SirOlives: Thank you, and this is going to be no better.
Summerstorm: Don't worry, the end will be happy. I hate tragedy, so we'll all be good toward the end. But I thank you for the review, and hope you won't give up on it. :)
Spottedivy: I'm so, so, so, so, sorry. Would you like a golden retriever? I'm sorry to say that 'yes, they are both in danger' but all will be well soon. I know it's been hard on everyone, but I swear that all will be well if you just hang on. And I, again, am very sorry.
Lokiodindaughter: Well hopefully you can forgive him, cause it's gonna get hella more complicated. But he forgives her for good after this chapter... I am so, so sorry. I have, but I love hearing it. Thank you :D
Guest: I honestly don't know how many more chapters there are, because I haven't written them. More than ten, at least.
Alright all, I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a month. I've been busy, and also my writing hit a brick wall, hopefully things will come out much more quickly here on out. Again I apologize, I really have been bugged about this story for two weeks. I hope things will be better here on out.
Clint was nervous. Hell, scratch nervous, Clint was scared. He looked up at the disguised Loki, his heart beating quite furiously in his chest. This wasn't like other times where he'd been held a hostage, this was much more dangerous. He wasn't being held because he was a SHIELD agent, he was being held because he knew Elizabeth Donovan, and her boss was a psycho.
"These corridors all look the same." Loki grumbled, his hand unconsciously tightening around Clint's upper arm.
"Heads up." Clint whispered. "We have a mutant coming in on our three."
"I see him." Loki replied. "Don't say a word."
"Hey, what do you think you're doing, Evans?" the mutant who had originally been their guard said. "Where's the other one?"
"Knocked out down below." Loki answered in Evans' voice. "They got in a little fight, when I went down there he jumped me, I took care of him quickly enough though."
Clint looked down the hallway, there was no one else around, it was possible that if an altercation happened they'd be able to get out of there easily enough by incapacitating him. "...besides Herr Schmidt wants to speak with you. He sent me to find you actually." the guard was continuing to say. What?
"Why does he want to do that?" Loki replied.
The guard shook his head. "No idea. He just told me to come and get you – he said you would have the prisoner anyway, and he wants to see him too." he said. "He'll be in his study."
"Alright, I'll go." Loki replied, internally smirking at how easy it was for this guard to believe that he was Evans. Some Midgardians truly were obtuse. He started to head down one hallway when the guard grabbed his arm.
"Hey! Wrong way, Evans – what's the matter with you today?" the guard shouted.
"Bad night's sleep." Loki replied, heading – this time it seemed – in the right direction. He needed to get as far away from the guard as possible so as not to arouse suspicion... he could only hope that no one went looking for the body of the real one.
Clint looked back to make sure the other guard was out of hearing range before he spoke. "This seems too easy, doesn't it?" he asked.
"Yes, it does. Something is off, although I'm not sure what it is." Loki replied tersely, his entire posture stiff and rigid. "We will have to play along at first, we're too far into the building, and have no idea how to get out yet."
"Right, you think this will work though?" Clint asked.
"We have to find out where Pepper is anyway." Loki said, pulling him along down the hall, his mind checking on the disguised guard down in the basement. There were three doors when they reached the end of the hall, and Loki took the one in the middle, counting on Shaw's impeccable sense of self-importance. Knocking, he waited for the signal, looking over at Clint. "You ready?" he asked as he was given the affirmative from inside.
"Let's do this." Clint replied stoutly. "Loki-" he said quickly.
Loki stopped, his hand hover over the knob. "What? Make it quick."
"If we don't make it out of here, I don't blame you." the smaller man said. "You're not as bad as I thought you were."
Such a thought coming from Clint Barton gave Loki pause, and he had to remember that they were here for a reason. "Noted, Barton." he said, reaching for the knob once more and opening the door.
"Ah, Evans... I was wanting to see you." Alex said from the other side of a lavish desk, the room painted dramatic red. "Shut the door, Evans."
Loki did as ordered, hoping that they'd be able to get out when they needed to.
Where the hell was Thor? Tony wondered as he paced the length of the great room in his apartment. The others gathered watched him in concern, the events of a few hours before imprinting something rather unpleasant in their minds.
Tony had received a video of Pepper's state, apparently filmed on the ship before they had left. To say that he had been outraged would have been an understatement, as all present were worried about him more than anything. Had he been the Hulk, they were sure that he would have tore up Manhattan in a heartbeat, his obvious anger festering as he waited.
"I'm sure he'll be here soon, Tony." Jane tried to comfort him, her position next to Bruce who looked like he was about to blow as well. Of the Avenger women only Jane, Darcy and Natasha remained, and it had fallen to Jane to try to keep Bruce from hulking.
"Well where the hell is he? I'm sure Mr. See-All has informed him of what's going on down here, we can't move until he gets here because he's probably the only one who knows where Pepper, Clint and Loki are!" Tony was nearly shouting by now, something which worried everyone even more. This was nothing like anything they'd seen with him. He was worried about Pepper, the warning from Alex' video still ringing in his ears.
Veronika finally stood, walking up to him and stopping him in his tracks. "Lizzie will take care of her, Tony. She brought Pepper into this, she'll make sure she gets out alright."
"Honey," Tony began, his eyes flashing dangerously. "If it wasn't for your daughter Pepper would be here, safe and home with me. I wouldn't be worrying if something bad was happening to her, I'd know that no one would dare enter my fortress to hurt her."
"Nevertheless, she's right, Lizzie will make sure she's fine." Logan confirmed.
Tony looked at the mutant and sighed. "I'm going to work on my toys, let me know when Thor gets here." he said, leaving the room.
"He's going to use Tony." Veronika said, looking over at Logan. "The sooner we get Pepper back the better it's going to be."
"Do you think that Lizzie has gone back to her old ways?" Bruce suddenly asked. "You saw her in the video, she just stood there while Shaw did what he wanted, her ability obviously was keeping Loki and Clint quiet."
"I don't know." Vera answered, looking at Bella.
Her daughter shook her head. "Who knows what the hell she'd do, especially if she thinks Saoirse is still alive." she said. "We won't know until we get to her."
Veronika wrung her hands, pacing the floor as Tony had been a few moments ago. "We need Charles." she said. "We need his group. We can't take Alex on on our own."
"Woah, woah, there is no taking on going on." Logan replied. "We are there to get them out and get back."
"What if we fail?" she asked him.
Farbauti stood, walking up to her friend. "We won't." she said, smiling. A crack of thunder could be heard by everyone. "Thor is here."
The reaction was spontaneous as everyone instantly stood, walking over to where the platform's entrance was. Thor came in, his hair soaking wet from the rain which pelted outside. "Where is the Man of Iron?" he demanded.
"In his workshop, Prince Thor, he has been informed of your presence." Jarvis answered quickly.
"Good." Thor replied, holding Jane a brief moment as she ran up to him. "Heimdall has discovered the location of Lady Pepper and my brother. We are to leave with all haste."
"Where are they?" Steve asked.
"A place my mother called Rochester." Thor answered.
"That's upstate. How could he have gotten there so fast?" Bruce inquired, looking at Veronika.
"He has his ways." she answered vaguely, looking at Thor. "I think I know the place he's at. Bella can take us there."
"Who are you?" Thor asked in return, his eyes taking in the new faces of Bella and Farbauti as well.
"I am Veronika, Elizabeth's mother, Prince Thor." Veronika replied. "We have not met."
"No, we have not." Thor said. "An honor, to meet you, Lady Veronika."
At that moment, Tony burst back in. "Well? What news, Sky-god?" his attempt at humor was lost on everyone, they knew that it was simply a ruse to pretend that he was well. Thor reiterated once more where Pepper was and Tony nodded. "I'll get my suit. Jarvis type the coordinates in."
"No need." Veronika interrupted. "Bella can take us there. Thor, will you allow me to find the location from your mind?"
Thor's brow furrowed, and he looked at his companions.
"It's her mutation." Logan answered. "It enables her to glean certain information – memories – and transfer them."
"It's so that I can take us where we need to go with no delay." Bella told him. "Sorry, I'm Lizzie's sister."
"It seems I have missed much." Thor said, looking between the women. "Do what you must, we have no time to waste."
Lizzie adjusted her coat for the tenth time, walking down the hallway to Alex' room. She had gotten Pepper out, and to a little house she had found a mile or two away. She would be relatively safe there until Lizzie figured out what to do next. She opened the door, expecting to see him in the bed... but he wasn't. Her heart leapt into her throat. She hadn't disabled him after all, and he could be – quite literally – anywhere.
"Anesthesia?" the voice behind her made her jump, her persona not in place as her shock took over.
"What is it?" she snapped, looking at the young mutant who stood behind her. The girl could not have been more than ten, with hazel eyes and inky-black hair.
"Herr Schmidt told me to find you, and to bring you to see him. He said he needed to talk to you." the girl said.
Lizzie nodded, her heart slowing down slightly. "Of course. Where is he?"
"In his office." the girl replied. Lizzie nodded again, walking past the girl and back down the hallway, she would need to go a floor below. In the walk, she calmed herself greatly, doing what she had to to slip her mask back into place. She hadn't expected him to be able to fight her power off unconsciously... unless he hadn't been unconscious. It seemed there was more to him than she remembered.
Approaching the door, she knocked. "Come in, Elizabeth." Alex' voice came from within. Persona completely in place she opened the door.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked the moment she entered.
"Ah, yes, shut the door dear." Alex replied. Lizzie noted the guard who she knew had been assigned to Loki and Clint, the latter being held there with an iron hand. Doing as ordered, she approached the desk, placing her arms behind her back as she awaited to find out what was going on. "Where have you been?" Alex' first question came.
"I went for a walk." Lizzie answered.
"A walk?" Alex repeated. "And where did you go?"
"Down by the lake. It's pretty over there, besides it's good to know just what surrounds your headquarters, you don't want to run in one direction and suddenly find yourself over a cliff." she replied, quirking an eyebrow. "And how was your... nap, sir?"
Alex smirked. "Quite pleasant. I can't remember the last time I slept so deeply... I think I was under your spell then." he said pointedly, playing with a vial of liquid. "This guard says that a fight happened between the prisoners." he drawled, looking at her. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"No, I wouldn't." Lizzie replied. "Though why you are asking me, is beyond me."
"Of course it is." Alex hummed, putting down the vial and looking at the guard. "You say the other one is dead?"
"Yes sir." the guard replied, and Lizzie's heartrate spiked.
"What?" she asked quickly, forgetting herself and where she was. Loki? Dead? How? Her heart sank, remembering meeting his mother only hours before. She looked at Clint, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Apparently they got in a fight." Alex said from his place, a smile growing on his handsome face before he stood and walked over to the window. "The guard had to break it up, but the other one – Loki was it? – was a little hard to simply subdue. He's dead in the basement."
Her throat constricted, tears threatening to spill. She shut her eyes tightly to avoid their being seen. If she felt like a piece of her heart had been torn out earlier, there was no doubt of it now. He was dead... lying in the basement downstairs. She ducked her head, fighting to keep her composure and knowing she was failing. Her hand unconsciously gripped where she knew the locket lay under her clothes.
Clint noticed the distress in her, and spared a glance up at Loki. Did he see it? Did he notice how broken she suddenly looked? He had noticed that during their time in each other's company she had become quite devoted to him, defending him even when he hadn't originally deserved it. As she hung her head, he realized that it had all been an act – that Pepper had been right, and Lizzie was there to get her daughter no matter the cost... even if it meant Loki.
"Crying, Elizabeth?" Alex' voice cut through the room, and Clint watched Lizzie stiffen.
"For what cause would I have to cry?" she asked in return, her head coming up straight. "I hardly knew the man."
"Ah, but you were very close, were you not?" Alex replied, sitting back down in his chair. "From what I gather, you were lovers."
Lizzie's brow quirked. "Whatever gave you that notion?" she asked.
"A friend told me." Alex answered.
Loki watched with interest as Lizzie suddenly stiffened, her hands clenching to fists behind her back. "A friend?" she queried.
"Why do you act so surprised? He said that you saw him." Alex replied, giving Lizzie a pointed look.
"So I did." Lizzie replied coolly. "If by a 'friend' you mean Thanos."
Alex smiled. "So I do." he said, looking at Loki. "I wonder, did she tell you that she saw him?"
"Sorry, what?" Loki asked, pretending to be the guard.
"Did she tell you that Thanos watched the pair of you like a lech?" Alex repeated a little more clearly.
Lizzie turned, her eyes wide in surprise as she looked over his appearance. It was then that she noticed that more of the Guard had come in, and were standing around the room like statues. Her eyes once more went to Loki, although it didn't look like him, and she internally sighed in relief. So he wasn't dead, Alex had been gauging her reaction. Loki's eyes locked onto hers, and she practically willed him to see her emotions.
"You think I don't know who you are, Loki Odinson?"Alex asked, his form suddenly shifting to that of Thanos. The alien smirked as Loki's eyes widened. "A master of disguise... but you forget that you and I still share a link, be it ever so faint." Thanos moved toward Loki, as Alex suddenly appeared behind Lizzie.
Against his will, Loki's magic once more dissipated, leaving him once more in his original form. He looked at Lizzie, whose eyes were wide with fear, her hand slowly moving to her jacket. Loki's hand released Clint, unsure of what was about to happen.
"I warned you, halfling." Thanos said smirkingly. "I warned you of your fate should you betray me." He looked at Lizzie. "And to those who you love."
"What makes you think she means anything to him?" Alex asked, his arm coming around her waist from behind.
Thanos chuckled maliciously at the mutant. "You are a fool to believe that she means nothing to him, or he to her." he condescended. "That she belongs to you in any manner."
Alex' arm tightened, his pride wounded. "She is mine!" He hissed.
"Only in your mind, underling." Thanos replied. "She does not belong to you any more than your army does." He took a step toward Elizabeth, his hand moving up to her face. Loki fought the urge to snarl at Thanos not to touch her, that he would cut off his hand. Still, the words which the alien spoke resonated in his mind. "You see, underling," Thanos continued. "Despite her words to him, she is still quite in love." The word was drawled in mockery.
Lizzie fought to maintain control over her emotions, over her carefully constructed mask, but his unearthly eyes boring into hers proved hard to resist as she suddenly felt a whisper of another consciousness in her mind. This was what Loki told her of, his tortures under Thanos' control... would he try to do the same with her?
Thanos chuckled. "Of course not." he answered her question. "You are all but useless to me, save as a tool for the destruction of others... I have no use for you."
Making his statement, he moved back, walking to Loki once more to stand in front of him. "What can I possibly give you at this point, oh Mad Titan? My life?"
A deep rumble came from Thanos as he leaned forward, invading Loki's personal space. "Oh, little prince, I fully intend on taking your life... though your life will not be required to do so." He said, pulling back. "When this little game is finished between myself and the Allfather, your death will not be an option. I do believe I have shown you twice what I intend on doing with you."
Lizzie watched in a mixture of curiosity and horror as Loki suddenly looked at her, his green eyes widening in shock, fear, and a sadness she had never seen before in her life. "NO!" He screamed out in agony, whatever he was seeing, he probably didn't know was not real. He fell to his knees, his eyes still looking at her, his arms outstretched toward her. "ELIZABETH!"
Thanos laughed, his laugh sending chills down Lizzie and Clint's spines as Loki continued to cry 'No' over and over. "Well Little Prince, how do you like my ending to your story?" Thanos asked him mocking. "Does it end happy?"
Lizzie's vision blurred, and Thanos looked up at her in shock before he spluttered, the image before Loki's eyes fading from the lack of concentration from the alien. "Leave him be." Lizzie growled, not caring about her mask anymore. "Or I'll kill you."
Alex looked over at her smugly, he had been waiting for this moment, for her to finally snap with what was going on around her, and drop her act enough for him to have an excuse to move. She was all his now, despite what Thanos told him – as that statement had unnerved him quite a bit. He was in control at all times, and no one breathed around him without special permission. How dare the alien say the opposite?
A condescending smile quirked on Thanos' lips, and he laughed. "She is quite brave, is she not?" he asked, his tone similar to that which one would use to a particularly foolish child who had just told them that they shouldn't do something. "Though bravery is another word for a complete and utter fool, so built up on the ideas of the goodness of the world and men."
"I mean it." Lizzie snarled, stepping away from Alex. She had made her choice, she could only hope that somehow she could save Saoirse and Loki... somehow.
Thanos laughed again, stepping away from the smaller man on the floor whose head was between his arms as he began to rock with whatever images that Thanos was putting in his head. His hand stretched toward him, motioning for her to comfort her love. She hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was a trap before she moved forward, her hands resting on his arms. "Do you think you could break my spell, little girl?" Thanos taunted.
Lizzie looked up at him, her hands beginning to pull Loki's arms away from his legs. "Loki..." she called. "Loki..."
"No, no, no, no..." Loki mumbled, his mind still in the torments which Thanos was causing him to endure.
"Loki, can you hear me?" she whispered, her mouth moving toward his ear.
Alex made to step forward, but Thanos stopped him cold in his tracks, leveling him with a glare which warned him of what was to come if he moved without permission. Gritting his teeth, the mutant obeyed.
"Loki?" Lizzie continued to call him, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. What if he wouldn't respond to her? Her hand rested on his face. "Loki? Please, listen to me." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I am sorry, I never meant what I said, I was... I was trying to protect you. We weren't alone, Loki, I had to say what I did..." she continued, going with light heart and heavy head. She knew in her mind that they were not alone, and that what she was saying would kill them both – but in her heart, she was happy to finally reveal all to Loki, and pray that he forgive her.
"Elizabeth..." Loki whimpered. "Elizabeth..."
Her hands moved his head up, forcing him to look at her. "Loki... Loki... you must fight." She could feel the laughter from Thanos, although she heard no noise. She really was pitiful, and how amusing he must find it all. "He doesn't hold you, not anymore."
Loki's eyes latched onto hers, going wide as he seemed to suddenly realize she was there. "Elizabeth?" he breathed.
"Yes." she answered. "Can you hear me? Can you see me?"
As if in response, Loki's arms moved as lightening, wrapping around her quickly and pulling her to him, burying his face in her hair. "A dream, it was all a dream."
"A purposeful mirage, my love." she responded. "I'm so sorry..." She buried her face in his neck, finally allowing the tears to fall. His lips sought her own, the image from Thanos still imprinted on his mind. She was alive. What's more, every thing that he had been stewing over over the last day had been a lie, a lie carefully crafted to keep him safe. She had said so, and being the god of lies he knew she told the truth.
Perhaps they would both die, Thanos having enough of the show and calling it quits, but at least she would get the emotions she had racked up over the last few days off her chest. She relished his arms around her, holding her to him as if he would never hold her again. Perhaps he wouldn't.
Either way, Loki held her as she continued to apologize for her actions, begging for his forgiveness. He looked over her shoulder, his eyes landing on the man who had held her in his grasp so tightly that she had done what she did... Loki wasn't entirely sure what the truth was in the situation, but he knew her past, and what she would have been willing to do. They would find a way to save her daughter – if they got out of here alive.
"This is ridiculous!" Alex shouted, his hands glowing with something, his power which Loki remembered from their first meeting. Apparently he didn't like his things taken from him, and Elizabeth was most definitely a thing. Loki growled, the locked around Lizzie's neck giving him the power he would need. He looked over at Clint, who was too busy staring out the window to notice what was going on.
"Silence, mutant!" Thanos boomed, a sly smile crossing his face. "They will die soon enough."
"She is mine!" Alex roared, his anger turned this time toward the alien. Thanos simply grinned, perhaps he'd be able to get rid of the annoying mutant once and for all—
A loud explosion was heard outside, and all attention was diverted. Alex went to look out the window, but Thanos just looked down, a glare strong in his eyes. Lizzie lifted her head from his shoulder, looking outside as well before she looked at Loki with a questioning gaze.
Loki smiled. Never in his life had he been so happy to hear that sound, the sound of rolling thunder across the sky. For years it had been his bane, but this time he relished the roar. He looked at Thanos and Alex, unable to stop himself from looking rather smug.
"Look out everyone, we have a badass over here." Clint muttered by the window as he watched the scene outside unfold.
"Man of Iron! Have you found a way in?" Thor asked, shooting a bold of lightening at a mutant who was trying to attack him with a wall of water. With a cry, they fell to the ground, learning the hard way that water and lightening did not mix well.
"Working on it, Thor!" Tony replied, using his repulsors against a mutant who was trying to put some kind of restraints on him. Another mutant knocked him to the ground with an invisible force, but Natasha snuck up on him, quickly putting him out of commission.
"We have better things to do with our time than play around!" she shouted in frustration, turning to hit a mutant who had come up behind her. "Bozhe Moy!" she swore, knocking the mutant to the ground. Steve's shield came out of nowhere, hitting the mutant in the back. "Thanks Cap!"
The shield returned to its owner, and he nodded before knocking another mutant to the ground.
"Got in!" Tony shouted above Hulk's sudden roar, the door of the building blasted through. He looked over to see Veronika roundhouse kick a few mutants, her power working on the mind of one of the obviously more powerful. Bella created a portal, with which she sent a few mutants several feet int the air, and they crashed relatively unhurt. Unconscious it seemed, but no deaths. Tony scoffed, she was kinder than her sister obviously.
He stepped inside, using his repulsors to hit a few mutants who tried to defend the mansion. They reminded him of ants trying to scurry around as he used brute force to obliterate them – he stopped himself. Since when did he start sounding like Loki? Behind him he heard Steve's shield hitting more mutants, and the Fanstastic Four's arrival. Sue Storm appeared beside him.
"I'll find your girlfriend." The blonde said, disappearing once more. "Keep an eye on my back." Her disembodied voice continued.
"Is that supposed to be ironic?" Tony retorted, switching his panel for sight through the suit to heat sensor, which he then used to keep track of Sue. He followed her around to the kitchen, where she descended some stairs to a basement, his back to the door as he made sure no one came in.
It seemed strange that for as many mutants were outside, there were so few inside... Veronika had made it seem as if Shaw had an army of mutants. He only counted about fifteen outside, and a total of five as he entered the house.
Sue returned. "Loki's down there. He's dead it seems." her tone said sadly.
Dead? Loki? Impossible!
Before Tony could respond, Bella appeared out of nowhere. "I've found Pepper, we need to move fast." Creating a portal around them, she whisked them off to the other location.
"How the hell did they find us?" Alex shouted as he looked out the window. Thanos had left the room, telling them that he would get his forces who had been put in a different wing of the house. Alex spun on Lizzie, his face twisted into unadulterated rage. "You!" He spat. "You were gone for hours, where were you?"
"I went for a walk." she replied coolly, standing to hold her ground as Loki stood behind her.
Alex smirked, and looking at Loki, he sent the demigod flying backwards and into a mirror which hung on the wall. Lizzie's eyes widened, and immediately went to Clint. The archer returned her gaze and nodded, looking at the other mutants in the room and slowly making his way out of it.
"I think you and I are due for a little honesty, Elizabeth..." Alex said with a false sweetness in his tone. "Since your friends are here."
Without warning, the windows all shattered inward, knocking everyone to the ground.
Alright all, there it is - and yes, I am fully aware there is another cliffhanger. I promise I will have the next chapter out soon so as not to leave you hanging long. I am so, so sorry again. Please forgive me?