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 11

The mortal humans called it an oxygen mask and said it helped patients who could not breathe on their own due to collapsing lungs or other medical maladies. Some were hooked up to regulate their breathing so that the body's healing process could be more natural instead of compromised. Thor had never seen such a device until now, where his brother was hooked up to it, the machine helping to regulate his breaths. On Asgard it was the healers practicing their arts that enabled them to heal sometimes the worst of injuries, but Thor knew that the humans did not have such advance technology.

But he still did not move Loki from his place on the bed to return to Asgard, knowing that right now was a crucial time for his brother. Any movement at all could potentially negate the power of the anti-venom cure that was running through his battered body.

The only consolation Thor took from this was that his brother was at least getting some rest, even if it seemed like it was induced by the mixture of drugs and other things the human doctors had injected him with. However, Dr. Banner had told him that they dared not inject him with what the humans called 'the good stuff' only because they simply did not know how his body would react – especially with the anti-venom still doing its work.

He would have asked Heimdall to send Eir or one of the other Healers from Asgard to tend to his brother, but Thor had dared not move from where he sat next to his brother's recovery bed. He had also considered asking one of his friends to talk to Heimdall, but understood that such a message would impose upon their feelings towards Loki. He was not blind to their barely contained indifference and disgust towards Loki, but at the same time had tried to dismiss it and tell himself that his friends would eventually come around to trusting Loki again – like he had. The last thought made him grimace a little as he stared at the monitor that showed a steady rhythm of his brother's vitals. It was hypocritical of him to think that he fully trusted Loki when he could not even tell the difference just days ago with Fenrir's clever trick. He even had doubts as to which one was truly his brother during that standoff and felt horribly guilty that he had thought the one standing next to him was his brother when it had been Loki who had arrived through the shadows and had tried to convince them that he was who he was.

He knew that the trust he had in his brother was broken. He was sure that there would be no forgiveness and only mistrust between him and Loki now. He could almost hear his brother's snide remarks regarding what had happened in the hanger bay – how he had been so stupid as to think that Fenrir was him – that he truly did not know him. Thor' grimace deepened as he silently tried to come up with counter arguments against the phantom voice in his mind. But all nearly sounded weak in his head and he could easily imagine the twisting of words his brother would have with them, to drive the dagger deeper.

"Is it worth the effort, Thor?" Sif's voice behind him startled him out of his dark thoughts as he turned and saw her walk in, quietly passing by the rest of the healing SHIELD agents, Captain Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff.

"With everything that has happened..."

"Is it worth it?" she asked, taking one of the nearby unused chairs and sitting down in it. She was dressed in her armor, but her weapons were not upon her. Thor suspected that she must have left them with the others, but she was far from defenseless.

"Is it a fool's hope to wish it?" he countered, turning back to stare at his brother's still form. The only indication that he was breathing was the gentle rise and fall of his chest along with the steady beeping of monitors. He had been stripped of most of his tattered tunics and overcoat, leaving only his under layer upon him. Thor had stopped the medical team from dressing Loki in one of the humans' style of healing gowns, knowing that if and when his brother woke up, at least he would have some of his dignity. His own experience with the 'medical gown' as the humans liked to call it, was a little disconcerting.

A blanket covered Loki up to his chest, leaving his arms bare. His mangled right arm, however, had been gingerly elevated upon several layers of thin pillows, and now was engulfed in what looked like a clash of blue-gold versus black, inky ichor. It was the cure that Dr. Banner had immediately injected into Loki that seemingly fought and slowly, oh-so-slowly, eradicated the black ichor that was most definitely Jormungandr's poison.

Everyone was able to see it because Loki's arm had been shattered completely, white bone protruding from ripped sinew and muscles. The doctors had wanted to try to heal the arm with their medicines, but Dr. Banner had cautioned them to first let the cure do its work. He had even asked him if he could use healing stones to heal the damage, but Thor had told him that since the cure was partially made with the healing stones that Loki had converted with his magicks, anymore healing stones used upon a wound in such a short span of time would turn its innate magicks into poison. Every warrior knew that from the basic lessons learned at the Healing Halls. Too much of a good thing was usually poisonous in the end.

Dr. Banner had suggested that they put Loki in isolation, to prevent what he called 'infections' to take hold of Loki through the exposed arm, but Thor had denied it – knowing that his brother would react negatively if there was no one around him when he awakened. He had explained that Asgardian physiology and perhaps Loki's own Jotun physiology was far different than that of the mortals – they were not as prone to infections or injury as the rest of the Avengers were through mortal means. Thor also did not want to chance whatever reactions the cure may have on the black ichor of Jormungandr's poison.

"He most likely will not trust you," Sif flicked a look at Loki before staring back at him.

"But there is hope, is there not?"

"You always try to see the best in him?" Sif gave a wan smile, a bitter sad one that Thor recognized as affection long past as she stared at Loki for a while. The revelation days ago that she once had some affection for his brother had been a surprise, but given Loki's actions in recent times, that affection had all but turned into a twisted bitterness of sorts.

"If I do not, then he is truly lost," Thor replied softly before shaking his head and standing up, rolling his neck to work out the knots that had settled there since he began his watch, "Director Fury has called his war council?"

"He claims there is...intelligence gathered."

"Information then," Thor translated to Sif's hesitant mouthing of the word 'intelligence'. Why the mortals did not simply state things so plainly was beyond him, but it was a quirk that he recognized as their efforts to sometimes confuse their enemies. Sif also stood up, placing the chair she had taken back where it belonged and followed him out. The doctor and nurses that were on duty at the medical ward nodded to him as he passed by, understanding that he would be immediately summoned if Loki's condition changed.

They arrived at the main briefing room in short order and Thor briefly smiled a greeting to Faendral, Volstagg, and Hogun who had, to his amusement, taken the seats farthest from Director Fury's station. Thor took a seat next to Hogun while Sif sat on the other side of Faendral, more than likely ready to kick him if he wanted to made snide remarks. Of all of his companions, Faendral had a cutting tongue similar to Loki's whenever he deigned to use it – especially whenever they frequented the taverns.

Tony Stark and the archer Clint Barton were already there as well as Dr. Banner now that a majority of his work was done. Thor had seen the doctor walking in and out of the medical ward, checking up on each of the infected agents who had survived thus far and were given the cure. Unfortunately a few agents had succumbed to the poison while Loki and Dr. Banner had been making the cure, but at least the ones who held out for this one were already showing signs of improvement. Agent Romanoff, the first one to be poisoned was the slowest to recover, but Thor was glad to see the quiet, deadly flame-haired agent fighting to survive.

"Mind if I join the briefing Director?" Thor blinked and looked up before a smile tugged the corners of his lips at the sight of a very tired, but determined Captain Rogers standing by the entryway.

"You supposed to be out of Medical?" Fury asked, one eyebrow raised and staring at Rogers.

"Don't really like hospitals...spent a little too much time in them when I was younger," Rogers admitted before Fury gestured for him to take a seat, "no offense Doc."

"Not that kind of medical doctor and bedside manners aren't really my thing, so you're forgiven," Dr. Banner laughed lightly as Rogers took a seat next to him.

Rogers chuckled tiredly as Thor noted Stark staring at the soldier for a long moment, as if assessing him, before seemingly coming to his own conclusions and shot a quick smile at him. He had read the briefings that SHIELD had provided him a little over a year ago that stated that the once-frozen soldier had worked with Stark's father in one of Midgard's 'World Wars', but also that Stark had issues with his father. There had been animosity between the two of them when he had first met them. However, in the past year working with the rest of the Avengers, he had noticed Stark seemed to warm up to the soldier – even had sat by his bedside much like Thor had been doing with Loki after Rogers had collapsed in London. In ways, one could compare Stark, his father, and Rogers with his, Loki's and Odin Allfather's relationship, but Thor knew it would be impolite to say his thoughts out loud.

"Coulson's team reports that there have been similar poison gas incidents in cities around the world, but nothing concrete that would suggest a pattern of when and where Jormungandr, Hel, or Fenrir may be hiding. The pattern is very random and no definitive time stamp. One was in Sendai and one in Kyoto, almost at the same time then two minutes later, in Kabul, Afghanistan and Cairo."

"Lady Hel may be using portals to move so quickly," Thor murmured and Fury nodded.

"That's what we've thought," he agreed, "and I hate to say it, but it seems like they've been getting bolder since Loki's been out of action."

There was a suspicious cough-like noise from Barton after Fury's words, and Thor thought he heard a human swear word in that cough, but was not too sure as he glanced at the archer who shrugged as if he had not said a thing. Stark however, had a rueful crooked smile on his face since he was sitting next to the archer while Dr. Banner only gave a long suffering-like sigh.

"You want to add to the briefing, Agent Barton?" Fury turned his one-eyed gaze to the archer who straightened underneath the gaze of his commander.

"Seems like the easiest way to get the three out is probably to put Thor out as bait," the archer stared straight at him, as if daring him to contradict his words, but Thor was intrigued and tilted his head a little.

"There is no honor-"

Thor held up a hand to stop Faendral from trying to reach across the table to skewer the archer for seemingly impinging on his honor. He understood exactly what Barton was suggesting and even though it was very underhanded, and dare he silently compare it to one of Loki's plans – though Barton would never hear that from him – it made sense.

"It makes sense," Stark was also nodding, mostly to himself as he scratched his goatee, "if they are really after you like Loki says, to send you in some long, complicated, twisted plot to Thanos so that he can escape his prison, these attacks only mean that they're trying to draw you out into the open. We put you out as bait and they'll definitely come running."

"Maybe also stop gassing innocents at the same time," Dr. Banner muttered and Thor nodded again.

"It has merit," he agreed before turning to Faendral and the others, "you disagree with this plan?"

"They are fast, Thor," Faendral had a very pronounced frown on his face, "very fast. Jormungandr and Fenrir alone were a match for the four of us when we fought them hundreds of years ago. Their imprisonment may have deteriorated some of their strength, but what they lack, they could very easily make up for determination and anger."

"But Fenrir's injured-"

"Only after from what was told to us, by the good Dr. Banner's alter ego here," Faendral pointed out, "even then you may have noticed as well as us, we could barely slow him down in your hanger bay."

Thor grimaced inwardly, the unspoken thought that even Loki had been caught off guard by Fenrir's vicious attack after the Hulk had beaten him into the ground. He knew that his brother was rarely caught off guard, having the foresight to always plan ahead for an eventualities – and a healthy dose of luck at times. Faendral was right; Fenrir, even injured in his wolf form, was still fast and the fight in the hanger bay would have torn apart the Helicarrier had it not been for Hel's intervention. The Avengers, minus Agent Romanoff, along with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three may have the chance of taking on Fenrir and Jormungandr, but there was still the question of Hel.

"Agent Barton," he spoke up into the silence, "how did Hel seem to you?"

"When she suddenly appeared out of thin air and started talking to Loki?" Barton asked and Thor nodded. "Well, we could feel her portals in London, right? Yeah...could not even feel a single thing when she popped into existence and started to talk to Loki. I'd consider her very hostile...and unpredictable."

"So she can conceivably help us?" Rogers spoke up, his brow crinkled in confusion.

"Or send us straight to her realm," Sif interjected dryly, "None of us ever fought Hel...you know something of this, Dr. Banner?"

Thor looked to see the doctor with a slightly sheepish look on his face. He cleared his throat a little, "I, uh...Loki's going to probably kill me...but...he told me that Hel is Death's daughter...as in that same Death that is Thanos' lover or whatever."

"Well...shit," Stark stated flatly and Thor knew that the human swear word that he said was probably the mildest form of what was just revealed. "So she probably is the one behind all of this – for what? For some sick purpose of just kind of you know, being the Queen of her realm of the dead or whatever? I mean, yeah, death is fickle, but I didn't know that Death's daughter was this fickle. Fucking with us like this...all of this like some grandiose plan to get Thanos out of his little blue box prison. Jesus..."

"She gave me the cure...or at least Jormungandr's venom so I could make the cure," Banner pointed out, "and maybe also Loki the idea of using the healing stones...?"

Barton only made a scoffing sound at the doctor's curious gaze upon him. He had refused to elaborate on what Loki and Hel had talked about, still too angry at Loki's actions towards him when he had first arrived on Midgard a little over a year ago.

Thor did not blame him, but part of him wished that he knew what his brother and Hel had talked about. He did not want to pry, but he also knew that perhaps it would quell the lingering doubts that his brother had helped Hel, Jormungandr, and Fenrir escape their prisons. The doubts of whether or not his brother was behind this had been quelled when Loki had been injured, but at least knowing what was spoken between Hel and Loki would ease his mind.

"Your plan has merit, archer Barton," Sif shook her head, bringing Thor's thoughts back to the briefing at hand, "and we see the value in that, but Hel is unpredictable." The other warriors nodded their heads in agreement, their expression saying everything Thor knew – that they did not like the possibility of an ambush that they could easily see. On their adventures throughout the years, there were certainly ambushes, but most of them were unseen or at least seen enough to mitigate it – usually by Loki's efforts.

"I...don't think she really wants to do any of this...and I don't think she really means any harm," Banner murmured, scratching his chin.

"She left a poison gas grenade at your feet," Rogers interjected with a pointed look and Banner shook his head.

"And she froze us in place, but I don't think she's outright attacked us. You see what she was doing in the hanger bay? Shielding Fenrir and deflecting our attacks to the side. No one got hit by stray fire that she deflected. She was even holding Fenrir back from attacking us."

"Yeah, up until she escaped with him," Fury cut in, "which, I don't know what it is in your book Doctor, but in mine, that's pretty much helping the enemy."

"Or maybe trying to prevent war from both sides?"

"Or confusing the two sides. Pretty thin grey line there, Bruce," Stark shrugged.

"I saw the recording of the other briefing while I was out of commission, but do any of you know what Hel was like when she was with the coterie?" Rogers turned to face them and Thor opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it when he realized he really did not know much about the coterie except for the jealousy he had felt seeing Loki with them. Jealous that someone else had stolen his brother's attention and adoration, jealous that Loki was so...happy back then. It had been childish and petty, but at the same time Thor realized that it had been truly the first time he had encountered the separation of his brother from himself since they had been all but been inseparable growing up.

He saw every one of his friends shake their heads except for Hogun who look momentarily pensive, his frown deepening for a second before he spoke up, "In the shadows..."

"Pardon?" Rogers asked.

"She was always in the shadows," Hogun clarified, his raspy voice soft and contemplative, "always quiet, rarely speaking, yet when she spoke to the others, they listened. When Loki and the others acted, she followed, but always in the shadows."

"I get the feeling she did whatever she wanted?" Fury supplied and Hogun look thoughtful for a second before nodding. "Great, so we're back at square one-"

"No...I don't think so," Banner spoke up quietly, rubbing his chin, "I think we can count Hel to stay out of things if we are to plan this ambush for them using Thor as bait. I mean, if the coterie's goal is to kill Thor, then she could have easily done it in London, right?"

The others nodded uneasily and even Thor was reluctant to agree. Loki and Fenrir's confirmation that the coterie's goal was to give him to Thanos so that a bargain could be struck with the Allfather was not exactly reassuring, but at least they understood what the coterie was aiming for.

"She's still a wildcard," Barton spoke up.

"Which is what we're counting on," Rogers rubbed a small circle with his fingers around his temples and Thor could see that the soldier was already fatigued from just the brief talk. He was certainly not ready to execute whatever strategy they were to come up with and was about to say so when the soldier turned to him, "Thor, do you think the Allfather could provide some of the magic we used to contain Loki after New York?"

"It is possible," he said as the soldier turned to the man of iron.

"Tony, you still have those-"

"I have at least two built, probably just need to tweak them since they were prototypes to the one we trapped Reindeer Games with, but I can have a third one in a couple of hours," Stark looked pleased, but at the same time had a grim look on his face, "that enough time for what you're planning?"

"Hopefully, but I don't know what the specifics are for an Asgardian ambush here on Earth. I mean, human yes, but Asgardian?"

"I'm thinking it involves a lot of property destruction," Fury interjected dryly, "if the Destroyer is any indication."

"Remote places won't work. These guys have been hitting up population centers," Barton said as he reached a hand out and twisted the holographic map to show the spots around Midgard that have reported poisonous gas attacks.

"Somewhere with water may work best since Loki said Jormungandr was afraid of water," Banner said as Thor watched as Fury took over in manipulating the map from Barton and spun Midgard slowly on its axis.

Fury seemed pensive as he enlarged several places before reverting the map back to its spherical shape. "Coulson, status?" he suddenly called out.

"Cardiff is an ideal location, sir," Thor felt the corner of his lips quirk up in a small smile at the slightly tinned voice of Agent Coulson. He saw Sif and the others jump a little at the sudden intrusion of the voice before they realized it was a form of communication. "My team can evacuate the place in under an hour while you deploy SHIELD personnel as cover. My guess is that since they've hit London, they're not bothered too much with what's going on in the rest of the United Kingdom. We can move in while having skeleton teams move to the recent hotspots to throw them off."

"As long as the Doctor or TARDIS doesn't show up, though Captain Jack can help given he's immortal and all," Stark all but muttered under his breath and Thor heard Banner suppressing a laugh.

"I...do not understand-"

"You're not the only one Thor," Rogers seemed utterly confused at what had to be an inside joke between Banner and Stark, but elicited eye-rolling reactions from Fury and Barton.

"All right, then we have a few of hours before we set this operation in motion. Prep your gear, Cap, report to the infirmary for a checkup. Stark, let us know if you need more time. Thor-"

"I will petition the Allfather for the magicks needed for the man of iron's bindings," Thor stood up as the rest at the table started to get up too.

"Sir," Coulson's tinned voice spoke up, "what's the backup plan?"

Fury's lips turned into a frown, but before he could say anything, Thor held out a hand, "I will also petition the Allfather to station a contingent of warriors and battlemages around the Observatory. If we fall, Heimdall will activate the Bifrost to transport at least Fenrir and Jormungandr to Asgard where they will be subdued."

He could see Fury mulling over his words, the implication that he would not be able to claim justice upon either one like he wanted to, but in the end curtly gave his tacit approval with a quick nod. "Dismissed."

Thor nodded at the rest of them as he headed out of the briefing room and towards the hallway that would lead back to the medical ward. He heard the others following behind him and stopped for a moment as the hallway split, one leading to the hanger bay, the other to the medical ward.

"My friends, I do not know if I will be successful in my petition to the Allfather, but I wish one of you to stay to watch over my brother," he could see the minute tensing of each one of them, "please. I only ask of it in the name of the long standing friendship between us-"

"Thor, you stay. Hogun and I can petition the Allfather for what is needed," Sif interrupted him gently with a quiet smile, "it is of no burden to us to do this even though you clearly wish to stay next to Loki's side."

Thor opened his mouth, floored by Sif's generous offer. He had intended to say his goodbye to his brother before he left, not knowing whether or not he would be detained or absconded by the Allfather for protection of sorts since the coterie were clearly after him. But with Sif's generous offer, to keep him here on Midgard where he could at least make sure Loki was healing and had reassurances that he had not abandoned him and broken the promises that Loki had accused him of breaking, it was more than he could ask.

"Volstagg and I will draw up a battle plan with this commanding officer Fury," Faendral offered with a quick smile.

"T-Thank you...my friends," he said, "this is a debt that I will repay forever-"

"This is not a debt you have to repay, Thor," Sif shook her head, "not ever."

Thor took the unspoken offer that this was between friends with good grace as they parted ways, Sif and Hogun headed to the hanger bay for Heimdall to send them back while Volstagg and Faendral back to the briefing area to talk to Director Fury. As he watched them go, he could not imagine them breaking apart or even killing them like Loki had with his coterie.

And that was when he realized what set his friends apart from Loki's coterie – the implicit trust that even if it was marred by a wayward family member, that they were there for each other. Loki was not necessarily to blame as sometimes Volstagg's children got into trouble or Faendral's rotating objects of affection came to them for help, but rather they knew that their families were part of the friendship that bound them together. He thought back to what his friends had said about Loki's coterie, especially after he had been incapacitated by Jormungandr's poison.

Loki had gone on the quest supposedly to help find the cure to the poison, but had only left halfway through the quest, abandoning Sif and the others to Jormungandr and Fenrir. His friends said that they had fought and captured the two magick-users, only to find that a trial was underway for Hel with Jormungandr and Fenrir joining her. The four others had supposedly died by Loki's hand and-

His thoughts screeched to a halt as he realized that Loki had only acted after he had been incapacitated. It did not mean that he did not know, but it lent some credence to the truth that the coterie had planned something behind Loki's back. Something seemingly clicked in his head as another puzzle piece fell into place. His brother had said that the coterie wanted to change Asgardian society's perspective on magick-users, to be more accepted by them instead of shunned and whispered.

What better way to change society than to rule it from the top?

What better way to force change than by overthrowing the Allfather?

And that was when Thor realized that Loki was never behind all of this. Instead, he had been trying to prevent it from even happening. Loki had killed four members of his coterie so that the House of Odin would not fall.

And that his brother had once again, protected him when Fenrir attacked.

Author's Notes:

I'm back and determined to finish this by mid-March. Also, TDW lent some inspiration after watching it several times last week.