Disclaimer: Don't own.

Chapter Eighteen

Thor looked astonished and insulted, pointing to himself, "Me?" He asked incredulously.

Fury nodded, and explained, and a good portion of his little spiel sounded like the story Heimdall had told Harry... was it only three weeks ago now? It felt like it had been forever. "-we are hopelessly, hilariously, out-gunned."

The god crossed his arms, looking impressively intimidating as he rumbled, "My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"His people have repressed myself and many others over the many years. It would not shock me if there were more like my father who would wish to come and rule the relatively weaker humans." Sleipnir's dry voice said, and Harry frowned.

"Yeah, that's pretty probable." Harry said, softly enough that the others would not think it a part of their conversation, but confident that the horse would hear him, even across the room and the people who were growing tenser. Save for Bruce, who just smiled at him as if all were right in the world.

"-world's filling up with people that can't be matched, can't be controlled." Fury said, defensively, and that caused the wizard to scowl. That was obviously another shot at Bruce, and the wizard was getting tired of it.

Thor's voice cut through his angry thoughts. "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war." The god seemed angry that Fury had endangered the planet so recklessly. No doubt he was thinking of that woman, and how this would affect her.

Cap cut in, his voice worried. "A higher form?" He moved towards where Harry and Bruce stood, probably to get closer to the only ally on this damnable ship that he felt he could trust, and the wizard didn't blame him.

At this point, it devolved into bickering that cemented in the wizard's mind that this was not a team. Not even slightly close. No, this was a hodge podge of individuals who were thrown unwillingly together, their personalities too different to mesh at all.

He opened his mouth to say something, or do something, when one of the spells he had placed on the staff began to blare in his ear. He glanced over at it, and his eyes narrowed as he observed it glowing slightly. "Guys." He said, but it was not heard over the raising volume.

With a sneer, he hissed a silencing spell, and every mouth kept moving, but no throat made sound. Bruce looked amused from his place beside him, and just opened and closed his mouth as if testing the charm. "You are all pathetic. Petty. Like children who don't get along on the playground. Yes, even you, Director. Powerful, no doubt, but... you think that power puts you above others. Even those who are just as powerful in different ways. It makes me sick." It was then that he noticed Fury had drawn his gun, and was not looking at his face, but more his hand. He glanced down, and raised an eyebrow when he noticed that the staff seemed to be gravitating towards him.

He batted it away, and put it back in its place. "So you're drawn to strong emotions, huh, like anger." He dropped the spell that held the tongues of the 'team' at the same time an alarm beeped.

Stark, seeing that Bruce seemed more interested in continuing his little experiment with talking even though his voice was back (was he reciting the table of elements? Scientists are weird), moved towards the beeping console. "The cube has been located." He drawled to other members. "I can get there faster than any jet.

"Look, all of us-"

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."

"It makes one wonder why you bipeds are the higher species. There is no group of horses, wolves, or any creature for that matter, that would argue like this when something so important as their lives were on the line." Sleipnir commented. Harry snorted.

He grabbed Cap's arm when he made a move towards Stark, and frowned. "What happened Cap, this isn't like you?"

The man shrugged, and Harry put a sticking charm on the bottom of Stark's shoes. That got the dark haired man to stop in his progression to the door. He did likewise on Thor, too, when it looked like he would take advantage of that and go for the cube himself.

"Are you quite done?" He asked conversationally, and the three combatants looked at him. At least Thor and Cap had the decency to look ashamed of themselves.

"Hey, Harry, look! Something is coming!" Bruce said, sounding very amused. Maybe Harry should have used a lighter dose of Calming Draught...

Before that thought could be finished, they were all thrown off their feet (including those previously stuck in their positions, the impact of something explosive against the ship breaking the intentionally weak charm).

He heard Cap's voice, "Put on the suit."

"Uh... yeah!" That was Stark, then there was the sound of running, though the wizard couldn't see them through the smoke.

He turns to Bruce, who is still under the effects of the Calming Draught. "You okay?" He asked, and the man nodded. He pulled him to his feet, and looked around. "Shit, the kids!" He closed his eyes, and felt for the connections between him and Sleipnir. "Are you alright?"

"We are both fine, Harry. I have the pup with me. I have brought him to the large room with many two leggers and machines. It is the most unaffected. We will wait here." The answer came quickly, and Harry slumped as relief filled him.

He finally observed his new surroundings.

They were obviously no longer in the lab, if there still was a lab. "We're okay." That was Romanoff, who seemed to be laying under some debris, yet taking time to report on her ear piece. She looked worriedly over at them, "We're okay, right?"

Harry nodded shortly. "Right as rain, right Bruce?" Bruce lifted his eye brow.

"Yeah, shockingly enough. I think your... elixir or whatever is wearing off, though." He commented.

"I figured that it might after that. A big shock after consumption moves it through the metabolic system faster than it would normally. That's okay, though, I have plenty more if you would be willing to take them. We don't want to lose you right now, if there's any more big explosions. We might need your brain." Harry offered. He hoped he hadn't offended the man.

Bruce just held out his hand. "Whatever it is, it works. I may ask you for the recipe later." The wizard placed another vial in his hand, and watched as it was downed in one go.

Romanoff watched the whole exchange with wide eyes. "He's... okay."

"Yeah, but we need to get that thing off of you. And then we probably need to go see Loki. This is obviously a play to get him out. So who's to say we can't do both at the same time? Agent," He moved over to stand next to her, crouching down and offering a hand, "Do you trust me enough to take my hand?" She eyed it with suspicion, before grabbing it. "Great, Bruce, my other hand please." The man took the hand. "Alright, there's going to be a bit of a squeezing sensation. Please don't panic, Agent Romanoff." With that warning, they were gone, leaving the workers who had moved forward to help the beautiful trapped woman blinking in confusion.

They reappeared right outside Loki's cell, where the god stood in the middle with an expectant expression. He scowled when he saw them.

"World-traveler. You will die today." He hissed, with eyes only for the man who stood in the middle.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Lord Slugzilla, you wish." He snarked back.

Romanoff raised her hand to her ear, and grinned. "This is Agent Romanoff, I copy. We're in the detention lab already. We'll be waiting for him."

Harry glanced over at her, and Loki took in the others who were here with the man. "So you brought the monster and the killer with you. You make friends with even the lowest of scum." He spit.

Harry shot an innocent look at him. "Not quite. I'm not friends with you, am I? Though I'm sure once we get the brain leech off of you, and make you a little more conducive to talking in a normal way, and not sounding like someone shoved your precious staff up your arse, then I'm sure that you might be better than trash. Hopefully."

The god snarled, and the panel that was the door opened. Romanoff whipped around, and she apparently recognized the man who was standing at the panel, because she lunged for him, and they began fighting. Harry absently noted that the only people who could move together seamlessly into a fight like that had to spar together for endless hours, becoming almost intimately aware of the other's style. Huh, this must he the famous Clint she talked about.

He only absently noted that, because he was busy trying to keep Bruce out of firing range. His sense of danger blared, even as Loki made another try to attack him. He pulled Bruce down to the ground as the staff speared through the air where they had been standing, to slam solidly into the mischief god's palm.

His resulting smile looked more like an animalistic baring of teeth. He began attacking with more vigor, and the wizard suddenly Apparated to the control room with Bruce in tow. "Could you stay here, Bruce? I need both hands to strangle this guy." Harry said, sitting the other man down in one of the chairs. Bruce just hummed in contentment, laid his head down on the table, and began snoring. Harry shook his head in amusement, and Apparated back to his fight.

Only to find Thor locked in the containment cell, Loki at the controls mockingly stating how he had run off the world-traveler, and Romanoff and her opponent no where to be seen.

Before he could make himself known, and before Loki could press the button that would send his brother to the screaming sky, the agent who was the main part of his and Thor's welcoming committee (and really, he should make an effort to remember the guy's name, with the way he kept popping up) moved out of the shadows with a large blaster in his hands.

"Move away, please." He said, and Harry snorted at how it was very polite. Loki glanced back at him, hearing the sound, and grimaced, stepping back from the panel. The agent was still talking. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?"

Harry can tell what the god plans to do in the split second before he does it, and that's all he needs to Apparate himself between Loki and the Agent. The spear cuts through him like a hot knife through butter, and he almost doesn't feel it when it goes in, but then the agony sets in. Loki looks shocked at first, and then an insane light of victory enters his eyes... until he's thrown back by the sudden blast of the gun.

Harry feels himself sliding to the ground... he thinks. He also thinks he can hear a cry of sorrow in a voice that sounds like Thor's... and maybe was that Sleipnir calling his name... The world tunneled into darkness centered around the strained face of the Agent, and he wanted to reassure the man that he would live on in another jump, and how he would take the hit for the unknown man again if he needed...

But words were seemingly to hard to form. And he was so tired...

I know, another cliffy, but... I needed to save Coulson, 'cause I lurve him. More angst than humor in this one too, but I swear we'll get the humor back! Points to everyone who guessed Shikamaru from Naruto! I may make that a chapter in Nature Laughs... as soon as I can fit my head through the story of him becoming an Emperor (the one he was telling Bruce a few chapters back). It's giving me trouble. Love you all and see you Wednesday.