Avengers/Thor AU

[shadow_claw]

The blast was enough to have Tony run back inside. He skidded on the thick layer of ice in the floor and crashed into the wall with a metal clang. God damn...He's gone! Grimacing, he struggled to his feet. Of course he had to go and close the damned door. God...goddammit! How could he have let Loki get away so easily!? Angrily did he slam his fist against the wall, which led to even more plaster to rain down. Could this get any worse!?

[pudding]

And that was his cue. Feeling little need to actually climb through the hole he had created, Loki had simply used it as a distraction while he remained in the corner, having rendered himself invisible. When the door was thrown open and Tony skidded inside, he swiftly exited the room, slipping past Bruce as he quickly walked to the door as well, peering inside. "He's not gone yet," Bruce replied, peering up at the hole in the ceiling. "Isn't there some way to find him if he's in the walls? Or do you have to go in after him?" Obviously, Bruce wasn't going to crawl in a dark hole in Tony's ceiling. That was a really stupid idea.

 

Gaining the upper hand during the confusion, Loki quickly moved to the stairs. The elevator was out and he wasn't in the mood to risk trying to break the windows when lockdown was still going on. He had no idea if they would actually break but the stairs? The stairs were still available. But opening the door would alert Tony and the others. Well, it was the only thing he could do a the moment. He didn't have time with Thor on his way.

Dropping the spell in an instant so he was back to his normal, not-blue self, Loki quickly yanked open the door to the stairs and sprinted down them as quickly as he could. Tony had the suit on but making such sharp turns would have to slow him down some. And this time, Loki was ready for a fight.

[shadow_claw]

Alarms flared as the door to the stairs opened. In an instant did Tony barrel down the steps, taking flight instead of running. Loki couldn't be too far. The building was still on lockdown, after all. JARVIS, search the building. Loki had to be headed to the main doors. They should be locked, and Natasha said that there was a whole army of SHIELD agents outside. Hopefully that would be enough to stop the rogue god. As Loki expected, Tony's speed made the sharp turns difficult. Often did he scrape against walls and smack into corners. This didn't slow him much. It was more frustrating than anything. The billionaire's voice rang throughout the tower as he flew. Loki's out, stay on guard for him!

[pudding]

The sound of Stark slamming into walls in an effort to chase him down occurred much faster than he had expected. Quickly, he racked his mind for a plan. This was usually how things happened. He had a general goal in mind and worked towards getting there while being chased, attacked or in times of extreme stress. It tended to work better that way. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. That was it! He knew exactly how to do this. Jumping down several flights, he quickly made his way to the bottom of the stairs, forming a ball in his hands of magical energy. He needed a safe way to do this. A way that would not inspire much suspicion. "Come on, Stark!" He yelled, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to turn around and wait for the man of Iron to come barreling down the stairs after him. He had to make this realistic or it wouldn't work. "You're only a mortal. What do you think you can do against a god?"

[shadow_claw]

Tony didn't need any bait to continue to chase after Loki. He was reaching the end of the stairs now, only a few flights left. As he rocketed downwards, a repulser blast charged in his hands. He'd blow the scrawny moron right off his feet. Through the windows, hopefully right into Fury's lap. That'd be funny. But as he reached Loki, he realized what a mistake he had made. He shut off his rockets, brown eyes growing wide at the green ball of destruction before him. Nevermind, guys. Found him.

[pudding]

Loki smirked slightly and hurled the ball deliberately at Tony's shoulder instead of directly at his face. Killing him right now would piss off SHIELD and he probably wouldn't survive any further. What he needed was to stage the fight well enough that he could surrender and be brought into custody. But he didn't need to do anything further because that would ruin his chances. "Indeed," He replied with a smirk. "We hardly fought during the invasion so why don't you show me what you are capable of."

[shadow_claw]

JARVIS, but up the- Before he could finish what he was saying, a blast to the shoulder sent him flying back into the stairwell. Shaking off the resulting rubble, he grimaced. Okay...so that's how he was going to play it. You're not the only one with weapons, pal. A soft, yet high-pitched whine slowly built up from his chest. The core light in his chest-where the Arc Reactor was-grew slowly brighter. Once he had built up enough energy, he rushed forward with a blast of his rockets and released the repulser blast at the same time. Yeah. You tried to enslave me, and then threw me out a window. Good fight.

[pudding]

Loki stared at the mortal, having expected more of him rather than him just flying backwards right away. Maybe he would have to tone down a little bit more. But quickly, Tony was on his feet again, his suit making a strange sound. "I'm sure," He replied, focusing on the sound. Had he broken it? Suddenly, the man of Iron was right in front of him, sending him flying backwards with a bright blast of light that oddly resembled magic. Loki struck the wall and crashed right through it, flying a good distance before crashing to the street outside. His body created a medium sized hole in the pavement but very slowly, he picked himself back up, breathing slowly out of his nose as he focused on the hole his body had created in the tower. "Is that all?" he asked after a moment, turning his head slightly to the side. Several people in dark uniforms ran in his direction, waving guns but this wasn't too convincing. He needed a bigger fight before actually surrendering. He stepped away from the crater and began moving back towards the tower, summoning a green orb to his hands as he did so. He hurled it almost lazily at the agents running towards him. It smashed to the floor, spitting up asphalt and sending several members flying away with great force. "I expected more from you," he muttered, trying to goad Tony into putting up a bigger fight.

[shadow_claw]

Tony stalked after Loki, pleased with the crater he'd created. His face mask flipped open, revealing a smug grin beneath it. As if offended, he placed a hand upon his chest. Why, I feel so terribly insulted. The minute his mask flipped back down, two small covers flipped up on his shoulders and launched several missiles. Stupid SHIELD agents, of course they'd get in the way. They didn't realize how badly Loki's butt was gonna get kicked.

[pudding]

Maybe he had rushed a bit into this. Loki quickly raised a hand, errecting a makeshift barrier in front of him. The air shimmered as the first two missiles exploded vibrantly in front of him, only for the third explosion to shatter his barrier. The rest of the missiles exploded shortly thereafter. As the smoke cleared, Loki stumbled slightly, resting a hand on his knee. He drew in a few sharp breathes before shaking his head. Not enough. He couldn't just surrender or they'd realize his ruse. More convincing. He slowly moved his heels together and fired another green orb at Tony, followed by a blast of green energy. Stark needed to be more angry or they'd never get this over with. "Come now, man of Iron," he cooed, smirking up at him. "Or perhaps I should kill someone like last time. You did have some history with that agent on the Helicarrier, did you not?"

[shadow_claw]

This time, Tony had some time to make his own barriers appear. It lessened the damage of his suit, at the very least. The Iron Man skidded backwards a fee paces as he was hit, but continued forward soon after. Actually, it's your good pal Hawkeye that was close with him. Coulson saved his life. Okay, he'd admit it; he hacked into the SHIELD profiles of the other Avengers. He couldn't help but pry. Clint had every right to kill you, but Natasha said he kept asking if you were alright until he couldn't keep his eyes open. You don't even realize how much you've wrecked a guy who should've killed you on sight. Loki had tweaked a nerve with the mention of Phil. Not with him, but with Clint. The team had a short time to bond, and he realized that Clint took the most damage out of all the team. Tony's tower was wrecked, sure. But Clint had way more baggage because of the battles. Another uni-beam charged up in his chest as he walked toward the god. It takes a lot of nerve to do that. To not only leave a guy with crippling nightmares, but also kill his best friend. He was the one to stitch you up, wasn't he? Tony chuckled bitterly and shook his head. Loki really liked to abuse the nice guys. You're sick.

[pudding]

Loki's expression clouded when Tony admitted it was Clint who had actually cherished the agent. Loki had killed quite a few people but the agent left a mark on his memory because of the gun. But he hadn't actually known what his name was until Tony mentioned it. Recalling Clint had mentioned the agent, he couldn't help but hesitate. Honestly, his memory was blurry during the war but he could still remember that, at least. Raising a hand, he held his head as a headache began to flare up at the thought of the war. "That's enough," he muttered, closing his eyes. He had thought these had gone away. Why were they resurfacing now? "It was not my intention to befriend anyone. I am simply trying to repay a debt. I don't care about anything else."

[shadow_claw]

Tony scowled beneath his mask, stopping a few feet away from Loki. He was startled to actually see him hesitate, and then actually stop like he had a headache. What. Did he actually feel bad? As he stopped, he released the charging attack in the corr of his suit. The bright column of light blasted at Loki. It only made sense to kick Loki while he was down.

[pudding]

As the ringing in his ears increased in volume, Loki moved his hands away from head to cover them instead. A white light overtook his vision, followed immediately by a burning pain all over his body. The god was on his back in only a few seconds, struggling to breathe. The light or whatever Stark had used had torn into his chest quite seriously. If Stark had been right in front of him, the energy probably would have gone straight through him. But he had been close enough for it to do plenty of damage. Resting his head back into the concrete, he wheezed as his hands tried to move towards the injury to start trying to heal it.

[shadow_claw]

Seemingly done with fighting, Tony motioned towards the assembled crowd of SHIELD agents. You know the drill. Muzzle and cuff him. He muttered. In the tower, The blast outside awoke the originally unconscious archer. Natasha's hair-striking had lulled him to sleep before, but the commotion outside was enough to wake him. Groaning, Clinr blinked his blue eyes open and struggled to sit up. What was going on?

[pudding]

Loki didn't move all that much as humans dressed in dark outfits grabbed him by his shoulders and hauled him to his feet. A few familiar muzzle was forced around his mouth, immediately causing the magic in his hands to fizzle out as he could not longer mutter to himself the incantations. This was followed very quickly by handcuffs wrapping around his wrists, ankles and even his neck.

 

Natasha quickly pressed her hand to Clint's shoulder, trying to force him back down again. "Stop," She said, shaking her head. "Tony's dealing with everything, don't worry. You need to rest for now."

[shadow_claw]

((I say now's the time we start with the movies. Clint and be sent back to SHIELD for treatment, and Natasha leaves on a mission with Steve. And while they're gone, Tony can tell Bruce about stuff like he did in the movie. We might need a little timeskipping around since we know what happened, but will have to write through stuff to incorperate characters that originally weren't in those movies. Sound cool?))

[pudding]

((I like that idea. Since Loki is in SHIELD custody, maybe we could have him involved in Hydra. Should you start or me?))

[shadow_claw]

((I can))

 

Something was wrong. Clint sat in the pristine white room, a small frown on his face. What was going on? Only when he stood to glance out the window did he get the glimpse of an answer. A familiar man rushed by on a stretcher, familliar faces blurred along with it. That was Nat and Steve! Then who was on the stretcher? What's goin' on? The archer asked, turning to the attending nurse. The woman smiled and motioned for Clint to sit back down.

"Nothing, dear. People get hurt all the time."

But...Why are-

"Don't worry about it. You need to rest."

 

---

 

Running his fingers through his hair, Tony shifted in his seat awkwardly. He glanced up at the man seated across from him a few times. How did he start this? Look, it really means a lot to me for listening to this. I've just got to get this stuff of my chest. With everything that had happened...he needed someone to talk to. Someone he could trust.

[pudding]

One prison had been exchanged for another. But, in terms of guarding, this one was far, far weaker. For all the humans claimed to be a great and powerful species, they failed to comprehend even the basic tenants of magic. The fact letting him sit and brood in a cell was really quite silly when it just gave him time to gather his magic and prepare for a magical massacre and fetch his staff. He'd cure Clint then bail before Thor managed to find the location of his cell. He had to already been on Midgard so time was really running short now.

Hearing a commotion outside of his cell, Loki slowly stood and approached the door. Unlike last time, this cell was not flying in a ship but instead simply in a building. It was fairly plain and completely white but he didn't care so much about what it looked like. What mattered was if he could get out and it seemed like he would be able to. Peering through the tiny window that let light into the room, he watched as a stretcher was pushed by very quickly. Ah, well. That did not matter so much to him. Stepping away from the window, he moved back to the corner of the room and began focusing on regaining his energy without dropping his illusion.

 

"Don't worry," Bruce replied, crossing one leg over the other. "Everything has calmed down recently so I have time to listen. I might not be able to help you but I can at least listen."

 

 

[shadow_claw]

Clint remained sitting until the nurse stood and left the room. Finally, a staff change. That meant...he only had about ten minutes. Instantly did he tear the IV from his hand, grimacing as he did so. The injured archer dropped the IV and walked to the door. When he turned the knob, he was startled to find it had locked. What? That never happened before! Quickly did he grab the IV pole again, turning his head and biting off the tube close to where the needle was. He could pick the lock with that. There were perks to being raised in a circus. Knowing how to pick a lock was one of them. When the door finally clicked, Clint turned the knob and slowly opened it. He needed to see what had happened. SHIELD couldn't hold him with a locked door.

[pudding]

Natasha stared through the class window at the man being operated on. This was incredibly difficult to deal with both this and Clint. It was like everything just decided to crash down all at once. But at least Clint was in a secure area. Seeing Fury like this would be awful for his mentality and he just had to get better. Plus, having Loki locked away in the basement wasn't exactly comforting. Based on last time, she had a feeling he was only in there as long as he wanted to be. If Asgard couldn't hold him, how could they?

[shadow_claw]

Natasha was right for not wanting Clint to see Fury. There was reasoning behind not telling him anything. She and Clint had shared their deepest, darkest secrets to each other. He knew everything she did about her own past. Letting on that The Winter Soldier was back could easily weaken whatever resistance Clint had been using against the regression. But Natasha's fatal mistake was not enforcing his containment herself. Clint was deadly when it came to escaping, simply because he had done it all the time as a child. When he set eyes on the Director under operation, he was stunned. Only when two words were lip-read through the assembled crowd did he lose it. Winter. No. Nonono! Clint doubled over from where he hid, clutching his head as waves of rage washed over him. That wasn't possible! Soldier.

 

A crash, and he was gone. Clint tore from his hiding space, shoving an onlooker out of the way as he ran. He was going to kill that ***. Going to do it with his own bare hands! Shouts behind him blurred into the scene around him as he bolted. Only when he was tackled by a nearby agent did things detiorate even more. Clint was too far gone to realize who was and wasn't an enemy. His eyes blazed a flourescent blue to prove this. Clawing, kicking, screaming at the man who had pinned him to the ground, he did everything he could to free himself. This struggling tore open the wounds that had been healing previously, quickly making the scene a bloody mess. What Natasha should've been worrying about was how SHIELD contained Clint, not Loki. But that was all too late. Clint was long lost in his fury.

[pudding]

Natasha quickly turned around at the crashing sound from nearby, followed by yells of surprise and alarm. Her thoughts raced as she ran as quickly as she could from the viewing room. She didn't want to have to deal with Loki escaping right now but more than anything, she didn't want the fuss to be caused by Clint. Forcing herself to attack him to keep him under control was something she found very difficult to do. But as she raced into the hall and found a man kicking and screaming, pinned under another agent, she realized this was not a fight she could run away from. Clint had to be taken care of and he was only injuring himself like this.

 

Had he seen Fury? Was this what caused everything? Quickly, she moved to Clint and the man pinning him down and knelt down beside him as he kicked and yelled. She was going to have to talk to Loki about this if Clint was getting worse. If Loki could fix this... She'd do something to help him. Maybe get his staff for him. She just wanted this to stop. "Someone get me handcuffs," she muttered, looking around at the assembling crowd. "Now!"

[shadow_claw]

The once-still crowd seemed to evaporate once Natasha barked for handcuffs. People scattered this way and that, until an agent finally came up with a pair of handcuffs. Nobody wanted near Clint, not with him like this. And Natasha was just as frightening. Everyone knew that she was upset. Fury was dead, Clint was insane; she had very little to hold onto. It was an unnerving thought in itself. Nobody trusted Natasha but a select few, and the majority of those select few weren't alright at the moment.

 

((Do yoy know Natasha's backstory? Lots of folks I RP with don't, so I'm just wondering.))