Chapter Text
Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?
Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the risin’ odds?
Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night, I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need
Tony cursed as soon as they arrived in the Tower, his leg hurt where Engel had been kicking him. “Sit down.” He said sharply. She sat on the sofa, her face was tear streaked, her eyes red rimmed. She desperately wanted her Dada. “FRIDAY, order some clothes and footwear urgently for my daughter, pyjamas, jeans, t-shirts, underwear, sneakers. At least two weeks worth. And toiletries. Better get some breakfast cereal and bread for toast. Oh, and peanut butter and jelly too. Kids like that stuff, and ice cream.”
“Yes, Boss. I’ve scanned her to obtain the correct sizes.”
“What are you doing with my Dada?” Engel asked tearfully.
“Teaching her to be obedient, and as soon as she is she will join us.”
“She will die locked up like that, father.”
“Don’t be stupid. She just has to stay female and compliant and she’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
“But they are both the same person, you just don’t understand. You will kill my Dada and I hate you.” Engel’s voice was strangled through her tears.
“Go to your room you stupid girl until you can behave in a civilised manner.” Tony’s temper flared. Engel ran to her bedroom in the penthouse, all the familiar colours, but of course her decorative items were now all at the compound apart from her rag rug. She dug Fenris Wolf out of her backpack and held him close to her as she sobbed uncontrollably, she cried herself to sleep. It had been an incredibly long day for her.
Tony poured himself a very large whisky, that could have gone better he supposed. He would give her a few days to settle down. Maybe show her the footage from Goldeneye so she could see that Lore was fine.
<<>>
Lore sat in the corner of the cell, arms wrapped around her knees. She had dropped the small glamours that she had in place to preserve as much of her seidr as she possibly could. Her nail polish was back to black, her face had lost its fullness as had her lips. She had taken her phone out of her cross body bag earlier once she had been left on her own, but there was no signal down here of course. At least she had been able to look at the few photos she had of Engel until the battery had died. Now it was back in her bag - totally useless.
She had no way of knowing how long she had been here, but at one point an oriental man came into sight and introduced himself as Wong. He brought her a bowl of rice and a vegetable curry of some sort and a jug of water. She ate and drank even though she wasn’t hungry because she knew that being forced to stay female would lead to seidr exhaustion, and if she wasn’t let out before that happened she would die in this cell and Engel would be alone in the world until she could get to Nat.
The food and drink had been delivered by portal, and Wong came to remove it the same way. He brought her a bundle of bedding which he pushed through the same portal and gruffly told her to try and sleep. She stood up awkwardly after he had left to examine what he had brought her. There was a simple bedroll which was thicker at one end, obviously meant to be used as a pillow, and a thick wool blanket. She would need that, it was cold down here. But there was nothing for her to sleep in, her choice was to stay in her dress, or take it off and sleep in her underwear. Neither appealed to her, but she was not sleeping naked, she was in a very strange place and feeling particularly vulnerable. She unzipped her dress and slipped out of it leaving her in her pretty scanty black silk underwear. She pulled the blanket around herself quickly before she got down onto the bedroll. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but was better than trying to sleep on the floor. She was exhausted, but desperately worried about her little girl. What would Tony do with her now she had shown a sign of powers?
Her mind churned seemingly endlessly, there was nothing to distract her, nothing to give her any comfort. Eventually her mind just switched off like a light switch, one minute she was awake, next she was in a light, dreamless sleep.
<<>>
Steve and Clint were talking to Coulson and Fury. Bruce had hulked out at the news from Mack and Hunter and was currently cooling off in his containment cell. Skye was trying to trace Lore’s phone. Nat needed something to keep her occupied or she would go insane.
She stood in front of the keypad to the panic room door and JARVIS talked her through the procedure for changing the code. She confidently punched in the number that Loki had given her - 1712. She would give that number to Clint, Steve and Bruce. They were the only ones that needed to know at present. Once it was set she did a trial run to make sure it worked and stocked the fridge with water, and added fresh snacks to the room. In the laundry basket she had with her were toiletries, drinks for the fridges and snacks. She closed the door firmly on the panic room and moved into the sitting room of the penthouse. It smelled of cleaning materials. She restocked the fridge in the sitting room with a selection of cold drinks and put fresh sachets of tea and snacks in the cupboard.
Engel’s room was next on her list, the little girl’s room had been freshly cleaned, bed newly made up, towels refreshed. She put Engel’s shampoo, conditioner and body wash in the shower. Back in the bedroom she looked at the beautiful display of framed baby gowns hanging on the wall with their exquisite embroidery. Nat was sure Tony would have Engel and wouldn’t harm her, but would be happier if she was safely back here in the compound away from his alcohol fueled volatility.
JARVIS unlocked Loki’s door for her, and she took in the soothing deep greens of his room that looked out over the lawn towards the wood. On his bookshelf lay all his completed Lego models, above them the drawings she had had framed for him. She gently ran her hand over the surface of his models, was he still alive? Would they ever find him or Lore? He was becoming part of the team, highly intelligent, eager to learn and helpful. She made her way into his small shower room, like everywhere else in the penthouse it smelled clean and fresh. She popped his shampoo, conditioner and body wash into the shower. She fought back the sorrow that overcame her briefly, they would find him, they would not leave a stone unturned in the process.
Tomorrow Mack and Hunter would be back with their belongings. She would find the time to sort through everything and put it all neatly away in their rooms, so once they had them back it would feel like home to them once more.
<<>>
Tony had downed quite a few whiskies when the deliveries started to arrive for Engel. He put the basic groceries he had ordered away in the cupboards in the kitchen, then headed towards the bedroom to find Engel. “FRIDAY, order a large Pepperoni pizza please, strawberry milkshake and a portion of cheesy garlic dough balls.”
He opened Engel’s door without knocking first. “Hey, kiddo. I’ve ordered food for our dinner and your new clothes have arrived. I thought we could sit and watch a movie together. Maybe Star Wars?”
Engel lifted her tear stained head up from the pillow, Fenris was hidden by her body. “I’ll be there soon, father. I just need to wash my face.”
“Right. I’ll see you through there then, I’ll get the scissors ready.” Tony wandered back through to the living room and pulled the scissors out of the kitchen drawer. He undid the strapping on the boxes of clothing.
Meanwhile Engel washed her face quickly and patted it dry. She then carefully hid Fenris under the bed covers after kissing him on his nose. She tucked her butterfly backpack into her wardrobe then went through to face her father, her heart full of hatred for the man who had hurt her Dada so much. At some point her Uncle Thor would come looking for her and she would tell him what had happened, even if it meant facing her Grandpa.
She opened the clothes with no enthusiasm, these had all been picked for her by an AI, not even a person. All the things that had been left in Swanage had been chosen by her and her Dada together, chosen with love. These things were just clothes, dull, boring, practical. She carried them through to her bedroom and put them away, leaving pyjamas out for bedtime. Iron Man pyjamas, as if to stamp his ownership on her.
She didn’t sit next to him on the sofa like she used to, she sat on the other sofa. Arms folded. Uncomfortable.
“I’ve ordered your favourite pizza, kiddo. Just like old times. FRIDAY, start up Star Wars: A New Hope, please.”
The movie started and part way through the first half hour their food arrived. Tony collected the food from the lift and spread it out on the coffee table. Engel went to the kitchen and found herself a plate and some kitchen roll. Tony watched her. She had learned the proper way to eat from her Dada, she was not going to slip into slovenly habits now. She picked up a couple of dough balls and ate those first. Tony meanwhile just ate them out of the box and licked his fingers. When she finished she added a couple of slices of pizza to her plate and started to eat the first one. It tasted very different to what she had been eating in England, the base was very thick, not thin and crispy. It felt heavy to her, so the food difference was something she was going to have to get used to again. Likewise with her milkshake, it was much thicker than she had become used to. She found she was full quickly and took her plate and rubbish through to the kitchen. Tony frowned, she had barely eaten anything. He put it down to the time difference, she was a child and didn’t really understand that the easiest way to deal with jet lag was to eat at the right time for the time zone you were in. At least that was how he always worked it.
He carried on eating, supplementing his whisky with beer as he ate. Engel was starting to doze as it got near the end of the movie “Go to bed, kiddo. We’ll pick up in the morning after you have had a decent night’s sleep.” There was no goodnight from her, she just left the room and headed to her bedroom via the lift.
Engel undressed, taking off her pretty dress, fancy shoes and socks that she had been so happy to put on that morning. She put the dress and socks in the laundry hamper and her shoes in the wardrobe. She pulled on the Iron Man pyjamas with a frown, climbed into bed and cuddled Fenris Wolf, “Uncle Thor, wherever you are, I need your help. You need to get me to Nat so I can save my Dada. I’m the only one that can bring him back to life.” She may have felt no one was listening to a little girl in her despair, but someone was…
<<>>
Heimdall stood in the Observatory, his gaze turned towards Asgard’s young princess, deep in her misery. He knew where she was and as soon as the Crown Prince returned from his diplomatic mission to Alfheim he would ensure that he told him where his successor was being kept against her will.
But he could not see where the young prince was. When the two had been taken from England something had clouded Heimdall’s view, until the royal princess had appeared suddenly in Stark’s tower. He didn’t know if the prince was alive or dead even, but he kept his gaze turned to Midgard to try and find him at every available moment.
He hoped fervently that Thor would return soon, and although it would go against the wishes of the AllFather, he would send Thor to Midgard on a rescue mission. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time he had committed treason against Asgard’s King and it possibly wouldn’t be the last.
<<>>
Lore was rudely awoken by the same man who had brought her food and bedding. “Get up, strip off and stand in that corner.” He said gruffly to her. She hesitated, she felt very vulnerable in here, no means of defending herself easily available and already wearing next to nothing. She stood up holding the blanket against her, and the man threw a bundle of clothing on the bed next to her. “Corner, shower, now1”
Lore dropped the blanket on her bedroll and turned her back on the man as she slipped out of her silk underwear and self consciously walked to the corner he had indicated. A cascade of warm soapy water showered down on her and vanished through the floor - magic in play, she thought. She carefully washed herself, then cooler, clean water rinsed her off, before warm air dried her. It was all very efficient and she wasn’t aware that Midgard had this level of magic. Now she did an awkward shuffle to get back to the bed to gather up the bundle of clothing she had been left. There were no undergarments, just loose pants and a tunic top in some homespun cloth, like a linen/cotton blend. It was short in the leg for her, but she could finally turn and face the man now she was clothed. “You have magic?”
“I am the Sorcerer Supreme. I will be in charge of you for a couple of days while Stephen deals with a few matters that have come up. Then he will be back as your handler. Tidy your bed and I will bring you your breakfast.” Wong turned and vanished through a portal. Lore started at her cell, the floor in the corner where she had showered was bone dry as if it had never happened. She gathered up her silks and her beautiful Monsoon dress and vanished them and her crossbody bag into her pocket dimension. It was worth the loss of that bit of seidr. If she died here no one could access that space, they wouldn’t get her phone. If Engel could bring them back again everything would be retrievable. She folded the blanket neatly over the end of the bedroll, then jumped when she realised Wong was watching her.
A bowl and jug appeared in front of her through a portal. Some sort of grain made into a thick soup like consistency. Lore had never seen porridge before, and the jug held more fresh water for her. She sat cross legged on the floor and ate using the wooden spoon, and drank from the jug. It tasted better than it had looked, and she was ravenous as her body was burning through her energy levels rapidly. If they continued to feed her like this, she wouldn’t survive for long. She put the bowl down, and it vanished through a portal almost as soon as it hit the floor. And then Wong was gone and she was on her own once more, or so she thought. Unknown to Lore, Goldeneye watched her every move.
<<>>
Steve Rogers and Clint Barton had headed down to the hangar when the Quinjet had arrived and helped Hunter and Mack unload the cargo they had brought back. It was all carefully carried into the Avengers communal area where Nat waited to sort things out. She carefully unpacked the clothes into laundry baskets so she could launder everything, and when she found Rhubarb she hugged her tight. Lore/Loki would never have left her behind by choice, she went everywhere with them. “We’ll find them, Rhubarb, I promise you.” They started to move things like shoes, books and games into the penthouse apartment and Nat put everything away carefully into Engel and Loki’s rooms. The games compendium went into their sitting room, along with everything else that obviously belonged to both of them, including Henry the Duck. Their books and Lego models went on their respective bookshelves waiting for their respective owners to return. Finally Nat placed Rhubarb in the centre of Loki’s pillows, she looked for all the world like she was guarding his bed.
Meanwhile Hunter had found Bruce in his lab and handed over his collection of blood samples to be analysed. He explained the blood splatter they had found on the floor and showed Bruce the photos he had taken quickly with his phone. JARVIS had samples of blood from Loki, Tony, Engel and James Rhodes, so it would be a simple matter of identifying who the blood belonged to. Bruce set to work immediately, it would tell them who was injured, and identify if any unknowns were present in the apartment.
In the communal kitchen Steve was warily opening the white cardboard box that had been the very last thing taken from the Quinjet. Silence reigned as he unveiled Engel’s birthday cake, untouched apart from the burnt wick on the candle. Clint muttered under his breath “I’ll kill the bastard when I get hold of him.” Nat chewed on her lip and went to put the first load of clothes in to be laundered, they were Engel’s, they were fairly certain where she would be, they just needed a means of getting her back.
Steve said quietly “I think we should eat Engel’s cake. They would not want us to waste it. We’ll have it after dinner tonight and hope and pray for their safe return.”
<<>>
Skye had drawn a blank with Lore’s phone. Even if it was dead she should have been able to pick it up. The apartment in Swanage had been cleared completely by Hunter and Mack, therefore it was not in the compound anywhere or in Swanage, unless Lore had lost it before they had made it back to the apartment. Skye thought that was unlikely.
Wherever Lore was, her phone was with her. So something was blocking the cell signal. The question was what? “JARVIS, physics problem for you to work on. What would block a cell phone's signal. I’m thinking of natural things, rather than electronic devices initially. It’ll just give me an idea what to work with. If Engel is in New York with Tony Stark, I really feel that he will have stashed Lore somewhere in the city too, hopefully she is still alive, but she may be wounded or restrained. We have to find her first. He won’t hurt Engel, but Lore could be at risk.”
“Yes, Miss Skye. I will start collating information so that we can find young Ash.” JARVIS set off a separate part of his system to handle Skye’s request, while another part was analysing Bruce’s blood test results. Things were on the move.
<<>>
Nat had put away the first lot of Engel’s clothing that she had laundered, she was surprised by the colours and fabrics that the pair had chosen, far more colourful than their existing clothing. Steve had ordered Mexican food for everyone through JARVIS, including Hunter, Mack and Skye, as they were going to be part of the search team.
Clint meanwhile was hanging up the butterfly lights in Engel’s bedroom, draped along the top of her headboard. He had found the spare Command Hooks that Loki had kept and soon he had them finished and tested. “I’ll go and put the others up in Loki’s room. JARVIS, can you unlock Loki’s door?”
“It’s already unlocked, Mr Barton. No one is in residence so I have taken the liberty of leaving the door unlocked until you tell me otherwise.”
“Great. Thanks, JARVIS. That will save us time as Nat will be putting away his clothes and we may need to do other stuff as well.” Clint took the rest of the hooks through into the other bedroom and attached the dragonfly lights to Loki’s headboard, checking that they worked.
Nat walked into the room “Why did you put Rhubarb by the window?”
“Huh? I never touched her.”
“I left her on the bed yesterday, now she’s sitting on the floor by the window looking out towards the wood.” Nat looked confused.
“It wasn’t me. Maybe someone else has been in here, or maybe she is looking for Loki.” Clint gave an awkward chuckle “She can’t have got there on her own, I know because I was the one who chose her in the shop if you remember. She’s just a generic toy bunny.”
“Maybe she has some of Loki’s magic in her?” Nat looked at her fellow superspy, sometimes the strangest answer was the only answer.
“Fuck, Nat, do you think that she could find Loki?”
“No, she’s a stuffed rabbit even if she has magic in her. She can’t talk to us! Let’s go and eat and leave her to watch for her owner.” Nat closed the door quietly behind them. They headed to the communal lounge where they were joined by Skye and Bruce.
Everyone gathered around the sofas and made themselves comfortable while Steve handed out bottles of beer. They talked while they waited for the food delivery to arrive, Skye explained that she had asked JARVIS to look into what could be blocking Loki’s cell phone signal. Bruce had finished the blood analysis, none of it was Engel’s, most was Tony’s, a little was Loki’s and none from James Rhodes. Some belonged to an unknown donor. There was nothing from Happy. They all wondered who the unknown donor was. JARVIS let them know the food order was in the lift and Steve and Clint quickly opened everything up and distributed it on the coffee tables for everyone to help themselves. They were all of the same opinion, Engel would be with Tony and pretty safe. Loki on the other hand was an unknown, the lack of much of his, or Lore’s blood at the scene seemed to indicate that they were still alive at that point and nothing they had heard indicated otherwise, but was that still the case? Had they been taken somewhere out of Engel’s sight and then disposed of or were they imprisoned somewhere?
They were all hoping for the latter, but would they be held in New York like Engel, or would they be held elsewhere? Skye was banking on them being held in New York. She felt that given Tony Stark’s obsession with Lore and his animosity towards Loki he would want the shapeshifter held close. Hunter and Nat offered her their help once JARVIS had given her the information she needed, to start eliminating places they wouldn’t be held. Food finished, Steve cut Engel’s cake and gave a piece to everyone. They all ate it in silence. To Nat it was like eating sawdust, she found it hard to swallow, out there somewhere two of her favourite people were being held against their will. They had to find Loki fast, then bring them both home.
<<>>
Tony sipped his large whisky “FRIDAY, is Engel asleep?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Good. Show me the footage from Goldeneye.”
“Yes, Boss.” FRIDAY ran the footage from the nanobot, skipping forward through the time that Lore was asleep. Tony tapped his glass in approval when Wong had woken Lore after a few hours to get her showered, dressed and given her breakfast. It was soft torture, designed to disorientate prisoners when kept away from sources of natural light. Make them think they had been incarcerated longer than they really had. He knew from Steve and Clint that she needed the extra food so he was making sure she had plenty of carbs to give her energy. She was deprived of stimulus so she would get the rest she needed and the soft torture would bring her to heel quickly, no one could cope for long in solitary confinement. His goal was to get her by his side as quickly as possible after all. If Strange succeeded then he would get a hefty bonus. But Tony was keeping that knowledge to himself.
He played back the footage where Lore stepped under the shower, her back to Wong and Goldeneye. She was beautiful, even in such a situation as this she held herself gracefully, although you could see the tension across her shoulders. Was that the imprisonment, he wondered, or the fact she was being watched by Wong? He poured himself another glassful and looked at the current image, Lore lay on top of the bedroll in the rough garments she had been given, her eyes closed, but he sensed she wasn’t sleeping. “Soon I’ll have you dressed in silk, Bambi, and I’ll be the envy of every man when we are out together. I’ll cover you in jewels, whatever you want, you and the kiddo. We’ll be one happy family together. FRIDAY, switch off the transmission from Goldeneye for now, I’m gonna hit the sack.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Wake me when the kiddo gets up, so I can get her breakfast. Hopefully she will be in a better mood tomorrow.”
“Yes, Boss.” Tony wandered into his bedroom in the penthouse and collapsed on the bed, FRIDAY switched off the lights. Tony slipped into that drunken state that passed for sleep. His dreams were terrible, Lore kept shifting from herself into Loki and back again with great rapidity, it was very disturbing, but at least he didn’t vomit this time.
<<>>
It was when he was getting dressed the following day that Hunter realised that he still had two keyrings in his pocket. He took them up to the communal lounge with him and laid them on the dining table. Clint looked at them “Where did you get these?”
“I took the apartment keys off them and left them on the dining table. They belong to Loki and Engel, but I don’t know which is which.”
Nat was cooking pancakes in the kitchen “What have you got guys?”
“Leather wolf, and an owl.” Clint told her “Wolf is brown, the owl is green.”
“That’s easy, the wolf will be Engel’s, the owl will be Loki’s. I’ll take them through to the penthouse when I take the next load of washing through. Clint, do you want to take the first lot of pancakes to the table for me and the bacon?”
“Will do, Nat. On my way.” Clint made his way into the kitchen and grabbed the platters from Nat.
Skye came through and took a seat at the table “I’ve started to get some information from JARVIS on what could be blocking Loki’s cell signal. I will start printing out maps working outwards from the Tower and we can start eliminating commercial buildings like banks, large stores. It’s going to be a time consuming task checking everywhere out, but we have to try.”
“I agree.” Steve commented “We can put some of the senior field agents on some of the places that are possibilities, but less likely if that makes sense. I would rather we bring him home ourselves if possible.”
Nobody disagreed with Steve. Nat raised the fact that they had to let Loki’s landlord know that they had vacated the premises and SHIELD were willing to pay for a clean up crew to go in. Skye volunteered to draft up an email for Nat’s approval that she could then send onto Mark Miles. They would say that Jack and Lauren had been called back urgently to base due to a matter of National Security to cover their swift departure.
Clint cleared up the breakfast dishes while Nat and Steve took a training session with the level two recruits. Bruce, Hunter and Mack sat at the table to help Skye. They were eliminating buildings from the maps that had no basements, or were large businesses, banks, insurance companies etc where the basements were in everyday use. Anything they couldn’t eliminate was a potential search site. There was more to search than they had managed to eliminate, but JARVIS had reckoned that basements and sub-basements were the most likely places for the signal from the cell phone to be cut off. At least they felt they were doing something, and that would bring them closer to finding their missing team member.
<<>>
When Engel woke she wasn’t sure where she was at first, then reality hit home. She held tight to Fenris Wolf. Her eyes were sore from the tears she had shed the day before. She slid out of bed and padded into the bathroom, the sight that greeted her in the mirror was not pleasant, her eyes were bloodshot and sore, her face pale. She put Fenris on the shelf where the spare towels were stored and headed into the shower. The shower gel was sweet and smelled of artificial flowers, not clean and fresh like she was used to, likewise the shampoo and conditioner. She cried and whispered “Dada” under her breath. Her heart ached for her beloved parent. She knew he was likely dying somewhere if he wasn’t already dead and she needed to get to Nat as soon as she could, but she didn’t know how. Her father had FRIDAY watching her, and she wasn’t friendly like JARVIS.
She dressed in blue jeans, pale green t-shirt and white sneakers. She tried hard to braid her own hair, but couldn’t manage, so she tied it up in a pony tail instead. She tucked Fenris into her backpack and made her bed, then shrugged her backpack on before heading into the communal areas. Although she guessed they weren’t communal anymore, just her and her father. She shuddered. She was alone in the kitchen. She opened the fridge and found the milk. She hunted through the cupboards until she found a glass and poured herself a drink. There was bread, so she added a couple of slices to the toaster, found the butter and a knife. She couldn’t find eggs, bacon or anything like that. In fact there wasn’t any protein of any kind as far as she could see. She opened the cupboards and found the jars of peanut butter and jelly. She opened them and sniffed them suspiciously. She opted to add the peanut butter to her toast.
She sat on a chair at the table with her meagre breakfast and started to eat. She had eaten half a slice when her father appeared. “Hi kiddo. I see you have found breakfast.”
“It’s not what I’m used to, there’s no eggs, bacon or anything. My Dada would not approve.”
“Well your Dada isn’t here to cook, and I can’t. When Happy gets back he’ll go to McDonalds and get you breakfast in future. There’s cereal as well.” Tony filled the coffee machine and started it off. He pulled out a box of luridly coloured cereal. Engel shook her head in horror.
“I’ll make myself more toast. At least you have butter.” She looked at Tony disapprovingly.
“You could make me some while you are at it, kiddo. You didn’t burn it.” He winked at her. There was no smile back. She’ll settle down soon, Tony thought as he poured himself some coffee. He had only taken a few mouthfuls when a plate bearing two slices of toast was slammed down next to him. “Gee, thanks, kiddo.”
“I have a name, I would rather you used it, father.” Engel buttered the next two slices of toast for herself and sat at the table to eat it. When she finished she washed her plate and glass, dried them and put them back where she found them. She wandered into the living area and found the Lego box, she rummaged around and began to spread pieces around on the coffee table. What to build?
<<>>
Nat carefully put away Lore’s clothes that she had laundered into the wardrobe and drawers. She hung the beautiful robe up on the back of the bedroom door. She loved the colour, and the gold sprinkled randomly across the shoulders and over the front. She put the little green leather owl key ring on Loki’s nightstand next to his Kindle. She glanced at the window, Rhubarb was still watching the wood. She closed Loki’s door quietly behind her as if she could disturb the stuffed rabbit! She only had his things left to launder now then she would have no excuse to come back in here again.
She crossed the hallway into Engel’s room and placed the brown leather wolf key ring on Engel’s nightstand. The room was pristine, just waiting for the lively little girl to come back and breathe life into it once more. Nat closed up the penthouse and headed into the communal lounge and fired up her StarkPad. She found the draft email that Skye had drawn up to Mark Miles and read it through. She made a couple of adjustments, added her information and sent the email off to Mark.
Clint came through and she helped him start to prepare lunch “How did this morning go?” she asked.
“Do you have any idea how many properties in New York have basements? There are loads of them. It’s a fucking logistical nightmare. And that’s if he’s in New York. We need a break of some kind, like Stark telling us where he’s stashed him. Maybe I should rock up to the Tower and ask him? Put an arrow in his head while I’m there.”
“Calm it Clint.”
“He’s forcibly taken a little girl, Nat. She must have been petrified.”
“There’s nothing we can do, Clint. She’s his daughter. He’s her legal guardian, Pepper put all the paperwork in place when they were enrolling her in that fancy school.”
“Whatever. But she belongs here with us, we teach her and look after her. Tony can’t even cook!”
“Neither can we really, apart from breakfast. But I know what you mean. After lunch I’ll take a shift with Skye, Steve can help me, give you guys a break.”
“We’ll all get down to it Nat. The faster we get this done, the sooner we find Loki.
“I wish we had some way of contacting Asgard’s Gatekeeper to see if he could help, although Odin’s cohorts or whatever they are called would be down here like a shot to stick Loki back in a cell again. I suppose we had better get some food on the table before the others get here or we’ll be in trouble!” Nat gave a slight laugh and started to pull things out of the fridge and handed them over to Clint.
<<>>
Lore woke to the clatter of a bowl and jug hitting the floor and the disapproving look from Wong. “You sleep too much.” He told her.
“I’m tired and there is nothing for me to do in here.”
“You should meditate, contemplate your own existence and how you could behave better.”
“I was a good parent. You have all stripped that away from me.”
“You need to be a good partner to the man that has chosen you. Contemplate on how you can serve him and his life.”
“I am not an object to be owned. I am a person, my responsibilities are to my daughter, not to some man who thinks he can buy everything.”
“You will not get out of this space until you learn to be the kind of partner he desires.”
“Then you will carry out my cold dead body and my daughter will mourn my loss yet again, because I will not give in to him. He wants me like this.” Lore swept her hands down the front of her body “But I am male. I cannot live in this form. You will all see to your cost. It’s not a choice I can make, it’s how I was born.” She sat down and picked up the bowl of soup she had been given, vegetable with a few beans for protein. She could refuse to eat and then this would end more quickly for her, but she lived in hope they would let her see Engel once more before the inevitable end.
Wong cornered Strange when he was upstairs “Our house guest is stubborn.”
“She’ll break eventually. The little girl will be all the impetus she needs. It’s early days yet, not even 24 hours, although she doesn't know that. The more sensory deprivation she has the more she will break, and making her think that time is passing faster will help to achieve that. We keep feeding her and waking her every four hours. That way she will think that two days are passing for every 24 hours we hold her. After a few days she will cave and we can hand her off to Stark.”
“Good. I hope you are right because I only have book knowledge on shapeshifters, and so do you. If anything goes wrong we are in over our heads.” Wong created a portal and stepped through into the Sanctum's library leaving Strange on his own.
<<>>
Engel was taking a leaf out of her Dada’s book and building a real place instead of one of her mazes. She was trying to recreate Seascape, a place where they had both been happy until her father and his friends had appeared and ruined everything. She had laid out the walls where they should be. It wouldn’t be precise and accurate like her Dada’s would be, but then she was only seven. The walls inside and out were three bricks high so far, with all the doorways placed reasonably precisely as far as Engel was concerned.
Now she was starting to build furniture, which she would place when she was ready. It wasn’t quite the method her Dada used, but she didn’t visualise things the way he did. She was totally absorbed in what she was doing and didn’t hear Happy when he came in bearing their lunch in brown paper bags.
She heard his voice though “FRIDAY, can you let Tony know his lunch is here. Engel, I got you a cheeseburger and fries as I wasn’t sure what you would want and a strawberry milkshake.”
“How did you know I was here?” Engel raised an eyebrow, so exactly like the parent that had borne her.
“Your father let me know. I have been dealing with some business for him. Unfortunately he didn’t let me know what you would prefer to eat, but you can let me know yourself in future.”
“I will, Happy. I prefer things with salad and vegetables. Oh, and ice cream.” She managed a soft smile, also like her other parent. Happy smiled back at her, he would try and make her life more bearable for her if he could, her sorrow was etched all over her face.
He showed her which bag was hers, and handed her the milkshake. Engel got herself a plate out of the cupboard and plated the contents of her bag up. Happy was intrigued. Tony just ate everything straight out of the bag! She gathered a knife and fork and sat at the dining table and ate her food properly. Happy felt obliged to do the same with his own food and sat opposite the little girl. Tony came in and grabbed his bag and headed back to his lab without a glance at either of them. Engel and Happy ate in silence and when they finished Engel took their plates and cutlery and washed them up, dried them and put everything back where it belonged.
Happy watched her return to her Lego model. He wanted to talk to her, but had no idea how to talk to her without upsetting her. Instead he sat quietly and watched as she worked, because it certainly didn’t seem like play. It had a purpose to it. And of all the people that had hunted down Loki and Engel, Happy was the only one that felt guilty.
<<>>
Steve and Nat sat at the desk in the library going over seemingly endless printouts. Mack had joined them for a few hours before he had been called away to fly the Quinjet on a short mission. Hunter had gone with him. They were due back after nightfall. “Will we ever get to the end of checking all these properties, Nat?” Steve ran his fingers through his short blonde hair.
Nat looked up at him “I’m just hoping that they are in New York, Steve. What if we are wrong and they are in some other city, or in the wilds of the country. We will never find them.”
“Don’t go flaky on me, Nat. We all decided that Tony would stash them close to Engel. I don’t think we have that wrong. There are guys out there now checking the buildings closest to the Tower, they are good agents, Nat. If they are there, they will find them. Then we can go after Engel. Not sure how we will achieve that yet, but we will work out a plan.”
“I suppose every property we check is one less to the list.” Nat gave Steve half a smile and carried on scrutinising the print outs.
Skye helpfully brought them over some coffee to keep their minds sharp. “That’s everything printed out now. If we don’t find them in New York we will move outwards, but I think they are here somewhere.” She tapped the pile of papers.
Nat took a sip of her coffee and moved onto the next printout, marker pen in her hand, ready to eliminate what she could. She had Loki’s washing to tackle next and once that was done and put away she had no more reason to be in the penthouse, that meant Rhubarb would be keeping watch on her own. Was it a good sign that Rhubarb was doing this? If it was Loki’s magic in her and she was moving around the room that must mean that they were still alive surely? And if it wasn’t his magic, who else was controlling the rabbit because according to the surveillance footage in the room she had jumped off the bed on her own and hopped to the window, because Nat had made JARVIS check. She had kept that information firmly to herself, secret spy stuff.
<<>>
Lore’s head felt fuzzy, probably because she was sleeping so much. She stretched as best as she could as her limbs were stiffening up with lack of movement. She forced herself onto her feet and walked around the small space she was in, it was using vital energy, but she was past caring. Maybe meeting her end faster would be better?
She hadn’t been on her feet long when Wong appeared with her next meal and another jug of water. This time it was fried rice with a few prawns in it for a little bit of protein, but as with most of the meals she had been given it was mainly carbohydrate. She ate it nonetheless.
When Wong came back to clear away her empty dishes she spoke to him “Can I have something to read, please. Even if it is just a boring text?”
“No. Meditate. Contemplate your situation and your behaviour. Once you are contrite you will be released into Mr Stark’s care.”
Lore shook her head which made her dizzy and sank back to the bedroll “I would rather die.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. The taking of one's life is a sin against the Universe.” Wong’s face was stern.
“Then I have already sinned against the Universe once before, so doing it again won’t make a difference.” Lore looked at her hands, there was nothing in this space that could help her. What was outside the room and brought in was keeping her alive, but only just. The simple answer was to stop eating. She could drink water that would not give her sustenance, but not eat anything, her seidr would soon start to burn through her system leading to magical exhaustion and eventually death.
She would not allow Tony Stark to lay his hands on her ever again because he would not accept her true self. So yes, she would meditate, but not for the reasons Wong had given her. Instead she would make peace with the Norns. She sat with her legs crossed, hands resting palm up on her knees, eyes closed. She cleared her mind and concentrated on the three asking them to look after her daughter and allow her safe passage to Helheim.
Wong looked self satisfied, he thought he had got through to Lore and that she was contemplating her behaviour, if only he knew what she was planning! He would find out soon enough.
<<>>
FRIDAY alerted Tony that there was a delivery for him that he may want to deal with himself. He pulled himself away from the adjustments he was making to the latest version of his Iron Man suit and headed towards the lift. Inside were boxes from one of New York’s most expensive Couture retailers. He lifted them out and carried them into the penthouse and through to his bedroom. The shoe boxes were emptied first, stunning Christian Louboutin heels with their signature red soles. He settled them within his closet in the area he had cleared specially. Next was a box of pure silk underwear and nightgowns in shades from pure white to jet black, he stowed them away neatly in the drawer he had emptied. The next box held bags to cover the gowns he had ordered. He put them to one side on the bed.
The next three boxes contained the gowns, two floor length, one black and very sexy, one in emerald green and a little more reserved, both in the finest silk. He slipped them both into bags before hanging them in his closet. The other box contained a forest green silk cocktail dress with a matching velvet wrap, with Lore’s long legs it would show a lot of skin. He grinned in approval before he bagged it and hung it up. He carried the empty boxes back to the lift and had just sent it downstairs to the first floor when FRIDAY interrupted him.
“Boss, Miss Potts is down in the Reception area demanding to see you.”
“Really? How curious. Send her up FRIDAY and get Happy to make her a drink. I’m sure she has paperwork for me to sign or some such nonsense.”
“Yes, Boss.”
He headed into the bathroom and ran a critical eye over his appearance, running his fingers through his hair to tidy it up and splashing on a little cologne to disguise the smell of stale alcohol hanging over him. Then he headed on down to the communal area.
Pepper was perched on a chair at the dining table, a mug of fresh coffee in front of her, Happy provided Tony with a mug of his own as he sat down facing her. “What can I do for you Miss Potts?”
“I haven’t been able to get hold of you for weeks, Tony. I have a vast quantity of paperwork for you to sign as owner of the company.”
“I have been away in Europe on business, lots of meetings and stuff. You know the score.”
“I wasn’t aware that we had any business meetings scheduled in Europe at present.” Pepper’s tone was clipped as she passed over a pile of paperwork to Tony for signing.
“It wasn’t Stark Industries business. It was a little venture I was pursuing on my own. It was successful, I came home.” Tony started to sign the papers, as he skimmed the contents. Pepper was a very efficient and trustworthy CEO, he knew he could trust her decisions implicitly.
Pepper’s phone beeped, she picked it up and checked the message and pretended to type a reply. What she really did was take a quick selfie over her shoulder of Engel working on her Lego with Happy watching her. “Are you going to be long, Tony? That was my assistant reminding me that I have an appointment in an hour?”
“No, I’m nearly done. Happy can drive you.”
“My assistant is downstairs waiting for me. He is driving me.”
“Since when do you have a male assistant?”
“Several months now, he does for me what Happy does for you. It leaves my other assistant free to deal with the business end of things. He’s on a reasonable salary, you can afford him.”
“I’ve no doubt I can. Last one. Perhaps you could ring in future when you are going to want stuff signing instead of dropping in unannounced.”
“Why, Tony? Is there someone here I shouldn’t see? I’ll get my assistant to call, perhaps you would do me the courtesy of answering your phone.” Pepper stood up and put the paperwork in her tote and smoothed out the skirt of her suit. “Thank you for the coffee, Happy.” Her heels clicked across the floor as she headed to the lift and FRIDAY opened the door for her and whisked her to the first floor.
<<>>
Nat heard her phone beep, it was a message from Pepper, and there was a photo attached. ‘Engel is with Tony in Stark Tower. She is OK but looks very sad. I couldn’t talk to her as Happy was with her. I managed to take a quick photo while Tony was signing papers. Sorry I couldn’t do more, but at least you know she is OK.’
Nat opened the photo, Engel looked very unhappy as far as she could tell. She forwarded the photo to Skye ‘Can you crop and enlarge this for me so I can make sure Engel is not hurt? Let me know when it’s done and I’ll swing by with Bruce to check it out. Thanks.’
Loki’s clothes were in the drier, they should be finished soon. They had made quite a lot of headway with the print outs today, a couple of more days and they should be able to join the search as well which would make things go quicker. They would leave Bruce here with the med bay ready to go in case they needed it. The drier finished and she neatly folded the clothes into a basket and took them through to the penthouse apartment. JARVIS released the catch on Loki’s door for her and she carefully put his clothes away in his drawers and closet. Everything was now clean and ready for his return.
She walked to the window and crouched down by Rhubarb, she patted the top of the rabbit’s head. “We are searching systematically for them. We will find where they are being held and reunite you. But we know where Engel is, we have had sight of her and she is OK. We will be making a plan to get her back too. But Loki and Lore are our priority at the moment, they are at the greatest risk. As soon as I have news I will come back to see you, Rhubarb, I promise.” If the toy rabbit's whiskers waggled in response, Nat was not going to tell anyone, they would say it was a figment of her imagination.
She picked up the basket and took a quick look around the room, she hoped that soon it would be filled with the scent of their missing colleague and he could cuddle up to his rabbit. She closed the door and heard the click as JARVIS clicked the lock into place behind her.
By the time she had put the basket back in the laundry area Skye let her know that the image was ready and that Bruce was waiting downstairs for her. Nat headed down to the library and Skye had the enlarged image ready on her computer, Bruce was already checking out Engel. “Nat, physically she looks OK, but she looks as if she has been crying and possibly not sleeping properly. She has circles under her eyes, and they look red and sore.”
Nat looked at the normally bright and lively little girl and she could see what Bruce meant straight away. Engel looked like she had been through quite an ordeal, she looked sad and defeated. Nat’s heart ached for her. They would get her out of Tony’s hands as quickly as they could. They would bring her home.
<<>>
Thor was sparring with the warriors on the training grounds of Asgard. He had just recently returned from Alfheim where he had been visiting his mother’s brother, Freyr, and his Jotunn wife Gerdr. Gerdr was not what Thor had ever expected from a Jotunn, every time he laid eyes on her he was surprised how lovely and graceful she was. After a few minutes of strangeness he soon got over the cerulean skin, silvery kin lines and garnet eyes. Her black, glossy hair was always braided in some exotic style. He often wondered what his late brother had looked like in his true skin, for he had never seen it.
His Royal Guard watched him intently, ready to tackle anyone who came close to even scratching the Crown Prince. They needn't have worried. None of Asgard’s warriors could come close to Thor on the battlefield, let alone on the training ground. A page boy arrived bearing a note for the Crown Prince. Lady Sif took it. It would not let her open it. The page looked at her “It’s for the Crown Prince’s eyes only, my Lady.”
“Who is it from?”
“Heimdall, my Lady.”
“Ah! That is acceptable then. He would wish Thor no harm.” Sif approached Thor “Thor, there is a message for you from Heimdall.”
Thor held out his hand “Thanks, Sif. I wonder what he wants.” Thor opened the message with ease and read through it with a frown. As soon as it was read the message vanished. “I need to go to the Observatory immediately. Sif, I trust you to tell my father that I am required on Midgard. The Avengers have need of me. If I require your assistance Heimdall will let you know. Meanwhile you can stand down.”
“But Thor, who will protect you?” Sif protested.
“Midgard’s mightiest heroes will be with me. There is nothing to worry about. Now go do as I bid you.” Thor spun Mjolnir in the air and using its power flew to the Observatory and Heimdall.
“Do you know what the issue is, Heimdall?” the golden haired prince asked.
“One of their most important new agents is missing. They need all the help they can get to find them.”
“An easy task then! I should be back quickly.” Heimdall sent Thor down to the Avengers Compound Upstate. They hadn’t actually requested him, but Heimdall was anxious that he couldn’t see Loki’s whereabouts. An extra body would help. Meanwhile he would keep watch and alert them via Thor if he caught sight of the younger prince.
<<>>
Lore was woken abruptly by Wong for her morning shower. She followed the same procedure as the previous morning but she felt very lightheaded and giddy. Her seidr was already starting to eat away at her resources. Soon, she thought, soon. She dressed in the fresh clothing that Wong had provided and then he gave her the porridge and water that was her breakfast. She pushed away the food and drank the water. When he looked at her sternly she said “I’m not hungry. It doesn’t seem to be long since I last ate.”
Wong didn’t push her. He removed her dirty clothing and dishes and left her alone. He spoke to Stephen “Do you think she has realised we are feeding her every four hours?”
“I don’t know, Wong. She is not entirely what I was led to believe she was. Maybe she has cottoned on to what we are doing somehow, or maybe she is just not hungry. Let’s see what happens in four hours time.”
Lore remade her bed and tried to commune with the Norns again, but gave up after a short time and crashed out on the bedroll and closed her eyes. “I love you, Engel.” she whispered.
I need a hero
I’m holding on for a hero till the end of the night.