AN: Readers... it has been far too long! What with exams, quizzes, practicals, and homework, I haven't had much time for writing. But here's an update and I hope you like it! Please review and as always, thanks to those who reviewed/favorited/followed. Btw, anyone watch Marvel's Agents of SHIELD... it's awesome!

I own nothing.

Chapter Seven:

The door opened with a creak. Loki found himself at the top of yet another staircase. This one was uneven and made of stone. It led to a narrow corridor lined with cells. Loki was in The Other's dungeon. If Waverly was being held captive, she must be somewhere down here. Loki's heart thudded even more rapidly against his ribcage. He found himself holding his breath in anticipation. Controlling the excitement and tension building up inside him, Loki forced himself to walk down the stairs at a cautious pace. If Waverly was being held down here, it was likely The Other was here as well, waiting to ambush her rescuers. Loki was not about to walk straight into a trap. Much to his annoyance, as he descended the stairs, his boots cast echoing footsteps along the narrow prison corridor. Loki tightened his grip on his scepter and it began to glow with magic.

Waverly could hear The Other's footsteps as he descended the stairs. Turning her back against her cell door, she knelt near the puddle of water once more. She tried desperately to harness the sliver of power she could feel running through her veins. The puddle rippled in response, but Waverly couldn't form anything from the water, nor turn it to ice. She was starting to panic as the footsteps got louder and closer. Waverly was losing the little control she had regained over her powers.

Clint was maybe five steps from the doorway emitting the eerie orange light. Any closer and he'd be seen by the occupants of the room. They were talking in low, guttural voices in some strange alien language. Clint knew one of them was The Other. He supposed that meant the remaining alien was The Other's master. As slowly and silently as possible, Clint slipped a thermal camera from one of the pockets of his leather jacket. He pointed it towards the doorway and took a quick scan of the room. It was hard to decipher the image since the entire tower radiated heat like an oven, but Clint could only detect two figures in the room; the two aliens. His sister wasn't here. Clint replaced the camera to his pocket. He was faced with a decision. He could storm the room and take out The Other and his master now. Clint was sure he could eliminate them both before either could raise an alarm. But what if Clint needed them alive to find his sister? That was always a possibility. And if Clint left The Other alive, there was a good chance he would escape, possible taking Waverly with him. After all, how many times had The Other slipped through their fingers before? Clint took a slow breath and wiped the sweat from his palm. He grabbed the string of his bow and pulled it taut, aiming his arrow for the doorway.

Loki had reached the bottom of the staircase. The floor of the dungeon was made of roughly hewn stones and his footsteps echoed louder than ever along the corridor. Loki would not be sneaking up on anyone in here. Loki held his spear at the ready and proceeded down the hall. There were maybe 20 separate cells, ten on each side. As Loki passed each cell, he peered in between the iron bars. The first two cells were empty. The next one had some chains hanging from the ceiling. Bones littered the floor. Loki couldn't tell if they were alien, Midgardian, or something else altogether. For a brief moment, he had a horrible vision of what he might find in Waverly's cell. Loki shook the image from his mind and continued on.

The next few cells were empty. The bars were bent and twisted on one. Water dripped from the ceiling; Loki's heart was beating in time with the 'drip-drip-drip' of the water droplets. Loki paused when he came to the last two cells. If Waverly wasn't in one of these, he would have to continue his search elsewhere. Loki held his breath and looked in the cell to his left. It was empty.

Loki released his breath in a slow sigh, before gathering it up in his chest once more. He shut his eyes as he turned on his heel. A whole mix of emotions was swirling in his stomach; hope, fear, desperation. Loki couldn't remember the last time he felt so many different things. Strike that. Yes, he could. When he had first kissed Waverly. Loki steeled himself to open his eyes. Something told him this was it. One way or another.

Loki opened his eyes. His heart skipped a beat and his breath caught in his throat. For a moment, it felt like the god was dying. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, and his heart felt like it had stopped. Once he had allowed his brain to process what he was seeing, relief surged through his veins, spreading warmth to the tips of his fingers and toes. Loki flung himself against the bars of the cage, just trying to be close to her.

He watched Waverly whip around. Her eyes were wide and full of fear. "No!" She screamed. "Not again! Let me –" Whatever she was going to say died before it could leave her lips. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened even further. The fear turned to amazement. She was kneeling on the ground, next to a puddle of filthy water. She hurriedly got to her feet and half ran, half tripped in her excitement to the bars of her cell. She pressed her body as close against them as she could and thrust her arms between the bars, grabbing at every bit of Loki she could reach.

Loki did the same. His arms barely fit between the bars of iron, but he forced them through. One hand cupped around the back of Waverly's neck and pulled her face to the bars. Loki pressed his own face just as close and kissed Waverly through the cage. His other hand slipped around her waist and pulled at her, as if Loki were trying to simply pull Waverly through the iron bars.

It's rather hard to kiss passionately through the bars of a cell, but Loki and Waverly managed it pretty well. Loki had never felt such a strong desire to be close to Waverly. He was pressing his lips so hard against hers, it hurt. He felt her doing the same. Her nails dug into his chest as she grappled at his clothing, trying to pull him nearer. Loki, despite being the god of mischief, always acted like a gentleman when he was around Waverly; she deserved it. But right now, Loki couldn't contain himself. The hand that had been resting on her waist slid down to the curve of her backside. His other hand twisted itself in her hair and tugged at it. Loki forced his tongue in between her lips and ran it along the roof of her mouth. He felt Waverly's lips tilt up in a smile against his. Obviously she didn't mind he lack of… gentlemanly behavior. When neither of them could no longer go without air, they broke apart.

Waverly was crying which completely confused the god of mischief.

"What's wrong?" He asked, still not letting her go.

Waverly shook her head. She was sobbing too hard to talk.

"Stand back." Loki let her go and took a step away from the bars. He made a slashing motion with his scepter and a streak of blue magic cut through the cell door like a warm knife through butter. With one good kick, Loki knocked the bars down. Now nothing separated him from Waverly. He rushed towards her and held her tightly once more. Waverly buried her face in his shoulder and clutched his arms so tightly, it hurt. She was still crying.

"Waverly, my dearest, why are you crying? You're safe now. You are with me."

Waverly took a shuddering breath and pulled away to look into Loki's face. His emerald green eyes were so full of love and concern; so different from the eyes she had seen the first day they met. "I…" she hiccupped. "I was just so scared. It's a trap. He wants you to come. He'll kill you."

Loki made a 'shushing' he had often heard his mother use when calming him as a child. He pulled Waverly back against his chest. He breathed in her scent, felt the rise and fall of her chest against his, the thud of her heart. "It's all right," he said quietly. "Your brother and I figured it would be a trap. We've taken the necessary precautions. Besides," Loki slipped a slender finger under Waverly's chin and tilted her face up to look at him. He gave her the arrogant but charming smile he always saved just for her. "You are quite worth the risk."

Waverly made a noise somewhere between a sob, a hiccup, and a laugh. Loki bent down and kissed her again, pulling even more tightly against him. He just couldn't get close enough to her.

The Other and his master were still talking as Clint jumped the five steps separating him from the doorway. Judging by the sound of the two voices, Clint discerned the general position of the two aliens in the room. As he kicked open the door with his foot, he let his first arrow fly. Quick as a flash, he reached back into his quiver and pulled out another arrow. In half a second, he had nocked another arrow and let it loose. Clint allowed himself just enough time to pause and look at his handy work.

His first arrow had lodged itself in The Other's forehead. He lie dead on the floor. Clint looked up towards his other target.

The alien had snatched Clint's arrow out of the air an inch before the tip pierced his forehead. He snapped the arrow in half and smiled wickedly at Clint. Clint's eyes widened, shock spreading across his face.

"My, my, humans really don't have manners now, do they?" he said in his deep gravelly voice. His alien accent mangled the human words. He dropped the pieces of arrow to the floor and he snapped them into smaller pieces with the heel of his boot.

Clint drew another arrow and pointed this one at one of The Other's master's eyes.

"In my realm," the alien continued. He stood up, swishing his cape behind him as he stepped over The Other and made his way towards Clint. "We at least introduce ourselves before killing at random. I am Thanos. Which of The Avengers are you? The mighty Hawkeye I presume?"

Clint's arrow never left the alien's eye. "I hardly think you're one to talk about manners. Threatening an entire planet, kidnapping my sister, I could go on but we both know what you've done." Clint pulled his bowstring a little further, stretching it to its limit. "Your servant is dead at your feet. I have you cornered. Surrender now and I might make you death painless."

Thanos laughed as if Clint had just told a hilarious joke. "Humans. Such simple creatures. You think you've won. What a naïve mind you have. Tell me, where is the rest of your team? I would like all of you out of the way before I crush you pathetic planet."

Clint should just let his arrow fly. He should just finish this maniac now. But something held him back and he answered the alien's question. "They aren't here. Just you and me."

Thanos sighed as if this was a major disappointment. "Alas, I cannot kill you now then. You will take me to your comrades and then I shall kill you all at once."

"Not likely buddy."

"But you see, you have already lost." Thanos surged forward. White an orange energy swirled around his fist as he thrust it through the air, towards Clint's chest. It was a mix of fire and pure thermal energy. The tendrils glowed so brightly, they cast the room in an eerie white glow.

Time seemed to slow down. Clint discarded the arrow he had ready to fly, replacing it with an explosive tip instead of the typical arrowhead. Inches before Thanos reached him, Clint loosened his grip on his bowstring and let his arrow fly.

At that same moment, Thanos unleashed his ball of energy. It arced in the space between them, heading for Clint's chest.

The arrow and the ball of energy met in the air. For a split second, all was still. Clint just had time to throw his arms up in front of his face; he knew what was coming. With an earsplitting roar, the arrow and Thanos' energy erupted into an explosion that shoot the whole fortress. The force threw Clint backwards from the throne room and he tumbled painfully down the metal staircase. A loud crumbling told him on the other side of the blast, Thanos was thrown through the wall, hopefully falling to his death. But something told Clint that if he could survive the explosion, so could Thanos. And now, he'd be really annoyed.

An explosion shook the walls. Waverly stumbled and Loki steadied her. He looked up towards the ceiling, a nervous feeling settling into his stomach once more. "Ah," he said, "That'll be your brother. Shall we?"