Even in the dark and cold, lining up his shots was easy. The first guard took one to each shoulder whereas the second took only one to take him down from the roof. It cleared the path for Clint and the men to head towards their chosen point of entry.

He continued to take down any remaining members of security, taking advantage of how quiet the bow was in comparison to even a silenced hand pistol. But soon he reached their chosen point of entry and he was holding up the other end of the scanner the engineers made them.

-----

Loki looked over the balcony, spotting the man Clint had said he needed to take down. He walked down the stairs, doing one final check that his suit was on properly and the staff was covered with an illusion of a fancy looking walking stick more suited to an event like this.

The man he needed was speaking in front of a group of mortals when he knocked him around the head with the staff. He grinned, knowing it would be freaking the watching mortals out as he pinned the man down. Looking at the man, Loki was surprised no one was screaming yet but shoving the scanner into place quickly corrected that as screams broke out from all around him.

Looking around at the room as everyone ran away, Loki made sure not to pull away until the device buzzed to state it had all the information it needed to send. Careful not to cover himself with the dead man, Loki strode to where all the mortals were fleeing.

-----

An eye started to form in the holographic projection, Clint noticed. The eye was frantic in a way only someone in agony would have. Soon the eye was formed and they were being let into the building.

With how silent the security was taken down no one realised that their building was being invaded. A few scientists poked their heads up from their desks to wonder who the people were, but they lowered them again when they noticed the armed security making their rounds.

Soon, they were in the storage vault and it was quick work to locate the correct drawer. Clint reached down, grabbing the tube on iridium located within the drawer.

Having one of the men around him put it in their storage bag, Clint guided them back out. Careful to not raise anyone's alarm. They'd sourced the iridium without anyone realising, it was best things stayed that way. They stayed silent and sombre until they'd returned to their exit vehicle, which then Clint broke out into a grin as the men around him said their congratulations.

-----

Loki let his armour form around him, settling like a comfort blanket, warm from the pocket dimension he used. He noticed a vehicle with Polizei marked over the side speeding towards him, his brain understanding that it meant a form of guards vehicle.

Lowering the staff towards it, he fired watching as the vehicle flew into the air and landed in a heap some distance away. Turning back towards the mortals, he sent out duplications of himself circling them until they were in a tight ball.

"Kneel before me," Loki grinned, looking over the group. Frowning, he noticed that none of the people complied with him. He slammed his staff down, watching his duplicates do the same. "I said— KNEEL!" He roared out, hearing it echo around him.

Loki grinned as they all complied, getting down to their knees as they stared at him. He walked down the middle, hearing them shuffle to get out of his way. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" He questioned, looking over the group. "It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity."

He stood at the head of the group again, looking over the cowering group. "You were made to be ruled. In the end—" he smirked, raking his eyes over the ones who refused to make eye contact with him, "—you will always kneel." He watched as one of the older gentlemen got to their feet.

"Not to men like you."

"There are no men like me," Loki said, looking over the man sharply. He dared to call him only a simple man, like he was mortal like them.

"There are always men like you."

Loki grinned so be it. If the man wanted proof he wasn't like the rest of them, then he'd gladly provide it. "Look to your elder, people," he said, raising his staff to the man. "Let him be an example." He fired his staff.

Steve jumped down, landing hardly and taking the brunt of the beam with his shield. It deflected off its surface, hitting the man square in the chest. "You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

Loki grunted from where he landed on the floor. Looking up he realised who he was looking at. "The soldier—" he got to his feet to face the man, "—the man out of time."

"I’m not the one who’s out of time."

Loki looked up noticing a flying vehicle appearing behind the soldier. He noticed there was a female behind the steering, so that must have been the Nat his little hawk talked about. From the bottom something lowered, presumably a big gun of sorts.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Loki fired at the flying vehicle, watching as it banked hard to avoid the beam. It gave him time to face the soldier without having to watch out for anything from the sky. It was interesting, to fight a man with older techniques that he was used to dealing with, it meant all too quickly the soldier was disarmed and pinned to the floor. "Kneel!"

"Not today," Steve said, jumping up and kicking Loki in the chest so that he was knocked away again.

Loki continued their fight, feeling them use a good chunk on the area — which helped him realise his hostages had ran away. Suddenly, the flying vehicle started to play some music catching his attention — in time to be hit with a beam from who must have been this Iron Man.

"Make a move, Reindeer Games."

Loki slowly raised his hands, dropping his duplications as his armour faded away back to the pocket dimension he kept them in.

"Good move."

-----

Loki stayed silent on the flight back, his frown slowly worsening as a storm started to appear around them. The lightning lit up the whole flying vehicle and the thunder roared loudly in his ears. He recognised the anger behind those crashes. Leaning forwards, he tried to take a glimpse of what was to come.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked, looking at the man strangely. "Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki leaned back in his chair so that his restraints were not yanking against him so much. "I'm not overly fond of what follows." He looked up at the sky again, trying to see if he could catch the slightest of movement that meant the oaf had arrived.

The others looked at each other in amusement at how spooked the man was before there was a crash against the top of the aircraft. They all looked up, trying to spot what had caused the noise. Before any of them could react, the door to the jet is thrown off.

Loki stared wide eyed at Thor as his brother stormed towards him. This wasn't in his little hawks plan, he didn't think the All-Father would risk using that much dark energy to get the thunderer here.

He could do nothing as his oaf of a brother yanked him from his seat, only close his eyes as Thor flung himself back out of the flying vehicle. He groaned as Thor crashed into the cliff, throwing him to the ground.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"Oh-ho, I missed you too," Loki smirked. He had, as much as he loafed to admit it. He had missed his brother. It was the first time he's ever spent so long away from his brother; no matter their adoptive status, he was his brother.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?"

Loki grinned, even with Mjolnir pressed against his chest. Mortals and their strange phrases, it seemed to have rubbed off on Thor. "Oh, you should thank me. With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the All-Father have to muster to conjure you here?" He asked. "Your precious Earth."

Thor dropped Mjolnir to the side as he grabbed Loki by his tunic. "I thought you dead."

"Did you mourn?" Loki said, grinning to hide his laugh.

"We all did. Our father—"

Loki cut Thor off straight away. "Your father." He couldn't let Thor continue to think like they shared parents, they didn't. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?"

"I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss," Loki growled. He couldn't believe Thor didn't see it — in fact, he could believe. His brother never saw anything. "I who was and should be King!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?" Thor questioned. "No. The Earth is under my protection, Loki."

"Well yes," Loki grinned.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. Throne would suit you ill."

Loki huffed, pushing by Thor so that he could see the trees clearer. He was surprised when Thor let him push by him without issue. "I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about. I have grown, Odinson, in my exile," Loki admitted. It scared him, just how much he's seen, just how much he's had to grow. "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it—"

"Who showed you this power?" Thor asked, cutting in before Loki could continue. "Who controls the would-be-King?"

Loki froze. Purple skin flashed up, white hands as pressure wrapped around his neck. Whispers to obey and that he was a found, child, that Thanos will save them all. That he is saved, and saves by killing. "I am a King!" He snapped, turning around to face Thor.

"Not here," Thor said firmly, grabbing him and shaking him. "You give up the Tesseract; you give up this poisonous dream!" He stopped shaking him and cupped the back of his head and neck. "You come home."

"I don't have it," Loki admitted. He didn't, he trusted that his little hawk would handle it. It was safer with Clint, the archer knew how to handle it — even before it showed everything. He looked at Thor sharply as Mjolnir was suddenly being held out threateningly to him again. "You need the Cube to bring me home but I’ve sent it off I know not where."

"You listen well brother—"

Loki stared at where Thor had just been standing before he was taken away by a fiery blur. "I’m listening?" He said, smirking slightly.

When it became evident that his brother wasn't going to reappear anytime soon, Loki settled down on the edge of the cliff. He watched as down in the forest beneath his brother fought with Stark. It seems like the suit was able to withstand Thor's blasts of lightning — which obviously greatly displeased the oaf.

It was interesting to watch the various flashes of the fight he saw. Sometimes they'd be fighting in the air, uncaring of the trees they were felling in the process, other times they were on the land. Which times he could only see the various flashes of lightning.

Luckily the settling battle happened back in that original opening so Loki was able to watch. Seeing the soldiers shield bounce between them all was amusing. But he could clearly see that the man said the wrong thing towards his brother. He watched his brother launching into the air, the soldier bracing with his shield seconds before impact.

The resounding boom that originated from the shield and Mjolnir colliding almost hurt his ears from this distance. He was surprised to see that both mortals got to their feet with only minor struggles from the man of iron. The wave from that collision should have downed them, easily, with how powerful it was.

It was something to watch. That suit was powerful, and so was the super soldier. Loki would need to keep a close eye on them — they could very easily overthrow his plans if they got themselves under control and stopped fighting each other.

2142