Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Whatever, I don't own MARVEL…it doesn't bother me at all…not even a little bit…OF COURSE IT AFFECTS MY SOUL! IT HAS A VERY DEEP TEAR! Anyhow, on with the story…
The Hulk raged for a long time afterwards, furious that he could not break free from his cage. Try as he might, though, he was never able to smash the ice statue in his cage. A couple hours later, the Hulk had calmed down enough for him to shrink back down into Bruce, and the Avengers were able to retrieve him from the cage. Loki and Tony stayed, wanting to make sure Alice was okay after unfreezing herself. They waited for a while, standing around awkwardly, neither of them very great friends with each other. All of a sudden, Tony snorted and shook his head.
"What?" Loki asked.
Tony continued to chuckle, "I was just imagining tonight with Pepper, when she asks me how my day was…what am I supposed to tell her? Bruce turned into the Hulk and our mysterious and enhanced prisoner saved our asses, then turned herself into a popsicle." There was a pregnant pause in the conversation as the statement sank in, before Loki started laughing as well.
"I guess we can't complain that the job is boring," Loki grinned. "So how are things with Pepper, if you don't mind me asking?"
Tony raised his eyebrows, "You're actually interested?"
Loki rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't, you know that Stark."
"Well, I don't want to get too mushy on you, but honestly its great. She's great, the sex is great, her little—"
Loki interrupted, his hands raised in the air, "I don't need to hear about your sex life Stark."
"Oh! Sorry, just slipped out. I keep forgetting how shy you get about such matters."
"I can assure you that there is nothing farther from the truth," Loki smirked. The two sat in companionable silence, until Loki had finally had enough. "Look at her in there! I'll admit that Steve was wrong when he locked her in there. It was a dick move, but come on, she needs to unfreeze herself soon, and it can't be too comfortable being slowly frozen to death."
Stark looked surprised, "She's actually freezing herself to death?"
"Well it doesn't happen at once, but only frost giants can survive such low temperatures indefinitely."
"Do you think…you could unfreeze her? Maybe she's having trouble doing it herself or something."
Loki sighed, "It always seems like I'm saving people, especially from themselves." He walked over to the cage and activated the sliding glass door, it opened with a slight hiss and without hesitation, Loki walked into the room. The sudden drop in temperature did nothing to make him uncomfortable in the slightest. He walked over to Alice's frozen form to stand in front of her. Alice's face had taken a far away look, like she was lost in old memories. Her eyes were glazed and didn't move to recognize him as he neared. Taking a deep breath, Loki placed his hands on her cheeks, willing the ice to break. It started with the smallest crack, which spread gradually over the entire statue. All of a sudden, the ice fell off of her body with a crash and Loki caught her before she could face plant on the floor.
Tony rushed in the cage with a blanket, and helped wrap it around Alice's freezing body. "Is she alright?"
Loki just shrugged as he held Alice in his arms.
"Oh…no…I think my…finger may be stuck like…this…" Alice stuttered out between her chattering teeth. Her middle finger slowly rose into the air and Loki huffed a laugh.
"I think she'll be okay."
Tony shifted on his feet, looking awkward once more, "Do you think it would be okay to let her out, or are we supposed to keep her in here?"
"Well we can't really unfreeze her properly in here," Loki said.
"I…second the motion. Also, my shoulder…is fucked," Alice added.
Tony nodded to himself and grinned at the two, "Right this way, ladies and gentlemen." He led the way out, and started walking towards the part of his workshop that was devoted solely to tending serious wounds. Which he happened to use constantly.