Chapter 2 – Just a Bit of Fun
Hey, cruel world…
You don't have what it takes,
We don't need your faith.
We've got fucking fate.
Hey, cruel world…
You don't have what it takes,
We don't need your faith.
We've got fucking fate.
Creator
Preserver
Destroyer
Ask which one I am!
There's no drugged-out devils,
Or square-halo angels,
Walking among us.
I am among no one.
I am among no one.
I am among no one. Marilyn Manson, "Hey, Cruel World…"
Thor landed unto the dirt of New Mexico with gentle ease and was immediately greeted by a small, squealing brunette woman. She leaped into his chest, throwing her arms tightly around his neck in an attempt to suffocate him with affections. He chuckled with delight and kissed her cheek. Darcy stood a few feet away, smiling at the display,
"We saw the rainbow lights. Guess whatever Jane did must of worked." She commented with a nonchalant shrug. Thor gently placed Jane upon the ground,
"Actually, it was Odin who fixed the Bridge." He told them. Jane frowned,
"So I…didn't do anything?" she wondered. Thor gaped for a moment, taken aback by Jane's obvious disappointment.
"Well…I am certain that your efforts were helpful. You made it tremendously easier for Odin to use his magics." He lied with a sweet smile to reassure her. She looked unconvinced but returned the smile,
"I guess that's something." She shrugged one shoulder. Thor placed a hand upon her cheek, getting a good look of her. He cocked his head slightly, interested,
"You cut your hair." He observed. Her hair was much shorter, cropped at above-shoulder length. She reached up and started fidgeting her hair with a slight blush,
"Oh…yeah." She looked down bashfully, "Well…I thought it was a good idea." He ran a hand through the silky strands.
"I like it." He grinned, "Now my hair is longer than yours." He teased. Her bashfulness was instantly replaced by an incredulous eye-roll. Thor tossed his head and laughed.
"Shall we go inside?" he gestured to the door of their little "lab of operations". Both women nodded. Stepping inside, Thor was greeted by another familiar face,
"Son of Coul!" Thor called out cheerfully as he slapped the man on the shoulder. Agent Coulson almost face-planted from the force of the gesture but he smoothly shook it off and nodded at the large man,
"Thor. Nice to see you again." He glanced at Jane, "I hope." He added. Jane gave an innocent grin. A shorter man, with well-shaped facial hair and dark goggles upon his head, stepped forward while wiping his hands on an oily rag. Thor narrowed his eyes at the blue glow emitting from beneath the man's white shirt. The man jerked his chin at Thor,
"So this is the big guy, huh?" he said then put a hand out, "Tony Stark. A pleasure, I'm sure." Thor snorted at the arrogant, little man and made sure to squeeze his hand more than necessary,
"And what, might I ask, does Tony Stark do here?" Thor asked, grinning to himself as Tony wiggled his fingers in pain. Jane stepped into Thor's line of sight as she started cleaning up the worktable,
"Oh, well, see. Tony happens to be…" she started.
"Rich." Tony finished for her, watching Thor with scrutiny. Jane sighed,
"I was going to say "a genius". A rich genius." She corrected, "And he heard about my work from S.H.E.I.L.D and offered to help out." She finished stacking the papers on the table and then offered a seat to Thor. Thor sat down,
"S.H.I.E.L.D?" he inquired. Coulson stepped forward,
"Strategic Homeland Inter…"
"That's a mouthful…" Jane interrupted him, "…that I don't think poor Thor is going to understand." She smiled at Phil and he nodded with a shrug.
"We're law enforcers." He stated simply, "For humans and…non-humans…with superpowers that might threaten Earth." Thor nodded thoughtfully. Darcy placed several mugs upon the table,
"Coffee?" she grinned at Thor and his eyes went wide,
"Verily!" he answered with excitement. Darcy poured a cup for him,
"I'm gonna assume that means "yes"." She chuckled. Thor took a swig of the dark beverage then turned back to Coulson,
"What are…non-humans? Do you mean my people?" he asked. Coulson kept his poker face,
"Among others. Yes." He answered. Thor did not appreciate the Agent's vague answers,
"Others?" he persisted, aggravation creeping into his voice. Coulson gave a small smile, seeing that he wasn't going to get away from Thor's interrogation,
"Earth has had its own problems; mutants, super villains, mechanical maniacs, symbiotic serial killers, science experiments gone wrong. And now aliens." He explained. Thor finished his coffee,
"Any trouble that I might help you with?" he asked.
"Actually!" Tony said as he jumped up from the table and over to his computer. Thor's eyebrows went up with interest. "There is something…" Tony waved for them to come look. Thor came to peer at the screen and his brow instantly scrunched up, he became lost in the images and numbers displayed in translucent blues till his head hurt and he had to look away. Tony was typing, fingers like lightening,
"Jane's sensors have a limited range…but mine are obviously far better…" he was mumbling as he brought up the information. Jane crossed her arms and snorted at him. The screen froze,
"There!" Tony pointed, "Just a few miles from a little town in Oklahoma. An anomaly much like what we just saw a few minutes ago." He looked at the others. Jane was staring wide-eyed,
"Something crashed there..." She whispered. Thor suddenly stiffened, an image of a green-eyed young man flashed through his mind, and he frowned deeply. All eyes were looking at him now. He licked his lips, but it didn't help his suddenly parched mouth,
"When…when did that happen?" he whispered involuntarily. Tony looked at the computer screen for a second,
"About four days ago." He answered, then cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at Thor. Thor looked up at the ceiling as he calculated the time difference between Earth and Asgard, he looked down at his hand as he counted on his fingers, and the others waited in silence. He looked up and Jane watched the color drain from his face. She placed a hand on his chest,
"What is it?" she asked.
"Loki." Thor answered, utter shock weighing his voice. Tony raised his other eyebrow,
"What the hell's a "Loki"?" he asked, "Is it hot?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Thor gave him a look,
"No, he is a Frost Giant." He answered in confusion.
"Loki? Isn't…isn't that the guy you were fighting before? The one who sent the metal monster to kill you? To kill us?" Jane asked in a panic. Coulson's hand flew up to his hidden ear piece,
"Director Fury, we have a possible situation…" he started.
"NO!" Thor shouted and everyone flinched, "No…please…" He took a deep breath. His shoulders fell as if Atlas had just handed him the world to hold, "He…he's my brother." He whispered, voice strangled somewhere between desperate and ashamed.
"Why did he try to kill you?" Tony asked.
"Um, did." Jane corrected aggressively, "He did kill you." Thor opened his mouth for a second then closed it, looking far more lost and confused than any of them.
"He…was in pain. It was a misunderstanding." He sounding like he was trying to convince himself, "I wasn't there for him. But if he is alive, then I still have a chance to fix things."
"You thought he was dead?" Darcy asked. Thor nodded,
"We all did. He…" Thor paused as if lost in thought then he shook his head, "He fell. From the Bridge. While we were fighting." He finished.
"Is he going to be a problem?" Coulson asked carefully, hand still on his ear. Thor wasn't sure what the answer should be, so he avoided the question,
"We don't know if he even survived the fall." He said, "We should find him and then determine his state of mind." Coulson narrowed his eyes slightly, but nodded and put his hand down.
"Well there's more good news." Tony chirped in, "There were witnesses." Everyone gathered around the screen again.
"Witnesses?" Jane wondered aloud. Tony nodded as he enhanced the satellite video,
"A car was there on the road. A…" he froze the video, "…Chevy Impala." He gave a sharp whistle, "An old one. Do these people know what century this is?" he shook his head in disbelief. Coulson pointed at the license plate,
"I know that car. We have it on file. Two young men that we've been keeping our eyes on for quite some time now." He told them, "The Winchester brothers." They turned to Coulson,
"Well if S.H.I.E.L.D has tabs on them then they're either wanted super criminals, or…?" Tony urged.
"Demon hunters." Coulson answered and they all looked at him as if expecting a punch line. He gave a nonchalant shrug of one shoulder, "They've stopped a few Apocalypses."
"This is excellent news!" Thor cheered, "If you know them, then we may go find them and ask what they saw." Coulson was quiet for a minute as he considered the request, then he placed his hand on his ear,
"Sir, where are the Winchesters staying tonight?" he asked, there was a pause and then Coulson nodded to nobody, "Thank you, sir." He leveled his gaze with the small group, "They're already one state over from that crash site. But we can get to them before the morning." He said. Thor turned to the girls and gently grabbed Jane's shoulders,
"You will have to forgive me for leaving after I've only just returned, but you need to stay here." He told her sternly. She made a face,
"So he is dangerous." She stated. Thor sighed, lowering his head,
"I don't know." He confessed. Jane gave his hand a squeeze,
"Ok." She smiled, "Go find him. And I hope he's alright." Thor kissed her,
"Thank you." He said then waved to Darcy as he went out the door. Coulson was already in his car and he gestured to the passenger seat. Thor made a face as he peered inside the window,
"Am I supposed to fit inside there somehow?" he asked in disbelief. Tony walked by and opened the door. Thor's eyebrows went up, "But it's so tiny inside." He whined. Tony was climbing into his own car,
"I'm sure you don't complain like that about Jane!" he called. Coulson stifled a laugh. Thor slowly sat down in the expensive seat then tried to gently pull the door closed. The door clicked shut and Thor looked to Coulson with worry. Coulson smiled,
"You're good." He assured. Thor smiled. Coulson led the way to the road and not even an hour later they were getting out of the cars and into a S.H.I.E.L.D chopper.
"Much faster!" Coulson told Thor over the sound of the engine.
Loki left his hotel room like he'd left the diner; used and unpaid for. He grabbed the first man he saw on the street,
"How do I get to New York?" he demanded. The man jerked his arm out of Loki's grip,
"Oh, I don't know, a plane?" he answered and shook his head while walking away. Loki's brow furrowed in confusion, so he stopped a woman nearby,
"Where do I get a…plane?" he asked her, not even sure what a plane was. She looked at him with astonishment,
"The airport?" she answered. Loki's face lit up with understanding,
"Airport? You fly. Oh…" he mumbled to himself, "I know something better than that." He turned his eyes back to the woman, "Do you have a map? Of this…" he tried to remember the right term, "…country?" She was shaking her head,
"No…but you could probably buy one from the gas station." She pointed at a small building across the street. Loki left her without thanks and shoved the gas station door open. There was a greasy old man behind the counter,
"Afta'noon." He greeted Loki through the cigar in his mouth. Loki made a face of disgust at the smell, he coughed once,
"I am looking for a map of this country. Preferably one with linear coordinates." He told the man. The old man blinked slowly then reached under the counter to pull out a folded paper, he held it out to Loki who snatched it roughly. Loki unfolded the map upon the counter and followed his finger till he found New York. He grinned victoriously when he found the coordinates for the place within New York called "Manhattan". The old man was clearing his throat,
"That's three fifty." He said. Loki shoved the map back at him,
"I am not purchasing it, thank you." He gave the man one last disgusted look then stepped outside. Loki turned his gaze on the sky, paying attention to the suns' location he made a trail in the air with his finger, as if mapping out the path he'd take. He nodded in confirmation to himself and then closed his eyes. There was the rush of air filling a vacuum, then silence and he couldn't breathe, but that was expected. Seconds that felt like hours passed and he emerged from the empty dimension gasping for air and feeling far too hot. He composed himself quickly and looked around. What had been a no-name town in the middle of nowhere was now a loud city of towering structures and millions of people. He congratulated himself on a teleportation well done,
"Much faster than flying." He confirmed. The sudden interruption of many cars honking brought him to realize he was standing in the middle of a main roadway. He glared at the vehicles and stepped onto the sidewalk.
"Now…" he turned in a slow circle, "Where's my Tesseract?"
"Ughhh…" Dean groaned drunkenly as he fell face-first into the hotel mattress. Sam was rolling his eyes,
"Why do you have to get smashed every time you go into a bar? You can't just have a drink?" he spoke as he climbed out of his filthy street clothes and into bed. Dean was waving a dismissive hand at his brother,
"Every time we have to fight vampires…" his voice was muffled by a pillow, "…I need more than a drink." He laughed. Sam rolled over, putting his back to Dean, and shut off the lights. Not even a split second passed and they both heard the ruffle of wings. The brothers groaned in unison.
"Go away, Cas!" Dean shouted from the pillow, "We're dirty and tired and drunk." Sam turned the light back on and sat up,
"He's drunk." He told Castiel. Cas didn't seem fazed,
"That's very irresponsible, Dean." He replied. Dean waved his hand again,
"Yeah, thanks, mom." He grumbled. Cas sighed,
"You have to get up." He ordered, "They've found you." Sam's head whipped back and forth as if looking for something,
"Who?" he asked.
"The Thunder God, and his friends." Cas answered. Dean sat up with a groan,
"What? You didn't even tell us he was on Earth!" he whined.
"I didn't know!" Cas defended, "It doesn't matter now. They're here." Sam jumped out of the bed,
"We'll just leave like we always do." He started shoving things into a duffel bag, "Come on, Dean!" he said. Cas was shaking his head,
"Too late." He declared and pointed at the hotel's door, just as a knock was heard. The brothers froze and looked at each other. Castiel vanished.
"Sam and Dean? I know you're here. I'm Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D, we just need to ask you a few questions." A voice came from behind the door. Dean looked at Sam incredulously while mouthing the word "shield", Sam threw out his hands and shrugged. Dean pointed at the window and Sam nodded while tossing another duffel bag at Dean.
"I wouldn't do that if I where you." Coulson said. The brothers paused as if considering it but then continued for the window. Sam silently slid the window open, then screamed in surprise as he was greeted by a man of red and yellow metal. Sam backpedaled from the window as the metal man raised his hand, showing a blue light in its palm,
"He told not to." A metallic voice spoke. The sharp sound of wood snapping was heard and the boys turned to see a large blond man ripping the hotel door apart. Both Winchesters had a gun in their hands instantly. Coulson stepped forward calmly,
"Woah now," he put a hand up, "Easy there, boys. You're not in trouble." He smiled at them.
"Yeah?" Dean questioned, "Then what do you want?"
"And what's "shield"?" Sam added.
"And what are you!" Dean shouted, turning his gun on Iron Man. Tony gave a chuckle as he landed on the hotel carpet and flipped his helmet back.
"Tony Stark, boys. Relax." Tony smiled. Sam leaned into Dean's ear,
"He's a man in a metal suit." He mumbled,
"Yeah, now I've seen everything." Dean whispered in return, then pointed his gun at Thor, "And what about Blondie?" he demanded.
"He's the reason we're here. His name is Thor." Coulson answered.
"The Thunder God?" Sam's voice was edging on panic. Coulson smiled again,
"I see the angels are keeping you informed." He said, "Then you know why we're here." Dean lowered his gun and stood at ease,
"Yeah. We figured." He said and nodded at Sam who lowered his gun in response, "The crash?" he continued. Coulson nodded. Thor could no longer contain himself,
"What did you see?" he asked, sounding like a hopeful child. Dean sighed,
"It was…a man. He crashed in the road and…" he scratched the back of his neck, "We…uh…hit him, with our car…" Thor's jaw fell,
"What? Was he alright? Where is he?" he stepped forward anxiously. Sam was shaking his head,
"We buried him." He spoke softly, "We're so sorry." Thor's face went red,
"You did WHAT?" he shouted and the clap of thunder sounded outside, the entire hotel shook. Sam and Dean backed away,
"We're sorry!" Dean cried, "We didn't mean to hit him!"
"YOU BURIED HIM!" Thor snatched Dean up by the throat. Iron Man and Coulson turned their weapons on Thor,
"Put him down, Thor!" Tony shouted. Thor wasn't hearing any of them,
"HE WAS A PRINCE OF ASGARD AND YOU DEFILED HIM BY PUTTING HIM IN THE GROUND! THIS LOWLIFE PLANET IS NOT WORTHY OF HAVING HIM! YOU WILL TAKE ME TO HIM NOW!" Thunder shook the building again.
"OK! Ok!" Sam was shouting, "We'll show you right now! Please, just let go of my brother!" Thor saw the fear and panic on the young man's face, then he looked at the man in his grip as his face turned blue. Thor dropped Dean and watched Sam run to his side. Coulson and Tony lowered their weapons. Thor took a deep breath,
"That man you hit…" he spoke in a hoarse whisper now, Dean and Sam looked up at him, "…he was my little brother." He turned away from them, wiping his eyes as he headed outside.
They all hopped back into their cars and hit the highway, the Impala leading the way. As the sun broke the horizon Dean pulled the Impala to a slow stop on the edge of a road block. Beyond the police barrier was the crater left by Loki, the only sign that he was ever there. There were no police in sight so the men hopped the road block. Dean and Sam stopped a few feet away from the crater. Dean pointed to a spot next to a lone tree.
"It's…he's right here." He told them, turning sorrowful hazel eyes to Thor. Thor stared at the ground like it was going to swallow his soul. Sam retrieved some shovels from the Impala's trunk and they started digging. By early noon Dean and Sam hefted the pine box out unto the dirt. Thor hesitated, hand lingering over the crude coffin, heart pounding in his ears. Dean had a crowbar in his hands but assumed he probably didn't need it. As he expected, Thor simply gripped the wooden cover and ripped it off. Thor dropped the cover in surprise and began turning in a circle like he was expecting someone to jump out from behind the tree and scream "psyche". The others peered inside the coffin; nothing was there but a gleaming, golden helm of satanic horns.
"What the-?" Sam whispered. Dean put his hands upon his head in disbelief,
"Oh God…Sam," he stepped away and kicked the dirt in vain, "He wasn't dead!" Sam shrugged,
"We didn't know…" he started,
"We buried a man that wasn't dead!" Dean interrupted hysterically.
"He seemed pretty dead!" Sam defended, "He wasn't breathing or anything!" Thor was looking up in the sky now, still searching,
"Loki is a very powerful sorcerer. His magic most likely put him into a sort of hibernation, in order to heal him." He explained, "He would have appeared dead to the common eye." Thor picked up Loki's helmet and wiped the dirt from it, there was a single small dent in the metal, right above where Loki's left eyebrow would be. Thor frowned at the blemish, he'd have to fix it before he returned the helm to Loki.
"So…where is he?" Sam asked, glancing around once. Tony was looking at the helmet with interest,
"Yeah. And why'd he leave his goat horns behind?" He asked, looking at his reflection in the gold.
"Maybe he was still too weak to carry them?" Dean guessed. Thor shook his head,
"No. Loki treasures this stupid helmet." He chuckled at the memories of all the times he'd teased Loki about the horns, "This is a message. Left for me, most likely."
"A message? What kind of message?" Sam wondered.
"It is a game." Thor looked at them, "With Loki, it's always a game. He is asking me to play, to…come find him."
"So what are you gonna do?" Tony asked. Thor looked at the dent again and frowned further,
"Find him, of course." He walked back toward the cars, "He'll want his helm returned."