The Butterfly effect

Of course they had to contend with the noise first. Between Thor dulcet tones and the Avengers who were already on the track of "if we scream long and loud enough it's real", it was a regular pandemonium.

Tony took his phone out and updated the Pentagon on last events, Loki sighed and looked as he had a serious headache coming... And then Goose had enough an unleashed a flurry of tentacles as a warning.
Fast, but impressive.

The sudden silence was almost deafening.

"My God, what is THAT?" Rogers finally said.

"Flerken." Both Thor, Loki and Tony answered while Natasha remarqued "It looks like Fury's cat" and Barton made retching noises before notching an arrow toward Goose.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Birdbrain, Fury would not like if you harmed her... And neither would I."

"Why should I listen to you, Stark, you're obviously compromised." The Archer hissed, to which Tony shrugged "Roll it, J"

Once the video admission of Goose identity and nature recorded a few monts ago was seen and heard by all, Barton let out a low growl and let the arrow fly toward Loki. It worked just as well as the last time as the trickster snatched it off the air before looking at it curiously.

"I wanted to ask, Stark. I thought you would have evolved past that stage by now?"

"We have. Barton is just a bit slow on the uptake, that is all."

yes, it was nasty. Yes, he probably shouldn't have. But as nasty comments went, Tony had quite a score to settle with the archer.
On top of that, he was powerfully distracted as Goose ambled towards the end of the bar toward the Hulk and raised her head to sniff. Curious, Hulk squatted down to be level with that new and fearless creature. Goose took the last step and nose booped him.

Which almost had Tony making cooing noises... And the Hulk melt down to Banner after a laughing rumble. Goose watched the process with what could only be described as curiosity, but completely lost interest as soon as a confused Bruce Banner stood in lieu of his alter ego, going back to stand with Tony and Loki. With and added head bump to Tony so he wouldn't feel neglected.

"We should have some stuff to fit you, Brucie bear." The billionaire offered, "Just follow Jarvis directions." The elevator doors opened with a "This way, Dr Banner." Bruce went in, a bit zombie like as he always was after a green moment.

One down, four to go.

Rogers was wearing his should be patented "Cap is disappointed with you" face, which Tony found surprisingly ineffective now that he didn't give a fuck. Natashalie looked shifty but that was her default mode so Tony didn't read much on it, Barton was apoplectic but when wasn't he? Useless, in short.

"So, what now?"

There was a chorus on both sides about arresting Loki, with an added Odin bit from the Asgardian side of the room.

"Arrest? On what grounds and by whom?"

"Because he wanted to invade Earth, and by the Avengers" The spider snapped, an exasperated *duh* somewhere in there. Tony shrugged.

"Yeah, no. You're conveniently forgetting that Reindeer Games here just saved our collective asses, by flying the nuke YOUR PEOPLE sent on New York to that portal. Second, if you want to arrest Loki, why is Barton free?" Barton growled but the Widow restrained him.

"What do you mean by that, Stark?"

"I mean what color are your brother's eyes, Thor?" The God looked surprised.

"Well, green of course, Man of Iron. You can see that yourself. Our friend Sif always says it's because he's green with envy." Tony raised both eyebrows at that "Woah, she may be your friend but sure isn't your brother's. Anyway, why are Loki's eyes blue from the moment he arrived on Earth up to when Goose here did some intensive cranial recalibrating?" Tony asked, pointing at the crater in the middle of his living room."I have the footage to show this."

"Brother?" There was a lot of hope in Thor voice, and the expression on the Trickster face, however fleeting, was interesting to say the least.

"Not your brother." The blond God face fell "I, however, was no more free of my actions than you were, Agent Barton... Less in a way, since I was under constant supervision while I granted you some autonomy. Didn't I, Dr Selvig?"

The scientist, who'd wandered down from the roof toward human noises, looked pensive for a few seconds "Well, you just told us what you wanted and left the rest to us. That's how I could build that backdoor to close the portal... So you knew that."

"I hoped for it" The Trickster replied "As a whole, humans are quite resilient... Agent of SHIELD apart, that is. You really obey orders too well."

That little barb from the God of hard Truths flew as well as you would expect... And there was something very stupid to say, so of course Rogers volunteered: "There's nothing wrong about obeying orders."

Selvig looked incredulous and Tony snorted "The *I just obeyed orders* excuse, hasn't flown for decades, Capsicle. Not that you would know much about obeying orders anyway, now do you?"

"How can you say that? I'm a soldier!" Crapstain bristled. Tony shrugged.

"Easy. I watch TV. You should ask Natashalie about it later.
Anyway, let's get back on track. Lucy here got some splainin' to do? No question about it. But certainly not to SHIELD.
Why?
Because you have no legal existence."

Even the Spider looked surprised at that "Director Fury..."

"Has less authority than the local Mailman, as far as the Federal Governement of the US is concerned. Your WSC, which is NOT the very real (and unhappy right now) World Security Council at the UN, is an informal gathering of very shady individuals with even shadier methods and aims. You see, Miss Romanova, when you look in the Abyss, the Abyss looks righ back at you, as the saying goes. The bugs you planted in my company (which is Corporate fraud BTW, and Pepper is going to fall on you lot like a ton of bricks) led the way to SHIELD inner servers..."

"You have no more right to arrest us than..."

"Who said I was going to arrest you? I don't have the authority to do so and it's not my job anyway..." Tony let her have this moment of joy before giving her an utterly fake smile "...It is, however, the job of all the Federal Agencies I invited for the ride. And after that stunt with the nuke, I think they're really going to get a move on. You know how those military types are: Hate when someone borrows their toys.... Oh, and please do tell Fury that I cut the drain Carter had installed in SI all those years ago. So you see, you're not in a position to arrest anyone... Much less being judge, jury and executionner"

"Well, Loki will be tried on Asgard anyway." Thor said.

"I don't think so, Thunderer." Loki stated very calmly which had the blond flounderin' "But Brother, Odin..."

"Shall we start to the root of this, Thor? Once again, I am emphatically NOT your brother. I am not even Asgardian, a fact that was carefully hidden from me since Odin himself kidnapped me as a baby.
I have more a case against Asgard than Asgard has against me."

"But the coronation..."

"What about the coronation, Thor? I was there with all of you that day in the throne room when the vaults were breached by the Jotnar, why am I supposed to be more guilty of this than the other hundred people that were there?"

"Sif said you told father I was not ready" Thor objected.

"So it had to be me, right? Always so eager to believe the unprooven word of a woman who's hated me since I changed her hair color. But yes, in this case, I told Odin your weren't ready... Which you amply demonstrated by having an epic temper tantrum because your big day was slightly delayed (delayed, mind you, not cancelled) AND decide it was smart to rekindle the war on Jotunheim."

The God of Jocks looked mulish at that "Which you advised..."

"Which, I advised against, if you'd recall. And reminded you of Odin's express orders."

"You knew that I wouldn't listen..."

"So what? I should have told you to go? Your mind was set anyway, and even IF it was not and IF I was attempting to manipulate you, it would make you exceedingly gullible as a ruler. No Thor, do not try to foist your anger and subsequent bad decisions on me, that was all you. I tried to save all our asses as per usual by having Odin alerted, but I still, also as per usual, went with your harebrained scheme. Things may have turned very different if I hadn't."

"But you decided to steal the Throne anyway after Father banished me."

"Says who?" The Trickster snapped.

"Well Sif and..."

"... The idiot three, of course." Loki rolled his eyes. Goose was having an impromptu tongue bath to wash off the battlefield grime(while no doubt paying close attention), while the rest of them watched the brothers exchange barbs like if it was the Wimbledon finals. Tony had to put his two cent in:

"I'm sensing a theme, here, point break."

"You weren't there, Man of Iron."

"And neither was Sif!" The Trickster barked which had Thor taking a step back. "She wasn't there when I confronted Odin in the vaults by the Winter Casket as I found out who and what I was, she still wasn't there when Mother, knowing all this, decided to give me the Regency while Odin slept.
Don't ask me why she did this, I have no idea. Maybe she thought it would ground me or something. Anyway, the transfer was all witnessed, legal and not really my decision.

The first Sif knew of any of this was when her and your sycophant friends showed up to the throne room to ask Odin for their little playmate back and found me instead.

And promptly decided to commit treason when I refused, once again obeying Odin's final orders, mind you.
Aided and abetted by Heimdall, because what's an oath of fealty to the Throne when you don't like who's sitting on it, right?"

"But the Destroyer..." Loki sighed.

"The Destroyer was a mistake. In my defense, I was not thinking very clearly at the time. I had just learned I wasn't who I thought I was, but instead something I'd been told to hate all my life, people I knew were betraying me right and left, there were rumbles of war from Jotunheim and my only support decided to lock herself up in the royal chambers to hold Odin's hand while he slept.
But in any case, the damage wasn't done to Asgard anyway."

"You did destroy the Bifrost!" Thor clearly was having a *haha!* moment.

Loki raised an eyebrow "Actually, Thor, no. You did. YOU broke that thing to pieces with Mjolnir."

To say the God of Jocks was stunned was putting it mildly, as his mouth worked without a sound for a few moments. Tony was fighting a fit of giggles, not helped by Goose who was looking at Thor with whiskers vibrating with amusement.

"But... But I had to stop you.." He sounded so miserable that Tony felt a moment of pity. Loki obviously didn't.

"The Bifrost has a switch, Thor."

Oh my.

Oh dear.

Oh Lord.

Selvig had a very sudden coughing fit, Barton was curing his nails, Natashalie did the blank face and Rogers was intently studying the ceiling? Tony and Goose both sneezed.

The God of Mischief smiled sweetly "Let me tell you something, """"Brother""". Odin wants the Tessaract because without it, he has no means to transport troops and the nine realms are going to slip out of his grasp. He would also LOVE a convenient scapegoat to pin all his bad judgements and shortcomings on... And I've always been very useful for that in the past, haven't I?
However, I don't feel so inclined to do that anymore. The days were Odin can send me to con the dwarves out of treasure and get my own lips sewn shut as a reward while you all look on are over, I'm afraid."

Everyone winced at that one except Thor who shrugged

"That was a long time ago, Loki."

"Not long enough for me to forget it." the Trickster bit, then sighed
"As long as you bring back the Tessaract, Odin's not going to stay angry at you very long. He can even have his little trial if he wants to save face, just not with me in it."

"But wouldn't it clear your name if there was a trial?" Selvig asked, sounding confused. The God spared him a glance.

"That's because you think of it as how it goes on Midgard. Things are quite different on Asgard.
I'll probably be dragged in chains in front of the whole court and the Allfather, found guilty of whatever strikes his fancy and thrown in jail to rot up to the moment he'll need me again... With a little torture thrown in, if he feels so inclined. Wouldn't be the first time."

"but if you tell..."

Lightning fast, the Trickster pointed a finger at Thor, and there was a metallic sound as a set of very heavy chains and gothic looking face mask fell at the God's feet. Loki snapped his fingers and said mask reappeared in his hand.

"Whoah, kinky." Tony said before Loki turned the mask around and the very sharp points inside were visible "Eeewww!"

"And you didn't even clean it..." *as if that was the main problem* Tony thought.
"You see, Dr Selvig, I managed to talk myself out of punishment a few times early on... So Odin decreed that in my case... And in my case only, the accused was to be gagged in front of the court. If I wanted a defense, I had to have someone volunteer for me."

"Well, you are the God of Lies" The Widow interjected, to which Selvig retorted "No he's not!"

"What?" from Barton

"So is he or is he not?" Rogers asked.

Loki smiled, sharp, dangerous, and very intent on his brother's face that looked increasingly uneasy "Yes, ""brother"" am I or am I not?"

The blond was both reluctant but obviously wary "Loki is the God of Mischief and Fire... Not lies"

"Then why...?"

"One of the nasty little rumours Sif really enjoyed spreading the last time I had to spend some time in that thing, and thus unable to defend myself. Thor and his other little friends found it very funny, and I got invited to all the banquets for awhile..."

"Why invite you to the banquets if you couldn't... Oh." Selvig looked a bit sick

"Yes... I'm actually surprised you know that was fake." The God looked genuinely curious.

"My people still study the sagas, the God of Lies and... I'm sorry... the horse thing, have been sort of debunked? It's not exactly my field of expertise, can't tell you much more."

"That's better than what was going round in Asgard last time I was there. I do presume it's even worse now... And you wonder why I don't want to go back there."

"Well I certainly woudn't." Tony said "Thor, you need new friends... And that thing? It's disgusting."

Goose had been eyeing the mask since the Trickster had dropped it on the bar and had taken to pawing it closer and closer to the edge in a classic cat move. However, at Tony's comment, she looked briefly pensive, then a tentacle snatched the thing.
A few cracking noises and "Meow"

The God smiled,"She says crunchy... You are a most excellent kitty."

Goose purred as the pandemonium started again.