Disclaimer: Still nothing of money making ability is mine. Charlie and the plot are the only things I own.
A New Guard
I must have been in that bath for at least an hour-and-a-half. And it was worth it.
Getting out, I decide to catalogue the damage now that I have the sweat and dirt off of me. The cut on my cheek is already bandaged up and as long as I apply a cream one of the healers gave me twice a day, it should be gone in less than a week. Mild bruises are riddled along my arms and legs where I was struck and had to block hits, but most of them aren't as bad as I thought they would be. They will be gone in a few days. As suspected, there is a massive bruise about the size of an orange in the center of my back where I was slammed into the edge of the platform. It's purple right now and will probably change to that sickly green-yellow color over the course of the week. It makes my already stiff back worse which means I am going to have to stretch every day to get my back to work right.
Well, at least it distracts from the scars a little bit.
I throw on some comfortable clothes—loose black pants and a long-sleeve white top—before perusing the books in my room. I decided in the bath that I should just relax and allow my body to relax after the beating it took today. And this is probably going to be the best time for me to do some research. I'm thinking of looking up Asgard's ancient history, just to see what it was like before they became the guard dogs of the universe. Maybe they were more like Earth?
After an hour of looking at all of the books at my disposal, I have come to one conclusion: there are far too many books on this one topic. I've pulled at least fifty from the shelf and that was only on the first half. My back is starting to protest the constant vertical position I am in so I just pick a book and settle down into the chair on my balcony. The sun is shining brightly and I bask in its glow as I open the book to the first page.
It doesn't take long for me to realize that I can't focus on the book in my hands. I keep thinking back to this morning and the verdict. I have to get a guard now. I'm not okay with that. I may have agreed to it, but I really don't think I should be forced to have a guard. Even after defeating five of the royal army, all with ranging skills, and Odin still doesn't think I can protect myself? Okay, I understand his worry: I'm human. I'm a mortal. I am much weaker than Asgardians and the majority of the other races in the universe. I shouldn't have been able to beat any of them, to be perfectly honest. The only reason I was able to is because of my extensive training and my ability to strategize and figure out the best way to beat each man I fought.
The first one was easy: he was cocky and arrogant. I used his "charge first, ask questions later" strategy to my advantage. He was also very easy to anger—and if you allow your anger to get the best of you, you will always make a mistake. The second man was harder, as most fist fights you can't really strategize against. It really is just half instinct and response and half skill. But he left an opening for me to wrap around him and I was able to finally suffocate him. The third guy was more luck than anything else: after smashing me into the platform, he was almost able to get me to concede defeat. I was pretty much winded with the force of the hit and he took advantage of my stunned state to straddle my hips with his arm pressed over my throat. However, that is always a bad place to rest on someone. I was able to flip us using my hipbones as the focal point and then bashed his head against the edge until he stopped moving.
One of the many tricks I learned from Aunt 'Tasha.
The fourth guy had the mace. When it comes to weapon users, if you are able to get their weapon away from them, you're pretty much golden unless they are skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well. Not all people are. Luckily for me, this guy was one of those that relies far too heavily on his weapon rather than his own skills. Once I got the mace out of his hands, there wasn't much he could do. I hit him on the head with his own weapon and down he went. The fifth guy I was able to maneuver and get him to fall down the well.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if they are all okay. I hit a lot of them on the head.
And then there was Loki. Loki wasn't like the other men. He left absolutely no openings for me to take advantage of and I was always on the defensive. He didn't toy with me either, like I did with my first opponent. He didn't bother with fancy moves or weapons really. I mean, he did throw knives at me, but I feel that was just to get me moving and to ensure that my balance was a little off when I landed. He was all brute force and deadly accuracy. But he didn't use enough force to actually harm me. It's no secret that most Asgardians could probably just kick me and I would have broken bones and internal bleeding. Loki and the other men only used enough force to cause mild bruising.
Oh my god. Were they going easy on me?
I slam the book closed and glare out over the scenery. I don't want them to go easy on me just because I'm a mortal. I can take a lot of damage—hell, I have taken a lot of damage. I know how to avoid and deflect hits that are going to cause massive harm. I think I know what I am doing by this point.
Then again, if they were being gentler with me than they normally would have, those fights would have taken a lot longer than they did. And I wouldn't have been able to knock out three of them. I don't really know what to believe right now.
I keep thinking about Loki and the way he fought. There was really no reason why the fight lasted as long as it did. He had to have seen the other fights I had with the other men. He would have known my strengths and weaknesses and should have ended the fight almost immediately. He strikes me as the type that would rather finish it quickly rather than letting it draw out. So, does that mean he didn't see me fight? If that's the case, then he was gauging what kind of fighter I was. Or at least my skill. I know I am nowhere near his level—the guy has been fighting for centuries after all—but he still praised me after the fight. That means something, right? Unless it was veiled sarcasm. And he didn't use magic to beat me either and I know that's a staple of his typical technique. So that shows he is at least an honorable opponent.
This guy is so confusing! Comparing the man I have met to the one I have heard stories about is completely boggling my brain. And I've only had to interact with him three times.
And now I have to have a guard. What does that even mean? I should have asked Aunt Jane more questions about this. Does a personal guard go with you everywhere? Or are they just a silent shadow? What if I just wanted to study quietly in the library or go to the ladies room or something? Would they follow me there too? They aren't similar to servants, are they? Am I allowed to talk to them? What if I'm taking them away from families or other responsibilities so they can guard me?
I start lightly banging my head against the back of the chair. I can't take it. I have too many questions I need to get answered. I toss the unfinished—well, unstarted, too—book onto the little table beside my chair and rush inside and out of my room to Uncle Thor and Aunt Jane's room. I knock and pray that Aunt Jane is there. I can't stand not having these questions answered before I get assigned one.
A minute passes and I just about give up before the door swings open. There Aunt Jane stands, covered in a substance I have never seen before. It looks sticky though. And orange. And it is covering her from head to toe, the majority of it on her upper body. I purse my lips together in an effort not to laugh. She glares at me and that's pretty much all it takes. I start laughing.
"Oh, shut up!" she commands, turning on her heel and walking back into the room. I follow, clutching my stomach as the laughter continues to pour out. She just looks so ridiculous!
I collapse into a deep red chair and watch as she disappears into a door. I look around the room while I try to get a handle on my mirth. Their room is set up differently from my own: it's more like a kind of suite or apartment. I'm currently sitting in a type of sitting room that leads out onto a balcony, a fireplace against one wall with the other being full of books. I notice a lot of Earth books on the shelf, all of them scholarly. Two hallways lead off on opposite sides. I assume one at least leads to a master bedroom. No idea where the other one might lead. Aunt Jane walks out of the room carrying a small basin of water with a rag draped over the edge and I realize it was a bathroom. I smirk once I see her again. "What happened?"
"The twins is what happened," she responds, taking a seat on the couch across from me and starting to wipe off the substance from her arms and neck. "Apparently they didn't appreciate not being able to watch you fight today. This is how they took it out on me."
"Ooh, let me guess," I say, bouncing in the seat. "Bucket over the door trick?"
"Yep," she confirms, popping the "p" a little. "Over the bathroom door, to be precise."
I shake my head as I continue to watch her slowly mop up the mess left on her. That is one of the oldest tricks in the book and yet it still manages to catch people constantly. I haven't been the victim of it in a long time. Dad and especially Peter used to do that to me all the time when I was young, so I got into the habit of opening doors and waiting a second before walking through them, especially if they open outwards.
"So," Aunt Jane starts, briefly catching my gaze before going back to cleaning herself up, "to what do I owe the visit?"
Remembering why I came here, I sit up a little straighter in my chair. "Can you explain to me what it means to have a personal guard? I would prefer to know all that it involves before getting one forced on me and I end up doing something stupid. Like accidentally ordering him or her to go away from a place they have to be, or something."
She laughs quietly to herself. "Seems kind of daunting, doesn't it?" she asks. I nod in response. I really don't like this. "Getting a personal guard is nothing more than having an extra shadow," she continues. She finishes mopping up the substance from her body and puts the washcloth back into the now orange water. She still has quite a bit of it in her hair, but only a bath will solve that problem. "There are places where they won't be trailing after you, like your room or whenever you are with Thor and Frigga. However, anytime you are about the palace without one of them, they will be there to follow and keep you safe."
"So, I don't have to worry about them coming to the bathroom with me?"
"No, of course not," she laughs. "They will go to places with you, but if you want them to, they can stay outside a room so you can feel some semblance of privacy. As long as they are shouting distance away, it really doesn't matter."
"Are you allowed to talk to them?"
"Of course. Frigga and her guard are very close friends. He has been guarding her since she became Odin's fiancé."
I raise my eyebrows at that. "Wait, why does Frigga need a guard? She can protect herself, right?"
She nods. "Odin was very paranoid about her safety when she first moved into the palace. Frigga resented her guard for a very long time until she finally accepted his presence. Now they are like best friends. He has been through everything she has gone through and has been a steady presence in her life. And he hardly ever guards her anymore. His main job is on the council. He is a major head and is one of Odin's most trusted advisors."
I nod in understanding. While I feel a little bit better about this, I still have my reservations. I quite like my privacy and now that I won't be getting much of that, I can't help but not like this idea. "Charlie," Aunt Jane says, taking both of my hands in hers. "There is nothing to worry about with this. Take this as a chance to get to know someone that isn't a part of the royal family. Trust me when I say it won't disrupt your everyday life. Okay?"
"Okay, Aunt Jane." I squeeze her hands and let go. I snicker again at the ridiculous color of her hair. "I'll go so you can wash that out before your hair permanently becomes orange."
She grins crookedly, standing up and shooing me to the door. "If you happen to see my sons, please give them a noogie from me," she requests before shutting the door behind me. I laugh again. I will admit, setting it up over the bathroom door is pretty smart. No one would really suspect that their own room is booby-trapped until it's too late.
"Hey, Charlie!" The shouts ring out through the hallway and I turn and watch the two pint-sized knuckleheads as they run towards me.
"Hey, boys! How were your lessons?" I ask as they slide to a halt beside me, panting to catch their breaths again.
"Not nearly as fun as it would have been watching you fight," Magni says.
"Yeah. We heard you got to fight Uncle Loki!"
"And that you beat five of the royal army."
"With no weapon!"
"And no magic!"
I laugh and hold up my hands in surrender. "Alright alright, I'll tell you guys all about it!"
Two shouts of triumph are let out and they both grab an arm, dragging me into their room. "When you're done, can you finish that tale you were telling us of Achilles?" Modi asks as he sets his books down on an end table. "It was so good! And I was so upset when you had to leave and didn't finish it!"
"Really? Because I remember two knuckleheads falling asleep on me before I could finish the story," I say, slipping onto the couch. I'm surprised they even remember it. I started telling them that story the last time they visited Earth about a year-and-a-half ago. It was really just to get them to calm down and go to bed. It worked at the expense of them not knowing the end. I had to leave for Norway early the next day to start a new dig.
"Never mind the details!" Magni says, shoving his brother down into a chair before taking a seat in the one next to it. "Tell us about your battles!"
I laugh. I spend the rest of the afternoon telling them about my fights and of the Battle of Troy.
OoO
"So you mean to tell me that the great Achilles was felled by an arrow to the ankle?" Magni asks, tightening his arms around my neck slightly. I'm carrying him piggyback as we walk down the hallway towards the dining hall. Modi is running along next to us, hitting random pillars with his small sword he pulled out and yelling about Trojans and Greeks. Telling them the whole story of Troy took a little longer than I thought it would. The twins are the perfect audience: they oohed and ahhed at all the right places and are never short on questions. Which isn't surprising given I was telling them a story that they have no background understanding in. I only reached when Achilles was killed when we were summoned for dinner. Magni immediately jumped on my back, causing me to wince slightly because of my bruise, and here we are.
"Well, it was the only place on his body the River Styx didn't touch," I explain, looking over my shoulder at his incredulous face. "Remember, that's where his mother held onto him so he wouldn't get swept off into the river's current."
"Still," he grumbles, settling his chin on my shoulder. "Doesn't seem like a great way to die."
"Are you kidding?" I exclaim, following Modi through the open door. "He died avenging the death of his lover." I crouch down, allowing him to clamber off my back and then turn to meet his eyes. "There is no greater honor than dying for the ones you love. Even if that means you are dying to avenge them rather than protect them."
Magni nods before chasing after his brother. Huh, I wonder if he gets it. They are both still pretty young. I slowly stand back up. Seems my back is stiffer than I thought. I roll my shoulders trying to get the skin to loosen up while I glance around the room. Frigga, Uncle Thor, and Aunt Jane appear to be locked in an important conversation. Odin is missing. Loki is watching me as I stretch. His gaze unnerves me a little. Hell, almost everything about him unnerves me. I crack my neck and make my way over to the seat beside him. Modi is sitting on his other side with Magni across from him.
"Do you honestly believe that?" Loki asks me quietly as I settle into my seat.
"Believe what?"
"Dying for the ones you love is an honorable death."
I meet his strong gaze unblinkingly. "Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"Why?" I repeat, slightly incredulous. "I've seen some amazing things happen because of love. I've seen grandmothers lift cars off of their grandchildren when they were trapped. I've seen an unemotional, unattached woman become the fiercest lover and protector. I have seen a monster be tamed at the thought of hurting the ones he cares about. I've seen the most damaged man stand in between a bullet and his children. Why wouldn't dying for love be honorable?" I search his eyes while I speak, looking for one shred of an emotional response. Anything that would indicate that he understands what I am saying. Unfortunately, he has a better poker face than I do. "In my eyes, dying for love is more honorable than dying because it was your duty."
He breaks eye contact and stares at his plate. I turn away and see that Frigga and Uncle Thor are watching me. I didn't realize we had a small audience to our soft conversation. After a small silence that is broken only by the twins squabbling, he responds. "Love is sentiment. Sentiment is weakness."
I snort. "Or it could be strength." I glance back at his profile. "Besides, you don't really believe that." I don't ask it, I say it. I know that he is lying like I know I need air to breathe. He didn't look me in the eyes when he said that. Rule number one when telling lies: maintain eye contact and don't flinch.
He meets my eyes again and I can't quite read the emotions in his gaze. Before he can respond, though, Odin enters the room and takes a seat. Whatever he was planning to say never leaves his mouth. We all fill our plates with various foods and dig in. I speak with Frigga about my training with Lady Sif. She has requested to spar with me in the mornings, starting a couple days from now. It works for me. It's not like I have any responsibilities or plans anyway. Frigga agrees to relay the message to her. Odin asks me various questions about my family. I give a brief explanation about how I was adopted and basically raised by everyone in the Avengers. He seemed to be interested about how I was raised. Well, that's nothing new. Most people are fascinated about that. You can definitely say that my childhood was not a conventional one.
Overall it was a pleasant dinner. I feel like this is one of the few times the whole family is able to be together in a somewhat normal setting. They are all allowed to drop the royal pretense and relax around each other. I'm just glad I am able to witness it.
Leaning away from the table, I place a hand on my somewhat swollen stomach, indicating without words that I can't possibly eat another bite. Uncle Thor and Magni are working on their third massive sandwich. Frigga and Odin are done with their food and are discussing something about the palace. Loki and Modi are both finished and appear to be sitting quietly. However, Modi is smiling slightly and I know something else is going on. Aunt Jane is also watching them suspiciously. Considering she has the most experience dealing with these two, I decide to keep an eye on them. Not even two seconds later, a half-eaten chicken that was in front of Uncle Thor springs to life. Everyone's attention is captured by the moving poultry, conversations coming to a halt. Uncle Thor and Magni both stop mid-bite and stare at it as it walks off the table and out the door, acting for all the world like a live chicken. Just, you know, without it's head. Or skin. Or feathers. We can all hear surprised shouts from the guards standing outside the room. Everyone looks over to Loki and Modi. Loki looks like an innocent puppy that I am immediately suspicious of. Modi can barely contain his laughter.
"Who is responsible for that little spectacle?" Frigga asks, her eyes dancing with mirth. You can tell it is taking all of her ability not to smile.
Loki and Modi glance at each other before shrugging. "It was me, Grandmother," Modi confesses. I glance at him with wide-eyes. I knew the twins were learning magic, but I didn't know they were that good with it already.
Frigga raises her eyebrows at him. "Well done. But try not to cause the guards to have a heart attack, dear. They got plenty of surprises from these two as it was," she finishes, pointing at Uncle Thor and Loki in turn. Oh, I can only imagine what those two were like when they were children.
Modi nods in understanding. Loki glances down at him in pride. The expression is subtle, but it's there.
"Okay, boys," Aunt Jane starts, standing up. "Let's go get washed up and you can finish terrorizing the palace, okay?"
Magni and Modi run out of the room with Aunt Jane trailing behind them after saying some farewells. Terrorize the palace indeed.
Before I can decide to follow after them, Odin clears his throat and sits a little straighter in his chair. All of our attention is immediately brought back to him. He turns his head so he can meet my gaze. "Charlie, Frigga and I have decided who it is that shall become your personal guard."
I glance quickly over to Frigga, who looks fairly serene, until you look in her eyes. There is a mischievous little glint there. I can't help but feel like I'm not going to like this. I nod, asking him to continue. "This person is to be your protection against those who would harm you, should you need it. They will guard you when you move about the palace, anywhere you may go. You may discuss boundaries, but realize that if there is a chance these boundaries will impede their ability to protect you, they may be ignored. The only place where their services are not needed is the personal wing of the palace and whenever you are with someone in this room." He pauses for a moment, making sure to give me a very serious look. "I trust you understand all that I am telling you. I understand this may seem unnecessary, but in these dangerous times, it is very necessary."
I swallow and glance around at the other faces in the room. Frigga is now very serious, as is Uncle Thor. Loki looks vaguely confused, which sums up how I am feeling. Is something going on that I don't know about? I shake away the thought though and nod again at Odin, letting him know that I understand and accept everything he has told me.
He sighs quietly. "Your guard is already in the room with us." I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, glancing around the room again. There is no one here except for the royal family. Is the guy invisible? Loki and Uncle Thor look vaguely confused as well. Before Odin speaks again, understanding hits me like a shot of lightning. Oh my god. Please say it isn't who I think it is. Please please please let me be wrong.
"Your guard, from now until you stay with us ends, shall be Loki."
It's him.
