This is the first part of what I'm going to call the Frost Giant Arc. I don't know how many of the Avengers will be making an appearance, but I'm thinking of having Peter Quill make an appearance, if not all the Guardians of the Galaxy. Not sure yet. Thoughts, anyone?
Anyways, let me know what you think, and as always, enjoy!
The snow was falling softly. Jack was holding back as much as he could, if he let go, with his current emotions, there would be a blizzard in the tiny graveyard. There weren't many graves in the churchyard, especially the part he was in, the part with graves from two centuries ago. The stones were gray and crumbling, including the one he was standing in front of, fighting the tears that wanted to run down his face. The clouds overhead were grey and swirling, threatening something stronger than the thick, wet snowflakes that were dripping from the sky.
The stone was barely readable, really only the first name was there. "Rosie." The name slipped from his lips as he slipped to his knees, uncaring of the fact that his pants were getting wet now. The moisture only froze as soon as it touched his skin, and he leaned his forehead on his staff. With the return of his memories had come grief, more than anything else. Happy memories too, but also grief because he couldn't talk to them, couldn't even watch over them. His family was dead, and he had no idea if Rosie'd had children or not, because he hadn't kept track.
He didn't look up when soft footsteps approached from behind him. No one here knew who he was, they couldn't see him. He was alone with his grief, just him and the snow and the grave. And he liked it that way. He did.
"Jack." The voice made him jerk, turn his head to look behind him. The unassuming form of Bruce Banner was the last thing he'd expected to see standing there.
"Wha-" he had to stop and clear his throat, "what are you doing here?" Had he followed him? Jack hadn't told anyone where he was going, he didn't think any of them could have followed him. Not without interfering with him somehow, and the snow started falling more thickly as that thought sank in. Bruce just held up his hands though.
"I didn't follow you, Jack." He said quietly. Jack noted absently that his voice was naturally soothing. "I come here every year." His voice got quieter there, and Jack knew there had to be a reason for it. Someone that he was grieving, maybe. He remembered Loki mentioning that all of the Avengers had their own reasons for grieving. Who knew what the calm man was hiding, the thing that made him what he was.
"My mother's grave." Bruce said, motioning behind him, and Jack pushed himself to his feet, looking towards the newer section of the cemetery. The section he tried not to go into, because there were always people there, sitting at gravesites of their own relatives. He hated the grief on their faces, hated the way that he couldn't cheer them up. There was only so much his fun magic could do when it came to the grief that he was feeling now. In fact, there was nothing he could do against it, and it made him feel like he was failing.
"I'm sorry." Jack said softly, seeing echoes of an old sadness in Bruce's face. There was something in the lines there that made him sure this wasn't the only sorrow in the man's life either, and he was curious now, distracted from his own grief with this new mystery.
"It's all right. You know, it happened a long time ago." Bruce said dismissively, shoving his hands in his pockets with a shiver. Jack gave a sheepish look and focused more of his energy on making the snow gentle flurries instead of the wet spurts. He didn't think he could make it nothing, not right now.
"Doesn't make it much better." Jack said, giving another glance to the gravestone behind him. Rosie had died a long time ago, and he was still grieving. Mostly because he hadn't been there. He'd missed so much, and he still didn't know if it was worth it.
"I don't think people understand." Jack gave the scientist a questioning look, wondering what he was talking about. "What you have to give up," Bruce clarified, "to do this. You had to give up your life. I can't imagine how hard that was, honestly." Jack stared at him, wondering how the man had hit on exactly what he was feeling.
He opened his mouth to answer, to brush it off, but something happened before he could. A sphere of light, shimmering, shuddering and twisting. He couldn't describe what it looked like, it was changing, and he had to squint to look at it as the wind twisted with it. He couldn't call it to his side again, his friend was ignoring him as it rarely had in the past. He stepped in front of Bruce as something stepped through the light.
Large and blue, the same color that Loki had once turned, with strange markings like tribal tattoos, the creatures were gigantic. At least three times as large as Jack, bringing with them a blast of cold that even Jack felt in his bones.
"Take them both." The leader rumbled. One of the others raised a hand and a blast of something shimmery, reminding him vaguely of some of the magic he'd seen Loki use. That was his last thought before everything went dark and cold.
Loki was not worried about Jack again. He was not the least bit concerned. He was just…annoyed. Jack was supposed to meet him at the little coffee shop around the corner from his apartment. They both enjoyed the lattes, and the way they drew shapes in the foam on top. It was enjoyable, and he knew Jack wouldn't miss it.
But he had been waiting for an hour, and now the spirit was far too late. There was definitely something wrong, and he was annoyed. Jack was interfering with his plans now, interrupting his schedule. He was going to find the Guardian just to tell him exactly what he thought of him being late.
He certainly wasn't worried though.
He teleported himself back to his apartment and began the workings of a spell to find where the last traces of Jack's magic had been. It came up with a cemetery just outside of Burgess and he sighed. Of course. The brat had gotten caught up with Jamie again. He wasn't all that surprised, just annoyed.
He teleported to Jamie's bedroom next, ignoring the yell of surprise that came from the boy as he practically fell out of his chair.
"Loki! You can't just do that! I was doing homework, and I could have died from a heart attack or something." Jamie complained, holding his chest. Loki rolled his eyes, but did a check of the boy's health, just in case.
"Your heart is fine, as are the rest of your internal workings. Where is Jack?" He demanded, sighing as the boy's eyes grew confused before he shrugged.
"I dunno. Haven't seen him for like a week. I figured he had Guardian duties or whatever." Jamie told him, brow furrowed. Loki frowned as well.
"He was here though. In the cemetery…" He trailed off and blinked out of the room, landing in the cemetery. There were flurries of snow coming down in the tiny graveyard, proof that Jack had been here at one point, but he wasn't there now. There was something entirely too familiar in the air there, a magic that was as familiar as his own, and he sucked in a breath when he recognized it.
He needed Thor, as much as it pained him to admit it.