Chapter 23
It started with a punch. Or maybe something else ended with it.
Whichever it was, there was a punch involved.
Long-lived as he was, Loki had received his fair share of punches. Having grown up with Thor, he couldn´t really say it had been the hardest he´d got. But damn, Barton really did know how to punch.
Had he been human Loki had no doubt he´d have been knocked out.
"Classy, Barton."
Clint cracked his knuckles.
"It had to be done."
"I will give you that."
Silence ensued for a moment, while Loki pondered what exactly did Clint want from him and the human, across the room, did the same. Loki even had time to resent the fact that his apartment was now officially Avengers-allowing.
"What are you doing here?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "Hiding. I thought you had all been informed."
"I´m surprised you didn´t try to contact me first."
"I´m surprised you dared facing me alone."
Clint huffed. "I know you can´t control me anymore."
"There you go." And the god leaned back on the couch.
"Besides, I can´t say I actively tried to contact with any of you. Tony is just a persistent, stubborn meddler."
"Yes, that´s my next point."
Only a blink later, Loki found himself cornered against the backrest, the edge of a knife pressed firmly to his throat.
"I don´t know what your game is. And I couldn´t give less of a shit. But I´m warning you." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "You do as much as lift a finger to hurt my teammates in any way, and I will deal with you personally. Not Thor. Not Tony. Not… Man, you don´t even mess with Jarvis on my watch, got it?"
Loki clenched his teeth together.
"I believe, Agent Barton" He brought his hand up slowly, and clamped it shut around Clint´s wrists. Not strongly enough to crush his weak mortal bones, but to lightly bruise the area. Just a reminder. A warning for a warning. "That you seem to have forgotten who has the authority here."
"I´ve been wounded before, sir." Clint hissed back, embedding the title in a mocking tone. "But I believe you know perfectly well that I´m capable of dealing quite a fair amount of damage before I´m downed." He shook his hand, and Loki let his wrist go, with a roll of his eyes. "I will be watching you."
"Ah, Barton… Your lack of trust in your former master wrenches my heart."
Clint smirked.
"I´d say it´s nothing personal except that, you know, it totally is."
"What a shame… You and I could´ve share such a particular friendship..."
"Well, fuck you."
--
Thor hummed contently under the sun.
He had taken possession of a high rooftop for the day. He watched over New York with fondness, glad that it was safe, and that it held nearly everything he considered dear.
He wished, not for the first time, that Jane come and live with him. But his was a fierce and determined lady, dedicated to her discoveries, and he wouldn´t love her the same if that wasn´t the case.
Suddenly, the air all around him thickened noticeably, bringing him the scent of something he knew but couldn´t place at the moment. However, both the feeling and the scent were gone so quickly he couldn´t even be sure it had been real.
Suspicions arose in his chest, and he climbed promptly to his feet. He swung Mjölnir and jumped off the building.
--
"Stay down" was the implicit command. None had given it, but both followed it, an arm stretched to make sure the other did the same.
Clint´s knife was still safely clutched in his right hand and Loki eyed it, measuring his chances.
Silence was heavy in the apartment.
Loki shot forward, and Clint lost his weapon.
--
"Sir?"
"Yes Jarv?" Tony spoke from his place at the minibar, where he enjoyed a rather rare moment of peace while he thought of something else to do.
"I´m registering abnormal activity in Mr. Laufeyson´s residence."
"… Abnormal activity meaning…?"
"I registered a sudden increase in the energy readings."
"… is Clint there?"
"Mr. Barton was indeed last seen half an hour ago in the building´s lobby, Sir."
"… Shit."
--
He reached the apartment in record time. He had tried calling both Loki and Clint in the way there, but one of them took the call and that made nothing to ease the suspicions he harbored. He knew those two shouldn´t have been left alone…
Thor landed in front of the main entrance just as he reached for it. Tony looked up at his teammate, and the sinking feeling in his stomach intensified.
"Hey big guy. What brings you here?"
"I have a bad feeling, Anthony."
"We both, buddy." And he pushed the door open.
The lobby was completely empty.
Tony frowned, usually, there was always a receptionist at least… He hoped they hadn´t heard Clint´s agonizing screams, and disappeared after calling the police. He then mentally slapped himself for being so shamefully dramatic.
They boarded the elevator, and it was for sure one of the longest pauses they had endured. When the polished doors parted, the hallway leading to the apartment was as empty as the lobby.
And the apartment door was no more.
It laid, cracked and bent, against the right wall; the lock hanging with the strenght of a pull.
Tony felt his eyebrows arch on their own because really, why would Loki rip the door from its hinges?
Only when Thor sprung through the hall did he realize he was getting everything wrong. He followed.
The apartment was in no better state than the door itself.
The biggest couch laid on its side, the rug was covered with the white and spongy filling of a cushion. There was a burn in the wall that had even ripped some plaster off, and the T.V. sported a nice gash across the screen, courtesy of the foreign-shaped blade stabbed through it.
Thor froze on his place, Mjölnir clenched tight and ready. He gestured to Tony, bringing his index finger to his lips, while his narrowed eyes scanned the room with cold precision. When he started walking and made no sound at all, Tony remembered he was, after all, a soldier and a warrior. This was the calm before the storm.
He tried following making as little noise as possible, while the gauntlet he´d brought from the car assembled itself to his wrist. Thor pointed at the bathroom door, closed and seemingly undisturbed. Tony nodded wordlessly, and took a step forward, only to cling to Thor´s forearm a second after when he lost his balance.
He looked down to where his sole had slipped on a dark, red-ish puddle.
"Shit…" He cursed under his breath, and Thor answered with his own cursing in his ancient tongue.
The blood-like fluid seemed to lead to the bathroom, and they followed once again, stiffer than before.
The door seemed to tremble in anticipation when Thor reached a hand to the knob, and turned it.
Tony would later say it looked like a fight between two big cats (A lion and a panther, probably, he´d later think) when the door opened.
Thor was pushed back like it was nothing, and something big and black jumped on him, sending them both crashing against the floor. Nearly on reflex, Thor used his legs to push the creature off and roll them over. However, the creature squirmed from under him, and aimed a kick to his face, which Thor trapped and pulled, brought the creature closer and… grabbed Loki by the neck.
The other struggled a bit more and tangled a hand in the blond´s hair.
Tony had never seen Loki like that. The closer had been during the New York invasion, but not to that extent. Paler than ever, his widened eyes glared at Thor with a crazed frenzy he´d only ever seen in some wildlife documental. It was the desperate attack of a prey that would fight to its dying breath.
"Loki?!" He asked, in time with Thor, and watched as the god´s glare slowly lost its focus and his hand relaxed in the golden locks.
"Brother? It´s me…" Thor muttered, suspicious, and gradually let go of him, first his ankle, then his neck, and his hands went to rest over Loki´s shoulders.
Loki swallowed once, tightly, and turned his head.
"We should throw some mud on them."
Tony spun on his spot so quickly he tumbled a little, and found Clint watching the scene unfold with little interest.
"Thank God you´re alive… I could already see ´Murdered by revengeful redheaded spy´ in my headstone." He sighed in relief and slapped his forearm. Clint arched an eyebrow, smirking.
"I thought you trusted your little fling…"
"Are you nuts? Why would I ever trust him?" Tony smirked back. "What the fuck happened?" He asked, ignoring the grunted ´get off me, you oaf´ and the ´not until you´ve calmed down´ that came from the floor.
Clint sighed, and pulled him around the couch. Tony made no sound, but his eyebrows arched slightly at the sight there.
On a bigger blood puddle than the one he´d slipped in, there was a corpse. A Chitauri corpse. A badly maimed, repeatedly stabbed Chitauri corpse.
He gestured at the quarreling gods, asking a silent question, and Clint nodded approvingly.
"He was like a rabid dog, if you ask me." And he cracked his neck. "Help me."
The two of them turned the couch back to its original position and sat, pointedly ignoring the corpse behind them.
"How?"
Clint shrugged in response to Tony´s question, before he let himself fall against the backrest of the couch and spoke while looking at the ceiling.
--
"Well fuck you."
The god stared up at him, and he stared down at him.
No one paid any mind to the steps down the hallway beyond the door.
At some point during their staring contest, though, Loki broke the match, turning to face his wrist that had just started beeping frantically.
Clint watched his face as his expression turned from confusion, to suspicion, to surprise, to panic, and his head whipped to the door.
He then found himself flying across the air in the grip of the god until they landed behind the couch. He was just about to ask what the fuck had gotten into Loki, when the door was ripped off.
That was when his instincts kicked in. He crouched as low as he could, making no sound as he took deep breaths to stabilize the adrenaline that had started pumping through his veins.
Just a second later, Loki had stolen his knife and thrown himself against the invader. Following his moves, Clint sprung forward and watched as the god stabbed the alien viciously on any place he could reach. It was impressing, really, watching the usually so collected Loki lose control like that.
The alien´s legs gave out, and Loki let it slip into a puddle of its own blood before he bounced back. Clint had just crouched again to check the Chitauri for any remaining life signs, when he felt every hair in his head stand on edge.
The blast flew over his head and grazed the front of Loki´s shirt only because the god stepped sideways at the last second.
Clint froze on his spot barely an instant, and then spun around to face the second alien.
The Chitauri stood at the threshold, with an odd-shaped blade raised to point at them. It glowed for a second before shooting another blast. Clint didn`t dare tearing his gaze off the attacker, but due to the lack of noise behind him, he assumed Loki had managed to dodge again. The Chitauri changed its stance, and threw the blade against them just as two of Clint´s knives stabbed themselves in his shoulder and stomach.
It was Clint who rushed past the god and dragged him by his arm until he had safely closed the bathroom door behind them. The brunet took a second to breathe deeply again, and watched Loki, who was apparently in some kind of shock.
Then they heard the new set of footsteps.
--
"I´d say you should take him to get therapy or something." Clint shrugged. "But he deserves it."
"Asshole."
"You mean he doesn´t?"
"… Need therapy? Or deserve this?"
"Both."
"… Shut up." And he looked around the apartment. "We didn´t see any other body when we came here. What happened to the second one?"
Clint shrugged. "Must´ve escaped. We can look for it later."
Tony sighed, and clapped him loudly on the back.
"Thank you."
"You owe me. Big time." Clint looked uneasy for a second. "He´s going to get killed if he doesn´t get his powers back, right?"
"If only... Apparently death is too merciful for the fuckers."
"I still think we should let S.H.I.E.L.D. know."
"It would be counterproductive… Thor would tear the base apart the moment they start trying to get information out of him."
"I think…"
"I think you should leave my apartment." Apparently, Loki had been deemed stable enough to be set free from Thor´s grasp, and had scurried over to them.
"Are you kidding me?" Tony arched an eyebrow. "This place is not safe anymore, how did they even find you?" He pulled Loki down on the couch with them, and mentally cheered Clint for not raising immediately after.
Loki pursed his thin lips. "I believe it shares connection to the fact that I used a lot of magic in this space, to create the fake scepter and try your device."
"… Well fuck."
"Indeed, my dearest."
"Oh, god. You have pet names." And off from the couch went Clint, to stand next to Thor. "You start cuddling and I´m out, got it?"
Tony smirked. "We start cuddling and I´m out." And he sighed. "Anyways… Nice to see that the bracelet worked… I guess we have to move you, then."
Loki nodded silently.
Slowly, Clint realized every pair of eyes in the apartment were fixed on him, and he frowned.
"No. Oh, no he´s not."
"Friend Clint…"
"No."
"Birdie…"
Loki´s lips twirled into an amused grin.
"I said no."
"Don´t be such a baby…"
"You´re not getting that into the Tower!"
"He´s my brother!"
"It´s my Tower!"
"I´ll set Nat loose on your asses!"
"She´d agree it´s the best choice!"
"He´s staring at me!"
At this, they all turned to where Loki held Clint under his predator glance and entertained smirk.
"… You´re not exactly helping our case, Sweetcheeks." Tony rubbed his nape, and Loki´s smirk grew wider.
"Is there even a case, though?"
"Of course there is! You´re not getting into the Tower. Where I live. And my teammates... Do you even remember what I told you?!"
"Oh, I do… However, I do not plan on harming your beloved teammates, not in a conventional way, at least." He rose from the couch in a graceful move, and hooked an arm through Tony´s. "With that in mind, I strongly advise you against coming to find me." He pulled Tony through the ripped door. "Unless of course, you´re ready to see what you´re going to find."
And they disappeared down the hall, while both Thor and Clint were left in an uncomfortable silence.
"… That was unnecessary."
"You shouldn´t have let my brother know you feel uncomfortable towards his relationship with Anthony… You should never let my brother know you feel uncomfortable about anything." He cleared his throat. "You should probably never let my brother know anything about you. That way maybe he won´t use it against you."
--
They remained in silence, as they had for a while already.
Silent had been the ride in the elevator, and the way back to the tower, and silent had been Loki since he´d entered the penthouse and sat on the leather couch.
Tony, who followed his traditions religiously, applied the code for "after being through an emergency or getting the shit scared out of you." And poured himself a scotch.
He looked over his shoulder, to where Loki remained silent in his seat, not looking at anything in particular and still in his blood-stained clothes.
Loki flinched slightly when Tony purposely slammed the scotch bottle on the low table and threw himself on the couch at his side.
"Have some. It´s good." And he offered him his glass.
Loki took it, albeit a little hesitant, and took a long sip of it relishing the light burn when it ran down his throat.
"We shouldn´t have let it escape…" He muttered, hoarsely. "I would have given it chase, but your idiotic teammate got in the way."
"There were probably more out there, waiting for you to do just that." Tony poured himself another drink and downed it in one gulp, before serving a third one and passing it to Loki again. "They will probably tear the apartment down, but it doesn´t matter. Good thing you have used next to nothing of your magic in here, huh?"
"One would think so…" Loki twirled the glass, staring into the liquid as if it held the meaning of life. Tony huffed lightly, and wrapped a hand around his nape. When it wasn´t immediately shrugged off (because yes, despite what he might have said, they did have their cuddly moments, but right now the mood was a bit… Tense.) he rubbed slowly, as if trying to ease the knot of muscles beneath his hand.
"Go take a shower, Loks."
"Don't tell me what to do."
Tony grinned. That was more like it.
"Fine, then. I´m certainly in need of a shower. And perhaps a moment in the Jacuzzi. Have fun sitting alone while all that blood crusts on you." And he stepped off the couch. Loki made no sound or moved to follow him, but he let it slip. After all, the pale hand that pulled the shower door open five minutes later spoke more than anything else.
Even in the Jacuzzi later that night, they were both still unnervingly silent.
Tony was already planning on how to install a replica of the Chitauri tracer into Jarvis´ system, when the low whisper shook him of his thoughts.
"Come here."
He smirked.
"So you´re not that freaked out after all… I declare happy survivor sex?" But the lack of an expression in Loki´s face made his chest burn.
"Anthony."
He didn´t notice when his smirk softened into a smile. He skidded through the water until he was pressed against Loki´s side, and wrapped an arm around the taller man´s waist.
"Say that again."
Loki turned to hide his face in the billionaire´s neck, who frowned for a second in confusion, before he felt the bite and the light smile.
"Anthony."
He smiled again, and resumed watching the city´s skyline as it got darker and darker. If just for now, things were fine enough.
He wished he didn´t know it was just temporal.