Currently it's 3am and I have a stomach ache, and while I should be trying to sleep I'm instead lying here thinking what would happen if Loki and Sheogorath met each other.
Reasons The Shivering Isles is my all time favorite expansion:
1) Sheogorath is hilarious.
2) Jyggalag is on another level. Once you get over the satisfaction of defeating the daedric prince and delve deeper into the plot you realize Jyggalag won, because he lost. His whole plan was to escape his curse by stopping the greymarch and he succeeded - using you as a proxy. And it all was planned while he was the Mad-God.
Since getting my exercise bike I’ve been exercising daily, and while I haven’t seen much change when weighing myself, I do feel a change in my legs. Thus I decided to focus on that more than the overall weight on the scale. After all, I’m likely to be gaining muscle weight which is a good thing for losing fat weight. It’s just difficult to not get discouraged when I don’t see the scale changing. I used to see my weight dropping daily, but then again I wasn’t following the healthiest of diets. (Eating less than 900 total calories per day isn’t really a good thing.)
I figure I should just go back to weighing myself once a week rather than daily, that way I can focus on exercising and eating healthy rather than fuss over my weight. Once I fully develop the habit of exercising daily, I can focus on losing weight more, that is if my exercising doesn’t cause me to lose weight naturally. It takes 60 days to develop a habit, so I just need to last that long on exercising daily, and I’ll become used to doing so. Hopefully by then I’ll have lost a bit of weight. I would be overjoyed if I could get down to 160 by then. Even getting down to 180 would be good. I just need to continue using my bike, and incorporate weight lifting a bit more as well.
As for things other than weight and diet, I want to get back into the habit of updating my fanfiction. I’ve become so engrossed in youtube and video gaming that I’ve neglected posting my story chapters despite having a plethora of them completed. I also still haven’t used the art supplies I’ve bought in recent months - I should, but I haven’t felt inspired to do much drawing or painting. At least not when I’m at home. Perhaps if I start going out again I’ll find inspiration/motivation, but it’s difficult to get myself to go anywhere. I’m hoping getting into the habit of exercising will bring me more energy and motivation, that way I’ll be more willing to go out. If I can find some path that I feel comfortable walking alone, I’d be more inclined to walk. But even after over ten years of living where I do now, I still don’t know enough of the jogging/walking trails nearby. Just the one to the shopping center, and walking there will just make me miss shopping or having coffee and eating in the store. (It’s too cold to eat outside, especially since I don’t have a real coat. I have a thick hoodie/jacket I could use, but no coat. I generally don’t like most coats since those I can afford/am willing to pay for, are ‘plastic-y’ on the outside. This makes them more likely to become cold on the outside, and since I become cold when I touch cold things, I will be uncomfortable in them. But if they don’t have that ‘plastic’ layer, then they’re more prone to wind. Thus it’s difficult finding one I’d like/use.)
I am so used to staying indoors it’s difficult to even become willing to take out the trash or even step outside. And this isn’t just because of the pandemic. I’ve been staying indoors and refusing to go out for a few years now, the pandemic just gave me an excuse to continue to do so. It would be so depression inducing if I wasn’t on an antidepressant. At least the past holiday season was better than it usually is for me. I didn’t get depressed during it or angry like I normally do. I did get a bit subdued, but nowhere near what I usually do. That’s a plus. I also haven’t binged shop much. I splurged, but not from manic/binge buying. I’ve been wanting to buy an exercise bike for years and I used to like putting on makeup before my latest depression, so buying both of those things I don’t consider a manic-purchase. If I ended up not using either, then I’d consider it that, but I’ve been using both.
That’s not to say I haven’t been tempted to impulse buy foods, etc. from amazon. Even though I don’t need it, since we’re pretty stocked-up on foods (I do have a lack of snacks though.) I’ve been containing my impulses to buy foods or other things that I won’t use or don’t need, like meal delivery kits. I want to buy them so I can cook, but then I remind myself that I could cook the same recipes for cheaper just by buying the ingredients in store and following the recipes they have online. I don’t need to spend all that money for very little food.
I was playing The Sims 4 when my sim started dying from being hysterical. As she had just adopted a child and was the only adult Sim in the household, I quickly loaded my previous save before the death played out. I hadn't saved for awhile, but I figured having to redo a couple days in game isn't too bad.
Then I checked my household inventory....
Her own gravestone was in it!
After a wtf moment in which I had to remind myself what my sim's name was, I BURST out laughing. Her own fricken gravestone?! It was the most surreal moment for me and my sim, and she's been abducted by aliens twice and her first romance was with an alien who still won't kiss her...
I placed the gravestone/urn on a table in her apartment, so now she can have a constant reminder that in a parallel universe, she died...
We got so much food from people these past two weeks that we don't need to go shopping much, or rather can't go shopping. Our fridge is pretty full as is our freezer (both of which are 13+ year old nearly dead machines/machine. I'm surprise it hasn't stopped working yet, the state it's in.)
Anyway, I've been thinking about whether to ease up on my keto diet a bit so the food doesn't mostly go to waste. (Either by my siblings bingeing when they don't need to eat so much or by no one eating things like apples and juicing oranges.) What would be worse to eat the fruit or the potatoes?
Probably the potatoes simply because I will binge on them. I tend to not binge on fruit, no matter what fruit. (Unless it's tomatoes, but my taste-buds don't consider that fruit. And so finds it tastier. I don't care much for sweet things often.) Also, my siblings will eat the potatoes, they won't eat the apples or oranges.
I want you all to know that an Arab Muslim from Tunis proposed the Theory of Evolution near 600 years before Charles Darwin even took his first breath. Don’t let them erase you.
Also, it was not the apple falling from a tree that made Issac Newton “discover” gravity. He was reading the books of Ibn Al Haytham, an Arab Muslim from Iraq, who pioneered the scientific method, discovered gravity and wrote about the laws governing the movement of bodies (now known as Newtons three laws of motion) some 600 years before Newton existed. Without him, modern science as we know it wouldn’t exist. Read on him. His achievements are far greater than what I’ve just mentioned here.
#no offense but arabs literally invented chemistry and algebra and we came up with the concept of the camera #the cataract operation that’s still practiced today was invented by an Arab #we created alchemy and the wright brothers used abbas ibn firnas’ findings and writings to build on to create a plane #I could go on and on and on #pls don’t erase our scientific history
In the middle ages, THE place to go for an education was the middle East, or, failing that, Spain. The Muslim world didn’t have the same limits placed on scientific inquiry that the Christian world did, and since they were willing to look at more than just Aristotole and actually compare texts to the observable world, they had some incredible scientific and mathematical advancements. And street lights and toilets. I mean theories and algebra are great and all, but street lights and toilets. In the 12th century. Also medical advancements, and fewer rules against women studying. Hell, women *should* be the ones studying the female body, would you rather a woman see your female relatives, or some old man? Would you rather have someone who lives in the same kind of body, or one who has no first hand idea what the parts can do?
Europeans erased centuries of knowledge from the East because of fear. When we “rediscovered” it, we were still too egotistical to admit that non-whites could have been smarter, so we invented our own mythology.
Bring credit back where it’s due. Honor the true pioneers.
help me out guys. reblog this, like this. for every note, everything is pushed back a day for him. I need your help. he doesn’t believe it’s possible to help him. but it’s entirely possible, especially with your help. I know these are so sporadic and cliché to an extent along with becoming so popular on here, but please. I appreciate every single note
A pair of sea-green eyes widened, their owner drawing in a sharp breath. Perched on a hidden overlook that was just outside the perimeter of the fight and its destructiveness, the mischief goddess stared in horror at a sight less than twenty feet away.
There, cradling his eighteen-month old daughter in his arms, was Tony Stark. In any other circumstance it would’ve been an endearing sight - a loving father holding his child - now though, it was anything but.
“Please not…” Lokki muttered even as the first signs started and it became clear which one the Infinity Stones’ magic had targeted. All feeling drained from the goddess when the toddler disintegrated in its father’s arms.
~x~
Her breath hitching at the memory, Lokki stood stock still in the building’s vestibule. After her doppelganger left the apartment without making any effort to secure her inside, she had mulled over what to do. Though small, the hideaway was comfortable and shielded from all intrusion. Curling up on the sofa with a decent book sounded perfect and she’d nearly done just that, until another bout of nausea overtook her.
After settling her stomach again, the goddess had considered lying down and perhaps relaxing in a cool bath, but decided instead on a walk. Fresh air had always helped her before with her pregnancy nausea, which due to her Jotunn biology lasted longer and was more potent than other races, and thus she left the apartment. Her intent being to wander around a bit before her doppelganger returned.
A plan that was thrown off when she got to the ground floor of the apartment complex and recognized the building. It was the building she’d hidden within the ruins of in her memory, and that realization had wrung forth the flashback. It didn’t help that someone passing through the vestibule and towards the exit had snapped their fingers. The innocuous sound paralyzing Lokki.
Forcing herself to breathe deeply and steadily, Lokki touched her abdomen, laying her hands over it both for comfort and to check its protection. Strengthened by her doppelganger’s magic, the frost shield protecting the unborn life inside her was the most solid and unyielding as she ever felt it. An immense reassurance. Without it she and her child would be as vulnerable as a Midgardian. Or any other mortal race. Even more so with her magic dampened by the seidr bracers around her forearms.
“If only….” Lokki sighed and frowned, ignoring her surroundings and the Midgardians lingering about. That was until one grabbed her upper arm, their grip firm. Side-glancing at the Midgardian hand gripping her above the elbow, the goddess frowned. “Whoever you are may I suggest you look elsewhere for whatever it is you….”
“You may not.” A human woman growled, tightening her grip around the frost giantess’ arm, in her other hand she aimed a firearm at the goddess.
The mischief goddess blinked, incredulous at the mortal’s audacity at first and wondering if she was being pranked. She wordlessly scrutinized the Midgardian, noting that there was something off putting about the woman with the gun. A quality to the woman’s demeanor that was disquieting.
Lokki drew a sharp breath, a mix of recognition and bewilderment lighting up her face. ‘Mind control…’ She stared down at the woman, into the Midgardian’s eyes which were dull and unemotive. Not quite as glossy as Midgardian literature would describe, but dimmed of natural affectation. “Who are you?” The goddess asked, feigning obliviousness to the firearm aimed at her mid-abdomen. Her eyes and attention locked on the Midgardian woman. “What are you doing here?” The touch of the gun muzzle flush against her side froze Lokki’s words, and her bewilderment shifted into alarm as the seidr cuffs fell from her wrists.
“SSA Eliza Argyle.” The woman muttered and flashed her FBI credentials, before scowling heavily at the goddess. An emotion that stopped short of her eyes, the amber irises still dimmed. Pressing the muzzle of her firearm firmer into Lokki’s side, the Midgardian woman hissed. “Do what I say or I will pull the trigger.”
Her demeanor shifting at the threat, Lokki stared down at the other woman and flexed her arms a bit as the seidr suppression of the bracers dissipated. The impulse to wrench the firearm from the woman and teach her as she had done the mercenary at the Sanctum passed through Lokki. It was only from recognition that the Midgardian was being controlled and that the real threat would remain unscathed that stopped the mischief goddess.
“And what would you have me do?” Lokki asked, masking her fury with illusion magic and showing a worried countenance in its place. Her fingers twitched and she quietly froze the inside of the gun barrel, hiding the fact with another illusion. After a split-second of thought, she spread her illusion magic to mask what was happening from all potential onlookers. Whatever the being controlling the woman wanted, having any other Midgardians interrupt was undesirable.
“Be quiet and walk.” Argyle gestured towards the stairs, oblivious to the way the people around them were oblivious to the two of them.
Lokki didn’t move. Despite the seidr cuff’s dropping in proof of the contrary, the mischief goddess could see nothing dangerous about the agent. No sign that whoever was controlling Argyle knew who the goddess was or her abilities. A mistake Lokki was itching to exploit, but at the same time it made her wary. Mind control wasn’t an ability Midgardians generally had access to.
“I said…”
Frowning at the Midgardian, Lokki snatched the firearm from Argyle’s hand before the woman could squeeze the trigger and cause a backfire. “And I asked ‘who are you?’ Meaning you, the one who is controlling agent Argyle.” The mischief goddess scowled when the next words from the agent was the start of a denial, and she grabbed Argyle’s wrist. Glaring down at the woman, she growled. “You obviously have no idea who I am. Unfortunately for you, I am not in the mood for games. Or perhaps it is fortunate?” Lokki let go of the woman, who stumbled backwards onto the floor. A half-smile was on her lips as she continued. “Who are you and what do you want? Perhaps, if it is not undesirable for me, I will do what you wish.”
Staring up at Lokki with dull eyes, Argyle made no reply, only sat where she’d fallen. Her gaze shifting around at their surroundings, the agent became aware of the obliviousness of the bystanders in the lobby of the apartment building. Not one glanced their way.
“You shielded us from observation.” Argyle muttered, returning her glare to Lokki. “Who are you? You’re not just some pet of the mischief god.”
“Excuse me?” Gaped Lokki, affronted and she tilted her head to the side, staring down at the Midgardian. All semblance of calculated neutrality wiped from the goddess’ face and replaced instead with a mirthless smile. One that oozed maliciousness. “Pet?” She muttered and glanced over the agent, shaking her head. Her smile grown smaller as she pursed her lips, she gave a breathy laugh and continued. “Firstly, I am no one’s pet. No one’s. Let alone…” Lokki paused, her indignation lessened as the absurdity of Argyle’s assumption hit her. “Do you and your boss really think my doppelganger owns me? That….” She trailed off, the corners of her mouth twitching.
“Doppelganger?” Argyle stared blankly up at Lokki.
“Hilarious.” The mischief goddess grinned and gave another breathy laugh, ignoring Argyle’s bewilderment. “As a joke - superb. Still will be your last laugh, but superb nevertheless.” Summoning a dagger, she decreased the distance between herself and the agent to zero in three steps. Then she lifted Argyle up roughly by the woman’s shirt. Malicious sea-green eyes locked onto amber ones as Lokki sunk her dagger into the agent’s side.
~0~
Lying face down on a patch of artificial grass, his skull throbbing and every limb of his sore, Rogers hissed as he pushed himself up. Slowly and with each movement bringing pain, he managed to stand using a solid ceramic garden pot for balance. It lasted a few deep breaths before lightheadedness caused him to stumble - luckily he propped himself against the Arboretum wall before he unceremoniously crashed back to the floor.
“Damn. Shh…” He muttered and drew in a sharp breath at a particularly keen throb assaulting him. Between his raging headache and torturously battered body, Rogers could barely form a coherent thought. All that came were flashes of memory and words - cold words, said in a cold voice.
“Easy now.” Someone said and grabbed his arm, the gesture meant to be helpful. He pulled back though, uneasy at the touch - much of his recent memory was a blur and he was sure he was alone. Or should be. “Hey, easy now, alright? I know you have some superhuman powers, captain, but so did that armored bastard.”
“I…” Rogers blinked, the pain in his torso lessening gradually, though his head still throbbed. It took a few seconds more and focus to finally recognize the one helping him. The soldier Fen had teleported onto the other ship. “You...you’re alive?” The Avenger gave a relieved sigh and allowed the other man to lead him to a seat on a bench beside what looked like a medic station.
“Alive and well, captain.” The soldier replied. “The other ship was practically abandoned. That bastard who boarded this ship was its only occupant which made it easy to sneak around once he left. I think I managed to sabotage it.”
“That’s good at least.” Muttered Rogers, his headache lessening enough that he could think. His recollection of what happened still blurred - he remembered up until the intruder - Thanos, he assumed - had entered the Arboretum. But everything afterwards, up until he regained consciousness on the Arboretum floor, was warped blots. “I never asked you your name. What is it, by the way?”
“Wulf, captain. Frederick Wulf.” Answered the soldier, his reasonable tone causing Rogers to raise an eyebrow. Before being teleported into potential danger, the other man had been quite belligerent. Wulf answered the captain’s unvoiced suspicion by turning towards the other end of the ship. Or where the other end should’ve been. Instead there was the void of space, the ship having lost a huge chunk of itself. A ward sealing up the breach the only thing stopping everything being sucked into space.
Rogers gaped at the sight, his brain spinning with a vague recollection of what had happened. Images of the armored being tearing through the ship and meeting the Avenger’s tenacious attacks with his own staggering blows flashed through Roger’s memory. An offensive that had culminated in the armored being destroying a large chunk of the ship to halt the Avenger. “The wounded soldiers…they were...”
“Yes.” Wulf said, jaw pulled taut. “I managed to get back on this ship just as that bastard tore that side off. The side that my men were fucking on.” Rogers sucked in a breath, his gut revolting as he thought of the wounded men being ruthlessly thrown into the vacuum of space. He muttered words of condolence to the other man. “No need for that. Just tell me you’re going to help me kill that son of a bitch.”
“I…”
-Brzzt! Attention! Critical engine failure!- Screamed the ship’s computerized alarm, cutting across Rogers’ reply to Wulf. Both men fell silent, and listened to the warning with increasing levels of trepidation. The warning was much more jarring as it was made in a highly computerized voice. -Critical engine failure! Evacuation strongly advised!-
“What?” Wulf growled, glancing around for the android Fen before focusing instead on the closest computer monitor. Its screen displayed the same warning as was shouted over the ship’s broadcast speakers. No other information. He frowned as did Rogers. “What are we supposed to…”
“Rawrgrrrh! Rawrgrrrh!” Came a loud growl as Nar ambled forward, his attention focused on the Avenger. Relatively unwounded, the bear reached Rogers within seconds and completely ignored Wulf, who gandered bewildered at the creature. “Grrrhr rhhhr. Rawrgr.” Nar growled and once he got Rogers’ attention, turned back towards the direction he’d ambled over from. After a moment he repeated the action, mutely imploring the Avenger to understand.
“I believe he wants us to follow.” Said Rogers, prodding Wulf beside him before following after Nar.
Hesitating at first, Wulf soon trailed after the bear and Avenger, his eyes peeled for any sudden movement. He stopped and drew in a breath when Nar led them to a smaller ship. On initial inspection it appeared derelict, with the outside showing evidence of rust and weather worn edges, while the inside seemed unlikely to fit the three of them. At least not comfortably. Wulf frowned. “I don’t think the bear will fit…”
Nar glowered at the soldier. But before things escalated further the engine alarm shrieked over the intercom again. -Critical engine failure! Evacuation…-
“We’ll make do. Get in.” Rogers told Wulf, and he waited until the soldier entered the ship before motioning for Nar to enter. The bear growled lowly but did so, its girth taking up much of the space on the ship. The Avenger entered last. Almost as soon as the ship door shut, the contraption powered up and within moments the smaller ship left the larger, zooming into the abyss of space.
~0~
“Hey!” Morfield shouted towards the intercom and camera, the alarm still blaring from outside the room. A bellowing alarm that quickened his heart rate and dwarfed all other noises. He could hardly hear himself over the din. “Is anyone….”
“Don’t bother.” Came a voice from behind the agent, followed by footsteps as its owner stepped forward. “They’re all too distracted to notice you or I.”
“Mordo! Good. Get me out of here.” Morfield exclaimed, turning to face the sorcerer. “I don’t want to compromise Erik, but the Avengers think I’m working for Hydra. Hydra!”
Mordo refrained from replying and just glanced up at the camera, disabling it by tossing it into another dimension. He started to do likewise to the intercom speakers, but stopped and instead returned his focus back to the agent. His mouth pursed firmly, the sorcerer just glowered at Morfield with vehement and scornful eyes. “...It’d been better if you were working for them.” The sorcerer finally muttered after a few moments.
“What?” The agent visibly flinched, stepping back and staring at the sorcerer with an expression of horror and repugnance. “Those bastards murdered my nephew, yet you say that?!” Morfield spat, glaring at the other man. The alarm that had been blaring on around them lessened in volume.
“Better them than who you are working for.” Mordo replied, still staring at the other man with scorn. “At least Hydra is relatively defeatable and has ambitions that center on this planet solely.”
The agent blinked and cocked his head to the side. “What are you talking about? Are you suggesting Erik is worse than those bastards that killed my nephew - his son?! You…” Morfield rushed at Mordo, attempting to grab the other man by his shirt, only for the sorcerer to dodge the lunge using a portal to move behind the agent.
“No, not at all.” Mordo shook his head, scrutinizing the agent with a gaze slightly less vehement. “Pendrick is just more dangerous, considering who he’s working for and their goals.”
“...Erik doesn’t work for anyone.” Replied Morfield. “He and his research are independant, as is his lab. And what he’s seeking to do will only benefit humanity.”
“...if Pendrick told you that, then he lied.” The sorcerer grimaced, eyeing the agent as the man rounded on him. His grimace hardened when the agent started to protest, denying everything that Mordo was saying. “...you do yourself a disservice, being so blindly loyal. As proof, your friend sent me here to tie up loose ends - or in other words, to kill you.” Mordo roughly grabbed the man by the arm, and then struck at the other’s chest to send a magic shockwave through Morfield, one designed to stop the man’s heartbeat. Before his strike made contact, the sorcerer’s arm was pulled back by gilded magic binds.
“That’s quite enough.” Strange said upon halting his ex-colleague’s attack, stepping out of a portal to stand a few steps from the other wizard. His eyebrow rose when Mordo flung off the magic binds with ease a moment later and turned to face his former friend. “I see you’ve been putting the magic you’ve been stealing to use.”
“You expect me to have remained idle?” Replied Mordo as he readied his defenses, powering up a protective spell.
“Not at all. I expect you’ve been quite attentive to the improvement of your abilities.” Strange peered cautiously at the other wizard, but made no move except to teleport agent Morfield from the room and into a neighboring holding cell. “I am curious though. Why are you here?”
Mordo hardly batted an eye at the spiriting away of his target, instead eyeing Strange back with a frown. “I thought that was pretty obvious.”
“Sure. But I meant why travel to this universe and interfere with things that have zero connection to you?”
“This Universe? I do not know what…”
“Wong found Mordo, our Mordo. He’s been going after Kamar Taj students in Russia.” Interrupted Strange, who crossed his arms and stared stoically at the other man. “You would do well to drop the act. You are not from this universe.” The doctor-wizard glowered and waited a few moments for the other to respond. When Mordo made no effort to reply, Strange pursed his lips and stared irritated at the other wizard. “That’s why you know about and left a message for Miss Lokki. You’re from her universe.”
Mordo frowned but continued to say nothing, neither confirming or denying what the other man said.
“You don’t want to admit it? Fine. I don’t need confirmation. But you will answer my other questions.” Said Strange, who then lunged towards Mordo only to be repelled by the other wizard’s defenses. He repeated the attack thrice more, and managed to land only a light blow to his ex-friend’s shoulder. After landing the blow, Strange backed off while deflecting Mordo’s assault, the latter wizard incensed by the other’s attack. A few more defensive deflections, and Mordo stopped, standing back defensively and eyeing Strange.
“What….” Mordo winced, his shoulder feeling unnaturally warm where the other wizard had struck it. Rubbing it, it felt warmer and he glanced at it. A rune symbol glowed there on his shoulder. “What have you…”
“Truth magic. Something I’ve been looking into since Miss Lokki arrived. I may not be able to use it on her, but you...you will give answers.” Strange replied. “The first being, what happened to Steve Rogers?”
Mordo frowned, the unnatural warmth pulsing through him from the rune; the sensation continued until he answered. “I teleported him away.”
“To where?”
“To the rift torn open by the Tesseract.”
“...you mean the rift between this universe and your and Miss Lokki’s?” Strange eyed the other wizard with curiosity, intrigued at the mention of the Tesseract. From what he understood of the artifact, he’d already surmised it may have had a part in the creation of the dimensional rift.
“...yes.” Mordo glowered, struggling against the rune’s magic; his demeanor growing increasingly irate. Even more so when he attempted to portal away, only for his magic to fail. Scowling at the other wizard, he spat his next words before Strange opened his mouth to ask his next question. “It’s just like you, using forbidden magic whenever it suits you.”
“Only when it's necessary.”
“You mean for the greater good. That, friend, is no excuse.” Mordo snapped, his anger palpable, and face etched with lines of indignation. “What would you do when that same line is used to justify utter destruction? When other people use it to justify crossing lines you never considered?”
“...I’ll stop them, of course.” Strange replied, his quick answer causing the other man to shake his head.
“And if you’re not around? What then?” Mordo spat, bristling as he spoke. “If you and your friends were dead, and the fate of the universe was left to a deranged god, what then?”
Staring at his former colleague and absorbing his words, Strange thought for a moment. “...you’re referring to the being in your universe who used the Infinity Stones, aren’t you? The one who decimated it.” He raised an eyebrow when Mordo clenched his jaw, trying not to answer.
“The ones.” The ebony skinned wizard blurted after a moment of refrain, his fists clenched tighter than his jaw and his voice loud in volume. “The mad titan wasn’t alone in his use of the stones, his consort used them as well.”
“Consort?” The surgeon-sorcerer cocked an eyebrow and leaned forward, voraciously listening to the other wizard. “Who is this consort?”
Mordo frowned, swallowing as he once more tried to hold back his reply. To which Strange sighed, and shrugging, rolled his eyes.
“Just answer.” Strange drawled, dryly. “Unless you want to live the rest of your life mute, you’ll have to. The rune’s magic won’t fade if there is a question I ask left unanswered.”
The other wizard scowled, shaking his head and keeping his lips pressed firmly shut. As he did so, the air shifted around him, its heaviness dissipating as something broke through the suppression magic. Across the room, Strange started, not missing the shift and swiftly understanding what was happening. The doctor-wizard hurried forward, attempting to cast another magic sealing spell. Only for it to be repelled back onto him.
Hissing as he was thrown back against the far wall, Strange felt a heaviness creep over him; it squeezed the air from his lungs and throttled away all conscious awareness of his surroundings. Except for the throbbing of his hands. His magic suppressed, the protection he had against his old injury was weakened and he felt the pain from it for the first time in years.
“Shit.” Strange swore, his eyes shut tight against the throbbing of his hands as well as his head; having hit the wall hard as he’d been thrown back, he was sure he had a bump and bruise if not a full concussion. It certainly felt that way.
“Good work.” Came a voice through the din of ringing in Strange’s ears, and he opened his eyes a sliver to peek at who spoke. The wizard’s vision was blurry, but he made out two people standing behind Mordo. The first one, the one who’d spoken, was unknown to him and stood off a bit behind the other. “Bind him and make sure he can’t escape.”
“Yes.” The other person replied tersely, her voice pulling Strange’s gaze to her.
Through his dizziness and pain, he recognized the young woman as she stepped forward. Wanda. Confusion filled him at the sight of the young Avenger, along with trepidation.
Rubbing the edges of his forehead, a vein on one side popping out slightly, Mordo staggered a bit. The spell he’d just used had taken its toll, both in the casting of it and in the effort expended to keep its source contained. As though responding to his temporary weakened state, a bunch of chains rattled behind him: the power source of his spell struggling to free itself.
Wrapped in chains of forged metal and magics, and sealed in a space within which a constant binding spell was in effect, was Vision. Barely conscious and warded back with potent magic and beyond human technology, the sentient android who had once been simply an A.I created by Stark, looked up at Mordo. Exhausted and unable to speak after the wizard leeched power from him for his spell, Vision could only scowl.
“I take it, you’re finished?” Came another voice, its owner stepping forward with an air of arrogance. The haughtiness developed over years of believing everyone around you was a fool. “I assume this makes up for the upset I caused your plans?”
Still standing nearby the prison housing Vision, Mordo shifted his gaze from the android to the other man. “Only if you stick to your promise to keep your machinations from ruining my plans again, Dr. Pendrick.”
“Of course.” Pendrick replied, his countenance still smug though his voice sounded contrite. At least briefly. “Are you sure you don’t want to do a tiny thing for me? A favor that’d surely be child’s play for someone with your capabilities.”
Studying the other man, particularly his arrogant posture and demeanor, with a reproachful eye, Mordo said nothing. His attention turned back to the imprisoned Avenger and the binds entrapping the fellow. The power, ingenuity, and tech behind the contraption unnerved the wizard. The mere presence of alien technology being used in it pointed towards Pendrick’s ambitions being more than what the wizard had first assumed. More dangerous. Schooling his unease from showing on his face, Mordo turned away. Not towards Pendrick, but towards a heavily bolted door.
Inscribed with an array of lettering resembling sanskrit in certain ways but completely alien in others, the door drew the sorcerer’s eye. It would attract anyone’s eye - an imposing, heavy metal door sealed in what amounted to a laboratory dungeon would spark curiosity in anyone. Even without the incantation-esque writing drawn around it or the particular microchip-wire design superimposed beneath said lettering.
“...what is it you had in mind?” Mordo turned back to Pendrick and asked, his voice and posture composed. Neutral and noncommittal. Pendrick half-smiled at that, but didn’t answer the other. Instead glancing from the sorcerer back to the imprisoned Vision, but without focusing on the Avenger. It was the binds that got his attention, not the sentient android.
Pendrick continued staring at the binds and muttered. “Nothing this moment. I simply wanted to know if you’d be open to aiding me, if I ever request it. If you have qualms or doubts of any sort or think you will, then our business is concluded.”
“You haven’t mentioned what you wanted. How can I decide if you haven’t even said what….”
“You either agree to help or you leave. Simple as that. With what - that I’ll reveal when you’ve agreed.” Pendrick continued, waiting for Mordo’s answer. “Before you dismiss me outright though, may I suggest you mull over how I captured this marvel of sentience before us,” He gestured towards Vision. “...despite the power it possessed and ask yourself: is your magic on par with an Infinity Stone?”
“Infinity Stone?” Mordo muttered, staring at Pendrick with a wary glint in his gaze. The other man simply returned the stare, the ghost of a smug smile tugging at his lips. A hundred or so seconds passed in silence as neither man spoke, just kept focused on their spur-of-the-moment staring contest. The wizard broke first, briefly glancing away and grimacing at their surroundings before addressing Pendrick. “...when did he contact you?”
Pendrick tilted his head, his arms folded in front of him. His body language feigned bewilderment while his eyes lit up with understanding. “He? Who are you talking about?”
Mordo glowered at the scientist, ready to portal the other man into a worse place than Rogers and the soldiers. “Deny it if you want, I know he contacted you.” The wizard paused, waiting for the other man to reply. When no response was forthcoming aside from a raised eyebrow, he continued. “He’s the only one who could have provided you with all this alien magic and tech.” The wizard muttered almost under his breath and gestured around at their surroundings, a dour expression on his face.
Pendrick eyed the wizard wordlessly and took his time to mull over the other’s words. He turned away from Mordo, his expression losing none of its smugness. “If you know that much, you realize going against me is ill advised. As is not aiding me in my endeavors.” The threat in the scientist’s words hung heavily over the other. Despite that, Mordo scowled and clenched his jaw tighter.
~0~
Sitting in a room that was little larger than an economy-sized walk in freezer, Finley Morfield attempted to calm his racing pulse by taking a few deep breaths. The composure he’d shown during his meeting with Thor and Strange nonexistent. Yesterday he had his government position to protect him and the guaranteed backing of at least a few senior agents and officials to circumvent any fallout. After all, his actions and decisions had all been to secure the country against the mischief god, and any other possible threat.
Now though…
With the attack on the Sanctum having failed to secure Loki while also resulting in some US soldiers going missing, the ‘guaranteed’ backing he had counted on was untenable. Even the senior officials who wouldn’t be bothered by his failure would likely refuse him any support now, considering his past in Hydra was likely now known to the Avengers. His superiors and fellow agents in the Mediation and Evasive Defense department had already known about it when he was brought in, full-disclosure of his past having been a requirement of the deal he struck to avoid being tried with other ex-Hydra. But most others did not.
Something that was certain to change now that the Avengers - especially Stark - knew. And it wouldn’t matter that he was now as anti-Hydra as the billionaire inventor. He was screwed.
-“I see you decided to take advantage of the accommodations.” Said Stark over the speaker system, his voice coming from just under the surveillance camera in the top left corner of the room. “Unfortunate. I actually liked that chair.”-
Morfield clenched his jaw at the comment and its implied meaning, but made no protest. Three years ago or if anyone else had made the comment, he might have and had actually done so a few times, but not now. He understood the Avenger’s irate.
-“No comment? Huh. No protest that since your reasons for working for Hydra were financial that my comment is inappropriate? That you’re not like those who actually believed in its doctrine?”-
“No.” Morfield replied. “You can say and make whatever comments you want. I did work for those bastards once so I deserve it.”
-“Huh.” Muttered Stark and there were a handful of seconds of silence over the speakers, during which Morfield assumed the Avenger was either assessing him or communicating with his fellow Avengers. Judging by the scathing vocal tone the billionaire used, Morfield wouldn’t have been surprised if the other had assumed he’d defend his past. Or denied it mattered. “You’re not like what I expected. You actually sound...”-
“Contrite? Regretful?” Morfield finished the other’s sentence.
-“‘Genuine’ was what I was about to say.” There was another pause, this time with static and ruffling noises coming over the speakers, signs that Stark hadn’t bothered muting his end this time. The silence lasted upwards to two minutes before the Avenger spoke again, and when he did, his demeanor was slightly changed. “Agent Morfield, the current director of SHIELD has already given authority to my team to interrogate you. According to SHIELD and your department’s head, you weren’t authorized to do anything but negotiate with Thor about his brother....”-
“Negotiation was getting nowhere.” Morfield growled, glowering at the camera. “It was clear neither the thunder god nor the wizard were being impartial, despite evidence, to the threat of Loki having the….”
-“Thor’s brother doesn’t have the Tesseract.” The billionaire interrupted gruffly, his voice seeping with displeasure. “Believe me, I’d be the first in line to lock Loki up if he did. He doesn’t have it.”-
“Then the liar god has you fooled and if you can’t see that….”
-“Fucking shut up.” Spat Stark, the anger in his voice striking even over the intercom speakers. “Your buddies’ attack on the Sanctum almost caused fatal injuries to a pregnant guest staying there. And it seems one of your colleagues was a hitman sent specifically to target her.” The Avenger paused and watched through the surveillance camera as Morfield paled.-
“Pregnant? Rains’ target is pregnant?” Morfield’s eyes widened, horror lightening his cheeks. ‘Is that why Mordo deviated? Qualms against harming an innocent?’
-“Curious. You genuinely seem horrified.” Drawled Stark, disbelief coloring his voice along with spite. And an undercurrent of rage, one that quickly flared up as he continued. “Too bad your Hydra buddies two years ago didn’t have the same sympathies. I’d still have a daughter.”-
Morfield started, the horror in his countenance shifting to shock mixed with repugnance. As well as the first real glimmer of regret in his eyes. The topic change was swift, but he understood what the other man alluded to. “My Hydra buddies? I left those bastards several years ago. I testified against and outed many of them. I….” He sucked in a breath, realizing fully what Stark had assumed and what the man didn’t know. “You think I’m working for them again. I...you haven’t read my file, yet. The one kept by SHIELD’s director and Homeland Security.”
-“I plan to after we finish our chat. I admit I am interested in how you hoodwinked….”-
“I haven’t hoodwinked anyone! I hate Hydra the same as you. Similar reason too. That’s why I joined the department of Mediation and Evasive Defenses.” Morfield seethed, the anger in his voice as vehement as Stark’s. “Those cowards kidnapped and killed my nephew two years ago, same as your daughter and so many other children. If you think for one second that I’m working for them now or that….” The agent trailed off, his gray eyes livid. His fists clenched tightly, his nails nearly breaking the skin of his palms. He heard a click as Stark muted his side of the intercom system, allowing a heavy silence to permeate through the room. It lasted a while, long enough for the quiet to become uncomfortable and for Morfield to flinch when static came from the speaker. He settled himself and watched the camera, expectant for the Avenger to resume his interrogation.
An alarm trilled from over the intercom instead, killing the silence and causing Morfield to jump out of his chair.
~0~
“Really?” Loki muttered as the fifth door shut in his face and the deli’s owner locked and bolted the door. Four other places he had tried before this one: one corner store, one grocery, and two restaurants. None of them would serve him or allow him to step inside, not one of the owners even waited for him to explain what he wanted before sealing their entrances.
It would be simple work to break in, of course, his illusion magic alone would provide an easy way to work around the Midgardians’ stubbornness. Or he could strongarm his way in, using his godlike strength to coerce the mortals. But that would lead to the Avengers getting on his case once they found out. While using illusion magic to disguise himself just to shop...enraged him. Over the past year he had cultivated a rapport with these five particular businesses, having gotten fed up with being viewed with fear and suspicion.
Having put in the effort to build rapport with these mortals, being forced to use his illusion magic to trick them was irritating. What point was there to cultivating goodwill if it didn’t benefit him when he needed it? To make things more irritating, until a short while ago, these business owners were open to him. Allowing him unfettered use of their stores and to buy either with Midgardian currency or through ‘quid pro quo’ arrangements.
It was obvious to him what this sudden refusal of theirs to serve him stemmed from: The Statue. Whether his switcheroo or Strange’s was uncertain, but it was the only significant thing that would warrant their ostracisation of the god.
“After I helped….” Loki scowled, backing away from the door after briefly considering magically locking the deli and imprisoning its owner. Instead he glanced at the apartment windows above the deli, a vindictive smirk spreading over his lower face when he saw the window to the deli owner’s apartment was open. “Mrs. Watts, your delightful oaf of a spouse has been seeing that red-headed floozy from the bar again. Just this week. You know the one - thirty years younger than you with the ginormous…”
There was a loud screech as the deli owner’s wife heard him, the sound as harsh and vehement as a harpy and followed by the thump of a door swung violently open. Loki grinned and walked off, paying little mind to the spat his words had triggered. He had already caused similar fusses at each of the other four places after being ignored. Ranging from reporting terrible sanitary conditions to revealing money laundering and cheating - each tidbit having come to his knowledge through his quid pro quo arrangements with the businesses’ owners. (It was curious how little these Midgardians cared to hide things from him, even those whose arrangement with him hadn’t included help concealing their lies.)
‘That’s done. Now where to get Selfie something to eat?’ Loki searched around, strolling down the sidewalk. His smile smaller as his focus switched back to finding his doppelganger sustenance. ‘Something healthy yet tasty….’
Stopping abruptly outside a random storefront, the mischief god frowned. His eyes narrowed and he made no effort to move, a curious sensation running up and down his spine. Similar to what the Midgardians would describe as a chill, he recognized the touch of non-Midgardian magic. More interestingly, he picked up traces of Vanaheim derived seidr along with Jotunheim frost. And hints of something else, more sinister, that made him want to bristle.
He settled instead on deepening his frown and eyeing the storefront window, taking advantage of the glass and lighting to watch the reflection of his surroundings.
“It’d be best not to resist.” Said a voice, one familiar and whose owner stepped close enough into view for Loki to see them reflected in the window. The trickster god’s stare grew livid and wary seeing his interloper, even more so when the other’s partners stepped into view. “Now be a good little god and give us the Tesseract.”
Loki scowled, leering at those approaching him through the reflective glass. The main intruder, the one that had spoken to him, hung back though while his two partners neared the god. Curiosity colored Loki’s gaze, lessening the expression of his anger and his wariness. “...you and your master have been busy.” Said the mischief god, turning around to face those that had approached him. One was adorned in metal armor embellished with rune designs that were rarely seen outside Vanaheim and were rife with seidr energy. The other was a male Jotunn, sparsely armored and towering over them in height, although he was average size for his race. Neither of them were known to Loki, though judging by the clan markings he bore, the Jotunn was one of Laufey’s kin. Loki scowled.
“Of course. Thanos’ vision for the universe is not something to be halted forever. Even by the setback three years ago.” Ebony Maw paused and stood calmly in the middle of the street, completely unfazed by the angry and confused humans shouting at him. A few of the human onlookers scurried off, either through instinct or from recognizing Loki and realizing something dangerous was about to happen. Most did not though.
“Setback? A...oh.” Loki drew his lips into a grin, one subdued and mirthless; the rest of his face bearing a rigid, regal countenance. Identical to the airs he put on while imprisoned in Asgard, and equal in obscuring his actual emotions. ‘The Tesseract.’ His lips pressed into a thinner line, a heavy frown that masked his rising trepidation. ‘Of course. They wanted it and I left it on Asgard to be destroyed…’ He grimaced and pulled his jaw taut. ‘I really should’ve just bloody taken the thing.’
“Hand over the Tesseract. Denial is futile. We know it’s on this planet.” Said the Vanaheim battle mage, brandishing a heavy spiked mace that was laden with seidr. Either an adult female or young male judging by the voice, the armored stranger closed the remaining space between themself and the mischief god. Ebony Maw hung back and watched, as did the unknown Jotunn.
Loki rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Seconds later the battle mage lunged at the god, swinging their magic endowed mace. In those same seconds the mischief god’s illusionary form flickered away and he flung a few daggers at his enemies backs from where he’d reappeared. One for each of them. None of the blades found their mark - two were dodged, and one caught mid-throw. Loki scowled and slipped behind an illusion.
‘Norns, of all the….’ The mischief god seethed in his head, considering his options while the Midgardians that hadn’t already fled now did so. Alarmed by the skirmish, they scurried away or hid inside the buildings and shops lining the street.
~0~
“Fuck.” Hissed Stark inside his Iron suit as he was thrown backwards by a bulky-armored intruder. Similar to the humanoid creature that had attacked yesterday with the maul, this new intruder also said nothing. Just attacked. Swinging its spiked fist at the Avenger within seconds of the tower alarm sounding. The billionaire barely had time to shield himself within his iron suit before the being’s fist contacted his torso.
Despite the protection of his iron suit the punch winded him and threw him against one of his workshop’s tables. There his arm struck the edge, and though the impact was buffered by his suit, a sharp burning pain shot up his arm. He sucked in a breath. Realizing only moments later, after his fellow Avengers in the room drew the intruder’s attention towards them, that his injured arm was the same one that had bothered him since yesterday.
Stark swore. The pain shooting up his arm was paralytic and even through the din of fighting, he heard one of his fellow Avengers asking if he was all right. “I’m fine. Just….” The inventor hissed, his answer cut off by a sharp twinge. Seconds later, he scowled and forced himself to ignore the pain best he could and dive back into the skirmish.
He managed to get a few energy blast hits in on their mute attacker, helping to wound him just as an explosion rushed through the building. Originating close to where the agent Morfield was being held, the explosive shockwave sent him flying into a wall or some other unyielding surface. And he gasped in pain as his arm struck whatever he crashed into with enough force to snap in half if not for the protection of his iron suit. Instead he blacked out, unable to ignore the burning agony pulsing from his hand.
“You are out of line.” Thor growled at Stark, as Loki and Lokki teleported away. “What happened to you and your wife two years ago is no excuse to treat my family like that.” He strode forward, reaching Stark in three strides and grabbed the inventor by the shirt. “Sis has nothing to do with what happened to your daughter, and she obviously didn’t know….”
“About Morgan dying? I caught that.” Stark replied, flinching as he said his daughter’s name, his anger diminished. Replaced instead with numbness and a calmer rage, one as quiet as the blood smearing his palm. “I also caught Miss Nippy dropping the name of the person who decimated her universe. Thanos.”
Confusion spread over Thor, his outrage tempered by it. His grip on Stark’s shirt lessened. “What?” He muttered, staring at the other man. It took a moment for what the other said and its implication to reach through his bewilderment. “Don’t tell me all that was just a ploy to get Sis to divulge a name….” Beside them, Natasha and Barton held similar stares of disbelief, directed at Stark.
“Not exactly.” Stark replied and pulled his shirt from the thunder god’s grip, after which he looked over his wounded palm. “I am fucking pissed off. And I meant what I said. She’s to stay the hell out of my building.” His demeanor shifted from relatively calm to livid, recalling the emotions that had flooded him when he heard Lokki mention Morgan by name. For the shortest of short moments, he thought he’d get the chance to see his daughter. That she was alive in the goddess’ parallel universe and, with his parallel-world self dead, without a father.
The idea broke down immediately once he considered how selfish it was (his brain had not immediately registered what Lokki had said about Pepper in her universe), he couldn’t take this other Morgan from her mother. It was further devastated when Lokki revealed that the Morgan of her universe was dead. Killed by Thanos using the Infinity Stones. That was a blow, and delivered in such a direct tone. A tone he only now realized was that way from shock and not indifference.
“I don’t believe you.” Thor shook his head, unsure what angered him more: Stark’s outburst being real or a ploy. “Did...did my brother have anything to do with this….”
Stark scowled at the thunder god. “No. My outburst wasn’t fake and I’m close to having another at your obtuseness. Do you want me to tell you to get out as well?” He bristled when Thor glowered back and growled that the inventor didn’t have the power to kick him out. Barton and Natasha stepped between the two of them before Stark could retort and challenge the god.
“Enough. Alright?”
“Jeez…”
“Fine. But you better apologize to Sis. Regardless of things.” Demanded Thor. “Kicking her out is bad enough. Calling her creature like that is worse.” His eyes narrowed recalling his brother’s sensitivity at being Jotunn, a race that many Asgardians viewed as hardly more than beasts. His brother’s female double likely had similar, if not the same sensitivities.
Stark grimaced and clenched his jaw while cupping his injured hand with his uninjured one. After a moment he nodded. “Fine. That was a bit out of line. I’ll apologize later.” His face hardened when Thor started to demand he apologize right away. “Not going to happen.”
“Why not?!”
“Aside from me still wanting to pummel Miss Nippy? There’s no time.” The inventor snapped while opening the door to his workshop and collecting things for bandaging his hand from a first-aid kit on one of the shelves. Thor and the other Avengers followed, the Asgardian from anger and the others from caution. “Barton and Barnes arrived this morning with an agent Morfield. The same one that tried capturing you and Strange. And who is, according to Barnes, an ex-Hydra member. One that helped keep him captive and brainwashed.”
“What?” Thor stared at Stark, recognizing the name of the terrorist organization from helping his fellow Avengers expose and fight them a few times since coming to Earth. The group was very like its namesake, sprouting new ‘heads’ after every defeat. “I thought SHIELD and this planet’s governments exposed the remaining members of Hydra after they kidnapped….” He stopped and drew back, biting down on his tongue, while Stark tensed. The inventor’s back was to the thunder god, so Thor couldn’t see his expression. He felt it, though, in the uncomfortable silence that descended upon the room, and he quietly chastised himself. Behind him, Natasha swore and Barton quietly glowered at the thunder god’s back. “I’m...sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up….”
He faltered, the silence returning heavier than before.
“Then stop talking.” Stark growled, clenching a fist as Thor’s words brought forth excruciating memories. Memories that were two years old, but still painful. Anguishing.
Two years prior, in some last-ditch attempt to thwart the Avengers and SHIELD, a handful of Hydra members, who had managed to evade capture, kidnapped the children of various SHIELD members. A two month old Morgan Stark had been among those taken. And despite the beat down he and his fellow Avengers delivered on Hydra, it’d come too late to save Stark’s daughter. In their vindictiveness, the Hydra agents had experimented on the kidnapped children, without caring about results or the survival of their hostages. Morgan had been among the casualties.
“...as I was saying, Barnes identified agent Morfield as Hydra, and after a search into SHIELD’s files, I found evidence to support that.” Stark continued, swallowing back all his thoughts and emotions, except for those concerning the present situation. “Morfield was part of Hydra and only escaped prosecution because he left a year before they tried to take over and provided testimony against many of his former colleagues.”
Picking up on the emphasis Stark put on the word ‘former,’ Natasha raised an eyebrow and said. “His allegiance switch wasn’t real, then.”
“That is tricky to ascertain. According to SHIELD’s files, Morfield repeatedly claimed to have no real allegiance to Hydra and only worked for them for monetary reasons. Once they started refusing his pay raise requests, he left.”
“And yet this greedy bastard was given a position in the government’s new security department? The ‘Mediation and Evasive Defenses’ department?” Barton asked, a sour look on his face. Stark held a similar expression. “What the hell were the idiots who hired him thinking?!”
“That is the million dollar question. That and figuring out the extent of Morfield’s role in the attack on the New York Sanctum. If he knows this Mordo fellow….”
“He does.” Piped Barton. “When Barnes and I confronted him, there was a wizard in the back seat of his car who matched the description Strange gave of his former colleague. He portaled away before we could secure him.”
“Then we need to have Morfield tell us where to find the man. As well as spill whatever his and Hydra’s plans are.” Stark said as he finished bandaging his injured hand and flexed his fingers, clenching his teeth when the burning sensation in his palm flared up. Strengthened anew. He scowled.
~0~
Glancing around and calmly appreciating his surroundings, the decor of the Hong Kong Sanctum barely changed from the last time he was there, Stephen Strange contemplated the space for a moment. This Sanctum was the one Mordo had portalled from, as evidenced by the lingering traces the man’s magic had left and the statement of another wizard Mordo had coerced into allowing access.
According to the coerced wizard, Mordo had threatened to send the young man to a place much more harrowing than any place the man could imagine and then opened a portal. Where the portal led was unknown though as one of the people with Mordo had proceeded to coerce the young wizard in a more physical manner. Breaking the fellow’s nose and wrist, taking advantage of the young wizard’s under-developed magic. Although Strange suspected that Mordo may have dampened the younger man’s magic somehow.
“I...I should’ve defended this Sanctum better.” The young wizard stammered, standing in the doorway leading towards the Sanctum’s artifact room; it was in that room that the magic treasures given to the Hong Kong Sanctum to protect were kept. It was also the first room Strange had checked after Mordo’s attack.
Strange dismissed the young man’s words with a shake of his head and a hand gesture. His first thought was to agree with the other wizard’s harsh self-criticism, but refrained from voicing it. The young wizard was talented and young, still in his twenties. And if anyone was at fault, it was the Sanctum wizards that had left him to watch the place unaided. “Nothing was taken or destroyed here. Just make sure you do better next time.”
The younger wizard frowned, muttering something self-derisive, before leaving. Strange’s lack of anger and criticism of the man having had an opposite than intended effect.
“It’s...odd.” A cronish woman approached Strange, her asian and wizened features bestowing on her an air of wisdom. The sort that comes with age and experience, both of which the woman had a plethora from her eight decades of life. “He took nothing. And apart from the injuries his partner gave young Ray, harmed no one here.”
“Mordo knows the danger destroying the Sanctums can cause.” Replied Strange, his manner and voice calm, while inside his emotions and thoughts raged. He had no certainty what his ex-colleague would do or not, and he’d half expected to see the Hong Kong Sanctum ransacked. That it was left virtually unscathed, relieved him. It meant whatever Mordo’s plan was, it didn’t include earth’s destruction.
“Why attack the New York Sanctum then? He wrecked the place, didn’t he?”
“That he did.” Strange nodded, frowning. The damage Mordo had caused the New York Sanctum wasn’t nearly the same degree as Caecilius had, and was already mostly repaired. More damage was done to his and Wong’s egos through how Mordo managed to decimate their security measures. Including Strange’s Sanctuary spell. “But I wager he wasn’t planning on doing so. It was simply the only way he could escape with Sanctuary in effect.” He paused for a moment, thinking. If Mordo had wanted to cause more damage he could have, and he could’ve killed Wong. Aside from the damage to the building, the only major thing the ex-Sanctum wizard did was portal away Rogers and a handful of soldiers. ‘Was Mordo’s goal really just to deliver Miss Lokki a message as Loki implied? If so...how does he even know about her?’
“Ms. Lan, could you….” He started to ask, addressing the wizened woman beside him, only to be interrupted by the young wizard running back into the room. The young man holding something securely in his arms and looking bewildered. “What is it, Ray? What…” He went quiet, recognizing what was in the other’s hands.
“I...Doctor Strange, I don’t know how it got here, but this was…” Ray muttered handing over what he held, a massive volume of archaic text.
“The Og Infinium.” Strange gazed over the volume’s cover, curious and alarmed. He had secured the forbidden tome at the Kamar-Taj last week, not long after Lokki’s arrival and his decision to house her at the Sanctum. By all accounts, it should have still been there, protected under layers and layers of magic. “Where was….”
Before he even got his question out, the volume opened of its own accord to a page filled with sanskrit text and an image of the book itself. In the image it lay on a reading pedestal much like one of the ones in the Hong Kong library. The text accompanying it was more detailed, answering Strange’s unfinished question.
Strange raised an eyebrow, reacting only slightly to the book opening on its own. He had after all experienced the occurrence once before, when he’d first discovered it amid the Ancient One’s collection. Back then he’d been muttering a similarly simple question, and it had opened on its own to the answer. “Interesting. Is that how this tome works?” He said while closing it, seconds later the book opened again on its own, to a page that held but a single word as answer.
~0~
“You’re curious, I presume.”
Reclining on a sofa next to the window of a deceptively small-sized apartment, his hideout away from his brother’s and the Avengers prying eyes, Loki glanced at his female doppelganger. The goddess stood on the other side of the room next to a bookshelf, absently trailing her fingers over the spines of various Midgardian volumes. Having been reticent since the mischief god brought her here rather than one of Strange’s Sanctums, Lokki’s statement drew a curious glance from the male Jotunn.
“I’ve been called worse.” Loki replied and returned to the book he’d been perusing, his demeanor showing nothing but a benign indifference. “But this book is worth the curiosity. It’s the closest thing to truly original Midgardian mythology, one not based on alien gods visiting the planet. Intriguing how violent and inventive they can be.”
Glancing over at the god and his book, Lokki rolled her eyes before plucking out a random volume from the shelf. She then sat down on a softly cushioned armchair situated an end table length away from the sofa. “Many Midgardians will not appreciate you calling that book ‘mythology.’” She frowned before opening her book, and pretending to peruse its pages. Her statement earned her an eyeroll and frown from Loki identical to hers. He refrained from voicing his retort and just continued reading, or feigning to, having already read the black-cover book before.
The two of them remained like that for a moment, waging a quiet battle of wills with the other.
“Fine, I am curious about….”
“...I was married to my universe’s Thor, if that interests you.”
Both broke the silence within seconds of the other, the time difference minuscule.
“I am NOT at all interested in that tidbit.” Loki pulled a face, scowling at Lokki. His expression shifted when he noticed the bemusement on the goddess’ face. It was subtle and he studied it, placing down his book on the windowsill. After a moment the uncomfortable scowl returned to his face. Despite his quiet wish that his doppelganger was pulling a fast one on him, he realized she was telling the truth. Her bemusement came solely from his reaction to it.
“The Allfather arranged it. It was over in less than three centuries, though.” Lokki continued, watching her male counterpart’s discomfort with a smile. It grew wider when she caught hints of Loki using illusion magic to block out her words. “...It was all political nonsense to appease Vanaheim, anyway.” She finished with a shrug, and returned to her book.
“Appease Vanaheim…?” Loki muttered, scrutinizing his doppelganger with full intrigue behind an illusionary mask of indifference. “How would yours and bro...such an union appease Vanaheim? I’d have figured it’d be Jotun…”
“Jotunheim is gone. Destroyed centuries back in my universe.” The goddess interrupted, the bemusement faded from her lips and eyes. “I was being literal when I introduced myself as the last Jotunn. The Allfather destroyed it soon after he denounced and banished me.”
“Odin...what?” Loki dropped his illusionary stoicism, and gaped at Lokki. His surprise increasing drastically when he saw zero sign of the other lying. “Why the bloody hell would he….” The mischief god shook his head, disbelieving what the other said despite the truth in it. “...Father was too good and peace-preferring to….” He frowned. “Even if Jotunheim attacked, he wouldn’t have completely destroyed it. I….”
“...believe what you want.” Spat Lokki, leaning back in her chair and glowering at the mischief god. “I just assumed you’d want to be prepared for your next peeks into my memories. Being blindsided isn’t fun.” Switching her position on the cushioned armchair so that her legs hung over one of its arms and her upper body reclined comfortably against the other. “I’m famished.” She continued after a moment, one of her arms pillowed under her head. “Got anything to eat in this cupboard of a hovel?”
The mischief god just flashed his doppelganger a look, still frowning from her earlier revelation and even more from the insult to his hideaway. Not much larger than his room at Stark’s tower, the apartment was what the Midgardians called a studio, meaning everything aside from the bathroom and a closet was one open room. It being just a hideaway for himself, Loki had never been bothered by the limited space or the lack of appealing decor. There were bookshelves with enough volumes to occupy him for weeks and comfortable furniture, plus it was shielded against any form of surveillance. Even Heimdal.
“Unfortunately, this cupboard is closed. There are plenty of food shops and restaurants though, ten blocks east from here.” The god replied with a dry affect, gesturing towards the west. “I have excellent rapport with all the owners and they certainly will be delighted to give you anything you want if you mention me.”
“....uh huh.” Lokki just gave the god a ‘are you serious’ stare identical to the look he’d given her.
“You don’t believe me?” Loki asked in an affronted manner, a hint of a smile in his voice. His amusement increased when his doppelganger simply scowled in response and left her seat. Moments later she started walking towards the door, and his eyes widened and mouth twitched wondering if Lokki was falling for his lie.
All his barely hidden mirth shifted to confusion when his doppelganger entered the bathroom instead. Almost as suddenly, his bewilderment shifted into abashment and sheepish remorse when he heard her vomiting. Until that sound hit him, Lokki’s pregnancy had slipped his mind.
“Bloody hell.” Loki muttered under his breath, covering part of his face with his hand in a contrite gesture. In his automatic desire to retaliate against his doppelganger’s insult, he had tried to trick her into walking to shops that didn’t exist. Not in the direction he said, or the distance. Rather than be east and ten blocks away, the closest eatery that still served him was eighteen blocks north. Not exactly feasible for the pregnant Jotunn to walk without magic, and especially not with how risky her condition was. He stood up and headed towards the bathroom, knocking on the door after the sounds of vomiting stopped. “Selfie, what would you like to eat?”
Lokki muttered inaudibly behind the door, most of what could be heard garbled to the point of nonsense. The mischief god simply waited patiently outside the bathroom door, casting an illusion spell over the room to drown away all sounds that were not Lokki talking. A small gesture to protect his doppelganger’s privacy, while he waited. Not long after Lokki finished up and exited, muttering as she did so. “I said, did you really want me to answer that?” The goddess stopped just a step into the hall, cocking an eyebrow at Loki standing just a few steps away.
“Well? What would you like to….”
“Did you really need to stand just outside the door?” Lokki asked, grimacing at her male doppelganger and frowning even heavier when he shrugged in response. The pair just stood there waiting for the other to respond for a few moments, neither keen to be the first to speak and both viewing it as a personal challenge to stay silent the longest.
Rolling her eyes and sighing, Lokki walked back to the armchair she’d vacated, still not saying a word. Behind her, Loki similarly shrugged, but unlike his female doppelganger, didn’t return to his sofa. Instead he headed out, portaling away without a word.
~0~
The Arboretum was quiet, its flora spanning the whole area, although only a few of the plants were real. Even fewer were natural. The majority genetically engineered to thrive in the artificial atmosphere of the ship or to simply appear so. An illusion of science, and one that garnered a frown from an imposing figure stepping through the room.
Clad head to foot in armor made from a flexible textile material that was stronger and more durable than it looked. Dark gray, except for a few swatches of silver threaded through the hems. And on the clasps. On his head was a similarly constructed helmet, made from the same material and covering most of his face - only part of his mouth and a slit over his eyes were uncovered. Allowing only a small swath of his mauve skin to be visible, skin that was heavily scarred.
“Either she’s gotten lazy or she’s not here.” He muttered and glanced around, searching the quiet for some life beyond the greenery. There was none. No sign of anyone residing there or visiting. Nothing but the plants. The being scowled and took something from a satchel on his armor. Mangled with a few wires poking out and the mesh covering over the speaker broken off seventy-five percent of the way, it was a com device. One that, when fixed up, would match any of those the Avengers carried.
Hidden in the library along with Nar the bear librarian, Rogers watched the intruder nosing around on a surveillance camera. He stiffened when he noticed the com device, and instinctively reached for his own when the titan seemed about to try transmitting. Although Fen claimed that his com’s receiver was broken, making it unable to receive a message that would alert the intruder, Rogers felt wary. The device the being held was identical to those made by Stark, albeit damaged nearly to the point of irreparability.
It drove home what Lokki had said about her universe, that they, the Avengers, were dead. And that this stranger from the other ship, who he assumed was the ‘Thanos’ the android Fen had mentioned, had the com infuriated Rogers. It took mustering all the self control he had to refrain from lunging at the intruder and taking back the com.
‘Don’t even think about attacking. You’ll be killed.’ A voice whispered in his head, startling him just short of making him gasp. Biting harshly down on his tongue, Rogers managed not to make a noise as he held in his shock. The voice speaking to him the same voice as the man who’d portalled him from the Sanctum.
‘How the...how are you speaking to me?’ Rogers spoke in his thoughts, assuming that if he could hear the voice then the man who the voice belonged to could hear him back. ‘And why send me here?’
‘While I can sense your disdain, I cannot actually read your thoughts. This spell is limited.’ Mordo continued, his voice echoing in the Avenger’s thoughts. ‘Assuming you’re wondering why I sent you to Lady Lokki’s universe, my answer’s simple. I want you to uncover the truth.’
‘What? The truth about what? Why would I even consider helping….’ Rogers ground his teeth, focusing on the voice even as his gaze followed the titan’s moves.
‘Again I sense your hostility, and...confusion…. The truth isn’t for my benefit, though. It is for humanity’s and all sentient life.’ The wizard explained, the sound of his voice becoming distant and more echoey, as though reverberating through a tunnel. ‘Find out what actually happened in that universe. Do that and I’ll open a portal on the other side of the rift.’
Mordo’s voice left after that, the wizard not bothering to wait for Rogers’ reaction. Not even to gauge the man’s emotions.
Rogers grimaced and made an exasperated noise, akin to a sigh and mumbled grunt. His irritation vanished immediately after when he heard footsteps approaching and finally noticed
that the being he’d been watching over the surveillance cameras had moved completely out of view.
The mischief goddess tensed, drawing a dagger and pressing it against the other’s neck before Laufey could react. Not that the male Jotunn made any attempt to defend himself, instead just placing his frigid, frost giant hand over Lokki’s abdomen. The goddess bristled and dug the dagger tighter against her biological father’s neck.
“Get the fuck….” She trailed off when a peculiar sensation passed through her. The cold from the other’s hand over her abdomen spread into her, but instead of distressing the unborn life in her, it soothed it. The protective frost enveloping it in her womb strengthening. The goddess glanced down at Laufey’s hand, masking the action from the other with her illusion magic.
“There.” Laufey stared down at his daughter, allowing his innate Jotunn frost to strengthen hers. The edge of the dagger bit into his neck, evidence of Lokki’s distrust. He didn’t react in the slightest.
“...what is this?” Asked Lokki, peering up at Laufey with suspicion. Her sea-hued eyes roamed over the male Jotunn, searching for any clue to the other’s deceit. For any hint of the trickery she was sure was behind her sire’s action. It was too helpful not to be a trick. She grabbed his wrist tightly when Laufey simply cocked an eyebrow. “What game are you playing?”
“Game? Hn. You would think that. The goddess of mischief and deceit.” Laufey chuckled, only half scoffingly. He shook his head, removing his hand once he felt Lokki’s protective frost was strong enough. “You’ve been playing your games against Asgard far too long, child. Even after winning, you still think everyone’s an enemy.”
Lokki scowled, her piercing glare burning vehemently at Laufey, a wildness reflected in the sea-hued irises. “You are my enemy. You gave Tha...that bastard the leverage he needed and you just stood there as he used it against me.”
The frost giant frowned. “...I admit I failed to consider just how far he would go. I assumed he would just verbally threaten you and your child. Not...” Laufey’s frown deepened and he glanced at Lokki’s abdomen. “He has weaker paternal instincts than I considered.”
“Hah!” Lokki gave a scathing, abrupt laugh. “That’s hilarious! You? You’re calling his paternal instincts weak?!” The goddess broke out in laughter, the sound a cross between genuinely amused and bitter. Laufey’s bristling in response didn’t help, and simply renewed her bout once she noticed. “You abandoned me mere moments after I was born. And you....”
x
Lokki’s sea-colored eyes shot open and she stared wide-eyed and unseeing at her surroundings; the walls and ceiling of the bedroom were a blur to her, despite staring straight at them upon waking up. A wild fear shone in her eyes as she focused on where she was. On a bed in a room both foreign and familiar with its barebones furnishings that were at the same time of exorbitant quality and expense. It took her a few moments to recognize the place - her room at Stark’s tower - and a few more to remember it wasn’t actually her room. Or her universe
“Bloody….” She muttered before paling and fearfully reaching for her abdomen, her brain fog clearing enough to remember blacking out. And everything that had happened prior - the attack on the Sanctum and her furious retaliation, the Avengers arguing. Stark’s distrust of her and her pregnancy. “...Huh?”
The mischief goddess quirked an eyebrow and gazed down at her stomach, having noticed another’s hand was already resting on it. A cold, azure hand. Lokki tilted her head, staring at it and her male counterpart, in full Jotunn form, resting beside her, his hand on her abdomen while he focused his own frost magic to boost hers. With each passing second her pregnancy frost-shield strengthened, becoming colder and more stable.
“If this is making you uncomfortable…” Loki muttered and met Lokki’s gaze, his countenance revealing his unease was more than the goddess’. His blood red eyes peering into his doppelganger’s green ones seemed to be wordlessly asking if he could stop, hoping each second that his effort was enough. Whether his discomfort was the result of being in Jotunn form or lying next to Lokki with his hand over her abdomen was unclear. What was clear was the effort he was putting into strengthening his doppelganger’s protective-frost.
Lokki just stared at him. Any qualm or unease at her male counterpart’s uninvited action overshadowed by her relief that the worst hadn’t happened. The moment she realized she’d collapsed and blacked out, she had feared….
Drawing in a breath, she shook her head in reply to the god’s implied question, but she still maneuvered out of his reach. She sat on the edge as Loki shrugged and left the bed, transforming back to his Asgardian form. There was little need to glance at him to notice the relief spreading through him, though there was still a bit of unease reflected in his eyes.
Peeking back at the goddess, he seemed about to speak, to ask something, when the giantess interrupted.
“How…” Lokki asked, not looking at the other but rather just listening to him move around. He was close to the door when she spoke up. “How did you know to do that? To use your frost to strengthen mine?”
The mischief god didn’t respond and instead mulled over what to say. There were many things he could say, lies he could spin, explanations he could fabricate. All which would take little effort on his part, and had the receiver not been his female doppelganger, he’d have tried.
“You…” Lokki glowered at her male doppelganger, her thoughts returning to the dream that had woken her up. Less a dream and more a recollection, a snippet of something that had occurred in her universe and brought forth by external magic. Magic she still felt hints of. “You’ve peeked into my memory.”
Loki opened his mouth to deny the accusation, but then just shrugged. There was little point in lying to the other, despite the challenge it offered.
Especially not after she’d already made the connection between her dream and his action. He turned to face Lokki, his body language daring her to rage against him. “So?” The god piped, his tone reminiscent of that time years back when he taunted Thor on the bifrost, before the thunder god destroyed it. “You’d have to have expected I would try at some point. After all, wouldn’t you?”
The female Jotunn frowned, but said nothing.
“Of course.” Loki answered his own question, taking his doppelganger’s silence as agreement. Leaning against the wall to the right of the door, his arms folded in front of him, he studied her. Watched as the goddess just frowned and fiddled with the magic-suppression bracers around her forearms. The quiet filled the space between them, lasting a handful of moments. “...Anyway, Lady Reyda wanted to see you once you awoke. She’s already tore into Stark. Thor has as well, I suspect.”
“Oh?” Lokki peered askance at the mischief god, her expression unreadable, before heading towards the far end of the room. Directly opposite from the door, she stood with her back to her male counterpart and feigned interest in a shelf and end table. Both furnishings hardly adorned with anything that would catch the eye, let alone spark the interest of a god. “I’ll wait here for Lady Reyda then. You can go.”
“Go?” The mischief god flashed a bemused look at Lokki, his grin widening but with less joviality. It was the expression of someone unaccustomed and unthrilled at being dismissed, with more surprise than anger. “You c…” He started to retort but stopped, instead rethinking his reply. Each second spent staring at his female double’s back irritated him, until he spat. “I saved your pregnancy. Do you know how close you were to losing…” Loki scowled, recalling catching his doppelganger and how she felt in his arms. Listless. Languid. Yet for the first few moments he assumed she’d been faking it. That it was a trick on par with his and Thor’s ‘get help’ tactic.
Then he’d noticed her fever. It wasn’t high compared to an Asgardian, but for a Jotunn...for him and his doppelganger, it was unusual. Dangerous. And it was one of a few things that was impractical, if not impossible, to fake using illusion magic. Even more so for Lokki who had her magic suppressed by the seidr-cuffs.
“They thought you were faking. The Avengers. Even Thor.” Loki continued, glaring at his doppelganger’s back. “And Reyda had no clue how to help. Her ‘Jotunn expertise’ apparently is not much more than any other Asgardian healer.” He spat, his tone bitter and venom-laced. “So, I peeked into your memory. It was all I could think of doing. I assumed you’d know what to do.”
Lokki swallowed, laying her hands over her abdomen. Her back still turned towards her doppelganger, she closed her eyes, her focus on what Loki had gleaned. How much of her memory had the other seen? Had he seen any others? Had he… The goddess crossed her arms further over her abdomen, protecting it more fully. “I appreciate your help. And while I could wax-poetic about the audacity and unfairness of you taking advantage of my hindered state to peek at my memory,” She held up her cuffed arm at the word ‘hindered,’ showing off the magic bind. “I’m not kicking you out, out of petulance. I merely wish to change out of these garments, which with my magic impeded must be done in the mundane fashion.” She glanced back at Loki. “Or is Tony right and you enjoy leering…”
“Don’t even.” Spat Loki, shaking his head and grimacing at the goddess. His frown widened when Lokki started undressing, the ghost of a smirk tugging at her lips. Before she got more than two clasps undone on her tunic, Loki waved his hand and replaced his doppelganger’s outfit with a pristine one. Green, silver trim tunic with sleeves that reached only just past the elbows, and dark trousers with twill socks and leather shoes. “There. You’re dressed. Let’s go.”
“You…” The mischief goddess turned towards the god, her mouth twitching and pulling into a grimace. It deepened when she tried to undress anyway out of spite and noticed that the outfit her doppelganger had dressed her in was impervious to her attempts. Her sea-green eyes narrowed with realization and her mouth spread out into a thin line, unamused. “You’ve dressed me in an illusion.”
“So?”
Lokki sighed and headed towards the door leading into the hall. “This better be a full-illusion and not some personalized shit that only I can see.”
“Eh.” Loki shrugged, a Cheshire grin spreading over his face. The goddess’ words reminded him of a trick he’d pulled on Thor and many of the other Avengers over the years, to varying degrees. Thor himself had fallen victim to it numerous times, and not just in the past three years. Loki’s grin deepened at the scowl Lokki gave, pulling him from his reverie, and he rolled his eyes. “Like it’d matter. Or do you prefer only being ‘au natural’ when corralled?”
Scowling, Lokki approached and passed by the mischief god, heading into the hall. As she did so, she spoke. “Not at all. Let me just find hubby first, he missed out before so he should get the first peek.”
“Huh? ‘Hubby?’” Loki asked, following his doppelganger into the hall. His countenance both confused and intrigued when he recognized the Midgardian colloquialism for ‘husband.’ “You’re betrothed, Selfie? Is he….” His voice tapered off as he glanced at the other’s stomach.
“Though, technically, this is a different universe, so he’s not really hubby.” Lokki continued without giving any indication that she heard her doppelganger’s question. (She had.) Or noticed him glancing at her abdomen. Instead she continued talking, as though to herself. “Who knows? Perhaps...just need him to stop calling me ‘sister,’ and…”
A sudden sputtering to her left pulled Lokki’s attention, and a smirk spread over the lower half of her face. It spread to her eyes upon seeing Loki with a horrified, stricken expression, standing still. “You...you mean...you and Thor...your Thor...you....”
“Well, I’m certainly not referring to you.” Lokki wryly retorted to the sputtering mischief god.
“I….” Loki closed his mouth to stop sputtering and grimaced, his gut roiling. Although he had mentally hypothesised the possibility last week, and had mulled it over numerous times since, he hadn’t expected it to be true. Or for his doppelganger to reveal it so brazenly. Brow furrowing, he sucked in a breath, and recalled what Lokki had blurted during last evening’s confrontation. “That’s...you’re just joking, right? I mean...Odin adopted you, so you and...it couldn’t happen….”
“The Allfather also unadopted me....”
Loki rolled his eyes. “You were kicked out. So? You still would’ve grown up in Asgard and…”
“...Just prior to my 30th name-day.” Finished Lokki, a frown on her face at the interruption.
Loki’s retort died on his lips, and he gaped at the goddess. Many different emotions filtered through his brain, small glimmers of which reflected in his eyes.
“What?” Came Thor’s thunderous voice down the hall, having caught the tail end of Loki and Lokki’s conversation as he turned the corner. “You were kicked out when?!” The thunder god barrelled down the corridor, not stopping until he was three feet away from his brother and the female version of his brother. His eyes grew wide, matching his brother’s; the mischief god still speechless in surprise. “I...tell me you’re joking. 30?! You were kicked out of Asgard at 30?”
“...hm.” Barton just stared at the commotion, standing back a bit. Natasha was beside him, having followed him and Thor after the three of them decided Lokki and Loki were taking too long. “...I’m missing something. Isn’t 30 a bit old to be…”
“Hmm. Yeah.” Natasha grimaced and shrugged, not understanding the intensity of Thor’s reaction. Certainly 30 years was a normal-ish age to leave home, and not worth the overblown reaction the thunder god was giving.
Finally finding his voice and overhearing what the two Midgardians were muttering, Loki glanced over at them. Sending over an illusionary clone of himself, he explained in a condescending and sighing tone. “When your lifespan is a mere 100, then 30 is ‘old.’ But for a lifespan of give or take 5000 years, 30 is equivalent to…” He paused and gestured a bit for effect, drawing out his response. “Say, 8 or 9? I assume that’s young even for beings with as short lifespans as yours.”
Natasha glowered at Loki, not appreciating the condescension, but still nodded stiffly in understanding. Beside her, Barton’s eyes widened on the mischief god’s illusionary clone, before shifting to stare down at Lokki. Unlike Natasha, Loki’s patronizing tone didn’t disturb him as much as what the god said. That 30 years was equivalent to 8 or 9 for the frost giantess. Being a father and his children still being young, he couldn’t fathom kicking them out. Nothing could make him.
“...I don’t believe it.” Thor muttered, shaking his head and gaping at Lokki. “Father would never…” He rubbed his temples while Loki and Lokki just looked at him.
“...Huh. As I recall he threatened to do so to me various times while growing up. Most memorably after he caught me in the midst of doing my snake-disguise stabbing trick one too many times.” Loki drawled and crossed his arms, reminiscing about his childhood and the times he tried Odin’s patience. “Not to mention he did cast you out, brother, a handful of years back.”
“That wasn’t ever meant to be permanent. And he never went through with banishing you, brother.” Countered Thor, wanting to sidestep away from his banishment and everything that led to. “Mother would always convince him not to. Thus, certainly, Mother in Sister’s universe…” He gazed back towards Lokki, hoping to disprove the goddess’ claim. His throat grew tight and his words shriveled up at the look in her eyes. Deadened and doleful. Its effect became more meaningful when Lokki schooled it the next second, hiding her reaction behind a practised stoicism.
“Shouldn’t we be focusing on something important instead of wondering about my sordid history?” The frost giantess droned, keeping her tone even and her countenance plain. “Aren’t a few of your Avenger buddies still MIA? Or did you find them while I was indisposed?”
“What? No. I….” Thor fumbled over his reply, wanting to ask about Lokki’s reaction at the mention of Frigga, but instinctively holding back. It may have lasted briefly, but the emotion on the mischief goddess’ face reminded him of his brother’s in the cells on Asgard after their mother had been killed.
“Should I take those as answers to each of my inquiries or just general confusion?” The mischief goddess asked dryly, her focus on the thunder god. Beside her Loki studied her wordlessly. Like Thor he’d recognized the lamentful tinge his doppelganger flashed before hiding it; Unlike his brother, he didn’t bother asking. He knew himself too well to bother.
“Confusion is his constant state, Selfie.” Loki drawled, intent on directing the conversation away from what he perceived as a sore-spot for the frost giantess. A decision based less on kindness and more on not wanting to be on the receiving end of any spiteful action Lokki may take if pressed. “Anyway, have there been any new developments, brother? Certainly something must have happened considering the three of you have come to fetch Selfie and I.”
“Uh….”
“Well….”
“I don’t give a FUCK what you have to say!” Stark hollered, his belligerent voice reverberating through the corridor. The sound was ferocious and loud enough to travel through the shut door of his workshop. (Really a scaled down version of his lab that he used to brainstorm ideas when he couldn’t spend time in his main lab.) “It was a valid assumption! Period! She’s Lokki….”
There was a brief respite as the Avenger paused to listen to whoever he was arguing with. None of those in the hall could hear what was said, whatever it was kicked the inventor’s belligerence down a notch. His next words were loud but less angry.
“Don’t. Don’t bring that up. That….” Stark trailed off, his anger offset by an uncustomary contriteness. It was still there, just tempered. He said something else to whom he was speaking, but his voice had lowered too much to make out his words.
“Ah. I take it none of you felt like dealing with that.” Muttered Loki, neither wanting or needing a response from the three Avengers to confirm the truth. Their discomfort and silence was enough. “When did she get here? Or did she just phone?”
“She phoned…”
“Who’s he talking with, yelling like that?” Lokki asked, her darkened and bewildered expression locked down the hall at the workshop door. All thought of her upset moments ago, forgot. “Certainly not Reyda….”
“His wife.” Barton replied first, scooting closer to the mischief goddess and modulating his tone; his sharp eyes peeking at the workshop door. “She found out how he treated you yesterday and….”
“Pepper is alive?” Lokki turned to Barton surprised, her face lightening up from genuine delight. “I know he said he was in a committed relationship, but I thought he was just bantering….” The goddess muttered, smiling before her expression turned thoughtful. “I guess I should keep any flirtatious banter to a minimum.” It was then that she noticed the looks the others were giving her: voraciously curious glances that were also wary.
Natasha was the first to voice the question. “...Pepper’s not alive in your universe?”
“Everyone is…” Lokki bit down sharply on her lip, her face briefly taking on the same distraught expression she’d had when divulging about the Infinity Stones to Banner and Loki. The look vanished quickly. “Anyway, she died before all that, not long after giving birth to their daughter.” The goddess divulged, her eyes lighting up as she thought of something. The smile she wore beaming. “Where’s the little tyke anyway? With her mother? Of course she is.” She answered herself, oblivious in her exuberance to the sudden quiet that had descended in the hall and the glances shared by the Avengers. “Do you think I’d be allowed to take little Morgan out for ice cream in the park? Surely there’d be no harm….”
A sharp inhale drew Lokki’s attention, and she finally noticed Stark standing within hearing distance. The expression on his face made the goddess’ throat and chest tighten, recognizing the distress. “...Morgan is alive in your universe?”
“Uh…” Lokki blanched, fumbling over her answer as Stark stared at her, his eyes filled with a blend of anguish and wistfulness. It was an expression she recognized from her own mirror centuries back when she lost her first. And then again. And again. After each of her miscarriages.
It was the look of a parent who’s lost a child.
“Well?” Prodded Stark, his focus on the goddess. “Morgan’s alive? She’s….”
“She was….” Lokki blurted quietly, her answer coming out unadorned and without forethought. “But then Thanos used the stones and….”
Stark drew in a sharp breath and stepped backwards, unsteady on his feet. Despite that he preemptively snapped at the other Avengers that he needed no help, his glare challenging them to compliance. “So she’s not alive?” He clenched his fist and backed up some more, close enough that when he swung his fist, it struck the wall beside one of the room doors. It struck loudly. And with a violence that overshadowed the burning sensation running up his arm from his palm. “Get out.”
“What? But….”
“Stark, Selfie obviously didn’t know….”
“Get out.” Stark repeated, glaring at the goddess. His next words, though, were addressed to those around her. “I will not have this...creature...in my building. Have her stay at one of Strange’s Sanctums or, hell, have her put in the Antarctic prison SHIELD readied for Reindeer Games here. Just get her out of my building. Now!” He slammed his fist against the wall on his last word, the impact splitting open the stretch of skin from the base of his pinky to the fleshy part of his palm. It bled profusely and throbbed, though he barely felt it.
“Come on, Selfie.” Loki muttered and grabbed his doppelganger’s upper arm, his face kept stoic though inside a torrent of emotions raged. He kept them bottled while he led Lokki away, down the hall to settle himself before focusing on teleporting. As he did so, he noticed his brother approaching the inventor.
“Well?” Stark prodded, reraising the forcefield to prevent the female Jotunn from leaving. An action that earned him a furious stare from Reyda, the Asgardian healer pivoting on her heel. The calming spell she’d cast over Lokki faded as she did so, broken by her own anger.
“Stop hassling my patient!” Reyda demanded, before seeking assistance from Thor to get the man to back off. “Lady Lokki needs rest, not an interrogation, sire.” The healer beseeched, though she hardly needed to as the others agreed with her, backing up her assertion to varying degrees. “Whether you trust my lady or not, she is with child. And certainly you can…”
“How do we even know she’s actually pregnant?” Stark blurted, slightly wincing as the burning sensation in his palm worsened. Flaring up in tandem with him airing a suspicion he had since learning of the mischief goddess’ condition. “You mentioned yourself that you couldn’t actually do any tests confirming Miss Nippy’s pregnancy. And as the goddess of lies, faking it would be simple.”
“You question my expertise?” Reyda stood up straight and glared daggers at the Avenger, affronted. “Or you think that I didn’t prepare for…”
“Why, pray tell, do you think I’m here then?” Lokki interrupted the healer’s spiel about not being the naive being the Avenger assumed, that Reyda had gone into her meeting with Lokki prepared to see through any trick the female Jotunn may use. Back still turned to Stark and everyone else Lokki repeated her question. Her voice was even and much quieter, albeit laced with an underlying venom. “What reason would I have to stick around here where I’m magically shackled and viewed with suspicion by each of you?”
“No idea.” Stark replied curtly, the quickness of his answer and its tone earning him surprised and irritated looks. “But if you’re trying to convince me that it’s because you’re pregnant and not for some devious scheme...”
Lokki scowled, facing away from Stark and the other Avengers, her posture exuding a royal contemptuous air. For a moment, she started to answer but stopped and bit down on the edge of her tongue, nicking it. After a moment, during which the other Avengers argued with Stark, even Natasha, who shared the billionaire’s suspicions aside from his doubt of Lokki’s pregnancy, Lokki turned around.
Eyeing the group with a chilly gaze, her lips pressed into a firm frown, the mischief goddess considered her words. Mulling over her options while attempting to keep as calm as possible. A difficult endeavor, but one she was determined to achieve. Less than two weeks may have passed since her arrival in this universe, but the past nine-ish days had been the most relaxing for her in months. And certainly the safest.
“Selfie?” Loki approached the goddess, his gaze focused on his doppelganger. Himself the only one of the group who wasn’t distracted by arguing with Stark. A deep crease formed on his forehead as he noted Lokki’s demeanor - unable to hide behind an illusion, the goddess’ face was fairly readable by the mischief god. Even as Lokki tried to smother any glimmer of emotion in her eyes or lips, the mischief god noticed the signs of her inner conflict. He reached out for her.
Noticing the movement, Lokki sidestepped away from the mischief god’s reach, and threw him a cold, scathing look. It and the fact the suppression bracers once more bore signs of Lokki’s frost flaring up, halted Loki mid-approach. Hesitance that he overcame within seconds as his doppelganger’s eyes glazed over and she collapsed without warning.
~0~
“What the hell were you thinking?!”
Standing wordlessly at his desk, Morfield listened to the message his department head had left. A furious tirade that lasted a good few minutes before ending abruptly with a demand that the agent return his call. Somewhere in the angry spiel were hints that the department head was on her way back from a long-sought vacation as well along with a demand that the agent better have an excellent explanation.
Any less than that would result in disciplinary action against Morfield, something the other reminded him wouldn’t bode well considering the agent’s past.
“As if I need a fucking reminder.” Muttered Morfield as he tossed his phone onto the desk, and sunk into his chair. Across the small room a few of his coworkers glanced furtively over, talking amongst themselves. Their voices loud enough to make out that he was the topic. Him, his past, and his current fuck up.
Contrary to the impression he gave Thor and Dr. Strange, the only action S.H.I.E.L.D had decided on, and which his department had to acquiesce to, was surveilling Loki. No order for capture had been issued, and the attack on the Sanctum was certainly not approved. None of those in charge were ballsy enough to risk conflict against Thor and any Avenger who would side with him. Especially not when the only evidence for the Tesseract’s presence on earth was a single blip in the radar nine days ago.
It didn’t help that Strange and Thor’s denial that the mischief god had the artifact was taken at face value by Morfield’s department head. (Morfield had been banking on just the thunder god denying it, as then it’d have been easy to argue the god was biased since Loki was his brother. Strange backing up Thor threw a wrench in that argument. The wizard was considered by Morfield’s department and SHIELD to be the least biased of the Avengers regarding the mischief god.)
His colleagues still peeking at him and talking incessantly, Morfield slouched over his desk, and his head held in his hands. Rubbing his forehead in an attempt to assuage the headache spreading sharp pings of pain through him, he sat there listening to the rabble of his colleagues. A moment or so past just listening before he stood up and collected his phone and a few other things. Without a word he headed towards the door, ignoring his fellow agents curious glances.
“Oh! Morfield.” An agent muttered, having entered just as he was about to leave. “I was just coming to get you. SSA Argyle is adamant that you see her, and…”
“I know. I got her voicemail.” Morfield grumbled and started pushing past the other agent, muttering something along the lines of being on his way. Despite having zero inclination to comply with his boss’ demand.
“Oh. Then you can meet her at the Pendrick lab then. She mentioned she was going to meet with Dr. Pendrick first rather than heading straight here.” Blurted the other agent, to which Morfield grimaced and turned slightly pale. Seconds later he continued on his way, ignoring all the chatter and milling about among the agents from other departments.
‘Why would Argyle go to Pendrick?’ Morfield asked silently on his way out, and was unable to come up with an answer before he reached his vehicle. In consequence he started his engine while mentally grumbling, and drove from his parking spot semi-oblivious. ‘Erik better have a reason why he and his wizard buddy didn’t stick to the plan. It’d be so much simpler if they’d lured the bast....’
“Oi! What the hell?!” The agent swore, his eyes grown full and wide when a portal opened up in his backseat. The pale-gray orbs only grew wider when Mordo entered through it, and sat back calmly in the seat. “H...What are you doing here?! I…”
“Shush.” Mordo cut off the agent, their gazes meeting briefly in the rearview mirror. The wizard then muttered something not in English and waved his hand, his fingertips sparking with magic. It quickly tapered off and he lowered his hand. “That’ll take care of any eavesdropping.” He muttered before addressing Morfield. “If you’re heading to the laboratory - I suggest an indirect route. Or to just head home. You have at least two people tailing you.”
“T...that’s because you fucked up! Why didn’t you stick to the plan?!” The agent hollered, barely keeping his eyes set forward on the road. Mordo frowned at that, but instead of pressing the other man to watch the road, he did and prepared his magic just in case.
“I did. Until I couldn’t.” The wizard replied enigmatically, receiving a deeper glower from the agent. “...which of you had the epiphany to have a hitman sent with me and one of the lab’s Chimera? He’s the one that went off plan. I had to improvise.”
Morfield squeezed the steering wheel until his knuckles paled. Through clenched teeth he spat. “Improvise?! You weren’t supposed to improvise unless you needed to flee! You certainly weren’t supposed to wreck the place! Or do whatever you did to the soldiers outside! You were supposed to go in and lure the god out, and portal him to the lab. What’s so difficult…”
Mordo bristled and used his magic to sharply brake the vehicle, causing the agent whiplash. Though he did magically shield the driver’s head from impacting the steering wheel. The agent swore loudly, and started sputtering angrily at the wizard. He stopped when a heavy object pounded onto the hood of his car, the sound causing him to jump and spin his head around to see the cause.
Mechanized arm buried into the sleek hood, Bucky Barnes glared through the windshield at the two men inside. Every crease and line of his face was etched with anger, chilling Morfield whose brain took a moment or so to place the other man. Once his brain fog cleared he gulped, all feeling leaving his limbs, his fear chilling him so badly.
“Which one of you motherfuckers has Steve?” Bucky growled and lifted his arm from the hood, his sharp leer locking first on Morfield then on Mordo.
~0~
“What the….” Roger’s eyes widened, his mouth agape in horror and shock.
Having expected to be the one teleported, he stood stock still as the other soldier vanished instead. The other soldier, whose name he’d never asked, was most certainly underpowered against the enemy Fen called Thanos. An enemy that had, if Lokki was to be believed, killed all the Avengers of her universe. Yet the android had teleported the other soldier.
“Why the hell did you send him?!?!” Rogers rounded on Fen, grabbing for the android’s hands in order to stop the AI machine putting the phase-cloak back up. Overwhelmed and furious, he hardly cared or noticed the swear word that passed his lips. “I’m the...you...you just sent that man to his likely death! I…”
“Yes. The odds are against that man’s survival. But even if I sent you instead, it would still be the same risk.” Fen countered, its orange-ochre eyes boring into Rogers. “Besides, had I sent you and Lokki discovered that fact…it wouldn’t matter whether you escaped unharmed or not, or even if it was necessary, she would destroy me.” The android trailed off, while Rogers gave Fen a peculiar look. One that the android deciphered easily. “I may not be alive or sentient in a traditional sense, but I would rather avoid dismantlement of any kind. It would be a bugger putting myself back together.”
“Couldn’t you…” Rogers started to reply, about to say something along the lines of just getting Stark or someone to help in that scenario, but bit his tongue. Partly because it was a callous remark. Mostly though because he remembered what universe he was in. Lokki’s universe. The Avengers were all dead here. Himself, Stark, Banner, Natasha...each of them had been killed according to the mischief goddess. Rogers glanced over at Fen, his forehead and brow creased. After a moment he shook his head, while the android finished inputting the commands to raise the shield-cloak around the ship. “Still, you should’ve sent me. If the enemy in that ship is highly dangerous, I...”
“Grrrh.” A low growl interrupted the Avenger, and Rogers tensed and turned towards where the sound came from. His cheeks paled when the bear from the library sauntered forward, eyeing him with the intensity of a predator. Its growling continued until it reached the Avenger and the android, once there the bear sat down and peered unblinkingly at the two. “Rawgrrhhh.”
“Now is not the time, Nar.” Fen spoke to the bear who lifted its head, exposing its neck and the speckled band wrapped around it, a crystalline bauble dangling from the band. A misty green decahedron, the bauble drew Rogers’ attention, not least because the bear - Nar - was making every effort to show it off. “No.” Fen grabbed and pulled back Rogers’ arm when the Avenger reached for the band. “Not now.”
“Ggrawhgrrr.” Nar growled at Fen, voicing its displeasure at the android using noises that were unintelligible to Rogers, but which the android understood. “Rawrgrrhh! Grrrr Garggh, hrrr..”
“It is too...things are not as expected.” The android replied, still holding the Avenger’s arm and glancing at him in between every few words. Actions that ticked Rogers who was reaching the end of his patience. Between the attack on the Sanctum and not knowing what happened there, and being unable to prevent Fen sending the other soldier into danger rather than him, Rogers was more than annoyed.
Too annoyed to endure the half unintelligible argument going on between the android and the bear. He ripped his arm out from Fen’s grip, and backed up a few steps, tensing when the android moved to grab him again. An attempt he evaded by backing up further, placing a handful of feet between him at the two.
“Look, whatever that is...whatever secrets…” Rogers grimaced and started to reach for his shield when Fen appeared to approach. The android quickly thought better of it and just situated itself to prevent Nar from walking to the Avenger. “All I want is to make sure the soldiers who were transported here from my universe are safe and get them home.”
“See?” Fen turned to Nar. “She didn’t send him. And it wasn’t a time rift. He speaks of his ‘universe’ not his ‘time.’”
“Hhhrrrr.” Nar grumbled, shifting his attention to Rogers and scrutinizing him closely. The band and bauble once more hidden beneath its fur. “Hawgrr...urrrhh. Hraaan, ghrr.”
“I know.” The android scowled, grumbling. “He used a com from his universe.” Fen paused, listening to the bear’s growl-speak and nodding along, no longer defensive against Nar. The two of them instead seemed annoyed at Rogers now, and the Avenger suddenly felt exposed. Guilty. It hadn’t been too difficult to understand the conversation based on Fen’s replies, and the looks the two flashed at him cinched it.
The two were talking about the void-black ship and how it had tracked them, using the signal from Rogers’ com. The Avenger pulled a face and opened his mouth to explain himself, when a shockwave ripped through the ship and nearly knocked him off his feet.
“What…” Rogers’ throat went dry when he noticed the black-void that was the arboretum windows, all the stars having vanished. Disappeared into a black nothingness. Even as he observed it as such, he understood that wasn’t what happened. The stars hadn’t gone anywhere - rather the other ship with its dark exterior had pulled up and stopped just outside the arboretum.
~0~
“Which one of you motherfuckers has Steve?” Bucky growled and lifted his arm from the hood, his sharp leer locking first on Morfield then on Mordo. When neither answered he repeated his question and brought his mechanized arm down again, smashing the engine hood even further. The man in the driver seat jumped at the action while the back seat passenger hardly flinched, drawing Bucky’s attention.
Since receiving news about his friend’s disappearance via Stark, the billionaire having contacted him after failing to track Rogers through the com device the inventor had given, Bucky had sought after his friend. And though the billionaire hadn’t given much information to him about what Rogers had been doing before vanishing, Bucky assumed it was about the Statue. That’s what it’d been about that morning.
Thus, he had headed to SHIELD’s offices, ready to stake out or storm them, whichever was needed, for news of his friend. Before he could decide on either - his choice heavily leaning towards the latter one - Barton had intercepted him. The retired Avenger had also been contacted by Stark and by Natasha, the woman much more informative than the billionaire. It was from Barton that Bucky learned that an offshoot of SHIELD was involved and that one of its agents should have information. An agent Morfield.
“Well?” Bucky growled, removing his arm again from the hood and instead maneuvered forward and grabbed the driver’s side door. Wrenching it open, he glowered at the driver, ready to pull the agent out if the man so much as thought about pressing the accelerator. “Where’s Steve?”
“I...I don’t…” Morfield stared up at the Winter Soldier, his heart thumping loudly against his ribcage and his gray eyes filling with fear. Trepidation.
Noticing the look, Bucky bristled, mixed feelings running through him. For the past few years, as he adjusted from being the Winter Soldier to being himself again, he’d encountered people who knew him only as the brainwashed puppet of Hydra. Each one had given that identical look. And each time it brought up the same torrent of emotions in him. Impossible to describe and a torture to feel. Steve Rogers had helped him through it each occasion, and it’d been over a year since the last time he encountered such a look.
“Hey.” Came Barton’s voice through the earbud com-speaker the ex-Avenger had given him before they started their stakeout. The sound drew Bucky away from the tumultuous emotions brewing up from Morfield’s fearful stare. “Stay sharp. His friend is up to something.”
“I know, I’m not...” Bucky started to snap back at Barton, irritated but also glad for the interruption from his guilt-ridden thoughts. His words faltered once he turned his gaze to the backseat passenger or rather to the now empty backseat. Mordo had taken advantage of the momentary hiccup of Bucky’s attention to portal away, leaving Morfield to face the Winter Soldier alone. “Mother fucker.” Bucky muttered, scowling at the empty seat before turning his attention back to the agent.
“I…” Morfield swallowed, shaking as Bucky pulled him from the vehicle although the fear in his gray eyes had lessened. Replaced instead by a wary caution, something that took the Winter Soldier a while to notice. Once he did, a crease formed on Bucky’s forehead and on the swathe of skin above the sellion of his nose.
‘That’s a first…’ Thought Bucky, confused by the change in the agent’s demeanor. The fear in the other man’s eyes - he had expected it to remain strong, not to lessen, especially not without any effort on his part to assuage it. It was…Eyes widening suddenly and darting over the agent’s face, Bucky bristled. Anger rushed through him as snippets of memory flashed across his thoughts. Snippets that included a man identical to the agent, a man who had helped Hydra experiment on him. “You...you’re one of….”
“Hey. We should make our way back.” Barton interrupted, stepping up next to Bucky. Having been watching from a distance, the retired Avenger had noticed the shift in the other man and had approached, his instincts screeching at him. Shouting even louder in his head when he heard Bucky growl that the agent was Hydra, one of the ones that had infiltrated SHIELD in the past. Barton tensed, eyeing Morfield closely after Bucky’s revelation. “...We’ll question him back at the tower.”
“...Fine.” Responded Bucky after a moment or two of thought, his mechanized hand clasped tightly as a vise around the agent’s arm.
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