"Loki, can you use magic to make a lasso?"

"A what?"

"I want to rope one of the leviathans and steer it into the others," Tony clarified.

He frowned as he considered it then began to laugh. "Oh, I can do better than that. Brother, would you like to ride a leviathan as well?"

Thor chuckled over the communications device. "Indeed, brother. That sounds like great fun."

Concentrating, he cast his power at the leviathan nearest each of them. A green bridle and reins appeared on each. Then he leapt from the sled he was riding onto the closest one's back and gathered up the magic-wrought tethers and used his strength to pull the beast up and turn it. Mechanics screeched and groaned as his manual guidance overrode the internal steering. A quick glance showed Thor and Stark doing the same with their beasts. "Should we ram them together, or into the ground?"

"How about into other leviathans; that way we take out six instead of three," Tony suggested. "More efficient use of your magic."

"So it is; let's do this." The turning of the leviathans disrupted the orderly progression of the Titan's fleet. More units were breaking off their flight to the bridge and chasing the three of them. Perfect. "Once we've gotten them to where they can't avoid a collision, get off and head for the bridge. Our work here is done and we'll be needed on the other side."

"I'll spin by and pick you up," Tony offered.

"Only long enough to get me to a sled. One of those will prove handy once we're…home."

"You got it, Captain Chaos."

Loki sighed and turned his attention back to steering the behemoth. "That one may cost you, Anthony."

"We all get out of this safe and I'll cheerfully walk right into one of your pranks," Tony promised.

… …

"Jesus Christ," Hawkeye said as the real live version of the MTD came through the wormhole. "No wonder Loki freaked the first time he saw one of the dummies, they looked just like the bastard."

Natasha grimaced. They did. She hoped Loki was wrong about its indestructibility or they were in big trouble. Not that the sleds full of Chitauri that came speeding out behind the Titan weren't going to be enough trouble on their own. "What's our move?" she asked Rogers over the comm.

Captain America and Heimdall flanked Odin. Odin had accepted one of the comm units, Heimdall had declined. But he could hear or see everything that was going on anyway. "Hold up on attacking the MT; we want to strand him without an army. Anything you can do to take out the sleds of Chitauri…oh, crap, and the leviathans," he added as two slipped their way through the portal.

"Kara," Odin said. "I know you wish vengeance but do not attack the Titan yet. Focus your efforts on the Chitauri furthest from him. If he gets wind of your abilities he will devise a way to counter them. We will wait until he is isolated and hurting before you make your best effort. Tell Helblindi and Gymir to keep their presence hidden as well."

"Got it; I'll flame from the outside of the group in."

"Dr. Banner?" Rogers asked.

"Oh, I'm already angry," the man half-snarled. Natasha saw his shirt being dropped under a tree and Banner striding forward as he grew large and green. His bellow caught the attention of the Titan.

"Uh oh. Hulk, the MT is watching you, stay off of his…" Cap broke off as the Hulk leapt up into the air and delivered a two fisted blow to the MT. "Radar, crap."

At this rate, their ever so polite soldier was likely to break into real swear words, she thought with a smirk. The MT flew backwards a few feet, recovered, and then sent the Hulk flying with a careless fist. Granted, the big guy was already airborne at the time and couldn't brace himself, but still. "That does not bode well."

"Can the fatalistic Russian crap, Nat. Let's take us down a few sleds," Hawk told her.

"I'm going after one of those space worms," Logan reported. While using one of the captured energy weapons from the first invasion to shoot down Chitauri that passed her vantage point, Natasha watched the Wolverine run through the park and then jump into the air with one fist extended. Sharp claws, made of adamantine, she knew, suddenly spiked out and carved out a huge hunk of leviathan belly as Logan reached up with the other fisted hand and thrust another set of claws into the beast. The familiar disgusting mess of flesh and tech rained down on the ground as Logan cursed colorfully. "Yech, what a freakin' mess!" he concluded as he landed in a semi-crouch.

By this time the Hulk was back and threw a roundhouse punch into the front of the crippled behemoth. With a shrieking groan it crashed into the ground, taking trees and sod along for the ride as it skidded a good hundred yards. "Aw, man…those were perfectly good trees," her Hawk groused.

"We can replant them; that's a much easier fix than buildings."

"There is that."

… …

Kara tried to concentrate on turning sleds full of Chitauri into fireballs, but kept finding herself watching the open portal anxiously. The Chitauri army had stopped moving through, but there was still no sign of Loki…or Thor and Tony for that matter. "Come on, Loki. Get back here."

She threw herself to the side as energy fire tracked into the bushy area where she had been secluded. "They've noticed you," Gymir told her. "Move." She followed his lead as they rushed to new cover.

"I don't like this whole secret weapon crap. Can he really figure out a defense for my abilities in the middle of fighting?" she groused to both of the Jötnar.

"From what I've heard, yes," Helblindi answered.

"Damn. Do you think he has emotions? Would an empathic attack do anything?"

"Doubtful. It's said he eats souls and emotions."

"Ew. Okay, we've really got to kill this bastard." Helblindi didn't respond and she looked up at him. "You don't think we can, do you?"

"No."

"Look; that son of a bitch tortured and damn near killed Loki twice already and he's responsible for Thor nearly dying. I say he's going down and that's all there is to it."

Helblindi grinned, his pointed teeth shining in the shadows. "From your lips to fate's ear, sister."

… …

Nyvorlas was worried. Frigga had strongly hinted that Sif would die in this battle if he did not watch her back properly and it wasn't an easy task. It wasn't that the woman was reckless, far from it. But she was exceedingly brave and rushed into the thick of battle repeatedly. His specialty was distance weapons and those were all but useless in these close quarters. There were a few spells he could use, and he was using them as fast as he could cast; one made her disappear from anyone's sight but his and the other made her seem to be in a slightly different location. Fortunately, they seemed to work against the Chitauri...he hadn't been terribly confident of that. "I do not remember them being so inept before," Sif told them as they broke away from another confrontation.

He decided not informing her of his interference was the better choice. "I would not know; this is the first time I've fought them." If he had the damn ring of invisibility he'd wagered with him on Midgard, he'd have given it to her, he thought as he struggled to keep up with her advance. They were soon involved in another skirmish, far too soon for his liking. By the gods; the damn woman was stealthily heading for the Mad Titan! "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"They have him distracted," she said, gesturing at Odin, Heimdall, Rogers, and Banner's other. "This is the perfect opportunity." Sif hurried forward, dancing out of his reach as he tried his damnedest to hold her back.

Sif's sword drove into Thanos easily, though the Titan seemed little discomfited by it. He pulled away, the sword buried in his back then turned to face them. His red eyes narrowed and he leveled a blast of power at the others who had engaged him to drive them back as he reached behind and pulled the weapon free. The huge weapon looked like a toy in his massive hand. The Titan stared at it for a moment and then growled "Insolent girl," as he carelessly swung it at Sif's unprotected neck.

To his horror, Sif didn't move; it was as if she was frozen in place. Nyvorlas grabbed her around the waist and spun her to the side, groaning as he felt the bite of the weapon in his right side. Fortunately for both of them, the Mad Titan lost interest as soon as the sword hit flesh and he was free to drag Sif away from immediate danger. She blinked as the sword fell free and clattered to the ground nearly tripping them. "Wh-what happened?" she asked.

"You damn near got yourself killed; what were you thinking?" he asked irritably.

"You're bleeding. Who did this?"

"The Titan, with your sword, I might add." Her jaw dropped. "He's out of our league, Sif; but you didn't care. You had to be the damned hero. Well, your damned heroics nearly got you killed."

Sif was staring at the blood pouring from his side, her eyes wide as his knees started to buckle. "I've nearly gotten you killed," she said before he knew no more.

… …

Darcy sat by the monitors that were showing the outskirts of the battle in Central Park. Assuming Earth survived it, a good half of the park was going to need to be replanted and landscaped. Hundreds of trees were down, but she supposed that was better than dozens of people-filled buildings like last time. The Asgardians, the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. were doing a good job of containing the Chitauri and the few that got past them were almost immediately taken down by the U.S. military troops that surrounded the park. A pair of figures stumbling out of the tree line caught her attention due to the long fall of white-blonde hair on one of them. "Oh, shit. Nyvorlas is down," she called over her shoulder.

Raj Nassar joined her and she resisted the impulse to glare at him. Finding out the big secret about him and Beth hadn't gone over well with her and even less well with Pepper. Tony was going to out and out flip when he found out about Beth. What surprised her was that Captain Perfect already knew and was okay with it. "I'm not sure how much we're going to be able to do for him; it appears he's losing a great deal of blood and it's not like we have a stock of Álfar blood." He returned to the surgical area and began prepping a surgery tray.

"We can make sure he doesn't lose any more," Beth said. "Why didn't Asgard send us any of their healers?"

"I don't think they figured anyone would live long enough to be healed," Darcy told them. "None of them thinks this is going to go really well." Another figure joined Sif and Nyvorlas as the elf was lifted into the back of a van. "Do you think that Grand Vizier geezer has healing sorcery?"

"Possibly; Loki mentioned he could do some minor healing," Nassar offered.

"Coolness. He's coming with them, so maybe he can help. Jarvis, can you tell the guys downstairs to bring them right up when they get here?"

"Of course, Miss Darcy." She tried not to snort. She'd practically begged Jarvis to stop calling her Miss Lewis and to call her Darcy. Miss Darcy was the kind of endearing result.

… …

Beth tried not to stare as Sif and two agents carried Nyvorlas into their Stark Industries supplied operating theater and laid him on the table. She was going to operate on an honest to goodness elf, too freaking weird. His gray eyes opened and he gave her a lopsided smirk. "Not used to me yet?" he asked weakly.

"I'm sure I will be by the time we get you patched up," she assured him.

The ancient sorcerer nodded to her and Raj. "Do what you would normally do for a mortal patient. I will assist with a working to mask the pain and replace fluids once the wound is closed."

"So we don't use anything to put him under?" Raj asked.

"No. It would not likely work in any case."

"Very well. Beth, let's clean and prepare the wound site and see if there's anything internal that must be stitched." They worked in companionable silence; sopping up blood, irrigating the wound then examining it in detail. "This must be the meng mein organ Kara spoke of," Raj told her, indicating an oddly shaped organ behind and to the right of the stomach that had been scraped by a sharp blade. "It seems fairly whole, Sir," he said to the sorcerer. "Would you check it, please?"

"Of course, young one." Rather than looking, the man that had been introduced as the Grand Vizier held a hand over the open wound and closed his eyes. "It will heal on its own," he pronounced.

"Great, then we don't need Kara," Beth interjected. "Okay, it looks like the blade slid past the liver, but there's severe damage to the gall bladder and the duodenum. Do the Álfar need a gall bladder?"

The sorcerer frowned. "Yes, but their organs are quite resilient. So long as the meng mein is whole, if you stitch the other wounds closed, they will heal."

"Okay, here goes, then." She carefully began stitching the problem areas, Raj acting as her nurse. Her lips twitched as the thought of him dressed as a traditional RN; it was not a pretty picture. The stitching went quickly and she stepped back to give her mentor an unobstructed view.

"Looks good, let's close him up," Raj told her as he looked up at the Grand Vizier. "Then he's in your hands, sir."

… …

Sif paced in the small room occupied by Lady Darcy. "This is my fault," she muttered.

"Yeah, you said that; five times already," Darcy said.

"That does not make it any less true."

"He's a big boy, he makes his own decisions."

"And his decision was to save my life, possibly at the cost of his," she grated and then caught her breath as she realized the truth of that statement. "Why would he do such a foolish thing?"

"Seriously?" the mortal woman practically spat at her. "You are just totally oblivious chick, aren't you? Wow, and I thought I couldn't see without my glasses. My eyes are twenty-twenty next to yours."

The all-speech they were gifted with did nothing to translate the girl's babble. "What do you say?"

She rolled her eyes theatrically. "I mean, he's totally over the moon about you. You know, he thinks you're all that." Sif stared at Darcy, still confused. "Geez, he's in love with you, you moron!" Once that startling statement was out of her mouth the girl pursed her lips. "Or at least deeply in lust; eh, close enough."

"It wasn't an idle wager, then." Sif bit her lip and stared at the unconscious Prince through the observation window. "Win or lose, I'm in his debt. He shall have his prize," she said softly as she touched the glass.

"Nuh uh," came the disgusted sounding rejoinder. "You give him what he wants because you want it, not because you think you owe him. Otherwise it doesn't mean squat." The annoying Midgardian stepped up to the glass beside her. "Look at him; he's gorgeous. Seriously, have you ever had a better looking man interested in you?"

"Thor favored me, once upon a time. Before Loki ruined my hair."

"If Thor stopped favoring you because your hair color changed, then he liked your hair, not you. Did Nyvorlas like you then?"

She huffed a strangled laugh. "No; he treated me like an insipid child." Her jaw dropped. "Oh. I was insipid; I was all about my appearance. His journey to Asgard to attend the War Council and Tribunal has been the first he's encountered me since."

"So he likes the woman, not the hair, riggghhht?" the girl said with a sly grin. "Isn't that better?"

A smile took her by surprise. "It is indeed."

… …

Logan picked himself up out of the pile of twigs that used to be a stately tree. "Fuck." He yanked his dislocated shoulder back into place and winced as the deep gashes in his arm and back began to heal. That purple bastard was still standing. Scratched, bruised and breaking a sweat, maybe; but still standing. The big angry green guy, holier than thou Captain America, the now re-armed Iron Patriot, shitty name, he shoulda kept War Machine, the old guy in gold and the dark skinned guy with the creepy gold eyes had joined him in a simultaneous attack and the freak had thrown them all off. ALL OF THEM AT ONCE. He shifted his jaw back into place and stretched to realign his vertebrae. "That ain't good." He limped slightly as he rejoined the group. "Now what?"

Odin, the old guy in gold, opened his mouth to speak before stopping with a smile as a voice came over the comm units. "So, guys, am I late for the party? Wait, I can't be late for the party, it's not a party without Iron Man."

"Stark?" Rogers said. "Thank God."

"Well, you can thank two of them. I'm bringing up the rear, Loki and Thor should be through in a sec.; hey, you need to tell everyone not to shoot at the next Chitauri sled that comes through, Loki's riding it."

"Got it, I'll switch channels and alert the military."

"Stark, can you speak to my sons while on the bridge?" Odin asked.

"No, the local comm units are inoperable. Jarvis is punching through by riding the feedback loop of virtual particles…ah, Jarvis can get through where the regular system can't."

"The Titan's back is to the bridge, he expects only his own to come through. If you can signal my sons to attack as soon as you arrive, we'll launch our next attack at the same time."

"Sounds good."

"So you think three more men in the melee are gonna make a difference?" he groused at the old guy.

"Two more gods and the Man of Iron," Odin corrected. "And no, but it will hurt him. Kara?"

"I heard. Do I get to play yet?"

"Not quite yet. But move closer and bring the Jötnar with you."

"Will do."

"If this dude is so fucking impervious, what can they do to him?"

"Tell me, young man. What happens when you mix fire and ice?"

"I ain't no scientist, but if a house is burning in the dead of winter, and the roof and windows are frozen over, they'll…shit," he broke off as he remembered his convo with Hellbringer. "Huh. Where're you gonna get the ice?"

"The Jötnar are more commonly called Frost Giants."

… …

Kara allowed herself to have hope for the first time since the Chitauri had kidnapped Loki the night before. Bruce's plan could work. If Helblindi, Loki and Gymir all grabbed Thanos and willed him to freeze and he was at all susceptible to it, and she could make him burn from the inside out, they just might be able to take the nasty bastard down. Okay, so it was a small hope, but at this point, she'd take anything she could get. "We're about ready to implement Fire and Ice. They're going to do one more joint attack with Loki, Thor and Tony joining in. Then when he's down, you two and Loki will give freezing him your best shot."

"This will work," her brother-in-law said in his sharp voice. "It must work."

"Just remember to run like your life depends on it after he's frozen, 'cause it pretty much will."

"And what of my brother?"

"I'll warn him as soon as he comes online with the comm." Helblindi nodded and they followed Gymir to a vantage point close to the Mad Titan.

"We'd be more assured of success if Odin would allow the Casket to be retrieved," Gymir muttered.

"I know, but he can't risk either the Titan or Malekith taking possession of it if we don't succeed. And seriously, with the three of you, if it's going to work at all, it should be enough. The Casket didn't kill Heimdall, so I doubt it could do much more to this guy than you can."

"Perhaps my brother did not wish to kill the Gatekeeper."

Kara frowned at Helblindi. "Oh. I didn't think of that; but still, he probably didn't have the control of it he has now so wouldn't have been able to reduce the force of it."

A very untypical sigh answered her. "It no longer matters; we will do what we must with what we have."

"Look," Gymir said, pointing up.

Two figures, one of them on a Chitauri sled, emerged from the bridge. "Loki? Can you hear me?" she asked.

"Yes, love. Relax, I'm well. Stark's just informed me of our pending attack; let me concentrate on that."

"Okay." She watched anxiously as Tony emerged from the bridge and the three of them came to a halt within firing range of the MT's back. Rhodey opened fire with what looked like his entire arsenal as Odin raised Gungnir and then used its energy to fire a blast at the Titan. The bastard began to laugh. That laugh was cut off abruptly as he was also hit by Thor's lightning, an energy blast from Loki's scepter and the Iron Man armor's repulsors. "Yes!" Kara hissed as Thanos dropped to his knees, roaring in fury.

Heimdall charged forward swinging his greatsword, Steve sent his shield spinning like a discus and Logan did a flying tumble through the air, landing behind the Titan and imbedding all of his adamantine claws in the broad back, pulled down just as Heimdall's sword sliced into his chest and the red, white and blue shield struck him in the neck. As Logan and Heimdall were thrown off, the Hulk charged in and lifted the still bleeding Titan in the air and slammed him down several times before he, in turn, was cast aside. Odin and Loki let loose with bolts of energy again and were joined by Natasha and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wielding captured Chitauri weapons. Hawkeye even managed to get in three explosive arrows in as many seconds. As the dust cleared, Thanos struggled back to his feet, the belligerent roaring silenced, a pained expression on the hard features. "You will all die," he snarled as he lashed out with a blast of what Odin had told her was Cosmic Energy.

… …

Loki threw up a shield in time to protect himself, Thor and Tony. He could do nothing for the others quickly enough from his position. "Now, Kara!" he heard his father call over the comm as he was sent sprawling to the ground.

"Loki, shift forms; you, Helblindi and Gymir are going to do your best to freeze him, then back off quickly and I'll give him my best shot," Kara told him quickly.

"Got it." He set the sled to hover and leapt to the ground, shifting forms in the process. Helblindi and Gymir were rushing out from the tree line that had concealed them and his lady; they reached Thanos together and threw themselves against him and hung on, concentrating on creating ice. The Titan wasn't so easily surprised this time and resisted their efforts; long moments passed before he began to freeze over. Loki glanced up to see his lady standing before them, armored save for her face which was drawn into a mask of utter fury. "You are going to regret ever harming me," he told Thanos with an absolutely delighted sneer as the ice built. "Get clear," he told his brother and Gymir as he loosed his grip and hurried to Kara's side.

His wife was a sight to behold. Kara's flame red hair was billowing from beneath her helm in the wind stirred up by all of the power that had been used in the area. Her eyes glowed, he could swear he saw gold flames on a silver background between her lashes, but that was probably his imagination. Energy rippled around her raised gauntlets, making the air shimmer…wait; that had never happened before. "Every bit of pain," she said, her voice echoing in the sudden stillness. "Every bit of terror you've ever given, I give back to you, and then some." First her hands and then her body seemed to vibrate. "BURN!" she screamed and he could feel power ripping through the air.

Nothing happened at first and Loki reined his panic in tightly. "Wait for it," Tony said over the comm, "Get down, people; every indicator I've got is going off the scale."

An ominous crackling sound came from the Titan and ice began to slough off of his face as he screamed, literally screamed in what sounded like agony. "You will pay…" he managed to spit out before his mouth stiffened in a rictus of torment.

Kara gave a strangled gasp and her knees began to buckle. He caught her as she collapsed and then shifted the two of them back behind a grounded leviathan. They stared over it as tremors ran along the Titan's body. Minute fissures began to spread out from the center of the ice-shrouded form and a deep rumble ensued, swiftly followed by a violent explosion. Loki dropped down and covered Kara's body with his own as something clattered against the other side of their makeshift shelter. "Did it work?" his sweet lady whispered.

He swallowed and took a deep breath. "Let's just see, hmm?" he managed to say with more confidence than he felt. Pulling himself upright he peered cautiously over the leviathan. Pieces of something radiated out from where Thanos had stood; something that looked a bit like bloody embers and had bits of gold metal and blue leather clinging to it as it smoldered.

"Whahoo!" Tony yelled over the comm. "Did you see that fucker blow?"

People were running up to them. He set Kara back down on her feet. "Can you stand, love?" he asked quietly.

"I-I'm shaky, better hold on to me."

"I shall, always."

"Is he dead?" Barton asked as he ran up, bow in hand.

Loki gave the widely strewn pieces of Titan a speculative look. Thanos was an Eternal and imbued with Cosmic Energy down to the cellular level. "I…don't know. Father?"

Odin laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's possible that his power has been disrupted that far."

"No." Kara's voice was tired but firm. "I can still feel his life force."

… …

Odin frowned. "You're certain it's not just an echo lingering in the vicinity, daughter?"

"I'm fairly sure; but I guess I could be wrong."

"Where has the Grand Vizier gone?" Loki asked.

His frown deepened as he turned to Heimdall. "He has gone to Avengers' Tower," the Gatekeeper answered. "There were injured he was needed to assist with."

"Call him back."

"I'll go get him," Loki offered. He nodded agreement and the boy kissed Kara's forehead then handed her over to him. "She's too drained to stand on her own," he explained before disappearing.

"Are you unwell, child?"

"Exhausted. I never did get any rest and, well, it's all been a bit much."

"Any headaches, blurred vision?"

"Um, now that you mention it, yes to both."

"You've channeled too much power too quickly; your energy reserves are barely enough to keep you conscious. Normally I would scold you for such a thing, but this once, it was likely necessary," he told her as he looked around. "Thor, take charge of your sister." His elder son joined them but Odin stopped him before he could lift the girl. "You look exhausted as well. I…" he trailed off as Loki reappeared with the Grand Vizier and then staggered, almost hitting the ground. "All three of you; sit, now," he ordered.

"Exhaustion sickness," the old sorcerer commented as he looked them over. "They'll recover." He turned away and began examining the scattered remains of the Mad Titan. "Interesting. It is him, but yet it is not."

"He wasn't flammable," Kara told them from where she was now ensconced on her husband's lap. Loki was leaning back to back with his brother for mutual support; Odin had to smile at the picture they made. "My power altered him at the molecular level to change that."

That statement shocked him to his core. The old sorcerer looked a bit stunned as well, and that was a sight he hadn't seen since the day his old friend realized what, or rather, who he'd brought home from the war in Jötunheim. "Well, boy," the Grand Vizier said to Loki. "It seems you shall be stripped of a title."

"It's not one I ever coveted, or truly deserved," Loki said quietly.

"What kind of shit are they pulling on you now, Lokes?" the Man of Iron asked, sounding tired as he pulled the face piece of his armor off.

"Yeah, what are they trying to do to you?" a less familiar voice wanted to know, and Odin looked over his shoulder to see the similarly armored figure of the man people addressed as 'Rhodey' or 'Colonel Rhodes' approaching. He looked as prepared to be angry as was Tony Stark.

"It's fine," Loki told them. "Kara will be gifted with a new title for this day's work; it was one of mine, but she deserves it more. It's no dishonor to give it up, particularly to my wife."

"Loki should be honored as well, father," Thor said, leaning his head back to better see them. "His strategies on the other side of the bridge were brilliant."

"He was doing damn fine before you guys got there, too. And without his power. He had that S.O.B. running in circles and even put him on his ass three times."

"That was your doing as well, Rhodey" Loki added. "You picked up on my plans even when we could not communicate."

"Hell, Loki. You literally drew me a picture!" The mortal was grinning. No, they were all grinning.

Odin sighed in satisfaction. His son was accepted, respected and befriended by these powerful mortals; and he had reconciled with his brother. "Once clean up is done and all is settled, we shall have a feast in Asgard to honor all of you. Loki shall gift his lady with her new title then and you shall all celebrate with us," he announced in a louder voice, sweeping his hands out to include all who had fought with them.

"Can I get some of that nausea remedy before we go?" the mortal known as the Black Widow asked.

He chuckled. "We shall have it waiting for you when you arrive." A stocky figure was slinking off into the trees. "You!" he called out. "Logan, why do you run off in our time of triumph?"

The man favored them with a surly expression. "I'm not big on parties. Looks like everything's copasetic here, so I'm goin' home."

"We wish to honor you as well. You made the Mad Titan bleed, that is a feat few have accomplished."

"No thanks. I got enough shit going on without messin' around with you people."

Odin frowned as the man continued to walk away. "We know where to find him," Kara told him. "If you really want him there, I think we can arrange it."

… …

Loki nuzzled his wife's cheek as he looked at the gathering of Warriors. There were many injuries, though none looked too severe. Banner was sitting on the ground, still in his pants with the amulet that kept him from destroying his clothing around his neck. Hogan and Fandral were leaning against nearby trees; they both looked to be in need of a healer's care, though not so urgently as to be dangerous. The Avengers were all accounted for; but… "Has anyone seen Sif or Nyvorlas?" he asked.

"The Ljósálfar was badly injured. He has received treatment and is resting in yon Tower," the Grand Vizier told him. "The Lady Sif watches over him quite attentively."

He laughed at the old man's sly expression. "Does she now? Very interesting."

"I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here," Tony began.

"Then why are you?" he asked.

"Funny. Seriously, what are we going to do with the remains? Can they just be buried somewhere, or what?"

"No," he said, feeling faint. "If he's not truly dead…"

"His parts will eventually reassemble," the Grand Vizier finished for him.

Kara trembled in his arms and buried her face in his neck. "What can we do, then?" she asked in a muffled voice.

He looked to his old mentor and raised a eyebrow in question. "We will send his remains off to as many different destinations across the universe as we can manage. While he may well become whole again, we can prevent him from doing so easily or quickly," the elderly sorcerer said.

"Why won't he just die," Tony asked.

Loki sighed. "Some time ago, he failed his goddess and she banned him from her presence. He cannot die as death refuses to take him."

"I was not aware of this," Odin muttered.

He sighed again. "I am aware of far too much from the times he held me. I'll need to document it all, I suppose; I hate reliving the pain of it, but that knowledge may prove our salvation at some point."

"We've bought ourselves time, son. It can wait for a bit."

"Um, if we kinda boxed up the pieces in substances that were as indestructible as we can make them here on Earth before we sent the pieces away, would that help?" Tony asked.

The Grand Vizier's eyes narrowed. "It would; and it would possibly prevent him from pulling himself back together on his own. He'd need allies to search out and collect his scattered flesh."

"Are you thinking about that glass-like substance you used to cage me?" Loki asked.

"No. I was thinking of the tantalum. We've got a good bit of it left over from the MTDs. If we had a stash of Vibranium or Adamantine I'd say use that; but they're in short supply and really hard to create."

"Try impossible." Loki looked up to see the dark figure of Nick Fury melt out of the crowd of Asgardian Warriors. Some small part of him that had hoped perhaps the man hadn't survived was disappointed.

"I felt that," Kara whispered to him. "Be nice. He and his people helped a lot."

"If you say so, love." He smiled at her indignant frown. "Why impossible, Director?" he asked.

"The Vibranium came here on a meteorite and when a crazy asshole named Doom got hold of it, the people that were protecting it rendered it inert. The only sample that's still good is fused with iron in Captain America's shield. Adamantine is too damned expensive to produce in any quantity. What we can get, I think, is Carbonadium. It's a knockoff on Adamantine that's almost as indestructible and a hell of a lot cheaper…though not cheap at all. For this, I think I can persuade the World Security Council to part with a good chunk of it."

Tony clapped his gauntleted hands together with a loud clang. "Damn, forgot I was wearing the suit for a second. Anyway, sounds like a plan, let's get on it."

"How about someone else get on it. I'm about done in and I know Kara is as well."

"I'll get the ball rolling," Fury agreed. "Sir," he said, turning to the All-Father. "Can your people stand guard over the remains until we're ready to box them up?"

"I'll see to it."

"What do you say, Lokes? Ready to go home to the Tower?" Tony asked.

"I think we've been ready," he agreed as he set Kara aside and accepted a hand to get back to his feet.

Tony reached down and lifted Kara from the ground. "I've still got a full charge thanks to the battery backup. I'm tired, but the suit's doing the work," he said. Tony frowned and then stared down at his honorary sister. "Holy crap, kid, what the hell have you been eating?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked irritably.

"You're weighing in at about three hundred and seventy-five pounds, porky."

"If I was porky, my armor wouldn't still fit."

"Good point."

The old sorcerer chuffed a laugh, that in itself was an oddity, but odder yet, his eyes were sparkling with amusement. "Her highness has vastly overused her power this day, it has likely pushed her further along the path to becoming fully Æsir. I've no doubt if you measured such, you would find that her bone and muscle density has increased dramatically yet again."

… …

"Son of a bitch." He stared down into his honorary sister's eyes. "Uh, kid, your eyes changed again."

"Oh, man, now what?"

"It may just be the exhaustion sickness that holds them that way," the old geezer told them. "We shall have to see once she has regained her strength."

"Okay, good deal. See? Don't worry about it until later; besides, they're still spiffy, just different."

"Great."

"Rhodey, you wanna give Loki a lift to the Tower? Then we can put the lovebirds to bed and kick back for a few."

"Sounds good."

"I can get there on my own," Loki grumbled.

"I would not recommend such," ancient and grouchy said. "You barely returned us here safely." The old man stepped closer to Lokes. "Accept the help, my prince. You have earned a rest," he said softly.

"Fine."

"Come on, bud. Let's go home."

… …

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, it was a rough week and busy weekend. Still looking for votes on the name for a character; see my Tumblr account (link on profile or search for KieraPSI on Tumblr). I only have two opposing votes so far; who is going to break the tie…or throw even more confusion in the mix? Also have links to the Tom Hiddleston appearance as Loki at San Diego Comic Con on there. The earlier one has better sound and video quality, but it was edited from the actual appearance. The latter has poorer quality, but includes more good "stuff". I recommend you watch both. Such a chore! Well, see you next chapter!