Loki, the Undying
Rated: T
Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.
000
It seemed that while some of the team members were in the big brain meeting, some of the others were in physical training led by Steve. He and Thor were currently going at it, trading blows, though neither of their hearts seemed fully in it since Thor wasn't using a weapon and Steve was without a shield. Still, it seemed like they were content doing the exercises to stay battle ready, at the very least.
Clint was in the back of the room, mostly doing trickshots rather than any real target practice. Rhodey was acting as a referee, calling out suggestions for move improvements to Steve and Thor, while occasionally glancing over at Clint. Cass stood at the side, leaning casually against the wall, haphazardly watching the sparring match in front of her, barely sparing Loki and Natasha a look as they entered the room.
Stark, however, was still nowhere in sight. Loki imagined that he was spending his day with his woman and child-to-be. While he personally felt that there were more pressing matters, Loki also knew that humans were very sentimental and that it was simply in their nature to want to be caregivers. He supposed that looking death in the face so recently had caused Stark to rethink more than a few things in his life.
Afterall, Loki had done just the same.
He did not dwell on the thought, however, as Natasha crossed the room and went to speak to Clint, who Loki supposed was her go to teammate for advice. He supposed there was a joke in there about Hawkeye being a wingman but Loki didn't care enough about the man to think too hard about it.
Seeing Natasha walking with purpose, Steve and Thor came to a natural pause and then gave each other a nod before parting ways, heading to their respective water bottles and towels.
"So, you aren't much of a fighter, Cass?" Steve asked, stepping over to his towel and wiping down his face. "Not everyone excels at brute strength, but hopefully you have some basic defense skills. Even our more… specialized… recruits had to go through martial training."
"I'll be fine. Can't die, remember?" Cass replied with a shrug and a small, smug smile.
Steve wasn't amused, Loki noticed. Instead, he stared down the woman and then threw his towel to the side. "That's great and all… but I'm more concerned about your fellow soldiers. If a fight breaks out, are you going to be a liability? Can you defend your team or do you need to get yourself out of the way?"
Loki had to give the man credit. Cass's expression was cold-enough to freeze even a Jotun. And Steve stood tall, not so much as budging.
"Fine," Cass replied, pushing herself off the wall. She slid her jacket off and let it crumple on the ground before moving to the center of the ring.
Rogers nodded. "Thank you. Nat, you wanna take this?"
Nat turned around and locked eyes with Cass. At first, Loki was elated-the idea of seeing the renowned Black Widow absolutely tear Cass apart was all he could have wished for at the moment. But that isn't what happened.
No. Natasha, calm, cool, powerful Natasha, took a step back. "No," she said, forcefully pulling her eyes away from the shorter woman. "I have a meeting with the UN."
Loki's smile faltered. What?
He wasn't the only one to notice that something was off. Steve and Clint also noticed how out of character it was for Natasha to back down. The air had a tension in it, one that set Loki on edge. Why did it feel so heavy all of a sudden? Where did this sense of danger come from? What was-
"I'll do it," Thor said with a smirk. "You may be petite, but if you can transform into a nymph then surely there is a power in you. I should like to see that."
Cass shrugged and looked at Steve, who gave a nod.
Thor's cavalier attitude helped break the tension, but Loki couldn't help but feel that it remained. Still, Thor's large personality was enough to shadow over the uneasiness as the pair took to the center of the ring. Steve picked up his own whistle from his belongings, which were lined up neatly on the bench, and brought it to his lips, releasing a shrill sound off.
Thor wasted no time taking a swing at the woman, who simply side stepped his blow-and then the next one, and the next one. In fact, she put her hands behind her back and simply danced around the ring, dodging Thor's attacks with ease. Loki furrowed his brows.
She looked bored, like she could see each of his moves coming. Well, he couldn't fault her for that, Thor was hardly creative. His swings were large and heavy-he was someone who had always relied on pure power rather than cunning, targeted attacks. The was often at a disadvantage when facing quick, nimble opponents. Their little dance went on for a while as Thor became increasingly frustrated, letting out irritated grunts and growls with his swings.
"Hold still and fight me! Only cowards run from a fight!" Thor shouted, earning him an eye roll from Loki, who certainly understood the benefit of choosing one's movements. Cass seemed to share the eyeroll and finally decided to end the stupid game of cat and mouse.
She sidestepped and Thor swung downward, his head lowering to almost her own level. She took the moment to lean over and whisper something.
Loki's heart stopped as he saw the expression on Thor's face. It was as if all of the color had drained, leaving him frozen in place, his arm still mid swing. The muscles in his face twitched contorting his expression into one of...terror? Loki supposed there was no other way to describe it. He couldn't recall a time that he had ever seen that expression on Thor's face, not even while facing down the Mad Titan himself. Thor's mouth slowly dropped open but no sound came out, except for a sickening choking sound.
Cass left him there. Shoving her hands in her pockets, she walked back to the front of the room and grabbed her jacket. She wasted no time exiting without so much as a word, and as the door shut behind her, Loki and Steve ran to Thor's side.
No matter what they did, they could not shake Thor from his stupor. After what seemed like ages, he crumbled to the ground, letting out a deep exhale that sounded as if all of the breath had left him. It took both Loki and Steve to get Thor to the Med Bay. They called Bruce to them after the AI diagnosis scans found nothing wrong. Bruce found that nothing was amiss either. Thor was perfectly healthy, despite seeming near braindead.
After unsuccessfully waking his brother, Loki stormed off, set on finding Cass. He had a pit in his stomach and he couldn't help but wonder if she had turned on them. Had she been waiting for the opportunity to start taking them out while their guards were down? Had she hid her true intentions all along? Was she a minion of Thanos, working to destroy them within?
It was obvious that he wasn't the only one to think these things. The building was on high alert while they spread out, looking for her. The AI sensors were suddenly unable to pick her up, which was unusual because they certainly had previously. Had she shapeshifted into an animal and scurried away? Would the AI sensors have been smart enough to pick up on a ploy like that? Stark had invented the program so surely it would have been…
Natasha and Steve were barking out orders, having everyone sweep, room by room. Even Bruce was called away, just in case the Big Guy was needed for apprehension.
They checked all of the main areas, the storage areas… hell, even Rocket went up and checked the damned air ducts! But nothing.
The only place that hadn't been checked, Loki realized, was Tony's private quarters.
The gut wrenching feeling in Loki's stomach worsened as he thought about what he would do if he wanted to slaughter this particular group of people after gaining their trust.
He would have taken out the physically strongest one first, minus Bruce of course who could have stopped the plan immediately, so that he couldn't be physically restrained. Then, he would have tampered with the AI system so that he wasn't detected when a search began. His next move would have been to either disable all of the Ironman and War Machine suits-had anyone checked on those systems? After which, he would have gone for the most vulnerable for an easy kill, possibly even taking a hostage…
No one had seen Tony all day.
"Lang!" Loki shouted, seeing Scott run across the hall way perpendicular to him. Scott took a few steps backwards, sticking his head around the corner.
"Yeah? You find something?"
"No," Loki replied, shaking his head. "Has anyone checked on the Ironman and War Machine systems? If the AI has possibly been tampered with, couldn't it be possible that those were too? Hypothetically speaking-you know, if, say, there's a grander scheme at work?"
Scott nodded slowly. "I pick up what you're laying down… I dunno, but I'll go find Rhodey and ask. He can probably do a diagnostic on his system at least, if not the Ironman system too."
"Good, do that. And-" Loki paused.
"Yeah?"
"-er, well, just be careful."
"You too man. Weird day."
"Weird day," Loki confirmed with a nod and then backed away, resuming his beeline to Stark's apartments.
He knew that he should tell someone else. He knew that he should warn someone of his suspicions. But if someone were with him, and he did find Cass, then he knew that there was a chance they would pause for just a moment. And they-nor he for that matter-knew what she was capable of. He knew the best option was to kill her… well, put her down. Then they could try to restrain her. But they couldn't give her the option to pull something on them.
As Loki neared the door to the six floor, penthouse apartment, he paused.
Stark was never going to let him in there. What was he thinking, coming up alone? There was no way that Stark would trust him.
Pacing back and forth a bit, Loki stood tall and then tilted his neck, shaking out his arms. It had been a little while, but surely he had enough strength for just a few minutes. He gathered his power and felt his skin shiver as his form changed. Then, he reached out and knocked on the door.
No answer.
That was bad.
He knocked again, a bit more urgently, and a little harder than he intended.
Finally, the door opened.
"Shhh! Pepper just fell asleep!" Tony hissed as he opened it, slipping into the hall. Loki stared at him hard, looking him straight in the eye.
They were dark eyes, like Cass's, but warmer. It wasn't her.
"Everything okay, Nat?" Tony asked when Loki didn't answer. Loki took a step back and crossed his arms, mimicking one of Natasha's most common stances.
"We aren't sure yet… We've been trying to contact you from downstairs-you didn't hear us?"
Tony frowned. "I told you that I was going on Do Not Disturb. Christ, I just want a few days without anyone bothering me, is that too much-
Loki put his arm out, placing it on Tony's shoulder. "I know. It isn't that. We're concerned that the AI might have been tampered with. Any chance you've seen Cass up here?"
That was all it took. Tony was back in business-mode, standing taller. "F.R.I.D.A.Y.? No way. I would know if she'd been messed with, even on Do Not Disturb. I've had no alerts. No Cass though. You're the first one all day, 'cept Cap this morning who just wanted to check in on us. There, uh, a reason you think she'd be up here?"
Loki knew that Natasha would keep her cool but still keep things vague enough not to worry Tony. "We're just running out of places to look. Do you mind if I just check? I promise, Pepper won't even know I've been here. We're probably overreacting, but I think it would be best if you stay with Pepper and just let me do a sweep. If I don't do it, the others will come looking next-"
Tony quickly nodded and opened the door, "yeah, yeah, I don't want to deal with the circus."
Loki hadn't been in the apartments, but he moved slowly and thoroughly, doing a sweep, just as he said. There was an office across from the door and a little bathroom nearby. The entryway opened up into a living room and a little kitchenette, with the bedroom behind it. Loki went room by room, trying to stretch his senses as far as he could to pick up on any disruptions. He wasn't even sure if he would be able to sense Cass's presence, but he had to at least try.
Tony even let him take a quick glance into the bedroom, where Pepper was sleeping peacefully. Loki felt nothing as he went room to room.
It left only the next floor, which was closed off.
"I think I would have noticed if anyone snuck in here, Nat," Tony whispered as Loki stared at the door at the top of the stairs.
"I know. But better safe than sorry, right?" Loki replied and took a few steps upwards. As he reached about halfway up, he felt it.
He didn't even need to extend his senses particularly far to feel the energy radiating from uptop. He stopped and turned slightly, reaching his hand out towards Tony. "Wait with Pepper, just in case."
"Just in case of what?" Tony asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"Just in case, that's all."
Tony gave him a look, but then glanced into the bedroom and nodded. "If you don't come back down soon, I'm getting the others."
Loki nodded, "that's fine. Just give me a few minutes. Like I said, we're probably overreacting, and I don't want a scene if it isn't necessary."
"Fine," Tony replied, keeping his eyes on Loki until the line of sight broke as he shut the bedroom door.
Loki took a deep breath and stood straighter. He finished creeping up the stairs, moving as silently as possible, and then opened the door.
It was, apparently, supposed to be a rooftop bar. However there were thick security doors pulled down around the windows and doors, and a layer of dust. Loki supposed that the bar wasn't used since Tony hadn't been able to spend much time there. The late afternoon sun crept through the gaps in the gates, leaving just enough light for Loki to see that Cass was sitting at the bar, her back towards him.
Tony had, apparently, kept it stocked with some emergency supplies, based on the bottle and the glass she had in front of her.
"You can drop the illusion," Cass said coolly without turning to look at him. There was a dirty mirror on the other side of the bar, and though it was difficult to see anything in it, he presumed that she could see him-or Nat, really. "Natasha won't be alone in a room with me, or haven't you noticed?"
Loki took a step forward and then paused. She was right. Natasha had made it a point to leave the room anytime there was a chance she would be left alone with the other woman. Loki clenched his jaw and dropped his disguise, diverting his power to summon a dagger instead.
"Stark keeps his good stuff up here. It might be dusty, but he's got a climate controlled liquor cabinet," Cass said, nodding her head to her right. "I don't think he's been up here to notice I've been getting into it. I was going to leave your boot prints up here so he thought it was you. Guess you'll do that yourself now."
"What did you do to Thor," Loki hissed, fingering the hilt of his dagger. Her back was to him… He could just throw it…
"He'll be fine. A little shell shocked probably. It'll fade. He'll forget."
"He is practically comatose," Loki hissed, taking a step forward. Cass moved for the first time-just to reach out for her glass and raise. She was sitting awkwardly, he noticed. A little hunched-her left arm seemed to be deliberately hidden from sight.
A weapon. She had to have a weapon.
"Drop it," Loki growled.
"My glass? It will break. I think it's crystal. Stark won't like that."
"Don't play stupid," Loki sneered, "your other hand."
"I'm not holding anything," Cass replied. Her tone changed. She sounded quite serious.
"Raise it then," Loki said.
"I'd really rather not."
"Do it, or I'll put a knife in your back and take it from you."
Cass inhaled and then exhaled deeply, bringing her glass up one more time. When she put it down again with a loud clink, it was empty. Slowly, she raised her right arm, and then her left.
It was, indeed, empty. But… it didn't look good. Injured, maybe, though she seemed to move it fine. The skin was discolored, even in the half light of the room. He could see deep scarring and even what appeared to be stitching that had healed without removal.
"I admit, I shouldn't have done it," Cass said slowly. "But I think you can agree that Thor can be aggravating when he's screaming in your face. I didn't want to get into the ring. You can thank Rogers for that."
Loki started to creep closer, noting that at least part of his legs were visible in the dirty mirror. Cass didn't move, but after he got about halfway towards her…
"Stop," she hissed.
"You think you're in any position to make demands? I'm the one holding the knife," Loki said, a cruel smirk on his lips.
"If you do this, I will withdraw my support for you," Cass replied, her voice chilly. "Think very carefully."
Loki raised his brows. Was she serious? She thought that was enough to win him over? What had she done to support him?
Besides rescuing him from space. And nursing him back to health, though suppressing his magics. So what if she had ultimately helped get him to Tony, which led him to Thor.
Loki paused his movement and then let out an irritated sigh. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone he had swiped from Thor. He sent a group text, alerting the rest of the team that he had found Cass and would bring her shortly. It was a misunderstanding he said.
"Were you saving that little trick for us? Perhaps when you got each of us alone?"
"I would have had plenty of chances if I wanted to. That trick takes a lot out of me, and I just wanted to make a point. No more training sessions for me. Can I go back to my drink now?"
"Keep both hands where I can see them," Loki replied.
"I'd really rather-"
"I don't care," Loki hissed. "I called off the cavalry. Now explain. How did you tamper with the AI?"
Cass was silent as she placed her injured hand on the bartop and then used her other to pour herself another drink. "I didn't."
"The system couldn't sense you after you left the training room."
"Weird."
Loki pressed his lips into a thin line and furrowed his brows. "And your arm? What'd you do to it?"
"Holding a form requires energy. You know that," she replied and knocked the liquid back with a sharp, ah!
"And what, your attack left you lacking? What did you do, exactly?" Loki asked. He could hear Tony outside. He was talking to someone, probably on the phone or the Comm lines. Well, Loki tried to keep the others out long enough to get answers. He inwardly sighed. Now he would have to deal with an angry Tony, who was certain to find out about his deceit in mere moments.
"Yeah, something like that. I haven't had to use any of my abilities out of shifting for a long time…. It's a psychological attack. Doesn't work on everyone. Thor, he's… stuck in a nightmare. He'll wake up, then it will fade, just like a regular nightmare."
"Would it work on me?" Loki asked, slowly side stepping to a little four-top table and leaning against it. He kept his dagger drawn and at the ready-just in case.
"Probably not," she replied with a sigh.
"Why not?"
She shrugged. "Some people have better control over their minds. You should know that. You have some psychological abilities as well, don't you? Besides, you were touched by the Mind Stone."
Loki narrowed his eyes. He was quite certain he hadn't even mentioned the Mind Stone to her. Tony, yes. But not Cass. Was it mentioned in a file of his? If so, had she managed to read it? "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Infinity Stone power doesn't go away, not really. You may not be under its influence now, but it's still there. I don't think I could get past that, even if I wanted to."
"And you don't?"
"I don't."
"And why's that?"
Cass shrugged again. "I don't think you need me in order to relive your nightmares."
000
Author's Notes: Yeah….. I'm bad. I'm sorry. But Loki came out… and I as inspired… so, I guess let's see where this goes? Who knows. Not me! Don't be surprised if some of the Loki the Series dialogue makes it into the fic as he works on self reflection and 'correcting' some of his mistakes.
GrandMasterMeg: this one's for you. You know why ;)
For those of you who don't know what's going on with certain characters… you'll probably start to figure it out now. This was absolutely not the direction I planned to go, but I had a hard time finishing this chapter, and I ended up completely changing directions. I ran with it, decided to go a bit longer than normal, then do a new scene for the next chapter.
For those of you still sticking with me…. Thank you! I've been caught up working on "the Deittman Files: a Ghost Hunting RPG," which had a successful Kickstarter. It should be on DriveThru RPG by the end of the summer.
Ever Your Servant,
A.F