Contest of Champions

58

The following morning Erik rouses me for the last interview before heading home, sending me to shower while MJ, Flash, and Ned get ready to prepare me for the cameras. They're a bit grouchy from the late night at the party and Flash seems like he has a hangover. He keeps grumbling to MJ about how she "ruined his fun" by telling the bartender he was underage and stopping him from drinking.

"You're miserable enough as it is," MJ shoots back. "You wanted a worse headache?"

Flash just glowers at her and doesn't respond.

When I'm dressed in the same black suit from my first interview, minus the plan to transform halfway through, I meet Hela and Valkyrie, Valkyrie looking grim and Hela with a strange smile that makes me wonder if she's hidden daggers to kill me with in the interview room.

"Ronan has just spoken to me regarding Veers," Hela says. "He communed with the Supreme Intelligence and was told they have no interest in having Veers return to Hala or Starforce."

I furrow my brow. Where's she going to go, then? "Why?"

"Oh, they didn't like the fact that she killed Yon-Rogg to save you," Hela says, gesturing dismissively. "I think that was it. You know, Asgardian-Kree politics. They aren't too fond of you."

"That will also go for Asgard concerning her," Valkyrie tells Hela pointedly. As I look from one to the other in confusion, Hela just waves off Valkyrie's comment.

"Oh, you know the queen, she loves taking in lost little ones. Veers will be fine. She'll adjust."

"Adjust to what?" I demand, feeling my stomach twist into a knot. "What's happening?"

"Ronan is signing Veers over to me," Hela tells me with that infuriating, enigmatic smirk. "As her new mentor."

"Veers is coming to live in Asgard," Valkyrie clarifies with a frown when I still look confused.

I feel like someone just pulled the earth out from under me. My eyes widen and I actually have to create an illusion to mask my emotions.

Veers. Coming to Asgard. Coming to live in Asgard. With me. Her lover. In the palace. On Asgard. Where Gamora is.

Damn.

"Good news, eh, brother?" Hela says in a tone that suggests she knows my true feelings on the matter and she breezes past me, probably off to ruin someone else's day. Valkyrie, however, doesn't move.

"Loki?"

I take deep, slow breaths. It's not that bad. We're friends, allies, and I respect her. How bad can it be? With the crowds and cameras gone, things will die down, right? Settle down, right? Go back to normal? I'm completely ignoring the fact that normal is gone forever.

"Loki?" Valkyrie repeats, her voice low and surprisingly gentle. She lays her hand on my shoulder, disrupting my illusion which vanishes in a quick flash of green. When I can bring myself to meet her eyes, I see unexpected sympathy there.

"How can she come to live in Asgard?" I ask her quietly. "She's Kree."

"The Kree don't want her," Valkyrie replies.

"Asgardians don't like Kree," I warn. "How can she live in Asgard when she's Kree?" My voice begins to rise and I struggle to get it under control.

Valkyrie's eyes hold understanding and I don't know how she can comprehend what I'm dealing with. Maybe she's just drunk enough to not get the significance of the situation, or to think I don't love Veers despite my actions and declarations. But when I meet her eyes, I am forced to acknowledge that she's not drunk, that somehow she does truly understand my emotions, which means she must guess I don't love Veers like I say I do.