Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to anything Disney or Marvel-related.
Thor had only just begun to open his eyes when he realized that something had changed the tide of battle. It was in the air—he could sense it.
He turned over to his side and pushed himself up with his arms, stretching out one hand to call Mjolnir—but something made him pause as he heard his brother's shout.
It was not a shout of triumph or defeat, but of disbelief. And if something could surprise Loki, Thor wanted to know what it was.
His gaze swept the battlefield, finding first the Son of Coul, who was rising shakily to his feet after the Executioner had slammed him into the wall. His gaze then found Stark, who was running full-speed away from the Enchantress.
And then, he saw it. He should have seen it immediately, but his head was still swimming from unconsciousness. He saw his own Mjolnir, and he saw a tiny Barton beside it, grinning up triumphantly at a very pinned, very annoyed Loki.
Thor fought down the surprise that rose in his throat. He ought not to have been so shocked. After all, he had seen the young archer defend his friends against Amora and Loki with nothing but a four-year-old's nerve. Surely this, if nothing else, was a worthy display.
The hammer had not moved for Barton before, but perhaps this younger frame was worthier. Thor would have to think on this—he himself had not received the hammer until he was much, much older than any of his friends were now, after all.
But then, he had been a different person in his youth. Brash and insensitive.
Thor grinned when he saw Loki's expression at the hammer on his foot, pinning him there. He took further pleasure in the look of surprise when Mjolnir began once again to move as Thor called it back to him.
"Brother," he called out, his voice booming through the small hangar so that all present would know that he was back in the fight. "End this now, before my archer friend and I end it for you." He paused to grin at Barton, and the boy's face practically shone with pleasure at being thus singled out.
Loki's entire expression contorted into one of rage, and Thor felt his heart fall in his chest. Once, his brother had not been so driven by his own anger. Once, he had been a boy full of smiles and mischief. Thor missed his brother at times like this.
Yet Loki had learned from his previous encounter with the Avengers. He knew, at least, when to withdraw. "Another time, then, brother," Loki said, and Thor felt his throat dry up at the sound of every syllable of that last word.
Once, that title had been given with joy, with love. Now, it was only given with malice and sarcasm. Loki reminded him of their familial bond only to highlight the fact that he had broken it. Thor still believed the bond was strong, though.
He reached out for Loki, but as Mjolnir was no longer situated on his foot, Loki simply disappeared, a blinding flash hiding his escape.
….
With Thor on their side again and with Loki gone, they made short work of the remaining Asgardians, and Coulson was grateful when he was finally able to sit down and take inventory of who all was still standing.
A tiny Hulk was perched on top of several boxes alongside Clint, who seemed absolutely fearless in the face of the monster, even if he was a slightly more manageable size. Clint was excitedly pantomiming swinging a hammer, and the Hulk seemed strangely relaxed, even smiling.
Thor was standing watch over Amora the Enchantress and her large accomplice. He had assured Coulson that he would take the two of them back to Asgard to face judgement for their actions, but he wanted to be sure that his team was safe before he would leave.
Natasha and Steve had both gathered a significant collection of cuts and bruises, though Natasha's were clearly more concerning, given how much younger she was. But when Steve tried to look at her, she pushed him away and kept trying to wonder over to where Clint was, even though Steve was the one with the box of Disney Band-Aids.
Clint seemed to notice this, and he hopped down the boxes to join Natasha, who instantly brightened up. She babbled at him, and even though Clint clearly could not understand a word of what she was saying, he grinned and talked right back with her, carrying on a conversation that was entirely make-believe.
Tony had stationed himself somewhere close to Thor and was glaring with his arms crossed over his chest at Amora and her accomplice. He also kept glancing down at the blue circle in the center of his chest with some concern, but if he started to become too engrossed in the glow coming from his chest, he would shake himself and go back to glaring at Amora.
"Agent Coulson," rang out a familiar voice, and Coulson grinned.
"Jarvis," Coulson grinned.
"You have a call from Director Fury. Shall I set it up for you in the living room?" Jarvis asked. For an artificial intelligence, he sounded inordinately pleased to be back online.
"Hey!" Steve said suddenly, standing up and clutching Tony's gauntlet to his chest. He looked up at the ceiling with round, innocent eyes. "You're back!"
"Yes, hello, Captain Rogers," Jarvis said. He sounded positively amused. "Thank you for helping me come back online."
"You can talk to the whole house now?" Steve asked. (Coulson had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't fully understand who or what Jarvis was.)
"I can, thanks to you."
Steve grinned and looked down at the floor. "I didn't do anything, really. I just put all the wires where you told me to."
At this, Tony looked suddenly affronted. "Wait a minute!" he demanded. "You mean to tell me there was something actually useful I could have done, and we let Steve do it?"
"I do apologize, sir," Jarvis said quickly. "Captain Rogers was the only one far enough from Loki and the Enchantress to safely communicate with."
Tony grumbled but sat back down and resumed his pout, with his arms still crossed over his chest.
Coulson grinned at them both—some things didn't change, no matter what age the Avengers were. "I'll take that call in the living room. Thanks, Jarvis," he said, then called over to Thor, "Are you ready to go?"
"Aye," Thor said with a vigorous nod. "I shall return swiftly with some healers from my home who can help us to undo the spell placed on our friends."
Clint's head came up, and he paused in his conversation with Natasha to grin over at Thor. "You're coming back, though, right?" he called out.
"Of course, my friend!"
Clint grinned. "Good."
...
Clint beamed up at the guy on the big screen. He'd followed Phil into the living room (well, he'd followed Nat, who followed Phil), and Phil hadn't seemed to mind as long as he and Nat stayed relatively quiet and just played with each other.
So, Clint tracked down a couple coloring books and grinned as Nat gave him the purple crayon again. She took to coloring her entire page red, and he tried very hard to stay in the lines of Aladdin's vest (which was purple, right? He'd seen that on the cover of the book, he thought).
But he had to pause and grin when he saw that the pirate was back. "Hi, Mister Pirate!" he called out, waving.
The pirate guy actually smiled, which was weird. Pirates didn't smile, did they? Phil seemed just as weirded out, so maybe it had just been a fluke smile.
"You've disabled the defenses preventing us from entering the Tower, then?" the pirate asked Phil, suddenly all business, and Clint lost interest.
He still sort of listened in, though, because it might be important.
"Jarvis did," Phil said. "He's running several diagnostics right now, just to make sure it's safe."
(Clint finished coloring Aladdin's vest. He started to color the monkey's hat.)
"Good. I'm coming, and I'm bringing Hill with me. I don't want the circle to get any bigger than that. No reason to let the rest of the world—or SHIELD, for that matter—know what really happened here."
Nat giggled and grabbed Clint's arm, showing off her entirely red page. "Good job, Nat," he said, and she absolutely beamed at him.
"When can we expect you, sir?" Phil asked.
"Within the hour. Until then, try to keep everything contained there. I'll get the full report from you once we arrive."
Phil nodded. "Yes, sir." And then, as soon as the pirate guy was gone, he strode over to Clint and Nat and crouched down beside him. He said something Canadian to Nat, gesturing to her drawing, and she giggled with pleasure.
"Do you want to color, too?" Clint asked.
Phil just laughed. "I have to do some grown-up things. But save me a page with the Genie, okay? He's my favorite."
Clint nodded. He knew about favorite characters. It was important to save those pages. "Okay, Phil," he said, waving. "Come back fast, though. Nat might fill up the whole book if you take too long!"
Phil just laughed and waved before he ducked out of the door, leaving Clint and Nat alone with Aladdin and Jasmine.
...
A/N: Well, this is the second-to-last update in this story. I can't believe it's almost over! It's so weird to me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I can't wait to post the last chapter for you all!