A/N: I won't be replying to the reviews today, for the first time, although I'm happy to finally have gotten something out on a regular schedule. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll be uploading a oneshot which will explain some stuff probably tomorrow. Enjoy :D

Four hours of nighttime, that was all they had – of course, that was all they needed. The Quinjet hovered over the complex of Shaw's once, allowing the group involved to see their target. Flying a mile off, Clint and Natasha landed the aircraft, turning off all the power so as not to be detected.

Quietly, the different groups got off and set off toward the complex.

Looking at Clint's watch, Loki tried to do a link with Lizzie, to see how she was – but he could not. He felt as if he was reaching in the darkness, sensing that someone was there, but unable to see. To be frank, he didn't like that feeling... he didn't like what it very possibly could mean. Approaching the complex, he suppressed a grimace. Tall and imposing were the brick walls of the buildings – and there were many – a fence around it with a hum which inferred an electrical current. A gate could be seen from their vantage point, one which he could see some kind of guardhouse next to, while a house stood imposingly on the far side, on a small hill.

Erik growled beside Loki with a small sound of 'Du miststück' issuing from his mouth. Although Loki didn't understand German, he understood the hatred which the words expressed and had no doubt that he agreed with him.

"My god, it's a concentration camp." Steve said lowly from the side.

"More specifically," Erik said lowly. "He made it look like Auschwitz."

Logan and Steve looked at Erik, almost expecting him to do something major at that moment. The fact that Shaw had fashioned his headquarters to look like the concentration camp his father was in charge of seemed to be the icing on the cake of the whole thing.

"Typical Nazi." Tony commented quietly. "What's he going to do? Raise up the Fourth Reich?"
"Yes." Erik answered curtly.

Logan added. "That basically was what he did before... though they never really found his initial spot of launch. He kept this place quite hush-hush."

"That war you were talking about?" Clint asked. Logan nodded. "Sheesh."

Natasha cleared her throat lightly. "So, teams are assembled, I think it's time to break this sucker down." she said, looking at the gate. "Question is: which area do we attack first?"

"The gate is going to be more heavily guarded than the rest." Lehnsherr said. "Shaw relies too much on that gate obviously. It looks like electricity... but I'm not sure about that."

"Probably some mutant's powers." Rogue added. "Which means it ain't gonna act like your usual electric fence. You touch that thing there, you probably will wind up jumpin' more than once."

Logan smiled. "So, subtle or obvious?" he asked.

"Subtle." Steve answered. "We need to get in as quietly as possible. The goal is to get in, get Lizzie, and get out, not get in and start a war."

"If you don't start a war, he's going to use that army of his to start one on a global scale." Erik replied, looking at the Captain. "He did it before."

Steve nodded soberly.

"In other words..." Loki started, looking at the mutant, then at Thor with a smirk. "Wipe out the army."

Thor sighed and nodded.

"Can no one be saved?"Reed Richards asked.

"Possibly those that join us instead of fight against us." Logan said. "But they're probably not going to. Alex does quite well at brainwashing his troops. They fight for him out of fear, and stay with him out of 'it's something they like now."

"In layman's terms, if they are fighting against us they are the enemy." Johnny said.

"Exactly."

"Then we begin with subtle." Natasha said. "How are we going to disable that fence?"

"We won't have to." A new voice added from behind them, and each member of the team turned around ready to strike. Bella stood behind them, her hands raised as she chuckled.

"Bella!" Johnny, Logan, and Erik whispered harshly.

"What are you doing here?" Natasha asked.

She smiled, and crouched down. "You don't honestly think that I was going to stay behind while you lot were off saving my sister? No, no, no, no, I want to be here when Shaw gets his comeuppance."

"If Shaw gets you," Logan started, growling. "Then this whole thing will happen all over again. Get back to New York."

"Not likely." Bella replied, creating a portal which showed the other side of the fence. "Entré mon amis."

Tony chuckled lowly. "I think we ought to listen to the tyke." he said, stepping through then sticking his head in. "All clear."

Erik told her something in German, which she only raised an eyebrow at before snapping back angrily and motioning toward the portal. One by one, each was convinced that this was the best way, Erik and Loki going last before Bella closed the portal behind them.

"Why didn't you tell us about this place before, Swan?" Tony asked, earning a scowl from Bella.

"I didn't know that Shaw would come back and build this place. It didn't make any sense that he would at the time – in addition, remember, I had forgotten my past until a couple of weeks ago." she said.

"Oh right."

"I can't believe you keep forgetting that." Looking around, she sighed. "Alright, now here my memory is fuzzy. I have no idea which of the buildings Lizzie is in."

"It faces the lake." Loki said, bringing up the memory of her room as he still couldn't make the link with her.

"Uh, Prongs, which of the fifteen that face the lake?" Tony asked, motioning to the many buildings which surrounded them.

Loki looked at them and shook his head. He didn't know.

Somewhere a shout came in German, and each head turned to see a group of guards with AK-47s, each aiming at them. Another shout sounded behind them, and soon they were surrounded.

"So much for quiet." Natasha said, pulling out her guns.

"Budapest, Tash, Budapest." Clint commented with a smirk as the first gunshots rang.

Tony's mask flipped down, his hands extending out as he shot his repulsors, burning a few of the guards. Clint shot an arrow as Steve threw his shield, running at another guard and bringing him down before reaching his hand out as his shield returned to him, allowing him to use it again. Bella appeared behind a few guards, her movements swift and deadly as she took them out, Logan already unsheathing his claws and going after the guards nearest with Rogue. Being pyrokinetic, Johnny simply created a ball of fire, flinging it at a guard who attacked Bella from behind as he was grabbed, then turning into a ball of fire he quickly burned the one behind him. Bruce hulked with a roar, simply knocking out the guards nearest with a swat. No one seemed to see what Sue did as she was simply the invisible attack next to Reed.

Loki and Erik moved as one it seemed, while Erik disabled the weapons he struck them taking down five in seconds. Thor roared and threw his hammer, hitting ten before returning to him, at which point he reached to the heavens for a lightening bolt.

It was over in five minutes, the Avengers standing still as their opponents lay scattered around them.

"Okay, this may sound like a stupid question, but..." Johnny started, looking around. "Where are all the mutants?"
"I was about to ask the same thing." Steve asked, fixing his gaze on Bella.

"He probably uses normal people as guards because they're expendable." Logan answered. "I remember that it was his first line of defense."

"Yep, that's the reason." Bella replied. "Which means that it's only just begun."

"In that case," Tony's mechanical voice said. "Lightening Rod, can I get a top up?"

Thor laughed. "Certainly, Friend Stark." Aiming his hammer toward the billionaire, he shot a bolt of lightening at the suit, charging him.

"Thanks."

"Most welcome."

"We still need to find Elizabeth." Sue's voice said from... somewhere.

"Sounds good – Ooh, look..." Clint said, preparing another arrow as regular dressed people began coming toward them.. "Mutants."

"That... is... a lot." Bella said slowly. "This should be fun."

"Remind me to show you the definition of fun when we get back to the tower." Logan said.

"I'll head over with Sue." Natasha told Clint.

"Be safe." He replied, kissing her chastely before letting her go.

Hulk roared, not wanting to wait before he could smash something, but Bruce being more in control he had no choice but to do so.

"Shaw won't come out on his own." Erik told Loki, who seemed to want to stay beside him. "We have to find him."

"Agreed."

Of course, they soon found they actually didn't have to find him at all as a loudspeaker suddenly screeched. "Ah, my old friends, how lovely of you to come up and see the place. Do you like it?" Alex' voice echoed around the complex. "I see we have the Avengers, the Fantastic Four – minus the Thing, I'm not quite sure that was a good idea my dears, but alright. We also seem to have – ah, Bella dear, it's been quite some time since I last saw you."

"Not long enough in my opinion." Bella snapped.

"Touchy touchy, tsk, tsk, Bella love, you never were good with manners." Alex tutted. "Ah, and we have Wolverine and Rogue – representatives of the X-Men no doubt. But what is this I see? Could it really be – no, it couldn't."

"Hello Shaw." Erik answered gruffly.

"It is!"Alex shouted excitedly. "Aw, that is truly a marvelous thing. I have wanted to see you, but you keep hiding. A shame really, I was hoping you would have joined me." he sighed. "But of course, you're all here to see Elizabeth." he sighed again. "Too bad. Only some of you will, I'm afraid. Poor, poor, Loki... you'll join your precious Elizabeth soon."

Loki's eyes widened marginally and he looked at Erik. The Mutant's mouth was in a hard line, his eyes narrowed in anger as Shaw suddenly shouted something in German before a song played over the speakers. "Ready yourselves." Erik said. "It's about to begin."

The mutants all turned from where the speaker had spoken back to the Avengers, and shouting a few things amongst themselves, they attacked.

"Elizabeth?" Loki called to her, his hand stretched toward her as the wind blew through his shorter hair. Her hand reached up and grabbed onto his, his strength pulling her up to see over the cliff. "Well?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "What do you think?"

"Do you even need to ask?" she giggled, resting against him. "It's beautiful."

He chuckled, kissing her temple before stepping back and undoing his tunic. "Now, we try it."

"Loki, I can't toss myself off a cliff!" she protested with a laugh.

"Why not? There's water beneath." Standing up straight in nothing but his trousers, he grabbed her about the waist. "It'll catch you."

She looked down. "Are you sure? It's... far isn't it? Too far for me."

"Nonsense."

Scott was working diligently, trying to hook Elizabeth up to all the fluids she needed. She was dehydrated, with almost no nutrients. Reaching for the bag of blood he'd stolen from the medical ward, he carefully inserted an IV into her arm, keeping careful watch of the heart monitor which she was hooked up to.

He was set up in the old Quarantine ward which had been abandoned when a new one was built. The place hadn't been used in ages, the bulbs were dim and the walls were dusty, but he had set it up in such a way that it still looked abandoned. He had to.

"C'mon, Lizzie." he muttered to her as he hooked the blood up to the IV. "You don't get to die on me."

"But Loki!"

"Here, shall I jump first? Show you that you aren't as breakable as you think you are?" Loki replied with a laugh, going to the edge.

Lizzie's eyes widened, and she snagged him around the waist, bringing him back to her. "What if you hurt yourself?"

He laughed, turning around in her arms, and kissing her, although it seemed to her that something was off about it. "Relax, nothing will happen to me, I've done it dozens of times."

"You have?" she asked, looking down at the water. It was so blue, but had a darkness to it. She looked back at him. "Must I?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "Yes." he answered, untwining her arms from his waist and undoing the clasps on her dress. It wasn't long before she was only in her underwear, his hands undoing the ties in her hair, the wind blowing the dark tendrils around her face. "Shall we do it together?"
She nodded.

The heart monitor stopped momentarily and Scott looked up in horror. "No, nononono, no!" he panicked, smacking the monitor once. Maybe it was just malfunctioning. Nothing happened. "NO! Dammit Elizabeth you aren't allowed to die on me, you aren't!" he shouted at her unconscious form.

Placing his hands on her chest, he began to press down as he heard explosions in the distance.

Loki brought up another shield against the mutant who spewed fire as he plunged his knife into another who seemed to use speed as his weapon. Erik used the metal of the fire-spitter's necklace to choke the girl, causing her to become disctracted from attacking Loki. A thunderstorm brewed above, and a downpour began, and Loki growled – but was grateful. For while it seemed to make a kind of disadvantage for him, it also did the same for his opponents, and for that Loki had to thank his brother.

A black blob moved past him at high speeds, and Loki barely had time to register it was Clint before the archer was knocked against an opposing wall and fell to the ground unconscious. Spinning around, his gaze leveled on the mutant who was responsible, and he threw the boy into a wall of ice, encasing him almost entirely.

Hulk roared, running through the crowd of mutants and picked one up, tossing him into his friends. Fandral yelled in pain as another mutant kicked him in the throat, as if trying to damage his windpipe, but Volstagg simply clunked the mutant's head with another mutant, and left the pair of them to lay discarded on the ground.

Steve got hit by an energy blast, knocking the wind out of him, and him to the ground. With a groan, he stood up, throwing his shield only to have it ricochet to him in such a way it almost knocked his head off. Of course, it didn't as Erik stopped it mid-air, and he was able to simply pluck it from its place with a grateful nod toward Magneto, which was returned.

Two Logans fought each other, it seemed, as a young boy swiped his claws at the older man. But Logan was more experienced, and soon the boy found himself against a wall with an adamantium claw at his throat.

"Wait!" he whimpered. "Please..."

Logan gave him an interested look, and the boy sheathed his claws, raising his hands in surrender. "Will you fight for us?" the boy looked at his comrades and swallowed before nodding.

"Let me save my brother and sisters?" the boy asked.

"If they join us, save them all." Logan said. "I'll take you somewhere safe when it's all over." The boy nodded. "What's your name?"

"Trevor."

"Well then, Trevor, betray us and I'll finish the job I started." Trevor nodded and unsheathed his claws again, looking at Logan for direction. "Protect her."

Trevor nodded, and attacked the mutant who was targeting Bella. She spun around and gave him a curt nod, which he gave in kind, before they stood back to back in their fighting.

Tony hovered above the din for a moment, looking for one man in particular – surely Shaw wasn't sitting behind the walls of the grand house waiting for the whole thing to end. He wasn't disappointed as he saw Alex standing above one of the buildings which was above the fight, casting illusions now and then against Loki and Erik. He truly liked playing mindgames.

Landing behind him, Tony cleared his throat, the man turning at the sound. "Hello there. By the way, you owe me an entire floor of R&D." Reaching out a hand, he blasted Alex into the fight below before he could respond.

"Loki...?" Scott heard Lizzie say quietly as her heart began to beat again.

"Yeah, yeah, call the god of mischief." Scott said in a frustrated tone. "Especially since you just died on me."

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, her eyes fluttering open.

"You better be!" Scott exclaimed. "I just saved your ass, and then you went and flatline—"

She smiled slightly. "I love you." He stopped talking, looking down at her in shock before he realized she wasn't looking at him but behind him. Slowly, he turned, but saw nothing. He turned back to her.

"Loki?" he asked her.

"Loki..."

"You love him?"

"Yes..."

"Where do I find him?"

Her lips curved again and she tried to say something, but he couldn't hear her. Leaning closer, he brought his ear to her lips before he pulled back, looking at the heart monitor just as the power went out.

Alex was furious, so furious he hadn't quite noticed that he had unconsciously fried the power generator which stood nearby in his effort to use the energy against Tony Stark. Ironman had simply dodged his electrical outbursts, shooting off his repulsors when he could. By now, however, Alex knew that he had been noticed, and quickly switched his power to that of invisibility, trying to use two powers at once as he once more shot off energy at Tony. However, he failed, and the electrical pulse hit the Hulk instead, angering the green monster.

Tony flew up as Alex became visible again, trying to change his power. Doing so, he reduced Bruce to about three feet in height, the Hulk looking in surprise at him, his voice no longer roaring in the same way. Alex chuckled darkly, throwing a bolt of lightening at the smaller Hulk, sending him crashing into the wall, a type of force-field keeping him against the wall.

Enraged, Tony flew down again, grabbing Alex by his shirt before shooting up into the sky, taking him as high as he dared. Alex reached up, touching Tony's suit, and short circuiting it and draining all the power. His hold on Alex vanished and he began to plummet.

"Jarvis!" Tony shouted as he freefell, unable to start up his suit. "Oh god, this could be very very bad." Alex turned into some kind of large bird, and flew beside him. "Oh, that is rich you egotistical jackass!" The bird cawed, and flew down below, grabbing Steve with his talons and pulling him up to the sky before dropping him. The Super-Soldier plummeted, his body dropping like a large stone - of course, Thor saw this act and quickly flew into action and brought Steve back to the ground.

Tony closed his eyes, awaiting impact when he suddenly stopped falling altogether. Opening his eyes, he watched as he began to float to a roof and dropped from a foot off the surface. He smiled behind his mask.

Erik turned from that roof to look at Shaw who he had seen land on a nearby building again, his bird-like appearance dark and daunting for most. "Loki." he said, getting the Asgardian's attention. Loki finished with a mutant, and turned toward him before looking to where he looked. Jaw clenched, he grabbed Erik by the arm, disappearing from the crowd.

Natasha ran from one room to another, her mind whirling in frustration and panic. She couldn't find Lizzie, no matter what building she entered, but what she did find was something she wished she would never see again. Children, men, women, all strapped to beds with equipment hooked up to them which made sure they stayed alive. It was horrific for her to see, and she felt a burning hatred for the man responsible.

At the fifth room of the building, Natasha stopped and stepped inside. The room was empty, although the table looked like it had had a person on it only recently. The monitors were still beeping furiously, although the heart one was missing. There was blood on the floor which led out, and a bit pooled on the table. Dried blood was encrusted on the straps, and discarded needles showed the same.

Looking around the room, Natasha stopped at the window, and Loki's words flitted through her mind. 'there is a lone window from which you can see the outside. It's on a lake, surrounded by mountains...' Peering through the glass, she saw what he meant, the trees he looked up. Bringing up the other rooms in her mental screen, she noticed that not one of them had the same view.

There was only one thing she needed to confirm that this room was the one that she thought it was, and taking a note of the number, she ran to the doctor's office. Yanking on the number she opened the file, her heart plummeting as she saw the picture of Lizzie on the front, her name in big black letters. Her eyes roved over the record, her blood boiling as she saw what had been done.

Ripping the papers from the file, she folded them and put them in her suit and headed out.

The last time written down was an hour before by a Scott Walters, and she determined she would find him if it was the last thing she did.

Alex perched upon his point roof, watching the fight as he had before Ironman had rudely interrupted him. He watched as Hulk looked helplessly about the fighters, completely encased in his force-field as he roared to no avail. His beak seemed to smile as he saw Clint Barton try to regain consciousness as he was being attacked at the same time. It was amusing to see them all fight against his army, their abilities rather weak in comparison to his. He viewed it as a testing ground – the Avengers were only the first to use, next he would move to Xavier's School.

The one thing that he found himself raising a metaphoric eyebrow at was the sight of some of his mutants turning on the rest, and siding with the Avengers. He expected it almost, after all soldiers were so fickle. He made a mental note to send them to his R&D when it was over, in punishment for their treachery. Of course, that was if they lived.

He hadn't planned on bringing his plans to fruition until Thanos ordered him – but it seemed that those plans would have to change. After all, the Avengers wanted to expose his plans early. Still, he reveled in it, it had been so long since he'd been in power, and he craved the feeling. Stretching his wings he turned back into a man, not liking the feeling of feathers very much.

As soon as he did, he found himself bound with green ropes and yanked to the roof with a thud. His head craned and he saw Loki standing there with a gleam in his eyes, he had to smile.

"Ah, what is this? You left your friends to see me? How quaint." he sneered as Loki stalked toward him. "You know, you really shouldn't kill me, my friend. After all, you are on probation."

"I think in this case, I will gladly return to the Tower of Solitude." Loki replied, his dagger in his hand. "So, how would you like to die?"

Alex laughed. "To think, I was about to ask the same of you." He said and Loki flew back about twenty feet, landing on the ground six inches from the small wall on the roof. Alex stood up, the ropes seeming to dissipate."You know, I must say, I have inherited many powers over my lifetime. I have been wondering how it will clash with your magic, but now I suppose I know."

Loki felt something in his mind which he hadn't felt since his dealings with Thanos. He felt weak, and with a growl toward Alex, he created a clone of himself, teleporting down below once more as Alex attacked the clone.

"You have very interesting tricks, god of mischief." Alex snarled, turning around and seeing Loki on the ledge. "But you have no idea of my weaponry."

"Then show me." Loki countered, and Alex smiled.

Before he could act, however, he was blasted back by Tony's repulsors, causing Loki to turn toward the billionaire.

"I told you I wanted my piece of him." Tony said simply, landing on the roof. "By the way, thanks Metalbender, I needed that help earlier."

Erik stepped out from behind the small building-like structure which held the stairwell down into the building. "You're welcome, Stark."

"So, what's the plan for – Ah!" Tony yelled suddenly, his body bending over. "That bastard!"

Erik and Loki turned toward Alex, his arm outstretched toward Tony. "Let's see how you survive now, Tony Stark." Shaw crowed as Tony collapsed onto the ground, his hand at his chest before he went silent.

Before Alex could crow over Tony's prone body at the other two, Loki threw his dagger at him, the metal embedding in his flesh deeply. Alex grunted, yanking the metal out and throwing it back at Loki before it suddenly flew back at Alex, embedding itself in his chest before it flew into Loki's hand. Alex looked toward Erik, and with a flick of his wrist he sent the older man flying into the stairway housing and Loki clear off the building.

Erik grunted in pain, trying to stand once more but Alex slammed him back into the wall. "I must say, old man, you put up quite a little fight – however childish it is." Alex said, getting into Erik's face. "Funny, I almost wish Kate had been here, maybe you would give it a little more, huh?" Erik's eyes blazed in fury at the man at the mention of his wife. "Did I ever tell you how loudly she screamed?"

Alex suddenly flew back as Erik used the metal of the air conditioner to grab him, yanking him back with quite a bit of force. Alex heated the metal, melting it before he flipped powers and threw Erik to nearly the edge. Stalking toward him, he held him in the air, casting illusions onto the older man which only he could see. "Do you see them, Erik?" Alex taunted. "Do you see her?" Eriks eyes watered, filling with pain which only he knew, transfixed on whatever scene he saw.

Before Alex could continue, he was blasted by Tony's repulsor one last time, engulfing him in flames. "My last hurrah." Tony muttered. Alex turned on the mere mortal, and sneered a moment before he reached his hand out to Tony one last time, the light on Tony's chest going dark as Ironman fell back and remained unmoving.

Erik struck back at Alex as his back was turned, using the metal around the building to be as weapons toward the man. Unknowing to both, Loki returned to the top, already having fixed Hulk back to his normal size, and allowing him to smash the mutants below. Alex swirled some kind of power around Erik, and the older man momentarily stumbled.

Loki used his distraction of Erik to his advantage and encased Alex in a block of ice, knowing it would take a minute for the other man to switch to something which could melt it. "Rogue..." he called and she suddenly appeared from nowhere it seemed. "Approach the ice, you should be able to touch his hand. My daggers are laced with a paralytic which I got from Stark, he's going to have a slower reaction time." She nodded and obeyed, walking toward the ice, it melting away to his hand. She touched it, draining him only slightly before it seemingly turned on her, and she was the one who felt weak. Letting go of his hand, she collapsed to the floor, shaking her head.

"We need a telepath." Erik ground out, standing up again. "But we don't have one here." The ice began to melt, and Loki gripped his dagger a bit tighter. Alex was revealed, his skin glowing red from the heat he had obviously used. Before he could really attack Loki, Magneto had ripped the door off the hinges of the stairwell and flung it at the back of Alex Shaw. The other mutant fell to the ground, then turned on the old man, throwing flames his way. His cloak caught on fire, but he simply threw the material to the ground to turn to ashes.

Alex jumped up in seeming super-strength, and flames suddenly licked at both men, swirling around the roof in a firey tornado as Alex laughed maniacally. Loki protected himself and Erik with a cage of ice, the inferno melting it quickly nonetheless. Suddenly it stopped and Alex gave a cry, his powers seeming to suddenly diminish.

Rogue had used his distraction to touch the back of his neck, and he dropped to the ground trying to reach back to grab her in turn. But Loki and Erik had already acted, and using the metal from Tony's suit, Erik had fixed him to the roof while Loki had magically created a boundary around him which confined him to his little space.

Realizing he was about to pass out, Rogue withdrew, panting heavily. Loki walked over to Tony in minor concern, his suit already stripped from him by Erik left him open. Without the suit, Loki could see what Alex had meant about Tony 'surviving', the Arc reactor was destroyed it looked like, and Loki knew enough about the billionaire to know that there was a piece of metal which would make its way to his heart.

"Rogue, go back down and find Doctor Richards." Loki instructed.

Anna-Marie nodded, and disappeared down the stairwell which was in the building. She looked back only once to see Loki and Erik both standing menacingly over Alex Shaw. Yet, she felt absolutely no pity.

I know...cliffhanger. Still, I think that this is the best place to leave it at the moment. Let me know what you think?