Chapter Text
“She is taking too long,” said Loki, arms crossed around his chest. “Why is she taking so long?”
“I know not,” said Thor, sounding far too casual for Loki’s tastes.
“She is late.”
“Ah, I know the answer to this,” he said, snapping his fingers. “She is not late. Everyone else is simply early and she will show up exactly at the time she means to show up, and not a second before or after.”
“That does sound remarkably like her,” agreed Loki, trying to not smile.
“She was even late to the battle against the Titan,” added Thor, noticing anyway. “By now, you should have learnt to lower your expectations of her already. She-”
Loki smirked as Thor’s last words were stopped by a forearm around his neck, their sister having silently appeared behind him.
“My older sister senses were going haywire,” she said, keeping Thor in what would have been a rather weak headlock without the Reality Stone, while looking over at Loki. “Were you talking shit?”
“You’re late,” he informed her, glad that he was standing far enough that was she to attempt choking him too, he’d be able to flee.
“He’s nervous,” managed Thor, massaging his neck once she released him. “And I said nothing wrong.”
“I am not nervous,” rebuffed Loki, earning very incredulous looks from everyone around. Speaking of, “Do you go everywhere with a royal guard?”
“They are very needy,” said Antoinette, shrugging. “Worse than the American media. And I don’t get in the shower with them.”
“You do get in the shower with me,” pointed out Brunnhilde, and Antoinette was the only one who smiled as if finding this comment charming.
It was not charming, and Loki and Thor were in agreement when it came to this.
While they were happy that this millennia long affection between the two of them had finally bloomed into an active relationship, now they were being forced to observe as Antoinette’s previous crass and un-noble like comments grew in number and were actively reciprocated by her chosen Valkyrie.
He wondered, at times, if Hela had been like that too, and Loki had been too young, back then, to realise.
He might have loved his sister with his everything, but his memories of her were rather hard to grasp.
He remembered her as a curve of soft lips, fingers running through his hair, a song that he did not remember the words to anymore, black magic and sharp daggers, and love.
He did not have the solid memories Thor could boast, or the easy in jokes the Valkyries and Lady Eir shared with her.
His sister was a blanket of love wrapped all around him. The starseed was a shield between him and the rest of the world.
But Hela, she was the memory of a memory.
And he did not think this was something the spell had done.
It was, rather, something losing his sister in childhood had done.
It was why, while Thor alternated between sister, starseed, Antoinette and ‘Hela’ interchangeably, Loki stuck with Antoinette most of the time.
Antoinette was the only sister and starseed he truly knew and remembered.
“Sister, please,” said Thor, looking at Brunnhilde and her with a grimace.
“You two are no fun,” she complained, turning to Loki instead. “Ready to go?”
Loki was not.
He nodded.
Antoinette gave him a knowing look, but she did not ask him if he was sure. She only linked her arm with Herja, and they proceeded down the stairs of the old castle.
They did not need to travel through the tunnels.
They could have asked Heimdall to Bifrost them, and this would have been allowed. Without the spell at work souring their memories of each other and the memory of the victory they had achieved against the Mad Titan’s forces by working alongside one another, Jotunheim and Asgard were once more trying to be the allies of old – something made easier by the strong relationship between Queen regent Frigga and Laufey-King.
Laufey was no longer King, but his reach still existed, especially over his own children.
But Loki had wanted to go through the tunnels. Had wanted to walk them once more, and see what memories he had left of this place, this place where what he’d call his childhood innocence had died.
He found that he did not feel much.
The tunnels were much older than they had been, and Loki had been only six. He had been six, he had been crying, and had been more focused on calling out for his sister than the path they had been taking.
Thor looked a little stiff on his side, and Loki could see him looking over at Antoinette every now and again.
He had been older, and he had been sitting behind Loki. He had seen far more, and he remembered even more.
Antoinette looked relaxed as they proceeded, and Loki was having a hard time telling if that was her true emotion or if she was simply pretending.
The door did make him feel a certain way, when they came upon it.
He remembered the door. He had had nightmares of the doors, nightmares he hadn’t understood as a child, with his memories erased, and that had later on led him to find the passage between the new castle and Jotunheim.
“Here,” whispered Thor, and when Loki glanced at him, he was looking at the door with a pinched expression.
Antoinette pretended she had not noticed either of those reactions, simply opening the door with a whisper of Reality.
It worried Loki, her reliance on the magic of the Reality Stone. Losing half of her soul had had more of an effect than she was willing to admit, and Loki wondered what would happen if she was asked to rely on her magic or the Reality Stone removed from her person.
Nothing good, he’d imagine.
“Before you proceed,” said Loki, as they stepped out of the dark tunnel and onto the cold snowy surface of Jotunheim. “You must promise me something.”
“Promise what?” “We must?”
“Yes,” said Loki, seriously. “You must swear it.”
Antoinette looked suspicious, crossing her arms and studying him with narrowed eyes. “Why do I feel like I won’t like whatever is going to come out of your mouth next?”
“Because you are perceptive and I rarely have anything nice to say about or to either of you,” said Loki.
“He has a point,” admitted Thor. He did not look any less suspicious than she did, however. Standing as he was, with a hand on his waist and his eyes equally narrowed, it struck Loki how much both of them resembled Odin, her in attitude, him in looks. “What do you wish for?”
Loki pushed away his complicated feelings for the All-Father.
“You must keep your tempers,” he said instead. “No matter what is said, no matter what is done: you are guests, and you will not result to name calling, insulting or violence.”
“That’s like our entire repertoire,” complained Antoinette, while Thor looked further suspicious.
“Why do you ask this of us? Are you expecting something that would, normally, bring us to name calling, insults and/or violence?”
Loki enjoyed how much more level headed Thor had become, except for the times when he loathed it.
He sighed. “We went to the Sanctum, after you returned from Vanaheim. You and Thor went together, but Jane Foster wished to speak with me, so I was delayed.”
“You mentioned that.”
“What I did not mention was that as we used the elevator to ride downstairs, we came across some other guests who were at the Tower at that time,” he said, casting a small protection spell when Thor shuddered at a sudden cold jet of air. Antoinette, who had been just about to cast the same spell, smirked, letting her hand fall back down.
Loki ignored her. “Helblindi-King of Jotunheim.”
“Your brother and you met, and you didn’t tell us?”
“Yes,” said Loki. “It wasn’t... a pleasant meeting.”
Thor’s frown grew. “What did he say to you?”
Loki glared. “And this is why you must promise to keep level heads throughout the entire affair,” he said. “I merely hinted that he might have been unpleasant, and the sky is looking tempestuous.”
“You’re our itty bitty baby brother,” said Antoinette, all wide eyed innocence. “We must protect you. It’s our job.”
“You do not reach the average height of a Midgardian,” said Loki, flatly.
“And yet you couldn’t walk the tunnel until I got there,” she said, appearing very self satisfied. “Very cute, moonbeam.”
“You are insufferable,” said Loki, grimacing and ducking away when she tried to put her arm around his shoulder. “Leave me be!”
“Never! You will always be my tiny baby bro!”
“Our,” corrected Thor, who Loki had not seen move and who was now holding him from behind. “Our tiny baby bro.”
“You two are insufferable,” complained Loki, as Antoinette hugged him from the front and they managed to keep him trapped in their embrace.
He did not try that hard to free himself.
After feeling Thor dying in his arms... after watching a weakened Antoinette walk away from them, just to see her return smaller than she was meant to be, crying in Brunnhilde’s arms...
He could not bring himself to push away their affection as he had before.
They both knew that too, and used it to their advantage.
But they did not speak of it either, and for that Loki was grateful.
+++
The meeting at the Jotun Court went as terribly as Loki had dreaded.
While Antoinette had been embraced and greeted warmly by Queen Mother Angrboða and many of the elder Jotnar, Helblindi-King refused to even give Loki and/or Thor audience.
Byleistr, his younger brother, had looked as if he, at least, wanted to reach out, but did not speak up in their favour.
Laufey tried to bridge the gap between his children, clearly hurt by the stonewalling in response to Loki’s apology and olive branch, but it was futile.
Angrboða and the other Jotnar, especially the eldest among them, were clearly torn between their joy at Loki’s return and the horror as they understood the full truth of his actions against them, actions that he had known, before coming back, could never truly be forgiven or forgotten.
Thor was seething with rage beside him, even as he tried to contain his feelings for Loki’s sake - and for his own actions against the planet - but Antoinette remained quiet the entire time Loki spoke and was stonewalled by almost everyone.
Stone faced even.
It made Loki worried that, perhaps, even she had not forgiven him, even she was angered by the memory of his actions.
But then, after, she took his hand in hers, and pulled him along until they reached Farbauti’s grave. And as Loki stared at the familiar and yet unfamiliar statue atop the grave, she told him forgotten stories of their youth, and stories of their modir.
Laufey joined them a while later, and also shared the memories of his first wife with them, memories that even Antoinette was hearing for the first time, and Loki and Thor sat and listened (all pretending they did not know Byleistr was standing not too far).
It did not take the sting of Byleistr and Helblindi’s reaction away, but it soothed the injury a little.
“What are you doing?”
“Norns!” hissed Thor, ungracefully turning around on the couch.
Young Peter was standing behind him, looking both proud and embarrassed at having startled him.
Thor turned back in direction to the kitchen, but Loki did not seem to have noticed him, completely focused on his conversation with the sorcerer Stephen Strange.
“Sorry,” said Peter, taking a seat beside Thor. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I am Thor Odinson, I was not scared,” said Thor, putting a poptart in his mouth and turning to face the child again.
“If I were you I would definitely be afraid of what Miss Stark would do to you if she found out that you are eating food on her nice white couch,” said the boy, looking at the crumbs Thor had caused with the same judgemental and disapproving expression his sister was so fond of using against everyone.
Thor scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. “I am not afraid of her,” he lied. “And she is not going to find out.”
Peter did not seem as if he agreed with that statement. “Miss Stark always knows everything,” he warned. “It’s very scary. Plus, she has JARVIS, and JARVIS snitches on her about everything.”
"I reveal pertinent information," corrected JARVIS.
“Ah,” said Thor, smiling at one of JARVIS’ many eyes. “Me and my nephew have an agreement.”
“We do not,” he answer, but Thor knew better.
They had long since come to an accord.
“Nephew?” repeated Peter, looking confused.
“Yes,” said Thor. “Like you. You are both sons of my sister, thus you are both my nephews.”
Instead of being confused at the inclusion of JARVIS as his brother, Peter seemed focused on another part of that sentence.
“Isn’t it weird for you?”
“What is?”
“Miss Stark,” started Peter.
“She is very weird,” said Thor, nodding in agreement. “But you cannot choose your family.”
And Thor did not wish to, but he would never say this anywhere JARVIS and/or Loki could hear. They had plenty of material against him already.
Though it had been a while since his brother had indicated the level of annoyance that Thor was used to create in him.
He rubbed the small scar on his arm. Just because they did not speak of it, it did not mean that the one on his arm was truly the only scar or pain the three of them had received from this entire war.
Loki had thought him to be dying in his arms. Antoinette had too. Then Antoinette had had to help Father stab himself, and Loki had seen Father die, and then Antoinette herself had almost died in her fight against the Mad Titan.
Definitely not their only scar.
“I mean the fact that she is not really your sister,” said Peter. “She is... the reincarnation of your half sister.”
“She is my sister,” said Thor, knowing that there was no maliciousness in the boy’s heart, only confusion. “She may go by other names, and she may look different, but that doesn’t change her or I.”
“Is it really that simple?” asked Peter, brows furrowed.
Loki had once asked Hela such a question.
“How can we be siblings if you are Aesir and I am half Jotun and Thor is half Aesir half Vanr?”
And Hela had answered, “Because our hearts beat the same, and I have chosen you.”
“As simple as that?”
“Nothing simpler than.”
It really was as simple as that.
“I do not see how it could be any more complicated,” he said, smiling at Peter. “Hela and I share a father. Hela and Loki share a mother. Loki and I share no blood relation. And yet, it is clear to me that they both are my siblings. The Norns dictated it, and my heart knows it. She is my sister, and I am her brother. Now, the matter of age, that is a little complicated,” he added, cracking a smile. “She insists on being the oldest, which is not the case any longer.”
Peter smiled, though he still looked a bit thoughtful.
“What is it?” asked Thor, after a few seconds of the boy remaining silent. “You have questions.”
“You did not know she was your sister from the beginning,” he said.
It was a question, though, so Thor answered.
“I did not,” he agreed. “I knew she was special, however. I did not understand how so or how much, but I knew something about her was very important.”
Peter nodded. “And you knew I was her son from the beginning?”
Ah. “Indeed,” said Thor, smiling gently. “You share very similar energy. As the god of Fertility, it was very clear to see.”
And even if he hadn’t been, it was obvious. How had everyone else missed how much he looked like his mother? How had they missed that twinkle in his eyes, the shape of his face, the colour of his hair and the small mannerism they shared? Their minds, their impossible to miss energy?
He could not have been the child of anyone else.
“Did you know I was your nephew then?”
Thor shook his head. “Truthfully, no. I recognised the echo of Antoinette’s magic within you, but I did not see a bond between you and I, then. Now...” He put a hand over Peter’s hair, brushing it away from his forehead. “Now I do see it. You are a very strong boy, Peter Parker. I would claim it is the Aesir in you, but I believe it is only you and your Midgardian strength.”
Peter looked down at his lap. “I am not that strong,” he started, but Thor had no ears for such statements.
“Folly,” he said, pulling his chin back up. “You were captured and still had the strength to trick the Mad Titan right under his nose. Many would have frozen in fear, or given him what he wanted, but not you. You are a hero, Peter.”
Peter looked at him with hope in his eyes, cheeks a little red. “Do you really think so?”
“Aye,” said Thor. “Your mother, your Uncle Ben and your Aunt May are proud of you each day. Sister especially.”
In fact, Thor was quite certain that, were he to hand it to him, Peter would be able to lift Mjolnir without problem.
Sister had forbidden weapons around him, however.
The boy’s blush furthered. “Thank you, Thor.”
“You are most welcome, tiny hero.”
Peter smiled again, then a thought seemed to occur to him. “You knew Miss Stark was my biological mother from the beginning.”
“Yes...?”
Peter looked at him with a very penetrating gaze that was fully his mother. “Does this mean you also know who my father is?”
Oh, that.
“I do,” said Thor, remaining relaxed. “I know who your other parent is.”
“Wow,” said Peter, looking at him awed. “You are the only person in the entire world who knows this, did you know that?”
Thor had not, in fact, known this. “I am?”
“Not even Miss Stark knows,” said Peter, his eyes glancing over at Master Stephen in the kitchen. Bruce was with Jane.
“Oh,” said Thor, unsure of how he felt at this news. “And do you wish to know?”
Peter sighed, looking away from the sorcerer and back to Thor. “I don’t know. Most of the time, no. Ben is enough, and I have Miss Stark. Miss Stark was there from the beginning. The hypothetical ‘he’, wasn’t. And I don’t blame them, because they didn’t know, but I also don’t care about finding out.
“But there are some days where I am curious. Where I wonder if I got something from him, what the second pool of my DNA is really like.”
“You keep saying ‘he’,” said Thor, looking at him considering. “You do realise that Antoinette is a goddess?”
Peter frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She might not have remembered everything for a while, but she has always had some of Hela’s power inside of her. Hela was not called the Guardian of Souls for no reason. JARVIS, for example: does anyone in all of Midgard - in the whole of the Nines - have anything like him?
“The answer is no. Nobody has been able to create a soul out of technology the way Antoinette has.” Antoinette’s technology was inferior to that of Asgard, and still Thor did not understand how she did what she did. Her armour alone was an incredible feat of craftsmanship, one that had left even the Dwarves of Nidavellir salivating.
“Perhaps your father is one of the two choices. Perhaps you come from the union of the starseed and some mortal. But perhaps you do not have a father. She created JARVIS and her many bots because she wanted a family. Who’s to say she did not create you similarly?”
“Like parthenogenesis?”
“Precisely,” said Thor, one eyebrow raised. “Perhaps, like Hephaestus and Athena, you only had one parent.”
Peter was quiet for a while.
Then he looked back at Thor. “Did you make that up?”
“Perhaps,” said Thor, shrugging. “But it is a possibility. Do you want to know the truth?”
Peter looked over at the sorcerer again, who was now arguing with an amused looking Loki, and then smiled at Thor. “Maybe one day. But not today.”
“When you wish to know, you need only ask,” said Thor, offering him a poptart. “I will always make time for my favourite nephew.”
“Oh?”
Thor’s eyes widened. “JARVIS, that is not what I meant, you know I was just-”
“THOR!”
“I need to leave,” said Thor at the sound of his sister’s shout, shoving the plate of poptarts at Peter and making for the window with Mjolnir in one hand.
“I thought you weren’t scared of her!”
“I have a healthy respect for my safety!” answered Thor, jumping out and preparing to fly as far away as he could.
He did not trust the combination of his sister, her mighty armour and Fenrir.
He shouldn’t have been, but Bruce still managed to be a little surprised when he opened the door and found Toni and Stephen standing on the other side of it, chatting.
They both stopped when he opened the door, giving him eerily similar bitch faces.
Certain things never changed.
“I was going to say goodbye,” he said, a little miffed. “I know you don’t believe it, but-”
“I believe you,” said Toni, pressing the elevator button. “First of all, you know damn well that you cannot sneak out of here without a sling ring and even then I would know. Second, Hulk would have never let you.”
“I still maintain that your relationship with his alter ego is weird,” said Stephen, walking inside the elevator. “I don’t understand it.”
“Fenrir,” pointed out Bruce.
Stephen tilted his head. “Apples and oranges.”
“Big weapons of mass destruction that could kill her with a sneeze.”
“Understandable.”
“Neither Fenrir nor Hulk would ever hurt me or anyone without reason,” said Toni, which had them both exchanging a very knowing look.
In many ways, the news that Toni was the reincarnation of the goddess of Death had not been as shocking as it could have been. In fact, it had made a lot of things suddenly make sense.
The first time he had seen her after... everything, Hulk had sensed her. Something about her had made the beast curious and wary, and it had made it- him make note of her, had made him willing to sit down and listen to her.
Betty could have told Hulk to sit down during a fight and he would have listened. But, the second he had thought her to be in danger, he would have disregarded her order and moved anyway.
Toni had told him to sit down during a fight, and Hulk had stayed.
Holder of the Soul Stone and goddess of Death just made sense.
And it had been there for a long time, that flame of hers. Bruce might not have known what it was, when he had looked out of the window and saw her stepping out of her car so many years ago, the crowd literally parting as she walked; or when she had looked him in the eyes for the first time, in that music room at Columbia, and his breath had caught.
He had not recognised, back then. Had not known what it truly was.
But he had seen it, and he had been drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
“How long are you planning on going away this time?” asked Toni, looking back at him, eyes curious. “And are you planning on coming back to New York?”
She was still an unstoppable fire, and Bruce had always been fascinated by flames.
But he had learnt to beware of the burn, and enjoy the warmth instead.
“Are you trying to say that you’ll miss me?” he asked, an impish smile on his face as they reached the roof.
“I am trying to see if I can rent that apartment while you’re gone,” she lied, sticking out her tongue at him when he looked at her in pity.
“I don’t have a timeline,” he then admitted, as they approached the group already on the roof. “But Africa was hit particularly hard by the attack, and from what T’Challa said, there are many still injured. I am planning to work between Wakanda and the aid SI sent.”
Toni nodded, understanding. “I will probably hit North Africa early next week. Help with the reconstruction, build morale.”
“Be the Queen you refuse to admit you are,” said Herja, one of the Valkyries. She had joined after the one called Engel had died during the battle against Thanos and, from what Bruce could see, she was the youngest on the team, something between a shared daughter and a shared sister.
“When will people stop trying to crown me?” complained Toni.
“Who was it that came out of 3 months of captivity and proclaimed she was Iron Queen?” asked Stephen, unimpressed.
“You reap what you sow, princess,” said Erik Killmonger, pausing his conversation with T’Challa. “Also, can I respectfully ask that you stop asking me to come by and take your shipment of discarded white men?”
“Ignore him,” said T’Challa, bypassing his cousin and offering Bruce his hand. “Thank you for your offer to help, Doctor Banner.”
“Oh, call me Bruce.”
“Bruce,” said T’Challa, smiling. “Then you may call me T’Challa.”
“What is it with my exes always ending up friends?” questioned Toni, watching T’Challa and Bruce with a frown that was all for show.
“I believe that usually means that you’re the problem,” said Stephen, quickly putting some space between himself and her, as T’Challa reached over to give her a hug.
Bruce wondered if he was still okay with being burned, or if he had learnt to seek warmth instead.
He wondered if Stephen had.
“Shots fired,” said Erik, whistling. “Now me personally, I wouldn’t take that.”
“Stop being an instigator when I know you’re still seeing my cousin,” said Toni, giving him a judging look. As soon as T’Challa let her go, Brunnhilde came to stand beside her, sneaking a possessive arm around her waist. “Like seriously, Erik? Sharon? You had to pick Sharon?”
Bruce shot Stephen a look, and found him already looking his way with a knowing expression.
He quickly glanced away, trying not to smile.
“We are just friends, if you must know,” answered the mercenary, rolling his eyes. “We get together to talk shit about you and to go to the shooting range. That is it. Second, you and the hot killer chick together now?”
“Indeed,” said the one he believed was called Mist, looking delighted.
“Finally,” added Revna.
“Shut up, you are all happy for us,” said Toni, rolling her eyes. She glanced at Brunnhilde, and her smile softened slightly at the happy look on the Valkyrie’s face. She pecked her on the lips and turned back to Erik. “But, yes. I bagged the hot killer chick.”
“Nice,” said Erik, grinning at T’Challa and clapping him on the back. “It really is true, then. Once you go black, you never go back.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that,” said Toni, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You stunned Toni Stark,” said Bruce, amused. “Miracles really do happen.”
“You know what, I was gonna say I would miss you after all, but now I won’t,” said Toni, leaning on Brunnhilde with a pout. “You suck, Banner.”
“Don’t play on that team.”
Toni laughed at that, and Bruce smiled.
He remembered looking at her from a window and thinking that she was beautiful.
Somehow, she looked even more so now than she had all those years ago.
“I will come back, Toni,” he said, when she focused on him again. “This isn’t like last time. I am saying goodbye. I am coming back.”
“I know,” said Toni, still smiling. “Peter will miss you.”
Hulk miss Tiny Toni and Baby Hulk.
‘Yeah’, thought Bruce. ‘I’ll miss them too’.
He didn’t say it out loud, though.
“He has you,” he said instead. He turned to Stephen. “And you guys have each other, right?”
“If you want to see one of us dead by the time you return, sure,” said Stephen, shrugging.
“I bet on Toni,” said Erik and Bruce at the same time.
“Wow,” said Stephen, while Toni cheered.
“I am sorry, Stephen,” said T’Challa, trying not to smile. “You should have simply given back that scarf.”
“When will you people let go of that scarf?”
“Never!” said Toni, which of course devolved into a semi serious mostly playful argument between the two of them, with Killmonger egging them both on.
Yeah. Bruce would miss this.
Stephen would not say that he missed the period of time where they had been preparing for the Mad Titan’s arrival and attack, because that would be an insane and psychotic thing to say.
However, he could not deny that life since the defeat of the Titan had been... boring.
Wong smacked him whenever he dared say that he was bored or that the Sanctum was quiet, but it was true. Between preparing for the Convergence, the spells all over the world for Toni’s plans of protection and keeping up with his sorcerer supreme tasks, Stephen had not had a moment to breathe in months.
And now everything had been said and done, and Stephen did not remember how it was like not living at 100% all the time anymore.
Bruce was somewhere in East Africa, Thor was on Asgard, and Loki was either on Asgard or on Jotunheim.
There was Jane, who Stephen had sort of grown close to during the whole Convergence thing and Toni’s subsequent trip to Asgard. She had decided that he wasn’t the worst person ever and wasn’t too bad to hang out with, but she was apparently busy learning how to be a ‘part time Valkyrie’ with her friend Darcy Lewis.
Whatever the hell that meant.
Peter and he had had some interactions, after he and Bruce had saved him from the Titan’s ship, but Stephen still didn’t know how he was supposed to even interact with him.
And he drew the line at seeking out a pubescent teen to hang out with, even if there was a possibility of the child being his own son.
Everyone else, well. Stephen wasn’t particularly close with them, even after everything. The only conversation he had ever had with them had been about protecting Earth from upcoming threats and an uncomfortable 'let's bury the hatchet' talk between himself and Rhodes.
“You are a terrible person,” said Wong, handing him a mug of tea as he sat before him.
“I didn’t say anything,” pointed out Stephen, putting down his book.
“You thought it.”
“And kept my lips shut and didn’t speak them into existence. It is more worrying that you knew what I was thinking about.”
“Your mental blocks are above and beyond what I could ever hope to break,” said Wong, shaking his head. “Your mind is safe.”
“Not what I meant, but thank you.”
Being mind controlled by Toni had been... unpleasant, to say the least. Stephen hadn’t been aware that his thoughts were not his own until he had woken up in a bathroom, and that had been... upsetting.
Toni had apologised for it, seriously for once, and Stephen did not blame her for what the Mad Titan had made her do.
But Stephen could also not forget how intrusive and imperceptible the entire thing had been, and had sought to make sure it would never happen again.
He did not know if his new mental blocks would work against the Mind Stone - which had broken Loki before - but he really fucking hoped so.
“Speaking of Ella,” said Wong, as Stephen took his drink. “Do you think she’s dangerous?”
Stephen paused with the cup to his lips. “I’m sorry, what?”
Wong kept staring at him, waiting for an answer, expression serious.
So he was not joking, then.
Stephen put his cup back down, thinking deeply about the question. “Toni Stark is...”
Many things. Toni Stark was many things and many people.
The first time he had seen her, he had thought her nothing more than a rich heiress.
The first time he had seen her face to face, he had thought her a magnificent pianist.
Then, later on, he had thought that she was something akin to a force of nature. A hurricane, or a living tsunami, or an uncontrolled blaze.
He remembered thinking, back then, that Toni Stark was a hurricane in human form that would end up breaking them - him and Bruce.
That she was so much: unchainable, uncontrollable. He had thought, back then, that he could be the one to fix this. That he’d be the one to control the flame, before everything blew up.
And instead they had all gotten caught in the blast zone.
He had hoped, after the whole sorcery thing, that he would be the wild one. After seeing her standing between Hulk and Thor, so small even in the remains of her suit, he had thought that he was now the wild one.
He had been a sorcerer, with magic and power and everything.
And she was technically just a woman in a can.
But he should have known, since the second she had looked directly at him even before Hulk and Thor had, that she was a lot more.
That she had always been too much, too powerful, too everything.
It had taken the other her waking up in a bath of ice for him to really understand.
And again, he had not truly known until she had destroyed a ship and broken the Soul Stone in half.
Then, he had known.
Then, he had truly known.
Of course she had killed Thanos. Of course she had broken an Infinity Stone and given half her soul to her soulmate. Of course she had saved Thor’s life with Death magic.
She was Toni Stark.
And Toni Stark was a force of nature.
“Toni is not dangerous,” he eventually said. “But she is powerful. And sometimes, that is the same thing.”
He studied the cup in his hand for a second, and then continued. “I have never really been afraid of her. I know that many are or were, and I guess I saw where they came from. But while she has elicited many feelings from me throughout the years, fear has never been one of them.
“I wasn’t scared of her, when she mind controlled me, or when she started fighting me and Rhodes like a woman possessed. Even when she attacked the Cloak - I was pissed off, but not scared.
“But when she saw Rhodes dying...” Stephen shook his head, feeling a shiver run down his back. “I have never seen anything like that before. The Mad Titan’s strength, it made sense. He had the Infinity Stones on him. Hulk, he made sense. The angrier he gets, the stronger he gets. Loki and Thor, race of perceived gods. Makes sense.
“But Toni surpassed everyone on that ship in strength. She screamed and the entire ship came apart. All the systems fried at once. The Soul Stone broke, for god’s sake. Can you imagine the power necessary to break an Infinity Stone?”
“I taught you, so yes.”
Stephen ignored him. “Thanos left the ship, left half of the broken Soul Stone not because he thought he was going to die. He looked at Toni and he was afraid, that is why he left. I know because I looked at Toni, and I was afraid. A piece of the ship fell and embedded in her shoulder and she didn’t even notice or feel it. If Rhodes had died...” Stephen shuddered. “I don’t know what she would have done. I am terrified to think about what she could do, if driven to it.”
“But?”
Stephen took a sip of his drink before answering. “But she returned to T’Challa’s castle being carried by her Valkyrie, crying so hard out of grief that she could barely breathe, and looking smaller than I ever remember seeing her. The first thing she did once she was awake again was check in with everyone, me included, to check that we were all fine and to apologise for everything she had done while under Thanos’ control. She was barely able to stand on her feet before she was in front of the cameras reassuring the world that Thanos was dead and that she would personally help with rebuilding the infrastructure his army had destroyed and help dispose of possible radioactive alien material.
“So no, Toni is not dangerous. But she is powerful, and the power she has can be dangerous.”
“Do you believe we should put her on a threat list, Sorcerer Supreme?”
“No,” said Stephen, shaking his head. “She isn’t a threat. But I do think she should be put on a ‘watchlist’ and we should tell her that we have done so. She’d probably be flattered.”
“If there is one thing Ella likes, it’s contingency plans,” agreed Wong, taking a sip of his drink. “Even when they are about her.” He stood up, and glanced at Stephen. “I will leave you with the duty of telling her about it next time you see her. Unrelated, Ella said that she’d be coming over for an issue regarding pineapples with Rhodes. Apparently Rhodes used to love pineapple, but ever since her spell to save his life, he can no longer stand the taste and finds himself reacting similarly to how she does.”
As interesting as the information and issue was, “You suck, Wong.”
“You won’t be b word anymore,” pointed out the sorcerer, walking away.
“Bored?”
“Bitchy.”
Stephen did not like Wong.
He also did not like how good the man was at reading him.
Toni had ascended and landed in paradise.
“This is heaven,” said Darcy, sounding equally entranced at her side.
“You enjoy watching sparring?” asked Sigrun, curious.
“Oh yes,” said Darcy. “I am a big fan of sexy ladies waving swords around.”
“Why do you think I created the Valkyrie?” joked Toni. “I needed some entertainment.”
And what entertainment it was, watching Thena and Brunnhilde spar with potential intent to kill behind their moves.
Toni was watching her sort of childhood crush and her girlfriend - !!! - sweating with sharp knives in their hands, trying to stab one another and she was having the time of her life. Gilgamesh had even offered refreshment before sitting down to ‘referee’ and make sure no fouls or actual deaths occurred, and it was glorious.
Toni was going to make this an official part of Valkyrie training, no matter how many judging looks she’d get from Rhodey and Pepper for it.
She picked up her phone as Thena used the hilt of her sword to trip up Brunnhilde, clicking on the notification from the last video she had sent.
Sharon: Using my homosexuality as a way to try and recruit me into your gang of bodyguards cannot be legal.
Hope: And I told you, I do not have the time to commit to that.
Toni: A, I did not know you were gay Carter, but now that I do I will be using it to my advantage.
Toni: B, we are running part time offers. Just come by so that you can see for yourselves.
Sharon: You want me to see pretty ladies with sharp knives in real life?
Sharon: This is coercion.
Hope: That is not what coercion is.
Toni: That’s not what coercion is.
Sharon: This is why I don’t like hanging out with yall.
Sharon: Stop sending videos and adding me to this groupchat whenever I leave it.
Toni shared 130814.mp4
Then she closed her phone before she could see what answer Hope and Sharon would have for a video of Thena and Brunnhilde fighting each other with their bare hands after they had momentarily lost their blades.
Despite not having fought side by side with the two of them during the battle of Earth, Toni could not deny that she had enjoyed the time they had spent in preparation for it.
She had made up with Bruce and Stephen, and her ‘break-up’ with Sharon and Hope had been more a drifting away thing than a break-up.
Now that she had gotten them back - sort of - and Darcy and Jane wanted to train as Valkyries, she saw no reason to not try and annoy them into joining her too.
And she knew they wanted it too, a little.
If they didn’t want to be annoyed, they would have changed phone numbers or stopped answering her at all.
“That’s enough,” said Gilgamesh, as it once more devolved into a physical fight.
“Boo!” said Darcy and Toni together. “Boo!”
When neither Thena nor Brunnhilde seemed interested in giving up, Gilgamesh decided to step in and make them, something that promised to be equally entertaining.
But, “Are you just here to enjoy the best of entertainment Earth has to offer or do you want something?”
Loki materialised himself at her left, ignoring Jane and Darcy’s noises of surprise and glaring at her in frustration. “I will catch you by surprise one day.”
“I’m sure you will try, moonbeam,” she said, amused. “You will fail, of course. But I believe in you, keep trying.”
His eyes narrowed, but he seemed to decide to archive that argument for now. Instead he handed her the book he had in his hands. “Lady Eir told me you wanted this. And Lady Greesbat of Jotunheim greets you. How do you know her?”
“She was friends with Angrboða and Modir,” explained Toni, taking the book in his hands and quickly putting it away. “I think she even babysat you, a couple of times.”
“Is it weird that she is married to Laufey and is mother to Byleistr and Helblindi?”
He was not talking about Lady Greesbat.
“Not particularly,” she said. “She’s a nice person, and I want Laufey to be happy. Is it weird for you?”
“Quite,” admitted Loki, as Revna and Herja moved towards the training grounds. “I know I do not have the right, as she knew Laufey far longer than I did. But I now understood why you never liked Frigga in your youth.”
“One, my reasons were different and based on facts,” started Toni. “Two, that was not healthy. I was messed up from the beginning. Do not follow my example, I am a terrible role model. Do not do as I do, only as I say. And don’t make a habit out of that either.”
“Planning a trip to the lands of the dead is quite worrying,” agreed Loki, and there went Toni’s hope that he had not looked through the book before bringing it to her.
Though he seemed to have drawn the wrong conclusion about what she planned to do.
“You’re nosy.”
“You play dangerous games,” said Loki, in a warning tone. “I may have no leg to stand on when it comes to dangerous spells, but that is a complex one indeed. A myriad of things could go wrong.”
“I am an excellent spell worker,” she said, smiling as Hilde winked at her but sat beside Alruna, seeing that Toni and Loki were talking. “I never cast anything until I know for sure that there are no mistakes. It might sound surprising, but I am a perfectionist.”
“How would that sound surprising?”
Toni flipped him off, but when his worry remained, she sighed. “I am not planning on bringing anyone back to life,” she eventually said. “I am the goddess of Death. I know the dangers of necromancy. So you don’t have to worry about that.”
How did she tell him that she was having very fucking weird dreams, and seeing people who weren’t alive anymore?
How did she explain the feeling she had in her chest whenever she dreamed of that place?
How did she explain to her little brother what she sensed was coming?
You tell him the truth, said Reality.
I can’t.
It wasn’t that simple. Because if Toni did...
“You have not lost your entire family,” said Loki. His cheeks were a little pink, and Toni focused on that. “You still have me. Have us,” he added, as Thor sat on Toni’s other side.
“Sure, you have us,” he agreed, despite clearly having no idea of what they were talking about. “Though should I be jealous that the two of you hang out when I’m not around?”
“No,” said Toni, headbutting his shoulder and keeping Loki’s hand in hers. “We miss you when you’re not here.”
“I miss you too,” said Thor, reaching to squeeze Loki’s shoulder. “When you’re on Midgard and Loki’s on Jotunheim, I miss you. I wish we could all be together.”
“But we are,” said Toni, leaning back so that she was laying on the ground. It was almost sunset, and already they could see the moon and some stars in the sky. She pointed above her. “Right there.”
Thor laid beside her, and Loki on the other side. “In the sky?”
“I’ve told you this before, there is no sun without its moon and its stars,” she said, looking at the stars with a smile. “And there is no sunshine without his moonbeam and his starseed. We belong together. We fill the sky, even when you can’t see one or the others.”
“Poetic,” said Loki.
“Sentimental,” joked Thor.
“True,” said Toni. “No matter where and when, we will always be together in the sky. Even when we are apart. You will look up in the sky, and know that the others are watching over you.”
Loki was partly right. Toni did not need to go into the realm of the dead to speak to her family.
She only needed to look up in the skies.
