Title: A Lane to the Land of the Dead chapter 7/14
Pairing/Characters: Teamfic. No Pairings. Loki, Thor, Avengers, Original Male Character. Brief non graphic mention of OMC/OMC
Tags: Gore, violence, strong language, angst, self harm, torture.
Summary: 5th part of the Teamwork series, but this is written like a standalone fic, so if you haven't read the others you will still be able to understand it.
Loki has been an Avenger for two years, but as a new threat pushes him away from the team, they begin wonder just how much they can trust him.
~0~
Chapter 7
~0~
As Fury settled at the head of the table, with Coulson on his left and the Avengers seated along each side, he gave Loki a cold glare and said, "I have two questions for you. One, are you still absolutely sure he is your son?"
"Yes," Loki nodded. "There is no question about it. He is my child."
"And two, what kind of fucked up family are you? Running round trying to murder each other all the time," he ranted, then raised a gloved hand and pointed at the brothers. "When this is over you are both having mandatory therapy."
Thor nodded glumly and Loki was about to protest, but saw the look in Fury's eye and though better of it. "Very well then."
"And all this was caused by eating a heart," Fury said. "What's wrong with you?"
Loki was momentarily taken aback, and then said, "Eating the heart of another is a great honour."
"For who? The eater or the... eatee?" Tony asked.
"To eat someone's heart shows that you cared greatly about them," Loki said, fixing Tony with glare. "It shows that you want their spirit to live on after they are dead."
"He's totally my kid, isn't he?" Tony asked.
"As if I would eat your heart, Stark. I can barely stand to look at you now, I would not want a permanent reminder of you," Loki snapped, then he turned to Fury and continued, "A child conceived by such magical means is usually extremely powerful, and combines the best of both parents."
"Or the worst?" Fury asked.
"It is possible, yes," Loki answered, looking down at the table.
"I've read your report," Fury said. "Why didn't we know he had all these extra… talents?"
Loki took a deep breath, already hating the direction the conversation was going in. "He said he wasn't very skilled and I had no reason to doubt that."
"So you just took his word for it?"
"When I was his age I hadn't mastered half the skills I have now, so it did not seem unusual that his ability to use magic would still be developing."
"And he never showed any signs of mental instability or criminal intent?" Fury asked, looking around the table.
"He always seemed nice enough to me," Steve said. "He was quiet, polite, never put a foot wrong really."
"You all agree with this assessment?" Fury asked.
"I had my doubts. Clint did too," Natasha piped up, and Loki fixed her with a furious look. "Oh, come on, no one is that nice."
"So exactly what are we dealing with here? What can he do?" Fury asked, folding his hands together and resting them on the desk.
"He can teleport, travel in time, and his healing skills are remarkable," Loki replied. "He said he dies, but is resurrected every time."
"That's not… encouraging," Fury said.
"And plainly he can do something else since he screwed with JARVIS," Tony interjected. "I've checked the footage and he didn't even show on the cameras in the kitchen when he stabbed Loki. I literally have no idea how he could have done that, unless it was with magic."
"Which rules out running a face trace on him," Clint said.
"It's running right now," Coulson stated. "It sounds like he wants to be found and when he is we'll pick him up."
"Why do you think he wants to be found?" Bruce asked.
"He said he wants to die and he thinks we are the only ones capable of killing him," Loki replied, giving Fury a pointed look. "Obviously that is NOT going to happen."
"What are your plans for my nephew when you find him?" Thor asked with a troubled expression on his face.
"He'll be arrested and charged with attempted murder, and-" Fury said.
"He did not attempt to murder me," Loki interrupted. "He would have known that knife wound could never kill me."
"AND murder," Fury continued. "Are you forgetting the small matter of the seventeen people he killed in cold blood out on the streets?"
"All criminals," Loki pointed out. "You should be thanking him for saving you from them. He probably saved more lives than he took."
"I'm quite interested in his reference to space," Coulson interrupted before a fight could break out. "Do you think there is any possibility that he might have exposed himself to space to see if it would kill him?"
"What are you suggesting, Agent Coulson?" Fury asked.
"Sir, might I remind you of Project Volkov."
"Volkov?" Fury said. "That's impossible."
"Are you sure, sir? Given his ability to teleport, time travel, regenerate, and his apparent death wish, it seems like the perfect explanation for what happened."
"Project Volkov?" Tony asked, his interest piqued. "What's that and why have I never found the files?"
Fury sighed. "Project Volkov is top secret, so if one word of this is breathed outside of this room I will know who to have assassinated, Stark."
"Won't tell a soul, I promise. My lips are sealed," Tony said, dragging his fingers across his mouth.
Coulson began, "Volkov is a crater on the far side of the moon and in 2002, while running scans to test the possibility of harvesting Helium 3 to power fusion reactors, NASA discovered something… interesting."
"What was it?" Bruce asked quietly.
"A human skeleton," Fury said.
"That's impossible," Tony said. "A skeleton, on the moon? I've hacked the SHIELD mainframe a dozen times and never found any reference to that."
"Then perhaps you over estimate your hacking skills," Coulson said with a polite smile.
"Two years ago an experimental cloaked ship was sent up to bring it back for further testing, they confirmed that it was a skeleton, and it looked human," Fury said.
"So where's this skeleton now?" Bruce asked.
"That's the problem," Fury said. "They never made it back. The craft had a problem on re-entry and fell into the Atlantic. It was never found and the last transmission received from the craft was 'It's alive.'"
Tony flopped back in his chair. "Whoa. That is some story. Have you guys got shivers running all down your spine, because I totally have?"
"You think this skeleton was my son?" Loki asked.
"Given your description of his regeneration, the report of your own injuries and how you were only able to heal after the knife was removed, I think it's highly possible that he teleported himself to the moon at some point and stayed dead because there was no atmosphere, but he was somehow exposed to air inside the capsule which caused his healing to begin," Coulson explained.
"But that was two years ago," Loki pointed out. "Where has he been since then?"
"The Montauk Monster!" Tony suddenly shouted, and Loki scowled at him. "Hear me out, will ya? What if the ship fell in the sea, and his body was still in the ship until it got all broken down and part of it washed out? What IF part of him ended up near the beach near Montauk and started to regenerate as soon as it hit oxygen?"
"What if other parts of him wash up?" Steve asked. "Will they regenerate too?"
"That doesn't make sense based on Loki's information. I'd say it's more likely that it's one specific part of his body that regenerates, possibly even a single cell," Bruce proposed.
"Well this is just great. An psychopathic evil villain on the loose who just happens to be indestructible too," Clint snapped.
"My son is not a psychopath, and he most certainly is not evil," Loki hissed. "He is but a child who has been tortured in ways that you could never hope to understand!"
"Yeah, yeah," Clint mumbled. "Like father, like son."
Loki stopped and stared at Clint with his mouth open. They had had their issues in the past, and Loki knew after what he had done to Clint that it was only to be expected, but he thought they had worked through it. To hear him speak with such cruelty once again felt like a slap in the face.
"Agent Barton," Thor said lowly. "My brother has fought by your side in many battles, he has saved the lives of countless mortals including many of the people sat at this table, and you repay him with these words?"
"I'm just tired of all the Norse god family issues that keep causing problems for the whole damn planet!" Clint shouted.
Loki stood up and walked towards the exit.
"Brother, where are you going?"
"I refuse to be insulted further," Loki replied, slamming the door on his way out.
"Can we get back to the matter in hand?" Fury said. "What are we go-" He stopped talking as Thor stood up. "Where are you going?"
"To have words with my brother," he replied as he left the room.
Fury sighed, rubbed his hand across his forehead and said, "Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a mythological episode of Jerry Springer."
~0~
"Can I enter?" Thor asked, when he found Loki perched on the edge of William's bed, rather than in his own room.
"It appears you already have," Loki replied.
"What troubles you, brother?"
"Is it not obvious?"
"They will not be able to hurt him."
"It's not that," Loki sighed, with a forlorn look on his face. "I've done it again."
"Done what?" Thor asked as he sat by Loki's side.
"Abandoned another child," he replied quietly, looking at his clasped hands which lay in his lap.
"You have not abandoned him or any of your other children. You love them all equally," Thor said as he draped an arm over Loki's shoulders.
"Do I? Then why did I leave him in the clutches of Thanos for three hundred years?"
"These things have not even occurred yet, brother. You cannot know why you didn't rescue him, but I am sure that you will try until you succeed. Now you know perhaps you will be able to change these events before they even transpire."
"At first I thought it strange, suddenly I had a son I didn't even know, and he wanted me to care for him. It was hard simply because I didn't know him, but then I realised, Thor, I was allowed to keep him!" Loki said. "I now know that one day I will have a child who I will watch grow. I had hope that I might have made up for those mistakes in the past through William, but apparently I abandoned him too."
"No, Loki," Thor said, turning to face him. "We will find him and we will bring him home."
"It may be too late," Loki replied sadly.
"It is never too late, brother," Thor said, pulling him closer. "When we find him, and we will, you will find the words to save him."
Loki smiled, wishing that Thor's optimism would somehow leech into his body and wipe out the growing sadness that he felt.
~0~
~0~
Bodies writhed against each other as the bass line pumped out of the speakers and the crowd roared as the DJ raised his hands. The thousand people packed into the former warehouse were unaware that they were in the presence of a killer.
William stalked between the sweaty dancers and made his way to the centre of the floor. He chuckled to himself and said, "This is perfect."
The air around him moved, glowing red, and his armour appeared on his body. Skin-tight black leather with small accents of gold and red hugged his wiry frame, a black cape skimmed his ankles, and a black horned helmet appeared on his head.
"Nice costume, honey," a woman said as she moved through the crowd. "You celebrating something?"
"Oh, yes," William replied, as he conjured a long knife into his hand. "I am indeed celebrating."
The woman screamed as William plunged the knife into her stomach, drawing it upwards in a graceful arc, and as she fell to the floor he wheeled round and plunged his dagger into the back of the nearest man.
The dancers near him turned as bodies began to fall and they started to scream, pushing each other out of the way, climbing over fallen strangers in an effort to get away from the grinning killer.
~0~
"What have we got?" Steve asked, when he arrived in the Quinjet hangar after SHIELD had raised the alarm, and found Tony frantically flipping through a holographic display while Thor and Loki looked on.
"Disturbance in a club called 'The Skyline' on Columbus Avenue," Tony replied. "Details are still coming through, but apparently someone got a bit slash happy."
"Doesn't sound like our usual kinda job," Steve said. "Why have SHIELD called us in?"
"No clue," Tony replied, as he brought up another screen.
"Jet's ready," Clint shouted.
"Be there in a second," Steve shouted back.
"Oh my god," Tony said as the images from the clubs CCTV cameras flickered onto the screen and he looked at Loki. "It's William."
"What?" Thor gasped.
The Avengers looked at Loki, he looked back at them for a second, and then teleported away.
"Shit, shit, SHIT!" Tony shouted. "Thor, get over there now. I'll be right behind you. You guys, get in the jet."
Next chapter will be up in a few minutes :-)