Coterie

By: Shadow Chaser

Disclaimer:

All Marvel characters do not belong to me, they belong to Marvel Entertainment and Marvel Comics. Liberties were taken with the Norse myths.

Story:

Chapter 6

It was several hours later that Loki found himself with one hand hovered over the weaver, the other over the boye that now held one of the vials of blood, the one marked with Romanoff's name. The contained dagger was back in the vacuum pocket of the spaces-in-between. The silvalume had proven fruitless, but not useless, in his initial efforts to strip the barrier without compromising the contained poison within. He would have fully cracked it open and put a mask on himself except he supposed SHIELD would not take too kindly to having a foreign contaminate within a room and possibility of having it spread from there.

There was also the possibility that even if he was able to sustain his own barrier to prevent himself from breathing in the fumes, he would have drained himself of his magicks far faster. On Asgard, the drain of his magicks would not have been as bad as it was on Midgard, but Loki had no intention of listening to the Court whispers and even feel the guards' heavy looks at his attempts at 'unnatural' magicks. There was also the Allfather's not-quite accusation or rather, indifference, that he did not want to face. Midgard, for all of its brief candled lives of mortals and inane idiocy, was the better place. Jormungandr had surely created a potent version, he was sure of it now as he manipulated the weaver with gentle strokes of magick from his fingertips.

"No, no luck yet. The extremis virus, even your modified version Tony isn't working well with the poison within the blood…well, considering that I've got at least two vials of shattered glass all over my workstation…yeah, it's doing that," Banner murmured from his workstation and Loki briefly looked up from what he was doing to see the doctor gingerly step over the pile of shattered glass that had occurred only a couple of hours ago.

The doctor smiled quickly as he went about his work, still engaged in a conversation over the comm. with most likely Stark and the others as they scoured Washington D.C. for bodies along with containing those who had breathed the poison in after a few bodies were buried or burned. Loki had not bothered to put the earpiece back on after he had ended his conversation with the others, finding no use in listening to their banter. He suspected that the rest of the Avengers, except Thor, were more than happy to know he was not listening in – they would never be friends and even their alliance was a temporary measure.

The Avengers tolerated him and he tolerated them if only he knew that they needed him. It was amusing to note that while there was no outward hostility; everyone still seemed to consider him a threat. So he had spent the last few hours absently listening to Banner hold a one-way conversation with the others while he worked on his experiments and Loki tried different ways of stripping the magicks from the poison.

"No…I don't think stripping the telomeres would do it any good, plus at that rate you would be changing the virus into its inert form…"

Loki tuned the doctor's words out again as he twisted his fingers and tried to grasp the edges and wisp of magicks he could feel coating the blood in the vial. It was literally everywhere, a slippery feeling that he was trying to grasp with the barest of filaments. This poison was well-made and he was starting to get a little annoyed at how elusive it was.

He could see the strands, hovering just there, and reached out slowly to try to pull at it. It was almost alive, shying away if he had reacted too aggressively. His own shattered vial of Agent Ward's blood had proven that, magicked away into a haphazard pile of glass and viscous liquid at the edge of the workstation. The skeins of magick were like the barest of threads, floating in the air, seemingly wrapping around the blood as it devoured it greedily. Loki recognized that those strands had been fine-woven, not from a silvalume, but by a master expert at weaving such poisonous magicks. His tessellation was of the same craft, but of different spellcasting, not woven, but made in a similar manner.

The last time such a thing had been done…it had taken days and even months to pry the magicks from within to create a cure for Thor. Loki knew that SHIELD would not take too kindly for him taking that long to extract the magicks, especially seeing Romanoff's condition. Plus, it was more tightly woven than before. There was also the matter that while he had somewhat participated in the extraction process, he had mostly used it for his own purposes back then…and it was mainly Eir and the other healers, especially Erikur's deceased sister, Hilde, a master poisoner, who had done a lot of the work.

Healing was never his forte, having really not put the effort into it, pursuing other interests of the magick arts under his teacher. His teacher had not been pleased, but neither had she been annoyed at his lack of effort, after all, she too cared not for the healing arts as much as seeing the last of life wither away and the souls transferred to the realm of the dead. He much preferred the spells of trickery and of discovery and the one thing he had prided himself on was the ability to weave and unweave the complexities of spells within. It was what made him able to cross the shadows of Yggdrasil, to do what he did…even if his magicks were uniquely own as Helblindi had said.

Grinding his teeth in slight frustration, he set the spell down and saw the vial return to its normal, slightly congealed state of dark red, the blood no longer emitting a glow of sorts as he tried to separate the strands. This was proving ineffective, as he rubbed his eyes absently, his lids feeling like sandpaper over his eyes. He had been concentrating to the point where he knew he need to stare at something else, if only for a matter of minutes.

He reached over and grabbed one of the healing stones that spilled out from where he had placed the medium sized bag on his workstation. Rubbing it across his fingers, he could feel the shiver of magicks hidden within, waiting to be crushed and released. The stone itself was made of pumice from Muspelheim; light, but porous, easily crushed yet sturdy enough to be carried around the battlefield in warriors' pouches.

He rolled it in between his fingers once more before crushing it, releasing the magicks into his hand as he felt the grainy bits dig into his palm. He could feel the swirl of magicks within, ready to do their work, to be directed to heal whatever needed to be healed.

Instead, he opened his palm and grasped the skeins of magick with his other hand and began to build a modular, his fingers flicking this way and that, the familiarity of building such spellwork already easing his mind and brushing away the frustration of trying to unravel the spellwork in the vial of blood. It was a fold here, tuck there, then flip for another fold before reversing the fold-

"…Yeah, this isn't working," Banner's comment cut through Loki's thoughts as he looked up to see the doctor taking his glasses off and rubbing his own eyes, clearly frustrated with his own results. "Yeah…I tried that Tony…that too…yeah, maybe...hang on Tony, lemme ask Fury a question." He swiped something across his touch screen and Fury's face popped up in a small corner.

"Doctor, what can I do for you?" Fury sounded congenial, but Loki was well aware that he was anything but and perhaps more like his name suggested at times.

"Has there been any facial recognition on the guy we think is Jormungandr in the past few days?"

"None that we know of," Fury replied, "we've got some hits, but nothing as blatant as Stuttgart a year or so ago."

"Loki, could Jormungandr have gone underground? Er, I mean, could he have gone into hiding after we discovered him in D.C.?"

Loki looked up from his modular, wondering what Banner was getting at. He sensed no hostility or anything remiss about the question and shrugged, "If you had discovered his base it was because he wanted you to-"

"Now wait just a minute. We had agents who risked their lives and even died for the intel we got-"

"Jormungandr could have easily concealed his location with simple spells. He allowed you to find his base," it was stretching the truth since he knew full well that Jormungandr's skills were at best meager when it came to illusions, but seeing Fury turn a little shade darker in anger at his words seemed worth it. "He would have never shown his hand unless he was ready."

"So he probably isn't in hiding, right?" Banner asked and Loki shrugged again, "I'll take that as a yes..."

"What are you getting at Doctor?" Fury asked.

"I was thinking that maybe we're going about this the wrong way. Instead of creating a cure for the poison, maybe we should treat it like venom and anti-venom. Since Jormungandr was known as the Midgard Serpent and more than likely was depicted as a gigantic snake in Norse myths, he could conceivably have venom of a sort as the basis for his poison. There are different kinds of toxins in venom, but Steve said that he witnessed at least some kind of dissolving agent, which makes me think it could be a corrosive type of neurotoxin."

"Weaponized as an aerosol form from the grenades?" Fury asked, a frown on his face as he digested the information Banner was saying.

"It makes sense, but then again, there are other factors that makes it a variable," Banner smile grimly, "I've started to run tests to weed out the type of corrosive used, but preliminary results look likes it's like a bad combination of all of the world's deadliest snakes, especially sea snakes."

"Captain Rogers did say that the Midgard Serpent's lair was the whole of the Earth, so he could be a form of a sea snake," Fury shook his head, "I'll put in some calls to the CDC and WHO for their stocks of anti-venom and also any neurotoxins they have."

"That could be a start. I would like, however, a chance to at least try to somehow extract the toxin from Jormungandr himself," Banner looked pensive and out of the corner of Loki's eye, he saw Fury's face twist into something in between half of a laugh and incredulity.

"Uh...Doctor, you do know that he was human last we saw-"

"He was forced into the form of a serpent by the Allfather," Loki interjected dryly and saw both Banner and Fury start as he continued to build his modular.

"He can change at will?" the Director of SHIELD did not look happy at the news.

"If he wishes," Loki flipped to a new edge and started to weave the skeins of magick on that side, "but one would think that being stuck in a form that is not of one's choosing for such a long time that he would avoid it at all costs."

"So how does he have access to the poison in the grenades?"

"He does have a humanoid form," sometimes Loki wondered what his brother saw in the mortals. Their attention and memory spans were like that of gnats.

"Oh, wait, he can carry it on himself, probably like how you carry the stuff in some kind of invisible bag right? I mean, I didn't see you with the weaver and sil-uh-that thing there until you started to take them out," Banner looked a little sheepish at not figuring out what had been in front of him until prompted.

"All healers would know the antidote to the poisons they've created. Many of them are petty enough to cure themselves should any seek to harm them," he said, adding silently that those that did not usually were not really good healers and thus died in the process of crafting their art and skill.

"I'm guessing your coterie isn't the kind to keep the secrets on themselves are they?" Fury asked and even though his face was on Banner's screen, Loki knew that the question had been directed at him. He also realized that he had forgotten that Fury would have been listening into the previous conversation Thor had with the Avengers as they flew towards Washington D.C. The Director was perhaps a little more like Odin than Loki had realized, gleaning information in silence much like the Allfather had Huugin and Muugin for.

"The torture you could claim to inflict upon them would be negligible, especially for someone well-versed in the healing arts as Jormungandr," he finished his skein and moved onto the next piece.

"We could give him to you," Fury's face suddenly popped up on the screen next to his workstation and Loki stilled, a chill washing over him. There was no way that the mortal knew- Before he realized that it had been a test and chuckled lightly. The mortal was very clever and in a sense, very much like the Allfather in this case.

"And why would you give him to me? Perhaps I had a hand in his escape-"

"Or we can just give him to Thor to take back to the Allfather since you probably had a hand in his escape-"

"Giving him to Thor would only make him insufferable and sentimental to the point where he would attempt to spare me the pain of seeing a member of my coterie punished once more," he muttered mostly under his breath before turning to stare at Fury's lone eye, "yes, let's all give the poisoner to Thor who would follow the Allfather's orders to take him back before you get your chance to inflict your punishment."

"He did promise-"

"Thor makes promises he usually never keeps," the retort fell from his lips before he could stop it, but realized that it was true. His brother's promises to him through the many, many years had been broken time and time again. He had taken it in stride back then, the conquering hero who felled this beast or had slain that menace. Promises made were broken to either save or to hurt enemies...and even the Allfather had broken his most recent promise – that Thanos could not have him. It had only been his own doing that had spurred everyone to put Thanos away.

Thor had promised to stand by him when Thanos came, but he had been called to Tønsberg and thus had not been there when the portals opened on the Helicarrier. That in so many strings of broken promises...

"We give him to you then," Fury had an unreadable expression on his face, but Loki could feel the beginnings of the geas magick humming in the air and smiled a little, "in exchange for the cure."

"Is this a deal, Director?"

"You said so yourself, no deals, just a vested interest in Jormungandr when you first arrived on the Helicarrier. Do you want it to be a deal?"

It was a little hard to keep the rueful smile off of his face, but Loki managed to. It seemed Fury had learned a little more about the fine art of negotiation since they had made the geas-contract a little over a year ago regarding the barrier and Chitauri. "And Thor?"

"Not part of this deal. This is between you and me and what we each can deliver to the other," Fury said and Loki tilted his head a little.

"I cannot deliver the cure as a whole to you," he said, but held up a finger to forestall the protest on Fury's lips, "I can deliver the means for it providing Dr. Banner's theory regarding anti-venom is correct."

"All right," Fury acquiesced with a nod of his head, "suppose it won't do any good for you to drop dead from the contract by asking for the whole cure. Might do us a whole lot of good, but I don't want an angry blond Asgardian wrecking the Earth because this geas was screwed up."

"How thoughtful," Loki replied dryly, "are we in accord?"

"We are," Fury replied before he braced himself and Loki reached out and plucked the geas from him mixing it with his own magicks, feeling its warmth and the hint of playfulness that he had never felt in a long time from such a thing. It felt oddly compliant and Loki pocked it gently within him. This was a special promise, he could feel it. It was a promise that he knew he would enjoy.

Looking back up at Fury, he saw the man rub his chest in slight discomfort, but otherwise did not seem affected by the geas as he had last time. Then again, he had negotiated by himself instead of for the whole of Midgard.

"Ow," Loki looked towards Banner to see him pull the earpiece out of his ear before shaking his head and sticking his finger into his ear to briefly clear it. The doctor looked at him and grinned sheepishly, "Thor's kind of angry..."

Loki only rolled his eyes as he realized that while Banner must have set his comm. on mute, Fury had no compunctions of doing the same and had probably broadcast their negotiations to the rest of the Avengers. But what was done was done and there was nothing Thor could do about it.

"The CDC and WHO just said that they are sending vials of anti-venom, that they know of, but they don't have much on sea snakes. Maybe one or two of their venom, but not enough for anti-venom," Fury spoke up again before he frowned as he looked out of the frame for a few seconds. "We've just gotten reports that London may be under attack as is Rotterdam. Eyewitness and news reports are calling it a chemical gas attack..."

Loki saw Banner hastily shove his earpiece back in and he reluctantly picked up his own and put it back in in time to hear the latter half of Rogers' question.

"-reports of hissing sounds and anyone look like their blood dissolved?" the soldier sounded calm in asking his questions, but Loki noted that he also sounded a bit breathless. He wondered if the poison was starting to affect the soldier or if he had been doing a lot of strenuous activities. He considered it the former rather than the latter due to the fact that he had seen him fight without even sounding winded.

Fury had paused for a second, before shaking his head, "Unknown Captain. Both cities have scheduled protests today, but there is a lot of chaos there."

"Loki, which one would Jormungandr conceivably hit?" Banner suddenly flicked his finger and Loki glanced at his screen as he set down his modular and saw that Banner had sent him a map with the two cities in question highlighted. He pursed his lips and stared at the maps.

"London's protest is scheduled to go along the Thames, probably starting from Trafalgar Square which is more inland. Rotterdam's protest is all along the waterfront."

"London then," Loki tapped on the maps, getting a closer view. He was pretty sure that London was where Jormungandr would want to make his target, after all, it was the capital of the country called England while Rotterdam was not, even though it was next to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He remembered what Barton had told him about the governments and the countries on Midgard. Judging by the fact that Jormungandr had built his base in the United States' capitol city it established the link that he knew he was rebelling against an established government and attacking such institutions. If he had to place an attack on Asgard by Jormungandr, it would be the palace itself in relation to Washington D.C. and London.

"Want to elaborate?" Fury asked as Loki heard the others call out orders, Rogers relaying the order for them to fly to London with all haste. They must have finished in D.C. if they were heading up into the air. "Coulson, I'm pulling your team from the Phase Two HYDRA case to head to Rotterdam. Masks are required and you're in charge of the ground forces. Team Two and Delta will be joining you groundside."

"Water naturally dilutes an aerosol poison," Loki shrugged, "it would seem prudent for him to avoid water in his condition."

"Condition?"

"If he has taken great pains to avoid his other form, then he would avoid water," Loki said before Banner nodded.

"Good point. Probably reminds him too much of his imprisonment and everything," he murmured.

"We could spray him with water like telling a cat not to go on certain furniture," Stark muttered over the comm. and Banner laughed lightly.

"I don't think it's that easy," he replied, "but a good idea if we need to contain him or something. Just herd him towards the water and hope we don't get gassed in the process."

"All right, so he could be there which means I'm sending Barton and you, Loki-"

"I do not answer to you," Loki stared at the Director who frowned.

"I thought you wanted him as part of the contract-"

"Actually, can I go Director Fury? I mean, if Barton doesn't mind flying me there. It may be easier for me to get the venom, or at least try to persuade Jormungandr to give me the venom if I'm there."

Loki turned to stare at Banner as Fury also fell silent. He could see the doctor scratching the back of his head as they all realized what he was saying. As the giant green monster, he would certainly be able to withstand and perhaps even get close enough to Jormungandr; something no one else would be able to. He had already proven to the others that bullets did not affect him nor did the weapons the Chitauri used. Spells also had no effect judging by the stories told during the feasts in the aftermath of the battle against Thanos.

He saw Fury evaluating Banner's request and already knew the answer that would be given. Even though Fury had made the contract with him, he would also take any opportunity to make sure that Jormungandr would be punished according to Midgard's laws before handing him over. And Banner ensured that at least. "All right...Barton, suit up and keep an eye on the good doctor when you're groundside."

"We should be there about half-an-hour after you hit groundside," Rogers' voice spoke over the comm. and Loki realized that they were closer to London than the team in Washington D.C.

"Roger that," Barton's voice was crisp and for a moment Loki wondered why the archer was not with the Avengers in D.C. Before he realized that Barton had stayed next to Romanoff the whole time. The sentiment there was strong and he wondered what would Romanoff make of such undying loyalty from a man who had saved her in Saó Paulo. She called love childish, but what would she call this?

"I'll meet you at the quinjet. Just gotta get a few things," Banner touched his ear before gathering a few vials and tying them off with a kind of filmy paper and rubber bands before placing them in a small bag. He looked up as he headed out of the door and grinned a little, "I guess we can put the smelling theory to test right?"

"We could," he acknowledged before the scientist left, leaving him alone. He picked up the modular once again and continued to work on its weaves.

Thor felled another HYDRA soldier with a bolt of lightning as he threw Mjolnir towards one that had been looking to shoot the man of iron out of the sky. Summoning his hammer back to him, he looked about the plaza that was now rubble, smoke and debris, but with no other sign of Jormungandr. About twenty had passed since they had landed in London.

"Well, at least they're HYDRA," Tony Stark's voice echoed in his ear as he took out several more soldiers before flying higher to avoid their weaponry.

"Are you sure Loki's gotten the place right? Maybe he's in Rotterdam?" Captain Rogers asked as he blocked several bullets with his shield and knocked down a soldier that had ran at him with a war cry.

"Loki, I know you are listening," Thor started as he spoke into the delicate looking earpiece, "there has been no sign of Jormungandr in the twenty minutes we have been here."

There was the barest of clicks before his brother's droll voice came over the comm., "Maybe because you have electrocuted everything in your path with Mjolnir."

"This is not a jest, Loki-"

"Of course it is not. You would not know one if it hit you in the head," he bit his lip as he cleared a wide swath in Trafalgar Square with a stream of lightning. There were so many things he knew he could say to Loki, but he did not want to engage in a petty spat with his brother at the moment, not after what he had told the team.

He knew his stubborn brother was once again rejecting his words, as if he could cocoon himself in the indifference of what the mortals thought of him again. He had seen it happen during the first time they had arrived on Midgard after fighting the Chitauri and had thought it a defensive mechanism against Thanos. But this recent effort told him that Loki was affected by the mortals' opinion of him and of his actions, even if he tried hard not to show it – it was not all of the mortals though, just a select few.

His brother thought of affection and kinship as a weakness. But judging by his actions in a more semi-private setting on Asgard, especially whenever the Courts or anyone else was not around, save for the palace guards; he would acknowledge him in a somewhat distant affectionate manner. It was only in front of the Court, in front of the Allfather, even in front of the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, he would close himself off and not let anyone see him.

Thor had his suspicions about why his brother was acting in such a manner, but he dared not voice it. Not only for the scorn that he knew he would receive from Loki, but also because it was something he had long decided was personal for his brother. He instead, tried to show his support by being there for him, or at least attempting to show he was there for him – it was all very circular and very hard, especially when Loki outright rejected his attempts for brotherly affection.

This latest business with Jormungandr and the soon-to-be-questioning of Lady Hel if General Tyr and Archmage Erikur found her in her realm, was putting a new strain upon Loki that Thor did not want to see his brother dealing with. He did not know many of the details surrounding Loki's former coterie, but the fact that his brother was making a renewed effort to see Jormungandr worried him. He wanted to believe that Loki was not involved in Jormungandr's escape and attack of Earth, but at the same time he could not deny that his brother's coterie had been powerful and had powerful bonds with each other.

If one had to look at it, his brother's coterie was perhaps akin to his friendship and everlasting loyalty to the Warriors Three and Lady Sif – and that was what worried Thor the most. Loyalty like that...it made his brother teeter on the edges of what he perceived to be madness and what he perceived to be righteousness. The only thing was certain was that Loki had been the one to end his own coterie – but the reason being had never been given to Thor. The Allfather and even the Allmother had never spoken about it and the Warriors themselves did not know of what transpired.

He had woken from the blood-poison and had found out that the coterie had been broken and its members supposedly imprisoned. He had even demanded that Loki had tell him what happened, of what great battles had been fought and by whom, but his brother had been uncharacteristically quiet and had all but refused to tell him anything, even after threatening him.

The threatening part, in hindsight, was probably not the best, but Thor knew that a lot of his own actions towards his brother could be seen in both light. He had wanted to help his brother, had wanted to tell him that it was a good fight, had wanted to help him move past his coterie, but had not known how.

But now, he wondered if his brother had deliberately broken the coterie only to reform it starting with Jormungandr's escape. He had all but admitted that the original plot of the coterie had been to change Asgard society. Perhaps more than likely to force the Aesir to acknowledge magicks and instead of whispering it as they always did, and they had failed – which only meant one thing, that they had tried to take the throne for themselves. It was the only explanation since to ensure an acceptance, it would have been part of the Allfather's decrees. But what did it mean in the aftermath of their failure?

It would be like Loki to have a scheme of sorts plotted for so long, but to what end? Was it for the throne of Asgard? To extract his revenge against the mortals for his defeat? But that possibility was highly unlikely considering his involvement with Thanos. But then again, Odin Allfather had said that Loki knew, on some level, of what he had been dealing with when he met with Thanos. That he had inadvertently or perhaps unconsciously planned it. Did that mean his brother was potentially controlled by means of a geas? But if so, whom and why? That seemed implausible at best, and Thor knew that his brother would never allow himself to be under a geas that he himself did not contract. He liked having a measure of manipulative control...it was his nature and it had taken Thor a while to figure that out.

"Loki-" he gritted his teeth and was about to refrain from demanding that his brother tell him the truth when he suddenly heard it. It was a whisper in his ear, but chilled his heart considerably...

Hereinthedarknessonecanplayuntilthereis nomorelifeleft

"Holy shit did anyone else feel that?!" Barton's curse echoed in his ear as Thor saw the HYDRA soldiers back away, diving into cover as the Avengers gathered around.

Lifeisbutabriefcandlesoluminousandeasily extinguished

"There is a portal," he scanned the battlefield for any telltale sign of a portal into the shadows of Yggdrasil, feeling the chill of its magical signature puckering over his skin. Ever since the battle against Thanos or perhaps it was because he had traveled the shadows with Loki from Jotunheim to Midgard, he could feel something different whenever a portal was opened. It wasn't as keen as feeling the signature of the poison on the grenades that Jormungandr used, but it was nonetheless like a feathered touch against his skin and ear.

Willyoucomeoutandplaywithyourlifetobeextinguished

"Doc..." Rogers' voice sounded exhausted and Thor looked over to see the soldier nearly holding himself up with his shield. He frowned; the poison must be doing its deadly work now. They had all thought that Rogers was exhausted after digging up the bodies of those slain in Washington D.C. The man of iron had also been panting with exhaustion, but now, it seemed like it was the poison doing its work.

"The Other Guy's really nervous," Banner's voice was strained as he stood near Barton, hiding behind a pile of rubble and concrete barricade.

Playwithmeplaywithmeplaywithme

Then all was silenced as a few feet away, as she seemingly appeared in thin air. A blue line of fire was traced from her finger as she sealed up the portal, but Thor was not staring at the magicks she wielded. It was a two-pronged attack...and for her to be here...

"Hello my Crown Prince Thor," she greeted, her voice listless, seemingly dead, but the half-formed smile on her face was anything but dead. Her strawberry-blonde hair were in ringlets instead of the bun he had seen her last. They cascaded down to the small of her back, a stark contrast against the formless dress she wore. From his vantage point, he would have thought the dress was made out of the literal souls of the damned.

She wore a pair of glasses, much like the ones the mortals wore, but Thor knew that they were not like the mortals' glasses. His basic knowledge of magicks was limited by how much Loki had told him whenever he thought him not paying attention. Thus he had known that his brother preferred glaives, staffs, or spears as a focuser of his magicks along with the daggers he carried upon himself. From what he knew, focusers helped channel magicks into a more potent form, or at least prevented the mana pool within each user from draining so rapidly.

The innocuous glasses perched on her nose were her focuser and they served to sharpen her vision from whence her magicks manifested; after all, she was the Queen of Helheim, queen of the realm of the dead.

"Lady Hel," Thor greeted warily.

Loki stilled, his modular falling from his hands and landing on his workstation, as he heard Thor's quiet greeting to Hel. He silently cursed as he realized what Hel's appearance meant. She would not have arrived if she was not sure- He cut his thought off as he made to open a portal into the shadows of Yggdrasil and walk to London. It would be risky since he did not have a vantage point except for the ground level image that he had seen on the map. Risky in of itself because he could conceivably walk into the heart of a star if he had not known where he was walking to. Images were hard to process, especially regarding Midgard. When he had learned the art of walking the shadows, his teacher had taken him throughout the realms, but had cautioned that the mortals, with their brief lifespans would change the face of their planet so many times that even he would not be able to walk it without having a point of reference. Other realms did not suffer the same problems as readily as Midgard.

The tingle of magicks was on the tip of his fingers before the door to the room opened and the female agent named Hill walked in, blinking as she stared at him.

"Uh...where are you going?"

"London," he was glad that he had muted his comm. line after Thor had accused him of trying to jest when things were serious.

"I can't..." Hill grimaced as she changed tactics and words, "actually we kind of need you in the hanger bay. There's a...situation going on..."

"I am sure your agents are well versed in dealing with it-"

"Actually...there's four people asking for you. One of the techs reported a Bifrost sign, and I think they're Asgardian judging by their armor and weaponry, but..."

Loki closed his eyes briefly as he had a feeling about who had arrived on the Helicarrier. The fact that they had asked him by name and with Hel's appearance in London could only mean one thing. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He could easily open a portal to London now and ignore the Bifrost's arrival, but at the same time, it would also cause complications if Heimdall saw him and used the change to open the Bifrost while he was not under cover.

Brushing past Agent Hill, he stalked down towards the hanger bay and saw many armed SHIELD personnel standing at the ready, some of whom were pointing their guns at the four who arrived. The four themselves were openly showing their weapons, but made no move or any indication that they were hostile.

"Ah, there he is," Faendral's voice carried across the edge of the hanger bay as Loki rounded the back of a quinjet parked in between him and the group of four.

"Prince Loki Odinson," Sif stepped forward, her double-bladed sword held by her side, "by the order of Odin Allfather, you are under arrest for treason against Asgard for the release of the three traitors, Jormungandr, Hel, and Fenrir.

"Surrender yourself to face the consequences of your actions."

Author's Notes:

I know Hel in the comics is depicted as half-dead half-alive, but in this case, I decided to take her appearance from a Japanese anime that I had seen a while ago. Again, this story is twisting up the characters from the myths and is only based on the Marvel movie-verse. And Loki is a bit more...politically scheming (and perhaps more like Thor: The Dark World schemer this time around instead of the angry ball of hate he was in Atonement.