Chapter 2
Thor insisted he and Loki be separated from the rest of the team. He hoped his brother would be less anxious if he weren't surrounded by five highly trained fighters who he had once battled.
As Bruce and Tony approached their door, they could hear Thor's voice, as Thor couldn't keep quiet, if he tried.
"Loki, I know you do not like midgardian clothing, but please, try. Your battle armor is not appropriate here!"
"I have nothing against midgardian clothing! Suits and scarves, yes, I can understand them. But, these are vulgar!"
Outside, Bruce cast an awkward glance at Tony. Tony shrugged, and they kept listening.
"No! They are just different! Brother, why can you not try something new? Your old ways have not made you happy. Can't you try to enjoy this?"
"Enjoy what? Prancing around in wretched clothing on a planet filled with–"
Loki stopped short as Bruce knocked. He silently cursed at himself. He glared at Thor and stalked to the corner of the room, farthest from the door.
Thor sighed and opened the door. He grinned, when he saw his friends, "Stark! Dr. Banner!" and pulled them each into a tight hug. "How goes it, my friends?"
"Fine, Thunder Man." Tony answered, clapping Thor on a shoulder.
Bruce smiled and nodded, adjusting his glasses, "I'm well, thank you. And you?"
"I'm…" Thor looked over to Loki, who frowned from his corner, with his arms crossed across his chest, "I'm alright. Thank you."
"Loki." Tony nodded tersely. He didn't understand how Thor had convinced Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D, or hell, the hotel management, to let Loki come with him. One of the benefits of being a god, he thought. He might talk to Thor about techniques in persuasion later. Loki didn't respond, but kept glaring at the three. Tony rolled his eyes and looked at Bruce. It took him aback, when he saw Bruce, looking right back at Loki. Not angrily, but with a very level eye, as if he were studying the results of one of his experiments.
"What do you men need?" Thor turned sadly back to Stark and Banner.
"Not sure." Bruce began.
Tony continued, "Yeah, Steve came to our room and said he needed to talk with us downstairs."
"I'll be with you shortly."
"Cool." Tony nodded, and he and Bruce left, closing the door behind them.
Thor turned back to Loki. Loki smirked sadly. "I'll wait here, while you carouse with your friends. You needn't fear anything. I promise, I'll sit here quietly." He sat on the edge of his bed.
"Loki…"
"I'm fine!" He turned to face Thor, and for a second, Thor could almost believe he was telling the truth. "Go."
"Brother, come down with me."
Loki looked at Thor like he was mentally unstable. "Excuse me?"
"You are my best friend, why should you not join me?"
"Because everyone hates me."
"They do not know you, as I do. Just come with me. Show them you are better than what they think!"
"Thor, no." He shook his head and began to curl on the bed.
"Come, Loki. I am not giving you a choice in this."
"Thor…" Loki threatened.
"Now!" At this point, Thor grabbed Loki by the arm and preceded to haul him over his shoulder.
"THOR, PUT ME DOWN!"
"Say that you'll follow me."
"Alright, I'll come down to meet the group of people who thwarted my attempts to conquer the planet. We'll see who tries to kill me first."
"Loki, this is the first step to getting better. Please?"
"Fine." Loki spoke, voice just above a whisper. Doubt shone in his eyes, but he answered, "I'll follow."
"Besides, my brother looks handsome in his midgardian clothing. I want to prove to them you are not as demonic as your horned helm would make them think."
"Oh, Valhalla…Thor." Loki rolled his eyes, but followed reluctantly, and Thor clapped him on the shoulder.
As Bruce and Tony walked down the hall from the elevator, they heard Clint shout, "What the hell?"
When they were just around the corner from the lobby, they heard Natasha loudly whisper, "Motherfucker."
"What's going–oh my god…" Tony quickly trailed off when he rounded the corner. Bruce's eyes widened, as he saw Coulson, in a brightly colored Hawaiian print shirt, wave sheepishly.
There was an awkward moment of silence.
Agent Coulson just opened his mouth, when the group heard Thor's booming, "What is the matter, friends?"
When Thor entered the lobby, Loki unenthusiastically following at his heels, the two Asgardians froze. Time seemed suspended. No one in the lobby seemed to breathe. Slowly, a grin spread across Thor's face.
"Son of Coul!" In three easy strides, he crossed half the room and wrapped his thick arms around Coulson.
Coulson's mouth fell open, when Thor pinned his arms at his sides in the tight embrace. The other Avengers' faces matched Coulson's. Thor pulled back, "I am glad you are well! But, Director Fury said you had died."
"Yeah, some explanation would be good." Natasha spoke up, but her voice had lost some of the anger it had had upon her entering the room. Thor's energy was infectious.
"Yeah."
"Well, I told Cap…" Coulson explained. The team's faces ranged from Tony's rage, to Bruce's half smile, to Clint's pure shock, to Natasha's carefully crafted mask. Thor's smile faltered, as when he heard of Fury's lies, but was overwhelmingly happy to see Coulson alive and well.
"Damn, Fury and I are going to have words." Tony muttered, "But man, it's good to have you back." He stepped forward and firmly shook the agent's hand.
After the heros had welcomed Coulson in their own fashions, including a half-hearted slap from Natasha, Coulson's eyes drifted to Loki, who had stood quietly against the wall, grimacing. He looked completely out of place in the khaki shorts and green and black polo shirt. With the long hair, he could be a surfer, but his pale face negated that, and he just looked uncomfortable.
"Loki…" Coulson nodded at the god who had once nearly killed him, but who seemed to have no inclination to attack now.
The cautious warmth and joy that had surrounded Coulson's welcome, had dissipated. Thor would have sworn, if he hadn't known before, that he would have realized his brother's Jotünheim roots in that moment.
The silence stretched on, and Thor saw each person calculate if they would need their weapons, and how quickly they could acquire them. He glanced from his teammates to his brother and back again and swallowed, before quickly stepping to his brother's side. He lightly touched his hand to Loki's elbow and inclined his head slightly to whisper in Loki's ear, "Apologize. Please, just try…"
He trailed off, when Loki turned to him. The hateful glare was enough to break Thor's heart.
Loki turned and swept away. Without the cape, it lost it's theatricality, but none of its meaning.
"Loki!" Thor followed him, leaving the team to ponder what to do about Thor, Loki, and Coulson alone.
After dinner, everyone split into their newly "reassigned" rooms, except for Steve, who stayed in the bar with Coulson a little longer.
Bruce and Tony silently changed into their pajamas, while facing the wall. Quietly, Bruce announced, "I feel bad for Thor."
Tony turned around in time to see Bruce finish buttoning up his green cotton pajama shirt. He smirked, "Green? I like it."
"Look who's talking." Bruce gestures at the red and yellow wife beater and pajama bottoms.
Tony threw out his arms and spun in a circle, "Of course! I am Iron Man!" Bruce let his eyes drift to Tony's ass briefly, but he just as quickly mentally denied it. Tony swept into a deep bow.
Bruce grinned. Tony's flourishes always seemed to make him smile.
"However," Tony continued, "You do look good in green."
A chuckle escaped Bruce's lips, "Thanks."
"You said you feel sorry for Thor?"
Bruce sat heavily on the edge of his bed. "Well, he's a first born prince, a hero. He's gotten everything he needed. The only time he wasn't immediately successful, he ended up meeting a beautiful scientist, who he fell in love with–"
"Yeah…really feeling sorry for him…" Tony raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms across his chest.
Bruce half-smiled up at Tony. "But, you can tell, all he wants is for his little brother to love him as he loves his little brother."
As he sat on the bed and removed his slippers, Tony furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, didn't you see? First of all, bringing Loki here in the first place was obviously an attempt to do something to connect to him. And, the way that until he saw that Coulson was alive, he was never more than a step away from Loki. When we started getting antsy about Loki, Thor immediately went to him. Not to stop Loki from doing anything, it was a protective thing. But, it seems no matter what, Loki is keen to keep Thor out, and that's really hurting him."
"Huh…Thor did look upset when Loki ran out of the room."
"Yeah…he didn't even hesitate to follow him, either. I would think it would be hard to want a the approval of a family member and just find the walls always up." Bruce shrugged and pulled the covers over him.
"It is."
Bruce looked over at Tony who was frowning, as he covered himself.
"Tony?"
"Night, Bruce." Tony turned away from Bruce's bed, facing the wall.
Bruce exhaled softly and pressed his lips together. He clicked off the room lights, and muttered, "G'night, Tony."
"Loki, are you going to say anything to me?" Thor implored, for what seemed to be the hundredth time, as he buttoned up his nightshirt.
Not only did Loki say nothing, he didn't even look at Thor. He sat on the bed, with his arms around his knees, as he had been sitting since Thor had followed Loki back to their room.
"At least dress for bed." Thor held out the sleeping garments from his brother's suitcase.
Still nothing.
Thor dropped them and sighed heavily. "Well, good night then, Loki." He flopped to the bed and rolled to his side, letting his eyes close.
Several minutes later, Loki turned his head to look at his brother. Then, he stood up and moved to the balcony of their room.
Loki moved silently, but the glass door to the balcony squeaked slightly, waking Thor. He could see Loki in the mirror on the closet. He didn't move, knowing the slightest hint of intrusion, may cause Loki to do something rash.
In the mirror, he could see Loki look up at the stars. He took a deep breath of the cool night air, running his hands along the balcony railing and gripping it tightly, when they stopped moving. Thor saw as Loki dropped his head to his chest. Loki's shoulders hunched, as a strangled cry came from his throat. Hands still on the rail, Loki fell to his knees, shoulders shaking, as he sobbed.
Thor grimaced and wound his hand into the bed sheet, clenching it into a fist to keep himself from moving. Forcefully, he shut his eyes, wishing he hadn't opened them in the first place.