I really wanted to write a story where Loki is actually a good guy, and has been the whole time. Yaay!
A/N: You're going to be confused for a while, I've decided to write this story backwards. But give the story a chance! This one has lots of twists and plot conflicts! I just couldn't get the idea out of my head of writing a good-guy Loki fanfic, and this is what happened. This story follows movie verse, mostly, but then not at all. I have added a character, so that'll change things up. Also, Loki and Thor being sent up to Asgard never happens. HAH!
EDITED 7/24/2013
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Avengers. Hadley belongs to me, but I give all credit for the rest of them to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they rock!
Loki groaned, lifting a weak arm onto the step in front of him, moving slowly. The green giant sure packed a wallop! He groaned again, pulling his body into a sitting position, pausing when he heard a small noise behind him. He turned slowly, taking in the sight of the assembled avengers, the archer's arrow pointed directly at his head. He grinned inwardly. The plan had worked. The Avengers had won. He grimaced as he took in the looks on their faces, pausing at Starks stern profile.
"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."
PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak
"Where are the Avengers now?" Hadley couldn't tell who was speaking, the camera angle only showed her Fury's face, the computer screens that would have revealed his speaking companions not in view. But Hadley knew who they were. The Midgardian council, the ones who had sent out the nuke that had the ability to ruin her plans. She listened intently to Fury's answer, eyes intense on the screen in front of her, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently.
"I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts." Fury snarked back. "I'd say they've earned a leave of absence."
"And the tesseract?" The female councilmember asked.
"The tesseract is where it belongs. Out of our reach."
"That's not your call." Another councilman snapped.
"I didn't make it." Fury explained honestly. "I just didn't argue with the God that did."
"So you let him take it, and the war criminal Loki," Hadley winced at the term "War Criminal", "that should be answering for his crimes?"
"Oh, I think he will be." Fury guessed, with a smirk.
Hadley sent the screen a smirk of her own. That's what you think, silly Fury, she thought slyly.
"I don't think you understand what you've started, letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous." Hadley bristled. The Avengers, dangerous to the world they just SAVED? How did that make sense?
"They surely are." Fury agreed. "And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it."
"Was that the point of all this?" The lead councilman asked. "A statement?"
Fury was silent. Then he shook his head. "A promise."
Hadley quickly turned off the screen that had been playing the security footage she'd hacked into as Fury walked into the small conference room she occupied.
Fury sent her a look, knowing what she'd been doing.
"Shouldn't you be in the Medic Bay?" Fury asked her lightly.
"Where are the Avengers?" Hadley avoided his question and asked one of her own, having not seen the Avengers since they'd dropped off Loki at the temporary containment center about an hour ago.
Fury shrugged. "They said something about shawarma. They'll be back soon, I'm guessing. Why?"
"I heard you talking to your council." Hadley confessed.
Fury inclined his head. "I kind of figured you'd listen in."
"There's something I need to tell you." Hadley began urgently, but Agent Maria Hill ran in, eyes wide.
"Sir! There's been another energy influx."
Fury dismissed Hadley immediately, turning to face Agent Hill. "When?"
"Just now sir. It carries the same signatures that occurred when Thor fell to Earth, as well as three days ago, when Loki,"
"Where?" Fury interrupted voice cold.
"Here, sir." As Hill spoke, the Helicarrier shook, as if something very large had just dropped onto the top of it.
"They're here." Hadley whispered, shocked they didn't give her more time.
Fury rounded on her. "Who? Who's here?"
Hadley, instead of answering, ran out of the room, Fury and Hill following closely on her heels.
She rushed past the medic bay, through the torn up lab that Stark and Banner had previously occupied, and to the door that led to the plane runway. She ran out, stopping just outside the door. Fury and Hill ran out behind her, stopping in shock at the sight before them.
In front of them stood three tall individuals, their garb reminiscent of the clothing that both Thor and Loki sported, though slightly different. The leather, odd straps and armor gave Fury the assumption that these new "guests" were not of Earth. Their stiff posture and regal bearings made Fury infer that they must be important. They carried no weapons, so Fury holstered his gun, waiting to see what Hadley would do.
The petite, barely legal young woman strode forward with all the confidence of…well himself, Fury thought, as she stopped to stand in front of the trio.
"My Lords, and Lady, I welcome you to the realm of Midgard." Hadley's voice raised to be heard over the wind, and had changed from its normal tone, to one more refined, and distinctly Asgardian, Fury would guess. What was going on?
"I assume you have witnessed what has just occurred?" At a firm nod from one of the newcomers, she continued. "Then I call for a dismissal of your sentence against Midgard. I would prefer to continue this inside, though?" Hadley gestured to inside the carrier, starting slightly at Fury and Hill blocking the door.
"Who are they?" One of the men asked, glaring at Fury and Hill.
"My Lords and Lady, may I present Nicholas Fury, leader of Shield and founder of the group of defenders known as the Avengers, and his associate, Maria Hill. They mean you no harm, and will not be present during our discussion." Hadley sent Fury and Hill a pleading glance, one that asked them to hold their questions and do as she asked.
Fury took a moment to consider. He had known of Hadley for a while, known that she was different. How, was never fully confirmed; though a billionaire like Stark wouldn't hire a teenage doctor unless she was something special. Hadley had proven her mettle the last couple of days, but that didn't mean he would trust her. And yet, the three unknown guests hadn't attacked, and waited to enter until they were invited inside. Fury looked at Hill for a second opinion, who gave him a slow nod and a steady gaze. He then looked back at Hadley, and stepped away from the door, Hill following suit.
Hadley bowed slightly at the waist and allowed the three guests to enter the Helicarrier, before standing upright again. Before she could follow them, Fury grabbed her arm.
"Keeping secrets?"
She sent him a glare. "Isn't everybody? I promise you," She whispered, her voice normal, "I will tell you everything once they leave. But right now, Midgard is still in danger, and I need to go make sure it isn't and won't ever be again. But in order to do that, I need to talk to these people in a private room, NOW."
Fury hesitated, but the determination and steel in her voice made him realize she was serious. So he did the one thing he swore never to do, with ANYONE. He trusted her.
PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak PageBreak
That didn't mean he wasn't going to watch. He and Hill sequestered themselves in his office after having sent Hadley and her three new friends into the small conference room she'd been in previously, studiously watching the security camera footage of the room on Fury's large monitor.
The three strangers sat on one side of the rectangular table, their faces easily visible, while Hadley stood on the other side, her back to the camera. Fury suspected she'd done this on purpose.
The female sat in the middle, her long gray hair pulled into a sophisticated bun, her pale blue eyes serious, sharp and assessing. The man to her right was the youngest of the three, his dark curly hair merely streaked with gray, while the other man sported a full head of gray slicked backed strands that stopped at the nape of his neck. Both men had the same pale blue eyes as the woman, though the younger man's eyes held a small spark of humor, while the older man's eyes were the coldest in the room.
"My Lords and Lady, two years ago you reached a decision to decimate one realm, in order to make the total count an even, more manageable eight. In the course of your deliberations, the three of you made the decision to destroy Midgard, under the assumption that Midgard was weak and unable to protect itself. Am I correct in my summation so far?" Hadley asked; her voice back to the more refined dialect of Asgard.
"You are." The woman confirmed with a regal nod.
Hill gasped. Fury sat back in his chair as the implications of what Hadley had just said hit him. This group of oddly dressed older individuals decided to destroy a realm, simply because nine had seemed like too many? Fury did not doubt that they had the power to do so, after what he'd just been through, after everything he'd seen, nothing seemed impossible anymore. But now there was another threat against his planet, a bigger threat, one he knew nothing about. He realized that Hadley knew they were listening, and were summarizing for their benefit, so he leaned forward as she began speaking again.
"When you came to me and told me of your decision, I, as liaison between Midgard and the Realm Council that is yourself, was given the opportunity to plead a trial period, in order to disprove your assumption of weakness. You granted me a 2 year probation period, upon which if Midgard was unable to prove its strength, you would continue on with the destruction of my realm. Is this not also correct?"
"It is." The woman answered; her voice tight.
"That two year probation period ends not a fortnight from now, and I believe that Midgard has proven its strength, not only to the Realm council, but to all other Realms. No one would dare attack Midgard, now nor anytime soon, with such a strong force as the Avengers protecting it."
"We no longer doubt Midgard's strength." The woman began. "But we doubt the longevity of it. Mortals live no longer than 80 or 90 Midgardian years, what happens when this, team of Avengers cease to live? Will Midgard not be left defenseless again?"
"While the Avengers are Midgard's prime example of strength, they are not our only strength. Nicholas Fury, whom you met earlier, is the director of an organization called SHIELD that has been protecting and defending the earth before the Avengers Initiative was ever introduced, and will be here long after they are gone. Though these Midgardian Mortals may seem weak and petty in the eyes of the other realms, they will not hesitate to protect their home."
"You, who have been on this planet for seven years, doubted their loyalty to their planet before?" The older man asked curtly.
"Never, My lord. I always knew that Midgard was able to defend itself. There was just no opportunity to prove it to anyone else until now. I have always believed these Midgardians of great strength." At the younger man's snort, she tilted her head. "A different kind of strength than is seen on Asgard, or Jotenheim, or elsewhere, but a strength nonetheless. This Realm is deserving of Life, My Lord, and after the fight that they just went through, I would be shocked if you did not believe so as well. "
"We are inclined to agree with you." The woman stated.
Fury silently celebrated. Had this crisis just been averted?
"But," She continued. "We question the rather, opportune time of this attack."
"Are you saying that I made this attack happen with the sole purpose of proving to you that Midgard deserved to continue on?"
When none of the council spoke, she answered.
"You would be right. I convinced Loki Laufeyson, adopted son of Odin, to reach out to Thanos and his Chitauri army. I Persuaded Loki; God of Mischief; to coax Thanos to lend him the Chitauri in order to attack Midgard. I did that."
"You confess to orchestrating an attack on the Realm you took an oath to protect?"
"I do." The council sat shocked, and Hadley spoke again before they could. "But I orchestrated an attack in order to disprove your assumptions. Consider the attack merely an "example."
"An example that cost people their lives!" The younger man shouted.
"I made sure there were no lives lost. I would not be so remiss in my duties. Yes, there were many injuries, but none that cannot be reversed. I watched and observed, very carefully, interfering only to prevent deaths, nothing more.
"Though I may have orchestrated the attack, I did no such manipulation in the end result. The victory was real, and true."
"And what if Midgard did not have the strength to prevent such an attack? What if Midgard had fallen?" The woman asked, not angry like the other two, simply curious.
"Midgard would have fallen anyway, just at the hands of the Realm council, instead of at the Chitauri's. It was a calculated risk, I agree, but one that had I not taken, would've had Midgard destroyed without a doubt. At least with the attack, they had a chance."
The woman nodded. "I do not agree with your actions. They were desperate, sneaky, and barely on the side of the law." The two men beside her nodded, and the three of them stood. Hadley stiffened, her back straight as an arrow.
Fury tensed. Was his planet, despite having just survived an alien invasion, about to be destroyed anyway?
"But while I cannot approve of how you went about this, I one hundred percent approve your intentions. Your loyalty to a realm that is not yours, and your determination to do your job to the best of your abilities is to be commended. We grant Midgard a reprieve from execution, for Midgard has proven it's strength, not only to the realm council, but to all surrounding realms, a statement of power and strength that all will heed.
"Not a statement my lady. A promise."
The woman inclined her head, a small smile passing over her face before the three council members disappeared a small cloud of smoke the only proof that something magical had just occurred.
Hadley plopped down in a chair as if her legs could no longer hold her, relaxing. In Fury's office, Hill and Fury did the same. The Earth had just faced two nearly impossible threats, one slightly expected, the other a complete surprise, but had bested them both. Earth was safe.
Confused? I am soo sorry if you are! I tried my hardest to make it semi-simple to figure out what's going on, but I had difficulties! A plot surprise is going to pop up in chapter two, and some might not be very happy, but I needed reasons for some things that happened, and a jumping board for other things to happen. Reviews are greatly appreciated, I love hearing your thoughts and ideas, but please be gentle, I am very new at this. Favorites and Follows are always appreciated!