A/n: Hey, guys. Terribly sorry for the delay but here's the next chapter. I must admit that getting Thor's manner of speaking is really challenging but fun nevertheless. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Thank you to my reviewers and those who have favourited this story: TheElegantFaerie, VampireHuntress72095, Eliza and RealHuntress18.
Chapter 8
When Iron Man finally caught up with the signal of the bracelet, he found Katherine just leaving an old rundown warehouse. To his relief (which he'll never admit), she seemed unharmed.
"Which part of stay in the plane did you not understand?" he scolded in exasperation.
"I think it was the staying part." she commented. "I lost the trail. It ran cold at this warehouse."
Tony did a thermal scan of the warehouse and found it empty. A scan of their surroundings told him they were alone. "Well, consider yourself lucky. Steve will have my head and Natasha's if anything happened to you."
"What happened with the park?" she asked.
"Those bastards got a few civilians but we got most of them before they escaped through the sewers and drainage system. Five people were injured from the bank attack. SHIELD is going to have a field day cleaning this mess."
"You should have them monitor their immune systems especially those that were bitten by the werewolves." Katherine suggested distractedly.
"Right. Because of that old legend about a bite from a werewolf can turn you into one." he said sarcastically. She gave him a look and he took it back immediately. "So not much of a legend then. Okay, JARVIS, tell Fury he needs to run blood works on the victims. Banner should be able to help once he, um, calms down."
"Were you able to find out what Amanda stole?" she asked.
"Got JARVIS pulling up records even as we speak." Tony said proudly. "And don't you try to change the subject, missy!"
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Missy?"
Their argument would have been full-blown had Steve beeped in, ordering them back to the tower immediately to debrief. And by the tone of his voice he did not sound pleased. For the first time since meeting him, Katherine did not look forward to being in the same room as Steve.
He was the first person to greet them at the docking bay atop the tower and Tony and Katherine was tempted to run. He did not look happy and as he was still in his uniform minus the mask, he looked even more intimidating even to a hundred over year old vampire.
"Which part of stay on the plane did you not understand, Katherine?" he said, his blue eyes hard with quiet anger and concern.
"Funny. I said the exact same thing to her." Tony remarked earning twin glares from the both of them that made his jaw click shut in a hurry. He instead settled for letting them dish it out while JARVIS removed his suit.
"And to go after a potentially dangerous suspect? What were you thinking?" Steve continued, concern breaking through this time. "You could have been hurt."
Katherine looked at a loss as how to respond. "But I wasn't, Steve. And when I did what I did, I wasn't obviously thinking." to that Tony scoffed, "All I know was that she was getting away with something important and someone had to stop her. Natasha was fairly occupied and so was Stark. Steve, it was my choice."
Something in her words echoed in his mind and his eyes pained as the memory of his final conversation with Peggy rose from the depths of his mind. He of all people should know and respect the choices others made. "You could have waited. It isn't your place to fight our battles." he said quietly.
Katherine was sorely tempted at this point to just blurt out her true nature. Playing the side-lined damsel was getting boring and tiresome and with Amanda still on the loose, it was only a matter of time before she will be forced to take drastic measures.
Fury be damned, she was just going to tell him. "Steve, I –,"
"Captain!" a loud voice boomed as a tall man in a red cap appeared at the doorway. "Everyone is waiting. Hello, Man of Iron!"
Katherine stiffened visibly as she stared at the god who had finally noticed her after greeting Tony. She noticed the way his eyes narrowed on her, probably first detecting her….supernatural condition. Gods were sensitive that way.
"You…" he began slowly, uncertainly.
"Thor, a word please!" Tony cut in, immediately grabbing the god by his muscular bicep and dragged him into the penthouse. "Let me catch you up to speed."
She could hear Thor protesting in confusion and she was sure if she could hear it, so could Steve. "Speed? I do not understand what does speed have to do with that….!"
Whatever foul word he would have utter was swallowed up Tony's raising voice. Steve was confused.
"What was that about? Do you know Thor because he seems to know you." he asked.
"Um, let's just say our families go way back." Katherine muttered, feeling a headache drilling its way into her brain. When was the last time she had blood? "Like ancient waaaay back. It's a long story, Cap and maybe someday, I'll tell you but right now, I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to."
Steve nodded and led her back into the living room where the rest of the team were. Natasha and Clint were attending to one another and while they looked pretty banged up, nothing indicated they were slashed or bitten. Tony and Thor were still in the midst of talking and Pepper had joined in, her tone calm as she helped Tony explain the situation to the god. Katherine could see the god eyeing her suspiciously as she entered.
"I do not like this… arrangement but I suppose I have little say since Nick Fury commanded it." Thor said gruffly to Tony.
The millionaire nodded quickly. "Very little say."
"Fury is expected a report in the morning." Natasha said. "What do we have to go on?"
"Obviously the attack in the Central Park was a diversion to draw our attention from the bank robbery but why?" Steve offered.
"One of them took a briefcase and according to bank records, it held the last known jewel stones of the last imperial family of Russia." Tony explained, using his hologram device to bring up a visual of the stolen items. "They belonged to a wealthy collector, Hugo…something who just brought them from a black market auction. And lookie here, Hugo was just killed two nights ago."
"How convenient." Clint muttered.
Tony pulled up a still shot of the blond haired vampire. "And Bachelorette Number One of the bank heist is Amanda Johannes. JARVIS was able to trace her origins back to the 1940s in Berlin. Katherine believes she is working with Chitauris and is also currently posing as a double agent for Klaus. For whatever reason has yet to be determined."
"So why would vampires be interested in old jewelleries and to go through this much trouble to get them…?" Steve asked.
Katherine stared at the hologram of the red and blue stones, an old memory sparking in her mind. She has heard rumours of the violent end of the jewel's true owners and that plus what she knew already of the supernatural… "From what I hear, items with a history of violence and bloodshed have a tendency to gain magical properties." she offered, reaching and tapping the holographic visual as she had seen Tony do. Images of old photographs of men and women appeared and she enlarged them with a flick of her hand.
"After the Russian revolution, the royal family of Nicholas Tsar was found in hiding and was sentenced to death by firing squad." she spoke as she further enlarged the picture to display the jewels on the ladies. "However after they were shot, the guards realised the princesses were still alive. It turned out that the jewelleries were stored in their bodices, acting like a Kevlar shield. The guards proceeded to stab the girls to death before stealing the stones to be sold. With that much bloodshed, the stones must contain a very powerful amount of magic."
"Yes, I've heard similar stories of their deaths. But is that even possible?" Natasha asked, her distrust for the other woman forgotten.
"That is possible." Thor said. "In Asgard, crystals with charms are given to relatives and friends for luck."
"I hate magic." Tony groaned.
"We still don't know what they need it for." Pepper said.
"Well." Clint began slowly. The team wasn't going to like this idea. "There is one person who is well-verse with magic and knows how the Chitauri works."
There was brief silence as everybody turned their eyes to Thor who looked pensive before realising the attention on him. It slowly dawned upon him. "Surely you do not mean my brother?" he asked in disbelief.
"Do you know any other power-crazy, alien-allying god?" Tony retorted.
"Loki is paying his dues for the crimes he has committed against Midgard in Asgard's most impenetrable prison as ordered by our father." Thor revealed. "My father will not permit just about anyone to see him."
"We're not just about anyone. We're ones who had to discipline his rebellious son." Tony reminded him bluntly. "I think that earns us some visiting rights."
"My father is undoubtedly grateful for your assistance but a part of Loki's punishment is complete isolation." Thor said. "Even I am not allowed to visit my brother. Furthermore, the prison is which he resides in, no humans has ever set foot there."
"Until now." Tony said stubbornly and his statement was backed by nods from Clint and Natasha.
"Because no ordinary human can survive in the prison environment let alone set foot in it. Even a god loses all sense of sanity and power with time." Thor explained grumpily. "It's our father's way of dissuading me and others from visiting Loki."
"How do we know that even if we get into Asgard somehow, that Loki will be lucid enough to talk to us and willingly?" Steve asked.
"If I remember correctly, Reindeer Games isn't exactly on good terms with our alien friends seeing as he got half their army destroyed thanks to us." the owner of the tower said. "It would suck if the Chitauri knew where he was."
"You dare threaten my brother and Asgard!?" Thor bellowed.
"Of course not." Tony said offhandedly. "I am merely making a suggestion. Loki doesn't have to know the difference. But we need you to get us in first, Thor. Can you do that?"
"My father will not be pleased." Thor said but the look on his face was resigned.
"Then that settles it. I'll go." Steve said at once.
"Wait a minute! Who died and made you Reindeer interrogator?" Tony said, glaring at the other man. "No, I am going."
"Were you not listening? You will die in there."
"Gee, didn't know you cared, Cap. And in case you forgot, I am the one in the armoured suit."
"Guys." Pepper snapped as she stepped into the centre of the room. "I know this is going to sound unfair and bias but Steve's right. Tony, your suit is not ready to go into untested realms. You remember what happened the last time you went through a portal?"
Tony sulked. "Um…no."
"As I recall, we lost complete connections with you, sir for a total of 60 seconds." JARVIS offered helpfully.
"Thank you, JARVIS. And if the Hulk hasn't caught you, you would be a permanent landmark of New York by now." the strawberry blond continued. "I am sorry, Tony but I insist you let Steve take this mission."
"But…but…" Tony gapped. "But he's human too!"
"Superhuman." Steve corrected with a small grin. "Right out of a test tube, remember?"
"Don't you start throwing my words back at me."
"That settles it." Natasha said, standing up carefully. "Steve and Thor will head to Asgard to talk to Loki. The rest of us will be on standby in case Amanda and the Chitauri try something."
"I am going with Steve and Shakespeare." Katherine spoke up, now that the bickering amongst world's greatest superheroes has quietened.
"What?" came from just about everyone in the room who stared at her in shock.
"Steve needs to know specifically what to ask Loki. I can help. The faster we get the answers, the faster Cap can get out of there, right?" she said calmly. "Besides, Thor said only the prison wasn't human friendly so if I stay outside its boundaries, I will be fine."
"I do not like this." Thor grumbled. "But her words, as absurd as they are, make sense."
Tony turned to Pepper. "How come I didn't think of that?"
"How soon can we leave?" Katherine asked the God of lightning, noting that he seemed more at ease with her now as compared to his earlier reaction.
"At dawn." he said. "Even with the Tessarect powering it, the Bifrost requires some time to recharge."
"Katherine, are you sure?" Steve asked, turning to her. "This is a different realm we're talking about here and it involves talking to a god whose mind is pretty much loopy."
She grinned. "Loopy? That's very un-1940s of you."
He remained serious. "Katherine."
"It's my choice, Cap." she reminded him. "At least this time, I thought it through."
Steve stared at her and finally sighed. Damned, she was the most stubborn woman he had ever come across and that included Peggy.
"Father and Heimdall are certainly not going to be pleased." Thor muttered, thinking of how if Odin found out, he was surely to be expelled to Midgard once more.
~.~
After that debacle about Steve and Katherine going to Asgard with Thor ended, Pepper immediately ushered everyone to their respective floors and rooms. The assassin duo retreated to their rooms while Thor lumbered down into the storage pantry, muttering something about pop tarts. Tony as expected vanished into his lab, talking to JARVIS about the vervain and wolfsbane bombs. Bruce returned just as everyone was departing and he looked exhausted given that he had spent the entire night attending to victims of the attacks at Fury's request. Sensing that a tired Bruce was a grouchy Hulk, everyone wisely allowed him to disappear into his room with Natasha promising to bring him up to speed in the morning. Steve headed to his allocated room for a shower, leaving Katherine alone for the first time the entire day to her own thoughts.
Pouring a bag of fresh blood into a glass, she sipped at it thoughtfully as she stared out at the city. The heavy footsteps and scent of dew alerted her of the presence that joined her on the balcony.
"You must forgive my initial reaction to your presence. I have not come across your kind in thousands of years." Thor said. "The last of the vampyrs were driven out of Asgard by my father and I find out now that you are residing amongst Midgardians."
"If it helps, I wasn't one of those vampires." Katherine said, remembering stories of a clan of vampires disappearing into another world only to be tossed out due to their bloodlust. Klaus had not been pleased and ordered their deaths.
"I must confess I am not pleased to find your kind in the world I swore to protect." Thor continued. "But you…are different. You and Captain Rogers have a strange arrangement."
"One that works." she pointed out.
"Why is it that you must keep your true nature a secret from him? Do you harbour feelings of fear that he would reject you?" he asked. "I've always assumed vampyrs have no souls or emotions to guide them. And yet you have allied yourself with us to save Midgard. Why is that?"
She sipped at her drink, mauling over her answer. There were so many reasons, some lies and some the truth. Because she didn't have a choice. Because she was bored. Because the Avengers were useful to her. So many reasons and yet she found herself answering, "Because this world is still my home. I quite like it here and I intend to make sure it doesn't go up in smokes while I am here. After all, no world means no humans. No humans means no blood."
And she did love her blood. She preferred it hot and warm through, straight from a dying human's veins.
To her surprise, the god chuckled, his amusement coming out a low deep rumble. "You have the gift of the silver tongue. My brother would have appreciated your company. It is a pity you will be meeting him under such unfortunate circumstances."
Katherine disagreed quietly as she continued to savour the metallic flavour of her drink. She had no interest in conversing with a demented god who tried to destroy the city. Unfortunately, aforementioned demented god had information she needed as to why Amanda and the Chitauris needed the Russian stones.
"You still have yet to answer my earlier questions though." Thor said, staring at her intently. "Why have you not told Captain Rogers of your true nature? Everyone else here knows."
"Except Banner." Katherine muttered. But that was her own protection as well as everyone else. They had no idea how the Hulk would react to a vampire living in their premises even if Bruce did like her. Best safe than sorry.
"Tony told me that Fury gave you orders to keep it a secret but you do not strike me as the type to follow orders so readily." he said, recalling both Tony and Steve berating her earlier. "I see no loss in telling Captain Rogers of you. If anything, perhaps he would have more respect for your decisions and actions if he knew you were more than just a damsel in distress."
"Perhaps that's just it. Steve respects me now even though he thinks I am just a damsel in distress." she said thoughtfully. "I don't have to prove myself to him. That's why's he's letting me accompany you two to Asgard. It isn't often a girl comes across a guy like that."
Her eyes were wistfully with nostalgia as she remembered her many suitors, so many so old-fashioned and polite but none had treated her like anything other than an arm piece.
"Do you harbour feelings for him, Lady Katherine?"
She glanced at him and chuckled, amused by how he had addressed her. "Feelings. Emotions. They are a vampire's greatest weakness. No matter how easy it is to turn it off, it keeps trying to get back in and sometimes…I let it."
The god was silent as she drank the blood, her glass empty at last.
"Steve…reminded me of someone from my past. Someone important to me. Someone who saw me for who I was, not what I was." Katherine said softly, her eyes glazed over in memories. "If you have lived as I have, having that someone in your life is all that matters and you want to hold on to it for as long as it can last." Because you know it will end. It always does.
Thor thought of Jane and how despite their initial differences and his naïve arrogance, she grew to accept and love him for him. Thinking back, he knew if given the choice, he would choose her over his powers.
"For what it's worth, I am sorry for your loss." he said.
A sad smile touched her lips. "Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
"Life is too cruel. If we cease to believe in love, why would you want to live?"
Fresh from his shower, Steve wandered back into the living room, wondering where had Katherine vanished to and paused at the sight of two people standing at the balcony. Katherine and…Thor?
Katherine had said their families knew each other but based on Thor's reaction to her earlier, he assumed it hadn't ended pleasantly between them. Yet there they were now, talking intimately with one another. Katherine seemed awfully at ease despite being in the presence of a god.
Have you not seen the company she's keeping nowadays?, a tiny voice in the back of his head said. And considering the company she's keeping, she seems to be taking everything in stride unusually well….
The look on her lovely face was melancholic and her eyes…. once again, Steve was struck by the age-old weariness in her deep brown hues. Eyes that have seen too much. He has only seen that look in war veterans and sometimes, himself in the mirror. But never in someone as young as Katherine…
Not for the first time, he wondered about her past. He respected her enough to not pry unless she was willing but it seemed that she knew more about him than he did of her.
And he knew nothing about her.
If all goes well with the mission tomorrow, I'll ask her out after… get to know her better.
He shook his head in disbelief when he caught his trail of thoughts. "Dammit. Get it together, Rogers." he muttered to himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
~.~
The following morning in the midst of a ruined Central Park was a reminiscent of the day when Thor returned to Asgard with the Tessarect and Loki, gagged and cuffed. Only then it had marked the end of a battle. This moment could mean the beginning of another.
SHEILD agents circled the premises of the park, keeping civilians from venturing inside. Natasha and Clint were running update reports with their fellow SHIELD members while helicopters hovered overhead.
Steve wondered which part of keeping it low and inconspicuous Fury did not understand. Thor was standing in the middle of the bridge, the same position he last stood before returning to Asgard.
Tony and Pepper stood closely, his Iron Man suit at the ready in the form of a suitcase at his feet.
Bruce was also present although he was constantly on the phone with SHIELD's treatment centre, checking up on his patients.
Meanwhile Katherine stood a short distance from the team, her hand toying with the cameo necklace around her throat. She looked remarkable relaxed considering she was about to travel to another world.
"Last chance to back out, Katherine." he said, walking up to her. "Are you sure about this?"
"As sure as I am going to strangle you if you ask me that question one more time." she retorted seriously.
He never doubted her threat for a moment. "Alright. But once we're in Asgard, stay close to me and do as I say. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." she replied, her eyes straying briefly as Clint joined them.
"We're ready." he said, looking at them with haunted eyes. "Becareful, you two. Loki is…cunning. Just don't let him get inside your head."
Steve nodded, placing an assuring hand on his friend's shoulder before rejoining Thor on the bridge. Katherine followed closely, aware by how she was dwarfed by both men as they faced each other.
"Heimdall is ready to receive us." Thor said, raising Mjolnir to the sky. Dark clouds started to gather overhead and lightning flashed within them.
"We'll keep the park clear until you get back." Natasha called from the side. "Becareful."
"Got it." Steve gave the signal to Thor. "Fire it up, Thor."
Lightning sizzled from above, drawn by Mjolnir and in a sudden flash of white light, enveloped three of them. Just like that they were gone, the ground smoking slightly from the lightning. Natasha stared at the spot where they once stood, her lips moving in a soft prayer for their safety. Clint drew abreast to her, entwining his fingers through her gloved ones in support.
A/n: Read and Review!