Chapter 11- Myths and Legends

Avengers-

Tracking down the god of mischief was paradoxically both the easiest thing to do and the hardest. Sure, Stark could pinpoint his magic to a specific area, but finding Loki in the radius of a few hundred yards in the middle of a busy city like Seattle was like finding a stick bug in a forest without alerting the stick bug you were looking for it. Not the best metaphor, maybe, but Tony blamed Clint for pointing out that needles don't actively hide or run away, so… Anyway, the point is that the extra help from the Justice League was appreciated since Loki didn't know them.

The Martian shapeshifting abilities obviously came in handy, but Superman's surprisingly good camouflage as a mild mannered human was just as good. The two aliens slipped into the crowd at the famous Pikes Market as easily as the two resident spies.

Natasha watched Clark out of the corner of her eye as the man bent over to help a little old lady who had dropped a bag of oranges. The man was worse than Steve, just so earnest and honest. Further down the market, apparently considering a bouquet of flowers, J'onn was only notable by his height; even his brown trench coat and matching fedora didn't stand out in this crowd, especially with the constant rain. He had admitted that his abilities would be more limited because he feared Loki could detect his mental scan, so she wasn't expecting too much from him.

Over the comms, she heard Tony and Steve bickering. Tony really wanted to come out and mingle in the crowd too. Steve said they were both too recognizable and would endanger the mission. Since they needed Tony to keep an eye on his tracking program anyway, he didn't really have an argument. He tried though.

"Sam could run the program, Batman double checks, and I could be out there helping," Tony argued, sounding like a teenager complaining about curfew. "Sam is better at this kinda thing anyway."

She couldn't see him, but Natasha knew that Steve was pinching the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. "Tony, we've been talking about this since we left. You even said it was Natasha's call. She said stay in the jet, not me so take it up with her."

"Stark, can we please keep the comms clear?" Batman asked through clenched teeth. Natasha saw Superman cough to avoid laughing. "Everyone else report, please?"

"All clear, Bats," Flash reported, from his position down the street from the market. As the fastest, he got the outer perimeter.

"We haven't seen anyone suspicious," Green Lantern answered. He was paired up with Falcon, covering the area closest to the water, since Lantern could fly if Loki fled out to the bay or something. And Falcon could use some practice as undercover.

Wonderwoman just said negative. Natasha had no idea where she had disappeared to, but she could be trusted to stay on task even without specific instructions. Unlike the grown children still arguing in the jet. She did not envy Batman's position. At least they left Thor and Hulk back at the tower. Hopefully Hawkgirl would keep them under control, but from the stories, maybe not.

Honestly all three of their teammates were not happy about staying behind, but Natasha had insisted from the moment they put her in charge of this operation. They couldn't risk Loki sensing Thor was nearby and Hulk was not suited for undercover work, obviously. Hawkgirl probably would have been fine, she had some practice passing as normal, but Superman had encouraged her to stay behind. Green Lantern had flinched but didn't argue even when she glared at him. He would probably pay for that later.

So, in the end, here they were, aliens and humans alike, in disguise looking for a Norse God in the middle of Seattle. Natasha sighed and leaned against the wall, suddenly tired. This is not what she had expected when she let Clint talk her into joining SHIELD.

"Danish?" The aforementioned archer asked, holding out a cheese danish with one hand. The other held a very large, very purple travel cup of coffee that he had found at the first shop they stopped to look in. He must have sweet talked a barista into filling it for him. He quirked an eyebrow at her, asking if everything was okay.

"Thanks, sweetie," she said, straightening up and accepting the treat. She gave her partner a slight nod as she took a bite. It was way too sweet, but she could use the energy.

"Haven't seen anyone we know yet. Are you sure we're in the right place?" Clint asked innocently, mostly for the benefit of the people on the other side of their comms.

"I should be insulted," Stark whined through the nearly invisible earpieces they were all wearing.

"He's there, Hawkeye, keep looking. We are trying to narrow down the coordinates," Batman cut in gruffly.

"Will we even know what he looks like? Doesn't he shape shift?" Falcon asked.

"We're not looking for what he looks like, it's not like he'll be wearing the dumb horns he likes," Stark explained, cutting in before Steve could start. "Just look for anyone out of place, someone not acting normal."

"Man, they're throwing fish! What constitutes as not normal?" Flash whined.

"We'll know it when we see it," Superman gently chided his friend. "Just keep looking."

Clint chuckled into his coffee, even as his eyes scanned the crowd. To be fair, there were some weird people here. From local hipsters to foreign tourists, it was a wide spectrum. "Possible at 4 o'clock, black haired woman in green leather. She's either ridiculously good at slight of hand or she made those antique tarot cards disappear into thin air."

Superman looked over, completely unsubtle, his brow furrowed in judgment. He had already given a lecture to one pickpocket today, and the teen probably even listened, the man was just that good. He tilted his head to look over his glasses, his eyes focusing as he used his X-ray vision. "I think it's Loki," he whispered. "She doesn't look right and I'm definitely not seeing any stolen cards on her."

"Move in and take it easy," Captain America ordered. "Let's not make a scene."

With a shared look, Clint and Natasha split up to circle around the target to approach from two sides. J'onn flowed through the crowd to cover a third direction, and Superman advanced from the front.

The woman looked up, surprised when the big dark haired man with clunky glasses came up next to her. "It's not nice to take things that don't belong to you," he said.

Back in the jet, Stark groaned. "That's his opener? Really?"

Batman shrugged. "He's a boy scout."

Steve shushed them, focused on the exchange they could overhear.

"I haven't taken anything!" The girl simpered, with big, sad eyes. "How could you accuse me of anything like that?"

Clint stepped up on her other side. "I saw you, Loki. Drop the act."

The woman's entire demeanor changed. The teary eyes turned hard, her stance turned defensive, and her mouth twisted into a sneer. When she spoke it was with Loki's voice. "Avengers, always out to ruin my fun. And I'm sure my brother is on his way?" He glanced over at Superman, "Who's your new friend?"

"We just want to talk," Superman said politely.

"And if I don't come willingly?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Superman started to say but Loki cut him off with a dark laugh.

"Sure, well, just try to catch me," the trickster god scoffed, before ducking away and shoving a poor young man into Superman and an elderly woman into Clint.

"He's on the move," Natasha reported into her comm. "He looks like a teenage boy now, black hair, green windbreaker."

Clint tried to follow his partner, but the grey haired lady had grabbed his arm to steady herself and now didn't want to let go. "Kids these days are so rude. No respect, that's the problem today, no respect," she rambled. He looked around for help, but his teammates had abandoned him to chase for Loki. "What nice arms you have, young man. Do you work out?"

Meanwhile, Natasha was trying to follow Loki, keeping him in sight at all times so he couldn't shift on them again. "He changed again," she called out when he ducked through a used bookstore. She could see him in the reflection of the glass display cases for antique books, but the crowd blocked her from keeping up. "He is going through the back door of the bookstore, old man, dark green fedora, crocodile skin coat."

"I see him," Wonderwoman said as she entered the alley where the shops had their back entrances. The old man looked up in surprise when she spoke, clearly not expecting her but just as quickly he seemed to dismiss her as a threat, turning away and flipping up his collar.

She proved him wrong when she whipped out her lasso and caught him in its golden coil, yanking him off his feet when he tried to run. Immediately his appearance shifted back into his normal form, a tall thin man with long black hair, topped by an ornate horned helmet.

"I've got him," the Amazon reported before pulling the god to his feet and turning him to face her.

As the other Justice League members arrived, Loki looked around in confusion. He struggled against the magic lasso, but he couldn't escape. "Who are you people?"

"Like I said, we want to talk, but first you're going to return the stolen tarot cards," Superman said.

"I…" the trickster started, tripping over the first word as Wonderwoman's lasso forced the truth from his mouth. "I hid them in a pocket dimension because I could read real magic from them and didn't think they should be left in mortal hands." He blinked. "I didn't intend to tell you that."

"If they are really magic, he has a point," Diana commented.

Superman nodded. "Fine, we'll see about sending proper compensation later. For now, let's get him back to the others." He lifted Loki into the air, quickly followed by Wonderwoman, still holding on to her end of the lasso.

Falcon, who had finally arrived on the scene, watched them fly away with envy. "Oh, come on, guys. You made me leave my wings on the quinjet."

Flash grinned at his new friend. "Race ya!" He called before disappearing in, well, in a flash.

Green Lantern shook his head at the Scarlet Speedster. "Come on, Flyboy. I'll walk with you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loki sullenly held his silence on the flight back to New York. The only thing he would say is that he refused to talk, especially while restrained by the golden lasso. He admitted, under the influence of the lasso, that it scared him. But since it was keeping him under control so well, the general consensus was to wait till he was locked down in the tower before removing it. So, he spent the whole trip glaring daggers at the heroes.

On the other hand, everyone else was in pretty good spirits. They had taken Loki into custody without a fight or any collateral damage. Stark was filled with questions about the lasso, though he wisely decided to not touch it.

"It is blessed by the goddesses Athena and Aphrodite," Diana explained. "It forces anyone touching it to tell the truth."

"So, not something I could recreate. That's probably for the best," Tony admitted. "You must be fun at parties."

"Why would I bring my lasso to a party?" she asked innocently.

Tony blinked at her in confusion, not sure if she was messing with him or not. He was saved by turbulence making the jet drop and shudder. Clint calling back from the cockpit that they were arriving and that there was a storm brewing. Loki's eyes widened in distress, his pale features lit by the magic lasso in the darkening gloom.

Steve and Tony shared a look filled with concerns before directing everyone to get ready, just in case.

It was quiet in the hanger bay but there was some banging from a lower level. The heroes, still dragging their captive behind, followed the sounds into the main living area of the tower.

The mess in the main room that awaited them was not the worst that the Avengers had come home to, but it was close.

Broken furniture, some of it not from this room, lay strewn across the floor, and there was a new clear view of the kitchen, through several walls. Wind whistled through a broken window, letting in a bit of the rain from the localized storm outside. One wall, mostly intact with only a few dents, was covered in the leftovers from their takeout from last night. Clearly a major battle had occured.

Or, was occurring. In the middle of the room, Hawkgirl and Thor were exchanging blows strong enough to knock each other down. Just as everyone walked into view, Thor looked over, distracted enough for a strong punch from Hawkgirl to send him flying into the remains of the couch.

"Stop!" Ironman yelled, his voice magnified by his speakers. "What in the world are you doing? What did you do to my tower!"

Hawkgirl straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest, her wings settling down against her back. "He took my noodles."

In the back of the group of heroes, Flash nodded. He bumped Sam with his elbow. "Don't touch her noodles. Even I know that."

"And we were bored," Hulk said from his seat beside the door. Ironman and everyone else swung around to see the green giant, who no one had noticed until he spoke. He was sitting next to Thor's hammer and Hawkgirl's mace, like he was guarding them. "No weapons, I get winner."

Captain America returned his shield to his back and pushed his cowl back with a sigh. "Guys, we talked about this."

Hulk shrugged. "Shouldn't have left us behind."

Back in the middle of the destruction, Thor and Hawkgirl were making up. Thor held out his hand and she took it with a smile.

"You are a mighty warrior," the Thunderer declared.

"Not bad yourself," Hawkgirl agreed.

"Enough," Batman said, striding between the two. "We have Loki. Both of you, come with us to get this over with."

With truly chilling glare, Batman led the way out of the room. Somehow he maintained his balance and dignity as he strode over the rubble from the broken walls. The cape helped.

Wonderwoman laughed and gently led Loki after the dark knight. One by one the rest of them followed, leaving the clean up for later, though Stark was busy figuring out why JARVIS hadn't warned him about all of this.