"This place sucks."

The Ravager's voice was resentful as he crossed his arms, glaring at Loki through the transparent force field keeping him in his pristine white cell. Loki could pick out the flecks of gold in the energy field, slight lines glimmering as they formed hexagonal patterns that were barely noticeable unless you had previously spent two years studying their complexity, getting lost in how they faded in and out of comprehension.

"It could be worse," Loki told him flatly, mentally shaking the recollection off. "You could have had to share a cell."

The Ravager glanced over at the cell to his right, where several Marauders, captured after the battle on Jotunheim, now resided. He made a face. "Still."

"You do know you are currently in our dungeons?" Loki checked. "Not the guest rooms. Some discomfort is to be expected."

"You could have at least provided a chair," the Ravager grumbled.

"I could have provided an axe," Loki told him.

"Yeah," the Ravager said, glancing around. "No, thanks."

"You mentioned Ronan in connection with that Orb," Loki said, cutting to the point. "Tell me what you know."

"Let me out of here first," the Ravager returned.

"That's not how this works," Loki said. He thought back to several previous interrogations, one which reminded him of this moment and one which had been very different. In the first one, Romanoff had tricked him into revealing his next move, speaking with him through the thick glass of his cage. In the second, it had been Gibbs and DiNozzo, seated on the other side of a table in an interrogation room, questioning him after he beat up DiNozzo and McGee and escaped NCIS.

Lesson one: use the glare.

Loki narrowed his gaze, leveling his best impersonation of the Gibbs glare at the Ravager. "We can do this the easy way, or the painful way, Ravager. Personally, I prefer the painful way. But I don't have the time to while away inflicting it on you, so if you would just tell me what you know, I would be grateful."

The Ravager lifted an eyebrow at him. "Isn't the bad cop supposed to have a good cop counterpart?"

Loki just looked at him, tilting his head slightly, his voice a quiet growl. "I buried my mother today, Ravager. I'd like to take my anger out on the right people, but you might have to do instead."

Instantly, the Ravager drew back, his expression shifting from a mix of annoyance and amusement to hardened sympathy. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Was...was it the beings who stole my Orb?"

Loki gave a brief nod, forcing his expression not to change. He wondered what had made the Ravager suddenly go from nuisance to sympathetic. "The Dark Elves, yes."

"Why didn't you just lead with that?" the Ravager asked, lifting his hands. "We're on the same side, then! You want revenge, and I want...well, let's just stick to what you want. Revenge. I can help you."

Loki lifted an eyebrow. "Really, Ravager?"

"I can track the Orb," the Ravager told him. "I tracked it here, didn't I?"

"You can't track the Orb," Loki said flatly. "Not with Ravager equipment."

"Then how did I manage to follow it here?" he challenged.

"You tell me," Loki returned. Casually, he lifted his hand, a dagger appearing in his palm that he slowly lifted, the blade elegantly carving through the air. "How did you follow the Dark Elves here?"

The Ravager's eyes drifted to the dagger blade, narrowing slightly. "Look, Asgardian, you can't scare me with that tiny thing. If I really wanted to, I could drag you in for the reward, but –"

"What reward?" Loki demanded, tensing, his fingers clenching around the dagger.

"The million unit bounty on your head," the Ravager clarified. "Ordered by Ronan, under Thanos the Mad Titan's request. I'd assumed that was why you were asking about him. You must have done something to tick them off, for them to be offering out that amount of units."

I did. I failed.

"How did you follow the Dark Elves here?" Loki demanded, now agitated. He hadn't known about the reward. He had assumed Thanos would have kept the punishment internal, perhaps sending one of his daughters out after him. Not a very public bounty.

"How about we make a trade?" the man proposed. "My information for –"

Loki commanded his form to vanish, creating an illusion of himself within the barriers of the cell. The Ravager stumbled backward as the god of mischief snarled, "Tell me now!"

"Tracking device," the Ravager said quickly, lifting his hands defensively. "I stuck one on the Orb when I first got it. It led me here, okay? If they still have the Orb, I can track their location, or at least get pretty damn close."

Loki glared at the Ravager. "Where did you find this Orb?"

"On Morag," the Ravager said.

Loki's eyes widened. Morag. That was a possible location for one of the Stones, but it was impossible to access several years ago due to the oceans. Somehow, this Ravager managed to beat Ronan to the prize. Thanos will not be pleased.

And now both Ronan and I will be pursuing the same thing, although with different objections.

Another Infinity Stone. Loki touched his chest, his real form still invisible to the Ravager. One remains locked in Asgard's vault, one is in the hands of SHIELD, and now this one, in the possession of the Dark Elves. Not to mention what Odin had said concerning the Aether....

"You will track down the Dark Elves for us," Loki told the Ravager. "You will aid us, and in return, I will allow you your freedom."

"Great," the Ravager enthused. "Now can you let me out?"

"One more thing," Loki said. "What is your name?"

The Ravager gave a slight grin of anticipation. "You ever heard of Star-Lord?"

****

Loki had not, in fact, ever heard of Star-Lord.

Peter Quill, the real name of the Ravager, had seemed fairly disappointed in that as he followed Loki up out of the dungeons, especially since he had recognized Loki's name from stories he had heard traveling the galaxy with the Ravagers.

Now he led Quill up to the throne room, where he knew he would find Odin and hopefully Thor. They needed to set a course of action, one that involved Loki hunting down the Dark Elves to end them. They apparently weren't as extinct as Odin had thought.

"This palace is something else," Quill murmured, gazing around as he walked slightly behind Loki. "It could almost be a place Indiana Jones would go looking for, except he doesn't deal with aliens."

Loki didn't reply, just led the way into the throne room and toward the dais. Thor and Odin were standing there, in intense debate. As Loki approached, he heard Thor say "...they killed Mother! Why should we allow them to get away with murdering the queen of Asgard? Why should you allow them to get away with that?"

"The Aether remains on Asgard," Odin snapped. "The Dark Elves cannot do anything without it."

"You will use Loki as bait to lure them back to us?" Thor demanded. "As they will return, if the Aether is their target. Why don't we just go to them and end this, and avoid any more Asgardian desolation?"

"Do you know what resides within your brother?" Odin bellowed. "Do you know the raw strength that sits inside him just waiting to be used?"

"What is it?" Loki demanded, startling the two of them, neither of whom had noticed his entrance. Odin's eyes flicked from Loki to Peter Quill and back again. "Well? What power is this inside me?"

"An Infinity Stone," Odin said, his voice quiet but harsh. "The Aether is molded from an Infinity Stone, and part of it has taken you for its host."

"Part of it?" Thor asked, furrowing his brow.

"Agent Sniper is also its host," Loki replied, advancing toward the dais as Quill hung back, looking awkward about intruding on a family argument. "Father, nothing you say will prevent me from chasing the Dark Elves. I will go to the end of the galaxy to find them, to kill them. I swore an oath to Mother. Don't make me a liar in that."

"You are already a liar," Odin said, his voice raw with emotion.

"I am not a liar in this oath!" Loki yelled. "I swore to avenge Mother with all intent to fulfill that oath. I know I have lied before but I was not lying then, and I will not break this oath."

"We do not know where the foul beasts have gone," Odin spat.

"That's where the Ravager comes into play," Loki said, nodding back to Quill. "He will serve as guide. I will bring these monsters to justice, Father. Nothing you say can stop me."

Odin's gaze was blistering. "I will not permit you, Loki! You will not leave this realm."

"And why not?" Loki challenged. "Mother is dead, Father! Mother is dead, murdered, and you allow her killers to walk freely away, without fear of punishment. Do you not mourn her death, like I do? Like Thor does?"

Odin recoiled, like he had been slapped. "How dare you suggest I do not grieve for Frigga?" His voice was quiet, hoarse.

Loki blinked, taking a deep breath to try and wrestle against the anger rising inside him. "Because if you did, you would want us to avenge her."

"You think I don't want to tear those Dark Elves to shreds?" Odin demanded in a low whisper. "You think I don't want to rip their hearts from their chests, impale their heads on stakes and burn them, watch their blood drain into the ground, taking their life force with it? You think I don't want to slaughter them all?" He held Loki's intense gaze, his chest heaving with emotion. "But Frigga wouldn't want that, not at the price...the price of losing you."

Loki drew back. "Losing me?" he repeated.

"The last time you left the protection of the Nine Realms, you only returned to Asgard in chains," Odin said forcefully. "I will not have that happen again, not for your mother's sake."

"It will not happen again," Loki swore. "I want vengeance for Mother, not vengeance against you. I leave on different terms."

"You think leaving the Nine Realms with an Infinity Stone inside you will not end with you standing before him again?" Odin asked softly, so softly only Loki heard him. "Do not think I didn't know who you learned from during your exile, Loki, who took advantages of my weakness and distance as he molded you into one of his accursed Children. Do not think I don't know who Thanos is, or what he wants. And do not think that he will hesitate from punishing you once you leave the circle of Asgard's protection."

"I have already failed Mother," Loki replied, his voice just as soft. "I have been nothing but a failure, ungrateful for all the love and care she devoted to me as a child. I cannot fail her now, not again.."

"And I cannot fail her now, either," Odin said. "I have failed her, so many times, especially through all my failures toward you. Do not let this be yet another failure on my part. You swore an oath, Loki; so did I."

"Father," Thor said quietly, interrupting. "I agree with my brother. We cannot allow the Dark Elves to go unpunished. Loki and I will take the Ravager and hunt them down."

"I forbid it," Odin insisted.

"But you cannot forbid us." Tekahionwake's voice echoed in the chamber as she, Mordo, and Almarez strode toward the arguing Asgardians and Quill, who had seemed very uncomfortable during the whole debate. Hailstohm entered behind them, her face grim. "We will be tracking down the Dark Elves, with or without Asgardian help."

"With," Thor and Loki said simultaneously, just as Odin said, "Without."

Tekahionwake flicked her eyes over the group. "I must agree that I do not believe the Aether should be anywhere near the Älfeneel."

"I don't agree," Loki said flatly. "Besides, even if they manage to get it from me, they will only have half."

Tekahionwake drew back, her eyes flashing with surprise. "Half?"

"The other half resides within a Midgardian," Loki told her.

"An Infinity Stone has divided itself in half," Mordo murmured. "This is not good."

"All of this isn't good," Hailstohm snapped. She turned her attention to Loki. "I swear my oath to you, and to Asgard. I will aid in avenging your mother, and will not rest until those creatures, the Dark Elves, have been defeated."

Loki met her fierce gaze, both grateful and uncomfortable by her vow.

Odin looked from Hailstohm to Loki, his gaze softening somewhat as Loki turned to him. "Father, what can I say that will change your mind?"

"What can you say that I will be able to believe?" Odin returned steadily.

Loki winced slightly but even in his anger, he recognized the validity of the question. "I swear on NCIS, and on Mother," he said softly. "This is not a lie. I will return. I am not running from my heritage." He could feel Hailstohm's eyes burning into his back. "I am running toward vengeance, and I will return. You will not fail Mother by losing me." He paused for a moment before adding, "If you trust nothing else, trust my rage."

Odin stared at Loki silently for a long moment, his eyes sorrowful. "Go," he said eventually, shaking his head. "Go, then."

****

As the sorcerers, Thor, and Hailstohm accompanied Quill to his ship to find the location of the Dark Elves, Loki took a moment to meet with DiNozzo and Bishop and tell them briefly the plan.

"You will both stay here," he said quietly. "Heimdall has already agreed to keep you in touch with Gibbs. This is something I must do alone."

Bishop wrapped Loki in an embrace, softly kissing his cheek. "Just be safe," she murmured into his ears.

Loki couldn't answer her. He could swear to Odin to return, as that return could be accomplished even if he was a corpse, but he could not give that same oath to Bishop in regards to his safety. He was going to kill those Dark Elves, even if it took him within reach of Thanos' own rage, of Thanos' own oath. And unlike Loki, Thanos hated lying with a vengeance.

"Tell Gibbs I apologize for my departure, but...." Loki trailed off, and DiNozzo picked the sentence up.

"He'll understand," he said grimly. "We all do." The Italian agent clapped Loki on the shoulder. "Give those bastards some pain from us."

"Will do." Loki had no qualms about promising that.

****

Quill's ship, the Milano, sat in the middle of the Bifrost. As Loki entered, he was met by Hailstohm. "Quill's tracker is no use," she said bluntly. "It was only attached to the metal structure the Power Stone was encased in." The warrior held up a gilded metal orb. "The Orb."

Loki took it, anger churning within him again. "What now?" he forced through gritted teeth.

"Tekahionwake knows someone," Hailstohm answered. "Someone who can track the energy signature of an Infinity Stone. And she knows where we can find him."

"Where?" Loki asked, the anger subduing slightly.

"A prison under the jurisdiction of the Nova Corp," Hailstohm said. "The Kyln."

/**/

With this chapter, Dark Soldier is officially longer than Special Agent Loki Laufeyson (in word count, not in chapters). It is now over 100k words, with still further to go before we reach the end. Special Agent was just under 100k words.

What do you think of Star-Lord joining the cast? Excited to see what happens next? I hope you're enjoying it!

Skylar Wittenborn