Sorry about the wait... again. Just got my computer back a few days ago. Please hope for a Christmas Miracle that my computer will live a long time... please?

Also... I really need to name my chapters, but I have absolutely zero ideas on what to name them. Any ideas? Shout them out in the reviews! Please help me here, because seeing just 'chapter' after chapter is so incredibly boring... -_- /is very uncreative with names

As always, Many thanks and cyber hugs to my reviewers and followers and favoriters - I'm writing this for you guys :)

Hope you like!


After everyone was either calmed down or restrained, and Tony was much more of a threat in his suit, everything was quickly explained. Thor spoke in his typical overformal terms, but Tony was able to translate it into normal non-Shakespearean dialogue. In a nutshell, Loki had been flitting just under Odin's radar back on Asgard, tantalizingly close, but never quite close enough for the Allfather to catch him. So he'd called up his favorite son to give it a shot.

Naturally, everyone questioned how Odin was able to beam Thor back up without the Tesseract. Apparently when the Tesseract had been sent back to Asgard, Odin had used it to restore power to ancient relics, weapons and artifacts he'd drained of power to send Thor to earth the first time. He'd returned them to their former glory – but now they were dark and dead again, drained of the power they'd so recently gotten. The energy was stripped from them to use for teleportation. Still, it was a price the Asgardians were willing to pay if it saved earth. But Odin had made one thing very clear – he was not weak, or so he said. And he had more than enough energy to bring Loki back and kill him if the situation called.

While everyone was debating about the finer details of the energy Thor was talking about, Tony was considering the first part of the conversation. Loki could evade Odin Allfather, but he couldn't escape from Thor, the misguided, overtrusting oaf? Something wasn't right there. Why had Loki been okay with being captured again?

Captured. That was the key. Thor had captured him. If it had been Odin or one of his guards, the fate could have been much, much worse for Loki. Regardless of what happened, Tony was sure Thor still loved Loki, still considered him his brother. And Thor was not going to kill him.

So Loki had danced at the edges of Odin's defenses, never within reach, just close enough to enrage Odin – enrage him enough to call in backup, as Loki had known he would. And he allowed himself to be captured by the one person he knew would not kill him. And with the 'brother' he hated at his side, he used his gilded snake's tongue to work his way out of trouble – and not only that, but twist the situation in his favor, claiming his skill as a sorcerer to help with the grievous problem upon Midgard. Odin would have had no choice.

Of course, Tony thought, he could be completely wrong about it all, but he doubted it. It made sense – make the best of an unfavorable situation, twist an enemy into an ally. Get back on the planet you want to rule by any means possible.

It would be what Tony would do.

"He's still the enemy, Thor," Steve snapped, intruding on Tony's mental meanderings. His gun had not wavered.

"What I'm more concerned about is how he managed to get out of his cell," Natasha said. "You say he can't use magic, but he must have done something big and bad to escape."

Everyone started talking at once again. Tony used his speaker to elevate his voice over the din. "Hey, Reindeer games. If you're going to work with us, you better tell us how you got out of that cell. We need to know how to lock you up properly."

Loki looked at him disdainfully. "That's hardly incentive for me to spill my secrets, Mr. Stark."

Tony shrugged.

Bruce sighed, fidgeting with his glasses. "If half of what Thor says is true, he could be useful," He said slowly. "If he can't use magic, he's not a threat to us."

"Easy for you to say," Clint growled. "You're not the one who had their soul sucked out through that demonic scepter." He started to reach for his bow, which Natasha held clenched in her hands. She whacked him over the head with it and kept it far out of his reach. "You'll blow us all up, not just him," She reminded the angry archer. He growled incoherently under his breath, one hand still reaching for the bow.

"We know you don't like him, Clint. Calm down." Tony said, trying to stave off another attack. But regardless of anything that he said, Tony didn't like him either. Seeing Loki's bloodthirsty smile brought to mind a stain – a bloodstain splattered across the wall of the helicarrier, the red drops signifying the end of a life. Phil Coulson had brought the Avengers together – it was because of him that they'd gotten their asses in gear and knocked Loki onto his leathery butt. And it was Loki's fault that Phil hadn't been around to see it all unfold, to see the Avengers together as a team, as they were meant to be.

And Tony would never forgive Steve for not signing the damn cards.

But, despite all that, maybe Loki could be useful. They sure weren't making any progress on their own, and if Loki truly wanted to preserve the planet he would someday be king of, then maybe they should take advantage of that. Besides, Loki had come to them, instead of trying to work on his own. Maybe he was right – that the Avengers wouldn't be able to do it on their own – and neither could he. United we stand, divided we fall and all that. And what was the cliché again? 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?' He'd never apply the word 'friend' to Loki, but the meaning still rang true.

That helped Tony make his decision. Turning his speaker on loud again, Tony cut over the chatter. "We're not going to get anywhere arguing all night."

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Steve asked, breaking off from a heated discussion with Thor.

"Of course I do." He flashed an infuriating grin that no one saw. "Let's put it to a vote. Who wants Bag of Cats to stay on as magical consultant?"

It wasn't a great idea, but it would serve its purpose – to see how divided the Avengers were on this issue.

Bruce raised his hand almost immediately. Steve still hadn't lowered his gun, so Tony counted that as a half point. Clint frowned even more deeply, his eyes darting between Loki and his stolen bow, clearly still trying to figure out how to get a shot in. He was definitely a 'no.'

Natasha cast a glance at Clint, then slowly raised her hand as well.

"So that's… two and a half points," Tony said. Thor had raised his hand as well, but he was so incredibly biased on this issue that Tony had ignored him.

"And who wants him to get the **** out and go burn in hell?"

Clint raised both hands immediately.

"That's hardly a threat," Loki said disdainfully. He'd retreated from the main circle, instead watching impassively from the corner.

"It's true," Thor said, speaking as though Tony had actually been serious. "He has… connections with the underworld."

Huh. So Loki had dealings with the devil, too. Tony would have been off-put by the news that there was a devil at all – learning that there not only was one, but that Loki had dealings with him… that was not welcome news. Clint looked about ready to pop.

"Okay, fine," Tony said, exasperated. "We'll give Clint his bow and let him loose. That threatening enough for you, trickster?"

Loki chuckled. "It's a start, at least," he said, giving Clint a challenging grin. Natasha grabbed Clint's arm as a precautionary measure as Clint shouted incoherently at the god, once more lunging forward. He really hadn't gotten over the whole soul-sucking thing.

Bruce cleared his throat, trying to attract everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. "So, the vote?"

Clint raised both his hands again. Arms crossed, Bruce and Natasha both looked at Steve.

The Captain stared at Loki for a long moment before glancing back at Clint. He then looked down at the ground, deliberating, fidgeting with the safety on his gun. Then, with a mighty sigh, he braced himself and lowered both the gun and his arm, casting his vote.

"Are you all insane?" Clint spat. "You want to work with that - that…." He seemed at a loss for words. Starting over, he spluttered, "You want to work with that?" He gestured wildly at the god.

Tony was surprised at the way things had gone – he'd withheld his vote, but if he'd had to, he would have voted for Loki to stay. For all his mighty failings, he could prove valuable. And this man Voldy was just too big a threat to mess with. And if that meant working with a shackled super villain, then so be it.

Clint cursed in what seemed to be every language known to man, then stomped out of the room. Everyone could hear the scraping of a grate being moved, then a metallic thud.

Back in the air vents. Well, if it calmed him down, Tony wasn't going to complain.

"You best not try anything, trickster," Steve said bluntly.

Loki grinned. "You have my word."

"Uh huh. Sure we do," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "Because a promise made by the god of lies can clearly never be broken."

Natasha and Steve both glared at Tony, clearly telling him to shut up. Loki chuckled. "You joke easily about serious matters, Man of Iron," Loki observed, turning his gaze upon Tony. "You doubt my promise?"

"I don't put much stock in anything coming from someone known as Loki Liesmith," Tony retorted.

Loki nodded thoughtfully. "An understandable decision," He said. "However, there is always truth woven in falsehood. You all would do well to remember that."

Captain America stood up. "So you tell the truth sometimes, we get it. Listen up – so long as you're here, consider yourself our prisoner. You help us with fighting this Dark Lord however you can. Any funny business from you, we'll save Odin a lot of energy and kill you ourselves. You understand?"

Loki was still wearing that same, creepy-ass grin. Tony had a deep urge to blast it off his face, but decided that probably wasn't the best way to start of an alliance.

"Understood," Loki finally said.

And so began the second alliance of the Avengers. It had been bad enough teaming up with the boy wizard and all his unknown magics, but working with Loki was sure to push his patience – and his temper – to the limit. Still, maybe he could be useful. If they ever went up against the Moldy, he could be quite helpful as a shield. Once.

Even more unfortunately for Tony, he got the first shift with the god of lies. Loki followed as he was leaving the room, questioning how well his suit held up against magical attacks. As if the bastard doesn't know, Tony thought irritably. When he answered curtly, Loki said, "I believe magic is my area of expertise, not yours."

"Go gloat about your powers to someone else," Tony retorted. "Shouldn't you be helping find Voldy or something?" Tony paused, then added, "You know what, never mind. Keep on pestering me. I'm more than willing to carry out the Captain's threat."

Loki said nothing, just continued walking down the hallway. Tony frowned, wondering where he was going, then hurriedly followed as the god turned, heading towards Tony's workshop.

How the hell did he know where his workshop was? He ran to find Loki inside his workshop, the door open and unlocked. The god was holding one of his spare gauntlets and was examining it closely.

"I don't believe you have an invitation," Tony said, snatching the gauntlet away. "No murderers allowed, sorry. Kindly get the hell out?"

"You're rather reluctant to accept help," Loki noted, turning away and picking up the second gauntlet before Tony could slap his hand away.

"And you need to get your hands off my stuff," Tony said. He raised his hand, making the threat clear. He had no qualms about blasting Loki around a little. One arc reactor blast wasn't going to kill him. Probably.

"Do calm down, Stark," Loki said. He'd taken one look at him, then immediately returned his gaze to the gauntlet in his hand. "Or I shan't help you."

"You're not helping," Tony said. "Get. The. Hell. Out."

Loki finally put the gauntlet down, turning to face Tony. "I may be 'the bad guy', to use your jargon," Loki said, "but there is more behind your anger, Stark. What is your quarrel with me?"

Tony stared. He had to be kidding. "Let's see." Tony raised his gauntleted hand and started counting off. "You murdered Phil Coulson, blew up Manhattan, possessed Clint, stole an eyeball off a scientist, and killed a bunch of people because it was fun. That enough for you, or do you want me to continue?"

"Enough, I think." Loki crossed his arms, looking pensive. "Quite enough."

"Glad I convinced you," Tony said. "Now please, if you would." He gestured towards the door.

Loki didn't move. "You may regret refusing my help," He said. Tony snorted. "I'll take my chances," He said. If he took any longer, Tony was going to drop-kick the stubborn god through the door.

Loki was still stationary. Watching Tony closely (for what? Any reactions were hidden by his mask) he asked, "A question, Stark. What makes you say I killed Agent Coulson?"

"The giant bloodstain was a pretty good clue." Tony didn't like this, discussing Coulson's death with his murderer. He readied his second gauntlet beam. He was going to blast him, just for that. No one would hold it against him, he was sure.

Loki grinned. "And Fury's word, I'm sure."

Tony paused, wondering why Loki had thrown that in. Still grinning in that creepy-ass way, he uncrossed his arms, he headed towards the door. "Oh, Stark," He whispered as he passed, "Do you truly believe everything Fury tells you?" And then he was gone, the door shut and locked behind him.

Tony stared blankly at where the god had been. What had that all been about?

Just Loki being Loki, Tony told himself, shaking his head and returning the gauntlets to their former places. Trying to get in our heads and mess us up from the inside.

Still… there had been no funeral for Phil Coulson. No one on the team had ever seen a body. Thor had seen him grievously injured, but not dead.

But Loki had stabbed him. That much was very, very clear. And why would he stab him and not kill him? Even by crazy super villain standards, that made no sense.

Loki killed him, Tony told himself firmly. He was just trying to mess with Tony's head – and he was furious with himself for letting it go this far, for considering even for a second the implications of his words.

"Sadistic bastard," Tony muttered to himself, returning to his magic-holding retainers. Let someone else deal with the god, Tony thought to himself. He had better things to do.


Twistyguru, I hope you don't mind me stealing your awesome line to use for Loki. I'll use it for Ron too, I promise! (Ron is going to be in this fic about on par with how you described him. X3)

Anyways, it must be said - buckle up, folks. Canon-wise, it's going to be a bumpy ride from here on out, both with Avengers and Harry Potter. I'll keep what I can, but I'm going to change some things. Hopefully you guys won't mind too much!

Next chapter will be up as soon as I can. And, spoilers - action ahead! Major action! Been looking forward to it this whole fic, so stay tuned xDD

Thanks to all readers as always, and Happy Holidays!