Chapter 1/Wayfaring Stranger (Avengers)
We Used to Throw Thunderbolts
We used to throw thunderbolts
Twilight on the overpass
We'll wrest them out gravity
Color fast and come with me
-Always Gold, Radical Face
On a late August afternoon, Steve watched from his room as thunder clouds grew over New York. The clouds moved much more swiftly and deliberately than a typical late summer storm, but it went unnoticed by the vast majority of New Yorkers, wrapped up in their lives, heads bent over tiny phones as they rapidly typed messages to friends.
Within minutes, the clouds focused their mass over Stark Tower and Steve ran up to the top floor just in time for the lightening to coalesce and deliver Thor onto the repaired roof. He arrived with as much bluster as his storm: brilliant and loud.
Steve wondered how much the black mark left by Thor's arrival would cost to repair. He made a note to ask JARVIS.
The clouds cleared. Steve had a feeling that whatever news Thor brought would not clear as quickly.
"My friend!" Thor bellowed, walking towards Steve at a deliberate pace. He abruptly pulled Steve in for a a crushing hug. Steve awkwardly patted Thor on the back.
"Steve is fine," he said, untangling himself from Thor's massive arms.
"Steve! I trust your wound has healed with no ill effects?"
Steve touched his abdomen where he'd been shot during their last battle. SHIELD's doctors had patched it up quickly. His skin was still an angry red from where the wound had been. He knew it would be years before it smoothed into puckered white. "I'm fine."
"I am glad to hear it!"
"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Tony asked as he came onto the terrace, swirling a martini, an eyebrow raised. He glanced at the damaged area of his roof and glanced at Steve, his lips upturned in a smirk.
Thor's face darkened. "I bring ill tidings, friends. I come seeking your help. My brother has escaped. I have cause to believe that his travels may have lead him back to Earth. "
"Slippery guy, huh?"
"No, I believe he retains the same physical state as you or I. Usually," Thor hurriedly tacked on. He seemed to consider whether or not Loki might truly be slippery.
"So what's he doing here?" Natasha asked as she and Clint arrived on the terrace. They both endured the same breath-stealing hug that Thor had bestowed on Steve. Natasha slipped out of it quickly, leaving Clint to glare at her over Thor's shoulder.
Thor finally pulled away and looked at them, his face growing somber.
"I believe my brother to be in search of mistletoe. It is of the utmost importance he not be allowed to bring it back to Asgard."
"Mistletoe?" Clint echoed. "That's harmless enough, isn't it?"
"My mother thought as much. When she bestowed my brother, Balder, with invincibility, she thought not to include the tiny mistletoe, for she found it to be weak and unseemly. Now it is the one thing that can kill him."
"There's another brother?" Tony broke in. "Go figure. Is he bent on destroying everything, too?"
"Balder is very brave! He is the best of us!" Thor exclaimed indignantly.
Tony held up his hands and said, "Woah, big guy. I didn't mean to offend."
Thor's stormy features smooth and he accepted Tony's apology with a nod.
"No offense was taken. You do not know of our family affairs; it was wrong for me to anger so quickly."
"Why don't you tell us the story over dinner?" Clint suggested. "Steve's got some stuff baking in the oven."
"Yes, a feast is a fine place for a tale such as this," Thor agreed, marching past the rest of the team. He paused at the door. "I fear I do not know where to go."
"Follow us, buddy." Tony pushed past him and lead the team down to the dining room.
Once Thor had shoveled a helping of Steve's chicken parmesan onto his plate and taken several gulps from the red wine supplied by Tony, he began his tale.
"My brother Balder is calm and even tempered. He is as intelligent and clever as Loki, but not as devious. He is the strongest of us, stronger than I! But he has no aspirations for the throne and would be content to be my advisor, when it is time for me to be king."
"A rare individual," Steve mused.
"Very rare," Thor took a hearty gulp of wine from his cup, emptying it one go. Wells smoothly moved in to top it off again.
"You're going to drink me into the poorhouse," Tony groused.
"He's doing no more damage than you do on an hourly bases," Natasha said dryly.
"This is the problem with having my teammates live in my house," Tony grumbled, taking a sip from his own glass.
"You were talking about Balder," Clint urged.
"Yes! You have to understand: my mother holds Balder dearest in her heart. I bear no grudge, as Balder is the most beloved of all the Aesir and deservedly so. Everyday I aspire to be more like him. But Loki has long resented Balder for being first most in our mother's heart, and has long sought to ruin him.
"When Balder was but a child, he had terrible dreams that tormented him. He believed it to be a portent of his death. My mother grew alarmed and set it upon herself to travel the realms and gain an oath from all things that they would bring no harm to her beloved son.
"First, she traveled the mighty realm of Asgard. She spoke first to the earth, the stones, the iron, the great rocks and molten lava. She said, 'I bring you no quarrel, Earth. I have but great respect for you and yours. I come asking a favor, that for as long as we both shall live, no harm shall befall my son, Balder.'
"'Lady Frigga, though we are but earth and rock and iron, we swear you this oath: No weapon made from us shall cleave his flesh. No quake nor slide shall crush him. As long as we both shall live, we swear this to you.'
"That's a hell of a power your mom's got!" Tony exclaimed.
Thor ignored him.
"Satisfied, my mother next went to the fire. Although we are mighty, fire is ever enduring, and it is with great courage that my mother faced the flames. She sought the same oath and it was given to her.
"My mother went to the water and exacted the same promise. Balder would never sink to a watery grave, no ship he sailed would crash against barren rocks. Next she met with all manner of beast, from the great earth-shakers down to the things we cannot see, but can cause great harm to us - the fever-makers and wasting diseases. All swore that Balder would not come to harm from them.
"She then traveled to the trees and plants. The great oak said, "Lady Frigga, although all things must have an ending, I swear to you upon the lives of all my children that Balder the Good shall never befall harm from any of our kin.'
"And thus each living thing-and some things that are not living-swore that no ill would come to my brother on behalf of them. But there was one tiny thing from which she had not gathered such an oath. It was the mistletoe, grown only on the eastern side of Valhalla. She hastened to return home and found it too young and feeble to pose a threat. She banished that mistletoe from Asgard to Midgard, so that it may live but be distanced from Balder. Thus, she felt she had suitably dealt with the issue of his invincibility. For not only would the death of Balder be the greatest tragedy Asgard has ever seen, but his death heralds the beginning of Ragnarok, which is the end of all life."
"So the mistletoe's on earth?" Natasha leaned in.
"It is."
"I can already see where this is going," Clint said around a bite of chicken parm.
"Loki, through deceit, discovered this one weakness shortly before his escape. I fear he may be here, looking for this mistletoe to bring harm to Balder. I beseech that you, my friends, help me in preventing this. Not only to save Balder's life, but Loki's. I fear that should he become a Kinslayer, there will be nothing left of the brother I knew and loved."
Thor finished and looked around the table.
Tony finished his wine, taking several gulps before setting the crystal glass back on the table.
Clint and Steve shared a look. Steve shrugged slightly.
"Isn't mistletoe everywhere, though?" Natasha finally asked.
"Indeed, but there is but one Asgard mistletoe on the whole of Midgard. It is this shrub that Loki seeks."
"So not only do we have to find a plant that Loki is looking for, but there's only one in the whole world?" Tony clarified.
"That's correct."
"Great."
"It shall not be an easy quest, but it is of the utmost importance. Should we succeed, our names will ever be sung in the mighty halls of Gladsheim. Will you join me, friends, in this mighty quest?"
"I'm in," Steve said automatically. He was starting to feel useless again, with Clint and Natasha always gone on missions and Tony doing... whatever Tony did, all the time.
"It's been a few months since we've had to save the earth, so count me in," Clint volunteered.
"Why the hell not?" Tony said rhetorically.
"I better contact Fury," Natasha said. "He'll be wanting to hear about this."
"Should we get Bruce on board?"
"Might as well, if he's interested."
The group dispersed to make their personal preparations and calls. Steve and Thor were left alone in the dining room. Steve began taking plates into the kitchen.
Thor got up and helped carry things in.
"I worry my brother may too far for saving" Thor admitted, breaking the silence. "But I love him still."
Steve couldn't pretend to understand the intricacies of Thor's world and family, but he knew a little about family and love.
"Does he know that?"
"I have told him on several occasions. My mother and father had such high hopes for him, but-" Thor sighed, and Steve didn't know Thor could sound so defeated. "But I think perhaps he sullies their regard towards him with the same regard he shows others."
Steve grunted noncommittally.
"It would seem there is not enough love in all of Asgard to make Loki feel welcome. It is to my great chagrin that I admit I may have been a part of that."
"Oh?" Steve asked, shoving the dishes into the dishwasher. (And wasn't that a neat invention?)
"Children can be unkind."
"Yes." And it appeared that was true, regardless of the culture or world.
"Loki was always much more frail than Balder or I. He was not skilled in the ways of a warrior, and became adept in magic instead. I could not believe such a thing-a man is not meant to know magic. It is the way of women. I told him such, on many occasions."
Steve knew what it was to be bullied. To weigh a buck nothing at an even five foot five and to be an artist had made him the butt of many jokes, until the day he took the super serum.
"Some would say washing dishes is women's work," Steve said as he put another dish in the washer. "But I suggest you tell Agent Romanov's place is in the kitchen and see where it gets you."
Thor regarded the plate he was handing Steve.
"Is he good at magic?" Steve asked.
"Among the very best."
They fell into a companionable silence, making quick work of the dishes before Steve excused himself to get his suit together.
They reported to SHIELD HQ within the hour. Fury fizzles onto the screen, gazing across the table with his intense eye, and was that a quirk of a smile on his face? Steve wondered. He looked around, trying to see what Fury saw, and realized that he saw a group of people who were starting to behave like a team all the time, and not just when it mattered.
"Banner will be here shortly," Agent Hill spoke up from just behind Fury. "He agreed to lend his services. He's studying on the way and will brief us on what he's learned."
"That was big of him," Tony remarked, grinning at his pun. Natasha rolled her eyes.
The moment Bruce arrived, Fury gestured for him to share what he'd gathered on his trip in. Bruce nodded at the team before settling into the wide chair waiting and empty. He looked small against the black leather, his hair tousled, his eyes haunted. He pulled out a collection of heavily annotated notes and shuffled through them for a moment before looking up.
"It would appear that when the Asgard mistletoe was placed here, it was hidden quite well. My research indicates the Asgard mistletoe, or AM, most strongly resembles Viscum album which is indigenous only to Europe and western and southern Asia."
"That narrows it down," Tony muttered. Bruce ignored him and continued speaking.
"Pliny the Elder made note in his records of an ancient druidic belief that mistletoe collected from oaks had special qualities. It is my assumption that AM is growing in an oak tree somewhere in Europe."
"So, several millennia ago, someone stumbled upon an oak with actual mystical properties, and it is this tree that was the source of their legends and mythology?" Clint asked.
"It's possible."
"Any trees match that description?" Steve asked.
"There is one tree, the Stelmuze Oak in Lithuania, which is reported to be between 1500 and 2000 years old. It's said to be the oldest tree in Europe. If the AM is anywhere, I think it would be there. Traditionally, Lithuania was very pagan and has intermingled those beliefs with those of Catholicism. It's possible they stumbled onto the magical properties of this oak, as Clint mentioned," Bruce concluded, looking back up from his notes.
"I do not have to impress the importance of this mission to you," Fury growled. "You'll go in your civilian clothes but bring your gear. We don't want to arouse suspicion in the local populace just yet. We're coordinating with the Lithuanian government for your insertion. You'll be good to go by the time you get there. Any questions?"
There were none. Fury nodded. "This is Fury, over and out." The live connection fizzled out.
The team broke and spent the next half hour changing over. Steve threw on his biker jacket and jeans over his Captain America suit. He tucked his shield into the bag SHIELD had made for it and headed towards the jet.
When he got there, Natasha was already in the cockpit doing pre-flight checks with Clint. Thor stood behind them with his arms crossed. He'd managed to slide a jacket over his armor and Steve decided not to ask how the cape fit into it.
Tony sauntered in with his Iron Man suitcase. He slid it under his seat and settled in.
Bruce followed behind, slipping unobtrusively into a seat.
"Thor, come on and take a load off!" Tony patted the empty seat next to him.
Thor forcibly relaxed his shoulders and smiled at Tony as he settled in for the ride.
Steve didn't know what to expect of Lithuania. As the jet came in for the landing, he scanned the countryside from his window. The land was predominately flat with a few low hills on the horizon. Numerous rivers cut the land, and Steve could just make out the Baltic Sea in the distance.
Natasha touched down a few miles outside of the village of Stelmuze. They didn't have to worry about a runway because the SHIELD jet had V/TOL ("Vertical take off and landing," Natasha had explained to Thor) capabilities.
"You can thank Stark industries for our fancy V/TOL footwork," Tony spoke up, as if reading Steve's mind.
Steve shot Tony an inquisitive look.
"The first V/TOL planes were the Harriers. They're not shoddy, but just about anything can take them out of the sky. Smallest bit of FOD-boom. Plane's down. I kid you not, snails can take a Harrier out."
"FOD?"
"Foreign object debris. You know, things like rocks and snails. If there's anything on the deck during a Harrier landing, it'll get sucked right into the engine and shut it down."
"Oh."
"The American government is fielding F-35s to replace them, but the project is a monster. Everyone in Congress wants a piece of the pie. The project has been held up for years and every state sources one part or another, so it costs an exuberant amount of money. The Marines just got their first squadron, but I decided to make my own. Congress can suck eggs. And don't even get me started on the Osprey."
Steve made a mental note to ask JARVIS about that later. Besides using planes as a form of transportation, he had never been much of a Winger. As far as he was concerned, there was fixed wing and rotary wing, a jet was a jet, and he could never keep all the designation numbers straight.
The jet rested in the open field. As they piled out, the dust and debris kicked up by the landing still filtered through the air. They stood for a moment on the plains, taking in their surroundings and observing the countryside.
The tree was just over two miles out. They'd decided to land far enough away so as not to gain a lot of attention. Tony protested having to walk that far, but Natasha stayed firm on where they put the bird down. "It's too close as it is," she'd said, her mouth drawn in a thin line.
Tony had learned not to argue with that tone.
They found a nearby footpath that lead to a small unpaved road. As they walked, they joked and bantered, and Steve was reminded of his old team. There had been a lot of hiking in the Army. Steve had seen more of Germany's countryside by foot than by vehicle, and he'd had no problem with that.
The sky was blue, spotted with perfect, white clouds. Birds flittered across the fields, unconcerned with the current threat to their world. Steve had often admired how nature remained indifferent, even during war.
The tree came into view, a giant that dwarfed everything else. As they approached, they could see half of it appeared dead. Numerous supports lifted ancient limbs, and there were a fair number of people gathered around its boughs. A fence surrounded it, preventing the crowd from drawing too near.
There was a sign in several languages that indicated this was a natural monument and a projected object. The team stood beneath the giant tree, their heads craning upwards.
"There," Bruce said. He indicated a small, green plant. It was the only living thing on the dead side.
"The shrub seems to have caused the death of that part of the tree," Thor observed. "I am not surprised; that tree has been host to a foreign parasite lo these many years."
Steve could see why Lady Frigga had deemed the mistletoe an object unworthy of an oath. It certainly appeared unassuming. Steve had a hard time imagining that little plant could be the one thing that brought doom to all of Asgard and Earth.
"So what do we do? Just snatch it out?" Tony asked.
"We should wait until after sunset. There will be less people around. I imagine the locals will get pretty pissed if we stole something from the most recognized tree in Lithuania," Clint said.
"I'm not sitting by a tree for five hours," Tony argued. "Boring."
"We'll set up a guard, just to make sure Loki doesn't try to take it while we're gone. There's a local town nearby, so a couple of us can stay there until nightfall," Steve said.
"I am unconcerned with visiting the village," Thor spoke up. "I shall stand watch until your return."
"I'll stay with you," Steve offered. "The rest of you, take some R&R over in Stelmuze. We'll keep comms up and notify you if anything happens. Report back at 1900."
"Okay there, Captain," Tony clapped Steve on his back. "7 PM, got it."
"We can switch out, take watches," Clint offered. Steve waved him off.
"It's okay. You and Natasha have been running enough missions recently. Take some downtime."
The team made their goodbyes and headed off for the town, just visible from the tree. Steve and Thor watched the team meander down the road.
"Tony Stark can be a difficult man," Thor commented to Steve, once the group was out of hearing range.
"I knew his father."
"Oh!" Thor looked interested. "Were they much the same?"
"Definitely not," Steve said wryly. "I was a little disappointed."
"My father is the wisest man in all of Asgard. I would do well to live up to his name. But it is my brother, Balder, who has the best traits of us all. He has all my father's wisdom and my mother's compassion. He would never be tricked to start a war with Jotunheim in the name of pride and vanity."
"But you were?" Steve guessed.
"Indeed, I was."
Thor explained the incident that had banished him to Earth in the first place. Steve listened quietly.
"So Loki set up the whole situation to gain your father's love?"
"My brother often finds himself wanting." Thor sighed, his blue eyes distant as he looked at over the plain. "I could never love another as much as I love my brothers, but Loki has a dark thing in his soul. All the love our family has cannot move him."
Steve stooped to pick up a blade of wild grass. Pulling off the end, he stuck it into his mouth and chewed on it absently, comforted by the familiar taste of earth. He'd chewed on grass as a kid because he thought it'd made him cool. He leaned against the low fence that bordered the tree and thought about Loki. He found that he could relate to Thor's brother on some level. He understood being a small guy in a warriors' culture and doing whatever he could to get recognized. He'd been willing to lie on his enlistment forms despite the consequences, if it had meant a chance in the Army.
Of course, he wouldn't have hurt anyone in pursuit of his goal. Steve swallowed heavily, willing away a falling Bucky and a distressed Peggy, her voice coming in steady and thick over the comm on his last dive into the frozen ocean.
"Steve? Are you well?"
"Just lost in memories," Steve admitted.
"Come, we have many hours before us. Tell me your story."
And so Steve told Thor of a small boy in Brooklyn who had dreams of being more than he was.
"And what of your parents?"
"My father was an officer in World War I. They had called it the War To End All Wars, because nobody ever thought we would see war again. Britain had a 'Lost Generation' because of all the men that died in those battles. It was a terrible thing. When the war ended, my father came back and was pretty successful. But the stock market crashed, and he lost everything. He had a hard time, anyway, with his memories. When he found he could no longer provide for his family, he sank into a depression. He succumbed to drink. He went to sleep one day and never woke up."
They had found him in an alley, slumped against the wall, his last fine suit soiled with bodily fluids released upon his death.
Steve had identified the body. He told his mother it had been his heart and he felt dirty by the lie. His mother had nodded, but the look in her eyes told Steve she suspected the truth.
The whispers in the street confirmed it.
"The loss of a father is a terrible thing to bear," Thor said, and his eyes were so earnest that Steve felt compelled to carry on.
"My mother did the best she could, but there wasn't much to eat. I was already a scrawny guy, but without food..." Steve trailed off.
"A warrior must eat hardily indeed. Why, my friend Volstagg can consume near half his weight in boar alone! It is a great endeavor to keep him sated."
"Yeah," Steve said. "There was a political leader named Hitler. He promised a lot of things to Germany. The entire country was poor and starving, so when a man came in promising them greatness and wealth, they were eager to follow. He was a great speaker, and a great liar."
"Like Loki," Thor added, looking pained.
"Maybe," Steve agreed. He cleared his throat. "In 1939, he invaded another country. Soon, people started disappearing. He had a plan for a Master Race, better than all others. Those that didn't make the grade went away. I don't think any of us... knew what he had planned until we started liberating Europe."
Steve had aided in the liberation of some of the concentration camps. The things he'd seen were things he never wanted to form into words. JARVIS had shown him Schindler's List and he'd cried nearly the whole way through.
"And you joined the Army?" Thor prompted.
"I tried. They kept giving me an F-4, meaning I didn't fit their physical criteria. I had this sickness called asthma. I couldn't breathe sometimes." Teddy Roosevelt also had asthma. The man had become his personal hero, and he'd sought to embody the president. He'd made the man a surrogate father.
"But you persevered?"
"There was this scientist. He had a thing that could make any man the epitome of human perfection. But if given to the wrong man, it would corrupt him. He saw me trying to enlist one day and decided I might be the boy worthy of it. I was chosen and given the serum, but he was assassinated shortly after. Instead of having an army of super soldiers, the Army had me."
"A worthy man, if ever there was one," Thor lauded. Steve remained silent. He wondered how many men he could have saved, had he turned away from the PR campaign earlier than he had. "But how is that you have come to us now?"
"There was another man who had been given the serum. Johann Schmidt, although he went by Red Skull when I met him. He had a plan to destroy all the major cities of the world. I took control of the plane he had sent to bomb them. We fought, he destroyed himself, but the controls had been damaged in the process. I sunk the plane before it could reach any of its intended targets. The serum kept me alive until SHIELD thawed me from the ice."
"You have seen Death!"
"Well," Steve started. He hadn't seen it that way. Thor clasped him on the back.
"I have never met a worthier man to lead our band against Loki."
"Thanks?" Steve ventured.
"In Asgard, we would sing ballads about your heroics," Thor enthused. "Few are those who have welcomed Death's embrace and returned to tell the tale. You would be fine company in our great halls, and in the halls of Valhalla. Truly, when Ragnarok comes, I would count myself lucky to have you by my side."
"Well, hopefully it won't come to that."
"Ha! Truer words have never been spoken," Thor agreed.
They fell into a companionable silence, watching the slow arc of the sun over the sky as they waited for it to set. Thor was intensely interested by the tourists, watching them snap pictures and chatter happily.
"Your people seem happy."
Steve glanced at the people, families with small children, young couples and old, their faces lined with age but their eyes still soft with the love they held for one another.
That should be me, He thought.
"Yes, they do," He said.
At the gloaming, they were approached by an old woman, her aged figure curved over a walking stick. Her gray hair was pulled back into a long braid but fly aways curled around her face. She wore a faded blouse tucked into a long skirt of deep green that gave way to muddied shoes. Her skin, what little of it was showing, was thin and liver spotted, and the hand that grasped the cane was gnarled with arthritis. She grinned toothily at them.
"Are you foreigners?" she asked, excited for the opportunity to try out her heavily accented English.
"Indeed we are!" Thor exclaimed.
"Come to see our mighty oak?"
"Yes ma'am," Steve politely replied.
"When I was young, it had not yet been protected and I used to climb its branches. But," she laughed, "that was many years ago. Now people come from across the world to see my climbing tree. To them, it is a novelty. For me, an old friend. It seems if you live so many years, people consider you a marvel. Maybe one day people will come to marvel me!"
Steve studied the old woman. Her back was bowed with age and her eyes were cloudy, but when she smiled, he thought he could see a glimpse of the girl that had climbed the boughs of the old oak. She would have been a child during the war. He wondered who she had lost in it.
"What brings you to this old tree?" She prompted.
"There is a plant that poisons it. We hope to remove it so it should remain healthier still for many years," Thor honestly answered.
"Just sightseeing," Steve said simultaneously.
The old woman chuckled. If she had heard Thor's response, she decided to ignore it.
"Be sure to head into town before it gets too late. We're famous for our ale and cold beet soup. My hands may be old and curled, but I make the best soup in town. My home is open to you, when you come."
"We couldn't impose," Steve began.
"I invited you, didn't I? Ask for the Old Lady, they'll show you the way."
"We will," Thor promised with a broad grin.
She nodded her head, pausing at the tree a moment longer, her mouth curved upwards in remembrance days when she could still scale the ancient branches. "Enjoy your evening," she wished, tottering off.
"What a pleasant woman," Thor commented, watching her go. "If Loki does not show, we should take her up on her offer."
"I would not think to impose Tony Stark at any member of that village," Steve said, turning from where he'd watched her go, her steps belabored as she navigated the worn road.
Shortly before seven, they could see the rest of the team approaching from the village. As the evening wore on, fewer tourists hung out by the tree and by the time the rest of the Avengers arrived, they were alone.
They approached the tree.
"How was the town?" Steve asked.
"What you'd expect," Natasha sidled up, head craned back to look up at the tree. "How was your day?"
"Peaceful," Steve said.
"So how do we do this?" Bruce asked.
"I think I can probably just shoot it out," Clint offered. Glancing around to ensure they were alone, he knotted a rope to an arrow. He took aim and let loose.
The arrow flew true, but it fell to the ground just before hitting its mark. Clint looked surprised.
"It is protected!" Thor declared. "That is my mother's magic at work."
Steve eyed the tree. "We could try climbing it," he ventured.
"Yes! That might work. I will do it!" Thor scaled the short fence. The rest of the team stood below, watching as he hauled himself up a supporting structure and into the tree. He grabbed at the mistletoe and pulled it loose. It seemed to stick for just a moment before it pulled free. A burst of green light rolled off it and a burst of wind emanated from the oak.
"Did the tree just sigh?" Tony glanced at the team.
"That's not possible," Bruce said automatically, but he looked uncertain.
Thor jumped gracefully from the branch, the plant tucked under his arm. Just as he reached the bottom, a broad smile on his face as he strode towards them, the old woman they'd met earlier came tottering towards them. She moved much more swiftly than before. Her face was wrathful, her mouth drawn back in a snarl.
"What are you doing!" She hissed.
"Why, my dear woman," Thor called as he jumped the fence, "we are but removing this shrub. It poisons your good tree."
"Foolish man!" The woman's mouth drew back in a toothy smile and she cackled, but her laughter was unnaturally deep. Her crooked back straightened as she grew a over a foot in height, her skin rippling and forming tight around the lean body of a young man. The wrinkles from her face smoothed, the rheumy eyes grew clear. Loki smiled at them.
"Probably should've seen that coming," Tony sighed as he quickly unlocked his suitcase.
"Brother, I expected you'd come sooner or later," Loki said as he regained his form. "Mother's magic surpassed my own and I couldn't shake that shrub free from its place." Loki held out his hand. "Come, give it to me."
Thor clutched the mistletoe to his chest. "Loki, think of what you are doing! Come home. I shall plead your case."
Loki laughed. "The Aesir know my intent! I will not turn from my endeavor." He shoved his staff into the ground and the ground shuddered massively, knocking the team off their feet. Only Natasha stood standing.
Steve looked over to see Tony had completely donned his Iron Man suit. He'd used his propulsion system to shoot him off the ground as the earthquake hit. He remained there, hovering for just a moment before landing gracefully.
Thor held out his hand expectantly. The evening sounds fell silent and a quiet thrumming filled the air as Mjölnir responded to his call from the jet.
"I come better prepared this time," Loki said, his eyes glancing towards where Bruce was morphing into the Hulk. He spoke a word, and a light shot from his staff. Bruce rapidly returned to his human form, collapsing in an unconscious heap.
Thor dropped the mistletoe and shouted a battle cry as his hammer hit his hand, launching himself towards Loki.
Steve bolted towards the plant as the illusion of Loki faded. Just as Steve reached his goal, the Loki Thor was attacking disappeared and the real Loki stooped to grab the mistletoe.
Steve's hands reached it the same time Loki's did, and they regarded one another in surprise as Lithuania abruptly disappeared.
A/N
It's true about Harriers. The American military adopted them from the British, who only have a few and so upkeep is a lot easier. We used to spend hours on the training flight carrier scouring the ground for pebbles and snails. (I can send pictures!) Despite our best efforts, however, we still had a bird grounded for a night while they did maintenance. Even though we put Rhino snot around the deck to prevent FOD getting shot up, the Harrier came in too close and sent debris up everywhere, sucking it into the engine.
The F-35 is the direct replacement for it, and everything Tony says about it is true. The whole development is bogged down in more bureaucracy than you can shake a stick at. I'm sure it'll be a great plane when it finally hits the flight line. And I just read this past weekend that the Marines just formed the first squadron for it out of Yuma!
The Osprey is a much better plane than it used to be. For a time, mechanical issues were downing the bird and killing its crew left and right. Now that they work, they're pretty cool and watching it transform in the air is fairly amazing. (Its wings shift from a fixed wing position, like a C-130 to a vertical one, like a helicopter.) They used to land daily at the helo pad right behind our compound in Afghanistan. Tony may not care for them, but I think they're pretty cool.
A Winger is a person who works in the Wing, with planes.
The mistletoe bit is taken straight from Norse mythology and the comic books, with a few of my own creative liberties added in.
The tree is real. It is a protected site outside of the real village of Stelmuze, which, unfortunately, has few facts or pictures. I had to take a few creative liberties. It is estimated to be between 1500 and 2000 years old.
Half of the tree IS dead, however, and mistletoe is a parasitic plant. I figure a plant from Asgard would prove to be particularly damaging to a Midgard tree.
I apologize in advance for any misinterpretations of Lithuania. I have not been there myself but after researching it, I'd love to go. Most of my facts came from the Lonely Planet travel guide and the EU's description, which can be found here: /about-eu/countries/member-countries/lithuania/index_
If you are from Lithuania or have been there, please inform me about your country and this village!
Anyway, as you can guess, the story picks up from here on out but I thought a few establishing chapters necessary. The focus shifts to Loki and Steve and their travels on Yggdrasil.
Title is from the eponymous song by The New Pornographers
We used to throw thunderbolts
Twilight on the overpass
We'll wrest them out gravity
Color fast and come with me
-Always Gold, Radical Face
On a late August afternoon, Steve watched from his room as thunder clouds grew over New York. The clouds moved much more swiftly and deliberately than a typical late summer storm, but it went unnoticed by the vast majority of New Yorkers, wrapped up in their lives, heads bent over tiny phones as they rapidly typed messages to friends.
Within minutes, the clouds focused their mass over Stark Tower and Steve ran up to the top floor just in time for the lightening to coalesce and deliver Thor onto the repaired roof. He arrived with as much bluster as his storm: brilliant and loud.
Steve wondered how much the black mark left by Thor's arrival would cost to repair. He made a note to ask JARVIS.
The clouds cleared. Steve had a feeling that whatever news Thor brought would not clear as quickly.
"My friend!" Thor bellowed, walking towards Steve at a deliberate pace. He abruptly pulled Steve in for a a crushing hug. Steve awkwardly patted Thor on the back.
"Steve is fine," he said, untangling himself from Thor's massive arms.
"Steve! I trust your wound has healed with no ill effects?"
Steve touched his abdomen where he'd been shot during their last battle. SHIELD's doctors had patched it up quickly. His skin was still an angry red from where the wound had been. He knew it would be years before it smoothed into puckered white. "I'm fine."
"I am glad to hear it!"
"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Tony asked as he came onto the terrace, swirling a martini, an eyebrow raised. He glanced at the damaged area of his roof and glanced at Steve, his lips upturned in a smirk.
Thor's face darkened. "I bring ill tidings, friends. I come seeking your help. My brother has escaped. I have cause to believe that his travels may have lead him back to Earth. "
"Slippery guy, huh?"
"No, I believe he retains the same physical state as you or I. Usually," Thor hurriedly tacked on. He seemed to consider whether or not Loki might truly be slippery.
"So what's he doing here?" Natasha asked as she and Clint arrived on the terrace. They both endured the same breath-stealing hug that Thor had bestowed on Steve. Natasha slipped out of it quickly, leaving Clint to glare at her over Thor's shoulder.
Thor finally pulled away and looked at them, his face growing somber.
"I believe my brother to be in search of mistletoe. It is of the utmost importance he not be allowed to bring it back to Asgard."
"Mistletoe?" Clint echoed. "That's harmless enough, isn't it?"
"My mother thought as much. When she bestowed my brother, Balder, with invincibility, she thought not to include the tiny mistletoe, for she found it to be weak and unseemly. Now it is the one thing that can kill him."
"There's another brother?" Tony broke in. "Go figure. Is he bent on destroying everything, too?"
"Balder is very brave! He is the best of us!" Thor exclaimed indignantly.
Tony held up his hands and said, "Woah, big guy. I didn't mean to offend."
Thor's stormy features smooth and he accepted Tony's apology with a nod.
"No offense was taken. You do not know of our family affairs; it was wrong for me to anger so quickly."
"Why don't you tell us the story over dinner?" Clint suggested. "Steve's got some stuff baking in the oven."
"Yes, a feast is a fine place for a tale such as this," Thor agreed, marching past the rest of the team. He paused at the door. "I fear I do not know where to go."
"Follow us, buddy." Tony pushed past him and lead the team down to the dining room.
Once Thor had shoveled a helping of Steve's chicken parmesan onto his plate and taken several gulps from the red wine supplied by Tony, he began his tale.
"My brother Balder is calm and even tempered. He is as intelligent and clever as Loki, but not as devious. He is the strongest of us, stronger than I! But he has no aspirations for the throne and would be content to be my advisor, when it is time for me to be king."
"A rare individual," Steve mused.
"Very rare," Thor took a hearty gulp of wine from his cup, emptying it one go. Wells smoothly moved in to top it off again.
"You're going to drink me into the poorhouse," Tony groused.
"He's doing no more damage than you do on an hourly bases," Natasha said dryly.
"This is the problem with having my teammates live in my house," Tony grumbled, taking a sip from his own glass.
"You were talking about Balder," Clint urged.
"Yes! You have to understand: my mother holds Balder dearest in her heart. I bear no grudge, as Balder is the most beloved of all the Aesir and deservedly so. Everyday I aspire to be more like him. But Loki has long resented Balder for being first most in our mother's heart, and has long sought to ruin him.
"When Balder was but a child, he had terrible dreams that tormented him. He believed it to be a portent of his death. My mother grew alarmed and set it upon herself to travel the realms and gain an oath from all things that they would bring no harm to her beloved son.
"First, she traveled the mighty realm of Asgard. She spoke first to the earth, the stones, the iron, the great rocks and molten lava. She said, 'I bring you no quarrel, Earth. I have but great respect for you and yours. I come asking a favor, that for as long as we both shall live, no harm shall befall my son, Balder.'
"'Lady Frigga, though we are but earth and rock and iron, we swear you this oath: No weapon made from us shall cleave his flesh. No quake nor slide shall crush him. As long as we both shall live, we swear this to you.'
"That's a hell of a power your mom's got!" Tony exclaimed.
Thor ignored him.
"Satisfied, my mother next went to the fire. Although we are mighty, fire is ever enduring, and it is with great courage that my mother faced the flames. She sought the same oath and it was given to her.
"My mother went to the water and exacted the same promise. Balder would never sink to a watery grave, no ship he sailed would crash against barren rocks. Next she met with all manner of beast, from the great earth-shakers down to the things we cannot see, but can cause great harm to us - the fever-makers and wasting diseases. All swore that Balder would not come to harm from them.
"She then traveled to the trees and plants. The great oak said, "Lady Frigga, although all things must have an ending, I swear to you upon the lives of all my children that Balder the Good shall never befall harm from any of our kin.'
"And thus each living thing-and some things that are not living-swore that no ill would come to my brother on behalf of them. But there was one tiny thing from which she had not gathered such an oath. It was the mistletoe, grown only on the eastern side of Valhalla. She hastened to return home and found it too young and feeble to pose a threat. She banished that mistletoe from Asgard to Midgard, so that it may live but be distanced from Balder. Thus, she felt she had suitably dealt with the issue of his invincibility. For not only would the death of Balder be the greatest tragedy Asgard has ever seen, but his death heralds the beginning of Ragnarok, which is the end of all life."
"So the mistletoe's on earth?" Natasha leaned in.
"It is."
"I can already see where this is going," Clint said around a bite of chicken parm.
"Loki, through deceit, discovered this one weakness shortly before his escape. I fear he may be here, looking for this mistletoe to bring harm to Balder. I beseech that you, my friends, help me in preventing this. Not only to save Balder's life, but Loki's. I fear that should he become a Kinslayer, there will be nothing left of the brother I knew and loved."
Thor finished and looked around the table.
Tony finished his wine, taking several gulps before setting the crystal glass back on the table.
Clint and Steve shared a look. Steve shrugged slightly.
"Isn't mistletoe everywhere, though?" Natasha finally asked.
"Indeed, but there is but one Asgard mistletoe on the whole of Midgard. It is this shrub that Loki seeks."
"So not only do we have to find a plant that Loki is looking for, but there's only one in the whole world?" Tony clarified.
"That's correct."
"Great."
"It shall not be an easy quest, but it is of the utmost importance. Should we succeed, our names will ever be sung in the mighty halls of Gladsheim. Will you join me, friends, in this mighty quest?"
"I'm in," Steve said automatically. He was starting to feel useless again, with Clint and Natasha always gone on missions and Tony doing... whatever Tony did, all the time.
"It's been a few months since we've had to save the earth, so count me in," Clint volunteered.
"Why the hell not?" Tony said rhetorically.
"I better contact Fury," Natasha said. "He'll be wanting to hear about this."
"Should we get Bruce on board?"
"Might as well, if he's interested."
The group dispersed to make their personal preparations and calls. Steve and Thor were left alone in the dining room. Steve began taking plates into the kitchen.
Thor got up and helped carry things in.
"I worry my brother may too far for saving" Thor admitted, breaking the silence. "But I love him still."
Steve couldn't pretend to understand the intricacies of Thor's world and family, but he knew a little about family and love.
"Does he know that?"
"I have told him on several occasions. My mother and father had such high hopes for him, but-" Thor sighed, and Steve didn't know Thor could sound so defeated. "But I think perhaps he sullies their regard towards him with the same regard he shows others."
Steve grunted noncommittally.
"It would seem there is not enough love in all of Asgard to make Loki feel welcome. It is to my great chagrin that I admit I may have been a part of that."
"Oh?" Steve asked, shoving the dishes into the dishwasher. (And wasn't that a neat invention?)
"Children can be unkind."
"Yes." And it appeared that was true, regardless of the culture or world.
"Loki was always much more frail than Balder or I. He was not skilled in the ways of a warrior, and became adept in magic instead. I could not believe such a thing-a man is not meant to know magic. It is the way of women. I told him such, on many occasions."
Steve knew what it was to be bullied. To weigh a buck nothing at an even five foot five and to be an artist had made him the butt of many jokes, until the day he took the super serum.
"Some would say washing dishes is women's work," Steve said as he put another dish in the washer. "But I suggest you tell Agent Romanov's place is in the kitchen and see where it gets you."
Thor regarded the plate he was handing Steve.
"Is he good at magic?" Steve asked.
"Among the very best."
They fell into a companionable silence, making quick work of the dishes before Steve excused himself to get his suit together.
They reported to SHIELD HQ within the hour. Fury fizzles onto the screen, gazing across the table with his intense eye, and was that a quirk of a smile on his face? Steve wondered. He looked around, trying to see what Fury saw, and realized that he saw a group of people who were starting to behave like a team all the time, and not just when it mattered.
"Banner will be here shortly," Agent Hill spoke up from just behind Fury. "He agreed to lend his services. He's studying on the way and will brief us on what he's learned."
"That was big of him," Tony remarked, grinning at his pun. Natasha rolled her eyes.
The moment Bruce arrived, Fury gestured for him to share what he'd gathered on his trip in. Bruce nodded at the team before settling into the wide chair waiting and empty. He looked small against the black leather, his hair tousled, his eyes haunted. He pulled out a collection of heavily annotated notes and shuffled through them for a moment before looking up.
"It would appear that when the Asgard mistletoe was placed here, it was hidden quite well. My research indicates the Asgard mistletoe, or AM, most strongly resembles Viscum album which is indigenous only to Europe and western and southern Asia."
"That narrows it down," Tony muttered. Bruce ignored him and continued speaking.
"Pliny the Elder made note in his records of an ancient druidic belief that mistletoe collected from oaks had special qualities. It is my assumption that AM is growing in an oak tree somewhere in Europe."
"So, several millennia ago, someone stumbled upon an oak with actual mystical properties, and it is this tree that was the source of their legends and mythology?" Clint asked.
"It's possible."
"Any trees match that description?" Steve asked.
"There is one tree, the Stelmuze Oak in Lithuania, which is reported to be between 1500 and 2000 years old. It's said to be the oldest tree in Europe. If the AM is anywhere, I think it would be there. Traditionally, Lithuania was very pagan and has intermingled those beliefs with those of Catholicism. It's possible they stumbled onto the magical properties of this oak, as Clint mentioned," Bruce concluded, looking back up from his notes.
"I do not have to impress the importance of this mission to you," Fury growled. "You'll go in your civilian clothes but bring your gear. We don't want to arouse suspicion in the local populace just yet. We're coordinating with the Lithuanian government for your insertion. You'll be good to go by the time you get there. Any questions?"
There were none. Fury nodded. "This is Fury, over and out." The live connection fizzled out.
The team broke and spent the next half hour changing over. Steve threw on his biker jacket and jeans over his Captain America suit. He tucked his shield into the bag SHIELD had made for it and headed towards the jet.
When he got there, Natasha was already in the cockpit doing pre-flight checks with Clint. Thor stood behind them with his arms crossed. He'd managed to slide a jacket over his armor and Steve decided not to ask how the cape fit into it.
Tony sauntered in with his Iron Man suitcase. He slid it under his seat and settled in.
Bruce followed behind, slipping unobtrusively into a seat.
"Thor, come on and take a load off!" Tony patted the empty seat next to him.
Thor forcibly relaxed his shoulders and smiled at Tony as he settled in for the ride.
Steve didn't know what to expect of Lithuania. As the jet came in for the landing, he scanned the countryside from his window. The land was predominately flat with a few low hills on the horizon. Numerous rivers cut the land, and Steve could just make out the Baltic Sea in the distance.
Natasha touched down a few miles outside of the village of Stelmuze. They didn't have to worry about a runway because the SHIELD jet had V/TOL ("Vertical take off and landing," Natasha had explained to Thor) capabilities.
"You can thank Stark industries for our fancy V/TOL footwork," Tony spoke up, as if reading Steve's mind.
Steve shot Tony an inquisitive look.
"The first V/TOL planes were the Harriers. They're not shoddy, but just about anything can take them out of the sky. Smallest bit of FOD-boom. Plane's down. I kid you not, snails can take a Harrier out."
"FOD?"
"Foreign object debris. You know, things like rocks and snails. If there's anything on the deck during a Harrier landing, it'll get sucked right into the engine and shut it down."
"Oh."
"The American government is fielding F-35s to replace them, but the project is a monster. Everyone in Congress wants a piece of the pie. The project has been held up for years and every state sources one part or another, so it costs an exuberant amount of money. The Marines just got their first squadron, but I decided to make my own. Congress can suck eggs. And don't even get me started on the Osprey."
Steve made a mental note to ask JARVIS about that later. Besides using planes as a form of transportation, he had never been much of a Winger. As far as he was concerned, there was fixed wing and rotary wing, a jet was a jet, and he could never keep all the designation numbers straight.
The jet rested in the open field. As they piled out, the dust and debris kicked up by the landing still filtered through the air. They stood for a moment on the plains, taking in their surroundings and observing the countryside.
The tree was just over two miles out. They'd decided to land far enough away so as not to gain a lot of attention. Tony protested having to walk that far, but Natasha stayed firm on where they put the bird down. "It's too close as it is," she'd said, her mouth drawn in a thin line.
Tony had learned not to argue with that tone.
They found a nearby footpath that lead to a small unpaved road. As they walked, they joked and bantered, and Steve was reminded of his old team. There had been a lot of hiking in the Army. Steve had seen more of Germany's countryside by foot than by vehicle, and he'd had no problem with that.
The sky was blue, spotted with perfect, white clouds. Birds flittered across the fields, unconcerned with the current threat to their world. Steve had often admired how nature remained indifferent, even during war.
The tree came into view, a giant that dwarfed everything else. As they approached, they could see half of it appeared dead. Numerous supports lifted ancient limbs, and there were a fair number of people gathered around its boughs. A fence surrounded it, preventing the crowd from drawing too near.
There was a sign in several languages that indicated this was a natural monument and a projected object. The team stood beneath the giant tree, their heads craning upwards.
"There," Bruce said. He indicated a small, green plant. It was the only living thing on the dead side.
"The shrub seems to have caused the death of that part of the tree," Thor observed. "I am not surprised; that tree has been host to a foreign parasite lo these many years."
Steve could see why Lady Frigga had deemed the mistletoe an object unworthy of an oath. It certainly appeared unassuming. Steve had a hard time imagining that little plant could be the one thing that brought doom to all of Asgard and Earth.
"So what do we do? Just snatch it out?" Tony asked.
"We should wait until after sunset. There will be less people around. I imagine the locals will get pretty pissed if we stole something from the most recognized tree in Lithuania," Clint said.
"I'm not sitting by a tree for five hours," Tony argued. "Boring."
"We'll set up a guard, just to make sure Loki doesn't try to take it while we're gone. There's a local town nearby, so a couple of us can stay there until nightfall," Steve said.
"I am unconcerned with visiting the village," Thor spoke up. "I shall stand watch until your return."
"I'll stay with you," Steve offered. "The rest of you, take some R&R over in Stelmuze. We'll keep comms up and notify you if anything happens. Report back at 1900."
"Okay there, Captain," Tony clapped Steve on his back. "7 PM, got it."
"We can switch out, take watches," Clint offered. Steve waved him off.
"It's okay. You and Natasha have been running enough missions recently. Take some downtime."
The team made their goodbyes and headed off for the town, just visible from the tree. Steve and Thor watched the team meander down the road.
"Tony Stark can be a difficult man," Thor commented to Steve, once the group was out of hearing range.
"I knew his father."
"Oh!" Thor looked interested. "Were they much the same?"
"Definitely not," Steve said wryly. "I was a little disappointed."
"My father is the wisest man in all of Asgard. I would do well to live up to his name. But it is my brother, Balder, who has the best traits of us all. He has all my father's wisdom and my mother's compassion. He would never be tricked to start a war with Jotunheim in the name of pride and vanity."
"But you were?" Steve guessed.
"Indeed, I was."
Thor explained the incident that had banished him to Earth in the first place. Steve listened quietly.
"So Loki set up the whole situation to gain your father's love?"
"My brother often finds himself wanting." Thor sighed, his blue eyes distant as he looked at over the plain. "I could never love another as much as I love my brothers, but Loki has a dark thing in his soul. All the love our family has cannot move him."
Steve stooped to pick up a blade of wild grass. Pulling off the end, he stuck it into his mouth and chewed on it absently, comforted by the familiar taste of earth. He'd chewed on grass as a kid because he thought it'd made him cool. He leaned against the low fence that bordered the tree and thought about Loki. He found that he could relate to Thor's brother on some level. He understood being a small guy in a warriors' culture and doing whatever he could to get recognized. He'd been willing to lie on his enlistment forms despite the consequences, if it had meant a chance in the Army.
Of course, he wouldn't have hurt anyone in pursuit of his goal. Steve swallowed heavily, willing away a falling Bucky and a distressed Peggy, her voice coming in steady and thick over the comm on his last dive into the frozen ocean.
"Steve? Are you well?"
"Just lost in memories," Steve admitted.
"Come, we have many hours before us. Tell me your story."
And so Steve told Thor of a small boy in Brooklyn who had dreams of being more than he was.
"And what of your parents?"
"My father was an officer in World War I. They had called it the War To End All Wars, because nobody ever thought we would see war again. Britain had a 'Lost Generation' because of all the men that died in those battles. It was a terrible thing. When the war ended, my father came back and was pretty successful. But the stock market crashed, and he lost everything. He had a hard time, anyway, with his memories. When he found he could no longer provide for his family, he sank into a depression. He succumbed to drink. He went to sleep one day and never woke up."
They had found him in an alley, slumped against the wall, his last fine suit soiled with bodily fluids released upon his death.
Steve had identified the body. He told his mother it had been his heart and he felt dirty by the lie. His mother had nodded, but the look in her eyes told Steve she suspected the truth.
The whispers in the street confirmed it.
"The loss of a father is a terrible thing to bear," Thor said, and his eyes were so earnest that Steve felt compelled to carry on.
"My mother did the best she could, but there wasn't much to eat. I was already a scrawny guy, but without food..." Steve trailed off.
"A warrior must eat hardily indeed. Why, my friend Volstagg can consume near half his weight in boar alone! It is a great endeavor to keep him sated."
"Yeah," Steve said. "There was a political leader named Hitler. He promised a lot of things to Germany. The entire country was poor and starving, so when a man came in promising them greatness and wealth, they were eager to follow. He was a great speaker, and a great liar."
"Like Loki," Thor added, looking pained.
"Maybe," Steve agreed. He cleared his throat. "In 1939, he invaded another country. Soon, people started disappearing. He had a plan for a Master Race, better than all others. Those that didn't make the grade went away. I don't think any of us... knew what he had planned until we started liberating Europe."
Steve had aided in the liberation of some of the concentration camps. The things he'd seen were things he never wanted to form into words. JARVIS had shown him Schindler's List and he'd cried nearly the whole way through.
"And you joined the Army?" Thor prompted.
"I tried. They kept giving me an F-4, meaning I didn't fit their physical criteria. I had this sickness called asthma. I couldn't breathe sometimes." Teddy Roosevelt also had asthma. The man had become his personal hero, and he'd sought to embody the president. He'd made the man a surrogate father.
"But you persevered?"
"There was this scientist. He had a thing that could make any man the epitome of human perfection. But if given to the wrong man, it would corrupt him. He saw me trying to enlist one day and decided I might be the boy worthy of it. I was chosen and given the serum, but he was assassinated shortly after. Instead of having an army of super soldiers, the Army had me."
"A worthy man, if ever there was one," Thor lauded. Steve remained silent. He wondered how many men he could have saved, had he turned away from the PR campaign earlier than he had. "But how is that you have come to us now?"
"There was another man who had been given the serum. Johann Schmidt, although he went by Red Skull when I met him. He had a plan to destroy all the major cities of the world. I took control of the plane he had sent to bomb them. We fought, he destroyed himself, but the controls had been damaged in the process. I sunk the plane before it could reach any of its intended targets. The serum kept me alive until SHIELD thawed me from the ice."
"You have seen Death!"
"Well," Steve started. He hadn't seen it that way. Thor clasped him on the back.
"I have never met a worthier man to lead our band against Loki."
"Thanks?" Steve ventured.
"In Asgard, we would sing ballads about your heroics," Thor enthused. "Few are those who have welcomed Death's embrace and returned to tell the tale. You would be fine company in our great halls, and in the halls of Valhalla. Truly, when Ragnarok comes, I would count myself lucky to have you by my side."
"Well, hopefully it won't come to that."
"Ha! Truer words have never been spoken," Thor agreed.
They fell into a companionable silence, watching the slow arc of the sun over the sky as they waited for it to set. Thor was intensely interested by the tourists, watching them snap pictures and chatter happily.
"Your people seem happy."
Steve glanced at the people, families with small children, young couples and old, their faces lined with age but their eyes still soft with the love they held for one another.
That should be me, He thought.
"Yes, they do," He said.
At the gloaming, they were approached by an old woman, her aged figure curved over a walking stick. Her gray hair was pulled back into a long braid but fly aways curled around her face. She wore a faded blouse tucked into a long skirt of deep green that gave way to muddied shoes. Her skin, what little of it was showing, was thin and liver spotted, and the hand that grasped the cane was gnarled with arthritis. She grinned toothily at them.
"Are you foreigners?" she asked, excited for the opportunity to try out her heavily accented English.
"Indeed we are!" Thor exclaimed.
"Come to see our mighty oak?"
"Yes ma'am," Steve politely replied.
"When I was young, it had not yet been protected and I used to climb its branches. But," she laughed, "that was many years ago. Now people come from across the world to see my climbing tree. To them, it is a novelty. For me, an old friend. It seems if you live so many years, people consider you a marvel. Maybe one day people will come to marvel me!"
Steve studied the old woman. Her back was bowed with age and her eyes were cloudy, but when she smiled, he thought he could see a glimpse of the girl that had climbed the boughs of the old oak. She would have been a child during the war. He wondered who she had lost in it.
"What brings you to this old tree?" She prompted.
"There is a plant that poisons it. We hope to remove it so it should remain healthier still for many years," Thor honestly answered.
"Just sightseeing," Steve said simultaneously.
The old woman chuckled. If she had heard Thor's response, she decided to ignore it.
"Be sure to head into town before it gets too late. We're famous for our ale and cold beet soup. My hands may be old and curled, but I make the best soup in town. My home is open to you, when you come."
"We couldn't impose," Steve began.
"I invited you, didn't I? Ask for the Old Lady, they'll show you the way."
"We will," Thor promised with a broad grin.
She nodded her head, pausing at the tree a moment longer, her mouth curved upwards in remembrance days when she could still scale the ancient branches. "Enjoy your evening," she wished, tottering off.
"What a pleasant woman," Thor commented, watching her go. "If Loki does not show, we should take her up on her offer."
"I would not think to impose Tony Stark at any member of that village," Steve said, turning from where he'd watched her go, her steps belabored as she navigated the worn road.
Shortly before seven, they could see the rest of the team approaching from the village. As the evening wore on, fewer tourists hung out by the tree and by the time the rest of the Avengers arrived, they were alone.
They approached the tree.
"How was the town?" Steve asked.
"What you'd expect," Natasha sidled up, head craned back to look up at the tree. "How was your day?"
"Peaceful," Steve said.
"So how do we do this?" Bruce asked.
"I think I can probably just shoot it out," Clint offered. Glancing around to ensure they were alone, he knotted a rope to an arrow. He took aim and let loose.
The arrow flew true, but it fell to the ground just before hitting its mark. Clint looked surprised.
"It is protected!" Thor declared. "That is my mother's magic at work."
Steve eyed the tree. "We could try climbing it," he ventured.
"Yes! That might work. I will do it!" Thor scaled the short fence. The rest of the team stood below, watching as he hauled himself up a supporting structure and into the tree. He grabbed at the mistletoe and pulled it loose. It seemed to stick for just a moment before it pulled free. A burst of green light rolled off it and a burst of wind emanated from the oak.
"Did the tree just sigh?" Tony glanced at the team.
"That's not possible," Bruce said automatically, but he looked uncertain.
Thor jumped gracefully from the branch, the plant tucked under his arm. Just as he reached the bottom, a broad smile on his face as he strode towards them, the old woman they'd met earlier came tottering towards them. She moved much more swiftly than before. Her face was wrathful, her mouth drawn back in a snarl.
"What are you doing!" She hissed.
"Why, my dear woman," Thor called as he jumped the fence, "we are but removing this shrub. It poisons your good tree."
"Foolish man!" The woman's mouth drew back in a toothy smile and she cackled, but her laughter was unnaturally deep. Her crooked back straightened as she grew a over a foot in height, her skin rippling and forming tight around the lean body of a young man. The wrinkles from her face smoothed, the rheumy eyes grew clear. Loki smiled at them.
"Probably should've seen that coming," Tony sighed as he quickly unlocked his suitcase.
"Brother, I expected you'd come sooner or later," Loki said as he regained his form. "Mother's magic surpassed my own and I couldn't shake that shrub free from its place." Loki held out his hand. "Come, give it to me."
Thor clutched the mistletoe to his chest. "Loki, think of what you are doing! Come home. I shall plead your case."
Loki laughed. "The Aesir know my intent! I will not turn from my endeavor." He shoved his staff into the ground and the ground shuddered massively, knocking the team off their feet. Only Natasha stood standing.
Steve looked over to see Tony had completely donned his Iron Man suit. He'd used his propulsion system to shoot him off the ground as the earthquake hit. He remained there, hovering for just a moment before landing gracefully.
Thor held out his hand expectantly. The evening sounds fell silent and a quiet thrumming filled the air as Mjölnir responded to his call from the jet.
"I come better prepared this time," Loki said, his eyes glancing towards where Bruce was morphing into the Hulk. He spoke a word, and a light shot from his staff. Bruce rapidly returned to his human form, collapsing in an unconscious heap.
Thor dropped the mistletoe and shouted a battle cry as his hammer hit his hand, launching himself towards Loki.
Steve bolted towards the plant as the illusion of Loki faded. Just as Steve reached his goal, the Loki Thor was attacking disappeared and the real Loki stooped to grab the mistletoe.
Steve's hands reached it the same time Loki's did, and they regarded one another in surprise as Lithuania abruptly disappeared.
A/N
It's true about Harriers. The American military adopted them from the British, who only have a few and so upkeep is a lot easier. We used to spend hours on the training flight carrier scouring the ground for pebbles and snails. (I can send pictures!) Despite our best efforts, however, we still had a bird grounded for a night while they did maintenance. Even though we put Rhino snot around the deck to prevent FOD getting shot up, the Harrier came in too close and sent debris up everywhere, sucking it into the engine.
The F-35 is the direct replacement for it, and everything Tony says about it is true. The whole development is bogged down in more bureaucracy than you can shake a stick at. I'm sure it'll be a great plane when it finally hits the flight line. And I just read this past weekend that the Marines just formed the first squadron for it out of Yuma!
The Osprey is a much better plane than it used to be. For a time, mechanical issues were downing the bird and killing its crew left and right. Now that they work, they're pretty cool and watching it transform in the air is fairly amazing. (Its wings shift from a fixed wing position, like a C-130 to a vertical one, like a helicopter.) They used to land daily at the helo pad right behind our compound in Afghanistan. Tony may not care for them, but I think they're pretty cool.
A Winger is a person who works in the Wing, with planes.
The mistletoe bit is taken straight from Norse mythology and the comic books, with a few of my own creative liberties added in.
The tree is real. It is a protected site outside of the real village of Stelmuze, which, unfortunately, has few facts or pictures. I had to take a few creative liberties. It is estimated to be between 1500 and 2000 years old.
Half of the tree IS dead, however, and mistletoe is a parasitic plant. I figure a plant from Asgard would prove to be particularly damaging to a Midgard tree.
I apologize in advance for any misinterpretations of Lithuania. I have not been there myself but after researching it, I'd love to go. Most of my facts came from the Lonely Planet travel guide and the EU's description, which can be found here: /about-eu/countries/member-countries/lithuania/index_
If you are from Lithuania or have been there, please inform me about your country and this village!
Anyway, as you can guess, the story picks up from here on out but I thought a few establishing chapters necessary. The focus shifts to Loki and Steve and their travels on Yggdrasil.
Title is from the eponymous song by The New Pornographers