A/N: Hey everyone! I'm soooo sorry for the long delay between chapters. A lot is going on in my life right now so this fic kinda took the back burner. I hope I made up for it with this chapter :3 Enjoy!
Chapter Seven
"JARVIS, pause the movie." Tony sighed in frustration before he turned to look at Loki. "Well you are welcome here. We all have done something that isn't good, or nice, and in my opinion, everyone deserves a second chance, or at least a chance to be heard on the reasons behind something that they did. Some things had happened to me- you can ask JARVIS about that, seeing how I'm not that good at talking about it. I was known as the 'Merchant of Death' by many across the world because I designed and built weapons. These weapons, my weapons, probably killed tens of thousands of people, including innocent people and soldiers. I changed after what had happened to me though; I chose to let my anger and pain fuel me to do better and better myself. After I returned home, I was betrayed by a father figure. Hell, he even took my arc reactor out of my chest, not even caring that it would kill me. He wanted me dead because he wanted my company. He was selling my weapons to the enemy. My point is that I wasn't that great of a person before. So yeah, you're welcome here. I understand what it's like to be considered a disappointment, or a screw up. Ever since I was 4 years old, I've been in the public eye, so I guess in a way here on Earth, or Midgard as you call it, I would be considered almost like royalty, too. One must act a certain way and all that hoopla. I didn't so I get it, birds of a feather and all that. So no, you're not wearing out your welcome and you know what? Fuck your preceding reputation. By the way, you're forgiven for tossing me out of my window, as well as for trying to take control of my tower. I think now I understand why you did what you did, Loki. You never wanted to rule; instead, you made as much noise as you could and put yourself out there in a huge way because you wanted attention; you're a diva. It was a warning, a plea for help wasn't it?"
Loki's jaw was nearly on the floor by the time Stark had finished talking. He had gone through a range of emotions as he listened, bristling in anger as he recalled Odin's lies and treachery, recalling how lost and alone he had felt in that moment when he found out his true heritage. He felt the remorse at the things he had done on Midgard, to New York, and now, to Stark especially. His hands had curled up, clenched into fists every now and then as he listened, and relaxed once more after realizing that Stark really did care about him, as JARVIS had told him earlier. Loki glanced over at Stark, a small, sad smile upon his face. "Thank you, Anthony. You... you're probably the first being to ever understand me," he said as he looked back down and began to fidget with the hem of his shirt.
Tony saw the range of emotions play across Loki's face and suddenly everything made sense. "Well, since you know that you feel remorse, you can do what I did and turn your life around. Use that feeling and your anger to fuel you to do better, but don't let it blind you. You're smart, like, scary smart, and that's saying something coming from me; I am a genius after all." Tony winked at the god to try to get him to relax a bit before he continued talking. "We both had shitty fathers that we both wanted to impress, but remember that hindsight is twenty-twenty, so don't beat yourself up over things too terribly. You can do better, be better; you can be the person you want to be, the person that we both know you really are inside."
Tony took a moment to pause and then scooted over closer to the god and put his finger to Loki's chest. "The person in here, he's not a bad guy. He's just hurt and has no idea how to let that hurt show. God knows I needed someone to tell me this when I got back from my ordeal." He scooted closer still and without hesitation, wrapped Loki in a hug.
Loki couldn't look Tony in the eye for a long time; he was out of his element here. This was new to him, opening up and showing his emotions- Thor did that, not him. No, never Loki. The god tensed when Stark placed his arms around him, not expecting the contact, but relaxed with a heavy sigh and returned the gesture.
"If Pep and Rhodey hadn't been there for me I'd have lost it, too. Hell, you can ask Jarv for the footage of my Mark I's initial run in the desert if you really want to see everything. Understand though that what I did I am not proud of, but it's done and over with and I can't change it. We can never change the past, but we can always move forward. I am more than happy to help," Tony said, pulling back to look at the god. What he saw caused him to pause for a moment.
"Hey Loki, random question, but have your eyes always been that green?"
Loki looked at the billionaire now, seeing a lot of himself in the man who sat before him. His eyebrows shot up at the question of his eye color, wondering what Stark was getting at.
Tony furrowed his brow before asking JARVIS to pull up the footage from The New York Incident, where Loki was in the tower. JARVIS displayed it on the window behind them. Tony's brow furrowed deeper as he reviewed the recording. "Loki, your eyes are more of a blueish color here, like Clint's were. You were being controlled, weren't you? Maybe not as much as Clint, but you were being controlled, right?" He turned to look at the god who was still sitting silently on the couch.
"They have always been this shade of green, except for when The Other and The Mad Titan had me in their clutches," he said, anger and utter hatred in his tone as he named the monsters that had tortured and controlled him. "I had never been so beaten, so broken, as I was when he owned me. I vowed to never allow myself to get to that point again."
Tony looked at Loki and saw a very lonely soul, one that desperately needed real friends and people who would just shut up and listen and believe him instead of judging him. "Well, I'm going to make sure that you never are captured by them- or anyone else- again. We will put our massive intellect together and trick the fuckers that did that to you. No one has the right to do that to another being...no one." He decided to do something he knew Fury would kill him for. "I assume you don't have many places to go since you're supposed to be dead and all, so I want you to know that you are welcome in the tower; you can even have your own floor." He looked back at the footage JARVIS was playing and noticed Thor and Loki fighting. Something stirred within Tony, angering him. "Also, that brother of yours and I are gonna have a long chat the next time I see him. He should have known you better and defended you and been there for you; I know that he means well and that he loves you but he should have known!"
"Thor only saw what he wanted to see; he never truly saw my pain and didn't believe me when I told him about Odin's lies, about how I was the spawn of Laufey, saved to merely make a peace between two realms..." His fists were clenched again.
"Thor can be an idiot, a big, huge, blue-eyed and blond puppy dog, but an idiot. Like I said, the two of us are gonna have a long talk, and it's not gonna be pretty for him.." Tony gave Loki a wink after that, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Loki paused for a moment, taking in everything that had just transpired between him and Stark. "Maybe I can change things around, Stark. Will you help me?" he asked, reaching out and placing a hand on Tony's shoulder.
Tony knew when people were lying to him; he had enough experience with people lying to him in the past, enough that he was never going to fall for another lie, ever. What Loki had said and asked for was sincere, and Tony couldn't help but agree to help him. "Yeah, I'll help you. I had people there to help me, so I will do the same for you. And if your dad- Odin, whatever the fuck you want to call him- comes looking for you, he or whoever he sends are going to be met with a team of Tony Stark's finest lawyers, and maybe an Iron Man suit or two. Something tells me that you never did get a fair trial up in Asgard. We have already been told that your 'punishment' wasn't up to us, which was bullshit if you ask me. Anyway, I figure that if we have to, we will go to Asgard or wherever and make things right. I've got your back now, no lie, no joke. I know a few others that would be on your side if they knew the truth, too. Somehow, I'm not buying the whole 'god of lies' spiel, it's more like 'the god that's been lied to'. So, we're gonna fix it. For now though, just forget everything, relax, and let's enjoy this fine piece of cinema." Tony smiled, sitting back down on the couch to continue watching The Princess Bride. He turned to Loki for a brief moment, resting his hand on the god's knee. "Just try not to worry about it, Loki. I honestly have your back on this."
Loki smiled his first real, genuine smile for the first time in years. "Thank you, Anthony. For the first time in my long, long life, I think I can honestly say that I have found a friend, and more than that, a friend that I can trust entirely." He leaned forward and gave Stark a kiss on the cheek, which in Asgard was viewed as a sincere gesture between friends, regardless of gender. Loki forgot that he wasn't in Asgard anymore.
Tony smiled as well, though the kiss was a bit of a shock. He figured out the reason behind it in no time though; it was meant as a genuine gesture of friendship, after all, friends kissed each others' cheeks all the time. "I trust you too, Loki. I think that I'm getting to see the real you, and you are quite likable. Once the truth about what happened gets out, the world is gonna love you, too."
Loki smiled as Stark spoke. "You're quite likable yourself, Stark," he said as he turned back towards the screen.
Tony turned back to the paused movie, but not before taking Loki's hand and giving it a quick squeeze. It was meant to be similar to the friendship-kiss thing that Loki had given him, a way of showing support. "Ok Jarv, you can play the movie again."
When Loki felt Tony's hand upon his own, he looked down at it and then up at Tony, who was already engulfed in the movie again. "I liked that," he said quietly. He couldn't help but notice that Stark had remained by his side, instead of going back to his original spot on the other end of the couch. The thought made him smile slightly as he reached out for another handful of popcorn, finally feeling at ease for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
A/N: Thank you for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting! You guys are amazing 3 I'll try to have another chapter up soon!