A/N: Minor spoiler for Agents of SHIELD and a certain agent's fate in this chapter ;)

~8~

Brothers No More

"Where did that come from?" Athena shook her head, turning to the Captain, not sure where the weapon that Iron Man had appeared from. It was only too obvious to them all that it was not a Chitauri weapon or else the man wouldn't be trying to get it away from them. It appeared more like it was something that had been sent AT them to eradicate the Chitauri, even if it meant taking THEM out too, than anything. It appeared more like Iron Man had intercepted it and was trying to direct it towards the largest source of the Chitauri, the rift, than to let it strike the heart of New York where there were still massive amounts of civilians hiding in the buildings around them.

One look at Captain America, at his tense and rigid position, his hands clenched into fists, and the betrayed expression on his face, and the answer was clear, SHIELD had launched the weapon at them.

But they had little time to actually comprehend that or think much on it when screams erupted around them and the Chitauri warriors and their Leviathans began to roar in pain before they collapsed, the Leviathans falling from the sky all around them. The three of them looked around, for only a moment, at the Chitauri bodies that were now littering the streets, and back up to the portal, waiting for Iron Man to get out. The portal was still open, closing slowly, not as quickly as it opened and they could guess it was Natasha's doing that it wasn't immediately closing, the fact that it had started to close just after Captain America gave the order had to mean that she had managed to find a way to turn the Tesseract's controls off.

The Captain kept his eyes on the portal, waiting as long as he felt he could but when Iron Man didn't appear…he had to fear the worst, that the missile had gone off (why else would the Chitauri suddenly fall with no sign of injury and all at once if Stark hadn't taken something enormous out on the other side of the portal) and taken Iron Man with it. He swallowed hard and tapped his earpiece, "Close it."

They watched the portal intently as it began to close faster, not longer being held back or kept open, hoping for a miracle, and nearly leapt with cheer when the faint figure, a blur of red and gold fell out of the portal only a second before it closed completely.

"Son of a gun!" the Captain cried, a wide grin on his face.

But Athena's own smile faded, "He's not moving," she looked to the Captain.

"He's not slowing down either," Thor agreed, about to lift Mjolnir and fly to the portal to catch him when the Hulk dove past them, leaping up buildings and lunging off one to grab Iron Man right out of the air, nearly crashing into another building but using it to slide down to the ground, making his way back towards them in the process. The Hulk landed heavily before them, half throwing Iron Man off him and to the ground as the three of them ran over.

Thor pulled the face plate off of Iron Man to access to Tony while Athena moved her sword under his nose, "He's not breathing," she told them, not seeing the blade fog up from his breaths.

The Captain moved closer, putting a hand over Iron Man's chest to feel for a heartbeat…and then noticed the glowing circle in the middle of his chest had ceased glowing. He looked at them all, solemn…before wincing when the Hulk let out a roar and beat at his chest, the noise seeming to shock Tony awake as he gasped and opened his eyes, looking around.

"What the hell?" Tony panted, "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me. Well, you," he winked at Athena, "You could if you want."

She gave him an amused look, able to see the jest in his eyes, "I believe your Pepper would be quite displeased with that," she remarked, her gaze flickering to Thor as the man glared at Tony for that suggestion, "And there is only one man I kiss," she smiled at Thor, making him grin semi-smugly at that.

The Captain rolled his eyes at them and looked at Tony, "We won."

"Alright," he grinned, "Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. You ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

But Thor shook his head, "We're not finished yet."

"And then shawarma after?" Tony asked hopefully.

"We must feast in celebration of our victory," Athena agreed, reaching out a hand and standing, pulling Tony up with her, "But first, Loki must be detained."

"Way ahead of you," came Natasha's voice from the inside of Tony's helmet, all of them able to hear now that his face plate was gone.

"Why don't you guys head up to Stark's suite," Barton's voice added, "And keep us from killing sleeping beauty here?"

Athena frowned and looked at them, "Who is Sleeping Beauty?"

The men, save Thor and the Hulk, just laughed and turned to get to the tower, Iron Man carrying the Captain while Thor grabbed Athena and followed with Mjolnir. It was easier to get to the tower now that they were not being shot at, all of them following Iron Man as he landed on a small platform outside his tower, following him into the room where they could see Natasha holding the scepter, the orb set within it not glowing, and Barton crouched on the ground, his bow and arrow ready, eyes trained on Loki where he laid in a small crater on the floor…having been…smashed…there.

Everyone looked at the Hulk for that and he just gave a grin, silently telling them that it HAD been him who had done that and knocked Loki not only down but out for the count for the rest of the battle.

They stiffened when they heard a small groan from Loki and moved over to him, watching as he winced, his eyes closed, and rolled on his side, his back to them. He sat up, flinching and wincing as he crawled his way out of his crater and paused, hearing them. He slowly turned his head to see them all gathered behind him, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Natasha, Barton, Thor and Athena, all with their weapons ready should he attack.

"If it's all the same to you," Loki began, trying to give Iron Man a charming grin, "I'll have that drink now."

Athena shook her head and strode forward, swinging her fist at him, her sword hilt firmly in its grasp, knocking Loki out once more.

"I thought I said get in line," Barton grumbled, lowering his bow and giving her a mock-glare, HE wanted to do that.

~8~

Athena sat on the edge of a bed in a secure portion of the aircraft that the Avengers had gathered back in to recuperate and tend to their wounds before they would all depart and go their own ways. She looked at the man lying on the bed, sitting up with his back against the headboard, a soft smile on his face.

"It worked then?" he asked, almost like he hardly dared to believe it but also as if he knew it would work.

"Aye," she nodded, "You have made more of an influence on them all than you think," she smiled, "You are a good man and good men often possess the ability to spark the same in others."

He laughed, and then winced at the action, "Never thought they'd care so much about little old me," he joked.

"They weren't just ready to avenge the Earth you know," she commented, "They wished to avenge you as well."

"Imagine if they knew the truth," he mused.

"Sometimes…a fall is required to force others to rise," she uttered sagely, "Fury was correct in that assumption."

"I still can't believe all it took was ketchup," the man shook his head.

"I was…quite surprised the others did not notice the inconsistency of the blood," she nodded, "Nor the smell of tomatoes that clung to the cards."

"People see what they want to see," he murmured, "And when other people make them think one thing, they don't notice the truth. Belief is…a powerful tool."

"I am aware," she murmured sadly, it had been hers and Thor's own beliefs in Loki that had been blinding them to many truths that they had been forced to recognize during the battle, truths they were only just beginning to process now that the battle was over and they had time to think on it. She shook her head from her thoughts and looked at him, "What shall you do now?"

He shrugged carefully, avoiding tugging at his wounds, "I'm sure SHIELD has some assignment or another for me," he smiled, "This won't be the last you see of me."

She reached forward and put her hand on his, "I am glad of that," she told him, "Though I am sorry you were harmed, both in protecting me and to truly get the Avengers to assemble properly."

"It was worth it," he told her, turning his hand to squeeze her own, "I'm not the sorta person who will stand by when anyone, man, woman, child, anyone, is being hurt. I did what I could and I'm glad it was enough."

"It was more than enough," she whispered, "You saved my life."

He grinned, "And you saved the earth."

"I helped," she corrected.

"Good enough," he countered, looking towards the door when they heard a small call come over the speakers, that the shuttles would be deployed to earth in a few moments and to gather in the carrier bay, "Thank you for visiting me," he added, "I don't think I'll be getting much of that since I'm supposed to be, you know, dead," he joked.

"You are very welcome," she told him, "But…if Director Fury asks…I wasn't here."

He let out a deep laugh at that, ignoring the tugging at his wound as he realized she'd snuck in there, she'd come looking for him, likely one of the few who knew he was still alive and wanted to see how he was, tell him personally about the battle, "My lips are sealed," he nodded, smiling wider as he watched her stand and move to go, "See ya round," he winked, still just a little out of sorts from the pain medication.

She laughed lightly at that, nodding her head as she headed out, giving him one last word before she disappeared out the door, "Live well, Agent Coulson."

~8~

Thor was waiting for her in the park, Central Park, according to SHIELD, where a few agents and the other Avengers had assembled to see her and Thor off with both Loki and the Tesseract. He was off to the side, just...looking at a small lake, Loki off to the side and being detained between two very large men, his wrists and ankles shackled, a muzzle of sorts over the bottom half of his face, just under his nose, not about to make any sudden moves or attack what with the Hulk/Banner standing there with Tony. She could tell instantly from how Thor was standing, his back too straight, but his hands on the ledge of the small wall of a little area near the lake, bracing himself against it. It was a stance she was well acquainted with, where he was angry and coiled to attack but was also trying to restrain himself and remain still till the anger abated. She and their last trip to Earth had finally gotten him to the point where he decided to wait and think before reacting and attacking when he was angry even if it meant physically restraining himself to give himself time to settle.

She glanced at the others, able to see that Natasha seemed to have come to the same understanding about Thor's emotions as she had and was holding back. She gave Natasha a nod of thanks that she had kept her distance and kept back from Thor, allowing HER to handle this. Natasha nodded back, shooting a glance at Barton and Athena understood as well. SHE would be one of the few that could get through to Barton like he could her, she understood that it was the same for her and Thor and, instead of risking upsetting or offending him in his customs and beliefs or relationship with Loki, she was staying silent till someone who truly did understand Thor could speak to him first.

She moved over to his side, just standing there for a few moments, silent, not touching him, not speaking, not even looking at him. Knowing that he had to be the one to open up first or show some sign that he wanted her there and wanted her to talk. Ever since Odin had begun to put more pressure on him to step up as a king of Asgard he had...withdrawn slightly from her. It was like he kept his thoughts to himself so as not to burden her with them. But she was well aware that Odin desired her to be, at the very least, an advisor to Thor and that meant needing to hear his thoughts and tell him her own.

She smiled slightly when he merely turned his right hand over, resting his palm up so that she could reach out and place her left hand in it, letting him take it and hold it. She stepped closer to him for that action as well, the two silent for even longer before Thor let out a long breath and she knew he was about to start speaking.

"You said he was tortured by the Chitauri," he began.

She nodded, "I did."

She knew that, even if he had seen the signs of it, knowing his brother better than she did, he wouldn't want to admit that it had happened. To Thor, at that time, he was still seeing Loki as his little brother, one he was meant to protect, and one he had failed to do so for. At that moment, he didn't want to feel like he had let his brother down by letting him suffer something as terrible as that. Even if he noticed the pains that Loki was in, he said nothing, because if he didn't say it out loud then it wasn't real.

"I thought it was madness," he admitted.

Athena was silent at that, offering only the smallest of nods to that, understanding what he meant in his statement. They had both been wrong in their assumptions, both had their hopes crushed by the harsh realities of the Battle and all that Loki had revealed during it. She glanced at him and squeezed his hand, "I am so sorry Thor," she whispered, "For all of this. For all that you had to learn about your...about Loki," she corrected quickly, not about to say 'your brother' because right now...she knew Loki was nothing of the sort.

"I wanted it to be madness," he swallowed hard.

"I wanted it to be torture," she sighed, and because of that, because of them, because of the revelations of the battle...it just crushed them both.

"It was neither," Thor determined.

And it was true.

It wasn't madness.

Thor had said it so often when he spoke to Loki, telling him it was madness to attack Jotunheim, that it was madness to attack New York, implying Loki was mad over and over and over as though if he said it often enough it would be true. Insanity was...a tricky but weighted defense, one could not claim control of their actions when the were mad. But Loki had disproved it, he had been reasonable and eloquent and well thought out. He had thought ahead and anticipated and thought about things logically. A mad man would likely not have been able to hurt them as much as Loki had by targeting things that were as important to them as Coulson and the craft and Hulk and Barton and Stark Tower had been. No, Loki was in full control of his facilities and his mind.

She had been right in saying that she and Loki were too clever, Loki was too clever to be mad.

But it wasn't the torture either.

She had been telling the truth, the torment that Loki had inflicted on her would NOT have been enough to warp Loki's mind no. She had hoped it was that, that someone was manipulating him, had seen signs where, she realized, none existed. She had taken his claims that Thor had thrown him into the abyss and all his remarks about how bitter he was against Thor growing up to be that his memories of the event had been tampered with. But all it was...was truly Loki just being bitter. Loki was the petulant sort that he would interpret Thor not reaching out and saving him as being equal to Thor throwing him into the abyss himself. And she knew that growing up Loki had always been jealous of Thor, and what was jealousy but a shadow one lived under cast from another? She had felt it from her own siblings and towards her own siblings, she was aware of how your own mind could turn events that went one way into another when jealousy clouded your vision of it.

They had both wanted, so badly, for it to be madness or torture that had shaped Loki into who he was, into the monster that had set out to destroy New York and enslave the world. They wanted something that would tell them that it wasn't really Loki, that it was something affecting him, controlling him, manipulating him, just...something that would make it all ok. Not that it would EVER be ok what he had done, but something that would tell them that Loki wasn't responsible, that he wasn't truly capable of the evil and darkness and apathy that it would take to commit something like this. They wanted something to tell them that it hadn't really been LOKI, the Loki that Thor grew up with and that Athena played games with, the Loki that was the son of Odin and Frigga if not by blood than by everything that mattered.

It was a coward's way out, they knew, to ignore the truth that was screaming at them, but that was what hope could do to you. It could make you blind until the harshest of realities was forced in front of you. When he had heard Athena's remarks about torture, for one brief moment, he had hoped that it was true, as terrible as it was, because then it was another hope that Loki, that the real Loki, was just buried under all of it. And then, to find out that the torture hadn't affected him in that sense at all...his hope was just torn away and he felt utterly foolish that he had allowed it in the first place. He just...

They just wanted Loki back...

But he would never come back would he?

They hadn't wanted to admit that Loki was lost, that all that was left of the Prince of Asgard was the Jotun within, the monster inside him. It would break Frigga's heart to know that Loki had done all this of his own free will. It would crush Thor's hope that his brother could be saved, kill his hopes of redemption that he hadn't failed his baby brother so badly that he'd turned into this. It would strike Odin with an utter betrayal and make the king's paranoid fear seem more like a reality. It would destroy Thor's family to see just how deep into the darkness in his soul that Loki had fallen. So they had hoped, they had searched, they had theorized reasons and ways that it wasn't Loki, that it wasn't really him.

And they had been so wrong.

And it was a devastating realization for Thor especially, to have that hope, that small hope, torn away from him. It was the only thing he had left to cling to, the only thing that he had left that said his brother could be saved...and it had been crushed with the realization that Loki wasn't mad or tortured to submission. It had been his last hope and it was gone now, just like Loki was. Now...now he was being forced to deal with the harsh reality of the situation and just what his brother had become and, perhaps, what he had always been.

"My brother is dead," Thor spoke quietly, so softly that Athena nearly missed him, likely would have if she hadn't been standing right beside him.

Athena closed her eyes at that, hearing the utter despair and heartbreak and anger and self-loathing in Thor's voice. This was why she had actually hoped Loki had been tortured, because then it would mean they could get Loki back and Thor would have his brother. Now he was being forced to realize that Loki was never coming back, he had lost his brother a long time ago, and that there was only a stranger left. A stranger that had darkness in his soul and ice in his heart and evil in his entire being.

Loki had WANTED to do this. He had chosen to help the Chitauri, he had chosen to attack the Earth, he hadn't cared at all what it would mean for the human lives if anyone fought back against him. He wanted to rule them, he wanted his own kingdom now that others had been denied him, and he was going to do whatever it took to get it. He had murdered and made slaves of humans, had killed and attacked and destroyed and terrorized, he manipulated and tortured, and he had done so without a shred of remorse. Even standing there, she had seen it, the glaring hatred in his eyes instead of any sort of guilt.

Only monsters felt no guilt.

"I know," she offered. She couldn't say she was sorry, she knew that Thor wouldn't want pity or sympathy or anything, he wouldn't want her to apologize for something that wasn't her fault, so all she could do was offer her silent support and stand with him as he dealt with this, "Betrayal never comes from your enemies Thor," she remarked wisely, "Betrayal creates enemies."

She looked down, seeing Thor's free hand curl into a fist, saw his jaw tighten and clench, and knew that he had realized that as well. Loki was no longer his brother, not if he was willing to do all this, not if he was willing to murder and torture and commit so many other atrocities that would break their mother's heart. Their mother cared for them all their lives, loved them, and he knew Loki was closer to Frigga than anyone else...he HAD to know that this would hurt her so, to see what he had become, what he had let himself become by not staying in Asgard and not fighting the blackness in his soul...and he had let it happen anyway. He had become a monster and that was all he could let Loki be to him in the future. He had already made too many mistakes when it came to Loki, had been too lenient or, as Loki had snapped, allowed the sentiment of being brothers affect him and delay his attacks and lessen the power behind them. No more.

From now on, Loki was an enemy of Asgard, of all the Realms, and nothing more.

"Come," Thor squeezed her hand, "We must return to Asgard. Our mission is at an end."

Athena nodded, understanding that he likely needed to be somewhere else now. New York would always be a reminder of how he lost his brother and Asgard…Asgard still had his friends and family and more support than he could find here. So she turned, walking with him towards where the others had gathered in the center of a nearby footbridge, the Avengers all there, including Erik Selvig.

Erik pulled a glass cylinder out of a truck, one that he had made with his knowledge of the Tesseract as Tony brought a briefcase with the cube over to him, Banner using tongs to pick it up and put it into the cylinder for them. Erik stood and turned, moving over to Thor and Athena and handing them the cylinder. The two guards brought Loki over to them as well, each of them putting manacles on each of Loki's wrists and onto Thor's left and Athena's right, to keep him from running when they stepped back. Athena and Thor each held the Tesseract's cylinder in their free hand and looked around at the others, offering them smiles and nods, Loki glaring in anger at them all.

Athena and Thor looked at each other for a moment, nodding and twisting the end of the cylinder, lighting up the Tesseract's power and feeling themselves sucked into the sky with Loki, using the Tesseract to tap into the transportation magic that Odin had used to send them to Earth in the first place, bringing them back to Asgard.

It appeared that their arrival had been seen by Heimdall for there were a handful of guards waiting for them where they appeared in the throne room, Odin and Frigga, however were not there though Thor knew they wouldn't be. They would not want to see their 'son' like he was now, muzzled and fresh from battle, no, they would need time to gather themselves, to ensure they could face Loki knowing all that he had done for surely Heimdall had told them of the battle as well, of all that he and Athena had learned while on Earth.

Thor stood, stone faced, as the manacle were removed from his and Athena's wrists and Loki was led off to the dungeons to be held there till his 'trial' could take place, knowing he and Athena would have to testify against him if it came to it. He stared after Loki till the doors he disappeared through closed before he let out a long breath.

"It will be alright Thor," Athena told him, placing a hand on his arm.

He looked at her, "Will you…stay with me, Athena?" he asked her, "Stand at my side when the trial comes? I…I don't think I can…"

"I will never leave you Thor," she told him, "If…" she added, a hint of playfulness in her voice to try and cheer him, "You swear a warrior's oath that you shall not get locked in any more glass cages and leave ME."

Thor let out a small chuckle at that, reaching out to wind his arms around her, tugging her closer, "You've no idea how relieved I was," he murmured.

"Relieved for what?" she shook her head.

"You survived," he murmured, "You're still here, still with me," he looked at her with such intensity in his eyes that she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"And you found your way back to me," she agreed, a small nod of her head joining her words.

"I love you, Athena," he told her earnestly, "Seeing Loki harming you, being unable to stop him, fearing he had killed you…" he shook his head.

"I'm still here Thor," she reassured him, "And I will not be going anywhere anytime soon. For as long as you need me, I am here."

"Then you should prepare for an eternity," he warned her, though there was a serious note in his voice, "I never want to be without you Athena, not ever. Fearing I had lost you…I don't ever want to lose you."

Athena looked into his eyes, sensing something more to his words than she knew he was willing to say aloud. He was being genuine and serious, he wanted her to be with him forever, at his side, as his equal. He…he wasn't proposing to her, he wasn't asking her to wed him and be queen as well as advisor, but he…he was making their relationship much more serious than it had been. Before it had been easy, it had been new and exciting and playful and full of passion but with a thought of more serious notions being a good distance away from speaking of. Now though, nearly having lost each other, she could see that it was forcing the more serious aspects to the forefront. Their relationship, depending on this moment, would become more official than before, a more serious courtship of sorts, one that truly would likely lead to a betrothal or proposal of some sort. And he was leaving it up to her to determine if she wanted that to happen, if she wanted it to become THAT serious.

She smiled, "I don't want to lose you either," she admitted, "I have…never felt for another what I feel for you Thor," she looked into his eyes, "No one has gotten to my heart the way you have and I…I know that means that what we are and what we have is something…I can't describe," she laughed a bit at that, to think SHE had no words, "I know it means something and a warrior," she stepped closer, moving her arms around his neck and leaning in, "Never ignores their instincts."

And with that she closed the distance between them and kissed him firm on the lips, grinning into it as she felt his arms wind more tightly around her, feeling him starting to smile into it as well. The battle had been fierce and the truths they learned terrible, what Thor had lost in Loki would never be recovered but she hoped that, perhaps, what he was gaining in her might be something that would make up for that. It would be a challenge, she knew, there would be many more trying times to come.

But neither of them were the sort to walk away from a challenge and this one, well, it was shaping up to have the largest rewards of all.

To be continued…in…Strategy!

A/N: I'm so sad it's over :'( But...we'll be getting the next story in only a few hours! ^-^ Yay! I really wanted to put the small moment where Athena's talking to Coulson in there. Just because I hinted at the fact that she knew he was alive and I felt like she would seek him out and just want to check/feel responsible that he was harmed because of helping her :)

Just wanted to say thank you guys too! To everyone who's read/reviewed/favorited/followed/anything this story. You guys are so amazing and I'm so happy you've been enjoying the story so far :) I hope I'll be able to keep it coming in the next story too :) Strategy will be found under the Thor Movie section and not the Avengers one ;)

Last note, I hope this chapter helped clear up any concerns about the torture being a fangirl's 'excuse' to not make Loki the true villain ;) I think my stories out deeply and I do things for a reason, I put the notion and possibility of torture in here for a reason. My reasoning was that...it would hurt Thor more and be the shock he needed to see that Loki had completely become a villain here. Thor, being Loki's brother, (and Athena knowing how important Loki was to Thor) wanted there to be a hope for an excuse, that Loki was manipulated/tricked/forced/controlled because when that was shattered they would not ever dare to hope they could save Loki again :( Those moments where the torture was brought up were from Athena's POV, and she wanted it to be true for that reason :( Even if it was true that was tortured, the fact that it didn't affect him would force them to realize that all that Loki had done was his choice and torn their hope away:( Thor wanted his brother back, he wanted an excuse/reason to believe he could save his little brother, and finding out that the madness and torture hadn't done anything made him realize his brother was dead and just the Jotun/monster was left :( I hope this chapter helped explain how I intended the 'torture' idea to go here and that it helped clear up any bias/fangirling worries ;)

The torture was never an excuse for Loki...it was always a means to shatter Thor's illusion that his brother would ever come back and force him to realize Loki was truly a monster here }:)

Some notes on reviews...

I actually have it on my profile the stories for 2014 and the ones I plan to do in the future :) But for 2014, I'll be posting a Big Bang Theory story (Sheldon/OC), a Star Wars (Anakin/OC), a Lord of the Rings (Aragorn/OC), and 2 Doctor Who series (Doctor/OC) one with an OC that starts in Series 7 and one with an OC that starts in Series 5...and then picking up my 4 other DW stories once Series 8 airs :) I'll be posting one of the Doctor Who ones after the Dark World version for Athena. I have a few new stories and new OCs to come, including some for Marvel :) I'm not sure if I'd do a Banner/OC, I haven't seen much fo the Hulk movies so I can't say just yet :)