The Raven

III- Reality

As he was sneaking back to the gateway, he saw Odin in full King attire gazing up at a statue of Loki. He knows good and well the real Odin is in Norway, so who is this? "Evening, your majesty." He said, attempting to sound less blatantly American.

     Fake-Odin seemed to detect something was amiss, but played it off. "Evening. How are things going in Vanahelm?" He asked.

     Vanahelm? Which realm was that again? Uhh... "What could one say?" He evaded. Fake-Odin hummed, accepting his answer. His gaze remained on Loki's statue. "You miss him, sir?"

     "Tremendously," was the hesitant answer. "Have you ever thought about having kids?"

     When he was dating Christine, they once talked about marriage, but it never really went past there. In his mind, he's thought of himself as a father and frowned upon it. It's not that he doesn't like kids, he just doesn't want to mess up. His father was a stubborn man much like himself. He was arrogant, stuck-up, and a perfectionist. Who's to say if he ever had kids, he wouldn't end up treating them the same as his father did him? Christine would make a good mother, no doubt, but him as a father? Did he want kids? Kinda. He wanted to nurture his DNA recipients into the people they should be, he wanted to watch them grow up, he wanted to raise people the world could be proud of. As a surgeon, that could have been a possibility, maybe. Then there was his current career choice.

     Stephen shook his head, "in my line of work? I would never want them involved with this. A child shouldn't have to worry about if their dad will be home to tuck them in at night."

     Fake-Odin stared at him, a flicker of emotion cast over his face. Mourning something he never had? Everyone knows his relationship with Loki wasn't the greatest. "You need a promotion."

     Stephen laughed breathily, that's definitely not the response Odin would give. Somehow, he liked this Fake-Odin better than the original. Time to find out who's behind the facade. He asked, "why do we have to wear so much gold? This costume's too flashy for an army."

     Fake-Odin chuckled sharply, "it's not a costume. If it was, it's a rather expensive costume." He smirked.

     That smirk. He recognized that smirk from a mural he passed while following the army. "Like your costume?" He asked smugly. Fake-Odin turned to look at him, eyes narrowed.

     Fake- Odin's eyes widened. "How-"

     "I know a glamour spell when I see one, Loki." He let his own spell drop, letting his normal attire show itself. Loki's gaze immediately fell on The Eye resting on Stephen's chest.

     Loki let his glamour spell drop as well, "who are you?"

     "Doctor Stephen Strange, in-line Sorcerer Supreme."

Loki's posture stiffened only slightly before the smirk made another appearance, "what are you hiding?"

"Nothing." Stephen answered quickly. Too quickly.

"Uh-huh," Loki said. A flash of green light revealed the Tesseract attached to Stephen's belt. "I know a concealment spell when I see one."

Stephen could appreciate the irony behind that comment. "Well, if that'll be all, I really should be going now."

"Hold it!" Loki commanded. "Where are you taking that?"

"None of your business." Stephen tried to push past Loki. There was quickly a dagger at his neck.

"Where are you taking that?" Loki asked again, slowly. When Stephen hesitated to answer, he pressed the dagger against his skin, not enough to break skin but enough that a chill ran through his entire body.