The Trickster: Ragnarok

by: Shadow Chaser

Story:

Epilogue

When the familiar scream of starlight dissipated, Thor lifted a hand in greeting to his friends. Most of them were gathered around the common area of the Avengers Tower. The son of Coul was not present, but as far as Thor understood, he had established a new base for SHIELD in a far more secure location. There would be time to greet him, though Thor understood that his travel by Bifrost would be far more discreet than what he had done in London. It had been a little over a month since Malekith and Thanos had been defeated in the throne room of Asgard. A month since Thor had given up the regent-kingship and returned Gungnir to Odin Allfather. A month since his mother died, a part of the casualty of those who had not survived Sleipnir's betrayal and Asgard's razing.

But most of all it had been several months since Loki escaped Death's literal grasp.

"Greetings my friends," he walked in, ambling to the bar where the winged-one named Sam Wilson had been making some coffee. Since Jane had introduced him to coffee during his first visit to Midgard four years ago, he found that he rather liked it, though he thought it would have been better if mixed with some mead.

"Thor," Sam greeted with a smile and poured him a mug to which he accepted with a nod of thanks.

"Thor, little buddy!" Stark waved at him, "how goes the clean up?"

"Well," Thor sipped the coffee before putting the mug down and adding a long pour of sugar. He saw Sam stare at him with an eyebrow raised before shaking his head. Thor sipped the coffee again and savored the mildly sweet citrus flavor of the drink. "The Bifrost has been restored to all Nine Realms and commerce is flowing again."

"Wait, the damage was that extensive?" Rogers looked up from where he sat, a notebook in his hand. Thor recognized the drawing pencils that the man usually had in his hands and knew that Rogers liked to sketch. What warmed him even further was that the metal-armed man, James Barnes, was not sitting in the corner of the balcony area outside, but rather was sitting inside, though he seemed content in sitting in a corner seat, watching the comings and goings of what was happening. It was a vast improvement from the last time Thor had seen the metal-armed man, especially since Rogers' back was facing Barnes, a clear submission and invitation for attack, but none was forthcoming.

"The Bifrost was not so much destroyed as it was altered by Thanos once he was freed from the Tesseract, at least according to Heimdall's report," Thor explained. It had taken several tankards of mead to get Heimdall to talk about what had happened during the attack on Asgard. The Allfather had been tight-lipped and silent and so Thor had tried his best to shepherd and lead the survivors as the Allfather resumed his position on the throne. "Heimdall said that Thanos had used the Tesseract to alter the branches into more darker and shadowed areas, but for what we do not know as the Allfather had torn those branches down and restored the rightful branches. The Warriors Three, Lady Sif, and I have been keeping the peace from marauders that threaten the other realms in the meantime."

"And Asgard itself?" Romanov asked, sitting near Barnes, her legs languidly draping across one arm, occasionally almost kicking into Barnes' drawn-up knees. Thor was not remiss in his observations of how the two reacted in close proximity – there was history behind that and it seemed that Barnes was comfortable, if not more than Rogers, with Romanov and she with him. He supposed that she was once again also acting like a barrier between Barnes and Rogers, much like she had done during their train ride from London to Fury's safehouse.

"The damage is extensive," he admitted as he drained the rest of the coffee, "but it is being repaired. Most of the warriors that survive have been tasked with helping the workers and constructors repair the damage. I had feared that the other realms would have taken advantage of our weakened state to assert their dominance, but it is due to Helblindi's actions that none had taken advantage of the chaos that had befallen us."

"Helblindi, as in the Frost Giant King? The one who helped us three years ago on the Bifrost?" Banner asked, looking mildly surprised though he shrugged mostly to himself, "I guess I'm not surprised, considering what he's done, but maybe...you think Loki got something to do with that?"

Thor felt the tug of a wistful smile appear on his lips at the mention of his brother. "I wish I could believe so, but even Helblindi has said that Loki has not visited him. I am inclined to believe him as he is a fair-minded being and a good king to the Jotuns since they have regained the Casket of Ancient Winters. You would be pleased to know that the Aether was given to a trusted being who lives beyond the Nine Realms, and the Tesseract is back in the Vaults."

"Speaking of which, Point Break," Stark spoke up, almost jumping out of his seat as he rounded it and approached him. He was fiddling with one of his suit's gloves again, though he tapped the metal end of the tool onto the glove itself, making a loud pinging noise. "Been thinking since this whole thing, and you know, your Dad kind of being generous and stuff by giving us mere mortals the, uh, Mind Gem, for safe keeping-"

"I believe it was by Death's own command, Tony Stark, not my father," Thor pointed out and Stark waved his comment away with an absent hand.

"Yeah, but not the point. Anyway, was thinking about how Loki could have pulled this all off. You know, I mean, I've never seen anyone, literally anyone, tank an Infinity Stone. Even the ravens' little mind trip showing what they can do, it isn't done, right? I mean, unless he's got the ancient bloodline of magister or whatever the heck they're called, it can't be done. So what I'm thinking is that since we all saw that the Casket of Ancient Winters was created by the Space and the Mind Gem, and since Loki's got that ice boom stick that Helblindi gave to him which functions exactly like the Casket, he's got to have used it as a tanking method, right?"

Thor opened his mouth to state that he did not exactly know what was going on, but could not get his words out as Stark continued as if he was not about to speak. "Here's what I think Loki did to get Thanos – he basically drew on both powers and that nullified whatever effect the Stones had on him and then he was able to somehow use his geas, the one he made with Thanos, to basically reverse it and kill him, something, I don't know, something- Hey Thor, what do all of your archmages say about that?"

"Tony, really not the time nor the person to be asking that," Banner's mutter was heard in the embarrassing silence after the other man stopped rambling.

Thor knew that Stark was curious about what had happened and forgave him for his insensitivity. He too had speculated and wondered about what his brother had done in the last moments before he made his escape. It was something that he had never seen and as far as he knew, had never been done in all of his lifetime nor in the Allfather's lifetime. What Loki had done, defeat a mortal enemy that had plagued both the House of Bor and House of Odin; it should have been sung at the feasts for years to come. But there was no song, no feast, because no one could comprehend or understand what had happened.

Yet Thor knew that everyone had witnessed it. The recognition and song that Loki longed for was not to be sung at feasts or talked about time and time again, and it was something that Thor knew would have irked his brother since he longed for such equal recognition; but rather Thor hoped that if Loki was alive somewhere out there, he would know that such a thing would never be sung nor reminded because it was already seared and spoken by others. Because each time Thanos' defeat was mentioned, Loki the Trickster God, would be spoken with it. Loki, who had defeated an enemy that could not be defeated.

Which was why he forgave Stark for his callous and thoughtless words. He only merely shrugged, "I do not know Stark. That is a question for my brother-"

"-for the last time, I am not visiting Helheim just because I miss him," Loki's voice was proceeded by him appearing from literally thin air and Thor froze, shock coursing through him.

He had not even felt the air of wrong that usually preceded the drawing of the shadows of Yggdrasil, and yet Loki stood before them, dressed in what looked like fresh tunics. They were of his usual green, gold, black coloration, but of fabrics that Thor was not familiar with. He watched as Loki seemingly knelt down by the center table of the common room, as if he was not aware of the shocked stares at his appearance, and seemingly dropped a dark serpentine creature onto the table.

Thor blinked again as he saw the flare of a small hood before the dark coloration turned into a lighter one that was utterly benign. He realized that it was a serpent and more than likely Jormungandr. "L-Loki..." he croaked out, his throat incredibly dry even though he had just finished a cup of coffee.

"Thor," Loki turned, a familiar flat look on his face that he was so used to seeing from his brother. He did not even sound surprised nor joyful, as if he was used to seeing him after being presumed dead or otherwise after several months away.

"Y-You're..." Thor found himself taking two steps forward before he paused at the flash of something appearing in Loki's hand.

"Come any closer and I will stab you in the ribs," his brother glared at him and Thor could only smile in response at the threat. It truly was Loki; there was no one else who could make a threat sound so affectionate. And as much as he wanted to embrace his brother right then and there, he was aware of the truth of such a threat – after all Loki did stab him in the ribs during their fight while he was under Baldr's control. Instead, he settled back and studied his brother with a practiced eye.

There was no hint of pain or malaise as Loki sheathed the dagger and walked towards where Barnes, Romanov, and Barton sat. The fact that his brother was able to walk through the shadows of Yggdrasil with ease told Thor that his magick was at peak efficiency, especially since he seemed to have carried Jormungandr with him. A quick glance at the snake showed that the serpent was surprisingly obeying Loki's commands. It was impolite of him to ask, but Thor wondered if Loki had gone back for Jormungandr after he had escaped Death and finally made the serpent his familiar. It would seem to be a fitting gesture considering all Jormungandr had did and the fact that Thor still felt a little guilty for all but killing the serpent when he cleaved him in half length-wise with Mjolnir.

"Sergeant Barnes," Loki stopped before the metal-armed man and Thor took a couple of steps forward, curious as to why Loki was addressing the other man. Rogers had even stood up, brow wrinkled in concern as he looked between Barnes and Loki. However, Barnes was the only one of them to not look surprised – but then again Thor had a feeling that Barnes did not show any overt surprise on his stoic features.

"Loki," Barnes replied before lifting his metal arm up, "taking it back?"

"I thank you for your safe keeping," Loki replied neutrally and Barnes inclined his head once.

Thor watched as Loki reached out to Barnes' metal arm and seemingly drew away a layer of sorts that resolved itself into a very familiar looking tessellation. In fact, if Thor was not mistaken, it was the same tessellation that had served Loki for the last three years, once in tricking Fenrir, and another, tricking Thanos on the Bifrost. But it was not what the tessellation meant, but rather what was underneath it.

The Infinity Gauntlet. On Sergeant Barnes' metal arm.

The very one that had supposedly been stolen by Loki from the Vaults three years previous and given to Thanos only to reveal that it had been nothing but a trick. Thor realized that Loki had actually stolen the Infinity Gauntlet, but like the Casket of Ancient Winters, had more than likely kept it in the space in-between where he kept some of his weapons. Thor was once again amazed at the audacity of his brother's schemes. And to add to the fact that he had given it to Sergeant Barnes, of all mortals...

"Why him? When you knew Thanos was looking for it?" Barton spoke up, his voice neutral and for the first time since Thor had seen them interact, without any malice or untoward anger.

"You were my first choice, Agent Barton," Loki took the Gauntlet and seemingly made it disappear, "as your hatred of me would prevent you from giving the weapon that Thanos wanted even at the cost of my life. Alas, it is much easier work for me to graft a metal object onto a metal arm."

"That's bull," Rogers swore and Loki nodded, a mirthless smile on his face.

"True, Captain," he acknowledged, "but your friend here understood what it meant for sacrifice no matter the cost. Every one of you, even yourself, Agent Barton, would have given up their life or anything they held dear to save another one of yourselves." He turned to Sergeant Barnes again, "As you had said, Sergeant, 'no history' am I correct?"

Barnes merely nodded once.

"You all knew each other, you all knew me. The Sergeant here did not know of me, did not know of my history with all of you and thus, was the perfect candidate to keep such a weapon from Thanos' hands, even at great cost," Loki shrugged, "I believe it also helped in his fight against Sleipnir, did it not?"

"It helped," Barnes did not seem to care either way and Loki took it as his cue to turn and leave, walking past the others and towards the balcony.

"Jor, stay," he waved an absent hand at the tiny serpent that looked like a harmless corn snake, who was coiled and resting his head on his scales. "I will return for you at a later time."

"Loki," Thor approached his brother, consequences be damned, and placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to stop. "Loki," he started again, "please, allow me one moment before you leave again."

He could feel the tensing of his brother's shoulder underneath the layers of garments he wore. What surprised him the most was that he could feel the skeletal bones underneath the garments and knew that while his brother looked healthy enough, it was clear that the wound Thanos had dealt him was still healing and sapping most of his strength. He supposed that it would take his brother a while until he was fully recovered.

"Fine," Loki replied quietly before gesturing for them to go outside to the balcony where there would be a semblance of privacy.

They stepped outside and Thor rested his arms against the railings as did Loki. He studied his brother for a moment as he stared out into the hazy New York skyline, eyes roaming instead of focusing. "I am glad you came," Thor started and saw his brother snort, the familiar mirthless smile appearing on his lips. He reached out and gripped Loki's shoulder, squeezing it gently, mindful of the fact that Loki was still healing, "I am glad."

"Sentiment is a weakness Thor," his brother played with the dagger in his hand, the shine of the blade catching the sunlight sending motes of light across their faces.

"Aye," he agreed, "and so I only wished to thank you, brother."

"For saving you?" Thor could hear the derision in Loki's voice and ignored it.

"Only to thank you, for everything," he corrected, "nothing more, nothing less."

Loki finally met his gaze and Thor allowed him to see the sincerity of his words in his eyes. It was perfectly true that he only merely wished to thank him. There was no specific reason nor were there any ulterior motives to his thanks. Just a mere thank you. He wanted to remind Loki that while nothing had changed, everything had changed between them. They were still equals from the very day since the feasting to the destruction of his coterie two years ago. They were equals and they were family.

It seemed some of his unspoken words and gesture got through to his stubborn brother as Loki merely nodded once, accepting his words.

Ragnarok had happened, but what was burned away in the ashes of old, a new understanding had been born. And from that, the Thunder God and the Trickster God stood as equals.

~END~