant at it. At least until another roar plagued her ears and more of the beasts could be seen coming through the portal.

Just my luck.

Aria peered over the edge of the window, the height of where she was compared to the ground a little haunting. She shrugged her shoulders before walking a few steps back. Turning and sprinting toward the window she jumped out. Everything was silenced besides the whistling of the wind as she fell down the side of the building. She sent an abundant pool of energy into the bottom half of her body, readying to hit the ground in any second. For a small moment, in the midst of all the chaos, there was peace. As she fell, nothing else mattered besides the landing. She closed her eyes and soaked the feeling in, not quite sure when she would feel so at ease. The moment passed and Aria snapped her eyes open, twisting her body so she would land in a crouched position on the ground. Spreading her senses out, she felt nothing human below her. Which was good since her crashing would probably upheave a lot of ground. Her feet kissed the ground harshly, chunks of the earth being ripped from its place. She landed in the middle of a group of Chitauri, all of them turning towards her.

"Now to have some fun," Aria's voice came out gravely, shocking her at how easily Hati was able to take control of it.

The thought, as disconcerting as it was, had to be put on the back burner. There were six aliens trying to kill her. She sent a pool of energy into her arm and punched the ground quickly, watching as the earth broke further apart under her hand. This time however, the damage spread all around her instead of just in front of her. Not wasting time, she grabbed her daggers and threw both of them quickly to the heads of the furthest two. She unsheathed her sword and cut another Chitauri straight in half. Disgust settled in her stomach at the gore but she pushed on, going after the last two standing. Aria ran towards the closest one, dodging the blasts they were sending her way. She jumped onto the top of a car to help give her some height to jump on the brute. She wrapped her legs around its neck as best she could before lifting her sword and crashing it through the alien's head. Her eyes snapped up to the last one and was late to dodge a laser from its weapon. She was propelled off the monster's shoulders into the street. Rolling about for a moment, Aria groaned at the pain reverberating from her left upper half and looked to assess the damage. A large burn mark charred through her clothes and she could smell the appalling stench of burned flesh, but just as quickly as it was there she saw the black charred skin begin to heal.

"You burned my shirt. You'll be paying for that, it was new." She quipped at the alien still aimlessly firing its blaster.

She put her hands out to call her daggers back to her and moved once they hit her palm. Effortlessly, she sprung up and threw one of her daggers into the things neck. It dropped to the ground and Aria relaxed before walking over to retrieve her dagger. She looked up to the portal to see lighting deterring any advances of the army. Her eyes followed the path to see Thor on a building controlling it with his special hammer. She sighed and extended her senses out to check if this part of the city had any trapped civilians and was surprised to feel nothing around her. Not even any of those aliens. She began to retract the energy but a faint lick of Loki's aura brushed along the edges. Aria slowly turned around to where she had sensed him. On the other side of the street he stood tall and proud, his shoulders and chest pointed up and out. In his hands he clenched the scepter tightly.

"I don't want to fight," Loki spoke out as he relaxed his posture the slightest bit, "I have actually come to seek your council. I am pleased to see that you survived our last encounter, in fact I had been hoping as much."

"My help? My help? I tried to help you and look at what it's gotten to! You're destroying New York and are no longer controlled by whoever it is that was controlling you!" Aria seethed at him. Her anger was a tidal wave, and she couldn't control it especially not with Hati's influence. She balled her fists and sent energy to her eyes, confirming that there wasn't a yellow tinge around his head anymore.

She didn't give him the chance to speak, running at him quickly. She threw a dagger out and as he deflected it brought the other one down in a slash for his neck. His scepter clashed with her dagger, a small smirk blossoming on his face. He summoned his own dagger in a flash of green light and slashed at her face. She moved her head back enough to where his dagger only just touched her cheek. She narrowed her eyes before dropping down quickly and kicking up. He moved back to avoid it before lunging forward to swing the scepter down. She rolled to the side before sweeping her leg out to trip him and was surprised when it connected. All of this was too easy, Loki wasn't even trying to go on the offensive and it angered her. Aria sprung to straddle him, putting her dagger at his neck only to be shocked at the emotions swirling in his eyes. His face gave no clue to anything, but his eyes were raging with guilt and sadness. Aria just sat there with her blade at his throat staring at him, her breath coming in and out in frustration.

Why can't I just kill him? He's the reason behind all of this, he's- he's the kind of person I would normally never hesitate with so WHY.

"I will seek the truth," Hati spoke through Aria, startling her. It was unsettling to hear her voice being used without her control, something she would take up with the giant once this mess was over.

"I know my title may as very well be my undoing, but I promise you I didn't want any of this," Loki spoke softly and pained, his voice wavering at the end, "I only continued because I was worried to what may happen had I not. You don't understand the torture I was put through in order to be molded as his enforcer. I'd rather have it I be the villain today than to summon him to come for the Tesseract. Seek what you must, you shall find no tricks in what I say."

Aria gritted her teeth and pushed the blade harsher against his neck, but he never relented. His gaze unwavering and she may even say promptly smug. She sighed before retreating her blade from his person. She sat up straight and put her dagger away before bringing her hands up to cup the sides of his head. She closed her eyes and beckoned Hati to take control, asking him to help her search his mind. This new power she wasn't sure how to handle. Before the mind stone had grafted a part of its nature to Aria, her little mind games were petty to say the least. She could plant small seeds of feelings if they were closely felt by herself, anguish and fear being the easiest to begin sprouting into another's mind. But delving into the mind of someone else was something she hadn't done before, let alone knew how to do. If anyone, or anything, knew how it would be Hati. She could feel Hati taking ownership of their body, her actions and energy becoming a phantom feeling as she slipped in the back of her mind. It was as if she was a passenger in her own body, aware of what was happening but unable to change or do anything. It was unsettling but necessary for she didn't want to dishevel the mind of Loki after his mind had already been trudged through.

Hati closed their eyes and behind her lids a showcase of memories not theirs began to play. She saw who she assumed Loki and Thor who were, much younger, training in a big room. Then saw Loki being held by an older woman as tears ran down his cheeks. Then Loki was fighting in front of a man, who's gaze seemed to only hold disapproval. Now Loki was older and was surrounded by people in white or black suits with Thor's hammer imbedded into the ground, him trying to lift it but unable to. It then flashed to him and Thor fighting in a room that was lit by blue ice, to which then seemed to lead to Loki falling from a broken bridge. The next memory unsettled Aria for she saw Loki in chains next to a raging fire, except his skin was blue and his eyes bloodshot red. He seemed to be screaming but Aria found that she couldn't hear anything, just observe. The next memories weren't any more pleasant, beings of another world torturing Loki in various ways. It churned her stomach and made her think back to the testing her uncle had performed on her to try and reach Hati. The last thing she saw was Loki being granted the scepter by one of his tormentors after they had touched the spear to his heart, his eyes the bright blue they had been before she had syphoned the yellow energy from his mind.

Hati relinquished control and Aria snapped back, tumbling backwards with a gasp. She breathed in and out heavily before wiping at the sweat and tears that had formed in her absence of control. Loki laid there quietly, his eyes shut tightly.

He may be the God of Mischief, but I couldn't find any lie in what he has told us. None of the memories were altered, however some seemed to be repressed. The ones strong with anger and sadness were pushed to the forefront, any littered with positive emotion were tucked at the back. I tried my best to ease them but I found it quite difficult to do so.

Thank you...for helping him and for letting me get control so quickly. I'm surprised there wasn't a fight for it.

Battles must be chosen and in this moment...it was not headed.

"What is it that you need my help with?"

xxoOOoxx

Loki stared out at the mess New York was becoming from the tower. He gripped the scepter tightly out of anger, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it. Shame swept over him in waves but he knew if he didn't do this then the titan would come in his place. Loki dared not to think what would happen to him had he tried to stop the madness. Death would be too kind a punishment for the mad titan. He feared that not even with his brother and the warrior three at his side would be enough to overpower him. Loki had never seen pure power and rule like the titan's, the only possible adversary may as well be Odin himself. But he has grown fragile in age, succumbing too Odin-sleep much faster and more frequent than before.

Thor landing a few feet from him drew Loki out of his musings. His older brother stood menacingly, anger ever present in his posture. Loki could never see why Thor wanted the throne, he were to be a better warrior than king. Thor's gaze swept over the Midgardian city with anguish, his shoulders ever so slightly slumping. Loki didn't want to hear whatever Thor had to say, for nothing could terror him more than what he's already said to himself. Thor snapped his gaze back to him, his blue eyes raging with anger and pity. Loki loathed the look Thor was gracing him for it wasn't headed. There needed not to be pity, anger Loki could understand. But pity? It made no sense.

"Loki! Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!"

"You can't Thor. It's not possible, not any of us can destroy it."

"It's possible with the both of us working together!" Thor pleaded as he stared at him.

Loki shook his head and turned to look at the flooding Chitauri, knowing that the worst was yet to come. He looked back at Thor woefully. If anyone can help him get out of this mess, he knew his brother could help against these mindless beasts. The Titan however, he wasn't so sure. "Even with both of our strengths, the Tesseract may not be breached…however the woman. She can get through to it."

Thor looked at him puzzled before realization dawned his features, "Aria?"

"There is more to come and while I may have some control over them, it is not more than a guiding hand Thor. There will be more and they will be bigger."

At that moment, a shrill broke through the air. Loki looked up and emotions he couldn't decipher plagued his person. He knew that if any of the Chitauri saw him mingling with their "common enemy" then his cover would be blown. He would have to engage with Thor and find a time to get to Aria. He gripped the scepter tightly before deciding to just go after his brother, pushing forth off the platform and bringing his scepter down towards Thor with a yell. Thor parried with him and they continued fighting. Loki's mind wasn't present in the battle thus letting Thor achieve the upper hand. With a grunt, Loki hit the floor and faced the war-torn city. Unwelcomed tears sprang to life in his eyes as Thor held him down.

"Look at this! Take everything away Loki! None of this will end in your rule!"

"It's too late! Even if I wanted to withdraw, I couldn't Thor! You don't understand, I need to find the woman. I have a plan."

"All your plans end in failure brother," Thor said as he relaxed his hold slightly.

"Have a bit more faith, brother," Loki teased before pushing his brother off with a magic blast and rolling off the side.

He landed on the back of one of the Chitauri's ships, speeding through the city. He closed his eyes and conjured up a fake version of himself to ride with them before jumping down unnoticed thanks to a small cloaking spell. Now he would have to find Aria and get her back to the top of the tower. Easier said than done at least until he felt a large disturbance around him. Loki stopped walking for he had never felt this much power, almost as if it were suffocating him. And he had been suffocated by who he had thought was the most powerful being as of now. He put his hand up in front of him and closed his eyes, picturing a compass that could lead him to the source which had to be the woman. He opened his eyes and in his palm was a glob of green magic swirling. In an instant, the glob pulled to his left and so he followed. His magic was reacting to hers, wanting to combine again after the last few times. She didn't know it but their magic had swirled together when she saved him from the Titan's mind games. Loki was now imprinted with her essence and would be able to cast a small bit of his magic out to trace back to her. Wherever it pulled he went in hopes to find her. Maybe she was the curveball for him, not against. He would be glad to be wrong this one time.

His magic lead him to one of the many streets this Midgardian place had. Relinquishing his magic, Loki looked around before looking up. Eyes widening, he ran back to avoid the creature falling from the sky. It landed and shook the ground but also shook his soul. If she could kill that, what couldn't she do? A fleeting emotion stirred in Loki's chest but he drowned it, no need for distractions when she would more than likely become a pawn in his game of chess. While she may be interesting and her kind nature to him was of surprise, he couldn't allow himself the frivolity of her companionship. The Titan would surely use that against him for he had already threatened to use Thor as leverage. He found a different way back to that same street, curse these elaborate pathways these Midgardians put just to get to one place, and saw her facing off against a group of Chitauri. The street was uprooted all around her yet his eyes were instantly glued to the woman for she looked vastly different now.

Her once solid pink hair had stripes of white intertwined. The right side of her body had black sigils all over which tickled his memory, but of what he couldn't place. The most impressive however was the icy blue aura surrounding her. It was swirling around her and from the looks of it she didn't seem to notice or just didn't care. Her magic was normally white and Loki's thoughts of something else giving her power was all but confirmed. When she had been clearing his mind, her magic had started off white but then began to change to the icy blue that was encompassing her now. It also felt...different. Her energy had felt calm and nurturing but when it turned, it began to feel chaotic and angry. He had heard stories of those harboring monsters within but he had chalked them all to just stories his moth- that Frigga had woven to mesmerize Thor and himself. Yet looking at her now, he wondered if Frigga had been recounting actual people now.

He summoned his scepter to his hand and watched from the cover of the alley, a small token of fascination for the woman building at her display of power. Granted these creatures were a far cry from a strong opponent such as himself, unable to critically analyze or make benefitting decisions in combat and just were overwhelming by the sheer number. Yet she was able to plow through them almost effortlessly. Every move was calculated and precise, no move hindering the outcome. She did get caught off guard but it mattered not for she was able to counter quite quickly. The injury seemed to heal before his eyes, much quicker than the measly injury she had on the Midgardian ship. He wondered why that injury didn't heal as quickly as this grave one did. He also noticed that there seemed to be a vicious nature to her attacks, especially when she would punch or kick the Chitauri. The mess she created defeating them was quite discerning, especially with her apparent ignorance of it. Either she didn't realize or didn't care and either of those options made Loki feel unsettled. For such a beautiful woman, she certainly didn't hold restraint whenever she was in this...form.

She stood in the middle of the carnage and Loki took a step forward, still cloaking his likeness in case she was ravage. Who knew if she would just attack him on sight with all thing's considered. He wouldn't hold it against her, after all he did kick her off the Midgardians ship and most likely disappointed her with his actions. Maybe he would be able to explain himself, make her understand that not an ounce of this is what he wanted but something he had to do. Loki froze in his advance when he saw her begin to turn towards him, her once emerald eyes now in the likeness of the blue air of Jotunheim. Her gaze chilled him to his core, the vast hatred just in her eyes captivating him so much so that he couldn't look away. Was it truly just her feelings against him or was there more to it? He blinked rapidly before stepping forward slowly, slowly picking out what he would say to her.

"I don't want to fight," Loki spoke out slowly, lowering the scepter and relaxing his grip on it, "I have actually come to seek your council. I am pleased to see that you survived our last encounter, in fact I had been hoping as much."

Her eyes widened and the energy around her began swirling even more menacingly than before. "My help? My help? I tried to help you and look at what it's gotten to! You're destroying New York and are no longer controlled by whoever it is that was controlling you!" Aria seethed at him.

Loki stared at her apologetically, so many things going through his mind of what he wanted to tell her. He wanted to scream out to her and convince her that none of this was his pure intention. He wasn't sure why her approval was of his importance but it was. Along with the fact that he did not enjoy acting out in another person's intention, he loathed it. If he were to rule over a people, it would be on his own choosing. Of his own want. His thoughts were cut short when she rushed him. He parried with her for a small while but was taken down by one of her kicks. She straddled him and he felt her dagger dig into his neck but barely nicked him. He stared up at her wondering why she was hesitating. She gritted her teeth, the grinding loud in the silence around them, before Loki felt her apply more pressure to his throat. He swallowed thickly as her breaths quickened out of what he assumed was anger. His eyes caught hers and his breath hitched in his throat. His mother had always told him that eyes were the doors to one's soul, to their true desire. Loki had become able to use them to his advantage, branding his name the "Silver Tongue" for his ability to use this crutch as an advantage. But as he searched, Loki found nothing besides a frozen tundra. As he stared at her trying to find something, he swore he saw them mix together between her emerald and this icy blue as if trying to overpower one another. The icy blue won it seemed but her dagger was still taunt at his throat, making him wish she'd relinquish it.

"I will seek the truth," Aria spoke out soft but sternly, slightly confusing Loki.

What could she do to "seek" truth? She was no Heimdall; able to see every one and thing. She couldn't compare to his adoptive father either, for the Allfather knew just as much as Heimdall with his ever-faithful ravens supplying knowledge. She had been bound to Midgard her whole life, not an inch of the vast universe ever explored. Loki assumed it may be something else, something wiser. How else could her form change so drastically? How could she be so much more powerful? Regardless of his theories, Loki knew that in the end his guise as the God of Mischief gave him no slight of truthfulness. In this moment he regretted his given alternate. He had no intention of lying to the woman and was going to try his best to convince her otherwise.

"I know my title may as very well be my undoing, but I promise you I didn't want any of this," Loki spoke softly to her out of apprehension, "I only continued because I was worried to what may happen had I not. You don't understand the torture I was put through in order to be molded as his enforcer. I'd rather have it I be the villain today than to summon him to come for the Tesseract. Seek what you must, you shall find no tricks in what I say."

He swallowed thickly as she put pressure against his neck once more. He began to think of ways to overpower her but just as quickly as she applied pressure, she backed off. Putting down her weapon she sighed mutely before closing her eyes. Sitting upon him in such fashion made Loki feel uncomfortable. She was so light and still it was almost as if she wasn't sitting there staring at him. She smirked before reaching to his head. Loki's breath caught in his throat before he struggled against her slightly, not sure what she was about to do. The last thing he wanted was to be a wanton servant to anyone ever again. However, what happened next made him still. Memories buried deep within flooded the forefront of his mind, so much so that he closed his eyes to grasp what was happening. Various moments in his life sprang forward. Just as quickly and abrupt as the attack started it ended. Not a mere five seconds had passed in their intimate moment, or for at least him intimate. She'd just uncovered memories dear to him, even so much as delving into those once forgotten. Those of which he'd never had shared with another before.

The woman seemed to relax above him before a choked gasp came from her person. She flung herself back off him but Loki paid not an ounce of attention, his eyes screwed tightly shut. She found the memories of his tortures, the memories of Thor, Frigga, and various other moments in his life he thought never to be revisited. His emotions were in every which way released, feelings he hadn't felt in years brimming to the surface. Loki couldn't help the tears falling from his eyes, as much as he tried to collect himself to stop it from happening. He hadn't felt this overload of emotions in such a long time, last time being when he was just that of a child. They were enveloped in a strict silence, not uncomfortable but nothing content. Loki managed to qualm the waves of emotions he felt rather quickly, just shoving everything to the back. After all, he had a plan to see through for his life depended on it even though this speed bump was not accounted for. However. He couldn't help but think that this woman truly was astonishing.

"What is it that you need my help with?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys! I'm so sorry how long it's taken. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. I have been working on the story from my phone however just haven't been able to post anything due to my laptop deciding to "die". But I'm back and have about a couple chapters done and I'll be uploading tomorrow again :)

How'd you like the chapter though? It's kinda repetitive but it's from Aria's POV and then Loki's. I just wanted to see how that would mesh well and I like it for the most part. This might happen a couple different times throughout the story but for the most part, it will be Aria's POV. I know I had sprinkled Loki's POV in here already but this is the first where it's like a whole sequence. Let me know how you like (or don't like) it.

Thanks you guys!