Majority Rules?
The Thunder God was dead-set on a mission, to get the other Avengers to agree to let Loki come with him when the Avengers had need of him. Sadly, it was starting to look like he was going to fail. "You can't possibly think that's a good idea, Point Break." A greasy hand fumbled for the nearby wrench as Thor stared down at Stark's newest contraption, a 'car' if he remembered right. The smaller man was underneath the damn thing doing something to it. "Friend Tony, you saw that his will wasn't quite his own. I will be there at all times as well. I ask you to have my back when I present this to the others. I came to you first, knowing you would weight the good and bad of the idea outside of your opinions first." He explained, using the toe of his boot to push Tony's wrench to his hand. "Well... What are the chances your weird Dad-God guy is going to let Rock of Ages out anyway?" The sound of the ratchet wrench being cranked back was the only thing to fill the silence for a few minutes. "Mother and I are vouching for Loki, I feel this will be more than enough to sway Father in this endeavor. His magic would also be of great aid in cleaning up the mess he had caused." He said, grinning at the well thought out points. He wasn't always the best thinker, but he liked to think that he had given a decent argument.
A long moment of silence followed and Tony poked his head from under the car, grease-smudged face filled with a now-familiar look that spelled trouble. Mischevious light and all in his eyes, he gave a little nod. "Alright, mark me down as a yes vote or whatever. The moment he goes rogue, we're all kicking his ass." He said, dragging himself from under the car. "Let's go get you some more yes votes, blondie." He said, motioning for Thor to follow as he dashed out. "Oh, Brucie bear!" He called out into the hall, looking through the other lab to spot the good Doctor at a small desk on the other side of the floor. "No, you can't play with the Other Guy today either." A tired voice replied without so much as looking away from the notebook he was scrawling down notes into. "Friend Bruce, we need but a moment of your time," Thor stated as he followed Tony in. It took mere moments for the mechanic to begin prodding at Bruce, checking for green. "So, random thought-" "You want to do something stupid, don't you?" A snicker and shrug followed, "You wound me, Bruce. But seriously, would you be adverse to having Thor's Brother-not-Brother whatever here with us? Before you say yes and end up in the uncool kids camp, think about it. As much as I hate magic, you have to admit the guy has power, and the cleanup of our fair city is far from done. If he were here, he could magic that shit back to being right and if he does shady shit then Thor can fry him." The rushed explanation and grand arm gestures from Tony caught his attention and he thought about it honestly. "The addition to our strengths wouldn't be bad at all. But Loki will always be a double-edged sword. Would we have any way to prevent him from turning against us?" He asked, eyes flicking between the two in the workshop. "I've been working on something for that already. I figure something enough to stun a god would probably kill a regular person so we're going to have to make a required piece of equipment for him. My thought was to make it a pseudo shock-collar or something to create an anti-magic field of some sort. It just needs to be enough to give us time to enact containment." Thor gave a concerned look at Tony's suggestion. "Perhaps instead of injuring, just cutting off his magic would suffice. His physical strength may still outstrip many of you but this would be the safest option for all parties involved." After many hours and plenty of tweaking to multiple containment systems not unlike what they prepared for Hulk, Bruce was finally on board with the idea. Now they had to sell the idea to the others.
"Fuck you, no, and did I mention fuck you?" "No." Well, two solid nos from the stealth twins. Tony understood why and he had expected this to happen. He even expected the kicked puppy look from Capsicle as he gave a resolute "I'm sorry, but I don't think that would be safe at all for him or us." While Steve could be right, Tony had already been swayed to Thor's side so he stood his ground firm. "Then we need a tiebreaker." The Thunder God deflated a bit, real concern showing on his face. He could hide it if he wanted, but this was indeed one of those times for openness. "I beg thee, he wasn't himself when the incidents occurred. I know the Loki I grew up with is in there." He pleaded, eyes on Steve. "I wish to believe in his goodness and fight for his right to prove himself. Loki has always been different, but when he discovered who, what he was... The world was ripped from under him and he fell into a dark place. We can give him a path to fix the things he destroyed." A long silence filled the common room as Steve thought over the words.
"Can I get a vote on whether the prick in leathers gets to come to earth?" A wheezing voice called, drawing four pairs of eyes that were all growing wider by the second. "Holy shit-", "I'm holy alright but I take offense to being called Shit, Stark." Phillip J. Coulson leaned up in the doorway, face pale and sweaty but the man was alive. "You shouldn't even be standing right now." Bruce admonished gently, the whole group surrounding and leading their friend (Because fuck if you could call the man anything else now) to a couch to rest on. "Son of Coul, I'm relieved to see you are alive." Thor murmured, helping the others get Phil settled in. "Don't coddle me, I still have my taser." He fakely threatened, settling in as he was quickly surrounded with comfortable pillows to lean into. "Okay, back up now. I'm not an Avenger, but I think he should have to come fix his mess. And if he moves wrong, we kick his ass. Simple as that, right?" He asked, looking to Thor. The blond brightened with a sharp nod. "Of course, though I greatly doubt he will cause much trouble. He will start here with magic sealing shackles on him and when he proves his ability to be trusted we can then remove them." He offered as an option, looking around the group. "I'm down for it," Tony muttered, grinning again.
-
Darkness swathed the thin pale body, comfort coming with the isolation. The torches that had been lit around the cell had been snuffed out. This seemed to mean he was safe for the time being, but he trusted nothing now. It was foolish to rely on others to do anything. He should have known he would be left to rot, abandoned and tortured when it suited his captors. Fury burned deep in his core and he clenched his fists so tight the nails cut into his palms. The little half moons beaded with blood, and he fought the urge to harm himself further. He had enough scrapes, cuts, and bruises littering his skin without adding to them on his own. A few minutes of calm breathing brought him back down to a cold anger, not perfect but more rational. He had to leave somehow, but there was no exit. He tensed as footsteps sounded through the halls, stance shifting as Frigga came through the door with another meal. Her eyes sought the injuries and for a brief moment, he could have sworn there was such a dark angry look on her face. She smiled and it broke the image, placing the tray down for Loki and starting up some small talk about the books Loki used to read when he was so small.
Time with her flew by both at a snail's pace and too fast altogether. Something about her was soothing, calming, a balm to the roiling poison of isolation and anger in his gut. She left after the changing of the guards, thankfully they were some that Loki recognized in a good way. These were the older warriors, some he remembered dodging in his youth after a prank ran afoul of him or Thor. A tiny wistful smile found it's way onto his face, one of the more gruff looking guards plopping down beside the cell and just talking quietly. "You've gone and done it this time boy," he said, no condescending tone to his voice as he spoke. The tone was more of sad understanding. "Dunno what happened to ya before this, but it's changed you so much from that little green-eyed boy dashing through the palace." His quiet murmured reassurances seemed to ease the tension left and Loki found himself responding occasionally. "I remember one time, you turned my belt into a snake so you could do somethin' or the other." "If I have it right, the shrill sound you made was one of the more delightful reactions to that prank." He answered back, eyes glittering in the dark. "Just don't go telling anyone about it now, I won't tell anyone about the books." His tone was playful, meaning he wouldn't be telling anyone about them regardless. "Anyway, you just focus on figuring out how to bounce back from this." The older guard looked back in the cell, giving Loki a little nod.
-
A whump sound issued from the bed as Thor's bodyweight hit the mattress at full force. It creaked with a terrible warning noise but didn't break the frame, and the large man atop it simply settled in, running a hand down his face and pulling the flask he brought with him from underneath his bed. When it was drained he found himself dozing, hoping Loki was feeling better than the Thunderer at the time. He'd barely gotten enough people to agree, and didn't know how he could keep Loki completely safe if even the Captain didn't think the idea was safe. He respected the mortals very greatly for their deeds and accomplishments but he couldn't see why they wouldn't attempt forgiveness. Another few minutes of thinking and he found himself wanting more alcohol to quell the disquieting feelings in his chest. Twenty minutes of digging around his room and the upper floors, he found a bunch of midgardian liquors. The god downed bottle after bottle, dropping them into a trash receptacle as he went. The buzz extended a little longer, but nothing more. He frowned at himself, figuring he would have to return home sooner than he thought as he finished the last bottle. His eyelids finally felt heavy enough for sleep as he found a tiny sliver of peace in his sleep.