They landed on a windy cliff face and Thor pulled out of Loki's grip as Loki took in their surroundings.
Loki immediately put his hands up in a gesture of surrender and waited for Thor to get his bearings. Wind whipped past them, twirling their hair.
Thor glanced around, obviously hesitant to take his eyes off Loki.
"Brother, where are we, is this still Midgard?"
"Yes, it very much is. Do you not recognize it? Us appearing here was unintentional, I just desired to be away from everyone else. It seemed appropriate however, in a twisted way."
With narrowed eyes Thor scrutinized the area, the forest of pines below the dark cliff they stood on, recognition sparking on his face.
"Oh."
The soft exclamation echoed an old pain for a moment before frustration overpowered it and Thor focused again on Loki.
"Do not attempt to play games with my mind. What have you done with the Tesseract?"
Very slowly, Loki lowered his hands and with one finger hooked the necklace, pulling it off smoothly and exposing the Space Gem in one fluid motion. It shimmered blue and Loki quickly realized that it must have been what Tony had seen through his shirt. He held out the gem and dropped it onto the dirt between the two of them.
"There is no more Tesseract, brother."
Thor started toward the gem but stopped and stared at it reverently.
"Is that another-"
"Indeed, space. It is what allowed the Tesseract to open the portal to the Chitauri and you to take me home despite the shattering of the Bifrost."
The gem glittered innocently among the rocks. Loki could tell Thor was contemplating summoning Mjolnir, with his hands flexing unconsciously. He spoke to dissuade that undesirable outcome.
"It was not safe on Asgard. When you used it to return me after New York it likely sent out energy signals that could have alerted any life form willing and ready to listen. And, you know the way rumor spreads on Asgard. There is no doubt in my mind that those in the nine realms and even those outside of the realms knew that the Tesseract was held where it was. That being our home, and- Thor, some of those interested parties are not to be meddled with. They'd likely do anything to get this power. Anything."
"And what,you insinuate that it is safer in your hands?"
"Ye-"
Loki stopped himself and cleared his throat. His fingers still tingled.
"I am not saying that. But Asgard is safer without it. I… thought I could use it more effectively than the Mind Gem but I may have been foolish to believe that. I stand firm on my other stance, however."
Still clearly on guard, Thor stared Loki down, blue eyes glittering darkly.
"Will you never learn?"
Not willing to be patronized, Loki rolled his eyes, adopting a sarcastic tone and a half hearted smirk.
"Never, learning is not my strong suit, unlike you, of course."
"Brother, do not try to distract me with your jests."
Hearing his voice growing more vicious, Loki held his ground.
"Oh, but I'm all laughs. Thor, this is hilarious it's just-"
Thor snapped under the tension. Mjolnir flew past Loki's head to Thor's hand, rustling his hair, a little too close for comfort. As Thor approached him, brandishing Mjolnir, Loki stopped mid-sentence, watching the silver hammer cautiously. When Thor spoke it was with a serious rumble.
"You act out, endangering everyone, and you try to brush that off? Not around me, brother. That gem was perfectly safe, have you conveniently forgotten our father? He, and his line have kept Asgard safe from many a threat."
"I was able to steal that gem away and it was weeks before anyone noticed their precious prize had been replaced with a fake."
"Because you know every nook and cranny imaginable."
"And how easy would it be to extract that information from some hapless guard? I'm trying to prevent needless loss of life, Thor! And our father is growing old, he is no longer what he once was. What if he was to fall into Odinsleep in a time of crisis,again? Unlike last time I would not be the only threat, something far worse could be."
Thor halted his approach, still holding Mjolnir out threateningly.
"You want to prevent loss of life on Asgard, and, what, trade the lives of Asgardians for Midgardians? Is that your thinking, you put the target on Midgard and that is better than Asgard?"
"No! That was not my intention! We must hide it away, no one need know it is here. All that matters is that it is no longer advertised as residing among our treasury."
Brandishing Mjolnir towards the glittering blue gem, Thor frowned at him questioningly.
"What do you intend to do with the thing then? Let it languish in the tower like the Mind Gem?"
With a dry laugh, Loki glanced out across the forest.
"Certainly not there. That's not safe in the slightest. Speaking of, we may need to alter where the Mind Gem is being kept as well."
Thor narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"And why is that?"
"I made a miscalculation. Worry not, 'twas nothing serious."
"Unfortunately, brother, that leads me to assume that something serious did indeed happen."
Suppressing a sigh, Loki danced around the accusatory statement.
"We do not have time for this debate, Thor. We cannot be gone from the party too long, the shock of our departure will soon wear off and people will begin to panic."
"I am more than certain the panic has already begun. It is not as if either of us are easily traceable Midgardians."
"Quite. So, we must take action now and return to dissuade their fears."
Clearly annoyed, Thor glared at Loki a moment longer before striding toward the space gem and sweeping it up in a single fluid motion and returning to stand in front of Loki.
"Then we must take action. Return the two of us, I will keep this until we can confer with the others on what to do with it… and with you."
"Wha- Oh, so you're treating me like a criminal again, I see."
Slipping the space gem around his neck and tucking it into his shirt, Thor rested a hand on Loki's shoulder.
"I shall stop when you stop acting like one and earn that respect, brother. I can lecture you later, however, what do you have in mind for our entrance."
Setting aside his annoyance and the anxious pit in his stomach, Loki picked up on Thor's badly suppressed humorous tone and smirked.
"How does a small detour sound to you?"
00000
The two gods had been gone for about thirty minutes, according to Steve's phone.
The party had fallen eerily silent, anxious guests milling about in packs being corralled by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that had come out of the woodwork almost as soon as the gods had disappeared, and throwing uncertain glances at the Avengers.
The large black raven that had caused all of this perched firmly on Tony's shoulder, no amount of shooing would intimidate it and Steve wasn't about to make it move if it didn't want to. It had a nasty clever glint in its dark eyes.
Natasha leaned in close, muttering in Steve's ear as she eyed the bird.
"How are we going to handle this situation? What's the chance of them coming back perfectly fine?"
After a moment of thought, he murmured back while looking gravely on as Tony was sat down by Bruce and Clint, bird still steadfastly perched on his shoulder.
"I'm working on that. I do think we need to put a tracker on Loki, though. This is getting ridiculous."
Natasha nodded surprising quickly, leaning against him lightly. Her hand twitched toward her thigh, where Steve knew she always kept a handgun, concealed by her loose flowing dress.
Suddenly a commotion split the tree line.
A great shadowy beast the size of a truck leapt onto the outside pavilion, nearly trampling a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and letting loose a glass shattering roar.
Only momentarily stunned, Steve leapt to action, putting himself between the guests and the unknown beast. Next to him, Natasha trained her pistol on the dark creature, waiting for his signal.
Before he could decide how to handle the monster without any armor or his shield, two other figures appeared between him and the creature. Thor and Loki stood before him, facing the beast, fully decked out in their armor.
Loki turned to face him, throwing him a quick wink before leaping high above the beast, fingertips crackling with green energy.
Thor rushed the creature, swinging Mjolnir, scattering chairs and tables with abandon.
The two gods collided with the monster at the same moment. From above, Loki landed atop the monster, sending green energy arcing across its shadow covered figure. Lightning struck Mjolnir, which Thor directed to strike the creature head on. The combination of the two made the beast howl, breaking any surviving glass in the vicinity and forcing Steve to shield his ears.
The shadow monster pounced on Thor, attempting to shake Loki off its back with a mighty bound. The blonde god disappeared beneath the creature's girth and Loki clung on desperately, continuing to bombard the beast with green magic.
The hair on the back of Steve's neck stood on end and, instinctively, he ducked for cover behind the nearest overturned table, shouting out a warning as he did so.
"Get down!"
Confirming his gut feeling, the last thing he saw before diving behind a table was Loki leaping off of the shadowy beast.
Moments later the night sky split open with a massive boom and what Steve assumed was an impressive bolt of lightning that lit the night sky like daylight.
Silence and stillness followed.
Steve stood from behind his barricade, noticing Natasha had done the same, and assessed the scene cautiously.
Dark shadows seeped slowly back into the woods, the beast was gone. Thor stood where the creature had been, breathing heavily, covered in the shadowy substance but otherwise seemingly fine. Loki dissipated a magical barrier and watched the substance creep back into the woods with a look of satisfaction.
Thor strode over, gripping Steve's shoulder and glancing darkly at the S.H.I.E.L.D. intel that were rapidly taking over the venue.
"We must have a team meeting, it is essential."
Before Steve could reply Loki slung an arm around him and began to speak.
"Preferably away from the prying eyes of those agents… and Muninn."
The raven, having finally left Tony's shoulder, circled their heads. Letting loose caws that echoed through the night.
00000
Much to Loki's annoyance, Muninn followed the van home.
Clint spoke up from the driver's seat as he pulled into the long driveway of Tony's home.
"If you have a raven I'm gonna get a dog."
"Muninn is not a pet- I'd much rather he not be here."
"Yeah… I'm getting a dog."
Choosing to ignore Clint's mutterings, Loki glanced to the backseat, noting the uncomfortable silence that, other than Clint's mumblings, filled the van. Focusing in on the passed out Tony, Loki realized something would have to be done if they were to discuss the gem situation as a team. He cleared his throat pointedly. Beside him; Clint stopped talking.
"I believe there may be some trouble dealing with Tony in his current state. I have something to temporarily relieve the problem that I could… go retrieve…"
He noticed Natasha look over to Steve as he trailed off. Moments later she shook her head and spoke.
"Not alone you're not."
Rolling his eyes, Loki offered his hand out towards her.
"Fine then, if you must, you could accompany me to the tower. I assure you it will not take long to retrieve."
Another glance at Steve, who shrugged and nodded, and she took his hand in a rough grip. He grinned at the remaining company, quietly thankful to get away.
"We shall see you all soon."
And with that the two of them disappeared from the stifling van.
00000
Natasha's feet touched down on soft carpet. Staggering slightly, she found herself in Loki's dimly lit room.
The god freed himself from her grasp and she watched as he hurried to one of his many dark cabinets, not saying a word as he began to root through them.
She stared at the back of his head, eyes narrowed, carefully picking her next words.
"You know S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't happy with how often you disappear without telling anyone."
"How unfortunate for them."
She could practically hear the smug smirk in Loki's voice even though she couldn't see his face.
"I'm being serious. I've already been spoken to at length about reining you in, tracking you, something, anything. And disappearing in the middle of a public gathering and taking Thor with you? That looks bad. They'll want to avoid that in the future. They don't want the two most unpredictable Avengers wandering off without supervision. Even if you did make a good excuse out of that shadow monster or whatever that was."
"Thank you, that beast was actually just a rabbit I cloaked in a little something special. I think it turned out quite well considering it was a quick job. And I would say that the Hulk is a little more unpredictable than the two of us, wouldn't you?"
Loki turned around, inspecting a murky liquid housed in a small glass vial. He looked to her for confirmation of his question.
"Sure, the Hulk might be but Bruce isn't. Point is, this might be the last straw. Loki, they'll want to do something to curtail your movements. They have for years and you just keep giving them excuses to suggest it. From what Fury has disclosed to me the World Security Council just keeps getting more and more antsy about you- and Thor, but mostly you; given your history."
"What about you, what do you think should be done about me?"
Clearly fully serious now, Loki set down the vial and frowned, furrowing his brow.
Taking a moment to compile her thoughts, Natasha met his searching gaze.
"Yes… I think something does need to be done. Steve agrees with me, Loki, you are far too dangerous and unpredictable. It's compromising our team. We need to do something for our safety, and for the safety of the people we are supposed to protect. Too much of what you do flies under the radar, we can never be sure what you're doing and I'm betting whatever you and Thor have to tell us falls into that category as well. Consequences need to be put in place, you can't just do what you want when you want, we have a duty to this world."
"I'm not the only one who disappears. What about you, super spy, what do you not tell the rest of us?"
His frustration radiated off him. Natasha felt a chill in the air as she calmly but cooly replied, determined to keep things civil but unwilling to back down.
"I still answer to somebody. As long as S.H.I.E.L.D. is around I still follow their orders when I do their missions. Our situations are not the same. I don't run around with dangerous super-weapons without telling anyone."
Loki balked, clearly still frustrated. He grabbed the vial from where he had placed it and turned back to his cabinets, muttering too quietly for her to hear.
The following few minutes passed quickly as she watched him search through his apparently vast collection of mysterious concoctions, occasionally questioning him on the contents and effects of some of them. Finally, he procured a silver tinted vial and turned back to her. Speaking curtly.
"This is the one. We can return now."
Offering her hand, she nodded.
"Great, let's go. They're probably waiting for us."
00000
The next few hours were spent on endless questions, many heated arguments and accusations, and few breaks as the team plus Pepper discussed the Space Gem that lay out on the table in front of them.
It was long into the early morning hours when they finally all came to a slightly satisfying solution.
Neither gem was safe in anyone's hands, human or otherwise. Tony would buy a plot of land in some remote location and build a facility to house the two gems, staffed wholly by his AI. The gems would be placed under the tightest security they could manage. Until that facility was built; the gems would simply be stored together in the tower under Jarvis' supervision, but with tighter magical restrictions, courtesy of Loki.
In reaction to Munnin's relentless tapping on the grand windows of Tony's home they concluded telling Asgard about the gems would only further complicate things and it would be best to send a delicately worded message expressing their innocence in the disappearance of the gem.
Late into the conversation, Loki quieted the group and proposed an idea he had been formulating.
"My need a show of force, to let anyone searching for those gems know that Midgard is ready to handle an attack. That we are able to handle ourselves against any threats that could come our way."
A long silence followed, eventually broken by Steve who leaned forward, fixing Loki with a sharp gaze.
"And how do you propose we do that safely?"
Loki grinned
"I know some people, I could easily work out a deal… for the right price. And I'd have to speak to them alone."
Another eruption of arguments ensued. One that didn't end until a tired looking Natasha suggested a compromise, staring directly at Loki as she spoke.
"Alright everyone, how about this: Loki talks to these people- do they have a name or?"
"Ravagers. Mercenaries that work for the highest bidder, from what I've seen and heard they're very reliable as long as you pay them well."
"Right, he talks to these Ravagers by himself. And then, Loki, you need to have some kind of tracker on you. Loki, you will submit to that willingly and give your full cooperation. But you can go talk to these Ravagers before that and get them to help us. One last little excursion for you."
All eyes were on Loki. He grimaced, racing to think of a way out of that end result.
"You do know how difficult it would be to reliably place a tracker of any kind on me?"
Natasha responded quickly and sternly.
"It can be done, though. And S.H.I.E.L.D. is more than likely going to insist on it anyway, you will only make it more difficult on all of us by arguing. You let us, more accurately; Tony, make the tracker and you get more say in what goes down. It's the best deal you're going to get."
"Placing trackers on clothing is not that difficult or hard to design why would you need to create a new-"
"I never said anything about it being on your clothes."
Loki blinked in surprise.
"What?"
"The only way I can think of to be sure, would be to place it under the skin. It gives you an automatic incentive to not try and remove it or tamper with it. Look, we can talk about the specifics later, do you accept the compromise?"
Loki closed his eyes. Unable to find a better alternative on the spot that anyone would agree with he sighed heavily and nodded.
"Fine… Fine I accept."
AN: I'm literally the worst at updating these things. But there's only one chapter left after this and I've started it. So there's something, it might be out in a few weeks or a few months who knows at this point. And I apologize in advance if its the latter. Feedback on the story is much appreciated.