Summary: The war between Jotunheim and Asgard draws to a close, but thanks to a horrible twist of Fate (or perhaps not), the nameless runt of Laufey-King is not discovered by Odin and so begins a remarkable journey of life that should not have been. Jotun!Loki AU. Set pre-/during-/after Thor/Avengers Assemble. MCU-verse only.

Warnings: ANGST! Loki-whump! Language, adult situations, violence, child abuse, dub-con, sexual assault (also of a minor), substance abuse, one abortion scene (sort of), slavery, sex trade (maybe), some mild original character/Loki M/M pairings. Also F/M pairings.

Comments: This is not a slash fic. Sorry. It's Loki-centric, although I definitely show the rest of the Avengers and etc. Please review! Constructive criticism welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers. Marvel owns it. I do not get paid for this piece of work. Sadly, but understandably. LOL.

Sorry for the delay! LIFE! (See below.)

Thanks to: InsolentKatt, vincent1875, Basia Orci, and wbss21. Thanks for taking the time to support this fic! Thanks to everyone for reading!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

Distortions In Time
Chapter 83
Game Play

[...Time...]

[...Time is the cage-keeper...]

[...there is no going but forward...]

[...there is only success and regret...]

[...and some would turn back the sands of Time...]

The darkness lasted only for a few beats. When Loki finally looked up and around dazedly, the world appeared to suddenly spring into motion. Thor's voice came into sharp and annoyingly loud focus, Steve was standing to the side and guarding the newly captured mage, and overhead, the speakers of the aircraft, which had began to tell Flarathir to stand down, cut out and gave way to some strange kind of metallic noise. A kind of music. At the sound, Thor and Steve began to scan the sky immediately, frowning. Flarathir twisted about as well. However, the bonds now crystallized in ice and magick held firm and all the older Asgardian could do was squirm, hands hanging loosely from his side.

"Coming in to get this job done," a sharp, husky, no nonsense voice resounded around the small square.

From around the corner of a large building a block over whizzed a brilliant trail of fire and power and a streak of red and gold, rocketing toward them. Loki tensed, but when Thor sagged – and did he just sigh, Loki asked himself incredulously – and the super-soldier whipped around, hand rising in protest, Loki realized that something else entirely different was unfolding.

With next to no warning and without a moment's pause, the blur of metal and fire blasted into Flarathir, throwing the mage back several paces. Groaning as his back hit the edge of a rather icy stone curb, Flarathir struggled to sit upright. Now stationary and on its feet, the attacker appeared to be a robot of some kind. Loki's eyebrows rose.

Robotics on Midgard. This is new... I will have to update the Mage's Archives when I return... If I return, Loki corrected himself. No, no, he remembered Thor's words belatedly. When I return. Hope... Loki sighed. It is hard to hold onto, even if the battle went well, hope is... hard to hold onto.

"Don't move, Merlin." The robot stepped forward, hands blazing.
"Uh, he's not going anywhere," Steve ran over to Flarathir's side, pulling their captive onto his feet.
"We already captured him," Thor said, definitely rolling his eyes with a sort of amused exasperation. "The situation was under control."
"I had already surrendered!" Flarathir sputtered. "Barbarians!"
"Tell that to the Museum."

With that, the face plate of the robot slid away to reveal a sharp-featured, keen-eyed man with dark hair and deep brown eyes. Loki snorted, which drew a sharp glance from the newcomer. After nodding at Steve, who began to talk over his earpiece with the pilot in preparation for an emergency landing and pickup, Thor pulled away from his younger brother a little and gave Loki a hard look.

"You are-"
"I am on my own two feet," Loki jerked away, feeling the narrowed gaze of the robotic man even more than ever. Making his way over to Flarathir and Steve, Loki hissed softly as sharp pain ran through his hands and arms. "I am fine."
"It was a close thing," Thor said, following Loki and trying to hide his concern at Loki's stiff movements. "But," he added hastily, "we did not need Iron Man's help thanks to you."
"Loki did some good work," Steve agreed with a grateful nod. "Thanks."
"It was good teamwork," Loki replied with a shrug. "I could not have achieved it alone."
"By the Norns," snapped Mage Flarathir, "is this to be some glad reunion?"
"Yeah. What's with the love fest?" The metal robot man flapped a hand dismissively.
"Never mind," Steve muttered, glaring at nothing in particular.

Their aircraft swooped down and settled neatly in the middle of the great ice circle, its ramp lowered and one of the co-pilots beckoned. In the distance, a loud wail was rising – some kind of siren. As they rose in the air, Loki peeked out of the front window and caught a glimpse of lines of flashing red and blue and white lights carefully maneuvering their way around capsized vehicles and chunks of metal and stone and ice littering the streets which led to the square.

"The cavalry," the metal man said, "has arrived. Late as usual."
"I think they were told to pull back," Steve said quietly, "which I am thankful for. There is nothing worse than getting unprepared law enforcement involved."
"Iron Man-" Thor began.
"We've been on a few dates now. You can call me Stark, Thor, or Tony – whichever you prefer," the so-called 'Iron Man''s face twitched as if he smelled something rank. "Tony's between friends. And you are friends. In a way. I suppose," Here, he gave the Captain a hard look. "But don't call me Anthony. Stark is better. Stark is good."
"Stark," Thor began again. "Why did you come?"
"You didn't know?" Stark paused theatrically. "You didn't know. Of course."
"We weren't told," Steve said coolly.
"There's a lot you aren't told," shot back Stark.

A silence followed during which Loki worked his way back – slow and swaying – to the metal seats offered in the vehicle. Not too near Flarathir, for he had no wish to get involved in a flyting match.

Loki, settling into a seat, eased back surreptitiously, closed his eyes and listened to the exchange between the three men. It was obvious that there were deep currents of mutual distrust and dislike between the super-soldier and the metallic man – Steve and Stark. Thor also seemed to be more annoyed by newcomer than usual. For a person who is usually very gregarious and welcoming, Thor does not seem to be impressed by the Iron Man... Cracking open his suddenly heavy eyelids a little, Loki shot Thor a hooded glance. Thor seems uncertain. And he does seem torn... Hmmm...

The super-soldier did not respond immediately to Stark's comment, instead choosing to stare broodingly out the front windows of the aircraft. Standing side by side, the two men, to Loki, seemed to be two roosters giving each other glinting stares, standing tall and refusing to give ground within the roost.

"Well," Stark continued with a shrug, pulling off his helmet smoothly. "You're looking good – for a senior citizen. What's your secret?" At Steve's frown, a cocky grin spread over Stark's face. "No. Wait. Let me guess. Pilates? Was Pilates around in your time? Or is yoga your thing now?"
"Yoga," Thor's brow crinkled and then he chuckled. "I have not seen Steve practicing yoga. Darcy says it is more of a woman's exercise – but she also said that when a man does it well, it is – and I quote her word for word on this – 'God's gift to the world'."
"There you go," Stark grinned. "Something for the Capsicle here to think over." He glanced sideways at Loki. "What's with Death dude over there? He's like he walked off The Crow's set or something."
"Death is a woman, I would have you know," Loki said deadpan.
"What? Death is a figure with a cowl, a skeleton and a scythe," Stark said. "Last time I checked, no breasts."
"You-" Steve failed to find words. "Stark."
"Oh, Loki is right," Thor nodded agreeably. "Death is a woman. Her incarnation takes on many shapes but to many in the Nine Realms, Death is a woman."
"Not to be confused with Hel of Helheim which borders on Niflheim," Loki added wickedly, noticing a look of intrigued horror and confusion spread over Stark's face as he realized the two were totally serious. "Thor had a bright idea once, I heard, of attacking her horde of undead. I am so glad I missed out on that particular misadventure."
"Misadventure?" Thor protested. "We did not lose!"
"Neither did you win, may I point out."
"Yes, but neither did we lose!"
"Were you not removed forcibly by Heimall and Father?" Loki asked archly.
Thor struggled for a moment before managing to say with some pride, "Well, we were removed against our wills. We had everything under control."
"Not if you go by Sif's account of the tale."
"Wait a second," Stark waved a hand. "You attacked Hell?"
"Helheim," Thor corrected the Iron Man.
"Maybe it is their hell," Loki said thoughtfully.
"I don't think so," Steve said.
"Says the guy who believes in God," snorted Stark. "You're very romantic, Rogers, but you really need to get with the times. Gods are aliens and Hell is a Realm you can attack – apparently."
"You believe them?" Steve raised an eyebrow, deciding to ignore Stark's obvious rudeness.
"Well, not necessarily – but they are aliens. That is indisputable fact. What I think is more interesting is what you think."
"I think," Steve smiled, "that, as Shakespeare said, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy'."
"I thought that was Hamlet's line," quipped Iron Man.

Steve gave the Iron Man a look. Iron Man glared back but refrained from cross-questioning anyone else any further – although Loki could see that the obviously talkative man found the ensuing quiet to be rather burdensome. Thor, in the end, chose to attempt to bridge the awkward chasm which existed between the two men. Loki knew that Thor's gift was one of charisma – and the ability to bring his warriors together. Within a few minutes, Thor and the Iron Man were able to share a few jokes and remark on recent events which had happened somewhere on Midgard. However, even then conversation lagged and the long silence which followed hung about the aircraft for the rest of the ride.

Despite its relative shortness, the trip seemed to last forever thanks to the strained silence between the two humans, Thor's awkward attempts to bridge the gap between the two men and the presence of a powerful captive. Drifting in and out of a light sleep, Loki kept half an eye on the Midgardians whom he had perforce called 'team' and kept the other half eye on the suspiciously calm, quiet and passive High Mage.

Not that the bonds are loosening any time soon, Loki reminded himself. At a word, they will release, but I would have imagined that High Mage Flarathir would test them in some way. Instead, he merely sits there... From under heavy lidded eyes, Loki perused the brown cloak, the blue and white uniform of the Mages and the high-quality dragon-hide boots below. It was annoying how nothing seemed out of place despite the hard battle from which he had just walked away. He sits there and he watches...

I do not like it one bit. Not one bit.

[...the ones who take on the burden...]

[...who stare into the abyss...]

[...and discover the truth...]

[...hold those secrets...]

Upon landing, the small group of fighters disbanded almost immediately. To where Stark and Rogers disappeared, Thor did not know, nor did he care, for Loki still, to Thor's experienced eye, looked unwell and moved in a more lethargic manner than usual. Despite the fact that he must have been fatigued, however, Loki did not lower his chin or relax his stiff, wary posture until Flarathir had been contained in the round cell Fury had prepared. Once Flarathir was installed within, Loki, with an odd pen offered him by the Agent Hill (which the woman had called a 'permanent marker', giving Loki an odd sense of relief at the efficacy of the writing tool), was able to draw three sigils on each holding post surrounding the mage. It was an independent working without need of his direct control which allowed Loki to release his more power-consuming hold on the mage.

Exhaling noisily at the release, Loki sagged a little on his feet and closed his eyes for a few seconds before straightening. As the world steadied about Loki, Thor's strong muscled arm was there about his shoulders. Loki shrugged his brother off with a muttered, "I am fine." Thor refrained from a snappy response.

No, you are not, he thought instead. I suppose, in a way, you cannot admit that. You never could. Norns know I never did either. It was something we were all raised with – in our own way. Vulnerability and weakness as a slave meant certain death and the old Loki – Kol'la as he was then – would never have shown this side. Even after... Even after, he never shared his pain easily. Asgard demands strength.

Thor could imagine Jane rolling her eyes and mumbling something about 'stupidity' and 'pig-headedness'.

This is different. Loki could have the luxury of resting, but he is pushing himself for our sake. Thor frowned. Perhaps I could ask Coulson to put him to sleep for a short while. He searched for the word Jane had taught him around a year back – when he had woken from a long sleep which enabled the then wounded Thor to heal quicker. Sed... Sedate? Sedation? Whatever it is, I could ask Coulson... but then Loki would be angry...

Fury was beginning to speak with Flarathir now. Warning him. Sizing him up. Attempting to catch a glimpse of the mage's plan. Thor, tugging on Loki's elbow, led his younger brother away. Loki reluctantly followed, turning to look back at the dark-skinned Midgardian and the knowing dark eyes of the Asgardian.

"It is not enough," Loki was saying with another heavy sigh. "He will be able to work around the spells within the hour."
"Fury and Coulson will think of something," Thor reassured Loki. "The Director has told me before of this cell. It may contain Flarathir well enough on its own. You need to think more of yourself. You need to rest."
"We need to talk."
"Talk later," Thor said firmly. "Rest now."
"But-"
"Just a short nap."
"A short one," Loki finally acquiesced. "If you do not wake me within a half an hour, I will find you and-"
"And what?" Thor asked amused.
"I do not know," Loki yawned. "I will think up something when I wake."
"I will leave that to you then."

With that Thor trundled Loki into his small room, slung the half-asleep Loki onto his bed and sat down for a quick nap himself. It was going to be a long day. Thor knew. It had just begun.

-0-0-0-

Downstairs, the tall, darkly clad, leather-coated, one-eyed Director of SHIELD glowered through the large stretches of glass at the now very familiar figure of their currently most fearsome enemy: the blue and white uniformed, deceptively elderly-looking bearded old man. Flarathir. That was what Loki had called the man. Beneath the second exiled prince's voice, there had been a small note of fear and awe. Obviously someone powerful from Asgard.

Fury withheld a sigh. Carefully watching as the mage turned slowly around. Flarathir's knowing gaze was unsettling, running along and around the edges of his cell thoughtfully. No doubt those sharp blue eyes had already judged and weighed the measure of might as evidenced by the round container.

"This wasn't made for you," Fury said simply, hitting the button to the release doors below the cell. At their opening, the passing air's roar resounded around the circular room. He shut the doors and continued: "But I think it will do its job well in your case. If you so much as look like you are going to try anything, if even the tiniest crack in the glass appears... Well, we're all curious to see how well Asgardian physiology deals with falling over ten thousand feet."

Flarathir leaned forward and eyed the metal joints which delicately held his holding cell in place. Then a smile passed over his visage swiftly.

"Not looking so ignorant and weak now." Fury smirked. "I think it's pretty obvious that we can and will hold our own – and our 'games', as you called them, hold their own particular... set... of consequences."
"All I see is the posturing of children, playing at being men," Flarathir snorted and gave Fury a knowing look. "You know not truly what powers the Tesseract holds. What have you achieved with it after all? A warm light for humanity? Or something less benign, something more prosaic and in its way very dangerous, and yet – how small! – something..." A knowing pause. "Something that may never find the light of day? Something that will tear your kind apart?"

Fury could feel his shoulders tensing and his back stiffening. His gaze narrowed at Flarathir's implications. How much has Barton told him? Then the Director remembered Loki's words. He cursed briefly. Damn mages.

"You have no idea of what we are capable," Fury returned calmly.
"I have no idea? Oh," Flarathir chuckled. "I have an idea. We have, after all, watched Midgard grow from the ashes of the First Fires, from the clouds of magick during the earliest moments of creation. During the days of the Uncounted Time, as Life carved for herself a niche in the darkness of the Void, our people rose strong – and other peoples as well," Here Flarathir's gaze flickered to the cameras and then back to Fury. "Your people were little better than the remnants of nomads from an overly expanded empire... an empire so vast, and so old, it is beyond the recall of memory..."
Fury rolled his eyes and waved a hand and interjected sarcastically, "Lost in the mists of time?"
"Hm," Flarathir raised his chin imperiously in response to Fury's lack of deference to common Asgardian knowledge. "At any rate, as I said previously – your kind are children who have no hope of harnessing the Tesseract without understanding what True Power is."

Fury could almost hear the capitalization of 'true power'.

"Well," he said, "let me know when True Power needs a magazine."

With that he turned and strode off. Fury did not look behind.

-0-0-0-

Those blue eyes were as clear as Earth's sky – and yet there was something beneath them all. Something unsettling. Bruce Banner, massaging his forehead in a desperate bid to ease his rising headache, sighed.

Nothing good is going to come of this, he thought.
Nothing good, something deep down inside him echoed. A whisper, a low grumble. Listen.

Glancing around the white lab in which he had been installed, the scientist shivered. There was something relaxing about the impersonal nature of the room – the gently beeping monitors and machines, the soft glow of the flexi-screens and projector and the cleanliness. Everything was so clean. It was nothing like India. Entirely devoid of the oppressive heat, the ever present grime and the pervasive curry and sewage odors mixing together.

Nothing good.
...HERE...
Listen.

Bruce Banner twisted, hands clenching into hard fists as he fought hard to maintain control. It was unsettled, it wanted to tear apart the enemy, it wanted to rip apart the world to find that voice – what voice, Bruce asked his other self desperately – it wanted to be free.

With that thought, the quiet doctor made his way blindly toward the door, passing by two soldiers bearing a small black crate labeled 'Top Secret'.

"This is for you, Doctor," one of them said, confused as he turned about, trying to halt Bruce in his tracks but obviously unwilling to physically come into contact with the volatile human.
"Uh, just, uh, um," Bruce hurriedly said, squeezing past them in the doorway to get out into the hall. "Just, uh.."
"Where do you want us to set it up?"
"On the table by the window."

With that Bruce fled. He needed to get out. He needed to get out.

[...the Darkness is not empty...]

Forty-five minutes later, everyone found themselves escorted to an unusual conference room which opened out into the control room of the helicarrier. At least it looked like a conference room, but Loki knew from his previous visit that this was, in fact, the command office of the dark-skinned human known as Fury. A Midgardian named Fury in command of a military unit with, no doubt, massive firepower and weaponry (for Midgardians at any rate). Loki could appreciate the sinister appropriateness of the situation.

Seated at the round table, the dark-haired, green-eyed mage looked about at the humans invited to the meeting. On his immediate left, Thor sat. Beyond Thor, a red-haired woman in a simple black, body-hugging black suit hunched. With a glance, Loki could tell that the female warrior (obvious thanks to her unconsciously defensive posture) was hiding a well of worry. About whom, he could not tell. An agent. Loki remembered Thor commenting on the archer.

She is not the only one, Loki thought grimly as his sharp-eyed gaze fell on the man who hovered uncertainly behind the woman, pacing in short circles between the table and the door. The quiet, older, graying curly-haired man did not wish to be there, yet he also seemed apprehensive about something else. There is something else... Loki could not quite give words to his misgivings, but he felt the vaguest whisper of something emanate from the human. Something dark.

Across from Thor, the Captain sat. Captain America, Thor had said his name was. That was the face presented to the world, but to Thor the blue, red and white uniformed tall Midgardian seemed to be an unassuming name: Steve. And Steve, Thor had said, is a good man. Loki felt as though the honesty within the super-soldier's blue eyes was rather disconcerting. Good men, after all, can rarely find their place within a world of greed and selfishness. Loki wondered what the good Captain would think of SHIELD's secrets. Not that I know exactly what those secrets are, Loki mused, and it would for the best of our new, and as yet fragile team, to not create distrust in an atmosphere already filled with tension. If only dreams were more detailed and less fragmented...

Beside the Captain, sitting opposite to Loki, Hill, a tall dark-haired woman in the standard uniform, stood. She had said something about Fury running late with another conference. Until then, they were to wait and review the video of Fury's initial talk with Flarathir – and discuss some preliminary strategies on what to do next.

Finding the Tesseract should be the first priority, Loki had immediately thought. Yet, with all reports coming in, who – or what – will be weeding out the false alarms from the true? So much depends on the veracity and timeliness of the reports, Loki rubbed his eyes tiredly. It may not be enough. Whatever the Midgardians may think, we remain still on the defensive while the Tesseract is out of our reach and within enemy hands.

"So you saw the video," Hill began when the short clip was finished. "Any thoughts? What do you think this guy is up to?"
"He is opening a door for Thanos, isn't he?" Steve blinked.
"Opening a door is kinda vague, Rogers," Hill pointed out. "We need specifics."
"Selvig's notes were quite comprehensive," Banner began and the paused in his pacing to stare down at the floor thoughtfully. "I've not been able to get into the details yet, but it definitely is some kind of portal."
"Selvig..." Thor said softly. "Jane's friend," he explained to Loki's unspoken question.
"Barton is missing as well," Romanov said.
"I heard," Thor nodded. "I am sorry. We will get him back, never fear, Natasha."
"Typical," muttered Loki, before speaking up. "I find the stolen material from the science facilities-"
"Lab," Thor corrected him.
"-to be highly informative as to his plan," Loki continued on ignoring his brother's light jab.
"Well, iridium went missing, didn't it?" The quiet man near the door asked uncertainly.
"Yeah. Iridium," Steve frowned. "What does it do anyways?"
"It's a stabilizing agent."

A brisk voice resounded around the room as a short, dark-haired man strode into the room. Loki's eyes narrowed as the cocky attitude and glib nature combined with the familiar face linked with the Iron Man on the plane. Without the red-gold armour, the dark-suited man looks... short. Loki smirked.

"Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at the SHIELD headquarters," Stark elaborated as he made a beeline to Fury's semi-circle of monitors. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as your Asgardian friend wants." He paused, turned around and waited for someone to react.

Did he wish for applause? Loki wondered. I knew this already. What is to be gained by stating the obvious? Before he could point the fact out, the Iron Man chattered on, unstoppable.

"Raise the mizzen mast. Trim the top sails," he told a few confused faces which had turned upward to see who had been brave enough to take command of Fury's personal station. Stark definitely seemed to have a feeling of ease and entitlement already, bending over Fury's monitor and adjusting a few settings airily – before stopping and turning to look at something in the distance. "Hey!" Stark raised a hand a pointed in the general direction of a far bank of computers. "That man is playing Galaga! He thought we wouldn't notice..." Pause. "But we did." The short man removed his left hand from his pocket, raised it to his eye, and attempted to survey the monitors with one hand. "How does Fury even see this?"
"He turns," Hill said simply.
"Sounds exhausting. Well, anyways, the rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he needs is a power source of high energy density-"

Stark fiddled with something else and Loki caught a glint of something metal connecting with the outer frame of one of the computers. Glancing around, it seemed as though the onlookers had not seen what the talkative, self-important man had done. Loki considered saying something and then shrugged. No doubt this was yet another game for power. Amusing.

"-to kick start the fuse."
Hill raised an eyebrow. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"
"Last night," quipped Stark. "The packet. Selvig's notes. The extraction theory papers?"

The room was silent. Loki decided to shut his eyes for a few minutes. Perhaps this style of conversing is how Midgardians attain knowledge since their mental processes appear to be sluggish at best...

"Am I the only one who did the reading?" asked Stark in disbelief. "Or was everyone just sleeping?"

Apparently so, Loki rolled his eyes – mentally. Seeing as many here have no head for such knowledge, this does not surprise me... but I had already calculated it. In a torturous, drug-induced, blazing dream.

"Brother!" Thor said.
Loki opened his eyes. "What, Thor?"
"You can hardly expect all of us to sit about poring over papers." Thor looked hurt.
"Sorry." Loki blinked and, looking around the table, saw everyone had focused on him. Not in a good way. "Did I just say that aloud?"
"Indeed! Rather unfair."
"And unrealistic," Stark scoffed. "In his dreams!"
"Well," Thor said quickly. "Loki has learned many things within dreams. Although it is dangerous when drug induced."
"I am going to pretend to not hear that," Banner muttered.
"So. Flarathir," Steve quickly took control of the conversation again. "What particular kind of power source would he need?"
"He'd have to heat the cube to one hundred twenty million Kelvin just to break through the cooling barrier," Banner said.
"Unless," Stark put in, "Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnel effect."
"Well, if he could do that," Banner pointed out. "He could achieve heavy ion fusion in any reactor on the planet."
"Finally," Stark smiled moving forward. "Someone who speaks English!"
"Is that what just happened?" Steve mumbled.

Stark smiled at the nervous older man who still had as yet to find a seat. "You're Doctor Banner, I'm guessing? It's good to meet you. Your work on anti-electronic collisions is unparalleled and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"Uhhh..." Doctor Banner slowly accepted the outstretched hand shook it briefly before pocketing his hands again. "Thanks."
"Look. He opens a wormhole. Whoever it is comes through. End of story," Tony continued on without missing a beat. "The question is where."
"I have a feeling like I am trapped in some kind of time loop of ignorance," Loki sighed. "Thor, how do you survive it?" Loki paused at Thor's grin. "Never you mind."
"Well, smarty-pants," Tony folded his arms and stared down at the tall, dark-haired newcomer with a challenging look. "What do you think our next plan of attack is?"
"Attack?" Steve asked. "We have the mage now."
"Interrogation will happen," Fury's voice resounded as he marched into the room. He nodded as he passed by Hill. "Humane interrogation."

Loki raised an amused eyebrow at Stark's eye roll. He pointed out: "Time would be better spent searching for the residue traces of the Tesseract. Perhaps a tracking spell-"
"Now I'm in Hogwarts?" Stark joked.
"Good books," Steve said, at which Romanov smiled indulgently at the blond-haired man.
"Loki is a warrior-mage like Flarathir," Fury clarified for the benefit of those at the table who weren't in the know. "Loki is Thor's brother. Loki, meet Romanov, Doctor Banner and Tony Stark. Guys, this is Thor's brother, Loki."

Romanov's shapely eyebrows rose a few centimeters as she quickly connected the dots between the hints to which Fury had been alluding over the past week or so. Thor's brother... As her eyes wandered over the two siblings, her face remained blank. They look nothing alike.

Stark was not so impressed.

"Great. Another alien," Stark sighed. "Another clueless illegal immigrant."
"Loki is one of us," Steve frowned.
His voice clashed with Loki's as he retorted: "I have no desire to be here, believe you me."
"You look like I could knock you over with a feather," Stark shot back.
"I held my own well enough against Flarathir earlier."
"Uh... and then you had to take a nap. I don't know," Stark mused sarcastically, "but the last time I checked, you can't fall asleep in the middle of a fight."
"I'll be fine," Loki repeated stubbornly before adding a little nastily. "At least I'll be there on time, but I suppose a few of us will need to ride upon the backs of other people's work in order to claim some fame."
"Ooohhh," Romanov appeared to be finding it a bit difficult to keep a smile off her face.
"But Loki is correct about the tracing idea," Doctor Banner said. "From the notes remaining of Selvig's research, the Tesseract does emit a particular set of gamma rays which could be identified and located given we have a program capable of searching for the distinctive readings."
"We'll get the satellites and radars on it as soon as possible," Fury nodded.
"There's the small problem of writing the program-"
"I can do it," Stark said and then added, shooting a small glare in Loki's direction, "in my sleep."
"I could probably track it down with a simple working right here and-"
"You are doing nothing of the sort," Thor interrupted Loki's quick retort. "We need you at full strength on the battlefield. Let their machines do the work." He shrugged. "They are slow, but they will eventually find the Tesseract."
"Eventually," Loki repeated disbelievingly.
"Eventually," echoed Thor.
"Eventually," Loki smirked.

The two brothers laughed. Tony Stark's eye twitched a little. Steve chuckled.

"Well, I am certain we'll be able to find their hidden location," Steve said. "Until then, I suppose we should keep careful watch on the mage."
"I'll have a chat with him," Romanov suggested.
"Good idea," Fury nodded. "Maybe you'll get a few more ideas about his plan and the whys and wherefores."
"I thought the 'why' was obvious," Banner said. "He's crazy."
"He is indeed crazed."
"Loki told me once of certain workings which would allow one person to connect mentally with another," mused Thor aloud slowly.
"I don't wanna get inside his head," Banner repeated. "He's a box of cats, that one. You can smell the crazy on him."
"Agreed," Loki nodded – and then shuddered. "A dark shadow hangs over him and his mind is hidden from me, cloaked in the darkest mantle of Thanos. I would not go walking there with him..."

Romanov shot Loki a hard look upon which Loki forced himself to remain unperturbed. It is not their business, he told himself. What I went through is my past alone and it is not as if they would understand what I had experienced either.

"You had something similar happen?" Thor asked and then stopped as he got a sharp kick from Romanov. "Oh, yes..." He paused. "That was when..." Thor trailed off as previous conversations with Loki began to hold deeper meaning.
"OK. Does anyone feel like they're going down some chocolate tunnel on an out of control boat?" Stark raised a hand. "Because I think I just wandered into cuckoo land, courtesy of Spock here..."
"Stark," Fury gave the shorter man a death glare.

Thor laughed suddenly and then stopped and mumbled 'sorry' when he caught a particularly vicious glare aimed at him from Loki's direction.

"Loki is too, ah, emotional to be Spock," Thor hastened to say.
"'Too emotional'?" Loki asked incredulously.
"I can never be right, obviously," Thor sighed.
"Obviously you can never be right," Loki said coldly. "Emotional!"
"Asgardians watch Star Trek?" asked Stark curiously.
"Asgardians dating Jane do," said Romanov quickly. "So psychic connection is out then."
"What? Wait." Stark said. "You guys seriously were considering mind melding?!"
"I know not of what 'mind melding' consists of," Loki nodded, "but the connection of two minds is possible, particularly between two who are sensitive to the Realm of the Unseen. With the aid of a working or drugs, connections of various types may be achieved."
"Shit," Banner said succinctly.
"But I would not attempt it with Flarathir," Loki continued on smoothly. "Banner's intuition is correct. Standing too long within the presence of the Mad Titan..." The warrior-mage hesitated before continuing. "I would not wish to delve into an active link with any of them."
"Mad? He's angry?" asked Stark.
"Crazy," Thor and Steve said at the same time.
"He's in love with Death," Steve went on. "If I understand this correctly, Thanos is into genocide on a galactic scale. More presents for his girlfriend."
"I think you mean, 'beau', Mr. Up-To-Date. Wait a minute," Stark turned to Thor with mock politeness. "I think I heard this before. Death is a woman."
"Indeed," Thor nodded. "Thanos fell in love with her, they say."
"They say? They say?" Stark waved his arms and turned to Fury in disbelief. "Who says? Evil Dumbledore? Or a sickly Goth?"
"They've been right so far," Romanov said. "Frankly, I just want to find a way to get Barton back."
"The archer?" asked Loki.
"Yes."
"As anyone else concerned that all of our intel is originating from a group of aliens, some of whom are claiming something as yet scientifically proven?" Stark asked. "What're we going to believe next? That little green men exist and have been visiting our planet since the times of the apes?"
"Little green men?" Thor rubbed his chin in thought. "Loki, do you think he's referring to the Heimskr race?"
"Ahh... Heimskr. Nasty little brutes," Loki chuckled and shook his head.
"The little green men are called 'Hime-scure'?" asked Hill curiously. "How do you spell that?"
"No, no," Thor laughed then.
"Our apologies," Loki added quickly between snorts. "We were merely jesting."
"Ah-ha, ah-ha," Stark glared at the two.
"You will figure it out... eventually," Loki flapped a lazy hand dismissively in the Iron Man's direction. "Or so I am told."
"JARVIS will know," Stark warned the two.
"JARVIS is his robot without a body," Romanov explained to Thor. "Between JARVIS and Miss Potts, I don't think Tony has to do anything except eat and sleep."
"Well, sometimes those things are a great chore," Loki said with scornful commiseration.
"I invent stuff! In the realm of technology, I rule!" Stark protested.
"The Realm of Technology," mused Loki aloud. "The Realm... of Technology. Thor, have you heard of such a realm?"
"No, brother," Thor said with all seriousness, but his blue eyes were dancing. "It sounds like a grand place, and I hope to visit there one day."
"Be certain to show them the prowess of Thor while you are at it," Loki nodded. "I heard tell that a king rules there but he is of insignificant stature and relies on his technology to save the day."
"Perhaps he is a man of great wisdom," Thor pointed out, nearly crying with the attempt to not laugh.
"Alas, brother," Loki shook his head sadly, "machines only hold what knowledge you place within them-"
"Truth," Romanov interjected.
"-and he does not even know of Heimskr."
"Well," Thor let out another snort of laughter. "He will understand."
"Eventually," the two brothers chorused.
"Excuse me," Fury said, his voice now very hard and filled with annoyance. "Are we done with the bullshit now? 'Cause I don't know about you – but I kinda wanna get on this – LIKE YESTERDAY!"
"We are done," Thor said quickly.
"Absolutely," Loki added.
"In fact," Stark stepped back rapidly, tugging on Bruce's elbow. "We are leaving now to work on the program."
"And I am going with them," Loki rose and followed on the heels of the men now leaving the room.
"I'll go talk with the mage," Romanov said simply and left the room.
"We will stand by for any sudden mission," Steve offered and, jerking his head in the direction of the door, summoned Thor.

Thor rose, circled the table, nodded at Fury, offered a general word of encouragement and strode after the super-soldier. Looking about the now empty room, Hill sighed.

"It is going to be a miracle to get everyone to work together."
"Hm."
"You know what Coulson would say." Hill went on. "Something along the lines of believing in them. You know – they'll be able to do it."
"They had better," Fury said darkly. "Or I'll fucking kill them myself."

[...look deep...]

[...what does one see...]

Fate, as the Sages tell, weaves the Tapestry of Time. Fate is neither man nor woman, faceless and nameless. It is Inevitability; it is Unstoppable. It is the summation of all things.

Look closely. Here and there – the threads of gold and green, of red and blue, of black and white run together and twine about in the most intricate creations. Can one fully fathom the beauty of it in all its detailed and complicated glory? Perhaps not. Yet, it is beautiful to Fate. Fate who pulls the threads together, guides all things at the will of Life and Death and allows What Is To Be be.

[...what will one find?]

What does Fate see? Fate sees all with a vision vaster and greater than even the golden-eyed Gatekeeper of Asgard. It plumbs the heart of the shadow and overlooks the swarming armies of the Chitauri with an unmoved eyes. It pierces the thick protective cloud-sky of Earth and observes the preparations of the Midgardians. It follows the super-soldier into dimly lit rooms, forgotten and supposedly unused, yet under lock and key. It knows already what lies within the cases. It shadows the slender figure of black down to a round glass cell in which stands a smoldering flame of power. It eavesdrops upon the conversations of strategy and war as the dark-skinned commander reassures himself of his company's loyalties. It guides the hands of the scientists gently and allows the numbers to fall into place easily. It watches the Asgardian warrior train in his arts of war and the Asgardian mage weave his workings of magick. It steps back and looks at the new creation on the great Loom of Time. It twists its threads together tightly – the threads of gold and green, of red and blue, of black and white.

[...the Darkness is not empty...]

[...in shadows malevolence stirs...]

[...and dark things rise...]

Well, there's that conversation done. Sigh. Phew.

Small Glossary
flyting - more like a word-match, where you get into skill debate and name calling and punning
Heimskr - literally the word for 'fool'

SO... Here's some Q&A for myself just so you can get to know me a bit better. You can stop reading after this if you don't care. Haha.

Q: What's with LIFE?
A: Lately I've been working hard at... WORK! Which is teaching Oral English at a university in China~~~ I'm fine tuning my lesson plans and trying to make things fun for my students. Also... thinking about my birthday next week. Sigh. Aging. And of course - lots of fun hanging with friends, like seeing the new Cinderella.

Q: What did you think of the new "Cinderella"?
A: I think Kenneth Branagh did a good job of directing. Good casting, good costumes, good story plot. Good side characters. Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter and Derek Jacobi really stood out for me. There was a lot to laugh at too. I loved Cinderella getting stuck in the pumpkin. I did not like the extremely tiny waist and low cut dress Cinderella had. EW! I mean, what if you don't have a tiny waist or big boobs? So not good for girls with poor body image. So sad that had to happen. My friend and I had a lot of jokes about having no internal organs. And of course the 'secret garden' with the swing. C'mon, Cinderella! Everyone knows you can't sit on a swing in a secret garden! LOL.

Q: What new music have you been listening to lately?
A: Imagine Dragon's new album "Smoke and Mirrors". SO GOOD. I love "Gold", "Warriors" and "I Bet My Life On You" most of all. Also relistening to Imogen Heap's "Ellipse" album. And of course Halo 1 OST and Assassin's Creed OST. Of course.

Q: Anything new you've been watching?
A: Lots of rewatching of "The Hobbit: Behind The Scenes". I love the Peter Jackson Behind The Scenes. Ugh. They make me smile. That and "The Revelation of the Pyramids". OMG. I love this documentary! At my friend's house, I've been watching "The Liza Bennett Diaries". So funny.

That's about it!
See ya next week!
-KI