"Holy crap! Jane, Jane, get over here, the monitors are going freaking nuts," Darcy yelled across the room.
Jane looked up from the charts she was reviewing. Darcy was positively frantic. Hurrying over, she joined the younger women and gasped as the readings for the Galisteo site leapt off the charts. "Somebody is opening a bridge; we'd better hope it's someone in Asgard. Jarvis, please ask Dr. Banner to join us, alert Natasha as to what's going on and get Nick Fury on the phone for me."
"Yes, Dr. Foster; Dr. Banner is on his way, Director Fury's line is ringing and I will have Natasha stand by."
"Fury here," the familiar and always terse voice of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director answered.
"This is Jane Foster. We've got an Einstein-Rosen Bridge opening at the Galisteo site."
"Any way of telling who's doing it?" he asked.
"I'm comparing readings as we speak. The closest one I can see is the reading when Thor opened the bridge from Central Park in New York to Asgard, so it is likely being opened with the tesseract. Any more than that is an assumption that I don't feel comfortable making."
"Understood; I've got eyes on the ground in Puente Antiguo; I'll have them haul it out to the site."
"Great. I've alerted Bruce, Natasha is in the air; I'll update her and get back to you."
"So noted, doctor; Fury out."
"Dr. Foster, I have Natasha for you," Jarvis informed her just as Bruce rushed into the room.
"Thanks, Jarvis. Oh good, you're here, I won't have to repeat it again," she said to Bruce. "Natasha, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Jane; Jarvis mentioned a wormhole?" Natasha's voice asked.
"Yes, at the same site where we first met Thor last year. By the readings it's been created by the tesseract."
"We can't know that it's controlled by friendlies…" Natasha began before another voice overrode her.
"Sure you can, Nat…Jane, is that you?" Tony Stark's voice came over the comm.
"Tony? Thank God. Are you in Galisteo?" Jane asked.
"I am, and I've brought a hell of a party. Uh, a good one. Nat, have you had a chance to test my new jet?"
"You mean the Avengers' new Quinjet? Yes, I'm in the air right now."
"Excellent. I need you to go down to the garage in the Tower and fetch the wraparound sunglasses from my Porsche…the gold one, and bring them with you out to the site. Bruce might want to tag along as well, there's some genetic stuff going on he's going to just love," he said, though it sounded like an afterthought. "Oh, and grab some casual clothes, underwear and such from Kara's closet. Toiletries too. She wants to get out of the Asgardian clothes and won't be able to make it back to the Tower for a bit."
"Why am I fetching your damn sunglasses, Stark?" Natasha grated. "Your Iron Man suit not flashy enough?"
"Calm down, they're not for me, Kara needs wraparounds, she's having some eye…issues. And that pair will look good with her armor."
"Tony, did Thor come with you?" Jane had to know.
"Sorry, Jane, he had to stay home and mind the store. Nat, doesn't S.H.I.E.L.D. have some kind of ultra-thin arctic wear...something that would fit under Kara's armor?"
"It does. I take it she needs that as well?"
"Yep. Two sets ought to do it. Oh, and bring me two of the phones and tablets from the storage room next to my workshop, Jarvis will let you in."
"You'd better have one hell of a good explanation for all of this," Natasha informed him dryly.
"Oh, I do and it's a doozy. Can't explain it over the comm, you're going to have to see it in person. Can you get the arctic wear from Fury, and tell him everything's hunky dory out here in the process? He needs to come out himself for debriefing, but there's no danger, no need to scramble the troops. Might be nice if he could bring a couple of those portable shelters with him, you know; the kind I built that modified arc reactor generator for? At least some of us are going to need to hang out here for a week, maybe more."
"I'll do that. And I'll refer him to you when he starts ranting," Natasha said.
"What…what did you say? I…we have…bad…out…"
Jane jumped when Bruce broke out laughing. "You jerk; the old bad connection shtick doesn't fly when it's on your systems." Stark didn't answer. "He's got his own satellite," Bruce explained as Jane and Darcy stared at him.
"I might as well stay here and mind the Tower since Thor isn't with them," Jane said, hating that she sounded morose.
"Well, you'll still have me; and Erik should be back from his conference soon," Darcy told her. "We'll party our asses off."
"Jane, Bruce? I've been in contact with Fury. I'll be landing on the pad in ten. Is Pepper there?" Natasha asked.
"No, she's in meetings in the new Stark Industries offices," Jane told her, trying not to imagine how poorly Darcy's idea of partying would go over with Erik Selvig.
"Govno. Okay. When I land I'll dash down to Kara's suite for clothes, I know which she'll actually wear and pick up some for Hawkeye while I'm at it. Bruce, could you go retrieve the sunglasses and hardware and meet me at the landing pad?"
"Will do. See you soon."
… …
"Stark, if you don't respond, I'll have a strike team hit the area," Fury's voice threatened.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses. Seriously, no strike team, no unnecessary personnel. You can bring anyone you trust implicitly, any you don't or you know we don't, leave 'em at home."
"Stark…"
"Fury, if you bring one person here that can't keep their mouth shut I will blast them into oblivion. No joke; this situation needs to be kept under wraps."
Tony waited patiently…for him. He could all but hear Nick Fury grinding his teeth. Finally, the damned Matrix reject answered. "I will be there with limited personnel in an hour. You will then have fifteen minutes to 'wow' me, Stark. After that, if I don't call it off, a strike team will come in."
He grinned. "Oh, I can guarantee you'll be wowed in less than five. See ya soon!" Tony cut off the connection and flipped his visor back. "Fury is on his way, should be here in an hour or less. Nat and Bruce are headed out as well. I think they'll beat Fury by a good fifteen minutes."
"If Nat's flying, they'll beat them by twenty," the Hawk said with what passed for a smile. "She's got a heavy hand on the throttle."
"Please tell me she's bringing me clothes," Kara whined. "The leather looks great, but it's just too hot for New Mexico."
"She's bringing you clothes…and gold mirror finish wraparound sunglasses so you won't have people staring at your gorgeous eyes; they'll be ogling your boobs like the rest of us perverts."
"Stark…" Loki began, not really sounding menacing…well, not much.
"Take it easy, Taz, you know I keep my eyes to myself, mostly."
"Oh, Tony, Taz? Really?" Kara gave him a reproachful look.
"What? He looks cute until he opens his mouth or acts. Then he's deadly as all hell."
Loki sighed. "Kara, explain the reference."
"A Tasmanian Devil is a marsupial from the island of Tasmania in Australia. They look like a cross between a dog and a rat, and they're awfully cute when they're resting or sleeping. But if you get their attention in a bad way, they are pretty much the most viscous warm-blooded creatures you'll ever have the displeasure to meet." She sighed as Loki's eyes narrowed. "And before you get mad, you started it by calling him Stark instead of Tony."
"I'll let it go, this time," Loki muttered, but the slight smirk suggested he was flattered.
… …
Haakun peered closely at the carved runes that encompassed the receiving platform. It had held up well, the desert climate was ideal for preserving them. Barring interference, this platform would be serviceable for centuries to come. Other sites across Midgard had not fared so well. The Iron Man had promised to show him images of the power centers so that he could advise them which were created by and were under the control of Asgard and which must be either destroyed or kept under close surveillance. He glanced back to where Loki was glaring down his long nose at the mortal in the metal suit. The man had no doubt said something offensive yet again; he seemed to be an expert at it. Keeping half an eye on the situation until Loki relaxed; he looked out over the rocky landscape. If their new Princess's ability to call on fire had increased as greatly as they feared, this would still be a safe place to test it. "Mistake after mistake," he said quietly to Hogun, who was pacing beside him. "We should have looked further into her abilities and the affect conversion would have on them."
The grim warrior shrugged. "No time and the benefit outweighed the risk."
"Possibly. Odin was determined to spare Loki a more dire fate. But do we wish to see so powerful a human? The other realms will not be pleased."
Hogun snorted. "She's no longer human."
"Good point. Yet even for an Æsir, one who has threatened the All-Father, no less, she is perhaps too powerful."
"Is Thor too powerful?"
"He is Odin's son."
"She is Odin's daughter by marriage," Hogun pointed out. "And an honorable woman."
Haakun hated taking anyone else's word for anything. But the normally quiet warrior was a good judge of character and would not have wasted so many words if he were not certain of his opinion. "I'll trust you are correct." An odd sound caught his attention and he turned to see a conveyance of some sort hovering over the desert floor near the rest of the group. It settled down and a ramp opened in the rear disgorging two occupants. He headed toward the vehicle, and saw the one called Hawkeye trot over to it and sling an arm around the waist of a woman…another redhead. Haakun frowned. This one looked harder than their new princess. Unrelenting. "Who is she?" he asked Hogun.
"Natasha Romanov, known as the Black Widow, another of the Avengers."
"And her gift?"
Hogun shrugged. "A highly skilled assassin and trained warrior."
That would explain the hard mien. "Do you trust her?"
"No."
And yet, he trusted Loki's bride, whose power was potentially devastating, interesting. "Yet the Avengers trust her?" Hogun nodded, but made no verbal response. Ah, well. "Who is the male?"
"Dr. Banner, he freed Loki from the Mad Titan's control."
"He does not appear that strong."
"We did not see his other form. I am told it is as tall as a Jötunn but more heavily muscled than Thor."
Haakun's eyes widened involuntarily. "That would explain the mystery."
… …
Loki had dropped to one knee and had insisted that she sit on the other. She thought it was kind of silly, but was enjoying the closeness, particularly since his normal temperature was a bit lower than an Æsir's, even when he was not in his Jötunn form. That reminded her. "Loki, can you still shift forms?" she asked as she watched Natasha and Bruce emerge from the Quinjet that had been painted with the new Avengers logo that Steve had designed.
His left eyebrow rose. "Yes, shape shifting between my natural forms doesn't take magic. I cannot take on the appearance of any other being, though."
"I never knew you could. If you have your power, can you shift into anything?" she asked as Clint steered Nat away from them. Bruce shook his head, said something she couldn't hear to Steve and Tony and then headed their way. He was carrying a large duffel bag.
Loki shrugged. "Anything mammalian with a similar mass distribution, so long as I am well acquainted with its physiology. It's difficult, though, and with the energy drain it is rarely worthwhile unless I intend to hold that form for an extended length of time."
"Huh. How about something much taller, like a full blood Jötunn?"
"Yesss, though my bones and muscles would be far less dense to account for the difference in height. Why…oh, I see. Yes, my birth mother must have done this."
"Yep." She gave him a mischievous look. "Since you don't need your magic to take your other form, we'll have to test if my cold tolerance has improved." He snorted softly, a grin playing at the corners of his lips. "Strictly in the interest of science, you understand."
"Ah, of course." He nibbled on her 'sweet spot' and she couldn't repress a shiver. "We shall have to give that some undivided…attention."
"Am I interrupting something?" Kara looked up as Bruce reached them wearing an amused but vaguely embarrassed smile.
"Nothing that hasn't been interrupted with alarming frequency over the past few days," Loki groused.
"Be nice," she told Loki. "Good to see you, Bruce. I hope you've got clothes for me in there?" she asked, giving the bag a hopeful look.
"I do, and…oh. Well that's interesting. What happened to your eyes?"
"It's a long story, and I only want to tell it once, so if you don't mind, we'll wait for Nick."
"I'll do my best to harness my scientific curiosity," he said with a grin. "I guess that's what you wanted with the sunglasses." Bruce reached into the bag and produced a set of mirrored wraparound shades with a flourish worthy of a magician.
"Oh, cool. Hey, they match my armor!" She slipped them on and looked up. "How do they look?"
"Great. Tony was right. Nice armor, by the way, I guess I'll hear about that when Nick arrives as well?"
"Yep. What happened…" she trailed off as the significance of the mark half-hidden by Bruce's collar sank in. "Oh…who are you seeing?" she asked, then chuckled as embarrassment rolled through him like a wave.
"Kara, I thought you could not read minds," Loki muttered.
"I can't, still. But I'd have to be blind to miss that hickey." She turned her head to give him a sharp look. "Um, I mean…"
"If you meant the mark on his neck, I noticed. I, however, had the courtesy to ignore it."
"Oh." She turned back to Bruce with a sheepishly apologetic smile. "Sorry."
He had pulled his reading glasses out of his shirt pocket and was fiddling with them. "It's okay. I'm sure it's difficult to imagine me chancing a relationship."
"Hmm, well, I can imagine you'd have concerns, but your control has gotten really amazing, so I doubt you'll have any problems. At the very least, you always know when it's coming now." Loki snickered in her ear and she turned to stare at him. "What?"
"Look," he said using his chin to point to their left.
She turned and nearly fell off of Loki's knee laughing. Clint had apparently told Nat about the 'improvement' to his quiver and not been believed. Arrows lay strewn all over the ground beside them and Clint was shaking his head and holding the still full quiver high out of Nat's reach. "Oh my God. What is he going to do with all of them?"
Loki shrugged. "Not my problem."
Bruce was staring with wide eyes. "Tell me what I'm seeing," he demanded.
"Loki gave Clint an excessive amount of magical refills on his arrows…wait a minute. Is the magic tied to the quiver then, and not to you?" she asked her husband.
"Obviously."
"Excuse me, I don't understand magic, I couldn't have known," she grumped.
He sighed. "You will learn."
"I really hate this learning on the job crap. It's all Odin's fault."
A smug grin appeared on Loki's face. "As usual."
Bruce sighed. "You really do have quite the story to tell us."
Kara snickered. "Oh yeah. And yes, it does have to wait for Nick."
… …
Sif stared at the black clad redhead who stood in the midst of Hawkeye's arrows. What a fool. If they were to be attacked the man would now be at a disadvantage. Perhaps Loki had a point about the denizens of Midgard being unworthy of their protection. She snorted. Under the circumstances Odin's choice of punishment for his wayward adopted son was looking more onerous with every passing moment. "He will kill one of them within a year," she said quietly to Hogun, Haakun and Nyvorlas. "I'll wager my favorite stallion on it."
"I'll take that bet," Haakun said as his eyes narrowed. "I'll put up my prize mare as my stake."
"Done." She raised an eyebrow at the Ljósálfar Prince's grin. "Did you wish to accept the bet?"
"Unless I'm much mistaken, my lady, you have but one favorite stallion. Have you aught else to risk?" Nyvorlas asked.
"You believe he can resist the temptation?"
"Enough to make a serious wager."
She frowned as she considered what she could offer that would tempt the second in line to the Ljósálfar Throne. There were many things he could offer as his side of the bet…magical items chief among them. No, the problem was what else she had of serious value. "I don't think I have anything else worthy to bet. Perhaps we can simply make a token wager, more for bragging rights?"
"Pity. I had a ring that confers invisibility for up to a quarter of a day each day to offer." He shrugged and walked off to examine a rather odd looking plant that bristled with thorn-like spikes.
Sif hurried to follow. A ring to turn a warrior invisible would be a treasure indeed. "Perhaps I could offer service as a bodyguard for a designated time?"
He looked her up and down. "No offence, my lady, but I am not merely a magic user. I am an accomplished warrior." His eyes narrowed. "I admire a woman powerful enough to battle shoulder to shoulder with Asgard's finest. I would wager the ring against one night in your bed…as a lover, if you find that acceptable."
She could feel her jaw drop. That…she frowned remembering Hogun's advice on gambling wisely. Never bet that which you are not willing to lose. Not that she had any doubts that Loki would succumb to the temptation to kill one of the Avengers before a year was out…still. By the nine, a ring of invisibility! "Agreed. The bet is whether Loki will intentionally try to kill or have killed one of the Avengers team members or a member of their household before the end of his first Midgardian year with them. My bet is that he will do so, your bet is that he refrains."
"My bet is that none of them intentionally die at his hands or by his will," Nyvorlas clarified.
"Fair enough, I accept. If a mortal does not die, he doesn't truly mean them to do so."
"I'll have your hand on that," he said, holding his outstretched.
She stared down at the pale slender yet somehow masculine hand and then clasped it with her own. His well calloused palm was a surprise to her; apparently he was the warrior he claimed. "Done," she agreed.
"Done, my lady."
… …
"Hey, guys," Tony called out. Steve looked up from where he was standing, shaking his head at the mess Natasha had made with Clint's arrows. "Come on over here so we can give out the presents before Fury gets here."
"Good idea," he said and turned to head over to where Dr. Banner stood, talking to Kara and Loki. "You two coming?" he asked the assassins over his shoulder. "No one here will bother the arrows."
Clint sighed and grabbed Natasha's hand. "Yeah, be right there."
Kara was sitting on Loki's bent thigh with Tony's wraparound sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose. They looked pretty neat; kind of disturbing, but not as disturbing as her eyes. He waited until they were all together. "Clint, you want to give them out?"
"Nah, you do it."
"Okay. Ahem. You'll hear the rest of the report later, but since we all helped save the day, Odin gave us presents, really great ones. Kara's got nifty armor that's not only stronger than anything Tony could have made, but lighter and more flexible too."
"And less vulnerable to magical interference," Loki added.
"Right. But that's because of the runes, isn't it, not the metal?"
"Correct." Loki looked surprised that he'd known that.
"Tony was given permission to use Asgardian metal working secrets they've provided to him to make better protective gear for me, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow, oh, and himself. That will benefit all of us except Dr. Banner. We were also given an amulet. It will…hmm, how do I explain this one?" he asked Loki, holding up the amulet Lady Eir had provided.
"It will put a critically injured person in stasis so that they may be healed without risk of them dying before any treatment can be completed. It won't help for anything that instantly causes death, but if someone is suffering from extreme blood loss, or cannot breathe, or other similar problems, we won't lose them so easily."
"Excellent," Banner said. "There's only so much we can do in the field; that will be a great help."
Steve grinned. He hadn't thought about it, but as their only medically trained member, even if he wasn't an M.D., Bruce was under a lot of pressure if anyone was injured. If he was hulked out and couldn't treat someone and they lost them, he'd feel all kinds of guilt. "And then we asked for something for you," he told the scientist.
"Oh?"
He held out the other amulet. "Here you go, put it on."
Banner shrugged, took the carved stone strung on what Steve had been told was an unbreakable chain and dropped it over his neck. The chain was long to accommodate the musculature of the man's 'other', so it hung down to the middle of his chest. "What is it for? I'm kind of indestructible."
"You are, but your clothes aren't," Tony told him. "And seriously, man. We've got enough opportunities for blindness every time the lovebirds swap spit without adding in seeing you naked again."
"Uh…what does this have to do with me ending up naked?"
Clint snickered. "It will make your clothes grow with you, and then shrink back when you shrink."
"Seriously? Hmm. I'll probably still want to kick off my shoes and take off my shirt. The other guy won't appreciate the constriction. But keeping my pants? That would be awesome."
"Stark, we need to talk," Natasha said, as she turned one of Kara's new gauntlets over in her hands. "I'd like to get my order in for an armored outfit."
"Yeah, no problem. You and the Hawk can sit down with Cap to do some concept sketches since you're the two least armored at the moment and then we'll talk turkey…uh, Asgardian metalworking. After we've got you both outfitted, we'll upgrade the red, white, and blue. Though, seriously, I think the shield stays as is, that little maneuver we did with it on Asgard was fucking awesome."
"Something else we have to wait to hear about until Fury arrives?" Bruce asked.
"He's arriving now," Loki told them. "And there's something wrong with his conveyance."
Steve frowned. "How do you know?"
Thor's brother pointed over to where the Ljósálfar prince had dropped to his knees, grimacing painfully as he covered his elegantly pointed ears. "Nyvorlas' hearing is much sharper than even mine. I'm just now starting to hear the engine, and there's a slight whine to it that sounds unfamiliar. Judging by his pained expression; the noise spills over into the ultrasonic range."
"Huh," Tony mused. "Ljósálfar and dogs, huh?"
Loki glowered at him. "I suggest you do not say that in Prince Nyvorlas' hearing. You'll cause an inter-realm incident."
"Hopefully he didn't hear it already," Steve said. "But I guess the bad engine noise is drowning Tony out?"
"No doubt. Please tread softly around him. Kara needs his help with her shielding."
Stark sighed. "You're just no fun anymore, Lokes."
… …
Nick stared out from the cockpit of the Quinjet. There were a lot more people here than he expected…and nearly half of them weren't Avengers. "You two stay here and get this bird in the air and out of the way if I don't give the hold signal in ten."
"Yes sir," the pilot said.
"Let's go visit the circus, doctor." He stalked down the ramp with Raj Nassar close on his heels and headed over to the group, becoming more pissed off with each stride. "Stark! What is that mother-fucker doing back here?" he snapped as Rogers stepped to the side and he saw the demented god of Lies down on one knee with Hellbringer balanced on the other.
"Nick, buddy! Good to see you," Stark called out in his cheery press-conference voice as Loki glared up at him.
If the misbegotten bastard's presence wasn't enough, he had that fucking scepter lying on the ground within easy reach. Son of a bitch. "You've got four minutes, Stark," he warned.
"Yeah, yeah. Did you bring the portable buildings?"
"I'll have them dropped off if and when you convince me to call off the strike team. I'm not going to waste the damn things."
"Okay." Stark shut up until he reached them. "Hey, doc, how are you doing?" he asked, looking past him to address Nassar.
"Quite well, thank you, Tony."
"Stark…"
"The woman you haven't met is Lady Sif, Asgard's greatest woman warrior," the billionaire interrupted smoothly. "The gentleman is Councilor Haakun, Odin's chief advisor and representative. He'll be explaining what's going on once you get that building set up so we can get out of nature's oven. You remember Loki and Hogun, no doubt." Stark winked…the pompous bastard actually winked at him! "Oh, and this," he said, motioning the group to part in the middle, "is Prince Nyvorlas of Álfheim, second in line to the Ljósálfar Throne."
A man, he thought, taller than Stark, but not as tall as Rogers, paler and more slender than Loki, if that was possible, wearing a mixture of what looked like silk and silver armor stepped forward. His long white hair was tucked behind upswept pointed ears. What. The. Fuck. "And a Ljósálfar is what?" he asked, grimacing as he heard the words come out in a breathless rasp.
"Light Elves, kind of like in Lord of the Rings," Steve Rogers explained earnestly.
"Son of a bitch." Nick glanced at Raj Nassar who looked nearly as shocked as he felt. He touched his earpiece. "Strike Force Bravo, stand down. I repeat, stand down. Acknowledge."
The voice of the strike force commander sounded in his ear. "Roger that, standing down, director."
"Team two, bring in your bird and get the portables set up at the site discussed."
Frigging Stark was grinning ear to ear as he turned toward his group. "I guess we wowed him."
… …
Author's Notes: Again, if you have a comment that is not a review, such as pointing out the Pepper and strawberries issue (again), please PM me, or at least log in before you leave the review so that I can respond to you directly, particularly if it has already been addressed in subsequent chapters. Thank you.
Reviews are like manna from heaven, I appreciate each and every one of you. I am so thrilled that my work has touched so many of you so significantly. As I type this, my friend is watching the Avengers, and Loki just popped up on the screen. Le sigh. On to writing chapter 42!