Dahlia returned home that evening, taking some time to deep-clean the house and put out food for the strays. Bo, who sat on the kitchen counter until his food was ready for him, got the special treatment. He always got the nice, fancy food, as he was the only one that stuck around.
Dahlia, dressed in a black, chiffon chemise, went to the cupboard to retrieve the Fancy Feast. As she turned around, alarm took her as a cloaked figure stood in the center of the kitchen. With the dark, long hair and striking, blue eyes, it was impossible for her memories to not fall back to the night of the mission.
But...something about his face was strangely familiar.
"Stephen?"
Indeed, he looked enough like Doctor Strange, but there was no way he could have grown his hair out that quickly since she last saw him.
"Not exactly," he answered in a voice that sounded like Stephen Strange, but yet, much more menacing. Dahlia's grip tightened on the can of cat food, and with incredible strength, she launched it at him. However, the intruder casually dodged to the side, and the tin can, still full and unopened, slammed a hole into the kitchen wall, where it stayed embedded.
"Is this how you greet all of your guests, Valkyrie?" he asked casually. She watched in disbelief as his feet left the ground. Much like the sorcerer she knew, he could levitate, but this doppelganger of Doctor Strange's was more than just a magician.
She vaulted herself over the bar counter, hoping to add some distance between them before she would conjure her Viper Blades. However, as she turned back around, he was gone as quickly as he appeared. Dahlia held her breath, knowing that he couldn't have just left so quickly.
"Hear me out." His voice came from behind her, and Dahlia spun around, her arm blades strategically cutting through the air towards him. The baron managed to deflect each one with a magical, red sigil at each strike.
On the fourth hit, Dahlia watched him intently, livid about the intrusion. "I doubt you have anything to say that I would want to hear."
"Even if it involved your sweetheart?"
"My sweetheart?" she repeated sharply. Was he talking about Loki? She felt her hands tighten into fists.
"Don't be so coy. I saw everything at the hotel. The chemistry you and the God of Thunder share is actually quite marvelous."
She paused, but instead of denying said chemistry, she chose to use this as a cover-up to who her true sweetheart was. Dahlia swung her arms down, but her hands drove the blades right back up again, pointing the tips of them at his chest. "What did you to do him?"
He simply smiled wickedly. Dahlia was still having difficulty processing that this man looked and sounded just like Stephen Strange, but yet, he was far from being him. "I think the question you should be asking is what I won't do, if you cooperate with me, Dahlia."
"You know who I am, but I don't know who you are."
"My name is Victor." He held up his hands slowly, and as they reached out to her blades, he cautiously pulled them down. "See? We're on a first-name basis already. We can be civil, right?"
"What do you want from me?" she demanded.
"A quarterstaff - one that only you can retrieve for me." Why was that, she wondered? But as he continued, it began to make more sense. "You will go to Vanaheim, which I believe you have family there."
"Freyja," Dahlia murmured. Her guard dropped. She had never met her mother; or, at least, she couldn't recall if she had. The only memories she had of any mother was her Valkyrian mother, who was Agnethe's actual mother.
"The Quarterstaff of Yggdrasil is only accessible by the ruler of Vanaheim - namely, your mother, Freyja." Victor started to circle around her, now walking instead of levitating. "However, ever since Ragnarok, rumor has it that she went AWOL. I can get you in, if you're willing to get me what I want."
"And what reason do you have for wanting this quarterstaff?"
"Its ability to intensify the magic of its wielder is reason enough," he said matter-of-factly. "However, you can find even more use out of it. Tell you what, Valkyrie, I'll sweeten the deal." He stopped moving. "With your ability to heal, your Vanir magic, along with the power of the staff, could revive an entire realm."
She looked at him quizzically. Was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? As if Victor could comprehend the puzzled look, he clarified.
"More specifically, you could be the one to bring by Asgard from the ashes." She stood in silence, pondering over what this might mean. She had failed Asgard once before. Could there really be a way for her to find her own redemption?
Victor gave her time to think about it. He wasn't forceful, but he promised that he would be waiting when she was ready to give him an answer. He posed many, valid points. It really was a tempting offer. When would she ever again get the chance to learn more about where she truly came from? She knew very little about her mother, and even less about her father. She didn't even know his name.
She didn't dare tell anyone about this encounter. They would all tell her there was no way she could trust him, and this was probably true.
However, what if she found her own way to Vanaheim? And what if she kept the staff without handing it over to the baron?
What more, she had a wild card on her side. Victor's eyes were not on Loki. They were on Thor.
It was why Dahlia came to Loki's mansion the next morning. So much for her trying to get him to come to her. She knocked heavily on the front doors, the wood flinching and splintering in reply.
"Beautiful morning," came Loki's voice from the balcony above. She stepped back to spot him, his arms folded on the railing as he smiled down at her. The Valkyrie performed a couple of wall-kicks to get herself up, and as she climbed over the railing, she huffed. Loki didn't fail to notice the serious look on her face. "What's the matter?"
She explained everything to him, leaving no details out. If anyone that wasn't Victor could get her into Vanaheim, and what more, without being noticed, then Loki had to be it.
"Sounds like a right prick, this baron," Loki said sourly as they stood in the foyer. "But if you think it will work..."
"I have to convince him that I'm not going to turn on him," she said. "Right now, Loki, you are my wild card. If we get this staff together, we can outsmart him before he can even get his hands on it."
"Dahlia, you do realize he'll likely be watching you? If I come with you, then it can't be as myself."
He was right. Loki had a way of critical thinking that made her wonder why he chose to use his smarts for evil for so long. She nodded. "I understand. What do you propose we do?"
By the next night, preparations had been made. As Dahlia approached an old monastery on the outside of town, she held a single seed in her hand. Behind her, Thor was close behind, wielding his hammer.
"Are you sure this will work?" she muttered as they stood in the middle of the main hall. The monastery was long abandoned, but was still sacred ground. Therefore, it served as a perfect gateway for them to open their portal.
"It will." Thor's response came very simply, but Dahlia was dreading this next part. They each held a seed from the central tree of Yggdrasil, which served as portals to other realms. The only ones that took them to Vanaheim were in their possession now, thanks to Heimdall's assistance.
The real Thor was informed as to what was going on, and he agreed to keep a low profile until he heard from his doppelganger. Meanwhile, the Thor that stood with her now was not Thor at all. It was Loki.
"For the record," she said, turning to face him, "this is the most despicable thing to have to do to open a portal."
"You're going to have to pretend to like it," he whispered. Knowing fully well that it was still Loki in disguise didn't help matters. He still sounded like Thor, looked like Thor... even wielded a hammer that looked just like his.
"Let's just get it over with."
As was custom, Freyja wouldn't have made it so simple to get into Vanaheim, whether the goddess herself was present or not. A display of affection was the only way to bring life to the seed, and for it to sprout as expected.
Thor, or more, Loki, pulled her towards him by the waist. "You're not doing a great job at pretending, pet," he said quietly.
Dahlia inhaled sharply. "Yeah, well..." She paused, finally looking at him for the first time this evening. "Okay. I'm trying. This is just weird..."
She was going to have to kiss him, and quite fervently, at that, for this to work. But if there was any chance that Victor might be eavesdropping, she needed to make it look convincing. So, Loki had to remain the wild card, and Thor had to be the sweetheart.
His free hand took hers, and the seed was embraced by their palms. When he kissed her, Dahlia closed her eyes. At first, it felt gross. Granted, Thor was an extremely good looker, but her tastes always went in another direction - the dangerous, rebellious kind.
The kind like his brother.
So, once she got past the facial hair, she tried to picture him. The way he kissed her still felt familiar - sensual, seductive, and drenching with promise to continue this another time - if they didn't get ahead of themselves now.
Dahlia allowed the seed to fall to the ground, and her arms slid around his shoulders - very broad shoulders that were not Loki's.
Okay, stop thinking about it. Focus.
The replicated hammer fell to the ground with a loud, convincing smash. His hands grazed the brown, Asgardian leather that hugged her waist. They were stronger, larger... She really needed to stop comparing. She opened her eyes, glancing at the seed that fell to the ground. It was about the size of a kumquat, and the color of a ripe jalapeno. Yet, it didn't seem to respond to their exchange.
Thor grunted in frustration.
"Shut up, I know," Dahlia muttered. "This would be a lot easier if you were..." His warning look told her not to give him away. "If you weren't gawking at your fangirls all the time."
She was pretty sure Thor didn't actually gawk at his fangirls. Loki-Thor snorted through a snicker, but then he quickly realized he had to play along.
"Don't be silly, Dahlia. It feels nice to be admired, but I'm not gawking at them!"
She humphed, crossing her arms.
"Truly, Dahlia." He gently took her by the shoulders. "I am yours. Completely and utterly."
Something in his voice changed. It still sounded like Thor, but somehow, in her head, she only heard it as Loki's voice. He was using her words from the courtyard, but somehow, she knew it wasn't just for show. She looked into his blue eye, seeing past the God of Thunder.
Loki... she mouthed his name. She recalled the lascivious exchange in the courtyard, and how she took him by the helm, so to speak. She kissed him again, more fervently this time. Her body responded this time, and her mind cast aside any reminders of Thor.
Again, his hands explored her, and hers began to do the same before they would push him backwards. There was an old, stone bench amongst numerous others that all stood in rows. Once Thor landed back on one of them, Dahlia climbed on top of him, mounting his lap and leaving him little time to catch his breath.
The heavy petting didn't have to go much farther. The seed responded to the energy between them, and as the sprout broke through its shell, a bright, blue-green glow lit up the concrete hall.
"It's up," he breathed against her neck, and though his hands were planted firmly on her backside, he looked towards the gleaming portal. Dahlia, who had to snap herself out of her lustful haze, cleared her throat.
"Oh, well, will you look at that..."