CHAPTER SEVEN
"Did we do the right thing here? Helping this psychopath gain his freedom?"
Tony was currently leaning on the counter of his favorite bar in Hell's Kitchen, nursing a jack and coke in one hand.
After forcing Bruce to call it a night, Tony had caught Steve in the kitchen, having just woken from his nap. Remembering his promise from before, the billionaire had not asked but announced that the two of them were getting a drink and the car was leaving in five minutes. Surprisingly, Cap had been changed and ready in the passenger seat when Tony got to the garage.
Steve shook his head beside him with a beer resting in front of him. "You still don't think we should be doing this?"
It was Tony's turn to shake his head. "Thats not what I'm saying. I'm asking for your unfiltered opinion without the righteousness crap you always put on for show."
Steve rolled his eyes but gave the question some thought before answering. "The simple, no bullshit answer is yes. I think we're really defining who we are as a team—"
Tony groaned. "I said no bullshit, Rogers."
"I don't think that having a good moral compass is bullshit." Steve raised his beer to his mouth, taking a final swig to finish off his drink.
"But you don't think I have one." Tony stated with a sad smile towards his teammate.
Steve whipped his head back to Tony in a bit of shock as he placed his glass to the side. "I never said that."
Tony let out an empty laugh. "You didn't have to."
Steve was at a loss for words as he watched Tony finish his own drink and order another round for the two of them.
When Tony turned to see Steve staring at him, he lightly chuckled. "Don't worry. It doesn't bother me."
"But I think it does."
Tony shrugged, trying to brush off the moment to reach for the new glass that had been placed in front of him. However, Steve smoothly grabbed and slid the drink towards himself before Tony could touch it.
"Hey!"
"Do you think we should have helped Loki?"
"If I say yes do I get my drink back?"
"If that's the truth then yes."
Tony thought for a second about just ordering another drink or simply lying about his answer but something heavy on his heart changed his mind.
"No, not originally." Tony said, looking at Steve who pushed the glass back towards the other's hands. "I didn't, because him being here opens up the world to new threats. His very existence- our very existence challenges bigger and more imposing threats on Earth, like this Thanos character who made a puppet out of a literal god."
Steve nodded, not expressing any opinion but attentively listening.
"The real shocking thing I've come to realize," Tony continued as he looked down into his drink, "was I think I was wrong. If we all got a second chance to do something new and better with our lives, I believe he should get that too. Especially a man who was stripped of his free will."
"Doesn't make me any less nervous about the state of the world, but," Tony gave Steve a smile, "I guess I'll just have to make peace with that."
Steve returned the smile. "Anyone, including myself, would have to be an idiot to think your moral compass was anything but good."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't get mushy on me now, Rogers. I may be single at the moment but don't think your vintage charm is going to work on me!"
Steve laughed in a genuine way that Tony had never heard, taking him by surprise. "No, no, no! I just think you sell yourself short and I know I'm not the… well, I just know that sometimes I'm not the warmest person—"
"Seventy years in the ice will do that to a man."
Steve lightly hit Tony on the shoulder. "I'm serious. The guy you first met was two weeks out of the ice and years out of time."
"And the one you met was arrogant and, dare I say it, selfish." Tony confessed. "You don't really recognize how good you have it till alien terrorists threaten to take it away."
"And you fly a nuke into a portal to space." Steve added.
Tony laughed. "How could I ever forget!"
A comfortable silence fell between the two of them. They both knew it was the closest they would ever get to an apology but to say they appreciated the step in a new direction was an understatement.
Tony raised his glass. "To good compass' and new starts."
Steve smiled as he clinked his new glass against Tony's own. "I will drink to that."
"And to getting hit on by Captain America himself because if that's not a confidence booster I don't know what is!" Tony added with a shit-eating grin as he took out his card to pay for the bill. Steve choked on his drink.
"I did not hit on you! Plus, you're not my type."
Tony looked over at Steve with a weary look. "If you start talking about your sexcapades with the women in your life, one of which is my godmother, I might throw up."
"Bold of you to assume they were all women." Steve smirked before chugging his beer, grabbing his jacket from behind his seat, and walking towards the door. Tony got up from his chair with his jaw practically on the floor.
"Wait- wait! Steve. Steve! You can't just say that and walk away" As soon as the bartender handed Tony his card back, he was out the door running after the super soldier.
"Please tell me it was Barnes because there's no way in hell I'm buying Clint a Maserati!"
"You're joking. It was Barnes?"
"I told you which means you owe me one."
"I don't owe you shit because you're lying!"
"You can ask Steve yourself!"
Tony and Clint were currently bickering in the living room while Natasha was pouring a few glasses of wine in the kitchen. Next to her, Steve was grabbing beers from the fridge and, after handing one to Thor who was sitting on the couch, placed them on the coffee table for anyone else to help themselves. On any other occasion, the team would never be starting a night of drinking at one in the morning but because of their lack of sleep mixed in with odd sleeping hours, they were currently all wide awake. Steve and Tony had arrived back home from the bar to find Natasha and Clint breaking open a bottle of wine. Once they had decided to join, Thor had returned from Loki's cell, bringing a wave of relief over the team, and Bruce, complaining that everyone was being too loud, had joined the festivities after waking from his nap.
"I kind of don't want to know but who were you betting on?" Steve asked Clint as he took a seat.
"Howard."
Bruce almost dropped the glass of wine Natasha had just handed him. "Howard Stark?!"
"Exactly, that would never happen." Tony took a beer from the table before continuing. "As Steve happened to tell me, Stark's are not his type and if my dad had banged Captain America, I would have heard about it non-stop growing up."
Steve cringed. "Remind me to never tell you anything ever again."
"We're friends now. This is what friends do."
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Yes, friends make bets about whether Captain America slept with their dad back in World War Two."
"That was not my bet, that was your boyfriend's bet."
Thor looked between Natasha and Clint with a look of absolute shock. "When did this—"
Clint stepped in, "Before you get yourself worked up, no. Nat and I are not dating."
"Have you in the past?" Tony asked.
Both assassins said nothing trying to look at anything but each other. However, Natasha gave Tony a long look which was easily interpreted as 'don't ask anymore questions or else.'
Thor turned to Steve. "When were you with this Barnes?"
Steve waved it off with his hand. "It was the 40s so it was nothing we made public but he is... was my best friend." A sad smile broke across his face. The team took notice but didn't say anything. They knew he was still having a hard time when it came to Bucky Barnes.
"Just out of curiosity when did Aunt Peg come into the picture?" Tony asked.
"When I was chosen for the Super Soldier Program and joined the army."
"Wait," Clint did a double take, "you never told us you were related to Peggy Carter."
"Not by blood." Tony clarified. "My parents picked her to be my godmother when I was born. Something about instilling good role models into my life."
"I'm surprised we didn't know that." Natasha admitted.
"Well, we don't all sit around together and talk much." Something dawned on Tony, "When was the last time we all got together and it wasn't because we were fighting about something or because of a mission?"
The silence that followed was a clear answer in itself. They did not need to think hard to realize that they had never really gotten to know each other. After the Battle of New York, everyone had split off for a while to do their own things. When they had returned, everyone had jumped right back into work on the trial, never once stopping to take it easy as a team.
Bruce raised his glass of wine. "Well, better late than never, I suppose."
"We could make a drinking game out of it." Tony suggested with a wink.
Natasha gave him a look. "This isn't a college frat, Tony."
"Or we could just go around and talk like adults." Bruce responded.
"So you didn't sleep with Howard Stark." Clint brought the conversation back, holding out on his last hope for a new sports car.
Steve looked appalled. "No, I did not. And I did not want to."
"Hey, watch it!" Tony pointed a finger at him. "He may have been a trash father but he's still my old man."
Natasha turned to Steve. "To get back at him, you should ask Clint about his time in the circus."
Steve looked at the archer in disbelief. "The circus?"
"This I knew!" Tony's face lit up. "It was in your original Avenger Initiative file Coulson gave me."
"Coulson." A small smile appeared as he thought of his former co-worker and friend. "I miss that man."
"Me too." Clint looked over to find Natasha looking at him with a soft smile on her face. Suddenly feeling exposed by the amount of eyes on him, he cleared his throat, changing the subject.
"The circus was a strange time in my life. My brother and I were sick of living in the orphanage so we ran away one night and next thing we knew we had been picked up by a circus. That's actually where I learned to shoot an arrow. I had a really good mentor, Buck Chisholm, who taught me pretty much everything I know."
"Please tell me there was a name." Tony said.
"It was Hawkeye."
"You're kidding." Bruce responded.
"Full title? Hawkeye: The World's Greatest Marksman." Clint pulled an imaginary bow from his back and struck a pose.
"I'd like to file a complaint on the name because that is absolute bullshit."
Clint threw his empty beer can at Tony's head to prove a point. The genius knocked it off course with his hand, sending the can bouncing to the floor.
"So when did SHIELD come in?" Thor asked.
"I was working at Coney Island when I took up a pastime of listening in to police radios and beating cops to the crimes. Then one day, the crime scene was an 0-8-4 and suddenly I was a SHIELD agent. I think Coulson saw a boy with a special bow and arrow ability and took a leap of faith."
Bruce raised his hand. "I have a new question: who, here, also has siblings? I am an only child."
"I am too." Tony said.
"Me too." Steve added.
"I have a younger sister." Natasha shared, evoking a few surprised looks from the others.
"I have a younger sibling as well." Thor said before quickly adding, "And I promise it's just the one."
The group couldn't help but laugh. Thor looked pleased by this, taking another drink of his beer as he chuckled along.
It was Steve who raised his hand next. "I have another question." He turned to Tony, clearly trying to be as sensitive as possible. "What happened to you and Pepper? I didn't realize you weren't together until you made that comment back at the bar."
"Oh," Tony shifted awkwardly in his seat. "That is a long story. The short version is we are both just not in the right space and I don't want to hold her back in any way." Steve nodded in appreciation of his vulnerability. Tony smirked, changing the mood entirely. "Why do you ask, Rogers? You could just admit you're obsessed with me."
Steve laughed. "I know I've threatened to punch you in the face but I promise, give me more reasons and I just might."
Natasha turned to Steve with a devious look. "Out of curiosity, who's the last person you've kissed?"
"You know what," Steve looked smug, "I'm not answering that until Bruce or Thor answer something."
Without a beat, Thor turned to Bruce asking, "Banner, have you ever been married?"
The scientist was baffled. "Why do you ask?"
"I occasionally see you wearing a ring though you only do so for certain occasions." Bruce must have been wearing it at the moment because he clamped his right hand over his left. "It reminds me of a band one would wear for marriage but it is not on the correct finger for Midgardian customs."
The team was looking intently at the Bruce who sighed. "I almost was... back after I destroyed New York the first time. Betty and I were engaged for a while. Then trying to get rid of the Hulk became a priority and I let everything slip away. Betty included."
"Well, she missed out." Tony said, giving his friend a warm smile.
"For sure." Natasha added. She pretended not to notice how Bruce's cheeks blushed slightly when she said it. Clint darted his eyes between the two of them but said nothing in response.
Bruce smiled at both Tony and Natasha. "Thank you." Then turned to Steve. "I answered the question."
Steve looked betrayed as he answered his previous question. "Peggy."
"JARVIS, remind me to download a dating app for Cap."
"Dutifully noted, sir."
"No, no, no," Steve shouted towards the ceiling, hoping he could get the AI's attention. "I've only been out of the ice four months and am in no need of a dating service. Just give me time."
"You know what I've been thinking about recently?" Clint asked, partially to save Steve from more embarrassment. "How old is Thor?"
Tony turned to the god. "Can we guess before you tell us?"
This made Thor smile. "Of course!"
With not a second to lose, Clint blurted out, "Twenty-eight."
"He's a god." Natasha informed him. "They live to be, like, a million years old."
"More like 5,000 but some live longer." Thor clarified.
Tony raised his hand. "Are you out if you go over?"
"Let's say yes." Bruce concluded. "My guess is 3000 years."
"3050." Steve added.
"1900." Natasha added. She prompted Clint to guess again but the archer stood his ground.
Tony, after taking too long trying to 'figure out the math' he didn't truly know, finally guessed, "1800."
Thor nodded. "All very good guesses however, some of you have aged me quite a bit. I'm 1500 in Asgardian years and about thirty in human ones."
"Damn." Steve said, prompting Tony give him a 'talk' about saying a no-no word. While the two argued about where Tony could shove it, Natasha looked over to see Clint proudly gloating in his victory in the corner.
"You know, Natasha hasn't answered a question, yet." Bruce observed.
"Oh yeah! Miss former Russian assassin with her book of secrets." Tony replied.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "I swear you paint me to be this terrifying person."
"You are terrifying in a beautiful and respectful way." Steve clarified.
That made her smile. "Good."
"What's the scariest thing you've ever done?" Tony asked.
"I had to crawl through a tunnel highly populated by snakes once while stationed in the jungle."
The genius looked disappointed. "Out of all your KGB stories, that's the scariest one you've got?"
Natasha narrowed her eyes. "I hate snakes with every fiber of my being."
Suddenly, a voice rang out. "I see this is a bad time…"
Instinctively, she snapped her head around to see Loki standing in the middle of the kitchen. "Speaking of snakes…"
"Loki!" Thor practical screamed. The whole team was immediately on their feet. Mjolnir flew into the room, landing in Thor's hand. No one had seen where she had gotten them, but Natasha had daggers in both hands. Meanwhile, Tony's hand hovered over the button that would summon the Iron Man suit.
"Before you decide to fire at me, know that I am not physically here." Loki explained looking unamused and unfazed. "This is merely a projection of myself."
Thor, knowing exactly what trick his brother was playing, crushed his own empty beer can in his hand and threw it at Loki. As the can passed 'through' Loki, the image shimmered before it returned to the clear picture of his brother.
"He does not lie. He is not here."
"Regardless, what are you doing in my house?" Tony demanded although he lifted his hand away from the distress button. Loki tried not to but his eyes quickly darted toward Thor. Tony smirked, "Ah, I see. Well, feel free to air you family grievances in front of us all. I'm sure it would be quite the show."
Neither of the brothers answered, plunging the room into awkward silence. Feeling the tension between the team and Loki growing hostile, Clint broke in with a new question.
"How old do you think Loki is?"
The was a moment of silence where nobody answered. Then Clint answered his own question, "4940"
Thor turned to Clint in confusion. "He's my younger brother. How could he be older than me?"
"What is going on here?" Loki glanced around the room for an explanation.
"We were getting to know each other before you so rudely interrupted, rock of ages." Tony, deciding Loki was not a threat, took a seat. "So either you can stay and participate or you can leave."
"My guess 3000." Natasha said, picking up where Clint left off.
Thor grunted. "Again, he's younger than me!"
"Truly Thor, you spend your time in some idiotic company."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Tony winked at Loki before grabbing another beer from the coffee table. Reluctantly, the other members began to take their seats once more, resuming their conversation from before. "So, how about stories that don't involve snakes?" Tony asked Natasha.
"No, I don't think you've unlocked my tragic backstory quite yet."
"Brother…"
The whole team seemed to freeze as Loki uttered those words. All eyes shot over to Thor who had his beer in midair while his face was in disbelief. Nobody, including Thor by his reaction, had ever heard Loki call him brother in that way and they knew what a big deal such a gesture had to mean. They watched as Thor slowly placed the beverage down before standing up.
"What is it you need?"
"A moment of your time."
Tony was half expecting Thor to topple him over with a large hug or to start crying, for all knew. What he didn't expect was him to say, "What you need to say to me you can say in front of my team." Loki, for a brief moment, looked terrified. However, it quickly transformed into a look of disgust.
"Has the alcohol gone to your brain? I'm not here to sit around and play your idiotic games."
"Well, you are the one who showed up here and are refusing to tell us why." Thor pointed out.
"It is none of your concern, just like the rest of my life isn't either."
"Your life which we are trying to save."
Loki did not answer to that. He looked around at the team sitting quietly on the couch. Looking over at Clint, he locked eyes with the archer but only for a moment before the god pulled his gaze to the floor. It didn't go unnoticed by Clint.
"I guess I have not been very… vocal of my appreciation." Loki admitted.
The team looked at one another in surprise. Thor did a double take, clearly baffled by his brothers response. When Loki said nothing more, Thor stepped forward.
"What was it you wished to tell us."
Loki looked like he was debating whether to share or disappear all together. Eventually, rolling his eyes, he caved in. "I have sensed new and strange energies in the air surrounding the building I am being kept in. I believe they cannot be caught by Midgardian instruments so I came to inform you myself."
"Thank you for letting us know." Thor gave him a huge smile filled with pride. Loki glared at him in response, saying, "Don't give me that look, Thor, or I will slap it off your face myself," which only caused Thor smile to grow in adoration.
With an exacerbated grunt, Loki's form seemed to fade out of picture until there was nothing left to be seen. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, Loki returned with an unreadable look on his face, adding, "I'm 1070 which is 22 in human years… to answer your question." And as quickly as he had come, Loki was gone.
Tony broke the silence that followed first. "Tell me why that prick is starting to grow on me."
"Honestly, I think that's the closest we're getting to a thank you." Natasha added.
"Agreed." Clint said, though he still seemed to be distract by Loki's inability to look at him.
"For now." Thor took his seat again, the smile still stuck on his face. "He'll come around."
"How about we celebrate the occasion with something a little harder?" Tony all but ran to the bar on the opposite side of the room and pulled out a tequila bottle. "I'm thinking we take some shots."
Everyone seemed to nod in agreement before looking at Steve who had yet to answer.
"You know what?" Steve threw his hands in the air. "Why not!"
Tony grabbed the shot glasses and poured everyone a drink. With a cheers, the team guzzled them down with difficulty except for Natasha who was already pouring the next round. Slowly the night continued with laughter and occasional fights here and there as more questions were asked and more things were learned about one another. For a moment, they felt united as team in a new way they had never known possible.
Little did they know that the trouble had just begun.
