Avengers: The King of Kings.
Summary: "One year after Ceil Zak'Vael's defeat, tensions are running in all new highs as anticipation for the Black Hunt's return takes its toll. After reaching a breaking point with Loki, who has grown distant as "the inevitable" looms closer, Thor returns to Earth in hopes of clearing his head before the fight that is to come. However, his "pity party" is quickly interrupted when he inexplicably reunites with the Avengers, who give him some disturbing news: millions of people have been disappearing, and some of the biggest cities in the world have gone dark. With S.H.I.E.L.D scrambling for answers, they're finally forced go after the one man they believe capable of such chaos- Loki. Now, tasked with saving the Earth from certain doom- and his brother from wrongful imprisonment- while at the same time trying to find a reason to keep fighting, Thor's got to decide what's worth what and, most importantly, why, before an old enemy returns to wreck havoc on the one place that was supposed to stay safe- and with a near-silent, morose Loki by his side and constant infighting within the Avengers to boot, Thor's got his work cut out for him… but when tragedy strikes too close to home, it's time to get serious again."
Warning: "This will be a relatively tame fanfic, with the exception of some blood, violence, angst, some language, a character death or two, and other adult situations. So, to be on the safe side, we'll be going with Rated T. I have watched the Avenger's movie and all relating Marvel movies, but this does not mean that I am perfect and/or know absolutely everything there is to know about, and I'm bound to forget or misuse some small detail. So, with that, please forgive me if I screw up, and just enjoy the story."
Disclaimer: "I do not own Thor. Please don't ruin my day by thinking I do."
This chapter is especially dedicated to Mara-DragonMaster. XD
N._.s._.S
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Aftermath.
"May you be in heaven a half-hour before the devil knows you're dead."
- Garrus Vakarian.
Cap had seen people die before- hell, recently he'd even seen someone come back from the dead. He'd been through excruciating losses of his own; of people he'd loved; of people he still loved, and would always no matter how many decades ago it was. But even knowing all he'd been through, even with all his experience with these kinds of things, absolutely nothing could have prepared him for this one.
Thor had lost his brother in the worst way possible.
Slowly, Cap pulled off his mask and knelt back by the God of Thunder's side. Thor hadn't moved, or even seem to notice, Banner and Cap trade places. He just sat there, soaked through with blood and water, cradling Loki's body as close as he possibly could; pleading near-inaudibly under his breath and shoulders still visibly trembling with pain and grief, eyes shut tight, as if all this was a nightmare he could somehow escape if he refused to look at it.
And for the first time, Cap was totally lost on what to do.
He couldn't- and wouldn't- force his friend to his feet.
But he also couldn't- and wouldn't- just leave him here.
He knew better than that.
All he could do was wait. He knew that even someone as powerful as Thor had limits- and not just physical ones. Cap also knew that like every other being, his body, when it surpassed its limits, would eventually shut down; even if it was completely against his will, and go into a quieter shock while his mind tried to process what had happened and try to make sense of it (and even accept it) while his body rested.
Thor was close to that, Cap could tell. While his grip on Loki never faltered for even a split second, the God of Thunder's eyes were darkening as he inched closer and closer to unconsciousness. Cap shifted quietly so he sat cross-legged next to his friend, peering into them as he watched.
"... Don't leave him," Thor finally broke the silence between them, and his eyes flickered to Cap, his voice softer than Cap had ever remembered hearing it, "Please don't leave him here."
"I would never leave anyone behind," Cap promised, firmly, "We're not leaving him. Or you."
Thor's eyes flickered back down to Loki, and slowly, they filled again.
"I shouldn't have let him come," He said, quietly, "I should have known they'd..."
"This wasn't your fault," Cap assured him, placing a hand on the God of Thunder's tense shoulder, finding himself thanking God that his friend was actually trying to talk to him, "It's Lor'Vael's. He's the one who did this."
"I'm going to kill him."
There's a real threat to Thor's voice, a real, sudden spastic kind of fury surpassing and almost completely drowning out the anguish that lingered there, and it's enough to send a cold, awful shiver down Cap's spine, but somehow, he can't find it in himself to tell Thor that revenge wasn't going to help ease the pain.
Worried, he chanced a look over his shoulder at Banner and Stark. Stark was still sitting with his back against the wall, but he'd relaxed, staring distantly up into the black, starry sky, while Banner stood next to him, arms folded tightly against his broad chest. They caught each others eyes within seconds, and Cap nodded.
Banner actually smiled back and gave a short, encouraging nod before looking quickly away again.
"I swear it," Thor continued, his voice just barely above a deadly, challenging murmur, apparently not having noticed Cap's slightly diverted attention, his eyes lighting up dangerously as he added, quite seriously, "I'm going to kill him, and the others. They're not going to get away with this."
"Thor," Cap forced himself to keep his voice low and calm, despite the icy, dreadful shivers still tingling up and down his spine, "You and I both know that won't help."
Thor doesn't answer.
And mercifully, Cap didn't expect him to.
N._.s._.S
Cap didn't underestimate anyone too often, but when he did, he kicked himself for not seeing it before.
If it weren't for Banner, they never would have gotten Thor out of Boston. Cap was pretty much over a hundred-percent sure that the God of Thunder would have stayed sitting out on that empty, flooded street years from now if Banner hadn't covered him with that blanket and, after he was sure their friend was finally unconscious, gently covered Loki with another, and lifted him right up, despite the blood that still ran through.
"How did you know that would work?" Cap asked him, cautiously, as Banner buckled Loki safely into the seat of the car Stark had summoned all the way from the Tower using JARVIS.
"Because when you're hurt and scared," Banner answered, quietly, with a glance at Stark, who sat slumped in the passenger seat of the second car (the one they'd brought to Boston originally) with his head pressed against the window and covered with a third blanket, "A warm blanket usually goes a long way in making it go away."
Cap didn't argue with that logic.
"I'll take Thor and Loki," Banner said, turning back to Cap, "You take Stark. I've already given both of them something to help them sleep, so it'll be a quiet ride back..."
Banner had managed to, without anyone even noticing until now, bring along a whole kit full of first aid stuff; everything from small bandages (all sizes, of course), cotton swabs and antiseptic, to wraps pins for broken bones, all the way up to full-size blankets and light sleeping meds, which he'd given to both Thor and Stark in order to keep either of them from freaking out (again) on the road.
"... as long as the Hunt don't show up again."
"You think that's a possibility?"
"They might. Think about it, Cap," Banner said, gravely, as he rounded the front of his car, tossing the keys to the other one to Steve as he opened the driver's side door and made to get in, "They just killed one of our own. In my book, that means we're damning diplomacy and preparing for straight-out war now. We've got to look at his from every angle, and if that means assuming the worst, then that's what we'll do from here on out."
Cap looked back at Stark, and sighed in defeat as Banner slammed the car door and turned the ignition with a roar loud enough to pierce the darkness that was beginning to descend over the silent, still-empty city.
Overhead in the distant horizon, the clouds swirled, angry and black, promising another storm yet to come.
N._.s._.S
For Cap, the drive back was, thankfully, entirely uneventful. Stark stayed asleep for the entire five-hour drive; giving the other man time to think out a new strategy, plan out what they were going to do next, because from his view, Banner had voiced exactly what he'd been thinking-
Perhaps what they'd all been thinking.
Loki may not have been part of the team, and hell; he was once their enemy, but he had been on their side, he fought alongside them (and saved all their lives, not to mention the billions of souls he'd sacrificed himself to free from Lor'Vael's Curse), and that made him, officially or not, one of them.
They just killed one of our own.
And by killing him, the Hunt really had declared war.
In my book, that means we're damning diplomacy and preparing for straight-out war now.
Cap didn't like the way Banner said that, if only because it went against his own beliefs; but that was, essentially, what was about to happen. They weren't going to try to negotiate, or talk the Black Hunt down again.
They were going to stop them.
N._.s._.S
When Loki Odinsson woke, he lying on the ground, surrounded by white. He'd ended up here several times before with Frigga, of course, but this time, instinctively, he knew that he would be alone.
Oddly enough, there was no pain; and when Loki touched what should have been the gaping wound that Lor'Vael had dealt him, he found that that, too, along with the scar Algrim had given him, was gone. He sat up, brushing back his shoulder-length, dark hair and staring, stricken, up into the infinite whiteness.
He'd died for real this time- he was sure of it. The last thing he remembered before the world slowed and the blackness and pain consumed him (just as it had happened when he was killed in Svartalfheim), was Thor. His brother had held him and tried to stop the bleeding.
But it hadn't worked.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up...!"
The voice startled him, and Loki looked back up, bright jade-green eyes widening as he recognized it.
"Wake up, Loki! Don't do this!"
Was that Thor shouting like that?
Loki clenched at he place on his chest where his wound should have been when he heard a shuddering, heart-wrenching sob. There had been a lot of blood- Loki hadn't expected that much blood; and he knew he'd likely bled out before he died, all while his brother helplessly watched.
"Damn it, Loki! Wake up! Please, wake up!"
Worse, he also knew that he'd been looking his brother in the eyes when he died.
"Please, wake up."
Slowly, Loki covered his mouth to keep from crying out with the sobs that followed. Thor sounded so wounded, so hurt, that the God of Mischief could practically feel the pain rolling off those words in waves. Something in him clenched painfully and he slowly lowered himself back to the ground, closing his eyes.
"Please."
N._.s._.S
Banner was careful not to slam the door of the car as he got out, taking deep, grateful breaths of fresh air as he stumbled against one of the closest cement support beams. The drive had left him physically and emotionally exhausted, and because he'd Hulked out, that only added onto everything he was feeling.
Several times, every two hours or so, he radioed in to Cap and they stopped onto the side of the road so Banner could breathe fresh air. He leaned against the side of the car, looked up into the black, stormy sky that promised a storm, trying to clear his mind; forcing himself not to think at all.
Of course, that didn't work all that well.
Even in his sleep, Thor shifted uncomfortably, muttered, and even cried out for his brother. Luckily, his outbursts didn't translate into brushes with lightning or thunder, but several times, Banner could have sworn he'd heard or seen it out in the distance, which had only worsened his nerves the whole way back.
"Banner?"
Startled out of his thoughts, Banner looked up. Stark was finally awake again, and despite the dark, tired look in his eyes and the few cuts and scrapes he'd gotten during the battle, he looked relatively fine.
"How are you feeling?" Stark asked him with a lopsided smile.
Banner and didn't bother answering. Stark turned back to Cap.
"We're taking Loki to the Med Bay," Stark told him, folding his arms across his chest, refusing to look the other man in the eyes, "We'll keep him there until Thor... decides what he wants to do."
"And Thor?" Banner asked.
"The same. We're all beat up and need treatment. I've already got Fury on the line with JARVIS," He added, somewhat bitterly, to Cap, "S.H.I.E.L.D's probably going to want to know that Loki just died doing our job."
N._.s._.S
Hope you guys liked this chapter.
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