Chapter Sixty Three: On A Scale...

Tony supposed it was inevitable. Give someone a taste of freedom and they'd crave more. Not that it was really hurting anyone. He'd had long enough to call in some bodyguards before his group had even finished eating breakfast, but there was no mistaking the look of longing in at least two of the girls' eyes when Fred had hinted at some shopping therapy. Of all the people in the group, why Fred would be the one to bring it up was anyone's guess. He must be getting soft in his old age.

In a way, he supposed it made sense. Their activities had been suspended, leaving them short of their tourist goals. And, he knew from previous experience, that it wouldn't be wise to cage them up. Chances were good they'd find a way out anyway. That and he'd promised to try and not smother them too much. So, it was with that in mind that he'd reluctantly agreed to leave Fred, GoGo, Honey, and Kally to their own devices. At least for a while.

Once their escort had arrived, in a non-descript vehicle large enough for all of them and their protectors, he'd given them a curfew. Maybe it was a bit peevish of him to do so but he didn't want to put his butt on the line any more than was necessary. At least it wasn't Hydra after them this time around. Or at least he hoped.

Satisfied, or at least as close to it as he'd get, Tony made his way back to the house to check in on his other guests. If what Honey had said was true, Hiro was likely still napping, though one newer knew for sure. And that left Wasabi and Cass. He had to at least make sure they'd found something to eat. He probably should have done so before leaving but had felt a need to get out before his antsy group cajoled him into doing something really stupid.

He wasn't surprised to see the common areas empty of anyone. Wasabi had expressed a desire to just stick to his room. Part of him did wonder why Cass hadn't stayed in the entertainment room, watching cooking shows. He'd noticed she had a preference for them. So, not sure if she'd gone back to her room, or to check in on Hiro, he headed down the hall, accidentally tripping over a slight rise in the carpet he couldn't remember if was there earlier or not, just outside of Hiro's room.

Well, he'd announced himself, he supposed as he wrenched the doorknob open in an attempt to keep his balance. And then he really did need the knob to keep his balance as his jaw dropped open to see who all was in the teen's room.

There was no time to disguise or put up any kind of glamour as the door all but flew open. Three pairs of adult eyes stared in shock as Tony all but stumbled into the room, similar shock showing in his eyes at all he saw in there. For his part, Baymax didn't look surprised at all, but that wasn't saying much.

"Loki!" Tony said in what could only be described as a low, hissing growl. His eyes hardened, narrowing as his brows sank further down, his jaw tightening, along with all of the other muscles in his body. "What are you doing here and how did you get in?" He somehow neglected to notice that neither Lucifer nor Cass looked at all alarmed by the Asgardian's presence.

For his part, Loki looked a bit like a deer caught in headlights as he stared at the one man he really didn't want knowing about his presence. He'd done a bang up job of avoiding this moment and silently cursed that he'd somehow let his guard slip enough to allow it to happen. Part of him felt inclined to lash out irrationally, trying to silence the man once and for all, but the presence of so many witnessed, and Hiro, deterred that. Not to mention, despite what Tony thought about him, he was trying to do better, be better.

Almost stiffly, Tony made his way into the room; every inch of his body screaming his rage, his face darker than a storm cloud as his fists shook near his sides. "What did you do to him?!" He didn't so much as look anywhere else but at his target, though he felt sure his meaning was clear as Hiro lay unresponsive near Loki's current position.

"Do?" Loki asked, his voice a lot more shaky than he'd anticipated. "I didn't do anything. Despite what you may think, I'm not the enemy here."

"Like hell you aren't!" He reached out a hand to grab him as violently as possible, his teeth gnashing in his mouth like a rabid dog.

Lucifer and Cass stared as if transfixed. Neither seemed able to move as this almost nightmare scenario played out in front of them. The rage was obvious. The real question was what exactly did Tony plan on doing and how would Loki react to it?

"Stop."

Tony's fingers all but brushed Loki's skin as the command made his entire body freeze in place. Energy seemed to tingle along his skin, not unlike static electricity, except it somehow kept him immobile. Almost involuntarily, he looked up, only his eyes moving.

Hiro had sat up, his eyes darker than normal, almost black with some inner glow. They didn't look normal at all. Nor did his voice sound normal as he repeated himself. There was some kind of reverb behind his word that echoed in the room and made Tony's brain buzz uncomfortably.

Not at all sure what was going on, or why Tony was now focused on a different part of the room, Loki turned to look at the teen. As his body didn't seem affected by whatever held Tony at bay, he had next to no trouble doing so. But when he saw the expression and power behind his eyes, he almost flinched away. This was more than just a teen protesting. This was something else entirely.

"You will not lay a hand on him," Hiro continued, power behind every word as he slid from the mattress and strode towards the billionaire. He raised his hand and made as if to flick dust or shoot a marble with his index finger.

Tony suddenly found himself against the far wall, his head jarring painfully against the hard surface. He shook his head to clear the stars, only marginally aware that he could once again move his body. His shoulder ached where it had hit into the smooth surface, but that only accounted for part of his momentary confusion.

Loki put a restraining hand on Hiro's shoulder the moment he saw Tony go flying. He almost wished he hadn't as energy pulsed up through him, in complete odds with the teen's earlier state. Something definitely had to have changed, with Tony's attempted attack as catalyst. "That's enough," he said quietly, still not sure he believed what his eyes had just witnessed. "He didn't touch me."

For his part, Tony managed to get back to his feet, but he was far from steady and it showed. "What in the…? How in the….?" His eyes were wide as he stared at the teen.

Baymax waddled forward, heading for the Avenger. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?" He blinked at the man as he waited for his answer.

Tony continued to stare at Hiro like he wasn't sure what he was looking at. His mouth had fallen open a little and he quickly closed it, at a complete loss for words.

The color in Hiro's eyes returned to normal and he felt grateful for Loki's hand on his shoulder, which now provided some needed support. It wasn't that he felt weak, but he somehow couldn't contain a sense of horror at what he'd just done, though part of him felt the man had deserved it. "Loki's not here to hurt anyone," he stated, deciding to stay stern. His voice had returned to normal as well, sounding less like something ancient and more like a pissed off teenager.

A sudden need to sit down filled Iron Man and he found the nearest available spot, the mattress, expression still wide-eyed and unbelieving. "How on earth did you do that?"

"You appear to have sustained several contusions to your left shoulder and back," Baymax observed, realizing Tony wasn't going to answer his question. "I also detect a mild concussion."

Hiro's muscles relaxed from his more upright state as the weariness from before settled. The only difference was that it didn't pull him under. "Loki came to help me," he said, ignoring Tony's question. "He's the one who told you guys where Kally and I were when we got kidnapped. He's also the one who made it possible for us to escape. He's not the bad guy here."

To his credit, Tony tried to process what he'd just been told, tried and seemed to fail. It was just too bizarre an announcement to process. The notion they owed Loki for their ability to take down a whole Hydra facility was so insane his brain threatened to shut down on him. "But he's worked with Hydra," he protested, knowing it sounded childish.

Loki didn't remove his hand from Hiro's shoulder, realizing he still hadn't fully recovered from earlier, though he had to give the teen kudos for remaining standing. "At one time," he agreed. "However, circumstances have changed and I have pledged myself to the protection of this youth and his friend. I'm sure you understand why we didn't just come out and tell you."

Like a fish out of water, Tony continued to stare. "No," he protested. "You were responsible for destroying half of New York! You destroyed countless assets and…"

"Yes," Loki said patiently, "but that was a different time and place. Things are different now."

Cass cleared her throat. "It's true," she confirmed. "If it hadn't been for Loki, I'd never have seen my nephew again. He's done nothing but help us, no matter what you think."

This was definitely more than he'd bargained for and it showed as Tony looked towards Cass like she'd betrayed him. "You knew? You knew and you didn't say anything?"

Cass tried to shrug with one shoulder. "What's to tell? I didn't find out until afterwards. And by then it didn't seem to matter. And then after the whole bomb thing started, I just didn't feel like saying anything because I knew you'd try and do something stupid. But if it weren't for him, we'd be in a lot worse shape than we are now. For one, I'd probably be dead, trapped in that hotel."

Lucifer decided it was time to insert himself as he strode between the two, breaking their line of sight. "That's all water under the bridge," he soothed. "The important thing is here and now. I think you should be grateful that such a prestigious person is here to protect your friends."

And then it clicked. "Samuel Jackson," Tony said quietly. "You were masquerading as a bodyguard."

"Guilty," Loki stated, looking more his usual mischievous self. "I couldn't very well stay near my friends without some disguise to keep you from … well what we all just witnessed. No matter what you think, it was done with the best of intentions."

Tony's brows rose momentarily. "Yours," he said under his breath, acid lacing the word.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Loki asked, now looking miffed.

But before the two could get into another tiff, Hiro broke free from Loki's restraining hand. "Enough," he stated, using his best commanding tone. "What's done is done and there's no going back and changing it. Lucifer's right. We can only move forward with everything. And I refuse to do anything without Loki's continued presence."

Tony winced a bit at the reminder of what the teen could apparently do, though how he'd done it was beyond him. To his knowledge, Hiro didn't know any kind of fighting techniques that would allow for that. The only real explanation was other-worldly and he wasn't ready to consider that seriously just yet. He let out a heavy sigh. "Do the others know?"

It wasn't hard to guess who he meant. "My friends know Loki's here but they don't know he's been playing the role of my bodyguard. Kally probably suspects, but then she's half Asgardian. We didn't see a need to tell the others until we had to."

Several emotions crossed Tony's face as he stared at the teen. He'd not really been given the opportunity to see this side of him before and he found it a bit disconcerting. He'd always seen him as some kind of vulnerable kid making all the wrong kinds of mistakes. This was something he'd expect to see from Captain Rogers, not an almost seventeen-year-old boy. He blinked a few time as if that could clear his head, except that it didn't work.

"Do they know everything he's done in the past? All of the bad things he's done?" Tony knew he probably sounded like a pouting child but he didn't care. Someone had to make sure everyone remembered all the atrocities the Asgardian had participated in. he was having a hard time forgetting, even if the others seemed more than willing to do so.

A grim expression crossed Hiro's face. "They know," he answered in a hard voice. "A few of them had a hard time accepting them and moving on. I just hope you can do the same, because if you so much as try to do anything mean to him, I won't hold back this time."

There was steel in the boy genius's eyes, and Tony couldn't help but want to take a step back, except he was still sitting on the mattress. A bit of a shudder ran through him at the threat. The idea that Hiro was capable of doing much worse certainly was a sobering thought, though he had no idea how he'd been able to do that.

"Would you like some painkillers?" Baymax inquired, breaking into the billionaire's thoughts. "It may be wise to ingest some form of pain medication to mitigate further swelling to your shoulder."

Reminded of the pain, Tony couldn't help but wince. He suddenly felt very glad the others hadn't been there to witness this. Fred would have reacted in typical fashion. He somehow thought GoGo would give him a knowing smirk, maybe laugh, which wouldn't help his mood. Kally and Honey might be sympathetic, but one never knew for sure. And Wasabi would have probably freaked out. It was just as well they weren't there. "I'm going to get some ice," he said, standing shakily from the bed.

No one else moved as Tony exited the room, listing a bit from side to side as he did. "Well that went well," Lucifer spoke up as the others looked at him with varying emotions, which he returned with some confusion. "What?"