Mischeif and Celebrations
“Hey Bucky, have you heard anything about your Avenger status?” Tony asked from where he was lounging on the super soldier’s couch in his home.
Bucky looked up from where he was painting Loki’s nails. The god had bought some nail polish and Bucky had offered to do his nails for him. How Tony got dragged along he couldn’t remember. He was pretty sure Loki had lured him over with a cheeseburger.
“Yeah I did actually. They said I’m good to start. Ms. Danvers called me yesterday to set up my training schedule.”
Tony snorted.
“Just call her Carol, she only needs us to speak professionally in front of the cameras and public during Avenger business.”
Bucky frowned slightly.
“A dame like that deserves respect all the time. ‘Til she tells me otherwise I’ll stick to callin’ her Ms. Danvers.
Bucky returned to what he was doing and there was silence between the three until after Bucky finished his task. Loki was admiring his nails painted a dark green that was almost black in appearance. When the god looked up to show off, he caught sight of Tony’s deep frown and concerned eyes.
“Anthony?”
Bucky turned as well and looked concerned.
“Everything ok?”
Tony finally looked up and locked eyes with Loki.
“Loki, you wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the fact the Avengers are trending right now?”
“I beg your pardon? What is this trending you speak of?”
Bucky chuckled.
“Don’t bullshit him Loki, everyone knows you have social media accounts.”
Loki crossed his arms over his chest.
“Alright what is it I’m being accused of?”
Tony showed him his phone.
“Apparently a lot more went on with that tour and interview than I thought. The media is having a field day. Apparently, there’s hackers out there that have taken it upon themselves to look through the leaked files from the info dump after watching the interviews. The rogues are in hot water and I can’t help but suspect a certain godly sibling duo is to blame.”
Loki turned his attention to his nails.
“Hmm, that is quite the unfortunate turn of events for them. A pity, and here they had a chance to redeem themselves.”
“Loki.” Tony said his name in a serious tone which Loki ignored. “Uncle.”
Loki’s gaze shot up to the younger god’s.
“What did you and mom do?”
“We protected our family.” Loki answered back in a serious tone. “No one harms one of ours and gets away with it. We did not need to do much though, our own feelings on that group are very much shared. Only a few knew of our plans and the rest just happened to work in our favor.”
Tony put his phone down as he stared at the god of mischief.
“Did you tell any of the others to say what they did during the interview?”
“I only aided Hela in how best to speak with the reporter. Everyone else spoke honestly with no knowledge of our plans.”
They were locked in a stare-off for several moments before Tony shook his head.
“I appreciate it but you guys didn’t need to do this.”
“We wanted to. You have suffered to much already…and I’m very familiar with what it means to be alone and forced to suffer such abuse without support. I do not intend for you to go down the same path as I did.”
“Are you angry with Loki?” Bucky asked much to Tony’s surprise.
“You knew about this?”
“I was an assassin for decades and a sniper in the army, noticing things is kind of an ingrained skill at this point so yeah I saw this coming. The others got themselves into this mess so I’m just letting things play out.”
Tony ran a hand through his hair.
“I’m not angry. If I knew beforehand…I’d probably have stopped them. I guess I should be thankful I finally have someone in my corner besides Rhodey and Pepper. You know what, this is a good thing and we should celebrate.”
The two looked at him strangely as he stood.
“I’m calling everyone and setting it up.”
“We’re celebrating the rogues getting what’s coming to them?” Loki asked.
“Nonsense, the press would have our heads for that if they found out. We’re celebrating Bucky finally joining the Avengers.”
Both Loki and Bucky were grinning, looks like Loki and Hela weren’t the only mischievous ones in their family.
“Who are you inviting?” Bucky asked.
“Everyone of course, what kind of party would it be if we left people out? What do you think, a week from now? That way everyone has time to make room in their schedule.”
“Sounds fair.” Loki nodded.
“Perfect, I’m going to get it all set up. You two try and stay out of trouble.” Tony said waving as he left already typing on his phone.
~
Hela looked at her phone as it dinged with a notification. Thor gave her a look as they were currently in Asgard dealing with some diplomatic matters. She didn’t care, it was from her son and Thor could just deal with it.
“Queen Hela, is there some matter far more important than this?” The elven king demanded, he and the other leaders of the nine realms were present for the meeting.
“In fact, there is.” She smiled coldly at the king. “You see my son is part of Midgard’s defenders, the very warriors we’ve been trying to get you and the others of the realms to agree to stand beside. You all seem to believe Midgard to still be a backwater planet but it isn’t. My son is gathering Midgard’s greatest warriors for a celebration. Perhaps if you decided to listen to my brother and I you’d come to this celebration to see the warriors that are beyond worthy to stand beside.”
“Anthony is gathering the others?” Thor asked to clarify.
“Yes, and we’re both invited. Anthony and the others have not forgotten that you once stood by their side on the battlefield.”
Thor rubbed his chin thinking for a moment.
“I will make arrangements then so I may attend and ensure Midgard knows I still stand beside them. It will be good to see my nephew and brother.”
“King Thor, perhaps we should focus on this meeting as opposed to a useless celebration of mortals.” Vanaheim’s queen said, her tone scolding as though she could treat Thor as a child simply because he was a thousand years younger than her.
“It is not useless, such events strengthen the bonds between warriors. As my sister stated, you mistakenly believe Midgard still in its infancy. It has grown and its people are very impressive. You also seem to believe Midgard has only mortals. It does not. Among their warriors are several immortals and those with strength to rival my own. There is a reason I stood beside them accepting many as equals. If you truly wish to stand behind your misconceptions of Midgard’s forces than you may do so. But Asgard and Hel remain allies of Midgard.”
“As does Olympus.” Came the voice of Zeus who entered the room with a presence that intimidated those present other than Hela and Thor.
“Who are you?” the dwarf king asked eyeing Zeus suspiciously.
“I am Zeus, king of the gods of Olympus. Odin attempted to remove my people from the other realms as he saw us as a threat to his tyranny. Queen Hela was kind enough to aid my people and King Thor has gone out of his way to right the wrongs of his father. He is attempting to do the same with all of you by treating you more as equals as opposed servants to serve Asgard. If you wish to throw his kindness in his face then do so from your own realm. Your stupidity is lowering the intelligence of everyone else here.”
The gathered royalty was silent for several moments as Zeus took a seat beside Hela.
“I hope this invitation extends to me as well.”
Hela smirked.
“Of course, our son would never leave you out of such an event.”
“You two have a child together that calls Midgard his home?” The Jotun king asked.
“We do, he was born on Midgard and has called it home since his birth. He is of course as powerful if not more so than us.” Hela answered, trying not to sound smug though it was hard.
The king nodded as he considered his next words.
“I wish to meet these heroes. You speak of them proudly and it is true that King Thor is making an attempt where Odin did not. You have welcomed us into Asgard whereas before we’d have been slain for even considering to step foot here. You are offering us a true alliance as opposed to that false treaty Odin did. If Midgard will have me, I wish to attend this celebration.”
“Of course, anyone else while I’m sending the request?”
There was a round of agreements so Hela sent the message before putting her phone away.
~
“Are you sure you’re ok working security? I mean I feel bad that you won’t be joining the party.” Tony asked again of the volunteers to take security duty during the party.
“It is no problem; I am happy to make sure everyone is safe.” Colossus answered.
“As long as Venom gets chocolate, he’s happy and I’m not really that fond of parties. Besides, we kind of need the money.” Eddie said with a shrug.
“If you think this is a hardship you obviously don’t know me. Just don’t tell Wade where I am, he’ll just bug me.” Cable answered.
“Believe me, I don’t mind Tones. Just go have fun and try to make sure no one gets wasted.” Rhodey reassured him.
“Now go, we need to get to work.” Peggy pushed him towards the door.
Tony finally went inside with his hands raised in surrender; he knew better than to question Aunt Peggy. She’d kick his ass if he did. Once inside he went up to Loki and Bucky with a grin.
“So, looking forward to seeing everyone?”
Bucky nodded.
“It’ll be nice to actually meet everyone. I’ve met a few so far during training. Carol is tough on us but it’s nice, reminds me of my time in the army.”
“Oh, so now it’s Carol.” Tony said hitting Bucky in the side with his elbow.
“That’s because I gave him permission.” Carol answered as she walked in with Hercules, Logan, Susan, Johnny, and Ben.
“You guys could make it. No Mr. Fantastic?”
Susan rolled her eyes.
“You know how he is; I couldn’t drag him from the lab.”
“Thanks for the invite Iron God, think you could save a dance for me?” Johnny asked as he wrapped an arm around him and offering a flirty look.
“Well that’s a new one, I need shirts that say that. But no dance for you firebutt, I’ve got myself a date.”
Johnny pouted.
“Well let me know if it doesn’t work out then, I want one of those shirts if you do make them.” And with that the human torch was off looking at the buffet table with hungry eyes.
“Thanks for inviting us. Man I needed this, you have no idea.” Ben said as he approached. “Who’s the new guy?”
“This is Bucky Barnes also known as the Winter Soldier. Bucky this is Ben Grimm also known as The Thing.”
Bucky made a face.
“The Thing?”
“Yeah, you can thank the idiot over there for that.” He motioned to Johnny.
“Hey, it’s a good superhero name.” Came the protest around a mouthful of food.
“Play nice you guys.” Susan told them before whispering to Tony. “You’ll save a dance for me, won’t you?”
“For milady of course.” Tony said with a dramatic bow.
“Thanks.” She said with a smile before going to explore what the party had to offer.
“She’s the Invisible Woman correct?” Loki asked.
“Yeah, she’s Reed Richard’s wife. That idiot doesn’t know how lucky he is, she is way too good for him.” Tony answered.
“Hey, you guys can’t start a party without us!”
The three turned as several members of the x-men arrived.
“Of course not, no one can party without the best blue heroes among us.” Tony greeted Kurt and Hank before greeting the others.
“Hey guys these are members of the X-men. Kurt Wagner, Hank McCoy, Ororo Munroe, Doctor Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Kitty Pryde, Bobby Drake, and Warren Worthington.”
Most of the x-men waved or said their greetings. Bucky noticed the use of another language from Kurt.
“German right?”
Kurt nodded.
“Born and raised, it’s a habit to speak it sometimes.”
“No worries, I speak it fluently.”
Kurt lit up looking happy to speak his native language with someone. Bobby walked up to Loki.
“God of mischief, right?”
“Yes, tempted to try and take my title?” Loki asked with an amused smirk.
“More than tempted, keep an eye out.” Bobby promised as he walked off.
Tony laughed while Loki looked interested.
“This can’t possibly end well.” Tony said shaking his head as he walked off.
He ended up eating some snacks before Susan pulled him away to dance. Bucky and Loki already there dancing to the song the DJ decided on. It wasn’t long before Jean and Scott joined along with Ororo and Hank. More were arriving but Tony was too busy to greet them. As he moved, he saw Bobby grinning as he flung a piece of ice to land right where Loki was stepping. He slipped but Bucky’s quick reaction had him catching the god and deciding to use the position to his advantage to kiss the god. Loki however turned to find the source of his misstep. Bobby waved before he walked away.
“This really isn’t going to end well.” Tony said again with Susan agreeing.
“Want to take bets on who will come out on top?”
Oh, a challenge.
“I bet Carol because Carol is the big boss around here.”
Susan laughed.
“True but I’m still putting my money on Loki.”
They shook on it after departing from the dance floor.
“Anthony.” Tony turned at the call of his name from a familiar voice.
“T’Challa I didn’t know if you were able to come or not.”
The king kissed him in greeting.
“Yes, I wasn’t sure but Shuri would not allow me to not make it. She wishes to check up on her broken white boy.”
Tony turned to see Shuri walk right up to Bucky and pull him away from Loki to dance. The god of mischief didn’t seem to mind as he searched for his challenger to his title.
“I also brought another guest; I hope you don’t mind.”
Tony looked to see the large man that T’Challa motioned to.
“That’s…M’Baku right?”
“Yes, he was most insistent on seeing our world’s defenders for himself.”
Tony almost burst out laughing as M’Baku lifted Kurt by the back of his shirt to look at him. He did finally laugh when Kurt teleported out of his grip and onto his head for a moment to smack him with his tail before teleporting again.
“This is so much better than I could have imagined.”
T’Challa smiled.
“I’m looking forward to it to. Is your mother here?”
Tony pointed to where Hela was standing with a drink in her hand.
“She arrived while I was dancing. Looks like she brought the other royals of the realms. Oh, come with me, let me introduce you to my dad.”
He pulled the Wakandan along with him over to where Zeus was standing with Thor.
“Hey dad, this is my boyfriend King T’Challa.”
Zeus looked at T’Challa a moment before giving a small nod of acknowledgement.
“And where do you rule?”
“Wakanda.” T’Challa answered.
Zeus raised a brow.
“I see, my son has chosen well then. I am Zeus, King of Olympus. I was once known as Howard Stark.”
“A pleasure to meet you, which name do you prefer me to use?”
“Zeus is fine. From one ruler to another, I’d suggest speaking with the others of the realms. They have a low opinion of Midgard but once you’ve proven those beliefs wrong, they will make worthy allies to have.”
T’Challa gave a nod and thanked him before he kissed Tony goodbye to do as advised.
“You good here?” Tony asked his dad before taking off.
“I am fine son. Go enjoy your celebration. I shall give my well wishes to Sargent Barnes later. This celebration is for him correct?”
Tony nodded deciding not to go into detail about it. When he left the two, he decided to go find Loki and see what kind of mischief he was getting up to. He found Loki and Bobby being scolded by Carol. He spotted what looked like the aftermath of a massive snowball fight and smirked. He turned to see if he could find Susan. She spotted him and at his grin she shook her head before giving a thumbs up at his victory.
“Boss.” He pulled out his phone at Friday’s voice.
“What’s up babygirl?”
“Some unwanted guests have been stopped by security but they are not so willing to leave.”
He grumbled in annoyance before he went to see if it was who he was almost certain it was. He walked outside to find that he was partly right. Outside stood Rogers, Maximoff, and Romanoff. To his surprise though there was also Hope Van Dyne and Hank Pym.
“Stark, where is my wife?” Hank demanded.
“Stark, can you not let go of your ego for one single moment? You’re tearing this team apart because you can’t stop to think about anyone besides yourself.” Romanoff stated at the same time.
“You need to stop this Tony. You have no reason to be angry with Bucky anymore so you need to stop using Loki to manipulate him. If you’d just sit down and talk to us, we could work this out and be a team again.” Rogers added as well, talking at the same time as the others.
Maximoff didn’t say anything, the cold look in her eyes all to familiar but no red mist surrounding her as her powers were bound. Instead of mindlessly throwing a temper tantrum though it seemed she’d at least thought out how this encounter would go for her as she reached behind her and pulled out a weapon unlike anything Tony had seen before. Before he or any of the others could properly react, she fired straight at him piercing his chest right where his heart was. His eyes widened as his body fell and darkness consumed him. Screams echoed in his ears the few short seconds before his body hit the ground.