Chapter 10: Work and Stars

Loki woke up naturally. He waited for the time he could get out of his room and start his work by dressing up, making his bed and watching Alex sleep. At eight, they could finally get out and they made their way into the kitchen. Some of the Avengers were early risers, like Steve and Sam, and either run or train before breakfast, some other, like Tony, were up late and just woke up. He felt strange for Loki to be included at a table with other people, it made him feel like a normal person who was part of the group.

"Loki, this morning, you go to the infirmary, and after, I want you to take some time with Wanda and Vision. You will also clean the kitchen like you do after every meal and you will clean the bathrooms today. Also, since the roomba..."

But Steve was interrupted by Tony.

"It is a Starkba. A Stark roomba. Because I made it." So naturally, everyone looked at Tony funny. "Okay, I'm still working on the name."

"Anyway, our usual automated vacuum cleaner has broken down. So you will be learning how to vacuum clean and pass it in the whole Avengers area, including your room, but excluding everyone else's room, except if some people tell you that you can go to their room. You can do mine, by the way, I don't care," continued Steve.

"Just remember that Friday has eyes and ears everywhere, so don't snoop," said Tony.

"Also, how many gold stars have you won't yesterday? Loki, you did all your work and behave, so you earn two stars. Alex, because of the tantrum and other stuff, you don't have your two gold stars, but you did help your father with his tasks fours times in total, so you earned four stars," announced Steve.

"Daddy, is that enough for a toy?"

"It is, but only for a small toy. We could wait a day or two and maybe try to earn a bigger reward."

"Okay."

oOo

After the short visit to the infirmary, Loki came back to the kitchen where Wanda and Vision were waiting for him with Alex who was coloring.

"Have a seat, Loki," said Vision.

Loki sat down, he was still not used to sit like a person and he felt strange.

"We established much of the reward system now in place, but we want to discuss privileges with you. Rewards for Alex are easy, mostly toys. But for you, it is different," said Wanda.

"I require nothing," said Loki.

"No, Loki, what you require will be available for you. But is there are privileges you might want," asked Vision. "Think about it."

Yes, Loki was thinking. He longed to read a book, to go outside, to eat particular food — though he doubted some of them would be found on Midgard —, to use his magic — which the Avengers will never allow —, to hug his mother — who was dead —, to learn new skills — though he might have in order to be a slave here. There was so much he could be asking, but he had to be reasonable, he was not a prince who could just ask and receive, he was a slave who had to work hard for the lowest of rewards. Though, maybe not, when he thought about it, they already had six gold stars just for yesterday, which was enough for a small toy.

"And Loki, we also need to think of a way for you to earn more stars," said Vision. "As our trust in you increase, your access to the compound will also increase and your tasks will be more diversify. You won't be locked in your room for as long neither."

"Now, all that we discuss today will have to be approved by Steve, but you can ask," said Wanda. "How about television privileges? It is simple, maybe one star to watch TV for two hours each, or one hour for both of you. You do know about television?"

"I do, but I never really had the pleasure."

"They also have programs for the young. Let's put TV on the list. What else?"

"Could I read a book? There are a few in the living room."

"This is a great idea, Loki," praised Vision. "You could borrow a book for one star."

"Could we go outside? Just for a while, Alex and I. It's just that, I know I'm not allowed, but I haven't been really outside in five years. Not once in training, the first time Alex had been outside was when Thor transferred us from there to here. And we had to wear the drape and the chains. The second was yesterday's incident. I would totally understand if you or master Steve won't allow it or put an inaccessible price on it because of the risk of me running away."

"You know what? We ask Tony to have swing and it is coming up. Maybe we could ask for a small playground. Won't be just for Alex, but for all the kids that come here. And I have started a small park and garden area. You could eventually be allowed there," said Wanda.

"How many stars would that be," asked Loki.

"We should consider that, as time progress and become more trustworthy, the price of some privilege decreased, or that some privileges just become rights. Like the outside, maybe one day, we would trust Loki enough without a tight security and he could have unlimited access to some area," proposed Vision.

"Yeah, I know Rhodey was talking about it the other day. To enlarge your accessible area," said Wanda. "We are not treating you like a slave, but as a prisoner on a kind of house arrest. And prisoners have the right to go outside. Well, some of them. Okay, what other privileges would you want?"

Well, Loki thought he could maybe go away with much more demands. He could at least try, except if this was a trap. They could be pushing him to ask too much and then deny him and not even give him something. Should he try? Since he had arrived here, the Avengers had not acted like slaves' owner should and they have been talking about privileges.

"I would like to teach Alex, educate him. I would like to learn for myself too, learn new skills. I would like information about my mother's death if possible. I… I… Alex…"

He had wanted to ask about his magic, but he would need much more gold stars — stupid name — before he would even manage to ask. He also wanted to teach Alex about magic.

"For Alex, he would be educated," said Vision. "This world has schools and I'm sure mister Rogers would enlist him in one of the best schools."

"Vision, I think Loki was talking about preschoolers stuffs, were you, Loki?"

"Yes miss Wanda. Actually, both. I have done my best so far to teach him what he should know at his age," answered Loki.

"I don't think that would be a privilege, just a normal thing. But we will include more educative toys in the rewards," said Wanda. "As for learning yourself, I'm sure we could all teach you some more terrestrial skills."

"Loki, would it be okay with you if I asked Steve for time to pick your brain," asked politely Vision, but he saw that Loki was scared. "You and Wanda both have magic and I have some abilities of my own. I would like to discuss the topic."

"As you wish mister Vision. You don't need my permission to pick my brain or other parts of my body," said Loki trying not to sound like he refused.

"Loki, pick your brain just means asking you questions about your expertise on a subject," explained Wanda.

"In that case, even though you still don't need my permission, I would be more than willing to talk about magic," answered Loki.

"But you still can do magic, right," asked Wanda.

"Yes, but on my master's orders only."

"Loki, is there any other privileges you would want, you can tell us or Steve," said Vision.

At the end of the day, Loki had learned to use a vacuum cleaner, which was a cool magic trick, but everyone called it technology, and he had learned the different products to clean a bathroom. His training had been extensive, but had not covered Midgardian technologies. Alex had also been intrigued by the vacuum cleaner and had helped Loki a lot with his tasks. So the next day, Steve informed them Loki had won two gold stars and Alex had won seven. After cleaning the kitchen, after breakfast, Steve was waiting for them to give the list of tasks.

"Can we have a reward, daddy?"

"We do have enough stars," said Loki.

"Yes, you have fifteen stars in total. So for five stars, you can have a small toy, but for ten, you can have a medium toy, and for fifteen, you can have bigger toys. If you were to wait, there are toys worth twenty stars that are even bigger," said Steve.

"Alex, just look at the different toys and think about what you want," said Loki.

"What is that " asked Alex pointing at a little car.

"That's a car, Alex, a vehicle. But this one is a toy, real ones are bigger," informed Steve. If you want, I can show you a real one one day."

But Alex saw something even more interesting.

"Daddy! Look, there's a snake!" Then the boy curb his enthusiasm. "Can we have it?"

"I didn't know you like snakes, Alex," said Loki.

"There were pictures of a snake in the coloring book," admitted Alex.

"The snake is only five stars. Do you want it?"

"Yes, mister Rogers, we would like to exchange so of our stars for the snake," said Loki while observing a book. "What is this?"

"This is a visual dictionary. Vision's choice. It is ten stars," said Steve.

"You said we have fifteen stars, is that right," asked Loki.

"Yes. You can take both the snake and the book," said Steve.

"Can we draw in the book," asked Alex.

"No. this is the kind of book you read. It has pictures that are already in colour," informed Loki.

Steve took the book and show it to Alex. It had pictures of animals or objects with their names. Loki was interested in that book because not only could he learn more about Midgard, but he could teach Alex.

"It's beautiful, but is it fun, Daddy? Can we play with it?"

"It is not a toy to play with. You look at the picture and you can learn the name of the objects," said Loki.

"Loki, do you read English?"

"Yes, I have learned it. In Asgard, we use runes, but I have educated myself in other languages, like Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, German, Norwegian and Icelandic."

"You can read all of those? Wow! I am impressed."

"It has been a while since the last time I practiced. English, even though really far from Asgardian, is the one I used more the last time I came to Midgard."

"If you use all your points, you can get both, but you will be at zero stars."

"Then we have a deal."

Steve handed Alex the snake and Loki the book. Loki was looking forward to his free time. His could finally understand the point of having time for himself, he could teach Alex and the book would be useful for that. Now he could see it, he was working to earn object that he could then use to educate Alex. And the book contains some object of Midgardian technology that Loki did not know about. If he were to behave and earn those gold stars, he could use his free time with Alex to have quality moments, play with his son.

"Now, I have a list of tasks for you. Tony asked for your help in his lab, so I will take you there in a moment. You also have laundry today, the full deal with ironing. I'll show you how to do it."

Steve led the way to Tony's lab. A slave should walk a few steps behind his master so that was what Loki was going. In training, his hand had usually been restrained when moving from one room to another, so he never hold his child's hand. But this time, especially with the squirrel incident, he was holding Alex's hand. With his other hand, the kid was moving the snake toy in any way possible.

oOo

Loki had mostly finished cleaning the shelves in the lab and Alex was playing with his new snake a bit further. Tony was closed by and Loki ventured closer to the man, but out of Alex's hearing range.

"Mister Stark, can I ask you a personal question," asked Loki.

"Sure, go ahead. But not too personal."

"What would you do if you were expecting a child without first having plan for it?"

"It is about your pregnancy and the possibility of abortion. Bruce and I suggested it to Steve. Honestly, I cannot answer that. I have never found myself in such a situation. I have always been slightly afraid that a woman, a one-night-stand, would come back and tell me I have a kid somewhere, because that's a possibility. And Pepper and I, we talk about children. I know I'm not ready. I have the money, I could provide for a child, even a dozen. It's just that I'm not emotionally ready. I think I would go with the flow if I had a kid. Maybe one day. But, Loki, listen to me, okay?"

"Yes mister Stark."

"Nine years ago, I was kidnapped in the desert. They kept me in a cave and a hole in my chest. I was dying. Obviously, I didn't die, but my point is that I became something more. I became Iron Man in that cave. If it wasn't for that, when you came to Earth, Fury would not have called me to assist. You might have assembled the Avengers with your attack, but I became Iron Man because of that cave. Now, I don't have the hole in my chest, but I'm still a superhero. What I am trying to say is that life takes an unexpected path. Who knows where we will be in five, ten years? Okay, maybe some higher power knows. Not you, even higher. I am here today because of what happens before. If you have that kid, it will change your life, maybe takes you on new unsuspected roads. In you don't, it will still take you on exciting new roads."

"Thank you for your insight."

"Oh, I'm not finished. You are going to spend a lot of time on Earth, and here. I know Steve wants to stay here and lead the Avengers. And officially, even though everyone hates the fact that you are a propriety, you belong to Steve now. So you will be here. Therefore, I was planning on renovating Wanda's room. You might not see the link just yet, but listen. If I enlarge Wanda's room, Vision could move in with her. And I know they want it. Your room, because it was the only empty room, just so happen to be beside Vision's. Meaning it would be empty so I will renovate it too in order to give you a bigger room, two actually. So, we should discuss what would be best. I was thinking either one share bedroom for you and your kids, not matter how many, and one play room. Or, second option, you have your own bedroom and the kids have their bedroom slash playroom. And before you object, I want to do it because I think you should have it. Wanda and Vision would be more than happy to share a room. And, Loki, having a room is just a basic necessity. You don't have to deserve or earn those. Food, running water, clothes, bed, room, some free time, those are all things you are going to have regardless. You may not have your free time, but you can still live decently."

"I don't know what to say. It is so much coming from you when I tried to kill you."

"Yeah, just don't throw me out of a window again."

"No, I won't, mister Stark. I apologise for what I did to you five years ago. I should not have destroyed your tower. I'm sorry."

There it was, a first apology in five years for what he had done. And Loki did feel sorry for what he did. Humans were different, not what he had expected. They had been gullible, but they have hearts.

oOo

That evening, after having clean up the supper, Loki sat in the living room with Alex and the new book.

"We are going to look at the pictures," asked Alex.

"Yes, we are. We are going to learn the name of the animals we can find on Midgard. Now, Midgard is big, so many of those animals may not live in this region of the realm."

Loki was pointing at the animals and reading their name. Alex was repeating them. Steve, who was also in the room, was listening and decided to join.

"Alex, do you know what sound a lion does," asked Steve.

"No..."

"It goes Raaagh!"

"Raaaagh," did Alex.

So Alex was pointing at the images, Loki was reading the name out loud which Alex would repeat and Steve would make the noise which Alex would mimic. Steve or Loki would then explain more about said animals. And both Alex and Loki were learning. Alex was learning about all the animals, but Loki was learning about those that could not be found in Asgard.

Then, Loki turn to the reptile page.

"Snakes!" Alex screamed, agitating his own snake.

The page had a large picture of a snake on it and Alex was really intrigued.

"You like snakes, Alex," asked Steve.

"Yeah, they are cool and they can slither. Sometimes, in our old room, they would be snakes."

At the training facility, sometime some snakes would sneak in, so Loki taught Alex not to be afraid, but to charm the snake. Loki himself had always loved snakes, so did Thor. In his room during training though, snakes were a bad reminder of Thor. Now, Loki didn't mind as much, snakes were cool.

Alex was having fun learning about the different animals and he was letting it show in front of someone else, and that person was their master, the person who had complete control over both of them. Loki was so happy to see Alex like that, to see his child could have a normal moment in his life. The moment was that, just normal, some bonding time between a father and his son, with their master in the scene, but Steve was also acting so mundane.

Eventually, it was Friday who put a term to the evening.

"I should inform you the time is now 7:58 and that both Loki and Alex should be in their room by eight."

"Hey Alex, it's nearly bedtime. Why don't you go ahead and change while I talked to your father for a moment," asked Steve.

"Okay," said a happy kid before he ran away.

"Do you have enough clothes? Are you okay on that front," asked Steve.

"Yes, you have been very generous with that," said Loki. "Thank you."

"If we need anything, don't hesitate to tell me."

"I will, master. I mean, mister Rogers."

"That was a nice moment, this evening. Alex is coming out of his shell, acting more like a normal kid of his age."

"It is a rare occurrence, indeed."

"And, Loki, don't hesitate to tell me if there is something bothering you. Anything. You can talk to me. I know the situation is ... special."

"I am okay, mister Rogers."

"Well, good night then."

Loki took the book and went to his room. He gave Alex a bath and they brush their teeth, then Alex went to bed and Loki sat on his, close to the window where the curtain was not entirely drawn, still reading the book. He wanted to know more about the object that could be found on Midgard.

Unknown to everyone, there was a raven on a tree close to the building. That raven had observed the whole evening and then move to have a better view of Loki in his room. And the raven had listened to everything. When Loki closed the book, then the curtain and went to bed, the raven flew away. Soon after, another raven took its place.

oOo

Far across the stars, the raven flew. In the realm eternal, the raven entered the palace and went straight for the king. Odin was alone that evening, like every other evening since his wife had died. Each morning, he would send both his ravens across the nine realms for news. But lately, he was always sending them to Midgard. When Thor took Loki there, Odin had tasked a raven to follow Thor closely. He then tasked the other raven to observe from a distance at all time. After Thor's return, Odin had sent his ravens alternating between night and day so there was always one of them watching Loki.

The raven sat on Odin's shoulder and told him everything that had transpired that day, like it was doing every day since Loki had arrived on Midgard. Odin had kept a close eye on Loki's training and he would now keep a close eye on his servitude. Frigga and Odin had fought when Odin had sentenced Loki to slavery. But in order to appear like a true king who put his people first, Odin had to be impartial to Loki. He knew the best master for his son in all the nine realms was Steve Rogers of Midgard, but how could he proposed him? So he proposed the ones that had defeated Loki, starting with the one that had truly stopped him, the beast, the hulk, Bruce Banner. Thor saw it as the worst possible outcome immediately, but the people agree with their king. Then, Thor had done exactly like Odin had planned and suggest the most righteous man: Captain Steve Rogers, as a second option. Tony Stark, with all his technology, had been the third option. Odin's plan had worked and Loki got Rogers has his master.

So Odin knew of Loki's pregnancy, even though he could not interfere. He knew that Thor would be a good king and put his people first, but also reform the law about slavery. He knew Loki was well taken care of on Midgard and he knew about his whole situation. And he approved of it all. Alex, as much as it pains Odin to see Loki go through that was a blessing in disguise. Loki had to change in order to be responsible and take care of his kid, to be a good father. Odin just hoped Loki would be a better father than he was, but so far so good.

And tonight, Odin was glad to see Alex was adapting to a new world, he was just worried Loki was not. He knew Loki was holding something inside of him and it was just a question of time before Loki did something. But Odin was confident the Avengers would handle it.

In the end, everything would be fine.