ONE STEP FORWARD, FOUR STEPS BACK
A THOR/AVENGERS FANFICTION
CHAPTER SIX: The Escape
WARNING: This chapter implies the psychological torture and refers to the physical torture of a minor. If you don't like, don't read. And please, no hate.
Two full days had passed since Thor and Askr ventured into Fjørlag-Bryggja. Since then Thor had planned every aspect of his rescue of Loki and their escape from Asgard. Hiemdall had agreed to assist Thor and Loki out of Asgard and into Midgard, and that he would locate an ally of Thor's placing Thor and Loki as near to that person as he could manage. He also agreed to cover for them as long as he was capable of. That was much more than Thor had asked for or expected and was extremely grateful. Thor had decided early on from Askr's advice to break in at night. The Høndla-Fjørlag must sleep a full ten hours uninterrupted, so Thor decided to go at midnight. He just hoped that the Høndla-Fjørlag were sound sleepers. On the third day since his original trek, Thor was in his chamber preparing for the rescue. He was studying the Fjørlag-Bryggja in detail (maps given to him by Hiemdall) when someone knocked on his door.
"Come," Thor called, hiding his maps. The last thing Thor wanted was for Odin to walk in and discover what he was planning. To his relief Askr came in, Frigga following close behind him. Thor noticed that Frigga looked distraught.
"Askr tells me you're planning on going to the Fjørlag-Bryggja," Frigga said sadly.
"Yes mother," Thor said. Frigga walked over and took Thor's hands in her own.
"Thor, I know you can do it. Please, just be careful and look after Loki. I know you won't return..." Frigga said, her voice trailing off and eyes filling with tears. Thor kissed his mother's check lightly.
"We shall return, just not right away. It is dangerous for the both of us to be in Asgard right now. Midgard is safest for both of us." Thor soothed. Frigga gave a dry sob.
"I know that, son. It's just that this will be the third time in months that I have lost both my sons." Frigga whispered. Thor felt an instant pang of guilt; the last few months had been rough on his mother. In such a short time, one son left home forever and committed horrible war crimes and the other chased after him thus becoming enemies with the other. It was difficult for Frigga to watch her sons fight to the death over things that they shouldn't be fighting about at all. To make matters worse, they were separated again and one was in the most dreaded prisons in all the realms. Perhaps if she and Odin had been honest with Loki from the beginning…Not that it mattered now. There was no reasoning with Odin and what had occurred couldn't be erased. The guilt rose up in Thor's chest, pressure increasing as he continued to stare into his mother's pain-filled face. It was almost too much for him to bear.
"I am sorry that I hurt you and that I continue to hurt you," Thor said, breaking eye contact, "but this is something I must do." Frigga nodded and embraced Thor.
"I love you, mother," Thor said.
"And I you. Tell Loki that I love him," Frigga said softly. Thor nodded and the hug ended. Frigga kissed Thor's forehead and left.
"Thor," Askr began, "please be cautious. Fjørlag-Bryggja as you know is a dangerous place." Askr said. Thor nodded and patted Mjölnir.
"Fear not, Askr. Loki and I shall be fine." Thor reassured him. Askr smiled briefly and nodded.
"Loki is a lucky child," Askr said. Thor's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Why is that?" Thor asked. He could think of no reasons in any way that Loki would be considered lucky. In a short period of time, his whole life was flipped upside down due to circumstances beyond his control. From his point of view, he was happy and playing with Thor the day before his transformation and was now imprisoned for war crimes some maniac committed. How did that make Loki lucky?
"To have such a great older brother," Askr answered, a smile playing on his lips. Thor blushed slightly; that was unexpected. People seldom complemented his brothering skills, especially of late. Thor had never considered himself to be a great brother, thinking himself as being decent at best. Thor returned Askr's smile, thoroughly flattered and embarrassed.
"Thank you," Thor replied, blush still filling his cheeks. He and Askr shook hands and then embraced briefly. Askr said his good-byes then left, leaving Thor to prepare for the night ahead.
In the hour before midnight, Thor crept out of his chamber with Mjölnir in his belt. He followed the torch lit hallway to the point where only a few torches shone and the floor cut off; Thor had arrived at the drop off. Acting fast, Thor dropped to the floor and repeated Askr's actions from the last time, running his hands across the floor. After a moment of searching blindly in the dim light, Thor's hands wrapped around a lever. Thor pulled on it and the sounds of ground rising up were heard. He waited until the torch at the top of the path was seen before venturing onward. Thor grabbed the torch and began to walk down the slanted hall to Fjørlag-Bryggja.
The prisoners were quiet when Thor walked passed. They were all sleeping, slumped against the walls of their cells. The smell of the prison was just as strong as it was the other day and just as sickening. Before checking the room Loki was in the last time, Thor looked into the cell Askr stopped at and found that it was empty. Thor sighed and headed down the hallway. When he reached the door, it was locked again. He gripped Mjölnir tightly, raised it, then struck the door. The door broke off one of the hinges and Thor kicked the door, moving it aside. He stepped over it and walked in, the smell worse than it was three days ago. Thor glanced around and saw Loki lying down against the wall. Thor hurried over and scooped Loki up without waking him and sprinting out of the room. Loki was passed out and more feverish than he was three days ago. Thor held him close, the gentle and constant sound of Loki's heartbeat pounding in his ears. Loki's heartbeat was keeping him from panicking.
Within ten minutes, Thor and Loki were out of Fjørlag-Bryggja. Thor was sprinting through the halls hoping that none of Odin's guards would spot him cradling Loki to his chest. Luckily, Thor ran into no problems and ran out of the palace without being seen. The cobblestones were rough and caused Loki to bounce in his arms. Loki stirred a little and moaned. Thor glanced down and was met by Loki's sleepy green eyes.
"Thor?" he questioned tiredly.
"Go back to sleep, Loki. All is well." Thor soothed. Loki nodded and nuzzled his face into Thor's chest. The boy shivered feverishly, but didn't stir again. Thor stroked Loki's sweat-soaked hair and kept going.
Thor ran to the Bifrost Bridge where Hiemdall was waiting. The sad sight of the broken bridge reminded Thor of the battle were Loki left, thought to be dead. But with the boy in his arms, it was difficult to dwell on that painful day. Thor reached Hiemdall, who was holding a knapsack in his hand. The gate-keeper handed it to him, Thor taking it and rummaging through it, neither one speaking. Inside were a change of clothes for each person and two blankets, one of which was Loki's prized green one. At the bottom was Loki's stuffed goat. Thor placed everything back inside the bag and looked up confusedly at Hiemdall.
"Where did this come from?" Thor asked.
"Frigga prepared it and delivered it to me earlier this evening. She was worried for you." Hiemdall replied. Thor nodded and Hiemdall turned away. Thor walked forward to stand at the gate-keeper's side.
"Are you ready, Lord Thor?" Hiemdall asked. Thor nodded.
"Aye," Thor replied, holding Loki closer. Hiemdall took a deep breath and a blue light engulfed Thor.
"It is good to have the Tesseract back," Hiemdall murmured as the light grew stronger. Thor felt his feet slowly leave the ground. The familiar sensation of traveling by the late Bifrost pulsed through his veins as Hiemdall faded away. Stars surrounded him as he rocketed through space, eyes watering. It was over nearly as soon as it happened. Thor found himself standing in a field, the blue light still glowing like fire. He walked forward and realized he was standing on a hill, overlooking a brightly lit city. Thor recognized it as the city of New York. He adjusted Loki so that he wasn't cradling him anymore and began walking down the hill toward the city.
Pepper Potts was exhausted. She was helping Tony organize city clean-up programs to help speed up the recovery of New York after that battle. On top of it all, everyone in the world wanted to speak with Tony and it was her job to sort through them. The car was speeding down the highway toward the city when the car suddenly screeched to a halt. Pepper gasped and leaned over to talk with the driver when she saw why the car had stopped. Thor was standing in the middle of the highway, squinting in the bright light of the car's headlights.
"Oh my God," she breathed, stepping out of the car. She hurried over, Thor glancing over and meeting her eyes. She stopped a couple of feet from him, his blue eyes glinting beautifully in the light.
"Evening maiden," he called. Pepper gasped as she saw that Thor was carrying a small boy in his arms.
"Uh… you're Thor, right?" Pepper asked. Thor smiled, his teething catching the light.
"That's right," he responded cheerfully.
"My name is Pepper Potts. I know Tony Stark. Would you like a ride?" she asked gesturing toward the stopped car. She looked closer at the little boy and saw how pale and sickly he looked. Pepper wondered what happened to him and why Thor had him with him. She shook her head; that was a question for later.
"You would take me to the building they call Stark Tower?" Thor asked. Pepper nodded.
"Well, I'd take you anywhere you'd like to go, but yes; if you want to go to Stark Tower then I'll take you to the Tower." Pepper explained. Thor adjusted the boy in his arms and nodded.
"I shall go with you," Thor said. Pepper led Thor to the car and he slid inside. She went to the other side and got in. Thor didn't put the boy down nor did he put his seatbelt on.
"Keep going," Pepper told the driver and the car began moving again. Pepper pulled out her phone and began to text Tony; he'd probably want to know that Thor was back on Earth. Once she was finished, Pepper glanced over at the boy. He was still sound asleep, some drool escaping from his mouth. He was awfully cute, but visibly hurt. Pepper kept staring at him and saw multiple cuts and bruises on his exposed skin. His clothes were visibly torn and dirty, the smell finally reaching Pepper's nostrils. The sweat forming on his pale forehead made Pepper suspect that he was running a fever. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to go ahead and ask who this mysterious little boy was.
"Who's that?" Pepper asked. Thor blinked and looked at Pepper.
"Hmm?" he murmured, obviously tired.
"Who's the kid?" Pepper asked again. Thor glanced down. His face went from content to pained in a matter of seconds. Pepper wondered what that was all about.
"Oh," Thor said, "believe me. You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Pepper's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Oh," Pepper said, "Why? What happened to him?" Thor sighed again, his face in a sort of grimace.
"It is a long tale that you shall hear when Stark is present," Thor explained, obvious sadness and guilt in his voice. The boy moaned and shifted a little, but didn't wake. Thor buried his face in the boy's hair. Pepper's phone vibrated and she looked at it; the message was from Tony.
"That freak's back already? That was fast. What does he want?" Pepper sighed and began typing her response.
"I'm not sure, but he's got a kid with him." Pepper sent the message and glanced over. Thor was stroking the child's hair. Pepper smiled and waited for Tony to text back. Buzz. She picked up her phone and read the message:
"A kid? Damn, that's strange. Think it's his?" Pepper thought for a moment and looked at the two of them. They sure didn't look related and Thor had only mentioned one woman to Tony, a girl by the name of Jane Foster. Pepper was assuming that Thor had come from Asgard so it was safe to say that this boy wasn't the son of Thor and Jane. Plus, from what Pepper understood, Thor had only known Jane for a few days, making it highly unlikely that this boy was their son. However, nothing was set in stone and Pepper honestly didn't know anything about Thor at all.
"Not sure. It doesn't look that way but you never know." Pepper put her phone away and saw that Thor was watching her.
"Is something wrong?" Pepper asked. A thousand questions ran through her head about the boy, why Thor was here, are you comfortable…etc.. She realized that she wouldn't get any answers right now, but it was difficult to keep her mind clear. Thor's face was full of confusion and she realized that he was staring at her pocket.
"No. What are you doing?" Thor asked. Pepper took out her phone and glanced at it.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, realization flowing through her, "I was texting Tony," Pepper explained. Thor's brow furrowed as she spoke, clearly not understanding what she was saying. She knew that he had limited knowledge of Earth things having only visited twice and it made since that he would be totally lost on a topic like texting.
"Texting? What is texting?" Thor asked.
"Um...well..." Pepper began, unsure of how to explain such a simple concept to an Asgardian demi-god, "It's like talking to someone through the phone but instead of calling them, you type out what you want to say and send it to them. It's faster than calling." Pepper explained.
"Fascinating," Thor said, "But how does Stark receive your letter?" He asked as her phone buzzed again. Pepper blushed slightly and checked her phone.
"Excuse me," she said, reading Tony's message.
"That's bizarre. Is he coming to the Tower?"
"Yes, we'll be there soon." Pepper put her phone down and stared out the window. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the boy stir. She looked over and saw him blink, revealing two big, frightened green eyes.
"Thor? W-wha's happening? Where are we?" he asked frantically, shivering into Thor's chest. Thor stroked his hair, obviously trying to calm him down.
"It's alright little one, you are safe," Thor soothed. The boy didn't seem to know Pepper was sitting next to Thor, making this whole thing more awkward for her.
"'M cold," the boy whispered, getting closer into Thor's chest.
"I'm so sorry," Thor choked out, his voice pained and full of guilt. Pepper felt a twang of pity for Thor; he clearly blamed himself for the boy's condition. Although unsure of what happened to him, she knew it wasn't pleasant. The boy didn't speak again and a silence fell upon them, not broken until Pepper's phone buzzed again. The boy frantically looked around for the source of the sound and locked eyes with Pepper's. His gaze was so strong it was almost intimidating.
"Don't worry," Pepper said, feeling awkward since she didn't know the boy's name, "it was just my phone." The boy's brow furrowed.
"Phone? Wha' does tha' mean?" he asked. Pepper sighed and glanced down at the phone, unsure of how to explain it.
"Well…a phone is a device that allows you to talk to people that are far away from you." Pepper explained in the simplest way she could. His eyes widened in amazement and he looked at her phone as it buzzed again.
"Someone really w'nts to talk with you," he commented, looking away. Pepper smiled and opened the messages, knowing already that they were both from Tony.
"Hope the kid's house trained." Pepper rolled her eyes at that one and read the next one:
"Heeelloooo? You still there or are you not talking to me?" Pepper stifled a giggle and responded:
"Of course I'm still talking with you Mr. Stark, and I believe the child in question is in fact 'house trained'" Pepper sent it and saw the child staring at her again. She instantly assumed he needed something.
"Do you need something?" she asked, still feeling awkward that she didn't know his name. He shrugged.
"Not really. I just w'nted to know your name." he said innocently, flashing a grin. For not feeling well and clearly injured, he was surprisingly in a good mood.
"Oh," Pepper said, "my name's Pepper." The boy's face split into a full-fledged smile.
"Tha's nice," he said still holding her gaze, "well, my name's Loki!" Pepper felt her heart stop.