Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing my story, I very much appreciate it! Okay, so here goes the next chapter (there's still A LOT in store, so you are warned).
Chapter 3 revised now!
Eventually, all are brought back to the house. Loki, quite conveniently, mirrors one of the agents to enter the building without anyone's realization. One can say about him what he wants, but as of now, he is pulling off his part of the contract. The team assembles in the next best room.
"Okay, now that we are here... we come to the house rules, Tricky Vicky," Tony breaks the silence.
Loki, now back in his usual shape, just glances at him, not showing any emotion. He is really good at this.
"Okay," Tony claps his hands together. "So we have this computer system, JARVIS. He does anything upon verbal command – you may use him, but you have restrictions. You don't get data from him, other than perhaps where to spot certain people or things in the house. You will not get weapons from him. Just what keeps you alive, pretty much. He won't let you out unless you have our permit... Regard him as a map of the house... and a food dispenser that talks."
"Interesting," Loki tilts his head curiously.
"You will get your own room. We have plenty of those. There is video surveillance in all hallways and rooms. If you pull something, we'll see you do it, and then we come with the cavalry," Tony warns him.
"If it makes you feel better?" Loki replies with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Yes, a lot," Clint snorts, to which Loki smirks, "Great for you, then."
"The Ops or labs are taboo for you when you are on your own. You will only get there with our permit. I have a lock that will be one pain in the ass even to you, so don't even try it. You are not allowed to get Avengers or SHIELD intern information, even without using JARVIS. You will stay in the house, unless you get told otherwise. Just what Fury said," Tony goes on.
"Very well," Loki nods calmly.
"Your weapons will be kept in a storage," Tony explains, to which the trickster grins, "Otherwise they would get dusty anyways."
"No magic," Clint snarls, the memory of the last time he got a 'taste' of Loki's magic ever so clear inside his mind.
"That might be difficult," Loki grimaces. "I'm very much accustomed to using magic for the simple tasks of life, such as getting dressed. If I slip on that it'd mean a violation of contract – I don't know if I'd fancy being thrown out for one slip of the tongue."
"Fine," Natasha sighs. "But no magic that does harm to others or this place. You will not do this for vicious attacks on either person or place whatsoever, yes?"
"I can fully agree to that," Loki nods.
Clint threatens, "And we will do bad things to you if you shit with us."
"Then I shall try not to do bad things," Loki smirks at him. That mortal can try all he wants to threaten him, Loki will not listen to what he says. His contract is with Fury, not his minion.
"Don't try, just do it," Clint snarls, to which Tony snickers, "Do. Or do not. There is no try."
Bruce massages the bridge of his nose with a grunt, "Seriously?"
"Hey, Star Wars is cool," Tony argues vehemently, to which all roll their eyes.
Loki breaks the moment of silence by waggling his cuffs noisily, "Is there any chance that these will come off any time soon? I mean, they are fashionable accessories, but they will make everyday life a bit complicated."
"I would rather not," Clint huffs. No, to him, they could stay on the God till later... as in... never. Loki lets out a dry laugh, "I don't think that this is regarded as considerable freedoms, though. Up until now I did you no wrong, hm?"
"Right," Clint rolls his eyes.
"Then I think I earned myself that much," Loki argues. Clint goes on to disarm the God of Mischief, who lets it happen with a shrug and casual smirk. Loki produces several daggers, knives, shuriken, arrows, bombs of varying sizes... a real arsenal. No one comes around but stare at the sheer mass of weapons he hid in his clothes – and well so without anyone's realization.
"I rather come prepared," Loki winks at them nonchalantly. After some time, Clint is sure he got them all.
"Very well. I am no longer a threat for my weapons," Loki snorts. If only they knew... That being said, he makes one quick move of the hands and is stripped out of the cuffs which he holds out to Barton to take, much to everyone's surprise.
"I thought those ban magic," Natasha gapes in shock.
Thor also has to stare, "They do."
They are shocked, of course, but the Avengers are probably even more surprised at the fact that Loki actually kept them on in the first place, if they have actually no effect on him.
"Yes, but there is this humorous tradition of simply moving the right way to get out of these. I think your Houdini was profound in this field, though I do not have his expertise, of course... though I have to apologize for the rash move. Those things just itched too badly," Loki smirks at them.
"Okay, uhm," Natasha puckers her lips as she recovers from the shock. "Perhaps we should do another check-up."
"Right," Clint agrees, "Make sure he has no bomb hidden in his stomach, ready to go off once we turn our backs on him."
"Bruce?" Natasha turns to the doctor, who grimaces, "I will do that. Uhm... will you follow me peacefully?"
"Of course, Doctor Banner. You know that you are one of the few people I do respect?" Loki tilts his head as he follows the man to the lab.
"Is that so?" Bruce frowns. That is not the impression he got when they last came together, no... definitely not.
"In fact," Loki nods. If Bruce didn't know any better, he would actually believe Loki's words, at least he sounds like... meaning them. Ugh, when did everything get so complicated?!
"Last time you wanted me to be your big minion as the Hulk," Bruce snorts, to which Loki shrugs, "Oh, I was of a generally bad disposition by the time."
"Well, let's hope for you, then, that your disposition won't get the better of you again," Bruce replies sarcastically.
"I surely hope so, too," Loki smiles at him. They leave the rest of the group to go to the lab. Bruce walks ahead of Loki, who is having his hands crossed over the back, glancing around as they make their way down the hallways. Bruce glances over his shoulder occasionally, just to catch sight of what one could really call a calm, curious child taking in its new surroundings. But Bruce is having none of it. That guy is evil, evil, for goodness' sake! Once inside, Bruce immediately makes his way over to the tables to gather the objects he needs for the check-up. And far more importantly, he needs a moment to recollect. Bruce can feel the nervousness rising inside of him, a warmth creeping up to his chest, nothing severe on the Hulk-Scale, but still enough to throw him off his usual routine. And the doctor doesn't like that, especially if it's, well, Loki. This man just makes him uncomfortable by nature.
Bruce busies himself with the machines and computers, "Take a seat."
Loki obeys and sits down on the cot. Bruce turns around in his chair, now with a tray of material he needs and puts it down on the small desk next to the cot.
"Okay, uhm," Bruce sighs. "I don't know much about your physiology. I hope at some point that it's like Thor's..."
"As in the form now, yes," Loki assures him.
"Because you're shapeshifter," Bruce nods.
"Correct," Loki smirks. That man certainly is one of the smarter creatures roaming this planet. That much is for certain.
"I see. Well, that is convenient... in some sense," Bruce frowns. "Okay, ugh, first I'll need a blood sample."
Loki holds out his hand for the syringe. Bruce frowns, but Loki explains calmly, "I don't think you'll find a spot to draw blood. And I do not fancy being your pincushion. So how about I do that myself?"
Bruce grimaces. To give Loki something he could kill him with? Might be not as much of a good idea. Only God, or well, Loki knows what he can do with a syringe. Maybe build a nuke? Who knows?
"As you can see, this is empty, so I cannot poison you, the needle is too short to reach major arteries. I will not take it to make an attempt on your life, Doctor Banner, rest assured," Loki tells him, almost in a soothing way. Bruce snorts, but gives it to him anyways. Loki doesn't start, though, but instead searches Bruce's eyes, "You may step back if that makes you feel more comfortable."
Bruce nods and does so while the God rolls up his sleeve and starts to draw blood at his wrist, but way closer to the palm. Bruce surely wouldn't have searched there, so he was seemingly being earnest. The liquid soon drops into the container of the syringe. He makes it full before holding the object out to Bruce – with the needle pointing towards himself. Bruce takes it with a nod, before giving him a swab, "Press that on the wound till it stops bleeding."
Loki obeys wordlessly once again and looks up to the doctor with expectant eyes.
"Okay," Bruce says. "Would you now step on that scanner? That way I can run a full body check."
Loki cocks an eyebrow at him, "Huh, convenient little thing."
The trickster gets up and steps over to the platform.
"Hold up your arms parallel to the ground and hold it for a few seconds," Bruce tells him. Loki does so and the doctor runs the scan.
"Okay, you may sit back down," Bruce tells him. Loki does so as Bruce reads over the results he just received from the scan.
"So?" Loki asks, faking curiosity. "Is there a missile hidden within me?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary... other than that your physiology is nothing out of the ordinary. I mean... hormone levels are... I don't even know some of those... wow, okay... I will have to work through that. But you carry no disease or anything else that might be a threat to us or humankind," Bruce grimaces. At some point he can't deny that he is looking forward to analyze those findings. He never saw something like that before.
"Perfect," Loki smiles.
"I may have to ask you a few questions about your physiology once I have looked it through, so that I know what to expect," Bruce tells him, to which Loki nods, "Of course, Doctor Banner."
"Then we should head back," Bruce says, moving up his glasses nervously.
"Very well. I suppose I am to go ahead, so that I don't just grab something to attack you with once you turn your back on me, now that we are alone," Loki suggests, much to Bruce's surprise, though he doesn't let it show and simply says, "Yes."
Loki nods before walking ahead. They make their way back to the others.
"All clear, guys. No missiles or anything close to it," Bruce declares, to which Clint only snorts, "Then get him locked up in that room and leave him there."
Natasha sighs, "Clint, we know that you don't approve, but now you could at least calm down about it."
"Whatever," he snarls before he heads off.
"Well, I suppose I am to follow Master Barton's command and shall leave to my room. Will someone show me there? I think yes?" Loki smirks.
"Yeah, c'mon, this way," Tony shrugs. He and Loki make their way to one of the rooms.
"Well, I actually thought the team would try to kill you more than they did last time," Tony says in a casual voice.
"I was surprised as well," Loki flashes a faint smirk.
"Yeah?" Tony blinks at him.
"Well, I actually expected far, far worse," Loki shrugs.
"I think it was actually smart of you to help us out before, without doing the diva on us," Tony smirks.
"Apparently even I am capable of learning such things... to a certain degree," Loki sighs. Not that anyone sees it, or ever saw it. After all, we all just play a certain role, and it seems that it's often the mischievous raven that gets the short end of the stick.
"But it's as Fury said: if you are actually serious about this... it'll be a long, long way," Tony tells him.
"For I am still cursed with immortality to the degree that I do not die of old age... I have long, long time to spare," Loki replies, which forces Tony to smile, "Yeah, other than Thor... and perhaps the Captain... you'll outlive us all. That's for sure." Yet, he suddenly frowns, "... but wait, whatcha mean with cursed? I mean, who doesn't want to live like... forever?"
"When you have lived for so and so many years... eons... saw time getting ahead of itself... life becomes a tiring business, Master Stark," Loki exhales. Really, mortality is such a bliss, at least that is what Loki thinks. At some point he honestly wished he shared the luck those humans call their personal curse.
"Well," Tony grimaces. "If you hate it that much, then... why don't you just kill yourself? I don't mean that you should... that would not be right to say, but you know..."
"I tried," Loki tells him directly, which makes Tony turn to the NOrse God with exasperation, "Seriously?"
Loki - trying to kill himself? That just seems even more out of space than is this guy.
"Numerous times," Loki nods, not even making a face just once.
"Huh," Tony puckers his lips, "And here I thought that ruling the world was that much more important to you."
"It was for a time... but it wasn't before... and after that again...," Loki sighs almost dreamily. "I did not choose to be banished to Midgard, you must know. Thor's father was the one to put that on me. Maybe I should have begged him to end my life, but then again... I am still too proud for such action."
"Never took you for suicidal... other than your raging on earth giving a damn on what future may hold... but that I'd rather call... reckless, more or less, and a bit mad, big bit mad, but not suicidal," Tony knits his eyebrows at the trickster, to which Loki smiles at him with a mixture of resignation and sarcasm, "One of the few talents no one was actually able to take from me yet is that... I stay rather unpredictable. I'm not all what I seem to be, as people like to say."
"Yeah... you're one bundle of surprises," Tony grimaces. "Alright, that's your room."
They enter. Tony gesticulates, "Bathroom's over there... well, I guess you are familiar with a concept of room – or do I have to give you the talk?"
"I will manage, thank you," Loki huffs.
"The kitchen is on the level above, if you need to eat something... and you don't have to ask for permission on that. I'd find that just too annoying," Tony rolls his eyes.
"I very much appreciate that. It makes me feel less like an animal pushing the food button," Loki huffs. Really, what became of him when this is actually considered luxury?
Tony can't stifle a grimace at that. Even if he was the one who proposed this along with Bruce and Fury... it's still odd to treat someone like that, isn't it? Even if this is Loki... he just told him that he may eat, well... if that is supposed to be a kind of privilege, even Tony has to admit that it is no real good one.
Tony shakes his head to forget about his thoughts, "The lounge is on the upper level, you may hang around there also... we'll have to see about the gym – I don't know what you do with a bunch of weights, we get each other?"
"I do not feel a strong urge for that anyways," Loki shrugs. Stands to reason, Tony thinks. Thor dropped before that Loki is more of the... bookworm. Thor likes working out, but neither one actually needs to. They can tear down a building with bare hands if they want to. So yeah, Norse Gods don't have much from a gym.
"Okay, uhm, other than that... that's all from my perspective...," Tony shrugs, to which Loki nods at him with appreciation, "Then I shall thank you for being so considerate to let me stay here – and for showing me around, Master Stark."
"Alright, weird... welcome, I guess," Tony blinks at him. "I'm off."
With that he leaves the room, staring to himself as he does. Is this guy Loki, really?
"Okay, Loki's in his room now, still can't believe I said that...," Tony mutters. "No, I can't believe this is happening, still."
"... well, what a day...," Steve sighs.
"... even if this is confusing and weird for many parts... I think we have to see that... he did help us, big time. We wouldn't have managed without him, that's for sure," Bruce argues. Thor suddenly walks off, in direction to Loki's room.
"Oh-oh... this might get hairy now... it always gets hairy when those two share a moment," Tony makes a face.
"And we would do better to mind our own business. Unless they go havoc, let them argue all they want. I'm too tired to care," Natasha exhales.
Meanwhile, Thor made his way into Loki's room. Loki is sitting on the bed.
"So now," Thor turns to him angrily. "You will explain to me what by the Gods you are thinking!"
"I told your dear friends already," Loki tells him calmly.
"Why did you show up again, like this?" Thor snarls, to which Loki hisses, "Because you would have beaten me to pulp before I could have even taken the chance to accomplish my goals of bringing down this enemy. I saw the necessity, so I acted upon it."
"Why not earlier, or later? Why this show?" Thor demands.
"I did not know about this all too much. My resources are very limited, or else I wouldn't be in this ridiculous a situation. I don't have the materials the Avengers have to find certain villains. I did this the very old-fashioned way – and when I heard that there was this attack, I just took my chance. That had nothing to do with the fact that it was you standing there. If it had been some other team of heroes, I would have gone with them also," Loki snarls. Thor should know after all. They tossed the trickster into this realm with nothing, like garbage.
Thor steps closer threateningly, "Brother, I assure you, if this is a trick once again, then I will..."
"What? Kill me? Then perhaps I would actually do better at doing just what you just threatened me not to do," Loki snorts, which makes Thor frown at him, "What?"
"You really think I wish for this life?" Loki hisses. "I assure you, I don't. I would rather live the life of an ant than this here."
"Then why are you fighting for your life that much?" Thor questions, to which Loki sighs, "It's not in my nature to give up."
"Is it?" Thor huffs.
"I just can't bring myself to it," Loki snorts ironically.
"... I didn't come around to notice that you possess a great deal of power once again," Thor says after a longer pause.
"What do you mean to imply?" Loki rolls his eyes at the thunderer.
"Your magical power should be on a lower level, as far as I'm concerned," Thor grimaces.
"Are you complimenting me?" Loki snickers.
"Don't even go there," Thor sneers at him.
"The Allfather cannot keep me from learning, Thor. Even you should be able to see that," Loki retorts. Thor knew that, of course. After all, that is what he told the Avengers, but it bothers the God of Thunder that his brother, even with his powers taken from him by the Allfather himself, still manages to move around that and actually regain some of his power. There was no doubt that Loki would use his knowledge, for it can't be taken from him, but it always comes as a surprise to see just how much he can make of it, even in a realm where the Aesir thought he would have too limited resources to get even remotely as far as he already did up to this point.
"So... in those months past you gathered new magic?" Thor says. Loki leans forward, his features grim, "Seemingly so. You see, the thing about magic is that there are many sources, many ways. It is the most flexible thing in all realms, I believe. It might be that the Allfather can block what he figures I use for magic, but I can fetch my potential just another way. It takes a bit of training, of course, to get used to this, but the knowledge was not taken from me. So yes, I am more powerful than the Allfather thought he would leave me. And no, I did not do this to seize power, but just because of the selfish feeling of not wanting to be stranded on the planet with only a pint of my powers. You know me, feeling helpless is something I utmost detest."
"You? Feeling helpless? Don't make me laugh," Thor huffs.
"At least you are having a good time," Loki snorts. Thor can detect a pang of hurt in the other God's voice, but ignores it. Not that this comes as a surprise to Loki. He never expects sympathy from anyone, and he expects it the least from the God of Thunder. Yet, he would like to punch this man in blind rage only once. He laughs at his pains, that is the way it was and will always be. He was helpless, thrown into a realm without his powers, naked, alone. It was a hard struggle, an impossible fight, and still he left the arena with at least a truce. And that is what Thor won't take from him, won't ever.
"Trust me, I don't," Thor snarls.
"Yeah?" Loki huffs sarcastically. "Ah, now I know, because you are mad that I bumped back into your life. Must be really bad for you, hm?"
"If you want me to pity you, then forget about it, Loki," Thor threatens.
There we go, Loki silently thinks to himself.
"I would rather die than allow you to pity me, Thor. If I had wanted that, I would have entered this battle without the hood over my face, don't you think?" Loki narrows his emerald eyes at the thunderer. And Thor, deep down, knows that the trickster is telling the truth in that regard, but still, "I still can't shake off the feeling that you just do this for yet another scheme of yours."
"And whatever I might say to reassure you and claim the opposite would only intensify this feeling of yours, for which I find it proper to refrain to silence," Loki replies coolly.
"Well, your actions will have to speak for you, then," Thor sighs.
"So I got told," Loki shrugs.
Thor steps closer another time, "And I tell you so right now: Those people are my friends. If you dare hurt them, Loki, then..."
"I know, I know, then woe betide me," Loki smirks. Really, those speeches are growing old and grey over time. The trickster has heard this song too often to bother to care.
"And if you think that this will buy you my trust again, then...," Thor snarls, but this time Loki interrupts, "I know I won't. And I won't even try. Whether or not you trust me, Thor, I do not care. I live here on this planet, most likely for the rest of my days, or the days of this planet. As far as I heard environmental pollution is believed to destroy this realm soon already, so I might get lucky to go down with it. Either way, I don't have any hope that you will trust me ever again, and I have no interest in it either. I always asked myself why on earth you ever did."
"I ask that myself also," Thor snorts, to which Loki replies sarcastically, "Then we are, for once, on the same page, no?"
"I have an eye on you. If you dare to...," Thor goes on with his threats, but Loki intervenes with nonchalance as he leans back, "Thor, you are repeating yourself."
"I just mean to make myself clear," Thor grunts.
"And so you did. I feel scared out of my mind," Loki replies, gesticulating sluggishly.
"Don't mock me. You have no right," Thor snarls.
"No right? You will hardly keep me from that. I do this practically by nature, as you might recall," Loki huffs, to which Thor raises his voice again, "You are walking on thin ice, Loki. You are no longer in charge of anything. You are here because Master Fury is that generous, but do not believe that this means that you have any power over this team or me. You should know your place."
"I know my place quite well, Thor," Loki exhales.
"Do you? The past has proven that you don't," Thor sneers.
"I long since accepted that I am the scum of this universe. A would-be Aesir who is actually of Jotun blood who held ties with the Chitauri to take over Midgard, but failed... Truly, there is hardly any creature below me," Loki sighs, which makes Thor grimace, "You actually see that?"
And that is actually something Thor never expected to hear from Loki, not in all world's time. That man has taken it upon himself to put all his faith into himself, trust no one but himself. That Loki suddenly regards himself that low... yes, that comes as a surprise.
"What do you think is the reason for my outburst? I knew my place all along – it is just that I did not accept it," Loki shrugs.
"And now you do?" Thor questions skeptically, to which Loki replies gloomily, "If not, be sure I wouldn't be here. This act of humiliation is enough to send me even one caste lower on the scale of no return. How deep can I sink, you tell me? Making foolish deals compromising my freedoms only to gain a chance to risk my life for the planet I hate second best? It is funny how misfortune now seemingly comes back at me. I was its master for a while, but now I'm merely its slave also."
"We all get what we deserve," Thor exhales, which forces the trickster to smirk at him briefly, "And some of us sooner than later. I see that."
That is the fine thing about justice, Loki thinks. Or rather... to those who claim to be its voice. They say that others get what they deserve, just like the hangmen back in the old days. And still, weren't those hands covered in blood also? So who is judge, really? And who culprit? And how do all get what they deserve if... by the end of the day, the deed they pay and the price they get remains death?
"Perhaps you use your second chance for once, and not throw it all away," Thor snorts.
"I don't believe in second chances, you should know that," Loki argues curtly.
"Then what do you believe in?" Thor asks, with a hint of curiosity.
"Doom," Loki tells him darkly.
Thor ignores the implications maybe in that statement and simply goes on, "... either way, you better come up with a good disguise, so that the others are not endangered in any way."
"Yes, Mylord. Always at your service, Mylord," Loki says in a mocking way.
"Just don't mess this us," Thor threatens him. The thunderer walks over to the door slowly, expecting another snotty remark from the God of Mischief, but much to his surprise, his brother is actually asleep on he was truthful in this one regard at least:
He was tired after the battle.