Whispers filled the air around him as Loki found himself back on Asgard. Odin walking in front of his younger self and a younger Thor, telling them they were made to be king. The scene soon morphed to the day it all went wrong. The day that Jotun had grabbed him and instead of getting frost burn, he too turned a sapphire blue. He watched as he confronted Odin. Screamed at his so-called father, begged him to tell him why he had taken Loki from Jotunheim.
"You are my son," Odin had said.
"Lied to," the whispers sneered. Yes, he was lied to. It was no wonder he was named the God of Lies. That was all he knew.
Then Thor went and ruined it all by destroying the Bifrost. And the moment he beseeched his father while dangling on the edge, he was rejected.
"Betrayed," they told him.
He had let go, intent on dying. But here he was. Alive, and enraged.
"Don't you want your revenge?"
It was one voice now instead of many talking over one another. The voice riverbed when it spoke and had a grainy tone to it.
Loki turned to face the voice. As he moved, the scenery around him disintegrated, and was replaced by a desolate, rocky, grey planet. The voice belonged to a blue, humanoid creature he did not know. The creature watched him , their large hands laced together in front of it. It was dressed in a blue cloak, with light grey chest armor covering it.
"Well, Asgardian? Do you?"
Loki laced his arms behind his back and leveled the creature with a critical eye. Even though he did want his revenge, he wasn't about to accept any kind of help. When Asgard needed negotiating done, Loki had been the one sent to do it. He knew the art of a deal, and he wanted to always come out on top. He needed to know who exactly he was dealing with.
"Who are you?" Loki pressed coolly.
The creature began to circle him, "Who I am matters little, Asgardian. It is my master you should be concerned with."
Loki didn't move, instead he continued to watch. It felt much like he was being circled by a hawk. But Loki was a snake, and knew when to strike, and when to wait. "And your master is?" he questioned.
"Thanos. The Titan." He came to stand directly before Loki.
The Mad Titan, more like. The entire galaxy had tales of him. Thanos' army was large, and Thanos himself was exceedingly powerful. Thanos would destroy planets at his leisure, for what reason Loki never heard of. Thanos was spoken more of a cautionary tale, only in the most hushed voices.
Why would he want Loki? And why had he sent his subordinate to him? "What is your offer?" Loki asked.
"You will have your revenge. You can have your deepest desire, a throne. In return, my master would like information."
The scene around him began to fade and Loki realized he was waking up in the real world. He needed to hurry this along.
"Information on what?"
"The Tesseract. It is rumored to be on that wretched planet that you have found yourself on. In the hands of something known as SHIELD. Confirm this, and we will give you the tools that can help you…" The voice began to fade, and Loki woke up.
His eyes snapped open, and he surged up from the bed into a sitting position. That had felt too real. His physical body still felt the soreness from the fall, but his mind was far more aware.
The Tesseract, huh? The Mad Titan wanted an infinity stone. And if Loki could tell him where it was, Loki would have access to what was no doubt very powerful tools. If Loki wanted to take over Asgard, he would have to be able to stand up to the mighty Thor, the Allfather and his army. That would be no easy feat, and he would need to even the playing field quite a bit. And this might be the way to do it.
But finding the blasted stone would prove to be difficult. A shield? What in Allfathers name was he supposed to do with that information? It could mean anything.
This was something he could ponder later. He hadn't even accepted the deal yet. He awakened before he could, and who knows when they would get back to him. Right now, he needed to get his full strength back. He needed food, and then he would see if the invisibility spell he casted as he was falling still held up. He had casted it so Heimdall or anyone on the throne of Asgard wouldn't be able to see him, and he wanted to keep that up. Because when he did get his revenge, he wanted the element of surprise on his side.
Still sitting in the bed, he took in his surroundings once more. The room was the same as it had been before. He couldn't hear a thing. Angela must not be here, or asleep. He looked towards the windows and saw it was nearly dusk outside.
His feet touched the cold, wooden floor, and he left the room that he had spent all night and day in. Stepping out of the room, he was in a small hallway which led to a small kitchen with a small dining table, and a small living quarter. To his right, was another door similar to his. 'That must be her room,' he thought. To his left was a bathroom. It was tiny from what he could see, consisting of a toilet, bath, and a small sink.
Making his way forwards, he noticed another door right between the living quarters and the kitchen. It was a dark wood and he figured that must be the way out. He turned his gaze to the cozy living quarters. It had a light blue couch, a light-colored coffee table, a plasma screen, a cream-colored reclining chair, and a tall bookshelf.
Intrigued, Loki made his way to the bookshelf to see what all she had on it. It is mostly books, with odd décor scattered here and there. There's a picture on the middle shelf that catches his attention. Angela was there, her arm around an older woman with darker skin than her. The similarities between them could clearly be seen; perhaps this was her mother? The darker-skinned woman had her arm around a pale, older man. That man had his arm around the shoulders of a boy that looked similar to Angela. This must be her family.
Loki sat the picture back in place and began to peruse her books. She had quite a collection, and he could tell that these books were well used. One shelf in particular caught his attention. She kept books of myths. A book on Egyptian myths, Greek myths, Chinese, Japanese, and Norse.
Ah. So that was how she knew who he was.
He takes the large book out of the shelf, and begins to flip through the pages. A scowl forms on his face as he comes across descriptions of the Allfather and Thor.
The front door to the house opens as he is reading through the book. Angela comes through carrying plastic bags of groceries. She shuts the door with her foot before she greets him.
"Oh hey!" She goes to set the groceries on one of the few kitchen counters, and walks back into the room. She takes off the jacket that she had been wearing and places it on coat rack next to the door.
Loki gives her a small smile and holds up the Norse mythology book, "Now I see where you learned of me."
Angela chuckled . 'Yeah, that, and the fact that you are the very reason I got stationed out here,' she thought, but decided not to say. Instead, she decided to go along with his idea. She raised her hands in mocking surrender, "You caught me. I like mythology."
It wasn't a lie. She figured being the God of Lies that he knew a lie when he heard it. But, it wasn't the complete truth. It would do for now.
And it seemed that it worked because his grin grew larger and he chuckled at her small attempt at a joke. "Is it a myth if I am standing right here?"
Her face scrunched in concentration before a small smile appeared on her lips, "I guess not." She shrugged, then started back to the small kitchen to put away what groceries there were. "I guess I should move that book to my non-fiction shelf." she joked.
Loki put the book back on the shelf where he had found it. "I wouldn't say that. Most of these tales are lies."
"Says the God of Lies," she quipped.
The smile dropped from his face as he remembered his thoughts earlier. Of how lies were all he was ever given. He didn't reply back to her as he focused his attention on the picture of her family. What would she know? Her family seemed to be perfect.
Angela could almost feel the shift in the room. She turned and looked at Loki and saw the distant look in his eyes. They were just joking, what had happened? For the life of her she couldn't understand what exactly she said, but it was better to change the subject.
"How do you feel?" She asked him in a very cautious manner while putting away what little groceries she had bought. What you feed a god, she didn't know. But she hoped he liked chicken alfredo because that was what for dinner tonight.
Her voice had snapped him out of his thoughts, and he turned to face her. "I'm fine. I believe most of the healing is done. I'm just rather sore for now."
"That's good," she looked back at him, and remembered something. "Oh, your shirt should be done by now."
She finished up, and headed to a door that was across from the bathroom that he missed. She opened it, and in it were two machines. She opened one and pulled out his shirt. He watched as she came over to him with it and handed it over to him.
Loki took it from her. In all honesty, he had forgotten that he was only in his pants and that the only thing covering his chest were the bandages she had put on. He slid the shirt over his head, his muscles protested the movement, but he tried his best to ignore it.
"Thank you," He said as he smoothed the fabric down and righted the shirt.
She nodded, "No problem!" Then she made her way back to the kitchen to start dinner, "Are you hungry?"
He made to follow her, but something caught his eye: her jacket that was on the rack. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Black, long-sleeved, but there was a logo on the back. It was an eagle, with the words 'Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division' circling around it.
"Loki?"
Her voice came from the kitchen, and she was giving him a questioning gaze.
"Um," he couldn't quite put his finger on why this had caught his attention. Had he seen this before? "Yes, I'm actually famished."
"Cool, I'll start dinner then. I hope you like pasta."
His gaze lingered on the jacket, before he went and sat at the dinner table to wait for her. He tried to rack his brain for that image when he decided to let it be. It occurred to him that he should probably be getting to know this woman. It appeared he would be on Midgard for longer than he thought, and he needed a place to stay for now. She was the only Midgardian he knew, and he needed her for now until he got his footing.
"Lady Angela?" He called her.
He heard heer snort before turning her attention back to him, "Yeah?"
"I would like to thank you once again and apologize for my behavior when we first met. I was uncouth, and rude when you were nothing but kind to me. My mother would be appalled by my behavior."
Angela just waved him off, "It's fine. You were hurt, and I wasn't taking no for an answer, now was I? But you're welcome, Loki. And you can stay as long as you need."
"I wouldn't be intruding?" He hedged. Not that he truly cared if he was or not, but he had to make her feel at ease.
"No not at all. I'm the only one here. I just have the extra room for when my mom comes to visit, which is rare. It might be nice to have some actual company besides the people I work with."
"And what is your job?" he asked. In all honesty, this Angela seemed boring to him. She was very forthcoming, and kind. In his experience those types of people didn't mix well with his mischief. But he would make nice.
At the question, Angela hesitated. She put the pasta in the water and then turned so she was facing him. "It's a bit difficult to explain actually. Basically, I work for an organization that protects the world."
Loki sat back in the chair, and eyed her. What, he wondered, did she have to hide? Perhaps she wasn't as forthcoming as she seemed. After all, he was a stranger. She did have some common sense.
Then he remembered the jacket, and the logo. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement Logistics Division?" he questioned.
There was a slight tilt of her head, and a raise of her eyebrow, "And how did you know that?"
He simply pointed over to her jacket.
Okay, so maybe she wasn't as careful as she should have been. No use in denying it now. "Yeah that's where I work, but that's a mouthful. We all just call it SHIELD."
'Oh,' Loki thought. 'This day keeps getting better and better.'
Of course Thanos' minion didn't mean an actual shield, that he knew, but now he knew exactly what shield he was speaking of. An organization that 'protects the world' she said? It would make sense that if the Tesseract was in fact on Midgard they would have it.
Angela Lawrence just got a whole lot more interesting to Loki.