Son of the Storm

Mysteries and Madness

Fury turned as Loki entered the bridge of the Helicarrier. "Well?" he asked.

"Father was… surprisingly easy to persuade," Loki said. "He is putting Sif and the Warrior's Three at my disposal, to hunt down and destroy the veidrdraugr."

"Doubtless after tracking them with Cerebro," Fury said, slightly sourly.

Loki looked surprised for a moment, then grinned. "Ah, you had the idea after I did."

Fury gave him an annoyed look which was all the answer Loki needed. Loki smirked "How did Odin respond?"

Loki chuckled. "He was very surprised at Charles' sheer power, which, even when not augmented by Cerebro, is truly formidable."

Fury nodded his agreement. "I've never come across a stronger telepath," he admitted. "He was one of the world's first superheroes of the modern era, you know."

Loki gave him an interested look. "Really?"

"Yeah, you might call them Generation 1.5. Generation 1 was Captain America, Spitfire I and II, Union Jack and the Destroyer – not like the Asgardian one, and Namor," Fury said. "As for Generation 1.5… Did you ever hear of Division X?"

Loki nodded slowly. "Vaguely. A scrapped CIA project, was it not?"

"Scrapped because half the team stopped playing ball and the CIA were shit scared of the other half and tried to wipe them all out," Fury said. He paused. "Before you joined, I'd probably have fancied them against the Avengers," he admitted. "Or at least given them even odds. Thor and the Hulk might have tipped the balance. Stark too, if he learned to compensate fast enough."

Loki gave him a sharp look.

"Trust me – Xavier was not the most powerful member of that team," Fury said grimly, catching the look. "And I can only thank any god that's listening that the most powerful member has mellowed considerably since then."

"Magneto."

Fury raised an eyebrow. "I didn't expect you to know that name."

"When I was marshalling mortal allies and controlling them, I noticed the name in their minds, particularly those with origins on the far right of the political spectrum. It was a common thread, a common thought… a common nightmare," Loki said quietly. "I know little of the man save that, as you say, he is truly a force to be reckoned with, even by the standards of the Aesir. And that it is indeed a good thing that he has mellowed."

Fury nodded. "He would be a good ally to have," he admitted. "But even Xavier can't find him. He's alive, but he doesn't want to be found." He grimaced. "And he isn't the only one who we can't find."

"Doctor Strange."

Fury gave him a sharp look.

Loki shrugged. "That was a logical deduction. If Midgard's Sorcerer Supreme has not been presented to fight these creatures, then it is because he cannot and does not wish to be found," he said. "Maybe he is trapped in some other realm."

"Oh, he's around all right," Fury said. "He's consulted on a few matters recently, and always turns up exactly when needed. But he finds us rather than us finding him. We can't find him because he doesn't want to be found."

"Interesting," Loki murmured. "That suggests some degree of foreknowledge, or, at the very least, a superlative knowledge of your operations."

"With Stephen? Could be either," Fury said grimly. "He knows things about SHIELD that even you and Stark haven't managed to ferret out. Things that only I and one other know and have ever known."