Not Quite Meetings
Silence that fell after Loki's announcement was deafening. But only for a moment.
"You have a brother?" it was Tony who spoke first, "He has a brother?" he turned to Fury. "Of course he has," the billionaire sighed when the director gave no reply.
"Shouldn't have skipped paragraphs when you read the info file," Hawkeye snickered.
"Thor," Eric Selvig had risen from his chair without even noticing. He was excited and apprehensive at the same time about the possibility to meet Thor once again. He wanted to be happy, but somehow he knew that it wouldn't be as simple as greeting an old friend. Not with Loki here.
And he was right. Fury had already issued orders for all weapons to be stand by and ready to fire. Hawkeye in a manner befitting a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had already slipped away from the table with no one noticing; he was about to board the plane meant to intercept whatever.. whoever was coming their way. Nick Fury did not need a reminder – Loki had asked to turn away visitors from Asgard, and the director was duty and honor bound to do exactly so. In truth he did it with the slim hope that this would cement their relationship with Loki, and he hoped to whichever god was listening, that this incident would not escalate. He already had one oncoming intergalactic war, he did not need another.
Loki for his part sat back down. Stiffly, as if he had to think about every move and force it. He looked at the table, at the far wall – anywhere but the huge glass wall and the storm behind it. His lips where pressed thin and white together. He wondered how much dark energy had their father... had Odin summoned to get Thor here. He wondered why. Oh, there were reasons, he just couldn't pick one – was Thor here to collect him and deliver him for punishment? They had to know Loki would fight every step of the way. He had been a king! He had a right to every protection that office could extend. Was Thor here to... take him back into the fold? Among those liars and cheats? They were not his family.
"Loki?" it was the Captain who noticed that Loki had changed in a matter of seconds.
"Just Steve…" Loki narrowed his eyes when he heard Stark snicker and caught on quickly, "I assume there's a colloquialism there that I misinterpreted, therefore, Steve, correct?"
Captain nodded.
"Do not presume to inquire about my wellbeing, Steve," Loki hissed before pushing his chair violently back and rising. "I shall be in my quarters," he announced to Fury before leaving. This time on foot, rather than teleporting.
"What... I don't understand," Steve looked around for answers once Loki had left. It was not the rudeness that bothered him, "If that's his brother coming, then..."
"They have a bit of a complicated relationship," Erik said, sighing.
"Whatever their conflict, surely, this is the one time to make peace," the Captain said, thinking about the forthcoming battle.
"They had Norse mythology back in the forties as well. Don't you read, Cap?" Tony had hacked the hovercraft's security system and now on the table in heaps of digital files in front of each of them appeared stories from Norse mythology.
The Captain bit back a retort, it would be of no use to snap at Stark now. "But those are just stories..."
"I know for a fact Loki tried to kill Thor. A couple of months ago," Selvig said, grimacing as he skimmed the titles of the files in front of him.
Steve just shook his head lightly. He didn't think that the answer to their immediate problem was in a thousand year old stories retold another thousand times. "What is the plan, director?" he asked as he came to stand next to Fury.
"We politely ask our newest guest to leave," Fury replied candidly.
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then we better hope those lightning rods we have work properly," whatever weapons they had would not be a match for Thor. Fury was more or less sure of that. The only ace up his sleeve that he was counting on was - that as he was bound to Loki so Loki was bound to them – he couldn't allow their destruction. Even should he wish it.
"But he isn't the enemy," Steve argued for Thor. "I read the file."
"At the moment, he is," Fury declared blankly, boring into the Captain with his one good eye, before moving his attention back to the operations room below them.
LOH
Thor was exuberant. He was jubilant. Once his feet touched the ground, he hardly needed to try to feel his brother's presence. Loki likely wanted to be found – he had never felt his brother as strongly as he did now. And he always felt him – to a larger or lesser degree if they were in the same realm. To him Loki was sunshine on fresh snow and wide eyed wonder; crisp like a chilly morning and strong. So, so very strong.
Thor grinned and extended his hammer to the skies gathering a storm to him as he flew.
He had so many questions. There was anger and sense of betrayal, but as he once again felt his brother's presence there was also overwhelming joy that drowned out near everything else. Loki was alive. Thor could hardly tell more than that though he wished he had the ability. The bond between him and his brother was one of spirit and kinship. It was not an uncommon thing between brothers-at-arms much less so among siblings in Asgard.
What humans called intuition when they seemed to be able to sense their loved one's distress or death though many miles apart; it was much more tangible and real for Asgardians. And it was a sense that had ever been strong in Thor. It's what would one day make him a greater commander in battle than his father. But there was none that he felt more strongly than Loki, and even with magic his brother was hard pressed to hide from him if they were in the same realm. It had annoyed Loki to no end when they were children. Whenever they played hide-and-seek Thor was like a compass arrow pointing North to his brother.
However, the bond was not the psychic one that some magic users, elves and others had, where they could not only feel each other's presence, but converse in their thoughts. Thor had sometimes wondered if they didn't have that because Loki locked him out. After all, Loki was an accomplished magician, surely telepathy was not beyond him if he so would choose. For his part Thor naturally reached out to those closest to him while his brother valued his privacy and often went to great lengths to conceal himself. Though, after the few times Thor had panicked, thinking him kidnapped or dead, Loki had relented as far as lifting his web of concealment to let Thor and only Thor feel the faintest blip of his presence.
The heartache he had suffered when he thought his brother lost – he never wanted to feel that again. Those days were dark in his memory for all that some of them had been full of sunshine and Asgardian spring. Thor resolved to hold his brother and never let go; he would not let Loki fall ever again. He needed him by his side. Now that he knew that Loki was alive - Thor assumed that his brother had known that he would survive the fall. He felt foolish in thinking Loki so easily defeated, and he felt relieved that Loki hadn't chosen to take his own life. It all seemed simple to Thor now. Like when they were children – all the bad things could be brushed under the rug and forgotten within the hour.
He'd thought so many thoughts, had had so many questions, but now as he neared his brother with every breath and gust of wind – all of those evaporated. Thor felt an overwhelming need to just see Loki. To see him, and to touch him, and know that he was real, that Heimdall's sight had not proved false. Aside from that he abandoned all other expectations save that he was bringing his brother home. Asgard's princes would return safe and sound. There would be a feast!
Lightning snapped and thunder growled. Thor was happy and he flew straight. The storm in his wake encompassed all the horizon. And when he saw a metal bird struggling with the winds, he dropped on top of it. He recognized the flying machine for what it was, but figuring out an entrance took him a moment. Finally he blasted apart the back portion of the small ship and stepped in it. It took him but a second to realize that none of the people aboard were his brother.
"Where is Loki?" he asked locking his eyes with the man who stepped forward - leaving the controls at the front of the ship in the hands of another.
"That is none of your concern," Hawkeye stated calmly. "I've been..."
"He's my brother!" Thor frowned, protesting. This human just did not understand. For the moment – Thor was certain that this must be a misunderstanding. But he did grasp the handle of Mjölnir tighter in his hand.
"I've been asked to politely ask you to leave this planet," Hawkeye drew an arrow when he saw the God of Thunder clutching his weapon, "But I can also use less than polite methods."
"Where are you holding him?" if these people were holding his brother prisoner then they would learn the wrath of a god.
"Don't you understand? You're not welcome here," Hawkeye replied, all tense. He did not particularly wish to pick this fight, but orders were orders. And neither Thor nor Loki meant particularly much to him yet to pick one over the other.
"I'm not leaving without my brother," Thor stated, growing tired of the conversation. He cast his senses out trying to pinpoint the location of his brother. It was easy to get confused as he got closer, because Loki never particularly desired to be found – but Thor was not one to give up easily. Or at all – not if it concerned his brother.
"Unfortunately I can't allow that. But I will allow you to leave alive. If you do so now," Hawkeye could be gracious. God or no god, an exploding arrow through the eye ought to do the trick.
Thor didn't even grace the man with an answer. He had ceased to pay attention to him as soon as he realized that the man would be no help in locating Loki. Once he felt that he had the grasp of the direction – he flew out of the damaged ship with no other word.
"That was easier than expected…" Hawkeye frowned. Then he noticed that Thor's flight was in fact - direction towards the hovercraft. He radioed to warn Fury, and a moment later lightning struck the plane and it started to go down. All noise and wind, and desperation.
LOH
Thor paid no attention to the small crashing ship in his wake. He landed on the airstrip of the Helicarrier as a great incoming craft and roared his brother's name so that every window trembled with the force of it. "LOKI!"
Fury stepped out of the shadows. The tails of his coat whipped about his legs in the great wind. His head was held high even as the sky opened and rain came pouring down. He faced wrath of the Asgardian head on.
"Give. Me. My. Brother," Thor demanded, accentuating every word and leveling Mjölnir in Fury's direction.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Fury had to shout to make himself heard. The wind around them howled with a voice that was nearly human.
"And why not?" Thor demanded, stepping closer. Mjölnir was grasped tight in his hand. He would not hesitate to knock this mortal off the platform if that would return him his brother. "I will not let you hold him prisoner," whatever Loki might have done – Thor did not care. "He is a prince of Asgard."
"He is not a prisoner," the director stated with as much dignity as he could muster while shouting in a storm.
Thor frowned. Momentarily stupefied and confused. If his brother was not held against his will then why would he not come to greet Thor? Loki was always there. Thor felt him like he felt his own heartbeat – he didn't need to look for him. Loki was just… always there. And Thor had never realized how much Loki's presence was a part of him until his brother fell and there was emptiness in the shadows. Even when he'd been banished on Earth – it had been different. It hadn't… hurt that much. "Where is Loki?"
"He is under our protection," Fury replied. Now that Thor had rushed closer in his rage – there was little need to shout. The prince opened his mouth and Fury could guess what he would say from the surprised and amused expression that crossed the man's face – so he continued before Thor could formulate his thoughts into words, "He has no wish to see anyone of Asgard. We will seek to fulfill that desire and protect him to the best of our ability."
"Protect him from me?" Thor huffed and laughed heartily. "You do not understand," he said, not unkindly, but with a clear sense of superiority. Whatever the mortal thought he knew – whatever tricks Loki had spun in his free time – Thor was here for Loki and he would not leave without him.
Thor's time as a mortal had taught him a lot. His brother's fall and the shambles that Asgard became after that had taught him even more. But once he heard that Loki was alive… All that pain faded. All those hard-earned lessons… faded. Thor's resilience was one of his greatest strengths. And weaknesses.
If Loki was alive, then everything could be as it had been before. If Loki was alive, and Thor restored then all that had happened had been a hearty jest. Loki's tricks at his coronation? Not betrayal. A jest. Though Thor contemplated holding it over his brother's head for a while. Thor's attack on Jötunheimr? Not treason. Not a prelude to war. A young god's vigor and thoughtlessness. Something for their parents to keep over his head for a while. Thor's banishment? An epic tale for a night by the fire. Loki's rule? Loki's fall? Thor did not want to think about his brother's fall. It took him a moment to realize that the mortal was speaking again.
"Oh, but we do," Fury replied, dragging the words out. His tone reminded Thor of Frigga. "Loki was very clear in his instructions," well, very clear on the main part. Fuzzy on the details. Like – how to keep an angry God of Thunder away?
Thor blinked. But inside he was reeling as if struck. "Loki," he breathed his brother's name. Then he tried again, "Loki… asked for this?" it had to be a jest. But as Thor looked around – the unforgiving grey of the sky and the aircraft – as he saw those that pressed their faces against distant windows. As he didn't see one specific face among them.
"Yes," and there was sympathy in Fury's eyes if not in his voice.
Thor frowned. He would not accept rejection so easily. There was always a chance he was being lied to. But his heart dreaded the truth. Hadn't he and Loki parted ways with a fight? Hadn't he failed to save his brother? Hadn't he… "LOKI! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!" Thor roared. "LOKI!"
Fury wished he had something to plug his ears with. Thor's voice was carried by the thunder and the winds. The bulletproof windows trembled from the force of Thor's demands. He watched as Thor stalked up and down the runway – demanding his brother's attention. And Fury waited patiently for Thor to trot back to him once he realized that the shouting had no effect – neither on the people on the Helicarrier, nor Loki who hadn't showed his face yet – and didn't seem likely to show up.
"You have to leave," Fury said once Thor was close enough for reasonable yelling in the wind.
"How can I take your word that he is truly well within your vessel?" Thor rumbled with the thunder. He had no need to shout.
"We performed the rite of Sacred Hospitality. He is our guest," and that was something Fury had never expected to say. But the words seemed to have meaning for Thor like they had held some for Loki.
"I will not fight you on this, then," Thor said, his shoulders slumping. The god seemed to shrink in stature. "I will not leave this world yet," he didn't mention that without Tesseract it would not be possible anyway. But the jewel was a secondary priority. "He will know where to find me should he wish to." And Thor left. And with him the storm.
The sky cleared. Fury breathed easier, and finally there was no interference in the radio communications and Hawkeye reported a water landing – he and his pilot had to be fished out of the ocean, though both reported no injuries.
LOH
Loki had been halfway to his room when he gave in to the destructive curiosity to see Thor. He didn't want to see his brother, but at the same time he wanted to know what Thor would say of him. What Fury would say. He tried to convince himself that he only wanted to see the exchange to know if the master spy would keep his word. Loki did not try to fool himself by contemplating trust towards these mortals. He may have been suicidal, but he was not an idiot.
But as he changed his direction, he didn't make even two steps as he was accosted with a vision.
"My son," Frigga breathed. The smile on her face ever so gentle.
Light tunneled around him. The walls that pressed on him so much in the narrow hallways of the Helicarrier disappeared and for a moment he lost his footing. As he fell, he found it again. As he looked around – he was in his mother's rooms in Asgard.
Loki closed his eyes, and breathed, it felt like the first breath he'd taken in a while. Her words were like a caress. And then he shook himself out of it. "I am not your son."
"That is not true," she argued, reaching for him.
But he was forever out of her reach now. He surveyed their surroundings and came to the bitter conclusion that this was no soothing dream. The edges of things were too sharp. The colors too vivid. It was witchcraft of the queen of Asgard. "And you continue to lie," he hissed, making no attempt at hiding his anger.
"You may have once had another mother, but that does not mean that you are not mine, and I am not yours," Frigga was steadfast. This was a conversation she had tried to prepare herself for millennia.
"So you admit it?" he retreated, yet she followed.
"That I love you and claim you as my own? That has never been a secret," she stated. "Do not tell me that you have ever doubted my love. I will not stand for it."
Loki gritted his teeth so hard that the noise of his molars grinding made him wince. But he did not gainsay her. He did not dare.
"Come home," she pleaded, extending her hands towards him.
He reached for her. But dropped his hand before he could grasp hers. He wished he could take her offer. He wished he could bask in the comfort she yearned to give, but he could not. He could not return to Asgard. He could not look Allfather in the face after everything – the lies, the crimes and the ending on that bridge. No. His father had denied him, now he was returning the favor. But his eyes were sad as he gazed upon the queen. He wished things were simple as they had been long ago – that she could heal any hurt. That all could be forgiven and forgotten.
Loki could not be healed or forgiven. He could not be comforted and he could not forget. He felt even more of a stranger to her now than when he had first discovered his heritage. "I cannot." And he ended the vision.
And when he opened his eyes - a figure was looming over him and he struck out without thinking. Captain America landed against the opposite wall with a force that would have caused concussion for anyone else. Loki blinked. And stared at his hand for a moment – the one he had thrown out as if in defense and blasted raw magic at the mortal. He should have killed the man – not out of want, but pure accident. Loki watched in horror as his hand trembled. He didn't remember ever being so weak.
"How dare you presume to lay your hands upon my person?" Loki demanded, rising to his feet, balling his hands into fists to hide the shaking.
Steve swallowed commentary on how he had thought that Loki had fainted. Or had an episode of some sorts – after all, minutes ago Loki had declared his brother was arriving, Fury had declared all battle stations on alert and now Loki was here – passed out in a hall. It wasn't a normal reaction by any measure. "I came to talk about your brother," Steve said finally.
"There is nothing to talk about," Loki snapped. His eyes flashed in warning – as if he would talk of Thor to this mortal.
"Clearly there is."
LOKI, Thor's shouting was heard even deep inside the ship.
"Clearly you are not the only one who cannot tell when they're unwelcome," Loki spat, turned on his heel and left for his room. He had no more curiosity. In fact, he conjured a magical barrier after barrier – to block out sound, sight and all Asgardian measures of interference to keep himself isolated. And once he was certain that he would not be observed or intruded upon - he retreated. Until his back hit the wall. And he fell. The magic he had spent was some he could hardly afford. The Void had been merciless on his senses. The Titan's servants had been merciless in entirely different ways.
