Tale as Old as Love

Chapter 3- Come Home

The feeling of flying in the aircraft made Catalina slightly bothered, wondering how reliable the machine was. As Loki was strapped into a seat, Catalina was allowed to stand beside him. 

"Are you alright?" Catalina asked in Asgardian and slid her hand over her brother's forehead. He looked pale and somewhat sick. 

"I'm fine; don't fuss over me." He swiftly yet gently batted her hand from his head. Though he didn't wish to ever admit it, he missed her touch. He was extremely exhausted, but he had other things on his mind at the time. 

"What are you saying?" The man in iron, who had introduced himself as Tony Stark, asked with a suspicious tone. 

"Det spiller ingen rolle dødelige." Catalina spat. She was quite offended at how the mortals always wanted to know what was going on. 

"I don't think she's gonna tell you Stark," Steve said, shrugging. 

Thunder clapped overhead and lighting flashed outside the windows. Catalina pulled Loki from his seat by his shoulder. He looked up, and she could see him beginning to sweat. 

"What's the matter, scared of a little lightening?" Steve asked, looking over at Loki's nervous movements. 

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," he responded.

The aircraft was thrust sideways, and Steve and Tony quickly went to put their gear on. The iron man opened the back entrance to the plane, and Thor landed before them. He knocked Tony from his way and grabbed Loki by the neck.

"Thor I have this under control." Catalina lifted her hand and stopped her brother from flying off.  He turned around, confused. "Get back over here before you and I have a problem."

Everyone in the plane froze, waiting for Thor's next move. He sighed loudly and threw Loki back at her. She landed him back in his seat. "Now you and I can discuss things like civilized Asgardians." She led Thor outside and they left Loki in the care of Steve and Tony. 

"Who are those people Catalina?" Thor growled as he set down his hammer on a boulder. 

"I believe they can help you in dealing with Loki. We had some trouble earlier, but that is sorted out now," Catalina replied. 

"You will be dealing with Loki as well. I am not doing this alone. Father may have made a bargain with you, but your job here is not yet done." 

"I know," Catalina sighed. "Just let me talk to Loki. There is something going on. He is not the same. Let me help him."

"I want to speak with him as well-"

"Not yet. I need to see what's wrong with him." 

They reentered the aircraft with a silent communication. There was a lot to be shown through Catalina's eyes, and likewise, Thor could understand the expressions her green eyes made. She sat calmly down in the seat next to Loki, and the rest of the ride was quiet and awkward.

***

Loki stood in the middle of the large glass cell, unmoving. His eyes scanned the walkways and doors around him, but stopped when he sensed another presence in the room. "You can't sneak up on me Sister." His tone was much calmer, sounding almost fatiguely amused.

"You were always the master of stealth Loki," replied Catalina. She stared at him from the other side of the glass. He came over to her and placed a hand on the glass.

"What did Odin have to bribe you with to make you come here?" He asked.

Catalina looked up into his eyes, and she realized what was wrong: his eyes; blue, not green. "You."  

"You didn't come for me-"

"Then I never would have come Loki." She entered the glass cell and Loki's hand touched hers. "Who controls my brother?" She asked, looking into his abnormally blue eyes.

"Nothing controls me." He broke her gaze and turned his back to her. "I have seen worlds that you do not even know about. I have grown in my knowledge of the realms- realms that you have never even heard of."

"And what about this?" Catalina held up her hand to his eye level. Blue power streamed out of it, causing Loki's pupils to dilate. He grabbed her hand and yanked it toward him.

"How did you get this?" He stared at it with awe and confusion. "Where is it?"

"I don't have it Loki. There is only a portion of it inside me."

Loki turned her hand, poked and felt it as if he could coax the power of the Tesseract out of it somehow. "Give it back to me. Now." 

"Then give me back my brother," Catalina demanded, "now." She pulled her hand away from his grasp. She looked back into the blue orbs that she did not recognize. They were unfeeling, cruel, and soulless. They did not know her. "Loki, do you see me?" 

He frowned at her as if she had lost her mind. "Of course I see you. I am not blind."

"Do you know who I am?" 

"You are Catalina of Asgard," he replied.

"You're wrong. I am Catalina, sister of Loki. I am not of Asgard." She shook her head and turned from him. He did not know her. She pulled his hand into hers and held it tightly. In the recent months, at certain times, she was able to take power from objects and use them to her own advantage for a limited amount of time. Yet as she held his hand in hers, she felt nothing. There was no welcoming chill of his hands, there was only clammy, cold, unfeeling hands. It was at this moment that Catalina realized that whatever was coming, it needed to run its course. She could do nothing for her brother. He would never be the same.

She let go of his hand and backed away and out of the cell so that she stood just outside of the glass. He peered back at her with a hateful smirk, but there was a momentary spark that she recognized. "We will never be anymore Sister. We do not exist anymore. Go back to your precious Middle Earth and your precious elven king. Let yourself stay blind. Stay naïve." He reached out of the cell, his hand caressing softly her cheeks. "Leave our hurt behind. Don't come back here." He turned away, and Catalina left the containment area on the verge of tears. 

Thor met her outside. "What happened?" 

"You mean you didn't hear anything?" Catalina addressed the many security cameras lining the halls that spied on them as if waiting for a wrong move.

"The cameras didn't see you."

Catalina smirked. Loki's doing as always; hiding from Heimdal, now the mortals' inferior security mechanisms. "Well whatever is coming, you had either run, or fight. I am leaving."

"You cannot leave without the Tesseract-" 

"Watch me," Catalina countered and pulled away from him. "My work is done here. Foreguard is your responsibility."

"I thought you wanted to change Loki."

"There is no changing back what he already is. He's not the same Thor." She sighed and shook her head. "Let him come home on his own. He will come. He may not change, but there is something there; there's something more. Just wait."