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Chapter Text

The only sounds that can be heard are the howling wind, the crashing waves, and the mechanics of the submarine underneath Loki’s feet and the warships escorting him. The silence is weighed down by nerves and near maddening. The wind bites at his exposed face as he takes one final look at Sanctuary. Whatever happens, Loki will not return to this place. That he must make sure of. If he were to come back, the only part of him that would leave would be his dead body. Assuming he would be lucky enough to evade a mass grave, that there would be some evidence someone could find of what happened to him. Not that it matters. No one is looking. 

He can’t stand another second in Sanctuary, its land or waters. But there is protocol to follow, an overwhelmingly large amount. Perhaps I am not as trusted as I hoped . After being the captain during the maiden voyage of every new sub of its class for two decades, one would think Thanos would have some trust for Loki. But one can never forget why Loki became a part of Thanos’ military. Plus, the ‘cargo’ Loki will be transporting isn’t of any help in sailing out of the inlet sooner, not with its importance.

And so he waits in the cold, salty air, jaw set as he mentally reviews the plans for the billionth time. Darn protocol will give him plenty of time to review the plans for another billion times. The odds of success are unbearably low. Loki would like to think the odds of outright failure are just as low as his odds of success, but he knows that if anyone would be able to capture him from the safety of one of the most technologically advanced submarines in the world, it is Thanos. Most likely though is a partial success. One of two objectives are met. Certainly isn’t ideal, but is much better than an outright failure. 

“Cold this morning, Captain,” Mind says from behind Loki, looking through binoculars at the warship on the starboard side for any directions. He is more tense than Loki, much more so. Mind has more to lose should they fail. Mind is the ‘cargo’ Loki is to carry on the maiden voyage of the Leviathan . Most likely, he will be running drills alongside another ship, and other ships will observe to see if Mind gives off enough radiation to be tracked at sea. Well, those will be his orders. Since Loki has learned about this ship and the intentions behind the design, there aren’t many orders he has followed to the letter. 

Loki hums in agreement. “Cold. And hard.”

The ship on the Leviathan's starboard sounds its horn twice while flashing coded directions to Mind. Mind turns to Loki while the ships disperse, allowing the Leviathan to pass. “It’s time, Captain.”

“It’s time,” Loki repeats, taking one last glance at the inlet. “Time indeed.” He turns to face the open sea while standing next to Mind. The crew will be finishing the final preparations to dive deep underwater and travel hundreds of miles, and then, finally , after more than two decades, Loki can leave this cursed place and never go back. After impatiently waiting, he and Mind climb inside the Leviathan , now sailing on to freedom.

Chapter Text

Coulson’s in-home office is a mess as he packs. It isn’t all that orderly normally, but now that he’s packing for a trip to DC, his books and papers are being torn out of their homes and placed haphazardly wherever they fit until Coulson can decide whether they’re coming or not. Really, the only things he needs are the pictures and blueprints British Intelligence gave him, but he can’t help but pack books. This whole room is almost filled with books on different Navies. S.H.I.E.L.D., Sanctuarian, American, Russian, Asgardian, and many more. All about different time periods. They aren’t necessary, but they will help pass the time. And a few books on the Sanctuarian military is not a bad thing to carry around in Coulson’s profession. Finally, Coulson makes his decision on what to bring, tossing a few books into his briefcase next to his laptop. Coulson goes through his mental list of things to bring. ID, blueprints, SIS reports, flash drive. That should be all that’s necessary. This will hopefully be a quick trip, and Coulson has supplies in lockers across the United States. 

Once he is satisfied he’s packed, he closes the briefcase. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees his daughter standing in the doorway, partially hidden by the globe on a desk near the door. May holds her teddy bear across her chests while looking up at her father. “Hey, what are you doing? You’re supposed to be sleeping,” Coulson says, pitch slightly higher than how he normally speaks, while crouching down in front of May. 

“Stanley keeps waking me up,” May answers, looking down at her teddy bear and playing with its nose.

“Oh, ho, ho, I get it,” Coulson says as he lifts May up as she wraps her arms around his neck. “Oh, boy, you’re getting heavy!” May smiles, as she always does when Coulson tells her about how big she is. 

In the background, Audrey finishes instructing the next door neighbor on what to do as she watches over May before she walks out into the front room. “Phil, you’re going to miss the plane,” she says when she sees Coulson with May in his arms. 

“Okay, tulip, you listen to me. You go upstairs with Mrs Wheeler right now, and when I’m on my business trip, I’ll get Stanley a little brother, okay?” Coulson tells May softly. It is not the first time he offered to get May a gift to bribe her to go to bed before his late night trips. 

“Will you promise?” 

“I promise.” Coulson presses his forehead against May’s, smiling at her. She gives him the cutest smile before hugging him one last time. Coulson sets her down, and May runs past Mrs Wheeler upstairs. Coulson watches her with a smile, already missing her. 

It pours the entire way to the airport. Audrey fights the traffic as she drives. She’s gotten used to this by now. It is fairly often that Coulson needs to leave immediately. That’s S.H.I.E.L.D. for you. If Coulson gets information needed by S.H.I.E.L.D., he has to deliver it. Depending on the level, he has to deliver it in person. Audrey has driven Coulson to the airport countless times in the middle of the night. Very soon, giving Coulson enough time to board the flight to DC, Audrey parks on the street next to the airport. Coulson steps outside the car and walks around to Audrey’s door. She slides the window down and Coulson bends down, sticking his head into the car, giving Audrey the goodbye kiss he has given her countless times. Short and sweet, a promise to return home as soon as possible. 

“Stay safe,” Audrey whispers against her lips, same as always.

“I’ll do my best,” Coulson promises as he pulls away. The same promise he always gives. 

Coulson watches as Audrey drives away, same as always. He will never take those few seconds of procrastination for granted. Once she’s out of sight, he turns around, bracing himself for the flight. 

“You look like hell,” Fury states as Coulson walks into his office.

“Thank you, Director,” Coulson says as he shakes Fury’s hand. They’ve seen each other often enough to have some semblance of a professional friendship. A very professional one. 

“I’m not going to ask how your flight went,” Fury says as he hands Coulson a coffee. “When did you last sleep?” Fury is well aware of Coulson’s apprehension towards flight. 

“Oh, I don’t know, this thing’s still on London time,” Coulson says, pointing to his watch after he takes his overcoat off. 

“So how’s Audrey?”

“She’s fine, sends you her best.” Repeat of the same conversation they always have.

“And May?”

“She’s fine.”

“What is she, three?”

“No, she’s a very precocious five,” Coulson corrects, smiling while thinking of May. “She announced to Audrey and I the other day that her life would be considerably less lonely if we were to buy her a baby brother.”

“Buy one?” Fury asks, amused.

“But she decided it would be enough for us to buy one for Stanley,” Coulson assures.

“Who’s Stanley?” Fury asks, face falling slightly.

“Uh, Stanley is a bear,” Coulson explains, realizing his mistake. Never was great with pleasantries.

“Alright. What’s important enough to get you on a plane in the middle of the night?” Fury asks.

Coulson opens up his case and starts taking photographs out, placing them on the table in between him and Fury. “British Intelligence obtained these pictures two days ago. She’s the Leviathan . The latest Infinity Class. Twelve meters longer than the standard Infinity, three meters wider. The captain’s name is Loki.”

“One of yours?” 

“Yeah, I did the bio on him last year. He’s taken out the lead boat of each new sub class for the last twenty years. Trained several attack boat skippers. Unknown political connections.”

“What are these doors?” Fury asks, examining the photos of the Leviathan with a magnifying glass.

“Those doors, sir, are the problem. I don’t know what they are, neither do the British. Perhaps our friends in Sanctuary have come up with something new.” Coulson leans forward, getting to the point. “With your permission, I’d like to show these photos to someone. Do you know Tess Eract?”

“Sub engineer. Clearance?”

“Top secret or better.”

Fury presses a button on the touch screen computer behind him. Coulson can barely make out the words for the command. “Car downstairs in ten minutes.” Fury turns back to Coulson, face serious. “Satellite caught Leviathan in the Chitauri Inlet this morning.”

Chapter Text

I suppose I should explain a little bit about the world this AU is in. There is only one planet featured, Earth. Asgard, Jotunheim, Sanctuary, etc are all different countries on Earth. Earth is bigger than in real life, accommodating for the size of the countries that had to be added. The only fictional countries that have any meaning are Sanctuary, Asgard, and Jotunheim. 

My apologies for what is probably the worst drawn map ever. Obviously, geography in the northern hemisphere has changed, pushing North America and Europe lower two create room for two large island land spaces, Asgard and Sanctuary. 

In The Hunt for Red October , the Red October leaves the Polyarny Inlet in Russia, sailing through the northern Atlantic,  in the climax is off the coast of Canada, and ends its journey in the United States. In this, the Leviathan will sail from the Chitauri Inlet in Sanctuary, the climax will also be off the coast of Canada, and will stop in the United States. 

You may be wondering about S.H.I.E.L.D. having its own Navy. In canon, S.H.I.E.L.D. is attached to the United States as a bureaucratic organization. In You Lack Conviction , S.H.I.E.L.D. is a separate organization that holds no allegiances to any country. It is primarily an organization that is an in between for humans and other species living on Earth. Several countries have allied with S.H.I.E.L.D. for aid in anything non-human related. Unfortunately, much of what S.H.I.E.L.D. does is not peaceful, as Sanctuary is quite hostile towards humans. While they sometimes aid in trade disputes, as their name suggests, they typically are making certain the non-humans don’t try to invade human land. S.H.I.E.L.D. has bases throughout the human countries, including several parts of the United States (those are the only ones that matter in this story). 

Asgard is an isolationist society. Everyone there knows what is happening in the world, and about the pseudo Cold War S.H.I.E.L.D. and Sanctuary are in. But they refuse to trade with humans, allow humans in, let Asgardians out, or aid any country in any economic crisis, war, famine, or epidemic. Thirty five years ago, events similar to the ones in Thor caused Loki to let go of the bifrost (which can take you anywhere on Earth in this story, but it is rarely used). Loki fell into the Atlantic, and fell into a coma. He was assumed dead by Heimdall, and due to the geography of the area, it would have been dangerous to acquire Loki’s body. A current took Loki to Sanctuary, miraculously still alive, and that is how Thanos found him. 

For a year, Loki was tortured until he agreed to join the Sanctuarian Navy. He joined with the plan of someday maybe being able to find a way to defect to S.H.I.E.L.D. or otherwise assist them. After four years of training and climbing ranks, Loki was sent out on a maiden voyage of a new submarine class as captain twenty years ago. Since then, he has done the same for every new class. The political officers were charged with making certain Loki stayed in line, and they were rather brutal about it.

It wasn’t until five years ago that Loki learned about Mind. Mind reached out to him, knowing Loki was not there willingly. And that is how they devised a plan. Both wanted to leave, so Mind created his own person who became Loki’s right hand man.

Chapter Text

Zephyr
Rogers Class Attack Sub
100 Miles Northwest of Chitauri Inlet

“Do you hear it?” Fitz asks the rookie listening with the headgear. After so long on the Zephyr , he can easily hear disturbances in the water without aid. He can identify several sounds without the computer’s help. Everything from whales to seismic activities to differentiating torpedoes and subs by its pitch. The computer double checks him, and obviously the computer is needed for exact locations. The SONAR equipment beeps regularly, the radars above them showing imagery of the water nearby, a small dot indicating what the rookie is listening to.

“No,” the rookie sighs.

“Clark, at the Academy we used to do this in our sleep? You hear it now?”

“Wait a minute,” Clark says, sitting straighter. “Maybe. Um…it’s buried in surface clutter?”

“Yes,” Fitz answers, “And?”

“I should go to SAPS?” 

“Yes, Agent Clark, Signal Algorithmic Processing Systems. Give it a week, and you’ll be teaching at Sci-Tech.” Clark works away at the computer, allowing it to identify the source of the sound. “As for what we have found,” Fitz starts as he swipes a screen, pulling up the report from the computer, “a biologic.”

“A what?”

“A whale, Clark. A marine mammal that knows much more about SONAR than we do. Kill the SAPS, train over to 2-6-9 and let’s try it again.”

“If he ever gets on your nerves too much, you can always ask Fitz about Pavarotti,” Simmons says from her side of the cramped room. Sanctuarian Infinity subs have…odd radiation, radiation unlike anything S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever seen besides the Tesseract. The radiation has been almost… alive . Now there are agents placed on subs that know about biology and radiation. Simmons is the agent stationed on the Zephyr with this task. Radiobiology and SONAR work together to track hostile boats. Fitz and Simmons have worked together well since they met, to the point that the rest of the sub refers to them as FitzSimmons. But neither are above poking a little fun with each other, or the rookies they train.

“No time for sea stories, Simmons. We’re in the middle of studying and applying the intricacies of modern SONAR technology,” Fitz counters playfully, knowing what Simmons is up to.

“Oh, and I wasn’t explaining the methods of extrapolating radioactive waves to identify subs two months ago with Tran?”

“C’mon, Simmons, tell me,” Clark says, sounding genuinely curious.

“Alright, fine,” Fitz agrees, gesturing for Simmons to tell the story. What story are you going to tell Clark? None of these stories are ever true, only harmless improvisations. It all started when a cadet didn’t know anything about the Cavalry, and now it’s become tradition. 

“Fitz loves music, and sometimes he will use this boat as his personal speaker. So he gets this Pavarotti-”

“It was Paganini,” Fitz corrects. The secret is to ‘correct’ the other’s story, making it sound more real. Each of their stories have a hint of truth, in this case it’s that Fitz does like Paganini. Which makes for a really easy correction. 

“Does it matter all that much? This is my story.”

“You tell it right. Pavarotti’s a tenor. Paganini was a composer.”

“Alright,” Simmons concedes. “He’s got this music out in the water, listening to it without a care in the world. Then there was a whole slew of boats out of San Diego, and all of the sudden they start hearing Pavarotti coming out from under them.” Fitz and Clark start laughing and Simmons starts to finish the story. “Fitz-”

Simmons stops when her and Fitz’s equipment start beeping. “What do I do?” Clark asks. 

“I’ll handle it,” Fitz answers. Clark hasn’t been on the Zephyr that long, and when the equipment is beeping, that means they’ve run into another boat. Which is a bit above Clark’s level at the moment. Fitz presses a button, connecting his radio to the radio in the conn. “Conn, SONAR. New contact, bearing 0-9-7. Designate contact number Sierra 3-5.”

“Captain, aye. What’ve you got, FitzSimmons?” Agent May asks. Technically, she is a captain, since S.H.I.E.L.D. has modeled its naval hierarchy in similar fashion with other navies. But even at sea, S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t seem to drop the title of agent. 

“Distant contact, probably submerged. Wild guess, but I think it’s a boomer coming out of the barn. Could be a missile boat coming out of Chitauri,” Fitz answers.

“Definitely an Infinity Class,” Simmons adds while watching radiation readings. “But there is much more radiation than a typical Infinity Class. New boat, maybe?”

“Start your track. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“SONAR, aye.”

“Radiobio, aye.”

Leviathan 
Infinity Class Attack Sub
100 Miles Northwest of Chitauri Inlet

Loki walks through the cramped hallways of the Leviathan towards the conn. He had just come from up top and gotten what might be his last look at anything outside a submarine. He pulls his gloves off as he walks to Mind, who has commanded the conn in Loki’s absence. Mind pulls his attention from the sub as Loki approaches, waiting until Loki is close to speak. “Time to open the orders, sir. The political officer is in your cabin.”

“Very well. You have the conn.” Loki walks past Mind and out of the conn, quickly pressing his uniform down, feeling the edge of the papers stashed in his jacket. He pauses before opening the door to his cabin. The political officer, the Other, is power hungry and firmly sided with Thanos. That makes him a danger to Loki’s mission. The Other will soon learn what is happening, and will not sit idly. Something must be done, and it must be done now. He opens the door and sees the Other sitting comfortably at Loki’s desk. “What are you doing?"

“I must oversee the stability of the crew, Captain.”

“By invading my privacy?” Loki asks as he steps inside, locking the door behind him. “At least you do that yourself and not with your spies.” Spies may or may not be on the boat.

“Privacy is not a major concern of Thanos. It’s often contrary to the collective good.” The “collective good” being the destruction of half the universe. Loki sits opposite the Other, staring him down. “And, given your history, caution is necessary. I took the liberty of making us tea.” Can’t get anymore creative, can you? Several times, political officers have attempted to poison Loki via his tea, usually with a substance that only hurts Jotuns and Asgardians. Loki has long since learned not to trust any tea.

“That was thirty five years ago.”

“The blinking of an eye to an Asgardian.” The Other stands, walking around the desk behind Loki. Loki keeps staring forward. He has endured twenty years of abuse from political officers, he can endure one more time. He never knew if any of it was specifically ordered by Thanos or if it was the not-so-creative way many have found to keep him in line. Either way it didn’t matter. It was nothing compared to what hel he went through before he was put to sea. “You have done particularly well on these Infinity Classes.”

“I know more about the Infinity Stones than anyone else in the Navy,” Loki admits. Technically, it’s a lie, Mind knows more. But no one but Loki knows that Mind is in fact the stone inside the scepter. They don’t even know it’s the Mind Stone. It was easier than expected to create a fake identity for Mind. His name doesn’t translate well from his native language, they claimed, and it is unpronounceable by the Chitauri, but Mind works well enough. He volunteered to be part of the Navy, and has since proven to work well alongside Loki. It was believed by the higher ups that since Mind willingly joined, they will stop Loki if he tries anything. 

“Perhaps more than anyone outside of Asgard. Which makes you both useful and very dangerous.”

“Dangerous to the enemies of Thanos,” Loki assures.

“No, dangerous to your enemies. There was a time when you would have killed me gladly given the opportunity.” Loki’s breath hitches when the Other loosely wraps his six-fingered hand around his throat from behind. “And how am I to know you won’t try?”

“I have sailed for Thanos for over thirty years, and have followed every order,” Loki answers, hiding his shaky hands under the desk. 

“Key,” the Other demands, tightening his grip a smidge. Loki shoves his hand in his pocket, pulling out the key he must carry at all times. Sanctuarian Navy protocol is that the captain and political officer both carry keys. Everything from missile launches to opening the safe containing the orders requires two keys, preventing any one man from sabotaging the mission. He hands the key to the Other when the Other slides his key in, his other hand not budging on Loki’s throat. Despite the… unique position Loki is in, he still must carry his set of keys. Mind and the political officer are the only ones on any voyage that knows what happened to Loki. If any were to know Loki was not here willingly, there could be a mutiny to dispose of him. But Thanos decided that he was too valuable to allow something like that. “I suggest we open our orders, Captain.”

Loki hears the click of the lock and the safe door slide open. The Other roughly hands the paper to him, once again tightening his grip on his throat. Loki holds the papers close to him, starting to feel slightly dizzy. “We’re to proceed north to grid square reference 54-90 and rendezvous with Q Submarine Order . Captain Maw’s boat.”

“You know Ebony Maw?” the Other asks.

“From before I was a sailor.” When he tortured me day and night. “Having made contact, we are to run a series of drills. Maw will hunt us while we test our ship. Then we will separate, testing other aspects of our ship. Then we are to return to Chitauri Inlet on or about the sixteenth of this month.”

“I would like to make a request, Captain ,” the Other sneers. “It isn’t protocol, but I would like to post these orders to the crew.” Strategic. Then the entire crew will know the minute I go against them . “If not, I may have to further my investigation into Mind.”

Loki’s heart stops for a brief second. “You are investigating Mind?”

The Other squeezes Loki’s throat shut, probably retaliating for Loki’s interruption. “I found some inconsistencies in his files. Small, likely mistakes made by records by no fault of his. But if I told our Lord Thanos, he might start to wonder if they really are small mistakes. After all, Mind has repeatedly requested to be under your command, and I understand you have grown attached. An investigation would be reasonable, and I’m sure you know what happens to officers under investigation.”

“Hh- Mind is n-no trai-hng-tor. Keep, ungh, them ou-out of this,” Loki manages to squeak out, quickly growing light headed. 

“Then you better let me post our orders, for his sake.” The Other sets the proper paperwork on the desk, a pen next to it. He still needs Loki’s signature and date, otherwise the Other will go against protocol, something that can be heavily punished. Loki grabs the pen and shakily signs his name and indicates the date. Only then does the Other let go of him. “Thank you, Captain,” he says as Loki gasps for breath. “I shall hand these off to Mind to be announced to the crew.”

The Other turns around to leave, and that is when Loki strikes.

Thanos has done many things to hinder Loki’s ability to escape. He constantly wears bands under his sleeves that both block his sorcery and hide him from Heimdall. But they have not found a way to constantly weaken his strength. And even after being choked, Loki is much stronger than the Other.

Loki grabs the Other by the throat, pulling him back and slamming his head on the edge of the desk a few times before dropping him to the ground. The Other lies motionless, and Loki bends down to check his pulse. When he finds none, Loki grabs the orders from the Other’s hand before standing. He grabs the Other’s glass of tea and spills the tea across the ground before dropping the glass, shards shooting across the room. 

Loki sits down, setting the orders on top of the paperwork he was forced to sign before grabbing the papers he had kept hidden in the inside pocket of his jacket. This isn’t the first time he has worked with the Other. The Other is one to hurt him, yes, but to never remove any clothing. He really should have thought to be more careful, especially since he assumed correctly that Loki was conspiring against Thanos. Loki unfolds the fake orders and sets them on the table, grabbing the real orders and his signature and the lighter from the table (many of the captains smoke, so lighters have been placed in every sub’s captain’s cabin). He lights them on fire, holding the burning papers away from him as he presses the radio on his desk. 

“Doctor, report to my cabin immediately. There’s been a dreadful accident.”

Chapter Text

S.H.I.E.L.D. Naval Shipyard 
LOCATION CLASSIFIED

Coulson opens the door and is immediately met with loud sounds of all sorts. If it’s a tool used to build submarines, he is hearing it. Coulson stares at the D.S.R.V. suspended above the air, taking up the room. All sorts of different teams are working on it. An agent tosses Coulson a hardhat before he walks in the room any further. The engineers working on it shout at each other over the noise, giving each other instructions or reprimands. 

Tess is easy to find, what with her neon blue hair poking out of her hard hat. Coulson walks towards her, dodging everyone using the same narrow path as him. Tess is on a stand, observing part of the work on the D.S.R.V. Once Coulson reaches the ladder to the stand, Tess turns around and looks down, smiling. “Coulson!” The two have to shout to be heard over the clamor. 

“Darn it, Tess! How do you keep doing that?!” Every single time Coulson has approached Tess from behind, she always knew he was coming. It’s almost unsettling. Everytime, he asks how, and every time says nothing, and simply gives him the biggest, most mischievous grin. “Have they got you working with models now?!” he asks playfully. Coulson darn well knows a D.S.R.V. isn’t a model, but he can’t help but make jokes like that with Tess. She’s a very fun, enlivened person, and that rubs off on him. 

Tess tuts playfully before turning around to shout at someone, someone that, from the sounds of it, does not know how to follow directions. Coulson climbs up the ladder to stand next to her, wanting to get an up close look at the sub. “It’s not a model. D.S.R.V. Rescue sub.”

“I know what it is, I’ve just never seen one before. What are you doing with it?”

“Well, we’re rigging it with a generic docking collar. So it’ll mate with American, British, just about anybody’s sub,” Tess explains, pointing at specific parts of the blueprints she has laid in front of them. “We can get it anywhere in the world in twenty four hours.” Tess pauses, observing some of the engineers above them. “How’s your back?”

“Fine,” Coulson answers, pushing back the questions about, well, that . “You got a minute?”

“What for?” 

“I got some photos of a new Sanctuarian sub I’ve been dying to show you.”

“Sounds fun. Class?” Tess asks as she starts to climb down the ladder, Coulson following her. 

“Infinity.” Coulson glances around for any listening ears. “I know that you have a particular interest in Infinities. And this sub, it’s different. I don’t know what the changes are for. Neither do the British. If there’s anyone that will know, it’s you.”

Tess’s face falls. “What type of differences?” she asks as she opens a door into an office. Not hers, at least not permanently. She travels around a lot. It was a request when she first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. 

Coulson hands Tess a manilla envelope holding all of the photos. Tess pulls them out and grabs a magnifying glass, one often used during these consultations. She sits at her desk, pouring over the photos. “Bigger than a regular Infinity. What are these doors?”

“You don’t miss much, do you? Those are the changes. They’re too big to be torpedo tubes. Could you launch an I.C.B.M. horizontally?”

“Sure, why would you want to? They’re symmetrical. Right down the long axis of the sub.”

“How about a towed SONAR array?” Coulson suggests.

“Nope. Too close to the screws.” Tess’s eyebrows crease after a moment. “This could be a caterpillar.” 

“A what?”

“A caterpillar drive. Magneto-hydrodanamic propulsion. You follow?”

“No.”

“It’s like a jet engine for the water,” Tess explains. “Goes in the front, gets squirted out the back. Only it’s got no moving parts, so it’s very, very quiet.”

Crap! “Like how quiet?”

“It’s doubtful our SONAR would even pick it up. And if it did, it would sound like a seismic anomaly. Anything but a submarine.” Tess pauses, giving Coulson a hard look. “S.H.I.E.L.D. toyed with the idea a few years back, got nothing from it. They really built this? This isn’t a model?”

“She put to sea this morning,” Coulson answers solemnly.

Tess leans back, sighing. “This could park a couple hundred warheads off any major coastal city, and no one would know until it was too late.” Tess pulls the hair tie keeping her bun up out, nervously messing with her hair. “The worst part is that was the good news. Comparatively, at least.” 

“What’s the bad news?” Coulson asks, somehow managing to get a lot more nervous. 

Tess sighs, leaning closer to Coulson. “We locked the door, right?” Coulson nods, glancing at the door again to double check. “You know that there’s been…odd radiation readings from the Infinity Classes, right?” 

Coulson nods. “Enough to put radiobios on every S.H.I.E.L.D. boat. I don’t understand the science, but I’ve been told that the radiation has some shocking similarities to life.”

“Yes. And you’ve heard of the Tesseract?”

“The cube or you?” Coulson jokes, referencing Tess’s surname being Eract. 

“The cube. Before I worked on submarines, I consulted on the Tesseract. Very few people know that. Technically, I shouldn’t be telling you that. A lot of research on the Tesseract has been classified, and for good reason. But I’ve seen the reports on Infinity radiation. And it is similar to the readings from the Tesseract.”

“You’re saying Sanctuary has Tesseract technology?”

“Not necessarily. There are some Norse myths about other objects connected to the Tesseract. The Tesseract did end up having ties to Asgard, and existing. Those myths are worth looking into now, if one out of six objects ended up being real. And terrifyingly powerful. Each object was said to have control over different aspects of the universe. Space, mind, reality, power, time, and soul. The Tesseract would be Space. And now it’s starting to look like Sanctuary has access to at least one of these other objects.”

“So you think they’re using these objects? Infinities have been around for seven years, why is this only bad news now?”

“Because of this,” she answers, holding her magnifying glass above the anomaly she spotted. Coulson looks over her shoulder to examine it. “You see the torpedo tubes?”

“Shape is different from the other Infinities, but that’s all I noticed before.” 

“The shape is different because of these added parts at the tips,” Tess says, pointing to the parts. “They look similar to Hydra tech that held Tesseract energy.”

“They’re…energizing their torpedoes?”

“Something along those lines. You know how powerful the Tesseract is? You can see why the Leviathan is so dangerous. Between the caterpillar drive and weapons of even more mass destruction than normal, this boat is easily the most dangerous one in the Sanctuarian Navy.”

“And it’s at sea. Only just out of Chitauri Inlet. With a captain we don’t know all that much about, whose tactics are often surprising.” Coulson’s jaw sets as his mind takes off running. “You know where the Tesseract is now? On a base on the Massachusetts coast. Somewhere the Leviathan can get to easily. Sanctuary has figured out how to use these objects into weapons, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they want more.” 

Tess’s face pales. “Yes, they would.” 

“I’ll make certain that doesn’t happen,” Coulson assures when Tess starts to tear up. “I’m reporting all of this directly to Fury. He’ll move the Tesseract to somewhere without naval access. Then Sanctuary will have to at the least make a deadly plane instead of a sub. And I’m sure they aren’t after the Tesseract this instant. I’m sure they’re running drills, testing the caterpillar drive and all.”

“I, I know,” Tess answers, rubbing her eyes. “Just a little…attached to the people there.”

“There is no way we are going to hand over the Tesseract.”

Chapter Text

Leviathan
Infinity Class Attack Sub
c. 100 Miles Northwest of Chitauri Inlet

“Are you alright, Captain?” Doctor Trom asks as the Other’s body is put in a body bag. Trom is Krylorian, his pink skin standing out against his salt and pepper hair. 

“Oh, yes. It’s just, to die from something as small as slipping on tea,” Loki responds, sounding mournful. All his life, he has excelled at acting, and proven to be very convincing. That skill has been used almost constantly since he washed up in Sanctuary. 

“You’re blaming yourself, Captain. It was an accident,” Trom insists. “You’ll feel better when we put in.”

“Put in?” Putting in is when a ship lands. 

“Well, to base, Captain. We cannot go on without a political officer.” That is true, protocol requires political officers almost always.

“Doctor, this is a combat vessel of the Sanctuarian Navy, and I’m a senior combat officer. We do not cancel operations because of accidents.” Loki nudges Trom closer to him to allow the two men carrying the Other’s body by in the narrow hallway. Loki glances around, and sees a Chitauri in a nearby room. “Seaman, come here.” After a moment’s hesitation, he walks over to Loki, Strom, the men holding the Other, and Mind, who just entered. “Your name?”

“Cook’s assistant, Shtrugnaf, sir.”  

“I want you and Doctor Trom to witness this,” Loki continues as he opens the Other’s body bag. “I am removing Officer Other’s missile key, and I’m keeping it myself.” He puts his new key into his pocket alongside the other key as Trom and Shtrugnaf stiffen. After Loki gestures them to, the men carry the Other away. 

“Captain, I think we should report this to Fleet Command,” Trom suggests.

“I’m afraid that’s impossible, Doctor. Our orders are for strict radio silence,” Mind says as he hands Loki the fake orders. Loki dismisses Shtrugnaf as he takes the orders and reads through them again. 

“This is most unnerving, Captain. The reason for having two missile keys is so that no one man may…,” Trom insists, trailing off. 

“May?”

“May arm the missiles. Perhaps I should keep the key.”

“Thank you, that will be all, Doctor,” Loki says firmly. 

“Captain-”

“When I address the crew, then you will understand,” Loki explains. 

“Yes, sir,” he says, resigned, as he turns to leave. 

“Trom, I will try to forget your comments when I give my report.” Trom is mostly harmless if he is convinced he is doing what is best for the Sanctuarian Navy. A little fear of being reported on negatively to higher ups will be enough to stop his questioning. 

Zephyr
Rogers Class Attack Sub
c. 100 Miles Northwest of Chitauri Inlet

“Holding steady on 3-1-0. Twelve knots at about 20,000 yards,” Fitz tells May, who is now standing with FitzSimmons, Clark, and Daisy, the second in command. 

“Radiation is off the charts,” Simmons adds.

“Have you got a make on him?” May asks.

“Computer’s running through it,” Fitz says. While he can recognize many features through SONAR, the computer can narrow it down to which exact ship they found. “Twin screws. Plant noise sounds like an Infinity.” Despite Simmons’ radiation readings, they still have to confirm it is an Infinity. Sanctuary can always make more classes. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence typically picks up on this before a ship is put to sea, but things slip through the cracks. 

The computer beeps when it has finished it’s analysis. Sanctuarian Infinity Class Submarine. Not previously recorded .

“We’ve got a new boat, sir,” Simmons concludes. 

“Daisy, did I miss any communications?” May asks.

“We haven’t gotten anything about a new boat.”

“How many Infinities do we have recorded?” she continues.

“Six,” FitzSimmons answers simultaneously. 

“Call this one Seven and start a tape on him,” May orders. “Let’s see if we can get any closer.” She and Daisy leave, going to direct the Zephyr to the new Infinity.

“Won’t they hear us?” Clark asks Fitz. 

“Not if we stay in his baffles. Come in behind the propellers, and he’s as deaf as a post.”

“And there’s very little radiation to track from us, if Sanctuary is tracking our radiation. It’ll be non-distinguishable next to theirs,” Simmons adds. 

Leviathan

Loki steels himself as he leaves his cabin. With the “orders” locked up again, as per protocol, he can now begin the mission for real. He strides to the conn, which is bustling with work. Once he enters, everyone falls silent and faces him. “Any SONAR contacts, Mr. Latz?” Latz is the primary navigator. Currently, he appears humanoid with a narrow face and dark hair.

“No contacts, Captain. SONAR is clear.”

“And any surface contacts, Mind?”

“No contacts, sir. Scope is clear.”

“Then it is time I explain the orders to the crew,” Loki says as he steps down a few stairs into the center of the conn. He grabs the handheld communicator from its charging spot, and presses the button for it to speak to all speakers on the Leviathan . He prepares himself for the speech he has worked on the past several days. 

“This is your captain speaking. I’m honored to be sailing with you on the maiden voyage of Thanos’ most recent achievement. And once more, we play our dangerous game against our old adversary, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Navy. For seventy years, your fathers played this game, and played it well. But today, the game is different. We have an advantage S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot dream of. The world has trembled at the sound of our arsenal of weaponry. They will tremble again at the sound of our silence. The orders from Thanos demand total captain control. His order is to engage the silent drive.” Silent drive to be hidden from Thanos when he learns of Loki’s betrayal, total captain control in case any unorthodox orders have to be given, which will be useful if the caterpillar fails. This is why Loki had to take the Other’s key: that is part of total captain control. 

“Aye, sir,” Mind responds immediately. “Ballast control, open outer doors. Diving command, engage caterpillar and secure main engines.” The respective officers repeat Mind’s orders as they and their subordinates fulfill their orders. “Doors opening, Captain.”

“Our own fleet doesn’t know our full potential. They will do everything possible to test us, but they will only test their own embarrassment. We will leave our fleet behind. We will pass through S.H.I.E.L.D. patrols, pass their SONAR nets, and sail down the coast of the United States’ largest city and listen to their rock’n’roll while we conduct missile drills. And when we are finished, the only sound they will hear is our laughter.” Reasonable enough order. The only odd part is the closeness to New York City. Which can easily be explained by Thanos’ need to intimidate humanity. S.H.I.E.L.D. has several bases along the United States coast, several that would be easy for them to gain access to. Which can be used for either Thanos’ or Loki’s benefit.

“Cryogenic plant online, Captain,” Mind says. 

“This is a great day. We sail into history.” Loki turns the communicator off and sets it back down as most of the crew starts singing Sanctuary’s anthem. The song burned into Loki’s memory, praising Thanos and his goals of destruction. How could he ever forget it when it was used during attempts to brainwash Loki into serving Thanos willingly?

“Caterpillar engaging, Captain,” Mind says with a smile. Finally, we can escape .

“Full rudder left,” Loki orders, almost shouting over the singing. Mind relays the order to diving command. “Navigator, new course, 2-5-0.”

“Yes, 2-5-0,” Latz acknowledges, drawing the new route on his map. 

Loki continues to give orders to necessary officers, steering his boat off its original course and towards the United States.

“SONAR contact, Captain! Port quarter!” Kross-Vurgag, the diving commander shouts. “Close aboard. S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers class. Course 3-1-0.”

“Are they turning to follow us?” Loki asks, ready to beg the universe for the caterpillar to work.

“No, Captain. They are continuing in their original course. They’re continuing northwest.”

“They can’t hear us,” Loki says with a smile. It takes everything in him to control himself, to maintain his emotions, to not hug Mind as tight as he can.

“The singing?” Mind asks. It is true, there is a chance the crew’s singing could be heard. But only faintly, and a computer would call it a biological disturbance. 

“Let them sing,” Loki says, gesturing to try to say, “Why the hel not?” In order to keep the crew’s trust, he needs to seem ever faithful to Thanos. And what better way to do that than to sing?

Zephyr

Very suddenly, the computer’s beeping stops, and the Infinity disappears from the radar. “What happened?” Mack, the chief of the boat, asks. He has been standing near the SONAR/radiobio room, listening for updates.

“I don’t know,” Fitz says. “Do you have them, Simmons?”

“No, I don’t. It’s like they disappeared in front of us.” Mack leaves them to tell May while the three of them try to figure out the problem. It could be a technological error. Hopefully, that’s all it is. Otherwise, it means they are witness to new alien technology. Before they can finish, May and Daisy walk in. 

“Have you checked your gear?” May asks after the situation is explained to her. 

“Running diagnostics now,” Fitz answers. The screens light up with diagnostic results, claiming there are no problems with the computer. “SONAR is working.”

“Radiobio is as well. How did the Sanctuarians disappear?” Simmons adds. 

“One minute, they were steady, 4,000 yards off the bow, and now it’s gone. For a second I thought I heard….” Fitz trails off, not finishing his sentence. “I thought I heard singing."

Chapter Text

Sanctuarian Fleet Directorate
Sanctuary

Proxima Midnight strides through the halls of the directorate, wanting nothing more than to walk out. After an injury, she has been filling a position temporarily here. She’s almost healed, but the doctors want her to stay off the subs for a few more weeks. For now, she has to ignore the several people around her and deal with the logistics of a navy. 

Once she’s in her office, Midnight looks through the transmissions she needs to look at. One stands out to her. Loki? He isn’t due for a report in some time, and any reports that would be coming now would be coming from the Other. Midnight plays the transmission, suspecting that something may be off.

It was much more than off.

Joint Intelligence Building
LOCATION CLASSIFIED

“What the hell happened?” Coulson asks as he gets out of the car. Fury had called him, told him he was needed at Joint Intel, that it was urgent, that he had to drop everything. 

“Come on. This is no longer a research project,” Fury responds, leading Coulson inside, walking briskly.

“I got a lead on those doors. Want to guess what they are?” Coulson asks as he and Fury walk inside an elevator. 

“Near silent propulsion.”

Crap . “How did you know?” Can’t mean anything good . 

“Captain of the sub following Leviathan radioed, told us it disappeared in front of her. And that’s not all,” Fury explains as he hands Coulson a file. 

Coulson follows Fury out of the elevator at a slower pace, flipping through the file, looking at the satellite images of naval activity and transcripts of communications between the sub trailing the Leviathan and S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. “This is unbelievable. This is just about their whole fleet,” Coulson mutters as he walks, almost bumping into a handful of people. 

“You have your I.D.?” Fury asks as he comes to a stop in front of a desk. 

“Yep, where are we going?” 

“Briefing for the heads of different intelligence agencies and militaries across the globe. The only ones in person are American, but the rest of the world will be watching virtually. Everyone but Asgard. There’ll be some high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents too,” Fury answers as he gives some signatures he needs before he can enter the conference room. Asgard has kept isolationist policies for hundreds of years. Very secretive. No one knows much about the inner workings, not even who the king’s children are.

“Who’s giving the briefing?”

“You are.”

Please don’t , Coulson thinks as he looks up to sorta glare at Fury. It’s more of a tired, ‘what the heck?’ sort of look than a glare though. This isn’t the first time something like this has been thrown at Coulson, but that doesn’t make it any less nerve wracking. 

Fury gives Coulson the same look he always gives him in these situations. An apology wrapped in a need for Coulson to do something. “You know more about this than anyone else. Rundown on the sub and what’s in your hands. They’ll ask direct questions. Give them direct answers. Tell them what you think. You’re brighter than most, and your analysis of the situation will be valuable. You’re charismatic, they’ll be drawn to you.”

And soon enough, Coulson is at the front of the room, a handful of people at the table in front of him, and several people on screen behind the table. All Coulson has is two minutes of preparation, a projector, someone laying out slides for him hastily prepared by Coulson, what Tess told him, and the file Fury handed him three minutes ago. 

“The last twenty four hours have seen remarkable Sanctuarian naval activity. First to sail was a new ship, the Leviathan . Variant of the Infinity Class, she’s 650 feet long and 32,000 tons of submerged displacement. Think the size of a World War II aircraft carrier. The Leviathan is interesting because of these doors on the bow and stern, parts of a new propulsion system. Magneto-hydrodynamic drive, or a caterpillar. Runs virtually silent. Using this, her captain, Loki-” Coulson pauses, turning to the man working the slides. “Do we have his picture?” he whispers. After the man nods, Coulson continues his briefing. “-eluded the Zephyr , a S.H.I.E.L.D. sub, which trailed Leviathan from near Chitauri Inlet this morning. Somehow, the Leviathan was also able to mask its radiation signature, a trait shared with the other Infinities.”

Coulson takes a few glances at his audience before continuing. “As far as we know, the caterpillar makes the Leviathan undetectable to the SONAR nets in the Atlantic.” 

“Agent Coulson, would you characterize this as a first-strike weapon?” someone asks.

“That certainly is a possibility. It is designed to approach by stealth and to shower its target with multiple independent warheads with little or no warning before impact. We believe these are no ordinary missiles, and that they may be ‘energized,’ possibly by the same source of Leviathan ’s massive radiation signature. This would be using similar technology to what Hydra used with the Tesseract in World War II,” Coulson answers gravely.

“Made to start a war,” someone else mutters.

“Proceed.”

“About the same time the Zephyr lost contact, there were more boats coming out of Sanctuarian ports in the Atlantic. 58 nuclear subs at high speeds in the Atlantic. Satellites found several warships preparing to sail. This is most of the Sanctuarian surface fleet.”

“Conclusions?”

“We can’t know for certain whether this is a drill or not. The lack of activity in the Pacific means this isn’t a worldwide attack, but they could be starting with the Atlantic. Preparation for the worst wouldn’t be unwise.”

“I would like to add some intel,” one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Victoria Hand, says. “I got this minutes before this briefing began. I must emphasize the extreme sensitivity of this information. Before going to sea, Captain Loki sent a transmission to Proxima Midnight, temporary head of the Sanctuarian Fleet Directorate. Contents of the transmission are unknown, but Midnight immediately called for an audience with Thanos, and within minutes of that meeting, their fleet sailed with orders to hunt Leviathan and sink her.

“Sink her?” several start repeating in shock before the room turns to chaos (not to mention the conference call going at the same time). 

“They’ve got a madman on their hands.”

“If it gets within 500 miles of the coast, we’ll have less than two minutes’ warning.”

“With radiation like that, it’s going to kill anyone near it if it’s sunk.” 

The conference spirals into more and more danger as Coulson sits next to Fury, his briefing done. Now it is time for everyone to discuss possible plans of action. Coulson doesn’t pay much attention to the others, instead focusing on what he knows. What is Loki doing? Why would he abandon orders and sail deep into the Atlantic? As Coulson thinks, he starts to develop a theory. Realizing something, he slaps the table in excitement. 

He didn’t expect the room to quiet and stare at him.

“Wish to add to our discussion?” one of the faces on the screen asks.

“Perhaps another possibility we should consider. Loki might be trying to defect,” Coulson explains.” Several others try to ask him questions, call this idea idiocy, and everything in between before Fury tells Coulson to explain. “Loki has been involved in the training of several officers, giving him the ability to choose those willing to help. No spouse, no children, no ties to leave behind. S.H.I.E.L.D. has found little intel on him, and I’m sure many of you have experienced the same. We know the basic naval stats, the one name, and that he has no family, but nothing else. The only times we have so little intel on a member of the Sanctuarian military is when they were forced in.”

“There’s no evidence of that. And you can’t possibly know what he’s thinking now,” someone retorts.

“I know Loki. He’s nearly a legend in the submarine community. He’s been a maverick his entire career. I met him once at an embassy negotiation. Ever had the pleasure to meet Captain Loki?” After no response, Coulson continues. “Loki isn’t a Sanctuarian name. It’s of Norse origin. Well, actually, it’s Asgardian. The Norse adopted it into their language. The possibility that he is a human or Asgardian forced into Thanos’ servitude should not be dismissed.”

“How long before Loki will be in position to fire at viable targets?” Fury quickly asks a general across from him, someone that would have the number nailed down better than Fury.

“Four days.”

“You’re all dismissed. Prepare for anything.” Coulson is about to stand after Fury’s order, but Fury sets a hand on Coulson’s knee. He gets the message and waits until everyone files out. “That was one of the more unorthodox theories I’ve witnessed in these meetings.”

“You’ve heard worse at S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Obviously. And part of being director of an organization tasked with handling non-human relations is being open to ideas far crazier than this. I’ve got to keep my options open. For a moment, let’s assume you’re right. Loki wants to defect. What do we do about it?”

“We grab the boat, sir,” Coulson answers immediately.

“We aren’t talking about a stray pilot. This is several million dollars of Sanctuarian property. They’ll notice if it goes missing. What would we have to do?”

“We need to contact our agents in the Atlantic directly. If the Sanctuarians hear about this, it’s over. Then we figure out how we can help them. Devise a plan of action, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Finally, someone’s got to make contact with Loki and find out what his intentions really are,” Coulson explains.

“I’ll give you three days to contact Loki,” Fury states, assigning the mission to Coulson. “After that, I’ve got to hunt him down.”