When the ringing in my ears had subsided somewhat, and I could confidently feel each one of my limbs against the floor, I opened my pleading eyes to the harsh lights of the room. Every thing ached like hell and I couldn't calm the light twitches in my hands for the life of me.

I struggled up into a sitting position with great difficulty, clenching my jaw to stop myself groaning at the stiffness in my joints. From the looks of it, Loki had also been thrown across the room by the sceptre and was now staggering to his feet with gritted teeth. He furrowed his brow and cast his eyes over to me, breathing deeply when he saw my returning confused gaze.

I shakily turned my head to the quietened, glowing weapon in the centre of the room, trying to get my head round what had just happened when I heard a sharp intake of breath and I snapped my gaze back to Loki. He was studying the palm of his hand intently, his jaw tensed to the point of cracking and his eyes widened in anxious curiosity.

He swallowed forcibly and snapped out of his stupor, regarding me with an intense electric blue gaze that shone with apprehension and a slight accusatory fury. Then he started towards me, visibly shaken and still as disorientated as I felt.

"Show me your hand." He demanded in a forceful voice that dared me to disobey and yet, cracked with an underlying fear that dulled the boldness somewhat. But of course my deliberate stubbornness laughed loudly and mockingly among the silent stillness that clogged the air.

I stayed motionless, my face blank but my stare bleeding the loathing I felt as I glared at him, silently defying him as I curled my hands into fists by my side. He let out an impatient growl as he reached me, crouching down in front of me and yanking at my wrist as I stared him down impassively.

My widened eyes however betrayed me as soon as I caught a glimpse of my palm that Loki had splayed out in front of us within his vice like grip.

What in the ever-loving fuck was that?

My entire palm was bright red and emitting a strange heat like it had been severely sun burnt. Though that was by far, the least concerning thing about my outstretched hand.

In the direct centre of my palm was what looked like a branding of sorts? Deeply set into my flesh and bright red was a perfectly shaped scar. It resembled six oval shaped marks in a circle pointing to the centre, with a deep ring surrounding them. The flesh that was branded was also tingling sharply but not painfully. In an almost pleasant way.

I heard Loki curse under his breath as he finally shifted his gaze to meet my demanding stare. He looked maniacal, untamed. But there was just as much concern in his gaze as there was anger. I couldn't tell if he was livid mostly at me or himself.

I furrowed my brow and narrowed my eyes, silently ordering an answer from him which I knew he understood. He held my gaze for a while, challenging my loathing with a deep one of his own, then he sighed heavily and brought his other hand palm up into my line of vision.

Sure enough, the exact same branding was seared into the skin of his palm, identical to mine, emitting the same odd red glow. He held his hand there for a while glaring at me with a renewed gravity that forced me to comprehend the seriousness of whatever this was.

Moments passed as we regarded each other, solemnly beginning to understand that we had gotten ourselves into something we shouldn't have, something deeper and far more complex than we needed in our civil correspondence.

I nearly flinched when he turned his hand and I felt his fingertips dance over my the ends of my hand, slowly drawing a gentle path over my tender, reddened skin until he'd reached the indented skin of my palm. He drew a feather light tracing around the ring, before carrying on over the base of my palm, hesitantly holding his branded palm over mine as my breath hitched.

I opened my mouth to ask what the hell it all meant, when the fresh skin of his palm made contact with mine and I immediately felt a strong surge tunnel through each nerve ending in my hand before jolting through the rest of my body with a buzzing strike of power. I gasped lightly and jerked back my arm at the same time he did, clenching his jaw and staring down at his hand, his icy irises glistening with a powerful apprehension.

I scrambled to my feet, taking a deep breath in attempt to compose myself. It was all just a lot to take in and I no longer wanted to be anywhere near Loki anymore. The tempting notion of slitting his throat had died down for the moment and I simply wanted to clear my head.

I wanted to know nothing of the potentially dangerous marking over my flesh and I wanted to know nothing of what Loki obviously knew, that shone threateningly behind the troubled pools of icy blue in his eyes.

"Just gonna...pop outside for a minute." I mumbled under my breath, avoiding Loki's gaze as I teleported myself back on to the ground, deciding I'd help with the ground level battle to clear my head and distract me from whatever the hell I'd just experienced.

Back on the ground I found myself unable to ignore the constant prickling sensation from my right hand, even as I immersed myself in the ruthless slaughter of any creature that came within two metres of me. I was livid and I was distracted. Which in hindsight is probably why it just so happened I was suddenly tackled to the floor by one of the creatures I'd broken the arm of but had forgotten to end it with a swift broken neck.

The vile face of it loomed above me seething and holding me down with its deformed paws digging painfully into my shoulders. I could hardly move and nothing that I tried worked to throw it off me.

It hissed loudly in my face and My rage flew into an untameable wildfire as a droplet of saliva fell from its grotesque, churning mouth onto my cheek. I opened my mouth to spit in its face when I felt a searing pain stab the lower part of my abdomen. And that was all it took.

My veins suddenly ran scalding with a surge of energy and my vision crackled over into a red screen of pure fire. There was an almighty crack of sound that seemed to come from deep within me and it echoed the air around me. The weight flew off my chest and for a moment, all I knew was the loud humming of pure, enthralling power churning through me.

I shot my eyes open, surprised to see I'd found my way onto my feet again and the disgusting double thumbed creature was nowhere to be seen. As a matter of fact, as I looked around I realised everything that had been within a 50 metre radius of me had been flung far away from me and the ground beneath me was cracked and bowed underneath my feet.

I took a step forward, seeing everything in front of me shudder away with a screeching fear that echoed pleasantly with the power I still felt surging within me. I'd fucked up. I'd lost control.

And it felt incredible.

A loud shriek caught my attention and I looked up to see one of the large industrial centipedes flying down towards the ground where everyone was fighting. A smirk crossed my face that could've put Loki's to shame in all it's devilish glory, and I threw my hands up at the creature, feeling a crippling amount of energy extricate itself from my vessel and tunnel through my fingertips towards the metal contraption.

As soon as it left my hand I saw it take effect. Halting the thing in its tracks, before slowly and surely crushing it into itself, head through to tail with a heavy crunching of mechanic trauma.

As I glanced upon my hands, I saw the familiar white glow pouring out of them. One that was all too reminiscent of the memories that were pounding through my head. Memories that were arguably unwelcome at this current moment, or any moment for that matter.

With every minute that passed, the power within me climbed stronger yet my body weakened, giving way to my quivering legs and insatiable fatigue and exhaustion. I knew I was in trouble if I didn't just control myself.

"Ace, stop!" I heard a voice yell and I looked up to see Steve a while away, as close as he could get to the circumference of energy I had around me without being thrown backwards. I swallowed forcibly, paying heed to the part of my brain that screamed at me to ignore him, to carry on, destroying every creature in my path and ending this before anyone got hurt.

I grinned widely, taking out a fresh fleet of ships that flew out of the portal with a nonchalant flick of my hand, feeling all too superior with this uncontrollable surge of mutation as my ally.

My eyes landed on Rogers as he yelled my name again, and I was just about to move him aside, when a flashback struck me like a boulder. The memory that I'd witnessed during my chemical assessments plastered itself to the forefront of my mind and I immediately retracted my hand.

I exhaled heavily, plagued with the vision of Steve lying dead across the cement once again, battered and bloody, motionless.

...dead....

With a painful jolt I felt everything suddenly cease. The humming that buzzed through me stopped. The pounding in my head quietened. Everything stilled.

There was an almighty rush of scalding heat as I felt my body being drained of...everything. My heart dropped, my head became a lead weight upon my weakened shoulders and I was gripped with an incredible fatigue and pain stemming from the wound at my stomach.

I fell to my knees, feeling any energy I had left dissipating with each breath. I fucked up. I fucked up badly.

But then again... I had cool glowy hands for a minute there. So, all in all was it all that bad a loss?

Hands on my shoulders pushed me upright and steadied my listless form as I stared anywhere but his eyes. He took a shaky breath in and I clenched my jaw expecting Steve to tell me I'd somehow managed to fling Clint or Natasha to their death and I was now being taken into a holding cell for everyone's safety.

It wouldn't hurt me as much as it begged to but I still held my breath in, steeling myself for his deafeningly loud words that would come.

"Did you actually just listen to me?" Came his abrupt query that dripped with disbelief and pride. I snapped my gaze to him, furrowing my brow as I tried to determine whether or not he was being totally serious with me.

"No." I retorted, allowing him to pull me into his grasp as I was still as lifeless as a rag doll. I hissed as he came into contact with my stomach but brushed off his concern and flicked his forehead to get him to stop checking me over

"You just coincidentally had the same idea as my common sense, ok?" I grumbled gesturing for him to help me up. He raised a dubious eyebrow but grudgingly complied when I gave him a glare.

As soon as Steve had managed to pull me to my feet I was hit with an almighty stroke of pure agony, it washed over in waves and when I'd finally opened my eyes, seeing through the pain and attempting to ignore it, I looked up to see a rather satisfied looking hulk, launching himself out of the window of the room in stark tower I'd just been in 20 minutes or so ago.

"I need to pay someone a little visit..." I panted, leaning away from Rogers and attempting to stand on my own.

"Again.."

I'd decided I probably deserved some answers now. Especially after that little performance that had just taken place completely unpredictably. Whether it held any connection to my little run in with the sceptre or not. Steve shook his head briskly, fixing me with a reprimanding stare.

"You need to go somewhere safe until you get your energy back." He ordered strictly, his hands flying to my shoulders when I took a wobbly step forward. I gave him a neutral stare, holding anything back that would give me away.

"Fine." I muttered resentfully, watching Steve do a double take once He'd absorbed what I'd said. Though he wasn't dumb. He knew I was far too stubborn to actually listen to his orders. So, instead, I bit the inside of my cheek, gave him a small smile and gathered up all the energy I had left within me to teleport myself exactly where I needed to be.

I felt the familiar sensation overtake me and had to bite down on my bottom lip hard to stop myself yelling as the pain from my wound grew tenfold and my exhaustion only doubled. It was a foolish thing to do truly. But I wanted to understand, I wanted to know what would become of the ominous branding we both shared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOKI'S POV

I lay there in the rubble for quite some time, unable to move as I allowed the relentless pain to grasp every nerve in its iron grip. The green beast had undoubtedly beaten me in this round, a notion that elicited another powerful wave of agony to strike me, my dignity falling mournfully as I was helpless to the groan that escaped me.

It didn't take long however, for my hopeless defeat to wash over into concern once more, for the events that had taken place not long before. It was an unpleasant feeling, one I was not at all used to, but I found myself anxious for the fate of the mortal that had plagued my mind ever since the day I'd wrapped my hands around her throat, gleefully anticipating the moment when she finally fell lifeless within my grasp.

Whatever was branded into our palms meant something, I knew it. I recognised the pattern, but I had no comprehension of what exactly it meant. I also couldn't understand why the sceptre had affected us like that, I'd never once felt anything alike it when I touched it, nothing other than the feeling of pure power radiating off it.

But this time had been different, I'd been struck with an intense and agonising energy, it not only flowed through my veins but tunnelled through each crevice of my mind, my conscience. I could feel everything, I'd felt cold, freezing even. And I could feel her, I knew it was her, I recognised her...mind..

At some point during it all, I lost all sense of what was mine and what belonged to her, my mind was exposed and uncomfortably compromised and I desperately wanted to be out of whatever had taken a hold of me. Then I'd been thrown back with an almighty force and when I looked down at my burning palm there was a branding seared into my skin where I'd grabbed the end of the sceptre. A branding that could be a curse, a warning, or a mark as a result of a connection or link between two forces.

Whatever it was, it made me all the more furious with the stubborn, foolish mortal. Had she just stayed where I'd kept her, she would not be in this damn situation.

I'd watched her from one of the ships I'd been travelling on after she teleported out of the room. From what I could see, she'd been restrained by one of the Chitauri and then the next minute, she'd released a huge blast of energy. She was emitting a strange white glow and though I wasn't that close to her, I could see her enthralling hazel orbs had clouded over with a green glow and she was forcefully pushing every scrap of rubble and every crushed car far away from her with little effort.

It was entrancing, and my intrigue for her had grown all the more strong.

I groaned again and lifted my head, finding that I'd healed enough to move my limbs ever so slightly. My body still buzzed with pain and my mind felt tortured with the defeat i'd been handed so callously. My chest throbbed similarly for whatever reason and I irritatedly attempted to brush off the concerned curiosity I held for Aurora's current state.

She was fine I was sure of it. She had every means to keep herself alive. And she was good. Better than I cared to admit.

I looked up at the ceiling once more as I dropped my head back down again. There was a warm trickle of blood running from the bridge of my nose and I could feel the bones within my crushed hand slowly reshaping and healing themselves, albeit slower than I'd have wanted.

The silence became a mocking foe that settled over me in corrupt, taunting victory. It had risen back to full strength despite my futile attempts at slaughtering the pure, pervasive vessel of it. It poured over me with an invulnerable strength and closed over my senses, impelling me to drown within the cruel grasp of my urgent, unforgiving thoughts.

I was helpless to it's dominance, I had no option but to fall slave to its control. And so I'd failed, once again.

A slight scuffle broke me out of my train of thought all of a sudden. A gentle, forgiving noise, but one that crushed through the body of silence that enveloped the room, ruthlessly bludgeoning it's shelled corpse with every echo that continued to sound. One that clutched my remaining drive with a vague sense of alertness that pushed me to raise my head, seeing what had caused the noise.

As I locked eyes on it I realised it was more of a sense of who had caused the noise.

I opened sore mouth to spit something bitter at her, when the full image of her, and the state she was in became alarmingly apparent and I closed it again, my eyes widening helplessly in apprehension.

She was as pale as a corpse, stood unsurely, a metre away from me swaying concerningly on her feet. Her captivating, fern gaze was unfocused and unsure, glazed and indirect like she wasn't quite seeing me, or any of her surroundings. My heart dropped sickeningly when I took in the state of her body below the neck.

Her suit was saturated in a dark, warning crimson liquid and I could clearly see the wound in her abdomen, still dripping the vital blood from within her like a tap, draining the life out of her where she stood. That was it, the very depiction that had wound itself into my mind every passing minute leading up to this, tormenting my conscience with fear for her life. And here it was, my conscious nightmare, leaked into cruel reality.

"Ora." I uttered quietly, my voice hoarse and pained as I desperately willed my weakened limbs to move, my hands to reach for her, anything I could do to stop her from dying, within arms reach, right in front of me. She seemed to stir at my voice and I watched her pull a shaky hand to her head, grasping her temple tightly as she winced and shook her head lightly.

Her gaze finally locked onto me and I saw just a slight flash of concern strike the very depths of her irises for no longer than a millisecond, before it was quickly eclipsed by her hardened stare once again.

I clenched my jaw painfully, unable to look anywhere but her challenging, intense hazel orbs as we fearfully witnessed the immortal being of the thickening silence rise once more, gripping both of us in punishing torture with its cruel iron clad claws. And just like that, everything became so significant, every breath that struck deafeningly from our lips wounded the silence in pathetic attempts at defeat.

My eyes flitted once more to her oozing laceration and the very submission of the action shook the floor beneath us as she absorbed the look held within my eyes with a confidence that I was sure bled smug victory, but rather her scrutiny held instead a solemn regret that I was astounded to perceive.

Her left eye twitched momentarily and with a crashing submission, she sank quietly to her knees, miraculously still possessing the vitality to hold herself upright and never once breaking eye contact with me, the fascinating enigma she was.

She exhaled sharply, looking more like death with every second that the blood drained from her, and planted a confident palm against the cool stone closer to where I lay, biting her jaw together harshly and painting the familiar nonchalant facade over her expression. The one that conjured a sickeningly bitter taste to coat the back of my throat.

She slammed her other hand down in front of the other and dragged herself forward, her jaw quivering as she bit back the painful gasps. My eyes narrowed dangerously in agitation as I discerned that she was attempting to crawl her weak body over to me despite the lifelessness that was slowly but surely, taking over her entire form.

I tried to open my mouth, to reprimand her for being so foolish, to order her to stay still and wait for someone to take her to help as I was of no use to her currently, being the state I was in and having lost the ultimate battle. Though, it was a futile attempt and the words only sat, primed and soundless at the tip of my tongue.

Her eyes had me trapped, stuck in a dizzying mass of jade and hazel toned swirling vices, as she slid herself over my feeble form and held herself up, her intoxicating gaze just inches from my own diminishing stare. But that didn't stop the furious fire that exploded into life behind my demanding scrutiny.

One hand was positioned by my head, the other rested against my chest, propping her up as she allowed the rage in her gaze to scald the weakest lights within my eyes in a threatening stare. Her breathing was worryingly shallow and I could vaguely feel the warmth from her wound seeping tauntingly into the armour at my chest.

"You're a fucking joke." She uttered quietly, her voice strangely assertive for her feeble state. A sneer crossed my lips and I studied her warningly, my eyebrows furrowing together at the chill of displeasure that had crept over my flesh.

"Why couldn't you have just stayed in the damn cell, mortal." I hissed, finally allowing the minute fragment of distress I felt at her wellbeing to display itself, twisted within the furious blade of my query that I lodged deep within her.

"Do you see yourself?" I spat bitterly, unable to force my eyes over to the patch of blood on her clothes and the wound that only fed it as I grimaced at the bitter taste that had blossomed further over my tongue.

"I'm fine" She uttered bluntly, her gaze flitting over the gashes in my skin that donned my face and neck. I was about to curse her for being so dismissive of the fact that she was worsening significantly with every passing minute, when a touch, softer than her breath on my skin, drifted absent-mindedly over one of the scrapes on my cheek with her unsteady fingertips.

I inhaled a stuttering breath and willed her to stop with a darkened glare that held barely any effect on her glittering, olive stare. She ignored my silent order and traced lightly over the cut on the bridge of my nose, eliciting an onset of chills that racked through my spine deliciously.

She continued her silken caress, her hardened stare brimming with a barely perceivable curiosity and slight intrigue as the light behind her eyes dimmed ever so slowly. I clenched my jaw harshly as I struggled to lift my arm up, dancing my fingertips over her torso until I found the wound. I swallowed forcibly, knowing the energy used to close her wound would only hinder my own healing process, but also knowing that I could not go any longer, watching her fading before my eyes.

I began to summon the magic into my hand when her own hand pushed me firmly away from her injury, causing a wild desperation to grasp hold over my senses. I groaned furiously and glared at her so viciously anyone should've shrank under the intense look.

"I do not want to fight you again." I growled demandingly.

"So don't fight."

I paused, my brow furrowing in disbelief as I felt the intense waves of concern wash over me, higher and more overbearing than it had ever been before. I cursed her stubbornness to hel and fixed her with a glare that exhibited the gravity of the situation, and how I was nothing but serious about this.

"Is this my punishment.. for locking you up?" I muttered finally, my voice bitter and cold to mask the clear dejectedness that twisted through the fibres of my impotent query. She stilled, silent and careful as my words sunk in, twisting round her in relentless binds that forced her to comprehend every meaning I'd wound skilfully into those words.

"No." She responded quietly, her other hand moving from my wrist to press against the side of my face. She shifted up slightly and I bit my cheek harshly, waiting for her to raise her blade to my neck in a final bittersweet performance. I knew that was the fate she'd hand me, the very tempting notion of slitting my throat had taken root in her mind long before all of this.

I swallowed a sharp feeling of acceptance, wincing as it had no easy route down my sore throat. But to my conflicting dismay, the punishment she lay on me was immeasurably more painful than any I could've predicted.

She lowered her face towards mine, fluttering her heavy eyelids closed as her sweet lips pressed against mine in a poisoned kiss. I closed my searching eyes and melted into the agony, latching on to her mouth like I was hopelessly addicted, as deadly a vice as she was.

It was a dying defeat, one I was all too happy to accept as a last fleeting finale. The perfect end to our corrupt performance, emotional to the onlookers, laced with spite and loathing, bittersweet in its own unforgiving farewell.

I bit down harshly on her lower lip with a vengeance I was helpless to hold back, shivering when her responding moan wavered with a feeble conviction. She was worryingly weakened and I found myself gripping her shoulders for support as her arms trembled from holding herself up.

I kissed her urgently, cursing inwardly as her sweet taste only spurred the growing desire within me, doused only by the blood that was now alarmingly soaking through to my skin from her abdomen. I couldn't stop for the life of me, and it drove me wild.

She broke away with a trembling inhale, her glazed eyes finding mine once more. Then I watched anxiously as she pulled herself upright with clear struggle. She clambered to her feet with a renewed energy and stood shakily, unbalanced and unsure.

I loathed her, her stubbornness and her unfeeling gaze. Had I have not been so callously flung about by the great beast, I'd have forced her down, healing her wound and binding her with a spell that restricted her thrashing movement. Just so I wouldn't have to set my eyes on the unpleasant image before me. Just so I could be sure she wouldn't worsen.

I heard a door slam behind me as I was straining to haul myself upright, glaring at Ora as she lazily watched whoever had entered the room with a smug, confident smirk that masked her clear frailty.

To my displeasure, I looked up from my still stinging palm to see that the band of misfit 'heroes' had now surrounded me, glaring at me with a smug vengeance. A sullen looking Thor among them.

"Poltergeist?" Stark called out looking over to Aurora with a glittering relief behind his tired eyes. She gave a weak smile and swayed a bit, holding her stomach at the site of the wound.

"Yeah, I decided to drop by and lend a...h.."her breathless voice wavered, completely fading out towards the end of the sentence as she let out a stuttering breath, and swayed more violently.

Every pair of eyes were now on her and I could see looks of concern and confusion in each one of them, yet they still stayed perfectly motionless, useless. My anger flared dangerously and I let out a frustrated growl.

"She's dying for gods sakes, get her some assistance." I snapped finally, my eyes fixed concernedly on her now decidedly pale blue complexion as a few of them observed me suspiciously and the one I'd previously controlled with the sceptre cursed darkly under his breath, darting over to her and pulling her up into his arms.

"Looks like Katniss got her brain back." She quipped dryly, her voice shaking as she allowed herself to be scooped into his grasp.

I didn't remove my gaze until Stark had taken her listless body in his arms, flying out of the window to take her to somewhere she'd be taken care of. Then I finally turned my gaze on the many glaring pairs of eyes set on me and grinned my usual devilish smirk.

"If it's all the same with you...I think I'll have that drink now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So like... I ain't in love w this chapter but I needed it to move along the plot and reveal some bits of information that will become important. It's all a bit too serious for my liking so I can't wait to take the piss more in the next chapter.

I wanna hear your thoughts on this chapter and your theories for the future of this book. I looove reading you guys' comments it gives me actual life istg.

Thank you soo much for reading
I love y'all sm
Xxx