Intermission 2 - End
They all quietly set the table in front of the TV, leaning back into their respective seats to eat the leftovers. When no one pressed play, Natasha quietly got up and grabbed the remote off the table. None of them were quite sure what else was going to happen, so she looked to them for assent.
After everyone nodded, she pressed play.
Day 2
At almost exactly the same time as the day before, Scarlet rose with a whimper. Loki frowned and looked at her, in the middle of Scarlet whining for food, he corrected her, "Ask politely."
She scrunched her eyebrows up in confusion, her memories catching up with her. After a few seconds she nodded and asked, "May we please find some sustenance?"
"Of course." Loki leaned over to the other side of the couch, becoming aware of Victor's cape for the first time. He blinked at it for a second, his features schooled so much that no emotion was visible. Finally, he reached out, gently shaking Victor. "Victor...Victor wake."
"Ugh… Kiki, stop."
Loki stilled, his knuckles turning white as he gripped Victor's arm so hard the man yelped. When Victor looked at him questioningly, trying to pry Loki's hand off his arm, Loki hissed, "Do not call me that."
"Call you what?" He asked groggily.
"Kiki." There was a slight flush to his cheeks as he said this.
Victor blushed and stammered, "Oh… Sorry, Doom-" Loki drew his lips back over his teeth menacingly when he heard Victor beginning to revert to third person, "I mean I … I wasn't fully awake."
Loki narrowed his eyes at the man and curled back up with the cape around his shoulders, ordering Victor as he did so, "Get the children food."
Victor nodded, wringing his wrists nervously.
Pause 2
Tony frowned at Nat, mouth full of pasta, "Why'd you do that?"
"Okay, I just have to ask… does anyone...notice...anything?"
"What do you mean?" Bruce set his food down, curious.
"Just...I mean, anything weird, with Von Doom…"
"He's not saying his name over and over again." Tony shrugged. Then he stilled. "Oh my god, he hasn't done that at all. Is that not even Doom?!"
Nat shook her head, "No, didn't you hear him? He just corrected himself. Why did he do that?"
They all paused for a bit before Thor brightened up with the answer, "Loki! Loki was correcting him!"
"Yes!" Nat clapped.
"So… Loki's the one calling the shots?" Tony shrugged, "Why does it matter?"
"No, no, not that. Victor doesn't change for anyone or anything, under any form of torture, don't we all know this?" Nat held her hands out, waiting for someone to see what she assumed was obvious. When everyone nodded hesitantly she huffed in annoyance, "Victor is changing his speech pattern, something integral to his annoying supervillain persona, just for Loki, even when Loki has no true power over him." She waited, and when all she got were confused looks she rolled her eyes, "I think Von Doom is in love with Loki. There, I said it."
Tony and Steve gave her the 'stop shipping everyone' look she knew all too well, Bruce seemed taken aback, though he looked as though it were because he hadn't realized this sooner, while Thor's eyes widened and he stared at the screen, dumbfounded.
Steve rolled his eyes, "Nat-"
"No, think about it!" She stomped her foot in anger, "Look at how they're both blushing there because he called Loki by a pet name, think of how he's been treating him so carefully, don't you see it?!"
Steve frowned a bit before saying, "He did sound very fond of Loki when he was talking about him to Scarlet…"
Tony rolled his eyes, "We'll see. Just unpause."
With a triumphant smile, Natasha hit play.
Thor still seemed confused, his mouth hanging open in shock.
Day 2 - Continued
Victor proceeded to wake Winter and Clint, silencing them before they made much noise, and consulted them on breakfast. In whispers, they agreed on pizza again and Victor called in the order. They woke Silver to get the pizza when it came.
This time when they ate, Clint and Winter ate on the bed, Scarlet and Silver on the ground, while Victor and Loki ate on the couch. Natasha wouldn't let them fast-forward, watching the screen intently, as if waiting for something. When everyone finished eating, the four younger ones all tried to run to the bathroom, but Victor stopped them, making them decide beforehand who got to use it and when.
During the time when Scarlet was using the bathroom and the three younger men were grumbling to themselves, Loki nudged Victor shyly with his shoulder.
Victor looked down at him, his cheeks a little pink, "Hm?"
Loki spoke very quietly, so quietly Natasha rewound the tape and asked JARVIS to focus on Loki and Victor's voices, "Thanks for everything."
Victor blushed fully, "It is nothing."
"No, it is everything. Without you, I might be dead now." His mouth turned into a sour smile, "Like I technically should be."
Victor frowned, taking Loki's hand, "Don't say that."
Loki's usually calm, pale features morphed into a shocked, bright red mess. He squeezed Victor's hand and looked away from him, his eyes wide.
Pause 3
Nat was bouncing up and down in her seat, squeeing, "Oh! I told you! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! This is too cute!"
"Jeez, Nat, calm down!" Tony shouted, holding his ears, "I think...I think I just lost a couple years off my hearing there…"
"It's just too cute, I can't stand it!"
"Well, relax," Bruce looked concerned for her well being, "We don't know what happens between them so let's just all calm down… you too, Thor."
Thor's mouth hung open and his eyes were wide with shock still. He looked petrified.
"Thor..?" Nat poked his shoulder, "Thor?"
Thor shook his head in disbelief, "I have never seen my brother act like that…"
"Aw!" Nat smiled, "Okay, let's watch!"
Day 2 - Continued. Again.
Victor, blushing profusely, and breathing a little bit faster, looked quickly at the men who were now all sitting criss-cross on the bed in a circle, ignoring him and Loki entirely. He licked his lips before brushing them on the back of Loki's neck. Loki jolted and let out a pleased whimper.
Quickly, as if he'd planned for this, Victor moved his hand to Loki's side, a glowing green resting over where his wound had been. When the men turned to see Loki, completely red in the face and leaning so close to Victor, they assumed he was in pain. Silver frowned, "You okay, mom?"
"Yes." Loki choked out, "I'm fine, now… uh… Thank you, Victor." He added the last bit when he noticed what Victor was doing.
"You're quite welcome." Victor's grin was wide and his eyes sparkled. Loki immediately ducked his gaze, placing one hand protectively over the back of his neck.
The men on the bed shrugged and went back to talking.
Loki shot Victor a glare, but it melted when he saw that Victor was smiling so lovingly at him. He ducked his head and looked away again, letting Victor draw him a bit closer. In fact, he leaned back into Victor's arms, so much so that Victor simply lifted him, holding him like the morning before, placing his hand over the god's stomach again. Loki's eyes fluttered closed and the purring sound emanated from him once more.
The rest of the morning was uneventful, save for when Loki and Victor had to separate, each shooting the other longing glances.
They escaped the room as they had the morning before and they stayed mostly silent in the car, everyone but Victor catching up on some more sleep. No one really spoke that morning, though Nat attacked Tony for the remote as he was fast forwarding, rewinding to a part that seemed insignificant until she pointed to Victor and Loki. At that particular moment, Victor reached over and took Loki's hand in his. Loki actually smiled at him shyly before closing his eyes and resting his head on the window, tightening his fingers around Victor's.
Pause 4
Nat clapped excitedly, "Okay, we need a couple name for them!"
"What?" Thor asked.
"A couple name. How about… Loom. Like Loki-Doom?"
"No." Tony seemed upset, "Doki. Doom-Loki. It's as stupid as this relationship is making them."
"Aw, dumb love." Nat smiled, "Any other ideas?"
Steve snorted, "I vote for Doki."
"Lictor is also good." Tony shrugged.
"Absolutely not!" Nat cringed, "That sounds like something to do with licking."
"Licking isn't so bad." Tony teased.
"Shut up, Tony… How about Voki?" Nat smiled proudly. "I'll call them Voki."
"I like Loom. Since they're just looming all the time and they spin webs of lies." Bruce shrugged.
"Doki." Tony stated, with Steve echoing assent to the term. They turned to Thor to see what he thought.
Thor shrugged. "I'm not going to enter into this discussion."
Nat rolled her eyes, unpausing, "Suit yourself."
Day 2 - Continued. Again….Again.
The car ride dragged on till Winter asked to stop for food. They'd skipped lunch entirely, and after a couple stomach growls, Winter was the only one brave enough to break the silence. They pulled up to a Wendy's, terrified the workers, and drove off with their food.
They ate in silence, drove in silence, and generally it was a pretty quick day to watch until Scarlet whined, "Are we there yet?"
"No, Scarlet." Victor sighed. "Soon though."
A half hour past.
"Now?" Scarlet asked.
"No, Scarlet. Soon."
15 minutes.
"Now?"
"No."
5 minutes.
"Now?"
"No." Victor seemed to be getting annoyed.
3 minutes.
"Oh, come oooon!" She whined, "We have to be there!"
"No, Scarlet, it's going to be a while."
"But you said soon." Her brother joined in.
"You did say soon." Clint added.
Victor tensed visibly, "Stop whining."
Loki turned his gaze on the children, "Please do as he asks."
"Fine, moooom." Scarlet huffed, throwing her legs out over the seats as she relaxed against the door.
Silver frowned, "Get your dirty feet away from me."
Clint looked to Winter, the two sharing a look that said they both knew exactly what kind of experience was about to unfold.
"My feet aren't dirty! You're dirty!"
"Ow! She kicked me!"
"Did not!"
"Did too! You did it with your mind!"
"Did not! Ow, he hit me!"
"Did not!"
"You did!"
"I didn't, Uncle Hawk, did you see me hit her?"
"Well, no, but-"
"He used his speed to hit me! Look, I have a bruise on my leg now!"
Loki growled, "Silver, don't hit your sister."
"She hit me first."
From here an argument blossomed until the four in the back of the vehicle were tangled in a fight, with Loki yelling every so often that he would smite them, until Victor shouted, quieting them all, "I will turn this car around! I will drag every single one of you back to the Avengers if you do not quiet the fuck down, do you hear me?!" Everyone sat back down in their seats, a little banged up and bruised, nodding sullenly. "Good. Now. Tell me, do any of you recognize that helicarrier?"
"Well," Clint said with muted sarcasm, still a little afraid, "Helicarriers were only SHIELD property until Tony took the undamaged ones… So I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's the Avengers."
"Good. So, everyone think for a second, how do we get out of here without them spotting us?"
"We can't," Scarlet wiped tears of anger from the previous fight off her cheeks, "They'll spot our car, they know it's us now."
"So what do we do?"
"Don't get mad…" Scarlet started, "But are we almost to the park?"
"We're 10 minutes from it."
"Stop the car. We're dismantling it."
"What?!" Loki frowned. "Dismantling-we don't have time for that."
"If we stop the car and they find it parked somewhere, they know we're on foot. If we dismantle it and bury the pieces where they can't find it, then they have no choice but to assume they've made a mistake and go find us elsewhere."
Victor looked back at her, "Alright, so how do we do this?"
Five shocked men, one proud girl, 7 hidden artillery weapons, and one hidden crossword puzzle later, they'd buried the car and gained some useful items. They headed on foot to the park, hiding behind buildings and avoiding people's gazes. They snuck into the woods and hiked up a hill, finding a small clearing at the top where they all sat down in the grass to watch the sunset.
The Avengers watching this peaceful scene actually smiled tearfully. Loki and Victor sat propped against a tree, Loki leaning his head calmly on Victor's shoulder, Victor's hand resting over where his wound had been just in case anyone looked. Scarlet was tearing up, happy, while her brother ruffled her hair, smiling at the beautiful scene before them. Clint lay on his stomach, watching the colors of the sky with a dreamy expression, while Bucky rested against a tree beside him, one boot resting on the archer's back, playfully rocking him with his foot while he gazed into the sunset with a small smile on his lips. Steve hadn't seen Bucky like that since before the war...
It was possibly one of the strangest families they'd ever seen, one of the most volatile and definitely dangerous families, but also one that obviously just needed to happen for everyone involved. When the sun finally set, they all turned their gazes to the stars. Clint showed the twins the constellations, while Winter explained how you could use them to navigate. Victor and Loki chimed in with pieces of lore and history surrounding the stars mentioned. It was all very peaceful.
Victor finally told the children to sleep, so the four younger individuals lay down on the grass, seeming to fall asleep almost immediately, tired from the arduous fight they had had mere hours before. Loki smiled, chuckling, "Look at our beautiful children, Victor."
Victor grinned, pulling Loki closer to him, "Yes, aren't we so very proud..."
"It seems like just two days ago we adopted them."
Victor snorted. He was about to say something when he turned to look into Loki's eyes and suddenly the humor drained from his gaze. "Kiki…" He whispered.
Loki's eyelids seemed to grow heavy, drawing in a shaky breath, "Victor?"
Victor took the chance to answer Loki by kissing him. At first it was just a touching of the lips, then Loki's hands gripped Victor's hair and drew him in deeper. Just as Thor was about to beg them to stop watching this, Scarlet's voice interrupted them, "So does this mean you two are really a thing now? Like, you can actually be our mom and dad?"
The men froze, catching their breaths, even in the darkness their blushes were clearly visible. Scarlet sat up, rubbing her eyes. Victor cleared his throat, looking to Loki for guidance, "Well…" He started, trying to avoid mention of what had just occurred, "We did plan to take you and your brother to my home. You can stay there for as long as you like… I'd gladly adopt you, if you want. And if Loki is willing," There was a question in his voice as he looked to Loki, "He can stay and adopt you with me."
Loki's gaze softened, "I will have to make some arrangements, but… I think I would like that... very much so." He shook his head, as if waking himself, before turning to face Scarlet, "If you and your brother would like that, of course."
Silver popped his head up, clearly having not been asleep at all, "Of course we would!"
Clint sat up, "Yeah… and for what it's worth, if you guys need anything I can do my best to help. I'm a little concerned about the Voki parenting skills."
"Voki?" Victor asked. Natasha cheered, almost drowning out what Winter had to say.
"Your couple name." He reached over and high-fived Clint, "Silver, Clint, and I came up with it when you two were snuggling so covertly on the couch. Right in front of us."
The Avengers looked pointedly to Natasha, all of them having missed the aforementioned conversation because she'd asked JARVIS to mess with the audio. She shrugged.
Loki sighed, "I guess that was our fault…"
Winter grinned, "Hey, it's alright. And I'm with Clint, if you all need anything just let us know and we'll do our best."
Scarlet sounded a little choked up when she said, "Th-Thanks you guys…"
Silver wiped at his cheek and patted his sister's back, looking away, trying to hide his own tears, "Yeah… We never really had… anyone but our father who… yeah, he was fucking crazy."
"Well," Victor sighed, "We're all a little crazy...but I can promise I won't go testing on you or anything...and we won't coupe you up. Unless we ground you. Because if you start trying to take over the world without us, we're going to be upset."
Loki nodded, then he froze, "I think we should all stop talking for a bit now. We're becoming uncharacteristically emotional."
Everyone nodded vehemently, mumbling their agreements to this statement. After a couple seconds Clint sighed, "Sorry for interrupting your make out session."
"It's alright." Victor shrugged, pulling Loki close, "We need to get sleep anyway."
Winter sighed, "Agreed. Goodnight."
They all said goodnight, and it was silent for a while before Silver asked, "Is it just me or is it sweltering out here?"
"Well, it's mid summer, and uh...yeah." Clint nodded, "It's humid as fuck out here. I bet mosquitoes have taken at least a pint of my blood by now… Oh god!" He shot up, "Winter, what if they take your blood and become super mosquitoes?!"
Loki snorted, "Highly unlikely, Barton. Though you have a point about the heat…"
Winter took off his outer combat coat, "Loki, can't you do that cold thing again?"
"I'm without my magic, Winter."
"But isn't that what you're naturally like? Can't you just...press a default setting or something?"
There was silence, then "I would wish not to show my true form…"
"Why?" Victor turned to look at his partner.
"I...I cannot stand it. It's horrific."
"Oh," Clint rolled his eyes dramatically, "This is the whole 'I'm a monster' thing Thor was talking about. You think you're a monster."
"I would assume the title 'I'm a monster thing' would explain that." Silver lay back down, "Though, please mom, I don't care what you look like. If you can cool down the air, then I'll love you forever."
Victor tightened his grip on Loki, "Kiki… No one here minds." He took Loki's hand and touched it to his scar, "You know this... We love you."
Loki stiffened. Silence. Then, "I love you too… Just…" His voice choked up, "I don't really want to lose you."
Scarlet huffed, "You're only going to lose us if you let us suffocate here. We really don't care what you look like. I don't even care if you turn into a giant blue icicle!"
This actually caused Loki to laugh. A genuine, down to earth, loving laugh. "And what if that's exactly what I turn into?"
There was a pause while Scarlet pondered this, "Well, do you need a tree to hang from?"
Loki growled, "No, not like that… But I do turn into a blue frost giant, a species of monster called a Jotun."
"Oh, are you going to grow taller?" She asked.
Victor leaned back to look at him, pouting, "Please don't… I don't want to be shorter than my girlfriend." He got a punch in the stomach for that and Loki pouted, crossing his arms.
"F-fine…" As his pale skin changed, the moonlight reflected the new color of his skin.
Victor sighed, "That's much better. Come over here guys, Loki's really cold."
Loki tried to protest as the four others came over and snuggled up to him, paying no mind to the way he looked other than to comment on his strange markings and ask him what they meant, speculating on their own when he couldn't tell them.
Soon, everyone felt comfortable enough to sleep. Victor lay propped on the tree, with Loki resting on his chest, purring. Winter sat on the other side of Loki, with Clint lying across both of their laps. The twins lay over all their legs like contented kittens.
They didn't move for the rest of the night except to shift in sleep.
Intermission 3
Nat paused the tape and sniffled, "Okay…" She breathed in, "Thor, Steve?"
They nodded, leaving Tony to awkwardly pretend he hadn't been tearing up and Bruce to clean up dinner. There had just been something about seeing these people that they thought of as inhuman monsters showing love to one another that shook them all a bit… Knowing that their broken friends had finally found some sort of solace that they had been unable to provide was a bittersweet reminder of the darker part of their pasts that they couldn't possibly begin to understand as these criminals had.
When they descended Steve tried to get Natasha and Thor to stop crying, while he struggled to keep from doing so himself. They managed to finally stop and clean themselves up before going to see their friends. They decided to see Loki first.
They walked in to see him sitting against a wall, looking mopey.
"Brother?" Thor asked.
"Ye- By Odin's beard, have you all been crying?" He paled, "Why, what's happened? Victor, the children? Winter? Barton?" He leapt to his feet, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing," Natasha waved for him to sit down and then she smiled, "We just wanted to come say thank you for saving us earlier today."
"Oh…" He sat down, breathing in deeply, "Okay...Yes, well… You're welcome."
He sat awkwardly fidgeting, confused by their obviously having cried before arriving there. Steve and Nat thanked him once more and left to see their respective partners.
When Steve entered Bucky's room, he opened the door to the cell, ignoring protocol. He shocked Bucky by dragging him into a bear hug, holding him close. "Steve? Steve what's wrong?" He patted his back.
"Nothing, Buck… I just missed you…"
"...It was only a couple days, Stevie…"
"No, it was much much longer than that." He tightened his grip on his friend. "It feels like it's been forever."
"O-Okay…" Bucky frowned, concerned for his friend.
Tony's unwelcome voice called him back upstairs a couple minutes later, making him disentangle himself from their embrace.
Steve, Nat, and Thor walked into the elevator and Nat drew in a deep breath, hitting the button. "Alright guys, let's wrap this thing up."
