Loki awoke to the sounds of stomping. Glancing around, he took in the faces of the other Avengers. His brother was shackled, covered in deep purple bruises. He had obviously not gone down without a fight. The rest were in slightly better shape.

He was willing to bet that, as a 'traitor' and a considered Asgardian, he was in worse shape than Thor was.

He had, however, noted that thankfully Wanda was not among them. Meaning, she had gotten away, or, well… the other option was not, in his mind, an option.

As one particular Jotun came into view, Loki took notice that Tony was awake and trying to move. His mask had been ripped from his suit, and sparks were coming out from points on the chest and legs.

"Stark… tell me that thing is operational?" Loki asked, grimacing as Tony shook his head.

"Hardly… it's in the middle of self-repairs. We're looking at about 30 minutes, minimum, before I can do anything…"

Loki's eyes took in everything, and he blew out a puff of air, which immediately turned to a thick fog from the cold. It was then he noted that he was stripped of the over-armor which had protected him from Jotunheim's bitter cold. Glancing at the rest, he noted they, too, were stripped of their ice-protectant gear.

"At this rate, we'll perish from the cold… Even Thor and I aren't immune to the bitter ice here… And Natasha isn't looking well at all." he said, glancing at the shivering Black Widow.

Tony laughed bitterly. "Yeah, I noticed. My suit won't keep me warm for much longer…"

Loki chuckled a bit as the Jotun who had entered grabbed him by the shackles, and dragged him forward. "You will come with me… snake. Do not think we have forgotten how you betrayed us, even though we were of your blood. Although, you've made yourself more Asgardian than Jotun anymore… That is alright. We have plans to make you pay for your crimes against us."

"As I recall, I backstabbed you because you planned to backstab me?" he said, earning a cold hand to his throat. He forced a grin on his face, staring at the Jotun.

If he was going down, it wouldn't be without being a smart ass.

At that moment, Peter Quill happened to be leading his ragtag team plus one towards the temple, where Wanda had said they had been headed. He glanced down at Rocket, who had a fairly excited looking Groot on his shoulder.

"You ready?"

"Piece of cake." Rocket said, smirking. With that, Star-Lord nodded at the rest, and then motioned at Rocket.

"Do it."

Loki glanced over at the flat device that had been thrown into the temple, confused, as it emitted a blast of heat which caused the Jotun to drop him and back up, cowering away from the wave of heat. With that, he watched as a man with a strange metal mask and a red coat casually walked in, using his guns to shoot at the Jotuns that were off to the sides in the massive temple. Behind him was a green woman in tight leather with twin blades, and to her side was a larger, muscular man with smaller daggers. Bringing in the rear, much to his surprise, was a small raccoon with a living miniature tree on his shoulder, and his Wanda, who was throwing hex bolts with a determined look on her face.

"Wanda…" he smirked, as she rushed forward ahead of the others. He held up his shackles, and motioned towards the others. "A little help, beloved?"

She nodded, and sent a bolt through each of their shackles, destroying them in a flash and releasing them all. The vast majority landed in a heap, their bodies shaking lightly with the cold. As Wanda knelt next to Loki, he caressed her face lightly and smirked.

"I've been waiting for you, what took you so long?"

She gave him a look and shook her head. "Thank you would suffice, Loki."

"I have much better ways to thank you saved up for when we're back on Asgard."

Rocket gagged lightly. "I'm gonna hurl…"

"Loki, did you get the Casket?" Wanda asked, as his face turned to a frown.

"No. We didn't, we were captured before we could do so… We have to get it…"

"New York is dying… and the ice is spreading… we have to do this or die trying." Wanda said, as he nodded, standing, before taking a deep breath and allowing his skin color to turn a pale blue hue.

"WHOA WHOA! What the heck!" Peter exclaimed, as Loki shrugged.

"I'll explain later. I have more power this way, believe me I don't like this form… Can some of you help them? They're freezing…"Loki said, motioning towards the other Avengers.

"Drax and I will help get them onto our ship. Are you sure you can handle this alone?" Gamora asked, as Loki nodded, then gestured to Thor, who had awoken and was now standing.

"Oh, we will be fine now. Do you have more of those heat weapons?"

"I'm locked and loaded." Rocket grinned.

With that, Loki nodded, and turned, Wanda beside him. "Wanda… straight through there is the Casket. Let the small one there throw a heat weapon in there, and then we have to run for it, grab it, and get it out of here. They're stronger around that thing. Once it's not here, and it's shut, Midgard should begin to recover and the ice should subside."

She nodded, then looked to Quill as he spoke. "Then let's get a move on. Oh. And we want the Infinity Gem."

Loki looked at him in surprise. "Which one? There's one powering our friend there, and one back on Asgard…"

"Both. We need to take them for safe keeping."

"Well, that won't happen. Vision keeps his. It's what powers him, and gives him life." Wanda said, as Peter shook his head.

"Look, we can talk about this later, alright? This isn't the time or the place. Asgard will gladly give up the one we have, if that will work as a compromise. But again, we'll discuss it later. Priorities, people." Loki said, as Thor nodded, moving behind him. Thor's hand rose up, and with a crash, Mjolnir came flying into his hand.

Gamora and Drax began helping any Avenger that could not get up on their own to their feet so that they could be carried out, and those that had the strength to run were given a hand, and they made their way to the exit, battle-worn and exhausted.

With that, they all turned, and began moving towards the center of the temple. Rocket tossed in another heat-blasting grenade, and with that, they rushed in, using their various gifts to make their way to the center of the room. Loki, for once, was using Jotun-based powers, which fascinated Wanda, causing the various Jotuns in the room to freeze as they were hit with his icy blast. Thor rushed forward to touch the Casket, remove it, and cried out in pain, drawing his hand back.

Quickly, Loki turned and rushed to Thor, who showed his brother his wounded hand.

"It's frostbitten… the Casket has been open too long. The ancient cold is spreading out far past what it should normally be…" Loki said, as Wanda moved forward, holding one Jotun back with a hex blast.

"We have to grab it. We do not have a choice." she said, moving forward to grab it herself, when Loki's hand grabbed her arm.

"I'll get it. I've got the best chance of the least harm coming to me. I know my DNA was altered, so I am not Jotun, for the most part, but perhaps the fractions of Jotun DNA I have left in me will let me take that cursed thing so we can lock it back up, for good."

Without waiting for a reply, he moved to the Casket and lifted it from the pedestal… and promptly hit the floor as his hands froze to it, instantly covering them in a layer of hard ice. Wanda's hands flew to her mouth as she moved to help him, his face a grimace of pain, as he looked at them. "The… the quicker we get out… the less power… the less power it should have." he said, as Wanda helped him back to his feet.

They took off for the exit, focusing on getting out in one piece. Rocket tossed the last heat-blast out, and then looked at them as he ran, Groot on his shoulder. "That was the last one!"

Peter glanced back at Loki, who was falling behind, and stopped. He motioned for the others to move, then, without another thought, he pushed Loki in front of him. "I'll cover you. Get out of here, get away from this place, and get that thing shut off!"

With that, the group had Rocket in front, Thor next, with Wanda helping Loki as they ran out, and Peter bringing up the rear. Once they had cleared the center of the temple, and had gotten to the exit, Wanda stopped, as Loki grimaced, but looked at her.

"What's up, Red?" Rocket asked, as she glared.

"This place… those creatures… they are cruel. And that place is the main place where that damn thing can be used, right?" she asked Loki, as he nodded, confused. "So… what if they get it again? And they use it to try and kill us again… I can't see another Sokovia happen when I could have stopped it." she said, and with that, recognition dawned on Loki's face.

"Wanda, you can't do that. You'd have to be close to it, you'd risk being killed by the debris!"

"I know, my love. But I cannot sit by when another genocide could happen on my watch…" Her face was pure determination as Thor grabbed Loki and pulled him back.

"Let go! Wanda, come back to the ship!" The desperation in his voice tugged at her heart strings, as she turned to look at Thor, who had a gaze of understanding.

"I've got him."

She nodded, and with that, Peter and Rocket nodded at her, and both began helping Thor drag a protesting Loki, hands still bound to the Casket, back to the ship.

She turned to face the building in front of her, and let out a deep breath. "It's time I make up for Sokovia. For Pietro…" She then raised her hands, and power rippled through her fingers, and flashes of red flared up, moving through each and every icy stone holding the building up. She walked forward, her eyes glowing a deep reddish hue as she made the building tremble and shake around her. She moved into the building, as the Jotuns fled around her. The battle had been lost, the Casket taken and the temple shaking down to it's core. They had no reason left to stay.

As she made it back to the center of the temple, her fingers twitched, and a pulse similar to that she released in Sokovia surged from her, making the whole building tremble and shake around her. With a loud cry, she released a massive pulse blast of chaos magic, knocking the icy bricks around her down at the base level. As the world fell around her, she closed her eyes, and braced herself for the impending end that was coming for her. She sighed lightly, a peaceful smile on her face as the building fell.

"I love you."

"YOU HAVE TO GO BACK!"

On the ship, Loki was losing his mind. The ice binding his hands to the Casket was beginning to thaw, but it wasn't going fast enough. He was still trapped, his hands stuck to the thing, and his body was weak from the cold that it had emitted. He hadn't had the strength to fight Thor or the other two as they had wrangled him towards the ship, and he hadn't cared one bit when everyone had stared at him as he yelled at them once he was in a seat.

"Brother… do you think I would leave my sister to die out there in that mess?" Thor asked, shooting Loki a look. A brief flash of hope went across Loki's face as Thor moved to the exit of the ship. He then turned, before jumping out, and looked to Peter. "Get up and off of this icy grave. I'll bring Wanda back." With that, he jumped out of the ship, and spun his hammer, taking off into the sky as a massive red pulse shot across the landscape, making everything tremble.

"Ok, Rocket, co-pilot now please. We're getting up and out of here!" Peter shouted, as he moved quickly to the pilot's chair, Rocket right behind him, and the two began pushing buttons and moving levers to get the ship in the air, pronto. As the ship shuddered to life and rose high above Jotunheim, Loki looked down at the temple, watching it fall, his face pale with fear.

As Wanda waited for the building to fall around her, she felt… well, it had felt like a blast, coming off to the side. Her eyes went wide open, and she stared as Thor entered the temple as it fell, grinning lightly and motioning for her. She ran up to him, grinning in disbelief. "I told you to go with Loki!" she said, as he shrugged.

"You didn't think I'd leave my sister here to perish in a Jotun temple, did you?" That having been said, he pulled her against him, sent his hammer spinning, and the two took off as the building finally fully collapsed around them.

As they flew above the ruins, she looked up at Thor, curiosity on her face. "Sister?" she finally asked.

Thor grinned, slowing his flight a moment. "Do you not really think that, one day, possibly very soon, my brother will not make you his bride in the same way I plan to do for Jane? He would give up his immortality for you, Wanda. Even if you are technically not now… you will be my sister soon enough."

She smiled at that, as Thor took them to the ship, where the rest of them were waiting.

On the ship, they had gained enough altitude, and with the destruction of the temple, Loki's hands had unfrozen and his body had shifted back to his Asgardian, seemingly human appearance. The Casket was shoved off to the side, and he was staring out, trying to catch a glimpse of red in the rubble.

"Come on, come on…" Loki muttered, his eyes frantic and fearful. Before anyone could move to comfort him, reassure him, a flash of lightning off to the side and a thud caused him to whip his head around. The back of the ship opened, and with another thud, two people dropped in. He stood, and let out a light chuckle that turned into a gleeful laugh, as his arm extended and pulled the tired, but relieved Wanda into his arms, against his bare chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck, as his hands went to cradle the back of her neck and play with her hair at the back of her neck. His eyes met Thor's, and he nodded, smiling at him in return.

As they pulled apart after a moment, he smiled at her with firm eyes. "The next time you want to play wrecking crew, let me know in advance. The Warriors Three love breaking things into little bits, they'd be glad to do it for you." he said, getting a barking laugh out of Thor. She chuckled, pressing her face harder into his chest.

Peter looked back at them all. "Not to break up a touching scene here, but… where's this Asgard and what's the fastest way there?"

Thor grinned a bit, as Bruce groaned. "Oh no. I do not want to do that again…" he said, making Thor laugh once more.

"I suggest, my newfound friends, that you hold on to something. Heimdall, if you're listening, now would be a good time. Bring us home!"

With that, Loki gripped Wanda to him and held on to something, as she sighed. "I always hate this part."

Rocket gave Thor a strange look. "Who the hell are you talking to, GoldiloooooooCCCKSSSHOLYSHITTTTTT!"