#but Loki being grown and aware of the risk and still going for it just hits different

[worstloki]

Idowu Koyenikan // Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

#HC that Loki's plan to touch the casket to either prove he's a frost giant or severely hurt himself in the process of disproving it is a go #i still think about how Loki seemed passively suicidal before the rest of Thor 1 went down #idk man #something something what would've happened if Loki wasn't jotun and touched the casket #you don't casually call a box of power the heart of a realm #and it clearly isn't contained completely if touching it makes Loki's skin fade to blue #Loki as a kid accidentally discovering he's a frost giant by touching it and there being no hurtful reaction is fine #but Loki being grown and aware of the risk and still going for it just hits different #Loki internal monologue: either this'll kill me or prove i'm a frost giant so same result either way really #also #there's something so <3 about Loki looking over his hands in the scene before and then reaching out but not touching Odin after the vault #alienate your own hands why don't ya #motifs and metaphors methinks

[anonwriter27]

Trust in Me Ch11

I've received a message asking if I had anyone in mind when writing the characters of  Y/N's family, if anyone would like to know my somewhat 'fancast' let me know! :)

Since that first kiss, Loki was in a daze. He was certain she must be an enchantress of some kind. 

 One kiss wasn’t enough for him, he found himself craving the soft feel of those plump lips against his. He loved the fact he could taste sweet pastries on her lips; he was bewitched by the way her breath hitched when he stole an unexpected kiss or two; he adored the way she melted into his warm embrace.

 It was her touch too.

 The slightest press of her fingertips along his jaw or the delicate way her fingers combed through his hair, left a fire in their wake. It wasn’t an unpleasant heat; it didn’t scorch him or leave him burnt. It was the kind of warmth that spread slowly, like sitting by a fire after bracing the cold winter winds. Y/N thawed him of an ice that had spread over him these many years.

 He expected this thrill to wear slightly after a few weeks. Loki had had romantic attachments before; on Asgard it was common for he and Thor to have various ladies accompany them to the many feasts Odin hosted. But his interest in these women would always fade quickly.

 This didn’t seem to be the case with Y/N, it had been two weeks since their first kiss and he yearned for more.

 The more he learnt about her, the more fascinated he became. He wondered if this was due to the weeks of getting to know each other. Both Loki and Y/N had been wounded in the past by the carelessness of others; perhaps understanding each other’s boundaries had built them a foundation of sorts to develop their relationship into something more.

 That was how Loki liked to rationalise it, because as enamoured with Y/N as Loki was, he would never admit to being head over heels.

 This would be how he explained his current actions, trapping Y/N’s body with his own in a supply closet, trailing sweet kisses down her neck.

 “We are both needed in the meeting room.” Y/N said, trying to sound serious through her laughter.

 Y/N had never experienced romantic feelings or feelings of want, but after their first kiss it hit her in a matter of seconds. She had always thought Loki handsome, but this new side of their relationship made him utterly irresistible. She could not deny him the kisses he craved, nor would she want to.

 “They requested our presence at two o’clock, we have three minutes.” Loki’s voice was muffled as he kept pressing kisses to her neck.

 “It will take us a minute to walk there.” Y/N reasoned.

 Loki hummed, “Then we shall have two minutes of bliss.”

 Y/N couldn’t help but laugh, she didn’t want to leave their cocoon of happiness any more than he did. However, Loki and Y/N had agreed not to let anyone know of this new development for the time being. Loki was still trying to find his bearings at the tower, and while he didn’t care too much what the avengers thought of him, he didn’t think stealing the innocence of Stark’s beloved niece would hold him in good standing.

 “It’s never just two minutes Loki.” She mockingly admonished.

 He gave her that laugh, one that promised mischief. “Can you blame me my dear? I can hardly get you all to myself these days.”

 Loki was right. Every time they had been close to a moment alone, they were interrupted. If it wasn’t Vision reminding them dinner was ready, it was Thor asking Loki to go training with him. The worst one had been an intimate exchange in Y/N’s room. A heated debate over the greatest of Shakespeare’s plays ended in Loki crawling on top of Y/N and kissing her without abandon. He would have kissed her long into the night had the voice of Peter Parker not sounded through the door asking Y/N if she wanted to watch a movie.

 They both longed for these stolen moments together.

 “Perhaps we need to schedule time together.” Y/N joked, though the idea wasn’t ridiculous.

 “Oh?” Loki smirked. “Are you asking me out on a… what is it you Midgardians call it?”

 “A date?” Y/N asked.

 “Yes. Are you asking me out on a date?” Loki teased.

 Y/N blushed scarlet. She had been much more confident with Loki over their time spent together, but little things such as this would make her doubt herself.

 Loki sensed her hesitation, “Before your nerves talk you out of it…” He began, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, “You should know, I would say yes.”

 She looked into those green eyes, finding only honesty there. “You would?” She said meekly.

 He smiled warmly, “I would.”

 She took a deep breath, “Would you like to… you know?”

 Loki wouldn’t make it that easy, “You’re going to have to say the words dear, I wish to be wooed.”

 Y/N rolled her eyes, “Loki… will you go on a date?” She asked then added, “With me?”

 With that happy smile, the one he reserved for her, he answered, “Of course.”

 She leant up on her tippy toes, lips hovering just a touch away from his. As Loki was about to seal their lips together, she pulled back slightly.

 “We’re five minutes late.” And with a quick kiss to the lips, she slid from his embrace and snuck out the closet.

 Loki sighed, “Temptress.” He muttered, before following her.

   Sitting across from Loki during the monthly meeting was hard. He sat across the table from her, their eyes occasionally meeting, only to be forced to look away as to not arouse suspicion.

 It was the way he looked at her that made it so difficult.

It was not that his eyes promised more secret meetings, nor did they suggest anything lewd. He simply looked at her with appreciation, like he was happy to look at her, he was happy she was there. There were very few times in Y/N’s life where she felt safe under someone’s gaze.

 When Tony would watch her, he would do so as a concerned uncle. When the rest of the team looked at her, they did so to protect her, to make sure she was comfortable and safe. But when Loki gazed at her, she felt wanted; not just wanted in presence, but also as a woman. For so long she had felt like a broken little bird, a fledgling not quite ready to fly; but with Loki she soared.

 Once the meeting was over Y/N excused herself to prepare the food for dinner. Loki patiently waited to join her.

 It was Bucky’s turn to help, which is how he found himself helping Y/N peel carrots in her apartment’s kitchen. Y/N had never been out on a date before let alone plan one, and according to Steve, Bucky was very popular with the young ladies back in their day. So, she decided to confide in her friend.

 “Hey Bucky?” She spoke quietly.

 “Yeah?” He asked.

 She continued, “You’ve dated right?”

 Bucky paused mid peel, “Not for a while. Why?”

 Y/N took a deep breath, “I was wondering…if you were planning a date with someone, your first date…where would go?”

 Bucky tried very hard not to smile. He was aware that Loki and Y/N had grown closer after the incident at the carnival, and he had his suspicions that the pair were romantically involved. In fact, he, Peter and Sam had made a bet as to when the two would become a couple. Although he wanted to know more, he decided to let it be. Loki and Y/N were private people, he didn’t want to pry, but he did want to help.

 “I think the best way to a person’s heart is through their belly. You can’t beat good food and good conversation.” Bucky offered.

 Y/N pondered this, “Somewhere fancy?”

 Bucky shook his head, “Somewhere comfortable, you don’t want to feel overwhelmed before the date starts.”

 Y/N nodded thoughtfully. She wondered where she could go where she would feel safe. She didn’t want to plan a date in the tower; it was too crowded and not at all romantic. Would she dare risk leaving though?

 Bucky finished up his side of the prepping and was about to leave when he suddenly had a thought.

 “You know, the bakery around the corner from here has a café. The tables are on a patio with ivy going up the windows and those little lights hanging from the beams. They play classical music too, it’s like you’re eating a croissant in heaven or something.” He laughed

 Y/N looked at him confused.

 He continued, “If I were going on a first date, and I happened to know that my date had a sweet tooth, I’d probably take them there.”

 Y/N smiled, “Thank you Bucky.”

 He sent her a quick wink and left, secretly hoping their date goes well.

   After pretending to listen to one of his brother’s many stories, Loki decided enough time had passed for him to go and join Y/N. When he returned to their shared apartment, he was surprised not to find her cooking in the kitchen.

 He decided to have a quick shower and freshen up before meeting his companion for a few more minutes of paradise.

 Once dressed after his shower, Loki heard a light knock at his bedroom door.

 He was pleasantly surprised to find who stood behind it. There was Y/N, and she looked beautiful. She wore a black turtleneck matched with a burgundy tartan skirt. Her ankle boots were laced up and she held her long black coat in her arms.

 Unbeknownst to Loki, Y/N had been stood there for twenty minutes. She hah been struggling to calm her breathing and relax; so, she quietly paced outside his door and tried not to think about all the things that could go wrong. People could yell and hurl abuse at her, their stares could make Loki uncomfortable. She shook these thoughts away and repeated in her head ‘Loki will be there, I’ll be okay.’ That thought alone gave her the courage to go through with this.

 Loki leant against the door frame with his arms crossed and grinned mischievously, “To what do I owe this pleasure.”

 Y/N smiled nervously, “I’m taking you out…on a date.”

 Loki’s eyes softened, “And you are here to escort me?”

 She smiled, “Well you said you wanted to be wooed.” She teased.

 He laughed, “Indeed I did. Shall we go to the library?” Loki asked.

 “No umm…I’m taking you out-out. On a proper date, like people do…in the movies.” She explained.

 Loki looked at her hesitantly and she feared she had done something wrong.

 Loki noticed her nervousness and explained, “Y/N you don’t have to do that. I know I teased but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable…”

 “I won’t be.” She interrupted, “This is something I want to do.”

 The certainty in her voice almost assured Loki, but it was the determination in her eyes that had convinced him.

 He grabbed his coat of the hook by the door and held out his arm for her.

 “Shall we?”

     When they entered the little pastry shop, Y/N was relieved to see that only two other tables were occupied, one by someone typing furiously on their laptop, the other by an old man sneaking treats to his dog under the table.

 An elderly lady, with her hair combed back in a neat bun, wearing a flour covered apron, came to greet them.

 “Hello Loki, not with you’re charming soldier friend?” She asked.

 “Not today Margaret, I’m joined by much more delightful company today.” He spoke.

 Margaret gave Y/N a warm smile, “Very pretty company too.” She said and winked at Loki. “Follow me, I’ve got the perfect table for you.”

 They followed the kind old lady who escorted them to a small table in a secluded part of the café. It was a little booth, allowing them to sit close together. She handed them two menu’s and left them to peruse.

 Loki noticed Y/N supressing a smile, “What is it?”

 “She knows you.”  Her words laced in a teasing tone.

 Loki cleared his throat and blushed slightly, “Well me and Bucky tend to visit once or twice a week.”

 Y/N looked up from the menu surprised, “You guys have a hang out?”

 Loki rolled his eyes good naturedly, “Are you mocking me dear?”

 Y/N placed her hand in his, “Not at all.” She assured, “I like that you and Bucky are friends and you’ve got this place. It makes me happy to see you so comfortable.”

 Loki was touched by her words; he was moved by the joy he saw in her eyes, an emotion placed there just because he felt comfortable. She was an incredibly kind-hearted person.

 “Enough about me, how are you feeling? Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Loki asked.

 Y/N nodded, “No one is staring or whispering behind their hands. I like it here, it’s peaceful.”

 Loki smiled in relief, “If Margaret can be so kind to a disgraced God and ex-assassin, you have nothing to worry about my dear.”

 Y/N seemed assured by that, “She does seem quite fond of you.”

 “Probably due to the announcement when I arrived.” Loki added.

 Y/N was confused, “Announcement?”

 “When I arrived at the tower?” Loki hadn’t realised she was unaware of the statement made, ���To explain mine and Bucky’s ‘joining the team,’ Miss Potts made a public announcement explaining that we were under mind control when our devastating crimes were committed.”

 “Oh.” Y/N hadn’t realised that these procedures had taken place, though come to think of it, people hadn’t shown too much animosity towards Loki and Bucky.

 “I knew about the mind control.” She admitted. “I didn’t know about the announcements though.”

 Loki nodded and slowly began to look sheepish, “So you know about…” he trailed off.

 Y/N nodded, “I didn’t think it appropriate to ask. But if you ever felt you were ready to talk about it…I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

 Loki smiled at her words, “I may just take you up on that. But tonight, I would rather enjoy getting to know my date.”

 She dazzled him with that smile again, and any lingering bad thought was chased away.

 They ordered hot chocolates and too many pastries to count. They talked and laughed without a care in the world. Y/N was too happy to worry if anyone was angered by her presence; being able to hold Loki’s hand and sit so close to him without interruption was enough to make her feel safe.

 Eventually their night had to come to an end, they got a doggy bag for their pastries and held hands as they walked the quiet route back to the tower.

     “Maybe she went for a walk?” Bucky offered.

 “Are you sure she’s not in the library?” Sam asked.

 “Maybe she’s doing paperwork in the lab.” Bruce tried to sound reassuring.

 Tony was pacing back and forth in the large meeting room. Tony hadn’t seen Y/N in hours; he had checked every corner of the tower, interrogated Peter about her whereabouts, he even had Happy roaming the streets.

 “Tony please sit down. This is Y/N we’re talking about; she won’t have gone far.” Pepper tried to reason.

 Tony sighed, “You know how scared she gets, what if someone yells at her or worse? She’s all alone…”

 Thor walked in and interrupted, “Has anyone seen my brother?”

 Everyone in the tower froze, except Bucky who was trying very hard not to spill the beans. Just as Tony was about to put a bounty on the trickster’s head, Y/N and Loki walked in with bags of pastries in their hands.

 “Where have you…” Tony got ready to scold, but the look of pure happiness on his niece’s face made him pause.

 “I went outside Uncle Tony!” She exclaimed happily. “No one yelled at me either. We brought back pastries too!”

 She was a ball of energy; she spoke so quickly. Tony didn’t know how to react; how could he be angry when she smiled at him like that? Tony wondered when she had last looked so carefree.

 His face softened and he smiled down at her, “That’s great Y/N.”

 She smiled up at him, “I’ll go warm the pastries up.” She said, then practically skipped to the communal kitchen.

 Tony looked at Loki, “Pastries?”

 Loki couldn’t tell them it was a date, so he just shrugged and said, “She really wanted a chocolate danish.”

 With that Loki left to help Y/N in the kitchen, leaving the avengers dumbfounded.

 In the back of the room, Sam was handing a twenty-dollar bill over to Bucky.

#loki x reader #loki fandom #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #bucky barnes #sam wilson #peter parker #thor #tony stark #pepper potts #vision #wanda #avengers #steve rogers #bruce banner #natasha romanoff

[shannygoatgruff]

The World Over

Genre:  Vikings/GOT Crossover Fan Fiction

Rating: MA – violence, language, strong sexual content

Summary: Ivar the Boneless and Daenerys Targaryen find themselves unlikely allies. But each has something that the other needs to get them what they want. He has the tactical skill to take her all the way to Kings Landing. She has the dragon army that will give him all of England, possibly Norway. Will they be each other's savior or demise?

A/N:  I have been writing fanfiction for years, but I lost my muse. I finally found it again in Alex Høgh Andersen.  I am obsessed with him and his character, Ivar. 

In my perfect world, Ivar would be on Game of Thrones.  This is my attempt to fix the horrible ending to one of my favorite shows and these two worlds together.

My timelines for both shows are NOT accurate.  They are not meant to be – I have to do a lot of finessing to make everything turn out the way I want it to.

With that, I hope you enjoy.

Ivar The Terrible

The voyage from Kattegat to England took roughly three weeks by ship. Twenty-one days seemed like a brief time passing for the Great Army, led by Björn Ironside and his brothers, to travel from their home to kill King Aelle of Northumbria. 

Early spring had brought minimally choppy waters. The weather was warm enough during the day to require the Viking horde to only require wool and leathers, and at night, light furs.

The gods had blessed them with only two small storms during their entire voyage to the land of the Christians. Neither storm had been so severe that any member of their party took ill, or any of their supplies were damaged. Odin had shown the Vikings great favor as they set out to avenge their fallen King.

King Ragnar Lothbrok was the most famous Viking in all of Scandinavia. He had returned to England the year before the Great Army set sail, with his youngest son, Ivar. Ragnar had returned to question his friend, King Ecbert, on why he had slaughtered the entire Viking settlement that had been allowed to remain and farm in Wessex.  

It had always been Ragnar’s dream to farm on lush and fertile grounds, and the soil in England provided just that.  The weather there was moist and the winds carried the smell of freshly turned soil. Viking farmers were destined to turn a good crop there.  

Farming in Norway had grown harsher. The soil was sandy and the weather was cold. Not much vegetation grew there – not enough to sustain their ever-growing population. The gods had blessed the Northmen with the ability to grow crops to feed their livestock, and the meat from those animals fed their villages. But Ragnar wondered how long would that last? The soil in Kattegat had been turned too many times. The gods gave him visions of moving his people to somewhere more fruitful, where they could farm and continue their way of life.

But, the god Loki had too much in store for the once-simple farmer.  He had grown Ragnar’s ambitions too strong.  Sent him on too many raids.  Forced him into making too many enemies and shedding too much bloodshed.  Before Ragnar realized it in his quest for power and gain, he lost his daughter and unborn son; his wife and son, Björn, had left him and he had four additional sons with a woman he did not love.

Broken, defeated, and estranged, Ragnar removed himself from everything and everyone.  And upon his return, the only one of his sons to accept him wholeheartedly was the one son he had cast away.  

Ivar the Boneless. 

It had taken nearly 16 winters for Ragnar to forge a relationship with his youngest son, the boy that he had tried to leave in the woods to be killed by the elements or taken by wildlife. But on the trip to Wessex, Ragnar and Ivar finally bonded. It was during that trip, that Ragnar Lothbrok was killed by the Christians, but not before he told Ivar to avenge him.

That is exactly what the youngest of the sons of Ragnar had done.

Ivar and his brothers had put together the greatest Viking army the world had ever seen to travel across the great sea to personally deliver all of those who had a hand in killing their father to the goddess Hel. 

But, it seemed that Loki had just as much in store for the younger Lothbroks as the elder.

Now, all but two of the brothers' Lothbrok found themselves on separate ships heading back to their home in Kattegat. Already at sea for more than three weeks, they seemed no closer to home then they had when he set sail 30 days ago.

"You are certain we are still on the course to Kattegat?" Ivar sat perched atop a treasure chest pushed up against the left side of the langskip. He had a thick rope used to raise and lower the sails wrapped around his arm to help keep him grounded to his spot. "We should all be enjoying a tall horn of ale by now!" Angry that he was unable to get up and walk around the vessel, Ivar rolled his cold blue eyes at the thought of spending another day on the ship. 

He would never tell any of his fellow Northmen he was uncomfortable and the cramped conditions of sailing did not fare well with his legs. The weather was miserable. There was a dense fog that seemed to surround each of the ships making it virtually impossible to see any other vessel. 

It had rained for the last five nights and four days. This was not just any rain. It was a freezing rain – like little blades of razor-sharp ice slicing through the air at your face, neck, and hands during the night. The weather during the day wasn't much better with the ferocious thunderstorms that pushed half of the sea into their boat.

Running his hands through his dark brown hair, Ivar squeezed the water from his long ponytail that hung at his shoulders. Trying to ignore the rain and saltwater dripping into his eyes, he sighed and clasped his hand around the arm ring given to him by his father. "Ragnar, show us to land soon," he said quiet enough so no one else could hear him.

He flexed his fingers, which were pruned, in his black half gloves. He was soaked to the bone. The heavy fur coat he wore did little to keep him warm, it felt as though it was just washed in the ocean itself.

Ivar was tired of being wet. His coat was wet. His blankets were wet. His clothes were wet. His boots were wet - if he did not remove them soon, he risked getting foot rot. The food was wet. Even his stools were wet, courtesy of inadvertently drinking saltwater.

"When I kill Lagertha and become King of Kattegat, I will no longer go on raids. I will send others to raid on my behalf," he said matter-of-factly, to no one in particular. "I no longer enjoy sailing." 

A soft chuckle came from behind him, "Ivar, you are the youngest brother. You have almost no claim to the throne," Ubbe said putting both hands on Ivar's shoulders. Leaning up to whisper in his brother's ear, he continued, "Besides, do you think you deserve the throne after what you did to Sigurd?" With a good-natured double pat, Ubbe stood up and balanced himself as he walked over to the edge of the ship, untied his pants and relieved himself over the side.  Still unable to bring himself to express his true disgust at Ivar for killing their brother Sigurd, Ubbe swallowed the hurt.

"You are aware that will blow back on all of us? Hmm, Ubbe?" Ivar said rolling his eyes. "All this wind," he circled his finger in the air to show his brother how strong the winds were blowing. His face held annoyance when Ubbe shrugged, suggesting he didn't care if his brother got pissed on. Ivar turned his head. "I have just as much claim to the throne as any of you. I am a son of Ragnar."

Looking at his brother, as he turned and smiled, Ivar admired how much Ubbe resembled their father. Their oldest brother Björn was the spitting image of Ragar, save the color of his golden blond hair. That hair color he inherited from his mother, Lagertha. But, Ubbe, looked he could have been Ragnar's twin. He had the same bright blue eyes, the same long dirty blond hair. Looking at Björn and Ubbe there was never any question that they deserved the name Ragnarsson. 

His other brother Hvitserk looked like their mother, Aslaug, with his green eyes and blond hair. Even if he wasn't the spitting image of his father, resembling Queen Aslaug and her family, the family that was the hero Sigurd and the shield-maiden Brynhildr, was enough to make all of the young maids in Kattegat want to bed him.

Ivar never paid attention to his brother Sigurd to figure out if he resembled either of his parents. To him, Sigurd was a non-factor.  Even with his disdain of Sigurd, he never meant to kill him.  It was a mistake.  Sigurd should have shut his mouth and stopped tormenting him so. Reminding him of Mother, with the strawberry blonde hair and the cleft in her chin, but saying such awful words. Those words would have never come from Mother’s mouth. 

Then there was Ivar. He looked nothing like either of his parents or any of his siblings. While all of his brothers had been some shade of blond, Ivar had dark brown hair. His eyes were blue like their father's but a different shade. Ragnar's eyes were almost the clear blue of ice melting after a thaw, where Ivar's were the deep blue of the lakes of Norway. But the thing that made Ivar stand out the most from his brothers was his inability to walk. Ivar learned to get around by crawling, dragging his legs which were bound together, behind him. He was also the angriest and cruelest of his brothers – he harbored a pain that not even he understood. He never fit into his family; not in looks, abilities, ideals… 

"The throne should go to the strongest, and best suited to rule, Ivar." Ubbe reminded Ivar as he pulled up the waistband of his britches. "That is Björn or have you forgotten?"

"Björn does not want it. He just wants to sail around the world and search for warm places," Ivar spat out.

Shaking his head, Ubbe returned to his seat using his legs to wedge himself into the corner of the ship as it continued to rock from side to side. "It doesn't matter. If he refuses, then I will take it. I am the next oldest. Then Hvitserk. Then you, Ivar. You have to wait your turn," Ubbe was careful not to mention his little brother Sigurd.  That pain was still too real. 

"Hvitserk?! Hvitserk is more fit to rule over Kattegat then me?" His voice rose an octave at the absurdity of the suggestion.  “And you think you’re stronger?” Why couldn't his brothers see him for the born leader that he was? Why didn't Ubbe, of all of his brothers, the most sensible and reasonable one of all, understand that he would make the best ruler? "Or I could just kill you all now," Ivar said, taking his dagger out of its boot sheath so he could clean his fingernails. 

"Might be easier when we get off these boats," Ubbe mocked. "That is if Odin doesn't take us all first." 

"You don't want the throne, Ubbe. Neither does Hvitserk. He just wants to bed every girl from Northumbria to Kattegat." Ivar shook his head, frustrated with his brothers' lack of ambition. They should be more excited to get Lagertha off of the throne. She killed their mother, "Now that we have avenged Ragnar, I will get my vengeance for Mother. And when the throne is empty, it is up to one of us to take it. None of you want it. So, it is mine." 

"If it is Odin's will," Ubbe said, before laying his head back and closing his eyes. There was nothing left to do but try to sleep. This would be another day left up to Odin for the crew to find their way back to Kattegat. 

Njord, the god of the sea, was not finished toying with the Great Army. Until he was, there was nothing they could do to get their ships back on course.

Ivar narrowed his eyes at Ubbe. He loved his brother, but it infuriated him that Ubbe did not believe him. Ivar was going to be a King. He could feel it, and he didn't need a Seer to confirm what he already knew. The gods had favored him. He had been chosen, and when it happened, he would make everyone that doubted him pay.

A woman woke up from a dream with a start. Panting heavily, she wiped the sweat from her brow and sat upright in the bed. Pulling all of her long burgundy hair to one shoulder, she closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself. She took a moment to touch the amulet on her chest and found herself relaxing slowly.

Placing her feet on the soft rug, she strolled over to the chair to collect her robes. The thick red robe was made from a blend of lamb's wool and cotton, with fur from the dire wolf to line the collar and cuffs. She put the robe onto her naked body and slowly fastened the clasps. Stepping into her red leather boots, he looked at herself in the glass that rested by the washing bowl on the table.

She looked as calm as she always did. But, inside she was shaken. The Lord of Light had given her the most peculiar vision. She wasn't exactly sure what it meant – that much had not been revealed to her. But she knew that there was a change about to happen in the Seven Kingdoms that did not bode well for her charge, Stannis Baratheon. Holding her head up high, she turned on her heel and exited her chamber.

"Ah, Melisandra, we were just making plans for our departure tomorrow," Leaning over a table with the sepia map on top King Stannis looked into the red eyes of the red woman standing in the doorway. "Come, tell me your thoughts on us traveling this way south?"

Ser Davos Seaworth, a tall man with balding grey hair, shook his head and huffed. He hated this plan. He hated how much Stannis had changed. But, most of all, he hated this Red Witch. "My Lord, we should rethink staying at Castle Black. The winter's gonna get harsher. Your wife and your daughter…"

"I'm thinking about my wife and my daughter!" Stannis yelled, cutting Ser Davos off, furrowing his heavy brows in the process. "Winter is coming and they can't survive it here. Castle Black is no place for a child. The horses are dying. The men are freezing and hungry. We have to move south before we lose the entire army – that is if those things don't kill us first!"

Calmly strolling over to Stannis and placing her hand on his arm, Melisandra lifted her red eyes to meet his. "My King, the Lord of Light has shown me a vision. It is not exactly clear to me the meaning or how exactly it means to play out, but I do believe Ser Davos is right. We should not leave this place." She moved slowly walking behind Stannis to stand on his left side. "Something or someone is coming from a land far away. Whatever this is, it threatens to change everything in the Seven Kingdoms."

"I have made up my mind," Stannis said slamming his hand on the table. "We leave at first light!" With that, he stormed out of the room, leaving Melisandra and Ser Davos alone.

Curling his lip slightly at her, Ser Davos dared to ask, "You know how I feel about your visions. But, if it is something that will hurt Lord Stannis, I need to know."

Melisandra shook her head, for she could not quite articulate what she saw in her dream. "I cannot answer that as of yet, Ser Davos." Her vision had not given her enough to formulate coherent sentences. All she knew was it had something to do with a towheaded girl, a man with fierce blue eyes on the ground like a serpent, and dragons. She walked around the table and headed toward the door. "Just know, that the night is dark and full of terrors."

A/N - The first two chapters are a little slow.  They are needed backstory for my timeline.  Also, I’m a bit wordy...I talk a lot!  Let me know if you want to be added/deleted from the tag list.

Thanks!

 @a-mess-of-fandoms @oddsnendsfanfics @waiting4inspiration @simsadventures @chipster-21 @tgrrose, @alicedopey @ariesxslytherin, @funmadnessandbadassvikings @poisonous00 @grav3yardgh0sts-blog @ietss, @sununicornann, @we-are-only-halfway-home93, @thelastemzy, @ajxlawley, @inforapound, @dreamlesswonder86, @cornishdawn-blog  @becacosta 27@weirdestmentalityphilosopher, @naaladareia, @alexa4040 @nyx-daughterofchaos98, @moonlightsspirits @the-jess-life​@laketaj24; @lostinthoughtsandfeelings; @naaladareia; @oqueequesentes-borboletas​; @pokeasleepingsmaug, @synnersaint, @skadithegoddess @blackcoffeeand @greenteaformeplease @ultra-nina-bella​ @dina-m16, @fumblingthroughchaos @tiyetiye

#ivar lothbrook #ivar ragnarsson #ivar the boneless #viking fanfic #Viking GOT crossover fic #GOT fanfic #danerys fic #alex andersen #Alex hoegh #alex høgh andersen #aha #baby daddy #shannygoat #The World Over #ivar's heathen army #ivar the terrible

[ralfstrashcan]

3x20 Reaction / Commentary

I wonder why, considering it wasn't hard at all. They barely had a plan and even had time to include some personal drama in their fight. Wtf. The only thing I can imagine why no one ever managed to kidnap her before is because no one wanted to have a hostage as irritating as the seelie queen.

Hahahahahaha hilarious. Also, lol, no I'm choosing not to think of the implications because they are TOO DISTURBING, YOU HEAR ME @intezaarlily XD XD XD

HAHAHA I CAN'T THE WAY SHE PETULANTLY SHAKES HER HEAD

I mean, compelling argument. And very fitting since we learned from that Lilith Debacle that the Shadowhunters' go to solution for everything and anything is torture. But what I find way more interesting is that we finally get a good look at the side of the seelie queen's crown.

's pretty.

There's so much to unpack in this scene. Which I'm gonna do, in excruciating detail. In a relationship analysis post thingy, not here, because time and space reasons. Just know that this scene is absolutely amazing, their facial expressions and gestures, and of course the pretzel. Dammit, so amazing. Can't wait to fawn over it all.

I'm with Meliorn on this one. Just because Lanaia committed a violation of the Accords (yes, on behalf of the seelie queen but the shadowhunters have no way of knowing that and I guess Meliorn wasn't stupid enough to tell them that) doesn't mean Clary can violate the Accords back and go unpunished. That's not how a legal system works. It's clear that with this whole operation the shadowhunters valued Clary's life over that of however may seelie guards' it would have taken to keep Jace's cover and get Clary back. I bet you Alec is aware of that and that's why he has that pinched look on his face the whole time. And while he argues pro shadowhunter side with that injection about Lanaia and he tries to placate Meliorn, he noticable doesn't try to justify Jace's actions at all, and whenever Jace does, Alec closes his eyes as if he's thinking “Dude don't you realize that's not an argument.”

And then he just wants to leave???? Hahaha creep

HAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD COMEDIC GOLD. The way he delivers that line I can't!!! The way he says “naturrrrrr” hahaha delicious.

Uh if that's the smartest move? Who knows what kind of kinky shit Meliorn will demand in return?? I mean, just look at his smirk. Also, in case this doesn't get addressed again this is such a ficlet waiting to be written lol.

The way Alec immediately starts almost-crying when someone mentions Magnus pulls on my heartstrings. Fragile darling boy.

I mean, I'm pretty sure Alec carrying the ring around in his pocket was for meta reasons so he could give it to Maryse in their only scene together, but dammmnnn the in universe implications. Ouch.

I'm really going to miss this XD

“My” door??? My ass.

“Alec and I are no longer.”

lsjfkasdjflksdjfsdjflskdjf I CAN'T HAHAHHAAH HIS FACE

Hahahahha please Lorenzo stop, I feel like I shouldn't be laughing so much XD Isn't this episode supposed to be Super Dramatic? I'm actually having the time of my life so far XD

XD XD XD XD XD

Okay and now I'm back to rage because wtf!!!! So Magnus is aware that Lorenzo's jurisdiction is limited and tiny, why didn't he remember that literally anytime before this, for example in 3x10?? Just imagine it, if Magnus had done that fancy ritual thingy he wouldn't have even needed to trade his magic away. Oh right, problem identified. There wouldn't have been some Prime Drama if he'd behaved like a sensible person. Ugh.

The way Lorenzo's face falls upon hearing Asmodeus is priceless. But, uh, important question, how the hell does he know Asmodeus's face? Or does he identify him by his powers? Then again he failed identifying Asmodeus's power signature before already (3x02) so uuhhhh I need answers.

Magnus Bane, finally enjoying the Draco Malfoy Way Of Life. I mean, that's not really rebutting Lorenzo's claim. The opposite, in fact. Also wtf does Lorenzo have for nerves to say that to Asmodeus's face???

So this is not common warlock practice. Thanks for clarifying. Also, look at Asmodeus's smug face when Magnus references Edom hahaha #ProudDad

THE SASS HAHAHA (btw for a moment I was worried he'd turnd him into a plastic lizard until it moved haha)

Also this means, the person Magnus trashes later in the loft with the whips, as seen in the promo, is Asmodeus?? Because he learns of his deal with Alec?? Or tbh, I've been entertaining the thought that it's Alec ahahaha

Also, Asmodues saying “When they hear about what?” has the same energy as Loki saying “I'm listening” in Avengers 1.

Yeah I still have questions about that. But sure, whatever. Then again, if Jordan is so long-fingered he could start a career as pickpocket. Sounds like a stable income job to me.

See, the problem here is that this isn't fixing any of Maia's problems. Apart from the fact that currently she has no problems to fix as far as I'm concerned (the dead pack won't be miraculously resurrected if she becomes human) her issues with her family aren't due to her being a werewolf. She's adjusted to her life as a werewolf and if you ask me, she's grown to love it and she doesn't want to go back. Hell, she wanted to become alpha. She's working on building her own pack now. Someone who hates being a werewolf wouldn't do that. Very obviously, his line of reasoning makes sense for Jordan because he can't forgive himself for turning and abandoning Maia, which he views as ruining her life. So by reversing it he could finally start to atone for what he did. Perfectly ic, but very frustrating because as I pointed out, this won't benefit Maia in any way, it'll just create drama between the two of them. (And frankly, while I moderately care about both of them, I'd rather have Malec on my screen. Sue me.)

Uh-huh, so some werewolf praetor spy with binoculars saw that Jordan stole the vial from the Institute but Izzy and Simon, who were literally in the same room didn't. No questions, your honor. Also ngl, since I knew this scene from the sneak peek already and couldn't care less about Luke's stupid Praetor plotline I skipped this scene XD #sorry not sorry

I know a lot of people were relieved Clary didn't make out with Jonathan and I'm honestly so surprised why people would assume in the first place there was any risk for that. Despite the Evil Rune taking hold she's still aware of her feelings, for example her love for Jace etc. So why would she suddenly be into incest?

Hehehehe the likelyhood of Asmodeus getting trashed in that loft is growing XD (Also please appreciate how I'm keeping my salt about Maryse's “I love you” under wraps, I'm amazed at my self restraint.)

I mean, I was really surprised by a character actually taking action, trying their hand at communication like this. I am impressed. The thing that I slightly dislike is that it's Maryse. She didn't have all the info about the deal Alec made with Asmodeus and a) Izzy had and I really, really expected her to do something about that instead of just letting Alec wreck his life and, to a good part, Magnus's as well, and b) if even Maryse, without even knowing for sure that Magnus's magic returned after Alec broke up with him, could put two and two together, why the hell didn't Magnus??

I can half buy that with his issues and insecurites striking harder than ever, amplyfied by the severe grief of his magic loss, he'd fall for Alec's lies because to him Alec loving him the way he did was too good to be true anyway, and their relationship wasn't long enough for Magnus to really get used to the idea that he gets to keep this. It's obvious in the way he always keeps his eyes closed after they kiss, this moment of disbelieve that this is actually real. So Alec breaking up with him wouldn't be an unreastic thing, it would be reality finally catching up with them, it'd be the universe rightening itself.

But, I only half buy it. Because even if Magnus had doubts about himself and his worth, how the hell could he revisit all those memories in 3x19 where Alec was dropping wedding vows left and right, and not realize that something about Alec was off there. Anyway, dwelling on this is pointless because what's done is done, but it's a very weak explanation and very convenient, story telling wise.

Hahahha love me some common sense. Maia has tons of it. Makes her so likable.

Listen, I like Jordan, but I can't even feel any sympathy in the face of all this stupidity. Just take the frakkin vial yourself, idiot. Humans don't die from silver poisoning. And it's clear that you're struggling with your werewolf-dom to hell and back. This would literally solve all of their problems wtf. But God forbid anyone ever act reasonable on this show. Goddammit.

Hahahha so rude. *Loki Voice* WHO PUT HIM THERE??? Another missing scene ficlet dying to be written XD Also, does Lorenzo still have his consciousness or was his mind reduced to that of a lizard? Will it be restored when he's transformed back? Is that even possible or was that transformation irreversible? Will he remember his time as a lizard? Or is Lorenzo as we know and love to hate him gone forever? So many questions.

Bitch you didn't, you had to be TOLD

I find it amazing that Asmodues tries to argue with Magnus even though his evil plan was uncovered. He really doesn't get it, does he? That Magnus likes his life and doesn't want to be in Edom?

I am reeling. What a frikkin powermove, disposing of him like that, and with his own invention no less. Talk about a dead ass capable character who could trash everyone in his way. Honestly I'm still processing. This is so radical wtf. So I'm never gonna get another scene with Asmodeus?? Please I wanted more of them!! I am so helplessly in love with their dynamic. 5 bucks say he was supposed to come back in S4 I WAS SO DEPRIVED OH GOD!!!!!

Edit: Yeah, this was actually supposed to be a setup for a Dark!Magnus plotline, with Asmodeus playing a big role in S4. They changed that and cut this short, here's the article I got this from. We were so robbed. I can't.

“Hurry, away from this Shadowhunter Nonsense. Honestly, that they can never solve their shit issues in their own fugly ass Institute but have to do it on our beautifully groomed frontyard. The disrespect.”

WOW IZZY'S WEARING FLAT SHOES FOR THE OCCASION CAN YOU BELIEVE IT

Also that fighting is awesome and all (Alec as a tactical advantage, Jace “betraying” his position as a ploy, color me impressed) but doesn't Clary have to stab Jonathan for it to work?? Or is it enough if one of the bondmates is stabbed with the sword?? And since Fake Glorious is super instable etc. and will likely be destroyed in the process they shouldn't take any chances and make sure it really works the first time around.

I get that this is supposed to be dramatic but sorry, I don't buy for one second that 3 Months Shadowhunter Newby Clary manages to get one over Izzy who's been literally trained since birth (yeah that was a quote from Arthur because I'm total Merlin Trash) and she's their best fighter ever and could beat Jace and Alec at the same time with the flick of a wrist while blindfolded. Please. Oh my god. Maybe because she always fights with her whip she's not too used to a sword. Then again she also uses a staff and she still was trained since birth so no, I'm still not buying it.

Hahahahah nice one, Simon.

“That's my plan, you can bet on it, bet on it, bet on it....”

why I mean, this was a conscious choice on producers' part, right. So I'm demanding an explanation. What's the point of this weirdly edited grunt?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Hm, they don't fold too nicely. But all in all, pretty solid wing work.

?????? This makes no sense since, prior to this half season, he wasn't tethered to Clary. Wtf. For all intents and purposes, Jonathan should be dropping dead to the ground since he was using Clary's life force to be alive, remember, he was literally killed to death before. Only their bond was keeping him alive. This makes no sense whatsoever. But anyway, that was a pretty impressive departure.

Yeah, how about you get the f outta there now, Simon.

H-e-a-l-i-n-g  r-u-n-e. Honestly. Wtf.

Also, Izzy pushing Simon to the ground was a little stupid, he could have vampire-run out of the explosion's perimeter easily. If he had a few brain cells. Okay, problem identified, I take everything back, Izzy made the right call.

And I guess Alec's just chilling over there on the forrest ground. He deserves that break, man.

Just force it down Jordan's throat omg. If he still dies, whatever, good for him, he got what he wanted. If not then he can maybe start facing his Maia-shaped issues in a constructive way.

Maia giving it to Luke makes no sense. How the f does he want to “get rid of it” wtf. If I were Maia I'd just pour it in the river or idk, burry it somewhere. Lock it in a safe, throw away the key. Or better yet, keep an eye on it. But sure, Luke who just learned the Praetor are full of shit is gonna give it to them?? I mean, the thought must have crossed his mind that maybe they didn't heal Jordan as a punishment for failing that Heidi mission? Since apparently it's common werewolf knowledge that the Praetor is able to cure a silver poisoning? Jordan wouldn't have said that if they didn't have a cure for it, right? If Luke honestly gives them that vial, he'll be dead to me. I fully expect him to try and blackmail the Praetor with it or something, but if he doesn't istg.

You're on thin effing ice, man.

Aahhhhh yeah how very convenient. Also rude, they stole Jonathan's home :C Also technically she shouldn't be able to do that because it's demon travel and she no longer has a connection to demon blood.

Yeah and they also steamrolled whatever room was there before they parked that big ass apartment there. Congrats.

“You barely got your licence to drive a car, much less whatever that was.”

hahahaha

ALEC'S FACE HAHAHAHAHA I LOVE ONE 100% DONE MAN

Hell yeah logic!! But lol I genuinely don't think Jace or Simon thought of that when they were unhelpfully patting her back.

.........? How is Simon there then? This isn't even sarcasm, I genuinely don't get it.

This was cute and all, but she didn't actually activate her iratze wtf. Or wash off her blood.

Dude wtf Maia

I mean come on, this is so obvious to top off their drama.

Yep, I called it. Seriously, you don't leave a person on the brink of death alone for literally this reason. And before you tell me she was just getting some food to lighten the mood from her way back from the bridge, there was still tons of daylight then and this is at least several hours later. I am sorry, but I feel zero sympathy.

1) Where do those surviving werewolves besides Bat come from? 2) What does mundane police have to say about this public cremation? 3) I remember this shot of Maia walking away from the fire from the 3B Trailer. So rude.

ALSO I'M MORE THAN READY FOR SOME MALEC CONTENT WTF MAN

NO. NO I DO NOT BUY. EITHER THE WINGS ARE STILL THERE OR HIS JACKET IS RIPPED TO PIECES BUT YOU DON'T GET TO PRETEND THEY MAGICALLY APPEAR ON TOP OF HIS CLOTHES WTF He's not Miley Cyrus from that one music video. (Can't be Tamed, if you're wondering.)

0 bucks say he caught them making out, honestly this was so obvious.

This rang deep. Really great moment. I can't really put it into words, but this had such an impact. A real warrior feel to it. Amazing.

“No obviously we don't but c'mon, work with me here.”

I can't possibly put into words the love I'm feeling for one (1) extra warlock.

He finally got it. My poor murderous incest baby. Too bad this means Clary lost her only bargaining chip.

NOOOO IT'S NOT, YOU WERE RAISED BY VAL IN A HUT AND THEN LIVED AT THE NY INSTITUE, THE ONLY TIME YOU VISITED ALICANTE WAS OWL'ED OUT OF YOUR MIND TO KILL IMOGEN WHAT THE HELL HAHAHA

I love how he delivers this line. It's his goodbye because there's no making it out of there alive, and the last thing of importance he has to say is a love confession to Clary. Very nice delivery.

ahahahahah okay this was a nice echoing of Jace's other love confession, but all I could focus on was how frakkin red Clary's hand is hahaha

I love everything about this, okay. I love how Alec just gives in because he couldn't stand to be apart from Magnus for one more second. I love how this is reminiscent of their first kiss at Alec's fail wedding. (Btw can you believe we're gonna start and end Malec with a kiss at a wedding and a wedding kiss? The poetry.) I love the backdrop, the absolute destruction. Love Izzy in her rightful place in the first row since she's the Captain of the MS Malec.

I really appreciate that they bothered with an explanation why Magnus needs to go to Edom at all, but, uh, if memory serves right he closed a rift to Edom in 2x19 and it was no big deal. I'd buy that this rift is larger or more powerful because it was created by the Morgenstern Sword but just because I can find an explanation that this task is harder than one Magnus already accomplished onscreen with relative ease doesn't mean it's not the Show’s duty to deliver an explanation of its own accord instead of letting fans pick through their worldbuilding and figuring out something that makes sense. A simple “You closed rifts before, from Earth.” - “This rift is too large” would have been enough. Is that too much to ask.

GOD MAGNUS WHY THAT WORDING I HAD TO THINK OF LORENZO WTF MAN WHY YOU MAKE ME THINK OF LORENZO WHHHYYYYYYYY

When he lifted his hand in that slow deliberate move I was SO SURE HE'D BE WEARING THE LIGHWOOD RING HAHAHA

HAHAHA THAT WAS CLEARLY NOT THE FUGLY LIGHTWOOD FAMILY RING (since that has a square shape on top, come on) YES I STAN A FASHION ICON

Btw there's a description in those rings, I can't really tell, but the one on the right looks like a loopy A upside down so I'm guessing one has “Alexander” and the other “Magnus” on the inside????

Edit: Both rings say “Aku cinta kamu” and I am DEAD

Hahahaha Alec wanted to win the proposal but this round goes to Magnus. But tbh he totally cheated XD XD XD

Ngl, the ring catching on Magnus's knuckle for a moment reminded me of the wedding of Kate and William ahahahaa I'm trash XD

Can you believe Malec got cheated out of their first engaged kiss by some rude ass explosion? Unfair.

I find myself genuinely confused by this. Why does Alec even entertain the thought of not going with Magnus? It seems so illogical that they'd seperate now. Later reason kicked in, and yeah, Edom probably isn't the best place for a shadowhunter but this is exactly it: Alec's instinct should have been to go with Magnus and I wish they'd taken the time to address this in any way, to give Alec the chance to express his wish to go with Magnus.

WTF WHY DOES MAGNUS SHAKE HIS HEAD THIS IS NOT OKAY WTF

But then he jokes about runaway grooms anyway because he thinks he’ll never see Alec again and he wants Alec to remember him joking & smiling & happy *cries* I’M SAD. why did I bring that up.

Thanks, @intezaarlily for making tHIS EVEN WORSE WTF

OH MY GOD I CAN'T I'M LAUGHING SO HARD THIS IS SO RIDICULOUS HAHAHAHA Magnus REALLY should have pulled the portal down on himself and not flown into it like a flying fish jumping out of the water wtf hahaha. Then again this is proof he can totally do the superman flight and it is CANON that he did that at some point. He had a whole annoying phase where he'd just fly around like a super hero. Cat was so done with it. Ragnor refused to be around him at all. Good times.

Anyway, another thing I need an explanation for is why it'll be so hard for Magnus to return to Earth. In 3x10 that posed No Problem, meaning one of two things. Either a) Asmodeus sent him back or b) he could easily travel back because he used that pentagram thingy. Honestly, the fact that Jonathan just as easily returns to Earth after his failed attempt on Lilith's life lets me favor b), which begs the question why Magnus used a regular portal instead of the pentagram thingy now. But even if a) is the case then that means Greater Demons apparently have no problem removing people from Edom and then I wonder if Magnus will have to beg Azazel or something to return him home lol, like a little kiddie asking for a lift. Or maybe, since he channelled his epic Edom!Power, maybe he can send himself back?? In any case I want some solid explanation on that.

Alec just collapsing made so much sense okay. I could feel the emptiness in my own chest, having gained and lost everything in a few short minutes, I can't even imagine how crushed Alec must be feeling.

Magnus's magic closing the rift is so epic in an incredibly emotional and intimate sense. Seeing his magic, part of him, when he's so far beyond all of their reach. It's incredible, it's touching and powerful and so so fragile. I'm amazed.

I can't believe they did this. I can't believe they put the literally last shot of this in the 3B Trailer. The audacity.

Okay but really important question, who's gonna feed Lorenzo now??? (God only one week left I am dead.)

#shadowhunters #3x20 #magnus bane #alec lightwood #jace wayland #clary fray #isabelle lightwood #jonathan morgenstern #luke garroway #maia roberts #simon lewis #kyle #maryse lightwood #the seelie queen #meliorn #asmodeus #lorenzo rey #malec #reaction

[frostironstrange]

I just want Loki to kick an entire army’s ass and everyone be surprised except Tony and Stephen. Like even Thor is like “oh shit”, ya know? And don’t worry I will sail this ship with you every second of the hour

So uh, this isn’t what you asked for but this is where the prompt took me and it still kinda fits? More h/c then badass. Anyways, here’s Avengers Academy Loki + frostironstrange beginnings. 

They really should’ve listened to Loki. Honestly that could’ve been applied to a lot of things that went wrong around the Avengers Academy, but this was a situation of extra-should’ve-listened-to-Loki. At least if you asked Loki, that is, and currently, he was the only person you could ask about the situation since he was the only one who didn’t have a power sucking-collar and chains on him. Well, okay, you could technically ask the man who was now gloating in front of his giant dining room table, whose actual name was Lukas Klerken, but whom had just declared himself to be ‘the demon of cunning, seduction and new lord of earth’ with no tact at all. Even his outfit was a gaudy yellow and ugly blue. You shouldn’t ask that asshole anything in Loki’s opinion, since he was a liar who too many people trusted. Loki tried not to think about that one too hard.

To put a long story short, Lukas had come to the Academy against his own will. Fury had caught him in some evil scheme to destroy the world, but he had only been a minor player in it so he’d been given a second chance. Loki and Lukas had actually gotten along at first, at least as well as Loki got along with anyone, but something about Lukas had felt off to Loki. Just wrong enough for him to keep his distance. It seemed that Loki had been the only one that felt that way though, the rest of the Academy loved him. It was as if Lukas had made it his life’s goal to be friends with everyone, even more so than Jan, and with everyone but Loki he’d succeeded. Even Fury and Widow had decided that they liked Lukas.

Even Odin had decided he liked Lukas. In the same breath that he condemned Loki’s trickery he’d praise Lukas’ humorous pranks. Hearing Odin praise Lukas with a ‘your father must be very proud of you’ behind closed doors hurt more deeply than Loki would like to admit.

Putting that aside though, everyone but Loki liked Lukas. Not that Lukas hadn’t tried very hard to get Loki to like him, he had. He had put in a lot of effort into trying to invite Loki places or include him in things. He’d taken to referring to Loki as a prince and being flirty in all the right ways that would normally have Loki head over heels for someone. It was more effort then Lukas had put towards getting anyone else to like him, and if Loki had not been already suspicious it would’ve worked. As it was though, Loki just grew more and more wary until he’d finally discovered what Lukas was up to. It was simple really, invite everyone to a formal dinner party knowing that nobody would refuse or mistrust him. Mess with the food and get everyone drugged out of their minds. Loki would have laughed at how simple the idea was if it hadn’t worked.

Of course, Loki had figured this out days in advance and gone straight to Fury. Usually he’d attempt to resolve things himself but he knew any attempt against Lukas would have the whole school pinning the blame on him. Unfortunately, Fury rolled his eyes and told him to work out his jealousy issues elsewhere no matter how hard Loki tried to convince him. Pepper wouldn’t believe him either. He brought the matter up with his father, but of course all that got him was a threat of punishment for lying. All that was to be expected, what he hadn’t been expecting was none of the people he called friends to believe him either. Jan had brushed him off, Widow had rolled her eyes and dared to call him paranoid, Steve had gone on about second chances, the list went on and on. Tony, who Loki had thought he’d grown quite close to, had almost believed Loki, but then Jan had entered and told Loki off for spreading rumors. Stephen Strange, another student who while also somewhat of Loki’s rival but who Loki was on good terms with had brushed him off. He had said there was nothing Lukas could do to the whole Academy. Loki had even begged his brother not to go to the party, his brother who Loki had almost died for more than once. Thor had laughed at Loki and also called him jealous.

It had hurt even more than his father’s rejection. Loki was well aware his father didn’t care for him or trust him, but he had thought things were different with his friends. He had thought that at least one of them would trust him enough to skip the party or at least not eat the food. But no. It was a story Loki was too used to but for some reason he thought it would be different this time. Thought someone would trust him. Stupid Loki, not learning his lesson the first thousand times.

So everyone had gone, and everyone had eaten and now everyone was just another fuel cell for Lukas who was currently blabbering on about his plans or something equally unimportant. Everyone but Loki, who had politely refused for a quiet night in with his book. Lukas had seemed disappointed, but hadn’t pressed the issue at all. Honestly he was surprised Lukas hadn’t gone looking for him, maybe he thought Loki would be just fine with what was happening or maybe he didn’t see Loki as a threat.

All of that led Loki to now. He was currently hiding on the other side of the room from Lukas and he’d been slowly making his way over to the wall where Lukas’ captive audience was slowly starting to wake up again. Luckily, Bruce was very close to the edge of the group. All Loki would need to do was free him and purge the drugs from his system, then he could work on freeing the others while the Hulk kept Lukas busy. Or that was the plan until Loki actually got over to where Bruce was. It took five seconds of pushing at the power sucking collar to know there was no way he was getting it or the cuffs off Bruce without risking killing him. He was going to need to shut down the machine on Lukas’ back and get the keys off Lukas’ belt. Still, he had the element of surprise for right now, and that was going to be his only advantage in this fight. Slowly Loki began to make his way across the room, silently. If he could just get behind Lukas…

But then Loki’s luck ran out and his foot slipped on a unstable bit of cracked rock. The noise created was near silent. It was enough though, and Lukas’ head swiveled directly towards where Loki was standing, invisible. Everyone who was awake in the room followed his gaze too. Lukas’ face twisted into a smile.

“So you finally decided to come out to play, my dear?”

No point in being invisible now, Loki brushed himself off and dropped the spell, doing his best to look uninterested at everything around him. He looked Lukas straight in the eye and gave a cocky reply.

“Well I thought I’d swing by after all and see what all the fuss was about, but it looks like I missed the main event. What a shame.”

Lukas seemed amused at least enough to not attack him right away. Instead he just stepped forward towards Loki and gave a gesture towards where everyone else lay bound. “Oh don’t worry my dear, I didn’t have anything like this planned for you. You’re not like the rest of them after all. You’re special, a lovely little thing that others are so blind to.” Another step forward. Loki stood his ground.

“My apologies, Lukas, but you really can’t expect me to fall for that, can you? I’m the god of lies, you can’t fool me that easily.”

To Loki’s surprise, Lukas seemed… upset by his comment. Loki’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected reaction.

“My dear, I’m afraid you’re mistaken!” Another step forward. “I’ve told you no lies, I love you far too much for that. I didn’t even lie to you about the nature of this dinner! Not that you wouldn’t have found out on your own, you’re so clever my dear, but I made sure you knew. I couldn’t stand to lie to you, never you my dear.” Another step, Lukas looked almost pleading. “I do not want to rule this world alone, though for so long I thought I would have to. I thought I would never meet my match. Then I met you and I knew we were destined to be together.”

Another step, Lukas was getting close now. Loki could feel himself almost shaking with the realization that this wasn’t a trick. That Lukas meant everything he was saying. “It’s okay my dear. You don’t need to be afraid of me. I will never lie to you, unlike everyone else here. How many times have they told you that they were your friends? That they were your allies or teachers or caretakers? Only to have them turn on you with at the drop of a hat.”

Lukas paused, sorrow in his eyes. He was almost touching Loki now and Loki couldn’t help but take a step back.

“My dear, I know you don’t want it to be true but you know I’m the one who really cares about you. Just look at what happened when you tried so bravely to warn them of tonight. Not even your own father, brother or any of your so called friends believed you, did they?”

For all that Loki was called a silvertongue, his words could not help him here. His eyes fell instead, unable to look at the pity that painted Lukas’ face. Anyone could see Loki was shaking now, pretending that he wasn’t on the edge of tears.

“I’m sorry dear. I didn’t want to upset you. It will all be just fine, don’t worry. They can’t hurt you anymore. Now you see how bad they are for you, you can come with me. You’ll rule by my side, as my equal. I’ll take care of you. I’ll keep you safe from them.”

For a moment, Loki considered it. Well and truly. He looked up into Lukas’ eyes and knew that he was telling the truth. There was no trick or plot here. With the amount of power currently coursing through Lukas’ veins there was no need for one. For just one moment, Loki allowed himself to see a future beside Lukas, of being adored and loved for the rest of his life. Lukas was holding out his hand now, offering it, so kindly waiting for Loki.

But Loki knew better then that. As tempting as it was, Loki knew he could never take his hand. Most of it was that he had long ago resigned himself to his fate, of being called a liar, of saving others again and again and getting nothing but criticism, of mistrust and hatred. It was familiar now, he could live with it. A much smaller part of himself, the part that gave him the courage for what came next, whispered that he would miss talking to Tony. Miss spending hours debating Stephen on the proper method of medium sized object transportation. Miss watching Tony bounce up and down when he got excited. Miss the early mornings hours he and Stephen would spend in silence reading together.  

Loki glanced down at Lukas’ hand. Taking a deep breath, he moved quick as a flash and pulled his knife from it’s holster. Lukas wasn’t expecting the action, and Loki had just enough time to slice one of the three tubes off the top of the machine that Lukas was wearing on his back before shoving Lukas as hard as he could. Which, considering Loki’s strength, was pretty damn hard and sent Lukas into the wall on the other side of the room. He snarled as he moved, because he knew how much power Lukas had right now and he knew these might be his last words.

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

Lukas slowly staggered back to his feet, looking at his shirt now stained with goop pouring from his machine. Down to his now bloody hands. Then back at Loki. His face twisted from shock to an ugly rage. Apparently cutting the machine hadn’t disabled it entirely, only lessened the power adsorption, because the next thing Loki knew he was getting thrown across the room himself. He could feel at least two bones break in the next second as Lukas smashed him around and distantly he could hear someone shouting his name. His focus was more on Lukas though, as the other was now holding him up by the hem of his shirt.

“You DARE-. I am the only one who has ever trusted you.” Loki felt himself slammed against the wall. His head was probably bleeding now. “I am the ONLY one who has ever cared for you.” Lukas had taken his knife from him somehow and now it was buried in Loki’s arm. “I am the ONLY one who has ever loved you!” Another slam against the wall, more brutal than before. Loki concentrated through the pain though, pulling at all of his magic, all of his strength and condensing it into a single blow. Lukas had paused in his assault, clearly waiting for Loki to grovel in apology.

Loki did no such thing. Instead he forced his eyes open and felt the power thrumming throughout his whole body come together.

“Not my fault you made such a shitty choice.” He said it with a grin forced to his face, because nobody was better then laughing when they felt like crying than Loki. And with that, he pulled his magic to him and let it loose. It was the first time he could recall in his life having used all of his power and it was not a time that would be easily forgotten.

Lukas, despite having power from some of the universe’s most powerful beings, stood no chance. Loki’s power blast blew him off of Loki and across the room. It shattered the machine on his back and damn near killed Lukas. The very foundation of the room cracked where he had landed, as did the earth below it. The entire room had fallen silent. Nobody, not Thor, not Odin and certainly not any of the other students had ever seen such a power display from Loki, far more used to silly pranks or small bursts of power while fighting. The collars had all deactivated with the breaking of the machine, but nobody even thought to move, instead focused on where Loki was still leaning against the wall.

One breath in. One breath out. Loki blinked, feeling empty and rung out from the use of his magic. All of the anger that had been burning in him before had fled him and now all he had left to feel was empty and hurt. Still, his job wasn’t done. Loki pushed himself away from the wall, stumbling forward and ignoring the pain from the broken bone in his left leg and right arm. It was hard, but he pressed onward and managed to straighten out his step by the time he reached Lukas. Thankful the keys were easy to reach, and there was only a single set for all prisoners. Loki then turned to look at the captives, all of them were still shell-shocked (or heavily drugged still). Glancing over his options of those that seemed most alert, Loki was thankful to see Steve was awake and seemed semi-responsive. Also close by. It only took a minute for Loki to free him and drop the keys in his hands. Steve reacted just in time to catch them and regard Loki with wide eyes. In all honesty Loki didn’t have the energy to care.

“Can you take care of getting everyone freed?”

After taking a moment to process the question, Steve quickly nodded. His face settled into his “Captain America” mode and Loki had no doubt that he would be fine to free the others on his own. Lukas was down for the count, that much was for sure. Loki gave him a nod back and pushed himself to his feet before Steve (or anyone else) could protest.

“Great. If anyone needs me, tell them to fuck off because I’m going to go sleep for a week.”

And with that, before anyone could stop him (and moving surprisingly quickly against the pain of broken bones) Loki picked his way across the room and out of the dining hall. Once he was out of the hall, he half heartedly pulled the knife out of his arm. Huh. He probably bleed on Steve a bit. Oh well, he’d apologize later. It was only a minute or two after that before he was in his dorm. After ensuring his defenses were up and his room locked, Loki collapsed down onto his bed. He was covered in pain and blood head to toe, but he couldn’t care less.

Only then did Loki allow himself to cry. His tears were silent least the bugs he knew were just outside his dorm (because why would he be allowed any privacy) pick up his moment of weakness. Sobs shook his shoulders, hurting his ribs which were at the very least bruised, but he couldn’t stop. Luckily, he was too tired to cry for long and he was too tired for his normal nightmares so as he drifted off he did so into a dreamless sleep.

He awoke fifteen hours later. Bleary eyed, he tried to sit up and figure out why he felt so achy before both his current condition and the memories of the night before hit him like a car on the highway. It took a lot for him not to scream out in agony at the sudden pain the movement brought. Deep breaths. After calming himself, Loki reached for his magic. It was still weakened from the use the night before, but the rest had done him well and it was partially restored. At the very least he had enough magic to clean himself up, set his bones and close all his battle wounds. He didn’t have enough magic to relieve the pain or completely heal himself, but he could take care of that later. For now, he needed to eat to restore himself. Then go back to sleep. With how comfortable his bed was though, he was tempted to rearrange that order.

Loki allowed himself just a moment of laying in bed before he sighed and pushed himself to his feet. It hurt, but by now he had adapted to the pain accompanying every movement. He wouldn’t need to go far anyways, there was a stocked refrigerator down the hallway after all. It was mostly for those that hated going to the more crowded public spaces, but open for anyone to take from. If Loki had been of his right mind, he would’ve bothered to check the space outside his dorm before pushing his door open, but as it stood he was too tired to think of it. Why would anyone be there after all? They’d all proven yesterday where their loyalties lay.

That was really the only excuse he had for why when he opened the door to find the normally empty hallway holding what could only be described as a slumber parties worth of people, he froze up. Tony, he could have maybe, sort of expected. Jan was often found where Tony was, and Steve could be explained since he always felt responsible for others and Loki had left him in charge of the situation. Thor was known for sitting outside his brother’s dorm room for ages when Loki was avoiding him. Everyone else though… There was probably twenty people out in the hallway, all other students. He was able to easily pick out Stephen, Widow, Barton, Ms. Marvel, Amora, Sam, Vision, the Winter Soldier and Bruce, with plenty more students at the edge of his sight. All of them had clearly been waiting awhile, since they had been busying themselves with other things like books, tech, conversation or sleeping. It all froze when he opened his door though. For several heart beats, nobody made a move. Then Thor tried to push himself to his feet and Loki couldn’t help himself. He panicked, too hurt and vulnerable to deal with the sad look in his brother’s eyes. Unable to deal with more shame and disappointment. So he jumped backwards and slammed the door. Quickly locking it on instinct alone.

At least he wasn’t hungry anymore.

Loki paused for a moment, and tried to convince himself to go deal with the situation outside his door. He couldn’t though. Too tired, the use of his magic to heal himself overtaking him and instead he just fell back onto his bed and passed out.

It took twelve hours for him to wake up this time, and it was late into the night when he did. His magic had resurged, but not as much as he would’ve liked. Not eating was not going to be an option for much longer. Loki looked at the door and wondered if he had enough in him to teleport to the fridge and back. Probably not. This time he was much more cautious about approaching the door, activating his peephole spell to see out. There were only two forms outside the door now. The energy signatures very familiar to him by now. Tony, and more surprisingly, Stephen. With a pause, Loki considered his options. On one hand, he wasn’t sure if he had the emotional energy to deal with the two of them right now. On the other, he was starting to really feel hungry and he was pretty sure the two of them would leave if he asked them to.

In the end, hunger won out and Loki carefully opened the door. His two crushes looked up at him as he did so, and he almost fled again. It was only Tony’s quick words that stopped him.

“Please don’t go! I promise we’ll leave if you want.”

And who was Loki to resist a plea like that. He slunk out of his room with his back against the door (though honestly that was more to take the weight off his broken leg then anything), eyeing the two of them warily. Stephen looked him up and down, clearly searching for visible injuries and looking suspicious when he found none. Loki said nothing, not really sure what to say. It was Tony that spoke up first, far more quiet then his normal excitable tone.

“We thought you might be hungry.” A plate of food was offered to him. All Indian, Loki’s favorite. A peace offering. Loki accepted the plate, but still said nothing, though this time more out of shock than anything else. Tony took that as an Okay to keep talking.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about Lukas. Everyone else is too, for obvious reasons. But I’m- well extra sorry sounds really dumb now that I try to say it out loud. Really sorry? Very sorry? Okay, getting off topic here. The point is, I fucked up big time. I trusted some guy I’d known less then a month over you, and you’ve never lied to any of us about something important like that before. The very least I could’ve done was not go to that dumb party. Even if you were had just been jealous of Lukas, you were upset and you are my friend and I’m supposed to be there for you. I’m really, really sorry Loki. You’ve been really trying your best and we’ve all been ignoring all the progress you’ve made. You don’t have to forgive me, or any of us really, but I wanted you to know that I’m- that all of us are sorry.”

It took a minute for Loki to figure out how to talk again. It was rare enough that he was apologized to, let alone so sincerely. He had been expecting people to be upset with him for not stopping Lukas in the first place, or for doing damage to the Academy or for not staying around until everyone was freed. He hadn’t been expecting this. Still, he managed to gather himself enough to speak, and for once in his life he tried to not hide behind sarcastic quips and rude comments.

“I- I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting that. It’s okay, you had reason to not listen to me. Jan told you too go after all and you’ve known her a lot longer. I should’ve gathered more evidence to make people listen to me. Or stopped Lukas from drugging the food in the first place. Or stopped him before he could collar people. Though to be fair, I didn’t know that was his end goal, I just knew about the sleeping drug. I was just being an asshole and wanted to be proved right so I waited until I knew he’d done something to act and I waited way too long to do anything.”

Loki was stumbling over his words now, this sort of open honesty unfamiliar to him. He was mostly focusing on trying not to get too emotional. God knows how upset his father would be with him if he found out he’d cried in front of other students. In fact he was so caught up in himself that he completely missed the absolutely horrified expressions from Stephen and Tony. It was Stephen that spoke this time, snapping him out of it.

“Loki… no. You are not at fault for what happened. It’s not your fault that we were all assholes who didn’t listen to our friend, and nobody is blaming you for anything. I wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t gone up against him at all with how all of us acted, but you did anyways and you saved the entire academy.”

There was already a protest forming on Loki’s lips, but it seems Tony caught it before he could say anything.

“Listen, hey it’s okay. We don’t need to argue about this right now. Why don’t we get you back in your room so you can eat and rest a bit more, okay?”

The sudden change in conversation was a bit off putting, but then Loki noticed his own breathing was heavily labored. Oh. His ribs might be more then bruised if that was all it took to wind him. Stephen caught on to what Tony had seen too and his eyes narrowed. Before Loki could protest, he was being swept into his room by the other sorcerer who forced him straight into his bed. Then he was getting poked at and he could hear Tony and Stephen talking even though it seemed quite far away, before he felt Stephen’s magic flood over him and the rest of his injuries healed themselves. The relief from pain made Loki want to cry all over again. It had been such a long time since he had been healed by anything other then his own magic. Tony fed him food after that, and Loki was too tired to argue with him about it. He only managed about half the plate before he was drifting off.

When he awoke next, he had expected to wake up alone but instead he found two bodies carefully curled around him. Protecting him from the world. It was the safest he could recall feeling in a long time.

There were still things to be done. Loki was due to hear a lot more apologies, easier ones like Wid- Natasha’s which consisted of a quiet ‘sorry’ that they both silently agreed to never mention again, and harder ones like his brother’s which was a long talk between the two of them that left both feeling rung out. His father never apologized to him, not that Loki was expecting him to, but he would let up on Loki (out of respect or fear) so there was that at least. Surprisingly, Fury would apologize to Loki. Fury didn’t like to admit he was wrong, but he would call Loki to his office to give him a quite sincere apology for failing as the school’s headmaster when Loki had tried to trust him. Even Amora would apologize to Loki for not listening to his warning, though halfheartedly. Quite a few people who, formerly felt perfectly safe in antagonizing Loki would change their tune quite a bit. He would also be getting picked first in training exercises quite a bit more since his power display. There were also conversations to be had with Stephen and Tony about exactly what he was to them (boyfriend was a Midgardian word that he would quickly learn to love). All that would be nice, awkward, emotional exhaustion and complicated but it was all for the future.

Right now, Loki just pushed his head into Stephen’s back and wiggled a little so Tony felt more comfortable against his side and allowed himself to drift back to sleep. Right now he was safe. Right now there were people who cared about him enough to stay. Right now everything was good.

Who knows, with a right now so good, maybe the future would be too.

#frostironstrange #frostiron #ironstrange #tony stark #loki #stephen strange #dr. strange #marvel #mcu #original fanfiction #yamagicboikris #avengers academy #avac Loki #avac Tony stark #long post #dialouge based #answer tag

[pomrania]

even a blind man can see it: Thor Ragnarok AU

He was no stranger to pain. He was a warrior. Pain was an inherent part of fighting, and injuries were always a risk. He had, at various times, been stabbed, shocked, beaten, burned, frozen, impaled, and more.

  He had thought he could handle whatever physically happened to him, but losing his eyes was beyond anything he had ever experienced.

  He couldn't think, couldn't react. It was as if his entire being was constricted down into the space of the injury.

  She didn't kill him.

  He was only vaguely aware as she dragged his body along the ground, and then there was airflow and the sounds didn't echo and the noise of far-off fighting came more clearly. They were outside, and on a balcony, probably. Was it the same one where the Valkyrie and Banner had dropped him off? He didn't know. He had lost all sense of direction; he might be anywhere, for all he would know.

  He was pulled up, then shoved down on something chest-height. The railing. She grabbed what was left of his hair and positioned his head, like she wanted to direct his gaze at something.

  "...n't tell you to 'look', but it doesn't matter," she said. "There is no escape. The Bifrost is --" and her words were drowned out by the rushing of blood in his head. He wondered if he was going to faint. "-- even if I have to kill every single one of them to do it."

  The Bifrost. Their only real way to evacuate that many people. If it was lost to them... that would be disastrous.

  Had it all been for nothing? If they couldn't rescue anyone, maybe they never should have --

  Then, he heard it: a voice he'd grown up with, one he hadn't really expected to ever hear again. Loki's. He couldn't make out the words, but it sounded grandiose.

  Maybe his brother had decided to be unpredictable. It wasn't like there was much that could make the situation any worse, and chaos favoured the less fortunate, if they were still in a position where they could be favoured at all.

  He grinned, despite everything.

  Apparently that was the wrong move. He felt a blade drive into his back. It wasn't a major injury -- it didn't even hurt that much, comparatively -- but it knocked the breath out of him.

  It seemed like he was indeed going to faint. He remembered hearing tales of warriors who had swooned after a great battle in which they had suffered many injuries, and how he'd mocked the very idea. He had been so young then, so confident that strength could solve every problem.

  He heard her say something. The tone was mocking, even if the words blurred together. It probably wasn't important. He didn't have any pride left to lose.

  She was fading in and out. So was his body.

  Something was calling him, he could feel it.

  He let it take him.

  Then the pain was gone, and he stood on what felt like soft grass. He automatically took a step forward, then stumbled over nothing. He managed to stay upright, but it was difficult to keep his balance with nothing to see. He sank to his knees.

  The ground was definitely covered in grass, he felt it under his hands. A soft breeze brushed at his face. He heard distant waves, but it was otherwise quiet, and it smelled of ocean and green.

  This wasn't Valhalla, and it couldn't be Helheim, so he was still alive for the moment. Simple teleportation wouldn't have erased the pain in his eyes -- where his eyes had been -- so that was eliminated. It had to be a vision, or more accurately a sending, since he still saw nothing but empty black. All he had to do was wait for whoever had contacted him to make their appearance, and listen to what they had to say.

  "Even when you had your sight, you didn't see the full picture."

  He turned, pointlessly, in the direction of the sound.

  That was his father's voice. Unexpected, yet somehow not surprising. Maybe that was a feature of the sending; maybe he had lost his capacity for surprise along with everything else. If he thought about it, everything that he could hear and smell reminded him of the Midgard coast where his father had died and she had appeared, that might be the link.

  There had to be a purpose for the sending, other than to discuss his faults in a cryptic manner. Even if that would be in character.

  "She's too strong," he said. "Blind, and without my hammer, I can't...."

  He couldn't.... He hadn't been able.... He wouldn't be able....

  "Are you Thor, the god of hammers? Hm? That hammer was to help you control your power, focus it. It was never your source of strength."

  He said it without thinking: "And I suppose my eyes were just holding me back, too?"

  Even if it wasn't from a family as historically bad at communication as his had been, there was nothing that could really be said in response to that. The hand on his shoulder was an attempt, at least.

  Sound came before the contact, a sigh and a rustle; not much, but enough so that the touch didn't startle him. It would be difficult, but he could learn to live like that. He would have to, if he survived, which was by no means guaranteed.

  He did what his family had always done, whenever a conversation got too uncomfortable: he changed the subject.

  "It's too late," he said. "Even if...." He shook his head. "She's already taken Asgard."

  He thought of his home as he'd last seen it, as he'd seen it for the last time. The buildings had been intact, mostly, but there was an undeniable lifelessness about the place. Even aside from the undead warriors, infesting the place like armed rats. She didn't care what she damaged in pursuit of her opponents, so it was probably worse, now.

  She would likely end the day as the uncontested ruler of a ruin. And then both her rule and the ruin would expand in conquest, until there was nothing left, or until somebody else came along who was able to stop her.

  "Asgard is not a place, never was."

  And here he'd thought it was one of the Nine Realms, as he'd always heard it described. The more fool him, for believing what everybody said when he had also seen it with his own eyes and walked across it with his own legs and even grown up there.

  "This could be Asgard. Asgard is where our people stand. Even now, right now, those people need your help."

  His help. As if it would make a difference. He hadn't been able stop her when she had been at her weakest, and she'd only gotten stronger.

  He could keep her occupied for a bit, until she got bored of him and decided to finally kill him. Hopefully that would buy the others enough time. Hopefully that was all the help that they needed, because he couldn't give any more.

  How could one go from losing everything, to saving an entire people? He couldn't. He wasn't the one they needed.

  The Allfather hadn't been stopped, or even slowed down, by losing an eye. Even total blindness would probably have been only a momentary inconvenience.

  "I'm not as strong as you," he said.

  "No."

  He was expecting it, but the blunt honesty still hurt --

  "You're stronger."

  By the time he had processed that, he heard footsteps in the grass, walking away from him, and then only the sounds of wind and wave. He was alone again.

  The Allfather had told many lies. He had been made painfully aware of that in the last few days. (Had it only been a few days? He felt like losing almost everything should take longer than that.) However, none of them had been for the sake of pointless cruelty. If he was meant to get back up and rejoin a seemingly-hopeless fight, then there had to be some intended purpose for it.

  Was there hope, after all? There had to be. He had never intended to give up. He wasn't dead yet. There was still something he could do.

  He had felt hopeless before, but somehow he had survived. He had lost so much, but he still had something. Something that couldn't be taken from him, something that had granted him....

  Nothing else came as a message, and he supposed that the sending had served its purpose. He had what he needed, even if he wasn't entirely sure what good it would do, now he needed to go back.

  He didn't close his eyes for concentration. He didn't even know if he would be able to; that wasn't important. He bowed his head, and reached centre-wise and outwards --

  The pain came rushing back to him, but so did something else. He could feel it surging through his body, like the blood in his veins. It gave him focus; it overpowered him and empowered him. It was indescribable, it was exhilarating, and it was the most natural thing in the world to him.

  He had felt it before, but now, now it was so much more intense. It was everything he needed, everything he was.

  "Tell me, brother," Hela's voice said into his ear; distant, like a bad dream. "What were you the god of again?"

  Thunder.

  It didn't matter if he was blind. Sight was useful for locating the target, but not always necessary. He didn't need to worry about finding her, not when her hand was around his throat and she stood over him.

  Lightning danced along his fingers and through her nerves and in the sky, and he could feel it like it was a part of his body.

  He called down the storm.

#fandom: mcu #original content #not a reblog #writing

[cordytriestowrite]

When I'm Miserable

Loki x Reader

Chapter One - All Other Chapters

Summary: Loki abandons his attempt to rebuild his relationship with Thor after realizing his brother will never fully trust or understand him. He finds himself drawn to a girl, now guardian of her little sister after their mother's sudden death, and tries to teach her the lessons of love, forgiveness, and acceptance before their differences tear them apart.

Salem, Indiana. When you first moved away from the small city and its six thousand residents you hated telling people where you were from.

"Oh, Massachusetts." They would say.

"No, Indiana." You would correct.

"I didnt know there was a Salem in Indiana." They would finish with a confused look on their face before going back to their more interesting California lives.

Now you were back and those conversations ceased to be a staple of introduction, but so many things had also ceased to be discussed. Food, art, culture, current events, all subjects thrown aside in the face of everyone's new favorite topic: what are you going to do?

"How are you going to handle raising your little sister?" They would ask.

"Did your mom leave you anything?" Inquired the snoopers.

"Are you okay?"

And were you okay? What a dumb question. Who would be okay being torn from the beginnings of a life they were building for themselves and coming back to a home without a mother? Who would be ready and to accept guardianship over their little sister and step into a parenting role no one had ever prepared them for?

You took a large sip of your beer, letting the carbonation tickle the roof of your mouth before swallowing around the bitter lump in your throat. It was 4pm on a Monday and you were on your second drink. Your bleary eyes glanced around the room, practically empty save for two older men further down the bar.

You hadn't been old enough to even enter a bar when you last lived in Salem. It felt odd to sit on the rickety wooden stool and think back to a time you desired this, the ability to legally drink in the O'Haimes Tavern and enjoy a Friday night with friends while listing to the live band. Had you been able to tell your teenage self you would end up here on a Monday afternoon to drown your sorrows all alone...

"Thanks for covering for me Rach." A frazzled looking women strolled quickly to your side of the bar, from the back room still trying up her long blonde hair. The other bartender, Rachel, you assumed, nodded sympathetically as she poured a set of double whiskeys for the men down the bar.

"No problem, I know how hard it is to adjust to Jason going back to school."

Your glass had only been a few centimeters off the bar top, which was lucky for you as your grip loosened and it wobbled dangerously before settling in its upright position. The noise brought the two bartenders' attention to you but you couldn't be bothered to care. You fumbled through your buzzed, sluggish movements into the purse thrown haphazardly into the seat next to you. You grasped your phone tightly and brought it to your face, throat seizing up fully as your sedated mind took in the unread texts and missed phone calls.

Where are you?

Did you forget about me?

Are you okay?!

You tried to keep an air of calm about you as you paid your bill and exited O'Haimes but you could tell by your slight imbalance that you probably didn't fool anyone. You hurried along the sidewalk as fast as your wobbly ankles would carry you, the edge of Salem High School's property revealing itself a few blocks later. You couldn't help but mumble to yourself as you made your way around the wide chain-link fence to the school entrance.

"Please be there. Please be there. Please be there."

And there she was, looking put out and pouty sitting on the blue bench just to the left of the front doors. She was on her phone and hadn't yet noticed you so you slowed down and straightened your spine. The walk had sobered you enough to put on that mask of calm you couldn't conjure at the bar.

As you got closer she still didnt notice you, too absorbed in her phone to look up. You shook your head and smiled. Her generation was so lucky to have cell phones to entertain them while they wait, all you had was-

Your thoughts stuttered to a stop as a tall man appeared from around the corner and sat next to your sister. He was close to her, his head bent towards her, and she looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and you could feel a wave of protective instinct wash over you like a cold shower. Your pace quickened until you were in a full on sprint.

"Amanda." You said so loudly and forcefully you practically barked your sister's name like an order. Both your sister and the man next to her looked up in surprise. You raced up the steps, your once unreliable equilibrium steadied by an alert, on-edge version of soberness.

"Finally!" She exhaled dramatically, like your tardiness was exhausting. She tucked her phone into her back pocket as she rose from the bench.

The man next to her stood as well. He looked impossibly tall next to your little sister, all short and fragile looking. You took a step closer to the man and squared your shoulders. While you still had to tilt your chin to look him in the eye you were not at the same height disadvantage as your sister.

"Hello there-" he began before you cut him off with a solid, clear tone.

"Stay away from her."

"I beg your pardon?" He asked. His accent startled you for a moment, so unlike all the midwestern accents wriggling in your ears since coming home last month. You blinked twice to regain your focus and your resolve.

"Stay away from my sister. She's under age. Did you know that, pervert?"

"I'm well aware-" he started, adjusting his glasses, but this time his words were interrupted by Amanda's profuse apologies, her hand on your arm pulling you back down the stairs and away from the well dressed, bespectacled threat before you. You maintained eye contact, harsh and defiant, until you reached the first step down and were forced to turn or risk falling down the four concrete steps and make a fool of yourself.

"What were you thinking?!" Amanda shrieked as she continued to pull you by the arm. You turned back to catch a glimpse of the man as you turned the corner but he was gone.

"A grown man should not be hanging around a high school preying on teenage girls." You stumbled slightly but caught your footing. Looking back you found the block of sidewalk slightly raised. It had snagged the tip of your shoe as you took a step. You sent your glare down, ready to take a larger step upon arrival of the next uneven slab.

"He's the librarian. Hanging around the school is kind of his job. You would have known that if you weren't drunk."

You stumbled despite the level ground beneath you at your sister's words. She slowed down and finally let go of your arm, only to fold hers across her chest and glare at you with a disgusting amount of judgement.

"Is that why you were late? You were drinking in the middle of the day again?" She wasn't expecting an answer because she already knew what she was saying was true. You knew what would come next as well, it was the same argument as last time and the time before that.

"You're going to die on me too if you don't cut it out. You'll get in an accident or drown in your own vomit or destroy your liver and-"

"I know Amanda," you sigh heavily and pinch the bridge of your nose, eyes closed so you didn't have to see her face. "I know."

"And now you're ruining my life. Mr Loki is really nice and now he's going to look at me like everyone else does." While her voice began loudly and passionately it trailed off into quiet uncertainty. Your ears pricked up and your vision sharpened, a different kind of safeguard mindset than the one you had earlier against this Mr Loki. You had to protect her from herself now, those thought of self doubt that consume and devour from the inside.

"How does everyone look at you?"

"They look at me like my mom just died. Like I'm helpless. They all pity me." A sob bubbled out like a punctuation at end her statement. You reached for your sister, so young and fragile and in no way undeserving of the looks and the glances she must be catching, and pulled her into a tight hug. You rocked her back and forth so severely her feet had to lift and fall in time to your swings to keep you both from toppling to the ground.

"I'm sorry." You murmured into her hair, "I'm sorry for a lot of things."

She said nothing but held on to the back of your shirt like her life depended on it. You pulled her back by her shoulders so she could see your face with its reassuring smile and kind eyes.

"Tomorrow I will come pick you up on time and apologize to Mr Loki."

"Sober?"

"As sober as a judge." You promised. She reached her fist between your chests and extended her pinky. You wrapped your own around it and kissed your thumb. She did the same. Your journey home continued after that, side by side you strode leisurely and your mind wandered back to the front steps of Salem High School and its librarian.

"Amanda?" You started. She hummed in response to show she was listening.

"What kind of name is Mr Loki?"

She laughed loudly and it reminded you of your mom's laugh when she found something surprisingly amusing. Your stomach flipped at the similarity and at the fact that you would never hear them laugh at the same time like that ever again.

"Apparently he was named after some Norse god or something. It's a weird name right?"

You both giggled and ducked your heads against a gust of wind then walked the rest of the way home in companionable silence.

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#loki fic #loki (marvel) #loki fanfic #loki odinson #loki #loki laufeyson #loki x y/n #loki x you #loki x reader #loki x oc #loki fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #avengers fanfiction #avengers fic

[imagine-loki]

fear and other related emotions

TITLE: Fear and Other Related Emotions

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter-23

AUTHOR: latent-thoughts ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine meeting Loki to interrogate him while he is incarcerated in the Helicarrier glass enclosure. He initially tries to scare you away but then becomes interested in you as you keep talking to him. RATING: NC-17/ MA NOTES/WARNINGS: Warning for explicit sexual situations and violence (combat/fighting/interrogations).

A/N: Here’s a longish chapter, hope you guys enjoy it.

________________________________________

“What are you doing, brother?”

“Freezing the damn thing.”

“Loki, what does that mean?” Thor asked, sounding panicked now. “How are you going to do that?”

“I don’t have time to explain, just get everyone all off this block!” Loki snapped, feeling his anxiety growing with every moment. Now that he had committed himself to this mad idea, he was going to have to follow through. Even the usually headstrong Tony Stark was desperate enough to do as he asked, just to ensure that he succeeded in stopping Ultron.

“Fine, just don’t do anything reckless.”

“That’s your forte, brother, not mine.” He nodded to Stark. “Let’s get this done.”

“I’m not sure what we’re getting done, but okay. Off we go!” He lifted into the air with Loki hanging off his arms. “You can put your feet on top of mine; more stability.”

Loki did as he suggested, ignoring the awkwardness of the situation in order to do the needful. He was already feeling the pinpricks of regret with his decision, but he knew that someone had to do something here. There didn’t seem to be any other solution, unless they were prepared to risk the lives of several thousand mortals.

“Ain’t this romantic,” muttered Stark as they flew to the edge of the block and then started descending.

“Keep your focus, Stark, and under no circumstances should you let go of me.”

“I’ll admit, it’s very tempting, especially when I’m not sure what the hell you are doing.”

“Everyone off the landmass?” Loki asked, concentrating on his magic to summon the Casket of Ancient Winters.

“Not yet,” Rogers replied. “Give me a few seconds. These things are trying to get off the land too.”

“I don’t have time! Thor will take care of them.”

Thor grunted in affirmation. “Aye! Go and jump into the hellicarrier, Steve.”

“Then go ahead,” Rogers stated mulishly, “I’ll walk it off.”

“You can’t! You’ll get frozen.”

“Yeah, been there, done that. Go ahead!”

The casket materialized in Loki’s hand then, and he saw his fingers turning blue in response to the inherent Jotun magic encased in it. He closed his eyes and tried his best to ignore the odd sensation spreading through his body. He knew that when he’d open them next, they’d be deep red.

“Reindeer Games, are you… what the fuck… you’re turning blue.” Stark’s grip faltered, and for a moment Loki was certain that he was going to drop him.

“Shut up, Stark, and don’t you dare drop me,” he snapped, having run out of both patience and gentility in the wake of taking on the skin he had been taught to hate.

“You expect me to shut up in this situation? While you’re turning into Papa Smurf right in my arms? Not happening, dude.”

Stark’s jabbering actually helped Loki in ignoring the dread that was taking over his mind. It kept him in the present; and the present demanded certain actions from him regardless of how he felt.

Taking a deep breath, Loki adjusted the casket in his hands and willed it to shoot the coldest, hardest ice that it could.

“Thor! Off the block, now!”

“Whoa… what fresh hell is this?” someone rasped into the communication device, and Loki knew it was a response either to him or to the ice.

Intuitively working with the casket, Loki coaxed it to build both upwards and beneath the piece of land, knowing that the moment the machine came to a halt, it would start to fall freely. Even without the thrusters it would cause a lot of destruction.

He also sent in all of the seidr that he had within his reserves, making it meld with the ice to work against the machine.

“Sweet mother of god…” Stark exclaimed behind him as the casket worked, his metallic arms holding on to Loki tighter than before. “I’ve never seen something like this before. Is this what all the hoopla was about… well, about you being a Frost Giant?”

Loki ignored him for now, he had more important things to focus on.

The ice spread quickly, covering the base of the machine in an instant, then traveling up to cover the rest of the block. He glanced up to see Thor flying off it, with Rogers tucked under his arm. He’d have laughed at that sight had he not been so damned anxious.

The spread of ice happened almost like a flash of light, forming a solid pillar beneath the flying land and heading straight down to the hollowed out ground.

Just as Loki had calculated, the machine jammed under the intense cold, causing the piece of land to begin its descent downwards. However, the presence of the pillar of ice beneath it stopped the descent immediately, forcing it to hang in the air.

“Dude, this is phenomenal. Friday, get me the stats on this block of insta ice, please.”

Loki wanted to roll his eyes at Stark’s awed words. He just hoped that he’d not want the ‘stats’ on his Jotun form.

“Lower me further towards the ground,” he instructed, and immediately, Stark followed without a word. That was indeed satisfying.

He used the casket to thicken the ice further, stabilizing the pillar to make sure that it didn’t crumble under the weight of the block.

“Impressive. What exactly are you planning to do with that?”

“Not let anyone die.”

“How?”

“I’m going to slowly melt the pillar and have the piece of land fall back into its place. Then, we’re going to find a way to take apart Ultron’s handiwork… “ Loki took a deep, cleansing breath to collect his thoughts. “…while the others can take care of the thawing automations. I’m not sure how well they’d be functioning after being imbued with ice, but I’m not about to take my chances.”

“Right. I suppose everyone’s in on it.”

The affirmation from everyone was heard through the communication device, and that made Loki relax just a wee bit.

————————————————-

The block of land was resting on the pillar of ice, high up in the sky. It was a wonder reminiscent of one of the artificial moons of Vanaheim—one that had been made of nothing but massive masses of rock and soil, held together by gravity and magic. The Vanir had grown lush gardens and groves even there, and to travel from one landmass to another there were special bridges and walkways. Often, he had stayed over with Frigga and Thor, and the power of magic the Vanir had wielded had called out to him.

There was nothing magical about this mass of land, though. Up in the sky, detached from its realm as it was by ice, it looked rather out of place. Hence, it was imperative that it be brought back to its initial position.

Loki stood at the base of the icy pillar, studying his handiwork while trying to gauge how to melt the ice in order to slowly bring the block down. The pillar itself was now thicker than the landmass it was supporting. He knew enough about the dynamics of naturally formed land to know that his icy pillar, if it remained in place for long, might cause problems for the supporting land beneath it.

“Loki?” Thor’s voice was uncharacteristically soft when he called his name, surprising Loki enough to break his concentration.

He didn’t know for how long Thor had been standing behind him before speaking. Usually, he’d have known the moment he stepped into his general circle of awareness, but right now, his awareness of his surroundings was very brittle and marred with exhaustion.

“Loki…” Thor called again, his voice almost a whisper now. His hesitance was palpable, and Loki knew well why. It would’ve given him an almost perverse sort of satisfaction to see Thor so uncomfortable, had he himself not been feeling the same way.

He was, after all, not himself right now. He was what he had been taught to hate most of his life…

Very reluctantly, he turned around to face his brother. He kept his eyes cast down on the Casket of Ancient Winters, which he still held in his hand. He was quite sure that his crimson gaze would be horribly unsettling.

“Yes, Thor,” he managed to force out, feeling an intense sense of unease upon being seen by Thor as a Jotun. It was the first time… it could be the last.

“Brother…” Thor mumbled, and Loki heard the tell-tale thump of Mjolnir hitting the ground as Thor rushed to him. The move surprised Loki, who took a few steps back and finally looked up at Thor’s face.

“You should stay back,” he warned, his own voice feeling weighed down.

“Why?” Thor asked, still advancing on him, his face solemn and determined. “You’re not binding ice.”

“I’m not…”

Thor’s face broke into a grin then, as he reached Loki and grasped his shoulders. “You did great, brother. You stepped in and did something I couldn’t have. You saved the day.”

Loki remained quiet and still, unable to absorb what Thor was saying. His mind was still caught up in the thought of Thor seeing him as a Jotun… and possibly being disturbed by the sight.

As he looked at Thor’s bright face, he realized that he couldn’t clearly see. His vision was blurring, and he recognized it too late that his eyes were getting watery.

“Brother… Loki.” Thor shook his shoulders a bit. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m Jotun.” The blasted tears slipped out of Loki’s eyes as he stared at Thor in disbelief, feeling as though he’d burst out of his own skin.

Thor appeared to be baffled for a moment, but then his expression cleared, and he smiled wide. “Yes, I know. I’ve known that for a while now.”

“I’m Jotun right now,” Loki snapped, wondering how Thor was not reacting appropriately… as an Aesir ought to.

Why was he not showing the overt disgust that all of Asgard harboured for the Jotuns? Why was he not shocked enough? Why was he… staring at Loki as though he was precious to him?

Thor grew solemn again, and his grip on Loki’s shoulders tightened. “You’re still you, you’re still Loki, still my brother.”

“Are you sure?”

“There was a time when I wasn’t, I admit.” Now, Thor’s eyes grew watery as well, and they both stared at each other betwixt tears. “It was because of my own prejudices than anything else. The prejudices of our culture and upbringing. But yes, you are my brother. You’re my brother of heart, even if our flesh is inherently different.”

Loki couldn’t quite believe the words flowing from Thor’s mouth, but he knew that he wasn’t lying. He was too good at detecting deception, especially from Thor.

“You don’t find me abhorrent?” he asked, pure wonder lacing his voice.

“No.”

Still, the urge to test Thor prevailed, and Loki brought his hand up to touch his cheek. Thor didn’t flinch, but his warm tears flowed over Loki’s cold fingers, adding another layer to the stark contrasts between them.

“I just…” Loki swallowed and tried to will himself to stop crying. It didn’t work. “I find myself abhorrent.”

Thor pulled Loki in for an embrace then, thumping his palm against his back. “I cannot say that I know how it feels, but you have my support and love, brother. It is indeed a bit jarring to see you like this, but it’s most certainly not abhorrent.”

Loki let go of the casket, then, and slumped into Thor’s arms, feeling the terrible drain of the situation. Thor stiffened in response, but he kept his arms firmly around him as his Aesir form reinstated itself.

“Brother?”

Loki nodded, not willing to speak, worried that his voice might break under the tremendous burden of anxiousness.

“Loki?” Thor prompted again, and this time Loki had to utter a low grunt in response. “If I may say so myself, you look rather fetching as a Jotun.”

“Shut up.”

Thor laughed, and then, so did Loki, the burst of warring emotions making it sound almost hysterical.

A creaking noise came up from behind them, and Loki quickly turned back towards the ice pillar, a sense of latent panic flowing into his nerves. “I have to melt it slowly to bring the block of land down. If it melts on its own, it’s going to cause problems.”

Thor approached the ice and touched it, his eyes keen and curious. “Isn’t Jotun ice stronger?”

“It is. But it will still melt under intense sunrays. Midgard’s sun is certainly stronger than the sun of Jotunheim.”

“How would you melt it?”

Loki shrugged. “Seidr. Unless you have a better solution.”

Thor pursed his lips as he stared at the ice, seemingly out of other solutions for tackling it.

Just as Loki was about to mention how he planned to melt the ice, Stark flew in and landed right in front of Thor, who had to step back a bit. “So, I hate to break the brotherly special time, but I have to butt in now.”

“What is it?” Thor asked, looking back at Loki as though making sure that he was still standing there with him.

“So, the Snow Queen here created quite a stir with the ice magic and what not. Fury is holding back the press for now, but it won’t be long till they’re pouring in. I suggest that we deal with this impressive ice sculpture quickly and efficiently.” He opened his helmet and gave Loki an assessing look. “I didn’t know you could do that, by the way. Care to share the knowledge for a bit of climate change mitigation and reversal?”

Loki glared at him for a bit, but then turned away. He was not in the mood to expend his already drained energies on Stark. Banter had a place and time, this wasn’t it.

“What? You’re not talking to me now? Hey, I’m the one who carried you while you spread your winter cheer all over the place. I even forgave you for playing with my heart as Luke.”

“I don’t want unnecessary exposure,” Loki ground out, giving Thor a meaningful look before turning back to inspect his icy creation.

“Well yeah, I’m not sure that SHIELD is yet capable of stopping the media coverage of this spectacle.” Stark came forth to study the ice as well, forcing both Thor and Loki to step aside and make room for him. He raised a hand up and started scanning it with his equipment. “It’s a miracle that they even assisted in the rescue of the CERN staff here. I wasn’t expecting that, given their recent collapse with all the project insight bullshit.”

Loki tried not to flinch as Stark stepped closer to him, eyeing him calculatingly. He didn’t feel threatened by the man, but his scrutinizing eyes were causing him a bit of disquiet. He had, after all, seen Loki in Jotun form, and was, in all probability, thinking about that experience.

While it was one thing to show his brother his Jotun form, it quite another to present the same to someone who didn’t even consider him a friend. He hadn’t planned on sharing that part of himself with Stark of all the people in the Nine Realms.

“Honestly, Reindeer Games, I suggest you get used to the media coverage. Sooner or later, the cat is getting out of the bag. And it’s perhaps a good thing for you, since you just managed to save the world. Kinda evens out what you had done earlier.”

Loki took a deep breath as he tried to use his seidr to start melting the ice. There wasn’t much of it left now, and he knew that he needed to be careful with it. “The memory of bad deeds is stronger than the celebration of good ones… such is my experience thus far, Stark.”

Stark shrugged. “I can’t say that you’re wrong there. But still, the media loves a good redemption story. They would’ve gobbled it up had you made a sacrifice as well, like, of your life or something.”

“Tony, enough,” Thor growled, “we’re not having this discussion. You know what happened in Svartalfheim.”

“Oh yeah… well, I didn’t think about that.” Stark sounded a bit contrite, but Loki couldn’t be sure, as he was trying to concentrate on the ice. “I was just speaking from experience, you know, back when I threw that nuke at that grotesque Chitauri spaceship.”

Loki’s hands glowed as he directed his spell over ten different points on the pillar, generating a low heat to begin the melting.

He could feel both Stark’s and Thor’s gazes upon him as he worked. Furthermore, he knew that he’d soon be the focus of the innumerable stares from the others in the team, who were standing at a distance. It was a good thing that he was resilient enough to be able to ignore all of that and get on with the task at hand.

There was a crackle in Stark’s communication device then, and he started with a low curse. “What the hell? Why would they come here?”

“What is it?” Thor asked, and Loki heard the unmistakable pulsation of Mjolnir flying to his hand.

“Uh… the prince and princess of Wakanda are coming here,” Stark replied, sounding mistrustful. “I’m not exactly sure why, but they’re saying that they want to help.”

“Wakanda…? Is that not the place where your indestructible metal comes from?”

“Yeah, that’s the place.”

“Then these people ought to be knowing more about it than others here.”

“Well, I guess…” Stark sounded as though he was doubtful about it.

“What is the meaning of that, Tony?” Thor sounded slightly annoyed now, echoing Loki’s feelings.

“Well, they’re essentially a third world country. I’m not sure that they know the full potential of their vibranium reserves, that’s all.”

“What’s a third world country?”

“Yeah well, that’s a discussion for another day. Basically, a country that is economically weak and poor.”

Loki decided to impose upon the conversation then. “I believe that’s not actually where the term comes from, Stark. Wasn’t it the result of the division of Midgard’s pillars of power?”

Stark made a distinct noise of irritation in his throat. “Yes, you nerd, I’m picturing you with your nose buried in all the Cold War related books and stuff.”

“It happened before my eyes. The books came later.”

“So that’s true,” Thor stated, aghast. “You did sneak around and visit other realms even though father had forbidden it for us.”

Loki nodded, smiling fondly. “Mother was my secret keeper.”

“She did encourage you in your wayward endeavours.”

“Don’t speak as though she didn’t cover up your misadventures. At the very least, I covered my tracks.”

Both of them chuckled, but then a solemn silence fell over them. Loki turned his head to look at his brother, and found him staring off into empty space, his eyes carrying the weight of unspoken grief in them.

He wanted to hold him and speak soothing words of commiseration to him, but Loki stood frozen in his spot… the pretext of melting the ice kept him from moving.

They had never truly grieved together for the loss of their mother, and it was still a sore spot in many ways.

Their moment of silent reflexion was interrupted then, as a flying machine landed nearby, announcing the arrival of the Wakandans.

“Keep working, Reindeer Games, I’ll talk to them.”

Loki bristled at Stark’s words. He had all but forgotten that he had been standing nearby, witnessing all that had just transpired between him and Thor. Nevertheless, he nodded and kept working with his melting spell.

Thor came closer, watching the melt water that was beginning to flow from the glacial pillar. “You look exhausted, Loki. Tony may not notice, but I do.”

“Since when did you become so perceptive?” Loki couldn’t help asking, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“Since I lost half of my family.”

Loki sighed, all the sarcasm gone now. “I do feel drained, but I need to finish this task. I started it.”

“Ultron started it, not you. You’re still recovering. Those apples can only help so much, brother.”

It appeared as though Thor wanted to say more, but he desisted from it as Stark came back with the newly arrived company.

“Their royal highnesses, prince T’Challa and princess Shuri,” he announced, adding a bit of deliberate pomp in his voice. “Blessing us with their hallowed presence on this fine day.”

“You’ve never announced my arrival like that,” Thor commented, just as Loki halted his spell and turned around to face the Midgardian royalty.

“You have enough going with your sparkly rainbow beam and lightning, no need for intros there.”

Thor ignored that comment and went to shake hands with the prince in a mimicry of the Midgardian greeting. Loki approached the princess and took her hand to buss her on the knuckles, introducing himself. She was but a wee child, but he saw a roaring intelligence in her bright eyes.

“I saw your hands glowing. Are you using some sort of nanoparticle heat generator?” she asked him without preamble.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” he replied with a slight smile, trying to gauge if she and her brother were actually there to help or if they were there to spy.

“I’m sure I can grasp it.” She nodded, turning to observe the pillar. “But first, we need to form a temporary canal system here. The water from that ice behemoth would flood this area if it’s let out too quickly. I’ll make a few quick models with T’Challa to resolve this issue and then deploy the best solution. Are you in?”

“I am,” Loki replied, deciding that he liked the little princess and her no-nonsense attitude.

————————————

“You know, ours is not the first such union, where a Jotun wedded a person from another realm” Idunn stated carefully while Reva and Jane listened. “Thjazi’s cousion, Laufey, took an Alfan councilwoman as his wife, much to Asgard’s chagrin. Her name was Lady Ingirúna, daughter of Lady Freyja.”

“Wait, Laufey?” Jane stared at her in surprise. “The King of Jotunheim Laufey?”

“Yes, the boorish King who brought nothing but war and disrepute to the Jotuns,” Thjazi answered, tapping his foot on the floor. “He didn’t have the favour of the people when he ascended to the throne, but he ruled with an iron fist and there was little anyone else could do to resist him. He was, after all, the legitimate heir to the throne, and the Jotuns respect tradition more than anything else. Well, at least the elders in the council do.”

There was a lot to unpack here, and Reva was amazed at all these new revelations regarding Loki. The problem was… the more she learned, the more confused she grew.

“Wasn’t it out of tradition to marry someone from a different species?”

Thjazi smiled at Reva, and even though his sharp teeth unsettled her, she didn’t show it.

“Some traditions are harder to break than others. Queen Ingirúna brought certain special assets with her, something that the royal Jotun lineage had lacked.”

“And what was that?”

“She was a seiðkona.”

Reva and Jane both looked at him blankly.

Thjazi sighed, giving Idunn a sideways glance. “She was a wielder of magic; a powerful one.”

“Oh…”

“And… I’m guessing that she was Loki’s birth mother?” Jane asked, raising her eyebrow in curiosity.

Thjazi nodded, while Idunn shuffled behind him, her eyes furtive.

So that was where Loki had apparently inherited his magical prowess from…

Reva was still lost in thought when Jane spoke up. “So… that makes you Loki’s uncle, right?”

Idunn muttered something under her breath, and Thjazi simply shrugged. “I suppose, yes. That’s a pleasant revelation.”

Reva wasn’t sure that Loki would respond to it in a similar way. Usually, he didn’t take surprises that well. And quite honestly, she couldn’t even blame him for it. All of this information was bound to be quite rattling.

Though, given how sneaky and secretive he had been with her, she couldn’t help but consider it as just desserts for Loki. She knew she was being petty and spiteful, but she couldn’t help it. She had been through a lot, all thanks to Loki.

Jane giggled then, causing everyone in the room to stare at her.

“Sorry, I just can’t help it.” She fidgeted under everyone’s regard, shifting in her seat awkwardly. “I’m imagining Loki calling you ‘uncle’ and trying to show respect. It’s not gelling well in my head.”

Thjazi frowned at her comment, and Reva surmised that he didn’t quite understand the humour here. She gently touched Jane’s arm, trying to silently get her to stop laughing. Perhaps the weirdness of the situation had gotten to her…

Right as she was about to try and refocus the discussion on Loki’s biological parents, the overhead speakers blared with the voice of Friday.

“Everyone urgently move to the panic room. We’re under attack. I repeat, everyone urgently move to the panic room. We’re under attack.”

The way she was sagely relaying the message was quite contradictory to the sheer panic that it launched into the room.

———————-

“Reva, get to the panic room! Didn’t you listen?”

Reva was running… she wasn’t listening. Jane kept calling after her as she was dragged by Drax towards the panic room on the lower floors, but Reva wasn’t responding.

No, hiding wouldn’t do right now, not when others were trying to fight and fend off the attacking bots. She would’ve loved to hide in the panic room with Jane and Groot, but she knew what the attackers were after.

While Idunn and Thjazi tried their best to defend the infinity stones in their hold, Reva knew that the scepter was vulnerable.

Stark had kept it in a secret location somewhere in the tower, convinced that it was still influencing people around it. He hadn’t told Reva anything about it, and she knew that it was because of her association with Loki.

And now, she knew that Ultron’s hive minded bots were going to locate it sooner or later if someone didn’t retrieve it first.

So here she was, running on her newly superpowered feet and legs, feeling like an Olympian as she dashed for the scepter. Only she could gauge its tentative location, thanks to her strange bond with the thing. Others could only guess, and there was no time for that right now.

Reaching down to the fifth level of the basement, she was able to detect the faint hum of the scepter. It was being blocked by something, but not in its entirety.

She reached a thick door and tried to open it, to no avail. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like the door was lined with lead.

“Access denied!” The artificial voice spoke from the surrounding speakers as she tried to open it again.

“God damnit, Stark!” she growled, punching the door.

Much to her surprise, the punch was enough to put a dent in the door.

“What the…” Reva stared at it in shock. This was the second time she had punched a dent in something hard and metallic. “Well, shit.”

She gave the door a once over, wondering if she was about to put herself in the infirmary again with her next move. Sadly, there was no time to second guess or to find a better solution. She could hear the bots on the floors above, and she could hear that they were overwhelming the defenders of the tower and closing in on the scepter.

Hence, Reva drew back a few feet… and then ran straight at the door like a battering ram.

——————————–

When Loki landed on the helipad of the Stark Tower, panicked, as one his magical wards had been tripped, he was expecting an entirely different scene than what was transpiring before his eyes.

He had expected Drax and Rocket to defend the tower with Stark’s legionaires; he had expected Duna and Thjazi to defend the Infinity Stones in their hold.

What he hadn’t expected to see was Reva… standing in the middle of all the chaos, firing bright energy beams at all the attacking automations.

She looked utterly enraged as she took them down, standing over an injured Rocket in a protective stance, her hair out of her braid in a grand disarray.

She looked utterly magnificent…

For a moment, Loki simply stood still as a statue as he watched her. He was in awe.

But then he saw one of the machines approaching her from her blind side, and that was enough to galvanize him. Instantly, Loki took care of the problem with a flash of his seidr, alerting everyone of his presence.

Reva stared at him with frenzied eyes, still holding the scepter in a death grip. He put his hands up in a manner of declaring peace, worried, for a moment, that she might fire at him in her anxiousness.

Performing a quick scan of the area, Loki tried to detect if there were any other hostile machines left to deal with. There weren’t.

“Reva,” he spoke softly as he approached her, noting that she hadn’t moved an inch.

“You’re back,” she murmured, her gaze traveling from his head to toe.

“I am.”

Finally, she moved… but not in the manner he had expected. She stepped forth with the scepter and pushed its blunt edge at his neck, backing him up right into Stark’s coveted alcohol bar… the remains of it, that is.

“Reva, I’m not sure what you’re trying—”

“Shut up,” she muttered, still prodding him with the scepter.

It was humming wildly, and he wondered just what it was conveying to her. The prodding only stopped once he pretended to stumble and landed on his back; a gesture of surrender, so to say.

As she stood over him, she looked like a striking image of one of the goddesses of the olden Vedic people of Midgard. To Loki, she was stunning in her ire.

“I’m at your mercy,” he said, his voice thick with emotion as he stared up at her.

He was proud of her, slightly shaken even, to see her like this. There was also a rather unexpected reaction down between his legs, but he was trying to ignore it for now.

The scepter was still at his neck, and he wondered just what she was attempting with it.

She took a deep breath before speaking, the fire in her eyes easing a bit. “You’re such a dickhead.”

And then she was on top of him, straddling him as her lips came crashing towards his.

#Loki #Lover #Angst #Submitted fic #submission #Chapter 23 #Fear and Other Related Emotions #Latent-thoughts

[ravennawritesfanfiction]

The Raven and Her Wolf - Chapter 1 : Rose

Pairing: Loki x Reader (Rose)

Warning: Mostly angst and bitterness

A/N: This is a story I started writing a long time ago, and I decided to share it with everyone. The original name was Ravenna, but I changed it. I welcome feedback. I will be making changes so this will be slow going.This story Is also a mix between Sleepy Hollow and Marvel.

Rose

“She didn’t need to be saved. She needed to be found and appreciated for exactly who she was.” ~ J. Iron Word

Born in 1749 in Dover, England, Rose Crane was always meant to be more. Growing up the older sister to her father’s perfect son always left her in a shadow she could never escape. Hardly anyone gave her a second glance, and no one ever gave her a chance to prove she was just as smart or even smarter than her dear brother, Ichabod. Though she longed to escape her shadowed prison, it did allow her allowances with what she could and could not do. You can’t get in trouble for wandering off if everyone forgets that you exist. She had a knack for sneaking about though it was seldom intentional. That knack often transferred to her and her best friend, Abraham, sneaking out to the woods and exploring the land around Dover. Though they would get caught because Abraham was always the center of all of his family’s special events. He was lucky to be an only child in a very successful family.

As they grew up, the three of them, Abraham went from best friend to fiancé. They were happy with the engagement; however, his parents weren’t, so they arranged for him to marry a colonist’s daughter. He did everything they asked of him, even if he added his own flair, meaning he would break off his engagement with Rose and move to the colonies, but she was coming with and he was going to spend all the family money doing whatever he wanted. She was blessed to be able to move to the colonies with her brother and best friend. She was now twenty- one years of age and moving to a whole new world, a dream come true. In the colonies, seldom few knew her family and those who did just didn’t care. Her brother came over as a British Regular to fight colonist uprisings on behalf of the monarchy, but Rose didn’t agree with what was being imposed on the colonists and she felt that England had never done her any favors. So once again the siblings were on opposites sides. Abraham and his new fiancé were both for the colonies, a little jab at his parents for their part in the new engagements, and good news for Rose. 

She liked the new fiancé alright, but didn’t see them as a good fit. Abraham was lavish, and Katrina just wasn’t. She was a battlefield nurse and Abraham was a monetary donor. It was amusing to watch them try and find even ground. He tried and tried to ensure that she knew he loved her, but it was clear he didn’t know her. Rose liked the new social circle that she had found herself in but quickly grew bored of all of Abraham’s parties. She didn’t fit in with the lavish life anymore and she longed to make a difference. 

The soldiers who fought for independence took a liking to her though. She was odd in the way that she was English, from a prominent English family, however, they never noticed her. She could come and go from their inner circles without a second glance. She would make the best secret weapon, and it didn’t hurt that she already knew what was going on with everyone. She was still connected to England by means of her family and she was aware of the Regulars’ movements through her brother. None of the generals relished the idea of sending a woman into the field and no one thought she could handle herself in a fight. They all were under the impression that they would have to assign a handler to her to keep her from dying the minute she set out on missions.

They decided after much deliberation that they would try training her, a task that they all thought would take a month of Sunday’s and even then, she would still be a risk. However, she was desperate to prove them wrong. Her whole life had been filled with people doubting her based solely on the fact that she was a lady. That had only ever driven her desire to learn further and now those who had gotten to know her would even go as far to say she was the smartest and most educated in her family; a true feat in a family of university professors. She had also grown to love the outdoors and she was an accomplished horsewoman. She could easily outride any man, much to her parents’ horror. She also proved capable with a sword, something most guys would rather overlook. All the doubt usually resulted in a healthy amount of anger, which Rose hid well and stored for later.

Now, she drew all that anger to the surface and started her “training”. Sparing with Abraham had been harder, and she found that while these soldiers were working up quite the sweat, she was bored. Soldier after soldier took her on and it turned into more of a game than serious training. When Generals would pass by, they all acted like they were taking it all seriously, however as soon as they had gone it went back to the game. Most of these soldiers hadn’t had fun since the war started and were looking for a break. It turned out her training was good for morale and before long she was a symbol of hope for this unit. 

After a month of fun and games, the powers that be decided she was ready to go on her first mission and she was deemed an official spy. Her first mission was a rather boring one. Attend a party of British Commanders at a general’s house and find out where their bases were located. Laughable. That was the only thing that popped into her head upon being debriefed on her assignment. Everyone knew that British Commanders loved to talk, and though they would deny it, they loved to drink too. All it would take was a few drinks and a Lady asking an overeager captain how the war efforts were progressing. Then let the bragging commence. The Crane name was well known to the Regulars. Her brother was among their ranks, an oversight on her part as she hadn’t anticipated his attendance to this party. Even though he was a small roadblock, he was also her golden ticket to completing her mission. No one would question why she was there now. She was just being a good sister. 

After several hours she had gotten exact locations, courtesy of none other than her brother. For a well-educated gentleman, he wasn’t very smart. Haven gotten bored with getting sweet talked by every regular in the room, she left in search of her brother. A bold change in strategy, she knew, however, it was her last chance to complete her mission. It was her first and she couldn’t go back empty-handed, that would lose her this chance to prove herself. So, putting on the front of a concerned sister, she asked her brother where he had been all these months. Finding a map in the general’s study, he pointed to all the forts. Telling her about some of the other guys he had met at each fort and regaling her with stories of brawls and additional training, she had all that she needed and more. 

She said her fair wells and promised to visit again soon, then left with all her new knowledge. Arriving back, she reported immediately to her superior officer. Then the truth came out. It had all been a test. They knew where the bases were, granted she had discovered a few they had not known about and the stories of the men had been very enlightening, but that didn’t change the fact they had been testing her abilities all along. She was mad but knowing that she had gone above and beyond their expectations made her feel like she was finally as accomplished as her brother.

Chapter 2

#sleepy hollow #marvel #ichabod crane #abraham van brunt #loki x reader #loki laufeyson

[newagegs]

character details:

name: janet van dyne

age: 54 (should be), really 49 (snap)

date of birth: june 1st 1972

fandom: marvel comics

faceclaim: marisa tomei

height: 5'2

pronouns/gender identity/sexual+romantic identity: she/her, cis female, pansexual panromantic

where have they been living since the return snap: in her new york city penthouse

what have they been doing personally and/or professionally since the return snap: janet's spent a lot of time getting back on her feet, from dysfunctional family time to returning van dyne designs to what it was before her roughly eight year disappearance. this doesn't mean she's stopped helping people, returning as the wasp for the battle for earth, and she's been involved nonstop since, with the only major event she dipped out of being the judges attacks on gotham (as well as the aftermath, though she did throw money towards the cause, both personally and through fundraising efforts).

janet's kept herself more than busy, and will continue to do so until she physically can't anymore.

if they are part/have ever been a part of SHIELD or the avengers team, when did they join and why: janet joined the avengers early on, back in 2012, during loki's attack on new york, and started working for shield earlier, in 1998, directly after hank pym gifted her with the first wasp suit. she left shield officially after the avengers formed.

do they currently live in the avengers compound: no

moral alignment: neutral good

dusted in the snap or not: yes

if they were dusted, how did they feel about it and how have they adjusted since returning: janet was dusted soon after being brought back from the quantum realm, and was, and is (rightfully) pissed about it. four years of her life had already been stolen from her, and then the universe went and dealt her another awful hand, during something important nonetheless. the world should be grateful that she was brought back just in time for a battle, because if she hadn't been she would've found some other fight to pick. she's still bitter.

she's adjusted well, very adaptable as a person, but since returning she's grown somehow more affectionate, borderline overbearing towards the people she cares about. she's also lost a lot of her flightiness, a little more grounded than she was before. she's also developed more of a friendship with her ex-husband since he, scott, and hope brought her back from the quantum realm not long before the snap.

ramble a bit about them, their past, what their current motivations are: janet van dyne was born the daughter of a very well off scientist, vernon van dyne, and because of this, she didn't exactly do much in the first 25 years of her life. she took full advantage of her station, throwing money at ever issue, though she did go to college for fashion design, one of the only early choices she made for herself (her father had wanted her to go into something more respectable, but janet knew who she was and what she was about). despite being flighty, janet was hardworking when she put her mind to something, making somewhat of a name for herself in the fashion world.

her father was murdered when she was 26 by an alien that he'd been using in one of his experiments, and janet, not able to sit with that, contacted hank pym, one of his colleagues, for help in tracking down the alien that had killed him.

hank decided to make a partner out of her, making the first wasp suit, a suit that could shrink down to incredibly small sizes, utilizing the pym particles he had discovered, with wings to go along with the name, as well as wrist devices which allowed her to discharge blasts of compressed air that she called her "wasp's stings".

janet started working for shield after this, able to bring her father's killer to justice and more, and stayed with shield until the avengers formed in 2012, where she left the agency, not only to focus on hero work (which hank was more than a little displeased with) but to put herself back into the fashion world, missing it.

after leaving shield, janet founded van dyne designs, her own fashion company.

hank and janet got divorced in 2014, having been married for sixteen years (because in this house we don't stan wife beaters, okay) though they stayed amicable to some extent, though a large part of this was due to janet's affection for hope, hank’s daughter and her adopted daughter (her mother having been maria trovaya hank’s first wife who died when hope was seven) as janet had very little affection for hank himself, considering the abusive and toxic nature of their relationship (with the toxicity coming from both sides, janet constantly attempting to make hank jealous by flirting with everyone around her).

janet became trapped in the quantum realm during the events of age of ultron, going subatomic to stop one of ultron’s sentinels, protecting civilians.

she was painfully aware of everything during her time in the quantum realm, not entering a time vortex, and her body adapted, gaining quite a few powers.

with the plot of ant-man and the wasp staying nearly untouched, janet was brought back from the quantum realm in 2019, only a month before the snap, where she was snapped away along with half the universe.

janet believes in the good of people, and more importantly, she believes in protecting them, leaving the hero business not even a thought in her mind. she knows the risks of her second job just like she knew the risks of subatomic shrinking, and is willing to take them in the name of keeping people safe. she’s not a person that can hold onto grudges or hate, seeing the best in everyone, and this is a driving force.

one plot idea, big or small, you’d like to do with them: as well as expanding on everything in the past, i’d love to explore her relationship with the avengers, and the civil war part 2 arc had lined up, as she’s one of the heroes that’s very open about her identity.

mun details:

name/alias: maya

age: 22

pronouns: she/her

timezone: adt

#app #janet van dyne app #submission

[armoured-iron-geek]

End of Infinity War Theory FanFic

Based on the theory that this scene was indeed a vision of the future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxkdS4TfGBo

“You could have saved us. Why didn’t you do more?”

That was the question he had been trying to answer since Ultron. He had tried to prepare for the inevitable by inventing, building, then improving. He wasn’t the only genius in the world, but he seemed to be the only futurist of them that cared to face the unknown, no matter how terribly his hands would tremble. He had been recruiting and negotiating with people, to bring them together as a united front, to face the horrors that the galaxy had to offer. 

And then the Accords and Siberia happened. By his own mistakes and the grievances of others, Tony Stark was very much alone.

Again.

At first, he had tried to hate those who had “deceived and betrayed” him, to allow the anger to burn and fuel his determination. In the end, his efforts to do so were fruitless. It’s extremely hard to steer hate towards others when the majority of it is already dedicated to hating oneself. Tony knew what he had done wrong and his part in the splitting up of the Avengers. He wasn’t stupid, he was well aware of the vigilante group his rogue teammates had formed elsewhere in the world. The fact that they were breaking numerous international laws wasn’t what annoyed Tony in the end.

What annoyed him was that a huge part of him wanted to be with them.

But alas, he never did pick up that bloody cellphone until Rogers had texted him with a very simple question: Do you need us?

And Tony had answered: Always.

One particularly devastating series of cluster fucks later, the Avengers, Guardians and whoever else was brave enough had succeeded in taking Thanos down. He wasn’t dead, but thanks to the combined efforts of Strange and Loki, the Space Stone had backfired on the Mad Titan, sending him to the every edge of the galaxy, weakened and sans Infinity Gauntlet. The threat was over....for now at least.

But...at what cost?

The Gauntlet was in a stasis, hovering in it’s own power, the light of which produced an illusion of a pedestal, making it the centre of a pure nightmare. It was like a sun which possessed rings of devastation, the bodies of fallen heroes laid and poised in the round. The further away the Gauntlet’s light, the bigger the blanket of darkness that draped the martyrs became. They were nothing more than fallen metaphors, a shell of the determination that once fired in their no longer beating hearts.

The majority had been taken out in the final blast that had lead Thanos to his temporary doom. The Soul Stone, however, could still detect one last, flickering life form in the furthest ring of devastation, slightly buried in a crater created quite early in the final battle. The Stone glimmered in interest; who was the last remaining if all the others were already absorbed and locked within her power? She wanted to pitch the question to her fellow Stones, but she could feel their annoyance at being abandoned and no longer being used. 

No, this inquiry was something she would have to partake in alone.

It wasn’t long before the subject of her interest came to, the being struggling to pull himself out from under the debris. She could feel his confusion and physical pain, his metal-clad body slowly making it’s way to feeble freedom. Ah, of course it would just have to be the human that seems to jest in the face of death over and over again. The one known to the galaxy as Anthony Edward Stark, AKA Iron Man.

Over with said individual, with a thick rub of his eyes after collapsing his broken helmet back, Tony could finally see again, his vision adjusting to the new visual circumstances. What he saw was the exact scene that had fuelled his night terrors for many years, with a few additions.

They were dead. They were all dead, Tony realised with awakening horror. He immediately felt tight in his chest, his breathing quickened to a dangerous pace and the armour he had once used as a defence mechanism became extremely claustrophobic. He staggered to his feet, fumbling forward a few steps while simultaneously pressing a pattern into the arc reactor with his fingers. The suit transformed back into the hoodie and tracksuit pants ensemble which Tony took as a cue to collapse back onto his knees.

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

He huddled into himself.

They’re dead. They’re dead. They’re dead.

Clasping his fingers together didn’t stop the trembling.

Why did you let this happen?

The guilt came pouring out with his tears.

You could have saved us. Why didn’t you do more?

“I tried,” he wept, unable to look up, “I tried so hard, but in the end...”

I’m the man who killed the Avengers.

“Now that’s quite enough, Man of Iron.”

What the hell? Gasping, Tony shot out of his reverie, glistening brown eyes desperately scanning for the sound of that voice, so stern, yet calm. Several moments later, his emotionally fried mind managed to decipher that the voice had not been out in the open, but within himself.

“Who are you?” he whimpered.

“I am the entity that Know’s and See’s....not all....but most,”the voice said, seeming to take time with it’s words, calculating,”And what I See in you, I certainly do not appreciate. I’ve Seen broken and damaged Souls before, but never have I seen one so badly shattered by it’s own possessor. Enough is enough.”

And the Gauntlet lit up brighter than ever before, finally catching Tony’s attention, bathing him in a dense orange light. He was momentarily blinded, preventing him from realising that the Gauntlet was making it’s way over to him. 

He panicked, lurching into his unsteady legs as the Gauntlet came closer to his proximity. Tony staggered backwards, crying out, screaming, “No! Stay away from me! Stay back, please!”

The Gauntlet, unsurprisingly, ignored him, simply continuing on it’s floating journey.

“Please don’t! I can’t touch! I can’t have....,” Tony continued back away, “Please...” Suddenly, Tony could go no further, his back roughly slamming into rock behind him. He cowered into the rough surface, face turning away from the Gauntlet’s glow, “What do you want from me? What could I possibly have that you want?”

“There is a price for everything, but we will get to that,” the Voice responded softly, noticeably feminine,”We have our uses and I wish to offer them to you. They will not mind my brashness. They care not as long as they are not stuck in stasis. Any user is a good user.”

“No! I-I couldn’t possibly-”

“But look around, is this not the vision which has plagued you for so long?”

“.....Yes,” admitted Tony. He braced himself and turned back to look directly at the Gauntlet. All Stones had dimmed with the exception of the Soul Stone. It-She must be the speaker.

“A mere few minutes ago, you were wallowing in your self-guilt over your inability. We can provide you exactly that.” encouraged the Soul Stone, giving a flickering glimmer that Tony took to mean reassurance,“We hold no bias, Man of Iron. The fluidity of our powers bends to no one’s agenda, we merely adapt as we are needed. It seems you are in most need of us at this moment.”

Tony couldn’t stop himself from nodding in agreement. Even then, he retorted, “That’s true, but it doesn’t mean I should. I’m confused though...It was made clear to me that a mortal cannot wield such power-”

“Such a statement is crafted by fools,”snarked the Soul Stone,”And you are foolish to believe it even after witnessing Stephen Strange wielding my Brother of Time without a problem. You cannot physically touch us as a celestial or god can, but if you have enough will and courage, we have no objection to listening.”

Tony considered the Stones words for a moment, staring down at his shoes, taking in the dust and grime. 

“All you need is a vessel to contain us. Your armour would do well.”

“I just...I don’t think I could do it...That I should do it. Go back in time and start all of this again?”

“You doubt our abilities?”

“No, I doubt mine. I screw up nearly everything I touch. Even if I have the gift of foresight, who’s to say I won’t just make everything even worse?”

“You are needlessly doubting yourself again...”

“I have the track record to back me up.”

“Anthony Stark, are you not a mechanic? A tinkerer?” the Soul Stone was beginning to sound rather frustrated now, “You throw yourself into building your armour and technology with no abandon, why could you not build a timeline with the same efficiency and grace?

“With my tech, I know what I’m doing. The variables of...constructing a new timeline....”

“Is no different of a risk, simply on a far larger scale.”

“The biggest scale of all. Literal lives are at stake. If I were to mess up, people would die.”

“And this is better?”

Tony would swear until the day he died thatif the Stone had a physical body, that question would have been accompanied by a gesture to the devastation surrounding him. Taking in a shuddering breath, he shot a glance towards the nearest body, Steve Rogers staring out into the abyss of the galaxy, the shield Tony had returned to him shattered in multiple pieces. A few feet away, Clint and Natasha were draped over each other, having wrestled to cover each other in the wake of the final blast.

In his mind’s eye, Tony could remember the final moments of the kid he had grown so fond of, Peter Parker’s rasping breaths finally receding as he died in Tony’s arms. So young.

So many of them....

“No, this isn’t better....”

“Well then?” the Stone pressed.

“I guess...there’s nothing else to do....but try...” Tony finally conceded with a frown. He momentarily paused, following a random train of thought, “But you mentioned a price...”

“Indeed I did.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a simple trade,” reassured the Soul Stone,”Resetting the timeline of everything that has been is no small feat even for us. Personally, I stand to lose the power of the souls that have fallen due to this conflict. I can handle the loss, but I will want compensation. The trade is simple, Anthony Stark:the chance to rescue those souls.....in exchange for your own.”

Tony knew it would be something along those lines, but the thought still left him momentarily frozen in place, “You want my soul? But you said it was shattered, why would you want it?”

“It’s shattered, but the pieces have yet to disappear from your being,”the Stone clarified,”Your soul is amendable, just like the timeline through our influence. Should you succeed in your mission, I will piece you back together, than make you my own. Bring you into me. I assure you, there is no greater form of rest or peace”

“Rest...”

“Yes, Anthony, rest.”

Several minutes later, Tony was once more in his armour, but this time, there were six new power sources. The Stones had willingly detached themselves from the Gauntlet, the Power and Space Stones now on either shoulder, the Mind and Reality Stones on his hips, the Time Stone on his stomach and the Soul Stone taking the spot of honour, replacing the arc reactor in the centre of his chest.

“You’ve made a wise choice, Man of Iron. By providing the galaxy with peace, you will in turn, finally find your own.”

Tony merely nodded, steeling himself for what was ahead, eyes shut tight. Never again would he have to see all of his friends dead, for that is what they were, no matter what had come between them. The man Tony had been before Afghanistan would have scoffed at the thought of giving up his own life for those he cared about. That Tony was an idiot. The Tony he was now wasn’t much better, but at least he knew this one could improve. It was time to prove himself.

“Let us proceed.”

With a blinding light that stunted all of his senses, a great power reverberated around Tony’s body, spinning outwards, then pulling in, engulfing the mortal completely. The last thing Tony knew was a feeling of great relief before blacking out entirely.

It was his sense of smell that came back to Tony first, the scent of grease and metal immediately calming him down from the adrenaline rush. Over a matter of minutes, he could eventually feel the cold steel under his arms and recognise that he seemed to be bent over on some type of table.As he opened his eyes, his spatial awareness kicked in just in time for his hearing to finally register an extremely familiar voice calling to him.

“Sir?”

Tony groaned and started to wearily stretch his body out.

“Sir, I don’t understand what just occurred. You just appeared out of nowhere with the flash of a bright light, but my scanners failed to detect any energy signatures from said light.”

“Of course not, JARVIS, Infinity Stones don’t-....wait....J-JARVIS?”

“Sir? I don’t understand the confusion. Who else would it be?”

Tony, completely startled, began to take in his surroundings. He was sitting at a desk in a rather large workshop/garage. Expensive equipment was set up in the messy way that only made sense to Tony, a set of stairs lead to the rest of the mansion above, gorgeous sports cars were lined up against a wall of windows overlooking a wonderful view of the ocean.

It was Malibu. It was familiar. It was home.

“Holy shit,” Tony couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across his face in the revelation. There was one question that needed to be asked though, “J, this is going to sound odd, but can you give me the time and date?”

“It’s 9am,1st of May, 2008,” promptly replied JARVIS, “Miss Potts notified me to remind you that you have the flight to Afghanistan to partake in this afternoon.”

“To present the Jericho missile, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tony gave a harsh laugh, “Yeah, buddy, not gonna happen. No fucking way. Here’s what we’re going to do instead-”

“But, Sir-”

“Get in contact with SHIELD and alert them to Uncle Obie’s hit order on my life. Hack his computer and phone, grab all the evidence you can. Then, alert the media to a press conference, Stark Industries will not be making weapons from here on out.”

“Sir,are you high again? Did Miss Everheart slip something in your drink that I can’t detect?”

“No buddy. Let’s just say....the future isn’t going to save itself. Are you with me?”

“With you, Sir? Always. Even if you’re not making any sense.”

“Love you too, J.”

#tony stark #infinity stones #Avengers infinity war #infinty war #jarvis #soul stone

[amandaoftherosemire]

Lightning Strikes Part Ten

Fandom: Marvel Avengers AU

Pairing: Thor Odinson X Reader

Characters: Thor Odinson, Loki Odinson, Valkyrie

Author: @amandaoftherosemire​

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 5,454

Format: Series (Complete)

Warning: Language, angst, Loki

Summary: The aftermath of the potion.

A/N: I am so sorry for the long break between updates, especially since I left the last part on a cliffhanger. I didn’t intend to be such an asshole, I promise. My real life needed me so I wasn’t writing much in June. I really appreciate anyone who sticks with me through my unrelenting unreliability. :D I don’t know what to do with Loki here. I mean, he’s chaotic neutral, so he’s gonna do selfish shit, but seriously. I don’t know how to warn for all the bullshit he’s up to here, so that’s why I’ve just used his name in the warnings above.

Part Nine: Ablation here

 Chione

You floated gently to the surface, the blackness that had engulfed you shortly after the ice had flooded your veins no match against the flash of multicolored light on the other side of your eyelids. As you came to consciousness, you puzzled over the odd sensations all around and through you.

The most alarming was the ice that seemed to have overtaken the core of your being. You were cold down to the bone, both physically and emotionally. Surprisingly, however, the cold was neither painful nor uncomfortable. If you could feel much of anything, you'd be concerned. Because you couldn't, you examined the lack with a detached kind of attention to detail.

The cold seemed to center in your heart and spread outward through your body and into your brain. It felt as though nothing could touch you, as though you were numb, both physically and emotionally, down to the inner core of your being.

The most exciting sensation, on the other hand, was the electricity sparking along the surface of your skin, lighting up your mind and heart. The arms holding you were familiar to the point of pain and the electric feeling against your skin seemed to pierce the icy shield that had grown up within you when you drank Loki's potion.

The electric heat shimmered harmlessly over your skin, charging and igniting the nerves just under the surface. Astonishing in its capacity as an antidote to the cold, you wanted to reach for the heat you'd always adored. The feeling was delicious, warm and alive, and made you yearn for everything you'd been trying to forget.

Your eyes flew open in the first beginnings of fear when the reminder of the pain you'd been trying to escape caused you to cringe away from the arms that held you so firmly, only to discover that you had no control over your body. Your physical form remained locked in ice even as your mind shuddered in terror and your heart ached at the sight of Thor holding you as the two of you flew up into streaks of rainbow light. Though you couldn't feel the breath leaving your lungs, the feel of your sigh brushed Thor's cheek and had his gaze dropping to yours.

Thor was so furious he could hardly see straight. The feel of you cold and stiff in his arms filled him with more rage than he'd experienced toward his brother in awhile. He'd come to expect betrayal from Loki; it was often the simplest explanation. He hadn't expected Loki to put you at risk, however, because he knew his brother had a genuine soft spot for you. He had believed Loki could be trusted not to harm you, at least.

The soft, sad sigh reached his ears as your breath reached his cheek and had his eye shifting immediately to check on you. The sight of your eyes, open and lost, had the rage drowning in the ocean of heartbroken tears he'd cried over the loss of you. He understood, looking into the eyes he adored above all others, that he had not believed himself worthy of you after what he'd done, that he’d let you go rather than face it. He'd gone to New York because, worthy or not, Thor had realized when he'd seen the picture of you with two men he respected that it didn’t matter if he was worthy; he couldn't give you up without a fight.

As the world began to tumble around you, Thor's head blotted out the light as his mouth dipped swiftly to yours. He whispered, his lips brushing yours, "I'm so sorry, my sweet."

You were about to open your mouth to reply, to ask what particular sin he was repenting, but a blinding white light cut you off. When it cleared, New Asgard had appeared around you and Thor was going on as he strode forward in a movement both fast and smooth. He was speaking swiftly, aware that you would soon be under Loki's care and he may not have another chance to tell you how he felt. "I should have told you the truth. I shouldn't have let you leave without an explanation. I should never have wallowed in self-pity for so damn long and wasted any of what time we have."

Valkyrie was rushing out of the house to meet Thor and the look of determination on her face told him she was in one of her bossy moods. "I love you, y/n," he said softly. "I'll still love you when every star in the galaxy has burned out."

"Give her to me," Valkyrie said stridently as soon as she was near enough. "You stay out here, so you don't kill him until he's done."

"Yes, your majesty." Thor scowled as he gave her the title he most often used when she went into her imperious mode. "But I probably am going to kill him when he's done."

She was rolling her eyes as she took you into her arms with as little effort as Thor had shown. You often felt downright delicate among these people, but it was still weird to be handed from one pair of arms to another like an infant. "I'll help," she retorted with a shrug.

As she turned toward the house to take you to Loki at a run, she smirked down at you. "How are you so good at stirring up trouble?" she asked with a laugh.

You tried to answer and found that your voice was as frozen in your throat as your heart inside your chest. You cursed Loki and his bullshit inside your mind. Though unable to act or even speak, even so short time awake had exhausted you. With a sigh of frustration, you allowed the blackness to drag you back under.

When you swam back up toward consciousness once more, it was a much easier transition. Rather than the scream of color from the Bifrost, you moved from the utter blackness of near death to the soft, deep gray of near twilight.

You were still cold, but now the cold seemed to be coming from all around you in addition to the icy core at your center. As a matter of fact, you were colder than you’d ever been in your entire life. It was heaven.

You’d spent every moment of the last several months trying to forget that you were a raw nerve coping with the aftermath of electric agonies. Once the pain had broken through, it was no surprise you’d gone looking for anything to make it stop. You’d found it.

Now that the ice had overtaken you from the inside out and the outside in, you felt calm and serene. Even the brush of unfamiliar skin against yours couldn’t damage your equilibrium, so cool and still was your mind and heart, encased as they were in what felt like frozen diamond.

Still, you possessed a detached sort of curiosity in amongst the chill and wondered at the identity of the body against whom you were cradled so carefully. The body was large, the arms heavy around you; the skin was smooth and covering ropes of muscle. You allowed your eyes to flutter open to find yourself in a room you’d never seen before.

“Silly human.” The voice at your ear was low and silky, familiar dark amusement twining through the tone even as the arms tightened around you. Of course. Loki had you.

“I told you not to drink it, love. Not without me,” he murmured, somehow aware that you were awake though you hadn't moved a muscle. He shouldn't be able to see that you'd opened your eyes as your head was tucked underneath his chin. You hadn't even tried to move, so you were exhibiting no obvious signs of life. The cold held you immobile, though not physically; you simply couldn't drum up the interest to move.

"You're not pretending to still be asleep, are you, pet?" The taunt was clearly intended to prod you into speech, but you were still entirely too numb to care. "Afraid to face me?"

You sighed. Ignoring him wouldn't get him to stop; he was entirely too stubborn for that. You had no doubt growing up with the hardest of hard heads for a brother had a lot to do with that. You noted distantly that you could think of Thor easily now, the emotions that had overwhelmed you every time you'd tried before now held at bay by the icy shield around you.

"No," you answered, your voice merely a breath, distant and disinterested.

Loki's lips curved over your head in smug pleasure. The cold apathy in your voice was exactly as it should be. He hoped the time between drinking the potion and reaching him had done no lasting damage, either to you or to the spell in it.

"I need you to tell me how you're feeling, love." The cold intensified and you hummed in relief. “I need to know whether your habit of doing the unexpected has had dire consequences this time.”

The cold was relaxing in a way you'd never experienced before. Instead of melting you, the way Thor's electric touch left you boneless and pliant in the heat, the cold seeped through muscle, vein, and bone to leave everything numb. Like a shot of lidocaine in the roof of the mouth before a dental procedure, you could feel pressure, but no pain.

"I can tell that you are being extremely irritating," you replied, your voice bored and apathetic, "and yet I am not irritated. I find it curious.”

“Curious?" Loki frowned, but his voice remained smooth and silky. "Is that all? Any pain, anger, fear, anything?” As Loki spoke, the cold intensified further, but the sensation felt more like pleasure than anything.

“Mm-mm." You murmured a denial as you let your eyes flutter closed once more. In this moment, nothing seemed to matter, not even the fact that you were still barely clothed in your club wear and much of Loki's skin was pressed against yours. As you turned your head to tuck it more firmly beneath Loki's chin, wanting to be surrounded by the chill that emanated from him, you continued on that sigh of apathy. "Just relief. And curiosity.”

Because your tone continued to hold that touch of aloof boredom, he knew the potion had, at least mostly, worked. He could tell you the truth without fear now. The hand that lay gently on your thigh moved delicately, cool tingles of pleasure sweeping beneath your skin. Loki smiled at the catch in your breathing. "The curiosity is odd. You shouldn’t be feeling anything during the transformation."

The last word caught your attention, piqued your interest in a way little else had. That slight curiosity deepened. "Transformation?" you asked. You were smiling slightly when you continued. "See, that makes me curious." Your voice dropped to a purr, the smile turning sultry as you acted without thought to extract any information you could. "Now that I’ve fallen for the free bird seed, Wile E., are you gonna tell me the real catch?"

Loki hesitated at the sound of your personality pushing once again through the cold. He was getting concerned because you should not be able to burn through the ice right now. He let his true nature take over completely to chill you as much as possible. "I’ll answer your question if you answer one for me first."

You thought you heard a touch of what sounded like fear in Loki's voice, which only increased the sense of curiosity that was the only thing driving you to converse with Loki at all. You opened your eyes and looked around with more interest than you'd shown so far. "Okay," you agreed as your eyes scanned the room.

"Why didn’t you listen to me?" Loki asked, concerned by the signs of life. The cold should have been making you more still, not less. But who knew what the time between the potion and the cold had done? "I told you that you’d need my help."

You let your head loll back on Loki's shoulder to smirk up into his face. If you were capable of surprise, you would have betrayed it immediately at the sight of Loki's deep vivid blue skin and bright red eyes. As it was, you noted it without pausing. "First of all," you retorted with the slightest touch of your regular sass, "I was thoroughly and completely annihilated. I was drinking like I was trying to keep up with Valkyrie last night. I was hardly thinking straight." Loki seemed unwilling to meet your gaze, but his lips twitched. "Second, I didn’t know you meant it. I thought it was more of your bullshit. In my defense, you’re often full of shit."

By the time you were done, Loki was rolling his eyes in exasperated amusement, as he often did with you. He loved it, but he was worried about what it might mean for the spell he'd added to the potion. Because he wasn't sure, he opted to hedge with a partial truth. "Your human form is too fragile to survive the transformation. You need the cold to keep you alive until you’re no longer so easily destroyed."

Even through the cold, you could see the emotions that you should feel, at least a little. Curiosity, pleasure, amusement, all came through that icy layer in traces while anything you wanted to avoid stayed safely on the other side. So long rubbed raw by the pain, humiliation, and insult of what had happened, to feel wrapped in cool serenity was paradise. Still, you couldn't help but wonder what price you'd pay. "Is that part of the catch?"

Loki finally looked down into your eyes. In yours he found nothing but quiet contentment and curiosity. It gave him hope that whatever changed was minor. "Yes. You’ll no longer be fully human when this is over."

Your eyes searched his face for a moment. It was clear to you that this aspect of him was secret, was something he didn't share lightly, or even easily. You wondered if this secret was related to the secret of the bottle of frozen potion. "You're blue," you spoke easily, as though remarking upon the weather, but on your next words, your tone warmed slightly and made Loki's heart beat a little bit faster. "It's beautiful."

The corners of your lips lifted slightly, and you shifted to brush your mouth over the edge of his jaw. Settling back with your head under his chin, your lips tingling in a way that made your breath speed in desire, you asked in the same tone one would use to inquire about the time, "What will I be?"

Loki's lips curved in a smile both cruel and triumphant as the brush of your mouth over his skin set his blood burning white-cold. That sensation was exactly as it should be. "Mine."

Nearly forty-eight hours after you'd arrived in New Asgard, you were rapping on Thor's open office door. For half of that time, you'd been in Loki's bed, his body wrapped around you to keep you cold enough to survive what the potion was doing to your body. The other things he'd done, you'd invited. Loki, being Loki, had obliged.

The confession you'd extracted, once you had him panting and desperate, of what exactly Loki had tried to do had helped you realize that you could still remember what anger felt like. Though you couldn't really feel it, you could see your own anger at the truth you'd finally wrung from him. You'd chosen to satisfy his lust rather than risk any more of his lies.

You lay in his arms after, examining your emotions as you waited for him to announce you fully recovered. Once he allowed you to rise, having held you longer than he thought necessary to lessen the possibility of the spell going awry, you'd immediately done so. You'd then taken the risk of breaking your hand and punched him in his beautiful granite face. Whatever he'd done to you had protected your hand, but you still hadn't had much of an impact on him, either.

You had then gone looking for Astrid, who'd been lurking around waiting for you anyway. She'd helped you to another set of rooms where you could rest and recover in peace, far away from Loki, who you were planning on holding a grudge against for at least a thousand years, the rat bastard.

"Thor?" You called out gently as you peeked your head around the doorframe. "Do you have a moment?"

Thor’s head snapped up at the sound of your voice. His body was following immediately after as he leaped to his feet, stumbling over his chair as he rounded his desk in his haste to get to you. His awkward flail had your lips twitching and your heart stirring behind the ice.

“Y-yes!” His voice boomed out in elation touched with panic. Before you could prepare yourself, Thor was in front of you, running his hands down the outside of your arms to take your hands in his. You were wearing a dress that Astrid had taken from her own closet and altered to fit the differences in your bodies. It was far fussier and Asgardian than anything you owned; Thor found himself charmed to see you clothed in such familiar garb. He tugged gently to draw you into the room, his eye roving over your face as though hungry for the sight of you. “Come in!” His voice was warm with welcome as he drew you to a seat on the couch. “How are you feeling?”

Thor made no move to release your hands, though he held them loosely enough that it would be easy to withdraw. You made no move to do so, however, allowing your hands to rest easily in his as you basked in his unexpected warmth. “Embarrassed,” you replied with a sheepish smile. “I made an epic ass of myself the other night, in more ways than one.”

Thor scowled. “Loki--"

You pulled one hand from his to place your fingertips against his mouth to stop him. You’d long since learned this to be the second most effective way to head off a tirade. Thor’s entire train of thought came to a screeching halt at the sweet smile on your face and the sensation of your cool skin against his lips.

“I’m okay.” You dropped your hand to slip it into his again. His touch was electric and even more addictive than before now that you felt so little. Your emotions were not at Loki’s mercy as he had intended, but they still remained largely separate, on the outside of a layer of ice. You could see them, knew how to move and speak to match them, but they couldn't touch you. Thor’s hands made you feel like you could almost touch them, however, that the ice was much thinner than it seemed.

“Falling for one of Loki’s pranks doesn’t seem to have done any harm,” you said, seeking to allay his worries. If Thor hadn't been paying close attention to everything about you, he may not have noticed the slight pause before the word 'harm', but you were going on before he could process it. "Probably thanks to you getting me here so fast. Thank you.” You leaned forward to press a soft kiss to his cheek. Your memory of your trip through the Bifrost was crystal clear. If not for Loki's spell, you'd probably already be in Thor's arms, forgiveness coming easily now. Loki’s betrayal was enormous; Thor’s looked quaint in comparison.

Thor devoured your face with his gaze, trying to figure out exactly what had changed between now and the last time you'd spoken. You were being kind, your eyes soft, but he could feel a distance he'd never felt before. He wasn't certain it was only because of what he'd done. His hands tightened around yours, unconsciously trying to pull you back from wherever you'd gone. "He never would tell me what he’d done. Said it was your secret to tell.”

“How convenient.” You sneered as you said it; of course, Loki had hidden behind you.

You’d already known Thor had confronted Loki, had used basic common sense to infer the cause. Even if you hadn't heard the booming thunder of Thor’s temper, Astrid had commented casually that it was one of the more violent fights she'd seen between the brothers. You got the impression that the Asgardians were not in the least fussed about the royal brothers and their brawls.

You focused in on Thor's face, saw the concern there and knew you weren't doing a very good job at faking your normal self. You sighed, your brain exhausted from the constant mental stretching for emotions within sight but just out of reach. "I’m going to keep the secret, for now." Thor's expression turned downright worried, but even you could hear the apathy and defeat in your tone. Your heart stirred again, and you instinctively moved to reassure. "I’m sorry," you murmured, and Thor could finally hear a trace of the woman he loved again. "That’s not a rejection. It’s something I need to figure out how to deal with before I’ll be ready to talk about it."

Thor could also hear the melancholy in your voice and wanted nothing more than to make you smile. He slid closer even as he released one of your hands to slide his arm around your shoulders in a gesture of comfort. "Sounds like you have a tale," he said softly as you snuggled into his side. The anxiety that had gripped the back of his neck for months eased as he finally got you back where you belonged. "I’ll happily listen whenever you want to tell me."

You were having a hard time convincing yourself not to climb into Thor's lap. Being curled against his body, the heat of him seeping into your body in a gently lifting ecstasy, was almost more temptation than your stunted empathy could resist. Only the knowledge that you were in no fit state to love him as long as Loki's spell hung over you stopped you from exploring whether you still had the ability to respond with desire to anything but Loki's frozen touch.

You started to pull away but stopped immediately, the pull toward him still impossible to resist, when Thor's hand tightened slightly around your shoulder. "Please." You lifted your head at the grief in his voice, that stirring becoming a fluttering in the face of his pain. “Don’t go. Give me a chance to grovel. To beg.”

You recognized regret, remembered the ache it brought to the throat. That alone was enough to soften your voice as you spoke. If only you could feel the love you knew still hid behind the ice. “You don't need to grovel, Thor. I heard you and I forgive you.”

Thor’s eye blazed and in the next moment his mouth was on yours, the touch of his lips sending electricity rocketing through you and making the temptation to crawl all over him worse than ever. You slid your arms around his neck and opened your lips to his with a hum of pleasure, too easily swayed by anything that reminded you of what it meant to feel.

Thor couldn't stop himself from deepening the kiss with a low groan of desperate elation, unable to believe that you were this receptive, but also uneasy by the change in the way your mouth moved under his. He lifted his head to search your face with fear coming alive in his gaze when your eyes fluttered open to fix on his, the expression one that burned and yet held no warmth.

Thor's memory was clear on the expressions to be found in your eyes. He had sought to memorize the reflection in your eyes of every emotion that moved through you. He had studied few things in his existence as carefully and if there was one expression he knew, it was the look he should have found in your eyes after a kiss that felt like that.

Your lips twisted sadly at the dawning horror on Thor's face. It didn't surprise you that Thor easily saw through your attempt to fake the emotion you knew you should be feeling. Desire wasn't love, however, and Thor would know better than anyone what was missing. "But it can't change anything," you finished, the sadness and worry on Thor's face reminding you of oceans of tears.

Thor's face hardened. Whatever Loki had done, whatever secrets you were hiding that kept your eyes cold even as your body pressed against his in familiar undulations of desire, he didn't care. He had you back in his arms. "Letting you walk out that door without a fight was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. I won't make that mistake again."

Your eyes remained aloof though your lips twisted with regret as you began to pull away, the voice of your conscience insisting that Thor was vulnerable in ways you were immune to at the moment and thus needed protection. Thor's arms tightened again. "Please," he said urgently, "let me speak my heart." You couldn't make yourself move away from the pain in his voice. No matter how cold you felt, your heart still beat for Thor within its icy prison.

Once you’d relaxed against him, he was going on in a rush. “I don't trust my own judgement anymore. I'm responsible for the destruction of my world. All because it took me centuries to see and accept my brother for who he is.” He let out a sigh shaky with relief when you slid closer to squeeze him gently in comfort. You didn’t need your heart to whisper what Thor needed. Knowing the dance was enough to help you keep the steps though you couldn’t hear the music.

Thor held you close, his lips against the top of your head as he continued. “I asked Loki to befriend you not because I didn't trust you, but because I didn't trust myself. I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I spied on you. I'm sorry I betrayed you.”

You made the effort, no matter how it exhausted you, to stretch out and examine how you felt. For a brief moment you found genuine forgiveness on the other side of the ice before the strain grew too great to bear. You spoke quickly, hoping the remnants of the emotion would come through. “Thank you. Like I said, I forgive you.”

Thor could hear that trace in your voice again and it gave him the courage to speak what was in his heart. "Stay then? Come back to me?" You pulled back just enough to tilt your head back to look into Thor's face. His eye blazed with love and grief, making your heart stir enough to make your throat ache and stopping the denial in your throat. Thor's forehead dropped to yours and he whispered, his voice thick with tears. "I don't want to spend another minute without you."

Your heart was throbbing against the cold, and your hands were coming up to cup his face, to pull his cheek to yours in comfort. You wanted to give in, to see if Thor could break the spell Loki had laid on you, but you also were afraid to risk him. You weren't certain you wouldn't end up using him, too separate from your empathy to be sure you could protect him from yourself. Sighing, you rubbed your cheek against his, fully addicted to the electricity that lived under his skin. "I don't think I can."

Thor could hear the ache, the uncertainty in your voice. He didn't know why he was only hearing the real you in traces, but those traces were telling him you wanted what he wanted, regardless of all else. "Please. Here is where I'll grovel."

You felt the laugh tickle the back of your mind through the ice. Thor saw it flicker across your face as you tilted your face back to look into his again. "That’s not what I meant."

Thor couldn't resist that laughter. Nothing in the universe was more beautiful to him than your face alight with humor and happiness. His head dipped to yours and you couldn't make yourself try to stop him. No matter what Loki had done to you, your body still thrilled to the electric charge on Thor's lips, in his touch.

“I'll beg for merely the chance to show you how much I love you, to prove you can trust me.” Thor’s voice was a growl when he tore his lips from yours, tempted almost beyond endurance by your compliance, but frustrated by everything he could feel was missing.

Your breath was racing, your heart pounding and there was no question that Loki’s plan to make you immune to any touch but his was a failure, but not completely. Though your skin heated in response to the brush of Thor’s hands over your skin, his lips over yours, your mind remained cool and still as frozen glass.

When Thor’s mouth had taken yours, your hands had moved from his cheeks to his shoulders, your fingers digging in to pull him closer. You wanted to rest your head on those broad shoulders and let him fix everything for you. Instead, you squeezed softly before sliding your palms down to his chest to push yourself away.

Thor’s arms tightened slightly in response, but when you made yourself keep pushing, knowing you were doing the right thing, he let go. “Thor,” you said, holding your hands out for his in a gesture meant to soften the distance you’d put between you. Thor accepted the gesture gratefully, his big, gentle hands closing around yours. “Why were you in New York at all the other night? When you brought me here?”

“I saw a picture of you dancing with Steve and Bucky. I was jealous and angry, so I flew to New York to start a fight.” Thor’s hands tightened around yours in fear that you’d leave before he finished when you shot him an unamused sneer. “On the way there,” he went on in a rush, “I realized I was jealous because either man is more worthy of you than I. By the time I arrived, I had decided to speak with you instead, to ask for forgiveness and another chance.”

You couldn't help but smile at the earnestness cloaking Thor as he told you the truth, without mitigating to protect himself. The man knew how to learn from his mistakes. Since you couldn't give him all of either yourself or the truth, you opted to give him as much honesty as the circumstances allowed.

"I understand questioning your own judgement, Thor." You squeezed his hands tight and smiled with as much warmth and kindness as you could muster. You had to say no, but you wanted to make it clear that you genuinely forgave him, that you wanted to say yes. "What happened with you, and then the other night with this Loki nonsense, made me question mine. I need to figure all this out before I think about taking any more chances."

Thor's heart softened at the reminder of how much you'd been through in the past couple of days. He didn't know the specifics, but there was no doubt in his mind that you'd been near death when he'd given you to Valkyrie. He wouldn't push you when you were vulnerable.

His movements, his touch, eminently gentle, he eased his arm around your shoulders again, this time in support and tenderness. "Let me be your friend, then," he said as he eased you against him to comfort. "I miss you so much, y/n. I'll take anything you can give."

You didn't even try to resist the sweetness that was Thor Odinson. It was part of the paradox that kept you enthralled. He was one of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy, and yet he couldn't help but be the soft and tender sweetheart you'd fallen in love with. Whether you could fully feel the love or not, you could remember it. Your heart may have been imprisoned, but it yearned toward him in its cage.

You rested your head on Thor's shoulder and relaxed into his embrace. "Okay," you murmured, and Thor felt his heart lift in hope at the softness of your body and in your tone. "Friends, then. I can try."

Part Eleven: Corona here

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[imagine-loki]

The Powers That Be

ITLE: The Powers That Be

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Fifty

AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki discovering a hidden mutant when he realises they are at risk of being found by S.H.I.E.L.D. who experiments on mutants, he is the one to help them.

RATING: Teen and Up

Alexia stood listening to Heimdall as he confirmed what Odin had said, Loki had been swallowed by a large serpent. "I cannot say if it was intentional or not; there were others close by, he may have done so to ensure their safety."

"You don't need to try and save my feelings."

"I am not renowned for such," Heimdall shrugged. "I am merely stating what occurred as I bore witness to."

"Odin…"

"The Allfather has his methods."

"I am not stupid, I know he is trying to just make me go there, all guns blazing." She commented.

"And your plan is something else?" The guardian asked curiously.

Alexia thought of what she would have to endure if she was caught there, for a moment, she thought of everything that had happened when she was last on her home planet, the guns, the metal table, the lab coats, all with one purpose, to destroy her. She thought of the attack on Asgard, her eyes even wandered to Heimdall's arm, bright pink scars marbled the entirety of the forearm, it was hard to tell if a single inch of the arm was left unscathed. "I don't know."

"On the contrary, I believe you do."

"If they get me…"

"They will have to get close enough to first." She looked at the large golden clad god. "You have fought and won against far more deadly creatures than mortals."

"They didn't have guns."

"What do you think some of those weapons were?" Heimdall questioned. "No mortal possesses a gun as powerful and destructive as the ones you have faced already." He informed her.

Alexia frowned and looked at the portal again. "What is happening now?"

"Thor is trying to process his loss while also make his way to where the serpents that still live reside, the others follow fearfully."

"Loki?"

"I still cannot see a sign of him."

"I never said goodbye," she noted sadly before inhaling. "Open the portal."

"Farewells cannot reach the dead," Heimdall commented as he walked to the centre of the room and placed his sword in the portal key, the room beginning to spin immediately to allow Alexia travel.

"No, but I can make those who did it suffer." She swore as she walked toward the glowing light and was pulled across the realms.

As the Bifrost closed once more Heimdall nodded slightly, "Indeed you can, and by the Norns, you will." he stated, walking to the edge of the Bifrost once more so to watch her actions closely. As he did so, Odin's raven flew into the Bifrost. "She seeks retribution, her fear is forgotten," he informed the animal.

In the palace, Odin sighed in relief that she finally made her way to Midgard. Hopefully, with Alexia's aid, they would succeed and Loki's sacrifice would not have been for nought.

*

Thor trudged forward slowly through the mud feeling downtrodden, those that surrounded him not knowing what to say. The water seemed to darken as the clouds continued to move forward towards them, the temperature falling slightly as they walked. After a few minutes, a humming noise caught their attention and the Avenger's and warriors looked around to see a Helicarrier overhead.

"What do they want?" Romanov asked aloud.

"It is seldom good," Barton answered.

The Helicarrier landed and Fury exited the ramp. "I hear we have a bit of a snake issue."

"You are of little help here, you are sending your men to be slaughtered, they cannot hope to last but a moment against these beings," Thor stated, not even looking towards the Director.

"Look this is…"

"A suicide mission," Thor answered with a growl, "If a being such as Loki was swallowed whole by one, then you mortals are only an inconvenience to the situation as you have nothing to bring to it only your deaths and I grow weary of deaths." he walked on, ignoring the others.

"Thor is not dealing with the loss of Loki well," Volstagg commented.

"Why not, this is about the fourth time he has pulled this stunt, I expect we'll find him later sitting down to a cup of tea and a crumpet asking us what took us so long," Stark replied.

"So that actually happened? Loki was swallowed by that thing?" Fury questioned.

"We believe so, yes," Romanov answered.

"He willingly allowed it eat him, he did not care about dying," Wanda informed him. "I cannot sense him now."

That caused Fury to say no more on the subject, but to also acknowledge the severe danger that they were in by going forward. "Where is she?"

"Alexia did not come back. Her previous experiences left her a tad wary of helping," Stark glared at Fury as he spoke. "Wonder who's to blame for that."

"I had nothing to do with that."

"No, but you are director of S.H.I.E.L.D. you have to accept some part of it. Even when you came back, were those that did those things punished, were the records of Alexia removed to allow her to be safe if she was to come back?" Stark challenged. Fury said nothing. "Exactly."

"She nearly sank a Helicarrier!"

"Just because for once the one S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked was stronger than S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't make it any less of a case of self-defence," Bucky stated.

"You should not even be free considering what you have been responsible for," Fury reminded the Super Soldier.

"I am in good company on that front so."

There was no response to that, but nor did the director heed Thor's advice to leave. The journey to the lake merely became more intense, as none seemed to know what to say or do, and all were all too aware that at any moment, they could be attacked once more, and not know of it until it was too late.

As a rumbling sound began to resound once more, everyone stilled, trying to find out where it was coming from. At first, Thor looked to the sky, wondering if it was the Bifrost, it sounded so akin to it, but as the ground began to shake, he knew that they were not that lucky. Calming himself, he tried to do as Loki had always done and tried to sense where the creature was, sure enough, he felt the rumbling, so light at first, begin to become stronger and stronger, before beginning to weaken again. "It will come up behind us." He stated, looking behind the gathered group. They watched as sure enough, a couple of hundred feet away, the Helicarrier began to shake slightly, before the front end of it fell towards the earth. As those closest the exits inside began to flee, but before too many could make their escape, the other half of the Helicarrier began to sink as more of the ground began to give way.

"GET IT IN THE AIR!" Rogers bellowed, looking at the aircraft.

Fury and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that had come with him, armed to try and take the serpents could only watch as their workmates' terrified screams rang through their headpieces. "The engines won’t start, they are too covered in earth." Fury stated quietly as some voices over the earpiece made some fraction of sense. "They can't get out."

"We could really do with a miracle about now." Barton looked to the sky as though willing someone to help.

As though on queue the earth shook again, but rather than the Helicarrier falling down further into the ravine, it seemed to push upward. They watched in shock as the ground around it split open more, but the earth seemed to push the aircraft back onto level ground, all of the earth coming loose from the blades of the engines as it did so.

"How…?" Wilson asked, looking at the almost unscathed Helicarrier. "That should have…"

"It appears your request for a miracle reached a God." Volstagg chuckled.

"Or Goddess." Sif smiled knowingly.

The Avengers looked at each other, not comprehending what the Aesir warriors were implying. Thor looked around, searching for a sign of Alexia, knowing such power and actions could only be of her doing, but there was no sign of her. Looking to the sky, he wondered was it the Bifrost he had heard, had she heard of Loki's fate and finally decide to intervene, he had hoped so, but with no sign of her, he could not tell, merely continue to hope.

*

Alexia ensured the Helicarrier was secure on the side of the ravine, ensuring the earth beneath it was reinforced to make sure it did not buckle and fall. She felt the serpent, thrashing to get free of her grasp, she felt it gasping for breath as she had the rocks around it tighten more and more to close its airway, to crush it slowly to death. It had been weakened already, she could almost feel its injuries as though she was touching them with her hands rather than getting the rock to do so. Beside her, she had sourced more flames to create her little fire companion on Earth as she did on Asgard. "I think our friend should suffer a little more," she stated before part of the fox seemed to melt like a puddle and slide along the grass to the ravine, leaving no trail behind it. When it reached where she had the snake held, it too took the shape of a serpent, though more of a cobra in appearance and slide into the gaping mouth of the creature, so desperate for breath, and scorched it from the inside, as she crushed in from the out. In its weakened state, it lasted mere seconds before it hissed for the final time and perished, the flames within it dying with it. Pleased with the results, Alexia looked to the fox beside her again, who had grown a new limb once more and indicated for it to follow her, the animal doing so willingly. She looked at the small cavern that seemed to be too small for her to enter in front of her and scoffed, making a simple hand movement and the rocks cracked and split, allowing her to walk forward without concern. For almost a mile, there was little of note on her journey, the cave going deeper and deeper under the earth's crust, the fox beside her providing her with light as she went further and further down.

At last, the descent ceased and the air was cold and damp around her, telling Alexia that the water source she sensed almost two hundred feet above her through the rock was the large lake she had landed close to. The passageway led to a large cavern, which seemed to only echo the drips of water that leaked through the stone. Sensing there was something else close, she had the fox increase in size, to give her more light, and allow her to see more. A loud hiss on the other side of the cavern told her what was there, ensuring to be ready to use the fire and rock immediately, she stepped forward more to see if she could find the creature. As she came to the centre of the cavern, she had the fox divide in two and become two smaller foxes, sending one forward to illuminate the area she had heard the hiss. Sure enough, very quickly a pair of large green eyes with slits for pupils came into view, and soon after, the scales of a large green serpent with them, brown markings then began to become recognisable before finally, two large fangs, one bearing a torn shred of material Alexia had seen all too often before.

Stepping forward, she glared at the creature hatefully for what it had done, for taking Loki from her, she started to increase her pace, thinking of what way to make the creature suffer most. But then its head dropped slightly and something else came into view that caused Alexia to pause, trying to compute what she was seeing. "How?"

"Lexi?" came a pained response. "Run! Go!"

#Loki #others #submission #submitted fic #chapter 50 #the powers that be #wolfpawn #hidden #mutant #risk #S.H.I.E.L.D. #experiments #help