Okay so, full disclosure, there was gonna be more to this chapter but I felt bad about not posting for like a month and decided that you guys deserved to not wait another week for the chapter to be finished, so here we are! Hope you enjoy, don't forget that reviews feed my muse đź’•đź’• I love you all, thanks so much for all the love in your comments!
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Harry Potter or MCU ️:( if I did I would be rich, and since I have only $3 and a pack of hot cheetos to my name, I'm not sure I qualify.
Witchling
Chapter 3
After getting Loki all strapped in and the scepter safely stowed away, Hermione, Steve, and Tony crowded into the cockpit around Natasha.
"I don't like this," Steve said quietly, watching Loki with no small amount of distrust on his face.
"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony muttered back.
Hermione quietly snorted at the nickname then said, "I mean, I wouldn't say he gave up easily, but still – he shouldn't be peacefully accepting his fate, that's for sure. Something's up."
Tony turned to Steve and mouthed 'not you' before saying, "So, Cappie, you're pretty spry for an older fellow – what's your secret, pilates?"
"What?" Steve asked, completely unprepared for the turn the conversation had taken.
"It's like calisthenics," Tony explained, and when he got no reaction, he mused, "You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snickering at the pained look on Steve's face.
Just then, a flash of lightning and thunder echoed throughout the dark sky, causing the jet to shake. Hermione froze, quickly taking a deep, calming breath. Heights were still far from her favorite thing, and having to apparate to safety from a falling plane did not sound like her idea of fun. She clenched her fists into her coat until her knuckles were as white as the dragonhide.
"Where's this coming from?" Natasha asked, looking around the sky.
Loki tensed and glanced around apprehensively.
"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked dryly.
Loki looked towards him slowly. "I'm not overly fond of what follows," he said bluntly. Steve and Tony shared a glance.
Hermione had just understood the implications of his comment when something landed on top of the Quinjet with a loud thunk, causing it to rock back and forth. She stumbled, reaching out to catch herself on the edge of the doorway.
"You might want to stand back, Witchling," Loki advised, his voice low and strained. Hermione cautiously edged closer to the side of the jet.
Tony grabbed his helmet and slapped the button to lower the ramp.
"What're you doing?" Steve yelled over the wind. He didn't get an answer.
As soon as the ramp had lowered, a large, blond man with a hammer and a red cape landed on it. Tony aimed his weaponized hand at the man, but before he could do anything the hammer slammed into his chest, knocking him back.
The man grabbed Loki by the throat and held out his hand for the hammer, which flew into it promptly, before jumping off the Quinjet.
They stared at the place where Loki and the man in red had been in disbelief.
"Now there's that guy," Tony exhaled, sounding entirely done with the situation.
"Another Asgardian?" Natasha shouted from her co-pilot seat, annoyance coloring her tone.
"I think it might be Thor," Hermione yelled back.
"Is he friendly?" Steve wondered.
"Doesn't matter," Tony said tersely. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." He turned, getting ready to jump out of the plane after the gods.
"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve shouted at him, desperately trying to reign in the situation.
"I have a plan," Stark insisted. "Attack!"
And with that, he jumped out of the Quinjet, leaving Steve looking annoyed and exasperated.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the dramatics. She couldn't let them go alone, that would be a preparing herself for the extreme amount of ego she was going to have to endure, she turned on the spot. She reappeared in the shadows near where Thor had landed just in time to hear him say 'You listen well, brother. I…' before a streak of red and gold hit him, throwing him off the mountain.
Loki, who hadn't seen Hermione yet, waited a moment. "I'm listening," he said sardonically.
Hermione couldn't stop the laughter that escaped her at that comment. Loki, who had spun around to try and find the source of the noise, found himself tied up to his neck in unbreakable rope. Then, for the second time that day, Hermione levitated him behind her as she walked towards where the boys were no doubt destroying the forest, tuning out the protests and subtle innuendos Loki aimed at his restraints.
The further she walked, the more she started to hear snippets of the conversation between Tony and Thor.
"–Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"
"–Loki will face Asgardian justice!"
"...Tourist."
She reached the edge of the small clearing just in time to see Thor throw his hammer and knock Tony straight into a tree. The hammer returned to Thor's hand, and Stark had just readied himself to fight back when Hermione shouted "Enough!" and stormed between them, wand out, Loki floating along behind her.
Both men stopped to look at her, their arms still raised in preparation to attack the other.
"Angel!" Stark cried cheekily. "Back me up here."
Hermione glared at both of them and ignored Stark. "You are acting like children," she hissed. "Did you two even realize you had left Loki alone when you went off to have your little row?" She gestured back towards Loki.
"Oh, don't stop on my account – I was quite enjoying the way you two fought over me." A small smirk played on the corner of Loki's lips.
"Brother?" Thor asked bewilderedly, staring at his brother, who was all trussed up and hovering three feet above the ground. His eyes narrowed, flickering between Loki and the women in white and gold who held a wand in her grip. "Enchantress!" His tone held both wonder and suspicion as he took in the sight of her. His eyes hardened. "I demand that you release my brother at once!" This time, there was a clear threat in his tone.
Hermione just stared at him. "Er – are we talking about the murderous one I have tied up behind me? Because if we are, then I'm going to have to refuse."
Thor pointed at her with his hammer. "You will untie him!"
Tony let out a scoff. "Yeah, nope. Sorry, Point Break, but even royal murderers don't get let off that easy."
Thor turned his glower on Stark. "My name is Thor Odinson, and I am the God of Thunder and the rightful Ki–"
"And I am Iron Man." Tony cut off Thor's posturing. "Someone who doesn't think nepotism is the way to go for this one – so unfortunately, Goldilocks, you're gonna be heading back to Asgard empty-handed."
Thor roared in fury and flung Mjölnir at Tony, failing to take into account the fact that Hermione was standing in front of Stark. Cries of 'Angel – move!' and 'Witchling!' rang through the air.
Hermione stood, hands on her hips, glaring at Thor as his hammer raced straight towards her, not flinching even as it screeched to a halt only centimeters in front of her face. Her eyes went slightly cross-eyed as she glanced down at the weapon and gasped.
"What has he done to you?" She directed the horrified question at the hammer, to the confusion of everyone. Reaching out, she pulled the hammer into her chest and soothingly patted the head, causing Mjölnir to vibrate happily at the gentle touch. Thor's eyes widened almost comically and he made a strangled sort of sound at the act. Hermione ignored it and spun around to face him, righteous anger in every line on her face as she clutched Mjölnir tight against her. "You!"
Thor blanched at the sight of her, holding his hammer, looking at him like that (she looked rather like his mother did whenever he had done something outrageously stupid, which didn't bode well for him at all). Mouthing 'Me?', he nervously glanced behind him, hoping beyond all reason she wasn't yelling at him, that there was some other poor, unfortunate soul to take the brunt of her ire – maybe his brother? Metal man? A tree? Sadly, there was no one else.
Hermione continued to berate him. "You should be ashamed of yourself, you daft man, neglecting Mjölnir like this! Her handle isn't polished, her head is scratched and dull!" She turned her attention once more to Mjölnir, her voice softening in an instant. "You poor baby," she cooed, "living with the big, ugly, unattentive brute." She punctuated the statement with a look so deadly Thor took an involuntary step back. "You must be so tired, lugging the huge man all over the place." The hammer bobbed in the air, which she interpreted as nodding. "No one appreciates you, do they?" She snuggled Mjölnir closer, and asked again sympathetically, "Do they?" Mjölnir vibrated sadly, somehow also conveying through the movement her anger and resentment towards Thor.
"…How?" Thor choked out, still in shock at the sight of his precious hammer in the arms of the tiny witch. "I threw it straight towards you! Why did it stop? How are you still holding Mjölnir, Enchantress?"
Tony tried and failed to hold in his snigger at Thor's distress.
Hermione ignored him, instead focusing on Thor's questions, her brow wrinkled. "You can't imagine Mjölnir would allow you to throw her mistakenly at someone innocent and actually hit them, can you?" This only seemed to create more questions for Thor.
"Bu-but," Thor spluttered, mouth opening and closing in disbelief, "how would you even know that? And would you please explain how you are holding my hammer?"
"Well, you did leave Mjölnir in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s possession after your little tantrum in 2011 – I just happened to be the one in charge of researching her. I realized pretty quickly that she was magical, and we got to know each other after that. Believe me, Mjölnir won't hurt me. We have an agreement." Hermione said matter-of-factly.
Thor gaped at Hermione. "You have an agreement," His said in disbelief, his voice faint. "With Mjölnir. Which you are holding."
"Yes. Oh, and I can hold her because she likes me. What, did you think you were the only one worthy of her?"
Loki gave a small snort of amusement, muttering "Oh, you have no idea," loud enough for everyone to hear.
Thor glared at him, then turned towards Hermione with a slightly sheepish look, finally realizing that yelling at the person who had gained the sympathies of his sentient weapon probably wasn't that good of an idea. "Look, Enchantress – um," he cleared his throat with a light cough. "Er, could I have Mjölnir back? Please?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and took a moment to confer with Mjölnir before holding her out to Thor. "You better take care of her," she warned. Thor gulped. "And, for your information, Mjölnir is a she. Not an it."
Thor chuckled incredulously, grabbing Mjölnir. "It is not a she, it is a hammer." There was a yelp as the hammer in question suddenly became much, much heavier, and Thor nearly fell over trying to keep his grip on the handle. "Sorry! I'm sorry, it's a she, Mjölnir is a she!"
Mjölnir became light as a feather once more, and Thor nervously looked down at his once-trusty weapon, somehow knowing it – sorry, she – was particularly smug about the whole situation.
"O-kay," Tony said, not even bothering to hold back his amusement towards Thor, "Now that that's all settled, can we please get Reindeer Games here back onto–"
He was cut off by Thor snorting. "You do not listen, do you, Metal Man? Loki has to pay for his crimes on Asgard."
Tony pinned him with a look. "And I don't think you've been listening, Lightning-boy, because I've said that Mischief here ain't going anywhere until we get that Tesseract back."
Thor opened his mouth to say more, but Hermione spoke over him. "For God's sake!" She threw her arms into the air in exasperation, and ploughed on before one of the two gods could comment on her choice of exclamation. "Listen to yourselves! We both want the same thing here." Rolling her eyes, she turned to Thor. "Thor, you can come with us, and then we'll figure out Loki after we get the Tesseract."
Her tone allowed no room for argument. Thor had only just nodded reluctantly when a streak of red, white, and blue slammed onto the ground beside them. Immediately, Thor had Mjölnir pointed towards the perceived threat, tension radiating off of him.
"Who are you?" He growled.
The Captain had dropped into a defensive position, his shield held in front of him. He eyed Mjölnir warily. "I'm Captain America, and I would really appreciate it if you would put the hammer down," Steve said in his Respect-me-or-I-will-frisbee-you voice.
"Uh, yeah no – bad call, he loves his ha–" Tony's voice abruptly cut out, and he was left mouthing the rest of the sentence. Thor, who had been about to punch him with Mjölnir, burst into booming laughter. It lasted for only a second before he too was silenced, at which point he pinned Hermione with a betrayed look, mutely pleading with her to lift the spell.
A wide grin stretched across Loki's face. "What was that, Odinson? I could not quite hear–" Hermione stopped his gloating by flicking her wrist in his direction. Rogers opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, and then closed it again, thinking (correctly) that Hermione would probably just shut him up anyways.
"Now," Hermione said, looking to each of the silent men, "If you boys are quite done, I think it's time we got back to the Helicarrier."
Hermione stood in the briefing room alongside Natasha, Bruce, Thor, and Steve, listening as Fury threatened Loki. "Ant, boot," he had said. Somehow, she got the feeling that he was a tad overconfident in the cell's ability to hold a god, but that was just her.
"Oh," Loki's voice was low as he spoke to Fury, "it burns you, to have come so close." He shifted back on his feet, moving comfortably around as if he owned the place, as if he weren't in a cage. "To have the Tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power. And for what?" His voice turned scathing, and he smiled humorlessly before turning to look into the camera once more. "A warm light for all mankind to share?" He looked back towards Fury. "And then to be reminded what real power is."
The corner of Fury's mouth turned up briefly. "Well, let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or somethin'," he said as he turned to leave.
Loki let him walk a few paces before he spoke up once more. "Witchling, listen." Hermione started slightly, not expecting to have been called out. Thor turned a questioning eye on the witch, but she was too focused on the screen to notice.
Fury stopped, but didn't turn around. Loki looked straight into the camera, speaking to Hermione. His voice lost the mocking quality, and if Hermione didn't know any better, she would've said he almost sounded sincere. "You must see that the only way to bring order – to bring peace – to Midgard is to raze it to the ground and begin anew. This world is in desperate need of saving, Angel." Fury twitched at that, but otherwise didn't move. Loki continued, his voice a low drawl. "There are monsters out there, darling – terrible beasts that would rip you to pieces, shred you apart and feel nothing." His chest heaved as he spat the word, his eyes flashing in anger, and for a single moment he looked haunted, a sort of darkness crossing his face. It was gone in an instant, his features smoothing out once more. A hint of levity returned to his gaze. "If you really want to save your precious Earth–" he took a small step towards the camera, a smile playing on the corners of his lips "–then you will help me."
At this Fury spoke up. "Like hell she'll help you." He turned, striding back towards his original spot in front of the glass, fixing his good eye on the God of Mischief. "If you really think some pretty words are enough to get her to join you, you obviously have a few screws loose."
Loki ignored the Director. His eyes locked with Hermione's through the screen, and she wouldn't – she couldn't – look away. "I've seen the horrors you dream of," Loki said softly. "I know exactly what the war took from you; I know how much you wish to prevent it from happening again." His voice lowered to a whisper. "I know you, Witchling, and I know that, when the time comes, you will be by my side in this fight. This, I promise you."
She jerked her eyes away from the screen, slamming down her mental walls, throwing out the shimmering blue mist that had been lazily twirling around her thoughts. Her breaths came in heavy pants. She had absolutely no idea how he had gotten through her defenses – no one, not even that bitch who had tortured her for hours had managed to break her Occlumency barriers. How did she not notice when he did? He had been sitting in her mind for Godric knows how long, rifling through her memories and thoughts like she was a bloody book. There was no pain, no discomfort at all, and if she hadn't been clued in through his egotistic monologuing, then she would have never known to throw him out. Natasha glanced towards her, an unreadable look on her face.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce said sarcastically, reaching up to rub at his chin, a small, wry smile on his face.
"Loki's gonna drag this out." Steve stared down at where the video had been playing, leaning back in his chair. "So," he glanced around, his eyes settling on the Asgardian prince. "Thor, what's his play?"
They discussed what was happening – something about aliens and outer space – but Hermione wasn't listening. Her mind was still buzzing, trying to figure out what the bloody hell Loki was playing at. There was something wrong, something off, about his speech. She couldn't quite put her finger on whatever was bothering her, but it nagged at her brain, a tiny itch that she couldn't reach.
She was put off her reverie and drawn back into the conversation when Tony arrived with Coulson.
"It's a stabilizing agent," he said, then turned to Coulson and muttered something about flying him somewhere and keeping the love alive. Coulson smirked and walked off, and Tony focused once again on the room at large. "Means the portal won't collapse in on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D."
He walked over to Thor and stopped for a moment, glanced over him and smiled with a barely-concealed smugness, patted his muscled arm twice, and moved on. Thor was left looking slightly confused. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Also, it means that the portal can open as wide – and stay open as long – as Loki wants."
Tony walked a few more paces, stopping when he was looking out over all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were sitting at computers. He gestured with a lazy flick of his wrist to one side of the room. "Uh – raise the mid-mast," he called out flippantly, then motioned to the other side "–ship the topsails." There was a slight faltering in the sounds of keyboards tapping. Several agents looked towards him, their expressions ranging from unamused to disbelief.
Stark dramatically pointed at a random agent. "That man is playing Galaga!" He declared loudly. Hermione held back a snort. Tony sighed. "Though we wouldn't notice–" he waved his still-pointed finger around listlessly "–but we did." Steve looked decidedly unimpressed at Tony's theatrics. Stark paid him no attention, instead bringing his hand up to cover his eye. He frowned, lowering his hand as he turned to Maria. "How does Fury even see these things?"
Hill crossed her arms, her expression impassive. "He turns."
Stark made a face. "Well that sounds exhausting." He started to poke and swipe at the monitors around him, thinking aloud. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density." He subtly slipped a button-sized hacking device on the side of the computer. No one but Hermione noticed, and when she raised an eyebrow at him, he simply shot her a quick wink. She hid a smile. That man, she thought, is going to drive Fury insane. Tony continued speaking to the group. "Something to–" He snapped, then clapped both his hands together "–kick start the cube."
Maria raised an eyebrow. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" She asked incredulously.
Tony just stared at her. "Uh, last night." She cocked her head. "The packet. Selvig's notes. The Extraction Theory papers…Am I the only one that did the readings?" He threw his arms in the air as Steve cut in, trying to direct the conversation back to the matter at hand.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"
Banner spoke up from where he was pacing beside the table. "He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."
Tony motioned with his arms. "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."
"Well, if he could do that–"
"He could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Hermione finished, her brows drawing close together in thought.
Stark looked between the two of them with something close to relief on his face. "Finally," he said, gesturing towards them. "Someone who speaks English." Hermione laughed lightly at his antics, ignoring as Steve muttered 'Is that what just happened?' under his breath.
Stark reached out and shook Banner's hand. "It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner," he said, his voice soft and sincere. Bruce nodded back respectfully before releasing his firm grip. "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled – and I'm a huge fan of the way you, ya know, lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster," Tony continued, flapping his hand about as he spoke.
Bruce looked down, pressing his lips together to hide his smile. "Thanks," he said, the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Stark turned to Hermione. "And you, my dear, sweet, slightly-less-genius-than-me Kitty Cat, still need to show me that trick you did with Loki – no take-backsies, you promised." Hermione shot him a look that promised retribution at the nickname, but acquiesced with a roll of her eyes and small nod.
At that moment, Fury walked in. "Doctor Banner is here to track the cube – I was hoping you two might join him."
"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve said. "It might be magical, but it works an awful lot like that HYDRA weapon."
Nick frowned. "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube–"
"No it's not." Hermione's voice cut off whatever else Fury was going to say. "It's similar to the Tesseract, but it – it just feels…different." She screwed up her face. "I can't quite explain it, but the magic within each one isn't the same. When I'm around the Tesseract, the power is just so much. It's everywhere in the air – it's heavy, stifling, sometimes. With the scepter – don't get me wrong, it's just as powerful as the Tesseract – but it's more subtle, less out-there. It's different."
Fury's frown deepened. "I'd still like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys," he grumbled.
"Monkeys?" Thor questioned. "I do not understand–"
"I do!" Steve grinned proudly. Tony exchanged a look with Banner, rolling his eyes. "I–I understood that reference." He glanced around the table, and Hermione shot him an indulging smile.
Tony turned towards Hermione and Bruce. "Shall we play, Doctors?" He said, leading them down to the labs with a sweep of his hand.