Here we are. All done, just like I promised . . . months ago . . . This was hard to write. For some reason I just could not make it sound good. It kept reading like a second rate, first draft of a teenage romance novel. Still don't love the ending but after staring at it for hours I concluded that it's the best its gonna get.

I know some people wanted this to end up as slash. Well it's not. Sorry but as I wrote it there just never seemed to be a good reason to put it in. Just didn't fit. Still should be a decent read, just no sexy stuff this time. . . just discussions about abuse and descriptions of gore . . .

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Loki hummed lightly as he dragged his fingertips across the glass bar in Stark Tower. He watched as his worshipper pours amber liquid into two glasses, ignoring the worried glances from his team. After accepting a glass Loki swept over to the couch, gracefully falling onto the plush cushions. He wanted to smile, he really did. All eyes were on him, worried or angry. Loki was, if nothing else, a performer. He would not be "The Trickster" if he did not love the attention in some form. He did not smile though, for it would only cause more strife. Instead he raised the glass to his nose and sniffed before taking a sip.

"You have excellent taste." He saluted Tony, who was watching him closely. He saw the engineers eyes focus on every micro-movement, as if staring would allow him to see the god's cells workings.

"Of course." Tony nodded, obviously pleased. "Only the best for my god."

There was a heavy silence on the room. Loki felt no need to break it. He allowed the would-be hero's to simmer in the quiet as he swirled the liquid lightly in the glass. He watched his slosh as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Occasionally he would look up. He took a moment to peer at each person, waiting to see if they would keep eye contact, smirking as each one did.

"Speaking of being a god." Tony broke the pressure. "Is there anything special I should be doing to worship you? Sacrificing a virgin on an alter? An offering of goat's blood and gold?"

"I would not say no if you wished to gift me gold. Virgins however, are quite useless to me. While the thought is nice, a practiced lover is always preferred to one who is not. As for the goats blood, I already have more than I could possibly drink." Loki smirked and looked over at Thor.

The golden god flinched, which caused Loki to chuckle. Many centuries ago Loki had sought out to disturb his brother after a particularly nasty fight. He had made an illusion to seem as if he were drinking goat's blood every time he was in his presence. He particularly liked drinking it in large gulps, letting a single crimson drop drip over his chin and down his neck. The imagery was so good that on more than one occasion it caused Thor to gag. Up to the whole mess that caused the fall Loki would occasionally allow his normal mead to look like the thick red blood to see his ex-brothers reaction.

"This is no time for jesting." Thor boomed, stepping forward in a menacing way.

"Is it not?" Loki raised a brow, challenging the man to take another step. He glanced over when he felt the little trickle of a prayer. He raised his fingers and snapped.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Tony had to try very hard not to yelp. Really, he was a superhero. The noise he was about to make would be better suited for a little girl. Though it would be for anyone who was standing behind a bar to suddenly reappear on the floor in between the legs of a Norse god. He was about to protest and suddenly he could not talk. Long, thin fingers dragged across his scalp, massaging away the headache that had been beginning to form before his impromptu teleportation.

If Tony were a cat he would purr. . . Strike that, he was purring. He stretched lazily as the fingers stroked. He vaguely noticed that those in the room that had weapons had them drawn. Tony tried to care, he really did. Then the rub became a soft scratching and he decided that it was worth more to let the god keep doing as he wished.

"Let him go." Widow demanded, gesturing with her gun.

"If he wishes to move he can." Loki said coyly. "It's be his own regard that he sits before me." There was a silent stand off as they all decided what they wanted to do. Technically they weren't supposed to be fighting him. If anyone were able to defeat a giant space army, the former leader was by far the best option. Still, they were not going to be without fighting. Most of the Avengers (read: all but Tony) were far too high strung to deal with a man who liked to play tricks. Perhaps Bruce would be okay, being a noncombatant. Everyone else was going to be easily offended and quick to draw.

"Brother what are you doing?" Thor questioned.

"You know Anthony, there are some gods who never bother to learn about prayer and its power to them?" Loki queried, as though he had not heard the other Asgardian. "Many just accepted offerings from humans and moved on. A few would answer the strong calls and ignore the rest. They did not realize what they were losing." Loki hummed, contently stroking his worshipper.

"Every prayer answered is like recharging a battery. It creates a bond that can only grow stronger. Right now the bond we have is the strongest ever known. There is no record of any god that spent more than a few minutes considering the power of prayer. I, on the other hand, have spent a great many hours on my worshipper. I alone know the power that comes with doting on a worshipper." Loki paused to hum as Tony considered his words. Being used as a battery. Well if there are worse things that can happen. Extrapolating from what he said, Loki would be answering his prayers to supplement himself. He was most likely getting a fabulous head rub because of hoping that his headache would go away. The booze that he made appear, another example of a prayer answered.

"Tony? What is going on?" Pepper walked in, folders under her arm and a glare.

"Ah, Pepper!" Tony said, not bothering to get up. "There has been some development on the crazy god trying to take over the world front. This is the god; he is not trying to take over the world anymore."

"And he is sitting on your couch petting you because?"

"Because I have apparently been worshipping him from when I was in college and he is quite a doting god."

"You . . . you have been worshipping a god. . . I can't even get you to go to church on Easter with me!" Good ol' Pepper. She can take quite a lot in without freaking out.

"Yes, well. It was purely unintentional worshipping. Something about him being chaos and me saying that I pray to chaos. Regardless, he is going to help us until the crazy beast that is really trying to take over the world is defeated. Until then he is going to live here with the Avengers and his ex-brother." Tony waved a hand at the mentioned parties. None of them had bothered to sit down yet except Bruce.

"I've talked to you about picking up stray megalomaniacs Tony!" Pepper laid the papers on the tables, putting her hands on her hips.

"But MOM! This one is a GOD! Plus, he's not trying to take over the world anymore." Tony whined. Pepper tried to keep a straight face but the small smile did eventually betray her.

"Fine but if he pees on the floor then you get to clean up after him." Tony tried not to laugh at the equal looks of disgust and affrontation that were on the faces of the two Agardians in the room. "Anyway, sign these papers by tomorrow if you will. That way I can go back to running your company." Pepper pivoted before stalking to the door to leave.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Loki tried not to laugh as he watched his worshipper talk with the woman. He looked into her life energy and saw strength. She reminded him of Sif, strong and passionate. No doubt worthy of respect, especially since she obviously was of better humor than Sif. He enjoyed this. Everyone, excluding the spider and himself, were off their game. Incredulity and angry, it was like playing with Fenrir when he was still a pup.

"Listen. I know we are all uncomfortable with this, but we really to start talking about the battle. We know nothing about this Thanos guy and when he may be coming." Steve said, drawing everyone's attention.

"I agree with the Captain." Thor boomed. "I know little about Thanos. Though our father has warned us of his powers."

"Your father, Thor. He is no father of mine." Loki sneered.

"Brother must we go through this again?" Thor bemoaned, he did not continue his whining when a glare was shot his way.

"That man you call 'father' lost his right long ago to call me his son. I will not allow you to impugn on my honor by implying that he is any relation to me."

"Listen, we all have daddy issues here. Now isn't really the time to be discussing it. There is a giant army of aliens that is about to descend on earth." Barton interrupted.

"It is cute, little hawk, that you would compare my issues with Odin to your measly daddy issues. However, there is as much time as we need. Thanos cannot enter this worked with his army without the portal created by the tesseract. The tesseract is on its way here and won't activate until we decide to do so. I am quite content to stay here and re-inform my brother exactly why I hate his father."

"He did nothing but right by you, Loki. You should respect him as your father and, if not, as your king."

"He has done nothing but wrong by me!" Loki yelled, stopping his ministrations on his worshipper to point an accusing finger at Thor. "Honor him all you want but I will not. I will not honor a man who killed my children and my wife. A man who would watch his son lose his head on a rigged game or punish me the way he has punished me."

"Are you speaking of the snake?" Bruce interrupted for the first time.

"You have heard the stories?" Loki asked, staring intensely at the man.

"I spent a couple months learning the polytheistic ways. I heard the stories about your children and your punishments. They are pretty much the only teachings people have of you. Though knowing that you really exist. Well, it's hard to judge if they were true."

"You can't honestly believe that we care about that? So what? We've all gone through some shit and seen our friends and family die." Barton groused. Romanov nodded as she settled deeper into her chair.

"Perhaps you have seen your friends die. That is not an uncommon thing for warriors. But that is a far cry from the crimes my father has committed. He would have let dwarves cut off my head because of a rigged bet that he instigated. He constantly begged for my powers of manipulation and then punished me for them. He kept the knowledge of my birth from me and allowed me to think that he loved me, when all he felt was disgust for my kind.

"All that could be forgiven in time." Loki waved his hand as if dismissing the ideas himself. "His worse crimes are against innocents. Not just any innocents, my wife and children. He took my Sleipner and uses him as a common mule, refusing to let him in human form. My child Fenrir, locked in a cave with a sword pierced through his mouth with no change to escape. A daughter locked in a place you would call hell, forced to be surrounded by the dead. My boys Narfi and Vali. . ."

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Tony scrunched his brow in confusion when Loki stopped talking. He turned to look up at him from his position on the floor. Gone was the superior look, the smirk with a little bit of humor. Instead he had a far off look in his eyes. His face no longer looked like he was twenty-eight and eternally youthful. Instead you could physically see the centuries that he had gone through in his eyes and his down turned mouth.

"Father did what he thought was best." Thor stated. Tony wondered if he would get in trouble shooting his ass through the wall.

"Best. . ." Loki hissed, feeling the word on his tongue. "Yes I'm sure it is justifiable." Loki sneered heavily. "I insult a few of his friends. Of course the best thing is to force me to watch my children kill each other. A few wounded egos are worth turning one of your grandchildren into a wolf and forcing him to tear out the throat of his brother. Then of course you would turn him back soon enough that he would see the destruction he was forced to cause. Nothing like making sure that a child goes insane with grief before you kill him. Still, that would hardly be enough for a coward being called a coward.

"Perhaps it was best that he bound me to a rock with the still warm entrails of my son. Forced my heart broken wife to sit beside me so that I was not forced to bear the pain of venom dripping into my eyes and mouth. She killed herself Thor! Took her own life because all that had made her life good was gone. I came out of that cave burned and broken, covered in the blood of my son and without any of my family left. You're right, I should not be angry at a man like that."

Loki caught his ex-brother in a piercing stare. Blankly challenging him to say anything to defend himself or his father. Tony glanced around at the quiet room. Natasha was the only one who looked composed but twitching fingers near her gun trigger exposed her. Everyone else was a little green around the gills. If Tony didn't know better he would have sworn the Captain was going to burst into tears.

"Sir. The tesseract is in the delivery bay awaiting your orders." JARVIS broke into the conversation. At once everyone seemed to take in the shuddering breath they had forgotten about. Tony felt long fingers hook under his jaw, tilting it so he was looking at the god upside down.

"My apologies. This was not my intent. I appreciate the fact that you care. However this state of mind is not beneficial for planning battle." Loki said softly. The god glowed lightly and Tony felt himself smile as he was filled with a calming happiness. The tension in the room fell as the other superheroes felt the effect of Loki's magic.

"Right. Well, let's get on with it then. JARVIS?"

"Yes Sir?"

"Have them load the tesseract into Dumbwaiter 3 and have it delivered to the conference room. Have them set the machine into R&D lab 3."

"Of course Sir."

"Follow me duckies!" Tony swept from the room. He led him down the maze of hallways and elevators that made up the tower. He shooed the group into a large conference room before shutting the door. Whistling to himself he went over to the wall and pressed on a panel. It opened to reveal the tesseract sitting in a metal cage. He hefted it and set it the middle of the long table. Tony flexed his fingers as he stared at the glowing temptation on the table.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Loki watched as his worshiper internally debated. The overwhelming desire to tough filled Loki as it fill Tony. He waited patiently until he could see the well-manicured fingers inch close to the cube. Loki sent out a light shock, stopping the man from caressing the tesseract.

"Ouch." Tony yelped, pulling his hand back to his chest.

"I wouldn't. The tesseract has the power to warp the minds of the gods, surely it would easily take a man who can't even resist the desire to touch something shiny." Loki purred.

"I thought you were on my side!" Tony said with a pout.

"Of course I am. You are my only follower. That does not mean that you are perfect. In fact, many would say it is proof opposite." Loki smirked. Tony pouted harder, making a point to stick out his bottom lip dramatically.

"Guys we really need to work. We have an invading army that we know nothing about. We can't sit here all day with Loki making fun of everyone." Captain interrupted.

"Very well. Allow me to educate you on the enemy." Loki rose dramatically, striding to the top of the table. With a wave of his hand the lights lowered.

"Our enemy is the Chitari" Loki said. With a wave of his hand a projection landed on the table. A lizard creature hunched snarling and growling in a soft green light. "They are simple creatures born of anger and hunger. They live in a hive where a queen controls all of their movements. Simple minded but resilient. Simple guns will not pierce their hide and there will be an overwhelming amount of them." Loki sneered at the image before wiping it away with his hand.

"Their queen right now is another beast called the Other." Another image lit up. Instead of a lizard beast it was humanoid and mostly covered in a long robe. However it was easy to see the gaping mouth with dripping sharp teeth. The image raised its six fingered hand to swipe with its long claws. "The Other is another beast that was lost in the darkness between the branches of the tree. The last of his kind, he ate all of his kin. Smart and ruthless, he uses the Chitari to conquer realms he wishes to take."

"Still, of these there is one who controls the Other and he is far more fearsome." Another image floated down next to the hologram of the Other. It stood three times its size. The creature was clothed in armor and carried a long scythe. His skin was purple and he seemed to leak power.

"Thanos." Thor growled.

"Thanos is a creature called an Immortal. Normally the Immortals are peaceful creatures, devoted to spending eternal life to answering the questions of the universe. However, Thanos was born misshapen. Shunned from his kind he wandered the universe. He tried to prove himself by destroying everything in his path, starting with his own kind. He searched relentlessly for anything that could stand against him. In the end there was only one thing that could stand against his will."

Loki paused here, letting his sparkling eyes sweep over the group of super heroes. He could feel his worshipper's excitement as he waited. Even Thor seemed enraptured by his story.

"Lady Death."

"Wait. You mean there is actually a being called death . . . and it's a girl?" Barton asked in disbelief.

"There are many being that represent death. There is something quite interesting about Midgard. That is that you sit at the edge of the great tree, and your branch is tangled in the branched of other trees. All of your gods and goddesses are of a real nature and are beings on different trees. That is why you have all the religions you do and why some may end up worshipping those of our realm and some will not. Death, however, has many images. In our realm it takes the form of Hel. My daughter born to me by a giantess. Thanos cannot defeat her and she will not give him what he wants.

"The one thing Thanos cannot have is death. To him Lady Death is the only enemy he cannot defeat. So instead he decided to try and seduce her. He travels through our realm, killing entire species off as presents to the Lady, hoping to earn her favor. He is infinitely powerful and cannot be killed." Loki finished, waving away his projections.

"How are we supposed to fight someone who cannot die?" Bruce asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I said that he could not die. Not that he could not be destroyed." Loki smiled, slipping into a chair.

"I do not understand." Thor said, tilting his head like a confused puppy.

"Don't worry Point Break. He just saying that to win the battle we need to hit him so hard that it will take millennia for him to come back. Defeat his army and destroy his body. Show him that we won't back down." Tony gushed, waving his hands around.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Natasha asked, finally weighing in on the conversation.

"We will engage in glorious battle! I will strike him with Mljonr!" Thor shouted.

"No you won't." Loki growled.

"Brother?"

"You cannot just strike Thanos with your hammer and think you have won!" Loki shouted. "The creature has more power than you could even hope to imagine! We will not win this battle by brute strength alone in one-on-one combat. We strategize, fight from afar!"

"I will not fight like a coward!" Thor thundered.

"No! You will fight like the fool you are! I have been telling you this for millennia. You will go to your death because you don't want to use the useless lump you call a brain. There is no victory in death! Honor is of no use if you are dead. You would condemn this entire planet because you do not want to seem a fool to your drinking friends?!" Loki screeched.

There was a heavy silence in the room. The humans watching like it was a movie, getting more insight in Loki, Thor's and Asgards relationship than any frank talk from the god of mischief.

"In Asgard strategizing is considered weak?" Bruce asked.

"No." Loki huffed. "Strategy is a welcomed talent. However, if any strategy has anything to do with trickery it is dismissed. Hiding is frowned on as well as long distance weaponry. Anything that isn't head on, bearing arms battle is something not worthy of considering. It does not matter if there is an easier and safer way. It is considered weak and shameful. "

"Well I don't know about you but I like easy and safe. . . Well I do when it comes to fighting off giant armies of lizard bastards." Tony interrupted.

"I'm a spy. Sneaking around and trickery are in my blood. I agree with Loki, we are not going to be able to defeat them with that kind of force. We are very outnumbered."

"How outnumbered?" Steve asked.

"Six to one." Loki said immediately.

"You mean six to one of the US army or the whole world?"

"No. Six to one of every single living person on this world. Every man, woman and child would have six Chitari to fight for themselves."

"Fucking hell." Clint cursed, only slightly louder than Natasha who was doing the same in Russian. Tony's eyes glazed over as he tried to add those figures into his previous estimates.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Tony was quite sure his headache was never going to go away. Not even that fantastic Swedish masseuse with the amazing body and loose inhibitions was going to make the ache go away. Forty two billion. Forty two billion aliens were going to be knocking on their door to kill everyone. They didn't even have an army on their side. Nobody knew except them and shield. If they called in everyone there would still be millions to contend with each. He could control the other suits with remote control. Still, it would be like trying to empty the ocean using a slotted spoon.

"There is hope." Loki said, watching Tony taping his fingers on the arc reactor. It was a nervous habit he had developed a while ago. Tony tried not to make a face at the statement. The numbers didn't add up, it hardly meant for hope.

"There are many ways that we will swing this war onto our favor. We are lucky because we have surprise and power. Chitari are stupid sheep being led by a beast. Sheep are easily killed. We can choose our domain and choose the time."

"Even if we know the time and the place it isn't going to stop the massive shit storm that is coming out way." Clint groused, slipping deeper into his chair.

"We will fight them like your Spartans did." Loki said, sitting back in his seat. "Thanos's army is coming through a portal. With a little work we can keep the portal narrow, forcing them to only let in a few at a time. Keeping them contained will make them easy to kill. Especially with your weapons. Then when the appropriate opening we can strike them in a way that will ruin them."

"What do you mean?"

"The Chitari are connected to their queen like a root is connected to its plant. If you destroy the queen the Chitari will fall around you dead. There will be three queens working under the Other. They will stay on the other side of the portal and are weak. If they are taken out it will be like stepping on an ant hill."

"And how are we to take them out if they are on the other side of the portal in space?" Captain asked.

"You are sitting opposite the best explosives expert in this realm and you are questioning how to destroy things from a distance." Loki said in a patronizing tone.

"Jarvis?" Tony called out.

"Yes sir?"

"Display Project Thai Food."

"Thai food?" Barton asked, regretting it almost instantly.

"Yep. Cause this shit is going to burn." Tony smirked, quite pleased with himself. He ignored the groans as a display of numbers and letter appeared in front of him. Then a display of large bombs floated into view.

"Tony. Is this a plan for an alien invasion?" Bruce asked. Tony hummed in agreement, tapping lightly at some numbers and flinging them around. "You actually have a plan for an alien invasion."

"I actually have seven. This is my 'aliens in massive quantities let's use the hammer method'." Tony said as if it was a proper explanation. No one was eager to ask Tony about the other six plans that he had. Images flew and danced as the spelled out an image of high-strung paranoia. A glance as the floating numbers was sufficient enough to make everyone realize what "largest manufacturer of weapons in the world" actually meant.

"So that leaves us to make the decision on the location and the time. Somewhere empty and expendable. I will leave you to it." Loki swept out of the room. In a small scramble Tony followed him out, leaving Bruce and Cap to argue about deserts and tundra.

Silently Tony followed the would-be world leader as he swanned through the halls of his tower. Down two flights of stairs and down a hall. Loki swayed momentarily in front of a door with a keypad. Tony watched as the man stood in front of the door which lead to his private labs. The key pad sung out a tune as the god scurried his fingers across it.

Tony berated himself as the door let them in, deciding that they needed a revamp in security if he could get in so easily. When he refocused Loki was lounging in one of his seats, a wrench swinging lightly in his hand.

"I must say, I am impressed." Loki began, tossing the tool in the air. IT pirouetted twice before landing lightly on its head on the table.

"Oh?" Tony asked. He strode over to the bottle of whiskey he kept under a desk. With a little wave he offered a drink to the lounging god. Loki smirked, snapped and raised an eyebrow when a golden drink appeared in his hand.

"Yes, quite impressed." Loki took a minute to take a drink. "Mortals, in my experience, have always been insufferably dull. You seem to be an exception."

"I got the impression that you would find everybody insufferably dull. I have yet to hear you compliment a species in any form. You even talk disparagingly about your own race." Tony shot back, trying not to melt into the compliment.

"True." He purred. "Though you must know how that feels. . . I know you know what that feels like."

"You know I still don't get it, this whole worshipping and prayer thing." Tony tried to lead the conversation. He sat down on a small section of the desk he had managed to clear off.

"I should imagine. Anyone who claims to understand it, doesn't. Prayers are hardly a simple thing. They aren't conscious decisions most of the time. You do not need to go to your knees and start by saying 'dear god' and end with 'amen'. It is any time you ask for something or plead to another power. Every time you think 'I wish' or 'I hope' I will hear it. 'Please' works just as well in coming to my attention. There are a million factors on whether I will hear what you have said. Whether you desire to keep it secret, the strength of the desire, whether it will override my inattention. It is a field of magic that no one has studied, something that has just been accepted without any thought." Loki explained, punctuating his statements with golden shimmers in the air that followed his fingers.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

"Why are you here, though? Why now?" Loki shrugged slightly.

"I have not been able to choose where I am and when I go there for years. My life has been decided by everyone other than me. The only thing that I have chosen is to go with you when you appeared in Germany. "

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Why are you helping us then?" Tony huffed.

"That is easy. I don't like being manipulated. They took my mind and now I want revenge. You all have the power and now the knowledge to defeat him. I will take my vengeance and then I will be happy."

"What about Thor then? He seems quite intent on taking you back to Asgard and making you face the music there."

"Thor can talk all he wants but he has never been able to capture me when I did not want him to. This time will be no different. I will find some place in a different realm where I can make a place my own and finally rid myself of the nonsense that is Asgard."

"You could stay here." Tony offered.

"With you?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like I don't have plenty of space."

Loki smirked as he watched his worshipper. His offer was genuine, which was surprising in the least. Loki vaguely wondered if the man even realized that he was offering the god of chaos and fire and mischief a place in his home. He guessed that he did and he just didn't care. Before he could reply JARVIS came on overhead and interrupted them.

"Sirs. You are wanted back in the conference room. It seems that the Captain and Mr. Banner have come to a conclusion."

Both rose and Loki followed the billionaire to an elevator. Tony sipped quietly at his drink as they flew up to the correct floor. With a side glance Loki couldn't help but smirk. A little twist of his finger and a barely noticeable puff of silver were the only indication that anything had happened. He lowered his head in deference as the other man left the elevator first. The door swung open and everyone was able to see the new billionaire.

"Umm… Tony is everything ok?" Banner asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"This seems to be the work of my brother." A window pane darkened until it was reflective and the man was finally able to see what had happened. His hair was a glaringly aggressive pink with frosted tips reminiscent of the worst trend in the 90's. His suit was now purple with yellow dots. The worst though was the makeup. With hooker red lips and more than eyeshadow than a person should wear in a life time made the playboy look like a cheap cross dresser having a bad day.

The laughter surprised everyone. Anger would have been the normal reaction. Surprise or fear understandable. However, the full body laughs that came out of the genius were very surprising. It would die down to a chuckle before bubbling up again, shaking his body with amusement.

"I do not understand." Thor said in confusion. "Are you not angry at my brother prank?"

"Angry? This is awesome! My god, look at my hair. How did you get it that pink? That was magic right? Awesome!" Tony gushed, running his hands through the pink strands. He swiped a finger across his lips to gaze at the lipstick.

"You are a strange man Man of Iron." Thor stated, the others nodded along.

"Do you expect anything different from the man who would worship chaos? Really Thor, can you be any more simple?" Loki said with a smirk. A waggle of his fingers and the makeup and suit changed, leaving Tony the same, save for his hair. He seemed to like it so Loki wasn't opposed to leaving it the way that it was.

"Right." The Captain interrupted, uncomfortable with the use of magic and Tony in general. "Well we have decided the place and time for the battle."

"There is a section of land in Death Valley that is an uninhabited dessert that will give us enough security that would allow us to contain any enemies and prevent them from destroying any structures. We will be able to load most of your short distance missiles and explosives in the area so that they can easily reloaded. Plus there is little to no chance of the weather making an unwanted appearance." Banner recited, poking and enlarging the map.

"So it's large, flat and dry." Tony simplified, punctuating it with a drink.

"Well . . . yeah that's right." Banner said

"Right!" Tony clapped his hands together in joy. "So when are we doing this thing?"

"In five days. It'll give us enough time to get everything together and perhaps beg for help from various armies." Captain answered this time.

"Ugh battling an army of aliens on a Tuesday?"

"What's wrong with Tuesday?"

"I don't know. Space battles just seem more like a Thursday/Friday type of thing." Tony shrugged. "Anyway, who is staying with me? Loki and Thor have a place. Bruce is staying. Don't!" He interrupted whatever Bruce was going to say. "You are officially kidnapped and at my mercy. Barton and Romanoff I assume you are going back to SHEILD. That leaves you Cap."

"I guess I can stay here." Steve said nervously. "I mean, they're not going to need me until the final battle."

"Oh this is going to be fun." Loki purred, no one could resist the shudder that ran through them all at the statement.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Tony should've known better.

Really, what was he thinking? Did he really think it was a good idea to keep the GOD OF CHAOS in his house? Better yet he did it while playing host to a thunder god with a hammer, an army captain that spent years on ice, a man with breath taking anger issues all mixed with his own usual brand of craziness. He was surprised his house was still standing. Though he was in the process of buying nearly a million dollars worth of replacement furniture. Anything that could be found in a heavy-duty carbon fiber or metal alloy was replacing the old wood and plastic stuff that barely lasted a few hours against the tsunami that were his house guests.

To be honest, none of it was Bruce. Despite being the personification of an explosive temper he managed to stay eerily calm and didn't do anything to break Tony's stuff. He spent half of his time alone in his room, probably meditating or some new-agey shit. The other half was spent in one of Tony's labs, puttering around and getting used to the new toys he never got to play with. That lab was actually designed with him in mind (Tony was quite determined to get the good doctor into his clutches).

Steve wasn't much of a problem either, if Tony were honest. He did break stuff though. One was a vase that was damn near priceless. The man spent three days apologizing which Tony brushed off. He had bought that vase because the other person battling him at the auction happened to be an old enemy and Tony can hold a grudge. Sometimes he would break gym gear, Tony didn't mind because that meant after the alien-battle-of-the-millennia Tony had a challenge.

Thor broke a lot of shit. The man may as well be renamed "wrecking ball". Couches, TV's, toilets, clocks, priceless art, machines that were worth more than small countries. Tony was stunned that a single person could do that and considering who he hung out with on a regular basis, which said a lot.

Loki broke stuff too, just not directly. He was, in fact, one of the reasons that Thor managed to do damage. He did really live up to his name of the Trickster and he seemed to be taking all of his rage out on his ex-brother. Tony loved it though. He had JARVIS tape most of them and save them in DVD form. Whenever he gets depressed he is going to watch the video of Thor being chased around the tower by rainbow colored, fluffy animals that were frothing at the mouth and biting his ankles. Sure, he lost an elevator in the struggle but it was worth it when he nearly passed out he was laughing so hard.

Loki was an interesting fellow. He spent most of his time following Tony around. He would sit and watch him in the lab, listening as the man rambled on about whatever he was making. He would follow as he was pulled around to the sights of New York, which was mostly restaurants that Tony loved. Despite everything Tony was doing for him, the billionaire felt like he was the one that was being spoiled.

Tony felt like he had a personal brewery following him around of all the best drinks in all of the realms. Loki has gotten into the habit of pushing a drink on him and explaining the worlds from which it came every time Tony got even the slightest desire for a drink. He got more head massages in a few days than he ever had in his life and he was considering begging Loki to stay for that reason alone. He was never tired, hungry, irritable, or any other thing that seemed to once be constants in his life. People thought he was spoiled before? Well they had never seen him with his god.

He did feel bad sometimes. Despite everything in his life Tony was never one to have someone dote on him without a lot of compensation. He felt bad that he had A GOD who was spending his time answering his every whim. When he brought it up the god in question gave him a look like he was a pile of sludge that had been excavated from the deepest part of the earth, eaten by a dog and then puked up on the man's shoes. Tony was duly informed that if the benefits to Loki were not exponentially worth more than what he gave Tony would never have even known the man existed.

Tony could understand that and happily went back to being spoiled.

Anyway, the five days ended with Tony having an impressive headache but happier than he has been in a long time.

Tony was currently sitting in a tower just on the edge of a desert, watching as preparations were made. There were literally thousands of people scurrying around like ants across the dessert. The land was no longer barren as it was filled with neat rows of rocket launchers, missiles, tanks, ammunition, lasers, long-range flame throwers and planes on standby. Tony himself have thirty ironman suits standing in a line, toy soldiers waiting for his orders. Fury had demanded that Tony not suit up and control what was essentially his plan. The weapons were all his well.

Well . . . mostly his. Seems like an alien invasion is the way to get all the secret government agencies in the world to work together. It ended up with a field of explosives that could undoubtedly bring the end of the Earth if they weren't going to be aimed at a wormhole in space.

"Are you ready?" Loki appeared beside him with a glimmer, dressed in full regalia and a smirk.

"As I can be." Tony shrugged, fiddling with the microphone that connected him to the complex. "I've done greater things with less. What is the danger of one alien invasion?"

"Thanos is the most powerful creature in this realm and the next. It would be quite normal to be concerned."

"Yeah but when we do defeat him I get inter-galactic street cred to the max." Tony smirked. "I just don't see why I have to do this. Can't Cap man the microphone? He's the one that's supposed to be the leader anyway."

"This is not a battle like the ones your captain has seen. This is a game of numbers, which is what you and Banner are skilled at. More good will be done by you directing and him calculating than there would having an army general try and control resources only you are truly versed in." Loki stated, picking lazily at his finger nails.

"Sir?" A SHIELD agent interrupted them. "One hour until the portal is to be opened and we are beginning our final checks."

"Well here we go." Tony turned back to the window, turning on the microphone as he did.

"Alright people, final check. When I call out you sign off. We are about to face billions of aliens so everything better be perfect."

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Loki thought the battle was possibly the most boring battle he had even been part of.

He wasn't complaining though, not really. He would rather a boring battle, because that meant you were winning. They were winning without a doubt. Three hours ago he had opened the portal and allowed the Chitari and the leviathans through to Earth. That's when they met the first line of defense. The sky was lit up like a sunset and has been that way since they began. Huge waves of fire and power shifted constantly in the sky as missiles and bombs found their targets. Not that it was hard, no matter where you shot there was something to hit. Regardless. Over fifty percent of the enemies that came through the portal never made it a hundred meters. Their corpses littered the desert floor in a grotesque pile of skin and blackened blood.

The second line of defense took care of nearly ninety percent of those who made it past the hundred meter mark. The second line of defense consisted mostly of soldiers with truck mounted machine guns and Thor. The thunder god seemed to be having the time of his life as he flew through the masses swinging his hammer. On occasion he would send out bolts of lightning that would travel through the beasts killing thousands in a single go as they were all connected and the lightning managed to travel through them by the score.

Bruce had joined him as Hulk just an hour ago. After seeing that they were easily handling everything he agreed that letting his monster out for a while might help calm him for the future. He became a green blur that was bouncing across leviathans with a grin and unrelenting fists.

Tony was still up in the tower. Occasionally he would direct trucks to move or command for a certain weapon to be used as a certain time. He was also directing his suits so that they could pick up the stragglers that were missed by the second line of defense. He was pouting unhappily as he watched Thor and Hulk fly about in the swarms of Chitari.

Widow and Hawkeye were sitting on top of the tower, content to watch. They passed a pair of binoculars back and forth. Occasionally Clint would get out his bow and take out a straggler that got too close. Feeling generous Loki had supplied them (Barton) with popcorn after they decided to sit out and watch.

Loki had taken up post near the portal controls and was sipping a cup of tea as he watched. He was waiting to recharge. About every thirty minutes or so he would recharge enough to perform a spell. He would sweep an arm and ice formed a giant scythe a mile wide that would cut through the army, leaving thousands of half-chitaris in its wake in a gruesome display. The first time he did it he got a series of disgusted groans over the comms as the Avengers commented on the horrifying way that he mutilated the enemies.

"How ya doing Loki-stoki?" Tony rattled into his ear.

"I am nearly ready for another sweep. How is everything else?"

"Going good. Better than expected to be honest. They seem to be slowing down but that doesn't seem right. By my calculations we can't be but a third of the way through their army. What do you think?"

"I believe that we are actually a little over a third. It seems that while I was away the Chitari got bored and killed many of their own. That only means good things for us though. They are probably slowing so that they can reconsider their strategy. With us decimating them in this way they might be panicking as they will not be used to it." Loki purred, sipping his tea again as he watch Thor yell before hitting a leviathan with so much power that it exploded.

"Then do you think it is time for the final part of our plan. Or do you want to wait until we are closer to half like we originally thought?" Tony asked. Loki glanced up to the window he was standing at. He had a pad and was working out calculations and sending orders to his machines.

"I see no reason to wait. They will not react to losing such great numbers anyway and with the last blow I doubt many will be left even if we do not wait. Let us not waste the resources."

"Very well. I will tell the boys on the ground to set everything up. Tell me when you are ready to do another sweep." The comm clicked off and Loki sat on the chair he had conjured for himself. He kept an eye on six trucks in particular as they slowly and carefully backed into a semi-circle and waited. Men scurried as they took off the tops and revealed rockets that sat lightly on their pads. A few men in hazmat suits stood on the trucks and were checking out the rockets with careful eyes. The gold and red rockets were raised and angle before settling, waiting like a viper ready to strike.

There was a piercing wail as sirens went off loud enough to ensure that all of those around could hear it. Immediately all the soldiers that had been on tanks and trucks or on the ground scrambled to leave. The weapons were left to be manned buy computers as all the living souls left. Loki knew they were heading off the special bunkers to wait out the launching. The remote controlled Iron Man suits flew closer to pick up the slack of the people leaving. Soon only Thor and Hulk were the only ones from their armies that were left fighting.

"Hulk, buddy. You gotta get out of there or else you and Bruce are going to get vaporized." Tony's voice boomed over the battle field. Reluctantly the green monster let go of a leviathan and ran off into the distance.

"Brother." Thor landed beside Loki with a smile. He was covered nearly head to foot with the black blood of the enemy.

"Are you ready Thor?" Loki asked, not bothering to correct him on his mistake.

"I was born ready, Loki."

"We are ready." Loki informed Tony. JARVIS 's voice began to count down over the land. It started from thirty and Loki began to collect his power in the palms of his hands. Thor was swinging his hammer that began to crackle with lightning. Then the counter hit zero.

Loki released all of his power, as much as he could spar without killing himself. Instead of one ice scythe he sent out three, allowing them to mow down everything in its path. Thor's lightning danced across the ice, frying anything that may have managed to evade the giant blades as they passed through the portal, cutting a hole. For a brief moment they could see the infinite darkness of space and the giant ships Loki knew held the queens.

A large whistle signaled the launch of the first rocket. Soon there was a succession as all of them fired off into the hole the gods had just made. With a smirk Loki watched the last one enter the portal. He stuck his hand through the barrier of the portals machine, shutting it down with a decisive push. He grabbed Thor's large shoulder and teleported them into the town next to his worshipper.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Tony didn't like the silence.

The entire tower, full of generals and leaders from all over the world watched as the portal shut and they waited for their fate. There was a collective breath being held as they watched the Chitari that had remained on this side of the portal and lived. Suddenly the approaching army stopped and fell to the ground. Like marionettes with their string cut they fell to the desert ground and didn't get up.

The whole place roared in relief as everyone stood to congratulate each other. Tony even got swept up into a few excited hugs.

"Do you think it worked? They won't come back?" Barton asked, clapping Tony on the back.

"Barton we just sent six atomic bombs, each one three times the one we dropped on Hiroshima, on them. There is no way in hell anything survived that except maybe that immortal guy. There is no way that he is coming out of that unscathed. I doubt he even has a body left to hurt!" Tony gushed.

"Congratulations." Loki said, appearing in the middle of their group.

"We had a glorious battle!" Thor roared, picking up Banner in a hug. Steve made his way to them with a large smile on his face.

"I can't believe it! We just defeated an army billions strong and lost less than a hundred men! This has got to be the greatest battle in history! Thank you." He said seriously to Loki.

"No need to thank me, Captain. This was all your own doing. I barely assisted at all." Loki waved him away.

"Nah man." Clint interrupted. "If it weren't for you and Thor and your knowledge there is no way we would've been able to win."

"I doubt that. Humans are far more resilient than anyone gives them credit for."

"The cockroaches of the realm." Tony said with a proud smile.

"Congratulation's Avengers." Fury appeared behind them, hands clasped behind his back. "Thanks t you the world is saved and with minimum casualties. You all did so well I don't think that any of the politicians are going to complain about the money spent."

"Of course they won't." Tony smirked. "Half of the weapons were from my own personal store."

"Which we will have to discuss one day, Mr. Stark. Specifically why you have weapons of mass destruction made on an almost commercial scale." He gave a piercing glare which Tony managed to hold, if only barely. "Go home. You guys are all done here. I have to go and see how to dispose of a couple billion alien corpses and to keep this all out of the press." He stalked off again, Coulson following him with a little smile. He mouthed 'well done' as he left.

"So anyone for a pizza party back at my place?" Tony asked, already tapping away at his phone to make the order.

0~~~~~~~~~~0

It was three months later and a lot had changed, and in a cliché way, a lot had not.

The Avengers stuck together. They had been introduced by the government a few days after the final clean-up of the battle. The public loved them and they quickly fell into the role of peace keepers and fighter in America as well as many places over the world. They all lived in the tower, including Natasha and Clint.

Loki lived with them too. He had decided to stay after a long think and a few days of incredible fighting with his brother. He calmed down a lot, finally coming into his own skin for the first time since everything bad had begun. He was still mischievous but there was a lack of maliciousness that it originally held. After a few long talks with Bruce and bi-weekly yoga sessions it was like talking to a new man. He was slowly coming to terms with being a frost giant and Thor's acceptance of who he was seemed to help a lot.

That had been a stressful time. In the first few weeks there had been quite a lot of yelling and breaking of furniture as the two ex-brothers tried to fight it out. Well, that's not completely right. Thor tried to fight it out while Loki stood in a corner and snarked at him until the other man went into a rage. Eventually the others stepped in. Taking them apart and having a few 'chats" (which lasted nearly three days) got them calm enough to sit in a re-enforced, furniture-less room. Eventually they talked and both were better for it.

Thor left for Asgard a month ago without Loki. He said he would return after doing his duties and talking his father out of punishing Loki. Loki, meanwhile, was quite content to stay where he was. Eager to learn he spent a lot of his time reading, going to museums and exploring the world. If he wasn't, he spent his time with Bruce and Tony in the labs. He is an invaluable assistant and partner in the labs now and happy to be appreciated for his intelligence.

Everything worked out. Not a single person who had started this journey thought that it was possible. Not a single person believed that it would end well for all of them. Yet they were here, happy, whole and a family. A group of misfits defeated an alien army, protected the world and continued to try and save it for years to come. Loki was quite happy to stay for as longs as he could. With his worshipper at his side and a family that was the personification of chaos he could not be happier.

All of this because of a silly writing assignment decades ago. Who could have guessed?

0~~~~~~~~~~0

Thanks for reading. Leave comments if you like. I always need inspiration to get off my ass and write more. Between college, life, and an ultra-needy cat (who is currently trying to eat off my plate . . . back off bitch!) I always forget that I have something in the works.

Ciao!