Thanks for being so patient y'all! Hope this intrigues and gets things into gear! Thanks you those who have reviewed, you make me wanna write all day =)
Please leave a comment if you're still reading, let me know what you think is going to happen, if you think something sounds stupid or all that jazz!
Love love love you all. SuzukiLi x
...
Steve stood in the door to the kitchen, watching the two brothers circle each other cautiously as they went about their business, Thor making breakfast and Loki pouring a glass of water. It was strange to see Loki in normal clothing. Baggy dark jeans and a black tank top that showed off his unbelievably muscular arms. Steve had always thought of Loki as quaint. It was easy to see now, what Thor had meant when he said it was rare for him to beat Loki in combat. Loki had both strength, speed, magic and probably a lot more sense than Thor. Steve noticed that Loki's hair had finally been cut too, into a much shorter, more manageable style. He was starting now, to look like a norse god, and not the shaking, beat up shell he was when he arrived.
"You guys still not talking?" he said, deciding now was as good a time as any to make his presence known, stepping over to take a seat near Thor and pour himself a bowl of cereal.
"Loki has been known to not speak to me for many centuries," Thor said, munching on his lucky charms, not looking too bothered about it. Steve supposed that many centuries wasn't really that long to Norse God. Loki shot him a sour look and continued sipping his water, although he had not left the kitchen.
"Is there something you need, Loki?" Steve asked, trying to work out the reason for the loitering and Loki's chilling gaze fell upon him. He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out and he went back to sipping his water, glancing away.
"Do not worry, Captain," Thor jeered, clapping Steve a little too hard on the back. "Loki simply wishes to seek my council. Yet he is too proud and stubborn to ask for it. If it is important enough, he will ask."
Loki huffed in a way Steve thought only a toddler could and threw his glass into the sink, turning and storming out of the kitchen, shoving a sleepy Tony very roughly against the door. Tony's eyes widened at the thought of conflict, he was without armour after all, and he hadn't had much sleep. He let out a long sigh of relief though, as Loki stormed away, disappearing at the end of the corridor in a puff of green smoke.
"Who took the jam out of his doughnut?" Tony asked, his hands still raised above his head. Both captain slow and the god of ignorant bliss gave him a very confused stare at the expression. "You know what? I don't want to know."
Tony shuffled into the kitchen, wearing just a pair of black pyjama bottoms, his hair sticking out at all angles. He poured himself a cup of coffee, downing the entire mug before pouring himself another. This was the cup he enjoyed. One for a good kick up the ass, one to savour.
"Are those scratches on your back?" Steve asked, staring at Tony's shredded back, the lucky charms falling from his spoon. Thor choked a little, coughing up a tiny star. Tony spun around, trying to take a look at his back, his brain not yet functioning.
"Yeah I guess... had a lady round last night."
Steve blushed a little at missing the obvious reason for the scratches and continued with eating his cereal with a tiny "Oh."
"Sir, Director Fury is approaching the building," JARVIS announced, resulting in a noise from Tony that closely resembled chubacca.
"I can't think of a bigger boner kill."
"Shall I alert him to your whereabouts?"
"Yeah, tell him I'm in France."
"Very funny Mr pain my god damn ass."
Tony sighed and turned to stand in the burning gaze of the director and offer a sheepish smile.
"Good morning Nicholas, you're looking extra... leathery today!"
"A word, Stark," Fury growled, then shot a glance at Steve and Thor. "In private. And put a damn shirt on!"
Tony grumbled and caressed his mug, shuffling out of the kitchen and leading Fury down to his workshop, grabbing a shirt off of his bench.
"What can I do for you sweetheart?" Tony asked, flopping down into a leather chair and putting his feet up onto the bench.
"I want to know what's going on with the fugitive norse god and his obnoxious offspring. Why are they still here?"
Tony shrugged, taking another sip of his coffee.
"I'm not going to argue with them."
"They should at least be locked up, not free to roam the building!"
"Like I said, it would be a fight I am not prepared to lose. If you're so bothered about them, you tell them."
"Stark."
"Ok... There might just be... something big and scary coming. I dont know, but he's so big and scary that even Loki's terrified of him. And nothing scares Loki, believe me, I have put a lot of effort into trying to do so."
"How big are we talking?"
"Big enough to have the goddess of death on edge?"
Fury looked thoughtful for a moment and sighed.
"You think you can handle it?"
"Maybe... I don't know. Yeah, why not."
"Ok."
Fury said nothing else, just turned and left, almost as quickly as he came. Tony let out a long moan and flopped his head back in his chair.
"For fuck sake..." he sighed, closing his eyes and exhaling deeply.
"You can not hope to stand against him."
Tony shot up, heart pounding at the voice that spoke to him from across the room.
"Who the hell!" he shouted, his mug shattering on the floor as he stood shaking. Loki looked back at him from across the room, his face obscured in shadow, only the bright green of eyes visible.
"He is invinsible, he is omniscient. He lusts only for death," Loki said softly, his voice shivering slightly as he spoke. His eyes were so bright, almost glowing, but they were scared, terrified eyes.
"He will come for her, he will-" suddenly Loki started to choke and he fell forward onto his knees, suddenly appearing in the light of the room.
"Loki?" Tony asked, stepping closer very slowly. "You ok?"
"He... He will..." Loki spluttered through a mouthful of blood, the scarlet fluid dribbling down his chin and splashing against the floor. "He will crush your realm... make it his own... to rule. To rule... to rule with her." Tony ran forward, trying to stop the blood that poured from his mouth and nose, and pulled away when Loki looked fearfully up at him, crying scarlet tears. His eyes were still glowing, pulsing from emerald, to sapphire, to violet and amber.
"Loki, Loki stop talking. Loki, this... this is what happens when you talk about him isn't it?" Tony stuttered, pulling off his shirt and pressing it Loki's face. A weak and shivering hand grasped onto his wrist as he pressed the shirt, and more scarlet tears bounced off his cheek.
"I will... I will aide him... There is no other choice," Loki gasped, his words dampened under the shirt.
"No, no you wont... it's ok, we'll figure something out," Tony said, as soothingly as he could. "Just, just stop talking."
"You can not stop him... I can not stop him," Loki breathed, choking on more blood that worked it way up his throat. He had become very pale, and sweated feverishly, his eyes still flashing different colours.
"Loki just..." Tony cried, holding the man's face in his hands as Loki fell forward into his lap, shivering and in pain, choking on his own blood.
"Just kill me," he whispered, his fingers digging into Tony's knee. Tony rocked him back and forth, frozen in shock. "Please just kill me."
"No. You know why? Because you have a daughter who loves you, and I know you're not that selfish."
"My daughter..." Loki sighed, and he started to calm, the choking coming to a stop.
Just get him onto a different subject, Tony thought, still rocking Loki.
"Yeah that's right, Hela. Don't you want to stick around so that you can do all the normal father daughter stuff? You know, coz you kinda missed out on a bit..."
Loki sniffed and coughed out a little more blood but remained still, his eyes still flashing all those different colours.
"Yes... yes I..." Loki babbled, his eyes wide and distant, staring into nothing. He drew his knees to his chest and his breathing slowed. "Stark?"
"Yes Loki?"
"Help me. He's in my head... get him out of my head. Help me, please."
