Okay, I have no idea what the hell happened with the last time but I think Its fixed now. I apologize for any inconvenience, and also for not replying to all of you... all of my replies are completely gone and I'm not really in the mood to try again when I'm slightly frustrated. I am sincerely sorry. Let me know if there are any other problems.

The explosion emanated from the front porch of the building it seemed, rocking the lawn before it. The Avengers and their friends were momentarily stunned, the dust not yet settling, they helped each other up.

"What was that?" Steve asked Thor as he gave him a hand.

"I know not." Thor replied, his hammer in hand and ready for whatever came out of the dirt-filled air. "But whatever it is, it cannot be good for us."

"Has anyone found where Loki and Clint are?" Steve inquired, looking around. "Where the hell is Natasha?"

"I know not." Thor repeated as the haze began to settle and shapes began to take form. "And we do not have time to question, I'm afraid."

The moment that they could make out who their opponents were, their weapons discharged.

Chitauri. The grounds were covered in them it seemed, interspersed with humans – though it was obvious that they weren't human at all. Thor growled, sending lightening their way. Volstagg and Fandral could be seen on either side of him, fighting their own. Steve worked in tandem with him as a few rushed toward them, his back to Thor as he covered the demigods.

Off a little ways, Logan and Veronika were doing what they could with their own abilities, Reed, Johnny, and Ben helping them as much as possible – Hulk simply smashing where he saw fit. After all, they were all mutants, they had a kind of kinship to one another.

"Where the hell is Stark?" Logan demanded, stabbing another creature.

"Sue went with him to find the prisoners." Reed supplied as Johnny burned a chitauri a foot away from them.

"We were supposed to get in and out, not sit around and possibly get injured!" Veronika shouted in irritation as another two chitauri killed each other from the mirage that she put in ones head. "Bella went in to take him where Lizzie said to go to find Pepper."

"Lizzie?" Logan repeated in surprise. "Since when did you talk to Lizzie?"

Veronika ducked as a projectile was hurled her way and hit a chitauri behind her, before it ricocheted back to Captain America. "Thanks." she yelled at him and he nodded going back to what he was doing before he noticed the chitauri. "She sent Bella a text an hour ago. How Alex let her get to a phone, I've no idea."

"How'd you know it was her?" Logan questioned.

Veronika fixed him with a smirk. "We know."

Johnny flew up to them. "I think I saw where they are – Clint and Loki I mean." he told them pointing to the recently blown out windows of what was once Alex's study. "Looks like they were in interrogation or something and got interrupted. That Alex dude you were telling me about is currently doing something to them."

Logan nodded, looking at Veronika. "We'll take care of them." he said, looking at Reed. "You're needed out here."

The scientist nodded as Logan and Veronika moved toward the damaged building.

Alex was enjoying himself, Clint's groans of obvious pain enough to satisfy him as the fight raged on outside. After all, what was included was the fact Loki and Lizzie looked fit to kill, but couldn't do anything. "You like my new army, Elizabeth?" he asked, looking at the young man who was responsible for their current state of imprisonment by force-field – both Loki and Lizzie's powers were locked inside with them."You should have known he was more than just a... guard." He shooed him away, and he went to stand sentry at the windows.

"You never surround yourself with mere guards." Lizzie quipped. She looked over at Loki, who had been put in his own prison only a foot away, rage boiling in his eyes, but all else cool. "Though I'm surprised you haven't just killed us yet."

"Are you really?" Alex taunted. "Well, you should know, I never do anything without a plan. Just look at you, I had to plan getting you here didn't I? Although Saoirse's presence wasn't planned."

"Wasn't she?" She asked.

"Oh no, not at all." Alex replied, looking at Lizzie. "She just popped up the day I saw you again, quite apt I think. I had to figure out how to get you to come back, and I thought I could turn you away from your friends." he looked at Loki. "But, you were too far gone by that point."

Lizzie's brow furrowed. Something was off with that statement, but she didn't know what.

"You see, since you're going to die anyway – and as a traitor to the guard – I think I can tell you everything now."he said. "After all, you have no reason to give a pretense to be my... whore..." he looked at Loki again with a smirk on his face. "or my lieutenant."

"No I suppose I don't." Lizzie replied. "It was worth a try though."
"I was never fooled." Alex answered, looking out the broken windows. "I wonder how they found us?"

"You think it's me, it wasn't me." Lizzie replied. "I was still playing the game."

Alex chuckled. "Yes, I will thank Thanos for showing me what you were really about. I always knew, as I said before, but it gave me a lovely excuse."

"Not that you need one." Loki finally piped up, his eyes catching a flash of red. Natasha.

"No, no I didn't." Alex replied, walking up to the demigod, and frowning as he realized he was shorter than him. "But I knew she'd break the moment she saw you. You were my trump card. She played it well for the first half of your stay here... but you in pain seemed to bring a new level of awareness of you. Quite ingenious don't you think?"

"Ingenious?" Lizzie scoffed. "You think everything you do is highly intelligent, when really it's quite moronic and childish. You could never be a genius."

"I built an army." Alex sing-songed.

"Your father came up with the formula, the ideas, and the original base of mutants to start your work on." she quipped with a mocking smile. "Without him, you would be a little man without any recognition."

Alex clenched his jaw, a sneer across his face. "How little you know, little Lizzie Donovan." he said, and Clint gave a sudden cry of pain. "I have become the most powerful mutant, with more powers than you can imagine."

"Oh?" Lizzie taunted. Alex talked when he was angry – and even more when he boasted – he was better talking than torturing Clint or killing Loki.

"Yes!" he said with glee, his eyes alight as he turned to face her. "I can set fire to whatever I please with a thought, or drown a person by simply thinking about throwing water down their windpipes. The elements are my playground – ah, but there is more. I have found the formula for certain types of mutations, and now I am good in mind as well as physically. Although I am not a telepath on par with Xavier, I can do plenty of damage. I create pain, where there is no probable cause. I can move from one place to another – not like Bella who has to create portals – but just by thinking about another place." he gloated, a smile of pride on his face.

"Well either way, you're wasted with all these thoughts of world domination." Loki quipped causing the mutant to turn in his direction. "You can't control them all at once, can you? It's one at a time, or none at all – and even those you control at those times are more in control of you than you are of them." Lizzie smiled.

"What makes you think that?" Alex asked defensively.

"They aren't natural to your body. They have been manufactured, and so have more holes in your ability than those who simply don't have good control. It strikes when you don't want to, and doesn't strike necessarily when you do. Am I right?" Loki asked, his eyes alight with mischief as he looked at Lizzie.

She shook her head, with a loving look. His damn antics were going to get them killed if he wasn't careful, but it was amusing to watch. For Loki's side, his words were more than just to taunt the mutant... Natasha was trying to approach Clint, and Alex couldn't see her if he was focused on Loki. Clint was the weakest out of the three of them, she had to get him out first.

Alex didn't answer Loki's question, instead he looked the demigod over. "From what I hear, you lost your powers, only to be given them every once in a while. No one can take mine." Alex replied.

"I doubt that." Loki countered. "If they can be given, they can be taken as well – it's just a matter of reversing the serum. I'm sure it would be a painful process."

"Well, you'll know soon enough." Alex said with a smile as he looked over at Lizzie. "She's not nearly as useful now, and I actually do have a serum that I want to try out. She's perfect really. Too bad she wouldn't come to my side."

Natasha had finally gotten to Clint, and keeping one eye on Alex, she slowly led him from the room. Loki met her eyes, giving her an assuring nod that he and Lizzie would be doing what they could to keep him occupied. She smiled and nodded back, supporting Clint as she walked out stealthily.

"How hurtful." Loki mocked, trying not to think of Lizzie strapped to a table once again.

"Yes actually it is." Alex cooed. "I gave her her ability, I created her from a piece of dry clay... and molded her into something beautiful." His mouth turned to a sneer of disgust, and his voice took on a bitter tone. "And then that mutant came, and put all sorts o f ideas into her head about morals and what was right. That she wasn't too far gone not to be pulled back from the brink of hell."

"You obviously don't know Logan very well." she said with a tired look, but Alex just smirked, leaning closer to her through the shield.

"I wasn't talking about Logan." he replied. "The first one was Scott, the second was Saoirse's death, and the third was Logan." He tutted. "Pity you never got a chance to know her. You'll meet her soon though, I'm sure Hel will give you special privileges to see her."

Lizzie blinked. "What?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" he asked, his voice light. "Saoirse is dead."

"Dead?" Lizzie breathed in surprise.

"Well, when I say 'dead' I mean that she was never born." Alex continued.

Loki's eyes widened then narrowed as he took in the information that Lizzie was now receiving. had never been born... which meant that she—

"You said she was here." Lizzie said, her voice wavering as she fought to keep hold of calm.

Alex grinned predatorily, his tone light and airy as he said. "I lied."
Tears filled Lizzies eyes. She had done all of this for nothing... she had been played as well as she had pretended that she played Loki. Saoirse dead... the pain from when she first lost her flared anew, though this time it was coupled with what might have happened had she not seen Loki that day. Her eyes closed as tears streamed down her cheeks, unable to hold them back any longer.

Loki looked at Alex in pure hatred. As soon as he could, he would kill the man, make him pay for all the pain he had caused Elizabeth – furthermore for the new pain which he could seen written all over her face. Alex turned, still grinning, toward Loki, shrugging with a mock 'sorry' on his lips.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you." He suddenly exclaimed. "I have noticed something with my mutants, the created ones that is, they only seem to be able to have one child. After that, they're completely sterile."

Lizzie shook her head and opened her eyes, her jaw clenched. "Aren't you pleased." she stated, her hands beginning to shake in rage. This was always the way with her – heartbreak, loss... she would turn from it to anger, wishing to cause harm to the person responsible.

"Yes, actually, I am." Alex replied, his face turning to a scowl. "Wouldn't want you running around creating little demi-gods would we?"

"ALEX!" A shout came from the broken windows. They all turned to see Veronika standing there with her eyes ablaze in fury. "Leave my daughter alone!"

"Veronika?"

"Daughter?"

Loki looked confused.

Logan came up behind Veronika, his claws extended, and behind him – literally on fire – Johnny. "Step away from her, or I will kill you." Veronika said slowly.

"You're alive?" Alex asked stupidly.

Veronika grinned. "Yes, I am."

"But how? I—"

"I don't intend to tell you, right now I want my daughter and if you refuse to give her to me—"

"I'll rip you to shreds." Logan finished, his jaw clenched. "Hand her over, Alex."

Alex smirked, looking at Lizzie and Loki. "Come and get her."

His mutants rushed in through the doors to confront the trio, and it had begun.

Tony was getting irritated. He could hear the fight a few blocks away, and Bella had teleported them where she said they weren't supposed to be but that they would need to walk there as she was unsure of the exact location. So, Avengers fighting, and Pepper somewhere that he wasn't yet – that left for a rather irritated Tony Stark.

"This place." Bella finally said as they entered the open garage. "She said she'd leave it open for us, that way we knew which house it was. Sue can you stay outside and keep watch?"

"Sure, no problem." Sue said with a nod, going invisible again and leaving the garage as the motors began to whir to shut the door.

"It could just be some idiot who forgot to hit the button." Tony quipped as the door closed. . A note was taped to the inside one that had something written in a language Tony didn't know.

"It's not." Bella replied, grabbing onto him and creating a portal on the door which they both stepped into.

The room they entered was the kitchen, from which Bella led him down a hallway. It was obvious from her body language that she was dangerous, but Tony was ready for whoever came around the corner. She came to a door and knocked softly, she turned the handle of the door, the hinges creaking as it began to swing open. When it was open enough for her to see the bed, she threw it open with a look of confusion. "I don't get it." she muttered. "I'll check the rest of the house, stay here." With that, she left Tony in the room, his sensors already picking up on heat which was gathered on the bed.

Lizzie must have left Pepper here. The bottle of pills on the nightstand gave him alarm, his worry increasing as to what state he'd find his fiancee in. What had they dared to do to her? He looked at the window, scoffing it amusement as he saw that he could see the mansion and the battle from here. Thor was still winning, and Hulk was still smashing – that was good.

"Tony?" he heard a small voice say from behind him. He spun, his eyes wide underneath his suit.

"Pepper?" Her red hair had been cut to a more tomboyish look, there were bags under her tired eyes, and her skin was a strange gray color – but through it all, it was still Pepper. Undoing his suit, he stepped out of it in time to catch her as she threw herself at him.

"I thought I'd never see you again." she cried, holding onto him tightly. "They said you were not going to be able to find me. Lizzie brought me here only an hour ago, I've been terrified ever since."
"Shhh..." Tony comforted, rubbing her back. "It's alright, I'm here. I found you."

She pulled back slightly, looking at him. "I now understand her." she said with a sniffle. "I understand why she is the way she is – Oh God!" Tony shushed her again, kissing her lightly for reassurance. She was there. God that had been horrible.

"We'll talk about it later." He said. "We need to get you out of here and in a hospital, for the first time since I met you, you don't look good."

Pepper laughed, nodding. "First sound decision I've heard since I met you." she teased back.

Tony looked offended. "Only the first? And here I thought you approved of me saving New York the first time, and making you a shareholder of the company—"

Bella interrupted by sticking her head in. "They've found Loki and Clint – Hi Pepper!" Pepper waved tiredly and Bella smiled before looking back at Tony. "They've found them, and Lizzie, but things aren't going to well. They need your help."

"I'm taking Pepper home." Tony replied, and Bella shook her head.

"I can do that." she said. "Don't worry, she'll be perfectly safe. Remember, Anna-Marie and Farubauti are at the tower, along with a few of our mutant friends. You don't have to worry about it."

Tony made to argue but Pepper shook her head, slapping a hand over his mouth. "I'll be fine with Bella. You need to go help the others." she said, giving him an assuring nod. Tony sighed.

"Fine."

Bella stepped up to them, giving Tony an apologetic look. "I'll get my mom after I've made sure that Pepper is settled in. She's a nurse, you know." she told him. Tony nodded, reluctant to let Pepper leave his sight, but knowing it was for the best. Creating yet another portal, Bella led the other woman back home, leaving Tony alone to prepare to do what he had to.

Alex was losing, Veronika was alive, and Logan was about to rip him to shreds. With a growl, he disappeared, reappearing outside of the room. The hallway was empty, as most of his guards were either inside his office or outside fighting. Running over to the front window, he looked out on the situation.

Thor, his friends, Steve, and the Hulk had successfully depleted the forces which had been sent out, the majority of the casualties being those of his mutants. Ironman could be seen taking care of the Chitauri with ease, falling into the old routine which he used in New York. He growled, looking back at the door of his office. This was a fight he couldn't win, his connections mentally to his mutants fading away mutant by mutant, making it obvious that they would probably all be dead within an hour. Graham – the Force-field mutant – began to fizzle, his consciousness wavering. If he was killed, then Lizzie and Loki would be released, meaning that the mission was successful, and that the Avengers would have his prize.

That simply wasn't going to happen. Sighing mightily, and momentarily stopping to get a syringe of lorazepam to assist in his taking Lizzie Alex teleported himself back into the room, directly behind her. The field was flickering, though each time she tried to move she found she couldn't. He could see Graham on the ground, where the others had left him. Loki was focused on who he was going to target, he didn't notice Alex grinning like a Cheshire cat behind his love.

Alex watched the fight as he waited, still somewhat in shock that Veronika was alive. So he had seen her at the docks. He concluded that she must have been the one who led the others to the ship, which he then had to vacate. Little Vera. She was fiercer now, and older – somehow that made him nearly want to take her instead of her daughter. He always did love the fire in her eyes when she was mad, her hair whipping about as she took on an opponent in hand-to-hand instead of slinking in the background allowing her power to take care of them for her.

Remarkable.

The field flickered once more before it died out completely and Lizzie made to run for it – she yelped as she felt an iron grip around her waist. Looking down she saw it was Alex. "Let me go!" she growled, fighting against him.

Johnny heard her, and careful not to set her on fire, he sent a blaze Alex's way. The mutant gave a cry of pain, his arm tightening around Elizabeth as he sent a spray of water at Johnny, knocking him to the ground. Reaching his other hand up, he could feel the skin on his face peeling from the fire damage. Third degree at least. "Time to go, Lizzie." he hissed.

"No, no! LOKI!" She screamed, catching the attention of the black-haired Asgardian instantly. Alex watched as his face turned to rage, his eyes completely cold as his body language took on the protectiveness which he felt, which only translated to danger.

"Let. Her. Go." He ground out. He lost her once before, he'd be damned if he lost her again. He felt a warmness go through him, one which he recognized as the locket releasing his powers, and grinned ferally.

Alex smiled, chuckling. "I think not." Without warning, he plunged the needle into Lizzie's neck, and she gave a cry, reaching blindly to try to pull it out. Loki made to move toward them, but Alex threw a wall of fire between them. "Say goodbye, lovers." He whispered in her ear.

"LOKI!"

Loki could only watch as Alex grinned at him and disappeared, Lizzie in his arms.

"ELIZABETH!" he shouted, about to hurl himself past the fire. The fire died out, and she was gone. He screamed in frustration, his magic back but her nowhere to be found. "No!" The power of it built within him, he watched successfully as he picked up Alex's desk and threw it into the far wall. She was unconscious, he couldn't see her, or her surroundings.

"Loki, we have to go!" Veronika shouted.

He looked at her, her face reminding him so strongly of Elizabeth herself. He shook his head. "No, we have to find her."

"We will." Logan replied calmly, killing the last of the mutants. "But we need to leave this place. We got Pepper, and Natasha brought out Clint right as we were coming in. We need to get back to the tower."

Loki shook with barely contained rage, unable to erase the pure terror of her face from his mind. He couldn't save her. She was now in the hands of the most dangerous man he had ever met, second to Thanos himself, and he couldn't save her.

Johnny stood up, his flames completely extinguished. He had seen the entire thing play out, and could now understand something he didn't before. "They're right." he said. "We're fighting those things that attacked New York out there," He pointed to the windows. "wherever they came from, there's more. If we stay here, they'll attack us, and we're cut off from everyone else."

Loki turned his head toward the flame-mutant, confusion written on his face. Who the hell was this and where did Johnny Storm go?

"We'll find her, I promise." Veronika said, placing a hand on his arm as a mother would to a son... in a way, she already saw him as such. "I will not let my daughter be in the hands of that lunatic for very long. No Lehnsherr would."

Logan gave Veronika a look, and she nodded in reply. He shrugged. "Well, it was bound to happen anyway."

"Fine." Loki conceded, walking toward the windows. His powers were still intact, which made it obvious that the locket believed she was in serious danger. As long as that was there, he had hope that she was saveable... "I'll go with you."

Lizzie groaned. It was too bright, her head was in agony. She couldn't hear anything, save a slight ringing in her ears. Where was she? Her mind reeled with trying to piece the memory of what had happened together, only bits coming to her. Alex. Logan. Johnny trying to save her... her mother? That part must have been a dream, her mother had been dead for years. Pain hit her hard as she remembered Alex's words about Saoirse being dead, and that he had lied.

Loki. She finally remembered him, the entire scene playing out perfectly. She loved him, and she'd watched his agony, saw him nearly be broken."Elizabeth!" her name in his voice rang in her ears, a hollow cry of fury and fear as he watched horrors unknown to her happen. She had broken down, finally letting her mask fall away as she tried to save him from his own fear – from the darkness which Thanos was bringing upon him. Anesthesia was gone for good, she'd decided, as that persona was of no use to her anymore. She would never wear it again if she could help it...

She could still see Loki's face through the flames which Alex had thrown up as a barrier to hide behind as he took her away, his protectiveness and anger at her captor. His eyes were the last thing she saw before she was whisked off to somewhere unknown and the darkness of sleep took her mind. Her dreams had been no different or anymore pleasant as she saw all the possible outcomes of what happened after Alex took her.

But where was she now?

Finally opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was a light backdropped by a white ceiling. Fear gripped her, she had seen that light so many times before. She was awake now, and tentatively she turned her head to look at the rest of her surroundings. She gave a cry of anguish before she bit her lip, the cold metal of the table beneath her now registering, and the straps which held her down pulling tight. The thin material of the hospital gown doing nothing to ward against the chill of the room. The observation windows were clear of anyone, but she had no doubt she was still being watched.

She was the very place she had feared, her nightmares come true. The place of horror, and abandonment, a place she had hoped she would never be in or see again. A place so imprinted in her mind that she knew every bit of it like she knew her hand. There were 34 lines in the ceiling, and 400 dots. The light above her had a different glow than the others, more of a yellowish hue. She knew how many instruments were on the table, and their different uses. She could hear the tick-tock of the wall clock, the noise deafening in a way which horrified her.

Her heart hammered in her chest, her anxiety heightening as tears filled her eyes. Loki would never be able to find her here, no one would. She was alone, and helpless, strapped to a table in the place of her nightmares. Her mind envisioned outside of the room, and how the layout of the building was. When Alex was done with her here, she'd be moved to a cell which was out the door, a long hallway, and 18 steps down into the basement. But as her mind wandered there, she was all too painfully aware of the present and the room which she knew well.

Room 25 in Alex Shaw's lab.

The door opened, and she looked over in panic. She wasn't expecting a doctor so soon.

Alex strode in, half of his face showing the amount of damage that Johnny had inflicted, half of his face red and black, the burn marring his once-handsome face. Lizzie snickered as she looked at him.

"What?" Alex snapped.

"Nothing really, I just... find your lack of face disturbing." she quipped, laughing at him. His eyes would have killed her on the spot if he had the inclination. She kept the smile on her face, she wouldn't let him break her, no matter what, that she was determined.

Alex smirked on the half that wasn't burned. "I just thought I'd introduce you to your new doctor." he said, moving aside so that she could see the door. She gasped softly as she saw who it was, tears springing up once more. "I'm sure you remember Scott, darling? Although he doesn't remember you, I'm afraid. So sorry about that."

Scott walked in, his blue eyes looking her over, but there was no recognition in the orbs. Her heart broke a little more, as that was no doubt was the purpose of him being her new torturer.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it – see if you can get that locket off her." he told Scott. "Nothing is working."

Scott nodded dumbly, looking at Lizzie once more. She closed her eyes only wanting it all to be over... but it had only just begun.

I'm so sorry about that last update, Hopefully it's all fixed now. Let me know if not...