Loki was barely aware of his surroundings while Thor hugged him, like he'd just woke up from years of sleep. He felt his so-called-brother's body looming over him and felt it almost insulting.
"Oh, now you care about me? A bit too late, right? Now let go of me, you big oaf."
Thor looked at his brother, sad. It was certainly going to take more than a near-death apology to get in Loki's good graces again. He probably deserved that cold treatment but he didn't care. He would try to win him back no matter what it took.
Loki was found this sudden affection almost indignant. Thor hadn't cared when he'd been dying alone, when he was abandoned and poisoned with disease and only now, after he'd done what he and his mortal friends could not, only then, he showed some remorse. Offensive. A person who truly loves you like Thor claimed remained by your side in the good and bad moments, not only after you had saved him and his friends from an intergalactic threat.
So he ignored that big warm body and did not return the embrace. Yes, this might be the first time in years someone had shown some interest in him and it was pleasant to feel contact with another person, but he had his pride. Thor did not deserve ny kindness from him. He was just like the rest of them, Asgardians, cruel and self-righteous. If Thor had a guilty conscience then it was all his doing. It was nice but didn't make up for all the sleepless nights, the depression of knowing that no one would ever come for him.
Too little too late, Thor.
Loki wheezed as his brother let go of him, hurt. Had he been really expecting Loki to accept his apologies and that everything would be all right again? Bruce looked at the two awkwardly while preparing a nasal cannula he later placed on Loki. There was a lot of resentment there. And uncertainty.
Now that I am no longer of us, what will they do with me?
Loki was basically an invalid with a leg and an arm and was without his magic. Not to mention the prisoner's disease, still in full mode and tampering with his healing abilities. Just great. Like it on not, his foreseeable future was in the hands of the Avengers. Better to act civil, then.
Bruce saw Loki looking at him with tired eyes and managed a small smile. He was still on his pyjamas, which made the situation even more awkward and a god turned terrorist turned ally was staring at him. What do you do in situations like that?
"How are you feeling, Loki?"
Loki was dizzy, still a bit shocked after having a plastic device stuck out of his throat and generally, he felt like a horse had stepped on him. Repeatedly. But he was not admitting any of that.
"I had worse." He tried to smile. "But what was that contraption you had down my throat, Doctor?"
For a terrifying moment, Loki had thought it was some sort of torture device. A punishment for all his victims in the New York incident.
"A ventilator. It's a machine that breathes for someone, mechanically. You had stopped breathing when we found you."
"I did?" He'd been really close to death this time.
"It was Doctor Banner's quick action that saved you, brother." Thor said, flashing a smile and patting the other on the shoulder. Bruce felt a bit uncomfortable, being the centre of attention.
"Thor helped, too."
Loki looked at both of them enthusiastically. He was too worn out for this. His throat was raw, his lungs ached. He felt his eyelids drooping despite his efforts. Suddenly he only wanted to be left alone to sleep in peace.
"Would you like something to eat, Loki?" Thor asked, worried. Eating was important and Loki hadn't eaten anything since he arrived.
"Not in this moment. Now, leave, I need to rest and I wish to be alone."
Thor and Bruce didn't have to be told twice. It was late at night and all wanted to go back to sleep. It had been a very long day.
The next morning Loki awoke feeling even worse. He was sore and the symptoms of the disease were back clawing at him and he was almost immobilized now. An invalid, unable to walk. A useless wimp who needed help to move. Not likely. He was a prince, he deserved better than this. He asked JARVIS how he could break that horrible cast in his leg so he'd be able to walk and move freely. And so he did, broke the cast with
Bruce arrived in the medical bay and found a determined Loki efficiently breaking his cast with his good arm, using a small hammer. He flashed a smile to the very shocked Doctor.
"Good morning, Bruce Banner. Did you sleep well?"
Bruce was wide-eyed and speechless.
"What are you doing doing?" He finally managed to say.
"Oh, this? I do not mean do undo the work you have done to fix my many breaks but it's not dignified to have both an arm and a leg immobilized. It is undignified. Almost comedic. I felt the need to do something. Doctor, would you be so kind to bring some clothes? I would like to have some fresh air today, a change of scenery. This white room has bored me already."
"Sure. But you realise you can't walk, right? Cast or no, your leg's still broken, you can't walk like that. "
"I will manage. But thanks for the concern."
After getting dressed and after some dealings with the medical machines to which Loki was hooked, both men went up to the living room to have some breakfast. Loki entered like he owned the place on the living room, head held high, limping. Only Tony was there, finishing some waffles, wearing a faded Led Zeppelin t-shirt.
"Hey, you two. You're the last. Steve's with the press, Clint and Tasha are who-knows-where and Thor just left, saying he needed some fresh air or something. I think he meant to contact his father or someone from the motherland, left flying with his hammer."
Bruce nodded. It was nice to be with fewer people. More relaxing. Tony continued speaking.
"You missed Steve's speech to the press, quite heart-warming. Hell, what is the internet for? JARVIS, put up Steve's speech on the screens."
"I, in behalf of The Avengers, am happy to announce to the criminal known as Belveroth of Besildong is gone and will not be back." There was some cheering heard. Steve quietly waited until it started subsiding. "However, we can not take full credit for this victory. As you have seen in the battle of Atlanta or in Washington we were outpowered by the prince and his army so our last chance was calling in a man... a man with a record. A prisoner, a convict who had defeated this threat before. And that's exactly what he did. When everything was lost, he tricked our enemy and forced him to leave. I will not divulge his identity out of respect to the victims of his crimes, but he was key in solving this crisis. I am sorry we were not able to protect you on our own, but this, as you could see, was no ordinary threat. We have learned from the experience and hope to be better prepared in the future."
And then there was the time questions and answers. Loki listened only to parts of it. Suddenly, a voice in the video spoke.
"And aren't you ashamed of working with a criminal? You are a soldier, you're there to stop criminals."
Steve looked a bit bewildered.
"Let me tell you answer you, Mister, in length. Yesterday, after a gruesome battle that we lost, I was bound and gagged, on my knees before a man who had a dagger to my throat. And this man, this criminal saved not only my life but the lives of all my friends. This criminal made the enemy retreat without any additional bloodshed, at the expense of his own health. Yes, this criminal angered our enemy so much he took it all on him and saved me, the avengers and the rest of you lot. And because of it he's fighting for his life on a hospital bed. So no, I'm not ashamed of working with a criminal, I'm grateful for giving him this second chance because if I hadn't then I wouldn't be standing here."
And then they turned off the video. Loki was a bit shocked, unaccustomed to such kind words being said about him. He took what mortals called a cookie and started eating it, calm.
"So..." started Tony looking at Loki. "Why did you help us? We both know you could have easily taken over Bob's army in a matter of hours, with that charisma of yours, hit a restart button on your domination plans, with more manpower. Why let that chance go?"
Loki smiled.
"Because trying to take over worlds ha always turned out so well for me, right? No, the pleasure of humiliating Bob was the chance that I could not miss."
"You nearly died because of that." Tony noted.
"Well, life was not being much joy as of late. Better to die in a fight than go back to rotting in that infect cell."
"Gosh, you're glum. But thanks, I guess. You pulled off quite a number against Bob. And calling him Bob was quite brilliant, it made him look really stupid. Wish Ithought of that. Although I did not appreciate the part where you told him to kill me!"
"Means to an end, Stark. And it worked, did it not?" Loki said between sips of his coffee. God, it had been ages since the last time he tasted proper food.
"Yes, it did."
Bruce, Tony and Loki finished having their breakfast (Loki became a fan of dark chocolate) and chatting companionably until the moment JARVIS alerted them of a presence in the door.
"Sir, director Fury and twenty-three of his agents are at the door. They want to come in."
Now, why would a whole division of SHIELD be at his doorstep? They didn't need so many people to congratulate them on a job well done!
"Tell them no! We're having breakfast. SHIELD duties can wait." He said. He had zero intentions of dealing with those people.
Bruce was getting nervous. Steve had just told the world they'd been harbouring a criminal and now a twenty four members of a security agency were coming at them. He made himself breathe. Calm down. Maybe they only meant to thank them or ask them about their strategy. Maybe all those people were there for a good reason.
There was an explosion and then the sound of the elevator. They had gotten in. The elevator opened and Fury got out, followed by some agents.
"God, I was hoping it wasn't him. Agents, arrest that terrorist right now. Casey, you know what to do."
Casey, an agent to the left, shot a tranquilizer dart that hit an anxious-looking Bruce right in the chest. He fell forward, instantly asleep.
"What the hell?" Tony screamed, as he approached his friend.
The rest of the Agents were surrounding Loki. He had tried to flee, but it had proved impossible with his broken leg. When one of the Agents had tried to cuff him, he punched with his elbow and broken his nose, the next one who tried received a mighty punch in the stomach. But then, a taser was applied and Loki fell limp on the agents. The Agents handcuffed him anyway.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Tony screamed, moving forward "Leave him alone! That guy just fuckin' saved us all!"
"Coincidentally, he did it when there were no witnesses to confirm the story. How do we know he hasn't mind-controlled you to think that? That this isn't all a ploy to take over the world again? How do you know what you saw wasn't just an illusion? It's too great a risk." Fury asked.
"Look at him! The guy is spent, he has no magic!" Stark screamed and continued moving to retrieve the god. One of the agents pointed a gun at him. At his head. Damn them! This wasn't fair!
"Stay still, Stark. Or I will arrest you too, for harbouring a known terrorist in your house. This is a clear national security breach, Stark, and we had to act. Now Loki will go back to jail where he belongs." He motioned the agents to go back to the elevator.
No peace for you, monster. You're only getting what you deserve.
Tony knew he had nothing to do when his last functioning suit was in the workshop, dismantled. The Bob situation had left him with a grave shortage of technology. Each battle was a suit he lost.
The Agent kept pointing the gun at him as they left with an unconscious Loki.
Not knowing if he could hear or not, and not really caring, Tony screamed.
"We'll get you back, Loki! This is not going to end like this."
A/N: You just DON'T tell the world you have a criminal in your house when you're friends with so many cops! Anyways, did you like it? Not? Please leave a comment with your opinion, what you liked, what you didn't...
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