The Conference
Title: The Conference
Author: krista_mae
Pairing: Thor/Loki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mpreg
Additional Notes: First part of an on-going series. Second Part
Summary: Thor shows up with Loki at the tower and must explain why he's brought his brother back to Midgard.
Also Read It Here: A03
It started off as a normal, quiet morning for everyone. It started off as a normal, quiet morning for everyone. Well, as normal and quiet as it could be around the Avengers Tower with five of Earth’s mightiest heroes all living under the same roof. There was no call from Fury, dragging them away from their breakfast and coffee to go fight a new or recurring baddy that sprung up on SHIELD’S admittedly impressive radar, and that was always a blessed thing at such an early hour of the day.
The five of them were currently sitting at the table of the kitchen, coffees and a plate of pancakes before them, each of them doing their own things. Tony and Bruce were at one end, quietly talking about each of their science projects that they were working on in the respective labs. At the other end, Steve tried to keep up with Clint and Natasha as the two assassins filled him on the details of the mission that the two had returned from just two days ago. since they’d been kept busy since returning by Coulson and Fury and hadn’t had a chance to talk about it. They’d been sent to Sao Paulo to investigate a possible mutant threat.
Apparently, the mutant threat turned out to be a ten-year-old boy, “A boy?” he asked, forking his stack of pancakes, his brows furrowed. “And he was a threat?”
“Nah, no threat,” Clint told him, “Turns out he was just learning of his mutation, and had been defending himself against a few of his school bullies. His powers got out of control.”
“What did you guys do to him?”
“Nothing. We informed his parents, and they all but threw the kid out, so we brought him here, and placed him with Xavier’s bunch,” said Natasha.
Steve stared at them in bewilderment, at the thought of parents disowning their child just because they weren't the definition of ‘normal’. It wasn't a foreign concept to him, he admits. Especially back in his time, when everything was much more conservative and conventional. If one did not hold up to society’s standards, they were harshly rejected. He had experienced it himself first hand, with his own bullies and many rejections. It all left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Well, it’s good that you brought him there, and to Xavier’s school. Hopefully, being around other kids and adults like himself, he’ll get the proper looking after he needs. It’s a shame his parents reacted that way towards him, but in the long run, it was probably for the best.”
Steve reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip of it, shaking his head. Returning to his food, he couldn’t help but turn his thoughts onto his past. The current topic had dredged up memories he has been trying to painfully rid himself of. His thoughts on Bucky, his first and only ever true friend during his childhood and leading up into his adulthood.
Natasha stood up from her seat and patted him awkwardly on his shoulder, “I’m sure the kid’ll be fine, Cap,” the redhead said, “He didn’t look too torn up about being abandoned by his parents and left at Xavier’s.”
“Could you blame him? Xavier’s School for the Gifted is pretty badass,” Clint chuckled, fingering his seemingly permanently worn, fingerless leather gloves. “I think I’d be jealous of the mutants, if I were a normal kid, going to a normal school. That mansion is fucking massive - “
He was unable to finish, because at that exact moment, the very foundation of the tower began to shake. Not violently, but still quite alarmingly, enough to rattle the dishes and silverware around the kitchen.
Natasha grasped the back of her chair to stay afoot, as the the others clung to the table top.
Then, from the rooftop, there was a loud boom, that caused the five superheroes to startle. Natasha and Clint reached for their concealed firearm that they kept on their persons at all time, drawing them.
“What the hell was that?” Clint said, looking towards the ceiling, as if it were about the collapse or something alien was about the crash through any second.
The shaking stopped then, and they all got to their feet immediately, “Get your suit on, Tony,” Steve commanded as they all hurried out of the kitchen.
“JARVIS, what the hell was that?” Tony snapped, nodding towards the captain in acknowledgement, his hands already in his pockets to retrieve his wristbands.
“Sir, I believe that was Mr. Odinson, arriving on your roof,” the AI responded.
They all stopped in their tracks. “Thor’s here?” Bruce asked.
“Yes, Dr. Banner, although it is a cause for concern, as he has brought with him, the trickster god.”
“Loki?” Natasha clicked the safety off of her gun.
Clint growled beside her and pulled out an extra pistol, in compensation for not having his bow and arrows with him at this moment. He was cursing his decision to leave his room this morning without them. “Why the fuck would Thor bring that bastard back here for?” he seethed, as the group hurried their way up to the roof. Tony had summoned his suit, and was in the process of assembling it. By the time they made it to the roof, he was fully suited and armed.
Bruce stayed close behind the group, trying to get his heart rate under control until it was necessary for Hulk to make his appearance.
When they got to the roof, they stormed out, weapons drawn as they came face to face with the two Asgardians. However, they all shared a look when the five of them took in the sight of two gods. Thor was dressed in his full armor, silver chest plates, chainmail and all, though the red cape was gone, his hair slightly longer than the other Avengers remembered it being, falling even further passed his shoulders, though it wasn’t a truly drastic change. The massive god of thunder was on his knees, beside his brother, the trickster god, hands combing through the slighter god’s dark hair.
Loki. Loki looked far different than they remembered, or expected. For one, he was on his hands and knees gasping for breath, his eyes clenched, as if fighting the urge to puke his guts out. His face was, if possible, much paler, though it was a lot less sallow-looking, his eyes far less sunken-in or surrounded by dark circles. He looked healthier, though no less slender. They were surprised to find he was not wearing his armor, but a pair of black leggings and a long, dark stylish green tunic in it’s place. His hair, like Thor’s, had grown longer, and far more presentable. It was slightly wavy, and fell well past his shoulders, neatly pulled back halfway and twisted into a delicate plait, as the rest of it cascaded in loose, wavy strands down his back.
The two of them looked up as the Avengers came to greet them. “My friends!” Thor boomed joyously, as he gently helped his still queasy-looking brother up from the rooftop floor, and steadying him on his feet.
“Not so fast, Thor,” Steve demanded, well aware that he was the only one not with weapon, “What is going on? Why have you brought Loki back here?”
Thor, recognizing the hostility coming from his five previous comrades, protectively wrapped his arms around Loki, who shot his brother a slightly annoyed look, but said nor did anything to dislodge the thunder god.
“My friends, I beg you to hear me out before you act on any lingering rancor you may be feeling towards Loki. There are things in which you do not know about, that I must tell you.” His blue eyes stared at them imploringly, “If you would only let me speak?”
“I vote no,” Clint glared, his guns raised and aimed at Loki’s skull. “There is no way you will be able to excuse everything that he has done. It’s been four months, but we’re still cleaning up the destruction he left behind.”
Thor tried to shield Loki from Clint with his body, but Loki elbowed him in the ribs and hissed at him to stop under his breath. He was ignored, and Thor stood in front of him.
“Yes, I understand that he has caused much wrong in this realm, but I ask only for you to hear me.”
Tony shrugged, the sounds of his metal shoulders echoing in the tense silence. “I say we hear Point Break out. I’ll admit, I’m curious to hear what he’s got to say. Bruce, Cap? Your call.”
Bruce, still at the back of the group, sighed and rubbed tiredly at his stubbly face, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to hear them out.”
Steve cast a glance at Natasha, whose own weapons were trained on Thor, though they had been on Loki before Thor decided to use himself as his brother’s personal shield, and the redhead narrowed her eyes at the two Asgardians, before giving a slight nod. “But we should call, or at the very least, take this conversation to SHIELD HQ, and deal with it there.”
Steve nodded, “Call headquarters, tell Fury to get on the line in the conference room. We will see what Thor has to say, and if we have to, we’ll take it to HQ. Let’s head to the conference room.” The captain turned and lead the group back inside. Iron Man and Bruce flanked Thor and Loki, who glared at them all, but bit his tongue to stay silent.
“This seriously better be good, Thunder God. If you brought Princess down here and he gets loose and starts wreaking havoc on Manhattan or any other part of this planet, I’d hate to have to try and detain you,” Tony rambled, flexing his metal arms.
“Be reassured, friend Tony, he will not be causing any mischief,” Thor told him as his arms around his brother tightened, to guide the slighter man through the tower. The mischief maker in question, who had not spoken aloud since his arrival, and whom still looking rather paler than should be normal, even for him, remained silent but did not hold back his scowl at being gently manhandled by his brother.
Thor ignored him, and the seven of them entered the conference room, where Natasha immediately sent a call through to Fury, as everyone took a seat around the table. Thor made sure that Loki was seated beside him and away from the others. When Fury’s face popped up onto the monitor, and spied Loki, his one eye blinked, before angrily casting his gaze around the rest of the team.
“What the hell is he doing here?” he demanded, his eyes swiveling around the room dangerously.
“That is why we have called this meeting, sir,” Steve answered immediately, “Thor showed up and has told us he has some information to tell us. I have agreed to hear him out, but if we have to, we will detain them. Or, at least, Loki.”
“I would have expected you to have done that the moment he appeared, Captain,” Fury growled out, before turning to Thor, “Explain to me, why you have knowingly and willingly brought an alien war criminal back into the realm that he tried to take as his own?”
“Yes, and why are you back so soon?” Bruce added, fiddling with one of the pens that had been left on the table in the last meeting, “You said that you’d be gone for several months, but it hasn’t even been half a year. Does your return have anything to do with why you’ve brought Loki here?”
“Aye, Banner. I had thought perhaps it might take such a length of time to make sure all was well with Loki and my own realm, before returning to Midgard to help you with your enemies as I had promised,” Thor told them.
“So why are you back so soon?” Natasha asked. “And why did you bring him back with you?” she nodded pointedly at the suspiciously silent Loki, who stared defiantly back.
“It appears that my brother was just as much a victim in his crimes and actions as Agent Barton was in his…”
This caused the others to sputter, angry that Thor would try and make such an excuse for his brother.
“Excuse me?” Clint snapped angrily, his fingerless gloved hands clenched into fists, “Are you seriously trying to sell to me, the story that says Loki is actually innocent? By comparing his crimes to mine, which, by the way, I did under his control! Are you fucking kidding me?”
Thor narrowed his eyes at the archer, his own fists beginning to tighten in his defense for Loki. “My brother has not always been as you have come to know him to be. There was a time when he was not evil, or intent upon spilling such meaningless blood.” He pursed his lips together as he glared at them all, who were looking at him in disbelief. “Granted, Loki has always been mischievous, sharp-witted and silver-tongued, and he can be quite a nasty, spiteful thing when provoked, and to those who do him wrong, he is likely to cause an unprecedented, inconceivable amount of terror, mostly humiliation...but he is not evil.”
Loki would have preened at his brother’s words, had the situation not been so dire, or had his really left all that well. His stomach was still rebelling from the rough Bifrost landing he had taken, and he felt that should he open his mouth to speak so soon, he’d be sick all over Stark’s carpeted flooring.
As it was, he just sighed and sat back, hoping Thor would take care of this, and that he would not need Loki to try and explain anything. All he wanted at this moment was to take a nap, and not have to deal with these mortals. Urgh, now his head was starting to hurt.
“You expect us to believe that? After what we saw him pull in New York?” Fury’s tone was sharp, “That he’s not evil?”
“Allow me to begin from the beginning,” Thor’s deep voice echoed throughout the room, cutting through even Fury’s. The other Avengers looked to him expectantly, and he sighed, relaxing his fists onto the table, “A few years ago, Loki was sent by our father to travel around the Nine Realms, in search for a few treasures that Father sought to add to the Trophy Room in the palace; he collects many magical objects, and he has sent Loki to collect a great deal of them. So, Loki was asked to go, and so he went, alone like always, searching through the realms for the treasures Father wished to gain. He was gone for a whole two seasons...we all missed him dearly, for he was gone much longer than we expected.”
Loki refused to rub his temples, even when they started to throb. Instead he swallowed the bile threatening to rise in his throat, and looked down at his hands, which he had placed atop the table. His fingers played with the hem of his tunic sleeve absentmindedly.
“When he finally did return home to us, he had his treasures, but alas, there was something...off about him.” Thor glanced at him, and his blue eyes bore the pain that Loki had inadvertently caused. The knowledge of the damage he had caused to his loved ones over the course of a few short months had Loki inwardly sobbing. In response, Loki moved one of his hands and hesitantly placed it on Thor’s arm, squeezing it lightly, in a silent bid for an apology. “He spent more time away from me - us,” Thor corrected himself, “He did not altogether withdraw, and for a while I did not notice anything amiss, but he did become quieter, angrier, and his pranks crueler. I did not see, for I was blinded by my own passions and arrogance, but my friends, they did and they tried bringing it to my attention but I would not listen. I did not wish to hear their words spoken against Loki.”
“I did not see anything awry, for quite some time. Until my banishment to Midgard,” Thor continued, after a long silence. The others, still not convinced of where this story was going, stayed quiet, even Fury, who stood at his end of the monitor, listening with a crude interest. “I saw then, upon my return, what my friends had been trying to tell me. Loki was not my Loki; he who wished to annihilate an entire race, and one who despised the sight of myself and our father. He was so full of rage, and so vengeful, that I did not recognize him at all.”
Thor stopped, and turned slightly in his chair to look right at Loki, addressing him, but speaking to the others, his voice still echoing throughout the room.
“When he fell into the abyss, I was left without answers as to what had happened to him, to have caused him to feel such hate towards myself.” He reached out and linked his fingers with Loki’s. “Father told me, not long after Loki fell, of Loki’s true inheritance and that he and I were not true brothers. Father figured that was what set him off completely. But I knew that could not have been it, as Loki and I have both known for some time now that we were not of blood. We’d figured that out long ago in our youth, though we had not taken our knowledge of this to our parents, thinking that they must have been keeping the truth from us for a reason.”
Loki nodded his head, confirming his words. His face held little emotion, so none of the other Avengers or Fury could tell what was going on through is pretty head. He was staring at his and Thor’s linked fingers, and Tony’s dark brown, intelligent eyes observed them closely. They were acting...odd. Different than Tony had seen them interacting during the battle of New York.
“A month or so after Loki’s fall, Heimdall came to Father and told him that Loki was alive and on Midgard, and was planning to start a war. I volunteered immediately to come and get him. He used his magic to send me forth.” Thor looked up from Loki, and to his fellow comrades. “I spent my time here, while helping you with the Chitauri and with Loki, trying to get my brother to quit his games and to return home with me, but he was determined, and I knew that there was nothing I could say that would get him to relinquish his plans for war. It was only when I brought him back to Asgard, and had him seen to by Eir, the palace healer, that it became clear what was going on with Loki.”
“And?” Tony asked, fidgeting impatiently in his seat.
“It would appear that my brother has been severely compromised. Loki was captured in his time away, hunting down my father’s treasures. It had happened while he was passing through one of his many secret paths throughout Yggdrasil. A most powerful entity had ambushed him. Loki’s mind was torn to pieces by this entity, and then brainwashed through false memories and thoughts and feelings alike. The entity tormented my brother mentally, distorting his own memories and warping them.”
The reminder what what had been done to him, had Loki once again fighting to control his queasy stomach, and his head only started to throb worse. The memory of how many of his joys and positive memories and feelings had been torn from his mind forcefully made him cringe in memorable pain. The feeling of all those false negative thoughts and feelings and memories being planted in his mind still haunted him. Remembering his thoughts turning on him, twisting his love for his family into bitter resentment, which bled into hatred after so long of him festering on them, Loki had to bite his bottom lip, least he start to cry in front of these mortals. The four months Loki had been given to allow his mind to heal and come to terms with his true feelings and his false feelings have done nothing to stifle his guilt for causing such a mess of everything.
“False thoughts and feelings that fed off every negative emotion Loki, as we all are capable of feeling, possess. My friends,” Thor told them, while shaking his head, “I do not pretend that Loki is a pleasant being entirely, but he has never been power-hungry, and he has never killed the innocent.” He finished vehemently.
“When he fell into the abyss, the same entity sought him out and took him from the void, and tortured him anew. Physically, this time, along with mentally. When he came to Midgard he was completely without his sense, and not at all in his right mind. It was this entity that changed him with the Chitauri army, under threat of imaginable pain and suffering and death.”
The conference room was silent for all of two seconds, before Tony leaned back into his chair and kicked his feet up onto to the desk, suit-encased legs clinking heavily against the wooden surface. He opened the faceplate of the suit and stared unblinkingly at the thunder god.
“So, he was brainwashed?” he said, rhetorically. “Yeah, okay. Honestly, not so hard to believe. However, it still doesn’t change the fact that he came to our planet to try and subjugate us, and practically brought down Manhattan with his Chitauri army, and killed over a hundred people during the whole shebang. Are you telling me that you don’t expect him to still be punished for his crimes?”
Thor nodded, listening to his friend’s words carefully, but still he was prepared for resistance. “That is true, my friend. But did not Agent Barton also take lives while under Loki’s control? Yet he sits here now, with us, unrestrained and forgiven, for it was not under his control with which his actions took place? It is the same with my brother, only on a much larger scale. He has been fighting his own demons for three years now, and has taken many lives, both here and in Jotunheim, in his madness. Loki could not help what had been done to him, same as Agent Barton.”
“Okay, say we are inclined to forgive your brother for his destruction of Earth, just like Clint’s actions were excused,” at this Clint threw Tony an incredulous glare, which Tony dismissed with a wave of his hand and continued, “What makes you think that he’s completely healed now and won’t go off on our planet again, due to residual anger or whatever?”
“The encounter he and Banner engaged in did a splendid job with starting the healing process. It tore at the falseness of his mind, the collision of his head hitting the hard stone flooring knocking them loose. The healing had already began as I took him home. Our palace healer, Eir, mended the rest of his mind. It took time, as he had been under such falsehoods for quite some time. It was only two weeks ago, that Eir pronounced him completely healed. Eir is a magic healer, so if there was still something amiss with Loki, she would have found it.”
Director Fury interrupted Tony before the billionaire could comment, “This is all well and good, gentlemen, but the question I want answered is, why you have brought Loki back to Earth?”
Thor squeezed Loki’s hand, and answered the question honestly, “Father, Mother and I feel that Loki needs a reprieve from the heat still boiling within the walls of Asgard. In his madness, he laid near waste to Jotunheim, and became a traitor to the Aesir when he nearly had their All-Father murdered. Father hasn’t charged him with treason, for he was not himself, but the citizens care not. They cry for his blood. We thought that, perhaps, you could forgive him enough to let him stay here.”
“Fuck no, he ain’t staying here,” Clint growled, clenching his gun once more. “The bastard had me under his cont - “
“Silence, Agent Barton!” Fury demanded, before turning to Steve, “I’m sending a jet to pick you all up and bring you to headquarters. We will discuss this further when you get here.”
“What?” Clint bulked, but Natasha elbowed him and told him to shut up.
“Do I have your word that my brother shall not be detained the moment we arrive?” Thor asked strongly, his gaze dark and challenging.
Fury nodded curtly, “You have my word, Odinson. So long as he is in your sights at all times, I will permit him on the premises. However, should he dare to step one toe outside our line of sight, I will not hesitate to open fire. The quinjet will be there in thirty minutes, do not keep the pilot waiting.”
“Yes, sir,” Steve nodded, before the monitor disconnected. Once the Director bowed out, that left the six Avengers and the quiet, sulking Loki. The room was silent, except for the occasional movements of Tony’s suit. Steve looked around at his teammates and sighed.
This was going to be a long day.
Author: krista_mae
Pairing: Thor/Loki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mpreg
Additional Notes: First part of an on-going series. Second Part
Summary: Thor shows up with Loki at the tower and must explain why he's brought his brother back to Midgard.
Also Read It Here: A03
It started off as a normal, quiet morning for everyone. It started off as a normal, quiet morning for everyone. Well, as normal and quiet as it could be around the Avengers Tower with five of Earth’s mightiest heroes all living under the same roof. There was no call from Fury, dragging them away from their breakfast and coffee to go fight a new or recurring baddy that sprung up on SHIELD’S admittedly impressive radar, and that was always a blessed thing at such an early hour of the day.
The five of them were currently sitting at the table of the kitchen, coffees and a plate of pancakes before them, each of them doing their own things. Tony and Bruce were at one end, quietly talking about each of their science projects that they were working on in the respective labs. At the other end, Steve tried to keep up with Clint and Natasha as the two assassins filled him on the details of the mission that the two had returned from just two days ago. since they’d been kept busy since returning by Coulson and Fury and hadn’t had a chance to talk about it. They’d been sent to Sao Paulo to investigate a possible mutant threat.
Apparently, the mutant threat turned out to be a ten-year-old boy, “A boy?” he asked, forking his stack of pancakes, his brows furrowed. “And he was a threat?”
“Nah, no threat,” Clint told him, “Turns out he was just learning of his mutation, and had been defending himself against a few of his school bullies. His powers got out of control.”
“What did you guys do to him?”
“Nothing. We informed his parents, and they all but threw the kid out, so we brought him here, and placed him with Xavier’s bunch,” said Natasha.
Steve stared at them in bewilderment, at the thought of parents disowning their child just because they weren't the definition of ‘normal’. It wasn't a foreign concept to him, he admits. Especially back in his time, when everything was much more conservative and conventional. If one did not hold up to society’s standards, they were harshly rejected. He had experienced it himself first hand, with his own bullies and many rejections. It all left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Well, it’s good that you brought him there, and to Xavier’s school. Hopefully, being around other kids and adults like himself, he’ll get the proper looking after he needs. It’s a shame his parents reacted that way towards him, but in the long run, it was probably for the best.”
Steve reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip of it, shaking his head. Returning to his food, he couldn’t help but turn his thoughts onto his past. The current topic had dredged up memories he has been trying to painfully rid himself of. His thoughts on Bucky, his first and only ever true friend during his childhood and leading up into his adulthood.
Natasha stood up from her seat and patted him awkwardly on his shoulder, “I’m sure the kid’ll be fine, Cap,” the redhead said, “He didn’t look too torn up about being abandoned by his parents and left at Xavier’s.”
“Could you blame him? Xavier’s School for the Gifted is pretty badass,” Clint chuckled, fingering his seemingly permanently worn, fingerless leather gloves. “I think I’d be jealous of the mutants, if I were a normal kid, going to a normal school. That mansion is fucking massive - “
He was unable to finish, because at that exact moment, the very foundation of the tower began to shake. Not violently, but still quite alarmingly, enough to rattle the dishes and silverware around the kitchen.
Natasha grasped the back of her chair to stay afoot, as the the others clung to the table top.
Then, from the rooftop, there was a loud boom, that caused the five superheroes to startle. Natasha and Clint reached for their concealed firearm that they kept on their persons at all time, drawing them.
“What the hell was that?” Clint said, looking towards the ceiling, as if it were about the collapse or something alien was about the crash through any second.
The shaking stopped then, and they all got to their feet immediately, “Get your suit on, Tony,” Steve commanded as they all hurried out of the kitchen.
“JARVIS, what the hell was that?” Tony snapped, nodding towards the captain in acknowledgement, his hands already in his pockets to retrieve his wristbands.
“Sir, I believe that was Mr. Odinson, arriving on your roof,” the AI responded.
They all stopped in their tracks. “Thor’s here?” Bruce asked.
“Yes, Dr. Banner, although it is a cause for concern, as he has brought with him, the trickster god.”
“Loki?” Natasha clicked the safety off of her gun.
Clint growled beside her and pulled out an extra pistol, in compensation for not having his bow and arrows with him at this moment. He was cursing his decision to leave his room this morning without them. “Why the fuck would Thor bring that bastard back here for?” he seethed, as the group hurried their way up to the roof. Tony had summoned his suit, and was in the process of assembling it. By the time they made it to the roof, he was fully suited and armed.
Bruce stayed close behind the group, trying to get his heart rate under control until it was necessary for Hulk to make his appearance.
When they got to the roof, they stormed out, weapons drawn as they came face to face with the two Asgardians. However, they all shared a look when the five of them took in the sight of two gods. Thor was dressed in his full armor, silver chest plates, chainmail and all, though the red cape was gone, his hair slightly longer than the other Avengers remembered it being, falling even further passed his shoulders, though it wasn’t a truly drastic change. The massive god of thunder was on his knees, beside his brother, the trickster god, hands combing through the slighter god’s dark hair.
Loki. Loki looked far different than they remembered, or expected. For one, he was on his hands and knees gasping for breath, his eyes clenched, as if fighting the urge to puke his guts out. His face was, if possible, much paler, though it was a lot less sallow-looking, his eyes far less sunken-in or surrounded by dark circles. He looked healthier, though no less slender. They were surprised to find he was not wearing his armor, but a pair of black leggings and a long, dark stylish green tunic in it’s place. His hair, like Thor’s, had grown longer, and far more presentable. It was slightly wavy, and fell well past his shoulders, neatly pulled back halfway and twisted into a delicate plait, as the rest of it cascaded in loose, wavy strands down his back.
The two of them looked up as the Avengers came to greet them. “My friends!” Thor boomed joyously, as he gently helped his still queasy-looking brother up from the rooftop floor, and steadying him on his feet.
“Not so fast, Thor,” Steve demanded, well aware that he was the only one not with weapon, “What is going on? Why have you brought Loki back here?”
Thor, recognizing the hostility coming from his five previous comrades, protectively wrapped his arms around Loki, who shot his brother a slightly annoyed look, but said nor did anything to dislodge the thunder god.
“My friends, I beg you to hear me out before you act on any lingering rancor you may be feeling towards Loki. There are things in which you do not know about, that I must tell you.” His blue eyes stared at them imploringly, “If you would only let me speak?”
“I vote no,” Clint glared, his guns raised and aimed at Loki’s skull. “There is no way you will be able to excuse everything that he has done. It’s been four months, but we’re still cleaning up the destruction he left behind.”
Thor tried to shield Loki from Clint with his body, but Loki elbowed him in the ribs and hissed at him to stop under his breath. He was ignored, and Thor stood in front of him.
“Yes, I understand that he has caused much wrong in this realm, but I ask only for you to hear me.”
Tony shrugged, the sounds of his metal shoulders echoing in the tense silence. “I say we hear Point Break out. I’ll admit, I’m curious to hear what he’s got to say. Bruce, Cap? Your call.”
Bruce, still at the back of the group, sighed and rubbed tiredly at his stubbly face, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to hear them out.”
Steve cast a glance at Natasha, whose own weapons were trained on Thor, though they had been on Loki before Thor decided to use himself as his brother’s personal shield, and the redhead narrowed her eyes at the two Asgardians, before giving a slight nod. “But we should call, or at the very least, take this conversation to SHIELD HQ, and deal with it there.”
Steve nodded, “Call headquarters, tell Fury to get on the line in the conference room. We will see what Thor has to say, and if we have to, we’ll take it to HQ. Let’s head to the conference room.” The captain turned and lead the group back inside. Iron Man and Bruce flanked Thor and Loki, who glared at them all, but bit his tongue to stay silent.
“This seriously better be good, Thunder God. If you brought Princess down here and he gets loose and starts wreaking havoc on Manhattan or any other part of this planet, I’d hate to have to try and detain you,” Tony rambled, flexing his metal arms.
“Be reassured, friend Tony, he will not be causing any mischief,” Thor told him as his arms around his brother tightened, to guide the slighter man through the tower. The mischief maker in question, who had not spoken aloud since his arrival, and whom still looking rather paler than should be normal, even for him, remained silent but did not hold back his scowl at being gently manhandled by his brother.
Thor ignored him, and the seven of them entered the conference room, where Natasha immediately sent a call through to Fury, as everyone took a seat around the table. Thor made sure that Loki was seated beside him and away from the others. When Fury’s face popped up onto the monitor, and spied Loki, his one eye blinked, before angrily casting his gaze around the rest of the team.
“What the hell is he doing here?” he demanded, his eyes swiveling around the room dangerously.
“That is why we have called this meeting, sir,” Steve answered immediately, “Thor showed up and has told us he has some information to tell us. I have agreed to hear him out, but if we have to, we will detain them. Or, at least, Loki.”
“I would have expected you to have done that the moment he appeared, Captain,” Fury growled out, before turning to Thor, “Explain to me, why you have knowingly and willingly brought an alien war criminal back into the realm that he tried to take as his own?”
“Yes, and why are you back so soon?” Bruce added, fiddling with one of the pens that had been left on the table in the last meeting, “You said that you’d be gone for several months, but it hasn’t even been half a year. Does your return have anything to do with why you’ve brought Loki here?”
“Aye, Banner. I had thought perhaps it might take such a length of time to make sure all was well with Loki and my own realm, before returning to Midgard to help you with your enemies as I had promised,” Thor told them.
“So why are you back so soon?” Natasha asked. “And why did you bring him back with you?” she nodded pointedly at the suspiciously silent Loki, who stared defiantly back.
“It appears that my brother was just as much a victim in his crimes and actions as Agent Barton was in his…”
This caused the others to sputter, angry that Thor would try and make such an excuse for his brother.
“Excuse me?” Clint snapped angrily, his fingerless gloved hands clenched into fists, “Are you seriously trying to sell to me, the story that says Loki is actually innocent? By comparing his crimes to mine, which, by the way, I did under his control! Are you fucking kidding me?”
Thor narrowed his eyes at the archer, his own fists beginning to tighten in his defense for Loki. “My brother has not always been as you have come to know him to be. There was a time when he was not evil, or intent upon spilling such meaningless blood.” He pursed his lips together as he glared at them all, who were looking at him in disbelief. “Granted, Loki has always been mischievous, sharp-witted and silver-tongued, and he can be quite a nasty, spiteful thing when provoked, and to those who do him wrong, he is likely to cause an unprecedented, inconceivable amount of terror, mostly humiliation...but he is not evil.”
Loki would have preened at his brother’s words, had the situation not been so dire, or had his really left all that well. His stomach was still rebelling from the rough Bifrost landing he had taken, and he felt that should he open his mouth to speak so soon, he’d be sick all over Stark’s carpeted flooring.
As it was, he just sighed and sat back, hoping Thor would take care of this, and that he would not need Loki to try and explain anything. All he wanted at this moment was to take a nap, and not have to deal with these mortals. Urgh, now his head was starting to hurt.
“You expect us to believe that? After what we saw him pull in New York?” Fury’s tone was sharp, “That he’s not evil?”
“Allow me to begin from the beginning,” Thor’s deep voice echoed throughout the room, cutting through even Fury’s. The other Avengers looked to him expectantly, and he sighed, relaxing his fists onto the table, “A few years ago, Loki was sent by our father to travel around the Nine Realms, in search for a few treasures that Father sought to add to the Trophy Room in the palace; he collects many magical objects, and he has sent Loki to collect a great deal of them. So, Loki was asked to go, and so he went, alone like always, searching through the realms for the treasures Father wished to gain. He was gone for a whole two seasons...we all missed him dearly, for he was gone much longer than we expected.”
Loki refused to rub his temples, even when they started to throb. Instead he swallowed the bile threatening to rise in his throat, and looked down at his hands, which he had placed atop the table. His fingers played with the hem of his tunic sleeve absentmindedly.
“When he finally did return home to us, he had his treasures, but alas, there was something...off about him.” Thor glanced at him, and his blue eyes bore the pain that Loki had inadvertently caused. The knowledge of the damage he had caused to his loved ones over the course of a few short months had Loki inwardly sobbing. In response, Loki moved one of his hands and hesitantly placed it on Thor’s arm, squeezing it lightly, in a silent bid for an apology. “He spent more time away from me - us,” Thor corrected himself, “He did not altogether withdraw, and for a while I did not notice anything amiss, but he did become quieter, angrier, and his pranks crueler. I did not see, for I was blinded by my own passions and arrogance, but my friends, they did and they tried bringing it to my attention but I would not listen. I did not wish to hear their words spoken against Loki.”
“I did not see anything awry, for quite some time. Until my banishment to Midgard,” Thor continued, after a long silence. The others, still not convinced of where this story was going, stayed quiet, even Fury, who stood at his end of the monitor, listening with a crude interest. “I saw then, upon my return, what my friends had been trying to tell me. Loki was not my Loki; he who wished to annihilate an entire race, and one who despised the sight of myself and our father. He was so full of rage, and so vengeful, that I did not recognize him at all.”
Thor stopped, and turned slightly in his chair to look right at Loki, addressing him, but speaking to the others, his voice still echoing throughout the room.
“When he fell into the abyss, I was left without answers as to what had happened to him, to have caused him to feel such hate towards myself.” He reached out and linked his fingers with Loki’s. “Father told me, not long after Loki fell, of Loki’s true inheritance and that he and I were not true brothers. Father figured that was what set him off completely. But I knew that could not have been it, as Loki and I have both known for some time now that we were not of blood. We’d figured that out long ago in our youth, though we had not taken our knowledge of this to our parents, thinking that they must have been keeping the truth from us for a reason.”
Loki nodded his head, confirming his words. His face held little emotion, so none of the other Avengers or Fury could tell what was going on through is pretty head. He was staring at his and Thor’s linked fingers, and Tony’s dark brown, intelligent eyes observed them closely. They were acting...odd. Different than Tony had seen them interacting during the battle of New York.
“A month or so after Loki’s fall, Heimdall came to Father and told him that Loki was alive and on Midgard, and was planning to start a war. I volunteered immediately to come and get him. He used his magic to send me forth.” Thor looked up from Loki, and to his fellow comrades. “I spent my time here, while helping you with the Chitauri and with Loki, trying to get my brother to quit his games and to return home with me, but he was determined, and I knew that there was nothing I could say that would get him to relinquish his plans for war. It was only when I brought him back to Asgard, and had him seen to by Eir, the palace healer, that it became clear what was going on with Loki.”
“And?” Tony asked, fidgeting impatiently in his seat.
“It would appear that my brother has been severely compromised. Loki was captured in his time away, hunting down my father’s treasures. It had happened while he was passing through one of his many secret paths throughout Yggdrasil. A most powerful entity had ambushed him. Loki’s mind was torn to pieces by this entity, and then brainwashed through false memories and thoughts and feelings alike. The entity tormented my brother mentally, distorting his own memories and warping them.”
The reminder what what had been done to him, had Loki once again fighting to control his queasy stomach, and his head only started to throb worse. The memory of how many of his joys and positive memories and feelings had been torn from his mind forcefully made him cringe in memorable pain. The feeling of all those false negative thoughts and feelings and memories being planted in his mind still haunted him. Remembering his thoughts turning on him, twisting his love for his family into bitter resentment, which bled into hatred after so long of him festering on them, Loki had to bite his bottom lip, least he start to cry in front of these mortals. The four months Loki had been given to allow his mind to heal and come to terms with his true feelings and his false feelings have done nothing to stifle his guilt for causing such a mess of everything.
“False thoughts and feelings that fed off every negative emotion Loki, as we all are capable of feeling, possess. My friends,” Thor told them, while shaking his head, “I do not pretend that Loki is a pleasant being entirely, but he has never been power-hungry, and he has never killed the innocent.” He finished vehemently.
“When he fell into the abyss, the same entity sought him out and took him from the void, and tortured him anew. Physically, this time, along with mentally. When he came to Midgard he was completely without his sense, and not at all in his right mind. It was this entity that changed him with the Chitauri army, under threat of imaginable pain and suffering and death.”
The conference room was silent for all of two seconds, before Tony leaned back into his chair and kicked his feet up onto to the desk, suit-encased legs clinking heavily against the wooden surface. He opened the faceplate of the suit and stared unblinkingly at the thunder god.
“So, he was brainwashed?” he said, rhetorically. “Yeah, okay. Honestly, not so hard to believe. However, it still doesn’t change the fact that he came to our planet to try and subjugate us, and practically brought down Manhattan with his Chitauri army, and killed over a hundred people during the whole shebang. Are you telling me that you don’t expect him to still be punished for his crimes?”
Thor nodded, listening to his friend’s words carefully, but still he was prepared for resistance. “That is true, my friend. But did not Agent Barton also take lives while under Loki’s control? Yet he sits here now, with us, unrestrained and forgiven, for it was not under his control with which his actions took place? It is the same with my brother, only on a much larger scale. He has been fighting his own demons for three years now, and has taken many lives, both here and in Jotunheim, in his madness. Loki could not help what had been done to him, same as Agent Barton.”
“Okay, say we are inclined to forgive your brother for his destruction of Earth, just like Clint’s actions were excused,” at this Clint threw Tony an incredulous glare, which Tony dismissed with a wave of his hand and continued, “What makes you think that he’s completely healed now and won’t go off on our planet again, due to residual anger or whatever?”
“The encounter he and Banner engaged in did a splendid job with starting the healing process. It tore at the falseness of his mind, the collision of his head hitting the hard stone flooring knocking them loose. The healing had already began as I took him home. Our palace healer, Eir, mended the rest of his mind. It took time, as he had been under such falsehoods for quite some time. It was only two weeks ago, that Eir pronounced him completely healed. Eir is a magic healer, so if there was still something amiss with Loki, she would have found it.”
Director Fury interrupted Tony before the billionaire could comment, “This is all well and good, gentlemen, but the question I want answered is, why you have brought Loki back to Earth?”
Thor squeezed Loki’s hand, and answered the question honestly, “Father, Mother and I feel that Loki needs a reprieve from the heat still boiling within the walls of Asgard. In his madness, he laid near waste to Jotunheim, and became a traitor to the Aesir when he nearly had their All-Father murdered. Father hasn’t charged him with treason, for he was not himself, but the citizens care not. They cry for his blood. We thought that, perhaps, you could forgive him enough to let him stay here.”
“Fuck no, he ain’t staying here,” Clint growled, clenching his gun once more. “The bastard had me under his cont - “
“Silence, Agent Barton!” Fury demanded, before turning to Steve, “I’m sending a jet to pick you all up and bring you to headquarters. We will discuss this further when you get here.”
“What?” Clint bulked, but Natasha elbowed him and told him to shut up.
“Do I have your word that my brother shall not be detained the moment we arrive?” Thor asked strongly, his gaze dark and challenging.
Fury nodded curtly, “You have my word, Odinson. So long as he is in your sights at all times, I will permit him on the premises. However, should he dare to step one toe outside our line of sight, I will not hesitate to open fire. The quinjet will be there in thirty minutes, do not keep the pilot waiting.”
“Yes, sir,” Steve nodded, before the monitor disconnected. Once the Director bowed out, that left the six Avengers and the quiet, sulking Loki. The room was silent, except for the occasional movements of Tony’s suit. Steve looked around at his teammates and sighed.
This was going to be a long day.