TITLE: Adamanteus
AUTHOR: Wynter Ravenheart
ARTIST: dumb-ways-to-live
PAIRING: A little bit of Steve/Tony and a lot of Loki/Tony
WARNING: Liberal use of Superhusbands [Steve/Tony] as a stepping stone for Frostiron, Hurt/Comfort
SUMMARY: Adamanteus: of hard steel, iron, not to be broken. After his exile from Asgard - temporary as it may be - the last place Loki expected to find any of the Avengers is Amsterdam, granted the last thing Tony wanted after his unexpected break up with Steve was to find out that Loki was still alive and kicking, and hosting a radio show. It's not surprising they would have similar tastes, neither that they would be intimately aware of each other's issues. Some people have got to find out that some bonds you just can't break.
A/N: Some people named inside are actually real. No harm or disrespect is meant to them, the only intent is to show this as a version of our world.
SUPER thanks to the following people: Qwanderer for beta-ing the first 2 parts [I'm horrible, horrible, no good writer and I didn't send the rest to her!] Hedwig-dordt for checking out my failed Dutch, I owe you something big! I've no idea what, but I do! Songofcatharsis for letting me pick up her brain for songs!
Speaking of which, if you want to check out the playlist for this fic, you can check out my Spotify: Adamanteus
Part IV: Under Pressure
It was three days before they had any news. Natasha was still in Italy, mostly chilling from the messages back and forth with Tony, but Clint finally had news, the cargo he had been protecting had been attacked, finally, and they had had to step in.
It wasn't even Amora, but Loki did recognize the burly man from the video feed. It was a one man army, bellow Thor on fighting skill but the same hard punch, as Tony could attest to once he got close enough and had receive a fist to his metal plate, before the guy swung something that looked like a club at Clint.
Things didn't start like that, though, the cargo Clint has been shipped to had docked as planned, and the crew was just unloading cargo when the man arrived, he had been well-dressed, with a D&G tux that somehow fit his burly stature, the Mohawk was neat and done in such a way it reminded Loki, when he saw the footage afterwards, of how the Jotünn did their version of a 'hairstyle'. Wedges between shaved head, almost like horns.
The fight had started when Clint had talked to guy, explaining calmly that no, he could not have the Spheres, they were for studies purposes with the Geology department in the NYU, Skurge had attempted bribery with a few stones - a study later confirmed diamonds and rubies - but he had attempted to choke the archer when he had continued to deny Skurge's request.
Loki, meanwhile, had taken residence on Tony's former study and was slowly transforming that into his own studio, when he was not haunting Tony's workshop and flirting with him. Flirtation disguised as barbed insults of course because Loki was still Loki and he didn't give in easily, even though he wanted to.
When the Hawk had gotten away from Skurge, with an arrow to his elbow, things had gone downhill fast and reinforcements had to be called. With Natasha and Thor in Italy it was a reduced team that had taken hold of Skurge.
Loki was watching on the monitors provided by J.A.R.V.I.S., directing the team to lead the Executioner carefully away from the cargo and into the ocean. The nights spend with Tony on the lab had yielded results, mostly an EMP-resistant Lightning Rod that could deliver a charge of 2 watts with 3 mili amperes in a 30cm area without dissipation*. The aim was to stun an Æsir, but considering 1mili ampere could kill a human being, they had decided to up the velocity a bit, to help stun the aliens and, well, Skurge was the perfect guinea pig to test it on, especially if he was submersed in the ocean.
Currently Skurge was being driven back by the Hulk, while Hawkeye cleaned a path for him along with Captain America and Iron Man readied the Lighting Rod. It should've been easy. Should've, could've, would've, all damming words.
It seemed to happen in slow motion, that Skurge fell on the water, and Tony aimed and fired the Lightning Rod, and a second later the Hulk also fell on the water as the weapon hit both of them. There was a second of silence before the bodies collapsed in the water.
Tony stared in horrified silence as Hawkeye begun to scream for his lover. The sound seemed to come from far away as Tony looked on as the Hulk's green skin and mass receded, leaving only Bruce's body behind.
(~o~)
"Who's bright idea was this?" Fury asked.
They were at the local hospital, Skurge had been knocked out, and was in a SHIELD containment cell, the doctors looking over his body, but there was nothing wrong with the giant man, Bruce on the other hand, was a different story.
His body had no scars, no sign that anything had happened. Bruce was alive, Clint had thanked the Norns for that blessing at least, but Tony didn't know who to thank for Bruce's life but fuck he owed someone somewhere in the universe something big.
Something seriously big, but he only planned on paying when Bruce woke up. He refused to think in terms of 'when,' Bruce would have to wake up, it was as simple as that.
A shout from Clint and Fury got his attention back to the unanswered question, he could listen to Loki's voice coming from Fury's mobile, Clint yelling obscenities at him.
"It was our fault," Tony cut in, loud and clear. It was as if someone had hit the mute button, as Fury and Barton both turned at him. "It was our fault," Tony repeated, not afraid to take the blame, he was responsible for this mess, for the state Bruce was in, "Loki and I were working on a new weapon to properly stunt the Æsir and beings with the same body density, either stun or leave then unconscious. Since we were having so much trouble with Skurge, we thought it would be a good idea to test it. I only saw The Hulk topple on the water after I had fired the weapon."
"How was the weapon calibrated?"
"3 mili amperes," Tony replied, crossing his arms. He suddenly wanted Loki there with him, not to take the fall with him, he was enough of a grown up to know when he had fucked up and how much would the fall out cost. He wanted Loki there because, as he had come to find out and appreciate, the Trickster had a way of calming him down, of making him focus, of making him see the world in a such different way that some solutions seemed to come up naturally.
And he wanted that, needed that, Bruce had- Jesus!
"That's more than enough to kill a man," Fury said, leaning forward and just staring at Tony. It was one of those situations where, if the only collateral damage was The Executioner, he would've been more than happy to call it a win, but Bruce had been taken the fall as well. He knew not if it was because of the Hulk going after the Æsir or if something else was afoul. But this was far from a happy occasion or a complete win.
"So you're responsible for this. It just wasn't enough for you to bring that psychopath to live in the same area as us, oh no, you just had to kill my boyfriend, didn't you?"
"Clint,"
"No!" The archer shouted vibrating with tension, vibrating with hate, "I knew he was trouble when he came in, when he came back to Earth in an attempt to, to, to redeem himself. But then you just had to go and make friends with him, didn't you?" Clint sneered, and Tony steeled himself, whatever the archer had to say it wouldn't be pretty, "what did he do to convince you? Did he suck your cock? Or did you stick it up his ass as he begged for your friendship?"
"Barton," Fury snapped, glaring at him, he had hung up on Loki as soon as Clint had started his overdue rant. He could understand that, if he bothered to he could sympathize, but everything had been an accident, circumstances were to blame.
"It's true, isn't it? Right now he's only good as a fuck toy, worthless scum, that's all he'll ever be good, isn't it? That and killing people, just like you, Stark. You think you've changed, but the only thing you did was change targets." His voice was quiet, but it sounded like a shout on the room, the only noise the beep of the machine attached to Bruce.
"Get out, Stark," Clint said, his face twisting in a mix of rage and unbelievable pain. "I don't want to see you, I don't want you near him, least you finish killing him off."
"You think I actually wanted this."
"I don't know, did you?" Clint asked his voice dispassionate, uncaring. No that wasn't true, he cared, but about Bruce. Tony could see he was persona non grata at the moment.
"You're not the only one who cares about him, Clint. You're just there trying to find blame because of what happened. And I get that, I accept full blame for what happened to him, but don't think for even a second that I wanted this!" Tony hissed, his legs strategically apart, it was to keep him grounded, not to a fighting instance, but so he wouldn't just punch Clint in the face for the litany he had spelt forth.
"That's what we call accidents, Barton, they happen, usually to those least want it to happen to. It happens, we get over it, we move on, vow to make sure that was the last one but you know it won't be, that's the life of an Avenger, and you better get used to it."
"Get out, Stark, you're not welcomed here," Clint hissed again, before shouting at Tony to get out. This time he went, shaking his head.
(~o~)
"Something happened," Natasha sighed fishing her cell out of her pocket. Thor was with her, had insisted upon it as a mean to deter the Enchantress if Loki's little trick didn't work. She was glad for the company, even if Thor was somewhat louder than she was used to. They had seen the church in which the painting was hanging, had put surveillance in the area to trigger should anything inhuman approached.
At that moment Natasha was introducing Thor to the wonders of Italian Affogatto, along with real, honest, Italian Tiramisu. Thor on a caffeine high couldn't be worse than on a sugar high, that was her reasoning.
"The church?" He asked, dapping his lips on a napkin before talking to her, Natasha still found his manners somewhat odd, but still better than the stunts he had pulled in New Mexico.
"No, something with Clint and Bruce," she scrolled up her messages, reading them quickly but with a critical eye. "Skurge went after the stones, and Loki and Tony decided to test a new weapon on him."
"Loki was in battle?" Thor asked, eyebrows going high.
"No, he was at the tower, but looking at the fight." She trailed off, her eyes going wide as she stared at the phone.
"Natasha?"
"Bruce was hit with whatever that was, he's in a coma right now. I'm sorry Thor, I have to call him." She didn't wait for an answer, walking out of the restaurant they were in to try and get a better reception. Mostly because all the Avengers and close associates knew that Thor's presence usually interfered with long distance calls.
Thor didn't have the heart to tell them their equipment was inferior, better leave the humans to think it was just magic related. He grabbed his own mobile, going through his contacts and sending a message to Anthony. As much as the Hawk needed support, he knew the fall out would be on Anthony and Loki, and he had been blind too many times to let this one pass, even if he would ignore the Hawk for a little while, but he had his spider on his side.
Thor had just ordered a round of cannoli for him and Natasha when the spider came back, grim faced. "What has happened?"
"The hulk was electrocuted, Bruce's in a coma right now, and they're not sure he's going to wake up." Natasha said, helping herself to the pastries. She had lost too many soldiers and fellow spies, compatriots in a way, to feel anything past mild sadness.
"Has Anthony or Loki come forth?"
"Yes," Natasha sighed, "Tony said it was an accident, the Hulk either fell or jumped into the water after Iron Man had fired the new device. Tony couldn't get to him in time to prevent it from happening." It was a cluster fuck of bad luck. If Natasha could make it better she would, but she couldn't.
Thor hummed thoughtfully, "accidents happen, even to the best Smiths, Bruce will either come out of this whole, or he won't. The fact he's even alive now is in his favor."
"I agree, but there's not much we can do to calm Clint down, and that's worries me. He loves Bruce and now this," she shook her head, sipping from her own cappuccino, making a face at the cold coffee; Thor just laughed at her, ordering a new cup.
(~o~)
Loki just looked up when he heard the bang and the litany of profanity coming from somewhere down below, part of him wanted to gloat, to go down and ask Stark how it felt to have your friends turn on you for a mistake you've made.
But he still remembered how Tony had reacted on the Hellicarrier, how he had chased after Loki and crushed his doubts before he could even utter them. He could do nothing but offer the same in return.
When he stepped on Stark's living room it was to see the man thrown on the couch, an unopened bottle of bourbon on his hand, a glass filled with ice on another and the face of someone facing their worst fears.
As Loki well knew, some fears were internal, just as some of his worse struggles had been with himself.
He didn't say anything as he approached, just taking the bottle and the glass and going back to the bar, ignoring Tony's token 'hey!'
"If I had free access to my magic," he begun, "I'd just remove the alcohol from these and leave you to your doom, but I don't, so I'm taking the bottle instead."
"Loki," Tony started, but with no clear idea of what he wanted to say.
Loki smiled at him, sincerely, tired, sad, he understood. The circumstances weren't the same, but he did understand. "Has Thor ever told you the story of the nine realms?"
"I - What?" He backtracked instead, rubbing his neck, "no, never." He wondered where this was going, the story of the nine realms? What?
"Come to the lab with me, then? I'd like to show you."
"Yeah, sure, but Loki, why would yo-"
"Great!" He clapped, taking hold of Tony's hand and dragging him to the elevator, ignoring Tony cursing slightly behind him. "J.A.R.V.I.S., could you ready the hologram input for me? We're gonna need it."
"Loki, what the hell's going on?" Tony asked, turning to face the Trickster, squeezing his hand, even if he couldn't damage Loki, not really at any rate, the impulse he felt to punch someone or something was almost overwhelming. Usually he had Happy, who helped him with training when he needed it, but now?
"I'm going to tell you the story of the nine realms and you're going to listen. It might help you understand some concepts I've been trying to drill into your head without you getting distracted." He gave Tony a pointed look, knowing when a student was getting distracted with particles of dust instead of listening.
That brought Tony short, what? He wanted to study now? What...?
They entered the lab, Loki going to the input table and sitting on top of it, after disengaging the keyboard and putting in on his lap. Tony, still infused, sat by him, staring expectantly at him.
"The story goes," Loki begun, darkening the workshop and putting one glowing orb in the middle of the room, manipulating technology as Tony did, "that in the beginning, there was only one planet in the entirety of the universe, thousands of times bigger than the V1489 Cygni you humans found. It glowed brightly in and of itself, all the beings living there were one with the land, with the same dark red skin as the soil, the planet was at the end of its life, however, and was contracting in itself, with wars between tribes becoming the norm."
"Contracting itself?" Tony asked, fascinated as the ball of light travelled through the workshop, "how is that possible?"
"Fusion of elements in a guarded environment, which fed on the planet itself," Loki answered rolling his eyes, human. "Anyway, the wars reached a point where they decimated the surface of planet, making the people have to live underground. It goes on to say that a particular war broke between two different tribes, making the planet collapse in itself, before exploding outwards."
"What we call the big-bang."
"Exactly." On the hologram green and gold lines started to crisscross the globe, easily getting into an intricate luminescent spider web. Before an implosion and outwards expansion happened, covering everything in fog. Tony could see bits and pieces of land-mass passing him by, like glowing rings.
"One ring to rule them all?" He smirked at the deity, moving to sit near him, acutely aware of the Trickster.
"No, not quite," Loki laughed, shuffling a bit closer to Tony, their fingertips touching, "the people had advanced devices with them and started to gather as much dust as they could in the hopes of constructing a new planet, they managed, at first, to create minor planets, there was no need for sun since everything around them was brilliant white."
Yeah, Tony could certainly see that.
"The original fight, wasn't between the Frost Giants and the Æsir by any chance, was it?"
"No, between the dwarves and the giants." He took Tony's hand, lacing their fingers and ignoring the intake of breath from the man. "They started to drift and the molecules in the dust started to form as Stars, as revenge the dwarves managed to, somehow, divide the Giants and put half of them as far away to a brown dwarf star as the gravity pull allowed and the other half as close to a blue hyper giant as they possibly could. Remember when I said that those people took the properties of the soil they were in?"
"Yeah, so they turned into a different species?"
"Pretty much, yes, the Æsir, before you ask," he smirked at the Engineer, wanting to call him his own, but knowing Tony wasn't, not really, "were in the middle of all the realms, and in possession of fertile lands and minds. Midgard, by contrast, was almost at the fringe, and with almost no living beings which were not primates and plants."
"So the Æsir were what? Scientists?"
"Yes, and they managed to start traveling between realms, it took eons before they mastered interstellar travel, and much longer than that before they could even conceive the bifrost. Midgard, was left alone, to grown on its own and to advance on its own. It was only in the last eight thousand human years or so that we even noticed there was living intelligent life here, thought communication was difficult since, as Odin and Frigga used to say, they offered themselves at a moment's notice."
"Offered for what?"
"No idea, but some of the travelers took them as sexual partners which was, I suppose, a factor that helped advanced the humans." Loki shrugged, those were the basics, something all Æsir children already knew by the time they were a hundred. That the humans had been left alone was both a blessing and a curse for them, a blessing because they weren't under Asgard's thumb, and a curse because of their flimsy lifespan. Thought Loki did admit that it had its charms, living such a short time.
"So, pantheons? They exist?"
"Sort of," Loki laughed, "what you call pantheons are the Vanir and some Æsir and elf-fork making an unsolicited visit. They had their fun with the Egyptians I think." Loki laughed at the disbelief on Tony's face, a mix of arched eyebrows, a tilted head and narrowed eyes. "The Egyptians taught them how to build pyramids, that's all the Elves have been building them for the last four thousand human years, or so I'm told."
"Taught them?" Tony's eyes narrowed even further, sending Loki into another fit of laughter.
"Yes, they've been inventing new, improved ways to build pyramids, and the last I heard some of them were looking forward to a trip to Midgard to show the Egyptians how they do it now. They're gonna be terribly disappointed." He smiled again.
"You're serious." Tony said, snorting, still in that sort of disbelief as if Loki was high and off his mind. Or just a particularly good Troll.
"Yes actually," Loki grinned back, getting a disbelieving smile out of Tony. "I like it when you smile," he whispered, turning away from Tony and looking down at his lap.
"I'm sorry, what?" He blinked at Loki, not sure he had heard what he had actually heard. Couldn't be, they were friends, just friends, weren't they?
"It's nothing," Loki shook his head, dismissing his thoughts. Better not to dwell on things he couldn't have, people he couldn't have. Better to dwell on whatever friendship Anthony was willing to offer, no more no less. "Are you better now?" He asked instead, leaning and staring into Tony's eyes, he'd know if the mortal was lying.
"I- I am actually, thanks," Tony smiled self-depreciating, the things Clint had said, the accusations, the disgust at him and Loki, they weren't even doing anything, were nothing more than friends even! It had all faded somewhat, lost in Loki's story, Loki's impossible story.
"So, what happened?" Loki asked, lacing his own fingers and letting them rest between his parted legs, dangling off the balcony.
Tony shook his head, not afraid to remember, but not eager either. But he owed Loki, didn't he? If the Trickster hadn't had intervened, he would be at the bottom of a bottle right now, breaking his longest record, to date, without a drink.
Swallowing the bile that threatened to rise on his throat, Tony told him. How their weapon worked perfectly - as far as he cared Skurge was locked up after being unconscious for close to three hours - how Bruce had also been affected, however he had no idea if his friend would even survive.
"Anthony," Loki started, frowning at the human, "this is not about your, or me, it's about Bruce. No wonder Barton was mad at you, my self-centered idiot." He smiled, shaking his head.
Loki unknowingly repeated what Thor had told Natasha: the scientist's chances were good, if he hadn't been killed at the time, it was only a matter of time before he woke up. Tony had no idea if Loki was lying or not, either way it was comforting to know he hadn't killed his friend, then what Loki had said caught up with him. Calling Tony his. It filled him with unexpected warmth as stared open mouthed at Loki.
(~o~)
For Natasha and Thor, the alarm rang in the early hours after Skurge's attack. Natasha, who had taken to stalking the area around the church, quietly slipped inside, getting on her knees, pretending to pray for a deity she didn't believe in.
She knew who Amora was at first sight, not because the supposed goddess had any sort of special aura, or because Amora had just started attacking people - in fact she was just looking around curiously - but because the name Loki had given her actually fit the woman to a T. Tall, luscious blond hair falling in waves on her back, a grass-green dress with pink and blue undertones hugged her figure modestly, letting all know she had voluptuous curves, but didn't care to show it.
It was yet another thing that Natasha liked about the Æsir - or Æsir raised as the case might be - the meaning of things was often literal with them.
Periwinkle indeed.
She observed as Amora looked around, curious if not a bit disdainful of her surroundings. She was alone, but then Natasha supposed that a being like the Æsir, who could easily break someone's spine without extenuating themselves, felt at ease and safe anywhere in the universe. Neither outright chaos nor destruction, just a couple taking a stroll on foreign land, the question was: why had they needed the Extremis/Kurse hybrid to begin with? It didn't fit their current M.O.
'I can feel you observing me,' a voice whispered in her ear, soft, but as sweet as Habanero. It startled her enough to flinch, almost pulling out her weapon, 'you have Loki's trace on you.'
Did she? Loki couldn't use magic, so how?
She approached the woman, steps deliberately slow, she could call Thor at any moment, she knew but still she waited. If the woman in front of her wanted violence, she would have had it by now. They stopped in front of the painting it was an odd piece: a globe, with a something resembling a metal stick, and two orbs, the sun and the moon.
"What has he told you?" She said, eyes still in the painting. Natasha could feel the weight of her attentions, though.
"A phrase only, that I come in the name of cuprum Fire, to talk with the Catharantus."
Amora growled, speaking in a language Natasha had no hope of understanding. It sounded like Icelandic but it was rougher, the words blending in together so that her curses and swears - and it was always easy to spot someone cursing - blended together in a growl.
"Speak, then!" Amora said, her tone even sweeter than before. Natasha pretended she couldn't hear the tone, the anger on her face. "What was so important Loki gave you that phrase?"
"Loki asked me to keep you safe, he gave me a task, to keep you in an special place, where you cannot be found."
"There is no place I cannot be found," she denied, for the first time looking at Natasha, blinking at her directly. "You're a redhead."
"I, yes?" She frowned, getting an amused laugh from Amora.
"Are you Loki's new beau? He has a thing for redheads, and that'd explain the sudden request," Amora smiled, impish, suddenly amused, and Natasha could see why those two were friends.
"What of intelligent people?" Natasha asked, getting an idea.
"Only if they can match him in wit, why?"
"Oh I need to show you something." Natasha smirked.
(~o~)
In the end all it had taken was the promise of listening and seeing Loki to get Amora away from the painting and into a SHIELD facility, thankfully.
One of the easiest missions Natasha had ever gone through!
"So what's going on with Amora?" Natasha asked on the phone, as she painted her toe nails a vibrant red. On her left was a feed from Bruce's hospital room, Clint was sleeping on the couch in the room while the machine beeped along with Bruce's heartbeats, on her left another feed, Stark's former study, now Loki's hideout, the trickster was browsing through his and stark's vinyl collections, Natasha could hear the 'flip-flip-flip' as he went through albums.
"She's looking for something called 'The Twilight Key,'" Loki sighed, showing an album cover to the supposedly hidden camera. "It's something that alters one's personal reality."
"Men at Work? Really? What are you putting up next? A-Ha?" She grimaced, "and what do you mean by 'one's personal reality?'" It was embarrassing how easy she could talk to Loki, this being their third time talking.
He stuck his tongue out at her, putting the record back and going back to flipping vinyl cases. "It means that I can alter something that affects me directly but has no direct impact on anyone else, say I want to alter my financial status and make myself a billionaire, I could, but I couldn't take that money directly from another person or from Central Bank. Say I want the power to destroy humanity, the wish wouldn't work, but-"
"But if you ask after the knowledge on how to build such a device it would give it to you."
"Yes, you can see why it was hidden away."
"Not enough, there's a map showing the damn thing's location." She scowled again, putting the nail polish aside and gently blowing on her toes.
"There's always a map showing things." Loki snorted, "the ones who built stuff like these didn't want people just showing up and grabbing their stuff, it always has to stay hidden. I personally think they had awful memory and needed things spelt out to remember where they put their lost stuff."
"Makes sense, sort of. So why would they need the Kurse/Extremis hybrid?"
"They don't. If their only goal was to get the map and the spheres and go realm hopping searching for the Twilight Key, they wouldn't need anything relating to the Kurse." He took another album, holding it up to Natasha.
"So? Why the hybrid? Why now? And I'm rather fond of the Rolling Stones, good call."
"That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Why would they need it? Why make such a loud noise and send other people? Unless Amora had someone else pulling her strings, which is a scary thought." He dutifully ignored the Rolling Stones comment with an eye roll, everyone liked the Rolling Stones.
"Something to think about. Speaking of other people's stuff, how's Stark?"
On the other side of the work Loki blinked to himself, tilted his head and glanced at the camera as if it would have all the answers. What? Where did that come from?
"Fine, I think?" Loki said slowly, failing to see where Natasha was going with that sort of questioning. "Trying to find a solution to help Banner, but it's not a matter he can solve just with technology."
Natasha hummed on the other end, ending the live feed from Loki and setting down to watch Clint and Bruce, "he's persistent," she said, laying back, "if he finds something tell me, Clint's going crazy with this."
There was a silence in the other end, from Loki, from the shuffling of vinyl, the breathing on the other end. Natasha knew Loki did not feel guilt over New York, to the Æsir it was a necessity, it had had to happen. She wasn't privy on the details why it had to happen, but Natasha could make an educated guess.
"I will," Natasha wasn't at all surprised when he hung up on her.
(~o~)
"Any change?" Someone asked as the door opened. Clint rubbed sleep from his eyes as he looked at Steve. His captain was out of uniform, in civilian clothes, a stark contrast with the field clothing Clint still had on.
"None, the doctor said there's still time for him to wake up on his own, it's been barely twelve hours." Clint sighed, looking at Bruce. If it wasn't for the beep-beep of the machine he would have sworn Bruce was just sleeping, he had watched Bruce sleep enough times to not be comforted by the sight. That's not how his Bruce slept. He should've been face down, arms up and his legs slightly parted and bent like the number 4 figure. Jesus what a disaster. He couldn't be bothered to feel at all sorry for the things he had said to Tony.
"Did we at least get Skurge?" He tore his eyes away from Bruce, glancing up at Steve.
"We did, he's currently in confinement and we're waiting for Thor to get back so he can take Skurge back to Asgard, we're not chancing another accident." Steve sat on the couch Clint had obviously been sleeping in, taking in the sterile feel of the room, he knew Bruce would have hated it. "I brought you a change of clothes," he nodded to the satchel by his feet, leaning back on the couch.
"I don't need it, Bruce's gonna be out of here soon enough." The archer shook his head, eyes on the heart monitor.
"Clint," Steve started, only to be cut back by the man again.
"I don't need it, he'll be out and about soon enough and then I'm just gonna feel bad about this." He shook his head again, more forcefully. He couldn't leave Bruce just like that! What if he woke up and Clint wasn't there? Besides a shower and a change of clothing meant going back to the tower and he didn't want to see either of those bastards.
"Clint," Steve said, the deep commanding voice he usually used in the field. "It's a change of clothes, you don't need to go out, just go to the attached bathroom and change."
Oh. The bathroom, right, he didn't need to go out of the room, he didn't need to leave Bruce out of his sight, not really. "You'll watch him over for me?"
"Of course," Steve agreed with a smile, as soon as the arched was behind closed doors, however, it slid off his face like oil in water, and Steve could do nothing but burry his face in his hands. He could only look at the silver lining, that Bruce wasn't dead, that he had survived he just had to wake up.
The door opened again, carefully and almost silent but for the little freak and whine of its hinges, he looked up to the visitor, only to scowl as he saw Loki.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, polite, but with an edge of frost he was sure the Mischief Maker hadn't missed, but had ignored.
"Where's Barton?" Loki asked, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms. He had gotten a few looks at the tattoos - an Earth art he rather liked - visible under his shirt. He had underdressed himself, knowing full well that appearances mattered to the humans, if they saw a man with short hair, dressed in black pants and a shirt and a longer long-sleeved shirt underneath that had the Captain's shield printed on his shoulder, what else would they think but a fan visiting? And Rogers had rather established that he didn't really have an issue with his fans, if they didn't put others in danger.
"Why? Haven't you done enough damage?" And the Alien had. The invasion, the mind control of countless agents, Bruce for fuck's sake. As far as Steve was concerned this was all Loki's fault.
Loki arched a finely shaped eyebrow, unimpressed. "It's because of that that I need to talk to him, he needs to understand a few things." For example why they were all cluttering about Banner's bed, as if the man was about to die at any second. He wasn't, when he had told Anthony the only thing he needed was rest, he had been serious. Banner's ability to support major injury and recover from it was astounding! - and he was rather looking forward to taking a sample from Banner's biological fluids to see what he could find - if the man had survived the initial shockwave to his being and was only unconscious, it was just because his body and mind needed time to put themselves together again. To Loki they were all overreacting.
From the corner of his eyes he saw the other door opening, the archer stepping out only to stop short and scowl at him. Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he was not about to have the same conversation again. And that was why he needed the humans to advance and quickly, the fact that Clint hadn't heard the conversation between him and the Captain was worrying.
"I leave for ten minutes and you bring this scum here, Steve?" Barton asked with a dark look at Steve.
"He didn't know I was coming," Loki replied before Steve could say a word, "I need to talk to you for a moment, put things in perspective." He arched an eyebrow at the man, he knew Barton didn't trust him, he didn't need to, not for this.
"Whatever you have to say you can say in front of Steve, I'm not going anywhere with you," Clint recalled that the last time he had been alone with Loki he has been put under mind control, had been forced to do things he had never thought he would, not again. "So?" He trailed off, eyes zeroed in on Loki. Watching his ever movement and by the nine he wanted to have his bow and arrows. He growled under his breath, he hated that some of Loki's thought patterns had remained, swearing by deities he had never even heard of before, taking comfort that if anything happened to any of them they'd go to Valhalla instead of Heaven. He loathed it.
Loki shrugged unconcerned, if he wanted to have this conversation in front of Rogers, who was he to say no? "Have it your way, but just be aware that what I have to say is for you, as that one's lover." He nodded at Bruce's still form. "He's gonna wake up, it might be today, tomorrow, a week or a month from now, but he's gonna wake up. Anthony obviously has not told you that, or you wouldn't still be by his bedside as if he's about to die." He did roll his eyes at that, ignoring the way anger simmered inside the two men. "If he hasn't died from the initial blast he's not gonna die now of all times." He put special emphasis on a certain word, noting with sick satisfaction how Barton seemed to almost sag at the news. The man might not trust him - with good reason! - but they had had a special connection for a little while, enough for the man to have special insight and be able to tell with 70% accuracy when Loki was lying or not.
"That's all you came to say, that Bruce's going to wake up eventually? How do you even know?" Steve asked, stepping up to Clint, standing to Clint's right and a bit to the front, arms crossed and fairly glaring at Loki.
"You want to listen to technical terms? You're not going to understand it, neither of you," he snorted derisively at them, "if you want an easy to understand explanation ask your resident God of Thunder, he's competent enough to make you understand."
"God you're so-" Steve started, only to be cut by Clint.
"That's all you came to say? If so you might as well go, I don't want you here, I don't trust you, if I could you wouldn't even be on earth." Sadly it wasn't his call, they were all aware of that, it wasn't a something any of them would have chosen if they could.
"No, it wasn't." Loki grind his teeth, it was another reason why he had wanted a private conversation. "It's about New York," he said, his arms behind his back and feet slightly apart, not a fighting instance, but he was ready in case they wanted a brawl.
"I never want to speak to you about New York," Clint snapped at the same time Steve's "if you're not gonna apologize you better shut your mouth."
Loki sighed, looking down and resisting the rather strong urge to remove their mouths altogether either physically or with Magic, resisting only because he didn't want the punishment that would come with it. "That's the thing, I want you to know, and I need you to accept that I'm not going to apologize for what I did to you or to the other agents or to New York. I don't regret it, not what I did, or how, only that the circumstances had to be there in the first place."
He shook his head, refusing to look at either of them, "you were collateral damage." Loki said, looking at a point over Clint's shoulder, "nothing more, nothing less. It wasn't personal, as much as I do remember you from Puente Antiguo, it wasn't nothing short of circumstances that brought you and I together."
"Collateral damage," he repeated, numb. "For what?"
"For my escape, the failed invasion, you name it." Loki said shrugging.
Clint could feel his temper rise, Loki said collateral damage but all he heard was games. He felt bile on the back of his throat, and tears of rage, he had been beating himself up since he battle and all the bastard had to say was Collateral Damage.
"You don't care, at all, do you? What you did, what you forced us to do."
"There's three humans I currently care about and you're not on that list," Loki said with a heavy sigh. He turned his back to them, opening the door.
"Loki," Steve called, glancing at Clint who had just turned his back to them and was back to looking at Bruce.
The Trickster stopped, not turning back to them, "don't come back here," Steve continued, "I don't want to see you anywhere near here."
Loki just shrugged, he wasn't planning on being back anyway, he closed the door behind him, leaning back. It was better this way, better for Barton to just hate him. He had liked the archer, he had honestly liked him, but he was already attached to enough humans, and he got attached so quickly too, damn his nature! He would rather the archer hate him than forgive him. Same with the other three.
He had the perfect way to make it happen too, and he would lose Anthony, Natasha and Nicholas. It was better that way. Natasha was too easy to talk to, too easy to fall for and had all the potential to become someone important to him, and they hadn't ever properly talked. That's how fucked he was. Nicholas... For all that he was the Director of SHIELD the man had become someone he trusted. They had the same end-game goal nowadays so it was easier to confide in him, and he knew the man's instance should he step out of line. An easy relationship.
Anthony though. It was ridiculous how easy the man had captured that elusive part of him that Loki had sworn to never hand over again. He was smart, too smart for his own good, he was way too important to remain with Loki. Easier to let them all go now then to feel the eventual betrayal that always happened. As the Norns had said: Loki wasn't supposed to get what or who he wanted, ever.
Loki knew what he had to do. Damn him.