Heroes & Villains (A Supernatural/Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Lexi stands on the far side of the cell, leaning against the plexiglass wall as she stares at the staircase where Stark and the Asgardian had ascended earlier, her pendant in her hands. Loki sits on the opposite side of the cell in the floor, his legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed, and his back supported by the wall.

He watches her curiously and asks, "Heavy thoughts?"

She glances over at the man in the floor and remembers the cuffs he was wearing earlier. He's a prisoner just as much as she is, of course he is, he's Loki Laufeyson, he's a villain...a monster. At least that's what everyone is made to believe, but then again, anyone given the footage Stark has of her would think she's a monster too.

She folds her arms across her chest and leans back against the wall, "I only recently found out about my powers. Another witch bound them when I was born, to protect me, and it's still new to me, but I'm just thinking about how I've spent the majority of my life hunting monsters and look at me now."

"The way I see it mortals tend to turn their heroes into villains when they feel they can no longer understand them," Loki replies sympathetically.

"They don't know what's out there," she states, "if people knew the truth...knew what was out there, it'd be hysteria."

"Why not tell Stark?" he questions. "He seems to be on your side."

"He threw me in a cell," she says coldly, "how's that on my side?"

Loki gives her a nod of understanding with a soft smile as if remembering something fondly, "That's something else you and Mother share."

"What?" Lexi questions.

"Your ability to carry both your darkness and your strength equally well," he responds.

Lexi has had men compliment her before and she would estimate that ninety-five percent of them were doing it in with one main goal in mind, the same goal on most men's minds. The other five percent belonged to the very few men in her life whose words were actually food for her soul. She would have never imagined this man in black to fall into that five percent.

She walks quietly along the plexiglass wall until she's near the God of Mischief and she eases herself into the floor to sit back against the wall perpendicular to the one he's sitting against as she says, "I'll let you see what I've seen...what's out there...see what actually happened that day."

"You know I'm required to tell my brother and Stark," he responds.

"I know," she replies, "but you haven't looked at me like I'm the bad guy."

"I'm not here to pass judgement," he responds with a smirk, "after all, I am just a villain."

Lexi gives him a small, almost supportive smile, "Aren't we all the villain in someone else's story?"

~~~~~

"A witch?" the red head questions with an incredulous look on her face.

"Yep," Stark replies as he watches Lexi sitting in the corner with trickster. He glances back to the man with long-blonde hair, "Why is she talking to him?"

Thor looks confused as he furrows his brow, "Isn't that what we wanted?"

"Yes," Tony states quickly, "No, I wanted him to pull the memory from the day of the accident, not make friendship bracelets."

The other man laughs in disbelief, "Loki doesn't have friends."

"Of course not," Stark responds, "he's a bad guy, I should probably go down there though."

"No Tony," Natasha interrupts, "you only seem to make things worse. Thor, he's your brother."

"Adopted," the man corrects her, and Natasha gives him a look and he sighs, "Fine."

Thor approaches the cell and can see Loki has moved to sit across from the girl in the floor, his legs folded under him and he has a hand on either side of her head at her temples. They both have their eyes closed and the man waits patiently as his brother ventures through the girl's head.

Loki opens his eyes as he sits back slowly, his face looking at her in awe, "How intriguing."

"I told you," Lexi confirms, having seen the flashes of the various monsters she's faced through the years that Loki had just saw in her memories.

The sound of the plexiglass door opening makes both occupants look up as Thor enters, the door closing behind him. Lexi notices he's carrying his hammer in one hand, a precaution she assumes.

"Care if I join you?" he questions as he sits down in the floor opposite of them, crossing his legs under him and placing his hammer on the floor next to him.

"Of course not, Brother," Loki says, then glances back at the girl, "I trust him. He should see for himself; they'll take his word for it easier than they will mine."

Lexi nods her understanding and the man in black reaches one hand back to her temple and then one to his brother's, allowing her memories to flow through him. After a few moments Loki lowers his hands and Thor's eyes jerk open and he looks startled by the visions he's just seen. All the monsters, including the woman and child in the video Stark had, they weren't human at all, they were a creature the likes he'd never seen before.

"I'm sorry," is all he can manage to say, realizing they had been wrong about the situation.

Suddenly an alarm in the building starts to sound as a red light from some corner of the room begins to flash as Friday's voice announces through the speaker system, "Boss, we have two dead men who have managed to gain access to the facility."

The three people in the floor look at each other in confusion as a loud explosion is heard.

"Friday, open the cell!" Thor orders the AI as the three of them jump up quickly, ready for a fight. He reaches for his hammer but finds it not on the floor where he left it as the cell door slides open.

Lexi watches as daggers manifest in the man in black's hands magically and her eyes widen in excitement.

"I'd much rather have one of those," she says looking at Loki with a smile, pointing at his blades, as both men realize she's gripping Mjolnir in her right hand.

Thor's face drops, "But...you're so small."

"But she's worthy," Loki says in almost a sing-song voice, then smirks to the dark-haired girl, "oh, the tricks I could teach you little witch."

Tony and Natasha are rushing down the steps, the man already clad in the iron suit and the woman aiming her pistol as she searches for the intruders. They both stop for a moment upon seeing the small dark-haired girl in the cell surrounded by the two larger gods, holding Mjolnir in her hand.

"Friday, I need a picture of this," Tony says quickly, "Cap's not going to believe it."

"Oh, I'm never letting Thor live this down," Nat says with a smirk.

The three of them make their way out of the cell, before the side door closest to them is kicked in and two men enter with their weapons drawn. Lexi's face lights up and she hands the man beside her his hammer back.

"They're here for me," she says grinning.

The dark-haired girl begins to run across the small space to the men who have just entered the room and Tony lifts his arm up, repulsor ready to fire, but he hesitates as the girl hugs the first man who entered the room.

"Stark," Thor states commandingly from across the room, "let her go."

Lexi looks at the blonde man from where she stands and gives him a smile, Dean's holding his pistol up with his right hand and uses his left arm to move her further behind him protectively. Loki smiles to her as well holding up one hand as a good-bye.

"Thank you," she mouths to him.