Disclaimer: I don't own this movie or the comics it is based on.
Sins of the Father, Sins of the Brother
Part 1/2
Loki didn't scream when he let go of the bridge, but once he reached the nebula – swallowed up, piece by piece, falling, falling endlessly with the bifrost, eons passing in a moment's thought, agonizing decades, hundreds of years that enveloped him and ripped his soul out over and over again-
Nothing existed in the nebula save Loki and time uninterrupted, and nothing existed in Loki save memories.
"No, Loki."
He'd known what his father was going to say – realized and understood, sick, hard feeling in the pit of his stomach, in that infinitesimal moment when Odin's eyes hardened and his eyes flickered towards Thor. Flickered away.
"No, Loki."
He could have lied. Could have softened the blow. Could have forgiven Loki like he'd forgiven Thor.
But Thor wasn't Loki, and Loki would never, ever be Thor.
"No, Loki."
-He screams so long his throat goes hoarse, and when his voice deserts him too there is only Loki and the nebula and the deafening silence of time unending.
The anti-missile program is a beauty. Gift for Rhodey – an apology of sorts, for last month's little incident over Paris. Still a little rough around the edges, but she's already taken over and reprogrammed two missiles he's launched, exploding them harmlessly over the mountains.
Just one more. Tony lets the missile fly and waits with his hand over the button on his remote, waiting to activate his program one last time, when suddenly the sky above the mountains starts moving.
What the hell- The clouds open, and the rays of light coalesce, whirling together like a bright tornado that shoots out, out, breaks through the sky and slams into the earth. A small, dark shape appears at the top, suddenly, falling – no, flying – down at a fantastic speed. Down, down, and Tony must be crazy but he thinks it looks human.
It's only a hundred feet from the ground when the missile slams into the top of the beam.
There's a bright, blinding light right before the explosion, and Tony could swear he saw the human fall to the ground.
He's in his jeep before his eyes recover.
The light hurts his eyes.
Loki shuts them before he realizes he's opened them to begin with – before he realizes he has eyes, still, and light to see by them that isn't in the nebula.
This light is gentler, now. It dims when he shuts his eyes, barely penetrating his lids with a muted red glow that courses across his sight in nonsensical patterns.
I am safe, Loki thinks. Living or dead, he hardly cares; all he can muster is relief that he can finally rest.
Just before Loki starts drifting off to sleep, when he's in that sweet spot between waking and dreaming, he hears something – a rustle, some voices, men speaking in those soft, hushed tones that Loki remembers well from his days of nursing his hotheaded brother back to health from an injury.
"Don't tell anyone. And see if you can find out about Coulson's-"
"I'll take care of it. You just worry about getting my helicopters back in order. Pepper itold/i me it was you who crashed them."
Loki's eyes snap open again. Coulson-that was the name of the agent who captured Thor. Shield? The word seems familiar. Loki's mind stutters as he tries to remember the papers he looked at when he 'visited' Thor.
He has to find out more.
Taking a deep breath, he braces himself and sits up. The room swims dizzily for a moment, but Loki brings it back into focus by sheer force of will (or so he tells himself. It's still somewhat fuzzy around the edges, really). He waits a moment to gather his strength before the voices start moving away.
It's now or never, he tells himself, and he swings his legs over the side of the bed. If he can just get a bit closer, he can-
The nightstand squeaks and makes a very loud hollow sound when his head smacks against it, and Loki has time for a quick 'Ah!' before his head, like the rest of his body, makes it all the way to the floor, where he soon finds that he can't get up.
It would appear there is something wrong with his legs. The muscles, perhaps? Muscle fatigue from bifrost travel is not entirely unheard of, though-
"Tony? Was that you?"
"I've got it, Pepper!"
One of the walls slides open, and a man – one of the men who was speaking outside- walks in, looking at Loki, still prone on the floor, with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.
"You all right?"
He doesn't wait for an answer, without asking permission, grabs the front of Loki's shirt and hoists him onto the bed unceremoniously, and without any apparent effort.
Loki manages to sit up again, and rests his back against a pillow. "I am-" the sudden energy that inspired him to stand has abandoned him, and he finds himself exhausted once more. His nose hurts, and when he brings up his fingers to it they come back bloody. "Huh."
"Here." The man – average height, brown hair, face familiar from Coulson's files, but not enough that Loki can put a name to it – hands Loki a square of fabric from his pants pocket. "I'll send Pepper with some ice in later."
Loki nods his head in thanks.
"So," the man continues. His eyes narrow. "Does the journey make you weak every time?"
At Loki's look of surprise, he grins. "You know, Agent Coulson's been asking if I'd found any aliens lately. You know any?"
What are you playing at? The man hasn't told Coulson, he's fairly sure of that; if he had, Loki would have woken up in detention, surrounded by men with rifles. Who is this man? What does he want?
"I-" As soon as Loki sits up straight, he knows he's made a mistake. The room's lurching left and right again, and that aching in his temples is back.
"No, Loki."
"Father," Loki mutters as everything starts to go black. The shape at his side moves as if to catch him - is he falling again? - and for a moment, Loki sees a tall, blonde man in red cape and shining armor. "I'm sorry."