They Come on White Horses: Chapter 9
Requested by: NoVacancyMind and many wonderful others
Sequel to Knights.
I love you to whoever (sorry bad with names) said I did great characterization! Honestly that is one of my biggest worries, that I will mess up the characters. So thank you SUPER DUPER MUCH!
Also, I put a poll up on my profile. I want you guys to decide which plot you want for my next Avengers fic! Like it says on the poll, all of the plots will happen, but I need help deciding which on dot do next. SO please, CHECK IT OUT!
Please enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will. So sad.
How Time Flies
Loki hadn't realized that three hours had passed until he heard excited little feet running towards him. He had been watching the surveillance footage of the lab on a loop of right before and during the explosion in hopes of confirming his suspicions. He had Jarvis slow it down more and more each time, trying to catch a glimpse of the sorceress. However, all he had managed was to give himself a worse headache and skip eating…again.
Loki was distracted by all of this, when he suddenly found his lap full of little boys.
"Loki!" Tony threw his little arms around his neck and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Bruce just giggled and buried his face in Loki's chest. The trickster smiled and hugged the boys. He looked up to see Steve and Thor hurrying in, as though they had been running after the toddlers. Their faces lit up in bright smiles when they saw that Tony and Bruce had wrapped themselves around the Norse god.
"Guess they found you. They have been watching the clock since breakfast ended. I made sure they ate lunch, and we had fun. But as soon as it hit three hours, those two bolted from the room." Thor nodded.
"Indeed. Young Man of Iron and Dr. Banner were very eager to see you again, Brother." Loki made no remark at Thor's use of the word, and the thunderer felt his heart soar.
"Really? Well, I missed you as well. The lab is pretty safe now, so we should be able to have some fun down here without injury." Thor and Steve left the three to there fun time, but not before Thor caught a good look at how hard his brother was trying to hide his exhaustion. Thor worried that Loki might do himself harm by trying to appear strong for Bruce and Tony.
With the aid of Jarvis, Loki gave the two eager boys a tour of the lab. He made certain they didn't touch anything remotely dangerous, which meant they didn't go near two-thirds of the lab equipment, but he showed them Tony's cars and Iron Man suits and some of Bruce's benign experiments, mostly involving plant life. As seemed to be his habit for the day, Loki lost track of time again, so caught up as he was with the brilliant smiles the boys were giving him as they discussed everything the boys could think of.
Thor and Natasha were the ones to come collect them for dinner late in the evening. Black Widow didn't necessarily smile at the children, but her countenance was pleasant enough to not harbor mistrust in the boys.
"Alright, Boys. Cap is upstairs cooking for all of us. You like spaghetti?" Tony and cheered, and Bruce eagerly followed the assassin out of the lab, but not before he cleaned up their mess as much as he could. Thor stayed behind and watched as it took a great deal of effort for Loki to simply push himself to standing. The thunderer came and looped his arm around Loki's shoulders, startling the younger prince.
"Brother? You are not well. The only times I have ever been able to sneak up on you, you were very sick." Loki huffed and tried and failed to roll Thor's arm off of him.
"I was also a child. You simply surprised me with your atrocious odor." Thor would not be distracted from his aims so easily. He laid a hand on Loki's forehead as he had often seen his mother do when they were children.
"You are warm, Brother. You need to rest, at least." Loki huffed and puffed at Thor's words.
"Thor, I am the only one with experience handling children. If you insist, I will turn in as soon as the boy's go to bed. Now get your weight off of me, before I am flattened beneath you." Thor begrudgingly took his arm off of Loki, and allowed him to walk on his own. He stayed not two inches from him, however, as Loki swayed often and could not be trusted not to end up on the floor. They managed the feat of making it to the elevator, and meeting the others in the dining area without incident. Tony and Bruce had apparently saved a seat for Loki right in between them.
"Loki! Sit here!" Tony scrambled off of his chair and pulled the empty one back for Loki. Loki raised an eyebrow, but smiled at the young inventor and sat in the proffered chair.
"Thank you, Anthony."
"I got you water to drink. Is that okay?" Bruce looked up at him with a tentative smile on his face, seeking approval. Loki would have been suspicious of such kindness, if it had come from anyone else. But from these two, he knew that it was as sincere as it could be.
"That is just fine, Bruce. Thank you as well." Loki made a point of taking a small sip of the water, as Bruce watched. This pleased the boy immensely. Once everyone was seated, (Thor across from Loki and Clint as far away as possible) the boys dug in. The food looked delicious, but just the smell made Loki's stomach roll. Loki made a show of eating for Thor and the boys, but to be honest, he really wasn't up for it. He felt more like just laying his head down on the table and falling asleep for a few days, barring this new bout of nausea allowed it.
Thor was burning holes into Loki's face as his younger brother ate very little and kept a running conversation with both boys. The thunderer did not know what to do. He was not so blind as to notice his brother's suffering and link it with his wearing of the bracelets. However much Thor might want to crush the infernal things, he could not. They were part of Loki's sentence. If Thor destroyed them or even just took them off of his brother's wrists, they both could be accused of treason and face an even worse punishment. This did not hamper Thor's desire to do so, however. But for now, all he could do was try to ease his brother's suffering and hope Odin released him soon.
The meal finished and the adults all took their plates to the kitchen. Thor grabbed Bruce and Tony's plates before Loki could and gave him an innocent smile.
"You have got your hands full, Brother. Allow me." Loki would have smacked Thor's hands away if he would not have hurt himself more than the big oaf in the process.
"Anthony, Bruce, go wash up and get changed for bed. You have tomato sauce all over your faces." Tony grumbled.
"But I'm not tired." Loki sighed.
"You'll notice, Anthony, that I did not say go to bed. I said get changed for bed. If you are good about it and leave in the next ten seconds I will come tell you stories, before I do make you go to sleep" Tony was out of the room in two. Loki chuckled as he watched Bruce try to catch up. He was startled from his thoughts when his own plate was plucked from his hands.
"I will take this for you." Loki did give Thor a scowl then.
"There is no need for you to treat me like a child, Thor." Thor simply shrugged and placed the plate in the sink. Steve was the one actually washing the plates, while Natasha dried. Clint sat on the counter and watched them, periodically putting the plates in the modern-Stark-modified plate holder thing that no one knew what to call it. So basically, he was doing nothing. It didn't take them long to finish, and once they had, Steve motioned for them to gather in the common area.
He turned and faced the group, arms crossed and his face stating that they were about to have a serious discussion.
"Loki, did you find anything while you were down in the lab?" If Loki was surprised at the confidence in the Captain's voice, he didn't show it.
"I only have my suspicions on who the sorcerer may be. There was a sort of powdery residue on the floor in the center of the explosion. When a sorcerer wields his or her magic in small doses, it leaves behind only a minimal disturbance in the balance of the atmosphere. However, when they use it in great amounts or for great violence, it leaves behind a more noticeable mark. For instance, my magic leaves a green frost behind. Eventually, the impressions fade. The more magic, the more noticeable the mark and the longer it stays."
"Who do you think is behind this, Brother?" Loki gave Thor a slightly (slightly) sympathetic look.
"The yellow powder is indicative of Amora the Enchantress." Thor, predictably, cringed at the name. Natasha crossed her arms over her chest.
"You two know each other?" Thor rubbed the back of his neck.
"I knew her…for a time. We did not end on good terms." Loki snorted.
"She threatened to rip your head off and feed it to a bilgesnipe. Though, she has threatened me similarly and with much more frequency," he admitted.
"Not friends then.." Thor shook his head, while Loki moved his side to side in a 'sort of, maybe' gesture.
"I taught her a great deal of what she knows, but when she started using those powers to woo Thor, I put an end to it. She has hated me since, but occasionally we have been known to be civil with each other." Steve sighed and dropped his chin down to his chest.
"Okay, so why would she turn Tony and Bruce into children?" Loki simply shrugged. He was too tired for much else.
"You can never be too certain with Amora. She is, as I'm sure the adult Dr. Banner described me, a box of cats. We cannot be sure that she intended that as the outcome. When she is…overwhelmed, her magic tends to deter from her original intentions. She may have been trying to kill them, but she has never attacked Midgard before. I see no reason to start now." Before Loki could elaborate further or one of the others could ask another question, Clint spoke up.
"Maybe she was after you." There was a tense silence, as both god and archer assessed each other. After a beat or two, Loki nodded in acknowledgement.
"Perhaps. However, I find that unlikely as even though her magic can go array, she doesn't miss her target." Silence reigned again. So, urged on by his own exhaustion and the knowledge of two waiting children, Loki decided to end their little pow-wow.
"If you'll excuse me. That is all I have for you right now, and Anthony and Bruce are waiting for me." The team let him go, and the moment he was out of sight and earshot, he slumped against a wall. Loki breathed deeply through his nose.
"Would you like me to call for assistance, Loki?" Loki shook his head, until he could catch his breath.
"No, Jarvis. I'm…I just need a moment. Are Anthony and Bruce ready for bed?" Loki pushed himself beck up to standing and started to shuffle down the hallway.
"…Yes. They are growing restless, and young Sir looks to be close to starting a pillow fight." Loki wasn't entirely certain what a pillow fight was, but whatever it was, he did not think they needed to start fighting before they sleep. It took him longer than usual, his bones aching and vision going in and out, but he finally made it to the boys' room. Without knocking he entered, and saw Tony standing on the bed behind Bruce, his pillow raised above his head and ready to strike.
"And what…do we have here?" Bruce smiled innocently, while Tony tried to hide the pillow behind his back.
"Nothing." Loki shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Well, since it appears that you two are ready for bed as I asked, I will give you a story." Tony cheered, and both boys clambered under the covers, settling in. Loki turned and pulled his legs up on the bed, so he was sitting up parallel to the edge of the bed with his back resting against the headboard.
"Now, where should I begin…"
Loki's good at hiding his sickness from the boys. Until he's not...Hmmm ;)
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