AN: Hey hey hey! It's been a hot minute since I've posted a chapter. Quite a bit has happened since we last spoke. Like, uh, hOLY FREAKING ENDGAME TRAILERS! I'm currently going through the extreme emotions of anxiety and excitement for this movie. I don't know what I should feel, honestly. aNYWAYS! This is now turning from an Endgame prediction to an Endgame... AU. Yeah well I already know that what I'm doing over here is not going to happen in Endgame and I've accepted this fact so, we've gone back to AU. Wonderful. Also, if I get any Endgame spoilers from y'all in Australia who've already gotten the chance to see Endgame... *inhale* it wont be pretty. I also want to thank all you lovely readers for the support I've received with this story! For those of you lucky ones who get to just skin through all 10 of these chapters, welcome! And for all of you who've been here since the beginning of April... i'm sorry.
so cool take this chapter.
Chapter 10 ~ Duality
Much to everybody else in the group's disgust, Loki's hand wouldn't heal right away. But to avoid Cooper almost heaving into the bushes, he put on a glamour as it healed. To the untrained eye, both hands we completely normal. They'd travelled further down the path until they'd reached a clearing before stopping.
They all sat in a circle, save Fenris, who was so large he was able to curl his body around half of the circle. The large wolf lay with his chin rested against his paws, green eyes watching the rest thoughtfully. Fenris had remained close to Loki, which the trickster could tell the others didn't mind too much. Everybody else was terrified of his sister's steed.
"So, care to explain how you know the demon-dog that was chasing us?" Quill asked. Loki could already tell by the tone of voice that this man had a large ego and wasn't quite looking forwards to dealing with it. Unluckily for everyone else, Loki was not in the mood.
"Care to explain how you managed to piss him off?" Loki shot back, eyes glowing from the use of his seidr narrowed.
"Okay, how about we all calm down?" Spider-man suggested.
"I am Groot!" The tree huffed with a roll of its eyes.
"Ay!" Quill scolded, turning a pointed finger to the tree that called itself 'Groot.' "Watch your language!"
Stephen interrupted with a frustrated huff. "We aren't going to get anywhere if you all keep arguing. How about we start by introducing the Guardians?"
Quill nodded, sending Loki one last glare. Loki's response was a grin, and he very much enjoyed the rage flashing in the other man's eyes.
"Loki," Stephen warned, and the trickster sighed.
"Honestly! You lot are no fun!"
"Coming from the one with the sophisticated British accent," Sam muttered, just loud enough for Loki's slightly advanced hearing to pick up.
"Hey! I heard that! There is nothing wrong with my accent!" He snapped.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Why you little—"
"Hey!" Stephen interrupted again. Fenris gave a low growl at the commotion from behind Loki. "Quill, introductions."
"Right. Well, I'm Star-Lord, but you can call me Quill. Peter Quill," Quill began. "The tree lookin' dude there is Groot. He can grow his arms and shit, kinda freaky, but I'm not complaining," he continued, pointing to the tree. Groot looked over and rolled his eyes, before looking elsewhere. "The lady in green with the too-large black eyes that look like they'll steal your soul and the antennae is Mantis. She's got emphatic abilities." Mantis waved slowly. "And finally," his pointed finger turned to the final member, "this guy's Drax. I… honestly don't know what he does. He stabs stuff, complains a lot, usually a clueless moron. And that's.. all we've got here. There's another two members that are currently not here; Rocket, a little raccoon—"
"I've met him. No wonder he's part of your group," Loki interrupted, rolling his eyes.
"The raccoon that wanted my arm?" Bucky asked, looking over to Quill. Quill seemed to ponder that before responding.
"Yeah, sounds about right. Don't give it to him; he doesn't really need it for anything, no matter what he tells you."
"Right.." Bucky replied, somewhat uncomfortably.
"I am Groot?"
"Good thinking, Groot," Quill said with a smile. "Your turn for introductions."
Drax and Mantis both voiced their agreement. Loki wasn't quite sure what to make of the two Guardians just yet—they hadn't said enough for him to validate an opinion. For now, he took to watching the two with interest.
"Well, you already know me and Spider-man," Stephen replied, pointing to the boy beside him who gave a smile and a small wave.
"I'm the Falcon," Sam offered. "Course, that's my superhero name. Real name's Sam Wilson. Y'all can call me Sam, though."
"I'm Cooper. Cooper Barton," Cooper added timidly from beside Sam..
"Nice to meet you, Cooper," Mantis greeted the boy with a warm smile. Cooper returned it reluctantly.
"I'm James," Bucky spoke up, brushing strands of long brown hair from his face with metallic fingers, "but call me Bucky. Everybody else does."
"How does one get Bucky from James?" Drax asked, looking quite confused.
"Ah—full name is James Buchanan Barnes."
"I still don't see Bucky," Drax mumbled.
"How about we move on?" Spider-man suggested.
"Great idea. What's your name, tall dark and gloomy?" Quill asked, directing his voice towards where Loki sat next to Fenris. He raised an unimpressed eyebrow and breathed a long sigh.
"I'm Loki," he replied simply.
"Just Loki? No surname, nothing?" Quill prompted. Loki mulled that over for a moment. A voice in the back of his head told him just Loki; he had no father to gain a surname from, anyways. He was no Laufeyson, abandoned to die during a war. He was no Odinson, cast away from the throne and tossed into an abyss like a rabid animal.
At least Laufey had the decency to allow me a less horrifying death than the void, he thought bitterly.
But Thor. Loki had to think about Thor.
Before Thanos arrived on the Statesman and blew it to hell, Thor was making up for all those years of ignoring Loki and throwing him under the bus. Thor was his brother.
Frigga was his mother.
"Odinson," he said at last. "Loki Odinson, prince of Asgard and the rightful king of Jotunheim."
"Extra," Sam muttered. Another low growl from Fenris.
"Loki.. doesn't that name sound familiar?" Drax asked, turning to Quill. It was Mantis who replied.
"Yes! Thor's brother!"
Loki narrowed his eyes.
"Adopted," he growled. "How do you know of Thor?"
"The pirate angel slammed into our ship's windshield," Drax replied.
"Pirate angel?" Loki asked, face screwing up in confusion.
"Best not to ask," Stephen sighed.
"Right," Loki murmured.
"He told us all about you," Mantis added.
"How much did he tell you?" Loki asked wearily.
Quill answered, "quite a bit, actually." He lowered his voice to what Loki assumed was his impression of Thor and said, "my brother, Loki, tried to take over a planet once, but that's okay because he helped me kill an elf later."
"That doesn't sound like Thor in the slightest."
"Hey! It's called an impression! I'm not going to tell you what he really said because he went on for hours!"
"He only talked for 15 minutes before he left," Mantis murmured.
"Onto how you tamed the hell-hound," Drax prompted.
"Ah, yes, but of course. You see.."
…
A month and a half.
Natasha had been off hunting down this crazed killer for a month and a half. They'd gotten a few messages from her, assuring them that she wasn't dead or anything. But it wasn't a lot, and there'd been no word from her for at least a week.
Steve had shaved off his beard. They weren't hiding from the law anymore, so there was no need for the disguise. The soldier took routine rides around New York on his motorcycle, no doubt looking at the poor families who watched loved ones turn to dust. An event they couldn't stop. An event they'd failed to prevent. An event he was no doubt beating himself up over. When he was at the Compound, he spent his time moping around or monitoring for any use of the stones on Earth.
Banner was keeping tabs on other heroes around the world. He'd sent a call to Professor Xavior's school for mutants, but the Professor had said that his students were not emotionally stable enough after watched the events that took place unfold I the form of piles of dust. They were just children, after all. Banner had also uncovered that the Ant-Man hadn't been seen since the Decimation, leading them to believe he'd been dusted.
Thor was constantly on the compound's roof, waiting. Always waiting. Bruce had helped him set up the device to locate the Asgardians but they'd received no word yet. The few times anybody would approach him, they'd see him murmuring to himself in what seemed like ancient Norse and staring at the horizon. Nobody could quite figure out what he was saying, however, so they just left it.
When Rocket wasn't sitting with Thor, trying to send a signal to the Benatar, he was screwing with the technology in the compound. Every single thing with wires, you can be sure the raccoon would be fucking with it. TV's, weapons, computers, the Quinjet—hell, Bruce even walked in on him taking apart a light switch once. Sometimes he'd be talking space with Carol, but only if he wasn't trying to make a bomb out of paperclips and a blender.
Carol was usually sparring, and since everybody else was so busy, it was Rhodey who was subject to her punches. After the first round, Rhodes had to get his suit because Carol packed a punch. It was embarrassing how bad he was being beaten, but he couldn't help but smile at it. This woman could do wonders against Thanos, and if she had come earlier, she probably could've prevented the snap.
But she hadn't, and half of the universe paid for it.
Carol wished Nick had sent her a signal earlier. She hated seeing the aftermath she could've helped prevent, seeing the broken pieces of what used to be a team. She'd taken to the internet after a few days, researching this team of Avengers and what they could do.
She saw New York, the Chitauri raining down on unsuspecting civilians. She saw clips of a god with horns at the head of this invasion, a glowing scepter in his possession. She saw this team assemble for the first time and she watched the man in the red-and-gold suit fly a nuke into a wormhole. She saw the invader in chains and a muzzle being hauled away.
She saw Sakovia. She watched a robot send an entire city into the air with people still around. She watched footage of Nick coming to the rescue, helping people to safety. She saw a man with short brown hair and a bow hold a boy close to protect him from an inevitable death, then watched another team member sacrifice themselves to stop it. She saw the Avengers getting their asses whooped, until they sent the city crashing back down in pieces.
Obviously, they used to be a team. But now, a few of them would glare at the other. They were missing members, and not by the snap. What, exactly, had happened?
Carol told herself she'd ask later, perhaps when the Decimation wasn't so fresh.
But for now, all they could do is wait. Wait for something to happen—anything to happen.
And just when Carol thought they'd be waiting for a while, an alarm started to go off.
…
Natasha has been on many missions like the one she had currently tasked herself with. She'd managed to get herself a small apartment to stay in until she caught Ronin, which so far, she hadn't been having much luck in.
Her hair had begun to grow out, regaining its natural red color. The tips were still blonde, a reminder of the fugitive life she'd had to lead.
Every time she was close to this assassin, they'd get away. So far, she'd gotten a lead on an attack he was planning; that night, on a side street in the city.
Now, Natasha roamed the streets with an umbrella in hand, shielding herself from the rain drumming steadily on the ground. Her gaze was flickering cautiously around, looking for any signs of the oncoming attack. It had to be any minute now.
As if on cue, a black SUV pulled out onto the street. Natasha narrowed her eyes, before picking up her pace to follow it. She spared a few glances over her shoulder, following the SUV to an intersection.
A left.
Natasha had a lot of practice following fast-moving vehicles on foot, so she had no trouble following this one.
A right.
She was practically running now. Her heels clicked with every step, her coat fanning out behind her. The vehicle was slowing down, before abruptly turning onto a side street. Natasha followed, her grip on her umbrella tightening.
She slipped onto the side street, the black SUV coming into sight once again. A few men in suits stepped out of the vehicle, and Natasha held her breath.
Any second now.
Suddenly, Natasha's sharp gaze noticed a shadow being cast from the top of a building. A human-like shadow.
The men had barely taken three steps away from their vehicle when they were killed. Ronin worked fast, effectively killing everybody in that street but her. Ronin turned his head slightly, his side-profile being revealed in a small portion form behind his hood. Natasha didn't advert her gaze, even as the man brought his swords up to bring them across the cuffs on his sleeves. There was a sheathing noise, and then Ronin brought his hands up to his hood.
He pulled the hood down and turned. Natasha sucked in a breath, barely believing her eyes.
"Clint?" She breathed. He'd certainly changed a lot—and not just the whole sword thing.
He'd grown his hair out and shaved it into a mohawk. His brown eyes had a coldness in them Natasha hadn't seen since he'd been controlled by Loki. He looked angry.
He was grieving.
Natasha approached him slowly, reaching out. Clint flinched, before allowing her to grab his hand. She squeezed his hand, and when he squeezed back, Natasha knew what her friend was grieving.
His family.
Laura, Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel—they all must have gone in the snap. Otherwise, Clint wouldn't have been there with her in Japan.
Without another word, Natasha pulled him into a loose hug. It took Clint a few moments to relax and return it.
"We're going to fix this," she promised in a whisper. "All of us. We'll bring them back."
"How?" Clint croaked, backing away to look her in the eyes. Natasha lowered her gaze.
"We're working on it Just—come back to the compound. Thor and Banner are back, and we have two new members. We can't fix this without you, Clint."
Clint didn't reply. Natasha was ready for him to decline, but his answer was both a shock and a relief.
"Okay."
"Okay," she echoed with a small smile.
…
"In the All-father's final moments, he informed me and Thor he had a daughter—his first born. Hela, goddess of death," Loki began to explain. Fenris let out a low whining noise at the mention of Hela.
"Who's the All-father?" Quill asked.
"Odin, King of Asgard," Loki answered. "The man I'd believed to be my father for centuries, but that's not what we're talking about right now. This is about Fenris.
"Fenris here served as Hela's steed, or so had been explained. A loyal companion to wage war against the Nine Realms with. But, after we escaped Ragnarok—the destruction of my home planet, I started piecing things together. Every time I've encountered Fenris, I've always felt a strange magic surrounding him. It was familiar, and yet at the same time I couldn't quite piece it together. It didn't bother me much, until I was not fighting for my life against undead warriors. But I recognise it now— shape-shifting."
"Shape-shifting?" Drax echoed. "Isn't magic a myth?"
To answer his question, Loki called his seidr to action and held a ball of swirling green in his palm.
"Does this look like a myth?" He asked with mock sincerity.
"No," Drax mumbled. Satisfied, Loki continued.
"I shape-shift all the time. Not all the time anymore, I guess. I haven't done it in centuries. Odin forbade it after I turned into a snake to scare Thor. However when I asked why, I was simply sent away."
Loki's eyes darkened at the memory.
"Father, why can I not shape-shift anymore? It was only a jest!" Young Loki protested. Odin shook his head wearily with a tsk. His eyes held something very guarded, some emotion Loki was barely able to recognise in his father; fear.
"This is not up for debate, Loki. I don't want to see you changing form again."
"But, father—"
"Loki!" Odin snapped, his patience breaking. Loki lowered his gaze under his father's scolding glare. Directing his words to the guards, Odin murmured, "escort the prince to his chambers for the night."
"Because I was young and stubborn," Loki continued, "I snuck out later that night to the palace library to look into what Odin could have possibly been afraid of."
Loki gently closed the looming golden doors behind him, before grabbing his lantern from where he'd left it on the ground and venturing into the darkness of the library. His green gaze flickered uncertainly amongst the shadowed corridors of books, rows upon rows of knowledge.
Why father had forbidden shape-shifting was beyond him. He'd asked mother, but all he'd received was a quick change of subject. Loki didn't like being kept in the dark, so he pulled out one of his favourite fictional tales from the shelves. He vaguely remembered something about shape-shifting, but he couldn't be sure. It seemed like a good place to start.
He set his lantern down beside him as he crossed his legs and opened the book, licking his finger and flipping the page several times. His eyes scanned each page quickly before turning it, repeating the process until he found what he was looking for. With a hum of curiosity, Loki read each word presented to him on the page very carefully. His green eyes glided steadily along the runes etched into the parchment.
"Well, what did it say?" Sam interrupted, crossing his arms. Loki narrowed his eyes coldly.
"If you'd just wait a moment, I'll tell you," he shot back icily. Sam raised his hands in surrender, and Bucky stifled his laughter from beside him. "Oh, shut up," Sam muttered to him, knocking his arm with his elbow. Stephen rolled his eyes at the pair, and Loki began with the simplicity of the so-called myth.
"During the times of Odin's conquest on the Nine Realms—with Hela by his side, Odin had taken in a young boy who showed in interest in magic. Male mages weren't common, so the boy was cast out. Odin saw power in him and offered to get him training with his seidr if he assisted Odin in the conquest. The boy agreed, of course, and began training his seidr.
"The boy was becoming more and more powerful, and soon showed great strength in shape-shifting. The Allfather saw this as an advantage and ordered the boy with him as a wolf. It was said this wolf was a great asset in the conquering of Alfheim, scaring the light elves easily. But, one day, the boy couldn't change back. Stuck a wolf forever. When the Allfather stopped his conquest, he had no need for the wolf. So, he did what he did best." Loki's tone turned into a low growl, expressing hatred with every word. Behind him, Fenris growled from deep within his throat.
"What did he do?" Mantis asked, head tilting in innocent curiosity.
"Locked him away," Loki spate distastefully. "Lied. Forgot. And when the Allfather forgets, so does the rest of Asgard. The boy became nothing but a myth, warning all sorcerers and mages of the dangers of shape-shifting if one is not careful. Which leads me to believe that Fenris happens to be that boy."
Loki brought a hand back to run his fingers through the wolfs dark fur, earning a low whine.
"So this.. dog used to be human?" Cooper asked, eyes glued on Fenris with amazement.
"Not human," Loki corrected, "Aesir."
"Back at the Compound, you said your crazy-ass sister had a wolf for a steed, didn't you?" Bucky asked.
"I did," Loki confirmed. "How I fit that into this web of long-forgotten lies is simple; Fenris was to conquer with Hela. Either Odin ordered him to Hela's side, or he went willingly. Possibly part of his reasoning for burying him under the palace and not giving it another thought. Of course, that story is only what I pieced together. The only ones who would know if it was true or not would be Odin, who is dead, Hela, who has been sent back to Helheim, and Fenris here." As he spoke, Fenris turned his head to meet his gaze. "Was I at least partially correct?" He questioned. Fenris gave a curt nod, before turning to rest his chin on his paws once more. Loki smiled and nodded.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments longer, Loki absent-mindedly running his fingers through the dark fur of Fenris's flank. He and the boy-turned-wolf had a lot in common. Both of them served Odin a purpose, and when that purpose was no more, they were cast out. He could feel a few stares on him as he kept his gaze firmly on his boots, lost in his own mind. Obviously, there were still unanswered questions. But those questions would have to wait.
For now, they needed to do as Strange had said; gather everybody in the stone together for whatever plan they came up with. They'd get out. He just wasn't sure how.
…
Back on Earth, Thor was sitting atop the Avengers Compound, blue-and-amber gaze set on the sun sinking on the horizon. The device buzzed in his lap, attached by a wire to a few computer monitors behind him. His legs dangled over the edge of the roof, his hands supporting his weight as he leaned backwards.
Bruce had told him when a signal was found, the device would make a steady beeping sound and the computers would light up—it wasn't his exact explanation, of course. There were a lot more science terms thrown in there that Thor couldn't be bothered to ask what he meant by it. He'd simply nodded, smiled and thanked the doctor for the assistance. So far, the only sound around him had been birds, the steady buzzing noise, and occasionally Rocket when he came to join him.
Thor found his mind wandering as he absently watched darkness settle over Midgard. Loki's final moments still haunted him, and he did his best not to think about it. Unfortunately, his baby brother's form crumpling to dust in his fingers appeared to him every time he closed his eyes. The desperate scrabble to gather the flakes of ash left behind, even though he knew there was no point. Clutching what used to be his brother in his hand as he stared blankly at the ground for several moments, struggling to contain the anger bubbling beneath his skin.
Loki had died several times before, yes, but this time it was so much worse. Because Thor knew there was no way it was a trick. Several others had fallen the same way, fading away until they were nothing but mere dust.
Lost in his thoughts, Thor barely registered that the buzz had faded out. He continued to stare at the final rays of the sun, sending violet streaks along the sky as it dipped blow the horizon.
Beep.. beep… beep…
Thor blinked rapidly, looking down at the device in his lap. Registering the sound, he whipped his head around to look at the computers. He'd gotten a signal.
A signal. Thor let out a breathless laugh and shot to his feet, hurrying to the monitors. It wasn't too far out from Earths atmosphere. Thor grinned, before taking off in a mad dash down the stairs to inform the rest of the team.
"My friends!" Thor announcing breathlessly as he entered the common room where Steve, Carol, Rocket and Rhodey sat. "I have acquired a signal just outside of Earth's atmosphere."
Immediately, Rocket's gaze became hopeful.
"The Guardians?" He asked. Thor shrugged.
"I know not. The only information provided was vital signs aboard a spacecraft."
"Well, lets go get 'em, then," Carol declared, and Thor nodded with another smile.
...
evil cackle i just love leaving you guys hanging like this. to make the suspense worse..
who is approaching Earth? who will Loki and the gang of dead heroes find next? find out next time on... fIgHT aNOtHEr dAY iW AU!1!
(as much as it doesn't sound like it i love you all ok i swear)
ONE FAVOURITE = One cheer for Ronin- I mean Clint!
ONE REVIEW = One vote towards Odin's 'worst father of the century' award