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Snowflake	By : LordStrawberry Category: Marvel Verse Movies > Avengers, The Views: 3327 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, the Avengers, Thor nor any other Marvel Universe fandoms or characters. I do not gain profit from this..

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Time went by so very slowly, it drove them insane. The tension between them had only heightened these past few hours, and all of their fiddling with weapons, magic and the like did not help much.

None of them liked being idle. The Widow and Hawkeye were probably most used to the time before the big showdown, the silence of it, the stillness.

The helplessness.

Thoughts were chased and not spoken even once. They all thought the same anyway, all of them knew.

What if this, what if that.

Unhealthy as it was, none of them felt like actually talking about it.

Not with him in the room.

The sun had gone down some time ago, when Tony and Bruce finally reemerged from Tony's garage/workshop.

Bruce was half pushing the other man into the room, his reluctance to leave their work unattended obvious on his face.

"Well, we are progressing fine, so far. JARVIS is running some tests and we thought we'd take the time to.. you know, eat. Get you up to date on things."

Tony made a face at that. He would have preferred staring at the screen and closely monitoring whatever tests they were running.

They proceeded to decide what food to get, Tony quickly dismissed the notion of ordering and suggested to send Loki to pick something up in person. After all, they could expect Fury to want in on whatever little meeting they had here. None of them was naive enough to think him oblivious to their gathering and none of them was going to underestimate the efforts and resources he would bring to the table to get in. Intercepting the pizza-boy was not out of question and though no one liked the notion of Loki running around freely, they had to agree that he had done so before.

After the last grumbling about poisoned food, courtesy of Steven Rogers, were dismissed, the trickster god shapeshifted and left.

Everyone released long held breaths and Hawkeye physically slumped in his chair and let out an exaggerated sigh.

Tony winced at that. He realized he had grown fond of the one he should call 'enemy', but it could not be helped. He knew how everyone else was feeling. Hell, he remembered, how he had felt mere days ago in the presence of Loki. And they did not have time to let the guy sleep his way through all of the avengers. That thought in particular hit him deeply. He knew he had probably been compromised, as they would put it, but it could not be helped now.

"We need to trust him on this, there is no other way to win against that army.", he managed and it earned him nothing but condescending stares.

Trust and Loki did not go well together in this world. He nearly laughed at the notion of separate worlds. Yes, let's just call the theatre Bizarro World and keep it all locked up. None of this truly happened and Loki is a villain and he was an Avenger and everything was fine.

It would be so easy. If there wasn't the damned issue of the Chitauri at their doorstep and the need to be held by those unhumanly strong arms. Damn those arms.

"Ah, damn it. I know what this looks like. But seriously. What would you have had me do? Bring him in? We need his firepower and he would have never given us the information if we held him captive, you all know this so why the hell are you looking at me like that!?"

Oh joy, great idea. Direct your self-loathing towards them, because that never backfires.

"What's his endgame then? Did he tell you this much at least?"

Widow.

"He means to stay on earth. Not to conquer, just... our resident trickster god, I guess. He will keep the Tesseract, too. He said Fury could not handle it properly, and I guess he is right about that as well. Apart from that... the conquest thing was just the reason he fed the Chitauri to get their cooperation. If what Thor says is right then the Chitauri should be our only concern at the moment. If you want you can still chase Loki and bring him in, if you feel that that's necessary. But first we have a war to win, so get your priorities straight, alright?"

He glanced around at them and waited for confirmation. He got it, one by one they nodded in reluctant agreement and he answered with a grim nod of his own.

After that long due confrontation no one felt like talking anymore and so they waited for nourishment to arrive, which it did soon after.

They ate in uncomfortable silence.

Tony and Bruce got back to work after the last bite was taken, eager to escape the air of distrust and loathing, that lay thick between Loki and the rest.

"Damn, they're like a pack of hungry lions, ready to rip him apart.", Tony mumbled more to himself.

"You are worried for him?", Bruce asked, eyebrows raised.

"I know, he can hold his own, but-"

"That's not what I meant."

Then there was silence. The same silence that held the other Avengers in a death grip. Great. Awesome working atmosphere.

The sun had risen and bathed them in a golden light when Bruce entered the scene.

Some of them looked asleep, but he knew them to be either faking it or having assigned guards to have an eye on their resident trickster god.

"We are done with the ray-guns, they should do their job."

"Where is Stark?" inquired Loki as nonchalantly as he could manage.

"Still in the garage, he is trying to work something out. Suit-related."

Loki left with a curt nod of appreciation. At least one person was still able to communicate civilly.

Tony was bent over some gadget he had had in the back of his mind for way too long, so intent on his work, that it shook him to the core, when he realised he was not alone.

"Sneaky bastard.", he grumbled with a quick glance behind him.

"It is not long until I will have to call them, Tony."

It always irritated him to be called by his first name by one such as Loki. A god, and stuff. He should really get over this, after everything they had done.

They can never know.

"I know, I know. I will be finished by then. This is just something I had the idea for ages ago, I just have to quickly integrate this into my armor and..."

The rest was left unheard, as he all but vanished in a heap of cables and circuits.

"Is it essential to beat the Chitauri?", Loki asked.

"Well, it might help, later..."

He did not like to admit just how much he had missed this sleep-deprived tinkering. It was his natural state after all and it felt so good to be here again, covered in grease and motor oil and coffee here and there. He felt like himself again. A feeling he had thought lost.

"So it is not essential to this fight."

"Well, no. But-"

He would have argued more, made his case, like he was so used to against Pepper, but with the soft press of a cool hand on his forehead darkness engulfed him and had him slide into a set of strong arms, that held him against a leather-clad chest. The last thing he was aware of was being picked up and carried somewhere. Then a light kiss on head and then, warm sleepy darkness.

He found himself lying in the luxurious bed of his master bedroom six hours later. All the grease had been wiped off of him, magically probably, and he was fully clothed in a fresh set of his usual and... Well. A Def Leppard t-shirt. The Rock of Ages one. No surprise there, aside from the fact that he didn't really own that one. He smiled at his chest for a minute or so, before he realised what his being here implicated. That son of a-

He stormed out and into the lounge, where a usual scene greeted him.

Everyone looked slightly worn, but he was sure they had figured out a way to get some sleep, disregarding Loki's presence.

Loki himself was already in his armor, helmet and all.

Heads were turned at his entry.

"You put me to sleep?!"

The violation of his privacy cut deep. How dare he do this.

"You needed sleep, ask them. They agree."

"Oh, don't you dare patronize me. I was doing fine."

"You were barely able to stand, in case you didn't notice. You are of no use to me in this state. Stop whining and get your armor."

Tony opened his mouth to throw something back at him, he did not know what exactly, at this point, but was soon distracted by the entry of one Dr. Selvig, the blue gleam in his eyes stilling Tony's movements and chilling him to the bone.

"You still have him under your control?"

Loki tsked at that.

"Don't worry, he's fine. He will be released shortly."

"Now! You release him now!"

The god rolled his eyes.

"You do remember what happened to your Hawk, when I set him free? We need that man, I will release him after all is done. Now get ready, we don't have much time left."

Tony threw one long, last glance at Selvig and turned to leave.

"Bruce, come help me with that thing, will you?"

And so the both of them disappeared back into the garage again.

The gamma-weapons have already been brought up and explained to everyone, as Tony found out soon after and he was relieved that the world had not in fact stood still while he had been sleeping.

In the lounge battle plans were made. Loki had taken the lead and everyone was grudgingly following his orders.

He had paired Hawkeye and the Widow on one team, Thor and the Captain on the next and the Hulk and Iron Man would be operating freely wherever they were needed.

He himself would be playing his role within the Chitauri army, carefully sabotaging the invasion and at the same time strengthening his allies just enough, so that no one would notice, just to fully turn on the Chitauri when the tide was beginning to turn.

It would be a close call.

Fury had been contacted the day before, civilians will be needed to be evacuated, and that was an enormous task in a city such as New York.

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D had agreed to do his best, contacting the common police force and military to help with the task. None of them knew how good a job they would do, the faster they had the enemy at their knees the better.

It was unnerving to have so many of them. They were used to have armies, but they usually had a head that could be chopped off. This time they would have to beat the whole army, and that was intimidating as hell, to all of them.

When the time came for everyone to assume their positions the veil of mistrust was replaced with a rush of adrenaline, as they all fell into their routines.

This is what they were made for.

This is what they did well.

When the first wave of them came down Iron Man was there to greet them, while Loki assumed a position within their ranks, as befitting their so-called leader.

The gamma-rays did a great job diminishing their defenses, especially as they were used on the huge sky-snake, that transported hundreds of foot soldiers down to earth.

Yet the aforementioned turn of the tide failed to come, as the sheer mass of them threatened to overwhelm the few warriors, that stood to face them.

The Widow was hard-pressed to stand her ground, Clint rendered unable to have her back, as he was also being attacked directly and running out of arrows fast.

The last bits of ammunition were used well on the last of the aliens up at the vista point he had chosen, but the very last arrow was released at Loki in a long shot. The god caught it lazily, but it was still enough to get his attention, and he turned to come to their aid, revealing his betrayal a lot earlier than he had hoped he would, but it could not be helped.

He owed the Widow for sending her off to the Antarctic, as Tony had pointed out. If Tony thought he should make it up to her, so be it. They needed her in this fight anyway. Might as well save her life.

And so he cast a quick shield around her as he came down to fight back to back against the surrounding Chitauri, much to her obvious surprise.

The combination of quick strikes, shots and flying knifes complemented his own style well, and so they soon gained the upper hand in this fight, that had seemed so lost just moments ago.

A sudden roar of energy had them glancing back at Stark Tower, where the rest of the war did not seem to go so smoothly and where a missile had just been started to go off, straight up into the sky, aimed at the portal. Thor and Iron man stood by, observing its course, as a Chitauri jet-ski hit it in mid flight and altered its aim slightly, yet severely enough to surely miss the portal up high in the sky.

They could see arguing, angry gestures between the Thunderer and Stark, but Iron Man seemed to have won the fight over whatever this had been and took off after the missile that was shaking in its flight, obviously affected by the hit it had taken earlier.

"No, no, no, no... what is he doing?"

The Widow threw an incredulous look at him. So he revealed his true loyalties now?

"Destroying your army, darling. That-", she pointed at the red-gold shadow, that had by now reached the missile and pushed it back on course, "That is a nuke. Gamma, lots of it. If he manages to push it through the portal, hit the mother ship-"

"Then what about him? Won't he be hit? He does not know where the mother ship is located behind the portal. He would have to fly through it along with that.. nuke, to hit them."

The Widow frowned in irritation.

"Yes, I suppose."

And the assessment was proven right seconds later, as Tony Stark disappeared through that portal.

Seconds passed. The longest seconds, that had ever passed in Natasha Romanov's life. Beside her, the god had gone rigid, his breath shallow and his eyes with a maniacal expression, as he watched the portal intently. When the roar of the explosion was heard he huffed out a breath and his face contorted in something akin to the pain of loss. She knew that expression and it was heart-breaking to see it on a man like him.

When the red and gold metal shell fell from the sky he was there. Teleported under it, in a doomed attempt to slow the fall or at least cushion his landing.

Around them Chitauri were breaking, dying, but she did not care. She ran towards to spot they would touch down. All the hate she had felt towards Stark these last few days diminished by the look on Loki's face. Please be alive, she prayed and scolded herself for misplaced hope. No one could survive holding a nuclear missile as it went off. No one. Not even Iron Man.

The crater's width neared ten meters, its center embedded deeply into the earth. And in this mess of cracked asphalt there was the broken and battered armor of Iron Man, underneath him the demigod, desperately clutching the unmoving form in his arms, his attempts at opening the faceplate futile under his violently shaking fingers.

The Avengers approached the scene slowly. All of them feared what they might find. Hulk was the first to reach the two in the middle and did not hesitate to simply rip the faceplate off with a grunt, revealing the still face of Anthony Stark, eyes half-closed and unseeing.

"No..", Loki breathed. And again: "No, no, no... Tony..."

He gripped the iron-clad body tighter, shimmering eyes fixed on the mortal's unmoving ones and a hand gently lain on the stubbled cheek.

"Be alive, I beg you-", his voice broke.

Then Thor did the only sensible thing and summoned lightning down upon them. One bolt was enough to make those eerie eyes flutter open, Tony's gaze once again alive and searching, his breath leaving his blue lips in heavy pants.

"What the hell...what just happened?"

Loki let out a long withheld sob and held him close and kissed him deeply, tears leaving pale streaks on his dirt stained cheeks. Tony leaned into the kiss with a smile, he hadn't realised, but after all the sex they had had, this was their first kiss and it felt as sweet as nothing in the world ever could.

He had to break it though, oxygen still an issue in his battered body, and so he just let himself be held, smiled and closed his eyes once again.

"I... I'm not feeling so hot."

Natasha closed in on the two and carefully touched Loki's arm, made him loosen his grip without startling him.

"We need to get him to a hospital, fast."

Loki let out a shuddering breath and nodded, swallowing hard.

"Yes, yes. You take him, I have to... go do something."

He let them take Tony off of him, carefully lifting him up without moving him too much.

"Take good care of him, I will rejoin you later."

And with that he was gone.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.(it's actually fun typing this :D),.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.(fasterrrrrrrrr),.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

The long hospital floor had the sickening white, that was whiter than any white had any right to be, but still had the tint of disease, of death, clinging to it.

Maybe the fluorescent lights were to blame for that. But all in all, it was just not a comfortable environment to be in, especially not when one was currently fearing for a friend's well-being and desperately awaiting the words that could make things right. Natasha did not like to be helpless in front of anyone. But the least she liked being at the mercy of the white gods, as Clint had dubbed them, much to Thor's confusion. When Tony was finally wheeled out in a wheel-chair he looked like hell. They had never seen the playboy this pale and frail-looking and the smile he sported looked small and afraid.

"Radiation sickness.", he croaked, before any of the accompanying doctors could say something, "I'm going to be alright, just.. groggy.. and stuff."

"We expect nausea, severe headache and probably a fever to kick in in a couple of hours, we will keep him under surveillance for the time being-"

Loki materialised right behind them and rendered the doctor's speech center useless for the time being.

"How is he?", he pressed out, gaze fixed on Tony, as he closed in and fell to his knees in front of the mortal.

"Now!", a booming voice could be heard, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and with a sickening screech the walls flickered brightly and the hallway was cut by the same light just behind and in front of Tony and Loki, locking them in. The doctor jumped back just in time.

A cage.

Loki flickered golden, but was thrown back with a scream immediately, a look of severe pain on his features, as he tried to get up on hands and knees, still reeling from whatever energy had surged through him at his attempt at teleportation.

"No.. Loki!", Tony was reeling in his wheel-chair, struggling to stand up, but falling back instantly.

The god on the floor hissed and threw a venomous glance around.

Natasha was frozen in place just like most of the Avengers, Steve and Thor did not seem shocked, they looked like they had to pee. Uncomfortable, guilty. Her eyes scanned the room and found what she was looking for.

She nudged Hawkeye discretely and pointed out the weak spots in the shield, where its edges were joined, tiny irregularities could be seen. This was not a good trap, but they had all been too emotional to be alert to it. Clint looked at her for a couple of seconds, then to his enemy and the traitor that was in league with the man, that had raped his mind. And he shrugged, pulled out an arrow he had retrieved on the way here, aimed and hit.

The electrical current surged through the light and it disappeared in ripples.

Split seconds went by, Loki's gaze found the two of them, a sense of understanding showing in his eyes, and he made a jump for it, grabbed them with both arms, one left one right, and then they fell.

As Natasha came to, she still felt Loki's arm around her waist, the shivering form of the god lying next to her, but the sickening white had been replaced by the dusty gloom of a place out of time.

Beneath her she could feel the floor creak, as she tried to move. When she finally managed to sit and take in her surroundings she was greeted with long rows of red velvet chairs and richly decorated walls that spoke of lost glory and long forgotten beauty.

An abandoned theatre.

Natasha closed her eyes as she relived their way through the hospital. Sure, she had noticed the irregularities in the paint job, the trap should have been obvious, but it hadn't been, no use beating oneself up over that.
What was important was this: It had been a secondary trap. She remembered better concealed blemishes and a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D agents down by the morgue, as they had passed it quickly. Tony's survival had been a plan B to a plan A.
They had wanted him dead.
A traitor's corpse to lure a mourning god into their trap.

______________________________________________________________

Uuuuh, I LIKE this chapter. That was fun to write :D

And we are not done yet!

Oh, and many, many thanks to the other two voters, you make me happy! ^^
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Snowflake