Chapter 13: Rebel Rebel

It had been two days since Loki's worrying episode on the roof, and things in the tower were falling into a stable, if tense, pattern. The Avengers' seemed finally to be absorbing the fact that Loki wasn't going to revert and slit everyone's throat once their backs were turned, and the overall focus was now mostly occupied with finding Jane. It wasn't exactly peace, but it was as close as Loki had gotten to it in quite a while. Loki opened his eyes to see Tony staring down at him with his arms crossed. He wasn't glaring. Then again, he rarely did.

Loki blinked innocently up at him from where he was currently lying draped over the staircase to Tony's lab. "Stark," he greeted in a velvety smooth voice.

"Still with the 'Stark'. You know, I'm 99% sure you're just doing that to bug me."

Loki arched his eyebrows at the scruffy inventor, and he shook his head as if to dispell the thought. "I'm getting off topic here. We've discussed this," Tony continued, waving a hand over Loki's long thin frame stretched over the steps. "You can't sleep here."

Loki picked up his head to glance down to the cracked laboratory door past his feet and then flopped back down on the steps. "You're still working on that project of yours. Care to tell me what it is? The others wouldn't explain it to me."

"You need to go to bed."

"I understand. Not on your stairs," Loki said, sitting up.

"Not the gym either. Steve's on to you."

"I shall bear that in mind."

"Is there something wrong with the bed?" Tony inquired, leading the way up into the recreation area.

"I dislike it," Loki answered with a shrug.

Tony watched him expectantly, holding the door open for him.

"It's too soft," Loki admitted.

"You're not used to being comfortable," Tony diagnosed, and Loki bristled despite knowing better.

"I was comfortable on the stairs."

"Yeah, and on top of the monkey bars," Tony added, as if that proved some kind of point.

"I still don't know why you call them that," Loki commented. He didn't really feel like discussing his nighttime habits with Stark.

"I haven't been sleeping," Tony unexpectedly volunteered.

Loki stopped walking and turned to stare at him.

"Ever since the invasion. I tried to at first, but now I go down to the lab and I work," he continued casually. "I invent new toys, perfect my suits, or fortify the tower's security systems, whatever keeps me busy. The others have gotten curious about my so called 'secret projects' but they don't know much more than you do. That's why they didn't explain."

"I'm not sure why you're telling me this," Loki said, honestly uncertain.

"Neither am I. I guess what I'm saying is, I get it. We both went through...something last year. It changed us," Tony replied, adding as he turned back towards his lab. "If you want to talk about it, or you don't, that's fine. Just no more sleeping on the stairs. Okay?"

"Goodnight, Stark," Loki replied noncommitally.

"Or the gym equipment," the inventor called as an afterthought before vanishing from sight.

Loki smiled slightly and considered his options, then his smile stretched into a smirk. "As you wish." He padded over to the lift.

Astral plane

Erik was passing the time by teasing the lamp. Nothing very interesting had popped up in his informative telepathic novel lately, so he'd had the time to discover the joys of a kitten under an overturned biscuit tin. He smiled faintly, watching the tin zigzag hyperactively over the Persian rug, with the fluffy grey tail poking out of it curling energetically whenever it attempted a course correction. At this point Erik was just wating to see which it knocked into first: the chess table, or the stool. Erik was betting on the stool. Without any discernible reason the lamp took on a burst of speed and whizzed diagonally to the right, grazing the leg of the stool before it knocked into the bookcase beyond. With a startled squeak the kitten jumped up, bouncing the tin off of it, and ran over to gaze pitifully up at him.

"Miew!"

"What?" Erik responded tonelessly.

The lamp popped up and leaned its front paws on his leg with a hopeful expression. "Miew!"

"No."

"Miew!" the lamp persisted, begining to purr and nuzzle his hand.

Erik let out a sigh and allowed the creature to jump into his lap. Why not? He didn't have anything better to do. Erik watched with growing impatience while the the little furball wandered in an imperfect circle over his lap, occasionally stopping to behave as though it were ready to sit. Only for it to change its little mind and start the process over again, clawing him as much as possible all the while. "Pick a spot you little idiot," he instructed after too much unnecessary exploration of his left leg. The feline's claws were like little needles. "No. That's it! There." He pushed the little thing down into a perfectly respectable position over his left knee. "That's fine. Stay." The lamp watched him for a second then rolled onto its side and began to purr loudly. Erik picked up the novel and checked for anything of interest, while scratching idly behind the kitten's ears. "Hmm. That's a strange choice, but hardly worth reading yet." He set the book aside, only to catch sight of the odd rippling going on outside the window. Erik frowned and scooped the lamp up into his hands, walking over to take a closer look. The landscape was fading away, to be replaced by the inside of a government building. It wasn't the CIA, but the layout of the veranda was similar enough.

Agents in monchromatic buiness suits lined up below to show their ID's to the heavily armed guards and pass through scanners. One in the line just below Erik's window was stopped at a beep from the scanner, so that the guard could pass his wand over her to double check. Not exceptionally interesting, it turned out to be a false signal. Then something changed. A shorter, scruffier figure strolled in through the metal and glass doors. His black and blue converse sneakers padding over the grey and white patterned tile like the paws of a stalking cat, and his burgundy leather bomber jacket and ripped up T-shirt stood out in stark contrast with the neat black and white lines of his surroundings. His dark brown hair was formed into a mess of porcupine spikes over his head and the paleness of his skin stood out when he held out his hands toward the approaching guards.

"Whoa, whoa!" The teenager almost chuckled out, in a flat American accent as if they weren't pointing semiautomatic weapons at his head. "Easy fellas." The façade wasn't enough to stop the hairs from raising on the back of Erik's neck, at the sound of that familiar voice.

"This is government property," the closest guard explained, relaxing his grip on his weapon.

The teenager who'd kept his face tilted downward until now, looked up to meet the older man's eyes. A characteristic smirk was already adorning his boyish face. Even with the drastically different appearance, under all of that punk clothing and smudged eyeliner, Erik recognized those hauntingly familiar features. As much as he understood the look in those bright electric blue eyes.

"You don't say?" Francis mocked, grabbing the guard's arms and spinning him around to use as a human shield in one lightning fast movement. Francis pointed his hostage's gun at the surrounding soldiers, cool as a cucumber. "Government is it?" He dropped his fake accent, slipping back into his usual Estuary English dialect. "This wouldn't be a front for SHIELD now, would it?" He shot each of the closest guards twice in the chest. One of the others to his right tried to shoot him first but he foiled him by catching the bullet in his human shield. He then shoved the kidnapped guard into the woman who'd inadvertently shot him, and used his last bullet to shoot her before knocking out the agent creeping up behind him by throwing the empty gun at his forehead.

"Holy shit!" One of the agents who had been passing through the second closest checkpoint exclaimed. "It's Onslaught! We have an omega level breach!" He went for his gun in the tray to his right but Francis shot him without hesitation.

"Oh, wonderful! Now that we've all been introduced, who wants to play next? Come on!" He did a sweeping bow as if presenting himself, and threw two agents who were attemtping to creep up on him into a wall with a sonic boom from his outstretched hand. The remaining personnel all eyed his glowing hand until it returned to a solid state. "Humanoid bioweapon, anyone? Don't let 'em tell you that you can't outwit a telepath."

The others surrounding him didn't seem as interested in taking their chances. They waited in a semicircle around him with their laser sites all grouped over his upper chest. Every soldier was now carefully avoiding looking him in the eye.

Francis looked down at the glowing red mass over his heart and clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Well now you're boring." Francis looked at them and shrugged. "Let's get this show on the road." He swept his arms out in a wide motion, clapping, swift as a whip. With a bright blue flash, his arms transitioned in and out of their energetic state and the resulting sonic boom sent the remaining humans flying away in a broad arc. Onslaught paused to survey his handiwork, then began whistling idly to himself while he stepped over his victims, blew the circuits on the checkpoints, and made his way into the facility. He paused only to steal two guns off of the guards that he'd shot.

Avengers Tower

Loki jolted awake with a cry, and drew in a few deep breaths, trying to steady his racing heart.

"Ghh! Loki?" Peter mumbled sleepily. They both knew that it was a put on, but it was habit by now to pretend that he wasn't entirely alert. The speedster released his grip on his gun and aimed a questioning look at the intruder sitting balanced over the top of his dresser. "Kicked out of the gym, I see. Not to sound insensitive, but-"

Loki slid down off the unique metal furniture and made a beeline for the door.

"Loki? Are you alright? You look like you've seen a-" Peter watched Loki vanish into the hallway and slam the bedroom door shut behind him. "...ghost," Peter finished. The agent regarded the door for a few seconds, then let out a tired sigh and flopped back down in his bed to resume sleeping. It was too good a night to waste. There weren't any guns or explosions to ruin his sleep, at least none that were loud enough. He'd take advantage of the respite while it lasted.

Loki on the other hand was in no such mood. He hurried past the open door to Thor's room and into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. He knew now that it wasn't his own fear and shock that were plaguing him at the moment, but he had to regain his focus before he could address Charles' sudden crisis. Heavy footsteps trudged toward Loki as he splashed his face one last time and turned off the taps.

"Brother?" a rough voice questioned from the doorway. Loki looked up to see Thor squinting sleepily back at him wearing a pair of red flannel pajama bottoms.

"Morning, Brother," Loki teased.

Thor's squint became a bit more irritable. "What is it? It's four in the morning."

"Oh. How good of you to answer your own question. It has saved me seconds of boredom."

"You are never this awake this early in the day."

"It seems that I am no longer welcome in the gym, and Peter has a gun..."

Thor mumbled something unintelligible under his breath about 'pesky loungers' that didn't make much sense, and dragged Loki out of the bathroom by the back of his borrowed tank top.

"Ah! Thor, be sensible! This garment was lent to me," Loki warned. "You'll rip it. What are you even..." Thor shoved him into his characterisically disorganised sleeping quarters, then trudged past him to plop down on the bed and do a fair impession of a starfish. "Oh. Ah, I'd rather not..."Loki began, seeing the futility of his excuse when Thor's feather pillow impacted the side of his head.

"Sleep," Thor ordered half into his remaining pillow and set about following his own advice.

"I'm not lying in this pigsty," Loki protested under his breath. Then the centuries old impulse struck him. "No," he denied, already eying the lone grey sock that Thor had tossed onto the nearest lamp. "No. Oh, it'll kill the time, and it's not like this idiot's going to do it." Loki gingerly plucked the wayward garment off of its perch and went about searching for its mate. He stiffened and sent the sleeping blond a disappointed look when he trod over half a Poptart. "Really. Prince or not, you should not be allowed to bring food in here if you cannot tidy up after yourself," Loki scolded under his breath, then paused in realization. "Ugh... here it is: I'm becoming my mother." The thought was bittersweet, warming his heart about as much as it stung him.

Loki found the other sock on the shelf built into the wall, caught between Jane's backpack and an atlas. The latter of which sported a shirt that was now doing time as a bookmark. "Why?" Loki wondered, throwing them all into the clothes hamper. He returned the atlas to its rightful place on the bookshelf. Are you ready to tell me why you woke me so suddenly? Loki thought to Charles, rolling his eyes when he discovered that the only place not cluttered with Thor's belongings was in fact his closet.

I sensed something, Charles explained warily, then corrected himself. Someone that I wasn't ready for.

"A threat," Loki spoke his response quietly, pausing in his reorganizing of the various maps and reports that Thor had left scattered on the foor by the foot of his bed.

I don't know. Maybe... Charles faded from anger into a much more somber mood. I didn't think that I would ever sense his mind again.

"Who is he?"

It doesn't matter. He can't know about me. He's dangerous, yes, but Loki...

Loki narrowed his eyes, only becoming more curious when Charles refused to explain.

No, Loki. Listen. He's like me but... different. You need to keep your distance. I can't face him. Please don't make me.

Loki frowned. Charles had never been this upset before and as closely connected as their minds were, it was easy for the conscioussness' pain and sorrow to bleed into his own psyche, along with a lingering sense of guilt. "What is it?" Loki closed his eyes, focusing solely on his connection with the consciousness.

I'm sorry. I simply can't see him again. Believe me, there's a part of me that wants to more than anything, but... this isn't my time, Charles explained sadly.

Loki waited. Leaving the invitation open for Charles to continue. Behind him Thor opened his eyes, now blatantly staring at his younger sibling.

He's my son. I felt him. He's out of control. I could feel it through our link.

"What has he done?" Loki intoned gravely. He went unnaturally still for a moment, then his eyes opened, his gaze sharply focused, and he got up and left the room. Behind him Thor tensed, then pulled on the sweatshirt he'd left on the nightstand and followed after him.

Loki didn't gather any weapons, or provisions at all really, other than to steal the Cap's leather jacket and a cell phone out of the drawer below. He pulled on the first pair of shoes that fit. (Peter's work boots). When he got to the elevator, his dark pants and zipped up jacket actually made for passable night camoflage. Before he could even enter the lift, however, he was stopped by the assassin who'd just melted out of the shadows of the kitchen. Thor hung back in the hallway to watch their exchange.

"Nah uh. You're not going anywhere," Clint stated, pulling the gun that he'd had tucked in the back of his jeans.

Loki looked at the gun, then at Clint's face. "Trouble sleeping?"

"With you around? You bet."

"I can remedy that," Loki offered, looking toward the elevator.

"Cute. Not that I trust you to answer me truthfully, but where, exactly, did you think you were going?" Clint inquired.

"I am going to stop a dangerous killer before he becomes any worse, not that I have the time or the ability to explain why. This errand of mine does depend on a certain time table, so if you wouldn't mind..." Loki took another step towards the lift but Clint stopped him, cocking his gun.

"I do. We might not be chaining you up anymore, but that trust only goes so far. Letting you just stroll on out of the building is a whole other deal."

"You are welcome accompany me," Loki offered.

"Bite me," Clint responded in a mockery of the Trickster's obliging tone.

"I figured as much, but I thought that I might as well give you the chance," Loki admitted apologetically. Clint's eyes narrowed while Thor walked up behind his brother and swept an arm through him, causing his form to warp and flash.

"That tricky bastard," Clint observed, watching the hologram flicker from gold to green while it watched Thor's hand pass through it.

"I suggest that you try the tracking device. You will find that I have not removed it. Yet," the illusion advised before dispersing.

"JARVIS. Sound the alert. Loki's on the loose," Clint ground out, heading over to the bar to face the screen behind the counter.

"Already done, Agent Barton. Would you like me to display the location of Loki's tracking chip for you?"

"Yes JARVIS. And start extrapolating possible routes that he might take," Clint added as Thor took a seat at the bar behind him.

"What the hell? Loki's out?" Tony inquired, stepping out of the elevator to join them with a far more alert Natasha and Steve on his heels. He wiped at a diagonal smear on his forehead and only succeeded in spreading engine grease over his right cheek.

"He hasn't ditched the tracker yet?" Natasha asked, coming over to lean against the counter to Thor's right.

"So he claimed," Clint confirmed dubiously.

"What?" Tony demanded, slumping onto the stool on Thor's other side. Peter and Bruce were now joining them as well.

"Loki escaped?" Bruce verified.

"He certainly didn't fight his way out," Peter noted, earning a narrow look from the archer standing on the other side of the counter.

"My brother left an illusion behind to distract us," Thor clarified. "He must have noticed that I was following him."

"Yeah, stealth isn't really your thing, Big Guy," Tony said, patting the larger man on the shoulder with one hand while he grabbed a bottle from behind the bar with the other. Steve snatched it out of his hands before he could open it.

"Not a good idea," he corrected, still studying the GPS map on the screen in front of them. "Ok, so he's headed northeast, avoiding the Sentinel. Huh, that's probably for the best. Any thoughts on a possible destinaton?"

"Loki was acting very strangely before he left," Thor admitted. "He began to talk to himself about some stranger. He seemed to be puzzling over the identity of an unnamed threat, almost as if he were arguing with another. It was... unnatural."

"JARVIS?" Tony prompted, perking up. He was still annoyed at the Cap for taking his scotch, but the new mystery was more interesting.

"Replaying the security footage now, Sir."

"Ugh. Dude, he's right. Your room is a pit," Clint remarked, watching Loki retrieve the wrinkled shirt from Thor's atlas.

"Wait. Here we go," Tony indicated and they all watched the Trickster's one-sided conversation, each getting somewhat disturbed by the unnatural way that he seemed to freeze in place at the end, before dropping everything to start on his next mission. "Okay, that's weird."

"Sir, I have new data relevent to Loki's possible destination."

"What have you got?" Steve asked and the digital map stretched to reclaim the entire screen.

"At precisely 4:01 am. Mr. Odinson displayed signs of nocturnal distress and his brainscan became momentarily erratic."

"Still a little creeped out by that," Steve admitted. Beside him Peter tilted his head thoughtfully, remembering the moment in question.

"At the same time a distress signal was initiated, then terminated at a nearby SHIELD facility two point seven eight miles northwest of here."

"Wh- Glossing over how and why JARVIS knows that, how can that possibly be related?" Clint questioned. "He's not a telep- Oh, shit. Thor, where are you going?"

"I will head him off. He is- ill equipped to handle this alone."

"Thor, wait. Someone should accompany you. We still don't-" Steve began but Tony tapped his wrists together, interrupting him as he raced after the impatient thunder god. His armor was already coming together piece by piece over his body as he went.

"Me! What are we waiting for? This is too fun to pass up."

"Tony. Be-" They both dove off the balcony before Steve could finish his request. "...careful."

"Such a child," Clint reflected, shaking his head as they watched the red and gold silhouette rocket into the sky and out of sight.

Loki followed the weak impression of Onslaught's signature to a formidable steel and glass skyscraper and parked his stolen motorcycle at the shattered glass doors. Loki eyed the damaged entrance carefully before dismounting and heading over to poke at the broken glass still hanging from the doorframe. The material had been heavily fortified, both chemically and technologically, but the nanites sewn into the polymer had all been short circuited by the resonance that the boy had emitted.

You've got company, Charles informed him. Loki looked over to his left to see Thor and Iron Man landing in the empty street a few meters to behind him.

"About time," Loki told them and ducked in through the opening.

"Brother, wait!" Thor called and hurried after him.

"Hey. We got him. I'm streaming you the feed from the suit's external sensors," Tony reported into his comm, following them into the building.

Can you still sense him? Loki inquired internally.

I'm sorry, Loki, but we're crossing into his immediate realm of influence. If I don't recede now he'll be able to detect our bond.

I understand, Loki returned, reaching out with his empathic feelers while Thor jogged up beside him. I can track him from here. Loki opened his eyes and looked over at Thor. The blond warrior was taking in the destruction around them with grim resignation.

"You felt this?" he asked, already having guessed the answer.

"Yes,"Loki confirmed, keeping his expression bland.

"Whoa," Tony said behind them. "Guys, are you getting this?"

"Don't touch them. Most of their injuries should not be life threatening if you leave them be," Loki instructed, looking up towards the higher floors. "He's still here." Loki started towards the elevators but Thor caught his arm.

"You are still healing. Allow us to handle this foe."

"Huh. He's telling the truth," Tony noted, upon receiving the results of his suit's scans.

"You can't handle him," Loki dismissed, and pulled out of Thor's hold. "Feel free to accompany me," he called back to the others as he stepped into the elevator.

"He'll be expecting this," Tony observed, stepping in behind him anyway. "Who is 'he' by the way?"

"A powerful mind. I could sense his aggression from miles away. He cannot go unchecked."

"Any other tips, Obi Wan?"

"Do not look him in the eye, and do not allow him to get too close to you."

"How close is that?"

Loki gave him a flat look.

"Right," Tony acknowledged uncomfortably.

The lift opened onto an abandoned office area. The lights were flickering sporadically and the entire place had been left in a state of disarray. Loki turned to Thor.

"After you, Brother." He gestured towards the forbidding darkness. Thor looked less than thrilled, but stepped forward nonetheless. Tony moved to follow suit, but Loki threw an arm out to block him.

"Loki?" Tony queried. Only a few paces into the room, Thor was hit by a sonic boom emitted from the cubical diagonally to his right that threw him halfway across the office.

"That's why," Loki answered with the slightest hint of a smile.

"You are a bad person," Tony remarked, lightly.

"Don't judge. He's durable," the Trickster justified.

There was an angry groan from the pile of rubble on their left, and Thor threw the cubical wall off of himself with unnecessary force.

"See. He's fine."

"Show yourself, Coward!" Thor shouted, closing on the offender's hiding place. He shoved his way in only to find that his opponent had already moved on.

"You're not serious, " Tony denied, drawing Loki's attention. "Yeah. Okay. It fits. Got it."

"Do tell," Loki requested. A barrage of bullets sprayed into the elevator and Tony was quick to spin them round and shield his alien companion.

"Pete thinks that this might be his baby bro we're dealing with. It certainly matches Onslaught's M.O. Anyway, Pete wants us to focus on keeping the kid busy until he gets here," Tony relayed, shouting to be heard over the din. The cubicle behind him was obliterated by Thor's flying hammer and Iron Man turned to let off a token shot at the fleeing mutant when he ran by.

"His brother Onslaught," Loki deadpanned, once he had the inventor's attention back.

Tony pushed up his face plate so they could speak more naturally. "Yeah. Well, half brother. Whatever. It's an alias. The kid's been a menace ever since he hit his teens," he clarified, then pulled his mask back down in order to use his suit's thermal scanners to search the nearest cubicles for said menace. Loki kept his empathic senses on high alert as he followed the inventor out into the office.

"I see. Duck," he casually suggested, following his own advice. Tony complied in the nick of time as the petite teen flipped over a divider on their right, sending another pulse sweeping over them. He moved to direct another blast at their heads, but Tony reached out and hit him with a burst from his repulsor before he could. Loki winced and rubbed at his sore ears as the glowing mutant vanished through the divider at his back.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

Loki nodded. "His body emits a high-pitched whine right before he transitions. You should be glad that your ears cannot percieve it."

"JARVIS?" Tony prompted, then chuckled and gave Loki a friendly pat on the back. "Well, what do you know? Thanks, Rudolph. Looks like we've got a new advantage."

"Hmm. Can't have that, can we?" Onslaught remarked, smashing a chair over Iron Man's helmeted head and knocking him onto his hands and knees. Thor hurled Mjölnir at Francis but he transitioned through the divider behind Loki only to pounce on him from the adjacent cubicle while he was getting back to his feet. Tony aimed his repulsors, but Onslaught used Loki as a shield, grabbing his jaw with one hand in a silent threat. "Ah-ah! Try it and I blow your mate's head off. " He whistled shrilly and turned so that they were facing Thor in the other aisle as well. "I know that you Asgardians are tough, but ask yourself: do you really want to risk it?"

"Brother, don't," Loki cautioned, allowing himself to be dragged back towards the lift by his much smaller 'captor'. "Listen, Onslaught. You don't want to go through with this. You cannot succeed and I believe that you are clever enough to know it."

"Shut up," Onslaught disagreed, "You don't know a thing about me, Alien shield. Now cooperate and we'll both get out of here in one piece."

"I'm a living lie detector," Loki informed the boy.

"Huh," Onslaught slapped the call button for the lift, noting Thor's deepening glare. "This is awkward."

"You should cut your losses while you still can," Loki advised, ignoring the flash of distress from Charles' consciousness still tucked away at the back of his mind. "I would prefer not to kill you."

Onslaught laughed. "You're not serious."

Tony cleared his throat and raised a hand. "He is."

Loki's eyes strayed to Thor's free hand and he saw him slipping one of Loki's throwing knives out of a compartment at his hip. "Oh, please don't," Loki said with resignation.

Onslaught's attention drew back to him just in time to use Loki to deflect the attack. The younger prince coughed in response to the blade embedding itself in his side and breathed out a resigned sigh.

"He never listens." Then he shifted into his Jötun form, willfully dropping the temperature around them at an alarming rate. It took the boy a moment to react, as he seemed unable to feel much tactile sensation, but he released his grip once ice crystals began to form over his hand.

"Neat trick," the mutant conceded. He began to transition, but Loki knocked him back with a controlled burst of energy. He began to pick the boy up off the floor, but Onslaught twisted in his grip and grabbed his face with both hands, forcing Loki to look into his eyes.

"Oh shit," Tony cursed, powering up his repulsors. But instead of falling under the teenager's telepathic control, Loki felt a brief sensation of pressure in his mind. The prism hanging from his neck pulsed with a bright bluish light, and the pressure dissipated. Onslaught blinked and looked down at the misbehaving jewelry.

"How'd you do that?"

"Magic," Loki replied and headbutted the little menace, watching him collapse unconscious with a bored expression. There. I didn't kill him. Are you satisfied? he thought at Charles, pulling the throwing knife out of his stomach and tossing it aside.

Yes. Thank you, Charles responded, still sounding concerned for his bratty offspring.

"What a little monster," Loki reflected aloud.

"Pot, meet kettle," Tony pointed out.

Thor shoved him through one of the remaining dividers.

"A fair point," Loki conceded, turning to face Thor.

"Brother, are you all right?" the blond inquired.

Loki smiled thinly at him for a beat, then slapped him.

"I did not mean to harm you," Thor murmured halfheartedly, rubbing his cheek.

"You rarely do. Which is why I don't permit you to borrow my things," Loki held out his hand palm up. "Give them to me."

"Brother..."

"Thor."

"Come on, Buddy. I'm right there with you," Tony remarked, walking over to join them. He held his hand out hovering over Loki's. "You can't be armed. Gimme." Thor begrudgingly handed the other two throwing knives over to his friend. "Okay. Everybody's happy." Tony rested his other hand on Loki's shoulder. "Come on, Pete's here to handle the kid. We've gotta get you two out of here before the cavalry arrives."

Quantico Base, Virginia

Jane jumped when the suffocating silence of her bright white surrondings was finally broken by a visitor being ushered in through the formless white door. She and Wanda had made it out of the base on pure luck and ingenuity. They were home free, but the next night, the homeless community they'd been sheltering with had been hit by a swarm of men in black combat gear, with all identifying markings removed from their uniforms and gas masks over their faces. She and Wanda had been running for their lives together when the gas overtook them. That was the last real human contact that Jane had experienced until now. She'd woken up in a plain white cell with a basic wire-framed cot covered in equally white sheets, a tiny metal toilet, a sink that was more akin to an untrustworthy waterfountain, and a huge two-way mirror staring at her from the opposite wall. That was three days ago.

One of the nameless guards set up a metal folding chair opposite Jane's seat on the floor and an older man strolled over and sat in it.

"Sir," the guard said with a sharp nod.

"Dismissed, Sergeant," the older man replied in a Southern-accented voice, and with another nod, the Sergeant marched out and locked the door behind him. He waited for Jane to speak, but she squared her jaw and just stared back at him.

"Dr. Jane Foster, now you've gotten yourself in a whole lot of trouble over the past couple years. I was wondering when I'd get the pleasure of meeting you," the man said.

"Where am I?" Jane asked, just managing to keep her voice even and unemotional. She'd been scared half out of her mind for a while now, but Jane had come to the conclusion a couple of days ago that she wasn't going to lose control of herself. If that was all that she had left, then she planned on guarding it jealously. Over the past week, she had been posessed by a destructive alien entity, locked up, dragged through a transdimensional rift at least twice, smuggled between realms even more, shot at, been beaten up, kidnapped, manipulated, drugged and gassed, and shot at even more. Now she was locked up under the purview of some crooked military officials in the middle of an active warzone and this jerk hadn't even told her his name. She wasn't playing anymore.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Miss Foster. But you can make this easier on yourself. Tell me, what's the nature of your relationship with Wanda and Peter Maxwell?"

"I barely know them."

"And yet, you have involved yourself in two separate criminal acts alongside those two in the last five days. Now, I know you do have a habit of courting danger, Miss Foster. You are dating a man who thinks he's the God of Thunder, for goodness sake. It's not hard to see your propensity for spectacle, but what I'm having trouble with is all this movement all of the sudden. London's not enough, we tracked you from there to Manhattan, where Loki tripped our recognition system. Then the next day you pop up in Boston and break into a high security mental hospital. You take out ten guards wreak general havok, and here we are..." the man leaned back in his chair with his hands folded in front of him. "We can make this all go away. Just tell me what you know."

Jane leaned back against the wall and folded her arms over her chest, reminding herself to keep strong. Thor and the other Avengers would come for her. She only had to wait, Heimdall could probably locate her still if nothing else worked, and she knew Thor wouldn't give up on her.

"You don't want to talk about the mutants yet, that's fine. We've got time," the man replied easily. "Let's talk about Loki. You know where he's hiding, don't you?"

Jane couldn't help the twitch of her jaw at the mention. She new instantly that her interrogater had caught it.

"Let's talk about that," he prompted, letting out an exaggerated sigh when Jane blinked and averted her gaze, refusing to answer. "I'm sure you recall his actions in New York. He is an alien planetary threat. You know what that means? You hide him, you withold pertinent information on his plans or his whereabouts and we can treat you as an enemy combatant. You don't want to know what we can do to make you talk."

Jane turned to look her interrogator in the eye, not even caring about the way her voice cracked when she spoke. "Go to hell." Then she flopped back against the wall and looked away keeping her gaze locked on the dripping faucet until he got up and left her alone. Only once Jane was sure that he was truly gone, did she allow herself to cry. "They're coming for me. They're coming. They're coming..." Jane whispered to herself like a prayer. She squezed her eyes shut. "Please, find me soon."

Manhattan, New York

Thor landed on the tower balcony and released his grip on Loki. Bruce and Natasha walked out to join them.

"Where's Tony?" Natasha asked, when she reached Loki's side.

"He chose to remain at the base and assist Agent Maxwell," Thor replied.

"It looked like things got a little rough back there. Why don't we head to the lab and I can patch you guys up if you need it," Bruce offered, leading the others back inside.

"I am uninjured, but I thank you for your concern," Thor responded gratefully. "Perhaps my brother-"

"Not your brother," Loki muttered under his breath. Natasha arched an eyebrow as if to say, 'really?'

"Might benefit from your assistance," Thor continued, ignoring him.

"I will heal well enough on my own," Loki corrected.

"Do not argue." Thor replied, taking a seat at the bar while the others watched uncomfortably.

"Do not coddle me as though I am some fragile maid!" Loki snapped, ignoring Clint's amused snort. "I am perfectly capable of caring for myself!"

"You were slow," Thor disagreed, still enragingly calm.

Loki scoffed. "I was slow?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe th-" Loki's denial was interrupted by a loud rumble from the shattered grey sky above. A familiar beam of bright rainbow light touched down on the balcony seconds later followed by a loud crack as a lone cloaked figure landed crouched in the center.

Thor jumped to his feet and stood, placing himself between Loki and the hooded Aesir with his hand resting on Mjölnir's handle. The other Avengers all reached for their own weapons behind him. After the last of the colorful light retreated, the newcomer stood and lowered her hood. Thor's shoulders relaxed a bit at the familiar face, but he didn't step away from Loki.

"Good eve', Prince Thor," Sif greeted, the corner of her mouth quirking upwards as she looked araound at the others. "Am I interrupting something?"

A/N: Yep... Kind of a cliff hanger, I guess. This chapter is super long though. Anyway, thanks for reading, special thanks to icanhearthedrums for reviewing. Seriously guys, I need feedback. Anybody? Ah well, it was worth a try.