Work Text:
These people were crass, mercenary, and as Darcy would put it, absolute assholes. But they were the best leads Loki’s agents could find to tracking Thanos’ whereabouts aside from rumors of destruction of other worlds. The tree was ignorable; he seemed content to grouch at his group of outlaws in ways the so-called Guardians reacted to in varied states of anger, annoyance, and disgust. The empath took one look at him and made herself scarce. But it was Gamora he was here to see.
“I have heard nothing from Nebula in the last few months,” she said. Her hands flicked over a knife with a cleaning cloth. “But I have heard rumors the Black Order is closing in on another stone.”
Loki sat in silence for a moment. Her presence put him on edge, but she and Nebula had been assassins, not torturers. Loki had not realized until late that it was not just the Chitauri who had been in charge of his imprisonment, not just the Other. And it was Nebula, on the only time he had encountered her, who told him what happened to that creature and why the lingering thread between their minds had so suddenly snapped. He bought Nebula a drink just for that information alone.
“There is a giant black bird outside,” the one called Quill said. “Like, it’s huge. And not native to this planet.”
Loki stood and looked outside, followed by the rest of the Guardians. He ignored their bickering over if it would be edible. He stopped upon seeing it. His entire body tensed as he stepped forward and held out his arm. “Munin.”
The raven stopped pecking at a shiny stone on the ground and flew over to perch on his arm. Loki brought the bird closer. Its beak combed through his hair. “Come,” it said in Odin’s voice.
Cold rushed through him. He’d spelled his father’s powers so thoroughly. Even his bond with his ravens should not have allowed him to do this. Loki side-eyed Munin, who just stared steadily back. There was something terribly wrong.
He made his excuses and left. Munin soared away when Loki called for the Bifrost. The bird blurred into the sky and vanished. Loki stared after it a second, then the Bifrost took him away.
It deposited him not on Asgard, but in the middle of a field full of tall grass. Loki stopped and looked around. The grass rolled to the sky and the hills. In the other direction, it came to the edge of a cliff and the sounds of waves crashing below. At cliff’s edge stood two men. One had a red cape and long, blond hair. Thor. Loki walked over.
Odin did not turn his head at Loki’s approach. He wore a plain cream-colored jacket with dark pants and a pale pink shirt. Loki had never seen his father dress so informally. He had never seen his father in anything other than Asgardian clothes. He forced his hands to his sides, but kept his fists clenched.
“Look at this place,” Odin said. “It’s beautiful.”
“Father-” Thor said.
“My sons,” Odin said, as if Thor hadn’t spoken. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
That was rich, Loki thought. He’d been left in Norway with his memories, devoid of power, left in exile where he could do no further harm. For the past two years, there had been no concerns stirring from the guards left to watch over him. Thor was not that angry to abandon his father without care the way Odin had done to him long ago.
“Your mother,” Odin said. “She calls me. Do you hear it?”
Loki took a breath and caught Thor’s eye. Their father had never expressed such longing before. He seemed so different. Older. Frailer. Calm. And his words set Loki on edge.
Odin chuckled softly. “Come, sit with me. I don’t have much time.”
He led them to a rock just behind them and eased himself down. He turned to stare out at the ocean again. As if he could hear something neither Loki nor his brother could.
“It is coming,” Odin said. “Ragnarok. She is coming and my life is all that held her back. But my time is come. I cannot keep her away any longer.”
“Are you speaking of Hela?” Thor said.
Odin turned to look at him. He seemed more present in that moment. Loki’s dread mounted. He already had one parent lost to death. As much as he both hated and loved Odin, he did not wish his father gone.
“Yes,” Odin said. “You know of her?”
”Father, you made me king,” Thor said. “And I have done my best to lead Asgard, but I also needed to know where we failed. I looked into our history. You have sealed her away, but as king I have powers of my own.”
“She draws her strength from Asgard,” Odin said. “Once she gets there, her powers will be limitless.”
”I know,” Thor said. “I’m counting on it.”
Odin gazed at him, not understanding. Loki could stand the subterfuge no further. “Father, Thor has been communicating with her for some time. She is angry and bitter, but we can use her.”
”Against Thanos?” Odin scoffed. “That madman would worship her.”
”No,” Loki said. “A woman who can rule the dead is a threat to him. He would wipe her from existence. The dead are still a resource.”
“Ah,” Odin said. And nothing more. He returned to looking at sea and the horizon. They let the waves crash as they sat in silence.
Then: “I love you, my sons.” He sighed softly. “Remember this place. Home.”
Loki held himself so very still as his father’s body disintegrated into golden dust beside him. He stood in concert with Thor as they followed the dust to the cliff’s edge. It swirled out to see and danced in the sunlight between the clouds and the waves until it vanished from their sight.
Thunder rumbled overhead. Thor’s fists were clenched. Lightning danced over them. Mjolnir hung from his side.
“Thor, we have not the time,” Loki said. “Hela is coming and I doubt all your talks have appeased her wrath.”
Thor took a shuddering breath. The storm threatening above eased. His hands stopped sparking. He looked at Loki with anger. And loss.
“We will mourn him later,” Thor said. “As befitting a king of Asgard.”
Loki nodded in acquiescence. They both turned to face the gate forming in the air. Green light shone through dark swirling shadow as a tall woman with long, black hair and a black and green bodysuit stepped through. The gate closed behind her as they all stood and looked at each other.
“So he’s gone,” Hela said.
Loki took a breath at the bare statement of fact in a voice that sounded like it hadn’t been used in years. He pushed his emotions aside for the moment. He would deal with them later. Now, he needed his wits around him in case she decided Thor’s offer was not enough. That she would indeed try for a coup to rule Asgard as Odin’s first-born.
“It’s a shame,” she said. “I’d have like to see that.”
She truly did hate Odin. Loki saw it in the way she held herself, in the words she used, in the way her eyes lingered on the distant horizon. Loki felt the stirrings of sympathy for her. Locked away for thousands of years, imprisoned alone, was enough to drive anyone mad. She looked remarkably sane. Well, as sane as a goddess of death could be. There was always going to be that unworldly side to her.
“And would you lock me away in a cage after my usefulness to you is at an end, Thor son of Odin?” Hela said. She walked towards them and stopped bare feet away.
“I doubt there will be a cage left for you to be locked in,” Loki said. She spared him a glance. “I am sure my brother has informed you of our plans?”
Hela shook her head. Her black hair streamed in the wind. She pushed it back with an idle hand. “I suppose I should feel grateful that you even considered me.” Her head tilted. “And what if I want the throne as reward?”
“If you still existed to take it at the end,” Thor said. “Well, I suppose Asgard herself would have a say.”
She laughed. “We all draw power from Asgard.” Her eyes turned to Loki. “Well, not all of us.”
Loki knew and was satisfied with that. He was his own master, the source of his power, and did not rely on any realm for it. He would not be crippled by Asgard’s destruction. The way Thor might be. The way he knew Hela would.
“I promise, I will not start a coup until this threat of yours, this Thanos, is defeated.” Hela said.
”That is all I ask,” Thor said.
Loki twitched. He could not trust this woman. She had her own motives, her own agenda. Even if what she desired at the moment fit into their plans. Thanos would appeal, if he presented himself in the right way. And he could be so persuasive. He thought of Nebula, he thought of Gamora. He thought of the other children he and found and raised and abused. No, Loki knew. The death what Thanos promised was the absence of life and Hela would gain no power from that. The thought scared him, though. It scared him to his core.
Hela glanced down at her ragged bodysuit and her lank hair. She poked at it. “I suppose you want me to look presentable. Tell me, is how you dress representative of Asgardian fashion these days?”
”You’d have to ask Loki’s wife,” Thor said, somewhat uncomfortably. “I do not follow women’s fashion.”
Loki rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt our sister would prefer the loose, flowing dresses favored by court woman. Look at Sif for a model, if you must, brother.” He turned to Hela. “Fix the holes in your suit and you’ll be presentable enough.”
Hela favored him with a smile. “I think I should like to meet this wife of yours, Loki, if she has enticed an Asgardian male to look at fashion.”
“She suffers it,” Loki said. “She’d rather wear jeans.”
“Ah, yes,” Hela said. “I remember now. You married a human. I’m surprised Odin allowed it.”
Loki shrugged. Clearly, Thor hadn’t told Hela everything. “He was not aware of it for some months.”
Hela looked impressed. She ran a hand down her suit. The holes shifted and filled in. The bodysuit was still out of fashion and lacked any type of measurable armor to Loki’s eye, but considering who wore it... Hela was weapon enough. Still, something would need to be done with her hair.
“There,” she said. “Am I presentable now?”
Loki just shot her a scathing look. If she did not present such a threat, he might almost like her.
Thor turned to the sky. “Heimdall, bring us home.”
Hela’s reintroduction to Asgard went fairly smoothly, all things considered. She did not try to kill anyone, she was not undermining Thor as king, she was not even insulting Odin every chance she had. Loki watched her all the closer for that. His sister spent more time in the kennels and the practice courts than anywhere else combined. Tyr claimed she’d taught him more in one bout than he had learned in the past century. He admired her skills and feared her fury.
But it was the kennels she loved best. One of the dogboys served in the Ravens and he reported once a week on her actions. Or the lack thereof, some days. Some days she just sat in the warm straw covered in newly-weaned pups. And there were the days there was no chore too good for her. Those were the days she came to the family meals, such as they were, smelling of dog. No one commented. She was happier those days, more stable.
Loki, as much as he missed his parents, found himself disgusted by his father’s actions. The man had ruled with a hard mind and heart. He could not forgive so easily now the actions long excused by the excuse that he must have known the consequences of his deeds. What excuse was there to imprison your oldest child because of how you had raised her to be? What excuse was there to exile your first son to a century of wandering because he was too violent? What excuse was there to inform your second son that his beloved was only worthy enough to warm his bed for a time when better options would come available? Frigga must have softened his instincts enough or his sons supposed feelings not worth such a harsh punishment, but Hela had been locked away for centuries alone.
They began their plans to defend Asgard a month after her arrival when she seemed settled into her place. Hela had laughed the first time they all met. “A warrior, a spy, and a politician rule Asgard. No wonder you need me. I’ve at least led an army.”
History long locked away from public knowledge, talked of only amongst the elders and in secret. Darcy called it revisionist history and spat so much invective that she took herself away for the day to calm down. It did not work, and her anger only fed Loki’s rage. Odin’s actions had weakened Asgard and now they would pay the price.
Four months after Hela returned, a woman tried to assassinate her. The woman wore the uniform of the long-dead Valkyries. And she said she was the last of them all, sworn to kill the hag that had killed her sisters. Hela only laughed. But the Valkyrie stayed, angry and full of vengeance. Loki, without discussing it with Thor, brought her into the fold.
Loki’s nightmares began that night and had yet to retreat. In his soul, Loki knew. Thanos was coming.
Loki rested his head against Darcy’s shoulder as they sat on a cloaked ship overlooking Asgard from far orbit. “I fear this plan will all be for naught.”
Her hand clenched down tight on his. Loki breathed in her scent, closed his eyes, and locked it into his memory. Behind him, on the observation deck, several dozen Asgardian warriors waited. Asgard had been slowly emptied of civilians, a trickle so light that even Hela had not noticed until the dogboys gone with their charges. And that was when Thor showed her the vault hidden beneath the treasure chamber full of her dead army. And the body of her beloved Fenris.
Hela understood then who she was to command in the coming battle. And she had only smiled. Loki, at that moment, knew. And put his own plans into motion. There had been too many leaks to Thanos’ spies. Too many leaks too high in the chain of command. So when Thanos’ forces attacked, there was only Hela to greet him.
And Surtur waiting in the vault below.
Loki’s arm tightened around Darcy as he watched his home burn. It would not be enough to stop Thanos. All too soon, he would realize his prize was not on the fallen realm, but tucked away on one lone Asgardian ship lingering to say goodbye.
Ragnarok was at hand.