Didn't quite have this one finished in a week like I wanted, but it is super long! Enjoy! (And it's even longer now with the new scene.)
Royal Training Grounds, Asgard
For Hulk, such abstract things as thought and memory were murky shadows lurking deep beneath a frothing green sea of rage and fear, but he still knew something was different. No one was attacking him, it was a sunny day in a beautiful place, and Betty was there, smiling. Betty was okay. That was important. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers.
"Bruce," said Betty. "This is Brunnhilde. Do you remember her?" She was gesturing at another girl, shorter and darker, who waved. "She's a friend. She wants to fight you, for fun. Is that okay?"
Hulk shuffled closer to Betty. "Fight…," he rumbled doubtfully, "fun."
"Yeah, it'll be loads of fun," said the other girl. "For me, when I win."
Hulk was still very confused, but he was also getting angry. She wouldn't win. Hulk would win. Now. He jumped, raising his fists and bringing them crashing down where she'd been standing, but she was gone.
"Too slow!" she crowed from behind him, and one of his feet suddenly jerked out from under him and he landed flat on his back.
The girl was grinning down at him with her hands on her hips. He snarled, seized her by the legs, and threw her into the stone wall behind Betty. There were whoops and cheers from a gaggle of children Hulk hadn't noticed before. The girl sprang up again, laughing. "You're right; this is way better than foe constructs. Come on, big guy! Show me what you've got!"
Fight...fun? It was starting to make more sense.
X
"I don't wanna go!" Alaric protested. "I want to stay and watch the fight!" Just then, the big green beast tried to clap his hands around the Valkyrie like she was a bug he wanted to squish, but she held them off with her elbows and used the leverage to kick all the way up to his jaw.
"You're the youngest one here who's still big enough to go by yourself," said Leif. "If you go fast, you won't miss much. You know everyone else will want to see this! Think of the sweets they'll give you for telling them!"
Alaric did love sweets. "Alright, Brother," he said, "but I'm not sharing with you!" He dashed off as fast as his legs would carry him.
X
Svartalfheim
"Is this what you pictured when you came back?" said Loki.
Thor was looking out over the deck of Tyr's flagship at the flat, gray plain where dozens of tents were springing up and the seidrsmiths were slowly but steadily weaving a perimeter shield. It wouldn't be long now before it would be ready for the Dokkalfar prisoners. A line of supply ships was already flying in with the rest of what they needed.
"No," said Thor. "I only pictured battling Kurse and Malekith, really. I should have realized it wouldn't make sense for only soldiers to have survived the war. I hope Banner is not too smug when I tell him he was right."
"What do you think should become of them?"
"I don't know. They are subjects of a malevolent ruler. How much are they to blame for that?"
"I think they had more of a choice than Laufey's people, who cannot survive many places besides Jotunheim," said Loki. "If they didn't want to raise their children under Malekith's rule, they could have sought sanctuary on Alfheim. Perhaps some even did just that. I'll need to refresh myself on the history."
"But you said their seidr is polluted," said Thor. "How much could that be affecting their judgement? Even the infants have those eerie black eyes. If they start that young, they might not know anything else."
"True," said Loki. He gestured at the camp. "This is a just beginning, I think. We'll get the answers, and the realms that fought them before will decide together. You did well."
Thor glanced at Loki, who had an irritating, expectant sort of look on his face. He tried to summon back the anger that had fueled their argument the day before, but he found that he had none of it left. "Are you perhaps hoping I've seen any similarities between the Dokkalfar and a certain other villain on my list, Brother?"
"Have you?" said Loki.
"I still think it's madness to believe Hela can change for the better." He frowned. "But perhaps not so mad to give her the opportunity, even if it's only to watch her squander it." He shot Loki a sharp look. "As long as you're damn certain it can't backfire just like Father's spell keeping her on Niflheim."
Loki rolled his eyes. "Even if I would condone that sort of sloppiness, Mother wouldn't. We do this right or we don't do it at all."
Thor nodded. He and Loki were both distracted then by the sound of Tyr shouting something they couldn't quite make out from this distance, and they noticed that many of the Einherjar had ceased working on raising the tents and had crowded close to the supply ships. Exchanging a glance, the princes hopped over the side of the flagship and made their way over.
"Is something wrong, General?" said Thor.
Tyr turned to them, exasperated. "The supply ships have brought distracting news. It seems that mortal fellow with a beast under his skin finally agreed to a sparring match, and it's against Commander Brunnhilde. They've been at it for hours. Most of Asgard has been packing in around the royal training grounds to watch, and now the men can think of nothing else." He swept a hand out to indicate the Einherjar, who stood about them looking sheepish. Tyr lowered his voice. "It does sound entertaining, I'll grant them that."
"At least a third of them asked Banner to spar and were turned down," said Loki, amused. "How much more work is there still to do here?"
"Not so much," said Tyr. "Unloading the supplies and getting them organized, mostly. Finishing with the tents. The trench for the latrines is already dug. Once everything's in place, we can bring the Dokkalfar out of the briggs and into their new quarters. I suppose I'll have to make the men draw lots to decide who'll have the first turn at guard duty. They'll all want to be back on Asgard to watch what's left of that fight in person."
"Let them all go," said Thor, loud enough for the men to hear. "My brother and I will stay, along with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. We've all fought the Hulk ourselves; it would not be such a novel sight for us."
A cheer went up among the soldiers, and they returned to their work at double speed.
"That was most generous, my prince," said Tyr. "I will have your relief sent here the moment the fight ends. The victory celebrations will await you when you return." He bowed with fist to heart and marched off into the camp.
"Most generous," said Loki, folding his arms. "The others won't thank you for that. I'm going to enjoy being their favorite prince from now on."
Thor laughed. "And you?"
Loki gave a shrug. "As exciting a spectacle as it undoubtedly is, Brunnhilde isn't currently speaking to me. I'm not sure she'd appreciate having me in the audience."
He was trying to sound unaffected, but Thor knew better. He laid a hand over the back of Loki's neck and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I think it will be alright, Brother. Maybe she'll use up all her anger fighting the Hulk and there won't be any left for you."
"What a pleasant thought."
X
Asgard
Carrying the expectations of the Matriarchs and actually giving half a damn about that was an odd feeling. It felt completely right in a way nothing had for Brunnhilde since before Niflheim, but it also filled her stomach with dread. Dread she couldn't do anything about until Odin made his move.
On Sakaar, her existence had been a listless cycle of drowning herself in booze until that didn't help anymore, going out to the trash fields to capture another contender for the Contest of Champions, and finding someone vaguely appealing to have a one-night stand with and discard, then doing it all over again. It was exactly the sort of life she deserved, and the more she did it, the closer she got to forgetting everything that came before.
She couldn't do any of that now. She had to stay clear-headed if she was going to make the Matriarchs' plan work, she wasn't a scrapper anymore, and to her great annoyance, she found herself comparing the figures and features of anyone who came to the bar at The King's Spear to those of a certain dark-haired prince.
That was how she had ended up at the royal training grounds, hoping to vent some of her frustrations on foe constructs but not expecting much. When she'd found Banner and Lady Betty there, she'd tried to sneak away. She was glad they hadn't let her.
Banner's beast turned out to be everything you couldn't get out of a foe construct. His attacks were fast, brutal, and not based on anything recorded from old battles. It took a while to convince him that this was a game and she wasn't really an enemy, but she was glad to discover that a happy Hulk still didn't pull his punches.
They'd knocked each other around the training grounds for a while, just testing each other's strength, when she noticed that they had more company than just Lady Betty and the children who thought they'd found a clever hiding place. Banner's beast was either too focused on her or hadn't seen them, because he didn't slow down. He tried to corner her against the stone wall, but she merely turned around and used her daggers to scale it. He made a disgruntled noise and started punching handholds into the rock to pursue her, only for her to kick him all the way into the waterfall when he caught her. She dove into the plunge pool at its base, a little worried that he'd turn back into a fragile mortal and drown, but a massive green hand grabbed her and hurled her back up onto the main level of the training grounds before she could even look for him.
The more people showed up, the more Brunnhilde thought she'd like to take this someplace else and shake them off, but Hulk seemed to be enjoying the attention as much as the crowd enjoyed the fight. He laughed and waved at them and shot toothy grins at her and Lady Betty before lunging at her again. Ah, what the Hel? She was having fun, wasn't she?
X
Svartalfheim
To the surprise of many, the Aesir were good to their word. After hours confined inside the briggs of their ships, where reunions between family, lovers, and friends were marred by the uncertainty of their fates, Algrim and the rest of the surviving Dokkalfar were led out into their new prison.
Though they were back on the dead remains of their world and under Asgard's thumb, stripped of armor and weapons and forced into seidr-suppressing restraints, it was still wonderful to be on firm ground and beneath an open sky again. The Svartalfar air no longer reeked of decay and poison; now it was all sterile, metallic ash. Algrim watched the others being led off the Asgardian ships, trying to count them and take stock of their appearances. He was surprised again to see that several who had been gravely wounded in the battle were now in significantly better condition. Two of the last people to disembark were Alflyse and Jagrfelm, fearful and clinging tightly to each other, but together. The sight brought such an unexpected surge of gladness that Algrim had to look away.
Aesir soldiers began prodding them into lines of twenty, including the children, in front of the burly general with the long gray beard. Behind him, the princes and their companions stood in a line.
"Right, listen up, prisoners," said the general. "You will remain here in this camp at the mercy of Crown Prince Thor with the blessing of King Odin, Allfather of Asgard, until the Council of the Realms decides what to do about you. They convene tomorrow eve, so you won't have long to wait. A few of you may be summoned before them if they deem it necessary. They may not.
"Now I'm going to explain the rules of the camp. You'll be twenty to a tent, not counting children under a century of age. Provisions will be distributed at dawn and dusk. We don't know much about Dokkalfar cuisine, but it's all food they eat on Alfheim so it probably won't poison you. At all hours, you will have access to the wash basins and drinking water at that end of camp," he pointed to his left, "and the latrines at that end," he pointed to his right. "Report any injuries or sickness to the guards and they will be treated by our healers in short order.
"At Prince Loki's recommendation, those seidr-suppressing manacles decorating your wrists are currently set to prevent major casting and cloaking spells only, but they can be tightened if we perceive a threat or if any attempt is made to remove them. Some of you have already discovered this. Other than that, we don't much care what you do so long as you don't make trouble for the guards. They won't enter the tents unless there is trouble, but Heimdall, the Gatekeeper of Asgard, can see everything in this camp, and he will be watching.
"Finally, let me make this clear before anyone starts imagining ways to escape. There is none. You know this world is dead, and you know you are the last of the Dokkalfar. Yggdrasil has moved on quite merrily without you these five thousand years. Asgard and the other realms have prospered and all but forgotten you. You have no allies waiting to come to your aid. So hear this well: your only shot at leniency from the realms you sought to subjugate and destroy is to be model prisoners during your time here."
He glanced over his shoulder. "Have I left anything out, your highnesses?"
"I don't think so, General," said Prince Thor. "You and the Einherjar may return to Asgard."
The soldiers in their ridiculous golden armor and beetle-horned helmets turned to face the princes, clapped closed right fists over their hearts, and marched back to their ships, leaving only the princes and the four with unique armor and weapons behind.
"You may as well choose your tents, I suppose," said Thor. His brow furrowed. "Do Dokkalfar sleep during the day or the night, anyway?"
X
Asgard
It took Bruce a moment to process that the deafening noise coming from every direction wasn't just his own heartbeat pounding in his ears; he was at the center of a massive crowd of cheering Asgardians. They filled every square inch of space on the stone benches, the upper balcony, the stairs, and had even parked countless skiffs in midair to use as makeshift benches until the waterfall was barely visible between their prows.
He would be forever grateful to the seamstresses who had made him his Hulk-proof clothing. Ending up naked in front of an audience was probably the pettiest of his Hulk-related challenges, but it was nice not to have to keep living that actual childhood nightmare anymore.
He looked around and saw Brunnhilde a few yards away, panting and bracing her hands against her knees. She threw him a roguish smile. "They started showing up a few minutes in, but I was having too much fun to send them packing. Sorry. Good fight."
"You too," said Bruce faintly.
"We thank Dr. Banner and Commander Brunnhilde Sigursdottir for the afternoon's excellent entertainment," said none other than Odin from a particularly fancy flying boat, his voice booming out to everyone. "It was a good start to the victory celebrations, which will begin in earnest once the princes have returned."
"The Allfather and I invite you to make your way to the grand banquet hall now for the feast," said Frigga, who was standing at his side, her arm through his. "I would request that you not bombard our fine combatants with invitations to spar this evening. Give them a little time to recover after that impressive display." There was another round of cheers in response, but it was punctuated with a few disappointed groans. Asgardians were freaking insane.
Betty made her way over him between the rush of people heading up to the palace.
"So the mission is over?" said Bruce.
"Yeah," said Betty. "The Einherjar started coming back a little over an hour ago. They made room for them at the front, and that's when the King and Queen showed up. They announced the victory and said the princes were overseeing the accommodations for the prisoners of war. Tomorrow there's going to be a Council of the Realms to decide what to do with them next."
Bruce already felt almost drunk on endorphins, and he barely managed not to giggle in sheer relief.
"Should we go get some food?" said Betty.
"Yeah," said Bruce. "Right now I feel like I could beat Volstagg in an eating competition."
X
The Dokkalfar might have dwindled in the public consciousness to little more than a half-remembered children's tale, but the festivities celebrating their defeat were as exuberant as those after the Sakaar mission, if not more so. There was an abundance of food, drink, music, dancing, and the evening sky was lit with a dazzling fireworks display, courtesy of a troupe of visiting pyromancers from Vanaheim. The Einherjar were the center of attention, and everywhere people were telling stories their parents and grandparents had handed down of battles from the Dokkalfar war.
Thor found it easier to bask in his people's enjoyment tonight than he had in a while, and that was largely due to his mother. He couldn't get enough of the sight of her laughing and smiling with her subjects, and he made sure to dance twice with her. The Dokkalfar were no longer a threat and she was still alive. Only fourteen funeral boats were launched across the eternal sea instead of hundreds, the attitude surrounding them far more triumphant than mournful. Those few soldiers had earned their places in Valhalla while protecting Asgard and Yggdrasil; they hadn't been cut down in a surprise attack that left Asgard weakened and vulnerable.
Odin found Thor back in the banquet hall not long after the celebration of the dead.
"It is a shame I couldn't delay the Odinsleep a few weeks more," he said.
"Father?" said Thor. Did he mean…?
"I was already confident that your experiences have forged you into the sort of man who would make a fine King of Asgard. Perhaps the best yet in the line of Buri. Your leadership today has proven it. I could wish for nothing more." He patted his shoulder and left to rejoin the dancing without another word while Thor struggled to swallow around the lump in his throat.
X
Loki was having a much less pleasant time at the festivities than Thor. While he couldn't be more satisfied with their victory and it was, of course, a delight to discover that the House of Freyr had returned to Asgard, all he could think of was Brunnhilde. She was somewhere at this feast and there was no better time than this to attempt his apology. He'd played out about twenty different versions of it in his mind, and mostly they ended with her stabbing him and never speaking to him again, but he had to try.
After hours of failing to spot her anywhere in the crowd and just when he'd convinced himself that she was avoiding him, a hand closed with a vice grip around his wrist and dragged him towards a side corridor.
"Brunnhilde!" he said. "I was lookin—"
"Shut up." She glared over her shoulder at him, making his life flash before his eyes.
"I wanted to apolo—"
"I said shut up!" He did as he was told, and she pulled him all the way to a deserted balcony a floor above the revelers. After making sure they were alone, she shoved him against the balustrade and attacked him. Not with blades, but with her lips. He was too startled to do the sensible thing and surrender. "What are you doing?" he asked.
She pulled back to level a withering look at him. "Did a Dokkalfar knock you on the head? I'm snogging you."
Most of him was eager for that to continue, but somehow the part that wanted an explanation had got control of his voice. "But you're furious with me," he said.
"Livid," she agreed, "but I worked up a lot of energy today and right now all I care about is how good you look in that surcoat." She closed the distance and determinedly resumed the kiss. For a moment he forgot why he was trying to object. "We could go to your chambers," she suggested.
At that, he managed to resurface in spite of the jolt of desire that shot through him. He pushed her back gently, his hands around her upper arms so that she couldn't get in close again.
"Stop, Brunnhilde. We need to talk about this."
"Come on," she groaned, "can't we just be two absolute smokeshows using each other for a night?" She gagged. "I can't believe I just quoted the bloody Grandmaster. I may actually be sick."
He stared at her face, still lovely even as she pretended to retch. He was remembering the hurt on it the last time he'd seen her and the agony he'd felt knowing he was the cause. Slowly, he shook his head. "It's too late for that." He grimaced. "Er, using each other, that is. Not you being sick. Should I conjure you a basin?"
Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. "Damn it!" She turned away from him, gripping the top of the balustrade. "I didn't want to have feelings for you, you know!" Her tone was accusing, and it bizarrely made him want to laugh. He resisted the impulse.
"I think you made that clear enough on Sakaar when you threw a dagger at me," he said.
She let out a broken giggle. "That was a bit rude of me, wasn't it?"
"I didn't like it much."
She faced him. "Back on Maw's ship, you thought I'd kill you when I saw your Jotun form."
"I did," said Loki. Whatever this was between them had stopped being a shallow attraction for him the moment she'd reached out to touch his blue skin. If he got a chance to do it over again like Thor, he wouldn't change a single thing about the Sakaar mission.
"I was relieved," she said.
That took Loki aback. A pit formed in his stomach, and he narrowed his eyes. "Why, because it meant I wasn't really a son of Odin?"
She nodded.
He scoffed, looking out over the city so that she wouldn't see the hurt that was surely showing on his face.
"I tried to see proof that you weren't," she said. "I watched how they treated you."
"And?" he said, his tone harsher than he had intended. "What did you observe?"
"It was stupid of me. Blood isn't the only thing that makes family. It was already obvious you were as much their son as Thor when they presented you to Asgard as a baby."
Loki closed his eyes against the rush of relief those words brought on. And he'd thought he was doing so well at moving past the fact of his adoption. "Then, when I found you talking about Hela, I couldn't pretend it didn't go both ways."
"Would it have been better if I'd talked to you before Father?" he asked.
"Probably not, to be honest."
He reached for her hand. She tensed but didn't move it. "You should know that I'm not trying to get her restored as Crown Princess, and if that was what Father wanted to do, I'd help Thor find a way to assassinate her before she could get anywhere near Hlidskjalf."
"But you think she's good enough for probation?" said Brunnhilde bitterly.
"I don't know. It's what I hope we'll find out. Either we gain a powerful ally or Father will no longer have any reservations against executing her. Even he thinks the latter is more likely."
"Why did you come up with the idea to begin with?"
He shrugged. "Based on the future he lived through, Thor thought the only possibilities were Hela's destruction or Asgard's. I took that as a challenge." He looked at her. "I could see Father's pain. I should have thought of yours. I'm sorry, Brunnhilde."
"What should that matter? You met me a week ago. He raised you."
Loki lifted a hand to her cheek. "Am I only allowed to care about one of you?"
She gave a humorless snort, her expression hollow. "It should be an easy choice. If not now, just give it time."
Was she still so determined to believe she was unworthy of affection? "As ever, I'd rather find a third option," he said, his voice husky, He leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back, quickly reaching the level of passion with which she'd met him earlier, raking her fingers through his curls and pressing against him so that he could feel her curves through the thick layers of their clothing. Even in Aesir form it seemed like he was getting warmer from her body heat. He tried to pull her closer with one hand at the small of her back and the other at her waist.
She started trailing blazing kisses away from his mouth towards his throat while her fingers found their way to the fastening of the surcoat she liked so much. He took the opportunity to ask, "Am I to understand that you still want me to take you to my chambers?"
"Norns, yes," she said. However, her movements slowed, her hands sliding back to his chest. "But I don't think we should. You're going to despise me soon. I don't want it to be for this too."
She pressed one last kiss to his lips. He was too dazed to try to make sense of her words until long after she'd left him alone on the balcony.
Hulk PoV was interesting. Maybe if he was at Ragnarok level, I'd be able to do the whole thing in Hulk-speak but he's barely verbal at this point, so it had to be more oblique. I needed the kids to discover the fight so that they could spread the word and the rest of Asgard could show up to watch. Asgardians are delightful. Bruce is in way over his head. I might move the first couple of scenes to the previous chapter once everyone's read this one. I think it would fit better there.
I've been low-key stressing about the Loki/Brun reunion for a few chapters now. I had no idea how it was going to go except that I was pretty sure it would involve a combination of arguing and snogging. Based on their previous complete disregard of my notions of relationship pacing, there was a strong possibility they were going to end up in bed and not talking until after, but something felt off about that. (Also as a heads up, I am not remotely interested in writing smut, nor would I be capable of doing so even if I wanted to. I can barely write regular makeout scenes without turning inside-out from cringe.) I was right; Brunnhilde might be self-destructive enough to sleep with the hot prince before she works out her issues with him but Loki can't turn his brain off enough for that. The whole scene came out really easily once I figured that out, before I'd even written most of the earlier scenes in the chapter, and you maybe can tell that I've recently rewatched The Good Place in parts of Brunnhilde's dialogue. She reminds me a lot of Eleanor. Also Faith from Buffy.
It'll probably be a few more chapters before we find out what Brunnhilde meant by that last bit. Next up will be the diplomatic trip to Jotunheim and the Council of the Realms.
Edit from later in the day I posted this: when I first uploaded this chapter, it felt like something was missing. Arcantos helped me figure that out. I needed a Brunnhilde PoV scene, from the middle of the Hulk fight! I hope you like it.