Hello, my lovelies! We have come to the last chapter of Skuldalið, and what an adventure this has been!
I have at least two more stories planned after his, but they might take a while to get typed up.
As usual, Erika belongs to moi, and Tony and Loki belong to Marvel.
Thank you so much for sticking with me! *MWAH*
Erika was dressed to kill in a little black dress and black pumps, her hair piled on top of her head in a Scandinavian crown braid. She wore the emerald teardrop necklace she'd always worn as a teenager, and small emerald earrings to match.
She sat in a chair opposite a brunette woman in a black pantsuit.
"Thanks for tuning in to 'Gabby's Corner, for those of you just tuning in, we have a special guest—The infamous Tony Stark's daughter, Miss Erika Stark. Erika, you look lovely today!" the woman asked.
Erika smiled. "Thank you very much, Gabby," she said. "I feel pretty good, today, too!"
"Would that be because of the new art gallery you've just opened here in Manhattan?"
Erika nodded. "That's right, it's going great so far and I couldn't be happier. It's non-profit, of course—I'm not exactly strapped for cash right now."
The live audience laughed.
"All profits go to the participating artists and the workers who help out around the place, and the rest goes to various charities, including the Maria Stark foundation."
'Gabby' smiled and nodded along. "Well, that's great to hear. Aside from the new gallery, how are things as a Stark right now? What's it like sharing a home with superheroes?"
Erika sighed dramatically. "It's exhausting. Some days, I can hardly keep up!"
"Iron Man is out, for obvious reasons, but is there anyone in the Tower you've got your eye on?"
Erika didn't miss a beat. "While each Avenger is attractive in their own right, I don't think pursuing a relationship with any of them would be a good idea. I mean, yeah, Captain America's pretty hot, but at this point he's like an uncle—dating him, or any of them, would be weird." She shrugged. "Still, a girl can dream."
That earned a few more laughs.
Gabby laughed along with them. "Speaking of men in your life, there's been pictures going around with you out and about with two very attractive men. Anything to say about that?"
A picture appeared on the screen behind them of Erika walking down the sidewalk, Jormungand and Fenrir tailing her.
Erika snorted. "Oh, hell no, Fen and Jor are practically my brothers!"
Gabby laughed, holding up a hand. "Okay, okay, just asking." She glanced at the cameras. "Oops, looks like it's time for a quick commercial break—we'll be right back, folks."
"Man, what a superficial bitch," Erika muttered into her phone, relaxing in the back seat of the car that had come to pick her up. "She would not shut up about my weight, my hair, my makeup, my dress, my goddamn nails. Seriously, lady, pick a different topic than who I may or may not be screwing!"
"Well, to be fair, she DID ask you about the gallery," came Tony's muffled reply from the other end of the phone.
"Yeah, for, like, two seconds! Then it's like, 'so, how's living with a bunch of hot guys?' I mean, do I really look that shallow? Don't answer that."
A muffled chuckle. "It's rough in the spotlight, Kiddo."
"I know," she sighed. "Can we watch Harry Potter when I get home, or something? Just you and me, like we used to?"
"Sure thing, Kiddo."
Erika hesitated before asking, "Anything new?"
A sigh, followed by, "Sorry, Kiddo. I'm calling it off—he's gone."
Erika swallowed back fresh tears. Jormungand had been gone for a year already, but it still felt like he'd only left yesterday.
"Keep looking. Please."
"We're not going to find him."
"Please."
". . . . Fine. Look, just come home, okay? We'll watch Harry Potter, and you can check all the latest reports, okay?"
"Kay. Love you, Daddy."
"Love you, too."
Erika hung up and dropped her phone, sighing. "Can we stop by Burger King, or something?" she asked the driver.
He didn't respond.
Erika frowned. "Hell-o, did you hear me?" Before she could say anything else , the car stopped and the passenger door in the back was yanked open and hands were suddenly grabbing at her, pressing a damp cloth to her face. Erika tried to scream and struggle, but she couldn't get free and everything was getting fuzzy.
Her head hurt and she couldn't see anything.
Sudden, blinding light.
She winced.
What do you want? She wanted to ask, but no words came out.
Someone was speaking. It wasn't English, but she still understood it.
Tony.
They were using her to get to Tony.
You're all dead men, was her last coherent thought, then something hit her head and she blacked out.
The next time she woke up, Loki was sitting with her, her head in his lap. She tried to speak, tried to ask why are you covered in blood? But he shushed her.
"It's alright," he said gently. "You're alright now, dóttir mín."
He was getting blood in her hair.
"You're alright," Loki repeated. "You're alright. Stay with me, dóttir mín. Stay with me. Just hold on, they're coming for you, you'll be alright, just hold on, hold on . . . ."
M'not going anywhere, Erika wanted to say, but it came out as a gurgle. She tasted blood. She was hurt. Why couldn't she heal herself?
Oh, yeah.
Fury had her magic.
Okay.
Someone else was coming towards them.
Erika blacked out.
Erika woke up to a low humming and a consistent beep, beep, beep. Her throat was dry and her head hurt, but at the same time she felt lightheaded and numb. Also, everything was dark.
Oh. Right. Her eyes were still closed.
It took her a few tries, but she finally managed to blink her eyes open and look around sluggishly.
She was in a hospital room. A big one, too—one that could hold two people. She was the only one in there, though.
'What the Hel happened?' was her first thought. She was hooked up to an IV and several other machines, including an oxygen machine with a mask over her face. Also, her left leg seemed to be heavily bandaged.
Oh. Right. Kidnapping and torture.
. . .
Loki!
Erika bolted upright. Or tried to, anyway, as a searing pain in her . . . everywhere made her lay back down.
Shit, shit, shit! The last thing Erika remembered seeing was a blood soaked Loki holding her.
Erika looked around more frantically, then she found the HELP button beside her bed. She pressed it frantically, hoping there was a nurse available. Not a minute later, a nurse came rushing in.
Erika tried yanking the oxygen mask off but was stopped by the nurse.
"You had a collapsed lung, sweetheart, you need to keep that on," said the nurse.
Erika mimicked writing something, and the nurse handed her a pen and a pad of paper. She wrote a single word.
DAD
"Mr. Stark was here earlier, but he had to leave. He'll be back soon," said the nurse gently.
Erika paused before writing.
OTHERS?
The nurse smiled. "You're quite popular, Miss Stark—you've already had several visitors." She gestured towards a table near the window, where various cards, flowers, and stuffed bears sat.
Erika would have laughed, if it didn't hurt so much.
The bears were Build-A-Bear Avengers bears.
There was also a plush sugar skull, a plush snake, and a beanie baby wolf.
Erika smiled.
Three broken ribs, a punctured lung, severe internal and external bleeding, various bruises and cuts, and a mangled left leg.
Great.
Erika was sulking when Tony came back.
"I'm going to need crutches," she muttered crossly. "A sling when Obadiah shot me was bad enough. Crutches. And after that, a cane. Ugh."
"Hello to you, too, Miss Sunshine," Tony commented as he sat in a chair by her bed.
"Sure, like you were all rainbows kisses and unicorn stickers when you got that hunk of metal in your chest," she shot back. A pause, then, "Sorry, that was mean. Can we start this conversation again?"
Tony nodded.
"Hi, Daddy."
Tony smiled good-naturedly. "Hey, Kiddo. I'd ask how you're feeling, but I guess the answer's obvious."
Erika sighed. "How is it possible to be numb and in pain at the same time?" she whined. "This sucks. How long do I have to be here?"
"What did the quacks say?"
Erika sighed. "Up to two weeks for the leg and so they can make sure the lung stays inflated," she said irritably. "You're Tony Stark, though! Can't you pull some freaking strings and get me the Heck out of here?"
Tony held up his hands. "Hey, I pushed for an early release, but Pepper insists you should heal up before any major traveling."
"Oh." A pause, then "Wait, what?"
Tony fidgeted. "Yeahhhh, I'm moving back to the Malibu house, and we figured you'd probably have to come with me. Y'know, busted leg, and all that."
Erika blinked. "But . . . the Tower . . . . ?"
"It's over, Kiddo. The Avengers are no more. Clint took off, Nat went back to S.H.I.E.L.D and Cap went with her, Bruce is off on his own, and Thor went back to Land of the Space Vikings."
There was something he wasn't telling her.
"What about Mom?"
Tony rubbed a hand over his face. "Kiddo—"
"Don't Kiddo me," Erika interrupted. "Where's Mom? Why hasn't he been here yet?"
Tony sighed. "When Odin set Loki's probation, he made it so Loki could stay as long as he didn't kill anyone. When we found out where you'd been taken, he went off the deep end, and . . ."
"He killed them."
Tony nodded. "Loki's probation is over. Thor took him back to Asgard to face judgment, not only for this but for everything."
Erika frowned. "But he already faced trial."
Tony looked ill. "According to Thor, Odin was 'too lenient.'"
Erika snorted. 'What a dick." The meaning of Tony's words finally sank in. "Wait, so Mom's . . . .?"
Tony nodded. "He's gone, Kiddo."
It was Erika's turn to look sick.
Fenrir only visited her the one time while she was unconscious.
According to Tony, he disappeared not long after he left her the skull and wolf, and he didn't have the cuffs that blocked his magic.
Nobody saw Jormungand come in, but Erika knew he'd been here (because of the plush snake) and that made the weight on her chest lighten—her brother was okay. She only wished Steve had stuck around, so she could tell him Jormungand was okay.
She was going to miss having brothers.
"Ugh, my life is going to su-u-u-ck!" Erika whined as she hobbled her way up the Stark Industries jet stairs.
"Could be worse," said Tony as he looked at her over his shoulder.
"How could this be any worse?" she demanded, finally making it up the last step,
"You could be in a wheelchair."
Erika opened her mouth, then closed it. "Touché." She let Tony help her into a seat and propped her cast-encased leg up on a footstool, setting aside her crutches. "Thanks."
She stared out the window until the plane took off.
"Hey," said Tony.
Erika looked over to him as they left New York behind.
"Everything's going to be fine."
Erika swallowed and nodded. "Yeah," she said, her throat suddenly dry.
Everything would be fine.
A/N: Hey, look at that, this thing can still be semi-canon-compliant. Well, as canon-compliant as it gets, anyway. Whatever, now I can write stuff for IM3, Thor 2, and Cap 2. Thor 2's stuff will probably be tacked onto the end of the next story which will deal with IM3, and Cap 2 will get its own story (no very long) and focus more on Cap (duh) with cameos from our favorite World Serpent (can't wait for Sam to meet him ). I don't know where to go after that, but we'll see.