The following morning came much too soon for three quarters of the residents of Tony's Tower. Bruce spent most of the night in a lab, analyzing the results from Steve's exam, looking over the scans from Jarvis, and generally just hypothesizing about what was happening with Steve's body. He was also trying to come up with some kind of liquid food plan for Steve. Jarvis later informed him that Steve had given Loki the bread they had put with the soup. Bruce wasn't sure if it was because Loki needed the energy more, if Steve couldn't actually eat solid food, or if it was a combination of both.
Tony spent most of the night in his lab, talking with Pepper on the phone, or working on ideas for new designs of the suit. He wanted something that would be easier to call to his person but at the moment he was only in the idea and mathematics stage trying to make the physics bend to his will.
James actually got a little sleep that night, but most of it was having Jarvis help him google different art supply stores for Steve. Since he couldn't talk for whatever reason and didn't seem keen on writing, James thought it would be nice for him to have a sketchbook to get his thoughts out for the others. It might make things easier when trying to interact with him, even if it would take a while for each conversation to finish.
He also spent some of the night talking with Natasha over the events of the past twenty-four hours, trying to help her understand the events that had happened, which were a lot. While one part of Natasha understood why Steve and Loki did what they did, another part was still upset over how it was executed. Especially since Clint and Phil were caught in the crossfire.
Thor slept, but was plagued with memories of the time leading up to Loki's fall from the Bifröst. Now that Thor had this new information all of Loki's actions leading up to his fall made so much more sense. He was also trying to find ways to make things up with his brother and apologize for everything he did or didn't do to make Loki feel ostracized from the family and his friends.
As the sun rose, the group found themselves in the common floor kitchen, drinking lots of coffee and eating breakfast. With Loki and Steve in an actual guest room, but still under surveillance the Avengers weren't quite sure what to do.
"Perhaps Loki would be willing to fix the damage to your floor Anthony." Said Thor suddenly, "If he is feeling up to it."
"That would save on needing to get work crews up there," said Tony, "but I'm not sure how I feel about Harry Potter doing magic in the Tower."
"The decision would be up to you of course," said Thor.
"They are going to need new clothes." Said Natasha suddenly. "And they will probably be bored to death up there, just sitting all day. Maybe we can show them how to use the television in their room or get them some books to read."
"I would like to do some tests on what Steve is wearing now. It's fascinating material and I'm wondering what properties it has that are different from Earth made clothes." Said Bruce, ever the scientist.
"I asked Jarvis to order some art supplies for Steve. He always did like to draw, and perhaps that would be another way to communicate with him, so we don't need to go through Loki." Added James quietly.
"I could probably spare a StarkTablet for him. Then he can also write what he wants to say, and we don't need to play Pictionary for a conversation."
Everyone rolled their eyes at Tony.
"How about after breakfast," said James, trying to come up with a plan for the day, "we get our guests food. Then when they're done eating, we see about maybe separating them for a little while. Maybe Tony and Thor take Loki up to the Penthouse- see if Loki can fix the damage. 'Tasha, Bruce and I can see if we can get Steve to talk more, or at least give yes or no answers. Maybe show him where my room is, or even get him to take a shower."
"Hey wait-!"
"Tony, weren't you the one complaining to Pepper about all the sweaty construction works on your private elevator?" Said Natasha teasingly.
"…I'm not sure if I should be more terrified that you are on speaking terms with my girlfriend, or the fact that you just made a joke."
Natasha gave him a bemused glare and sipped her coffee in reply. Tony looked like he was about to flee to his workshop.
"Stop teasing him My Moon." Said James in Russian to Natasha, giving Tony an amused look as he spoke, "I don't think his arc reactor will be able to handle it." The nickname was a running joke between the pair.
"Thor! Speaker of the All-Speak! What is he saying about me over there?" Thor just gave Tony an amused look and ate the last of the pop tarts from the box.
"Sorry friend Anthony," came Thor's amused refusal, "I can not reveal the words of my teammates for you. The ability of the All-Speak cannot be abused in this way."
Tony narrowed his eyes, "Why do I get the feeling you are all sassing me?"
"Probably because they are," said Bruce with a smile as he put together another food tray for Loki and a protein rich smoothie for Steve.
"Hey! Science Bro code! You can't gang up against me with them!" Tony pointed an accusatory finger at Bruce in fake anger. "It's in the rule book! Jarvis put the Science Bro rulebook on Bruce's tablet. Clearly he needs a new copy of it. Also- translate what the assassin duo said about me pronto!"
"Sorry Sir," Jarvis sounded amused, not actually sorry, "Privacy settings 11-13 Sections A through C prevents me from translating it for you. Also, the rulebook has been downloaded to Mr. Banner's tablet as you've asked, the entire paragraph of it."
Tony's jaw dropped open as the others chuckled, "Traitor. I'm going to reprogram you. Just as soon as I get to the workshop."
"Of course, Sir."
Bruce put the last of the food on the trays, "This is ready to go," he said to the room in general, knowing Thor and James would want to go up with him to drop it off.
Before he even finished the sentence, Thor and James were up and grabbing the trays off the counter and making their way to the elevator.
Natasha and Tony stayed at the table. They would give it a half hour or so before they went up as well.
"Jarvis will keep us apprised if there are any problems." Said Tony as he sipped another cup of coffee. Natasha thought he was on at least his fourth, but it was hard to tell.
After a while Thor came back up and took out another can of broth and set about heating it up like Bruce had shown him the night before. The God explained what he was doing and why to his fellow Avengers as he worked to transfer it to a mug. Tony and Natasha thought about warning him about the heating thing Loki had done but shared a glance and stayed silent. It would be interesting to see the God do it again and see if Jarvis could catch anything in his sensors.
Tony began working on his tablet to change the sensors Jarvis could use. He also began brainstorming recipes they could use for Steve, so he wasn't just eating broth forever.
The pair sat in comfortable silence until Jarvis let them know that their guests had finished eating. He also let Natasha know that the order James had placed the night before was on its way up.
They made their way to the elevator together, Tony stopping to grab another StarkTablet for Steve. Natasha would take care of the package that James had ordered.
Tony liked his fingers where they were, so he didn't mention her favoritism with her fellow assassin.
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Bruce led the way to Loki and Steve's room, knocking for a moment before entering it. The pair looked like they hadn't left their spots from the night before though, still sitting on the floor within arms length of each other.
James and Thor brought the food trays over to the pair, none of the Avengers commenting on the lack of movement from the pair.
Loki's tray was the traditional breakfast of pancakes (a Thor size stack) and bacon, while Steve's was a protein rich smoothie and a glass of water. Steve raised his eyebrow at the smoothie, never having seen one before.
After a look at Steve, similar to the night before, Loki began working through the pancakes and bacon- he'd never eaten them before, and while it wasn't what he was used to, he certainly wasn't going to complain or waste the food. With each meal he could feel his magic converting the calories to energy and using it to heal his body. Hopefully he will be back to normal by the end of the week. He ignored Thor but kept an eye on Steve and the others while he ate.
"It's a protein smoothie." Explained Bruce, "it has some protein rich foods like kale, but also some fruits, milk and some protein powder. We also made sure it was cold."
Steve looked across the room a moment, although none of the Avengers were sure what he was looking at, before sniffing the smoothie and taking a small sip. He grimaced in pain before putting the smoothie back on the tray. His fingers began tapping on the floor between him and Loki. With his other hand he took the water and started sipping that.
"Something wrong?" Bruce asked with curiosity.
Loki was the one to answer, "It was too thick." He hesitated a moment before adding, "the broth was thin enough for him to drink. Perhaps he can have more of that?"
"Of course," said Bruce immediately.
"I will go get some ready," said Thor, noticing the way Loki was ignoring him and wanting to be helpful in some way.
It only took a little while for Thor to return with the mug, handing it to Steve, who took it with two hands. He felt the heat radiating off of it and drew his eyebrows together. James quietly explained to Thor that Steve could drink the soup cold, not warm, and he apologized to his teammate for not mentioning that before he had gone back up to the kitchen.
Steve was looking between the trio, then the mug. He glanced at Loki and raised an eyebrow at him after a moment, before holding out the mug. Loki, who had finished eating, glanced between the three Avengers, Steve and the mug. One of Steve's hands was tapping against the side of said mug as he held it out.
Loki sighed and took the mug from his friend. Without looking at the Avengers he did what he had the night before and gently blew into the mug. He then took a small sip before passing it back over to Steve.
To their credit, the three Avengers didn't comment at all with Loki's use of his Frost Giant ability, even Thor, who looked like he was going to. Luckily James was standing close enough to elbow him from commenting. Steve took a few bigger sips of the broth before setting it down again next to him. He gave Bruce and Thor a little smile as a thank you. Loki also relaxed marginally when no one commented on what he had done. The Oath was still heavy on his mind, but none of them had brought it up again and Loki certainly wasn't going to. /It might be a trick, but Steve said they hadn't spoken more on that issue the night before… /
The five of them sat in relatively comfortable silence for a little while, Steve only moving as he finished the broth Thor had gotten for him. Jarvis eventually made a ding sound for the elevator, a way of letting the others know Tony and Natasha were arriving without actually saying anything.
Tony came into the room like the ringmaster of a circus, waving his Startablets around and talking the moment he was in the doorway. Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose at the antics of his fellow scientist. "Howdy kids! Or should I say, criminals, assassins, Gods and Science bros! Ah, got rid of the cuffs I see. Excellent. Excellent. Now, I have presents for our silent, silent partner over here- what with the not talking problem we have…" Tony looked like he was going to shove the tablet at Steve, but the look of growing confusion that was masking panic and fear stopped him. Instead Tony knelt on the floor in pretty close proximity to Steve and just put the tablet on the floor, inching it closer so Steve could see what he was doing. The move had more gentleness than his tone entering the room first suggested.
"It's a StarkTablet." He said in explanation, "I personally don't like to be handed things. It's a thing for me; so I figured it might be a thing for you as well hence the floor pushing. Now, if you press this picture here it will open a document that you can type into. Then when you are finished typing you hit this key," he pointed to the F1 button, "and it will say what you wrote out loud. A voice for the no voice type deal. Kinda like a less cool Jarvis."
As Tony was explaining he was also typing out a demonstration upside-down as it was facing towards Steve. He hit the F1 key and an Irish accent came from the Tablet, "Tony is the nicest, most generous person in the world to be sharing this technology with me. Also- Ironman is the coolest of the Avengers. He should totally be the leader over RoboCap what with his awesome plan making abilities and total genius."
Steve's lips started twitching into a huge smile as he read/heard Tony's little demo- and he also relaxed even though Tony was in such close proximity to show him how to work the program. His eyes darted between the screen, Tony, and James- who had face palmed when he heard what Tony had typed out. "Really Stark?"
James looked at the pair- Steve had laughter in his eyes now- directed at his friend, while Tony had a giant smirk on his face at achieving his goal. "Shut up Punk."
Steve's smile only grew in response. James began muttering in Russian about clearly needing new friends and teammates. Loki, who was also watching his friend interact with Tony, began chuckling at James' words. The others in the room also cracked smiles; (even though Bruce didn't know exactly what James was saying, he could make a pretty good hypothesis).
"Join the club," said Natasha, who was standing in the doorway watching the interaction between her teammates and their guests. In her hands was the box James had ordered the night before. Upon seeing it the ex-Soviet's face lit up- knowing he was about to trump Tony with his gift to Steve. He walked over to his partner and took hold of the box, bringing it over to Steve as well.
"Fancy tech is all well and good," said James as he walked over, "but THIS! This is timeless." Natasha had used one of her knives to slice the tape open before handing it over, which saved James some work. He sat on the floor next to Steve and put the box on the floor in front of them, pulling back the tabs as he did.
When Steve saw the sketchbooks and pencil selection (colored pencils, charcoals, regular lead, and even a hand sharpener) his face completely lit up as he took a shocked breath of air, any tension he had previously washed away. He looked between James and the box for a moment- not sure if this was real. James, noticing the hesitation nodded at his friend. At his nod Steve pulled out the first sketchbook touching it with gentle fingers and soft touches. He showed the book to Loki, who smiled and nodded, the pair seemingly sharing another creepy telepathy moment.
The moment only lasted a few seconds before Steve gently placed the sketchbook down between Loki and himself. He then turned towards James, who only had a moment's notice before Steve pulled him into a tight hug.
James wasn't expecting the move, so he froze for all of three seconds before exhaling and wrapping his arms around Steve as well, careful to stay away from his neck.
Tony's indignant and playfully dramatic, "My StarkTablet was way cooler than a bunch of blank books!," was answered with an elbow to the side from Natasha, who shushed him for good measure. Tony pouted in response.
As Steve and James pulled apart, James snorted in amusement, "Gotta know your audience Stark."
The look in Steve's eyes spoke volumes to the room as a whole, making everyone somewhat glad they could get rid of the haunted look in his eyes for a little while.
Loki sat quietly, not expecting anything from the team because of what happened with the invasion. /It's fine. We both knew this would be a possibility. /
But to see this possibility playing out in real life hurt the trickster God a little. He would never show or say anything about it though. He knew his friend had endured so much worse at the hands of Thanos that it was only fair that he get something that would make him smile even just a little.
Thor, being more perceptive about his brother and his feelings now that he was actively looking, noticed the careful mask Loki was wearing. "Actually brother," said Thor, gaining everyone's attention, "We have something for you as well."
Tony took over seeing as how Thor and Loki had some bad blood between them, "Yeah Gandalf. We are going to trust you to do magic around the Tower, and trust that you won't use it to harm anyone. Only, there is one condition," Loki's eyes narrowed waiting for the other shoe to drop about the Oath… "You need to use it to fix my penthouse. I will not allow Pepper to have more well built yet extremely sweaty guys using my private elevator." Tony looked like he wanted to go on another rant about that incident but a look from Natasha stopped him.
Loki's eyebrows shot up, clearly having difficulty processing what Tony had just said. Steve was looking at the pad he had taken out earlier, a pencil in hand as he worked on his first drawing. Although he was keeping an eye on the room as a whole, the hand not drawing was tapping away at the edge of his book. Loki glanced over at his friend, then back at the Avengers. He wondered if he should mention the Oath, but not really wanted to go through with it.
Bruce seemed to read his hesitation for what it was, "We aren't going to make you swear an Oath. Honest. Consider this a gesture of good faith and a chance to make up for some of the destruction that happened during the invasion. But only if you are feeling up to it, as a doctor I don't want you to over strain yourself on Tony's account."
Tony began muttering about clearly needing a new Science Bro since Bruce was still sassing him so much.
Loki looked over at Steve, who had stopped sketching, but was still tapping his other hand and looking back at Loki with an "I Told You So" gleam in his eyes. After a few seconds Loki turned his attention back to the Avengers with a nod, "Alright. I accept your terms."
"There is one more thing for the both of you." Said Natasha suddenly, "We also want you to meet with a Shield Psychologist and some other personnel to make sure that you aren't going to go off your rocker and start killing people… again. It is standard procedure for all Agents, or people who are brought in and it's non-negotiable."
Loki and Steve shared another look. Steve shrugged while Loki said, "Well. If it's non negotiable then I don't really see wasting time arguing over it."
"Hey, Penthouse first, Shield later. Much later. In fact, they can hold off for a few days before coming over... three to five days really. Not much space yet for them to set up shop. And my Penthouse isn't fixed yet. Clearly that is much more important." Tony seemed like he could go one for a while yet without stopping, but the others also looked like they might commit a murder of their own soon. Loki took that as his cue to stand. He used the wall for support, but no one mentioned it like he thought they might.
"Well come on then. Lead the way so I might fix the wrongs committed upon your home." Loki's words were enough to stop Tony from continuing his rant. He nodded then began walking towards the elevator. Natasha and Thor falling into step behind Loki, who followed Tony. The God of Mischief glanced at Steve before moving, but he just nodded his head and continued working on his drawing.
After a few moments though Steve looked up and stopped drawing. Bruce and James were still in the room with him, seemingly okay with watching Steve continue to draw. Steve raised an eyebrow at the pair, feeling like there was something else they wanted from him.
"We were thinking you might like a chance to get clean." Said James when Steve looked up, "Not sure you had too many opportunities to shower, or anything before getting here. Maybe even get some clean clothes? Would that be alright with you?" He spoke carefully, watching his friend for any negative reactions. Steve's eyes flashed briefly when James mentioned new clothes, but the emotion was gone much too quickly for either Avenger to see properly.
"James has some clothes here. When it seemed like we would be staying for a while Tony had people go to everyone's apartments and pick up clothes and other essentials for them. Some of his things might fit you, would you like to go see what's available?" Bruce added in his quiet and calm voice. Steve looked between the pair a moment before looking around the room again, head tilted slightly to the side. After a moment he hesitantly nodded, and put down his art supplies, making sure it was securely closed when he did. He also picked up his mug and continued to sip the broth as he stood with James and Bruce.
James led the way across the hall to his room, with Steve and Bruce walking side by side, Bruce being a careful distance away so as to not crowd Steve. James went straight to his dresser, grabbing some undergarments first, then some sweats that had a good drawstring on them. He paused before going to his shirt drawer, not sure what kind Steve would want to wear. James glanced over at Steve, who was watching him rummage. Steve pointed to his turtleneck when he saw James' look, wanting something that would continue to hide his neck from view.
James seemed to understand what Steve meant, before going to the drawer that had the long sleeve shirts. The only turtleneck he had thought was a gray sweater that had been a gift from Clint as an inside joke between the pair. It was slightly big on James, which meant it would be bigger on Steve. After another considering pause, he grabbed a short sleeve shirt as well, which would be another layer for Steve to wear. He presented everything for Steve's inspection; who just nodded to all the clothes James was showing him.
Bruce led the way back over to Steve and Loki's room, gesturing to one of the closed doors across from where Steve and Loki had taken up residence the night before. "That's the bathroom for this room. Tony keeps them pretty well stocked with things that one might need if they were staying here. Do you want one of us to help you in any way? Shaving? A cleaner haircut?"
Steve tensed again before glancing around the room. He then hesitantly pointed to James as a way of answering Bruce's questions. James gave a quick, yet small smile in return, "'Course I'll help Stevie. Just like old times… yeah?"
Steve just shrugged in answer. When it looked like Steve wasn't going to go into the room first, James pushed open the door and walked in. He set the clothes on the toilet and turned towards his old friend who was closing the door behind them. He took another sip of the broth before hesitantly putting it on the counter away from the sink. He wasn't looking at James and his shoulders were slightly hunched, a look James knew quite well.
"Hey Stevie, it's ok. If you would rather, I can wait outside with Bruce." James said trying to help Steve start to relax some. Steve just took a deep breath before letting it out and forcing himself to relax. He shook his head no in response to his friend's question.
"So, where should we start? Shave?" James asked gently. Steve looked like he had taken a knife to his beard when James had first seen him, but that had been a couple days ago, and it was growing back in haphazardly. He pulled open on the drawers, looking for the shaving supplies. He found a fancy electric razor and a couple of handheld ones. He picked one of the manual ones, not sure how Steve would feel about an electric one and some shaving cream. He gave Steve the cream while he filled the sink with water.
Surprisingly Steve only hesitated a moment before he figured out the shaving cream container on his own. He began applying it to the areas he wanted to shave, using the mirror as he did. James didn't comment when Steve only did parts of his neck, not wanting to remove his jacket or turtleneck to go too low. When he was finished with the cream, James handed him a towel for his hands, then demonstrated how to use the razor on his own cheek, without actually touching it to his face. Again, Steve only hesitated a moment before starting to shave on his own. His moves were a little shaky and his lines weren't quite straight, but it was a good first attempt.
The whole process took about ten minutes before Steve seemed happy with the shave job. James didn't comment, just gave a few words of encouragement here and there throughout.
"Alright Stevie, shower or bath next?" James moved over to the tub to get the supplies ready for Steve. Steve was looking at the tub like it was going to swallow him whole. Clearly it had been a long while since he had a full-on bath or shower- James wasn't sure what they had used in space, if anything. After a moment of consideration James settled on a bath, it was what they had used growing up and would be something familiar for Steve. He didn't fill the tub all the way up, just about halfway. "How about a bath then. Like old times, yeah? Is the temperature alright? We can make it hotter or colder if you want."
James was keeping the water on the hotter side, in an effort to bring up Steve's body temperature, since Bruce said it was dangerously low. Not too hot to be overwhelming though. It was a fine line. Steve slowly brought his hand under the stream to test the temperature, pulling back after the first touch a strange look in his eyes. James was about to say he could turn the temperature down a little when Steve gave a small twitch of his lips into a smile and brought his hand back to the stream of water, fingers curling into the warmth.
When the water was to the depth he wanted, James turned off the faucet, making sure to show Steve how the thing worked (Tony liked to make everything with the highest luxury in mind, which could be mind boggling if you didn't know what all the different levers and such could do), in case Steve wanted more water or if the water got cold. He left the washcloth on the side of the bath and pulled a few towels onto the seat of the toilet before straightening.
"Do you want me to stay?" James asked quietly, although he was pretty sure the answer would be no.
Sure enough, Steve shook his head no in response. James nodded, "Alright. I'll just be right outside with Bruce. Take your time okay? We have all day."
James made his way outside the bathroom, while Steve stood unmoving on his spot. After James closed the door behind himself, Steve waited only a moment before walking over to the door and pushing the locking button. He then moved away from the door, not sure if James or Bruce would try to investigate the move. When nothing happened for a minute Steve began slowly undressing. His ribs were still bruised, so it was a little hard to remove his shirt and jacket, but he managed. The pain was pretty faint compared to other things that had happened and it didn't bother him very much at all.
When he was finished undressing Steve slowly sank into the tub, the water felt wonderful and he took a couple of minutes to just bask in the warmth before he started to wash up. This totally beat the lake he had used near the ruins and the sink he found in the rubble during the invasion.
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"He's been in there a while… do you think he's okay?" James was about ready to knock the door to the bathroom down at this point. Steve had been in there for over a half hour and even with his super hearing he couldn't decipher any sounds coming from the small room. Bruce had to hold him back when Steve had locked the door after James went out, explaining why his friend had probably done it.
"I'm sure he's fine." Said Bruce in as soothing a voice as he could find; although if he was being honest, he was also beginning to worry about the lack of noise coming from the room. Jarvis' privacy settings only allowed for them to know that Steve was in the bathroom and there were no changes to any of his vitals.
There was a bit of shuffling from near the inside of the bathroom door before the handle was carefully unlocked and pulled open. Steve saw how close Bruce and James were, the duo trying to listen in without actually putting their ears up to the door, and froze in place, not leaving the bathroom. With James seeing his friend again in one piece (he was a little concerned with the lack of noise he had heard), he relaxed and stepped a little bit away from the door. Bruce copying the move only a beat later.
Steve was wearing the clothes from James and the Avengers noticed that it was indeed a little big on his smaller frame. The sweats went over his feet some, but not enough to be bothersome, the drawstring pulled as tight as it would go. The sweater was definitely big, especially around the arms and shoulders, where it was pushed up some to not cover Steve's hands. The turtleneck portion of the sweater was unrolled all the way up to Steve's chin. It couldn't be too comfortable, especially if he had a wound there that he wouldn't let them take a look at, but the others didn't comment. He was holding his other clothes, a now empty mug and a pair of scissors. James realized the scissors were probably there so one of them could even out his hair since it was so haphazardly cut.
"Need some help with your hair Steve?" Bruce asked, but made no move to take the scissors. Steve gave a hesitant nod and held the scissors out towards James, whose lips twitched into another small smile as he took the item from his friend. "Just let me get a towel so we don't get hair all over your clothes, okay?"
Steve nodded and moved back into the bathroom. "Here," said Bruce, "let me take the mug and your old clothes. I'll make sure they get washed and returned to you as soon as possible."
There was a moment of hesitance in Steve, before he reluctantly turned over the items Bruce wanted. It was almost like he thought they wouldn't actually be returned to him, but also thought compliance was necessary. Bruce gently handled the clothes, noticing the reluctance from Steve but choosing not to comment. When Steve turned back towards the bathroom, James was ready with a new towel. He directed Steve to the toilet seat, so he could get a good view of his whole head.
"I'm gonna have to buzz cut this Steve, since it's so uneven. That okay with you?" James hardly had the sentence finished before Steve was nodding along with what he said. /Huh. No long hair for him. Wonder why?/ Thought James.
It seemed Steve's time in space had him developing all kinds of odd ticks. Maybe a Shield Specialist wouldn't be as bad as he originally thought.
James carefully began the process of evening out Steve's hair as best he could. The ex-Soviet wasn't much of a barber, but he took his time and made it look semi decent. He also didn't mention any of the angry looking scars on Steve's scalp. Just more pieces to add to the growing puzzle.
When Steve's hair was as even as James could get it, he suggested the three of them head up to the commons floor to relax. James noticed Steve's hesitant glance towards the new art supplies, "Go ahead and bring your sketchbook Stevie, maybe you can get Bruce to pose for you?"
Bruce rolled his eyes at James but didn't deny it. He had taken Steve's clothes to the laundry shoot, with specific instructions to Jarvis on their handle and return. The A.I assured Bruce he would monitor everything carefully. Bruce also went to his lab on the way to the commons floor to grab his Tablet. Perhaps he could get Steve to answer a couple more questions about his time in space.
James and Steve were already in the media room when Bruce was finished with his side trip to the lab. He noticed that Steve was doing a sweep of the room, much like he had the first night in the Tower. He settled on the wall right next to the ceiling to floor windows. He seemed tense, but neither Bruce nor James could figure out why. James looked like he was about to go sit near Steve, but Bruce motioned towards the couches a little way off from where Steve was positioned. It would be better to not crowd Steve if he were uncomfortable. At least on a couch or chair James would be able to be close, without being too close.
The three of them settled in for some drawing (Steve), and reading (James stole the book Natasha had left on the coffee table, Bruce from his tablet) as they waited for the others to finish in the Penthouse.
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Loki followed Tony all the way up to his Penthouse. He remembered the room and the memories surrounding it were strong, even with the scepter's control over him. Tony made a grand gesture, "Well here we are! Get a move on then Gandalf, magic this stuff fixed."
Thor and Natasha leaned against a wall out of the way, neither saying anything just there to make sure everything went the way it was supposed to. Loki refrained from rolling his eyes at Tony as he surveyed the damage done to the room. He figured it was better to start with the window, so he went over there and pulled down the plastic keeping out the elements. He peered down to the ground, head sticking out the window for a moment before reaching his hand out, palm facing down.
Natasha and Tony were confused about what he was doing, but Thor seemed to know what Loki was thinking. Sure enough, within minutes pieces of glass began racing up the side of the building to hover near Loki's hand from where they had fallen in Tony's window dive. When Loki had a large portion of the glass from the original window collected, he brought his hand and head back into the room, shifting his hand around and moving the glass back into place like a giant clear puzzle. There was a look of concentration on Loki's face as he worked and Tony looked like he was going to say something to the God, but Thor shook his head.
Tony sighed, but restrained from making a comment. It took almost forty-five minutes before the window was back in place. At some point during the process it began raining outside, but none of the water made it into the room. Loki was sweating a little, but when he was satisfied with the glass' arrangement he closed his fist, which had the whole window glow for a minute solid. When he opened his fist, the window stopped glowing and was once again a solid piece of glass.
"Huh." Was all Tony could say for a minute. He went over and touched the glass, "Jarvis, did you get all that?"
"Yes, Sir. The data is on your personal server in the workshop." Came Jarvis' prompt reply.
Loki wiped some of the sweat off his brow, taking a moment to breathe deeply and steady himself. If the Avengers noticed, none of them commented, for which Loki was grateful. He didn't like looking weak around people, especially not his brother.
"This is fascinating," said Tony, who was looking over the glass, touching it, tapping it, and knocking against it.
Loki recoiled into the wall with Tony's words; memories of Thanos saying the same thing as he pushed and pushed Loki to his limits and beyond started flowing through Loki's mind like water. His breathing picked up as the memories took over.
"Thor," said Natasha, the first to notice something was wrong with Loki. Both Tony and Thor looked over with her head nod toward where Loki was curled into the wall, hands balling into fists, eyes far away.
Thor walked over to where Loki was, but stopped a few steps away giving his brother space. He knew from past experience that Loki's magic would strike out if Loki felt threatened when he had nightmares, and Thor would treat this the same way. "Loki, brother," Thor began, "we are on Midgard, not the planet you fell to off the Bifröst…"
Thor quietly spoke to Loki, like one would a spooked animal. It took another half hour before Loki uncurled his fists and took a deep breath, seemingly coming back to himself. He looked around the room in confusion, before everything came back at once.
"I… apologize. I didn't mean to get lost in my mind." Was all he said. Tony shrugged and handed him a glass of water, for once not saying anything. Natasha was still leaning against the same spot on the wall, filing her nails and seemingly uninterested in what was happening around the room. Loki knew it was an illusion, but he appreciated the thought from her.
Thor stepped away again, giving his brother more space. He was about to say something when Jarvis interrupted them, "Sir, there is a situation on the common floor. Your presence is required immediately."
"What's up J?" Said Tony, already making his way to the elevator, "more aliens? Shield? The Zombie Apocalypse?"
"No sir," said Jarvis, "Captain Rogers broke through a window with his fist. When Sergeant Barnes and Doctor Banner tried to restrain him, he began fighting back. Doctor Banner has attempted to remove himself from the altercation before he transforms and someone gets hurt."
End Chapter 5