The Runaways
by: muaaimoi
Summary- Basically a street kid au. There are issues and avengers but they all turn out okay anyway. Also, stony, Thorki, Phlint ,and Brutasha, because damn it, just because.
4.
Loki doesn't stand trial the next day. There's no time for one, and none of them are up to putting in the effort.
They're all too tired. Steve had been kept up half the night by all their twisting and turning, knowing very well he wasn't helping matters by shifting around himself. But he couldn't help it, it's awkward. The warm atmosphere he's become accustomed to as they drop off like flies is missing. He still has to work the rest of the week. And the others have their own jobs to do. It's not really conductive to getting to know the guy and seeing whether or not he's staying or going.
So Loki has to wait until Steve's next day off to stand trial.
Ultimately, it goes something like this; the rest of them don't want Loki to stay, and Thor pouts them all into submission. For someone who's so large, so buff, and looks so very little like a puppy at all, Thor manages to look adorable remarkably well. It's impossible to say no to him.
It's also the simple fact that Loki makes Thor happy. So happy. His joy seems to be a physical presence in their apartment at times. Steve thinks that none of them had known anything about the actual extent of Thor's misery before. Thor was someone who was so effortlessly cheerful. But comparing his happiness then to his happiness now... It's like holding a lightbulb up next to the sun.
That this happiness seems to ebb and flow with Loki's moodiness isn't something any of them are terribly happy about though. The guy runs hot and cold all at the same time. Sometimes he's nice to Thor, easily falling into place by his side, and making conversation. Other times he can't seem to get far enough away from him.
The rest of them can't bring themselves to butt into something none of them understand. The best they can do is be supportive. Let Loki stay in their space. Attempt to welcome him into the fold.
It helps that Loki seems to be a 'Magic geek' and his performance meshes well with their activities at the park. Steve can also see where Thor developed his tolerance for science talk. Loki seems to spend hours at a time in the Lab, and Steve is just as clueless about the things they discuss even when they're doing it in front of him.
" It's always nice to talk to a fellow geek." Bruce says, when questioned on the matter.
" He's a clever bastard. I like it." Tony says, and Steve can see where they're coming from. Loki is frighteningly intelligent. Of course he fits right in at the Lab. The time he spends with Natasha and Clint is a little more mysterious until he walks in on Loki flinging knives at a board with Clint.
" He's good." Clint says. He's someone who respects skill.
" I don't trust him." Natasha says. That's important, trust is important to her. Trust is important to all of them, but for Natasha, it's an especially sore point.
Steve can see where they're coming from too.
Thor, for being the very cause of Loki's presence at their apartment seems to spend the least time with him. And it's not from lack of trying. Thor follows Loki around with the air of a kicked puppy. Unless Loki is feeling generous at the time, in which case Thor can be found staring at him like he hung the moon as he hangs on to Loki's every word. This never seems to last longer than half an hour however, that seems to be how long it take's for Loki to remember that he actually hates Thor again.
" We have many issues that have gone unaddressed for much time." Thor says, when Steve points out the lack of brotherly bonding. That, Steve thinks, is an incredible understatement.
Loki walks in their space with a strange energy. As if he hasn't quite decided whether he wants to fight them or flee. Then again, Thor seems to instinctively step in front of exists whenever he's in the same room as Loki. So maybe it's simply that he can't do either.
" He's my brother." Thor says. He says it often. To them. To Loki. None of them ever seem particularly happy to hear it. Loki especially.
" I love him." Thor says.
And Steve doesn't know what to do with that. Except that he can't take that happiness away from Thor. He knows the others, they just want him to be happy too. Something that would be much easier if Loki could manage to be pleasant for longer than it takes the rest of them to walk out of a room.
Loki never seems to want to be alone with Thor. If the rest of them try to clear out, he's always quick to follow. Once it becomes clear that Thor is rather desperate for some privacy with his brother, this becomes blatantly clear. There really is no ditching them together. And man do they try...
Eventually even Thor's frustration seems to build. He corners Loki just outside of their bathroom, in full view of the rest of them. So much for privacy.
" You have been avoiding the subject brother." Thor says.
" And what subject is that?" Loki replies with cool disinterest.
" I left much behind when I continued my search for you. It could not have only been the news of the adoption." Thor said roughly. Steve looked away then, the emotion on Thor's face was too much, he needed to give them what little privacy he could. " I need to understand why you left."
That's when, as Tony later puts it, Loki loses his shit.
" You who everyone looked up to. The golden son! You who would never understand what it's like to be looked over! Eyes passing right over you as if your presence were for naught. Don't you dare tell me you wish to understand!" Loki roared.
And then he stepped back and slammed the door closed.
Thor shoots the bathroom door an agonized look. Then turned to the rest of them. The silence hung awkwardly among them. There wasn't anything the rest of them could say to make what happened better.
Thor buried his face in his hands, muffling his words slightly. "Loki did not take knowledge of his adoption well."
" I can see that." Clint says, and Natasha does her duty as his best friend by smacking him for the rest of them.
" You're just lucky he's too big to fit through the bathroom window." Tony says, running a hand through his hair." If that were Clint he'd be half way down the block by now."
" Oh yeah! Break out champ." Clint pumps a fist." Whose number one baby?"
Bruce shoots all of them an exasperated look. " Why don't we just go watch a movie? It's my turn to pick today, anyway. I'm thinking swedish horror movie."
Steve makes a face." Those are the worst ones."
They really are. His utter inability to understand what's happening usually adds to the horror rather than detract from it. Natasha looks at him incredulously." You mean the best."
" So we're all just going to ignore that Loki's hauled up in the bathroom, huh?" Tony asks the room at large. The rest of them who actually understand the concept of tact glare at him.
Meaning everybody but Clint." What if one of us has to go Potty?"
Tony nods seriously, " It's a valid concern."
Thor looks like he very much would like to hold back a smile. He fails.
" You both lack hearts." He tells them, reluctantly fond.
" Tell us something we don't know." Clint says, and Tony high fives him.
Steve shakes his head, amused. He glanced back at the door. The brothers stepping around each other couldn't continue. Home was not a place where fighting would be tolerated. They all had the occasional meltdowns, and that was bad enough. But having two people actively making each other miserable wasn't something any of them could stand for long.
" Wait." Tony said, before Bruce started his movie. " I'm brilliant. I just had an idea. It's brilliant. I am such a genius! Do you know how smar-"
" Well genius," Natasha interrupted." are you planning to enlighten the rest of us."
" But of course!" Tony declared happily." We should just shove Thor into the bathroom with Loki and lock the door."
Tony turned his excited smile towards them expectantly. The rest of them looked at him in disbelief.
Finally, Steve sighed." You do know life isn't like the movies right?"
" And isn't that supposed to be something you do when you want a couple to get together?" Clint was quick to add.
" It's not like it's incest if Loki's adopted." Tony says, motioning to the mopey blonde on the mattress." And Thor doesn't look like he's against it."
Alarmingly enough, the look on Thor's face is rather thoughtful.
" That's crazy Tony." Bruce says, because he's sane.
Natasha shoots the bathroom door a considering look." It's not like we've got anything to lose. They can't avoid talking if they're stuck together in an enclosed space long enough."
" Exactly!" Tony cheered." Now come on, Thor buddy, will you come in peace or do we have to drag you in there?"
" Are you sure this will work Anthony?" Thor asked gravely.
Tony made a face." Don't call me that! It's Tony, say it with me; To-ny. Now stop being insulting and doubting my genius."
They had to wait an hour because none of them could remember what they'd actually done with the bathroom key. Eventually they got tired of looking and dragged some welding equipment out of the Lab along with a piece of metal. Hopefully none of them would have to go to the bathroom before morning .That was when Tony would let them out.
Getting Thor into the bathroom with Loki had been another adventure. Loki had clearly overheard their plans and had been ready to make a break for it. It had taken Natasha and Clint double teaming him to take him down long enough to drag him into the same space with his brother. It had been impressive.
By the time the door is welded shut, they're all tired, if not a little sore.
" Movie?" Bruce offers again, and they collapse into a grateful heap before the TV.
Steve doesn't remember falling asleep. But he remembers being briefly woken by someone shouting " I MISSED you." once, and again with a roar of " I NEED you!"
When they liberate them the next day, it's almost near noon because everyone overslept. Steve is glad that it's his day off and bemused when neither Thor, nor Loki seemed to mind the extra time in captivity.
Amazingly, Tony's plan had worked. The only reason the house isn't filled with chants of 'I told you so!' is because it's written all over his face. Steve thinks it's unfair that even Tony's smug bastard face is attractive.
Loki and Thor finally get along after that. Some of the brotherly affection does seem romantic. They hold hands when they're walking sometimes and Thor's starfishing seems to happen exclusively to Loki every night. But like Tony had said, it wasn't incest if Loki was adopted.
Thor's happiness seems to solidify after, and his joy is so strong it's contagious. Whether you want it to be or not. Steve finds himself whistling on his way to work, doodles smiling faces absently. He catches Bruce and Natasha bumping and grinding in the living room as Tony plays DJ when comes home early one day. Even Clint can be found humming in the morning, and he is the farthest thing from a morning person there is in the house. For a time, all of them can claim they're happy.
If they had known the guy before he moved in, Steve doesn't think there would have been any problems to begin with. Loki clicks suspiciously well with all of them. He could have easily been one of them from the get go. But suddenly there's friction. Because Loki isn't one of them and he doesn't instinctively know their unspoken rules the way they do.
So he makes them think about unmentionable things without ever meaning to.
" You could go back." Loki says one night after they shut the TV off, and for a moment Steve can't even breathe. For another, he could honestly say that he hates him. Steve has never found it in himself to hate anyone but drunk drivers before.
Loki is whispering, clearly the words are only meant to reach Thor. But the rest of them can hear them just fine. " You know your father would welcome you back. It's not as though you need an education to take over the family business. You could leave, go back, make something out of yourself."
" Never." Thor whispers back, but Steve can barely hear him. His thoughts are racing.
Nononono- because they can't. They can never go back. Except maybe Thor can- and Steve does not want to think about it. He pulls Tony closer to him from where he'd been lounging by his side and wraps his arms tightly around him. No. No one is leaving. They are all each other have. And they know that. No one is leaving. He has to believe that.
Things are strained for some time after. It's hard to meet each others eyes. It's hard not to think about what the others are wondering. The concept of the future haunts them all.
" We can't do this forever." Loki says at breakfast one morning, shortly thereafter, and Steve hates him with a passion he didn't know he could ever have. This is why Loki could never be one of them. Because Loki brings thoughts about a future none of them are sure they have into the one safe place where they should never have to face that.
From someone they opened their home to especially. It feels remarkably like a betrayal.
xXx
So this is usually the part where I make my excuses and apologies for taking forever to update. Sadly I got nothing. Let's just agree that I suck. I really will try harder to update this though, promise.