Loki jolted out of bed, his heart racing as his body reacted to whatever terrors his mind had concocted. He pressed a hand against his chest and closed his eyes, calming himself. He didn't remember what the dream was about, and he had no desire to rummage through his mind for it. He figured that it was a remnant of the power of Helheim, the magic infused in the land driving away those who are alive and keeping the dead within its borders, that and he didn't need to deal with night terrors in addition to trekking across the dead realm. He got out of bed quietly, quickly dressing himself, holding his staff by his side.

He emerged from his room carefully, the hallways deserted and every step he took echoing in the silence. It seemed as though the whole palace had been abandoned, devoid of life – pun not intended. Loki figured that it meant that he had outstayed his welcome, and hurriedly crossed the grounds towards the gate. He fingered the charm that Hela had given him the night before, a protective object that would prevent him from falling prey to the illusory powers yet again. She had told him that that was the only help she was willing to give him, anything else was 'fair game' and depended on his own powers.

He reached the gate, and with a last look at his daughter's home, stepped past the protective boundaries of Helheim and back into Niflheim, gathering his magic around him.

Time to find a missing hero.

Loki stood outside the gate, rifling through his mind for a particular spell he hadn't used in centuries. He opened an inter-dimensional pocket, storing his trusty staff in it, his fingers brushing against a cold, rectangular object. He paused, he had forgotten that when he was king, he had taken the Casket in hand and stored it in his pocket. A powerful weapon in its own right, and his birthright, and it was sitting unused in a separate dimension. Loki shook his head and sighed, he couldn't afford to think of the Casket and of his true form now, not when he had an important task at hand that he had to complete. He closed his eyes and called forth his magic, the spell requiring no words to form. Almost immediately as he pushed his will into his seidr, he felt his bones shift and change, his entire body structure altering.

When the spell was done, he stood up on all fours and shook his body, knowing that if anyone were to see him now, they would probably run in terror or sneer disgustedly at him. Back on Asgard, shape-shifters were looked down upon, not only because it was a branch of magic, but because it involved changing your body structure into something else entirely, something that unsettled the warriors of Asgard, the brutes knowing that their own friends might be their enemies, never mind that their own king could apply that same form of magic. It was especially disgraceful if said shifter changed into a beastly form, to shift into another being was one thing, to degrade yourself to an animal was another, but Loki had never cared about what others thought, pursuing the arts even with all the disgrace heaped upon him. It had come in handy many times, saving his life even more. He chose a form that he hadn't worn in a long time, favoring speed and agility while still retaining his intelligent mind. His new body was four-footed, with a sleek form that was built for speed. It resembled the Midgardian predator in its slight form, but it was far more ferocious. Black fur lined his body, while sharp, retractable claws adorned his paws. Sharp spines emerged along his back, as a mane covered his head like that of a lion. He had come across this particular creature on one of his hidden jaunts to Alfheim, and found the beauty in it as it hunted down its prey. He was careful not to get noticed by said creature though, those claws and teeth were awfully sharp.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, his hind legs tensing as he launched into a full sprint, tearing across the plain in search of his friend. He didn't know exactly how he was supposed to find Percy in this huge realm, but he supposed that he would have to rely on his instincts, which were telling him to head west towards a clump of trees that could barely pass for a forest. He heard the howls of the Niflheim wolves, but paid no attention to them. In this form, he could outrun them by far, and if not, his ability far surpassed that of the beasts.

Loki, in his animal form, stopped atop a hill-like structure, in the cover of several dead trees, sniffing the air and the ground. His large green eyes scanned the ground, hints of a fight littering the ground. He tread carefully, head swinging back and forth as he eyed the gouges in the tree bark. The ashy ground had no signs of any claw marks, but that didn't surprise Loki, considering that it was mostly ash anyway, it would have been covered up almost as soon as the mark was made. No, he was more interested in the faint scent of blood that marked the ground. It was the reason he had suspected that a fight had occurred here. Albeit, it seemed several days old, but the scent of death still hung in the air.

He looked to his right, it probably helped that there was a slowly rotting carcass of a Niflheim wolf in the vicinity as well. Loki lowered his head and sniffed the ground where the blood stain was, a growl building in his throat when he confirmed that it was indeed Percy's scent. It was layered with death and less vitality than it would have been had he been on Midgard, but that was to be expected. Even if Percy's soul didn't belong here, he was still dead, something Loki wished to rectify.

He lifted his head and sniffed the air, padding across the grainy ground as he tried to catch a whiff of Percy's scent. When he did, he snarled and leapt forward, his legs pushing him faster across the plain. He found several more spots where a battle had taken place, only serving to confirm his suspicion that Percy's stay here wasn't as peaceful as he would like it to be. Loki growled deep in his throat, even in death, he mused, troubles till finds him.

He leapt sideways as a black form crashed into the ground beside him, accompanying howls filling the air. Loki crouched down and snarled, unsheathing his claws as he bared his teeth at the wolves of Niflheim. In his mind, he cursed, fighting the wolves was not a problem, but he would lose precious time and the scent would get even fainter and harder to track than it already was. He weighed his options carefully, keeping a careful eye on the huge beasts before him.

The decision was made for him when one of the wolves pounced.

Tony was staring in shock, his jaw somewhere on the ground. Steve, the normally unflappable captain, was frozen – pun not intended – where he sat. Opposite them, Thalia smirked wickedly, already enjoying the avengers' reactions. She had expected them to be in a catatonic state after hearing what she and Nico had just said, and they delivered as good as she expected them to, she wished that she had brought a camera or at least some popcorn along, it was more entertaining than watching Percy struggle in archery class.

"This..." Steve choked, "This is impossible! There is no such thing as –"

"Gods?" Thalia supplied helpfully, raising an eyebrow, "Funny. Cause I thought you lived with one."

"Thor isn't – Thor isn't a god." Tony said, aware that he sounded desperate, "He's a demigod! I mean, Reindeer Games sure as hell didn't contradict when I said as much!"

Thalia squinted at him, "Who?" then shook her head, "Never mind, you say that he's a demigod? Hah!" She gestured to Nico and herself, "We are demigods, half god, half human. Thor? He's a god alright."

"Then how do you manage to match him?" Steve challenged.

Thalia smirked, "Simple, I've been training my whole life to fight monsters and the occasional immortal. Believe me, he's not the first god I have had to fight. And if you want to talk about experience, Percy's fought more gods and immortals than I can count."

Nico snorted at the last part, ignoring Thalia's glare.

Tony on the other hand, didn't find it so funny. "Wait, wait, wait. Did you just say that Percy fought gods? As in, Percy Jackson? Our Percy?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, looking as though she wanted to bash his head in, "Yeah well how many other Percy Jackson's do you know that I know as well? Obviously."

Steve narrowed his eyes, "You mean to tell me, Percy knew about this whole – whole secluded organization and he never told SHIELD?"

Nico narrowed his eyes at them, leaning forward, "Percy was a part of this 'secluded organization' long before he joined SHIELD. He was one of us, until that incident in New York three years ago." He said lowly.

"Woah wait up man," Tony said, his voice deceptively light, "Don't blame it on us, blame it on the 'god' who brought those damn aliens into New York in the first place! He's the one who destroyed the city and he's the one who killed the kid's mother! We're the ones who stopped him!"

Thalia snarled and stood up, her chair toppling over, Tony doing the same, "Don't you fucking dare claim that battle as yours, mortal." She hissed, her electric blue eyes flashing angrily, electricity crackling over her entire body, "The gods were the one who helped you. Not the other way around. You think that six people could stop an entire invasion? Do you even use your brain at all? If the gods hadn't drawn a barrier around the city, you mortals wouldn't even be able to contain them! If Nico hadn't cast the spell, do you think that your enemies would have just dropped dead all at once?" Tony went quiet at that, his eyes growing wide at the new-found revelation, as did Steve's.

"And if Loki hadn't thrown the fight," Nico said quietly, "Do you think you would have won?"

Tony stared at Nico, as did Bruce and Steve, "What. The. Hell." He said lowly, disbelief coloring his voice.

Nico narrowed his eyes, "What, you don't believe me?"

"Don't believe –?" Tony exploded, "That guy is a maniac who thought that he could take over the world! We beat him and we won, fair and square!" He didn't acknowledge the twinge in his chest as he said that. It had been mere conjecture when Clint and Natasha said that, something unconfirmed and borne from speculation. He didn't want to admit that this kid might be right about the god who had invaded New York. His pride wouldn't accept it.

"Really?" Nico sneered, crossing his arms over his chest, "You call fighting someone who was purposely losing winning fair and square?"

Thalia scoffed, "Oh yeah," she mocked, "Let's not forget the fact that the gods were helping you do damage control as well. So much for a fair fight."

Tony snarled, "What the fuck –"

Steve held out a hand in front of the genius, stopping him in his tracks. He turned to the cousins, his eyes deadly serious, "Explain. Now."

Nico snorted, glaring at them, "Loki wasn't in full control of his mind, he was subjected to the same mind control spell that they used on Thor, but he managed to wrestle back enough of it to lead the attack to New York. He knew that New York was the gods' stronghold, and that it would be the most protected city against external forces, so he led the army here, where the gods would annihilate them, allowing him to have the perfect reason to lose because it isn't his fault that his opponents were more powerful than his army."

"Well I didn't see much of any annihilation going on." Tony sniped angrily.

Thalia glared at him, making him cower a little, it was easy to see the relation between Percy and Thalia then, or maybe death glares were just hereditary, "Yeah well what would you mortals say if a bunch of people just showed up out of nowhere to blast the aliens into bits? Or if the Empire State Building glowed or something? Do you guys even use your brains? That would be a sure fire way of getting us found out and experimented on by you sick scientists."

Nico sighed, placing a calming hand on Thalia's shoulder, "Anyway, the gods knew what Loki's plan was, so they built a barrier, keeping most of the mortals outside it. The few that were inside, well, you guys did save them didn't you? The aliens couldn't get further than a few blocks, though I think that you probably thought that was all you." He said, directing the last part at Tony, who had been on the perimeter. Said scientist scowled at the demigod in reply.

"You were there as well weren't you?" Steve asked quietly, his mind turning as he digested the information.

Nico nodded, while Thalia scowled and looked away. Not for the first time, she wished that she had been with them when the attack happened. Maybe then Percy wouldn't leave, and maybe he wouldn't be dead. The three of them were powerful individually, demonstrated earlier in their fight against the chitauri, but together, they were practically unstoppable. Thalia almost cracked a smile at the memory of the first time the three of them had worked side by side to find Hades' sword. Percy, the idiot, had gotten injured, and she had – not that she would admit it – but she had been worried sick, especially when he had fallen into the Lethe with Iapetus. Despite how often they fought each other, it meant nothing compared to when they fought together. The three of them looked after each others' backs and their powers of the elements combined together created a devastating effect. She couldn't help but wonder that if she had been there with him, and with Nico, would things have turned out different? Would Percy have left?

"I found out about the attack, told Percy, and he came with me. We split up to find his mum and Paul, but when we did..." Nico continued talking, not knowing about the thoughts occupying his cousin's mind, trailing off slightly at the end, unsure of how to put it in words. Even now, three years later, it still affected him to see Paul and Sally's death firsthand. Even if he had the privilege of being able to check up on them – and his father had given Sally a free pass to Elysium because the woman was more deserving of it than anyone he knew – the image was still branded in his mind. He couldn't imagine how Percy felt, seeing his mother like that.

Steve and Tony nodded solemnly; they had seen firsthand how devastated Percy was, and it was the only downside to their victory. The reality that they couldn't save everyone hitting them like a sledgehammer. It was also the reason why they couldn't understand how Percy could stand to be in Loki's presence when it was the god's fault that his parents were dead.

Nico cleared his throat, breaking the silence, "Well, that's about all, that, and I was responsible for the chitauri all dropping dead the moment the nuke detonated."

Bruce looked up in surprise, "Really? I thought that was because they were connected to the mother ship?"

Nico shrugged, "I don't know if they were, but I didn't want to take the chance so I linked every alien to the ship when I saw the nuke. Took a lot of energy out of me."

Steve nodded approvingly, "Good thinking, if you hadn't done that..." he trailed off, the consequences and the death toll would be far, far higher.

Thalia scowled at them, "So what now?" She asked, looking at Nico, the only person other than her and the gods who knew what happened to Percy. She didn't know why he had brought the mortals and told them about demigods, but she figured that it was part of the gods' plan. His next words only served to confirm her suspicion.

The olive skinned boy frowned for a moment then answered, "Now? Now we introduce them to a god."

Thalia smirked at Steve and Tony's gobsmacked expressions.

Loki snarled at the carcass of the wolves, the body already beginning to rot, turning into ash which trickled to the ground and blended in seamlessly with the grey colored ground. He shook the blood off his fur, licking his lips slightly and shivering with distaste at the bitter tang of blood in his mouth. He gave the wolves one last glare and bounded off in the direction he had been heading, Percy's scent almost overwhelmed by the metallic scent of blood in his nose. His paws thudded softly against the grainy ground, any footsteps he left behind quickly covered up again, the scenery – or rather, the lack thereof – blurring past him. He weaved in between dead trees and crossed bone-littered hills and valleys, following the scent of blood in the air which was steadily getting stronger, making the worry in his chest grow as he realized that Percy might be heavily wounded. He didn't stop running until he skidded to a stop in front of a wide rushing river, its waters black as night and its depths unfathomable, the water making even him uneasy.

Loki stood at the bank of the river, looking across it at the plain stretching out on the other side. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating, the mirage on the other side of the bank wavering, alternating between a wide stretch of barren land and rocks and trees that grew over each other, the stone surfaces splashed with black fluid and the trees bent and crooked. His ears flattened against his head as the true image of the landscape revealed itself. If he could, the god would have slapped a hand against his face. As it was, he merely huffed and shook his head. Of all the things Percy had to do...

This took the cake.

He shivered, feeling his magic rolling over him as he shifted his form, his bones stretching and bending in ways it should not have, his eyesight becoming sharper. He lifted his head and cawed loudly, his wings spreading out on each side. Ironic, he thought, that he should take the form that Odin was famous for*. He shook his head and launched himself into the air, soaring over the huge river and passing the mirage, shivering when he felt the slimy touch of magic across his body.

He pushed forward, determination running through him as he crossed into the home of the draugr.