Wondering at Loki's intentions? Me too . . .

I didn't start this story with romance in mind, but I'm toying with the idea of a little IronFrost. We'll see how it goes, but any requests?


Eighth Installment: The Power of Fear

"Jarvis?" Tony said, voice sounding as rattled as Steve felt.

"The radiation has decreased to safe levels," Jarvis' voice replied at once, "and both Dr. Banner and Loki are unconscious." Tony slapped the elevator button. "Sir, I recommend extreme caution."

"Screw caution," Tony growled. "Are they still alive?"

"Yes, sir—"

"Then they need us," Tony said.

Steve agreed. He didn't speak as he followed his friend to the top floor. The sight waiting for them when the doors parted made Steve feel like he'd been sucker punched. It looked like someone had set the entire room on fire. Every surface was black and burned, and in some places green flame still idly lapped at whatever object to which it yet clung. The air smelt acrid and hot, and Tony recoiled, face pale.

Steve did not. Not concerned about being burned himself, he ran across the floor. Banner and Loki were where they'd been ten minutes ago. The physicist was naked, his skin smoking and covered in soot marks but appearing unharmed. His body was sprawled overtop Loki. The Asgardian didn't appear injured either. He looked dead. His skin was gray and sallow, body curled in the fetal position. His clothing, too, had been burnt off.

Dropping to his knees, Steve felt for pulses and found two. Bruce's was stronger than Loki's, though. "C'mon, Tony," he said, hearing the other come up behind him. "We need to get them into a bed."

"And who's gonna carry Loki?" Stark said, sounding only half joking.

Steve looked around. "Two floors down. In that medical center you put in, is there a stretcher?"

"We could make one," Tony replied. "Damn it, where's Thor when you need him?" He was grumbling under his breath as he bolted for the elevator again.

Remaining where he was, Steve once more looked around the room. It looked like a war zone. Aside from the two men lying prone at his feet, the green flames slowly dying was the most disturbing part. He knew it was pure magic, not fire. Magic, which was not even supposed to exist. Steve half wished for a time when he believed that. He liked certainties. Magic was the furthest from.

Tony came back in short order with two blankets. "Didn't want to waste time looking for poles or making them," he explained.

Steve just grabbed one. "It'll work."

"Which one first?" Tony asked, helping Steve ease Bruce off Loki.

"Dr. Banner," Steve decided. "Even with the Hulk, I'm still more concerned about his fragility than Loki's."

Tony snorted. "You can say that again. How many times did we thrash Loki, and he still walked away with just some bumps and bruises?"

Steve smiled. "He's pretty tough for someone who doesn't look as impressive as Thor."

"Or you," Tony added, nudging Steve's arm.

The captain just grinned again. "Let's at least get Loki up on the couch."

The other man looked up with a raised eyebrow. "There ain't much left of it."

"Oh . . . right," Steve said, looking at the smoking ruin. The cushions were charred mostly to ash. He could see naked springs. "Well, scratch that. Help me get the blanket around him, at least."

After a little maneuvering, they got Loki wrapped up in the blanket and Bruce settled on the second. Steve took one end and Tony took the other, making a makeshift hammock between them. It worked just fine. They gingerly carried him to the elevator.

They made the ride in silence, but as the doors open Tony finally spoke. "What do you think happened up there? Loki said the toxin was ingested. But when? None of us would poison him."

Troubled, Steve led the way to the medical ward. "I don't know. I don't think any of his enemies could have gotten close to the Tower without alerting Loki. It doesn't really make sense."

They lifted Bruce onto a bed. "Think the Avengers should recruit a nurse or three," Tony said with a rueful chuckle.

Steve ran his eyes over Bruce's frame. "I don't think he's hurt too badly. Hopefully he can confirm that when he wakes up. Don't know how well the Hulk can withstand magic, but he's still in one piece and that's hopeful."

Tony shook his head. "Wish I could say the same for the foyer."

Reaching over, Steve lightly slugged his shoulder. "Priorities, right?"

Tony gave him an unrepentant smile. "We all deal in different ways, Cap."

Shaking his head and chuckling, Steve headed to the door. "C'mon, let's go get Loki down here."

They'd only taken a few steps when Jarvis sounded an alarm. "Sir, there are three helicopters landing on the pad upstairs. Armed SHIELD agents are already exiting."

"What?" Tony exclaimed, breaking into a run. "What the hell are they doing here? Jarvis, do not let them into the Tower!"

"Sir, my security protocols are being overridden. Agent Coulson seems to be leading them."

"God-damned SHIELD," Tony growled as he and Steve ran into the elevator and started up. "This is the last time I create firewalls weaker than I could out of respect for them!"

For once, Steve agreed. SHIELD had no reason to be here except one. Somehow, they'd learned Loki was here. At the worst possible time. Loki couldn't protect himself right now. And Steve didn't want to think about Thor's fury if he returned and found Loki taken from the Avengers, whom he'd trusted to look after his brother.

"We can't let them take Loki," he said quietly.

"You think?" Tony grunted. "Jarvis, stall those bastards with everything you've got, and get the Mark VIII ready!"

"Yes, sir," Jarvis replied. "Your suit is ready for deployment, the wrist markers are on the counter where you left them. They appear undamaged."

"Thank god," Tony muttered.

After what felt like the second longest eternity of Steve's life, the elevator doors opened. The bay windows had all been smashed in, and at least a dozen armed SHIELD agents had swarmed around the foyer. Agent Coulson was on his phone, and three men were manhandling the unconscious Loki.

Steve ignored the rest, heading for Coulson. "What's going on?" he demanded, holding himself straight and rigid.

"Yeah, I thought I made it real clear I don't like strangers barging into my Tower and touching my stuff," Tony added. "Especially armed ones. Especially SHIELD ones."

"I'll call you back in a minute," Coulson said into his phone before pocketing it. "Captain. Mr. Stark. I should be asking you that question. We detected a surge of energy strong enough to destroy several city blocks, energy of a sort we've come to associate with Asgard. I get here and find Loki, and this entire room looks like a temper-tantrum gone cataclysmically wrong. Care to explain?"

"We don't owe you any explanations," Tony snapped before Steve could speak, heading toward the bar.

Three men immediately blocked him. Their guns weren't quite pointed at him, which was something. But the warning was clear.

Steve moved forward in protest when the men around Loki locked heavy manacles around his wrists. "Stop this, Agent Coulson," he said. "Tell your men to leave and give us a chance to explain."

Coulson shook his head. "Sorry, Captain. This comes from Director Fury. We're taking the war criminal Loki into custody. Out of respect, we're not arresting all of you for harboring him. Director Fury expects you to come of your own will and explain the situation to him."

"We aren't—" Tony began.

Steve held up a hand. "I'll come." He strode to the three men now lifting Loki without regard to either his comfort or modest. "Move," he commanded. "I'll take him."

They looked to Coulson for confirmation, and the man nodded. Steve made sure the blanket was wrapped securely around Loki before sliding his hands under Loki's arms. He nodded to one of the men. "You grab his legs."

As he walked with them to the helicopters, he felt the most disturbing part of this ordeal so far was this moment. Loki hanging limp and silent between two humans, eyes closed and voicing not a single protest. It just felt wrong.

o0o

SHIELD headquarters was a building not unlike the FBI Hoover building. It had three fewer floors, but it had two basement levels devoted to studies the FBI could only dream about. Steve had been there a handful of times after the incident in New York, but this was far and away the worst.

When the helicopters landed, there was a team of people waiting with various medical equipment. In twenty seconds they had Loki strapped to a gurney, an IV attached to both arms, an oxygen mask secured over his nose and mouth, and wheeled him somewhere out of sight. Steve tried to follow, but Coulson took his arm and led him another direction. Steve saw they took Loki down, but Coulson took the captain up.

A few minutes later, he was sitting with a pissed-off Director Nick Fury.

"I want to know what the hell you were thinking, soldier," the director snapped. "Harboring a war criminal? The worst enemy Earth has ever known? Please tell me he's brainwashed you like last time."

Leaning back, Steve closed his eyes a moment and tried to gather his fraying thoughts.

Don't think about Thor. Don't think about how furious he's going to be. "He's been with us about a week now," he said. "Thor asked us to help, and he asked us not to tell SHIELD."

"And you thought that was an option," Fury said.

"He's our friend and our strongest ally," Steve replied, voice tart. "It was our only option. You're the one who said we couldn't afford to alienate Asgard—"

"When they took Loki from here," Fury cut him off. "This is completely different. The circumstances aren't remotely the same."

Steve shook his head. "We made the right call, Director."

"Not your decision, Rogers," Fury said. "The Council is howling for blood. What am I supposed to tell them? That we can't trust the Avengers to act in the best interests of humanity?"

Anger flashed through Steve. "I resent that, Sir. Loki is not the threat you—"

"Not a threat?" Fury interrupted again. "That's not what Coulson tells me. I saw the images of that room. Is that Loki not being a threat?"

"That was an accident—"

"An accident that could have destroyed a chunk of the city—?"

"But it didn't!" Steve spat, finally reaching the end of his patience. "I came here to explain, so stop interrupting me and listen!"

Fury raised an eyebrow, and Steve flushed a little but refused to back down. The one-eyed man sighed. "Fair enough. All right, Captain. You now have my undivided attention."

Taking a few calming breaths, Steve began the story.

o0o 0o0 o0o

It was nice to be back in Midgard where Thor could watch over his brother, but as the Bifrost deposited him on the roof of Stark Tower Thor couldn't help feel a bit of dread. Too strong a word, but Loki wouldn't be happy at all when he heard what Thor had to say. Not that it could be helped. He walked toward the door and stopped.

The huge windows were all shattered, broken glass lying everywhere. Eyes widening, Thor rushed inside to find every surface black and burned. The smell of it tainted the air acrid, though he could tell it wasn't as strong as it could be. There was also little heat in the room, which meant whatever had happened hadn't done so recently.

The elevator dinged and Tony ran out. "Shit am I glad you're back, buddy," the human panted, looking like he'd run a mile. "I'm really sorry. We tried to stop it."

Thor frowned, looking around. "Tried to stop what? What happened?"

Tony shook his head. "Doesn't matter. SHIELD found out Loki was here, Thor. They took him. The captain went with them, but as—"

"What?" Thor said. Calm. Low. Quiet.

Tony stopped approaching him, suddenly looking very cautious.

"I asked you to look after him," Thor said. Still calm. "You knew he was vulnerable while he recovered his magic."

"Thor . . ."

"You let SHIELD take him."

"Not exactly—"

Thor turned from him. "Your suit, Stark. You will be needing it."

The human didn't waste precious time asking questions or protesting or arguing. He simply ran. Thor stepped back out onto the space Tony called a landing pad. The sky overhead began to darken. Breathing in, he expelled it in a slow sigh. He could not afford to lose his head and rush off in a fit of pique. His own feelings aside, he couldn't blame the humans for being alarmed at Loki's presence. Perhaps concealing it wasn't the wisest thing he could have done.

As Loki would say, hindsight was ever clearer. He clenched his fists and resolved to calm down.

Tony didn't keep him waiting long. "Here, buddy, take this," he said, handing Thor a small ear bud.

Recognizing it and its function, Thor secured it in his ear. "Thank you," he said, beginning to spin Mjölnir.

Tony led the way. He didn't speak, possibly sensing Thor's mood. But when they reached the headquarters, Thor exercised restraint and didn't knock the door out of his way. He waited until they were admitted, then followed an armed escort inside. Thor actually smiled. Loki was right about one thing.

Humans were a bit foolish.

Director Nick Fury met them in a sort of sitting room with Steve Rogers. The captain looked harried, but no worse for wear. Thor felt a spike of relief. He wouldn't have wished his friends to suffer for his own selfishness. He nodded to Steve and faced the other man.

"Director," he said, "Stark tells me you have my brother here."

"This is the second time we've imprisoned him," Fury said, adopting an expression of surprise. "You didn't have a problem with it then."

"Loki was a war criminal then," Thor said, avoiding resting his hand on Mjölnir's handle. Its weight was tempting on his belt.

"And he's not anymore?" Fury said.

"He's an injured man who asked for my help," Thor replied—which was only sort of not true. "I brought him to the one place I knew he could recover in safety . . . and privacy." A harder emphasis on the last word.

"His crimes against Earth and humanity still stand—"

"They were not yours to punish then," Thor cut in, "and they're not now. You will release him into my custody, Director. I am asking out of respect, but I will not ask again."

Fury frowned. "Are you threatening us?"

Thor gave him a tight smile. "No. I am warning you. When I brought Loki here, my father didn't even know he was still alive. Now he does know, and he has altered Loki's punishment accordingly. If you interfere with the Allfather's justice, Loki will not be the only one punished."

"You would turn against us?" Fury demanded.

"No," Thor said, "but neither can I disobey my king."

"It's going to take a lot of convincing to people other than me," Fury said. "What's this punishment?"

Thor smirked faintly, already thinking of Loki's reaction. "Loki will be taken back to Asgard and imprisoned," he said, "or he will join the Avengers."