Merry Christmas! I actually got it out come Christmas, finally. So, made a slight mistake when I said Iron Man 3 would be next. I had planned on it but as I was writing the begining of the chapter decided I wanted to write a bit more about the Avengers in the Archipelago so you get a chapter on that, enjoy!
Shout Outs!:
Shaonics6
It could, depending how far along in therapy he was.
WeAreNumberOne
Thanks. It's been a roller-coaster, that's for sure, and not a fun one.
I have a plan, I am both looking forward to it and dreading it. Hehe, yeah, poor Fury.
Depends on my mood but most likely a running joke that only crops up occasionally.
ALPHA02FURY97
Thanks. It's been fun. Definitely not something you think about mixing together normally
Clockwork Witch
Awe, thank you! I'm really happy that you enjoy it so much, makes writing worth it.
CHSHiccstrid
Definitely a different Loki, that's for sure. I am looking forward to writing both of those, even if I don't have quite the same gumption to get them written as last years, still eager to do them.
WildlyLaughing
Thanks. We shall see ;)
Mh, in things like Infinity War/End Game but as they don't really have much to do with Earth or any of the Nine Realms not so much though that could be quite fun.
omega13a
Yeah...Poor Steve. Not the wake up call I'd want. Thanks, sorry for this long wait but here's more!
Journal 2, Entry 41: "Archipelagon Adventures"
Clint startled awake as something large screeched outside and snatched his bow from the floor at his bedside. Natasha on a bed across the room shot up with a Glock aimed at the door. Neither breathed for a long minute until the events of the last day came back and their weapons slowly lowered, sharing silent glances to confirm with and reassure the other.
They threw on shoes and left the small guest hut, meeting Steve and Thor just leaving their shared hut. They looked around for their other two members but couldn't spot them; however, given how ardent they and the Archipelagan scientists conferred the other night—despite the party raging around them—they were likely already at the labs.
Thor still looked around in pure wonder, amazed at how this place felt like it was locked back in the Viking Era—bringing back old and far more pleasant memories. Steve felt like he was waking up after being frozen all over again with how strange the world was, yet, somehow, he felt more at home here than he had since leaving Brooklyn for bootcamp.
A screeching that was strangely harmonic filled the air around their huts only to be promptly followed by said dragon landing with a thump before them. The dragon lifted its golden yellow head and roared a melodious greeting. The four Avengers stared curiously at the dragon until something shifted then gracefully fell off its back.
A blonde woman with green eyes smiled warmly at them. "Morning!"
Thor tilted his head, staring intently at her, while the others returned the greeting. Finally the god's eyebrows pinched as he asked the middle aged woman, "Sigyn?"
She laughed and patted her dragon whose head twitched and looked back at her. "Yes, but not the one you're thinking of. I was named after, uh…her, though."
Thor sighed and nodded before snapping his head back up. "Wait—is she Midgardian?"
Her lips pursed and looked up. "Mh, sort of?"
Thor's fists clenched and started looking around fervently. "Loki! What further mischief have you wrought on Midgard!?"
Steve couldn't help but chuckled amusedly as Sigyn struggled to hold back a laugh. "Oh, your Sigyn is the least of all Midgard's worries. Actually, she's the source of quite a bit of amusement, namely in relation to Asgard." She looked up to hold back tears of laughter. "Oh, Norns, please let someone be recording when they finally reveal her."
Thor's frown deepened but let the subject drop. "So, where is my brother?"
Sigyn scratched the chin of her dragon before chirping and waving her hand, the dragon roared happily and took flight, chasing after a Nadder. "Getting the help and healing he needs. Grandmother is with him at the Defenders' Island but I wouldn't expect to see him or the Chief anytime soon—grandmother is, truthfully, fretting over both of them."
Thor paled a bit and nodded quickly but Natasha's brows pinched and placed her hands on her hips. "We're supposed to be keeping an eye on the god who just tried to take over Midgard. What are we going to do if you won't allow us to do our jobs?"
Sigyn looked to Clint, expression suddenly serious. "If you want, I can take you for healing too since you were under the Scepter's control."
Clint subtly stiffened but quickly shook his head. "No thanks, having one person magically mess with my mind is plenty for me."
She nodded understandingly. "Other than an initial scan, it would be more of psychotherapy. But I understand.
"Well, grandfather offered for you to come here to see us, the Archipelagans, not so much to keep an eye on Loki. With the Terror out of the bag we're gonna have to start making some kind of presence in the world before people come knocking and make the issue worse." She finished with a wave of her hand at the village around them.
The humans were silent as they considered this but it was soon broken by Thor hopefully looking at Sigyn. "Do Dragon Races still exist?"
She laughed loudly and started down a path running between the huts, gesturing for them to follow. "Do they ever. There's no big race scheduled but the teens are always racing."
Thor beamed while Steve walked a little faster to make eye contact with their guide. "What is Dragon Racing?"
Clint hummed and sped up his pace to be in step with Steve, eager to get his mind off of the mind control. "Yeah, is it like NASCAR or equestrian shenanigans?"
Thor boomed a laugh and grabbed both their shoulders. "It is a style all of its own, least last I saw. I have not seen anything like it in any of the other realms."
They walked further into the village towards the largest building that Clint had learned was the 'R&D' facility. At the entrance Sigyn turned with a slightly weary smile. "Give me a few minutes to drag the others out—this is something Tony will want to see."
Natasha huffed a laugh. "Good luck. With the gadgets you guys must have in there?" She shook her head and laughed again.
Sigyn smirked and hummed dangerously. "We've all had to drag out a Haddock at some point. Tony can't possibly be worse than a gaggle inventing Haddocks, Ingerman and—Norns—Thorstons." She shoved the door open with the lingering memory of an incident so bad they had to call in their dragons to break apart the group.
The lingering Avengers waited a tad awkwardly, quietly discussing what Dragon Racing might be like, until the doors burst open and Tony ran out with crazed eyes. "Where is it at!? Is uncle H racing?! Good Thor, why didn't anyone tell me about this sooner?"
He took off down the path to the branch and the remaining, startled, Avengers looked back at the doors as Sigyn and Bruce exited with much calmer gaits. Sigyn gazed at Natasha and grinned. "That was easier than I thought."
They followed Tony's cold trail in relative silence after that until they reached New Berk's branch and an impatient Tony practically vibrating. "Can you hurry it up? I don't want to miss it! Uncle H's told me about them but I haven't seen one!"
Sigyn gestured for them to come a little closer. "Stick close and, for Norns sake, don't step off the path. Don't need to organize a search party on your first day here because of a misstep." She finished with a mumble and an eye roll.
A look of worry crossed Steve's face while Clint tried to protest a question but, in a brilliant flash of rainbow, everything around them disappeared to a world of white and rainbow. Sigyn immediately started walking with Steve and Natasha quick to follow her, curiously eyeing the path underfoot, while Clint made a noise of discomfort and hurried to catch up and stick close to his sister-in-arms. Bruce gulped and moved closer to Tony who was mostly comfortable with this strange mode of transportation. Thor absentmindedly trailed them, enraptured at the sight of Yggdrasil and amazed at how far Hiccup's people had come in utilizing it.
Presently, the world flashed again and Thor perked up at the sight of the familiar island. Dragons roared overhead and Berk, despite the dragons flying around clearly being far fewer than those of New Berk, teemed with just as much life.
A loud horn blared and Sigyn beamed, taking off running for the stands. "Come on, a race is just about to finish! The Black Sheep is always the best to watch, gets the most bloodied too."
Thor was already running with Steve beside him, his curiosity overwhelming any thought he might have had about running at super human speed with Sigyn still pulling away, shooting them a challenging grin. He smiled in return and sped up, Thor laughing in turn.
Tony, Natasha and Clint, who'd initially run to keep up, quickly fell back into a trot exchanging exasperated looks—though Tony did his best to keep up with the inhumans. They met up with the others at the entrance to some kind of audience stand, the wooden stand shaking as a half dozen dragons flew past. Through the beams, a Monstrous Nightmare slammed into a Deadly Nadder, just barely hearing a sheep bleat in terror before a Razorwhip snatched the ball of wool out of the air.
The Vikings on dragon back, armored similarly to those who'd fought in New York, shouted at the Razorwhip's rider. The dragons flew furiously to reclaim the sheep, the Nightmare spitting an irritated jet of flames at the rider, but the Razorwhip spun and dropped the now silent sheep into a basket—the dragon and rider cheering in triumph while the other riders sagged in disappointed defeat and dragons landed.
Thor beamed and tore through the stands to reach the riders. "A marvelous race my friends!"
The group quietened and turned towards them, confused expressions fading to surprise and delight. Finally, the person scratching a sandy brown dragon that looked suspiciously like Toothless—a Sand Wraith if Tony remembered correctly—exclaimed, "It's Steve Rodgers!"
The gaggle of teens ran past a beaming, now befuddled, Thor to the others leaving the cover of the stands—pulling off their helmets as they swarmed the poor captain. Steve smiled and chuckled a little nervously, shaking hands with the boy in metallic-scale armor. "I didn't realize I was so well known here too." He muttered through a well-practiced smile.
They all laughed while a red headed girl giggled, the only one not armored in style with her dragon but in blacks and golden detailing. "Of course! You were the first time Eir Tryllderikk worked-"
The Nightmare's rider huffed with an annoyed roll of her eyes, "Like he wanted it to at least."
The red head looked up with a shake of her head but continued without hesitation. "And also everything you did as Captain America-"
"Raiding all those bases with the grandfather!" The Razorwhip's rider punched the air with glee, turning to the Nadder's rider. "I always love those stories."
The Nadder's rider took his green and orange helmet off with a huff and shoved it into his friend's stomach with enough force to send him over backwards. "Pardon him, he's only a hundred."
Bruce broke his, still, shocked silence. "Only a hundred?"
The Razorwhip's rider rolled his eyes while the Nadder's glared at his friend. "Yeah, he's a Descendant, like Sigyn, but a bit closer to original bloodline."
Bruce's curiosity had now peaked. "What does being closer to that mean? And a descendant of whom?"
"Grandfather of course!" The Razorwhip's rider beamed. "So I'll live a bit longer than others with weaker blood."
Sigyn huffed but good-naturedly. "Bit longer, a couple-hundred years longer."
Steve frowned and stared at the group puzzled. "Your grandfather?"
"Oh, right." Sigyn answered, smirking at the supposedly young man. "Grandfather, The Chief, Lokison, just a few names for Hiccup—er, Hakon."
"Hold up, you mentioned Hyse came with me on Hydra raids…He wasn't allowed on any of them except the last one." Steve said confidently. In fact, he was quite sure that Hyse had stayed in Britain—giving Colonel Phillips and Peggy unending headaches.
The teens shared knowing looks before the sandy armored one smirked. "Eh, that's what he wanted you to think."
Steve stared down at the ground, trying to wrap his mind around this new thought, muttering, "I can't believe it."
Thor finally came back to the group as they moved past Steve to Natasha and Clint, eagerly talking about their stealth classes. He stood by Steve, staring at them. "If we are going into explanations—how is Hiccup alive? Even if Loki somehow managed to find a way to…" He let the thought drift away, not wanting to think about the implications. "He is Midgardian."
Sigyn's lips pinched. "That might be a better explanation for another time."
Finally the black clad girl turned to him, tilting her head. "You're Loki's Asgardian brother, right?"
Thor's eye twitched. "Loki's, Asgardian brother? Is this what I've been reduced to?"
A silence fell over the group before many started laughing, the Nightmare rider answering. "To be fair, we're far more used to his Jötunn kin running around, not Asgardian."
Thor nodded in understanding but still protested. "Yes, but, I was always revered among the Vikings…His Jötunn kin running around!? How long has Loki been granting them access to Yggdrasil?"
The Archipelagan teens all shrugged, the green clad Nadder rider saying, "You have been out of the picture, except for some amusing stories, for centuries while Loki's always popping around and taking care of us. I think it would be a natural reaction."
Thor was stunned to silence while Natasha bobbed her head to the side. "Make sense. An odd thought though."
Clint nodded but unhappily. "I still don't like the idea of that lunatic taking care of people, the guy's not right in the head—how are you all not messed up?"
Thor and the Archipelagons glared at him, the Razorwhip's rider snapping, "He isn't usually like that."
Clint remained unbelieving but silent.
*O*
Hiccup paced the grounds of Defender Island as he waited for Loki to emerge from the healers hut. Astrid finally stepped into his path and grabbed his hand, face pinched but more in worry for Hiccup than his patron. "Hiccup, he'll be okay. Frigga's with him and Ivanna's been studying mind control for a few decades now, there's no one better for him."
Hiccup finally stood still, shoulders falling. "But I should have gotten him out sooner—just taken the Tesseract and run, run and found him. I knew he was in pain but…but I should have done something more than-"
Astrid silenced him with a look. "Should have or not it's in the past, we have him back now."
Hiccup still refused to look up from the ground, glancing at the hut. "Yeah, but…the world hates him now."
Astrid snorted and lightly punched his shoulder, finally earning Hiccup's conflicted gaze. "Like that's anything new. Most of the Viking world didn't like him at best, loathed him really, when he Chose you."
Hiccup bobbed his head. "I guess."
Astrid started to say more but the door opened and a slightly blushing Loki exited, brightening upon seeing his Chosen. Frigga and Ivanna spoke quietly with Loki for an extra moment to which he nodded then quickly left, smiling a bit strained but genuinely at Hiccup. Astrid stepped away so Loki could take Hiccup in a hug, burying his nose in the auburn locks.
Hiccup huffed, only shaking his head in tired amusement, before tilting his head back to peer upside-down at his patron. "So, want to pester the kids in R&D or see if Thor's lost it yet with you being more popular here?"
Loki's small smile grew into a broad grin. "Hm, how about a quiet day with Jör?"
Hiccup shook his head with a slight frown. "Oh definitely not, he'll just despise that."
A low rumble echoed from the Defender's shoreline to counter Hiccup's statement. All gathered turned to see Jörmungandr glaring at the younger man, his antennae twitching.
Hiccup huffed with a roll of his eyes. "He still can't take a joke."
Loki's brows pinched even as he smiled reassuringly at the Dýrsvell. "Maybe not about this."
They started to leave when Ivanna called about, staring sternly at Loki. "I expect to see you here tomorrow!"
Frigga smiled lightly at her son but there was something dangerous hidden in its corners. "Do not make me drag you back here, my son."
Loki's eyes widened ever so slightly and he quickly reassured that no such thing would be necessary. He lightly gripped Hiccup and hurried away from the huts to the beach where Jör impatiently waited.
Astrid laughed and kissed Hiccup before leaving the tricksters alone. Hiccup patted Jör's tusk as they climbed up and the Bewilderbeast purred happily, the waters around them quivering as if a tsunami was soon coming.
Loki settled onto the crown with Hiccup and breathed deeply, brows pinching as unwanted thoughts began filling the silent air. "What is on your mind, Liten Listig?"
"Huh?" Hiccup looked over at his patron.
Loki smiled softly, eyes still closed as he tried to fight against the intrusive thoughts. "You always have something on your mind and—I do not want silence right now."
Hiccup smirked and leaned back. "Well, we could go find Thor-"
"Not that sort of useless prattler!" Loki shot back with a faux scowl.
Hiccup chuckled before it fell silent as he thought for a moment, many thoughts hanging heavy on his mind and many he was sure were ones that would not help Loki. "Hm, well…I have been trying to decide about what to tell Steve—in regards to Bucky."
Loki's brows pinched contemplatively as he nodded understandingly. "By the way—when did they find him?"
Hiccup looked down and patted Jör's scales, though he doubted the great dragon could feel it. "Couple months ago. Anyway, I guess I'm not struggling on if I should tell him but what to tell him about what happened and about Hydra."
They drifted off in discussion while Jörmungandr purred contentedly beneath them.
*O*
Astrid hummed contently as she stepped through Yggdrasil back onto Berk, a few dragons chirped or roared a greeting as they flew by and she walked on to the training arena. There was an unusual crowd size for it only being a combat class for the teens; in fact, most gathered were adult Berkians.
Her confusion was lifted when a victorious cry and defeated wheeze drifted up from the pit. She sighed with a fond smile, only imagining what Snotlout might have said, even as the victor shouted, "Who's next to challenge the mighty Thor!?"
The crowd parted easily for her, just in time to see another massive Viking take up the challenge. In only a few seconds Thor's victory looked assured as he threw the man, lightly all things considering, to the ground. In a blink, as he was being slammed back to Midgard, he thrust his foot out into Thor's knee and grabbed his belt—his other hand thrown out with an icy flash.
Thor yelped, eyes bulging in surprise, as he was tossed back. He attempted to regain his footing but slipped on the fresh ice, tumbling over and hitting the ground with a grunt, the sheet of ice cracking beneath him.
The Viking twisted on the ice, stumbling from Thor's throw but shortly stood in triumph over Thor with a toothy grin.
Thor's brow furrowed and frowned up at the pleased man. "You're a Jötunn!"
"I'm a Descendent…yes." He said plainly, a bit confused by the obvious statement and Thor's ire. The Vikings circled around chuckled, Descendants were known for their trickery and acting normal until it suited them. And there were far too many of them by this point to know every Descendant in the vast expanse of the Archipelago.
"But, using magic is cheating!" Thor groused as he stood, slipping a little on the ice.
The Viking, mystified, looked over to the Avengers who collectively threw up their hands to stay out of this fight.
Astrid shook her head. "This is Midgard, Thor. And more specifically, the New Archipelago. Magic goes in a fight unless agreed upon otherwise."
Thor's nose wrinkled. "I see Loki is spreading his preferred ways of fighting."
"Of course." A different Viking muttered from the crowd, several of them chuckling—these 'Descendants' if Nat and Clint had to guess.
Thor grumbled under his breath did not fight the notion.
Astrid stepped out from the crowd, eyeing Natasha. "Well, if we're all gathered for a good spar, I've been wanting to test myself against the famous Black Widow for a while now."
Natasha's eyebrows rose only a hair, eager curiosity tugging at her mouth. "I could go for a round—but no magic."
Astrid chuckled. "I don't have much anyway."
"She doesn't need it, she's scary enough." Someone whispered loudly.
Astrid rolled her eyes but dropped into stance with her axe, Natasha readying with her Bites.
A nonexistent bell rang and both women sprung at each other, Astrid ducking under one Bite and batting another away with her axe. Her axe continued to swing but Natasha caught the weapon just under its blade with a garrote and wrenched the axe. Astrid rolled with the pull and jerked the thin wire from Natasha's hands.
They circled one another for several seconds, getting a new read on the other. Natasha lept first, firing a few more Widow Bites that Astrid either blocked or dodged but enough for her to get close.
Astrid smirked at the redhead's plan and soon enough they were grappling for her axe. Both women grunted as they struggled, feet dancing in a dangerous game of trying to trip the other up. Astrid slipped her left foot behind her right and sent them both tumbling; with the force of the fall she managed to send the axe clear across the arena.
They parted and leapt up instantly, Natasha taking quick steps back and hissing as her Bites sparked—taking the brunt of her fall. She tossed them aside and grinned at her blonde opponent who took the initiative this time.
Blows were traded, both fists and feet. Astrid caught Natasha's wrist and threw the assassin over her shoulder only for Natasha to spin on the ground and catch her ankles, she fell to a push-up position and rolled to kick another attack away. Natasha recovered with barely a second wasted but Astrid was already up again and furiously renewing her attacks.
Natasha batted away one punch and blocked a leg only to be caught by an elbow to her chest. She slammed hard into the ground and grunted for a breath but already moving to stand when Astrid moved with near inhuman speed, planting a foot on an ankle with eyebrows raised in silent question. She huffed at her defeat but nodded, grinning a moment later as Astrid helped her stand.
"Good spar. I can see why Fury likes you so much." Astrid said lightly, gathering her axe.
Natasha nodded with a polite smile, already analyzing the spar in her mind.
Astrid turned to the other Avengers as the onlookers departed, some grumbling disappointedly that the entertainment was over. "Anyone feel like lunch?"
Steve shrugged while Clint nodded. "I could eat."
"Food sounds great." Tony rubbed his hands together eagerly.
They followed her back to the bridge point, Natasha asking, "So what comes after? Sigyn mentioned this trip was mostly for us to see you, apparently, and while sparing can tell me about someone's history of fighting—I don't think that's all you wanted us to know."
Astrid pulled a device from a pocket when Sigyn hurried forwards with an, "I got this!" and waved her hand—opening the branch.
They walked along it for only a few steps before Sigyn jumped and spun around with a giddy grin, all the while walking backwards on the branch that she knew by heart. "Oh! Can I take them to the museum? Please! I really want to be there when Thor finally figures it out, it's my namesake!"
Thor watched the Archipelagon worriedly as she so carelessly traversed Yggdrasil.
Astrid hummed and the world flared back to life again. "I don't see why not. Certainly be the easiest way to explain everything."
Sigyn cheered quietly and Steve turned to Clint and Natasha, whispering, "Figures out what?"
Clint shook his head, befuddled, while Bruce shrugs, softly answering, "All I know is, mythologically, Sigyn is Loki's wife."
They turned to Tony, eyebrows raised curiously. He held up his hands and shook his head, however, a ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. "I think I might know, but I don't want to spoil Sigyn's surprise."
"You better not!" Said woman shouted back.
*O*
Bruce trailed behind the others as they walked past the entrance and a multitude of shields hanging on the walls. "The chief or chieftess and their heir." Sigyn explained as everyone tried to figure out their meaning. "It's a tradition that started way back on Berk."
Bruce kept a lingering eye on the paintings even as they left the room, only to stop dead in his tracks as a teal Terror plopped itself in his path. He tried to walk around it except the dragon kept scurrying into his way again. "Er, hello?"
Sigyn and the Avengers turned, the former smiling. "Oh, don't mind them, Terrors are always looking for attention." But even as she spoke, she bent down and picked up the miniscule dragon, holding him out to Bruce. "You can hold him if you like."
Tentatively, Bruce took the Terror, giving him a scratch between his eyes. "Hey little guy."
The dragon purred then shook his head before sniffing all around Bruce's shirt then diving for his pants' pocket. Bruce yelped in surprise, dropping the Terror but the creature held on tight to his torso as he dug into the pocket to retrieve a bag of nuts.
Sigyn huffed and snatched the snack before the, now grouchy, Terror could eat it. "Shoo you. No pickpocketing the newbies."
The Terror squawked and flew off in a huff.
She handed Bruce back his food with a light blush. "Sorry."
Clint tilted his head, still looking at the doors the Terror had disappeared through. "Was that dragon, carrying a letter?"
"Yes." Sigyn said simply, not seeing anything strange about it unlike the others—bar Thor and Tony.
He turned to face her, brows tightly pinched. "But don't you guys have cell phones or something?"
"Of a sort." She said offhandedly. "But Terror Mail keeps the little buggers busy and out of trouble—mostly."
Natasha hummed and nodded, silently yet swiftly agreeing after the little stunt she just witnessed.
Sigyn continued down the hallway unconcerned. "Anyway, let's begin!" She led them into a large circular room that had several doors leading to other exhibits. "Well, this is just about the beginning but I doubt you're all that interested in Bork the Bold and the few other tails that managed to survive Viking's horrid record keeping. Thank Thor for Fishlegs.
"Where do you want to begin?"
They were silent for a moment before Bruce finally spoke up. "Why are your people so, lenient about Loki's invasion? I mean, how were you so quick to identify him as brainwashed when his own brother didn't even realize it?" Bruce finished, gesturing to Thor.
Thor's face turned crimson in embarrassment that he still couldn't tell when his brother was truly hurting.
Sigyn's happy demeanor fell quite suddenly. "I guess that is a good question…" She sighed and turned solemnly to a set of doors that looked like smaller versions of what they got a peek at on Berk's Great Hall. "Follow me."
They tailed her into the new and rather large room, intricate illustrations adorned every wall and even the ceiling, Natasha's eyes lingered on one of a young Hakon with his hand outstretched and a dragon that must be Torbjorg. Even though she couldn't read a thing that was written underneath the imagery, she knew this was something significant—she would figure out what exactly later.
They passed several depictions of battles, Steve grunted uncomfortably at the sight of a gargantuan dragon that made Torbjorg almost look like a fly in comparison. He stopped, eyes narrowed as he looked at a few pictures down then looked back at an older one, gesturing to the great battle. "Is-is this when Hak-er-Hiccup lost his leg?"
Tony sided up to him, staring at the drawings. "Hm, that must be the Red Death. Uh, yeah, Stevie, just him and little ole Toothless taking on that-" his eyes widened and started laughing morosely, "-that mind-controlling dragon."
Natasha and Clint tensed while Thor's laughter boomed, laying an arm over Tony and Steve's shoulders. "Ah! I remember that! Well, at least the retelling—never ask Hiccup for a story, he is a dreadful teller of tales. His hefty friend, however, he could spin an Eda!"
Clint turned to Sigyn with a worried look. "Are mind-controlling dragons common?"
She hummed and waffled her head. "It depends on your definition. In the way that the Red Death and Bewilderbeasts can control? No. Some can lure dragons in with a call or song, like Deathsongs which is what my familiar is. Then there are…" she bit her lip thinking of the Deathgrippers, still not a well-liked or sociable dragon even long after Grimmel's death. "Some that have venom that kind of paralyzes the mind. But all these can be shaken off if the bond is strong enough and only affect dragons."
Tony turned away from the image. "So, the human experience?"
She took a breath and fortified herself. "This way, the first time it happened was during the Dragon Hunter war."
Bruce stuck closer to Tony, enjoying the mumbled comments he made while passing depictions, but had to ask, "How many wars has the New Archipelago fought in?"
"The New Archipelago?" Sigyn parroted. "Virtually none. The closest we came was during the last World War. But before the New Archipelago was formed, well, we are Vikings. With Berk alone there was the Three-hundred year Dragon-Viking War."
"Three-hundred?" Steve gasped.
Sigyn nodded with a forlorn smile, gesturing back to the earliest pictures. "Hiccup ended that when he befriended Toothless, something treasonous at the time. Here we are; the invasion of Dragons Edge by Viggo and Krogan…"
She spent the next half-hour telling the account of that dreadful battle and answering questions until Clint finally asked, "Wait, where did this Krogan get something that could brainwash an Asgardian?"
Thor nodded with a heady grunt, arms tightly crossed against his chest as he glared at the depictions of that time. Of another time when Loki's mind was twisted and wrenched out of his own control. How could this happen? How much more could Loki possibly be hiding from me? Unlike the others, bar Tony, he was reading the descriptions beneath the pictures—getting the finer details that Sigyn was opting to leave out. To say that he was disturbed…
Sigyn's body tensed, face becoming pained. "That has to do with the next, incident."
They followed her down the hall, past another carving of a colossal dragon that looked eerily similar to the one Loki called Jör, until they came to another set of doors like those on New Berk's Great Hall. Steve paused a moment to stare at the beauty of the etched dragon hoard flying away and through the doors.
Natasha noted how uncomfortable Sigyn seemed with this next exhibit—which was odd as she showed nothing with any previous mentioning of mind-control. While Bruce caught Thor standing at the back of the group and looking distinctly uncomfortable, barely looking up at the pictures.
Sigyn gave them a brief account of the Grimmel threat, his manipulation of the Deathgripper venom, and his capture and control over Hiccup. She was not as happy answering questions this time round but still doing so—seeing Clint look, minutely, less angry over his ordeal.
Tony suddenly screeched in Norse, eyes not leaving the runes beneath a solemn picture of Loki bent over Hiccup. "This is how uncle H died!?" He whirled around, strangely mortified.
Sigyn's eyes pinched as she looked over at the picture. "Yes."
Thor resolutely stared at the ground, guilt still strong even after a millennia but also confusion and anger bubbling up; unable to keep the question of how was Hiccup still alive after being very much dead?
Steve glanced between Tony and Sigyn. "Translation for the non-bilingual?"
Natasha muttered a comment about no one but natives that Tony infuriatingly grinned at.
Sigyn took a steadying breath. "When Loki refused Grimmel's demands, as well as tricking him into Hiccup's escape…he managed to disable Toothless, preventing their escape from his island. A battle ensued and somehow Amora, another Asgardian who disliked the attention Loki was giving Hiccup, slipped him an enchanted knife—one that could undo all protection Loki could ever cast on grandfather."
Clint looked up at the depictions, feeling—against his will—a bit sorry for Loki. Natasha felt for Hakon but in the physical manner as her gunshot scar ached at the thought of a lethal hit.
Thor scowled at the witch's name and muttered, though still loud enough that the others heard. "That was her part in his death. Loki mentioned something once but I-"
He shook his head at the foul memory. He couldn't understand what Loki had been shouting and shrieking at the woman, too focused on his own horror of Loki's true form and the pain in his frostbitten hand.
*O*
Hiccup wandered through the museum in search of the outsiders Sigyn was giving a tour too, having managed—just barely—to convince Loki to stay outside with Toothless. He thumbed the dagger Loki gave to him with nervous energy as he followed the murmur of voices to Berk Hall, pausing at the door when they swelled—Thor's the loudest.
"All these years! He—those tricksters!"
Hiccup entered and tracked their gazes to his first trip to Asgard, as Sigyn. The warmth of the memory temporarily fought back his worry. "Yeah, I remember that. Toothless was incensed that he had to be a bird and I was so worried about messing something up I was ready to be sick. Grandmother thought it was hysterical though. There is no doubt where Loki gets his sense of humor from."
Thor spun on his heel, finger raised. "All these years! Do you know how many were expecting a marriage announcement at any moment to the point of my brother's death!? Well, sort of death?"
Hiccup cracked a small smile. "Oh yeah, have you heard the stories people here came up with?" Thor turned to Sigyn, eyes narrowed. Hiccup waved it away and put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "While she has fun with that barrel of eels, I need to borrow Steve—you can come too, Tony."
Tony cocked his head curiously, looking between Hiccup and Steve. Steve followed Hiccup out, but was entirely bewildered as to why, and into a much smaller side room with depictions of a man who seemed to have continuous trouble with dragons and his occupation—whatever that may be in each image.
Both men turned when they heard the door lock and Hiccup place a warding spell over them so not even Toothless could hear through the door. Hiccup took a breath before speaking. "I…have something that, uh, I need to tell you but you cannot speak a word about it to anyone who is not Archipelagon. Except for Tony, he knows already."
Tony hummed quietly, looking away as his heart fluttered painfully. He hated remembering this.
"Alright." Steve agreed with only slight hesitancy, he trusted his oldest friend above anyone he met since waking up.
Hiccup's brows pinched and began pacing. "And I mean, you can't tell the other Avengers and Norns forbid Fury. He'll get worked up and try to do something about it and ruin everything we've done before we're ready and they'll just crawl underground again and wait like a cyst."
Steve's frown deepened but he nodded seriously.
Hiccup still didn't say anything for a minute, trying to find the best way to say it before giving it up, stilling his nervous steps and just blurting out, "Bucky's alive."
Steve didn't move or say anything, not even going into shock occurred to him with such a ridiculous statement—but Hakon looked so sincere. "But, he died…fell off a train at-"
His voice broke, denial setting in. If Bucky was alive, where was he? Why was Hakon so nervous about Fury doing something rash and not good?
Hiccup nodded. "He did, but he didn't die. Hydra found him."
"Where is he now?!" Steve almost shouted, joy cautiously bubbling up at the prospect of his dearest friend being alive. "Oh man, he must be so old by now. Is he alright? We took Hydra down shortly after that so if they didn't kill him right away he should be okay. Right?"
Tony coughed and looked up, patting him on the shoulder. "Oh-ho buddy. You might want to sit down for this."
Steve started to retort with more questions about his friend only for Hiccup to cut in.
"Hydra's not dead. They never were."
Steve froze for a long minute, head slowly shaking as despair with a want to disbelieve Hakon. "No, no. I took down Schmidt. And, the general wouldn't have let Hydra bases remain open."
"No!" Tony scoffed then brought his hands together like an excited girl. "But dear ole dad and the general thought it would be such a wonderful idea to bring the scientific head of them into SHIELD!"
Hiccup grunted unhappily and crossed his arms with a sour scowl. "I warned them. I warned them! I told them this exact thing would happen and would they listen? No!"
"What happened?" Steve asked slowly, almost scared to know.
Hiccup breathed and released his frustration. "Hydra sunk their fangs into SHIELD. They let them find some of their bases, enough to convince everyone they were dead but really they just grew in the shadows. We, the Archipelago, have been silently fighting against them in a continuous shadow war, even within SHIELD…but we didn't know about Bucky until around twenty years ago?"
Steve's heart fluttered and swallowed thickly. "Wh—Bucky?"
Tony patted his back sympathetically. "Hydra twisted him, his mind. That's part of the reason why Ivanna knows so much about brainwashing."
Steve took in Tony's pained face with his own wash of horror. "What happened? What'd he do?"
Tony shook his head. "A lot."
"Probably more than even we know." Hiccup admitted. "But what brought him to our attention was, was-"
"The assassination of dad." Tony finally admitted.
Steve sucked in a sharped breath, eyes wide.
Hiccup continued, staring blankly at the wall. "Well, that's when Nuffink, my son, infiltrated a Hydra base that night and met the Winter Soldier." He shook his head, brows pinched with irritation. "Somehow, Hydra managed to recreate the serum."
Steve frowned. "But I thought you said it required-"
"I does. I'm not sure how exactly they've managed to but they have." Hiccup's chest heaved as he tore his eyes away from an image of Bork to stare sadly at Steve. "We learned it was Bucky several years later when Hydra tried to kidnap me."
"And it failed because I shot him in the leg!" Tony beamed, very proud of himself for partially being responsible for repelling Hydra's super soldier.
Steve stared aghast at Tony but the genius wasn't going to apologize for it.
"Hey, he shot at us first and was trying to kidnap 'elderly' uncle H!" He gestured to the youngest looking man among them. "Besides, you want to be mad about us hurting your best friend, better get Tor in here as well—he took a pretty good bite out of him."
Steve sighed and shoulders fell, eyes shut tightly before looking back up at Hakon, eyes hard. "You do plan on getting him back? You can't just leave him there…he's already been there for so many years…Oh Bucky."
"If we could have found him again we'd have brought him here already." Hiccup admits, pain in his voice. "But Hydra caught on long ago that we exist in some form so Bucky's never anywhere for very long. We've found plenty of bases that are cleared to house him, but never Bucky himself."
"What are you waiting for then? Why not attack Hydra now?" Steve pressed, his gut twisting bitterly at the thought that Hydra survived and thrived despite everything. And that they had his brother in all but blood for years doing who knows what unspeakable things to him. He could still remember Bucky's haunted looks in the barracks when he'd wake up from a night terror after his liberation from the first Hydra base.
Hiccup laid a hand on his shoulder. "Until we can find their new head and spill all their secrets and hideouts all at once, they'll always be able to crawl back and wait it out. They've done it twice already. The best we can do right now is just to keep them in check, take out what bases we can find and keep one step ahead on plant placement in SHIELD."
"Twice?" Steve echoed.
"Several years back, we launched a massive attack against them—destroyed pretty much every known base. But there were still unknown ones and agents in SHIELD and varying governments around the world that we didn't and don't know of." Hiccup explained with a tired scowl, glancing at the images of Bork the Bold and dearly missing the days when Alvin the Treacherous was the worst he had to worry about.
He continued, hoping to give some meager reassurance to Steve. "We're always on the lookout for him though, Steve. The moment we've got the green light that he's at a base we know of, we're prepared to go in."
Steve sighed and wished for a seat, settling for burying his fingers in his hair. "Alright. But, please, let me help to bring Bucky in. Please. Maybe, maybe he'll recognize me and fight back."
Hiccup nodded with a strained smile. "If we have time to call you in, you betcha."
Steve gripped the hand on his shoulder with a grateful quirk of the lips. "Thanks, Hakon."
Tony could barely keep from bouncing from foot to foot as he ran over calculations one last time while Hiccup, Nuffink and a few other New Berkians milling about the lab, preparing for the test.
Hiccup lightly gripped his shoulder and looked at the screen. "Everything good to go on your end?"
Tony beamed and flashed a thumbs up. "Yep. Let's fire this thing up!"
A Berkian peaked up over the device he was tinkering with and waggled a wrench looking device. "Reader's ready."
"So's the Ygg-Hops!" Nuffink chipped in.
Hiccup circled his finger, signaling for everybody to clear the testing zone and called out a few last orders. Once they were all safely out of range, he clacked on a few keys then shot his sons a grin and flipped the final switch. The Tesseract flared to life and stretched out for his magic, humming contentedly around him. He kept a watchful eye on the thread but otherwise ignored the Tesseract to look at the readings they were getting from it and the Ygg-Hop.
Clattering behind them and tools careening across the floor broke their attention from the experiment; Hiccup abandoning it with a curse.
Tony watched the harmless looking cube flash and a foggy fabric appear around it, through it he could see a planet covered in white clouds. He felt a thrill run through him as the machines effortlessly collected their information and glanced back at the unfamiliar planet. His smile froze as his eyes slid from the planet to the stars around it fading into the blue mist.
He stood rigid, staring at the place stars and mist met, the planet fading away to an alien ship with brilliant balls of explosions cascading through it. Everything was cold and air was suddenly stolen from. He tried to gasp some in but there just wasn't any there to gasp. There was nothing in space except pinpricks of stars that started fading to black as his vision failed.
He stumbled back, unable to look away even as he faded, feeling the cold flood beneath him but mistook it for his dead suit. He barely registered the sound around him, once companionable chatter now turned to panic, and hands tightly gripped his arms. "Tony!"
Hiccup lightly shook his godson and turned Tony's petrified gaze away from the Tesseract, even as Nuffink hurriedly shut it down, to meet his own eyes. "Tony, breathe! Kiddo, you've got to listen to me. Can you understand me?"
Very shakily, Tony nodded, shutting his eyes tightly to not see the portal but it did no good—even clearer in the dark of his mind.
"Tony, you're not in space. You're here on solid terra firma, okay? You need to breathe."
He tried gasping in another breath and didn't succeed and tried again—getting a small breath of air this time. His lungs spasmed with the sweet nutrient and greedily tried to draw as much in as possible.
Hiccup withheld another curse as Tony went from not breathing at all to hyperventilating. He grabbed Tony's hand and held it near his nose while drawing his godson's head close to his chest. "Slower, Tony, match my breaths."
Tony tried, he really did, but wasn't much succeeding.
"Kiddo, easy." Hiccup said calmly despite feeling anything but. "In: one, two. Out: one, two. Can you do that? In: one, two; out: one, two."
Very slowly, Tony regained control over his breath and clung tiredly to Hiccup—everything in him trembling.
Hiccup held him firmly as he found reality again, chatting idly about a color bomb prank a Thorston descendant commissioned him to make. Tony sank into the mundaneness of it, shoving the images aside.
They reached a lull and Tony's death grip had lessened to a loose hold, they now the only ones in the lab—Tesseract and Ygg-Hops gone as well. Hiccup sighed and leaned his head on Tony's. "Kiddo, I know you're going to hate this, but I think you need therapy."
Tony scoffed but it didn't sound as defiant as he would have wanted. "Out of everything in my life that has happened, now you think I need it?"
Hiccup lightly cuffed him on the back of the head. "Brat. You know I've mentioned before, long before this. I'm just putting my foot down now."
Tony huffed, prickling at the idea. "Fine. But only if I can come to the Archipelago for it!"
Hiccup chuckled. "No problem kiddo. I can even get you in with the family who helped me back when I was actually younger than you."
Tony hummed acceptingly and held onto his uncle a little tighter, not wanting to relive those moments ever again.
The Avengers stood gathered on the plain by New Berk's bridge to return home, a small crowd of New Berkians gathered as a send off but ended up spectators along with Loki and Frigga to the shouting match of god. Shocking not between Thor and Loki.
"No, I'm not giving it back!" Hiccup said firmly, hands on his hips with an incredulous look on his face.
Thor frowned deeply, pointing at his brother's Chosen's chest. "It belongs on Asgard!"
Hiccup's eye twitched and Loki sent a prayer up for Thor. "Then why in Helheim did you people leave it here who knows how many millennia ago!? I agree that it's caused nothing but trouble but you abandoned us with it! Us 'weak, little mortals'! Where were you when Schmidt found it or when Lawson created the Pegasus or how about when SHIELD started messing around with it again? I wasn't hiding it from Heimdall!"
Hiccup was red in the face with fury as Thor respond with a growl. "Clearly that was a mistake! Which will now be rectified."
The other Avengers observed the two feuding with mixed emotions. Tony on Hiccup's side firstly because he was his uncle and secondly because Hiccup's points were far more valid than Thor's. Steve waffled a bit more but ultimately landed on Hakon's side; he'd known Hakon for far longer than Thor and with what he'd read and Tony had told him, Hakon was far more proactive in keeping tabs on the cursed cube and not likely to just abandon it somewhere else again.
Bruce landed solidly in the middle, not really wanting anything to do with it one way or the other. Natasha and Clint were far more unsure, either way there was absolutely no chance of SHIELD getting the Tesseract back.
Hiccup's hands fisted as he fought back another shout. "It has been and is now under my protection and that of the New Archipelago. You lost any right to it when its seal was broken and allowed Thanos to find us and did nothing." Hiccup relaxed slightly and let an impish grin creep over his scowl. "Besides, I don't think it'd stay with you anyway."
Thor's eyes narrowed, saying carefully. "And what does that mean?"
Hiccup's eyes hardened. "It means it's tired of being tossed around and used emptily."
Thor's eyebrows pinched unsurely but a glance at worried Frigga and miffed Loki made him consider bringing that up later—preferably with his father. He sighed, shoulders falling in defeat, and tried another tactic. "The Bifrost is broken and Asgard is near defenseless without it. The Tesseract can repair it."
Hiccup lit up, as if the previous argument had never happened. "Oh! Well why didn't you say so? I'd love to help you fix it!"
Loki's chest clenched at the thought of Hiccup entering Asgard undisguised, however, knew that at some point Odin would no doubt demand to see Hiccup—considering he was supposed to be in Valhalla. If he wasn't already a disowned son he soon would be for tampering with such dark magics. He could only hope that he could still argue for something in Hiccup's favor—and he would need to do that before he was sentenced to eternal house arrest, at best.
Thor was left speechless for a moment before sputtering out, "Wha—no. No! That's not—Lokison!"
Hiccup chuckled and crossed his arms. "Well I don't see how else you're getting back, I doubt Loki's willing to show you the Yggdrasil path."
Thor's mouth hung open like a guppy. "No, mother, mother can show me."
They turned to her and she gracefully folded her hands, saying carefully, "This is Hiccup's realm…"
Thor almost looked offended. "But father rules over this realm!"
Clint scoffed. "Some king. Hasn't been here in, what? A millennia at best?"
Thor glared at him and he couldn't help but shrug and he turned to Hiccup while also glowering at his brother, having no doubt that he had some hand in teaching his Chosen such underhanded tactics. "Very well, however, I cannot speak on the All-Father's behalf about this."
Hiccup shrugged and started towards the branch, giving Astrid a peck goodbye. "Good, I wasn't planning on it. Gotta make sure Loki actually gets a decent trial. Though I know grandmother will see to that anyway."
Frigga smiled lightly at Hiccup and wrapped an arm around his shoulder with a reassuring squeeze.
"Liten Listig." Loki sighed, trailing close behind said Chosen with all others falling into place as they prepared to leave.
Well, hope the longer chapter sort of makes up for my long absence. I lost a lot of desire to write when I had some major health issues come up but will keep on writing, even if its little bits at a time :)
Until next time!
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11
