Diclaimer: If only...

The moment that they had arrived on the Helicarrier, they were met by Fury, who had raced across the tarmac to inform them that Jack had sent word of a new discovery. Rose and the Doctor had shared a covert glance and grinned sickeningly at each other, asking if it was 'Jack Harkness?' then dissolving into cheerful whispers. Rose had spared a sad, backwards glance for the man sprawled over Thor's shoulder, but had allowed the Doctor to drag her by the wrist towards the meeting room (the two of them had talked very quickly when confronted with Fury, and flashed him a card that Sherlock was 100% sure was blank, although nobody else mentioned it).

That had been followed by the admittedly enjoyable moment, when Fury's eye had fallen upon Loki, his mouth had flapped monotonously up and down, and the Avengers had all averted their gaze, sheepishly scanning the ground before the shouting started. Sherlock had never heard so many expletives in such a short amount of time, and he'd once spent the evening in a pub with five of John's beer soaked army buddies.

Tony had briefly asked about a 'fishbowl', to which Bruce had pointed out that not only had it been useless before, but it was also in pieces somewhere on the American coast. Sherlock had no idea what they were talking about, but it became immediately apparent that there was nowhere they could keep Loki at that time. Eventually everyone had agreed to cuff him and hope for the best.

Which was how Sherlock found himself sitting once again around the large round table, between Tony and Bruce, with the rest of the Avengers, Fury, the Doctor and Rose, and the still unconscious Loki, who had been left to flop forward in his chair, hands bound before him as the blonde woman shot him anxious glares every other second. Another woman that Tony had leaned and whispered in Sherlock's ear was Agent Hill, was hovering in the background, a bored and put-upon expression on her face.

"Right," Fury barked, standing rigidly, his hand planted firmly on the table as he scanned the faces of everyone gathered there, "I want you to tell me exactly what happened! I sent you to investigate a disturbance and you return with two tag-alongs, I've just been told a box has materialised on my deck, and to top it off you've acquired a limp super-villain!"

Sherlock rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything; he needed to understand just as much as everyone else, for John's sake. If John hadn't been in danger, he thought, he might have actually enjoyed the confusing turn things had taken.

"Sir, you said Harkness had news." Natasha inquired dully; it was clear from the stiffness in her jaw and the way she clenched her hand together on the table that she didn't want to try and explain any more than the rest of them. Fury fixed her with an irritable glare.

"I'll get to that once I've had some answers." He growled. Thor, Tony, Bruce, and Steve's eyes all met, joining in a silent discussion over what the hell they were meant to say. The Doctor was reclining in his chair, watching everything happen with bemusement as Rose waited patiently for someone else to take the lead. With a sigh, Steve started talking.

"The people responsible for taking our friends weren't at the beach, but The Doctor and Rose," he gestured politely toward the new faces, "Were there, as was the energy- a kind of portal- which Loki came out of. They seem to know what it is, and insist that Loki was just there by accident."

"I have a hard time believing that Loki could be anywhere by accident." Fury retorted, earning a swift glare from Rose.

"I don't know what he's done since I last saw him," she gritted out, her eyes blazing, "But I do know that he was stuck in the void, just before his destination- that's why we came to find him."

Fury was about to snap back, but Thor cut across him, rubbing a hand wearily over his forehead.

"We cannot know what my brother wants until he awakens." Thor said firmly, "But when we returned to Asgard, petulant as he was, he was insistent that his mind had been under the control of another. We cannot learn more until he is able to speak, but I do not believe he has any reason to come back to Midgard, and he showed no signs of wanting revenge, only silence."

"So we can get back to finding our kidnappers." Sherlock said tensely, raising his voice so that everyone could hear him; the oaf's brother was irrelevant. There was a round of swift nods, and Sherlock took a moment to appreciate that Tony was clearly far more emotional than he liked to advertise, as for some indecipherable reason, he gave the detective's shoulder a squeeze that he supposed might have been an attempt at comfort. Bruce raised his hand slightly, before dropping it and speaking anyway.

"I thought I had the science down," he began, and then shook his head and started again, "The Doctor seems to know more than I do."

Fury turned to the Doctor and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to speak. The Doctor smirked playfully, his smile dropping when Rose's elbow connected with his abdomen.

"Your science was almost perfect Dr Banner," the Doctor praised Bruce, who nodded his head gratefully; there was a moment of silence as Loki groaned, but didn't wake, and the Doctor continued, "But not quite. Like I said before, the energy you picked up is a variant of Huon energy, and appears around places where time travel or teleportation has taken place." The whole while he was gesturing with his hands, and fiddling with his bow tie, "The fact that it's all over the place in such little quantities, as Mr Stark was kind enough to show me on the jet, suggests that someone has been teleporting on Earth recently."

"Are you sure that's not just your box leaving traces?" Natasha asked, as Tony chorused, 'exactly'. The Doctor shook his head, rolling his eyes dramatically, glancing at Rose; Sherlock felt a pang of irritation that the man was daring to flirt in the midst of something so important.

"No, no…the TARDIS keeps it all inside, reuses it like the most renewable, sustainable vehicle the universe has to offer." He explained, "This is messy, shoddy teleportation at most."

"And yet it is teleportation." Thor insisted, "We possess that ability on Asgard, but we have not mastered Huon travel; only the Timelords have achieved that."

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with his fingers. He had actually taken to his feet as he was talking, and was now pacing behind Tony, Steve, and Natasha.

"True…your Bifrost works on the whole magic and fast moving cosmic metal tearing holes in the fabric of space…" he mused, "You know…I once came across some spacey sharks that did that…they flew round and round the planet until they punched a hole in the universe and opened a gateway to Earth…that was a fun day…"

"Doctor!" Rose snapped fondly, leaning back in her seat to grasp at his sleeve. He shook his head as if to clear it and apologised with a small smile.

"If someone was able to master this…Huon, Timelord energy," Sherlock interrupted just as the Doctor was about to continue on his litany; the man could drone on and on, but the detective's mind was always reaching just that step ahead, "Is it sensible to assume that they could also master the ability to raise the dead?" It was ridiculous that he was even considering this, but he couldn't deny the evidence of his own eyes. The Doctor's face suddenly became serious, and he looked pointedly at Rose as he replied.

"Yes, yes it could."

Rose's eyes widened, and in that moment Sherlock would have given anything to have been able to pry open her mind.

"Yeah, but…" she stuttered, gazing beseechingly up at the Doctor, "I had to look into the heart of the TARDIS…and I nearly died…"

"You're human," The Doctor replied sharply, "Chances are whoever's raising the dead isn't human."

Sherlock was glad that he wasn't the only one watching the exchange with confusion. The only person who wasn't was Thor, who was wearing a curious expression.

"I was always told that the Timelords were no more." He stated, and the Doctor and Rose looked up, as if shocked that there were still other people in the room. The Doctor shook his head again, the agitation clear on his face as he tugged at the lapels of his jacket.

"It might not be a Timelord…" the Doctor suggested, but Fury had obviously had enough.

"But it very well could be?" Fury demanded, thumping his fist against the table in a fit of anger. The Doctor merely nodded slowly, leading Fury to continue, "Another alien targeting Earth with malicious intent?"

Sherlock leant forward onto his elbows, clasping his hands together in prayer position and resting his chin on the tips of his fingers. This was what he needed; Data! Data with which to theorise.

"Say for a minute that I accept that an alien with immense power has plans on Earth," Sherlock proposed, waiting for absolute silence and the attention of all eyes before he continued, "Why would the first thing they do be to resurrect James Moriarty? That suggests at least knowledge of Earth and its popular culture."

"I read that this guy was a criminal mastermind; that makes him a useful asset if nothing else." Natasha offered, mirroring the detective's pose; she was getting down to business. Sherlock had seen in their time together that the woman was under the same strain that he was; she missed her partner.

"Well rest assured that Moriarty isn't the sort of man to allow himself to become an asset." Sherlock said ominously; if this 'alien' had revived Moriarty with the intention of using his brains, then he was in for a world of trouble. There was a small eruption of chatter, cut off only seconds later when Rose called out.

"So let me get this straight!" she said quickly, her eyebrows pinching in thought, a predicament not amended by the hand that the Doctor laid on her shoulder, "There is a Timelord doing…something…and we don't know what." The group nodded, and Sherlock caught a slight snuffling from the still unconscious figure sprawled beside Rose, as if he had responded to her voice (nobody else seemed to notice). Rose turned in her seat to look directly into the Doctor's eyes, "A Timelord Doctor…how is that even possible?"

The Doctor shrugged flippantly, but his head was down.

"It's been done before," he muttered, "But it can't be…"

Rose didn't give up though, catching his hand and dragging him closer.

"I know that it's not good, obviously, but…a Timelord!" she insisted, attempting a smile, her eyes confident and pleading, "That's a little good, you're not alone."

"Rose-" The Doctor was cut off by a deep groan, and the slumped figure shifted. The Avengers noticeably tensed, and Rose turned hastily, placing a hand on the leather clad shoulder that was rising and falling as the man tried to rise without lifting his head.

"Loki…Loki sweetheart, it's okay, I'm here." Rose whispered in his ear, brushing the black hair from his pale cheek. Loki's eyes were squeezed tightly closed, his face pressed against his sleeve as he fidgeted, not quite awake yet.

Sherlock watched with curiosity, trying to deduce why the others were exchanging disgusted looks, why Tony was leaning into Steve, or why Thor was leaning tentatively, imperceptibly forward, as if he didn't realise he was doing it, too distracted by the disapproving worry that was etched across his features.

Just as on the beach, Loki blinked hard, his eyes softening and flickering as he got his bearings; as if without thinking, he leant into the warmth of Rose's hand on his shoulder, his head that he still hadn't lifted tipping into the touch.

"Rose…" he muttered; it was sad and accepting at the same time, as if the man had given up fighting. As he finally raised his head from the table, he seemed to realise that his hands were bound, peering confusedly at his wrists, but the chain was long, and he could move relatively well. Sherlock observed that although smaller and thinner than Thor, Loki was still taller than himself, and must have been muscular under the layers of leather if his (objectively handsome) face was anything to go by.

The moment that the green eyes focused properly, taking in the room and realising that he and Rose were not alone, Loki's face froze, the emotion and colour draining in less than a second. His posture went rigid, and then his eyes snapped shut on a roll, and he exhaled exhaustedly, sagging back into his seat in an arrogant yet graceful pose, swinging one leg over the other. Well, Sherlock thought, at least he's not throwing another tantrum.

"And for a moment there I thought it had been merely a particularly gruesome dream." Loki drawled, reopening his eyes and scanning each person at a time; Sherlock got the strangest feeling that this was how people felt when he observed them, "I should have known I'd never be that lucky."

The Avengers were all wearing mirroring expressions of displeasure that reminded the detective of Anderson; which was a shame, because he had really begun to like some of them. Only Fury was able to speak without hurling insults at the God of Mischief.

"Oh believe me, you have no idea how lucky you are." He hissed, glaring down at Loki, who simply looked back, a bored glint in his eyes, "If it wasn't for your friend here," Fury pointed a shaking hand at Rose, "You'd be living the many imaginations of our interrogation team right now."

"Charming…" Loki muttered, raising a hand to inspect his nails, which were as pale and ragged as the rest of him. Oh, he was definitely royalty, Sherlock deduced, the stature, the insolence, the dulcet well annunciated tones, this was a man trained in the ways of a prince. Not that the Avengers seemed to care, as their glaring persisted. Nor did Rose; her face stricken, she shoved his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention.

"Loki, Loki talk to me." She ordered him; upset she may have been, but it was clear that anger came far more naturally. Loki kept his eyes ahead, his head held high and his jaw clenched; his eyes were hard and he looked for all the world to be inspecting the group, unconcerned by the tangible hatred that rolled off of them. It was only Thor whose gaze he avoided.

"I will not talk to you surrounded by these oafs." He said firmly, begging no argument. Rose didn't back down.

"Loki, you better start explaining now, or I'll-"

"Alone or not at all!" Loki snapped, sparing but a moment to glare sharply at the woman, who folded her arms petulantly and slouched in her chair. This was something that happened a lot then.

Another awkward and tense silence stretched out between them, and then Thor spoke, his hand aloft as he visibly attempted to formulate the correct sentence.

"Brother…" he started, and receiving a cold glare in return, he ploughed on, clearly encouraged by the fact that any contact had been made, "Brother I escorted you to Asgard myself. I am unsure as to how you came to be here, or why you would wish to be on Midgard again."

"Well he's not here for Thanksgiving." Tony sniped irritably. Loki's mask slipped for a moment, as his forehead crinkled and he looked to Rose with a confused expression, as if waiting for her to provide an explanation; it was so natural that Sherlock knew that there was far more between them than friendship. It reminded him of the way he would look to John when something stupid and irrelevant was mentioned, like a television catchphrase. The moment passed quickly, the mask returning as Loki snapped his head back around, tearing his eyes from Rose when he realised what he had done. Sherlock wasn't the only one to notice, as Thor, in a fit of observation that Sherlock hadn't expected from him, looked bemusedly between the two; it must have been sibling intuition. Rose however had missed the exchange, as she had been glaring at the floor. Loki sighed and rolled his shoulders back, fixing Thor with a tired stare.

"I used the same cannon that propelled me into the hands of the Chituari." He explained bitterly, "You really didn't check me over properly before you threw me in jail. And it's not so much that I want anything with Midgard, I just don't to rot in an Asgardian prison; there are some grotesque figures in there."

"That cannon's not done yet." Rose muttered despairingly, running a hand through her hair. Thor shook his head, cutting off any input that Bruce or Steve had been trying to make.

"You only needed to remain in the prison until Father returned from Nilfheim!" he stressed, "Once he had returned he would never have allowed the stricter punishments to be used against you."

"I have no wish to see your Father!" Loki retorted fiercely, stiffening more than he had before, a feat that was near impossible, "Nor discover how far his sympathies extend."

"ENOUGH!" Fury barked, "We don't have time for this." His eyes bored in Loki, his spare hand held in Thor's direction to shut him up, "Are you telling me you really have no idea what's going on here?"

Loki nodded slowly, and then iterated in a tone meant for a young child.

"I left Asgard, and then I awoke very cold, very wet, surrounded by sand and your…team." He glanced around the table again, "I know nothing." Loki then adopted a dashing smirk and his eyes brightened playfully "You're all looking well by the way; I hope you're in good health."

"You won't be looking so well if you don't cooperate." Natasha warned, and she pressed her hands together, making her knuckles click eerily.

"Hmm…" Loki hummed under his breath and continued to observe thoughtfully, until his eyes landed on Sherlock, "You're new."

Sherlock opened his mouth to reply, but Tony beat him to it.

"Don't start acting like you know us!" he snapped. Loki smirked and his eyes shone.

"Oh, on the contrary Tony, I recognised you the moment I laid eyes on you." He drawled, and then turned back to Sherlock, his eyes tracking up and down as Sherlock's had done to him, "You're obviously not an 'Avenger'; they've all got this certain…air…about them."

"Obviously." Sherlock replied, the familiar rush of adrenaline that spread whenever a particularly thrilling or challenging case strayed across his path. Loki's face brightened.

"And you speak properly; Marvellous!" he declared, "You don't look like a hero; I assume you're here for your brains rather than your brawn?"

Sherlock tried not to notice the voice in the back of his head that whispered the very words that he had said to John when they had first met, and focused instead on the fascinating man before him. He was only peripherally aware of the others watching him as they would a particularly volatile magic show.

"More or less." The detective answered, and gave Loki one last observation, "Tell me, how a Prince like yourself, with the upbringing you have clearly had, and your personality type, found himself trying to enslave New York?"

Loki's expression shifted, but he schooled it quickly.

"You can see that I'm a Prince? And no one told you?"

Sherlock shook his head, "But of course. You're deflecting the question."

"He's right," Rose noted, finally taking a breath and resurfacing from her miserable silence, "It doesn't fit you at all."

Loki didn't look at Rose, but dropped his eyes before glancing at Sherlock again.

"I will concede that you are a genius…"

"Sherlock." The detective finished, and Loki nodded once in acknowledgement. The sound of footsteps, slow and pacing were enough to remind Sherlock that he had forgotten one other person whilst keeping an eye on the Avengers.

"Yes, I'm sure the two of you would get on quite nicely." The Doctor said coldly, an uncomfortable smile tugging at his lips, as he met Loki's gaze (Loki too appeared not to have noticed him, as he turned quickly, eyeing the hand that fell on Rose's shoulder) "I'm the Doctor by the way; I'll assume you've heard of me, although I probably look a little different than you're familiar with."

Loki nodded slowly.

"I know who you are," he replied coolly, "and I know how you abandoned Ms Tyler."

The Doctor started to say something, but Thor stopped him by the nature of dropping his hammer, the thud resounding off the walls. His face was confused and weary, and he had been watching the exchange between Sherlock and Loki, and now Loki and the Doctor as one would watch an old friend that wasn't quite how one remembered them. Steve took that moment to butt in.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," he said guardedly, his head turning between each person as if they would cut him off, "What we need to focus on now is finding out who took our friends, and why." Finally content that he was being listened to, Steve continued, "We know it's probably a Timelord, and they've got a criminal mastermind, and they're probably near one of these energy fluctuations."

Bruce nodded, shifting in his seat. The tension in the room had gotten to everyone, and the Loki's presence wasn't helping.

"Yeah…" Bruce agreed, and then glanced at Loki, "Are you sure we're okay having him hear this?" he asked Fury. Loki rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, and even raised his hands to place them over his own ears before dropping them and glaring sarcastically.

"What do you think I'm going to do?" he inquired.

"I want him where I can see him, so he'll hear whatever I want him to hear." Fury huffed, before continuing, "We sent Harkness to investigate these energy hotspots."

At this Agent Hill strode forward, becoming active for the first time since she'd entered the room (with the exception of huffs and eye rolls). Sherlock tensed; possible news on John.

"Harkness checked out most of the locations and came up with nothing." Hill explained, "But he sent word a few hours ago from the one in the Arctic Circle."

"He found them?" Natasha, Bruce, and Thor asked at the same time. Hill shook her head, her shoulders clenching.

"Maybe…he came across an abandoned SHIELD base." Hill said disparagingly (Sherlock was reminded of Lestrade's exasperation- God, he thought, if I start growing fond of these people, I will lose the will to live), "The power's on, and there are people going in and out. You'd think we'd have blown that base off the map, but no…" A sharp glance from Fury got Hill back on track, "Harkness is keeping watch, but he's not going in until he's got back-up; my decision, not his."

Sherlock sat up straighter in his chair; John.

"Why are we still here then?" he demanded, "Back the more useful of us," he gestured towards the Doctor, Rose, and Loki, "onto a jet and get us to that base!"

Fury scoffed and stepped away from the table.

"Not a chance." He replied firmly, "This is a major threat; we are all going, and we're taking the Helicarrier."

Another really long one. Tried so hard to keep it in character and not forget people were in the room.

It occured to me today that the narrative might seem a little skewed, as it's all from Sherlock's perspective (still have no idea how that happened), but hopefully you're not finding it too tedious.