Not What You'd Expect

Author: BlackFox12

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the movie The Avengers and I'm not making any money from this fic

Warning(s): Spoilers for the Avengers; AU; somewhat harsh discipline with Loki's staff; some mentions of violence

Verse/Setting: Set sometime during the movie, after Loki escapes


Hawkeye stood on top of the building, looking out over the city, but not seeing the people around, much as they didn't see him. He was still struggling with what he had done while under Loki's control, but with time – and a lot of help from Natasha, the one he was closest to – he was finally beginning to understand that it had been out of his control... and he was finally close to forgiving himself.

Although Hawkeye was carrying his bow, his arrows remained in place on his back. He didn't expect there to be any trouble, but he felt far more comfortable the higher up he was – and the higher up he was, the better he could see the city.

There wasn't very much going on, but it was the normal, everyday life Hawkeye had chosen to come and see. He wasn't wearing his Avengers uniform, but he was wearing a plain shirt with khaki-coloured trousers. Even on a normal day, he couldn't dress entirely casually.

Besides, he had to be prepared for anything to happen, even when there shouldn't be any trouble. There was always the possibility that...

Hawkeye's thoughts were abruptly cut off as he spotted a familiar figure down on the ground below. For several moments, all he could do was just watch, wondering if he was mistaken. But no... it was certainly Loki down there. And he looked like he was alone. That was a rarity in itself. If Hawkeye was going to pay Loki back for what had happened, now was as good a time as any.

Not giving himself any time to change his mind, Hawkeye headed to the fire escape and started climbing down the side of the building, after putting his bow away.

It didn't take long for Hawkeye to reach the bottom of the building and by the time he did, he'd half-expected Loki to have vanished. But on the ground, he realised that the trickster was only a few metres away. He started to approach, fully intending to address a few good punches to Loki. He might not be able to kill him, but he was certainly intending to take out some of his frustrations on the Asgardian.

As soon as Hawkeye got close, though, he noticed two things. One was that Loki was carrying a bottle of alcohol that had to be at least half drunk. The second thing was the way Loki stumbled around, talking randomly to the air and slurring his words. Hawkeye had seen plenty of people drunk before and although he would have thought alcohol would affect people like Loki and Thor differently, it seemed Loki at least reacted the way a drunk person from Earth would.

Hawkeye stepped right up to Loki and, before the trickster had a chance to react, snatched the staff out of his hands. Loki turned, focusing blearily on him. "Hey, give it back." He made a grab for the staff.

"I don't think so." Hawkeye held the staff out of Loki's reach, struck by the sudden thought that Loki's expression made him look far more like a child – sulky and annoyed. "What would Thor say if he knew you were out drinking?" he mused.

Loki scowled and folded his arms, though the look wasn't nearly as intimidating as it should have been, especially since the way his arms were folded meant that he'd tipped the bottle up and alcohol was splashing all over the floor. He didn't seem to notice, though. "Thor isn't the boss of me!"

"Then you won't mind if I tell him." Hawkeye nodded to the bottle.

Apparently just realising that he was holding the bottle upside down, Loki turned it the right way up. "You won't tell him. Besides, you probably want to see me dead."

Hawkeye couldn't argue with that. If it wasn't for Thor, he would be attacking Loki right now – and even if he couldn't kill Loki, Hawkeye was certain he'd get some damage in. But he'd already thought that Loki was acting very much like a child. And he could imagine how a parent might react to a child who sneaked alcohol when they couldn't handle it – which, to be honest, was more or less what Loki was doing, super villain or not. "All right," he said, deciding to call Loki's bluff. "I'll just go and tell your brother what you've been doing and where to find you, since I imagine you can't run away without your staff." He paused to let that sink in. "Or I can deal with it."

"What do you mean, deal with it?" Loki asked warily.

"You'll find out if you want me to."

Loki managed to look even sulkier. "I don't want you to tell Thor."

"All right, then let's get moving." Hawkeye held out his free hand expectantly. When Loki just looked blankly at him, he explained, "The bottle."

"I was going to finish it."

Hawkeye said nothing, just continued to hold out his hand. When Loki put the bottle into it, he tossed it into the nearest bin and then gestured with the staff to the fire escape of the building he'd climbed down from. "You go up there. I'll follow you."

Loki opened his mouth, but then closed it again. Rather sulkily, he started climbing the fire escape.

Hawkeye followed him up the fire escape. If Loki was in a fit state to make a decision, he couldn't be that drunk and Hawkeye thought that the fresh air on top of the building would probably help to sober him up. Besides, the sound wouldn't carry to the people walking below when they were on top of the building... and generally speaking, people didn't actually look up without a good reason.

Up on the roof, Hawkeye gestured to Loki. "Turn around."

"What?"

"Corner time. Well... without the corner. But the idea's still the same."

"I'm not a child," Loki said, annoyance in his tone.

"It's not too late to go and find Thor."

With a huff of annoyance, Loki turned his back on Hawkeye and stood with his arms crossed and shoulders set while the air blew his dark hair right back. From the way he stood, it seemed he'd done this before. He was quiet and didn't fidget, standing as still as if he was a statue.

Hawkeye had intended to only leave Loki standing there for a few minutes, until he sobered up, but seeing how well Loki was responding to the corner time, he decided to leave him there for longer. In fact, thirty minutes sounded about right.

Although he wasn't wearing a watch, Hawkeye knew the time explicitly. He'd had to be able to tell how much time had passed constantly in his line of work. And he was also very patient. The full thirty minutes passed without incident and then Hawkeye walked over to Loki, taking a firm hold of his arm.

"Is that it?" Loki asked quietly without any slurring.

"I'm afraid not." Hawkeye looked around the roof and then used his grip on Loki to pull him down, bending him over his arm. Loki went without protest or argument and Hawkeye wondered if he should mention to Thor that corner time seemed to make his brother far more compliant than usual.

The position stretched Loki's trousers tight over his backside and as Hawkeye reversed the staff, he thought it would probably be pretty effective leaving the trousers up. Since they were tight rather than baggy, they would offer very little protection.

Hawkeye felt Loki tense up against his arm as he rested the staff against his bottom. Adjusting their position slightly, Hawkeye raised the staff and brought it down with a crack that, though loud, was snatched away by the wind.

Despite the lack of much sound, the strike clearly seemed to have some effect on Loki and he cried out. He tried to buck away over Hawkeye's arm, but Hawkeye simply lifted. He wasn't super strong or anything, but Loki was so light that he could easily lift the Asgardian enough so that Loki was forced to stand on tiptoes and couldn't get any leverage to shift himself away.

The second strike drew another pain-filled cry from Loki and Hawkeye raised his eyebrows. "Looks like your staff's good for more than just brainwashing people."

There wasn't any response from Loki – not that Hawkeye expected one. The third strike pulled what might have been a scream from him, though, and instead of hitting his thighs, Hawkeye simply started over from the crest of his bottom.

"No... I can't take it!" Loki cried out between gasps and cries of pain.

"And that made a difference to the people you hurt and killed?" When the staff landed on Loki's sit spots, his voice became a rather high-pitched squeal, but Hawkeye ignored the obvious discomfort and continued using the staff, blows cracking down all over Loki's backside. It didn't take much before Hawkeye could hear the sobs from Loki and felt him collapse against his arm.

Hawkeye stopped and just left Loki over his arm for a few moments before he lifted him up and to his feet. "You know what? We're going to see your brother."

"You said you wouldn't tell him!"

"And I'm not going to. But I think he might benefit from doing this."

The End

Prompt: Eye in the sky

Elements: 30, khaki, tight