They Come on White Horses: Chapter 13
Requested by: NoVacancyMind and many wonderful others
Sequel to Knights.
Alright, if you haven't noticed, I have taken down my avengers plot poll. We have a distinct winner and runner up. My next long Avengers story will be loosely based (or maybe a bit closely) on the Predator movie. Never seen it, but like the concept. And yes, I couldn't stop picturing Loki getting adorable kindergarten grade drawings from a deaged Bruce and Tony. Imagine when they return to their actual selves and see them hanging on the fridge!
The new poll is on White Collar plots, so if you like that fandom or read my WC stories, check it out. :)
Please enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will. So sad.
Hide, Seek, and Lost
The rest of the day was spent having fun with the boys, watching movies, and a team wide game of hide and seek (minus Pepper, who had to leave for a meeting). Even Clint got roped into it, and by Natasha, not the boys. The boys still weren't happy with Clint, and for the most part just ignored him. However, Natasha could see how that was starting to get to her partner. For as long as she had known the archer, he had always loved kids, and actively made sure they were never victims in their missions. Now, two of his teammates (though they hadn't had much time to actually get to know each other) were turned into kids, and they didn't like him. Her solution: hide and seek.
It took a while, but with the encouragement of Loki and the others, Tony and Bruce started to warm up to Hawkeye, until they were hanging on him like they were everyone else. They made the common area floor the boundaries, and Clint was seeker for the last round. Thor was easy to find; he was behind the couch, and he kept peeking over the top. Steve was next, mostly because he couldn't fit in most places. Natasha and Loki were harder to find, but Clint managed eventually. So, all of the other adults sat on the couch, while Clint went about searching for the little ones. He passed through the kitchen for the third time and heard giggling from inside one of the cabinets near the floor. It wasn't the first time, but he stopped then.
"Hmmm, I don't think I can find them. Where could they be?" More giggling followed by loud shushing. Clint smirked.
"Maybe they're in the fridge? The microwave?" Each guess brought more giggles from the cabinet, until Clint finally decided to 'find' them.
"Oh, I know. Maybe they are in one of the cabinets!" The team watched on in amusement from their spots on the couch. Hawkeye opened each cabinet one by one, getting closer and closer to the ones Tony and Bruce were hiding in. The giggling had stopped, and Clint was not expecting what happened when he opened that last door. He was suddenly covered in little boy, as they jumped out of the cabinet and attacked him.
"Ahhh! Someone save me!" Tony and Bruce were laughing just as hard as he was, as they started trying to tickle him. They kept going until they were all out of breath and too tired to move. The toddlers were limp and laying all over Clint. Suddenly, a large shadow, well, a few of them, was looming over them. The boys smiled up at the figures, and Tony held his arms out.
Steve, Thor, Loki and Natasha stared down at the lump of person on the floor. Shaking his head, Steve bent down and lifted Tony onto his hip. Loki reached a hand out to pull Bruce up, but Thor stopped him and did the honors. The Trickster raised a brow at the golden god. Thor refused to be cowed.
"You should not be straining yourself, Brother. I am merely looking out for your health." His entire sentence was negated by the way he hefted Bruce up onto his shoulder and proudly took him from the room. Loki rolled his eyes, but followed. Thor had been the same way with his nephews and nieces, when they were young, and Loki finally let the family near them. Natasha waited for Clint to pull himself up off of the floor, before simply stating,
"Good job. I'm going to order us pizza." And so she did, and the boys loved it. Thor kept piling Loki's plate with slices, until Loki had to threaten the food itself to get him to stop. The rest of dinner went a bit easier than that, and soon the boys were yawning, along with Loki, and they made their way to bed.
Tony and Bruce were tucked in, and Loki kissed them goodnight. He nearly jumped out of his skin, when he walked out into the hallway and Thor was standing just to the side of the door.
"Brother!" he stage whispered. Loki shot a glare at Thor.
"What are you doing!?" Without preamble, Thor wrapped his baby brother up in a hug and rocked him back and forth.
"I had the strong urge to hug you and wish you goodnight as when we were children." So, Thor pulled back and placed a kiss on Loki's forehead, much as the younger brother had just done to the small boys. Loki batted him away weakly.
"We are much to old for that, Thor." Thor looked at him, smile still in place, with an expression that clearly said that he didn't believe that Loki believed that for a minute.
"You are always my little brother, which means you are never to old to be kissed goodnight by your older brother." Loki felt the 'You're not my brother' right on the tip of his tongue…but ignored it. He was starting to get used to Thor like this, how they were before they had grown apart and didn't really want to lose that. Instead he rolled his eyes half-heartedly and moved to go into his room.
"Yes, well, goodnight. I would like to go to sleep now." Thor nodded, still beaming, and stayed there until Loki closed the door in his face.
That night, as Loki felt the numbness of sleep blanketing his mind, he couldn't help the small smile that curled his lips.
The next morning was a lot less worrisome than the last. Sleep had been easy for all of them, thank goodness. They all got through breakfast without some sort of crisis, and then Fury called. Knowing that Loki should be there to give insight, but not wanting to worry Tony and Bruce, they had Thor take them out to a different room to wait.
"Director? Has Dr. Foster found something?" Steve asked. They couldn't see it, but they could hear the weariness in his voice when he relayed his answer.
"We believe so. She already had trackers going at the time we believe Amora showed up on earth. Dr. Foster has isolated a specific date of twenty-two days ago, in a remote area of Maine. The energy spike is similar to the spike we get when Thor arrives, but Dr. Foster says there is something different about it. We are flying her out to the area in hopes that she'll be able to get some more readings and data." That meant that all they had left to do then, was wait. Steve looked at Loki.
"Any particular reason for Maine?" Loki shook his head.
"There might be an ancient magical anchor there that she used to pull herself to Midgard, or she targeted it because she was not ready for a grand entrance." They threw some ideas back and forth before eventually hanging up. There really wasn't much for them to go on, and it was frustrating the hell out of them. Not to mention, Fury told them that his 'crack team' of scientists hadn't really come up with anything that might fix Tony and Bruce. Loki had to take a few deep breaths before going out to see the boys.
What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. Thor and the boys had built a fort with overturned chairs, blankets and the back of a couch. They were all huddled inside as best they could, seeing as even sitting, Thor was a bit too big. Thor had found a flashlight somewhere, no doubt with Jarvis's help, and had it on it's end so it gave the fort an eerie glow. Loki could see him animating whatever story he was telling the boys, their shadows dark on the sheets and floor. Seeing it gave the Trickster a distinct pang in his chest, remembering how Thor had been just like this with all of his nephews and his niece. Thor had never hated them or looked down at them and called them monsters. He was ecstatic with each and showered them in love and compliments. Thor could be the most spoiled, arrogant prince anytime and anywhere, except when he was with Loki's children. Then he would became a loving uncle who would do all he could to make them smile. (And that was when Loki realized that if he was going to continue to call his children Thor's nephews and nieces, that meant that Thor was still his brother. And he was….okay with that.)
Loki crouched down at the entrance to the fort and poked his head in.
"May I ask where you got such an excellent fort?" Tony and Bruce beamed when they saw him, as did Thor.
"Thor built it for us! He did it really quick too, and now he's telling us stories!" Loki smiled.
"Really, well, perhaps I should stay and listen to his tales, hmm?" The children nodded eagerly, and Thor was still smiling brighter than the flashlight as he continued his storytelling.
The rest of the team let them be, but not before taking a few pictures.
The day went by easily after that. Loki was feeling considerably better, and spent the whole day with the boys. Thor kept his eyes on him the whole time, especially at meals, but beyond that, he was fine. Things were as normal as they could be…which never meant anything good.
Loki was walking the boys to their room, holding a hand from each of them. Tony was chatting excitedly, while Bruce smiled, laughing at his younger friend's jokes. They got ready for bed and crawled under the covers. Loki knelt next to the bed, and ran his fingers through Bruce's brown locks.
"Do you two want another story? You both look pretty tired." Tony tried to make his nod convincing, but he was drooping fast. Bruce shook his head, but held his arms out for a hug. Loki smiled and obliged, kissing him on the head when he pulled away. He did the same for Tony, before exiting the room. Luckily, there was no one waiting for him on the other side, this time. He had half expected Th- his brother, to be waiting to ambush him, but the Thunderer wasn't there. Loki opened the door to his room, and closed the door behind him.
"Sir, I'm picking up some sort o-" Jarvis cut off mid sentence, and Loki was immediately on alert.
"Jarvis?" Loki scanned the room with his eyes. His back was to his bed, when a black smoke stared to curl around his head. He recognized it right away.
"A-amor..a.." His vision was already blurring, and he suddenly collapsed to his knees. His consciousness was slowly slipping away. Now, Loki's whole body was prone on the floor. The last thing he saw, before he was completely dragged under was yellow dust falling around him like snow.
"Sir. Sir, I urge you to wake up. Mr. Loki!" Loki slowly lifted his head from the carpeted floor at Jarvis's insistence, a foul taste in his mouth. It took him a few moments, but suddenly his last memories came flooding back to him. He forced himself to stand, and stumbled to his door. He muttered one word under his breath over and over.
"No, no, no, no…" Seeing Tony and Bruce's bedroom door ajar, he rushed inside. He couldn't-no, no, this wasn't happening.
"Jarvis, how long?" The AI answered immediately.
"You were only unconscious for seventeen seconds, Sir. I regained my speech only ten seconds before you awoke. I have already alerted the other Avengers, and am alerting SHIELD and Director Fury now." Loki didn't even hear the last part. All he could see was an empty bed, where he had just, just, put Tony and Bruce to sleep. He hadn't been cautious enough; he hadn't been alert. So many guilty thoughts were running through him, but one cry came to the surface, and felt like a dagger to his chest.
Please. I can't lose any more.
I lure you in with fluff and happiness, then crush your hopes with angst! I am evil. XD And yes, that ending line is Loki thinking of how he had lost each of his children to death or imprisonment/banishment of some sort. He is feeling that same pain now since Tony and Bruce were taken from him, much like his own children were.
PS My writers block has decided to take a little vacation. :) Yay!
Please review! :)