Thor had spent the past half hour inspecting the lone glass of water sitting on the counter, and had asked the whole team if it belonged to them. Steve had elected to stay silent through the whole ordeal, wary of letting them all know that Loki had talked with him in a manner that could be described as civil, for a change, and completely reluctant to be ranked on the trickster's hit list-implying that he wasn't already.
It seemed like Thor was trying to glean from the glass what, he suspected Loki, the person had been doing, and the shine of mystery was bright in those eyes, so similar to the ocean waves Steve had seen countless times before, so similar to the searching look he'd seen in Loki's own gaze the previous night, sad and intrigued and yearning for something unnamable. Pepper, standing by Tony as they watched the morning news, gazed over occasionally to stare at Jane, who sat on the couch in front of them, turned partially to give Thor a hard, saddened stare, something distant in her eyes.
Glancing back at Thor, Pepper saw that he wasn't aware of the look he was receiving, and she sighed inwardly, worried, before squeezing Tony's arm. Steve was sitting on the bar stool closest to Thor, staring awkwardly at his own reflection cast upon the marble countertop, and Natasha, oddly, busied herself with the news, as well, watching the headlines scroll across the top of the screen. There was some commotion on camera, and the news reporter was rushing forward, her blonde hair blown back by the wind assaulting her face as she smiled, eagerly and with excitement, gesturing pointedly to the large sight before her while three men in black suits attempted to both shut off the camera and deter her, but she was stubborn. She slipped past them, and her cameraman followed, focusing in on the ground and what was marked across it.
A circle, wide enough to house four car lengths, with celtic-looking symbols stamped into the dirt. Nervously, she danced around the agents running after her, and her excited, breathy voice, reporting on yet another alien news story, was lost to the wind just before the footage went dark, and the camera cut to the newscast sitting in the station, eyes wide as they quickly switched topics, pretending like it never happened as panic shone in their eyes. Jane leaned forward, after turning away from Thor, and stood quickly, the corners of her lips curled in a smile as Thor narrowed his eyes at the TV screen.
"That's," Jane started softly, and looked to her boyfriend for reassurance as he, too, stood, moving with haste to Loki's door, and she trailed off, wanting to call Darcy and tell her the news. Thor lifted an arm, fist hovering to knock, and seemed to hesitate as Steve watched him from his stool. Finally, he rapped gently upon the door, and only seconds later was Loki walking through it, with dark circles under his eyes and ebony locks tangled, his expression one of pain and reservation as he stalked past Thor to grab the glass of water on the counter, throwing his head back and finishing its contents with a grimace before slamming the cup back down. Tony winced, fearing for both the marble and the glass, and Pepper's nails dug into his arm, her eyes darting about the room uneasily, no doubt an immediate effect of Loki's presence. Loki turned to glance at the television, and he then looked at the faces of those around him, swallowing nervously as his throat bobbed.
"Where are they?" Loki asked hoarsely, and Thor shook his head, coming to stand beside him, his arm outstretched as if to rest upon his brother's shoulder, hand stilled and hesitant.
"I don't know who-"
"Your friends-they're here. But where?" Thor blinked in surprise as Jane walked around the couch to sit beside Loki, and Steve watched her lay a gentle, soothing hand on his own, her eyes focused on his face as she took a deep breath. Loki didn't seem to notice her, and his gaze was distant as he looked away from his brother.
"How do you know?" Thor asked slowly, and it was, suddenly, like they all caught wind of something dangerous in the atmosphere, speaking to Loki in low, simple tones and watching him carefully, like he was bound to do something stupid. Natasha stood, alerted as Loki clenched his hands into fists, and Jane squeezed his knuckles.
"What's wrong?" Jane questioned seriously, and Thor gave her an odd look, puzzled.
"There's been an odd sighting today of three people dressed in full body armor, aimlessly roaming the park…" came an amused voice from the television speakers, and they all turned to see a nervous reporter shuffling their papers, talking about the three odd strangers.
Loki jumped from his seat, moving quickly to the door, and Natasha trailed after him hurriedly, grabbing a gun from beneath the counter as Tony stared after her, wondering when she'd put that there. Thor ran after Loki, grabbing his arm to stop him, and leveled him with a curious gaze as Loki ripped his arm away, leaving Thor with a hurt expression on his face.
"We find them, yes?" Loki said huskily, eyes red with irritation as he ran out the door with Natasha, and they followed, all except for Tony and Pepper, who looked after the rest of the team and shared confused glances with each other.
"If it's more Asgardians, I swear," Tony started, and Pepper smiled, still clutching his arm with that death grip of hers.
...
By the time they reached the park, all running at full speed and panting shamelessly, Loki found a tree to lean against and collapsed upon the ground, curling forward to retch in the bush beside him as Thor started toward him, concerned, but Loki held up a shaking hand to stop him before leaning back against the tree, sitting tiredly on the grass as he closed his eyes, yearning for the magic so lacking within him, yearning to be rid of the pain in his mortal body.
"Loki, we have to get going," Natasha murmured stonily, unsympathetic, and he nodded in response, but Thor was unconvinced, approaching with caution as he grabbed Loki's arm to help him up.
"What is it?" Thor asked, and Loki, perhaps subconsciously, grabbed his arm in return to help himself stand, wincing in pain.
"I had a rough night," he ground out, and Thor grabbed his shoulders. It was, seemingly to the team around them, exactly like the two shared a telepathic bond, for Loki nodded as Thor stared at him, and the blond nodded back, steeling himself as they both started running again, and the rest followed. Soon, they came to a large clearing-which could be considered a field-amidst the towering, climbing trees, and the various civilians walking across the grass all parted eagerly and with caution, fear bright in their eyes, and Loki found it almost laughable that, even mortal himself, he could still read the humans like open books, and grimaced with discomfort as he walked quickly to the source of the commotion.
The crowd parted, too, for them, and in the next moment, past the mass of people, there were three fast-moving figures, headed straight for them. Thor stopped beside his brother, and Jane ran up to him to clutch tightly to his arm, her previous ire apparently forgotten as she clung to her boyfriend. Steve and Natasha accidentally bumped shoulders when they at last stopped beside the rest of their team, and, awkwardly, he scooted a few inches away, swallowing thickly as he cursed the blush rising to his cheeks, and she, whether from pretending or otherwise, didn't notice, gazing only at the people before them.
Sif, her armor scraped and dotted with crimson blood, carried, if only partly, a worn-looking Fandral, his arm draped over her shoulder as he limped alongside her, blonde hair tousled and cape torn, his clothes equally damaged. Her arm was wrapped supportively about his waist, and with her other she dragged by a heavy chain, marked with aged runes, a woman with tangled blonde hair, her blue eyes intensely, but unnaturally, bright in the morning sunlight. Her cheeks were littered with small cuts, and her dress, or what used to be a dress, was shredded at the bottom, violet material destroyed and soiled with blood and dirt.
The chains chafed at her wrists.
Thor started forward with worry, but stopped short when Sif, her jaw set and grey eyes lit with anger, yanked the chain forward with all of her strength, bringing the woman tumbling down upon the grass. Loki's eyes widened as they fell upon the woman, and he stepped forward slowly, with precision, ignoring the pain in both his chest and his head, the aftermath of the nightmare that had felt all too real, to kneel down upon the ground. She lifted her head, and her golden curls fell to frame her face, such porcelain skin marred with lines of red, and Loki placed two fingers beneath her chin to steady her, making sure that their eyes met. In that moment, he seemed almost regal, proud and vain and carrying all the stance of a king, green eyes darkening with emotion. The woman swallowed nervously, and her wide eyes were fearful beneath his unblinking gaze.
"Finally," he ground out, his voice rough with some sort of emotion that Steve was afraid to figure out, and Thor narrowed his eyes as Sif all but growled at the woman.
"Kill her, for all I care," she looked to Loki, her hands clenched into fists as she panted, "I thought you should do the honors, Loki."
Loki stood and for the first time in quite a while, Thor saw pure hatred in his eyes, the cold kind of loathing that foretold murder, and he stepped from Jane's grasp to place a placating hand on Loki's shoulder.
"Brother," he murmured gently, and Sif, with Fandral leaning more heavily on her, started to smile, her eyes coming alive with an emotion other than hatred. She started forward, lifting her chin despite the line of blood trailing down her face.
"Fandral requires aid; I'm sure we all do," she said clearly, voice raised above the wind.
"What happened?" Thor asked seriously, worried, and she held a hand out to him, the one clutching the odd chain.
"I'll explain once we're safe," she murmured, softer then, and gestured to the woman, "Don't let the wench get free; those chains are the only things binding her magic, and if she gets loose, she'll likely kill us all."
Loki took hold of the chain and pulled the woman up roughly, ignoring the sounds of protest that the action elicited, and turned to Thor, his lips pressed together in a thin line as he gestured to the direction of the tower.
"Shall we?" Steve and Thor both went to help carry Fandral, and Sif walked beside Loki, holding the chain and completely aware of Loki's eagerness to take it himself, while Natasha and Jane stayed a good distance away, wary and confused.
Guess who it issssss (2nd time I've included this character in a fic, but she's going to be different than last time).
Please R&R! Feedback of any kind is always appreciated! ;)