The Law of Three
Chapter 10
Distracted by his thoughts which were now going over the conversation he had just had with Death and the decision he had made, Neo didn't realize he had made it to James' room.
Tony and Neo were outside while the adults sent the kids to bed and cleaned up the Rec room. After his meeting with Death the teen came back inside, while James was putting up the extra chairs and moving the couches back into place; when the feral mutant was done he had followed his nose and found the young god sitting in the dark staring blankly at the floor.
"Neo?" James called from the doorway.
The teen seemed to rouse from his stupor and green-eyes found the steely-blue of the older man. Neo gave a waning smile, "Hey…"
James was immediately concerned; he may not have known Neo for very long before the younger man disappeared, but he knew a fake smile when he saw one, and when it came to his mate that smile usually meant something was wrong. The first time James had met the young god was during a war, and even then Neo had always seemed so bright, like a beacon in the middle of a storm. From the day he met his mate, James knew that Neo was something special with the way the teen usually had a smile, as if he refused to let the War dampen his mood. So, he was understandably worried, since the only time Neo was ever melancholy seemed to be right after a tragedy.
The man moved from the doorway and to the bed, where he stopped to run his fingers through Neo's hair. The younger man leaned into the touch, hoping that the comforting gesture would push away his heavy thoughts, and for a tiny moment it worked. A world-weary sigh pushed past Neo's lips as his head fell forward to rest against James' stomach. Strong hands cradled the god's skull while maneuvering his head into a position where he was looking up into James' face.
"Talk to me, darlin'," the mutant said, his steel-blue eyes focused on emerald green.
Neo had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could talk. "I…Death came and asked me to claim a soul."
"Why?"
The younger man gave sardonic grin, "You know, I asked the same question."
*Flashback*
"Why?" Neo demanded.
Death's face—or Neo's, since Death still looked like the god—fell and the entities eyes were full of sympathy for the god, "It is your duty as the Master of Death. You must do the things that I cannot. Would you put this burden on someone else's shoulders?"
Neo hesitated, and sensing this, Death continued until the young god agreed to see things for himself. The next second, Neo was standing in front of a giant cage positioned in the middle of the room and inside was the monster that had torn apart Harlem.
Neo didn't have long before Death was telling him to activate his Soul Gaze, and he instantly saw something strange; so far, Neo has discovered that his powers allow him to see the souls of the dead and hear the cries of souls, but he had never seen anything like this; a transparent image of who Neo instinctively knew was Emil Blonsky hovered inside the chest of the monster before him. Ignoring the fact that he was somehow able to see inside the creature, Neo focused on the fact that this had never happened before.
When Neo shot a questioning glance to his companion, Death explained that Emil Blonsky's soul had possessed the reanimated mutated corpse of his previous body. Of course, the god had been stunned and Death waited for him to take it all in.
*End Flashback*
"I've killed people before, bad people, who were nothing more than monsters. I was ready to kill that monster when it was rampaging through the middle of Harlem, and I would have if Banner hadn't shown up. But Death wasn't just asking me to kill a monster. We're talking about a man's soul. It was…" Neo hesitated, "It wasn't what I thought would happen.
"…But Death doesn't just ask me to kill someone lightly, so I did it. I thrust my sword right through his brain. When his body was dead Blonsky's soul was free. He came closer with a look of madness in his eyes and attacked. All I did was raise my hands to stop him-all I did was touch him-then there was a bright flash of light and this ball of…," he gave an uncertain shake of his head, "…energy was hovering in my palm. It was warm, and soft, and so beautiful. I was holding a soul in my bare hands," he was choking on his emotions and the god had to clear his throat a few times before continuing, "…it was the most amazing and nightmare inducing thing I have ever done. It was like holding a newborn, as precious as it was fragile, and I had it cradled in my fingers. From the instant I touched it I knew that it was more than precious, so much potential in one tiny thing. In that moment, I felt like I knew everything about that one soul, and Emil Blonsky was a small representation of that souls importance in the cycle of Life and Death. I've never done anything like that, and as amazing as it was…I don't want to do it again anytime soon."
James frowned, "That doesn't make sense, you told me about the ghosts and spirits you've seen before, and most of them don't look like balls of light."
"No," the god agreed in a whisper, "that's the kicker. Once someone dies and is truly claimed by Death they are gone and cannot come back, because that person and everything that made them who they were is gone. Every memory, every dream, all the regrets and pain, are washed away. When Death claims a soul they lose their form and turn into pure essence to be reborn later as someone completely different," the young god hesitated, "So, when I touched Emil's soul it lost its form. Blonsky's gone but now there is the possibility of someone else in the next world. One day he may come back as a brilliant psychologist, or a ruthless hitman. No one knows, but that's the thing…there is a lot of potential and people chose their actions even when their future is dictated by Fate."
James brushed the tips of his fingers across Neo's cheeks before giving the young god a grin, "I think he was lucky, not everyone can say that their soul was reaped by a sexy god. Just don't go doing it all the time, Darlin', a man can get jealous."
With a scoff, Neo replied, "That sounded so corny."
"Don't be mean, the only thing corny around here is the pick-up lines teenagers come-up with," James winced at his own comment as he remembered some of those lines, but he was happy when his mate let out a small laugh and the shadows receded for Neo's gorgeous eyes.
"Oh gods, don't remind me. Did you hear the one John came up with at dinner?" They both chuckled and let the sound wash away the heavy atmosphere.
James leaned down and kissed the god's forehead, "I'm going to take a shower. I'll be back in a little while."
"I should probably take one too," Neo said as he rose from the bed and headed over to James closet, "Let me grab a change of clothes and I'll join you," he said, not thinking anything of his comment. Due to conditions during the War they had showered together a few times, and after bathing with Jormungandr Neo wasn't shy about taking showers with…anyone.
Outside the room, which a red-headed telepath and her white-haired companion happened to be passing by at that exact moment, Jean and Ororo overheard the end of Neo and James conversation. The telepath picked-up her pace as a blush darkened her cheeks leaving her friend to walk more sedately with a smirk curling her lips.
"Good for you, James," Ororo commented as she passed by the feral mutant in the hallway, "just don't forget that the legal age is eighteen now."
"Not in Canada," he replied with a smirk.
She laughed but never looked back as she said, "We're not in Canada."
*Break*
(Dream)
Neo sighed; the Sun was warm on his bare chest and shoulders, the sea breeze played through his long hair and the sand invaded the gaps between his toes as he sank them into the ground. He could feel the familiar weight of James' arms wrapped around his waist. Phillip was sitting to the left under the shade of a beach umbrella and lounging in a wooden chair as he sipped at his drink. The agent smiled serenely when he noticed the god was watching him. The swishing noise of sand moving drew his attention and Neo looked back out at the ocean, where Tony was coming toward them with one of his inventions over his shoulder. Dripping water and in a pair of swim trunks that Neo had only seen once, Tony looked amazing and the young god felt himself blush.
"It's a really nice day," Tony commented.
Phil made a noise of agreement, "I could get used to coming here on my days off."
There was an affirmative grunt from James that made the god smile. It was perfect, this one moment, but he had a niggling voice in the back of his mind telling him that he was dreaming.
Neo could still feel the weight of arms around him, even after James let go and started walking purposefully toward the genius with a grin on his face. "I think your little gizmo could use some more testing," the shorter man said before he lifted the billionaire over his shoulder and dragged him back into the water.
Tony protested for a minute before he kicked and accidently splashed James. There was suddenly a feral grin on the mutant's face and he let go of Tony who fell into the water and came out sputtering. Tony slapped the water and hit James in the face in retaliation and a water fight was started. Neo's heart swelled when he heard the carefree laughter from Tony and the rumbling chuckles from James.
'Oh well, just because it's a dream doesn't mean I can't enjoy it,' he reminded himself.
The sounds of the ocean waves, sea birds and laughter lulled Neo into a content state as he watched his mates enjoying themselves.
His peace was interrupted when he felt something hit his leg, but he ignored it, until it happened again.
(End Dream)
Neo woke up and the first thing he saw was Bucky's face. The god remembered everyone going to sleep, but that was only a few minutes ago if Neo's internal clock was right. So what…?
Neo pouted at the brunette when the man kicked him. "What in Merlin's name was that for?" Neo hissed.
Bucky struggled and kicked the god, again; that was when Neo finally noticed that the soldier had somehow wound up in Jormungandr's grip and the slumbering snake god was slowly squeezing the mortal to death.
"Oh, Morgana's short curls," he groaned as he unwrapped the coiled arms from the mortal. Luckily Jormungandr was asleep because Neo knew from experience that it would have been almost impossible to get the snake god to let go if he was conscious. Bucky was finally able to wriggle out of the immortals grip, only for Neo to grab him and roll them both, affectively switching places with Bucky.
"Thanks," Bucky wheezed out as he caught his breath.
Neo grinned, "Think nothing of it, you're a friend, and I prefer my friends alive and...kicking," he said the last word as he rubbed his shin, "I'm funny that way, so it would be best if you try to stay out of life threatening situations. What would I have told Steven? 'Sorry, mate, your childhood friend and secret crush got cuddled to death by a giant snake, who just so happens to be my cousin Jormungandr, but here's a wolf cub to cuddle and is actually my other cousin Fenrir,' yeah that would fly like a rock."
"Yeah," the brunette agreed, "It sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud, but my life has definitely gotten more interesting since I met you."
"You're welcome."
The smug smile and words took Bucky by surprise, "What do you mean?"
"Well I have obviously saved you from a boring 'normal' life, but I can't take credit for everything, you know?"
"Oh, yeah? I'm pretty sure that you were the one that dragged me back with you to the future," Bucky countered.
"Yes, to save your life, but I'm not forcing you to stick around," it was quiet for a few seconds as Bucky thought about what the god said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you decided to stay. I'm just saying that you could have marched off to find Steve already, or decided to figure out the twenty-first century on your own."
"I still have to get over the fact that I went from a World at War to now, and a part of me is still trying to figure out my next move, besides the nightmares don't help."
Neo heaved a sigh because he knew exactly how the brunette man felt, "Nightmares are the scars left behind in our minds that haven't healed yet, but I've got the number of a pretty good healer."
"I can handle a few bad dreams."
It was silent after that; the only noise was the sound of snoring around them. Bucky thought that Neo had gone back to sleep until the god spoke again and he sounded thoughtful, "It's not about the dreams, it's about the fear that you bottle up because fear can turn poisonous if you let it. Phobetor and his nightmares are almost a gift, while some nightmares punish the guilty conscience, others will help you face your fears and purge you of them…good night, Bucky." With those words Neo sent out a whisper of magic toward the man, and as Bucky gradually fell asleep the god said a prayer, 'May Hypnos welcome you into the realm of sleep and Morpheus guard your dreams tonight.'
Neo didn't go back to sleep and instead wondered downstairs to the entrance hall. Elric stepped out of door to the Rec room with a dusting cloth in his hand.
"Can I help you, Master?" the spirit's voice was respectful but it also held a hint of concern.
"I couldn't sleep. I keep thinking about things."
"Such as," the spirit urged with a raised brow.
Neo shrugged as he continued on his way to the kitchen, "Finding Steve, the War brewing between the Olympians, the troubles on Asgard, my friends in the past and present, and my mates, and the other billion things that I think about at any given time."
"Perhaps it would be wise to share your thoughts, you know that you need only give the order and I will do whatever you desire, my Lord."
The god turned to look into the golden eyes of his servant. Neo still wondered about Elric, like his attitude, how he knew and could do the things he did, but since their contract he never questioned the spirit's loyalty. "How is the rebuilding of Harlem coming along?"
"Done, we are only waiting an acceptable amount of time before allowing the citizens back into their homes, to throw off any suspicions that might arise from completing the work so quickly."
Neo wasn't surprised about that, after all the spirits and souls that had rebuilt Tony's facility had done it in less than a day. "…and Doctor Banner?"
Elric set a steaming cup of tea in front of the young god and gave a hint of a smile at the surprised look he received, "We sent a healer in when the Doctor calmed down and his health is as good as can be expected, given his circumstances. It seems the Hulk has an accelerated healing factor, but the Doctor is slightly underweight and in need of uninterrupted sleep. There are still eyes on Doctor Banner, but I can call them back if you wish."
"No," the teen said thoughtfully as he stared into his cup, "The Hulk is not the monster everyone believes him to be and he proved that, it is just taking longer for Banner to realize. When the doctor is ready I would like to help him…What about Tony's company?"
"It is surprisingly stable, and most of that is due to you and Ms. Potts. With Eternia Corps backing and Ms. Potts effective management, Stark Industries has already started repurposing factories and is already in the design stages on several clean energy projects. The evaluations have weeded out a number of corporate spies and slothful employees, along with a few greedy and corrupt managers. There has been a steady rise in productivity and efficiency, and oddly enough workplace moral. It would seem that some terminations were long overdue."
"Now I just have to figure out what to do about Phillip," Neo mumbled ruefully.
"Agent Coulson is still on leave until six o'clock Monday morning."
Blinking in surprise the young god asked, "How do you know that?"
"I managed to overhear a conversation that he had with Director Fury," Elric didn't lie, and Neo could tell, but the young god continued to stare at the spirit until he seemed to continue where he left off, "and it was confirmed by an S.E.R.F. agent inside SHIELD."
"Why do we have agents inside SHIELD?"
"The S.E.R.F. along with Howard Stark and Agent Carter helped build SHIELD, and point of fact SHIELD is a semi-independent branch of the S.E.R.F., Lady Death set up SHIELD as a front for the S.E.R.F. and while Director Fury runs the daily operations, he still answers to "The Council" which answers to Director Nightshade while she is the acting Director for you. Over the years the S.E.R.F. has carefully monitored SHIELD and its personnel, and successfully removed double agents working for other organizations. It seems that HYDRA has tried more than a few times to infiltrate SHIELD but the S.E.R.F. has thwarted all of their attempts. During World War Two the S.E.R.F. took out every HYDRA facility and most of their leaders, now HYDRA is simply a group of mercenaries and fanatics, but they are still a threat like any other group of terrorists."
Neo let a mischievous grin curl his lips, "So…I'm Fury's boss?"
Elric gave his master and amused look, "It is so nice to see that you have your priorities in order, Master."
"Oh, hush you," Neo chided half-heartedly as a smirk appeared on his face, "I feel like doing something fun, now."
"Fun?" the spirit asked, mostly out of habit because he already had an idea what the god was up to.
Neo doesn't answer and instead pulls out his phone and starts taping at the screen. It was quick enough that Elric was unable to look at the message before Neo stowed his phone in his pocket. The god had just raised his cup to his lips when his phone alerted him to a new text message and Neo's lips curled behind the rim of his cup.
Elric may have been a spirit but he still got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, because he knew that whatever his master had planned was only going to be fun for one of them. A part of him wanted to complain about having such a mischievous master, but he had stopped doing such things a long time ago.
Neo never made it back to bed but he didn't complain when Magnum found him before the sun rose and forced the young god to go on a training run. The raven-haired teen was using a conjured towel to wipe the sweat off his face as he walked back into the mansion. Unfortunately the towel stopped Neo from seeing the fireball coming at him. The towel burnt to ash in his hands, and he thanked his godly heritage that his skin only felt slightly warmer.
"Good thing gods are made of tough stuff, huh kid?" the ancient dog noticed as Neo blinked the ashes out of his eyes, "But it looks like you need more training."
"Do I still have eyebrows?" Neo asked in a slightly worried voice while he ran his hands over his face.
"Priorities, young Master," Elric said from the other end of the hall, the spirit's voice drew the god's attention to John and Bobby who seemed to be arguing, again.
Neo's eyes took on a sharp look as his brow crinkled; "You two," the suddenly irate god intoned as he pointed his finger at the two fighters and a silent freezing charm stopped the boys in their tracks. They were outside the dining room and Neo could see the faces of the other children through the open doors. With a heavy sigh the young god came closer.
"There is a fine line between love and hate," Neo started. He looked over the burnt and iced walls, and he repaired the damage with a half-wave as his eyes clouded over in memory, "and sometimes it is impossible to see it."
Neo unfroze the pair and John almost fell on his face. Stormy green eyes locked onto the red-head and blonde. "If you want to beat each other up, fine, I won't stop you, but I have a few rules," he raised a hand to count on his fingers, "One, no powers. Two; no biting scratching or pulling hair, save that for the bedroom. Three, no hitting below the belt because that kills the mood, and Four, no kicking. You can hit with either an open or closed hand and grappling is acceptable, but no chokeholds. The fight is over when your opponent is knocked out or successfully pinned. Any questions?"
"Wait…" Jean went to protest but Charles stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Perhaps, we should give this a chance."
Erik nodded, "Jean, Charles is right, you have tried your best but it hasn't worked. I think letting them solve this problem their own way might be the right solution."
The woman seemed to deflate and silently accepted her mentor's decision.
"No questions then," Neo said as he leaned against the wall and waved at the two teens, "Well get on with it."
"I don't want to fight," Bobby protested, "John's always the one causing problems."
"Well maybe I wouldn't cause problems if you weren't such a goody-two-shoes d*ck all the time."
Bobby gave the redhead an incredulous look, "I'm the d*ck? We fight because you're always acting like a jerk. What's your problem man, you always have a bone to pick, and I'm tired of trying to be nice to you when all I really want is to punch you in the face."
"Well here's your chance," John egged as he held his arms out to the sides, "I'm game if you want to start something, but let's both be honest, you can't fight and you're not going to do anything because you wouldn't want to ruin that "perfect boy" image you try to sell everyone."
"Really," the blonde asked right before he launched his fist at the redhead's face.
Bobby's hit landed, and John was quick to retaliate with a punch to the other teen's stomach, and a right to his cheek. After that it was all fists, groans, and thumping smacks of flesh against flesh. The last punch that John threw missed and he over balanced. Bobby took the opportunity and grabbed John's extended arm before throwing him face first to the ground where he pinned the redhead. Everything was brought to a sudden end and both teens were winded.
"Alright, now to get down to the real reason you two have been fighting," the god said with a placid smile as he turned to the blonde teen, "Bobby, do you honestly think anyone here is going to judge you for liking another bloke?"
An actual chill went down the blondes spin and his eyes widened. The world around them seemed to stop as everyone listened and waited for an answer. John wriggled out of his grasp but the other teen didn't go far and instead sat on the ground close by. It took a minute before Bobby spoke, "What are you talking about."
"There is nothing to be afraid of, if not your class mates then your teachers will understand. Charles and Erik are in a committed marriage. Raven has admitted to having relationships with men and women. I have three male soul mates, James is one of them, and I am very happy. And you know Hercules, the god of Heroes? Yeah, he swings for both teams and I'm pretty sure anything else that catches his eye. Most of the other gods are the same way, and my Dad says that the only reason Artemis is so anti-male is because she's a lesbian, okay that last part might be exaggerated," Neo smirked before becoming more serious, "But honestly, why go to such lengths to deny your feelings that you hurt the person you care about? That just doesn't make sense, mate."
The hall was shrouded in silence again for what seemed like an hour before the blonde teen finally said something, "My family wouldn't understand. I haven't even admitted that I'm a mutant to them, how am I supposed to tell them that I'm gay too?" Bobby looks broken as he firmly keeps his gaze on the floor.
Neo let out a sigh, "No one else's opinion is worth denying your love, not even if the whole world was against it." Then the god turned to the redhead, "Isn't that right John? You were sick and tired of everyone shoving their opinions in your face and acting like they had the right to tell you how to live your life, so you lashed out and became a rebellious child that people wouldn't waste their time preaching to. If you acted like a waste of space, pretty soon they wouldn't expect so much from you. Unfortunately for you it worked so well that you became an outcast and were alienated from everyone around you. When you finally got tired of being the pariah you looked for a way out. You came here knowing that there were teens just like you and adults who wouldn't judge you, but you couldn't drop the mask. You had lived for so long fighting against what others expected that you kept hiding, even when you didn't have to. By the time you got here acting like a delinquent was your coping mechanism born of self-preservation. Now you just have to change that attitude and find the real you, it won't be easy, but you can do it." Neo clapped the redhead on the back as he passed by heading for the dining room.
"How did you know all that?" John's question made Neo pause but he didn't reply so the redhead asked again, "How did you know all of that about Bobby and me?"
Neo looked back into John's brown eyes, "I can relate. I almost let someone else's expectations destroy my life. It took me a long time before I finally told myself 'to hell with their opinions the only person living my life is me', and that was when I chose to become the person I wanted to be. Gun to my head or not, my decisions are my own even if they might be my last, because all actions have consequences and I choose to be the master of my own fate. So my advice to both of you is stop pushing people away, stop hiding, you might just be surprised at how things work out. I never really lived or loved until after I died…don't wait as long as I did."
With those last words everyone wondered back into the dining room. The rest of breakfast was quiet but there was also an air of contemplation from the students.
Classes at the mansion were Monday through Saturday with only two classes on Saturday and Sunday was a free day. So after breakfast the kids got ready for a trip into the city to go shopping and generally get out of the mansion, and the teachers would have to be chaperones for the younger kids. Bucky wanted to take it easy and catch up on events in the libraries history section, so he stayed behind with a few teachers who had gotten out of babysitting duty.
After breakfast, Neo mentioned going to see a friend and his cousins decided to tag along. That was how Fenrir, Jormungandr, Elric, Magnum, Zoul, Argyros and Neo all found themselves outside SHIELD's New York headquarters under a mild disillusionment charm.
The group seemed mismatched with Neo in his familiar jacket and boots; Fenrir in his hoodie with his yellow bag slung over one shoulder; Jormungandr in grey slacks and a light blue button up looking like a male model; and Elric in his usual butler uniform.
The disillusionment charm made sure that no one would look twice or remember their faces, and they made it through the metal detectors and into the elevators.
"That's right, we're Jedi," Neo commented under his breath with a smirk, but a glance at his servant told him that the spirit wasn't amused.
The group quietly made their way to the training floors which were located in sub-basement twelve through fourteen, and included a shooting range, armory, gym, indoor track and whale-sized swimming pool.
"Alright," the green-eyed god said with a devilish grin as he rubbed his hands together, "so, I was thinking…"
"Are you alright?" Fenrir suddenly asked.
"I hope you didn't hurt yourself, kid," Magnum replied.
Neo gave them an annoyed glare, "You guys are a riot. Anyway, like I was saying, I was thinking that we could help these SHIELD agents with their training." The devious smirk was back, and it was matched by the two other gods and magic canine. "Magnum, I think that you and Zoul should take the track, so you can help the runners beat their personal records. Jormungandr gets the pool for obvious reasons. Fenrir will take the gym locker room. I'm going to 'inventory' the armory while Elric and Argyros help with target practice at the shooting range. We can switch it up after a few minutes, okay?" a devilish smirk crossed his lips, "Let's have some fun."
*Break*
In the span of a half an hour Agent Phil Coulson received a number of strange reports from agents that had been to the training floors. There were reports of faulty weapons from the armory; or maybe 'faulty' wasn't the right word because the guns worked just fine, but they shot out paintballs even after agents reloaded with live rounds. The paintballs where not so bad since they were highly accurate and traveled as fast as normal bullets; the problem was the vanishing targets and the sudden blinding flash of light with the sound of something flying in the air at your head. And that was just the beginning; agents were complaining about glowing red eyes, giant teeth and growling from the gym locker. One agent nearly drowned in the training pool, when he saw what he claimed was a humungous snake head at the bottom of the pool that had tried to eat him. When three sweaty out of breath trainees came running into his office, Phil had almost had enough. It took the three agents a while to catch their breath and explain that they had just been chased around the track for the last thirty minutes by a giant vanishing dog with glowing blue eyes and a shadow with glowing red eyes.
After the frightened runners left his office Phil relaxed enough to let out a sigh and thanked whatever god was watching over him that Fury wasn't there; that doesn't' mean Phil believed Fury wasn't already aware of the situation; the senior agent was just glade that he wasn't going to have to deal directly with Fury's temper.
Phil would later think that it was ironic that he had thanked a god for his luck after finding out that a god was the one causing his problems, but that's what you get when dealing with a son of Hermes.
Phil left his office and made his way to the shooting range where it was surprisingly quiet. "It's too quiet," he said to himself.
Suddenly there was a commotion outside and Phil followed it to the armory where he took a moment to realize what he was seeing. There were hippos on one side of the hall to the armory, but that wasn't the weirdest part. The hippos were various colors (not grey or pink or even brown, because that would be slightly more normal for a hippo, in a secret government facility, underground), but Phil forced his brain to move past the fact that there were at least a dozen hippos of every color from Purple to yellow and onto the fact that they were all standing on their hind legs carrying what looked like cannons. The hippos were firing the cannons at a group of agents that were firing paintballs back at the animals marching toward them like a parade line. The hippos fired a volley from their front line but the black cannonballs burst in midair and sent down a shower of cooked rice onto the agents.
The attention of the spies was divided though as half of them fired at the other end of the hall where a group of green gorillas were hurling butter-filled balloons at them. Then the whole group panicked when a swarm of Chihuahua-sized bees came swooping in, but instead of stinging them, the bees began to through-up buckets of honey all over the agents. After the agents were completely dowsed in honey everyone in the hall heard the noise of tiny feet coming closer and the gorillas and hippos split apart allowing two groups of puppies to come at the agents from each end of the hall. The slippery butter and honey made it impossible for the agents to escape as they were ganged-up on by hungry puppies that started licking the agents from head to toe.
Some of his agents actually cooed at the babies, and Phil's eye gave an involuntary twitch. It took no time at all for the puppies to mysteriously cleanup the entire mess and then disappear, along with the hippos and gorillas.
"Agent Coulson, Sir!" one of the trainees called out, causing the others to scramble to attention.
A braver recruit was the first to speak up as they formed a line, "Sir, let us explain…"
"Explain what? I saw what happened," his eyes seemed to get a little harder, "I saw a group of SHIELD agents get taken down by puppies. Obviously you need more training, but I think that's enough for today, dismissed."
"Yes, sir!"
Once the hall was clear a voice spoke from behind the senior agent, "Nice way to play that off as a training exercise," Neo smiled pleasantly when Phil turned to look at him, "How is work, dear?"
"It seems to have gotten a little exciting around here. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
Neo shook his head and tried to look innocent (Phil wasn't buying it), "Oh, really? Well, I've only been here for a little while…"
"So the other agents' suddenly reporting strange things happening in the training rooms has nothing to do with you?" the older man asked as he gave the young god an un-amused look.
"I haven't been to the training rooms," Neo commented as he plucked a stray piece of rice off of Phil's suit.
"That's not an answer to my question," Phil mentioned after he processed the god's words, "I asked if it had anything to do with you."
Rolling his green eyes, Neo replied, "You're the spy, so you tell me, all I can say is I didn't do anything to the training rooms."
"Then it was your cousins at the pool and in the locker room."
Green eyes locked onto inquisitive blue as the god changed the subject, "I'm hungry. We should grab something to eat."
"I still have work to do," Phil replied calmly while he silently added, 'and even more now.'
Neo waved the comment away, "Just tell the agent in-charge of the trainees to do his job and help them file their reports…I'm thinking Vietnamese for lunch," the god turned sharply and walked away with complete confidence that the agent would follow, then addressed a figure standing inside the Armory as he walked by, "Elric make sure that the others know it's time to leave and bring the car around."
"Yes, Master," the voice of Elric came from the room but he never exited and the two men made their way to the elevator. Argyros zoomed in and perched on Neo's shoulder before the doors of the lift closed. By the time Neo and Phil had crossed the lobby to the outside (Phil was adamant that he was coming because he was keeping an eye on Neo), the others were already waiting for them.
Phil pointedly glanced at his watch, "I only have an hour before I have to be back."
"You are really cute when you act all calmly annoyed and go along with my plans, but you really just want to handcuff me to your desk so you can get paperwork done and keep an eye on me at the same time," the god smirked at the blank stare his mate gave.
"You should do it," Magnum suggested to the agent, "If you let a god get away with acting too cocky, they start developing an attitude."
"We'll be sure to mention that to Hecate the next time we see her," Fenrir commented.
The ears on top of the canine's head suddenly pinned themselves back and he growled, "Don't even joke about that."
There was some conversation in the vehicle on the way to the restaurant and continued after they were seated and the waiter had taken their orders.
"Cool decorations, hey Jo did you ever visit Vietnam?" Fenrir asked his brother from across the table.
"Which century?" the older god questioned casually. His eyes were drawn to a copy of an old painting depicting a large sea dragon attacking a boat hanging behind the wolf god.
Neo smirked as he noticed the ice-blue eyes of the dragon in the picture. Unfortunately his good mood was buffeted by Phil's next comment.
"I'm assuming all of them," the agent concluded, "after all Jormungandr, or the World Serpent, is supposed to be so big that he can wrap around the whole planet and bite his own tail. I'm just surprised that the world hasn't fallen apart."
Jormungandr's eyes locked on the agent sitting next to his brother, "It seems you brushed up on your history, but be careful what you assume. Humanity is wrong to think that the stories are a hundred percent true. And do not forget, there are plenty of other harbingers of Ragnarok besides Jormungandr and Fenrir."
The conversation ended as the waiter delivered their food, and silence lingered as everyone dug into their meals with gusto. It wasn't until the gods were all on their second helpings that the quiet was interrupted.
Neo noticed Phil mostly done with his meal and asked, "So what do you think about the food?"
"It's pretty good. I think I'll try it again, and I noticed that this place delivers," there was more behind the words, of course, but he didn't really feel like coming out and saying 'it was a waste of time to go out and eat'. He was busy trying to protect the world and honestly didn't feel like he had time to go on a date, because what else could this be, maybe when he was younger but not now.
"Though not all the way to your office, I would think," Neo replied, "besides, when would you find the time to order take-out if you're too busy to even eat."
"Uh-oh," Fenrir stage whispered across the table to Jormungandr, "Mom and Dad are fighting."
The serpent god let out a chuckle and quickly finished off his food before standing up, "Come on, we should leave so they can make out."
"Don't you mean 'make up'?"
A grin raised one corner of the older god's mouth, "In this case, I'm pretty sure it will be the same thing."
Neo blinked after the two retreating gods and mumbled to himself, "They totally just left me with the bill. Oh well…" he got the waiters attention and handed over his Lotus Casino card; if the lotus eaters where going to be handing out cards for free, who was Neo to reject them, besides it was payback for trying to trap him.
There was something else for Phil to add to his long list of reasons he really shouldn't even be thinking about a relationship with Neo; as an agent of SHIELD he was always waiting for a call, always 'on the clock'. What if he had to suddenly leave? He would never be able to say where he was going or what he was doing. Phil knows not to make plans ahead of time because there might be a sudden emergency, but in his past relationships he was still expected to be there for birthdays and anniversaries. Not to mention the danger; SHIELD came first because it was his job to protect people, but it put the people around him in danger. Neo would become a target for anyone who wanted to use him against Phil, and then there was the knowledge that most SHIELD agents didn't have high life expectancies.
There was also that small part of him (his inner critic) that told him he had been around the block one too many times as an agent to be considered an ideal boyfriend, or whatever Neo considered him. Phil knew that he wasn't as young as he once was or as handsome, and he definitely had a healthy dose of cynicism. He honestly believed that he wasn't capable of being in a relationship with a teenage god, no matter how mature said god could be. (A.N.: Phil is being a little pessimistic, but I want to remind everyone that in this fanfic Coulson looks slightly younger with muscles and more hair. I am not dissing Clark Gregg, he's a sexy beast! I'm just saying that in my story Phil looks a little different.)
But even with his list of reasons against it, there was still the undeniable attraction he had for the young god. There were a few times that Fury commented on him being a romantic, but Phil never thought he would have an honest to goodness 'butterflies in his stomach' reaction to someone; until he met the gorgeous young god that had taken his breath away. In a room full of excessively wealthy and beautiful people, Neo had been like a diamond in a mountain of coal. Years of SHIELD training had stopped him from showing his reaction to the teen during the firefighters benefit, but from that moment Phil has felt a constant pull toward Neo.
"I enjoyed lunch," Neo's words distracted Phil from his thoughts making him look up at the smiling face of the teen, "Thank you for coming with me." The look of genuine happiness coming from the god made the agents heart speed up a little.
"Thank you for inviting me," was the automatic reply.
Letting out a small puff of air in a quiet scoff, Neo rolled his eyes, "Oh please, unleashing pranks on your subordinates and then dragging you here does not constitute as an invitation. I just hope I don't have to resort to kidnapping you again in the future. Still, the food was good and the company enjoyable."
"So this was your plan all along? Why not just ask me over the phone?"
Neo smiled sheepishly and nervously rubbed his neck, "Well…I could say that it was more fun this way, or that I knew you would decline over the phone, but the simple answer is…you never gave me your phone number."
Phil's face was suddenly blank; Neo was right, he hadn't given the teen his number. 'I need to fix that before something like this happened again,' he thought, 'but how do I know he won't just do it again, anyway?' Phil reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a plan white card with black print, "Here," he said handing it to the raven haired man, "that's my contact number."
The god gave a mischievous smirk, "See that wasn't so hard."
"Actually it was very painful, but I'm sure my subordinates will appreciate my sacrifice," the older man joked as a lazy grin spread across his lips.
"Hah, that was funny," Neo commented as he beamed at the agent, "and you're smiling."
The young god chuckled again when the waiter returned with wide eyes to hand him back his card and receipt. The two men left as the server stuttered through his goodbye, too shocked at the infinite credit card to voice a proper farewell.
Unable to resist his desire to get closer to his mate, Neo shortened the gap between Phil and himself and slipped his hand into Phil's as they walked to the hummer but reluctantly let go before getting in the back next to Magnum, who had been watching over a certain shadow cub.
The ride to SHIELD HQ was shorter than expected, and the green eyed god got out of the car first to hold the door open for everyone.
Argyros let out a quiet cry as he flew overhead to let his godling know he was near, "The bald human-Cyclops is waiting for you, godling, be careful."
With a quiet laugh, Neo looked up to find Fury waiting for them when they entered the lobby.
"I am damn sure you are not authorized to be in here," the black clad man ground out between clenched teeth.
Fenrir shrugged, "You let us in this morning."
Fury fixed the wolf god with an angry look, "So you're the one who messed with my training rooms."
"Oh, did something happen?" Jormungandr asked innocently.
"Twenty-five…Twenty-five new recruits reported some kind of incident this morning while training. One of them was dragged to the med-bay for a sedative while screaming about a giant snake in the pool that tried to eat him. That particular recruit's file shows that he has Ophidiophobia, which is an abnormal fear of snakes. Then who should show up to take my best agent out to lunch but you…" Fury levels an accusing glance at Neo, "and suddenly no more reports about strange things happening in the training room."
With a bored expression, Neo looks the dark-skinned man in his eye, "I get the feeling you're trying to say something, but hold that thought."
To say everyone was surprised when the raven haired teen turned and grabbed the senior agent to draw the older man in close for a searing kiss, would be an understatement. Everything seemed to stop as agents all around the ground floor stared at the kid who was crazy enough to mess with Agent Coulson, but some of the women were secretly fan-girling. Then it blew their minds when Phil raised his hands to cradle the teens face and return the kiss. There was even a tell-tale thud of someone fainting, from a nose-bleed.
"See, I told you," Jormungandr said to his brother.
Fenrir just nodded, "Yep."
A vein on Fury's forehead suddenly popped up and started throbbing.
Neo was smiling happily when the kiss broke, "I could get addicted to kisses like that," he mused, "I'll have to come around more often, if that's how you're going to send me off."
Phil sighed, "I would appreciate you calling me first, maybe if I have enough time I can save someone from being mentally scarred again."
"Challenge accepted…" the young god said with a mischievous smirk.
"That's not what I meant," the brunette stated, but Neo seemed to ignore him.
"…but that will have to wait, I have to get back to the mansion. You should stop by for dinner," The raven haired god pecked the senior agent on the cheek before turning sharply and heading back toward the door, "Don't be a stranger, Dear. I'll call you later!"
The godly brothers were quick to follow their cousin as they returned to the stretched hummer and quickly drove away, with Argyros high in the sky following them.
*Break*
When the gods made it back to Xavier's mansion, everyone had returned. James, Victor and Bucky were playing pool in the Rec room when Neo found them. Fenrir had headed off to play with the students and Jormungandr had gone to keep an eye on his brother. Argyros and Zoul were outside hunting down a snack before dinner and Magnum went to the kitchen with Elric to act as a taste tester for the spirit.
The brunette mutant smiled at his mate, "Did you have fun while you were out?"
Neo laughed and regaled them with his version of events at SHIELD, which was pretty close to the truth. The ex-soldiers all laughed and finished up their game, before starting a new one and letting the god join them.
"With the way the vein on Fury's head was twitching, I seriously thought he was going to shoot me," the god admitted as he lined up his shot and sank one of his balls into a corner pocket.
"He still might," the familiar voice of Death said, causing the men to turn and look at the entity that had just appeared. Death noticed Bucky and held out a hand which the man took, "It is nice to meet you face-to-face Sergeant Barnes. I was a little busy when you were pulled into my Realm so I asked Life to meet you in my absence, besides I knew you would be alright," she sent a smile to Neo and the god could feel how proud the entity was of his ability to cross the Realms, not completely on his own but someday.
Bucky didn't know what to say to the Death, so he summoned up his charm and kissed her hand, "Nice to meet you too, Ma'am."
"You are quite the charmer, but you don't need to be so nervous, I just came to invite my Master to a party," Death said as she made her way toward Neo.
Neo gave Death a cautious look, "What party?"
"Frigga's coronation, of course," Death said dancing around Neo before placing her arm through his, "Silly Master, you did proclaim her Allmother while you were on Asgard. That kind of title does deserve a little pomp and circumstance."
"So, when is it?" Neo asked. No way was he going to miss his grandmother's coronation, or an excuse to visit his family.
Tomorrow, but I will be taking you tonight. As a member of the Royal Family of Asgard, you will need to be present during the ceremony, and tonight is the pre-coronation party where you will be officially introduced to the people as Thor's son and heir."
"I-I don't think that's necessary…," the young god started to deny.
"Rumors have already started to circulate. The people need the rumors to be confirmed, it will set their minds at ease and make it easier for everyone," Death elaborated with a sigh, "I know you don't like to be the center of so much attention, but it will die down eventually."
"Before or after?" he asked cynically.
Bucky gave a confused look, "Before or after, what?"
Death smirked, "He means 'before or after he commits a political faux pas', which is highly likely in Neo's case."
James wrapped his arm around Neo's shoulders and pulled him into his chest, "Don't look so worried. I may not act like it much but I know a thing or two about high class parties. I'll make sure you don't do something, too bad."
The green-eyed teen heard the teasing note in the mutant's voice and gave a glaring pout, "Gee, thanks."
"Actually," Death said from where she was leaning against the pool table as she silently observed the two, "Mortals cannot enter Asgard."
"Then James is perfect," Neo stated emphatically, "and Victor can come too."
"I don't do fancy parties," the blonde mutant objected, but his statement was overlooked as Death spoke again.
"You know that's not what I meant, I mean 'Mortals' as in beings without divine blood. James and Victor may have a hard time staying dead but they are not gods."
"I wasn't either until a short time ago," the young god countered, "and if this is a political thing, there must be representatives from other worlds showing up. What's the problem?"
Death sighed, "Now is not the right time, trust me on this," the grave tone and almost foreboding words made Neo hesitate, then Death tried to placate her Master, "Be at peace, Jormungandr and Fenrir will be expected to attend the coronation as well. You will also be accompanied by your servants, and do not forget that you will be meeting your Father and Uncle again once you arrive."
It was silent for a few seconds before Neo responded, "Fine, but if I get bored, I won't be held accountable for my actions and I'll blame it on you."
The entity gave a small smile, "I've been blamed for worse things. It's a party, have fun, live a little and teach those Asgardians how to relax. Everyone still goes around saying "King this," and "Prince that," so sick an army of blue ballerina bunnies on them for me."
Neo snorted and quickly tried to cover it with a cough. "Elric," the green-eyed teen called and wasn't surprised when the spirit walked into the room a few seconds later, "find Jormungandr and Fenrir, and tell them we will be leaving for Asgard soon."
The servant bowed, "Right away, my Lord," and then he was gone again.
Neo turned back to Death but the entity was no longer visible, though he still sensed Death in the room. The god pulled out of his mates hold and leaned over the pool table once again. The angle was perfect on his last ball and he sunk it before putting his cue stick back in the stand with a sigh.
James chuckled behind his mate, "You know, Darlin', it's pretty ironic…Death telling you to live a little."
The god bite his lip trying to hide a smirk, "Death has a point though," Neo said as he sashayed back to the brunette mutant, "and I have a few minutes before I have to leave. Why don't you give me a proper goodbye, love?"
"Let me get right on that," James said, his voice low and rumbling as he gripped Neo's waist pulling the god flush against him and crashing their lips together.
"Ugh, get a room," Victor grumbled before pulling a blushing Bucky out of the room with him. The only reply was James hands moving to Neo's butt and lifting the god into the air forcing him to wrap his legs around the older man's hips for support.