Well, here we are at last. On the edge of the Avengers 1 arc and boy, am I so glad... but at the same time, so scared because it's been a good chunk of a year since I've last written Asgard and original stuff for this fic. Also, I suddenly have to double-check what I had planned for the future. I have a sinking feeling I've gotten important building up plot points for the end of this story, so... YIKES! Gotta remind myself again of what I had planned.
That being said, I wanna just shout out to you all. Thanks so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
If you like this story and have enjoyed it, please be sure to give it a heart on Inkitt (see my profile for more details). THANK YOU!
Chapter 89
Homeward Bound
The nearby food shop of which Iron Man spoke turned out to be small and empty, incongruously wedged between taller office buildings. Arriving there in a military transport vehicle, borrowed and driven by a grimy-looking Steve Rogers, the group stumbled inside to discover the place deserted. However, thanks to JARVIS, the owner was discovered soon enough – cowering and shivering within a cold inner room which Hawkeye had called a 'walk in fridge'. The group would have laughed had they not been so exhausted.
Upon hearing about the relative safety of the city and the promise of peace once again, the mustached old man sighed with great relief, praised the heroes effusively and told them that the meal was 'on the house'.
On the house, Loki blinked as the All-Speech filtered the words. Are we to eat on the roof?
With a few short words, Iron Man ordered for the lot of them, and the squat tan owner rushed off to prepare the meal. The room fell silent for the most part as the group took their seats around a large, round, metal table and waited for their meal. In the distance, Loki could hear the occasional wail of sirens and shouting. Within the shop, there was only the scuffle of their cook's shoes on the tiled floor and the steady chop-chop-chop of his knife as he prepared their food to be heard.
Still a little dazed, Loki sat at Thor's right hand, staring at the rough metal tabletop before him. To his right sat Natasha and then Hawkeye, both nursing a variety of scrapes and bruises. Hawkeye had applied some sort of bandage to his wrist and one of Natasha's shins were also similarly bandaged. Beyond Hawkeye, Captain America – Steve, to Thor, Loki reminded himself – slouched, looking more dirty than hurt. Bruce, beside Steve, appeared more or less the same as the super-soldier. However, with his now shredded clothing (the bottom hems of his pants and his sleeves had been completely torn off) the curly-haired man looked more like a beggar or rough peasant than a scientist. Between Bruce and Thor, the Iron Man – Stark – still wore his dented, smoke-stained armour. The man's helmet had been set by his chair, looking more like the ripped shell of a fruit than a piece of machinery. In all, the so-called the Avengers, looked more like a beaten, tired group of roadside workers than actual Heroes of the Planet Earth.
The food arrived on flimsy, round, white plate-like objects, disposable by the looks of them. Disregarding decorum or etiquette, the group grabbed the bread and meat rolls ('shawarma', Stark had called them) and began to eat their meal. Noticing how Thor wolfed down his meal with quite a bit of gusto, the owner returned to the counter to make some more for the group. Watching his brother, Loki felt the rise of a familiar sensation – a feeling Loki had, if he were to admit it, missed: disgust. Thor's bread and meat roll was quickly falling apart onto his plate and the blond-haired prince had resorted to using his fingers to squish the roll back together. Tearing his eyes away, Loki sighed.
Some things, he thought, never change. And the others... Loki's eyes wandered over the rest of his companions. We do not look so victorious as the conquering heroes of Asgard do when they arrive in Odin's feast hall and drink to the memories of their deeds. Here, there is no tale-telling, no celebration. How odd to be so disregarded – or perhaps the celebrations will come much later.
After everyone had finished their second shwarma and Bruce had retrieved and handed out small, round cans of a black fizzy drink, someone sighed. It might have been Steve.
"Well, it's done for now," the blond-haired super-soldier said quietly.
"For now," echoed Hawkeye. "There's still more on their way."
"It will take them some time to recoup," Loki offered some consolation. "The distances are great and they may recall the second half of the army-"
"To come up with a better plan." Stark didn't look too happy at the thought. "They'll be back."
"They always come back," Thor said soberly. "If it is indeed the Mad Titan Thanos who has driven the Chitauri to such lengths... then this is a nightmare made real. The darkest fairy tale I heard as child come to life."
"It might not be Thanos," Natasha shrugged. "Perhaps it is someone using his name."
"Dread Pirate Roberts," Stark suggested.
"Dread who?" Loki asked.
"Ah," Thor smiled briefly. "I know that one. Jane made me watch that film. But no... No, the discovery and usage of Infinity Stones does not bode well."
"Only Thanos would attempt to find and recover the Infinity Stones," Loki explained. "Such treasures are those of legend... legend so ancient they have even passed out of the memory of Asgard and the great empires of Vanaheim and Alfheim and such like."
"Shit," Hawkeye said briefly.
"If one is to believe the tales – they are treasures – powerful, ancient, and devastating," Thor gave the Avengers a sharp look. "One was hidden in Midgard. Who knows how many more are upon this planet?"
"You want to take one home," Steve said. He shrugged and looked around the table for unspoken agreement. "That makes sense to me, in a way. It's a good way to split up the location of power... but does Asgard have the ability to keep it safe?"
"Yes," Loki said immediately.
"I thought someone broke into your dad's safe," Stark's dark eyes narrowed shrewdly in Loki's direction.
"They had help," Loki said stiffly. "My help, if you must know. But the intruders were killed. All of the perpetrators were killed, so no one with the knowledge of how to penetrate the Vault remain."
"How nice for you," Hawkeye grumped.
"Wait," Bruce frowned and tilted his head. "Why did you help people get into your father's, uh, Vault?"
"It is a long story," Loki mumbled.
"It is a long story," Thor chuckled with some amusement. "One I have only recently learned. Let us just say that my brother hatches devious, complicated plans that often go awry for reasons out of his control – and more often than not turn out for the best somehow. Loki has the luck of the Norns on his side."
"Like a cat with nine lives?" smiled Natasha.
"Something like that. A tale worth telling, I will be honest, but perhaps not for today." Thor sobered. "We have much to accomplish before the day is over."
"Yeahhh," Hawkeye sighed. "Gotta make a few calls. Check in on Coulson. Report back to SHIELD. Debriefing."
"I'm already making lists," Steve shook his head. "Clean up after war always seems to take forever."
"Not that you were much help last time," Stark quipped. "Sorry," he added quickly when Bruce gave him a look. "Couldn't help myself."
"You never can," Natasha smirked.
Stark winced and helped himself to a third shwarma. Thor, Loki noticed, was starting on his fourth. Now finished his second, the slender warrior-mage could only sit back and watch his brother devour even more meat and bread.
"You need to eat more, Loki," Thor said around a mouthful, dropping a few pieces of meat onto his armoured chest. He pushed the tray closer to his brother. "There are more than enough to spare."
"I can not," Loki folded his arms. "The physician said as much."
"His stomach is still too small to handle too much food," Steve wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I heard that often happened to POWs in the war."
"It is not just that," Loki sniffed. "Just watching the way Thor eats puts me off of food."
"As usual," chuckled Thor and nearly choked on his mouthful.
"Disgusting," Loki shook his head, his face twisted in a sharp grimace.
Natasha laughed – and for the first time that day, the lines on her brow and around her eyes eased. The redhead shook her head and rose to get another bottle of water ('for hydration').
"You two boys are very different."
"Well, Loki is Loki," Thor shrugged. "When we adopted him, I was so happy. Of course, it turned out to be a more difficult affair than I had first imagined-"
"Surprise, surprise," grunted Loki.
"-but in the end, it feels so natural. As if it was meant to be."
"Perhaps it was meant to be," Bruce mused aloud. "Perhaps the universe where you two are not brothers is a darker place."
Loki glared at his hands as he remembered the dark dreams of the drugs which he had been forced to consume while being tortured at the hands of Inquisitor Wen. There had been other visions later when he had traveled that disorienting journey to Thor's side.
The truth is that He was there all along. He had remembered that. He had been there all along in the darkness – manipulating him and taunting him – and drawing all things who could hear His voice to Him. And I, Loki, was one of those He courted. I could have been one them. That is what I saw.
Through the cracks and edges of the world and in the glistening memory of starlight which bent time and space as they reached through to other worlds, Loki had caught glimpses of another life. A dark Loki, alone and afraid and angry.
It was not the him that was now, Loki knew, nor would it be the Loki of the future. It was another Loki of another time and place. A Loki who had grown up in a golden world. A golden life, filled with love and uncertainties and as fragile as a glass. When the truth revealed itself, the mirror cracked and all that he had known about himself had seemed so fruitless – a lie and an illusion.
That Loki had come to believe that he was nothing but a monster – and he had ran and ran and ran until only the darkness could find him. That Loki had lost his way home.
But, Loki reminded himself as he looked at Thor sitting beside him, I am not alone now, and I can see my way back home clearly. It will not be an easy return, but neither is it impossible.
[...all, all join as one...]
[...to bear this burden together...]
[...we are not alone...]
[...this...]
[...the weight of destiny...]
[...we all share...]
With that, the conversation turned to more mundane topics and eventually the group parted ways. Stark managed to prevail and Bruce joined the inventor and his personal assistant at a nearby 'five star hotel'. How a way station could have five stars was beyond Loki, but he kept his mouth shut and followed Thor, Steve, Natasha, and Hawkeye back to a waiting aircraft which returned the group to the Helicarrier, where Loki was given a small room to sleep in.
Sleep came slowly as the dark pressed down around the warrior mage. It was a warm, humming darkness and brought back many memories. Memories of honeycomb cells. Memories of his travels. Memories of adventures. Memories of those he had left behind. Memories of Nesta and the Tro'watal. Memories of Mal.
Closing his eyes, he could imagine Mal leaning over him, gently soothing him. However, the warrior mage knew that what stood at his side was only the Heimsrsal of the Realm dressed within the memory of Mal. Mal was, he fancied, waiting for him at Death's side. Perhaps she would be able to join the For-Eldra, despite her heritage. He could only hope.
For the first time since their parting, Loki found an opportunity to mourn for the loss of the soul who had brought him such joy and completion. Once again, he wept in the dark, but this time, he did not grieve for himself.
-0-0-0-
Thor called Jane. When Loki joined his brother for breakfast in the morning, feeling much more refreshed and ready for what lay ahead of them, he saw immediately that Thor was more than a little despondent.
"Has something happened?" Loki asked with some alarm as he noticed that Thor was barely picking at his thick stack of pancakes and eggs.
"I had to say goodbye to Jane on Skype."
Skipe? Loki paused a moment, knife stuck in a thick wad of bacon.
"This is... worse than usual," Loki guessed. "Well, saying goodbye is never good when one says goodbye to one's loved one."
"It is never good in general."
"No," Loki agreed.
"I should not complain," Thor sighed. "I will be able to return and see Jane again. Your Mal... you said you will never see her again."
"I have reason to believe she passed on," Loki's red eyes rested on his plate with a renewed sense of sadness, "but I will... I will be fine. My loss should not interfere with your own feelings of grief. After all, our future is uncertain. We do not know what we shall find on Asgard."
"That is what she said. I found that I could not promise her a safe return. At least, there is a small chance that we could be injured or trapped on Asgard-"
"If the war has been going on without us, goodness knows what has happened," agreed Loki.
"Exactly."
The two ate their breakfast in a subdued manner.
"It really is too bad that Asgard is at war," Thor said, mind obviously stuck on the subject of Jane and his upcoming separation. "Peacetime would allow me to return to Asgard with her."
"Father would not appreciate a visit from a human, however lovely and intelligent they are," Loki pointed out. "You know how he is about Midgard and the other Realms."
"He would understand."
"He would not."
"He accepted you," Thor said stubbornly. "He could accept Jane."
"Jane is human and mortal and not an important political pawn," Loki said calmly, spearing for himself another pancake (his second one).
"Father did not invite you to Asgard because of that alone-"
"Maybe not alone, but it played a big part."
"Mother-"
"Mother is different," Loki said. "You and I know that. But let us be honest, Thor, your – our father is a man with many plans and he had plans for me. I am not ashamed either to say that I had my own hopes and dreams and goals as well, and I knew that they did not necessarily align with your father's schemes. I played a delicate game, and we used each other well. For the most part, we attempted to hold up our end of the bargain with varying degrees of success. That our father knew who I was from the beginning – when that was revealed to me – it only made more sense."
"Hmmm..." Thor looked unhappily at his food.
"On the other hand," Loki mused aloud. "If we were to invite Jane and have Mother meet her first, I think Father could be made to see reason."
"Mother can always make him see reason."
"Exactly," Loki punctuated his word with a stab of his fork.
A pause. Then Loki, after setting aside his plate and sipping at the hot tea provided him, closed his eyes and mentally made a check list of things he needed to accomplish. Getting his hands on the Tesseract was the first order of the day.
"When do we leave?" he asked Thor, opening his eyes.
"Today," Thor said, looking even more unhappy. "I believe the sooner we return to Asgard, the better."
"The sooner you can return to Earth." Loki quirked a smile which faded quickly.
"Yes. Steve has arranged for us to take the Tesseract. With it, we may return to Asgard easily enough, right?"
"Yes," Loki nodded with relief. "It will make the process much easier."
"I wonder what is happening in Asgard," Thor said around a mouthful of egg and bacon which made Loki shudder a little. "I can just see Father overlooking the troops and Mother no doubt trying to make all the banners by hand."
"Or the city emptied as all of them have gone to Jotunheim," Loki sipped at a sweet cup of tea.
"That could happen."
"Either way, we need to get back home as soon as may be." Loki rose to his feet. "I have few things to pack, but I am off to my room to see to my pack."
"I will meet you on the flight deck in an hour," Thor promised.
With that, Loki wound his way through the canteen's long rectangular tables to the far door on the opposite side of the room. Watching his younger brother's slight frame (clad today in a new set of black pants, turtleneck, and boots) disappear around the corner, Thor found himself stifling an odd urge to call his younger brother back and ask him to delay their return.
We have to go, the exiled Prince told himself. Asgard calls and duty to your people still remains, king or no. There is no way I can let Loki return as he is right now. He may think that he is ready for battle, but he is still blue-skinned. Yes, he is more like a walking skeleton than a Jotunn right now. I wonder if he was not fed well when he was young – and that is why he remained so small... So many questions to ask him, Thor thought. I wonder when we will have the time to discover each other once again.
Finishing up his meal, Thor made his way to his room, picked up his phone and texted Jane a few more times, packed up his bag slowly, and then made his way up to the flight deck where he had promised to meet Loki. Loki was pacing back and forth like a wild cat trapped in a cage. No sooner had the designated aircraft been pointed out, Loki was striding over to the lowering ramp and taking his seat inside.
He really wants to get home, Thor sighed. Then he frowned. Really, Thor, you should be excited as well. It has been two Earth years since you saw Mother and Father – and Loki has had a hard time of it, so it should be no surprised that he is looking forward to returning to some kind of familiar comfort. On the other hand, a more practical side (which sounded a lot like Jane) pointed out, there is a possibility that Loki and you will have no time to relax once you rejoin the war effort.
Thor sighed, followed the rest of the crew in, took his seat at Loki's side, and forced a smile.
You are going home, Thor. Going home.
-0-0-0-
According to Clint Barton (Hawkeye's real name, Loki learned), Stark had chosen New York's Central Park as the lift off point for Thor and Loki. Waiting at stone terrace, Bruce, Stark, and Natasha stood about a plain truck from which Steve emerged holding a round tubular container within which flared and shone the Tesseract.
"Here it is," Steve grunted, handing one end to Thor. "Made just as Loki specified."
"It is a neat piece of engineering if I may say so myself," Stark smiled. It looked strained beneath his large pair of sunglasses. "A good night's work for Bruce and I."
"It was a piece of cake really," Bruce hastened to add.
"I thought it would be," Loki said smoothly. "Asgard appreciates your aid and cooperation."
"I'm sure it does," grunted Hawkeye.
"What happens now?" asked Natasha.
"I take this end and turn the handle, infuse it with my power – and off we go," Loki took his end of the tube. "We will return to Asgard, speak with our father on your behalf, and perhaps we will return soon."
"If the war with Jotunheim is still ongoing," Thor said, "we will be delayed, but I hope we can find some way to mitigate another conflict with Jotunheim in the face of the more obviously dangerous threat of Thanos."
"Enemy of my enemy is my friend," Stark nodded. "I get it."
"I hope it works," Steve's blue eyes were solemn as he shook Thor's, and then Loki's, free hand. He watched as Thor picked up Mjolnir lovingly. "I know that conflict is often the best way our true enemies succeed."
"That is true," Thor agreed. "With this in mind, let us have peace between our Realms and we shall come to your aid if you ask of us."
"That is great to hear," Natasha smiled at the two of them. "SHIELD can always use fighters like you two. I did not expect your brother to have such natural abilities. I always welcome competence on the field."
"High praise," Hawkeye chuckled.
"Thank you," Loki placed a hand on his heart and bent low. "I too am glad to have met someone who carries grace alongside deadliness."
"Ohohoho," Thor grinned. "The Silvertongue emerges."
Loki gave his brother a scathing look.
"We go," he said shortly. "Now."
His hand turned and the last thing the two of them heard was the combined laughter of the Avengers fading into white light.
[...all, all join as one...]
[...to bear this burden together...]
[...we are not alone...]
[...this...]
[...the weight of destiny...]
[...we all share...]
[...for we are not alone...]
[...and we are not alone...]
The Tesseract was a wind and a song. It was light and it was pain and it was present and past all in one. Combining his strength with that of the Infinity Stone was easily done, but continuing to harness the wildly course power was a different thing. The heat of the moment burned his very soul and his magick flared wildly.
Flarathir had arrived in pain and disorientation. Loki could now understand why. The Tesseract was a wild thing and not to be tamed.
Beside him, Thor roared with power, Mjolnir now in his hand and singing. They were together.
[...we all share...]
[...for we are not alone...]
[...and we are not alone...]
Loki was no longer alone facing the stars, but there was one at his side who would understand what he now faced.
Carrying them both onward, Loki imagined Asgard, imagined home.
[...for once..]
[...catch whispers of a long-forgotten flames of hope renewed...]
[...flames of hope renewed in the fires of exploding stars...]
[...in the steady signals...]
[...in the surge of power...]
[...as the door between space is opened and closed again...]
[...and that which goes round in full circle...]
[...returns yet again...]
For a second, the two of them stood there, disoriented. Breathing heavily, the air rattling in their throats, Loki and Thor barely had enough prescience to recognize their surroundings. When finally sight and sound settled, when the world about them crystallized, Loki recognized the bronzed and etched walls as belonging to the Vault. They had traveled straight to the safest place for the Tesseract.
Swearing a little as he staggered away and released his hold on the Tesseract, Thor fetched up against a wall, closed his eyes again and coughed a little.
"That was..." Words failed the Prince.
"Yes," Loki said dryly, taking up the burden of the Tesseract only to set it gently in an alcove and stepping back to admire the combined efforts of the Terran scientists and his own. "We are home at last."
"How can you walk away so easily from that?" Thor rasped. "I felt - I feel as if I am about to explode."
"Breathe deeply," Loki said. "In and out. In and out. Follow the rhythms of my voice."
Thor cracked open an eye and gave Loki a disbelieving look.
"You have been using these techniques all along in order to relieve stress?" he asked, betrayed.
"I do not know about stress," Loki said mildly. "However, most apprentices in the Mage's Court must learn these basics for safety sake. It is the basic process of expending workings and magick."
"Hm." Thor breathed in and out with surprising experience.
When he looked less pale, the blonde-haired prince pulled himself upright and then paused at the sight of his brother. Loki was once again his pale-skinned, green-eyed self.
"You think you can hold that illusion for long?"
"I have to," Loki waved a hand. "We are going to battle against Jotunn - the last thing the people need is to be confused."
"We could get Father or Mother to say something."
"If you think that's best," Loki shrugged.
"I don't want you fainting in battle," Thor grumbled as he made his way up the steep stairs of the Vault, "and turning into a Jotunn and getting yourself stabbed by an overzealous Heimdall or Volstagg."
"Is that intended to be a joke?" Loki smirked.
No sooner did he set foot outside the vault than the half-smile on his face melted away. Thor, noticing his brother's suddenly pinched look, stopped.
"Loki?"
Loki was already running down the side halls. Following hard on his brother's heels and calling Loki's name, Thor wondered what was going on. However, Loki would not slow. In fact, with each step, his speed increased until they were out in the main hall and Thor began to realize that the crowds of Asgardians were a mix of medics and mages and peasants gathered around moaning soldiers. Asgardian soldiers.
Ignoring the chorus of surprise at the sudden appearance of the princes, the two young men continued onward through the great oak doors of front hall and came to a halt at the top of the main stairway. Loki and Thor fell silent, mouths and eyes wide with shock, as a scene they had never expected greeted them.
Asgard spread before them in a vista of smoking devastation.
There you guys go. I hope you guys enjoyed THIS AWESOME CLIFF HANGER! YOU GUYS PROBABLY THOUGHT "OK, well we're back to Asgard ho-hum ho-hum". BYAHAHAHA.
Let's hope I manage to write the next chapter quickly~!
-KI