Dean, and this was Dean now and not Loki, was glowering at his steering wheel.
It had been a week since the incident with Anna, and he was still pissed off with Castiel. He made sure to tell the angel in no uncertain terms to back the hell off or he'd be shooting at him for the next few weeks until he cooled down. Sam wasn't much better. He threatened to throw a fireball at him.
The fact he proved he could throw a fireball before making the threat (he had managed to hit Alistair, to Loki's delight) didn't hurt. Even if he could only throw one or two before he became absolutely exhausted, it was still a vast improvement over where he started a few months ago.
But that wasn't the full source of his annoyance. Oh no, that had everything to do with the fact he had felt someone watching him. Someone that by all rights shouldn't be aware he remembered.
That is, unless Fury put the clues together and figured out that there was a possibility Loki was his thief. Hel had warned him that the man was getting close to the truth.
If Thor had told Odin about his suspicions, then there was a chance Dean would be undergoing a discreet trial soon. One to determine whether he was worthy of becoming an Asgardian again.
The thing was, neither Dean nor Loki was sure if they wanted to return. Sam needed them, and they would refuse a place among the gods once more if it meant leaving him behind.
"Drachma for your thoughts?" asked Sam, joking.
Ever since finding out Dean is/was Loki, only stuck in a mortal body, he had started brushing up on his mythology. He was almost as well versed as Loki in Norse, even if his pronunciation needed work.
Seeing Dean didn't roll his eyes or make a snarky comeback, Sam paused and turned to face his brother in full.
"What's wrong?"
"I think Odin found out."
"How?"
"Fury. He might have called Thor and put a few things together. Thanks to the charm he can't overtly track us, but he might have found out that Loki is back on Earth and remembers everything."
"Well it is mostly your fault you know," Sam reminded him.
"Bitch."
"Jerk. So what happens if he did find out?"
"There are a series of trials that some must undertake before they're allowed to regain their former title. Most generally pass them, or fake it well enough to make it look like they learned their lesson. But..."
"But you're not sure you want to become an Asgardian again, since it would run the risk of leaving me behind," finished Sam.
He knew the reason Loki had been determined to keep the fact he remembered under wraps. It ran the risk of Thor finding out and apparently starting the trials early, and after the fact he might be expected to return to Asgard for probation.
However Sam was mortal. It was unlikely Odin would permit him to enter Asgard as he was now, and even less likely that he would welcome him as he would Loki.
Loki understood loyalty to some extent. It was why he had never gone after Thor directly in an attempt to kill him, no matter how much he pissed him off.
The fact Sam accepted him and most of his bad traits without question...well, it was something Loki was loath to lose. Sam was a very intelligent man, even for a mortal. He was also a quick learner, and one who wouldn't hold some of Loki's mistakes against him too much, except as emotional blackmail. And he knew when some things went too far, hurt too deep.
Sam trusted him. He trusted Loki on a level Thor once did, but took for granted.
Dean, well. Dean loved his brother and had almost literally sacrificed his own childhood to keep him safe from harm.
As such, Loki was very unwilling to leave Earth if it meant losing Sam.
"Dean...Loki... No matter what happens we're going to face it together. And seriously, if you think for one second I'm going to let some blond with a hammer fetish steal you, you've got another thing coming. I'd sooner walk into Avenger's tower and tell them outright I was one of the 'Good Samaritans' and ask them for help getting to Asgard than let a little thing like a family argument keep us apart," said Sam seriously.
Loki stole a glace at Sam. His entire demeanor stated he was being painfully honest about that. He wouldn't hesitate to expose them to the very people they were trying to avoid if it meant finding him again.
It was yet another chink in the wall that Loki had developed to protect himself when he slowly began to realize people preferred Thor to him. How the bards would go out of their way to embellish Thor's accomplishments rather than Loki's. How Thor's friends would subtly joke about Loki's ability with magic compared to Thor's strength.
Realizing Sam cared enough to even chance the anger of Odin... well it made Loki find yet another reason why he didn't fully hate humanity.
Besides, Sam liked Loki's children and even earned their favor entirely without Loki's help aside from introduction. If that didn't speak volumes about his brother's character, nothing did.
They barely tolerated Thor. Much less as the years went on.
The two drove on, partly to put some distance between a nasty hunt involving a rather twisted old man and the children he had imprisoned until they became insane and feral...and to get away from the potential trouble Loki knew was on the horizon.
Loki knew when a trial had started. He knew a test when he saw one.
And this was absolutely a discreet test in the form of a random hunt. Obviously Odin had also seen the angelic watchers, and he didn't want to alert them or the demons that were always in the shadows of the fact Loki was an Asgardian in human form.
The only reason Alistair hadn't noticed was because he hadn't EXPECTED to find an Asgardian in the mortal version of hell, much less Loki. And the two sides had been distant enough to hide the fact that the seal had broken. The master torturer had focused on Dean, never realizing a much older, more interesting toy had been hiding in his soul the entire time.
It was just luck that the first angel to find Dean was also the only one who was too young to have contact with Asgard or remember that Odin liked to instill humility in his subjects. Also that he hadn't known to look for an extra in the first place.
Though at this rate his cover would be well and truly blown soon. The angels were far too active on Earth, and most of their interest was on Dean.
Dean, who as far as Loki had been able to surmise (mostly by sneaking peaks into the angel's mind since he could handle their true forms) happened to be Micheal's True Vessel. Which meant Sam was Lucifer's True Vessel, and why the demons seemed so damn interested in him.
Loki would sooner beg the Greeks for a favor than allow an egotistical arch angel to use his brother as a vessel, never mind that if he did take Sam that he would start an age-old grudge match the likes of which had never been seen by any mortals currently alive.
No. Loki would suffer no harm to his brother, especially if it came from something that almost rivaled him in power over something as idiotic as a brother's argument that had spiraled far out of hand.
Having recognized the trial for what it was, and wondered why Odin had bothered considering the memory of New York was still very fresh indeed, Loki decided to emphasize something Odin evidently hadn't picked up on yet.
At least if he was undergoing the trials, Thor would be unable to come within fifty miles of his brother no matter how much he wanted to. No one was allowed to interfere during the judgment.
No one.
"Dean, you alright?"
"He definitely knows. I think for now I'll allow Dean to undergo the trials, rather than breeze through them as I normally would," said Loki.
Sam didn't need Loki to explain.
"So you're going to be sleeping while this is going on?"
"I'll come back to the forefront if you require my knowledge or if Thor suddenly shows up. If he does then that means Odin has passed judgment. But I will make it clear I'll not return if you're not allowed to come as well."
Sam nodded.
"Rest well, brother."
Where Loki had been there was now only Dean.
"It's weird, knowing he's leaving this to us," he said.
"At least he's not gone, just sleeping."
"Still weird not hearing him."
Dean had grown accustomed to talking to Loki, even helping him come to grips with some of his less pleasant memories. He knew the god of mischief was a lot more vulnerable than he wanted others to know. And while Thor had tried to be a good brother, he was an arrogant idiot who hadn't realized his friends had slowly pushed Loki away with their words. Never realized his arrogance had caused his brother to be pushed in the shadows while he basked in the limelight.
Okay, so Dean had thought Loki was absolutely right when he ruined the coronation and made it abundantly clear that Thor definitely wasn't ready to be king...but he still didn't deserve half the crap the world had thrown at him.
Loki might be a god, but in spirit he was very much a Winchester, by their reasoning. And Dean would do whatever he could to protect him, no matter how ridiculous the notion sounded.
Still...that didn't mean he had to like the idea of being tested by a god. Or king of gods.
"Dean?"
"It's nothing."
Sam kept his peace, knowing Dean had picked up on brooding from Loki. He'd talk when he was ready.
Avenger Tower
"Back up a minute. What do you mean Loki is currently on Earth?" said Clint.
After what happened between him and Loki, it was understandable he was upset.
Thor shifted, uncomfortable.
"Odin has begun the trials. If Loki is to regain his former post in Asgard, he must prove he is once again worthy of it. Until that time no one associated with Asgard is allowed to go near him... including the Avengers," repeated Thor.
"And if he fails?" asked Natasha.
Thor didn't flinch this time.
"It is rare for one to fail the trials. Almost unheard of. The only one who's come close to my knowledge is Amora, though it's heavily suspected that she faked the requirement Odin set in order to regain her former power. And just to be certain all those undergoing the trials have three chances to prove themselves. If they fail...well, they must wait until their mortal lifetime ends before they are given another chance. The only one who failed the trials chose to move on to the mortal's afterlife to be with his family, rather than return to the gods," explained Thor.
"So what, if Loki proves or fakes the results he's allowed to return, no questions asked?" said Clint.
Thor definitely looked uncomfortable now.
"We believe his memory was restored prematurely. The only way to insure it does not drive him insane was to initiate the trials early and restore his powers."
"Thor, we know Loki is most likely the one who stole those weapons. So what's really going on?" said Natasha flatly.
"He is being watched, and not by mortals. There are beings and creatures on this planet that are a danger if they knew that an Asgardian was walking among them as a mortal, particularly one such as Loki. And despite everything he's done, not even Loki deserves a fraction of what those forces would do to him if they discovered his mortal form."
"How bad?" asked Steve seriously.
Thor's expression spoke volumes, even if what he said next shook them all to the core.
"They would torture him for eternity, insuring he was never allowed to die until they bored of him or gained all the information they could. And considering Loki knows more secrets than most on Asgard... well, he would be much better off being tried in a mortal justice system than even a day in their care."
There were things worse than death...and the worst Loki would endure at the hands of mortal justice was death. They had more or less banned torture, save for a few of the groups who did not work under mortal laws.
"So your father decided to give Loki his powers back since he's being targeted by a much bigger threat, since his memory is already back," said Steve.
"It would take something very dire indeed to break the seal. And it would take something close to what mortals call a miracle for Loki to have come out of that sane."
Or, as Thor would later find out, because Dean and Loki were already very much alike and Castiel had unknowingly healed them both together by accident. Which meant the only issue would have been if Dean had rejected his original life as Loki.
Castiel had indeed performed a 'miracle' in more ways than he had realized, when he had resurrected Dean Winchester on orders.
"This is Loki we're talking about. What could harm an Asgardian on Earth except for some random super-villian that he pissed off?" said Tony incredulous.
As it turned out, a lot.
So their introduction to the shadowy world of hunters and the supernatural wasn't exactly like most people. At least they hadn't been put in life threatening danger in the process, and though Tony was still highly skeptical about the entire thing, he did find mountains of lore about the subject...some of which Thor confirmed to be true.
Though he was also quick to add that such research was always Loki's expertise, and that when they faced such beasts it was generally Loki's foreknowledge of them that had made them victorious.
Which, ironically enough, had lead to Thor sharing one of the many, many tales where Loki's knowledge of magic had helped them to win.
Thor would return to Asgard later that week and examine most of the tales concerning his adventures...and found that a disquieting number of them either made Loki's participation insignificant in the long run, or failed to mention him at all save in passing.
If that wasn't enough, Thor also began to notice a rather alarming number of his 'friends' who were quick to judge Loki, to speak ill about him while he was not there to hear.
Thor, for the first time since he even had an inkling that the crown would pass on to him very soon, had begun to listen to those around him.
And he didn't like what he heard.