A/N: Hahaha, yes, so basically we hit Captain America: The Winter Soldier in this one, except from the other side of things since, duh, Loki's POV. Also there are changes, because I'm a fanfic author and I can do that. And of course, the random Thorki moments in the middle of the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. So...have fun!
Disclaimer: Do I even have to put this anymore? Marvel/Disney's. Not mine.
19. The Path That You Are Now Taking
Tasha and Steve were at the Triskelion in D.C., taking care of a few missions up there before coming back to New York. Tony missed Steve desperately, which was obvious to everyone; Loki just hoped Tasha was okay, though of course she could handle herself. Coulson was out with his team again. The Tower was strangely quiet without them.
Loki was in his room, reading. It was easier to practice with the ice reserve when both Tasha and Valkyrie were around, and besides, he had yet to read most of the books he'd gotten for Christmas...two years ago, now.
Valkyrie's news about Brock still had him on edge, but in the three months since she'd made this revelation nothing serious had happened. Loki wasn't about to let his guard down, especially when he went out as a wolf, but he had started to suspect that Brock held grudges - and/or was just patient.
Despite three months having past, Loki hadn't told anyone else he was a werewolf. Tony had kept his word and hadn't told, so the number of people who knew was the same; that thought only comforted Loki a little, because he knew he should tell the others, but after the news about Brock...he was a little scared to bring others in on the secret. He didn't know if informing the others would potentially put them at risk or not.
"Hey," Thor said from the doorway, effecitvely pulling Loki out of his thoughts.
Loki lowered his book and smiled in Thor's direction. "Hey, you."
"What are you reading?" Thor asked, entering. There was a time when he'd ask if he could come in, but that time had long since past; considering Thor practically lived in this room now, with most of his belongings having migrated there in the last three months, the Thunderer apparently no longer felt the need to ask.
Loki sat up so Thor could sit across from him on their bed and found his (green, of course) bookmark, sliding it into place and flipping the book closed. "Something I got for Christmas my first year here," he replied as his boyfriend made himself comfortable. "I haven't read it yet, which I kind of feel bad about."
Thor made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat as Loki set the book aside, then settled back down so they were facing each other.
"Can you believe it's been two years, Громовержец?" Loki asked, a note of incredulity in his voice.
Thor intertwined his fingers with Loki's. "It's been that long already?"
"It doesn't feel that way," Loki admitted. "It may just be because we're Asgardian - but still, it feels like two years went really fast. So much has happened..."
"Indeed," Thor agreed. "We've both been through a lot in the past two years, haven't we?"
Loki nodded. "Surviving my first few weeks here, extravagant celebrations thrown by Tony, Valkyrie, the death of Mother and ordeal with the Dark Elves...and I've made friends with most of the Avengers, against all odds. I've even fallen in love..." Here he smirked at Thor.
"You're impossible, Loki," laughed Thor.
"I'm right, though," Loki pointed out.
"Yes, you are," Thor chuckled, and leaned in to kiss him.
Before he could, gunshots were heard from downstairs. Both gods sprang to their feet, Thor summoning Mjolnir off the wall and Loki flipping his daggers out of his sleeves.
"What the hell was that?" asked Thor.
"Let's go find out," Loki said, and the pair darted out the door.
They took the stairs; the elevator would take too long. Loki merely slid down the banister, while Thor essentially vaulted himself down the stairs. Entering the first of the S.H.I.E.L.D. research levels, Loki stopped short as his eyes fell on the scene in front of him.
The floor was alive with fighting. Doors stood open, some having been knocked off kilter or even completely off their hinges. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were everywhere, shooting at each other. A fire had started on one end of the room, and far too many lay dead or dying. Tony flew around in his armor, firing repulsor blast after repulsor blast.
One of the agents noticed the arrival of the Asgardians and charged towards them, shooting wildly. Loki effortlessly blocked each bullet with his blades, then used his magic to choke the man.
"What the hell is going on?!" Loki shouted to Tony, then realized he couldn't hear over the firefight and switched on the comm in his ear. He repeated his question.
"I actually have no idea what's happening!" Tony replied. Another agent charged the gods' way; Thor threw Mjolnir and knocked the guy out cold.
"What do you mean, Man of Iron?" asked Thor.
"I mean that this was completely random! One minute everything was fine and the next half the agents got up and started shooting! Basically, whoever's shooting at you is a bad guy, and whoever's shooting at them is on our side!"
It sounded pretty straightforward to Loki, so without further ado the Asgardians charged into the firefight.
As Loki slashed at an incoming opponent with his knife and magically brought five others to the ground, clutching their heads and screaming in pain, he asked over comms, "Where are Barton, Banner, and Valkyrie?"
"A few floors below!" Tony called back. Loki threw a smaller knife at another enemy as he watched Tony's repulsors blaze through another crowd of them. "Each of them was on a different floor when the fighting began!"
Barton's voice came over the comms now. "Bruce Hulked out two floors below, one of the R&D floors. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are fine as far as I can tell, but -" Muffled cursing and the sounds of another firefight - "I'm a bit preoccupied and can't be sure."
Valkyrie's next. "It's not much better here. I've been alternating between wolf and Asgardian, but they came out of nowhere. What the hell happened?"
"We don't know," Loki replied, knocking a handful of advancing agents out with his magic and stabbing or slashing at others with his dagger. "The story's relatively the same up here."
Barton cried out and then swore quite colorfully. "Damnit, I'm out of arrows!" A pause in which a thud could be heard even over the sound of fighting magnified threefold from the three sets of comms. Loki wondered if Barton had thwacked someone with his bow. "Could use a little help down here."
"What floor?" Tony asked.
"R&D Ten," Barton replied.
Loki was already running for the stairs. Thor shot him a concerned look; Loki mouthed I'll be fine at him and disappeared out the door. He slid down the banister again five floors until he reached Barton's, then threw himself into the fray.
Barton's floor looked even worse than the one Loki had been on. Fires raged across the floor, the body count was even higher, and there were of course arrows strewn everywhere. The first thing Loki did was conjure a new quiver for Barton, which he made appear next to where he could see the archer perched on a high cabinet, near a vent for quick access. In a rare moment of cordiality, and most likely just because they were in the middle of a battle, Barton nodded at him in thanks.
Loki proceeded into the fight.
It became a blur of slashing, stabbing, and mentally incapacitating for a while. Loki was unaware of how much time had passed when he decided to try something he wasn't sure he had the strength to pull off.
"Barton! I need your help!" Loki called.
Barton immediately dropped out of where he'd moved to the vent and had been firing upside down from. He fought his way over to Loki.
"What?"
"I'm about to do something extreme, but I don't know if I'm strong enough on my own," Loki explained, stabbing another enemy and flinging a throwing knife at yet another. Where do they keep coming from? "I need you to lend me your strength."
Barton didn't even question him. "What do I need to do?"
"Physical contact is enough," Loki instructed. "Even back-to-back will work."
So that was what Barton did, despite the awkwardness of the situation. He went back-to-back with Loki, still firing off arrow after arrow, as Loki summoned his energy. The Trickster raised his hands, focusing his power, and the fires on the other side of the room stopped flickering, slowly coming together.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents noticed what was happening long before the traitors did. They scrambled back, and the traitors, believing they'd won, began to advance.
Loki let the wall of fire fall.
Fresh screams erupted from the traitors as the fire consumed them. While Loki had killed before, this was different - this time, he wasn't such a twisted psycho that he enjoyed it. This time, every scream hurt his soul, and even as Loki held back the fire from reaching the loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, he felt the pain that came with killing so many.
This is my bargain, you mewling quim.
Loki shivered as the stray memory fluttered through his head. It was what he'd said to Natasha two years ago the first time she came in to interrogate him on the Helicarrier, when he'd threatened to force the very man now lending the sorcerer his strength to kill her. The thought came unbidden, unwanted; but it came nonetheless, possibly due to the traitors' screams.
Enough, Loki scolded himself, and a wave of water replaced the fire, effectively quenching the flames. Loki ended the use of his magic there, not wanting to kill anyone else.
The room stood in a stunned and sudden silence and stillness. The loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were either looking at Loki with varying emotions (horror, fear, expressions of being impressed, awe) or staring into nothing, stunned by the sheer brutality of it all.
"Alright, guys, keep moving," Barton ordered. "Let's get the wounded, no matter allegiance, out of here. We can come back for the dead later."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began moving in a flurry. Loki, exhausted from using so much energy on the fire, touched his hand to the comm in his ear and reported, "R&D Ten secure. What about you guys?"
"We've kept Applied Sciences intact," Tony reported. "Though we lost a lot of people."
"R&D Eight is safe," Banner's weary voice said. "Furniture's all destroyed, but safe."
"Quinjet Control's alright too," Valkyrie reported.
Loki sighed in relief as the reports started coming in from the other floors. Secure. Safe. Intact. Minimal damage. From the sound of it, they'd won.
He shut off the comm and sat down on an overturned desk that had ended up shoved against the wall. He needed a minute to catch his breath and start rebuilding his energy supply. He could help with the wounded, but he had to make sure he didn't drop from exhaustion too.
Barton came over and sat down heavily beside him.
"You know I still hate you, right?" Barton said.
Loki nodded, breathing heavily. "I'm aware."
"Good. Just so we're clear." The only sound for a moment was the harsh breathing of both men as they tried to catch their breath to go again. Then Barton added, "And I know what you are."
Loki looked at him in alarm. Barton glared halfheartedly back, seeming too exhausted for a proper glare.
"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone," Barton continued. "And in case you're wondering, I figured it out on my own. Your secret's safe."
"Why?" Loki asked. "You'd love to expose me for what I am, wouldn't you? Finally get your revenge, despite my apologizing multiple times?"
Barton gave him a look. "Just because I hate you doesn't mean everyone else has to."
With that, he got up and walked away to help coordinate the movement of the wounded and the dead. Loki sat there stunned for a moment before rising to his feet and following.
Loki went around to each of the far too many wounded and offered to help heal. He had to save his strength, so he couldn't do much for the more serious wounds, though he did stabilize a few critical conditions. For the most part, he healed minor injuries - broken bones, sprained ankles, various scrapes, a few bullet wounds that didn't hit anything vital.
His hands were covered in far too much blood.
At one point, late in the afternoon, the comms crackled to life again. Loki and Barton had been making their way down level by level, Loki helping heal the wounded where he could and Barton organizing the hospitalization and burial of the more seriously injured and the dead. Loki was exhausted from using so much of his energy that day, and winced at the crackle.
"Guys." It was Tony's voice, sounding just as weary as the rest of them, but with an underlying tone of urgency. "Get to the ground floor. Now. You need to see this."
Loki finished healing the person he was working on and met Barton's tired eyes across the room. Wordlessly, both archer and sorcerer headed for the door to the stairs. Loki once more slid down the banister, while Barton shot a zip line arrow down, presumably somehow managing to land in the wall at the bottom.
Both of them more stumbled than walked through the door to the main floor, which was a disaster like everywhere else in the Tower. Considering the ground floor through floor forty-five were for Stark Industries business only, Loki was a bit surprised that there was so much damage. Surely the traitors hadn't...
Tony noticed them first. "Thank the gods you're alive."
Loki and Barton reached where Banner, Valkyrie, Tony, and Thor stood. Thor immediately pulled Loki into an embrace, to which Loki protested only a little because it hurt.
Thor drew back instantly, worry in his eyes as he looked Loki over. "Are you hurt? You're covered in blood."
"Most of it's not mine," Loki explained. "I've been helping heal the wounded. Though I do think I may have cracked a rib at one point during the fight."
Thor touched a spot on the side of Loki's head and his fingers came away red. Loki hadn't even realized he was injured.
"What was so urgent?" Barton asked.
Tony gestured to the wall behind the receptionist desk. "That."
Loki turned in Thor's arms to look, and even his emerald eyes widened in horror at the message scrawled in blood that still looked far too fresh on the wall, illuminated in striped orange-and-red light from the setting sun shining through the broken glass windows.
Hail Hydra.
Loki was exhausted. They all were. But there was still work to be done. None of the residential floors had been harmed, which meant that they'd at least have intact places to crash that night. Finally, after hours more of getting the wounded to hospitals and the dead laid aside to be given a proper funeral later, the remaining occupants of Avengers Tower retreated wearily back upstairs.
Loki and Thor headed straight for their room. Loki couldn't rest, however, until he made sure Tasha and Steve were okay.
Thor immediately headed into the bathroom for a shower, leaving Loki to sit on the edge of the bed and pull out his phone to see five frantic texts from Tasha.
Loki, r u there?
Loki
Loki answer me
Loki r u ok
ANSWER THE PHONE GODDAMNIT
Loki was a little startled by the vehemence of the final text and quickly typed back, Im fine Nat, busy helping heal the wounded.
A few seconds later she replied. Hydra got you too?
Yes, Loki texted back. Completely out of nowhere. What happened in DC?
Long story short, assassin with a metal arm known as the Winter Soldier chased Steve last night, there was an epic elevator fight at the Triskelion today, basically everybody in power at S.H.I.E.L.D. is not S.H.I.E.L.D., oh and Steve and i are now fugitives from Hydra, who apparently control the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D. Project Insight is apparently their main plan.
A silence, then: Fury's down.
Loki took that in for a moment. Fury's down. The indestructible Nick Fury was dead. How was that even possible?
Im sorry, Loki wrote.
I'm going to kill them all. Loki had no trouble believing Tasha would do exactly that if she had the chance.
Who's Hydra? Anyone I know? Loki asked.
Sitwell. Pierce. Rumlow and the S.T.R.I.K.E. teams. Assorted other agents, Tasha listed. Hill disappeared, but she's on our side. The rest...idk.
Loki sighed heavily. So many agents. So many traitors. Where r u? he asked.
With a friend of Steve's, Tasha replied. Sam Wilson. Ex-military. Good enough guy. Hes clean.
Another pause, then: What about you? What happened?
They started shooting out of nowhere. Idk what triggered it, maybe some signal to the Hydra operatives. We're all alive, but we lost too many agents, and Hydra didn't care about the civilian lives on the SI floors. The Tower's secure, but we've got too many injured and dead. I helped heal where i could.
R u injured?Tasha asked.
Cracked rib and gash on my head, but otherwise no. They should heal overnight. What about you?
A little battered and bruised, but nothing's broken.
Loki was quite relieved. Tasha was a good friend and an even better fighter; if something had happened to her...
I'm exhausted, Loki told her. And something tells me this is far from over.
Yeah. Loki could almost hear Tasha's sigh. We both need rest. See u when this is over. Good luck, Trickster.
Good luck, Assassin.
Loki shut off his phone and ran a hand through his hair. He was still covered in the blood of loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and his hair was matted near the gash on his head, but he took a moment to just appreciate the fact that he was alive. He'd survived to fight another day. Granted, he was more powerful than basically everyone at the Tower combined, but with odds like what they'd faced today it was a miracle any of them had survived.
Thor came out of the bathroom in a simple T-shirt and pajama pants. "Your turn," he said softly. Loki nodded, left his phone on the nightstand, and headed in to take his own shower.
As he let the hot water relax him, Loki's mind was drawn back to what Barton had said. Just because I hate you doesn't mean everyone else has to. Strangely, Loki found that he wasn't quite as depressed by that statement as he thought he'd be. He knew by now that if - when - he told the others, they wouldn't react negatively; Tony's reaction had proven that. Standing there and thinking over Barton's assumption, Loki resolved to tell the others once they got out of the immediate danger of the Hydra situation. They were his friends now, and they deserved to know. Loki wasn't about to let Brock rule his life. His friends could all handle themselves, and they were all in danger now anyway.
Thus resolved, Loki shut off the water and slipped into pajamas, then headed back into the main room and climbed into bed, practically collapsing beside Thor.
"You okay?" Thor murmured.
"I'll be fine," Loki replied, kissing him lightly. "Just exhausted. I used too much of my life force today."
"It'll rebuild, right?" asked Thor anxiously.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Loki smiled. "Yes. Overnight. My advanced healing will also repair the cut and my rib. I'll be good as new in the morning, if a little sore."
Thor nodded in understanding and reached up to brush Loki's hair out of his face. "I'm so glad you're alive."
"The feeling is mutual, my love," Loki said. Thor smiled at Loki's words. Loki got the feeling Thor just liked hearing the word "love" directed his way.
In all honesty, Loki liked saying it.
"We've got a lot to do tomorrow," Loki said softly. "We should get some sleep."
"Probably," Thor sighed. "I love you, Loki."
Loki snuggled closer into his boyfriend's arms as he replied, "I love you too."
"So what's the plan?"
Loki raised an eyebrow. "The plan for what, exactly?"
"Stopping Hydra," Barton replied, glaring at him with renewed intensity. "Duh."
"You know we're not going to take down Hydra in a day, right?" Loki pointed out. "Even being the most powerful people in New York, we're hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. We need a solid plan and a load of backup."
"Phil -"
"- is off with his own team, dealing with Hydra on his side of things," Loki cut him off. "We can't pull him away from his disaster to come assist with ours."
"Guys, stop arguing!" Valkyrie said. "We're not going to get anything done if we're fighting amongst ourselves too."
"Scary werewolf lady is right," Tony said. Valkyrie rolled her eyes at the title. "We're not going to get anything planned for how to stop Hydra if we don't focus and save the family squabble for later."
Loki subsided, Barton still glaring at him. Loki was used to it by now and didn't pay much attention, instead focusing on the team meeting.
They stood in the lounge around a holo table Tony had installed. A map of New York hovered over it, Avengers Tower highlighted red to show a Hydra target.
"So where do we think they'll hit next?" asked Banner.
"What are known places S.H.I.E.L.D. has been spotted on a regular basis?" countered Tony. "They'll start there."
They all contemplated the map for a minute. Then Loki said, "Here." He tapped on a relatively low-profile building on the Upper East Side, and the hologram zoomed in.
"What's so special about that place?" asked Valkyrie.
"It's an old S.H.I.E.L.D. rendevous place," Loki explained. "I'm not sure if it's still in use, but it's historically been a meeting place for undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. It began as a speakeasy in your nineteen-twenties, I believe."
"What would Hydra want with that place?" asked Barton. "If it's not in use, there's no reason to attack."
"No, no, no, Loki's onto something," Thor said, peering more closely at the map. "There is still a reason for Hydra to want what's in that bar."
"Files," Tony realized. "Documents. Even if it's not a meeting place anymore, S.H.I.E.L.D. has had detailed plans about their future projects made decades in advance and hidden. If Hydra got ahold of them..."
"They could steal the plans and use them for Hydra's benefit rather than the world's," Banner concluded, closing his eyes in horror at the thought.
"Exactly," Loki said. "Which is why the speakeasy is a good target."
"But that can't be the only place they'll strike," Valkyrie said. "If it were me, I'd select a perfectly random target that had nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D., preferably full of innocent civilians, to distract the enemy from the real target."
"Good thinking," Tony complimented. "It's a sound strategy."
"Yes, but what happens if Hydra is counting on us knowing of their civilian ploy?" Barton inquired. "We don't know how smart these guys are."
"Or how much they under- or overestimate us," Thor added.
They fell to thinking again, and once more it was Loki who broke the silence. "We send three teams," he said. When the others looked at him, he elaborated, "If Hydra's going to use civilians as a ploy to draw us out, then we necessarily have to make sure they survive something they shouldn't have been involved in in the first place. At the same time, we have to ensure the speakeasy's secure. If there does turn out to be a third diversion, there has to be a reserve set aside to neutralize that potential threat as well before it can kill more innocent civilians or destroy part of the city. So we divide and conquer.
"Our first step is gathering the intel on when and where Hydra plans to strike next. Our guess of the speakeasy is the most logical, but we don't know how they think. Speaking as someone who lies and tricks on a daily basis, they could be expecting us to think of the speakeasy and choose a different S.H.I.E.L.D. target to throw us off. I don't believe this will be the case, but we need to make sure anyway. Barton, you're the most agile and seem to like climbing through the vents anyway, so you're probably our best bet to gether the intel.
"Step two is figuring out teams. We need at least two teams, possibly a third depending on Hydra's plan. One team will need to be sent out to protect the civilians and get Hydra away from the innocents, and the other will need to protect the speakeasy and whatever plans are inside. If it's still operational, then we can get the S.H.I.E.L.D. officers there on our side as well. I believe I should be on the civilian team, if only because I can help heal if there are injuries."
"I'll go with on the civilian team," Valkyrie volunteered. "Nobody's going to be expecting a werewolf warrior to show upout of nowhere; I can help drive the Hydra agents back and add an element of confusion to the mix."
"I guess I'll go with too," Barton sighed. "Much as I hate the thought of fighting with Loki again, I'm of more use when it comes to protecting civilians than anything else. I'll perch on a rooftop and take out incoming Hydra bitches from there."
"That leaves Thor, Bruce, and I to defend the speakeasy," Tony said. "Which does make sense, we're some of the strongest here."
"We'll also need to rally the remaining loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and get them to come with on both teams," Loki went on. "Even as strong as we are, we're hopelessly outnumbered on our own. At least with S.H.I.E.L.D. on our side we even the odds a little bit.
"Step three, of course, is always to have a backup plan, preferably more than one. Things tend to go off the rails quite quickly, and it's always a good idea to have backups for when the first plan inevitably fails. So if our main plan is to divide and fight off the Hydra operatives, what could go wrong?"
"We could have a spy or two among us," Valkyrie said. "I wouldn't put it past them."
"Hydra could change plans on us last-minute," Banner suggested. "It's an unlikely possibility, but the fact that it is a possibility is cause for concern."
"We could find ourselves overpowered, even with S.H.I.E.L.D. help," Tony added. "We don't know the size of their force in New York."
"So what contingencies, what backup plans do we have to have to prepare for these possibilities?" Loki asked, trying to make it seem like this whole thing wasn't completely his idea.
"Keep the details of the plan from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents," suggested Thor. "Until last-minute. That way any spies won't have time to report to Hydra."
Loki nodded. Barton spoke up next. "Gather as much intel as possible and have backup teams on standby in case they abruptly decide to switch targets."
"Fall back and create a strong defense around the documents, or let them think they got away with it and then ambush them to take back the S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff," Tony added. "There's a plan B."
Loki nodded again. "Alright," he said. "So we have our plan. Barton, we need that intel as soon as possible. Tony, Banner, Valkyrie, can you get to rounding up the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and dividing them according to team? And Thor, come with me. I've got something to show you that might be useful."
Everyone looked at him. Loki raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You know you're a brilliant strategist, right?" Valkyrie said.
"Welcome to the Avengers," Tony told him. "Let's move it!"
They all separated. Barton headed straight for the Quinjet bay; Tony, Valkyrie, and Banner headed for the elevator bank; Loki and Thor followed, just a little more slowly.
Thor took Loki's hand as they walked, earning a smile from Loki.
"So you're officially an Avenger now," Thor said.
Loki blinked as the full force of what Tony had said hit him. "Yeah, I...I guess I am."
Thor smiled. "That's great! You've come a long way in two years."
Loki's returned smile was a little hesitant. "I know. I'm just a little surprised that Tony just suddenly declared that I'm an Avenger."
"Why?" Thor asked. "You've more than earned your place here."
Loki glanced in the direction Barton had disappeared. "Some people don't think so."
"Barton needs to let the New York thing go," Thor sighed. "That was two years ago. Why can't he just move on? He doesn't have to like you, but he doesn't have to go around holding a grudge over something you've already apologized multiple times for either."
Loki glanced at him and smirked. "Since when are you good with words?"
"Once in a century opportunity," Thor laughed. "I am serious, though," he continued. "Barton needs to move on."
"Maybe one day," Loki sighed, shaking his head. "Come on. It's in our room."
The elevator ride passed in a comfortable silence, and Loki was a little surprised Thor wasn't questioning him. He supposed he shouldn't be; it had been at least a year since they'd gotten together, after all. Though Loki suspected he'd never fully get used to the idea that yes, Thor loved him, probably more than Loki himself could imagine.
Only when they entered their room did Thor ask, "So what exactly did you need to show me?"
Loki disappeared into the closet and came back out a minute later with a small pin in his hand. Thor inclined his head curiously.
"What's this?" he asked.
"A protection charm," Loki explained. "Enchanted it myself. Easily concealed, and lends a bit of extra strength to the wearer - not that you need it," he added, somewhat flirtatiously.
"What's the shape -?" Thor cut himself off as Loki held up the enchanted pin for him to see. It was a lightning bolt that shimmered gold, with a vibrant green snake wrapped around it. Thor touched the pin gently, almost reverently, and Loki could feel the warmth of his hand despite not actually touching.
"It's beautiful," Thor murmured, his free hand coming up to cup Loki's face gently. "You're beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it," Loki replied. "I made it specifically for you." Smiling softly, he used his magic to make the little metal snake come alive and slither off the pin and up Thor's arm. Thor smiled back as the snake climbed him.
"You and your magic tricks," Thor chuckled.
"What can I say?" Loki teased. "I am the Trickster."
The snake slithered back onto the pin and became immobile once more. Loki fastened the pin to the collar of Thor's shirt, then seamlessly drew the Thunderer into a kiss. Loki's hand tangled in his hair as Thor pulled him closer, deeper into the kiss and into his love. As they kissed, Loki couldn't help but think of the chorus of a song he'd heard courtesy of Tasha's recommendation.
"Riding the horizon...!
Falling into you
Feel the vessel tighten...!
I feel you pull me through!
A new world is breaking...
Your heart unveiling...
Breaking into pieces...!
In the gravity of you...
In the gravity of you..."
Loki drew away first with a smile. "I love you."
"I love you too," Thor replied. "And I have to wonder why you put us on separate teams for the Hydra attack."
"I'm sorry, love," Loki said, and meant it. "Truly. But I feel I can be more help defending the civilians that can't defend themselves against a threat like Hydra. And you saw how many people I helped heal yesterday. If Hydra does manage to do some damage, I can do my best to heal the injured civilians."
Thor ran his thumb across Loki's cheek. "Spoken like a true Avenger," he said, a note of pride in his voice.
"You sound as if you're proud of me," Loki remarked.
"I am proud of you, Loki," Thor said, with an unexpected ferocity in his voice. "You've gone from a villain obsessed with gaining a throne to a more or less selfless person who keeps striving to be better to atone for your mistakes in just two years. The fact that you're focusing on the civilians and being as concerned as you are for their wellbeing, as well as your willingness to help heal people you've never met, just shows how much you've changed." Thor's smile was radiant. "And I'm proud of you for that."
"What was that about eloquence being a once-in-a-century opportunity?" Loki teased, though his heart warmed at Thor's praise.
"Be serious, Loki," Thor sighed, but he chuckled.
Loki did turn serious. "Thank you," he said. "I'm surprised I'm here. But I suppose...living on Midgard, among the humans, and seeing how they interact, how they connect with each other...it's quite fascinating, and honestly, now that I've been here for two years and have seen the effect of the friendships among the Avengers, and somehow been included in those friendships, I think I understand humans a little more. I can say now that when I'm not busy trying to get them to kneel at my feet, something I've long since abandoned the desire for...people, and the nature of humanity, fascinate me endlessly. It's been quite a wonder exploring this new version of me, and interacting with these humans and seeing how they connect, how they form friendships, how they deal with stress and sorrow and hardship. Maybe that's why I care so much now what happens to the innocent civilians Hydra tries to implicate in their frankly nefarious schemes. And I know as Avengers that we have an obligation to protect humanity. I can see now that it is indeed worth protecting." Loki noticed that Thor was looking at him a bit strangely and added, "What's that look for?"
Thor smiled again and said simply, "I'm just glad you said 'we.'"
"Everyone in position?" Loki asked over comms.
"Ready," came Valkyrie's voice from the table she was sitting at, hood up and seemingly buried in her phone.
"All set up here, Trickster," Barton added from his perch on the roof of the building opposite the restaurant where Loki and Valkyrie sat, hiding in plain sight.
Loki shifted minutely in his seat. He wore a nondescript dark blue jacket over a black T-shirt and jeans only a shade or two lighter than the jacket. This outfit, of course, would disappear the instant Hydra made their move, since jeans limited flexibility and Loki knew he needed to move fast. His hood was pulled up to hide his rather distinctive hair, and his green eyes roamed the block even as he pretended to be reading the latest news off his phone.
"Any sign of Hydra?" Loki asked, mostly addressing Barton.
"I got a couple shifty-looking guys a street over, but they look more like average street thugs than Hydra," Barton reported. "Most likely, Hydra's hiding in plain sight same as you are."
Loki had figured as much, but he never stopped looking. They didn't know what exactly Hydra's plan was, but they knew it wasn't good - and they knew it was happening here.
Loki switched comm channels to check on Tony's team. "Everything okay at the speakeasy?"
"So far, all's quiet," Tony reported. "How long that will last, I don't know, but for now..."
Loki nodded even though Tony couldn't see him, though it was more of an inclination of his head, as he was trying not to attract unwanted attention.
"Loki," Valkyrie said, diverting his attention back to the mission at hand. "Across the street. Two guys staring directly at this building. They look like they're waiting for a signal."
A few of the patrons stood and began to move. Loki's eyes trailed the closest one.
"Loki, we've got hostages," Barton said urgently. "Civilians. Inside the building across the street."
It was now that Loki's eyes made out the shape of a gun stuffed into the retreating patron's belt. He cursed under his breath. "The guys Valkyrie saw aren't waiting for a signal," he realized. "They are the signal."
"Do we go?" Valkyrie asked.
Loki rose to his feet. "Yeah. We go."
Right as Valkyrie shot to her feet, one of the moving Hydra agents pulled out his gun and shot at the front wheels of a passing car. Both tires blew out, sending the car forward on its front fender. People began screaming, the ones in the car the loudest, as more gunshots rang out. In an instant, Loki had switched back into his gold-and-green tunic and used his magic to catch the car before it completely flipped over. He set it back down and magically opened the doors for the people inside to get out, then turned and whipped out a dagger to face the approaching Hydra officer. A few deflected bullets later, the Hydra officer found himself screaming in pain as Loki's dagger plunged deep into his leg. Loki pulled it out, sending the operative crashing to the ground.
Loki found himself faced with about five Hydra agents, these ones in gear, charging toward him at once. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents appeared out of nowhere and took two down with well-aimed bullets, but the other three kept coming. At the same time, Loki noticed a few Hydra operatives lobbing grenades into the panicking crowd of civlians as they all tried to run from the chaos. Torn between helping the civilians or saving his own life so he would be able to, Loki came to a split second decision. Using his magic, Loki pinpointed and suppressed the grenades, while also throwing a few knives at the approaching Hydra agents. One of them went down; the other two staggered backward and S.H.I.E.L.D. bullets finished the job.
The bombs detonated harmlessly under the magical suppression, and Loki took a moment to survey the chaos.
Valkyrie alternated between wolf and woman, attacking Hydra operatives left and right. Arrows rained down from Barton's perch, felling more Hydra operatives. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra locked in fierce battles, sometimes bullets and sometimes hand-to-hand. Civilians ran about, trying to escape the sudden battlefield. Sometimes they ran straight into Hydra agents, who seemed to not care in the least about civilian casualties.
Loki's hand went to his comm. "Barton!" he called. "What's the situation inside?"
"From what I can tell -" the whoosh of an arrow - "there are civilian hostages inside. Five guards around the hostages, at least another ten patrolling the other floors. Most likely, they're planning to blow the office."
"What floor are the hostages on?" Loki asked, already moving through the crowd of frantic civilians like the serpent he was.
"Eyeballing it, I'm gonna have to say the twelfth floor," Barton estimated.
"Go save the civilians," Valkyrie ordered, as if Loki wasn't already on his way. "We've got this shit covered."
Loki threw two daggers at the guards outside the office building; they went down like stones and Loki slipped into the eerily empty building. He muttered a quick spell to silence his footsteps as he made his way through the deserted halls, trying to find the stairs. He ran into a Hydra guard at the entrance to the stairwell and choked him unconscious, then began his ascent of the stairs.
He reached out with his seidhr, trying to detect the bomb Barton had warned him of. He had to take care of that first.
He sensed its heat signature on the fifth floor and slipped silently out of the stairwell. He accidentally hit the Hydra guard with the door, and when it became clear that the guard hadn't been knocked out, he slammed the door more forcefully into the guard's head. He crumpled like a sack of potatoes. The other guard began running toward him, reaching stimultaneously for his gun and the literal walkie-talkie on his belt, most likely to call for backup. Loki casually threw a dagger at him and he collapsed with a grunt of pain, but the walkie-talkie was already on.
Loki cursed and kicked it away with his foot, knowing it was only a matter of time before other guards came running. He strode straight towards where he could see the bomb, its timer screen lit up red even though there wasn't a time on it. A suicide bomb, then, detonation by handheld trigger.
I've never disabled a bomb before, Loki thought. But it shouldn't be too hard...
He ran his hand over the bomb, scanning the interior of the explosive with his magic. From what he'd gathered from the nonsensical scientific ramblings of Banner and Tony, there was a certain wire he could cut in some types of bombs without blowing the place up in the process.
What a stupid way to die, Loki thought as he searched. Blown up while trying to defuse a bomb. Then again, there are stupider ways.
He found what he hoped was the right wire and magically cut it, then held his breath, ready to throw a magic suppressor and silencing spell over the bomb if necesary. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the lights on the bomb died.
Yes! Loki thought.
His celebration was short-lived as the Hydra guards came bursting in. Loki counted at least seven of them and cursed. That was the rest of the patrol guards.
A dagger appeared in his hand. He wasn't going to be able to fight off all of them, not without serious injury. But he had to try. He was an Avenger now; he had to do everything in his power to save those civilians.
Loki launched himself into the fight, catching two of the seven off guard. He stabbed one and used his magic to knock another out. Then they retaliated. One, farther down the length of the hall, pulled out his gun; the others were close enough to go hand-to-hand. It was a confusing blur of punches and blocks for a few minutes, and then Loki cried out in pain and fury as one of the bullets hit him in the side. He stumbled, his hand automatically moving to try and staunch the bleeding. The Hydra operatives saw his weakness and advanced.
And then the full cold, furious force of the ice reserve roared through him, and to Loki's surprise and mild horror, tendrils of ice shot forth and struck each of the oncoming Hydra agents in the chest, effectively stopping them in their tracks. As Loki watched, green eyes wide, ice started to spread from each frozen spike outward, creeping up the panicked Hydra operatives. Within minutes, Loki's would-be assailants had become ice statues, frozen from the inside out.
With a small pop, the bullet that had lodged itself in Loki's side was forced free by the ice magic keeping the wound stable until he could get out of the midstof battle and properly heal. It hit the floor with a dull clang as Loki edged his way towards one of the ice statues that used to be Hydra agents. The ice does not forgive. Tentatively, Loki reached out and touched the closest one; it shattered into fragments and Loki jumped back, startled. He then winced as the move pulled on his wounded side.
He'd been learning how to control the ice reserve in the last few months, training himself how to use it along with and without his seidhr, as well as suppressing it in the heat of battle if he wasn't ready to use it. But he'd never been able to do anything like that before. That hadn't been natural, and yet it had come so easily in the moment.
Might as well make the best of this, Loki thought. As long as I don't shatter anyone else.
A few minutes later found Loki disguised as one of the guards, stumbling onto the twelfth floor.
"What is it? What happened?" demanded the leader of the bunch.
"There's got to be a hundred of them!" Loki gasped in mock (and frankly overdramatic) terror. "Or at least it seemed that way. I was the only one who made it out alive."
"Did he get to the bomb?" demanded the captain.
"No," Loki shook his head empathetically, "no, we managed to get him away from the bomb, but still..."
"Which of them is it?" the captain pressed.
"The sorcerer," Loki replied. "The one from New York."
"That bastard's working with them now?" one of the other agents said incredulously.
Loki had to forcefully stop himself from revealing who he was then by attacking the guard. He figured it wouldn't be a good idea; they'd shoot the civilians before his magical shield was finished, and besides, he was a rather large man. Loki may have the advantage of magic and a quick wit, not to mention spectacular agility, but this guy could probably still crush him like a twig.
"Apparently," he forced himself to stay instead.
"I never took him as the type to switch sides," remarked another officer. "After destroying New York and all that."
I didn't either, Loki thought privately as the other operatives jeered in agreement.
There was a lull in the conversation, one which Loki used to keep carefully crafting his shield spell around the civilians. He didn't know what they were waiting for, but he knew that when they made their move, things were going to get ugly.
At one tricky point in the spell, Loki had to say the Latin enchantment aloud. To disguise this, he threw up a silencing charm and an illusion to hide the fact that his mouth was moving. After a moment of consideration, Loki dropped the latter; let them think he was praying or some nonsense.
The Latin rolled naturally off his tongue in soft waves: "Tueri velut speculum; frangeret ad prohibendos crudelissimis tortam fatum. Caelum terramque quaeso iacebat ad tutelam innocentum vides."
"What're you doing?" demanded the nearest Hydra operative in a harsh whisper.
Loki eyed him coolly and dropped the silencing spell, finished with his aloud incantation. "Praying," he said smoothly. "As you should, in case the sorcerer comes back with the other Avengers."
That shut him up. They went back to their silent vigil.
The moment Loki finished weaving his spell, the captain looked at his watch and declared, "It's way past signal. Something happened. We blow the place now."
He dug around in his belt and pulled out a small handheld detonator. They all watched, the civilians' eyes wide with fear, as he pressed the button -
- and nothing happened.
"Looking for this?" Loki asked, stepping forward and holding up the mess of wires he'd recovered from inside the bomb, including the cut one.
"How did you -?!" the captain stuttered.
Loki let the illusion of the guard melt away and grinned. "Come on," he said, toying with them a little. "What did you expect?"
He frowned comically as he found five guns suddenly trained on him. "Come now," he lamented. "Don't be like that. I'm a sneaky bastard, you all know that." As he talked, he reached out with the ice reserve and slowly froze all five guns. "Did you really think I'd have let any of your pathetic guards get away?" Loki switched into Villain Mode to intimidate them. "They were weak. Better yet, they died like the cowards they were."
"I thought you were one of the Avengers now," the captain protested, a trace of a snarl entering his voice. "You're not supposed to kill."
Loki's gaze turned as icy as his magic. "Do you think I care what the Avengers think? Do you really believe I shouldn't kill just because I'm one of them?" Loki stalked foward with every word, and the captain began backing away. The guns remained trained on him, but none of them fired. They hadn't noticed the ice yet. "Iron Man kills. Black Widow kills. Hawkeye kills. Need I go on?"
"You - you're not -" The captain stumbled over his words as Loki kept advancing.
"I'm not what?" Loki asked, and everything about him reverted back to Villain Mode - his tone, his expression. He even illusioned the scepter into his hand and his horns onto his head (he'd left the real helmet behind). "I'm not a villain? No, not anymore. But I was. And I could be again." The captain nearly tripped as he scrambled backwards, away from Loki. "I could think of a thousand different entertaining ways to kill you if I wished. I could shatter your mind. I could make it slow, painful, physical. I could make it quick. I could make it subtle. I could find out what you fear, and I could make it come to life, trapping you inside a living nightmare. I could do all of those things."
The captain's back hit the wall and he cowered.
"But I won't," Loki said, dropping back out of Villain Mode. "Because I'm not like that anymore. However, if your men don't object to losing a few fingers, we should be fine."
It was then that the frostbite caught up to them. There were five cries of pain and the sound of five guns clattering to the floor.
"Well then," Loki said, and snapped his fingers to make a rope appear out of thin air and drag the five Hydra operatives together, binding them securely. "Now that that's settled."
He turned to the civilians with an apologetic look. "Did I scare any of you? I'm sorry if I did. I truly am not like that anymore, but I kind of had to make a point."
A few of the women fainted. Loki tilted his head in confusion. "What's the meaning of this?"
One of the young men grinned. "Don't mind them. They're just fangirls."
"I have fangirls now?" Loki asked, genuinely bemused.
"Yep," one of the other men laughed. "A lot of them."
Loki shook his head and made a few knives appear out of thin air. He cut the bonds of the first man that had spoken and handed him a knife. "Get to work on the others."
The man nodded and proceeded to do just that. Loki cut the bonds of two others, a woman and the second man to have spoken, and gave them the same task.
"You don't deserve to be an Avenger," spat the captain of the Hydra operatives.
Loki turned back to him and raised an eyebrow. "I know. I don't deserve most of what I have now. Yet it's been given to me anyway, and I couldn't be more grateful." He stepped toward the captain, who struggled against his bonds in sudden fear. "I've changed since New York. I've become a better man. I'm not perfect by any means, far from it in fact, but the Avengers have forgiven and accepted me for who I am. I strive to live up to the title of 'Avenger' every day, and for possibly the first time ever I'm surrounded by people that genuinely care about me. For now, that's enough." He stopped directly in front of the captain. "I meant what I said before. I could think of a thousand different ways to kill you. But I won't, because I'm not the same power-hungry lunatic that destroyed New York. I'm not the same psychotic god that would enjoy it. And I'm better than you in that regard, because you were willing to sacrifice innocent human lives to...what? Prove a point? Provide a distraction? These are people just like you, so what makes your mission of greater importance than their lives?" He shook his head. "I used to think along the same lines you do. I didn't care who lived or died as long as I got my throne. But now? Now I can see that killing innocents just because you can isn't right in any regard. And I'm above that."
"You're still a villain," insisted the captain.
Loki knelt so he was face-to-face with the bound captain. "If I'm a villain," Loki said quietly, "then why am I letting you live?"
He stood again and turned back to the now-freed civilians. "Is anyone injured?"
There was a rustling, and then a chorus of "No" or "Only a few bruises" rippled quietly through them. Loki nodded. "Alright, let's get out of here." He touched the comm in his ear. "What's the situation outside?"
"Hydra's operatives are all unconscious and bound," Valkyrie reported. "The civilians are safe, but there are a few injuries."
"Alright, well, I'll be out in a few minutes. The civilians in here are safe too," Loki informed her. "Barton?"
"Everything's clear up here," the archer replied. "Like Valkyrie said, we won."
"Let's just hope our friends at the speakeasy fare the same," Loki said, and shut off his comm. He grinned at the horrified look on the captain's face. "Yeah, we figured out your little trick. Wondering where Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk are?"
"The speakeasy," the captain groaned.
"Precisely," Loki said brightly. He turned to follow the last civilian out the door, but paused, smirked, and glanced back over his shoulder. "Also, shouldn't you be worshipping me or something? I am the Trickster, after all."
Before the captain could respond, Loki turned on his heel and swept out the door.
Twelve flights of stairs later, Loki could hear the crowd of civilians outside cheering as the ones from inside the office came out unscathed. And yet, as Loki himself stepped out, a sudden hush fell over them. Loki looked around; there were a lot of civilians.
All at once, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd, louder than ever. Loki was a little stunned; were they cheering for him? One by one, everyone who was able (Loki could see the injured being guarded by Valkyrie across the street) began to kneel, something that both stunned and flattered Loki. Never had he expected this.
"Rise," Loki told them, and the New Yorkers obeyed.
Loki made his way towards the injured. The crowd of civilians parted like the Red Sea before him, something Loki couldn't deny he felt a little giddy at. These people respected him because he'd just saved a lot of innocent lives, rather than fearing him like they would've had the Battle of New York gone differently. They had knelt for him because he'd done something heroic. In this moment, Loki had never felt more like an Avenger.
"It's a rush, isn't it?" Loki was a little startled when Barton's voice spoke in his ear.
"Yeah," Loki admitted. "It is."
"It never goes away, either," Barton said, for once not sounding like he hated Loki. "That feeling you get when you save a life. It's a thrill, every time. Makes you stop and think: 'Wow, I really just did that. I'm a symbol. A hero. ...An Avenger.' Puts things in perspective, and kinda makes you question: 'How did I end up here?' Especially if you're as fucked up as we are."
We? Loki thought, but didn't speak, not really wanting to shatter the moment.
"For people like us - people like you and me and Nat and Tony - it's sometimes hard to see the light," Barton went on. "To pull ourselves out of the darkness we were born into, or forced into by circumstance. To find the silver lining when our lives have been shit for years. So when the full force of 'Wait a minute - I'm an Avenger' hits us, it can be a little shocking. I think that's why I stick around - that feeling, knowing I'm a hero when I get to save a life, that's what keeps me going."
The archer went silent for a moment, then added, "What you're doing is good, Loki. I bitch and complain and act like a dick, but you really are actually doing something good. And I'm not sure how to feel about that. I keep trying to associate you with the bastard I wanted to kill for mind-controlling me and I keep finding I can't." An audible sigh. "I want to hate you, but it's getting exhausting." Another sigh, and then: "You know you're a real pain in the ass, right?"
"Yes," Loki said definitively. "I've been told that. Multiple times."
"Just checking." And the comm link abruptly cut off.
Loki shook his head, bemused by whatever the hell had just happened. He composed himself quickly as he reached Valkyrie and the civilians.
"Hey, Ice Alpha," Valkyrie greeted in a low voice. "How does it feel being a saviour?"
"Shut up," Loki chuckled. "Where are the wounded?"
"Come on," Valkyrie said. She led him a little ways behind her to where the wounded and their loved ones stood or lay. Some of the human doctors (coincidentally, there was a hospital half a block away) had brought out stretchers and hospital cots for the more seriously injured.
"How many did Hydra manage to catch in the crossfire?" Loki's breath caught in his throat as he looked upon the number of people.
"It's really only about a dozen, which is really lucky," Valkyrie explained. "It could have been much worse. The extra people are the families or loved ones of the wounded."
Loki nodded and got to work.
He made polite conversation with every person he came to to distract from the possible extra pain that came with healing wounds (the worse the wound, the more extravagant or strange the topics of conversation became - one man who had a bullet buried deep in his side became the subject of a very serious discussion about squirrels). They all seemed quite grateful for it, but by the time he had finished the last man he was completely drained. Once again, he'd used too much of his energy.
Loki stumbled as he walked back toward where Valkyrie and now Barton stood waiting. Valkyrie caught him. "Easy," she said. "You've used a lot of your life force today."
"I know," Loki groaned. "I'm exhausted."
"Let's get back to the Tower," Barton said. He'd apparently decided to stop his glaring, but now he was looking determinedly everywhere but at Loki.
"Good idea," Loki replied. As Barton started to head back towards the Quinjet, Loki sighed. He'd made some progress - but it wasn't enough. Not yet.
Back at the Tower twenty minutes later, Thor instantly wrapped Loki in an embrace.
"Thank the gods you're alive," Thor mumbled into his hair.
Loki smiled tiredly and somehow managed to wiggle out of the embrace. "I take it the speakeasy still stands?"
"Yep," Tony replied.
"You're bleeding," Thor noted with dismay.
Loki glanced down at his side. The ice had melted and the wound was bleeding again.
"I got shot," Loki said. Thor looked alarmed. "I'll be fine," Loki reassured him, slightly exasperated. "This one's going to have to heal naturally, though. I used most of my energy today, and there's not enough left right now to heal myself."
"I'll get the bandages," Valkyrie declared.
They'd just finished with the bandages when another Quinjet landed. Loki slipped his tunic back on and the six of them headed to the docking bay to greet the rest of their friends.
Tasha emerged first, followed by a black man Loki didn't recognize. Steve came out next, and with him...
"Зимний солдат?" Loki breathed in Russian. [The Winter Soldier?]
The man looked up at the language. "Ты знаешь кто я?" [You know who I am?]
"Я сказал ему," Tasha said soothingly. "Не волнуйся, он друг." [I told him. Don't worry, he's a friend.]
The man nodded, slightly warily.
"Steve? Who's this?" asked Tony.
"Everyone, this is Sam Wilson," Steve said, gesturing to the black man, who raised a hand in greeting. "And this -" he looked to the Winter Soldier - "is my old friend, Bucky Barnes."
"Hey, guys," Sam said, a little too brightly for someone who'd likely just been through a major battle.
The Winter Solider - Bucky - waved hesitantly.
"Wait, hold on, not to sound rude, but aren't all your old friends dead?" asked Barton.
"I thought so," Steve replied. "But...well, it's a long story involving Hydra, and it can wait for another day. We're all exhausted."
"Well, we've always got guest rooms," Tony sighed. "Welcome to the Avengers, guys."
All ten of them made their way upstairs to the residential floors and disappeared into their rooms. Steve helped get Sam settled while Tasha went with Bucky, murmuring softly to him in Russian. Loki suspected Steve would check on his friend before heading to bed.
Loki didn't even bother taking off his tunic. He collapsed on the bed, groaning.
"It's been a long day," sighed Thor.
"No shit, Sherlock," muttered Loki, using a phrase Tasha had taught him. "I'm tired. Can we just...?"
"Of course," Thor said. Loki felt him climb into bed beside him and pull up the covers. "Good night, Loki."
But Loki was already asleep, and his dreams were haunted by the eyes of the frozen Hydra operatives, staring at him in pure fear long through the night.
Holy shit, that was a long chapter. Not including A/Ns, disclaimer, or title...10,161 words. All Saints, that's a lot. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (and that it made up for the horrible cliffhanger last time). Please, PLEASE leave reviews (seriously guys, you have no idea how happy they make me, and I'm kind of sad because the only person who reviews anymore is Snowbeardolphin - thanks, girl!) telling me what you thought!