Chapter 2
Loki is brought to a cell. He’d prefer not to be in a cell, of course, but Thor’s hand doesn’t leave his shoulder the entire way there and he’s a little too dazed to fight back.
The cell is strange - circular and clear. Immediately, Loki probes the walls with his seidr. He can still access his seidr, but it cannot break through to the other side of the glass. With nothing better to do than creep out Thor and his midgardian allies (friends?), Loki sits directly in the middle of the cell and stares out. He holds Steve’s gaze through the glass. (Steve blinks first.)
“We shall return momentarily, brother,” Thor bellows. “Wait here.”
“It doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice,” Loki says. He still hasn’t blinked - which, Tony has to admit, is kind of disconcerting. But discounting the whole dead-genocidal-maniac thing and the not-blinking thing, Loki looks young. He looks more like someone who should be in Peter’s classes than someone who should be in a high-tech Avenger prison. Tony shakes that thought away.
They exit to the hallway, where they can still see Loki but he cannot hear them.
“Fuck,” Tony says, eloquently.
“How are we supposed to deal with this?” Steve asks.
Thor’s eyes go stormy. “It would serve you well to remember that this is my brother.”
Tony scoffs. “Are we really buying the lost puppy thing? Because I, for one, am skeptical.”
“He is capable of shape shifting,” Steve adds. “Do we have any way of knowing if he’s pretending to look younger?”
Thor nods. “Loki’s shifting requires sedir. He can only hold a shift for so long before he has to recharge.”
“Do you know how long he can stay in one form?” Tony says. “We could use that to figure out whether he’s pretending to look young or not.” Secretly, Tony desperately hopes that Loki is just pretending. He doesn’t want to acknowledge the other possibility - that of a younger, slightly-less-crazy-but-definitely-still-a-bag-of-cats Loki is now in his home.
Thor shrugs sadly. “Last time he confided such things in me was a couple hundred years ago. At that point, he could hold a shift for a little under a week.”
“We could go interrogate him, see if he slips up.” Steve says.
“He won’t slip up.” Thor says, almost-fond.
“He certainly won’t if we don’t try.” Steve says, crossing his arms.
“I agree,” Tony says. “I definitely have some questions.”
“We have some questions to ask you,” Steve says, sitting backwards on a chair.
Loki peers out from the cell. “Good for you.”
“How old are you?” Tony asks.
Loki raises an eyebrow. “I passed 800 recently. Perhaps half a century ago?” He shrugs. “I’m somewhere in the 850 range. Why?”
Thor sucks in a breath.
“What’s wrong?” Tony demands.
“Nothing,” Thor shakes his head. “He should actually be around 1050. He’s only 450 years younger than me.” His voice drops so low that Tony almost doesn’t hear him. “Asgardians don’t reach the age of majority until 1000.”
Steve nods. “So, if he’s telling the truth, he’s a minor.”
“If you’re going to keep talking about me as if I’m not here, you might as well leave me alone. Which would really make this the shortest interrogation I’ve ever experienced.” Loki snarks.
“Must you aggravate my friends, brother?” Thor asks. Tony almost feels bad - the big guy sounds tired.
“It’s my favorite pastime,” Loki says.
“Okay,” Steve sighs. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, right here, I seem to be in a cell. Or do you mean Midgard?”
“Migard,” Steve responds, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
“That is a very good question that I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to,” Loki shrugs, looking way too relaxed. “Last I remember, I was in Mother’s garden, hoping to speak with her. Then I was here.” He smiles in a way that would be charming if it wasn’t on Loki. “May I ask why I’m in this cell? Because I would assume it was because Midgard doesn’t remember earlier interactions between Asgard and Midgard and is having a hard time processing first contact. However, I have to discount that theory, as Thor seems to have your trust.”
“Earlier interactions?” Tony asks, voice low.
“Yeah.” Loki looks at Tony like he’s a very stupid child. “The war against the Jotun took place on Midgard hundreds of centuries ago.” Loki shrugs. “I also tend to stop by for a visit every few hundred years.”
“And when was your last visit?” Steve asks. It would sound casual if it wasn’t for the clear tension of everyone outside the glass. Funny, Loki looked calmer than all of them.
“A couple years ago.” Loki says, looking far too pleased. Tony is seconds away from summoning a suit, damn whatever Thor says. Loki continues: “It was, what, the early 1800s?” He has an almost faraway look. “I wonder how London’s doing now.”
“London’s doing just fine, thank you.” Tony snaps. He tells himself being on edge is perfectly justified - is everyone else forgetting that Loki threw him through a goddamn window? Not to mention the fucking wormhole. “What do you know about Thanos?”
Steve and Thor gasp. The wound is still raw, for all of them, and though they managed to stop Thanos from snapping and ostensibly wiping out half of the universe, the battle was neither gentle nor without casualties.
Loki just looks confused. “Like the story?” He furrows his brow. “The Mad Titan, in love with Death, kills people as gifts to her? That Thanos?”
“We’re talking about a little bit more than a story, Loki,” Thor says gravely.
Loki nods. “Well, most stories do have a basis in reality. That’s what makes them matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if Thanos did exist, especially since the infinity stones do.”
“What do you know about infinity stones?” Thor asks, gripping mjolnir so tightly his knuckles go white.
“In the treasure room, in Asgard, there is a glove with room for six stones,” Loki sighs. “Combine that with hundreds of references throughout Asgardian and Vanaheimr texts and folklore to stones with mysterious and frightening powers. Together, the likelihood of the infinity stones actually existing seems rather high.” Loki shrugs, something like mirth on his face. “Honestly, with all that, I’m almost surprised that the All Father never got his hands on one. Sun never sets, and all that.”
“What is that supposed to mean,” Thor asks. “I tire of your riddles.”
Loki perks up. “Oh, I heard it in London! ‘The sun never sets on the British empire.’ Because they conquered so much of Midgard.” Loki smirks at Thor. “Sounds a bit familiar.”
“It is treason to speak about the All Father so.” Thor growls.
Loki cocks his head to the side. “When have either of us cared about something as small as committing treason?” His eyes go cold, even if his voice keeps its playful tone. “And I believe you told me that our parents are dead. Does that not make you the All Father, Thor?”
Steve and Tony have to grab Thor’s arms to keep him from doing something he might regret.
“This has been very helpful,” Steve says. “We’ll be back.”
Loki simply nods.
Steve closes the door behind them, face grave. “When I first signed up to be Cap, I wanted to help my country. I wanted to prove that a skinny asthmatic kid could be worth something.” He shakes his head. “I didn’t sign up to get children killed.”
“If he even is a kid!” Tony argues. “He is a genius manipulator. Who’s to say he didn’t lay low for a couple months and then decide to pretend to be an age that would hurt Thor and endear him to us. We need to tell the others.”
“If we tell the others, Natasha and Clint are going to tell SHIELD.” Steve’s voice is low. “And I’d understand, I really would. Especially with what he did to Clint. But if he really is a kid, we can’t take that back. And I’m not certain SHIELD will care.”
Thor shakes his head. “There is no Asgard to take him back to. New Asgard is already having a hard time navigating Midgardian politics and customs. If it gets out that Loki is alive - young or not - we would be in serious trouble.”
“But we can’t just keep him here.” Tony adds. “First off, this is my home. And most of the time it’s Cap and Bruce’s home too. The others all have floors. I don’t want him living in my home. And would it be a good idea for him to be kept in the middle of the city he tried to fucking conquer?”
“I can’t see a better option,” Steve says. “We should keep a close watch on him, see if his persona falters. If he’s shifting or not.”
“If he is?” Tony asks.
“Then he’s a war criminal and I would feel less guilty handing him over to SHIELD.”
“And if he isn’t?”
Steve shook his head. “Then we have our work cut out for us.”