Fish and houseguests
The next morning, I got a special dispensation from running the obstacle course since half of it had been taken out by the space craft, so we used the time wisely, then took a load of Steve's things over to my house. I still had to work out in the gym, but I didn't fuss, recalling how physical exercise balances out using my ability too much. I had a feeling I was going to be working hard.
I met Scott and Tony back at the ship and this time things geared up. Scott tested an intact circuit so he could tell me what qualities were needed for the wiring and we decided that the first order of business was to repair the electrical systems, which meant that I was going to have to create an alloy and draw lots of wire. Depending on the metal type, I would probably have to make a new drawplate, as most of the alloys would destroy a normal steel one well before I completed my work. I took a sample back to the workplace to examine and found to my relief that I could recreate this wire pretty easily. It didn't even need my special touch, so after getting estimates of the amount that Scott and Tony thought they'd need, I placed an expedited order for the quantities and arranged for pickup. Natasha and Bucky volunteered to fly to the warehouse and collect it for me; I think they regretted it because Tony immediately phoned in an order of his own to rebuild the damaged parts of the ship. Still, they were getting off campus and away for a bit.
When I went to visit Odin and his birds, I found that he'd woken up and that the doctor was pleased. "He's confused," Dr Staley said, "but that's not unexpected. The brain is a delicate organ that doesn't react well to insult of any kind. I still don't know what happened to it or how to treat...magic" he stumbled over the word "but the test results are consistent with trauma like concussions, so that's how we're treating the patient. When he improves some more, we can fine-tune our care to his needs."
When I went in, Odin was asleep but his birds were already there. They seemed to have a conversation with Sigurd and Torburn, which the dogs seemed to understand perfectly well. I wished I spoke raven too. All the chatter woke up Odin, who initially was irritable but after a few moments recognized me. His expression eased when I held up Mjolnir, then passed it to him for his inspection.
He ran his fingers over it, then nodded. "It feels different," he said slowly, "but it was created differently from its first incarnation." He nodded again.
"Well, as soon as we can find Thor, he can summon it to him," I said, and Odin's eye sharpened.
"What do you know of its abilities?" he asked.
"Not much beyond what I knew before, from watching Thor use it. But he could summon it to him and I never saw it fail to respond. And given the dimensions of its power, I have no doubt that he could summon it from any point in the Nine Realms." Odin thought this over.
"And what do you know of my son's whereabouts?"
"Volstagg and Fandral showed up yesterday in a ship apparently left over from a Dark elf incursion into Asgard. They said that Thor had been given to the Grand Master."
"Tell me all," Odin commanded, and I brought him up to date, giving him the condensed version.
He was fighting sleep at the end of the recitation. "I will need to think," he murmured. "I remember hearing you speak of events. Fix the ship." He closed his eyes, and I got up. The dogs seemed inclined to stay, so I gave ear skritches and went back to work.
When the quinjet returned, Tony and I met with the engineers who would be creating the replacement parts for the ship. I had added a little of this and that to the metal for the wire, but we decided not to include any additional elements since it didn't look like we had the time for extensive testing, and we didn't want to create a metal that would shatter in the cold of space, for example. I gave them the ratios I'd worked out for the alloy, and we all went to work. I made a small amount of alloy and set to drawing it through ever-decreasing diameter on the drawplate until the dimensions matched the original. Then I hooked a small motor up to a dowel and carefully spun the wire. Steve came by to pick me up for dinner, and I wrapped the spindle of wire in a heat-shrink tube and put Mjolnir and the spindle in a bag. We hunted up Scott in the rec room, where he was having a beer, having had a difficult time with his work on the ship. He was relieved to get the wire and we sat together awhile and talked. He's an interesting guy. He groaned when Volstagg came into the room. "I've had it with this guy," he muttered, finishing off his drink. "He treats me like a peon, not like a skilled electrical engineer who is working hard to get his big ass out of here." He tossed the can into recycling and left. Volstagg noticed us and came over. Yay.
"I have been unable to gain admittance to the Allfather," he informed me.
"Odin knows you're here," I said. "I told him myself. You'll just have to wait until he asks for you."
He was dissatisfied with my response. "And no one is working on the ship! I just came from it and it was dark and deserted. The one named Scott is unhelpful. The one named Stark had me removed from his workspace." He said 'workspace' like it was a dirty word. Maybe it was, for the warrior class. " And you sit here at your ease, attending your man as is proper, but doing nothing to help us."
I slit my eyes at him and my mouth thinned. Steve just sat there and watched, relaxed, although he wasn't pleased. I tried to think about how to present this in such a way so that even your average Asgardian could understand. "You aren't the boss of me," I said finally. "Or anyone here on Earth. We do not work for you, so we will do our work in the way that we see fit. Let me be perfectly plain. I am helping you because you're Thor's friends, not because I feel any desire to assist you. We're doing this for free, moreover. You've made it clear that you're here because Loki gave you no choice, not because you thought we could be helpful. Yet here we are, helping you. You might want to try to figure out why Loki sent you here. Exercise that brain cell. You are not my only concern. I had to put Mjolnir back together and find a way to have it reenchanted, and I have had to check in with Odin and his ravens. I have all sorts of things on my plate that have nothing to do with you, and are frankly my priority. You have managed to alienate one of the nicest, most easy-going people I know, which doesn't speak well for the less-tolerant of my friends, so you should know you're here on sufferance. You like to think like Asgardians own everything, but your power and influence here on Midgard is, basically, nil. So stop acting like we're all here to do your bidding and serve you, and if you don't stop opining about where a woman's place is, I will personally tee off on your head with Mjolnir."
Volstagg's face was a study. I put out my hand and Steve took it, pulling himself off the sofa. I picked up Mjolnir in its bag, pulled it out and flipped it end over end, smirked at Volstagg, and we left.
"We need to get those guys out of here," Steve said as we left the building with more of his belongings. "And we also need to make some plans of our own. I don't think they'll be good allies once the ship is spaceworthy again."
"I agree. Tony or Scott should check to see if there's the equivalent of a GPS unit that will tell us how to move between the Nine Realms on our own, because I don't think that either Fandral or Volstagg will really be in the mood to share. The latest quinjet is spaceworthy, you know, the engineers thought it would be advisable after the Chitauri. I think we should plan on taking our own transportation." I chewed on my frustration for a bit. "The nerve. My place with you is because we want to be together, not because I'm subservient."
"So if I commanded you to kneel, you wouldn't?" Steve asked, chuckling.
"Here, dear?" I asked, widening my eyes in faux shock, putting my fingers on his belt buckle.
"Emma! Geeze, no, we're in public!" he hissed, mortified. Even in the dim light I could see him blushing. As I chortled and took his arm, he muttered, "But maybe later..."
"I adore you," I said, shaking my head. He gave me a quick kiss and we walked home. But, alas, a closer encounter was necessarily deferred.
Tony blew in through the kitchen door when we were putting a box of Steve's favorite books away in the library. "Those jackasses are cluttering up the rec room," he grumbled, and rummaged in the cabinets for a glass for his preferred whiskey. "Everybody else is on the way."
Sigh.
Soon we were sitting around the dining room table, first getting the grumbling out of our systems, then turning to practical matters. Since we felt that our Asgardian allies weren't to be trusted as far as pre-serum Steve could throw them, we decided to put a tracking device in their ship. They did have a log of their positions in space, which Tony had already copied, so we were pretty confident in our ability to find our way to Asgard with or without them.
"Ok, once we land on Asgard, Emma will have to find some way of making contact with Loki," Tony said.
"Why Emma?" Steve said crossly.
"Because she's probably his only friend," Tony said briskly. "And he's the only one who has the information that we need, namely, where Thor is. I personally don't care what happens on Asgard so long as it stays there, but if Thor is being held captive, we have to help him out. And find Sif, see if she needs help. From there, it would be up to Thor to ask if he needed our help, and we'd have to decide after learning the facts."
That was something we could all agree on. Our visitors had pretty much burned through our good will. Our plan involved following Volstagg and Fandral at a distance, letting them set off any booby traps, then infiltrating the palace. Steve had gotten to know the citadel well when he stayed on Asgard after Thor's rescue. I would contact Loki and we would leave. This was the ideal plan. We assumed that it wouldn't work out like that and we'd have to adjust on the fly. The most likely outcome would be that we'd be captured. If that happened, the goal would be to be sent to the Grand Master, whoever that was. We nominated Steve, as team captain, to find out who this was from Volstagg or Fandral. He grimaced but didn't complain. That sense of duty was amazing.
Aside from maybe making a few parts for the ship, my part was done there, so I could get back to my regular work, and I still had to drop in on Odin. The clarity of that first day wasn't always there; once he mistook me for Frigga, which wasn't all that fun, but gradually he improved although he was still physically weak. He said he would not be fully restored without one of the golden apples of Idunn, which grew on the eastern side of Valhalla and could only be harvested by the goddess; we would either have to get one from Idunn or Odin could ask himself. They are what allows the adult Asgardian gods their enormously long lifespan of over five thousand years, maintaining the peak of their strength and vigor for most of that time.
I was concerned about Odin's lack of weapons and made him a sword for when he was ready to return to Asgard. Something Thor or Loki had said made me think that he didn't need the Bifrost to access the Nine Realms, so it was possible he would be able to conjure himself back. Although I had no uru, I used the alloy I'd used in the knife I'd given him that he'd liked, etched knotwork down the center of the blade, and made a scabbard for it. I took it over to present to Odin, and apparently walked in while he was drawing breath in a diatribe against Fandral and Volstagg. It put him off his stride, and he took the time to examine the sword and praise its quality. The others glared at me but I ignored them. I could hear Odin yelling about disrespecting their hosts as I walked away down the hall. Excellent. When I returned the next day, we didn't mention the unpleasantness. I asked Odin about the Grandmaster because Volstagg and Fandral were pouting and wouldn't tell Steve anything.
"He is one of the Elders of the Universe, the last of his race. His obsession is games; he spends his time studying millions of worlds and all the games that they play. He used to master them, having no equal, but he grew bored. Now he uses his power to arrange competitions and tournaments with willing and unwilling volunteers. Sometimes he will wager with the players and he will always keep his word." I frowned. "His one weakness is that he himself abhors combat; he has no abilities in that area himself. His skill is all in his intellect, which is beyond imagining. No matter how clever you or your companions are, you cannot beat him in that arena," he cautioned me. "If you think there is the most remote possibility of you being captured and sent to him, bring every weapon you have."
A few days later we were ready to go. I called Peter to explain where we were going.
"Why can't I come?" he asked immediately. "I'd be helpful, you know I would be. It's the whole high school thing, isn't it?"
"Actually, for once it isn't," I said. "I know you'd be an asset, Pete, but..." I bit my lip. "We might not be coming back from this. I have no idea what we're walking into. And we just can't leave the Earth undefended, honey. You've made friends. Dr Strange, Daredevil, all the others you've been telling me about. If we don't make it back, you're going to need to take charge. I really hope it doesn't come to that."
"Em, are you crying?" he asked.
"Nope," I snuffled. "It's just raining on my face."
"You're inside," he pointed out. I used the hem of my t shirt on my face.
"I just wanted you to know, in case... I love you like a son. And I have faith in you and your abilities."
"Em--" he started, and I cut him off.
"Bye, honey." I tried to smile. "I'll call when we get back." And I cut Skype before I became a big snivelling snot monster.
A minute later, I got a text. "Love you too. Be safe. I won't let you down."
I dried my face again and went to suit up.