Well, friends, it's the penultimate chapter. Next week, this whole thing draws to a close.
I have a lot of feelings about that. I'm sure they'll be much bigger next week.
Something else changes after next week, too. I'll take a few weeks off for my awesome SF/F convention, but after that...I'm going to post all my random oneshots across all my most obscure fandoms that I've been stockpiling for a while...and then I'm going to take a break. I've been posting about one chapter a week since the fall of 2012. That's 11 years straight of weekly posting. It's literally millions of words. But it's time for me to take a sabbatical. Write some other things for a while. Maybe even write something I can publish that you could find in a bookstore someday.
It's scary, to stop doing something I've done for so long, but I think it's the right time. And that doesn't mean I'll never come back. It just means I don't have anything planned just yet.
This chapter is dedicated to Tsa. Literally the best beta and writing sounding-board I could ever ask for. As our plots and character arcs wrap up, so many of the best moments came about because of her and her constant support. She's been on my side for years, and this is what came of it. So, Tsa, this one's for you.
The song on this chapter is a current favorite jam which everyone should listen to – "Blow Out My Candle" by Betty Who.
Enjoy!
Chapter 24: Even When It Hurts
Although Loki could use Wyrdbane to open the Bifrost, in this case it seemed more appropriate to travel through the proper gate under Heimdall's watchful eye.
He was also not at all surprised to find Thor and his friends waiting for them.
"Are you certain you do not wish us to come with you?" Thor asked without preamble.
Sif glared at him. "What he means," she said, "is that we would willingly join you. Not only to ensure your safety, but in recompense for our actions previously."
Before Loki could even scoff, Brunnhilde did it for him.
"Somehow, I don't think the idiots who went down there the last time will be welcome."
The Warriors Three all bristled at that, but Sif just nodded.
"I thank you for your offer of protection," Loki said, and he meant it. "But, I assure you, I am in no danger."
"It's Jotunheim," Volstagg said. "Or have you forgotten everything you ever studied?"
"Everything we studied was incorrect," Loki told him firmly. "The bias in our education is a matter for another day, but rest assured, I now know more of Jotunheim than you do. And not because of our shared heritage."
"But to return the Cask of Ancient Winters?" Fandral frowned. "They could use it to make war upon us again."
"Have you learned nothing from our recent experiences?" Loki shook his head. "No one makes war for no reason. Thanos was rational, if entirely and wholly wrong. Hela was driven by ambition, no matter how barbaric. If the Jotuns choose to attack Asgard after this gesture, it will be because we of Asgard have treated them like sub-sentient creatures. And we will deserve it."
"And," Thor added, "it's not like we expect to lose to them."
Loki rolled his eyes. "The Nine Realms are meant to be united, their peoples strong as allies. Odin's war that claimed them left no room for respect between us as equals, and I will not let that stand. No one, no one shall be considered less in the eyes of Asgard purely on the basis of their species."
Loki knew he was getting heated, but he thought that was justified. If he was king, the very least he could do to leave a legacy would be to correct the errors of his own father, errors that nearly drove Loki to commit genocide no better than Thanos's.
Thor's friends backed down as one.
Brunnhilde glanced at him. "That was not awful, your highness. I'm not even sorry you asked me to come with you."
"Well." Loki pulled his composure back over himself like a cloak. "You have a way of looking at powerful beings and telling them off without starting blood feuds. I find that useful."
It wasn't just that. Thor was Loki's brother, but Thor was an antagonist to the Jotuns just as Loki had been. And while the damage Loki had done to Jotunheim was so much greater, he was king and it was his responsibility to face it. Bringing Thor along as well would imply they were still conquerors. Whereas Brunnhilde had been wronged by Odin. She was an ally of Asgard, but a prickly one. That honesty might speak more eloquently than Loki's own words.
Also, Loki saw potential in Brunnhilde, and the longer she remained on Asgard, the more clearly he saw it. He did not know what she would become, but he was willing to find out.
"My king." Heimdall turned his golden eyes on Loki. "At the risk of sounding condescending, please allow me to say that I am very proud of what you do today."
Loki felt warmth in his chest. "Thank you, Heimdall."
Not to be outdone, Thor immediately piped up, "I as well. This is a gesture of goodwill and peace that begins a new day for the Nine Realms."
Loki smirked at him. "Or it will, if you would all kindly step aside and allow me to do what I have come to do."
Thor and his friends backed away, leaving Loki and Brunnhilde to step up to the Bifrost as it opened.
Loki felt the presence of Wyrdbane hum, and the Cask of Ancient Winters in his hands seemed to shiver as if anticipating its return to where it belonged.
A new day for the Nine Realms? Perhaps. May it be the first of many such changes.
Whatever history they tell of me in ages to come, whatever songs are written, when they invoke the name of Loki Odinson, breaker of wyrds, they must agree that I left nothing unchanged in my wake. Asgard has been stagnant too long. I will be the fire that burns down the oldest growth that new life may rise.
But today I bring ice, not fire. There has been enough burned upon Jotunheim. It is time to bring a new kind of balance to us both.
For Mother. And for me.
Determined, proud, and more than a little defiant of all kings, including Odin, who had come before, Loki stepped into the Bifrost.
-==OOO==-
Peter was quiet coming back from therapy today.
Happy glanced over at the kid sitting in the front seat beside him. He wasn't sure when Peter stopped sitting in the back and started joining him up front, but he liked it. It felt like he had become something besides just being the kid's babysitter.
And he was. Happy didn't have a word for it, but he was something. Because Peter had become special to him somewhere along the way. Even before thoughts about May, Happy liked Peter for himself. He didn't have Tony's overdeveloped sense of protective panic about him, but that didn't mean Happy wouldn't fight a hurricane for him.
It was hard not to like Peter Parker. It was hard not to like either of the Parkers. They were both so good.
And he did like May Parker very, very much.
Not that he'd gotten much farther with her than hand-holding, hugs, and some heartfelt conversations. But that was fine. May was precious. Not fragile, but delicate, and she had been clear about her boundaries and needs. Happy would give her all the time in the world and he'd borrow some from Doctor Strange if he had to — he would just be steady and see where that led. He didn't need more from her. He just wanted whatever she was willing to share with him.
But lately she'd been holding on a little tighter. Gripping his hand and leaning on his shoulder and curling up into his hugs.
Which…considering what happened to Peter…Happy could fully understand. He'd been terrified or the kid, too.
Happy couldn't do much more for May than be there. Listen if she wanted to talk, hold her when she asked, sit beside her when she needed company. May healed as Peter did, the wounds slipping off her heart as they mended in his.
He couldn't do much for Peter, either, but that didn't mean he couldn't try.
"You wanna talk about it?" he offered.
Peter jolted in his seat as if he'd forgotten where he was. But he didn't lash out, didn't panic. He didn't make a sound, either. It was like he was suppressing his surprise as quickly as it came, holding it in.
Honestly, Happy missed the kid being loud and reactive.
"Not really." Peter returned to his usual slumped posture. "I mean…it's not like…"
Happy gave him a minute, but when he didn't continue, he cleared his throat. "Whatever it's like, it's okay."
Peter looked at him. Happy glanced over long enough to catch his expression, but kept his eyes on the road. First, to do his actual job. Second, to give the kid a little space and privacy.
"Yeah, I know. It's okay to be hurt or mad or scared, and it's okay not to be okay, and it's okay to take time to honor my feelings." But he sighed. "I do know that. It's just…I want it to be over."
"I bet."
Happy had perfected a neutral tone years ago that almost always got Tony to open up. It worked just as well on his kid.
"I fell asleep at Ned's the other day when we were watching movies and had a nightmare. I didn't…nothing bad happened. I didn't even break anything. But I think it scared him."
Happy raised an eyebrow. "Scared him?"
Peter huffed. "I'm getting really good at dealing with nightmares. It's no big deal for me."
That was debatable, but Happy let it go.
"Anyway." Peter started fidgeting with a wrapper from one of his protein bars. "It's just…like, it's fine when I'm the one that's hurt because I can handle it. I know I'm not okay, but I'm going to be okay eventually. I just gotta…you know. Get there."
"Honestly, I'm glad to hear you say that," Happy admitted. "It's good that you're determined to get through all this."
"Hell yeah." And there was all Peter's conviction, the same spark in the little middle-schooler who had stood up against a fence and faced down bullies four times his size. That tiny kid from only a few years ago whose spark had become a supernova. "Thanos doesn't get to screw up the rest of my life. No way. He only gets to be dead and hopefully Grandfather Odin punches him in his stupid face for me."
Happy chuckled. "I'm sure he will."
"But. Anyway."
Happy again waited the kid out and he was rewarded.
"It's fine when I'm the one who's hurt because I heal. But I hate seeing everybody else so hurt and scared because of me. Ned and May and Tony and you and everybody. I just…" His voice dropped low. "I hate it."
Happy sat with that for a moment before answering.
"I know you know all the things I'm supposed to say here. That we only worry because we care about you, and you shouldn't take our responses on your shoulders because it's up to us to deal with our feelings. Right?"
"Yeah, I know. But it still sucks."
"It does suck," Happy readily agreed. "And I wish I could tell you we'll all stop being hurt by what happened to you, but we won't. We're all going to have to live with this for a long time."
"Probably."
"You're thinking so hard about your own recovery and you're also worrying about everyone else's. And I'd tell you to stop it, but I know that's hard for you. You could try, though. Just focus on yourself and not us."
"Yeah, maybe."
Happy was no expert at this stuff. He'd done some JARVIS-supported reading after Beck to understand how to respond to Peter if Peter associated him with what Beck put him through, and he'd done more reading this time. He knew what the books said. He'd even seen a therapist once just to shut Tony up after the Beck thing.
Yeah, being ambushed and waking up in a hospital with a catheter was not on his good list of memories, but really, therapy wasn't what Happy had needed back then. The work of healing was one thing — but sometimes, for Happy, what helped the most was just taking time to relax.
And with nothing better to offer, he mentally shrugged and took a chance.
"Listen. You're doing all the right things. But maybe you should take a break from dealing with this. There are rest days built into physical therapy for a reason, you know?"
"What do you mean?" Peter sounded better, maybe even interested.
Happy smiled. "Since you got back from Wakanda you've been doing school and therapy and visiting the Tower and taking your turns with Morgan and don't think I don't know you've been out there as Spider-Man too."
Peter didn't deny it.
"Look. If you could do anything right now, with anybody, what would you choose? What…" he searched for the right words, "uh…what would make you feel…the most like yourself? Make you feel whole? Don't think about what everybody else wants or needs. Just you."
All of a sudden, there were several cars trying to change lanes and swerve in the road ahead and Happy had to devote more attention to them for a minute. When he refocused on Peter, the kid was clearly thinking hard.
"Whatever you want, you know you can have it," Happy said. "Literally everybody will move the world for you if you ask."
"And it's not stupid?" Peter's voice was soft again, but hopeful. "To want…to want to do something dumb for a while? Like…stop trying to fix everything and just…you know. Goof off?"
"Kid, if it makes you feel one single molecule better, it's worth doing. Name it."
Even Happy could feel some of the tension drain out of the kid. And at the next stop, he turned to see that it had been replaced by a smile.
"Okay." Peter pulled out his phone. "Hey, JARVIS? Can you text some people for me?"
-==OOO==-
Bruce took a sip of tea, letting it warm him up. At least the tea is good. No clue yet about anything else.
Because of all the weird invitations he got, as Doctor Bruce Banner or occasionally as the Hulk, the invitation for lunch with Stephen Strange and Wong on a random Tuesday was possibly the last thing he'd expected.
Beside him, Doctor Strange was peering at his own teacup. "I thought we were doing the Wuyi Ensemble oolong this time?"
"You made it," Wong said, unbothered. "Did you mix up the tins again?"
"How could I? The Wuyi is always in the blue tin."
"No, that's the Dan Cong. The Wuyi is in the yellow tin."
"Damn. I guess we'll do the Wuyi next time." Strange shrugged at Bruce. "Anyway, hope you like it."
"Oh, it's great," Bruce said.
"We also got sandwiches from that one deli on the West Side." He gestured at the table. In comparison to the very fine and proper tea set, the platter of hoagies was very out of place — or maybe very in place considering the chaotic surroundings of the New York Sanctum.
Bruce hadn't really looked around when he'd been here before, but now he was taking in the wild variety of artifacts and items from every corner of the planet and every era. And some things that could only have come from a different planet entirely.
It was like a museum smashed together with a flea market.
That very mismash actually set him a little more at ease. Everything was unusual, so nothing really stood out. Everything else was odd enough that he fit in just fine.
"We didn't think to ask if you had any preferred cold cuts," Wong put in.
"Oh. I'm vegan, actually."
"Then it's a good thing we got exactly one vegan option." Strange leaned forward and dug out a hoagie absent all the meats and cheeses of the others. "Next time I'll get more choices."
"Uh, thanks?"
"We should explain why we invited you over," Wong said. "Possibly before we make you any more uncomfortable."
Wong shot a look to Strange.
"I don't make people uncomfortable!" he protested at once.
"You kind of do," Wong said. "Something about the behold my genius thing you do."
"I don't do a thing!"
The red cloak that hovered in the air nearby ducked over to them and made a gesture.
"Don't take his side," Strange told it. "I thought you were supposed to be loyal to me."
"Doesn't loyalty imply honesty?" Bruce asked before he could talk himself out of it.
Wong chuckled. "Exactly. See, Strange? He gets it."
Strange gave an aggrieved sigh. "Can we get onto the discussion we intended to have before the three of you continue to make my day worse than it was prior to this point?"
Bruce coughed. "Can I ask what discussion you wanted to have with me here?"
He wasn't nervous. Compared to world-ending disasters and space tyrants and the possibility of losing his family in battle, the pair of bickering sorcerers and sentient outerwear were pretty low on his list of threats. He knew that could change fast, but he was content to wait until it did.
Besides, JARVIS is probably listening from my phone the way he does for Peter, so if things go really sideways I'm sure I'll have a bunch of twitchy backup in a matter of minutes.
Assuming Hulk even needs it. Which he does not.
So he took a bite of his hoagie and waited.
"We have something of a request for you," Strange said.
"Which you can decline," Wong added.
Strange nodded. "Which you can decline. You see, as part of continuing study into the Mystic Arts, it is not only our minds we must improve, but our skills."
"We are charged with the defense of this world, and we must be prepared at all times to battle to the death against threats you cannot fathom," Wong said.
Bruce gave Wong a look. "I can fathom at least some of them."
Wong's face bent in a small smile. "Agree to disagree."
"We can only learn so much from other practitioners of our own discipline," Strange continued. "And while we face battle more regularly than I'd like, it's not exactly a good training ground. We need someone who can provide a genuine threat without endangering the balance of the cosmos."
Bruce set down his sandwich. "You're asking me to get the Hulk to spar with you guys?"
"The Hulk is one of the most fearsome beings in the universe," Wong said. "And there is likely very little we could do to harm him."
"You could also irritate him into destroying half the city," Bruce pointed out.
"No." Strange waved his hand. "We'd do this somewhere with nothing to worry about. The Sossusvlei. Antarctica. The Outback. Cleveland."
The cloak actually flapped at Strange for that last one. He flapped back like he was shooing a cat.
"We would not ask if we thought we would put anyone at risk." Wong met Bruce's eyes steadily. "This would benefit us, but we would not ask it if we were not certain of your safety as well as that of everyone in the vicinity."
"What about your safety?" Bruce wanted to know.
"If Hulk can get us," Strange's voice went low, "we'd be better off finding out now, before we fall against something much worse."
Bruce sighed and shut his eyes.
He understood it, actually. Sparring with Steve or T'Challa wouldn't give the wizards the kind of extreme situation they were clearly looking for. And while maybe an army of Tony's Iron Legion would provide some distraction, they would never truly pose a lethal threat.
And magically cutting robots in half with a portal seemed way too easy.
Maybe Thor or Loki could do this, especially with their new weapons at their disposal. And Wanda, of course, when she really let her power flow. But the Asgardians had a homeland to rebuild, and Bruce wouldn't want to ask Wanda for this. Her magic was a little too untested and unpredictable.
At least with the Hulk, they'd know exactly what they were getting. Unstoppable, impossibly durable, frighteningly strong, savage in battle — but predictable.
It wasn't all that different from the training the Avengers did regularly, and Hulk participated in that, too. And for the same reason: so the team would be ready for something unbeatable. Their rigorous training had definitely given them a better chance against Thanos and his army, after all, and the endurance to see it through to the end.
But do I really want to be that? Just the big scary dragon for warriors to test themselves against?
On the other hand, maybe letting Hulk out a little more wouldn't hurt.
It's not like he has much of a life. At least he could stretch his legs.
I owe him that much, anyway, for all the lives he's saved — not even counting mine.
Bruce opened his eyes. "I have conditions."
"As long as they're reasonable," Strange said.
Wong frowned at him. "I'm sure we can accommodate any requests you have, Doctor Banner."
Strange rolled his eyes.
Bruce ticked off points on his fingers.
"First, we agree on a schedule in advance. You're not snapping me up in a portal unexpectedly. I actually do have a life outside of all this."
"That's fair," Strange allowed.
"Second, at least one member of the Avengers comes with us, someone with experience talking Hulk down from a rampage. I don't want you banishing me to another dimension because you tick Hulk off and can't handle the results."
Wong nodded. "Very well."
"Third, I want something in return."
Now both sorcerers leaned forward, clearly interested.
"Don't say magic lessons," Strange said. "And I don't do balloon animals either."
Bruce chuckled. "No. Honestly, I'd rather stay a man of science and let you do all the," and he waved his hands in a manner vaguely — but mockingly — like what he'd seen them do.
"You make it look like some kind of K-pop dance," Wong complained.
Bruce blinked at him, and so did Strange, for that matter.
"I'm impressed," Strange told him. "Welcome to contemporary music, Wong."
Wong looked as offended as if someone had stuck a pickle up his nose.
"Anyway." Bruce decided to rescue the man from the teasing. "What I want is for at least one of you to actually commit to working with us. With the team." He held up a hand to forestall the obvious objections. "I'm not saying you have to live at the Compound or go on every mission. But there have been times in the last few years that having you around might have helped us. Might have saved lives."
He thought of the avalanche in Switzerland and swallowed a lump of guilt that had never quite faded.
"I'm not asking for a partnership. Just…a collaboration. If you want me to be available to you, it is not unreasonable to ask you to be available to us in return."
"He's right," Wong said. "It's not unreasonable."
"In light of the Thanos situation," Strange said, "I agree that some greater amount of communication between us could have value." His eyes went sharp. "But I'm not taking orders from Stark."
"That's fine," Bruce said. "He'll probably ignore you right back."
And Bruce could see the ripple of irritation that left in its wake. As if the great Stephen Strange was irritated at potentially being ignored, and would resolve to make himself known.
Which, honestly, was exactly what Bruce would have expected from Tony, too. Those two were hilariously similar when it came to sheer brilliance — and ego.
Team dinners with both of them at the table were going to be epic.
"We agree to your conditions," Wong said. "And thank you." He gave a faint smile. "I know what we ask isn't easy for you, but its worth to us is incalculable."
Bruce felt himself smiling a little in return.
"It's easier than it used to be," he said. "I've had time and a lot of support to adjust to my new reality."
Bruce had stopped being afraid of the Hulk years ago. But it was still novel, and warm, to know that so many others were also not afraid. That they even liked the Hulk. That Hulk had a family too.
We both have a family to be there with us when it gets tough. And people who will stand beside us to the end, no matter what. And something worth protecting.
He'd spent so long running. Avoiding connections that might become liabilities or risks, anything he could endanger. Trying not to commit himself to anything in case he lost it again.
Now he was well and truly embedded in something that he would never give up. And like a tree, with his roots established, running deep, stabilizing everything, he could finally stretch up and out without fear.
And, just maybe, the Hulk could too.
Bruce picked up his sandwich again. "By any chance, do you two enjoy playing tag?"
-==OOO==-
May tucked her feet under her. "So, what was the big surprise?"
Wanda's face turned a little bit pink. "Vision has been looking into buying a house for us," she said. "Now that he can reliably pass as human...he wishes us to think about our future."
"Congratulations." Nat gave a subdued nod, but the smile was warm. "You both deserve some happiness."
"What about you?" Maria lounged on the couch. "Any hope for those of us betting on you and Bruce?"
"Honestly?" Nat rotated her glass of wine slowly. "I'm still not sure. And he's still not sure."
"You and he are worse than T'Challa and I." Nakia was a late addition to the girls' night group, but a welcome one. "Simply grab him and kiss him and do not let him argue."
"It doesn't have to be like that," Maria said, wrinkling her nose. "But a little more something couldn't go wrong. Just be honest. Communication works, I hear."
May chuckled. "Says the only one of us smart enough to date a woman instead of a man. Imagine how much less we would have to talk about if we all could just talk to them!"
"Hey, we've got our own issues," Maria pointed out. "Talk about intercultural communication. But I'll take the compliment as intended, thanks."
"And have you talked to Happy yet?" Nat shot back at May with a raised eyebrow.
"We're working on it," May said firmly. "We're going slow, partially because of Peter, partially because of me."
That made the room go a little bit more solemn, which May regretted, but it was true.
"I miss Pepper being part of this," Wanda said suddenly. "I guess we'll have to wait until Morgan is big enough to join in as well."
"We should invite Shuri first," Maria said. "And the space girls. Especially Carol — I want to hear more stories about Fury being an idiot. But it sounded to me like Gamora and Nebula and Mantis could probably use this as much as we do."
"What about Sharon?" May wanted to know. "Does she count?"
Nat considered, then nodded. "Yeah, Sharon can count. She's solid."
"How about Yelena?" Nakia shrugged when everyone stared at her. "What? There are not enough of us as it is. And the other Dora Milaje would never agree so we must look elsewhere. Besides, she is family, is she not?"
Nat just smiled.
"What about Brunnhilde?" Wanda asked. "I like her. I'd invite Sif, too, but then we'd have fewer chances to gossip about her and Maria's love life."
Maria sighed but didn't argue.
"Maybe we could get Hope van Dyne? I bet she could use the chance to unwind." Nat shrugged. "Add in Janet van Dyne while you're at it. That's a lady who deserves a drink."
"And we should get Jane to come back sometime," Maria said. "She's got a mean right hook."
"Are we forming a girls' club or a strike force?" Nakia asked. "Not that I'm complaining about either."
"Maybe a little of both." Nat had a look in her eye that May knew usually meant trouble. "Where else are we going to get a group of exceptionally capable, powerful women who can kick ass and look fabulous doing it?"
"Uh, what about me?" May raised a hand. "I don't even have Jane's punch going for me."
"You," Wanda said, pinning her with a glare, "are our most secret weapon of all. Because if all of us fail to beat someone into submission, we'll let you yell at them and they will beg us to end them where they stand."
Amazingly, everyone in the room nodded.
May doubled over, laughing.
"I love you all, you know that?" she managed.
"I think we do," Natasha said softly.
May wiped away tears not entirely from her fit of giggles. "JARVIS, I need you to get Pepper down here. Make Happy babysit. She deserves to be here with the rest of us."
"I shall endeavor to do so, Missus Parker."
May lifted up her glass of wine. "To the sisterhood of superheroes. Sisters first, of course."
And there were a few other damp or too-soft eyes in the room as they clinked glasses.
-==OOO==-
When Harley walked into the common room at the Compound, he went straight up to where Peter was standing.
"Are you okay if I give you a hug?" he demanded, even though he knew it was a little too sharp, a little too loud.
Peter blinked at him, then nodded. "Sure?"
"Good."
And Harley hauled the kid into his arms and hugged him roughly. Being that Peter was Spider-Man, he didn't bother to hold back and squeezed as much as he wanted.
"Are you okay?" Ned asked from the side.
"No." Harley squeezed harder. "Because I had to find out from fricking JARVIS that this idiot got kidnapped and tortured by the space alien who sent those ships and that he single-handedly saved like half the universe by getting himself shot."
"That's not exactly how he explained it to me," Ned objected.
Harley scowled. "Close enough. Point is, he should have explained it."
"You're right. I should have told you." Peter's voice was muffled where it was jammed against Harley's collar-bone.
"You're damn right you should have!" Harley changed the hold and noogied Peter's head instead.
(And knew that Peter was plenty strong enough to throw him off if he wanted, but he didn't.)
"To be fair, he didn't tell me until he got back, either," Ned put in.
"Nope, not better."
"Harley, I'm sorry!" But Peter was laughing. He was still not really struggling, though.
That wasn't satisfying enough. Harley changed tactics and decided to find out if Peter was ticklish.
He got one good tickle in — and then his arms were empty and Peter was on the ceiling, breath coming out in little huffs.
"You're so mean!"
"Good to know you're not invincible," Harley told him.
Ned shook his head. "Nah, he's the most ticklish person on the planet. Like, you can even tickle him from a distance if you do this."
Ned wiggled his fingers in the air in Peter's direction as if he was tickling him.
And Peter flinched and scuttled back.
"I am never surrendering this knowledge," Harley declared. "Now, get your spider-butt down here and tell me everything. And then we're going to build a better fort than last time and lock all the adults out for at least two days."
"Do we have enough food for two days?" Ned wanted to know.
"I have ensured that we are well stocked for your long weekend, Mister Leeds," JARVIS intoned from above. "Also, I would like to alert you to your other guest."
A moment later, the door opened and Shuri walked in.
"Oh, good. You did not begin constructing the castle without me."
"Castle?" Peter dropped back to the floor.
"Of course. Last time our attempt was modest at best. Now that I have some experience, I already have far more elaborate plans." She activated her kimoyo bead bracelet and a holographic blueprint emerged. "See?"
Harley stared at the design, too impressed to do anything but blink.
Leave it to Ned to be practical. "Do we even have that many blankets, though? And how would we make a second floor that can actually hold our weight?"
"Excuse me," JARVIS said, "but if you will relocate to the Purple Gym, you will find everything you require."
"Purple?" Shuri asked.
"It's the smaller obstacle course," Peter said. "Lots of ropes and platforms and things you can climb and slide down." He smiled. "It also has a kitchenette and a bathroom."
"And Sir has added an excessive number of blankets, cushions, pillows, and other things," JARVIS added. "In addition to all your food. He has fully prepared for your weekend together."
"That's really nice of him," Ned said, eyes shining.
Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "I think he went overboard because he's worried about me. Again."
"He is worried again, or he went overboard again?" Shuri wanted to know.
"I dunno, probably both."
Meanwhile, Harley was looking more closely at Peter.
He didn't look right. His smile didn't reach his eyes, and he was pale in a way he hadn't been before.
But that was okay. He was here, he was alive, he was safe. And even though Harley hadn't yet seen any of the Avengers around, he knew they were all here somewhere. Knew Peter hadn't been left alone for one second if he needed people with him.
Dealing with trauma wasn't something Harley did well. He mostly poured his own into a box in the back of his head and left it there. But he knew what he'd needed the most when he felt like he was breaking — and it was this. People he trusted. Something fun. Something safe. Something easy.
And so here they were for the long weekend to be Peter's security blanket for a while. In a literal blanket fort castle, apparently. No heroes, no villains, no monsters. Just fun.
It might not fix anything, but that didn't mean it wouldn't help.
"Let's go see this gym, then," Harley said. "Do you think we can stage something cool in it?"
"Like what?" Shuri wanted to know.
"Like some Mission: Impossible tricks. Peter can string us up and catch us if we fall." He grinned. "I've always wanted to try being a stuntman."
And he didn't miss the light that went into Peter's eyes at the idea, or the way Ned and Shuri reacted when Peter smiled. It must have been so much worse for them all this time — especially Shuri given what JARVIS said happened in Wakanda. Peter had definitely been the most hurt, but Shuri would have seen some awful stuff.
Harley figured he and Ned would be the outsiders who could help them forget about all of it for a while. Of course he wanted to spend time with them — they were his friends and they got him in a way nobody back home did. But this wasn't a weekend about Harley. This was about Peter and Shuri and what Ned and Harley could do to help them. The problems and nightmares would be waiting for them when they went back to it.
But everybody needs a vacation from the world sometimes.
And that's exactly what they did.
They built a truly epic blanket castle that really did have a second floor rigged up with a cargo net. They had so many gym mats for walls and the floor to work with that they ended up creating a whole second structure that they could jump into from the highest point in the room and it would collapse satisfyingly (and safely) around them.
They watched movie after movie after movie. And sometimes they ignored them completely to play in the obstacle course-slash-fort-slash-castle. And sometimes they acted out parts or sang along or made up their own little rituals along the way.
They ate like feral children, digging into the pizzas when those arrived, or the tacos, or whatever other food magically appeared at their door when they wanted it. The rest of the time they had enough snacks and drinks (and fruit because Peter was worried about them all getting scurvy) to last them a month.
They slept in spurts, napping when they wanted, awake when they felt like it. At one point, Shuri spent about two hours in her pajamas and a robe while also wrapped in a blanket and lying on the tallest tower, just yelling insults whenever she woke up enough to think of one.
And Shuri's insults got worse with sleepiness, but better and lighter as the hours passed. When she could finally laugh, looking at Peter without even a tiny bit of shadow in her face, Harley and Ned grinned for a full hour.
And they all watched Peter. Saw when he relaxed. Made sure he was never alone when he curled up to sleep.
And Peter…soon started to smile for real again.
(And they really did try to lock all adults out of their space, but some of them climbed through the vents (Clint) or picked the lock (Pietro) or made JARVIS let them in (Tony and Steve and Bruce). The only ones they voluntarily let in were May and Pepper who brought food and Rhodey who was apparently hiding from Tony for some reason for a little while. But that was okay, too.)
(Family was always welcome in the epic blanket castle.)
-==OOO==-
Loki sat in Frigga's study, looking out at the sun setting over Asgard.
The city was healing, and all the Nine Realms with it.
There was still so much to be done. Every one of the Nine needed their wards strengthened significantly and that would take perhaps a century of work to complete. Asgard itself was still littered with the damage and the scars from Thanos's attack, but those wounds were small compared to what could have been.
And the Jotuns had accepted the Cask of Winters, though not Loki's apology. The rift between their peoples was deep and wide, but Loki was patient. Already he could see ways to ingratiate himself to them, and thus slowly win their trust.
He nearly laughed at himself.
Not long ago, a mere blink of an eye in the eons of his life, and he would have been using that trust for his own gain. To advance himself and his schemes. And with no regard for those he used. He would have manipulated them and disposed of them like a soiled handkerchief.
Now, all those skills and insights, the lessons of people and how to move them, were turned towards an entirely different task.
An entirely different future.
An entirely different Loki.
And that…was welcome. For Loki had not, in many ways, wanted the life he lived before. Always scheming, always scraping for dregs of appreciation and respect. Always torn with the shame of failure and inferiority. Always pulled towards those he loved and yet afraid to let them draw near.
Suddenly, a thought struck him and Loki laughed. He laughed and laughed until his breath wheezed with it.
"All-Father," he said, "for all you could foresee, I think even you did not understand. You hung upon the tree for nine days and nine nights to gain insight."
He rose and moved to stand at the window.
"I threw myself off the Bifrost for an eternity of suffering. For what I needed to learn could not be gained in only nine days."
For a moment, Loki thought he saw the shadow of one of Odin's ravens flash through the sky.
"Thor is the best of us, for he only needed a few days upon Midgard and some pointed remarks by his friends. But we are the stubborn ones, are we not, Father?"
He could almost hear Odin's voice in response — and perhaps he did in truth. Stubborn and yet changeable is what a king must be. And you are a great deal more of both than I ever was.
As a child, he had understood the idea of sacrifice in order to gain something worthy. He often practiced magic that required great efforts, or a bloodletting, or some other unpleasant thing to achieve success. He had understood that nothing truly valuable ever comes without something given in exchange.
Falling from the Bifrost, his time with Thanos, his shame and imprisonment upon Asgard, the loss of Frigga — they were weighty, dire prices to pay indeed.
"And yet," he said softly, "they gained me this. Not just the throne, but everything else."
A life no longer lived in fear of rejection and pain. A life no longer lived alone with no one to trust or upon whom he could rely. A life whose future stretched out gloriously like the Bifrost itself, infinitely challenging and exciting and satisfying.
"Perhaps," and he touched the place where Wyrdbane was always at his side, "my wyrd was not so wrongly spun at all. I always knew I was meant to be king. Perhaps this fate is not one I defied, but one I fulfilled. But only when I became…"
Worthy.
All at once, a piece of Loki's soul slotted home, like the final component of a spell.
In my own way, at last I have achieved the very thing I most sought. I am, like Thor, finally worthy.
He thought of what Peter had said in the last moments of their confrontation with Thanos.
"This is what I am for."
And Loki knew that, no matter the centuries that would pass, the battles to come, the victories and defeats — he would never again be incomplete.
Loki Odinson, rightful king of Asgard, brother of Thor, mentor (brother) of Peter Starkson, had found his place, and he would never lose it again.
