Chapter Seven – Midgard
A/N: So sorry, everyone! Even though I have myself a brand-new laptop, things have gotten so busy at the office I've had a serious case of writer's block and a serious case of Jesus-H-let-me-go-home-and-sleep-once-in-a-while.
I've got a chapter longer than the previous ones in this story to make up for the wait! We've done a bit of jumping ahead in the timeline, as that's when things really start to get interesting! One of my all-time-favorite Tony Stark nicknames is in here.
pixelerrante: Compared to Loki and Ilmr, at least, they're certainly inept! As time goes by, though, they start getting a little wiser (at least, a little wise to the fact that something is going on!).
This chapter switches perspectives several times: Ilmr, Loki, Ilmr, Loki, Ilmr. Each shift is, as usual, indicated by a double page break. Lyrics in this chapter are from the Manic Street Preachers' "Mausoleum", (same song this series is named for!)
And blind your success inspires
And analyze, despise and scrutinize
Never knowing what you hoped for
For the next four years, there was no sign of Death or her army. It made Ilmr wary and she trained Hillevi as hard as she dared to prepare her as best she could. Each day that passed without sight nor sound of their enemy made Ilmr more uneasy. Only Loki knew of her discomfort.
"Again!"
Ilmr had been drilling Hillevi for a handful of hours. They had begun sparring almost a month previous and while she was as quick to put the forms she had memorized for years to use, she lacked enough finesse that Ilmr had decided she would not see battle, whenever it was that it began again, for another five years.
With a smile, Hillevi inclined her head and began once more. She would see the battlefield no later than eighteen; that much was certain. She was an eager pupil and their serious daughter – Njordr's serious daughter — had taken to both Loki's teachings and Ilmr's with equal fervor and practiced daily for hours.
This would be the first time Ilmr pushed her past exhausted in their training. She was old enough and she had grasp enough of the forms that Hillevi would now need to be challenged.
It was another two hours before Ilmr halted them, giving Hillevi a smile. "Well done indeed." Reaching into her bag, Ilmr produced an apple and purposely tossed it to Hillevi when she wasn't looking. Six hours of training aside, she could not let her guard down; on the battlefield, she would not have the luxury.
Hilelvi caught it. And moments later dropped it with a surprised yelp. Frightened, if Ilmr thought for a moment that Hillevi ever felt afraid of anything.
Ilmr would have been to her in two strides, had Hillevi not kept a distance from her, taking several steps back for each of Ilmr's forward. "Hillevi, what—" she did not need to finish her question.
She could see the answer to it lying between them on the ground, white, desiccated skin hanging loose from the stem. Ilmr carefully plucked it from the ground and inspected it. The fruit had been drained of everything: the juice, the meat of the fruit itself, even the core was gone. It was truly only white, wrinkled skin hanging off a stem.
Ilmr tried again much calmer this time. "Hillevi, what happened?"
She shook her head, loose strawberry waves moving slightly. "I-I-Nothing. I-I caught it. That's all. I didn't – I didn't do anything to it."
"I don't think you did. At least, not intentionally." Ilmr pocketed the item lest any happen upon them. "What were you practicing with Loki?"
"Not – nothing like that. Projections. Conjuring energy into a solid, useable form. Nothing different from what we've been doing for –for the past few months."
Shouldering her rucksack, Ilmr nodded in the general direction of their chambers. "Then let us find him. He'll know what this may be." She did not try to lay a hand on Hillevi, who was utterly spooked and kept a distance between she and Ilmr that was nearly half again Ilmr's reach.
Once they reached their chambers, Ilmr did not need to call out to Loki. Hillevi burst forth with his name not a moment after their antechamber door had closed.
"Loki!" She sounded panicked. Ilmr could not recall a time before in which she had sounded so.
The speed with which Loki was before them made Ilmr think that she was correct: Hillevi had never sounded panicked before.
"What has happened?" His eyes roved over them looking for any sign of injury. When he saw none, he reached for their daughter.
Who shrank away from his touch.
He asked again, this time with more wariness. "What has happened?"
"I-I don't –" Hillevi stopped herself and took a breath before looking to Ilmr. "Show him. Please."
With a nod, Ilmr removed the desiccated fruit from her rucksack and handed it to Loki. "I tossed her a bite to eat after our session today. When she touched it, in mere moments, it looked like this."
He turned it over in his hands several times, gently poking and prodding. After a few moments, he stepped away and retrieved a pear from a bowl on their dining table. He tossed it to Hillevi.
Who caught it and, as before, watched as the same thing happened: it went snow-white and the skin hung off of it, fruit and juice entirely removed.
He nodded. Half a dozen pieces of fruit later and Hillevi caught yet another and this time, blessedly, nothing happened. A relief, as Ilmr watched Hillevi's increasing panic and wasn't sure how she would have been able to calm her without being able to touch her.
Loki ran a hand over Hillevi's hair. "Wash up, my dear. There is nothing to be afraid of."
With no more than a nod, she did.
Ilmr waited until Loki had silenced the space around the two of them to speak. "What do you think?"
He shook his head. "I've never seen the like. I don't know. I'll need to think. What was her mother?"
"Elf-kind. Nothing Njordr or I are not."
Loki nodded. "What was different today? She has been training with you since we arrived half a decade ago. Something has changed."
"We have been sparring for a month or more now. I pushed her today. Harder than I ever have, I think." She hesitated before adding, as though Loki somehow did not already know. "So much time without a sign of our enemy worries me. Now that she is able to spar, I wish to ready her as quickly as possible."
Again, he nodded. Ilmr began unbuckling her training gear as Loki thought in silence.
"Her mother." His words were whispered.
"What?" Ilmr paused as she unbuckled a vambrace.
"Her mother. This has happened before. You remember what your brother said. Her mother was healthy, the death was unexpected."
"What do you mean?" Ilmr felt the hair on the back of her neck begin to stand on end.
"Hillevi has not been under such physical duress for so long since. Her practice with me is tiring, but I have no reason to push her in the way you do. Her body was taking the energy it needed. She—" At Ilmr's motion, he ended the enclosing silence around them.
Moments later, the door to the bathing chamber opened, and Hillevi emerged.
"Are you hungry, dear?" Ilmr watched her cautiously. At least she didn't appear to be on the precipice of a breakdown anymore.
Hillevi shook her head. "No. I don't think I could manage a bite."
Ilmr caught the flicker in Loki's gaze before he spoke. "Take some rest, then. You must be tired."
Hillevi did nod, at that, and made for her chambers.
Once more, Loki created a soundproof barrier around the two of them when the door shut. "She is not hungry. And I don't think she has reason to be. I think she absorbed all of the sustenance she needed."
"I wonder what else she can absorb."
Loki gave her a wicked smile. "There's one way to find out. And it's beneficial for children to experience other cultures."
Ilmr raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Stark and Banner will be able to assist better than any tool we possess here."
"I will alert Calder to our absence. A week should be sufficient, don't you think?"
Loki nodded. "Perfect."
...
Hillevi was delighted at the thought of traveling to another realm and Loki supposed she had spent the better part of the morning packing and re-packing her rucksack as she waited for he and Ilmr to be ready.
From what Ilmr had told him, it sounded as though Calder was perfectly livid that they were leaving, even for a short time. It also sounded as though Ilmr had let him know she was not asking, and that there was nothing he could do to stop them from leaving. For someone who paraded his assurance that the deadly threat had long since passed, Calder seemed rather nervous their foe would resurface once Ilmr and Loki left.
From their place in the courtyard, Loki glanced upward, though once he had dropped the veil covering himself, Ilmr, and Hillevi, he knew it was not necessary. "Heimdall, I would request your assistance to Midgard."
The air around them became to shimmer. "Take my hand, Hillevi." Ilmr's voice was calm beside him.
She did just as the Bifrost activated and moments later, surrounded by the girlish giggles of Hillevi's delight, they found themselves standing on the helicopter pad of Stark's tower.
Stark himself was in the room just beyond the glass and judging by the long pour from the decanter in his hand, he was not pleased with their arrival. It mattered not.
The Man of Iron met them as they approached the door. "Really? He couldn't have dropped you off somewhere else? You had to ruin my helipad? Screw you guys." He took a long sip of his drink before smiling at Hillevi. "Hey kiddo. You're growing up quick."
"Are our chambers still functional?" Ilmr interjected before Stark truly began to monologue.
"What? Yeah. Didn't see the point in tearing them down once they were renovated."
"Perfect." Ilmr strode past Stark, reaching a hand backwards towards Hillevi, who shouldered her bag, gave Stark an once-over, and caught up to her aunt.
"Is the creepy something she's going to grow out of like most kids do awkwardness, or is that an inherited thing?" Stark had waited, at least, until the elevator doors closed behind Ilmr and Hillevi to speak.
"Just because she is far more canny than you, Stark, does not make her 'creepy'." Loki helped himself to Stark's bar as he spoke.
"Did you get kicked out of her parent's house too? Or did you kill…Death? Is that still going on? Why are you here?"
Loki gave a humorless laugh. "It's good to see you too. We are here for Hillevi. We need your assistance. Is Banner here? He too would be useful."
"You want me to inspect the creepy kid? I don't know. I have a strict no-poking-and-prodding-the-kids-who-should-be-on-a-watch-list policy. Sorry."
Loki narrowed his eyes. "If you do not assist us, Death may win, and then there will be no S.H.I.E.L.D. treaty that can save you from me."
"Fine. What's going on?"
Loki fished a desiccated fruit from his pack and tossed it to Stark as he explained what had happened.
As he listened, the Man of Iron turned the item around again and again. He finally placed it on a glass coffee table before speaking. "J.A.R.V.I.S., analyze this for me. What do you see?"
It took the AI a few moments as it did as Stark requested. "Nothing, sir. There—"
"Come on, J. There has to be—"
"—I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. But I mean beyond what you see, the skin and the stem, Mr. Laufeyson is correct, there is nothing. No seeds or juice or fruit. It is entirely hollow. My apologies."
Stark rounded on Loki. "How can I test this? What do you expect I can do?"
"We need a place to practice this phenom away from the prying eyes of her extended family. We need to see what else she can perform this upon."
Loki needed to say no more, it seemed. "No. Oh, no. You're not letting her do that to my machinery! Absolutely not. No. Not once."
"Stark. Think clearly. This ability could be what ends the war. We need to know how it happens, why it happens, in order to allow her to harness it at will. To make it work for her –and us."
A disgusted sound left Stark's lips. "You are seriously two –three of the most impossible people. Fine. I will rig something up she can't destroy too thoroughly. Something contained. I can't have her take out half of New York or I'll hear about it."
Loki smiled. "Beautiful." He made his way toward the elevator. "We will see you on the morrow."
...
While Loki spoke with Tony Stark, Ilmr took Hillevi and their hounds down to their former chambers, six floors below.
Hillevi regarded the spaces with the same quiet observation she did all things. "Will Mr. Stark discover what happened?"
Ilmr set their bags on one of couches in their living room area. Fenrir and Vidar lounged nearby, having sniffed and reacquainted themselves with their quarters in Midgard.
"Between he and Loki, he will be able to help, certainly. While we wait, would you prefer to practice? We will likely not have another uninterrupted period of time like this again."
The dark, discerning eyes met Ilmr's own before nodding. "Please."
Ilmr could tell by her voice alone she was nervous, if masking it well for a child of her age. And so she nodded, leading Hillevi into the elevators and down to the training rooms.
There were few people there, most of them likely mid-shift somewhere in Stark Tower. Of those present, a few recognized Ilmr and she inclined her head slightly. The rest watched with curiosity.
She had only ever trained Hillevi in private and Ilmr could sense her mild unease at interested eyes, even if she kept her head high and her small shoulders straight.
"They do not exist, Hillevi." Ilmr's lips curled into a slight smile. "And even if you cannot remember that, remember that mortals are so weak, should one approach you, you would likely be able to throw him against the far wall with ease."
At that, Hillevi giggled. And took several steps back to set herself before nodding to Ilmr that she was ready.
She was becoming skilled with a blade, but she was far more adept at hand-to-hand combat. She was all willowy grace and calculated movements. Her skill with a blade would come along.
Though a novice, still Ilmr noted the watchful gazes of those in the practice room. Hillevi was likely as skilled as they, given her extensive training the past five years.
Ilmr halted Hillevi a quarter of an hour after they began. "Would you like to spar with someone else?"
Hillevi nodded slowly, eyes wide with delight. "Yes."
Turning, Ilmr scanned the room and selected a man she had known and trained during her previous stay in Stark Tower. "Colin."
He remembered enough that at his name alone he approached.
"You will spar with my daughter."
The man startled. "What? No, I – she –I don't want to hurt her."
Ilmr smiled. "Did you not witness what she can do? You cannot hurt her." Ilmr turned to Hillevi for emphasis. "Remember, he is of Midgard and so mortal. Have a care not to injure him too grievously."
Reluctantly, Colin set himself after watching Hillevi do so. At Ilmr's indication, the man advanced, aiming to strike a gentle blow to Hillevi's side.
Ilmr was proud to see Hillevi's affront at such a soft strike and with an easy block, she ducked inside his guard and struck him with quick, sharp jabs to his jaw and ribs before sliding back out of his guard and reach.
Colin groaned. Hillevi smiled. Ilmr felt the familiar pull that meant Loki was present. It was strongest from the doorway behind Hillevi though she could not see him. He was likely wrapped in enchanted silence and invisibility.
With a short nod, Colin tried again, this time without any of the gentle leeway he had first struck with. With several rapid strikes, he was close enough and with a feigned jab, quickly dropped and swept Hillevi's feet out from under her.
She loosed a surprised sound, but turned the fall into a handstand, using her legs to both kick Colin in the stomach and throw her weight back and right herself.
As he stumbled away, Hillevi advanced, landing three small strikes; two others were blocked. Quickly, so very, very quickly, Hillevi blocked a jab but instead of getting inside his guard, she swept outward and behind, arms locking around Colin's middle and throwing him behind her. As he landed she turned and locked his head and arms with her limbs and stilled completely.
Though Colin struggled, clearly with all of his strength, he could not free himself.
"Give." He sighed.
Hillevi released him.
"Well done, my dear." Loki dropped his enchantment as he spoke and materialized among the onlookers and though his face was a smooth mask, his tone was proud and pleased.
The others in the room startled and took several hasty steps away. Hillevi untangled herself and hurried to face him with a delighted greeting of his name. Which seemed to unnerve the onlookers further.
"How many have you bested?"
"Just the one."
Loki nodded, glancing away from her and around the room at the dozen men and women looking on. "Tomorrow is Saturday. I expect each of you to arrive here by ten o'clock."
Ilmr noted several mouths twitch, but none so brave as to outright scowl. All nodded.
"Good. You may go."
It was not until the room had emptied that a sultry voice came from the far door. "I'll spar with her."
Banner was not the only one to call Stark Tower home, it seemed. Ilmr inclined her head. "Hillevi, this is Natasha Romanov –the Black Widow. And likely the only mortal who could best you."
Natasha smiled briefly, setting aside her water and a towel before approaching. She motioned to Hillevi, who stepped forward and set herself.
At her nod, they began. Hillevi had been practicing for several years, and though stronger, she was eventually bested by the Black Widow.
Hillevi accepted Natasha's hand and rose from the ground. "You are as good as my mother."
"I've been training since I was your age, maybe a little younger. You did well. And you'll keep getting better."
Hillevi smiled at that. Aside from Loki and Ilmr, she did not receive praise from any and she drank it in.
"I would request your presence in our quarters when you have finished your training."
Natasha nodded. "And Ilmr? I want to spar with you, before you leave Earth again."
Ilmr nodded, only too happy to oblige. "It would be my pleasure."
It was two hours later when JARVIS alerted her to the Black Widow's impending arrival.
If she was wary of their hounds, she gave no indication, seating herself gracefully in an armchair.
"We didn't expect to see you back."
"We didn't expect to be back. It is only for a short time, however."
"Oh?"
"We will return to Vanaheim by week's end." She waited only a moment before asking. "What has happened to your S.H.I.E.L.D.?" She knew the 'we' Natasha had mentioned was not inclusive of her former organization.
"A year, maybe two, after you left, a terrorist organization was discovered hiding in the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents. How did you know?"
"Many of the faces in Stark's training room today were not members of his personal security team. And none of them would have known Loki's face so well after so long." Ilmr waited a few moments before continuing. "And what of your compatriot? I did not see him today, was he—"
"—One of them? No."
Ilmr gave her a small smile. "Is he alive? I would imagine ousting such a group from within your organization would cost a large number of lives."
"Clint's alive. He's on a mission now, but he's due back in about two weeks." The Black Widow gave a wry smile. "He'll be sorry he missed you."
Ilmr laughed. "I imagine he's sorry every time he misses Loki, with an arrow or without." Ilmr held up a glass decanter full of amber liquid. Natasha nodded.
Natasha let out a quiet laugh and did not dispute Ilmr's words. "So why come back?"
Ilmr liked the Black Widow; she admired her prowess in battle and her canny nature. She did not trust her. "We have need of Tony Stark's abilities."
"He said you were fighting Death. He made it sound like a living thing."
"Because it is." Ilmr sipped her drink. "Mistress Death, Hel herself, is the regent of Helheim."
"So that myth is true." Natasha swirled her drink before enjoying a sizeable gulp. "Huh."
"Very much so. She rules over those dead that do not make the journey to Valhalla. Thanos was obsessed with her and for it, Loki sent him to her."
"I heard he also retrieved you from her …realm."
"Also true. Though, I do not doubt your skepticism. Tony Stark has a knack for grand storytelling."
"You could say that." She sat back, surveying the space and looking over Fenrir and Vidar. "Your daughter fights well."
"She does. She is still young, but she will be better than either Loki or myself, when she knows all we have to teach her."
"So you made a child to make a weapon." Another swallow of richly colored liquor, followed by a small smile. "I can't say I'm surprised."
"We will make a Commander so talented we will never have to fear her demise on the battlefield."
"So why send her to war?"
It was Ilmr's turn to smile, then. "You would know better than most, Lady Natasha: some things are chosen for us. We would see her trained, not tortured."
The Black Widow had outwitted Loki, Ilmr knew from Thor's account of Loki's madness. She had clearly anticipated gathering information from Ilmr as well. She had not been expecting, apparently, utter calm and a parry.
"Is that how you see it?"
"I do not imagine there are many things that would make us see it similarly, unfortunately."
"No, I suppose you're right." Natasha finished her drink, setting the glass down carefully before rising. "I'll be free again, two days from now."
"Then that is when we shall spar. Send word, when you're ready."
With no more than a small smile and a nod, the Black Widow departed.
...
"Sir, Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner request the presence of your family in the lab. Shall I show you the way?"
Hillevi was still adjusting to JARVIS, Loki noted, as she still startled slightly whenever she heard the AI's voice.
"No, JARVIS. I remember well enough. We will be there shortly."
When they arrived, Stark did not look up from his glass screen. Banner did and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
"Hi." Quiet and hesitant as ever. Loki held no illusions that he was not making a concentrated effort to control the beast despite that.
"Doctor Banner, hello." Ilmr smiled her greeting. She had a fondness for the doctor, given the care with which he treated her when they had last been in the realm.
"I heard your daughter needed our help. I have to admit, it seems like a…strange problem."
Ilmr nodded. "It is. We need to be able to recreate the incident so that we may better understand it and she may better control it."
Banner sat at a nearby stool, gesturing for Hillevi to take the empty one nearby. She settled on the chair without hesitation and though Banner reached towards her, he immediately pulled back.
"May I?"
Loki could not deny his appreciation for the creature's care with Hillevi and dedication to speaking to her rather than at her.
She nodded.
He took her pulse, listened to her heart and startled when he moved to take a closer look at her face. He hesitated only a moment before gently taking her face in hand and peering at her eyes.
"What did it feel like, just before it happened?"
"I was tired. I felt like I might faint if I had to continue without a short rest."
He nodded. "And while it happened?"
At this, she shook her head. "I didn't feel anything, the first time. By the third, I could sense…something." Hillevi looked to Loki then. "It reminds me of focusing on my gift, that hum and warmth."
Banner sat back. "We will need to make you tired again, unfortunately. Tony and I have rigged up a self-contained system that, once you're exhausted, you'll attempt to drain." He pointed with his glasses towards a free-standing machine off to one side. "You'll grip the handle on it and we'll see if you're able to drain it."
"Of what?"
"Its energy. It's a big battery."
"We know you can do it to food." Stark cut in. "We need to see what else you can effect. And we'll get to see if it's always the same result." He grinned.
Hillevi nodded, sliding from the stool with practiced grace. "Alright." She looked to Ilmr. "Should we practice, then?"
Ilmr nodded. "Yes. We'll come back in several hours' time. I'll alert JARVIS when we're on our way." She gave Hillevi a small smile. "We'll begin with an extended warm up."
Hillevi sighed and Loki contained a grin as he watched them go; for all that she was dedicated to her training, Hillevi disliked running.
"What's with her eyes?" Banner, who had always had more sense than Stark, had waited until it was likely the elevator had transported Ilmr and Hillevi several floors.
"I do not know what you mean."
"Bullshit." Stark threw Loki a look.
"Her eyes have looked so since we adopted her several years ago."
"And you have no idea why they look like that? You didn't think to ask anyone why she has no iris?"
"She has an iris, Banner. It happens to be the same color as her pupil."
"I don't buy it. Bruce, what else did you notice about her freaky face?"
Banner had the sense to roll his eyes. "Loki, there's something not quite right with her eyes. They don't reflect…anything. What is that?"
Loki had no answer for them but would give no such indication. He merely smiled.
"Fine, you crazy bastard. Big, green, and angry will find out for us."
"Best of luck, gentlemen."
It was nearly seven hours later when JARVIS instructed him back to the lab. Upon arrival, not only was Hillevi clearly exhausted and drawn, Ilmr too looked rather tired and her clothes were soaked with sweat.
With Banner directing, Hillevi walked, hazy-eyed, over to the contraption and grasped the handle he indicated. It was a simple machine, looking to be little more than a lamp. Loki was unsure of the power the machine held, but within seconds of coming in contact with Hillevi's skin, the light flickered and died. No amount of tinkering would turn the light back on.
"Damn. See, this is why I made something isolated."
"Stark." Ilmr's single-word warning was enough, it seemed, and the Man of Iron did not speak again.
"How do you feel?" Banner had been recording something on a pad of paper.
"Starving. I'm no longer tired, though."
Loki approached and reached to tilt her head towards him.
She jerked away before he could make contact.
"No." Her eyes were sharp, the glassy film gone. She looked to Banner. "Give me something to eat."
Glancing around, the creature's eyes finally settled on the Man of Iron. "Tony."
"What?"
"Snacks. Now. I know you have them in here."
"Fine." Stark tossed an orange to Hillevi.
As Loki suspected, it was a white, limp skin in moments.
Stark sighed. "JARVIS, get a fruit basket down here, will you? Fast."
If Loki was not mistaken, it seemed to him as though Hillevi was nearly vibrating.
"Focus, my dear." Ilmr's tone was soothing.
With a deep breath, Hillevi stilled herself.
It was not until half of the food sent down was desiccated that she no longer drained what she touched. Ilmr moved to smooth her hair and though the movement was too slight for Banner or Stark to catch, Loki saw her relax every so slightly.
"I want to do that again, but this time I want to hook you up to some monitors." Stark's voice was slightly muffled by the hand he was leaning against as he peered at Hillevi.
"That'll drain the machine, Tony."
"I don't think it matters. We can read all the data we need before she does. J, call Saint Vincent's. Tell them I'm coming by tomorrow and I want to use some of their equipment, and remember to thank them for their cooperation."
"Of course, sir."
It appeared even years after Loki's assistance to the mortals there had ended, Stark still had them indebted to him.
"Oh. And let them know I'll replace everything we break. Tell them to order new…" Stark looked to Banner, who sighed.
"JARVIS, they'll need new EKG and EEG machines, and some infrared finger cuffs."
"Of course, Doctor Banner."
"And what will these things do?" Ilmr's voice was even. Loki was not sure he would have sounded particularly calm. Given the result of the most recent experiment, he was not so sure what these new devices would do, but he nonetheless felt the need to press on. If Hillevi were to understand and control this gift, then trials would be necessary.
"The EKG will measure her heart's electrical activity, and the EEG will measure her brain's electrical activity. The finger cuffs will measure the amount of oxygen in her blood."
"And this will tell you what, exactly?"
Stark finally moved from his place behind his screen, turning it as he went. "The light was a power source. She drained it immediately. It acted like a battery. So did the fruit." He pointed to the screen, where several intricate graphs were displayed. "Everything has a resonant frequency. Everything. She's taking everything's potential energy and damping it to the point that its vibration becomes zero. She's turning these frequencies into energy she can absorb. It's just a question of how. What's her resonant frequency? Does she have one?"
"Tony, can you even be sure that's what's going on? We've done one experiment."
"It's me. Of course I'm sure. Bruce, this," he picked up his phone, "And her do the same thing to a power source. She's just doing it in a different way." He wagged his finger at Hillevi. "We need Foster."
"No." Loki's tone was sharp and it halted Stark in his tracks.
"Listen, Oliver Twist, I need her. No one knows what she does about your kind of special. You can't keep her out of the tree house just because she's your brother's girlfriend."
"I do not want her here. Find another way."
"Thor doesn't know about her, does he?" Banner ventured, darting his eyes to Hillevi.
"No. And I would not expose her to Thor or his bumbling fool of a father unless I had to."
"Seriously, when you were living here you totally should have talked to Janet."
Loki made a disgusted sound. "When will we reconvene tomorrow?"
Stark narrowed his eyes in a way that made Loki think if Tony were less terrified of him, he'd not have allowed the subject change.
"Ten."
With a nod, Loki turned, gave both Ilmr and Hillevi a glance, and made for the elevator and their floor.
...
The morning had been difficult. The hospital had agreed to Stark's terms, provided his "contact", as they called Loki, would spend the day healing. Loki hesitated only briefly before agreeing.
At ten, Banner, with the help of Stark, placed a variety of sensors and prosthesis on Hillevi's chest, head, and hands. Loki had arrived shortly after the process began and he was a silent, foreboding presence by the door.
Ilmr stood with Hillevi, who was calm and remained very still.
"Okay, kid, hop on the treadmill." Tony stepped back from her after attaching the last sensor.
At Ilmr's nod, she did, and waited while Tony made notes on the data that came in from the machines. Once he had several minutes of information, he started the treadmill.
"We will be several hours." Ilmr began to jog in place beside Hillevi. It seemed to relax her, to have a running partner.
"We're not going anywhere, are you kidding? This is going to be my least expensive experiment and probably the most interesting. I'm sticking around the whole time."
"And probably your least damaging." Bruce smiled from behind one machine.
"Look who's talking, Harlem Shake."
"How long will it be until your numbers make sense to you?" Loki's ire came dark and condescending.
"It depends." Ilmr had always liked Bruce, and she knew it irked Loki that she did. "Once we look at these, we're probably going to have to compare them."
"To what?" Hillevi's voice, light and interested, did not sound as though she were running.
"We're going to see what else out there might do what you do. If we can find something, maybe we can find a way to help you control or contain what you do. Or redirect it. Maybe." Bruce gave a tight smile. "If not, well, at least you know what brings it on."
Hillevi nodded, and ran faster.