fossilised | I come from a land of ice and snow

I come from a land of ice and snow

Asgard sat atop the branches of Yggdrasil since time began, and little had changed in their society in the years since. Each Asgardian was long-lived into the millennia, their lands were fertile, their people brave and strong. They had their vassals, their allies, and their enemies. Yet even those who opposed them respected the might of the Golden Dias, and the royalty who sat upon it. Currently that was Odin Borson, though he grew weary more easily now and had begun to consider passing the throne to his eldest son.

He had been blessed with many children, but only two that he considered worthy of his lineage and status. His firstborn, Thor, strong and honourable and everything an Asgardian warrior should be. His second son, Loki, was not natural born, though none knew that but his wife. He was different, a creature of magic and mayhem, of sharp intelligence. Both were worthy, but together they would take Asgard to a new prosperity, he was certain of it.

Midgard, where the mortals dwelt, was a land raided every few centuries for stock. It was seen as a breeding ground, much like a corral for cattle. Mortals were lesser, short-lived and weak, they were fit only as slaves. The last raid had taken place when Loki had been but a baby, nearly a thousand years ago, but the mortals that had been taken had been bred and cared for so that a healthy slave population still thrived. Slaves were given a weakened mixture of Idunn's crop with their food, to extend their natural lives to at least a few centuries in order to make them worth the effort to train. They had no rights, but they were taught well that this was their natural position.

All slave children were raised in a central pen and taught the same when small, those that then displayed talent at cooking, riding, hunting, housework, artisan skills, or singing were then measured off to be specially trained for higher masters. Every five years those who could afford to buy a slave, or those of high enough status to simply demand them, came to the corral and chose. Those who were chosen were special, were envied, and those who were not ended up working the fields out in the far reaches of Asgard, the most menial of work.

Anthony and Steven had been friends since they were little and being raised in the large pens together. Both had excelled, Anthony at crafting and Steven at warrior's skills, but neither were chosen when they were five, nor ten, nor even fifteen. Now, at twenty, it was their final chance to be chosen before they would be assigned to one of the meanest farmers beyond the borders of the great capital. Steven woke Anthony as the dawn rose, mingled excitement and nerves on his face.

"Anthony! Wake up, I've got news! I heard the overseer talking to one of the passing guards, and Princes Thor and Loki are coming to the corral today."

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Strands of hair being caught up between the sliding plates on a metal finger, Tony fell to the floor and felt the strands rio from his scalp. "What did I say?!" he quipped, even as he was trying to crawl under the bed. "I know we haven't been friends lately but Jesus, Barnes!"

This was not what they needed. Not another Code Green so soon after the last. Banner wouldn't survive his own demons if he kept erupting into the Hulk every two weeks.

"Stand down! Off! Go to sleep! Fuck! Not me though!"

Bruce froze for a long moment, eyes wide in indecision. He couldn't code green, and that meant he couldn't risk getting involved, but he couldn't just leave Tony to get beaten to a bloody pulp either.

"Sergeant Barnes, stop! Now!"

Not that the words of either of them had any effect on Bucky. He was lost to this weird angry grief that he couldn't verbalise or even understand properly, and he had finally snapped and lost control to become something almost feral. Tony was his target right now, and so he ripped the bed up off the floor and threw it at the wall.

Scurrying across the floor like an ant would have been better with more arms and legs, all of which being in working condition. This was not a fun ride, therefore, to press himself back against the wall.

He lifted his arms back over his face, gazing up at Barnes in surprised fear.

"Woah, woah!" He could still feel the reverberations from the discarded bed and cowered at the sound. He was going to die here. Stupidly. And Bucky was going to regret it when he came out of it. "Banner get out of here!"

He was going to be able to put up too much resistance, but it should be enough for Bruce to get out of there and lock them in.

Bruce wasn't about to let Bucky kill Tony, but he couldn't get involved himself or he might end up killing them both. "I'll get Steve," he shouted, and ran for the door as fast as he could, praying that Tony could hold him off until then, though it didn't look good.

Bucky... the Soldier... whoever he was at the moment, had no thought in his head except for the destructive raging grief that was pouring out of him in a torrent. He was crying, though he didn't realise it, even as he slammed his fist towards Tony's head to try and knock him out.

Unfortunately for him, that hit would be blocked by a hand that didn't look like it should be big enough. Loki had come to see where her friend had got to and had instead found him under attack. It was over so quickly-- she acted as she saw fit, not knowing about his exceptional circumstances, to neutralise a deadly threat. A spear of ice right through the chest, halting Bucky in his tracks as blood gurgled out of his lips.

"Steve?" He murmured, as the life began to leave him, rage draining away with his blood. "Steve was HYDRA?"

Not auspicious last words, full of betrayal and sorrow rather than peace, but they were Bucky's last words.

Mouth open, Tony had been sure it would be his own blood all over the floor. He'd been relieved when Loki's slim form appeared in front of him and he'd been on the verge of thanking her for stopping Barnes from crushing his skull just before he heard the words and the blood that clung to them in a gurgle.

He skittered forward, sliding upon someone's life, to catch Bucky just before he collapsed onto his face. "No. No he was pretending to be HYDRA--" Oh shit on a stick. Tony felt nothing but dread as Bucky inhaled for the last time but did not exhale again.

His tongue was thick in his mouth as he sat back, unable to bend one leg, and gazed up at Loki. This was bad. This was going to be so, so bad.

The spear of ice that had been impaling Bucky melted back into water, leaving nothing but a gaping hole in his chest and the floor slicked with red. He did not have a peaceful face in death, tears still on his cheeks and expression now permanently twisted into genuine heartbreak.

Loki stepped forward to place a hand on Tony's shoulder, her voice soft but not at all guilty for what she had done. "Be calm, my friend, the danger has passed and you are safe. His soul will be in Hel now." No Valhalla for a wanton murderer, or an attempted murderer, his was not a glorious death in battle.

It was at this moment that Bruce was even now slamming into the room where Steve was, urgently demanding that he come before Bucky killed Tony.

“You probably should have let him kill me,” Tony said, not something he would ever say lightly either. His face was ashy and gaunt, but not just from fear or sorrow. He was worried. Worried what would happen when Steve found out—

He didn’t exactly have to wonder for too long, though. He was still sitting in Barnes’ blood, one leg under him, hands covered in red, when Steve opened the door. He could see the man’s face lose all light as he swayed for a moment and then knelt down beside his husband. He checked for a pulse, already knowing what he would find.

But he was a soldier. Even when there was no army and no leadership and no troops, he was a soldier. And sometimes soldiers died.

Steve closed Bucky’s eyes and bowed over him, pulling him to his chest. He thought it was Tony that had done it, but if Bruce was right about Bucky attacking the other man…it was self defense. And he knew that. Even if it raged inside of his skull. “I need a minute,” he whispered, and when everyone just stayed put, he let his voice rise in a yell. “I said I need a minute!”

Bruce stopped in the doorway, horror written all over his face quickly followed by guilt. He shouldn't have run, he should have stayed, and then maybe this wouldn't have happened. A wound like that, though, surely Tony could never have done it. He wasn't a fighter on par with Bucky, not unless he was in his suit.

He jolted when Steve shouted, heartbreak in his voice, and stepped forwards to try and help Tony to his feet. "Come on, we should-- Steve needs a moment, let's go and get you cleaned up, some fresh clothes."

Loki made no move to leave, instead she took a step nearer. Though she felt no guilt for what she had done, she had honour and that demanded that she explain to this warrior what had occurred in his mate's final moments. "I am sorrowful for your loss, Steven Barnes, but you should know that he died attacking another and would have killed had I not ended his life first. He died swiftly, and his final words were of you."

Steve was barely keeping it back. He wasn’t the kind of guy to cry in front of people and he was tenacious when it came to putting on a strong front. But that was almost impossible now. Tears ran silently over a hardened face as he cradled his dead husband in his arms. Blue eyes, as blue as the sky could ever hope to be, focused on Loki, and he just about lost it, shoulders shaking as Tony leaned on Bruce by the doorway.

“He didn’t die a weapon,” Steve cried, pressing his face into Bucky’s hair. “Not if he knew me.”

And that might be the best that Steve could ever hope for. He didn’t thank Loki for this information, he couldn’t be mad at a girl who had been protecting her friend. It was no one’s fault but HYDRA’s. And it would be HYDRA that would be getting all of Steve’s rage in a very, very brief time.

Tony cleared his throat and motioned for Loki to leave with them. Steve needed to grieve in peace before there was no more peace left to have.

It was probably a kindness that Loki hadn't told Steve what Bucky's exact last words had been, ones of betrayal, only that they had been about him. She may still tell him in time, he would probably be curious to know exactly what had been deemed important enough to say with Bucky's last breath.

But for now, she left with Tony and Bruce, who supported him under his arm.

"You are still hurt, Tony, you should be taken to bed and sleep there for at least this night, no more can be done now."

Bruce looked ashen, voice slightly hoarse. "I shouldn't have left, I'm sorry."

“You could have hurt a lot more people,” Tony said, knowing it sounded harsh, but he had almost just died for the third time in the last few months and he was shaken up by it, covered in blood, and about to throw up. Loki’s attempt to save him flickered like a brief light in his chest, but it was snuffed out by what they were coming to.

He should have died. His contribution was important, but Bucky’s survival was instrumental to keeping Steve together and Steve was their glue.

“I don’t want to stay here anyway. I’ll go back to my own bed. I don’t.. Banner, I’ve got this.” He took his cane from Loki and slipped an arm from over Bruce’s neck. “Don’t beat yourself up. There’s going to be a whole lot of work to do now. HYDRA is in full force. We’re going to have a bad time of this. A really, really bad time. So… Help Steve. He’ll need you more than me.”

Bruce was still inclined to feel incredibly guilty about what had happened and the choices he had made. Perhaps he would have made things much worse and killed more people, or maybe he wouldn't have and Bucky would still be sitting here today so that Steve could see him, touch him, be with him.

But he knew better than almost anyone how to hold that grief and guilt inside and not let it manifest where it could cause damage for other people, and they needed him to be strong right now. He nodded, though he did touch Tony's shoulder in gentle companionship before he slopped away.

Loki, however, cotinued on with Tony towards his room, brow furrowed in confusion. "Who are HYDRA?"

Explaining HYDRA took time and patience and while Tony did not have much of either, and his voice was incredibly flat, he did his best to convey to Loki the bad news that these people meant. “Organized chaos isn’t the right word for it. They believe in changing the world by destroying it. It probably looked pretty great on paper when they started out but like any group of lawless people, no one actually wants lawlessness. They’re the people that made Bucky into less of a human and used him only as a weapon. I don’t believe a lot in evil…but they’re evil.”

He needed to get this blood off of him. He needed to figure out how best to handle this situation. He needed to know that Steve could manage this before he dropped—

But first… “Thank you, Loki. I would have died.”

Loki listened intently as HYDRA was explained to her, but did not take any comfort in what was being said, for it became increasingly apparent that she had slaughtered an innocent. Attacking though he may have been, his actions had not been his own and that made her actions wrong, she ought to have neutralised him in a non-lethal manner and sought answers.

Helblindi would have done, as would Laufey, as would many of her family and peers. She just had such trouble with taking the slow and measured approach, acting on the fire of her instincts and now it had got her into trouble. She was comforted by the thanks offered to her, but her only response to it was a slight nod before she moved onto other things.

"If they are evil, why then did he use his last words to accuse his husband of being of their number? Is it that I have killed the wrong man?"

"Because Steve," and he wasn't using a last name or a nickname anymore, "was pretending to be one of their number so he could flush them out. And so that he could keep the Soldier from hurting anyone. It's my fault. Bucky never liked me. And even through the brainwashing, he wanted to hurt me. He died because I'm an asshole."

Tony wasn't sure how personally he had been planning to take this but now it was above and beyond personal. His whole self hurt and his gait lessened as they neared his room.

"You can't tell him that Buck died thinking he was part of the organization that hurt him. One lie. One secret. Please."

This got worse and worse. Not only had she killed an innocent, but she had done so while his soul was tortured by the false knowledge of betrayal. He would go to an ignoble afterlife and might even lose himself to become one of the monsters that roamed Hel's domain, and all because of her impetuousness.

"He will not hear of it from my lips," she assured Tony, though she would have to tell Helblindi all of what had happened and seek his council. Why could she never wait and be wise? This was the first time her rashness had led to such catastrophe, and she would not likely forget it swiftly.

"...this was not of your doing, Tony Stark, his blood is not on your hands."

All of this wsa hilarious in a terribly unfunny sort of way and Tony lifted a hand to look at what was actually spread across his palm as opposed to Loki’s figure of speech. “If I hadn’t tormented him about his relationships, he never would have wanted to attack me. He would have stayed where he was on that table until Steve showed up to talk him back down. You didn’t know. You were saving me from being literally smashed into pulp.”

He paused by his door and glanced at the handle. He arched his eyebrows as if suggesting that Loki be the one the open the door. He didn’t want to smear any blood on anything else. To have to clean even more up later would be too much.

Even for him.

“I think we need to call a meeting with the council. And with you and your brother. The Asgardian slaves we captured and HYDRA… I think we need to discuss what to do with them. Everyone needs to heal.”

Though she had the gratitude of the one she saved, and she had not known prior to this that he was so broken in this way, it did not absolve her of the guilt. She should have opted for non-lethal force anyway, so that he could have been brought to justice in the manner of the mortals.

"I will inform Helblindi, but the meeting will not be this night. Steven Barnes needs to grieve and you require rest."

She did at least reach down and open the door for him, though she didn't step inside the building too. She needed to see her brother and tell him what she had done, to beg his wisdom and to see if anything could be done. She had heard legends of those coming back from the dead before, but had scarce paid them any mind, now she hoped for something that could erase her wrongdoing.

“One must trust that it is the time of some to go before they may be ready,” Helblndi said, but his voice was softer than usual as he sat with his sister in the great ice palace where Jotnar tended to stay upon visit to Vanaheim after she had left Tony Stark to his repose. He was bothered by this revelation and he frowned more fully as he leaned down to look her better in the eye. “I feel badly for these mortals. They have suffered so much in so short a time. Something must be done to ease their suffering. Are we not to be their lords? A lord must not allow a vassal to suffer unneededly. They have been kind and oyal to us despite having nothing to give. I will not see this tear them apart.”

Helblindi rarely spoke so much. His icy words were stunted and with many breaks between sentences. Only Loki had managed to pull so much out of him…and twice now! His sister obviously needed this to be a win.

“Consult with the sorceress enclave,” he suggested. “Death need not always be the end.”

"At least we can offer them assistance with finding their snakes, forced truth is not a difficult spell for even the most novice of sorcerers. But it is not enough, and you are correct that we are responsible for them."

She stood and stretched to her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek, for he was still sat and would not rise as quickly as she did. "It was luck that brought me a brother with such wisdom, and I know you will see Jotunheim proud too. But you must deal with these matters alone for a time, I must go to the enclave now while the death is fresh."

She had not been often, preferring to go her own way, especially as chief of that enclave was the current All-Mother. But she needed their help, and she would fight to get it.

When Thor was made aware that his betrothed had once again been to Asgard and was having an audience with his mother, he brashly decided that he too should join such matters despite not being capable of Magic the way the enclave was. He was much too strong for his own good and he bullied his way into his mother's chambers with a yell.

Frigga looked only partially impressed. "Thor," she spoke calmly over Loki's shoulder. "Need you attend to all business? Shall I have your father add you to matters of the throne as well?"

Thor looked baffled in the same way Helblindi could at times, scratching his way through her veiled threat. "I should be by Loki's side," he said, stubbornly.

Frigga kept a laugh to herself. "It is my understanding that you two had been in sole company only once. Can you not stand to be apart from her already?"

"I can not, mother!" Thor claimed boisterously. "Nor should I want to. I think of Lady Loki all of my days and nights. What task has she come to ask? I will stand with her!"

"I would ask her this yourself, my son. Speak with a woman not about her."

Loki wore her natural skin to deal with enclave. It was not that she thought they would not deal with her in any other skin, but it felt more respectful to be herself when she told this story, and she wished to see how the mother of her intended reacted to her. Frigga was-- tender, there was no other word for it, and Loki was instantly struck with her.

She glanced behind when Thor burst his way dramatically in, red eyes glinting in momentary amusement and growing affection, before the weight of the situation pulled her expression back to penitance.

"It is to right a great wrong I have committed. There is a mortal known as James Barnes, I saw him attack a companion of mine and acted with impulsive instinct to cut him down. Only after he died did I find that he was an innocent, under an enchantment of the mind to perform the wishes of another, and that his soul died under false torment. His life is integral to that of the leader of their council, and they have suffered many blows already. I have come to petition for assistance in returning the life that I have foolishly taken."

"You wish to go to Hel?" Thor was dumb founded. Loki was younger than he was and already so mature. Perhaps it was as Sif said. Women mature faster then their counterparts. Thor had demanded a duel of her for his honour and smote her properly but now he thought that she had spoken truth. His jaw set. If his bride wishes to risk herself to save a mortal life she believed she had wronged, he would not dare let her go alone. "I will accompany you."

"Thor." Frigga's calling of his name was stern. "You are the heir of the throne."

"As was my father," Thor reasoned. "And he campaigned to subdue the Muspari uprising in Vanaheim when he was of my age. He met you there, did he not? I can not allow my betrothed to risk herself alone. It is my duty to attend her."

Frigga had heard Thor speak passionately about Loki before when he asked for her help with the poor mortals of a different branch of the tree of life. She had thought it was an attempt to be boastful but now she saw that her son was besotted.

"You must ask Odin."

Never had Loki met someone quite like Thor. Most children on Jotunheim had grown out of such boastful ways long since, or never quite got there because of the tendency for Jotnar to be slow and thoughtful rather than act so much on impulse. But he was also true and genuine, she could feel that he meant every word and this was not said just for show to impress her.

It made her lips curve in an almost fond smile, though she might deny it if it were pointed out to her, and she turned her head to look at him properly.

"Though we will be wed and our battles will often be one, to see the strength of the other to fight alone to right their personal wrongs is something we must be able to do. This was of my doing and it should be by my hand that it may be put right." Though she was denying him, it wasn't cruelly. "To know that you wished to come, though, will give me strength as I travel to Helheim, should the enclave grant my request."

"I would not take away your accomplishment," Thor said. "One should never take on such dangers alone. Not even I would travel such distances without my Warriors in tow." He was still an arrogant fool but he meant well. "I should also survey Hel for myself, should I not? We will rule over it together in the coming years."

He would have said more in protest but his mother lifted her hand to stop him from saying more. "Learn to trust, Thor. If the Lady Loki wishes to embark on her own or with companions of her own choosing, do not stomp about like a child. Perhaps it is best you act the companion when you have been wed. Anything further may be seen as unseemly."

Thor puffed out his chest and though he wanted to say more and his anger and disappointment was all over his face, he gritted his teeth, bowed, and left.

Frigga's smile returned. "I have never seen him back down before. I believe you shall properly temper him."

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