A/N: Thank you for your patience, and here is a long chapter as a reward. Your reviews continue to make me happy; each one makes me grin like an idiot! Many of you have said that you would like it if I wrote a Loki/Sigyn story as a prequel, and so I will start to work on it. I'll probably start posting once I'm done with this story, so it could be a while. Nevertheless, I'll start working on it. I've still got exams, so updates will continue to be slow- thank you to everyone who wished me luck!
Enjoy!
Loki had been at Avengers' Tower for six days when Sigyn returned. She did not use the Bifrost; she simply appeared one morning on the balcony, calmly walking through the doors, dressed in her hunting gear, bow and quiver slung across her back.
He had been standing by the window, and so he had been the first to notice her arrival. He met her by the doors swiftly with long strides. He prayed to whatever higher form there was that she had the Time Gem.
Sigyn sighed. "You could at least let me through the door before you harass me, you know."
Everyone behind him jumped at Sigyn's voice. Loki heard them get up and make their way over.
"I could, but I don't want to. Did you find one?"
"I did."
"Which one?"
(Please be the Time Gem.)
(Please, please, please be the Time Ge-)
"Reality."
(Damn it!)
He closed his eyes and sighed, holding his hand out. He knew what this meant. The Tesseract was in Asgard, the Aether was with the collector, the Mind Gem was on Midgard, now they had the Reality Gem. That left the Gems in Helheim and Muspelheim. And given that the Gem most likely to be in Helheim was the Soul Gem... This was not good. He needed to get to Muspelheim as soon as possible.
"Loki," Sigyn said, and Loki opened his eyes to find a glowing, jaggedly cut, yellow orb hovering in front of him. It emanated the same, seductive power that the other Gems did, and seemed to sing with power.
"Thank you, Sigyn. I trust Frey is well?" He asked, forcing himself to remain composed.
"He is, though he was rather surprised to find out that you had been hiding in his realm for so long."
Loki took the Gem from her, vanishing it to another dimension where he could call upon it when needed. "I hope you told him I was sorry." (Not that I actually am sorry.)
Sigyn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. Not that either of us actually believe that you are."
Loki smirked, despite his rapidly declining mood. "Good."
Sigyn turned serious all of a sudden. "I see you came to the same conclusion I did."
Loki inclined his head. "We must move quickly."
She sighed, casting her eyes down to the floor. "Tonight we lay out our plans, tomorrow we begin, then?"
"Yes. That would be wise."
"Hey, Reindeer Games, you've still not completely explained to us what it is we've got to do here," Stark interjected before either of them could say any more. As intelligent as the mortal was, it was extremely irritating when he interrupted like that, so any of Stark's redeemable qualities meant nothing to Loki then. He was in a bad enough mod as it was.
He turned to face Stark. "It does not matter what my plan is. The only part of it that concerns any of you is the part where I stay here and search for a suitable way to kill Thanos as swiftly and as painfully as possible. Now, If you will all excuse me," he hissed, stalking out of the room.
He needed to adjust his plans again. There was no saying if Thanos already had the Time Gem or not. They needed to get to Muspelheim as soon as possible.
Thor frowned at his brother's behaviour. He knew that the situation with the Gems was bothering Loki, but he had been unusually withdrawn these past couple of days. More so than usual, that is.
"Thor, did I ever tell you how annoying your brother is?" Tony asked, making his way over to the bar to pour a drink.
"Indeed you have. And I think I may start to sympathise with you about it." Norns, Loki was being irritating. Why could he not just let Thor help him for once?
"Does anyone know what exactly he's planning?" Natasha asked, watching the corner that Loki had turned as though he might jump out at any second.
"He says he will go to Muspelheim alone, and steal the Gem," Thor said, frowning. It certainly was not one of Loki's more brilliant plans. He was panicking in his haste to gather the Gems. Anyone who did not know his brother would not be able to tell, but Thor could see an aching fear in Loki's eyes, despite how well he guarded his emotions. It pained him to see his little brother in such a way.
"He isn't sure of anything yet, Thor," Sigyn said quietly. "Tonight, we must plan our actions carefully. Rushing into Surtr's realm without any means of escape is suicide."
Thor half-smiled. "You are going with him."
"Of course. And you, too."
"Of course," he said, inclining his head. There was no way in the Nine Realms Thor was just going to let Loki wander into the Realm of Fire and Ash on his own.
"Wait, what about us?" Clint asked.
Thor exchanged a look with Sigyn. His ex-sister-in-law said, "It would not be wise for any of you to journey there with us. The air is thick with smoke and poison; your bodies would not be able to cope with the toxins."
"Good enough for me," Tony said, eyebrows raised.
But Thor frowned. "It is also unwise to journey to Muspelheim with a party of three."
She smirked- such a knowing, smug curve of the lips that Thor could see why his brother once loved her. "I never said there would just be three of us. First, however, I need to send a message."
Damn his brother for letting his devious traits rub-off on the Elf.
Loki sat in his room, staring at the notes he had written all over the walls. Stark had never said anything about how he... decorated his room, and so he could not complain. He had all kinds of things scrawled over the walls and ceiling- put there by magic- and he adjusted them where it was needed. They were his plans; spells, maps, snippets of information on certain people he may need to speak with.
He sighed and rubbed his templed wearily. He was so tired. How much sleep had he had in the past week? Not enough. Not nearly enough. And yet, he found himself utterly incapable of shutting his eyes for more than a few minutes. Loki was well aware it was unhealthy, but he simply could not bring himself to care enough.
There were things to be done.
(And this way, I do not need to face my nightmares.)
Refusing to think of the horrors that awaited him in the darkness, he rose from the bed and entered his bathroom. He splashed cold water over his face, hoping that it might wake him up a little. It worked, but only slightly.
He was just walking back into his room when he felt the atmosphere crackle.
And then he heard it.
The Bifrost.
Thor met them on the helicopter pad- now used as a temporary Bifrost site- though he could still scarcely believe they were here. Sigyn had asked Heimdall to send them a message, and here they were. Sif, Hogun, Volstagg and Fandral.
The mortals had come out to meet them, though they stayed back while Thor and Sigyn went to greet them.
"My friends! You received the message quickly," Thor said, grinning as he clapped Volstagg on the back.
"Heimdall had it sent straight to us and the Allfather. Your father gave us his leave, and so we are here to help you in any way we can," Sif said, smiling.
"Ah, Sigyn! As fair as always, my dear," Fandral said, taking Sigyn's hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles.
Sigyn only smiled, saying, "You have not changed in the slightest, Fandral."
"I shall take that as a compliment, My Lady," he winked, releasing her hand.
Thor turned to introduce his friends, only to find the mortals looking between the Aesir and a newcomer. Loki leant against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. He did not look pleased in the slightest.
"Loki... will you not come and greet our friends?" As soon as he said it, Thor regretted the words. Loki did not consider Thor's friends to be his own. Not anymore.
The grin that Loki plastered on his face did not ease his worries. His brother pushed himself off the doorframe and strolled forward. There was something distinctly hostile in those viridian eyes.
"My friends," Loki breathed, as though he was relieved even to see them. Thor did not believe it. This was one act that he would not buy into. He could see how Loki was practically forcing himself to remain amiable.
Thor glanced at the Aesir. They seemed uneasy at Loki's appearance- Thor noticed how Sif frowned at Loki's slow movements; how Fandral's smile faded as he raked his eyes over Loki's too-thin body; how Hogun's eyes narrowed slightly at the dark circles beneath Loki's eyes; how Volstagg shifted slightly as Loki stalked closer with a walk that had a distinctly predatory edge to it.
"How good of you to come. Tell me, friends, did the Allfather inform you of the situation? Did he tell you to trust the traitor?" Loki asked, coming to a stop beside Thor.
The God of Thunder frowned slightly.
Much to his surprise, it was Sif who spoke first. "You idiot. You absolute idiot." She shook her head, eyes wide in disbelief.
Thor and Loki raised their eyebrows in unison, surprised. That was not what he had been expecting.
Sif strode forward, coming to a halt in front of Loki with just two feet of space between them. "You should have told us what had happened! Did you truly think we would not care? Did you honestly believe that we would have threatened to kill you if we had known the truth?"
Loki's eyebrows raised even higher. "The truth?" He laughed. Thor stiffened, as did everyone else. There was something unsettling about that laugh. It did not sound right at all. "Would you have believed it? How poor, defenceless Loki was taken from the Void and tortured for nigh-on a year; how he was forced into hurting such sweet, innocent little mortals; how the bastard son of Odin was to blame for nothing? Would you have believed that, Sif?"
"We would have looked into it-"
"Liar!" Loki roared, and everyone around him flinched and took a step back. His magic was making the air crackle as it flared, barely restrained by Loki's ever slipping control.
"Loki, enough!" Thor boomed. Loki needed to calm down now. He would end up hurting himself or someone else if this continued.
Loki glared at him before turning, swiftly striding back into the tower.
Once more, Thor feared he had just made things worse.
Loki slammed the door to his room so hard that it almost fell off its hinges. He breathed heavily as he began to pace back and forth in front of his bed, and he sealed the door with magic when he felt Sigyn approaching. He did not want to see anyone right now.
Why were they here? How could Sif have the audacity to say that to him? Of course none of them would have believed him if he had told them the truth. The only reason they even believed it now was because the blasted Allfather had told them that he could be trusted. Norns forbid that they actually believe in his own word for once.
There was a knock on the door. "Loki?"
"Leave me be, Sigyn."
"Loki, please come out." Thor. He was here too.
"I said leave me be."
"We have to lay out our plans, Loki. The warriors are here to help, not fight you. Just for now, can you please try to work with them? We cannot do this on our own," Sigyn said.
Loki sat down heavily on his bed. He knew damn well that they would not let him go to Muspelheim on his own. He bloody well knew it. And now the four people who most likely despised him the most in Asgard were here, and Loki was expected to work with them?
He had realised long before Sigyn had returned with the Reality Gem that it would be dangerous to go to Muspeheim alone. But it would be just as risky going with a group of people. Did they not realise that their lives would be forfeit if they were caught? Loki could easily escape himself, but it would be far more complicated if he had to aid others in escaping also.
Then again, he had done far trickier things with far less planning...
With a sigh, he rose from the bed and opened the door, making sure to close it behind him so that Thor and Sigyn would not see the walls. He plastered on a smile.
"Well then, we'd better get on with it."
Later, after everyone had eaten- except for Loki, which continued to worry Sigyn, for she knew he had not eaten in a long, long time- they were sat at a large, computerised table. She sat on Loki's left, while Thor was on his other side. The warriors and the mortals- Dr Ross and Miss Potts included- were scattered around the large, round table.
"So, Reindeer Games, what's the plan?" Stark asked. It was with some amusement that Sigyn noted that Loki had stopped snapping at the mortal for calling him absurd names.
"We need to retrieve the Time Gem as soon as possible. If Thanos gets hold of it, then it's all over for us. There will be nothing stopping him from taking the others," Loki turned to the warriors. "What of the Tesseract and the Gauntlet?"
"The Gauntlet has been moved to Vanaheim, and the Tesseract is secure in Asgard," Volstagg replied.
Loki nodded. "We have the Mind, Space and Reality Gems as well as the Gauntlet, then. The Aether is, of course, with Tivan, and... as the Soul Gem is most likely in Helheim, the Time Gem will be in Muspelheim."
"Will Queen Hela be able to guide us through Helheim?" Fandral asked.
"She will. The problem lies with the Aether and the Time Gem. The Collector will be reluctant to give up the Power Gem."
"And this is some super-powerful, insanely old alien, right?" Stark asked.
Loki sighed. "Indeed he is. Tivan is not someone to take lightly. I recommend that we all go."
"All of us?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows.
"His greatest weakness is his fascination for new and wonderful things. I believe that an assortment of Asgardian warriors, Odin's heir, an Elf, Earth's mightiest heroes and a sorcerer would be an irresistible addition to his collection."
Sigyn smirked. "You're going to tell him that he can collect us, are you not?"
Loki mirrored her smirk. "Of course. An offer he can't possibly refuse."
"Hey, wait just a minute! I kind of don't want to be put in a museum or whatever to be stared at by some whack-job alien," Stark exclaimed.
Sigyn raised her eyebrows. To Loki, she said, "Perhaps it would be best if the Man of Iron did not come. Tivan does not take kindly to being insulted."
"You're right. Stark, I advise you to stay-"
"No, no, no- I want to see the whack-job alien. I'll play nice," Stark cut Loki off.
Sigyn barely contained her triumphant grin.
"Good. Now, about Muspelheim... A mortal would not survive the hostile environment. I originally intended to go there myself, but I now see that I have no choice but to go with a party," he said, an unpleasant smile on his face. "Know this: if any of you get in my way, I will leave you."
Sigyn believed him.
Loki was still unhappy that he had to go with the others to Muspelheim. Going to Helheim with them was one thing, but going to the realm of the Fire Giants was another, entirely different game. A sense of foreboding came over him. He just knew that something bad would happen. None of his recent plans ever went perfectly.
He sighed. "Probably in the weapons' vault, deep in Surtr's castle. Which, in itself, is problematic."
"Problematic?" Thor repeated incredulously.
Loki grinned with a false confidence. "Relax, Thor. Am I ever without a plan?"
Thor only rolled his eyes. Good. He thought that Loki was confident. (I am anything but confident about this.)
"Loki, journeying through Muspelheim is incredibly dangerous. We can't rush into this," Sigyn said quietly.
He met her eyes. She knew. She knew that he had his fears about everything failing. "We don't have a choice."
"Go to the Collector first. At least with the Aether, we can threaten to use it against the Fire Giants if they capture us," she said.
Loki's insides twisted. He needed the Time Gem safe and secure, and yet it made sense to go to Tivan first.
"Sigyn, if Thanos gets the Time Gem-"
"Then the Fire Giants will fight back, Heimdall will see, and he will alert us to his presence."
He stared at her for a moment, inwardly debating with himself. The logic of it was sound; it was something he had considered himself at some point. Yet the crippling fear that gripped his heart whenever he thought of Thanos with the Time Gem- with any of the Gems- clouded his judgement and prevented him from making a final decision.
But, in the end, he knew what he had to so. Pushing aside his fear, Loki nodded and said, "Very well then. Tomorrow, we go to the Collector."