They Come on White Horses: Chapter 6
Requested by: NoVacancyMind and many wonderful others
Sequel to Knights.
Finally, officially done with all things high school related! Now I can focus on writing in between trips and things. :)
Please enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will. So sad.
Something's Off
Loki was sitting on one end of a large couch with Bruce, tense beside him. They were sharing a bowl of popcorn, while Tony and Captain America sat together on the other end and shared their own bowl. Well, tried to, as Tony was in Cap's lap and was hogging the whole bowl. Pepper sat between the two pairs, and kept an eye on Tony and Steve. Steve had a big smile on his face that got bigger whenever Tony got excited or laughed at something on the screen. The rest of the Avengers were seated on the floor, so as not to crowd Bruce and make him nervous. Clint sat as far away from Loki as he could, while still being in the room. It was four in the afternoon, and they were currently watching Finding Nemo.
Loki was hoping that he could run the children around with a game or something, so that they would sleep tonight and get back on a normal sleep cycle.
A spike of pain went through Loki's head, and he winced slightly, bringing a hand up to rub his forehead, bracelet sliding down his skinny wrist. Bruce looked up at the motion and bit his lip before asking,
"Are you okay?" Loki was startled by the whisper and looked down. He almost laughed at the concern on the boy's face. He leaned down to whisper to Bruce.
"I am fine, thank you. Only a little headache." Bruce nodded and looked back to the movie, though Loki felt him relax a bit. They sat in near silence for the rest of the movie, though Tony kept giggling and whispering loudly to Steve. When the movie had finished, the dimmed lights came back on and the group on the floor collectively stirred. Loki raised a brow as he saw Tony reach up and whisper something in Steve's ear. Steve smiled and nodded as Tony pulled away and the boy cried out in excitement. He jumped off of the Captain's lap and ran to Loki.
"Can I please play with Captain America, Loki? Please please please!" Loki laughed and smiled.
"Yes. As long as you have a lot of fun." Tony jumped up and down yelling, before running back to Steve and pulling his arm.
"He said yes! Come on." Tony stopped in front of Bruce and Loki and looked to Bruce, a big smile across his face.
"Bruce, come on. Let's play with Captain America." The boy seemed very hesitant and shy with Steve standing before him. Loki leaned in close to encourage the boy.
"Why don't you play with them, Bruce? I'm sure you'll have fun." Bruce looked up at Loki, and at his prodding smile, he nodded to Tony and was promptly pulled off of the couch.
"Be careful!" Loki shook his head as Tony dragged both of them down the hallway. As soon as they left, he stood and started to walk away.
"And where do you think you're going?" Loki stopped and turned to face an angry Hawkeye. The man was standing with his hands clenched into fists down at his sides. Loki was not impressed and raised an eyebrow at the man.
"I was going to go down to the lab to-" Clint stepped forward, threateningly.
"To get rid of the evidence? Oh no, I'm not letting you out of my sight after what you did to Stark and Banner." Now both eyebrows were raised and Loki put his hands on his hips.
"You think I did this?" Clint crossed his arms and nodded.
"Who else could have done something like that?" Loki closed his eyes, shook his head and sighed.
"My magic is blocked you imbecile, and whatever happened reeks of magic. Now, I am going to go down to the lab and examine it-" Natasha interrupted him.
"I've already been down there. There's nothing there that indicates-" Loki exploded.
"Well, you're not a sorcerer are you!? You don't know what to look for, and I do. If Anthony or Bruce need me, you know where to find me." Loki stalked out of the room, trying to leave the tension behind him. Unfortunately, he heard footsteps behind him not two minutes later. He knew who it was right away.
"What do you want, Thor? Were you sent to keep an eye on me?" Loki kept walking away, refusing to look at his 'brother'. Thor quickly caught up to him and was walking step by step beside him.
"No, Brother. I…I wanted to ask you if you are alright?" They reached the lab, and Loki set to work immediately.
"Why wouldn't I be, Thor? I am only bound like a dog, trapped in a tower with you and that idiot Bird-man, and now have to take care of two children, whilst my own are either dead or trapped due to your father's 'wisdom'. You couldn't possibly think me anything but of the cheeriest countenance." Thor winced at the mention of his nephews and nieces. At the time, he had trusted the All-Father's judgement completely, but now…now he could only see the pain it brought his brother. Instead of pursuing a line of conversation that he knew would only end in shouting, he changed the subject.
"What are you hoping to find?" Loki sighed and knelt to examine the floor where what appeared to have been an explosion occurred.
"Something, Thor. Something." Loki would not admit that it had scared him when he heard the explosion, fearing the worst. He knew that Bruce would have likely survived, having the Hulk to protect him, but Tony, there is always the chance….but that didn't happen. So now, he would try to find out what had happened to his…his wards. He spotted something then, in the center of the blast scorch marks.
Loki ran his fingers through a fine line of yellow residue, not unlike pollen. He was scrutinizing it when a crying met his ears.
"Loki." He was on his feet in an instant. Thor had called his attention to Steve, who was coming down the hall with Bruce at his heels and a crying Tony in his arms. Loki rushed forward and took Tony from him. Steve readily handed him over.
"What happened!?" Loki went from glaring at Steve to checking Tony over. The Captain seemed frazzled, worried and concerned all at the same time.
"We were playing tag and Tony was running and he tripped and hit the corner of a coffee table." Bruce was standing by Loki, looking up at Tony and looking as if he was going to cry at any minute as well. Loki brought Tony into the 'infirmary' room, set up conveniently close to the lab, and set him down on the closest table.
"Anthony, calm down, child. Where does it hurt?" Tony didn't stop crying, but he pointed to his head. Loki gently ran his fingers through Tony's soft, chocolate brown curls feeling for the wound. When he found it, Tony's whimpered and tried to pull away.
"Shhh. You are fine. It's just a little bump. Look, not even bleeding." Loki held out his fingers for the child's inspection. Tony had calmed a bit while Loki ran his fingers through his hair and now that Loki had told him everything was okay, he quieted completely. Loki picked him back up, and rubbed his hand up and down his back. Tony hiccuped occasionally, and they all walked back upstairs together. As soon as the three left upstairs saw them they rushed forward.
"What did you do?!" Loki glared at Clint as his raised voice scared both of the boys.
"I did nothing." Pepper's eyes were wide with concern.
"Are they alright?" Loki nodded and sat on the couch with Tony cradled in his lap. Bruce climbed up next to him and put an arm around Tony.
"Yes. Anthony and Bruce were playing with the Captain, and Anthony fell and hit his head. I suspect he was scared more than anything, though he will have a good bump on his head for a little while." Tony shook his head into Loki's chest.
"Wasn't, hic, scared." Loki rubbed his back again and smiled.
"Of course you weren't." He would have said something else, but they were interrupted by Jarvis.
"Sirs, Director Fury is on his way up. He says he wants to speak to 'the-"
"The two little midgets who used to be the smartest people on my team." They all stood to face Fury. Bruce was as stiff as a metal pole, and Tony had fallen completely silent. Pepper looked around at no one making any move to start a conversation, so she stepped forward.
"How are things, Director? As you can see, everything is fine." It felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over all of them as Fury raised an eyebrow and slowly stepped forward.
"Fine? You think this is 'fine', Ms. Potts? I don't see anything about this situation that could be called 'fine'." Loki slowly stood, maneuvering Bruce behind him and securing Tony closer to himself in his arms and got between him and the Director as the man stopped a foot from them.
"Step aside." Loki felt that something was really off in the man's tone and knew he should do nothing of the sort. Poor Bruce was shaking like a leaf behind him, and that was unacceptable.
"No. I think you should step back, Director."
"Something happened to them. It's my job to figure out what, and my group of fancy scientists think they can figure it out if they have the boys with them." Fury snarled at Loki and lifted a hand to forcibly move him aside.
"Sir." Fury stopped when Steve called out, his strong voice demanding obedience. "I would think before you try that." Fury growled, but put his arm down. He looked at Tony then at Bruce. Loki pushed the boy farther behind him.
"You're scaring him." Fury shot one more glare at Loki, before turning and stalking out of the room. Air flooded the room once the man was gone. Loki sat back down and pulled Bruce up to join Tony in his lap.
"Are you alright?" Bruce was pale as a ghost and shaking, but he still nodded. Loki nodded, smiled at him then gently pulled him into a hug.
"The Man of Fury was being unduly harsh." Thor was twirling Mjolnir around in his hand and was looking to the doorway that Fury had just walked out through.
"I agree. Anthony, are you okay?" Tony was equally pale to Bruce and still quiet as he nodded.
"We talked to him about the situation. He shouldn't have just barged in here like that. Something's up." Loki saw how shaken the two boys were, and seeing that the time was five thirty, he decided a small, quiet dinner and then bed were in order. So, he stood and took Bruce's hand in his free one.
"Well, whatever it is, these two need to eat and then get some sleep. It has been a bit too exciting of a day for them." No one argued, not even Clint, and both Steve and Pepper said an early goodnight to the boys, knowing they wouldn't be seeing them again that evening. Loki and the boys left the room, quiet and subdued. He had a bad feeling about what had just happened.
Something very strange was going on.
Loki going all Papa Bear, but refusing to acknowledge to himself how much he cares for Tony and Bruce even when they were adults. :) This story wasn't originally going to have much of a plot line, or this much angst, but I can't help myself. ;) I am an angsty writer. :)
Please review! :)