Avengers/Thor AU

[shadow_claw]

Although Tony was initially going to respond with violence, Loki's sudden collapse made him re-evaluate exactly what he should do. Should he wait for SHIELD? As soon as he thought this, a

holographic face appeared on a curved glass screen. Fury.

And why exactly have you called me out of an important-is that Loki?

I want your best agents. Tasha, Bird Boy. The rest of 'em. He just walked in here and fell. With a wave of a hand, the screen's blue light-and the conversation-ended abruptly. Tony slowly stalked forward, kneeling down only when he was sure Loki wouldn't get back up. He rolled the god onto his back to scowl at what he was covering up. Bruce? I think he's hurt. You're a doctor, right?

[pudding]

Bruce was reluctant enough to approach the fallen god in worry that just seeing him would trigger a transformation. But his nerves seemed calm enough so he gradually approached, taking a knee along side Tony. Loki's eyes were squeezed shut but he seemed generally incapable of moving. That was good, at least. "Aren't you too?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He was nearly positive Tony had decided to study medicine in some form at some time or another. How else did an idiot like him manage to stay alive? But he looked back down at Loki anyway, trying to move his arms away from his chest. It took some effort since despite Loki nearly being unconscious but he finally managed to reveal the white bandages wrapped around his chest. Only, they weren't entirely white anymore. Two large blotches of dark blue were quite obviously dying the front of his body. "His bandages need to be changed," Bruce replied, instinctively reaching out to undo them and patch up whatever was wrong with him. He had been working as a doctor for some time wherever he went and old habits died hard.

[shadow_claw]

Well, I'm not as good as you. You're better with...people medicine. I'm best at machine medicine. Tony muttered. He was usually pretty cocky, but his knowledge in medicine was limitied and Bruce had much more experience with wounds. Tony's knowledge didn't extend much further than treating hangovers. Just watching his friend reflexively start treating Loki assured him that he had made the right choice in stepping back. Now, they only had to wait until Fury and his favorite agents showed up.

[pudding]

Bruce had just managed to remove enough of the bandages to get a look at what kind of injuries Loki had when the god came to once more. One pale hand quickly grabbed the bandages to stop Bruce from undoing them any further while the other worked to prop him upright. Even if he had only been out for a few seconds, he was not liking where this was going. "You are not permitted to touch," He growled as he began moving away from the two of them, crawling backwards as quickly as he could while attempting to re-wrap the bandages around himself. Unsteadily, he climbed to his feet, keeping both eyes on the two. He wasn't stupid enough to try to attack Bruce after last time but that didn't mean he'd just idly sit down and wait for him to turn green.

"Did you decide that before or after you collapsed on the floor?" Bruce asked dryly as he stood up slowly. He didn't want to cross the god but at the same time, he had to do something. He was covered in blood and had clearly opened open whatever injury those bandages were covering.

Edited October 20, 2014 by pudding

[shadow_claw]

Tony raised both hands as Loki stood, an almost smug look on his face. Okay, fine, fine. We'll have Romanoff do it when she shows up. Or Fury. Maybe he'll stick a big eyepatch on your stomach. His brown eyes narrowed as he snickered at his own joke. Wait a second. Why didn't he have any weapons? Or any minions to back him up? Something was wrong. Loki wouldn't turn himself in. There would be no way! JARVIS, run through all security cameras in the city. Where did he come from?

He had walked across the city, sir, from a complex of low-rent apartments.

Tony scowled. Why would Loki be in a bunch of cheap apartments?

Which one?

Apartment 17-B, sir

Now what made that so important? As far as he knew, Loki wouldn't be living on Earth. Why would he? He tried to destroy the world for God's sake!

Sir? I have found who currently lives in that apartment.

The curved screen Bruce had been operating moments before flickered to life again, this time capturing a scene of a man carrying groceries. As soon as a clear shot of the man's face was shown, the video paused.

Sonova *...that's Barton!

Edited October 20, 2014 by shadow_claw

[pudding]

Bruce turned to look at the screen Tony was staring at as he conversed with JARVIS. While their attention was away from him, Loki finished wrapping his chest again, trying his best to ignore the throbbing that indicated his wounds had reopened. Tony't threat about the red-head or the disgruntled commander of SHIELD hardly concerned him. The only real ones that worried him were his own brother and the other monster in the room. Aside from that, what more were the Avengers than mortals? "Do you not even know where your own teammates reside?" Loki asked to Tony's surprise at the owner of the apartment he had come from. "It may be within your best interests to send a few people there. You never know what could happen."

[shadow_claw]

Tony's eyes remained on in screen as Loki talked. What in the Hell was Loki doing at Barton's place? That didn't make any sense! Had he...had he killed Clint? That would explain why Loki was hurt. That powerless, suitless guy wouldnmt go without a fight. What concerned him the most, however, was not Loki. It was Natasha. If she found out Loki had killed Clint...Things would get violent quickly. His thoughts were interrupted as JARVIS spoke up again.

Sir, SHIELD has arrived.

Send Romanoff down only. She'll want to see this.

[pudding]

Ah, yes. Romanoff was the red-haired woman who had managed to pry some key information out of him during his very short capture. The elevator dinged quite loudly as Natasha stepped out of the elevator. Of course, she already knew about Loki's presence since Fury had informed her but seeing him was clearly somewhat of a shock for her. Things got personal very quickly as she ignored both Tony and Bruce in favor of rapidly approaching the god.

"No wait a minute," Bruce started to say before Natasha's foot suddenly connected with the god's head, sending him dropping to the ground once more. Somewhat satisfied by this, she turned and looked back at Tony and Bruce.

"Why did you only have me come up here?" She asked, cutting straight to the point. "There's an entire army down there so why just me? What happened?"

[shadow_claw]

Tony greeted Natasha with a cocky grin. Yes, there was the woman that everyone with common sense feared. Because I wanted to tell you this in private. He glanced at the screen again. You know who that is. Barton. We traced Loki to his apartment. We don't know exactly what happened, but...we think he might be dead. He was never one to beat around the bush. If Clint was dead, he was dead. That was all there was to it. It's your call what we do from here. If your boyfriend's dead...I figured you wanted to be the first to see him.

Sir?

Yeah, JARVIS?

The door just opened to Agent Barton's apartment.

What? How was that possible? Clint was dead! Was this Loki just an illusion? As the screen flickered to live feed, a shirtless man was seen staggering out of the building. He clutched his chest with one hand and his head with another. No way...what the Hell was going on?!

You've got a lot of explaining to do. Tony deadpanned, his gaze now on the fallen god. If Loki hadn't killed Clint...then why was he here?

[pudding]

Loki rubbed his cheek where he had been struck as he slowly propped himself upright. The conversation carrying on nearby did not go unnoticed by him, however, and when he was called upon he turned to face Tony. "Do I?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. "The way I see it, you don't know what happened. I'm the only one who knows all the answers. Why would I show all of the cards I hold when it is the only thing preventing you from shipping me back to Asgard?" He crawled to his feet yet again, focusing his attention on the three of them assembled there. Barton moving around was concerning. It wouldn't be good for his condition if he suddenly broke down in the middle of the street.

"I'll be completely honest when I say I want to deal with him later," Natasha replied as she glanced away from the screen to stare at Loki instead. She had been so close to just killing him before JARVIS had spoken up. It was hard to calm back down after that and she was doing her best not to just carry that out. "I am going to go get Barton. You two can take care of him." With that, she quickly turned and started for the elevator. "Oh, and you might want to go get Steve as long as he's back."

[shadow_claw]

Let's put this simply, okay? Tony turned his full body towards Loki as he began to speak. With Natasha leaving, that meant he could call the shots. He crossed his arms as he looked the god over. What was this guy hiding? You tell us what happened, or I'm calling Thor over. I've been nice enough not to tell him anything yet. And if I do, your ass is getting hauled back up to Asgard. Telling Thor about Loki would be an inconvenience to them all. Thor would be Hellbent on getting Loki back to Asgard, but SHIELD would want the information of the proceedings between Loki and Clint. It was a lose-lose situation if Thor was told anything.

 

---

 

He only really got up once he realized what a huge mistake he had made. Loki was gonna go straight to Tony! That would cause a ton of problems. And he didn't need Loki's chairty! No, he could sort this out himself. Clint staggered out the door, a hand covering the wound in his stomach. His arm in the sling was tilted upwards to press into his left temple. That stifled the pain a little. Damn, it was cold. Maybe he should've put a shirt on...Clint paused at an intersection. Which way was Stark Tower again? His thoughts were too clouded to discern which way was which. Oh man...maybe this hadnmt been that great an idea.

 

((You know, Clint has to be a mathmatical genuis. I just thought about this the other day. Being the world's best marksman means he has to know geometry like nobody else who was interested in sharpshooting. Just in the movie, some of the stunts he pulls when shooting are near-impossible unless he could do tons of difficult math in his head. I just find it funny that most assume him to be stupid.))

[pudding]

"And what would that accomplish?" Loki replied. Even if he was injured, he wasn't stupid. "I am here right now and I was in one of Asgard's places of highest security. It is clear if you manage to make contact with Thor, I would simply be transported back. A few weeks later, I would just escape again. You hardly know how I have come to be here so how can you stop it?" Of course, Loki was relying on the fact Thor would not actually desire him to die. Brotherly bonds had to account for something and Thor still seemed to entertain the fact they had been raised together. Or, at least he had. Since the time of his imprisonment, only Frigga had visited. Still, he could do well enough to bluff. "I have nothing to say if it means you would only send me back there anyway as soon as you know everything you need to." He glanced down at his hand and gave his fingers a small wiggle before looking up at Tony. "So why not an exchange instead? A little information for a little information?"

 

Natasha took no time in taking off in a sprint as soon as the elevator doors opened back up at the ground level. Of course she knew where Clint's apartment was but it was difficult to stay calm. She had to, of course, but where Clint was involved, she cared a great deal. Seeing him in danger made it too hard to focus on anything except making sure he was alright. And she finally saw him, outside the apartment building, she quickly ran to his side. He wasn't wearing a shirt and didn't seem in very good condition. But at least he was alive. Quickly, she closed the gab between them, trying to focus on what injuries he had and what had to be done to make sure he would stay alright. "Just hold on, understand? We're going to make sure everything is alright."

 

((That is always weird. It really like Clint as a character. I hope he gets more screen time later on.))

 

 

[shadow_claw]

((He's supposed to have a lot of screen time in the Avengers 2. I hooe he and Tash get their own movie.))

 

Like what? What could you possibly want to know about us? Our eating habits? You already know and exploited our weaknesses as individuals. Tony scowled at the man before him. What on Earth could he possibly want from them? Loki had already stolen their SHIELD files on them when he had the army of zombified SHIELD agents. What could Loki gain from them?

 

---

 

That smell...it was his Tash. It had to be. She always smelled so good. He'd bugged her about what kinda perfume she wore, only to find out she never wore anything. As soon as she was close enough, he basically just melted in her grasp. He couldn't help it. He wouldn't let himself be weak around anyone else but her. They'd been through Hell together; they'd seen each other at their worst. Did he tell ya what's goin' on? He mumbled. If Natasha was notified...that meant Loki had already been caught. Th' god, he's tryin' t' help. Please don' tell me ya've killed 'im...

[pudding]

Loki blinked, unable to resist a sly comment. "For someone who hasn't agreed, you certainly have a lot of questions," he replied. "I won't answer anything until you agree. Naturally, it would be magically binding. I do not feel like entertaining lies at the moment and I would assume neither would you" He glanced down at his hand yet again, finally managing to conjure some green sparks. His hands started to turn slightly blue at the fingertips but he didn't pay too much attention it it. "One question, then another. You may start first. An equal number of questions may be exchanged and then the deal with end. If you want information, this is the only way to get it that will not be tiresome for both of us."

 

Help? What did he mean help? That was impossible, given the state of Clint's injuries. He looked like he had been in a fight. "He's with Tony and Bruce," Natasha replied. What had happened after she left, she didn't know. Or really care. Someone like Loki seemed unredeemable. "What do you mean, help? What did he do to you?"

[shadow_claw]

Tony's eyes narrowed at Loki as he mulled the idea over. What would be the harm in it? After a few seconds of consideration, he stepped forward and extended a hand. Fine.. They needed to get to the bottom of all this, and if that meant a magically-bound contract, he'd do that. Why did you come here? A simple enough question. Not to kill them, or they would've already fought.

 

'S a long story..He tried t' kill me, I tried t' kill him... The whole incident was a bit too fuzzy for his liking. Why was it so hard to recall? Th' staff...Ya know what's been happenin' t' all those agents. He's tryin' t' help me fix it. Fix it all. As if the very mention of it was tabooed, He doubled over as pain seared through his skull again. Nggghh...He was goin' t' Stark t' ask fer help...

[pudding]

Their two hands connected and the green sparks faded from Loki's hand, spreading between the two of them. Loki blinked a few times then withdrew his hand, giving his fingers a tiny wiggle as if trying to figure out how how magic he had left. He was really starting to consider dropping the illusion to conserve energy. He needed to replenish his supplies and there wasn't enough time to sit down and focus on it.

"Escape, naturally," He replied, his tongue surrounded by the green sparks that had previously been on his hand. Magic to prevent lies that also made the tongue somewhat looser and numb. "Of the other realms, this seemed the most detached and easiest to blend in. Of course, there were others but I did not desire to visit Jotunhiem after I attempted to destroy it. Moreover, it gave me the perfect opportunity to attempt revenge. It seemed ideal at the time." He shrugged slightly and considered his questions briefly before nodding. "Do you have any means of knowing where SHIELD is currently housed?"

 

"The regression?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow. That was what she had taken to call it since the other agents had all but returned to their zombie-like state. Clint had luckily been spared thus far but he was quite clearly not doing as well. Carefully, she held onto him, trying to prevent him from falling to the ground completely. It was clearly hard for him to talk but she needed answers about what was going on. Only a few more sentences and he could rest again. "Why is he helping?" she asked. That seemed like the most obvious question. "He tried to kill all of us so what changed?"

[shadow_claw]

I meant here. In my tower. Loki wasn't lying. Tony could tel lthat much. If he lived in a place where everyone hated him, he'd escape too. He wandered about the lab as he thought about he reply. Depends on which one you're talking about. There's several. The Helicarrier is their main dispatch center, but there's prisons too. Four prisons, to be exactz. After speaking, he frowned. He hadn't wanted to say all that. It just seemed to spew out of his mouth.

 

---

 

When Clint looked back up at Batasha, a small smile flickered across his pained face. Just the thought of it made him grin. 'Cause he owes me a favor. It was funny, how such a small favor could change someone's attitude right away. Clint had learned of it pretty quickly. He was deadly in that sense. Nobody ever liked to approach Natasha because of her cold demeanor, but Clint...Clint was outwardly warm and friendly. He could easily twist the wills of others by doing nice things. No tricks, no foul play. Just kind, honest things that others believed to be favors.

[pudding]

"I was told you would know the location of the four prisons. It's quite obvious one of those is my destination given my question. Considering your skills in Midgardian technology, and your alignment towards SHIELD, you would be the person to talk to." Loki grimaced as he snapped his mouth shut, trying to stop himself from speaking. Binding magic was so annoying. The fact it affected them both equally was fairly irritating when it came to holding secrets. But that hardly mattered now. He'd reveal everything with the next question. "Can you tell me which one my scepter is being held in?"

"Now wait!" Bruce declared, taking a step towards the two. Magic was unusual but it was clear no good would come of Loki knowing the location to the staff. But even if Loki could find out where it was, they didn't want him getting it. That was dangerous!

 

A favor? Really? Loki suddenly turns around and helps everyone over a favor? They were still talking about the same guy who had killed hundreds, right? Well, they needed to get him somewhere safe. "We'll talk about this later," She replied, carefully adjusting her grip on him so that she could support his weight better. "You need to rest for now. I'm going to take you to SHIELD."

[shadow_claw]

Tony held up a hand towards Bruce. They had made a deal. Bruce stepping into this would break the deal, for sure. I could, just not on hand. He replied. It would take some snooping, for sure. He stopped wandering about the room and raised his hands. A holographic screen became visible. As he flicked about it with his hands, his brown eyes narrowed. Scepter...where would it be? Aha! The Raft. He stated suddenly. Or the Helicarrier itself. The Raft holds the most dangerous villians and weapons, but I wouldn't be surprised if Fury keeps the thing right by his side. He looked up from the screens to glance at Loki. What happened between you and Clint?

 

---

 

SHIELD? They hadn't wanted him. Not with him like this. Clint shook his head in weak protest. He's already been put on paid leave. They didn't want him back. They don' want me there. He muttered weakly. How could he explain it to her? She wouldn't care!

[pudding]

That narrowed four down to two. Fantastic, that was all he needed. Considering the number of questions had equalled out, it seemed fair enough to disband the magic. "Just one moment," he replied with a snap of his fingers. "The contract has ended. Our exchange of information has ceased. I see no reason to answer your question when I have nothing more to ask myself." He smirked and glanced around at the inside of the tower. Some renovations had been done but the structure seemed generally similar. "If you'll excuse me, I should be leaving. We can resume our discussion at a later time but I don't have time to play with mortals now."

 

That was kind of true. But where else were they supposed to go? "Fine," she replied, practically dragging him across the street. "Then we'll go to Stark's. It'll be a great oppertunity to make sure they haven't killed him and you to get some rest. But this doesn't change the fact Loki probably will turn around and stab us all in the back. I've seen him and I couldn't see any trace of regret."

[shadow_claw]

JARVIS? You know what to do. In an instant, the building was placed on lockdown again. Loki wasn't getting out without Stark's say-so, and that was final. His tense expression grew smug, and he stuck his tongue out at Loki. You see, I want my questions answered. Call it...a bit of bargaining. And since the contract's over, as you said so yourself, there's nothing keeping me from locking you in here. His brown eyes flashed with amusement at a thought. Besides, with the Russian and her Hawk showing up, they'll straighten things out soon enough. So get confortable, because you're not leaving. Tony glanced back at the conputer screen. After a while, two familiar faces came into view from the security cameras. Tash, I'm unlocking the doors, but you're going to have to take the steps. We're on lockdown.

[pudding]

Ah, there it was again. He looked around at the red lighting and tinted windows then back to Tony. On one hand, he could attempt to force his way out. But on the other hand, he could wait. Regain energy and plot. If Tony wanted answers, he had time until he answered them. Shrugging his shoulders slightly, Loki slowly lowered himself into a sitting position on the floor. "Very well," he replied, moving away from the main room to a side door. This required some time but he'd need to drop all of his spells to properly restore energy. Naturally, this was something he didn't want to do in front of the rest of the Avengers, but even more so Stark. He seemed like the sort of obsessive person he didn't want to deal with in his real form. "I'll rest in here for exactly an hour. If you do not want to hurt yourself, I would suggest not disturbing me." Not giving too much time to explain himself, he quickly shut the door. Immediately, he placed one hand over his chest and nearly doubled over yet again. Slowly, he undid the bandages around his chest to reveal the larger of the two wounds had reopened despite the stitches. Not something fatal but it was enough. Quickly, he turned off the lights and retreated back into a far corner of the room, crossing his legs and setting one hand on the floor in front of him. His skin rippled as the illusion was dropped and the nearby windows quickly began to frost over as Loki's natural body temperature lowered the temperature of the entire room. Hunching his shoulders over, he took several large breaths through his mouth as he tried to calm himself and start focusing solely on regaining magic. Usually, he passively did such a feat but there were times when he could actively try to do the same through meditation. This sped up the process greatly but also left him incapacitate for a great deal of time.

 

Did Tony forget exactly how tall his tower was again? Clint was injured so he couldn't climb them, which meant she'd have to climb them with him. Not that it was difficult or anything but it was long and tedious. "Copy that," She replied as she pushed open the door to the stairwell and began to climb up the first set, still towing Clint along as best she could. Figuring there were microphones somewhere, she looked up at the closest video camera. "Clint wants to make sure you didn't kill Loki," she declared. "Did you?"

[shadow_claw]

Tony rolled his eyes at Loki. Dumm-E? The little robot that had been sitting unused perked up from across the room. Keep watch by that door. If Loki tried to get out, spray him with that fire extingisher of yours. It probably wouldn't hrt Loki, but It wouls give Tony and Bruce enough time to get out of the way. As he watched Natasha haul Clint up the steps, his pervious grin faded. Clint didn't look well at all. No, we didn't kill him. He's sulking in a closet right now. Did Clint tell you anything? Bruce would probably have to look the guy over, because he looked like he'd been hit by a bus.

[pudding]

Nat stopped briefly, readjusting her grip on Clint. It took a lot to keep on trudging up the seemingly endless flight of stairs. "Apparent, he's trying to help with a problem SHIELD has been dealing with for a while." She continued to walk up the stairs, trying to focus on Tony and not the stairs. "That's all I got. He's not really ready to speak right now. He needs to rest and as long as Loki isn't going anywhere, we have time to let him do that."

[shadow_claw]

Why would Loki of all people team up with them? Tony scowled from where he stood. That didn't make any sense! Fine. We'll get some answers out of him when he's lucid enough to speak. For now, he waited until they arrived. They were safe inside the building, but it was best if they stayed together.

As footsteps sounded near the stairwell, Tony turned his head. Finally! For top agents, they were awfully slow! Bruce, you should look him over. He doesn't look too- As soon as Clint seemed to register that he didn't need to drag himself up any more stairs, his legs gave out and he collapsed face-first onto the cold tile. Uh...I'll go get my first-aid kit... Leaving the injured Avenger to the others, Stark skirted out of the room in search of his bathroom. That's where he kept the tiny first-aid kit, of course. There wasn't much to it, but he didn't want to be in the room if things got hairy. It was just how cowardly he was. Unsurpisingly, Tony didn't have to look twice at the half-empty bottle of alcohol left on the sink. It was drained before he returned to the group. Staying sufficiently buzzed would take the edge off the whole situation.