Chapter 3: Mission
"Nooooo," Tony wails, hand over his face, "Don't you dare wake me up. It's way too early to be getting up."
"Relax, Stark," Loki grumbles – mortals are such babies. He still feels a flicker of overwhelming fondness, though. "Before we part ways, there is something I wish to speak to you all about."
"If you want my hand –"
Loki rolls his eyes. "Cease flattering yourself. If you seek attention, this will grant you more than you already have. Perhaps." His own head is pounding a bit, to be fair – he did ask for it by drinking so much. Could use a bit of a high, though. Really.
The others aren't nearly as hard to drag together. They're gathered in sort of common room they're apparently allowed meetings in.
Bucky is pressed against the couch corner, and Loki wonders if he should cloak him or something to calm him a little. He's jittery. Loki knows he's terrified, and he's clueless as to how Odin could permit this to occur beneath his sight. Steve is beside him, and the others are gathered around the room.
They're all quiet, even Yelena, as Loki does a quick rundown of the situation. Is it safe? Probably not. Do they have a choice? Not really. He talked to Steve and Bucky about what he gathered from the others and he's fairly certain all of them are safe.
This is the closest to a lead he has on Thor. He woke in the desert of New Mexico, and he couldn't find any traces of his brother. Where he went, he has no idea, but more than likely, if he was working with Hydra before, he'll find refuge with them now. Or how he will be treated by them.
He could ask Heimdall's aid, but he knows better than to return to Asgard and to trust the Gatekeeper. Heimdall's true loyalty, like many, lies with Thor. Loki will not be received kindly by anyone.
He's even too afraid to face Frigga again.
But none of that aids the Avengers in restoring peace to this world as his father and brother failed.
Yelena whistles lowly when he finishes talking. "That's quite a mess."
"No kidding," Tony drawls.
"How'd you figure this all out when we didn't know?" Bruce asks curiously.
"Between Sergeant Barnes' words and Fury's Hydra weapons, it would take a fool not to put two and two together."
"You think those weapons are still being built by Hydra?" Clint asks uneasily.
"I wouldn't consider it impossible," Steve interjects, "What we do know is that they're still out there, we have to find them, and we're probably the only people able to face them."
"Well. he knows something, right?" Yelena asks, gesturing to Bucky, "Just ask him."
His head snaps towards her. He doesn't tense further, but Loki doesn't think he's comfortable with the sudden shift of attention. After everything he has gone through and fears, Loki doesn't think the less of him for it, either. His memories are still settling in his mind's void.
"I have a lead," Loki interrupts, "I found the facility they were storing the Tesseract before it was brought to DC. Will you help or do I get all the glory?"
There's a chorus of voices and whispers.
"I'd like to go," Rhodey says, "But I have a meeting to be at later today I can't call out of."
"I'd like to help however I can," Bruce adds, "But I don't think we'll need the Hulk right now."
"A stealth mission would be safest," Natasha agrees, "I don't know what base this is, but I have SHIELD clearance. This is the thing Yelena and I trained for. We can get in and out with the information."
"I can get you in," Bucky ventures. "I know those codes."
Steve's head snaps upwards, face tight with worry and what's guaranteed to be a momentary objection. "Bucky –"
"Considering his involvement, sitting this out will be more difficult than coming," Loki cuts in. He knows he would – it was terrifying to sit out any of Thor's missions. It happened rarely, but it happened. Those missions often went worse for his brother. They were meant to be a team.
That if Hydra comes for him in the meantime, he'll be vulnerable isn't something anyone points out.
Steve sags a little, though still looks upset.
"Stark," Loki adds, "We will need JARVIS for their files."
Tony groans. "Guess I'll have to tell Pepper I'm skipping out the rest of the day, too. Hopefully she's got no important calls to send me."
"Barton, Wilson," he requests, "If our mission goes downhill, we may call you for backup."
"Need a ride in a Quinjet?" Tony asks, straightening from where he was sprawled on his couch, typing on his phone. "Got one out back."
"That wasn't there last night," Natasha objects.
"That's cuz I just bought it." He flashes her a grin.
"I don't know what to think about this," Sam says finally, quieter, directed to Steve. "Don't even know what we're fighting for. I mean, if both sides are..."
"There should be some information to start in that base," Steve promises, standing, "We better get started."
**w**
It'll be a long ride to go half across Midgard. Loki doesn't mind having the chance to with the others, though. They're... friends.
The concept is practically foreign to him.
Everyone he's ever had before was always instantly taken up with Thor and started ignoring him. There's a wild, insane part of him that's still so afraid of that happening again but – the fact that these mortals don't like Thor at all probably means it won't.
He doesn't want Thor to be hated, but it's just – it's – He doesn't know. He wants to finally be seen by... someone.
"Did you do something to me?" Tony demands, suddenly coming to the back of the jet.
"Something as in what?" Loki asks, amused.
"I was trying to tell Pepper what's happening so she can handle things while I'm gone and I couldn't."
"Was not the decision that no one else was to hear of this?" Loki asks, amused.
There's a reason he spelled everyone to make sure that no one would be able to tell anyone else about this, unless they all agreed.
Tony huffs. "Yes, but Pepper can be trusted."
"If everyone said that about one person, the entire planet would know soon," he replies dryly.
"But what did you do?" Tony demands.
"I spelled us all. We can't tell anyone unless everyone agrees."
"You spelled us?" Steve repeats incredulously, and maybe slightly amused.
"There was no other precaution I could take and it appears wise that I did."
"Hey," Tony protests.
"Wait, what happens if we try anyway?" Yelana asks.
"I couldn't talk," Tony grumbles.
"No need for alarm," Loki replies cheerfully, "It won't harm you, but you won't be able to break it."
"I was thinking about talking to Fury," Natasha speaks up from the front of the jet, obviously overhearing them, "Does this... spell mean I won't be able to? I think we can trust him, and he should be able to give us information."
"The head of SHIELD?" Loki repeats.
"Yes. I've known him for a long time."
He doesn't like that idea at all. Maybe he doesn't know this mortal, but he's the head of an organization making HDYRA weapons. And he was justifying it. Maybe he's not involved, but... it's not a chance he wants to take. "I find that unwise," Loki replies, "Even if he is n safe, he is high enough in the organization that he must know HYDRA members who he believes he can trust. They may be getting information through him."
"If it's really such a problem in SHIELD, he might know more than we realize," she points out.
"Maybe," Steve interjects, "But Loki has a point. Someone could find out from him. And people talk."
Natasha doesn't seem happy, but she doesn't argue the point. She likely can't fully disagree either.
"I've never heard a thing spells and magic before," Yelena comments, leaning forward, "How does it work? What else can you do with it?"
She's someone else who finds his magic interesting instead of viewing it as weak and not something warriors should do. It's... strange how different these mortals are from Asgardians.
"There's little you can't do once you learn how to." He hasn't learned of any limits yet, truly. Many spells take much time and effort to ensure that something doesn't go wrong mid-way but he's been able to learn to do anything he's actually tried to.
Loki holds out a hand, generating the illusion of tiny fireworks in his palm. "My mother used to do this for me when I was little," he says, mind a thousand miles away.
Yelena shifts forwards, eyes wide with awe. She's a child. She acts like one. Loki has to grudgingly admit that he's growing overly fond of her. Of all of them.
"It's pretty," Yelena says, staring at it, "It's so cool you can do that. I've never seen fireworks much before."
"I thought that was some important part of Midgardian parties," he replies. At least the extra special ones. He's not near aquatinted enough with their culture to know.
She shrugs a shoulder. "I didn't go to parties when I was six." She throws a brief glance Natasha's direction, expression unreadable.
"It's only a thing in independence day celebrations and that kind of thing," Tony says, "Which is stupid."
"I think you're the only one who could buy fireworks on a regular basis," Steve interjects dryly.
"Maybe I'll get some Avengers ones to let off next time we have a party."
"You can do that?" Yelena asks, a bit incredulously.
"The same way I got this jet," Tony replies smugly.
"Like this?" Loki asks, recasting the firework spell in his palm for the fireworks to explode into something that looks like it's spelling "AVENGER".
"Yeah," Tony agrees cheerfully.
"What else can you do?" Yelena queries curiously.
There's an infinite number of things he can show her right here and – why not? They have plenty of time.
**w**
They land a distance away from the base and go in on foot. It looks abandoned on the outside, but something isn't right about it. Loki has enough sense to know that.
"Can't believe I'm back in Germany for the same reason," Steve says, glancing around.
"We may make this be for the last time," Loki replies. He can imagine how upsetting it would be for a mortal, with how short their lives are, to have lost so much of their lives in a fight only to realize that it was a fight they lost in the end, anyway.
"This place looks like it's already been abandoned since World War II," Tony objects. "I think I even seen some dinosaur fossils up ahead – "
"All is not as it appears. Be cautious," Loki warns.
They aren't alone here. He can tell as much. He expects this is a trap and he doesn't miss the way Bucky is tensing as they approach the building.
Loki flicks a hand, pushing the doors open with his magic. They screech much too loudly, as they open into an empty room.
He stays in the front as they start moving through the base, going from room to room for anything they can find. It looks like whatever information they had, they took along with them. He still hasn't seen anything but something is wrong.
There's a room at the end of the hall that looks like an office of some kind. But it looks eerily still and...
Loki approaches it carefully braced for something as he steps inside. There's a loud click as the door suddenly closes and locks of its own behind him. He jerks, whirling around at the sound when he feels the danger.
A blinding explosion rips through the room, All he has chance to see is a ball of fire and he throws up a magic shield to protect himself, though the force of it still flings him across the room, beneath a pile of collapsing debris.
He can still feel the heat of the fire and all he can remember is the Bifrost, desperately trying to reach Thor before he fell, before – When he couldn't use his magic at all to help either of them.
Loki's head is throbbing, pain burning through it and stinging in various places across his body. The magic shield pushed the fire outwards, but he didn't have time to spellcast fast enough and the cave-in exhausted him.
He lands on the floor, gasping. The building is collapsing around him and – where are the others? They could have been hurt or worse. Mortals can be so fragile sometimes. He has to get back to find.
His mind won't work. Won't focus. All he can remember is the flames as the bifrost exploded in front of his face and the searing pain as the fire hit his skin.
He let a group of mortals get the jump on him.
Pathetic.
Thor wouldn't have fallen for that.
Loki pushes himself up on aching limbs.
All at once, his magic flares, a pull drawing him outwards. The same as before. Bucky. Something's wrong. He has to find them.
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