The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 76

"We can talk here." He looked uncertain, "You may call in your guards if you wish, if that will make you feel safer." My offer was genuine, but he took it as an insult.
"Barton has informed me that you were in league with Loki before Stuttgart.  At this point, Thor admitted that he had not brought you from Asgard with him.  So.  Where were you?"
"Think about what my goal was during the Second World War.  It was to obtain the Tesseract.  Now, when Loki fell off the Rainbow Bridge a little more than a year ago, he was presumed dead.  Because of forces you cannot hope to understand, I thought my own life would soon end so I decided to try and do one more good thing.  I found out where you had the Tesseract and took the place of one of the scientists working there.  I spent the year trying to build up trust and a plan to escape with the Tesseract, but Loki arrived just before that happened.  I was one of the people he shot when he first arrived."
"The older woman." Fury realized, "That was you."
"Yes."
"Then what happened to the real one?"
"I replaced one of her medications with a toxin that put her into a coma.  She was alive, until the base collapsed that is."
"So if her body was still here, you would be able to revive her?"
"Yes.  So you cannot arrest me or charge me with murder because I'm not the one who made that base collapse."
"I am aware.  Why did you go with him?"
"Because he didn't remember me.  That's when I knew something was terribly wrong."
"Just because he didn't remember you?"
"You don't understand: it's more of a gut feeling.  Even if he had only known me for a few months, he would've recognized me.  Everyone has their own...aura and there are some who can consciously identify and distinguish one person from another.  The rest of the world just calls it 'getting vibes' from someone."
"Uh-huh." His narrowed his eye in a halfway-doubtful manner.
"But I jogged him out of his daze."
"Then why did he continue with his plans?"
"Because he wasn't the mastermind behind them.  There is another being, far more powerful than him, or Thor, orchestrating all of this.  He's been playing an elaborate game and Loki was the first pawn that he moved.  Thor will probably catch on eventually."
"This....'other being'....is he more powerful than you?"
"It depends.  Right now, yes, but if I were at my full strength, we would be evenly matched."
"How do you know?"
"Because he's probably like ten thousand years older than me, well actually I don't know how much older he is.  He's the one who wiped out my civilization and that is all I can tell you right now.  You wouldn't understand or believe me if I told you anything else.  You weren't even supposed to know this in the first place!  It is just by sheer happenstance that I'm here right now, or that I met Loki at all!  Besides, you don't need to worry about him now.  I'll know if he plans to make another move before me makes it and if it is truly vital, then I will inform you.  You're going to have to trust me right now.  We have to let him think he has the upper hand."
"Fine.  Whatever.  My jurisdiction doesn't go beyond the Earth anyway.  But it is about the events here that I want to talk to you about."
"Fire away."
"The public has taken very well to The Avengers, all of them but you anyway."
"Why not me?"
"Well, aside from the Hulk and the army itself, you caused the most collateral damage to the city.  You didn't kill anyone, but you still destroyed at least two very important and expensive buildings and the press is tearing you apart for it."
"You said the Hulk caused more damage than me, why aren't they tearing him apart for it?"
"The world already knows about the Hulk.  They know something about how he came to be and his other identity as a very prominent and accomplished scientist.  You however, were a complete surprise to them .  You're a dragon, which is very often portrayed as a villain, you demonstrated 'ungodly' abilities by shrinking and growing in size, and they don't know your true identity.  We therefore will have no choice but to inform the press that you are not a member of the Avengers, but that you were a third party of whom even we did not know, someone who just happened to show up.  I don't know if they'll buy it, but at least it will give the Avengers a clean slate from which to build their reputation."
"If I don't have any say, then why are you telling me this?"
"Because I thought you should know.  But that is just official stuff.  I want you to be one of the leaders of the Avengers.  Alongside Steve Rogers.  You have clearly made quite the impression on them and have high-quality leadership skills." I looked over at Loki.
"I can't.  I'll still be an unofficial Avenger, if that offer is on the table, but I can't be a leader.  I must return to Asgard and defend Loki.  Odin will not take kindly to what he has done here.  Ordinarily, the punishment would be death and I'm going to have to fight tooth and nail to save him from that.  I know he still has a major part to play in the grand scheme of things.  Along with that, we never had a honeymoon either.  He fell off the bridge on the eve of our wedding day."
"I see.  Very well.  You will be an Avenger, and the offer to be a leader will still stand.  It will be a...condition under which the Avengers become a private organization.  Should you wish to be a leader, you can be."
"Thank you."
"I don't trust you.  Just to make that clear."
"I don't trust you either.  But I respect you and I am glad we have reached an understanding."
"Tomorrow morning, Thor will take the three of you back to Asgard.  The Tesseract will be going with you, so you will have achieved your goal."
"Good."  There was a mutual understanding between us.  We were both people who had had our trust betrayed and souls that carried much weight.  Maybe I didn't trust him just yet, but I got a feeling that that may change in the distant future.