He saw Gabriel, one of his wife's siblings, blink at him as he crashed out of the vortex he had been inexplicably thrown into. Loki hadn't known Tracy could do that, but then he learned never to take anything for granted when it came to her. She had a way of showing herself to be far more capable than anyone thought.
The Archangel betrayed no surprise or any sort of emotion, which was typical of the angelic race. These people had long ago buried their emotions under layers of cold logic and practicality, like the Vulcans from Star Trek, one of those mortal television series that his wife was so fond of. They called the concept Silence and they had adopted it long ago to be better warriors, and to make themselves less of a danger to the mortals they were tasked with watching over.
Gabriel was one of the few angels Loki considered a friend. The angel had been among the first of the Silver City to accept him as a "brother" and frequently made appearances just to speak to him or see how he was doing. Angels as a rule were overprotective of those they considered to be under their charge, and that went double when it came to "family". In the case of Gabriel, however, it genuinely seemed to be more than that. The angel had done his best to be a comforting shoulder for Loki during the whole Beyonder mess, bringing him meals and sitting with him, and even opening up about some very personal issues...including the fact that the angel was thinking about embracing emotion.
His fathomless onyx eyes studied Loki now as he tried to regain his bearings. With those eyes, his jet-black hair with a prominent widow's peak, white skin, and sensual ruby lips, Gabriel looked like he'd walked out of Bram Stoker's wet dreams. More than one mortal who had seen him had mistaken him for a vampire, in fact. It was a misconception Gabriel didn't bother to correct. The angels were not exactly in a hurry to confirm their existence to the mortal world at large. Humanity had a hard enough time coming to terms with the fact that Norse gods existed, and even then, most of them thought of Loki, Thor, Valkyrie, and the other Asgardians as powerful aliens who might have been mistaken for gods by primitive man. Confirmation that angels were a thing would probably cause an existential crisis on a mass scale that most mortals simply were not equipped to deal with.
As it was, the world didn't know what his Pet really was. Most people, if they thought of her at all, just saw her as a very powerful magician like Stephen Strange or Wanda Maximoff with a few extra abilities. Most of the world, however, were just happy that Loki had someone to "keep him in line" in case his brother was busy. New York was a very long time ago, and the Avengers had long since informed the world that Loki hadn't been in control at the time, but there were some factions who still weren't crazy about him being on Earth, particularly people who had lost loved ones in the NYC invasion. Those people thought Tracy was either out of her mind or suffered from hybristophilia.
Loki suspected that Tracy knew about the hate mail those people sent to her weekly, despite his attempts to hide it from her, but she hadn't said anything to him. Not about that at least. She had plenty to say about the hate mail, Facebook groups, blogs, and Reddit boards dedicated to bashing on her husband though.
His Pet could be protective, as just demonstrated by what she just did. If she was still alive, he was going to kill her.
Loki whipped around but the vortex had already closed. He yelled out of frustration and turned to Gabriel. "I need to get back to Earth NOW!"
To his credit, Gabriel didn't jump on Loki for the rudeness. "Tell me."
Loki did. Gabriel immediately jumped them back to Earth, the exact spot where Loki had been, to find a wrecked city block with pieces of scattered car everywhere, and Thor pacing around wearing an expression that was a cross between rage and worry.
"TRACY!" Loki called out, although he knew it was useless. He looked around anyway, in the desperate hope that she had managed to get away.
"Not here," Thor answered with a growl, clearly relieved to see his brother was alright but now almost as consumed with worry for his sister-in-law.
No no no no no no...
Loki reached out with his mind, feeling for his bond with her, grabbing at it, calling out with all his might...to find that he couldn't hear her, couldn't get a sense of where she was or how. He couldn't feel her at all!
Fear was an icy iron claw gripping his heart and freezing his lungs.
"I am contacting the others. They should be here..." Gabriel's words were cut short by the arrival of his superior, Michael.
An angel who chose to present female, Michael had skin the color of the finest milk chocolate, with eyes that looked like shiny gold coins. Her wild, curly black hair had streaks of the same gold in it. She was tall and lithe and was even more intimidating in person than her reputation would suggest. With her were a few more angels who immediately scattered to aid in the search.
Loki heard a car screech to a halt at the same time, and looked up to see Steve, Bucky, Natasha, and Yelena pour out of the vehicle. The Widows were stone-cold sober and ready for a fight. Bucky joined the angels, and Steve hobbled up to him, Gabriel, and Michael on his cane. He explained what had happened again, feeling impatient the whole time he recited the events of the evening. The longer they dawdled, the longer Tracy was in the clutches of the enemy…
He didn't want to think about what they had planned for her. He didn't want to imagine what must be going through her head at that moment.
He had to work to maintain calm as Gabriel and Michael parted from them to talk to their team. Steve, leaning on his cane, placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her, Loki."
Loki didn't say anything. He couldn't. If he opened his mouth he'd start screaming.
"I cannot let you get involved, Steve," Michael said as she came back over, obviously having heard. "This is not a matter for mortals."
Steve stiffened. "She's our friend."
"I am aware of that," Michael replied. "But these are angels."
"We've faced angels before."
Michael shook her head. "Only because there was no other choice as our numbers and resources were divided at the time. Now…I cannot allow mortals to be involved. It is too dangerous for you."
"You're not keeping us out of the loop," Steve replied in a soft but firm voice.
Steve and Michael, Loki remembered, had a little something going on. Whatever it was, it appeared he was about to witness their first fight. Under normal circumstances he would find that highly entertaining.
He was in no mood for it now. "Let them help," he snapped at Michael. "I want all the aid we can possibly have. If you impede any possibility that may help us in contacting Tracy before…" He had to take a deep breath. "I will make you pay if we are unable to save her because you're too stubborn to allow any and all help in this," he added in a soft and menacing voice.
Loki meant it. Every word. He didn't care that Michael was an ally and even "family". If anything she did resulted in a delay in getting his wife back…
"Loki." Thor's restraining hand landed on his shoulder. "Of course she'll let the Avengers help. We'll all pitch in and won't rest until Tracy is found."
"I would never endanger Abriel…"
"Her name is Tracy!" Loki roared at Michael. He was tired of the angels calling his wife by the alias she had chosen when she had first landed on this Earth because she had been so damaged, her sense of reality and self so twisted, that she had needed to hide under an alias to feel safe. It was a symbol of everything he'd been helping her leave behind.
Everything that was probably flooding back for her now, while they wasted time…
"Brother!" Thor's hand tightened and he pulled Loki close so they were forehead to forehead. "Breathe. Calm. You are no good to her like this. We will find her. I will not rest until I can bring her back to you. Tracy has learned much from us. She's strong, stronger than she knows. She will endure and we will save her. Do you hear me? You need to pull it together. For her. Because we will find her."
Thor's voice was firm but soothing, hard yet calm. Loki took several deep breaths, fighting back his tears. He wanted to rage, he wanted to hunt those creatures down and make them pay for daring to take his wife from him, he…
He wouldn't be alright again until he had her back in his arms, but thanks to Thor his head felt a little clearer. Thor was right. He would be completely useless to Tracy if he fell apart now. He needed to focus.
It was hard to do when he knew that his wife was living through her worst fear at that very moment. "I can't feel her," he whispered to his brother. "I can't feel her through our bond! There are very few things that can break my bond with her, and one of those…"
"No. Don't even think it, Loki. If I have to tear the Nine Realms and beyond apart, piece by piece, I will bring her back to you."
Gabriel stepped up. "We all would have felt it if Ab—if Tracy were dead. The death of an angel is something that is sensed by all of us, no matter where she may be."
That might have provided Loki with some hope. However… "You didn't sense her 'birth' when she was transformed."
Gabriel's silence in response to that was deafening. "She is our sister," he said instead. "We also will not cease searching for her."
Loki straightened up and moved from Thor's hold. No, he couldn't just leave the others to look for her while he keened in agony. He would find her, damn it, and he would kill every last one of those winged monsters who laid a finger on her.
Hold on, Pet, he thought fiercely to her, even knowing that she likely wouldn't hear him. Hold on for me. I'm coming for you. I made you a promise that no one would ever hurt you again, and I intend to keep it. Trust in us, Pet. Trust in our love.
Trust in our love.
"Always," I muttered in response and then came to slow, painful awareness.
"Ow ow ow fuck ow," I hissed out when I tried to move on the very hard ground I was lying on. I blinked, but there was nothing to see but darkness and those little spots that explode in front of your retinas when you have a concussion. I knew I had a concussion because I was also nauseous and having trouble focusing.
I also knew that I didn't get concussions, not anymore. So, whatever hit me must have been very strong. Then I remembered what I had done before I was knocked unconscious.
Well, a major energy-sapping move like using my Silver City charm to force my husband through a portal to get him to safety might have done it as well. But remembering that gave me comfort. Loki would be furious, and I was sure I would get a blistering lecture at the very least, but my "family" would keep him safe. Hopefully they'd keep him from doing something stupid as well.
Knowing Loki though? That was doubtful.
So, I needed to get out of here, wherever "here" was. Since I couldn't see anything, I inhaled deeply to attempt to get a sense of where I was from scent, the stale dusty air clogging my lungs...and the scents I was picking up were familiar and brought back bad memories.
Very bad.
My heart hammered and my already-dry mouth shriveled. Oh God, no.
I needed Loki after all. I needed him to hang onto, because I was about to go back into a very, very dark place.
I reached for our bond, and...
Nothing.
My stomach sank and my lungs froze.
I felt nothing. I couldn't feel my bond with him at all. Loki wasn't with me, he wasn't where he was supposed to be. I could get no sense of him whatsoever.
The voice that woke me up must have been a figment of my imagination. I could feel nothing.
It hurt. The sense of loss was a hollow ache in my chest, the pain indescribable. I felt nothing but anguish. I had gotten so used to having him constantly with me even when he wasn't physically present, so used to not being alone in my head...now I was, and it sucked.
He's not dead, I told myself. He's in the Silver City. You sent him there. Michael and Gabriel would have kept him there and stopped him from doing something stupid like go back to Earth to confront those fallen angels and...
Fuck, who was I kidding? When he set his mind to something, nothing could stop him. And with me being in danger? If any of the angels had tried to stop him from rescuing me, they'd end up being roasted. He wouldn't care if they were an ally or not.
Oh God, please let him be alright. I could deal with being imprisoned, even though I was slowly descending into panic at the very thought of being confined, especially if I were where I thought I was. I could deal with anything, as long as Loki was alright. My family would take care of him. They saw Loki as one of their own now and would rally around him. And Thor would take care of him.
I was panting, trying very hard not to hyperventilate. Then my head whipped towards the sound of a rusty door being pried open.
The light spilling in was agony to my eyes, and I raised a hand to shield them as a voice said, "She is awake." I blinked to clear my vision and became aware of even more scents. The air, fresher but still dusty and tinged with iron, the air was too familiar, and any hope that Loki or the others might find me died.
I knew where I was.
I was back in the place where I had been held the first time the Beyonder's angels took me. I was back where I had been imprisoned before Raphael found me and made me an angel.
I was back in my own personal Hell.