Drift (Loki x Reader)

IV. The Envoy

"I haven't had positive results with expressing myself," you muttered, casting a glance at Banner who was engaged in a deep conversation with Eyepatch Man. Barton followed your gaze and his jaw clenched. 

"Banner, your father - " You visibly winced at the f-word. "Whether you like it or not (Y/n), he is your father. He's not the best when it comes to expressing emotion or showing any kind of sympathy. You have to realise that if he lets his guard down, if he gets too attached to something and then that thing is ripped away from him, it could trigger the other side of him that we don't want to see. That's why he treats you like an experiment, like something from his lab. I know it's not the picture-perfect version of parenthood, but it's the way he keeps you safe."

"He didn't keep me safe enough to prevent this," you muttered, allowing enough energy to surge forth to the tips of your fingers to allow blue electricity to crackle before dissipating. 

"That was a mistake, you're right. He got so caught up in his desire to replicate the Super Serum that he forgot about the risks attached. But that Banner died when he injected himself with the gamma radiation and turned into his green-coloured friend. The Banner now has to be the way he is in order to protect you. You might not see it now, but you will."

"I guess," you muttered, but didn't want to admit that Barton was right. Your ego wouldn't allow for that. "What's Asgard, anyway? I know it's the place..." Your words drifted off for a moment, still trying to process the recent death that was hanging over everyone. "I know that it's the place that Thor is from, but other than that I've never heard anything else about it."

"Well," Barton frowned. "Thousands of years ago when the Nordic Vikings were tromping all over Europe, they worshiped a certain banner of gods such as Odin and Hel. I'm not sure about all the Nordic gods, but a lot of them were real in the sense that they were real beings. Perhaps not gods as in the creators of the universe, I'm not sure we'll ever get a proper answer to that. But they appeared as a governing force back in the ancient times and the Nordic peoples worshiped them. Asgard is the place where they're from, though it's actually a planet. The people there - "

"Live in the past and the future," you finished, your mind combing over the strange dreams of the worlds you had visited during your migraines. Though you did not see during your migraines, you could see during your dreams. "I think I've been there before," you explained to Barton, but then realised that probably wouldn't make any sense to him at all. "It doesn't matter," you replied, though your mind was still racing a mile a minute. 

The strange world with the floating lights and people that dressed like they were in a history book but lived a culture entwined with technology that was so advanced it almost seemed like magic, the place you called Tomorrowland from that one movie you didn't really remember. But what was the connection, why of all the thousands and millions of places in the universe did your migraines take you there the most often? You didn't know the connection, but you were certain that whatever force or consciousness had sensed you during your longest migraine was there, some secret buried at the epicentre of it all. 

"I want to go there." You stood up suddenly, catching Barton by surprise. The man with the eyepatch was now directing his gaze towards you. You didn't know much about him, but you could sense that you reminded him of someone, someone from his past long ago. He didn't seem to fear you and your abilities like the rest of the Avengers did, even if they didn't want to admit it. You almost would have sworn that he had seen similar abilities before, but how someone could have powers similar to yours, you did not know. 

"I want to be the Envoy," you replied firmly and knew right away that Banner was going to interject. 

"You can't!" He insisted, which wouldn't have angered you had it not been the first thing he had said to you since your last argument. "We don't know what the hell is out there, but it surely is dangerous if it would wreck a whole region of the universe and kill Thor like a bug on a windshield. Plus, we don't know what Odin wants, or why Loki is involved with any of this. I don't know Loki that well, but the last time he was here, he tried to enslave humanity and pretty much wrecked New York City. I don't want you going anywhere near him, especially with your migraines - "