Loki arrived in front of Stark Industries, blinking against the bright sun. Employees were running from the building. They didn't seem as panicked as Loki remembered them being when he had thrown Stark from the window and then attacked Thor, Captain America and Iron Man in the street outside. He hoped that was a good sign.

He seized the arm of a man who looked a little wild eyed and had just exited the building. The mortal took one look at him in his battle armor, and uttered a high pitched scream. Loki winced. It seemed the news of his rehabilitation was not commonly known. "What is going on inside?" he asked harshly.

The man did not answer. His eyes were impossibly wide, and he was making small chuffing noises, standing as far away as Loki's grip on his arm would allow. The God of Mischief frowned.

"I am no longer the person who attacked this place months ago," he assured. "I am here to help Tony Stark. The Avengers will be here shortly to subdue him, and I wish to prevent that from coming to pass. It will not go well for him or them."

The man could not speak, so Loki released him, annoyed. He was hesitant to blink into the building, not knowing what he would be blinking into, and he was running out of time. Ignoring the frightened mortals, he boldly strode to the building's entrance.

"Hey don't go in there!"

Loki turned. A mortal police officer had just arrived on the scene, and was rising from his vehicle, one foot still inside.

"I must go inside. Keep others from entering. The Avengers will be here shortly, and there will be a fight. I have the chance to prevent that from happening."

He faced the building entrance once more, and swept inside. A few stragglers were still fleeing the building, and they gave him wide berth, frightened cries echoing in the empty building.

He could not use magic to locate Stark, but he could use it to locate destruction (anything that was destroyed gave off energy that begged for it to be reconstructed, calling to his own magic). He sent tendrils of sensing out through the building, and shuddered seconds later. There was massive destruction high in the building, in Pepper's office. It was still taking place as more and more things cried out to be reassembled.

Loki shut down that portion of his senses, and sent himself to the office door. He barely had time to dodge a desk that came hurtling at him, ducking behind the door jamb and throwing up a hand to ward off a hail of debris. The brief glimpse he'd had into the office made his stomach drop. He'd hoped that Stark was fighting a villain. But the room was empty except for the raging Iron Man. He was fighting only himself.

"Tony - you must stop," he called.

His only answer was that animalistic cry, and a desk chair flung at his face. Loki jerked his head back behind the wall, feeling it shudder as the chair crashed against it. Stark was gone, it seemed. This couldn't end well.

"Tony please," he tried again, back pressed to the wall. He couldn't even use magic to subdue the man. The disruptor field around the suit prevented it. They were probably evenly matched at this point. At least Stark hadn't used the hand repulsors yet, or any of his other weapons. Loki wasn't sure if the repulsors had the same disruptive field, and he didn't want to test it. A blast wouldn't kill him, but it wouldn't feel good either. And a bullet would pierce his skin if it had any bit of the disruptive field to it. He knew that Stark would feel guilty if Loki was wounded somehow. It was best to stay out of the line of fire.

Loki was frustrated with himself. His mind seemed to have slowed, not able to think of a solution. That was so unlike his previous self that he didn't know what to think. Of course, his solutions many times had included collateral damage, and in his time on Earth he'd come to realize that accomplishing something no matter what the cost usually wasn't worth it.

Stark had to be running out of things to break. He peeked around the door frame and had to pull back as something...was that a loveseat?...came flying at his head.

"That was not nice, minion," he chided, heart beating a little faster. "Tell me what is wrong."

Something else hit the door frame, tearing the wood frame off, and lodging in the doorway. Loki glanced down. Another piece of furniture. Why did Pepper have so much furniture in her office? Why wasn't she yelling at her berserk billionaire boyfriend? Tony would never hurt her. Loki had faith in that fact, just as he would not harm Darcy. Where was Pepper Potts? He combed through his recent memories, trying to find some type of reference to the missing CEO. Was she off on some type of business trip?

"Has something happened to Pepper?" he called.

Another mindless scream and more furniture came his way. Loki suspected this was the cause of Stark's distress. Something had happened to Pepper, and Tony was out of his mind with anger and grief.

"Talk to me, Stark," he urged, still taking cover outside the office. "The Avengers have been assembled to subdue and restrain you. They will be here soon. I know that, no matter what has happened, you do not want to hurt innocent bystanders. If there is a fight between the Avengers, people will get hurt. Let me help you."

He did not want to fight Tony Stark, but time was against him. Loki pulled his horned helmet out of the air and settled it on his head grimly. He suspected there were only minutes remaining before the Avengers arrived, and he had to prevent that fight. Remembering what it was like to be a prince of Asgard, no matter how despised, he stepped into the doorway.

A glass topped coffee table almost took him by surprise. Loki threw up a quick magical shield and flinched as glass and debris shot past him. Another piece of furniture quickly followed, and he batted that aside. An inhumanly quick scan of the office told him that Stark was almost out of things to break/throw.

"Tony, you must allow me to help you. Please."

In quick succession, he dodged several paintings and pieces of pottery. Before the remaining chairs could be thrown at his head, Loki sent them away. He stood warily near the door, ready to move if needed. Stark was standing near the windows, staring at him. It was a little disturbing. Loki couldn't tell what was going to happen next. The face plate, with its expressionless features, gave away nothing.

"Tony – take the suit off. You do not want to fight me or your teammates."

A low growling noise came from the suit. It reverberated through Loki's entire body and settled with icy dread in his spine. It was the same noise Banner made when he lost control and Hulked. It was the sound of madness, the sound of someone falling into the abyss, the death of reason.

The hand repulsors began to glow, but Stark's arms were still at his sides and they did not move. It was the first sign of hope Loki had seen. Had Stark been entirely gone, he would have already fired.

"You have forgiven me for the terrible things I did in my insanity and rage. You are stronger than the darkness that wants to rule you." Loki reached up and removed his helmet. "I want to help in any way that I can, Tony. Please take the suit off." He bent and placed the helmet on the floor. Iron Man's head tracked its progress, and stared at the helmet long after Loki had straightened. Finally the iron head rose to look at him again.

They heard it at the same time – the shriek of the Quinjet's engines. Loki's jaw clenched even as Stark's stance altered slightly. It almost looked like he was ready to attack. Loki spared a brief moment to magically seal the building. It wouldn't stop the Avengers for long, but it might be all he needed.

"They cannot enter the building for now," he told the tense figure in front of him. "It will not delay them for long. Thor can use Mjolnir to shatter the barrier. Please Tony. Let me help you as you have helped me."

Something seemed to drain out of Stark then. Loki watched the iron suit slump, and then drop to its knees beside the one item in the room that had not been thrown or destroyed. It was boxlike in shape, unadorned white in color, and seemed to be made of that cushiony substance of air filled beads smashed together. He had seen the same substance used before in labs and in restaurants as a take home container.

Dread filled him, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. It was such a harmless looking thing, a chest, he noticed on closer inspection. There was a thin white lid of that same material fitted on top of the chest, hiding its contents. Why did such a plain looking item evoke such soul deep dread? A shiver passed through him, and he now understood what Steve meant when the good captain said something gave him the heebie-jeebies.

It was just a white chest. Why did it make a Jotun-born, Asgardian-raised sorcerer want to scream like the women in horror movies, and cower in the corner of a room to await his fate?

It had not been touched. Every other item in the room had been thrown or destroyed in some fashion during Tony Stark's rampage, but this simple white chest had escaped unscathed. There was a debris free zone all around it. Its wholeness, surrounded by destruction, made it brighter. Whiteness seemed to stream outward from the chest, blurring into the air, creating a subtle menace in its innocence.

It was just a white chest.

But what was inside of it had brought Iron Man to his knees. Even now, Stark was touching it lightly, metal fingers trembling. The very knowledge of what it contained had stolen his reason and his sanity and made him a target of the very people he fought beside.

Bile rose in Loki's throat so strongly that he expected to retch, but it just burned in the back of his throat. He seemed to be frozen, unable to take a step forward. Cowardice was unacceptable, but he really did not want to know or see what was in the chest. It would change everything. It would ruin more lives. He could not move closer.

But his heart, that annoying organ that had recently begun to expand and open to possibilities, moved his legs forward without his consent. Loki wanted to run. The impulse was so strong that his muscles were twitching in flight mode but that other part of him would not let him flee.

The part of him that wanted to flee heard the boom of thunder and felt the collapse of his barrier, but the other part of him was stronger. It continued to move him forward, step by step, until he stood at Stark's side. How could a metal suit look wilted? Misery was streaming from the slumped shoulders and bowed head.

It was just a chest. Loki couldn't bring himself to look at it now that he was practically standing on top of it. If he saw anything that gave him an idea of the content...

"What is in the chest, Tony?" he asked in a whisper, dropping to one knee beside the man who had become his friend.

The iron face rose to look at him. Finally (finally!), the face plate flipped up. Tony was ashen. There was very little sanity in his eyes, and Loki was shocked to see tear tracks down the man's face. He looked years older in that moment, and couldn't seem to speak.

A soft whisper of sound told Loki that the lid of the chest had been removed. He did not want to look, but Tony's eyes were begging for help, and he couldn't help without knowing what the problem was. When had he become such a coward? Swallowing heavily, Loki looked down.

It was a head.

A severed head.

With strawberry blond hair that thankfully covered the face he didn't want to see.

A low moan came from beside him, and Stark hit the floor with a crash, curling up in a fetal position. Loki wanted to do the same, but one of them had to stay sane. At another time, he might have found the idea of him being the sane one amusing, but right now, nothing was amusing. This was not war, where death was expected. This was a brutal execution of a non-warrior.

Footsteps heralded the arrival of the Avengers. Loki was frozen in position on one knee, staring down at the grisly sight in the white chest. It would be better to not look, so he closed his eyes. It felt like he'd been hit in the stomach/chest with Mjolnir.

He could hear the moment when the band of heroes saw and understood the contents of the chest. Natasha's anguished cry was nearly drowned out by Steve's loud denial. Banner's own denial started in the normal range, but spiraled down into the Hulk's enraged bellow. A loud, resounding metallic thunk must have been Mjolnir sliding from Thor's hand, followed by the lighter clatter of a bow. He knew how they felt. He felt the same way.

"Who..." Thor choked, voice thick. "Who has done this?"

The only one who could answer that question was Stark, and he was out of the game.

The no-nonsense staccato footfalls could only be Coulson or Fury. Loki heard the lid being settled back down over the chest's grim contents. He pried his eyes open and looked up at Nick Fury. The director was furious. It showed in the flaring nostrils and the pressed lips. He spared a sympathetic glance at the curled form of Tony Stark, looked around at his devastated team, and then his eyes focused on Loki once again.

"Someone needs to die for this," he said grimly. "I need to know who."

Coulson swept into the office, noting the destruction and the inactivity of the team. He saw the chest, Loki on one knee and Iron Man curled up on the floor, and walked over to them.

Loki averted his eyes as Coulson lifted the lid of the chest.

"Ah...Dammit," Fury's minion swore. He secured the lid, and looked around at the others, assessing the level of damage this had done to the team. Natasha was likeliest to lose control. She was standing shock still, hands fisted, with cords standing out in her neck. Tears were dripping from her eyes. She would not be merciful to the person responsible.

Even the Hulk was still in shock. It looked like the green rage monster was about to turn into a different rage monster. Every muscle was drawn tight and he was breathing like he'd been fighting for hours. There was nothing left to destroy, and the Hulk had no outlet for his rage.

Loki rose to his feet numbly. He would feel anger at some point, but right now, it would not be beneficial. Right now, someone needed to die for the horrendous crime that had been committed. He knew what Fury was asking. Fury wanted him to use his magic to find out who had killed Pepper, so they had a target. Stark would need that, if he was ever to function as Iron Man again.

He took a few steps, and dropped to one knew beside the prone form of his friend. "I will find out who did this, Tony," he assured, placing a comforting hand on the metal shoulder. "I will give you a name, and we will invent new ways to inflict pain. We will not allow the person with that name to die for a very long time, because we want that person to feel our pain."

Thor and Barton both growled out affirmatives to that statement. Rogers seemed incapable of speech, staring at the white chest with wide eyes.

"Give me a name and I'll make sure that happens," Fury affirmed.

"I'll help," Coulson stated grimly. He raised an eyebrow to Loki. "Can you give us a name?"

Loki nodded. "One moment." He steeled himself, and then reached out to the grisly chest. Magic could pull out the last minutes of life, showing him a face. If known to Pepper, that face would come with a name. If not, he could seek out others who knew that face, and they would be able to provide a name.

But his magic curled restlessly, finding no purchase within the chest. Loki frowned. That was impossible, unless someone had magically 'scrubbed' any memories. But there still should be some residual instinctual memories that could be accessed, and he was not able to touch anything.

"Loki?" Thor asked.

"One moment," he repeated with a snap. He would not fail in this. Tony deserved to have the chance to hurt the person who'd taken Pepper away. He tried to delve deeper, to catch some kind of sense of anything, but there was nothing there. Not even the need for reassembly. That was impossible.

A terrible suspicion began to creep into Loki's head. "Turn away," he snapped at everyone. They all obeyed as he dropped to his knees and yanked the lid off the chest. He stared down at the strawberry blond hair, and then pushed it aside. It was Pepper's face underneath. But not a face that had even been alive. He touched the face, and it was cold and fake. In the midst of grief, no one would notice that because it did look exactly like Pepper. A very skilled artisan had created it. He didn't like to be tricked. He really didn't like it that someone was trying to emotionally manipulate his friend. So he twisted what his magic was seeking. He wanted a creator.

Loki threw his head back and roared, startling everyone else.

"Who?" Fury asked grimly.

Loki took a moment to look at all of them. Grief would turn to anger in seconds, but right now, they were almost incapable of functioning.

"It is fake," he growled. "This is not Pepper's head, nor her hair, though it looks like both."

Surprise, shock and then anger. A swelling murmur of angry voices was loud in his ears, but Loki was only focusing on one person. Tony Stark was sitting up. His expression was full of deadly intent. It seemed he had come back.

"Fake?" he snarled. "It's not Pepper?"

"It is not," Loki confirmed. "The man who did this is called Justin Hammer. Do you know him?"

Tony shot to his feet, or tried to. The hands of his teammates restrained him from jetting right out the windows.

"Justin Hammer is in prison!"

"No longer, it seems," Loki argued. "My guess is that he has taken Pepper."

"Can you find her?" Stark asked, rising slowly to his feet with the help of his teammates.

Loki's smile was frighteningly reminiscent of his dark days. "I can."

"Good. Because if he had actually killed her, the head would have been real. She's alive. Pepper is alive!"

"And we owe Justin Hammer a world of hurt for this," Natasha said in a deadly voice. "Loki?"

He nodded, and cast out, seeking Pepper Potts. He found her sooner than he expected. She was still in New York. Loki's smile turned into a feral grin. Approximately ten minutes from their present location. Hammer assumed that would be enough time for the cameras he'd installed to warn him that the jig was up. He was wrong.

It would be a strain to transport this many, but he could do it. "Gather round and join hands," he instructed. "Hammer knows we know the truth. He will try to flee."

The Avengers clustered around him, joining hands. Fury and Coulson stepped into place beside Loki and completed the circle. Loki reached deep, and transported them all.

♾️ ♾️ ♾️

I'm currently freaking out cause we hit 1k and I love you all. Thanks so much for your support.

Love,
InfinityHaze ♾️