Title: Who Wants To Live Forever?
Pairing/Characters: Adam/Loki (x-over with Avengers/Norse Mythology), Hel
Rating (Word Count): PG-13 (2000)
Warning(s): Temporary Character Death
Author's notes: Blame it all on leela_cat who said, "You could write Loki/Adam..." *face palm* I don't even know.

Written for the "Queen" prompt.

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Adam heard his musical cue and lifted the mic to his mouth, softly singing, "There's no time for us…" into the darkness. Green glow sticks picked out random faces in the crowd and Adam looked up, the compelling gaze of a stranger capturing his attention.

"Who dares to love forever… when love has died?" Adam crooned, and gave up as he stared right back at the man. The green that glowed in the night seemed to gather directly in the stranger's eyes.

Curling his lips in a challenge, he sang directly to the man, "Touch my world with your fingertips."




Fans stretched out as far as the eye could see while Adam stood in the wings, chills racing across his skin as Freddie Mercury's recorded voice sang the second verse of Bohemian Rhapsody. From beyond the grave, Freddie touched a chord in all of them…

…All except that one man, standing about five people deep from center stage, diagonal to where Adam was standing. He was tall, towering over those around him, and he was staring back at Adam with a small twist to his lips. That gaze pinned Adam in place.

But real fans didn't ignore Freddie Mercury. Ever




"You've got an admirer, mate," Brian said, nodding to where the stranger stood, still staring holes into Adam. Two hours into the concert, midway through the fucking encore, even, and he didn't think the man had so much as blinked.

But Adam didn't have time for that. Gulping his water, he cleared his mouth just in time to belt out the opening lyrics to We Will Rock You.

He'd finish this concert, give the fans everything they'd come for, gather the funds necessary to find a fucking cure for AIDS once and for all… and then he'd find his stranger.




Used to being surrounded by his pocket-sized band, Adam was taken aback when he finally made it through the throngs and stood before the man he'd come to think of as his stranger.

He was huge, at least half a foot taller than Adam, and gorgeous. Shining black hair that hung past his shoulders, pale skin, and eyes so green they put the glow sticks bobbing above the heads of the dispersing crowd to shame.

"Please tell me you speak English," Adam begged, using his best 'fuck me' eyes.

"We will have no trouble communicating, young Midgardian," the man murmured.




Adam and the stranger were in the midst of thousands of fans, but it was as if someone had blocked off a ten foot radius around him and…

"What's your name, handsome? I can't keep thinking of you as stranger."

"I am Loki."

Adam laughed. "What, like the god of mischief?"

Loki leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of Adam's ear as he whispered, "And Chaos."

The shiver of pleasure that raced through Adam was suddenly overwhelmed by a piercing pain that flooded his chest. He looked down in shock and saw an emerald-studded knife buried in his heart.




Loki watched as his beautiful victim stumbled back from him, betrayal brightening his eyes for a moment. It was a shame he'd had to kill him so soon, but Loki was frighteningly weak after his latest escape from Asgardian justice.

As Lambert floundered, the crowd around them took notice of the fact that their beloved musician had just been stabbed, and chaos rippled out from their location, screams echoing between the buildings flanking the street on which they stood.

With every trampling foot, every flush of fear, Loki felt himself grow more powerful.

Chaos' sweet flavour burst upon his tongue.




Riding the high that filled him as the crowd grew more panicked, Loki looked down at Lambert, who was slowly sinking to his knees. Loki's entire being swelled with power, with arousal.

He reached down and wrapped his hands around Lambert's arms, pulling him up until his feet left the ground. Lambert's hand, wrapped around the hilt of Loki's dagger, fell away and Loki pressed forward, feeling the hilt dig into his sternum as he covered Lambert's slackened lips with his own.

Loki lapped up the heady essence of life as it slowly faded from the body in his arms.




Hel's message was clear. Come collect your human. It was not his time.

Loki rolled his eyes and banished the message with a careless wave of his hand. He had too much to do to play fetch and carry for his daughter. If she was so concerned about the Midgardian—Loki ran a distracted finger over his bottom lip in remembrance of that final kiss—she could have one of her servants return him to Kiev.

Now that his magic, his power, was fully restored to him, Loki had realms to conquer.

He couldn't be bothered with Hel's trifling matters.




If you do not attend me, Father, I will be forced to summon the All-Father to deal with your mess.

Loki made a face and sighed. "Yes, yes, all right." The raven that had borne the message grew in size until Loki was able to mount it. With an ear-piercing caw and a great flap of its wings, they were transported into the place between realms.

Memories of his fall swamped Loki, clouding his mind with darkness. When he came back to himself, they were winding through the roots of Yggdrasil. Before long, Hel was greeting him at her gates.




Loki pressed his lips to the cheek Hel presented him. "You're late, Father. One would think you did not desire to visit your only daughter."

"I had bigger concerns than one mortal's soul."

Hel's mouth twisted with humor. "Yes, I heard of your little domestic spat with Uncle. Tell me again how you fared?"

"Do not test my patience, dear," Loki warned, glancing around him at the mansions that stretched into infinity. "Where are you keeping him?"

Peals of laughter filled Helheim, the sound echoing and folding in on itself. "Why, in the music room, of course. He's quite… entertaining."




When they entered the music room, Lambert was sitting at a piano singing a duet with another man. They finished to enthusiastic applause from the souls gathered in this part of Hel's domain, and Lambert flashed a wide, bright smile before turning to converse with the man at his side.

"He doesn't look as if he's unhappy to be here," Loki said, turning to Hel. "Why were you so eager to be rid of him?"

"I am overrun with souls at the moment. I had a massive influx from Midgard two moons past. I'm sure you'll remember that little episode?"




Loki flushed, averting his gaze. His aborted attempt to conquer Midgard. Of course Hel would be wroth with him over that. "And what is the price for his soul? I seem to recall you asked for no less than nine realms of grief for Baldyr."

But Hel just smiled, a small and lonely twist of her lips. Turning, she presented him with her whole face, a view Loki hadn't seen in millennia. One half whole, the other that of a decayed corpse. "He brought beauty into my halls, Father. He paid his own price."

Loki studied Lambert with renewed interest.




"Now?!" Lambert asked, dismay darkening his features.

Loki stared at him in disbelief. "Unless you'd rather stay in Helheim?"

The fact that Lambert paused even for a moment to consider this almost had Loki spinning on his heel and leaving the ungrateful sot where he was.

"No. No, it's fine. I just… do you know who that is?" Lambert gestured to the man who'd been playing the piano.

Loki shrugged, unable to bring himself to care about yet another human soul.

"That's Freddie Mercury. I got to sing with Freddie Mercury. For real!" Smiling, he added, "Thanks for this, man."





Once again showing only the beauty of her face, Hel saw them to her gates and presented Loki with a red feathered rooster. Something like fondness warming him for a moment, Loki dropped a soft kiss upon her hidden cheek. "I'll visit again soon."

"Not too soon, Father," she said, levelling a half-exasperated look upon him. "And not before you've gone to see Fenrir and Jormungand. They languish without your presence to warm them."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. Regardless, dear, thank you for your hospitality."

"Yes," Lambert said, touching one of Hel's gloved hands. "Thank you for everything."





"That was really awesome," Adam said, still reeling from his weeks of jamming with long-dead musical idols. "Though you could have warned me before sending me on the fantasy vacation of a lifetime." He could feel his smile stretching wide across his face and knew he probably looked like a little kid who'd just opened the hottest toy of the season on Christmas morning.

Loki appeared startled at his rambling, but murmured a smooth, "Of course. Think nothing of it."

It was only then that Adam noticed the large chicken-looking thing hanging from Loki's hands. "What's the poultry for? Dinner?"





Loki raised a single black eyebrow and gripped the head of the cock, twisting it straight off the still-struggling body. Unable to withhold a smirk at Lambert's blanch, he tossed both halves over Hel's gates and waited as they creaked slowly open.

Not that there was anything wrong with the gates. They could have opened easily and noiselessly, but there were images to maintain. No daughter of his would ever pass up the opportunity to send chills of dread along the spines of mortal and immortal alike.

As if reading Loki's thoughts, Lambert said, "Well that was creepy as fuck."




Stomach still churning at the way Loki had so casually pulled the head off a rooster, Adam followed him beyond the gates and stumbled to a halt at the sight that met his eyes. A big freaking black bird stood there, at least ten feet tall, and it was happily devouring the remains of the rooster, one beady eye trained on Adam.

Loki gestured to the bird impatiently. But gorgeous or not, Loki wasn't going to get Adam any closer to that thing. "Yeah… no."

With a sigh, Loki grabbed Adam's collar and climbed onto the bird, dragging Adam along.





As they passed through the nine realms on their return journey to Midgard, Loki leaned down and murmured into Lambert's ear, "You'll be returned to the moments just before your death. You won't remember anything that transpired in the interim."

Twisting around in his arms, Lambert stared at him in dismay. "What? Why? I got to jam with Freddie Mercury. I don't want to forget that!"

Loki's lips twitched in humor. The mortal was amusing, if naught else. "Those are the terms of your release. A bit of gratitude would not go amiss."

Lambert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks."





Adam and the stranger were in the midst of thousands of fans, but it was as if someone had blocked off a ten foot radius around him and…

"What's your name, handsome? I can't keep thinking of you as stranger."

"I am Loki."

Adam laughed. "What, like the god of mischief?"

Loki leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of Adam's ear as he whispered, "Something like that."

A wave of vertigo caught Adam by surprise and he felt himself fall forward, clumsily catching himself against Loki's chest. Strong hands grabbed onto his hips, steadying him.

"Throwing yourself at me?"




Lambert laughed, shaking his head. "Sorry, I guess that set took more out of me than I thought." Peering up at Loki with a look of pure invitation, Lambert added, "Want to come back to my hotel and order room service for breakfast?"

"Should you not concern yourself with an evening meal first?"

Lambert twisted his fingers in the lapels of Loki's jacket, peering up through long, dark lashes. "I was planning on eating you for dinner."

Surprise rolled through Loki, followed closely by lust. "It would be my pleasure."

"Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea how true that is."