Sorry for the late update. It has been a busy week for me, and I think the next ones are too. I'll try my best to update as soon as possible. As always, please notify me of mistakes and please enjoy!
"Tony, stop right there!"Tony nearly jumped from his seat when Bruce yelled. "Jeez Bruce, you could at least have said it more gently than that!" he shouted back, Clint and Steve sitting in the back of the quinjet with slightly confused looks on their faces. Bruce mumbled something that sounded like an apology.
Tony focused on the flying back again, he was not willing to have another argue. He looked at the place Bruce had pointed to when he shouted. There was smoke rising up from the ground, a huge circle in the middle of the street. People had surrounded it in confusion, cars standing all over the road.
Tony flew right over to it and landed in the middle of the circle, scaring the people that had gathered around it. Bruce sighed. "Tony, could you just not land a bit further away from these people? You nearly scared them to death." He said with a scolding look of disapproval to Tony.
Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Nope. And besides, it would have taken us longer." With those words he pressed the button that opened their cabin. Clint stepped out first, looking down at the circle.
"Guys, it's a disappointment!" He yelled to the others that were still inside the quinjet. "It's the same circle as in New mexico, it must be Thor."
The other Avengers had stepped out in the meanwhile, the people that had gathered around whispering to each other. They paid them no heed. Instead Bruce and Tony were calmly taking out their science instruments, setting them up on the circle, until Clint noticed something very important.
"Where's Thor actually?"
Tony and Bruce both stared around. "I don't see him neither.'' Tony said after a while.
Steve looked around too and shook his head. "Probably somewhere around. I'll look for him while you guys stay here." Bruce looked at Steve. "Are you sure you are going to look for him? Something interesting might come up here."
"I'll probably not understand." Was Steve's reply. "And if Thor's around here, he might need a bit of support of his friends. He just delivered his brother to Asgard. I'm leaving here."
"Wait!" Clint said as the soldier turned around to walk away. "I'll come with you. I'm probably not of use here anyways and you might need an extra pair of eyes." Steve smiled and elbowed Clint. "Okay then extra pair of eyes, let's go!"
Tony and Bruce stared at each other. "Well, that escalated quickly." Tony said before they both continued setting up their measuring devices.
Loki sat naked in his cell, but he did not care. His clothes had fallen of into shreds after his first whipping, leaving his bleeding and torn back to exposed to the cold air in his cell. Loki's throat felt dry and to be honest Loki was not surprised by that. He had screamed for hours when they sewed his remaining eye shut.
It had hurt like hell. After that he was thrown into a cell that was unbearably hot, and soon sweat ran down his entire body. He shook as he heard the door open and several hands had grabbed him, and chained him to a wall, his back exposed to whoever was in his cell. He had noticed how tears were streaming down his face, seeping through his closed eyelids. He tried not to focus on anything with his eyes, for moving them in the slightest bit caused him a painful wave of agony.
Loki heard nothing before the whip struck him. Suddenly it felt like his back was exploding, everything he knew flashing before his eyes and leaving him only agony before it struck him a second time. He ripped his stitches before the third hit, leaving his lips bleeding and ragged, blood streaming down his face. He had long screamed his throat raw before it ended, and tears ran down his face as the hands from before loosened him from the wall and bound his hands behind his back.
The mischief god noticed weakly his clothes had fallen of during the whipping, and that they probably still lay on the floor torn to shreds. He didn't care about it. The only thing he could wish now for was for the pain to end, even though the lashings had stopped.
Neither did Loki care when they threw him back in his old cell, leaving him bleeding on the floor. He wept for hours on the floor. Why did they do this? Why did Thor leave him here? Tears trickled down his face, and he wondered how it was still possible for him to cry with his eyes sewn shut. He cried more at the thought of his mother, who he would probably never see again. Did she know of his torture? He didn't want to imagine that she did and wouldn't care.
He realized his back was still bleeding when he clenched his hands, blood suddenly seeping out of his fists. He noticed he was still laying bleeding on the floor, and he tried to get up on his knees. In the end it hurt a lot, but he managed to get closer to the wall of his cell, and he laid himself down on his stomach next to it. Shortly after he had laid himself there he fell asleep, but not even then he was not left alone, terrorized by nightmares.
"Our master wishes to see you scream for him." A hissing voice said, sending shivers through Loki's damaged body.
"He will find you soon enough, and when he does you will long to return to this cell..." The voice hissed, and Loki didn't even want to know who 'he'actually was.
"He doesn't approve of your failure... We will find you, runt, and when we do..." The creature didn't finish his sentence, only to chuckle menacingly after it.
That was the last thing Loki heard before he awoke with a start, his eyes burning with white hot pain. Loki realized he had tried to open his eyes to escape his nightmare. Before he had the chance to sit up straight he heard the door from his cell open, and footsteps nearing him rather quickly. He huddled himself together as much as he could before he was grabbed by the shoulders and pulled upwards. He was set on his feet, but he collapsed back on the floor as soon as the hands let him go. He was hauled up again, this time the hands held him and he felt his feet dragging along the floor.
After a short time of being pulled along he heard another door open and they threw him in what probably was the same room from yesterday. It was still scalding hot, and it felt like his skin was on fire, slowly burning away, leaving him fully exposed to the heat.
To Loki's surprise, he was not chained to the wall. They just left him on the floor. But his hope of having no other pain than heat was shattered soon when he heard more footsteps approach him. He rolled over, feeling vulnerable when he lay on his stomach, but he was kicked back. Loki howled through his sewn lips.
He felt how someone took a hold of his neck, and he thrashed. No! Not this! Not the choking feeling! He kicked out with his legs weakly until someone grabbed a hold of them.
Then he felt how something white hot touched the wounds on his back and his body arched away from it as far as possible. He screamed when it didn't leave, and he tried to twist himself, if only to get it away from him. Why did it hurt so much? Loki sobbed when more of the hot metal points touched him, leaving him with burned spots all over his body. Loki had not stopped thrashing yet, when the metal rods all suddenly left, and Loki sobbed with relief.
It did not last long though, and Loki shrieked as he felt the heat approach him again. Nothing came, and Loki wondered what happened. He lay as still as possible now, scared that movement would make the heat come back to him. He heard unknown voices talk above him, and though it was clearly they spoke Asgardian language he couldn't understand it.
Then the voices went quiet, and Loki heard something drip, and the sound came closer. He tried to shift away from it, certain it would hurt him, but the hands still held him steadily in their grip. He didn't receive a warning when an entire bucket of scalding water was thrown over his back.
"Damn it Steve! You are fast!" Clint panted out as he reached Steve. They had left the two scientists about an half hour ago, and now they were standing somewhat closer to the center of new York. Stark Tower could be clearly seen above any other high building. Steve had to suppress grinning at the thought of the tower being the size of Tony's ego. He looked at Clint, who was leaning on himself, his hands on his knees, and panting hard. he looked like he had ran an entire marathon.
Steve kinda felt for Clint and he decided he should say something. "Hey Clint, if it is really too tiring for you you can also just return to the others. I can handle this myself too." He said friendly. Clint shook his head and looked aside. "No, we left together, now we have to return together too. If you go, I go too."
"Well, then-"
Steve cut his sentence off as Clint suddenly ran away. It looked like Clint had found Thor. he was running towards a dark alley between two huge flats.
"Clint!" He yelled before he ran after him.
Thor woke up with a headache and he couldn't make out much first until his blurred vision cleared slightly up. Had he passed out? He looked up to find himself looking between two buildings towards the sky. He got up on his feet and groaned in pain, dizziness enveloping him.
He was on Midgard, but why he could not remember. He reached for Mjolnir, but he was surprised when he didn't feel it hanging from his belt. Had he not taken it with him? It did not matter. He needed to...
Thor's brow furrowed in confusion as he realized he didn't remember what he wanted to do on Midgard. He tried to think what he did last. Loki... That was right, he put Loki in his rightful place. And then... A yelling on his left distracted him from is thoughts.
"Thor! Thor!" The blonde god looked over to his side to see Clint Barton running towards him, wearing his archery suit as always.
"We were worried about you, buddy!" Clint said as he reached him. Thor looked back in confusion. "You did not need to be, I was merely bringing Loki back to Asgard. Where are the others?" Thor asked.
"Steve is on his way, and Bruce and Tony are by that circle you always leave on the floor. Natasha is staying in the tower." Steve said as he arrived. "What were you doing here? We thought you'd come to the Tower."
Thor did know the answer to that. "I do not know, my friend. I think I was lost."
Clint laughed and elbowed Steve. "I can totally understand that, New York's a big city." He laughed. "Let's get back to the quinjet, I think our science bro's are done by now."
And they left off. In the meanwhile Thor said nothing, not knowing what he did on Midgard. He felt like he should tell his friends something, but he couldn't discover what.
When the quinjet came in sight Tony stood already waving, Bruce packing their instruments back up.
"Letting Bruce do all the work, eh?" Clint grinned, and Tony held his hands up in a defensive stance. "Woah woah, wait right there buddy. I did the most of the stuff here, I built all of those!" And he gestured to the instruments.
"But with my materials, Tony." Bruce replied back. Tony didn't say much after that, since it was true. Thor stood awkward by Steve's side, just watching them argue. Bruce turned to Thor. "So, back already?" He asked.
Thor said nothing back, and Bruce supposed that he was having a hard time processing the second loss of his brother. Then they all got in the quinjet, and they set off for Stark tower, this time Clint steering.
Tony turned to Thor. "You are quiet." He remarked. "Having a hard time with your brother being... What actually? You didn't told us anything. What happened to him?" Tony looked at Thor, who was still looking down.
"He got what he deserved. I do not wish to talk about this further, Stark." He said grimly. Tony backed a bit away. "What he deserved? Thor, your brother was near innocent! You know this right?!"
Suddenly Thor leapt from his seat and grabbed Tony's neck, pushing him in the wall like he did with Loki. "Listen, Stark. I do not wish to talk about that traitor any further!" He growled into Tony's face, which had turned pale by now. Suddenly Steve pulled Thor away, and the thunderer snarled at him. "Thor, calm down! We know it is hard. Please just calm down, and take a seat. Tony will leave you now, okay?"
Steve took Thor going back to his seat as a yes, and turned to Tony, who looked like he had seen a ghost. "You okay?" He asked.
Tony nodded and brushed his shoulders. Steve looked at him. "Don't ask him further, Tony, I think this is how he handles loss. He needed someone to blame , and he took Loki."
"Yeah, but isn't it weird. He is pretty sulky now, I mean, look at him Steve! His entire posture tells you something is not right!" Tony gestured to Thor.
"Tony, we will discuss this later. For now, we need to get back to the tower and report this to SHIELD before they think another Asgardian bad guy has arrived."
Tony kept quiet, and went back to his seat. Steve sighed in relief. He didn't need any more of this today.
When they arrived at Stark Tower and parked the quinjet in front of it Natasha was already waiting for them, wearing more casual clothes. Steve walked over to the redhead to inform her of the events that had played, and the rest went up to the living quarters.
Bruce had made himself a coffee, and asked if Thor wanted one too. The thunderer had declined the offer. Clint noticed this, and found it strange, Thor usually liked coffee a lot. he decided to have a small talk with him, and walked over to the couch where Thor sat.
"Hey man, how are you doing. You don't look that well today." He said approaching the blonde. Thor looked up at him. "I am doing fine, Barton." He said, with an undertone of chagrin in his voice.
Clint sat next to him, which probably wasn't the best idea he ever had, but did anyways. "So, how's the rest of Asgard doing? Your home?" He questioned while taking a huge bite if the apple he had brought along from Tony's kitchen. Thor looked at him slightly angry. "Asgard fares well." He answered gruffly. Clint was confused. Thor loved to tell them about his home. But now it just looked like... He didn't care at all...
Tony and Steve both came in and took the remaining couch. "Care to tell us what happened now, buddy?" Tony looked at Thor, who did not respond. "Jeez, are you on your man period or something!?" Tony yelled whilst throwing up his arms, standing up and leaving the room.
Steve looked slightly embarrassed. Bruce noticed from it from the kitchen and said to Steve. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. He'll come around sooner or later."
Clint looked at Thor's angered expression and wondered if the last sentence was meant for Tony or Thor. He took another bite from his apple, and shrugged his shoulders when he saw Steve looking at him.
"Natasha is downstairs with Pepper, in case if you were wondering." Clint nodded his head and took another bite.
Thor heard Steve talk to the archer next to him, and felt angry with Barton, but he couldn't discover the reason why. He just felt angry with everything. He felt angry with Loki too. Loki should have been grateful that he wasn't killed on the spot when they arrived on Asgard.
Thor looked up again when Steve stood up from the couch. "I'm gonna leave you two guys alone. I need to see Fury. Shield wants to run some kind of condition test on me to see what my limits are. I'll be back late I think. Do you think you can handle Tony alone, Clint?" He laughed a bit.
Clint nodded and waved the rest of. "Sure." He said with his mouth full from the last bite. "I think I can handle it here. We'll see you later!" He waved Steve goodbye, who had opened the door already.
"See you later!" Steve said back and closed the door, leaving the archer and the god alone.
A long awkward silence followed, making them both feel uncomfortable and unsure of what they were supposed to do. Thor broke the silence first, clearing his throat before speaking. "And how do you fare, Barton?"
Clint swore he heard a menacing undertone in that sentence, but he decided to ignore it. "I'm fine Thor, though we all were worried you wouldn't come back for a while. You know, your brother being punished and stuff."
Then Thor laughed, and Clint looked disturbed, cause why would Thor laugh? But Thor spoke to him and Clint wasn't sure after that anymore what to think of the thunderer. "My brother deserves his punishment, he did no well to your realm. He nearly killed this entire 'New York'."
"But Thor, your brother was in no state of being able to be held responsible for his attack. You know that, don't you?" Thor hung his head low and didn't respond to that. Clint was uncertain of what to do now. "I... I'm going to get another apple 'n some soda, what about you?" He hastily said, not wanting to anger Thor like Tony had.
Thor said nothing, and Clint took it as a no, leaving for the kitchen. He had just closed the fridge as he noticed Thor had approached him. Something in Thor's expression made Clint back away in the slightest bit as possible. "Something wrong buddy?" He asked carefully. Thor remained in the same place, still staring at him. It was kinda frightening for Clint. Suddenly he moved, walking closer towards the archer. "You wish to know what is wrong? You are wrong!" And all of a sudden Thor leaped for Clint with a snarl.
Clint's eyes widened as Thor tried to tackle him with his entire body, and he jumped to the side, making sure he didn't stumble over the chairs in the kitchen. Thor landed on the floor, growling and cursing that he didn't get the archer at the first try. He ran to the living room, where he smashed the bottle of soda he had grabbed against the table and his soda spilled all over the floor, but he didn't care. He had something to defend himself with now.
"Jarvis, tell the other to get here as quickly as poss-"
His voice was cut off as Thor had jumped for him across the table, landing on him. Thor straddled Clint quickly, holding his hands above his head with his well-built arms. Then Clint noticed it. Thor's eyes, they were not his normal eyes. And since Thor had blue eyes from his own they didn't notice it that they were much bluer than that they should have been. Thor's pupils had been smaller from the start, filled with malice and Clint didn't notice!
Suddenly he knew why Thor had acted so strange this day. He called out to Thor as he tried to kick him away at the same time. "Thor! Thor! It's me, Clint! You are not well, stop this!" But Thor didn't show any positive reaction to his words. Clint then succeeded in kicking the growling deity in his stomach and the archer was sure he could make it if he played it smart now.
But then Thor grabbed his broken bottle of soda, holding it above his face threatening, and Clint knew that if the others didn't come soon, it would be end of the story for Clint Francis Barton. He prayed Natasha knew that he loved her.