Mischief

Chapter One- A Quick Descent

"You're cheating," Thor muttered accusingly. His brother had gotten five straight flushes, all cards royal. Surely it couldn't be possible to be that lucky! Loki rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm not, you insufferable oaf. I'm just good at cards," he answered, gesturing at Banner. "It's your turn." Thor grumbled to himself as Banner picked up a card, an azure smudge catching his eye.

"Thor," Valkyrie approached them, her blue cloak billowing impressively as she strode towards them. She never seemed to walk anywhere without purpose, silently pacing through the ship. Thor looked up, smiling slightly. "We are entering Midgard's atmosphere."

"Thank you, Valkyrie," Thor inclined his head, the three men abandoning their game and taking their places at the front of the ship. Thor sat in the captain's chair, a comfortable swivel that had never made him nauseous enough to be ill, thank you. Loki and Banner stood to either side of him, the former weary and cautious, the latter excited and fidgety. Earth encompassed the window, surrounded by swirling silvery clouds.

"It sure is good to be home," Banner murmured, gazing longingly at the blue and green orb looming before them. He laughed wryly. "I was even starting to miss Stark." Loki narrowed his eyes, looking thoughtful.

"I should stay on the ship. It's probably best they don't know I'm here," he decided. Thor frowned, turning his head to protest.

"Loki-" he began, but Banner cut him off.

"Perhaps it is for the best," he agreed. "I mean, you did try and conquer the world and all." Loki grinned, looking absolutely unrepentant. There seemed to be a mischievous glint in his eyes, almost as though promising more escapades. Banner shivered as the demigod cackled.

"Yes, yes. And then there's that irritating magician with his cheap parlour tricks," Loki spat, face settling into a hard scowl, glaring into the distance. Thor had to hold back a laugh. They had encountered a strange man when they returned to Earth to look for their father, and he had managed to make a fool of Loki- not something many people could do.

"Magician?" Banner enquired. He looked vaguely confused, but his attention soon returned to Earth, his gaze becoming distant once again. "Yes, quite..." Loki sighed.

"Sometimes I feel he has the attention span of a-" he cut off with a startled yelp as the ship shuddered violently, flinging him off his feet and throwing him inelegantly across the room. The table fell onto its side, spilling cards and chips onto the floor as Bruce crashed through it. He scrambled desperately, using it to pull himself upright and flatten himself against the wall. Loki sat up, shaking his head groggily and diving out of the way of  the table. "What in hell?"

"Valkyrie, what was that?" Thor demanded, already up and hauling his brother to his feet. Bruce was edging his way towards them, wincing with closed eyes every time the ship shook, shuffling slowly. The ship shuddered again. Thor clutched the back of his chair, gripping Loki's shoulder to keep him upright as he began to topple. Banner braced himself against the wall, eyes wide.

"We're coming in too fast!" he shouted, voice high in horror . Thor glanced up, a small spike of ice cold fear shooting through his chest at the planet rapidly approaching them. Civilians had started to flock onto the deck in panic. They were screaming, crying, shouting. It was too much. Thor was no true king, how could he possibly consider-

"SHUT IT!"

The entire deck fell silent as Loki's voice carried clear.

"We have everything under control, right?"

Thor froze, staring at him helplessly. He was a fighter, not a talker- though even he could admit his linguistic skills had much improved.

"We do! We're just... er... very excited to be back! So we're gonna land fast!" Bruce's words were punctuated by another ship-wide quake. "Everyone back to their quarters! We'll get you when we've landed! Quickly now!"

They were already in the grip of Earth's gravity, and no amount of reverse thrust could save them now, not with their momentum and damaged parts. Thor turned back, eyes sharp and calculating. Despite popular belief, he was not a stupid man.

"Banner! Is there any way to- FUCK!"

He was thrown clear across the bridge, slamming painfully into the opposite view as Banner hung onto the Captain's chair. Loki flew out of sight with a high pitched scream, cartwheeling mid air.

"Is there any way to what?"

"Reverse! Momentum!"

"What?"

"Reverse! Momentum!"

"What?"

"STOP! PAUSE! REVERSE! GO BACK!"

"Oh... er," Banner winced with an apologetic grin. "The atmosphere might slow us down enough?"

"Oh sweet Hel," Loki paled, gripping Thor's unnecessarily hard bicep. "Here we go! Thor?"

Thor glanced at him, sighing and taking a seat in the Captain's chair, staggering across the bridge with Loki hanging unhelpfully off his arm. He took a deep breath. These people relied on him. He must stay calm.

"Brace yourselves, Asgardians, Midgardians, and all those under my rule. Its going to be a rough landing."

A/N: yay! Chapter One! I hope I've managed to get their personalities right! Any suggestions? Please vote, comment etc. Love you guys xxx