AN: Now that you made through the first chapter...Hi everyone! I wrote this is a 3 day spree, and I present it fully complete for your reading pleasure. Now, I'm not going to make any promises, but if I see enough support I may or may not continue this series. Leave a comment if you enjoyed. I don't care if it says "nice story bro" you bet ur ass I'm still gonna be thrilled you took the time. Anyway, hope everybody has a nice reading! Even if the action scenes were a pain in the neck :)

The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., better known as Nick Fury to his close associates, stared in shock as Hawkeye slid his gun back into its holster, body language relaxed as he stood to attention. The other man, dressed in regal green and silver, smirked and clenched his hand more tightly around the glowing golden spear held at his side. Fury didn't often find himself at a loss for what to do, but now was one of those situations. His one good eye slid to the Tesseract, nestled snugly in the analyzer. He carefully pulled it out and slid it into the case held in his other hand. He attempted to walk quietly away, but the man in green, who had seemed quite preoccupied the moment before, spoke in a low voice, "Please don't. I still need that."

Fury froze. He was unwilling to lose his life, but he would do everything in his power to protect the Tesseract. "This doesn't have to get any messier." He replied quickly.

"Of course it does," The other man responded. "I've come too far for anything else."

Fury turned around. The other man appeared slightly insane, eyes wide and intense. "I am Loki," he said, "Of Asgard." Fury didn't let his surprise show on his face, though Dr. Erik Selvig did. "I am burdened…" he continued, "With glorious purpose."

"Loki-" Dr. Selvig said, clearly shocked, "Brother of Thor!"

Loki narrowed his eyes at him, but Fury interrupted before things got any nastier. "We have no quarrel with your people."

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki replied nonchalantly.

"So you plan to step on us?" Fury questioned.

"I come with glad tidings," Loki explained, striding forward elegantly towards Fury. "Of a world made free."

Fury narrowed his good eye. "Free from what?"

"Freedom." Loki said, as though he were explaining something to a particularly dumb child. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart-" Loki whirled on Dr. Selvig, pressing his golden spear to the old man's chest, his expression clearly that of a fervent believer in the cause, "You will know peace."

"You say peace," Fury said sourly, "I kind of think you mean the other thing."

"Sir, Fury is stalling," Hawkeye said to Loki, damn him. "This place is about to drop-"

"What's the problem?" A voice asked near the laboratory entrance. Fury's eyes widened.

"Strife, get out of here!" He warned. Strife took no heed of his words, instead studying Loki carefully, glowing blue eyes jumping around the destroyed lab and the bodies laying miserably on the floor, blood pooling from stab wounds or slices across the throat.

"Who are you?" Strife asked, already unsheathing his sword.

Loki was staring at him appraisingly, eyes roving up and down his body, clearly studying his worth as a pawn. "I could ask the same question."

"His name's Loki," Fury interrupted. At the risk of taking his eye off of Loki, he stared Strife dead in the eyes. "I'm trusting you'll take care of him." Strife nodded, though he kept his eyes on the targets. Fury's eye shot back to the intruder, alert and on guard. If he could stall a little longer-

"The portal's going to collapse in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this place goes critical." Dr. Selvig warned Loki, peering at his computer. Loki eyed Strife once more, then shrugged. "Well then."

Without any warning, Hawkeye shot Fury, dead in the chest.

Cloud grimaced, lips pressing into a thin white line. Don't think of him, don't think of him-

Still, he kept his eyes on Loki. The alarms blared all around them. Upon seeing that Loki was momentarily distracted, he ultimately decided that if this place was going to collapse he wanted his Materia. He turned around on the overhanging balcony, where Hawkeye's wire still hung down, and pushed open the emergency exit, making his way to the apartments located on the top floor as quickly as he could. 60 seconds left.

He burst into his room, and with a speed that came from both his enhancements and what seemed like a lifetime of being on the run, unslung his mission pack and dumped most of it on the bed. He pulled open the drawer that held his usual outfit, shoved the clothing into his bag, grabbed his Materia from the nightstand (what was he thinking, anyone could have easily stolen it), and bagged the necessary toiletries from the bathroom. In order to not waste anymore time, he kicked the window, easily shattering the glass, closed his eyes, and leapt. He probably had about 30 seconds left.

It took him longer than he would have liked to pick himself up from the pavement. Thankfully most S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities seemed to be about three stories tall, not counting the lower levels, or he would have been little more than that pancake he still wanted. A bullet embedded itself into the pavement beside his hand, and Cloud was only just quick enough to spot a truck, most likely carrying Hawkeye, pull over a ridge and onto the main road. Not willing to be left behind, Cloud searched for his motorbike in the nearly empty parking lot. Although it would be low on gas, hopefully it would be enough to get him out of here. He flipped the ignition (thank god Hawkeye hadn't shot at the tires) and climbed on, silently sending out a bare-bones prayer for Fury. The tires squealed on the pavement as the building rumbled behind him, but Cloud paid the noise no attention as he willed the bike to go faster, faster, faster. The truck was nowhere in sight as he got over the ridge, but Cloud was too worried to care. He had barely gotten to a 'safe' distance in the desert before a low rumbling started behind him. Cloud sped up as best he could, but he could still feel the heat behind him, creeping onto his back until it smothered his body, causing him to start sweating intensely despite the mako in his veins. He swallowed thickly, but soon enough he could no longer feel the explosion or the heat, and so he slowed back down until the bike stopped itself. Out of gas.

Cloud rested one leg on the ground and turned around. He had to squint against the receding light, but it appeared the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. complex was gone. He stifled a sigh. Where am I supposed to live now?

To Cloud's surprise, his eyes picked up a helicopter appeared in the distance. It seemed to be following something. That man… Loki?

Perhaps Cloud may have followed the helicopter, but the decision was made for him by the empty gas tank. He slung his pack over his shoulder and dismounted, preparing for a trek into town. He glanced once more behind him, causing him to do a double take at the now flaming helicopter in the sky. What in the world…?

Loki must be powerful if he's able to take down a helicopter single-handedly, Cloud thought, I was able to take down four, but I'm a SOLDIER. I should also factor in his weapon… that spear. This keeps getting stranger and stranger… Cloud once again lost himself in thought. What was in the briefcase Fury had been holding? Who in Gaia's name was Loki?

Cloud stood quietly in the desert, unmoving for some time. After a while he sat down in the dirt, dead tired after the events of the day. The next town would probably be some ways off, so Cloud supposed he better get moving soon.

Thankfully he hadn't walked very far before one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s trucks drove up next to him. He paused his trek and slightly raised an eyebrow as Coulson dismounted from the back.

"Cloud!" He called. Cloud remained silent, but his eyebrow raised higher as he took in Coulson's clean profile. Coulson smiled amiably, "Good to see you made it out."

"Same to you," Cloud responded truthfully. Out of everyone who worked at S.H.I.E.L.D., Cloud admitted (but only to himself) that he probably liked Coulson the most. Despite the fact they had started off a little rocky, Coulson had always been patient and kind when Cloud's awful social skills kicked in. If there was a problem, Cloud usually told Coulson over anybody else. However, that didn't necessarily mean he trusted him.

After an awkward silence, Cloud averted his eyes. "I have the… stuff."

Coulson raised an eyebrow. "Stuff?"

Cloud dug around in his bag before pulling out the manilla folder and handing it to Coulson. "Here." Coulson quickly flipped through, nodding at whatever the documents read. Cloud hadn't bothered to scrutinize them himself, since he had been a little too annoyed to bother snooping.

"Ah, thank you. Now, do you need a ride?"

Cloud took the needless pretense of glancing around. "Yeah."

Coulson grinned and patted him on the back. Cloud flinched but kept his expression neutral. "Let's go, then."