I do not own any Marvel characters or places
This is the 4th in a continuing series, but is written so that you don't have to read the others. There are minor references to the others, but not enough to confuse anyone.
Snow drifted past Loki's windows. Loki glanced up from his book, watching it float by. He smirked, knowing the complaints he would soon be hearing from Thor. A moment later he returned to his readings then his door slid open. Loki jumped, quickly setting the book down to glare at the intruder.
"What ever happened to knocking?"
Tony held up his hands defensively.
"It's my house!"
"And my room."
"Alright, point taken, I'll knock next time. Anyway, we wanted to know if you wanted to come with us, we're going to grab lunch at a deli."
Loki stood, giving a dramatic sigh which caused Tony to roll his eyes.
"I suppose I can join you, although it takes time out of my busy schedule. "We" is the others, yes?"
"Yeah, and don't try to play that guilt game with me, whatever you were looking at couldn't be that interesting."
Tony peered at the book on Loki's bed as he spoke. He stared at it for a few seconds before looking back at Loki disbelievingly.
"Fairy tales, you were reading fairy tales."
Loki instantly became defensive, snapping his fingers at the book, returning it to his shelves.
"The Grimm brothers were interesting people! I met them before they wrote those, so I was curious."
Tony's snickering only irked Loki more, he huffed agitatedly. Eventually Tony stopped snickering, although he still grinned openly.
"Whatever, just change into something normal and meet me down in the main room when you're done."
00000
"Whose idea was it to walk there?"
The team walked in a close group to preserve warmth. Tony's complain caused Natasha to smirk back at him.
"Yours, you didn't listen to Jarvis or us about the weather and, what was it you said? Oh, "it's only a few blocks away we'll be fine", I think that was it, right Steve?"
Everyone but Tony grinned. They soon reached the restaurant and were ushered to a large booth. The deli was empty, save for the staff and them, the impending blizzard kept most off the streets. Loki took a window seat, Thor and Tony sliding in beside him. Clint sat opposite him, with Natasha and Bruce, while Steve pulled a chair over.
"You all having a good day? I'll be serving you today, what can I start you-oh!"
The short haired waitress, with bright colored hair, that had hurried over let out a small squeak as she recognized the team. She stared at them, her mouth open for a moment, then blushed and continued.
"Er…What can I start you all off with, drinks wise?"
The team listed off what they wanted, she jotted it down and hurried away.
"That never ceases to gratify me."
Loki murmured, smirking.
"Don't let that go to your head, she definitely recognized me first."
"Tony, I'm pretty sure she saw Thor first, he's a bit hard to miss, even when wearing normal clothes."
Clint retorted, Tony grimaced as everyone tittered.
"If you don't stop sassing me I won't pay for lunch."
"That would be unfortunate seeing as you are the only one with a job outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. or protecting the world. Of course, by job I mean having Pepper manage your company for you."
"Shut up, fairy tale boy."
Loki tinged pink, glaring at Tony, but went silent. Their drinks were soon passed out and the same waitress, who now seemed to have trouble looking at them directly, took their order for food and left.
"Brother, we should visit Asgard sometime soon."
Thor mused, glancing over to Loki, who set his tea down.
"We've had trips away that have lasted a year or more in the past, are you really getting homesick now? Last time you went wasn't terribly long ago, it was when I was…sick."
Loki finished quietly, quickly taking another sip of tea.
"I know, but that was nearly a year ago and it was only for a few days. Also, it would be nice for all of us to see Asgard."
Everyone listened attentively. They were all interested in Asgard and, besides the gods, only Tony had been there. Loki swirled a spoon around within his tea, not looking up.
"Mmm…it takes energy to cross through the passages. Taking all of you…would be difficult. Anyway, what if something were to happen while we were gone?"
Loki's tone discouraged the others and Thor dropped the topic for the time being. They talked about other things, waiting for their food. Soon the waitress returned and began to pass out their meals.
"So, umm…I hope you don't mind but could I-aah!"
The glass windows shattered, and she shrieked. Loki instinctively summoned a shield of energy to protect them. Through the increasingly heavy snow a figure could be seen watching them. Loki leapt through the window, ignoring the broken glass.
"Ma'am, get to the back, hide, we'll take care of this."
Steve jumped up, motioning for the woman to run. She stumbled back, fleeing into the kitchens.
"Bruce are you alright?"
He turned quickly to his friend, who was taking calming breaths.
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
Steve nodded then addressed the remaining, Thor had already jumped through the window after Loki.
"Natasha, Clint, you both brought guns, good. Tony I suggest you stay back unless you can get your suit down here, this was definitely targeting us and we don't know what they can do."
Tony shoved a hand into his pocket as the other's exited the deli, Bruce lingered for a moment. Tony extracted an earpiece and looked up at him as he clipped it on.
"What, are you staying out of this one?"
"Oh, no I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to do something dangerous."
Tony grinned as he adjusted the earpiece.
"Me, no, never. Go on big guy, I'll be with you in a second."
Bruce nodded and quickly went after the others. Tony tapped the earpiece impatiently, then Jarvis spoke in his ear.
"Yes sir?"
"I need the new suit, now."
"Sir, it has not been fully tested yet."
"I know that, it'll be fine, just deploy it."
"Yes sir."
00000
Loki squinted at the unmoving figure through the snow. The scarf he wore blew into his face. Loki cursed and snapped his fingers, armor replacing the casual clothes.
"Who are you, what do you want from us?"
He called out to the figure, it did not move. From somewhere behind him, Loki heard a crack of thunder and the distinctive sound of Mjolnir. Loki glanced back and, as he had thought, Thor had summoned Mjolnir and now wore his armor. When Loki glanced ahead again, the figure had gone.
"Wha-"
Then the figure, a man's whose face remained strangely shadowed, appeared in front of Loki. The man held something up, which produced a sickly sweet gas. Loki stumbled back, chocking. The man watched him for a few moments, then a gunshot sounded and he disappeared.
"Damn, I missed."
Natasha cursed as she, Clint, Steve, and Bruce, who hadn't even had time to transform, hurried over to Thor and Loki.
"Brother, are you alright?"
Thor frowned as Loki made a disgusted face, still tasting the unnaturally sweet odor.
"The man attacked me with some form of gas. I feel fine, it simply tastes foul."
There was a noise from above, everyone looked up. Tony slowly descended towards them, heat from his propulsion melting the snow around him.
"What happened?"
He looked around at the team, Steve was the first to answer.
"The guy bolted when Natasha shot at him. Although not before spraying Loki with some sort of gas."
Loki waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm fine, even if the gas was supposed to do something my magic would heal me and cure it."
"Still, we should probably run some tests and make sure nothing's wrong."
Tony suggested, Loki sighed with exasperation.
"If that will reassure you, fine. But first I suggest that we at least compensate the restaurant for the trouble."
Back inside the deli Loki inspected the broken windows, repairing them with a short incantation, while Steve reassured the employees that everything was fine. Loki turned and was met by their previous waitress.
"Oh, hello, did Tony pay the bill yet?"
She blushed deeply.
"Er…yes…I said he didn't have to but he did. But, um…I just wanted to thank you for saving my life."
Loki smiled reassuringly.
"Then I have repaid part of my debt, after all, the times I may have endangered you are probably far greater in number."
The girl blushed even deeper as Loki bowed. He gave her a final smile and went to stand by the others. As they left Tony smirked at him.
"I think you enjoyed that a bit too much. She looked like she was about to faint."
"Nay, I was merely speaking to her."
Loki's amused grin caused Tony to roll his eyes in disbelief.
"Right, whatever you say."
00000
"I told you, there's absolutely nothing wrong with me."
Loki muttered as Tony removed the sensors from his arm.
"Okay, you were right, but it's still better to be safe than sorry. Come on, let's go join the others."
The blizzard had fully blown in now. Heavy snow howled past the windows, Clint was flipping channels with Thor and Steve, while Natasha thumbed through a book. Bruce scrolled through his laptop, occasionally typing. Tony went to make himself a drink and Loki flung himself onto a couch.
"Clint, what are you watching?"
"A movie."
"Very helpful, thank you."
Clint glanced over to see Loki's crooked grin and sighed. Tony came to sit beside him. The day passed on into evening. At one point Thor glanced over to Loki and frowned.
"Brother, are you sure you feel fine?"
Loki opened his eyes to look at Thor.
"What do you mean? Of course I feel fine."
Everyone listened to the conversation that had broken the monotony. Tony frowned as well.
"You do look paler than usual."
Loki scowled at his tone and stood up from the comfortable position he had been in. He glared at them.
"You're being ridiculous and I'm really not in the mood to be nagged. Goodnight."
Everyone watched as Loki stormed out of the room. Tony sighed and massaged his forehead.
"He acts like I five year old, I swear. Still…Jarvis keep an eye on him, just in case."
"Yes sir."
Loki lay on his bed, muttering darkly to himself whilst flipping the pages of his book. The sickening taste still lingered in the back of his throat. He turned the page he was on with too much force and it tore. Loki stared at it for a moment then sighed heavily and set it aside. There was no use reading tonight, sleep would be better to shake the strange feeling he had.
00000
The first thing Loki felt when he awoke was the overpowering sweet taste in his mouth. Loki lurched forward as the darkened room swam around him. His breath burned within his throat and his limbs felt frozen. The movement caused an outcry from his body. Loki attempted to stand but fell to the floor as his legs gave out.
"Jarvis!"
"The AI can't hear you."
It took a moment for these words to process. Then Loki whipped his head towards the direction of the voice, stifling a groan as more pain wracked his body. In the darkness a figure could be seen. The voice was male but, other than that, nothing could be distinguished in the dark. Loki sat up, which caused another wave of increased pain and a fit of coughing.
"I must say, it's incredibly gratifying to see my magnum opus working so flawlessly. Years of work, and even more work once you came around, the results are in front of me."
The man seemed genuinely pleased, his voice a mix of pride and delight. Loki attempted to stifle his coughing and speak.
"The deli…you attacked…a-ah…us."
"Well yes, I had to administer it somehow."
The burning in his chest was nearly overwhelming, Loki clenched his teeth to keep from crying out but only succeeded in biting his tongue. Blood joined the sweetness.
"What did you…do to…me."
"Administered a poison specifically made for magic users, of course I had to up the dosage for you. It will kill you within the hour, unless I give you this…"
The man held something close to Loki's face. Loki attempted to lash out and grab it, both physically and with magic, but simply fell forward from his upright position, barely catching himself. His mind processed the man's words.
"Aah…what do I do…to get it?"
The man chuckled.
"I have a few propositions. Of course, this is merely an inhibitor, not a cure. I would have to give it to you every night in order to prevent death. And if you try to set a trap for me with the others, then I won't come and you will die."
"Then I would…prefer death. I-"
Another coughing spell cut off Loki's words. Blood dripped from his mouth, Loki hoped it was simply from his tongue.
"That's no fun. If you die everyone will cry, Stark will cry, and Thor will cry buckets and buckets. Well, maybe not…but if you do die, then I will have to turn my direct attention towards the Avengers. You see how effectively I was able to get you, I think you can guess how that would go."
Loki's heart beat unsteadily, his thoughts were slow.
"Then what…do you want from…me, information?"
The man chuckled again.
"No, trickster, I want mayhem."
AN: Here it is, the first chapter. While writing the last one I started craving angst and pain(I know that sounds horrible) and came up with the idea for this fic. Also, shhh you didn't see me quote Moriarty, that never happened, shhh. But really, how do you like it? I have lots of ideas to come, one possibly involving Sif getting into the mix, and am writing the second chapter now. I would love feedback, it really helps. The next chapter should be up in a few days.