Voilà a new chapter! :D

I'm sorry for keeping you waiting but it was really hard to write... and it's extra long ;-).
I hope you enjoy it ;D.

Please review, it's really, really motivating!

Somebody: Thank you :-). I'm really glad you like the story. And here is that update ;-).

manuel01: Waah! I'm sorry, I know cliffhangers suck… But I can't help it. I didn't even plan a cliffhanger for the last chapter, it just happened… ;-).

Guest1: Yes, Loki and modern technology… I just love it! And I'm glad that you like my story that much ;-).

Nobody: We all love nice Loki :-). But I also like his mischievous and slightly arrogant side… I mean his comments in Thor – The Dark World are unmatched :3.

Choconut: Thanks ^.^. Here's the update.

Guest2: Thank you!

Neri: Sorry… I think this chapter's ending is not as bad…

Guest3: Of course Loki is cooler than ordinary humans, probably even cooler than The Doctor (no pun intended. The doctor is awesome). But as a Jotun he is also tougher than humans, I mean he took a beating from the Hulk without any serious damage! So he is probably able to endure more extreme changes in his temperature than humans. And I'm really glad that you like my story :-).

Guest4: I know it wasn't soon… but here is that update :-)

AJ: Yeah, Sony kinda of sucks in that matter… But at least we still have fanfiction ;-).

Bethlovesall: Thank you :-). Loki and Peter are awesome! And here is the next chapter ;-).

Guest5: Isn't it? :3

Chapter 13

Natasha shook her head in disbelieve. She was literally having a déjà vu moment.

Blue eyes looking at her without the smallest hint of recognition… blue eyes without any emotion piercing through hers…

Enough. She shook her head once again, this time to get rid of those irrational thoughts. The man in that room was not Clint. Clint was outside, waiting for them. He was fine.
She looked up to the Captain who seemed to be frozen in shock. The surprise was as evident on his face as if it was written there with big red letters. He was so incredibly easy to read, she thought to herself.

Unlike the man they were facing. If he was surprised that there were suddenly strangers in this room, he didn't show any sign of it. Of course, Natasha. Remember: blue glowing eyes equal no emotions.

The man got up from his chair, slowly, as if he had to remember how to move. His piercing eyes were still fixed on them. She braced herself. First lesson for survival: Never underestimate your adversary.

She was right.

In a matter of seconds the man who just a moment ago had seemed to have problems even getting up had thrown himself in Steve's direction. He bumped into the super soldier throwing the latter on his back and attacked him with a knife that had suddenly appeared in his hand. He seemed very skilled and he had caught Steve by surprised.

Obviously, he attacked Steve first because he thought that the soldier was a bigger threat than the red haired woman. Big mistake.

Natasha got him easily from behind while he was lying on Steve, who was trying his best to keep the knife away from his throat. The man had to be very strong to cause problems for Captain America.

But pure strength wasn't all that mattered. Natasha had learned that very early. As a woman among men she had had to rely on her agility and her speed in order to have a chance in combat.

She smiled in triumph when she had him on the floor only five seconds later, his hands on his back in a very painful twist.

"Don't move." she ordered quietly, assuring that her voice was completely indifferent. "The more you move, the more it hurts."

That made the man freeze immediately.

"What do we do with him?" she turned to Steve who was just getting up from the floor, rubbing his back with a grimace.

"What did you do with Clint to bring back his senses?" he asked.

"Hit him on the head. Hard." She tried her very best to keep a hint of amusement out of her voice.

"Then let's try the same with him." The captain picked up his shield that he had dropped during the short fight.

"Do you want to do it, Cap?" she asked. "I think it's best I keep holding him down."

The soldier nodded with that serious face of his that he always showed when he had something to do he didn't like. He approached Natasha and the man slowly, almost hesitantly. He took his shield off his back and put it on his right arm. He raised the arm drew a breath –

"What is taking you two so long?"

Steve spun around to face the archer who was now standing in the doorway. Natasha could tell by the soldier's little side step he tried to hide their detainee. She sighed. As if that would do any good. Clint was a top trained assassin and his skills in observation were especially good.

"What the hell?"

Clint's voice didn't sound shocked. It sounded outright panicked. Natasha could only guess what was going on inside of her fellow assassin's head the moment he saw the man with the blue glowing eyes. She took a deep breath, centred herself and stood up.

"Clint." she said calmly, using the same voice she had used back in the helicarrier when Clint had woken up. He looked up, his stale blue eyes locking with hers. His feelings were carefully hidden away behind his professional calmness, almost invisible, but she knew him too well.

By just one look she was able to tell that there was rage bubbling inside him, mingled with hate and craving for revenge. But mainly she noticed how frightened her partner was. So very frightened by just one man with blue eyes.

"Clint." she said again, laying her hands on his shoulders. "Everything's fine. There's no reason to be… apprehensive."

Clint looked into Natasha's grey eyes. A beautiful, calm gray that reminded him of rain clouds in summer.

"Everything's fine. There's no reason to be… apprehensive."

She knew that he was afraid. He could tell by the way she had laid her hands on his shoulders. She knew and she wanted to comfort him, to show him that he was not alone.

But she was wrong. Nothing was fine. There was a man with blue glowing eyes, the same blue he had seen in mirrors only months ago. And he knew who had been responsible for that back then and who almost certainly was responsible for it now.

"Fuck." he murmured under his breath. He shook of his partner's hands as the rage inside of him grew bigger than the fear. He stood still for a second. Then he looked at the guy with the blue glowing eyes one last time.

"I'm gonna kill that bastard." he whispered, more to himself than to anyone else. He turned around and left the little house behind. He had to get back to the tower.

Thor saw Clint leave the dwarfish building only a few moments after having entered. He didn't like the look on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's face as he started to walk away from the terrorist's lair. Frowning the demigod approached the lady Natasha and the Captain of America who were now standing outside of the little hut.

"What has bechanced our friend Clint that made him leave so suddenly?" he asked. Behind the two he noticed the form of a man sprawled out on the floor, apparently unconscious. The shadow that immediately crossed the red haired woman's face didn't please him.

"He saw something that upset him." she answered simply. The Captain didn't look any more content than she did.

"Do you know where he is heading?"

"Back to my tower if I'm not mistaken."

The man of iron landed next to Thor, looking equally as confused as the demigod felt.

"Steve, what happened?" The mechanic turned to the soldier. The Captain exchanged looks with Natasha.

"We can explain that later. For now we have to follow Clint as fast as possible. I have the feeling he is going to do something stupid, and that it might involve hurting your brother." He nodded towards Thor.

The demigod blanched. Hurting his brother? Without a second thought he started to spin his hammer. The tower was not far from where they were and Clint had a head start. But maybe when flying he would at least arrive at the same time as the assassin.

When he had been allowed to go back into the infirmary by JARVIS about half an hour ago, to Bruce, it had looked as if nothing had happened at all. Loki was standing next to the bed where the young vigilante was lying and the latter still wore his mask. The latter, however, hadn't seemed to be breathing at first sight. Bruce had already been afraid that Loki might have killed the younger man when he realized that Spider-man was still breathing, but a lot slower and easier.

"Hello Doctor," Loki had greeted him calmly. "I believe my method was successful. Our young friend should wake up in a few hours as if nothing has happened."

Bruce had nodded, feeling an incredibly heavy weight lift from his chest. Tony would have killed him if anything had happened to the young superhero, though the billionaire would never admit that he, despite not knowing the blue and red vigilante, had already taken a liking to him.

Loki had been looking around as if he didn't know what to say, so Bruce had decided to take the initiative.

"Why don't we go up to the top floor and wait for the others? JARVIS will alert us if he-" he nodded towards the bed with their patient on it. "- wakes up. Right JARVIS?"

"I can do that, Master Bruce", the AI answered, sounding as indifferent as always. Loki had hesitated for a second but then he had followed Bruce and now they were sitting in the living room, drinking some water (yes there actually was something like water in Tony's tower) as none of them felt like touching any of Tony's alcohol.

They didn't talk much, but that was ok, at least for Bruce. He wasn't very talkative. Plus Loki seemed to be deep in thought and he didn't want to disturb him. JARVIS did that for him.

"It appears other members of the team are coming back to the tower", the AI informed them suddenly.

Bruce looked up to the ceiling unintentionally. He still wasn't quite used to the fact that someone spoke to him from… well nowhere. He was more the old-fashioned scientist.

"Who exactly is coming? The whole team?" Loki asked. How come that Loki was already more accustomed to the achievements of modern technology than he was? Bruce doubted that they had artificial intelligence in Asgard.

"Agent Barton has just entered the tower and is heading here. Master Thor is coming as well but he has not arrived yet."

JARVIS had just finished talking when the elevator door opened and Clint stepped out, his bow in his hand, ready to shoot. The arrow pointed directly at Loki.

Bruce moved fast and without thinking. He ran through the room and jumped right between Loki and the obviously angry assassin. He wouldn't let the archer harm the demigod without an explanation. Clint winced angrily when he saw Bruce appearing in his line of shot but didn't lower the bow. That was certainly not good.

"Clint," Bruce said, trying to remain as calm as possible. It would certainly not be good to turn into the Hulk right now. "What are you doing? Why are you doing this?"

Clint stared at him for a moment, as if he was debating with himself whether to answer or not. He took in a sharp breath, apparently barely holding back his anger.

"Get out of my way, Banner!" he growled dangerously low. Bruce frowned. Clint usually called him Bruce. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything there was a loud thud on the outside platform and Thor entered the room.

The God of Thunder didn't look angry, he looked rather worried and after looking around briefly he positioned himself next to Bruce. The scientist sighed in relief. At least he was not alone against the archer. No need for the Other Guy to come out.

"Please, Man with the Hawkeyes," Thor said overly formal and in a begging voice. "there is no need to be overly hasty. There could still be another explanation."

Bruce looked at the big blonde in confusion.

"Another explanation for what?" he asked.

"For what we found in the terrorists' secret base."

Bruce hadn't even noticed the other three Avengers entering the room behind Clint. They all looked rather concerned, even Natasha who usually looked completely indifferent seemed to be upset by something.

"There is no other explanation! He tricked us right from the beginning!" Clint nearly screamed but surprisingly his face was white rather than red. He's afraid, Bruce recognised.

"So what did he do in your opinion?" he inquired, trying to ignore the fact that his hands were shaking.

"He took over the terrorist leader's mind! All the terrorist attack out there, all the explosions, the dead! It's all his doing!"

Bruce frowned. That couldn't be right. He had been with Loki the whole time. Then again the trickster had been able to keep Barton under control during his confinement last year.

He turned around to face Loki who had yet to say something to his defence. The young demigod looked incredibly pale and somehow small.

"I assure you, I know not what you are talking of." he said with a sneer on his face. He seemed to be mocking Clint, but Bruce could tell by his unnatural pallor that he was very surprised and maybe even frightened.

"You know fucking well what I am talking of, you bastard!" Clint yelled at him furiously. "I saw it! The man had glowing blue eyes! I saw people shooting beams of the same green as your magic! And all that while you happen to reside here! Now try and explain that!"

It went silent. Everyone stared at Loki, waiting for him to say something. The trickster had lowered his eyes as if he didn't dare to look them in the eyes.

"Brother!" Thor sounded outright miserable, his eyes were hanging on his little brother, begging him to defend himself.

"I do have an explanation." Loki then said barely audible, all arrogance gone. His gaze was still directed to the floor but he sounded calm and collected. Clint just snorted, ready to retort something but one look from Bruce mad him shut up.

Loki drew a deep breath.

"Back during the invasion… I was not alone" he said slowly. "There was someone… well, you could say he was commanding me. Officially we were allies but he… is powerful. Very powerful. His was the magic in my staff. He gave it to me as a tool to execute his plans. It was him who truly controlled your mind, Agent Barton. Not me."

Clint snorted in disbelief but he had unconsciously lowered his bow while Loki had been talking.

"And who is that secret ally of yours?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"His name is Thanos." Bruce heard Thor gasp at this name.

"Thanos of Titan?" the God of Thunder asked sounding incredulous.

"Yes," Loki stated simply. "And it was him who held me in… captivity for the last few months. It was a… punishment for my failure."

The Avengers looked at each other, not sure what to think of that revelation.

"Who exactly is that Thanos guy?" Steve then asked.

Loki looked up to him, opening his mouth but it was Thor who answered the question.

"Thanos of Titan is a very mighty being. It's difficult to say what exactly he is but one thing is certain. He worships the lady death and her alone."

"What do you mean by saying he worships death?" Tony asked. "Like… sending her flowers and stuff? Courting her?" It was obviously meant to be a joke but Thor did not even blink.

"Yes, well… he does not send her flowers; rather, he offers her as many dead souls as possible."

That sounded absolutely horrible.

"Word is," Loki interjected quietly "that he once had a family which he killed when the lady death commanded it."

"Ok… so basically that Thanos guy was the true villain last year?"

"Well, yes, you could say that." Loki nodded.

"But why should he now take over that man's mind? Just for fun?" Clint seemed to have cooled down considerably, but he remained sceptical.

"In order to find me. He must have been very… upset when he discovered I was gone." Loki explained.

"But what about those green lasers? That is your magic, isn't it?" Natasha asked, carefully observing Loki.

"Yes. During my detainment, my magic was taken from me" Loki stated. "It… they drained me and it has not come back yet. Right now I am not even able to move grain of dust with help of magic."

Bruce could tell how hard it was for Loki to admit that he was powerless, helpless. With this confession he was at their mercy. Another silence followed.

"I don't believe a word you say!" Clint suddenly said. His previous anger flared up again and he raised his bow once more.

"Clint!" Natasha said quickly, laying a hand on his arm. "I believe him. He is not lying."

The archer looked at her for a short moment. Then he relaxed again, as did Loki.

"So… what have you guys been doing during our epic battle?" Tony asked turning to Bruce. "And by the way, where is Spider-man?"

Bruce sighed and rubbed his temple. "Spider-man has been poisoned by that laser beam. It was quite serious but Loki took care of it."

Steve furrowed his brow. "Loki healed him?"

"Yes, Loki did." the trickster said, now obviously a lot more self-confident than just a minute ago. An amused spark showed in his eyes. "No need to sound so surprised. I am not entirely evil. That boy saved my life after all."

"I didn't mean to insult you" Steve said, smiling a little. "Where is that spider-man now?"

"He's down in the infirmary -" Bruce started but was interrupted by JARVIS.

"Actually the young man came to a few minutes ago and almost immediately proceeded to leave this tower", he informed them.

"Why didn't you say so?" Tony asked irritably.

"The situation seemed to be quite serious, Sir. I thought it would be unwise to interrupt."

Tony sighed, having already forgiven his AI. "Yeah whatever. So… Am I the only one who is hungry?"

While the Avengers started to prepare dinner and relax from the eventful day and a certain red and blue vigilante swung his way homewards, Thanos sat on his throne and was very pleased with him. The Chitauri he had sent to Earth were doing an excellent job.

And although the trickster had been able to make the heroes believe him, the first seed of discord was planted and with a little care it would grow and bloom. And then Thanos would have his ultimate revenge against the trickster as well as against those stupid Earthlings.

An evil smile appeared on his scarred purple face. Oh, his lady would like that. She would love him for it.

Did you like this chapter? Then please review :-).

I will try and update as soon as possible but I have important oral exams coming up and a singing contest as well... But after that I'll finished with school and thus will have a lot of free time ;-).

See you (hopefully) soon!