Timeline:
[x] (2012) The Avengers
[x] (2013) Iron Man 3
[x] (2013) Thor: The Dark World
[ ] (2014) Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Guardians of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2
[ ] (2015) Avengers: Age of Ultron; Ant-Man
[ ] (2016) Captain America: Civil War; Spider-Man: Homecoming
[ ] (2017) Doctor Strange; Black Panther; Thor: Ragnarok
[ ] (2018) Avengers: Infinity War

The backlash from Hari's shield falling sends them flying backwards, and Tony lets out a grunt when his back hits the wall. Sparks of pain creep up to his neck, making him wince. Hari's hand tightens around her wand, just barely managing to keep it.

"GET DOWN!" Thor screams, Mjolnir already crackling with electricity, pushing a weakly stumbling Jane behind him.

Tony rolls so that he's on top of Hari, shielding her with his body. Her eyes are wide, startled, and she casts another shield charm around them.

Odin shouts to the guards, "Bring Frigga!" just before one of them tackles him to the floor.

Thor's aim is true, and he pushes as much lightning into that red energy as he can, the pressure building and building until the small room is hot and it's hard to breathe.

The energy shrieks, like steam escaping from a pipe, and then it explodes into tiny, broken fragments.

Hari's shield holds up, protecting them from the blast.

Tony's hands shake just a bit as he brushes hair away from her face. He licks his lips and gets off her, carefully looking her over to make sure she's unharmed.

"Are you okay?" she asks him.

He stands up, extending a hand to pull her to her feet. "Oh, I'm peachy fucking keen," he says. He turns to Thor, demands, "What the hell is that thing?"

Thor shakes his head in confusion. "I have never seen this before."

Hari's fingers dig into Tony's arm. "It's…reforming?"

They look at the fragments, slowly converging into bigger pieces. Odin orders the room to be evacuated. The healers and guards scramble to obey, rushing out of the room. Thor leads Jane to one of the guards with orders of her being escorted to a room near his. She's resistant at first, eyeing the red energy twisting and turning on the floor with trepidation, but Thor is persistent, and soon enough she is walking out of the door, turning back and looking at him with concern.

Tony shakes his head. This doesn't make any kind of sense. He's never seen anything like this, which isn't saying much since he's only been studying magic for the past month or so, but for Thor and Hari to not know what the fuck is going on?

With an explosive sigh, Hari reaches into her left pocket. Tony's eyes widen when her hand reaches in much deeper than it should.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

She grins at him and pulls out a bound roll of leather. "While we don't know exactly what that is, I think it's safe to assume that it shouldn't be free to roam about." She unties the twine keeping the leather rolled up.

"Is that your Auror toolkit?" he asks, eyeing the many compartments and devices neatly secured in the pouches.

"Close," Hari says. She makes a small hum when she pulls out a gleaming, silver dagger, the handle carved with intricate symbols that seem to glow ominously. "Ron's older brother Bill works as a Curse Breaker. He gave us a kit each when we officially joined the Auror Corps, just in case we ever ran into anything that would need to be neutralized, if possible, or require containment otherwise."

"There are only certain containers capable of performing such a task," Odin interjects. There's not a hair out of place despite his sudden meeting with the ground. He scowls at Hari.

Hari waves him off, unconcerned. She reaches into another pouch and pulls out a smooth block of wood. "Wood is an excellent conductor for magic, otherwise our wands wouldn't work," she tells Tony. Hari gestures to the block of wood. "This is a block of rowan, which has excellent protection properties."

"What's the dagger for?" Tony asks, eyeing it skeptically. Hari smiles, but it comes out more as a grimace. She takes the dagger and slices her palm, the cut immediately spilling blood. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Blood is full of magic," Hari explains. She lets the blood drip to her fingers and then starts to trace bloody symbols over the block of wood. "I'm drawing the rune thurisaz for a number of reasons. Thurisaz invokes an active defensive force, and it governs the destruction of enemies."

Tony narrows his eyes at her. "I thought blood magic was illegal?"

Hari gives him the most innocent expression she can muster. "It is?" At his flat look, she becomes more serious, says, "It is technically illegal, yes, but only in Great Britain. There are plenty of countries that still practice blood magic because they understand one person misusing it does not negate all the good that is possible."

Tony swallows thickly, still looking at her blood-soaked hand. "Did you have to cut yourself so badly?"

Hari keeps drawing the runes onto the block until there are several rows of bloody runes. "This is time-sensitive work, and fingers wouldn't bleed the amount of blood I need," she explains. She lets out another sigh, making her bangs fly up. She grabs onto her wand with only the barest hint of a wince, tells him, "You're going to want to stand back or put on the suit. This thing is probably going to fight me, and I don't know how bad the backlash is going to be."

Tony opens the suit, allowing the armor to enclose his body, the metal clinking and cinching together. It takes a little longer than he'd like, and Tony's already thought of six different ways he could improve it by the time his helmet snaps into place.

JARVIS' warm voice is missing, and Tony can't help but think how wrong that is. There's gotta be a way to extend JARVIS' reach to space. Not that he ever plans on being in space again, but Murphy's Law is a thing that Tony is intimately familiar with.

Hari tightens her grip on her wand. She murmurs something under her breath, and the energy lets out harsh shrieks as it is forcibly turned whole again. It tries to slither away, but with a firm flick of her wand, the energy is pulled closer and closer to the block of rowan.

The bloody runes glow ominously, a bright red-yellow that gets even brighter when the energy makes contact with it. The energy hisses, serpentine, but Hari thins her lips, and keeps her wand pointed at it.

Tony watches with horrified fascination. He's never felt so useless in his life. Not when he was slowly dying from palladium poisoning, not when he flew that bomb into the wormhole, not even when Pepper fell two hundred feet. Because in all of those events, he still had choices, options, a plan of action to follow. He could still do something, whether it was (re)discover a new element, fly into space with a wormhole on his back, or desperately reach out his hand.

But this?

This otherworldly battle where magic determines the victor?

He can't help Hari with this.

Hari's eyes glow a poisonous, acidic green, and Tony's breath catches in his throat when her lightning bolt scar, the scar that reminds her of what she's lost, the scar that shot her into stardom, that same fucking scar that she painstakingly covers every single day, is split open.

Tony isn't a medical doctor, but even he knows that shouldn't be possible. That scar is over thirty years old, long healed, but now it's an angry, irritated crimson that drips down her face until it looks like she's crying blood.

Scars don't do that.

The energy shrieks in excitement, thrashes in an attempt to reach Hari, but she grits her teeth, plants her feet firmly, and she doesn't budge. The rowan starts to smoke as the red-hot runes are scorched into it, and with a final slash of her wand, the energy is sealed into the rowan with furious and mournful hisses.

Hari takes a deep breath, and she sways at her feet.

Tony's at her side in an instant, his helmet snapping back to reveal his worried face. "Hari? Come on, hun, talk to me," he says, reaching out to steady her.

She blinks sluggishly and turns to him. The whites of her eyes are bloodshot, and her scar is oozing a mixture of blood and plasma. Her face is grey, pasty. "Tha' was... not fun," she says decisively, nods her head in confirmation. Then her hands reach up to clutch her skull and she moans, "No' a good idea!"

The suit peels off him and folds conveniently back into the suitcase. "She needs help," Tony says, looking over at Thor.

Thor is staring at her in something akin to awe and respect, and while that's nice and all, feelings don't heal cuts, so he clears his throat pointedly. Thor's attention snaps over to Tony, and he says simply, "She is worthy."

"Of course, she is," Tony snaps. "She's worth some medical attention after she just saved our asses."

"I can help her."

Tony turns towards the new voice. A woman with long, curly red hair is standing in the entryway wearing a long, flowing blue dress that nearly pools at her feet. She walks towards them briskly, her hand glowing as she arcs it. He tenses, eyeing her skeptically.

"You have no reason to be worried, Man of Iron. My mother Frigga is an accomplished sorceress, and healer," Thor says with a smile, taking a small step towards her.

Tony nods his head, but he still watches her like a hawk.

Frigga frowns, her delicate brows knitted together as she studies the scar on Hari's head. It knits together very slowly. "This mark," Frigga says softly, "is no normal scar."

Hari grimaces. "It sure isn't," she agrees, but doesn't offer more information.

Frigga is undeterred, says, "Sowilo symbolizes strength and success. It is no wonder you were able to contain the Aether by yourself." She steps away when she's done healing Hari, hands her a handkerchief to wipe away the blood.

Hari accepts it with a tight smile. Tony takes the handkerchief from her hands and he starts to wipe away the blood, using his fingers to lift her chin. She smiles softly at him. "I'm okay," she says quietly.

"You and I might have similar ideas of okay, and let me tell you, hun, that's not a good thing," he tells her, his lips quirked in a half-smile.

"Mother, you know what that was?" Thor asks.

"There are relics that pre-date the universe itself," Odin says. His one eye is trained on Hari, watching her warily. "When the Dark Elves still existed, the leader, Malekith, forged a weapon out of darkness called the Aether. The other relics appear as stones, known as the Infinity Stones, but the Aether is fluid, ever changing, and it seeks out host bodies, drawing strength from their life force."

"So, it was draining Jane's life force," Thor reasons. "If it had a host, why did it leave?"

"Because it sensed a stronger life force," Frigga says. She studies Hari, who shuffles a little under the weight of her gaze.

"That doesn't make sense," Tony says. "We were around Jane back on Earth, and it didn't try to," he waves the bloody handkerchief around, "change hosts."

"The Aether was dormant in Jane until she was grabbed, at which point it lashed out," Hari breathes, her eyes wide. "We caught the tail end of it on Earth, but just now we were here for the whole thing."

Odin nods brusquely. "Correct." He purses his lips. "The Aether in any host is bad, but in someone Death-Touched? Malekith himself would have been pleased at the destruction it would wrought."

Tony doesn't like the way he's looking at Hari, the way his upper lip curls in disgust. "So how do we destroy it?" He ignores the way Odin scoffs, continues, "If this is so dangerous, let's just get rid of it. Where's your garbage disposal?"

"Impossible," Odin says. "These are powerful relics from across the universe, not some paltry mortal trinkets. My father, Bor, was only able to hide the Aether after the war with the Dark Elves. At most, we've been able to contain the relics."

"I hate to point out logical fallacies, but did you not also say that it was impossible to seal this thing without a proper container? If Hari managed to accomplish that, I'd say she has a damn good chance at destroying it." It's a lie, of course. He loves to point out logical fallacies, especially when they come from someone like Odin.

Thor gestures to Hari and Tony. "Father, please, hear him out. This is a matter of grave importance." He steps forward, his face pleading. "The fate of the universe is at stake."

Frigga places a hand on Odin's arm. "We will listen, of course," she says firmly, her tone brooking no argument.

Odin purses his lips, but he doesn't disagree with his wife.

Hari clears her throat. "We have reason to believe that Loki did not attack Earth of his own recognizance," she says. "Specifically, we believe he was under Thanos' orders. We'd like to speak to him and—"

"That is out of the question," Odin interrupts. "Loki is imprisoned."

"Do prisoners not get visitors here on Asgard? Is that just an Earth thing?" Tony asks, crossing his arms over his chest. "Look, we know that you interrogated him, but that's not a guarantee that you asked the right questions. Like, oh, I don't know, where did Loki get the army that attacked Earth? Who did the army belong to? And, most importantly, why were they wanting to attack Earth? There's gotta be a specific reason."

"Your people would not be privy to this, but many races pillage other worlds," Odin says dryly. "Midgard is not special in that regard."

"Father, please, Loki may be innocent," Thor pleads. "If we could just speak to him—"

Odin holds up a hand. "Loki is many things, but innocent is not one of them."

"Look, we're not denying that he committed crimes when he was on Earth," Hari says. "We're just saying that there is a reason behind it, and it's not just because he wanted to 'lead Earth as a god' or whatever bullshit he was spewing. Earth might not be as technologically advanced as any other planet out there, but we are by no means helpless. Attacking Earth seems especially stupid, unless it was planned with a specific reason in mind." She grabs the contained Aether, the rowan no longer smoking. "Tony says that Loki's first act arriving on Earth was to steal the Tesseract, and that he was in possession of a scepter that controlled minds. Are these also relics?"

Tony looks at her, his own eyes widening in realization. He licks his dry lips, turns to look at Odin. "They are, aren't they?"

Odin looks impressed against his will. "They are," he confirms. "Do you see, now, why I cannot let you talk to Loki? He may have the locations of the other Infinity Stones, and that information is dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Which is why we need to speak to him," Hari stresses. "We know Thanos is looking to wipe out half the universe as a tribute to Death, okay? We need to find these Infinity Stones, and we need to destroy them. Loki is our best chance at doing that."

Odin is shaking his head. "These Stones have more value intact rather than destroyed."

"Yeah, in Thanos' hands!" Tony argues, throwing his hands in the air. "We need to get rid of them before they're used against us!"

Odin waves him off. "Asgard is more than capable of protecting the Stones," he says. "Your assistance with the Aether is not invaluable, but the safest place for it is here, inside my vault." He holds his hand out expectantly.

Tony eyes it incredulously. "Okay, so you are clearly more senile than you look," he says slowly, "but we're not handing this thing to you. Sorry, but you're basically saying the safest hands are your own, and that is stupidly, dangerously arrogant. And, uh, I've got a monopoly on that market, buddy, so go find your own niche."

Thor looks at his father, anger and disappointment and bitterness written on his face. "Is Loki to rot in prison because he may or may not have the location of these... these Infinity Stones? My brother deserves better than this!"

"This is bigger than your brother!" Odin says sharply, shaking his head. "I cannot overlook what his actions have wrought, regardless of whether or not he was the mastermind behind it all! The nine realms erupted into chaos because of Loki! As King of those nine realms, that cannot go unpunished! And when you are King, you will be in this same position, and when you have to make these decisions, then you will understand."

Thor shakes his head angrily. "Would you let me rot in prison, father?" he demands. "Or would you have tried to teach me to be better, as you did when you first send me to Earth? Why doesn't Loki deserve the same treatment? Is it because he is not your own flesh and blood?"

There's a sharp slap as Odin's hand meets Thor's face, but the God of Thunder doesn't move. He doesn't even look shocked, only bitterly disappointed and disgusted. Frigga gasps, her hands flying to her mouth. She steps towards Thor, but Odin pulls her back, his only visible eye stormy, his mouth twisted in an enraged snarl.

"I took him in," Odin begins.

"And you've held that over him ever since," Thor interrupts. His voice is quiet, the calm before the storm. "We were never treated the same, and because I was treated better, I never questioned it. But even when we were growing up, you were always wary of Loki, like you were expecting him to mess up, or turn into a monster. If we committed the same crime, I would receive a slap on the wrist, and he would be punished harshly."

"You were his Dudley," Hari breathes. She stares at Thor with wide eyes.

Tony swallows thickly. "Let's, uh, let's all take a deep breath and calm down," he says, and he almost wants to laugh because he never thought he'd have to be the reasonable adult in any situation. "Gandalf, keep your hands to yourself or I'll break them, King or no King."

The air is tense, awkward, but Thor eventually takes a few steps backwards, stewing in his anger and regret.

"My suspicions of Loki were not undue," Odin says after a few moments of silence. "But, contrary to your beliefs, it was not because of his parentage that I grew suspicious of Loki."

"What are you talking about?" Thor asks tiredly.

Odin purses his lips. "When I made the decision to take in Loki, it was because I pitied him," he says. "He was a small thing, abandoned during the war, but he was also a fighter, Asgardian in spirit at the very least. And I thought it would be good for you to grow up with a brother." He sighs, looking older and wearier now. "But as he grew up, he started to bear a striking resemblance to..."

"To...?" Thor crosses his arms and stares at his father, hard and unflinching.

"To the last Asgardian that was Death-Touched," Odin admits with a small grimace.

"That was thousands of years ago," Thor points out.

"You don't understand!" Odin hisses. "The last time an Asgardian was Death-Touched, it drove her mad! She was going to stop at nothing until the universe was brought to its knees and only death remained." He waves his hand agitatedly at Tony and Hari. "That's what awaits these two! Madness that has the ability to put an end to everything! It's what drove Hela, it's what drives Thanos, and it's what will drive these two, mark my words."

Thor shakes his head in confusion. "Did you know Hela?" he asks.

Odin freezes, and then he turns away in a violent jerk.

It's Frigga that answers, grief and longing clear in her voice.

"Hela is our firstborn," she says thickly. "She's your older sister."