Avengers Assemble: Loki's Redemption

Chapter 3: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer

Odin stood out on the balcony that leads away from the banquet hall, overlooking the Golden city of Asgard; casting his one-eyed gaze over the gleaming great towers and the golden spirals alike. Many of the guard were still cleaning up the mess that had been made in the grand throne room and the citizens were fortunate to not be hurt and they were relieved to the fact that the Fire Demons had only been in the palace and no more of them were lurking in the city. The Allfather's one good eye was distant and unfocused on anything and he was seemingly in very deep thought about something. Something that was most likely related to his sons, still only boys in this eye, but men in looks and at heart. He heard the light, elegant footsteps of someone approaching, but did not turn to see who this person may be, for he already knew.

Frigga walked up to the brooding Odin and stood beside him, taking in the spectacular view of the sun shining down upon the city. The sea was calm, a good sign for the fortune of Thor and Loki in the eyes of Frigga. But she could sense the clouds stirring in the east, bringing a great storm to rival even that of Thor's with them. War, suffering and death was in the air and a victory would require a struggle on either side.

In their many years of living, all of the royal family has never gotten used to the view they had from the palace, since it was so breath taking. Not even Odin and Frigga, who had lived far longer than Thor and Loki, had even grown just a tiny bit used to the view. It was a reminder of how appreciative they all were of their positions in Asgard, even if they sometimes misused them a little. "You told Loki, that he was the greatest sorcerer in the Nine Realms. You have not said such a thing for over a century…" There was a pause as Frigga pondered over her next words carefully before continuing, "Were you trying to give him the love he thought he had almost always been denied?" the Queen asked.

The Allfather sighed; from the moment that he had told Loki such a thing when he was giving the God his new staff, Fróðleikr, Odin had a sneaking suspicion that Frigga would question what he had said later on when they were alone, "Partly, yes, but also because he has long since surpassed myself in the Art of sorcery."

The Queen nodded with understanding; she knew all too well how much Loki's talent and power with magic had grown over the centuries, along with many who could detect magic and those who had seen him use it in battle. The reason was, those who could sense magic would be able to feel that the God of Mischief constantly emitted it in vast amounts that could even rival the Odinforce. Of course, Thor also emits magic and he can sense it, but on a very small scale. So small in fact, that only someone with a powerful sense for magic could detect it. Examples of these people are Odin, Frigga or Loki.

Yet what Frigga could not see, what Odin's hidden motive for sending his youngest son to the Realm of Midgard and it certainly was not because he wanted Loki to redeem himself. No, Odin was being far more deceptive than that. But the one who he was trying to deceive would not fall for it so easily, and he knew this.

Everyone knew that before Loki was found by the Allfather after the great war against the Frost Giants ended that Odin was the greatest sorcerer in the Nine Realms, but that was soon changed when the young God was found. It was soon discovered that Loki could perform magic, although it was very weak, from only a month after he was found, "He surpassed us all in that Art so long ago, but we were blind to see what should have been as clear as day."

"No… you were not blind, Frigga, but I was. I often almost completely disregarded Loki's talents until I walked in on him practicing an Illusion spell… and even then I did not pay as much attention as I should have." Odin turned to face Frigga; a deep frown was etched onto his face, "Loki has the greatest mind that Asgard has ever known, yet in the past three centuries, no one but you and Thor have been able to see that."

The Queen grabbed Odin's hands and held them in her own. A silent plea clung to her eyes; a plea for him not to blame himself as much as he was, for it was not right to do so. She voiced her opinion as soon as she was sure that she had the King's full attention, "You must not blame yourself like this; you did see Loki's greatness, I know you did, but right now, the only thing you can recall is the bad of what happened… and you are starting to change your memories so they seem to present you neglecting Loki. I am sure that is happening to everyone else as well." Frigga's words spoke the absolute truth and Odin knew this very well, but he still found it hard to believe.

"I know…" Odin turned to look over the city once again, his look neutral, "Loki holds so much potential power within him and he does even know it."


Now aboard the Helicarrier, The Avengers –minus Bruce- were gathered around the large black table on the bridge. The buzzing sounds of various computers and the medium-volume chatter filled the room and made its way into the surrounding corridors as well as the ever alert ears of various Agents and The Avengers, except Tony, because he was only alert when he wanted to be (right now wasn't one of those times.) There was a smell of cleanliness in the atmosphere of the air, similar to that of a hospital, but this was mostly masked by the air conditioning that blew from various places around the area. The blue, almost hologram, screens flickered brightly and were ever changing in what they displayed, due to the sheer speed that the Agents were typing at.

Right now, The Avengers, while gathered around the black table on the bridge, along with Agent Coulson and Nick Fury and they were yet to discuss anything of the predicament they were in. Steve, Tony, Natasha and Clint were all sitting in that large, comfy leather chairs, while Thor and Coulson stood, the former pondering greatly over the situation. Fury was standing at the head of the table with his hands clasped behind his back. He decided that he'd had enough of the silence and made the decision to break it by glancing at Thor, directing the question that everyone had held in their minds at him, "So do you want to tell me why Loki is back on Earth? Because from the stunt you two pulled back there, I'm guessing he's not an escaped prisoner, so why is he back?"

Speaking of the God of Mischief, he had been placed in one of the holding cells on board the Helicarrier, with ten Agents in there with him, all pointing machine guns at his head. Since they didn't have a more 'secure' place to hold him, the Agents were under order to –and this is quoted directly from Fury himself- "Empty a clip in his ass if he tries anything."

Loki had been escorted on to a separate Quinjet from Thor and everyone else by the same load of Agents. His staff and throwing knifes were taken aboard the Quinjet that had the present Avengers stationed inside it. Not a word had been said for the duration of the journey, except from the odd order that was given. Once they had landed, the younger God had immediately been escorted to a cell and had been there for around half an hour. Everyone else, meanwhile, had gone to the bridge.

They had also taken Loki's staff and throwing knives with them, which were currently laid out on the black table. Everyone except Thor kept giving the staff cautious glances, because they all remember what happened the last time he had a weapon and it was brought on board.

Thor glanced up at the Director; he had been looking at the table and knew he had caused some sort of worry among the mortals. This saddened him a little because he didn't take pleasure in putting people on edge, unless they were his enemies of course, then he would do so immediately, "Myself and Loki came to aid you in the attack," Thor explained.

"He came of his own free will?" Fury questioned.

"Yes, he came to help you because he wished to," Thor confirmed.

Tony then decided to interrupt, "Wait, so you're saying that tall, dark and evil came here to help us because he wanted?" The Genius asked disbelievingly, "I find that very hard to believe. Also, I thought you'd locked him up in fantasy land or something like that, so care to tell why he's out and about?"

It was then Steve decided to contribute something to the conversation, "Tony's right, Thor. It doesn't seem right for Loki to want to actually help up us."

The Thunderer was quite for a few moments, before he sighed heavily and spoke, "Loki was released earlier this day by my father. He has been forgiven for his actions in Asgard and has served his sentence."

Fury narrowed his eye and looked straight at Thor, "What was his punishment?" He asked in an interrogating tone.

"He was imprisoned under the palace for a year, stripped of his magic," Thor answered, knowing that the mortals would disapprove of the punishment. He had a feeling that they would think imprisonment too lenient a punishment and he was in fact right.

"That's hardly a fitting punishment for what he did," Natasha said, looking up at the God and meeting his gaze.

A new voice echoed throughout the room as a new person joined the discussion, "On the contrary, Miss Romanoff, it was more than a fitting punishment," the Trickster himself contributed as he strolled into full view of everyone. He instantly caused uproar. Every S.H.I.E.L.D Agent present on the bridge that had a gun reached for it and aimed at the God of Mischief. Loki was unfazed by the actions of the mortals and just continued to pace forward, "A year's imprisonment had given me time to contemplate my 'actions' as it were." The Silver Tongue was beginning to come out into the discussion already, not that the others new this of course. This time however, he would be using his way with words to articulate himself, rather than to reform the words of others. He turned to catch the gaze of his brother and spoke to him first, "Thor, the term 'stripped' is an ill-fitting description of the apparent absence of my magic over the last year."

"Then what would you call it?" Fury questioned. He was the only one who hadn't reached for his gun upon Loki's appearance and seemed to be quite calm about the situation.

Loki turned his head to the director and smiled suddenly only to have the grin disappear as quickly as it had appeared a few second later, "I would describe my magic as sealed, Fury." The Trickster continued to stalk forward, walking past Agent Coulson as he went, "You see my magic cannot be just taken from me like one would a weapon, because it is a part of my very being. If it were so removed; ripped from my body with extreme force, then all that I am would be taken along with it and I would die a slow and painful death."

"It's a wonder why that didn't happen," Clint said, glaring at the God.

"Indeed it is," Loki mused. He himself suspected something about Odin suddenly releasing him. He had been since it had happened, but the Trickster hadn't thought about it until his arrest by the mortals. That had given him a while to think over the day's events.

He knew that the Allfather was up to something, but he wasn't sure what.

"Getting back to the point," Fury said, trying to make sure that Clint didn't try to stick an arrow in Loki's eye socket too soon at least. He had been told that one by Agent Romanoff and he had to admit that it did amuse him slightly to hear it, but right now it was the last thing that anyone wanted to happen… unfortunately. "You seem to disagree with us. After what you did to this world and its people, some may say that your punishment of merely being imprisoned for a year may not be so fitting."

Loki had reached the director by now by taking his slow, over-confident footsteps. He smiled and spoke while walking behind the man, "On its own it may not sound like the most… fitting of punishments… but there are other factors that have to be considered."

"Like what? Did you have the glow stick you had last time confiscated?" Tony said in a sarcastic, false sympathetic tone.

The God of Mischief glanced at him, now nearing Steve as he paced, "You really ought to either remain silent or use remarks that pose some form of amusement or intelligence because at the moment I'm afraid, you are failing to amuse anyone with your comments and they certainly have no true degree of the intelligence that you supposedly have," Loki took great pleasure in saying that to Stark. Out of all the mortals, he may be the most intellectual and possibly the only one he could have an intelligent conversation with, but sometimes the man was very annoying and he could tell even though he had only encountered the genius once. Plus he was doing it to tease him for his own entertainment.

Tony seemed relatively unfazed by this comment on his sense of humour and instead countered with his own remark, "Ouch that burned my pride slightly…" He muttered, before saying, "But let's think about something here; if your comparing my sense of humour to yours… then mine is better any day. And by the way, I have more intellect than what you have heard about and a hell of a lot more than you have and will ever have."

Loki opened his mouth to counter, but he was cut off by Fury, "Could we get back to the subject at hand please? You two have barely been talking for two minutes and you're already starting up some banter, which quite frankly I find a little odd since only last year you were fighting one another."

Now that shut them up.

The director sighed; this was going to take a while. "Loki, explain why after what you did, one year's imprisonment seems to be enough."

The God of Mischief stopped and turned to address Fury properly, "Very well," He said, "While locked in the deepest cell of Asgard's deepest dungeon, I had some time to think about what I had done. For the first month, I felt nothing but rage at being beaten in a battle I should have won. I did not speak to anyone, no matter how much they tried to make me talk," Loki met Thor's eyes before continuing, "Yet after that, the rage died down, until eventually I felt slight remorse for my actions."

"Is that it? I was expecting something more to happen to you if it supposedly 'reformed' your personality or the way you view things," Fury said, looking at him closely, trying to pick up any hint of a lie on the Trickster's face.

"And right you are," Loki said, looking at Fury with a slight smile on his face, which soon vanished before he started speaking again, "My magic cannot be taken from me like a weapon; it has to be sealed… yet even when it is sealed, a part of my being is missing from me… a whole half of what keeps me alive. For although it was only sealed, and therefore it would keep me in the realm of the living, I cannot tap into it-"

"Stop speaking in riddles, Loki and get to the point," Steve said. They were getting nowhere like this; it was time to wrap this conversation up and move on to the next one. And the Captain was pretty sure that no one was able to understand if Loki was telling the truth or not. he doubted even the God of Thunder, the Trickster's own adopted brother, could tell the difference. But he most likely knew Loki's punishment already and could tell them if he spoke the truth if the need came to be.

The God of Mischief sighed; it was clearly time to reveal the true gravity of his punishment to the mortals. "Do you know what it feels like to be only half alive? To not be whole?" Loki asked in a sinister voice, "Do you know what it feels like to be half dead? Most likely you all do. Now, take that feeling. That thought. That experience and think about how it would feel to be like that for an entire year; to be neither living nor dead. To have the constant feeling of death, but also life at the same time. Take the thought of having to dwell within the balance of life and death for a year. To have to live with death. Then you will know what my true punishment was and you all have the nerve to think it lenient."

The gleaming emerald of Loki's eyes met Thor's for a second, before the Thunderer turned away in shame, not wanting to face his brother after he had given light to everyone else about his punishment. He knew it was harsh... more so even and that just made it worse, even beyond comprehension for some.

There was silence for around half a minute while everyone thought over what Loki had just said; they had all danced with death on at least one occasion and had been almost tempted to give in to her embrace, but obviously, none of them had done it. The agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers all shared one thought in that moment; all of them, even Clint, came to the conclusion that Loki's punishment had obviously not been as lenient as they had first thought.

Fury spoke up after a bit, wanting to break the tension in the air, "Everyone except Loki and Thor go and grab a coffee or something; we'll resume this meeting in ten minutes."

The others seemed reluctant to leave the Director in the company of Loki, but upon receiving the one-eyed glare of death, they contemplated the fact that Thor would be staying, so in theory, he should be fine. They slowly got up from the table and walked out of the room, keeping an eye on the Trickster as they went. Only Agent Coulson and Agent Hill were allowed to remain on the bridge, along with the other Agents, but their job was to keep the Helicarrier in the air and nothing else.

Fury turned to Loki and asked him a couple of questions that he had been meaning to ask for a while, "Now forgive me if I seem a little cautious, but I want to know a couple of things. The first one, is why are you here and if it's not too troubling, I'd like a straight answer. Another thing is we put you in a cell with ten of our finest Agents all pointing machine guns at your head. I'd like to know how you got past them and what has happened to them if you don't mind."

"Why am I here?" Loki said, seeming to ask himself the question. He clasped his hands behind his back and started to pace again, casting a small glance towards his staff and knives, making sure that they had not been damaged. Even though they could not be; when the dwarves made weapons, they made weapons to last for eternity, or at least until the day of Ragnarok. He then went back to contemplating the questions he had been asked, thinking of the right words to answer with, but using a pause for dramatic effect. His words came to his silvertongue naturally, requiring no effort after centuries of refined practice, before flowing off in a perfect script. He could bury a person in riddles while speaking to confuse them, embedding the truth among his lies in such a way that they were believable to any person and this was one of Loki's greatest of gifts. Yet some would also call it a curse. Perhaps even the famed Trickster himself.

Loki's expression would look neutral to most, but to the ones that knew him better than anyone, it was evident that he was considering the fact that he had returned to the very world he had tried to rule and he himself, did not know why. "That is a good question… one to which I do not even know the answer to at this present time. As for your Agents, do not fret. They are merely guarding one of my illusions right now; none of them are harmed in anyway. In fact, they should be discovering it right about now."

As if on que, an Agent came charging through the door looking slightly on edge, "Director Fury, Loki has-" he then caught sight of the God of Mischief. "Escaped..." He finished, unsure of what to make of the situation. He was sure that Fury was extremely aware that a war criminal who just also happened to be the God of Mischief, Magic and Lies was standing just a few metres away from him, seeming to be helping in some way, yet the whole thing appeared surreal and the Agent found the entire prospect bizarre.

"It's fine," Fury began, "He has permission to be here. You can take your unit and have a break until I need you again."

"Yes sir," The Agent replied with a small nod of his head. Giving Loki a wry glance he stepped backwards and turned, before heading out of the door.

As soon as the door slid shut, Loki focused his gaze on the director, who was looking straight at him. Fury then looked at Thor before asking, "Do you two know what those things were back there?" He questioned, looking between the two Gods.

Loki began to pace around the table again, before stopping when he was shoulder to shoulder with his brother, a wearing seemingly serious expression, although his eyes glittered with excitement. Yet this was oblivious to everyone that would have looked at him. Oh the thrill of impending war. Even when unwanted it now brought a shiver of excitement down Loki's spine. The lies he could tell for the benefit of Midgard, all without being reprimanded for it. Priceless. This opportunity was sheer priceless and he would not waste it. He would savour it while it lasted, for it was an event that does not happen often. Not often at all.

"They are the Fire Demons of the Realm Muspelheim. A place of darkness and fire, ruled brutally by one of the most fearsome of foes in the Nine Realms." Loki said, keeping his calm under the ecstasy he was getting from the feeling of war.

"Who?" Fury questioned, eager to know this new enemy of Earth's.

"His name is Surtur and I believe I know why he declares war upon your Realm," Loki explained, a hint of pride flashing across his features.

And the rest was silence.


So long it has been since I have updated! But, I had exams and I have a lot of coursework/homework to do, so this chapter ended early. No clue when the next one will be here, but I hope it will arrive soon-ish. It's not very good now I look back at it, since it was written but not finished a while ago, but I hope it is enough to satisfy you. Sorry for it being so short.

Thank you for reading!

What are your thoughts for what will happen next?

By the way, please do not pester me to update if you do. Doing so only makes me type slower. Good day everyone!