A Battle Won

Loki stood above the street, looking down at the so-called Avengers as they gathered, his jaw tensing when he saw Kona wince as she heard the Hulk roar before a deafening smash resounded as one of the Chitauri weapons was torn apart by his brute strength. His hands curled into fists when he saw her flinch as someone took her arm, as Agent Barton took her arm and tugged her over to the others. He could see it, from his height, that she was terrified. He had watched her before, seen her trying to help the children and other humans flee the bus that had been knocked out of commission, he didn't fault her for helping in that instant, it didn't mean she was on the Avengers' side, it didn't mean she was their ally, it didn't mean she had turned against him.

All she saw was children in danger and that she wanted to help. She had always been like that, it was been one of the reasons why they'd tried to postpone Thor's coronation, she'd seen him butchering Frost Giants, adults and children alike, and it had horrified her. To her, all children were innocent and he knew, he expected her to really, she would go and help those children even if it meant helping the Avengers in the process.

But he could see it now, she was scared, she was afraid and trapped in the middle of a battle with aliens attacking on all sides. SHE was safe yes, but she was only safe from the Chitauri. He knew, as well as she did, that it would only be a matter of time before one of them thought to try and use her as a shield to get somewhere, to use her as a method of defense. He had to trust that Agent Barton's resolve would hold despite the battle raging around him, that he would continue to protect Kona with his life as had been commanded of him.

He watched as they converged together, the Hulk roaring, Barton readying an arrow while the Black Widow loaded her guns. Thor was there, lifting Mjolnir and he could see that even in the chaos, Kona was shying away from Thor's direction, as Captain America stood ready, Iron Man hovering above them. But Kona…his gaze was on her, he could see her trembling from even there, how she was holding herself, how she was panting…she was utterly out of her mind with terror.

And that would NOT do at all.

He wanted her safe, and protected, and out of harm's way.

"Send the rest," he gave the command to a Chitauri solder beside him, "Get her back. Bring her to me."

He knew he couldn't risk going down there by himself as much as he wanted to, the others would all focus on him, on attacking him and he didn't want her to get hurt. If he sent more soldiers, it could lure each of them away separately, make space for Kona to be freed.

He closed his eyes, praying that she would be ok.

~8~

The Avengers looked up, seeing more warships and large aliens and warriors flying through the portal, Kona closing her eyes and trying to focus, it wasn't like she could see them, and given how silent the others had gone she could only guess what was going on.

"Guys?" Natasha breathed.

"Call it, Captain," Iron Man turned to him.

"Alright, listen up," the Captain nodded, spinning to face them, "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything," he paused a moment, "Take Kona with you," he added, seeing the man about to argue for that, "Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

Barton nodded and looked at Iron Man, "Wanna give us a lift?"

"Right," Iron Man walked over, taking Kona's arms and moving them around Barton's neck, "Hold on, and don't let go," he warned her before he grabbed Barton's arm, the man moving his other arm around her waist, and took off, bringing them up to the top of a building before he flew off himself.

"You alright?" Barton asked as he let go of Kona, the girl stumbling back till she hit a small railing around the edge of the building, sliding down one of the poles to curl her knees to her chest.

"I…really hate this," she breathed, wrapping hear arms around her stomach as she shook, before letting out a small scream when she heard smashing below her as the Hulk was set on the loose.

"Just…stay down," Barton told her, glancing over to see her moving to cover her face in with her hands. He swallowed hard and glanced down at the street before rushing over to her, kneeling before her, "Kona, Kona look up," he reached out to take her hands off her face, "You were right," he told her, "I…am CHOOSING to protect you now," he admitted, something about…all of it just not sitting right with him.

He wasn't sure if it was a lingering effect of the Tesseract, like…a small doubt, a small sliver of loyalty that still belonged to Loki, or…something else but…everything happening just felt so wrong to him. No…he knew what it was, it had nothing to do with the Tesseract or with what Loki had done to him, it was all…Kona.

"And I am choosing to believe you," he added, "That something is wrong about all this."

Kona let out a breath, "You...believe me?"

He nodded even though she couldn't see, "I believe that you see something we don't. And I believe that you know that psychotic bastard better than any of us. If you say it's not him...then I'll second you."

It was her adamant belief in Loki, her insistence that something was wrong, her true and deep faith that what was going on wasn't all there was to it…that had done him in. He had had a similar notion about Natasha once, that there was something more to her than met the eye, there was something more going on with her and if there had been just one person to vouch for her, to be there for her...that she'd be different. And she was. He had been right, there was more at play with her than people realized.

It was the same with Kona and Loki but...more powerful. He'd never seen someone that vehement about something like this before, he had never seen anyone else have such unshakable faith in another. Loki himself had openly admitted to her that he HAD attacked and killed people and Kona took it in stride and refused to accept it. It wasn't denial, he could recognize that, it wasn't the denial that someone you loved had done something bad, it wasn't a refusal to accept the facts. It was more…like she KNEW something that completely changed the game but didn't know what it was.

If she could truly and honestly believe that there was something else going on…this girl who had NEVER fallen under the Tesseract's power, then there HAD to be something else he was missing.

He…he could concede to one point that she had made, she knew Loki better than Thor did. She knew him better than anyone. And if SHE said something was wrong with him…then…he would trust her, and he would believe that something was wrong too. A girl like Kona, the brief times he'd met her, the sense he'd gotten off her (which was near perfect given his profession and the calls he had to make about other people off a glance) she was...a genuine person, she was regal and compassionate and...a girl like her wouldn't ever be with a man like the monster they all thought Loki was. She wasn't obsessive, she wasn't irrational, she was sensible, she wouldn't keep denying that it was Loki's fault if it really was his fault. She would admit it and she would try to stop it. She wouldn't make excuses for someone else. So for her to be so dead set on claiming something was wrong with Loki...he would believe it.

"And I promise you," he added, squeezing her hands, "I won't let anything hurt you, and…I'll do my best to keep them from harming Loki too."

She let out a breath, "You will?"

He swallowed, "If I have a clear shot to stop him…I'll be forced to take it," he warned her, it was his duty as an Agent of SHIELD to stop attacks and Loki WAS attacking Earth, "But…I'll only take it if I have to."

Kona nodded, knowing that was as good as she could ever hope to get coming from someone under Fury's thumb, "Thank you."

Barton nodded and turned, moving to the corner of the building and readying his bow, waiting and watching, taking his shot at every single Chitauri that came near, relentlessly attacking them.

"Stark," he called into his communicator, reporting what he could see, which was quite a lot, he'd always been better at looking at things from a distance, "You gotta lot of strays on your tail!"

"Just tryin' to keep them off the streets!" Iron Man called back as a line of Chitauri trailed after him.

"Well they can't bank worth a damn," he muttered, preparing another arrow and letting it loose, missing the craft that flew past him.

"Behind you!" Kona shouted.

He spun around and fired another arrow, striking a craft this time, making it explode and fall to the ground.

"I will roger that!" Iron Man shouted over the controls, as Barton turned, watching him fly by as he quickly fired more arrows at the crafts, managing to blow them up as well, watching as Iron Man made a series of turns and dives between buildings, taking out the remaining crafts that had been after him, "Nice call. What else you got?"

Barton looked around, "Well, Thor's taking out a squadron down on 6th…" he glanced back, hearing Kona shifting, understanding she still wasn't comfortable with the idea of Thor, and from what he'd gathered off of Loki…she had every right to be wary of the man.

"And he didn't invite me!" was all Iron Man replied before he took off towards where Thor was working.

Barton looked over the edge, watching as Iron Man flew away, squinting as he watched him join Natasha and the Captain as they fought, firing a blast off of the Cap's shield to take out a few more Chitauri warriors before he flew back the way he'd come, towards HIM up the building as one of the larger ships followed.

He quickly pulled an arrow and readied it, waiting till Iron Man had passed, before firing it into the head of the Chitauri on the beast. He was suddenly pulled down by the elbow, Kona beside him, saving him from two blasts that just barely skimmed over the top of his head. He fired another arrow, hitting the pilot of the craft and sending both it and the pilot down.

He cursed under his breath, "What is it?" Kona panted.

"The Army's moving in," he muttered, that wouldn't be good, but before he could even report that, he spotted something else down another street, "Captain, the bank on 42nd, past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there."

"I'm on it," the Captain called back before he saw the man take off towards the street.

"Hawkeye!"

Barton winced as a piercing shout came through the earpiece he was wearing. He looked over to see Natasha had somehow made it onto a Chitauri craft and was managing to use one of the aliens to pilot it, but that she was being chased by Loki in another craft, "Nat, what are you doing?!"

"Uh, a little help!"

"I got it."

Kona frowned, hearing almost a…reluctance in his voice, "What's going on?"

Barton swallowed, "I'm sorry Kona," he murmured, "But…that shot I mentioned…"

Kona's eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen, Loki was about to be shot at, "NO!" she screamed reaching out and shoving Barton to the side just as he fired his arrow, tackling him to the ground.

Barton grunted as he hit the floor, looking over to see that the arrow had missed Loki entirely…but had embedded itself in the side of his craft. He saw the man glare at him before he quickly turned, rolling Kona away and covering her just as the arrow exploded, sending Loki falling off the ship…and crashing onto the balcony platform of Stark Tower.

"Loki!" Kona shouted after him, trying to scramble up, hearing the explosion, hearing Loki's yells, but Barton held her back, restraining her, literally locking his arms around her and pulling her, kicking and screaming, in the other direction.

~8~

Loki grunted as he hit the platform of Stark Tower, rolling onto his side, before he looked up at the building that Kona and Barton had been on. He closed his eyes for only a moment, the smallest of smiles appearing on his face. He'd lost track of her in the middle of the battle, but he was so relieved to find that Barton still held true to the order, that he was protecting Kona even now. What's more…he felt his heart warm to know that Kona…she'd saved him.

He'd seen it too late as he had passed in the Chitauri craft, he'd seen Barton aiming his arrow right at his head, but just before he'd fired, Kona had pushed him to the side. He was quite sure he would have been able to catch the arrow, that he would have been just fine, but…given that the arrow exploded, it was lucky for him that it had hit the side of his craft and not exploded in his grip. He had Kona to thank for that, she had protected him. It mean everything to know that, with the entire battle going on, with the aliens invading, with her knowing that….that he'd had a hand in making this happen…that she'd still wanted to save him, that she had still wanted to see him safe.

He was almost…confused though, by how steady she was in her faith in him. He couldn't quite understand (even though he was grateful for it) that she would still side with him and still protect him and still believe in him despite knowing all she did of what he'd done. He'd invaded Earth, he'd attacked, he'd killed, he'd…

He jerked forward a bit, feeling almost…ill as he thought of that, his stomach twisting, his head pounding as images filled his mind of all that he'd done, of all the…horrible, truly terrible things that he'd done to the humans.

He winced, when a flash of pain struck his head, a pain so similar to the Chitauri that he forced himself to take a breath, forced himself to calm, to think about the plan the Chitauri had given him. It was the plan that mattered, everything he'd done had been to see to his end of the bargain. The Chitauri had been given complete access to this Realm, they would be given the Tesseract and Earth was well on its way to being conquered, he would soon have all the leverage he needed to force Thor's hand, to force the man to take Kona back, to restore her memories and to LISTEN to them. To realize that he hadn't let the Frost Giants into Asgard or plotted to kill Odin or that he wanted the throne and…

"Ah," he let out a grunt, hunching forward, his hand clenching into a fist, no…that…that was wrong, wasn't it? That wasn't what happened. He HAD let the Frost Giants into Asgard for the sole purpose of taking over, he had killed the Jotun King to assert his authority, he had destroyed Jotunheim (or attempted to) to prove his strength and resolve, and…he had been king for a short while, a position and title that was due to him by birthright…yes, THAT was what had happened…

Wasn't it?

'NO!' Kona's voice shouted in his head, 'Loki please, you know it! You know in your heart that is NOT what happened at all. Please Loki. Please come back, please fight it! Fight THEM!'

He let out a breath before gripping at his hair, the pain of the Chitauri rippling through him but Kona's voice would not be silenced now. So distracted was he in trying to force the pain to subside and the voice to quiet, that he didn't even realize the Hulk had landed on the platform before him until he found himself hauled off his feet and thrown through the window and into the penthouse.

It was enough of a jolt to stop both as it seemed, and he rolled to his feet, "ENOUGH!" he roared, "You are, all of you, beneath me! I AM GOD, YOU DULL CREATURE, AND I WILL NOT BE BULLIED BY…"

He was cut off when the Hulk grabbed him by his feet and began to relentlessly, mercilessly, and ruthlessly smash him into the floor and walls and furniture, beating him down into the floor over and over and over before he just…tossed him aside and walked off.

"Puny God."

Loki let out a breath of pain, feeling the world around him going black…hearing Kona's voice whispering in his ear as his eyes fell closed…

~8~

Kona struggled in Barton's grip, despite the battle going on, she could hear it, she could hear the Hulk roaring and she could hear where he landed, the same place as Loki, "Let me go!" she shouted, twisting and turning in Barton's grip, but the man refused to let her loose, "Let me go!"

"Kona stop it!" he grunted as she half-elbowed him in the gut.

"No!" she tried to pry his fingers off her, "You said you'd stop them! You said you wouldn't let them hurt him!"

"And I won't!" he hissed as she pulled his pinky back, forcing him to let her go, but he grabbed her arm as she turned to run, twisting her back to him and taking her other wrist in his other hand, "Kona stop it! Listen! Stop!" he shook her a bit, getting her to stop from the volume of his shout. He looked over the side of the building, able to see Natasha on the roof of Stark Tower, making her way to the Tesseract and he knew that he needed to calm her down, "I won't let them hurt him, I promised remember. While Loki's down…he can't attack and they can't attack him."

"They'll kill him," she argued, "They won't care to ask questions or think they'll just…" her voice broke, "They'll kill him."

"They won't," he released her wrists to put his hands on her face, seeing her starting to cry, she was probably more terrified by that prospect than the battle she'd been thrown into, "Fury will want answers, ok? He'll be fine, right now…" he glanced at the tower again, only to stiffen as he saw a Chitauri craft heading for them, "He's fine, but we're not!"

He pushed her behind him, reaching into his quiver for an arrow…but it was empty, "Get back!" he nudged her away as a few Chitauri soldiers jumped down onto the roof and began attacking. He managed to fight them off with his bow instead, spinning around to see one had snuck up on Kona. He was about to shout to her to watch out, knowing that the alien wouldn't harm her, but it could capture her…

When Kona reached out as it leapt at her, grabbing its arm and throwing it over her shoulder…accidently (or possibly purposefully) throwing it off the roof in the process, panting.

He looked over and grabbed an arrow out of a fallen Chitauri soldier, putting it in his quiver and change the head of it before he pulled it back out. He rushed over to her, putting her arms around him from behind, "You hold on, ok?" he ordered, seeing a ship firing at them. He turned and leapt off the building with Kona clinging to his neck…firing his last arrow up as the building exploded, the head opening up into a grappling hook that attached to the side of the building, allowing them to swing through the air and crash through a window in the side of the building.

Kona let go as they hit the floor, the two of them rolling around but, while he grunted and tried to stand…he let out a breath seeing Kona had just kept rolling…right to her knees before she ran across the room, using her hands to feel for any desks or other objects till she reached a door.

"Kona!" he shouted, knowing she was now on a warpath to get to Loki, not trusting the others to not hurt him while he was down, which…he could actually understand as Natasha HAD been about to attack her when her back was turned, "Kona wait!" he ran after her.

She was very spry and quick for a blind girl.

"I can close it!" he heard Natasha shouting in his earpiece, "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!" the Captain ordered.

"No wait!" Iron Man cut in, just as he and Kona reached the stairwell, the girl already bolting down it as he chased her.

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute!" Iron Man countered.

He grabbed Kona's hand just as they reached the bottom, running out into the middle of the street and looking up, seeing Ironman flying past with a large missile in his hands.

"And I know just where to put it."

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip!" the Captain shouted when they saw him heading for the portal where the Chitauri were still coming out.

"Damn…" Barton breathed as he saw Iron Man fly right into the portal…when he realized Kona had taken off again, running for the base of Stark Towers, "Kona!" he gave chase, trying to keep his eye on the sky as he followed her, listening to the others shouting when Tony became unresponsive.

The entire window of the stairwell he and Kona were running up shattered as a blast went out within the portal, the ship and the aliens falling from the sky like flies, which he knew had to mean the mother ship was destroyed.

"Close it!" he heard the Captain order as he picked himself back to his feet, Kona struggling to make it up the stairs, the building shaking and he knew it had to be Natasha closing the portal.

"Bout time," he muttered.

"Son of a gun!" he heard the Captain call. He paused at a window, looking out to see Iron Man falling from the sky, and then the Hulk jump up and catching him, crashing into buildings and the grown as he landed, Thor and the Captain surrounding him.

"Loki!" he heard Kona gasp, before he ran up the last flight of stairs and into the penthouse…seeing Kona moving to kneel by Loki's side, "Loki?" she reached out gently, searching for his face and his hand resting on his chest, "Wake up…" she whispered, trying to rouse him…

He looked up when he heard a few crashes, spotting the other Avengers landing on the platform outside, Natasha, the Captain, the Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man, all of them there, all of them walking towards him and Kona, all of them looking ready to kill.

"Guys…" he moved to stand in front of her, "I need you to trust me," he began.

Captain America shook his head at how the man was trying to stop them from extracting Loki while he was still incapacitated, "Fury was right, you ARE still compromised."

"No," he shook his head, "I just think…what if Kona has a point?"

"A point about what?" Natasha scoffed, the scepter she'd used to stop the Tesseract in her hand.

"She's been saying from the start this is wrong, that something about all of this is wrong and…"

"Loki," Kona cut in and they looked over to see that he wasn't awake but that she was correcting them, "There's something wrong with him."

"Yeah, he's a few fries short of a Happy Meal," Iron Man remarked, "THAT's what's wrong."

"No," Kona shook her head, getting up and walking over to them, not even needing to see them to know they were all tensing, she could hear it in their uniforms, in their weapons, how they were shifting and tightening, "No that's not what I meant."

They stiffened even more when they saw her glance at Natasha's direction, looking down in the area she was holding the scepter. Natasha took a step back, lifting the scepter to keep it closer, NOT about to let the person who could very well be Loki's accomplice anywhere near it.

"Please," Kona held out her hand, "Give me the scepter."

"I'm afraid we can't do that," the Captain shook his head.

Kona swallowed, "Thor," she attempted, a last ditch effort, "Please," she breathed, tilting her head towards him, "I need the scepter."

"To do what?" Thor demanded, distrust in his voice.

"To show you all the truth."

That was probably the WORST thing she could have said. They had video surveillance of when Loki had taken Selvig and Barton under his control, the words he'd used, how he talked about truth. Natasha especially tensed at that, Barton having told her how the Tesseract had shown him and Selvig 'the truth.' That was NOT something they wanted to subject themselves to.

"Please!" she begged, "Please you don't understand what is happening…"

"Oh I think we do," the Captain cut in, before shaking his head sadly, "Agent Barton, I'm afraid I have to take you into custody, you will be monitored for any traces of the Tesseract's power until such a time as we can determine if you are completely free of its control…"

"Now wait…" Barton began, but Iron Man grabbed his arm.

"And you," the Captain turned to her, "You are to be taken into custody for obstruction of justice and…"

Before he could even finish, Kona leapt forward and grabbed the scepter. Natasha refused to let it go, struggling with the girl to try and keep her grip on it.

Kona winced, an image in her mind of…of her and Loki, of him with a spear, of her fighting with him, her grabbing the spear and twisting, throwing him over her shoulder and twisting the spear out of his hand…

She took a breath and did the same, turning and throwing Natasha over her shoulder, forcing the woman to let go of the scepter as she stumbled back, the Avengers, even Agent Barton, stiffening and raising their weapons as the scepter began to glow in her hands…

A/N: Uh oh...I wonder what will happen now...if the scepter/Tesseract shows the truth...will it affect Kona's memories? Will SHE take control of Earth? Hmm...so many possibilities }:)

I can't believe the story's over tomorrow! O.O Which means...today will be the last day to vote for a pairing name for Loki/Kona ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Oh there's definitely more to him pushing the voice away than just Thor ;) But we'll find out what it is tomorrow :)

I love Cap too :) As for if Hulk's actions will have an affect...we'll have to wait and see for tomorrow }:)

I think, for Kona, it was more just not wanting people hurt than actually helping them yup :) And no worries, I definitely get real life getting in the way ;)

We'll have to wait and see if Kona goes back to Asgard or not, but I can say we'll find out tomorrow if she is or if she has to hunt down Jane ;)

I don't think Barton would let Natasha do that lol :) He's definitely choosing to protect her, we saw a bit here, he's starting to realize something's wrong with the picture and only Kona seems to know what it is :)

I wanted Loki to take her away too, but I think the second he came close they'd all attack, so he needed to split them up first :)

I heard that rumor too :( I also heard, though, that they might make a Loki Spin-off movie so that might make up for it ;)