Salty Ice Crystals

Inquiries and Misgivings

Chapter Three: Gamma Radiation

"Reports of activity in the skies have been brought to attention yesterday night. You may be expecting one of our most esteemed Avengers, but no." The reporter paused, shuffling notes before pushing up his spectacles. "Eyewitnesses have seen a man clad in green and silver enter a shop to buy something before another man came up, claiming the man to be his brother and ushered the first man out of the shop. We do not know whether this is a threat, but be prepared-it could be the self-claimed god that tried to destroy us a few weeks prior-Loki Odinson."

Nicholas 'Nick' Fury groaned and smashed the television. Agent Phil Coulson, just passing by, raised an eyebrow at his boss's antics. "The news?"

"As always." Nick muttered. "What else?"

Agent Maria Hill fought back a grin, even though this was the third television they'd had to replace this week. "Is it Stark again?"

"I wish." Nick muttered as the microspeaker in his ear came to life. Director Fury. Request for meeting. Urgent. Now. "Gotta go. Keep an eye on Stark Tower."

"We already are, Director." Phil called after his retreating back to no avail. "Oh well…Agent Hill, get the Black Widow and Hawkeye over there. Might as well add extra security."

"Of course, Agent Coulson." Agent Hill said, whipping out her cell phone and dialing numbers so fast that her fingers were a blur. "On it."

"Agent Romanoff?"

Yes? Natasha's voice crackled through the speaker. She sounded irritated. Gun blasts could be heard faintly, in the distance. What is it? I'm kind of busy trying to hide right now.

"We will send agents to cover up for you. Fury wants you to go and cover Stark Tower." Maria nodded to two agents standing nearby, and they nodded before striding down the corridors and out of sight.

You don't have to send agents. I've already got the information. Natasha paused abruptly, ignoring Maria's remark of, "Fast as always. They'll be there only for transport then." A moment.

Maria waited, hearing faint rustling of leaves and the crackling of branches. The gunfire faded. Okay, I'm clear now. What did Stark do this time?

"We are in the dark about that." Maria admitted reluctantly. As the second in command, there were very few things that Nick Fury kept from her, and her inquisitive nature naturally wasn't happy with that. "My best guess is something to do with Loki."

A sigh. Again? I will be there soon.

The call was disconnected and Maria dialed Hawkeye's number.

Clint was actually enjoying himself for the first time in what felt like years. He was reclining on a couch, legs propped up on a table, a cup of hot coffee in his hand, his bow and arrows on a table nearby, the TV was on and he was watching a new Disney film called Frozen. He had to admit, the sisters were pretty hot. Nothing compared to Natasha, of course. This was the first holiday he had been able to wring out of S.H.I.E.L.D, and he fully intended to enjoy that.

The phone rang, and he jumped, spilling the coffee all over his pajamas. He yelped as it scalded him and hurried off to the bathroom to change, doing his best to ignore the phone.

When he came back, the phone was still ringing, much to his dismay. He muted the TV, which now showed the two of them singing the reprise of For the First Time in Forever. Pity he couldn't hear the music now.

He sighed and took the call.

"What is it?"

Agent Barton! Maria's voice was so loud that he almost winced. She wasn't yelling, but boy, her voice was loud. When she was mad. And that definitely wasn't a good thing.

"Wassup?" He tried a casual attitude, hoping that it would cool her down a bit. It did the exact opposite.

So you were just lounging around and basically being just a useless waste of space? She demanded. Clint winced. "Hey, people are supposed to do that on holidays."

A pause. Clint smirked. Obviously she'd forgotten all about his holiday. Then came her slightly sheepish voice. Well, it's an emergency. She explained lamely. Director Fury just smashed his third television set this week.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "And that's supposed to count as an emergency?"

Well, the reason for it is. I've only just watched the replay myself and it turns out that Loki may have returned with his brother.

"Where do you want me to go?" Clint asked calmly, even though his heart gave a jolt at the name. And with his brother. He was so killing Thor when they meet.

Stark Tower. Your transportation is waiting.

Clint snapped his phone shut and looked mournfully at the TV, unmuting it. It wouldn't hurt to watch at least a little bit, won't it?

"But-I don't want to leave!" Anna was saying. Clint agreed with her. He hadn't even gotten around to cleaning the armchair yet.

Elsa looked mournful. "Yes, you are."

Clint took that as his cue to leave and switched off the television, hearing a car horn beep from downstairs.

"Wow, big guy, that was…fast." Tony commented with a raised brow as Thor strode in the door. "But where's Loki?"

Thor blinked, looking behind him only to find that Loki had snuck away. "Brother, where are you?"

"I thought he was going to say 'Brother, where art thou?', but never mind." Tony muttered. "Loki really is trouble."

"Loki always said that he wanted to try out some of the food called 'spagheeti' on this planet…" Thor murmured. "Friend Stark, lead me to the closest place that sells that!"

Bruce stifled a laugh. So Loki did like some things on the place that he had tried to destroy. Tony gave a long suffering sigh and pointed at a small shop a few streets away. "There you are. Don't you dare smash the roof. I'm not paying for that."

Thor did follow his word and dragged Loki out of the store to a very alarmed shopkeeper, who dialed the police later. After all, even though no one was able to get Loki's face on screen in close quarters, his clothes were a dead giveaway.

"Loki." Thor rumbled. "You have given us great trouble."

Loki couldn't help but pout. "But I was hungry. And the spaghetti tasted really nice! I was planning on going for chicken chop for dinner."

Thor steered his brother gently back towards the tower. "I know you're sick, and acting like a child, but do not expect us to submit to your every whim. You are still a prisoner. Do not misuse your privileges."

Loki's face fell and a second later he wiped it blank. It was this expressionless face that the Avengers saw when they entered the tower after Thor had took him on a detour to get the mentioned 'chicken chop'. He'd put the cost on Tony's bill and managed with numerous directions and Loki's help with his smooth manners and silver tongue.

"So it is Loki." Clint said drily, though his muscles were tensed, ready to attack at any moment. "No wonder Fury was in such a fury. Pardon the pun."

Loki's eyelids were drooping, even though he couldn't have been awake for 3 hours, and he barely registered the image of all the Avengers, minus Thor, standing there and glaring at him. Thor gently pushed Loki onto a couch. "My friends, my brother requires your help."

Natasha's eyebrow twitched. "Does Fury need to know about this? SHIELD may be able to offer the kind of help you need at a price."

"Nuh uh." Tony wagged a finger at her. "Don't you go running off to your boss and be a tattletale. I wanna play with his magic first. Then you guys get him."

"No one is playing with my brother." Thor growled menacingly. Natasha didn't even flinch, just coolly tossed her phone onto the couch beside Loki while Tony backed off, hands in the air. "Whoa, whoa, big guy, no bad intentions. Hey, we could even use that as an exchange! He teaches us the theory of magic, and we provide shelter for him. How about that?"

"The theories of magic are too complex for your mortal minds to comprehend." Loki's voice was muffled by the cushion he had over his face. "Your brains might just burst."

"Brother!" Thor sighed.

"Well, I won't burst, at least." Bruce said, mostly to save Thor. "I would only turn bigger."

Loki turned pale at the mention of Bruce turning bigger and groaned, shutting up after that. Instead, he grabbed Natasha's phone and flipped it open, fingers dancing over the keys almost as if he had done it all his life, even though Tony was sure that Loki had never seen a cell phone before, much less a touch screen one. He doubted that Loki would last ten seconds with it before it ended up destroyed. And that was giving him credit. Thor's barely lasted two seconds.

Exactly one minute and fifty three seconds later, Director Fury rang Tony.

"What's up?" Tony answered cheerfully, only to be rewarded with screaming that nearly busted his eardrums.

TONY STARK WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!? YOU ARE ALREADY IN TROUBLE WITH SHIELD AND NOW YOU GO AROUND HACKING INTO OUR DATABASES AND STEALING ALL OF OUR DATA! ALL OF IT! I AM NOT SAVING YOU FROM THE COUNCIL THIS TIME!

"Wait, what?" Tony muttered, holding the phone as far away as he could from his ear. "So you finally detected the bug I put in three weeks ago?"

We detected that a long time ago! The Director fumed. And we've just been feeding you false information just to keep you off but now you plant a new one?! And you actually got the important information this time!

"Well, unless I planted it when I was drunk…" Tony trailed off. Natasha looked unconcerned, though she was smirking. Clint was busy glaring at Loki who was now gazing intently at the screen of the phone, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Steve was busy trying to reason with Thor so that he wouldn't destroy the 'alien object that holds the Man of Fury captive', and wasn't doing much of a job with him because Steve didn't understand much about it himself. Bruce raised an eyebrow at Tony, who was now desperately pleading his case with the furious director.

"I swear I don't know anything about it! I swear to God above! I really have no memory of it!"

You have no memory of what you did three minutes and twenty six seconds ago? Fury asked sarcastically. Oh, sure, cause you're a genius! Even when now we're still working to get that goddamn thing out of our system and it's putting up quite a fight! They've traced the signal to your tower-

"LOKI!" Clint had an arrow at Loki's throat for a moment, and Loki, startled, dropped the phone where it cracked open and the battery dropped out along with the memory card. Loki remained calm, slender fingers reaching up to shield his eyes from the tip of the arrow. Thor growled and Natasha sighed, picking up Tony's dropped phone. Bruce just shrugged like he'd been expecting it, and Tony just gawped. "You-you-hacked SHIELD's firewall within a minute and a half of touching a phone? This is so re-defining my definition of a genius!"

"A wall of fire? In SHIELD? Then the Man of Fury and the Son of Coul is in danger! We have to save them! These devices are truly dangerous if Loki can use them to make a wall of fire in his weakened state!" Thor roared, lifting Mjolnir. "Loki, undo the damage immediately!"

Wait, Loki?! Fury demanded. Tony cursed himself for not putting the phone on mute in time. Now SHIELD would get Loki first. Thor, explain this immediately!

"Loki is in need of your help." Thor yelled in the direction of the phone, and Tony smirked as he imagined the Director holding the phone away from himself as Tony did just now. Then Thor turned to Loki and chided, "Loki, you cannot expect them to help you if you do not cooperate and go around burning people with your magic, even though it is restrained by I know not what."

"It's restrained?" Clint asked, arrow moving threateningly closer towards Loki's right eye.

"Yes yes yes!" Loki cried in alarm, flinching away from the arrow tip, sinking down even further into the soft cushions.

"Get away from my brother, Eye of Hawk!" Thor roared, hefting Mjolnir. "My brother is sick!"

"I'm not moving unless ordered to." Clint said, very calmly.

Barton. Fury felt like he had to intervene. Even if he couldn't see the situation, he was still in charge. Sigh. Thor. Do I have your word that Loki is unable to hurt anyone now?

"I assure you that my best efforts shall be taken!" Thor promised, glaring threateningly at the agent. "Can Loki go if the Man of Iron shows you the blood test?"

That would help your brother's case, but no promises. Fury sighed. Wait, when did Stark get Loki's blood?!

"Thor sent it here. I did him and Asgard a favor." Tony retorted in his defense. "Besides, they prove that something is wrong about Loki. The energy levels-"

Quit your rambling, Stark. Send them.

"Right away, sir." Tony smirked, punching a button on another phone he fished out of his back pocket. Then he whispered to Loki, "Say, wanna be partners on hacking SHIELD?"

Loki smiled weakly as the arrow was finally removed. "Deal, Stark."

Natasha finally spoke up. "Whatever you two are planning, this is not going to end up well."

That just about summed it up. Things didn't go well. For SHIELD and the Council, anyway. Tony lived in bliss and glee while Loki had something to occupy him while he wasn't delirious or in a coma. Thor, well, was just happy that his brother was happy. Bruce was just about ready to burst with delight with Loki teaching him most of the magical formulas, even if true to Loki's word, he didn't understand most of them. Natasha and Clint just skulked around, silent shadows making sure everything was alright. Pepper was slightly alarmed by the new arrivals, or guests, in the tower, but managed it fairly well. After all, she was the CEO of Stark Industries, and she would have to.

Two weeks later.

"Where's Thor?" Bruce's voice was low, and worried.

"I don't know. Where did that guy get to when we need him?" Tony, for once, had a serious expression on his face.

"Just when we finally find out what's causing this illness and can't stop it." Bruce moaned, looking over to where Loki's limbs still twitched on the bed, but otherwise the raven-haired prince was still perfectly still and deathly pale. There were no signs of life.

Jarvis interjected, "Sir, I believe Mr. Odinson has gone out to buy some painkillers for his brother. He has asked me for directions to the best pharmacy in town."

"Where is it?" Tony asked quickly.

"Mandy's Pharmacy, I believe." Jarvis replied smoothly. "Should I contact him?"

"How?" Bruce asked while Tony dashed off to fit on his suit.

"By his phone, Mr. Banner."

Tony was preparing for flight already. "Don't bother, Jarvis. I think he smashed it when it broadcasted a Green Day tune when I called him the last time. He said that it was an abomination."

Bruce grimaced. "Isn't going to get him in your Iron Man suit a bit of…overkill?"

Loki gave a particularly loud scream at that moment, throwing up that instant. Bruce rushed over to roll him onto his side so that he wouldn't choke on the bright blue liquid that was flowing out his mouth. Tony grimaced. "Yeah, in that situation I would call it underkill."

And he took off, doing a couple cartwheels for the sake of the people watching below.

Bruce looked despairingly at Loki who was now shaking like a leaf. "Gamma radiation." He murmured. "It gave me the biggest curse and blessing at the same time, and now it gives you a curse and blessing too. Typical. I should have figured it out before."

Loki couldn't respond to those words as the liquid started to seep out from his eyes and nose as well.

"Thor…" Was the only word he managed before he passed out again.

I swear, you guys are spoiling me. Every time I open my email account I would find more favorites and follows. Reviews are rarer, but still, you make my day. Thank you so much!