Chapter Text
Your cellphone was ringing on the night stand. Jane Foster. Your half sister was calling you at some awful hour of the night when you should be sleeping.
“Hello?” You answered the phone groggily, putting the receiver to your ear.
“You are not going to believe this!”
You glanced at the clock and sighed. “Go on.”
“So you remember that guy I told you about, Thor, the one from legend, he legit is from legend, I have proof.”
You nodded sleepily, silently listening to whatever she was rambling on about.
“This job I was given, remote,” as if on cue the phone staticked, signaling the poor connection. “So something happened in New York, Thor was there and I wonder if it’s related to why he never came back.”
“Uh-huh.”
Jane almost seemed to be talking to herself. “That would make sense, he left to go do something his brother, Loki, was up to and then he never came back except for this alien invasion, it has to be related!”
A burst of bright light seemed to explode outside the window of your small farmhouse. You squinted your eyes, staring at the stunning beam of light coming from the sky and make a circle of sorts in your yard.
“Uh Jane, I’ll call you back.” You set the phone to flashlight and hung up on the still rambling Jane.
Thankfully, the animals were in the stables and the only thing seeming to get damaged was the singed plants growing in the area. Still though, you leapt up, grabbing a jacket and slipping into more suitable trousers for being outside.
Your hand gripped the door handle by the time the light vanished. In your boots, you hesitated abruptly, worried about what sort of alien technology could have done this.
Bracing yourself, you took the plunge and opened the door, hurrying out into the yard with your cellphone for a light. You made your way to where the beam had appeared, all but blinding you it felt like.
At the center of the circle of singed grass made by the beam, you saw a dark shape.
Rushing to its side, you realized it was a man. A heavily armored, leather clad, and honestly quite strikingly handsome, man.
He opened his eyes, gasping softly, clearly having taken the brunt of the impact on his back where he landed.
“What happened?” You managed to ask, dropping to your knees by his side.
“Wait!” the man tried to choke out, but it was too late.
A snake rose in the grass, ready to strike at you, but instead, it coiled into a wristlet. Wrapping itself around your wrist, it then tightened in on itself, fangs sinking into its own body until it couldn’t move.
You screamed, trying to get back from the snake. It was a brilliant shade of crimson, contrasting starkly against the green plants. Your phone fell to the ground, luckily landing light up and you scrambled to grab at the snake. It didn’t give.
To your side, you saw the man slowly sitting up, one hand on his forehead as he rubbed at it wearily. His eyes flashed and he lunged at you, eliciting another scream. You fell back into the grass, the man knelt over top you and had one hand over your mouth, successfully muffling your screams.
“Silence.” He breathed, though it was clearly a command.
For some reason, your body listened. Your screaming stopped immediately. You tried to squint at his face in the light of the moon, stars, and your slightly far away cellphone.
“There.” You could make out a look of satisfaction on his face, clearly pleased that you had listened.
You struggled beneath him, no longer screaming but still wiggling as you might to get him off of you.
This seemed to register with him and he stepped off you, rising to his feet. Once more, he rubbed at his pale forehead, framed by black feathered hair. He wore strange armor that you could barely make determine what it was. He moved to step away from you and an ear splitting scream cut through the air, yours mixed with his deeper, quieter one.
The man spun around, swaying where he stood as though he might collapse before scrabbling back to your side. The pain in your wrist was unbearable, it felt like a million needles being stabbed into it, fiery burning sensations and also somehow cold at the same time. You had never felt pain like it before.
Tears flooded your eyes as you lay gasping for breath. You lifted your hand to look at what had caused the pain, registering slowly that it was the snake. Body trembling, you looked up at the man through teary eyes and then you noticed that the tail of the snake had followed him… the two of you were connected by a rope of red.
“Are you joking?” the man grunted, rubbing at the snake, trying to soothe the ache in his arm. At the same time, he looked to the sky, speaking to some unseen being. The man moved back until he was once again very much in your personal space. With his unhindered hand, he grabbed your hand and held it to his eyes, studying the snake. “Quaint.” He spat bitterly, looking again towards the heavens. “I know you thought this would work because of Thor, but truly? You had to bind me to this?”
You sat up, touching your head with your free hand and rubbing at it. Your eyes followed the snake from you to the strange man.
“Thor?” You asked, finally able to speak.
The man closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaled slowly. “Do you know the realm we’re on?”
“Uhh… realm?”
“Midgard, typical.” The man grit his teeth and shook his head, once more looking up at the sky. He glanced down at you, “get up.”
You shook your head, fighting the urge to hug your snaked hand to your chest, trying to pull away from him.
The man’s eyes flashed in anger and he bent down, grabbing your connected hands and pulling you to your feet.
You swayed for a moment, surprised that no pain followed. Then you looked again at the snake rope entwining the two of you. “Why is that snake… What is that snake?” You managed to choke out, studying it. You had seen all manner of snakes on your farm, but this? This was beyond you.
Etched into the snake’s belly was a set of weird runic figures. You squinted at them, trying to figure out what they were in the growing light of dawn.
How long had you been out here?
The sky was a hazy grey, threatening to rain and the sun barely cut through the morning fog, but you could at least better see the man standing beside you.
He was dressed elaborately. Golden accents on his leather and metal armor, some strange jacket that seemed to pass down to his knees, even a black belt strapped across his armored chest. All accented with black, green, and gold.
Panic struck you again. Your mind flooding with fear at this unknown intruder, the snake tightly wrapped around your wrist and biting back your scream, you tried to bolt.
As soon as the snake went taut, you stumbled to a stop, arm wrenching behind you, still connected to the man. The burn returned, nausea welled in your stomach and you felt darkness clouding the edges of your vision like you might faint.
You felt a strong hand on your shoulder, tugging you back until you fell into his chest, the two of you tripping and falling to the ground in a pile of bodies.
The pain passed once again and you whimpered, feeling tears streaming down your cheeks. Rain was just starting, light pellets here and there, but it would be a downpour soon.
The man grunted, once again detangling the two of you and rose to his feet. He kept his connected hand wrapped around your forearm and with viselike strength, he pinned you to his side. “Don’t move.” He gasped out, voice breathy from similar pain.
You looked at his arm gripping you, the snake, and it clicked. If the snake was stretched too far, if it became taut with distance, pain would course through you. Crippling, debilitating, awful pain.
“You realize too, now, don’t you?” He asked.
You nodded mutely.
“So you’re not going to run?”
You nodded again, eyes wide. He still hadn’t released your arm and the fingers were digging through your jacket and into your skin.
Slowly, carefully, he pried is fingers’ grip from your arm and let go, allowing you to stand of your own accord.
“What the hell is going on?” Words finally reached your mouth. Indignation flooded through you and you felt your cheeks heating with anger. “Who even are you? Why are you attached to that snake? Where did you even come from?” You half yelled, half asked, words coming out in a blur.
The man rolled his eyes. “I am Loki.” He hesitated.
You squinted your eyes at him, studying him back. “Loki? from those old legends?”
A pained look crossed his face and he nodded.
“Wait, what? The Loki? Where’s Thor?” You looked around, searching the area as though Thor might miraculously appear at that moment. He did not.
Loki held his free hand out, catching the rain in his palm.
Every instinct in you told you to scream, to run, to do literally anything. You felt frozen like a rabbit being hunted.
“Thor isn’t here, obviously.” Loki said through grit teeth. Then he paused, “how do you know Thor?”
“My half-sister, Jane, she literally just called rambling about her boyfriend and how he was in New York fighting some aliens. Well I guess he’s an alien too…” You trailed off.
You twisted your neck this way and that, trying to look around the ranch without moving. The animals were coming awake and you knew your helper would be there sooner than later.
“We can’t be out here.” You said, scanning the sky for government jets or any other threats, flying people maybe.
You instinctively reached to clasp his hand, tugging him along after you. To your surprise, and his - it seemed, he started to slowly, reluctantly, follow after you.
You reached the doorway of your house and keeping your hand as close to him as you could, you stepped inside. Loki followed you, raindrops dripping from his hair. He had a nasty split in his lip, looking very fresh and a few other bloodied yet seemingly healing scratches on his face, one particularly on his tall forehead.
“You are Thor’s brother, right?”
Loki rolled his eyes again, shutting the door behind him. “Adopted.”
You nodded slowly. “So Jane was serious about aliens attacking New York?”
Loki arched his brow at you but didn’t answer.
“Wait, were you involved somehow? Jane’s been going on and on about different theories of why Thor won’t visit and she said something about his evil brother.” You snapped your mouth shut.
You felt very vulnerable in your darkened home, standing so closely to this dangerous alien criminal.
Loki used his free hand to lift the snake and look at the markings on its belly, changing the subject. “Of course.” He sighed heavily, eyes scanning over the symbols.
“What?” You asked immediately, unable to hide your curiosity at this strange turn of events.
“Odin Allfather has made it that this snake is to remain bound to you and I, until such time as I am worthy of Asgard again.” Loki snerked and shook his head, cursing softly. “Damn you old man. Worthy by whose account?”
You frowned, twisting your neck to try and read the runes as Loki had. Or you figured he had. “Odin?” You asked.
“Indeed. My adoptive father who sent me to this realm. In fact, we just came from my sentencing trial.”
“But if you were sent here to be punished…” You trailed off once again looking at the snake.
Loki nodded.
Your mouth dropped open. “You’re crazy.”
“You saw your mortal news, the chitauri? That big whale like beast?”
“The what now? Is that what Jane was talking about with aliens?”
“you… aren’t aware of what happened on Midgard in the last few days?”
“No, well yea, I mean there was something about aliens all over the news, but like…” You hesitated. “But what are you doing here? Why are you in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and why me?”
“Now you’re asking the right questions.”
“I just got off the phone with her. She was talking about Thor the god guy, and he’s your brother?” You strained to remember your half asleep conversation while Jane babbled excitedly into the receiver.
“Your half-sister?” Loki asked, tilting his head.
“Jane Foster, she’s some famous science lady. We’re not that close I mean, but we’ve been trying to reconnect since she met that guy in New Mexico and he ditched her, I think? She’s been going on about how her boyfriend hadn’t contacted her and then suddenly that call that he was in New York and…” You trailed off.
Loki sighed, looking at you before bluntly asking, “Thor’s mortal, she is your half-sister?”
“Thor’s what now?”
“The woman he met here on Midgard.”
“Well I mean, I know how crazy you’re going to think this sounds. But gods, aliens, whatever.”
Loki arched his brow.
You had the sudden stark memory of what felt like fifteen minutes ago when you had first met this stranger who now stood uncomfortably close next to you in the front hall.
Once again, you fought every instinct that screamed at you to turn and run, remembering all too well the pain you had experienced already.
“It seems Odin has a sense of humor after all.” Loki growled darkly.
You looked back at him.
“Please don’t.” He added, looking at your one arm half extended towards the door. “Surely you’ve caught on to what happens with this binding?”
You looked down at the snake wrapped around your wrist, to its tail leading to another snakehead wrapped around his wrist. “I’m so confused. A few months ago…” the memories were coming back. “Jane met this guy named Thor, and then she was going on about bridges and stuff and how he had to leave to stop his evil brother Loki and...” You trailed off.
Loki raised his eyebrows at you. “Is that so?”
“So Jane was telling the truth.”
Loki nodded.
“So her theory that Thor was back was related to you then? That’s why that disaster thing happened in New York?” You felt your blood run cold, taking an involuntary step back from him. Luckily your arm stayed extended so there was no immediate pain. Loki studied you silently. So, you tried to continue, “listen, we’re in the middle of nowhere, we don’t get TV out here, cellphones are one thing but like, I don’t use it to watch the news.”
Still Loki stayed quiet, waiting for you to finish.
“Jane just called. She said with her special assignment she was in some remote place but then like an hour later she called back screaming that her boyfriend, Thor the god of thunder, was in New York fighting aliens.” You paused. “I thought she was drunk or something.”
“No, your mortal city of New York was nearly wiped off the map,” Loki stopped speaking, silently rolling his shoulders for a moment. “now, how does all of this involve you?”
You nodded, your turn to be mute.
“Odin, it would seem, has a distinct sense of humor. Thor met this Jane Foster woman and after a short exile, he found it in himself to grow and stop being so idiotically war thirsty.”
“My half-sister, Jane?”
“Yes. And then, what Jane doesn’t know, is that Thor and I had a fight, and I was thrown from the bifrost.” You stared at him blankly. “Thor dropped me to my death at the end of the rainbow bridge that teleported me here tonight.”
“I thought Thor was a good guy?”
“Indeed. And I truly was the rightful king of Asgard, throne passed to me by the queen herself, and yet here we are.”
“But again… what does this have to do with me?”
“It seems Jane was tactical enough to sway my ego driven brother and Odin has similar hopes for me.” He narrowed his eyes at you.
“He what now?”
“Are you daft?”
“Listen, I’ve been awake for like an hour now, I don’t even know what day of the week it is until I’ve had my breakfast.”