A/N - Mostly release of tensions after the whole mess, the Ministry gets few ice sculptures and not much else. Some answers are given and some questions are formed, some mistakes are fixed, but nothing that would shatter the world happens. Not yet.
o-0-o
Beta - eri1551
o-0-o
Loki looked at his father and tried not to sigh, lying to Thor had seemed like a fine idea, until now that is. "How are we going to explain to my dear brother what happened to Harry?" he finally asked.
"You will do it," Odin said. "You were the one that decided to keep it hidden from him, while I can understand your reasoning, it was also your choice and now you need to face its consequences."
Loki paled at those words and looked at Odin. "Father, do you want to see me being killed? Thor isn't the most reasonable person and he might kill me in his rage. Which is a bad, really bad thing for my health and I would prefer to be alive."
"As I said, you did it, now you need to feel its consequences."
Loki sighed and walked out of Odin's study, he had doubts about surviving the next couple of hours. He walked around the Citadel, looking for Thor. "Brother, we need to talk," he said, finding Thor in his chambers.
"About what?" Thor asked.
"About a certain accident that might… might have happened to Harry."
"What accident?" Thor growled and at the same time thunder shook the Citadel. "I swear, if you hid something from me I will break every bone in your body, to the smallest one and repeat it once you are healed."
"Don't be so hasty in your oaths," Loki said in his best voice. "Hear me out first and then decide."
"Fine," Thor said and flexed fingers of his right hand, summoning Mjolnir to it and Loki had a very bad feeling that he would have a very close meeting with this piece of metal. "Now we can talk."
"Fine," Loki said, looking for any easily accessible escape routes, just in case he would need to make a tactical retreat to a prepared position. "Harry might have been kidnapped by Weapon X," he slowly said. "He is fine now and out of their hands."
"What did you say?" Thor asked, walking closer as storm clouds started to gather and thunder shook the whole building.
"That he was kidnapped by Weapon X," Loki managed to say before he felt Thor's hand grasp him by his shirt while Mjolnir got dangerously close to his face. "Can we talk without this device of doom so close to my face?"
"No!" Thor growled. "Explain yourself and maybe you will live."
Loki eyed the hammer and later looked at Thor, he gulped and gathered his thoughts, thinking how to tell the truth without getting a hammer-shaped hole to his skull. "He was kidnapped by Weapon X and experimented on, now he is free and recovering."
"What?!" Thor asked as he started to spin his hammer. "He was what?!
"Experimented on," Loki said, preparing a magical shield in hopes of slowing down Mjolnir enough not to have the questionable opportunity of watching his own brain leaking out a hole in his skull. "But now he is free and with people that can help him recover, so there is no need for you to smash my skull to pieces."
"No reason?!" Thor bellowed, his voice ringing across the Citadel. "No reason?! My son was kidnapped and you should have prevented it from happening!"
Loki had barely a chance to launch the spell he had prepared and to redirect most of the energy of the strike away from his head. When the hammer struck him, he still felt his nose being dislocated, but he had his head whole. "I should have," he said, feeling a warm trickle of blood flow from his nose. "But I have failed and it is in the past, now he is free and recovering from the ordeal, while all of those that harmed him are being punished."
"Good," Thor said and released Loki, though threw would be a better word. "Now get out of my chambers before I lose control over myself and smash you to bits."
Loki nodded and grabbing his scepter, that had fallen on the floor, scurried out of the room, sacrificing his dignity for his finely honed survival instinct. A survival instinct that had been screaming in panic since he arrived his older brother's presence.
o-0-o
Rhodes stood Valiant's bridgeand watched as the ruins of Durmstrang and constructions' remnants under the school got smaller and smaller with each passing moment. She was swiftly moving away from the remains of those things, her engines pushing her towards the west and the USA where her base was and all of the maintenance was carried out. This had been her maiden mission and she had performed splendidly, but even with such performance there were things to be improved or changed.
He walked onto the walkway running along the whole length of the bridge and could feel the wind blow as she charged towards the west. It would take many hours, but she would return home. Looking at the quickly rising sun he thought about home and the comforts that came with it. He kind of missed his job at the Pentagon as it meant normal work hours and less stress. Here he was responsible for a few hundred people and normal work hours were a dream.
o-0-o
Fury stood at the window and watched the sky when he noticed Xavier arrive, the only person he would wait for. "Good, you had time to meet me."
"I was seeing Warren and Harry, they should recover, but they are still weeks away from being released or allowed to exercise," Xavier said and shrugged. "I also know that if you wanted to meet me that much, you would show up at the Institute, so speak."
"It's about X-23," Fury quietly said. "My probably greatest failure when it comes to handling Weapon X, her name is Laura Kinney and she is Wolverine's clone They turned her into a completely obedient tool. Which for their goals was fine, but for me or even the X-Men she is useless and cannot function normally in society."
"What did they do?" Xavier asked. "Even with all of my knowledge and experience in working with mutants I have some limits to what I can do."
"Training from birth into a perfect weapon, my staff said that unless I find a telepath that can rip apart her conditioning she will be a tool, not a person," Fury said and pulled out a thick folder. "Here you have what they came up with and data from Weapon X databases as well as Demon's observations or as you know him, Gambit."
"Conditioning is always a pain to deal with," The Professor said and sighed. "If she was an adolescent or an adult conditioned to do something, I would have an easy work; force it through telepathy to become dormant and awake the suppressed part of her mind, but with a person conditioned from birth it won't work."
"So what would you suggest?"
"Something that I normally wouldn't have done," Professor said and Fury could tell that he was really uncomfortable with the idea. "To rip apart her conditioning and introduce in its place the thought processes of a normal human being. I know that it is dangerously close to a mind rape, but if it is as bad as you are telling me she is a tool, not a human being."
"Unfortunately she is," Fury said and winced. "I would like to personally speak with those who did it, but they are all dead now, so I can't do, even though I wish I could. So could you do it and how soon?"
"Give me few days to read the data you have on her and think how to approach it, I know what I need to do, but I don't have any idea about how."
"Take us much time as you need to," Fury said and heard Xavier move away from him. He looked around for a moment and walked towards the room where Harry was laying. The whole thing felt like a personal failure for him, it was not supposed to happen.
o-0-o
There was a sense of perfect stillness and silence Peter Wisdom's office, it was interrupted only by the ticking of a clock standing its corner of his desk. He slowly diverted his gaze from the clock and focused on Amelia Bones. "She did what?" he asked, slowly pronouncing each word.
"She used the moment we were focused on what Russia would do next and pushed those laws through. I was too busy watching those wizards and trying to coordinate with what MACUSA sent to keep an eye on her," she said. "I should have known she would make a move when we were focused on something else and she did."
He growled and shook his head. "What was done is in the past, we need to focus on the future. Do you have any idea how to counter her?"
Amelia was silent for a long moment, the silence growing and filling the office. "She needs to have some kind of network of contacts and spies. She knew things she shouldn't have known and probably knows even more now. So I would say that we do what you spies love the most, lay low and collect data before we strike."
"So that she makes a mistake and slips?" He asked with a predatory smile.
"Yes."
This single word made him smile. "I will have her being tailed within the hour and every single way of communication should be under watch."
"Floo Network," Amelia simply said and made him look at her. "You need access to the Ministry to watch it."
"I was a wizard once," Wisdom said. "I know that with the proper spellwork you can do it and you were an auror for what? Thirty years?"
"Something like that," she agreed with a nod. "You want me to recreate the infrastructure to watch the Floo?"
"Yes," he said and smiled. "The wizards are getting away with too many things and they need to be tempered. If I can watch the Floo they should slow down and need to be more careful in what they do and how."
"Give me an extremely detailed map of the UK, several wizards, two weeks and you will have the basic version going. It won't give information about from where exactly someone travels to, but it will give us something to work with. The version that is used at the Ministry will take a year or two to finish and a lot more resources."
"Ask and you will have them," he said and flexed his hand, old scars still causing him pain and uncomfort, not to mention that blasted mark. "Now, what can we do about those laws she passed?"
"There are several things that can be done..."
o-0-o
Oliver Wood was visibly shaken as he looked around the common room, the attack by SHIELD had changed everybody. While he understood the reason behind it and knew how precious some things to SHIELD were; the rest weren't and he could see some first year students look around, fear visible in their eyes and form.
"Do you know why did they attack?" Tonks asked as she sat down on a comfortable armchair. "I mean, they were rough and didn't show any mercy."
"I think I know," he said after a while. "I think that something happened to Harry and this was a reaction to that."
"You might be correct," she said, humming quietly. "Still it was terrifying and while we will shake it off quickly, the first years won't."
"Make them work," he said with a smile. "Did you have time to think at the Institute about anything other than classes and work?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Will it work?"
"It should," he said, standing up. "Besides, we don't have much of anything to do."
o-0-o
Loki walked out of the portal in Hogwarts' Headmaster's office and smiled when he saw Dumbledore furious about something. It seemed that something had bitten the old goat and quite well at that. "What happened?"
"This," Dumbledore said holding a piece of parchment. "A High Inquisitor of Hogwarts is to be named by the Ministry."
The color disappeared from Loki's face. "Oh."
"Yes, if I know the Ministry they will send Umbridge and whatever is being said about her, letting her close to children is a bad thing."
He nodded and hummed quietly. "How soon is she going to be send to the school?"
"At the beginning of the next term and is supposed to stay here for as long as she wishes to. I can try to delay her, but I don't have as much clout as I used to have and Fudge is her pawn."
"Which is a problem," Loki said as he started to pace across the office. "While you or I can turn her into a nice puddle of water or pile of dust, the danger she poses is of a different kind. She can use her influence and spread things around, things which will cause us a lot of issues. I will try to influence her, but I can't promise a success as she has a thick skull and getting into it is a challenge at which I might fail."
"What about the changes that were done or about those students that will be send to Asgard?"
"Go on with it, she won't dare to change it," Loki said and bared his teeth for a moment. "Or she will run into me and I will explain things to her more bluntly than I'm going to do now. There is the charter you can use to defend your decisions, you answer before the board and she is for all intents and purposes an agent of the Ministry that shouldn't be here."
"I will do as you suggested," Dumbledore said and passed him a list of names. "Those are the names of the students I think should be sent to Asgard."
Loki scanned the list and nodded. "It works and I will be here for them right at the end of the term, now if you excuse me a toad has a date with me," he said and with a snap of his fingers was gone from Hogwarts.
He appeared in the Ministry lobby dressed in his full official robes, brown leather pants, green tunic covered with rich, golden embroidery and over it his trademark leather coat, to top it off he had his scepter and a golden diadem with an ice blue sapphire triskelion in the middle. He walked forward, his strides long and confident, not paying any attention to other people and ignoring them completely, an arrogant sneer on his face.
"Who are you? What do you want?" A guard at the entrance deeper into the Ministry challenged him.
"Watch to whom you speak at," he said and waved his hand, trapping the guard in a pillar of ice that grew to the level of his waist "I am Loki Odinson and I do not answer to petty mortals like you."
Brushing past the half-frozen and stunned guard Loki walked deeper into the complex that housed the Ministry, his eyes swept over people and doors as he looked for his target. It took him a moment to find that she was at the end of the corridor, his lips curled up into a smile when he saw a pair of aurors attempt to block his path. He waved his hand and they were thrown at the walls and manacles made from ice grew around their hands and a gag around their mouths.
"You do not attack your gods," he said, looking at them. "You do not raise your hand against them, you should kneel before them."
He saw them struggle against their bounds, but he ignored them and walked into his target's office, he waved his hand, the door closed behind him and a layer of runes that formed an impenetrable barrier appeared on the wall.
His gaze spent a moment, lingering over the decor, it was rich and obnoxious, lacking any taste, its sole purpose was to show how wealthy the owner was, but for him it said more. She was a petty person, a person that lusted for power and influence that she wanted to keep and show.
"Just wonderful," he murmured, his gaze running over everything inside the room for one last time. Satisfied that he hadn't missed a thing, he crossed the room and opened the single door he spotted at its other side.
Behind it was an even more richly decorated office and in its middle behind a cherry wood desk sat Umbridge. She looked like a pink toad in a pink pond full of painted kittens. "Who are you and what do you want?" she croaked.
"I want to make you an offer," he smiled. "We both are politicians and we both have our goals, I think that we can reach an agreement."
"Go on," she said and rung a small silver bell, its sound soft and melodic. There was a soft pop and a house elf appeared. "Tea and cookies for two people," she said and turned to look at him. "Please, take a seat Mr...?"
"Odinson," Loki smiled, sitting down. "I think that we can reach an agreement. I would like the current changes to Hogwarts to not be removed, they were approved by the board and it would be in my interest that they stay."
"I believe that is impossible," she said, her voice dripping with sweetness. "Mr Odinson, Hogwarts is on British soil and thus falls under the authority of the Ministry."
He fought a sigh and looked at her. "Please tell me when the Ministry was created and when Hogwarts was."
"The Ministry in 1707, Hogwarts' date is unknown, but we estimate that it was founded in the eleventh century."
"You were close," he smiled thinly. "It was founded in 990, so it is older and was here before any form of an organization controlling the whole island could have formed. So I don't know from where you came up with the idea that it falls under the authority of the Ministry. Since I doubt I could force you to agree not to meddle in its affairs, I suggest a deal. You will be allowed to have an agent at Hogwarts and they will be unable to make any changes; in return, I won't vaporize you."
"Is this a threat?" she asked, her voice still sweet and unpleasant.
Loki laughed at those words. "Madam, I don't make threats, I only make suggestions while outlining possibilities that could happen if what I desire isn't achieved. So think carefully as the next time I won't be so lenient and I think that you know who I am."
"Loki of Asgard," she said and he smirked at those words. "God of Lies."
"Indeed," he said and picked up the cup that was brought by a house elf. "So will you be kind enough to consider my proposition or should I arrange you a date with my charming daughter?"
Umbridge paled, but nodded. "I will consider it, and no you don't need to ."
"Thank you," he said with a smile and was gone from her office in a vortex of energy.
o-0-o
Professor X took the files he had received from Fury and carefully looked at them, whoever was behind the whole Weapon X thing was an insane and crazy bastard that knew no lines when it came to ethics and morality.
"He was right," he said bitterly. "She is just a tool now, a perfect tool to kill, not a human being that knows and understands emotions. All the therapy that would work on others won't work on her, they have some point of reference, no matter how small it is, she has none."
He shook his head and paused as a crazy plan started to form in his mind, a plan that could work really well if done properly, however it could also destroy her completely as a being. He played with minds for more than twenty years, but he never did such a thing, something that was both crazy and brilliant.
He looked at her dossier and everything else Fury had found and it made his stomach twist, her upbringing and training were cruel and even extremely dangerous at times. Many a fully grown man would be unable to survive it, she physically did, but mentally she was completely different, her mind was twisted and turned into that of a robot.
o-0-o
Rhodes stood on the deck as Valiant crossed the last stretch of ocean and entered into the bay housing one of the new SHIELD bases, designed and built to take care of helicarriers and their needs. As she got deeper into the bay he could see people gather on the shore and watch her move, she had grace that defied her size and bulkiness. She was able to move as gracefully as any predator and she showed it when she slipped into a waiting dock.
Whistling a tune he walked to its bridge to oversee the transfer of the things on board and finish writing a report. Once it was over he had two weeks of free time, two weeks of glorious time of doing nothing.
o-0-o
Professor X paused before he opened the door and looked at the pair of guards Fury gave him. "Wait outside, you will scare her."
"Are you sure, sir?" one of them asked.
"Yes," he said firmly. "She has bad memories with armed people and it might trigger her and that's not what I want to happen."
They shuffled uncomfortably, but after a moment nodded, as if knowing that they stood no chance of convincing him to change his mind. He opened the door and entered the room, it was a small room with basic furniture. His gaze immediately landed on the single girl sitting on the bed. She was short with long black hair and green eyes. As he looked at her he could see that her eyes were dead, void of any emotions, they were the eyes of a person that killed and didn't have a person to lean on for support. Her posture was hunched and waiting for the next strike to come, yet she was ready to pounce onto him and kill.
"I am Charles Xavier," he said, showing that he didn't have any weapons. "I know who you are and I know about your past, if you want I can help you start a new life, one where you don't need to kill because you are ordered to."
She looked at him and didn't say a word, but as he looked into her eyes he could tell that she was interested in what he was saying.
"You will be able to live like every other person does and you will be free," he slowly said and saw her keen green eyes focus on him. "All that I need is to touch your mind."
She slowly shook her head in an universal way of saying no.
"I am a telepath and to help you I need to touch your mind," he explained. "I won't use it for any other purpose."
She was silent for a long moment and he could tell that she was thinking, minutes passed in silence as she thought and he waited patiently for her answer. "Please," she whispered, almost whimpered.
He pushed tendrils of his thoughts towards her mind and wanted to vomit when he had a good look at it. She was a mess, a total and complete mess that would take months to fix and even with what he was about to do, it would take her a lot of time. He pushed his thoughts deeper, looking for behaviors and habits ingrained by her training, it was deep, but once found it stood out. He focused all of his might on this and started bit by bit to dissolve them and suppress as deeply and completely as he could, the rest would be done by therapy and time.
o-0-o
Warren slowly opened his eyes and blinked few times as a strong white light hit him right in the eyes, it blinded him for a moment, but other senses told him where he was. He heard a faint beeping sound, medical machinery, and his nose was assaulted by the strong scent of antiseptics and hundreds other scents associated with hospitals.
He tried to sit up, but was stopped by a soft, gentle hand. "Easy," voice said. "You are still weak."
He nodded and blinked few more times to focus his eyes, they almost immediately came to rest on the doctor that stopped him. He looked normal, did not stand out and he looked at him with concern. "What happened to me?"
"What is the last thing you remember?"
"I was driving my car down the highway," Warren said and paused as his eyes widened. "Something slammed into it from the side."
"Yes, you were lucky to survive."
Warren nodded and looked at his left hand, almost completely covered in bandages, he took a better look at himself and saw a lot more of bandages wrapped around his body. "How long was I out?"
"Three weeks or so," doctor said. "We wanted to make sure that we removed every single bit of metal out of your body before we woke you up. We would keep you longer, but your body heals faster than we thought was possible."
Warren nodded and flexed his hand, he felt that it moved as good as it used to. "How soon can I leave?"
"In a few days, we want to ensure that you will make full recovery," doctor said. "Someone wants to meet you, so I will send her."
"Her?" Warren frowned, but the doctor didn't answer and just walked out of the room. A wide smile appeared on Warren's face when Jean walked into the room.
"Warren," she said softly as she sat down at his bedside. "We were worried about you."
"Jean," he whispered as she kissed him. "How much did I miss?"
"A lot," she said. "I can tell you some things, if you want."
"I do," he said and moved to a more comfortable position.
o-0-o
Robert Drake looked around the Institute and had some trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that everybody around him was a mutant. "So everybody here is a mutant," he asked, just to be sure.
"Yes," Piotr said. "The staff is and we are as well, so you don't need to hide your powers, just be careful with them."
"Why?"
"Because we don't enjoy being turned into an icicle," Piotr laughed. "Maybe one of us wouldn't, but he isn't here."
"Who?"
"Harry," Piotr quietly said. "He is half-Æsir and he used to do a lot of things, but now he is at the hospital thanks to Weapon X."
"He didn't say much about himself," Bobby said and looked around. "Mr Summer told me that you were supposed to show me where my room is."
"His name is Cyclops," Piotr corrected him. "But anyways, I will show you, so follow me."
Bobby nodded and walked after Piotr through the maze of corridors, that even if they were vast, felt homey and warm, there was sense of security and firmness behind it.
o-0-o
Professor X pulled out of Laura's mind and when he looked at her face she seemed to be crying, as if what he did shocked her and she couldn't believe it was true. "How do you feel?"
"Better," she said and paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "As if a veil was removed from my mind."
"I did everything I could," he said and she looked at him. "I removed the worst they had done to you, but the rest will go away as time passes by."
"Thank you," she said and he nodded.
"I want to offer you a place at the Institute, a place where mutants can live, develop their powers and be themselves," he said and added after a moment. "Also your father is there and you will have an opportunity to meet him if you wish to."
"Wolverine?"
"Yes, him." He looked at her and focused on her body language, previously it was of a cornered animal, now it was more natural and relaxed. "So what do you say?"
"I will come with you," she said and he smiled.
"Then let's go. A car is waiting for me and you might be able to meet him, today even."
She nodded, leaped off the bed and followed him out of the room, the guards looked at her, but after a look from him stopped and let her pass. He watched her with the corner of his eye and could tell that he made a good decision with not bringing them in, she might have snapped with them present. Even with the conditioning suppressed as strongly as he could achieve, she was still uneasy around them. It seemed that the next few weeks were not going to be easy for the inhabitants of the Institute.
o-0-o
Sirius Black walked into the lobby of the Gringotts' USA branch and approached one of the tellers whose eyes widened when he saw him. "Mr Black, how can we help you?" teller asked.
"I have a scheduled appointment with Master Sharclaw," Sirius said and showed a small pendant with a couple of runes inscribed on its surface of.
Goblin took the pendant from Sirius and held it in his long fingers for a few moments, as if testing it and seeing if it was true. "Yes, indeed you have an appointment and this is the proper pendant," goblin said and rung a small bell. "A messenger will take you for a meeting."
"Thank you," Sirius said and patiently waited for a messenger to get to him, during these few years he spent as a free man he had changed. He had put on a lot of weight, lost his pale skin complexion and developed a lot of muscle.
"Mr Black, if you could follow me," a small goblin said getting his attention. Sirius nodded and followed the goblin into the building, discreetly looking around he saw that the wizards looked at him with some respect. "Master Sharclaw will meet you here," goblin said as he opened the door and Sirius nodded.
He entered the office and his eyes almost immediately landed on the goblin behind the desk. Sirius lightly bowed his head and walked to the chair placed in front of the desk.
"Mr Black, this is a most unusual request," Sharclaw said once Sirius was comfortably seated. "However I understand the reason for it and thus I agreed to help you, do you wish to review the state of your vault or would you prefer to get down to business?"
"Maybe we should review the state of the vault first," Sirius said.
Sharclaw nodded and hummed for a moment before he pulled out a piece of parchment which he handed across the desk. Sirius took it with a graceful bow and focused his gaze on it. Those numbers were familiar to him, but even after looking at them so many times they shocked him.
Black family account audit:
Money placed in the vaults - $6,954,123
Precious metals:
Gold, silver and platinum – estimated value at $15,863,471
Other assets (properties, artifacts, etc) – estimated value at $124,941,123
Sirius' eyes swept over those numbers and focused on Sharclaw. "Everything is the way I expected it to be, but may I inquire you about a vault that should be mine?"
"Go on," Sharclaw said, narrowing his eyes.
"Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, she has no legal power to govern her vault as she is imprisoned and the Sorcerer Supreme and I suspect that she might have a dangerous artifact in her possession."
"What dangerous artifact and where?"
"Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, we think that it is one of Voldemort's Horcruxes and I think it is in the vault of my dear cousin Bella."
Sharclaw inhaled sharply and Sirius could feel a magic build up. "How sure are you of this?" He asked, his voice low and quiet.
"As sure as I can be."
"I will check it personally and alert our security that there might be something dangerous inside it, could you pass a message to the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"I can."
"Tell him that we will take care of it and we are grateful for the information he has provided us," Sharclaw said, quickly writing on a piece of parchment, he put his quill away and looked at Sirius. "Now we can speak about the true reason of your visit."
Sirius nodded and for the next several hours discussed things related to his own account, but also to his godson's account as it wouldn't be bad for someone else to take a look at it; to make sure that everything was running smoothly and was bringing back a lot of money for everybody interested in it. Even if Harry was obnoxiously rich thanks to his status as a Prince of Asgard and access to the riches of Asgard, they were a bit useless on Earth, while hard currency wasn't.
o-0-o
Loki walked onto the training fields and passing dozens of warriors that worked on their skills, he approached Sif who was watching over Atalanta, Hrolf, Jarl and Ulf training with various weapons. Even when fully focused on them she turned to look at him. "What do you need from me?" she asked.
"Can I steal them for a moment?" He asked indicating to her students. "There are some news that they better hear in a more private setting than this."
"What news?"
"About their friend," Loki said, lowering his voice to little more than a whisper. "Harald had been kidnapped and was freed, he was the reason for the Horn to be blown. I want to tell them in a place where they can rage and not many will learn what the reason for their rage is."
Sif looked at him, her gaze steady and cool. "You speak the truth, very well, you can take them," she said slowly and he nodded, feeling her eyes focus on him. "I want you to tell me how it happened with all the details you will conceal from them, they don't need to know them, but guards are my responsibility and I need to know the way those people thought."
"Of course," he said with a small bow.
She walked away from him and towards her students, she spoke with them for a moment and they walked to him, curiosity and interest bubbling in their eyes. He nodded at them and motioned to follow him, he quickly led them into the Citadel and to one of the small rooms placed inside. Once all of them were inside he drew a couple of runes in the air and the walls flashed icy blue.
"What I am about to tell you is for you only," he said as he sat down on one of chairs. "Don't talk about it with people and keep it to yourselves, is that clear?"
"Yes, Your Highness," they said and he nodded content.
"In short Harry was kidnapped when he was on Midgard," he said and saw Ulf reach out for the axe strapped to his back. "Calm down, you won't do a single thing, besides, he was freed and is now recovering, so there is no need for you to rush to his rescue. Can all of you excluding Atalanta leave now?"
He saw them look between each other and then nod, he smiled when he saw Atalanta look at him, questions in her eyes.
"He is in a coma at the moment and it would be good if you were there when he wakes up," he said quietly. "He developed telepathy and I know that you grew close to each other, so your presence will mean a lot to him. Even if you are just a familiar person there, it will help him, I want you to pack and travel with me."
She looked at him and nodded grimly . "I will do it."
"Good," Loki said and looked at her. "Your grandmother will stay away from Midgard, so you can stay there for as long as you wish to. He will probably want to keep you close and you probably won't mind an opportunity to be away from the court life of Asgard."
She smiled briefly at those words. "Honestly every place is better than this snake pit with all of those kinds of vipers we have," she said. "So I won't mind an opportunity to be away from it."
He chuckled slightly, but nodded. "I wouldn't call it that, but it works. Can you pack and meet at the entrance to the Observatory in two hours or so?"
She nodded and hurried out of the room. He watched her leave and paused to think what to do next. He sighed and walked out of the room to get a few things done, one of which was not going to tell Jane about what happened to Harry. Being thrown into the wall once was enough for him, so someone else could have the pleasure.
o-0-o
Jane smoothed out her dress and took a deep breath before she entered the room where Frigga wanted to meet her, she had a bad feeling about the meeting, but she brushed it off and confidently walked into the room. She almost immediately noticed Frigga who sat comfortably in one of the armchairs placed by the fireplace.
"Good, you are here," Frigga said, her voice calm and smooth. "I want to talk with you about certain things that you should know."
"I figured that much," Jane said and sat down in one of the free armchairs, she poured some hot chocolate for herself and sipped it. There were some advantages of being granted to body of an Æsir, including faster metabolism which allowed her to indulge in all kinds of things. "May I know about what, as the information you gave me was brief and unclear."
"It is related to Harald," Frigga said and Jane's eyes narrowed, Frigga rarely used Harry's true name. "There were some events concerning him on Earth."
"What kind of events?" Jane asked, slowly sipping the hot chocolate. "Whatever is being said, I'm his mother by law and I should know."
Frigga nodded and Jane had a bad feeling about the next few moments. "You should have been notified, but due to your state we thought that it would be prudent to keep you in the dark and not inform you about them."
Jane winced at the mention of her state, she hated the treatment she got because she was pregnant since everybody treated her like a piece of glass that could break at any moment. She snorted loudly and looked at Frigga. "Even when pregnant I still should have learned about it, I'm fed up with being treated as something that breaks upon contact."
Frigga looked at her, some disapproval visible in her eyes, but after a moment she nodded. "Maybe you should have been notified, but it was decided that you shouldn't have and we need to deal with it," she said and Jane nodded. "He was kidnapped by a group on Earth, but he is free and well now, so you have nothing to worry about."
Jane felt blood flow away from her face. "He was what?" she asked quietly as a rage started to build inside of her.
"Kidnapped, but now he is recovering."
Jane growled, but quickly calmed down and placed her hand on her belly as she slowly breathed in and out to calm down and relax. "Should I know how it happened?"
"No," Frigga said and Jane looked at her. "He will be here for Yuletide, but now he is on Earth with his friends."
"I want to see him," Jane said
"You cannot, you are pregnant and travelling through the Bifrost isn't a very good thing for your health or for the babies you are carrying."
Jane growled and almost broke the mug she was holding, it took her a lot of effort to relax and control herself. She wanted to yell at Frigga and everybody around, but she knew it was pointless, nothing would be gained and she would only embarrass herself by doing so. "I understand," she said, finished her hot chocolate and stormed out of the room, she needed some privacy to relax and calm her mind.
She walked as quickly as she could, her steps resonating on the stone floor of the Citadel and she stopped only when she was inside of hers and Thor's chambers, a place where she could relax and calm down.
o-0-o
The Bifrost flashed and deposited Loki and Atalanta in the corridor right outside of Harry's room in the hospital. She looked around and immediately noticed that Jean and Bobby were waiting for them. Greetings were exchanged and for a moment they stood there in silence, looking at each other.
"So what exactly happened to him?" she asked, finally breaking the tense moment of silence. "You were rather unclear about the whole thing Uncle," she added with a look at Loki.
Loki shuffled uncomfortably and she could tell that he was not willing to say the exact details.
"He was kidnapped by a group that wanted to create the very best weapon out of the mutants they had captured," Jean said as her eyes flashed gold for a moment. "They used him like a guinea pig to test how well their inventions work on a living organism, they somehow worked and unlocked his telepathy."
"Also used a very crude fail-safe mechanism," Loki added with a sneer. "It wouldn't even work on him and the only thing it achieved was to force the surgeons to remove them from his body."
"Fail-safe mechanism?" Atalanta asked.
"The same thing as the collars that some prisoners and slaves have on Asgard, but instead of pain it was supposed to kill him."
"Ah," she nodded and glanced at her uncle. "So I guess he is in a coma."
"He is supposed to wake up in a few moments," Bobby said. "The doctors said that they could have woken him up a long time ago, but they were told by Fury to make sure that he was on the mend and wouldn't be able to open up those wounds. He isn't completely human and they wanted to be sure he is well before they woke him up."
She nodded and looked at Loki. "So uncle, how long am I supposed to be on Midgard?"
"As long as you wish to," he said and smiled. "He will probably want you to stay at his side for a long time. Since I only wanted to get you here safely, I will leave now," he said that and a beam of Bifrost whisked him right away.
"He will," Jean said and they looked at her. "The Professor has been teaching me psychology and how the mind works, from what I know he will have nightmares and will need someone he trusts and knows to help him survive them."
"I understand," Atalanta said grimly, correcting the placement of her weapons so that they would be easier to use. Everybody else blinked a few times and looked at her. "What? I prefer to be careful and I don't like to be surprised."
"Nothing," Bobby said and shook his head. "Remind me to get my own gun as everybody around me is armed."
"Easy," Jean said with a roll of her eyes. "You can talk about weapons later, now we need to wait for him to wake up from his coma."
Atalanta nodded, walked to the bench that was placed along the wall and sat down on it, waiting and chatting with Bobby and Jean, trying to catch up and learn what she had missed.
o-0-o
Harry stirred, slowly waking up, the first thing he felt was that he was laying on something soft, not on the hard cot in the Weapon X base. Soon it was followed by white, almost blinding light and the strong scent of antiseptics; but he didn't feel the thick, almost suffocating scent of despair and death that he remembered from Weapon X, here it was a warmer scent. There was still some death barely noticeable, but it was covered by warmth and care.
He slowly sat up and looked around, he quickly saw that he was in some kind of a hospital room and he was its sole occupant, excluding a doctor who seemed to be quite happy. "Where am I?" He croaked, his throat dry. He looked to the side and saw a bottle of water, he opened it and drank quickly.
"Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the USA," the doctor said and after a moment added. "You were brought here once Agent Romanov got you out of the Weapon X base."
Harry nodded and collected his thoughts, trying to put them in some kind of an order.
"There are some people that want to see you and you should be able to leave the place in a few hours," the doctor said and Harry smiled.
The doctor disappeared and moments later the door opened once again and three people walked in he didn't expect to meet. He noticed Bobby and Jean, but that was all he was able to see before a black blur pushed them aside and flung itself at him. He felt something press against him and arms embrace him, when he was able to look at it, he saw that it was Atalanta, pressed against him.
"Harry," she said softly, her hands moving through his wings. "You are alive."
"It's hard to kill me," he said as he embraced her, his hands on her back.
He held her in his embrace and felt at ease, for the first time in something that felt like centuries for him all of his worries and troubles were washed away and replaced by calmness and peace. The horrors of Weapon X were silenced. He heard Bobby mutter "Love and teens." But he ignored it and focused on enjoying the moment. To be continued…
o-0-o
A/N - Loki did not target the damned vehicle of doom coming at him, it would smash through his magic, he focused magic on the air around the thing so that it could slow it down enough to allow him to survive as otherwise he would have a gaping hole in the middle of his skull, a dangerous wound, even lethal.
Why did they lie to Thor? I think it is obvious, oblivious Thor means that they can play it however they wish to play, with furious God of Thunder it would be nearly impossible as he isn't a person that follows logic or reason.
Even if Umbridge is an asshole, she is a politician and she knows well one thing, going onto a crash course with Loki is a very unhealthy thing, also she got what she wanted to have. So she won't push for more, especially with Loki looking at her, one wring move and not much will save her from being ripped to shreds.
What Professor did is a quick, blunt and somewhat working way of dealing with her conditioning. In canon she never really develop a personality for a really long time, here she just got a giant push in a proper direction and before you think that she is now useless in combat, well, you are completely and utterly wrong.