MY EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!

AND I FINALLY GOT RID OF THAT STUPID FEVER!

So now I'm up and ready to be updating again~I really missed you guys.

Response to reviews (from my previous fic, Time):

Gammawidow67: Yes, he has been turned back to an age one year before Thor's coronation. Ahaha, and its thanks to you for the tip telling me to let Bruce Hulk out in Asgard…uncontrolled. Yeah, I figured that I had to kill a few significant characters. Loki's not out of the list yet.

Justme (Guest): Oh, you were sick? I hope you're okay now. Yeah, orientation sucks. In my opinion, anyway. You get to listen to people saying things that one can very well figure out for himself or herself. Wow, thanks for the new list of fics! I will be surprised if I manage to finish them before July. Well, I'm sort of really canon (except for Harry Potter, I'm open to all possibilities in that one) so I don't really ship Loki with anything/anyone. I've read a few fics like that but I didn't really enjoy it. For one, I already didn't like Sif in the movies because she's kind of sorta infatuated with Thor. I don't know whether it's just my imagination or anything, it's just my personal opinion. I'm killing off more people though, just be forewarned.

Justme (Guest) :I couldn't PM you on the other two stories you reviewed, so I had to reply here. Hope you don't mind. Anyway, thanks for reading them! I know my writing was terrible (still is) then, but somehow I never put my heart into deleting them, especially The Green Sky. Holy cows, I'm so mortified at my twelve-year old writing. Even my thirteen year old writing too. Hope that you find I've improved, no matter how little. You were right, we don't have that holiday here, but thanks anyway!

Guys, sorry if this story turns out to be too similar to With Friends Like These, but really, it's such a nice story that it's seeping into my writing and plot too.

Kudos to those who got the Frozen references.

Salty Ice Crystals

War

Chapter 1: Back in Asgard

Thor couldn't believe it. His little brother, that lived through centuries by Thor's side and been through so much, just couldn't be dead. Dead. As in, no pulse, no heartbeat, no warmth, no life. No mischievous glint in those emerald eyes that will never sparkle again. No more pranks or green magic curling to life in those limp hands. No more tears, laughter or joy from the motionless body in front of him. The body in front him was Loki's, but it wasn't Loki. Loki shouldn't be so motionless. Loki was always on the move, like he had too much pent up energy in his body, twiddling his fingers, wriggling his toes, fiddling with a quill…

Thor choked down a sob, uncaring of the ice cold water that still soaked his sleeves. He heard Stark saying something about a Midgardian sickness called something like, 'hypotirmia', but he didn't care. How could he care, when Loki was just…nothing?

He could feel the Captain's gentle hands trying to get him off the ice, onto safer ground, onto the places where Loki's magic yet hovered, marking the red and blue spots. Marking the places that are safe for Thor to walk upon.

Too late. If only Thor had reached there faster, and not hesitated about sticking his arms into the water for a second, Loki might be still alive.

The doctor was murmuring something to him in a soothing voice, imploring him to get somewhere safer.

Thor blindly followed, only because it would be something that Loki would want.

It was something that Loki gave his life for.

Thor took one last look at the body, and as if his gaze somehow added weight to Loki's body, the ice crumbled and Loki's corpse went along with it.

Thor couldn't even cry this time.

His tears had already frozen into salty ice crystals at the corner of his eyes.

All these suffering, all these journeys, had been for nothing. Loki still died, and in the middle of a frozen lake, with his heritage revealed for all to see.

His comrades started patting his back, murmuring meaningless words. Bruce and Steve and somehow started crying, and Tony was just rambling, in shock.

Then Thor saw air bubbles float to the top of the water.

He did not know whether it was just his deranged imagination or simply sheer hope or a miracle had happened.

But that small but significant discovery changed Thor's life.

Time trickled by.

Natasha's hair became unkempt, Clint's uniform had stains all over it. Both of them hardly spoke anymore, for fear that the cameras they knew were in the corners would be able to somehow turn their conversations against them.

Natasha's period came and went. She spent the duration of it soaking up the blood with a jacket, probably not the most hygienic choice, but her choices were limited. Sometimes she just talked to herself in rapid Russian, just enjoying the fact that she would be annoying them, who could speak and listen to Russian well, but had never heard it spoke at full speed by a Russian. They would be scrambling like mad for a translator, and Natasha smiled contentedly, imagining that scene where they saw her smile and assumed that she had a plan and something had somehow gone with it.

The assassin's worst fears came true a few days after her period ended. The Council was really planning to make them crack with isolation. Clint was taken to a separate cell. He fought, of course, and even broke a few bones, but the Indian man tasered him while Natasha was busy trying to break his neck from behind, legs wrapped around his torso. She managed to rip half of his hair out, and kneed him in the groin quite painfully, and tried to escape, but they had anticipated this-the door had automatically locked itself as soon as they were inside. Clint took advantage of the distraction Natasha provided by pretending to pick the lock even though they both knew it wasn't her strong suit to steal the keys, but the Chinese lady dumped the pail they used for relieving themselves on his head and promptly turned the taser to full power and tasering the archer.

Escape attempt #Natasha couldn't even count# failed.

The Indian man twisted both her arms behind her back and ripped out a few strands of her red but dirty hair in revenge, before flinging her onto the cold floor and exiting before Natasha could rebound back and use the leverage to knock him over.

They were well trained, Natasha had to admit that. But she didn't have to like them, or respect them for it.

Not when they're using their skills for the wrong party.

Natasha wasn't sure what she could do now without Clint. When Clint was still with her, even if they didn't talk, there was still this sense of companionship between them, but now, there was only emptiness.

With nothing else to do, Natasha put her spying skills to good use.

The trickle of information never bored her, though she was still lonely.

She learned that the Chinese lady's name was GuiZhu, and when it was spoken with a Chinese accent, it actually sounded quite beautiful. The Indian man's name was harder to pronounce, but he was named Rajuthumagili a/l Parameswara. They came from Southeast Asia, the Chinese lady from Malaysia and the Indian man from Philippines. The Chinese lady had a lover back at home, but the Indian man was quite smitten with her. GuiZhu starting working for the Council because they saved her life when she was sixteen, and she felt that she had to repay them somehow. Rajuthumagili, Raju in short form, worked for the Council only because they offered him shelter, food and money, nothing more. If Natasha wanted to bribe someone, Raju would be the ideal choice.

Aside from the personal information on her two guards that were constantly rotating shifts, Natasha also learned some news of the outside world.

The planets had been eerily quiet, as if they were awaiting something to happen. Not one meteorite had crashed into Earth since that crucial day, not even into the sea. It was as if the universe was holding its breath, waiting. For what, they were still speculating.

Natasha developed a habit of throwing a small portion of her food aside. Anything could be turned into a weapon, her mentor and friend Agent Coulson had taught her. The people on the other side of the camera would be confused, and that was the only way Natasha could torment them with now.

From various eavesdropping sessions, she learned that the Council planned to lock them away for a year before taking them out and making them reveal their entire lives to them. No information would go amiss.

A year.

Two months and Natasha was already going half insane. How was she expected to survive an entire year?

Whatever valuable information she did have would definitely be wormed out of her. Natasha was used to loneliness, yes, but humans have been scientifically proven as animals that live in a herd, and psychologists have theories which revolve around what would happen if a human is isolated for a long period of time. They all vary, but all agree on one thing: The results won't be pretty.

In one, the victim becomes incoherent and rambles aimlessly without any sort of thought to what he or she was saying.

Natasha didn't want to become one of them.

Of course, those theories were untested, and most likely the not-so-scary theories could happen too, like depression or split personality disorder once the victim starts talking to himself or herself.

Natasha didn't want that either.

But she can't really help it, could she?

Natasha looked at her growing pile of rotting food.

And an idea struck her.

The two armies clashed with mighty roars. The first blood flew, splattering the faces of anyone nearby. The Asgardians snarled, pressing in, driven by hate and grief. They moved at speeds previously thought impossible, and the thought of their dead and beloved female warrior fueled their strikes. Enemy after enemy fell. Queen Frigga quickly disappeared into the castle so that she could cast her enchantments in peace and with nothing to distract her. King Odin did his best to control his troops and devise a strategy which mostly consisted of improvising, since he didn't really have much time. Asgard's army had acted impulsively, but it also gave them the element of surprise.

The Warriors Three killed like they were possessed by the demons of war. Roaring and yelling, they fought a bloody path towards the line of archers, which quaked with fear and shot arrows towards the Warriors, but Queen Frigga had anticipated their reaction and placed a shielding spell on them once she found privacy. It was weak, and admittedly not as good as she would like it to be, but it did a good job of diverting enough arrows in time for the Warriors Three to crush all their skulls. Breathing heavily, Hogun stared at the massive ship on the horizon that was just behind the archers. Thanos sat somewhere in there, he knew, and wasn't even breaking a sweat over thousands of his soldiers being killed, knowing that there would be more soldiers on their way to take the dead's place.

Volstagg boiled with rage, and charged towards the ship with a mighty cry. But ten feet short of it, an invisible force field fried him with electricity and threw him twice that distance backwards, into the throng of soldiers.

"Volstagg!" Fandral yelled, fighting his way back into the crowd, though being extra careful not to step on the prone body he was protecting. "Hogun, I need your help! Guard me while I help him!"

Hogun snapped to attention, tossing an explosive substance in the direction of the ship and running towards the spot without turning back. A wave of heat emanated from the spot, nearly scorching Hogun's skin had he not been fast enough. Turning back, Hogun was just in time to see that it hadn't worked. A blue ripple passed through the force field before it became invisible again. Gritting his teeth, Hogun brought his sword down to let out some of the pent up anger. Again and again the blade met flesh. Again and again the blade spilt blood that painted the ground red.

"Hogun!" Fandral shouted. "Tell Sif to-oh, no, just, you know more about medical help, so, just, take over. I'll guard you."

Hogun thrust his sword into a nearby Chitauri, letting in remain there and fell to his knees beside his fallen friend.

Volstagg wasn't breathing.

Hogun did the only thing he could think of. Slamming both fists into Volstagg's chest repeatedly, hoping to kickstart the heart, he shouted, "Food! Boiled eggs with stuffed chicken! Roasted turkey! Fresh loaves of bread! Beef cooked over a campfire!" He continued to desperately rattle off any kind of food he could think of.

If they were under normal circumstances, Fandral would have laughed and joked that this was the largest amount of words he had ever heard Hogun spout at the same time. But the circumstances were too dire, the situation too dangerous. They would jest about it later, at the victory feast where there would be pretty maidens and lovely serving girls attending to his every need. They will have a victory feast.

Volstagg jerked awake, only long enough to cough up some blood mixed with saliva before his heartbeat faltered again and faded out completely.

"NO!" Hogun lost his quiet and calm composure. "Volstagg, you WILL WAKE."

It was quite out of character for the young warrior (in Asgardian standards), but no one cared. The Asgardian warriors, sensing distress, formed a circle around them and another party fought their way through with healers in tow.

But Volstagg had stopped breathing.

Thanos' manic cackle cut the air.

No one breaches my force field, pets. Let him be the eighty trillionth person to be sacrificed to my beloved.

Nothing but silence and the dying screeches of the Chitauri.

Another ship descended from the sky.

Fandral grabbed Volstagg's axe and flung it at the new ship. Even though it should be impossible for even Asgardians to have that kind of arm strength, the bond between the Warriors Three was unbreakable. But now they would be known as the Warriors Two instead. That was enough to make the axe embed itself in the ship's hull, and slowly, the whole ship split open, all the Chitauri within falling to death before even catching sight of what had caused their abrupt death.

Fandral heaved heavy breaths, looking at the havoc he had caused. "For you, my friend Volstagg."

Hogun bowed his head.

First Sif, now Volstagg. Would this tragedy ever end?

There was only one way to end this terrible war.

"Thanos." He said, loudly and clearly. "I challenge you to a fight. Between you and me, with only weapons and without magic."

Fandral gawped at him and Hogun knew that there was no turning back as Thanos stepped from the first ship, a sinister smile on his lips.

"So the Warriors Two decide to change their name to Single Warrior, eh? Very well. I take up your challenge."

"This is scientifically impossible. Logically too. Universally too. Ok, biblically that's possible, but I mean, you call yourself Norse gods, so I guess that's definitely impossible. How-"

"Shut up, Stark."

The small portion of Avengers lapsed into silence as they watched Loki cough and struggle to get the excess water out of his lungs, Thor supporting him gently, a hand on his back. Loki looked scared, and confused, and…younger?

"Bro-brother?" Loki stuttered through chattering teeth. "What am I doing here? Shouldn't we be at the rehearsal of your coronation?"

Thor frowned. "My coronation? Loki, how old are you?"

Loki frowned as Bruce tossed a blanket over him. "My, brother, are you that foolish? Of course I'm 1689 years old this year. And who are they?" Loki gestured subtly at Tony, Steve and Bruce.

"They are friends. Warriors of Midgard."

Loki's brow creased. He had visited Midgard many times before, but Midgard had given him no reason for Thor to be so friendly with their warriors. That means that Midgard must have come far in the past year for the mighty Thor to deem it worthy of his attention. "I see. Why are we on…" Loki looked around him and was only more confused. "Jotunheim? Thor, please tell me that you didn't knock me out and drag me here to fight the Jotunn. You were only kidding yesterday, right?"

"Er, well…" Thor looked for a way to explain and found none. "I will explain later. Wait here, I will see what I can get to make some hot stew to warm you up."

"Go then." Loki nodded.

Luck was with him, for not fifty feet from their spot, Thor spotted a snow bunny hopping away. Who knew Jotunheim could hold life so small and cute? Thor quickly chased after it, but once his hammer came down upon its head, it dissipated with flecks of green magic. Thor's eyes widened. Loki.

Cursing, Thor returned to the campsite where he found Loki holding a small knife and had his back pressed to an ice wall, facing his friends, who were doing their best to explain that they meant no harm.

Thor neared them and advanced even as Loki aimed his dagger at him. "Don't come a step closer! I rarely miss my mark and you would be wise to tell me where is my brother and what kind of magic you are using to impersonate him!"

Thor chuckled. "You never miss your mark, Loki. Your brother is right here, right in front of you. I am using no magic. You know very well that I am far too simple for the intricate makings of magic."

Loki looked suspicious. "You don't sound nor feel like my brother. Thor is an…" He closed his eyes. "Ignorant, foolish, lumbering, rash but lovable oaf. You seem like an older version of him, which would be impossible. Which only leaves one possibility: You are doing a really bad job of impersonating him."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Look, Thor, you'd better handle this. I'm outta here. Loki is way harder to handle than Steve, and he got frozen for seventy years. Loki only, what, went back in time for a few years?"

Steve was more understanding. "Well, Stark, you would be disoriented and confused as well if it were you seeing Pepper with white hair and wrinkles."

Thor frowned. "I don't have white hair."

"Now you do." Loki smirked.

Thor quickly reached up to check his hair and glowered at Loki once he discovered that it was snow white.

Tony couldn't help it. He burst out laughing and eventually Bruce joined him with a chuckle. Steve was doing his best to suppress his laughter for Thor's sake but failed miserably.

Loki crossed his arms. "See? My brother would have flung Mjolnir at me for such an insult but you just…glare. And it isn't really intimidating."

"Ooh, burn." Tony grinned, wiping away his tears of laughter and clutching his now aching midsection. "Man, that was a good one, buddy. I want you as my partner!"

"Partner as in?" Loki looked at him suspiciously. Finally, they were revealing their true intentions of bringing him here.

"A prank war." Tony grinned.

Steve groaned. Bruce facepalmed.

A devilish smile spread across Loki's face. They didn't call him the God of Mischief for nothing. "Done."

"Excellent! Well, now how are we supposed to go back?" Tony clapped his hands together.

"You yet still need to prove your trustworthiness." Loki narrowed his eyes. "But yes, I believe I have enough magic required to transport us to Asgard, the closest realm to Jotunheim."

"Not Midgard?" Tony whined.

Loki smiled. "I am able to, but I wouldn't just to irk you."

"So that was how he earned his title." Bruce remarked. "Thor, your brother really seems normal."

"Normal? As in I wasn't before?"

"Well, hardly any one of us can be considered normal, can we?" Steve hurried to cover up. "Well, Loki, do your stuff then."

Loki uttered one word. "Transportere."

A bright green flash of light enveloped them.

When they reappeared in Thor's old room, only Thor and Steve were left standing, Steve albeit a little confused on what was occurring, but he already had seen and tried many strange and fascinating objects in the twenty-first century, so he just accepted what was happening without a question. Tony and Bruce were on the ground, Bruce recovering fast while Tony was just trying not to puke. Loki leaned against the bedpost, eyes closed and hands braced against the ground. Thor realized that transporting them from a secret pathway between the realms to a place that, if now at war, would be heavily warded and enchanted was not going to be the best for Loki's health.

"Brother?" He asked tentatively, placing a hand on Loki's thin shoulder. Loki flinched so hard that Thor snatched his hand back again.

"My apologies, brother." Thor didn't know what to say. "Have I somehow offended you?"

Loki shook his head, breathing hard. "You…just caught…me off guard. I assure…you that there's…nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about? I'm sorry, Loki, but it seems that you have somehow overtaxed yourself. Get on Thor's bed and sleep. Get some rest." Steve ordered. When Loki didn't move he glared some more to get his point across and Thor just lifted Loki onto the bed bodily. Grumbling, Loki cast them all a suspicious eye before disappearing under the covers.

"Okay, Thor, go out and check what's going on. They should receive you well, given that you're the Crown Prince and all. Stark, go with him, in case someone asks him about something they shouldn't know and Thor doesn't know how to lie. You can cover up for him. Bruce should stay here, just in case. I'll stay here too, more than one Midgardian in this place might not bode well. Stark, bring your suit in case they require any flashy moves from you to prove your worth." Steve's leadership was showing as he fired off commands. Tony left with some grumbling to retrieve his suit. Thor tenderly tucked Loki in. The mischief god cracked one eye open and gave a mock groan, but allowed it. How long had it been since Thor had acted so gentle with him? Rest came easily, for something deep down told him that this Thor was to be trusted. Loki dozed off, letting his magic replenish itself and letting his body getting sufficient rest and a break from being pummeled by Thor and the Warriors Three including Lady Sif.

Once Thor and Tony left, Steve sat down by the side of Loki's bed. "Well, do you want to find out what you did by yourself or I'll break it to you as gently as possible? If you want your rest it can wait but I still think you should know."

"I'm listening." Came Loki's muffled voice. "Tell me."

"Bruce? I might need your help." Steve called, and started, "Well, I don't really know much, and you probably should talk to Thor, but from what I gathered from him, is that you're not of Asgard."

Loki's mind whirred. Not of Asgard, then maybe Alfheim? He did have a natural affinity for magic after all…but Svartalfheim was possible too. Even Jotunheim. Dear Norns, he really hoped that it was Alfheim. He quite liked the royal family there after all.

Then the shock set in. "Wha-what? I-I'm not Thor's brother? Nor Fathe-Odin's son? Not Mother's son? Then where am I from?"

"Don't be shocked, okay?" Bruce said, leading Loki to expect the worst. "Jotunheim."

Steve could feel his heart slowly breaking into tiny, teeny pieces as Loki's face slowly crumpled and the dark haired prince instinctively curled into a little ball. "Why-no…this isn't happening, I can't be Jotun, lies lies lies…"

"Loki?" Steve tried to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder but it was flung off wildly. "No! Don't touch me! I'll hurt you!"

"Loki." Steve said gently. "We've been in contact with your Jotun form before, and it didn't hurt us. To tell the truth, Bruce and I think it's beautiful, and Tony says it's the most amazing thing he's ever seen before. Thor doesn't think any less of you for it."

"NO!" Loki shrank away from them like they were the ones who had the burning touch.

"Loki, please. Let us finish." Bruce tried to calm him down. "Or I'll have to subdue you with physical force."

Loki quietened, breath still hitching with sobs.

"You found out at the worst possible time, when Thor had been banished to Midgard to learn a lesson for leading an attack against the Jotunn on his coronation day and your Father was indisposed. You were forced to take over the throne while your mind was still in turmoil. So, well, you made some wrong choices." Steve said. "We all make wrong choices, Loki, but it doesn't define what you are. A monster doesn't exist. Monsters cannot feel, they don't cry, they don't strive for approval. You're definitely not one."

"What did I do?" Loki asked fearfully.

"You…kinda sent down the Destroyer to hinder Thor, but you didn't know that he was weaker in his mortal body and your brother nearly died. He was saved in time though. You also brought the Jotunn to Asgard with their King." Bruce said, wincing.

Loki's eyes boggled. "I what?!"

"You were confused." Steve quickly added. "There's no way you can change that now anyway.

You cannot change what is past. But you may yet affect the future.

Loki's brows furrowed. "Go on."

"Are you sure? We could wait, you know…"

"I would rather find out while I have the chance." Loki snapped.

"Okay…so, anyway, it was all a plan to kill Laufey, destroy Jotunheim and prove yourself to Odin that you were a worthy son but Thor arrived in time to thwart Jotunheim's destruction. So, the two of you fell off the rainbow bridge and…ugh, here comes the part I hate most. I still dislike Odin for it." Steve said, making a face.

"You wanted Odin's approval, you told him that you could have done it for him, for all of you." Bruce's voice cracked a little. "But Odin told you no."

"And I fell." Loki said quietly.

"And you fell." Steve confirmed.

"You somehow plucked an army out of nowhere there, and then you attacked our realm." Bruce chipped in. "We still don't believe that you're fully yourself then though."

"What happened to make you think that way?" Loki asked, curious.

"You threw up some blue wacky stuff." Tony cut in, closing the door behind him. Seeing their curious glances, he said, "Thor's in the battlefield. He's trying to find their-your-his-the Allfather." Tony finally settled on the last title as a surprising show of tact.

"What?" Loki asked sharply. "Did I refuse to acknowledge them during…those times?"

Steve decided that it was time for honesty, since lies had already ruined Loki once. "Yes."

Loki's face was perfectly blank. "Oh. Please go on." Wait. Battlefield?

"I'll do it." Tony offered, seeing as he was the best with telling the truth but making it sound funny and strange all at the same time. "Well, you see, to get those strange thingy out of you completely we had to go to the Norns. Not the best idea you had, by the way. You nearly scared Thor out of his hammer, falling into ice and all that. Anyway, we traveled the Nine Realms, which still isn't as awesome as Earth, they don't have fine brandy and JARVIS anyway, oh wait, Jotunheim did, at least for a well, and you imitate a drunk person really well, well, JARVIS does, but only under your control-"

"Who's JARVIS?" Loki asked, bewildered but a bit cheered up by the sudden rambling.

"My AI, kind of an invisible butler, I'll introduce you both and let him give the sciency explanation to you later when you meet. Anyway, you somehow snuck off to meet the Norns on your own, and we still have no idea what happened, and Thor was making a storm, big one, then you suddenly woke up deaged and well, you know what happened next." Tony finished.

"That's the gist of it." Bruce confirmed. "But we, as in the three of us and Thor, plus two more you will meet when we get back to Earth, are the Avengers. We were created to stop you from subjugating Earth and well, you put up quite a fight, considering it was six of us versus you."

"Wait." Loki interrupted. "None of you mentioned anything about a war."

"Well, the war-wait, how do you figure that one out?" Steve said.

Loki sighed. "Obviously, since you were talking about one as if I were not there."

"Er, the war's about Thanos. He's the guy that put the blue wacky stuff into you, by the way. Oh, and did I mention that he's crazy about Death? Supposedly your daughter Hela?" Tony suddenly remembered the connection.

"Well, yeah. I need to have a talk with her when I get the chance. Hopefully be a better father than Odin." Loki grimaced.

"Actually, I think you did. You died at that creepy Orc's hand in Sven. Wait, Sven's the reindeer! Wait, does that mean I can call you Sven, Reindeer Games?" Tony grinned at the discovery of a new nickname.

"No." Loki by now already had a pretty fair grasp on Tony's personality.

Just then, Thor barreled in. Through the ceiling.

"Ill news, I fear!" He bellowed. "Thanos is battling Hogun!"

Wait till the next chapter~XD

Up next: Natasha creates a weapon out of the most unlikely thing ever, Hogun's fight with Thanos, Loki sees his mother, the rest of the Avengers on Asgard do battle, one dies. After Loki's talk with Frigga they go down to see Hogun's fal-wait, I'm giving away too much. Ahahaha I'm just plain evil.