A/N: I know this probably gets old, but I am seriously so grateful to everyone who reviews, favorites, and follows. So THANK YOU! :D This chapter is, like, mega long, so sorry about that, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Have a good day! Thanks for reading! Please review!
After the estimated half hour the plane arrived in New York and deposited Loki, Susan, and a small band of armed men at Stark Tower. Loki dished out orders to the men and instructed them where to go, he swiftly checked on some large blue cube that Susan assumed was the Tesseract, and then took up a position in what appeared to by Tony Stark's living room. From what Susan knew about Stark, the decorating in the room was just his style. Modern and shiny.
For the whole plane ride and the time that Loki had been sorting out his business with his men Susan had been in handcuffs. Probably to keep her from doing anything stupid or trying to use any weapons. It was degrading, but she put up with it, determined to have a peaceful discussion with her father. When he sauntered into the room, scepter in hand she held out her wrists expectantly.
"Do you mind taking these off?"
He waved his hand over them and the metal cuffs fell to the ground. "A necessary precaution." He noted.
"Right." Susan highly doubted that, but after struggling to control her temper for the whole plane ride she wasn't going to blow up in his face over the handcuff thing. So she tried to remain docile.
"Have you had sufficient time to cool your head, daughter?" Loki asked, stepping over to the window and inspecting the view. Susan had to admit, the view of New York from here was breathtaking. Loki certainly knew how to pick a hideout.
"I guess we'll find out. Are you ready to talk, Loki?" Susan sat down on one of the lavish couches and brought her knees up to her chin, "I know New York is pretty spectacular, but I feel like you might have other plans to get to soon."
Loki grinned at her kindly. "This city may be spectacular, but it does not even compare to you." At this comment Susan rolled her eyes.
"Well you picked a fine time to get mushy. What was that? It's totally out of your character traits," She sighed, "Just come over here and sit down before I lose my cool."
"Sigrid, you are half frost giant, you cannot lose your cool." He chuckled.
"That was… actually a pretty great pun," Susan admitted and Loki nodded his thanks, "But seriously, are we gonna do this or not?"
Loki sat on the couch across from her and opened his arms wide. "What do you wish to talk about?"
"Anything and everything. For as long as we can before you have to go I want to talk as if we were a normal father and daughter working out an issue and not a man bent on world domination and a freaked out teenage girl."
"Interesting that you would choose the words 'freaked out' as you admit that you have fear…" Loki started, that menacing look in his eye.
"Stop right there! No manipulation! Normal dads don't do that."
He laughed loudly. "As if you have so much expertise in the area!"
"Well, considering what I've heard of your past, I do have more experience with what a good father should be like - at least a father figure." Susan had to stop herself from saying anything further. Everytime she thought of Max and then looked to the man before her she saw red and lashed out. Now was not the time for that.
"Fair enough. So, shall I ask you a question or will you ask me one? I assume that is how this is going to go."
"Me first. I think we should start by getting to know each other a little better. What do you like to do for fun?"
"An interesting question," Loki ran a hand through his hair, "It has been sometime since I've done anything fun. I remember I used to like to read quite a bit."
"Huh, I would have never pegged you as a bookworm kind of guy. Okay, you ask a question." Susan was surprised that neither of them had started yelling yet or that there was no threatening happening.
"When is your date of birth?" Loki asked without hesitation.
"August eighteenth, I'll be sixteen this year," Susan smirked suddenly, "What is your middle name?"
"I will only answer this question if you swear to answer it as well." Loki said, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I swear."
"For some reason Frigga choose to call me Loki Bartholomew Odinson," Loki wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Though I've recently changed the surname."
"Bartholomew!" Susan covered her mouth to keep from giggling, "Erm, what a lovely middle name. Who is Frigga?"
"My mother. Odin's wife."
"So Odin isn't your father, but Frigga is still your mother?"
"Not technically, but she is much different than Odin. Stop going off topic, you swore to tell me your middle name." Loki pointed out.
"Hold your horses! It's not every day I figure out I have a grandmother! Is she pretty?"
"Magnificent."
"Is she nice, or is the reason you like her because she's on the dark side?"
"Nay, she is as light as they come."
"I wish I could meet her," Susan sighed, "Despite how horrible the past day and a half have been it's also been really exciting to find out how much family I have now."
She and Loki sat in awkward silence for a moment, but he soon broke it. "So what is your middle name?"
"It isn't as… fancy as Bartholomew," Susan giggled once more, "My mom named me Susan Luna Mort. She used to tell me that the reason she picked that middle name was because my father was the king of the moon and one day he would come back, but he was too busy being king to come now. I guess she wasn't too far off, eh?"
Loki smirked. "I'm hardly king of the moon, Sigrid, but I am a king."
Susan cringed at both his claim to a throne and at his name for her. They reminded her that even if she was pretending now, he was still an evil and manipulative man.
"In any case," Loki said quickly, probably noticing her wince, "You've asked a great deal of questions, I believe it is my turn," He tapped his chin thoughtfully, "What are your friends like? Who do you associate yourself with?"
"I don't have many friends, but the ones I do have are the best anyone could ask for. There is Sharon, who always wears black and claims to be very rebellious, but is actually really nice. There's Mia, who is a really great artist, and Jamal, my boyfriend, and Gwen, who never leaves home without her pet bird, and…"
"Wait, wait, go back a bit," Loki said, suddenly looking a bit worried, "Jamal?"
Susan nodded nonchalantly. "Yes, Jamal. He's my boyfriend. And lastly there is Francine…"
"But when you say 'boyfriend' what do you mean?"
Susan glanced at Loki, saw his concerned face, and laughed. Was he actually worried about her having a boyfriend? It was such a normal, fatherly thing to do that it seemed out of place. "A boyfriend, you know. I go on dates with him? We love each other? Romance?"
Loki's features hardened. "You are far too young to be engaging in such activities!"
"Are you seriously doing this?" Susan asked in amusement.
"Yes, I am seriously doing this!" Loki asked, seeming confused, "When may I meet this boy? Soon I expect."
Susan began giggling uncontrollably.
It pleased Loki that he had managed to make Sigrid smile and laugh, but it did not please him to hear that she had a "boyfriend". Surely she was too young for that! Who was this Jamal? What did she really know about him? If that Midgardian boy touched his daughter then there would be a high price to pay. Loki began contemplating ways to make the boy's life miserable and Sigrid continued to laugh.
"What in the nine realms is so comical?" Loki snapped.
"I just can't believe you are bothering me about my boyfriend. It's so normal of you!"
"Normal?" What was she blathering about?
"I'm sorry, it's just, my friends are always going on about how their dad's don't like them dating and are always being rude to the guys they like. For one thing I never thought I would have anyone bother me about that and for another I didn't expect you, of all people, to care!"
"Well I do. As I already stated, you are much too young!"
"Oh come on Loki," Sigrid said, not laughing anymore, but still smiling.
"He does not touch you does he? I will make his life a misery if he ever…"
"We just hold hands. We've never even kissed, so don't get your robes in a knot."
"And do you ever expect to kiss? What kind of boy is this in any case? What is his parentage?" Loki asked incredulously, "I cannot possibly condone this relationship!"
"Well, it's a good thing I don't particularly care if you 'condone' it or not," Sigrid was still grinning and shaking her head in disbelief, "Now it's my turn to ask a question."
"Very well, but know that we are not done discussing this subject." Loki warned.
"If you say so," She leaned back into the couch and stared at him, obviously thinking of her next question, "Got it! Who was your first true love?" She waggled her eyebrows teasingly.
Loki considered. As a boy he'd of course has what the humans called "crushes", but he had never loved any of them. "Know that I do not only say this for your benefit, Sigrid, but I believe my first true love was your mother."
"Really? That's sweet, how did you two even meet?"
"I was visiting Midgard just because I was curious about the customs and people. I disguised myself as a human and went into one of the eateries in the area and the waitress serving there accidently spilled my meal on me. I, of course, was highly offended and began yelling at her. However, I was shocked when she began to yell back. That waitress was your mother."
"How the heck did you end up falling in love?"
"Ah ah! You just asked a question. It is my turn."
"Oh come on! Please?"
"Ask your mother one day, though her version might be a bit different than my own," Loki glanced out of the window noticing it was beginning to get late, "We shall have to wrap this up quickly; it is almost time for the portal to be opened."
"Portal?"
"My question is," He said swiftly, ignoring her curious expression, "If we had met under different circumstances what would your opinion of me be?"
Sigrid blinked, slightly shocked by the question. "You mean if I hadn't seen you kill a bunch of people including my stepfather?"
"Must you bring that into every conversation?"
"I meant that as a legitimate question, I'm not trying to be accusatory right now!" Sigrid protested, "I was just wondering what you meant."
"Yes, if you had not witnessed those events." Loki answered clasping his hands together and leaning forward.
"I would think that you were a very sophisticated person who dressed weird. I would think that you are often very rude, but all in all not a bad person," She looked away irritably, "But I would be wrong."
"I thought we were trying to be civil toward one another." Loki pointed out. He liked the way she described him and wished that it were true.
"I'm sorry," She ground out, "It can sometimes be difficult to act civilly toward a murderer. I will try to keep my observations to a minimum."
Loki sighed heavily and looked out the window. What looked to be a missile was shooting through the sky, straight at the building. The Man of Iron had determined the location of the Tesseract. It was impressive, really, that he could find it even after the helicarrier was thrown into utter chaos and the Hulk was realised.
"Sigrid, I cannot argue now," He stood and stepped over to her, "I must find some place safe for you, away from the fight."
"Well that's certainly convenient, isn't it?" The girl grumbled, standing and smoothing her shirt.
"That fool, Stark, is fast approaching. You cannot be in sight when he gets here, who knows what could happen?"
"I won't get in the way, if that's what you mean." She told him.
"You said yourself that you did not wish to see me kill any others, well, if you do not want to see that happening then I would suggest you do as I ask."
"You're going to kill him?" There was shock in her voice.
"If it comes down to it. I have other plans, but if it is absolutely necessary then… yes. He shall die." Loki gripped Sigrid's shoulder and pulled her back into a corridor.
"Ouch! Hey, I can walk myself you know!"
"Just come along already." Loki opened a door to a random room and shoved her in. Using the scepter to seal the door so it could not be opened, he then turned to see Iron Man landing. A machine stripped him of his armor and then the man strode into the room aloofly as if he owned the place.
Well, I suppose he does own the place. Loki thought tiredly, "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."
"Uh, actually I'm planning to threaten you." Stark said.
"You should've left your armor on for that."
"Yeah," The man, who looked battered and worn agreed, "It's seen a bit of mileage and you've got the Glow Stick of Destiny."
Loki assumed the "Glow Stick of Destiny" was the scepter and smirked slightly. One thing the Man of Iron could be counted on for was amusement.
"Would you like a drink?" He asked, pouring himself one.
"Stalling me won't change anything."
"No, no, no, threatening!" The rich Midgardian corrected, "No drink? You sure? I'm havin' one."
Loki irritably glanced out the window once more. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"
"The Avengers."
Loki furrowed his brow in genuine confusion. Who was he speaking of? Avengers?
"It's what we call ourselves," Stark continued with a roll of his eyes, "Sort of like a team, Earth's Mightiest Heroes type of thing."
"Yes," Loki grinned, "I've met them."
"Yeah," Tony Stark chuckled slightly, "Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one, but let's do a head count here. You're brother, the demigod…"
Loki looked away, wondering what this foolish mortal could possibly be getting at. He'd defeated Thor, had he not? Nay, perhaps not. The cage would not fare well against Mjolnir if the blonde oaf figured out how to do it properly.
"The super soldier - living legend who kinda lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger management issues. A couple of master assassins… And you, big fella," He pointed as if to prove his point, "You've managed to piss off every single one of them."
"That was the plan." Loki winked smugly.
"Mmm, not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Drink in hand he began slowly walking toward Loki.
Loki felt like rolling his eyes and mocking the man. "I have an army."
"We have a Hulk." As if this was something to be proud of.
"Oh, I thought the beast had wondered off?"
"You're missing the point, there's no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top."
Loki felt his anger rising as the man before him continued to point out how they would "avenge" the earth and so forth and so on. Finally, growing tired of the cocky expression on the other man's face, Loki stepped forward with his staff in hand.
"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" The scepter fired up and he tapped Stark's chest with the point, expecting his eyes to glaze bright blue. Instead, the scepter clanged against a harder material of some sort and Iron Man stayed perfectly normal. What was happening here? Was this man not human? Had he no heart? Perhaps it would be best to attempt it a second time. Even the second time it did nothing. "This usually works…"
"Well, performance issues, not uncommon," Stark babbled. Loki knew Sigrid disliked murder, but apparently all else had failed so it left him with little option, "One out of five." Loki darted forth and seized the Man of Iron's throat. He threw him a few feet. The Midgardian mumbled something about a "JARVIS" whatever that was, and got to his feet. Loki grabbed his throat once more.
"You will all fall before me!"
"Deploy!" Loki lifted the man higher, "Deploy!" And tossed him out the window. He heard a shriek from behind him and then the noise of an engine firing up. One of the metal suits flew from a closet and knocked Loki off his feet. He got up and gazed out the window as the red and gold suit followed it's maker and enveloped him, propelling away from the street just in time.
"And there's one other person you pissed off," Stark called, flying up, "His name was Phil." This, of course, had absolutely no meaning to Loki, though he assumed this Phil was one of the agents he'd killed. Not wishing to deal with the metal man much longer, Loki raised his staff and prepared to fire, but Iron Man beat him to it. He flew backwards and the man in the suit flew away, toward a portal that had just opened in the sky. The Chitauri had arrived.
Susan had found a way out of the room Loki sealed her in, there was a back door that lead to an office and then a door in there that lead to a hallway that lead to the main room where Loki and Tony Stark were hashing it out. She arrived just in time to see her father throw the superhero out the window. Not being able to contain herself she screamed just as a suit of armor flew out of a closet. In a moment Iron Man was back up, wrapped safely in his suit and blasting Loki in the face. Susan cheered silently for her friend and then watched in horror as a blue beam of light shot up into the sky and opened what appeared to be a portal. Strange alien creatures spewed from the portal and down upon New York.
"No," She said quietly.
Loki got up from the pile of rubble he'd landed in and she happened to be standing in his line of vision. "I thought I told you to stay in that room."
"What on earth is that?" She pointed a trembling finger at a strange creature flying by on a hover cart.
"Not on earth, Sigrid, from very far away. They are the Chitauri; my army has arrived." He was grinning despite the many cuts and scrapes he had and Susan wondered in horror what had just happened.
"Your army?" Even when she was kneeling in Germany and watching Max was killed she had never felt such fear in her life.
"As long as you stay with me no harm shall come to you." He strolled over to the window and leered down at the city.
"But what about the rest of the city?!" Susan exclaimed, rushing over to the window as well, unable to tear her gaze from the destruction that was being caused by these creatures, "What about all of the innocent people down there? My mother? My friends?"
"Hopefully a Chitauri blast will find it's way to Jamal's heart," Loki muttered crossly. Louder he said, "There is nothing that can be done about them, just be thankful you are not amongst them." He turned away briskly and spun his scepter joyfully.
"You are revolting!" Susan exclaimed, "You will sacrifice the lives of all of those innocent people just so that you can become king? Disgusting!"
"If you have a problem with seeing it then turn your head the other direction, though you must grow accustomed to it someday if you are to be my heir." Loki stepped closer to her once more and stroked her hair gently. Susan batted his hand away furiously.
"How dare you even touch me! I don't want to be your heir." She growled, "Get away from me!" She angrily stepped away from him and spotted an elevator across the room. If he expected her to wait in this penthouse like a good little girl he had another thing coming. Susan put her hand on his chest and gave him a shove for good measure. Then she angrily stalked over to the elevator door and pushed the button to summon it. Loki followed her to the door and gave her a harsh look.
"What do you think you're doing?" He asked.
"Leaving. I'd rather be killed by an alien then stick around with you." The doors slid open and she stepped inside. To her dismay, Loki prevented the doors from closing.
"I won't allow it."
Susan felt her anger reach it's highest point and she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Try to stop me, FATHER!" She spat out the last word and jabbed the button that would take her to the lobby and free her.
"With pleasure, Sigrid." Loki snarled. Though Susan had pushed a button that should close the doors no matter what was in the way, he dented them pushing them back. It didn't even look as if he was trying. He stepped into the elevator with her and held out the glowing scepter. Susan eyed it warily and backed away, but the only place left to go was the corner. She was trapped.
"I don't wish to do this, but you are simply too difficult to deal with otherwise," He held the point of the scepter and inch above her chest and Susan tried not to breath, "Either do as I say or I will make you."
Stubborn to the last Susan tore her gaze from the glowing staff before her and met the blue eyes that matched her own. "I hate you." With that Loki rumbled his disapproval and tapped her heart with the energy from the Tesseract.