It took a while, but I still hope you like it :) ENJOY!

Chapter 19

"What do you mean: I can't leave!" Loki shouted furiously while pacing up and down the living room above Stark's lab. Outside, the sky had turned dark red while the sun set. Thor, who was sitting in a couch facing the windows sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Please, Loki! Try to understand! SHIELD is downstairs! We just can't leave the building…"

"Since when do you care about people standing in your way?"

"Since I have a family who is not immortal!" Thor shouted while getting on his feet. "We may be God's, but Jane and Frigga can be killed by a bullet, Loki!"

Loki wanted to shout that they didn't need to get in danger, but he knew that Jane and especially Frigga would never just stay inside and do nothing…

The young king sighed and threw his hands in the air.

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"You'll stay here until I find a way to get out! Even when they leave, SHIELD will keep a close eye on every step I take. And they won't hesitate to kill you and everyone who tries to protect you!"

"I don't need protection and I don't think SHIELD is capable of killing me…" Loki said with a scowl. Thor shook his head.

"You don't know that…"

"I thought the Avengers and SHIELD were Best Friends Forever…" Loki interrupted with a grin.

"SHIELD is not only Fury…" Thor said, ignoring Loki's sarcasm. The young king scowled when he heard Fury's name. He rather disliked the guy…

It stayed silent for a couple of minutes. Loki sighed and sat down on a couch next to Thor.

"So I'm just supposed to sit here and do nothing!"

Thor nodded, but his brother still didn't seem convinced.

"Asgard needs a king! I need to go back now!"

Thor groaned. "Why do you suddenly want to go back so badly? I mean.. I know you want to go back, but why are you in such a rush? Today or tomorrow… What is the difference…"

Loki scowled. He honestly didn't know why either… but that didn't really matter!
"I don't know… I just have this weird feeling something is wrong… on Asgard…"

Thor pulled up his eyebrows. "Wrong? I think we would have known if something was wrong… Heimdall would have told us…"

Loki frowned. "Yes.. I got that too, but still… I mean… Why didn't Heimdall open the Bifröst when I was about to die after I absorbed all the Tesseract Energy? I know he doesn't really like me, but to let me die… I'm still his king! And I was a danger to everyone and I'm sure that we would have found an easier way to get the Energy out on Asgard…"

Thor thought about that for a moment. He had to admit it was weird indeed.

"Maybe he thought that it wasn't safe to allow more Tesseract Energy on Asgard…" The God of Thunder tried, but Loki immediately shook his head.

"That's possible, but absurd due the circumstances… And he could at least have send a team of healers down… something is wrong, I'm telling you!"

At that moment, Tony, accompanied by Bruce and Pepper walked in. The billionaire had probably never looked more irritated in his life, not to mention a little embarrassed because of the huge Band-Aid on his nose. Pepper, who hadn't really 'met' the God of Mischief yet, quickly inspected the young king. Honestly, from her point of view he didn't look that dangerous at all, but she knew better than anyone that appearances were deceptive.

"Wow… What a improvement…" Loki sneered when he saw Tony's face. The billionaire scowled, which seemed to hurt even more.

"Get out of my chair, Reindeer Games!" he said harshly. Loki smirked and made himself more comfortable, putting his feet on the cushions. Tony's cheek hardened, which only entertained the God of Mischief even more.

"What are you gonna do, metal man?" Loki asked, just before a pillow hit his face. The young king looked up at Thor and threw the pillow back.

"What is it with you and pillows, brother?"

"What is it with you and pillows in your face, brother?" Thor answered while catching the pillow.

"That", Tony started again, while pointing at the young king, "has to leave! Right! Now!"

Thor sighed. "He can't go anywhere, Tony… not with SHIELD following our every move…"

"I don't care! He's not staying here!" Stark shouted furiously. Thor shared a look with Pepper and Bruce, but both of them clearly hoped Loki would leave too.

"He is staying here!" he said after a couple of seconds. "It's just for a couple of days, at most!"

"Bullshit! SHIELD waits forever if necessary…"

"Tony! Loki stays here, unless you want to bring everyone here in danger! Stark Tower is the safest place in New York at the moment!" Thor interrupted.

Stark wanted to say something back, but he was rather flattered by the comment about his tower being the safest place so he shut up. Loki got up from the couch with one swift movement and walked over to Tony.

"Seems like where going to be stuck here together for a little while longer…" he said while passing by the billionaire with the most innocent smile possible on his face. "I'm sure it's going to be fun!"

Stark clenched his teeth together to stop himself from replying and just waited until Loki had left the room.

"Is he going to be such pain in the arse all of the time?" he asked irritated. Thor nodded compassionately and sighed.

-xxx-

Loki strolled in another living room where he spotted Jane and Frigga talking on the couch. They seemed to be doing some kind of game with their hands, because they kept clapping them together while singing a funny song. The young king couldn't keep a small smile of his face when he saw his niece's happy face. She'd clearly put the incidents of today behind her.

Lost in thought, Loki didn't see someone getting nearer. Before he knew it, he felt a strong hand grabbing his clothes and dragging him behind a corner. Surprisedly blinking with his eyes, Loki adjusted to the little light. Agent Romanoff was standing in front of him, obviously not very amused. Loki smiled his usual sneer.

"Agent Romanoff… never realised you cared… how nice of you to pick a darker spot…"

Natasha pushed Loki harder against the wall.

"Don't you ever think I believe a word of all that crap!"

"A bit more specific? There are lot of crappy people in this building…" Loki answered nonchalantly.

Natasha took a deep breath and reminded herself that she probably wouldn't win a fight from a God.
"Thor thinks the Tesseract was controlling you during the Battle of New York, but I know what I saw… You're just a crazy freak!"

Loki smirked and raised his hand to softly loosen Agent Romanoff's grip.

"I take it you don't trust me… Tell me, why don't you just run to your friends downstairs… I'm sure they'll be happy to have you on their side…"

"I stay here because of the others…" Natasha started furiously, but the young king interrupted almost immediately.

"Since when do you care about anyone but yourself and your murderer friends…"

Natasha clenched her teeth together. "Don't test me, you bastard!"

Loki smiled. "Or what? What are you going to do? Kill me? Because that's what you so good at, right?"

Agent Romanoff swallowed. She didn't easily break, but Loki seemed to know exactly what hurt her… The young king continued. His smile disappeared and made place for the serious, slightly creepy expression he only used when he had to make a point crystal-clear.

"I don't care what you think of me, Agent Romanoff… I don't care how much you threaten me or what you say… You don't trust me? Fine! I don't expect anything less from a ruthless assassin!"

Natasha took a step back. She was reminded of her first talk with Loki. Even though she had been pretending, Loki had been one of the first to actually hurt and scare her. Now she just didn't seem capable of holding up very long in his presence anymore.

Loki looked the woman in front of him straight in the eyes until she looked away. Afterwards he just left her alone in the dark corner, completely overthrown and confused.

-xxx-

Loki sighed irritated.

Humans…he thought in disgust. When are they going to learn that they can't get to me!

Back in the living room, he found Frigga sleeping in her mother's arms. Loki looked outside. He hadn't realised what time it was. It had been a long day. Only a few hours ago he had been eating donuts at the boring Tourist office… And now…

Again a weird feeling struck the young king's mind. A sense of worry and even a little bit of panic. He didn't know why, but he really felt like something was terribly wrong on Asgard as if someone had told him, but Loki was sure no one could have told him that…

Loki walked over to the windows and looked down. Deep down in the dark street he could see the black SHIELD cars putting on their headlights. In the sky two helicopters were still flying around the tower. Loki sighed. He knew Thor was right… he was stuck…

The young king turned around and saw Jane getting on her feet, carrying a sleeping Frigga.

"I'm gonna put this one in bed…" Jane said when she noticed Loki looking at her. The young king nodded vaguely. He wasn't really paying attention. All he could think of were the horrifying nightmares Frigga would suffer from this night.

-xxx-

The cup went up in the air and fell back into Loki's hand. Up it went, and down again, every time reflecting the sunshine peeping through the clouds above New York and throwing dancing sparkles on the walls and furniture. Up and down… Up and down… Up and down… Up an…

"Loki!"

Loki sighed and caught the cup once more while letting his head rest on the back of the couch so he see who had disturbed his perfectly boring day.

"What?" he asked while watching Thor enter the living room.

It had been four days already. Four days locked up in Stark Tower. Four days of barely sleeping nor eating. Four days of boring misery… SHIELD had left on the morning of the second day, but Thor had been right that SHIELD wouldn't leave them alone, because Jarvis detected an undercover Agent or sniper every ten minutes.

Thor said down on the couch. Loki ignored him and started throwing the cup up and down again.

"Have you eaten already?" Thor asked after a short silence. He knew Loki tried to avoid the others as much as possible and that involved not appearing at breakfast or any meal for that matter. Loki never seemed to move from the couch. He just sat there when Thor woke up and he still hadn't moved when the night fell. Thor wondered if his brother was still not fully healed after the Tesseract.

Loki didn't answer the question, but just kept staring out of the window. Thor sighed.

"You should at least eat something, Loki…" he said silently. The cup fell to the ground.

"I'm not hungry…" Loki said without picking it up again. He still hadn't looked at his brother.

Loki knew Thor hadn't come because he was worried. There had to be something else. Normally Loki would have made some sarcastic remark about it, but now he wasn't really in the mood. He was way too tired… Frigga wasn't the only one suffering from horrible nightmares…

"I actually was hoping you could help me out with something…" Thor eventually said. He waited for Loki to respond, but his brother kept ignoring him.

"Jane and Frigga want to go home…"

Loki smirked and turned to his brother. "Oh really? Me too…"

Thor ignored Loki and kept on talking. "I want you to put an illusion on them so they can leave Stark Tower until they are home…"

"You want me to turn them invisible, you mean?" Loki asked. Thor nodded.

"Since when am I allowed to leave?" the young king asked.

Thor shook his head. "You're not! I know you can control illusions from a distance… you're staying here…"

Loki straightened his back. "What? You're asking me to let them leave! But I have to stay here, while I actually can leave!"

Thor groaned and rubbed his forehead. He'd been scared Loki would respond like this.

"Loki… Frigga has to go home. And in a couple of days she has to go to school again! We can't keep lying about her whereabouts…"

"What have you been telling them now?"

"That she's in the hospital because she was in shock…"

"Frigga is in shock!" Loki said between clenched teeth.

"Exactly! That's why she has to go home, so she can put her mind off things!"

"But why can't I go! Why would they be permitted to leave and I not!" Loki cried out. He knew he was acting like a child, but staying in this tower with that imbecil of a Stark, that Romanoff woman and that irritating piece of scientist that kept staring at him was driving him mad!

"Loki! SHIELD is everywhere! If they as much as see you, they shoot you and everyone around you…"

Loki wanted to shout that he would go alone in that case, but he knew that was an absolute no-go, so he kept his mouth shut.

Thor knew his brother was angry, but what else could he do? Honestly, he didn't really know what he was doing at all. Jane had needed a couple of hours to convince her husband that they had to leave too.

"They're leaving tonight..." Thor said after a couple of seconds. Again, he waited for Loki to confirm, but the young king was ignoring him again, so he sighed and got to his feet.

Loki waited until Thor had left the room before letting go of his breath. How he hated all this!

It's better for Frigga…he kept telling himself to keep any other thought from his head.

-xxx-

"Aaaaah! What's happening!" Frigga called out when the ground started to shake. Loki grabbed her arm just in time. He looked around, just as an unbearably high peep filled the air.

In the distance, Frigga could see the scared face of Erik Selvig.
"Everybody! Get on the ground!" the scientist shouted. Frigga looked up while the people around her screamed. She'd never seen Loki so scared.

Loki looked down. He knew what he would see: the scared eyes of his niece…

Except that he didn't! Not this time…

Frigga suddenly seemed angry, disappointed and betrayed. "You promised you would take care of me! That you would protect me!" she said in a harsh voice. Loki frowned.

"But I am!" he said, but the little girl shook her head.

"You're just a monster like everyone said! All you're good at is destroying cities and getting people killed!"

Loki wanted to answer when he suddenly heard the most irritating voice he'd ever heard. The young king turned around. The people behind the robe had disappeared and made place for… SpongeBob Squarepants who seemed to be chasing jellyfish while laughing his irritating laugh.

What was that talking sponge doing here? Loki turned to Frigga to ask her, but Frigga was gone. Instead he saw two small boxes. One was bright blue, the other red… The Tesseract and the Aether. Loki looked up. His surroundings had changed. He was no longer on Earth… The grey hills of Svartalfheim made the two boxes look even brighter. A little bit further, to his right Loki saw someone he'd least expected in place like this. The Allfather…

Odin stared at his stepson, his armour and sceptre glowing in the little light.

"Now you have all the power you desire, my son!" Odin said in a low voice.

"I don't want …" Loki started, wondering how it was possible that Odin was here, but the Allfather just kept on talking.

"… But all power comes with a price. I'm glad you understand that, Loki…"

The young king blinked confusedly. "What are you talking about? What price?" he heard himself say when he suddenly noticed someone was standing behind him. Loki turned around and saw Frigga with behind her Malekith who held up Loki's sceptre. Before Loki could do anything Malekith struck Frigga hard in the back. The young king watched the blade cutting through Frigga's small body. Her high pitched scream of agony drowned his own scream…

Loki woke up and only just managed not to scream. He felt his heart beat out of his chest, his longs were doing overtime and he was completely covered in sweat. Another nightmare… And this time even that awful sponge had been there! Loki tried to get his breathing under control while he slowly sank back into the pillows of the couch.

Frigga and Jane had left the evening before. All Loki had to do was concentrate on the two until Jane would call to tell them they had arrived at home. Everything had gone swimmingly. SHIELD hadn't noticed anything or didn't care. The weird thing was that Thor had decided to join his wife and daughter at the last minute. Loki had been too tired and angry to ask why, but now he was wondering what Thor had been up to.
Honestly, Loki had been glad when Jarvis had told him he could drop the illusion. The Tesseract Energy had clearly taken its toll.

Loki got up from the couch and walked over to the window while trying to calm down. Outside he could see the first sunrays peek over the horizon. Lost in thought, the young king stared to the dark blue sky, wondering about Asgard. Over the days he had grown more and more anxious, which didn't really help. If only he could remember why he was so concerned, but every time the young king tried to remember he found nothing but darkness and – for some unknown reason – a kind, friendly, great, warm feeling.

A sudden sound woke Loki from his thoughts.

"Good morning, sir…" Jarvis voice sounded. Loki looked around to make sure the computer was talking him and not Stark or anyone else.

Loki turned. He actually quite liked the computer, not that he would admit it of course. But Jarvis just turned out to be the only one who didn't seem to have any judgement about him.

"Thor has asked me to tell you that he wants to return to Stark Tower. Shall I inform him you are awake?"

Loki frowned. Thor wanted to return so quickly? Why?

"Did he mention what he was doing?" Loki asked.

"I'm afraid not, sir. My apologies…"

Loki thought about that for a moment. Maybe he was just imagining things. Maybe Thor just wanted to make sure his family was safe.

"I noticed a raise in your heartbeat and breathing, sir. I can only assume you suffered from a nightmare. If you let me, I could recommend some treatment against…" Jarvis voice continued , but Loki quickly cut the computer off.

"Shut up! Not necessary! Just call him, will you!"

Jarvis turned quiet for a second as if he was affected by Loki's interruption.

"Off course, sir…"

A second later Loki could hear the monotone tones of the phone. He waited patiently until someone would pick it up. Just when he thought no one would, Thor answered the phone.

"What?" a tired voice sounded from the other end.

"Had a good night sleep, brother?" Loki asked with a grin.

"Loki? Have you any idea what time it is?" Thor answered angrily.

"I thought you wanted Jarvis to tell me of your expected return the moment I woke up…" Loki said innocently.

A deep sigh sounded from the other side of the line. "Why are you… Never mind… give me five minutes…"

A loud click told Loki Thor had hung up. The young king couldn't keep smile of his face.

Ten minutes later Thor called back to tell Loki he was ready after ignoring his brother's remark about his timing. So Loki concentrated on Thor until his brother landed on the balcony two minutes later.

The God of Thunder walked in the living room and put down Mjölnir while trying to supress an enormous yawn. Loki was sitting in the couch as usual. Thor sighed.

"I haven't had breakfast yet…" he said, hoping Loki would understand the hint. Because his brother didn't react he walked over to the couch.

"The least you can do for calling me out of bed so early is having breakfast with me…"

Loki looked up. He wanted to ask Thor what he had been up to, so he decided that having breakfast wasn't that bad of an idea. After all, he hadn't really had a proper meal in days.

"All right…" the young king said. Thor nodded and disappeared to the kitchen. Loki got to his feet and followed his brother. Just before he left the room he turned around, before realising he didn't really knew where to look or speak.

"Eeeer… Jarvis?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes, sir?" the computer immediately answered from nowhere in particular.

"Eeer.. Don't you tell anyone anything about those nightmares!"

"Not a word, sir…"

"Especially not to Thor…"

"As you wish, sir…" the loyal computer answered.

Loki didn't really know what to say next, so he just nodded and left the room.

So I hope you liked it! :)

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