Chapter 33
33
“Tell the Thunderer to not follow me,” Luka ordered Tony as she swept past. “I wish to bathe and rest before our inevitable confrontation.” She refused the glass of wine he held, simply holding up one hand and giving a negative shake of her head.
The goddess had released her hold on Banner, allowing him to remain with the others. The men heard her voice as she spoke to Friday before the elevator doors closed, but it was too quiet to understand exactly what was said. Her expression was pretty clear, though. Flashing eyes, flared nostrils and tight, narrowed lips made her anger obvious.
The doctor rubbed his hand through his curls, shaking his head and he gave Tony a wide eye roll. Glancing at an anxious Thor, he murmured, “he’s seriously pissed. It’s gonna take some intense grovelling to even get him to consider forgiving you. I’d leave him alone until he decides to talk to you. I just hope he stays here for a bit. He did say he needed some quiet time to ‘clear my mind and remove the remains of the incantations used to suppress my memories.’”
Thor’s anxiety ratcheted up more and his breath hitched; his sky blue eyes slipped shut. He groaned and slumped in the lounger. Rubbing his hands over his face, he muttered, “What am I to do, now? Even if he hates me, he still needs my protection, whether he thinks so or not. I must speak with him.”
“If you’re worried about your Guardian or your father, you don’t have to. He said the first thing he did was to ‘ward’ himself, whatever that means.” Bruce was quick to reassure Thor. “They can’t see him.”
“Not at all?” Thor’s concern was unmistakable.
“He said they only see what he wishes them to?” Bruce made it a question.
“Oh! Thank the Nornir!” Thor sounded relieved. “My brother has been able to cast illusions since he was quite young. He’s only gotten better as we got older.”
“What does that mean?” Tony’s query sounded concerned.
“Even if Loki decides to return to his normal Aspect, he will still appear as Luka to everyone. And he can make multiple copies of himself, as well. They can speak and interact as though they were flesh. Unless touched; then they will disappear.” Thor shrugged; “it’s the only way I know to tell them from the real Loki.”
*
While the mortals waited and Thor fretted, Luka was, as per her alter ego, scheming. Loki decided he needed some space out from under Thor’s observation, and time to reconcile what the Thunderer had done. Essentially, he had to get his head on straight and figure out where he wanted to take his life from there.
First, find a place to hide; somewhere quiet and nowhere the others would expect him to go. So, out of the tower, and not anyplace he had already been. That let out Paris, Mumbai, NYC, even New Mexico. Somewhere new.
He thought it wisest, at least for now, to continue the illusion of Luka. Physically, he would remain in the guise of his female Aspect. But, the mind inside would be all him, as much as he could remember, until he had sorted everything out. While the dark god contemplated, he packed, taking everything he thought ‘she’ would have wanted to keep... books, dresses, jewellery, but no electronics. He knew Stark could track him through his devices.
Not needing the stress, nor wishing to deal with his brother’s emotions, Loki next visited the closest branch of Stark’s bank and withdrew all Luka’s funds. He exchanged her Asgardian coin for Midgardian currency, putting most into secure bonds. He only kept enough in paper money to use for travelling expenses. No credit cards, cash was untraceable.
He teleported to a cafe where he and Nat had lunched several times. They had free internet access available for their clientele. Loki spent a few valuable minutes researching various means of travel and options for purchasing passage.
Luka had used both taxis and commercial airlines, so continue, or try another way? A taxi would be too slow and probably unavailable long distance. Airports had too much security.
He could buy a vehicle, hire a driver or learn how to operate one himself, or try another mode of ground transport. A train. A bus. Neither were faster than by car, but more private than a plane, with less interaction with mortals and their law enforcement. On a train, he could buy a private cabin, no need to interact with anyone if he chose not to leave it.
So, Amtrak it would be. Now, all the god had to do was get from the bank to Penn Station and Luka would be on her way to the Midwest. She was fairly sure she had all the information she needed to become a guest of the last Avenger anyone might suspect him of visiting. Or rather, of his family.