AraianaHaldthin: I'm sorry that the rat torture grossed you out. It was pretty grotesque to write. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

Chellybean17: I'm really happy you've been enjoying the story! We can only hope that Clint and Natasha won't hurt Loki or uproot his life at the Tower.

sakiko of soleana: Yeah, I try to update whenever I can. I've had a majority of this written for a while and try to update one to two chapters a day so you guys don't have to wait for new chapters! Adults really can be jerks, but I have a feeling that Loki's cute will work to his advantage in that aspect.

Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites and follows! You guys are awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the previous ones! Now, onward!

ONE STEP FORWARD, FOUR STEPS BACK

A THOR/AVENGERS FANFICTION

CHAPTER ELVEN: The Raid

The next day felt like walking on eggshells for Loki. All of the adults were on edge, worrying about something important. Much to Loki's displeasure, none of them were willing to tell him what was going on. That irritated Loki to no end, his ever curious minded wanting to know anything and everything. Tony was shut up in his office the entire day, only coming out for meals. He didn't speak, but Loki could see him whisper to Pepper, Thor and Bruce occasionally. Loki wanted to know what they were talking about, but never got an answer. They only scolded him for asking. Apparently that's rude. Who knew?

As dinner approached Loki was so crabby he could have set a record for it. He did try to take a nap earlier that day, but was unable to fall asleep. There was a strange sense of anxiety in his stomach that prevented him from drifting away. Thor was on edge and almost equally as cranky, so he wasn't as understanding when Loki complained of not being able to sleep. Hurt by Thor's distant behavior, Loki spent most of the afternoon in his room avoiding everyone. No one seemed to want him around. His little stomach was growling madly and he knew it was almost time for dinner. He was about to leave the room when he saw a shadow move across the wall. His heart stopped and he turned around, the shadow of a man being cast on his wall. Loki screamed and backed into the dresser.

"Thor!" he screamed, crawling away from the dresser he had backed into. Within seconds of his cry Thor was in the room, ready to strike down whatever was in the room. Thor glanced around and saw nothing, and was clearly confused as to why Loki was in hysterics.

"What's wrong? What happened, brother?" Thor asked calmly.

"There was a-a-a shadow of a man in m-my room, Thor!" Loki cried, fear in his voice. Thor scooped him up and held him close. Loki calmed down and Thor took him out of the room. Thor didn't ask again what had happened, but Loki wanted to talk about it. It was really scary; like someone was waiting for the right time to snatch him away.

"Thor? About earlier-" Loki began, Thor's hand cutting him off.

"Are you hungry?" Thor asked. Loki's mouth hung open in shock for a moment; this is exactly what Pepper had done to him yesterday. It was truly infuriating.

"What is with you people?" Loki exclaimed angrily. Thor scowled at him.

"Loki, that's not how we talk to adults. You've been very rude today." Thor scolded. Loki scowled right back at him.

"I'm rude? You won't answer a single question I ask! You haven' been around at all t'day and you won' tell me what's happening! Now when somethin' does happen, you won' talk 'bout it! I think that's rude!" Loki yelled. Thor glared at him, Loki now very aware that he was in trouble. It was strange how much Thor really did look like Odin, especially when he was angry.

"Loki," Thor began. Loki shivered a little.

"'M sorry, 'm sorry! I won' do it again!" Loki cried. Thor's face softened a bit. Loki clearly thought that Thor was going to hurt him.

"Loki," Thor repeated, his tone softer than before. Loki didn't meet Thor's gaze, his face hidden behind his arm. Thor touched Loki's shoulder and Loki flinched away. Loki then darted away, back into the room, totally forgetting about the shadow on the wall. Thor sighed and straightened his back. He glanced back to the bar and saw Tony behind it smirking at him.

"Smooth."

Loki got back to the room and shut the door, locking it with magic. He actually didn't know he could do that and wasn't sure how he did it. He just did it. But Loki didn't have time to contemplate his new skill; Thor was angry with him. Would he toss him aside like Odin did? Loki sat down on the floor and pulled his knees up to his chest, salty tears wetting his face. Floods of memories and flashbacks from the past four weeks came back, Loki relieving his torture sessions. He shook violently as the memories flowed through him like a river. He was so engulfed in this that he didn't notice that a man had dropped silently on to the floor near the back of the room. The man's quiet footsteps went almost unnoticed until he stepped on a piece of paper that Loki had left on the floor earlier. The noise snapped Loki out of his state of panic and his eyes slowly glanced up. His frightened green eyes met the angry gray eyes of a man who was holding a loaded bow at Loki's body.

"Who are you?" Loki asked, his eyes locked on the arrow tip that was mere feet away from his tiny chest. The man stepped closer, his expression not softening in the slightest.

"I'm the one to take you in," he replied. Loki backed away slowly, wishing he hadn't locked himself in the room. If I can lock myself in, I can get myself out, Loki thought as the man with the bow backed him into a corner. Loki thought hard about the lock and he felt his magic flow through him. He just knew that it had unlocked and knew exactly how to distract this man. Loki took a deep breath and a blinding green light filled the room. The man shut his eyes and Loki darted out of the room and ran to Thor.

"Thor! There's a man in our room!" Loki cried, his body trembling with panic and fear.

"Did he have a bow with him?" Bruce asked. Loki nodded.

"Well shit," Tony said, running to his office and shutting the door behind him.

"That's not good. If Barton's here, there's no telling who else they sent." Bruce said calmly. Thor picked Loki up and held him close.

"What do you suppose we do Banner?" Thor asked. Bruce turned to face the hallway and saw that the light Loki had conjured was dimming fast.

"Run. I'll cover you." Thor knew how much Bruce was putting on the line to protect Loki. S.H.I.E.L.D. would not excuse Bruce's behavior meaning he'd have to go back to living like a fugitive. With the light dimming, Thor nodded and sprinted toward the stairs, Bruce trailing behind him. The two ran down two flights of stairs when a thought struck Bruce. S.H.I.E.L.D. knows that Thor would have Loki with him, they would be tracking Thor more closely. Thinking fast, Bruce pulled on Thor's shirt and got him to stop.

"What is the meaning of this Banner?" Thor cried angrily.

"Give me the kid. They'll expect you to have him with you. We need to split up and regroup outside of New York." Thor's eyes flicked with understanding and he reluctantly handed Loki over to Bruce.

"What about my ram and blankie?" Loki asked miserably. Thor planted a wet kiss on Loki's hair.

"Not to worry. You will see them both again." Thor told him, turning on his heal and running back up the stairs. Loki clung on to Bruce and Bruce began running again, hoping his idea would work.

Tony snapped on one of his bracelets and walked out of his office, the green light almost gone. Thor was sitting on a couch, his face smooth and emotionless. Pepper was waiting in the room next door to the one Thor and Loki had shared so that she could pack their things for them once Clint was out of the room. Finally, the light subsided and Clint sprinted out of the room, holding his ear. Tony knew that he was telling whatever back up he had that Loki had escaped somehow. Clint slowed his pace when he got close to Thor and Tony and stopped a few feet in front of him.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded. Tony smirked at him.

"You should really lighten up," Tony commented, earning a glare from Clint.

"This isn't a game, Stark. You've been harboring a war criminal. Unless you want to dig a bigger hole for yourself, I suggest that you start talking." Clint commanded. Thor glanced over at Tony who was still wearing a big smirk.

"If you wanted to hear my voice again, all you had to do was call." Tony mused.

"This isn't funny," Clint said through grit teeth. Tony was stalling and Clint knew it.

"We honestly have no idea where Loki ran to," Thor said calmly.

"That's a lie. You two have been inseparable for days." Clint said coolly. Tony shifted in his seat.

"About that. Whose idea was it to bug Banner big guy? Was it Fury? I'm pretty sure that's illegal." Tony retorted.

"That's none of your concern," Clint answered quickly.

"I think it is. This is my building and not only was my privacy compromised, but so was the privacy of a five-year-old. I know that's illegal." Tony said harshly. Clint scowled.

"He's no five-year-old. He's a monster." Clint put his hand up to his ear piece and nodded. "Thanks to your little conversation, Stark, we've tracked Banner. I wouldn't suggest assisting him unless you want to get shot." Clint added, sprinting over to the stairs and disappearing down them.

"What do we do now?" Thor cried, panicked for Loki's safety. To his great surprise, Tony was smiling.

"We wait for the bomb to go off."

Bruce made it outside the tower and Loki wasn't hiding his face. The boy was glancing around nervously, waiting for something to jump out at him. Bruce sensing his fear began to rub Loki's back softly.

"It's alright. We'll be alright." Bruce said, running off the curb and on to the pavement.

"I wouldn't do that," Bruce stopped and in the dim sunlight could barely make out Natasha Romanov leaning up against a street lamp.

"Great," Bruce muttered, holding Loki closer. She walked over to him and Loki, her expression unreadable. Loki studied her face intently. She didn't look as scary as that man did.

"Let me guess; we're alone, right?" Bruce said bitterly. Natasha smirked a little.

"For now. Just hand me Loki and no one has to get hurt." Natasha said calmly. Loki tugged on Bruce's collar.

"What does she wan' from me?" Loki asked. Bruce shushed him and began to back away.

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Bruce said.

"Bruce, don't do this," Natasha said softly. Bruce shook his head and ran off, cradling Loki closer.

"Keep your head down, Loki," Bruce commanded. From behind him, Natasha called in the order for troops to surround Bruce, Clint included. Bruce ran for only a block when an arrow pierced the back of his knee, causing him to fall. Loki skidded out of his arms and rolled on the sidewalk, new and old wound opening and bleeding. When Loki sat up, there were people surrounding him at all sides and he crawled quickly over to Bruce for protection.

"Mr. Banner?" Loki asked frantically. Bruce stood up and began to shudder slightly. His clothes began ripping at the seams and Loki saw his skin gain a greenish tent. Loki backed away slowly, his eyes widening in fear. In seconds, the transformation was complete and a giant green beast was standing where Bruce had moments ago. Loki was frozen in fear as Bruce-or the Hulk rather-roared at all the troops. Loki saw that this was quickly going downhill and he hesitantly stood up and took cautious steps toward the beast.

"M-Mr. Banner?" Loki asked slowly. The Hulk turned to him and roared loudly, Loki quivering in fear. The beast got closer to Loki, its angry eyes scanning the little boy from head to toe. Loki hid his face in fear and the Hulk got nearer and his breath was blowing on Loki's face. Before Loki could react in any sense of the word, the Hulk grabbed him and held him close, both of his massive arms covering Loki almost completely. Loki was very confused at this point and was really worried about Bruce. What had happened to him? Why was he like this? Not that it mattered much now anyway; Loki's protector was ready. The Hulk roared once again and much louder than before. It was so loud that Loki (and the troops) had to cover their ears. None of the troops moved at all and a new sound was heard, the sound loud and approaching fast. Loki peered out from his hideaway and gasped; a man in a metal suit of some kind landed right in front of the Hulk and was rising slowly from his landing position.

"Ready big guy?" The metal man asked in a voice that sounded like Tony.

"Mr. Stark?" Loki asked. The metal man-Ironman-nodded and the Hulk roared again. Loki's eyes went wide as Tony took off and began to shoot little streams of white light from the palms of his hands. He never hit a soldier, instead Tony cleared path for the Hulk to take. The Hulk began to sprint toward the path Tony created and wrapped his arms tighter around Loki. Loki tried to peek out again, but the Hulk gently pushed his little head back down. Loki pouted about not being able to see until a loud boom (a gunshot) sounded and scared Loki so bad he didn't want to look. The troops had opened fire on the Hulk and bullets were flying at him at incredible speed. Because Bruce was now in control, he knew better than to chase down each troop and fight them off. He could remember that his main priority was to get Loki out of the city and could focus on that. Bruce wasn't sure how Loki was able to help Bruce regain control when he had lost it, but he was grateful nonetheless. Tony flew overhead, defending Bruce as he ran and together they made their way out of the city, breaking the perimeter of the troops that S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent. Once out of the perimeter, Bruce handed Loki to Tony who then blasted off over the clouds to the location he and Thor had agreed on.

As Tony flew away, the Hulk slowly shrunk back into the form of Bruce Banner. He turned to find Clint and five or six S.H.I.E.L.D. troops running toward him. Bruce slowly raised his hands over his head, facing the consequences of his actions. In his heart he knew he had done the right thing, helping Thor and saving Loki, but the Hulk was raging inside him. The beast was screaming at him, telling him that he had made a terrible mistake. But that beast wasn't in control; Bruce was. He would face the troops proudly and not regret what he did. He cared for Loki almost to the point of loving him and wouldn't feel ashamed of what he had done for the boy.

"Hands where we can see them," Clint said. Bruce obliged and watched the skies as a streak of lightening went by. He lowered his gaze to meet Clint's eyes.

"You'll never catch him," Bruce said as the troops led him away.

Thor landed and watched the sky for Tony. He would be arriving any moment with Loki and the information on Jane's whereabouts. Thor was anxious to see Jane, but was also worried about how she would react to Loki. Everyone so far had been hostile at first, Bruce and Pepper warming up to Loki eventually. Tony never did, but that was just Tony. Thor didn't think that Tony really liked anyone except himself. Shortly after Thor landed, Tony landed with a loud clang and walked over to Thor. Thor took Loki from his arms and adjusted the bag that Pepper had prepared.

"Thank you Stark," Thor began, "I know how much you risk by helping us." Tony just waved his metal-clad hand.

"It's no big deal. You'll find a way to clear all this up, wontcha kid?" Thor blinked when he realized that Tony was speaking to Loki and not him. Loki nodded and gave Tony a thumbs up.

"Yup! I'm way smarter than all of the soldiers combined!" Loki said proudly. Tony gently patted Loki's head then backed away, preparing to take off.

"Good luck, Thor," Tony said.

"And to you too Stark," Thor replied. Loki waved good-bye to Tony.

"Good bye Mr. Stark! Sorry about the mess!" Loki said. Tony nodded, a smirk breaking out from underneath his helmet. The kid wasn't as bad as he thought. Flames erupted from Tony's hands and he took off, leaving Thor and Loki standing on the same hill Hiemdall had sent them to nearly a week before. Loki tugged on Thor's shirt.

"Thor? Mr. Stark wanted you to have this paper. I dunno what it says." Loki said giving the paper to Thor. Thor began walking away from the city and read:

Thor,

Jane was sick of S.H.I.E.L.D. breathing down her neck at that relocation compound. She couldn't get any of her work done. A few days ago, she just left and went to her parents' house in Arizona. Shortly after that, she left for New Mexico to meet up with her friends and continue her work. Here's the bizarre part; S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't searched for her yet. I'm going to blame Loki for that. But here's the catch. Now that you and Loki are on the run, they'll expect you to go to Jane. Don't do that. Go to her parents' house first, wait a couple of days, then go to Jane's lab. Cover your tracks and stay low. I've enclosed a GPS in this letter for you to use.

Tony Stark

P.S.: There are predicted thunderstorms in Arizona tonight.

Thor was tempted to ignore Tony's warning about going straight to Jane, but knew it was for the best that he headed Tony's advice. Thor pulled out the GPS and typed in Arizona. To his amazement, a pre-entered route popped up on the screen and was waiting to give him directions to not only Arizona, but to Jane's parents' house as well. Gripping his hammer, Thor was prepared to begin swinging it, but remembered the little boy in his arms.

"Hold on tight, Loki, and don't be afraid." Thor told him. Loki nodded and Thor began to swing his hammer around, wind whipping up around them. Loki shut his eyes so that dust wouldn't fly into them and Thor's feet began to slowly lift of the ground and he went speeding toward Arizona, the GPS guiding him the whole way.