Remembrance of Things Past
The sequel to "The Animal Inside" and "The Dog Days are Over"

Part Twelve: Somewhere I Have Never Travelled

In battle, Steve knows, soldiers fall, but Natasha is not a soldier. She is his friend, and the silence on the comm the past few minutes has sent a thread of panic darting through him. He kicks again at the door to the stairwell, having shorn off the numeric pad with his shield, and it finally gives way beneath his boot.

Outside, he knows that Tony circles the last anti-aircraft gun, and Clint, in the plane, fires at the East watchtower. The Hulk charges the West watchtower, and thunder sounds as Thor releases the energy from Mjolnir at the swarm of robots that surround him. But what occurs down below with Loki and Natasha and Doom Steve does not know, and because of this, he runs.

He charges down the stairs, hearing nothing but the sound of his breathing and the clang of his boots on the stairs. He passes the first floor and then the second and then he hears something like lightning explode in the floor below.

Leaping over the rail, Steve jumps the rest of the way down and lands before an open steel door. Moving towards it, he sees nothing in the hall beyond but fading green light. He adjusts his grip on his shield and starts running down the hall to the last room on the left.

In the room, he finds Natasha on the floor beside an iron chair. Aside from the small circle of floor surrounding her, the rest of the room is charred, blackened and smoking. Steve does not see either Loki or Doom, but he sees the remains of a robot scattered about the room, still crackling with green energy.

"Natasha," he says as he moves toward her. "Natasha, are you all right? What happened?"

Disoriented, she looks up as he approaches. Steve sees a green symbol on her cheek start to fade as he kneels down beside her.

"Natasha. Talk to me. Where's Loki?"

She stares down at her right hand as he straps his shield to his back. "He took Doom," she says. "He took him… He couldn't get me out…" She peers beyond him to the shattered robot. "I don't… I don't know…"

She trails off, her voice thin, and Steve wills himself not to panic. He sees the burns on her wrists, her left hand held close to her chest, the fingers swollen and bruised. Activating the comm, he says, "Clint, bring the plane to the building. Now. I found Natasha."

Lifting Natasha into his arms, he eases back into the hall and starts for the stairwell, careful not to jostle her too much as he runs.

"We have to…" she says. "We have to find…"

"We will."

Steve climbs the stairs and inches around the broken door. He feels Natasha's head slump against his chest, and he knows that she has lost consciousness. Increasing his speed, he runs back down the hall and out of the building. The plane waits for him in the middle of the square. Clint lowers the rear hatch as he approaches, and once inside, he turns to him and yells, "Go."

Clint closes the hatch and takes off. "How is she?" he asks.

"Alive," Steve says as he lays Natasha on the bunk in the corner and straps her in.

"And him?" Clint asks. He pilots the plane away from the compound. "Where is he?"

Steve looks down at Natasha and remembers what she had said. "He took Doom, teleported him away, I guess. Natasha said he couldn't get her out for some reason, so he took Doom instead." Clint eyes him as he approaches, but refrains from comment. Removing his shield, Steve sits in the chair beside Clint and gives the evacuation order to the rest of the team.

When Steve had questioned him in the cage, Loki had admitted to Doom's skill as a sorcerer and how his earlier hubris had forced him to flee Venice with Natasha. And now Loki had chosen to face Doom alone, rather than keep Natasha within striking distance of him.

Steve sits for a moment, and then he presses the button connecting the plane to the Carrier. "Agent Hill?" he says.

"Yes?"

"Use whatever tech you have to scan the area for Loki and Doom. Search for unusual changes in the atmosphere, sudden reports of fires or earthquakes."

"Yes, sir. I can also patch into nearby video feeds and satellite relays. Any recommendations for a starting point?"

Steve pauses. He drums his fingers against the console and then he says, "Start by focusing on the places that Loki has been recently, Italy, Switzerland, and then on back."

"Yes, sir."

"And have medical waiting for us on the deck."

"Yes, sir," she says again, and Steve switches off the comm. He waits for Clint to respond to his order about Loki, but Clint stays silent. Steve knows how he feels about Natasha, and he knows how Clint suffered under Loki's subjugation; he can only guess how Clint feels about the past day, about the man that he hates sacrificing himself for the woman that Clint loves.

"When the plane lands," Steve says, "I want you to take Natasha to medical. I can pilot the plane to wherever we need to go next."

Clint stays silent and eyes him again, but then he nods and turns away.

Through the windshield, Steve sees the deck of the Carrier. Clint eases the plane around and approaches to land. As the wheels touch down upon the deck, the med team scurries over. Steve opens the hatch, and they move inside, freeing Natasha from the safety harness and placing her upon a stretcher.

Clint follows as they take her away.

Steve watches them disappear inside the Carrier and waits for the others to arrive. He wonders how he's going to explain to the future king of Asgard how his brother just vanished without a trace with the formidable psychotic sorcerer who's tried to kill him twice. Whatever level head Thor possesses vanishes when it comes to Loki, Steve knows. What would he do to rescue Loki? What would he do if they were too late?

He sees Tony land on the deck, Bruce in one hand, one of Doom's incapacitated robots in the other; Bruce lets go of Tony and shudders, then he says something to him. Tony shrugs, and Bruce narrows his eyes. Pushing back from the console, Steve grabs his shield and exits the plane. As he walks around to the front, Thor appears in the distance, Mjolnir thrust before him. He lands with a clang beside Tony.

"Where is Loki?" he asks, striding toward the plane.

Steve hesitates.

"Where is my brother?" Thor asks again, Mjolnir gripped tight in his hand.

Drawing in a deep breath, Steve says, "He's, uh, gone," and then he explains to Thor, Tony, and Bruce what he saw when he had found Natasha, what Natasha had said to him, and her final request for aid. "We don't know yet where they went," he finishes, watching Thor. "But we're looking. We should find them. Soon. We hope."

Thor stares at him, silent. In the stare, Steve sees why Thor will be the future king of Asgard, the weight of power heavy in his eyes. A moment passes, and then he nods at Steve. "Please express my apologies to Agent Fury," he says, turning away, "for what will happen next." Then he strides toward the middle of the deck and looks up into the sky.

Steve looks at Tony and Bruce, and they shrug. Turning to Thor, Bruce says, "Thor, what, uh, what is going to happen next? You know I don't mix very well with surprises."

Thor glances at Bruce and says, "I intend to request Heimdall to open the Bifrost so that I can return to Asgard and find Loki."

He looks again into the sky and opens his mouth to call, but then Tony darts forward and lays a hand on his arm. "Whoa, there, Fabio. I thought that the yellow brick road was broken and you had to use the Tesseract."

Thor shrugs off Tony's hand. "It was," he says, "but we harnessed the power of the Tesseract to repair it. I can return and Heimdall can search for Loki and—"

"And then you can go after both of them by yourself," Steve finishes.

Thor nods. "Loki is my brother, and I know you all think ill of him, so—"

"It doesn't matter what we think about Loki," Tony says. "We're a team. You're not going alone." Thor glares at Tony, but Tony holds his gaze, defiant.

"Tony's right," Steve says, starting forward to stand beside Thor. "But even if he weren't, we would still go. Your brother made the sacrifice play with Doom. It's only right that we follow suit."

Thor looks at him and then at Tony and Bruce. Shifting Mjolnir to his other hand, he glances up at the sky, hesitates, but then nods.

"Great," Tony says, bouncing lightly on his feet. "I always wanted to go to Oz. I hope we'll see Munchkins."

Bruce rolls his eyes as he moves to stand beside Tony. "I doubt it. Asgard's a land of gods, not midgets."

"Good thing Steve took his Wheaties then."

Steve glares at Tony, but refrains from comment. Turning to Thor, he says, "We're ready whenever you are."

Thor nods. Then he looks to the sky and bellows, "Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!"

The clouds above the Carrier begin to swirl. Steve cranes his head, and light, such as he has never seen before on Earth, shines upon him. The winds whip the swirling clouds into a funnel, and for the second time this year, Steve sees a glimpse of another world in the heavens. He has just enough time to draw in a breath, just enough time to question the sanity of this plan, before the sky charges down toward him, Bruce, Tony, and Thor. Stomach lurching, Steve closes his eyes, and the winds yank him away from Earth and hurl him across the stars to Asgard.


Steve remembers a ride at Coney Island that he rode before Captain America, before the war, that caused him to throw up the hot dogs that he had eaten about ten seconds into the ride: the Cyclone. He remembers Bucky laughing at him, remembers the acrid taste of bile in his mouth, the swoop in his gut that threatened a repeat performance. Steve feels the same bile now, the same swoop, as the winds still around him and solid footing reappears beneath his feet.

Tony moans beside him; Steve thinks he's lying on the ground, but he can't open his eyes to look, not yet.

"Oh my god," Tony moans again, "I'm going to puke. I need a bag, no, a bucket. Bruce, do you think that the Hulk would mind if I hurled on him?"

"I think he might." Bruce sounds as queasy as Tony.

Steve swallows hard and draws in a deep breath, steadying his nerves. Then he opens his eyes and feels queasy all over again as the most beautiful woman that he's seen since Peggy Carter stands before him. She is tall, with long brown hair and brown eyes and the strong carriage of a warrior.

"Hi," he says dumbly.

She narrows her eyes at him, but before he can say more, Thor strides forward and says, "Sif. Report."

The woman, Sif, turns to Thor and says, "Heimdall searches from the Bridge."

"Excellent," Thor says. He starts to move away, but Sif lays a hand upon his arm. "Do you know what Loki has done for her?" she asks quietly, casting a quick look at Steve.

Thor frowns and shakes his head.

Sif hesitates, looking again at Steve, and then she says, "He invoked ægishjálmr. He bestowed the rune upon her."

Thor stares at Sif, his eyes wide. Then he begins to run, charging past Tony and Bruce as he races from the room, shouting for Heimdall.

Steve watches him go, confusion drawing his brows together. "Uh, ma'am," he says. "What just happened?"

Sif glances at him. Her gaze is sober, but Steve sees traces of awe in her eyes. "Ægishjálmr is the Helm of Awe," she says. "In Asgardian magic, it is our most powerful and ancient form of protection. It requires one to give of himself in order to invoke the protection."

"Give? Give what?"

"Life," Sif says. "Given the cost, few conjure the rune, save for family or those… for those…"

"Those in love?" Steve asks.

Sif nods. "Loki has rendered himself vulnerable before a powerful foe," she continues, looking around the golden chamber. "I never thought I would see such a day, Loki regarding another before himself."

"Love does that to a person," Steve says. He remembers his own desperate chase after Red Skull, Peggy pulling him down and kissing him before he jumped onto the plane, before he crashed and was lost for a lifetime.

Sif peers at him again, but before she can speak, Thor strides back into the chamber, Heimdall trailing behind him. "We have a location," he says, returning to his position by Steve.

Tony groans for the third time, but he pushes himself up off the ground. He helps Bruce to stand and then says, "I feel worse than I did that time I got drunk and did figure eights around the Empire State Building. Naked."

Bruce closes his eyes and swallows hard. "Not an image I wanted to see, man."

Thor waits for them to gather. He pauses as Sif steps up beside him, a double-edged spear now in her hands. Looking at him, she says, "I watched you mourn for Loki. Now I will help you fight for him."

Thor assesses her carefully. After a moment, he says, "Thank you. I will not forget your aid." Turning to the others, he asks, "Ready?"

"No," Tony says.

"Yes," Steve says, shooting Tony a look. Tony shrugs and leans an elbow against Bruce's shoulder.

"Then Heimdall," Thor says, "please open the Bifrost."


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