Chapter Updated: September 13th, 2019
Sun's going down, sun's going down, sun's going down, it's going real down..
Okay. Was saying this over, and over to himself really helping the current situation?
Nope, not really.
He buried his hands in his face and made an indignant noise. Natasha suddenly entered his mind, her bright red hair, her reassuring touch, her soft smile. She was always the expert at calming him down. He missed her.
He wondered what she was doing right now, if she sustained any nasty injures from Ultron's attack, if she moved on-
Stop it, he would think about Nat later. Right now he had other things to deal with.
Like coming to terms with the fact that he was sitting on a bed that was really comfy, in Asgard.
He was on Thor's home planet, wow, still hasn't sunk in yet. Apparently the other guy had had the wheel for two whole years. But then again, he really didn't. Some sort of magic had kept him asleep like a big green sleeping beauty. At least that's what the dude with the golden eyeballs told him. What was his name? Heimdall? Considering he was standing right over there by the table, looking through some ancient scrolls. They looked like ancient scrolls anyways.
Oh yeah, Thor had finally decided to show up a couple minutes ago...with Loki.
Fricking Loki. The guy that tried to take over and enslave the planet a few years back? Yep, that Loki. Trying to kill everybody Loki. Has a brain with a bag full of cats Loki.
Okay he had to try to focus on something else. Umm, well this Healing Halls? Place was cool, had a much better vibe than any occasional hospital. Somehow it felt more relaxed, more welcoming, more...uhhh...homey? It was so hard not to stare at the group that was only several feet away from him.
"Brother? You might want to consider helping your companion. He looks as though he'll either faint or unleash the beast ," Loki noted quietly.
"Oh, he looks fine to me. Bannerson"! Heimdall shouted much to Thor and Loki's horror.
Bruce immediately looked up, hoping his fear wasn't too obvious to the...Norse gods.
"Umm, y-yeah"?
"Are you faring well"?
"Am I faring...? Oh right! Right, yes, definitely. I'm faring in the best way possible sir. Thank you"?
"Splendid. Now boys, how exactly will Asgard defeat your sister, hm"? Heimdall inquired.
The two brothers both had looks of bewilderment plastered on their faces for several seconds, before Loki decided to take the advantage.
"Yes Thor, what was the plan here again"?
"I thought you were the one who came up with the strategically perfect plans," Thor scowled.
"Not anymore".
"I apologize for interrupting...this. But whatever happened to that one lad? Skurge was it"? Fandral asks confused.
"What? How could you have missed Thor telling him to wait in a corner outside the palace as a punishment for addressing his majesty so rudely"? Loki says in an amused tone.
"That's not how it happened"! Thor argued defensively.
"We'll check on him soon, or better yet. You three go outside and find that boy, then after that I want you to see to our soldiers so they'll be armed with the correct weapons. While the princes and I devise a plan," Heimdall ordered.
"Certainly Gatekeeper," Hogun replies respectfully. Fandral and Volstagg considered protesting, but thought better of it and left to find 'janitor'.
As soon as Thor ensured his friends left for certain, and sending Bruce one more look to make sure he was alright, he whispered, coming off angrier than intended.
"Loki, I haven't seen her, and no one is bringing her up. Where is Sif"?
"Lady Sif left shortly after you did, unless Loki chose to secretly banish her for some odd reason," Heimdall answered for the trickster.
"I did not banish her. One morning she requested to leave for a quest of some sort, and I granted her permission".
"She didn't say where she was heading specifically"? Thor questioned.
"No, and I didn't care. Why do you care? The two of you are nothing more than friends, yes"? Loki suggested with a teasing smile. Thor could've smacked him.
"Need I remind you two once more to stop acting as you did in your youth? My patience is wearing thin. The Goddess of Death isn't someone to be taken as nothing more than a mere threat. She's an expertise warrior who holds no love in her withering heart. A hectic realm conqueror. A diabolical maniac, if you will".
"Ah, her and I would've gotten along rather well a few years ago," Loki remarked.
"I'm sorry. But I keep overhearing a bunch of stuff about wicked villains and whatnot, is everything okay"? Bruce asked from the bed.
Thor panicked for a split second before composing himself.
"Everything's perfectly fine Banner. My brother, Heimdall, and I are just discussing how to take down an old...relative of ours, that we never knew about until now. It's fine. You needn't worry, it's a family issue".
Bruce looked anything but satisfied with the answer, but thankfully he didn't press any further.
"What about him? Perhaps he can help with the battle, let the beast loose," Loki whispered.
"No, I'm not going to use him to get to the hulk, that's gross. He would think we weren't friends anymore".
"I know, but we'd have the hulk".
"All-Fathers grant me the gift of patience," Thor sighed.
"Do either of you remember when you were children, and Thor went to go train in the fields with his new axe, and he saw a snake, and he went to retrieve it because he thought it was a snake, and we all know he loves those creatures. And it turned out-"
"To be me, and I stabbed him"? Loki concluded, struggling to conceal his grin.
"Yes, but come now. You know you only meant it as a harmless prank. After you stabbed your brother in the abdomen, you tended to him right after, casting the finest healing spells into the wound. You also ended up secretly fetching him a basket full of biscuits and leaving it in his room anonymously. Since the guilt was eating you alive". Heimdall wished there was a way for him to permanently capture Loki's mortified expression.
"Oh so that's who left me that basket on my bed the next day," Thor says, letting the discovery sink in.
"I'd appreciate it if we changed the subject".
"But-"
"I would greatly appreciate it if we changed the subject now," Loki added sharply.
"Very well, but why remind us of that story Heimdall? What does it have to do with anything"?
"Oh, it doesn't. I just remembered it and I wanted to speak my mind is all".
Hela breathed out steadily. It was hard for her to contain her glee.
She was ready.
The time had finally come. Agard would be hers, she would own it's people.
In her youth, her father had made her so many promises, promises of queenship, of love, of honor. All lies. Her father was nothing but a wretched liar. And now the Aesir would pay for Odin's sins.
She gripped her pendant, thinking of her son. It enraged her that Odin was the one who raised him. Knowing the All-Father ways, he most-likely ruined his life as well.
Drawing her arms out, she felt her powers rushing through her, and then-
"She's coming" Heimdall murmured suddenly, his voice switching from warm to cold.
"What"? Thor questioned, not wanting to believe it.
They weren't prepared...
"Bruce! There's fresh clothes and armor under your bed, I recommend you put them on. Thor, I'm sure your friends took care of our armies so don't fret over that," Loki says, swallowing his own shock at the news.
"How, in the nine realms, are you able to remain so calm and stoic yet I cannot"? Thor asked disbelieving.
Loki grinned.
Alrighty guys! That's all I got! Go live your lives and have fun! I love/appreciate/cherish every single one of you so much!