Loki isn’t actually that bad
I sat through the morning meeting. In the same room as him.
After everyone left, Mr. Stark and I made our way to an elevator. We wordlessly went down and down. The doors opened to a concrete hallway.
“This,” Mr. Stark gestured to the hallway, “Is our personal containment floor. I have a few rules, before we go in.”
I looked around. We stopped in front of a metal door.
“You aren’t to talk about this floor. Not to the avengers, not to your friends. Especially not to Matt or Jen. This floor does not exist. Got it?”
“Yeah,” I rubbed my neck.
“We’ll go through security. You can’t take your phone, suit, or webshooters in. You will have to wear an inhibitor. I trust you, but I can’t play favorites. My arc reactor will even be locked, so I can’t use my suit either. Ready?”
Mr. Stark pressed his phone to the keypad, and the door opened. We stepped through and were met with a security guard at his desk. Mr. Stark emptied his pockets, putting his things on the desk. I did so as well.
The guard handed Mr. Stark a circular… thing… which he stuck on his arc reactor. I was then handed two cuffs. Just like Loki’s. I put them on and the other door opened.
This hallway had several metal doors, all with keypads beside them. Someone was badly singing the YMCA song. Mr. Stark stopped in front of a door and put in a code. It unlocked.
This was a small room. Dr. Strange and Wanda watched the glass. I looked, and it was a cell. Loki’s cell.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” Dr. Strange turned away from the glass. “He refuses to talk to us. He wants to talk to Peter.”
I walked towards the glass. Loki did not look good.
“Why Peter?” Mr. Stark asked.
“I don’t know. He’s…” Dr. Strange looked at Loki.
“Depressed,” Wanda added. “He’s depressed. For some reason he wants to talk to Peter, and we should honor that.”
I looked at her. She smiled softly. “We have wards in place. If you stay near the wall, he can’t hurt you.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. I then put my hand on the doorknob. I twisted and pulled, but it didn’t open.
“Oh, let me-“ Mr. Stark put in the code. The door opened.
I closed the door behind me, and leaned against the wall. It was a one-way mirror. I then looked at Loki. He was in a white, short sleeved jumpsuit. He had his arms crossed, but I could see his new cuffs. He sat on the floor, eyes puffy.
“Ah, so they did honor my request.”
“Why me?” I asked, looking him over.
“They listen to you, don’t they? I was hoping you could plead my case.”
“Your case?”
He smiled. “Oh, there’s more than one reason why I chose you.” He pointed at me. “You’re like me. Granted, it took me longer than expected to figure it out, but it’s undeniable.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How am I like you? I’m human.”
“Nuh-uh, not that. On patrol, you barely moved You can fight beautifully, but you don’t bend your back. At all. At first, I thought you had an injury. But with your abilities, certainly you would heal. You never did. Then I noted your body language,” He gestured to me again. “I was raised to be a diplomat, you know. I can read body language easier than any book. You are very uncomfortable in your own skin, even for a teenager. You remind me of the time I got stuck in the body meant for Sif.”
He grinned. “Yes, Peter, I know your secret. They,” He gestured to the glass behind me. “Don’t know mine, yet. I wish to retain my powers, so I can be myself once more.”
“Wait- You’re…”
“I believe the midgardian term is genderfluid. I want my cuffs off. Do that for me, and…” He thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t have anything for you as of now.”
I shook my head. He knew. He figured it out, just like Natasha. Who else could figure it out?
“No. Loki, I’m not doing this for you,” I went towards the door. It opened. “Talk to them, Loki. They’ll listen.”
Mr. Stark closed the door, and raised an eyebrow.
“So, kid, how did it go?”
I sighed, and looked through the glass. Loki ran a hand through his hair.
“Loki… wants to talk. He wanted me to do it for him, but I said no.”
We went back in. Wanda, Mr. Stark, Dr. Strange, and I. Loki’s eyes lingered on me as Mr. Stark spoke.
“So, you wanted to talk?”
Loki looked at Mr. Stark, finally. “I want my cuffs off.”
“Not happening,” Dr. Strange cut in.
I looked over at Wanda. She put up a hand, and Dr. Strange scoffed.
“You just had them put back on. You didn’t even do anything with them off, anyway, reindeer games.”
Loki looked at me again. I nodded.
“Not around you, no. But in my room, I was able to change my form as I wished. Now, I don’t even have that. I have to be the Loki you know, and not the Loki I am.”
“What do you mean?” Wanda asked.
“Asgardians don’t live in a binary society like humans do. Most beings don’t. For a while, it was nice here. Anyway, I am often male, but I am also often female. My gender is always changing, just like the story of Midgard.”
“Ohhhh…” Wanda looked over at Dr. Strange and Mr. Stark. I could swear that I saw both of them relax.
“Well, Loki, let us discuss,” Dr. Strange said, heading towards the door.
“I’ll see what I can do,” With a wink, Mr. Stark left.
The two of them came in a couple of minutes later. Mr. Stark had what looked like a black credit card in his hand. He tapped it against Dr. Strange and Wanda’s wrists, and they took off their cuffs, undoing whatever magic was around Loki. Loki uncrossed his arms, and held them out.
He had scars on his wrists. Some old, but some new. The cuffs came off, and Loki shifted his form.
Her form.