Loki: Resolution

[moonshadows]

“Medical team, please.”

By the nine realms, he hurt.

“C’mon, injured guy coming through. I need a medical team over here!”

Lights flashed against his eyelids as he passed beneath them, limp but aware of every sound, smell, and sensation. Especially the sensations. Every bone ached as though it had been shattered, and perhaps his bones had truly been broken. Every breath, each beat of his heart was agony, and it took significant effort to not fall into the Jotunsleep to escape it. Never had he experienced pain like this; it was mildly surprising that he still lived. The pain was a fire, consuming him, leaving him pure. And the one who carried him, who cared enough to bring him here rather than letting him die…gratitude welled up in his heart, sweeter than he ever imagined it would be.

“Medical team here, Agent Stark.”

Movement, pressure. He was on a bed, or a medical table, or a stretcher.

“Excellent. Pull up Loki’s file and get to work.”

“What exactly are we working with here? What’s injured, can you tell us?”

“Everything.”

More lights flashing. Hands, touching, moving, causing peaks in the sea of agony that was his body. Distant, muffled cries of pain.

“What has happened here?”

Wait, that was a new voice. A loud voice, rough with emotion. A voice he knew.

“What happened? Who did this to my brother?”

Silence fell, broken only by the soft beeping of the medical equipment and a harsh, scraping sound that it took a second to recognize as his breathing. A soothing numbness flowed through his veins; no doubt they’d started with a powerful painkiller.

“I did, Thor.”

More silence in the wake of Stark’s quiet confession. Loki struggled to raise one eyelid and caught a glimpse of his brother’s face, astonishment and pain roiling over his noble features.

“You, Tony?” he whispered, holding back tears. “You did this to my brother?”

“I did. I didn’t want to, but I had to snap him out of it, and he kept getting back up. If you want to fight me, do it later, okay? I’m kinda wiped right now.”

Without a word, Thor fled.

“He’s not upset with you,” Loki breathed, feeling as though Mjolnir were resting on his chest.

Tony Stark looked at him in shock, amazed that he was conscious at all, much less able to speak.

“He’s upset with himself.” His entire body shuddered with the effort of filling his lungs. “He’ll come to you later, to talk. When he does…” Loki struggled for another full breath rather than the little sips he’d been getting. “…send him to talk to me after.”

“Just so long as there is a you to talk, okay?” Stark’s wary tone did a poor job of hiding his worry.

Loki smiled, forcing stiff muscles to obey him.

“That’s the spirit.” One hand reached out to pat him on the shoulder, then pulled back awkwardly. “Just…don’t die, okay? Because if you die…I’ll have to…re-animate you. Or something. Look, I’ll think of a good threat later. You, medical guys. Same goes for you. This man isn’t allowed to die, so don’t you let him even try.”

“Yes sir, Agent Stark.”

“Good. Good. I’m going to report to Fury now, and then take a long soak in a hot bath. Or maybe both at once.”

Clanking and whirring announced his departure, and Loki let himself drift on the sea of medicinal numbness.

 *~*~*~*~*

A hand curled carefully around his, warm and rough. Thor’s hand.

“Brother, I know not if you are awake or asleep, but I have just come from speaking with Tony Stark.” A pause. When Thor spoke again, he sounded as sad as he had when he’d offered his life to save the mortals from the Destroyer. “I am truly sorry, brother, that I could not see your pain for what it was. I beg your forgiveness.”

Loki forced his lungs to fill and pried both eyes open. The contours of his body beneath the sheet looked wrong, and he focused instead on his brother’s face. “Thor.”

Tears streamed freely from those blue eyes. “Loki! Tony said…he said that you knew I would seek him out, and he was surprised that I did. He said you wanted to talk.”

“Thor…my brother…there are things that I have to tell you.”

“Just so long as the first of those is that you will live,” he half-joked.

Loki smiled tiredly. “I will live.”

“Excellent. What is the second thing?”

Thor’s brilliant smile made the weight on Loki’s chest lighten. “Did Father tell you…my true parentage?”

The smile faltered. “He said only that he found you, as a babe, and took you for his own. Who…?”

“Laufey.” Loki gave Thor a minute for that to sink in. “I am half Jotun, Thor.”

“I don’t care,” he said, jaw set defiantly. “You are my brother and the son of our father.”

Another bit of weight vanished. “You remember, when we went to Jotunheim? And Father cast you out?”

The brilliant smile vanished under a thundercloud. “I remember.”

“Before Father threw Mjolnir to Earth, he said, ‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.’ That is why you couldn’t lift it.”

Thor’s jaw dropped.

“During the fight, I discovered the touch of the Jotuns did not harm me. I confronted Father after your banishment, and he told me the truth before he slipped into the Odinsleep.” Slender fingers twitched, straining to tighten around Thor’s. “You were banished, stripped of your power until you were again worthy. Father was in the Odinsleep. Laufy had declared war. I had to defend Asgard.” He stopped, chest heaving.

“What, brother? What did you do?”

“I lied to you. I played Heimdall’s honor against his duty. I distanced myself from Sif and the Warriors Three. I went to Jotunheim, and spoke with Laufey. I promised him safe passage to Asgard, and I promised him the Casket once he’d killed our father.”

Thor grinned. “And what was your real plan, brother?”

“Your friends would find you. The Destroyer would find you. You would become the hero you were born to be. Your powers would return, and you would come after me only to arrive just in time to save Father from Laufey. You would denounce me and claim the throne for yourself, and you would be the beloved king of Asgard. That is why I lied to you, brother. I had to make you worthy.”

All Thor’s amusement drained away. “Loki…you did all of that just to make me see that I had been wrong? You sacrificed yourself for me?” The look of bleeding vulnerability was all the answer he needed. “No wonder you said…Loki, brother, I am so sorry that after all you did for me, I still could not see the real you.” Tears flowed again as both of his hands enveloped Loki’s. “I beg your forgiveness, brother.”

“You always had it,” Loki said shakily, feeling wetness on his own cheeks. “That, and my love.”

“I am not worthy of either,” Thor breathed. “I suppose it’s for the best that Tony was the one to cleanse your honor in trial by combat. He is a lot like you. You will be happy standing at his side.” He paused. “Does he know what he’s done?”

A wracking laugh burst from Loki’s throat. “Not yet. I will tell him soon enough.”

Thor sobered. “Loki…is that why you left Asgard? Is that why Father forbade me from bringing you back?”

Weakly, Loki nodded.

“And that’s why you were…I am a fool for not seeing it.”

“It’s in the past now, brother. The slate is clean, and we can begin again.”

“I will miss you on Asgard. I have missed you.”

“Well then,” Loki said, pale eyes shining, “you’ll just have to come visit.”

“You know that I have always loved you, brother. Even when your seeming betrayal hurt me.”

A tiny spark of a smirk passed over Loki’s bruised lips. “How many men can say they are loved enough that their brothers lied to them and tried to commit genocide?”

“You weren’t really going to…” Thor’s eyebrows drew together. “Were you?”

“Of course not. I only meant to scare them; you were supposed to break the ice.”

Thor relaxed. “Ah. Good. I apologize for being too thick-headed to have seen that.”

“And for being too slow to save Father?”

“No. You deserved that honor.”

Pale eyes rolled. “I didn’t want that honor, Thor. I never wanted the throne, I told you that.”

“Well, you did scare the Jotuns out of war, at least. Between the death of Laufey, the loss of the Casket, and that attack, they were practically on their knees begging for peace.” Thor gave his brother a teasing grin. “Possibly the only time anyone’s ever been more terrified of you than of me.”

Loki tried to laugh, but his lungs spasmed painfully. Worried blue eyes watched him gasp for air.

“I’d give you my healing stone, but I don’t think just one would do anything for your wounds and you’re in no shape to recharge it.”

“My apartment…I have bowls of them. They matched the furniture. Fury should know the address. I thank you; I’d forgotten about them.”

Thor patted his brother’s arm gently. “I will go speak with him. You rest.”

“Gladly,” Loki sighed.

  *~*~*~*~*

The quiet clicking of polished stones brought him out of Jotunsleep. Loki pried one eyelid open to see who was there while his lungs remembered what they were supposed to be doing. Director Fury stood sternly just inside the door, watching. Hands moved the things covering parts of his body, and through the drug-induced numbness he could feel the cool tingle of healing stones being taped methodically to every inch of his skin. When the hands were done, two medical technicians squeezed past Fury to leave the room, and he locked the door before sitting by the bed.

“Satisfied?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

Loki’s eyelids fluttered as the healing energy poured into him. That he had been the one to prepare the stones just made it that much better. “Quite.”

“Healing stones, huh?”

“We use them all the time on Asgard. I kept a supply in my apartment for decorative purposes. Do you know how hard it is to find pure white stones of that shape and size?”

“Not particularly,” Fury deadpanned. “I assume that once you’re recovered, you’ll be returning to Asgard now that you’ve found what you were looking for.”

“Ah, but it’s not that easy.” Loki grinned in satisfaction. “You see…Stark bested me in honorable combat and showed me mercy. He could have let me die. He could have killed me. But he did neither, and now my loyalty belongs to him. I have, as Natasha would say, red in my ledger, and only a lifetime of loyal companionship will wipe it out.”

The skin around Fury’s eye twitched. “You’re telling me that you can’t go home until Stark dies.”

“I suppose I could visit, briefly, but I can do that through projections – and projections won’t take me too far to be able to come to his aid should he need me.”

Fury stared. “You’re serious. You owe your loyalty to Stark. What will you do if he doesn’t want it?”

Awkwardly, but feeling worlds better, Loki shrugged. “He has it anyway. Would you ask him to come talk to me when he gets a minute?”

“I don’t think I want you two getting that chatty, but I also don’t think I have a choice.”

Loki smiled. “You’d be right.”

“So these stones. What can they heal?”

“Anything short of a severed body part.”

“Gunshot wounds, sword wounds, poisons, toxins?”

“Yes. Yes. Poisons and toxins no, but they will heal the damage being done until such things have run their course.”

“And where can SHIELD get their hands on a supply of these?”

Cautiously, Loki gestured at his body.

“Do you mean the ones currently healing you, or that you can make more?”

“Well, both, really. No doubt many of these will expend their magic healing me, but once I am recovered I can charge them again. They were five dollars for a bag of fifty at a craft store, and took me an hour to charge them the first time. We keep them in healing rooms on Asgard, but your agents might be better served carrying one in their gear.”

“Why didn’t Thor ever tell us about these?”

Thin lips smiled while one eyebrow quirked. “When have you ever known my brother to need one?”

Fury scowled. “Well, couldn’t he charge them as well?”

“Nope.” Slowly, Loki stretched his arms, testing the limits of his muscles and bones. “My brother doesn’t have the gift of sorcery. He inherited our father’s strength, while I inherited his cunning.”

“I thought you were adopted.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Then un-complicate it for me,” Fury growled. “If I’m going to be stuck having you around, I don’t want surprises.”

Loki sighed, pale eyes rolling. “I was born a Jotun. Odin found me before I finished imprinting on the Casket of Eternal Winters and took both me and the Casket back to Asgard. This prevented the Jotuns from reproducing, because without the Casket to imprint on, they wouldn’t be frostgiants. But during the journey, I imprinted on Odin.”

“You keep saying imprinted. Clarify that.”

“I took on aspects of his life-energy. I may not have sprung from his loins, but I am his true son, in some ways even more than Thor because while Thor grew from the seed of our father’s body, I was shaped by the seed of our father’s mind. I possess, to some degree, all of the talents that Odin Allfather possessed when he picked me up.”

Fury stared for a long minute. “Remind me to never pick a fight with your old man,” he said at last.

  *~*~*~*~*

“Hey. Fury said you wanted a word with me.” Tony Stark leaned against the doorframe, watching as Loki unwrapped gauze and peeled off tape, accumulating a pile of stones ranging from pale pink to blood red.

Loki smiled, a genuinely happy expression that startled the other man. “I did. I owe you my life.”

“Oh, come on. That ‘disgustingly honorable’ thing is Thor’s shtick, not yours. You don’t owe me anything.” Tony snagged the chair and spun it around to sit backwards on it, arms draped over the back.

“Oh, but I do.” Loki grinned again. “I am a Son of Asgard; we are all raised to be disgustingly honorable. You bested me in honorable combat, brought me to the brink of death and, in your mercy, spared my life. My life is yours until your death, Tony Stark.”

“Soooo….does this mean you’re no longer going to be a sneaky little weasel?”

“Of course not. I am a sneaky little weasel. But now I’m your sneaky little weasel.”

Tony raised one eyebrow. “Pepper’s not going to like that, and I know I’ve made cracks about your pretty face, but I’m really more into women.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Loki flexed his right hand, pleased with the play of muscle and bone. “It’s not that kind of a bond. You are effectively my brother, and I am honor-bound to be your true companion. Follow you into adventure, fight at your side, that kind of thing.” He looked over at Tony. “I am your wingman.”

“Oh. Well.” Stark still looked uncomfortable. “You still…don’t…need to…do that. I mean, it wasn’t your fault. You were being possessed, and…well…”

“Actually, I wasn’t.” Three red stones joined the pile. “I’m half frostgiant.”

Stark sat up straight. “It was a set-up?”

Loki closed his eyes, concentrating. Slowly, his skin faded into an unearthly blue and when he opened his eyes, they were entirely red. He grinned, and the colors bled back out.

“Okay, so it was a set-up. That means you really don’t owe me anything.”

“On the contrary. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find someone both willing and able to beat a Son of Asgard to within an inch of his life, and then not kill him? Director Fury and I worked very hard to set up that scenario.”

Stark gestured with one hand. “There, you see? Fury. Not me. I was just the tool. You owe your loyalty to SHIELD. Or something.”

“It was your hand that spared me,” Loki insisted gently.

“Come on, Loki. You’ve never been a stickler for honor before, why start now?”

“Oh, but I have.” The last of the stones dropped into the pile, and with a shimmer, he cloaked himself in clothes of black and green. “You just don’t know about it because I’m such a tricky little weasel. I lied to my brother and sent the Destroyer to kill him so that he would let go of his ego and be worthy of the throne by attempting to sacrifice himself to save the lives of innocents. I invited my father’s enemy into his bedchambers to kill him, just so that Thor could save our father’s life and be the hero.” He frowned. “It didn’t quite work out like that, though. Thor was late, I killed Laufey, and then I had to thoroughly disgrace myself to give Thor another opportunity to be the hero. That’s how I wound up with the Chitauri, you know.”

“No,” Tony deadpanned. “I didn’t. So you’re telling me that you took the fall for Thor.”

“I did.”

“Because it was the right thing to do.”

“You got it.”

“And the little Chitauri…incident. You never meant to win that war.”

“That is correct.”

“You’re good.”

Loki grinned. “Thank you.”

“Okay, so you’re a lying, sneaky little weasel with an overdeveloped sense of honor, and now you’re on our side.”

“That’s a succinct way of putting it, yes.”

“Just wanted to make sure I had all of that clear.” Tony frowned. “You know, most guys wouldn’t take too kindly to being told they’d been set up like that. You’re lucky I’m a sneaky little weasel myself.”

Pale eyes twinkled. “That’s why it was you.”