Beautiful Friendship Loki Chapter III

Chapter III: The Heart of the Matter

&%&%&%

Dr. Jane Foster and Loki’s Priorities

Jane knew this day was always a possibility. Thor would always try to save others. He would throw himself into danger in a heartbeat. It was one of the reasons she loved him. She had just not expected the day to come just a few months after they had finally found each other again.

Steve Rogers came into the lab with bullet holes in his uniform. “Dr. Foster, we need you down in the med bay. Thor has been hurt.”

Jane and Darcy scrambled after Steve as they ran down the stairs, the elevator having taken too long. None of the Avengers were in good shape. Natasha’s arm was in a sling. Clint limped as he paced. Tony and Rhodey sat on a hospital bed together. Their Iron Man suits in a pile, clearly ripped apart by bullets. Sam was covered in ugly bruises and cuts. Bruce looked ashen as he helped Dr. Helen Cho. Loki had bullet holes in his jacket and a nasty cut on his left arm.

Thor was in the worst condition out of all. Jane saw he had at least fifty bullet holes in him. He was covered in blood.

“What the Hell? I’ve seen bullets barely make a dent in him,” Darcy said.

“It is some sort of adamantium bullet,” Tony said quietly, “HYDRA was testing out a new weapon. Thor took most of the hits.”

Steve kept a hand on Jane’s shoulder. She understood why. Loki was panicking and Loki did not panic. He laughed at the face of danger. He thought torture to be a child’s game. He rolled his eyes at the wounds he and Thor received.

Loki was completely and utterly afraid. His hands shook and his voice wavered as he yelled at Thor.

"You are not allowed to die, Thor," Loki said as he pulled out another bullet, "I am the only one who gets to kill you, remember? Come on. Remember in the cave? The only one who gets to kill you is me and I have no intention of that ever happening. WAKE UP! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE! I ORDER YOU TO STAY ALIVE!"

"I thought I was the one who got to order people around?" Thor wheezed before he coughed up blood.

Loki nearly collapsed. "You are a damn fool."

"Yes, I am a damn fool," Thor said, "But could you stop the bleeding? It's making me nauseous."

Loki began to laugh. “Yes. Yes. Yes, you damn idiot. We will stop the bleeding.”

Thor nodded. “Everyone alright?”

“Yes, you moron,” Loki said, “Jane is even here.”

“Make sure she’s okay. She gets sick at the sight of blood.”

“I will,” Loki said.

Jane came over, but stayed a few paces back to allow Bruce, Helen, and Loki to work. She waved. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Thor said, smiling softly.

&%&%&%

Jane was allowed to see Thor an hour later. Loki had fallen asleep in the chair next to Thor's bed, his hand protectively resting on Thor's arm.

The god of thunder smiled. "Hello, dearest Jane."

Jane gave him a slow, warm kiss. "You scared me."

"I scared myself. Fortunately, Loki was there to start treatment." He chuckled and then winced. "He has been keeping me out of trouble since we were children. He even tried to stop Father from banishing me."

Jane looked over in surprise at the still sleeping Loki. "I thought he tried to take the throne?"

Thor shook his head. "No. That was later after he found out about his heritage. Even then, I think only mother knew about him being a Frost Giant and she gave full approval to his appointment as regent in my absence." He shrugged. "You have only seen him torn apart by lies. What he did today was what he has done our entire lives." He paused. "Though stabbing me has often been a frequent occurrence. I think the first time was when we were... three, I think? Admittedly it was a fork and I was trying to steal his cake."

Jane snorted back a laugh. "That's just awful."

"I have a tendency to throw things at him to make sure he has not conjured an illusion, so it evens out."

Jane could not help it. She laughed long and hard until her sides were sore.

Loki blinked away sleep. "I think she's broken. I hope you didn't break her, Thor. I like her. "

Jane went over to Loki and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Loki, for saving him. I like you too."

The god of mischief began turning bright red. "Um... um... you're welcome."

&%&%&%

Captain America, the Winter Soldier, the God of Lies, and Other Masks People Wear

Darcy looked ready to stab Loki with one of her knitting needles. Steve was not for Loki being stabbed, but he was not exactly against Loki being stabbed either. The better side of Steve decided to sit between the two on the couch as a barrier.

"So, anyone against me watching the game?" Steve asked.

"No," the two replied.

He flipped on a women's hockey match. Darcy put her feet on Steve's lap and continued knitting, offering colorful commentary as the game continued. Loki would occasionally look-up from his book. Then it was more frequently. Then he was completely enraptured.

"How often do these death matches occur in this realm?" Loki asked.

"It's not a death match. It's hockey."

Darcy shrugged. "I don't think Loki is wrong on this. It can get heated, particularly women's."

The three flinched after a particularly vicious hit.

"Yeah. I think I am going to agree with Loki on this one. Definitely a death match," Steve said.

&%&%&%

Later that day, Steve was knocking some sense into a punching bag until it flew off the hook... which nearly slammed into Loki.

"That cannot be cost effective," Loki said as he stepped over the bag.

"Probably not," Steve said.

"You could fight me."

Steve laughed. "Yeah and you would magic a copy of yourself and I would get my ass-kicked."

"No tricks," Loki said, "I had to learn how to fight even before I could conjure an image of myself."

"Uh huh, but then it wouldn't be a fair fight for you," Steve said.

Loki grinned, his clothes changing to a loose Asgardian shirt and pants. “Would you like to test that?”

The two men did not move for several moments, waiting for the other to move. Loki sighed. "Really? Should we do Paper/Scissors/Rock?"

"Sure," Steve said.

The two men moved closer together, hands out. "Paper, scissors…" Steve decked Loki and sent him sprawling.

Loki cackled after he landed. "I didn't know you had it in you, captain."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," Steve said as he held out his hand.

Loki took the help... and yanked Steve to the floor.

The two of them continued their fight in a similar manner for the next half hour. There were a few hits, but mostly it was trying to distract the other to get a solid hit rather than swinging wildly.

"Peace, captain," Loki said after a kick to his side.

"Tired?" Steve said.

"My spleen is protesting," Loki said as he staggered to a bench. He tossed a water bottle to the soldier before taking a bottle for himself.

"Do you need medical attention?" Steve asked.

Loki said, "This will heal in a few hours."

"Nifty."

"Very."

The two took a sip of water at the same time, causing Steve to chuckle.

"What is so amusing, Captain?"

"You fight like I do." He stepped away from the wall and demonstrated. "You hit like you're aiming for a bigger target though you're two inches taller than me. You move like any hit will send you flying. Not to mention you are a sneaky little bastard."

Loki snickered.

"I'm guessing you and Thor didn't have the same fighting instructors growing up."

"Oh, we did. The difference was I was on the floor most of the time."

"So, who taught you how to not die in a fight?"

"You would not believe me."

"Let me guess: it was your mom."

Loki blinked. "Yes. She was an avid magic user and taught me how to use my mind to defeat my opponent rather than brawn. She tried teaching Thor, but he was easily distracted."

Steve nodded. "I kept getting my ass kicked when I was a young child. Bucky would help, but he could only do so much because he was a kid. A kid shouldn't have to fight someone else's battles. So, Mom taught me how to fight a bigger opponent. I learned to fight dirty. Later, Peggy taught me some more specialized moves, before the serum I mean." He cleared his throat, memories of Peggy's funeral from the past month coming back.

"Director Carter seems to have been a magnificent woman. I am sorry for your loss."

"Thanks. She was."

Loki nodded to the punching bag. "I may not be able to take your hits for a few hours, Steve, but I could hold it in place for you without injuring myself further."

"That would be great."

Only one of the punching bags had to be replaced over the next hour instead of one every five minutes. The two men walked out the room only a little worse for wear.

"You'll find him," Loki said before they parted ways.

"Who?"

"Your friend, Bucky. There are some souls whose paths are intertwined with yours where, whether you want it or not, will always find their way back to you. You and Barnes are two such souls."

"How mystical of you."

Loki shook his head. "Merely observing patterns in the universe."

"And you've seen it before?"

"Yes. I was dead and yet Thor found me all the same," Loki said, "Good night, Steve."

"Good night, Loki. Another round tomorrow?"

"Of course."

&%&%&%

Darcy Lewis and the Trickster

Darcy actively avoided Loki which was kind of hard as they lived on the same floor, often worked in the same lab, and the Avengers had started to kind of, sort of, like Loki. In other words, they were together all the time.

Which is what made Loki settling down next to Darcy on the sofa so annoying. There was a space between them, but it was still way too close. Darcy wanted to stretch out her legs so she could knit more comfortably. But nope, tall, dark, and insane had to pick the couch even though there were two perfectly good easy chairs in the common room.

“What music are you listening to?” Loki asked, glancing at Darcy.

“It’s not music. It’s an audiobook,” Darcy said.

Loki nodded and waited for an answer.

“Ugh. Fine,” Darcy said. She had JARVIS play the audiobook on speakers. “Be glad I just started this.”

“And this is?”

“A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. Very influential when it comes to feminism.”

“Is it your first time reading it?”

“No. It’s kind of a comfort read for me.”

Loki put aside his book and pulled out a notebook and pen. He scribbled down notes as the narrator read and would tap the pen when not writing.

“Dude, can you do something else? Anywhere else?”

“Why?”

“You are making me nervous.”

“When have I given a reason to make you nervous?” Loki asked.

“I’ll make you a chart,” Darcy said.

He chuckled. “I had wondered when you would confront me about my ‘supervillain’ past.” He did air quotes.

"It's not just that you're a supervillain, dude. It's that you're a stupid supervillain."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"

"You could have taken over the world way easier."

Loki put aside his notebook. "Enlighten me."

"You should have killed everyone flat out rather than have them split up," Darcy said, "And I mean everyone. Our families, gone. Our friends, gone. Our pets, gone."

"Indeed, but would that not merely put you on a mindless rampage of revenge?" Loki said.

"That leads me to point 2. You should have had the Avengers assassinated by Clint. None of this Helicarrier or New York crap. Just, BOOM, head shot."

Darcy put aside her knitting. "Which leads me to point 3. You made everything way too public. Eyeball incident? Avoidable. Everyone knowing where you would go because you are such a megalomaniac? Avoidable. Deciding one of the largest cities in the world is the best place to start taking over the world? Avoidable. Seriously it's like you..." She froze.

"Like what? Like I wanted to lose?"

"You clever bastard. You were fighting the whole time against that mind control crap, weren't you? You didn't want a throne. You wanted an out."

Loki leaned towards Darcy. "I do enjoy mischief, darling."

They fell back into silence as they continued to listen to the book.

“Honestly, this is a comfort read to you?” Loki said, “It is rather depressing and far too centric on a middle-class Edwardian woman.”

“I never imagined that sentence would ever come out of your mouth,” Darcy said, “And I agree, but Woolf is just… I get what she was aiming for. People who have money are more likely to have the resources to be educated and create art. It’s not impossible to create art when you don’t have a lot of money, but it sure sucks. I mean, I was able to go to Culver because my parents had decent life insurance. When they died, it meant I could go to college anywhere I wanted. I was going to be so broke that my iPod was the most expensive thing I owned, but hey, I got to go to college and make enough connections to get into a decent law school.” She smirked. “My excellent scientist wrangling and taser abilities got me here, though.”

Loki smiled at the last part before becoming serious again. “I am sorry about your parents.”

“Did you give my dad a heart attack or my mom cancer?”

“No.”

“Then there is nothing to be sorry for, but thanks for the concern.” She gently kicked the side of Loki’s thigh. “Seriously, thanks. I must annoy you a lot.”

“You don’t annoy me. You make me nervous,” Loki said.

“Me?”

“Yes. Your taser is a fearsome thing to be at the receiving end of.”

Darcy snorted. “Dude, I can’t rank up there with the Hulk.”

“Indeed, you do, Darcy. You are a pain to my Asgardian soul.”

“And you’re a pain in my Midgardian life.”

Loki moved Darcy’s feet so they could rest on his lap. He went back to making notes.

Darcy finished the row of knitting she was working on and pulled out a notebook. “Hey, dude, hold up your hands.”

Loki warily did. Darcy held her hands up to his for a moment before taking notes.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m making your Christmas present. Pretend to be surprised when you get them.”

“You would make me something?” Loki said, looking genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. You pick at your left palm when you’re nervous and sometimes you bleed. One of my roomies in college did the same thing with her hands. It’s called Excoriation. Wearing gloves helped her do it less.”

Loki blinked a few times. “I feel as if you will always surprise me, Darcy.”

“Was that a compliment?”

“Yes.”

“Happy early Hanukkah for me. Now shush. I have to start binding the ends off of this hat before Jane gets back from her conference.”

Loki patted one of her feet. “Of course, darling.”

&%&%&%

Loki Decides It Might All Be Worth It

Tony blinked as Loki ended the kiss. “Damn, Loki. Treat a guy to dinner first.”

The trickster laughed. “Your reaction was priceless.”

Pepper rolled her eyes and came over to the two.  “Loki, sweetie, that’s not how you kiss a guy.” She then dipped Loki and kissed him.

When they were both standing, Loki was wide-eyed and his face was beginning to flush. He cleared his throat and patted Tony’s shoulder. “You are a lucky man. I think I need a drink after that.”

Pepper snickered. “He’s not as good as you, Tony,” she said with a wink. Tony and Pepper proceeded to snog under the mistletoe for the majority of the rest of the evening.

&%&%&%

As the festivities began to die down, only the Avengers, Loki, Darcy, Pepper, Jane, Sam, and Rhodey remained as they all relaxed in easy chairs and sofas. Clint had taken issue with Mjolnir.

“It’s a trick!” Clint said.

“Oh, no. It's much more than that,” Thor said.

“‘Uh, "Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!’ Whatever man! It's a trick.”

Thor motioned to Mjolnir. “Well please, be my guest.”

Clint failed miserably, laughing the entire time.

Tony then came up to test his mettle while making some innuendos. “Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?”

“Yes, of course,” Thor said.

“I will be fair, but firmly cruel.”

Tony failed as well, even with the help of Rhodey, Pepper, Sam, and the Iron Man suit.

“Alright. Let’s let Dr. Foster try,” Tony said.

“No, thank you,” Jane said. She primly sipped her eggnog. “I can get Mjolnir up at any time, but not in front of an audience.”

Loki sunk to the floor, covering his eyes while everyone else laughed. “There are some things a brother must never hear,” he muttered.

Bruce tried next and almost caused Loki to faint when Banner roared.

Darcy was the next contestant. She spoke softly to the hammer, hiccupping every few words. “Hey there Mew-Mew. *hiccup* How you doing *hiccup* today? *hiccup* Can I pick you up?”

When she went to touch the hammer, Darcy received a minor electrical shock. “Ouch! Thor! No booby *hiccup* traps.”

“I did nothing, Darcy,” Thor said, “Apparently Mjolnir likes you.”

“It could be *hiccup* nicer to me. It’s not *hiccup* nice to *hiccup* shock people.”

That led to an outcry from the rest of the group. Darcy settled down next to Loki and began to fall asleep.

Steve went next. There was a slight movement from Mjolnir only Thor and Loki noticed.

Natasha passed trying entirely. “That's not a question I need answered.”

Thor stood up and picked up Mjolnir. He held it out to Loki. “Brother?”

Loki shook his head. “I’ve known the answer to that question for several years. I shall pass.”

“All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged,” Tony said, “‘Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints’ is, I think, the literal translation?”

“Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one,” Thor said, “You're all not worthy.”

There were “boos” all around and popcorn was thrown.

&%&%&%

Thor picked up Jane as she had fallen asleep on the couch. “Brother, can you please pick up the bag of gifts and take it up to my apartment? My hands are full”

Loki rolled his eyes, but did as he was asked. They went into the elevator down to Thor’s apartment.

“It was a good day,” Thor said softly as he kissed the top of Jane’s head.

“It was. I… thank you.”

“For what?”

“For bringing me here. I… I am not what I was and never will be but… but that was not good either. I think I like what I am becoming.”

Thor smiled as the doors of the elevator open. “I like what you are becoming as well: a good man.” They continued down the hallway.

“Hardly,” Loki said as he unlocked the door.

“Can you dump the bag on the floor while I put Jane to bed?”

“Sure.”

As Thor tucked Jane in, he heard Loki make a distressed noise in the living room. Thor smiled and sat next to his brother on the floor.

“What? How?” Loki whimpered as he held Mjolnir in his hand, having found it had been in the bag the entire time.

Thor slung an arm around Loki. “Because, underneath it all, you are still a good man.”

“You tricky little… I’m impressed,” Loki said.

“Ah, well, I’m your big brother. I sometimes have good ideas.”