Brunnhilde ran. Up the waterfall stairs behind the palace, through the city past bewildered people going about their day, and finally out along the gleaming bridge of crystal. She didn't stop running until she reached the Observatory, where a lone figure stood, facing the cosmos. "Send me somewhere else," she said, clutching the slight stitch in her side. "Anywhere that isn't Asgard."
Heimdall turned and looked at her with those golden eyes she used to see every day, but she didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think about the tall, strong, patient, and kind son of a Valkyrie whom she and the other younger children growing up in the Aeries had looked up to like a brother. She didn't want to think about how besting him in a sparring match had been one of her proudest moments, or how he had smiled at her in congratulations for being the youngest to do it. Now he was just the obstacle between her and getting as far away from Asgard as possible.
"Where would you like to go?" he said, his thoughts impossible to discern from his tone. "Midgard? The prince would be glad of your company, I'm sure. Or perhaps Vanaheim. My mother and her sisters gave up hoping long ago that they would ever see one of their successors alive again."
"Stop it!" she cried. "Just stop, damn it!"
"Stop what, Brunnhilde?"
"Stop treating me like I deserve to be here. Like I deserve respect or attention from any of you! I'm not the same person who went to Niflheim. You don't know what I've done!"
Heimdall stepped away from Hofund's plinth and came towards her. She didn't know what he was doing until his arms were around her. All the frantic momentum that carried her here evaporated and she collapsed into the embrace. A terrible sound tore its way free from her throat and tears poured down her face. "Why did it have to be me who survived, Heimdall?" she sobbed. "It should've been Solveig. It should've been anyone else."
He didn't say anything. He just held onto her.
X
If Steve had found out Bucky was alive while still in '45, he would've taken off without a real plan or backup to go rescue him (except Peggy and Howard would've insisted on helping, just like the first time), but that wasn't an option. Bucky wasn't simply a POW being held captive by Hydra. According to Thor, Hydra was somehow forcing him to work for them. Steve needed help. He figured he could handle whatever was going on with Bucky once someone who knew how the 21st century worked got him to wherever he was. For that, his first thought was Tony. (He couldn't keep calling him Stark in his head without thinking of Howard.)
The first obstacle was that he wasn't exactly sure how to find Tony. He thought about it while eating his lunch. Thor had gone back to telling stories to the SHIELD agents, and it was keeping the attention off Steve pretty effectively. By the time he'd cleaned off his tray, Loki arrived in the mess, accompanied by Agent Romanoff. He headed straight for his brother, but she peeled off when she spotted Steve sitting alone.
"Make it through your reading material already?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Just the next batch of it," said Steve.
"I can have them send in another one," she said.
"Actually I was hoping to get in touch with Tony."
She smirked, which made him nervous. "Then you're in luck. Come with me."
That only made him more nervous, but he followed her anyway. She led him to an elevator and hit one of the buttons at the bottom. The doors closed them in, and he couldn't help being reminded of Private Lorraine tugging him into that corner for a smooch. Based on what he'd seen so far, Romanoff seemed very professional, but he wouldn't put it past Fury to give her orders to keep an...intimately close eye on him if he thought he needed to. Steve wasn't sure what he'd do if that happened. He just had to hope no such orders had been given. There was no denying that Romanoff was a real dish, despite modern fashion, but he couldn't think about how pretty another woman was so soon after missing his dance with Peggy. ("Soon." What a joke. He still hadn't been able to bring himself to open her file, but she had to have moved on ages ago.)
"Did Coulson show you his cards?" she said.
"What?" said Steve. "Oh, yeah. He wants me to sign them."
She shook her head a little, making her red curls bounce. "He won't be the last, but he might be the most enthusiastic."
The elevator dinged and the doors opened on a parking garage that was mostly full of sleek black vehicles, but with a few exceptions that stood out.
"That's Lola," said Romanoff, nodding at a cherry red convertible that looked a little more like the cars he was used to than the rest of them. It actually reminded him of Howard's short-lived flying car demonstration. "Coulson might let you touch her if you hold your signature on those cards hostage for a few days." She walked past it towards a row of motorcycles. Most of them looked streamlined and devoid of character, but right there at the end of the row was a Harley that wasn't too different from the one he'd ridden in the war.
He ran his fingers over the seat and the handlebars. "Is this—?"
"Not quite. It's a '52. Still thought you might like it a little better than the SUVs, though."
She was right about that, whatever an SUV was, but if they were going to share a ride, he'd rather go in one of those big cars. Before he could figure out a way to suggest that without sounding rude, she climbed onto the bike next to the Harley. "There are still a few of them out there as vintage as you are if you want to find one," she added with a grin, then turned the key to bring the engine roaring to life and peeled out before he could say a word.
He let out a startled laugh, hopped on the Harley, and raced after her.
X
Brunnhilde had cried out all of the tears in her, at least for now. She and Heimdall sat side-by-side at the edge of the observatory, looking out at the stars, their feet dangling over open space. He had removed his helmet and left it by the sword. "You got older," she said, noting the faint hints of gray in his beard.
"And you didn't," he replied.
"Sakaar is weird like that."
"Did you ever try to come home?"
"Why? Even if I could have, there was nothing left for me here." She drew her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around them.
"You know that isn't true. Your parents and the Valkyrior may have known and loved you best, but they weren't the only ones who cared for you. The rest of us aren't fools to do it either. The Norns have given you a chance to start again."
"They aren't who I'm worried about."
"Your captor is more concerned with the loss of his reign than the loss of you."
"For now."
"There are many who would help you, if you would but ask. Even the Allfather."
"I know."
There was a long silence, and it felt surprisingly peaceful.
"Do you still want me to open the Bifrost for you?"
A smile stole across her face.
X
Tony hadn't spent much time at the Virginia house since pulling Stark Industries out of all the weapons contracts. It was an exquisitely preserved Tudor mansion with full modernization blended seamlessly into the original structure. It wasn't really his style, and the workshop was pathetic compared to the Malibu house, but he wasn't leaving until the Brodinsons were homebound. Pepper was still in California, though, and Tony was hoping to change that. Once he had her fully convinced that he wasn't here for another Congressional hearing, she'd be out of excuses.
"Okay, JARVIS, how close are we to cracking this thing?"
"I have successfully decrypted a few layers of SHIELD's security, Mr. Stark. Nothing appears out of the ordinary yet."
"Yeah, Hydra's files have to be buried pretty deep. How about any patterns in the language used that only make sense if there is a secret organization of Nazis hiding inside?"
"Excellent idea, sir."
"You know, if Hydra's smart—not a common trait among fascists, but never underestimate the enemy—they'll have all the most important stuff tucked away in a closed system. Less efficient but way more secure. We might need a physical interface."
"How do you propose to gain that kind of access?"
The buzz of the gate rang out, and the image from the security feed dropped into the air over top of the glowing holograms of SHIELD files. Tony smirked. "I guess we'd need a spy for that."
"I take it you'd like me to grant Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers entrance?"
"Send them in."
X
Loki and Thor had mostly finished eating the bland offerings of SHIELD's feast hall, and most of the agents around them had gradually left to attend to their duties. Only Coulson remained, and they had been joined by a nervous Banner (who had spent most of the trip to Earth so far inside his SHIELD quarters, trying to attract as little attention as possible). Something from earlier was bothering Loki, but he didn't really want to discuss it in front of the mortals. Fortunately, Banner seemed to have his own plans.
"Hey, uh, Agent Coulson," he said.
"Yes?" said Coulson.
"Can I ask you a favor?" He jerked his head towards the corridor. Coulson glanced at the brothers, who made no objection, then went with the doctor.
Loki looked at what remained on his plate, grimaced, and pushed it away. "What did you mean earlier when you mentioned an 'Earth wizard'?" he asked.
Thor looked around at him, having watched Coulson and Banner walk off. "Oh, just some stupid hraumi we met right before we learned about Hela in the original timeline. He kept teleporting me all over his headquarters even though it wasn't that big of a building. Showoff. And he stole a strand of my hair."
"But mortals don't have seidr. Are you certain you weren't merely falling for a magician's tricks?"
"He made a portal that sent us all the way to the land where the Aesir-Jotnar war began," said Thor. "It was no trick."
"Then where did his power come from? Was he using enchanted items?"
"He had some of those," said Thor, frowning. "But I don't think they were responsible for every spell he did."
Loki's mind was racing. He felt sure that Asgard would know about it if mortals had their own form of seidr. The common belief was that their lack of it was to blame for their short lifespans. But perhaps the mortal's power didn't come from within at all. What if he'd found another source? Loki had to find out. "Where did we meet this wizard?"
"He was in New York. I think the little card said Bleecker Street? I'm sure I can find it again."
"Good. We're going right now."
Thor's face suddenly went blank, and then his eyes flashed gold. Loki frowned at him. "What, is it a message from Heimdall?"
"What?" said Thor, eyes blue again. "No, why would you ask that? Aren't we going to New York? Let's get going already." And he marched off before Loki could call him on his dreadful lying.
Nobody barred their path on the way out of the Triskelion, so they were able to set off with ease. Thor spun Mjolnir and hurled himself skyward, while Loki chose a falcon form and followed by wing. Loki had not closely studied the geography of Midgard in some time, during which the layouts of the cities had changed a great deal, but Thor seemed confident in his direction. After about a quarter of an hour, Loki began to recognize some of the buildings from when he had led that repulsive beige creature on a chase across the city.
...All of the buildings, actually. He beat his wings faster and drew level with Thor to give him an avian approximation of a suspicious glare. Thor pretended not to notice and kept on flying. Loki cuffed him over the head with a wing, and Thor laughed without slowing down. After another moment, they were touching down in the middle of the small Kingsbridge park. Loki couldn't transform back into his usual body quickly enough. "Thor, what—"
The air hummed, giving him a second's warning before the column of light slammed down in front of them. Loki stared at Thor, who was beaming triumphantly. What, had Sif, Volstagg, and Hogun decided to surprise them? He looked back at the Bifrost, which faded to reveal not them but a single figure. Brunnhilde! He didn't have time to so much as splutter her name before she gave him a radiant smile and launched herself at him. He managed to catch her in his arms, but still spun around with the impact, his cheek burning where she kissed it.
"Is this the new plan?" he asked, trying to feign a cross tone even though his heart was light as air and he probably had a very stupid grin on his face. He couldn't find it in him to care that a number of mortals of various ages were standing about the park, staring at the three of them and the singed circle of grass in astonishment. "We can't seem to find any privacy, so now we'll just make theatrical displays on purpose?"
"Works for me," said Brunnhilde.
"Welcome to Midgard!" said Thor, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders. He still looked as pleased as if her arrival had been his idea. "We were just about to go visit some wizards. Want to come?"
X
Security Alert: Unauthorized access of SHIELD Operations files 0093992-0127392
Security Alert: Unauthorized access of SHIELD Personnel files 18:13.5858.86-27:15.7934.12
Execute Program: Trace security breach.
Detect Source:
...Pending…
...Pending…
Detect Source: Error. Signal encrypted.
Execute Program: Run decryption.
...Pending…
...Pending…
...Pending…
Decryption successful.
Signal Source:
Relay: 46.316584 71.656700
Relay: -4.565474 22.051412
Relay: 60.413852 9.738508
Relay: -18.646245 -65.194304
Relay: -24.478400 129.389422
Signal Source: 38.122809 -77.842153
Query: Access property records for 233 Maple Court Brookings, VA 20123.
...Pending…
Result: Property purchased by Stark, Howard Anthony Walter, 1953. Inherited by Stark, Anthony Edward, 1991.
Identify Enemy Program:
...Pending…
...Pending…
Identify Enemy Program: Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.
Execute Countermeasures: Deploy malware.
Query: Access Triskelion Security Archive.
Reassess Threat Level for Stark, Anthony Edward.
Reassess Threat Level for SHIELD Operation Codename: Avengers Initiative.
Reassess Threat Level for Fury, Nicholas Joseph.
I'm super happy with Brunnhilde's scenes in this one. They made me cry writing them, which tends to be a good sign. Heimdall should have all the opportunities to be a wise big brother figure, and I also wanted to do something with him being the son of a Valkyrie. There was a tiny hint way back in the Sakaar arc that Brunnhilde knows him, but I haven't been able to do anything with that until now without it feeling like an exposition dump. And now she's on Earth, so maybe I can get her and Steve to meet and vibe over being long-lost war heroes.
Steve has snog-attack PTSD from that Natalie Dormer character. *snerk* I think Natasha has eased his worries about that a bit.
Thor and Loki are off to see a wizard! ...Who is still just a surgeon. I considered having them check out the Sanctum the last time they were on Earth, but it didn't fit anywhere. This works better, now that there's not much for them to do until the SHIELD people have some Hydra targets to aim them at.
Oh, yeah, and Tony might've underestimated what he's trying to hack into just a little bit. That scene was really interesting to write. It didn't occur to me to approach it as anything but normal narration until I was already writing it, and then I felt dumb for not thinking of this way sooner.