A/N: Hello, all! I have news. I wrote the last chapter of this story today, so all that is left is editing. That means I can now promise scheduled updates. From next chapter onwards, I will post an update on Tuesday & Friday evenings, US Central time. There are 16 chapters total, which means the last post will be March 1.
Thank you again for reading and for your follows & favorites & reviews.
Warnings: A teeny tiny bit of sexiness but all very vague with much left unsaid.
Tony Stark's words are slow and overly enunciated as though speaking to a particularly dense child. "I want to see the Tesseract," he insists. He's dressed in his best Armani suit with a maroon shirt and black tie. Sunglasses hide his eyes even though he is inside the Asgardian Throne Room. There's a briefcase on either side of him. One holds the Iron Man suit. The other holds some testing equipment and a few other things.
Odin speaks with a tense tone. "And I have told you that is not possible."
"Of course it's possible," the billionaire replies snidely. "Anything's possible. You just don't want anyone else getting their grubby little paws on your power source." He shrugs. "I get it. I do. And if I were you, I'd probably tell me the exact same thing. But there's this little matter of my planet being in danger, so I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." Tony flashes his best smile. "Now, who's going to have the great pleasure of leading me to it?" He looks over the top of his sunglasses to Sif and wiggles his eyebrows.
Sif looks away in disgust. She's beginning to understand Loki's views of Midgardians.
"No one will be leading you to it," Odin insists.
Tony takes his sunglasses off and hangs them on his breast pocket. He smiles pleasantly. "Tell you what. Why don't you have someone escort me to Loki first. I've got a friend who wants to be sure he's being treated well. Then we can return to the business of the Tesseract."
"Of course," Frigga says quickly before Odin can answer. "I'll be happy to escort you to my son." She rises regally from her seat and walks past the billionaire.
"Your Worshipfulness," he bows his head as she walks by. Then he picks up his suitcases and falls into step behind her.
"And how is the Captain?" she asks once they are in the hall.
"Good. He's keeping himself busy."
"I am grateful to him, for what he's done for Loki."
"Yeah, well, that's what he does…fights for the friendless and all that."
They exchange general pleasantries as they walk to the prisoner's room.
Frigga knocks on Loki's door before opening it a crack. She and Tony enter the room and see the prisoner at his desk.
The Trickster rises. "Mr. Stark," he greets the Midgardian apprehensively.
"Loki," Tony returns with his usual cockiness. "You look…awful. I like the beard. Not as stylish as mine, but nice."
"Will you sit? I'd offer you a drink, but I as you can see I have nothing to give."
"That's all right. And I'm okay standing. I don't plan on being here long. Just promised Cap I'd check up on you." Tony notices a slight change in the eyes, a purse of the lips.
"I trust he is well?" Loki asks.
"Yep." He sets down one of the suitcases on the bed and opens it up. "He wanted me to give you something." Tony pulls out a paperback book and tosses it to the prisoner. Then he closes the suitcase and picks it back up.
Loki reads the cover. "Pride and Prejudice."
"He said you remind him of Mr. Darcy. I honestly don't see it. You look nothing like Colin Firth. Personally, I would have pegged you more as a Mr. Wickham."
Loki remembers a snippet of conversation in which Captain Rogers expressed how difficult it was to understand Mr. Stark. The god agrees completely and suddenly feels the Captain's absence most acutely. "Please thank him for me."
"I will." Tony takes a moment to examine the man in front of him. "Tasha noted that you had an 'emotional connection' to the fair Captain. Now I normally trust her judgment about people, but I wasn't sure about that one."
"You were right to doubt her."
"Was I?" Tony watches as Loki places the book carefully on the desk. "Any other messages you'd like me to relay to him?"
"No." Then the god adds, "Thank you."
"Okay then." Tony hesitates some more. "Your father doesn't want me to look at the Tesseract. Any pointers?"
"Thor's father, not mine," Loki corrects to Frigga's dismay. "Ask for access to the library instead. You'll learn more."
"I won't be able to experiment on it."
"No, but sometimes it is best to understand the theory before attempting any practical applications. Besides, your science will barely scratch the surface of what it can do." Loki furrows his brow. "In fact, hadn't your scientists studied it for…50 years? And they still didn't understand it…well, except Dr. Selvig once I opened his eyes."
"Dr. Selvig. Right. Almost forgot about him." Tony nods and thanks the god. He and Frigga leave. Less than 30 minutes later, the scientist is in Asgard's library looking through old scrolls and books that may have information on the Tesseract. Once he gets his translation program to work, he learns some very interesting things. And once he gets back to Earth, he plans on having a long talk with Dr. Selvig.
xxx
Loki has been dreaming of Captain Rogers.
Sometimes they are fighting just as they did when they first met, though this dream does not happen often. Sometimes the Captain is inserted into some strange amalgamation of whatever has been on his mind that day. For a while they were often set in the world of Pride and Prejudice. The Captain is always kind and thoughtful in those dreams. Sometimes they are back in the dungeon, and the Captain is feeding him while Sif looks on in disgust. But sometimes the dreams are erotic, filled with lips and hands and bare skin, and Loki wakes from those feeling sweaty and sticky and angry and alone.
It is after waking from one of those dreams that he hears a soft female voice. "Loki?"
"Mother?!" He pulls the covers up to his neck. He sees her silhouette sitting in the darkness. "What are you doing here?"
Frigga smiles at Loki's use of 'mother'. Perhaps he is returning to her after all. "I like to watch you sleep. It is the only time you appear peaceful anymore." The Queen pauses before noting, "You were dreaming of Captain Rogers."
"How do you know that?" His voice is tinged with panic.
"You spoke his name." She rises from her chair and then sits on the edge of the bed. Gently moving the hair from his forehead, she asks, "Shall I ask him to come visit you?"
"No," he answers quickly.
"But you like him."
"I do not," he lies emphatically.
Frigga sighs. "It has been a long time since you were a boy, but I do remember when you used to have these types of dreams very often…though never as often as Thor," she recalls. She watches Loki look away. "It is nothing to be ashamed of, Kiki. The Captain is handsome and good and exactly the type of person I would pick for you."
"First, I wish you would not call me Kiki. I despise that name. I am Loki, God of Mischief, Trickster, Lie-"
"Yes, yes, yes," she cuts him off. "You are all of those things and more. But you will always be my Kiki." She pats his chest.
"Second," he plows on, "I do not like the Captain." Her eyes tell him she does not believe it. He corrects his lie, "I desire him is all. But he would never agree to such a thing, so it doesn't matter. So if you would please leave, I'd like to clean up."
Frigga scowls lovingly, gets up, and pulls away the bed covers. "I have seen it all before, Kiki." She smiles at his reddening face as she helps him up and into the bathroom despite his protests. She leaves for a moment to get him fresh pants, silky purple ones that will feel good against his skin.
"I can do the rest myself," Loki tells her as he takes the pants from her hands.
"Of course," she says and returns to the bedroom, closing the bathroom door behind her. "Shall I bring you Captain Rogers?" she asks again, hoping his answer will change.
"No."
"A girl then? Or a young man? Someone who can satisfy you?"
"No." That's followed up with a quiet, "Maybe." But, "No," comes again more firmly. "It's not necessary." Once he's cleaned and changed, Loki looks into the mirror. He has regained some of his weight in the weeks he has been out of the dungeon, and it certainly makes him look healthier.
He sees the sadness in his own eyes. He notes their green hue, something he would not have done before his talks with the Midgardian. It is true he misses the Captain, but it is better this way. Slim fingers run over his beard then move along the metal around his neck. He wonders how much longer it will remain there and who will be the one to finally take it off. He's been studying it for a while but has yet to determine how to remove it himself.
Loki takes a breath and masters his features once again before opening the door. His mother smiles at him and strokes his cheek.
"My handsome Kiki. Captain Rogers would be a fool not to like you."
"I did try to destroy his home, Mother."
"And in return, he convinced your father," she notes the eye roll, "to let you out of the dungeon. And he is your father. He raised you and cared for you as if you were his own."
Loki moves away and goes back to bed. "I am tired, Mother. I wish to sleep some more, and I'd prefer it if you weren't here while I did."
Frigga nods once. "Well, if you will not allow me to fetch Captain Rogers, at least he can be there for you in your dreams."
Loki turns away from his mother as the images from his dream come unbidden. He feels the heat rising into his cheeks as he remembers what they were doing. "Please go."
As she leaves the room, Frigga is determined to ask Captain Rogers to visit. If Loki doesn't begin forming relationships with anyone apart from Thor and herself, she knows she will never truly get him back.
xxx
In the morning the Queen asks for Thor's help in using the device to call Midgard. She explains to her son how she wishes to invite the Captain back to visit Loki. Thor approves completely, and they walk up to the room where the communication device is kept.
After a few moments, a woman appears on their screen and asks how she can help them. After being interrupted by static, Frigga tells the woman she would like to converse with Captain Steve Rogers.
"I'm afraid Captain Rogers is out on assignment and cannot be reached."
Frigga's face shows her disappointment. "Oh, I see."
Thor takes up the conversation. "Do you know when the good Captain will return?"
"Negatory, Sir."
"May we speak with the Son of Coul or Director Fury?"
"One moment, Sir. Let me see if I can reach them."
After a few moments, Agent Phil Coulson appears on their screen.
"Thor! Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine, my friend. We were hoping to speak with Steve."
"Oh, I'm afraid Captain Rogers is out of pocket right now."
"Do you know when he will return? We would very much like him to visit my brother."
Coulson admits that he does not. Captain Rogers has been on a quest to find and destroy every Hydra base he can. So far, no one in Hydra has heard from Red Skull since he disappeared back in the '40s. But Captain Rogers is still looking. "I don't think he'll be available anytime soon to visit Asgard."
Frigga will not be so easily deterred. "Will you at least tell him that Loki has requested a visit? And I would consider it a special favor if he came."
"I'll be sure to pass along the message, Ma'am."
Thor smiles at the screen. "Thank you, my friend. It is much appreciated."
The screen goes blank.
The God of Thunder turns to his mother. "Did Loki truly ask to see the Captain?"
"Not in so many words, but a mother can tell."
"Be careful, Mother. Loki does not forgive easily."
She touches his arm and smiles softly. "Once he sees the Captain, he will forgive. Love will win out, Thor. You will see."
Thor kisses her forehead. "I pray that is so…for all our sakes."