Chapter 13
As soon as Fury left the tower, Loki went to his room to grab his daggers.
Steve caught him on the way out.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
“Night mission,” Loki decided to be honest, but kept the explanation vague.
SHIELD shouldn’t have even known Tyr was looking for the stones. The Avengers hadn’t said anything about it, and even if they did, it was strange for them to be asking about it now.
Something had to be going on.
If Steve knew where he was planning on going, he would stop him for sure.
Steve searched his expression for a moment, “Don’t get caught,” he said finally, handing him a communication device, “If you need something . . . “
“Of course,” Loki assured him as he shifted forms.
Maybe he didn’t necessarily feel like Skylor Walker right now, but this mission couldn’t wait.
It didn’t take long to get to SHIELD Headquarters. To avoid detection, Loki teleported to a place just outside where the sensors would be.
Security cameras, ID and face scans to get in.
He’d need to use a high level SHIELD agent.
Simple enough.
He’d just have to wait.
He jumped at the first chance he got: a man named Jasper Sitwell.
He swiftly knocked the man out, took his badge and shifted to his likeness, and entered the building.
The guard who buzzed him in gave him a funny look, and Loki made up an excuse about leaving something behind in his office.
The guard accepted the explanation easily.
By Loki’s guess, he had about ten minutes to investigate before it got suspicious.
Loki started in Sitwell’s office, stealing away handfuls of documents and evidence to his portable pocket dimension. He could look through them later tonight. He moved on to the electronic files, and sorted through his computer.
He found the files on Infinity stones, and dug deeper.
What he found was far worse than he could even imagine.
He activated the communication device.
“Steve?” He asked, “Steve. Anyone hear me?”
“Loki!” Steve’s voice crackled across the comms, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Loki forewent explanations, “Listen. Steve, Hydra is still here; it’s infiltrated SHIELD.”
“That’s impossible,” Steve muttered, “Where are you?”
“SHIELD,” Loki admitted quietly, “but I’ve got to go. I don’t have much time before they figure out something’s off.”
As if on cue, alarms started going off in the building, and a crackly voice came over the PA system, warning of a break-in.
“Call Fury,” Loki said, already on his way out, “I’ll be back soon.”
As soon as he returned, Loki went straight past the common area to his bedroom. He needed a shower.
Steve followed him, “You alright? Did they hurt you?”
“Of course not,” Loki answered, going for nonchalant as he rummaged through his drawers for some clothes, “they couldn’t touch me.”
“You sure?” Steve asked, looking unconvinced, “It sounded like a lot of fighting over the comms.”
Lately, Steve had been treating Loki like glass, as if one wrong move would cause him to shatter. After a mission like this, it would probably only get worse. He knew Steve only meant well, but that didn’t mean it didn’t annoy Loki any less. It wasn’t like he was completely helpless.
He could handle it.
“I can take care of myself,” Loki snapped, suddenly defensive, “It was just a bunch of mortals.”
“Highly trained and heavily armed mortals,” Steve pointed out, “Hydra is known for being brutal.”
“I’m fine,” Loki insisted, pushing him out of the room, “Just tired.”
He closed the door with a heavy sigh, and stepped into the bathroom.
The lukewarm water burned against his back, but he showered just the same as he always did.
When he finally got back to the common living area, Natasha and Banner were sitting on the couch, watching tv, and Steve was sitting across from them with a book.
Loki sat down next to Natasha as Tony walked into the room, phone in hand.
“—sounds like a plan,” Tony finished the call, and hung up.
“Alright,” he addressed the room, “I told Fury about the infiltration. Didn’t believe it at first, but I sent the files. He wants us down there tomorrow morning.”
“He say anything about a plan?” Steve asked.
Tony nodded, “He wants you, Natasha, Clint, and me to neutralize the facility. I’ll give you the rundown on the ride over.”
“Hold on,” Loki protested, “What about me? I’m the one that smelled the rat.”
“You’re also the one that provoked said rat.”
Loki meant to argue, but the moment he stood up, pain streaked somewhere through his back. He clenched his jaw, but it did nothing to stop the hiss of pain that left his mouth.
Steve stood up instantly to steady him. Banner and Natasha stared, concern apparent in both of their expressions.
“I’m fine!” Loki hissed, trying to wave Steve away, “It’s just a bruise.”
But even as he said it, he could feel the blood seeping through his shirt.
“No you’re not, you’re bleeding,” Steve said, already placing a gentle hand on his shoulder to guide him towards the med bay, “Come on.”
Loki pushed it off, staggering back from him.
“It will heal on its own,” he growled.
“No, it won’t,” it was Tony who spoke next, “You need—“
“I don’t need your help.”
They couldn’t have that kind of control over him. It’s his choice! It’ll heal, he didn’t need anyone!
“Then help yourself,” Banner said calmly, a little out of the blue, “There’s a roll of bandages in the drawer of the kitchen.”
Silence.
“Fine.” Still fuming, Loki stormed to the kitchen, tossing his shirt to the side and taking a seat at the dining table.
He grabbed the roll of bandages and sat down. He tried to wrap the roll around his chest, but he couldn’t reach all the way behind his back without crying out in pain. He let out a frustrated sound, somewhere between a sigh and a huff.
Pathetic.
And of course, Steve was right there to witness it.
“Here,” he spoke softly, “Let me help.”
Loki gave him the roll, but Steve put it on the counter and went to grab a washcloth instead. He ran it under water for a few moments, and wrung it out.
“If you don’t wash it first, it might get infected,” he warned, “It’s gonna sting for a bit.”
Steve pressed the cloth to the wound, and it did sting, but Loki bit his lip.
Only when Steve had finished cleaning the wound did he start to wrap the bandage around Loki’s chest.
“Why don’t you just say it?” Loki finally muttered.
“Say what?” Steve asked, cutting the end of the bandage from the roll.
“That I’m weak,” Loki said, “I can’t heal myself. I can’t even wrap my own bandages.”
“Everyone needs help sometimes, Loki.”
“But I’m not supposed to need help. I’m a,” he paused mid-sentence, a sudden realization hitting him like a ton of bricks, “I’m a god.”
No you’re not, Monster.
Steve must be thinking the same. He gazed at Loki with an unreadable expression, all furrowed brows and sad eyes.
“Even gods need help.”
“Thor doesn’t.”
“Yes, he does,” Steve said, but Loki knew he was grasping for straws, “We help him train. We spar with him. We have to tell him the best ways to attack.”
“That’s different. He’s nearly invincible. How efficient he is has nothing to do with it.”
Steve sighed, “Why don’t we talk?”
Loki made no verbal response, just gestured vaguely to allow it.
Steve pulled out a chair and sat at the dining table across from him.
“Can you answer a question for me?” Steve began.
“Hmm?” Loki prompted, raising an eyebrow.
“Can a fish climb a tree?”
“No,” Loki answered automatically, confused at the randomness of the question, “So?”
“A squirrel can,” Steve continued, “Does that mean the squirrel is better than the fish?”
He stayed silent for a few moments, likely to let Loki think about it.
“If you tell a fish to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking it’s stupid.”
“I’m not a fish, Steve,” Loki said.
“But the principle stands,” Steve insisted, “We’re all different. Everyone excels in different areas, and struggles in others.”
He gestured towards himself.
“I”m good at strategy and leading, but I’m not the best at driving. Natasha’s a great fighter, but she has trouble expressing emotions. Your brother might be physically invincible, but he’s also easily manipulated.”
“I suppose you’re right in saying that,” Loki answered, thoughtful, “I used to trick him into doing stuff all the time.”
“And?”
A smile tugged at Loki’s lips, “And I suppose I was always the one to get him out of trouble when others tried to trick him.”
“See? Even Thor needs help,” Steve grinned.
“Does that mean I get to call you a squirrel?”
“Only if I can call you a fish.”
“Touche.”
“Alright, Fishbrain,” Steve said, finally standing up again, “It’s getting kind of late. I think we both could use some rest. Big day tomorrow, you know.”
“Does this mean I get to help tomorrow?” Loki smiled as he followed Steve down the hallway to his room, “Squirrelheart?”
“Absolutely not,” Steve answered, then gasped, his gaze falling on something in his room as Loki made to go to his own room, “Actually, you know what? You wanna play a game of chess first?”
“If I do, and I win, can I go with you tomorrow?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Steve only had a few pawns, a rook, and his queen left on the board with his king.
Why did Steve think it was a good idea to play chess against Loki?
Loki smirked as he took out another of Steve’s pawns with his knight.
“You don’t play this very often, do you?” He teased.
“I used to play a lot more,” Steve said, “but I guess I’ve been busy.”
Loki moved another piece into position, a rook.
“Check.”
Steve moved his king, and Loki followed with a bishop, effectively cornering him.
“Check. Mate.”
Steve groaned, “Fine. You win.”
Again.
“Another game?”
“Alright,” Steve relented, and started resetting his side of the board.
“How do you do it?” Steve grumbled not twenty minutes later, defeated again.
“You try too hard to save all of your pieces,” Loki answered, as if the simple answer would fix all of his problems.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re afraid to use your pawns to open up pathways for the other pieces,” Loki continued, gathering all the pieces into a small felt bag and packing them away, “And they end up being killed anyway.”
“But then your king would be exposed,” Steve protested.
“The queen, bishops, and knights are there to protect him.”
Is that why Loki was so confident in attacking Midgard? He had others that would protect him? The Chitauri? His mind-controlled pawns?
But that didn’t make any sense. There weren’t others to protect him. He’d been the first to attack.
Now that Steve thought about it, if he went by Loki’s logic, as a king, Loki should’ve never even been in the picture. His plan was severely flawed, in a way that Steve knew Loki would never have been. If he were truly the acting king, he wouldn’t have been the one to make the first move.
A king would’ve sent a pawn first.
Open up a pathway.
“I guess I get to go with you guys tomorrow,” Loki crowed in self-satisfaction.
“Oh my god,” Steve breathed, suddenly sick to his stomach.
“What?” Loki looked up, confused.
“N-nevermind. I think I’m ready for bed now,” Steve said, though suddenly sleep was the last thing he felt like doing.
Loki nodded, and got up to leave, “Good night.”
Steve hummed in response as he closed the door behind him.
He got in bed, taking his laptop with him.
A Chitauri came to kneel at the remains of a throne.
A dark figure sitting on the throne, The Other lifted his head.
“You bring news?”
“He doesn’t know it yet,” the Chitauri spoke, “But yes. I bring you news. Good news.”