Chapter 24

"What sort of fool question is that?" Loki asked, perturbed, "Of course I know who I am…I'm Loki, son of Odin, prince of Asgard, God of—"

"Not what…who, Prince, duke, earl, the Bloody Red Baron of Germany…that's a good song, haven't heard that one in awhile." Will mused, interrupting Loki, "Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more, the Bloody Red Baron was rollin' up the score. Eighty men died tryin' to end that spree of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany," Will sang, "None of that matters."

"It most certainly does," Loki retorted before taking a drink from his mug.

"Maybe where you're from…but here, no one gives a rat's ass," Will replied with a grin.

"They should…perhaps if Midgard had anything resembling proper leadership you'd still be alive," said Loki with a sneer.

"We tried the whole king thing…a few queens. Didn't work out so well. Most of the few that are still around have no power, just shiny baubles that are taken out and paraded around on special occasions."

"My father and Asgard's warriors prevented this entire planet from becoming a playground for the frost giants. My father sacrificed an eye and Asgardians gave their lives only for the mortals whose asses they'd saved to then inform them they were no longer needed...and proceeded to run the place into the ground," Loki retorted.

"He could have destroyed us all."

"He should have," Loki replied.

"But he didn't. He gave us the opportunity to discover who we are."

"Ignorant, backwards fools," said Loki disgustedly.

"We haven't been around all that long. We're still kids really. Eventually we'll grow up."

"More likely you'll destroy yourselves first, like a cocksure pubescent who doesn't look before he leaps, breaking himself on the rocks below," Loki replied, finishing his drink.

"Anything's possible, but most kids survive and go on to become adults. I did," Will countered.

"Only to have your brains bashed out…too soon?" Loki said, looking up from his mug with an evil grin before his expression transformed to one of annoyance as he stood quickly from the barstool, "I'm wasting time!" Loki exclaimed.

"Time passes a little differently here. Take a look," Will said, pointing to the clock on the wall near the bar, the second hand appearing to be frozen in place before languidly moving forward a click only to stop once again, "You know when you doze off then wake up from what seemed like a long dream and you look over at the clock sure you must have been asleep for hours but it's only been a few minutes? It's sorta like that."

"That's all you are, a dream. None of this is real. You're not real. She put you in my head."

"Did she? Or maybe she hasn't been alone all this time," said Will.

"I have to stop her! She's planning something foolish!"

"Anne? Never," Will scoffed.

"She's going to get herself killed!" Loki cried in frustration.

"She knows what she's doing. You have to trust her. She trusted you."

"And look where that got her!" Loki growled angrily, turning and heading toward the door.

"If you intervene, all will be lost...Asgard, the realms, the universe. She's protecting you," Will called out to Loki, "All you'll find out there is a winter wonderland full of the monsters you so fear," Will said before turning and grabbing a bottle of amber liquor from among others arranged on the highest tier of the shelves behind him as Loki reached the door.

"My mother taught us enchantments but nothing like this. She hasn't been capable of magic since her exile. When did she learn…" Loki began to question aloud to himself, lowering his hand from the doorknob as he trailed off, appearing thoughtful.

"Have another drink. Let's have a chat, get to know each other. After all, you'll be raising my son," Will said, Loki turning to face him as Will poured two drinks from the bottle, "Top shelf, best she had…it's either me or the smurfs on steroids out there, your choice," Will continued, taking a drink from his own glass as Loki eyed him suspiciously as he made his way back to the bar, "It's too quiet in here," said Will, stepping over to the stereo and removing the cassette he had silenced previously, replacing it with another, "I put this one together. It's mostly Bowie, a little ELO and Zeppelin thrown in if I remember right," Will finished as he started the tape playing, the opening riff of David Bowie's 'Rebel, Rebel" flowing through the speakers.

Loki seated himself once again, glowering at Will who pushed the second drink across the bar in front of the Asgardian.

"What did she see in you anyway?" Loki asked, raising his glass to his lips.

"I was about to ask you the same," Will said with a grin, studying Loki, "We're not exactly carbon copies, but close. I cut and dyed my hair blond once for a part. I looked like a golden retriever. I felt like I should be walking around wearing a collar with a bone between my teeth. Opted for wigs if it was really necessary after that. If I could have done what you can do, it would have been easier...I guess a lot of things would have been easier," Will smiled amicably, "I used to be a lot like you…beyond the obvious...wanted my name up in lights…Will Henrikson," Will continued, setting his glass down before grandly speaking his name and raising both hands as if framing an imaginary marquee, "It was what I'd been born to do, my purpose. I wanted the world to know who I was…but I didn't know who I was, I didn't even know where I came from…made it up as I went along I guess," Will said, picking up his glass and taking a drink, setting it back down on the bar, "When I was on stage I convinced people I was someone I wasn't, that I felt things I didn't feel, loved people I didn't love. It wasn't much different off stage. I didn't know who or what was real anymore after awhile…but Anne…she saw right through it. She changed my life."

"What little you had left," Loki said darkly, "You certainly changed hers."

"Yeah…I did," Will said, gleaning Loki's meaning, "I always kept a couple on me, in my jacket pocket, my wallet…I'd been far drunker than I was that night, I don't know why I didn't - - I'd always been careful to avoid that, to avoid…other things, especially…I suppose you would call it a 'plague.' As if life wasn't already hard enough…now along comes another reason for people to be afraid, to hate people like me…like us."

"Didn't you try to fight them?" Loki asked.

"At first. I was never much of a fighter and it was two against one. I didn't have so much as a pair of brass knuckles on me. I thought it would be like all the other times. I'd get the shit kicked out of me…black eyes, maybe a few broken ribs, be sore for a few days. If I didn't put up much of a fight it was usually over quicker," Will replied, staring into his drink, Loki's expression changing to one of empathy, "I shouldn't have gone back, I didn't know what I was doing, all I could think was I wanted her to have it. I shouldn't have put her through that."

"I've had my share of blows to the head...up is down, left is right," Loki said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "It would have been harder for her knowing you died alone," Loki finished, unable to avoid recalling Arvid and the circumstances of his demise, silence falling between the two men.

"You talked about humanity jumping off a cliff...I took a blind leap of my own a few days before that…we weren't together, not officially, we never talked about it, we never talked about that night after …I didn't know about him…my son I mean, maybe I did somehow… but even if she hadn't been…the worst that could have happened was she could have said, 'no.' I'm an actor...I was...trust me, I'm used to rejection," Will said, setting his empty glass on the bar and refilling it from the bottle, topping off Loki's almost empty glass as well.

"You gave your life for a chocolate bar."

"That wasn't the plan."

"No…but you said you'd been attacked before…somewhere in the back of your mind, you knew anytime you walked out the door alone what could happen…I wouldn't have done that," said Loki.

"You're a god. You're smarter than me."

"Of course I am…that's not the point," Loki said, pausing, his tone changing to one of regret as he continued, "It's been proven to me time and again, if I don't think of myself, no one else will. Everything that's happened to her since the first day I arrived at her door…as much as those creatures out there… I'm a monster," Loki said, draining his glass in one long drink before turning to his right and hurling it to shatter against the wall, placing both elbows on the bar and holding his head between his hands in despair as he stared at his reflection in the varnished wood.

"I used to watch old horror movies on TV as a kid with my dad, I mean the man who raised me…maybe your stories are different, but here, many of our monsters…vampires, werewolves, zombies, Frankenstein's Monster…Frankenstein was the name of the scientist who made him…they were once just people…I suppose in Frankenstein's Monster's case, parts of a few people," Will explained, "You're not a monster. Anne…Boda could never love a monster."

"Erebus...he's always been a monster! He'll kill her!" Loki cried in helpless frustration as he quickly raised his head, lowering his arms and balling his hands into fists, slamming them down on the bar before ending his tirade, silent for a moment, staring at Will suspiciously, "If she didn't put you in my head, if you are who you say you are," Loki said, standing, "That's what you want, isn't it? That's why you're keeping me here…she'd be with you…"

"It's nothing like that. All I want is for her to be happy. It's all I ever wanted, from the moment we met...If I help you, would you do something for me?"

"What is it?" Loki asked dubiously.

"The leap I mentioned…it wasn't much, the best I could do. I got it at a pawn shop, pawned a few things myself to help pay for it. I spent all evening thinking about how I was going to do it, I wanted to surprise her, she would have been surprised anyway, but I wanted to do something different than the old routine. When she said she was dying for chocolate the lightbulb went off. The chocolate wasn't the only thing I bought at the store. My jacket…the inside pocket…" Will said, pointing at the jacket Loki wore, Loki unzipping it, reaching into an inner pocket and retrieving a small, square ring box along with a diminutive tube of super glue, Loki opening the box to find it empty, "I resealed it, it only took a few seconds to dry. She never opened it but she kept it…it's still there, in a box under the bar, below the register. The key's under the till. Would you…?"

"I give you my word."

"And tell her…tell her I'll see her there...but to take her time."

"Done. How do I get back?"

"You won't be there physically but you can use the link to project yourself--"

"The bracelet! Damn it! Why didn't I think of that?" Loki exclaimed.

"Through that door," Will said, pointing to the swinging door behind the bar a few feet to his right, Loki stepping away from the bar, moving towards it, "One last thing…" Will added, Loki halting and looking at him questioningly, "It's time I moved on. Would you send me on my way?"

"Send you on…? Oh…" Loki replied, realizing the meaning of Will's request, walking around the bar as Will stopped the tape in the stereo before he stepped forward to meet and stand before Loki, "What was your father's name?" Loki inquired.

"I don't know. I never knew who my parents were...my birth parents. No one did. The people that raised me...they abandoned me too in the end," Will answered, his eyes sad.

"It doesn't matter," Loki assured him, raising his right arm as Will bowed his head, closing his eyes, as Loki rested his palm on Will's forehead, "William…father of Vanar, I bid you to take your place in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave live forever. Nor shall we mourn but rejoice for those who have died the glorious death," Loki finished, lowering his hand.

"Thank you," Will said, taking both of Loki's hands in his own before his image vanished, leaving Loki alone in the still and silent tavern.

"May you be welcomed in the land of the gods," Loki said quietly before turning and walking quickly to the swinging door, stepping through it.