Title: Out of Space and Time ch7
Author: sheraiah
Rating: T (to be safe, there's some swearing)
Genre: Avengers/LOTR crossover
Summary: The Tesseract and the Bifrost aren't the only ways by which to travel between the worlds, and there are more worlds than Thor has spoken of. When one of the pathways goes awry, the Avengers are called in to clean up the resulting mess.
Disclaimer: If I owned any of it besides the plot, I wouldn't be slaving away in retail.
A/N: Just a short one this time. FYI, this is where it really starts getting interesting.
Ooo
Odin Allfather stood silently, waiting patiently next to Heimdall for their guest to make his appearance via the Bifrost. Neither Aesir was certain what to expect, but an observer would never have known that by looking at their equally impassive faces. The air shimmered before them and a figure appeared, an old man white haired and bearded and wearing robes and cloak of pristine white.
"Greetings, Odin Allfather. I am Olorin. I have been charged with the task of answering your questions. How is it that we may assist you?"
"Greetings, Olorin. I believe we may help each other in this. It seems that one of your charges has gone astray."
"This is not unknown to us, however the time has not yet come for him to return. There are tasks that must yet be completed. Even so, I have been instructed to ask your aid when the time does come for young Legolas to return home." The being gave the Aesir king an enigmatic smile. "Although, knowing that young elf as I do, this will be no simple thing. Legolas Thranduilion attracts trouble even as flames attract moths." Odin sighed and returned the smile with a knowing one of his own.
"My son is currently with him and has a similar predilection. I fear for the universe." Olorin chuckled. "Come, let us go to my halls and discuss the matter further over a hearty meal and flagons of mead."
ooo
Steve sat at the center island of the common kitchen, Legolas perched on the stool next to his, waiting for the rest of the residents of the Tower to trickle in. He and Legolas had a bet going as to who would be the last one in: Steve betting on Tony and Legolas betting on Clint. The two of them sipped their coffee, Legolas had finally given in and tried it after Natasha made him a cup the way she thought he would prefer it a few days before. He was now hooked, by his own admission.
The two of them had brewed large amounts of coffee, lining everyone's preferred mugs up along the counter and setting the various additives that everyone preferred out in anticipation of their necessity. Steve had also fried an astonishing amount of bacon, which was currently being kept warm in one of the large pans with the heater under it, as were the scrambled eggs, hash browns, and french toast that the super soldier had also prepared.
Legolas was currently tucking into a plate of the french toast, alternating bites of it with bites of bacon dipped in the maple syrup pooled on his plate. He looked to Steve to be far more at ease than he had been earlier, which in turn eased the super solder's mind quite a bit. Perhaps the key was to keep him occupied.
Bruce ambled in, arching an eyebrow at the provisions and shaking his head with a chuckle as he fixed his tea. He grabbed a plate and filled it before sitting down beside Legolas.
"It looks like iHop after pledge night in a college town in here," he commented. "Never mind." he said, catching the confused looks he got from his companions. "We'll have to watch 'Animal House' some time so I can explain that one."
"I'll take your word for that," Steve commented dryly. "Legolas and I have a bet going, want in?"
"What's the bet and what are the stakes?"
"Last one in and kitchen clean up for the next two weeks." Steve was grinning. Bruce pondered for a moment.
"Yes and Thor."
"Done," Steve said, still grinning.
"Done." Legolas' grin was hidden by his coffee mug, but his eyes were merry. "Now all we must do is wait." The elevator dinged and Clint walked in, sunglasses on and rubbing his temples, and headed straight for the coffee. "Damn it," the elf said with a sigh. Steve turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.
"Tony and Clint are a bad influence," the super soldier said, the corner of his mouth twitching. Bruce cleared his throat, looking sheepish.
"Actually, I think that was me," he said, ducking his head and turning his attention onto his food. Clint snickered into his coffee. Legolas just gave all three of them an 'Oh please!' look.
"I would say that I could teach Tony and Clint quite a bit when it comes to profanity," the elf said mildly, popping another bit of bacon into his mouth.
"Challenge accepted, Elf-boy," Barton said, grabbing a plate and stacking bacon slices on it. "But if you really want to torque Tony's cork, teach Steve to swear in Elvish." The elf's smirk morphed into a decidedly evil grin.
"Challenge accepted," he said. "After we find out who won the bet."
"Done," Clint said. "You're betting on who'll be the last one in, aren't you? Assholes." He was smirking, however. "My money'd be on Thor, since Jane's here."
"Exactly," Bruce said, smugly.
"We'll see," Steve said, rising to refill his coffee mug. "Good morning, Tasha," he greeted the assassin as she entered the room. He filled her mug, adding the creamer she favored and handed it to her.
"Thank you," she said quietly, sitting down next to Bruce. After a couple of sips, she looked over the top of her sunglasses at the breakfast spread. "I'd say that was an obscene amount of food, but there probably won't be any leftovers."
"What would you like," Steve asked, picking up a plate. Natasha gave him a measured look before replying.
"Toast and a couple of pieces of bacon." She took another sip of her coffee. "Thank you." Steve just smiled, setting the plate with the requested items in front of her before reloading his plate and sitting back down.
"I think I'm jealous," Clint said. "Teacher's pet." Natasha merely raised her left hand, extending her middle finger before picking up her toast. "Nice! I'm deeply hurt, Tasha."
"You will be," she said quietly.
"Barton, you've got a death wish," Tony said, entering the kitchen area with Pepper just behind him. "Even I'm not crazy enough to mess with her when she's hung over. And by the way, why aren't you?"
"Well, darn it," Steve said, sighing. Bruce chuckled into his tea mug.
"I was drinking as much water last night as I was alcohol," Clint replied, finishing his bacon and forking french toast onto his plate. "Best thing for staving off a hangover. That, and aspirin and a hot shower."
"Hmm, overrated." Tony placed a couple of slices of the french toast and two pieces of bacon on a plate, pouring a small amount of syrup on the toast before passing the plate to Pepper. He poured coffee for both of them, handing Pepper's to her before heaping french toast on his own plate. "Brucie won the bet, I take it. Serves you right for betting against a genius, Capsicle." Legolas leaned over and said something in Steve's ear. The super soldier grinned briefly before getting up and putting his dishes in the sink and heading towards the elevators.
"Mitho orch, Tony."
The billionaire blinked, eyes going wide. "Did he really just tell me to go kiss an orc?"
ooo
Bruce chuckled, listening to Legolas patiently correct Steve's pronunciation. The they had been giving each other language lessons, Steve tutoring Legolas in English and the elf teaching the super soldier and the scientist Sindarin and, Bruce suspected, he had also been teaching Steve a smattering of several other languages. Most people, those who did not know Steve well, tended to believe that he never swore. The Team all knew better. True, he never did it gratuitously but in times of stress or anger, he did let fly with the occasional curse. As for the elf, Pepper had said it best: he might look as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth but the reality was that he had a very puckish sense of humor and took an unholy delight in shocking people. Bruce was fairly certain their most recent S.H.I.E.L.D. handler would never fully recover, but really, he had brought it on himself by talking down not only to the elf but Steve as well. Legolas might have let it slide if it had been just him.
Legolas and Steve both had eidetic memories, which sped up their learning process at a startling rate. Legolas rarely needed his translator any longer, although he continued to use it when on the Helicarrier out of sheer perversity, and Steve was competent to hold a conversation in Elvish. The two of them had taken to spending their mornings before the rest of the Tower's occupants rose for the day in the kitchen conversing in both tongues. Steve had a knack for languages, Bruce knew, and was at least able to make himself understood in German, French, and Russian. As for the elf, he had once told Bruce that he spoke five languages with varying levels of competency, six if one factored in English. Bruce had picked up quite a bit of Elvish and while he was not quite to the level that Steve was, he could usually follow what Legolas said and manage to reply.
In the almost four months since they had glimpsed his father and his dwarven shield brother through the anomaly, Legolas had resolutely kept himself busy to stave off his homesickness. When any of them noticed his usually sunny nature faltering, they came up with distractions. Clint would challenge him on the archery range, Natasha would request his aid with a multitude of projects, Tony would come up with a new gadget he needed to test or a movie the elf hadn't seen, Steve would need another language lesson, etc. As for Bruce, he and to a lesser extent Steve, were Legolas' sounding boards and confidants.
"What are you up to this afternoon, Legolas?" Bruce asked as soon as it looked like the language lesson was winding down.
"Natasha and I are ganging up on Clint in the air ducts," he replied, grinning.
"Two against one isn't fair," Steve said, chuckling.
"Neither is short sheeting my bed and putting dye in my shampoo," the elf retorted, unconcerned. "I believe the phrase is 'payback is a bitch'."
"And why exactly did he short sheet you and pull the trick with the dye?" Bruce asked, amused. Legolas huffed.
"I do not see why he was upset. All I did was switch his coke with Pepper's diet soda. And help Natasha steal all his clothing while he was showering." He shrugged. "He really had no reason at all." The two assassins had quickly found out that Legolas was the only one who could sneak up on either of them and they both used his skills against each other. He was also, much to Tony's chagrin, very adept at avoiding the Tower's surveillance system. Clint and Natasha had been quick to exploit that as well.
"Don't forget the thing with the whoopee cushion and thing with the acid," Steve said, barely containing his laughter. Tony had enlisted Legolas' help in putting a mild acid in Clint's chair one evening at dinner. While it had not been strong enough to harm his skin, his clothing had been melted and the result had been, as Tony gleefully put it: em-bare ass-ing.
"You're all frightening when you're bored," Bruce said, shaking his head. Steve and Legolas just laughed.
Ooo
The anomalies had tapered off a bit over the prior four weeks, only three and only a handful of orcs at each, easily handled by regular S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. The Avengers had other crises to deal with, as Tony termed it 'Evil Idiot of the Week' or terrorist threats, but even those had calmed.
The Team went about their routines in downtime, Steve with his daily runs, workouts, and charity work; Tony with is manic, marathon lab sessions and spending as much time with Pepper as their schedules permitted; Bruce alternating between working on the anomaly issue, reversing his own issues, and medical research that he did as part of a humanitarian effort he belonged to; Clint and Natasha splitting their days between S.H.I.E.L.D. offices and the Tower, chasing each other and Legolas through the air ducts, and disappearing randomly to go to restaurants around the city; and Thor either sparring with the team, sightseeing with Darcy, and spending time with Jane as often as he and Darcy could pry her out of her lab.
Legolas alternated between language lessons, giving in after tweaking Tony mercilessly and finally fine-tuning the genius' command of Sindarin as well as adding conversational Westron, playing air duct tag with Clint and Natasha, language lessons and conversations with Bruce and Steve, and movies with Thor, Darcy, and anyone else who happened to be present. Tony had, on occasion to keep the elf from getting cabin fever too badly, either rented out restaurants and other venues throughout the city or used his private jet to fly the elf and usually Bruce and Steve if not the rest of the Team to places like Yellowstone and other locations so the elf could 'commune with the trees'. None of them wished to see him adversely affected from being cooped up in the Tower for long periods of time.
The call to assemble, Legolas included, therefore almost came as a shock.
Ooo
"Sit rep, Tasha?' Steve asked as soon as the Quinjet was in the air.
"There's definitely an anomaly, but we don't have any reports of anything coming through as of yet," she replied, scanning her tablet. "Apparently the Council feels that we're the only ones qualified to deal with the anomalies, partly due to Legolas' presence, I'm sure. Hence, we get deployed even when there's no evidence of incursion."
"Fury's humoring them. It keeps them from scrutinizing us too closely," Steve stated, lip curling in disgust. Fury wasn't terribly forthcoming, even in the best of times, but he'd still rather deal with him than the council. "If anything goes pear shaped while we're gone, Richards et all or Xavier's people have agreed to take it on. They don't want the Council in their business any more than we do, so they're willing to play along. If this is like most of the rest of the events, the anomaly will have disappeared by the time we get there. If not, we wait until it does." He turned to look at Legolas. "If it's still open, and it's in an area you recognize and it looks safe to, go through before it closes." He smiled tightly. "I'll deal with Fury and the Council." Legolas nodded but remained silent.
The Quinjet landed uneventfully in the Georgia countryside, the anomaly visible in the middle of a peach orchard. They took the report from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had first responded and then set about examining the perimeter for evidence of incursions. Nothing turned up, and they all congregated back in front of the anomaly. The waiting game had begun.
Ooo
Thor paced back and forth in front of the anomaly, idly twirling Mjolnir. Clint and Natasha had produced a deck of cards from who knew where and were cheating each other at poker. Steve merely sat still, attention focused on the hole in reality. Bruce, Tony and Legolas conversed quietly, analyzing the readings Tony was getting via his suit and discussing the advisability of Legolas traveling through the anomaly. He thought the terrain looked like the Southern part of Rohan, but there was no certainty of it. So things remained for the better part of two hours until Thor walked over and sat down beside Clint.
Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and a pulling sensation and then all of them were falling, tumbling into one another. Then with a jolt, they landed onto grassy soil. Tony, insulated in his suit, was the first to stand and take stock of things. He turned in a circle, surveying the landscape, before ending where the anomaly had been. Flipping his face plate up, he stared at the unfamiliar landscape.
"Oh, SHIT!"
TBC