A/N: This gif. That is all. Carry on.
...
The walk to 177A Bleecker Street was an awkward one.
You so badly wanted to apologise to Thor for lying to him, but couldn't find the words for an apology quite that big. When you finally did start to speak, Thor held up a hand to silence you before you'd even uttered two words.
"Not now Y/N."
"But I-"
"Please, save it. I thought you were above such betrayal, that you would change Loki for the better, but it turns out he's just changed you for the worse."
He might as well have hit you in the face.
"That's not true." you said, and your hurt must have been audible in your voice, because Thor sighed and stopped to look at you.
"Then why did you lie?"
"Loki deserved his chance at happiness. He saw the opportunity and he took it; how could I deny him that?" you pleaded.
"Because it meant treason? And lying to your friends?" Thor suggested.
"Well... yes. Maybe if Odin had been a better father-"
"That has nothing to do with it."
"That has everything to do with it Thor! Don't you see?" you asked desperately.
"No, I don't." he replied bluntly, walking past you.
"He deserved at least a chance at being king. I wanted him to have it so badly, I thought if we just gave it a go..." you continued, chasing after him down the street.
"And how did it go?"
"Well! To start with. And then... but the people were happy!"
"Other realms were not so happy, they were dying. And that's partly because of Loki." Thor snapped.
"Thor I'm sorry, I truly am. But I don't regret seeing Loki the happiest he's ever been sitting on that throne, even if he made some bad decisions." you told him stubbornly.
Thor didn't seem to have an answer for that one. You caught hold of his arm and made him stop; he met your gaze.
"I am sorry." you said earnestly. Thor's gaze softened.
"I know you are." he said, reaching out to squeeze your forearm.
"I missed you Y/N."
A year ago you might have cried, but now you held the tears back and smiled broadly.
"I missed you too. And the others, so much."
After that the air was a lot easier to breathe as you walked.
"What was the deal with the huge skull? And the dragon head in the Observatory?" you asked as you walked.
"I've been having awful dreams recently about Asgard falling: Ragnarok. The Fire Giant Surtur is prophesied to bring about Asgard's doom, so I paid him a visit."
"And... decapitated him?"
"Essentially, yes."
"Right, well, good." you said, unsure how else to validate Thor's actions. "And the dragon head?"
"The beast tried to follow me through the Bifrost."
"I see." you replied. You couldn't help but worry that Thor had brought the head of the creature prophesied to destroy Asgard back to Asgard, but he seemed unconcerned. You left it, deciding not to push your luck so soon after your reconciliation.
It wasn't long before you arrived at your destination.
"I'll stay invisible, just in case." you told Thor. He nodded, before stepping up to the door which read 177A and knocking once, twice... and then disappearing.
"Uh, Thor?" you asked. No response.
"Oh good." you muttered to yourself, before teleporting inside. Thor was stood next to a table clutching his umbrella and looking around in badly disguised fear.
"Thor Odinson, God of Thunder." a voice emanated from the shadows, and then a dark figure drifted from across the room in front of a large circle window towards Thor, who held up his umbrella, ready to fight.
"You can put down the umbrella." the dark figure said, his thick American accent sounding kind enough. Thor tentatively lowered Mjolnir, and then disappeared again. You swore, teleporting after them into the next room.
"So Earth has wizards now?" Thor asked as he looked suspiciously around the room.
"The preferred term is 'Master of the Mystic Arts'." the strange floating man replied.
"Alright wizard, who are you? Why should I care?" Thor asked heatedly.
"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange and I have some questions for you. Take a seat."
And with that they both disappeared again. Doctor Strange! Tony had mentioned him once before to you; he'd wanted him to train you to use your magic rather than Loki. You teleported after them again, where Thor was sat in a chair refusing tea. Strange gave him a stein filled with beer instead, which didn't seem to empty as Thor drank from it.
Yes good idea Thor, drink the unknown magical liquid the stranger who kidnapped your brother has given you. Good job.
"You should know that I am aware of your presence Miss Y/N." Strange said suddenly, looking right at you. You stood stock still for a moment, and then dropped your illusion.
"Tea?" Strange offered.
"No, thank you." you said pointedly, sitting next to Thor, who quickly caught on and stopped drinking the beer.
"So, I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world. Your adopted brother, Loki, is one of these beings." Strange told Thor.
"He's a worthy inclusion." Thor said, and you shot him a reproachful look.
"Then why bring him here?" Strange asked.
"We're looking for my father." Thor explained.
"So if I were to tell you where Odin was, all parties would promptly return to Asgard?" Strange asked.
"Promptly." Thor nodded.
"Great, then I'll help you." Strange said.
You zoned out while Thor and Strange talked some more, interested only in finding Loki and getting back to Asgard. You didn't really care if Odin was okay or not, as far as you were concerned he had deserved what had happened to him. Your only concern was what Odin might try and do to Loki upon your return. Suddenly you were all in a different room. You staggered against Thor from the unexpected movement; looking over to Strange who was flipping through a book.
"- just seeing whether this incantation requires any Asgardian modifications." he was saying. Then: "nope." All of a sudden you were across the room near a work station. Thor appeared to have brought the bookcase he was holding on to with him as well.
Strange said something else about a book, and then you were back in the room where you'd started. Thor looked like he was about to throw up.
"Look, will you stop doing that?" you asked, gesturing to Thor.
"I just need one strand of his hair." Strange said, approaching Thor.
"Let me explain something, my hair is not to be meddled wi-" Thor started.
Suddenly Strange was behind Thor, and easily plucked a strand of hair from his head. He extended the strand and infused it with some sort of magic, doing a few gestures that created a bright light similar to the one Loki had disappeared into, and then suddenly you were at the front staircase of the weird building.
You grabbed the banister and closed your eyes; Thor rolled unceremoniously down the stairs next to you. Strange was stood at the bottom of the stairs and had opened a portal leading into what looked like a peaceful meadow.
"We could have just walked." Thor groaned as he got to his feet; you walked unsteadily down the stairs to join him.
"He's waiting for you." Strange told you, gesturing through the portal.
"All right." Thor said, looking through the portal uncertainly.
"Don't forget your umbrella." Strange reminded him.
"Yes." Thor replied, extending his arm. You winced as loud crashing noises emitted from upstairs.
"Sorry." Thor said. Finally the umbrella arrived in his hand, some stray pieces of glass falling from it as Thor dusted it off.
"And Loki?" you asked Strange.
"Yeah, right." he replied, seemingly having forgotten all about him. He made more weird gestures with his hands, and a portal opened up above your heads. As you looked up, Loki fell from the portal and landed hard on the floor in front of you. As you moved towards him, he flicked a strand of hair which had fallen in his face back and looked up, seething.
"I have been falling... for THIRTY MINUTES." he shouted.
You bit back a laugh and reached down to help him to his feet.
"You can handle him from here." Strange was saying to Thor.
"Are you okay?" you quickly asked Loki, to try and distract him from the conversation going on behind him. It didn't work.
"Handle me? Who are you?" Loki growled, shrugging you off.
"Loki-" Thor said, stepping forward as Loki summoned two daggers, glaring at Strange with dangerous intent.
"You think you're some kind of sorcerer? Don't think for one minute, you second rate-"
"Buh-bye." Strange interrupted him, and proceeded to pull the portal over the three of you as Loki lunged for him.
You closed your eyes as the portal engulfed you, and when you opened them again you were on a cliff top in the peaceful meadow, next to the sea. Loki was on the ground again; Thor was smirking at him as he scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off, positioning himself at your side.
You saw him first: the lone figure sitting near the cliff edge, watching the ocean.
"Father." Thor said, starting towards him. Loki didn't move from your side.
"Go. I'll wait here." you told him, taking hold of his hand and squeezing it gently.
You'll be okay.
You watched the two brothers approach their father and presently sit down with him. Trying not to eavesdrop on Loki's thoughts, you turn your attention to the ocean, watching the sun bounce off of the waves and thinking about the last time you were so near the sea. You and Loki had been hiding in a safe house in England. That would have been five years ago now on Midgard; to you it only felt like little over a year. Having been lost in your thoughts for several minutes, it took you a moment to realise what you were seeing when you eventually looked back over to where the three men were sat. Odin was dissolving into what looked like stardust which drifted out across the ocean. Was this a normal thing for the Allfather to do?
A few seconds later the ocean turned grey as the skies darkened overhead and the wind picked up drastically. Thor was advancing on Loki, who was walking slowly backwards. You quickly teleported over to stand beside Loki.
"This was your doing." Thor said to Loki, his voice dangerously low, electricity crackling at his hands.
All of a sudden there was a loud crack from behind you. The three of you spun around to see a black portal opening in midair. Thor slammed down his umbrella, breaking your illusion and reappearing in his Asgardian armour armed with Mjolnir; you and Loki followed swiftly followed suit.
Y/N, hide yourself.
But-
Quickly!
You did as Loki asked, turning yourself invisible again, just in time for a menacing figure to appear in the portal, making its way out and towards you. Loki shifted slightly so that he was in front of you.
The figure revealed itself to be a fearsome looking woman with long dark hair and a gaunt, white face featuring sharp cheekbones and piercing green eyes. She was wearing a skintight black and green bodysuit which rose all the way up her neck, leaving only her shoulders and hands exposed. The woman looked around for a moment, considering her surroundings, and then spoke.
"So he's really gone?" she asked. Loki and Thor remained silent.
"That's a shame. I would've liked to have seen that."
How did she know about Odin?
Who is she?
Our sister.
What?
I'll explain later. All you need to know now is that she's the Goddess of Death and probably wants to kill us.
Right. Thanks.
"You must be Hela. I'm Thor, son of Odin." Thor said.
"Really? You don't look like him." Hela replied.
"Perhaps we can reach an arrangement." Loki suggested.
"You sound like him." Hela scorned. Loki shifted nervously. Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir.
"Kneel." Hela demanded suddenly.
"I beg your pardon?" Loki asked incredulously, leaning forward as if he hadn't heard what she had said perfectly well.
Hela conjured a large, black blade.
"Kneel, before your Queen."
"I don't think so." Thor asserted, and launched Mjolnir at Hela.
Who caught it. You blinked hard; all your blood seemed to rush to your head and your eyes widened in shock as you witnessed the impossible. This couldn't be right.
Slack jawed with shock, Thor reached out to try and call Mjolnir back to him, but Hela held on tightly, her hand shaking only slightly, staring Thor down.
"It's not possible." Thor muttered in shock.
"Darling, you have no idea what's possible." Hela smiled condescendingly. She tightened her grip on Mjolnir, and it shattered. It actually shattered, falling in bits to the ground at her feet. The blast from Mjolnir's destruction knocked you, Thor and Loki off of your feet.
You were in shock as you sat back up. How had she not seen you yet? If she was powerful enough to destroy Mjolnir... but it seemed Hela had other things on her mind. Next to you, Thor was radiating pure anger. Loki was terrified, panic exuding from his every move. When you looked back up at Hela she was running her hands over her head to create a terrifying, spiky headdress. How dramatic of her. She was definitely an Odinson.
Loki scrambled to his feet again and raised his face to the sky.
"Bring us back!" he shouted.
"No!" Thor yelled.
Come here.
You grabbed Loki's arm as Hela charged towards Thor, and then you were swept upwards with the Bifrost.