I've got a poll up and would really appreciate some votes on it. Thanks!:)
"They're going to try and kill him, you know," Fandral said to no one in particular as the group – Thor, the Warriors Three, Sif, Loki, and Sigyn – walked on the Rainbow Bridge a couple days later, going to Heimdall and, through the gatekeeper's powers, Midgard.
"Who?" Sif asked dryly, glaring at Thor and knowing she was the only one present who would get away with the comment. "Loki, or Thor for bringing him in at all?"
Thor rolled his eyes, but everyone knew that he had to be questioning his good judgment where Loki was concerned – of course he was. "Then I suppose we'll just have to protect him, won't we?"
"Will we now?" Fandral asked, just as displeased as Sif, but he got a sharp glare from the thunder god for it.
Thor opened his mouth to answer, but Loki responded first, saying impatiently,"I can defend myself, you know, especially since Odin has returned to me the full powers of my magic."
"Minus those that were given you by the Chituari," Sigyn reminded him smoothly. "Which were, as you know, the only reason you were able to control any of the Midgardians at all. That precious staff you carry now has a much less powerful magic store than it did the last time you visited Midgard, does it not?"
Loki bit the inside of his cheek and glared at Sigyn. When she caught his displeased expression out of the corner of her eye, his wife only smiled to herself. Loki felt a by-now not unfamiliar sting somewhere in the general vicinity of his heart as he realized once again how much he had hurt his wife. He hadn't meant to. The Chitauri had made him do what he had in New York, and, unlike a good number of others, Sigyn believed him when he said that. But her problems – and her problems with him – had begun even before that. When he had jumped off of this very bridge, he'd left a wife behind, as well as a handful of sons. He even had a daughter residing somewhere in the Nine Realms, but her mother, Angrboda, had sent her out into she "knew not where" when the child was but an infant, claiming she had no desire to raise a female. That incident had been the end of his even speaking to his mistress, and now it appeared that he had lost his wife as well.
At this point, when he realized how thoroughly Sigyn was guarding her heart from him, he truly didn't know if he cared whether he lived or died. That was probably a good thing, considering where they were going.
"Ready?" Thor asked the group.
While Loki had been thinking through the pathetic state of his family life, they had reached Heimdall and were now on the cusp of being transported to Midgard.
No, Loki realized, feeling a sudden flash of helpless panic as the Rainbow Bridge's magic surrounded them.
The next thing he knew, the temperature had dropped by a few degrees and the Asgardians were huddled together, effectively surrounding him – guarding him from immediate viewing of the people who had been waiting for them, he realized. Due in equal parts to the blinding qualities of the Rainbow Bridge's transport and his own panic, Loki was slower to register his surroundings than his fellow travelers.
One: unlike his traveling companions, who were all standing around him with their weapons not drawn but very present, he had landed on his hands and knees. Glorious.
Two: they had landed in what was presumably the underground SHIELD bunker, judging by the temperature drop and the cement walls surrounding them. He would have to rely on teleportation if he needed an immediate escape route, then.
Three: the weapons that had not two seconds before been resting placidly in the hands of his would be protectors were now fully at the ready – as were plenty of weapons in the hands of those staring at the group. His new so-called teammates. Perfect.
"Stop!"
Loki's head jerked around to the source of the sudden scream. He sat back on his knees, peering between Thor and Hogan's waists to verify who the demand had come from. Jane Foster was standing between the two extremely distinct groups, hands raised as if those very appendages might stop the impeding of a bullet.
"Please stop," Jane repeated, her voice just a touch less frantic than it had been a moment ago. She turned to face the SHIELD agents and asked, "Do you think that Thor would bring people here who would actually hurt us?"
A long silence during which no one moved followed her question, then Dr. Selvig stepped to the front of the crowd, clutching a gun that looked very out of place in his hands, and said, "I think that Thor wants his brother back so badly that he's willing to dilute himself into thinking that this is a good idea."
"But I think it is a good idea," Jane said. "I told you, remember, how Loki helped to protect me from Maliketh?" Dr. Selvig looked past Jane, meeting Thor's gaze with betrayal and a fair touch of terror in his eyes, but Jane saw the second when the validity of her statement shook him, and continued trying to convince him and the others in general, "Listen. Give him a chance, okay? If you don't want to take Thor's word on Loki, then take mine. I'm about as evenly divided as it gets around here. Basically, my big brother caused my father to pretty much have some temporary insanity issues. I get that he's done some bad things, and believe me, I have my own issues with him, but I've also seen that he can be a good guy when given a chance. Please… can we give him that chance? Please?"
Proceeding Jane's rather astonishing speech, Loki counted how many guns remained raised. Agent Romanoff's, an Asian female agent's, and Dr. Selvig's. But then… Loki didn't see Barton in the crowd at all. That was certainly a touch worrisome.
