Sophia Holmes and the Invasion of Earth (Avengers Fanfic) *Completed*

Chapter Three

"Careful, brother!" Loki cries as Thor throws us towards the side of a mountain. His right hand shoots out and he extends a forcefield around me so the impact is lessened when we collide. "I had no idea you had such taste for harming Midgardians."

Thor looks at me at shock, clearly seeing me for the first time. He extends a hand towards me and helps me up.

"My most sincere apologies, my lady," he apologises, bowing his head. "It was incredibly rash of me. I had no idea my brother had a Midgardian companian."

"We're not accomplices," I groan, standing up with difficulty and looking down at my runined dress. "Why does everyone think that?"

"Then who are you, may I ask?" Thor asks and Loki turns his head, intrigued to discover my identity having not asked that question himself.

"Sophia Holmes, a very unwilling participant in your brother's earlier fight." I give him a stern glare and he smiles back at me.

"Yes, I hear he's been doing that," Thor says, rounding on his brother. "Where is the Tesseract?"

"I missed you too," Loki laughs.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!"

"Oh, you should thank me," Loki says. "With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth."

Thor's rage mounts and he strikes his hammer between us, breaking the link of the handcuffs and causing the mountain to shake. He picks Loki up by his tunic and holds him against the mountain wall.

"I thought you dead," Thor says and I look away, sensing a private conversation.

"Did you mourn?" Loki grins, happy to have had such attention.

"We all did. Our father..."

"Your father," Loki corrects. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

Thor lets Loki go in sorrow and Loki walks away from him. "We were raised together," Thor reminds him, "we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?"

Loki turns around, rage glinting behind his eyes. "I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I was and should be king!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights. No, the Earth is under my protection, Loki."

Loki laughs. "And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them."

"Well, yes." I look back at Loki and I send him a glare. He is above us, there is no denying that. But so is the Doctor and Cas and yet neither of them stake a claim on ruling the Earth. This is our planet and we do not need ruling.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother," Thor says sadly. "The throne would suit you ill."

Angrily, Loki shoves his brother to the side. He walks back up to the ledge and turns around. "I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it..."

"Who showed you this power?" Thor asks, sensing also that his brother is under the influence of someone else. "Who controls the would-be-king?"

"I am a king!" Loki cries.

"Not here!" Thor returns before speaking softer. "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home."

For a moment, Loki looks convinced but then his face drops momentarily before reforming into a smile when he senses his brother's intentions. "I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."

Thor summons his hammer back to his grasp. "You listen well, brother. I..."

All of a sudden, Thor is knocked off the mountain as Stark does a flyby and tackles him in mid-flight.

"I'm listening," Loki says, giving me a side grin as Thor disappears over the side and I roll my eyes.

What's curious though, is that Loki doesn't attempt to escape. I wouldn't be surprised if he has the ability to fly - or even to transport himself - yet he doesn't. 

"Why are you doing this?" I ask him and he looks at me briefly before looking away. "I can see you're not a bad person."

"How would you know."

"Because we're alike," I say softly. "Both fighting to be good."

"For what purpose?"

"Our fathers." 

Loki scoffs. "Odin is not my father."

"No, but Laufey is, isn't he?" I say, remembering the work I've done on mythology in the past. Nordic mythology always was the most exciting. "You don't want to end up like him, so you're fighting to be good."

"You don't know anything about me, about the things I've done," he replies bitterly. 

"I don't care about what you've done. I've been under your power - I know how it feels. And I think you do too. Who's done this to you?"

For a moment, a flicker of humanity crosses Loki's face. I see his internal battle as his true self tries to fight for a voice. "Thanos," he says eventually and turns to me, his eyes - now somehow green - full of regret. "I fell through a hole in space as the Bifrost was closing. I fell and fell until I thought I was never going to stop falling. And then I landed on Thanos' planet. I begged for my life, some way to get back home, but he tortured me. I read your thoughts back in Germany. You think me a sadist? You would not want to meet Thanos. He did ... unspeakable things to me. Tortured me with heat, blades, and water but do you want to know what was worst? His psychological torture, filling my head with lies to manipulate me, to create the monster I was born to be." He looks away again and I reach carefully out to him.

"You are not a monster. Why are you here, what's his plan?"

"He wants to bring his soliders to Earth," Loki says. "To destroy the world and create a new one for his mechanised army, the Chitauri."

"You can't let that happen. There must be some way to break his control over you, though I'm guessing it's not as simple as breaking mine."

"I do have an idea which can stop it," Loki says slowly. "It's foolish, but it's the only way I can think that will work." I look questioningly at him and he continues. "These so-called 'superheroes' have one in their member who can turn into a beast. If I can provoke the beast, he might be strong enough to keep me awake." I nod in understanding. "You cannot tell the others of this conversation. You must work on both our sides to ensure the task is carried out as it should. If, for any reason, the plan fails, kill me. Do not let me fall back into Thanos' hands."

"I won't."

"Do you swear it?" he asks, desperately. 

"Yes," I answer. Loki sighs in relief and his eyes become blue again. He's back under Thanos' power.