Eighth Thor/Being Human Crossover: Chapter Fifty-Six
Notes: The historical point discussed in this chapter is true, although of course my use of it is complete nonsense. Also, there is a nod or two to Being Human canon for anyone who cares to look.
Warnings: None needed.
Chapter Fifty-Six
If the agent who escorted Loki and Annie to the communications centre was alarmed by the prospect of facing vampires or Doombots, she gave no sign. She led them down two decks and through a maze of corridors, then handed them off to the waiting communications boffins (for so they were called in the war movies Loki watched with his friends) and left them with a murmured "good luck."
The said boffins equipped Loki with a communications device, offered Annie the same, and looked confused when she explained that it was unlikely to be of much use to her. Even so, she paid strict attention to the explanations of how the device worked. Loki was fairly competent with human technology-- which compared to its Aesir equivalents was not so much primitive as simply very different-- but he appreciated knowing that Annie could remind him how to use the wireless system if he forgot.
After this, a uniformed guard (minus his helmet, which Loki appreciated) led the pair back up to a quiet corner of the flight deck. All was in darkness below them, and in a ship this large it was difficult to tell they were moving. Loki peered over the side, glad Thor was not here to see him so close to the edge, but was unable to tell whether they were over land or water.
When he turned back to face Annie, he saw that she looked concerned.
"Do you think you'll have any trouble getting to London?" she asked.
"It would be easier if we were down there," Loki admitted, gesturing at whatever was below the helicarrier. "Assuming 'down there' is not the sea. However-- we have paid visits to London in the fairly recent past, so I should be able to take us there without much difficulty, and then call on the others to come find us." Aware that he did not sound nearly sure enough for comfort, Loki added, "We can certainly climb into the branches of Yggdrasil from here. If I cannot easily find London, then I will take us to Asgard-- Asgard is impossible to miss-- and try again. Do not worry."
"I wasn't exactly worried," Annie said. "It's just that you always say it's easier to find your way around if you begin from the soil of the realm you're on, and you're traveling between places you already know."
"That is true, and I must work on other methods of navigation," Loki agreed. "But at the moment I am more annoyed by the fact my mobile is still in the pocket of my jacket. The one I loaned to the other Loki. I know we can use this new device to contact Clint, but I had rather call Mitchell or George."
"Oh wait, hang on-- I can probably find him, the other Loki, if he's still with Agent Coulson," Annie offered. Annie's gifts included the ability to locate and "jump" to her friends, at least over fairly short distances such as on this vessel. Loki assumed she was being tactful when she claimed to use Agent Coulson as her focus, when by now she must also be able to find the other Loki quite easily.
If Annie was being tactful, then Loki would not challenge her. And besides, he had a different question to ask her.
"Would you be able to return carrying a solid item like my mobile?" he inquired. "I cannot recall whether you have ever done such a thing before."
Annie made a face. "I probably can't, now you mention it. I'll have to ask for an escort back."
"Or I could go with you," Loki offered.
"Yes, or you could work on finding a route to someplace in London that the others will be able to find. Hang on, I'll be back as fast as I can." Annie took a step backward, frowned in concentration, and then vanished.
Left behind, Loki took a moment to clear his mind and remind himself that jealousy was not only pointless, it was also an especially dangerous emotion for him. And besides, there was nothing for him to be jealous of, Annie being intent upon her errand.
He could almost hear, in the back of his head, the voice of George threatening to fetch the water bottle. He had no way of knowing how the other Loki reacted to the werewolf's imaginary scoldings, but Loki of Bristol found them very reassuring.
Taking a deep breath, Loki allowed his mind to wander, let his consciousness catch hold of Yggdrasil and, phantom-like, float through its branches. He searched for a landmark in the city of London, some place he had physically visited, one that would be easy for the others to find when they came to meet him. A few months ago he and his friends had visited London for the purpose of Christmas shopping, and the others had made a point to show Loki some of the famous landmarks of the capital. His previous visits to London had been brief and spent either in legal (well, in fact, illegal) custody or fighting alien invasion, and so he had little time to play the tourist until that latest trip.
Before his eyes rose a great plaza, brightly lit in the darkness, bordered by stairs leading to grand buildings, with fountains and a towering column guarded by statues of enormous lions. He could almost feel the stone beneath his feet, could almost see above him the figure of the great leader who bestrode the column. This would do, he thought. This would be easy for his friends to find.
The plaza was full of humans despite the hour (though in fact, while it felt to Loki like the middle of the night, he actually had no idea of the time of day) and the darkness. Seeing them served, as the play said, as a spur to prick the sides if his, Loki's, intent. Whatever the vampires were up to was bound to end in harm to a great many of these humans. Growing up in Asgard, Loki had been told the golden realm served as protector of the Nine Realms, but his feelings at this moment had nothing to do with his upbringing and everything to do with a personal sense of obligation.
He liked the personal sense of obligation, liked the feeling of owing service to the realm that had taken him in. He was entirely in sympathy with the other Loki's distaste for being put to use like a tool-- shared it entirely-- but honest duty to a place and people who had welcomed him was another matter entirely.
Very well. He was quite sure he could find his way there without difficulty, and so could the others. As soon as Annie returned, they would--
He felt the little rustle in the universe-- well, his universe-- that heralded Annie's arrival, and she blinked into sight at his elbow. Before he could ask, she was extending her hand with his mobile in it.
"Agent Coulson was in the conference room with the other Avengers," she reported. "And Loki. The other Loki," she added, as though he might think she meant him.
"Really? But he said he did not wish to be near them," Loki argued-- foolishly, since whatever the other Loki had said, it was apparent he had done something else. And, thinking about it, Loki found he could easily picture the other Loki refusing to stand aside watching everyone else fight while he felt helpless-- useless.
As noted, Loki objected in the strongest possible terms to anyone viewing or using him as an implement, but he still wanted a role, a purpose of his own. He could understand the other Loki having similar feelings, and how they might conflict with his desire to stay as far from his brother, and his brother's companions, as possible.
Rubbing his throat reminiscently, Loki reflected that the other Loki was probably quite familiar with that latter emotion.
Annie's next words confirmed his thinking:
"I don't think he's changed his mind about that. About being near them. It felt to me like there had been an awful blow-up just before I arrived, Loki and Thor were both all red-faced and breathing like they'd just been shouting." Loki winced along with her. "I didn't want to put my foot into it somehow, so I just asked for your mobile. Agent Coulson told Loki what I was looking for and he gave it to me. And then I rent-a-ghosted-- " she made a "here I am" gesture and handed over the mobile.
"So you were able to bring this with you?" Loki stated the obvious.
"Yes, I thought I might as well try, so I folded it up in my sleeve and it worked," Annie explained, visibly brightening.
"That was very clever of you," Loki congratulated her, extending his hand for the mobile. "And a most valuable power." His last call had been to George's mobile, so he selected that number and pressed the send button. A moment later, George picked up the call.
~oOo~
Clint, George, and Mitchell kept alert as they walked back toward the car, but the sight of Scamp's eager little face peering out the rear window of the Honda reassured them. For one thing, it was nice to see the eager little face. For another, the fact it was an eager little face, and not a baleful snarling maw, pretty much confirmed there weren't any unfriendly vampires around. Which was why they'd left her in the car in the first place.
George's mobile buzzed as Clint opened the car door.
"It's Loki," George reported, lifting the device to his ear. "Loki? How are you?"
"Fine," Loki replied. George got into the back seat, screwing up his face in automatic reaction as Scamp washed it with her ghostly, chilly tongue. "I'm going to turn on the speaker so all of us can hear you, all right?" Loki made a noise of assent. "Go ahead-- what is it?"
"Annie and I are coming to join you," Loki announced. "The Avengers feel sure that attacks are planned on both New York and their capital city-- I beg your pardon, Clint, your capital city-- and so they are making haste toward the United States in the helicarrier. Meanwhile, Annie and I thought we should come and offer you whatever assistance we can."
"Much appreciated," Clint said dryly. "Hundreds of vampires won't stand a chance against the five of us. How long will you take to get here and where will we meet?"
"We will meet you in Trafalgar Square, on the steps of the-- " he paused, there was a one-sided mumble as he apparently consulted Annie-- "the National Gallery. We should be there-- it will take perhaps five minutes for us to climb through Yggdrasil. Where are you?"
"We're at Whitehall, not far from Downing Street, so we'll get there about the same time you do," Mitchell called from the driver's seat. He was already opening his door. Scamp jumped off George's lap and rushed to the rear door on that side, tail wagging anxiously. The first time they left her, Scamp had taken it quite well-- she might be a centuries-old ghost dog, but she still loved to ride in cars-- but it was pretty clear she didn't want to be left behind again. The fact that, as a ghost, she could easily escape from the car if she wanted to didn't seem to have occurred to her.
"Did you hear that?" George asked, as he leaned over to open the car door and slide out after Scamp.
"I did," Loki confirmed. "We will see you shortly." The call disconnected from Loki's end.
Scamp had acclimatized to riding in cars, but she still wasn't comfortable walking in crowds, and she clung to Mitchell's side as the group hurried toward Trafalgar Square. George thought that was just as well, since it masked the fact she wasn't on lead. Never having walked a dog in London, George had no idea how seriously the city authorities treated leash laws, but in his mind the less attention paid to their little ghost dog the better.
As they crossed the still-crowded Square, Scamp's tail suddenly began to wag again, and she dashed forward as Loki and Annie stepped out of the air toward them. No one seemed to notice, Loki having apparently used one of his charms that caused humans to perceive them as always having been there. Clint, blinking and looking slightly disoriented, was apparently just as susceptible as anyone. Scamp, jumping happily up to welcome Annie, seemed unconcerned.
"Good to see you two," George began, just as Mitchell's mobile buzzed. The vampire read the text, his face going pale and set. Loki made an unobtrusive gesture that probably resulted in the group being concealed by a charm of some sort, and they all waited for Mitchell to tell them what was happening.
"Ivan," Mitchell explained briefly. "He's heard from Geoff. The Old Ones are starting to arrive in London, and he and the others are on their way to meet them. And Wyndham, he's apparently left Latveria and is on his way back. No idea how he's traveling so I don't know how long that will take. Ivan, Daisy, and the witches are leaving Bristol to come here as well."
Clint looked thoughtful. "Ivan say where the rendezvous is supposed to happen?"
Mitchell shook his head and began typing on his mobile. "It's possible Geoff hasn't told him, or doesn't know yet. I suppose one likely place is the old deep-level shelter under Whitechapel station, on the Hammersmith and District lines."
Clint's eyes narrowed. "The what?"
George was shaking his head. "There was never a deep-level shelter built at Whitechapel." At Mitchell's expression, he faltered. "Wasn't there? Those aren't even deep lines, why would they have put a deep-level shelter there?"
Loki looked from George to Mitchell, then back to Clint and to Annie, who shrugged in confusion. Loki decided it was time he spoke.
"I think perhaps a short explanation would be in order, for those of us who lack your specific knowledge."
Mitchell and George traded a look, then Mitchell made a "go ahead" gesture. George settled his spectacles upon his nose and said,
"Back in the Blitz-- " Loki knew of the Blitz-- "during the air raids on London, a lot of people would spend nights in the tube stations, the ones far enough underground to feel safe from the bombs." Loki nodded, remembering images from history books and on television programs. George went on, "Ten deep shelters were planned, to be built alongside existing stations, with the idea the sites could be incorporated into new express lines after the war. I think only seven or eight of them were ever completed, and the express lines weren't built after all-- by the time the war ended the city couldn't afford the project. One of the shelters is a museum now, and the rest of them are used for storage and things like that. Anyway, the point is the shelters were all planned for the Central and Northern lines, which are deep underground. Hammersmith isn't, and neither is District-- they're just below the surface. It doesn't make sense to put a deep shelter there, it doesn't fit in with the plans for after the war."
Mitchell looked long-suffering. "George, you know the reason vampires have been able to hide in Bristol is because they have contacts in positions powerful enough to cover up for them? You don't really think London is any different, do you?"
Loki blinked as he realized what Mitchell meant, while George turned deep red and uttered a strangled noise. "You mean it was a special vampires-only shelter? You're serious?"
"Really?" Clint echoed. "I thought you guys could only be killed by a stake through the heart."
Mitchell grimaced. "Oh, getting blown to bits by a bomb would kill anyone, believe me. Yeah, Whitechapel was a shelter for vampires-- the location must have been someone's idea of a joke. Ivan probably knows about it, come to think-- I'm pretty sure he was in London during the war as well."
"Knows how to look after himself," George grumbled, apparently still incensed. "Typical vampire."
Mitchell glared. "George, we all know vampires are arseholes, but… think about it."
"About what?" George snapped. Loki did think, and the conclusion he arrived at made him blanch. Annie, reaching the same conclusion, turned to George.
"Think about an air raid shelter full of terrified humans… and vampires."
George blinked, looking as though someone had struck him in the face. "Oh."
"Yes," Mitchell said grimly. "I don't deny the self-interest, but it wasn't all on one side. And there were a few advantages to building a shelter solely intended for vampires."
"Such as?" Clint prompted.
"Well, since vampires are technically already dead, we don't breathe, so there wasn't any need to worry about ventilation. That must have made the shelter easier than the others to build, and also meant it was never taken up for human use after the war. The entrance was hidden in the first place, and by now nobody except vampires knows about it."
Loki spoke up. "You said that Ivan was in London during the war 'as well.' As well as you, did you mean?"
Mitchell nodded. "Yeah. Herrick and I… used to spend a lot of time in London."
None of them felt like talking about the period when Mitchell and Herrick had hunted together. Loki tried not to let his voice register that as he said,
"And did you avail yourself of this shelter?" Loki pressed. When Mitchell nodded, Loki asked, "Do you remember how to find the entrance?"
"I think so," Mitchell admitted. "The trouble, though, is the ventilation. I don't imagine you or George or Clint could get down there without an oxygen bottle, and too many of them know me by sight."
As one, the four men turned to Annie.
"Oh good," she said. "You haven't forgotten about me. You know, the other one who doesn't need to breathe because she's dead. And can become invisible."
"You can?" Clint asked, looking impressed. "You mean you can control it?"
Annie nodded. "It turns out I have a few powers I didn't know about-- I just found out I can carry something with me when I rent-a-ghost."
"Oh yeah?" Now Clint looked very thoughtful. "How about a bomb? Could you carry a bomb? A little one?"
"No bombs," Mitchell snapped, stiffening. Clint raised his eyebrows, and Mitchell visibly controlled himself. "Even if I'm right and the shelter is the meeting place, they're likelier to gather in a series of small groups than all together at once-- vampires are careful that way, especially about things like secret entrances. You won't get the lot anyway. Besides, it's a big shelter. Even if they do all gather at once-- and they won't-- to be sure of killing everyone you'd need a blast powerful enough to involve the entire space, and that would probably bring down Whitechapel station as well, and a big stretch of the lines it serves."
Judging by Clint's expression he was quite aware there was more to Mitchell's protest than such practicalities, but the practicalities were quite compelling.
"And I'm not carrying a bomb," Annie added quickly, with a glance at Mitchell. "I'll go have a look around, but that's all."
"Fine," Clint said. "You do know we're not likely to get out of this without killing a few vampires, right?"
"I know," Mitchell said, looking away. Loki, at least, had little difficulty in reading his thoughts: combat was one thing, wholesale murder another. There was a time when Loki would have disagreed with his friend, but since that was when he had been criminally insane, his opinions did not deserve much consideration.
George cleared his throat. "Charing Cross station isn't far from here. Let's go find out what line we need to get to Whitechapel, all right?"
"Good idea," Loki said quickly. Annie nodded her support for the plan and, with George in the lead, the group began to make their way to the station.
~oOo~
Wyndham had to admit, if only to himself, that Doom's methods of magical transport were extremely convenient. Particularly when his own position rather depended on staying ahead of the other Old Ones.
Wyndham had not been the first of the Old Ones to propose a partnership like this one, but so far as he knew he was the first to actually follow through on the idea. He was still confident of being able to dispose of Doom when his usefulness was at an end. A far more pressing concern, one that became sharper with every setback, was the issue of how long the other Old Ones would remain patient with this experiment. Wyndham had counted on having made significant gains by this point, and now they did not even have the captive sorcerer to point to.
Up to this point he had been able, for the most part, to suppress his increasingly uneasy feelings about this alliance-- and his own role in advocating for it-- but now he could no longer ignore them. The other Old Ones would have much to say about his handling of this matter, and blaming Doom would only get him so far.
The only solution he could see was to take decisive action.
Now, before the others had a chance to step in and take over.
Warnings: None needed.
Chapter Fifty-Six
If the agent who escorted Loki and Annie to the communications centre was alarmed by the prospect of facing vampires or Doombots, she gave no sign. She led them down two decks and through a maze of corridors, then handed them off to the waiting communications boffins (for so they were called in the war movies Loki watched with his friends) and left them with a murmured "good luck."
The said boffins equipped Loki with a communications device, offered Annie the same, and looked confused when she explained that it was unlikely to be of much use to her. Even so, she paid strict attention to the explanations of how the device worked. Loki was fairly competent with human technology-- which compared to its Aesir equivalents was not so much primitive as simply very different-- but he appreciated knowing that Annie could remind him how to use the wireless system if he forgot.
After this, a uniformed guard (minus his helmet, which Loki appreciated) led the pair back up to a quiet corner of the flight deck. All was in darkness below them, and in a ship this large it was difficult to tell they were moving. Loki peered over the side, glad Thor was not here to see him so close to the edge, but was unable to tell whether they were over land or water.
When he turned back to face Annie, he saw that she looked concerned.
"Do you think you'll have any trouble getting to London?" she asked.
"It would be easier if we were down there," Loki admitted, gesturing at whatever was below the helicarrier. "Assuming 'down there' is not the sea. However-- we have paid visits to London in the fairly recent past, so I should be able to take us there without much difficulty, and then call on the others to come find us." Aware that he did not sound nearly sure enough for comfort, Loki added, "We can certainly climb into the branches of Yggdrasil from here. If I cannot easily find London, then I will take us to Asgard-- Asgard is impossible to miss-- and try again. Do not worry."
"I wasn't exactly worried," Annie said. "It's just that you always say it's easier to find your way around if you begin from the soil of the realm you're on, and you're traveling between places you already know."
"That is true, and I must work on other methods of navigation," Loki agreed. "But at the moment I am more annoyed by the fact my mobile is still in the pocket of my jacket. The one I loaned to the other Loki. I know we can use this new device to contact Clint, but I had rather call Mitchell or George."
"Oh wait, hang on-- I can probably find him, the other Loki, if he's still with Agent Coulson," Annie offered. Annie's gifts included the ability to locate and "jump" to her friends, at least over fairly short distances such as on this vessel. Loki assumed she was being tactful when she claimed to use Agent Coulson as her focus, when by now she must also be able to find the other Loki quite easily.
If Annie was being tactful, then Loki would not challenge her. And besides, he had a different question to ask her.
"Would you be able to return carrying a solid item like my mobile?" he inquired. "I cannot recall whether you have ever done such a thing before."
Annie made a face. "I probably can't, now you mention it. I'll have to ask for an escort back."
"Or I could go with you," Loki offered.
"Yes, or you could work on finding a route to someplace in London that the others will be able to find. Hang on, I'll be back as fast as I can." Annie took a step backward, frowned in concentration, and then vanished.
Left behind, Loki took a moment to clear his mind and remind himself that jealousy was not only pointless, it was also an especially dangerous emotion for him. And besides, there was nothing for him to be jealous of, Annie being intent upon her errand.
He could almost hear, in the back of his head, the voice of George threatening to fetch the water bottle. He had no way of knowing how the other Loki reacted to the werewolf's imaginary scoldings, but Loki of Bristol found them very reassuring.
Taking a deep breath, Loki allowed his mind to wander, let his consciousness catch hold of Yggdrasil and, phantom-like, float through its branches. He searched for a landmark in the city of London, some place he had physically visited, one that would be easy for the others to find when they came to meet him. A few months ago he and his friends had visited London for the purpose of Christmas shopping, and the others had made a point to show Loki some of the famous landmarks of the capital. His previous visits to London had been brief and spent either in legal (well, in fact, illegal) custody or fighting alien invasion, and so he had little time to play the tourist until that latest trip.
Before his eyes rose a great plaza, brightly lit in the darkness, bordered by stairs leading to grand buildings, with fountains and a towering column guarded by statues of enormous lions. He could almost feel the stone beneath his feet, could almost see above him the figure of the great leader who bestrode the column. This would do, he thought. This would be easy for his friends to find.
The plaza was full of humans despite the hour (though in fact, while it felt to Loki like the middle of the night, he actually had no idea of the time of day) and the darkness. Seeing them served, as the play said, as a spur to prick the sides if his, Loki's, intent. Whatever the vampires were up to was bound to end in harm to a great many of these humans. Growing up in Asgard, Loki had been told the golden realm served as protector of the Nine Realms, but his feelings at this moment had nothing to do with his upbringing and everything to do with a personal sense of obligation.
He liked the personal sense of obligation, liked the feeling of owing service to the realm that had taken him in. He was entirely in sympathy with the other Loki's distaste for being put to use like a tool-- shared it entirely-- but honest duty to a place and people who had welcomed him was another matter entirely.
Very well. He was quite sure he could find his way there without difficulty, and so could the others. As soon as Annie returned, they would--
He felt the little rustle in the universe-- well, his universe-- that heralded Annie's arrival, and she blinked into sight at his elbow. Before he could ask, she was extending her hand with his mobile in it.
"Agent Coulson was in the conference room with the other Avengers," she reported. "And Loki. The other Loki," she added, as though he might think she meant him.
"Really? But he said he did not wish to be near them," Loki argued-- foolishly, since whatever the other Loki had said, it was apparent he had done something else. And, thinking about it, Loki found he could easily picture the other Loki refusing to stand aside watching everyone else fight while he felt helpless-- useless.
As noted, Loki objected in the strongest possible terms to anyone viewing or using him as an implement, but he still wanted a role, a purpose of his own. He could understand the other Loki having similar feelings, and how they might conflict with his desire to stay as far from his brother, and his brother's companions, as possible.
Rubbing his throat reminiscently, Loki reflected that the other Loki was probably quite familiar with that latter emotion.
Annie's next words confirmed his thinking:
"I don't think he's changed his mind about that. About being near them. It felt to me like there had been an awful blow-up just before I arrived, Loki and Thor were both all red-faced and breathing like they'd just been shouting." Loki winced along with her. "I didn't want to put my foot into it somehow, so I just asked for your mobile. Agent Coulson told Loki what I was looking for and he gave it to me. And then I rent-a-ghosted-- " she made a "here I am" gesture and handed over the mobile.
"So you were able to bring this with you?" Loki stated the obvious.
"Yes, I thought I might as well try, so I folded it up in my sleeve and it worked," Annie explained, visibly brightening.
"That was very clever of you," Loki congratulated her, extending his hand for the mobile. "And a most valuable power." His last call had been to George's mobile, so he selected that number and pressed the send button. A moment later, George picked up the call.
~oOo~
Clint, George, and Mitchell kept alert as they walked back toward the car, but the sight of Scamp's eager little face peering out the rear window of the Honda reassured them. For one thing, it was nice to see the eager little face. For another, the fact it was an eager little face, and not a baleful snarling maw, pretty much confirmed there weren't any unfriendly vampires around. Which was why they'd left her in the car in the first place.
George's mobile buzzed as Clint opened the car door.
"It's Loki," George reported, lifting the device to his ear. "Loki? How are you?"
"Fine," Loki replied. George got into the back seat, screwing up his face in automatic reaction as Scamp washed it with her ghostly, chilly tongue. "I'm going to turn on the speaker so all of us can hear you, all right?" Loki made a noise of assent. "Go ahead-- what is it?"
"Annie and I are coming to join you," Loki announced. "The Avengers feel sure that attacks are planned on both New York and their capital city-- I beg your pardon, Clint, your capital city-- and so they are making haste toward the United States in the helicarrier. Meanwhile, Annie and I thought we should come and offer you whatever assistance we can."
"Much appreciated," Clint said dryly. "Hundreds of vampires won't stand a chance against the five of us. How long will you take to get here and where will we meet?"
"We will meet you in Trafalgar Square, on the steps of the-- " he paused, there was a one-sided mumble as he apparently consulted Annie-- "the National Gallery. We should be there-- it will take perhaps five minutes for us to climb through Yggdrasil. Where are you?"
"We're at Whitehall, not far from Downing Street, so we'll get there about the same time you do," Mitchell called from the driver's seat. He was already opening his door. Scamp jumped off George's lap and rushed to the rear door on that side, tail wagging anxiously. The first time they left her, Scamp had taken it quite well-- she might be a centuries-old ghost dog, but she still loved to ride in cars-- but it was pretty clear she didn't want to be left behind again. The fact that, as a ghost, she could easily escape from the car if she wanted to didn't seem to have occurred to her.
"Did you hear that?" George asked, as he leaned over to open the car door and slide out after Scamp.
"I did," Loki confirmed. "We will see you shortly." The call disconnected from Loki's end.
Scamp had acclimatized to riding in cars, but she still wasn't comfortable walking in crowds, and she clung to Mitchell's side as the group hurried toward Trafalgar Square. George thought that was just as well, since it masked the fact she wasn't on lead. Never having walked a dog in London, George had no idea how seriously the city authorities treated leash laws, but in his mind the less attention paid to their little ghost dog the better.
As they crossed the still-crowded Square, Scamp's tail suddenly began to wag again, and she dashed forward as Loki and Annie stepped out of the air toward them. No one seemed to notice, Loki having apparently used one of his charms that caused humans to perceive them as always having been there. Clint, blinking and looking slightly disoriented, was apparently just as susceptible as anyone. Scamp, jumping happily up to welcome Annie, seemed unconcerned.
"Good to see you two," George began, just as Mitchell's mobile buzzed. The vampire read the text, his face going pale and set. Loki made an unobtrusive gesture that probably resulted in the group being concealed by a charm of some sort, and they all waited for Mitchell to tell them what was happening.
"Ivan," Mitchell explained briefly. "He's heard from Geoff. The Old Ones are starting to arrive in London, and he and the others are on their way to meet them. And Wyndham, he's apparently left Latveria and is on his way back. No idea how he's traveling so I don't know how long that will take. Ivan, Daisy, and the witches are leaving Bristol to come here as well."
Clint looked thoughtful. "Ivan say where the rendezvous is supposed to happen?"
Mitchell shook his head and began typing on his mobile. "It's possible Geoff hasn't told him, or doesn't know yet. I suppose one likely place is the old deep-level shelter under Whitechapel station, on the Hammersmith and District lines."
Clint's eyes narrowed. "The what?"
George was shaking his head. "There was never a deep-level shelter built at Whitechapel." At Mitchell's expression, he faltered. "Wasn't there? Those aren't even deep lines, why would they have put a deep-level shelter there?"
Loki looked from George to Mitchell, then back to Clint and to Annie, who shrugged in confusion. Loki decided it was time he spoke.
"I think perhaps a short explanation would be in order, for those of us who lack your specific knowledge."
Mitchell and George traded a look, then Mitchell made a "go ahead" gesture. George settled his spectacles upon his nose and said,
"Back in the Blitz-- " Loki knew of the Blitz-- "during the air raids on London, a lot of people would spend nights in the tube stations, the ones far enough underground to feel safe from the bombs." Loki nodded, remembering images from history books and on television programs. George went on, "Ten deep shelters were planned, to be built alongside existing stations, with the idea the sites could be incorporated into new express lines after the war. I think only seven or eight of them were ever completed, and the express lines weren't built after all-- by the time the war ended the city couldn't afford the project. One of the shelters is a museum now, and the rest of them are used for storage and things like that. Anyway, the point is the shelters were all planned for the Central and Northern lines, which are deep underground. Hammersmith isn't, and neither is District-- they're just below the surface. It doesn't make sense to put a deep shelter there, it doesn't fit in with the plans for after the war."
Mitchell looked long-suffering. "George, you know the reason vampires have been able to hide in Bristol is because they have contacts in positions powerful enough to cover up for them? You don't really think London is any different, do you?"
Loki blinked as he realized what Mitchell meant, while George turned deep red and uttered a strangled noise. "You mean it was a special vampires-only shelter? You're serious?"
"Really?" Clint echoed. "I thought you guys could only be killed by a stake through the heart."
Mitchell grimaced. "Oh, getting blown to bits by a bomb would kill anyone, believe me. Yeah, Whitechapel was a shelter for vampires-- the location must have been someone's idea of a joke. Ivan probably knows about it, come to think-- I'm pretty sure he was in London during the war as well."
"Knows how to look after himself," George grumbled, apparently still incensed. "Typical vampire."
Mitchell glared. "George, we all know vampires are arseholes, but… think about it."
"About what?" George snapped. Loki did think, and the conclusion he arrived at made him blanch. Annie, reaching the same conclusion, turned to George.
"Think about an air raid shelter full of terrified humans… and vampires."
George blinked, looking as though someone had struck him in the face. "Oh."
"Yes," Mitchell said grimly. "I don't deny the self-interest, but it wasn't all on one side. And there were a few advantages to building a shelter solely intended for vampires."
"Such as?" Clint prompted.
"Well, since vampires are technically already dead, we don't breathe, so there wasn't any need to worry about ventilation. That must have made the shelter easier than the others to build, and also meant it was never taken up for human use after the war. The entrance was hidden in the first place, and by now nobody except vampires knows about it."
Loki spoke up. "You said that Ivan was in London during the war 'as well.' As well as you, did you mean?"
Mitchell nodded. "Yeah. Herrick and I… used to spend a lot of time in London."
None of them felt like talking about the period when Mitchell and Herrick had hunted together. Loki tried not to let his voice register that as he said,
"And did you avail yourself of this shelter?" Loki pressed. When Mitchell nodded, Loki asked, "Do you remember how to find the entrance?"
"I think so," Mitchell admitted. "The trouble, though, is the ventilation. I don't imagine you or George or Clint could get down there without an oxygen bottle, and too many of them know me by sight."
As one, the four men turned to Annie.
"Oh good," she said. "You haven't forgotten about me. You know, the other one who doesn't need to breathe because she's dead. And can become invisible."
"You can?" Clint asked, looking impressed. "You mean you can control it?"
Annie nodded. "It turns out I have a few powers I didn't know about-- I just found out I can carry something with me when I rent-a-ghost."
"Oh yeah?" Now Clint looked very thoughtful. "How about a bomb? Could you carry a bomb? A little one?"
"No bombs," Mitchell snapped, stiffening. Clint raised his eyebrows, and Mitchell visibly controlled himself. "Even if I'm right and the shelter is the meeting place, they're likelier to gather in a series of small groups than all together at once-- vampires are careful that way, especially about things like secret entrances. You won't get the lot anyway. Besides, it's a big shelter. Even if they do all gather at once-- and they won't-- to be sure of killing everyone you'd need a blast powerful enough to involve the entire space, and that would probably bring down Whitechapel station as well, and a big stretch of the lines it serves."
Judging by Clint's expression he was quite aware there was more to Mitchell's protest than such practicalities, but the practicalities were quite compelling.
"And I'm not carrying a bomb," Annie added quickly, with a glance at Mitchell. "I'll go have a look around, but that's all."
"Fine," Clint said. "You do know we're not likely to get out of this without killing a few vampires, right?"
"I know," Mitchell said, looking away. Loki, at least, had little difficulty in reading his thoughts: combat was one thing, wholesale murder another. There was a time when Loki would have disagreed with his friend, but since that was when he had been criminally insane, his opinions did not deserve much consideration.
George cleared his throat. "Charing Cross station isn't far from here. Let's go find out what line we need to get to Whitechapel, all right?"
"Good idea," Loki said quickly. Annie nodded her support for the plan and, with George in the lead, the group began to make their way to the station.
~oOo~
Wyndham had to admit, if only to himself, that Doom's methods of magical transport were extremely convenient. Particularly when his own position rather depended on staying ahead of the other Old Ones.
Wyndham had not been the first of the Old Ones to propose a partnership like this one, but so far as he knew he was the first to actually follow through on the idea. He was still confident of being able to dispose of Doom when his usefulness was at an end. A far more pressing concern, one that became sharper with every setback, was the issue of how long the other Old Ones would remain patient with this experiment. Wyndham had counted on having made significant gains by this point, and now they did not even have the captive sorcerer to point to.
Up to this point he had been able, for the most part, to suppress his increasingly uneasy feelings about this alliance-- and his own role in advocating for it-- but now he could no longer ignore them. The other Old Ones would have much to say about his handling of this matter, and blaming Doom would only get him so far.
The only solution he could see was to take decisive action.
Now, before the others had a chance to step in and take over.