Disclaimer: I do now own any of the Marvel characters. The Avengers was written by Joss Whedon, movie transcript taken from the website Scribd. If you know it, I do now own it.
*"Dani Califorinia" written by Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis, and Chad Smith
So Much to Discover
But I like to keep some things to myself / I like to keep my issues drawn
-Florence & The Machine, "Shake It Out"
The Helicarrier bridge was rather…smug. It toadied the fact it was a technological wonder, filled with little worker drones to carry out the whims of whoever was actually in charge of SHEILD at the end of the day— that faceless group of people known as the Council. (Loki had over heard Fury having a heated conversation with this faceless group before leaving for India. They were not happy with Loki's involvement since the enemy shared his face and showed up at the same time.)
"Gentlemen," Fury greeted as Rogers, Banner and Loki approached him on the bridge.
Rogers gazed around with a look of awe and for some reason handed Fury ten dollars. Banner looked at Loki, question in his eyes. Loki shrugged, having no idea what that interchange had been about. Fury's expression was smug as he pocketed the bill.
"Doctor," Fury greeted, hand extended towards Banner. Banner eyed the hand, but reluctantly took it. "Thank you for coming."
"Thanks for asking nicely," Banner allowed, glancing at Loki. "So, uh…how long am I staying?"
"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're free," Fury said, as they dropped hands. He lanced his fingers together behind his back and stood with his feet parted hip distance and looked down at Banner through his one good eye.
"Where are you with that?" Banner asked, shifting a little in discomfort and not looking at Fury.
Fury turned his eye to Loki. Loki looked over Fury's shoulder to the smaller man in a black suit approaching. He was reading a file folder, which he looked up from as he joined the group.
"We're sweeping everything wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," Agent Coulson said, looking at Rogers. It seemed to be too much for the man, as he didn't finish giving them the information. Banner looked to Coulson, waiting for what else the man had to say.
"They are looking everywhere they can get eyes and ears," Loki finished.
Coulson nodded, eyeing Loki for a moment before turning his attention back to Rogers.
"That's still not gonna find them in time," Romanov insisted, staring a computer screen behind Fury which displayed Barton's face. It was running a program searching for any CCTV cameras that had picked up his image.
The last known sighting of the man had been at a gas station in Floydada, Texas. That had been over forty-eight hours ago.
"Why can't you just tell us where the cube is?"
She glared at Loki.
"I do not know where he went," Loki reminded her. "I do not have a homing beacon on the man. There is no script to follow, no place he must be. The only thing I am sure of, what he did before he will not do this time. Upon taking Jessica, the game changed."
Romanov blankly stared at Loki. To anyone else, she was expressionless and unfeeling but Loki saw a minor shift in her eyes.
She felt sympathy for him, as Clint was in the same situation as Jess, thus Loki and Romanov were in the same boat.
In a sense.
"Have you narrowed the field?" Banner asked. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"
"How many are there?" Fury countered.
Banner thought for a moment. He looked away and ran a hand through his already messy hair.
"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"
"Romanov, would you show Doctor Banner where his lab is?" Fury commanded.
Romanov nodded curtly and walked off. Banner turned to Loki. By the set of the man's face, Loki knew he was not about to follow the redhead without Loki by his side. Loki nodded and glanced at Fury. Fury rolled his eye, turning his attention to Rogers.
Loki wanted to linger, so he left.
"You're gonna love it," Romanov insisted when Banner and Loki had caught up with her. "We got all the toys."
"I don't doubt it," Banner muttered.
Loki trailed behind them as they made their way to the lab. Romanov opened the door and waited for the two to enter. She explained to Banner he pretty much had free-rein with any lab equipment and if he needed anything to let her know. She turned on her heel and left. Loki sat down on a stool and stared blankly at the computer screen.
"She's afraid of me," Banner stated flatly.
"Fool," Loki muttered.
"Or she's iffy on you," Banner countered. "I think the fact you…well, seem to know things she doesn't irks her."
"I look like the man who took her partner away," Loki replied. "And I do know things she does not. Quite a bit. Side effect of several centuries old."
Banner let out an amused snort.
"What do you think his next move will be?" Banner asked, eyes on a tablet he had found somewhere. "I mean, even if you don't outright know…why does she think that?"
"From what I told Fury to get him get him to not shoot me in the face," Loki replied. "As you know, I'm not of this world. I spent time in a universe I only existed within fiction. This fiction told the story we're currently living with some differences."
"What?" Banner asked, setting the tablet on the steel table in front of Loki.
"It'll make sense later. He will need iridium."
"Uh, why?"
"Stabilization?" Loki tried, face crumpling in thought. He turned to face a nearby computer. "So the portal he wishes to create with the Tesseract won't collapse. Can you create a search for that as well? Or I could do it if you explain the algorithms you are going to use for the gamma radiation."
Loki looked away from the monitor to find Banner studying him carefully. Banner wanted the full story— details, the same details Romanov was desperate for that Loki was still withholding in favor of telling the tale once when everyone was together. Fury knew most of the tale, but only enough to trust Loki enough not to kill and enslave the world.
Banner, though, was not an idiot, so he asked, "Where'd he get it before?"
"Somewhere in Germany," Loki replied, smiling at Banner. "Barton claimed the Tesseract told him his next target."
Banner frowned. "The cube talks?"
"Oh, they all think it speaks to them," Loki replied. "Selvig thought for weeks it was speaking to him. I am sure RG thinks this as well. I've been working with the Tesseract and have yet to hear it speaking."
Banner frowned and continued to poke the tablet. He handed it to Loki, who smiled and began to create a program to find all the storage areas for iridium over the world. The two worked in compatible silence for a few hours.
"If you're not of this world, how come you understand our world's science and math so easily?" Banner asked.
"I learned," Loki stated as there was an explosion of activity somewhere in the Hellicarrier. Banner set the tablet down.
"What is going on?"
"I believe they found your evil twin," Banner said, peering out the large window that overlooked the bridge.
Loki turned away from the tablet he had been using and tapped the computer screen in front of him. Sure enough, after a little digging, he found the image that had set forth the flurry of commotion. He turned the screen towards Banner, who moved closer to see.
"Wow. That's him?" Banner asked, cleaning his glasses then pushing them back on his face. "I can see you two do look a like. But…"
"He looks insane?"
"No. Tired. I was going to go with tired," Banner offered. "He's not exactly hiding, is he?"
"No. He wishes to be found," Loki replied.
Fury burst into the room, making Banner stumble backwards.
"So you know. What's he doing?" Fury demanded.
"What he did the first time," Loki admitted, flicking the image off the screen with his index finger. "I don't understand why, though. He knows we will know what he is up to."
"Is this distraction for likely the same reason?"
"Yes and no. He will know we know what he needs," Loki reminded the man. "He should also know we've got people at every single source of iridium all over the world."
"We've locked down and removed all iridium from our locations, but we're not the only people out there who hold samples of it," Fury said, having already known iridium was needed. "Did you do something about the other sources?"
"I might have," Loki admitted, holding the tablet out he'd been working on for the past two hours.
Fury sighed, taking the tablet and flicking through what Loki had done. "Who is he going after in Germany?"
"I never paid attention to who he took the eyeball from," Loki admitted. Banner cringed. "I never thought the movie to come to life, Director."
"They're still planning to use Stark Tower," Fury announced.
Loki frowned. "How do you know?"
"Not an idiot," Fury snapped. "There's a few strange things going on. Here look at this."
Fury turned one of the monitors to Loki and Banner. It showed a map of United States of America. There were several huge storms off the East Coast, a huge rain cloud above Los Angeles, a snow storm brewing in the mountains near Denver, and the temperature was dropping in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Atlanta at an alarming rate.
"What's he up to?" Fury demanded.
"Creating chaos with weather?" Loki hazarded.
"Why? If he needs to use Stark Tower, why is he making all this crazy ass weather? People are panicking. New York City is being evacuated, the entire state of Texas is freaking out, Los Angeles is a mess, and Chicago seems to think it's going to get blown up."
"What?" Banner asked.
"There have been several bomb threats called in," Fury reported. "The Loop has been evacuated for hours."
"Well, when he opens the portal and allows the army in, there won't be many civilian causalities," Loki offered.
"Is the weather real?" Banner asked, eyeing the huge hurricane coming at New York City.
"That's the thing," Fury said, flicking the map with his finger to show a map that looked perfectly normal.
"There's no weather disasters," Banner murmured.
"Nope. Just a bunch of panicked people," Fury announced. "So, what's he doing?"
"What we do best," Loki chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "Creating chaos in order to distract you from whatever he's actually doing."
Fury looked, well, furious.
"Are you sending Captain Rogers out after RG?" Loki asked.
"Asgard? Yes. I want you to go along. Suit up."
"No."
Fury put both hands on the table between himself and Loki and leaned forward, sticking his nose into Loki's personal space.
"You will go. End of story," Fury ordered. He whirled around, his leather trench coat flaring.
Loki cursed under his breath.
"Why don't you want to go?"
Loki slowly stood up, closing his eyes. He could feel his armor within Jess's magicked bag. He reached out and summoned it. It appeared in a heap at his feet.
Loki cursed again.
"What did you just do?"
"Summoned my armor from the bag Jessica carries," Loki explained. "Cannot go into battle without ones armor."
"I take it you didn't want it to land in a heap at your feet?" Banner hazarded.
Loki didn't answer, simply gathered the mess up and frowned.
"What?"
"The magic has been drained from it," he stated flatly.
"Does that mean it won't work?"
"No. But…where did it go?"
"It?"
"The magic."
"Your evil twin?"
Loki shook his head. He would feel that if that were the case. Instead, he felt nothing. None of his magic, no tainted magic. The heap of leather, cloth and metal felt just like leather, cloth and metal.
"So, uh, that's why it landed in a heap?"
Loki curtly nodded. He strode out of the room.
Robbin' on a bank in the state of Indiana / She's a runner, rebel and a stunner / Oh her merry way sayin' baby whatcha gonna do
-Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Dani California"
Clint sat on the roof and noticed a cloud of dust on the horizon. Soon, he heard the whine of an expensive sports car engine. Straightening, Clint drew his bow (he'd obtained a new one—not as good as the one he'd left behind, but it was working).
The car turned down the dusty road leading to the farmhouse. Clint remained where he was, arrow at the ready. The car, a white Audi R8, came to a squealing stop right in front of the farmhouse and the door flew open.
"Yo! Clint! You can go at ease or whatever," called the man who'd gotten out of the car.
Clint didn't lower his bow.
"Agent Barton," came Loki's voice from below.
Clint lowered the bow.
"Please come down. You will be leaving shortly," Loki said, appearing next to the white sports car.
Clint climbed down, slinging his bow over his shoulder and joined the man (who appeared to be Tony Stark) and Loki at the car. Clint frowned as he got closer and felt there was something off about Stark. He was moving wrong.
"Agent Barton, you and Jessica will head to California ahead of the Selvig and the others," Loki stated.
"Where's Jessica?" Clint ventured to ask.
"Right here," Stark said happily.
Clint stared at Stark, noticing the green-blue. Clint was pretty sure Stark didn't have light colored eyes, but he wasn't sure. But, if Jessica had turned herself into Stark that would explain what was off about him.
"I will be leaving shortly to draw the Avengers out," Loki went on. "I will let Jessica know when it is time for you to come get me."
Clint nodded. Loki vanished into thin air. Clint turned to Stark/Jessica.
"All right, in you get," Stark/Jessica said, opening the door and getting back into the car.
Clint followed, feeling wrong footed.
"Oh, don't look so put out," Stark/Jessica stated. "It's all part of the plan. You know they know what Reindeer Games had originally planned because of Data. So, we're just changing up the plan. We need an arc reactor, right? Guess where there are a ton of arc reactors and the juice to power them?"
"Everyone knows Stark Tower in NYC is powered by the most powerful arc reactor," Clint stated.
"Exactly," Stark/Jessica said, gunning the engine. "So, we're going where they won't expect us to go. California here we come!"
Clint hung of for dear life as Jessica/Stark tore down the dirt road at a hundred miles an hour.
"Won't Stark notice if you break into his house looking like him?" Clint hollered over the noise of the engine as she raced down the road.
"He'll be too busy to notice us in LA!" Stark/Jessica yelled back. "Locutus and I got it all worked out."
She tapped her head.
"Okay," Clint said, all the while that stupid voice in the back of his mind yelling and screaming at him. He gave into the voice for a second when he asked, "What did…how…are you Stark?"
"Magic. Do I really look like him?" Stark/Jessica asked, looking at him with an expression that looked quite out of place on Stark's face.
"Yeah. It's freaky."
"Cool. I sound and look like me to myself," Stark/Jessica stated, glancing in the review mirror. "Anyways, Jarvis will recognize my voice, or Stark's voice, so it'll let me in and give me access. Locutus has also gifted me some mojo in order to get passed security and stuff to get into Stark's lab. Once we're there, we'll need to get all the crap together. I've got a list. By the time we get that, the scientists will arrive and they can set up the other stuff."
"Okay," Clint agreed. "When do we go get Loki?"
"Like he said. He'll let me know. He's creating a distraction right now to get Stark's attention at the right moment. If he's busy fighting our wonderful leader, he won't notice us busting into his Malibu home."
She cackled (again, sounding wrong coming out of Stark), and gunned the car again as she hit smooth pavement.
Clint was going to die in a car crash— he was sure of it.
This is the face that stones you cold / This is the moment that needs to breathe / These are the claws that scratch these wounds
-Metallica, "Some Kind of Monster"
"You look uneasy," Rogers said, eyeing Loki.
Loki looked over at Rogers, all dressed up in his brand new (Coulson designed) Captain America costume.
It was distracting. Loki blankly stared at the center of the man's chest, right at the huge, white star. He focused on it for a moment, trying to get a hold on his wandering, conflicted mind.
"I am," Loki allowed, cocking his head to the side, sight still trained on the star.
Rogers shifting, causing the star to move. Loki dragged his eyes upwards to the man's face.
"Why? Doesn't he already know all about you?"
Loki looked away, staring blankly across to the other side of the plane. For some unknown reason, Rogers had sat next to Loki. He had the entire plane, but chose the seat next to Loki.
Why was he seated next to Loki?
"That is not why I am uneasy, Captain," Loki truthfully said.
It was part of the reason, but mostly he was uneasy because Rogers was next to him in that blasted outfit. In person. Rogers in person was so much worse than Rogers on a television.
"Are we walking into a trap?"
"I'm sure we are," Loki sardonically drawled, turning his head back to Rogers.
Captain America looked uneasy now. He rubbed the back of his neck and finally took his blue eyes off Loki.
Loki felt himself sag.
"While I am sure we won't learn anything from him, Fury still wishes to obtain the man and question him. And so into the trap we will go," Loki said, false cheer in his tone.
"Loki is uneasy for another reason," Romanov announced from the front of the plane over the com link they all had shoved in their ears. "Thor is supposed to show up."
"Oh. Your brother," Rogers remembered. He looked baffled for a moment. "Why are you uneasy about your brother? Won't you be glad to see him?"
"Last time I saw him I fell into the abyss," Loki flatly said, turning away from the wide, blue eyes. "Last time I saw him…I was quite unlike I am currently."
He was broken, angry, mad, desperate and filled with self-loathing the last time he'd faced Thor. He had done and said things he deeply regretted.
But, that was not the reason for his unease. He was looking forward to seeing Thor again— mostly due to the fact he wanted to see Thor's face when faced with two Lokis.
"There seems to be a situation," Romanov interrupted, her tone of voice indicating her slight puzzlement at the situation.
Rogers stood up, grabbing his patriotic shield and strode towards the cock-pit.
"Loki Number Two is attempting to subjugate Germany," Romanov dryly reported.
"The entire country?" Rogers asked, looking mind boggled. "And why is it always Germany?"
"No, just a plaza. He's also in London, Paris, Prague, Stockholm and Copenhagen."
"How?" Rogers asked. "And which one do we go to?"
Rogers turned and looked at Loki, who rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together.
"Which city is central?" Loki asked.
"What do you mean? You mean in the middle of all the locations he's currently popping up at?"
"Yes, Romanov."
"Copenhagen."
"And that is where he is."
"Do I even want to know?" Rogers asked, peering at Loki with a quirked eyebrow.
"He's using illusions and magic," Loki explained.
Rogers looked intrigued and retook the seat next to Loki. His interest caught Loki by surprised. Even after the interest Jess had shown, it still astounded Loki if someone was interested in the subject of magic.
"So, what is he doing exactly? Can you…you feel it? I heard you talking to Bruce about your armor…and how it lacked your magic," Rogers explained, blushing a little. "Can you feel the other you?"
"No. I can't currently feel him, but he'd projecting over a great distance. He needs to somewhere central to have any sort of control over the projections," Loki explained. "He likely went to all the cities, left some sort of crystal to channel his magic. He is likely still weak from whatever he'd been through."
"Is that good?"
"He will be not be that hard to capture."
"To Copenhagen," Romanov said, turning the plane. Rogers clung onto the seat in order to not crash into Loki as the plane sharply banked. It still did almost no good and the solid form of Captain America crashed into Loki.
"Sorry," Rogers apologized.
"It's quite fine, Captain," Loki assured as the two men righted themselves.
Twenty minutes later, Romanov landed and let Loki and Rogers out. As soon as they were clear of the plane, Loki grabbed Roger's by the wrist (ignoring the odd feeling that shot through him at the contact) and transported them to Amalienborg Castle, where RG was waiting. Sure enough, RG sat atop the statue in the middle of the plaza. Anyone who had found themselves in the plaza on that long, summer night was kneeling in the square, heads pressed to the bricks. RG was spinning his specter in his hand and staring blankly at the sky above him, monologuing about how freedom was horrible and how the mortals would relish when he was finally king of the world.
"Loki!" Steve shouted, weaving his way through the crowd.
"Ah, Captain America!" RG crowed, swinging his legs over the horse and jumping down off the statue. He landed with a dull thud before straightening up to his full height.
RG looked better than he did the last time Loki had laid eyes upon him. He was dressed in full battle gear, which looked massively different from the armor Loki wore. It still was clearly influence by Asgardian standards but RG had added his own flair, thus making it his own all together. The helmet that adorned his head had much longer horns than Loki remembered the helmet he'd lost having.
RG was over compensating for something.
"I'm so glad you could make it," RG continued. He twirled the scepter in his hands as he jumped over the fence surrounding the horse statue. The crowd he had subjugated began to whisper amongst themselves. "SILENCE!"
The crowd fell silent, clearly frightened.
"Loki, stop this," Rogers went on. "Let them go."
"Why would I ever do that, Captain? I am here to rule," RG said, still spinning the scepter. The crowd had clearly seen what it could do, as they all shuddered as RG breezed passed. Loki scanned the area for the injured or dead, but found none. "The bright lure of freedom diminishes ones life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. I am here to free the world from this— I bring freedom, I bring peace. Do you not see?"
Loki moved behind Rogers, masking himself in shadows as to not alarm the people in the square. RG was so focused on Rogers, he failed to feel Loki or notice the use of magic before him.
"Nope. Can't say I do," Rogers snapped.
RG sighed, finally reaching Rogers. He stopped twirling the scepter. "The soldier. A man out of time. Tragic story. Did you miss out on love?"
"I'm not the one out of time," Rogers calmly said.
"Must we fight?"
"I don't know, must we?"
"I don't know either," RG drawled, looking over his shoulder. "Where's my double? I know he is here. I can feel him."
Rogers did not respond. RG leant forward, something gleeful appearing in his expression.
"Oh, what's this?"
"My face."
"The stories it tells, my good Captain."
"Well, I hope they're good," Rogers calmly replied.
"Oh, they are," RG said, stepping even closer to Rogers.
Loki moved closer to Rogers, glaring at his double. His double looked up, right to where Loki stood.
"Oh, there you are," RG said, waving his hand. Loki felt a ripple flow over him and knew he was now visible.
The gasps of the crowd helped as well.
"Why, hello. I do not believe we've properly met," RG drawled, pointing the specter between Rogers and Loki.
"Can't say we have," Loki agreed. "I'm Loki."
"I am Loki of Asgard and I am—"
"If you say you're burdened with glorious purpose again, I will shoot your eye out," Loki snapped.
"So, if I say I am burdened with glorious—" the man paused for an insanely long time before finishing. "Justification? Ambition? Dedication? Porpoises?"
"Porpoises?" Rogers asked, lowering the shield a little from where he'd held it in front of him ready to toss at RG.
"You do know what those are, don't you captain?" RG asked, sighing over dramatically. "Shall we fight?"
"Sure."
RG twirled around and shot a combination of knives and energy blasts at Loki and Rogers, causing the pair to dive in two different directions.
Rogers swung his shield from where he'd fallen, hitting RG in the side of the head, sending the man flying backwards as the noise of two metals clashing rang through the square. The crowd, realizing they could scatter, quickly began screaming and running. RG roared, flying at Rogers. The two met and fought.
Rogers ended up being thrown almost clear across the square. Loki managed to cushion his crash to the ground while he attempted to keep civilians out of the way of the battle. He turned to move a child when suddenly he found himself face to face with himself. He shoved his fist through the projection and found the entire square filled with RG doubles.
He also realized as his hand went through the projection the spell RG used to keep himself hidden from Hemidall was still going strong.
Loki cursed rather colorfully.
"Loki, what the hell are you doing?" Romanov demanded over the radio as the roar of the Quinjet's engines sounded in the square.
"Oh, I don't know," Loki admitted, punching through another projection of RG in his anger.
"Subdue him!"
"Captain America is doing a fine job keeping his attention," Loki tried.
"YOU CAN DO IT FASTER!" Romanov shouted.
"I'm waiting for Stark," Loki hissed.
In truth, Loki was unweaving the masking spell he'd put on himself in order to get Thor's attention. If Hemidall couldn't see what was happening, Thor would never show up. If Thor didn't show up, well, Loki didn't want to think about what might happen if Thor did not show up. If push came to shove, Loki wanted Thor's strength on the Avenger's side.
As Loki undid the spell while RG and Rogers duked it out, Loki noticed RG smirking.
Loki cursed again.
"He planned on this!"
"Planned what?" Romanov asked, sounding annoyed.
"For me to drop my spell and him to keep his!" Loki hissed, upset he'd failed to realize this before.
Loki let out a few more choice words.
"I have no idea what spell you're talking about, but help out Captain America!"
"I AM!" Loki shouted, running through the line of RGs who were all cackling.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the night air was filled with some sort of loud noise that must have been someone's idea of music. Loki stopped moving and noticed RG's face. He had a smug look upon his face as he met Roger's shield with his staff blow for blow.
Loki's mind scrambled for why RG would be pleased that Stark had arrived.
No matter, Loki finished undoing his spell with a twist of his wrist then reached into the empty space between the realms he used as storage.
RG knew what he was up to and it was Loki's turn to smirk.
"No!" RG shouted.
Out of the empty space, Loki pulled out an old magical staff and used it to end the spell hiding RG from Hemidall.
"Did you miss me, Agent Romanov?" came a male voice over the radio along with the noise as RG roared in outrage.
RG went to whack Rogers upside the head (Rogers was staring at Iron Man) and blast Loki off the ground, but Iron Man acted quicker. RG went flying backwards as the force of whatever the weapon Iron Man used hit him in the middle of the chest. RG rammed into the fence around the horse statue in the center of the plaza. Iron Man flew over and hovered above RG, held both hands out, and said, "Make your move, Reindeer Games."
"OH!" Rogers suddenly shouted. "The helmet looks like antlers! I get it now!"
"HEMINDALL!" Loki roared, looking up into the orange and pink stained sky. "SEND DOWN THOR PLEASE!"
"WHOA! There's two of them!" Stark shouted, pointing a hand at Loki.
"That one is with us. The not reindeer," Rogers quickly clarified.
Loki noticed that when Iron Man had blasted RG, he'd lost the specter. Loki thrust his own staff back into the empty storage space between realms and swiftly picked up the Crazy Inducing Staff. He slowly turned it over in his hands, studying it carefully. He could feel the tainted magic. It trickled through his veins and he felt it begin to grip his heart. Loki quickly threw it at Rogers. Rogers caught it, dropping his own shield in surprise.
"Why'd you throw this at me?"
"You're heart is good," Loki said, shuddering.
Rogers frowned, looking down at the staff in his hands.
"Is anyone going to explain what the hell is going on?" Stark demanded, landing in front of RG, still pointing his hands at both Loki and RG. "This was not in the reading."
"I surrender," RG said, putting both hands up and his armor materializing away.
"Good move," Stark snarked. "What about you, GQ?"
Loki quirked an eyebrow. He did not materialize his armor away (mostly because he couldn't).
"I believe the Captain said I was with you," Loki replied. "We will wait for Thor."
RG hissed angrily.
"Why?" Stark demanded.
"Oh, because I think a family reunion was called for," Loki said, glaring down at his double.
His double scowled and glared back. "He's not my family."
"Oh, but he is," Loki snarked.
"Is anyone ever going to tell me what's going on?" Stark demanded with more force. "Why are there two Lokis? Why are we here? What is with that staff gramps got? Mostly, why the hell are there two deranged demigods?"
"I am not deranged."
"Nor am I. And I am a god, not a demigod."
"He is deranged," Loki assured.
Stark let out a frustrated noise.
This vacation's useless / These white pills aren't kind / I've given a lot of thought on this thirteen hour drive
-Box Car Racer, "There Is"
"California rest in pace, simultaneous release, California show your teeth, she's my priestess, I'm your priest, yeah, yeah, yeah!"
Clint had been in the car for almost sixteen hours.
It had been a very LONG sixteen hours.
Slogging through LA traffic towards Malibu, Clint was wishing he had stronger pain pills for the massive headache he had been growing since New Mexico and Stark/Jessica had discovered Stark's collection of rock music. While she didn't know the words, she still sung along.
Stark couldn't sing.
He didn't know if Jessica could sing.
Then she'd finally gone to sleep, till she woke up when they hit California. Since they'd hit California, she'd taken to listening to music she actually knew the words to— mostly songs having to do with California. Where she was finding these songs, Clint had no desire to figure out.
"Oh."
"What?" Clint said, turning down the radio.
The lack of music was sweet.
Clint wasn't sure how he was still awake, as he hadn't slept for the first seven hours when Jessica drove (like a maniac) through the desert the night before. The last nine hours he'd been driving while Stark/Jessica slept.
Till she woke up and started singing about California.
"He's started. Crap," Stark/Jessica said, knitting his/her eyebrows together.
It was an odd expression on Stark's face.
"We're still an hour out."
"Yeah. What did he start?"
"Part five," she replied. Or he replied. Clint wasn't even sure anymore. "SHEILD is on their way to get him, so he's started subjugating the European cities with his illusions. Can I drive?"
"We're in a traffic jam."
Stark/Jessica leveled him a look that made him unbuckle his belt.
While sitting in traffic, the pair managed to switch seats. Stark/Jessica wiggled her fingers before the wheel for a moment, inching forward in the traffic before she cranked up the radio, took a hard turn to the left and began to zoom along on the shoulder. Clint held on for dear life while Stark/Jessica went back to belting out the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
"Oh, to actually be Tony Stark," she laughed loudly as "Dani California" ended and another song started.
Somehow, they did not get pulled over by the cops nor did they crash and die a fiery death. Soon, they were zooming through the clear roads of Malibu towards the mansion where Stark spent most of his time before he began building Stark Tower. When they reached the gates, Stark/Jessica hit a button on the wheel of the car and said, "Jarvis, I'm home!"
"Sir, I thought you were on your way to Denmark?" a British accented voice asked over the speaker system.
"Nope. I'm here. Look!"
Stark/Jessica wiggled her fingers again, though this time some sort of green light came out.
"Welcome home, sir," the voice said, sounding warm and welcoming.
And the gates opened.
Jessica drove like a maniac down the drive and pulled around in front of the door. She/he grinned at Clint as she/he put the car into park.
"Ready?"
"No clue," Clint admitted, the voice in the back of his head shouting loudly about something.
Stark/Jessica jumped out of the car and slammed the door. She walked up the front steps and into the house, moving as if she was actually Stark and owned the joint. She was moving more like Stark. If Clint hadn't known she wasn't actually Stark, he'd be none the wiser.
"Ah, feels good to be home. Jarvis, whacha got for me?"
The voice began to go over whatever the hell Stark felt was important to be informed upon reaching home. Clint moved carefully, scouting out the joint, looking for weak spots, strong holds, and other dangers. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Stark/Jessica move over to a control panel and began to hit buttons. More greenish light flowed out of her fingers and she grinned.
"Thanks, Jarvis. You're a doll," Jessica/Stark said. "I'm gonna go to the lab. Get it ready for me, yeah?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did you do?" Clint asked, inching over to her.
"Isolated the Jarvis here," she replied. "Stark will notice, but not till he gets back to the Hellicarrier with Locutus."
Jessica vanished down the stairs into the lower level. Clint moved towards the living room and stood by the window.
It was a major weak point. It was a picture window. Clint hated picture windows when he wanted to protect. When he wanted an easy shot at a target, he loved picture windows.
Clint looked passed the balcony and out to the deep blue sea that spread out before him. The voice in the back of his head that kind of hated him and continued to belittle him for the choices he was making. The voice was most upset about the fact they had broken into Stark's house and were going to allow the portal to be built on the roof.
Roof.
Clint quickly opened the door to the balcony and made his way up to the roof. He found a flat bit that was perfect.
"Sir?"
Clint jumped.
"Sir, Master Stark wishes for you to greet the envoy that will be arriving shortly and show them what you've discovered," the voice said.
"Er, okay," Clint said, wondering where the voice had come from on the roof. "You're kind of creepy."
"I have heard, sir," the voice replied.
Shaking his head, Clint climbed back down.
Your faith in me brings me to tears / Even after all these years / And it pains me so much to tell / That you don't know me that well
-Nelly Furtado, "I'm Like a Bird"
Loki watched the sky. They were still in the square in Copenhagen. Natasha had brought the Quinjet and landed it in the square and loaded RG into the back. He was currently cuffed to his seat with Stark and Rogers watching him while having a discussion with Fury over the radio.
"I don't like it," came Roger's voice.
"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Stark asked.
Loki ignored them, watching the gathering storm clouds. Thunder began to roll and the noise crawled over Loki's skin.
"Loki said we were walking into a trap," Rogers explained.
"What?" Stark squeaked.
RG should have snorted there. Bragged. Made some sort of sarcastic comment. Instead, he remained silent. Loki turned around to see what was going on to find RG watching him with a guarded expression.
"He wanted us to capture him," Rogers argued.
The thunder and lightening began to pick up. RG tensed up, fear creeping into his expression.
"Why?" Stark asked. "I hate playing catch up. Fury, I thought you gave me everything!"
"Sorry, Stark. Figured we needed to keep some information to ourselves," Fury said over the radio.
"Yeah, like the fact we're dealing with Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dee?"
"They are not twins," Rogers pointed out for the hundredth time.
"Then what are they? Clones? They just didn't know it. I think Wired Al wrote a song about that."
Lighting struck closer to the square.
"Loki, you might want to come inside," Rogers called out.
Loki heard him walk from the front of the plane to the open hatch. Stark was also on the move, making more noise due to his metal suit.
"What's wrong?" Rogers asked, appearing at Loki's shoulder.
"I will be fine, Captain," Loki assured, tossing a smile over his shoulder at Rogers.
Stark had stopped in front of RG, smirking at the expression on the latter's face.
"Scared of a little lightening?" Stark taunted.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows," RG admitted quietly, eyes scanning the darkening sky.
"What does that mean?" Stark demanded as lighting hit the bronze statue, causing Rogers grab Loki by the arm and haul him into the plane.
Just as Rogers and Loki stumbled backwards and managed not to fall over, Thor arrived in the square. He met the ground with a thud, slowly standing up from the crouch he landed. He was dressed in his armor (sans helmet) and holding his hammer. And he did not looked the least bit pleased.
"Loki!" he bellowed. "What is the meaning of this!"
Loki untangled himself from Rogers and moved to the hatch, meeting Thor before he stormed into the plane. He held up his hands as the storm clouds began to clear.
"There is much to understand, Brother."
Thor faltered for a moment, looking suspicious. "You still believe us to be brothers yet you wish to subjugate Midgard?"
"No!" Rogers shouted, running to stand next to Loki. "He's the good one. He called for you!"
Thor frowned. He looked between Captain America and Loki, his blue eyes darting between the two.
"There's two of them!" Stark shouted from within the jet. "Come see! They're clones!"
"WE ARE NOT CLONES!"
At the sound of the other's voice, Thor narrowed his eyes. He remained staring at Loki.
"What magic is this, brother?"
"That, dear Thor, I do not know," Loki was pained to admit.
Thor continued to study Loki till he nodded curtly. Thor quickly moved passed Loki and Rogers and into the plane. Loki noted RG was frozen, a look of fear upon his face that quickly melted away and was replaced by an arrogant smirk.
"Oh, how nice to see you," he said. "In the area, were you?"
"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor thundered, stomping into the belly of the plane to stand before the other Loki.
Stark took a few steps back, staring at Thor with large eyes. "Loud much?"
"Where is it?" Thor roared, looking at RG, then at Loki.
RG laughed, sounding insane. "I missed you too."
Thor's attention snapped to RG. Thor leaned in closer to RG, who pressed himself into the seat further. "Do I look like I'm in a gaming mood?"
"I don't know, what does that look like?"
Thor dropped his hammer (it made a rather large dent int he floor) and glared at RG. He looked to Loki, who was still standing outside the plane with Rogers.
"I thought you dead," Thor said, eyes moving between the two Lokis. "And now there are two of you."
"There is only one of me," RG snapped. "He is not me."
Thor frowned.
"And I am not him," Loki offered. "Now that you're here, I'm sure I can tell the tale I know many are dying to hear."
RG snorted. "Did you mourn, Thor?"
Thor startled. "We all did. Our father…"
"Your father," RG corrected. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"
Rogers looked at Loki. Loki tensed, balling his hands. A part of his mind logically told him Thor would not care— but a tiny part of him still worried about rejection.
"That does not matter, Loki. We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Did you forget?"
Thor looked at Loki for a moment till RG stole his attention.
"I remember a shadow," RG hissed. "Living in the shade of your greatness! I remember you tossing me into the abyss!"
"That did not happen!" both Thor and Loki yelled.
"He threw me in," RG insisted.
"You let go! We let go!" Loki shouted. "We were the same at that moment!"
"HE THREW ME IN!"
"I would not do that!" Thor shouted.
"HEY!" Stark shouted, using his Iron Man voice, which was somehow louder than the three god's voices together. Once he had their attention, he flipped his faceplate back up. "While I always love family reunion fights, let's stop with the yelling. GQ and Capsicle, get in the plane. Let's blow this joint."
"Stark, we're in the plane," Loki calmly pointed out.
"Oh, well, raise the plank! Battle the hatches! Or whatever," Stark said, waving a hand around.
Romanov raised the hatch. Thor took the seat next to RG. RG did not look pleased.
"What happened to you, Brother?" he quietly asked, eyeing the one next to him. The one that looked worse for ware— even if he did look better than he had at arrival.
"I am not your brother," RG snarled, moving as far as he could to get away from Thor while chained to the seat.
Thor sighed. He looked at Loki, who lowered himself into a seat across from Thor. Rogers sat down next to Loki.
"And you?" Thor inquired.
"And me what?" Loki asked.
He still had quite a few issues having to do with Thor and everything that had had happened back on Asgard, but he wasn't being eaten alive with anger and rage as the other so he was willing to listen to reason. He quietly met Thor's questioning gaze.
"You see me as your brother, yet he does not."
"I do," Loki admitted. "Though, some of the things RG says are true. I did walk in your shadow."
RG snorted.
"RG?" Stark asked.
"Reindeer Games," Loki supplied.
Stark looked smug. "Much better than simply calling him Asgard as Fury's doing. I like my nicknames. Hey, why don't you got a reindeer hat?"
Stark clanked around, somehow sitting down on Loki's other side.
"I lost it when Thor destroyed the Rainbow Bridge," Loki admitted. "I did not have it on me when I fell into the abyss."
"When he threw us into the abyss," RG muttered.
Loki tightened his mouth, but didn't correct the other. He turned his attention back to Stark.
"It was lost. I did not feel the need to make a new one. I've not worn armor till today. I had no need for it."
"Why did you not make yourself a hat?"
Loki shrugged. "I didn't want you to all me a reindeer."
Stark laughed. "Good point. You're too pretty to be a reindeer."
"We look the same!" RG snapped.
"No, no you really don't," Stark said, looking between the two. "You look like an escaped mental patient in makeup while he looks like a runway model on his way to a costume party."
Thor and Rogers looked between the two. Loki was sure none of that made much sense to either.
RG snarled.
"I do not know what this runway model is, but you do look in better health than…you," Thor finished, appearing confused. He had no clue how to address the two of them.
"Reindeer Games. We're calling the mental patient Reindeer Games," Stark offered.
"I am not a reindeer! I am Loki of Asgard!" RG shouted.
Thor looked at Loki, not wishing to fight with the rage filled being beside him.
"I'm calling myself Loki Laufey-Odinson," Loki quietly said.
RG looked outraged.
Thor appeared slightly upset, but nodded in understanding. Loki was sure Thor would appreciate the fact he stuck with the Odin aspect and didn't drop everything as the other did.
"Well, that's a mouthful," Stark commented. "Fine. We'll call the insane one Loki and we'll just call you…LO!"
"Lo," Loki corrected softly, a pain in his heart flaring.
"You wanna be called Low? Well, if you want," Stark said, shrugging.
"You will call me king," RG insisted.
"King Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Got it," Stark agreed.
If he had been able, Loki was sure RG would have fried Stark on the spot.
I'm so scared that I'll never / Get put back together / Keep breaking me in / And this is how we will end
-Matchbox 20, "Bent"