This is my longest chapter to date: just over 2k words. Considering my lack of talent at action scenes in general, I'm pretty proud of it. :)
There were too many of them. Even for Thor, there were too many of them, Loki knew that they would never be able to defeat this many giants. It had been a fool's hope to try, if Loki was honest. And he was never a fool, and very rarely honest, but somehow that winter sprite tended to make him into one more often than not. But this situation, he might not be able to rely on his sporadic luck or brains the way he always had before.
He locked eyes with Thor, gathering his magic for the one thing that he was sure could at least help a bit, even if he wouldn't make it out. "Get Jack and get out of here!" He called, watching the doubt pass over his brother's face before he gave a trusting nod and ran down the hall. Loki blocked the giants that attempted to follow, giving Thor some time. He had five minutes before the world crashed around him.
He would make them count.
Jack and Quill were using one of the spaceman's many gadgets in an attempt to break out of their stone dungeon when the walls began to shake. They exchanged looks before backing into the middle of the room, facing the door.
"That's…not a good sign." Quill said slowly, pressing a button for his mask to come back over his face. Jack watched the walls and ceiling with a frown that quickly turned to a smile.
"It is when you have my friends. They tend to cause a lot of collateral damage." He explained, smile only growing as the walls continued to shake. He knew they'd come for him. It was almost definitely the Avengers too, they were the only ones he could see being able to get here. Unless North's sleigh could make interplanetary runs now, which he wanted to look into. As soon as he figured out which direction Jotunheim was, and how to avoid it. Otherwise, it would definitely be awesome to take the sleigh into outer space. Maybe go to the moon.
His smile faded when the entire room gave a great shudder, a blast of heat rolling through it, and he shuddered, the sudden change surprising. He was still trying to figure out what was going on when a stone fell from the ceiling and knocked Quill in the head. The man went limp, and it felt like everything had waited until then to go to hell. Jack dragged him into the corner and hovered over him, protecting the other man's body with his own.
He was a Guardian, and he would protect who he could.
The chamber was dark and stone and pain and cold all at once. Bruce didn't know how the other guy hadn't come out to play, but attributed it to the same magic they'd used to suppress Jack's powers. Science. His mind corrected. It could all be explained, it just hadn't yet.
Somehow that distinction didn't seem that important while he was being tortured though, asked the same question over and over.
"Where is Laufeyson?" He didn't even know who they were asking for at first, until one of them mentioned Asgard and Loki. Why had they asked him for Loki though? They weren't friends, and he had no idea why he hadn't told them. Except he didn't know. Other than Earth, but they obviously knew that already.
And maybe he could see that the trickster was trying. And that there was something almost sad about the demigod. Bruce didn't want to give him up to this, to be one more betrayal, even though he didn't know that it would be considered as such.
He could hardly open his eyes, and his muscles still shook from the cold that seemed to have been shot directly up his spine, cold and sparks all at the same time. It felt like his nerve system had been shorted out, and he couldn't control anything, could only lay there limply.
He supposed he had to be friends with the trickster now. What was it, friends who were tortured for each other were forever? It sounded right at least. Maybe he'd have some sort of spell to keep the other guy down anyways. That would be helpful.
He took a deep breath in an attempt to center himself and couldn't help the whine that escaped with the pain that sparked around his ribs. Deep breaths were a bad idea. Anything but just lying there was a terrible idea, actually. He just needed to stay like this forever and he'd be all right.
Then the door swung open and he instinctively flinched away, another whine escaping as the pain shot through his entire left side now. He didn't know what they had done to him, but it was definitely effective. He didn't want anyone to touch him, didn't want to move.
Red entered his hazy vision, and he squinted, wishing desperately for his glasses. Red meant fire, red meant warmth, red meant Natasha Romanoff, it meant everything the opposite of what the frost giants were. With the smear of purple that seemed to be hovering above the red, he squinted even further, sure he recognized that combination in his hazy brain.
"Dr. Banner? Are you awake?" That was definitely the Widow, clipped speech and concern deep in her tone. He closed his eyes and opened them again, the only movement he could manage that didn't hurt. Even his toes hurt.
Then the floor beneath him began to shake. He couldn't keep the whimpers from escaping his throat as it felt like they were shocking him all over again. Hands were pulling him up to his feet, and then everything was black and he was floating.
Loki waited until he couldn't anymore. He was backed in the corner, he had only a few seconds until they overcame him. He closed his eyes and let go. A wave of fire and heat, the core of his magic, swept out from him and he could hear the screams as though they were coming from a great distance as he worked to push more and more out. Everything he had, until the wall he was up against began to shake, and he knew the castle was going to collapse soon. He had no energy to get outside though, didn't even have enough to stand as he slumped down to the floor.
He didn't know what happened after that, except that he worked to hold the castle together as long as possible before he had nothing more to give, and knew no more.
Steve Rogers watched as the castle began to collapse and edged forward nervously, glancing at Stark next to him. The man wasn't moving, but he was hard to read in the suit.
"We should go in." He said, eyes going back to the castle. Stark took a moment to respond.
"No, it's coming down. If we go in, they'll just have to rescue us." Steve waited a few more moments, waiting for them to come out before he shook his head.
"I'm going in." He stated, starting towards the castle. Stark didn't move until he was nearly inside, then he heard the thrusters going. At least he could count on the billionaire to take stupid risks.
He had no idea where they were, but he moved as quickly as possible, looking everywhere he thought there might be someone, that looked even a little bit likely. He just hoped they were able to get out on their own, although the comms weren't working, so he wouldn't know if they were.
When he spotted the bit of green and black sticking out from a pile of rubble and frost giants, his heart skipped a beat. Loki wasn't exactly his favorite person, but he was a person. Or an alien. He was a bit unclear on that part, but regardless, Steve didn't want him to die. Especially here.
He worked quickly to clear the rubble, keeping an eye on the castle that was collapsing around him. It was the work of a few minutes, something that he thanked the serum for. He then gathered the unconscious demigod into his arms and headed for the exit.
Hopefully Stark had found the others.
Jack was going to die. Or at least, he was going to die again. He was sure of it this time, he'd lost track of how many pieces of the ceiling had bounced off him, and while he was sure he could handle it, he knew he couldn't handle the entire castle falling on top of him. On the bright side, he was nearly certain he had protected Quill, sandwiched on top of him as he was. At least it was some sort of insulation to the man, even if he was thin.
He closed his eyes and braced himself further, wishing he had his staff all over again. He could have flown them out of here as soon as the ceiling started falling if he did. But no. He had nothing. He was useless. He sagged as another rock hit him and let himself go limp just as a flash of red and blonde caught the corner of his eye.
Good. He could let go now.
Thor scooped the winter sprite into his arms, taking only a moment to marvel at the change in hair color. There were more important things, after all. He paused when he saw the mortal under the sprite, or at least he assumed that's what the thing was. There was a strange mask, but it only took another ominous rumble for him to scoop up the other man as well. No one deserved to die here, man or beast.
Whatever his brother was doing, it was effective, and Thor needed to get out before the entire castle came down on his head. He only hoped Loki would get out before he brought the castle down on them. He headed for the exit with a determined air, both limp bodies slung over his shoulders. They were heavy, but he would save them. He refused to leave anyone behind. This time, he would save everyone.
Loki was counting on him, and he would not let his brother down again.
Clint didn't think they were going to get out in time. Not with Banner acting as dead weight. The doctor was passed out, something which the archer guessed he would be grateful for, with the amount of bruises and pain that was evident on the other man's face. Being awake while he and Natasha half-carried, half-dragged him out would have been hell. It was hard enough for them as it was, with Banner in one hand Clint carrying the staff he recognized as Jack's in the other. He knew the spirit would be missing it if it got left behind, and it had been laying there near Banner.
But they weren't going fast enough. Whatever was happening to make the castle collapse was too fast for them to get to the exit. He gave Natasha a worried look. Neither of them wanted to leave Banner behind. He was part of the team, and that was important. Clint couldn't say when it had, when their partnership had extended to the others in the team, but it had. And part of that was never leaving another behind.
But right now they might die for him. And he didn't know if he was ready to die. Loki messing with his head had made him realize he had a lot he wanted to do still. And none of that was dying on some frozen, backwater planet that he never wanted to see again.
He ducked instinctively as a rock fell next to him, scowling at it. They were never getting out of here on time. The thought had barely passed through his head when there was a flash of red and gold, the whine of thrusters, and he was flying through the air while trying to grasp slick metal.
Oh, Stark was never going to let him hear the end of this.