Chapter 20
When Tony arrived, Bruce was leaning against the edge of a work table, his eyes closed and his breathing deep and slow, with one of Steve´s hands placed firmly on his shoulder. Natasha, along with Clint, waited on the opposite side of the workshop and Thor stood between the, hammer clutched in a hand and eyeing Bruce carefully.
Bruce apparently heard Tony´s footsteps, because his eyelids parted, and he looked straight at him, with a stare that was both too questioning ant doo reproaching for his taste. He looked back, however, a silent plea in his own eyes. The scientist huffed, and let his eyes fall closed again.
"Is it true? He´s here?"
"Yeah."
"Powerless."
"Yep."
"Not dangerous."
"Open for discussion, but I think I can say yes."
Tony suppressed the urge to cross his arms over his chest. It would do no good to take a defensive stance with Bruce already so stressed. Luckily, Steve saved him from Bruce´s scrutiny by clearing his throat.
"Well, now we´re all on the same page, I think it´s time to vote." He sent an apologetic glance towards the assassins in he corner "I understand we´re asking way too much for you, but you have to be objective here. I know Loki has… Personally aggravated many of us, before, but we´re the heroes." He declared. "Even if we don´t forgive, our duty is to protect and do the right thing. Be the better men."
"I can´t stress the ´he´s not an innocent civilian´ point more than I already have, so…"
"Many of us have acted wrong or selfishly before." And how ironic it was, to have Steve say that. The only one out of all of them that could be excused from it. "I think Loki has evolved satisfyingly since his arrival to Earth. I vote we let him stay, and keep the knowledge of his presence limited to those present here." Let no one say that Steve didn´t know how to close his terms so that even Natasha couldn't squeeze herself out of them. The blond looked at Thor, prompting him to speak.
"I have expressed my opinion many times already. My brother has had many occasions to give us trouble or harm us, and I believe his intentions are not as such, seeing that we´re still here whole and in peace. I vote that he is allowed to stay and I beg you to guard our secret, for he is in no state to endure what I´m assured will happen to him if he falls into S.H.I.E.L.D.´s custody."
They both looked at Tony then. Tony, who was totally not in the mood to give a heart speech about Loki´s miraculous rehab. He still didn´t believe it fully, and he wasn´t about to go boasting about it.
"Let the guy stay. We´re watching him."
Natasha huffed. "I vote we tell Coulson, and have S.H.I.E.L.D. decide whether he stays or not." She said, not looking at Thor, and Tony knew there was an ´I´m sorry´ in that sudden reluctance. Next to her, Clint untangled his arms.
"Is he…" He started, looking straight at Tony, who blinked in confusion.
"Sorry?"
Clint shook his head. "Nothing. I want to speak to him later." And he looked away. "I vote we send him to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Even with his eyes closed, Bruce stiffened when all stares fell on him. He turned to Tony again, and Tony held his stare for as long as he could, glad tat he didn´t find any green in his eyes.
"I vote he stays. As long as we can watch him there´s not much he can do without his power."
Tony let out a breath he didn´t know he was holding, and judging from Thor´s relieved face, the same had happened to him.
"Fine, then." Natasha pushed herself off the wall, heading for the door until Steve stepped in her way.
"We mean no harm, Natasha, and we haven´t gone crazy. We´re helping a friend, and we hope if you ever have a problem, even one as big as this one, you´ll remember this and come to us. We´re a team." Behind Steve´s back, Tony rolled his eyes, surprised at the blond´s cheesiness.
"…I´m still going to kick him if he tries anything funny." And she left.
"Can we trust her?" Steve asked Clint, after Natasha´s footsteps had died. "Or will she tell?"
Clint gave him a tired smile. "She won´t." And he went on his way too. "You owe us big time. Tell him I want to talk." He added in Tony´s direction before he followed Natasha.
-
The mood in the workshop was suddenly refreshed, and Thor let out a hearty laugh and smiled broadly at Steve when he patted him on the shoulder. Bruce, however, cleared his throat.
"Would you leave us alone?"
Tony fought the urge to run, when both blonds nodded and headed for the door. This felt too much like a lecture was coming.
The door closed behind them, and Tony sat on a lonely chair. Bruce breathed deeply.
"What´s your deal?"
Tony smiled. "I have no idea."
"Really?" Bruce arched an eyebrow. "Why are you helping Loki?"
"I… The guy´s fine." Toy shrugged. "When he´s not in murderous rampage. I just felt sorry for him."
"Did you, now?"
"Lovely pit of angst, he is."
"Seems fitting."
"Hey!" Tony grinned against his will but it slipped soon after. "Bruce…"
"Oh, god…" And the older slapped a hand against his forehead. "You slept with him."
"No! No." He replied immediately, not wanting his mind to go there, tempting as it might be. "You see… Thor and Steve have this stupid idea that somehow I can get some sense into his mind, don´t ask me why…"
"Yes?"
"And I kind of… Spoke to him and I hit the right spot, and he disappeared, and that was nearly two weeks ago and he appeared again today and…"
"Get to the point." Bruce cut his hurried words with an impatient stare.
"I might or might not have… Kissed him a moment ago." Silence fell after his words, as both of them assimilated their meaning.
"You kissed him." Bruce repeated, as if to be sure. "The crazed, murdering ex-convict alien that tried to conquer the world killing us all in the process and just so happens to be your teammate´s brother. You kissed Loki."
"He… Made me do it?"
"Poor, poor you." And he sighed. "Just… Why, Tony? He´s attractive? Is that all there is to it? I bet you can find less… Compromising people who look just like him."
"Of course I could."
"But you don´t want to." Tony looked away and Bruce ook it as an affirmative. "Are you…"
"No." Came his dry, instant response. "I… Don´t know."
"So?"
"Really, Brucie? We have far more important business right now."
"Not us. Loki has it, they´re after him. Thor has it, they´re after his brother. Do you have it?"
Tony fidgeted. He could always lie. But Bruce didn´t deserve that, he was just trying to help. Not for the first time, the Chitauri´s words echoed in his mind, and he stiffened.
"I do."
"I see…" Ad he sighed once more. "Just be careful… I don´t trust him."
"Neither do I… Perhaps that´s a part of it." And he risked a smirk.
"You idiot."
"Lucky idiot."
"That´s open for discussion."
-
The sight that greeted him back at his floor was that of Loki spread on his leather couch, a bored expression on as he watched some movie on a flat screen.
The god looked over a shoulder when he tapped lightly on the wall to get his attention.
"Yes?"
"I thought you´d be more interested in the outcome."
He shrugged. "Not many people are able to deny Thor something, and I´ve found you to be quite stubborn as well." And he turned back to his movie. "I thought the outcome was obvious."
"Well it wasn´t. You´re going to S.H.I.E.L.D., come on."
Loki smirked, not taking his eyes from the screen.
"Of course I am." He let a breath out, and contorted into a somewhat sitting position to occupy just one side of the couch. "You should order food. I´m hungry."
Tony took the offered place in the couch without a word, and stared sideways at Loki. He looked calmer than before, even a little drowsy.
"Where were you all this time?" He asked, without thinking.
Loki turned to look at him, an eyebrow arched in mockery.
"Cheesy, Tony." And he sighed dramatically. "Looking for you, I guess." He swooned, fluttering his eyelashes.
Tony had time to blink twice before he caught on the joke and laughed, before smacking him softly on the back of the head.
"Idiot. I meant since we spoke in the apartment."
"Oh." The god´s smile grew. "Well..."
"Where?"
"Here."
"… What?"
Loki stretched again, his calves coming to rest over Tony´s thighs, immediately making it clear that he was not moving anytime soon.
"In Thor´s chambers." He added, simply, and settled to watch the mortal´s face as it shifted between disbelief, resentment and amazement. Eventually, though, it just became too much for him, and he broke up laughing. "What, had you pictured me back on the tree?"
"I… No… How did… Why?!"
"Ah, it´s priceless, to see you of all people at a loss of words."
"Why would you come to Thor? How did no one notice?"
Loki avoided his eyes and shrugged again.
"I knew he would let me in… And his and Mjölnir´s presence often cause disturbance in your… I believe you called them bugs"
Tony huffed. "Please tell me you at least worked your things out between telling him how much of a jerk I am."
"You give yourself too much credit, if you think my turmoil was caused solely on your behalf." And he sighed. "Our problems are just as everlasting as ourselves. We´ve had… Disagreements before. The problem with this one is that it goes way beyond my grudge against my lineages, both biological and adoptive. As I told you before, Thor will always forgive, and who knows? Maybe I will too, eventually. Forgiving my father, however, is a much bigger issue."
"Dads are always the biggest issues." He dared to place a hand on Loki´s nape, and made a little inner happy dance when it wasn´t shrugged off. "So you´re good with Thor now?"
"When have I ever been? Thor took me for granted for ages, just as you insist I do with him now. He replaced me with a mortal, and later, with more of them." He made a vague gesture signaling Tony and said man understood he referred to the Avengers. "What I had always offered to him he wanted to take only when I was already broken, and it was the only thing I had left."
Tony whistled.
"Note to self: Talking about your relationship with Thor makes me feel uncomfortable and dirty. And that doesn´t happen often, not in that combination."
"One track mind, pretty much?" And he shook his head. "It´s nothing like what you´re thinking. His mortal replaced me, but not as his mate."
"Thanks for clarifying. Then?"
"As his conscience." He explained, his eyes suddenly blank. "And what else was I, if not Thor´s voice of reason? The shadow prince that helped only to accentuate the golden heir´s light. To keep him on the right path."
´Oh, irony.´ Tony kept his thoughts to himself.
"She changed him where I failed. Made him see what I couldn´t. Made him grow into a king."
"So you´re jealous of this Jane chick?"
"Not at all."
"That´s what it sounds like." Tony was barely aware that he was having the dreaded conversation with Loki. He was barely aware of anything that weren´t the god´s green orbs, narrowed and focused on some point of the wall behind the screen.
"What do you want to hear, Stark? I lost everything. My plan went out of my hands with Thor´s exile. I was not who I thought I was. What I thought I was. Suddenly everybody´s hate, their distrust, it had a reason. My mother busied herself at my father´s side, and expected to heal my confusion with a few pleasant and loving words. And when he came back, Thor was not my brother anymore. Not the one I knew. " If possible, Loki´s words were even bitterer because of the dry, emotionless tone he used. "He had moved on without me, down a path that was not mine. Suddenly, I was the one lost in rage, and he defended our worst enemies, the ones he swore to kill, unknowing that his palace housed one of them."
He took a deep breath, and if Tony thought his voice broke at the last part, he was smart enough not to comment on it.
"I was going to make it right. I would have destroyed them all. The father that left me to die on the ice, and the monsters my people hated. It was only later that I understood I had no people. The Aesir were just as foreign to me as I was to them, and I had been too blind to see."
Tony said nothing. He couldn´t. Instead, he used the hand already on Loki´s nape, and pulled slightly, pushing his calves at the same time. This prompted the other male to pull them off his thighs, and move across the couch, closer to him.
"This is hardly necessary."
"Most things are." He knew he had to add something. "You had someone, you know? I mean… He might have changed but he still loves you."
"To love a monster. To trust one. That´s how stupid he is." And he let a strained cackle out. "Love is not a healing miracle, Tony, I thought you of all people would know that."
"You should give inspirational advice, Loks." He shook the god a little. "Let´s just watch this crap, ok? We should be celebrating Natasha didn´t win her ´kick the god out´ motion." And he gestured to the movie still playing on the screen. "What do you want to eat?"
Loki stared at him, eyes wide and eyebrows frowning. Tony´s hand was still warm against his nape, and he had a little trouble swallowing. He had just trusted a mortal with his life´s story. And he wanted to know about dinner.
"Loks? Food?"
Loki´s eyes closed, and he shook his head. A smile started spreading slowly across his face. This damned mortal… He leaned sideways, and hid his grin in the shorter man´s shoulder.
Tony flinched when Loki´s head came to rest against him, but relaxed on command. It was ok he thought. Both were a bit on edge.
He couldn´t help but to grin at the muffled "Chicken" muttered against the fabric of his shirt.
"Jarvis, call in some chicken, would you? Spicy wings for me and a mixed bucket for our culinary adventurer here." And he reached for Loki´s abandoned glass on the low table. "And lower the lights."
The light dimmed immediately, and Tony hummed contently. He wasn´t about to admit he hadn´t slept well in the last days. Not to Loki.
He settled for watching the comedy flick on the T.V., and if he dozed off at some point, Loki chose to not comment on it when he got up to receive the food.