A nice long chapter for my fav reviewer, sbrock777! REVIEW more and follow sbrock777's example!
I stirred my tea with a little spoon as I waited. My daughter, Hela, the guardian of the Realm of the Dead, was escorted into the lush palace garden by several guards.
"Father, it's been a while," she said, sitting opposite me on the
"Yes, I'm sure you can understand why," I said bitterly. She sighed condescendingly.
"You caused quite a rush, you know. I had to create a holding place for all of the mortals and Chitauri that came through here that day until I could properly place them all."
"My sincerest apologies," I said, smirking a little. She returned the smirk; so like me.
"You know, the Allfather gave me strict instructions to alert him if I ever saw you. Unfortunately for him, cruel and torturous punishments are my job. Besides, family first, right?"
"That's my girl," I said, grinning darkly at her.
"Now don't tell me you came all the way to Helheim just to visit little old me. What do you want?"
"Actually, I have come to ask you a favor." She quirked a grin and settled in her seat, daintily biting into a finger sandwich.
"You want me to raise the dead again, don't you? It's not as easy as it looks, you know."
"Yes, I know, but this is an emergency. You see, I am trying to make amends with the Avengers—surely you've heard of them?"
"Oh, yes, I have very good plans for them."
"Yes, well, one of them has . . . aided me in my exile, and we have grown quite close. He wishes to present me to the other Avengers, but they are still angry with me. So, I would like to return someone that I have taken from them, so they see I bear no ill will."
"Clever. Phil Coulson, correct? Well, he is on the nice list, so I'm sure I can pull some strings. He'll have to agree to it, of course, and being dead isn't as bad as it seems."
"If he does not wish to be returned to life, I'll just have to think of something else to offer the Avengers. However, I've never had much trouble persuading people to see things my way, have I?" Hela chuckled brightly.
"Oh, how I envy children who hate their parents! Viktor, send word to Phil Coulson, and invite him for tea," she ordered. One of the guards stepped through the gate, and some servants moved to set a place for him. Hela's expression turned grim and her jaw set. "You know, the strangest thing happened the other day. I was sorting through the deaths of the evening, and I came across none other than the God of Mischief himself!" The sky darkened and her volume raised in her anger.
I chewed my lip forlornly. Of course, I hadn't survived that suicide attempt at all!
"I straightway sent you back to life, of course, but I must insist that you stop your suicidal thoughts immediately! There are rules here, you know, rules that even I have to follow!"
"I was not in my right mind then," I explained with little guilt. "I assure you, I no longer have such destructive desires."
"You'd better not." She narrowed her eyes at me as the gate opened, revealing that Coulson man that I had killed. He smiled warmly at me and sat at his place.
"Loki, you can't be dead already?" he chuckled. "And getting special treatment, I see," he added, referring to Hela.
"Loki is my father," Hela informed him.
"Oh, is that so? I should have studied up on my Norse mythology when Thor came around. So, what brings you here?"
"First of all, I really must apologize for, well, killing you." He laughed politely.
"Don't worry about it, really. I expected as much as soon as I decided to try that mysterious gun on you." I smiled fondly at the memory, still feeling bad about killing him.
"Yes, well, I must admit that is not my initial reason for summoning you. You see, I am attempting to reconcile with the Avengers, and I thought perhaps they would, as it were, warm up to me if I brought them a gift of sorts. If you don't mind, I would request that you return with me to the realm of the living." He raised his eyebrows and laughed again.
"Rather bold of you to come asking for my help, eh? Of course, I hold no grudges. Still, I don't know if I want to be alive again. Being dead isn't as bad as they say, you know."
"Yes, I should think so."
"Coulson," Hela interrupted, "before you decide, you should know that you have been gone approximately three years, and that you will return in the state you were when you left."
"Don't think of is as helping me. Your friends have missed you quite a lot, and they will be grateful for the return of your company, I'm sure." He gave me a crooked grin.
"Well, I never did get those Captain America cards signed." I smiled at him as he sipped his tea.
"We'll have to get started on the process right away," Hela said. "Time moves faster on Midgard. You've been away for two days already." I stood up with them and we hurried to the gate. "Coulson, you'll experience a strange sensation, but don't worry about it, it's normal. You need a new body, and I'd advise against visiting your grave, it tends to cause some emotional trauma. Also, you are forbidden from revealing the secrets of this realm and/or describing your death, the placement process, and/or your place of residence," she recited warily. "Do you accept?"
"I accept," he said.
"Take Loki's hand, and you'll be on your way. Be careful and don't get separated!" I held Coulson's hand tightly and began to teleport, feeling and seeing the red glow around us as Hela worked her own magic. We appeared in my apartment, and I sat him down on the couch.
"You'll feel a little shaky and dizzy, but that will wear off," I told him. I sighed and picked up the Stark phone, still uneasy about using it. I pushed the button that Tony showed me and listened to a ringing sound.
"Loki? Are you back? Thank the stars! I've been worried sick!" Tony said.
"Oh, hello Tony. I have the gift, and I got a little trinket for you and Thor while I was away."
"What exactly did you get?"
"Uh, well, it's more of a who . . ."
"A who? You brought us a person?"
"Yes."
"Oh, okay, that makes sense," he said, though he didn't sound like he actually meant it. "Are you in your apartment? I'm coming to get you."
"Wait, I should warn you, it may be a bit surprising," I said, looking at Coulson as he got used to having a body again. There was a thunk on my balcony. "That was fast."
"Yeah, can I come in or what?"
"Wait, I think you should know who it is first, so you're not, uh, too shocked."
"Okay, so who is it?"
"Phil Coulson." The other end was silent for a moment. "Um, Tony? Are you coming in?"
"Phil Coulson? As in, the Phil Coulson that you killed?"
"Well, sort of, I guess so . . . I'm sorry . . ." I whispered. The balcony door opened and Tony came in without his suit, staring at Coulson. I put the phone down after pushing the red button and watched him carefully, twisting my fingers nervously.
"Stark; it's been a while," Coulson says politely but tiredly.
"C-Coulson . . . your dead," Tony said, sitting down next to him slowly.
"Not exactly. You see, Loki's daughter, Hela, is the ruler of, well, the place you go when you die. Loki came and asked for me to be returned to life, something about 'reconciling with the Avengers'." Tony raised his eyebrows at me.
"You, okay, hang on, you have a daughter, who happens to be the ruler of the Underworld, and you told her to bring our dead friend back to life? That's insane!"
"I know," I said, coming to sit by him. "Do you think it's too much? I could send him back." Tony gasped and clutched Coulson's arm protectively.
"N-no! Are you crazy? No, don't send him back! Wow, this, this intense. Okay, so, uh . . . whew, I need a minute." He got off of the couch, went into my bedroom and shut the door. I looked at Coulson worriedly and waited a moment before knocking tentatively on the bedroom door.
"Tony? Are you okay? Can I come in?" There was a soft noise from the other side, which I assumed was approval, so I entered slowly and shut the door behind me. Tony was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. I sat next to him and put my arm around him cautiously. "I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't think you would . . . react like this. I just thought, I mean, you all seemed upset when he died, so I thought it might be nice . . ."
"No, don't be sorry, it's fine. No, it's cool; I mean, Coulson's back! This is great! It's just . . . unexpected." He sat up abruptly then and pulled me back to the living room. "Come on, we've got to tell the others!"
"Wait, won't they kind of freak out? Like you did?" Coulson asked.
"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. But, this is, like, the best thing that's ever happened! We've got to tell them!" He pulled us to the door before pausing. "Uh, do either of you have a car? Never mind, I'll call Happy." He did, and we waited outside for him for about ten minutes. Tony was gushing over Coulson, apologizing for things he had done to him and catching him up on the latest Avenger's gossip.
A limo pulled up and we got inside, Tony continuing the gushing until we reached the Tower. I seemed to be jealous of the attention, but I warded it off the best I could. After all, Tony had been quite upset after Coulson's death, so it was expected. I was so nervous when we started up the elevator, I started hyperventilating.
"Loki, what's wrong? It's gonna be okay," Tony said, trying to comfort me.
"I'm afraid, Tony," I admitted. "Maybe I should let Coulson go first. I'll wait . . . somewhere else. I-I could turn invisible, until I think their ready, okay?" Tony looked hesitant, but eventually agreed. The elevator stopped, and it felt like an eternity before the doors slowly opened.
I know, I hate cliff hangers! I have been typing chapters like crazy and posting chapters I wrote a while ago, but you finally caught up to me and I need to go to bed! I'll try to update ASAP so don't worry! If you review fast enough, maybe you can give a few ideas about how they should react?