Chapter Text
“Wait a second.”
Steve frowned at Director Fury’s sudden statement. Director Fury’s eyebrows were knitted together in consternation. “Wait a second,” he repeated. “Am I seriously considering letting the pretty rich boy with the sympathetic backstory get off with community service after he invaded New York, causing hundreds of innocents to die?”
Loki stared at Director Fury, eyes wide. “You think I am pretty?” Steve snorted uncontrollably, and Loki grinned at Director Fury’s spluttering. “If you think about it from one viewpoint,” Loki reasoned, “surely being adopted into a royal family should come with some perks?”
The two Americans looked at him disdainfully.
“And if you think about it from another,” Loki added quickly, “I am just a first-time offender.”
Thor gave him a side eye.
“On Midgard,” Loki belatedly added.
Thor pursed his lips.
“In this century,” Loki tagged on.
Thor raised an eyebrow.
“On record,” Loki concluded.
Director Fury sighed. “Do I even want to know?”
The brothers looked at each other, and then both simultaneously shook their heads.
“The problem,” Director Fury began, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, “is that even with the Captain’s enhanced strength, Loki was clearly gaining the upper hand when they last went toe to toe. Loki could lull us into a false sense of security and strike the moment anyone capable of reigning him in, in other words Thor or the Hulk, is out of the picture."
Director Fury crossed his arms. “Are we really willing to risk vulnerable human lives just so that some alien prince from outer space can get his second chance? What’s to stop Loki from doing whatever the hell he wants should he have a change of heart? For that matter, what’s to stop him from just playing along for the first couple decades and manipulating himself into a position of power?”
“I could give you my word I will not?” Loki suggested hesitantly.
Director Fury let out a dry, humorless bark of a laugh. “Yeah, right, because alien space gods are incapable of breaking their word.”
“Well, they are so long as they use a sorcerer’s blood to seal the oath,” Thor pointed out offhandedly.
Everyone froze, staring at Thor, who obliviously continued to stack more waffles onto his plate. The silence was broken by Loki, who had gone completely pale. “Thor!” he hissed reproachfully, as though Thor was handing out state secrets.
“You wouldn’t happen to have some sorcerer’s blood stashed away somewhere, would you?” Director Fury asked slowly, watching Thor intently.
Thor continued to pour maple syrup over his waffles in a carefree manner. “Loki is a sorcerer, so you could just get some from him,” he stated absentmindedly. “Normally, one would have to be careful to ensure no trickery was involved in the procurement of the blood, as many sorcerers use illusions to swap their blood out for another’s, but with Loki’s magic suppressed, I do not think you will need to worry about that.”
A smile slowly crept across Director Fury’s face. “Thanks, Thor, for your cooperation.”
“Yeah, thanks, Thor,” Loki spat out, voice thick with sarcasm.
“It shouldn’t be a problem if you have no intention of breaking your word,” Steve pointed out, and Loki crossed his arms sulkily.
“Very well, we can use my blood to make my word binding,” Loki at last conceded. “But I want the terms of our arrangement written out beforehand to ensure you do not throw in anything ridiculously demeaning mid-ceremony. And I want to be the one to make the cut!”
“I suppose I could allow that,” Director Fury said, still looking like the cat that got the cream. “I think we can start with putting ‘no killing or maiming humans under any circumstances’ in bold lettering on the top.”
“Except in cases of self-defense,” Loki immediately contested, and his eyes widened when Steve shook his head. “You do not agree, Captain? I thought you Americans favored the right to defend oneself!”
“That would allow too much wiggle room,” Steve explained patiently. “Yes, I believe in self-defense, but I do not base my life on it. If I did, I would never have jumped on what I believed to be a real grenade in an attempt to save the life of my companions, I would never have crashed a plane full of weapons into the Atlantic Ocean, and I would never have dared to offer you a second chance.
“One of the most important principals to learn is that there are some things worth risking your life for. If you truly want this chance of redemption, you will need to be willing to risk finding yourself in a situation you will not be able to kill yourself out of. However, I will give you my word in return that I will do my best to keep you out of such situations.”
Loki frowned. “I thought I was to help you protect Midgard as penance for my invasion?”
“Only against extraterrestrial threats,” Steve promised. “I want you to protect humans as a whole against beings like Thanos, not just to protect one group of humans against another group of humans.”
Loki nodded, brow furrowed in thought. At last, resolve entered his eyes. “Very well. I am willing to take that risk.”
“I just want to say,” Thor said around a mouthful of waffles, “I will not protest this course of action. In fact, I greatly approve, and I will do my best to gain Father’s approval once I return to Asgard.”
Loki smiled. “I am glad you approve, Brother.”
***
Steve watched as Loki stared blankly at the place where his brother had vanished with the Tesseract. They were standing in a small field filled with the rest of the Avengers and a few members of SHIELD who had gathered to watch the sendoff.
For the most part, the rest of the Avengers had taken their decision in regards to Loki well enough. Agent Barton still shot the occasional suspicious glance, and Stark had proclaimed he still was never standing between Loki and a window, but the knowledge that Loki was unable to so much as think about killing any human being without losing all control of his limbs had greatly comforted them.
Steve ran his thumb over the fresh cut on his palm, noting Loki picking at his own matching one.
After all the details had been worked out, the binding ceremony had gone surprisingly smoothly, minus the part when Fury had checked whether or not it had worked by having an agent stage an attack. Watching Loki eyeing the agent’s neck and subsequently collapsing into a limp pile of limbs had been equal parts reassuring and disconcerting.
Hopefully he could get Loki into the mindset of restraining rather than killing before anyone tried to jump him.
“Come on, Loki,” Steve said, placing a hand on Loki’s shoulder and drawing him out of his stupor. “Director Fury tried to reduce your presence in the media, but I think it would be best for us to lie low for the next couple weeks. Thus…” —Steve pulled hoodies, hats, and sunglasses out of the duffel bag he had brought along— “Welcome to your first lesson in disguises!”
Loki stared at the hoodie held out to him with incredulity. “Please tell me you are joking.”
Steve just shook the hoodie at him until at last he took it and pulled it on. After a few more looks of disbelief, he put on the hat and shades. “This is ridiculous,” he said sullenly, but fell into step with Steve as they left the field. A small smile curled at the edges of Steve’s lips, and after a moment Loki started to smile as well.
“Why are you doing this for me?” Loki asked abruptly, smile fading. “When Thanos told me I was to invade Midgard, I could have refused, at least for a while. I did not. I did not even care enough to try. Yet you repay my apathy with kindness. Why?”
Steve met Loki’s eyes, considering his query. Then Steve smiled.
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
Epilogue
~ Four Years Later ~
Loki let out a roar of frustration and threw his pen at the wall. As it clattered onto the cold, tiled, apartment floor, he swept his notebooks off of the table with a snarl. They were filled with clumsy attempts at play writing. Steve had encouraged his idea of teaching the history of the Nine Realms to the Midgardians through plays— Steve, who had not had the decency to show his face or so much as send Loki a text in over nine days.
Standing up abruptly, Loki marched into the living room of his apartment and began to pace. His mind was plagued by the endless possibilities. Perhaps Steve was injured or imprisoned. Perhaps he was dead.
Letting out a shaky breath, Loki collapsed onto the sofa and stared at the door, willing it to open. Part of him was full of despair and hopelessness after several nights of having done the same thing with no results. The other part of him was disgusted at how far he had fallen. Here he was, Loki, Norse god of Mischief, standing watch at the door like a dog waiting for its master to come home.
However, he had to admit that perhaps dogs were onto something, as the relief he felt when the door suddenly opened and Steve walked through was greater than he had ever felt before in his thousand-year long lifetime.
“Come on, Loki, we have to go!” Steve exclaimed, grabbing a hoodie off of the kitchen counter and throwing it at him. A pair of sunglasses soon followed, and Loki finally noticed that Steve was already dressed in what he called his 'random civilian' disguise.
“Excuse me?!” Loki’s knuckles whitened as he clenched a handful of the proffered hoodie like he was trying to strangle the life out of it. He watched, furious, as Steve paid him no mind, instead running around and shoving all of Loki’s possessions that were in sight into a pile.
“Do you have nothing to say for yourself?” Loki growled, shooting Steve an irritated look when he shushed him. “I have been staying put here, all alone, just as you texted me to, for nine days! That is over a week, and with nary an explanation!” Loki leaned forward and hissed into Steve’s guilty face, “I ran out of ramen noodles four days ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Steve replied sincerely, “but I didn’t want to draw any attention to you. I am a fugitive, Loki! I’m on the run from the government, and we have to go now!”
Loki gaped, face draining of color, and then jumped into action, pulling out a suitcase and packing his necessities as quickly as possible. As he did, he noticed Steve shoving less necessary items, mainly coffee, a French press, and Loki’s apparently not-so-secret stash of chocolate, into a trash bag.
“I think I have everything,” Loki stage whispered to Steve as he shoved on his shades. They both started for the door, and then Loki leaped back like a cat from a cucumber when a strange Midgardian slammed open the door.
“What’s taking you so long?” the man hissed, and Loki tried to calm his racing heart when he saw the lack of alarm in Steve’s expression.
“Who the hell are you?” Loki shot back, crossing his arms.
“Bucky,” the man replied flatly, and Loki’s eyes lit up in recognition at the name.
“Oh, are you the Bucky who fell off a train seventy years ago, and then somehow came back to life and pulled Steve out of a lake two years ago?” Loki asked.
“Yeah,” Bucky replied shortly.
“Steve told me all about you,” Loki said, giving Bucky a searching look. Ah, yes. There was the metal arm Steve had mentioned, although all Loki could see at the moment was the metallic hand.
“Really?” Bucky raised an eyebrow. “He told me nothing about you.”
Loki turned to Steve, eyes shining with betrayal.
Steve just sighed. “It’s been a hectic couple of days. I promise I’ll fill you both in as soon as we get in the car, but right now we really need to drive back to the field where we left the Quinjet before someone discovers it.”
They quickly followed Steve's lead and hurried out the door. Soon, however, they ran across a new problem. Both Loki and Bucky wanted to sit up front.
“I called it first,” Bucky stated simply, sitting in the seat with his arms crossed.
“But it is my car!” Loki whined. “Director Fury gave it to me! Besides, I get car sick.” He scowled at their uncaring expressions. “You know what, how about I drive?”
“Just get in the back, Loki,” Steve said with an exasperated sigh. “We can’t afford to get a speeding ticket right now.” At Loki’s mulish expression, Steve added, “If you stop complaining, I’ll let you fly the Quinjet.”
Loki immediately stopped complaining.
***
“So let me get this straight,” Loki began once Steve had filled him in, “you took on Stark and did not even think to invite me?”
“Extraterrestrial threats only,” Steve reminded him. “Besides, I didn’t want you to have to pick sides.”
Loki huffed. “Are you forgetting the fact that if Stark’s side won, I would have to spend the rest of the century in a straitjacket?”
“I know that you’re still angry at Stark about Ultron—” Steve began, but Loki quickly interrupted.
“Of course I am still angry!” he exclaimed. “If Stark wanted to create a sentient life so much, he should have just married Pepper and done it the old-fashioned way. Instead, he uses a magical force known to influence people’s minds negatively and creates a murderous robot that wants to kill all of human life!
“And now Stark feels bad so he approves of this plan to hold all the Avengers accountable to a higher power? If he does not trust his own decision-making skills so much, which admittedly is understandable, maybe he should just listen to you instead of sneaking behind your back!
“And he does not really want to be held accountable for Sokovia," Loki added with a scoff, “otherwise he would be in a cell right next to Wanda for creating a murderous robot!
“It is utterly ridiculous that we are the ones on the run while he gets off scot-free, once again,” Loki finished his rant, crossing his arms.
“I know,” Steve said with a sigh, “and I think that he would have come round, if not for…”
“For what?” Loki questioned, cocking his head.
“I killed his mom,” Bucky answered bluntly.
Loki gaped at him, and Steve hurriedly explained that Bucky had been brainwashed at the time.
“Well,” Loki finally said, “on the one hand, a lot of people’s moms probably died during my invasion of New York, and I was only barely brainwashed, so I am hardly one to judge. On the other hand, if one of them came after me for revenge I would hardly blame them. After all, I have been giving Thor the silent treatment for the past two years, and he did not kill our mother; he just forgot to invite me to her funeral.”
“I really wish you would make up with him,” Steve remarked. “In his defense, he hadn’t seen you in two years, and he was a little preoccupied with a Dark Elf invasion and a dying girlfriend. Not everyone works well under pressure.”
“I know that,” Loki said irately, “but that does not change the fact that he forgot my existence to the point that he went to my mother’s funeral and did not stop and think, ‘Maybe we are missing a family member?’ He does not see me for two years and suddenly the thousand years I was his brother and Mother’s son are nothing to him.”
Steve did not try to speak in Thor’s defense after that, and they sat in silence for a moment.
“So where is Thor?” Bucky said at last. “Do you think he will be a part of Team Captain America or Team Iron Man?”
“He is in Asgard,” Loki said with a scowl, “hiding from his ex-girlfriend, preparing to take over the throne with the Allfather, and worrying about how to handle his real sibling. As to what side he will align himself with, I know not.”
Loki abruptly narrowed his eyes at Steve. “You do know I have not yet forgiven you for abandoning me in that apartment for nine days, right?”
“Yes, Loki,” Steve said with a sigh, trying to concentrate on the road.
“Also, have you been sneaking chocolate from my stash?” Loki inquired, poking Steve’s shoulder.
Steve grimaced, swatting away Loki’s finger. “Yes, Loki.”
“…Would you like some MnM’s?” Loki held up the bag.
Steve smiled and held out his hand. “Yes, Loki.”
“You know what? I think I will forgive Thor,” Loki declared suddenly, and Steve shot him a surprised look. “Why should I care if he gets all of Odin’s attention? You are way better than Odin anyway.”
“Thanks, it’s nice to know I’m better than the guy who won the Worst Dad Ever Award for ten centuries in a row,” Steve said with a grin.
“If only Stark was as forgiving as me,” Loki said with a sigh, and Steve struggled to contain his laughter. “I think when I next see him, I will tell him that the Bible says that revenge is like a two-headed rat-viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you are being poisoned yourself.”
Steve’s smile disappeared. “That is not from the Bible, Loki!” he reprimanded. “That’s from Avatar the Last Airbender.”
“Oh, is it?” Loki replied teasingly. “I am always getting the two of those confused.”
“You’ve read the Bible?” Bucky asked, tone thick with disbelief.
Loki sighed. “Steve made it his New Year's resolution to convert me to Christianity.”
Bucky burst out laughing, and Steve’s cheeks flushed a deep red. “Are aliens even allowed to convert to Christianity, being as they’re not, you know, human?” Bucky asked, not bothering to hide his grin.
“I believe all can be adopted into God’s family,” Steve replied stubbornly.
“And I believe being adopted into one godly family was bad enough,” Loki returned, and Steve just rolled his eyes at Loki’s heresy.
“So, what’s Avatar the Last Airbender?” Bucky questioned curiously.
“Only the greatest theatrical masterpiece of all time,” Loki promptly replied. “Do not worry. Steve and I will make sure you are introduced to its greatness. Though, I must warn you. If you speak ill of Zuko, I will gut you like a fish.”
“No death threats!” Steve chastised.
“I was only joking,” Loki reassured him, but behind Steve’s back he made eye contact with Bucky and mimed slitting his throat, much to Bucky's amusement.
“Do you not think now would be a good time to release me from my magic suppressing shackles?” Loki abruptly asked Steve. “If we are to live as fugitives, we could use some better disguises, and disguises are considered my forte.”
“That’s a great idea…” Steve began to exclaim, but then he paused abruptly. After a moment, realization dawned on Loki.
“… You have no idea how to take them off, do you?” Loki asked flatly.
Steve winced, hands tightening on the steering wheel. “… We’ll figure it out later.”
Loki sighed. “What about Thanos? If he attacks, he will find me defenseless, and the Avengers at odds with one another!”
“... We’ll figure that out later, too,” Steve said finally with a sigh.
Loki eyed the silver shackles on his wrists, and then he eyed the worried furrow between Steve’s eyebrows. He, as well, could think of no solutions. At last, Loki shrugged.
“Okay, sounds good to me.”
The End