A Poisoned Touch

When he landed on the tower’s helipad, he took a moment to shake out his wings before folding them tight against his back. Seconds later, Thor landed next to him, never quite as light on his feet as Steve was.

“You win again my friend.” Thor reached out before stopping short a few inches from his shoulder. Pulling his hand back, he rubbed it along his beard. “I often forget that it is not done.” He shrugs a shoulder and Steve can't help the small smile that spreads across his face. He’d rather they forget than the alternative which is to be constantly aware of it.

“It’s alright Thor. It is. Now, let’s see what your brother needs to speak to me about.” The doors slid open, Jarvis welcoming them inside. Steve spotted Loki right away, the mischief god was sitting on the couch, watching something on tv that he clearly found stupid, based on the sneer on his face.

“Brother, I have found the good captain for you.” Thor called out. Loki, clearly glad to get away from whatever Clint was watching, jumped over the back of the couch smoothly and walked toward them. Steve always had to fight his flight response around Loki, there was something about him that prickled cross Steve’s instincts.

“Captain Rogers, how are you this day?”

“Okay, just a normal day I guess. Thor said you had something to speak to me about?”

“Yes, I do. You have been on my mind much since our battle together. When I returned home I did a bit of digging to see if I was correct in my thoughts, and it turns out I was.” He waved a hand at the table by the windows, “come sit. I think this shall be a interesting conversation. Personal as well, if you'd rather my brother leave us.”

Steve looked to Thor who didn’t seem to have any reservations about whatever Loki was saying, so he shook his head. “Nah, he can stay. Let me grab a drink--”

With a wave of Loki’s hand the table was laid out with cups and a bottle of shimmery green liquid. “Do not bother. I made sure to procure a bottle of the finest Elvish wine for us.”

Steve sat and allowed Thor to pour them all a cup. He sniffed at the liquid before trying a sip. The wine was sweet with a bit of burn. The quiet was interrupted by Clint leaving, muttering something about his dog.

“Just a bit of a push for us to be alone.” Loki admitted, and then he waved his hand again, a few words tumbling under his breath. “And now there will be no recording of this.”

Steve couldn’t help but be curious of what he had to say that was to be so confidential, and of course he wanted to know how he knew. But he could wait, he could.

“First, before I start, can I ask a personal question? Do you have a small circular silver tattoo anywhere on your body?”

“How? How did you know that?” He’d never told anyone, not even Peggy knew of it. Only Erskine had seen it, and he took that secret to his grave. He was always careful changing around the others, it was just another thing he didn’t have an answer for.

“I believe I know what you are.”

“It’s not exactly small. It sits right in between my wings.” He stood and flipped the two buttons that kept his shirt together, Tony had been beyond himself when he'd been trying to make shirts easier for Steve to wear. He pulled off the shirt and spun to show the other’s the silver mark that he’d had when he came out of Howard's machine.

There was a drawn breath behind him and when he turned back around, Thor looked shocked as hell. “Brother? Are you sure?”

“I am.” Loki didn’t look shocked, he almost had a smug air about him. But that was fairly typical. “Captain, may I touch you? I know that you fear it, but I can assure that I have a built in defense mechanism.”

Loki held his hands up and Steve stared as they turned blue, the color reaching up past his wrists. Thor watches his brother with fierce pride, so Steve knew that whatever Loki was doing, it must have taken a lot for him to show Steve. He nodded once, sharply and then there were ice cold fingertips tracing the mark. It took every ounce of strength Steve had not to jump away from the touch.

It ended as quickly as it began and Steve pulled his shirt back on while Loki stared down at his fingers.

“My touch, it does not burn you?”

“I didn’t pull anything out of you? You don’t feel weaker?” Steve shot back. Both of them in disbelief.

“No. You did not hurt me.” Loki admitted before sitting down.

“And you didn’t hurt me. Now, what the hell is going on?”

“Sit, Steven. I shall pour more wine. I believe my brother has a tale to tell. It would be smart of you to listen.” Thor had a soft smile and what appeared to eb tears in his eyes. Steve sat, completely unsure of what was happening.

“Your world, and other worlds for that matter, have myths. They come from a kernel of truth. Elves are real, as are dragons. In fact I believe a few still slumber peacefully on this planet.” Steve wanted to ask so badly, but Loki shook his head, he’d ask later.

“There is also always talk of vampires and succubi. Perhaps not myths, but horror stories, am I correct?” Steve nodded.

“Good, good. You were told after your transformation that you were an angel? Is that correct?” Steve nodded.

“Just tell him brother.” Thor interrupted.

“You are not an angel. You are a very rare... incredibly rare species. You are a Soros. And I believe that you somehow landed on earth as a babe, sick possibly. And that whatever the doctors did to you when they gave you your serum, activated your latent abilities. Essentially they healed you enough that your true being showed.” He paused and Steve, he both wanted to hear more and desperately wanted Loki to shut up.

“How, um, are you sure?” He hated the hesitancy in his own voice.

“I began to wonder when we fought together. There are things about the way you move that are familiar to me. Not to mention the way touch affects you.” He stopped to sip on his own wine and Steve couldn’t help but wish he could get drunk. “In our youth, my brother and I spent much time apart. He preferred battles and hunting, carousing with his friends.” There was a hint of something in his voice that had Steve looking to Thor. The thunder god actually looked ashamed.

“I have learned much in the few years before I made your acquaintance. I still owe my brother much for how I treated him as a child.” Thor ducked his head and Steve noticed just how pleased Loki looked at his older brother admitting he might have been a bit of the oaf that Loki always accused him of being.

“Moving on please.” He didn’t really want to delve too much into their personal business. Not right now when it felt like he was on the cusp of learning about himself.

“Yes. Sorry. As I was saying as a youth I preferred to travel. To meet new species and learn all that I could. I mostly focused on seidr, and how it was different on different worlds. That is how I encountered the Soros. They are a diminished people now, there was a sweeping sickness a few years back that decimated their numbers. But they are proud, and talented. I believe much of the myth of the succubi and vampire has come from them. You remember I mentioned that before?”

Steve nodded. He was starting to get an idea of where Loki was going with this.

“So, they are able to touch each other with no problems. It is when they are with members of a different race that the power comes in. As a Jotun I do not have to fear you at all, you cannot pull my essence from me as my heart is quite literally made of ice. My natural defense mechanism directly nullifies yours. And that is what it is. It is your defensive ability.”

“So, I’m an alien?” He was having a really hard time digesting what he'd just been told. He could feel the beginnings of anger starting to bubble up but he ruthlessly shoved that down and started to pick apart why he was feeling anger. Because really, an alien actually made much more sense than an angel.

“You are in good company, are you not?” Thor asked. He had one hand around the cup of Elvish wine and the other was clenching and unclenching on the table. Steve could see how hard it was for him to not reach across to touch him.

“Yes, yes of course. Not anything against you. Just, processing.”

“Understandable, really.” Loki finished his wine. And raised an eyebrow at him. “I’d like to offer you a trip to Asgard. I believe mother could tell you more, and perhaps a visit with Eir could help you to understand yourself a bit better.”

“Excellent idea brother.” Thor was grinning.

“I thought humans weren’t allowed there?” Steve had asked right after the battle to visit and Thor had been apologetic.

“Ah, but you are not a human are you?” Loki smirked and Steve, well, he wasn’t sure what to think of any of this.

“Oh.” The truth sat heavily on him, but he knew that he could not look at this as anything other than as a gift. He had always wanted to know more about himself. Find answers for what he’d been turned into, and now, now he had access to that. “And your mother, she would not mind? What of your father?” What Steve had heard of the Allfather painted him as a hardass.

“I spoke to mother about this before I came here. I am sorry for that, but I wanted her opinion on what I was seeing. She is actually quite interested in meeting you, she has only met one other of your kind before, and it has been thousands of years.” He waved at Thor lazily, “plus, it appears my brother has spoken of you to her as well. She will quite enjoy getting to meet her son’s new... friend.”

“I have spoken of all of my midgardian friends. Both mother and father were interested in hearing of the battle with the Red Skull.” It sounded like Thor was defending talking to his parents about him and Steve couldn’t understand why he felt the need to. But Loki was smirking again and Steve didn’t ever really think he would understand the brothers.

“Do I need to pack anything?” He couldn’t believe he was about to visit Asgard. Even if he didn’t need anything, he was bringing his sketchbooks.

“I believe you should not need for anything while you are visiting our home.” Thor answered. “But, if you bring your shield, then you can train with us.”

“I shall have to bring some of your earth popcorn, if that is the case. I look forward to Fandral getting his ass handed to him by the good captain.”

“Aye, you will give my friends a good bout!” Steve let the smile come. He always enjoyed hearing about the folks that Thor had back home.

“Okay. When should I be ready to leave?”

“I am at your leisure. Heimdall knows to expect us.” Loki poured more of the green wine and sipped on it.

“I shouldn’t leave without talking to the others.”

“Ah, then I should let the elevator move again, I believe Stark might be unhappy about being stuck in it these last few moments.”

Steve was laughing, one hand grabbing at his chest when the doors opened to a furious Tony and Natasha with her usual blank face.

“Hey you snake, what did you do?” Tony was caustic on his best days when Loki was near. Clint liked to joke that it was playground pigtail pulling and Steve could kinda see it.

“We were having a private conversation, so I merely waylaid you until we were done.”

“You could have moved somewhere else rather than interrupt Jarvis. My poor baby was upset because he didn’t know what was going on.”

“Well I apologize to Jarvis then.”

“Everything okay Steve?” Nat cut in, and he was grateful. He wanted to tell someone.

“Yeah, Loki had some information about my origins, as it were. So I’m gonna head to Asgard and talk to their healer. Possibly learn more about what makes me so poisonous to touch.”

“What? No. We need you here.” Tony exploded.

“Stark, calm down. Steve deserves answers about who he is. We can hold down the fort. We did okay before we had him, and now we have Sam too.”

“But, but--” She smacked him upside the head. “Fine. Just, don’t take too long.” He turned to Loki with a calculating look. “Any chance I can send a scanner with him?”

“Tony, no. I am not abusing their hospitality.” Steve interrupted before Tony went on a magic is just science rant like he always did. He turned to Thor who had a soft smile on his face, Steve resolutely ignored the warm feeling that gave him. “I’m gonna grab my shield and my sketchbook. I'll be right back.”

It didn’t take him long to slip two sketchbooks and a small bag of pencils into the soft case that Tony had made for the shield, then he met the two princes on the helipad again. Nat stood next to Tony and waved to him while Tony was still grumbling.

“Be safe Captain. We’ll see you soon.”

“Take care of them for me Nat.” Tony grumbled more as Steve stepped close to Thor.

“Heimdall!” Loki called out. The rainbow shimmered hard around them, hitting the helipad with a heavy thunk and the last thing Stve recognized before he got pulled up was the soft touch of a warm hand at the nape of his neck.