A/N: Sorry for the longer delays in updates. I've decided that rather than attach myself to a schedule and give you all a boring chapter ("I have to post this by such-and-such a day!") I would rather take some time and actually give you something worth reading. Hopefully this chapter is worth reading. The last sections are another one of those "I've had this written since the beginning" scenes. And I've worked rather hard on them.

A Tenebres, Lux is Latin for "From the Darkness, Light"

From The Ashes

By Anna Morgan

Chapter 13 A Tenebres, Lux

"Cap, we need the rest of the team in here!" Natasha shouted urgently into her earpiece. "Now!"

The robot conjured two more balls of green energy and thrust them toward Loki and Natasha. They both leapt out of the way just in time, Natasha going to the right, Loki to the left toward Clint.

Its eyes followed Natasha as she dived into a roll and leapt to her feet. There was a spiraling sound as its eyes glowed red-hot. She could feel the heat radiating from it on her face as she met its eyes before it happened – fire burst from its eyes, strait toward her, leaving a scorch mark on the ground beside her as she dived to avoid being broiled alive.

Loki was horrified. It reminded him so much of the Destroyer…

"Tasha, don't fight it!" Clint shouted. "We're going to need to attack it from behind or it'll keep replicating us!"

Loki moved forward with a knife in hand while the robot focused on Natasha. He thrust it forward with all his strength at the nape of the robot's neck. Rather than lodge itself in the metal body it ricocheted and clattered to the floor. Its armor was impenetrable...

"We must get the cube out of it or all our efforts will be in vain," Loki shook his head.

They could hear the sound of footsteps clamoring down the hall as the robot turned again on Natasha, this time bringing its leg around to kick her. It nearly struck her in the head before she leaned backward so her torso was parallel to the ground, and it flew over her head.

Out of nowhere a blast of light came from the doorway as Tony blasted the robot from his hand – the rest of the Avengers had arrived.

Clint was the one to meet them. "Don't do anything in front of it! It can copy our abilities!" Just then, the robot raised its hand and a blast of light emitted from it, just like Tony's Iron Man armor. Steve raised his shield and blocked the blast, looking stunned.

"Told you," Clint said simply as Steve and Tony looked the robot in awe. Clint filled him in on the situation as the robot continued to go after Natasha and Loki, luring it away from the rest of the team.

"We need to distract it," Steve said knowingly. "Clint, you go with Loki and Natasha. Try to get the cube out if you can, but we need to concentrate on immobilizing it and shutting it down," he directed. "The rest of us will try and stop it in any way we can."

That was easier said than done. Loki and Natasha were now taking turns distracting the robot, luring it away from one another for a few seconds at a time to give the other a chance to rest. Thor approached from behind it, swinging Mjolnir before he flew through the air and collided with the robot in the head, sending it crashing into the wall. Thor raised the hammer in the air to summon a blue string of lightning as the robot turned its head. The lightning flew from Mjolnir strait to the robot's chest, sending sparks showering to the ground and for a second it stopped. Everyone held their breath. But then the robot stood and, using the additional power from the lightning, raised its palm and shot a beam of energy from its hand as well as a blast of fire from its eyes, each more intense and powerful than they had been before.

Unfortunately for all involved, the beam of energy hit Bruce square in the chest.

Bruce flew backward, hitting the wall hard. Natasha's eyes widened. "Bruce…" She started to run toward him, but Loki grabbed her arm to stop her. Bruce was crouched down on the ground, his limbs and torso turning dark green as he blew up like a balloon, becoming the Hulk.

The green rage monster gave a deafening roar at the robot as it rose to its feet. The Hulk charged at it, roaring in anger as he sought revenge. He punched the robot with all his might sending it flying, once again, into the wall.

The robot rose to its feet again and it started to grow – not just taller, but bulkier as well. Its metal plates and hinges undid and rearranged themselves in a strange fashion as it morphed itself into a metal version of the Hulk, standing now at least fifteen feet, even taking on a slight green tint.

"Shit…" Tony breathed.

The robot shot its fist out at Tony, sending him flying across the room, but he used his thrusters to keep himself steady. The Hulk lunged at it, but it matched the monster's brute strength and the Hulk went crashing to the floor, caught off guard by meeting its match.

Loki broke himself from his trance brought on by the contraption's strange abilities and sprung back into action. He conjured a ball of red energy in his hand and threw it strait at the robot, temporarily halting it in place – the same spell Amora had used to capture him on Asgard. Using his magic to aid him, he leapt in the air, intent on grabbing the cube from the robot's chest, but he underestimated the energy required to still the robot. Before he could grab the cube, it broke free of the spell, swiping its mighty metal arm at Loki in midair.

With a swipe, the robot backhanded Loki with all of the Hulk's strength, sending him flying straight up to the ceiling, where he collided painfully with one of the last fluorescent bulbs illuminating the gym. The bulb shattered, depriving the room of light but for a single remaining light, as it sent glass raining down onto the others and a painful electric shock through Loki's body. Loki fell back down again to the robot's ready hand, poised as though it were holding a tennis racket and Loki was the ball. It swung its hand and Loki was flung hard. His head collided painfully with the concrete, hard enough to leave a sizable dent in the structure. Barely conscious and bleeding, Loki slumped onto the floor as a dust and blood covered mass.

Loki coughed and groaned as he forced himself to his hands and knees, the edges of his vision pulsating between reality and darkness as he felt bile rising in his throat. He could hear a woman's voice screaming his name and he looked up just long enough to see the robot grab hold of Natasha and fling her to the ground like a ragdoll.

An unexplainable rage flared in him. Look at you, he sneered at himself, broken and bleeding by a mere Midgardian contraption. You are weak, Loki…

He clumsily grabbed at the wall, feeling his way back to a standing position as he called his magic to give him the strength he needed to stay upright. He could feel its warmth pulsing through him as a single droplet of blood oozed from his forehead. He watched it splatter on the floor below him.

You have allowed yourself to fall to their level, to do their dirty work for them and allow yourself to be a tool for their plans, just as before with Odin, and with Thanos. And for what? He asked himself. Acceptance? Control? Or was it your desire for the affections of a Midgardian harlot…?! He scolded himself as he scanned the scene: Tony blasted the robot with his hand at the same time that Thor hit it square in the chest with Mjolnir, sending it stumbling backward as its eyes flared up once again. In its moment of disorientation, Natasha jumped to retrieve the cube from its chest, but its arm met her in midair and she fell back down to the ground again.

Images that he had blocked for so long overfilled his mind: memories from the void, of his shortcomings to his brother and father, the Other torturing him to near-insanity – all adding to his rage like gasoline thrown onto flames. No more of this. You are a GOD. You will end this now and be rid of them all. They have their information, you owe them nothing.

Something in him snapped then. His sanity was replaced by the insatiable need to unleash as much mayhem and destruction as he could possibly manage that he had repressed for so long. With a renewed resolve he gathered all of his strength and rose so he stood at his full height, his hands curled into tight fists at his side and his face contorted into a sinister growl. Malice and hatred flooded through him, even as alarm bells sounded off somewhere in the back of his mind trying to stop him from what he was about to do.

Determinedly, he stalked the length of the gym toward the fight. His pale skin disappeared and was replaced by a blue hue, spreading from his fingertips up to his neck and face as he grew several more inches taller than he already was. Round markings appeared on his skin as his blue eyes turned to dark crimson orbs shining through the darkness – his Jotun form and instincts, a literal demon within him, possessing his body and mind.

Thor was the first to notice him as he approached the robot from the darkness behind it. Loki grasped the robot at the back of its neck and with a snarl he turned and flung it back into the darkness that he came from, revealing himself to all of them, though he paid them no mind.

"Loki…?" Thor gasped in horror with an open mouth.

A huge ice claw formed around Loki's left hand as his adversary rounded on him again. With all the god-strength he possessed, he impaled the robot from the abdomen, earning a gratifying high-pitched mechanical wail from somewhere inside of it.

A wild, feral grin appeared on his face. With his free hand he used all of his energy, called upon all of his magic, to form a swirling cloud of dark blue and grey light around his hand. A blast of bitter cold wind erupted from it, forming a thick coating of ice around the robot, freezing it in place.

"Loki, that's enough, we need to go!" Natasha called to him.

Loki ignored her. The cold bitter wind, more cold even than the Russian winter surrounding them, continued to pour from his outstretched hand, creeping across the floor and up the walls, covering every inch of the room in a thick, dark coat of ice to match the one encasing the robot until he had turned the gym into a miniature frozen wasteland. It felt good – so gratifying –to demonstrate the extent of his powers that had lain dormant for too long. This was fulfilling, liberating, and he found that he just couldn't stop his freezing spell. He didn't want to stop it.

"Brother, what are doing?!" Thor called to him. The Hulk roared behind them as it pounded the ground, trying in vain to break the sheet of ice that encircled the Avengers.

"Thor, he's going to kill us all!" Steve yelled. "Stop him!"

Before Steve could finish talking, Natasha had broken out into a sprint toward Loki. When she was close enough, she jumped into the air, swinging her leg around so that it caught him in the stomach. He leaned forward slightly from the blow, winded but unharmed as the spell continued to flow from him. Using his arm as leverage, she grabbed his forearm and swung upward, preparing to execute her signature scissor throw but before she was off the ground he had blocked her. In one fluid motion he removed his claw from the still-frozen robot, and swiped the sharp tip across her side, creating a deep gash at her waist.

Natasha yelped as the claw dragged across her body, tearing through her flesh and muscle and she collapsed onto her knees and elbows, clutching her side. She could feel her own warm blood spilling over her cold body as pain shot through her. As the sound of her screaming pierced his ears, Loki's sanity broke through the barrier built by his Jotun form and snapped him back to the reality of what he had done, bringing him back to his senses. His eyes met hers, laced with shock and pure terror.

"Natasha…!" he gasped as his mind panicked with the realization of what he had done.

Mjolnir collided with the side of his head and knocked him several feet to the side and abruptly ended the spell. Loki groaned again at the massive headache he now had. Thor grabbed him roughly by the collar and hoisted him up as his skin returned to its normal pale complexion and his Asgardian appearance restored itself.

"What have you done?!" Thor shook him violently. Loki couldn't speak – he was horrified at what his Jotun form had done, what he had done. Before he could answer, Thor was practically dragging him across the gym. Clint rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Natasha to help her up; cradling her and trying not slip on the icy floors. Her hand was flat against her open wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

The entire team rushed toward the exit, but the Hulk threw its fist into the wall, sending debris and ice flying into the night and creating a hole big enough for them all to exit through. They climbed through, first Steve and Tony, then Clint with Natasha, then Thor dragging Loki, and the Hulk bringing up the rear. They ran all the way back to the jet, dodging and weaving between the trees in the darkness.

Loki's head was swimming in a sea of panic and unanswerable questions. Was she alright? Why had he done that? What had happened to make him lose himself like that? What was going to happen to him now? They paused at the jet for only a minute or so as the Hulk shrunk down back to Bruce. While he transformed, Thor dragged Loki inside and thrust him angrily down onto the ground so he was on his back and placed Mjolnir atop his stomach.

"Thor I swear to you I did not mean to harm her I do not know what – " he stammered.

But Thor wasn't listening. Instead he turned and made his way across the jet, which was now taking off, to gather around the bench that Natasha lay on. She was laying flat, her head in his direction and Loki could make out her red curls dangling over the side. He could hear her voice, and he felt relived. At least she was alive. Loki watched as Clint sterilized a needle as Bruce cleaned her wound, which apparently was not as bad as it had appeared to be. He noted that Clint was covered in a light layer of her blood.

Not for the first time, Natasha thanked the Red Room silently for making her their lab rat; her body healed much quicker than any normal person's would, and by the time Bruce had cleaned the blood from the side, the bleeding had pretty much stopped.

Natasha watched as Clint inserted the needle and began to stitch her back together. She made a noise to indicate pain and discomfort and to his surprise (and almost everyone else's as well) it was Bruce that made to comfort her, intertwined his fingers with hers to give her something to grasp onto and squeeze with the pain, and placed his other hand atop her head gingerly.

The Avengers spoke in hushed whispers and quieted voices for much of the way back to headquarters. Once in a while he would feel an angry look being thrown in his direction, though no one spoke to him directly. He knew that they were talking about him, and in all probability what they were going to do to him. Loki could hear Natasha's hushed voice arguing vehemently with Steve, though he couldn't hear what she was saying. Gods, she cannot still be advocating on my behalf could she? Loki wondered. Thor and Tony seemed to have joined in on her side as Clint and Steve restrained from physically attacking anyone. Poor Bruce was on the side, unsure of who to side with.

Loki felt sick. His insides churned with guilt and shame and self-loathing. He wished they wouldn't defend him; he didn't deserve their mercy. He didn't deserve her mercy. He found that he no longer cared what happened to himself, whether they sent him back to Asgard, or handed him to the Chitauri. He would deserve no less after what he had done.

When the small-scale surgery was finished and Natasha was able to sit up again, Thor came back over to Loki, removed Mjolnir, and lifted him by his shoulder. He placed Loki down on the bench and sat quietly next to him as he strapped himself in. He wasn't being cold or distant, but Loki could still feel some apprehension. He didn't know what to say to his brother now, so he said nothing. Everyone else had taken seats around Natasha's bench, far away from the two Asgardians and they remained there, as the debate went back and forth for the remainder of the journey home.

….

The journey through the halls of SHIELD was a blur to him that he would never really remember. He glided along the hallways, Thor's hand on his shoulder guiding him, like a ghost – completely unfeeling and numb, only a shadow of a man. Fury was waiting in the same briefing room that they had occupied the day before, and if he noticed Natasha's injury he didn't say anything about it, but went on with his debriefing. Steve and Thor stood rather than sit down at the rounded table with Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Tony. Loki did not sit at the table, but instead he leaned into a corner, his arms folded over his chest and looking down at the ground. Steve recounted the night's events, though once in a while Clint and Natasha would add bits and pieces from their perspectives.

Much to his surprise, no one informed Fury the extent of the damage Loki did to the robot, nor did they inform him of exactly how Natasha obtained her injury.

When Fury as satisfied, he dismissed them. One by one, the others filed from the room. All except Natasha.

Loki continued to slouch in the corner, his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at the floor. He didn't look up even as she approached him.

"Loki," she practically demanded his attention. He raised his eyes to acknowledge her and lowered them again. "Agent Romanoff."

So we're back to this again, she thought. "You want to tell me what happened back there?"

He laughed darkly. "As though you do not know," he replied curtly.

"Look, you had a relapse. I know that wasn't really you back there – "She kept her tone flat as she spoke, but Loki cut her off.

"Was it not?" he challenged. Finally he looked up at her and dropped his arms. "You have seen what I am. You have seen the monster that dwells within. That is me," he growled.

"You aren't a monster unless you choose to be," she said determinedly.

"I have no choice in the matter. That I have proved today," he glared at her now. He wanted so desperately to believe her but how could he?

She took a step toward him, "You're wrong, Loki," she said. "You do have a choice. You can choose another path; you don't have to keep going like this."

"Damn it, are you so blind?!" His voice raised now to match his flaring temper. "I could have killed you, all of you! I would have done! You stand there and preach on about choices and being able to choose what 'path' you would take but it is not so simple! You cannot choose to stop being what you are, nothing can change that!"

She had enough. If this was the only way to do this, then so be it.

"Fine," she stated. She strode determinedly over to him and swiped one of his knives before he could register her movements. Grabbing him roughly by the wrist, she thrust the knife into his hand and brought it to her chest, the sharp tip directly over her heart.

"If you're such a monster then why don't you prove it? Kill me now," she charged.

Loki thought his heart had just stopped. Was she really serious? Her fierce expression and firm grip on his wrist said so. "You know not what you are dealing with, woman," he growled lowly.

Do it, said the dark voice in his mind. Kill her, meet her challenge. She is but a mere mortal playing with fire!

You do not want to do this, you've come so far, do not do this to yourself! You care for her…

"Do I not?" she asked quietly. "Go ahead. Prove it."

Their silent war had begun. The entire universe, both of their worlds came to a violent and screeching halt; everything in the Nine Realms centered there, on that moment. They held their silent battle: she an unstoppable force against him, an immovable object.

Suddenly the battle was interrupted. Tony stuck his head in the door, closely followed by Bruce, Steve, Clint and then Thor.

"Hey Natasha, Loki are you co – "he stopped in mid-sentence. Neither Natasha nor Loki even acknowledged his presence, standing still as stone statures as Tony gaped at the scene in shock. "What the hell?!"

"Natasha!" Clint's eyes widened in panic.

Steve stepped forward ahead of the rest. "Loki drop the knife and back away," he ordered.

Clint pulled his gun from his holster and pointed it at Loki as he urgently made his way forward. Natasha turned her focus sharply to him.

"это момент, когда мы говорили. Получить другими отсюда!" This is the moment we spoke of. Get the others out of here! she commanded to him. Her voice was a low and husky, menacing and commanding in a way that only a native Russian would be able to deliver.

Clint stopped dead in his tracks. He lowered his weapon and swallowed hard. Her eyes were glaring and angry in a way he hadn't seen since he brought her in. "Guys," he choked. "We need to leave them alone," he backed away.

"No way!" Tony exclaimed. "We're not leaving her in this!"

Natasha's focus turned back to their battle, ignoring everything else. "Prove it." She challenged again.

Loki's hand began to tremble.

Kill her! Or are you so weak you cannot eliminate a common harlot?

You care for her. You are not this monster.

"Loki!" Thor roared. "This is madness!"

"Drop the knife and back away!" Steve repeated.

"Loki don't make the Other Guy end this," Bruce growled.

"Prove it." Natasha repeated again, this time more urgently.

"We need to trust her and leave them alone!"

Loki's hand was trembling almost uncontrollably now. His face had gone pale and his heart galloped painfully as the battle raged within him.

You must kill her!

You are not this monster!

She is nothing!

She is your friend!

This is what you are, what you were born to be!

This is not the path you are meant to take!

He pressed the blade into her skin just far enough to draw a droplet of blood. She didn't even flinch.

"Prove it."

"Loki stop this madness!" Thor commanded.

"We need to leave them alone!"

"Prove it!"

"I'm warning you, the Other Guy will stop this!"

"Damn it, Loki, drop the knife!"

"PROVE IT!"

KILL HER!

NO!

Loki opened his hand and let the knife clatter to the floor. The battle was over. The war was over. She had won. His breath was ragged and forced as he slowly backed away, never taking his eyes away from hers, the victor's. His ankles collided with the steps and he sank down to his knees before her.

Natasha turned toward her teammates, her eyes looking as though they may spit fire just as the robot had.

"Get out!" she shouted. "All of you! Or I'll remove you myself!"

That was it; they didn't need any more convincing. Clint turned Steve around by his shoulders and practically shoved him from the room. He had heard that tone from her before, and he knew how serious she was about that threat. Even Thor, the future king of an entire race of gods, heeded her command. Clint shooed them all out. As he left, he glanced over his shoulder to meet Natasha's intense glare before exiting himself, closing the door behind them.

Natasha turned back toward Loki, who was still staring ahead, breathing hard as though he had run the distance from Asgard to Midgard. She suspected the others were listening behind the door, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was the shattered god kneeling before her.

She kneeled down in front of him, her knees between his so they were face to face. "Loki," she said softly, kindly, her voice possessing none of the fierceness but all of the authority. He raised his eyes so they locked on hers as she cupped his face between her hands.

"You are not a monster," she asserted. "Listen to me: it's who you are that defines you, not what you are. That's your choice," she said.

"I know what you're fighting. I know that there's part of you that won't believe me. I know you're fighting through a very dark place right now because I've been there too," she continued. "You know what the path you're on right now leads to," she said knowingly. "If you let me, I can lead you out, show you the light. I can show you another path, and you can choose which one you want to follow."

Loki stared, listening intently. Even as part of him tried to protest her words the rest of him silenced it's words. She was right – about everything. He was tired of this. He was tired of fighting: everything in the universe against himself. He didn't want to do that alone. You don't have to…

All of his sentiments and doubts and fears that composed his hard façade came crashing down, shattering into a thousand pieces. And finally, finally, he believed her.

"Then you lead the way," he whispered.

He raised his arm and placed it on her shoulder in the same companionable manner he did to Thor, recognizing her as his equal. Rather than return it, she pulled him to her and wrapped him in a tight embrace so his head was buried in the crook of her neck and his arms wrapped around her waist as relief flowed through her.

….

Outside of the room, the scene was almost comical as five grown men crowded around a rectangular screen held in Tony's hand, hardly bigger than a cell phone, which displayed the scene inside. They watched as she approached him, knelt down, and took his face in her hands. They listened to her words, almost as intently as Loki had listened. As she embraced him, there was a collective sigh of relief from all of them.

"I'll be goddamned," Tony breathed. "She tamed the beast."

"You will NOT refer to my brother in such a despicable manner!" Thor nearly yelled. Steve shushed him.

Clint just shook his head in disbelief. Damn, she was good….

"So…he stays, right?" Bruce asked, almost child-like.

Steve nodded. "He can stay."

….

A/N: Just a few notes here: First, I just want to say that Natasha is absolutely a queen and probably my favorite one of the Avengers. She is awesome. And I love her for it.

Second, for those wondering when the real plot with Thanos is going to come in, your chariot will arrive next chapter. Stay tuned : )

Third…and I hope this doesn't come as a shock… from the very beginning I wanted this to be LOKI'S story… I wanted to be able to dive into his psyche and evaluate the question of whether he could be redeemed and save himself from the demons that plague him. Although his relationship with Natasha will play a significant role in his life, this is first and foremost HIS tale, and I wanted to evaluate him to a significant level before going into any possible romance with Natasha. I hope I've managed to do his delightfully complex character some justice.

As always, a VERY sincere thank you to you all for the favorites, follows, and reviews. Or even just reading along. Please let me know what you think on this one. I promise I don't bite. I even answer questions as long as it's not some variant of "What happens next?" : )