SHADOW OF DEATH

Chapter 11: Fall

Loki sat on a metal bench underneath an oak tree in the busy park. A chill wind threw orange and red leaves onto the grass around him. Rivers of people passed by him on the walkway by whose bank he sat. Some rode wheeled contraptions, others walked or ran. He sat with a hot cake in his hand which he took small bites of from time-to-time. The vendor at the little cart had told him it was called a "churro" and said it was a kind of sweet treat. Loki thought it looked rather like a tree branch or a club more than a cake. It was sweet enough to satisfy his craving and he watched the pigeons that congregated at his feet begging for his crumbs.

He couldn't help but feel irritated. It had taken three hours to convince Jane Foster to surrender to his will and even then, it was only a partial victory. If he had known that her deep-rooted dislike of SHIELD proved stronger than any moral compunction to use her gifts for the "betterment of humanity," he would not have posed as an agent of said organization. If he had known her dislike for SHIELD ran even deeper than her desire for fame, renown, riches, he most certainly would have pursued an alternate method of persuasion.

When he arrived on her doorstep in Puente Antiguo wearing the standard issue SHIELD agent suit and the face of Agent Smith (who all the other SHIELD agent women secretly found attractive and talked about it when they thought no others were listening), he found the door slammed and locked in his face.

"No," she said to him through her slightly cracked window.

"Dr. Foster," he said, surprise evident in his voice. "You have not even heard why I am here."

"I don't care," she said.

"May I inquire as to the reason?"

"Because, the first time you people came, you stole all my stuff. The next time you came, you stole away Erik Selvig and never gave him back. The next time you came, you gave me a hoax of a great opportunity and stole away my freedom. The final time you came, it was to tell me you blew up Erik and Thor and half of New York. Go Away."

She slammed the sliding window shut with a resounding clank. So Loki stood outsider her door, eyes scanning the dusty, marred streets of the town he himself had previously destroyed, and waited. After a half hour, he turned himself invisible and continued to wait.

He was just beginning to think maybe he would resort to #9 when Jane's brown head peeked through the window and, thinking him gone, came to the door and opened it.

Loki reappeared at the corner where she could not see him and followed her down the street. He caught up with her as she neared the next block and cleared his throat.

"What is wrong with you people?" she shouted. "Why can't you leave me alone?"

"Earth needs you," he said. "Your work on the Foster Theory is invaluable and you are required to protect this world from other possible offenders. What if those alien invaders were to return? How will Earth protect itself? We need you to research how to open up another portal."

"That doesn't make any sense," Jane said, rolling her eyes. "Why would opening up a portal help protect earth from alien invaders…opening a portal did not help New York. In fact, if I remember properly, opening a portal is what started the chaos in New York to begin with…oh wait, how did the wrath of Loki even come to Earth? Because you people were playing with toys you didn't understand and opened a door to let him waltz right in. No."

"I understand your hesitation, but, Dr. Foster, let me be honest, you are the most highly recommended, knowledgeable and best equipped of all of Earth's scientists to assist us in our current predicament. Not only that, but Prince Thor recommended you and requested your assistance by name to help him return to Asgard. He's found himself trapped on Earth and we need to find a way to get him home and request Asgard for assistance against future invasions."

"If Thor wanted me to help him, he wouldn't send you to talk to me, he'd come to me himself," she said. "After what happened to him and his brother, he has no more reason to trust you than I do."

"I can offer you wealth and freedom to pursue all the knowledge you desire with any technology you request. When we succeed, you can be the first to pursue knowledge of other planets," he said.

"You'd say anything to make me agree," she responded. "I won't."

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

An hour later, Loki returned, this time dressed as Thor. He created a majestic illusion of Thor flying through the sky and alighting down the street. He watched as Jane's head peeked out her window again. This time she threw her door open and ran down the street to where he stood, crimson cape flying in the wind behind him.

Jane slowed her steps from a run to a walk and then, in contrast to their last meeting, refrained from embracing him. Instead she crossed her arms across her chest and stared at him expectantly.

"Lady Jane," Loki said. He took Jane's hand in his own and brought it to his lips for a kiss. He made sure to gaze into her eyes with the brightest of expressions, full of all the emotion only Thor would ever be fool enough to openly display. "I have come to plead for your assistance."

"Hmph," she said with a disgruntled stare. "The guy in the suit failed so they sent you? Really?"

"My apologies, Lady Jane. I should have attended to you myself but I was caught up in other matters. Midgard has been keeping me occupied much of late."

"Yeah. I've seen you on the news a few times. I'm glad you are here to help. It's been crazy and scary and….," Jane's face suddenly crumpled and she burst into tears. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a jerk. I just…it's just…Erik's gone and he's all I had and now, I'm just so angry and so sad and I don't know what to do with myself and then the whole world is going haywire and it doesn't make any sense."

Loki stared at her, frozen in horror. He did not anticipate tears. He began darting his eyes around seeking an exit strategy but found himself encircled by a pair of small arms and a sniffling head leaned against his chest. He ground his teeth and fought to maintain his façade. Thor would not back away. Thor would grant the maiden comfort and a warm smile.

But he was not Thor.

(Only today he was.)

"All will be well, Lady Jane," he said, attempting to give her a warm, comforting smile and speak kindly. "I swear it."

He felt her small frame shudder a few more times before she finally stilled. Her red, swollen eyes met his and he could see a change occur. A fierce determination crossed her face.

"Thor, I will do it for you. You should be able to go home. I won't do it for SHIELD and certainly not for all those bogus reasons the guy in the suit gave. You've given enough to help the people here and it's only fair the people of Midgard return the favor. I wouldn't be surprised if SHIELD intentionally kept you here for their own purposes. I don't trust them and I don't trust any of what's been going on here, but you should be able to return to your family."

"I'd be most indebted to you for your assistance, Lady Jane," Loki responded. "Allow me to leave you with some of the designs and research I have that I believe will aid you in our quest."

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thus, Loki sat on a bench, disgruntled and decidedly irritated, even more so as he contemplated his churro. Upon completion of his first, he decided it was terrible. Upon completion of his third, he declared it tolerable. By his fifth, he decided he liked the crunchy, sticky cakes. By his seventh, he became convinced that this was the only worthwhile thing he had yet experienced on Midgard.

He watched as a woman in a pink outfit ran with her fluffy white dog down the walkway. She nearly collided with a teenage boy balancing on a board with wheels coming the opposite direction. The boy jumped off the board and caught it and prevented their collision, much to Loki's disappointment. Loki watched as the woman glared at the boy and he chuckled. Then his smile grew mischievous.

He cast invisibility over himself again and conjured Mjolnir to appear in the center of the walkway in front of him. Then he sat and waited.

A man in a sweater with gray hair walked past with a newspaper in hand. The man saw the silver glint of the hammer and looked around him for a moment before he bent to pick it up. When he failed with one hand, he placed the newspaper in his back pocket and tried two hands. He gave a grunt, shrugged, and continued walking. He turned to look back at the hammer one more time before he disappeared around a bend.

A group of adolescents followed soon after. Their gangly limbs and smooth faces showed they were too young for boyhood but not quite at full manhood. Their uproarious conversation could be heard long before their footsteps neared Loki's hiding place. As they caught sight of the hammer, two boys appeared to give it no mind and continued walking past. Their companions' curiosity outweighed their own and the other four boys circled around the hammer. They looked around for its owner and, seeing none, speculated on its purpose.

"How does someone just forget something like that in the middle of a path?" one asked.

"Nah, man, I think someone put it here on purpose-like one of those candid camera shows. It's not like people walk around with hammers like that in their back pockets and then loose them," said another.

"Maybe a construction worker dropped it off his truck?" said another.

The tallest of the youths bent to retrieve the hammer and let out a grunt when it refused to budge.

"Dude, this thing is heavy!"

"Nah, man you just weak!" said another. "Let some real muscles try!"

Another boy laughed and flexed his arms. "Anyone got a needle and thread-cause I'm ripped!" he said and his companions groaned and jeered at him.

One by one, the boys failed to lift the hammer. Their faces grew flushed with embarrassment and frustration.

"Dude, I'll bet it's like a statue. You know, like a part of the park and it's here for decoration but it's actually, like, connected to a massive rock or something underneath."

"Yeah, right. A statue in the middle of the walkway? We've been to this park like a million times and ain't nobody ever seen no statue here," said another.

"Shut up," his companion retorted.

"I'm starved. Can we go now?" said another. The entire group soon vanished.

After a dozen or so more attempts to lift the hammer failed, Loki grew tired of his game. He would need to cease his play and return to his toils. Before he could retrieve it, a hum of a two-wheeled metal contraption neared him. The woman riding came barreling down the pathway so quickly that she did not see the hammer until the last moment. She quickly swerved her bicycle, lost her balance, and tumbled into a bush with a flurry of curses.

Loki broke into a full laugh and decided this was the best idea he'd had since he decided to conquer Midgard.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Nick Fury paced his office in the Triskelion, hands behind his back, eye firmly fixed out the window on the land beneath. An orange cat sat on his desk. It napped in the warmth cast from the sun shining through the window of his office. He could still see the scorch marks on the bank across the street. The overloaded insurance companies and emergency funds had all declared bankruptcy and repairs would be harder to finance around the nation. With the loss of jobs that accompanied the destruction of New York, pockets were tight all along the East Coast.

His decades with SHIELD involved planning for scenarios like this, but he had never thought he'd see the day where it would come to pass. He didn't like it. Alexander Pierce held too much power and influence in current world events. He wasn't acting himself. His wife kept calling to complain.

"He is never at home and when he does come back, he isn't himself," she said.

Then again, after watching the world collapse around them, no one seemed to be acting quite themselves these days. At least in D.C., the people Nick met harbored a glowing fear within their breasts that overflowed into their eyes. Would it begin again? Would they be next? What did they do from here?

The supposed masterminds behind the destruction had been brought into SHIELD custody by the Asgardian prince-all dramatically executed and easily carried out. These public arrests were followed by rousing speeches and well-orchestrated media displays. And none of the supposed masterminds had the skill level to really pull off such an efficient conquest.

It wreaked of a set up and Fury didn't like it.

Yet, he had to admit, it was working. All of Pierce's directions were apt and led to rebuilding stability and keeping chaos at bay. His directions were too apt. Pierce had always been an incredibly capable man, but not that capable.

There had to be somebody else.

And Nick fury didn't want to think too hard about who it could possibly be, but he also had to admit he had his suspicions.

Ooooooooooooooooo

"It can't be done," Jane said two weeks later. Loki ground his teeth together and clenched his jaw.

"Why not?" he said, in Thor's voice, over the phone.

"We don't have a great enough power source. The only reason Erik was able to get that portal working was because of the amount of power Stark Tower had access to. All the alternative power sources we have available to work with have either been dismantled in the chaos or else they are not great enough for a project of this scope," she said. "The amount of energy it's going to take to create a bridge of this magnitude is unparalleled."

"With the exception of the power source, how are other plans progressing?" he asked.

"They are moving along, but slowly. I could only access Erik's older data. He took his most recent stuff with him to his grave and his world conquering leader forgot to make back ups."

"I will work on the power source. You focus on the mechanics. I will call again in a week," he said stiffly.

"Wait, Thor, I'm sorry. I don't mean to take it out on you. I know you cared about your brother and I am sorry…it's just a little hard for me too."

"Yes, Dr. Foster. Until next time," he said and disconnected the call.

ooooooooooooooooooo

From his vantage point across the street, Loki could just make out a straw hat and a brown dress crouched in the corner of the garden. He didn't bother to hide his smile. He walked across the deserted street and stopped beside the broken fence. He placed both hands upon the fence posts and watched as uprooted plant remains showered the ground beneath the straw hat. He could just make out the sound of a low song coming from the gardener. He cleared his throat and the straw hat swung around to face him.

"It's you!" Mrs. Johnson said with sincere happiness in her voice. She seemed to be the only person on this miserable realm who welcomed his company. He returned her greeting with one of his own, equally sincere in his appreciation of their meeting. Mrs. Johnson wiped her elbow across her forehead and cleaned her hands on the rough brown cloth of her dress. Her hazel eyes warmed in her wide smile. "I began to wonder where you'd run off to," she said. "It's been awhile!"

"Indeed. I noticed your absence from many a Sunday dinner," Loki said. Mrs. Johnson waved him inside. The dilapidated gate crunched against the cobbled pathway as he slid it open. He cautiously sat on the unstable stool to prevent it from toppling over. Mrs. Johnson plopped into her own chair and pulled out two bottles of water from a burlap satchel she kept on a side table.

"I have a small bud forming," Loki said. "The lilies have grown to this high," he said and gestured their current height with his hands.

"How lovely!" Mrs. Johnson gushed and placed her hand on his. "They like you. You must be doing something right! You see mine have grown a few more flowers?"

"I see," Loki responded.

"They won't last much longer, I'm afraid. The temperature is dropping and frost is in the forecast. That will be the end till next spring."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Loki said.

"I'm trying to make the best of it," she responded, dropping her eyes to the water bottle in her dirt-stained hands. "It will give me time to try something new…but some days, I think I'd prefer to stick with the old…and I feel overcome by a bit too much opportunity for newness."

Loki sat in silence. Her eyes glistened with tears and he watched as she fought against them. "I couldn't come," she finally admitted, dropping her voice to a whisper. "For weeks, I couldn't leave my bed. They say it comes in stages-the grief, that is, and it's normal and to be expected but, to be honest, nothing about any of this feels normal or what I ever would want to expect. Two weeks ago was the first Sunday I made it back here and I couldn't even talk once. I tried, but the words couldn't come," she said. The tears trailed down her face now unheeded and her eyes never met his. She fell into a weighted silence.

"Did you talk today?" Loki asked, his voice low.

"Yes," she said, finally meeting his gaze. "I had to tell my husband about the new recipe I tried last night. He used to always chide me for some of my more creative attempts at cooking and I know he would have appreciated this one in particular."

"Were you successful?"

"It was an unmitigated disaster," Mrs. Johnson said, breaking into a girlish laugh. "Not even the neighbor's dog would eat it!"

Loki couldn't help from joining in her mirth. She quickly wiped the tears away from her cheeks with her sleeve. This succeeded in trailing stripes of dirt down both her cheeks.

"What about you?" she asked. "I never wanted to pry, but I have been curious. Who do you come for?"

"My brother," Loki responded. "I come to visit my brother."

"I see," she said. "Were you close?"

"Not recently," he said. "We once were but recent events had left us deeply strained."

"I'm sorry," she responded. They both fell into silence again.

"It was my fault," Loki said, now no longer meeting her gaze. "He came to New York to find me. If it were not for my foolishness, my brother would still live."

"That is a heavy weight for you to carry," she said simply. She took his hand in hers and allowed him to struggle with the emotion warring in his chest. He failed. Sobs racked his tall frame and the older woman pulled him to lean upon her shoulder. She patted his back and allowed him to weep, her own tears falling upon his head.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as she held him. When the initial tide had subsided, she fished out some tissue from her satchel and handed it to him. Loki found himself relieved in her lack of words. She neither spoke hopeful platitudes nor sought to dispel his grief and guilt. She simply continued to sit with him.

"What will you do next?" she asked him when he had put himself back together.

"I know not," he said.

"Allow me to give you a word of advice," she said, a grin spreading across her face. "Don't try to take up cooking."

He laughed. "You have spoken wisely, Mrs. Johnson. I will heed your words."