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Lightning Rod

Anders Johnson was an asshole, there was no questioning that fact. He was an immoral prick more interested in getting laid and living the high life than other people's feelings. To him ends were justified by any means and it was better not to stand in his way or he'd fuck you over and laugh about it later. These were the facts in the minds of those who knew Anders and no one knew him better than his family. At least they thought they knew him.

"Anders you prick!" At the sound of Ty's shout, which sounded suspiciously like he was inside Ander's flat, Anders rolled out of bed and smiled to himself. It appeared that his conquest from the night before had been a smart girl and left before he woke up. He needed more girls like that in the future, less mess that way. Smirking at the thought he stood up and found his boxers before he pulled them on and walked out into his hallway.

"Fuck's sake Ty, it's cold in here." He complained as he felt the drop in temperature and watched his breath come out in puffs of steam. "Why has the iceman cometh?"

"I just talked to Axl. What the hell were you playing at?" Ty asked and Anders had to jog his memory for a minute before he remembered.

"Well I play at a lot of things Ty, you might have to give me a clue as to what sin I committed this time." Anders said with the self satisfied smirk he had perfected and Ty ground his teeth.

"Where should I start? How about the fact that our brother woke up in a brothel this morning in a bed with three prostitutes and no memory of how he got there? Or, how about the fact that he positively reeked of booze and had eyes so dilated he had no iris? God, Anders, we're supposed to help him find the Frigg, not turn him into you." Ty sighed as the anger started to leave him and suddenly wondered why he was even there. Anders knew exactly what he did and why he did it, he didn't need Ty to offer a recap. He also wouldn't feel guilt or remorse like Ty wanted him to. Anders just wasn't capable of that.

"I'd say he had a very good night." Anders gave Ty a triumphant grin and the dark god gave his elder brother a look he'd grown used to, a look of disappointment. "I take it you brought him home?"

"Of course I did Anders, I actually love my brother and don't want him humiliated. Like I said, he's not supposed to be you and I pray to anything that will listen that he doesn't become you. One self-serving prick in the family is more than enough." Ty glared at Anders who had went to his fridge and poured himself a glass of orange juice and added a healthy dose of vodka to it.

"You wound me Ty, to think Axl could possibly live up to the example I set." Anders shook his head and took a large gulp of his screwdriver and smiled at his little brother. "Seriously though, it's not what you think at all. Last night was my way of...making up, for all the shit I've put our baby brother through. I thought he needed a stress-free lay, a night without searching for the Frigg. He was perfectly safe and there was obviously no harm done. Now, I need to get ready for work and call Dawn to remind her to pick up my drycleaning. Go on, Mr. Freeze, shoo."

Anders made a shooing motion and Ty completely ignored him, instead he walked up to his brother and used the weight of Hod to push him back against the wall. Anders tried to fight but, much to his horror, found that his skin was frozen to the wall in a fine sheen of ice . Deciding to try to reason his way out of a potential homicide but before he could speak Ty spoke in a voice that was the sonic equivalent to a Siberian winter.

"You're wrong Anders, there was harm done. Our brother, the one we've sworn to love and protect woke up in a strange place, feeling ill and surrounded by women. He didn't know where he was or what was wrong with him and the one person he thought would look after him was gone, had ditched him to go off with some girl. I hope the sex was worth it Anders because I'm not letting you fuck with Axl again and if you try I'll tell Mike about your little "gift" and let him take care of you." Ty spoke severely before he backed off and rubbed his hands against his face then looked at Anders with disappointment in his eyes. "Look, you're my brother Anders and I love you, I really shouldn't but I do. Just...just stay away for a while. Axl's not mad but he is upset and he doesn't need you fucking up his life again. I'm going to go now but just listen to what I said and stay away, it's what's best for everyone."

Once he was finished condemning Anders, Ty stalked out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him. It only took a matter of moments for the temperature in the apartment to go back to what it was and Anders managed to pull himself from the wall without losing any skin. Once free he went back to the counter and picked up the bottle of Fenrir, downing as much as he could in a swallow before he looked at the bottle and growled as he thought about the conversation with Ty then felt tears prick the back of his eyes as the disappointment on his brother's face resurfaced in his mind's eye. With an incoherent scream he threw the bottle against the wall and felt a bit of satisfaction as it shattered but sagged against the counter in defeat as he dissected everything Ty said and realized the truth to the words.

It all boiled down to him being a grade A asshole with no conscience or sense of morality. He'd fucked over the one person in the world that he truly cared about more than himself and for what? The lay hadn't even been mind-blowing, definitely not worth leaving his brother alone in a strange place for. He could tell himself that Axl was an adult, was bloody Odin, but that would just be a hollow excuse. Axl was innocent and naive and kind. He was everything Anders had ceased to be long ago and a part of Anders was envious of that fact and wanted nothing more than to break him of it. That was the part that had spoken in his mind the night before, that was the part that told him a brothel would be a good idea and the cocktail of illegal and dangerous substances. The bitter and petulant voice had told him to leave poor Axl alone and barely conscious. Now the voice had deserted him and all he could hear was Ty telling him what a sorry excuse for a brother he was.

With a sigh then a grunt Anders moved from the kitchen and made his way to his bathroom. He had a meeting with a potential client in a couple of hours and wanted to look a bit presentable. Then he was going to track down Axl and talk to him because Anders had to be the villain in their little family of heroes, they needed him to be...

...

Author's Note: This is my first foray into Almighty Johnson's fic and I'm hoping no one was too out of character but if they were I'm sorry. I've recently become addicted to the show and the plot bunnies have started. Anders is my favorite character and I feel that there's depth there that hasn't been explored yet. He may be an asshole but I know he loves his family, no matter how misguided that love is. Thank you in advance for reading and I hope you enjoy the story:)