Loki appeared as a shadow to his brother, the projection of his thoughts placed upon the mortal world. Thor looked up, his gaze sad. The pity Loki might have felt was replaced by hate and disgust.
"Brother…" Thor whispered. Loki tensed a bit at the endearing comment. He didn't particularly like it.
"I had to see you." It was all he really wanted to say for it was truth laced in the ever familiar lies. Thor's eyes softened.
"What's happened? Is it Jotunheim? Let me explain to father…"
"Father is dead." Loki let out a hiss and the room went silent. The mighty Thor's face fell, his eyes so utterly disbelieving in the words that had been said. He thought of Naiira's face when she discovered his heritage, a slight confusion that was mirrored on his brother's face.
"What?" The voice was no longer strong as it usually was. The slight croak caused by the break almost made Loki feel bad for his lies…almost. If Thor was not so naive, he might have been less inclined to continue.
"Your banishment, the threat of new war…it was just too much for him to bearwd. You mustn't blame yourself. We all loved him, especially you. I tried to tell him so, but he wouldn't listen. It was so cruel of him to cast you out, to place the hammer within your reach knowing you could never lift it." Thor looked absolutely miserable. His eyes had fallen to the floor.
"The burden of the throne has fallen to me now." Thor's head shot back up. This statement was wholly true. His station was a burden he didn't want to bear. A spark of hope appeared in the god's eyes as Loki spoke those words.
"Can I come home?" Somewhere in the vast abyss of Loki's wounded heart, a slight pain rose at those words. This man had been his brother. Thor was vain, foolish, and more muscle than brains but that didn't mean Loki hadn't loved him just as he had the rest of his family. The chill of his newfound resentment covered the wound with indifference.
"The truce with Jotenheim is conditional upon your exile." That spark was snuffed out, the dead blue eyes watching Loki carefully. He hated himself, hated his brother, and hated the situation he had been pressed into.
"Yes but…couldn't we find a way…?
"Mother has forbidden your return." Loki cut him off. That was the final nail in the coffin. The pain now was not so easily quelled.
"This is goodbye brother, I'm so sorry." He meant it no matter how much he wanted to hate the man who had taken all of his glory throughout their lives. A pain in his heart throbbed deeper than he could have imagined. This wasn't just some silly joke like he had done so many times before. This was absolute, a true and complete end if this plan was to work. Loki almost regretted having to do this.
"No, I am sorry brother. Thank you for coming here." Loki was about to end it there, but Thor spoke again.
"Perhaps even from here I might be able to help you." That statement made Loki tense up in anger. What in the world was he talking about?
"Excuse me?" Loki sneered, allowing his calm façade to fall if only for a few moments.
"I have met her brother, she says you are in trouble. I intend to help her." He knew who Thor spoke of, his whole body beginning to shake. Naiira, why hadn't he seen that she had visited his brother? Something in the action spoke volumes to him. She was afraid for him, was trying to help him with an imaginary problem. No, he was fine and his plan would fix everything.
"She is mistaken. I have no troubles." Thor was about to speak again, but the door opened. They whispered goodbyes to one another as Loki disappeared in a wisp of smoke.
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I sat looking down at the hammer. It's energy was buzzing through the whole compound and made a lot of the equipment malfunction. The agents kept asking why, which seemed like such a stupid question to me. I found myself hating most other humans so this bunch was no exception. They moved around like worker bees in a hive and it just drove me nuts.
Hawkeye was watching from a higher post just inside the plastic. It was pretty obvious how he got his name. I even heard a bunch of people call the higher post the "Hawk's nest."
"Ms. Stark, you have someone here to see you." I raised an eyebrow and followed the agent out to find a rather twitchy looking Darcy. She seemed horribly uncomfortable being around this area in general.
"Oh, hello again Darcy." She was wearing a large coat that practically swallowed her. I was alright though, able to allocate energy to different areas for warmth. It was a power I had been training myself to do for some time now.
"Yo…so you said you wanted to know more about the research right?" I was confused until I noticed the sparkle in her eyes. She was lying for the sake of the agent standing next to me. I guess she figured I'd get in trouble if I was trying to move about without purpose.
"Yeah, I'd like that. You'll let me meet Jane right?" Darcy smiled and nodded. The agent looked rather skeptical, but didn't say anything as I moved to the girl's side.
"Tell Coulson I'm out with a friend if he asks." I didn't even wait for a response as I walked off with Darcy. She was grinning from ear to ear.
"I will introduce you to Jane, she'll be fascinated by you I'm sure. Though Thor has that draw of being a hot male and all." I giggled and nodded.
"Yes, I assume there is more reason for this trip." I asked. She nodded.
"Thor asked that we get you since Dr. Selvig already retrieved him." I raised an eyebrow. They let Thor go? That was a strange development, but at the same time might have been better. I had a feeling he wouldn't tell the agents anything. These huge organizations weren't very good at getting information unless torture was involved. I liked the Loki method, trickery and deceit to win my prize. It usually worked too which had better output than the torture method anyway.
"He asked for me?" So the guy believed me when he barely knew my name. What a strange fellow. Loki had said something before about him being a bit thick when it came to most anything.
"Yeah, you guys friends or something?"
"Or something." I walked with her to a large van where I saw two men waiting. The first was Thor, looking so much larger standing up compared to when I had seen him sitting down before. The second was an older man with salt and pepper hair. His beard was mostly scruff of the same color. His kind dark hazel eyes turned to face us as we got closer. The plain blue button up shirt looked rumpled as if he hadn't washed it in a good while and the jeans hung a little below the belt line due to the slight belly.
"Naiira Stark I suppose?" The older man spoke. Thor was silent, he looked horribly upset.
"Yes and you would be?" We shook hands quickly. The man smiled brightly, seeming a bit more excited than he should have been. He was probably faking. The black circles under his eyes mirrored his stress levels, which I imagined were rather high. Then again if I had just met a god I might be a bit stressed out too depending on how open my mind was.
"Dr. Eric Selvig, but please call me Eric if you don't mind." I nodded in agreement. I turned to Thor who grinned rather weakly at me. The action made him look even more pained than a normal person. He was just so huge. I felt like the guy towered over me. If his arms wrapped around me he might crush me to pieces. The fact that he looked pained was just crazy since it seemed like nothing could touch him. Even after all of that rain too, his hair looked magnificent.
"So where are we headed?" I asked as we all climbed into the van. Thor got in the front seat while Dr. Selvig sat behind the wheel of the drivers seat. Darcy and I clambered into the back.
"I'm dropping you two off for now. There are some things I need to speak to "Thor" about." So he didn't actually believe the whole god thing. It wasn't a surprise. He was a scientist after all, but why couldn't gods be real as well as science being correct? We drove in silence out of the larger desert. I kept my eyes on Thor the whole time which seemed to make Darcy horribly uncomfortable. We got dropped off just outside the town next to a rather nice looking RV. The van left in a hurry as a woman came out of the lighted mobile home.
"What was he in such a hurry for?" The woman asked. Darcy shrugged.
"No clue, said he had something to do. This is Naiira Stark by the way. You know, the second one I tazed?" I giggled as the woman freaked out. I couldn't see her very well in the dark.
"Geez Darcy, do you really have that much trouble keeping the tazer away?" She asked rather exasperated.
"I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do for you?" She asked me. I chuckled.
"It's fine really, didn't actually feel it. I could use some tea though, haven't had any for a few hours. I just love tea." The woman nodded and ushered us into the RV. The lights were on so it was easier for me to see the her. She had long dirty blond hair that was quite straight. Her bright chocolate eyes were gleaming in a mixture of apprehension and welcome. I wanted to tell her it was really fine, but that probably wouldn't help.
"Oh where are my manners. I'm Jane Foster. Sorry about all this, Darcy can be a bit excitable sometimes." The latter glared at Jane, but said nothing. The loose clothing Jane wore reminded me of what Dr. Selvig had on. In fact, she might have been wearing his clothes seeing as the top was at least a size or two bigger than her.
"It's okay really and you can call me Naiira if you want." I smiled at her and she seemed to relax.
"Alright, well Naiira then, what brings you here?" Darcy spoke up then.
"She was looking for our resident god." Jane looked rather intrigued for a few moments as she continued preparing us all some tea.
"Oh? So you think he's telling the truth?" She asked. I smiled.
"I don't need to think, I know quite well. I need his help with something." Jane looked a bit confused.
"What do you need his help for?" I smiled, but said nothing. I didn't think that Loki would appreciate it as much if I told everyone, especially those I didn't know.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty say." Jane nodded.
"It have something to do with where he comes from?" Darcy asked. I nodded, that much information was okay.
"Then it might concern us. You see, we are out here to study the Einstein-Rosen bridge phenomena that have been appearing." Jane explained. I was curious.
"Can you explain why you think there is a wormhole type space in the middle of the New Mexican desert?" I asked and Darcy smirked.
"Well, we were studying lightening storms in the area and the readings we acquired were highly suspect. Dr. Selvig and myself came out and well we were studying a certain storm that looked to be a forming tornado…"
"And boom! Jane hit a really hot blond guy out of nowhere." Darcy clapped her hands together for effect.
"So, let me get this straight. You drove out towards what you thought was a tornado and happened to literally run into Thor?" I asked. Jane nodded.
"Yeah, we drove into the mist to get a better reading and he just appeared out of nowhere. We found a really intricate pattern on the ground too." I raised an eyebrow. Darcy took out her phone and scrolled down to her pictures, throwing me the device. The long black curves and lines made a celtic pattern that looked pretty familiar.
"This is a series of celtic knots, a very common one if I'm not mistaken. I'd have to see it all to tell but it looks like a series of Dara knots." Jane looked utterly confused and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Celtic stuff has types?" Darcy asked incredulously. I nodded.
"Yeah, in theory anyway. Dara knots or doire knots mean oak tree. It was thought that they represented branches to other worlds like Asgard and the other branches of Yggdrasil. If Thor was at the epicenter of that "storm" then the Einstein-Rosen bridge you are looking for might be more than it appears to be." Darcy had her mouth hanging open while Jane set out the tea. She still looked really confused.
"Um…what?" She muttered. I sighed.
"It's celtic history, you know, old Irish. I've always been really interested in that stuff. I know a good bit of norse mythology too, but it seems most of that could be wrong." Jane sat down across from me as Darcy took her phone back.
"Would you look at the time! I gotta get back into town ladies. You don't mind staying here until Dr. Selvig can take you back do you Naiira?" I was okay with talking to Jane for a while so I agreed. Darcy chugged the rest of her tea, thanked Jane and was gone.
"You believe him don't you Jane?" I asked. She practically jumped out of her skin. The tea went flying all over the table…and my clothes.
"Oh geez I'm so sorry! Crap I really didn't mean to hurt you I swear!" This lady was really jumpy when it came to Thor. The blush on her cheeks was quite prominent. I was pretty sure it was a mixture of embarrassment about spilling the tea and embarrassment about being called out on anything pertaining to Thor. I was beginning to feel the tea seeping into my clothes now. I'd get pretty sticky in a moment.
"Do you think I could get something else to wear?" I asked curiously.
"Oh of course! I'll um…"
"Tell me where the clothes are and you can clean the tea." I suggested. She showed me a small closet just next to the bunk beds in the back. The RV was not large, it was actually quite small. One step out of the kitchen got me to the living room and a few more steps to get to the bunks in the back. I picked out a pair of jeans and a solid blue long sleeved top before changing in the small bedroom.
"You do believe him don't you Jane?" I called as I changed, running the sink in the tiny bathroom to mop the stickiness from my skin.
"I'm not really sure what to believe. I mean he seems so invested in the idea after all." She called back.
"But you do like him don't you?" There was a smashing noise as Jane dropped something. I let a wide grin grow on my face.
"H-How….?"
"It's quite obvious as it is. Every time he's mentioned you get all flustered. It's rather cute really." I snickered as I came out of the back. Jane's clothes fit me rather well except for the fact that I had a larger chest than her, it made the shirt a good bit tighter. I walked back out into the living area as Jane began picking up the pieces of the plate she had apparently dropped. I moved to help her. A piece of glass cut my palm. Jane tried to apologize, but I stopped her, showing her the skin. It glowed blue before closing on its own.
"You aren't normal are you?" It was a simple question really and from the look on her face I could tell it wasn't supposed to be cruel. I smiled.
"I think you'll find that not everything is always as it seems."
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I waited up with Jane until Dr. Selvig came back…slung over Thor's shoulder. He was horribly drunk while Thor seemed to be completely sober. I was sure gods were immune to most of the substances we used here for our own pleasure. Come to think of it, I never talked to Loki about alcohol in Asgard before.
The thought in itself made me upset. There was so much I didn't know about the god of mischief, so much that I still didn't understand. I would have preferred to speak with him of the whole affair, but it was looking like I'd have to learn information from Thor instead. After dumping Dr. Selvig on the bed he ended up walking outside with Jane though. She was teaching him to light a fire as I walked out to join them. I'd let them have their privacy…right after I got some information from Thor anyway.
"Do you mind if I borrow the resident god for a few moments?" I asked Jane. She shook her head, but I could see a bit of resentment in her eyes. Perhaps I would have to tell her at some point that I was in no way interested in Thor. Said male didn't seem to notice though. He looked entirely determined as we walked away from Jane. Once out of earshot he began the conversation.
"My brother, you said he found you through the mind speech yes?" He asked. I nodded, perhaps we could both learn a good few things from one another.
"Yes." I whispered for good measure.
"Tell me, what do you mean that he is in trouble?" That was what I was waiting for. I had thought about how much I could tell him, how much I was allowed to share before I broke Loki's trust.
"First, what are you doing on Earth exactly? I don't imagine it's for pleasure if you are unable to wield Mjolnir." The god of lightning looked rather amazed.
"You know much for a mortal. Yes, I was banished by my father. I was a fool, I understand that now. It was my coronation, the day I would become the ruler of Asgard. A small band of Jotun broke into the private store and killed the guards in attempts to steal the ancient casket of winters, their power source taken from them in the war between my people and theirs. Though they failed I was furious. Without thinking I chose to lead my brother and our friends on a fruitless trip to Jotenheim, their home. We met Laufey, the king of their people who allowed us leave, but I took no heed and started battle. It caused one of my friends to get hurt and the threat of war to be brought upon Asgard. My father stripped me of my power, my position, and my weapon until I learned to be worthy of these gifts. That is why I am here." I was happy to have the long explanation so I was a bit caught up.
"Tell me, how did Loki act after your trip?" I asked curiously. Thor looked thoughtful for a few moments.
"I was not there for long before father pushed me through the bifrost. I had no time to see his reaction, only his worry." I understood, but wished he had more than that, it would take more than this to help Loki at all.
"Loki and I had mental contact for a good few months. He taught me how to use my telepathic abilities, how to control the energy powers I have always had. He said our magick reacted to the presence of the other, he was fascinated by it. We were close I guess, I'm not quite sure. I suppose it was after you were banished, I can't say for sure, but he suddenly broke down and it caused me to break the connection. I haven't been able to contact him since. The only thing I have to go on are Jotun and I don't even know what they are." Thor didn't look upset, in fact he looked slightly understanding.
"He has been known to throw tantrums at times. I was unable to understand him, perhaps that is why he has come to resent me. He came to me today and told me there was no hope of me coming home, my father has died and he has become king. I do not understand this, it is happening so quickly." The fact that he was telling me all this alone meant he trusted way too easily. I was alright with that though, Loki had said Thor was a bit naïve and the fact that I knew Loki might have helped his trust in me. I needed to know more, there had to be something that would help me figure this whole thing out.
"Can you tell me about the Jotun and their world, anything you have?" Thor nodded. I figured Jane was getting frustrated, but I couldn't make this quick. I decided to tell her I had no interest in Thor as soon as I made my way back over to the campfire.
"The Jotun are a race of frost giants almost two times the size of an Asgardian. All of them have blue skin with unique scarred markers for each individual. Their eyes are bright red, the color of blood. Their touch is like ice, it causes frost burns even for Asgardians if touched in anyway. Their skin is hard like metal, their power immense and their magical abilities tend to be quite formidable as well. They have always hated us as we have hated them. My father led a war of the beasts straight into the heart of Jotunheim. He took the cask of winters which contains the power of the cold. It has been in my fathers possession ever since. This is all I know of them." They were foul creatures to be hated and feared, yes that sounded about right. Then the form Loki had showed me was indeed that of a frost giant, but then why was he Asgardian size? I began to see why he was so upset. He was stuck between two worlds, the one he had always known and the one he was born into. That helped me understand him if only just a little.
"That bifrost, can humans travel it?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You wish to travel it? Mortals are forbidden from using the bifrost and Heimdall refuses to answer me when I call for his aid." Heimdall was the bridge keeper in Norse mythology, so perhaps it was the same in this case as well.
"He guards the bifrost right? That's what the norse mythology here says." Thor nodded.
"Yes, he sees all realms and all things." I sighed and thought about it. What was I supposed to do when he was realms away?
"Pardon my intrusion my lady, but what exactly is your interest in my brother?" I felt my face light up, but in the dark it didn't seem too obvious.
"I suppose I don't really know." It was true. I wasn't entirely sure what my interest was. We connected on a totally different plane of existence. He had touched my mind as I had touched his. Things that were never said had been expressed simply through contact of our thoughts. I felt his anger, his frustration, and even his fear. It was the most intimate act I had ever been in and most humans never got to experience it. In many ways he was bare before my eyes as I was before him. That sort of connection shouldn't have been so easily broken. Perhaps that was why, I needed to know what this meant because I had never experienced feelings like this before.
"Are you alright?" I hadn't even noticed I had started staring off into space. Thor was looking upon with me concern.
"I'm fine, sorry I was just thinking. Let's get back to Jane." I don't think I could have continued the conversation without saying something stupid anyway. Thor walked over to the fire where Jane was sitting. I briefly moved to her side and whispered in her ear that I had no romantic interest in Thor. She seemed to relax at that. I walked out of range of them, away from their eyes and cried.
It was the first time in years I had really cried this hard. Sobs racked my body in waves, the pain radiating from my heart seemingly transcending anything I had felt before. I wanted to scream, I wanted to be so loud that they could hear me on Asgard, but most of all I wanted him to hear the pain he was causing me. The pain reached a peak and I couldn't hold it in, I shot off into the air, my clothes burning off as I transformed. When I reached a decent height I screamed, the sound almost echoing across the empty space and ascending to die in the heavens.