Jun 27 2013

"Thor, can you explain to us what just happened?" Tony asked after an awkwardly quiet trip back to the tower. 

Thor sighed. "It is not my place to say."

"I heard Olympians, Ares, and Poseidon." Bruce said. "Those are Greek gods."

"You are not wrong." Thor said.

"Daughter of Ares. That's what you called Clarisse. And Achilles is a son of Poseidon?" Clint asked.

"The scar on his forearm. It had a trident." Natasha said.

"Wait- are you guys saying that the Greek gods are real?" Steve asked.

"That's what it sounds like. Thor?" Bruce asked.

"Yes, the Greek gods do exist. The Bane siblings are indeed demigods." Thor said, tiredly.

"They're demigods." Clint said.

"That is what I said."

"You say you're a god, but you're actually an alien, so-" Tony said.

"I am a god, Stark."

"But-"

"Stark. You are a man of science. Gods are magic. Please understand that your science cannot explain magic."

"So, theoretically, if you're a god, and they're demigods, you could take them in a real fight?" Bruce asked.

"Ash and Angel, it is possible. I would not be keen to fight them both at once." Thor said. "It would not be an easy match."

"What about Achilles?" Clint asked.

Thor laughed.

"What does that mean?" Bruce asked.

"What's so funny?" Tony asked.

Thor managed to catch his breath. "The mirror on the wall-" Thor pointed to the TV. "-You saw him kill those mortals."

"We all did." Natasha said.

"I have no doubt that he could do the same to me." Thor said. "My only hope of beating him would be the element of surprise. With his ability to see without his eyes... I don't know if that would even be achievable."

"He's that strong?"

"If he isn't now, he will be."

~~~

Jun 28 2013

"I know this is necessary, but I want to make sure you know that I hate it."

"I can tell by how you keep muttering under your breath." Loki replied.

Achilles glared at a vague point in the distance. "Do you even know how you're going to do this?"

"I'll adapt to whatever opportunities present themselves." Loki said.

"That doesn't make me feel any better about this."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"What if something goes wrong?"

"We're both capable individuals."

"Loki, I swear-"

"Oh, you do?" Loki commented. "I really hadn't noticed your doing so over the past ten minutes."

"I can't help if I don't know what the plan is! I don't want to mess up-"

"Achilles." Loki stopped walking and turned around, looking at him directly. "Just follow my lead. You will know what to do."

"Very, very reassuring. I know what to do about none percent of the time."

"Yet you still do the right thing." Loki said, and began to continue walking.

"No, I really don't."

"You're underselling yourself."

"Do you know why I can't sleep?" Achilles asked abruptly.

Loki sighed, and stopped again. "Many wrongs have been done unto you." He said. "I know some of them. But I don't judge you for that."

"Unto me?" Achilles said, baffled. "You are completely misreading everything-"

Loki cocked his head to the side slightly. Achilles noticed in his own way what Loki had sensed.

"We are not done with this conversation." Loki said.

"Loki, you are under arrest." A mage said, leaving his cover.

"And surrounded." A female mage added from the other side of them. "Surrender."

"Now why would I do that?" Loki asked.

Achilles gasped in pain, a web of magic pinning his limbs together, leaving phantom burns where it touched him.

"You'll surrender peacefully and the mortal will have a far better day than if you don't." The woman said.

"What makes you think I care about the mortal?"

"He's with you." The man replied. "You don't keep any company unless it suits you."

Loki looked coldly over the mages that left their cover, all prepared to fight.

Achilles hissed as the web tightened around him.

"Fine." Loki decided.

Achilles stumbled as the web left him, but not two seconds later a different form of bindings entangled him. Chains were slapped around Loki, before the mages teleported them away.

~~~

Loki found himself in a familiar cell, the one he'd been occupying before he'd been put under Achilles' charge. Achilles had been shoved into a cell across the hall from Loki. Achilles hadn't moved from where he'd first fallen to the floor, sitting still as a statue.

Loki had an idea of what was causing Achilles' behavior, but he really couldn't do anything from his current position. He was at least glad that his disguise was working- Loki had hidden Achilles' magic signature. It was the flash of magic that must have alerted the mages.

"Hey." One of Achilles' cellmates tried to address him. Achilles didn't respond, and the cellmate walked over to him. "Hey." He said more forcefully.

"Yeah?" Achilles asked, not moving besides his mouth.

"You were with Loki, weren't you? You came in together."

"Yup." Achilles said, his senses buzzing, on the verge of overloading his system.

"Are you working with him? Or does he not appreciate your company?" The Asgardian asked, "He has not stopped glaring this way."

"Yup."

"To which question?"

"Yup."

"Which one is it?" Another cellmate asked.

"We're... Er... Together." Achilles said. "Working together. That thingamathing." 

"You are not from here." A third cellmate commented.

"Nope. Earth." Achilles said.

"What use would he have for a mortal?"

Achilles shrugged. "Comedic relief."

"Has he forced your hand?"

Achilles snorted. "No. I mean, I owe him my life, but I don't think he's noticed that yet..."

"Of course he has noticed." The third said. 

"I don't think he has." Achilles said.

"So you are working with him by choice?"

"Yeah."

"Why? Why would you work with him?"

"He's a good guy." Achilles said.

"A good guy, you say." The fourth cellmate said, standing from the corner he'd been sitting in. "He attacked your homeworld-"

"Yeah, he did."

"He has ended many lives, and you care none?"

"Well, I... Yeah- I don't give a damn." Achilles said.

"You jest."

"My head hurts too much for me to joke right now." Achilles said. "Besides, I don't lie. I may not say the truth, but I don't lie."

"Get him on his feet." The fourth said. 

The first one reached out to grab Achilles by the shoulders, and hauled him up. The fourth walked over, tilting his head curiously at Achilles. He grabbed Achilles' chin in a hand. "Look at me."

Achilles opened his eyes, casting a bored gaze on the Asgardian. "Get your hands off me."

"No." He said, and stepped to the side so that Loki could see Achilles. "I think Loki deserves a morsel of the pain he's caused."

The first one had Achilles in a chokehold. He must have received a cue from the fourth, who seemed to be the leader. He pressed into Achilles' neck, and cut off the air flow. He couldn't breathe.

Achilles looked to Loki. What do I do- what do I do- what do I do- he chanted internally. He hoped his thoughts 'were loud'.

Wait. Came the response. It was decidedly uncomfortable to have someone else's voice in your head.

I can't breathe.

Wait. Guards are coming. Wait just a moment longer.

Achilles reached up to try to pull the Asgardian's arm away from him. Achilles did not possess super strength. The arm wouldn't budge. His vision was going dark, and his lungs screamed. 

The three siblings had theorized two ways for Achilles to die, without magic. There was the car crusher theory, and the pillow theory. In the car crusher theory, he was squished to death. The pillow theory was suffocation.

So far it looked like they were right about the pillow theory.

His heart beat faster, pounding in his throat, and through his skull. While Achilles didn't possess it, his powers certainly did: Self preservation. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no no- he couldn't fight them- he'd win.

He couldn't win, mortals wouldn't win a 1 v 4 against Asgardians. He couldn't attack them with his signature move. Achilles renewed his efforts to get the arm away from his throat, and desperately tried to keep his power from lashing out.

"What is this?" Odin's voice boomed through the hall.

Achilles fell to the floor as the Asgardian released him abruptly. He gasped for breath, each one both painful and a relief.

"Allfather."

Achilles clumsily got to his feet, dizzy and reeling. He stumbled to the corner farthest from the others, by the humming force field. One hand instinctively went to assess the damage at his throat as he used the wall to prop up his weight.

Frigga gave a soldier an order, and the shield shut down on the cell. She walked over to him gracefully, and Achilles turned a glare to the other prisoners. A golden glow encased Frigga's hands as she reached to examine Achilles. He turned a cautious eye to her.

She pressed three fingers to his brow, and an odd feeling spread through Achilles. Then her fingers traced elegant designs through the air, and a warmth encased his throat. "Come along." She said, and lead Achilles  across the hallway toward Loki's cell.

"Frigga." Odin said, his eye narrowed questioningly.

"Loki's cell is the best place for this man." Frigga said, her hands guiding Achilles by his shoulders.

Odin walked over to her, and spoke lowly. "I ordered them to be separated. It is foolish to place allies together-"

"That was before I got to see this one for myself." Frigga said, eyes glittering. "Loki's tricks have never been able to fool me. It wouldn't do to treat a Son of Poseidon like a lowly commoner."

"A demigod?" Odin's eye widened. Loki went stiff, barely within earshot.

"Indeed. It would appear that the only cell appropriate to hold him is the one that our son is currently occupying." Frigga said, and continued across the hallway, gesturing to the guards. 

Loki stood still as Frigga approached, and then passed Achilles over to him. Frigga gave a brief, soft smile and spoke nearly silently. "Take care of him."

Loki watched her leave with a blank expression, except for the confusion and awe hidden in his eyes. Achilles stood passively as Loki watched Odin cast a veiled expression of surprise toward Frigga.

Loki didn't bother paying any mind to what kind of consequence would befall the prisoners. Frigga was the first to start the journey out of the dungeons, Odin following behind with guards to escort them. Thor was the last to turn away, a guilty expression in his eyes.

It wasn't until after Thor had left his field of vision that Loki came back to his senses. He was still holding Achilles the same way he'd accepted him from his mother: a gentle hand at his shoulder and elbow.

"Let's sit you down and wait for that spell to wear off." Loki said, and had Achilles sit on his cot. It was a spell his grandmother and mother had devised together in Frigga's youth, meant to pacify injured warriors so the healers could focus on healing rather than restraining violent patients.

Loki was no healer, but he had picked up a few minor skills in the trade from observing his mother's work. He examined Achilles' throat. It would likely still bruise slightly, but Frigga's healing would help with that and keep the swelling down.

~~~

Achilles took a shaky breath and blinked back at the fog that seemed to hang in his head. Cautiously, he reached up and brushed his fingertips against his neck. Sore, slightly bruised. 

"How did I get in your cell?" Achilles asked, his voice rough.

"Mother used a spell on you." Loki said. "It's very useful. And highly illegal unless you have obtained permission to use it." 

"Makes sense." Achilles said, standing and stretching. 

Loki was quiet for a minute. "Let's finish that conversation."

Achilles closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'd rather not."

"How was I misreading you?" Loki asked, walking to stand in front of Achilles.

Achilles couldn't bring himself to look at Loki, and stared off to the side. "Did you know that the brain doesn't have any pain receptors?" He asked, voice soft and broken.

"What does that have to do with this?" Loki asked.

"The brain doesn't have any pain receptors. It's the tissue around the brain that does, not the actual organ. But there's blood in all the tissues of the body." Achilles said.

Loki frowned. He wasn't sure where Achilles was going with this. 

"My extra sense, it's like seeing in... In... Multiple dimensions. Negative space? I can feel the water particles in the air, and the absence of those particles tells me that there's an object there. So I can feel where the objects aren't, and visual barriers don't limit me, so floors, walls, just an absence." Achilles said. 

"I can sense the pipelines, since they're full of liquid particles." Achilles bit his lip for a moment. "And living bodies are just a lot of liquid particles. Blood is constantly circulating."

"What is this leading up to?"

"When I was first given the elimination missions, I used that sense. I had my suit, a blindfold, and Creed. I could see through walls, count how many people were in the next room." Achilles said. 

"Achilles..."

"There are no pain receptors in the brain. So I just... If I was careful, I could just use the blood in their brain, and it would be quick, and painless... They wouldn't feel a thing." Achilles' voice cracked. "Three, four.... Small groups, just one at a time. Play it slow, careful, they didn't have to suffer."

"But in bigger groups it got harder to only grab the blood in the brain. Like trying to snipe with a shotgun. I had to go for quick when there were too many, go for the cleanest possible kill." Tears were forming in his eyes, beginning to crawl down his face. "When there were too many to pick through, I had to use Creed. Go for clean kills."

"Sometimes I panicked. There was too much going on, and I'd attack the wrong part... I'd hear it. I could feel it too. I could feel the heartbeats stop when it was a clean kill. But when I messed up, I could feel the heart stutter, trying so hard to stay alive. I could feel it pounding, desperate."

"I felt everything." Achilles said, a raspy whisper. "I didn't wear the blindfold to be cool. I wore it so that I wouldn't have to see everything too."

Loki reached out to pull Achilles into an embrace. 

Achilles pushed his arms away, and stepped back. "Don't touch me. Everyone around me suffers. I hurt everyone."

"Achilles-"

Achilles shook his head and backed up, before turning and walking to the farthest corner from Loki, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor. He reached into the pockets of his jacket, and was relieved to find that a few items hadn't been confiscated.

He set a cigarette between his lips, and with trembling hands, struggled to light it. 

A/N

Good times.

There's a point in the story I want to get to... 

And if you haven't already, check out Aevumiter, the plot's about to get a little bit juicier.