Fight It Out

The main purpose of the building was for training, which meant its gym was quite extensive. SHIELD hadn't let Tony give each Avenger their own floor because of some regulations ruling top secret buildings or something, but he had made sure everyone still had specialized training facilities in addition to general rooms that could be used by anyone. Also, being Tony, he had made sure one of the common training rooms had bleachers.

The Hulk and Thor were currently engaged in a mock fight. The rest of the Avengers and Loki were watching them from the bleachers built against one wall. The rest of the floorspace was empty, and Thor and the Hulk were taking up all of it.

The Hulk leapt towards Thor. Energy crackled around Thor's hammer as he drew on lighting from clouds none of them could see in the windowless room. A light shorted out, and then a second and a third before Thor finally thrust Mjolnir forward and took the brunt of the Hulk's blow. It was only enough to make the Hulk stumble, but he was soon aiming another punch at Thor. Loki smirked from the sidelines as the Hulk's fist met Thor's hammer with enough force to stop both of them in their tracks. Loki had always liked watching Thor fight, especially when he was in danger of losing.

The Hulk finally hit Thor hard enough to send him flying across the room. Natasha noticed that Loki was grinning. "Why are you so happy about your brother's misfortunes?" she asked the god, who was lounging casually on a bleacher a level above the rest of them.

Loki knew that she was still bitter about what he had done, but he ignored her harsh gaze. "He is not my brother, since as you know I am adopted. However, I enjoy seeing him challenged like this. There is nothing he enjoys more than a good fight." He smiled at her, all teeth, and she looked away.

It took a while, but using Mjolnir, Thor was finally able to pin the Hulk to the ground for the required ten seconds. Tony called it and the two got up. The Hulk looked like he wanted to punch Thor again anyway, but with a little calming from Tony, he relaxed and turned back into Bruce. Thankfully, Bruce and Tony had finally figured out how to make some pants that stretched with the Hulk. Bruce shrugged on a t-shirt and sweatpants over them, and both fighters took water bottles from the table eagerly.

"Okay, Loki and Thor are last," Tony said. "Are you sure you're up for another fight?" he asked Thor.

Thor shrugged. "There is no time for rest in a real battle, and my brother will not be a challenge for me."

Everyone in the room but Thor and Loki winced. Loki slid off his seat and drew himself to his full height, still smiling. "Really, there's no need to be rude," he said to Thor.

Thor looked at him and threw Mjöllnir aside. "I will make it as even as I can. I will not use Mjöllnir, and you are not to use magic or your knives, or weapons of any kind."

Loki raised one eyebrow. "Ah. A kind offer."

Thor took the towel he was offered and wiped his face and neck. Loki waited patiently, watching Thor's movements carefully as though he were sizing him up. After Thor had drained the bottle of water, he undid the lacings of the top part of his armor and pulled it over his head, revealing a plain white t-shirt underneath that he had borrowed from Tony. "If I am to fight you without weapons, our armor will be too cumbersome for this," he told Loki.

"Then I suppose I should follow suit," replied Loki. Until now, he had remained distrustful of Midgardian clothing and had refused to wear it, so he had nothing to change into.

"Uh, you can borrow my shirt," said Bruce, and tossed Loki a black t-shirt. Loki caught it one hand without looking away from Thor. He muttered something under his breath and gestured with his free hand. Suddenly, he was wearing the t-shirt, and his leather coat and jerkin were folded neatly on the bench beside him. With a second gesture, the knives he had hidden in the sides of his Asgardian boots floated over to land on top of the pile of clothes.

"Is that always how you change?" asked Clint, the first words he had spoken during the whole training session.

"It is usually more trouble than it's worth, but it is useful when I am hurried," Loki replied absently. He moved to the center of the room and Thor followed. They remained quite a distance apart. Tony didn't blame them.

"We have not sparred like this for nearly 300 years," Thor said with a grin.

"Indeed," said Loki, though his smile was distinctly less pleasant.

"Geez, how long to these guys live?" muttered Clint.

"Ready," said Tony. "Start!"

If any of the other Avengers had ever thought that the two gods looked out of place on Earth with their unconventional outfits, there was no way any of them could think they looked ridiculous now. The thin t-shirts clung to them, and as they circled each other warily, their well-fitted leather boots and pants drew attention to just how tall and fit they both were. Thor was not frequently described as graceful, but without Mjolnir, he moved like a great cat intent on its prey. Loki, on the other hand, moved so fluidly he might have been made out of water. Even without a single weapon in hand, they looked deadly.

Thor struck first. He lunged for Loki, clearly intending to pin him to the ground on his first try, but Loki ducked swiftly out of his reach. He hooked a leg under Thor, toppling him to the ground. Thor landed heavily on his back, but when Loki attempted to pin him, Thor lifted him by his shoulders and threw him in a summersault over his own head. They both nearly ended up lying on their backs, but Loki managed to get his legs under him just before he hit the ground and sprung back up to standing. By then, Thor had gotten up to his feet and was watching Loki carefully.

They circled each other again, more quickly this time. "I guess Loki's a little better at this than we thought," said Steve, which was pretty much what all the other Avengers were thinking.

This time when Thor lunged for Loki, he anticipated Loki's evasive movements. He grabbed the other god in a headlock, and Loki hissed in displeasure. They had ended up near a wall, so Thor slammed Loki against it. After a good three seconds of them standing there, staring at each other and breathing heavily, Tony cleared his throat. "You've gotta pin him to the floor."

Thor grabbed Loki again and threw him onto his back on the floor. Loki hit the floor heavily and groaned, but Thor had clearly not thrown him as hard as the last person to have done so, because Loki struggled strongly when Thor straddled him and pinned his wrists beside his head. "Do you yield?" demanded Thor.

"Who do you think I am?" asked Loki, and kneed Thor in the stomach.

Loki's offensive strategy seemed mostly to be to wear Thor out, and it seemed to be working. Thor was clearly not recovered from his fight with the Hulk, and Loki was very good at making him angry, irritated, or simply distracted. Loki would continually keep just out of Thor's reach, and then let Thor catch him enough to give Thor a sharp elbow to the ribs. Thor did not treat Loki like he was made out of glass, far from it, but he was clearly holding back.

"Are you afraid of hurting me?" Loki teased when they had separated to eye each other again.

"You know I would never hurt you, brother," Thor said gruffly. "That does not mean I will not win."

"Hmm," replied Loki, and it was not a reassuring sound.

Thor was getting more resistant to Loki's darting attacks, and he had clearly figured out that it was best to keep Loki close where he could reach him. He caught the other god in an unbreakable hold, one arm at Loki's waist and the other at the back of his neck, but Loki grabbed hold of his hair and twisted one of Thor's wrists at an uncomfortable angle so that Thor could not throw Loki to the ground without hurting both of them. They struggled for a moment, at a standstill, until Loki suddenly stopped. He leaned forward and licked Thor's cheek.

"What are they, five?" demanded Tony incredulously, but Thor did not pull away as the audience had expected. Instead, he froze.

Loki licked a long, slow line up Thor's jaw. Thor's jaw worked, but he seemed to be paralyzed. Loki leaned forward and looked as though he were about to lick Thor's ear, and moved his body in a long undulation that pressed him even closer to Thor. For a moment, Thor's grip went slack. He realized his mistake almost immediately, but it was too late. Loki twisted out of his grip, laughing, and danced away.

"Loki," Thor growled with a glare. "I told you, no tricks."

"You told me no magic and no knives, and I have used neither," Loki replied with a grin. "Did that affect you so?"

Thor growled and threw himself towards Loki. Loki grabbed Thor's arm and used the momentum to throw Thor to his back on the ground. Loki knelt on his stomach and pinned his arms. "Ha," said Loki triumphantly, but he barely had time to grin before Thor drew his legs up, grabbed Loki's torso between his legs, and threw him to the ground.

This time, Loki had a harder time getting up right away. Still, he rolled out of the way before Thor could pin him again, and managed to get to his feet. They stared at each other for a moment. The fight had gone on for a long time, and they were both tiring. Something flashed in Loki's eyes, and he darted towards Thor with sudden speed. This time, he did not aim to distract Thor. The blow to Thor's jaw caught him unawares, and Loki pinned Thor down face-first so that Thor could not throw him off easily this time. He knelt on Thor's back back, and only the sounds of Loki's harsh breathing and Thor's swearing could be heard in the room.

Tony counted the last five seconds aloud and the fight was over.

Everyone clapped Thor on the back and gave Loki at least a "good job" (of varying degrees of enthusiasm) except for Clint and Natasha, who were the most uncomfortable around Loki by far. Neither of them looked happy that Loki had won.

"Well, shower time," said Tony, and slung his own towel over his shoulder.

"You'll have to show me how they work," Loki told Thor. "I am still getting used to these Midgardian things."

"Have you not bathed at all since we got here?" Thor asked incredulously as they left the training room.

"To the contrary. I have been taking baths."

"It's good they have each other," Bruce murmured as the rest of the Avengers hung back.

"Yeah," said Clint. "Did you see the way they were throwing each other around out there? One of us wouldn't stand a chance." Everyone looked at him. "In bed," he added with the air of someone stating the obvious.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Is that from experience?"

"Alright, I think it's high time for us all to take showers," Natasha said pointedly, and ushered them out of the room.

"I thought they were brothers," said Tony.

"But they keep saying Loki's adopted," said Bruce quietly, and the group stopped moving towards the showers. They all stared at each other in shock.

"Oh," said Tony.

"Yeah," agreed Bruce.

After that, the humans got very, very careful about not walking in on Thor and Loki when they were alone together. Some things were better left up to the imagination.