Chapter Text
Queen Frigga was the real seer of Asgard. It didn’t show in her face, the horrors she had witnessed which were buried in the past as well as those yet to be inked into the pages of history. Whenever he had asked her about it in the past, she usually said- the good always balanced out the bad. But the brothers had seen her shed tears and seek refuge in their father’s arms. Unable to divulge in fear of altering the future and giving rise to something worse.
His brother, however, was no seer. Unparalleled in the arts of Seidr yes, like their mother. But Loki was not cursed with the gift of sight.
Or that is, not in the traditional sense of the word.
Seidr worked in strange ways. When Thor had once asked Loki about it, even the silver-tongued price had struggled to put words together. It was like part of one’s own blood. Flowing fluidly through each cell of the body. Not just the wielder’s, but everyone’s and everything’s, existing in the universe. Awaiting command from those with the gift. One could draw the force from within. Or control its flow outside.
Reading Seidr travelling through time gave a Seer their sight.
Loki wasn’t a seer yet.
But that didn’t stop him from accidentally getting snippets from time to time. Of omens and premonitions. Often, the meaning remained obscured until the event came to pass.
This time around was no different.
It started with a nightmare. Well, three of them.
Loki hated showing weakness, so he kept his mouth shut. Not that it helped. Thor’s room was next to his on their shared floor at Stark’s tower. Being woken up to furniture’s and articles swirling in an ominous vortex of green Seidr when the moon was still high in the sky- was not something Thor was new too. But he did worry when it happened again the next night and the night after.
He tried to keep a sharper eye on his brother during the mornings, but it was fruitless endeavour. All signs of sleepless nights concealed beneath a perfected princely glamour.
There was just one question, which Loki had asked as he stood at the door to his room, ready to retire on the fourth night. His shadow was dark on the floor.
“Do you recall that time, in Vanaheim? When we fell sick and had to cut our trip short?”
Thor gave a hesitant nod. Both princes had succumbed to some local disease and had woken up in the healing halls of Asgard, no recollection of how they got there. It was a bit embarrassing to be honest. “Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. A … strange feeling.” Loki had murmured before retreating to his room.
There were no nightmares that night.
The incident was forgotten within a week.
9 months earlier
Ever since New York, things had been different.
Not just for earth. Yes, they now had superheroes and aliens and that was a tough pill to swallow. But for the Avengers themselves as well. Mostly because of the latest member of the team- and his complicated stand.
After Thor had dragged his brother back to Asgard, new evidence had to come to light. A peek into Loki’s mind by both Odin and Frigga had revealed enough to prove the innocence of the younger prince. Thor was delighted having his suspicions proven correct.
However, the elation did not last long for the memories also revealed a much more threatening foe slowly gaining power.
The mad Titan. Thanos. And he had clearly shown an interest on Midgard.
Thus, as the mighty Thor returned to mudguard to strengthen its defences against the incoming danger, Loki was sent to the infirmary to recuperate. Being poked around in the mind tended to give the recipient a nasty bout of headache, enough to make him pass out for a week straight. But it was small price to pay in the face of imprisonment and execution. Thanos’s hospitality had left a lot to be desired of. His skin bore the testaments.
It could have been worse. His crimes were forgiven, for they were not his. He was once more the prince of Asgard. The other part of the identity only known to those closest to him and still concealed to the rest of the realm.
But the metaphorical cat and the literal Jotun was out of the bag. And no matter what his parents said, how many times they apologized, Loki couldn’t find it in himself to completely forgive them. He had paid a steep price for their secrets. His skin and mind to forever bear its mark.
That being said, there was one person he blamed much less than the others. Someone who had been as much a victim as him in this matter.
Thor.
The clueless idiot did not possess the ability to lie or cheat. His words were never twisted to hide. His trust on Loki unwavering. His love unfaltering.
And above all, his ability to walk straight into Loki’s pranks, never disappointing.
Hence, against everyone’s better judgement, inclusive of his own, he made a decision. To return to Midgard and fight beside Thor.
Odin spluttering out his mead upon hearing this during the evening feast in front of the entire realm, made it all the more delightful.
The same term, however, could not be applied to his sizzling reception on Midgard. There was a gun to his forehead and an arrow pointing at his back even before the Bifrost dissolved.
The only reason he hadn’t been killed by a hundred different methods within the span of one second was because he was a god and mortals were meant to worship the ground he walked upon.
And Thor. His grin was wider than Heimdall’s field of vision. His bone crushing hug certainly reflected that he was made aware of Loki’s decisions.
“Mother informed you confessed that you loved me brother?!” He had exclaimed, causing Loki to roll his eyes. He had never distinctly said anything like that.
“Mother tends to read too deep into my words Thor, rather like you. Now could you please let me go? Your friends will be sorely disappointed if I died before they even get a chance to put an arrow in me.” He added with a sweet little smile.
“Make that at least fifty.” Clint clarified as he narrowed his eyes on the target.
“Antlers’ right. We are on the terrace and I’d love to get even.” Said the one inside the tin suit. “What do you say, your highness? Fancy a freefall?”
“I think I would prefer the paid version of that.” Loki replied politely as he eyed the suite. He liked the science, but the colour was horrible. The person inside- perhaps tolerable.
“Aye.” Thor nodded his head solemnly, scrunching his nose. “Cheap and free goods may not always be safe.”
“We’re doomed, aren’t we?”
And so it began, three long months of character evaluation by various representatives of the divided planet, until finally he was, not welcomed exactly, but accepted into the team. His crimes pardoned in light of the latest evidence. All he had to do something called ‘community service’ to do penance for the destruction and he was off the hook.
And that’s how Loki found himself joining the Avengers. And that was good enough. Because he too just tolerated the mortals…and Thor. Plus, they did have high entertainment value.
Life was good in the tower.
Present
“Thor!” Tony groaned as he entered the sitting area holding a croaking green amphibian in his hand. “Your brother turned Barton into a frog! Again!”
Loki raised the magazine he was reading to completely cover his face, easily ignoring his brother against whom he was comfortably leaning.
“Loki...” He heard Thor sigh. “Why did you turn him into a frog this time?”
“He was being annoying.” Loki turned a page. “Again.”
The frog in Tony’s hand croaked indignantly.
Natasha walked in after the engineer, still in workout clothes. She went straight to the kitchen and took the glass of water Steve offered and nodded her head in thanks. “Clint was planning to add itching powder into his shampoo. Your brother overheard.”
Never in the history of frogs had a croak conveyed so much betrayal.
Loki’s lip twitch reflected Natasha’s.
Ignoring Tony who was whispering to Barton about the possibility of an iron frog suit, Thor turned to Loki. “Brother please. Stop this childish croak croak…Croa-ak?!?”
Lo and behold, there was now another frog in the sitting area.
“Anyone else has anything to add?” Loki asked with a polite smile, gaze gliding across the remaining inhabitants of the room as he sat up to reposition himself comfortably against a cushion, now that his previous cushion had metamorphosized.
Tony raised a hand. “I’m guessing it’s a bad time to bring up the fact that you again changed the colour of my Mark 42?”
Loki arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “What do you think?”
“Right.” Tony carefully walked closer to the couch, deposited Barton next to Thor, then swiftly made his way out of the room, brushing past a confused Bruce who had just come out of the elevator.
Loki nodded. “Smart man.”
Bruce ignored the weirdness and looked at the captain and the spy straight in the eye.
“Fury called in. He wants you, Nat, Thor and Barton in Scotland. Satellite picked up some weird signals coming from one of the lakes…” He looked around the room, swallowing hard when Loki gave him an excited wave. “Uh...Where is Thor and Barton? Jarvis told me they were up here with you guys…”
Loki pushed away the frog trying to jump its way to the top of his head. “I have no Idea.”
“Loki, c’mon.” Steve kept down his coffee cup containing tea and came out of the kitchen. “Could you please revert them back? You heard Bruce. We need them for the mission.”
Loki kept down the magazine imitating the Captain keeping down his cup. “Thor has experience fighting in this form. I think it will shock the enemies. The element of surprise is the best weapon to have in one’s arsenal!!”
An unhappy croak came from the frog which had finally managed to scale Mt Loki.
“Loki, please. You can turn them to whatever you want after the mission.”
“Oh, I have your permission as well! How agreeably!”
Barton gave another croak of indignation. He was getting quite good at it.
“Loki. Now.” Steve said in a stern voice.
He relented. “All right! The charms will run out in ten minutes. Satisfied?!”
“Extremely. Nat, let’s go.”
The spy had been watching everything from the corner and offered Loki a discrete wink as she picked up the two ribbiting frogs and made her way out. Steve right behind her.
Loki picked up the fashion magazine again, the mask of mischievousness cemented to his face. “We’re going to have such an amazing time together, doctor.”
“Actually…” Steve stopped and turned around slowly. “Bruce, why don’t you take my place in this mission instead.”
“G-Great idea Captain!” Bruce all but ran after Nat. His relief could not have been more apparent. Steve smiled softly at his mates and bid them good luck. The power of the jet made the floor vibrate as it took off and Steve kept his vigil by the window till it was just a speck in the impressive New York skyline.
Something warm fluttered inside his chest. Had been fluttering for a long time. But Loki refused to give it a name. He was scared of giving it a name. But with every smile, grin, exasperation, and playful pout…it kept growing. These people…these feelings, they were terrifying. Yet he was not ready to face this again. To call it what it was… The pain the word had caused him once, held him back.
His smile wavered.
“Why do you always have to do that?”
“Do what?” Loki forced his muscles to relax.
Finally, even the Captain had to crack a smirk. He quietly sat down on the couch opposite to Loki and picked up his tablet to read the news. His eyes going to the abandoned drink in the coffee cup growing cold on the table between them.
“You know, I don’t really like tea.”
Loki shielded his face with the magazine.
The smile once more in its place.