Chapter 10
“Spirit, do you know where Thor is?” Loki asks. The headache is back, sooner than he anticipated, and if he’s lucky Thor will convince his friends to put him back in the cell sooner rather than later.
If Loki wasn’t so worn down, he might even think it funny that he was asking to be caged. Loki is made of wanderlust, he always has been, and he usually fights with everything he has to keep from being stuck in one place. But Loki is dreadfully tired and sleep will do nothing to fix it.
“Mr. Odinson is sparring in the gym,” FRIDAY says.
“Am I allowed there?” Loki asks, the question chafing.
“It is designated as a common area. I will lead the way,” FRIDAY says.
Maybe, if Loki weren’t so tired, he would consider that gyms and armories usually exist relatively close to each other. If he weren’t so tired, he would question whether this is a trap, the benefits versus the disadvantages. He would question whether a “designation” was the same as an explicit invitation or something the Avengers forgot to consider.
But Loki is tired and falling apart, so Loki doesn’t consider those things. Instead, Loki follows FRIDAY’s path to the gym’s entrance.
Clint wishes he was on a mission with Nat. Clint wishes he was at the farm. Clint wishes Loki wasn’t in the Tower. But Clint doesn’t usually get what he wishes for, and settles for the soothing rhythm of nocking an arrow and letting it fly.
He sees someone out of the corner of his eye. He nocks another arrow.
“I told y’all to leave me alone,” he says. When the person doesn’t say anything, he turns and looks.
Clint expected Steve, or Tony maybe. (Not Nat, because she both knows better and he wouldn’t have seen her coming.) He isn’t expecting Loki. He tells himself that’s why he does what he does.
It all happens in the space of a couple seconds, really. Clint lets the arrow fly. It hits Loki in his side and he crumples. Here’s the thing: Clint doesn’t like Loki. Clint hates him, actually. But that doesn’t change the fact that curled up like that, Loki looks so damn young.
Loki doesn’t even scream.
“FRIDAY,” Clint says, fighting the shake in his voice. “Notify Banner. And the others too, I guess. But maybe make sure Banner gets here first.” Clint thinks of how pissed Thor is going to be. “Shit.”
“And you.” He kneels down next to Loki, putting pressure on the wound with his hand too. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Loki glares at him weakly, hand pressed into his side already coated with blood. “FRIDAY said Thor was down here. I wanted to talk to him.”
Clint doesn’t get to respond because Bruce walks through the doors. His eyes widen when he sees Loki on the floor and he rushes over.
“What happened?” He demands.
Clint runs his (non-bloody) hand over his face. “I fucked up.”
“I agree,” Bruce says. Then, to Loki: “Put pressure on the wound. Don’t pull the arrow out.”
Loki laughs harshly. “I’m not stupid. I’ve been on battlefields before.”
Once Loki has been brought to the Med Bay and the surveillance video of the incident watched, they have a group meeting. The Avengers seem to be doing that a lot, lately.
“Why did you take his cuffs off?” Natasha asks Bruce.
“Because to heal without any long term damage, he’s going to need to access his seidr.” Bruce takes a deep breath, the tinge of green receding. He’s never seen Loki this beaten up, and they fled a planet together. “He’s shackled down with cuffs that even Cap can’t break. It will be fine.”
“What if he attacks you?” Natasha asks.
“I think the other guy can deal with Loki.” Bruce also thinks the Avengers severely misunderstand Loki. Yes, he could try to hurt Bruce, but why would he? Weak as he is, he can’t escape. And Bruce is actively helping him.
“Why was he even down there?” Tony asks. “He’s only allowed on Thor’s floor and the common floor.”
“The gym is categorized as a common floor in my system,” FRIDAY intones from the ceiling. “He asked where his brother was.”
“Damn it,” Tony says.
Steve looks stoic. “I think we should leave him in the vibranium cuffs until he heals fully. Then we can consider the cuffs again, and update where he’s allowed to go.”
“You can’t seriously be considering that? He’s getting exactly what he wanted!” Clint says. He feels guilty for shooting Loki, sure, but he doesn’t see why that should be an excuse for cutting Loki any slack.
“Barton is right,” Thor says. “My brother can walk the roots of Yggdrasil. He shouldn’t be given such access to his seidr.”
“Fine,” Steve says. “We will let him heal tonight and tomorrow, which is non negotiable. Afterwards, we will come to you for advice on how to manage his magic.” Steve raises an eyebrow. “Does that work for you?” He asks in a voice that says it better work for Thor.
Thor nods tersely.
“Okay, does anyone have anything else to say?” Steve asks. The Avengers all shake their heads. “Then I think we’re done here.”
Steve meets Clint’s eyes once everyone else has left.
“I’ve watched the tape,” Steve says. “You’re fine. You can be placed on administrative leave, if you want. Take a break.”
“Are you benching me?”
“No.” Steve shakes his head. “This was a lot to put on you. I made a hard call and it might have been the wrong one. If you need time, I can give you time.”
“I am not compromised,” Clint snaps.
Steve looks at Clint sadly. “I never said you were.”
“I’m staying. That’s final.” Clint says.
“Okay,” Steve says. “I understand.”
When they think over the day, later, Steve will consider how Loki paled when the arrow hit but didn’t scream. Bruce will consider how instinctive his reaction was, putting pressure on the wound, leaving the arrow in. Tony will consider the way he gritted his teeth and bared it, like he had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. They start having some serious questions about Asgard.