Chapter Text
A Norse god declaring war on Earth seemed like it should be Albion's greatest need. But Merlin had also thought that when the Saxons invaded and when the plague hit and during the First and Second World War. If it wasn't for the faint magical connection Merlin still felt to Lake Avalon and the occasional pep talk from Freya, he'd have thought the dragon had lied to him. Instead, it just made him dread what would finally be enough to wake up that damn king.
Fury had called him in because the Tesseract, an object with a very specific magical signature, had started doing weird shit nobody could explain. But before Merlin had even arrived at the facility where they were researching it, it had apparently been stolen by a god.
A god .
"We're at level, sir," Hill said to Fury just as the door to the helicarrier bridge opened to reveal a meek looking man, a red-headed woman Merlin swore he had seen before, and Steve fucking Rogers.
Really, why was this guy allowed to revive 70 years after his death and Merlin was still waiting after 1500? It wasn’t fair.
"Good. Let's vanish," Fury ordered beside him and the helicarrier did exactly that.
Merlin watched as the stern director welcomed his guests and Doctor Banner explained his methods of tracing Loki with Agent Coulson.
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please?" Fury concluded.
Agent Romanoff did not, apparently familiar enough with him to disobey. Instead she moved to stand beside Merlin, looking him up and down.
"Doctor Banner, Captain Rogers, this is Professor Merlin Hunithson. He will be helping us locate Loki and capture him."
Merlin crossed his arms. "You told me to look at the cube, not to fight a fucking god ."
Fury took his irritation in stride. "No god, no Tesseract. It's that simple."
That's what he got from boasting about his powers. From now on he would probably get dragged into everything SHIELD couldn't solve on their own. Of course he wasn't going to throw a hissy fit when the safety of the human race was at stake and Fury clearly knew that.
So Merlin just rolled his eyes and then turned to the other three, putting on his friendliest smile. "Nice to meet you."
"The colour suits you," Agent Romanoff said, in lieu of greeting, nodding at his outfit. "You should wear it more often."
Merlin felt his face get hot. "I knew I'd seen you around. You've been spying on me, haven't you?"
"Trust me, if I had been spying, you wouldn't know about it."
As disconcerting as that statement was, at least the compliment boosted his self-esteem. The bright purple dungarees had seemed like a bold fashion choice this morning, but after being surrounded by people in black and dark blue all day, they had left him feeling childish.
"Bruce Banner," the doctor introduced himself rather drily, which made Merlin raise his eyebrows.
"Sorry, I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I don't think I need to pretend any of us want to be here."
Merlin grinned. "I can definitely relate to that sentiment, doctor. I hear you're the expert?"
"Well, I certainly hope so."
As did Merlin. He wasn't in the mood for a giant green monster. That time was behind him.
"Will we be working together?" Banner looked to Fury.
"I'm afraid Hunithson's knowledge lies in other areas," the man replied.
"Oh, I dabble," Merlin said, suddenly offended. He had gotten a master's degree in nuclear physics twelve years ago, after all. "I consider myself a renaissance man."
"You're not here to 'dabble'," Fury spit out.
Merlin had to suppress a smile. He was now making it his personal mission to annoy that man as much as possible, and he was enjoying it immensely.
"So what are you a professor of?" Banner interjected, clearly not keen on Fury losing his temper.
Merlin shrugged. He saw Agent Romanoff smirking in the corner of his eye. "History. Amongst others."
"'Amongst others'?" Steve asked. "You look barely 20."
"I'm older than I look." He let his eyes flash. "Takes one to know one, I suppose."
Loki strode out of the building, letting green-golden armour materialise around himself. He crossed the street, hitting the rapidly approaching police car with a blast of energy from his sceptre. Merlin watched as the car lost ground and, just as he murmured a quick spell, landed on its roof. The people inside would not be harmed.
“Kneel before me,” Loki demanded. The crowd, terrified, tried to escape, but was stopped by three more Lokis appearing out of thin air. Merlin noticed instantly that they were projections, but the people could not.
“I said,” all four Lokis rammed the staff into the ground, the echo carrying over the entire square, “KNEEL!” Loki boomed, his voice deafening, electrifying in a way only Merlin could feel.
The crowd fell silent and knelt.
Merlin did the same. He would not draw attention to himself until absolutely necessary. This was the way he had always fought, hidden away in the shadows.
“Is not this simpler?” Loki was saying. “Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”
In the corner of his eye, Merlin saw someone stand.
It was an old man, who looked Loki in the eye and said, “Not to men like you.”
Loki smiled. “There are no men like me.”
“There are always men like you.”
While Merlin’s heart hurt at the weariness in the man’s voice, Loki wasn’t fazed. “Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example!” He raised the sceptre, pointing it at the man, whose eyes widened in fear.
“NO!” Merlin threw his arms out, his eyes flashing a brilliant gold … and everything slowed.
Loki was near-frozen in his position, in the middle of a soundless spell, but, Merlin realised with horror, the light in his sceptre was still rapidly pulsating with power, entirely unaffected. “Fuck,” he murmured to himself as he pushed the old man out of the way and let everything resume as normal.
Loki released a blast of bright blue cosmic energy that shot to where the old man had been standing and then, suddenly, there was Captain America, blocking it with his shield. The magic was reflected back at Loki and threw him to the ground.
“The soldier,” Loki said when he collected himself. He stood. “A man out of time,” his eyes left Steve and strayed to Merlin, who was still amongst the crowd, “and a man in control of it.”
Overhead, a giant weapon was extended from the Quinjet and Natasha’s voice could be heard, “Loki, drop the weapon and stand down!”
Loki let blue energy shoot towards the Quinjet and she narrowly manoeuvred out of the way.
Just as Steve’s shield hit Loki in the chest, to little effect, Merlin called, “Ástryce!” and flung him backwards.
The crowd screamed and was gone in seconds.
“Petty sorcerer. You think you are a match for a god?” Loki spat, sending another wave of energy his way. Merlin managed to block it, but he could feel his magic draining at the attempt. His eyes went wide. Nothing had been able to do that ever since Camlann.
Steve slammed the shield in Loki’s face, enabling Merlin to bring Loki to his knees, but he just swiped Steve’s feet away with his staff and summoned a blinding light that forced Merlin to look away.
The fight was frustratingly evenly matched, Loki being just as strong and skilled a fighter as Steve and still deflecting or retaliating every single one of Merlin’s spells.
It was only when ACDC blared through the Quinjet’s speakers that the battle took a turn.
Iron Man descended upon Loki like a rocket, kicking him across the square. Loki had lost his sceptre but made to get up anyway, only to find Iron Man, all his guns on display, Steve and Merlin all towering over him.
“Make your move, Reindeer Games,” Stark said.
Loki eyed the three of them and dematerialized his armour, holding up his hands in surrender.
Iron Man shut away his weapons. “Good move.”
“Mr. Stark,” Steve greeted.
“Captain.”