Chapter 9: Off to the Races
It was 5 am Saturday morning, and the Avengers were finally ready for their winter vacation.
Well, almost all of them.
The armoured avenger was still yet to show up, and after multiple attempts at calling his cell, there was still no contact with Tony Stark.
Steve, Clint, Bruce, Thor, Natasha, and even Loki were all seated in the twinjet on the roof, and had been for the past 10 minutes, waiting for Tony to show up. He had no real excuse to be late, and the team was debating over whether to be worried or pissed off that he hadn't showed. Bruce had tried his cell a few times, and it was either off or dead, since he wasn't getting anything.
It was still dark out, and a light dusting of snow was beginning to cover the top of the helicopter pad on the roof where they were all supposed to meet. There was a slight wind and it didn't help being stuck in the cold metal jet at the top of the tower.
A chill ran through cabin and sent shivers down a few of their spines, and finally got a reaction out of one of them.
"Can you please turn on the heat?" asked Natasha, who had just finished strapping down the last of their bags.
Clint was sitting in the cockpit, impatiently waiting for Tony. "Yeah, yeah." he said, flipping on the switch and flinching as the air came out cold. "Will someone please go check on him? I swear, he better be unconscious or I'm going to kick his- "
"I'll get him." Loki volunteered, standing up from his seat in the back. He was only wearing a black long sleeve shirt that Steve had let him borrow, along with the pants he'd managed to save for himself as well. Everyone thought he was crazy but Thor, who was also dressed relatively light for the colder weather.
"Good, go quickly." Clint said, sighing as the air finally turned warm in the front.
He looked behind him and waited until Loki was long gone before he turned to his copilot. "You know, this is weird." he commented, watching as Natasha came and joined him in the front.
"What is?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Being able to trust Loki, to walk around the tower alone. I mean, if he went and killed someone right now, who's fault would that be? Mine?"
Natasha shrugged. "I'm sure you could blame it on Fury somehow. We were told to bring him on vacation. Not babysit him."
Clint sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Not this time at least."
xxx
Loki was making his way quickly, as asked, down the stairs and through the hallway that lead to Tony's room. He felt a slight pain in his back as he took the multiple stairs instead of the elevator and sighed, placing his hand on his hip for the last stair.
Last night, after retrieving his suitcase from Tony, Steve invited him into his room to help him pack. Steve was given a lot of extra clothes when he first was found in the ice, and since then Tony had taken him shopping to get him some more 'modern' clothes, as he had put it. So, he had quite the wardrobe that he didn't use as frequent, and allowed Loki free pick from everything he hadn't packed already.
Loki appreciated Steve's gesture, and decided to go easier on the man. He wasn't picky with his clothes, and mostly stuck with darker colours, and a few undergarments he'd never seen before. Steve insisted they were new though, so he hesitantly placed a few pairs of boxers into his suitcase without any further questions.
Loki had given him a soulful quiet thank you before he began to lug the now somewhat full suitcase out of the room. Before he got completely out though, Steve called out to him and asked if he wanted to stay for a bit and hangout. He knew Loki had nothing to do really without Tony around, and thought it would be a kind enough offer.
Loki had hesitated, and and clenched his fist that didn't have the suitcase occupying it. As much as he hated everyone, and quite frankly, everything, he was beginning to grow a tad more fond of Steve, and the last thing he wanted to do was go into his own room for the night and lay awake for hours.
So, awkwardly turning back on his heel, Loki nodded and Steve smiled.
They'd ended up just chilling in the TV room, flicking through late night talk shows and just conversing with each other. Loki didn't really say much, but he was finding he enjoyed being in the presence of others. Solitude just wouldn't do for him any longer. He'd been alone with his own thoughts for far too long, so hearing someone else's was rather refreshing for the time being.
Even though they all knew they had to be up early the next morning, it didn't stop any of them from staying up pretty late. They said they could sleep on the twinjet anyways, to which Clint pouted and said wasn't fair, since he couldn't sleep.
That didn't stop them though, and not too long after, Clint grumbled away and went into his room to get somewhat of a good sleep.
Natasha felt bad and followed after him, sighing and actually saying goodnight to everyone first.
Bruce, Steve, Thor and Loki stayed up for a little while longer. They'd gotten into talking about some of the things they could be doing at Tony's vacation spot and all ended up just exciting themselves further.
Loki would never admit it, and even though he didn't understand half the terms they were speaking about, he was a little excited too.
It was nearing 12 o'clock when the rest of the team decided to head to bed. Thor was beginning to nod off in his chair, Steve couldn't stop yawning, and Bruce actually took initiative and stood up, telling them all that it would be smart to head to bed.
They all agreed and went off into their separate directions, and Loki even gave a "Goodnight." to them all.
Even Thor.
In the slightly good mood he was in, Loki didn't feel like going up the stairs to Tony's floor and passing the room he knew he was not welcome in, and the other room to which he did not want to feel welcome in.
He knew he couldn't go back into that room and sleep in that bed without having nightmares of when he was taken, and decided that he wouldn't.
He would sleep here. On the couch.
And so he did, which brings us back to now, and the reason for his aching back.
It was nothing horrible, more like a dull ache that was more bothersome than painful. And with his bothersome little ache, he made his way down the corridor and right to Tony's door where he didn't hesitate to bang violently three times against the door.
He didn't care if he was being rude. Tony was late, and being late was rude. So, he knocked another three times, just as hard, before he finally got an answer.
"Mmgah yeah, yeah! I'm coming! Jeez!" Came Tony's reply through the thick wood of the door.
Loki flattened his gaze and debated over saying something or just waiting patiently.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Tony said again, sounding out of breath, and allowing Loki to choose the latter and just stay silent, arms crossed against his chest.
A few seconds later, Tony opened the door and sighed when he saw it was just Loki. "Loks, hey…" he breathed out, sounding rather relieved.
Pepper on the other hand, didn't look as relieved. She was standing directly behind him and Loki swore he could of seen her swallow.
"Everyone's waiting." Loki said flatly, glancing away from the woman behind him to Tony, who was haphazardly dressed in a pair of jeans and a hoodie that looked like it was thrown on in a last minute decision. His hair was mused, and his cheeks slightly flushed, matching the same shade as Pepper's.
Loki decided to assume he was rushing to get ready and she was helping him. That was all.
"Then let's not make them wait any longer, right?" Tony said, clearing his throat and walking into the hallway with Pepper hot on his tail.
Loki sighed and walked alongside him, finding himself unusually perturbed by the man he decided to call his friend.
They made the walk back up to the helicopter pad, Loki's spine clicking on nearly every step, and if Tony or Pepper noticed they didn't say anything.
Finally they got to the top, and sensing Tony and Pepper slowing down, Loki kept walking past them and up the stairs to the jet. He thought Tony would be right behind him, but when he looked back he saw Tony clinging onto Pepper as they shared what seemed to be a rather… passionate moment.
With a very long and heavy sigh, Loki took the last step inside and resumed his original seat in the back, grimacing as his back popped again.
"He's alive?" asked Clint from the front, not sounding any happier than he was before.
"He was occupied." Loki replied, sounding unamused.
"Occupied with what?"
"His girlfriend, I'd assume." Loki said simply.
Bruce sighed at Loki's tone and shook his head.
A few seconds later Tony climbed in, shivering when he got inside, "Whew, someone turn the heat on in here, it's freezing!"
Everyone stared at him unimpressed. "We've been waiting for nearly 20 minutes, what the hell were you doing in there?" huffed Steve, who seemed more than unimpressed by his tardiness.
Tony rolled his eyes and walked past Steve with his suitcase, patting him once on the shoulder. "Nothing you need to worry about gramps." he shot, lifting his case into one of the compartments as Clint started up the engines, making Tony stumble and fall back into his seat.
"Gah, could of at least waited till I sat down?" Tony said, rubbing his hip where he fell right across from Loki.
"Could of shown up on time?" Clint shot back, shaking his head and putting on his headphones, the sign that he was completely done and ready to go. "Next time keep it in your pants or we're gonna leave you behind." he huffed.
Tony smirked at the comment and shrugged, "That's nice Clint, but ah, might I remind you just who's lodge we're going to?" he said with a bit more snark than was good for him.
No one laughed.
Hey guys! Sorry this hasn't been updated in a while, but they're off now! Also, I finally updated my bio after four years, so I've got my Tumblr on there if anyone wants it! Hope you guys are having a great summer!
Thanks! :)
