Two plus one
As my chapters tend to be a little on the long side, I was playing around with a “read more” option. I cannot get it to work on app. If you know how, please tell.
Rated: T (there will be explicit scenes in this story, maybe a little gore and violence, but I will post that on another blog to keep this T. Oh and Steve Rogers might chime in once in a while mumbling “language”)
Chapter: 2/?
Robin had easily learnt the location of the library in the building with some help of Friday. Her mother had forbidden her to roam to other floors, but Natasha took her there after some pouting. She roamed the shelves, but she knew she was going to read the book under her arm anyway. This library held books with many hard words, but nothing like what Robin was looking for. She found a niche in the back of the library. It had some cushions and a blanket. Just as she wanted to crawl in, she noticed someone else already sitting there.
‘I’m sorry,’ Robin exclaimed. She saw James. He did not look up from his book, but did not seem to read either.
‘I do believe your mother disagrees with you leaving your floor,’ he mumbled. He pulled stretched out legs a little to the window. Blue eyes met younger blue eyes. He smirked. ‘Come, sit down.’
Robin smiled up at the man. She liked this one. Uncle Steve would have lectured her about being responsible and listening to her mother while taking her back. She crawled into the little space left for her. The view was grey. It was raining again. Robin figured New York would be beautiful from up here if only the rain would stop.
Loki watched the little girl over the rim of his insignificant book. The little girl had a book laid against her legs. He could not see the title, yet some images seemed familiar. The little girl was shaking slightly. Though a little smile graced her face, she was on the verge of crying. Loki closed his book with a sigh.
‘What is wrong,’ he asked softly. Blue eyes shot up at him. She wiped the tears away and straightened her shoulders.
‘Nothing, sir,’ she said politely. She picked up reading again. Loki could appreciate a strong child as any Aesir would, however he could not ignore her hurting.
‘What are you reading? It looks worn out,’ Loki said. Robin looked up at him defiantly. A smirk formed on his lips. He liked this child. It had potential.
‘A book my mother bought me many years ago,’ she said softly. ‘It is my favourite book. It is about a prince that finds out he is adopted. He is a very funny guy, playing pranks on everyone ever since he was a child… But it looks like this entire book is a lie.’
‘Briefing for you Asgardians in twenty minutes in the conference room,’ Stark yelled from the doorway.
Robin’s eyes started to shine. ‘You are Asgardian? Then you must know Loki! My book is about him! It is my favourite. I love the pranks he plays on his brother.’
Loki was taken aback. He had seen children and adults react like this to his brother or to Stark.Fans he believed they were called. Never would he have imagined that someone, let alone this innocent child, would react to him. He felt a blush cover his cheeks. He coughed.
‘I used to know him,’ Loki said. A little shadow fell over the little girl’s eyes, making his heart feel heavier for some reason. Loki frowned. The first thing her mother had said to him came back to mind. She was heartbroken when she heard about what you did in New York. He had thought she had lost something during that battle. Perhaps she had lost the father Evelynn refused to speak of, he had figured, but never would he have thought that someone would look up to him.
‘I thought so too,’ she said sadly. ‘The other children in class taunt me. They say I am a freak for believing in him.’
‘James,’ came the pressing voice of Stark. Loki looked up with a smirk. The man had sent a holograph to remind him of the meeting. It was going to be a drag.
‘Stay here, little bird,’ Loki said. ‘I would like to know more about this book of yours.’ He stood up from the niche, making his way to the door. He pulled a hand through his hair, pushing it back though it was much shorter now. Little did he know that Robin had squinted her eyes at the movement. ‘Do not roam these hallways without an adult present. You could set off an alarm.’
Loki was tapping the table impatiently. Yes, yes, protestors named Hunters in the streets. The history of witch-hunts. The possibility of modern witches. Something called Wicca and Voodoo. Maybe it was the protestors themselves that were attacking people. Maybe it was witches. Who knew.
‘12 people dies during the last attack,’ Evelynn said reading from the files. ‘Tony, do you have a plan yet to prevent the next attack?’
‘We have too little intel on them so far,’ Tony said leaning back in his chair. He waited for the woman to respond.
‘I will see what I can do about that,’ Evelynn said with a smirk. ‘Some of them must at least have phones on them. I can start by looking into the Hunters. It might be helpful to know what they are planning.’
‘See if they have any invasive plans,’ Tony concluded.
After the meeting was over, Loki jumped from his seat to make his way back to the library.
Evelynn had watched the impatient man intently. She had thrown some questioning looks over at the others, yet no one seemed to know what was happening. After he had jumped up to leave, they all stayed seated for a couple of seconds.
‘Robin is in the library,’ Natasha spoke up. ‘I brought her there.’
Evelynn’s fury started to rise in her stomach. She jumped up from her seat and made her way to the library. This tower was filled to the rim with boobytraps and alarms. This was not a place for a little girl to roam around. What if she needed to go to the bathroom? Evelynn knew of three boobytraps on that floor not far from the bathroom.
Loki had sat down next to the girl. She was proudly showing off her book.
‘This is my favourite. Loki turned himself into a snake, knowing Thor really likes snakes. When Thor picks up the snake, he turned back into himself and hit him over the head,’ Robin said giggling.
Loki was happy that the true story was not written about. He wondered how it was that some of these stories were true. He needed to inquire about these Norwegian people and their old beliefs. It might prove to be interesting.
‘Robin Skade!’ Evelynn yelled as she stepped into the library. She froze. There in a niche was the worst thing that she could have imagined. Loki sat there with her little girl curled up next to him. She seemed to be reading to him from her book. All blood drained from her face. An immense fear hit her in her gut. What had this man been telling her little daughter?
‘Mom!’ Robin said jumping up. ‘I swear-‘
‘No,’ Evelynn said. She was happy she had ordered MONDAY to disable all the boobytraps and alarms on this floor. ‘You will go to the elevator right now and to your bedroom. I told you now to leave the 52nd floor and I will not stand for this behaviour.’ The amount of anger in her voice was too much for the little girl.
‘I HATE YOU,’ she yelled at her mother. Loki watched Evelynn take a step back. Robin pushed past her and made her way to the elevator as her mother had told her. Tears streamed over her cheeks as she continuously pressed the button to go up.
‘You,’ Evelynn said even colder. She ignored the tear in her eyes as she made her way over to him. He had stood up from their little cosy spot. ‘I told you to leave her alone. She adored you, because I introduced her to you. I bought her that damned book to read about all the mischief you supposedly did. You were her hero as in every story it seemed like you would make yourself the bad guy, just so others could prosper. She thought you were the true hero in every story and then New York happened. It is my fault that her heart has been broken. I should not have trusted you with it. If only I had known earlier that you truly existed.’
Loki averted his eyes to the ground for a moment. Should he tell her of the threats Thanos had made? There was no use. He had broken the trust this woman had in him too severely already it seemed. He looked back up to see the woman walk out of the library. There was only one thing he could do right now. He transported himself into Robin’s room.
Thor looked from the balcony down on the scene. Natasha and Clint were walking away after Loki had left. Stark seemed angry as could be, though Thor did not know why. Now that he came to think of it, Lady Robin might have understood his brother better than he did. Yes, Loki had wanted to be king for a long time and he had sent off their father to Midgard, but Thor had been told that the king was so stricken by grief that Asgard came to a pause. It was only when he started to appear more often into the open that it became better. Asgard had started to prosper again. Maybe it had not been complete selfishness?
‘Little bird,’ Loki said kneeling next to the bed. He could hear Evelynn knocking on her door, calling her name. Robin had crashed onto her bed after locking all the doors leading to her room. She cried while holding the book. ‘I shall tell you a tale of Loki if you look at me.’ The sobbing stopped.
Stark stood in his office with Natasha and Banner. They were listening to Loki speak to the girl. Thor stepped into the room with a scowl on his face. There was a listening device on Loki at all time. He wondered if his brother knew of it. He doubted that he did. His brother would never be this vulnerable in front of them.
‘I knew you would not trust him,’ he said. ‘Let us listen to what my brother has to say.’
Robin looked up at James. She nodded and made to sit up straight. She patted the bed next to her. James seemed really distraught to her for some reason, but he sat down.
‘When Loki was taken back to Asgard after the attack on New York,’ he started, ‘he was locked away into the prisons of Asgard. His mother had taken care of some furniture, but Loki was so angry at that time he had destroyed it all in a… well… unwanted outburst of magic. Yet, his mother kept visiting and bringing him books to help with the boredom. She was worried about his state. He had carelessly walked through the broken glass. Tired of it all and giving in to despair, he had slouched against the wall staring forward with cuts on his feet and legs. As you know, Frigga had taught Loki all her tricks. She could see straight through his illusion of being in perfect shape. Loki truly held the woman in his heart. As his mother said once, Odin and Thor cast large shadows. By sharing her gifts with her son, she had hoped that he would catch some sun of his own.’
Loki felt a large lump form in the back of his throat. It had become eerily quiet on the other side of the door. Loki knew Evelynn was not the type to give up when it came to her child. She had to be there, listening in as she did not trust him with her daughter. For some reason, he did not care that she would hear. He figured the mother and daughter did not have any secrets between them and this story was not going to be one either way. Loki admired the woman for building a life for her and her daughter after she had her at a young age.
A tiny hand was laid on his arm. Robin looked in tears herself, feeling for her fallen hero. James looked back at her. He wrapped an arm around her. The little girl curled herself up in his side.
‘Frigga had come to visit Loki. She had come after his brother had visited. Seeing Thor, Loki could feel his own failure. He had betrayed his brother and was unable to… Never mind that. He had let down the illusion he had built up so carefully. He was a broken man sitting in a corner surrounded by broken glass. The only thing he could not get himself to destroy were the books his mother gave him. It did not matter. Loki lashed out to his mother, telling her she was – was not his mother.’ Loki chastised himself for letting his voice break, but carried on. He needed Robin to understand that some things should never be said. ‘He had lied. The next day, Loki was waiting for his mother’s visit. He needed to apologize, tell her of his lie. It was not Frigga that faced him after the panic of that day had eased. It was Thor. He told Loki that his mother had died during the attack. To this day, Thor never answered Loki’s question whether she had suffered or not. I do not think Loki will ever be able to stop grieving his mother and praying to the Norns that she knew just how much he loved her.’
The little hand moved from Loki’s arm over to his face. It wiped away a tear. Robin was crying too, straightening her back. She looked at him and smiled weakly.
Evelynn moved away from the door. She went into the common room to get a glass of water. The grief that had fallen over her was immense. No one should have to carry a burden like that. She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes.
‘I love you, mommy,’ Robin mumbled from behind. ‘I could never hate you.’ Evelynn whipped around and grabbed her little girl tightly.
‘I love you too, darling,’ she said softly. Grief hit her heart again as she thought that one day she might have to leave her daughter. There were moments in her life that she would not be there to stand by her side. After a little while, she let go of her little girl. She held her at arms’ length.
‘It hurt what you said,’ she started, ‘but I will always know better. I raised you, I know you. I have been through every gradation of temper and rage with you and I know when you lash out just to hurt me. You should be careful with your words, but remember that I will always love you. It does not matter what you say, I will.’
Robin started to nod fiercely. Suddenly she froze. With pleading eyes, she looked up at her mother. ‘Can you take me to the library?’
