Seated upon Hlidskjalf, Odin could see anything in the nine realms. It wasn't the same as Heimdall's sight; the Gatekeeper's awareness was continuously connected to every living soul to some degree, whereas the throne enabled Odin to see, as if through a window, whatever location he chose. His focus had been on Thor enough of late to know of his impending return.
Contentedly watching his two sons walk the rainbow bridge together, it was quite a shock to see the Midgardian who had taken the Tesseract appear behind them in a shower of blue light. Odin's grip tightened on Gungnir, but there wasn't time to do anything before the man drew a weapon and fired it. Fully aware of what this man's weapons could do, Odin's surprise turned to horror, then terror, then mingled relief and fury when the blast grazed Loki's arm.
Clearly he had underestimated the ingenuity of Midgardians. To not only reach Asgard but to attack her prince? At the very least, the Tesseract would have to be retrieved at once so this could not happen again.
X
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed over Asgard. Thor was in a towering rage, and the worst part of it was the one responsible for harming Loki was already dead, though he had had no hand in it. "Are there more of them on the way?" he demanded of Heimdall.
"No, my prince. He alone had access to the power that brought him here."
Sif and the Warriors Three caught back up to them then. "What in the nine realms was that?" said Fandral.
"A war criminal of Midgard breached our borders," said Heimdall, wiping Hofund's blade clean on the man's strange clothing.
"Midgard?!" said Sif and Volstagg in unison.
"It must have changed since our last visit," said Loki.
"You four," said Thor to his friends, "take the body of this trespasser to my father. I'll meet you there after I take my brother to the healing room."
"I don't—" Loki began, but Thor had already grabbed him around the middle and whirled Mjolnir into flight. Loki immediately began thrashing against him. "Put me down this instant! I don't need a bloody healing room!"
They had just reached the support pillar where the full force of the Midgardian's weapon had hit. The hole still sizzled, and Thor's mind filled with a horrible image of what could have happened. He pushed Mjolnir to take them even faster. Loki abruptly ceased his cursing and struggles, and for a moment Thor feared that meant his injury was worse than he'd thought. But then a sharp pain seared into his side. He yelled and they both tumbled back to the bridge.
"Are you mad, Loki?" said Thor, yanking the short dagger out of his ribs and tossing it aside as he got to his feet. "What was that for? I'm trying to help you!"
"Are you listening now?" Loki shouted. He brandished his injured arm in Thor's face, giving him a clear view of the fist-sized hole in the sleeve and the seared and blistering flesh beneath it. "I don't need a healing room! That blast barely grazed me." He stepped back and waved a hand at Thor. "You've got burns and cuts all over you from Muspelheim; why don't you get a healing room for yourself!"
"If I need a healing room, it's only now that you've stabbed me!" Lightning crashed on either side of the bridge.
"Don't be so dramatic," said Loki.
"If that blast had been farther to the right, you could've lost your arm! There might even have been a hole through your chest instead of that pillar. Forgive me for wanting to be certain my brother has come to no real harm!"
"I may not be able to match you for brute strength, Thor, but I'm hardly made of glass. Go do something useful like telling Father about the mad, skull-faced Midgardian who made it all the way to Asgard!"
Thor did so, but before Mjolnir pulled him into the air again, he cuffed Loki hard over the head, barely resisting the impulse to shove him right off the bridge and into the water below. And to think, moments ago, he'd been waiting for the Bifrost on Muspelheim, eager above anything to see his brother again after months apart.
X
Loki couldn't believe he'd actually let himself miss that stupid oaf enough to go out to Bifrost when Father told him of his impending return. Thor deserved a much greater injury than the one Loki had done him for hauling him off like an invalid child in front of all of his friends and the Gatekeeper, all over a couple of blisters.
He stalked back to the palace and to his chambers, cloaking himself whenever he encountered anyone so as not to be disturbed. He was too incensed even to care about what Father decided to do about a one-man Midgardian invasion, and he did not want to attend the inevitable banquet to celebrate the return of Thor, Sif, and the Idiots Three.
X
The quarrel with Loki had put Thor in a foul mood, which persisted even through the return banquet held in his and his friends' honor. Father had determined that Asgard should carry on as usual, and that while the Midgard situation would be addressed in short order, it need only be known to a select few. Neither the court nor the Einherjar would be involved as of yet.
Thor had never had Loki's talent for concealing his emotions, particularly when they were unpleasant ones. It was an occupational hazard of being the God of Thunder. Most of the time, this didn't bother him in the least, but he did not like being so obvious now. His friends and his people deserved their night of celebration, and it should not be marred by their prince's scowl and the occasional rumble of thunder outside.
X
The queen watched her eldest throughout the celebration. Frigga did not need Hlidskjalf or Heimdall's sight to know that that scowl while his friends laughed and feasted around him meant his reunion with his brother had not gone well. She exchanged glances with her husband, who lifted his eye to the high ceiling.
She went to Loki first. She knew she would not find him in his chambers; he never did anything so obvious as remaining shut up there for long. Instead, she went to the palace library. The alcove at the far window appeared as deserted as the rest of the place, but a gentle prod of seidr in the just the right spot unraveled the illusion.
"Hello, Mother," said Loki, not looking up from his book at her approach.
"You were missed at the feast."
Lightning flashed in the window, followed by another rumble of thunder. "I doubt that."
"What happened?" She did not ask for the sake of obtaining the facts; Odin had told her of Loki's wound, and she had been able to guess the rest from observing Thor.
"Nothing." She walked closer, gently removed the book from his hands, and waited patiently for him to look at her. When he finally did, his mouth twisted. "I merely received a healthy reminder of what the mighty Thor thinks of me. It's my own fault for requiring one."
"Loki. Your brother loves you. He's not trying to make you feel inferior."
"And I suppose intent is all that matters."
"Not all, but it does matter." She watched him with a very familiar combination of frustration and affection. He was determined to take offense. Close to his first millennium and still so young. Just as Thor was. "Has it occurred to you that he might only have reacted to your wound as he did, not because he thinks you weak, but because it's so rare for you to be wounded in the first place?"
"Ah, then hauling me off with Mjolnir over nothing was a mark of his great respect for my talents and abilities, was it?"
"He's used to seeing you cleverly evade the kinds of blows he and his friends often blunder into headfirst. What's more, this attack caught you both by surprise, in the place where we should all be safest, and then it was over before he had a chance to vent his spleen about it."
"All he had to do was ask if I was well before leaping into action. Even just taking a proper look at my arm would have told him as much."
"Thor feels before he thinks, and that is what guides his action. You are quite the reverse. Little wonder you misunderstand each other so easily, but it's also why you're so powerful when you work together."
"When Father allows it, perhaps."
Frigga's heart felt heavy, weighed down by the secrets she kept from her precious boy. She sat down beside him on the window ledge. "Is this what truly troubles you? Your father does not bar you from Muspelheim out of spite."
"Then why? You always say he does nothing without purpose, but what does it signify when I'm not to know what that purpose is?"
She could give no answer that would satisfy him, but she would be having a conversation with her husband later. It would in all likelihood go the same way it had every time the subject of Loki's origins was raised, but there was always value in not allowing Odin to get too comfortable about his mandate of secrecy.
X
After the banquet, Odin conferred with Heimdall. It seemed the Tesseract had fallen into the ocean immediately after sending Schmidt to Asgard. Were it not for the fact that Midgardians already searched for it, Odin might have been content to leave it there. Retrieval would now be more difficult, however, because Heimdall could no longer see it, and Odin could only guess at its location. Odin could see that Heimdall had an opinion about what should be done, but the Gatekeeper was respectful to a fault, never volunteering his opinions if Odin didn't ask for them.
"Speak your mind," he said.
"My king, I have spoken to you of the Midgardian Steven Rogers."
"Yes, he was the reason this Johann Schmidt failed to make as great a nuisance of himself as he tried to—until he came straight here, at least."
"Rogers fell in his last battle against Schmidt," said Heimdall. "I can no longer see him, and his people are unlikely to find him, but he has shown such courage and valour that he should have a warrior's funeral."
"You would have us honor a mortal as one of our own?"
"I would."
Odin considered a moment. He knew how Heimdall's watch weighed on him. Even for the son of a Valkyrie, it was no easy burden to bear. Thus, on the rare occasions he made a request, Odin was inclined to meet it. What he now proposed, though uncommon, was not unheard of. "I will grant you this, Gatekeeper. You saw where he fell?"
"Yes, my king. The initial impact did not kill him. I hoped he would wake, but I lost sight of him as the banquet began."
"Then I see no reason why we cannot retrieve him along with the Tesseract."
X
Frigga went to Thor next. As anger sent Loki into his books, it sent Thor to the training grounds. This late at night, he was the only one there. Mjolnir sat unused; instead, he demolished one enemy woven of golden light after another with his bare fists.
"It has been a long time since I saw you so out of spirits at a feast, my son," she said as she drew near.
He delivered one last blow beneath the chin of his current opponent, which flew into the air and disintegrated into sparks. He turned to face her but would not look at her. Sometimes even she had trouble believing that he and Loki were not brothers by blood.
"I know of the quarrel you had with Loki."
His scowl darkened. He cast a glance at the interface that would generate fresh foes for him, but he had too much respect for her to conjure more while she spoke to him. That did not mean he would be readily forthcoming, however. As guarded as Loki was, it was always easier to coax him to speak than Thor. He did not have to work to put words to what he felt.
"He missed you, you know," she said. "He'll not thank me for telling you this, but he spent the better part of the afternoon waiting at Bifrost for your arrival."
"The Midgardian shot him. I watched it happen, and I saw the hole the weapon made in one of the pillars. That could have been Loki."
Frigga swallowed down the sound that tried to erupt from her throat at the very thought of it. Betraying her own distress over Loki's safety would not help her make her point. "And you did not protect him," she said gently.
Thor's jaw and fists clenched, and he turned even farther away. "Heimdall did. It was his duty and I do not begrudge him fulfilling it."
"But you wish it had been you?"
"He's my brother," said Thor simply.
"Then, denied the chance to attack Loki's attacker, your next instinct was to do all in your power to ensure he was well."
"Yes, and he stabbed me for it!" he burst out, throwing his hands up.
Frigga pursed her lips. Whether or not it did any actual damage to Thor, she had never been amused by Loki's habit of using daggers to express his displeasure with him. "He was wrong to do so, but my dear, try to imagine how he feels. He's spent months attending tedious Council meetings when he wanted to be getting into trouble on Muspelheim with you. He thinks your father believes him too weak to go to a realm of dragons and demons, and then the first thing you do when you return home is carry him off like a helpless child to treat a minor wound, all while completely ignoring your own set of fresh battle wounds. How would you have borne it had you been in his place?"
"Not well," he said grudgingly.
"He does not like being made to feel inferior, particularly when there is an audience. I love that you have such care for your brother's wellbeing, but you can easily wound his pride by the way you express it."
At this, she saw his anger deflate. The sky cleared to show the stars, and he finally looked at her. "Then how am I to express it, Mother?"
Frigga often thought it would be impossible to love Thor more than she did, until moments like this, when he surprised her by shedding his proud warrior swagger entirely and humbly seeking her wisdom. What a king he would make one day. But she didn't want to embarrass him with a sudden flood of affection, so she merely raised one hand to touch his cheek. "Well, you could start by asking before you fly off with him next time," she said, raising an eyebrow.
He let out a snort, and she knew her battle was won. "I suppose that shouldn't be too hard to remember."
X
The following morning, both Odinsons were called before Hlidskjalf to attend the king. When they first saw each other across the hall, Thor offered a tentative smile. For an agonized moment, it seemed to have no effect, but then Loki rolled his eyes and smirked, and Thor's smile grew into a grin. He wanted to cuff Loki around the head again—out of affection this time—but the throne room was not the place for that.
"My sons, welcome," said Odin as they both knelt.
"What do you require of us, Father?" said Thor.
"I have a mission for you to complete on Midgard."
Thor opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and shot a quick look at Loki.
"Does this mission have to do with the trespasser?" said Loki.
"Not directly," said Odin. "But he is the reason Asgard must take action."
"Then I will inform Lady Sif and the Warriors Three," said Thor, beginning to rise.
"No," said Odin, and Thor froze, surprised. "There is no battle for you to fight on Midgard. It is a simple retrieval mission." Thor's confusion only increased, and Odin must have seen it, for he went on, "You were not who I thought to send at first, but after your tumultuous reunion yesterday, your mother believes it would do the two of you good, and I agree. Heimdall will tell you what you need to know and you will leave for Midgard tomorrow."
Thor and Loki glanced at each other long enough to see that they wore identical expressions of chagrin and embarrassment. "Yes, Father," they said together.
The movies don't really do anything with Odin's throne Hlidskjalf, but I really like the concept, so I tried to figure out a way to incorporate it without making Heimdall's sight redundant, and I'm pretty happy with the result. Now, you might be wondering how Heimdall could have lost sight of Steve even if he's not dead. All I can say about that is you'll find out. *evil grin*
Okay, the stabbing thing. When you live five thousand years and are a nigh-indestructable space Viking, it seems to me that the occasional dagger in the ribs from your brother is roughly equivalent human siblings poking each other in the ribs. Which is why Frigga's reaction to it is merely to roll her eyes at her ridiculous boys. And why Thor, in the movies, never seems to hold a grudge about the many times Loki stabs him. I suspect the snake incident when they were eight stands out because it was the first time it happened.
From a writer perspective, Heimdall is incredibly useful. He sees everything, so it's very easy to use him to direct the plot where I want it to go. Also I just love Heimdall, so it's great being able to write him so much.