Kirsi
by Susan M. M.
The Avengers
Kirsi: Chapter Two Princess Kirsi
based on a challenge/prompt by Sheneya at "Avengers Fanfic Challenges and Recommended Reading"
Standard Fanfic Disclaimer that wouldn't last ten seconds in a court of law: Based on characters and situations created by somebody else (other than Kirsi Lokidottir, who's mine). All other characters {beyond minor NPCs} are from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and used without permission and without any hope or chance of financial profit. Just in case anybody has any doubts, I do not own the Avengers. (Wish I did.) To paraphrase Aggie2011, if I owned the Avengers, Joss Whedon and J. Michael Straczynski would be collaborating on the Hawkeye/Black Widow movie right now. Ten thousand thanks to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joss Whedon, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner, Marvel Comics, Disney Studios, et al. This story is debuting as 'netfic and has not previously been printed in any fanzine or APA. Please don't sue. I'm too broke to pay attention, let alone legal fees. The dialogue and action from the first scene of this chapter are taken directly from the movie, written by the inimitable Joss Whedon; I should probably give him co-credit for this chapter.
Challenge: Loki had a daughter. He brought her with him during the Earth invasion, thinking he was going to win. He spent so much time on trying to take over, he usually dumped her on MindSlave!Hawkeye to look after. After his defeat, it's revealed that due to an ancient Asgard law, now that Loki's going to prison, Hawkeye is her legal guardian. How will he cope with going from a solitary person, to looking after the child of the man who used him so badly? Not to mention the well meaning, but not always usable, help of his fellow Avengers.
"You have heart." Loki touched his scepter to the chest of Agent Clint Barton. The spear tip glowed. Barton's blue-gray eyes went as black as sin, then turned electric blue. Loki smiled at his conquest, and Barton holstered his gun.
Nick Fury silently grabbed the tesseract and put it in the specially prepared carrying case.
Loki touched his scepter to the chest of another SHIELD agent.
Fury closed the case and started to leave.
"Please don't." Loki lowered his scepter. "I still need that."
"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury had his back to the Norse god.
"Of course it does," Loki replied. "I've come too far for anything else."
Fury turned to face Loki.
"I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
Dr. Erik Selvig knelt on the floor, checking on one of the scientists Loki had attacked. He looked up when he heard the name. "Loki, brother of Thor." Not finding a pulse, he rose to his feet.
Fury raised his black-gloved right hand in a peaceful gesture; his left hand still held the case. "We have no quarrel with your people," he stated calmly.
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki pointed out.
"You planning to step on us?" Fury asked disbelievingly.
"I come with glad tidings of a world made free." Loki stepped forward.
Barton had been standing twenty feet away, just standing, waiting. He turned his head, following the conversation.
"Free from what?" Fury demanded.
"Freedom," Loki said earnestly. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," he whirled and scepter-touched Selvig.
Selvig gasped. His eyes changed color, first black, then blue. Not his normal blue, but a neon bright electric blue.
"You will know peace," Loki continued.
Barton caught something out of his peripheral vision. He turned his head and looked up.
"Yeah, you say peace. I kind of think you mean the other thing," Fury retorted.
The blue light on the ceiling glowed and grew.
"Sir, Director Fury is stalling," Barton announced as he walked up to join Loki. "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us."
The ceiling glowed even more.
"He means to bury us," Barton warned.
"Like the pharaohs of old," Fury confirmed. He was quite ready to die himself if it meant preventing Loki from getting the tesseract. He'd been studying Norse mythology since his friend Phil Coulson had met Thor. He'd read enough about Loki to know not to trust him.
Selvig checked a computer monitor. "He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."
"Well, then." Loki turned to Barton.
Barton's left arm rose, gun in hand. He fired at Fury.
Fury groaned as the force of the bullet knocked him down. His bullet-proof vest saved his life, but it still hurt.
Loki, Barton, Selvig, and the other SHIELD agent he had enslaved walked out of the underground lab. Barton grabbed the case with the tesseract and handed it to Selvig.
At the motor pool on Security Level 4, Barton announced, "I need these vehicles."
Maria Hill looked at the quartet: Agent Clint Barton, codenamed Hawkeye, SHIELD's best marksman, Dr. Erik Selvig, a stranger she'd never seen before in an odd black and green outfit, carrying a spear or scepter with what looked like a glowing blue topaz, and another SHIELD agent.
The black-haired stranger in black and green got into the back of the truck.
"Who's that?" Hill asked. Barton had the authority to commandeer vehicles, but she had no idea who the man with him was.
"They didn't tell me," Barton said as he headed for the driver's side door.
Hill watched but said nothing. She was no stranger to 'need to know,' and she'd seen far stranger things in her years at SHIELD. She turned away; she had an evacuation to supervise and the phase II prototypes to get out of Project Pegasus before the whole place blew to Kingdom Come.
She heard Fury's voice on the radio. "Hill! Do you copy? Barton has turned."
Barton's hearing was nearly as good as his vision. He overheard. He fired at her.
Hill ducked. She dropped and rolled. Barton fired again. Taking cover behind a wall, Hill drew her own gun.
Barton climbed into the truck. Selvig was already in the passenger seat, the case with the cube in his lap. Barton drove away, pedal to the metal.
The other mind-slave agent followed in a sports car.
Hill jumped into a Jeep and followed them. Other SHIELD agents in other vehicles followed after her. A wild chase ensued, as SHIELD's best agent eluded the agents chasing him, driving through the underground lanes as though it were the Indianapolis 500. Bullets flew.
Loki shot bolts of eldritch energy from his scepter. It hit the sports car driven by his other mind-slave, and the car overturned, blocking the road.
Loki smiled, enjoying the excitement of the chase, enjoying the thrill of the speed. He was probably the only one who enjoyed it. He was certainly the only one smiling.
Barton's face was as impassive as a cigar store Indian's. He was a trained pilot, and a back-up instructor for SHIELD's defensive driving class. He drove now like a NASCAR racer, like a stunt driver in a Hollywood car chase. All the while, his face stayed blank and expressionless.
Cars followed. The base collapsed, imploding in on itself. Nick Fury escaped in a helicopter, and joined the chase after Loki. Cars raced. Bullets flew. It was chaos on wheels.
As Nick Fury's helicopter crashed, Barton drove the Jeep off into the night.
Twenty minutes later, the jeep arrived at the San Carlos Radisson Hotel. The drive should have taken an hour or more. Loki sped things up, and they arrived in a mere twenty minutes.
The hotel manager was a short, chubby Hispanic man. His eyes had been brown yesterday. They were electric blue today. "Welcome back, señor."
"Prepare rooms for my men," Loki ordered. "As near my chambers as possible. Selvig, Barton, with me." The three went up to the penthouse. Someone was waiting for him there.
"Father!" Kirsi rushed toward him. Loki swept her up into his arms and held her tightly.
"Did I keep you waiting, sweetling?" he asked her gently. He looked at Barton and Selvig. "My daughter, Princess Kirsi." He kissed the child in his arms. "Two of my henchmen, the guard Barton and the scholar Selvig."
Barton nodded politely. "Princess."
Selvig gave a half-bow, but said nothing.
Kirsi beamed, knowing full well she wasn't entitled to royal honors in Asgard. Apparently, things were different on Midgard.
"Selvig, what will you need to achieve our goals with the tesseract?"
"A laboratory." Selvig started to detail what equipment he would need. Loki did not understand half of what the astrophysicist said, despite his frequent visits to Midgard since he'd been unceremoniously evicted from Asgard.
"Barton, can you obtain what he needs?" Loki asked.
"Yes, sir."
"And what shall we need in the way of soldiers and weaponry?" Loki asked.
"If we contact AIM, we can get both at once. They hate SHIELD," Barton said.
Loki smiled. "And the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" The proverb appeared to be universal.
"Yes, sir." No! Barton screamed within his mind. Not AIM.
Loki was trying to enslave the world. Advanced Idea Mechanics wanted the same thing. The thought of combining the two terrified Barton, and he wanted nothing more than to protest against it. Against Loki. But the archer found himself unable to speak or act against the Norse god.
"I'm thirsty, Father," Kirsi interrupted. "And hungry."
Barton walked over to the mini-refrigerator. As he'd expected, it was stocked with drinks. He removed a Coca-Cola, went to the bathroom, fetched a glass, and poured half of the bottle into the glass. He held it out to Kirsi. "Princess."
Kirsi accepted the glass and took a tentative sip. Then she smiled.
"What is that?" Loki asked.
"Coke, sir." Barton looked up at Kirsi, still in Loki's arms. "What would you like to eat?"
Glancing up at her father for permission, she asked hopefully, "Roast goose?"
"I doubt the hotel kitchen will have goose. Will roast chicken do, Princess?"
"Yes, please."
"I'll take care of it," Barton told her.
Loki's left eyebrow rose at the SHIELD agent's initiative. He hadn't expected him to be able to do that much on his own.
"Chicken for two, sir, or just for the princess?" Barton asked.
Loki shook his head. "Just for Kirsi." He smiled, however, that his new slave was already looking to serve him and see to his comfort.
Barton picked up the telephone and called room service. After he had given his order, he turned back to Loki. "An army travels on its stomach, sir. We'll need supplies for your men as well as lab supplies."
Loki, Selvig, and Barton discussed what would be needed to achieve Loki's goals. SHIELD had trained Barton in strategy and tactics. Barton offered every ounce of his skill and experience to Loki, plotting against the organization that had been his home and family his entire adult life. Kirsi played with her doll. Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.
"Room service," a voice called out.
"The chicken." Barton went to the door. "Put it on the room tab," he told the bellman.
"Um, uh," the bellman held out his hand.
Barton grinned maliciously. "Sir, the bellman wants a tip."
Loki smiled in return. "Of course." He grabbed his scepter and touched the tip of it to the bellman's chest. A minute later, a bellman with electric blue eyes went back to the kitchen, ready to return at a moment's notice to serve Loki.
Barton set the dish on the table and poured another Coke for Kirsi. "Princess, your dinner."
Loki said, "Well done, Barton. She is my most precious treasure, and in serving my daughter, you serve me."
Half of Barton was delighted to have pleased Loki. He would have done anything to earn his approval, would have happily crawled over broken glass for the chance of earning a smile from his master. Half of Barton was appalled, disgusted at himself for submitting to Loki, disgusted for wanting to please him, to serve him. Within his head, he shrieked and screamed. Aloud, all he said was, "Yes, sir."
Loki looked around the former AIM base. Selvig and his scientists were hard at work tapping the power of the tesseract. Technicians with electric blue eyes hurried to and fro. Other technicians studied computers. Kirsi sat on a crate, her doll in her lap, swinging one leg back and forth. The scientists, engineers, and lab techs ignored her. Selvig asked a colleague to come check his test results. The careless scientist rushed to join him, almost hitting Kirsi with the clipboard in his hand. Loki frowned.
"Barton!" Loki called out.
Barton had been supervising a squad of mercenaries. He trotted up to Loki. "Yes, sir."
"Watch Kirsi, Barton. Get her out of this chaos. Guard her with your life."
"Yes, sir." Barton turned to face the girl. "Princess, may I escort you somewhere safer?"
"Somewhere quieter?" she asked. "Maybe somewhere I could practice my harp?"
Barton smiled. "I think I can manage that."
He took her to fetch her lap-harp, then led her to a room that looked like a teacher's lounge in a low-income neighborhood school district. There were battered couches, old chairs, a cheap plastic fold-up table, and a TV so old it probably had vacuum tubes. Magazines - none younger than three months ago and some several years old - were stacked in a bookshelf, along with some science texts, some paperback romances, three slim volumes of poetry, and an almost complete collection of Louis L'Amour books. A six-string acoustic guitar was in the corner. A coffeemaker with a half-pot of cold brown liquid that might once have been coffee sat on the counter.
"Found this when I was checking the place out," Barton explained. The lounge had not been used since Loki took over the base. Loki's slaves worked, stopping only to eat and sleep. They did not relax, did not take off-duty time, and thus had no need for a lounge. Barton picked up the guitar. He waited until Kirsi sat down, then seated himself where he could watch the door. He strummed a few chords. "What did you want to play?"
Kirsi began plucking the harpstrings, playing the Asgardian equivalent of the scales. It was not the do-re-mi that Barton was familiar with, but he listened, then played the same notes back to her. She smiled, and played a slightly tougher note pattern. Again, he echoed the notes on the guitar as soon as she finished on the harp.
Five minutes later, he was teaching her "Dueling Banjos."
Loki frowned. Conquering Midgard was taking longer than he had anticipated. Maybe he should have waited until Selvig and the SHIELD scientists were further along before he interrupted their experiments. Maybe he should have waited until he had actually conquered Midgard before bringing Kirsi; this had to be boring to the poor girl. He hadn't seen Kirsi in a few hours. Stretching out his mind, he found Barton. And where Barton was, Kirsi would be. He left Selvig to finish his technical procedures and went to check on his daughter and his henchman.
He followed the mental link with Barton to a room some distance away from the semi-controlled chaos of the laboratory. He heard music coming from inside the room, both a harp and another instrument, one he didn't recognize. He opened the door and stepped inside.
Barton's hand was off the guitar in an instant. He drew his pistol. When he saw it was Loki, he holstered the weapon and went back to playing the guitar without a word.
"You dare raise a weapon against your lord and master?" Loki's tone was more curious than angry.
"No, sir. Once I saw it was you, and not a threat to the princess, I put the gun down."
"And if I had been a threat to Kirsi?" Loki asked.
"You'd be dead, sir." Barton's voice was matter of fact. Yes! Kill him, his mind shrieked within himself. But as half his mind yearned for the pistol, the other half craved only to serve the god with humble, loving reverence.
Loki smiled and nodded. "Are you pleased with your watchdog, my flower?"
"Yes, Father. Barton has taken good care of me."
"Good. May I hear how your harp practice is going?"
Kirsi smiled at the thought that her father wanted to hear her play. "Yes, Father."
Loki sat and listened for a few minutes. "You have improved greatly since the last time I heard you play. I am very pleased with your progress."
Kirsi's emerald eyes sparkled. Her smile lit up her whole face.
"Alas, I have much to do yet. Midgard is not mine yet, but it shall be, very soon." Loki rose. "I entrust her to your care, Barton. Guard her well."
"With my life, sir."
Loki dropped a light kiss on Kirsi's cheek. "I will return to you as soon as I may, beloved."
Kirsi was too well-schooled to beg him to stay or to complain that he was leaving her so soon. She knew a serving-wench's daughter should be grateful for what little time a prince of Asgard could spare her... even if that prince were her father.
Kirsi sat in the lounge, watching television. Barton had flipped through the channels, then put on Disney Channel. Much of "Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior" didn't make sense to her, but Barton had dismissed the other channels, saying her father wouldn't approve of them.
There was a knock on the door. Barton went to the door, but did not open it. "Who's there?"
"Raquel Alvarez," a woman's voice came through the door. "Loki sent me."
Barton opened the door. Dr. Alvarez was an AIM scientist. He knew of her; SHIELD had tried to capture her once, and had failed.
"Loki wants you to report to him. I'm to give the girl a bath and put her to bed." The brunette wore a white lab coat over a yellow AIM jumpsuit. Her normally brown eyes were electric blue. "Loki says I am to be your handmaiden."
"Very well," Kirsi agreed, attempting to mimic the regal tone that came so naturally to her grandmother Frigga. "Farewell, Barton. You will return to me when you are done helping Father?"
"If that's what he orders," Barton said.
In an underground base that had belonged to AIM yesterday, three levels of lead lined flooring hid the tesseract from the rest of the world.
"Put it over there," Selvig directed one of the technicians who had a box of supplies. He turned to face Barton. Where did you find all these people?"
Barton replied, "SHIELD has no shortage of enemies, Doctor. This the stuff you need?" He held up a computer tablet.
Selvig nodded. "Yeah, Iridium. It's found in meteorites; it forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of."
"'Specially if SHIELD knows you need it," Barton agreed.
"Well, I didn't know." Selvig saw Loki, and pushed through the plastic door flaps to approach him. He smiled at the Norse god as though he were his best friend. "Hey, the tesseract has shown me so much. It's- it's more than knowledge, it's truth."
"I know." Loki turned to the archer. "What did it show you, Agent Barton?"
"My next target."
"Tell me what you need," Loki commanded.
Barton removed his collapsible bow from its case and snapped it open."I need a distraction, and an eyeball."
"I am weary of scuttling in shadow. I mean to rule this world, not burrow under it," Loki announced. "I will go to Stuttgart, and we will get this Dr. Shäffer. Barton, you shall accompany me, you and as many of your men as you require."
Barton nodded. In addition to the AIM guards, Loki now had other SHIELD agents under his control. Barton had led him to a SHIELD sub-station so Loki could capture and mind-control them, as the archer hadn't found the AIM guards' training up to his standards.
"My enemies will come after me. I shall let them think they have captured me; it will be the easiest way to get inside their flying fortress. When I call you, you shall come. And you shall ..."
Barton listened as Loki outlined his plan. His head nodded, half of his mind approving of the tactics. The other half of his mind screamed silently. Loki was ordering him to go against everything he believed in, everything he'd fought for, everything he'd worked for. And he could not disobey, no matter how hard he tried.
Author's Note: I am less than 100% satisfied with this chapter, and would appreciate constructive criticism. Thanks for your patience in waiting for chapter two.