Fury had called them to tell them they needed to come in in the early hours of the morning. They all refused. Instead opting to try and find Tony.
It was borderline Saturday evening to Sunday morning, and the last few hammered party-goers were streaming out of night clubs, bars, and everywhere else where alcohol is served. It was busy, to say the least. And they were all dreading the same thing, what had happened to Tony?
Natasha's ears pricked suddenly as a babble of talk met her ears. Three men were cap-calling her. She responded by sticking her middle finger up and Clint snarled slightly, making her smirk as they continued to search for Tony.
"This is becoming a nasty habit." Clint said suddenly.
"What is?"
"Looking for Tony in New York at three in the morning." Natasha laughed.
"But you're usually with him then."
They continued walking up the street. They had both turned their phones on silent, so when they checked them, they weren't in the slightest bit surprised to find three missed calls from Fury, ten from Coulson, and five from Maria.
"Do you think we ought to phone them back?" Clint asked, slipping the phone back into his pocket.
"Probably." Natasha agreed, before dialling Coulson's number.
"Natasha! Thank God." Coulson's voice sounded at the other end of the line.
"What is it?"
"Loki's back." Natasha and Clint exchanged looks. No one had told anyone at Shield about Loki's return. Whoops.
"And..?"
"And the Helicarrier is under attack. These robots-" several gun shots were sounded through the phone line "-and Loki's in charge with some other guy. You need to come in immediately!"
"We'll be there ASAP."
Natasha fumbled with her phone and phoned Steve, Pepper, Thor and Bruce, warning them of their current situation.
He reached Stark Tower. Somehow he knew the pass code that would give him entry, but he didn't question it.
"Pepper?" He called out, and no one replied. He walked quickly towards the room where he'd heard them talking, no one. "Urm... Jarvis?" He asked tentatively.
"Yes sir?" Tony grinned as he heard the AI reply.
"Where is everyone?"
"They appear to be on the streets of New York, Sir." Jarvis replied coolly. Tony sighed. They may not be here, but he was safe, he supposed. "May I also notify you on a current situation occurring on board the Shield Helicarrier." Tony had no idea what a shield was doing with something with a strange name, but he nodded all the same.
"Go on."
"It appears Loki has appeared with-" Tony caught on to Loki's name and his eyes lit up in excitement.
"Loki?"
"-yes, sir."
"How can I get to him?"
Tony listened to Jarvis's warnings, and then his instructions as to how to get onto the Helicarrier. He crouched low down, hoping they hadn't returned yet and wouldn't spot him sneaking onto the Quinjet and bunkering under a bundle of blankets in a small cupboard. He sat in silence, waiting for them to return.
They all clambered into the Quinjet, and it was everyone, including Pepper.
"Pepper, are you sure you want to come?" Steve asked sternly, not believing stepping into the middle of a fight was entirely in the woman's best interests.
"Yes. Loki's there. He might know where Tony is." She replied, setting herself down firmly on a plastic bench and buckling up, supporting a face that clearly read 'don't try and stop me'. Steve sighed. No wonder she'd been able to put up with Tony for so long.
They took off, and the jet began whizzing through the hazy New York clouds towards the Helicarrier, which was suspended in midair only a few miles off shore. The reflective panels had been disengaged as they came closer, blinking as the rich oranges and yellows of the fire licked the roof. At least it wasn't an engine fault.
They all jumped as the heard a strangled yelp from somewhere inside the Quinjet. Clint pressed a finger over his mouth and quietly stood up, side stepping quietly over to the source of the noise: a cupboard. Pepper was tensed up, while Steve, Bruce and Thor anxiously stared at Clint, who had withdrawn his bow and was pointing it at the cupboard door.
"Come out of there with your hands up!" He called, and shuffling could be heard inside. Rising his leg, he prised the door open with his foot, and saw two brown eyes staring up at him. "Tony?" He said incredulously. Tony slowly reached over and quickly snatched the door shut again, but Clint stuck his foot in the way.
"Right. Come on. Out you come." Clint said, but not unkindly, more humorously than anything. He kicked open the door again. Tony buried himself deeper in the sea of blankets.
"No."
"Tony.." Clint warned. "Out. Now."
"No. You'll yell at me." Clint turned and mouthed 'what the fuck?' At his fellows, who shrugged unknowingly.
"We promise we won't yell at you." Clint said, nudging the door open a bit more and fumbling around with the blankets. He found a tuft of hair and began removing the many blankets from a around it, quickly uncovering Tony's face, which looked terrified.
Suddenly, the plane jolted and Clint lurched backwards and tumbled over. The cupboard door swung shut, trapping Tony inside as the jet swayed dangerously.
"What's going on?!" Steve yelled at Natasha, who was fumbling madly with various knobs and buttons.
"Loki." She growled in reply.
Outside the plane, a blue fog had formed, incasing their vision, and controlling the planes movements.
"Hello Avengers. Remember me? No? Steve, you have been.. A terrible father. I told you to put him on the bottom step, and now he's going to be the death of you."
Urm, hi. New chapter! What did you think? Is there anything you desperately want to happen? Anything? Let me know :)