A/N: A bit early, yay! Happy holidays! Thank you all for all of your support, be it in a review, a fav, a follow or a combination of the three, they really do mean a lot! Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
Thor was exactly pleased when Natasha injected his brother with a truth serum. He thought he had known his brother and then as Bruce put it 'family drama' happened and he hardly recognized his brother. However, he did know one thing for certain; Loki prized his magic and his Silver-tongue. Now he had neither. Let me do the talking. Still don't trust me, brother? I wish I could trust you. Trust my rage. I need to leave Asgard with someone I can trust and Loki isn't here. He had to trust his brother.
"I trust you." It was barely a whisper, but he had said it aloud.
"Did you say something?" The agent, Maria, Thor believed her name was, turned her chair around to face him.
"No. Well, yes, but- is there a way to hear what they are saying?" You are an awful liar. It was something Loki had told him repeatedly over the centuries. She nodded, Loki's voice coming over the computer.
"- Friggason." Not Odinson. Friggason. If the past few days had taught him anything, it was that Odin was not the man he thought he was. Odin. Not father. When had the title slipped? Thor couldn't recall. Friggason.
"Do you have any children?" Why would she ask that?
"No."
"When was the last time you were on Earth?"
"A few months or a few days. It really depends on how you look at it." I've been here for weeks.
"Why were you here?"
"We were searching for Odin." Not father.
"Why did you attack Earth?" A bit of hesitation.
"Withholding information or attempting to lie will only serve as a catalyst. Why did you attack Earth?"
"It was the best option."
"And what were your other options?"
"Having the Mind stone in complete control. Being tortured longer. Staying with him." Tortured longer. Thor involuntarily flinched at the term. And Heimdall had known. Thunder crashed outside.
"Who is him?" Loki was shaking his head. Is he in pain?
"Thanos. The mad titan. Destroyer of worlds."
"Where is Thanos?"
"He's coming. He's coming for the Mind and Time stone."
"When will he be here?"
"It could be hours, or days. It doesn't matter, you won't beat him." I will destroy him.
"Where did you get your current injuries?"
"He found me. I refused to give him the Tesseract. He broke me. Again." The Tesseract?! Why had Loki had the Tesseract?!
"How did he do that?"
"He used the electric daggers first, stabbing one through my gut, both my legs and arms, connecting them to the electricity. When that didn't work, he sent me to the boiler, the heat alone made my magic retreat." Again, Thor flinched. Loki would never talk like this if he weren't forced. How long have you known that Loki was coerced? Loki needed to talk. He rather it be with him, but Loki needed to talk to someone, anyone. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Like you said, he would never talk this way if he wasn't forced. This was the exact reason why his brother very rarely drank. And when he did, he drank very little.
"Why are you here?"
"I am here because you will not believe me unless you interrogate me with your little truth serum."
"Why are you on Earth right now." I brought him here. This is my fault. He was the one who ran off!
"To warn you about Thanos and prepare you for war. If he gets all six Infinity stones, then half of all life will disappear." No one can handle the power of all six Infinity stones! Why would he want to wipe out half of all life?
"You said we'd lose."
"With the Avengers gone, you will."
"What makes you believe the Avengers are gone." What could have possibly separated the Avengers?
"Tony Stark was the only one to apprehend me, you are not a part of SHIELD and you dyed your hair. Given that the color looks awful on you, it must have been out of desperation, meaning you are most likely in hiding. Before I brought you together, you nearly lost when I let you win. You will not beat Thanos if the Avengers are gone." Thor had to agree about Natasha's hair.
"Then why prepare us for a war that we will lose?"
"Because if you can't defend Earth, you will avenge it." The way Loki said the words had an air of a memory. Had someone told him that when he attacked Earth?
"Very well. Thank you for your cooperation. Given your anatomy, we are not sure if you have simply been faking the effects of ethanol, so Wanda will be here soon." What?! Thor had told them to not to do that! The Mind stone was manipulating him. Thor ran across the room just as an earsplitting scream echoed throughout the building, both over the computer and from the cell. Thor only ran faster. I'm asking, what are you prepared to do? Not this!
Both he and Natasha arrived at the same time, both stopping dead in their tracks at what they saw. Wanda and Loki were both floating, eyes alight with their own colors. Wanda had red magic swirling around them, trying to contain the green that was lashing out wildly from his brother. They were both screaming, Wanda in anguish and Loki in pain. Nebula was also there, opening the cell with her metal arm. Thor could hear her cursing before the door finally swished open. The green did the opposite of an explosion, returning to the wielder with a muffled boom. Both magic users collapsed to the ground as the three ran to the two.
Loki was still shaking as Thor and Nebula went on either side of him. Natasha helped Wanda to her feet as Loki tried to steady his breathing. What had Wanda done to his brother? Said brother stood as lightning started flickering around his fingers. Both Loki and Wanda backed away. Was Loki afraid of him? Thor didn't care.He was too angry with the witch to care.
"Thor-" He interrupted her, not wanting to hear whatever excuse she could come up with.
"I told you to stay out of my brother's head." Thor's voice was low as more lightning weaved in and out of his hands. What even was that thing with his brother's magic? And why had they been screaming?
"We had to know if we could trust him."
"Is my word not enough?" Did Natasha not trust him? Trust my rage.
"Thor, you've always had a soft spot for him and honestly you are gullible. How did we know that he wasn't lying to you?" It sounded so much like something Loki would say, he had to resist glancing at his younger sibling. He did not want to make it seem as if his anger was directed at him.
"So you interrogated him for no reason?" Why had they even bothered with the serum if Wanda was going to invade his head? Was taking his brother's Silver-tongue not enough?
"One can never be too careful." The lights were flickering and Loki must have noticed, because he spoke up for the first time since Thor had arrived.
"Thor. Brother, I'm fine. Just let it go."
"No." I will not let this go. You have assisted in treason or turned a blind eye time and time again. Thor would not turn a blind eye to this.
"We can discuss this later. We need to prepare for Thanos." Was that his Silver-tongue trying to avoid the conversation/confrontation or was the truth serum still working, or a bit of both?
"I'm going to shred the monster to pieces." He hadn't meant to say it out loud.
A familiar portal opened, all five of them turning their attention to Strange.
"Where's Stark? We need to go to Wakanda. He's on his way." None of them needed to ask who he was.
"Strange, I thought you would turn up sooner."
"When did you- I don't recall giving you my name." If he weren't so angry, Thor might've laughed. Loki didn't know Strange.
"I beg you pardon? Your name is Strange? What a strange name." Strange rolled his eyes as Thor turned to see the mischief in Loki's eyes.
"Yes, yes, very funny. Think of one that I've never heard before." Loki smirked. His eyes held a clear question. Is that a challenge?
"Skrýtinn, ég halda það myndi vera er áskorun."
Everyone except for Thor looked at Loki quizzically. It had been decades since either of them had spoken in their native tongue.
"Strange, I thought it would be a challenge." Loki repeated himself, in English.
"Never heard it?" Strange just shot him an annoyed glare-ish.
"Loki, you heard him, Thanos is coming." It was the first time Nebula had spoken. His brother took a deep, shaky breath before nodding.
"Very well. However, I do have one question. How is it that a second-rate sorcerer like you came into possession of the Time stone?"
"Long story. Where is Stark?"
"At the pod that these three arrived in." Natasha answered, jerking her head towards Thor, Loki and Nebula. Why was Tony at the pod?
"Perfect. The others?"
"Clint is picking up Steve and Sam as we speak, Vision is upstairs." He was?
"I thought Clint was on house arrest?"
"He's not the biggest fan of Loki. He's not exactly worried about the Accords, the FBI or anyone government." Thor had no idea what was going on, but he did know that keeping the peace between Clint and his brother was going to be a challenge. Then again, Wanda had also tried to scramble their minds and Clint treated her like his daughter. Granted, her brother had died saving Clint's life... Thor knew what it was like to lose a sibling. Would you focus?!
"We can trust him." Came Wanda's voice from beside Natasha. It took a moment for Thor to realize that she hadn't spoken since he first cut her off. What had she seen? They had both been screaming. Why?
"Can we go? The universe is at stake." Was Strange ever not annoyed? The sorcerer opened another portal, their pod and Tony on the other side. I have been falling for thirty minutes! At the time, Thor had been laughing, now he wondered what else his brother was hiding. You didn't seem worried when I fell through nothingness for 30 minutes. Loki had changed much and lost his temper and his composure more often over the past decade, but he had always kept his cards close, so to speak. Did he truly believe that Thor didn't care, didn't worry? Communication was never our family's forte. It seemed that whenever they did talk, it always ended in an argument.
"Thor." The others, including Vision were on the other side of the portal, waiting for him. Right, universe to save. Brother to avenge. He's not dead. For once. He strode forward just as a Quinjet roared overhead, landing several yards away. Clint loosed three arrows before the ramp was down, Wanda barely stopping them with her magic. Clint yelled something along the lines of 'do you know who the heck you are defending?!' Only with more swearing. Hawkeye fired more arrows as Steve's shield flew through the air. Lightning lashed out at the arrows, taking away most of their momentum as the shield cut through Nebula's arm. She had a blaster pointed at the group, half of her other arm laying uselessly at her feet. Natasha had her gun pointed at Nebula. It was then that Thor realized it wasn't the Captain's shield, rather a new, gray one. A man he didn't recognize was standing next to Steve with weird red wings and goggles.
"Look, can we just chill for a second?"
"Harm my brother, and I will kill you. Painfully." The venom in her voice suggested she was dead serious. Nobody moved, besides exchanging extremely confused glances. Except for Loki. His brother went up to his 'sister' and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. He whispered something in her ear, causing her to lower the gun. Thor couldn't help the stab of jealously that went through his body at the familiarity between the two. He also couldn't help but feel pride that Loki had connected with someone. He could see why they considered each other siblings. Was it because they understood? Was that part of the rift between him and his brother? The fact that they didn't understand each other?
Loki held up his hands in surrender before removing the top of his armor. His chest and back were exposed for all to see, the thunder crashing much louder when Thor saw his back. All weapons were lowered at the sight. Lightning crackled across the sky and around Thor himself as he read the message. Child of Thanos.
"That means nothing! You're more than a thousand years old, of course you have scars!" Clint wouldn't accept it. Even with two eyes, you'd only see half the picture. I learned a long time ago not to try to change your mind. You believe what you want to believe. Was this how Loki saw him? Blinded by his emotions? You are a vain, cruel boy! Was that how Odin saw him?
"I know you see the truth, Barton. I know you recognize this." Loki turned his back to Clint as the archer lowered his bow ever so slightly.
"That wasn't real. It was a lie. You're a liar!"
"I cannot create memories. He is coming, we need to prepare. I am not asking you to trust me, I am not asking you to fight by my side nor be my friend. All I ask is that you fight Thanos and not me." Clint lowered the bow all the way, saying,
"Make one wrong move and I will not hesitate to put an arrow through your eye."
"I do not doubt that." Strange opened another portal, leading to a much more advanced place than any other place on Earth that Thor had seen. It must have been Wakanda. Someone in a black cat suit greeted them, along with several bald women armed with spears and a long haired man with a metal arm. He seemed to be friends with Steve, given the two hugged. I thought I promised you a hug! Thor would get that hug. The group walked towards the palace, the spear women offering to give Nebula a new arm.
"My brother will need a weapon as well. If it's not too much trouble."
"Of course, what does he use?"
"Daggers."
"Bow and arrows." He and Loki said in unison. Loki hadn't used a bow and arrow in centuries.
"I can't store throwing knives in my cache, Thor." Oh. Right. No magic.
"I will go with Nebula to get a new arm. Is there anything we need to know, Second-rate?" Thor had forgotten that Strange was behind him. Everyone turned to face the younger sorcerer.
"What? Oh, no." Even Thor was slightly suspicious. Loki narrowed his eyes slightly, before turning and leading his sister inside. As soon as they were gone, Thor turned to Clint.
"What did he mean by 'I know you recognize this?" The archer shifted uncomfortably, saying,
"I thought it was memories that he had made and put in my head. I think that the Mind stone, well, whenever he gave us orders inside of our head, we saw bits and pieces of his memories. Nat, I wasn't shaken up about the lives I had took, we are used to collateral damage, every single one of us. What they did to him, I kept telling myself that it wasn't real, that it was a lie, it was the only way I could stay sane." Everybody stayed silent until Natasha nodded.
"I figured as much. It seemed too easy. I didn't mention anything because the next time we saw you, you said he was dead."
"The stone recognized him. I felt it when Wanda went inside his head. I was able to see what both he and Wanda saw. I believe it is why their powers reacted so strongly. The Mind stone was attempting to control Loki, yet it could not contain it."
"So is he innocent or not?" Steve questioned.
"He is as innocent as all of us." Which, when Thor thought about it, was not that innocent. They all had their pasts, most of them drenched in blood.
"If you are all done gossiping about me, a ship just broke the atmosphere, it's him."
A/N: I couldn't resist playing with Dr. Strange's name... "Skrýtinn, ég halda það myndi vera er áskorun. Is Strange, I expected it to be a challenge in Icelandic. I think. If it's wrong, blame word reference. I used Icelandic because I couldn't find Norse. (If those two places are completely different, sorry. I suck at geography.) I'm not great at fight scenes, so the next chapter might be a bit shorter than the others. Merry Christmas! Or Happy Hanukkah or any other holidays you might celebrate! :)