Chapter 70: The Truth

A/N: Shit meets fan.

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Tony was rapidly developing a hatred for situations where he didn't hold all the cards. He knew he was spoiled thanks to his foreknowledge from the previous timeline, but even still… it would have been really great to know that Malekith didn't just wield the Aether but had literally created it. Not that he had expected Thor from his original timeline to know that sort of thing… it just really, really sucked how close that had been.

He'd figured maybe Malekith had some sort of backdoor into the Aether that allowed him to utilize it without having to meet its insane energy costs. That was why their plan relied on dangling Tony as bait in the event that Malekith made it into the Palace and didn't just die outside of the golden glowing force field that Asgard had.

That plan had ultimately come into play in the end, just like Tony had suspected. It had cost Malekith everything, but the Dark Elf Leader had nevertheless made it to his destination. Zealots like that didn't usually allow themselves to be stopped so easily, that was for sure.

And yet… he hadn't been prepared for how hard it would be to keep Malekith at bay. Even with him and the Aether working in concert, the Dark Elf had nearly managed to overcome them.

In the end, the others had stepped in before that could happen. JARVIS had played defense while Odin and Thor had tackled Malekith with a one-two punch that had ultimately led to the Dark Elf's death. Exactly as planned.

… The destruction of the throne room's beautifully painted ceiling revealing what looks like a bloody reign of conquest hidden behind it was not part of Tony's plan. Nor part of his foreknowledge. If he'd known that Odin was hiding his fucking skeletons under the floorboards, or rather in the ceiling of his goddamn throne room, Tony would have suggested they lure Malekith somewhere else for fuck's sake!

Unfortunately, the cat's out of the bag now. Thor stares up at the far bloodier artwork in confusion and horror, while Odin leans against his spear and lets out a low sigh. Finally, Thor repeats his previous question.

"Father… what is all of this?"

Odin takes a moment to answer and when he does, the King of Asgard sounds so weary Tony honestly starts to worry Hela might pop out right then and there.

"The sins of my past, come to haunt me. I have failed you, my son. I have failed all of Asgard."

Tony winces, really not liking the melancholy in Odin's voice. Old man like that starts talking about his failures…

"Hey. You didn't fail anyone today. Your Queen still lives. Remember that All-Father."

On the one hand, Tony's words have a very positive impact on Odin. The reminder that Frigga survives and that Malekith never even got the chance to get close to her actually does serve to bring a smile to that aged, wizened face. Odin stands a little straighter, bolstered by Tony's words. Of course, on the other hand…

"What? What do you speak of mother for, Stark? Explain, now!"

Thor's voice is a mixture of pleading and angry at this point. Unfortunately, Tony and his big mouth have all but let the cat out of the bag. Odin gives him a look and Tony decides it might be better coming from Thor's father than him. If anything, Tony can offer corrections if Odin doesn't present it well. Like a quasi-redo if it proves necessary.

"Your Shield-Brother, the King of Midgard, is burdened by visions of the future, Thor. It is why he knew where you would land when I exiled you. Why he was able to defeat Loki with minimal loss of life during her invasion of Midgard. And why he retrieved the Aether, to prevent the lives he saw would be lost here on Asgard."

Thor looks like he can hardly believe his ears. But Odin isn't done just yet.

"His visions showed the Dark Elves striking while we were still unaware. Their infiltrator that you slew last night would have managed to sabotage our defenses from the inside, allowing them to penetrate far deeper than they did today. Many more Einherjar would have died. Many more Asgardians in general. And among them… he saw your mother, my wife, fall to the blade of the one you just slew."

Thor's eyes grow wide and turn to the corpse of Malekith, laid out under the ruins of the ceiling that have fallen on top of him. He looks almost like he wants to stomp over there and do more damage, to desecrate the body in his mother's name. Instead, after calming himself for a moment, Thor looks to Tony… and drops to one knee.

"Then… then I am in your debt, King Stark. You have saved my mother's life."

Tony opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, Odin cuts in.

"All of Asgard is in your debt. Including its King. You have opened my eyes today, Tony Stark. I have rested on my laurels too long… and in the process, I have weakened Asgard."

Ah. So he wasn't the only one who'd noticed. Honestly good, because Tony really hadn't been sure how he was going to tell the King of Asgard just how shitty his so-called Golden Realm's defenses really were.

Seriously, from what he saw, this Malekith guy had one proper spaceship and a few dozen fighter craft. And sure, thanks to the ambush and the lack of a saboteur on the inside, they'd been defeated by Asgard's own forces rather handily. But it hadn't been very clean. Asgard had defeated an entire empire of these enemies five thousand years ago. Today, they'd taken enough damage on their home soil that they'd be cleaning shit up for months.

As Thor stands there, slack jawed at his father's words, Odin uses the ensuing silence to move and sit on his throne. Leaning on Gungnir for support even then, he frowns as he stares down at Malekith's body… and then up at the ceiling, at artwork that Tony can only assume is meant to depict the time before Thor was born. The time when Odin and Hela apparently cut a bloody swathe across the universe if the art was anything to go off of.

"You have an older sister, Thor. Her name is Hela."

Mjolnir falls from nerveless fingers at that as Thor himself looks like he's swaying on his feet.

"What? Father…"

"Sit, my son. Sit and I shall tell you everything."

Thor stumbles over to the largest piece of rubble and sits. And true to his word, Odin tells all. It's a whole lot of stuff that Tony hadn't even known. Thor had told him that Hela came back upon Odin's death, fucked everything up, and ultimately led to the destruction of Asgard, but he hadn't told Tony that Hela was once Odin's Executioner, or that they'd conquered the Nine Realms together before Odin had decided to cast Hela out after falling in love with Thor's mom, Frigga and coming to yearn for more peaceful times.

Honestly? Kind of a dick move on Odin's part. But at the same time, from what Tony knew, Hela was beyond bloodthirsty, so maybe it was for the best. Thor though, doesn't seem to know what to say or do with all of this information. In the end, the blond just stares up at the art on the ceiling overhead that confirms Odin's story, almost like if he looks at it long enough it'll change into something else.

"… In running from my past, I have only laid the consequences of my actions at your feet, Thor. I am truly sorry, my son."

Looking back to his father, Thor furrows his brow.

"I do not understand, father. What do you mean?"

Smiling a tired smile, Odin gestures to where Thor has left Mjolnir. The hammer suddenly flies into Odin's outstretched hand, allowing him to study it.

"Tell me, my son… what are you the god of?"

"… I am the God of Thunder."

"And yet, you have only ever wielded your powers through Mjolnir. You are not the God of Hammers, yet without this hammer, you cannot access your power. Why do you think that is?"

Thor stares at Mjolnir in disbelief, as if he's never seen it before. Then he looks at his own hands for a moment… before finally clenching them into fists.

"Because… because I am still not worthy? Because-!"

"No, Thor! It is nothing to do with you and everything to do with me!"

Odin's outburst surprises Thor. Tony too, truth be told. He wasn't expecting the Asgardian King to just admit it.

"I've kept you weak, Thor! I've taught you too little! All because I feared Hela. All because I feared recreating her in you. I've made sure that you could never grow to be the King of Asgard you need to be because even with all of my power and the lives of the Valkyrie, I was only just barely able to banish her all those years ago."

Slumping back in his throne, Odin lets out a heavy sigh.

"I am sorry, my son. You are ill-prepared to face her once I am gone."

That gets Thor to his feet. The Prince of Asgard surges up, the very mention of his father being gone clearly terrifying him beyond measure.

"Don't speak of such things, father! You're not going anywhere!"

Chuckling, Odin shakes his head.

"It will likely only be a few years now, Thor. Not enough time to correct my mistakes. Not nearly enough time to prepare you for her."

In that moment, Thor shows he's more than a pretty face and an empty head. Odin doesn't even have to look at Tony for Thor to whip around, his eyes wide with fury and fear.

"Stark! You have seen this? You have seen father die? How?! How do we stop it?"

Plastering his best smile on his face, despite still feeling like someone just tried to rip the life out of his body, Tony shrugs.

"Why do you think I'm here, Thor? I figure saving your mother should be a nice first step, right?"

Thor brightens at that, only for Odin to scoff. The King of Asgard is sounding more and more like a crotchety old man by the second.

"It will not be enough. Don't misunderstand me, I am gladdened that my Queen still lives Stark. I shall see Asgard's debt to you repaid as well before I go, even if it is the last thing I do. But the weight of my sins and my failures… I can feel it crushing me even now. And if I can feel it, then so can Hela. And if she feels me weakening, she will fight all the harder to break free, which will only hasten my end."

Wait, what?! No one had told Tony that part either, for fuck's sake! Damn immortal aliens and their goddamn secrets!

It did make a certain sort of sense though from what Tony knew. Frigga died and Odin gave up. But it was Hela who had taken advantage of that fact. Frigga hadn't died this time around, but Odin was still struggling for a reason to keep going. Damn it all…

"What if we could do to Hela what you did to Thor? Lock away her powers and exile her until she either died or learned her lesson?"

It was an idea Tony had been mulling over for some time now. It just… it felt like there was a chance to do things differently this time around. Why wait for Odin to die and Hela to break free and fuck everything up? Why not strip her of her powers before that could happen?

Thor looks mightily interested in the idea, perking up like the golden retriever he is at heart. Odin though, shakes his head.

"She is too powerful. I let her grow unchecked for too long. Perhaps once upon a time that could have been a possibility, but not now. I am not the man I once was, Stark."

Fair. Right now, the King of Asgard seemed far from the man who struck fear in even the likes of the Mad Titan and far more like a frail, old man with nothing but regrets and misery. If Thanos could see into this moment, Tony suspected they would be dealing with an all out assault on Earth and Asgard sooner over later.

"Sure, maybe you alone aren't enough… but what if you had help? The Aether can bend reality, can't it? So if I was boosting you, do you think you could effect the 'reality' of Hela's power? Strip it away from her? Bind her to mortality? And then we can just dump her somewhere so she can learn her lesson the hard way, just like Thor did."

For the first time, Odin looks… interested. Sitting back up in his throne, the All-Father peers at Tony closely, his one eye narrowing.

"… There is merit to your words, King of Midgard. The Aether presents an interesting possibility that I had not yet thought of."

Then, the Asgardian King actually smiles.

"Yes! This will work! Hela will be neutralized… and may even have the chance to learn there is a different way, even if I do not live to see it! Of course, her exile and the loss of her powers will not be tied to me. They will have to be tied to you, Tony Stark."

Wait, what? Tony had been smiling right along with Odin until that last part.

"… Excuse me?"

Odin sighs exasperatedly, before kindly explaining.

"If I die while Hela remains bereft of her powers, she will merely regain them, just as she would have gained her freedom. Disaster will still strike. However, if we tie her exile to your life force, Stark… then even when I pass from this world, she will remain controlled until such a time as you deem her worthy of being returned to her true strength. Besides, it only makes sense. Where else would she go?"

Oh no. Surely Odin doesn't mean to say…

"You already look after one of my daughters for me, King Stark. What's a second?"

Yep.

But that and this are two different things! Loki should be redeemable, at least from what secondhand accounts Tony has. Hela though…

"Haha! This is a most excellent solution! Thank you for coming up with it, Shield-Bro!"

As Thor slaps Tony on the back, Tony resists the urge to groan. Instead, his mind is racing a mile a minute. He can already tell he's not getting out of this. So time tables are being changed. Things are being altered. And Tony… is going to have to move faster than he originally intended to.

"… A year."

Odin raises his brow while Thor looks at Tony, confused.

"I'll need about year if we're going to do this. A year to settle things on Earth. A year to get my own house in order before I'm taking in your wayward child, All-Father. Think you can last that long, O' King of Asgard?"

He knows he doesn't sound very respectful right now. But while Thor might not fully understand what exactly Odin is trying to foist upon Tony right now, Odin at least does. He doesn't get upset over Tony's lack of respect or challenging tone. Even as Thor goes to protest both, Odin cuts his son off with a raised hand and a nod.

"Indeed, King of Midgard. A year is more than acceptable."

Tony's mind still racing and recategorizing steps in his plans, he slowly nods back.

"Alright then. Keep in mind though, you already owe me. This will only put Asgard further in my debt."

Rather than taking that threat as seriously as they probably should have, both son and father chuckle. Odin even has the audacity to give Tony a grandfatherly smile.

"Long has it been since Asgard found herself in anyone's debt, King Stark. But if it had to be anyone at all… I suppose I should be glad it was someone like you."

Surely Odin was just saying that for Thor's benefit, right? But no… looking the King of Asgard in the eye, looking at a man who knows everything Tony has been up to on Earth thanks to his all-seeing, all-hearing Gatekeeper… Tony can tell that Odin actually means every fucking word.

For fuck's sake.

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A/N: You all thought Tony was going to be the one to suggest he take Hela, but no, it was Odin and Tony isn't remotely prepared!

We'll get Hela later on. For now... it's time for Tony to get his house in order.

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