The Long Road

8

Thor searches. He sends Hogun to Vanaheim. He does not trust Sif and Fandral. Volstagg is assigned Alfenheim. They will look in less friendly realms later. Thor returns to Midgard and to Jane. She gives him little hope- there are many ways to hide in Midgard and Loki could easily disappear in any number of cities. He begins to search libraries, museums, and any place where art and culture are served free of charge. He begins in London, where she is living, and continues across Europe.

In Germany, something catches his eye. A disturbance at a gala where a strange, very tall cloaked creature slaughters guests and carries off a human head. He is appalled and tries to stop the carnage, but the creature is strong, magical, and vanishes in a moment. Two men stride in after the battle has finished and command him to drop Mjolner and come with them. He fights, runs, flies. One flies after.

In the forest, they fight again. The sarcastic man in the metal suit and the son of Odin. Then the other one returns, deposited him in the middle of the fight. They stand, staring at one another after the might of Mjolner meets the Shield.

Thor goes with them. He does not know where he might find Loki, but he knows that his hammer is one of the strongest weapons in the realms and there is nothing Midgard possesses that can defeat whatever it was he saw tearing through the gala guests. He tells himself his brother and lover are in this realm and thusly he must defend Midgard.

He explains only a little that he is searching for his brother. He does not tell them why Loki fled. There is no need and he does not like the picture it would paint of his father.

Thor learns the tall caped creature has, apparently, stolen something called a Tesseract and some rare metal. They think he is building a weapon. Thor wishes for Loki's cunning- he feels slow and stupid compared to the Metal Man. Given the look often on the face of the man with the Mjolner-defeating Shield, he understands he is not the only one.

When they realise that the weapon needs a source of power only equal to that which the Metal Man's building can provide, they fly to New York City and Thor finds himself in the midst of a war that can only end with obliteration. He does not understand what has happened, or how he has lost sight of finding his brother and instead is fighting to preserve one of the Nine from creatures he has never seen before, creatures that must exist in the space between the realms. He does not know what is in this space, but he has always feared it. Yet his younger brother nearly chose it instead of returning to the family. Thor shudders, but he knows it is not the giant metal-clad beast swimming between the skyscrapers that has momentarily chilled him.

In an alley not far from Stark Tower, Loki huddles under a mess of ragged blankets, praying that he will survive the roar of buildings collapsing around him. He is terrified. Other homeless people cluster with him.

"What do you think is happening?"

"Is it aliens, momma?"

"I don't know, honey."

"Did you see the size of that thing? What the hell is it!?"

"Are those...are those from space?"

"Holy shit, that's Captain America!"

"Iron Man's with him! They'll save us, just you see!"

Loki creeps to the entry of the alley just in time to see something large and green blur past, smashing through the creatures, ripping them from their flying machines, and roaring as the beasts pass overhead. He retreats back to the huddled masses, not sure if that thing was something trying to save them or not.

Part of the building above them groans and he speaks for the first time, "Oh no... Everyone, run!" The others are so surprised that they listen and follow him into the fray as the building collapses into the alley. He leads them well, quickly dodging between burning cars, making sure they stay together, and helping carry the man with only one leg. From somewhere unseen, police officers appear and help usher them to a safer location where they watch with hundreds of others.

Loki recognizes a red cloak fluttering behind someone ripping apart one of the flying creatures and his heart leaps into his throat. He is not sure whether to laugh or cry, to be glad that his brother is there among the heroes or to flee. Then something odd happens. One of the other flying men takes something directly into the portal.

"My god, it's Iron Man!"

"Did he just fly a nuke into there?"

"Who the fuck tried to nuke us?! We're still down here!"

"Oh my god, the government just tried to kill us."

"So he saved us twice!"

"Why isn't he flying?"

"What's wrong with Iron Man?"

And then everything ends as suddenly as it started. There are no more aliens pouring out of the sky, the portal closes, and everyone wonders if they just saw one of their heroes die.

The police usher people back and try to keep order in the crowd. Loki makes a choice. He drops the spells that hide him from Heimdall to have the strength to vanish from the police's watch, making his way unseen towards the chaos. He has been homeless for months. He is weak, he is exhausted, and he is scared. He still hurts, yes, but he needs to see his brother, even if only to disappear again after. It is only after he drops the illusion of invisibility that he realizes he is running, using every last bit of his strength to reach Thor and to maintain his skin colour. He hears something roar and follows the sound, tears streaming down his face. His thoughts are racing and though he is terrified of Odin, he cannot stop himself. He prays he can reach Thor before Heimdall whisks him away.

When he rounds the corner and sees his brother kneeling beside Iron Man, he pants his name and collapses on the rubble. Captain America raises his shield. Thor leaves Mjolner beside his battlemates and runs to Loki. His skin is an odd colour, the blue showing through as he struggles to keep up the illusion.

Thor gathers him in his arms, "Loki, I have searched for you so long."

"Do not take me to him."

"You are skeletal...where have you been hiding? Wait. Do not speak. There will be time for such things later. Come, we must feed you. Anthony speaks of shawarma."

Loki barely nods. He is far too tired. He does not know what shawarma is, but he does not care. So long as he does not have to move. Thor carries him and he manages to muster the strength to keep up his illusion in the dim lighting while sampling shawarma. When they finish, Thor once again gathers him up. He would flee if he could, but his brother is warm and the scent of his skin familiar and a comfort, even after battle.

Thor cradles his brother as they say their goodbyes. He is barely conscious and Thor is very careful as he shifts him to shake hands with the others. He looks so fragile, his body gaunt. The spell is fading when he calls to Heimdall. Loki is sleeping deeply against him when they land and Thor is reminded of so many childhood adventures that ended with a very small Loki curled up in his arms, exhausted. His instinct is to protect him as he did then. He finds himself surrounded, weapons raised, every blade pointed at him. He is momentarily confused, but realizes that they are reaching for Loki of Jotunheim who sleeps in his arms. He holds him tighter, turns away, and swears they will not take him. But he cannot fight them off while holding his brother. They pry him away and Loki wakes disoriented, crying for Thor's help, struggling and scrambling to escape. Thor tries to tell them to be careful while reassuring Loki that he will fix things, but they drag him away in chains, Thor held back by Heimdall.

"Why do you betray me? He is still my brother, I do not care what Father decrees."

"The All-Father imprisons him for the good of Asgard. I must obey the order I was given."

"And why? You have disobeyed unjust orders before."

"It has only caused strife. Bide your time, Odinson."

Thor tosses his hand from his arm, "My brother is weak and needs care, not the dungeons. I cannot bide time that he does not have." He follows the soldiers so that he can give orders to the dungeonmaster. He cannot free Loki, the orders of the All-Father are binding, but he can mitigate them.