Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers.
Part of the Holiday Series and happens after the Project.
A/N: So sorry that's nearly a month late it's just it took me quite awhile to write.
It was raining in New York. Big splattering raindrops were falling from the dark gray sky. It was for this reason that Loki and Thor were not trick or treating as was their usual activity for that particular day. That and Thor didn't want a repeat of last year when he had taught the brochure woman a lesson, he hoped that she didn't forget. Instead, the two of them were inside once again attending Tony's Halloween party that they had skipped for several years. It was different. They weren't children, they were adults which normally mean a great deal of distance between the two of them, but that distance had faded some after Thor had figured out what Loki had tried so desperate to hide from everyone. The two of them were not carrying pillowcase full of candy but sporting glasses of alcohol. He hadn't drunk much, but he knew from what he had drunk it was of a good vintage. Not that he expected anything less from Tony. If nothing else he knew the man had good taste in alcohol.
But that was not the only thing he knew about the man, he knew much more and that's why it was alarming to him that ever since he had come to the tower to deal with the nanites Tony had been pretty much ignoring him. The genius had canceled the last couple of lunches and projects sessions that they had planned and he was starting to fear that Tony knew or at least suspected the truth. So naturally Loki was telling his suspicions to the only other person in the universe who knew about his perhaps more accurately badgering Thor about Tony.
"Are you sure that he hasn't said anything to you about me?" Loki asked for the third time. Thor understandably seemed irritated with answering the same question again.
"No Loki he hasn't," While were talking in a corner they could possibly still be overheard. As a result, they had to keep referring to Tony as him and leaving Robert's name unsaid, but they both knew who they were talking about.
"He's been neglecting all our meetings," Loki said taking a large gulp of the alcohol, Midgardian alcohol was much less potent than Aesir mead so it would take quite a bit of for him to get so drunk that he would reveal anything that he didn't want to.
"I know Loki," Thor said irritatedly again, looking even more so with the dark lines under his eyes that went with his football costume; with his bulk Thor looked like he wouldn't be out of place on a football team. Loki sighed.
"I'm sorry, but if he knows…" he let it hang in the air. The both of them were aware how bad things could be if Tony knew and told people. Loki's empire would likely crumble and he would be back to that outlaw who was wanted by everyone Thor looked slightly less annoyed, and more worried and understanding.
"You really think that he would?" Thor whispered. Loki shook his head, honestly he didn't know. He hoped that Tony wouldn't, but that might be too much to hope for. After all, he had tried to kill Tony before the start of their current friendship and it was possible he'd have a hard time overcoming that if their positions were switched. The both of them looked to the billionaire who was currently chatting with Steve across the room. This year Tony wasn't dressed as Iron Man as he usually dressed if no one could convince him not to. He was dressed as Captain America and Steve was dressed as a cowboy. Tony looked animated and excited about whatever he was talking about Steve looked...bored and mildly annoyed. If Loki had to guess Stark was going on and on about one of his projects, or maybe even one of theirs...or was that perhaps a bit too hopeful?
"Perhaps it's best to just give him space," Thor suggested as they looked at the two superheroes. Loki nodded, even though it wasn't his first choice, he knew that his brother's advice was sound. However, it would likely to be easier said than done. He moved his body so that he was facing Thor and away from Tony.
"Are you sad that we aren't going this year?" Loki asked looking pointedly as the fat raindrops still splattering on the ground.
"No more than all the real children are," Thor replied though his face belied a slight sorrow at the raindrops. The raven-haired being felt the same pang in him as well at the loss of their yearly activity. Loki found himself imagining all the little children with their faces pressed up against the window, hoping for the smallest break in the clouds so they could even go to a house or two, only to be perpetually disappointed. At least it wouldn't be for much longer, pretty soon it would probably be too late to go outside anyways.
Loki caught his own reflection in the glass and checked his costume to make sure it was still in place. He had decided against anything flashy or overly scary this year in an attempt to stay more below the radar than usual. The only thing remotely interesting or scary about his costume was the teeth, and all that was different about them was that they were a little pointed. The rest could have been found in any costume store, black cape, and a little drabble of fake blood. He shifted his cape shifted so it was more centered and was about to fix his hair when he frowned.
The floor was slightly trembling. The raven haired being looked around to see if anyone else seemed to take notice, but everyone else seemed to be not paying attention. He looked at Thor who was still staring out the window sadly.
"It's snowing now," Thor said and Loki looked out the window again to see that the fat raindrops were turning into fat snowflakes which were pelting the city. He felt another vibration and this time he saw Thor frown as well and turn to him.
"Did you feel that?" the raven-haired being nodded and looked outside for anything out of the ordinary that may have caused the unusual vibration. Thor was next to him presumably looking for the same thing. Loki didn't see anything and after sharing a brief glance with Thor, he found that neither had Thor. If Thor hadn't felt it as well he would have thought that maybe he had imagined it but, despite the two of them not being able to see it they knew that something was making that vibration.
"Ahh!" The two turned and saw the thing that was causing the vibrations. They had been looking out the wrong window this whole time. Everyone, even the couple that had formerly been attacking each other with their lips, was now focused on what was outside the window. It was the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and he was tall like he had been in Ghostbusters. One by one The Avengers turned to him some of them accusingly and others just wondering. It took a moment, but he was able to interpret their gazes. They thought that he might have a hand in this scheme. He tilted his head slightly to the left. It was his style, or at least what used to be his style and he could feel traces of magic from the Marshmallow Man, so it was likely made from magic. It was not, unfortunately, an outrageous assumption, no matter how wrong it was.
"It wasn't me," He put up his hands and felt his cape slide around on his back. Tony and Thor's eyes flicked back to the monstrous marshmallow man. Banner's and The Captain's eyes scanned him for a few more moments before settling back on the monster. The Archer and Widow looked at him for a while longer before looking back at the marshmallow man. The two of them, in particular, the Archer kept stealing glances at him while also looking at the marshmallow man. Movement caught the corner of his eyes and he turned away from the marshmallow man and caught sight of something else.
It was a giant pumpkin walking on thick, green, vine-like limbs. The pumpkin face was cut into a smiling face the same way that a child would carve a pumpkin. It was just as tall as the Marshmallow man, but not as fat everywhere but the head which was larger than the Marshmallow man's. He also noticed that the snow which had been falling heavily was now gone. It was definitely magic and strong too.
Loki turned back around as a large crash echoed through the air. The marshmallow man had just been walking down the street, but it had apparently decided that it was better or more fun to walk through parts of buildings then down the street. Several screams sounded in the distance. The screams broke everyone out of their trace and The Avengers nearly simultaneously all headed towards the elevator, most likely to change out of their Halloween Costumes and into their superhero ones. Loki found himself following them and as a results all The Avengers eyes were on him. Many of them were looking at in a 'What the hell do you think you're doing kind of way.' He paused as until that moment he hadn't even realized that he had been moving towards them. He quickly looked at Thor and Tony and then knew as entertaining as this act could potentially be, he wasn't just going to sit on the sidelines while his brother and friend risked their lives stopping this without helping them if he could.
'It's magic, none of you know anything about magic," He said lifting his eyebrows daring anyone to counter. The Archer looked like he wanted to argue, but a sharp look from Thor cut whatever he was planning to say off. Steve was the one to actually speak.
"Alright, but if this was you, or this is some kind of a trap," he left the threat hanging but clear. Loki nodded he understood. He may have garnered some small amount of trust for his acts on Valentine's day and Black Friday, but if he did anything untoward than that small amount of trust would be lost.
"Understood," he replied with a curt nod of his head then entered into the elevator. The elevator descended and the other Avengers departed one by one to get changed and he found himself alone. With a click of his fingers, his outfit changed from his Dracula costume to his Aesir armor. The elevator ride was fast and he quickly found himself on the street which still had puddles of rain on the streets and sidewalks, but the air was clear now. Definitely magic, he confirmed again. The two creatures were now going separate directions: one heading north and the other east.
The first Avenger to join him on the street was Tony whose armor was the easiest take on and off. The two briefly looked at each other then both of looked away from each other. Loki wasn't going to start a conversation, not since he was trying to give Tony space. This fight he had inserted himself into wasn't exactly conducive to that, but he wasn't going to make it worse. The two assassins were the next to join the party and not much later Thor and The Captain joined.
Loki only barely noticed this though as he was focusing on the creatures and how to stop them, as they were heading further into the city and further into the buildings in their way. He had to find out how sturdy they were. He looked briefly at Thor and nodded to him before he teleported first to the Stay Puft Man. For such a large lumbering creature, he was rather quick. Still, Loki was able to catch up to it and attempted to put a hand on it only for a light blue glow to stop his hand from connecting. He tried again only for the same thing to happen.
He teleported to the Great Pumpkin and tried to touch the vines that it walked on only for the same light blue to stop his hand. Loki saw a flash of red and gold from the corner of his eye and saw Tony shoot at it. A light blue glow erupted from the spot on the pumpkin creature and the pumpkin remained unscathed. He turned to look at Tony and said.
"Magic," he turned back around before he could see Tony's reaction and focused back on the pumpkin creature. Presumably, if both creatures were made from the same magic user then they were both protected by the magic shields that deflected Tony's weapons and his touch. Loki watched as the pumpkin creature squashed a car and his vine limbs slammed into buildings on both sides. He heard a not so distant roar and saw The Hulk coming towards the two of them. Well, The Hulk would certainly be the test to see if brute force could push through. As The Hulk got closer he felt a small but distinct shiver go through him, he definitely respected The Hulk even if he was sure he could handle him much better if the two of them fought again. He watched the green beast strike at the pumpkin...only for the same thing to happen. The blue absorbed the force although this time it flickered a little like the force was enough to affect even the spelled creature. Well, that meant that i good hundred or so hits from the Hulk combined with the other Avengers would probably be enough force to break the spell but by that time many buildings would be destroyed and probably some people as well.
"Damn, seriously someone needs to lay off the Halloween movies," he heard Tony say from behind him. The Hulk and Tony continued trying to fight the thing while Loki focused on the magic running through the creature. Blue it was light blue, magic tended to have a color signature based on the magic user. It could be changed by the tool or the particular piece of magic you were working, but generally the color stayed the same. He closed his eyes and reached out with his magic trying to block out all of the various noises around him. The sounds of the building smashing and the sounds of fighting faded into the background and he focused on the blue magic that was getting further and further away from him. He briefly scanned it and then further his gaze to the other creature just long enough to make sure that the two magical signatures lined up which they did then he focused back on the Great Pumpkin that was nearest to him. The blue magic surrounded the vines and the head sealing in a strong protection charm.
He used his own green magic to lightly prod the spell. It was definitely strong and now he could tell that it wasn't Aesir. Aesir magic had a distinct tint to it that this was lacking. It was wasn't Vanir for the same reason or any of the other realms he was familiar with. He wasn't familiar with all realms magic but this magic had a tinge to it that was familiar but that he couldn't put his finger on.
The raven-haired being opened his eyes even as he struggled to figure out what it was as he watched The Hulk and Tony try to get through the shield after a moment he realized the widow was there too but wasn't attacking it she was scanning it like he was. He moved forward as the creature did but didn't move to attack it yet.
"So are you planning to do something or are you just going to paint your nails?" Tony asked him as he fired at the pumpkin. Loki held his hand up.
"I don't know what color do you think I should paint them?" He asked sarcastically then realized he had responded automatically like he would have done as Robert only he wasn't, he was himself. The raven-haired being turned away from the brunette to distract himself from the slip. The tinge what was it? Earth. The tinge was earth there was something about earth in the signature.
"It's mortal," he said aloud a little surprised. The people of earth didn't have much magic and there were few with magic strong enough to make sure powerful shields and creatures.
"What?" he turned to see Tony looking at him as took a break from unsuccessfully blasting the creature. This time much more composed he said.
"The magic it's Midgardian."
"Earth magic, we don't come across that a lot," Tony said before focusing his attention back on the pumpkin. Loki nodded, the humans as a whole didn't understand magic and components needed for it. Nor were they in general physiologically advanced enough for it, but that didn't mean that all of their race was completely inept at magic. He closed his eyes trying to figure out how to unravel the spell. It was more firmly stitched together than he expected from a mortal. It was going to take a bit of work and a bit of effort. To do that he had to make sure that he could take down the both of them together. He opened his eyes and looked the three Avengers around him, not knowing how well this suggestion would go over.
"To take down the magic I'll need to put the two creatures together," they all turned to him. He could only see The Widow and The Hulk's faces, but The Widow's eyes were narrowed at him and well...The Hulk... there wasn't usually a large range of emotion of the green face. Rather than waiting for permission he placed his hand on the pumpkin vine...or rather tried to, only for the blue to met it and it flashed a light greenish blue from their combined magic. He jumped back at the light. Right, magic shield. He put his hand back up and the green-blue light showed again. Loki just had to find a way through, just long enough to teleport the creature, ideally away from people, he quickly amended.
Loki had to find a way through its defenses, so rather than just trying to smash their two magics together he funneled a good deal of magic into the creature, in response the blue was rushing to the area he was touching. He pushed more magic at the creature with the hand touching it and felt as more magic fled from other areas to fend the area from his attack. Due to the barrage from the others, the magic was thining in all areas not directly being assaulted. His opening now clear, he teleported to another area above where they were firing and the two of them were gone in moments.
Loki was back in New York minutes later, as there was still another creature to go. He sensed for the same magic that he had just been in contact with before he had teleported. All The Avengers had converged together in his absence and things seemed worse off here than it had with the pumpkin. There were people running around panicking and most of The Avengers weren't actively fighting. Instead, they were trying to save the foolish people running around on the ground putting themselves in more danger than if they ran in the opposite direction. Tony and Thor were flying people to safety. Tony set down next to him.
"Where did you put the pumpkin?" he asked as he moved forward to grab a panicking woman who was dressed as a naughty nurse. Her eyes were wide and focused on the marshmallow man.
"Somewhere safer," He had put the creature down in an area in the middle of a desert. There were miles of sandy desert around before it would get to people again, until then the only thing it would bother were the few hardy plants that could grow in such environments. Tony nodded and then took to the air again. Loki briefly considered doing the same, but he figured his best option was to move the marshmallow man away from any potential victims.
He teleported next the creature and placed his hand on the marshmallow, or at least tried to, the same light before appeared again. It was more difficult this time to focus because flashes of red and blue, green, red and gold, red and silver, black and purple along other snatches of color were always flitting through his peripheral vision. He focused though on the magic on the marshmallow.
"What the hell is taking him so long to stop him?" he heard distantly and noted it was The Archer who had spoken.
"Don't distract him, he teleported the other one away," he distantly heard another voice say, but at that point he couldn't distinguish who as a jolt of pain went through him. He dropped his hand away from the marshmallow and stared at his hand. The magic user had apparently learned since the first time around and was still at least partially connected to the creature. Alright, he would just have to go for the not as quick direct assault and do it fast, especially since the background screams were increasing. It was alright, though, his magic was strong and no mere mortal was a match for it, he would power through it. It had been quite some time since he had battled magic, but he would prevail.
He reach down into his reserves of magic and was about to throw it full force before he changed tactics again. Maybe the way he had gotten to the pumpkin wouldn't work with the marshmallow, but that didn't mean that he couldn't use similar tactics. He held both of his hands out in front of the marshmallow man but not touching it in any way. Green light streamed out from his hands but didn't touch the marshmallow in any way instead he used them to create a wide circle around the whole area that they were in. The green glow had extended about halfway around the large area when he caught a flash of red and gold and brown.
Loki's eyes darted to the side where he saw Tony diving towards a woman that was about to be crushed under the large puffy foot of the marshmallow man. Loki quickly did the mental calculations in his head. His trap would take a much longer to set up and even with Tony's speed there was little likelihood he could grab the woman and fly off before the foot came down upon them. There was nothing for it. The only way that idiotic man was going to survive was if he did something about it. There was no time to think, only to act. Loki kept half of his concentration on maintaining the green stream and the other half on teleporting the two of them to him. Tony and woman disappeared and reappeared next to him in a flash of green light.
"What were you thinking?!" Loki hissed out as he focused back on the green streams and making them meet in each in the air.
"I had to save her, it's my job," the man countered and started towards the mass again. Loki had half a mind to surround him in ropes until the battle was over, but resisted. Instead, he focused on the green streams which were similar to what he was thinking doing to Stark. The two green lines were nearing each other and after another few moments they met with a flash of green. Loki let out a slightly shallow breath. He had heard of these before and read about them, but he never actually tried to make one before.
"Try to get everyone out of the circle," he told Tony before focusing back on the monster who was still seeking destruction. He didn't wait to see if his instruction were being obeyed before he began constructing a second one. This one wasn't nearly as big, it was about ½ the size of the first one which covered about a six block radius. The line grew like the first one had completed similarly as well. Both of them had the monster, or at least where the monster had been at the beginning of the spell, as their middle. The marshmallow man was nearing the inner green circle and he knew it was time to see if this spell of his was even going to work. The marshmallow man took one puffy step forward after another, each time getting closer and closer. It hit the line and for the first time since the rampage it stopped. Loki grinned, it was working.
He fashioned two smaller circles, in the same way, one around the creatures waist and another around the head. He tightened then moved the two larger circles so they wrapped around the creature again and again, until there was no possible way for the creature to move as it was surrounded a green glowing cocoon of magic. At times, the cocoon were flicker bluish-green, most likely from the movement inside but the cocoon itself didn't actually move.
For the first time since he had teleported back, he allowed the background sounds in. The first thing he noticed was the crying and screaming, and then an acrid smell hit his nose. Fire, there was a fire somewhere. Not really strange since the monster had been trampling buildings. One or more of them probably had chemicals that hadn't taken the smashing well. Though the he noticed the less crying and screaming there were, but the smell of smoke wasn't going away. He turned his head and his eyes took in the massive devastation going around him. Sirens. Sirens were growing louder and everyone still looked terrified. They were still running away and leaving the torn shambles of where they used to live behind them.
His eyes kept moving in taking everything around him, but they settled on a girl. A girl who had to be around Alisha's age. Alisha was Barry daughter and even called him Uncle Rob. This girl had nearly the same shade of brown hair. She was crying her cheeks were covered in dirt and one of them was scuffed like she had fallen sometime during the night. She was still wearing a ladybug costume that was ripped in a few places. He was suddenly reminded of how it was still Halloween Night. First no trick or treating and then this? He noticed then that the girl was shivering as well. The girl hadn't brought a coat and while it wasn't snowing or raining anymore, the temperature was still quite cold.
He stepped towards her only to stop as he remembered who he was. He had done something like this. No, he done this to this city only years ago. He had reigned armies and destruction upon this city with a cavalier attitude about the whole thing. How had he done that? How had he ever thought that this was fun or funny? He knew he hadn't known the what he knew now, but that wasn't enough. Guilt that he usually buried very deeply down started bubbling up. He had never stuck around to see the aftermath before. As soon as he had stopped the moving mound he had left and he had left even before the heart creatures had been stopped. He had given up on leading the world, come to view humans in a new light, but he still avoided thinking about the past. He looked at the cocooned monster and the voice that had been absent for awhile started whispering 'monster' in the back of his mind. The raven-haired being jumped as someone touched him only to realize it was only Thor.
"Are you okay?" his brother asked him concerned leaving his hand on his shoulder. Loki knew he should shrug it off, but he let Thor keep it there.
"Just tired from the all the magic," he lied not wanting to get into his real feelings at the moment.
"Where's the other?" Thor asked worried, it took a few moments to remember that there had been another and a few more to remember where he had placed it.
"Desert," he managed to get out, glad to have a distraction. Thor nodded. Loki gathered himself together. There was still work to be done. He could deal with these emotions, or preferably not deal, later after both creatures were destroyed.
"The monsters should be reunited then destroyed," he told The Thunderer who nodded. Loki moved forward to do just that. He made his way to the magic cocoon, but stopped a few inches short as there was a hand on his shoulder.
"Take me with you," Loki froze as the hand wasn't who he had thought it would be, because the voice belonged to Tony. A second hand laid over his other shoulder, this was was Thor.
"Me as well," Loki didn't know what to say in response so he just put his hand on the cocoon and teleported the four of them to the desert, where the other creature should be. The pumpkin creature was stomping around the desert.
"The pumpkin creature is vulnerable to attacks now," he told the two superheroes as he dwelled on the look on the girl's face.
"Hell yeah!" Tony shouted and shot forward Thor following closely behind him. He heard the sounds of their blasts and the smell of cooked pumpkin slowly started to permeate the air of the desert. Loki looked up to see large sections of the pumpkins head missing, large clumps on the ground, along with several holes and black spots in the sections that were still there. He let them keep fighting it and focused on the two of them systematically destroying the giant pumpkin. In little time they knocked out or burned the last of the pumpkin. At that point, the vines of the pumpkin fell to the ground and stopped moving. They both turned to him and looked at him expectantly. Loki blinked trying to figure out what they wanted from him now.
His eyes moved to the green cocoon. Right, probably access to the other monster. The marshmallow man was going to be a little difficult to destroy. The cocoon trapped it, but it wouldn't destroy it. It still had its own magic to protect it from things he might normally try like fire, ice or atomizing, but it's own magical barriers would stop any of those from happening. He had to get through the barrier. Tightening his fist he focused on bringing his magic closer to the magical barrier so that the glow turned a steady green-blue. The two forces at this point were probably about equal. All that he hoped he had to do was add enough power to break through. Power streamed through his fingertips joining the green-blue force. It steadily turned greener until a bright flash of green light shot out from the mass and the entire mass was green. He let all the magic that hadn't been expended slowly back into his body, eventually leaving the marshmallow man standing in the desert alone. Loki stepped forward and then stepped back.
"Loki?" Thor asked him slightly warily.
"It's gone," he confirmed aloud he found himself suddenly very tired as he watched the two of them dismantle this creature as well, but did his best not to show it. Soon the ground was littered with both pumpkin and marshmallow bits, some of which were scorched. He found himself looking off into the distance at the sandy desert around him. This particular dessert wasn't in the United States. The heat was immense and starting to get to him. Loki had never liked the heat, but until the incident he hadn't known why. He banished that thought from his head as he stepped forward in the sand that was rather difficult to walk in. He wasn't sure where he was going or why he was moving in the heat due to how difficult it was, but his body moved further regardless. He had walked for about five minutes. There was very little apparent life here but didn't mean there wasn't hidden life or life nearby.
It was foolish to walk around in this heat, particularly for no reason, so he stopped. The sun beat down on him and now that he wasn't actively engaged in fighting, it seemed to be steadily draining his strength away. They had to get out of there. Go back to New York, back home. Home. There was a strange feeling inside of him that he couldn't figure out, something besides the exhaustion. It had something to do with the little girl and her face flashed in his mind along with Alisha's.
"Loki, are you okay?" Loki jumped as he realized that somehow Thor had gotten to be in front of him. Beads of sweat were collecting on the blonde's forehead and distantly he realized his own forehead and neck were coated in the same substance. Loki shook his head, they definitely had to get out of here before he suffered heat stroke or something worse.
"Fine," he lied again and started walking back to Tony so the three of them could get out of there. Tony met them halfway his own face sweating profusely.
"It's really hot here," it probably did not help that the three of them were wearing metal and his case leather. Loki nodded his agreement and teleported the three of them back to the now vacant Avengers Tower. Apparently the crowd had dispersed sometime after they had all left. All that was left was the tables of pretzels, chips, and other more elegant foods and smashed drinks that littered the floor.
It was over. The whole thing was over now. All he had to do was teleport away, but before he could do that Tony was pulling him across the room. They stopped when they got near one of the windows and Loki found himself looking at the ruined sides of the building in the distance.
"That was a pretty cool thing you did there," Loki nodded, still looking at the ruined buildings his mind going back to the girl.
"Thanks Rob."
"Don't call me-" he cut the automatic reaction off as he realized what form he was in. His body froze and his heart rate starting skyrocketing. No. No. No. This couldn't be happening! On top of everything else this couldn't be happening! He turned slowly to face Tony not sure what to expect, but he remembered the first part of the brunette's sentence. Thanks. He had thanked him. That was hopefully a good sign even if Tony wasn't showing any emotion.
"You know," he stated aloud not sure what to do. Not sure how he was going to react, whether he planned to yell, or to tell everyone about it. What was he going to do if Tony decided to tell everyone? What if his business crumbled? Where would he be then? Panic started soaring through him.
"I think part of me knew since you helped me, but I didn't want to acknowledge it." Loki nodded tensely, he had suspected as much. The brunette's face was still blank.
"And now?" he asked because he had to know. Had to know if Tony would going to turn him in. Had to know if Tony was going to tell everyone and ruin everything he had built. This was the whole reason he had been reluctant in the first place to associate with Tony, perhaps he shouldn't have given in. Tony suddenly smiled, but that did nothing to soothe him as his fate likely rested in Tony Stark's next words.
"I've had worse friends," he said with a shrug, " and none of them saved me from the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man," he got that excited look on his face that he was used to "Though now that he's not ruining the city, can I just say how aweome it was to fight the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! I mean I must have seen Ghostbuster ten times as a kid and to actually fight the Marshmallow Man himself, it's almost like Christmas….except you know on Halloween." Tony kept talking about how 'awesome' the two monsters had been, particularly the marshmallow man and seemed to have completely forgotten about the beginning of their conversation. Part of him wanted to just let the subject stay dropped and keep letting Tony blather on about the creatures, but he had to know.
"You won't tell anyone will you?" Loki interrupted Tony midstream cutting off Tony talking about how strangely good the smell of both the burnt pumpkin and marshmallow had been. Tony blinked at him for a moment then said.
"Tell who what now?" Loki looked at him pointedly and Tony sighed but for one looked completely serious.
"Look Lokes, you just saved the whole city from things that are so out of our wheelhouse that it would have taken a long time for us to figure out a way around it, and by then who knows how many people would have died. Rob, on the other hand, been my friend for nearly a year. Even before today you've helped us, so as long as you don't return to being the maniac asshole that you were when you first came here I'll keep your secret."
"Really?"
"Yeah, your secret's safe with me," Loki smiled.
I also don't own Ghostbusters or Charlie Brown
Please let me know what you think :)