This is Steve talking; this whole chapter will be Captain Steve Rogers; who is awesome.

Thanks for the reviews guys.

Hawkeye grabbed me, his hands throwing themselves out to seize me and drag me backwards, throwing me into the corn field next to us. Spinning me out into the ground so that I fell down face first, I felt the ears brush my face and then I hit the ground with a smack, my cheek grazing a rock that thought it would aid my fall.

He ducked down next to me, his bow and arrow balanced in his hands, his eyes glaring at Loki's friends; sighing with relief as they whizzed past us. He stood up and stopped.

I frowned and pushed myself up, standing at his side and watching the Chatari whiz past us; but Clint did relax, he grew tenser as he turned to face me, his face a pale white and his eyes wide, full of fear and adrenalin.

"Where's Tory?" He asked, moving his head around to look at the field around us.

I felt my heart stop as he spoke; what had he seen? Nothing made Hawkeye scared. In New York he faced the Chatari with more courage than the rest of us, not caring that he was an easy target. When we left he volunteered to stay behind and reach Thor and Bruce, nearly getting captured and burned in the process. He's been to the camps and spoken to the people inside them, despite the penalty for that.

But now I was looking at a terrified man and it was scaring me. But what sacred me more was the fact that he mentioned Tory, the fact that he kept scanning the road, the fact that she wasn't back yet.

I ran past him, my feet slamming into the floor as I moved towards the little shop, tripping and falling as I ran for her. She had to be there, she had to be safe.

I was nearly there when I slipped in something, crushing glass beneath my shoe and a liquid slipping on the soles of my shoe. I fell forward, glass ripping into my leg as I fell, cutting the khaki trousers and breaking the skin.

I looked down, hissing at the pain, and staring at the bits of cola bottles on the ground… No.

I felt my heart beat faster then slow and stop. It sat there and filled with guilt, fear, all these things that I couldn't deal with. They'd taken her; she was either going to a camp or to Loki… I don't know which one I preferred.

If she was left in a camp, she'd either starve to death or be burnt alive but if she went to Loki, she'd be alive but tortured out of her mind and left screaming every night.

"Steve! Look at me! Where is she?" Clint grabbed my shoulders and shook me till I looked up at him.

"She… she went to go get a drink… I didn't realise that… I thought…" I couldn't speak in normal sentences, I couldn't think straight. All I could think about was her laughing at me with those vibrant blue eyes, then them changing they'd stop glowing and she'd stop laughing. She'd be broken by whatever happened to her.

Clint's hand came smacking around my face and sent me flying. I pushed myself up and glared at the archer, he just stood over me, his hand going back to my shoulders.

"Where is Victoria Stark?"

"You know where." I said, watching as he looked over his shoulder at the Chatari that were long gone. He let out a small sigh, his shoulders deflating and the bow threatening to fall from his hands. But he jumped into action and hauled me onto my feet, pushing me back towards the car, constantly looking over his shoulder as we trudged back.

I fell into the passenger seat and looked at the ground, wishing that it would swallow me whole so I wouldn't have to face Tony. I didn't want to see his face as we told him, I didn't want to hear his shouts or feel his anger, I didn't want him to break.

They all stared at us as we walked back into the house, moving into the front room and falling onto the seats. Natasha moved up, pushing Jane from her side and gripping the side of the couch as she moved up.

"Tory?" She called, glancing around the space and searching for the tall girl. When she couldn't find her, she jumped up and wobbled on her feet; Clint reaching out to help her but she shoved him away from her and tripped around the house, calling for the girl. Grabbing everyone else's attention causing Tony and Fury to run out from the small dining room to drag her back into bed.

"No! Tony, no; she's missing!" I heard her call. Tony looked back at me but I couldn't keep his gaze. But I could hear his roar of anguish.

"WHAT HAPPENED!" He yelled, running into the front room and grabbing me by the front of my shirt, his adrenalin made him stronger, chucking me from him so that I knocked into the coffee table.

"Tony, calm down!" Clint yelled, crossing the space and standing in between the two of us, his arms outstretched and pushing Tony back away from me. "This wasn't his fault."

"YES, IT IS! The only reason she was out there was to spend more time with wonder boy over there! He said that he was going to protect her; you both did! NOW, SHE'S GONE! SO I WANT SOME FUCKING ANSWERS!"

Tony bucked against him, shoving Clint from each side to reach me.

Thor entered the room and put his arm around Tony's waist dragging him into the air and keeping him constrained against the God, so as much as Tony would fight, there was no way he could get out.

"Tony, honey, please calm down…" Pepper whispered, stepping in dodging the other people in the room and standing in front of Tony, her hand going to his cheek and letting him struggle against it. It took a few seconds but the man calmed and let Thor release him, he tripped fell against Pepper and began shaking.

"What did happen?" Natasha asked, leaning against Jane, her face trying to become controlled and impassive.

"She went to go get some drinks…" I mumbled, not brave enough to raise my eyes above the ground. "She must have been gone 10 minutes or… it wasn't that long. She told me that she'd be right back, I thought that she could handle it but…" I couldn't finish it. I couldn't tell them what I'd done, how foolish I'd been, how naïve I had been.

"The Chatari came and they took her away." Clint finished his voice sharp and strong.

"NO!" Tony yelled, trying to break away from Pepper but the woman wouldn't let him go and he fell to his knees dragging her with him. "HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN!"

"I didn't mean for it to happen…" I offered, pathetically but Tony wasn't paying attention anymore and what I said next didn't help. "I swear, Tony, I thought she'd be all right…"

He leapt for me whacking me around the face and laying into me, roaring and grunting with every punch, smack and hit; his anger, his aggression, his pain pouring into his strength as he broke my skin. "IT… SHOULD… HAVE… BEEN… YOU!"

I let out a whimper but didn't try and stop him as he attacked me, I let him hurt me as I'd hurt him because I thought that it was the least I could do.

"TONY! STOP IT! PLEASE!" Pepper yelled, grabbing his fists and dragging them back, pulling him off me and kneeling in front of him. "Tony, sweetheart, please don't…."

"She's gone, Pepper, they're gonna kill her… they're gonna kill her or rape her or burn her or break her… she's gone, Pepper."

Nobody said anything, they just let Tony sob into Pepper's arms.

Jane moved forward, passing Nat to Thor and grabbing me, hauling me onto my feet and leading me from the room. Her arm going around me but only for a few seconds, she dropped me onto a seat next to the table and got to work on the injuries that were littered around me. I just sat there and let her. I sat there and breathed, waiting for Jane to finish.

She was wrapping up my leg when she looked up at me and whispered. "She wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

I looked down at the gentle woman and frowned at her. "How can I not?"

"Because, as amazing as you are," She said, standing up and flicking some blood off of my cheek. "You can't see the future, you weren't to know."

"I should have at least been cautious and gone with her-."

Jane laughed and looked down at me, softly, glancing over her shoulder as Thor walked in. "She was feeling smothered, that's why she went, she'd have kicked your ass if you went everywhere with her."

"What if we can't get her back? You still going to believe I'm not to blame?"

Jane looked at me, a lump forming in her throat and she cast her eyes downwards, looking at the ground. But she didn't have to say anything, I had her answer.

"You best get the girl back then, Steven, hadn't you?" Thor asked, standing stoically at the doorway, his body casting a shadow on the ground and his entire body practically filling the room. "Stop at nothing."

I looked up at him and watched his impassive expression soften, his eyes going back to their normal state for a few seconds.

I sighed and moved across to the table, looking at Fury's map of America and going over it a few times, the God moved across and began to help me.

We worked like that for a few hours before Maria moved into the room and announced. "King Loki's making a broadcast in about two minutes. You'll want to see this."

I glanced up at him and watched as his face became dark and dangerous but the fear seeped in as well. He was thinking what we all were at that moment; what could Loki possibly have to say?

I walked over to the living room, watching as everyone else stared, transfixed, to the screen; no one bothered to look up at me, no one bothered to say anything to me. That was fine, I understood why.

Tony jumped as Pepper whispered something into his ear, his red eyes looking up at me and frowning. He shook as he moved onto his feet, everyone tensed as he reached me. But he just nodded to me and led me over to the couch, making me sit next to him. He leaned forward and didn't say a word. I wondered whether it was exhaustion or shock.

The channel buzzed and a symbol appeared on the screen; a silver snake emblazoned with flecks of gold and green, a blue eye winking at us. The silver tongue poking out as it curled around the World; to all others it would look like it was protecting the Earth but we knew that the snake was crushing it.

"That's nice; I wonder whether he drew it himself." Clint said, nonchalantly. Natasha whacked him but said nothing as others around the room sniggered.

Then it vanished and it was replaced with Loki, standing over a camera, in front of a hundred curtains that seemed to ruffle with no wind. His helmet extenuated his height and his flamboyant outfit made him appear stronger than he was.

"Is it just me or does that place look familiar?" Nat muttered as Loki began talking.

His message was a revamp and restyle of his rhetoric in Stuttgart; though still hiding the same message of superiority and power over the rest of us. It was kinder, though, he'd had some coaching to make sure that he didn't sound like a twat. Now, it was all sunshine and lollipops from Loki, instead of the old death, violence, war, death, death and, oh, more death.

He made himself seem like a blessing and if I didn't know what he was really capable of and who he was and what he'd done; I'd have believed him.

"I and my Queen will oversee the world from our location." Loki said, as he began to move, the camera following him.

"Loki has a Queen? How?" I asked, echoing everyone's thoughts.

"On Asguard he was married to a woman named Sigyn but she cannot cross from Asguard to Midguard. It is impossible…" The God trailed off as he stared at the screen because he was right; it wasn't Loki's wife sat there waiting for him.

It was Tory.

She gazed up at him, love on her face and passion there too. She was sat with her hand outstretch on the post between his throne and her chair. The dress she was wearing complimented her and lifted her chest, tucking her in and trailing down to her feet where it floated down. She was beautiful and for a second I was lost in her beauty but then I heard Loki's voice and remembered what was happening.

Loki moved to sit next to her, reaching to take her hand in his and grip it with long fingers. He was looking a her with the same hunger that a dog would stare at a bowl of meat. It made me sick.

She just stared at him with a love stricken expression but then I noticed her eyes. She was furious.

Tory was still in there, somewhere, she was fine. And I realised something I hadn't before; she was alive. Also, if Loki was announcing she was his Queen that meant that people would expect to see her and he couldn't kill her. We had that blessing at least.

I'd spaced out for the most of his conclusion and I didn't hear what he had said, I just knew it was directed at us.

"My Queen and I make a promise to love your World as much as we love each other."

"NO!" I yelled, jumping out of the seat and glaring at the screen but his face was hidden behind the emblem and he was gone. He couldn't hear me. But, regardless of the distance, he knew that we had seen that and he knew that he had forced a reaction out of us.

"What the hell? Why would she do that to us?" Maria snapped, reaching to steal the remote from Clint and turn the T.V. off but he seized it tightly and glared at Fury's favourite.

"Don't be stupid, Hill, she'd under his spell; just like I was. That wasn't her… did you see her eyes?" He asked, looking at Romanoff. The spy nodded and seconded Clint. "It was that stupid snake necklace he was making her wear, it messed with her head…. That wasn't Tory."

"Can you say that with all certainty Barton?" Fury asked, taking a stance next to Hill, looking down at the archer with a commanding expression.

"I can; Loki is God of Mischief, a master of lies and deceit. But he is also a commander of tricks, that trinket is child's play now that his powers have been heightened by the Tesseract." Thor rumbled, his hand clenched at his side and his other holding Jane's.

"She looked like she was complicit." Hill spat at him.

"You have no idea the things that Loki can make you do, once he's in your head. It's like you've lost your control on your own body; he can make you do anything."

"Even have sex with him?" Tony asked, looking up at the rest of us with tear stained eyes. "Could he do that?"

No one dared answer him because we didn't have an answer. Thor couldn't say anything because he didn't know the depths of Loki's depravity, anymore. Clint had nothing to say because he'd never had that kind of experience. Natasha had only experience in that kind of thing but she didn't want to scare Tony as she was scared.

"Yes, he could." Clint whispered, watching as Tony let out a bitter, mirthless laugh and let his head drop into his hands.

"Great."

The room was silent, each face hidden so that no one else would look at them. No one spoke for a while.

"So, we have to think subjectively." Fury said, trying to jump everyone in action. "Why did Loki show us that?"

"To promote his message that he's the messiah coming to lead us from the bad guys." Clint said, looking up at the one eyed man. Fury nodded but began pushing for more answers.

"Yes, this message was meant for the World to understand but it was more so meant for us. He wanted us to see that for a reason, why?"

"To shock you." Jane whispered, rubbing her face and blinking a few times. "To make you see that if you tried to attack him he has some leverage on you."

"Or to make sure that you lot know how dangerous he is. Make you think that he knows where we are and that he could send Chatari for the rest of us." Pepper said her hands on Tony's back.

"Make him seem more lenient." Jane said nodding as Pepper looked at her. The two women looked at Fury and he smiled at them slightly as Natasha began to speak.

"I don't think he's trying to appear lenient. I think that if he knew where we were, he'd send Chatari for the rest of us, get us out of the way and execute us, like he did with… Bruce. But he's leaving us, so I think that the Chatari finding her was a stroke of luck. Something he was waiting for."

"That would explain why he put of making a broadcast till now." Said Clint.

"But why that? Why would he use her like that?" Hill asked, her arms folding across her chest. "I mean, no offence she's nice but Loki hates all humans, why would he use one like that?"

"Because she's famous for being my adoptive daughter; people know who we are. So, they will see that if Tory has sided with Loki and has married Loki," Tony laughed, again bitterly. "Then the rest of the World we know that the Avengers have failed and the World is lost. That there's no hope."

"So, they'll give up trying to find us." I agreed. Tony stood up and walked across to me, leaning on me as I grabbed his arm. "They'll think that we're dead."

"Loki's one sick bastard." Tony whispered, falling slightly, his knees buckling, as he feinted.

"Tony!"

"Stark!"

I lowered him to the ground and shook his head, trying to wake him but it worked about as much as a wooden sword in a gun fight. Pepper landed on her knees next to him, her nails ripping through the shirt as she frowned, then I saw why.

The circle that powered him, it normally shone like a candle in the dark but the light was dimming. It was a tenth of the power it normally was.

"Pepper, what does that mean?"

"If this stops working… Tony's going to die."

DUNDUNDUN! OHMYGOD! NOT TONY! Just thought I'd throw that out there. I want to thank you all for the support, please keep it coming. Also, if there are any aspiring artists out there I would be ever so grateful if I could see my emblem come to life. OHHH! WE COULD HAVE A CONTEST AND I COULD PICK WHICH ONE IS BEST AND SEND YOU AN INTERNET COOKIE! : D lots of love.