Disclaimer in Ch.1. Will add as needed.

Thor touched down on the landing pad of Stark Tower and quickly made his way into the penthouse. The second he stepped through the door he was greeted by a refined voiced, "Good morning Prince Thor, to what do we owe the pleasure today?"

"Greetings Great Voice!" Thor greeted boisterously, "I must inform my shield brothers of some important news! Might you be able to direct me to them?"

"The majority of the Avengers are three floors below in the common room for an early lunch. I shall call Sir and Dr. Banner up from their labs to meet you there." The voice said steadily as doors opened up across the room to reveal the elevator that would bring Thor down to the common room.

"Thank you Friend Voice!" Thor answered as he stepped over to the elevator.

Moments later he was stepped out of the elevator three floors down and was greeted by the worried and grim faces of Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff. "Greetings friends!" Thor boomed.

Steve's face lifted just slightly, "Hey Thor. What's wrong?"

Thor's face shuttered and his lips set into a grim line, "It would be best to wait for our final two comrades Captain."

"It's not another invasion is it?" Clint asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I do not believe so." Thor said hesitantly.

Clint raised an eyebrow, "You don't sound so sure there Thor."

Before the God could answer, the elevator doors slid open again and Tony Stark and Bruce Banner exited. Tony strode toward them, his hands in his pockets as he zeroed in on Thor, "Please tell me there is not another imminent alien invasion. I know you said playing with the tesseract showed everyone we were ready for some higher form of war but I didn't take that to mean they would all be ganging up on us this second."

"He doesn't believe it's another invasion Stark." Clint inserted.

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Well I don't believe some people wear socks with sandals but it happens." He looked back at Thor, "So what's the shtick Point Break, we wearing socks with these sandals or not?"

Thor frowned, "This has nothing to do with footwear friend Tony." The man rolled his eyes as the God continued, "Something occurred at Loki's trial."

Everyone tensed up and Tony raised an eyebrow, "Something?"

Thor nodded, "Death appeared and demanded that he be pardoned."

"Pardoned!" Clint squawked while Steve looked disproving.

"Death?" Natasha and Bruce questioned warily.

"Aye." Thor said seriously, "Death appeared, proclaimed the trial unjust, demanded that Loki would be pardoned and have his children returned, and then disappeared with my brother."

"Unjust?!" Clint nearly screeched, "That asshole gets what he deserves!"

Tony waved his hand at Clint, his eyes focusing on Thor, "That isn't the thing to focus on right now. Who exactly is this 'Death' person?"

"The entity Death." Thor said, "It is the embodiment of death itself, it oversees the reapers who ferry souls to their different afterlives and keeps balance with life in the universe." Thor explained, "It would seem that Death has also finally decided on a Mistress. It says that it interfered on her behalf."

"Death has a Mistress?" Natasha asked skeptically.

"Everyone is entitled to their own fetishes I guess." Tony muttered, grimacing when Bruce elbowed him.

Thor didn't hear Tony, "The Mistress of Death is a role we do not understand very well. We only know of the role because of previous interactions my father has had with Death. According to the Allfather only Death's Mistress can order it to kill someone before their time, bring back someone who has passed, or pass over someone whose time has come. We do not know anything beyond that. We are going to attempt to speak to Death about her when it comes for Loki's children but we are not sure how open it will be with us since we do not have any of our own who stand under its banner in our land."

Steve frowned, "I'm sorry? Death's 'banner'?"

"I think Thor means that they don't have a God of Death." Bruce interrupted, he looked at Thor, "But according to the legends, the Norse Death Deity is Hela. Does she not exist?"

Thor grimaced, "She would not help us." Bruce raised an eyebrow, "Not only was she thrown from Asgard by the Allfather when she was very young, her father is my brother. She would laugh in our faces before helping us willingly."

"Well how hard can it be to find someone under Death's banner?" Steve asked.

Natasha crossed her arms over her chest, "Could Stark do it?"

"Excuse me?" Tony spluttered.

"Friend Stark?" Thor asked, "Why would he be able to speak to Death?"

"He was known as the Merchant of Death at one point." Clint said, "It's not God status but I'm sure we could spin it somehow."

Thor looked to Tony, "Man of Iron, were you given that name or did you make it for yourself?"

Tony shifted slightly, uncomfortable, "I was given it by the media at the height of my weapons designing career."

Thor looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding, "If Death has accepted your title under its banner you should be able to call for it."

Tony raised an eyebrow even as Steve broke in with, "Call for Death? Is that wise?"

"We could get the answers we seek Captain." Thor said, not taking his eyes off Tony.

"Yeah but Death could kill us!" Clint yelled.

"Only if you offend it greatly." Thor said, "If it is not your time yet then it will not harm you, its job is to keep balance which would not be done if it killed everyone it came into contact with."

"I say do it." Natasha stated, "We need answers and its our best shot."

Tony sighed but nodded, "Fine. How do I call for him Thor?"

"With your title." Thor said, as if it was obvious.

Tony huffed, "With your title..." he mocked in a mutter before rubbing his hands together nervously, "Um...Death? This is Tony, Tony Stark, also known as the Merchant of Death. Could I talk to you?"

"Could you sound any more like a little girl about to be scolded?" Clint snickered.

Tony flipped Clint off before everyone tensed as cold swept through the room and the shallow shadows deepened, pulling to form a tall dark figure just between Tony and Thor. The wicked looking scythe that the figure held was the last thing to materialize, the blade shimmering blood red for a second before settling on a matte black.

The deep hood, that held a shadow that reminded Tony vaguely of the void of space, turned toward Tony. "You called my Merchant?" Death's voice came out an eerie rasp reminiscent of a death rattle.

Tony suppressed his shudder at the sound and put on his public mask, presenting the being with his press smile, "What's this I hear about us being under new management?"

"Considering the current company I would assume you have half truths." Death said dryly, not bothering to respond to Thor's indignant reply. No, the being kept its focus on Tony, "Speak your mind Merchant. I have no illusions of you and I do have somewhere to be."

Tony blinked before dropping his mask just the slightest, "Thor told us you showed up to Reindeer Games' trial, declared it unjust, and then kidnapped Loki, all on behalf of your Mistress. What's up with that? Crazy Cats deserved some prison time for all the shit he caused. And what's with you having a Mistress? Because, not to get off topic here, I always thought death was something that couldn't be ruled over. Also how the hell does my title actually count for anything? It was given to me by over dramatic reporters who were using me for a story and, and, I'd like to point out that recently I have been very good about not making weapons of mass destruction!" He ducked his head a bit with a sheepish smile, "Well, at least not ones I'm selling or distributing to the military or general public."

Death let out a raspy chuckle, "Oh my Merchant, my Mistress will like you." Its scythe shifting slightly, making light glint off its blade, "Your title, no matter its source, counts because I accepted it. You are my Merchant until I claim you at your end. Your change of occupation will not effect your place with me." Tony's face drew into what could only be described as a pout. "As for the God of Mischief's trial. It was unjust and would have been even if I was not retrieving him for my Mistress. He was not allowed to defend himself and no measures were taken to gather evidence beyond what was observed as the outcome here on Midgard. He is, and continues to be, mostly innocent of the crimes here on Midgard. He was under the mental control of the Mad Titan, Thanos, and was not freed of that control until he was used as a ragdoll by the God Killer."

Clint snorted, "Ridiculous, who fed you that line?"

Death finally looked away from Tony, its hood angling toward Clint, "Little Hawk, I was fed nothing. I know this to be true. I have several sources and proofs but the fact that you and the Bloody Widow seem to have missed the most obvious one leads me to believe that even you didn't cover all of your bases."

"What obvious sign do you speak of?" Thor demanded.

Death looked to Thor, "You, Dense Asgardian, you claim that the God of Mischief is your brother, that you two are close, and yet you do not know his eye color?"

Tony brightened, "They were blue in Stuttgart but when he was taken back to Asgard they were green!"

Death laughed, "Excellent my Merchant. Well done." Natasha and Clint shared a skeptical look. "As for your second question," Death continued, "my Mistress holds a complicated position. She does indeed have power over me. She is my chosen Mistress and I would do anything for her. I will leave it at that for now, you may ask my Mistress about more if you ever see her."

"And why would this Mistress of yours be interested in court proceedings in Asgard?" Natasha asked, her face blank and her arms crossed over her chest.

"The God of Mischief is her Soulmate." Death replied easily. Tony's eyes widened as the rest of the room tensed. Death chuckled again, "Yes, so she would have had a vested interest in the trial that would have left her without her other half unjustly. I also had a vested interest because it would cause my Mistress pain in the long run. I would not allow her to be alone in the eternity I granted her."

Clint reared back in his seat, "That asshole is immortal now?!"

"My brother was immortal before this Friend Hawkeye." Thor rumbled.

"Yeah but I assume he could still be killed with like, an arrow to the forehead!" Clint yelled, "I highly doubt this Mistress of Death" he sneered the title like it was a curse and Death moved it scythe subtly, "will let her soulmate die even if he is injured like that! We're going to be stuck fighting that asshole forever because some bitch got on a power trip!"

Death's scythe was at Clint's neck in the next instant, glinting red as the shadows gathered around Death ominously, "Have care of how you speak Little Hawk. I will not tolerate the slandering of my Mistress in my presence." Death hissed darkly. Clint swallowed hard, his eyes all but popping out of his head. Death ignored the gun Natasha had aimed at it as looked to Tony once again, not moving its scythe. "My dear Merchant. If you wish to meet my Mistress call me again when you are in more pleasant company. I need to retrieve the God of Mischief's enslaved child from Asgard."

Tony gave a shaky nod, his eyes locked onto the blade that was pressing into Clint's neck. In the next second Death disappeared in a great rush of shadows, Thor running toward the elevator seconds later. Clint collapsed on the conference table, his hand at his neck. "That went well." Tony said dryly.