Natasha was the next to encounter the boy.
"Look to your Hawk for the answers you seek, Lady Spider. I doubt I'm in the mood for your sort of interrogation." The boy's eyes flashed irritably.
"I doubt Clint can tell me how you're adapting."
"And why would you want to know that?" Loki hissed. "You lot have made it quite clear that I am not wanted, and I stay because I have no other choice. My hosts are kind and this fortress is big enough to avoid unneeded trouble."
"Who said you were unwelcome?"
"No one had to tell me, Lady Spider. The look on Thor's face when I first saw him was enough, and your friends made their discomfort rather plain the day before." "I'd say your brother was more surprised than anything. No one told him you were here."
"That still leaves your colleagues." Loki objected. "I don't expect you all to forgive or forget whatever I did before, even though I have yet to figure that out for myself... I've decided that I don't want to know. What's done has been done, and not even the Merchant would dare to go against the Norns' will. I refuse to repeat my mistakes, and I can't do that if I don't know them. Ignorance is bliss, people of Midgard say, yes?"
"Some do." Natasha offered. "And the fact that you said what you did means that you are telling the truth but how do you expect to avoid your mistakes if you don't know what they are?"
Loki froze, eyes wide, and gaped at the female assassin.
"I had not thought of it that way... tell me my tale then, Lady Spider. Everyone else would warp it because they either like me too much or they despise my very presence. I gauge that you are fair enough to give me truth without too much bias."
"You were transported by means of the Tesseract to a SHIELD base, where you kidnapped agents using a staff and collected the cube, leaving the rest to rot. From there, you traveled to Stuttgart, Germany, and disrupted an event by stabbing a man's eye out and attempting to subjugate the audience."
Loki dropped to the floor in howling laughter.
"I am sorry, Lady Spider, but that sounds more like something Thor would do than I. Was there something wrong with me then?"
"We found out later that you were under the influence of the Tesseract and had previously been tortured by Thanos, the one who sent you. We caught you in Stuttgart and took you back to our base, where I proceeded to interrogate you, but you were freed by the agents you stole earlier and set your portal above the Tower." Loki looked devastated.
"I did WHAT?!" He screeched. "Great Norns, strike me now! Why hasn't the Merchant flayed me yet?!" He demanded, horror in his eyes.
"Because he knew that you were not yourself, just like I knew Clint wasn't himself. We have no right to blame anyone but Thanos and his Chitauri." Loki narrowed his eyes, a haunted look on his face.
"Names have power." He muttered darkly.
"So why is it that you keep saying mine?" Tony scoffed from by the doorway.
"You're too good to bother with me, and yet you've opened your home to me, allowed me access to comforts that normal prisoners are not allowed. Is it because I am a son of Queen Frigga?"
"Partly." The engineer admitted. "Also because you are no more a prisoner than Clint deserves to be."
"Is there something you wish to discuss?" Loki asked, abandoning his previous conversation in favor of taking to Tony.
"Yes, but you were speaking with Natasha. By all means, continue." Loki turned his full attention back to the waiting spy.
"I wonder," The child-prince muttered. "What you must think of me, Lady Spider." The female assassin raised a questioning eyebrow, prompting the Trickster to explain. "The Merchant says I am not to be blamed, but Thanos is dead and considering his status as a myth, I don't doubt that you, along with the rest of the Realms, are in need of a scapegoat. "
"People often trust their senses, but what they don't know is that like anything else, senses can be manipulated, and rather easily, in my experience. I saw the results of your torture first-hand when Clint showed much the same signs you did. I drew my own conclusions, same as everyone else. You have nothing to fear from the Avengers, Loki, and those who try to harm you in Asgard are fools."
"Speaking of Asgard, if I may cut in," Natasha nodded.
"I was done." She assured the Merchant. Tony loped over to the couch and sat down, before gesturing for the other two to do the same. /span/p
"A Council has been called, to decide the fate of a man who attempted to assassinate the Light King Freyr. During these Councils, the Realms are asked to send representatives. Midgard has been deemed worthy enough to take part in these proceedings."
"You don't seem very happy about that." Natasha noted.
"It means more pressure on my shoulders than I wish to bear at the moment. I will be considered the representative of Niflheim for the trial, but one must also consider the fact that I reside on Midgard. You are unfamiliar with the ways of the Realms, and I need someone to be as unoffending and unapologetic as possible."
"Phil." Natasha offered.
"Phil?"
"Agent Coulson."
"I know of whom you speak, Lady Spider." He chuckled. "Do you miss your handler?"
"What's there to miss? He's recuperating in Medical. He's exactly the same as we left him."
"Yes, and thank the Norns for that." The Merchant of Death chuckled ironically.
"I imagine you ran into some trouble, trying to bring a dead man back to life." The Black Widow offered.
"It was not his time and I do not say that lightly."
"So, he'll be coming with us? Do you think he's well enough?"
"I think that there's nothing anyone can do to stop him if he wishes to accompany us to Asgard and speak for the Avengers. Certainly none of us are qualified."
"So it's settled, then. When do we leave?"
"A few days from now."
"I'll tell the others."