Another heads up, I like to incorporate the music that I was currently listening to while writing into my writing, so you'll see that in this chapter. And I also want to say: Please don't be afraid to criticize my writing! I've never been very good at writing and I'm pretty sure I'm REAL bad at characterization; especially since I really don't know much about any of the other characters besides Iron Man, Spider-Man, Cap and Thor. SO, if there is anything you guys don't like, just let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. On that note…I kinda wanna turn this into a love-triangle story…but not sure if should… Any thoughts?
When Loki first awoke he believed that the past day HAD been a dream. At first glance he was in Thor's room, and at the moment he was being crushed by the weight of said snoring Thunder God. He attempted to push Thor off and the fact that he couldn't even budge Thor convinced him again that nothing had been a dream. He groaned loudly. After a minute of trying to squirm out from under Thor he began smacking Thor in the face and pulling his ears.
"Get OFF!" he yelled. Thor snorted and rolled over, freeing Loki.
Loki made his way to the bathroom and groaned again at his reflection in the mirror. It was VERY accurate to say that he had an Afro of fiery curls framing his face. He took a quick shower and braided his hair as tightly as possible in an attempt to gain control over it. He then headed for the living room to see who else was awake, but stopped in the hall when he heard Nick Fury speaking,
"Look, I don't care if you're having fun with your little charity case he's not getting off Scott-free." Nick was saying. There was a groan from another person that had to be Tony. "He tried to dominate all of Earth, Stark. Not to mention his thousands of other schemes. You really wanna let him off?"
"Aww com'on man, he's completely harmless now." Tony's voice sounded like he was talking about a lost cat he just rescued.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's playing your little game perfectly, because it'll benefit him. And after you get him his powers back, he's gonna fry your ass and be right back where he started." Nick had raised his voice just a bit at the end.
"Not if you give him a chance." Tony's voice was very soft.
"A chance at what?" Fury was actually shouted, sounding thoroughly annoyed, and Loki winced.
"OH, I don't know, FRIENDSHIP!" Tony yelled back. "Maybe if we make the effort to be friends with him he won't hate us anymore." He finished calmly. Fury was looking at him like he had grown another head,
"No. I want him in prison. He has to pay. And a couple of years'll do him good." Fury finally responded.
"OH YEAAAH, that'll work! What do you think you're gonna do? Slap his hand and put him in time-out? Tell him he was a bad boy? HE'S A FUCKING PRINCE AND A GOD! He's used to getting away with whatever he wants! He'll laugh at you AND THEN hold a grudge against you!" Tony wasn't even trying to keep his voice down, "You're only gonna piss him off more and make everything worse!" He paused, finally taking a deep breath and calming down, "LOOK. Trust me." He spoke very firmly, "That approach WILL NOT work with Loki. We have to try something else." Fury regarded Tony very carefully before he spoke again,
"Why do you care so much?" he asked softly.
"Because *I* don't believe he's evil! And everyone deserves friendship." Tony's voice was heavy with emotion and finality, "And forgiveness." Fury shook his head,
"I'm sorry Stark. I can't do it. I can't just let him go."
"Well, I'm not letting you lock him up." Tony crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. Fury sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose,
"If there's anything I've learned it's that arguing with you is hopeless…"he mumbled and Tony nodded victoriously,
"FINE. But you're taking the blunt for him." Nick said pointing at Tony.
"Oh, what, you're gonna lock ME up now?" Tony sounded incredulous.
"No." Fury paused to think for a minute, "I'm putting you in rehab."
"WHAAAT?" Tony was appalled by the very thought.
"You're a suicidal alcoholic, Stark."
"So, what, like 6 months?" Tony shrugged.
"Try 5 years." Tony couldn't even respond to that, so Nick continued, "And that's the final deal. It's you or him. So would you like me to arrest him now and be out of your hair? Cause we both know you won't go into rehabilitation." Nick's tone made it obvious that he thought he'd finally won this argument.
"NO. You've got a deal. I'll do it." Tony answered with no hesitation at all. Now it was Fury's turn to look surprised,
"You're joking, right?"
"Nope. What, ya want me to pinky promise? Do the secret handshake? Sign a contract? What?" Tony shrugged. Nick shook his head again,
"You're a fool if you really think you're gonna change him." He sighed in defeat, "I'll send an agent over later with a contract for you to sign." And with that he headed for the door.
"Yeah, it's been nice talking to ya." Tony waved at him with absolute sarcasm. Loki waited till Tony was relaxing on the couch again before he stepped into the room. He hesitated, making sure his face or voice wouldn't give away that he'd been eavesdropping. He cleared his throat softly,
"Good morning." He said and instantly regretted it because he'd sounded too cheery. But Tony didn't seem to notice, he just smiled at Loki,
"Mornin' carrot top! How'd ya sleep?" he patted the couch as to offer Loki a seat. Loki glared at him,
"First of all, don't call me that, ANTHONY." He put heavy emphasis on the name. Tony winced and made a face at the sound of his full name and Loki smiled, "And secondly, I slept rather well underneath my blanket of Thor." At that Tony laughed,
"He never gives you any room does he? Siblings can be smothering." He spoke in a very friendly tone, hoping to not anger Loki by talking about his brother. Loki simply hummed in agreement.
"Hey but look on the brightside," Tony put on a big grin, "At least you know he loves you." Loki was looking at the floor,
"Yes…well," he looked suddenly uncomfortable, "What's for breakfast?" he finally asked. Tony chuckled.
"Whatever you want." He waved in the direction of the kitchen. Loki rose to his feet,
"Well perhaps you should educate me in the ways of Midgardian breakfast?" he gave a small smile, to let Tony know he wasn't angry or anything.
"Oh! Sure!" Tony hopped up excitedly and led Loki into the kitchen, "Let's see…" he began rummaging through a cupboard, "There's always Thor's favorite, Pop-Tarts." He put a box unto the counter, "Then there's cereal…toaster waffles…" he put said items unto the counter as he named them, "OR!" he suddenly spun around to face Loki with a huge grin, "I could make you an omelet!"
Loki looked speculative, "You cook?" he raised an eyebrow at Tony.
"Yeah! Well…just omelets. It's all I ever learned. I lived off omelets for quite a while once." He confessed. "Want me to teach you how to make one?" Tony offered. After a minute Loki shrugged,
"Sure. What the hell." He came to stand by the stove as Tony put away the boxes of food he'd removed earlier,
"Awesome! Just let me put on some tunes. I always work better with music." He typed something into a keypad on a nearby wall and music began playing. A beautiful female voice sang between heavy guitars and fast drums. Loki liked it. Tony was putting ingredients unto the counter by the stove,
"…the cool thing with omelets is that you can put whatever you want in them." He was saying.
"What are we listening to?" Loki asked him, and Tony spoke from inside the fridge,
"Huh? OH. Um…the band is called Nightwish, they're European or something, and the song is The Siren." Tony answered absently. Loki just nodded. Tony finished retrieving all possible ingredients and rubbed his hands together while looking at the selection upon the countertop,
"Ok. SOOO, what do you think you'd want in yours?" he looked at Loki. Loki moved to stand next to him and peer down at the ensemble of vegetables and cheese. He carefully grabbed a few things and placed them next to each other, then shoved all the other ingredients away.
"Hmm. I like a guy who knows what he wants." Tony said with a laugh, then took out a big, sharp knife and held it out to Loki,
"You dice up your ingredients while I make my omelet, then I'll show you what to do for yours. K?" Loki made a face at the realization that Tony was telling him what to do, but gentle took the knife anyways and smiled wickedly,
"You trust me with this weapon?" He teased. Tony chuckled again,
"I think if you wanted to kill me you would have done it already."
"Perhaps I want to mentally torture you first?" Loki spoke while placing a tomato on the cutting board.
"HAH! Good luck! I don't think you could do anymore damage in that area." Tony responded, he was stirring his eggs in a bowl with a whisk, he paused to watch Loki slice the tomato. Long nimble fingers were barely touching, yet firm, and the knife went through like it was on hot butter. Tony shook his head in disbelief, even as a mortal man Loki was still godly perfection. Tony did a double take as he suddenly realized Loki was still wearing HIS clothes, and DAMN that Jack Daniel's tee had never looked better. Tony found himself wondering what his shirt would smell like now, or rather what Loki smelled like ON his shirt. Loki was chopping up a few green onions now and humming along with the music, he glanced at Tony in confusion,
"Are you going to cook that?" He nodded to the bowl of egg that was still in Tony's hands; Tony looked down at the bowl,
"Oh…yeah…" He clicked the stove on and placed a pan down upon it.
"What are we listening to now?" Loki asked as he resumed chopping.
"Garbage." Tony said nonchalantly.
"Well if you don't like it then why do you listen to it?" Loki was giving him a look. Tony laughed,
"No no no! Garbage is the actual name of the band." He explained and Loki just nodded in understanding. A comfortable silence fell between them as Loki continued cutting and Tony watched his egg cooking. Every few minutes Loki peered at Tony from the corner of his eye, but Tony was still just staring at his egg in the pan. Loki couldn't even begin to fathom why Tony would sacrifice himself for Loki's benefit. Did he think he could gain something from Loki? Or take advantage of him in his current state of being? Loki shook his head in confusion; Tony couldn't REALLY just want to be friends, that was ridiculous. So what was his ulterior motive?
"Hey check this out." Tony said as he picked the pan up off the stove, egg still cooking inside it, "Watch how awesome I am." He wiggled his eyebrows in excitement. With a soft movement of his wrist he slid the egg around in the pan then quickly threw his arm forward and Loki watched as the egg flew into the air, turned over once, and landed safely back in the pan. Tony gave him a huge smile, "Tah DUH!" he said triumphantly.
"Nicely done." Loki commented with a smile. Tony finished adorning his omelet with cheese then slid it onto a plate. He put the pan back on the stove and dropped some more butter into it.
"Ready?" he asked Loki and Loki nodded. Tony grabbed the same mixing bowl he'd used earlier,
"Ok. I've found that it makes it easier to just mix everything together first. So crack an egg or two in here then drop in as much of your ingredients as you want, and beat it with this whisk," He put the bowl and whisk on the counter in front of Loki. Loki easily complied and Tony just leaned against the counter and watched him. He was only slightly shocked to learn that Loki could crack an egg with only one hand, his left hand Tony noted, was there anything those long fingers couldn't do? Tony vaguely realized that Loki's finger reminded him of spider's legs, and that sent a shiver through him, he hated spiders. He realized Loki was looking at him now,
"OH. Finished?" He asked. Loki just nodded and stepped out of the way so Tony could show him what to do next. Tony grabbed a spatula and spread the butter around in the pan, then poured Loki's egg mix into the pan while Loki watched over his shoulder. They stayed like that quietly till the egg was almost completely cooked, then Tony held the pan out to Loki and smiled,
"Wanna try it?" there was a daring glint in his brown eyes. Loki gently took the handle and held the pan over the stove. It had looked easy enough, so why not? He did his best to mimic Tony's previous movements, but unfortunately ended in a completely different way. The egg hit the edge of the pan and half of it landed on the stove. Tony started laughing like a loud idiot and Loki glared at him like death. Tony took the pan back when he'd finally stopped cackling,
"No problem, it happens to everyone at least once." He said between giggles, "Well it seems we found something that Loki can't do." He began laughing out loud again as he flipped the remains of the omelet unto a plate. He looked to his right as he saw Loki picking up his plate,
"Hey what are you…?" He began to ask, but dropped his jaw in astonishment as he watched Loki suddenly chop his omelet in half and drop one half into the sink, then smile like a mischievous little shit.
"Now were even." He said in a cheery tune. Tony couldn't help but laugh again,
"You're a vindictive bitch, you know that?" he said while placing their plates across from each other on the kitchen island. Loki sat down and popped a bite of egg into his mouth before answering,
"You shouldn't have laughed at me."
"I wasn't laughing *at* you…" Tony was still giggling, "OK, maybe a little." Loki couldn't find it in himself to be actually mad, he was having too much fun, but he would never admit that to anyone. So he just smiled to himself. Tony made them some toast with jam as well and they ate in silence, neither one knowing what to talk about. Clint and Steve came in laughing together about something. Clint poured himself a cup of coffee before addressing Tony and Loki,
"Hey. What was all the yelling earlier? Fury making a house call?" he sipped his coffee. Tony was nodding,
"Yeah. He was being a real jerk too. Sorry if it woke anybody." He spoke with a mouth full of toast. Thor came in and grabbed a cup of coffee and a Pop-Tart, then sat next to Loki,
"Good morning, Brother!" He shouted in uncontrolled excitement, Loki winced at Thor,
"Must you be so damn loud and cheery first thing in the morning?" he hissed. Thor made a face,
"Sorry." He whispered. Steve cleared his throat to hush them,
"SO, what was it that Nick and you were yelling about?" He asked Tony. Tony was putting his plate in the sink and pouring himself more coffee,
"Well," he spoke with hesitation, not sure how to say it without hurting Loki's feelings or something, "He still thinks that since Loki doesn't have any powers right now that it's a perfect time to lock him up and try to teach him a lesson." He didn't look at Loki while he spoke. Steve waved a hand, ushering him to continue,
"And you said…"
"I said no!" Tony shrugged, "I don't think it's fair. And besides, I don't think Nick really cares that much. I'm pretty sure somebody is nagging at him, telling him that he can't allow it or some shit like that. Probably Coulson." Clint nodded in agreement.
"Actually, it was me." Steve said casually. Everyone looked at him suddenly,
"What? Why would you do that?" Tony sounded very hurt. Steve shrugged,
"Because Tony, the law's the law," he stepped closer to Tony, "If Victor von Doom suddenly lost all his powers, we wouldn't let him in here with open arms and tell him he can be part of the group."
"There is a HUGE difference between Loki and Doom." Tony was pointing angrily at Steve, Steve looked incredulous,
"What difference? Please, enlighten me!" He said.
"Loki's not evil! He's just…having a bad time…in life." Tony couldn't think of how to say what he was trying to say. Steve was shaking his head,
"Haven't you ever heard the saying: the road to Hell is paved with good intentions?" he said softly, "I have nothing personal against Loki. Whether his intentions were good or not doesn't matter; a criminal is still a criminal."
"So you still want him locked up?" Tony was getting furious. Loki thought maybe Tony cared a little too much about all this.
"I want him to do time, yes." Steve said. Peter, Bruce, and Natasha all came into the kitchen suddenly,
"YO." Peter said, "What is with all the yelling today?" Bruce and Natasha were nodding. Tony huffed at them,
"Ya know what? I'm glad you're all here," He turned back to Steve, "Let's vote on it." Tony demanded. Steve rolled his eyes in exasperation,
"We are not voting on matters of upholding the law." Steve said. Tony crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows,
"Why not? 'Fraid you'll lose?" He dared. Steve glared at him,
"FINE." He said then turned to face everyone else in the room, "Tony and I are arguing about Loki and whether or not he should serve jail time for his crimes in the past," he explained, "I say he should, but Tony thinks he should be given a pass and a second chance. Those who agree with me please stand by me, and those who agree with Tony go stand next to him." The others all looked at one another in confusion and hesitation, but slowly made their way to stand by who they choose. In the end it was a tie; Thor obviously choose to forgive Loki, and Peter stood rather defiantly beside Tony. Natasha was by Steve and Clint was only there because he was on Natasha's side. But Bruce hadn't made a decision. They were all looking at him.
"Bruce." Steve urged, and Bruce sighed dramatically.
"Guys, can we not fight. I hate choosing sides." He whined.
"No, you have to pick a side." Steve ordered. Loki saw Bruce's eyes flash green for a second,
"I really don't want to." He said. Clint spoke out,
"Wait, does Bruce get to vote twice, since his like two different peop…."
"Shut up Clint." Steve growled, then smiled back at Bruce, "Please?" he begged. Bruce made a face in rebellion,
"No. I refuse to go along with this." He said. This time Tony spoke,
"Then does Hulk have an opinion? Cause we really need to settle this." Bruce rolled his eyes,
"Alright." He sighed and began removing his nice white lab coat and shoes. Then Loki watched in rapt horrification as Bruce turned bright green and "Hulked-out" right in front of him. Hulk didn't look the least bit interested, but he looked back and forth between the two groups for a few minutes, then snorted,
"Hulk no like girly-man who throw fire in his face." He simply commented as he went to stand by Steve. Steve grinned in victory,
"Thank you, Hulk. I appreciate that." He said. Tony's face was red with anger,
"FINE!" He threw his hands up dramatically, "But I'm not doing rehab now! Since you're just gonna lock him up anyways!" He shouted. Natasha gestured to Peter,
"Piotr, why are you on his side?" She inquired. Peter looked startled for a second,
"I don't know, man! I like Loki." He said. Loki laughed to himself; we've barely ever spoke, he thought.
"So, you're willing to just let him get away him everything he's done…because you "like him"?" Steve narrowed his eyes at Peter.
"Let bygones be bygones? I mean, do you know how many second chances I've given Venom? And I still consider Eddie Brock my friend. He's not evil, he just has a hungry alien always yelling at him, and he can't control it all the time. Maybe Loki's like that? He's just been hurt and he loses control? Or maybe he's just looking for attention. Who hasn't done shit for attention in their life?" Peter shrugged. Tony cocked an eyebrow at Peter,
"The Venom analogy was terrible…but we get your point. Thank you." He mumbled. Loki cleared his throat gently,
"Might I get to vote?" he asked no one in particular.
"Of course, Br…" Thor began to speak but Steve interrupted him,
"NO. Why would you be allowed to vote?" It was a rhetorical question. Loki smiled softly at him,
"Because I might surprise you." He answered anyways.
"Let him speak!" Tony barked at Steve, and Steve just glared back at him. Loki took a deep breathe,
"I agree with Steven." He said. Steve and Tony started yelling at each other, Thor and Peter tried getting Loki to reconsider, and Natasha began shouting at Steve and Tony to stop fighting; all this happened instantaneously. Loki folded his hands in his lap and waited. Hulk put his hands over his ears and groaned in annoyance, he then suddenly roared and everyone fell silent. Loki looked at all of them with raised eyebrows,
"Are you quite finished?" he asked. No one spoke so he continued, "Good. Then I shall explain my reasoning," he paused, thinking of the best way to put his thoughts together, "I feel…that, perhaps, this unfortunate accident, has happened to me for a reason. A good reason; an opportunity," He paused again to see if he still held all of their attention, "An opportunity…to change." His eyebrows pulled together and his shoulders suddenly slumped. Tony frowned. A great sadness was in Loki's eyes now, and he looked…defeated.
"I spent a lot of time just this morning thinking about things. And, I suppose, I had an epiphany. I realized just how alone I really am. Asgard is lost to me; I shall never be welcome there again, and I know it. But Earth…Earth is always changing, unlike Asgard which has been the same since the dawn of time, and I think there is hope for me on Earth. I don't want to be hated anymore!" He looked at them with a sudden determination and, much to their surprise, tears rolling down his face. He threw his hand out in Thor's direction, "I want my Brother back! I want a home! And friends! And I don't want to die ALONE!" He cried. He put a hand over his eyes and recomposed himself for a minute, "But, I will not just take those things." He spoke very softly, almost a whisper, "I wish to earn them. And I will do what is necessary, to make me OK in your eyes." He looked directly at Steve as he said this, "SO, I will accept whatever punishment you see fit, and I will earn my place anew." He was smiling at them now. No one could really say anything for a while. Steve scratched the back of his neck nervously,
"WELL, maybe, you won't have to go to jail…maybe just…a therapist, and a parole officer or something. And some community service." He mumbled uncomfortably then he pointed a finger at Loki, "And you're doing ALL the choirs while you stay here!" he said firmly, "And whatever else I decide on." Loki smiled and nodded,
"Of course." Was all he said. Steve looked very thrown off by this,
"Ok. Well…um…good." He tried to put on his authority face, "I'm glad to see you taking responsibility for your actions." He said. Loki's smile widen for a second, then fell,
"You still plan on helping me get my powers back, right?" there was a sliver of desperation in his voice.
"Absolutely!" Tony said, he walked around the kitchen island and put an arm around Loki's shoulders, "Don't worry about it! I'm gonna get on that right away." He promised. The Hulk grunted,
"Hulk forgive girly-man for throwing fire at him." He said then stuck a big, green finger against Loki's chest, "But you no do it again!" he shouted in Loki's face, then gave Loki a look of annoyance, "And you no cry. Hulk hate crying." He grumbled as he left the room. The others all laughed. Tony glanced at Natasha, and the look on her face made it obvious that she didn't believe Loki's little display of emotion,
"Something wrong?" Tony asked with a lance of frustration in his voice. She glared at him,
"Yes. How do we know we can trust him at all? Powers or no powers, he's still a liar." She spoke with a lot of hostility as she focused her gaze on Loki. Loki tried not to squirm away from her. Tony stepped closer to Natasha and got her attention,
"You wanna know how to find out if you can trust someone?" He said, "You just trust them. And if they betray you in the end, WELL, then I guess you can't trust them." He shrugged. Natasha looked at him like he was some babbling idiot,
"And you are willing to take that chance?" She asked,
"Absolutely. I did it with you." He pointed at her, "And him." He pointed at Thor, "And Clint, and Hulk." He pointed at Clint and then in the direction of the living room. "And I'll do it with him." He pointed at Loki last. Natasha's face softened, she couldn't really argue his point. She never thought anyone would ever trust her again, but now she had all these friends who not only trusted her, but depended on her in battle. She nodded, and smiled in understanding. Tony smiled back. Peter let out a long breath,
"Way too much drama up in this house…" he mumbled, Clint was nodding,
" Yeah. Now that THAT'S over…" he said then looked at Peter, "Mortal Kombat?" he said with a snap of his fingers and a big grin at Peter. Peter laughed,
"You know it!" he high-fived Clint and the two left the room together.
"BROTHER!" Thor suddenly swept Loki up into a bone-crushing hug and kissed his cheek. Loki grimaced at Thor's beard against his skin. "This is all so wonderful!" Thor continued shouting in excitement, "Can you imagine? After we get your powers back, you and I shall fight alongside each other, just like when we were younger!" He was nuzzling Loki. Tony cracked up,
"Woah, big guy! Easy there, you're gonna break 'im." He said while patting Thor's shoulder. Thor put Loki down in surprise,
"Oh, of course. Forgive me, Loki. I forgot." He spoke while gingerly straightening Loki's attire. Loki winced slightly but was smiling,
"That's alright." In honesty, part of him had really missed Thor's ridiculously enthusiastic affection. Tony suddenly snapped his fingers with determination,
"I know EXACTLY who to ask for help…" he mumbled to himself before running out the door and down to his workshop. Thor and Loki shrugged at each other in confusion then went into the living room to join them others.