The Trickster: Ragnarok

by: Shadow Chaser

Disclaimer:

I do not own any characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All characters belong to Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Comics, and Disney. I am not writing this story for profit, only for my own (twisted) amusement. I will try to return the characters unharmed, but some they might have a few scuff marks.

Story:

Chapter 11

Natasha heard the door leading out of the observation room slam closed behind Tony's angry march out. She had no doubts that he was immediately going to talk to Coulson about what had transpired, but also knew that Coulson would not budge on what he had said to Loki. The slight movement out of the corner of her eye followed by the sounds of the door opening and closing again – this time a lot gentler – told her than Bruce had left the room too. She supposed that he was either going to his lab or more than likely chasing after Tony to calm him down before he ended up shouting at Coulson.

Steve and Sam had been with Maria prepping for a public announcement regarding Loki, Stuttgart, and about New York when Loki had woken up. She knew that they would have immediately tuned to their video feeds from downstairs instead of crowding into the small observation room with them. James was nowhere to be seen, but Natasha had a feeling that he was watching from somewhere and decided to quell the urge to flick a look up at the roomy ventilation shafts that had been built into the Avengers Tower. It was how James had first appeared on the Avengers' radar after nearly a year of covert intelligence gathering – he had climbed the first few floors of the Tower's ventilation system and exited on one of the RFID shielded floors where the Tower's internal security cameras could see him. He had been able to pull it off with the aid of her very own gift to him on the Washington D.C. causeway the previous year – the small electro-magnetic pulse diskette she had thrown at his arm to momentarily disable him.

Instead, Natasha flicked a quick look at Clint, the only other one left in the observation room with her. She could see him absently plucking the string to his bow while his other hand fiddled with the buttons that was wirelessly attached to the variety of arrowheads he had in his pack. The pack itself was sitting in the armory of the ready room and the buttons on the bow did not light up, but she knew that it was a habitual gesture for him. She let the silence hang for a few minutes, knowing that Clint wanted to speak, but would only do so when he was ready. His movements indicated it as much, but she also knew him well enough that he was still working out the initial emotions that hit him every time Loki was near his vicinity.

Since the Battle for New York, Natasha never brought up what had happened to Clint, allowing him the same courtesy he had given to her when she had been brought in from the cold. Back then, he had never pressed her for answers, always gave her his unconditional trust and their conversations in the field or even off-duty were light and either were mission related or just nonsensical. He had allowed her to emerge from her shell and when she was ready to talk – in the rare times – of her time in the Red Room and what she remembered in bits and pieces, he was always there to listen. He never judged her, but neither did he tell Coulson, their handler at the time, or Fury of what had been spoken between then two of them. That trust had extended towards Coulson whom she recognized had given Clint the same from when he had been recruited into SHIELD, but Coulson had firmly told her that he needed to report what she told him to Fury. It had given her an easy out – allowing her to lie and to tell him falsehoods about her past with the Red Room and as a Black Widow, but by then, Natasha knew that Coulson and Clint both had special places in her heart and instead, told the truth.

Now, she gave Clint the same courtesy he had given her for so many years. She knew that Clint talked with Coulson about some things, things he did not tell her, but she did not mind. Clint and Coulson knew and worked with each other far longer than she had with them, and since Fury had gone back into hiding, she also knew that Maria would not be brought into the loop of their conversations. It was not that she did not trust Maria, but it was more the fact that Maria worked for Stark Industries instead of Coulson's SHIELD. Granted, Maria had been Fury's bodyguard and the ex-leader of STRIKE Alpha, Natasha did not feel like she had the closeness with the woman as she did with Coulson or Clint.

"I think what bothers me the most is that I know that no matter how many arrows I put into him, or try to, he won't die," Clint suddenly said, his hands stilling on his bow as he stared out into the room that Loki had been given.

The Asgardian in question had leaned back against the bed after Coulson had left and was seemingly staring up at the ceiling. One of his hands was hovering in the air, his fingers tracing an aimless pattern. Natasha had a feeling that it was a magic spell of sorts, but for the moment, did not seem too concerned. Coulson had been correct; they could not readily stop Loki from creating havoc and mayhem with his spells – not with Thor missing – but they had also let the Asgardian know that they were willing to be allies of a sort if need be.

"That's not it," she replied, absently tapping on a few of the hard-light projected charts that Bruce had created to monitor the alien's vitals. She pulled up another set that belonged to Thor who had generously allowed them to record some medical information instead of relying on the ones he had from the small New Mexican hospital – which truth be told, was when he was in mortal form, not his nigh-immortal one.

"Yeah," Clint replied after a few seconds of silence, "probably not really what bothers me."

"It's the sceptre," she said in a simple tone and out of the corner of her eyes, caught the flash of irritation and hurt in her partner's eyes before he looked away, lips compressed into a thin line.

"I hate that thing," Clint growled out quietly in agreement to her words, "I fucking hate it."

Any other person would have thought that his words meant that he hated the sceptre, but Natasha knew that besides the obvious, Clint was also talking about his most recent mission. Standard SHIELD procedure post-op for any long-term undercover assignments was a psychological evaluation, debriefing, and a mandatory two week vacation somewhere remote. Theoretically, it was a chance for the agent in question to decompress and relax. In reality, it was a chance for SHIELD to discreetly monitor the agent to ensure that he or she had not actually been converted during their time undercover. SHIELD's fall the previous year had negated any chance for Clint to do any of that and Natasha knew that he was trying to build a routine of sorts for himself – to get himself away from anything to do with the sceptre or his previous mission to hunt it down.

Unfortunately, with the loss of Thor, the sceptre in Karpov's – or Baldr if it really was true – hands, and now the sudden appearance of Loki; Natasha could easily tell that some of the internal stress was rising up to the surface for her long-time partner. All of them were still suffering from the destruction of Coulson's London hub and their somewhat accomplished, but disastrous mission to Karpov's base. None of them had a chance to catch their breath, searching far and wide for Thor as soon as they had gotten back to the Avengers Tower. Coulson was too busy to properly debrief them and all of them had been wounded to a certain extent. Though they worked well together and as the Avengers were able to execute their missions whenever one came up, she knew that they were all metaphorically licking their wounds, pulling tight into their shells and unwilling to let others see the hurt.

It was what she had been taught, while for others it was both experience and personalities that drove them to be this way. The irony that they were more of a ticking time bomb than a group of people working together was not lost on her – Bruce's words three years previous on the Helicarrier echoing around her.

It would have been easy for her to come up with the hollow-sounding words of comfort to say to Clint – that it was not his fault, that the mission was over, et cetera. But she had only said something similar to him when he had blamed himself for the deaths of Coulson and the other agents on the Helicarrier, not for anything else. In this instance, it was far different, so she said nothing and only shrugged lightly to Clint's words.

"Loki is the best we have against Karpov, or Baldr if that's really his name," she stated and saw Clint heave an audible sigh and shift his arms a little before crossing them across his chest, letting his bow rest against his other arm.

"The guy is manipulative," Clint said after a few more minutes of silence, his fingers absently pushing on the inactive buttons once more, "and I don't mean like Fury or like Loki. He worked the sceptre, as if playing with minds and molding brains was second nature."

"Steve did mention that the guy that was supposedly Baron von Strucker changed his form and mentioned about his master before he escaped by a similar shadow-like portal like the ones Loki and Thanos created. He might have been talking about Karpov," she mentioned and Clint nodded absently.

"Sometimes, I would see Strucker in his labs, but then see him again in the hallway five floors up not even a minute later," he rubbed his chin with a finger. "There was this guy that occasionally stayed by Karpov's side like glue sometimes; red-haired, sharp blue eyes, narrow angular face with a small mouth. Smooth talker too, got along with some of the others, friendly, but somehow just seemed off. Seemed to be a bit too close to Karpov at times. You would have eaten him and spitted him back out for dinner Nat." There was a brief tight smile on Clint's face and Natasha involuntarily felt her own lips respond with a quirk of her own.

Her partner never mentioned something like that unless he thought that someone would put up a challenge for her in the infiltration and extraction of information department. He had only said those words to her three times since she had come in from the cold. He had first uttered those words when he introduced her to Coulson for the first time, pitting her and Coulson in a battle of information and wits.

"Wish I joined you there," it was the closest she got to an apology for her part in the whole fall of SHIELD and exposure of HYDRA.

"Maybe Karpov had practice with the guy, making him think he was his master, maybe that's why he's so manipulative. Never really caught his name in the time I was there," Clint did not ignore her words, but to any observer it seemed like he did until one saw the brief gesture of the Red Room code for not your fault as he tapped four fingers across his own left shoulder. He continued to stare out at where Loki sat on his bed, fingers still moving in the air, "What's stopping him from taking the sceptre and conquering the planet again after all of this?"

Natasha also stared back out at where Loki sat, the vitals she had been comparing with Thor's readouts not telling her much. There were a few discrepancies, but she supposed it could have been attributed to either Loki being blue like the Frost Giants even though the blue had disappeared into the pale skin of what he usually looked like when he had been revived; or it could have been attributed to Thor's comment that Loki was adopted and thus was not Thor's biological brother.

"Nothing's going to stop him," she answered, "but if Loki wanted to raze or enslave the Earth, he could have easily done so at Stuttgart. He's already shown that he doesn't really need an army to wreak havoc."

"Stuttgart, twice even," Clint interjected and Natasha nodded.

"And he just wants an audience to do it in front of," she added and saw Clint shrug at her answer, "so the question becomes-"

"Why hasn't Karpov done the same," Clint finished for her, finally taking his eyes off of Loki to look at her and she met his gaze squarely with her own. "He has Thor, he's clearly controlling him with the sceptre. We all saw it when he went all doom and gloom on us and Thor sounded like he was reading something from Shakespeare's Richard II."

Natasha frowned a little, "Either he's waiting or Earth's not the target-" She paused as she noticed out of the corner of her eyes Loki's form dissolving and turned fully in her chair in time to see him completely disappear before her eyes. "Shit..." she muttered under her breath as she realized Loki had been casting a spell, an illusion of sorts.

It seemed the Trickster God had come to the same conclusion and must have either left after Coulson had gone or had disappeared sometime during her conversation with Clint. She immediately tapped her ear, patching into Couslon's radio, "Loki's off-site again." SHIELD's newest Director had been correct – they could not stop Loki from wrecking havoc, but at the very least, they could follow him to find Karpov and hopefully Thor.

Loki drew the illusion back into himself, ignoring the feel of the wind whipping at him this high up on one of the struts of one of the bridges that led into Manhattan Island of New York City. The name of the bridge was Williamsburg, but it was a trivial matter that did not concern him as he opened his eyes and let himself relax, the illusion spell dissipating as he relaxed his hand. He considered Agent Romanov's words and Agent Barton's speculations.

The fact that Karpov, whom now he knew was Baldr's mortal-bound name on this Nornforsaken rock, had apparently not even attacked the Avengers or had done anything untoward filled in some of the information he had been missing. He knew by now, the Avengers would be scrambling like little insects once more, trying to find him, but he did not care as he looked around his vantage point. There was something relaxing about being this high up from the ground, with nothing more than the wind, waters, and barely-noticed mortals scurrying underneath him. He momentarily pushed aside what he had heard and closed his eyes, letting himself relax-

"...Sorry," Jormungandr's quiet voice followed the sudden crunch of something being crumpled. He opened his eyes to give the young man a sideways look as he crushed the paper cup of coffee in his hands; having finished it and disposed of it along with the small pile of containers from the foodstuffs the two of them had just consumed.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes in irritation as he focused back on the problem at hand. For all of his indifference and amusement at Agent Barton, the archer had once again proven his worth – though this time not under his control. It had taken a lot of Loki's own mental fortitude to suppress Barton's rage and struggle when he had controlled him with the sceptre, but he had also listened to Barton's plans and explanations. The mortal was very knowledgeable with his secrets and though Loki had managed to force them out of Barton, there were times he had to seemingly wrest it away from him. Loki felt no remorse – and truth be told, felt rather nothing except a faint sense of amusement at Barton's reactions to him each time he had arrived on Midgard thereafter – for what he had done to the other man. He was a tool to be used and when he usefulness was at an end, he had expected Barton to wallow in the pity and guilt of the many deaths he had caused. The only fault of that was that Barton had proven himself to be far more resilient when he had first arrived – otherwise, he would have disposed of the Agent like he had with the others.

And so, the Agent was proving himself useful again, this time giving him the information he knew he would have otherwise had to have asked for or Nornforbid, talk to the other Avengers about. That was what Thor was good for – talking with the pitiful mortals that really did not understand anything. He knew he himself could easily ask the questions that needed to be asked, wheedle answers out of them and play them like finely tuned instruments, but it was the effort it took. Dr. Banner and maybe Agent Romanov would have merited such an effort – they actually managed to provide him with some entertainment in their word play and actions – but he had a feeling that talking to them alone would not be an option, not at this juncture.

Barton was correct – the Chitauri sceptre afforded their wielders incredible power. Not only over the mind, but also of destruction. He alone had cowed a crowd of Midgard's high society into fearing him. The current lack of fear in this city, the news reports that the son of Coul had told him; he knew that Baldr had not taken advantage of both the sceptre's power and the fact that he controlled Thor. Loki knew easily how destructive Mjolnir could be when Thor wielded it – their trip to Jotunheim four years previous proved it – so, like Barton speculated, why did Baldr not take advantage of it? What was he waiting for? What was he doing all this time? Heimdall had thought to have seen Thor on Vanaheim, and Tyr had been sent, but he had been assassinated.

Granted, there was a minute chance that Baldr and Thor were on Vanaheim, waiting and biding their time. Loki had also felt the abrupt dissipation of the remnant magick of the Chitauri sceptre and what was the faint remnants of portal magick while he was in the Alps. Captain Rogers had already stated that they could not find any sign of Thor or of Baldr in the past week, so there was little reason for Loki to stay on Midgard. He lifted his arm up into the air and closed his eyes. This last spell would be able to confirm whether or not the sceptre was on Midgard. His attempt at Stuttgart had pinpointed it to the base in the Alps, but he needed to be sure. The high vantage point with no obstructing buildings in his way was also a chance for him to cast his spell without any interference.

He exhaled quietly and drew in a long breath before releasing the spell, feeling his senses spread far and wide, the scanning spell working in a similar manner to the one he had cast to sense any barriers or portals from Thanos a few years ago. He could feel the faint thrum of magicks that he recognized as the breadcrumb-trail that led him to the Alps and traced it back, seeing quick flashes of stoneworked buildings, cobblestones, bases underground and above wooded areas...tracing the source that he could feel diving into the arctic waters that were so cold, so deep...washed in the metal remnants of what had been the Helicarrier. He could still feel the faint magick of death that sent a sudden and unexpected aching pang into his heart- Fenrir...Fenrir had died on those decks that were now buried deep near the volcanic mounds of the arctic tectonic plates.

Loki twisted his head uncomfortably as he brushed past it, brush past the gigantic blot of remnant magick that had thoroughly coated the Helicarrier; the twisted wisps of Hel's deathly touch, Jormungandr's poisons, Fenrir's simplistic, but effective illusions, of Thanos' unbridled rage, and the cool arctic winter that was the Casket of Ancient Winters... He pushed past what had been his attempt to conquer Midgard, tracing the path back to the Ohio, the heliophysics facility where the Tesseract had been housed for study by SHIELD. He pushed past it, feeling the ghostly remnants, almost faded now, of his own arrival from Thanos' lair hidden in the shadows of the Yggdrasil. Instead, he could feel the faint magicks dissipate, as if it was still lingering there, but could not pinpoint the location.

He opened his eyes and lowered his hand, a frown gracing his features as he pondered what he had just sensed. The trace of magick that belonged to a portal in the Alps must have been from Sleipnir, and it seemed to confirm that the older man was somehow connected to Baldr considering he felt traces of the Mind Gem's latent magick around the portal magick. It at least gave weight to the truth that Baldr needed Sleipnir to travel through the shadows of Yggdrasil. So then how did Heimdall possibly see Thor on Vanaheim?

He did not know if it was possible to actually hide the tendrils of any type of magick. His studies with his teacher, Death, told him as much, that each spellwork left a mark, however faint or strong depending on what type of spell cast among other factors. It seemed like Baldr had managed to do so and at the same time also seemingly not actively use Thor to subjugate the populace of Midgard. Sleipnir had truly learned from his far-cleverer master Baldr, if he was biding his time with the sceptre.

But Loki did not doubt that he was better than Baldr. For one thing, Sleipnir, and by extension probably Baldr, had not anticipated him actually going to Midgard. He would have considered Baldr's knowledge about him to be limited at best, even if he managed to coerce Thor to spill the secrets of his childhood and growing up as a Prince of Midgard. Thor's stories would be exaggerated if Baldr asked for them. No, not even Thor knew Loki well, and that was to his advantage. His actions in Stuttgart ensured that Baldr knew that he was here, but he would not truly know him at his best, as the Trickster God because Loki would strike when he least expected it. Then he would return to Asgard and utterly crush Sleipnir for his actions.

"Loki, maybe the Avengers are correct...they have resources-"

Loki arched a look at Jormungandr who immediately shut his mouth, shrinking back slightly in apology. He did not need a reminder that the Avengers had resources, but he also knew that they did not have a plan. The new Director's words told him as much. They were going to use him to try to find Thor and Baldr. As much as he detested it, he also knew that Coulson had a point – it was the quickest way to find Thor and therefore Baldr. A mirthless smile appeared on Loki's lips as he clasped his hands behind him and took two steps towards the edge of the tower he was on, looking down at the passing traffic. If the son of Coul and the Avengers were going to use him, he would at least have a little bit of fun while he was searching for his idiot brother and Baldr.

He took another step out into the open air and dropped rapidly to the top of the red-orange metallic structure that housed the pedestrian walkway across the bridge. Loki cushioned his fall with a quick spell that slowed his descent and landed with nary a sound. He continued walking towards Manhattan Island as he heard the clattering thump of Jormungandr in his snake form falling behind him. A second later, the sounds of footsteps behind him told him that Jormungandr had changed back to his human form.

He took a quick look below him at the obliviousness of the mortals that were crossing the walkways beneath them. He knew that they had heard Jormungandr's drop, but had ignored it, most them with their heads on their electronic devices while others wore white plastic-like things in their ears. How complacent and docile mortals were to not even pay attention to their surroundings...until something happened. Why did he want to conquer them in the first place was beyond him, but he supposed there was some amusement in seeing things like this.

He glanced to his left at the rush of traffic followed by the quick rumble of trains running underneath all of the cars. He knew he could easily wear the garb he had attacked them with, drawing the attention of everyone to himself, but Loki was curious if anyone would recognize him while he was dressed in the garb of the mortals. Dark slacks, pressed white shirt with a dark grey waistcoat and dark green tie covered by a similar dark jacket. He topped off his appearance with a scarf that was dressed in runes that denoted his full title and sigil of the House of Odin. It was decorated in threaded gold runes and fringed with green and black. It was similar to what he had worn when he had attended the gala honoring the scientist that Barton needed the eye to get the iridium for Dr. Selvig.

Loki continued to casually walk above the walkway before finally jumping down and joining the flow of pedestrian traffic. He continued to walk with the flow, reminding himself of the time when Fenrir had taught him how to move with the people, become one of them instead of being the Prince he was. It felt familiar, as he could feel Jormungandr keep up with him, the ease of the movement, as he made his way into the heart of New York City. He was amazed at the difference between the mortals that more than likely lived or worked in the city than the tourists that were prone to pointing this way and that. They took pictures, hugged friends, took more pictures, poured over maps while he passed by them.

He finally glanced up to see that he had walked to the corner of Bowery and Delancey. New York City had been described to him by Barton and by Dr. Selvig, the two having spent time in the city before and he knew enough that if he took Delancey, he would eventually make it up to 4th Avenue and from there Union Square. From Union Square it was a straight shot up Park Avenue to Grand Central Station and the Avengers Tower.

So far, he knew he had not garnered any notoriety in his garb, considering that whatever the son of Coul or Agent Romanov had said about trending and the like. Still, he decided to leave his garb on instead of dissolving the illusion for his light armor. He wished he had a chance to put on his full armor, but Sleipnir had forced his hand after he had left the Healing Halls and there had been no time. He could easily conjure an illusion that he was wearing it, but he also knew that if a spell hit him or any weapon hit him, it would immediately reveal that he was not wearing armor.

He continued his languid walk up Delancey, noting more tourists holding up electronic things from across the street- Loki paused for a second before the corner of his lips turned up in a smile. Ah, they were taking note of him, just not in the way that he had seen when he had first conquered Midgard. It was similar to what he had seen in Stuttgart, but this time, Loki noticed that the sea of mortals around him was thinning ever so slowly as he continued to walk. More and more people were beginning to look at him as he made his way deeper into the heart of the city. A few seconds later, he heard the distant familiar wail of sirens that denoted the arrival of the New York police department.

He continued his languid pace, hearing the murmurs and crowds starting to gather behind and in front of him. The people in front parted like the sea as he approached them, skittering to the left or right as he crossed streets or took steps outside the straight line he had been walking. He could hear the wail of sirens getting louder, screeches of tires stopping followed by the sounds of doors slamming, but ignored all of it as he let the smile grow just a little larger on his lips. Coulson had said that the mortals had been warned about the geas contract he had conducted with Fury regarding his last appearance in the city, but he wondered if any of the mortals were stupid enough to actually test it out. Tony Stark certainly had tried to the first time around, and had nearly paid for it with his life before stopping.

"We're surrounded..." Jormungandr murmured quietly near his right as they arrived at Union Square.

He crossed the street to the plaza itself and finally looked around, noting the various pitiful metal barriers that had sprung up around the area – as if the New York police department could contain him – along with the numerous policemen and women dressed in their uniforms pointing their guns at him. He paused, looking around and affecting a surprised expression on his face before dropping it with a churlish smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a man move past the metal barriers with a horn of sorts in his hand.

"Are you Loki?" the policeman demanded, speaking in the horn that amplified his voice. Loki realized that this was one of the megaphones that Barton had told him about previously.

He let his smile grow wider in response before dropping the illusion of the mortal clothing he had cast over himself. Their reactions were instantaneous as he heard the click of multiple guns' safeties being taken off, all pointed at him. Behind him, he heard Jormungandr shift his feet a little, tensing, but Loki was unconcerned.

"Listen, we don't want any trouble," the policeman asked, "we would like you to just leave-"

"I am afraid I cannot do that," he countered politely, staring at the policeman. He was close enough that Loki read the name tag [Sousa] on his uniform. "I am waiting to see if a certain person will arrive as my presence in Stuttgart should have first alerted him."

"Who-"

Sousa never got to finish his question before a loud thumping crack erupted behind him. Loki turned to see Thor stand up as the dusty debris he had kicked up blew away in a gust of wind.. His landing had created a small cratering impact on the ground as he Mjolnir crackled in his hand. "Thor," he greeted, his smile growing sharper as he stared at his brother.

Thor's only response was to throw Mjolnir at him.

"Shit, we've got a problem," Tony ran into the communications room without preamble, Coulson and Banner hot on his heels.

"What," Steve glanced back as Tony waved his arm and aerial news footage popped up on the main screen of the hard light projections he had been looking at. "Oh no..." he murmured quietly as he realized what he was seeing. Loki and Jormungandr were standing at the edges of the main plaza in Union Square with a considerable amount of police surrounding them.

Not even a second later, there was a flash of something hitting the ground near Loki before the dust cleared and Steve's eyes widened in surprise. Thor had arrived.

He automatically activated his radio to the others. "Avengers, assemble!" the words were out of his mouth even before he started moving towards the ready room.

Loki had actually done it; he had actually managed to draw Thor out. And while Steve knew that if Thor was not under the influence of the Chitauri sceptre, he would be cognizant and aware of his surroundings and innocent civilians involved, he also knew that Loki would not even consider any of that. Thor under the control of Baldr would probably not have the same inhibitions either, which meant they needed to contain the situation.

Author's Notes:

Tom Hiddleston can wear a waistcoat like nobody's business – hence the inspiration for Loki briefly changing clothes before going back to his usual garb. Also, that Sousa borrows the name from Agent Sousa of "Agent Carter," but is also the same policeman that Enver Gjokaj played in "The Avengers." I'd like to think of him as descendant or something like that.