A/N: Thanks to those who have been reviewing! You guys are great! And many a thanks to my readers!

"These readings are off the charts. It's definitely the Skrulls," Bruce explained once all the Avengers, Fury, and Loki had been gathered together at the conference table. "This one other unidentified piece is Thanos, most likely."

"So they're closing in? From where, though?" asked Steve.

"An open wormhole." Tony rose from his chair and sauntered over to the wall-length window. "There." He pointed out towards the sky where a portal had seemed to form between the clouds.

"The portal to their world," Loki noticed.

"No Skrull readings down here yet, though. Right?" wondered Natasha.

"None. Not yet, at least," Bruce admitted.

"I say we fight on their territory," Steve cut in. "Look at all the people at risk here!"

The six of us against Thanos' army?" Loki glared at his fellow teammates.

"There are other armed agents that can be dispatched. These Skrulls can't seem to put up much of a fight so firearms can work," said Fury. "But I see your point."

"We had a difficult time as it is fighting Thanos…" He shuddered at the memory as his eyes met with Thor's.

"Our key priority should be the gauntlet," Natasha reminded them. "And if we have that, then we can kill Thanos with it."

"Surely, that is in Thanos' possession." Loki had to agree with Natasha on the need to kill Thanos. "Perhaps if we split up…"

"You said it yourself, Loki!" Thor suddenly shouted. "We couldn't defeat Thanos before-divided, we will surely meet our match!"

"Hey, guys?" Tony interrupted. "I don't think we'll have to worry about division right now…" He stared out the window, watching as from the portal in the sky a figure descended.

The group gathered around to watch as the figure riding upon a pedestal came down to the city streets.

"I'm going out there," Tony announced.

"I'll go, too," Steve quickly added. He grabbed his shield. Unlike Tony, he was already suited up. "We'll confront him as a team!"

"Meet you out there!" Tony said before he ran out of the room to suit up.

Just as the Avengers had assembled and were ready to leave the conference room, an explosion went off on one of the lower levels of the city's S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

"What the hell?!" growled Fury.

Iron Man suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Wasn't me, I swear!"

"I need everyone to evacuate. Now!" Fury ordered into his phone.

"Let's go!" Captain America led the Avengers down to the building's main floor.

Through the clearing smoke, Thanos appeared, accompanied by a Skrull that had previously served as a pedestal. "We meet again," he smirked. His right hand that wore the Infinity Gauntlet formed a fist.

"Stay back," Loki whispered to Natasha. The two had fallen behind from the rest of the group since Natasha needed to catch her breath.

"I'll be fine here," she told him. "Go." Her determined eyes met with his. He nodded and she watched him leave from the staircase. "Shit," she muttered to herself. Falling behind from her team left her irritated. She hung her head and slumped down onto the steps. Her team and lover were facing their strongest enemy yet and she was here, barely able to keep up. The idea that she was now 'fragile' was depressing. She placed a hand over her stomach and understood what she needed to do-she needed to get a grip and stay strong not just for the baby's sake, but for Loki and her team. Just because she could no longer fight as the Black Widow wasn't going stop Natasha Romanoff from aiding those she cared about in whatever way possible. She rose to her feet and made her way down the stairs.

"I've already given you the Tesseract," Loki reminded Thanos. "Is that not enough for you?"

"I need more!" growled Thanos. "You understand, don't you, god?" Slowly, Thanos approached Loki. "Was it not you who came begging to me for power?"

Loki lowered his eyes as he recalled the events. He was changed now-he had everything that he could ever want and power wasn't on that list. "I was lost…" He found himself starting to use his scepter as a means to support himself from falling.

"You have them, don't you? Hand them over to me and I'll let you die quickly!" Thanos was ready to throw a punch at Loki, but Thor had swung his hammer at him, forcing Thanos to the ground.

"Is this to be a repeat of our last battle?" taunted Thanos.

"We will defeat you!" Thor shouted.

"Thor!" Loki snapped. "This is my battle."

"Our battle!" corrected Thor.

Loki shook his head. "This has all been my fault. I'm responsible for bringing an end to this madness."

Thor summoned Mjolnir back into his hand and Thanos was able to freely rise to his feet.

"Hand me the remaining gems and this will all end." Thanos outstretched his gloved hand, waiting for Loki to hand over what was rightfully his.

Loki glared at him through slitted eyes. "I don't have them!" he growled as he thrust his scepter towards Thanos.

The creature evaded the attack. "The Tesseract's power will be used against you!" Thanos laughed. He outstretched a hand, waiting for the Tesseract's power within him to attack the god.

"How foolish you are!" Loki chuckled darkly.

A look of confusion and anger showed upon Thanos' purple face.

"I lied," said Loki coolly. "That Tesseract was a fake. Now hand over the gauntlet to me."

Thor readied himself to throw his hammer. Captain America had his shield in his hand, ready to throw. Iron Man had a hand extended, prepared to blast his enemy. Hawkeye had his bow ready with an arrow drawn. Behind the Avengers, Bruce had begun to transform into the Hulk.

"Did you forget my Skrulls?" Thanos reminded the group.

The Skrull that had accompanied Thanos to earth posed in a fighting stance.

"We can defeat you!" Loki warned him.

"You failed last time, remember?"

"We're a team now!" Captain America warned him.

Loki turned to Steve and smiled in approval. So he was one of them now? He could live with that.

The Skrull held out a small screen to Thanos. "The gems are nowhere near here! He's telling you the truth!"

"What is that?" asked Iron Man.

"Technology we've been working on," Thanos proudly stated. "Did you think we were simply hiding all this time?" He grinned in approval at the shocked Avengers. "We've developed a tracking device for the gems! They're as good as ours!" Thanos grabbed the device and took off just as a dozen more Skrulls appeared into the building.

Before the Avengers could attack, the Skrulls blocked them from getting to Thanos. Captain America threw his shield and knocked out one of the aliens. Before he could attack another, Loki had grabbed his shoulder.

"Where are they?" he demanded impatiently.

Steve looked puzzled for a second.

"The gems!"

Natasha noticed Loki and Steve off to the side and hurried over to join them.

"This will all be over if he finds them! We need them first!" Loki warned Steve.

"Leave this to us, Captain," interrupted Natasha. "We'll get the gems and bring them back here. Unless Loki manages to snag the glove…" she added.

Steve turned back to nervously glance at the others fighting. So far, only three more Skrulls were standing. For now, at least. "Tony, Hulk!" he shouted.

The two sped over, leaving Thor and Hawkeye fighting alone.

"The gems-where did you hide yours?" asked Steve. "Mine is in the pencil case on my desk."

"That's cute, Capsicle. Is your diary right next to it?" joked Tony. After a glare from Steve, Tony became serious. "Pepper's jewelry box. It's in a ring box. If Jarvis asks, the password's 'Tony.' Or you can smash the thing, but that won't make Pepper too happy, you—…"

The Hulk cut off Tony from his rambling. "Beaker in lab."

"We have to hurry!" Natasha warned Loki. "They've got a head start as it is!"

Fury suddenly appeared behind them and jingled a set of keys before Natasha. "I trust you with this, Romanoff," he warned her.

She grabbed the set of keys with a smirk. "Thanks!"