Above All Shadows [Loki Timetravel fic - Completed]

51. Vormir

'How could you even contemplate such a thing? To take advantage of our mourning? You selfish swine, a right -'

'Thor! Listen for a moment more, please.'

'No,' Thor said through gritted teeth. Before Loki could utter another word, Thor stormed out, his shoulders shaking with fury.

Loki had anticipated the conversation would go poorly, and it had. He hadn't even finished recounting how he had ambushed their father, assumed his identity and stranded him on Midgard. Nevertheless, Thor's abrupt departure stung as vividly as a physical blow would have.

'What a wonderful night this turned out to be,' Loki muttered under his breath.

There was no sense in following Thor while he was in a mood this foul, it would only bait his anger. Nor was Loki certain he dared to.

Really, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with himself now. It was still the middle of the night and he could trudge back to their cabin - it was unlikely Thor would have returned there. Yet there seemed no point to moving so much as an inch. He wasn't foolish enough to think that he would be able to fall asleep.

On the other hand, there was something pathetic about sitting here, in a dusty room no more than six paces across, and peering at the slate-grey walls. He was even still slumped in the same chair Thor had shoved him into earlier. Loki supposed one answer was to head over to the laboratory and make use of what equipment had survived his tantrum the other day. He could tinker about with a mock-up of a detection system intended to alert SHIELD to Ebony Maw's return, but realistically, Loki doubted he would be of any use on that front at this moment. His brain felt like it was stuffed with wool.

Loki rubbed his eyes and turned his wheeled chair in a slow semi-circle. There was one place he would have liked to be. His mother's gardens would be lovely at this hour, their paths devoid of all distraction and the air heady with the scent of flowering jasmine. Perhaps his mother would be there too and they would talk. Not of Loki's many misdeeds or even what the future might hold, but of ordinary things. Of the spells Loki might explore, of the tulips Frigga thought to plant next spring and of a dozen trivial things that became the subject of involved conversations within a family.

Of course, such an occasion might be an empty dream now. Thor wouldn't keep what Loki had told him to himself and their mother could well react to the revelations as positively as Thor had. Or Thor could banish Loki from the Nine Realms altogether; it was perfectly within his power to do so.

'Mr Odinson?' Loki turned his chair around until he was face to face with the speaker - the same guard who had demanded Loki's name on the way to Gamora's cell. Rather more bleary-eyed now, he had half his body-weight resting on the handle of the surveillance room door. 'The prisoner wants to speak to you.'

Really? Perhaps this night isn't a total loss just yet.

Thor had turned off the monitors earlier and neither brother had bothered to touch them since. Loki turned the nearest one back on. He found Gamora pacing the width of her cell, occasionally muttering something too softly for the microphones to pick up.

'Did she say what she wants me for?' Upon receiving a despairing shake of a head from the guard, he went on. 'I'll best get back in there then.'

'Your authorisation was for one-time access only. Agent Coulson would have to re-approve you,' the guard replied.

'Surely Coulson would be asleep at this hour.'

The guard's expression was unsympathetic. 'What would you like to do then, sir?'

'Oh, for...' Loki tugged at the cuffs of his coat; right now he was long past caring about tiptoeing around SHIELD. 'Just call him up and tell him what you told me. Whatever happens after that, happens.'