Thor Fic: "In the shadows of the crossroads" (Loki, Avengers, R), 2/10
LINK TO FIRST CHAPTER
Title: In the shadows of the crossroads (Part 2: Counterpoint)
Characters: Loki, Thor, Darcy, Jane, original characters; mention of Erik, Warriors Three, the Avengers, Laufey
Pairings: Loki/Darcy, Thor/Jane, Volstagg/OC
Rating: R for language, violence, dark magic, alcohol use, sex, death, dubious consent (bodyswap), adultery, violence against children, and angst
Length: 6,830 words
Summary: More than twenty years have passed since Loki and Darcy first crossed paths, since whether they knew it or not they began on the path that led to their life together. Things in their world are happy, idyllic. But in another world trouble is resurfacing...and the consequences will be far-reaching and dire.
Notes: See part one for full notes.
Part 2: Counterpoint
It was morning on Asgard, and the first thing Darcy was aware of was someone moving next to her where she was lying in her bed.
With a stifled, drowsy sound she rolled over and lifted her head.
Loki stopped where he was in the middle of getting dressed and leaned back over to kiss her, smiling.
“Go back to sleep,” he told her. Pacified, Darcy was already settling back down to do so, her eyes closing as he promised, “I’ll see you later.”
She had never been an early riser. Loki normally usually was. It made sharing a bed difficult, sometimes. But the pillows were soft beneath her head and the blankets were nice and warm. Before long she drifted back into dreamland.
Just another cozy, happy ‘good morning’ that had become part of the usual for the two of them.
Darcy woke up again later, more fully, and taking her time went into the adjoining bathroom to take a bath and wash her hair.
By the time she returned she found Siún had come in and was already making the bed and tidying up.
“Good day, Milady.”
“I swear, no matter what, you’re always awake and dressed before me,” Darcy exclaimed as she came over and sat in front of her dressing table. “Do you just never sleep?”
Siún gave a faint smile. “One could say it’s part of a handmaiden’s duty,” she said lightly. “Besides, we can’t all give away our secrets.”
“Ha! No, maybe not.” Leaning forward Darcy tugged at the area of skin beneath her lower eye. She frowned over the wrinkles she knew her husband would insist weren’t even there. With a practiced air Siún came over and picked up a silver brush, and began slowly attending to Darcy’s dark locks.
“I think you gave my daughter and your son quite the start when you interrupted them last night,” she remarked offhandedly.
“I didn’t mean to.” Darcy complained, “It’s not like they were even, y’know, doing anything. It’s all whispers and hand-holding with those two.”
“I think it’s sweet.”
“It is sweet. Sickeningly so. They’re not in middle school, for crying out loud.” She shrugged. “Oh well. At least nobody can say they don’t genuinely like each other.”
Siún made a sound of agreement. “If all goes well they’re looking at a happy and fortunate future together,” she said softly. “It was a good match, for a betrothal.”
Darcy only absently nodded.
By the time Siún and Volstagg’s daughter approached puberty it became clear her parents had a serious problem. The only thing Noor inherited from her father was his gorgeous red hair - other than that she took completely after her mother. It made her one of the most beautiful girls in Asgard.
And every family with an unmarried son had noticed it too.
Volstagg was being harried by prospective suitors and fathers-in-law for permission to court his daughter before she even turned twelve. To save his sanity, and protect Noor from too much unwanted attention, there’d been an agreement to promise her in marriage to Austen.
He was a similar age and their parents were friends and he was a prince, so it looked good on paper. Darcy had opposed the idea of arranged marriages for any of her children, but she mollified herself with the thought that this wasn’t a “real” one. There’d always been an understanding that when the two got older, there’d be no objection from their parents if they wanted to break the engagement.
But Noor and Austen had gotten older and if anything they only seemed to be getting fonder of one another. Both were quiet and shy, and Darcy wasn’t even sure what it was they found to talk about when they spent hours sitting alone together.
A few more years, and they’d be old enough it would be appropriate for them to actually marry. It looked like the arrangement wasn’t going to end in being quietly broken off, but in a walk down the aisle.
From where she was still working at her lady’s hair with the brush, Siún lifted her eyes to meet Darcy’s gaze in the mirror.
“What do you feel like wearing today?”
“I think I’ll go more casual.” Darcy yawned. “It’s been at least a week since I’ve worn anything but a gown. Pull out some of the nicer Midgard clothes.”
“Of course. Do you still want me to do your makeup and dress your hair?”
“Hells yeah.” At the princess’ flippancy her friend of many years only smiled. “What’s the point of being royalty if you can’t at least somewhat look the part?”
Having servants had made Darcy lazy. She didn’t even try to deny that. And spoiled - she was probably spoiled too.
But heck; that was what she had married into. Everywhere she went people bent over backwards and smiled for her attention, ready and eager to wait on her hand and foot.
And after spending her young adulthood up to her eyeballs in student loan debt and living off pop tarts and ramen, now she lived a life where she’d never ever have to worry about money again. Even when she visited Earth she had a black credit card and an invitation to all the exclusive shopping boutiques.
She tried not to take too much advantage of it. But she definitely enjoyed it.
By the time Darcy left her bedroom she was wearing designer heels, a pair of exquisitely tailored black slacks that’d boasted a price-tag that made her buy them for the ‘why not’ factor, and a warmly colored cashmere sweater. Her face had that slight glow from the flawless airbrush effect (somehow achieved, in this case, without an actual airbrush) and her hair was half-gathered up in a loose and artfully messy style that looked beautifully simple but in fact took a long time and a lot of precise work to achieve.
She didn’t exactly strut down the hallway, because no matter how much her awesome had increased over the years, Darcy had never become quite coordinated enough to pull off a convincing strut. But there was something that could be described as a smug bounce in her step.
Asgard was in that morning lull where the palace itself was awake and guards and servants could be found everywhere, taking care of business, but otherwise the rooms were mostly empty. Darcy strolled her way through some of her favorite open-aired terraces overlooking one of the smaller courtyards. There were fountains and potted ferns and fresh air and everything looked buttery golden from the rays of sunshine.
This was also an area of the palace closer to the royal chambers, so it wasn’t surprising if she crossed paths with her family. She came across Austen sitting on the edge of some marble steps leading down to a garden, back leaning against a column.
He was half-hidden in shadows and reading a book he held in his hands. He looked up at the sound of his mother’s approach and she greeted him with a smile.
“Hey there. Good morning, kiddo. How we doing today?”
“I’m fine, Mom.” He smiled automatically in return.
Out of all their kids he was the one Darcy felt occasionally disoriented looking at; he had the strongest combination of both his parents’ features. When his face moved she could see the little bits of her and Loki smushed in there together.
Sometimes when he was small she’d find herself just gazing at Austen in a kind of awe, a voice in her head going over and over ‘We made him’.
But that was before. These days what she mostly saw was how he kept getting older, how he wasn’t a baby or even a boy anymore but a young man. “Mind if I sit?”
“Of course you can.” He scooted over for her obligingly. Darcy made herself comfortable, crossing her legs and balancing by resting both her hands flat.
“You know, I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry if it sounded like I was telling you off last night.”
Austen ducked his head, briefly avoiding her gaze. “No, it’s all right,” he mumbled. “You didn’t.”
“Because if anything I’m glad that you and Noor are getting along together,” she persisted. “I just don’t want you spending every waking moment with each other, especially if you think you have to. If we’re really going to go through this with the two of you, I want you to be sure.”
His face heated up but unhesitantly he met her eyes again. “Of course I’m sure. I love her.”
Darcy was momentarily put into silence by the heartfelt simplicity behind that confession. She fought back her urge to challenge it because he was young, to ask if he was sure he really felt that way.
Instead she waited a beat, cocked her head and with a different smile changed the subject.
“School’s starting again soon,” she reminded him. “Are you looking forward to heading back to Cornell?”
Austen shrugged, looked at his book and then with less enthusiasm than she’d have liked said, “Yes. Sure.”
Darcy couldn’t help but frown. Not disapprovingly but worried. Austen could be a little closed-off at times, but still. Sometimes she wondered.
It had always been Darcy’s intention that her children get the best of both worlds. She didn’t want them to just be princes and princesses of Asgard, she argued; she wanted them to spend time on Earth too. Have their own small lives there - preferably get an education. Just so that they didn’t feel trapped into one thing.
But her first active attempt at fulfilling this goal had been an unmitigated disaster. When he was a teenager, their eldest boy had been sent to live and go to high school with his mortal cousin. Unfortunately Wyclef’s personality and that of the other boy had egged each other on in the worst possible way, culminating in the two of them getting arrested for vandalism and shoplifting. After getting both of them bailed out Darcy had immediately dragged Wyclef back home.
Loki had been far from amused when for the first time seeing his son in months, Wyclef had a silver ring in each ear, black nails, and his eyes thickly painted in liquid eyeliner.
After that for the most part Darcy had given up, except for dropping the occasional hopeful hint to her children that maybe they would like to take the SATs, just in case? But except for what they picked up from her, Midgard culture was mostly dismissively ignored.
(Wyclef had thankfully given up on the emo kid makeup, though he continued wearing the earrings and nail polish. There were times when Darcy was convinced Loki was still holding it against her.)
Austen however had decided to go to college after all, a turn of events which had made his mother hug him and cry.
He was gone most of the year, diligently studying for a double major in Medieval Literature and Theoretical Physics, in addition to the fact that when he was on Asgard he was striving to be both a sorcerer and a warrior; oh, and he was still engaged. Thrilled as she was Darcy was seriously concerned her boy was going to stress himself out until he was ready to explode.
She looked at Austen somberly and waited until she was sure he was looking back at her.
“You know,” she told him, earnest, “as glad as you’ve made me and your father, I hope you’re not just doing these things because you know it’s what we want. The whole point is that it’s supposed to be what you want, too.” She tapped his chest, near his heart. “Promise me you’re not making yourself crazy for no good reason, okay? No matter what, all I want is for you to be happy.”
“I know.” Austen’s response was mild at best. He opened his book again, hiding his face behind it and studiously dismissing her. “This is what I want, Mom. Really.”
It was impossible to tell if he was hiding something or just being emotionally restrained. Darcy gave a loud sigh.
“And you’d tell me, if you changed your mind about something?” she pressed.
Austen gave a distracted nod. “Uh huh.”
Darcy gave up. At least if he had a breakdown, she knew they’d be there to pick up the pieces. She said goodbye to him and continued on her way.
The well-known sounds to her of children playing caught her ears. Stepping down into the courtyard her head turned, listening, until finally she spotted Jane sitting cross-legged over in a patch of grass.
Asgard’s Queen looked a bit disjointed. She was wearing a light flowing dress in the traditional style, but had distractedly thrown on one of her beat-up flannel shirts over it, unbuttoned. Her hair was carelessly brushed and Darcy could’ve sworn she saw smudges of ink on her fingertips, left over from poring over pages of equations.
But there were no books of notes in her lap at present. Instead she was smiling as she bounced her youngest, holding his arms up as she encouraged him to walk. Cordelia was nearby coloring, and Arthur raced about in circles, making noises as he played some game by himself that only made sense to a little boy.
Darcy waved at her. Looking up, Jane returned her grin and gestured her over.
“Look, Magni. It’s your Aunt Darcy. Can you say ‘hi’ to Aunt Darcy?” Jane encouraged.
“Drag’nfry!” Magni screamed excitedly, breaking free from her grip and half flailing, half crawling after the insect he saw flying by.
Jane rolled her eyes in fond exasperation and turned to the other woman with an apologetic shrug.
“I get that a lot,” Darcy deadpanned.
Jane laughed. “Sit down.” She patted the grass. “Anything new to talk about this morning?”
“I think Austen is turning into you, but, like, worse.” Darcy sat, only half-checking to make sure she wasn’t getting stains on her nice clothes. “And he and Noor are well on their way to kissy-face love central. Other than that, nothing.”
Jane gave a thoughtful smile, looking up. “Young love,” she remarked. “Remember when we were like that?”
“You and Thor are still like that,” Darcy pointed out. “Instead of being like an old married couple, sometimes you still coo over each other like little kids.”
Jane gave her a slightly sour look. But then her expression changed as she looked over at her children, watching as Cordelia flipped to a fresh page in her Famous Women Scientists coloring book and Arthur had hunched down to chatter excitedly at his little brother.
“I guess we should have outgrown that by now, huh?” Jane commented. But she shook her head, absently putting a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I can’t explain why it hasn’t happened. That’s just the way that we are.”
“Dude, you don’t have to apologize. It’s not like I actually mind.” Darcy pulled a face. “Okay, maybe sometimes I do, when the two of you are being especially ridiculous. And I know I complain sometimes, but mostly I don’t mean it. There’s nothing wrong with the fact that after all these years of being married, you and Thor are still in love.”
Jane chuckled, a little. “And we are, aren’t we? Who would’ve thought.”
“Oh yeah,” Darcy returned sarcastically. “After watching you two moon over each other in your early days, who could’ve ever seen that one coming.”
“Love isn’t always enough,” Jane reminded her, a touch more serious. “And things don’t always work out.” She got to her feet, heading over to intervene between Arthur and Magni, who were getting a little rough in their play. “I know I had my doubts at times.”
“I know.” Darcy followed her, concurring. “And sometimes they were warranted. But the thing is, you kept trying.”
She smirked as she watched Jane gather up her fussing youngest in her arms, her other son tugging her skirt and her daughter coming over to see what was happening.
“And look,” Darcy finished. “It all turned out for the best.”
*
Darcy was frowning to herself as she slunk her way around the lab.
Now that part, to be frank, she didn’t really appreciate. Sure, her major might have ‘only’ been in Poly-Sci, but she had worked long and hard to be taken seriously and earn her right to be in the lab.
It didn’t matter that thanks to SHIELD’s “vested interest” and shiny new funding they had a bigger facility, a new more climate-diverse location, a bunch of extra equipment and a whole slew of bodies to wander around and help with making the science happen. These lab techs with their white coats and nametags had nothing on her. She was Jane’s assistant, damn it! Sure; it was a bit more like her personal assistant, slash secretary, since most of Darcy’s duties basically revolved around being a gofer and handing her things. But that didn’t matter. Why, if she wasn’t here, none of this would be up and running!
If only because she was the one who pulled Jane’s head out of the clouds when it was time to submit her budget reports. Despite her love of procrastination, when it came down to the wire Darcy Lewis got shit done.
But despite her being easily the second most important person in the entire building, after Jane (she might have settled for third, if Erik hadn’t taken an extended leave of personal time after certain incidents in Manhattan), here Darcy was sneaking around like at any moment she was afraid of being spotted. And why?
Well, frankly, it was because she was afraid of being spotted.
But not by any of the techs or scientists working there, no siree. Far as she was concerned they could kiss her-
A nearby elevator door swooshed open and Darcy instinctively lunged out of the way behind some big hulking piece of equipment, taking cover.
A pair of people wandered past - one of them wearing a white coat and the other a suit that identified them as a SHIELD agent. They didn’t spare a second glance Darcy’s direction, too busy chatting over something on a clipboard.
After they were gone she got back up from where she’d ducked down, sticking her tongue out at their retreating backs in petty revenge. Then she resumed her stealthy prowl.
Finally she came around a corner and found what she was looking for.
Jane was inside the room that’d been serving as her private lab. There were tables there, and several computers, and a lot of graphs and charts tacked up and scattered about haphazardly. Crammed in the corner was Jane’s desk which was buried in a stack of books, the chair rendered unusable by virtue of loadbearing for a similar pile. The space was kind of small and had none of the better equipment, but it was Jane’s own space where she could be left alone with her thoughts, and a lot of times that was what she really needed.
But at present Jane wasn’t alone in there. There was someone else with her. Someone who was having an insistent, one-sided conversation, and not getting the hint that maybe he should leave.
“Jane, please. Speak to me,” Thor entreated. He stood a short distance behind her, clad in his red cape and full-on Viking armor, occasionally gesturing and pacing back and forth.
He took up more space, and seemed even more consciously out of place, than Darcy remembered.
“I am speaking to you, Thor.” Jane’s voice was calm. She had her eye to an electron microscope, examining something, and occasionally she moved to adjust a setting or jot down a note. But she never turned around. “It’s just that right now I’m in the middle of something.”
Wincing, Darcy did her best to duck behind a doorframe while still being able to watch them both. She was far away enough probably neither of them would notice her movement. It’d be a lot easier if there weren’t so many doors and panels that were made of glass however.
Of course the easiest thing for her would to not be eavesdropping at all. But what could she say? She wanted to see how things were going with their reunion.
So far, the answer to that seemed to be: not good.
“I am sorry for my interruption, truly. I remember how important your work is to you,” Thor said, pleadingly. “It is only that I thought it best I come right away, considering how long I have already kept you waiting.”
Jane straightened up. But there was a displeased look on her face, and now she was definitely making a point not to look at Thor when she turned around.
“I wasn’t waiting for you,” she reminded him, curt. She brushed past him and headed for a shelf full of binders, which she started rifling through with excess energy. “I’m not the type to stand around, waiting.”
“That isn’t what I meant.” Coming closer he rested a big hand on her shoulder. “Jane, please.”
She stilled under his touch and after an uncertain moment she sighed. At last she turned around to meet his gaze, though only after holding out long enough that he’d gotten the hint and started pulling his hand away from her shoulder.
“I know that it isn’t,” she admitted, quiet. “But, come on, what do you expect me to say?” She raised her arms and moved her head in almost mocking fashion. “‘Oh hey there, fancy you being in the neighborhood, glad you could stop by. Wanna take up right where we left off’?”
“Continuing at once from where we had parted was not what I automatically expected,” Thor returned, gently. “But, I had had some hopes. It is…what I would have liked.”
Jane’s mouth opened but she didn’t seem at first to know what to say to that. She glanced down, then back up at Thor again. All the while without quite meaning to her body swayed closer to his, as if drawn in by their undeniable chemistry.
Thor put a hand on her shoulder again, half steadying her, half drawing her further into his embrace. With the other hand he caressed the side of her cheek faintly.
“I know that I made promises,” he said to her. “Promises that I was not able to keep - at least not as soon as I would’ve liked to. But please know that despite it nothing has changed.” His voice dropped a note, intense and breathy. “I still feel the same for you. All this time, I kept up my hopes, supported by the affection that burns within my heart.”
Jane held her ground and didn’t lean in any further. “It’s been over a year.”
“I know.” Thor sounded frustrated, though not necessarily at her. “But I - the Bifrost was damaged, and then-”
“And then you did come back to Earth,” Jane interrupted. “And then you were here for only a couple of days, just long enough to make some new friends, and then you were gone again, just like that.” She broke free and made for the same table again. “I know I was in Norway but you didn’t even try to find me. I had to find out about the fact that you’d been here from the news!”
“I knew where you were,” Thor protested. “I knew that you were safe, and far away from the damage you could suffer if you were drawn into my brother’s mischief. Alas it was all I had time to care about.”
He sounded positively mournful. From where Darcy was standing, the look on his face made her cringe and want to give him a hug. Jane couldn’t see his face; she was standing in front of her table, leaning forward slightly with her weight on her hands.
She let out a breath, heavily, leaning further and closing her eyes.
“It was out of your control. I understand,” she finally said, simply, composing herself once more. “I don’t blame you for that.”
There was an undercurrent in her tone though that said she totally did blame him for that - she only couldn’t admit it, even to herself, because that would be against the one hundred percent rational and logic-driven being Jane liked to picture herself as.
“Then I do not understand.” Thor let his hands hang in a futile shrug. “If not that then what is the problem?”
Jane stood up, crossing her arms tight. She dropped her gaze again, eyelids lowering. “The problem is…the problem is time.”
Thor looked at her in bemused silence, and she turned around to stare up at him, her face screwed up like she was overwhelmed with her emotions.
“What happened between us in New Mexico, Thor…”she shook her head; “There was a connection there, I can’t deny it.” She smiled, stifling an unlikely laugh. “Almost from the moment I first met you there were some serious sparks flying.”
“Mm, I remember.” Thor returned her smile with one of his own, both fond and suggestive.
Coming closer he picked up her hand, holding her eyes as he gave it a gentlemanly, meaningful kiss.
Jane dropped her gaze, face heating up, and bit her lip. She let him give his kiss and didn’t interrupt him.
But the moment he was finished she gently but firmly tugged her hand back away.
“Except it didn’t get to last. It - whatever it was we had - got interrupted before it had any chance to really get going.” She shook her head again, apologetic. But convinced. Decisive. “And then a year went by and I started to wonder if any of it was real to begin with-”
“It was,” Thor exclaimed, horrified.
“I know,” she stressed precisely. She blinked once, hard, before continuing. “But a lot of other things happened in the meantime. To both of us, I’m sure. And I’m just not sure-”
Her words hung there in the air, which was writ with tension. Darcy leaned a little more forward in her hiding space, feeling as riveted as if she was watching a train wreck, or a soap opera.
Thor was as caught up in the tension himself, if not more, understandably. He took a step towards Jane, looking at her like he thought if he stared hard enough, with eyes wide enough, everything she had to say would make sense to him.
“What, Jane? What are you unsure about?”
She sighed again. Her expression was sympathetic, but it looked like there was a lump in her throat.
“Maybe all we had was a window,” she explained sadly. “Maybe there was a window of opportunity where something could have happened, where maybe you and I could’ve gotten together. But it passed, through circumstances not entirely under our control, and now…who knows. It could just be too late.”
It took Thor what seemed like a solid minute to recover from that blow.
“I don’t believe that,” he said stubbornly, voice thick.
“Thor. I’m sorry, but-”
“No.” He wouldn’t let her finish, his expression of determination nearly grim in its sheer intensity. “Forgive me, Jane. I do not mean to dismiss your feelings and if you want I should take my leave, I will respect that. But I will not give up on us so easily. On you.”
He breathed in.
“As you said, time has passed. And I have waited for you throughout it. I will wait for you a little while longer still.”
They stared each other down as Jane pressed one hand to the base of her throat.
“And if it turns out you’ve waited in vain?” she inquired, finally.
“I only hope that it does not come to be so.” Thor moved to go, stepping sideways so that he turned regally past her. “For now, I bid you farewell. I will be in your New York - the Man of Iron has offered me hospitality in the tower he has built.” He hesitated, glancing back.
“I…I am to understand that the tools he and Dr. Banner have there at their disposal are most impressive. If you wish to visit, and see them, you need only ask. I will make certain they grant you access.”
And with that goodbye he turned back again and strode out of the room.
Outside Darcy swiftly pushed away from the wall and pulled out her iPod, looking down at it and acting as if she’d been fiddling with it already.
“Oh hey there, Thor,” she said in a rapid-fire murmur, voice overly nonchalant as she avoided his eyes, “what a coincidence running into you, I totally didn’t see you or have any idea you were there at all…”
She trailed off when it became clear he had no intention to speak to her. He just kept on moving down the hallway until he was out of sight, gone. She wondered if he’d take an elevator to the surface before he flew off or if he’d just punch a hole straight through in his frustration.
Not that she was holding it against him, his not saying hi to her. They’d already exchanged a particularly excited, squealing and hugging greeting earlier, when he’d first arrived.
Darcy lowered her iPod and looked back into the lab at Jane. The other woman still hadn’t realized she was there, and in Thor’s wake was sort of listlessly drifting back and forth, hugging one arm to her body.
Now it was Darcy’s turn to sigh. On the one hand she really wanted to run in there and shake her. Guys like Thor didn’t come along every day after all - on top of everything else awesome about him he was a bona fide god and a superhero.
But Jane’s perspective on it, unfortunately, wasn’t exactly crazy either. Maybe the magic was gone now. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
It was still supremely tragic, though. Who would’ve thought the odds would turn out to be so against them?
*
Another evening on Jotunheim had come that was like any other. Quiet, cold, and beset by low and howling winds. Out in the frozen fields no giants moved about, nor any of the few creatures capable of living in the hostile realm. All was empty darkness, the snowdrifts shifting, the wind giving a sharp whistle as it moved between the peaks of jagged rocks.
Overlooking this expanse was the half-ruined citadel that served as Laufey’s palace. Here too was mostly silence, and stillness. This part of their world was nearly deserted, and even Frost Giants needed to sleep.
Alone on the ramparts stood a single figure, a Jotun by shape and color though unusually small. It lingered at the top of one of the tallest towers, clad in layers of thin pelts and secondhand chainmail.
Loki gazed with impassive scrutiny out on his father’s kingdom, and then tilted his head back to look upward to the night sky above.
A thin winter’s fog obscured the air, as always, but the stars still shone brightly through. The Jotun prince watched them for a while then dropped his gaze again. Pushing away from the wall, he sighed, and continued about his walk.
There was, quite frankly, not much for a restless soul to do on Jotunheim at this hour. And few were also awake that one could pass the time with, though in truth Loki did not mind this part so much. He’d always preferred his solitude.
His thoughts wandered haphazardly as he rounded the winding paths along the tower’s edge, crossing from one end of the battlements to the other. All around him the world existed in stark contrast, practically nothing but shades of black and white.
Suddenly he stopped still, attentions warily captured. He could’ve sworn he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.
Listening sharply his red eyes narrowed. Without fully turning his head he kept careful watch on the courtyard below.
There; among the rocks and ice. There was a flicker, too fast and out of place to be anything natural.
Loki rushed to the edge, fingers curling to grasp the edge of the stone wall as he leaned forward, looking out, searching. He could make out no details, only a flash here and there as whatever it was beat a swift path through the courtyard, it seemed, and then up towards the stairs and the towers where Loki himself was standing.
Quickly he started running himself, taking what would seem at the outset an unpredictable path, going around one tower and down a flight a stairs, only to zigzag and by a different set rise up again.
He was as interested in getting closer to the intruder as he was fleeing them. So long as he kept on the move and maintained a distance between them, it gave him more time to study and try and figure out who and what they were.
Who was it that came to Jotunheim in the dead of night, and slunk so easily in the layers of hidden expanses between snow and shadows?
Bracing his back against a wall Loki raised his hands before himself, forming a long sharp icicle to use as a weapon. He thought he could make out footsteps when he held his breath. It sounded like the intruder was trying to get closer to where he was.
Deciding to end the farce Loki dug his claws into the gaps between stones, with one hand hauling himself up to the top of the tower. Ice spike at the ready he came over to the side, poised for action as he gazed down.
But there was nothing there. Loki frowned, bewildered.
Something moved behind him. He spun just in the nick of time to parry the long knife thrust toward his face with his ice.
Blades locked, the force behind the attack causing him to bend back slightly, he was met with the sight of a white-skinned humanoid with tangled black hair. She gave a long hiss as her eyes bore heatedly into his, baring a set of fangs.
After a few intense moments Loki was able to push her off and away, but wound up sprawled on his back for his efforts.
The strange, frightening attacker needed no recovery - she hurled herself at him again, this time with fingers curled, barehanded.
Loki threw the icicle spear at her. She twisted one forearm in front of her face, blocking the blow and shattering the ice itself into fragments with alarming ease.
He tried to get up. But it was already too late. She was on him, battering him, tearing at his throat. She produced another knife she must’ve had hidden in her sleeve and then stabbed him again and again in the torso.
Reduced to a bloodied, pained mess, Loki hadn’t even time to scream. All he could do was gurgle helplessly.
Even as he was in the process of dying, with her other hand the assassin pushed him back at the shoulder. The life fading from his eyes the Frost Giant fell, toppling over the edge of the tower. With a sickening thud he landed splayed on his back on the stones far below, and stayed there, motionless.
With her face completely devoid of emotion Selene stood at the very edge of the tower and gazed down at his body, lowering her weapon, the wind pulling her hair and cloak back and forth.
Already with her magic she was reaching out, finding the threads of her latest victim’s life’s force, pulling. Getting ready to journey onward to her next destination.
*
Deep underneath the brick foundations of abandoned tunnels, Loki sat cross-legged on the concrete floor. He’d been there, eyes closed, motionless for some time.
The few rats that came down this far gave him a wide berth, scurrying around him nervously. As if in their small minds they somehow knew he was not to be interrupted.
But now suddenly, fluidly, his eyes opened.
His gaze fixed onto one insignificant point in heady concentration, he got to his feet.
Save the creak from his leather-trimmed armor when he moved everything around him was silent. There was only the hum from the ancient light source above as it flickered; the dripping of condensation from a few no doubt long-forgotten pipes.
Returning to the same place he’d used as his lair when last he’d been on Earth was admittedly something of a gamble. His enemies knew where it was (or the archer he’d held in his thrall did, in any case) and he ran the risk that it would be the first place they’d look.
At the same time however…it was a move that was so careless, it stood a good chance they might not even consider it of him.
And after his escape and the battle that followed, Loki was left weaker than he would’ve liked. He was impatient to find shelter, at least a temporary one while he gathered resources and plotted for his next move. Impatient enough he was willing to return to this familiar if inglorious territory instead of searching for something new.
It was dirty, long abandoned, and of course empty - all the equipment and weapons that’d been brought there while it served as his primary base of operations having been removed by SHIELD. He was not the least surprised by that.
It was no matter. He hadn’t wanted any of that, anyway. He was free now: of any pesky alliances or need to worry about what happened to the Tesseract. Free to form and pursue his own agenda.
Free to remind this wretched world and the pathetic things that crawled upon it why he deserved to be called a god.
And perhaps most crucially, free to come after the Avengers and their allies at his leisure, and take sweet satisfaction in defeating them.
After he made them suffer a little, of course. There was no point in rushing things.
His mistakes before had been all impulsive, angry ones. But let it never be said that Loki couldn’t learn his lesson. This time he would be more careful. This time, he would remember where his true strengths lay.
At least, that had been the plan. But now after only a few days, something had come along to interrupt, to start troubling him.
It had at first been almost nothing; easily dismissed. A prickle at the back of his mind - an unformed thought, a nagging burr. But it had continued on, and kept building. And intrinsically paranoid a creature as Loki was, he could ignore it no longer.
There was something…somewhere, out there…that was tracing, or possibly even attacking, the energy that made up the very fabric of his being.
Loki paced feverishly, mouth pressed into a thin line as he thought about what he should do next.
Weak as the sensation was, it was nearly impossible to get any read on where it was coming from, or the particulars. That it came from a great distance was clear: right now it must be worlds, maybe even realities away. But what concerned him was what would happen when it began getting closer.
He, or some version of him, was being targeted by somebody.
His concerns almost immediately leapt to his last would-be keeper. He’d been assured he would receive pain as payment for failure, after all, and the Mad Titan was not the sort to break that kind of promise. But no - he shrugged off that particular worry. If that certain individual were after him, he would most assuredly know.
He would have to deal with Thanos eventually, he knew - but not right now. Still it made him shudder internally just thinking the name.
But no; set that difficulty aside for another day. Right now there were other more salient things to deal with.
Loki stopped walking and stood in place, head turning, his eyes darting in time with what ideas flitted through his head. He was rapidly coming to what must be the only logical conclusion.
Whoever or whatever it was that he sensed making this move against him, he wasn’t going to sit back and wait for the situation to resolve itself. He needed clarity, and needed it now. He would have to make the first move.
Protect himself; guard his interests. Find out who it was he needed to look out for and destroy them. Leave no potential enemies that could come back to hurt him standing - even if the cause of their initial grievance was unknown to or unmarked by him.
After all, when it came right down to it he hardly cared what the reasons were when beings made the regrettable mistake of getting in his way. He knocked them aside and cut them down, all the same.
His eyes hooded, and burning cold, Loki gave a mirthless smirk as he determined what was to be his next move.
LINK TO PART THREE
Title: In the shadows of the crossroads (Part 2: Counterpoint)
Characters: Loki, Thor, Darcy, Jane, original characters; mention of Erik, Warriors Three, the Avengers, Laufey
Pairings: Loki/Darcy, Thor/Jane, Volstagg/OC
Rating: R for language, violence, dark magic, alcohol use, sex, death, dubious consent (bodyswap), adultery, violence against children, and angst
Length: 6,830 words
Summary: More than twenty years have passed since Loki and Darcy first crossed paths, since whether they knew it or not they began on the path that led to their life together. Things in their world are happy, idyllic. But in another world trouble is resurfacing...and the consequences will be far-reaching and dire.
Notes: See part one for full notes.
Part 2: Counterpoint
It was morning on Asgard, and the first thing Darcy was aware of was someone moving next to her where she was lying in her bed.
With a stifled, drowsy sound she rolled over and lifted her head.
Loki stopped where he was in the middle of getting dressed and leaned back over to kiss her, smiling.
“Go back to sleep,” he told her. Pacified, Darcy was already settling back down to do so, her eyes closing as he promised, “I’ll see you later.”
She had never been an early riser. Loki normally usually was. It made sharing a bed difficult, sometimes. But the pillows were soft beneath her head and the blankets were nice and warm. Before long she drifted back into dreamland.
Just another cozy, happy ‘good morning’ that had become part of the usual for the two of them.
Darcy woke up again later, more fully, and taking her time went into the adjoining bathroom to take a bath and wash her hair.
By the time she returned she found Siún had come in and was already making the bed and tidying up.
“Good day, Milady.”
“I swear, no matter what, you’re always awake and dressed before me,” Darcy exclaimed as she came over and sat in front of her dressing table. “Do you just never sleep?”
Siún gave a faint smile. “One could say it’s part of a handmaiden’s duty,” she said lightly. “Besides, we can’t all give away our secrets.”
“Ha! No, maybe not.” Leaning forward Darcy tugged at the area of skin beneath her lower eye. She frowned over the wrinkles she knew her husband would insist weren’t even there. With a practiced air Siún came over and picked up a silver brush, and began slowly attending to Darcy’s dark locks.
“I think you gave my daughter and your son quite the start when you interrupted them last night,” she remarked offhandedly.
“I didn’t mean to.” Darcy complained, “It’s not like they were even, y’know, doing anything. It’s all whispers and hand-holding with those two.”
“I think it’s sweet.”
“It is sweet. Sickeningly so. They’re not in middle school, for crying out loud.” She shrugged. “Oh well. At least nobody can say they don’t genuinely like each other.”
Siún made a sound of agreement. “If all goes well they’re looking at a happy and fortunate future together,” she said softly. “It was a good match, for a betrothal.”
Darcy only absently nodded.
By the time Siún and Volstagg’s daughter approached puberty it became clear her parents had a serious problem. The only thing Noor inherited from her father was his gorgeous red hair - other than that she took completely after her mother. It made her one of the most beautiful girls in Asgard.
And every family with an unmarried son had noticed it too.
Volstagg was being harried by prospective suitors and fathers-in-law for permission to court his daughter before she even turned twelve. To save his sanity, and protect Noor from too much unwanted attention, there’d been an agreement to promise her in marriage to Austen.
He was a similar age and their parents were friends and he was a prince, so it looked good on paper. Darcy had opposed the idea of arranged marriages for any of her children, but she mollified herself with the thought that this wasn’t a “real” one. There’d always been an understanding that when the two got older, there’d be no objection from their parents if they wanted to break the engagement.
But Noor and Austen had gotten older and if anything they only seemed to be getting fonder of one another. Both were quiet and shy, and Darcy wasn’t even sure what it was they found to talk about when they spent hours sitting alone together.
A few more years, and they’d be old enough it would be appropriate for them to actually marry. It looked like the arrangement wasn’t going to end in being quietly broken off, but in a walk down the aisle.
From where she was still working at her lady’s hair with the brush, Siún lifted her eyes to meet Darcy’s gaze in the mirror.
“What do you feel like wearing today?”
“I think I’ll go more casual.” Darcy yawned. “It’s been at least a week since I’ve worn anything but a gown. Pull out some of the nicer Midgard clothes.”
“Of course. Do you still want me to do your makeup and dress your hair?”
“Hells yeah.” At the princess’ flippancy her friend of many years only smiled. “What’s the point of being royalty if you can’t at least somewhat look the part?”
Having servants had made Darcy lazy. She didn’t even try to deny that. And spoiled - she was probably spoiled too.
But heck; that was what she had married into. Everywhere she went people bent over backwards and smiled for her attention, ready and eager to wait on her hand and foot.
And after spending her young adulthood up to her eyeballs in student loan debt and living off pop tarts and ramen, now she lived a life where she’d never ever have to worry about money again. Even when she visited Earth she had a black credit card and an invitation to all the exclusive shopping boutiques.
She tried not to take too much advantage of it. But she definitely enjoyed it.
By the time Darcy left her bedroom she was wearing designer heels, a pair of exquisitely tailored black slacks that’d boasted a price-tag that made her buy them for the ‘why not’ factor, and a warmly colored cashmere sweater. Her face had that slight glow from the flawless airbrush effect (somehow achieved, in this case, without an actual airbrush) and her hair was half-gathered up in a loose and artfully messy style that looked beautifully simple but in fact took a long time and a lot of precise work to achieve.
She didn’t exactly strut down the hallway, because no matter how much her awesome had increased over the years, Darcy had never become quite coordinated enough to pull off a convincing strut. But there was something that could be described as a smug bounce in her step.
Asgard was in that morning lull where the palace itself was awake and guards and servants could be found everywhere, taking care of business, but otherwise the rooms were mostly empty. Darcy strolled her way through some of her favorite open-aired terraces overlooking one of the smaller courtyards. There were fountains and potted ferns and fresh air and everything looked buttery golden from the rays of sunshine.
This was also an area of the palace closer to the royal chambers, so it wasn’t surprising if she crossed paths with her family. She came across Austen sitting on the edge of some marble steps leading down to a garden, back leaning against a column.
He was half-hidden in shadows and reading a book he held in his hands. He looked up at the sound of his mother’s approach and she greeted him with a smile.
“Hey there. Good morning, kiddo. How we doing today?”
“I’m fine, Mom.” He smiled automatically in return.
Out of all their kids he was the one Darcy felt occasionally disoriented looking at; he had the strongest combination of both his parents’ features. When his face moved she could see the little bits of her and Loki smushed in there together.
Sometimes when he was small she’d find herself just gazing at Austen in a kind of awe, a voice in her head going over and over ‘We made him’.
But that was before. These days what she mostly saw was how he kept getting older, how he wasn’t a baby or even a boy anymore but a young man. “Mind if I sit?”
“Of course you can.” He scooted over for her obligingly. Darcy made herself comfortable, crossing her legs and balancing by resting both her hands flat.
“You know, I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry if it sounded like I was telling you off last night.”
Austen ducked his head, briefly avoiding her gaze. “No, it’s all right,” he mumbled. “You didn’t.”
“Because if anything I’m glad that you and Noor are getting along together,” she persisted. “I just don’t want you spending every waking moment with each other, especially if you think you have to. If we’re really going to go through this with the two of you, I want you to be sure.”
His face heated up but unhesitantly he met her eyes again. “Of course I’m sure. I love her.”
Darcy was momentarily put into silence by the heartfelt simplicity behind that confession. She fought back her urge to challenge it because he was young, to ask if he was sure he really felt that way.
Instead she waited a beat, cocked her head and with a different smile changed the subject.
“School’s starting again soon,” she reminded him. “Are you looking forward to heading back to Cornell?”
Austen shrugged, looked at his book and then with less enthusiasm than she’d have liked said, “Yes. Sure.”
Darcy couldn’t help but frown. Not disapprovingly but worried. Austen could be a little closed-off at times, but still. Sometimes she wondered.
It had always been Darcy’s intention that her children get the best of both worlds. She didn’t want them to just be princes and princesses of Asgard, she argued; she wanted them to spend time on Earth too. Have their own small lives there - preferably get an education. Just so that they didn’t feel trapped into one thing.
But her first active attempt at fulfilling this goal had been an unmitigated disaster. When he was a teenager, their eldest boy had been sent to live and go to high school with his mortal cousin. Unfortunately Wyclef’s personality and that of the other boy had egged each other on in the worst possible way, culminating in the two of them getting arrested for vandalism and shoplifting. After getting both of them bailed out Darcy had immediately dragged Wyclef back home.
Loki had been far from amused when for the first time seeing his son in months, Wyclef had a silver ring in each ear, black nails, and his eyes thickly painted in liquid eyeliner.
After that for the most part Darcy had given up, except for dropping the occasional hopeful hint to her children that maybe they would like to take the SATs, just in case? But except for what they picked up from her, Midgard culture was mostly dismissively ignored.
(Wyclef had thankfully given up on the emo kid makeup, though he continued wearing the earrings and nail polish. There were times when Darcy was convinced Loki was still holding it against her.)
Austen however had decided to go to college after all, a turn of events which had made his mother hug him and cry.
He was gone most of the year, diligently studying for a double major in Medieval Literature and Theoretical Physics, in addition to the fact that when he was on Asgard he was striving to be both a sorcerer and a warrior; oh, and he was still engaged. Thrilled as she was Darcy was seriously concerned her boy was going to stress himself out until he was ready to explode.
She looked at Austen somberly and waited until she was sure he was looking back at her.
“You know,” she told him, earnest, “as glad as you’ve made me and your father, I hope you’re not just doing these things because you know it’s what we want. The whole point is that it’s supposed to be what you want, too.” She tapped his chest, near his heart. “Promise me you’re not making yourself crazy for no good reason, okay? No matter what, all I want is for you to be happy.”
“I know.” Austen’s response was mild at best. He opened his book again, hiding his face behind it and studiously dismissing her. “This is what I want, Mom. Really.”
It was impossible to tell if he was hiding something or just being emotionally restrained. Darcy gave a loud sigh.
“And you’d tell me, if you changed your mind about something?” she pressed.
Austen gave a distracted nod. “Uh huh.”
Darcy gave up. At least if he had a breakdown, she knew they’d be there to pick up the pieces. She said goodbye to him and continued on her way.
The well-known sounds to her of children playing caught her ears. Stepping down into the courtyard her head turned, listening, until finally she spotted Jane sitting cross-legged over in a patch of grass.
Asgard’s Queen looked a bit disjointed. She was wearing a light flowing dress in the traditional style, but had distractedly thrown on one of her beat-up flannel shirts over it, unbuttoned. Her hair was carelessly brushed and Darcy could’ve sworn she saw smudges of ink on her fingertips, left over from poring over pages of equations.
But there were no books of notes in her lap at present. Instead she was smiling as she bounced her youngest, holding his arms up as she encouraged him to walk. Cordelia was nearby coloring, and Arthur raced about in circles, making noises as he played some game by himself that only made sense to a little boy.
Darcy waved at her. Looking up, Jane returned her grin and gestured her over.
“Look, Magni. It’s your Aunt Darcy. Can you say ‘hi’ to Aunt Darcy?” Jane encouraged.
“Drag’nfry!” Magni screamed excitedly, breaking free from her grip and half flailing, half crawling after the insect he saw flying by.
Jane rolled her eyes in fond exasperation and turned to the other woman with an apologetic shrug.
“I get that a lot,” Darcy deadpanned.
Jane laughed. “Sit down.” She patted the grass. “Anything new to talk about this morning?”
“I think Austen is turning into you, but, like, worse.” Darcy sat, only half-checking to make sure she wasn’t getting stains on her nice clothes. “And he and Noor are well on their way to kissy-face love central. Other than that, nothing.”
Jane gave a thoughtful smile, looking up. “Young love,” she remarked. “Remember when we were like that?”
“You and Thor are still like that,” Darcy pointed out. “Instead of being like an old married couple, sometimes you still coo over each other like little kids.”
Jane gave her a slightly sour look. But then her expression changed as she looked over at her children, watching as Cordelia flipped to a fresh page in her Famous Women Scientists coloring book and Arthur had hunched down to chatter excitedly at his little brother.
“I guess we should have outgrown that by now, huh?” Jane commented. But she shook her head, absently putting a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I can’t explain why it hasn’t happened. That’s just the way that we are.”
“Dude, you don’t have to apologize. It’s not like I actually mind.” Darcy pulled a face. “Okay, maybe sometimes I do, when the two of you are being especially ridiculous. And I know I complain sometimes, but mostly I don’t mean it. There’s nothing wrong with the fact that after all these years of being married, you and Thor are still in love.”
Jane chuckled, a little. “And we are, aren’t we? Who would’ve thought.”
“Oh yeah,” Darcy returned sarcastically. “After watching you two moon over each other in your early days, who could’ve ever seen that one coming.”
“Love isn’t always enough,” Jane reminded her, a touch more serious. “And things don’t always work out.” She got to her feet, heading over to intervene between Arthur and Magni, who were getting a little rough in their play. “I know I had my doubts at times.”
“I know.” Darcy followed her, concurring. “And sometimes they were warranted. But the thing is, you kept trying.”
She smirked as she watched Jane gather up her fussing youngest in her arms, her other son tugging her skirt and her daughter coming over to see what was happening.
“And look,” Darcy finished. “It all turned out for the best.”
*
Darcy was frowning to herself as she slunk her way around the lab.
Now that part, to be frank, she didn’t really appreciate. Sure, her major might have ‘only’ been in Poly-Sci, but she had worked long and hard to be taken seriously and earn her right to be in the lab.
It didn’t matter that thanks to SHIELD’s “vested interest” and shiny new funding they had a bigger facility, a new more climate-diverse location, a bunch of extra equipment and a whole slew of bodies to wander around and help with making the science happen. These lab techs with their white coats and nametags had nothing on her. She was Jane’s assistant, damn it! Sure; it was a bit more like her personal assistant, slash secretary, since most of Darcy’s duties basically revolved around being a gofer and handing her things. But that didn’t matter. Why, if she wasn’t here, none of this would be up and running!
If only because she was the one who pulled Jane’s head out of the clouds when it was time to submit her budget reports. Despite her love of procrastination, when it came down to the wire Darcy Lewis got shit done.
But despite her being easily the second most important person in the entire building, after Jane (she might have settled for third, if Erik hadn’t taken an extended leave of personal time after certain incidents in Manhattan), here Darcy was sneaking around like at any moment she was afraid of being spotted. And why?
Well, frankly, it was because she was afraid of being spotted.
But not by any of the techs or scientists working there, no siree. Far as she was concerned they could kiss her-
A nearby elevator door swooshed open and Darcy instinctively lunged out of the way behind some big hulking piece of equipment, taking cover.
A pair of people wandered past - one of them wearing a white coat and the other a suit that identified them as a SHIELD agent. They didn’t spare a second glance Darcy’s direction, too busy chatting over something on a clipboard.
After they were gone she got back up from where she’d ducked down, sticking her tongue out at their retreating backs in petty revenge. Then she resumed her stealthy prowl.
Finally she came around a corner and found what she was looking for.
Jane was inside the room that’d been serving as her private lab. There were tables there, and several computers, and a lot of graphs and charts tacked up and scattered about haphazardly. Crammed in the corner was Jane’s desk which was buried in a stack of books, the chair rendered unusable by virtue of loadbearing for a similar pile. The space was kind of small and had none of the better equipment, but it was Jane’s own space where she could be left alone with her thoughts, and a lot of times that was what she really needed.
But at present Jane wasn’t alone in there. There was someone else with her. Someone who was having an insistent, one-sided conversation, and not getting the hint that maybe he should leave.
“Jane, please. Speak to me,” Thor entreated. He stood a short distance behind her, clad in his red cape and full-on Viking armor, occasionally gesturing and pacing back and forth.
He took up more space, and seemed even more consciously out of place, than Darcy remembered.
“I am speaking to you, Thor.” Jane’s voice was calm. She had her eye to an electron microscope, examining something, and occasionally she moved to adjust a setting or jot down a note. But she never turned around. “It’s just that right now I’m in the middle of something.”
Wincing, Darcy did her best to duck behind a doorframe while still being able to watch them both. She was far away enough probably neither of them would notice her movement. It’d be a lot easier if there weren’t so many doors and panels that were made of glass however.
Of course the easiest thing for her would to not be eavesdropping at all. But what could she say? She wanted to see how things were going with their reunion.
So far, the answer to that seemed to be: not good.
“I am sorry for my interruption, truly. I remember how important your work is to you,” Thor said, pleadingly. “It is only that I thought it best I come right away, considering how long I have already kept you waiting.”
Jane straightened up. But there was a displeased look on her face, and now she was definitely making a point not to look at Thor when she turned around.
“I wasn’t waiting for you,” she reminded him, curt. She brushed past him and headed for a shelf full of binders, which she started rifling through with excess energy. “I’m not the type to stand around, waiting.”
“That isn’t what I meant.” Coming closer he rested a big hand on her shoulder. “Jane, please.”
She stilled under his touch and after an uncertain moment she sighed. At last she turned around to meet his gaze, though only after holding out long enough that he’d gotten the hint and started pulling his hand away from her shoulder.
“I know that it isn’t,” she admitted, quiet. “But, come on, what do you expect me to say?” She raised her arms and moved her head in almost mocking fashion. “‘Oh hey there, fancy you being in the neighborhood, glad you could stop by. Wanna take up right where we left off’?”
“Continuing at once from where we had parted was not what I automatically expected,” Thor returned, gently. “But, I had had some hopes. It is…what I would have liked.”
Jane’s mouth opened but she didn’t seem at first to know what to say to that. She glanced down, then back up at Thor again. All the while without quite meaning to her body swayed closer to his, as if drawn in by their undeniable chemistry.
Thor put a hand on her shoulder again, half steadying her, half drawing her further into his embrace. With the other hand he caressed the side of her cheek faintly.
“I know that I made promises,” he said to her. “Promises that I was not able to keep - at least not as soon as I would’ve liked to. But please know that despite it nothing has changed.” His voice dropped a note, intense and breathy. “I still feel the same for you. All this time, I kept up my hopes, supported by the affection that burns within my heart.”
Jane held her ground and didn’t lean in any further. “It’s been over a year.”
“I know.” Thor sounded frustrated, though not necessarily at her. “But I - the Bifrost was damaged, and then-”
“And then you did come back to Earth,” Jane interrupted. “And then you were here for only a couple of days, just long enough to make some new friends, and then you were gone again, just like that.” She broke free and made for the same table again. “I know I was in Norway but you didn’t even try to find me. I had to find out about the fact that you’d been here from the news!”
“I knew where you were,” Thor protested. “I knew that you were safe, and far away from the damage you could suffer if you were drawn into my brother’s mischief. Alas it was all I had time to care about.”
He sounded positively mournful. From where Darcy was standing, the look on his face made her cringe and want to give him a hug. Jane couldn’t see his face; she was standing in front of her table, leaning forward slightly with her weight on her hands.
She let out a breath, heavily, leaning further and closing her eyes.
“It was out of your control. I understand,” she finally said, simply, composing herself once more. “I don’t blame you for that.”
There was an undercurrent in her tone though that said she totally did blame him for that - she only couldn’t admit it, even to herself, because that would be against the one hundred percent rational and logic-driven being Jane liked to picture herself as.
“Then I do not understand.” Thor let his hands hang in a futile shrug. “If not that then what is the problem?”
Jane stood up, crossing her arms tight. She dropped her gaze again, eyelids lowering. “The problem is…the problem is time.”
Thor looked at her in bemused silence, and she turned around to stare up at him, her face screwed up like she was overwhelmed with her emotions.
“What happened between us in New Mexico, Thor…”she shook her head; “There was a connection there, I can’t deny it.” She smiled, stifling an unlikely laugh. “Almost from the moment I first met you there were some serious sparks flying.”
“Mm, I remember.” Thor returned her smile with one of his own, both fond and suggestive.
Coming closer he picked up her hand, holding her eyes as he gave it a gentlemanly, meaningful kiss.
Jane dropped her gaze, face heating up, and bit her lip. She let him give his kiss and didn’t interrupt him.
But the moment he was finished she gently but firmly tugged her hand back away.
“Except it didn’t get to last. It - whatever it was we had - got interrupted before it had any chance to really get going.” She shook her head again, apologetic. But convinced. Decisive. “And then a year went by and I started to wonder if any of it was real to begin with-”
“It was,” Thor exclaimed, horrified.
“I know,” she stressed precisely. She blinked once, hard, before continuing. “But a lot of other things happened in the meantime. To both of us, I’m sure. And I’m just not sure-”
Her words hung there in the air, which was writ with tension. Darcy leaned a little more forward in her hiding space, feeling as riveted as if she was watching a train wreck, or a soap opera.
Thor was as caught up in the tension himself, if not more, understandably. He took a step towards Jane, looking at her like he thought if he stared hard enough, with eyes wide enough, everything she had to say would make sense to him.
“What, Jane? What are you unsure about?”
She sighed again. Her expression was sympathetic, but it looked like there was a lump in her throat.
“Maybe all we had was a window,” she explained sadly. “Maybe there was a window of opportunity where something could have happened, where maybe you and I could’ve gotten together. But it passed, through circumstances not entirely under our control, and now…who knows. It could just be too late.”
It took Thor what seemed like a solid minute to recover from that blow.
“I don’t believe that,” he said stubbornly, voice thick.
“Thor. I’m sorry, but-”
“No.” He wouldn’t let her finish, his expression of determination nearly grim in its sheer intensity. “Forgive me, Jane. I do not mean to dismiss your feelings and if you want I should take my leave, I will respect that. But I will not give up on us so easily. On you.”
He breathed in.
“As you said, time has passed. And I have waited for you throughout it. I will wait for you a little while longer still.”
They stared each other down as Jane pressed one hand to the base of her throat.
“And if it turns out you’ve waited in vain?” she inquired, finally.
“I only hope that it does not come to be so.” Thor moved to go, stepping sideways so that he turned regally past her. “For now, I bid you farewell. I will be in your New York - the Man of Iron has offered me hospitality in the tower he has built.” He hesitated, glancing back.
“I…I am to understand that the tools he and Dr. Banner have there at their disposal are most impressive. If you wish to visit, and see them, you need only ask. I will make certain they grant you access.”
And with that goodbye he turned back again and strode out of the room.
Outside Darcy swiftly pushed away from the wall and pulled out her iPod, looking down at it and acting as if she’d been fiddling with it already.
“Oh hey there, Thor,” she said in a rapid-fire murmur, voice overly nonchalant as she avoided his eyes, “what a coincidence running into you, I totally didn’t see you or have any idea you were there at all…”
She trailed off when it became clear he had no intention to speak to her. He just kept on moving down the hallway until he was out of sight, gone. She wondered if he’d take an elevator to the surface before he flew off or if he’d just punch a hole straight through in his frustration.
Not that she was holding it against him, his not saying hi to her. They’d already exchanged a particularly excited, squealing and hugging greeting earlier, when he’d first arrived.
Darcy lowered her iPod and looked back into the lab at Jane. The other woman still hadn’t realized she was there, and in Thor’s wake was sort of listlessly drifting back and forth, hugging one arm to her body.
Now it was Darcy’s turn to sigh. On the one hand she really wanted to run in there and shake her. Guys like Thor didn’t come along every day after all - on top of everything else awesome about him he was a bona fide god and a superhero.
But Jane’s perspective on it, unfortunately, wasn’t exactly crazy either. Maybe the magic was gone now. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
It was still supremely tragic, though. Who would’ve thought the odds would turn out to be so against them?
*
Another evening on Jotunheim had come that was like any other. Quiet, cold, and beset by low and howling winds. Out in the frozen fields no giants moved about, nor any of the few creatures capable of living in the hostile realm. All was empty darkness, the snowdrifts shifting, the wind giving a sharp whistle as it moved between the peaks of jagged rocks.
Overlooking this expanse was the half-ruined citadel that served as Laufey’s palace. Here too was mostly silence, and stillness. This part of their world was nearly deserted, and even Frost Giants needed to sleep.
Alone on the ramparts stood a single figure, a Jotun by shape and color though unusually small. It lingered at the top of one of the tallest towers, clad in layers of thin pelts and secondhand chainmail.
Loki gazed with impassive scrutiny out on his father’s kingdom, and then tilted his head back to look upward to the night sky above.
A thin winter’s fog obscured the air, as always, but the stars still shone brightly through. The Jotun prince watched them for a while then dropped his gaze again. Pushing away from the wall, he sighed, and continued about his walk.
There was, quite frankly, not much for a restless soul to do on Jotunheim at this hour. And few were also awake that one could pass the time with, though in truth Loki did not mind this part so much. He’d always preferred his solitude.
His thoughts wandered haphazardly as he rounded the winding paths along the tower’s edge, crossing from one end of the battlements to the other. All around him the world existed in stark contrast, practically nothing but shades of black and white.
Suddenly he stopped still, attentions warily captured. He could’ve sworn he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.
Listening sharply his red eyes narrowed. Without fully turning his head he kept careful watch on the courtyard below.
There; among the rocks and ice. There was a flicker, too fast and out of place to be anything natural.
Loki rushed to the edge, fingers curling to grasp the edge of the stone wall as he leaned forward, looking out, searching. He could make out no details, only a flash here and there as whatever it was beat a swift path through the courtyard, it seemed, and then up towards the stairs and the towers where Loki himself was standing.
Quickly he started running himself, taking what would seem at the outset an unpredictable path, going around one tower and down a flight a stairs, only to zigzag and by a different set rise up again.
He was as interested in getting closer to the intruder as he was fleeing them. So long as he kept on the move and maintained a distance between them, it gave him more time to study and try and figure out who and what they were.
Who was it that came to Jotunheim in the dead of night, and slunk so easily in the layers of hidden expanses between snow and shadows?
Bracing his back against a wall Loki raised his hands before himself, forming a long sharp icicle to use as a weapon. He thought he could make out footsteps when he held his breath. It sounded like the intruder was trying to get closer to where he was.
Deciding to end the farce Loki dug his claws into the gaps between stones, with one hand hauling himself up to the top of the tower. Ice spike at the ready he came over to the side, poised for action as he gazed down.
But there was nothing there. Loki frowned, bewildered.
Something moved behind him. He spun just in the nick of time to parry the long knife thrust toward his face with his ice.
Blades locked, the force behind the attack causing him to bend back slightly, he was met with the sight of a white-skinned humanoid with tangled black hair. She gave a long hiss as her eyes bore heatedly into his, baring a set of fangs.
After a few intense moments Loki was able to push her off and away, but wound up sprawled on his back for his efforts.
The strange, frightening attacker needed no recovery - she hurled herself at him again, this time with fingers curled, barehanded.
Loki threw the icicle spear at her. She twisted one forearm in front of her face, blocking the blow and shattering the ice itself into fragments with alarming ease.
He tried to get up. But it was already too late. She was on him, battering him, tearing at his throat. She produced another knife she must’ve had hidden in her sleeve and then stabbed him again and again in the torso.
Reduced to a bloodied, pained mess, Loki hadn’t even time to scream. All he could do was gurgle helplessly.
Even as he was in the process of dying, with her other hand the assassin pushed him back at the shoulder. The life fading from his eyes the Frost Giant fell, toppling over the edge of the tower. With a sickening thud he landed splayed on his back on the stones far below, and stayed there, motionless.
With her face completely devoid of emotion Selene stood at the very edge of the tower and gazed down at his body, lowering her weapon, the wind pulling her hair and cloak back and forth.
Already with her magic she was reaching out, finding the threads of her latest victim’s life’s force, pulling. Getting ready to journey onward to her next destination.
*
Deep underneath the brick foundations of abandoned tunnels, Loki sat cross-legged on the concrete floor. He’d been there, eyes closed, motionless for some time.
The few rats that came down this far gave him a wide berth, scurrying around him nervously. As if in their small minds they somehow knew he was not to be interrupted.
But now suddenly, fluidly, his eyes opened.
His gaze fixed onto one insignificant point in heady concentration, he got to his feet.
Save the creak from his leather-trimmed armor when he moved everything around him was silent. There was only the hum from the ancient light source above as it flickered; the dripping of condensation from a few no doubt long-forgotten pipes.
Returning to the same place he’d used as his lair when last he’d been on Earth was admittedly something of a gamble. His enemies knew where it was (or the archer he’d held in his thrall did, in any case) and he ran the risk that it would be the first place they’d look.
At the same time however…it was a move that was so careless, it stood a good chance they might not even consider it of him.
And after his escape and the battle that followed, Loki was left weaker than he would’ve liked. He was impatient to find shelter, at least a temporary one while he gathered resources and plotted for his next move. Impatient enough he was willing to return to this familiar if inglorious territory instead of searching for something new.
It was dirty, long abandoned, and of course empty - all the equipment and weapons that’d been brought there while it served as his primary base of operations having been removed by SHIELD. He was not the least surprised by that.
It was no matter. He hadn’t wanted any of that, anyway. He was free now: of any pesky alliances or need to worry about what happened to the Tesseract. Free to form and pursue his own agenda.
Free to remind this wretched world and the pathetic things that crawled upon it why he deserved to be called a god.
And perhaps most crucially, free to come after the Avengers and their allies at his leisure, and take sweet satisfaction in defeating them.
After he made them suffer a little, of course. There was no point in rushing things.
His mistakes before had been all impulsive, angry ones. But let it never be said that Loki couldn’t learn his lesson. This time he would be more careful. This time, he would remember where his true strengths lay.
At least, that had been the plan. But now after only a few days, something had come along to interrupt, to start troubling him.
It had at first been almost nothing; easily dismissed. A prickle at the back of his mind - an unformed thought, a nagging burr. But it had continued on, and kept building. And intrinsically paranoid a creature as Loki was, he could ignore it no longer.
There was something…somewhere, out there…that was tracing, or possibly even attacking, the energy that made up the very fabric of his being.
Loki paced feverishly, mouth pressed into a thin line as he thought about what he should do next.
Weak as the sensation was, it was nearly impossible to get any read on where it was coming from, or the particulars. That it came from a great distance was clear: right now it must be worlds, maybe even realities away. But what concerned him was what would happen when it began getting closer.
He, or some version of him, was being targeted by somebody.
His concerns almost immediately leapt to his last would-be keeper. He’d been assured he would receive pain as payment for failure, after all, and the Mad Titan was not the sort to break that kind of promise. But no - he shrugged off that particular worry. If that certain individual were after him, he would most assuredly know.
He would have to deal with Thanos eventually, he knew - but not right now. Still it made him shudder internally just thinking the name.
But no; set that difficulty aside for another day. Right now there were other more salient things to deal with.
Loki stopped walking and stood in place, head turning, his eyes darting in time with what ideas flitted through his head. He was rapidly coming to what must be the only logical conclusion.
Whoever or whatever it was that he sensed making this move against him, he wasn’t going to sit back and wait for the situation to resolve itself. He needed clarity, and needed it now. He would have to make the first move.
Protect himself; guard his interests. Find out who it was he needed to look out for and destroy them. Leave no potential enemies that could come back to hurt him standing - even if the cause of their initial grievance was unknown to or unmarked by him.
After all, when it came right down to it he hardly cared what the reasons were when beings made the regrettable mistake of getting in his way. He knocked them aside and cut them down, all the same.
His eyes hooded, and burning cold, Loki gave a mirthless smirk as he determined what was to be his next move.
LINK TO PART THREE