Electric Shock

Chapter 1 – Freaking Me Out

Sometimes he wondered if the heat was part of his punishment. The sweat swimming down his body and making the metal and leather of his clothing all the more uncomfortable. Did it feel worse because of what he was? In his insanity he had tried to forget that he was Jotun. When he had invaded Midgard with the Chitauri he had outright ignored that he had some control over ice using only his own magic and that of the staff. But he had been trapped in the dark and heat for so long he found his mind occasionally wandered to the truth of what he was.

He wanted desperately to ignore reality. Perhaps that was why he would go through phases where he would spit and snarl in his hatred for Odin and all of Asgard. It was during these moments of rage that he considered himself Loki, Laufey's son. But when he was thoughtful and filled with sorrow he was Loki, Odin's disgraced son. He wanted so desperately to have the love of his family back and yet a part of him felt that it was all still a lie.

He remembered clearly, of course, his return. Frigga had begged Odin openly to have pity and amongst the rage and shame in his adoptive father's eyes Loki could see the mercy. It was the same aggrieved compassion he had seen in his father's eyes when he had realized he'd disappointed him. When he had let himself fall into the ruin of the Bifrost in the hopes of perishing for he had shamed his family. But instead he had survived, met The Other and only furthered his own insanity with both psychical and mental pain.

He winced when light flooded his prison, blinding him temporarily as he felt rough hands pull him to his feet. He was far down one of Asgard's many corridors by the time his eyes finally adjusted. He could not say how much time had passed since his return but in the few guards and servants that saw him as he was escorted to the throne room he saw mixtures of fear. Not just because he was known for his actions but also a certain level of horror for his appearance. He imagined he did not look all that well. He had not eaten while imprisoned. He was unsure if he could die of starvation considering what he was but a part of him also wondered if perhaps the Asgardian's golden apples had something to do with his ability to hunger for a long time without death. Or possibly during his moments of delirium someone had come to feed him and he just could not remember.

He had the decency to be ashamed enough to stare at the floor when he was brought before Odin. When he had first arrived he had looked at him with fury for a time only to cast his eyes away when his father's sorrow had created a disgusting mixture of grief and rage in Loki's chest. He felt schizophrenic in knowing that depending on his state of mind, he would have done the exact same this time however the shamed son was what stood before him today.

His heart ached further when he heard a barely contained sob and glanced to see Frigga standing just behind Odin. Her face was already moist with tears and Loki could not help as his eyes glazed over with his own. All he ever wanted was to be loved as an equal to his brother, to do his parent's proud, do his father proud and in that brief moment he could see he still had the chance to do that. But would the hatred constricting his heart allow him to strive for such a thing or would it drive him mad with anger again?

He heard the doors behind him open a second time and with years of familiarity, recognised the steady beat of Thor's steps. He closed his eyes to his sibling, so much his superior that he did not want the humiliation of having his brother see him cry.

"I have summoned you here today to give you a task of great importance." Odin began. His voice always strong, commanding, held the slightest shimmer of emotion within it, the last of his disappointment which burned Loki worse than any wound or torture anyone could imagine. "It is also my hope that this will be the first of many duties that will bring about the redemption of Loki, Odin's son." He continued causing the younger brother's eyes to snap open and stare at his ashamed father. The love he saw in those ancient eyes was enough to bring a fresh wave of silent tears that he soon realised Thor himself was barely holding in. Emotions flooded Loki. Fear, loathing, sorrow, shame, hatred but most importantly love. He could despise his family for their lies all he wanted. He could scream, fight and lash out at them but deep underneath it all he could not cut out the affection of those he had grown up adoring, worshipping and right now a decent part of him didn't want to try.

"Learning of Thanos' activity, Heimdall has cast his gaze far and wide and while he can not see him he has found another, sworn to serve him and on her way to Midgard." Odin explained, using only his eyes to hold Thor from asking the millions of questions he obviously wanted to the minute he heard mention of his precious Earth. "Her name is Sumati and she seeks relics that were cast to Midgard millennias ago. If she succeeds she will be able to invade Earth with a terrible force and war will break out. I give the task of stopping this plot to my sons." He concluded the last of his disappointment changing to something akin to hope. Loki understood easily that this was an offered second chance.

"We will do you proud, father." Thor spoke up, saluting and bowing to a man he respected greatly as everyone's gaze turned to Loki. He could tell they were all wondering if he would refuse or on the chance he did accept, if it was just a ploy. He did not blame them for he could hardly trust himself let alone expect others to.

"I…I hope to redeem myself…father." Loki finally spoke up, his voice husky from misuse. The last word felt strange on his tongue, a mixture of emotions for it. Part of him felt he was unworthy of using it another part felt Odin was unworthy of being called it. It seemed it was all Frigga needed to break the chains of dignity as she wept openly; striding down the steps so quickly that it took a moment for Loki to realize she was holding him in a tight embrace and that the new moisture on his shoulder was not more sweat but her tears. After a minute he awkwardly returned the gesture, feeling Thor's hand on his shoulder seconds later. His surprised gaze only focused on something when Odin joined in on the family embrace when he placed a gentle hand on Loki's head.

It reminded him of the time he had gotten lost once when Odin had taken him and Thor on a hunting trip and he had been shrouded in a mist that even Heimdall could not see through. When he had finally made his way to a place Heimdall could see and returned through the Bifrost he had expected to get in trouble especially since the chaos had been caused by a magic trick he had concocted out of jealousy for the approval Odin had given Thor that day. Instead he had been bundled up in Frigga's arms so quickly he had forgotten all about the list of things he had been planning to do in apology. When she had finally let him go Thor had hugged him as well and then eventually Odin, who he had expected to strike him, had held him so gently but so tightly that Loki hadn't had the capacity to think properly for the rest of the night.

Perhaps it was the mixture of this memory and the return of the feeling of shock associated with realizing you are so loved that caused him to tell the part of his mind that despised the reunion to shut up and get lost.

There were two things Darcy Lewis loved most in the world. The first thing was her taser. Over the years it had proved useful on many occasions. The most significant moment of its use being the time she tased a Norse god which she was still uncertain if she should boast about or bashfully comment on when it came up. The second thing was her phone. Her shiny latest gen iPhone she'd bought with the compensation for confiscating her iPod with the rest of Jane's equipment. It had taken her hours of persuading to convince Foster to use the cash reimbursement they'd initially been given but a few jibes about how it would help them continue their research and she'd given in. Then she had spent the rest of the year dropping hints and Jane caved, granting her the money as an early Christmas present.

That early Christmas present was now part of a large scorch mark on one of the tables filled with research when Jane's attempt at recreating Asgardian technology on her own had incidentally backfired.

"Darcy, if I hear you say one more thing about your iPhone." Jane began noting the glum expression on her assistant's face. She earned a glare for her hostility but Darcy knew that Foster didn't care much when it came to her "superficial passions". She also knew that she could make any number of jibes about Jane's obsession with finding Thor being a "superficial passion" and she would deny it in that clueless way only an untidy science geek not entirely in tune with love could do.

"Do we have insurance?" she asked after a moment of pouting to herself. She noticed her boss rolling her eyes and decided she would have to dig into her own savings to replace the phone. It was probably for the best, she needed to do some shopping anyway. Jane always forgot about things like groceries because she was always so wrapped up in her research. At times Darcy wondered if she was there not to help Jane with the science stuff but to remind her that she was a human being and needed to do things like sleep and eat.

"Whoa, what happened here?" a familiar older voice queried and the two girls glanced to the entrance, seeing Erik Selvig standing there. Both women shouted in pleasant surprise, quickly moving over to hug the man in turn before Jane asked him why he was there. "The main branch of S.H.I.E.L.D might be in need of your research." Selvig answered quickly explaining a series of abnormal weather patterns that could not entirely be attributed to Thor but perhaps another extraterrestrial race.

"This isn't another thing like when Thor came back to Earth and I got sent halfway around the world is it?" Jane asked. Darcy remembered how pissed the young scientist had been when "The Avengers" had shown up in the news and they'd spotted Thor. She wasn't sure who her boss had been angrier at. Erik and S.H.I.E.L.D or Thor himself. Probably Thor because her rage at Erik had vanished completely after learning what had happened to him. To Lewis' awareness he was still seeing counsellors over it.

"No. We're actually hoping he might contact you about it." Selvig commented looking around the familiar "home base" in New Mexico. While they were free to work at S.H.I.E.L.D facilities Jane had a certain level of distrust for them not to mention her original research sight was also close to where the Bifrost would send Thor to Earth if it was ever replaced. Darcy was thankful for these factors because the big secret government agency was less inclined to have the Political Science major helping out who had only been saved by Jane's insistence that she remain as her helper. Victory one for friendship brownie points.

"Usual coffee then?" Darcy piped up with a friendly smile on her face. Before she knew it she was in the kitchen of the repurposed car dealership making coffee for all three of them.

The visit might put Jane Foster at risk and Loki had told Thor as much but his brother had clearly ignored him. The Tesseract had made it easier for them to return to Midgard though it was quite clear that Thor had wanted to be transported to the place the Bifrost would have sent him. He had quickly decided that since Sumati was not on Earth yet, that he had time to make a quick personal visit. Next thing Loki knew his brother had grabbed him as his argument against it was leaving his mouth and he was flying through the air.

Thor landed as close as he could without creating a disturbance before the brothers made their way to the building Thor recognised as his lover's home. He was lucky she was there but Loki wasn't going to make jibes until he felt a little less like the awkward ex-villain he was. Even now he half expected the general populace if not the rest of The Avengers to leap from some hiding place shouting "murderer" and skin him on the spot.

"Okay. I see Erik and Jane on the roof." Thor commented as they got closer. His eyes were alight with joy and excitement as he clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You wait inside until I have explained everything to them and convinced them you are a changed man." Thor informed his younger brother. Before Loki could protest he was gone, needing to only leap onto the roof to join them. The glass doors were locked and with one last glance to where his brother went, Loki used his magic to enter the building feeling he'd be safer from his paranoid attacks inside. He wondered with a sigh how Thor was going to convince them, Doctor Selvig especially, that he was a "changed man". Loki didn't even believe it himself. Even now some part of him was telling him to run while he could and find a way to regain power, maybe even help this Sumati in exchange for safe harbour.

He glanced up when he could hear Erik shouting from the rooftop. Obviously he wasn't taking the news kindly. Loki did not blame him. The mind was a terrible thing to play with and just because his had been shattered did not give him the right to go gallivanting about in others' minds. Mulling over his mixture of guilt and twisted pleasure he did not notice straight away that Selvig's shouting had caught someone else's attention.

Darcy had been sleeping and it had been a nice sleep too. One where she dreamt of being the President of the world government making negotiations with gods about peace treaties and The Avengers were her secret agents that fixed any problems she had never mind the more flirty aspects that her playful, young mind had. Then she'd woken up to shouting and grumbled something into her pillow as she slipped out of the room she'd turned into a bedroom. She glanced toward the stairs hearing Erik's shouting die down at a few shouts from Jane that Darcy couldn't define thanks to the closed door. She would go join them and find out what was going on in a minute. First she needed coffee.

Shuffling to the main part of the ex-car dealership in her oversized tee and pyjama pants she only realized someone else was on the ground level when she heard something clatter to the floor. She stood perfectly still for what felt the longest moment in her life before she decided to quickly backtrack for her surviving favourite thing in the world.

Loki, unaware that he had alerted the third human to his presence meanwhile looked around in alarm before kicking the piece of metal that had fallen off the burnt out contraption he had been inspecting toward a pile of what he could only think of as junk. He was glad no one had been witness to curiosity getting the better of him. Or so he thought until he noticed the presence of someone hiding just around the corner of one of the doorways. He could tell his brother was still on the roof with Erik and Jane so he was suddenly alarmed that someone else was here.

"Show yourself." He ordered, taking on his regal, arrogant persona before he could stop himself. Wide eyed and scared, a young woman stepped out, her hair still messy with sleep. Loki frowned at her trying to think who she would be. It took him longer than he would care to admit to remember the assistant he had seen with Jane and Thor when he had watched over his brother all those years ago. It had felt like a lifetime really and due to her unimportance he had forgotten about her.

"I'd recommend you leave before I call the cops." She informed him quickly and with fear in her voice. He frowned at her instinctually feeling superior to her. "I know the god of thunder you know." She added as an afterthought as if that might intimidate the man and get him to leave. As if the sullen part of himself had become a bystander, Loki more felt like he was watching the other him in his body as he began to laugh and sneer maliciously at mention of his brother as a protector figure. It was jealousy really, something he couldn't fight no matter how hard he tried.

He had been planning in his moment of madness to say something cruel to the girl about her insignificance and something involving his hatred for his brother. He didn't get that chance. The girl pointed a gun at him with a scream when he had taken a step toward her as an intimidation tactic. He felt an electric current jolt his body as he dropped to the ground. He wasn't sure if he was angry or glad that he was going unconscious from the electric shock.

Darcy stood there staring through the darkness at the man dressed in leather and metal and felt a strange recollection of the first time she'd met Thor. Speaking of which, the Asgardian came flying into the room with Erik and Jane, most likely alerted by the instinctual scream she had let out when the stranger had taken that first step toward her.

"He was freaking me out." She quickly defended; a pantomime of the aforementioned meeting. At first she thought she was going to get in trouble only to have her uneasy fear turn to confusion when she heard Thor's booming laughter.

"You are something else Darcy Lewis." He commented glancing to the young girl with a playful smirk. Despite her attempt to chide him with a look and remain serious herself, Jane couldn't help the corners of her mouth twitching up as well. "It took The Avengers to stop my brother when all we really needed was a "freaked out" Darcy." Thor said with another chuckle. He had the decency to bow his head slightly when Erik gave him an exasperated look. Obviously something big was going on and the young girl was unsure if she was thrilled or terrified at the notion that she was being swept into events beyond her control again even if she still probably was just a minor character to her boss' main character status. Maybe she should ask for a pay rise.

((A/N: An attempt at forcing myself to write a short story so I will for once finish it. All the chapters are pretty much done but I'd like to see if change would be preferred before I continue submitting. Again, it is intended to be deliberately short so I apologise if any part of the story feels rushed. Constructive criticism is cherished.))