Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the property of their creators, nor am I seeking to make a profit from this.
Chapter 9
Natasha slammed her fist on the desk with enough force to crack the sturdy wood. Every time she tried to talk to Fury he would either avoid the subject of Loki entirely, or he would tell her to focus on her mission and not to concern herself about.
It had been a week since Clint had told her that SHIELD had taken over Loki's custody. It irritated her more than she could possibly explain. It was obvious to everyone that she had grown attached, and why she was so frustrated that he was taken away from her. In the end, though, Natasha wasn't angry that Loki was taken away from her - it was that she had been taken away from Loki. Thor had been taken away from Loki. Everyone he was comfortable with, everyone that he loved was taken away from him – again.
All Loki needed in his life was some love and affection, and once again he was denied that. She didn't even know in what kinds of conditions he was being kept - was he alone, did he have someone with him? Was he as sad as Thor was without him? The change in the boy was startling; the usually happy and energetic Thor was quiet and calm and he just looked miserable. He had an air of melancholy that was much too mature for a five year old and Natasha wondered if it was triggering some of his feelings of losing Loki the first time, when Loki let go and fell into the abyss below Asgard's broken bridge.
Natasha tried to not think about it, because every time she did she felt like breaking something. Something like Fury's face.
She blew off her extra steam by going down to the gym every morning and running for an hour. Usually it was before anyone else had woken up, but sometimes Clint would join her, or sometimes the boys would join her, playing and running around burning off some of the morning hyperness.
A week and a half after SHIELD took Loki, Natasha and Clint got a call from Agent Coulson. They took the call in the office.
"What's up, Phil?" Clint said when JARVIS connected the call.
"Good morning Clint, Natasha. How are you doing?" He sounded like he already knew the answer.
"We're fine," Natasha said shortly, not wanting to discuss it with him. She knew that he disagreed with Fury's decision; arguing with Coulson would do nothing except piss her off.
"I went and saw him today," Phil started slowly, and when no one stopped him he continued. "He's in a nice room, it's not big but not incredibly small either. He's got a bed, a few books, some toys, and he asked for some blank paper and pencils. He was okay until I asked him how he was feeling, and he said he misses you." Natasha's mouth had thinned to a slit at that point, and she was trying hard to keep her face neutral. She glanced at Clint and saw that he was watching her, so she took in a breath and blew it out, shaking her head. "Is there anything you want me to tell him from you?"
"Tell him he needs to be strong." Natasha didn't hesitate before answering. Clint nodded and agreed.
"I'll tell him." His demeanor shifted to a more official one. "Now, the reason I was instructed to call you was because you are needed on a mission."
"But we're on a mission," Clint said, sounding vaguely confused.
"The mercenary known as Deadpool has been causing trouble recently-"
"Yeah, I read about it in the paper."
"And he's finally gone into territory reached the point where we need to get involved. You've read that he's been committing minor crimes in attempt to get Spider-Man's attention, and for a while it worked but eventually Peter got tired of showing up only to be chatted up by an insane criminal. So He stopped showing up, and then Deadpool's crimes went from minor acts of vandalism to break-ins, fires, and he wounded one man who is still in the hospital. Earlier this morning he broke into the home of a woman and her daughter and took them to an abandoned warehouse in the Bronx. It could be where he's living at the moment, could just be a random place he chose. All we know right now is that Spider-Man is there and is unable to find them all the while keeping Deadpool out of the way. We need you two to go and help him." Natasha looked at Clint and they stared at each other for a few seconds before Clint nodded.
"Sounds like fun, we could use a break."
"What's the address?" Natasha asked. Coulson told them the coordinates.
"You'll need to take some kind of high-power tranquilizer, not much can knock this guy out. He's also extremely skilled with martial arts and swords, as well as being completely insane, so his fighting style is particularly chaotic from what I've heard. He is, as far as we know, unable to die, which is why you need the tranquilizers so that you can knock him out and bring him back to SHIELD."
"That's a pain. . ." Clint muttered under his breath, Natasha smirked and nodded. Finally, a proper distraction.
"We'll get him." A few seconds later they ended the call, and Natasha went out to the living room to tell Pepper what was going on. Fortunately for them, Deadpool decided to kidnap someone on a Saturday so she didn't have to worry about someone other than the three of them watching the boys. Ever since the incident at the park and then with Fury she didn't trust anyone with them.
"Where are you going?" Steve asked a few minutes later when Natasha emerged from her room in her uniform. Clint followed shortly after, a backpack on his back that contained his bow, and his quiver slung next to it over his shoulder.
"We have to go help Peter with a little problem of his. You remember, the babysitter who put Tony on the ceiling," She replied, as she made sure that all of her own concealed weapons were in place. She squatted down to his level and put her hands on his shoulders, the others gathered around Steve. "You guys need to be good for Pepper, and we'll be back in a while." She hesitated, unsure as to whether to say what was on the tip of her tongue. Because, they really didn't know if they would be back. They never did when they went off on a mission.
"We love you guys," she decided it was worth it in the end for them to hear it if she and Clint were to be killed by a psychopathic immortal mercenary today, even if they were four and five, and may not even remember it in the end. She squeezed Steve's shoulders, and smiled before standing up.
"Bye guys," Clint said, and then they were heading down the stairs towards Natasha's car.
It took almost an hour to drive to the warehouse specified in the coordinates that Coulson gave them; Clint had wanted to take the helicopter, but Natasha had said no – "Don't be stupid, where are we going to land it when we get there?"
When they arrived Natasha raised her eyebrows - the warehouse in question was extremely dilapidated. She thought it might have been red, but it was so faded that it was almost impossible to tell. The grass around it had been growing for years, and was completely overrun with weeds and other invasive species. The roof had holes all over it, so and she was sure that the inside was also overrun with grass and weeds. Clint parked one block over and together they got out and quickly made their way over to the building. Natasha had her gun at the ready, as did Clint, and one after the other they slipped inside.
When they entered they saw that it was full of boxes, and the smell was terrible. "What do you think is in them?" Clint asked.
"Some kind of food?" Natasha wrinkled her nose, "I don't think I want to find out."
"Who the hell leaves a warehouse full of food?"
"Something must have happened. . ." They decided against splitting up, and walked to the left, intending to establish the perimeter of the giant room. There were several entrances into the maze-like configuration of the boxes, and she wondered where Peter, Deadpool, and the two people he'd kidnapped were. Most likely in the middle. Her thoughts were confirmed when she heard a voice rise from the middle of the room.
"Spider-Man!" She could only assume was Deadpool's voice rang out. "Spiiiiiiider-Maaaaan! Where aaaaaaaare youuuuuu?"
Natasha stopped for a second. So he's not with Deadpool, then where is he? She looked at Clint, and he narrowed his eyes as if he was asking himself the exact same question. Deadpool continued to call out for Spider-Man as they crept along the edge of the building. As they passed another entrance, they saw Spider-Man as he landed three feet from them.
"Finally!" He said, leaping up and over to them. "I can't get close to him, he's too fast. And he can teleport, so as soon as I get close to him or the woman and her daughter he just teleports somewhere else in this maze."
"Spiiiiiider-Maaaaan!"
"It sounds like he wants you to find him," Clint said, unable to keep the smirk from his lips.
"He's been doing that since he saw me arrive."
Suddenly there was a sound of wind rushing and Deadpool was standing in front of them. "Well howdy!" He said, and then he leapt over them and lashed out. Natasha managed to turn around fast enough to deflect his blow to her head, but it soon became a blur of movement. They would grapple for a few seconds and then he would jump or teleport to another side of them, and they would have to reorient themselves to him. Spider-Man continued to try to use his web to subdue him, but he missed; Deadpool was impossibly fast for a man of his size and bulk. He was easily six foot five inches, and had enough muscle to rival Captain America. Whenever he appeared somewhere new he would taunt them with things like, "Nope, over here!" or "Oooh close one, try a little harder next time."
It was starting to piss Natasha off. She threw everything into trying to land a blow on him, and she saw that Peter and Clint were as well, but even with the three of them going at him Deadpool was too skilled and too fast. SHIELD could use him. . . Natasha vaguely thought in between blows.
As suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone again. They heard laughing a second later from the other side of the warehouse. Natasha, Clint, and Spider-Man tried to catch their breath before he came back again.
"You're running out of tiiiiiime you know!" They heard a moment later. Natasha's eyes went wide.
"Time until what?" Spider-Man called back, trying to make his voice amicable.
"Why didn't you just become his best friend like he wanted. . ." Clint muttered under his breath. Peter shot him a look – at least it seemed that way since his mask hid his face. Deadpool didn't answer, he only repeated himself in a sing-songy voice.
"What's his real name?" Natasha asked, struck with an idea.
"He told me his name is Wade Wilson, but I don't know if I would believe anything he says. He's completely crazy."
"Well, if that's what he told you then maybe that's what he calls himself. It doesn't matter; just try to get him back onto your side. Obviously he likes you; otherwise he wouldn't have tried this hard to get your attention." Spider-Man stared at her for a moment, and then turned to where he thought Deadpool might be.
"Hey Wade," he called tentatively. After a few seconds there was still no answer so he continued. "Why don't you come over here and we can talk?" Peter called out, and he started walking slowly into the maze. Natasha and Clint followed after him, she still had her gun out, and Clint pulled his bow out of the backpack and threw it aside while he locked his bow into place. He nocked one of his tranquilizer arrows and he and Natasha continued to follow after Spider-Man.
After a few minutes it got quiet and Peter stopped, listening. Natasha listened but couldn't hear anything other than their own breathing. Suddenly there was a loud cry coming from the middle of the warehouse.
"Help!" Peter shot a web at the ceiling and flew off while Natasha and Clint ran through the boxes to get to the middle. However, before they could get there they were intercepted as Deadpool reappeared right in their path. Natasha immediately went for his throat, and he must not have been expecting such an abrupt attack because her arm grazed his neck when he didn't dodge fast enough. Instead of pulling her arm back right away she spun around, swinging her arm around and this time hit his shoulder as hard as she could. His only response was laughter.
"Oooh, nice hit. Little harder next time." They continued to fight hand-to-hand for a while; he had two swords strapped to his back but he didn't pull them out, indicating to Natasha that he didn't want to kill them. It would be so easy to pull out one of them and cut her head off or run her through.
Natasha's rather ineffective blows distracted Deadpool just enough that Clint could edge around unnoticed, and a few moments later there was an arrow sticking through Deadpool's neck. He staggered to the left, and Clint shot another three in quick succession right into his back. He stood for a second, looking at Natasha, and then laughed.
"Well fuck, I lost." Clint shot one more, and a few seconds later he staggered to his knees and then to the floor.
"Holy fucking shit. Two of those tranqs can take down an elephant, and he took five."
"It probably won't last long, we've got to get him back to SHIELD before he wakes up. Spider-Man!" She called, and after a second he swung back down with a woman and her daughter holding on. "We've got to get him back to HQ before he wakes up." Spider-Man nodded. Natasha turned around and saw Clint on the phone, presumably with Coulson. When he hung up he turned to her.
"They're sending a helicopter, you can go with him and I'll drive back."
An hour later Fury sat across from Deadpool in an interrogation room, Natasha standing at his right shoulder, Clint standing at his left. Peter stood, his mask in his hand, off to the side observing. It took forty-five minutes for Deadpool to wake up, and when he did he was a completely different person. He was friendly and talkative as opposed to menacing and hostile. As soon as he woke up he shook his head, looked around and when he spotted Peter he said, "Hey Spider-Man, what're you doing later, I've got somethin' I wanna show you." Peter's eyes widened, but he said "okay?"
While he was still unconscious, sprawled in the chair he was put in, Fury debriefed Natasha and Clint on what happened at the warehouse. After they were finished recounting the events of the day, Fury went silent, a contemplative look in his eye.
"We can use a man like you," Fury said to him once he was awake. He looked up and tilted his head to the right.
"So you want me to come work for you?" He asked calmly. Fury nodded.
"We want your skills at our disposal, to put it bluntly. We would only need your loyalty and your obedience."
"Okay," Deadpool replied quickly. Natasha narrowed her eyes, why was he agreeing so quickly? He tilted his head towards Peter. "But only if Spidey's my partner." Everyone looked over at Peter, who looked confused.
"Why?"
"Because I think it'll be funny to have two red-spandex-wearing superheroes working together." Peter stared at him for a second, and then laughed.
"Alright, I guess I agree."
Fury dismissed Natasha and Clint after that and they gratefully headed towards the car. But halfway there Natasha slowed down. "What's up Nat?" Clint asked when he noticed that she wasn't beside him any more.
"It would make me feel so much better to see where they're keeping him," she said quietly. Clint came back and stood in front of her, taking her hand in his own.
"Coulson said that he's being taken care of. We have to go back home and deal with the four that are our responsibility." Natasha looked up into his eyes, and saw anger. He wanted to go see Loki as much as she did. But he was right, and Natasha knew it. She nodded, and they finished walking to the car hand-in-hand.
The drive home was quiet, neither could think of anything to say other than their brief comments on the turn of the day's events – namely their fight with Deadpool and then Deadpool's subsequent induction into their SHIELD family.
When they opened the door from the entrance of the parking garage into the lobby twenty-five minutes later Clint stepped out and stopped, his brow furrowing. There were two women standing in the middle of the large room. They both had long dark hair, one tied into a ponytail, while the other wore hers loose down her back. One was dressed in a fashion similarly to Thor and Loki's usual attire, and the other wore a long dark green beautifully embroidered dress.
The fact that there were two women in the lobby of Stark Tower wasn't so surprising. People came into the Tower all the time to try (and usually unsuccessfully, thanks to JARVIS) and meet one of the Avengers, but there hadn't been anyone in the past few months since the Avengers had been hit with Loki's spell.
These women, however, were from Asgard, Clint was almost certain. He looked back at Natasha, who had one eyebrow raised but a hopeful look in her eyes. They've got to be here to fix them, Clint thought, Things can go back to normal. . .
"Good afternoon, I am Sif, and this is Sigyn, both of Asgard. We have been sent by Odin All-father to reverse Loki's spell, and bring him and Thor back home with us."
"Awesome!" Clint said, crossing the lobby and holding out a hand. Sif hesitated, but finally reached out and grasped Clint's hand. "I'm Agent Clint Barton." He let go of Sif's hand and held it out for Sigyn. She, however, did not return the gesture. Instead, she bowed her head slightly, never breaking her eye contact. "This is Agent Natasha Romanoff."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Sigyn said with another nod of her head.
"How did you find us?" Natasha asked, stepping up to stand next to Clint.
"Heimdall sees all, and upon informing the All-father of Loki's latest mischief, we were sent. We were told by Heimdall to look for a tall metal building with a large 'A' upon it," Sif said. Clint wanted to ask how far they had to travel after they got to earth, but Natasha started talking before he could ask.
"They are upstairs, if you would follow us," she said, her polite smile on her face. They walked over to the elevator and stepped in, Sif and Sigyn hesitated, and it hit Clint that they would have no idea what an elevator is. Tentatively, however, they stepped on and the doors closed. Clint suppressed a laugh when Sigyn startled as the elevator started moving.
A few minutes later they were at the 80th floor, and Natasha stepped forward and opened the door.
"Hi Natasha!" Steve's voice came from the living room. A moment later he came around the couch with a smile on his face that disappeared when he saw Sif and Sigyn. Pepper stood up from the couch as Tony and Bruce came around to say hi.
"Who're you?" Tony asked sounding a little accusatory. Thor came around at that moment and he stared at the two Asgardians, a look of consternation on his small round face. But then after a moment he lit up.
"Sif!" He yelled, running over to her. Clint looked at her as Thor wrapped his arms around her leather-clad legs, her eyes were wide and she looked shocked. Hearing that your friend had been turned into a child was one thing, seeing it was an entirely different story. Clint wondered if they were more than just friends, and found that he really didn't know much about Thor aside from the fact that he had a crazy adopted brother and that he was the god of thunder. After a few moments Sif knelt down and took Thor's face in her hands and looked into his eyes. "Hello Thor," she said as a wide smile broke out across her face. She pulled him into a hug.
"Where is Loki?" Sigyn asked, frowning, as she watched Thor and Sif's reunion.
"Loki was taken by our superiors," Clint said, his voice stilted. Sigyn's face was hard to read, but Clint thought he saw sadness and anger in it. She didn't comment further. "Can you do magic?" He asked tentatively. Out of the two she certainly looked more like a sorceress than Sif.
"Yes, I have studied the art of sorcery since I was a child." She looked down when Sif stood up and Thor tugged gently on her dress.
"Hello Sigyn," he said, a large smile on his face. She softened, and a small smile graced her lips.
"Hello Thor." She looked back up at Clint and Natasha, "It will be very simple to change them back. Could you seat them all? The spell will likely cause them to lose their consciousness."
"Come here boys," Pepper called, still standing next to the couch. They all went to Pepper and she arranged three on the couch and Thor on the armchair. Sigyn went to stand in front of them, and Natasha and Clint followed, stopping behind the couch. Sif held back, staying where she was.
Clint watched at Sigyn regarded the boys for a minute before uttering a phrase in a language that Clint had never heard before. His eyes grew wide as they started to grow, and thirty seconds later he was looking at his teammates, all their own size and shape once again. They blinked, looking dazed, before promptly passing out.
Three hours and a much awkward conversation between the conscious beings later, the Avengers woke up.
Tony was the first to rouse, rubbing his head and muttering, "what the fuck?" as he sat up on the couch. He had been leaning against Bruce, who stirred and opened his eyes as Tony's weight left his side. Tony shook his head and looked around until he saw Pepper, who was smiling broadly.
"Did I really just spend two and a half months as a four year old?" He deadpanned. Pepper laughed and nodded.
"Welcome back," Natasha said as Steve and Thor both sat up, blinking blearily and shaking their heads.
"Never doing that again. . . Damn." Tony said. He stood up, kissed Pepper, and headed for his liquor cabinet. Clint snorted and Natasha rolled her eyes, muttering "of course," under her breath. Clint clapped Bruce on the shoulders from behind, "welcome back big guy." Bruce turned and looked up at him, gave a tentative smile and nodded.
"It's good to be back," he said quietly, adjusting his glasses. Thor stretched loudly.
"How do you feel Thor?" Natasha asked, grinning slightly when she heard Tony yell, "What the fuck am I wearing?" She remembered that he was wearing Captain America pajamas that morning, and he hadn't changed out of them when Sigyn returned him to normal. As they had when they were shrunk, their clothes grew with them.
"Oh I'm wonderful! Loki has done much worse, that was like a vacation," Thor replied.
"What do you mean 'much worse'?" Clint asked, curious.
"He once turned me into goat as retaliation for taking his favorite book when we were young. And that was when he was just getting good at magic." Thor looked at Sigyn with a smile when she laughed at the memory she obviously shared with him. He looked back and Sif was smirking as well. He decided he would ask about it later.
"Speaking of Loki," Thor said, his tone turning serious, "where is my brother?" The small smile Natasha had dropped, and Clint frowned a little.
"SHIELD took him when we refused to leave him as a child when you were all returned to normal. Fury decided that it would be in the best interests of earth to keep him here and raise him as an agent of SHIELD." Natasha stopped, hearing a distant rolling of thunder. The sky was becoming darker.
"They have no right. He is of Asgard, and that is where he belongs, no matter his crime. I have certain words to tell Fury. And where is Mjolnir?"
"It's in the basement, JARVIS would be happy to show you exactly where," Clint said quickly, and Thor was out the door. No one mentioned that he was still wearing the shirt he had gotten at the zoo, as it had grown along with the jeans he had been wearing when he was returned to normal size. Steve and Bruce were also in the pajamas they had been wearing that morning.
Clint looked at Natasha, the corners of her mouth were tweaked upwards and Clint knew that she was happy because Thor was about to do exactly what she had wanted to do for the past two weeks. They didn't often talk about their strange new feelings for Loki, but he knew that they both held a strange affection for the man when he was stripped of the effects of his recent suffering. Clint had a feeling that the rest of their teammates felt the same.
The minute the front door closed after Thor rushed through it Clint decided to go with him. He looked at Natasha, smiled, and ran out the door. He could still her Thor running and jumping down the stairs, but Clint went up to the roof instead, and waited. A few minutes later Thor burst out of the door, having apparently flown back up the staircase with his hammer.
"I want to come with you, I can show you how to get there," Clint said. Thor nodded, and stepped up and grabbed Clint around the middle from behind before taking off. Clint, expecting a little more warning before the ground was rushed away from him, clung to Thor's arm that was locked around his midsection. He guided Thor in the general direction of the headquarters of SHIELD and at the speed Thor was flying they arrived not five minutes later. Thor touched down on the rood of the building and let Clint go, who took a moment to thank God he was back on the ground. He liked to be up high, but stationary and with something solid beneath his feet.
Clint followed Thor through the roof's door, and occasionally called out a direction to lead him to Fury's office, and a minute later Thor was bursting through the door that had 'Fury' on it.
"Nick Fury, I would have words with you." Fury looked up from the papers he was reading and his eye widened.
"Thor, how are you huge again? Barton what happened?"
"Asgard came to us," he said shortly.
"Where is my brother?" Thor boomed. "You have no right or claim to him, and I wish to take him home with me." He leveled his gaze on Fury and they glared at each other for a few moments, Clint suppressed the urge to laugh the whole time. When it came down to it, Fury had nothing on Thor. He would be flattened in a minute in a fight, especially with Thor in his current angry state. If Clint were in Fury's shoes he would hand over Loki and be done with him.
After a few minutes Fury exhaled forcefully, "Fine. Take him. But you have to promise me that he won't come back to earth unless it is as a friend."
"You have my word." Thor extended his hand and Fury accepted it and they shook.
"Barton he's in room 314C." Clint nodded and after Thor had said goodbye to Fury they left, Clint leading the way to the stairs to go down one floor.
"That went better than I thought it would," Clint said as they walked.
"It does not matter what he said, there is nothing to discuss, and in the end Loki is coming home with me."
"We took good care of him," Clint said after a few moments of silent walking.
"Yes, I remember. I thank you for that. You could have easily used your anger for his past actions as basis for his treatment, but you did not. You are good people, you and Natasha. And Pepper Potts." He looked down at Clint, a genuine, kind smile on his face.
It took a few minutes but they finally reached room 314C and they stopped in front of the big window next to the solid door. Loki was inside sitting on the carpeted floor, surrounded by paper. He had been drawing pictures of everything – his room at SHIELD, his room at Stark Tower, one that looks like it could be his room in Asgard, several pictures of the Avengers and several more of Thor. The room was small, with a small bed in one corner and a small bookshelf with about ten books and box full of seemingly untouched toys.
Clint was still watching Loki when Thor opened the door. Loki looked up and his eyes went wide as Thor and his huge bulk walked through the doorway.
"Hello Loki," Thor said, smiling. Loki didn't reply, only scooted back a foot; Thor stopped, his brow furrowed slightly. He doesn't recognize Thor, Clint thought, surprised.
He stepped through the door and around Thor, "Hey Loki," he said crouching down next to him.
"Clint!" Loki said, and he surged forward and latched onto Clint. Clint wrapped his arm around Loki's back and stood up, turning around. Thor looked confused, and looked at Clint deploringly.
"Loki don't you remember Thor?" Clint said, trying to coax Loki to lift his head and look at Thor. Finally he did, and Clint stepped forward so that he and Thor were standing close to each other. Loki looked up into Thor's eyes and after a few seconds his whole face lit up and he practically jumped out of Clint's arms to latch onto Thor. Thor's big arms came up to wrap around Loki as his younger brother nestled his face into his shoulder.
"I don't remember him being so tiny," Thor said quietly, pulling Loki closer. Clint chuckled, and started to leave the room, but he stopped. He looked down, and stooped to grab the drawings that were scattered around the floor. He rolled them up and put them in his pocket.
"Let's go," he said, and they turned around and left the room, closing the door with a resounding click.
Ten minutes and a slightly harrowing hammer-ride later, the three were back on the roof of Stark Tower. They exited the roof and descended the four flights of stairs to the 80th floor. When they got back into Tony's apartment everyone was seated around the table, eating and drinking; everyone except Sif, and Sigyn who were standing in the living room gazing out the window. When Clint closed the door she looked at them and seeing Loki she rushed over. Loki, recognizing where he was squirmed until Thor put him down.
Sigyn crouched, ladylike, in front of Loki, smiling. "Hello Loki," she murmured. His small green eyes narrowed as he stared at her, recognizing her but not quite placing her face in his memory.
A moment later, however, he smiled shyly. "Hello, Lady Sigyn," he said, bowing. Clint's eyes went wide; it was certainly a much different reaction than Thor's was to Sif. Clint wondered what their relationship was like – and then Clint found himself thinking of Loki having a girlfriend and not knowing how he felt about that. Loki was first the villain behind the near total destruction of New York City a year previous, and then he was a small child under his and Natasha's care. It was hard to remember that he had had over a thousand years of life experience before all of this started. Of course he would have had lady friends, before everything went to hell.
Perhaps even after, judging by the look on Sigyn's face. She looked as though all she wanted to do was take Loki into her arms and never let go. She reached up and cupped Loki's small face, rubbing her thumb along his cheek. Then she uttered the same sentence she used to return the others to normal. And as Loki grew to his normal impressive height Sigyn stood with him, her hand still on his cheek. He blinked several times, smirked down at Sigyn, and then collapsed. Thor surged forward and caught him before he hit the ground. He laid his brother down on the couch. Sigyn staggered slightly, and went to the armchair and sat down, head in her hands.
"Are you alright?" Pepper asked, going over to the Asgardian woman and laying a hand on her shoulder.
"I will be fine, Loki's spells are always complex and undoing them requires a lot of magic on my part. I would be extremely grateful for some water?" She asked, her voice faint. Pepper hurried into the kitchen, and Clint heard the fridge's water dispenser activated.
Clint turned and walked over to the dining room platform and stepped up, taking the seat next to Natasha at the large table. "So, you guys remember everything that happened the past two and a half months?"
Tony laughed. "Yes. Especially Bruce breaking my coffee table."
"I can't apologize for something I had no control over," Bruce replied, chuckling.
"Clint, Nat," Steve said. They both looked across the table at him. "I just wanted to say thank you, the last few months couldn't have been easy for you."
"Yeah, you guys are little shits," Clint said, laughing.
"It was definitely a learning experience," Natasha said, slapping Clint on the back of the head.
"So what are we going to do with that little shit over there?" Tony asked, jerking his thumb back at Loki on the couch.
"You are not going to do anything with him," Thor said, joining them on the platform. "I am taking him back to Asgard with me now." Clint was not surprised that they were leaving right away. It would be easiest to transport Loki when he was unconscious when he couldn't put up a fight. Though Clint did want to see if there was any change in him when he woke up, his few months of calm and care had to have done him good. . . Clint would just have to ask Thor the next time he returned to earth, because he knew that Natasha was dying to know as well. "How did you arrive here?" Thor asked Sif.
"In the time that you've been gone, the Bifrost has been reconstructed," She smiled, and Thor's face was flooded with relief. He had told the team the story of how he had destroyed their bridge to the other worlds in order to stop Loki's plan to destroy Jotunheim. He had felt tremendous guilt, and the news that it had been fixed seemed to take a weight off of his shoulders. "I believe Heimdall can direct it at the roof of this building. Why he did not direct it here in the first place is a mystery to me, but it is useless to question the ways of the Watcher."
Thor crossed to the couch and carefully lifted Loki so that he was resting over Thor's massive shoulder. Clint thought that it was probably best that Loki was asleep and didn't know how he looked at that moment.
Everyone trooped up the stairs to the roof, Thor leading, holding Mjolnir with one hand and his other wrapped around Loki's back on top of his shoulder. The thunderstorm that Thor had unconsciously summoned earlier had long since dissipated, leaving the skies clear and the bright sun just barely cutting through the cold November air.
"Good-bye, my friends," Thor said turning to face the rest of his team, Sif and Sigyn moving to stand next to him; Sigyn stood near Loki, one of his hands clasped between hers. "Loki and I are in your debt for caring for us when we were unable to do so. For that I thank you, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Pepper Potts." All three Asgardians gave a slight bow to them.
"Goodbye," Bruce and Steve said simultaneously as Tony called, "See ya around big guy."
"Bye Thor," Clint said, smiling.
"Heimdall, open the Bifrost!" Thor called, and the few clouds that were in the sky above them began swirling around each other, gaining size until a light shot down out of the sky and engulfing the assembled Asgardians, and a second later they were gone, and the light with it.
"Goodbye Loki. . ." Clint heard Natasha say quietly.
The Avengers were left standing on the roof, the wind ruffling their clothes and hair.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed this, the last chapter. The epilogue will be up in a few days. Thank you all for reading and reviewing, favoriting, and following this story. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Have a wonderful day, and please review.