AN: This plot bunny grew to epic proportions so I had to write it down. Should I fill out this story, or is this good as a one-shot? Let me know your opinions!

The Betrayal and Confrontation

"You turned on us? How the hell could you turn on us? I mean, sure Mr. My –Secrets-have-secrets probably expected it, but come on guys, us too?!" The Horsemen exchanged amused glances between them at Stark's outburst. Their attention moved to the door when it rattled suddenly.

The door clicked open, strangely audible above the roar of the engines. Everyone turned, wondering just who was unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire of the rouge magicians. It was Dr. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk.

"Bruce!"

"Dr. Banner!"

"Bruce, buddy! Think you could help us out here?" Tony asked, his voice wavering slightly, his body trembling in its forced stillness. Bruce glanced at them dismissively, and walked past them toward the Four Horsemen. The magicians still didn't move, completely calm despite his appearance and movement towards them. As he passed the edge of the captured group, Loki on its outskirts, Loki sneezed violently, and he followed Bruce's path with narrowed eyes. "Bruce? Don't hesitate on our account, or ya know, try to get us out…because ya know…we're fine here…. Bruce?" Tony's voice reflected his increasing nervousness.

"Dr. Banner!" Fury barked out, "You should release us before you approach them. SHIELD does not need any civilian casualties." Bruce continued walking a few more feet before stopping. "Come back, Dr. Banner!"

"Don't."

Loki's quiet voice rang out in the air abruptly. Every one turned to Loki as much as possible, confused by his interruption. Even Bruce turned his head slightly, as if to hear clearer.

"He's not who you think he is…. I don't know how I didn't see it before…I suppose the Chitauri energy signatures were interfering, but…you must have great control over your power. For it to be so inconspicuous."

"What the hell are you talking about Rock of Ages? Bruce is Bruce. Ya know, Dr. gamma radiation, Mr. I-turn-into-an-enormous-green-rage-monster? The only power he has is science and maybe The Other Guy."

"What do you mean, brother? What have you sensed?" Thor asked curiously, more inclined to listen to and believe his brother when it came to magic.

"This is the first time I've been within range of the good doctor since I was here under the control of the Chitauri. I was only asked to be here because there would be "magicians" to deal with. I hadn't seen the doctor because he claimed that it would be best for him to avoid the magicians; they would be too startling for him he said, and we all believed that was the only reason." Loki paused to put his thoughts in order.

"It made sense. No one wants a surprise visit from the big guy." Steve pointed out, unsure where Loki was going with this.

"But…what if that wasn't the reason…." Everyone except the Four Horsemen and Bruce looked at Loki completely lost.

*Sigh.*

"Honestly, think mortals. The doctor here absolutely reeks of ancient magic. Dry, preserved, and extremely powerful, ancient magic. It's been there for a long time, and no one has noticed it because there was no one to notice it. The Bruce Banner you know…isn't who he really is." Loki smiled sardonically at Bruce and asked, "So just who are you Dr. Banner? And why do you remind me of that old quack Horus?"

The Avengers, Fury and Coulson turned back to Bruce. His face had turned away once more, and for a few seconds, it didn't look like he was going to respond. After a moment of silence though, he chuckled softly. "I always knew this ruse wouldn't last forever, but I had hoped it would have lasted a little longer than this. Gold Star to you Loki, for ferreting out my best kept secret." Bruce turned to face the captured group, a small placid smile on his face and his hands tucked into his pockets.

The group had various expressions of disbelief on their faces. The only exceptions were Loki (as he was the one to figure it out), Thor (who trusted his brother's judgment), and Fury (who was just paranoid enough to believe it immediately). Natasha and Clint were struggling into poker faces, and almost succeeding, except for the fact that it wouldn't hold. Steve looked gob smacked, his face as open as ever and Tony…. Well, Tony looked like he had been punched in the stomach after running a couple of miles. Even Coulson was affected, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. Bruce's smile softened a bit and his eyes lowered for a moment before rising to look at Tony. Tony stared at him, bewildered.

"He's right." They jerked, not believing Bruce's admission. "Loki's right. Bruce Banner is a persona I created to indulge my interest in science. I survived the gamma radiation because of my magic and merely used the accident as an excuse to shape-shift when I needed to. Of course, with such power…" Bruce snorted softly, "…I needed to limit it. Make conditions in which it could be used." Bruce's gaze roved over all of them. "And it worked even better than I thought it would. Maybe even too well." Bruce shrugged. "That's why none of the other scientists have been able to recreate my research properly. They're missing a crucial piece."

"Then…just who are you..."

"My name at the moment is Dylan Rhodes." The captured group gasped in recognition, and the Four Horsemen, who had been strangely quiet since the confrontation began, snickered together. "I practice ancient magic that originates from Egypt. The Four Horsemen are my current apprentices." Dylan turned to look at them proudly, "They have a lot of untapped potential for true magic; that's why I chose them." The Horsemen reddened at bit, looking away from and back to Dylan quickly with grins on their faces.

"But…" Tony began, still in disbelief, "How did no one recognize you? You've been seen all over the news as Bruce Banner. How did no one connect an infamous FBI agent with the international fugitive?"

"Never mind that." Clint interrupted, "How the hell did you pass all the security then? Not just the ones at the FBI, but with us here in SHIELD? No one can make fakes like that!" Clint shook his head as he spoke. "No way they're that good." He waved his hands for emphasis, and Dylan's smile widened into a smirk.

"There was no need to get perfect records. No one's records are perfect; that's how to know they're fake…if they're too good." Dylan shrugged, "A little magic covered up the bumps, and a little more meant no one asked any questions if they recognized both Bruce Banner and Dylan Rhodes as the same man. It wasn't too hard to keep the ones tracking me off my tail. Although," Dylan bobbed his head thoughtfully, "…there was a time in France I almost got pin-pointed. All I needed to do was animate a golem to lead them off course though. They fell for it quite easily." Dylan's smirk grew, and the Avengers exchanged apprehensive looks. Banner- Rhodes now- was acting completely different than what they were used to and it was throwing them off. "No one here can match me in magical strength. Even Loki is weaker than I am."

"What!" Loki was outraged at the sly mortal's claim. "I am the god of magic! No one is more powerful than me in the magic arts except perhaps the All-Father!" Loki surged forward, casting the full strength of his magic at the field binding him... it did nothing but absorb his magic into itself. Loki fell to his knees exhausted.

"Brother!" Thor thundered, close enough to grab Loki's shoulder and help him stand. Tony and Steve looked between Loki and Dylan for an explanation. Dylan obliged them.

"That won't work, but thanks for the contribution Loki. That shield collects the energy cast against it, magic or kinetic force, and uses it as power." Dylan shook his head slightly, and then nodded toward the Horsemen who had been talking amongst themselves quietly. "Merritt is the one who cast this shield, but I am the one who taught it to him. It's one of my masterpieces."

"Bruce…did you really plan all of this? Was this all a trick? Why…why would you…." Tony didn't understand why his 'science bro' would betray him like that. Dylan winced a little.

"Tony, I had no intention of-" Dylan was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire on the deck. He looked up abruptly, searching the sky and saw a SHIELD helicopter circling for another pass with more on the way. There was a satisfied huff of air behind him, and Dylan turned to look at the one responsible.

Fury smirked at Dylan triumphantly, "Looks like my message got through. It won't matter if we can't get out of this containment field now, Rhodes. None of you will get away from the entirety of SHIELD's agents." Dylan simply raised an eyebrow and smirked challengingly at Fury. "Even if you try to run, you'll never get far enough to escape before we find you."

"Who said we needed to run, Fury? There's no reason to worry. We have enough time to show off a bit." With that, Dylan motioned the Four Horsemen closer to him. They walked toward them calmly, bantering between themselves. "Now pay close attention. This is one of the more complicated spells." The Horsemen nodded eagerly, inching even closer to Dylan. He gathered himself up and his power pulled up around him.

The air grew heavy, the sun seemed to dim, and his form blurred in Tony's sight. When he spoke, his voice reverberated throughout the environment.

"تباطؤ حركة من الوقت. منح ثلاثة عشر منا صد الوقت. تباطؤ حركة من الوقت."

(1)Dylan's intonation dipped and rose at specific points in the recitation and the air thrummed around him in a deep bass-like reverberation. Loki shuddered as the magic gathered together, and the others felt a chill go down their spine when the spell was released.

Instantly they were on their guard, but the only thing that seemed to have changed was the complete lack of noise around them. The engines had gone silent, and the sound of gunshots ricocheting off the helicarrier was nonexistent. The captured party glanced around warily as best they could and turned their attention back to Dylan when he breathed out, allowing the unused magic to rest inside him.

"What have you done, Banner? I mean- *cough* What did you do, Rhodes? What have you changed?" Natasha addressed Dylan with a somewhat angry tone. "You wouldn't have done all that just because you didn't want to hear th-" Natasha was cut off by an excited shout. They turned to the origin of the noise, which turned out to be the youngest of the Four Horsemen, Jack Wilder. He was nudging at something in the air and grinning wildly.

"Whoa, that's cool! Hey! Have you all seen this yet?" He glanced around excitedly at the other Horsemen. "Look!" He exclaimed exuberantly, pointing at a certain point in the air. "It's a bullet. A bullet! If I push it in a different direction, it'll start moving away! This is so cool!" Jack looked at Dylan excitedly, "How long until we can do this on our own?"

"Not for a good long while." Dylan divulged, indulgingly smiling at the amused Jack and the other three horsemen. "Time is one of the more difficult walls to bend or break. A lot of practice is needed to tamper with such forces."

"Wait! Wait just a minute!" Steve exclaimed, shock in his features. "You've messed with time? That's insane! You could destroy us!"

Dylan huffed, agitated, his face drawn with annoyance. The expression looked extremely out of place on the face they had known to be Bruce Banner. "We didn't go to a different time Captain. And we're not going to. I've simply slowed down its passage in this area for a little while." Dylan shrugged unconcerned, "Now then, it's time for us to go." Dylan looked back at his former teammates, meeting Tony's eyes and closing his own to pull away from the feeling of betrayal he saw growing within them. "Horsemen, form around me. Connect your hands, and begin the first chant I taught you. I'll cast the more specific components."

As the Horsemen began, Dylan locked gazes with Fury. "Good luck finding us next time." He smirked widely and finished with a laugh. "We'll be in touch." With that final word, Dylan began his own part of the chant. (Horsemen (2)/Dylan (3))

"جمع أنفسنامعا. جمع أنفسنامعا.

تأخذنا المنزلية؛ تأخذنا إلى الحرم الشريف لدينا.

جمع أنفسنامعا. جمع أنفسنامعا.

تأخذنا المنزلية؛ تأخذنا إلى الحرم الشريف لدينا.

جمع أنفسنامعا. جمع أنفسنامعا."

With a bright flash and an echoing boom, the Horsemen and their handler disappeared, releasing both the Time-Slowing spell that was affecting the helicarrier airspace and the Binding spell that held the Avengers, Loki, Fury and Coulson captive. As the agents boarded the deck of the helicarrier and Fury ranted at them for their incompetence, Tony couldn't stomp down the piece of hope that had sprouted when Bruce -Dylan- had promised to keep in touch.

When he was changing for bed later that night, Tony felt a small rectangular shape in his back pants' pocket. When he pulled it out, he noticed it was the tarot card "King of Spades" and on the backside, he found a phone number in the luminescent green ink that could only be used in the pen he had given Bruce for his birthday a couple months before. Tony's mouth curled into a grin involuntarily, and he was dialing the number before he even realized it. It rang three times, followed by a hollow silence. Tony took a deep breath…and then took a leap of faith.

"Hello, Bruce." There was a moment of silence. And then….

"Hello, Tony."

Arabic- wasn't able to find a good ancient Egyptian translator

(1) Slow the movement of time. Grant thirteen of us to hold off time. Slow the movement of time.

(2) Gather ourselves together.

(3) Take us home, take us to the sanctuary.