Lesser Gods

"You were not wrong to suspect Eric Selvig resided on story number twelve," JARVIS informed Raeyn that next morning as she sipped at her tea. Actually, in all honesty, it was mid to late morning seeing as Raeyn had gone straight back to bed after her encounter with Thor. She wondered vaguely how he was coping, but did not want to invade his privacy to find out. Although she could keep him company, she was hardly the person who could comfort him for his losses. Technically, she was still the enemy.

"I ran the scans you asked for last night," JARVIS announced after only a moment.

"Steve Rogers?"

"Residing on floor R7."

Raeyn was floored. Her tea mug slipped out of her fingers, but only thudded back into place on the table merely centimeters from her hands. This man, this friend of Thor's, was only thirty feet from where the God of Thunder had resided for an entire year. The walls must have been laced when something to block out all sound, otherwise surely he would have realized before now. Raeyn jumped up, her breakfast forgotten, and strode into her and Loki's room.

"What clothes do I have that are not of Asgardian fashion?"

If JARVIS had eyes, she was sure he would be rolling them. "You bought several pairs of jeans and graphic tee shirts several months ago."

Raeyn's face lit up. "That's right!" She pulled her delicate robe off before dressing herself in the Midgardian clothes hidden in the closet. The jeans were only slightly tight, and pulling her hair into a messy bun, she made her way to the elevator. However, after a moment she turned back and headed into the smaller weapons vault on the domestic level, grabbed a small gun that Raeyn knew to shoot electricity and not bullets, and she slipped back into the elevator once more.

"Why is it of such importance for you to wear regular clothing?" JARVIS asked as the doors slid closed and she pressed the "R7" button.

"I do not wish to intimidate him," Raeyn said in matter of fact fashion. "I don't want him to only see me as Loki's wife. I am only going to see him so my brother can know that he is alive and well, so I need not go and create a poor first impression for myself."

JARVIS did not respond, but Raeyn did not mind. She knew it was not to be rude, so she did not take it so. When the doors slid open, Raeyn found herself in a level quite simpler than the one Thor resided in. There were no files, no obstructions blocking the same glowing glass that covered Steve Roger's prison cell as Thor's. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the elevator and glanced around. As usual, there were two guards circling the cage, but she quickly pointed them in the direction of the exit. One left immediately, but the other took an aggressive stance.

It asked something in the Chitauri language, and of course Raeyn did not understand it, so she took no time to aim the small gun and pull the trigger. A large piece of metal flew out, attached itself to the soldier, and with a few spasms here and there, it was down. Grimacing, Raeyn tucked the gun back into its holster on her belt and began the task of dragging it back to the elevator and sending it up to the floor where all the guards lived. She knew that it would not speak a word of what happened, for embarrassment of being taken down by the Asgardian girl -- the pregnant Asgardian girl as a matter of fact.

When she returned to the glass, the man she was looking for all along stood just inches from the glass, watching her carefully. He was young -- he looked to be the age that Raeyn was supposed to be. She smiled at his familiar appearance, but he was simply too confused to return the gesture.

She stopped by the glass just opposite him. She felt tiny -- while she was much shorter and slimmer than Thor, he was always just her brother, and never particularly threatening. This man, Captain America, was taller, broader, stronger, and with a scowl on his face that read he would not hesitate to fight her to break free of his cage.

"You used to be quite a bit friendlier," she said softly, not removing her gaze from his hardened eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked gruffly, his voice just as gruff as Thor's had been when she first spoke to him. Chances are, even if Loki did try to speak to him, he did not say anything in return. He must not have said a word in over a year.

"I am Raeyn of Midgard."

Rogers took a step back, eyeing her distrustfully. "Midgard? You're with Thor. You're one of his people."

A smile broke out over Raeyn's lips. "So to speak. We are both Asgardian."

"So you're supposed to be a goddess?" Roger's raised a brow mockingly, looking up and down her jeans and NFL tee shirt.

Raeyn shrugged. "That's what Loki and Thor say. I think I just live a lot longer than Midgardians. I am sure that you are quite a bit stronger than me, possibly faster too. I don't think I am a goddess."

With this, Rogers turned to face her more completely. His scowl was faded and his eyes kinder. "I don't suppose you are here to break me out, are you?"

Raeyn shook her head. "So then are you one of his prisoners of war too?" He made a motion to depict the helmet that Loki sometimes wore with the large horns.

Raeyn shook her head once more. "I am his wife," she said with a little laugh, mimicking Roger's motions.

With this, his scowl returned despite her light approach to him. "Why are you here?" he growled, his look turning quite menacing and almost even scaring Raeyn. Her eyes widened with fear and she instinctively wrapped her hands around her belly; foolishly, of course, seeing as there was no actual danger involved. Rogers seemed to realize how he was frightening the (almost) innocent girl and relaxed slightly, but his glare did not leave.

"My brother mentioned you... he wished to know if you and Banner were still living."

Rogers' eyes narrowed. "Thor? Your brother in law?" Raeyn nodded. "But I thought they weren't actually related."

It was Raeyn's turn to glare. Her girlishness disappeared and her godly anger replaced it. "You Midgardians are so petty! They were raised together as brothers! Suddenly it is discovered that one is adopted and he is disinherited?"

Rogers shrugged defensively, but was too surprised by her quick change to say anything about it.

"Well now you can tell the God of Thunder that I'm alive and well," he said coldly. Raeyn blinked in surprise, her usually sweet demeanor returning. Rogers looked away from her and she took a step back, but she did not leave. Her eyes flitted from his and into the room behind him. The entire space took up about thirty feet by thirty feet, and only the part that Raeyn assumed to be the lou was hidden unlike Thor's. It contained a couple chairs, a bed, a refrigerator and a table with some magazines. All in all, comparing it to Thor's was like comparing a Marriot to a Motel 6. Raeyn had to suppress a small smile as she realized that Loki did still care for his brother, whether he would like to admit that or not.

"What are you even still doing here?" Rogers finally asked when it was apparent that Raeyn was not leaving.

"You have not had a soul to talk to in almost a year," she said softly, looking up at him kindly through her green as jade eyes. "I am not going to leave you here by yourself after only a few words. It would not be healthy."

Roger's laughed coldly. "So you're worried about my state of mind, but not Loki's dictatorship taking over the world. Shows how much sense you have."

Raeyn frowned deeply. “You must see this through my eyes as well, Midgardian. You are living on one planet. You are one species, and yet you are just as divided and as close to peace as you were the day I was born, one thousand years ago! You are weak, and you are fragile. Had I thought that you people were close to stopping your senseless killing, your blind aggression and your petty threats for power, I would not support Loki’s reign as I do now. But you are now no longer a waring realm filled with unabashed hate. You are peaceful. Not only has the death rate decreased to almost nothing, but starvation is ending, literacy rates are growing faster than ever, and your world is becoming a better, cleaner place.”

“And what about dreams and freedom? Ideas that our culture is based on!”

Raeyn gave a small, sad smile. “Yes, those are important. But are they as important as saving innocent lives, and ending corruption?”

Rogers seemed defeated. Perhaps he now realized that no matter what he said, she would not believe one word of it and did not wish to get worked up about it.

“A villain always sees himself as a hero,” he finally said, his shoulders relaxing so he did not seem so menacing as before.

“So you still see me as an enemy.”

Rogers looked down at her uncertainly. “Don’t you? See me as an enemy, that is.”

Raeyn shook her head, completely sure of herself. “I see you as brave, loyal… possibly a little misguided. No, not misguided. We hold different opinions. We see different truths. I-I don’t really know how to word it.”

Rogers peered down at the perplexed girl. “I don’t want you to hate me, because I don’t hate you,” she said suddenly, looking up at him with her wide jade eyes. “I don’t want you not have someone to talk to, because no one deserves to be alone.”

"I was alone for quite some time before this," Rogers said gravely. "I spent a century not speaking to anyone as everyone I loved grew old without me. Howard Stark is dead, and his son is practically twice my age."

Raeyn's gaze softened to pity. "I know how it feels to see the ones you love move on to the next plane without you," she sighed, sitting down and folding her legs under her. "I know what it is like to have such amazing people surrounding you and then the next moment... they're gone."

Rogers stared down at her in confusion and slowly, rather awkwardly, took a seat as well.

"I have never seen Asgard," Raeyn admitted to the soldier. "I was born here, on Earth, and I've never stepped foot out of it. My parents were murdered when I was a child. I've had to move around constantly so no one would notice that I did not age. My parents were murdered out of jealousy and hate for not being as fragile as Midgardians, and alone in the world, I did not want the same to happen to me."

Rogers seemed shocked. For a moment, he considered her as someone he could relate to... but no. No, she was the enemy. She was supporting the cause that kept him locked in this cage, that took the freedom of all mankind, and married to the very man who murdered Phil Coulson! Rogers face hardened into a glare once more as he saw the bloodstained trading cards flashed on the back of his eyelids.

Raeyn sighed, realizing this was a lost fight. "I'll leave you in just a sec, but I have one last thing to tell you. Then you can ask me to leave, and you'll never have to see me again." She looked up to see him nod stiffly.

"We were not always enemies, as you see me now. Sixty, seventy years ago, we briefly worked together. I doubt that you remember me, because I did not look like this then. But I remember you because of your enhanced-"

"Strength, yes, I know."

Raeyn smiled softly and shook her head. "No, I was not particularly impressed by your muscular strength. My father was far stronger. But I had heard tales about your Super Soldier Serum, which supposedly not only enhanced your strength but your mind as well. I had passed it off as simple tales told by the Europeans in their boredom until I actually met you. You were possibly the bravest man I ever met in that war."

Rogers blonde brows knit together. "When did I meet you?"

Raeyn gave a small laugh. "You may remember me. I was the girl who impersonated a prostitute in Buchenau to help the prisoners escape."

Roger's eyes widened. "You look nothing like her!"

A small laugh escaped Raeyn's lips as her features transformed before Rogers' eyes -- and suddenly, there before him sat the half-starved, blonde hair, blue eyed German girl whose parents were killed by Nazis and had nothing else to lose -- so she broke Jews out of concentration camps by the dozens. The memories of the half-mad girl flooded back into his mind -- because of her loss, she was easily the most senseless operative working against the Nazis. But because of her actions, the few who actually knew of her would describe her as brave. Bravery had nothing to do with it -- only recklessness with her own life. She had nothing else to lose...

"You weren't actually mad," Rogers accused finally. "You could have escaped them at any time!"

Raeyn smiled and nodded. "Yes, but they couldn't know that and neither could you. It was all part of my cover."

Rogers nodded slowly. "Why did you do it? I thought you people thought that mortals were so fragile that it did not matter when we died anyway."

Her features hardened. "No. I was living nearby when the trains rolled through... I could hardly believe it when I finally tracked down the camp. Mortals just rounding each other up like stock ready for slaughter! It was like watching cannibals turn on one another, and it was sick and a new low for Midgardians. I refused to sit by and smell the burning flesh in the air."

She watched as Rogers nodded, and did not say anything more. She took this as her time to leave, so she stood and made her way to the elevator. The Chitauri soldier was no longer there, so she assumed that he had woken up somewhere in the Tower. She pressed the button for her floor, and when she looked outside of the closing doors, Rogers was still sitting perfectly still where she had left him, staring at the floor and lost in thought.