(Author's Note: FINALLY, we arrive at the next full installment of the 'Second in Command' Series. If you would like an official 'prologue' to this, please go read two of the One Shots, 'The Adventures of Tony and Astra' and 'Socks the Cat Strikes Again.' I will still be updating the One Shots, as they are fun and get to fill in any real questions about what takes place between stories plus the two years between 'Redemption' and this story. Plus, most of them are just fun to do! So, enough of my babble and on with the show!)
Chapter One: We Need a List, Don't We?
Phoenix and Loki had sent a message saying what time they were coming to pick up Astra, so Tony, Bruce, and Steve spent much of the next morning getting the kid ready for her parents. She still spent most of her time clinging to Tony, yet somehow managing not really to get in the way of anything. Once they had all of her stuff together, there wasn't much to do but hang around the kitchen area and wait for Loki and Phoenix to show up.
Eventually they did show up, popping into the kitchen as they always did. No one even jumped this time when they showed up. Tony was hanging over a cup of coffee, and Bruce and Tony were playing some card game. Astra was sitting at the table, coloring in a book while Socks sat under the table, waiting for his owners to pick him up as well.
"Momma!" Astra squirmed out of Tony's arms as soon as Phoenix and Loki arrived to pick her up, running up to her mother and wrapping her arms around Phoenix's legs. Phoenix bent down and wrapped her arms around the child, picking her up and swinging her around.
She looked over at Tony and smiled. "Thank you for watching her," she said, most of her face buried in her daughter's long locks. She looked at Loki. "We need to call a meeting, so that you can tell them what you know about your little friend." She was still a touch agitated that, once again, Loki had an enemy about whom he didn't tell anyone. She might have to put in a chat with Thor to check and see if this was going to happen repeatedly. She smoothed over her daughter's hair and carried her out of the room.
Tony looked over at Loki after Phoenix walked away. "You in the dog house, Loki? Not a good idea to be pissing off the goddess of fire or whatever Phoenix is."
Loki smirked. "I'm actually considered the god of fire. You may want to brush up on your Norse mythology," he said. "She is a little...upset with me right now. It has to do with the dream that Astra had." He stopped Tony before he could ask any questions. "You should call everyone together. My daughter saw someone powerful that will come here to possibly attack."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Dude, how many enemies do you have?" he asked. "No wonder your wife is pissed at you. I know you're supposed to be God of Lies or whatever, but you got to have full disclosure with your wife." He looked off in the direction that Phoenix had headed off with Astra. "If the wife ain't happy, no one's happy. Anything else you need to spill, you need to spill it soon."
"Am I really getting relationship advice from Tony Stark, conqueror of many women?" Loki asked with a roll of his eyes. "I am not sure if I should trust any advice that you have to give me on the subject."
Tony sighed. "Just because I suck at relationships doesn't mean that I don't know the truth about them," he said with a snort. "Quit hiding shit from your wife, asshole."
"There are a lot of years to go over to disclose everything," Loki said with a sigh.
"Like she ain't got her own shit to disclose," Tony pointed out. "And she's probably got more than you, both in stuff and years. Just trust that Phoenix isn't an idiot or whatever your issue is."
"Why are you so concerned about any marital problems that I may have?" Loki asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Because marital strife between two gods is not something I have any interest in witnessing," Tony told him. "I'm pretty sure one real nasty argument between the two of you would end up leveling a city block. SHIELD gets to clean that up, and we get bitched at, so solve your shit, man."
Loki finally nodded. "We will talk later then," he said, walking off to follow Phoenix.
"Well thank god for that," Tony said with a groan, sitting down at his kitchen table. He was pretty certain that the two of them were fine. He just...they were both far too good for one another (and seemed to now keep one another sane) for anything to be allowed to break out between them.
OoOoOoOo
Phoenix and Loki didn't speak much for the rest of the day, mainly avoiding one another because Phoenix as pissed at him and Loki really didn't want to get into things at Stark Tower. Moreover, there was a meeting to arrange, people to brief, and suddenly many things going on.
When everyone was gathered in one of the meeting rooms that Tony had, Phoenix had picked a seat far away, sitting in the corner with her child, who at the moment was resting on her shoulder, fast asleep. Everyone else, however, had gathered around the table, with Fury sitting at the head, next to Coulson and Hill, all of the Avengers are gathered around, and Loki is standing, pacing while he waits for everyone to show up. If Phoenix didn't know any better, she'd swear that Loki looked even more nervous than when he had to talk about Thanos. That actually makes her feel more worried.
Thor is the last one to show up. He hadn't arrived with Phoenix and Loki, needing to wrap a few other things up on Asgard. When he did storm in, he looked like he wanted to ask why Phoenix wasn't sitting at the table, but one stern glare from her seemed to stop him. Right now, all Phoenix wanted to hear about was this new deal was about.
"Why does this feel really familiar?" Fury asked once Thor took a seat. "Oh yeah, because we did this two years ago. Loki, can we get a list of all the people that you've pissed off that will show up at some point? I'd really appreciate not being surprised by this bullshit again."
"You and me, both, Fury," Phoenix grumbled, holding onto her child extra tightly for a moment.
"I thought they were banished, Phe," Loki said, forgetting that they weren't alone in the room for a second by what he called her. He never called her by that nickname in front of others. "You know I wouldn't keep pertinent information that could endanger everyone from you on purpose."
"Banished from Asgard doesn't mean banished from everything, apparently," Phoenix replied. "How many others are out there, really? At least I outlived mine. So, unless they start rising from the dead we shouldn't have problems with my enemies."
"Hey!" Fury shouted. "Marriage counseling later, information now, goddamnit! Loki, will you please explain why we're all here? All I was told was that there was someone else you had pissed off that was likely to show up because your kid had a vision. Can we learn who it is, who we deal with them, and if it's possible to prevent the destruction of the planet?"
Loki sighed, rubbing his eyes for a moment. "Sorry, Fury," he said quickly. "Thor will vouch for me that I really did not think that this would ever be an issue. Two of my childhood playmates were called Amora and Skrull. When we grew up and they plotted a takeover of Asgard, they were banished, and it was not as nice of banishment as to here, nor were they ever supposed to leave the place like Thor. Amora took it personally, when she felt that I did not defend her enough or argue for a lesser punishment. We were very close growing up and maybe I could have done something more for her."
"Either way, what's done is done. When I heard about Astra's vision, I asked Heimdall to look at where they had been banished to, and they were missing. It appears that not only did they finally find a way to escape, but that they were able to also figure out a way to escape Heimdall's gaze," Loki continued to explain. "So not only have they escaped, but they have found a way to keep anyone from tracking them."
"Lovely, more people who are pissed at Loki attacking Earth," Clint said with a groan. "I'm with your wife and Fury. Can we start getting a list of people or something? At least prepare for the next attack of 'people Loki angered with his wonderful personality'?" Before anyone could respond, though, a small fire ignited in Clint's lap. While he screamed and flailed, Bruce pushed him over on the floor and made him roll, putting the fire out.
"Keep insulting my husband and next time I'll make sure that the fire starts in your pants next time," Phoenix said with a dark smile. She looked toward Fury. "Can I go? I need to put my daughter down for a nap." When he nodded, she lifted up the diaper bag, carrying it off toward the door with her daughter as well, heading out without another word.
"Wow, man," Tony said to Clint as he was helped off the floor. "You really gotta stop pissing her off like that. She's just gonna set fire to your crotch every time."
"Not everyone can attain the revered position of pet, Tony," Clint snapped back at him. "She's mad because I insulted Loki's personality. She obviously agrees with everything else I said, though."
"I'm still here, Agent Barton," Loki said, smiling when Clint quieted. "Director, I'll fill you in on anything that you need to know, but right now I should probably attend to my wife. She's...not happy with me right now, obviously."
Fury nodded and waved him off. "I'm sure that Thor can fill us in on a few things," he said with a huff. "I'd rather not have to be around marital issues, thank you."
OoOoOoOo
Loki had forgotten that, while Phoenix couldn't teleport, she could move very quickly, as she was no longer in the building by the time that he had gotten away. She had apparently gathered all of Astra's things and Socks and had taken a car home. After hanging around to relay a bit more information to Fury, he simply teleported home, finding Phoenix waiting for him in the living room of their apartment.
Before he could say anything, though, Phoenix started. "You lied in there, Loki," she said to him. "You may be the God of Lies, but trust me, a wife knows."
Loki sighed. He had figured that Phoenix would have guessed this. She's someone who's a lot sharper than for white most give her credit. "I did," he agreed with her. "Where's Astra?"
"She's lying down for her nap," Phoenix said quickly. "You weren't just friends with Amora, were you?" When he shook his head, she sat down. "Why did you feel the need to lie to them?"
"My exact relationship with Amora isn't any of their business," Loki told her, looking away. If Phoenix didn't know any better, she'd say that a blush was creeping up in his cheeks. "It's not pertinent to the situation, anyway, Phe."
"Why didn't you stand up for her?" Phoenix asked him. What had she done that been so grievous that he wouldn't stand with her, but he had stood with Phoenix before? Despite having an instant dislike of her, Phoenix highly doubted that she was morally above Amora. Thousands of years of history could be sighted for that.
"She wanted to wipe out the entire royal family but me," Loki explained to her. "As mad as I've ever been at my family, I don't think I ever seriously wanted to kill them, not even Thor. I think if I had actually killed Thor, I would have only gotten worse. Plus, then I was in much better standing with them as opposed to later." He looked away. "I suffered enough for my association with both of them, anyway."
"Ah, another session of 'Asgard justice,'" Phoenix said with a roll of her eyes. "Those people are ridiculously medieval." The scars on his back had healed, but they had taken longer than Phoenix had expected. She was sure that something extra had been done to make sure of that.
"That was the time that my lips were sewn shut, so yes, I think I would agree," Loki said quietly.
Phoenix's eyes went wide and the color drained from her face. "You're shitting me," she said. When he shook his head, she blanched. "I've done some amazingly horrific things in my time, but that's just awful!"
Loki shook his head again. "They thought that I was plotting with them. You aren't supposed to kill a member of the royal house of Asgard, even if he is adopted, so they thought that it was a fitting punishment."
"How old were you when this was done?" she asked him. "What life stage?"
He thought on it for a moment. "I think the Midgardian equivalent would be about seventeen or so," he said, not sounding sure.
"And people on this planet are worried about hurting their children if they spank them," she grumbled. "I never was one for torture, Loki, even when I do kill. It's...distasteful. What's been done to you is a bit beyond punishment, don't you think? It hits the realm of torture to sew a person's lips shut."
"We weren't brought up the same way, Phe," he said softly to her. "It was just...apart of my life to be that way."
"Sometimes it sucks to be the older one in the relationship. I wasn't 'brought up,' remember?" she reminded him. "I'm still pretty sure that I never had a childhood." She giggled. "How's it feel to be with someone around your parents' age?"
"Don't put it that way, love," he said, seemingly thankful she was making jokes to ease the tension. "That just makes it sound creepy." He sat down on the floor in front of her, resting his head on her knees. "Are we OK?" he asked, tilting his head up to look at her.
"We're fine," she said, reaching down and running her fingers through his dark hair. "Do we really need to make a list of everyone who holds a grudge against you?"
He shook his head. "This is it, unless Thor pulls a 'me' and tries to take over the world."
Phoenix laughed. "Somehow, I don't see that happening," she admitted to him.