"Wait, what did you just say?" Steve leaned against the doorframe. Thor had just returned from Asgard and his face was redder than the German flag.

"Loki…has returned."

Steve snapped his fingers. He knew it. He knew that light show was all an act.

"So, Reindeer-games is still alive." Tony's voice came blaring through the intercom and could be heard all throughout the house…and probably through most of downtown too. Figures he was using his tech to eavesdrop…that reminded Steve to have a talk with the billionaire about boundaries.

"Everyone come to the war room and we'll discuss it further."

And so earth's mightiest heroes assembled again, Natasha's hair had grown longer since they last came together. Since crime was so low there was no need for her to fight, no need for her to change her appearance to infiltrate enemy territory. There was no need for her at all…so why even bother?

"How exactly is reindeer games back? I mean we all saw it…he just…died." That word hung in the air like mist. Thor closed his eyes. How could Loki have done something so…cowardly? The All-father had said this was all a part of some plan, some greater scheme by his brother. Thor didn't want to believe that. Loki had done horrible deeds, but nothing so loathsome as this, as stealing away his own life. But the more Thor thought of it, and the more his saw his brother's face bathed in the light from his own spell, the more Thor thought his father's words might be true. Loki had been seized by madness, who's to say this was not some scheme to bring misery to them all? The thought could not be dismissed.

"Yes man of Iron, Loki did meet his end by his own hand. But there are…workings…that are beyond even my knowledge, and that of many Asgardians. My brother was gone, but my father believes he may be alive once more."

Tony blinked. "You mean like reincarnation?"

Thor nodded. "I believe my brother to be alive." Thor paused, his heart began to pound in his chest. Loki may be alive…but was it the fear of his treachery that made his stomach churn, or the hope that maybe, just maybe he could see his brother's eyes again. "We shall find him at once."

"Good plan Thor, but there's a big problem." Tony clapped his hands twice and like magic a hologram filled the air. Steve, Natasha and the others leaned in close, this ought to be good. "If he has been reincarnated and he's on this planet, and that's a big if, there's no way we can track him. My patented Loki finder can't get a lock on any kind of signal. It's like all of that magic is gone."

Of course that made sense, if Loki were alive again there'd be no way he'd be able to access any of his powers, at least not yet, so naturally there'd be no signature to track. Natasha's eyes narrowed. There was also the added fact that Loki being reincarnated didn't mean he'd be a freaking human. According to certain beliefs humans are reincarnated into their next life based off of their previous lives actions. If you're a dick in a previous life you come back as a cockroach. Hell, Loki could have already been squashed by some large boot by now.

That idea made Natasha smirk. It'd serve him right.

"So what do we do?" Clint asked. He kept his face cold, but Natasha could see right through him. He still had a score to settle with Loki for making him his personal mind puppet. Out of everyone's reaction to Loki's "death" Clint seemed to take it the hardest…mainly because if someone were to do Loki in, he wanted it to be him, not some shining ball of light.

"We do what we always do. We find the bad guy, and we take him down." Steve said, his chin high in the air. Steve squinted his eyes. He had sworn to take down evil wherever it was, and Loki had come back, they had to hunt him down and bring him in.

"Hold on Capt." Tony said. "Why does it matter anymore? I mean, even if he is back why do we have to catch him? I mean the order is beginning to subside…kind of…I mean just last week I heard some kids playing outside…for a brief and shining second."

"Yes friend Stark, my father has taken note of that as well, but he knows, as well as I, that things shall soon revert to their form of before Loki's…disappearance." Even after all this time Thor still couldn't say death. "We were granted a brief interlude from the order's tyranny, but that will not last much longer."

Natasha leaned back in her chair, she too had noted some semblance of chaos returning, but the sightings were brief and now they seemed to have stopped completely. She had theories, perhaps Loki's suicide spell caused the chaos to return for a small intermission. Perhaps this was still part of some horrid plan to take all of them out. Shit, she was so bored thinking up theories about Loki was the only thing that was keeping her mind sharp.

"Alright, so how do we find him? Could we use the stones again? Or maybe some kind of face recognition." Steve rubbed his palm against his chin. "Tony, can we do anything?"

Tony shrugged. All of this was so out of his element. He didn't even know reincarnation was a thing until five minutes ago. And there were so many theories about it that made no sense. Loki could literally be anyone or anything, no matter what age, or what species. But despite the challenge, he cocked his eyebrow. "I'll think a' something."

He was a genius after all.

Steve nodded. "Good. Everyone else, I want us to start training. We don't know what's gonna be thrown at us, so we need to be ready for anything."

"And if he decides to off himself again?" Clint asked.

"Don't worry. He won't be doing that this time. I'll make sure of it." Steve felt a small flame flicker in his chest, growing like fire across a forest. Natasha could see it in his eyes…and she smirked.

He won't escape this time.