I Don't Want a Throne

Chapter 3- Find You Here

"Great." Loki hissed. "Anyone else?" But it was too late for anything else, Stark was already in motion, the mask of his suit closing over his face. Loki glanced up to the wormhole above that was steadily expanding and hundreds of Chitauri were flowing through by the second. "Is anyone going to do anything about that?" Loki asked, gesturing helplessly to the Chitauri warriors.

"They're your army," Thor growled, "Send them away, or tell us how to close that portal."

"They don't answer to me!" Loki shouted, the sirens had quieted some and Loki's voice carried as Stark took off into the sky. Loki followed Stark with his eyes as he climbed higher and higher.

"He's going to get himself killed." Rogers muttered, watching Stark with a mixture or exasperation and awe.

The Chitauri were closing in fast and the midgardians who had come in the cars were forced to turn their guns on them, leaving Loki and then avengers with the opportunity to make a run for it. Stark blasted the ground between Loki and the midgardians, sending an explosion that gave them the cover they needed. Even if the midgardians had been focused on him, they wouldn't have been able to see him through all of that fire and smoke.

The six of them ran across the field and into the trees bordering on the far side from the midgardians and kept going until they could hardly hear the sounds of gunshots and explosions anymore. There was always the possibility that the gunshots were ebbing and not just fading from earshot- if all of the humans were dead, there would be no one left to man the guns. Loki doubted that the humans were equipped to defend against a Chitauri invasion of such a large scale.

Loki's neck wound was bleeding freely now, all of the running surely had enlarged the gash. Loki noticed Thor's eye on him and pleaded, "Unchain me for a moment, let me heal that. If I bleed out, you'll never get all of the answers you need."

"You really think we would even consider that?" Barton snapped, his expression mocking and angry. Rather than offer the retort that came to mind, Loki pressed his lips firmly together and stayed silent. Arguing with any member of the avengers would do nothing good for him. Not when he needed to get them on his side. Surely Thor would not allow him to bleed out.

Suddenly Stark came crashing through the trees, his helmet back to reveal his face which was bloodied and bruised. He was breathing hard and his armor was clearly a bit battered. "I sealed off the wormhole, but it won't last long." He gasped out as he doubled over, his hands on his knees. "We've got to get out of here before the military arrives. Let them handle the Chitauri."

"They're going to Nuke this place, to neutralize the wormhole." Loki piped in, remembering what they had done to New York when he had taken the Chitauri army there.

Several of the others paled significantly at Loki's words. "But that would kill all of the people here!" Banner burst out, a hint of the Hulk's voice bleeding through.

"Exactly." Loki said. "In the Sacred Timeline, you stopped that by flying the Nuke into the wormhole, but it almost killed you." Loki stared at Stark.

Stark glared at Loki for a long time before he said. "Alright, I'll stay here, wait for the Nuke to come and intercept it. You better be telling the truth, Reindeer Games." Above them, a jet materialized and Stark grinned. "Looks like your ride is here, complete with medical to patch up, Crazy here." He paused as shouts sounded in the direction of the field. "Go back to Stark Tower, you should be able to hide out there if you're careful, don't let anyone see you. Cloak the jet and you should be fine." He turned to go but then stopped for a second to add over his shoulder, "Oh and don't let Capsicle drive." With those parting words, he was gone.

The jet couldn't land amidst all of the trees so it just hovers a few feet above the highest branches with the loading door open and waiting. Thor had to fly everyone up individually, so the process took longer than was optimal. Once everyone was inside, they hooked the chain connecting Loki's manacles to the wall of the jet, forcing him to remain seated in a little corner. Romanoff and Barton were the only one's who had any sort of healing experience so they were tasked with patching up the others. Barton worked on Banner and Rogers- both of whom had minimal injuries- while Romanoff reset Loki's nose- a very painful experience- and stitched and bandaged his neck wound. Thor stood nearby and watched to make sure Loki didn't try anything stupid the whole time, but he remained surprisingly silent.