Loki was no stranger to the violence of battle, nor to the damage Midgardian weaponry could inflict. Yet, when the quinjet reached the outskirts of San Francisco and the research facility came into view, he was taken aback nevertheless. Four SHIELD helicopters and Stark in his usual red and gold left the air above congested. A fifth helicopter was aflame on the ground, only the surviving half of its main rotor distinguished it from the mess of other wreckage scattered about.

Those still alive on the ground made use of these destroyed watchtowers, armoured vehicles and whatever else there was that could no longer be identified with any certainty. Loki sank his fingers into the back of the pilot's headrest as he took in the view. Gunfire seemed to come from three directions at once – from within the building and from two angles from outside the facility's perimeter.

Travers let out an ugly snarl. 'We've been spotted.'

One of the helicopters that had been preoccupied with humbling Stark was now banking. Coulson slid into the co-pilot's chair, but before he had the chance to fire off a single shot, the helicopter's machine gun showered the quinjet with rounds that looked deadly enough to pierce the quinjet's armoured hull. Coulson swore and let out the quinjet's own firepower. The helicopter pilot was quicker, however. He banked the helicopter again. As it turned, the sun, low in the sky at this late hour, shone right through the helicopter's cabin, illuminating his face enough for the pilot's eye-patch to become visible.

Loki shook his head. This made little sense. What kind of facility was this to have enough men and enough weaponry to hold off a sustained attack from the air, even with Stark whizzing about and playing the hero? Where was Tyr? More importantly, where was Thor? Loki would never let Thor live it down if he got lost on his way. Or perhaps the iridium was already in Tyr's hand and Nick Fury's continued barrage was only a ploy to cover up Tyr's retreat?

'We need to get inside this building,' Rogers said. In a mirror to Loki's tight told on the pilot's chair, he clung onto the back of the co-pilot's chair and did his best to remain upright while Travers took the quinjet through every evasive manoeuver in his repertoire.

Travers scoffed. 'I can hardly set you down right now!'

'That's fine,' Loki said. He let go of Travers' chair and tapped Rogers on the shoulder. Together they stumbled their way to the back of the quinjet. Loki pulled the lever that brought down the loading hatch. 'It's only about fifty metres. You want to go first?'

Rogers offered Loki a playful smile and jumped out. Loki followed the moment he thought he wouldn't land atop of Rogers' head. He had calculated correctly and ended up a few feet away from Rogers. The landing did jar every joint in his legs, but there was no time to shake it out. Loki didn't remember the last time he had quite so many Midgardians attempting to kill him at one. Bullets sprayed from covered positions both his left and his right, while spent ammunition rained down from the stand-off between the helicopters, the quinjet and Stark.

Rogers sprinted over to Loki and brought his shield up in the vain attempt to protect them both. Of course, a shield only covered so many angles at a time; Loki's magic had to take care of the rest.

'Should've had Travers take us over the roof instead,' Loki spat out in frustration.

Rogers shrugged. 'We need to work with what we're given.'

He grabbed the lip of Loki's shoulder-piece with his free hand and began moving towards the research facility building. Loki let himself be pulled along, but he wasn't willing to endure this gauntlet of gunfire any longer. He put some proper force behind his magic. Everything around them when flying backward. For a moment, there was silence as the gunners were thrown off their positions, then a hissing whirl descended from above.

The missile at the end of that whirl lifted both Loki and Rogers off their feet. Loki's jaw caught the edge of the good captain's shield, while Rogers himself came back up with bits of shrapnel embedded into practically every inch of his borrowed uniform. As Loki ran his tongue over his teeth and assured himself they were all still there, he helped Rogers to his feet. The missile had left a crater in its wake, which they had to skirt around as they rushed to what little remained of the facility's front facade.

'Don't shoot!' Rogers shouted when someone within started peppering them with bullets, but no matter the authoritative tone to Rogers' voice, the bullets continued bouncing off his shield, sending sparks in every direction.

'I don't think they heard you!' Loki shouted. The shooting from the other parties involved, whoever they were, had resumed and Loki's attention had to be split between keeping up with Rogers and protecting their rear.

Rogers lowered his shield half an inch. 'Stand down, men!'

Without waiting for a response, he leaped over the rubble that formed a very rough barricade at the entrance to the building. Caught off-guard by that move, Loki couldn't quite match Rogers' jump and had to scramble over the rubble. He made it over just in time to catch Rogers attempting to talk down a beefy corporal, who looked ready to take on Captain America with an empty ammunition box. Loki flicked his fingers; the ammunition box flew out of the corporal's hand.

'We're not the enemy, really,' Loki said. There were not a lot of them - not even a dozen (even if you counted the two unmoving figures half-buried under the debris). In his mind, it added weight to the thought that Fury's dramatics outside were mere distraction. If he really wanted to, he would have blown their foxhole apart by now. Loki crouched down in the narrow space not taken by the soldiers or ammunition boxes. 'We're kind of like Stark. We're here to help.'

As Rogers found a place for himself a little deeper into the destroyed atrium, he gestured to the men who held weapons in their hands. 'Keep doing what you were doing. Corporal, a situation report would be a great help right now.'

The corporal chewed on his lip, his eyes repeatedly flickering to Loki, which Loki supposed was only to be expected. He was dressed in his Asgardian gear.

'Fuck if I know what's happening,' the corporal finally said. 'It was a normal day, then this girl with green skin and this old guy rammed their hummer through the gates. They were both dressed weird, about as weird as you are.' He motioned towards Loki. 'No offence, man.'

'None taken,' Loki muttered.

'Yeah, uh, they had weird weapons too. We held them off until these helicopters arrived with a bunch of SHIELD people and some other weird looking guy. Then Stark and that dude with the hammer. I don't fucking know that all of this crap is about. We called in for reinforcements and they confirmed they were coming. I think they are out there, but they can't get through those SHIELD bastards.'

'Sounds like a tough afternoon,' Rogers said. The boom from an explosion outside made him pause briefly, then he went on as if nothing had happened. 'You're all done well. Where are the... questionably dressed people now?'

A private, who was in the middle of reloading, snorted. 'Jumped up on the roof or something. Didn't look right.'

'They'll be after the iridium,' Loki said. 'I'm going after them.'

Rogers nodded. 'I'll be right after you, just need to give these guys a hand.'

Loki made no enquiries about the captain's plan. He didn't care what Rogers did really, not when Thor was potentially alone against Gamora, Tyr and Ebony Maw. Stark would have been more help anyway; it was more difficult to get into Stark's head than other people's.

At the second flight up the building's main staircase, Loki realised his folly. He had no clue where inside this facility, which looked large enough to accommodate at least a thousand people, the iridium was stored. He abandoned the stairs and tried to pry open the first door he came across. Locked. Of course, the entire building was in lockdown. Loki took a few steps back. With a run-up, he rammed his shoulder into it. The window of frosted glass towards the top shattered and the lock split open.

Loki burst inside what turned out to be a vast cavern of desks and cubicles. It looked empty. He frowned. It was late in the day, but what was his luck that there wouldn't be anyone working back?

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'Hello?' he called out. 'If there's anyone there, I need your help. I only need directions. I'm not armed!'

A rustle came from beneath a desk in the middle of the cubicle forest. A middle-aged man with a beard Volstagg would envy crawled out and upon seeing Loki, brought his hands up above his head.

'Oh, Lordy,' he muttered. Even at the distance between them, his widened eyes and pale cheeks were obvious. 'I really hope you were telling the truth.'

Loki chuckled. He considered changing his appearance to match common Midgardian attire, but a sudden show of magic was bound to only unsettle the man further.

'Do I look armed?' he asked in a calm tone. His knives were well hidden. 'You're all right, nothing to worry about with me, do you understand? I'm searching for a laboratory or wherever they deal with or store iridium. Can you point me to the right place?'

'Don't know really,' the man responded. The light coming in from the outside changed sharply, drawing the man's attention. A moment later his unvoiced question was answered as a burning helicopter tumbled out of the sky and landed with a thud that sent flying what few pieces of glass had still remained in the window-frames. The man gulped down a breath. 'I just do the contracting support here. All I know is all the big labs are in the East Wing, spread over levels three and four.'

Loki sighed. 'Well, that's something. Thank you.'

'Glad I could help then.' The man knit his eyebrows tighter together. 'I'll get back under that table now then.'

'Sure. You do that.'

----------------------------------------

Loki heard his brother long before he caught up to him; Thor's frustrated roar carried well. Loki followed the noise up to the fourth floor of the building. The destruction here was as thorough as out by the entrance. No door or wall was left untouched; barely a piece of furniture retained enough shape to make it possible to make out what it had been; holes had been ripped in the ceiling. Loki wasn't surprised. Mjolnir wasn't a weapon suited to enclosed spaces and Ebony Maw, who carried no physical weapon on his person, relied on his surroundings to furnish him with usable tools during a fight.

Loki himself was better prepared. He drew his knives and hurried to the tussling audible above the sound of the continuing battery outside. He found Thor soon enough.

This isn't great.

Thor was swinging his hammer in defence rather than attack. He tried to ward off Ebony Maw's assault and at the same time, retain his hold on Tyr, whom he held firm in his left hand. He wasn't having much success. Ebony Maw was a challenging and wily opponent on any day, and today he carried the sceptre.

Yet at that moment, the Maw stood facing away from Loki. Figuring this was as opportune a moment as there would ever be, Loki took his chance.

'Behind you!' Tyr yelled.

Ebony Maw turned, his face twisting with rage. A pulse of azure-hued energy rushed out of the gem embedded in the sceptre and sent Loki flying backward through no less than three walls. He could only be glad that Midgardians favoured wood and plaster as building materials. He came to no major harm. Before he could move a muscle, however, Ebony Maw decided he wanted Loki back. An invisible hand wrenched shut around Loki's throat and dragged him out of the rubble. Loki flung out his hands, trying to find something solid to hold on to and at the same time, attempting to call on his magic. Against the full power of the infinity stone, he stood no chance.

A cold dread seized him. It was the mind stone that sat nestled within the sceptre. The weapon was likely only recently resized for Ebony Maw's stature, but the Maw would know enough to pry open Loki's mind.

He choked out an incomprehensible gargle. The invisible hand around his throat held on too firmly. Even if he could speak, Loki had no idea what he could say to save himself. He had fooled Thanos once. Ebony Maw would remember that insult well; he would make sure to tear out every memory, thought and fantasy Loki had ever had.

'Release him!' Thor shouted, pulling Tyr up so Ebony Maw could see the aged man's flushed face. 'Release him or I'll kill your accomplice. Then I will hunt you down -'

'Then kill me!' Tyr spat out. 'I don't care if I rot in the halls among the damned if that thing you call brother is dead.'

'Must we have more death?' Ebony Maw smiled as he shifted the sceptre back a notch. With that small movement, Loki slid the last few feet across the floor and within the Maw's reach. He rested a long, bony finger on either side of Loki's nose and pushed his fingers down until Loki's lower eyelids pulled away from his eyes. Loki's vision blurred. The hand, which still held him tight, permitted no air into his lungs. 'You are Thor, King of the Asgardians, are you not?'

'I am,' Thor answered sharply.

'Enough blood has been spilt today. Do you not agree, your highness? We need not spill more. My master's plans for this world will come to fruition soon enough, but Asgard need not be touched. You need only to accept the Great Titan's dominion over this planet and we will have an understanding.'

'And Loki,' Tyr hissed. 'We must have him. He killed my daughter. He killed the Titan's daughter.'

Ebony Maw let out a huff and went on speaking, but Loki no longer heard his words. His vision was going too – the darkness had started at the edges and was rolling inward and each of his limbs weighed as much as a bullock. He tried one more attempt to call on his magic. The Asgardian magic his mother had taught him and the Jotunn magic of his blood. Both failed him. The world was closing in. He saw only the Maw's eyes, which even the light of the infinity stone couldn't warm.

'Asgard will never accept your terms,' Thor declared. His voice was loud and coursed with fury, but it seemed to come from half a mile away. 'Release my brother right now.'

Why is he so far away? We were all in the same room, weren't we?

Someone shouted. The hand around Loki's throat gave him an inch of leeway and deposited him on his knees on the floor. It was enough for Loki to cough in a mouthful of air. Spots slid across his vision, but Ebony Maw's face became clearer. He grinned. By the time Loki realised the Maw was lowering the sceptre towards him, Loki was already screaming.

'What is this?' he asks as Thanos takes the sceptre from Ebony Maw. 'Is this a test?'

'You could call it that,' Thanos responds. He tilts his head to the side and is something apologetic in his expression. Nevertheless, he cups Loki's chin, then presses his thumb into Loki's temple. 'This won't be comfortable for you.'

'I trust you understand the value of circumspection on this matter,' Ebony Maw says as he inputs the security code and scans in his fingerprints. 'It is an honour to be entrusted with this knowledge.'

Loki nods solemnly. 'I think I would be no less disappointed than the Great Titan would be if he finds my conduct wanting.'

The pain, already unbearable, twisted into a burning agony. Loki's skull was pried apart and someone had sunk their fingers deep into his brain, their fingernails scraping more and reaching deeper with every second.

'I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail nonetheless,' Thanos says. Paying no attention to the burning fires nor to the mutilated bodies all around them, he bends down to hook his fingers under Thor's breastplate and lifts the Asgardian off the ground. 'It's frightening. It turns your legs to jelly. But I ask you to what end? Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say, I am here.'

A shadow of a smirk crosses Thanos' face as he brings up his left hand to show off the gauntlet and the power stone nestled within.

'The universe lies within your grasp,' the Maw proclaims.

Thanos offers no indication he heard those words - his focus is on his quarry. He studies the Tesseract for the moment, then crushes it as if the containment vessel was nothing more than spun sugar. The shards of the Tesseract fall away, revealing the precious stone within. Loki's heart skips a beat as the space stone smoothly slides into its intended place next to the power stone and sends out a pulse of energy through the wrecked shell of the Statesman.

The Mad Titan sighs. His eyes never tear away from the gauntlet, but he isn't content with this victory. 'There are two more stones on Earth,' Thanos declares. 'Find them to me, my children, and bring them to me on Titan.'

The fingers became a blunt ache. But Loki couldn't bring himself to move. He had no sense of how much time had passed, it might have been a matter of seconds or it might have been weeks. Nothing seemed to exist past the dusty ground his cheek was pressed against. Slowly, his eyes began registering blotches of light. But before he could recover his bearings, the floor moved and Loki's cheek slid against something metal. He was heaved up.

'I hope you said your farewells,' Tyr hissed. Loki couldn't see him well, although Tyr had to have pressed himself very close to Loki's face – Loki could smell Tyr's breath. And he recognised the tone to Tyr's words. No one took as much offence in Loki's continued existence as Tyr did.

'No, Tyr!' Ebony Maw shouted. 'Keep him alive!'

Loki pushed Tyr away. It achieved little; the mind stone had left him in a poor state. He tried again, this time putting what energy he had left into the effort to free himself. Still, he couldn't escape Tyr's grasp.

'Tyr!' Ebony Maw yelled.

The Maw had abandoned his struggle with Thor and made for the windows. Tyr followed, but in having to drag an uncooperative Loki along, he was considerably slower. Thor brought Mjolnir down onto Tyr's forearm. The strike left every bone in Tyr's arm shattered and the limb misshapen; he had no hope of holding onto Loki.

Thor brought up Mjolnir once more and what came up had to come down. Thor was a fraction too late, however. Tyr threw himself out the window. Loki clambered up just in time to see Ebony Maw use his telekinesis to catch Tyr before the Asgardian hit the ground. The two of them disappeared inside the closest of the surviving helicopters.

'Why flee now?' Thor muttered, following the line of the helicopter's retreat.

Loki turned around and leaned against the chipped remnants of the nearby wall, letting the wall bear the entirety of his weight. 'Thor, what are you doing? Go after them!'

'You're not well,' Thor replied after peering dumbly at Loki for a moment. 'The man in the red suit. Stark, wasn't it? He's pursuing them. The jet we took here is after them too.'

'I'll be fine, Thor. So go, will you? We can't let them get away!'

'You really don't look well. I'm not –'

'I'll feel much better once you pulverise their skulls!' Loki sneered. 'Norns be damned, Thor, will you actually listen to me for a change? Go!'

Thor let out an irritated grunt. 'You'd better still be here when I return.'