Sequel to "A Promise".

Three months. It had been three months since Tony's birthday, since Loki- the insane, psychopathic, tyrannical conqueror- had interrupted the drunken phone call Tony had made and threatened to eviscerate him if he came near "Anthony" again. Three months.

Steve couldn't believe he had waited this long.

The Avengers compound looked exactly the way he remembered as he slipped into the grounds, and it didn't seem like any new security measures had been put in place. He knew how to avoid them, and it didn't take him very long to infiltrate the main building. Tony's well being was on the forefront of his mind, mostly because the inventor had never called him back. Steve knew that he had lost the phone- he knew because he had tried to call back only to receive a recorded out of service message- but Tony still should have been able to track down the number.

Steve was already regretting waiting as long as he had, but things had kept coming up, whether it was a sighting of the Scarlet Witch that forced him to go to Bulgaria for a week or the possibility of a cure for Bucky's condition that had him spend three weeks in Alaska, time had just slipped away. But Tony had never been far from his mind, and as weeks turned into months of waiting for something on the news, or for another phone call, Steve eventually decided that he had no choice but to check on the inventor himself.

As one of the outer doors swung open, Steve slipped inside nervously looking around- and froze.

The Avengers compound wasn't abandoned- not anymore. Vision was standing over to the far left, switching between news channels on the massive flatscreen television stapled to that wall with each time he blinked. Occasionally, he would float off the ground and then back down again, like his own unique version of pacing.

Another television was on the right wall, this one slightly smaller, and there was a couch in front of it on which sat Rhodey and a young woman Steve didn't recognise who had the bearings of a military person. The blonde woman glanced at him very briefly as he walked in, but her eyes moved right on past him and back to the game without so much as a flicker of surprise or alarm.

While Steve's mind spun, wondering why no one was blinking twice at him and also incredibly curious as to where Tony was, the door to the kitchen swung open and two more people Steve didn't know left it. One was a very small woman with pale, child-like features and pitch black hair save for a single streak of white on the right side. Walking side by side with her was an extremely tall, yet slim, athletic looking male with neon green hair sticking up in strange directions.

The green-haired man said something that made the girl roll her eyes and backhand his shoulder before she went to sit down next to the blonde woman, placing a chaste kiss on her lips while her tall friend laughed softly before plopping down in a recliner positioned next to Rhodey's side of the couch and beginning to discuss the semantics of the sports game with him.

Another pair exited the kitchen, and this time Steve stiffened instantly, because one of the figures was Loki. His companion was tall and more broad, with black hair and dark gray eyes. He was wearing a long black cloak that seemed very Asgardian in style. When they exited the kitchen, the gray-eyed man immediately stopped his conversation and simply stared at Steve for a long moment before going over to sit on the floor next to the pale woman who- upon a closer inspection- looked like she might be related to the newcomer.

While Steve gaped, Loki brought over some of the food he was carrying to a table at the back of the room. Tony was sitting at that table, right next to a young kid that Steve thought looked familiar. He appeared to be helping the teenager with. . . was that homework? Meanwhile, Loki walked over and plopped down a mug of coffee and what appeared to be a hamburger in front of Tony and the kid respectively, planting a kiss on Tony's cheek before sitting down in the chair on the other side of the kid and glancing at the paper in front of them.

The presumably normal activities went on for a least five minutes, while Steve just stared in completely and utter shock, before the black haired woman suddenly looked up over the back of the couch, craning her neck slightly to look over at the table where Loki and Tony sat. "Are you just going to leave him standing there gaping like a fish for the rest of the day?" she asked in the same sort of almost-English accent that the Asgardians all had.

Loki glanced up very briefly, and the look he cast Steve was full of disdain. "He came here for a reason; he should be the one to speak." Those words, though ostentably an answer to the woman's question, were clearly directed at Steve himself.

"I. . . ." Steve began, and suddenly he was the center of attention where he had been utterly ignored before. Only the tall, green-haired man and the gray-eyed fellow sitting on the floor still seemed uninterested in him. He cleared his throat nervously. "I came here to make certain Tony was alright, since. . . the phone was no longer working."

Tony himself stood suddenly, arching a simple eyebrow at Steve. "I'm fine. Clearly. Is that all?"

Steve felt himself grow a bit righteously angered. "I was worried about you, Tony," he said again, this time directly to the man himself, taking a step forward. "Is everything alright? Who arethese people? And why is Loki here?"

"Everything is fine," Tony said evenly. "Loki is here because he and I are together; have been for quite some time now. By "these people" I assume you're referring to his family. Hela," he gestured to the dark haired woman, who just stared at him unnervingly, her frosty blue eyes more than a little disturbing, "Jormi," the green haired man gave him a careless backward wave from his chair without even turning around, "and Fenrir." This was the solemn man on the floor who just looked carefully at Steve as if evaluating him. "Caitlyn there-" this was the blonde woman- "is Rhodey's friend and Hela's girlfriend, soon to be fiance if they have any sense-"

"Tony-" was the instant protest from Caitlyn only to be silenced by Hela kissing her again, firmly.

Tony just grinned. "You know Vision, of course. And this is Peter," he gestured to the boy. "You've met as well."

Steve frowned. "We have?"

Peter raised his hand and gave a half wave very reminiscent of "Jormi's" action earlier. "Queens."

Steve's eyebrows skyrocketed. "You're-" he turned to Tony, "He's? Um." He addressed the kid again. "Hi. Sorry I dropped part of an airport on you."

The kid shrugged. "It's all good."

Loki looked angry, but he didn't say anything.

Steve addressed Tony again, floundering. "I don't understand. You called me."

A troubled look briefly passed over Tony's face. "Yes, I did. I was. . . in a bad place, and I made a wrong move." He looked Steve right in the eye then. "But my friends came back, and we've rebuilt the Avengers- stronger and more unified than they ever were before under the rule of law, not just our own consciences."

Steve just stared for a long moment. "You got Loki to submit to the Sokovia Accords?"

Loki laughed. "Well, maybe the soldier does have a brain after all."

"Loki's not an official part of the Avengers," Tony said with a shrug, "nor is he a citizen of Earth. He's a consultant for us. When he works with us," he turned sideways so that he could partially glare at Loki, "he abides by our rules. When he does not, he's a free agent."

"I'm always a free agent," Loki said airily, stealing a sip of Tony's coffee.

Tony just grinned and turned back to Steve. "Any other questions?"

Steve looked around the room- the room filled with such a diverse group of people and eventually looked back at Tony. "There's a bigger threat coming," he finally said. "Something we can't face on our own."

Tony's gaze hardened. "Really? Would that threat happened to be called Thanos? Alien who engineered the Invasion, tortured Loki," Fenrir, sitting in the corner, let out a low growl that sent a chill of Steve's spine, "and also took control of and helped create Ultron? Would that be the threat to which you're referring?"

Steve recoiled. "You-"

"Knew? Why, yes, I did. I knew after New York, after I flew a fucking nuke into a wormhole and saw . But it's nice to know that you've finally gotten with the program. Tell me, are you willing to sign the Accords now?"

Steve gaped. "You were trying to unify the planet to fight against a new threat?"

Loki growled this time. "The fact that he's just now realising rather makes me wish to cut open his head just to see if there's actually a brain there."

Steve looked around at the strange assortment of aliens and soldiers before looking back at Tony's hardened face, and then past him at the teenage boy that Loki and Tony had just been helping to do his homework. It was all a bit much. "What about Bucky?" he finally asked.

"What about him?" Tony asked flatly, though there was something hard in his voice.

"He didn't have any control over what he was doing," Steve implored.

Tony exhaled heavily. "I know. And that was my error before. I never should have attacked him like I did." He hesitated, "Although, I wasn't trying to kill him- I wasn't, Steve. Just capture him and take him in. Again. "

"Perhaps the more relevant response would be that he wasn't the right target of your anger anyway," Loki said in a far too innocent tone. "You should have been trying to kill Captain Tightpants here."

Steve flushed, both out of anger and embarrassment.

Tony just smirked and rolled his eyes. "Loki, I'm trying to make peace here."

"Yes, and you're doing far too good of a job of it," Loki responded. "I happen to dislike these people and don't want them living in my house."

" Your house?" Tony repeated, incredulous.

Loki nodded. "Yes."

Again, Tony rolled his eyes, turning back to Steve. "Anyway, you were asking about Barnes. I know that he wasn't to blame for what he did- any more than Loki was to blame for the invasion, by the way, which is a discussion we're going to have to have later. If he and the others come back and agree to hold to some laws, we can start working together to defeat Thanos. No hard feelings," he offered with a small smile.

Steve hesitated. "I'll. . . need to think about it. And talk to the others."

Tony nodded. "Of course. Vision will show you to one of the rooms here in the compound; I'm afraid that your old one is now Jormi's, and I doubt you want to set foot in there."

Jormungand grinned so broadly that Steve could tell even though the Asgardian had his back to them.

"Sleep on it and make your decision. Then you can take whatever plane you want to go talk to the others."

"Including this Cat King," Loki added. "I rather want to meet him and talk to him about the construction of his armor."

Tony looked like he was restraining laughter at Loki's title for T'challa. "Yeah, him too." He barely managed to keep a straight face.

Steve was still baffled, but he allowed Vision to lead him up to one of the guest quarters.

Had he. . . been wrong ?

(0)-(0)-(0)-(0)-(0)

Tony sunk into his seat at the table, Peter once again between him and Loki, slumping down and putting his head in his hands.

Loki's cool hand landed on his shoulder, reaching over Parker. "You handled that remarkably well."

"It helped that we knew he was coming miles out. Did he really think he was going to go unnoticed in that old jet of his? It's at least a month out of date."

Loki smirked. "At least it's not eighty years out of date."

Tony's hands masked his grin, but they all knew it was there anyway.

As Vision descended and once again took up his place before the television, the atmosphere in the room grew decidedly more relaxed.

"He's settled in?" Tony asked, ever playing the part of the gracious host.

Vision nodded. "He is."

"Good." Tony slumped again.

Loki stood, walking around Peter, who just seemed uncomfortable, and sitting on the table on the other side of Tony. "He'll see. He has to. And then you will lead the Earth, Anthony."

"You keep saying that," Tony grumbled. "Don't you think someone else should-"

"No," Loki said immediately, "because I will be working with you, and you alone. Most of you mortals are morons, you know."

"With a few beautiful exceptions," Hela said softly, gazing into the eyes of her lover.

Caitlyn just rolled her eyes, turning back to the sports on the television while Hela snuggled up next to her.

Loki watched them with a fond smile before turning back to Tony. "Exactly."

Tony sighed and then looked up. "Does it have to be me?" he whined.

"Yes. Because no one else is smarter. No one else is more capable. No one else is more respected, and, most importantly, I trust no one else to do it."

"Egomaniac," Tony muttered.

"Always," Loki responded easily with a sharp grin.

"So I lead the Earth?"

"Yes. And I will lead Asgard, as Thor has renounced his ties to the throne and chosen life among Midgardians, and our father has. . . vanished."

Tony arched an eyebrow.

Loki just smiled sharply. "I will lead Asgard, and Fenrir has his group of. . . what are they, exactly?"

"Assassins. Thieves. Criminals. Bad guys," Fenrir shrugged, smirking. "Take your pick."

"Tricksters?" Loki asked with gleaming eyes.

Fenrir smiled. "Exactly."

Loki turned back to Tony. "Fenrir has his Tricksters. Hela will speak to Death on our behalf, and she will no longer support the Titan. Jormungand will lead Jotunheim."

"I still think that's a terrible idea, by the way," Jormi spoke without turning around.

"We don't care," Hela retorted instantly.

Loki was wearing his "fond parent" smile again for a beat until he got back on track, his smile turning sharp and dangerous as he looked at Tony. "A war is coming, but we will win."

Tony smiled, for it was impossible not to be assured by the god's confidence. He wrapped his arms around Loki, leaning forward against him. "Promise?" he repeated the same query that had left his lips three months previously. Somehow, the circumstances were both vastly different and yet entirely the same.

"I promise."

A/N: Kudos to you if you spot the Firefly reference!

Also, these works could probably be read as some kind of AU of my main work, Satisifaction. Loki's kids are obviously the same, and though I do intend on, at some point, writing a Satisfaction version of Civil War that (probably) won't be compatible with this, they are definitely related.

Thanks for reading!