Avengers: Incursion

No Turning Back

For what felt like a long time, Dean knelt beside his dead mother and felt the world dissolving away around him. He felt nothing but a deep and raw chasm of agony that had settled into his heart and made its home there. His mother was dead, his sons missing. And he felt utterly powerless, unable to move. He was conscious of Thor as he attempted to rouse him from his trauma-imposed stupor, but he couldn't seem to permit the heavy veil of it to lift.

"Fair One, please look at me," Thor begged.

Jean shook her head. "He's in shock. The combination of what's happened along with his emotional connection to her."

The others were active around them. Jack was making calls to Dean's siblings, Scott was giving instructions to Xavier to try and use Cerebro to locate the twins. Steve was talking to Tony, who was using the Avengers' satellites to try and find any trace of the children. Kyle stood with Taylor and Mark and felt completely powerless as he observed Dean's vacant stare and lifeless demeanor.

"What the fuck do we do?" Taylor whispered.

"I don't know," Kyle muttered.

Strange arrived hastily after Steve summoned him. He held some of Modi and Magni's belongings- a stuffed bear and a blanket.

"Does Strange see anything?" Mark asked.

Strange's expression darkened with angry helplessness. "Amora covered her tracks well. I cannot see them."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Kyle snarled, his telekinetic power accidentally snapping a tree limb nearby. He looked over at Dean as Thor helped him stand and couldn't bring himself to stare at his friend's heartbreaking expression. "I wish he would cry," Kyle muttered. "Anything but that awful zombie expression."

A maroon SUV squeezed up the driveway, followed by several more cars as Dean's siblings arrived. Janet was the first to emerge and she raced toward him and quickly slapped him across the face.

"Janet, stop it!" Grace screamed as she and her brothers moved to pull her back from Dean.

"Janet," Thor said in as gentle a voice as he could muster. He got between her and his husband and stared her down. He knew she was acting from pain, but he would not permit her to touch his husband like that again.

"This is all your fault!" Janet screamed wildly as she pointed a shaking finger at Dean, her usual cool composure gone. "Mom's dead because of you!"

Dean felt the sting of his sister's backhand, but her words hurt far worse. He cast his eyes downward as Thor turned and embraced him.

"Don't listen to her," Thor whispered. "She does not mean what she says."

Janet collapsed into her husband's arms and was reduced to sobs. Grace held onto Jack and he cried into her shoulder while the brothers surrounded them.

"She's right," Dean whispered. "It's my fault."

"No!" Thor growled. "This is not your fault. The actions are Amora's. And Loki's..."

Dean looked at the others as they attempted to console one another or find solutions. He could feel the rage spilling off of Thor, like some deadly and volatile wind up toy waiting to act. The thunder god was a time bomb and his explosion was imminent. And he was holding it all in because of Dean. Because Dean was so shattered and he needed to support him. A wave of guilt over his helplessness struck him at his own uselessness. Their priority was their sons, not him or his emotions. "Where is she?" He asked in a low voice. "Where did that bitch take them?"

Thor looked at Dean with something of relief. "We do not know. But we will find them."

Kyle darted to Dean and grabbed his hand. "Wherever the fuck she went, count me in."

Dean smiled gratefully at Kyle, but then he noticed Taylor's troubled expression as he approached them.

"What is wrong?" Thor asked.

"I sense something familiar here. A trace of something." Taylor's voice shook as he spoke.

"A trace of what?" Thor asked.

"The Netherworld," Taylor said. "Someone came from the Netherworld."

"You're sure?" Mark asked.

Taylor nodded. "Positive. I can sense it."

"Can you take me there?" Dean asked without hesitation.

Taylor nodded. "Yes. I can."

"Son, you need to think things through," Jack said through his tears. "Make a plan."

"I do have a plan," Dean growled as an aura of light began to pulse around him. "That bitch is going to die. And I'm bringing our sons home."

"No," Thor snapped. "You are not going anywhere."

"I have to..."

Thor gripped Dean by his shoulders. "I will not allow it. Our baby...is connected to your life force. I will not endanger you or her."

Dean's fierce expression softened. "You said 'her'."

"I just...I just know, I suppose," Thor said. He caressed Dean's cheek. "Somehow I know just that we have a daughter."

"We should go," Steve calmly interjected. "We need to get a team together."

Thor looked at Steve with an appreciative smile.

"To hell and back," Steve said with a steady, unwavering smile. "Brother."

Brother. Thor couldn't help but feel the weight of that word. His head darkened even further because he knew what he would have to do now. There was no turning back from this path. Not now. Not after this.

Loki must die.