Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Thor or anything contained therein.
Taking Hold
Chapter Four
"Damn you, woman!" Thor griped, twitching away from Sif's hand. Not long after the Dark Elves had left, Hiemdall had found them and opened up the Bifröst per Odin's request. They had yet to see the All-father as Sif and the Warriors Three had greeted them on the Rainbow Bridge. A bit of childlike guilt and embarrassment spread over them all as they tried to avoid Heimdall's eyes, Sif in particular. They had hurriedly left the Bifröst and retreated to the quarters of the Warriors Three whereupon Sif tried to cleanse their wounds. Both had refused but Sif wouldn't let either of them leave until she had tended to at least one of them. And since Loki was steadfast, Thor was the one who got to be treated by Sif. Whatever it was she was using stung like Hel at the cut above his eye.
"You never come away from a battle looking like this," she said with a frown. "You have always returned to Asgard the way you left it. Are the Dark Elves really as strong as this?"
"It is nothing but the attachment for Malekith's helmet. If it can be called that," Thor replied, pushing her hand away as she made to wipe at it again.
"So what do we do now?" Fandral asked, standing by the wall and watching as Sif kept trying to take care of Thor's wounds. It was like watching a mouse trying to avoid a cat. Sif would try and wipe at his forehead and Thor would either lean away or push her hands aside.
"You have done all you can," he replied. "Loki and I must go before the All-father and sort this out. Perhaps he will know where Malekith plans to strike next now that Jane is by his side." He clenched his fist, rising from his seat suddenly to escape Sif. Even on her toes, she could not reach his forehead, causing him to smirk. With a frustrated noise, she glanced over at Loki.
"Don't even think about it," he said from the shadows where he stood. She narrowed her eyes at him, as if contemplating the challenge set before her.
"Why did he wait so long before striking?" Volstagg asked. "I mean, from what I gathered while you were gone, Malekith hasn't been seen since your grandfather supposedly wiped out the Dark Elves. And that was eons ago."
"The Nine Realms are converging," Loki replied.
"What has that got to do with anything?" Fandral asked. Loki rolled his eyes at Asgard's renowned pretty boy. He was brave and optimistic, or so he had heard from Thor, but he wasn't exactly the brightest.
"Temporary portals are opening between the Realms," Thor answered. "It is the only opportunity that Malekith has to darken the universe. And the Aether has realized this for my grandfather ordered it to be sealed away where no one would find it. But somehow, a tiny human was able to find it!" he shouted suddenly.
"Yes, but at least it was Jane Foster," Sif said, just as violently. "The one human you keep tabs on at all times."
"Did you expect me not to?" he shouted back. Fandral and Volstagg quickly stepped away from either of them. Thor and Sif had gotten into a few smaller disagreements in the past – it hadn't ended well for anyone nearby.
"No, but you didn't have to hound my brother day and night just to know whether she was thinking of you too!"
"I could not return to her, Sif, as I had promised. Knowing that she was alright on Midgard is what kept me focused during our battles for peace throughout the Nine Realms. I was not worried about her because Heimdall was so obliging. Did you honestly want Asgard's best and strongest warrior to be distracted on the battlefield?"
"No!" she shouted, childishly throwing her arms out and stomping her foot. "But you could have looked to see what Asgard had to offer first. Before you threw your heart away for a fleeting Midgardian woman!" And just like that, the argument was over. There were tears in Sif's eyes and Thor could not bear to see her hurt.
"Is that what this is all about, Sif?" he asked, lowering his voice so that the others did not hear. "Is this a rage born of jealously because I did not cast my eye upon you?"
"Stop turning this around," she growled, pushing him away from her.
"How have I turned this around?" he demanded, staring after her as she paced away from him. "You are the one who turned it in this direction in the first place." Silence fell upon them for a few moments. The tension was so heavy in the air, they could almost feel it.
"So any idea on where Malekith is going to be?" Fandral asked after a moment, just to break the tension.
"We haven't figured that out yet," Loki said quietly, watching Thor pace the far side of the room. He appeared lost deep in thought now and it seemed as if he hadn't heard what they were saying. Everyone jumped when Thor suddenly gave an enraged growl and slammed his fist against the nearest table. Platters of food went everywhere.
"Thor!" Sif reprimanded. "What is the matter with you?"
"On Earth, Jane was researching the convergence and did not know it," he sighed, staring angrily at the wall. "And now she is gone with Malekith, dying from the Aether flooding through her system. I should have known that something was wrong when we were in the prisons," he growled, clenching his fists and trying not to punch a hole in the wall.
"Why do you say that?" Fandral asked, watching him curiously.
"She was not the same," he said simply. There was silence that told him they did not understand. "She did not want to look at me but her eyes were blue. And she did not act as she once did."
"What does her eyes being blue have to do with anything?" Sif asked, frowning at Thor. "They have always been blue. They were that way when I retrieved her. They were always blue when we passed her in the halls."
"Her eyes are brown!" he snapped, furious that no one had noticed this. They had all met her before and Loki knew her form well enough to use in trickery. "Her eyes are a gentle brown but they were blue! The blue of a Dark Elf, like the ice that now shields her heart!" Still fuming, he glanced around at his friends and his brother. Volstagg and Fandral appeared ashamed at their mistake and Loki seemed impassive. But Sif looked hurt and furious at the same time. She strode toward him with the walk of a warrior and glared him down. He could see that she wanted to slap him but she held her hands by her side.
"Do not blame us for the mistakes you could not find," she said in a low voice that radiated with her fury. It was fury to match his own it seemed. "We have met her but once and you cannot expect us to remember every detail about her. And when we did see her, it was for but a moment. You may be able to look at her and immediately note something of difference about her. Do not expect that of us when we would not expect that of you when meeting our mates."
Loki had to suppress a chuckle from the shadows. Sif always had the ability to make lesser men tremble but her skill seemed to have lost its effect on Thor as they had grown older. He still stood there, fuming at all of them and the luck of the world. Sif glared at him for a second more before stalking away. She briefly paused to grab the damp cloth before making straight for Loki. His eyes narrowed, but he didn't move. When she reached up to tug him down by his coat, her hand went through thin air. Loki smiled as his illusion disappeared in a green shimmer.
"I told you not to think about it," he quipped, voice sounding from behind another pillar. She whipped around, glowering at him but made no move to tend him again. Volstagg and Fandral laughed heartily at Sif's misfortune. But Thor found none of it amusing. Instead, he sighed as he moved to Loki's side and clapped his shoulder.
"Come, brother. We go to speak with Father," he said somberly. Loki tried to hide the gulp he made and glanced around at the Warriors briefly.
"Like a goat being led to slaughter," Loki said, eyebrows raised thoughtfully.
"More like the blind leading the blind," Volstagg said. "We all lay in the balance now. Graces go with you."
"Thor, this is a stupid idea," Loki said as they made their way through Asgard's golden streets.
"Stupid it may be, but we have no choice. We must find where Malekith plans to strike," Thor said, glancing warily around. The few people they passed either refused to look at them or openly stared.
"It seems word has spread of our adventure," Loki noted when he saw someone staring at Thor instead of him.
"Let them gawk," Thor quipped. "Soon, they will realize that we have done the right thing." By now, they had reached Odin's throne room and Thor burst through the doors. There was a small audience before the King but he didn't need to speak. Odin glanced up when the doors hit the walls, the sound echoing loudly through the cavernous hall. Without a word, he ushered the court empty. When the last person had left the hall, sneering at the princes as they went, Thor approached his father.
"You have set a horrible example for my people, Thor," Odin said, sighing as he sat more comfortably in his damaged chair. "I assume you had some very good reasons. You were always the well-behaved one and this seems more like a scheme of your brother."
"Hello to you too, Father," Loki said from behind Thor, sneering the last word. Odin glared at his adopted son before looking to Thor for an explanation.
"I am sorry for my misdeeds, Father," he said. "But I had the good of Asgard in mind when I did it. Now, I just wish I hadn't."
"Yes, I heard about the Midgardian's plight when Heimdall located you. Now you understand why she was placed in the prisons? I had seen the Aether beginning to turn her when she attacked the guards," Odin said in a reprimanding tone.
"But if she had not left, then surely Malekith would have attacked Asgard again. And we would still be in this position: Malekith would have Jane and the Aether. The only difference would have been our decimated armies," he replied. "But I am trying to fix this."
"Is that so?" Odin asked in disbelief. "And how do you plan on doing that?"
"We hope to find where Malekith plans to strike and beat him there. And then we will stop him." Odin made to speak but Loki beat him to it.
"We've been stupid, brother," he said suddenly, stepping beside Thor. "We've been wondering where Malekith will strike. He plans on unleashing darkness across the universe, yes?"
"That is his goal," Thor replied, brows furrowed as he tried to follow Loki's train of thought.
"Then where is the easiest spot to hit all of the Nine Realms at once?" he asked, hoping his dense-headed brother would understand. But Thor only frowned at him. Odin sighed in frustration, understanding what Loki was getting at.
"He will strike at the heart of the convergence," Odin said shortly. "Midgard is in the center this time instead of Svartalfheim. But I know not exactly where." Thor looked up brightly.
"Selvig!" he declared with a bright smile on his face.
"What about that bumbling oaf?" Loki asked. Thor glowered at his brother, resisting the urge to thump him in the head.
"Selvig is a bright man and he has helped Jane with her research in the past. Perhaps he was helping her when she was looking at the convergence!"
"Ah," Loki said. "I do not think he will be pleased to see me." His tone was a mix of boredom and reluctance.
"Father, do we have your leave to go to Midgard?" Thor asked, looking at him on the throne.
"Go and stop Malekith. Kill him as my father failed to. But best hurry, the height of the convergence will be upon us in mere hours," Odin said, ushering them out of the hall. Just as his sons reached the doors, he spoke once more. "Know that your actions from earlier have consequences, Thor. And that I have not brushed them under the rug." Thor nodded once before leaving the room.
"We're stopping at the weapon's vault first," Loki demanded.
"Whatever for?" Thor asked, allowing Loki to lead the way towards the other side of the city.
"I require my scepter if we are to fight Malekith again. I'm afraid my dagger did me little good on Svartalfheim."
Much to their surprise and relief, Heimdall said nothing when they approached Asgard's Gatekeeper, only asked where they were going.
"We must speak with Erik Selvig on Midgard," Thor replied.
"You look for the heart of the convergence," Heimdall said. It wasn't a question because he knew.
"Yes, we know it is on Midgard but we are hoping Selvig may assist us in pinpointing it," Loki said regardless.
"Then you will surely have an adventure on Midgard," Heimdall said, chuckling softly. "Erik Selvig has been placed in what the humans call a 'mental hospital'."
"His brain is a – how did Doctor Banner put it – a bag of cats?" Loki asked, glaring at Thor. He smiled weakly and shrugged apologetically.
"Those were his words, not mine. And in any case, I defended you, brother," he replied. "Heimdall, what can you see of Jane?" At this, the Guardian frowned, his golden eyes disappearing beneath his furrowed brows.
"I have not been able to see her since you left for Svartalfheim," he said reluctantly. "Wherever the Dark Elves have gone, it is beyond my vision." Thor looked down, refusing to let either of them see the heartbreak he knew would be on his face. He nodded glumly and motioned for Loki. Without another word, Heimdall opened the Bifröst for Midgard.
"I hate coming back to this place if I cannot rule it," Loki grumbled when the Bifröst dropped them off in the middle of London. He watched the people with a look of disdain and his lips curled ever so slightly.
"Then I suppose you will just have to deal," Thor replied, glancing around. They appeared to be in a quieter section of town as there were fewer people milling about. He noticed that one of the buildings had a sign with the words 'Mental Hospital' written on them. "I believe Erik will be in there," he told Loki, pointing to the building in question. He indicated that Thor should lead the way. As they neared, he noticed Erik and Jane's lady friend Darcy exiting the building and he smiled brightly. This was going easier than he thought.
"Hey, Thunder Pants!" Darcy called, running over to him but then she stopped and looked around in search of something. "Where's Jane?" she asked, staring accusingly at the pair before her. Thor sheepishly scratched at the back of his head, grimacing. This was the woman who had given him a taste of his own power when he had first come to Earth. It was a 'Taser', he believed it was called. He did not want to face her ire again.
"Thor, if you don't tell me where Jane is at, I will have the intern get the Taser from my purse," she threatened.
"My name is Ian," the intern interjected. So it appeared that Thor was damned if he did and damned if he didn't, he realized with a grimace. Loki smirked at his brother's plight.
"What in the Nine Realms did you do to this one?" he asked.
"I startled her," Thor replied slowly. He didn't have to say anymore for Darcy supplied the rest.
"When he dropped out of the sky in New Mexico, he scared me so bad that I hit him with my van," she said. "But then, Thunder Pants here decided to hop up and start hollering about something that we couldn't understand. I thought he was a drunk mad man so I Tased him," she said defensively, crossing her arms. Loki caught the approving glance she gave him. He glanced down at his clothes, trying to understand her motion but found nothing. She grinned when she saw the confusion on his face.
"Is that so?" Loki asked with a dangerous grin on his face, deciding to ignore Darcy's expressions. "Tell me, where can I find one of these Tasers?"
"Not now, Loki," Thor reprimanded. "We have more important issues right now."
"Yeah, and the first one is telling me where Jane is at," Darcy snapped.
"She has been affected by the Aether and has joined a Dark Elf by the name of Malekith," he explained. "He plans on using the Aether to cover the Nine Realms in darkness." Darcy's face dropped as she realized that Jane was in danger.
"What do you need us to do?" she asked softly, all wrath having fled from her voice.
Please do not kill me if I do not do Darcy justice. I tried...
Anyways, I just couldn't resist turning Sif motherly for a moment and having Thor and Loki scoff at her attempts to care for them. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So, R&R and please let me know how I've done.
EDIT: After just watching Captain America 2, I realized that Loki was not allowed to keep his scepter. Obviously, that is not going to be that case for my fic. New readers, please do not murder me for this fact!
~LE
