Recall Chapter 10: Accusations And Apologies, an avengers fanfic

Chapter 10: Accusations and Apologies.

"You're sure it works?" Loki asked again to verify.

"I am ninety nine point nine recurring per cent sure it works." Tony assured.

It didn't work.

"So much for that." Tony huffed. "Maybe I am losing it."

"Like you'd let yourself." Loki laughed. Over the past few days, the general atmosphere of the whole tower had improved greatly. Tony had been doing a lot better. He's… happier. Taking things in willingly rather than feeling forced to. He was getting used to his new suit, the feel of it and all of its new features. He even took it for a flight test, and the public were relieved to see it in the newspapers. They were starting to worry that their local metal man was never going to show up. Tony also used it in the gym with Steve to practice more fighting, not up to the standard of where he used to be, but still up there and getting used to his new techniques that he had learned and lost. "It is still progress, I suppose. We'll get there." Loki assured.

"Hey, why don't we go out tonight? For a second first date?"

"You're okay with that?"

"Loki, stop worrying." Tony moaned. "I'm not doing anything I don't want to."

"Okay, okay." Loki huffed. "I just… think we should be slow with this."

"I've slept with people without even knowing their names, I think going on a date you after how long I've known you is being slow enough." Tony laughed. He could joke all he wanted, but Loki did worry about him a lot still, even though he was a lot better than he was. Tony only saw one flash, what if he found that he was being a bit drastic by asking Loki out the very next day, and wanted to take it back? He knew that Tony was trying to be less 'selfish' about his injury, wanting to give Loki some upper hand in this too, but Loki knew that the memory of the Chitauri was still fresh in Tony's mind, and he worried about how that conflicted with this. Did Tony really want to be his boyfriend right now, or was he just trying to speed this whole healing thing along quicker? He tried not to overthink, and just take each day as it came, like Tony was doing.

"How about this, you can only take me out once you have finished this." Loki held up the device with a devious smile. Tony liked having the cards on the table, and Loki played his hand with charm. Tony agreed to the guidelines, and set to work, but not before pecking Loki on the cheek, 'cause Loki always lit up when he did that.

"You know I know, right brother?" Thor said with humour in his voice. Loki looked over at him with a look of confusion. "About Stark."

"What about Stark?" Loki asked, almost accusingly.

"You two are fast friends. Almost too fast to be just friends." Loki scoffed at this, turning away.

"What are you insinuating? Stark and I are acquaintances at most. We have nothing in common." Thor was not always an observant kind of person, but he could see when his brother was lost in his own mind.

"You know that science and magic are one and the same thing." Thor reminded him. "And do not act so defensive, Loki. Do I not share everything between Jane and I with you?"

"Yes, you told me every detail about how she broke your heart. A sob story at most, you should write a book."

"So you must feel safe enough to talk with me about your partners or partners-to-be, can you not?"

"And what makes you think it would be Stark?" Loki was curious as to how obvious he is making his interest. If Thor knew, did the other Avengers know? Did Stark? It's nothing big, he just found the man… interesting. In a world that Loki found behind in its own technologies, Stark was able to stimulate Loki's mind like a God would. He knew to appreciate things like that when they came his way. He had not been in the tower for too long, but the others had become reasonably comfortable having him around, and Loki didn't feel the need to sleep with one eye open. Stark was one of the first, after Thor, to take to Loki and hold a conversation without anger in his eyes. Bruce was also one of the first, but Loki felt that mainly that he kind of had to be okay with it, and wanted to get on a level with Loki to avoid turning green whenever he saw him.

"If you allowed yourself to, you would follow him around like a puppy." Thor laughed. Sometimes Loki thought that he was just born to be a big brother with the way he behaved.

"He is… intriguing with his science. And he has a sense of humour, not something a tower full of 'super heroes' living with their enemy is sure to have."

"You think I have not seen the way you look at him, brother?" Thor said lowly, and the hint of seriousness in his voice was a little starling to Loki at first because the blond was not often a serious man. Loki gave him his attention, because he had to admit that he did feel safe to talk when Thor was not talking with a mouthful of food or a booming laugh. "Like he is the friend you wished you had as a child? Like the way I looked at Jane? Like the way mother and father looked at each other?" Thor knew that Frigga was a touchy subject with Loki, especially after her passing, and he brought it up only when he needed to. When he was really trying to get his point across. It made Loki take his words in with more consideration. He looked down at the desk, head still up, as though he was thinking, and gave a slow nod.

"I suppose there is something there for the man." He said, not familiar with being open with Thor, especially as of late. But he was sent to Midgard to recover from that seclusion, and he wanted to do so.

"You do not know how much time Odin has left you with on Midgard, may it be a year, or ten, or eternity, do not wait. There are many men and women of wisdom who will tell you the exact same thing."

"Are you trying to convince me, or flatter yourself by pretending to be smart?" Loki quipped.

"Wisdom always has more than one meaning." The blond joked.

"Well either way… I suppose you're right." Loki agreed.

"When am I not?"

"Don't get me started." They both laughed, and it felt nice to laugh. It had been a while.

Loki was walking through one of the hallways when Bruce walked past him. He stopped Loki with a light hand on his arm. "Mind if we talk for a moment, Loki?" He asked.

"Of course." Loki agreed. The scientist didn't look too chipper, and Loki was worried that maybe he found something in one of Tony's daily scans that was a cause for concern. He was showing positive signs since the first one, but Loki always dreaded it taking a sudden turn for the worst.

"I… wanted to talk about Tony." Bruce said, not sure how to bring it up. Loki tensed a little, and Bruce reassured him. "He's fine, don't worry." Loki let the worry disappear, though not entirely. "I just wanted to talk about you two together."

"What about us?" Loki asked.

"I just want to ask if you think that… getting back together so soon is the right idea. You know I love you both together, I just… as Tony's doctor, I think that any kind of pressure might not really help the healing process."

"I am not pressuring Tony into anything, Banner." Bruce sighed at this, because Loki always turned to surnames when he was angry or displeased. Loki was worried enough about Tony moving forward with him, the last thing he wanted or needed was the others suspecting him of using Tony for his own pleasure, rather than to help him. "And for the record, it was him who came to me with the idea. He felt like it was the right time, and I agreed with him."

"Yes, but from what I know, you two had a fight the night before. How did you go from that to this in a day?"

"Banner, if you want to have this talk, I suggest you have it with Tony. I am not able to change what Tony decides to do with himself."

"And I will, I just wanted to give you a heads up, before you think I'm accusing you of anything." Bruce did not like asking this of Loki, but when it came to the health of his patients, he had to put those feelings aside and be honest with what he thought.

"The feeling is already present, doctor. Now if you don't mind." Loki brushed past the shorter man. Was Bruce the only one who felt like this, or was it the other Avengers too? Hell, Loki felt it, but he was at least letting Tony make his own decisions. If at any point that Tony changed his mind and wanted to break up, Loki would do so. He was not forcing Tony to do anything he did not want to. Loki took a lot of blame for the things that happen around him. His mother's death. Tony's accident. He also learned to know that those things were not his fault, so when someone came in to tell him that he was doing something wrong, he was going to take it to heart, but not to mind.

He knew that he was good for Tony, whether it be as a friend or a partner. Either way, his husband would be back to how he was soon enough, and Loki knew that the only way he had a hand in this, was to help, not to make anything worse. He simply wished that he wasn't the only one who believed that.

Over in Sokovia, the warehouse was alive with spark. Ultron felt alive with each one of his men who stood on their feet. He was lagging in respect of numbers compared to the first battle which he managed to walk (hide) away from. But being a robotic AI, he was able to rebuild himself, which he had, and take down the Avengers one by one over time if he had to, which he sort of almost did. He bought himself time with Tony Stark's injury. That would keep the other Avengers busy while he got himself to a fighting standard. He really wanted to give himself an edge this time. He considered using their down time as a way to send in a dozen or so of his men, and take them out while they're sleeping, but the chances of him succeeding first time around were slim. By the first time, they would improve on their security protocols, and stop him from doing so a second time. He didn't want to waste his valuable men. They were not made to assassinate, they were made for war.

"That could have gone better." Natasha stated. The rest of the group were in the main living room, watching the live video feed of Bruce's talk with Loki. In a word, they were being nosey, but they called it precautionary research.

"Five dollars, pay up Nat. Loki went for the last name." The red head huffed and slapped Clint the bill. Thor shook his head, not too chuffed with the idea that they were betting on Loki's unhappiness. He leaned from one foot to the other, arms crossed.

"Not to just side with my brother, but I do think that he is right. What harm could his presence possibly be doing to Stark?"

"It's not like that, Thor." Steve reassured. "Bruce is trying to tap into Tony's mind. He wants to understand his thoughts and feelings, and how they drive his choices. Put yourself in Tony's shoes. You're in a battle with an enemy, you wake up, and they tell you that that very enemy is now your husband. You think Tony just 'asking him out' was something he would just do for the sake that it was what his past self did at the time?"

"Tony is a smart man. He wouldn't do something because of peer pressure." Natasha said, then reconsidered. "Or his own pressure, for that fact."

"This was not an issue when Stark was spending days with Loki in the lab working on projects. Why does it make a difference now?" Thor asked. He hated seeing his brother alone without Tony, and Tony was always happier after he and Loki got together the first time around, and even happier once they got married.

"Thor has a point." Natasha agreed. "If Loki was affecting Tony in any way, it would happen even if they were just friends, let alone partners."

The back and forth points and opinions on the topic were thrown around the room. Loki eventually joined them in the room and the argument was dropped immediately, changing it for something more upbeat. Loki did not deserve to be treated like he was a bad influence on Tony, and that was a fact that they all agreed on.

Loki was a lot quieter since yesterday, and Tony thought it must have something to do with the talk that Bruce had with them both separately. Loki had admitted to him on a few occasions since they announced their relationship that he was tense about the whole thing, always worrying over Tony far too much. He supposed that having your own thoughts amplified by a kind of blame by others can make the situation worse for one's self. He'd feel bad for the guy, if he didn't find it kind of cute.

"I know what you're trying to do, you know." Tony said with a sympathetic smile. Loki looked up and saw him loitering on the door frame.

"What am I trying to do?" He asked, pretending to be innocent.

"Bruce talked to me." 'Great.' Loki thought. He didn't understand why the doctor had to meddle with affairs that did not concern him. What happened between him and Stark stayed between him and Stark. "He said he had the same talk with you. And I think that is why you're trying to keep away from me." Tony had been walking into the room slowly, and was now standing over Loki's desk. "Isn't it?" Loki sighed, not wanting the thoughts in his head to be spoken out loud to Tony, but he knew he needed it. They both need it.

"Do you agree with him?" He asked, getting the question out there in the open. He had been trying to battle the problem alone, and didn't stop to think that this was a question they both need to answer together, not alone, and not separately.

"Of course not." Loki had to admit that he was a little surprised by this. Tony answered the question quickly and with no hesitation or need to think.

"Tony." Loki said. And his voice was a lot more serious than Stark's was, so it catched his attention. "As much as I don't want to believe it, Bruce may have a point. Do you not think it may be even in the slightest way possible that we are… taking this a tad too fast?"

"Not at all."

"And why do you disagree?" Tony sighed, knowing that Loki needed to hear what he had to say.

"I knew right away that I wanted to be with you. Because I found a way to keep myself moving forward. By pushing myself. Because that is how I get things done. I didn't think I was comfortable enough to be able to talk to you when I first woke up. I ignored you, I pretended like you weren't even on Earth. But I pushed myself to talk to you because I was sick of feeling mad all the time. I wanted to move forward. So I did. I talked to you. It was a small move, but it was also a big step. And do you know what? I was okay with it. I didn't feel like I was going to throw up, or kill you, or throw you out of the window instead." Loki huffed a laugh at this, and it made Tony smile. "It made me realise that waiting for the good stuff was either going to take a really unnecessarily long time to happen, or not happen at all. It wasn't up to you, or the Avengers, or some kind of divine intervention, it was up to me.

"So I also took the next step to being around you on a daily basis. Letting you in my lab. Working with you on projects. They were all things that I thought I wouldn't let myself do, but when I did them, I was okay with it. And when I had that flash of us… getting engaged, I knew that the next step for me to make was to ask you to be with me. Because I was afraid of it. You're right, maybe it is early. A lot earlier than it was the first time around, but we didn't know what it was gonna be then. We do now. I know I'm safe with you. You let me know that, and the group lets me know that. I made the move, and I sure as hell don't regret it. I'm not scared, Loki. Sure, it's not time for me to make the next move and propose just yet," They both laughed this time, because it helped lighten the mood. "But I'm content with where we are now. I just know that that will come when it does. So take that away with you. I'm not afraid of this. So Bruce can take that back to his lab, because what I feel is not relevant to my injury. I am not a lab rat, and you are not a test. You are my boyfriend. And I'm unashamed of that."

"You seem so sure that you will fall in love with me for a second time enough to want to stay married to me." Loki said.

"I damn well hope so." Tony feigned a dramatic pose. "Do you know how expensive a divorce is?"

"Banner. Can I have a word?" Thor asked, walking into Bruce's lab like he owned it; or maybe that was just his normal posture. Bruce motioned for him to go on, checking data on his screen and comparing it to the information on his clipboard. "I wish to speak with you on behalf on my brother." Bruce drooped a little at this, because he knew what was coming. Thor was here to protect Loki from his monstrous choice of words, and so forth and so on. He had conversations like this with Thor when Loki first came back to Earth, about 'sustaining the green man'.

"Listen, Thor, if this is about what I said to him, I can assure you that I did not mean what you think I meant. I…"

"Your meddling is not going to do anyone any good. Your words implied that he is a bad partner for Stark."

"I was not accusing him of being a bad partner, Thor. Hell, I was Tony's best man at their wedding, for god's sake. I was the one who told Tony to go for it when he asked me if being with Loki was the right thing to do the first time around. I want them to be together, Thor, I really do. I was just trying to look out for Tony who is still in the early days of his illness, and I wanted to make sure that he is transitioning from the world in his mind to the real world as smoothly as possible."

"Regardless of what you thought you were trying to do, Banner, your intent was to get Loki to end his relationship with Tony. I will not let you do so." Bruce huffed, knowing that as much as he sided with Thor and Loki, he knew that they would not understand his intentions. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut. He was keen to keep tabs on everything and obviously it had done more harm than good.

"And I will not do so, Thor. I'll talk to them again, I'll apologise." He admitted, voice calm to keep the blond calm too. This whole thing was blown way out of proportion, and his point was taken to heart when all he wanted to do was make sure that Loki knew that it was on his mind.

When Thor left, Bruce took a moment. Yes, he didn't intend for things to get difficult, and no, he didn't tell Loki to break up with Tony, but he still felt bad. Things were good for his best friend, and he should have seen that, rather than just listening to that dumb voice inside his head that told him to put his foot in it. He thought that he had been trying so hard to put himself in Tony's position and see the world as he had that he let himself remember the old Loki, and put that in place of the new Loki, and forgot that Loki was good for Tony, now and then.

"You're sure it's done now?" Loki asked, a little exhausted with having to ask the question so much.

"I'm bound to jinx it, so I'm just going to test it and let the result speak for itself." Tony replied. He and Loki routinely added both their gauntlets and the device to their forearms. "Ready?" He asked, and Loki nodded. "Three… Two… One… Shoot." They simultaneously let the magic and beam shoot from the weapon at the target, zooming through the air and wrapped around it like a lasso. Tony's half of the weapon zapped the scrap, electrifying and keeping it paralysed if it were a real enemy, and Loki's half practically melted the thing down into nothing.

"We did it?" Tony whispered, before jumping and punching the air. "We did it!" Loki laughed at the display of delight, glad that they were finally both done with the project. Their first project together since Tony's injury.

"I'm proud of you." Loki confessed, and Tony gave him a beaming smile, almost skipping towards him to grab his cheeks and kiss him. Loki leaned down into the man, feeling a sense of elation of finality and beginning.

"Am I interrupting?" Bruce walked into the room and fiddling with his fingers, not wanting to intrude on the tender moment. The two pulled away from each other's faces to look at the man, but Loki kept his grip around Tony's waist. "Can I talk to you guys for a minute?" Bruce asked tentatively. The pair looked at him and shared a nod. Bruce came a little closer and brushed back his hair, coughing nervously like he was about to go in for a job interview.

"I just wanted to say that I am sorry. For what I said earlier. I know that I did not say what I said with any sort of harsh intent, but it was still not my place to intrude." Tony and Loki both gave him a small smile at this.

"I may be trying to take Tony's health into consideration, but I was not taking either of your feelings into consideration, and that was where I was going wrong. When you're in the field of science, the constant need for an answer can cloud your mind of the fact that you're not dealing with theories here, you're dealing with real people. I let that cloud come over me, because I wanted the best for you both. I went about it the wrong way, and I apologise."

"That is quite alright, Bruce." Loki assured. "You were just trying to be safe. But me and Tony have talked about this, about how we want to both be comfortable with where we are going. You do not need to worry."

"Well I am grateful that that's out of the way." Bruce said with relief, before pointing to the weapons on their gauntlets. "Now show me what the hell those things do."