Chapter Text
1940 (earth years), Asgard's palace:
Loki sits in his chambers, writing notes about a new spell on a spare piece of parchment, when there's a knock at the door. He stands up from his desk, waving the door open with a little bit of magic. There's a guard standing there; and by his face and the nervous way he fidgets with his hands and shifts from foot to foot, he's clearly new. Loki strides over to the young man, stopping at the door.
"What is it?" He asks, genuinely curious. He doesn't get approached by guards a lot, for any reason. So, to have one at his door is unusual.
"The all-father requires your presence in the throne room, my lord." He answers, voice shaking slightly from nervousness. The poor boy probably hasn't been in the palace more than a week. For the first time in a while, Loki feels bad for a guard. Normally they're stoic and quiet. But then again, the one standing in his doorway is new and just got an order from Odin himself.
"Did he say why?" Loki presses, genuinely curious. Father usually doesn't have a need of him, unless he is required to meet and negotiate with foreign dignitaries. There's also not usually a need for his magic either, except to interrogate prisoners. Unless Odin is going to scold him for something or has someone new for Loki to question, Loki can't really imagine what he would want.
"N-no, my lord. He instructed me to retrieve you and escort you to the throne room. He- he did say it was urgent and important business though." The guard stammered. Wow, he really is nervous. Loki lays a hand on his shoulder, which is unlike him. But it's Loki, he's unpredictable; but he also pities the young man.
"Before we go, relax. Stop fidgeting, there's no reason to be so nervous. I can tell you are new, but I'm going to say this once. There is nothing to be nervous about. You'll get used to it." He waits for the younger man to take a few steadying breaths as his hands un-clench. Loki takes his hand off the guard's shoulder. "Good?" The guard nods.
"Very well then, let us go." They walk through the halls, the guard's armour clanking softly as they move. When they approach the throne room, two guards open the doors. Odin sits on his throne, Gungnir in hand as he waits for Loki. As the two of them reach the foot of the dais, Loki bows low and the guard kneels in salute before taking his position at the edge of the room.
"Father, to what do I owe the pleasure? May I ask why you have called me here?" Odin stands slowly in his armour, walking down the steps towards his son. He grasps Loki by the shoulder in greeting.
"We will have to speak in my study, son. We cannot risk being heard; this is a matter of utmost importance." Loki nods a reply, and Odin guides his younger son into an antechamber, where Loki then teleported them to Odin's personal study. Odin detaches his hand from Loki's shoulder, before sitting down in an armchair as Loki sits on the couch opposite. "Loki, I have a very important job for you. Do you remember the tesseract?" Loki nods. "Well, then you know it has been on Midgard for some time." Another nod. "It is in danger of being stolen and used for malicious purposes. I need you to go to Midgard and retrieve it, preferably bringing it back to Asgard when you are done. I would send Thor if the circumstances did not warrant subtlety, precision and strategy. You cannot tell Thor, because knowing him he will insist on going with you."
"Well, you're not wrong." Loki said, shrugging. "How would you like me to go about retrieving it?"
"To make yourself less conspicuous, I would suggest you enlist in the army of the country known as the United Kingdom. Then listen around for a way to be sent to a HYDRA establishment. Use that as cover. And if at all possible, refrain from using magic beyond obtaining a Midgardian identity. Then, I suppose you will have to work from there. A guard will escort you to the Bifrost, alright? Stay safe, son."
"Thank you, father. May I say goodbye to Mother before I leave?"
"Yes, you may." At that moment, Frigga walked into the room noiselessly. Loki wasn't surprised though; years of his mother doing that without magic made him learn not to question it. He simply stood up from his seat and quickly walked over to her and gave her a hug. Frigga kissed his forehead as he said goodbye in a whisper.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, Mother. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Loki." Loki left the room, head held high. He was willing himself to look confident, hoping he'd feel it. In truth, he was sort of apprehensive. While Odin didn't say anything about it or not, Loki suspected there might be something going on in Midgard. Why else would Father suggest joining the army? A guard met him at the door to the chamber and they walked to the stables together, mounting horses and setting off to the rainbow bridge. Loki wanted this to be quick and leave before Thor took notice, but unfortunately to get to the Bifrost one had to pass the training yard, and who should be there at that exact moment but Thor and his friends.
"Hey Loki! Brother, where are you off to?" Thor boomed from across the yard. He was in the middle of a bout with Fandral when they all turned to look at Loki and the guard.
"Just Midgard, Thor. Father needed me to do something for him and I will be gone a while."
"Oh, an adventure! We should join you!"
"Sorry Thor, but Father actually wanted me to go it alone this time around. What I'm doing does not require muscles but rather brains and words and time. My apologies, but I must be off now. Goodbye, everybody." Fandral and the others waved goodbye as Loki cantered off, while Thor got a speculative look on his face. What could Odin possibly have Loki doing that wouldn't involve a good fight? Oh, well. If Father said it, then he should take it at face value. Loki rode over the Bifrost with the guard in tow, coming to a stop at the observatory. Quickly dismounting and handing the reins to the guard to take his horse back, Loki speed-walked over to Heimdall. The guardian already had the sword in its slot, and turned to look at Loki as he came over.
"Heimdall, I must know. Father told me to join an armed force, but he never explained why. What is happening on Midgard?"
"A war, young prince. The second in two decades, in fact."
"Do humans ever really cease their quarrelling, gatekeeper?"
"No, not really. Be safe on Midgard, my prince." He said, turning the sword and activating the bridge.
"Thank you Heimdall." Loki said as he was sucked in, giving a mock salute with a grin as he left. He touched down in a field outside of a city he knew as London, England. He used his magic to create a human identity- not bothering to alter his appearance- as Leif Oftedhal, a Bristol native of Norwegian background. He wandered into the city, dressed in Midgardian clothes as he asked around for the nearest recruitment office. Finally finding one, he signed his 'name' and went in for evaluation. Using just a bit of magic- i.e. shape shifting- he made himself light enough to pass for a regular human and was approved to join. Luckily for him, his hair didn't need to be cut; he might have internally thrown a fit if it did, only he was allowed to tough his hair. Since apparently they required it to be collar length, he swept his hair back into a more Midgardian style, right and back from his forehead, merging with the rest; luckily the grease he kept in his hair to mitigate being shocked by Thor helped it stay. He had a couple days in London before he was to go, so he magicked himself about a hundred pounds, and got himself a hotel room. He had a nice time wandering around and taking in the sights and talking to people. He actually acquired quite a love of various Midgardian foods, particularly a meal called 'bangers and mash' and the various curries that restaurants produced. He did a lot of walking, saw the famous clock tower, the tower bridge- he really enjoyed looking at the various bladed weapons there- and just being outside. It did nothing to diffuse the tension he felt no matter where he was. The realm was at war, and the people were all nervous as well. To be fair, Loki had more than one reason to be nervous; what with going to fight and having a mission from Father he had every right to be experiencing nerves. He had gotten fitted for his uniforms when he got approved, and picked it up the next day. To fit in even better, he was wearing the non-combat one for the two days. Girls seemed to like it, because he got glances from them fairly often. It might have been because of his appearance, but Loki thought it was mostly for the uniform and partly for his height. He was a bit taller than most, meaning he stood out in a crowd just a bit. Not to mention the black hair and poison green eyes were a striking combination amongst the sea of browns and blondes and the occasional redheads.