A/N: I hope all you guys are enjoying w It really makes me happy to know that you guys are reading/faving/following/and reviewing 3

Tony and the others heard the scream and immediately ran towards the chamber room. Bruce had suddenly lost control and transformed. He ran after his team, dropping the Tesseract in the rush of it all.

"You will leave my kingdom and return to your home at once!" Odin ordered Thanos.

"Not until I get back what is mine."

Odin turned to stare at Thor's lifeless body. Filled with despair, he went off and returned moments later with Thanos' golden gauntlet. "Leave us," said the All-Father. Desperate and grieving for his son's loss, he handed off the gauntlet, which Thanos gladly welcomed back into possession.

The group of four Avengers stared in shock at the sight of their fallen member. The Hulk quickly returned back into his normal self and dropped to Thor's side, ignoring the fact that all he was wearing were his shredded and outstretched pants. His hand reached out to feel for a pulse. "Loki, please let him go," he told him calmly. "I'm a doctor…"

Steve grabbed Loki by the shoulder and helped him to his feet.

"My magic… It fails to heal him," said Loki helplessly.

Odin approached Loki from behind. "You meant no harm to your Brother."

The black-haired man clenched his fists. "This was all my fault…"

"An accident," Odin assured him.

"Is it?" hissed Loki, whirling around to face Odin. "Was all of this a mere accident?!" he shouted, eyes clouded with tears.

Odin placed a hand on Loki's shoulder. "You love Thor dearly… I see the truth within your eyes."

"I killed him!" he snapped. "Your son is dead on my behalf!" The tears fell from his eyes.

Odin lowered his head to stare at Thor's limp form.

"But is this not what I am? A monster?!"

Odin glared at Loki. "Return to Midgard!" he proclaimed. "I shan't have you present if this is how you choose to speak! You are of no use here!"

"I think we should all go," Bruce interrupted. "Maybe something in the lab can help…" His eyes widened with a sudden realization. "The Tesseract… Shit," he muttered, turning his head towards the entrance, forcing the others to turn, as well. "Someone stop Thanos!"

"I'm on it!" Iron Man took off, however, Thanos was nowhere in sight. He soon returned to the others. "Gone."

"To where? Back home?" wondered Steve.

"Most likely, I presume," Loki said quietly. A pang of fear overcame him as he remembered something important. Natasha. "We must go back quickly! He'll be transported back to your palace and Natasha is alone."

Bruce forced himself to transform back into the Hulk, allowing him to easily carry Thor's body. He began to run towards the exit, followed by Clint, Tony, and Steve.

"Loki," said Odin quickly. "Have hope for your Brother."

Loki turned away to run towards the others. The group made their way down the Bifrost to meet with the gatekeeper.

"They're still gone. Have you been able to get a signal on them?" Natasha asked as she stared at the video image of Nick Fury through a laptop.

"No signals as of yet."

"Not even the tracker on Stark?"

"No response," he replied with a serious tone.

She brought a hand to her lips as her eyes lowered.

"Keep yourself busy for the time being," he suggested. "It's all of them against this 'Thanos' character."

"Have you found anything on that guy?" she asked.

"I take it you've been searching for answers?"

"Isn't that the only thing I'm good for now?" she wondered, rolling her eyes.

"You're still my best agent," he assured her. "I'll contact you when I receive any news." The image disappeared and the screen went black.

Natasha decided to try again to get a signal on Tony's tracking device that had been installed-without Tony's consent- in his Iron Man suit. Nothing. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. Stressing over her teammates wasn't going to get her anywhere at the moment. Fury was right- it was all of them against one enemy. She fell back into the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

A crash from Tony's lab several floors down snapped her back to reality. As if a reflex, she sprang forward and grabbed her gun from the glass coffee table. Something wasn't right. She could only hear one set of footsteps. An alarm began to sound and she hurried downstairs. It certainly wasn't Tony. Perhaps Loki, then? There was another crash and the glass walls of Tony's workspace shattered right before her eyes. Quickly, she shielded herself by running away. Footsteps came towards her and she turned to face the stranger.

"This is Earth, I presume?" Thanos asked her.

Natasha raised her gun at the man who was just over a foot taller than her. "Don't move," she warned him. "You're 'Thanos,' I take it?" Her eyes happened to catch sight of the Tesseract and her chest tightened. "Drop the box right now and you might live," she threatened.

"As if one of your mere weapons could harm me!"

"What happened to the others?" she asked. "Those sent to fight on Asgard?"

He began to laugh. "They left this behind while rushing to save their fallen friend." He lifted up the Tesseract.

"Fallen?" Her body tensed up at the mentioning.