A/N: She's baaack...
As soon as we were reunited with Thor, the old Loki was gone. Once again, the bitter, angry Loki had returned and I found myself wishing he didn't exist. It took nothing to set him off, particularly when Thor lamented the loss of Rakthon yet again.
"Did I not tell you it was folly to pursue him?" Loki bellowed, his face contorted into a sneer. "Did I not advise you to wait until he returned to Earth once more? And did you listen? No, Thor doesn't need to-"
"I am trying to protect the humans-"
"And a fine job you're doing at that! The Olfather must be so proud of his precious firstborn! What a great and mighty hero he is!"
"Our father-"
"YOUR FATHER! YOURS!"
"I never believed that you were anything other than one of us-"
"What a fool you are! Why would your father ever lie to you? You're not a monster from a children's story!"
"I hoped, that perhaps, he was mistaken-"
"Stop it!" I stated with irritation. I wasn't heard.
"Ha! I always knew you were a simpleton."
"Whatever your true parentage may be, you are my brother-"
"You really are naive, to think that-"
"ENOUGH! THE BOTH OF YOU!" The two stopped to look at me with surprise. I ground my teeth in annoyance. "Thor, you've led us on a wild goose chase for two months." I hissed. "We've tried it your way to no avail. I am more than ready to try it Loki's at this point. While it might be just fine for the Asgardian and the Frost Giant to go tromping through the universe, I am a human! I'm rather fond of wearing multiple sets of clothing, hot showers, and a mattress! You have no idea how tired I am of goat! Give me a freaking cheeseburger, for crying out loud! I want to go home!"
I placed my fingers on the bridge of my nose and exhaled sharply. "Logically, we know that Rakthon is looking for something in the earth, right? I'm certain that whatever it is would be detrimental to the populations of the universe as a whole. Given that bit of information, it would be in our best interests to return to Earth and wait. He's bound to make a mistake at some point. In the meantime, I can get some new clothes and enjoy a hot bath. Okay?"
"Forgive me, Olivia. I did not realize how difficult this has been for you." Thor murmured sheepishly.
"It's fine. Just fix it. Now!" A few moments later, we were back on Earth. I took in the familiar sounds of sirens, horns, and people shouting in D.C. Ah, home. The city had already begun rebuilding and I could smell the sweet aromas of America: burgers, fries, chili. My mouth watered and I wandered pathetically towards the nearest street vendor.
"Doctor Grant!" The familiarity of my name made me groan. I just wanted a gyro. A burger. A falafel. Anything. A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent ran up to me, breathing heavily.
"We just got here! How could you possibly know-"
"The Tesseract leaves an energy signal. With the attacks occurring every other week, we've been monitoring any energy spikes."
My annoyance vanished at the mention of the frequency of the shockwaves. "Every other week?"
"Yes. You all need to come with me." I followed after him, looking at the street cart with longing.
We followed him into yet another black Suburban. My stomach had no qualms about telling the world how hungry I was. When we finally reached the docked helicarrier, I was in a particularly foul mood.
"Doctor Grant," Coulson seemed surprised at our arrival. "We weren't expecting you."
"If I don't get some food within the next sixty seconds, I'm going to murder someone." I growled. A timid looking agent quickly handed me a bag of trail mix, which I immediately snatched. I shoveled the mixture of nuts and raisins into my mouth, savoring the taste of real food.
"Colonel Fury will want to know that you're all here."
"No, no, no." I began furiously, my cheeks bursting with trail mix. But it was too late, I was forced to follow him to the command center. I muttered angrily when I discovered I had already eaten the bag of snacks. I hate my life. I thought miserably.
"What the hell are you all doing here?" Fury inquired with displeasure.
"Olivia-" Loki began but I cut him off.
"It's a long story. We can discuss it all later."
"I think you're forgetting who's in charge here."
My anger boiled over. I was sick of being dragged along and taking orders. "Listen here, Captain Cyclops!" The room went oddly quiet, many a nervous stare glancing my direction. "I have been drug across the universe, all because you thought it was a brilliant idea! I have been frozen, attacked by giant bugs, gassed, in addition to not having gotten to sleep on a bed or wear MY clothes! So before you get your panties in a twist, there are some things that I want!"
At first, the rage on his face nearly made me apologize. Then he burst into laughter. "Grown a spine since you've been gone, I see. Alright, what do you want?"
"One: I want a number seven combo from Frankie's Fried Chicken with fried okra and a biscuit. Included in this demand, I also want a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia. Two: I want a shower, a real shower. One without any interruptions for at least thirty minutes. You hear me? Thirty. Lastly, I want a new set of clothes. I will take any science related t-shirt, a pair of American Eagle skinny kick jeans in my size, a black blazer, and a pair of high top Chuck Taylors in white."
"Richards!"
A terrified looking girl about my age sprinted and arrived on the spot. "Get a list of everything Doctor Grant wants and see that she gets it."
"I want the chicken now."
"Yes, ma'am." Richards scampered away, leaving an amused Fury to stare at me.
"Feel better?"
"You have no idea."
An hour later, I had eaten my food, showered, and changed into my new clothes. My disposition had greatly improved. I made a note to thank Richards for my shirt that read, "May the mass times acceleration be with you."
As requested, I arrived at the meeting room. Thor and Fury were deep in conversation, Loki looking miserable off to one side. I knocked on the door, to which I was greeted with a summoning wave from Fury.
"You look to be in a better mood."
"I am."
"Good. Because I've got a job for you."
I raised my brow in inquiry but said nothing. "Thor tells me that you think this?"
"Rakthon."
"That this, Rakthon, is here looking for something?"
I ran a hand through my recently cleaned hair, savoring the moment. "Yes, I do. I'm of the mind that the shockwaves aren't so much attacks as they are fallout from digging. He's the last of a race of burrowers. I suspect he's searching for something to bring his civilization back."
"Something in Earth?" I nodded and I heard him mutter something about why it always seemed to be us.
"Well, if that's the case, we need to find it before he does."
"Naturally. We know he's working with someone, though who it is, we don't know."
I saw Fury glance in Loki's direction, to which I shook my head in the negative. "Thor, you promised me that you would find whoever was doing this."
"I did."
"I've had to watch the earth destroy itself for two months. I need you to do something about it. Now."
"You mentioned something about having a job for me?" I brought the discussion back to me, in the hope that Thor wouldn't feel so guilty.
"We weren't sitting on our thumbs while you were gone. Did some digging." He flopped a file folder on the table, which I promptly took. "We knew whoever was doing this had some kind of alien tech. Then we noticed a man by the name of Alec West."
I froze in my seat. Not Alec West. He was supposed to be rotting in a cell for what he had done to my sister. I had to have heard wrong. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that again?"
"Alec West. He was in prison up until about four months ago. Funny thing is, on his release, his record was expunged. There's absolutely no trace of why he was there or what he did." I could feel Loki's gaze on me and I pursed my lips.
"What exactly do you want me to do?"
"Some of my other shrinks interrogated him and turned up nothing. With the way you handled that one," He gestured at Loki. "I was hoping you'd be able to make him talk."
I chewed on my lower lip. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to the man who was responsible for killing my sister. If his record had been expunged, however, no one else knew his connection to me. "I'm not sure what good it would do. Whoever got him out had enough clout to wipe away the stain. A thing like that would make a person incredibly loyal."
"Doctor Grant," Colonel Fury leaned across the table, hands folded. "you knew things about my past in a matter of seconds that my closest friends don't know. I watched you bring a man to his knees with a few well placed words."
From the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Loki grin, ever so slightly. He knew why it had been so easy now. I was desperately hoping he wouldn't use it against me. "I need you to do this. The whole planet needs you to do this."
I sighed. He didn't know what he was asking me to do. I hadn't seen Alec West since his trial nine years ago. I could easily tell how others were going to react, I saw things about personal details no one else did. What I couldn't gauge were my own. "Where is he?"
"On his way."
"Is this like how Thor and Loki were on their way?"
He smirked, amused by my question. "No. My agents are bringing him in as we speak."
"How many times has he been brought in?"
"Here? Never."
I quirked my brow. "I thought you said your other psychologists had evaluated him?"
"Not here."
It was with great reluctance that I agreed. Fury was pleased, striding from the room with a smile plastered on his face. He called Thor to him, no doubt to discuss the details of our trip further.
"Are you actually going to do it?" Loki asked quietly.
"I don't exactly have a choice, do I?" He cast me a sympathetic look and I knew the two parts of himself had come to a truce. At least in regards to me. My secret was safe. "I'd be prepared for more handcuffs, if I was you. Fury hates your guts."
I rose from my seat then, my hands shaking slightly. True to my prediction, a squadron of guards entered the room and escorted Loki out in handcuffs. I watched them leave and exhaled slowly. My life had just been turned upside down. Again.
