Author's note: Hey here's the next chapter hopefully it will be longer than last chapter. I don't own Avengers or the other Marvel movies.
Thor pt 6:
Out in the desert, a red pick-up truck drove along a dirt road up a tall dune of sand. When the vehicle came to the crest of the mound the road would be to the right, an enormous crater the focus of the driver's view. Mjolnir had dropped from a great height, her weight impacting the ground such that the shockwave had shifted the sand beneath her to form a basin at which she was the center.
The red truck had driven off the road and to the site, parking and getting out of his vehicle to walk curiously over the edge of and down into the crater. He gazed at Mjolnir's leather-wrapped handle in consideration before grasping it with both hands and trying to pull her free. After a few seconds of straining he released her with an exhale, putting his hands into his pockets and perplexedly uttering, "Huh."
"Hey Thor, could anyone be able to lift your hammer before the spell your father casted?" Darcy asked.
Loki smirks and Thor gives him a warning look before answering, "I don't believe any mortal would be able to lift it…..but occasionally she would be taken by others from the other realms." Thor explains.
"She's chosen me as the one to lift her and is faithful to me when in battle, and most likely won't let herself be used against me. With my father's spell, anyone who could lift it would be "worthy" and would be able to hold her power."
A green town sign was shown at the side of the road, stating in white letter:
Puente Antiguo
City Limit
Pop 2,175 Elev. 6,056
A gas station connected to a 7-eleven on the right side of the main road with a tow away across from it, several other buildings lining the street past the sole set of traffic lights. People walked along the sidewalks, the surrounding desert visible from any point on the roads in the small town.
"You don't think this was just a magnetic storm, do you?" Erik asked Jane gruffly as he approached where she was leaning over her desk analyzing the data on one of the monitors. The large space was filled with desks and tables piled with scientific equipment with exposed wiring, stacked boxes of loose papers, and several computers.
"Look," Jane started, "the lensing around these edges?" She stood and declared in wonder, "Is characteristic of an Einstein-Rosen bridge," Erik finished the identification with her, nodding.
Darcy pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose and asked, "A what?" (Looking between the two).
Erik looked to her in confusion and asked, "I thought you were a science major?"
"Political Science."
"Why are you even there then?" Agent Hill asks Darcy.
"I was the only one that Jane could have." She says shrugging her shoulders much to the amusement of the others.
"She was the only applicant," Jane explained, returning her attention to the monitor.
He turned to face her and held up his hands a foot apart, touching thumb to index finger on each to form circles and detailing, "An Einstein-Rosen bridge is a theoretical connection," bringing one hand over to the other and back again, "between two different points in space-time-"
Jane cut him off by simplifying, "It's a wormhole," as she circled around for Darcy, who had her bottom lip between her teeth in disorientation. Darcy hummed in interest as she carried a sheet of paper away from the cluttered table they were hovering around. "Erik," Jane called, removing a sheet of paper from the printer tray and ordering, "look – what do you see?" as she handed it to him.
"Stars," he answered.
"Yeah, but not our stars," Jane replied. "See, this-" she began, reaching to pull another piece of paper from the surface of the desk and referring to it, "-is the star alignment for our quadrant this time of year, and unless Ursa Minor decided to take a day off these are someone else's constellations."
"Hey, check this out," Darcy called, beckoning the two over to the large standing bulletin board pinned with images of the event through the different camera lenses. Jane and Erik advanced, all three staring in disbelief.
"No, it can't be," Erik breathed, stepping closer to the picture that Darcy had just put up.
Jane turned and took the wide plastic glasses off her head, walking with a purpose out of the building while saying, "I think I left something at the hospital."
The image is filled with a soft mass of pink streaking from the clouds above downward, a blurred figure of a man being driven within it.
"So you're going to get Thor now?" Clint asks.
"Yes I wanted to know how he got into that swirl." Jane explains, everyone looking back at the screen in interest.
Overlooking Asgard and the gilded partitions of the palace below, Odin stood in an open balcony still garbed in his armor.
"Well looks like we're not going to see you get him yet, we're back to Asgard." Tony says.
"It was starting to get interesting down here with Thor." Clint sighs.
Frigga marched swiftly to his side, curled fair hair brought over her shoulder and in a long flowing grey dress, and gasped, horrified, "How could you have done this?"
"Hey Thor do you and Loki's parents often fight?" Darcy asks.
Loki glares at her and Thor answers, "Never would they argue in public or where either Loki or I would see them." He leans forward interested in what was happening on the screen.
"Do you understand what he has set in motion? He's taken us to the brink of war," Odin yelled.
"-but banishment?! You would lose him forever?" she questioned, screaming, "He's your son!"
"And what would you have done?" he asked as he gazed steadily at her.
"I would not have exiled him to a world of mortals, stripped of his powers to suffer alone," she declared, finishing softly with a minute shake of her head, "I would not have had the heart."
"That is why I am king," Odin asserted. Frigga stood facing him, moving to say something before Odin defended, "I too grieve," as he held his fist to his breast, "the loss of our son." He lowered his arm and averted his eyes to the floor, concluding softly, "But there are some things that even I cannot undo."
"You can bring him back-"
"No!" Odin stated firmly,
Thor winced when that was said on the screen; he slumps down in his seat. His friends and others in the room give him sympathetic expressions but Loki just looks down at the floor, if he could cross his arms he would have. (The chains on his wrists preventing him from doing so.)
"His fate is in his own hands now." He swept his cape aside so to walk off, back to his wife's stare.
"Didn't he give you a chance with Mjolnir, for when you changed your ways?" Steve asks.
Thor nods his head and says, "Yes, and I don't blame him for his decision of banishing me."
Thor awoke in another narrow hospital bed, his wrists and ankles fastened to the frame with Velcro. He looked at them and tugged insistently, teeth bared and face turning red as he huffed out, "I-It's – not – possible." He wheezed as he lay still for a few seconds, before twisting his left arm and maneuvering his hand through the restraint.
Outside the county hospital, Jane, Darcy, and Erik ran through the entrance. They sprinted down a hallway, past the room where Thor had been kept before. The nurses and doctors that had eventually held him were in the room making repairs and describing to security what had happened and the extent of the damage. Erik lagged behind the girls as he stared into the room with shocked awe, before jogging to catch up.
They got to his new room to find an empty bed with Velcro cuffs piled on the rumpled sheets. "Ooh my god," Darcy uttered as they dashed out of the room again.
They piled back into their truck with sighs, Jane in the driver's seat with her hands on the wheel pronouncing, "I just lost my most important piece of evidence – typical."
"So now what?" Darcy asked from the back, adjusting her glasses.
"We find him," she stated.
"Did you see what he did in there? I'm not sure finding his is the best idea," Erik commented from her side.
"Well our data can't tell us what it was like to be inside that event and he can. So, we're going to find him."
"Okay," Darcy agreed, exchanging the batteries in her taser.
"We're going to look all over New Mexico?" Erik asks.
"Exactly," Jane confirmed, starting the engine and switching gears. She braced her hand against the back of Erik's headrest as she looked over her shoulder to reverse, watching their progress through the rear window. She began backing up only for Thor to wander out behind the vehicle and be hit with a screech.
"What?!"
Everyone in the room started to crack up. Jane was blushing in embarrassment.
"You hit him again, oh man that's so funny." Tony says cracking up again.
"That's definitely a great start for your relationship." Clint says to Thor and Jane causing them to blush.
Thor lay sprawled on the dirt as they exited the truck and rushed to him, Jane vowing, "I'm so sorry – I swear I'm not doing this on purpose," as they knelt along his sides.
At the crater, word had spread and resulted in dozens of men pulling up in their pick-ups and lining up to get a chance to try and pull Mjolnir out of the rock she had landed in. There were couples sitting, as well as standing, and others who brought beer, coolers and lawn chairs to settle in to watch the event. One large male was cheering on the contestants as he grilled some hotdogs on a barbeque.
"Wow who would have thought that people will turn it into such an event?" Darcy says.
"Yeah that's a really big party." Steve comments.
"It's only a party if I'm there." Tony says but gets wacked in the head by Natasha.
"Look at that brother, so many people wanting to try to lift my hammer." Thor says excitedly to Loki.
"I told you to stop calling me your brother; I'm not your brother I never was." Loki says angrily, some people just rolled their eyes hearing the same thing a bunch of times already.
A man gripped Mjolnir's handle and pulled, baring his teeth at the effort before the thicker male behind him pat him on the shoulder and ushered him out of the way. He kicked the rock in frustration as he abandoned the attempt, the man behind finishing his beer while he waved the other away. Up on the crest of the crater a white truck backed up with a man standing in the box, hitting the roof to signal the driver to park. Another male ran down the dirt edge with a long chain, wrapping it around Mjolnir's handle. The truck began to drive until the chain was stretched, then its wheels skid in the sand and the entire box and its contents were flipped towards Mjolnir, her position not wavering an inch.
The population inside the crater exclaimed and laughed at the result, the driver peeking his head out the window in sunglasses and a cap and asking. "Did it work?"
A black car with tinted windows rolled up to the upper ridge, the driver's door opening and a black shoe stepped out onto the desert sand. A brunet in a black suit stood looking down at the landing site of Mjolnir for a second before he gently took off his sunglasses and turned away to lift his cell phone to his ear. "Sir, we've found it," he uttered solemnly.
Everyone stared at the screen in sadness but mostly the Avengers at the sight of Agent Phil Coulson from the past. Fury looked around at them and noticed a few people giving Loki some dirty looks knowing how he "killed" Coulson. Fury was about to speak into his ear piece when another note came out of the box everyone bringing their attention to it. Fury started to read it out loud:
Director,
I know what you were about to do and I suggest you wait to bring you know who in to watch videos after this movie is over. Since you are most likely reading this out loud I suggest to all of you listening to hold your negative thoughts because you're going to be surprised at the end of this film.
Sincerely,
The Unknown.
"What is this person talking about?" Tony asks.
"You heard the note Stark, you'll find out when we finish this film." Fury states, with everyone giving him weird looks.
Thor stood in a small bathroom, door open, looking at the dark, low-hanging jeans that he had changed into. Shirtless, he continued to adjust how the pants sat on his hips, appearing confused at the material and fit. Erik and Darcy sat at a table in the adjoining room, Jane pacing behind where they were seated. She had her science journal in hand and was reading a page as she walked, but kept glancing up to admire Thor's torso in the reflection in the full-length mirror.
"You know, for a crazy, homeless person, he's pretty cut," Darcy stated, nodding in approval to his physique.
Tony laughs at that.
Jane rolled her eyes at Darcy's comment and reverent stare, returning her attention to her notebook as Thor grabbed the shirt that was lying on the counter and walked out into the room.
"Hey, sorry I tased you!" Darcy called. Thor chose not to respond and instead paused at a desk he was passing, picking up one of the many wired devices that lay atop it in interest.
"Excuse me," Jane uttered in offence, repeating the phrase again as she walked over to him to take the device away and return it to its place. Thor smirked down at her, his height being at least a foot taller, as she cleared her throat and appeared to jot something down into her journal. "Um-"
As he was preparing to put on the shirt in his hands, he noticed something on it and held it out in front of her, asking, "What is this?" as he pointed to the nametag that read "Hello, my name is DONALD BLAKE M.D."
"Oh," she said, reaching to peel the sticker off, "my ex, Good with patients and bad with relationships. Ah," she shook her head to refocus, explaining, "they were the only clothes I had that would fit you."
"They will suffice," Thor replied, walking away.
"You're welcome," Jane murmured in his stead.
"It's actually pretty interesting watching how Thor talks compared to us, while on Asgard it didn't really click how you talked." Bruce says.
"Yeah it's pretty weird." Darcy answers.
Erik and Darcy watched as Thor pulled on the shirt and walked past them, declaring, "This mortal form has grown weak – I need sustenance." Darcy visibly bit her tongue and raised her eyebrows towards Erik, who stared and crossed his arms in bafflement.
The sky was dark behind thick steams of clouds, stars glimmering amongst rainbowed rays of reflected light high above shadowed golden towers speckled with lights from within.
"Wow Asgard looks different at night." Tony says.
In a gilded lounge, several cushioned couches and wide chairs were arranged around a smoldering fire-pit piled with logs. Volstagg and Lady Sif were seated on the furniture, her staring into the flames as he watched Hogan pace. Fandral sat on the floor and Loki stood apart, facing away from the others. "We should have never let him go," Volstagg stated mournfully, chalice in hand.
"There was no stopping him," Sif assured.
"At least he's only banished, not dead," Fandral commented, wearing a cloth, open vest that lent no pressure to his sore torso, "which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone." Volstagg hissed at the firm pressure exerted as Hogan rubbed a salve onto the section of his forearm that had been frozen.
Loki swallowed and looked down, gaze intent as he turned his hand and inspected it again, the color still the pale tone that he was accustomed to.
"How did the guard even know?" Volstagg wondered.
Loki turned to him and answered, "I told him,"
They all stilled and looked to him, Fandral asking, "What?"
"I told him to go to Odin after we'd left," Loki replied softly. "He should be flogged for taking so long – we never should have reached Jotunheim."
Hogan turned his gaze onto him as Votstagg stared before shouting, "You told the guard?"
"I saved our lives," Loki defended, eyes red-rimmed as he idly scratched the palm of the hand he had previously been inspecting. "And Thor's," he continued. "I had no idea Father would banish him for what he did," he says.
"You're very torn up about it aren't you?" Darcy asks Loki referring to the scene, but he doesn't answer.
"Yeah he is, and he keeps looking at that hand. He's completely off his game." Tony states.
"Brother you look like you were on the verge of tears all throughout this scene." Thor says sadly looking at Loki who just doesn't even respond to him.
"Loki," Sif pleaded as she got to her feet to approach him, "you must go to the Allfather and convince him to change his mind."
"If I do, then what?" he posed, leaning forward to confront her. "I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is. He's arrogant. He's reckless. He's dangerous. You saw how he was today," he said gruffly, forcing them to recall Thor's impulsive direction. "Is that what Asgard needs from its king?" he questioned rhetorically before he swiftly marched from their company.
Thor looked down sadly thinking about how he wasn't really there for Loki when they were kids.
Lady Sif followed him for a couple of steps before halting and watching him exit, addressing the others, "He may speak of the good of Asgard, but he's always been jealous of Thor."
"Hey aren't they friends with him? That was totally mean." Darcy says while others were thinking the same thing.
"They aren't my friends." Loki says angrily.
"They were my friends and Loki's friends through me." Thor says.
"We should be grateful to him – he saved our lives," Volstagg included.
"Laufey said there were traitors in the house of Odin," Hogan recalled slowly, Sif's vacant gaze shifting from side to side in contemplation of his words. "A master of magic could bring three Jotuns into Asgard."
"Loki's always been one for mischief, but you're talking about something else entirely," Fandral objected.
Everyone was torn between being frustrated with the four on the screen or being thankful.
The Casket of Ancient Winters sat upon its pedestal, an azure blue glow lighting the area around it. Loki approached steadily, eyes fixed on the artifact, until he stood before it with hands inching to reach up and grasp its handles.
With a resigned shake of his head he inhaled deeply and grabbed the handles on either side of the prism.
His widened gaze jumped from one hand to the other and back again for a few seconds, then he lifted the Casket from its pedestal. His breaths were hurried as his worried eyes watched the skin on his hands for any change in color. The tips of his fingers first, then the rest of the digits, a deep blue coloring creeping past his knuckles-
"Stop!" Odin ordered, standing in a stiff golden robe by the elaborate double doors that led out of the Weapons' Vault.
"Am I cursed?" Loki asked his shoulders tense as he faced away from his father.
"No."
"What am I?" He gingerly returned the Casket to its podium.
"You're my son," Odin insisted.
Loki allowed his arms to fall to his sides as he pivoted to face his 'father'. His sapphire skin shone in the candle light, deep grooves and runes patterned throughout the surface of his forehead, cheekbones, chin, and neck, crimson eyes challenging the claim. "What more than that?" he whispered harshly, the blue gradually fading down past the collar of his leather robes.
He approached the Allfather steadily, asking "The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?" His footsteps echoed off the far stone walls as he walked, until he stood at the base of the few stairs upon which Odin stood.
"No," he answered.
"In the aftermath of the battle I went into the temple and I found a baby," he explained. A Jotun babe cried as he was lifted into the Allfather's arms, "Small, for a giant's offspring," the back of his head braced carefully. His scarlet cape was in tatters, his horned, winged helmet battered and scratched above the closed lid of Odin's right eye, gored and bloody. His lips twitched into a small smile as the baby quieted down. "Abandoned – suffering – left to die," the blue skin reacted to the warmth of his hands, receding and mimicking the pale tone presented to him, "Laufey's son."
Everybody but Loki looked at the screen in shock, "Laufey?" Clint asks.
"Isn't that the-" Darcy began but was cut off by Thor.
"Jotun King." Thor breathed out, looking worriedly over to Loki who was starting to look very upset being reminded of the scene.
"Laufey's son," Loki repeated in an empty voice as he swallowed, his eyes gazing aimlessly off to the side. Blinking, he looked up to the Allfather.
"Yes," Odin confirmed.
"W-Why? You were knee-deep in Jotun blood – why would you take me?"
"You were an innocent child-"
"No, you took me for a purpose," Loki protested, panting. "What was it?" Odin just stared in sadness, watching his son break before his eyes. "TELL ME!" Loki screamed, faint tear tracks streaking down to his jaw line.
"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day: bring about an alliance, bring about a permanent peace – through you," the Allfather explained unwillingly.
"W-Wha-" Loki stuttered, eyebrows drawn together over his red-rimmed eyes as he breathed heavily.
"But those plans no longer matter," Odin said, averting his gaze.
Loki gaped up at him for a few seconds before he started, aghast, "So I am no more than another stolen relic – locked up, here, until you might have use of me?"
"Why do you twist my words-"
"You could have told me what I was from the beginning – why didn't you?"
"You're my son. I wanted only to protect you from the truth," Odin defended.
"Why-y? Because I-I, I-I-I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night?" he said, tears shining on his eyelashes and over the skin of his cheeks.
"No-"
"You know it all makes sense, now," Loki began, expression twisting in anger as he advanced up the stairs, "why you favored Thor over me all. These. Years." Odin felt for the floor as he sunk down onto the steps in weariness, still protesting to Loki's vocalizations. "Because no matter how much you claimed to love me-" he yelled as he jabbed himself in the chest, the Allfather weakly reaching up for him, "-you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!"
His arm fell limply against Loki's leg before it fell to the floor, his body unconscious and lying on its side along the twisted staircase that led out of the vault. Loki was bent at the waist looking down at him for a second before he crouched to kneel at his side, his hands hovering uselessly over the Allfather's slumbering form. He slowly, clumsily, reached a hand to circle his wrist, feeling the steady pulse.
His eyes were wide in distress as he observed the motionless figure, before he shouted, "Guards! Guards, please – help!" The Allfather's guards stationed outside pushed through the tall, heavy doors to rush to their fallen king's side as Loki stepped back.
T.B.C
Author's note: This is a great stopping point. Poor Loki! How's he going to react now, knowing everyone in the room knows how he feels about himself? Next chapter will be soon hopefully. Please R&R.