Schism

Loki had never been so happy to be in so much pain. His body hurt like Hel.

His MIND?  His mind was his own, truely, 100% his own for the first time in who knew how long. The Other was gone. 

Dazed and disoriented, Loki suddenly realized there was no sound of battle. The sky was clear and the portal was closed. 

It worked.

They'd done it. 

Loki gathered himself together enough to pull himself out of the floor, just as the Avengers arrived. 

Chagrinned and relieved, with a nod to the man who'd survived both himself and the Chitauri, Loki half-smiled and said,

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

* * * * *

Loki was not happy to be in chains, and the muzzle had to go. But at least he was no longer under Thanos' influence.

He'd healed enough to move comfortably from the Hulk's "recalibration", and his head was finally clear. Clear enough to notice. 

Something was going on... with Stark.

There were TWO of him.

But they were not the same. 

There was a commotion - that he hadn't caused - would wonders never cease!

The tesseract landed right next to him. 

He took the opportunity - and the tesseract - thought about what he needed most - and disappeared. 

* * * * *

Tony hated medical.  Ever since Afghanistan, just - ugh, he hated it. But of course, spending time in space in a non-space-worthy suit and running out of oxygen, falling hundreds of feet before being snatched out of the air by Hulk and crashing to the ground, having your heart stop (briefly!), and miscellaneous battle related bumps and bruises got people all up in arms and demanding he get medical attention… so he spent time in Stark medical. 

Yeah, hospitals and more especially SHIELD Medical were NOT an option. 

He made a nuisance of himself until he was released and promised Doctor Banner (not that kind of doctor, yeah, whatever) would be on hand to keep his eyes on him. And JARVIS promised he would keep sensors on him and alert Dr. Banner of any issues (traitor - Yeah, he got warm-fuzzies from that but he’d never admit it out loud). And if he had to “rest”, he was going to make the most of it. 

“JARVIS, are we still connected to SHIELD databases?” Tony asked. He was NOT going to lay in bed, so he’d made himself comfy in the living room and pulled up holoscreens there.

“Yes, Sir.  Is there anything in particular you wish to view?”

“Everything having to do with Loki, the Scepter, the Tesseract.  Oh, and anything Stark related.” Tony added, eyes narrowed. “Dig deep, JARVIS. Fury’s secrets have secrets and I’m not in the mood to put up with any bullshit from SHIELD and Co.”

“It would be my pleasure, Sir.”  JARVIS replied. Tony’d almost swear he heard a bit of enjoyment in JARVIS’ voice at the thought of a bit of digital retribution for SHIELD’s past antics. 

Tony couldn’t agree more. 

*****

Loki materialized in a library.

A very LARGE library.

A very large MIDGUARDIAN library.

Hmmmm.

He was actually stunned for a few seconds and looked around in wonder at it before coming to his senses and using the power of the tesseract - just a small amount because he wasn’t foolish - to remove the chains and gag.  The area appeared to be deserted - not surprising considering everything that had happened in the city. A bonus for him - he had some time to recover and try to figure out how to deal with everything that had happened. It was just - too much.

Loki reached out with his magic to confirm he was alone, and wandered farther into the depths of the library, seeking the most remote, unused area he could find. Once he found a spot that fit his needs, he set a very basic “nothing to see here” spell and wards to warn him should anyone approach, then promptly collapsed into a deep and surprisingly dreamless sleep. 

He woke hours later, feeling a bit better having healed more during sleep, somewhat rested and quite hungry. He managed to find food in the building, and a working television gave him an update on what had occurred in the city while he was recovering. The building he was in had not sustained any damage, but various parts of the city would be shut down as damage was being repaired.

He felt a small prick of guilt about the destruction he’d caused, but considering the alternative was decimation at the hands of the Mad Titan, he pushed it aside. A clear head was required for what he needed to do. This attack wouldn’t be the Titan’s last, Asgard wasn’t going to be any help, and he had very few options. He hoped fortune would continue to favor him as it had when the tesseract had appeared at his feet.

Only time would tell. 

*****

Tony smacked the table in front of him and exclaimed an emphatic “I knew it!” to the empty (well, JARVIS was there) room. He’d had suspicions that had been tickling his brain. And now he had proof. Thor had told stories of his brother’s cunning and skill in battle, Loki’s ability to work his way out of no-win situations, squeezing victory out of almost certain defeat.

NONE of that had happened during the invasion. Loki had been spotted easily, caught easily - twice, and his portal had been shut down by a "super-powered boy+1 girl band” hastily thrown together by SHIELD. 

The guy had managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It made absolutely NO sense. 

Tony had watched the accumulated footage of Loki several times, noting the behavioral changes, overall appearance, body language, mood swings - each time more of the pieces fell into place and a theory came together… Loki wasn’t running the show. The clincher was the footage of Clint and Selvig’s “conversions”. Tony had JARVIS zoom in so he could see their eyes, the swimming dark and shining blue when the Scepter’d taken them over. 

Tony remembered the Scepter and that cold blue coming towards his own chest in the tower and his heart clenching at the thought of being forced to work for Loki… and then he remembered LOKI’s eyes. Not a shining blue… but “off”. He’d had JARVIS freeze and magnify all images of Loki’s face. That’s when he saw it - blue-green, shifting, cloudy, muddied color; it was worst when Loki’s behavior was most unstable.

The evidence was clearest in JARVIS’ footage from the tower.  Loki’s behavior during his fight with Thor was erratic… he’d actually shed a tear when he’d stabbed his brother - with a rather short blade considering he had a huge and sharp mind-bending-spear-thingy in his hand at the time. And after the Hulk redecorated Tony’s floor with Loki, Hulk’s eyes weren’t the only ones that were green. 

“Flag it and save it all, JARVIS.  Shoot Rhodey a secured copy.” Tony paused, thinking. “Hold off on informing SHIELD. I’m not 100% sure about what’s up with them after their Palladium-poisoning game-playing BS and the tesseract weapons building business. I think we need to really know who we're dealing with before we get any more involved with them.”  

“Done, Sir. I agree. I'm continuing to amass Stark and tesseract-related information as you requested.” JARVIS replied. “May I also suggest, Sir, that sleep is in order?  You did promise Ms. Potts you would rest." Tony rolled his eyes, and JARVIS continued, “Dr. Banner will be here to check on you momentarily. Perhaps you can share these observations with him and then retire?” JARVIS prodded, not very subtly. 

Tony shifted on the couch, realizing that, yeah-his body did kinda hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.

“Fine, fine. Give Bruce a heads up to swing by, and order us up some food. I promise I’ll crash when we’re done.”

“I live to serve, Sir”.

Tony smiled at JARVIS’ tone.  Snarky bastard.