Loki and Ingrid 13

Avengers retold with a brainwashed Loki. My head canon. Enjoy or don't.

Until the End...

I look around me at once, catching my breath and trying to adjust to my new surroundings. I am standing on a dark mountaintop, and very much alone. “Thor?” I whisper to the darkness. Then I hear a crash. There’s Thor, in his robes and using Mjolnir, fighting a funny-looking Midgardian in a mech suit. Loki is nowhere to be found.

          I still feel dizzy, and it feels like I hit my head when I landed. The two continue to fight until another Midgardian, this one in strange striped costume, carrying a large shield comes in to stop the fight. “If he gives us the cube he’s all yours.”

          What cube? Who? I look around, and begin to grope for something tangible, so I’m not shrouded in darkness.

          With a flash, I’m on the ground again, thoroughly immobile. “Do you think you can stop me? I am Loki of Asgard. I am a God—are you with S.H.I.E.L.D.? You look familiar?”

          Being able to move again, I look up quickly, Loki cautiously pointing a scepter at my heart. I can’t help it, all the questions come up faster than I can swallow them. “Loki? Where are we? What are you doing? What’s that scepter thing? What the heck is S.H.I.E.L.D.? What’s Thor doing? Who are they?” I indicate the other two men who are discussing things with Thor.

          “Tell me now, where your allegiance lies,” whispers Loki in the darkness, pointing the scepter straight at my heart. I feel my mind scrambling. “My allegiance—” Then everything fades to black again.

---

“Hey! Hey, Ingrid!”

          “Thor?” I jolt awake, startled by the overhead lights. “Where are we?”

          “We’re on the hellicarrier for S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m here to give you a briefing,” He whispers, “No one can know we’re here.”

          “What’s going on? What’s a hellicarrier? What is S.H.I.E.L.D.? Did I hit my head?”

          “Yes, several times. S.H.I.E.L.D. is an organization I have had a few run-ins with. We are on a plane, a flying machine of sorts, on Midgard. This organization wants to use the infinity stone—the tesseract for unlimited energy, little do they know what’s inside. That stone should be locked away in Asgard for safekeeping. These others—the one in the mech suit is Tony, the one with the shield is Steve—they are all a part of the Avengers Initiative to protect Earth, as initiated by S.H.I.E.L.D. and director Nick Fury,”

          “Okay, I got it. But why am I here? What happened?”

          “Ingrid, I need your help, but S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t know you’re here or who you are. We have Loki on the hellicarrier—captured.”

          “Can I talk to him?”

          “Not now, that’s incredibly dangerous. He has one of theirs, Clint, under mind control, as is my good friend Erik.”

          “Where’s Jane?” I know that Thor will want her to be safe.

          “Jane is safe,” says Thor, “But he tried to control you. The scepter controls minds—”

          “The mind stone?” I whisper.

          “No, I doubt it. We’ll figure that out later, Ingrid. But as it stands, he is incredibly dangerous. The right time will come.”

          “What happened—on the hill?”

          “I’m sorry you fell so hard. I had to intercept a plane with Loki on it. I need him to be returned to Asgard as soon as possible—”

          “To await Odin’s punishment?” I say, scared.

          “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out later. But now you need to listen to me. S.H.I.E.L.D. is in charge here for now. They want the cube, they’ll get the cube. It is mandatory that the cube and Loki are returned to Asgard—but Loki has plans for an invasion. He has an army.”

          “An army?” I’m still dazed. “Tell me what happened on the mountain!” I blurt, slightly loud.

          “Shhh. Yes, he has an army—but it’s Thanos’ army, Ingrid. It’s all Thanos. The scepter, the army, everything. I think he’s being mind controlled. That’s why he didn’t know you—and he was going to use you, so I intervened. He already had you—that’s why I hit your head so you’d snap out of it.”

          “So, who are these people? Friends? Foes? What now?” I cam hear my voice rising as Thor clamps his hand over my mouth. “They mustn’t know another Asgardian is here, besides myself. They will suspect you—”

          “Okay,” I whisper, “I’ll follow your lead.”

---

“It is an impressive cage,” says Loki from inside the glass enclosure, “One I think not built for me.”

          I am managing to be invisible on the floor so far, but Thor knows I can’t remain that way.

          The woman on the team, Natasha, is watching closely, with a complete lack of trust. They all think he’s working for himself. I can’t confess to these strangers, that this entire deal was my fault—no, I don’t want to die.

          “Natasha Romonova,” says Thor, “My friend, Ingrid. She is Asgardian, like myself.”

          “And is she with you, or is she with him?” Asks Director Fury, his eye staring keenly at Thor, “I’m betting she’s with him.”

          “It’s complicated.” I stand up and awkwardly shake the director’s hand. I’ve observed all of them now, Agent Coulson, Agent Clint Barton, under Loki’s spell, Tony Stark, the billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist, whatever that means, Steve Rodgers, the war icon who has been in hibernation for years, and Natasha…been through so much hardship. And wants to run from it. “Your ledger is gushing red…” Oh, Loki. I’ve been secretly spying on all of them. And that’s when Thor lunges for the cage.

          Everything happens in slow-motion, as Loki escapes, asking, “Are you ever not going to fall for that?” then goes to the control unit.

I freeze. Agent Coulson appears now, with a large gun. “I started making this after you sent the destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does—want to find out?”

It all happens so fast, yet so slow, as Loki’s copy fades, his true form stabbing Coulson from behind—Thor’s agonizing yell from inside—then it happens. Loki presses the button on the terminal to drop the cage hundreds of feet below the hellicarrier—

“NO!” I get up and lunge, not having any time to think. I rapidly kick and punch him to the wall, but he manages to get hold of his scepter. “No!” I dodge, just in time, kicking the scepter out of his hand, catching it. I begin to feel a great pain—and power surging through me.

“Don’t touch that—that’s mine!” screams Loki from the ground.

          I lunge, getting closer to his heart. Can I reprogram him with the scepter? —No, that would mean I control him. Is this what Thor wanted? I panic, as I drop the scepter and back away. I can’t do it. He killed Thor. My thoughts are racing. He’s brainwashed. I just need him to snap out of it. That’s when I hit him on the head.

---

It did nothing. Not even a little. Loki is still trapped, and Thor is alive, thank the gods, but Loki still can’t grasp the extent of what he has done. We’re in New York City now, inside Tony Stark’s tower.

          Loki goes for Tony’s heart, stopped by the metal arc reactor inside of it. “This usually works.”

          “Oh, all performance issues—it happens.”

          “I have an army!”

          “We have a Hulk.” Right, Banner, the strangest of the group, affected by gamma radiation to turn into a monster when he gets angry. I wish I had the ability to do that. I could destroy them. Kill them all.

---

“LOKI! TURN OFF THE TESSERACT, OR I’LL DESTROY IT!”

          “You can’t! Nothing can stop it!”

          “Look at this destruction around you—” Loki’s now blue eyes flicker for a moment back to green, then his face hardens. “You can’t stop it!”

          “We can. Together. RUN, INGRID!”

          The two fight, and I follow Thor’s orders. I’m not going to disobey, here and now. Then Thor finally leaves to go fight, while I see Loki, now in the distance, opening the wormhole to let the army in. No—I can’t stand by.

          “Ingrid?” I hear a voice over the radio that Tony handed me. It’s Steve, calm as ever, “I understand that you are a friend to Thor and mean no harm. I suggest you evacuate the area immediately. Hide somewhere where the Chitauri can’t get you—we have ground forces working to stop it—”

          “Yeah, Ingrid, you need to get somewhere safe,” says Natasha.

          “Good luck,” whispers Clint, now free from Loki’s spell.

          “HULK SMASH!”

          “No, don’t smash the radio, you big idiot!” I hear Thor’s voice now over the radio.

          “I tried to reach him, Thor. Earlier, when you were falling—I fought him, but I was scared—I didn’t want to use the scepter on him.”

          “As you should not. Those things are incredibly dangerous,” he says. “You did what you could. It was my mistake to bring you along. I don’t care about the tesseract anymore. We have to stop Loki for now. Thanos later. No one else knows what we’re really up against, Ingrid. Get somewhere safe—NOW!”

          “No,” I whisper, “No. I’m going to him!”

          “NO! He’s gotten too powerful—Thanos—”

          “The Loki we know is in there somewhere, and I can get him out, I promise!”

          “NO, Ingrid! You can’t get yourself killed—!” There is radio static as the transmission cuts, the Chitauri are rearing their ugly heads, coming in larger numbers now.

          Loki has taken to the skies on an airbike, evading everything that comes in close range. Then, Clint shoots. My heart stops, as Loki pulls the arrow out of the air, just inches from his neck. I go back into a nearby building and wait…

---

“Loki?” I ask, “Loki, are you hurt?” I saw The Hulk come and throw Loki about like a ragdoll after Loki insulted him—he’s lying on the floor now, and the avengers are trying to close the wormhole made by the tesseract. I hear rumors, “There’s a nuke in New York,” “The whole city’s getting destroyed!” I have to make it up to him before it’s too late.

          “Loki, it’s me. It’s Ingrid.”

          “I am not hurt, merely defeated. And I suggest you leave NOW or I shall have to—”

          “Loki?”

          “Who are you? Do we know each other? You look so familiar—I remember you from somewhere—from home.”

          “Asgard.” I say, “Asgard. Your home, my home. Thor, Odin. Frigga your mother—surely you remember her?”

          “Show her to me,” whispers Loki.

          “I’m sorry—I can’t, I destroyed the locket!”

          “What? What is this locket?” Loki hardens again, raising his hand to strike. I catch it lightly and hold it between mine. It still shows signs of wear from Thanos’ torture, and I remember the way Loki resisted.

          “Get off me! I don’t know you! Now, I must get the tesseract—”

          “No,” I whisper, “No. That’s Thanos talking.”

          “Thanos? Thanos, my master?”

          “You did this for me,” I try to remind him, “Because you loved me.” I can still see the letter in my head, “I will always love you, Ingrid.”

          Not now. Not Thanos.

          “Loki?” I try, “Loki of Jotunheim? Laufey’s son?”

          “Laufey?” His eyes meet mine for a second, “I must destroy Jotunheim—HE LEFT ME TO DIE!”

          After a blinding flash of green, all is silent. His soft, green eyes lock onto mine, as he whispers, “Ingrid? Is it really you? Thanos has kept his word?”

          “Yes. He has. I haven’t seen him.”

          Loki looks out the window, suddenly noticing the destruction. “No,” he whispers, “What did I do? Tell me--!”

          “It’s not your fault—what do you remember?”

          “He told me to kill my own brother, Thor. That Thor was evil and had ever only wanted to bring harm upon me. He told me that you were but a small girl working for S.H.I.E.L.D., not to be trusted, “He LIED, Ingrid!” He thrusts both of his hands against the nearby wall and begins beating it with a passion. “HE LIED TO ME! AND I BELIVED HIM! I SHOULD HAVE HELD OUT FOR THANOS! I COULD HAVE SENT YOU BACK—I WAS TOO WEAK AND I COULDN’T HANDLE THE PAIN!” Loki’s screams echo through the room, and outside to the near-empty streets. The fighting has calmed, and Tony was able to close the wormhole and send the nuke though it—it’s all over, for better or for worse.

          “Shh, it’s okay,” I put my hand on his shoulder, “I felt it. I don’t blame you in the slightest. It’s over.”

          “I SHOULD HAVE JUST LIVED IT OUT—IT WOULD HAVE KILLED ME EVENTUALLY—WHICH IS WHAT I DESERVE!”

          “No, Loki.” I whisper, “Or maybe you do. Maybe we all do. It’s not about what we deserve—”

          “It’s about what Thanos deserves! I will destroy him!”

          “Who’s Thanos?” I hear Tony behind us now. “Look, Thor, you really need to get him back to Asgard, that little Asgardian justice thing you were talking about. And take the stupid cube with you. But just don’t complain to me about it. I just wanna get Shawarma.”

          “I’ve got it,” says Thor. “You guys go.”

          “No, come with us.”

          “Sure, even I don’t know what Shawarma is!”

---

“Ingrid? What are they going to do with me now?”

          Loki is handcuffed to me now, outside of the Shawarma joint, looking wistfully at the sky and the trees, knowing it may be a long time before he sees the light of day again.

          “I don’t know. I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything.”

          “It’s not your fault, Ingrid. You saved me. Just when it felt like I could never escape Thanos—”

          “No matter what your punishment is, I promise I’ll find a way to visit you. Just like the old days.”

          “I don’t want you getting in trouble—”

          “Oh, I always enjoyed trouble. With you!”

          “I have plenty more planned.”

          “All right. That’s good to hear. I don’t think Thanos likes trouble. He likes order and balance.”

          “And I won’t let him have it.”

          “No. Me neither.”

          “We’ll fight to the death if we have to.”

          I nod, not wanting anyone to die. “I’ll do what I have to do. But I promised to protect you.”

          “You did. Thank you.”

          I’ve heard Loki say many things to me, but “thank you” isn’t one of them.

          As Thor approaches from the restaurant, I turn to take one last look at Midgard before our journey home. “You’re welcome.”