Surprises
Chapter 3:
Hela looked around the area she had found herself in. It would appear she had landed in a clearing.
"Finally." She sighed.
She could sense that there were others present, so she looked up. And much to her surprise, she came face to face with the person she was most hoping to see. Her son.
She could not help but smirk as their identical green eyes met. She then examined him properly. They looked quite similar, but she could still see glimpses of Laufey in him.
She had to suppress a snarl when she saw his magic had been bound. Odin's doing no doubt.
She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of movement. She looked up to see that there were others with Loki. After a quick examination she recognised the group known as the Avengers, whom had defeated Loki during the assault upon Midgard.
So that was where she was. The realm of the mortals. Well, it could have been worse.
Her eyes darted to the large figure who was approaching her. Golden blond, in shining armour and holding... Mjolnir. Oh, that accursed hammer. Hela did not know what disgusted her more, the sight of the weapon, or the sight of it in Thor's hand.
"Whomever you are, and wherever you came from," The blond boomed. "This realm is under my protection, hence..."
"Oh, really?" Hela asked. "And who are you to claim you are powerful enough to protect this realm?"
Hela already knew who he was, of course, but she just wanted to see his reaction. And as she expected, Thor took obvious offense to her statement.
"I am Thor, son of Odin..."
"Really?" Hela replied. "You don't look like him."
She was enjoying this, playing around with her little brother. It was amusing to see his reactions. Though the rest of the mortals stood behind him silently, they made no attempt to intervene, so Hela had no problems with focusing her attention on the thunderer.
"You know of my Father?" Thor asked.
Hela raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yes," She replied. "I know him all too well."
"Then you are aware that he is the King of Asgard?" Thor boomed.
Hela scoffed.
"And let me guess what you are going to say next, "Protector of the Nine Realms"? Let me tell you something about your Father little boy. He is nothing more than a king of fools, of arrogance, of weakness and betrayal."
She could tell that she had angered him.
"You dare..." He growled.
"Oh, I dare." Hela retorted. "I only speak the truth. Do you even know of the concept, considering that the house of Odin is full of liars and traitors?"
Hela was not surprised when Thor threw Mjolnir, aiming straight at her head. However, she could not say the same for Thor when she caught the hammer in mid-air.
She heard the Avengers swearing in surprise. Thor himself was staring in shock.
"That... That is not possible." He breathed out.
Hela smirked.
"Darling, you have no idea what is possible."
She examined the hammer. She remembered her father giving this to her, when she was little more than a child. In the eyes of a Midgardian she would have only looked approximately ten years of age. He had told her that it was to help her learn to control her powers. However, it did not take long for the true purpose of this weapon to come to light. For once she had mastered it, Odin had begun using her as his secret weapon.
This hammer was what marked the end of her childhood and whatever innocence she had ever had. So, she did not hesitate in channeling her energy into it. She smiled in glee as the hammer shattered into millions of fragments.
She heard several exclamations of shock, horror and fear, and she revelled in it. For so long, she had desired to punish Thor for taking her place and for overshadowing her son, robbing him of his birthright.
The pathetic child had fallen to his knees in despair. How weak he truly was.
Both she and Loki had suffered far worse. Thor had never known what it was to go without a parent's love. He had never known what it was like to be forced to fight from the age when most would be considered a child. He had never known what it was like to stand in the shadows, never feeling good enough. He had never cried himself to sleep.
She contemplated killing him then and there, and deliver his head to Odin to announce her return. However, she was broken out of her thoughts when she sensed something or someone coming up from behind her.
She turned just in time to avoid being stabbed in the back. Instead, the blade of a dagger slipped into her shoulder. She hardly felt the pain. As her power returned, she knew that she could heal easily.
She looked up from the dagger to see Loki, still holding the dagger and a look of surprise on his face. Obviously, when she had been distracted by Thor, he had snuck behind her and tried to stab her in the back.
She smirked and removed the dagger from her shoulder.
"You should be more careful with your toys Mischief Son."
His eyes widened. It would appear that he was now even more shocked. Obviously, something of her lullaby had stuck in his mind.
She turned to where Thor was still morning his hammer. The Avengers appeared to still be in shock, but were quickly recovering. She smirked.
"Well, I would love to stay and chat, but alas, I have more important things to do than play with children and mortals."
And with that, she opened a portal and left the realm.
For a long time, the Avengers, including Loki, just stood there in shocked silence. Finally, the silence was broken.
"Well, oh shit." Ironman said. "Did that just happen?"
"I think it did." Bruce replied.
"What did just happen?" Hawkeye asked shakily. "Did that lady seriously just..."
"Break Thor's hammer and disappear in a magical portal?" Ironman continued. "Yeah."
Loki was staring at his dagger. It was still covered in the strange woman's blood.
Dr Banner approached him wearily.
"Errr, Loki?"
"Hmm." Loki replied absently, his gaze not drifting from the dagger.
"Can I just, errr, take some of the blood from that dagger?" The mortal asked. "It's just, Fury likes to keep a record of the DNA of potential threats, and he would want me to examine it. We even have a sample of your blood on record."
"Fine." Loki replied, handing over the dagger.
Dr Banner took it after putting on some disposable plastic gloves, and proceeded to scrape some of the blood into a small medical bag.
"Thanks." He said, hesitantly handing the blade back to Loki.
He then turned to Thor.
"Hey, can I have a sample of your blood Thor? I would just like to do some cross examination of your genetics, to see if that lady was Asgardian."
Thor, still in shock, merely presented Banner with his wrist. Banner took a syringe from his medical bag and took a small sample of blood.
"I doubt that will help in determining the woman's species." Loki interjected suddenly. "He is part Vanir through our Mother."
Banner shrugged.
"It would still be interesting, examining the genetics of a different species."
After a few more silent minutes, the Avengers began to leave for the Quin-jet, practically dragging Thor along. The blond was still staring at his hands in shock. Loki did not seem to be doing much better, muttering under his breath words that the avengers could not hear.
The journey back to the tower was quiet. They were all still in shock. A mysterious woman had just appeared out of nowhere and had completely destroyed Thor's magical hammer.
"Fury's going to be pissed." Clint had said as they landed.
Natasha simply shrugged.
"All we can do now is try to find out where she has gone. Thor, do you have any ideas?"
The assassin turned to the still shocked Thor.
"Thor? Thor." Steve tried shaking him out of his state.
"Hey, point-break, can you hear me?" Tony said, snapping his fingers in front of the Asgardian's face.
Suddenly, the blond jerked out of his shock. He quickly climbed out of the quin-jet and stood on the roof.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Tony asked.
"I must see my Father about this." Thor replied.
Before anyone could stop him, he had raised his fist to the sky.
"Heimdall, open the Bifrost."
And with that, he disappeared in rainbow light.
The five remaining avengers looked at each other, then turned to Loki.
"Your not going to disappear in a flash of rainbow, are you?" Tony asked.
Loki scoffed.
"I couldn't, even if I wanted to. Remember, I have been banished to this realm for the foreseeable future."
He then left the jet and began to walk to the door leading back into the tower.
"I am going to my room." He said before disappearing.
Loki lost track of time as he sat on his bed, staring at his hands. His mind was turning with thoughts and questions.
Who was that woman? How was she so powerful? Why did she seem so familiar. And how did she know of that name?
Mischief Son.
He remembered it from the fragments of the strange song that he could remember. No one knew of the song's existence. So how did this woman know of that name?
He was broken out of his thoughts by a knocking on the door.
"Who is it?" He asked, slightly irritated.
"Loki, it's me." Came the voice of the Captain. "Can I come in?"
Loki got up from the bed and walked to open the door.
The Captain stood there, several large shopping bags in his arms.
"Hey, I just came to check on you." He said.
"I am fine." Loki replied. "Just thinking."
The Captain frowned.
"Is that what you've been doing all this time?"
Loki raised an eyebrow.
"Is there a problem?"
The Captain shook his head.
"No, no. It's just... You've been sitting in here for over an hour."
"Oh." Loki replied. "Well, did you want anything, or did you come here to merely check on my well-being?"
The Captain smiled nervously.
"Well, I actually wanted to give you these." He held out the large bags.
Loki raised an eyebrow.
"And what are these exactly?"
"Clothes." The Captain replied. "I just thought that you might want something that's not Asgardian to ware. Natasha helped me pick them out, because she's apparently good at telling what people might like."
Loki stepped back and gestured for the man to enter. The supersoldier laid each bag on the bed carefully. He then looked around the room.
"Wow, it's clean in here."
Loki sneered.
"That would be because Thor has not had need of this room, and so therefore non of his belongings have spread to this area."
"Oh." The Captain replied. "You know, Thor's told us a lot about you."
Loki rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I have heard."
The Captain continued.
"He told us that you always had trouble fitting in because everyone in Asgard thought you were weak..."
"Yes, does this have a point?" Loki interrupted.
The Captain held his hands up.
"I just wanted to say, I get it."
"Oh, do you?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah." The Captain replied. "Before I became Captain America, I was really weak. Had a lot of medical conditions, always getting myself hurt. It's a miracle I survived at all."
The Captain then smiled.
"I wouldn't have survived, if it wasn't for my friend Bucky. He always had my back, from the streets of Brooklyn to the front lines."
His face then became saddened.
"He... He died during the war. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him."
The man sucked in a breath.
"He would always help me out when I got into fights. No matter what, he was always there. He was good, and brave, and loyal, even when the world was against us."
Loki could feel his heart tense. This Bucky sounded very similar to someone he himself once knew.
"He sounds like someone I once knew" He said quietly. "An old friend."
The Captain's head jerked up.
"Really?"
Loki smiled softly.
"Yes, long ago. She was the only one besides my Mother who never mocked me. Even when the other Asgardians made fun of her for standing by me, her loyalty and kindness were unyielding."
"Really?" The Captain asked. "What happened to her?"
Loki's expression darkened.
"Rumours began to spread about the two of us, and Odin banished her. And I have never seen nor heard from her."
"Oh." The Captain replied simply. "I'm sorry."
He moved closer to Loki.
"What was her name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Sigyn." Loki replied, a small smile on his face.
Why was he telling this mortal anything, let alone about Sigyn? Maybe his emotions were still disorganised from what had previously occurred with that Woman. Maybe his thoughts were so disorganised from what the woman had called him, that some thoughts were slipping through the cracks. Or maybe, after all he had gone through, he was subconsciously seeking a friend.
But he couldn't trust the Captain. He couldn't trust anyone. He had learnt this a long time ago.
"You can go now." He said. "Thank you for the clothes Captain."
"Errr, okay." The Captain said hesitantly. "But please, just call me Steve."
Loki shrugged in reply.
The Captain... Steve, began to walk out of the room. However, before he left the door, he turned back to Loki.
"Oh, and Loki," He began. "If you need someone to talk to, my door's always open."
And with that, he was gone. Loki decided he might as well put the clothes away.
His new wardrobe consisted of several casual dark trousers and shirts in varying shades of green and blue. There were also some more formal suits. In all, he thought that the Cap... Steve, and Agent Romanov had done well.
The portal released Hela into a courtyard in the palace of Asgard. She grinned. Perfect.
Without hesitation, she carefully and stealthily walked through the familiar halls to Odin's trophy room, where she hoped to find something useful.
She made short work of the guards and strode confidently into the trophy room.
She looked around at Odin's artifacts. At first, she thought she saw the Infinity Gauntlet. That could be useful in luring Thanos out of hiding, for not even her Vanir mirror could see where he was. However, she quickly discovered it to be a fake. In fact, most of the artifacts in this room were fake. She could not help but find this ironic, considering the web of lies the man had woven.
In the corner of her eye she saw the tesseract. She wished to grab it, but thought that Odin may have put some precautions on it this time.
She then reached the Casket of Ancient Winters. While it was weak compared to her own power, she thought that it may be useful for convincing the Frost-Giants in joining her once again. So, she grabbed it and placed it into a pocket dimension until she had a proper base of operations to store it.
Finally, she reached something that actually peaked her interest.
"The eternal flame." She muttered.
She then grabbed some of the fire, feeling that she may need it.
Her attention was then drawn to a circle in the floor. She knew it led to an old tomb. The final resting place for what was once her army. She cared not for any of the warriors, save for one.
She broke the seal and jumped down into the tomb. By they light of her fire, she could see the skeletons of warriors long dead. However, they were not what drew her attention.
No, it was the giant wolf skeleton, encased in chains which drew her attention. In horror, she stared at what was once her most loyal companion.
"Fenris, my darling, what have they done to you?" She gasped.
Hela very rarely cried. Tears had not left her eyes since she was a child. However, the sight before her almost brought her to such a state.
She remembered when she was a small child, the Asgardian equivalent of what the Midgardians would call five. She had always had trouble making friends. She was lonely and wandering the woods, when she heard a sudden violent howl.
She had ran, only to see a dying she-wolf, with a litter of already dead cubs. It would appear that the storm that had come the night before had greatly harmed the animals.
As Hela approached them, she could see that there was no helping the she-wolf. She was about to turn and leave the wolf family to their fates, when she heard a sudden whimper.
She turned back to see a small wolf-cub crawling out from under the debris of the den, limping but still alive. Hela had walked over and scooped the cub up in her arms. She had taken him back to the palace and had taken care of him herself. Her father had disapproved of such a waste of her precious time, but she did not care.
Soon, the wolf that she had named Fenris had completely healed. Not only that, but he was becoming larger. Soon, he was of a monstrous size, and would defend Hela against any attacker. Once Hela began to fight alongside Odin, he would be there by her side, teeth bared and hackles raised. A true companion to the bitter end.
It broke her heart to see the closest thing she had ever known to a friend in such a state, even in death. So she did not hesitate in her next actions.
She threw her handful of fire towards the gigantic wolf.
"With the eternal flame, you are reborn." She intoned.
Fenris began to glow with a green light. After a few seconds, muscle, skin and fur manifested upon the wolf. Finally, Fenris was alive once more, his eyes glowing with an eerie green light. He let loose a howl, and the entire chamber shook.
Hela grinned.
"Come Fenris, let us leave this place and begin our revenge."
Hela walked through the halls again, Fenris following her closely. She knew that if Odin hadn't sensed her escape before, he would know of her being free by now. She did not mind, she wanted him to know. She wanted him to know that she would be the one to kill him, and that she could do so any second.
They finally reached the throne-room, and Hela sneered at the sight.
Once, there had been murals depicting hers and Odin's mighty conquest. And now...
Garden parties? Peace treaties? It was a disgust to see him trying to cover up her existence in such a manner, and disrespectful to the efforts of both her and the legends of Asgard.
She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard someone approaching. Through a door at the other end of the room came the man who had caused her and her son so much pain, and had the nerve to act so superior.
"You." Said Odin, his one remaining eye wide. "I sensed you escape, but how?"
Hela grinned.
"The convergence. Surely you recall that it weakened the borders between realms? Or were you to busy hiding behind your walls, grieving over the fact that your little puppet-king, my son, had broken his strings?"
"I..." Odin spluttered. "I do not know of what you speak of."
Hela raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, don't you?" She asked rhetorically. "I know all of your little plans. I have watched for centuries as you abused and manipulated my son. As you did nothing while the people of Asgard taunted him for his magic, as he was cast into the shadows while your precious Thor took the spotlight. But of cause, you wished for him to be submissive to you, craving even the slightest amount of approval, so that one day he could take the throne of Jottenheim, and you could rule the Frost-Giants through him. To you, he was no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of him."
"I highly doubt you would care." Odin spat. "There is no love in you, only violence. I had to seal you away to protect the universe from your bloodlust. You will not take the throne of Asgard, you monster."
Hela's smirk widened.
"I have not come to take your throne, only to exact my revenge."
She looked her father straight in his eye, unflinching.
"I am not a queen, or a monster. I'm the Goddess of Death. And I am who I am, because of you. Because you never showed me love. How can you learn what is never shown?"
Odin did not reply. Hela looked around the room, at the murals of fake history.
"I like what you have done with the place." She began. "These images are quite beautiful. To bad they are all fake, and they are only here to cover up your past."
She then summoned two long and sharp spikes. A smirk appeared on her face.
"You know what they say, the more you try to hide your past..."
She threw the spikes at the murals. Once they hit, cracks began to appear in the images. Soon, they were collapsing to the floor to reveal the darker images beneath.
"... The more it bites you in the ass."
Odin just stared at the images of war, seemingly in shock. Hela smirked.
"I will have my revenge." She began. "Beware Odin All-Father, for the time of Asgard is nearing it's end. I look forward to watching as everything you built falls around you, and your joy turns to ashes in your mouth."
And with that, Hela summoned another portal and disappeared, Fenris following quickly behind her. Odin remained where he stood, frozen in shock.
As soon as Thor appeared in Heimdall's observatory, he headed straight for the rainbow bridge with only a small greeting to the gatekeeper.
It took him longer than usual to reach the palace, as he could not fly there with Mjolnir as he would usually do. Many called greetings to him, but he passed them without a second glance. He did not have time for them. He needed to see his Father about the mysterious woman.
Finally, he reached the palace. He quickly walked through the halls, heading towards the throne-room where he hoped his Father would be. And thankfully, he was.
When Thor entered the throne-room, he could see his Father standing in the centre of the room.
"Father." He called.
His Father did not reply. He merely continued staring at something. Thor followed his gaze to see what was once a golden mural, was now a horrific image. In this image, was his Father, with the woman who was wilding... His hammer?
"Father?" He repeated, reaching the older man.
"Hmm, oh, Thor." His Father said absently, still staring at the images.
"Father, I have come to inform you of something." He continued. "On midgard, a mysterious woman appeared through a portal..."
"Yes, I am aware of her." His Father interrupted.
"She has been here." Thor guessed.
He looked around the room.
"And it would appear she has been doing some redecorating."
"Only revealing what I have tried to hide." His Father replied.
"Father, who was she?" Thor asked.
"Hela, Goddess of Death." His Father replied.
Finally, the king of Asgard flicked his eye towards him.
"Your sister."
With these words, Thor was shock.
His sister? He had a sister?
"M My sister?" He stuttered.
"Well, half-sister." His Father elaborated. "The two of you did not have the same mother."
Thor was flabbergasted.
A sister? He could not believe it. A sister? And she... And she had...
"Father, she is powerful." Thor began. "She destroyed Mjolnir, and sensed Loki's attack, without any effort."
"Yes, Loki." His Father said, frowning. "You must bring him back here at once."
"Why?" Thor asked in surprise.
"I must ensure he does not ally himself with Hela." His Father replied.
"Loki would not." Thor retorted. "Though he may have his disagreements with you, he has no desire to..."
"No," His Father interrupted. "You do not understand."
"What is it that I do not understand?" He demanded.
His Father gazed at him. Then, the old man sighed, his face turning grim.
"There are parts of our history that you do not know, that I wished to remain hidden."
He gestured to the images of war and destruction.
"Long ago, I led Asgard through a great conquest of the Nine Realms. By my side was Hela, my most powerful warrior. She defeated entire armies single handedly."
He then sighed.
"One Realm however, was not so easily concurred. Vanaheim. We ended up negotiating for peace, which led to me wedding your mother."
His father then looked down.
"Hela did not like this. By then, she had become addicted to war and bloodshed. She could not handle peace. She only desired war. And so, she sort to usurp me. She sort allies throughout the Nine Realms to aid her. One Realm did. Jottenheim."
Thor gasped.
"Is this how the war with the Frost-Giants began?"
His Father nodded.
"By the end of it, I knew the only way to stop her was to seal her away. I confronted her just outside of a temple on Jottenheim. She was weaker, than I had originally anticipated, though she did put up a fierce fight. However, I was finally, after much effort, able to seal her away. It was only when I entered the temple, did I discover the reason for her weakened state."
Thor's head was turning. He had a suspicion of where this was going.
"Once I entered the temple, I heard the sounds of crying. Eventually, I found the source of it. A baby. Small, for a giants off-spring. Once I picked the child up in my arms, his skin turned from blue to pale, and his eyes from red to green."
Thor's eyes were wide at this point. Surely his Father was not saying what he thought he was saying? It just could not be.
But as he thought about it, it made far too much sense. He remembered what the woman, Hela, had looked like. Familiar green eyes, familiar raven-black hair, familiar fair skin. Even her smirk was familiar.
"Father... Are you, are you saying...?"
His Father nodded.
"Yes, as well as being your sister, Hela is also Loki's mother."
Bruce Banner was sitting in the private lab of the Avenger's tower. He had been staring at several screens for a long time in confusion. He had been running tests on the blood samples he had gotten from the woman via Loki's dagger, as well as the sample from Thor. The results of which were surprising, especially when he threw the sample of Loki's blood they had already had into the mix.
Suddenly, he heard someone entering the lab. He knew it was Tony, as no one else ever came into this part of the tower.
"Hey big green."
Bruce looked up to see the billionaire with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"How's the tests going?" The man continued.
Bruce frowned.
"Well, I'm going to need you to look at this, just to make sure I'm not see things."
Tony walked over, coffee still in hand.
"What's up?"
"Well," Bruce began. "I have been examining the blood sample I had gotten from Loki's dagger, and when I compared it to Thor's... Well, it seems like there's a genetic match."
"Meaning?" Tony asked.
"Meaning that they are biologically related." Bruce replied.
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"So, Point-break's got another psycho relative? Great, let's hope this one doesn't throw me out of a window and open a giant whole in the sky."
"There's more." Bruce continued. "After I brought up Loki's blood sample, it shows that he is also related to the woman."
"So point-break and Reindeer Games have a mutual relative?"
Bruce shook his head.
"Wait, there's more."
He then sucked in a deep breath.
"The results also show that Thor and Loki are biologically related."
At this, Tony spat out his mouthful of coffee.
"What?" He spluttered. "I thought Loki was adopted."
"I thought that too." Bruce replied.
"Well then, he and Thor shouldn't be biologically related."
Bruce shook his head.
"I know, and we can't even say it's a distant relation. Too much of their DNA is similar."
Tony sighed.
"Do you think we should tell them?"
Bruce pursed his lips.
"It would be the right thing to do."
"Yeah but," Tony retorted. "Remember the last time Loki found out something about his heritage. According to Thor he tried to blow up an entire planet with that rainbow bridge thing."
Bruce shook his head and got up from his chair.
"That was only because he found out about it in a less than ideal way. Maybe if we were able to tell him in a nice calm environment..."
"What, you think he'll be okay with it and everything will be all sunshine and rainbows?" Tony retorted as they began to leave the labs and head towards the lift.
"I still think he has a right to know." Bruce retorted.
Their argument continued as they went up the lift onto the common-floor.
Loki had entered the Common-floor and was now sitting on one of the couches, reading a book. He was waring one of the new outfits the Cap... Steve, had given him. He had to admit, this was comfortable. It was much looser and cooler than his Asgardian attire, and was easier to relax in.
Steve was sitting on another of the couches, drawing something in his sketch-book. Romanov was cleaning one of her guns and Barton was fiddling with one of his arrows. Everyone excluding Thor, who was still in Asgard, and Banner and Stark were present. The four were content to sit in peace, which suited Loki just fine. He had always prefered the quiet of the library to the loud train-yards.
The peace of the room was suddenly broken when the elevator opened, revealing Stark and Banner, who were having a loud argument.
"We need to tell him..."
"No, that's a very bad idea..."
"He deserves to know..."
Everyone in the room put down what they had been doing.
"Hey, what's going on?" Steve asked, standing up.
The two scientists looked at the Captain, then at Loki, then at each other.
"Bruce has something to tell Loki." Stark finally said, pushing the other man forward.
"What, why me?" Banner said in surprise.
Loki looked at him expectantly. The man sighed and sat on the couch, a metre or two away from Loki.
"Well, umm... Loki, there is something you should know." Banner began. "You see, as I was running tests with the blood sample of the woman I had gotten from your dagger, I compared it to Thor's and well... It would appear that they are biologically related."
"Well, good for him." Loki replied calmly.
"Well, there's more." Banner continued. "You see, I then compared the sample to the sample of your blood we had already, and well, it seems that you are also related to her."
Loki blinked.
"Well, that is interesting." He finally said.
However, the scientist wasn't finished.
"And then, I discovered that... Well... You and Thor are also biologically related."
With this statement, the entire room fell silent.
"What?" Barton finally said. "I thought that Loki was adopted."
"I was." Loki replied. "We must be distantly related. I believe that Odin's mother was of the Frost-GIANTS, or at least partly so, so perhaps that is how..."
But Banner shook his head.
"No, the two of you share far to much DNA for you to be only distantly related."
Loki frowned.
But this is impossible."
The room yet again fell into silence. Then, there was a sudden flash of light from out of the window. A minute or two later, the elevator doors opened to reveal Thor, his face displaying an expression of shock.
"Thor, you're back." Stark said. "Good, guess what, you and the psycho lady are related..."
"Yes, yes, I know." Thor replied.
"Oh, you are?" Loki asked. "Then do you know how we could also share blood, when I am adopted?"
Thor looked at him seriously.
"Father has informed me of who the woman is." The thunderer began. "She is Hela, Goddess of Death and... And my sister."
There were the sounds of loud gasps and shouts from the Avengers.
"What is it with you and psycho siblings?" Stark asked incredulously.
Loki shrugged.
"Do not blame us if we did not have the best father-figure."
"Yes, that is another thing," Thor continued, his gaze not leaving Loki. "He also informed me of something, alarming."
The blond man sucked in a breath.
"He informed me that, as well as being my sister, she is also Loki's Mother."
Loki froze. He could hardly breath. His thoughts swelled in confusion.
His mother? That woman, Thor's sister, was his mother? But... But wouldn't that mean that Odin was his... And Thor was... And then he was...
He could feel his emotions turning like a chaotic storm. He could hardly form a cohesive thought.
His mother? Thor's sister... His mother?
Mischief Son...
He thought he could hear people calling his name, but he could hardly reply.
The Avengers watched as Loki froze in his seat, his eyes wide. He was not the only one in shock.
"Wait," Tony began. "So goth Galadriel is your sister, but is also Loki's mom?"
Thor nodded.
"Wouldn't that kind of make you his uncle?"
Thor frowned.
"Regardless of how we are related biologically, I still consider him my brother."
Steve walked over to Loki.
"Loki? Hey, Loki?"
He turned to the others.
"I think Thor broke him."
Thor walked over to Loki.
"Loki, brother?"
He reached out a hand. Loki instantly flinched away from the touch. Suddenly, a wave of green energy burst from the dark-haired man, pushing all of the avengers far away from him. The man fell from the couch onto his knees on the floor. His magic swirled around him, his eyes glowing. The band that had been restricting his magic broke and ricocheted off of the wall.
"Shit." Tony said, ducking from the flying strap of leather. "Somebody do something before he destroys my tower, again."
Natasha then got up from where she had been crouching. She slowly and quietly walked towards Loki. She knelt in front of him.
"Hey." She said gently, as if talking to a frightened animal. "Don't worry. The sun's getting real low."
She held up her hand and slowly waved it in front of his face. After about a minute, Loki finally calmed down. The glowing of his magic faded and he slumped, unconscious, into Natasha's arms.
She picked him up and stood.
"I think he needs some rest after that."
She walked towards the lifts, carrying Loki bridle-style. Before entering the lifts, she turned to Thor.
"You really need to work on dropping information bombs like that."
And with that, she left to put Loki to bed.
She skillfully walked threw the mess of Thor's floor to Loki's room. She gently laid the man down in his bed and tucked him in. As she examined him lying there, she marveled at how different he looked. In his sleep, he looked peaceful, kinder, more vulnerable. It was hard, thinking of the man who now lay before her and the monster who had attacked her world as the same person. In his sleep, she could see the man that Thor talked about, who only wanted to not be alone.
She turned to leave. As she walked out the door, she thought she heard Loki muttering.
"Mother."
Natasha shook her head and left the man to his sleep.