4 Chapter

Questions about Leah arise, as well as a slight back story to Brittany and Loki. Some cheesiness that was not intended.

"So what do you think that she did?" asked Bruce, now back in human form, once they were all in the van.

"She's like an immortal," said Thor, who had shown up after Leah had shown her new abilities. "But without the immortality."

"Isn't that what makes an immortal an immortal?" said Tony sarcastically.

"Do not mock me, Stark. I found out information from my brother." Clint began driving the van, but was listening with one ear. "He alleges that he is the son of the Queen of Elphame."

"Do you believe him?" asked Natasha.

"It would explain how he has magical abilities while I do not. But it does not make sense in general. If it were true, I would believe that she would have saved him from the fall of Jotunheim, instead of letting Odin taking him.

"Unless it was all a part of her plan. But who would wish such a jaded future upon their own son?"

"Well, she is an Elf," replied Bruce, pulling off the tatters of his shirt. "And a Elf Queen at that. It's kinda scary, thinking that Laufey was a Frost Giant and she was an Elf. Maybe she liked getting freaky," he said, waggling his eyebrows again.

Thor was too busy thinking to answer the slight insult on Loki's part, though the others gave a quiet laugh. 

Leah and Captain America were laid out on the van floor, both unconscious. Tony had seen for himself what she had done, the glow, the black ball. It was like she was a super heroine.

"Where am I?" asked Captain, sitting bolt upright and looking around the room. He was back at Stark Tower, and the other Avengers were sitting around him. "Rephrase that. Where is Leah?"

"She's over there," said Bruce, pointing. "She saved your life, you know."

"Brittany stabbed me, didn't she?"

"We bandaged you up as soon as we got back here." He ran a hand over his hip bandages.

"Then how did Leah save me?" Tony sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"It's a long story. Maybe we should all just wait for her to wake up so that she can tell us her side of the story." Steve was curious about what had really happened, but remained silent and went to sent on the arm of the other couch.

There was blood smeared all over her hands, as well as her chest. How had she got this blood on her? Where had it come from? Why had she shown up at the battle? So many questions he had to ask...

Leah sat up with a gasp, hand on her chest and hair askew.

"What happened? Where's Steve?" she looked around worriedly before she saw him, sighing. "Oh good. You're okay."

"They say that you saved me. How?"

"The thing is... I don't know. I'm sure that most of you saw me foil Loki's attempt to change me. After that, I yelled something at him and he went flying, and then yelled something else, which made him fall from the sky."

"What about after that? You pulled the poison out of Cap."

"I can't explain that, either. I said something else then, in the same sort of language, and then I felt this warmth in my hands, so I healed Steve."

"I owe you my thanks," said Captain, rubbing the back of his head. "I can't believe that Brittany did that to me..."

"She was always on Loki's side."

"We should find her," piped up Black Widow, offering her opinion.

"First, we should analyze Leah's powers." Everyone looked at Tony. "What? We should!"

"So... what do you want me to do?" They were on one of the training floors of the tower, about 10 floors above ground level.

Leah was standing away from the others, hands raised in so-called defense as Stark said,

"Blast a hole in the wall."

"Maybe we should give her something more... solid?" offered Captain.

"What about a Loki figure?" joked Bruce, waving a hand wildly. "C'mon guys, stop being so serious! Why don't you just let her shoot whatever she wants, as long as it isn't us?"

The girl took a deep breath, lifting her hands once again and pointing it at the wall.

"Are you sure there isn't anything else that I could do?"

"Well, afterwards you could try fixing the damage."

"Right." Leah closed her eyes, trying to bring back the emotions that she had felt when she had thrown Loki off of her.

The language.

"Destruo," she muttered, willing herself to see her will done.

The entire wall opposite her, the glass side of the tower that faced the main street, exploded into shards of glass and metal, making everyone crouch down in self-defense. Apart from her, who, not wanting the others to come into harm, yelled,

"Aedificabo!" The glass stopped flying towards them miraculously, as if moving through soft goo.

"So now we know to never let Leah loose," coughed Dr. Banner, wiping dust off of his pants. "Not without training first."

"Guys, look." Natasha pointed as the glass shards began moving backwards and re-piecing themselves back to a window.

"How did you do that?" asked Thor, running his hands over the once again smooth surface.

"I don't know."

"It's Latin," answered Tony, flicking the glass carefully. "But how do you give the words power?"

"Maybe Latin is just a way to give her magic an outlet?" Clint scratched his head, not having experience in magic.

"But I don't know how to speak Latin..."

Brittany was back in her apartment in Queens, collapsed in an old worn and torn armchair. She'd stabbed Captain, of that she had made sure of. She couldn't believe how easy it had all been.

But then that goddamn girl, Leah, had to interfere. Maybe Loki wouldn't agree on the deal because he wasn't dead.

"Would I ever go against my word?" She gave a start as he materialized in front of her suddenly, grinning as always.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. I wasn't expecting that girl to show up and attack me, but that doesn't change what I have in mind for the future."

"Then... You still agree about the deal." He spread his hands.

"When and if you desire it. You followed my orders."

"Then... Now. Change me now," she said with hungry eyes, standing up and falling a few inches shorter than the god.

"Once it is done, it will be too difficult to take back. For me, at least."

"I've already decided. Change me."

That was the deal. If Brittany carried out her orders, to poison Captain America, then he would change her into a goddess. If he could, that was.

He produced a golden apple seemingly from nowhere.

"This is only part of the process. And the end of it, at that. First, take this." He handed a dagger, like her own other than the fact that it had runes traced on the blade. "Cut your wrist."

"Whoa, what?"

"Do you want me to go first?" he asked gently, taking the dagger back and setting it on his own left wrist. 

"Do we both have to-?" Loki hissed as the blade drew blood, making the dagger glow faint blue. Blood trickled down to drip onto the floor, and Brittany took back the weapon.

She grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she applied pressure to her own left wrist, watching the blade glow yellow this time. She dropped it, hearing it clatter on the ground as she looked back at the god, who's eyes swallowed her.

"Raise your wrist," he whispered, lifting his own.

They pressed them together as Loki whispered something else in another language.

"Hvis vi skal sammenføyes,

Blod vil bli vår begynte,

Hvis mine ord ringe sann,

La dem bli hørt i hele ni Realms." 

Faint blue bonds wrapped around the two of them, thickening into knots and ties, twisting like unruly snakes. She dared not to touch them, least they burn her.

"Take this," he sighed, handing her the golden apple and careful not to touch the bonds. The girl took a bite, screwing up her face as she did so. It tasted disgusting. 

Loki fell to the floor, already muttering to heal his arm and making the bonds disappear.

"Is it done?"

"It is done." Brittany sat down also, facing him as she crossed her legs.

"Wow. It feels weird being like this. Godly. It's a good feeling. Do I look alright?" Loki looked up at her, already smiling.

"To me, you will always look brilliant. Come, there is much to show you."

"So, you don't speak Latin, yet you have on two occasions done so." Bruce looked skeptical. "And you haven't ever heard Latin being spoken?"

"No," she said, rubbing her arm. "I can't explain it."

"Well, the first thing we should do," suggested Natasha, "is teach her how to speak Latin."

"You speak Latin?"

"Cum essem parvulus Latina didici."

"Fair enough," said Hawkeye, dropping his suspicions. "But still, that could take weeks and months. And we have other things to do."

"Like find Brittany. Thor," said Tony, "what could your bro- Loki have that she would want?"

"There are many things that he could give her."

"Did you know her well, Steve?"

"Fairly well."

"Then what did she want more than anything else in the world?"

"I don't know. She wasn't a superficial person, and she wasn't greedy. She wouldn't have asked for anything to do with appearance, or money, but... power."

"You really pick up the weird chicks, don't you?" Stark noticed Leah's eyes shooting daggers at him, real ones soon to follow. "No offense."

"What power could Loki have that she would want, though?" pondered Captain, tapping his chin. He clicked his fingers. "Thor, would it have been possible for Loki to give her an extreme amount of power in any form?"

"The only way he could have done that would be... We must hurry."

"What is it?" The god began walking briskly to the elevator, shouting over his shoulder,

"Loki said he had the powers to make immortals."

"This looks like a nice place to live in," said Banner, tapping on the door.

"Brittany?" shouted Steve through the door. "Are you in there?" A few minutes passed.

"Then we are too late. Move, Rogersson." He moved out of the way for the god to bash the door open with his hammer. "We will find out."

There was blood on the ground, already beginning to congeal slowly on the wooden floorboards. There was also the core of an apple, though one none of them had seen before.

"There was magic here, I think," said Leah, looking around the room. "I can... sense it."

"What type?" asked Thor quickly.

"Dark. I can't discern it, though... Someone, get me a pen and paper. And Natasha, can you help me translate?"

"Sure," she said as Clint gave the girl what she had requested. She scribbled down some words. "Saguinem... That's blood. Novem Regna... I think he means the Nine Realms. And coniungantur... a connection? Or a link?"

"Then he has done it. Brittany is an immortal."

"Brilliant." Tony threw his hands into the air. "Could it get any worse?"

"Wait... Natasha." Leah whispered something to her, at which Black Widow wrote something down on the paper.

"What is it?" Romanoff glared at Captain, making him retreat and shut up.

"Recreare momentum ex horas praeteritum," she whispered, shaping her hands into a scoop, concentrating. "Step back," she told the others, and they stepped back to the door. She remained kneeling on the ground until the air around her tinged a different color and two figures appeared.

"Where are we going?" asked Brittany as Loki took her hand, leading her outside and towards the stairs.

"I want to show you something." Before they reached the door to the stairs, she stopped him.

"Wait. Can I change into Asgardian attire? Because if I can, that is awesome."

"Why don't you try it?" he smiled, proffering a hand. "Simply concentrate."

So she concentrated, closing her eyes and scrunching up her nose.

"Did it work?" she asked, opening one eye.

"It did." Loki said something and conjured up a mirror. "See for yourself."

She was dressed in a deep black skirt that ended just above her knees, with a white, long-sleeved shirt with flaring sleeves. On top of that was a strange sort of silver armor, like a waistcoat and a normal, males chest-plate. 

She also had knee high silver boots on, and lastly; a long green cape that hung down to the heels of her boots.

"I... I like it."

"As do I. Come, I still have something to show you." He pulled her through the door and up the stairs, both of them laughing when they tripped and got back up.

The reached the rooftop, Brittany swinging around and laughing, letting go of Loki's hands.

"It's beautiful up here!" Indeed, everything seemed better in the world with these eyes.

"Watch this," the god said, wrapping an arm around her and grinning. He muttered something and they both slowly rose into the air.

"Who, wait, we can fly?"

"Indeed."

"So that's what happened? They flew off into the sunset?" said Iron Man, exasperated. "That's just so.. corny!"

"They didn't fly away, though. Natasha, what does subvectio mean?"

"Transportation."

"They went to Alfheim," said Thor, looking around suspiciously. "Though why I do not know."

"Maybe Loki wanted her to meet the in-laws or something," offered Bruce. "Which brings us to the point of whether he really likes her or not."

"I believe that he does."

"But then, you believed that you could save him, and looked what happened there. A giant battle."

"Look, if you do not want my opinion, then do not ask." Thor paused for a moment before continuing with,

"My brother cared for few people in Asgard. If Loki cares for this girl, then I will not interfere. And if any of you try, I will do my best to stop you."

Reviews

[Winter of '97]

ooooooooooooooooo latin

[Brittany Ba]

You can google translate it if you want :P

[Winter of '97]

i think i get the general meaning

[Brittany Ba]

What do you think the three bits mean then?

[Winter of '97]

What bits?

[Brittany Ba]

Your two lines and Loki's poemy thing.

[Winter of '97]

Why is lokis thing in latin? Shudnt it be in Norse or whateva its called

[Brittany Ba]

I'll go see if I can find some Norse translator.