Part II: In the Dark
Chapter 5: Somewhere Safe
"You are not fine!" Loki hisses.
Several patrons waiting for a table look up, alarmed by Loki's angry voice and aggressive stance.
Eleanor sighs and gives the name to the hostess. "Your party is already seated. Out back on the patio," she replies.
"Thanks," Eleanor says, grabbing Loki's hand and dragging him through the crowded restaurant.
"Eleanor!" he spits, fuming. With a frustrated sigh she pulls him into an alcove for a bit of privacy.
"Can we please just have this conversation after breakfast? Please?" she begs, glancing at her watch. She's put off this conversation about her freaky nocturnal behavior since it started five months ago. Surely Loki will give her a couple more hours of willful ignorance after letting her live in la-la land for this long.
Tony is in town but only for the day and she really just needs a few more hours before she accepts that something is wrong.
She wakes up in the pool at least once a week, and this week three nights in a row. Of fucking course something is wrong.
"How can you think of breakfast at a time such as this?" he demands, really yelling at her now. "The last three nights you've attempted to get to London, Eleanor! What is in London? Why London? I've had to throw you in the water to get you back three nights in a row and you are solely focused on breakfast!"
"Are you okay, Miss?" asks a concerned looking waiter.
Loki snarls at the intruder. Eleanor is impressed when the guy takes one step back, but otherwise holds his ground.
"Get. Out." Loki demands, in full on menacing mode. Eleanor tugs on his hand to keep him from charging the good Samaritan.
"We're fine. And we'll keep it down. Sorry," Eleanor says.
The waiter leaves and when they are mostly alone again, Eleanor stands on her tiptoes to kiss the corner of Loki's mouth. He relaxes fractionally.
"You know I have no idea what's in London. You know I don't remember anything except waking up in the pool. I believe you, Loki, when you say there is something really wrong here and I'm sorry that I've been in denial for so long, but these two hours won't change anything. Let me just have breakfast before I start freaking out, okay?"
Loki gives her a begrudging nod. It's the most she could hope for, given the situation, but he still radiates rage. It's her doing, really, for being such a stubborn ass about her strange, terrifying, out-of-control behavior.
Ignoring the problem never solved anything but she was determined to give that strategy a shot.
She hasn't even told Loki about the increased frequency of her dreams yet. That will have to wait until after breakfast as well.
They find Tony sitting with Steve, Jane, and Darcy at a circular table in the sun. Both men rise to greet her. Tony lifts her off the ground in a hug while Cap simply nods. She settles herself between Loki and Tony with Jane on Loki's other side.
Pleasantries are exchanged. Eleanor pretends to read the menu but really watches Loki.
He is dressed in his version of casual, the light grey three-piece suit without the jacket and the white sleeves of his shirt rolled up. Loki says nothing, sitting ramrod straight, hands fisted in his lap, jaw clenched. He looks so nice it makes Eleanor feel like a homeless person in her sundress, but at last she isn't scaring the wait-staff with her expression. He scowls at the unopened menu on the tabletop in front of him while the others shoot each other questioning looks.
Although each person at the table is well acquainted with Loki's moodiness, it has been years since Loki's been this miserably quiet and visibly agitated.
Tony is the first to directly engage the irate god.
"So are we going to have time today for a rematch?" asks Iron Man, rubbing his palms together.
"Chess, you mean?" Loki grumbles, pulling sunglasses out from a pocket to hide his eyes. "Grow up, Stark. Such games are for children."
"Dude, you turned my suit pink last year. Talk about childish."
Eleanor snorts at the memory.
"No chess!" Loki bellows.
Tony blinks in surprise before exchanging a look with Eleanor. She shakes her head slightly, hoping Tony will just leave her God of Crankiness alone.
"Party pooper," Tony says. "You just know I'll kick your skinny ass. I've been practicing."
"With whom?"
"Banner."
Loki scoffs and doesn't bother replaying.
A waitress arrives, distracting Tony from poking the tiger as she offers to place drink orders.
"Right," Tony says, rubbing his palms together. "A bottle of your finest champagne. This is a celebration."
"It is?" asks Darcy.
"Anything else?" asks the waitress.
"Scotch." Everyone turns to gape at Loki. Eleanor just sighs and hides her face in the menu. "Or red wine. Or both."
"Um, sorry, sir. But this is a breakfast palace we don't have scotch. Or red wine."
If looks could kill the poor waitress would be a goner. She takes a step away from Loki and gulps audibly.
"What, pray tell, do you serve?" Loki asks with barely contained fury.
"Sangria is a kinda wine. And bloody Marys," the girl manages.
Loki looks to Eleanor, silently asking if he would like either of these new cocktails.
"He'll have a bloody Mary," she says, reaching out to take his hand. "Actually, make it two."
"Three," says Darcy.
"Bloody Marys all around," says Tony.
"What exactly are we celebrating?" asks Jane.
"You being in town?" Darcy guesses.
"It's a little presumptuous to call that a celebration," Eleanor says. She decides to get an omelet.
"Ha, no," replies Tony. "But thanks, Little Miss Sunshine. I love you, too."
"Any other guesses?" asks Steve.
"Just tell us," insists Jane.
"Why," Tony says, "your grand achievement, of course!"
"Mine?" Jane asks, brow crinkling with confusion. Tony doesn't offer any more explanations. He just grins at Jane expectantly.
Loki sighs. "Jane, he knows."
Eleanor squeezes his knee as he picks at his left hand.
"Knows?" asks Jane, still confused. "Oh. Oh! How do you know? Fury doesn't even know. Hell, we don't even know. Not really."
"My lab," Tony reminds her. "I've got ears everywhere."
The drinks arrive and Tony raises his glass for a toast. Everyone but Jane and Loki follow suit.
"No," Jane says. When she shakes her head rapidly she smacks Loki in the face with her long hair. He rubs his temple, looking completely miserable and nearly out of patience.
"To Jane, Loki, and Darcy," says Tony. "Accomplishing the impossible in just a few short years. And I guess Ellie too. Sorta."
"To us!" says Darcy.
"But it only works in theory!" says Jane. "No one's tried to come through the Bifrost at all so we don't know if we'll be able to identify them and deny them access. It only works in theory!"
Loki says nothing.
"To crazy rainbow space bridges and hanging out with aliens," says Tony, with a smirk. He nods at Eleanor and Loki.
It's a pathetic toast, leaving Tony amused, Darcy thrilled, Jane flustered, and Loki looking as if he'd very much like to slaughter everyone in the general vicinity.
"So what's the holdup there, anyway?" Tony asks. "Why haven't you tested it? Big, bad trickster scared to face blond brother Point Break after stalling the Bifrost project for the good of humanity?"
Loki growls.
The whole thing is very predictable and Eleanor wonders why she thought a nice, conflict-free breakfast was even a possibility.
As Jane and Loki argue with Tony, Steve asks Eleanor about school. She gushes about her dissertation and upcoming performances. Eleanor can feel Loki's tension mounting.
"Oh, what is the bleeding point?" he snaps, raising his voice to ensure that everyone stops talking to listen.
Steve gives Loki a familiar scowl but the God of Rudeness is too busy guzzling his drink to notice.
'The point of what?" Eleanor asks. She can feel her annoyance slowly morphing to anger.
"Your so-called education."
Unlike her counterparts Eleanor is not quick to anger, but he is throwing a tantrum and generally acting like a dick so she finds herself getting there.
And yet he's been remarkably patient with her since Bragi popped up in their lives six months ago, so she takes a deep breath and forces herself to calm.
Despite her months of denial, Eleanor is not an idiot.
Try as she might to live in blissful ignorance, it was impossible not to notice Loki's efforts to solve the mystery of her trances and the dreams. She's heard him whispering to Steve about trips to London. He's been trying to find Bragi since her first trance in February, but her bio-dad unsurprisingly – and disappointingly – vanished. Loki's made no progress figuring out what it all means so Eleanor does not understand what he expects her to do in this moment. It doesn't seem like there is anything to be done at all, except enjoy a peaceful breakfast with their friends.
There is really no need for him to start insulting her education, the one he badgered her into getting.
"Really?" Jane snaps at Loki. "You of all people are questioning the importance of an education?"
"I question the importance of Eleanor's goal to receive a silly slip of paper," Loki replies.
"She's working to get her masters in music performance," Jane says. "It's kinda a big deal."
"Meaningless. Tell me, Eleanor, is there anything new you are currently learning in terms of musical performance from the university?"
"Well, not really," she admits. It's the Asgardian in her, but Eleanor can glance at a complicated bit of music and have it memorized in seconds. It took her less than a week to passably learn the harp. Although she finds school interesting, it's not exactly revelatory. "But I like it."
"But you could abandon your studies, if need be?"
"I wouldn't want too."
"But if you had to?"
"Why would I have too?"
"Humor me, Eleanor."
The poor, traumatized waitress returns before Eleanor can formulate a response and she takes their orders.
"I require no sustenance," says Loki when it's his turn. "Bring me another brutalized mortal woman."
"He'll have another bloody Mary," Eleanor translates. "And waffles."
"I have no appetite. No waffles."
"You can't have any of my eggs," she says. "I'm starving."
"I have no appetite." He is basically snarling at her.
It's the snarling that really changes her mad into a chilling fear.
To everyone else, Loki is impatient and mean. To everyone else, snarling would be perfectly commonplace, but not with Eleanor.
The rest of their party ignores this little spat, chatting and laughing after placing their own orders, while Eleanor sits in silence, suddenly as anxious as Loki for this meal to be done.
For Loki to snarl at Eleanor like that, her situation has to be far worse than she thought.
Since settling into the quiet life here with Loki, Eleanor has feared its end. It is shameful to admit, but she always thought Loki would ruin it somehow with one of his schemes, but instead something unknown and external threatens the life they've carved out. Whatever solution Loki presents, things will change despite Eleanor's desires for this to be their life forever.
That's the root of her denial. Her fear that the change will be too great for them to survive it whole.
The summer sun gets a little too intense and Eleanor gathers her messy blond mane into a knot at the back of her head. Loki wastes no time removing the hair tie, making a show of snapping it cleanly in half. Eleanor glares at him and steals a sip of his refreshed bloody Mary.
"Okay," Jane says before he can retaliate. "What is going on with you two?"
"You aren't breaking up, are you?" asks Darcy, sounding genuinely concerned.
"No," spits Loki. "Absolutely not. The opposite, in fact."
Eleanor raises an eyebrow but Steve asks before she can get the question out. "What is the opposite of a break up?"
"Does this have to do with your performance issues?" Tony asks. One of the legs of his chair mysteriously cracks and he falls on his ass. In the commotion that follows as the staff rushes to get Iron Man a new chair, Eleanor hopes that the conversation will be forgotten so she can finish it later with Loki at home.
"So is the opposite of breaking up, like, getting married?" Darcy asks when everyone is settled. "I thought that engagement ring was fake?"
Eleanor snorts. "It is. Thanks to Odin's bond, we can't get more than a couple miles apart. Marriage seems pretty lame in comparison."
"The couple miles is what must change. You are no longer allowed out of my sight."
Four years ago such a statement would have inspired very different reactions from the people gathered around the table. While in the past they might have threatened Loki and tried to convince Eleanor to end this whole thing, now they just laugh.
"Good luck with that, buddy," says Tony, still chuckling.
"I'm not allowing her a say in the matter."
"You sound like old Loki," Jane points out.
"Bad Loki, we call him," Darcy says. "Bad Loki."
"He is still Bad Loki," mutters Steve. "Look at him. He is a controlling tyrant."
"Thank you, Rodgers," says Loki, being completely genuine.
"Why?" Eleanor asks quietly, taking his hand again. "Will that really help? Why don't you want me out of your sight?"
Miraculously, everyone shuts up long enough to hear the answer.
"Because it is the only way to ensure that you are protected until I can convince you to stay somewhere safe!"
Something in his tone completely changes the mood at the table. Eleanor can feel Steve and Tony slip into Avengers mode while Jane's motherly concern is palpable along with Darcy's fear. Loki and Eleanor's companions sit up a little straighter, all traces of humor gone.
"Where is safe?" asks Jane.
"We have yet to find anything to prove that Bragi isn't full of shit in London," Tony reminds them.
"Do you think Eleanor will go into a trance during the day? I mean, you've managed to keep her from actually going to London at night so far," says Steve.
"This is way above my pay grade," mutters Darcy.
"Okay," says Eleanor, not looking away from Loki.
At her quiet word the table once more goes silent, all questions ceasing, and Loki's mouth falls open in shock.
"Pardon?" he asks after clearing his throat and regaining his composure. "Okay? What do you mean by this? Do you even know what I'm asking of you? After months of refusing to acknowledge this threat now you give me 'okay?'"
"I mean okay," Eleanor says, shrugging. "Whatever you think we need to do, that's what we'll do. You're right. It's getting worse and we don't know anything and this is the real deal. I'll do whatever you think we should do."
"Just like that?" asks Loki.
"Yeah."
He abruptly turns his chair and then hers so they are facing each other, knees touching. The speed of the movement makes Eleanor squeak and then Loki is leaning forward, nose inches from hers, and caging her in with his hands clutching her arm rests. His eyes are hidden behind sunglasses, but she can tell by the twitch of his jaw and the set of his mouth that he is suspicious.
"Why now?" he murmurs, his quiet tone more threatening than yelling ever could be.
"Don't be mad," Eleanor says. His jaw ticks again, indicating that he is already furious.
"I make no promises."
"It wasn't just the one dream," she confesses, dropping her gaze to her lap. "It's happened a couple times since. Just the same darkness, nothing new, but it has happened again."
"And you did not tell me."
It's been a very long time since she's seen him this angry.
"There was nothing new! And, okay, my denial was a bit absurd. But I had another dream last night, still nothing new, and I can't ignore it anymore so I am saying okay. Where is this somewhere safe?"
For a few moments it looks like Loki is going to lose his shit, but then he crumples before her. She can practically see the rage drain from him, replaced instead by fear and exhaustion.
Slumping back in his chair, Loki removes his sunglasses and digs the heels of his hands into his eyes. His misery is apparent and Eleanor leans over to squeeze each of his knees.
"In the future you will give me every detail," he says. "The moment you wake I must have every detail."
"Yes, dear," murmurs Eleanor.
"I don't get it," Darcy declares suddenly despite the tension of the moment. "I know everyone has been freaking out for months because your creepy dad had some weirdo dreams, but I just don't get it. What's so scary about a dream?"
Eleanor shivers. Loki glares.
"I mean, yeah, nightmares suck but then you wake up and it's over." Darcy glances frantically around the table. "Right? Right!"
"Darcy," Steve says quietly, reaching out to rub her back. "You just fixed a space bridge to another planet."
"Realm," corrects Tony.
"I am a senior citizen frozen for decades and that jerk somehow landed a swell gal like Eleanor, despite being a magical, megalomaniacal alien who tried to enslave the human race five years ago," Steve continues. "I, for one, am willing to consider just about anything at this point."
"Dreams are not simply dreams," Loki says, searching Eleanor's face. "Not for those with magic like Eleanor and Bragi. They can warn. They can predict. They can haunt."
Loki takes a deep breath. Everyone listens with rapt attention.
"Her dreams, her father's dreams, I know not what they mean and this is dangerous. Equally concerning are the nighttime trances. Although I do not doubt my ability to keep Eleanor away from London, I do not know how long it will be before whatever wants her there will come for her here, and this is a risk I am unwilling to take."
He leans forward, taking Eleanor's face between his hands. "Enough, now, Eleanor. Enough."
"Where is the somewhere safe, Loki?" Eleanor asks again. There is sinking in her chest because she already knows the answer.
He takes a big breath, grimacing as if he is in pain.
"Asgard," he says. "We have to go to Asgard."
"You can't use it," says Director Fury when he arrives at the compound, mere hours after Loki's breakfast declaration that they would be going back to Asgard.
Eleanor vaguely recalls the argument and then the decision to call in the head of SHIELD, but everything is blurring together.
"You're not going anywhere until you give us everything you know about what's coming," says Nick Fury. "You can't use the Bifrost. You can't use it."
Eleanor sits at her desk in the lab, feeling like a ghost as she watches her friends argue her fate. Shock keeps her silent, even if their words don't really matter.
They don't want her to leave, don't understand how she could so easily uproot her life at the seemingly irrational request of her paranoid alien lover. They don't understand that to pull off this move, Loki will have to set aside all pride and hurt. He'll have to beg the Allfather to take them in, and for Loki to do something so repugnant, the situation must be bad.
Plus, they don't dream her dreams. They don't wake up in a pool all the goddamn time. They don't see the depth of Loki's fear.
There isn't much to tell Director Fury, other than her uninformative dreams and freaky trances and the warning of her wayward bio-daddy, but Loki is certain of this danger and she is certain of him.
So when Loki decided that Asgard would be the safest place for her, Eleanor said yes, after months of living with her head in the sand. She'll say yes to anything he asks in this, as much as it pains her to give up the lovely, simple life they've built here in this desert.
Loki paces around the lab as the assembled members of SHIELD and the Avengers bicker as if they truly have any say in this decision. Tony and Steve do the majority to the explaining, filing in Fury on Bragi's warnings and Eleanor's sleepwalking to London, as well as Steve's failure to find anything in the English city.
The director is not pleased that the pair of superheroes has been conspiring with the being that tried to enslave the world without his knowledge.
Every few minutes Loki comes close to her seat, resting a hand on the back of her head before dragging it down her neck to squeeze her shoulder. It's as if he is reassuring himself that she is real and here and safe.
"Fury is a fool to assume that the Bifrost is the only means for us to travel between worlds," he whispers in her ear as Fury continues to rant. "But this is a fact I would rather keep from the Allfather. It will do nothing to sway him to our cause if we appeared in Asgard without warning. I deeply regret my decision to help these mortals control the bridge. They use my expertise against me now."
Eleanor nods as Loki resumes his pacing.
"Wait, we are missing the real issue here," says Jane. "Eleanor, are you sure you want to do this? You have a life here. What about your degree?"
The little stab of disappointment at Eleanor heart is easily ignored as she lets go this latest dream. "A silly piece of paper," she murmurs, making Jane scoff. It is more than silly, but Eleanor has little left to learn about music at the university. "There's music on Asgard. A whole different world of sounds. Right, sweetheart?"
Without breaking stride, Loki nods.
"But they hate you, right?" Darcy, says. "They think you are some sort of abomination. Isn't that more dangerous than some dream?"
"They are not simple dreams, you foolish little twit." Loki's voice is quiet, but dangerous. "How many times must you pose this useless inquiry? This is the beginning of something far more sinister."
"Is it this titan you muttered about when you were insane in Stark Tower?" demands Fury with absolutely no tact.
Loki scowls. "We know not. Eleanor's father doubted this theory, but we have very little information and I am unwilling to rule out anything."
"And if it is the titan? Don't you think that's something we should know about?" Fury pushes.
"And if it is the titan that comes for Eleanor," Loki snarls, looming behind her chair, "he will strip her body of flesh and scorch what he finds beneath. He will soil her mind through a crippling, endless loneliness and whispers that make every doubt, every insecurity absolute truth. After lifetimes she will emerge twisted, the very worst possible version of herself. Her purpose will not be to rule this pathetic realm or procure the Tesseract, but she will be molded in his vision to both punish me for my failure and manipulate me into further servitude."
She can't really believe that he's revealed so much. It's shameful really, how long it took her to realize that Loki is terrified enough to speak of these past horrors.
Eleanor has never heard him sound so menacing and despite the distance separating them from Fury on the other side of the lab, the director palms the gun at his hip.
"Loki," she murmurs, turning in her chair and reaching out for him. He does not glance at her, but he lets her lace their fingers together. This is the first time in all their years together that she's heard him willingly discuss his time in the Void and to do so now in front of these people is stunning.
His soft spoken, horrifying words make Eleanor's chest hurt.
"And I would do anything to get her back, no matter how damaged she may be," Loki continues. "You think I was dangerous before, with nothing to lose? None will survive with something so vitally important to me at stake."
Loki holds her hand too tight, clenching his jaw and looking to the ceiling.
"And for all we know, this may very well be something much worse," he whispers, staring down at Eleanor.
The silence in the room does nothing to dampen the ringing in Eleanor's ears and the temperature drops several degrees. No one moves for long moments, save for Loki who kneels in front of Eleanor.
"You're scaring me," she murmurs. He holds her shaking hands but can't still them. Suddenly loving him seems so much more dangerous. She shudders, thinking of the consequences for the whole universe if something bad should happen to her.
"Good. You should be scared. They all should be scared. Even if it is not the titan, even if by some miracle this is not my doing, you are wrapped up in something dangerous, Eleanor, and I cannot keep you safe here."
In a daze, Eleanor nods, but she is barely able to return his quick, gentle kiss before he is up and pacing again.
Director Fury is the first to recover from Loki's haunting diatribe. "So," he says. "Let's say it is the asshole who sent the Chitauri, who sent you. If he still wants the Tesseract, why would he care about us? We don't have it. Asgard does."
"I do not understand why you insist discussing him," Loki says. Eleanor wonders if she is the only one to notice Loki's pale cheeks. "But Midgard defied him. You delayed his plans. I am sure you will be punished accordingly in due time. I know not how or when, nor do I particularly care."
"Loki," Eleanor admonishes.
"If his goal is the Tesseract and the Tesseract is on Asgard, wouldn't Ellie be safer here?" Steve asks.
Loki chuckles, turning to face the man out of time. "My magic can only go so far in this barren wasteland. Asgard, and the palace in particular, is infused with ancient protection. Asgard will prove a much safer place for Eleanor, despite the location of the Tesseract. The Chitauri were defeated, but Asgard is much better equipped to protect itself from whatever is sent next."
"Don't you mean you were defeated?" asks Steve.
"Yes, my dear captain. I was defeated," Loki says, smirking. He is pacing again.
"We gotta know what you know, Loki," Director Fury says.
Loki shivers, but stays silent.
"You helping us will help keep Eleanor safe," Tony says.
Sighing heavily, Loki slows his pacing to look at Eleanor. She shrugs.
"Fine," Loki snaps. "I know little and my limited knowledge will not save you, but if it please my lady I will speak with you before we depart."
"Good. And then you can use the Bifrost," Fury says.
"If it even works," Jane mutters.
"It will work," Loki snaps.
"And even if it does work, are you so sure you'll be welcome?" Jane asks.
"Welcome?" Loki says with a rueful smile. "Oh no. I expect to immediately be returned to a white cell. A small price to pay for Eleanor's safety."
Eleanor frowns. There is no way in fuck that she's letting Loki go back to a place where he was so out of his mind, but she keeps her mouth shut.
Suddenly she is so thankful to her friends for asking all these questions because she can't manage to do it herself. She is so fucking out of it.
"We haven't seen Thor in a year, Loki," Jane says. "What makes you think he'll take you in? I mean, since the whole Bifrost debacle you guys aren't exactly on the best terms."
Loki stares at Jane before glancing back at Eleanor. For a moment, he looks like a lost child but then he stomps out of the lab, into the vast circular space that serves as the gate to other worlds.
He waves his hand around his head, melting away his own protective magic, and looks up.
"Heimdall," he says, talking so quietly that it's difficult to hear him even with the great sliding glass doors left open. "We request the thunder god's presence, if you'd be so kind."
He turns on his heel, stalking back into the lab to stand behind Eleanor, his hands on her shoulders. The contact calms her slightly, but not enough to dispel the churning sickness eating away at her insides.
It is only a few minutes before lights blink and machines whirl. Thor's picture and information appears on Jane's computer screen, requesting permission to allow him through the gate.
"It's working? It's working! It's working?" Jane chants out the mantra as she enters a password, her words fluctuating between joy and panic.
Eleanor glances up at Loki to see him smirking for a moment before he seems to remember their current circumstances, composing his expression into a detached mask once more.
In a blinding swirl of brilliant light the God of Thunder materializes. He pauses for a moment, making note of each person in the lab. And then he is filling up the doorway, smiling at Tony and Steve in a way that doesn't seem very genuine. He doles out more false smiles and nods. When he gets to Jane his face falls and he stops.
"Lady Jane," he says, bowing slightly.
"Lady?" She snorts, crossing her arms over her chest as she scowls up at him. "Really? Lady."
At least he has the decency to look ashamed as he drops his gaze to the floor. "I… Ah, yes. Um. Jane. Hello, Jane. How fare thee?"
Under any other circumstances it would be funny and tragic, but Eleanor is about to give up her whole life to go to a realm where they hate her boyfriend and call her an abomination, so nothing is funny.
"How fare I?" squeaks Jane. "How fare I? You haven't been here in a year. You didn't contact me at all for a year!"
"Jane, I really do not think this is the time—"
"A whole. Fucking. Year!"
"Yes, I suppose this was wrong of me to avoid the issue but I was—"
"Busy? Are you really about to say busy? Because you didn't even write. And why? All because I was trying to do the right thing for my home? For my people?" pushes Jane. Despite their ridiculous size difference, in this moment Jane appears much stronger than the God of Thunder. "We have a right to control who enters this realm, Thor. We have the right to protect ourselves."
"From whom?" Thor asks glaring now. "Asgard? And you still do not see how offensive this is to me? To my father. There is no reason to fear the Realm Eternal. We will continue, now and forever, to take care of Midgard."
"Do you not hear how ridiculously patronizing that is? We are not children, Thor, and without giving us a little agency, you are as bad as Loki."
Loki chuckles. Eleanor shushes him.
"You're worse!" continues Jane, firing full steam ahead now. "Because his reasons may be all wrong but at least he helped. At least he isn't a paternalistic asshole."
Everyone in the room shifts around awkwardly.
"Anymore," Jane corrects. "He's not a paternalistic asshole anymore."
Thor shakes his head and smiles ruefully. "And you wonder why I neglected to contact you for a year."
"My brother is such a fool," Loki mutters in Eleanor's ear. She completely agrees with this assessment.
"Wow," says Jane, crossing her arms over her chest. "Great. Okay. Thanks for the closure."
"Jane, I—"
"No, I get it." Jane holds up a hand, stopping Thor's apology. "I disrespected the might of Asgard. I obviously deserve to be treated like this."
Thor hangs his head.
"That was so much better than TV," Tony says, completely failing to whisper. Darcy smacks him in the chest. Fury growls and rubs his temples.
"Excuse me," Thor finally says to Jane, bowing before he shuffles towards Eleanor and Loki.
Standing to his full height with his massive arms crossed over his massive chest, the Crown Prince of Asgard proves quite the imposing figure. The warm smile he gives Eleanor makes her feel bad for Jane.
"Lady Eleanor," he greets.
She manages a tight smile in return, but words remain lost to her. Nothing that's happened since this morning feels real.
Loki and Thor have the expected mean staring contest over the top of Eleanor's head where she sits as still as possible in her swivel chair, but in the end Thor breaks the silence.
"You have a request of me, bro—" He frowns and clears his throat. "Loki. You have a request of me, Loki?"
Eleanor elbows the God of Smirking in the gut to get him to stop with the pissing contest and reply.
"Why, yes. How very perceptive of you."
"Loki," Eleanor murmurs.
"Well?" demands the Crown Prince.
"Are you sure you are all through berating and belittling the brilliant and beautiful Dr. Foster?"
"Don't, Loki," says Jane. "Just don't. This is important."
Loki glances down at Eleanor and sighs. "Yes. I need your help, Brother."
"After all you've done, you dare to ask something of me? Why should I grant you anything when you have never offered me the same courtesy?" asks Thor. He seems older than he was a year ago, hard and serious.
The expression on Loki's face scares Eleanor. It's straight up old Loki, complete with the revulsion and distaste, as if he is debasing himself to even speak to his false big brother.
"It is not for me," he finally manages, leaving off the "you fool" bit, but the reproach is there all the same.
All goodwill between the brothers seems to have evaporated the moment Jane sided with Loki on the Bifrost issue, leaving Thor's pride damaged. They may not be able to do more than glower at each other, but as Loki speaks they both stare down at Eleanor.
Despite all the rekindled animosity between the two, they are staring at her with varying degrees of affection. The brotherly warmth in Thor's gaze is in stark contrast to Loki's intense, almost alarming devotion, but Eleanor is struck by how very lucky she is to have such powerful beings on her side. The same can be said for everyone in the room.
She was alone for so long, but not anymore. Not ever again.
Loki's hands are back on her shoulders.
"Lady Eleanor," Thor says with a sigh. "What ill-advised situation have you gotten yourself into now?"
She opens her mouth but no sounds come out. Loki understands and he speaks for her.
"It is no fault of her own," he murmurs, rubbing her shoulders. There is a hint of softness back in his sharp features and it gets a bit easier for Eleanor to breathe.
Loki explains Bragi's ambiguous warning, Eleanor's dreams, and his theories. Thor's expression gets progressively darker as he listens, bringing a hand up to stroke his chin.
"I have protected her mind," Loki says. Eleanor turns to look up at her mercurial love, raising a questioning eyebrow. This is the first she's heard of any magical helmet, but it doesn't surprise her. "Still she dreams, still she attempts to get to London in her sleep, and there is no doubt that Asgard is the safest of the realms. It will be no easy thing, for her to be taken from Asgard to London."
"She would be better off not ever knowing you, Loki," Thor says quietly. Loki abruptly stops touching her, but Eleanor is still without the words to make it better. "This is your doing. I am sure of it."
"Of course it is my doing. Did you expect any different, my liege?" Loki says with a mocking bow, but Thor stays silent and still as stone. "More consequences for my actions. It should please you greatly to see me absolutely brimming with remorse, bending the knee to you and Father to ensure her safety."
"It does not please me. Not when the contrition comes at the expense of Lady Eleanor."
"This entire arrangement is at the expense of Eleanor!" Loki shouts, finally losing his composure. "You had no problem with it when Mother put the notion of bót mannaforráð in her head. You had no problem when you allowed me to take over every part of her life."
"Loki," Eleanor manages. No one seems to hear her. Maybe his name didn't even really pass her lips. She'll try again in a moment.
"This was Mother's doing, not mine," Thor says. The golden god's voice is rising, and with it Eleanor's anxiety.
"Your mother's doing!"
Thor growls. "Would you prefer a century of solitude, brother? Are you so eager to destroy yourself?"
"This is not in regards to me, you great blathering fool. It's—"
"Loki." Eleanor finally finds her voice. "Please stop," she asks when he glances down at her.
For a moment his expression crumbles and he reaches out to stroke her cheek, his thumb moving reverently across her cheekbone.
"Loki." It seems she's only able to say his name. It's an apology and a plea.
He kisses her forehead. "It is all right, Eleanor," he whispers. "Have no fear. Please."
She nods and manages to stand. Her knees wobble only a little as she comes to stand at Loki's side, lacing their fingers together.
"I will return to the white cells," Loki says. He sounds like a robot. "I will issue a public apology, allow the thrice damned stitches, and endure any other humiliation you and Odin may devise in exchange for all the protection Asgard has to offer."
Yeah, Eleanor really doesn't like the sound of any of that.
"Few on Asgard are keen to see you return, prisoner or otherwise. Tell me, why should I do this for you?"
Eleanor knows exactly what Thor wants to hear, although she is surprised to see such blatant manipulation from the jovial god. Loki knows it too, if the look on his face is any indication.
Clenching his jaw so tight she worries about his teeth, Loki looks at the ceiling for a long moment before staring down at Eleanor.
She shrugs.
"Because you claim to have some misplaced, lingering scrap of affection for me," Loki says as if each word will kill him. Eleanor shakes her head because that was pathetically weak, and Loki shrugs at her in response.
Thor waits patiently. "Attempt it once more, Loki."
"Because you care for her as well," Loki murmurs.
"An accurate statement," Thor muses. "With great ease we could sever your bond and bring Eleanor only under Asgardian protection, leaving you to your fate."
Loki pales, but doesn't offer any protest. Everyone else is on the verge of freaking out, but Eleanor speaks before the room can explode with protests.
"No," she says simply.
Thor frowns.
Loki groans. "Eleanor, my dear—"
"No. Fuck that. I'm not going anywhere without you, Loki, oh God of Ridiculousness. Just tell him what he wants to hear. It's the truth anyway," Eleanor says, thankful that her voice hasn't once more abandoned her in this moment of great need.
"Eleanor," he says in his stern, do as I say, control freak voice.
"No," she says again. "I'm not going to another freaking realm without you. It isn't an option. And I doubt Fury is going to let you stay here without me and my commands."
Everyone looks to the director. He nods his confirmation.
Scowling all the while at Eleanor, Loki swallows his pride and answers Thor's question. "You should do this for me because of our… history." Eleanor nods encouragingly and Loki doesn't look away from her. "Because the one thing that is truly mine in this universe is threatened and there is no one else capable of protecting her as you can."
"Because he'll freak out and destroy said universe if anything happens to Madonna over there," puts in Tony.
Eleanor shoots him a glare but the godly brothers ignore the interruption.
"Because you once called me brother," finishes Loki, really fucking uncomfortable. Still, he flashes this strange little smile.
"Because Mother would have my head if I acted otherwise," says Thor, returning the funny smile. But then he is scowling and serious once more. "I must discuss this with Father."
"Your father."
"Yes, Loki. I must discuss this with my father."
Loki closes his eyes and nods.
Asgard? Asgard! So do you think we are headed back to Asgard?
Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing and such! And I've recently seen the return of my favorite anons (sammi, lace, smiley face person).
See you soon!
1st beta: Heather
Final beta: Erica