With 'The Avengers' all assembled and ready in their suits, they were ready to defend Manhattan.

"I wish we could have prevented this," complained Tony, "But alien invasions are oh so hard to predict and prevent."

He paused and, when no-one spoke, continued.

"Also, no hitting my tower. It's only just been constructed so I don't want any Hulk marks or hammer holes."

Bruce and Thor shifted uncomfortably.

"That ugly monstrosity deserves to be smashed from the sky," Steve muttered.

Tony glared at him.

"What?" Steve defended himself. "There are so many tall monstrosities in the sky nowadays. In my day there was no such thing as air pollution."

"In your day, Rogers, there were Nazis," Tony pointed out. "And I'm not even going to bother pointing out how scientifically wrong you were with that last statement."

Steve shrugged, conceding the point.

"Also, might I add," Tony said, never one to back down from a nonexistent fight, "I'm the leading name in clean energy."

"You and Loki, remember," Rhodey reminded him.

"Yeah, 'course."

"What is this clean energy you speak of?" Asked Thor, looking at Loki with interest.

Loki sighed.

"I'll explain later if your IQ has improved even the slightest bit since we last spoke of intellectual matters. Either way, it is not relevant to this battle."

Taking this on board, the team prepared for invasion.

"Good luck everyone!" Clint cried.

"Yeah, keep it together folks," muttered Tony.

"Give me a lift?" Clint asked him.

"Sure, clench up Legolas."

The two of them blasted up into the sky. Rhodey followed at a more leisurely pace.

"Bruce, get angry," advised Steve, beginning to sprint away.

"Noted," Bruce murmured and trudged away unhappily, always scared to unleash the beast within.

Natasha alone remained where she was with the two Norse gods metres away, loading her guns.

"Good luck," Thor said, his blue eyes staring uncomfortably into Loki's.

"Likewise," he muttered awkwardly and then instantly teleported, keen to avoid Thor's no doubt crestfallen face.

He reappeared on the top of a skyscraper where wind howled around him. Loki's teleportation worked in two ways. He had to be able to visualise the location so either he had to do his research beforehand, usually with the help of Google Maps, or it was simply a place he knew or could see from where he was standing. His teleporting didn't often run into the kind of trouble that amateur teleporting did - he'd never 'splinched' himself, to use a Harry Potter term, or ended up impaled on an object.

Loki had two reasons for avoiding Thor. One, he didn't want to speak to him. And two... Seeing the Chitauri again was going to be a trip down memory lane for him. Thanos and the Other had emotionally manipulated him but the Chitauri... They had tortured him. To get through the battle without flashbacks would be a miracle and one Loki wasn't sure he would be able to achieve.

But... He had to try. So, when the portal opened high above in the sky, Loki was ready. Steve had ordered Thor, Tony and Rhodey to both pulverise and attempt to repel the Chitauri as they forced their way into the earth's atmosphere but that didn't account for The Other.

"Hello, Loki," the being said with a malicious grin, appearing close to him.

"It is with no pleasure that I return those greetings," Loki replied bitterly.

"Why so tense, Loki? Did you not enjoy my company or the company of my friends?"

He gestured round at the Chitauri.

"We did everything to make your stay as comfortable as possible."

"It obviously wasn't enough," Loki snarked back.

"I cannot see why Thanos humours your witty remarks," The Other stated, irked.

"Perhaps because he and I possess higher intelligence than you yourself do," Loki remarked neutrally.

With a roar, The Other charged. Loki hadn't been going out of his way to aggravate his enemy but he'd known he would have to battle the being eventually.

The Other and Loki battled with magic and, while his enemy was powerful, Loki was one of the strongest sorcerers in the nine realms. He incinerated The Other with one final spell and then dispersed the screaming broken pieces with a breath of wind.

"The Other has been dealt with," Loki stated rather breathlessly, activating his earpiece.

"I guess that explains the radio silence then," commented Tony. "Maybe you could help us with these rascals? It's like playing Mario Kart against NPCs. These idiots can't turn corners to save their lives."

He laughed manically at his own joke. Loki assumed it was the hysteria getting to him. That or the adrenaline. 

"I could always try closing the portal," Loki suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," answered Steve. "We'll await your progress."

But, before Loki could even think about moving, Thor flew up to him.

"Thor, you are meant to be attacking the Chitauri!" Loki hissed.

"I know you're about to do something foolish," the god stated obstinately.

"What is it to you?" Loki retorted.

"I do not want to see you harmed, Loki_"

"I have almost died before, Thor, it's nothing new."

"I never wanted to see you hurt!"

"I do not care what you think," Loki said coldly.

Thor instantly quietened, rebuffed by the harsh words.

"I am going up there whether you want me to or not," Loki continued. "You destroy the Chitauri and don't get distracted. With any luck this battle will be over before luncheon and then you can gorge on food to your heart's desire. You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you?"

Without waiting to hear Thor's dejected answer to his rather vindictive enquiry, Loki jumped off the building and promptly teleported. When Thor looked up, he saw Loki appear close to the portal and incinerate some Chitauri as he hovered there. Both hurt by Loki's words and prompted into action, Thor returned to the battle.

*

When Loki reappeared beside the portal, he burnt all the Chitauri he saw. Every one reminded him of the ordeal he had undergone at their hands and he wanted nothing more than to see them all burn. But the Chitauri were basically puppets themselves and Loki had a sneaking suspicion that destroying their mothership would either leave them confused and helpless or deactivate them completely. So saying, he jumped into the portal, hoping against hope that the Chitauri mothership was on the other side.

*

Space was cold. Loki remembered that. It had been years since his journey through the Void but he still recalled the numbness and the lack of light. He only had a limited amount of time so he conjured a massive emerald fireball and flung it at the mothership. Then he hightailed it out of the portal and, using some of his last stores of magic, reached out to the Tesseract and cut off its connection to the portal. Once done, he teleported back down to earth and fell to his knees.

"Loki!"

Thor ran towards him.

"Are you okay?" Asked Tony, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Fine," Loki gasped, although flying through space hadn't been fun.

As if on cue, all the Chitauri dropped down, lifeless. Loki felt a surge of pleasure at seeing their demise. He closed his eyes briefly and, when he'd reopened them, the others were there too.

"We did it," said Steve wonderingly. "We won."

"I mean, Loki destroyed the Chitauri and The Other," Rhodey pointed out.

"I think we were all instrumental," Clint stated stubbornly.

Natasha and Rhodey laughed at him.

"Well done on the long word," Natasha said, grinning.

"Hey!"

"Speaking of Loki, I think he needs some sustenance," Tony commented, looking down at his friend.

"I can speak for myself," came the god's tired voice as he used Rhodey's hand to pull himself up.

He trembled slightly on unstable legs but Tony quickly steadied him.

"I declare that our victory demands shawarma!" Tony announced.

Loki just shook his head, bemused.

"What on earth is that?" Steve questioned.

"No idea."

*****

A.N. The Avengers assembled I guess. Not much more to say, is there? xD

Thank you for reading!