Chapter 17
2013, date redacted
Loki wakes up to the cool chill of the blankets and tries to shield his eyes from the bright light.
He brings them up, but there's something preventing them from moving. He yanks.
"Woah woah there, calm down Reindeer Games."
Loki's eyes fly wide open. Where is he, which of his adventures did Thor bring him on this time?
Right. Svartelfheim. The Reality stone.
"Thor, where is he? Where is the Midgardian lady?" Loki groans as he tries to sit up to at least face Stark with some dignity and figure out if he needs to break out and kill everyone before hunting the stones down to keep them safe.
Loki regards the Captain. At least he wasn't in his ridiculous costume.
"Thor buddy is coming soon, JARVIS notified him already. And in about 3,2,1-"
"Loki!" Thor yells as he barges in. Loki stiffles a groan and lies back down onto the bed. The oaf.
"How are you brother?"
"For the last time, I am not your brother! Also, where is Foster?"
"She's at Lady Darcy's, stay here, you will not leave until you are fully healed."
"Malekith will not wait longer to strike. How long has it been since Svartelfheim?"
"One week and three days."
Loki sighs.
"Malekith's going to come here, he's going to destroy Midgard to find the Aether and rip it out of Foster. We have to bring him back to Asgard where there will be backup. This, Thor, is what the old man meant by Malekith will kill us all if you disobey his orders!"
"You must rest first, you'll be of no use when you're still on the mend from such a wound!"
"Thor, listen to me. I will not rest until the Aether is back in the hands of the Collector. There are more evils in these universes than me or the Dark Elves. What will happen if others hear that an infinity stone is in a weak Midgard woman, on Midgard? We will all die, so move, uncuff me, and let me settle this without you fool."
"No. You're not going anywhere."
Loki grits his teeth and mutters random curses at Thor, at the Norns, at the world, to give him patience.
"Fine, you want the world to be destroyed, welcome the Dark Ages?"
"I thought the dark ages were not real, or in the past," Tony murmurs.
"Well, if anyone knows that Midgard has infinity stones, then Midgard is prone to attack. And despite how strong you think you are, there are those greater than you. With centuries of experience, building up for this moment. You think the Chitauri was the end? Oh no, Stark, that was just a taste of what is to come."
"Not to interrupt this nice family reunion, but we have to take your vitals," Tony begins.
Loki snarls at him.
"Look, Reindeer Games, we could have just let you die, but we didn't, and you really owe us an explanation. We didn't spend this time nursing you back to health just for you to set it all back from stubborness."
Loki glares, but huffs and concedes.
Loki toys with the cuffs, seemingly deep in thought.
"Have you been in contact with Foster woman yet?" Loki asks Thor.
"She's hiding with Lady Darcy currently. Her episodes are becoming less frequent, I've asked Heimdall to keep an eye on her. Heimdall has agreed to help."
"Heimdall, what could you do without Heimdall," Loki chuckles.
"Probably nothing, lets be honest," Thor sighs and sits down on a nearby chair.
"I am wondering, did the other little pawns on the chess board agree to me being housed here?"
"Vodka Aunt agreed, surprisingly. Birdboy came back a few days ago, saw you, paled, and Vodka Aunt told him to stay in his room. I think he and our lovely Agent is still in his room, or maybe they're in the gym sparring."
"Agent Barton, I would say I apologise for letting him into my mind, it is quite, messy. Chaos."
Tony works in silence as Steve and Thor remain alert.
"What about the green monster, angry boy? How's he been?"
"He's been okay, in control and at least calmed a bit. Vodka Aunt's presence soothes him or something, I don't even know."
"He is lost. He is afraid. Banner has to reconcile with him or they'll tear each other apart," Loki hisses as the bandage comes off, and with it, the pressure.
"Well, we having therapy now with him?"
"Think whatever you want of me, Stark and Rogers. I've seen more than enough of your type. The self-sacrificial, pretend harlot. The wonderful, perfect leader." Loki scoffs.
"And what exactly are you?" Steve asks.
"Oh, he speaks!" Loki exclaims, laughing.
"Are you sure he's sane?" Tony mouths at Thor.
"Believe it or not Tin Can, I am very sane, and I can very much read lips. It comes in handy," Loki smirks.
"Well, you don't seem too stable at the moment."
"A little bit of spearing through the chest, self isolation for months and death of Mother can help heal, I suppose."
"Sir, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton are heading down to Mr Banner's lab right now," JARVIS informs.
"Ah, your little AI, pity he's not a real person. He's the only one who can make decent conversation here, honestly," Loki comments mildly.
The door opens and Natasha and Clint step in.
2013, date redacted
Natasha decided to only tell Clint when he came back.
Clint had looked like he was about the throw up, but then sat with Natasha for hours, just staring at the wall, collecting his thoughts.
Natasha had let him, had quietly called Maria to tell her to stay away from these floors for the time being. Maria had, god bless her, agreed.
Natasha hadn't pried. Let Clint take out his anger, confusion, fear on her.
Then Clint stopped. Got better, apologised for taking up her attention. Clint had been ready to face him, made up his resolve.
A day later, and Loki's awake.
Natasha had updated Maria about the situation.
Maria had told her to stay safe, and Natasha had smiled, put her phone away.
They had headed down.
JARVIS must have notified them about their movement.
"Agents," Loki greets, dipping his head.
Natasha scans him, scans the entire room. She gives a terse nod in acknowledgement and sits down, pulling Clint down with her, who was staring suspiciously at Loki.
"So, we're getting the band back together," Loki says.
How the hell did he know a Phineas and Ferb reference?
"How long will you be here?" Natasha asks instead.
"Don't want to see me? Well Agent, the feeling's mutual. But, this oaf princess here has demanded that I stay until I am fully healed. Trust me, I would have left as soon as I woke up."
Natasha leans forward.
""I've done some research on the infinity stones," Natasha begins casually.
"Oh, you have? Do enlighten me, I'm all ears," Loki says, hint of interest in his eyes.
"They're the fundamental of the universe. They make up everything. There's six of them, the Tesseract, or Space, Reality, which is the Aether, Time, Mind, the stone in the Chitauri staff, Soul and Power."
"Hmm, you are right so far. Do go on, tell us."
"You were in possession of the Mind stone in 2012, you were searching for the Space stone. You bring in an army, you try to conquer earth. But that's not the full picture, is it?"
Loki hums, careless and casual, but he is anything but. He shows razor awareness.
Natasha nearly smiles. The prey has fallen into her web.
"Clint has told me a lot. You invade his mind, but you have opened a gateway. He learnt to open the door. He saw, although at the surface, some things."
"Tell me, my Hawk, what did you see?"
Clint bristles at the name, but concedes.
"You weren't the one controlling the army. There was someone else. I didn't see who, didn't hear who either, but I saw you drop off the Bifrost. I saw you end up in a rip of time and space, where you were picked apart by someone, the Other, you said. He remade you and handed you the staff, told you to conquer earth and find the stones. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but I do now."
Loki hums.
"The stones, of course, there is more than one on Midgard. The question is, which?"
"You're hunting down the stones," Natasha clarifies.
"No, I'm keeping them. Relocating them. But, I've always had a soft spot for the Tesseract."
"I've read up about you too. The myths and legends may not be always accurate, but they hold some semblance of truth. You weren't in full control during the attack, were you? There's no way you were so easy to trick. I may be good, but I must admit that you have centuries more experience than me. You purposely messed up, didn't you? Pretended to parade around to catch our attention, when you could have done it sneakily and it would have worked. You took Clint, when you could have taken others less connected to me and S.H.I.E.L.D. You revealed Hulk to be your master plan, so he could beat you. Cognitive recalibration. I thought you were just a crazy lunatic, but I have to say, that's some planning," Natasha shrugs, seeing the shocked faces around her.
Loki smiles, but she can see the tinge of fear behind.
"Good job Agent Romanoff, you're a deadly spider, aren't you?"
"I try my best," Natasha shoots back, giving him a cold smile of Russian winters of her own.
"Brother, is this true?"
Loki sighs.
"Yes. But there is nothing you can do, He is a genocidal madman. He believes that the universe is tipping off its scale, pushing towards extinction. He believes he will save the universe, He wants to court Death. His ultimate goal is to collect all the infinity stones and snap half the population of the universe from existence. He will not stop, His children are all either fanatic followers or fear Him."
"Sounds like a dick," Tony says.
"He is, I suppose. Thanos, the Mad Titan. If he catches wind of the Aether being on Midgard, we're all going to die. So you can let me be on my merry way before he tracks me down and seeks revenge for failing, takes the stones, and destroys half of all life, and I'll go prevent this from happening. Sounds fair?"
"Forgive us if we're wrong, but the last time you decided to take down Thanos you also failed."
Loki scowls.
"That was last time, Agent. I am ready for him now, I will be prepared."
"Brother, you will not-"
"And leave things in your hands? Just like how you were tasked to protect Jane and Mother and failed?"
"Loki-"
"Do not, ever, ever, underestimate me nor the Mad Titan, you understand Thor?" Loki softly says, leaning into stare into Thor's eyes.
Loki, in one swift movement, snaps the handcuffs, crushes them, and lies back down as the Avengers all stand up in preparation to fight.
"Useless mortals, Thor, go check on your little princess, make sure she hasn't been kidnapped and taken apart yet."