Nick Fury was not a patient man. He was also not forgiving in most cases. He had no intention of following the law, if it didn't benefit him in any way. He did, however, follow through with the deals made with Asgard. Only because those space-vikings were stronger than them, not because of honor or bullshit like that. He didn't have to like it, though.
So when they had shoved Loki off to his home realm and had let him be tried there, he had had hopes of never seeing the fucker again. He had done enough, after all, including the invasion of New York, and then after that there was the Manhattan Incident and the one in Central Park. That last one had been pure gore, a few of his best men hat been hurling all over the place after that.
Luckily, that had been 5 years ago – and since then, Loki had … not quite turned around, but more or less switched sides. In a way. He was, at least, a little subdued. He was working on their side, in a very violent way. Not very often, though – he refused to do anything most of the time, and only came out when things were looking awfully bad. And Fury tried to make these situations as rare as possible; Because if they had to rely on him, their opponents ended up dead.
"If I have to show up to save your useless mortal lives, I will not show mercy on the scum who makes me waste my precious time." He had sneered, and that had been it. So yes, Loki was back and it was publicly known. And most saw him as an Avenger. The public believed that this was a kind of redemption working from the god – by now he also had a very solid fan-base. No one had known why Loki actually returned to earth, until 3 years ago.
And now Fury wished, once more, that Stark had a better control of his goddamn dick.
But no, of course Stark had to go and fuck a male alien, AND somehow get said male alien knocked up. Just when you think it couldn't actually get any more weird – all of the Avengers, plus Phil Coulson, Maria Hill and Nick Fury himself were named Godfather and Godmother for the little lady.
Fury hated Loki with all his might.
And he knew, when the information had come in a few minutes ago, that the clean up would be gory. AND he knew – that this time, Fury would NOT tell Loki off. God forbid, he'd probably rather utter a praise.
Instead, he followed the procession on the screen and leaned back, with a growl and high hopes that Loki would, for once, set a prime example of what could happen if you pulled enough bullshit on the wrong people.
*****
Screams erupted in the hall as people were pushed around. The doors were shoved shut, the workers and civilians huddled together in a corner of the establishment. There were children crying, in fear and adults whimpering lowly, horrified.
"Shut those damn kids up!" a man in black clothes and a ski-mask shouted, pointing his gun in the direction of the crying children. His comrades in the meanwhile, went to hack into the system. One of the workers had his hands raised and was pressured and threatened with a gun to hand them out money, and he better not call the police or pull anything stupid.
Loki was sitting in the corner together with the hostages, a small girl standing between his crossed legs. He was bored, maybe a little annoyed, but all in all rather calm and unbothered. And he had not the slightest intention to do anything for these cretins, including hostages as well as terrorists. His daughter, though, seemed to have another idea.
"Mom?" she asked, loud and clear, without any fear of the danger the men and their weapons might pose. Her high voice and slightly unclear speach travelled over the present humans. Loki hummed, brushing his fingers through her soft brown locks and waiting paitently for her to continue. "Can I try my magic on them?"
"No dear. No magic outside of the training room, remember?"
shaking his head, Loki untagled a knot in her slightly curly hair.
"Aww, but mom! You said, I can try myself with bad people, because bad peoples live don't matter!" she pouted, slightly pushing at his hand. It was useless though, because Loki simply grinned, and pulled gently ad adoringly on her locks instead.
"Hey, you! You and your stupid little girl, shut up!" one of the two men who kept their focus on the hostages shouted, his weapon firmly pointing at the crowd. Loki graciously ignored him and the whimpers he managed to get from the normal humans. Their attention was split between staring at the perpetrator and staring at Loki, some in warning some in dawning horror.
Loki chuckled. "Oh deary, yes I did say that, didn't I? Let's hope your father won't find that out, hm? He might just start to question my nonexistent morals, yet again, hm?" the trickster grinned. The little girl, maybe around 3 or 4 years old, raised her hands, and they shimmered a beautiful gold. Just for a moment, before something behind Loki exploded, receiving loud screams of shock and fear from the humans. Loki frowned and swatted down at his daughters hands. "No. Valkyrie, you have to listen to me. If not, I will not train you in anything related to magic." He sternly said.
The small girl looked at him in shock and horror and instantly clasped her hands behind her back and sucked her lower lip between her teeth, and gave Loki her most innocent look. It was an endearing sight, if not for the mischief in her eyes. He gave a crooked albeit proud smile, wondering once more how Anthony managed to put up with two of his sort.
Shots were fired into the ceiling, screams errupted, and Lokis eyes narrowed as he turned his head around abruptly to the robbers. "WHAT is your problem?!" he hissed, and managed to be heard even over all the distressed sounds of the captives. The offenders dark eyes were trained on Loki and the god stood up, straightened his back to his usual regal pose, towering over the puny little man. "Do you suffer from inferiority complex or are you simply blind and deaf? I am not inclined to deal with you pheasant! So leave me be."
The guy seemed pretty unimpressed though. If Loki had to say how the other felt, it was probably near to superior amusement - at his cost. "I said shut the girl up, she's annoying. Or are you unable to? Have you gotten soft, or have you always been such a sucker? Are you not able to hurt little children, huh?" the human snorted, and his words threw Loki a bit off.
"Pardon?"
"I know who you are – Loki Odinson. An ex-villian turned wishy-washy good, makes me wanna hurl." The man sneered and his companion made exaggrated gagging sounds, and as Loki stayed silent, he continued. "So, I see that little missy over there is of your getting? Do you teach her the ways of the good Captain America, too? So she will be an Avenger someday? Maybe I should shoot her down and blame the good Captain, so you get back to the side where you belong on! If she is indeed your flesh and blood, she's something abnormal anyways. Two guys getting a child, even for aliens that's some pretty fucked up shit I guess. " he pointed his gun at Valkyrie.
"… Am I understanding this right, that you have just threatened the live of my daughter?" Loki hummed contemplatively and tilted his head, watching the man like a predator.
"Jep." The other said, plopping the 'p' obnoxiously, and another shot loosened itself from the weapon, trained straight on Valkyrie. It never hit its target though, as a bubble of gold encased the girl, while her eyes fell shut. Her body started floating within the bubble, and swayed through the air until it was directly and safe behind Loki. The hostages and the criminals where suspiciously silent all of a sudden.
The man's eyes went wide, and he took a step back. He obviously hadn't taken Loki as a serious threat until now. Now, though? It was like flipping a switch - the atmosphere was thick, and Lokis eyes were a sparkling, emerald green. Even though, no one in the room would have said that Lokis eyes seemed anything else than dark.
"Let's see, how much time has passed, since you've entered here – around 5 minutes? That means it's been probably 3 minutes since Fury must have taken notice, 2 since the Avengers must have been notified. Giving Anthony about 40 seconds to hack into this system if I'm correct." He mused and hummed again, his lips curving into an evil and cruel smile. "So… Anthony, dear? You with me?" Loki spoke evenly and calm, almost serenely but with apparently no one in particular. The screens that had shown only marketing commercials before, now turned to show the StarkIndustries logo before they switched to give a visual of his husband within his Iron Man suit. Like Loki had thought, he probably had been listening in for a few seconds there. Coonsidering his dark eyes, he must know what was going on.
The robbers flinched, training ther weapons directly towards Loki, but for now doing nothing important – aside from hissing at eatch other, probably commands or questions, Loki didn't care enough to listen in.
"With you, Reindeer Games. So, how fucked are they? Do I need to bring paper bags for Cap or is a warning enough?" the genius asked, but underneath that good humor was a dark vibe.
"Everyone is still alive – for now. Can you do me a favor, Stark. I need you to make a live transmission to as many people as you can, of what I am about to do."
"Anything specific? I mean, you probably know but I'm still gonna say it: Fury is gonna spit fire you know?"
"Oh I just want to make a statement. I don't take lightly to cretins threatening my families life, or trying to shoot them. Let the director be a problem for later, if at all. I'll deal with this here first."
"Yep, on it. J, if you would be so kind?" Tony had instantly an idea where this went, but couldn't care less.
Loki waited for a moment, before he heard the telltale noise of the surveillance cameras shifting their angles around, and Anthony gave him the go ahead. "You're live and on air on most channels now. Please just give a warning ahead."
Lokis smile was dark and sinister, as he turned his attention back to the criminals, while addressing his new audience.
"Good afternoon, dear humans. I am sure I don't need to introduce myself to you all, you should still remember me. I am not going to take much of your time, I simply want to give you a demonstration – of what happens when one crosses the line. As you all can see, this is a live feed. A few… new generation villains are trying to exert their imagined prowess over people, and I happened to be here with my daughter. As many of you can imagine, I couldn't care less." He started out, and raised his hand. His daggers appeared in front of him, hovering perfectly still in the air.
The criminals instantly shot, but luckily, Loki had not only started shielding his daughter, and so all of the civilians behind him were safe behind a brilliantly green hued shield of magic. The bullets that actually hit himself, simply made no impact or were repelled and hit their surroundings. He didn't even flinch. The shooting continued for long seconds, until they had apparently no more ammunition. Then, Loki waved his other hand, and the building was suddenly on lockdown, all doors closed – just in time, when the men wanted to escape. To get away from the magician, without success, as when they tried to get out, the doors were closeed tighly, and the clear glass walls to the outside were suddendly very much indestructible.
"You probably want to leave the room, or shield your childrens eyes from now on, if you are of faint heart." He warned, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Because, while I do not care for your pathetically short and pitiful midgardian lives, I have… married one of your so called 'mightiest hero's'. However, while I still question how mighty he is, I now have a family on this realm. And said family was threatened and endangered today." Tony had audibly protested as his mightyness had come into question, but otherwise stayed silent. By now, there was a loud 'Thunk' outside and Iron Man landed in front of the scene. He didn't even try to get in, however, and simply watched from the outside.
Five of Lokis daggers suddenly shot forward, all of them hitting their targets – right between the criminals eyes. They dropped dead instantly, causing the hostages to scream in terror. One was still standing though – the one right in front of Loki... the one that had tried shooting Valkyrie and insulted Loki.
"I want to remind humanity very kindly, that you have misinterpreted my lack of hostile actions against your realm. I have been tried for my actions against you, yes. I have served my sentence, also true, and trust me, Asgardian justice is pretty barbaric to anyone found guilty. But I have not switched sides to your good Captain America. And while I do not intend to cause anymore mayhem without a very good reason, I am not above… demonstrating what happens on a larger scale, if anything remotely similar to today would happen again."
With that Lokis magic flittered into action. Screams in the building and in the surrounding buildings resounded. Probably most people who had watched, live or on screen, had screamed. Even Tony had cringed. It wasn't something he wished upon his worst enemy, being literally skinned alive by magic; the skin slowly peeling itself off and revealing red blood and flesh and muscles and fat... before he was ripped apart. Blood coated the interior of the hall the magician was standing in. Loki was drenched in the blood, and he seemed pleased as he turned fully towards the camera.
"This is a warning, people of Midgard. I may not be a villain anymore, but: I am not one of your heroes. I am not an Avenger. I am Loki Stark, and I am the God of Lies, Mischief, Fire and Chaos. You can either be civil with me and my family, and live – if not quite in harmony – at least in a truce with me. Or you ignore what I just said and showed you, and life with the resulting consequences. As the last 5 years of my presence here have shown, I can very well be... an asset for you. Or I can be your worst nightmare again. Your choice, humanity. Choose wisely."
Tony used his chance to cut the feed at exactly that moment, and revoke the lockdown on the building through Jarvis. He entered calmly, opening his faceplate, and sidestepping the corpse and blood puddles with a grimace as he neared his husband.
" What the HELL Loki!?" he snapped, and Lokis head shot around to the inventor, while he made a small gesture with his hand, cleaning himself of the sticky and warm blood.
"I will not listen to any of your reprimands, nor your ethic or moral lectures, Anthony." the god instantly sneered. "I already told you what would happen if anything endangered our daughter, and your director was fully briefed that this was a possibility!"
"What the- By god, I could care less about that! I don't really care what you did to them, although that was pretty overkill. But then again, I guess it was fit as a demonstration. No, what I meant was: how dare you question my mightyness on public TV! You're so mean! Don't you care about my dignity at all here, Lokes?" Tony threw him an exasperated glance, before he stepped around the mage, and reached for Valkyire who was still suspended in mid air. Both of them were ignoring the hostages completely.
"Oh by the norns, your ego knows no boundaries, does it?"
"As if you are any better, Snowflake."
"I should neuter you for your impudence and arrogance."
"Oh yeah, let's do that and see which of us suffers the most! As if I'm the only one between us too that's-"
"One more word and I will make sure all of your suits will have itching powder in them for the next twelve years, Anthony." Loki interrupted harshly and Tony grimaced. He closed his arms around Valkyries form and hugged her close, before Loki dropped the shields.
"Sir, incoming call from director Fury." JARVIS calmly informed from the speakers in the suit. Loki sneered and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, put him through J." his voice was flat. He knew the man would probably start scolding ASAP and he already was calculating how much time this tirade would take. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised when the man did exactly the opposite.
"Is Valkyrie alright?"
Exchanging a surprised glance Loki nodded and so Tony responded a little wary. "Yes, she's fine. Only asleep, Loki had her inside his suspension and sleep bubble."
"Good. Get your asses out of there before the press comes. I want that mess there cleaned up, by the way. I will not have my men hurl out their guts again, Loki."
Said god simply raised an eyebrow at that statement, pulling back his shoulders in a way Tony knew was a 'no, I will not soil my hands with clean-up duties'. "Yeah, I'm gonna make the arrangements for that. We're on our way." With that, he ended the call simply. "Am I the only one confused by the lack of shouting and threatening?"
"His niece was in danger today. I believe the good director is, for once, not angered by my display of violence." Loki simply sniffed in a way that was rather arrogant and Tony gave a slight grimace. His husband was so vain sometimes...
"Thor will probably be pleased, huh."
"Oh yes, had he been in my stead today, he would have probably smashed them with his hammer to mush, or used his bare fists. Honestly, I do not know why you Midgardians call him a hero. He's a simple, mindless brute lacking any and all finesse. Besides, he has killed countless more individuals than I have. You never acused him of being a murderer."
"He didn't kill humans. Or, well, at least not intentional." Tony pointed out helpfully, and Loki frowned.
"He probably simply wasn't caught yet." the mage tilted his head, that was a rather sound possibility.
"Loki, we had this discussion before. We're not having it again. Anyways, take Valkyrie and get back to the tower. I'll be there shortly." the human in armor sighed, and gently heaved their sleeping child over to the god. Loki's features softened instantly, as he curled his arms around the small body. Tony smiled at the sight and the warmth entering his chest.
This was the man he had married. This soft man with a love for harmless chaos and pranks, who favored books over movies (even the good ones! Tony just couldn't understand), loved Shakespeare and hated soccer and football with a passion. Who kept insisting he wasn't good or an Avenger, but had ripped apart any enemy who had seriously wounded one of their team. Who feared nobody beside the dark places in his own mind, and read silly bed-time stories to their daughter. This man who had had no idea he could even get pregnant, and had almost flipped when he got knocked up, who had threatened to not pull through with the pregnancy, and now was a proud mother, secretly researching ways to make it possible for both banner and Romanova to maybe get a child. This man who talked Tony into funding childrens care centers and orphanages all around the world. This man, who called himself a god, with a short temper and sharp mind, with quick comebacks on his tongue at any time, who also never once lied to Tony.
"Anthony?" Lokis soft, almost worried inquiry pulled him from his thoughts, and he smiled.
"Everything alright. I was just remembering some things. Hey, how about movie night tonight?" he hummed. Loki scoffed, probably not happy that Tony diverted his attention, but still complied.
"I will chose the film."
"Nooo! Please not, you always pick these boring soaps!"
"If I have to watch a movie with you, when you can't shut up and stop your incessant babbling for more than two minutes at a time, then at least we're going with my choice."
"So harsh!" Tony chuckled. "Whatever. Let's get home." He hummed gently. Loki nodded and, stretching a hand towards him, gently caressed his cheek once before he disappeared in a glitter of gold and green with their daughter. Tony sighed wistfully, and slammed down his faceplate.
A quick scan showed that none of the civilians was physically hurt and all the perpetrators indeed dead. He made JARVIS contact a clean-up team and left the building and, turning on his thrusters, got himself back home.
Aside from disapproval from the good Captain concerning the violence, none of the team looked especially put out from the day. Actually, no one besides Steve even mentioned it. There was only Romanovas approving nod, and Clints wordless pat on Lokis shoulder.
Fury and Coulson insisted on a video confirmation from Jarvis that Valkyrie was safely in her bed after all this.
And when the movie night was indeed for once more or less without Tony's constant talking, that was only because his mouth was otherwise occupied.
After all, he LIKED thinking with his dick - it had gifted him his most precious little love. And seeing Loki defend their daughter? Drenched in the blood of some asshat who had almost hurt her? Seeing him threaten the whole world, and calling himself Loki Stark on TV? Yeah, Tony was fucking hard and head over heels in love.
God, he loved Loki - And every last passionate moan he could draw from him.