Warnings: Language, adult situations, possible violence, allusions to mature subject matter (ie. Various forms of assault/torture/etc.)
Summary: What do you get when you mix embittered!depressed!enraged!Loki (doing time on Midgard) and Christmas together? Tony Stark wants to find out, especially when he begins to realize that the God of Mischief needs a little bit of Christmas cheer. Of course, Thor is in. Who else comes along for the ride? Will you?
Comments: This is not a slash fic. Sorry. It's Loki-centric, although I definitely show the rest of the Avengers and etc. Please review! Constructive criticism welcome (especially this is my first time writing for Avengers fandom)!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers. Marvel owns it. I do not get paid for this piece of work. Sadly, but understandably. LOL.
Reponse to un-signed in reviewers
TO Reader: Hey! Welcome back! I'm glad you're looking forward to some action-packed drama! I hope this doesn't disappoint!
THANKS TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS! I'M SOOOO GLAD YOU GUYS ARE ENJOYING IT!
Trying to survive Chinese New Years... when will the firecrackers and fireworks stop? This morning was so foggy, I couldn't see the apartments across from us (50 meters away). So depressing. Because it isn't just fog. My lungs are black. I am sure of it.
Christmas Magic
Chapter 35
In Time
"Our father yells
Throwing gifts in the wood stove, wood stove
My sister runs away
Taking her books to the schoolyard, schoolyard
In time the snow will rise
In time the Lord will rise"
("That Was The Worst Christmas Ever! - sung by Sufjan Stevens)
The first wave of the metallic creatures hit Long Island around half past one. At first, the attacks seemed to be hoaxes – but SHIELD was already mobilizing when the first blurry picture finally found its way onto Google. Within minutes, the Avengers had been called and were flying on their way out to meet the first wave.
Thor and Tony arrived first and, against all expectations, did as they were told, hung back and sent back initial assessments to the other Avengers who were on their way in a quinjet. The first wave of bots, moving past the north side of Long Island were not settling down to continue destroying the homes they shot at on their way, but seemed to be focused on heading inwards to the centre of New York.
Although it was early in the morning, it was still potentially dangerous as last minute shoppers left for their homes, as the last minute tourist stragglers (or people visiting family) drove in finally making headway with the break in the cloud cover. New York, like all major metropolitan cities, didn't ever really go to sleep – and Tony knew that it wasn't only the law-abiding citizens snuggling in their beds who needed to be protected. There were the others as well. The marginalized. And, God bless 'em, the criminal.
Human is as human does, Tony sighed. Hopefully these Doom-bot things won't do too much damage before we wipe them out.
"Where are you guys?"
"Here. You notice they are sweeping in lower than I expected."
Clint's voice. Tony peered through the gloom and realized that the familiar spaced lights of SHIELD's quinjet could be seen through foliage. The quinjet was landing in Liberty Park, Steve, Natasha and Clint climbing out quickly and gearing up for the last time as the hoard descended.
-0-0-0-
They were unlike any Doom-bot they had seen before. Strange, Steve thought, as he wacked three which began to attack him with long, retracting pincer arms. Normally, they're... taller and bigger. And easier to hit.
Instead of the usual humanoid figure made of metal or synth-flesh, these Doom-bots seemed to be more driven by AI than then usual heavy presence of the Doctor Doom himself. Usually, Doom-bots stood rather tall, were easily deactivated by lightning, decapitation, dismemberment or ripping out the mechanical innards. One time the software had been weak and JARVIS had hacked them all into a standstill. That had been an amazing day. Not today, Steve sighed as he finally managed to wrestle the little tear-dropped Doom-bot to the ground and pried off the front lid (which looked disturbingly like an iris) before finding wiring and yanking the wires out.
These Doom-bots were no bigger than two and a half feet, tear-dropped, smooth with silver metal. Which meant it was hard to get your hands on – and thanks to a small rocket propelled system at the smaller end, rather fast. The larger end was covered with an iris which seemed to be the navigation system combined with basic sensory capabilities. Anything that moved suffered its wrath. Wrath in the form of pincer-like arms which slid out of two slots along the sides and a tiny cannonade which shot out laser blasts from its "underbelly".
"These don't look like Doom-bots," Steve yelled over to Natasha, who had already snagged one by its arms and was busy hacking into it's front iris.
"No kidding!"
"No, they're Doom," Tony's voice came out of the headset. "I just dismantled one and looked inside. The fucker put his autograph on the inside shell. Bastard."
"But – they aren't humanoid!" Clint protested, finally happy to discover that his arrow bombs could actually penetrate the shielding on the teardrop suckers.
"I know."
"And what are you doing sitting around like that?" added Clint. "Stop playing nerd and actually help us over here!"
"Thor and I have our hands full over here. They're trying to eat into the Statue of Liberty. Pardon me for caring about protecting our woefully unfashionable national treasures," Tony snapped back.
"Blame the French," Natasha replied with a grin as she managed to wrestle another down.
"How's Thor?"
There was some kind of roar over their head sets and a whole lot of static as huge clouds began to form over Liberty Island. Lightning flashed down and ran down the sides of the Statue. Then it went dark.
"What happened?" Steve yelled. "Did it work?"
"Uhhh... sort of," Tony said uncertainly. "I'm up to four hundred percent capacity again. Which is cool. And the buggers are stunned. But, um. Not dead. Excuse me. I have a few Doom-bees to destroy."
"Doom-bees. That's what you came up with? Lame," Clint snorted.
Then, they were all rather busy. Clint realized that he'd need more ammunition at some point, so he put in a short call for backup. SHIELD responded with a dutiful 'we'll get on that right away' – but he didn't hold out for much hope that they would get there soon enough. Watching Natasha, Clint darted around and forced them to the ground, either ripping an arm off and digging around inside (thank God for rubber and leather gloves!) - or forcing the large iris open.
Natasha, more used to hand to hand combat, was in her element. Both she and Steve had their hands full, however, because just stunning the creatures was not enough. One had to deactivate them as well. The Black Widow had a bad feeling that the Avengers would be at this all night long. Which sucks, she frowned, I may not like Christmas, but this is sure as hell not the way I'd like to spend it. I hope we figure out a way to short-circuit these things easier.
Steve had a rhythm going. Whack with his shield. Stun. Tear off arm. Disable. Repeat. It was getting old.
Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, was more than up for the job. Whacking the stunned metal creatures definitely flattened them in a satisfying manner – but Son of Stark had pointed out that Mjolnir-shaped impressions on the important statue would not be so appreciated – nor would it improve on its appearance. Still, once he got to the ground, Thor enthusiastically took on a horde, creating his own version of what Son of Stark called 'Whack-a-mole'. Incredibly satisfying. This is fun, he grinned. Then his smile faltered. Too bad Loki could not join me. He would enjoy this. And, it would help him relieve his burdens.
Tony was already sending in a call to SHIELD. His initial assessment put the Doom-bee army at around five hundred. They could handle that – but he had a feeling that Doctor Doom must have something more up his sleeve. He gave Fury a call.
"Stark." It was Fury. None too happy. Of course. "I hope you have good news for me."
"Good and bad. The usual," Tony replied, tearing apart a Doom-bee with his hands while stepping on another in a satisfactory fashion. "Um. Which one do you want first? It's the whole dilemma of shooting the messenger –"
"Shut the hell up, Stark – or else Doctor Doom won't be the only guy I'm gonna shoot down tonight."
"OK. Um. First, bad news – I think more are coming. Uh, don't ask me why – but there's something odd about these robots. I mean, c'mon. Bees? So lame. And uh yeah, they're slippery bastards, but essentially without any real tricks up their sleeves. More like fodder, if you get what I mean. Which means it means quantity over quality."
"Fair enough."
"So keep an eye out. There might be another wave."
"Is there any more bad news – or can we cut to the good stuff?" asked Fury, beckoning a hand toward a set of programmers.
Hill nodded and was already moving to stand over them, initiating a broader search for Doom-bees.
"OK. So. No more bad news. I think. Never know. Sorry. Wait a sec." There was a scuffle. An explosion. Watching from the scenes, they watched as a huge hole appeared on Liberty Island taking out a portion of the lawn. Fury winced. The Senate wouldn't be happy. But the Statue was OK. He shrugged. Eh. Meh. Win some, lose some. "You see that? Sorry – uh. Stark Industries, by the way, is not liable for any damage caused by –"
"STARK!"
"Oh. Right. OK. So. The only other bad thing I can think of is that he's keeping us busy for a reason. Maybe that's why there's a ton of Doom-bees and they're just enough to keep us busy. Maybe. I dunno. OK. Right. Good news. Um. Well. They can be disarmed by about anyone who is really spry and has good calisthenics or is athletic, a daredevil, no sense of personal safety – or – right, right, OK. You just tear an arm off and dig around inside and tear out a few wires and you're all set to go and take down the next one. Pretty easy, huh? Too easy is what I think."
"Hm. So, with the police department and SHIELD could scramble soldiers and SWAT teams appropriately."
"If they have shields against lasers. Forgot to mention those, but yes. OK. That was... disturbingly close. Right. But good news is that there's no apparent connection to the Doctor himself. Which is weird, right? He's always up for a chat. Kinda a bit of a talker really. Once you get him going, he'd talk the hind leg off a mule."
"Sounds like someone I know," grumbled Fury.
"Ha ha. Yuck it up, big guy, but, uh, that means it's run on an AI. Which means that if JARVIS's scans are right – and I'd like to think they are, that means they're all running on a mainframe somewhere. Probably," Tony veered to the left and then the right, six Doom-bees on his tail. He swooped low to the ground, bringing them toward Thor, allowing the God of Thunder to zap them, stun them and then smash them flat. "Where was I. Oh. Right. Mainframe. Probably somewhere in East Europe or something. JARVIS is still looking into that. Maybe we'll get lucky and Doom was lazy and put the factory with the mainframe."
"We'll run our scans as well. Thanks. Stay alive," Fury signed off.
"Yeah..." Tony blinked, looking around. Liberty Island seemed clear. Manhattan Bridge, not so much. "Let's go, Point Break. We've got some civs on the bridge over there who need saving."
They blasted off.
-0-0-0-
In battle, time is inconstant. What seems like minutes may in fact be hours and what feels like hours may last only a few seconds as a Doom-bee tears past your helmet just too close for comfort. They had been battling for half an hour or so already, but thanks to Thor's electrical emissions and JARVIS, Tony's power wasn't running out as quickly as he had feared. A blessing and a curse. His suit wasn't tiring – but he was.
Ten minutes later, just as Tony and Thor were tearing into Doom-bees on the Manhattan Bridge, the second wave arrived, this time coming in from the south side of Long Island. Cursing colourfully, Clint drew back, only find some vans had pulled out – several SHIELD soldiers were climbing out. A bunch holding up several of his quivers. Grabbing them, he nodded and faced forward, Steve and Natasha at his side, and the call came in from Hill, sounding a bit more sharp than usual.
"Unfriendlies coming up south Long Island and headed your direction!"
"Focusing on us. Again," sighed Steve. "Well, at least they aren't focusing too much on the civilians. But we're going to need help from Thor and Tony if they only come here. I'm getting Bruce to come in."
"Copy that," Hill replied. "We already have him on his way. Will join Thor and Tony. ETA in ten."
"We've cleared the park, sir," said a corporal, saluting at Hawkeye before withdrawing his men to man the shoreward side of the park with various assault weapons.
"Thanks," Hawkeye nodded back. "We'll cover it from here."
"How's it going over there, Tony?" asked Natasha.
"This is a larger force," Hill's voice cut in. "Over five hundred and counting. And definitely headed to the park."
"Shit," said Clint.
"OK, give us a sec and we'll be over there – we've got people here who need to be moved out – the bridge isn't – oh crap – it isn't really the most stable here. We've got the city coming in for quick fix repairs but – uh – sorry –"
Over the water, out of the corner of his eye, as he batted down six Doom-bees with one of his splitting arrows (which destroyed six opponents at one time, which Natasha thought was sexy, and he had to agree), Clint wondered if a second was going to be easy to survive. Several birds with assault rifles were zooming around the sky. Even a bunch of quinjets had been scrambled – but the Doom-bees (dammit, Stark's name had stuck. Again.) were fast.
The helicarrier had to be around somewhere, but had not made an appearance. Clint understood. It was kinda big and rather indefensible. Plus, the Hulk might want to revisit his old playground.
"Bruce's here," Tony's voice cut in. "Thor's bringing him over. OK. Gotta go. I've got some personnel issues here..."
-0-0-0-
Manhattan Bridge was a mess. There were police officers at one end, Bruce's heli at the other end. Twitching Doom-bee littered the area. A few were still whizzing about, which Tony knew he'd take care of soon enough – but even more important was getting Bruce over the water to Liberty Park. Thor offered, dragged the poor man out the helicopter, whirled his hammer and disappeared with only a short glance and a short word ('Stay!") to his brother who seemed to have tagged along in the bird.
The next ten minutes was spent on finishing up the last stragglers of Doom-bees which were wasting the police. Once he was done, Tony made his way down the long stretch of damaged road and bridge to the helicopter now sitting silent and still on the potted tarmac. Striding over to the copter and peering in at a very disgruntled looking Loki, Tony sighed and resisted banging his head on the steel carriage. Great. An indefensible God of Mischief. On the battlefield. Obviously pining for a fight he could never take part in. Because of some bloody, stupid, indiscriminate spell. Damn Odin and those elves, Tony sighed.
"OK. Loki. This sucks, but you really have to listen to your brother and stay here."
"He's not –"
"Shut up. He is. OK. Right. Now. Stay in the copter. If you really want to get out and stretch your legs, you can help the civilians get off the bridge. There's going to be some bridge repair crew coming in. And police officers. I'll tag you as a friendly. Um. Take this, uh, clippy thing." Here, Tony jerked out from a plastic box always stashed underneath the back seat a SHIELD staff plastic card, which was clipped to a rope necklace, lanyard, cord thing, whatever it was. Reaching up, he beckoned – Loki bent forward and Tony slung it around him and ran a finger laser over the ID bar and nodded. "JARVIS has set you up. You are now an official Avenger. Sort of. For the night. One time only thing. So don't suck. Uh. Right. So. There you go. You can go home in this copter. Or you can sit here and wait. Or you can help civilians and repair crews. Your choice."
With that, he left. Loki turned the plastic card around and saw his picture flicker to life on the thick flat card. His dark eyebrows knit together as he contemplated it with a frown.
My choice.
-0-0-0-
As he flew off, Tony shook his head. This is some night, he thought to himself. We've got freaky Doom-bots that aren't bots but bees. We've got tons of them. We've got weird tactics. We've got an AI. We've got NO Doctor Doom anywhere. We've got Loki on the field. As an Avenger. For the night. Ugh. My Christmas presents to myself had better be worth it.
"JARVIS," he asked as he neared Liberty Park. "Uh. What's the status on the factory mainframe thing?"
"As yet, no hit, sir," JARVIS replied smoothly. As though his Christmas plans weren't ruined by Doom and his swarm of Doom-bees. "But SHIELD and several other global organizations have also joined the search."
"Huh. I don't know if that's supposed to make me feel better, but OK," Tony eyed his friends as he landed. "And, uh, JARVIS, anything else I should know? Anything strange about the swarm or anything?"
"Well, the swarm seems to have come over here for the most part." JARVIS said. "I will need a few more minutes to analyze their movements – but this flying formation seems to have a centre – but what is at the centre is beyond my sensors at this moment."
"Lovely. You hear that guys?" Tony turned to the others, who were now beginning to pick off the scouts as they arrived, clicking and whizzing. "Queen Bee or something incoming."
"Loud and clear," Clint snapped back, arms and feet now put to use as he began to move from long-range destruction to close-range combat.
"And the rest of New York has not been invaded. Stark Towers has had no targets. The hacking has stopped. Our tracers are working on the origin point. There were a couple small breaches on the part of SHIELD," Here, JARVIS sounded a bit more smug than usual. "But so far, it does not seem to have infiltrated anything concerning the Avengers per se. The cloud is now parting –"
"Wait. The hacking stopped?" Tony frowned. "When did it stop?"
"Around twenty minutes ago, sir. Just after the first wave arrived."
"And when did SHIELD's servers get hacked?"
Pause.
"Around the same time, sir. With the overload of information coming in concerning the Doom-bees, sir, there was a large amount of traffic which would account for the –"
"Oh crap. Make your analysis on the hacking the highest priority."
"Right, sir."
"Let me know as soon as you find out."
"Certainly, sir."
The next fifteen minutes were spent rather breathlessly on dealing with the second wave of Doom-bees. More often than not, Tony found himself back to back with Thor or Natasha fending off two Doom-bees to one hand. Exciting stuff.
Somewhere, far in the distance, there was the familiar roar of the Hulk as he tore through tree groves and bracken and bushes to squash any of the mites which were too close to the ground. Swatting them away like the puny baseballs they seemed compared to his large hands, the Hulk seemed to be more happy than annoyed. No doubt, he's getting some stress relief time, grinned Tony. Christmas holiday stress. Gotta love it. Well. At least it isn't Loki.
At the thought of Loki, Tony hoped that Loki wasn't getting into too much trouble. Or mischief.
If we could be so lucky.
They were not.
-0-0-0-
For a few seconds, Loki sat there, turning the card over and over in his hands, considering what lay before him. He could stay there or go home. Or he could get out and help the puny race that he was supposed to have crushed beneath his feet.
... do not know the truth of ruling, brother... the throne would suit you ill...
Grimacing, biting his lip and hitting his knee with his fist, Loki got up and jumped out of the flying contraption and looked around with a sharp gusty exhalation more like a sigh. It was as the Son of Stark said. The stupid creatures were running around like panicked mice and less coherent and courageous than the best of men. And it was his responsibility to care for them. Apparently.
They were at the far end of the bridge, the north-ward side he supposed. On the far end, he could see smoking cars and twisted metal – what had been the front brigade of the police people. Foolish creatures. Toward them streamed those who could walk or limp or run. But there were others who lay still on the tarmac. He would have to check all for signs of life and aid those unconscious back. Metaphorically rolling up his sleeves, Loki set to work.
While the Avengers fought, Loki moved from silent vehicle to silent vehicle, checking for wounded or any kind of unconscious survivor. He discovered two unconscious women and dragged them to the helicopter. Further down, two young people had died. Further down, an old man. Also dead. Beyond that, a beefy man coming to consciousness with a large gash on his forehead, bleeding like a stuck boar. He got the man down and discovered that he was willing to walk toward the police officers – and aid two young crying children as well. Loki let him go, eyeing the dark skies nervously.
If the metallic bee-like creatures, Doom-bees, Stark had called them, returned, Loki would be of no use.
It did not bear thinking on. Moving from vehicle to vehicle, Loki checked for any survivors. Some were dead. Some unconscious and came to and scurried away. Some had to be laid in the helicopter. Or around it. They were running out of room. The pilot was already talking over some speaking device and ordering medical aid. Loki didn't think there would be any coming any time soon. He was now working on both sides of the road.
Half of the way, he heard a small wail rise from a vehicle. He could hear a child's cry begin to increase – running toward a larger vehicle, Loki jerked the door open. What kind of family travels at this time of the night? He glared inside – and then bit back a cry as something burned his hand. Pulling away, Loki turned around to find himself faced with a Doom-bee.
This Doom-bee was easily twice the size of the usual Doom-bees – and, on top of that, stripped with green and yellow. The eye, instead of the usual blue, was gold and black. There were two small gun-like things on its underbelly and the arms were longer and bigger. Loki stepped back from the door as the guns tracked him.
Uh... oh...
-0-0-0-
"Guys. We have a problem," Tony said over the comm-sets.
"Tell me something I don't know, Stark," bit back Steve, voice gasping as he whacked two more Doom-bees and tried to get at least one disabled before the other one woke up.
"Uh. You don't know this. It's, um. Not good."
"Spit it out already, fly boy," Natasha nearly missed Tony's head as she shot at two Doom-bees which were getting too close for comfort.
"Nearly killed me there. OK. It's Loki."
"Oh crap. What's he doing now?"
"Helping civilians get off the bridge, according to JARVIS, actually," Fury's voice cut in. "He seems to be in the pink of health, more or less."
"Check again."
Pause.
"Oh shit."
"Right. Yeah."
"Guys!" Natasha whirled around to bring yet another Doom-bee down.
"Short version. SHIELD was hacked." Tony flew upward and released a few of his micro-bombs and then spiralled sideways as the explosion forced him downwards. "SHIELD's access to the LS."
"LS?" Thor asked.
"Loki Satellite."
"Oh dammit," Clint did not sound happy. "He's a target?"
"Uh. If JARVIS's readings are correct. The centre of the mass – the, uh, Queen Bee, as it were – just peeled away from the group and is heading over to the bridge."
Pause. More fighting.
"He's THE target, guys," Tony sighed. "It wasn't about us, after all."
"I never thought I'd hear you say that. Christmas miracles do happen." Natasha scoffed. "OK. So Loki's the target. Why?"
"Well, if I knew why, I'd be happier," Tony snapped back. "But it can't be good. Um. Worst case scenario – it's a bid for Loki's loyalty. Imagine – Loki and Doctor Doom teaming up."
"I've already imagined that," Fury said bluntly. "From Day One."
"Loki would not join with a creature such as Doom!" Thor's protest threatened to bring down the comm units. "He would not endanger us in such a way – and he is more independent –"
"Thor's right," Natasha shook her head. "It's a possibility, but doesn't call for us to target Loki. What's the better possibility?"
"Uh... Doctor Doom is taking out the competition? Taking out our potential ally? Your pick."
"Either way, you're saying Loki's dead," Clint frowned. "I don't like those odds at all."
"Well, thanks to some elves and Odin, Loki's got no way to protect himself. Someone needs to get over there. Thor – wait – you can't just leave. Uh. Natasha! Behind you! Thor, - to the Hulk's right!"
There was an ensuing scuffle. As Thor peeled too Doom-bees off the Hulk's back and crushed them while Natasha dealt with yet another Doom-bee who had tried to blow her head off via laser. For a second, there was a breather.
"None of us can go – for now," Steve sighed. "Maybe in ten minutes..."
"We have the helicopter pilot on scene," Fury's voice broke in. "The unknown unfriendly has made contact with Loki. It does not appear to be friendly with Loki so far – but neither is it trying to actively kill him. We think they're talking. We'll let you guys know. I have sent SHIELD and SWAT over."
"OK. Tell the pilot to tell Loki we're going to send someone over. Tony or Thor or something."
"Will do."
With renewed vigour, Thor whirled Mjolnir, raised his hammer and called lightning down. If Doctor Doom even thought about attempting harm to Loki, the creature would pay with his life – a thousand times over.
This I vow. No one will harm a hair of my brother's head and live to see daylight.
-0-0-0-
"Greetings, Loki of Asgard, God of Mischief and Lies and Chaos," said a metallic voice.
Loki glanced inside the vehicle and noticed that woman at the front was stirring. The child was still crying. By the Norns, why can it not be silent? Twitching back to look at his opponent, Loki considered the metallic creature. He had seen Tony dismember it. There was only one. If I work quickly, perhaps I can stay one step ahead of the spell. Loki, breathing in and out through his nose, calmed his mind and tried to keep it clear of any thoughts of violence. Until the last minute.
"We meet at last. It is my pleasure."
"It is not mine, metal thing," Loki replied disdainfully.
"The name is Doctor Doom."
"You look... rather small for such a... name..." Baleful.
"And you look beaten for a God of Asgard," was the metallic response. Then some kind of synthetic laughter bleated out from its speakers. "One of the first things we will do is institute a better diet more suited to your kind."
"We?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "I am afraid there is no 'we' in this situation. At all."
"I am sure that we can come to... terms... and eventually see eye to eye on matters pertaining to this world," was the calm reply.
"I fear not," Loki replied. "Sadly." Not so sadly. "It would presume on myself having an opinion on matters pertaining to this world. Currently, I have none. Definitely none that could also include your esteemed self. Now, there are some others – on that far stretch of land who may be more interested in speaking with you. I am currently... occupied, so if you will excuse me –"
"Yes, I noticed. Helping the very scum you had vowed to conquer." Another sharp laugh. Loki, who had begun to turn, froze and turned to glare at the Doom-bee. "What if something happened to these pathetic creatures – what would your friends think, I wonder? Trust is such a – fragile – thing."
At the word 'fragile', several things happened all at once. For a moment, it was as if time had slowed down for the ex-God of Mischief. There was an explosion – a sharp force – a wind gale – something which tossed the vehicle at his side up and over the median. The body was now tilting dangerously off the edge – ready at any moment to slip off.
"Now. You have a choice, Loki of Asgard. You can come with me – and have a chance to finish what you started. Or you can stay here. Be pathetic – and remaining the nothing you have become," the Doom-bee cackled. "What does Loki of Asgard say?"
Another blast. An air blast of some kind, Loki thought disjointedly. At this rate – but it was already too late. The woman was awake now and scrambling to the back, trying to balance the car forward, scrambling for her child. Wailing increased and screams of 'my baby! My baby!'. A headache was forming. There was nothing but his breath. Whiteness. Darkness. Flaring. Blaring. The sounds of rockets. Gunshots.
Another blast.
The car was tipping forward.
This was now. This was now or never. The car was tipping forward. Loki could dart forward and try to pull it back. He could fail. He could be pulled over. He could just let it happen. It wouldn't be his fault. The car was tipping forward. He would have to live with the sound of the child crying. For the rest of his very long life. Not that he hadn't heard children cry before. But that was before. Before Robert Loki Anthony Hollins. Before he understood. The car was tipping – slipping forward – the wheels left the rail.
Loki made a choice.
The car tipped forward, slipped forward and Loki –
Fell.
OK. So. Um. Cliffie...
DON'T KILLLLLL MEEEE!
*ahem* Yes.
Next chapter... What side does Loki fall on? Toward the mom and the minivan? Toward Doctor Doom? And a few other epic things.
ANGST MUSIC 101. Lord of the Rings. "For Frodo", "Passing of the Elves", "The Healing House", et cetera. There's nothing like epic music to change into angst ridden melodies. I'm not talking about the sweetness of the Rivendell theme or the Aragorn/Arwen theme song - but there are sadder ones. Like "The Eagles" and the part where Frodo and Sam go up the side of Mount Doom. LOTR:FOR was the first movie I ever saw in theatres - at the age of 18. It was the best night of my life. So, for me, Lord of the Rings will always be special.