THIS IS UNFINISHED AND PROBABLY WON'T BE CONTINUED. Consider it a one-shot with a bit of a cliffhanger. I currently have no plans for it unless I'm suddenly inspired (which maybe, but we'll see). I haven't done anything with the plot for the two years since I've written it. I just figured since this part was pretty much publishable, I'd throw it out there to see what people thought.
Errands were no fun, but someone had to do them and between the science projects Hank couldn't leave unattended and the overnight field trip the older students had taken the initiative to organize for the younger ones, this month it fell to Charles. It wasn't so bad. He'd had to drop off a few bills and pick up groceries and he'd gotten to see Tony briefly and meet the elusive Agent Romanoff (mind like a steel trap, that one), so all in all it had been worth the journey out of Westchester into New York proper.
Charles had just pulled his car keys out of his pocket when he felt something prodding at his mind. A person with lesser shields wouldn't have noticed, but the poke had reverberated across his so strongly it may has well have been a gong. The presence snapped away as quickly as it had swept in. Charles paused, keys halfway to the lock of the Aston Martin. It hadn't felt like a telepath, at least not any telepath he'd ever sensed before. Telepaths were direct. If they entered a mind, they did it themselves. This was a person using an instrument, prodding with a stick rather than with one's own hands.
He tilted his head, trying to find the source of the prod without giving away that he knew of the presence. The parking lot was dark, hardly another soul around (odd considering it was early afternoon on a Saturday). His telepathy wafted over the area. There was a mother picking up supplies for a forgotten school project. A man with less than honorable intentions waiting in an alley (Charles turned him away with the suggestion that he go home and search the job listings again). No one else besides the young man putting his groceries in the boot. He couldn't even follow the tendril of whatever had attempted to enter his mind.
That is, until it was right there, directly behind him, so close that he couldn't even turn around to face whoever or whatever it was before there was a hand clamping on his shoulder with a grip so forceful it nearly sent him to the pavement. His telepathy lashed out only to be met like a sweeping defense not unlike a sword.
Wisps of darkness were encircling him. He could barely make out the face of the grocer as the man froze to stare open-mouthed at what he was witnessing. Everything tightened in on itself, making it incredibly hard – make that impossible – to breathe. He gave up on trying to turn around, instead grasping at his chest as if that would loosen the invisible grip constricting his lungs. The ground disappeared beneath him as the blackness became all encompassing. He and his captor weren't falling though; they were gliding. He lost all sense of direction, tried to use his telepathy again only to find the voices in his head moving so fast it made him nauseous. Bright spots danced in front of his eyes as he struggled to breathe and find his bearings. It was useless. The second he felt solid ground beneath him, he lashed out again with his telepathy. He thought he heard a pained hiss behind him, but he didn't have time to confirm it before his aching mind shut down and he blacked out.
Charles woke with a splitting headache. Putting a hand to his temple and keeping his eyes resolutely clinched shut, he tried to sit up. Tried being the operative word.
"Ow…" he managed as he set himself back down to his previous supine position.
So sitting up was out. That meant he should probably open his eyes. Damn.
He was in a cave of some sort. A fire crackled merrily beside him, lighting the cave in eerie shadows. The circumstances of his arrival in said cave chose that moment to crash back into his consciousness. Now that he had time to think, things made a lot more sense. There were only two people who could sneak up on him and one of them couldn't knock him out without drugs or a blow to the head, neither of which Erik preferred to do if he was in a good mood. Erik's kidnappings tended to be more predictable anyway. Either he had diabolical plans he needed Charles out of the way for (the annoying reason) or it was some happier occasion like a birthday (the much preferable reason). To his knowledge, the Brotherhood had no mutants that could teleport the way he'd been teleported (and teleportation was definitely what that had been). Azazel's method took some getting used to, but he'd always been able to breathe during the process. Plus, caves weren't Erik's style.
All things considered, Erik was eliminated from the running. Which meant…
"Loki, if you wanted to talk, I could've had you over for tea."
"Ah, but you would never have allowed me access to your lovely home and students. I've heard wonderful things about a diner downtown though."
Charles rested his head back on the ground and massaged his temple. He was somewhat gratified to find Loki sitting against the stone wall of the cave doing the same. The god stopped as soon as he saw he was under observation. An interesting response, hiding weakness. He forcibly relaxed himself almost immediately and resumed worrying at his head.
"Stark did not overstate your talents. Few have the ability to touch my mind."
"He didn't overstate yours either. Few have the ability to sneak up on and kidnap me. Speaking of Tony, am I to assume that you're fighting with him again?"
The god cocked his head. "Why would you assume that? Perhaps I wanted to meet the friend he's always going on about."
Charles risked sitting up again, this time managing to prop himself against the wall a few feet behind him. "You wouldn't go through all this trouble to meet me, especially when you apparently know exactly where to find me. No, this took premeditation. You have a plan. The only times you seem to have plans as of late, at least plans that you put effort into beyond creating mayhem, are times you're fighting with Tony. If you want to make him angry, you certainly know how. He hates when you have plans. It means he has to, once again, defend you to the rest of his team. Not to mention it puts Thor in a mood."
"Stark doesn't have to defend anything, that much is obvious," Loki muttered. Then, louder, "I put effort into all my plans."
"If that's true, you aren't as intelligent as we both know you are. Besides, Tony tells me everything. Last time you planned an all out assault on a city, he'd suggested you apologize to Thor for some transgression since you were on the same side now. The time before that, you found out about me, I believe. You shouldn't feel threatened, by the way. No matter what he says to the contrary, his playboy days are far behind him and I certainly don't have an interest in him. I know him too well."
Loki snorted a derisive laugh. "I'm not threatened by you or anyone else. Stark is free to see whomever he pleases."
"But he doesn't because you're his evil alien boyfriend. His words, not mine," the telepath tacked on at Loki's raised eyebrow. "That's all beside the point though. If I'm not here because of our mutual friend, why have I been so generously invited into your lovely…cave?"
"Our mutual enemy. Or, how did Stark refer to him, your bastard of a magnetic boyfrenemy?"
Charles frowned. "Charming. What on earth did Erik do that inspired you to kidnap me?"
"Stark is loquacious." There was a touch of annoyance in the statement that Charles found he could relate to. Loquacious was a polite way to describe his childhood friend. Tony liked to say he could talk his way out of anything. In fact, he bragged about how he had subdued an enemy with hostages by talking about his ability to talk his way out of anything. As if he needed more encouragement-
"Are you even listening to me?"
Ah, right, Loki was still talking. Perhaps his mind hadn't fully recovered from the trip. It would certainly explain his lack of ability to focus.
"I'm enthralled. You were saying?"
Loki rolled his eyes but continued. "Stark likes to talk. He mentioned your relationship with Magneto. I believe it was soon after you both found out about each other's romantic endeavors. You were not speaking with one another. He said he needed to 'vent'." He said the last word like he was trying out a new weapon and wasn't quite pleased with the result.
It didn't surprise Charles that Tony had said something. Mostly because at about the same time, he'd cracked open the good scotch. When Erik had come by a little while later, he may or may not have let it slip to his boyfrenemy, as Tony apparently referred to him, that Tony and Loki were together. At least they were even on the revealing-sensitive-information-to-people-who-probably-shouldn't-know thing. Not that many people didn't know at this point. It was rather obvious in battle when Erik's aim was suddenly equivalent to a stormtrooper in Charles' presence or when Loki's magic petered out just before it hit red and gold metal.
And he'd drifted again. Loki was giving Charles a hard stare.
"I should have accounted for teleportation interacting with your telepathy before I abducted you. Perhaps I should come back when you're recovered," Loki said with a mocking raised eyebrow.
"I've teleported before."
"Not with magic and not this far-"
"Azazel has taken me clear across the globe."
Loki smirked with a glint in his eye that said he knew something Charles didn't. "-and you were putting up quite a fight. I'd prefer to speak to you when you're not mentally impaired. It would be a shame to damage the formidable image Tony has created of you. It's always so nice to find a mortal who isn't a bumbling fool."
"That's very kind of you," Charles responded, his confusion raising the statement into a question. Loki clenched his jaw in distaste, probably at being called kind Charles realized. "But I'm used to headaches."
Loki's brow furrowed at that, less confused and more inquisitive, but Charles cleared his throat and continued. "So, you know Erik and I are-"
"Yes," Loki finished with a grin. Charles pursed his lips.
"Very well. What has Erik done to you?"
"He's taken something that belongs to me. I returned the favor."
"Returned the- oh…oh, no, I'm the damsel in distress. Do you realize what you've done? I'll never live this down!"
Loki's brow shifted in a way Charles interpreted as "Are you really saying this right now?". Charles could imagine he'd gifted such a look to Thor many times growing up. He sighed.
"Alright, first off, I don't belong to anyone. Second, do you know how far in the doghouse you're going to be when Tony finds out? Third, what could Erik have possibly taken from you that's so important that you would risk taking me?"
"I am already 'in the doghouse', as you call it, with Tony," Loki admitted grudgingly, which explained why Loki would have something no doubt involved in some type of maniacal world domination plot that the Brotherhood would steal. His glare morphed into a diabolical smile that, as it turned out, Tony hadn't been exaggerating about. "And I've been wanting to meet you for a very long time. I've heard so many things about the fabled telepathic protector of Midgard." After a pause just long enough for Charles to start shifting uncomfortably against the wall, Loki sat back again, glancing to the rock covering the cave entrance. "But that has nothing to do with my plans. I am aiding Dr. Doom in one of his nonsensical plots because his petty attempts at domination are embarrassing to the art of villainy and you mortals do deserve-"
"Yes, yes, yes, we deserve subjugation and desire to be ruled and what not," Charles said, waving his hand. "What did Erik take from you?"
Charles smirked internally at Loki's snarl. The trickster may be reveling in the information he'd gotten from Tony about Charles and Erik, but Charles could guarantee he'd gotten at least three times more information about Loki from his best friend. Including how much it cowed the frost giant when people weren't impressed with his plans.
"He took a scepter."
"The Glowstick of Destiny?" Charles asked, going so far as to add air quotes. His students would be so proud.
"No, not the glow- not that," Loki snapped. "This is a scepter that will- no. If you want to know, try to pull it from my mind. It is important and I need it and I will have it if your Magneto values your safety as much as-."
He cut himself off, but Charles heard the echo. His telepathy couldn't break through much of Loki's chaotic mind (he'd been trying since he'd sat up), but he distinctly got the as much as I value Stark's. Oh, he'd definitely keep that tidbit as ammunition for later.
"And what makes you think that the X-Men, Brotherhood, and Avengers' combined forces won't find me before that?" Charles asked.
The rather insane leer that spread across Loki's face was not the reaction Charles had been going for and not particularly reassuring. Loki walked to the front of the cave, not too far from them, and waved his hand. The rock covering the cave's entrance moved to the side, revealing an icy, blue-grey landscape.
"Because they will not think to look for you on Jotenheim."
A small "oh" was all Charles could muster. He was on a different planet. That was…far less exciting than he'd imagined it.
The rock moved back, blocking out the cold. That explained the fire crackling near Charles.
"You should be honored," Loki flourished. "You are likely the first Midgardian to set foot on the planet of my ancestors."
"I'll contain myself, thank you," Charles said, finding his voice again. "Your blue is showing."
Loki's blue was, in fact, showing. His hands were distinctly more azure than they had been before and his eyes had taken on a ruby spark. It was gone with a somewhat panicky flourish of his arms.
"You shouldn't have seen that."
"My sister was blue. I don't mind."
"I do."
"Well, then, consider it forgotten."
"You're very amenable for having just been kidnapped and taken to another planet."
"I live in a school full of mutant children. It takes a lot to surprise me. Although, I must say, this probably tops my list of odd happenstances."
"Hmmm, well, in that case I'll have to work harder to impress you."
With an ostentatious flick of his hand, Loki was gone, leaving Charles with nothing but the crackling fire and blustering wind to keep him company.
Damn. The day had started out so well. He reached his mind out tentatively only to flinch back at the icy minds he grazed.
Well then. It appeared he could do nothing but await Loki's return and hope for a better result. He settled down and tried to recall all the things Tony had ever mentioned about the god. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.
For now.
Like I said, no plans to continue for now. I may return to it after I finish "The Good Fight," but don't count on anything.
Reviews are lovely, especially if anyone has strong feelings about this continuing. :)