Disclaimer: Because I'd totally be using my ideas for fanfic if I owned Avengers... right.
A/N: So, I owe everyone a massive apology. I planned on updating this Saturday, actually had it done on Friday, and then got distracted/forgot until this evening. So, without further ado, here is the next bit of Bea's adventures. Hope ya'll can forgive my absent-mindedness. Thank you all for your tremendous support while I went through my little diva stage. On with the show!
ALSO! My 'plan' is now to finish up a weekly chapter before I go to bed Thursday nights, which means that I should be posting Friday evenings when reader traffic is higher and you all get to start your weekends. Sound like a plan?
Chapter 12: In Which Sif Snacks
"So he has been speaking to you," Thor said, "all these months since…" he gestured at the cool spot between Bea's collar bones, unable to frame his brother's transgression with words.
"More or less," said Bea. "Nosing around in my head might be a better description."
Thor took a long breath and settled his fists on his knees. Disconcerted Thor, Bea mused, was even cuter than Pouty Thor. The two looks were similar, but Disconcerted Thor smacked less of Spoiled Princeling and had a sheen of Future Monarch. Adorable, really.
"Whatever it was," Thor said, "you have had more words from him than any in Asgard since our return." He rubbed his face, a long pulling motion that dragged down his lower lids, wordlessly conveying the weary frustration resulting from his brotherly love. "He spoke not a word at the trial, nothing in his own defense, not even an insult."
"Well, that's saying something."
"Indeed." Thor took another tremendous breath and said, "So it was Loki who warned you about possible assassins in Asgard."
"Yes. And I'm sure you can see my dilemma. I know Loki can't be trusted, but…"
"But it is possible that there is some truth threaded through Loki's lies."
"And the only reason he'd lie about this at all would be if he wanted the Chitauri to get a foothold on Earth… or if he was just being generally devious and divisive, I suppose, which wouldn't be unusual."
Thor seemed puzzled. "Then that should bring you some comfort. Clearly my brother's actions have shown who his allies are, and his goal was most certainly conquest of Midgard."
"Well, yes, but I'm not so sure that it is now."
Thor's eyebrows flew up into his tousled golden rat's nest. "And why not?"
"Firstly, there isn't any proof Loki knows the Chitauri are coming to Earth, and the only way he could would be if he picked it up second hand from me somehow, but I don't think he has. We haven't chatted since I got the whole story. Also… because I saw stuff, right before you left," Bea said. She flapped her hands helplessly, trying to figure out how to describe the shreds of past and future that clung like cobwebs to the figures she saw in the present. "I bend time, right? Well, I see time differently. There are bits of stuff that happened before the present, and sometimes bits of stuff that might happen in the future, and I can see them stuck on everything that exists now. Before Loki left with you, I saw something – some threat from the Chitauri. I'm not sure if you've gathered this already or not, but Loki was definitely tortured in some way before he came through the portal to Earth." Thor tensed. So, maybe they hadn't figured that part out yet. Bea settled a hand on the thunder god's arm (it only covered, like, a fifth of his bicep) and pressed on. "Anyway, they warned him about the consequences of failure – what they would do to him. They gave him a sample, and they promised that he wouldn't be able to hide from them in any realm. Even if they were chummy pals before Loki failed to deliver the Tesseract, they definitely aren't now. Not unless Loki is the ultimate masochist. If the Chitauri take Earth, then they have a good solid base they can attack Asgard from. I really don't think Loki wants that now, even if he might have before."
For a few minutes, Thor was silent, and Bea reclaimed her hand in order to twiddle her thumbs while she waited for the prince to process her information.
"We must share this insight with my father," he said at length.
"I guess, but he's probably already figured it out," Bea said. "I mean, he hasn't ruled an entire realm for thousands of years just because he's lucky. He has to be smart, like, REALLY smart. And there's no telling how much of this your gatekeeper with the shiny eyes has already told him."
"Heimdall cannot always see the spaces between the realms," said Thor, "but, yes, he might have even more information than we do. Regardless," he clapped his hands against his knees and shoved himself onto his feet, "my father's duties will keep him occupied for some time. At earliest, we will be able to meet with him tomorrow. In the meantime, I am sure that you are hungry now that the effects of the Bifrost has worn off and your nerves have had time to recover from your introduction at court."
Bea's stomach gurgled. "I think that's a yes."
"Well, then," the twinkle was back, "to dinner!"
.O.O.O.
Though Bea feared massive banquet halls crammed with boisterous tipsy Asgardians, Thor did not lead her back to the more public areas of the palace, but rather down a mere two corridors and into a small room (small by Asgardian standards, at any rate). Inside was a fire, a long table shoved to one wall with a sizable spread of food set upon it, and four warriors reclining in various positions on the comfortable benches and chairs ringing the blaze.
The scene was cozy, comfortable and surprisingly dark. Unlike every other inch of Asgard Bea had been introduced to, this room had minimal gilding and lots of unlighted edges and corners. It was… private. Being welcomed into such a setting suddenly felt far more important to Bea than any royal race through the streets or pomp and circumstance in the throne room. She was welcomed, and here was proof.
Lady Sif and the Warriors Three scrambled to meet their prince, rising from their languid poses. Volstagg clawed furiously at his beard, triggering a waterfall of crumbs. Then he hastily wiped his hands off on his tunic. Clearly, someone had gotten hungry before Thor and Bea arrived. That seemed to be a regular occurrence, though, because no one batted an eyelash at the indiscreet cover-up.
"I have brought our new friend to dine with us," Thor announced. He clapped her on the shoulder hard enough to send Bea staggering. Her knees nearly buckled. Thor's friends murmured their approval and the whole herd headed towards the table.
Bea hung back and looked over the shadowed walls, searching for a good spot to dump her ugly S.H.I.E.L.D.-issued backpack. It was not exactly polite to eat with your pack on your back, regardless of what realm you found yourself in. Sif, who had been lingering towards the back of the Man Herd, noticed as Bea quietly lowered the black lump to the floor, and her growl of frustration startled even Volstagg from filling his plate.
"Thor," Sif said, voice like a blade, "please do not tell me that you have not yet shown your guest to her quarters and offered her the chance to leave her luggage."
Thor blanched, Fandral and Volstagg chortled, Hogun looked on in cool nonchalance, and Sif's glare slowly simmered her future sovereign. Bea settled for shifting from foot to foot and trying not to feel awkward. She really couldn't blame Thor as she was pretty sure he didn't usually have to deal with people who carried their own junk. Princes and nobles probably had loads of servants for that stuff. Bea just had her trust spine.
"Er," she said, "it's really not that big a deal…"
Sif rolled her eyes, marched over to Bea, and took her by the arm. With the firm authority of a woman used to issuing commands on the battlefield, she lead (dragged) Bea over to the table and picked up two plates, one of which she handed to her prisoner.
"If Thor has subjected you to the indignity of strolling about Asgard with your luggage on your back, then the least we can do is ensure that you get your fill of food before these vultures descend."
Bea wondered how undignified Sif would find a college campus – where everyone carried their crap on their backs.
"What an unflattering simile," Fandral said.
"I do not eat carrion," Volstagg said, clearly offended.
"I am sorry," said Thor, looking every inch the kicked puppy. His head was ducked low, his shoulders hunched, his big blue eyes wider than usual. If he had a tail, it would be between his legs.
Bea always had a soft spot for puppies. "It's really not a problem…"
"Oh yes it is," Sif snapped. She grabbed Bea's plate from her hands and piled it high with meat, bread, cheese and fruit. Then she plonked it back into Bea's hand and steered her bodily towards the couches. "Don't give him an inch. He needs to have some discipline every now and again."
"Ok…" Bea let the agreement trail off and cast an apologetic look over her shoulder at Thor.
Her forgiveness seemed to be enough to restore Thor's appetite, and he joined the Warriors Three as they began divvying up the remainder of the feast. Watching their enthusiasm, Bea was glad Sif had forced her to go first.
"There won't be a crumb left on that table once Volstagg is done with it," Sif said. Her voice spoke annoyance, but the smirk-y smile at the corner of her mouth spoke fondness. These were definitely her boys. She was like the Asgardian version of Agent Romanoff. When that thought popped into her head, Bea had to take a big bite of bread to hide her grin. Oh, goodness, those two needed to meet.
"I really do apologize for Thor's manners," Sif continued. "Usually Loki would…" She let the sentence die, a sentence that had clearly surprised her by sneaking out of her brain and off her tongue without permission. Bea felt the chill of the missing words (and the name) settle low in her spine.
Loki.
Amazing how she had forgotten the monster in the closet while the lights were still on.
Suddenly she missed Tony. Tony and his personal bar. The only way he could stumble through so much angst and terror probably was because he was constantly drunk. Maybe he could teach her – though the migraine she'd gotten as part of her hang-over package was definitely a cautionary tale of morning after regrets.
She closed her eyes, leaned back into the firm support of the couch and tried not to shudder. Now that she was in Asgard, what sort of dreams would Loki spin her through?
The rest of the evening rushed by faster than Bea would have liked, even though she wore a paper smile pasted on her face after Sif's slip. The boys were busy trading stories of high adventure and might deeds done in distant lands, and Sif was busy maintaining an acid-sharp commentary on the improbability of some of their claims. Bea sat through it, laughing, eating and sipping at her drink. All too soon, it was time for them to all retire to their separate chambers, and Thor led Bea to the room he 'ought' to have shown her earlier. It was with some relief that Bea realized that most occupants of the palace had already retired for the night. Hardly anyone was in the halls. A short night was, in her opinion, a good one. It gave Loki less time to play with her head.
At the door to her room, Thor stopped and informed Bea of the next day's schedule. He promised that a servant would come and wake her, and that he'd stop by to pick her up on the way to breakfast. A word of thanks, two goodnights, and Bea was alone.
Her room was beyond nice, of course, and more than adequately shiny, and for a while she had no trouble staying awake. It was ridiculous to think that she could (or should) pull all-nighters for her entire stay in Asgard, but she was feeling ambitious – and terrified – and that made for a pretty potent mix. But it had been a long day, and she was suffering from the intergalactic rendition of jet lag, so it was only a matter of time before Bea's world began to blur around the edges.
And that was when she heard the god of mischief summoning her to sleep.
Bea.
She shook her head. Stood up. Paced the room a few times. Then she sat back down at the edge of the bed, and her weariness came crashing over her head like a cresting wave.
Loki was laughing. Don't fight so hard. You know you need to sleep. You'll need your stamina for the day ahead of you.
This time she only succeeded in twitching. At that point she knew she'd lost.
And she was falling backwards down a satin-smooth green hill.
Come and find me.
When she woke up, she was lying in an awkward position across the bed, still dressed in the clothes she'd arrived in. She sat up slowly, feeling stiff but well rested, which was surprising for several reasons, the first of which being that she had stayed up to the wee hours of the morning with Thor and Friends, the second being the fact that she knew Loki had been in her head.
And that was when she realized that she couldn't remember what she'd dreamed. All she could remember was… Come find me.
She needed to talk with Thor.
.O.O.O.
The servant came as promised, and Bea spent an excruciating half hour being scrubbed, primped and polished by a woman who was in too great a hurry to even give Bea her name. The closest to a conversation they got was when the woman made a noise of deep distress at the sight of Bea's hair (short and patchy with grey) and Bea's response: "Don't bother. I gave up dealing with that mess ages ago." The woman did not give up, but she was clearly unhappy with the final results. Bea didn't care much one way or the other. All of Asgard had seen her after she'd been chewed up and spat out by the Bifrost, so, no matter what the woman did with her appearance, it couldn't possibly make it any worse.
When Thor finally showed up Bea saw it as an escape and happily launched herself out the door. The woman had been trying to take her measurements. The clothes Bea brought from Earth weren't terribly fancy (Not much could be shoved into a backpack without being utterly ruined), but she preferred her plain clothes to the heavy skirts and armored jewelry the Asgardian women wore.
Breakfast was in the same private room where they'd celebrated the night before, and Bea struggled to wait patiently while everyone finished their meals. Volstagg's appetite had never bothered her so much.
She needed to ask Thor about Loki, and she needed to ask in the very near future.
The fact that she couldn't remember her dream scared her even more than some of the twisted nightmares Loki had sent her when he was in a bad mood.
Once everyone was done and on their way, Thor asked, "Did you receive an overview of today's plans?"
"Um, no, come to think of it. I think my hair traumatized the poor woman who came to wake me up past the point of coherent speech."
Thor found this hysterical and announced the fact to half of Asgard with his thunderclap of a laugh. "Well then." He said, once he was recovered. "I will try to keep you apprised of the situation. Presently, we are going to see my mother, Queen Frigga."
"The Queen?" Bea squeaked. Maybe her clothes were inappropriate after all. She ran her hands over her shirt, like she could magically transform it into something shinier.
"Yes. She was Loki's first teacher in the magic arts. We are going to see her so that she may attempt to pry the stone from your chest."
"Oh, I get it. Right. Hmm. Not a healer or something?"
"No, not a healer. Healers fix damage done to the body, but the stone in your chest is a magical affliction, not an injury or sickness. Trust me, my mother will be able to do far more for you than the healers."
"Well, I trust you, so I guess I'll just have to believe you, too," Bea said, trying to chase away her anxiety with teasing.
"Yes, you will." Thor smiled.
Bea still needed to find out what happened to Loki – for the sake of Earth, for the sake of her sanity – but she wanted the stone out of her chest just enough. She was tired of being Loki's tagged whale swimming around in the ocean, stalked by researchers.
Then they were at the Queen's door, and Thor was knocking.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me thus far! Stuff will beginning picking up speed in the next chapter, and I look forward to continuing this fic!
Reviewer of the chapter: Has to go to ThisLooksLikeAJobForMe, because that was a hilariously valid point, and ! No wonder Loki wanted to take over Earth then, right?
Reader response:
Guest: Well, thank you very much! As this chapter proves, I have not given up on this puppy yet! I hope you keep reading, and thanks again!