Finding Home

Chapter 31 - Planning?

"Alright, back on track now," Natasha said, rolling her eyes. "Thor, you know about the Aether, right?"

Loki cut in, "I'll tell you about it. He'll go off on a rant about Jane and his mother and won't give any useful information. I shall tell the story."

They gave him a weird look. "How would you know that? You aren't that close with him."

Loki paled and I grabbed his hand. "Angelus is the protogenos of sorcery. He knows things even I don't know."

He smiled at me gratefully and began to speak. "The Aether did not start out as a stone. It was more of an entity, a parasitic sludge that made a host of Jane Foster, Thor's former lover. Lady Foster became very ill as a result of the Aether feeding off of her magical core, and Midgard," his eyes widened at his slipup and he clapped a hand over his mouth. "By the All-Father, I'm an idiot!"

I sighed. "Darling, you are not an idiot. We've talked about this."

"You are Asgardian?" Thor asked curiously.

"I was, but now I am not. I am an Omega and my fealty lies with my husband," Loki snarled. "Never call me one again. After everything they have done to me, I shall never identify with them."

Thor tilted his head. "You said 'them.' That's not including me, I don't think."

Loki sighed and turned to me. "We can redo it before the mission," he suggested.

I sighed. "Only you, since you already blew your cover anyways."

Gamora pouted but stopped after she received a stern glare.

Loki smiled at Thor. "It does not include you or Mother. The All-Father did much to me, but you were always kind to me, Brother."

Thor brightened immensely and hugged Loki. "Loki! I thought you were dead!"

I shook my head. "No, you didn't. Not a week ago, at least. If you had, you would be very different than you are now. My arrival on Terra after the Mad Titan was not set in fate. If I had not come, Bruce's formula that was meant to stabilize his relationship with the Hulk would have made him a mixture of the two rather than allowing him to communicate and control the change. Clint would have been a vigilante and a murderer. Thor would be an alcoholic and recluse. Shuri would not be here. Nebula and Rocket would have traveled in space together and actually become semi-friends.

"You all knew our identities before yesterday's meeting. I hid them to give us an advantage over the Mad Titan. You were likely to give us away if I hadn't. Loki's identity will once again be erased from your minds before the mission." I gestured to my husband. "Darling, please continue."

He nodded, his hood now down revealing that he changed his appearance back. "As I was saying, Terra was not advanced enough to deal with it, so Thor, being a lovesick doofus, brought Lady Foster to Asgard in hopes that the All-Father would heal her, foolishly believing him to be a caring man. Instead, the All-Father brushed her aside and tried to send her back to Terra, but the Aether protected her from the guards he assigned to remove her from the palace. Seeing no way to remove her, he gave her to our mother to care for. Mother did her best, but was not quite able to do what the All-Father had the power to: extract the Aether.

"The palace was attacked and Mother was..." he trailed off. "Anyway, Thor and his friends," his voice was filled with distaste, "came to me where I was wrongfully locked away without a trial for assistance to leave Asgard, as the All-Father had locked the Bifrost. I showed them, for Thor's sake. His friends could die for all I care. But he loved Lady Foster, and I liked her. She was much like my mother. And so I went along with them." His eyes gained a distant look. "Made them think it was his plan that worked."