The Avengers (Sequel to IASBIKATT) *on hold*

Chapter 15

"I'm afraid we can't go to Asgard yet." Thor told the Warriors Three and Sif. "We have to find who gave the mortal the gun, and then there's Athena's funeral. . ."
   "She left so soon." Sif whispered, hating that Athena -who was like a sister to her- died. "I do not like it."
   "And the way Loki reacted to it." Voltsagg added.
   "Terrible." Hogun agreed.
   "Is he awake yet?" Fandral asked Thor.
   "Not yet." Thor said. He turned to the computer monitor that showed Loki unconscious in the glass cell. "What made him react like that?"
   "We got some information from the guy." They turned around and saw Natasha, Fury, and the rest of the Avengers team pile into the lab room they were in - previously used for when they were trying to find the Tesseract. "Said he was led by a guy in a hood to another guy - the leader - to an alleyway. Said the leader was very tall like a giant."
   "He also said that the guy that led him with the hood didn't look human." Fury added. "Said he was grey and hunched forward, scaly. . .know any alien with that description?"
   Thor and the other Asgardians gave each other hesitant looks. "What, you know them?" Tony demanded.
   "They sound. . .familiar." Thor told them. "I have to ask Loki about my suspicions -"
   "Thor, do you really think Loki will talk to us right now?" Sif told him. "He is knocked out and you know how he hates all of us."
   "But this is Athena," Thor shook his head, "we may hate each other and not have much in common, but we both care for Athena. She was our friend, remember that."
   "But Loki's lover." Fandral added. "There's a huge difference to your caring."
   "I loved her like a sister." Thor told them. "We all did."
   "So you're saying Loki will cooperate since it's about Athena." Clint stated.
   "You know lovers," Tony shrugged, "they just love talking about one another."
   "Tony, now is not the time to say your jokes." Natasha said. "We need to find whoever did this."
   "And what if we don't?" Bruce asked quietly. They all stayed quiet, having not thought of that.
   "I know us Asgardians and I will search harder on this." Thor stated. "Mother would want us to find them."
   "Guys, look," Clint nodded to the computer screen, "Loki's waking up."
***
Loki slowly regained consciousness and looked around with blurry eye sight. He then remembered where he was and what the last thing he did. Loki groaned and closed his eyes when he remembered he was talking to Thanos and decided to release his anger on the glass cell - and then he remembered about the hallucination of Athena. Loki immediately opened his eyes on the thought. "Athena?" he croaked out, looking around quickly. But he didn't see her. You promised, he thought dejectedly, pushing his tears away. Stop crying, he scolded himself. I need to move on and seek revenge.
   The door of the room opened, revealing the Avengers and the Warriors Three and Sif. Loki quickly puts on his mask and faced them with a blank look. He chuckled in the Warriors Three and Sif's direction. "My," he said darkly, "is Odin dead with the amount of power he used to get you four here?"
   "Loki, enough." Thor said sternly, holding his Asgardian friends back who were glaring at Loki. "We came here to talk."
   "Well I'm not interested," Loki said, turning away from them, "can't you see I'm mourning?"
   "It's about Athena."
   Loki turned around immediately. "Yes, what of her?"
   Tony snickered and leaned towards Natasha. "Told you." he whispered. He earned a swift elbow to the gut.
   "We questioned the man who had carried the gun -"
   "And did you kill him afterwards?" Loki interrupted Thor, smirking at the thought.
   "No, but he's getting his punishment for killing a hero." Natasha said, looking disappointed at what she said. Loki held a similar look of disappointment.
   "You people are so weak." Loki muttered. "Pathetic."
   "We didn't come here to talk about the guy, okay?" Steve told them sternly. "We are here to talk about the people that have the man the gun in the first place." Loki immediately tensed after that.
   "He said that there were two people. One was wearing a cloak and was hunched forward slightly, grey and scaly." Thor explained. "The other was tall and the leader out of the two."
   "We think they might be. . ." Volstagg hesitates. "Thanos and the Other."
   "Thanos and the Other?" Bruce frowned.
   "Who are they?" Steve added.
   "The most dangerous people in the world." Loki muttered darkly.
   "And you're not?" Tony joked. "Took your title? Well, I'm not surprised. You're not really dangerous - I mean, we did just defeat you and all. . ."
   "Stark!" Steve barked. "Not now!"
   "You do know that in order for Thanos to do this, someone must have done a deal with him." Loki said calmly. "You know he wouldn't just get someone to harm someone random -"
   "But isn't Athena the most powerful sorceress in the universe?" Clint told them. "I remember she told me about her family when Selvig, Coulson and I saved her from further experiments."
   "That's probably why he gave Mister David the gun." Natasha realised.
   "Athena could overpower him, so he had to get rid of him for whatever plan he has up his sleeve." Thor added.
   "But the guy said he was aiming for Loki." Natasha interjected.
   "And he was in front of me, the gun in front of my face." Loki added sarcastically.
   "Well it would not go well if the guy aimed for Athena instead of Loki." Tony scoffed. Everyone sent him looks of confusion. "Oh come on - Athena helped save the city. She was a hero. He couldn't aim for the hero in front of people, so he instead aimed for Loki instead, knowing Athena would jump up and defend him."
   Loki winced at how similar what Tony was saying was, to the actual truth. "It was easy to see that Athena cared for Loki; she was in front of him, she was making sure he was okay." Tony continued. "Case closed."
   "No it isn't." Loki spat out, an idea coming to mind. He had an idea on how to get rid of Thanos. "You have to find Thanos and kill him. He killed Athena so now no one can stop him from whatever plan he has."
   "Loki's right." Thor agreed. "We need to find him."
   "But that's impossible!" Fandral exclaimed. "No one knows where Thanos is!"
   "That's why you go and find him." Loki rolled his eyes.
   "Why don't you go and do it then, huh Reindeer Games?" Tony retorted.
   "Do you really think I could do it when I am going back to Asgard to face my punishments for trying to rule your weak world, and for attempting to kill a whole race?" Loki raised an eyebrow at what he said. "I'm probably going to get the death penalty - which I wouldn't mind, since I have nothing to lose now."
   "You know that's not true -" Thor started.
   "Is it?" Loki interrupted, standing up from his slouched position on the ground. He dimly noticed that the glass was clean from blood, along with his hands. "The reason why I did all of this was because of Athena. I fell down the bridge because I wanted to be with Athena. I attempted to rule this stupid realm for Athena, who told me to do whatever I needed to do to follow my dreams."
   "Well, I'm sure she didn't mean for you to rule over a world or anything like that." Bruce mumbled.
   Loki ignored him and banged his arm in the glass cell. "Everything I've done since I met her, was all for her!" Loki yelled. "When I didn't die after falling off the bridge, I had a small hunch that Athena could be alive as well. But this time, I saw her die myself." Loki said. "She died in my arms." Loki sneered. "If she is not here living, then I don't want to be alive without her." Loki turned his back to them, hiding the tears that were pouring down his face. "Go," he said with a strong voice, "I want to be alone. You have a funeral to plan anyway."