Chapter Text
Alex had done a marvelous job at winding up Laufey. Throughout the week he and Sean had been interfering with all of Laufey’s deals, his races, basically whenever Laufey had set foot outside his door they had been there to cause trouble.
They were new enough that people figured they were suffering from a suicidal form of naivety. And upon subtle insistence on Loki’s part Laufey had agreed to a race.
“Just out of curiosity,” Sean peered up at them while letting the steel cable drop into the darkness beneath him, “why am I stuck with the sewer gig?”
“Would you rather drag Laufey kicking and screaming across the city?” Loki inquired.
Sean visibly shuddered, “Sewer sounds good.”
“Remember, we only got one shot at this.” Loki said as Thor crouched down to hand Sean the hook at the end of the cable.
“No pressure then, huh?” Sean gave them a miserable look.
“Keep your head down and you’ll be fine.” Thor reassured the red-head with an encouraging smile. It was almost believable.
Sean gave a nod that matched his miserable expression, “Will do.”
They left Sean below street level and made their way back to their cars, pulling two steel cables along with them as they walked.
“Are you really sure about this?” Thor asked and Loki grimaced.
“If you ask me one more time I swear I am going to run you over.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would try.”
Thor gave him a look that wavered between amused and slightly worried but he never got a chance to reply.
Sif’s voice crackled over the comms, ”Look alive, boys. The race is about to start.”
She was the closest to the starting point. The rest of their crew was strategically positioned along the route with Hogun at the last checkpoint around the corner.
Loki secured the cable in the mount on the rear of his Mustang while Thor did the same on his Camaro on the other side of the street. This part of town was deserted at this time of night - somewhat elementary to an illegal street race - but if anyone had passed by they would have discovered two steel cables running across the asphalt and ending in a drain in the middle of the road that made a lot of ’Ew!’ and ’Oh God something touched my leg!’ noises.
Loki slid into the driver’s seat and prepared himself for the wait, which resulted in him pestering Alex over the comms. Irritating other people always calmed him down.
“Alex...,” he smirked because he could picture the kid sitting in his shiny new ride, stiff like a plank and trying to look badass, “Try to make it a challenge for him, will you?”
”Shut up, I’m trying to concentrate here.”
“Just remember, left is the clutch, right is the gas.”
”Can someone please punch him in the face?”
”Loki, stop it.” Thor chimed in, possibly sending a warning glare in his direction, “Sorry, Alex. He does that when he’s nervous.”
“I’m not nervous,” Loki said, miffed, “I am acutely anticipatory.”
He heard Thor sigh, ”That’s just nervous in longer words. Don’t worry, this will work.”
Loki scowled at the other car, “Are you deaf? I said I’m not worried.”
”Alright, ladies,” Sif cut in, ”can we focus? You can continue insulting each other afterwards.”
Nobody argued. Her tone of voice suggested that anyone who tried would personally suffer the consequences.
”Good. Thank you.” The engine of Sif’s Evo roared to life in the background, ”Get your act together, they’re about to kick off.”
In his head Loki counted with her.
Ready.
Set.
Go.
Loki’s grip on his steering wheel tightened. This was it; no turning back now. The good thing was if this didn’t work out they were dead either way.
”They just passed me.” Sif said, ”Kid’s not even half bad. He’s leading.”
”He does know that it’s not actually necessary for him to win, right?” Fandral mused.
”Does it matter?” Volstagg grumbled in reply, ”So long as he doesn’t crash and burn.”
”Guys, I can hear you!”
”Uh... sorry.”
”By the way,” Fandral sounded entirely too cheery for the situation, ”they just passed me. I figure two minutes to your checkpoint, Volstagg. Put down the chicken wings and pay attention.”
”I am not eating!” And Loki would have believed him if there hadn’t been the distinctive sound of plastic being hastily crumpled up. These comms had marvelous sound quality.
They also transmitted the ugly sound of screeching metal and tires fighting to maintain grip in narrow turns. He winced as he was forced to listen to the steady stream of curses at every crunching sound.
Volstagg gave them a heads-up and then Hogun was the only one left before it would be up to Thor and Loki to deliver the final blow. But judging by Alex’s continued swearing Laufey had still not engaged the inertial damper.
If Alex didn’t provoke Laufey some more this whole plan was going to be nothing but a paper tissue in a rainstorm - a nice idea but essentially useless.
The problem was that they were about to bring a moving vehicle to a complete and abrupt standstill. And not just that - within the same motion they needed to pull it in the opposite direction it had come from.
Mother nature had never accounted for such a maneuver.
But that was where Tony Stark and his invention came in. They removed mother nature from the picture and told physics to suck it up by reducing the drag of a car at top speed to something barely stronger than a bag of feathers. If the device was switched on Loki could stop it with his little finger. If not... well, then said finger was the only thing they were going to find of him.
Hogun informed them that the two racers had passed his checkpoint and Loki was about to tell Alex to get a move on when a cheer sounded over the comms.
”Whoa! Here we go! Whatever just happened, it worked. Coming in hot, guys. Watch out.”
Loki had just enough time to take a deep breath before Laufey came rushing towards them. He was barely more than a blur and practically glued to the concrete.
Loki smirked.
The Challenger thundered past them and the only warning they got was Sean’s yelp over the comms. Then it was all a matter of reflexes.
The Mustang’s engine roared angrily and the tires squealed as he swerved onto the road in perfect synch with Thor.
The telltale tug that the fish was on the hook came a split-second after Loki had engaged the handbrake, rooting the Mustang to the spot. Thor did the same and now it was one very angry fish with zero leverage versus two rocks.
Loki forced in the first gear and with a quick glance to his brother released the handbrake. He could feel the pull of Laufey’s car dragging him backwards for a second but even with the device switched off Laufey had no chance of getting away.
Two sets of tires left rubber marks on the asphalt as they sped off, tugging Laufey along backwards and probably screaming bloody murder.
This was a lot harder than it looked. Towing a dead car was easy enough but when it still had a functioning engine, brakes, and a driver who was doing everything humanly possible to veer you off course it became a problem.
They slithered around the corner in a wider arc than anticipated. Loki’s Mustang was the dark shadow to Thor’s flashy Camaro as things behind them splintered, crashed, and were decidedly uncooperative.
”You’re clear for the next two intersections.” Sif reported, ”Hogun is scouting ahead. Cops are on the move.”
The police were the least of their worries. Right now Loki’s most pressing concern was the next corner which was followed by a traffic island and offered not nearly enough space to maneuver alongside his brother.
He made ready to yield and go for a bumpy ride over the sidewalk when Thor surprised him. They drifted around the corner and the Camaro suddenly swerved to the left into the oncoming traffic.
Thankfully, Sif and The Three had made sure that there would be only little traffic heading their way. But the few cars and trucks that did pass them were thoroughly surprised by a bright red Camaro coming right at them.
Between them the steel cable stretched over the traffic island, mowing down whatever vegetation was in the way.
They took out three fire hydrants, something that looked like a junction box, and a speed camera. Somebody was going to be very wet, without internet, but with a free pass for speeding for the rest of the night.
“Alex,” Loki hissed as he overtook a truck to keep up with Thor, “A little help here?”
”Sorry, had to pick up something from the sewers.” Alex’s orange abomination came into view behind Laufey.
”Very funny... Oh god, I smell like old cat food.”
Alex abstained from any witty replies and gave Laufey’s car a hearty push in the right direction.
Good boy. Now Laufey could neither accelerate nor brake without totaling the Challenger.
”Er, guys?” The tone in Alex’s voice was not to Loki’s liking, ”He does not look happy. Actually, he looks pretty pissed. And he’s staring right at m-… shit! Gun!”
That was not entirely unexpected but the sudden jerk as Alex winged it out of the line of fire was. Loki struggled to keep the Mustang on the road when Laufey suddenly started driving in zigzag again.
Loki accidentally shredded a row of bushes before Thor could get back on the right side of the road to help balance things out.
”Why the fuck does he even have a gun?” Alex yelled while trying to shove Laufey back on track from the side. But if Laufey didn’t have a problem firing through his windshield he certainly had no qualms about shooting his side window to pieces either.
”This was supposed to be a race!” Alex went on and it was beginning to get a little hard to ignore, ”What did he think he would need a gun for?”
Loki let the steering wheel snap back after a turn, noting Fandral and Volstagg falling in line behind them from the side alley.
He bared his teeth in an ugly sneer that, sadly, nobody could see, “He likes to make his victories permanent.”
”Oh god.” That was Sean who sounded like he was either going to puke or faint.
“Aren’t you glad we’re doing this?” Loki grinned and he realized it might have been bordering on manic. Too bad he had no passengers to scare shitless.
”Fuck you! I will never listen to anything you say ever again!” Alex screamed over the sound of a front bumper coming off and igniting sparks on the asphalt.
Meanwhile, Fandral and Volstagg had fallen back, making for a very nice vehicular cage. And Laufey was running out of bullets.
Hogun and Sif were still ahead clearing the roads.
They did have an impressive blue and white tail by now. But none of the police cars dared to come near them out of fear of getting wiped off the street with a Dodge on a hook. They need not have worried - they were going to be busy in a moment anyway.
Thor took the inner lane as they rounded the last corner onto the boulevard leading up to Stark Industries. There was considerably more traffic here but thanks to their involuntary police escort people saw them coming from a mile away.
”What do you say, brother, one for the cameras?” Loki glanced to his left and caught Thor smiling back.
”With pleasure.”
The needle on Loki’s speedometer quivered as he put the pedal to the metal, burying it in the red end of the scale. Next to him Thor matched him mile for mile, perfectly level.
Their friends disappeared into the rearview mirror, chased by a pool of blinking lights and sirens. They were going to be alright, Loki had no doubt about it. Even Alex and Sean. If there was one thing notorious street racers were good at it was to lose the police.
All that was left to do now was to drop off the package.
The cavalry was already waiting in front of the building. Stark had kept his word then. Good.
They angled for the right hand side of the avenue and side by side they drifted past the entrance in a graceful arc that flung Laufey right into the middle of the plaza. There was nothing Laufey could do.
Loki flipped the switch that released the cable from the mount and within seconds they were gone from the scene before any of the cops could even lift a finger.
The last thing he saw was the battered wreck of Laufey’s car sitting in the center of a quickly tightening ring of law enforcement.
If he were the type to do such a thing he would have high-fived someone right now.
They rounded a few blocks to lose the cops who had been delusional enough to try and follow them and eventually doubled back to a corner further down the road from Stark Tower.
Thor kept on driving alongside him as far as the layout of the streets allowed which Loki wasn’t sure if he found cute or annoying. But there was a certain serenity in the way they moved through the late night traffic. It helped to get the adrenaline level back to normal.
The others reported in via phone calls or text messages and most of them seemed to have made it back home safely. This included Alex and Sean, for some reason. Loki had the growing suspicion that their patchwork family had just sprouted two new extensions.
Loki let the Mustang roll to a halt at the corner and got out to sit on the hood to watch the spectacle in front of Stark Industries. Men peered into the engine room of Laufey’s car, heated conversations were had, phone calls to numerous government agencies were made, Loki presumed, and squat in the middle was Tony Stark trying very hard not to gloat.
Loki was gently rubbing his sore shoulder when the Camaro stopped next to him.
“Jane called,” Thor said as he walked up to Loki, “they found Laufey’s buddy from the crash down in Mexico. She says they’re bringing him back this week to testify against Laufey.”
No honor amongst thieves. Well, Loki could relate.
He pointedly ignored the mention of Jane and to his astonishment Thor didn’t even comment on it.
Thor flopped down to Loki’s right, equally staring at the scene on the grand plaza. They sat there in silence for a long while until the commotion died down and even Tony Stark made his way back inside after a subtle nod in their direction.
Now that the action was over Loki wasn’t sure what was going to happen. This was a foreign concept to him. It was hard to make plans if you didn’t know where you stood.
Thor had been amicable enough throughout this whole endeavor but too much had changed. Too many mistakes on both sides had left the ground burnt between them. Thor didn’t see it that way, most likely, but Loki was not convinced that they could fix what was broken this time around.
He wasn’t even sure if he wanted it fixed.
But no matter how this turned out Loki was prepared to fight for his rightful place. He set his jaw and waited for Thor to make the first move. It was always easier to dodge than to attack.
The verbal vacuum threatened to take a bite out of infinity when Thor suddenly clasped his shoulder and smiled, “Let’s go home, brother.”
Loki blinked, unsure of whether he had misheard or not. But Thor simply slid off the hood and beckoned Loki to follow. The smile on his face was so genuine that it felt like tumbling into a heap of pillows - soft and warm and not questioning where you came from.
Thor, the merciful. This was so typical. Just when Loki expected a blow to the gut Thor would let up and extend his hand in an offer of peace.
The thing about peace treaties though was that they usually came with a catch and Loki had a nasty habit of looking for it until he found it.
“Back to business as usual then, I presume?” Loki snorted and it actually stopped Thor in mid-stride.
Thor’s shoulders heaved as he sighed before he turning around, “Loki...”
“What?” Loki hopped off the Mustang, ignoring the emotional needles in his own words, “Am I wrong?”
“As a matter of fact? Yes.” Thor boxed him in against the hood of the Mustang and looked him straight in the eye. Loki was prepared for a lot - a full-on fight, a new argument, resignation, anything.
What he wasn’t prepared for was the kiss Thor suddenly pulled him into.
“I’ve changed.” Thor said, their mouths still close enough for their breaths to mingle.
“Well, so have I.” Loki replied, not backing down.
“I know.” Thor growled and Loki blinked in confusion, “And we’re not even done yet.”
Then he shoved a non-descript white envelope at Loki.
“Don’t ever lie to me like that again.” Thor poked at Loki’s chest in warning while Loki was still busy examining the letter.
“What is that?”
“Half of Asgard Motors. All that’s missing is your signature.”
“What?” This time he must have misheard for sure.
“Are you deaf?” A small smile crept onto Thor’s face, “I said it’s half of Asgard Motors. Your half. If you want it.”
There were so many words crammed on the tip of Loki’s tongue that he feared he might choke on them. Thor merely chuckled and cupped Loki’s face with both hands and placed a kiss on his forehead that couldn’t have conveyed more love if he’d tried, “All you had to do was ask. Anything for you, brother. Anything.”
Big words. But strangely, when Loki looked up Thor seemed big enough to hold true for them.
“Come on.” Thor winked as he stepped away, “I’ll race you. Last one home gets pizza for everyone.”
Loki fiddled with the envelope in his hand, not daring to open it just yet. Slowly, he allowed a pleased grin to unfold on his lips, “I’ll have a large triple cheese with onions. And make sure they don’t put anchovies on it like last time.”
“Tell them yourself.” Thor laughed and hurried over to his car. He revved up the engine of the Camaro like a battle cry.
“Show-off.” Loki murmured as he settled into the driver’s seat of the Mustang, the document secure in the inside pocket of his jacket.
His half.
Well, half of something was better than all of nothing. It still wasn’t everything but Loki was willing to see how far something would get him.
