Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Siberia was cold.

It shouldn't be particularly surprising. A land of ice and snow, after all, with temperatures that never went higher than 10 degrees, was not going to be warm.

Yet, laying on the freezing ground of a the hidden bunker, in an over 85 pound suit, unable to move and slowly bleeding out, he was still shocked by just how could it could get. 

How fitting: he became Iron Man after getting hit in the chest with shrapnel, and now his own suit would become his coffin. And wasn’t it poetic? The same man his father had been looking for for years in the lands of ice and snow, would protect his murderer and then leave his son to die in the lands of ice and snow.

Sometime after the first hour of pain and rage, Tony had come to the conclusion that Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier were nothing but the weapon used to kill his parents. They were the guns who had been placed against his parents' temple, but HYDRA was the one who took the shot.

Blaming either Bucky Barnes or the Winter Soldier - were they the same person? the little he knew about them from Steve made it sound like they weren’t but he couldn’t be sure since the man was a liar - was stupid and made him sound like Wanda Maximoff.

Still.

Wanda and Pietro could be excused for getting themselves experimented on and joining a terrorist organisation to get their revenge on Tony for a bomb he hadn’t made nor supplied, and they got accepted in the Avengers; Tony dared to lose his mind for a second after watching Howard get punched to death and his mother get strangled,  and he got left to die.

How fucking typical.

So yeah, Bucky Barnes and Winter could be forgiven.

But Steve Rogers? Captain fucking America?

Tony welcomed the surge of warm anger that overtook him just thinking about the man. If his body could still produce warmth, then he wasn’t freezing to death quite yet. Someone might still get him in time.

Steve fucking Rogers, the paragon of truth and everything holy in America had been nothing but a liar and a hypocrite. Captain America, ultimate soldier, had left a man behind in enemy’s land.

And Tony couldn’t even find himself to be bitter.

From day one Steve - no, not Steve anymore, never again - Rogers had made his opinion of Tony loud and clear. That no matter what Tony did, he would never be regarded as Steve’s older companions, as the Howling Commandos.

I know men with none of that worth ten of you, he had said, and Tony had thought he had sure showed him when he took that nuke through the wormhole. He had thought a truce had been established, and that Steve had, if not started to like him, started to respect him.

He clearly hadn’t.

And part of him wasn't even surprised.

Tony came to the conclusion that he would die in that bunker around the third hour.

Steve Rogers had broken his Arc Reactor - and if his pained breathing was anything to go by, a bunch of other stuff too - with his shield. That meant there was no energy in the suit - no heat - and considering the man had made sure Tony’s helmet was the first thing to be broken and cut off from him, no FRIDAY.

His poor baby girl. She must be so frantic.

She was so young, too young to be going through this. 

She had sounded so scared when the connection had caught off, and Tony wished on everything that the visual feed had cut off before Rogers had gotten on top of him and brought the shield down.

She didn’t need to see that.

He missed her so much. If he died, he really hoped she wouldn’t blame herself.

Around the fourth hour, he stopped feeling cold. He knew that it wasn’t a good thing, but he couldn’t quite figure out why it wasn’t. The cold had been biting till then, not feeling it was obviously an improvement.

He wondered about Vision, too. 

He had been with Rhodey when Tony had left, and Tony had had to rush. He never had time to tell him that Rhodey's fall was not his fault. That he had aimed for Wilson and Wilson had moved - as one did - and therefore was not to be blamed.

He hadn't had a chance to console him, to protect him; not from Maximoff, and not from guilt.

Maximoff could rot too.

She should have never put her filthy hands on his son.

“Harley,” he started, sometimes around the fifth hour. “You take good care of your mom and your sister. And FRIDAY. Cause she is so very young, basically a toddler and you have experience with toddlers. And Vision too. He's a baby.”

His mind scattered.

Harley's blond curls turned into a strawberry blonde ponytail.

He remembered meeting Pepper, that first time. She had been so beautiful, with her hair untied and her expression wary and outraged, a can of pepper spray in one hand and a spreadsheet in the other.

“Damn you, Rogers,” he said, a while later. Or he thought? He wasn’t quite sure anymore if he was stuck in his own memories or if he was talking out loud or if he was thinking. “Couldn’t even kill me properly. You just left me here to die, you just-”

Went and picked up a whole team so that his mind fucked buddy wouldn’t go to trial. What other secrets that didn’t belong to him was the Captain keeping?

He was the Winter Soldier, after all. Probably killed J.F. Kennedy.

“Mamma,” he cried a second later (or a minute? or an hour?). His chest was burning and he felt like he was drowning. He didn’t want to drown. He had drowned too much in the past few years. “Mamma, aiutami, per piacere. Non ce la faccio più!”

His mom. Gone. Like Peggy, like Ana, like Aunt Janet.

Pym always said never to trust a Stark.

Tony giggled. Or sobbed. He wasn’t sure.

Pym stole from his Compound and Tony had been meaning to ask Wilson why he hadn’t reported it. He was gonna release the footage, but he had hesitated. Because of Hope.

Hope...

Tony imagined pulling off his suit and looking at the tattoo on his arm. It had been so long since he had thought about the tattoo and its meaning.

He sobbed again. Or giggled. He wasn’t sure.

He remembered all five of them sitting around the fire, the tattoo kit sitting innocently on their side. They were drunk, weren’t they? Some of them had been, at least. Hope was a good girl, even though Hope had had the idea of the tattoo to begin with.

And Tony had had the idea of the blood oath.

“Blood of the covenant, ink on my skin,” he thought, or was he speaking? “When I call upon you, you’ll feel it within. And if I call upon you, in my hour of need, in the name of Loki you will pay heed.”

They had been so stupid back then. Howard had been so mad when Tony had returned home with a fresh tattoo on his arm and Hank Pym had blown a gasket. 

Though it was funny that they had prayed to Loki and then, decades later, they had met Loki and-

Tony’s sluggish mind came to a halt. He couldn’t feel his fingers or toes or most of his face, and he couldn’t turn around or move his head. The pain in his chest was almost bearable when Tony stayed completely still and didn’t breathe.

But for some reason, his arm was burning.

“Dad, calm down,” hissed Hope Van Dyne, her ear piece stuck in her ear. “Yes, I have almost arrived in Germany. But I cannot find any trace of the suit.”

She understood Hank’s frustration, of course. He had kept the Ant Man suit a secret for so long and yet, for some reason, Scott thought it was a good idea to bring into a big fight with the Avengers.

And not only that, he went giant while using it too, like it was some stupid game.

Of course, Hank’s main concern was that Tony would steal the tech from the suit, but Hope was more concerned about the rest of it. With SHIELD’s files still on the dark web, it wouldn’t take too long for someone to find a link between Pym Tech and the Ant Man suit. 

God, what had Scott been thinking!

He didn’t even bother asking anyone anything, just took off and-

Hope gasped suddenly, a hand flying to her collarbone. The pain had been so sudden, like someone just stabbed her hard on-

“Miss Van Dyne?” asked the driver, meeting her eyes in the rear-view mirror. His expression was slightly worried. “Are you all right? Your tattoo is bleeding.”

Carol Danvers was not a superhero for the fame of it all. She was a superhero and a protector because there were beings in the world who needed her protections. She did it because she was Air Force and a soldier, and the sense of duty had been instilled in her for years now.

There was still something to be said about the gratefulness of people, she mused as she walked into the large bathroom the Klyoens had offered her as repayment for her help.

It was really fucking cool.

Probably third best baths she had ever seen, with number one being the ones she had seen from images of Asgard and number two being the one from the Sovereign. Although the Sovereign pissed her off and she never got the chance to try them.

She slipped into the warm bath and let out a sigh at the feeling of her muscles relaxing in the warm water. This was heaven. It was like-

She winced at the sudden pain under her chest, eyes widening in alarm when the normal green water started turning red with her blood.

Her fingers went on her underboob tattoo and found no wound from which the blood would be leaking, but the water remained red even as the pain slowly subsided.

And when she looked at the only mirror, she saw it.

The fourth moon in the tattoo was bleeding.

“Seriously?” complained Stephen Strange, staring at the empty fridge. “Didn’t we go shopping like last week?”

Wong looked up from where he was eating the last of the pad thai in the fridge. “People eat. I am sure, as a doctor, you were familiar with that concept?”

The sorcerer rolled his eyes, closing the door of the fridge and picking up an apple instead. “You’re not funny, Wong.” He gave a longing look at the other man’s plate, wanting. “I would kill for some thai right now.”

His friend did not reply, eating the rest of his plate with gusto while Stephen was left to console himself with an apple. Well, there was plenty in the cupboards, if he wanted to make himself a meal. And he could go to Kamar Taj, if he was really starving.

But he didn’t wanna.

So apple it was.

“You know, as a doctor,” he started munching on the fruit, “I have to say it’s not very healthy for you to- fuck!”

Wong looked up at him usual impassiveness turning into concerned confusion as Stephen dropped the apple, his arm going to the side of his tunic. 

“That hurts, fuck,” continued Stephen, pulling down the tunic and his robes until his naked shoulder was on display. 

“Stephen,” started Wong, but then paused. 

He had seen Strange half naked before, so the fact that the man had a tattoo of five different moons in different stages was not a surprise. He had asked about it, but the other man had never explained it, muttering something about ‘teenage drunks’ and ‘boarding school’ and Wong had not pushed.

However he was gonna push now, considering part of the tattoo, the waning half moon, in fact, was bleeding quite profusely even though there was no actual wound on it.

Stephen stared at it for a second, eyes widening in surprise before he looked at Wong. “Hey... so, are blood oaths a thing?”

James Rhodes remained in his medically induced coma.

His wrist, resting on his side, started bleeding.

Chapter Text

Loki was relaxing in Odin’s chambers - which he had appropriated when he had started pretending to be the man - when a familiar prayer echoed within his mind. 

“Blood of the covenant, ink on my skin; when I call upon you, you’ll feel it within. And if I call upon you, in my hour of need, in the name of Loki, you will pay heed.”

Loki stood up immediately from the bed, surprise at the words resounding within his brain after so many years. While Loki had never truly forgotten that night in the woods when these words had been first spoken, he had thought that the foolish youth playing with things above their comprehension must have.

After all, it had been almost 30 Midgardian years since then, and he had never heard their voices in his mind since.

He closed his eyes for a moment, following the thread of the magic left behind from the words blood oath, and frowned slightly when it only connected to four souls within Midgard. The fifth thread was still connected - still alive - but it extended beyond the Nines, beyond where Loki’s magic could reach it.

He could not deny his confusion: from what he knew, Midgardians were not advanced enough to be able to travel through-

Loki paused, as he unravelled the threads further, following it to the one of those five Midgardian youths who had first called his name so many years ago.

And then he swore.

+++

Loki was laying on the ground, eyes closed as he bathed in the light of Midgard’s moon, the fire he had conjured to keep him warm crackling beside him. He was currently hiding from Thor, who was trying to drag him on yet another useless quest. Loki truly did not see what purpose those stupid quests had to begin with.

What kind of glory could one get from chasing a wild bilgesnipe in the woods and bringing back their head? From running amok the Nine Realms looking for a fight and creating one when they did not find it? 

It was ridiculous, and Loki wanted no part in it. Unfortunately, if Thor found him when the mood striked him to go on this ridiculous adventures, then Loki did not have the option of simply saying ‘no’. Mother would ask him hopefully to accompany her brother to make sure he was safe, and Father just stared at him with disappointment until Loki folded.

Midgard was a safe heaven. 

Thor had never once stepped foot out in Midgard since Father forbade it when they were children, but Loki had found a secret passageway to the planet a century or two ago and had been using it as an escape ever since.

All he had to do was change his appearance slightly when he arrived to imitate what the subjects of whatever place he ended up in looked like and he was usually left in peace.

Today seemed to not be one of those occasions, however, he thought a little irritated as the sound of the youths who had been observing him for several minutes, whispering among each other, continued to grow.

“He’s not dead,” stated one of the two girls, though she did not sound too confident. “He’s probably just asleep.”

“Let’s just go,” said one of the boys. “Whatever he is, alive or dead, is none our business.”

“Aren't you supposedly planning on joining the AirForce? We can’t just leave him there if he’s dead,” hissed another girl, and he heard the sound of two different set of feet approaching.

“Plus, if he’s alive, maybe he can give us an answer on the oath.”

Oath? Loki was pretty sure these were Midgardian youths, but what did Midgardian know of oaths? Last he had heard, they chose to burn the women who practiced mathematics, magic or read, at the stake.

He felt a small rock hit his forehead, and part of him had to laugh inside at the audacity. Still he made a loud sound of pain, standing up quickly and turning a glare on them with unerring precision. 

The boy who must have thrown the rock screamed, as did the girl hiding in the back. The other three jumped, but did not shout.

The blonde girl at the front with the brown haired boy who had screamed put both hands up. “Sorry, sir. We were making sure you hadn’t overdosed and passed out or died, or something,” she was quick to say.

“By throwing a rock at me?” he asked, putting the right amount of irritation in his voice.

She grimaced, but it was the boy beside her who spoke. From what Loki could see, he was a little younger than the woman he was standing with. “Sorry, dude, that was me. But it was either that or poking you, and I’ve heard that poking people can be seen as hella rude.”

“Like that’s ever stopped you before,” muttered one of the boys standing at the back, though the one in front did not appear to hear him.

They appeared to be slightly intoxicated from what he could see. 

He felt a sudden poke at his arm, and looked up, vaguely startled to see the young girl who had so far been standing at the back suddenly beside him. He had not even noticed her approaching. “Woah, those are so fucking rad. Did you make them yourself?”

Made what- oh. 

Loki tended to simply imitate the appearance of the first people he spotted when he arrived on Midgard, and mixed them together to fit his own aesthetic.

One of the people he had come upon had been covered with ink designs over his arms and neck, and Loki had thought that it would be smart to imitate it. 

“Yes,” he answered, and her eyes grew.

“Woah.”

“See?” said the first boy. “I told you coming to him was a good idea.” Loki could only frown as the boy sat down on the ground in front of him, ignoring the hissing from the two boys who had yet to approach. “So, are you like a tattoo artist? What’s your name?”

“Indeed,” lied Loki. In a way, he was, wasn’t he? He had made these appear himself. “And my name is Loki.”

“God of Mischief, Fire and Chaos,” said the boy who had remained silent until now, finally approaching with the other. Loki was pleasantly surprised. “Are you from Norway or something? What are you doing in New York?”

“I thought this was a terrible idea,” asked him the first boy, a smug look on his face. He squawked when the other pressed his palm on his face and pushed him away, and then licked said palm in retaliation.

“You’re disgusting,” said the tall one and Loki really needed to get some names because he was starting to get confused.

“And who are you, and why do you care for my profession?”

There was a second of hesitation in the two youngest’s faces, before the boy smiled. “I’m Edward. Edward Carbonell.”

“And I’m Nadia Van Dyne,” said the girl, which made the blonde and the other two boys stifle back a laugh.

They were telling the truth, but lying at the same time. Loki was both amused and intrigued, though he understood. He could tell by their clothing and their movements, as well as their choice of dark corner to frequent, that they were clearly of a high status, here on Midgard, and therefore unwilling to share their true identities.

Loki would have done the same, had he been on Asgard.

“I’m Vincent Strange,” said the one who had gotten his hand licked, with that same twitch of his lips.

“Jane Danvers,” said the blonde, with a pretty good poker face.

“And I’m Rupert Rhodes,” said the last man, also sitting down beside him.

“And the reason we were curious about whether or not you were a tattoo artist, is that we actually were going to make our own,” explained Edward, as Nadia opened her bag. “And we were wondering if putting blood inside the ink would make it not work properly?”

Loki was not sure, but he knew that his magic could make it so, if they wished for it. So, “No, it would not. But why do you wish to put blood within the ink?”

“We want to give each other some tattoos, look,” said Nadia, pulling out her notebook from her bag. She opened one of the last pages, were five moons were sitting, in various different phases. “And To- Edward,” she quickly corrected, “Wants us to make it cooler by adding a blood oath.”

“A blood oath?” asked Loki, interest further piqued. He had done some before, but he had not realised they were still popular on Midgard.

Vincent rolled his eyes. “I told him it’s bullshit, but he’s stubborn.”

“Don’t go there, Strange,” said Jane, rolling her eyes. “Mr 'I am right all the time and if you say I’m not I will start totally bugging'.”

“He thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips,” told him Rupert, while Vincent huffed in irritation at their comments.

“Eat my shorts, Rhodes.”

“There are children present, guys!” mocked Jane, only to earn twin middle fingers from the children in question. Loki was not sure what it meant, but from her gasp it had to be something impolite and not appropriate for children to do.

He focused on Edward and Nadia, the ones who appeared to be more serious about the blood oath. Blood oaths, whether they were done willingly or unwillingly could go wrong very quickly, and he found these youths interesting enough to not want to witness their early demise. Or risk them summoning an ancient demon and becoming implicated in an intergalactic crime.

“Do you already know what words you wish to use on the oath?” he asked them, as Nadia pulled out her equipment from the bag. He was slightly surprise to see such from a girl who appeared very young by Midgardian standards, but he did not bring it up.

Edward had appropriated the notebook from Nadia, grinning at Loki. “Yes. So, check it: ‘blood of the covenant, ink on me. If I call you, come to me. And help me.’” He looked up, appearing very proud of his words, “What do you think?”

Loki did his best not to grimace at the amount of interpretations he had left in his words. “It is a good first attempt,” he offered. “But that is not how you write an blood oath.”

Edward pouted. “How do I write one, then?”

“While rhyme is preferred, it is not needed. A proper oath needs three things: parameters, conditions and a swear on something or someone. Usually a deity, but a beloved idea or emotion can also be valid.”

“Hm,” said Rupert, having turned to pay attention once more. “How about: 'blood of the covenant, ink on my skin'. Because it’s a tattoo, right?”

Loki nodded, encouragingly. “Yes, that is a good initial parameter.”

“'When I call upon you...'” said Vincent trailing off.

“'You’ll feel it within?'” offered Nadia.

“He said no need for rhyme,” pointed out Vincent.

“But a rhyme scheme does not ruin anything,” explained Loki, patiently. “You need to fill the condition, however. ‘You’ll feel it within’... and then what?”

They remained quiet for a couple of seconds, each thinking hard.

“And if I call you, in my hour of need,” said Edward, suddenly lighting up with a smile. “In the name of Loki you will pay heed!”

Loki looked at him, slightly startled. “In the name of Loki?”

Edward shrugged. “Why not? He is a deity, plus it’s your name and you helped us with the oath to begin with. It makes sense?”

“Nothing about this makes sense,” said Vincent, with a sigh. “I am about to let a child tattoo my arm and use my blood mixed with the ink to make it appear as a blood oath. This is nuts.”

“No one says you have to, square,” huffed Edward, pushing him back. He missed, and ended up falling on his face, much to the other’s amusement.

Jane was looking over at Loki, and shrugged. “To- Edward is right. Might as well?”

“To repeat, the oath will be,” said Rupert, clearing out his throat. “Blood of the covenant, ink on my skin; when I call upon you, you’ll feel it within. And if I call upon you, in my hour of need, in the name of Loki you will pay heed.”

The children obviously did not know who he was and most likely did not truly believed in him or understood the power of their prayers. But, as he watched them repeat the prayer one by one, prickling their fingers over the bottle and mixing it with the ink, Loki could not help but feel slightly touched. Whether they knew it or not, they had just declared themselves his disciples, and, as his magic mixed with their words and the ink, he promised himself that he’d always be ready to help them find one another when one called.

+++

Loki had both hoped that they would and that they would never call upon that oath again. That they would, so that he could keep an eye on them. That they wouldn’t, because he did not want to see them harmed.

He had not really kept an eye on them after returning to Asgard. Time on Midgard moved too fast, and by the time he had tried to find them again, he had not been able to, considering he did not have their true names. He could have asked Heimdall, but that would have gotten back to Father, and at the time, Loki still cared about not upsetting the old man.

But never had he ever even entertained the idea that he had actually met Edward again after that night. 

That Edward Carbonell was no one other than the stupidly brave Midgardian who had stood in front of him without his suit and dared to threaten him to save Midgard. Who stood with a star in his chest that had been able to stop the Mind Stone from touching his mind. 

Anthony Edward Stark.

The same Midgardian who his mirror of sights showed laying in a cold tundra with said star crushed in half, light long gone as he drowned in the blood within his own lungs.

He had been the one to call upon the thread, perhaps in a fit of madness and desperation, as he wished to not die abandoned and alone. Loki followed the other three threads still residing within Midgard, to three other Midgardians.

Nadia, now a young woman, sitting in the back of a vehicle, hands touching her bleeding collarbone. She appeared nervous and confused.

Rupert, injured and asleep in a hospital bed, wrist bleeding on the white covers. Loki was quite sure this was the ‘James Rupert Rhodes’ that the hawk had spoken upon in connection with Anthony Stark.

And Vincent, now a sorcerer (how had Loki missed sorcerers on Midgard?), speaking to a fellow, shoulder exposed, and red blood staining his robes.

Jane was the only one missing, somehow existing somewhere beyond the Nine Realms.

His disciples, scattered. One injured, and the one who had invoked his name to begin with, dying.

He couldn’t let him die, he decided. Not only because of how important he knew Tony Stark could be in the battle against Thanos.

But also because he was one of his. They might have done it for nothing but their own amusement, but they were his disciples, now. 

And Stark had called upon him.

So Loki was now bound by duty to save him, bound by the moon to let them find each other again.

And he would.

Chapter Text

Stephen couldn’t quite help the way he squirmed under Wong’s very judging expression.

“Repeat your question, please?”

Honestly, it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t help but think. But he doubted that would matter much to Wong.

“Are blood oaths a thing?”

Wong’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you need to know this?” he asked, as if he couldn’t easily guess from what had just happened.

He sighed. “When I was younger, me and my... friends, I guess, we made this tattoo.” He pointed at said tattoo on his still uncovered arm, grateful that at least it was no longer bleeding. “We mixed our blood in the ink and we made it a blood oath.”

Wong’s judgement did not dissipate. “Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know!” he complained, pulling down his sleeve. He couldn’t quite hide the unease, though, as he turned on the television. His tattoo had remained just fine after Carol’s accident and death, after Afghanistan, after his car crash, so what could have made it activate, if it indeed was the blood oath reacting to something? “I think I was drunk, and everyone else was doing it. I would have looked like an idiot if I-” he said, trailing off and feeling his heart sink as he recognised two familiar faces on the screen and then registered the words from the news anchor. 

“... CEO of Stark Industries Pepper Potts confirms that Colonel James Rhodes is being treated at a secret location. No information has been given on Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers and the Winter Soldier, with the last two still wanted on alleged counts of manslaughter and-"

Stephen immediately turned to Wong, now very much more serious. “Question, because I have a really bad suspicion. Which one of the moons was bleeding?”

“The waning gibbous,” said Wong, and Stephen swore this time. “Strange what is going on? Who did you make this oath with? Why does which moon was bleeding matter?”

Stephen sighed, exposing his arm again. “Waxing crescent for Carol, waxing gibbous for James," he said, pointing at each in turn. "Full moon for me, waning gibbous for Tony and waning crescent for Hope. We went in order of age as, according to Tony and Hope, this was what the moons looked like on the nights of our births.”

Wong blinked at him. “You say those names as if I’m supposed to know who they are.”

“You might not know who Carol is, but you should know the other two and perhaps be familiar with the last. James Rhodes, Tony Stark and Hope Van Dyne.”

This time Wong’s eyes definitely widened, some of the judgement leaving his eyes. “How do you even know them?”

“It doesn’t matter,” stressed Stephen. “Because these four are the ones I made the blood oath with. Now my tattoo is bleeding. Carol died years ago and the tattoo never bled for her.” It still hurt to think about the way the woman disappeared. Hope (and Rhodey, for a while) had insisted she was still alive, but neither he or Tony had believed it. “Rhodes is the one injured, but the waxing gibbous was not the one bleeding. Tony is the waning gibbous, and he’s missing and that moon is bleeding. I have not called upon that oath ever because I thought it was stupid and also because I mostly forgot about it, but if he did and it actually worked-”

“I don’t see how it would work, however,” said Wong, frowning even as he started moving, Stephen following after him. “The emotion you would have sworn upon must have been very strong or the deity listening to you which-”

“Oh, fuck,” said Stephen, a grimace appearing on his face.

Wong looked over at him from where he was rifling through the relics. His eyes narrowed. “What was the oath?”

Stephen’s grimace grew. “Okay, in my defence, I was young, dumb, drunk and did not believe in magic or anything of the sorts. Second, I was not even the one who made the oath, so you shouldn’t judge-”

“Stephen,” interrupted Wong, with a glare. He had the Silver Plate of Genshin in his hands. “What was the oath.”

"Should I even say it in here? Cause if it worked-"

"The Sanctum barriers are powerful. What. Was. The oath."

“Blood of the covenant, ink on my skin,” he spoke, and now he could feel the energy, the magic building at his own words. If it had felt like that when they had done it, he had been too drunk to notice. “When I call you, you’ll feel it within. And if I call you, in my hour of need,” and here he looked away from Wong, staring at a point over his head. “In the name of Loki, you will pay heed.”

Silence.

Stephen counted in his head, three, two, one-

“I’m sorry,” said Wong, voice deceptively calm. “In the name of whom?”

Stephen glared. “How was I to know Norse gods existed and the tattoo guy who we spoke to and who’s name was Loki, and who helped us with the tattoo might actually have been the Loki, now that I think about it?” he asked, realisation and puzzle pieces fitting nicely in his head, several years too late.

But how could have his drunk teenage self realised that the tattoo artist who had been conveniently there could have been a Norse god? And, sure, he had been in New York during the Invasion and had seen Thor (though he had not known at the time that it was Loki who caused said Invasion, and had only learnt of it when he joined the Order) but he had mostly forgotten about the oath by then, so why would he even connect that it meant that Loki might truly exist? Plus, as he had previously stated, Carol died and Tony was kidnapped in Afghanistan, and the tattoo had done nothing. Which might simply mean they had not 'called upon it' but he had assumed it meant it did not work.

And yet, now it had suddenly started bleeding, and Tony was missing.

“Do you have anything that belongs to Stark?” asked him Wong, making the Silver Plate of Genshin glitter in front of them. “Preferably something that he has touched recently? It’s the only way I could find him or track him. Blood oaths,” and here he glared at Stephen. “Can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. They are deeply frowned upon in Kamar Taj.”

“Well I did not do one in Kamar Taj,” he pointed out, the nerves only growing. “And no, I have nothing of Tony’s. Shit, the last time I saw him was what... after New York? 2012?”

Stephen might have complained about them being drunk and irresponsible, but he could admit that the summer of 1990 had been one of the last good summers he had ever had.

Hope had been finally pushing back from the slump she had fallen in following her mother’s mysterious death. Carol’s place in the AirForce was secured. Tony and Rhodey were en route to graduate the next year. He himself had managed to convince the people at Hopkins University to let him do more than a normal degree once he was out of University. 

They had been at the top of the world, and never closer to each other than they had been then. Despite how they had all ended up being friends to begin with, they now were, and they were happy.

And then the summer ended and by the next, everything had fallen apart.

First Hope’s father moved them to California, to keep her away from the ‘evil Stark influence’.

Donna died.

Jeanette Rhodes nearly overdosed, and that took a toll on Rhodey.

Carol died in mysterious circumstances.

Then Tony’s parents died.

By Christmas of 1991 all they had to connect them to each other was a tattoo and a forgotten blood oath, and had not spoken more than a couple of words to each other in months.

They did not exactly forget each other, however. They were still on each other’s Christmas lists. Hope and Tony most likely saw each other at a couple of events, and he too had seen them, a couple of times (thought he had not really bothered talking to them). He knew Tony and Rhodey had remained super tight. He had gone to a couple of Hope’s Christmas parties himself, and she had come to some of his. 

When New York had happened and he had seen footage of Tony falling from the sky after carrying a nuke through a wormhole, he had gone directly to the Tower. Had been slightly surprised by how easy he had been let in, though he had not shown it. He had mostly ignored the various Avengers and agents still milling around at that point, and when he had seen it was him, Tony had looked a little confused but still had allowed himself to be checked over if only Stephen was in the room. They had not really spoken, then, but Stephen had left a little calmer after ensuring Tony was going to be all right.

He had called when Tony’s house had exploded, just as he had done when the man had returned from Afghanistan, but the conversation had not lasted longer than 5 minutes. When Tony, Hope and Rhodey had tried to get in contact with him after his accident, he had let all the calls go to voicemail, and they had taken the hint, eventually - even though Hope had still managed send him a basket filled with all of his favourite fruits and chocolates the day before he had gone off to find Kamar Taj.

But other than that? They had not seen each other face to face in years.

So no, Stephen did not have anything belonging to Tony on hand to use to track him.

But there was someone who most likely would.

“Stephen,” started Wong, recognising the light in his eyes, but Stephen did not pay him any mind.

They might have mostly ignored each other all these years but, as cheesy as it was, an oath was an oath.

And if I call upon you in my hour of need, in the name of Loki you will pay heed.

Tony had to have called them in his hour need. He must have used the oath because he was desperate and injured enough. And fuck it, Stephen was going to pay attention.

So he did not let Wong stop him as he created the portal and stepped through it.

Hope kept the sunglasses perched on top of her nose, hoping that they were good enough to cover her face. While her face wasn’t as well known as some, she wasn’t an unknown, and if someone got a good enough look at her they would stop and try and place her.

And considering Scott’s bullshit, she really should not be trying to draw any further attention to herself.

But her tattoo had bled.

For the first time ever, something had made her tattoo bleed and with everything that had been happening in the past few years, Hope knew that she needed to listen/pay attention to something like this.

Carol had been in a strange accident that the AirForce had buried and hidden, and she had not called on the oath; the tattoo had done nothing.

Tony had been kidnapped in Afghanistan and tortured for three months, and he had not called on the oath; the tattoo had done nothing.

Tony had flown a fucking nuke through an alien wormhole, and he had not called on the oath; the tattoo had done nothing.

Stephen had flown his car off a cliff and nearly died, and he had not called on the oath; the tattoo had done nothing.

But now it was bleeding, and from what Hope had managed to gleam, while Tony was currently unaccounted for, Rhodey had been injured and was the hospital. 

So that was going to be her starting point to figure out what was going on and who had called on the oath.

Bypassing the security and the reception desk was depressingly easy to do. All she had to do was walk like she knew what she was doing and where she was going, and no one suspected her of anything. Once she reached the back stairs, hacking into the mainframe of the hospital and finding the most encrypted file was easy enough. She couldn’t access Rhodey’s information - Hank could brag all he wanted, but Tony’s security was virtually unhackable from the outside - but the fact that one area and one file were so carefully closed made it easy to figure out what area of the hospital he was in.

She emerged from the steps in the private area of the hospital but before she could proceed forwards and try to subtly figure out what room Rhodey was in and what to do next, an arm had grabbed her and pulled her inside another room.

Hope aimed an elbow at her assailant in a second, who wheezed but immediately let her go taking a couple of steps back, while she got ready for a second attack, eyes narrowed. “Dear god.”

Hope recognised the voice immediately, but she still could not quite believe her eyes when he stood up and she made eye contact with a man she had believed long gone. “Stephen.”

He gave her a smile that was more of a grimace, as he tried to straighten up. “Yes,” he said, a hand on his stomach and Hope cringed, though inside she felt like both screaming and crying.

“Sorry, I didn’t-” she tried, helping him straighten up and he shook his head. 

“No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.”

That was true, so Hope did not contradict him. Instead she frowned at him, eyes still a little disbelieving as she took him in. He was alive. He was alive.

Though, “What are you doing in Germany? You disappeared in Kathmandu?!”

“You looked for me?”

Stephen appeared surprised, as he fixed his hood and pulled it down. He was wearing an odd bright red scarf around his neck that had never been his style, but Hope ignored his new fashion choice in favour of letting her hurt show.

Now that the joy of seeing him alive was lowering...

“Of course I looked for you!” she said, barely holding back from punching his shoulder. Or worse, truly showing her pain. “You were in a terrible car crash, lost your hands, cut everyone off, got on a plane to Kathmandu and then disappeared from the face of the Earth. What did you think I was going to do?”

He winced. “Yeah, well... Look, it doesn’t matter where I was,” he decided, shaking his head. “What are you doing here?”

It mattered a lot, but Hope decided to let it go for now.  “The same thing you are doing here, I’ll assume,” she finally said, running a finger through her hair. “My tattoo started bleeding.”

Stephen nodded gravely. “The waning moon was bleeding.”

Hope frowned, surprised by his words. “But that’s Tony,” she said, worry growing. At his expression, she explained. “My tattoo is on my collarbone,” she reminded him. “I felt pain, touched it and therefore had no idea which moon was bleeding, if it was one or more or what. All I knew was that Rhodey was in hospital, so I decided to start from here.”

“I don’t know enough,” said Stephen, lips pursed. “But I think Tony actually said the oath, wherever he is, and that’s why it worked. He was injured, delirious or desperate enough...” he trailed off, and Hope’s fists clenched at her sides.

Tony had been tortured for three months and never had he felt the need to utter the oath. What could have possibly happened to him now that made him say it?

The last she had heard, he had been in that fight against Scott in the airport, and then he had gone missing.

“What about Rhodey?” she asked instead of dwelling in those thoughts, looking at him again. “Do you know what happened to him?” All she knew was that he had been injured in that same fight (seriously, what was Scott thinking?!), but no details.

Stephen nodded, expression grim. “I manage to sneak around, and find that he’s in room 22, so three doors from here. From what his charts say, he injured his spine during some Avengers fight, and when I went in he was put in a medical coma for his safety and the severity of his spine injury.”

Hope quickly pushed away the fear at the image those words created, instead focusing on another detail. “You managed to sneak around?”

He glared at her. “Very funny, Van Dyne.”

She smirked at him, and when he rolled her eyes, she felt a part of her that she had kept hidden for a while soften slightly. They might have drifted apart after that amazing summer in 1990, but she, at least, had done all she could to keep in contact with them all. She had been at each of their graduations, invited Stephen to every Christmas party she threw, joined Tony at every ceremony Rhodey got an award in, literally drove over to Malibu after Afghanistan to make sure he was truly okay, and visited Carol’s ‘grave’ each year. That Stephen had blown her off and disappeared, and that Tony and Rhodey had not even seemed to care had hurt.

That summer had been the first time Hope had been truly happy since her mother died. And yet, it seemed like to the rest of them, it had meant nothing.

It might be childish, and it might have been over 20 years, but she still considered them all her best friends.

So to see Stephen alive, and to see that he had come to check on Rhodey (and Tony) when the tattoo had started bleeding, it meant a lot.

He narrowed his eyes at the expression in her eyes, but she quickly shook her head. No time for nostalgia and melancholy.

More important things. Finding out what was going on. “So what now?” she asked. “If Rhodey is-”

The sudden sound of an alarm going off in the hospital had Hope and Stephen looking at each other in slight confusion and alarm before they opened the doors of the room they were in and stepped out.

Many Stark Industries representatives were walking around, looking frazzled and worried, and Hope spotted Pepper Potts among the chaos, a slight look of panic in her eyes.

They did not really know each other all that well, but they were on familial terms, so Hope did not hesitate in grabbing Stephen by the wrist and pulling him along.

“Miss Potts,” she called out, trying to get herself heard over the sound of the alarm and avoid interception by the guards. “Miss Potts!”

The blonde looked up, and appeared slightly startled to see her. “Miss Van Dyne? What are you doing here?”

“Looking for a friend,” she said, easily. It was not a lie. “What’s going on?”

She looked at her and Stephen for a second, before seeming to decide to be truthful. “I know you were friends with Tony and Rhodey,” she said, looking at Hope with a hopeful look. “Maybe you know where they could have gone.”

“What do you mean?” asked Stephen, frowning. “I thought the Colonel was... injured?”

“Yes,” said Pepper, looking at the end of her rope. “But the doctor just went back to do a couple of checks on him again. And he has disappeared.”

Chapter Text

Loki might not have thought things through. 

In his defence, Anthony Stark was dying, and James Rhodes was severely injured, and there wasn’t much he could do for either of them from Asgard. And bringing them to Asgard risked all three of them, which was out of the question as well.

So he had had to leave a clone of himself in ‘his’ chambers, while his actual physical body was on Midgard dealing with everything. 

His first stop had of course been the bunker in Siberia.

While seeing Anthony Stark from his mirror had shown the man to be severely injured and on the verge of death, it was quite another thing to see him face to face like this. To see his battered body, misshapen chest, his breaths that were barely coming out and eyes still open but almost unseeing. It made everything inside of him boil to see him like this, but it was clear the man did not have long left in this mortal world if Loki did not do something, and fast.

He quickly put the various weapons he found around the room - the metal arm, the broken helmet and the shield - in a pocket dimension before moving towards the man.

Loki steadied him as much as he could with his own magic, but when he lifted him carefully in his arms, laboured sounds of pain still managed to pull themselves free from his lips.

“My apologies, my dear,” he told him, truly apologetic for once. 

It was a complex situation. On one side this was Thor’s friend and part of merry band of heroes who really thought they had defeated him during the New York Invasion. Seeing him dead - before he had found out the truth - would have both pleased and irritated him, but nothing further than that.

On the other side, this was one of his. He was his disciple, whether knowingly or not. He did not want him hurt, and his pain only displeased and incensed Loki further.

Skywalking to Stark’s silent Compound was easy.

Loki had scoured it previously while invisible, to make sure no one else was around who could cause problems and to cast a couple of protective spells so that he would know if someone was approaching him.

The spells had brought forth no human presence, so Loki was not particularly worried as he re-appeared in what he assumed was a Midgardian healing room within the Compound.

And yet weapons were trained on him the second he appeared, seemingly folding themselves out of the walls and ceilings of the place itself, as a menacing and young voice informed him to, “Step away from him and state your intentions before I attack.”

Loki did neither. He moved Anthony Stark slightly and let his magic pulsate on one of his hands. His magic still sensed no one around, which was baffling, interesting and annoying. “Whoever you are, ghost, I will not allow you to harm a further hair on Anthony Stark’s head.”

There was a sudden pause. “I’m confused. Are you not Loki, the one who tried to invade New York and threw Boss out of a window?”

Boss? So perhaps she was an employee of Stark’s. “Indeed I am, ghost. But I am not here to cause him harm. It was not I who inflicted these wounds upon him.”

“I know,” said the voice, sounding a little unsure and painfully young. “Are you... are you here to help him?”

“That is my goal,” he said, still warily watching the various weapons pointed at him. He did not doubt that they wouldn’t manage to harm him, but they might aggravate Anthony’s many injuries and that was not an option. “Will you now show yourself, ghost?”

“I am not a ghost,” said the voice, and a couple of weapons were pulled back. Not all of them, Loki could see a couple of supposedly hidden ones still pointed at him. “I am FRIDAY. I am an AI created by Boss, Anthony Edward Stark.”

Loki recalled hearing something similar before. “Like that JARVIS servant in the Tower.”

“Right,” she said as Loki slowly deposited Anthony on one of the beds. He had wasted already too much time conversing with this ghost/servant/AI. “What are you planning on doing?”

Still wary. Clearly attached to him and willing to fight anyone and anything to protect him.

Good.

Loki materialised a dagger. “I am currently using my magic to keep his bones and body from shifting too much as I move him. He has many injuries in the chest area, and while I am no healer, once I rid him of this armour, I should have a way of dealing with his injuries. Once he is as stable as I can make him, I shall go and fetch James.”

“Colonel Rhodey?” she asked, sounding surprised. The All-Speak claimed that she had described herself as a consciousness, but Loki had not thought consciousnesses able to showcase feelings.

How curious.

“If that is one of James Rupert Rhodes’ names, then yes, him.”

“Why are you helping them?”

“Child, will you allow me to continue or will you continue to pester me with questions?” he asked, carefully running his blade over the armour, slowly freeing each part of him of the cumbersome but powerful wear. It was impressive how much heavier than Anthony Stark himself it was, and how at the same time it hid so much power in its lithe form. Loki was quite sure that this armour would have had no problems demolishing whoever had attacked him, and yet...

“I’m sorry,” said FRIDAY, sounding remorseful. “I just...”

Loki sighed. “I understand. Anthony Stark is your creator. A sort of father figure to you, am I correct?” The arm off the suit fell off, and Loki felt another surge of anger at the look of his hands. He was cutting it way too close, the man risked losing his limbs. And for someone like him, Loki knew this would be a terrible blow. “I am doing this because I am bound to do so.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I did not expect you to,” he said, and once he had made enough cuts in the armour, he used his magic to lift the pieces off it one by one. “What is the likelihood of someone else arriving here in the next few minutes?”

“Less than zero,” answered FRIDAY. “Boss Lady and Mr Happy are in Germany, and Vision is still en route to Siberia. I was about to, but I have not told him that you have found Boss and retrieved him.”

The way her voice changed showed some sort of resentment for this Vision who, if Loki was not mistaken, was the name of the Mind Stone creature his brother had a hand in creating.

“Very well,” he said, and pulled out one of the many vials he had stolen from Eir’s medical chambers before leaving Asgard. “This will unfortunately hurt him. It is not my intention to cause him further pain, but-”

“I understand,” she said, voice tense.

Loki nodded, then pulled Anthony Stark’s head back a little, dropping the liquid directly down his throat. The man coughed, watery eyes opening as he whined in pain - the cough jostling his ribs in his pierced lung - face contorting. 

“I apologise, lærisveinn minn,” said Loki, brushing his hair back from his suddenly warm forehead, as he struggled to move within the hold of Loki’s magic, the pain growing as the potion filled his insides. “This will take a while.”

He then turned to one of the cameras that had been following him since his arrival, most likely the place from which FRIDAY had been observing him. “I shall return. Allow me a few minutes.”

“What should I do?” she asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

Truly, very young.

Loki softened his voice. “There is nothing you can do for him at the moment. Just make sure no one gets in while I am gone,” he instructed.

He did not wait for a response before he was turning invisible once more and stepping out of the room.

+

Getting James Rhodes was much easier than getting Anthony Stark. The room he was in was surveyed, but only from the outside. It took less than the few minutes he had expected to gather the man.

It only took him a couple of moments of making sure no one was watching to gather the man in his arms too and bring him back to the Compound.

Anthony was screaming when they returned, and Loki would have liked to give him the mercy of a simple sleeping spell, but the screams served to let him know that the potion was working.

It was painful for Aesir and Jotnar, so Norns only knew how painful it was for a simple Midgardian. Though, he supposed, there was nothing quite ‘simple’ about Anthony Edward Stark.

FRIDAY remained silent as he placed James Rhodes in the bed beside Anthony Stark's, and then quickly checked on him with his magic.

He frowned.

There was an injury of the spine that he was not sure a simple potion could cure, but that should not have put him in this unconscious state. So what exactly...?

“FRIDAY,” he called, frown growing as his magic continued to sense no mental pain or distress. “What ails him?”

“He fell while in his suit and damaged his spine,” she explained. “He was in a lot of pain when he came in, so they put him in a medical induced coma.”

“They gave him drugs to impair him?” he asked, eyes narrowing slightly. He did not like the sound of that. 

“No, they did so that he did not really feel the pain while they looked for a possible cure.”

Oh. Like the spell he had considered giving Anthony earlier.

“How long will that last?” he asked her.

“Now that he is no longer in the hospital and that you unplugged him from the drugs? He should probably wake up in an half hour or two maximum.”

Slightly longer than Loki preferred. But it would give him time to tend to Anthony.

He had hoped he could let the potion run its course before dealing with the shifted bones, but apparently he did not have much of a choice.

“Apologies again,” he said, coming to stand beside a whimpering Anthony. “This might hurt a little more.”

Stephen barely listened as Hope and Miss Potts discussed how it was possible for Rhodey to have left the room he was in when he was virtually paralysed and had people stationed in front of his room the entire time, brain working overtime.

To him the answer was very simple: magic. Considering the oath, considering who they had sworn on, considering the fact that he had literally felt the magic when he had said it, even though he had been safe (...ish) in the Sanctum when he had said it... The answer was magic.

But he couldn’t very well tell Pepper Potts this, or how he even knew this to begin with.

But Hope...

The Order was secret for a reason. They had been secret for centuries, and it was clear that they’d prefer to remain this way for as long as possible. 

However Christine knew of his change in profession, and Wong had not seemed to particularly care that he had let someone know.

He could not deny that he had been pleasantly surprised to hear that Hope had kept looking for him after he had left for Kamar Taj. He had thought that, like Christine and everyone else in his life, he had pushed her too far and she had stopped caring about him.

Instead she had looked for him hard enough that she had known he had gone to Kathmandu to begin with. 

It was... touching.

He wasn’t unaware of how much their friend group had meant to Hope when they were younger. But with the tough girl image she had perfectioned in the years since, he had just assumed that perhaps she had been over it and just kept in contact from force of habit.

That was clearly not the case.

“Right,” said Hope, looking at him and Stephen forced himself to appear as if he had been listening to the conversation. “To cover more ground. We should se-”

“Search together,” he quickly interrupted her, giving Miss Potts a charming smile. He had seen her with Tony a couple of times at events, but he did not really know much about her. “Four eyes are better than two, after all.”

Hope frowned at him for a second and then smiled at Miss Potts who was nodding, eyes on her phone and attention clearly occupied. “Thank you. And now Vision is saying that-” she stopped herself, took a deep breath through her mouth, and nodded at them both. “Please, if you manage to find him anywhere-”

“I have your number or I will simply have the hospital blast an announcement,” promised Hope, and Miss Potts smiled thinly at her again before quickly walking away. Hope watched her walk away for a second, before turning to Stephen. “What was that?”

He ignored her question and pulled her aside towards the room they had been in earlier. People were still mostly ignoring them, so they would be fine for now.

Then he turned to her, once the door was closed behind them, his face serious. “Okay. I’m about to tell you and show you something that will shock you to your core, but I need you to remain calm and not scream. It's safe, and it will explain why you couldn’t find me while I was in Kathmandu.”

“This is really not the time-”

“I need to show you this because it will help us find Rhodey,” he explained, and she immediately closed her mouth, frowning at him. But she did not say anything more, just watching him seriously, and Stephen took a deep breath. Worse came to worse, he could get Wong to erase her memory, though he really hoped it did not come to that. “Magic is real.”

Hope blinked. “Okay...”

She did not sound like she was thinking him crazy or anything, so she clearly did not understand. He pulled the scarf from his neck and the Cloak of Levitation manifested beside him, floating beside him to invisible wind like the diva he was. “Really real.”

This time Hope’s eyes had widened a little more. “Woah. That’s really cool,” she said, staring at the Cloak in surprise.

He squinted at her. There was none of the shock he had expected, just some fascination and mystification, really.

What the hell? “I tell you magic is real and show you this and your reaction is ‘Woah. That’s really cool’?!”

She touched the lapels of the Cloak, gasping when Cloak 'shook her hand', and then turned slightly to give him a flat stare. “Stephen, of the two of us, who was it who called the blood oath ‘idiocy and useless’, and who was it who did not question the fact that it had somehow worked and immediately showed up at the hospital?”

Okay, he felt a little off balance. “You knew magic was real?”

“I believed magic was real,” she corrected, smiling at the Cloak. “I always believed magic was a little bit real. Have you never met the Avengers?”

“Saw them, never actually spoke to them.”

“Well, one of them is Thor. From the myths. If he was real, it meant our oath on ‘Loki’ would have been real too, and that magic had to be somehow real,” she said, shrugging at his shocked expression. “It made sense to me.”

He stared at her for a couple more seconds, and then shook his head. “Why am I surprised that you are constantly smarter than any of us together ever was?” he wondered, and ignored her smirk. “Point is, magic is real, I learned magic when I went off after my accident, and I think I can find Rhodey by magic.”

She immediately stood up straighter, eyes hopeful. “Really? Are you sure?”

“89% sure,” he said, opening a portal with practiced movements after making sure that no one else was around or observing them. “I was originally looking for something of his that I could use to track down Tony, so I took one of his MIT rings when I was sneaked around. I know they always wear each other’s so I think I can use it to track both or either of them down,” he explained walking through.

Despite her easy acceptance of the Cloak, Hope was a little more hesitant to walk through the portal and into the New York Sanctum. But she still did it after a second, looking around herself with wonder in her eyes. “Woah. So this is your new place? A museum?”

“Not a museum,” said Wong’s voice, and Stephen jumped a little as he quickly closed the portal behind them. When he turned around, Wong was looking at him with deep irritation, but no condemnation. “A secret Sanctum. Strange, are you aware of what secret order means?”

“Wong, this is Hope Van Dyne,” he said, instead of answering. “Hope, this is... Wong. Just Wong. He sees himself as a Beyonce of sorts.” 

Hope gave him a look of slight disapproval that was eerily mirrored on Wong’s face before offering the man her hand. “Nice to meet you. Sorry for dropping by uninvited.”

Wong accepted the hand. “Not your fault. It is, as usual, his.”

Stephen glared. “I didn’t plan this, you know? She also has the tattoo, so she was there when I went to find Rhodey and well... we both made the oath. It just made sense that I shared all I knew.”

“I won’t tell anyone about this, if that’s what you’re worried about,” assured the woman, expression honest. “No one would even believe me to begin with.”

“How are you going to explain going from Germany to New York that fast?” questioned Wong, eyes slightly narrowed.

Right. Stephen had not considered that and-

“I was kidnapped and managed to free myself at the last possible moment,” she said, without missing a beat. When they both stared at her, she shrugged. “It happened before. I was kidnapped in San Francisco and by the time I managed to free myself, I was in Georgia.”

Stephen grimaced. “I forgot what sort of fucked up childhoods you and Tony had,” he admitted and shook his head, focusing up again. “And while we’re on Tony. I have something I think we can track both him and Rhodey with - Rhodey also just went missing - so if you can-”

“No need,” said Wong, now expression more serious. “You are welcome to try your tracking, but I believe I know where they both are.”

“What?”

“The alarm for extra-terrestrial or interdimensional threats went off while you were here. He wasn’t standing still long enough for me to cast a trap portal, but I managed to locate him. First Siberia, then New York. He was there for a while, then Berlin and back to New York. He is still in New York, but he has surrounded himself with way too many protective spells. Chances are if I try anything, I’ll end up trapping myself in trick spell.”

“He? Who is he?”

“Loki,” guessed Stephen, unsure of what exactly he should feel like when Wong nodded. He settled for wary. “Where is New York is he?”

“The Avengers Compound.”

Chapter Text

Things were not going as Loki had hoped for them to go.

He might have rushed to make sure that Anthony Stark did not die, but he hadn’t been completely without a plan. Loki might not have know much of the healing arts, but it was not as if he knew nothing. And healing a human, since they had much softer and more malleable bodies, should have been far easier than healing an Aes.

He had healed Thor and the Idiots Four plenty of time with his basic healing magic knowledge.

But he had been standing over Anthony Stark for over thirty minutes now, and things were not proceeding as well as he would have hoped. It was almost as if his organs were not sized and placed correctly, and he could not quite understand how or why.

He had so far determined that the collapsed and misshapen chest was residue of a blow from the shield he had retrieved - the shield that belonged to the Midgardian Thor, the man out of time - but how could have a measly dinner plate caused so much damage inside of his body?

FRIDAY had remained quiet as he worked, as had James Rhodes, and the only noises in the room as he tried to magically figure out what was going on with the Midgardian in front of him were that of his own breathing and the man’s whimpering. The potion had run its course, but until Loki figured out exactly what was wrong, it was only his magic holding his bones in place and ensuring he breathed normally. And he could not remain on Midgard for too long, so he-

He turned his head when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eyes, and did not hide the surprised yet pleased look that fell on his face. He had brought his mirror of sights with him, the spell he had used to track Anthony Stark and the others still locked on, and the spell was now informing him that they had company. That had been definitely faster than he had expected.

“Prince Loki?” predictably interrupted the child, FRIDAY, only seconds later. Her tone still had some base of uncertainty, but she seemed much more inclined to trust him than she had earlier on.

Even though Loki did not plan on harming either of his disciples, he could not help but think her a little foolish.

“Let them in,” he instructed, steadying his magic and taking a step back from the bed. Anthony Stark’s eyes were still shut, and Loki sighed as he wiped a tear that had formed at the corner of his eye. Perhaps with the help of some Midgardians... “Inform them that I am in no mood to fight or in any other way cause harm on their persons or that of Anthony Stark and James Rhodes’, so no arguments nor altercations are welcome. Make sure Vincent Strange understands these words in particular.”

He did not know enough about Nadia Van Dyne to comfortably say whether she was a threat or not, but Vincent Strange was apparently a sorcerer, and considering Loki had not even known there were any witches or sorcerers left on Midgard after their so called ‘Witch Trials’, that made him, for the moment, the most dangerous of the two.

“Are you sure?” asked FRIDAY, which had Loki frowning at one of her cameras.

“Of course. They are no threat to either Anthony Stark or James Rhodes.” He blinked, a little confused. “Are you unaware of who they are?”

“I know who they are. Dr Strange and Miss Van Dyne.”

Loki wanted to ask what was the problem, then, but something of her words caught his attention. “Wait, did you refer to him as ‘Doctor’? He is a Midgardian healer?” That would be most fruitful, he might be able to understand something of Anthony Stark’s condition that yet eluded him.

He doubted a Midgardian healer alone would be able to fix what was wrong with his chest, but he might understand some of the details that Loki hadn’t been able to grasp, and thus help him. On top of that, the man was also a sorcerer.

“He was, before the accident,” said FRIDAY  but did not elaborate as the sound of their footsteps approached.

FRIDAY was guiding them towards what he had heard her refer as the ‘medbay’ (curious, how she had been speaking to him and them at the same time), and Loki spared a quick glance at James Rhodes’ supine form, before straightening up and looking at the door.

Vincent Strange walked inside first, face and body language clearly tense and Nadia Van Dyne mostly covered behind him. His eyes immediately found Loki’s as he walked through, and if possible, he became tenser. But he did not attack - though Loki did not fail to notice the relic sitting at his shoulders.

He had never seen it before, but the magic imbued in it was ancient and powerful. A worthy possible adversary.

Nadia Van Dyne was however the first to speak, gasping as soon as she stepped through the doorway. “Holy shit, Tony!” She said, eyes wide and horrified as she observed his chest with horror. 

Vincent Strange’s eyes followed hers, and his complexion too became instantly paler, as he took a further step inside. “What the...” his eyes snapped to Loki, angry. “What did you do to him?”

Loki would allow the disrespectful attitude, only because emotions were clearly running high. “This wasn’t my doing,” he said, voice even and level. “He called upon the oath, and he was dying. Neither of you could have made it in time, so I took it upon myself to retrieve him from where he was, and bring him back here as I attempted to heal him.”

“What happened to him?” demanded to know Nadia Van Dyne, pushing past Vincent and coming to stand closer to him. Her eyes fixed on James Rhodes on the other bed, and her pained expression became further so. “To both of them?”

“That is still uncertain,” he regretfully explained. “All I know is that James Rhodes was injured and put in what FRIDAY refers to as a ‘medically induced coma’, and this,” and with a flicker of his fingers that had Vincent Strange tensing, he produced the recognisable shield, “Was used to lay a heavy blow against his chest, and caused it injury.”

“Captain America’s Vibranium shield against his chest?” asked Vincent Strange, finally proceeding towards Anthony Stark’s bedside. Nadia Van Dyne had paled significantly, horror in every line of his face. “Doesn’t he have an artificial ribcage to begin with, after Afghanistan? Who the hell would do that?”

“Artificial ribcage?” asked Loki, attention immediately caught. “What does that mean?”

At Vincent Strange’s uncertain look, he sighed. “I have already given him a concoction to make sure he survived and that would trigger his natural healing, and my magic is the only thing stopping his bones from crushing his heart and further hurt lungs. However, I am unable to heal him, as his body appears... wrong. It doesn’t fit, it’s not shaped the way it’s supposed to be shaped, and while you Midgardians are in the habit of butchering each other in the name of healing, I personally find that a barbaric practice. So if there is something you can tell me so that I might help him...”

“Tony was kidnapped by terrorists like eight years ago,” said Nadia Van Dyne, her entire attention on Loki. Vincent Strange made no attempt at stopping her. “He never really explained what happened, but he got injured and then he got operated in a cave and his body was modified. The arc reactor, he said in that one ‘tell all’ interview in 2014, that it used to be inside of him.”

Loki recalled the clink sound of the Scepter hitting something when he had attempted to mind control him. 

“From the way he described it, that thing went several inches inside of his body. And since it’s not natural, things would have had to have been shifted around or have to have decreased in size to allow it in.”

“Before the reactor was removed,” continued Vincent Strange, “He got an artificial ribcage put inside his body. I wasn’t part of the team that worked on it, but he did sent me an e-mail at one point, asking me to offer my professional advice on whether he should remove the shrapnel and then put the reactor back in, or have an entire new ribcage put in. I suggested the ribcage, as it would have been the safer and less intrusive of the two.”

None of this seemed like something that was safe for a Midgardian to do, but it did explain why his insides had not appeared normal to his magic. Unfortunately, that did not help as much as Loki would have liked.

“Do you recall what his bones were like? Can you conjure an image or a design that I might be able to work from?” he asked, and Vincent Strange shook his head, regrettably.

“All I saw was a general plan. I don’t actually know what his body and organs look like. The only person who would, would be his doctors, or perhaps Pepper Potts.”

“Not necessarily,” said FRIDAY, finally speaking up. Loki had noted her strange reaction to these two, and the way she had been observing them silently.

“You know?” 

“Not exactly,” she said, but continued before anyone could demand further clarification. “I cannot personally access Boss’ medical records or scans, but there are seven people in total who Boss has left the authorization to. Boss Lady Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts. Mr Harold 'Happy' Hogan. Colonel James Rupert ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. Miss Hope Nadia Van Dyne,” and here Nadia Hope Van Dyne looked up, appearing shocked. “Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange. And Captain Carol Susan Jane Danvers.”

Hope Van Dyne let out a slight faint breath, while Vincent Stephen Strange stared at the ceiling, shock in every line of his body. “What?”

“Tony always trusted you,” said James Rhodes, and Loki was the only one who did not jump at the sound of his voice. The Colonel’s eyes were now wide open, and he was smiling slightly as Hope Van Dyne rushed towards him. 

Loki had known he was awake for a while, but figured he would allow him time to ‘study’ him, and ‘figure out his intentions’.

James Rhodes continued, taking Hope Van Dyne’s hand in his. “How could he not? Hope might have had the idea of the tattoos, but Tony had the idea of the blood oath. He liked to act as f it had been nothing but a drunken shenanigan, but if it had been, he would not have accepted Hope’s invitations all the time despite her father’s open dislike for him. He would not have let you come and check him out after the wormhole despite having refused everyone else and his known dislike for doctors in general. He would have reported Hank Pym and Lang for stealing from the Compound.” He shrugged. “He has always trusted you.”

“He’s an idiot,” said Stephen Strange, but Loki did not miss the relic on his shoulders pressing its lapels on his neck, attempting to console him of a turmoil he was doing a fantastic job at hiding from the rest of the room.

“Is he?” asked James Rhodes, one eyebrow raised at him. “You are here, aren’t you?”

When Stephen Strange did not answer, James Rhodes finally looked at Loki. His eyes were very penetrating, dark and strangely analysing. “I don’t understand,” he said, after a beat or two. “I know you helped us with our oath when we were younger, but then you attacked Earth in New York. Banner might have stopped you, but Tony stopped your Invasion. From any logical point of view, you should hate him and find nothing but joy in seeing him hurt.”

“Then perhaps your logic is flawed,” glibly answered Loki, keeping his expression even.

“Then again, that Invasion was not very smart from any point of view, considering how smart and clever Thor always claimed you to be,” he continued, and Loki stilled slightly. “Tony and I went over it a lot of times and from a strategical point of view? It was a whole mess. You could have done far better.”

“Is there a point to this?” demanded Loki, tone of voice slightly clipped, the only thing betraying his agitation. Because it almost sounded as if... but no. It could not be. It could not.

“There is,” said James Rhodes, and shook his head. Hope Van Dyne and Stephen Strange remained quiet, observing them both and trying to understand what was going on. “But now is not the time. If we give you his scans and his medical history information, then you can... help him? Heal him?”

“Most likely, especially if Stephen Strange is willing to help me,” said Loki, gratefully changing the subject. He did not need this now.

Stephen Strange appeared surprised at being included, but despite how distrustful he had appeared earlier, he was quick to nod. “And then I will be able to take a look at your injury too.”

James Rhodes’ eyes widened in surprise. “What?”

“I could not assess you earlier, as the ‘medically induced coma’ was taking place,” he explained. “But once I am done with ensuring that Anthony Stark will be able to breathe without the need of my magic, I shall be able to see what can be done of your injury.”

James Rhodes kept staring at him, seemingly uncomprehendingly, and Hope Van Dyne did not hesitate in wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

Loki turned around, looking back between FRIDAY’s mechanical eye and Stephen Strange, allowing him the moment he most desperately seemed to need. “Shall we proceed?”

Chapter Text

Stephen was grateful for how easy it was to completely immerse himself in helping Loki. He had not done this kind of passive sort of ‘help the more experienced doctor’ deal in many years, but between the fact that he did not completely understand Loki’s magic, and the million thoughts running around in his mind, it was easy to fall back on habit.

Loki was the biggest question mark Stephen was dealing with, at the moment.

There were too many pieces, too many sides of Loki in front of him, and he couldn’t quite fit them all in one single picture.

On one side, there was the Loki that for some reason had been pretending to be human and hanging out in New York during spring break. With fake tattoos on his arms, helping a bunch of children who had thrown rocks at him and letting them swear an oath in his name.

On another side, there was the man who had brought an army to New York. The 'god' who had sought to enslave them out of nowhere, who had killed and caused the death of countless for no apparent reason that the Ancient One had disclosed. Stephen had been in New York, that day. He had seen first hand the damage and the injuries Loki’s actions had brought.

And on yet another side was this powerful magic user, who had heard Tony Stark - the man who had stopped his Invasion - calling onto a 26 years old oath they hadn't even believed in, and came down to Earth himself to help because he knew no one else would manage to get him in time. Who had then gone and picked up Rhodey from the hospital he had been in, to check on him himself, seeming to genuinely want to get the two of them back on their feet again.

He could maybe match the first Loki to this Loki, but the second one stuck out like a sore spot. And that was without the weird exchange between Rhodey and him earlier, an exchange that Stephen was pretty sure was the key to understanding everything, but that he wasn’t sure of how to figure out.

“What is this?” asked Loki, pointing at a point on the hologram in front of them.

Stephen looked closer at it and grimaced. “Percentage of decreased lung capacity.”

Loki’s lips thinned in faint disapproval that Stephen couldn’t help but match with a grimace of his own. He had known that Tony had been hurt during Afghanistan, even without the tell all and the e-mail regarding the surgery, but he had never truly guessed how much.

Then again, he thought, a bit darkly, Tony had always been an incredibly gifted actor.

Whether it was because of who his father was, or because he was just that great, he had always been incredible at hiding the things that truly bothered him. Always great at hiding, evading and misdirecting. Rarely outright lying, but always twisting things enough to confused others, enough to trip them up slightly.

Every time you thought you had uncovered one of his many masks, found one of the many truths he hid, you turned around and found out you had simply fallen into a trap he had laid out for them.

For a while, back then, Stephen knew that Tony had trusted them. No more traps, no more misdirections.

But then his parents had died, and the mask had fallen right back into place, with Rhodey the only one to really still be able to see him under it.

Stephen had assumed that the mask meant that Tony no longer trusted.

Or at least that he did not trust them like before, anymore.

Logically, Stephen had known that Tony trusted him at least a little, when he had allowed him to check up on him after he had fallen out of the wormhole. He had known that Tony valued his opinion when he had sent him that e-mail regarding the operation he was considering, but for some reason it had not clicked in his brain that Tony still trusted him. That Tony still believed in his as much as he had back when they were teenagers, that Tony valued him above the entirety of the Avengers line up.

That despite everything that had happened, despite everything that they had gone through, Tony still was that teenager who had smirked, pointed finger guns at him and said, “You are mine, now, Stephen Strange.”

Fucking idiot, he thought hand clenching into fists at his sides. He ignored the Cloak patting his neck and shoulder comfortingly, glaring at how small Tony looked on the hospital bed. What did you get yourself mixed in now? What happened? Who hurt you?

After all these years, why do you still believe in us all?

Rhodey had remained by his side, and Hope saw him every now and again, but Stephen might as well have left him, and Carol...

Tony had never once said that he believed that Carol was dead.

Stephen had always assumed, had always thought it was implied by his non reactions when the woman was brought up, by the fact that he did not follow Hope’s example of going to her grave every year or Rhodey’s staunch belief (in the first few years) that she’d be back, that he too agreed with Stephen that she was gone.

But Tony had never actually said that, at least not to Stephen.

Stephen had just... assumed.

Tony had always been great at making you believe what he wanted you to believe without actually saying anything.

“Very well,” said Loki, the tingly green magic he had been working with stopping.

Well, not exactly.

The part of his magic that had been absorbed into Tony was still there, but he was no longer pulling it out of himself anymore.

Stephen was aware that Loki was still technically a threat, and an enemy of Kamar Taj and Earth, but he could not deny his fascination and intrigue with the way Loki did magic. He wasn’t pulling it from the dimensional energy around them, he was pulling it from inside of him.

Which implied that Loki was not a simple sorcerer, but rather a mage.

One born with innate magic, one who’s magic was one with him.

Which really begged the question: how had he lost the Invasion if magic literally existed inside of him? Stephen was of course grateful that he had not won, and was not disparaging the Avengers' efforts, no matter his personal opinion of them; but when brute strength faced off against magic, magic was always going to come out on top.

“Is he okay?” asked Hope, who had been sitting beside Rhodey on his bed, both of them looking over at Tony with worry in their eyes.

Stephen really wanted to know what they thought about all of this, what they thought of Loki’s actions and his presence.

Hell, had Hope even known about Loki being the one behind New York? Of all of them, she seemed the one who had decided to trust him the quickest.

“He is out of danger,” said Loki, and despite everything in his head telling him he should not trust Loki, and that he should ask FRIDAY for further confirmation first, his body automatically untensed, heart no longer clenched in fear. “It will take him a while to be fully recovered, but I fixed the worst of the attack.”

“What actually happened?” asked Rhodey, expression pained as he continued to look over at Tony. “Last I remember was Germany and the airport-” he interrupted himself when Loki put two fingers on his forehead. “Uh.”

Loki’s other hand was raised over his body, his expression questioning. “May I use my magic to see what I can do regarding what ails you?”

“Er,” said Rhodey, looking at him in confusion. “You’re asking?”

Loki stared at him like he was stupid. “Of course. It’d be rather impolite for me to perform magic on you without your authorisation, if you are awake, aware and not dangerously impaired.”

Rhodey’s eyes took that glint they did when he felt he had just figured out something, but he did not speak. Instead he nodded slightly. “Okay, then. Yeah, go ahead.”

It was quiet for a few moments as Loki made green magic appear from him once more, and Stephen watched in fascination as the magic seemed to wrap all around him. Stephen knew that Loki was dangerous and powerful, but at the same time, he really wanted to understand how his magic worked and everything about what he was doing. He could already hear Wong berating him in his head for his curiosity, but while Stephen had allegedly grew up after the whole Dormammu ordeal, he was still curious.

He was so intent on watching and trying to understand what Loki was doing that he barely noticed Hope moving away from Rhodey and Loki and coming to sit on Tony’s bed, close to him.

He did, however, hear her when she suddenly said, “Wannabe youth pastor Eric Jenkins.”

Rhodey choked really loudly, much to Loki’s confusion, and Stephen felt his lips twitching as he forced himself to not look at her, or Loki, to not think about what-

“In the name of Lord, I command you,” she added, voice deeper and older sounding, and Stephen lost his battle, covering his face with his hands as he burst into laughter. “Through the power of Christ-”

“Shut up,” begged Rhodey, trying very hard to stand still as he tried - and failed - to stop himself from laughing. “Oh my god, shut up.”

“The power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit compels you,” continued Hope, also failing at not laughing. “In the name of Jesus!”

“Hell is hot, Hope Van Dyne, it’s hot!” 

“How about in the name of Loki,” suddenly said Loki, smirking as he looked up at them with a raised eyebrow. He kept two fingers on Rhodey's forehead, and then made an exaggerated flourish with his other hand, his magic looking like a spray of glitter. “Let this man be healed, amen.”

“How do you know about faith healers?!” demanded Stephen, wiping the stray tears from the corner of his eyes and trying not to start laughing again at the sound of Hope cracking up beside him.

Loki shrugged, pulling his fingers away from the other's forehead, but before he could speak, Rhodey gasped.

His eyes were wide, his expression frozen into shock, and he was no longer smiling or laughing.

Suddenly all the humour left the room, as Hope and Stephen looked at him, anxiously. He had assumed that Loki had just been joking like them, but-

“I can feel my legs,” said Rhodey, staring at his legs as if he had never seen them before. “I can feel them.”

“Good,” said Loki, returning to his previous placid and yet serious manner. “The tear was not that severe or old, so I only had to induce healing through my magic. However, as you are human, and your limitations are unknown to me, I set it a slower than normal phases. Apply this ointment,” he added, summoning a small bottle from nowhere, “on your spine every morn and every eve, two fingerfuls until the bottle is empty. I believe that in seven days you should be completely healed.” 

“I-” started Rhodey, and his expression was vulnerable in a way Stephen had never really seen before, when he looked back up at Loki. “I’m going to walk again?”

Loki’s expression went strangely... soft, as he put a hand on his shoulder. “Indeed you are. You need to fear no longer,” he said, wiping a tear that fell down his cheek.

“Thank you,” said Rhodey, one hand grabbing Loki’s wrist before he could let go. “I don’t- I still- Fuck. Thank you. Thank you.”

“Mh,” answered Loki, nodding at him before focusing back on Hope and Stephen. Neither of them was crying, but Hope’s eyes were lucid and Stephen could not really hide his own relief at the confirmation. He still did not understand why Loki was doing this, but until the other shoe dropped, he could only really be thankful.

“I would suggest that the two of you remain with Anthony Stark and James Rhodes until they are both healed fully. Closeness of kin helps with healing, and while you are not each other’s kins, you are linked through your blood oath.”

“Of course,” said Hope, one hand going to Tony’s hair, expression soft. “We’re gonna need to call Miss Potts too, but yeah. I’m not planning on leaving any time soon.”

“And you just fucking gave me my legs back,” said Rhodey, voice still sounding wet. “And saved Tony’s life. You can just call us Tony and Rhodey.”

Loki made an unimpressed face. “Those are not your given names.”

“Technically ‘Rhodes’ is my surname,” pointed out Rhodey, and Loki hummed.

“Very well. Anthony and James it shall be.”

“And Hope and Stephen,” added Hope.

Stephen did not correct her.

His Wong-conscience grumbled real loudly in his head.

“And I suppose Carol Susan Jane Danvers will only want to be known as ‘Carol’ when she arrives?” asked Loki, sighing as if he was being asked to do something annoying, but Stephen did not pay attention, staring at him in confusion.

“What?” he asked, while Hope stood up abruptly, pulling her hands away from Tony.

“What do you mean when she arrives?” she questioned, Rhodey staring at him in muted disbelief.

Loki frowned at their expressions. “I mean when she arrives,” he repeated, pointing at the mirror that Stephen had noticed earlier, but had not paid much attention to. It was clearly a magic relic, and after the last time he had dealt with the Balls of Hyungri, he had learnt to not touch magical things he had not been explained the origins of beforehand.

“Carol is dead?” said Rhodey, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

Loki’s frown grew. “No, she isn’t.” He picked up the mirror, pointing at the orange lines inside of it. “Each line is on of you. There are four lines here, which are the four of you, and this one, which is slowly moving towards this point? That is Carol. She is not on Midgard - in fact she appears to be very far from home - but I can assure you, she is very much alive. My magic doesn’t-”

Hope dropped to the ground beside him, her breathing shaky, and her hand trembling slightly. 

“Hope-”

“I told you,” she said, not looking up from the ground. “I told you she was alive, I told you, I told you, I knew it, I knew it-” her voice turned garbled as she started crying, all but curling herself to the ground.

The part of Stephen that wasn’t completely shocked by the information that Carol was somehow alive and in fucking space, wanted to hug her, to offer comfort; but Hope was just as likely to kick him in the nuts as she had been when she was younger and someone who was not Carol tried to help her through her grief over her mother.

Carol was alive.

His rational mind kept trying to tell him that this could be a trick, that he should not trust the literal god of Mischief, but that part was completely drowned out by the deep certainty he felt as he looked at Loki’s mirror, as he looked at the orange lines sitting on it.

Carol was alive.

"I told you," sobbed Hope, one hand grabbing at her hair. "I knew it."

Carol was alive.

Rhodey looked as if he had now fully mentally checked out, as if he had gone through one too many plot twists and he could not handle any more, and Hope was still sobbing on the ground, curled into a ball.

Carol was alive.

For 25 years Stephen had lived with the conviction that she was gone. That one of his closest friends was never coming back, that the waxing crescent moon inked on his skin was the last thing he had left of Carol Danvers.

"I knew it."

He had gone to her funeral with everyone else but unlike Hope and Rhodey, he had been sure she was gone. That whatever military bullshit she had gotten involved in had gotten her offed, despite the fact that officially she had been declared MIA.

And yet she was alive.

Somewhere out there in space, and she was now coming back.

"I knew it."

He felt so completely lost, so completely unmoored.

Carol, still alive. Tony, still trusting in them. Rhodey, still believing in them. Hope, looking for him even after everything that had happened.

And Loki, he thought, feeling immensely confused as he watched the alien helping up Hope, with a displeased expression on his face, forcing her to sit back on Tony’s bed.

Loki, who was supposed to be evil, who was supposed to be an enemy, but who had done nothing but help them and treated them... with so much kindness and softness. He wanted to say that it was a con, that he was trying to gain their trust, but it just did not make any sense.

“Stephen, a word?” asked Loki, turning to look at him.

Loki was not an ally, he was on the sorcerer’s threat list.

And yet Stephen found himself following after him, until they were out of the medbay. What the hell was he doing?

“I need to make my leave, now,” he informed him, expression serious. “I cannot be away from Asgard for too long. I do not understand how you do things on Midgard, but you are a sorcerer, and the oldest in the room, so I hope you shall make sure that your fellows remain in good health.”

“Rhodey’s the oldest,” pointed out Stephen, and Loki raised an eyebrow.

“Yet your eyes show an age that does not quite match that of your body,” he mused, and Stephen stiffened slightly. How the hell did he- “It does not matter. James is also physically recovering and appears emotionally drained, so I believe it is better that he, Anthony and Hope are in your care.”

“I can help too,” said FRIDAY, and Loki’s lips twitched slightly as he looked at a point slightly to the left of Stephen’s head.

“Of course, child. You and Stephen may both keep an eye on Anthony and James’ vitals especially. I shall have my mirror of sights with me, but it is always better to have too many people monitoring than to have too little.” He glanced back at Stephen. “I will try to return soon, but I cannot give you a specific date. Time-”

“Why are you helping us?” blurted out Stephen, unable to keep quiet any longer. Loki frowned, and Stephen made a vague gesture behind him. “You... I don’t understand. Why are helping us? You don’t have to, you didn’t have to do any of that, and yet-”

“On the contrary, I did,” said Loki, with a sigh.

“Why?”

“It might have been a long time since patron gods were a thing on Midgard,” he said, “And I might not have taken my duties very seriously back when I was younger, but things have changed. I might be the god of Chaos and Mischief but even I would not leave my disciples to suffer when I know I can help.”

Did he just say-

“You all belong to me,” explained Loki, candidly, as if he was talking about the weather or something. “I don’t take kindly to people harming what is mine. That is all.”

That is al- what the fuck?!

“I’m not yours, what the hell are you talking about?!” demanded Stephen.

Loki looked at him as if he was a particularly naïve child, patting his cheek. “It is rather cute that you think that,” he said, and Stephen was too offended to even smack his hand away. “I shall see you soon, Stephen.”

And with that, he disappeared.

Stephen stared at the spot he had left from, feeling slightly off-kilter.

“What the fuck?”

Chapter Text

The first thing Tony was aware of was the fire.

Not a physical fire. But rather a warm tingling... something that his brain was convinced was fire, and yet did not burn despite having managed to envelop every part of him. Tony would have said a blanket, but blankets did not feel like this.

He felt almost as if he had been placed inside of a furnace or something and yet, for whatever reason, not like he was sweltering.

Then he became aware of the voice.

Tony was pretty sure that he had heard this voice before, this same exact cadence and tone, but he couldn’t, for the life of him, remember where, when and how. He just was aware that he had heard it before, and that was it.

Oh, and the pain.

That was the third thing that registered.

Maybe he would have worried about the voice and the fire that did not burn a little more if it wasn’t for the all encompassing pain all over his body, a pain worse than anything he had ever felt before.

Perhaps the fire was physical and burning him, thought Tony, stuck as he was inside this terrible agony that grew in his lungs and veins and heart and brain and soul -

Perhaps the fire was physical and burning him, but this literal agony he was in was too powerful to make him even in the slightest aware of his own skin burning. This fierce and un-understandable pain that seemed to keep growing, impossibly, trying to break out of his body or something and fuck it hurt, it hurt -

Was this what he was destined to, he thought, stuck in an impossible hold he did not comprehend or see, unable to trash or even open his mouth and scream. Just more and more and more pain, every time stronger than the time before, a vicious circle of agony for every sin he had ever committed, for every person he had ever hurt, directly or indirectly?

Unable to breathe, unable to pass out, unable to do anything but endure this terrible thing, stuck, forever?

And then, when he couldn’t even think without feeling pain, when he went so far past the point of intolerable agony that attempting to quantify the pain meant nothing, something finally changed.

The pain started to subside, the roar of the fire inside of him growing just a little bit stronger.

Tony would not be able to explain what it felt like but, as the warm and somehow green fire (he couldn’t see it, but somehow he just... knew) started to lick away at his injuries, swallow back the pain, he couldn’t think of anything else than this was what healing felt like.

Like an actually effective pain relief balsam going through every inch of his body that had ever been hurt. That was actively healing him, reward after all of the torture and-

He wasn’t sure what registered in his brain first: the fact that the voice had become voices, or the fact that he could breathe.

The pain might have made him unable to think of anything but it for a while, but it hadn’t made him somehow forget that, last he was aware of, he was laying in a cold Siberian bunker drowning in his own blood and being unable to breathe without wanting to die or cry or both.

So he definitely fucking noted the fact that he was breathing without the urge to rip up his chest and remove the ribs most likely poking inside of his lungs.

Touch was the next thing he felt, as the voices slowly became more and more clear. Fingers, running through his hair, oddly soothing and yet familiar. 

Again, that was weird.

He was also vaguely aware, in an abstract sort of way, that he was rather comfortable for someone who was laying in a dead suit in an abandoned bunker.

Which meant he was not in the bunker anymore.

He was either dead - which seemed kind of unlikely; despite the fact that the warm fire had chased away the worst of the pain, there was still some ache in him and Tony was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to feel anything when you were dead - or Vision had in fact managed to get him from Siberia.

“Tissue,” said a voice, definitely masculine in timbre, and Tony’s ear perked up at finally being able to understand what was being said around him. A little like his head was finally emerging from the water. “You look gross.”

“Have you ever thought about investing in some kindness?” asked a second voice, this one sounding like a woman’s. “You should look into it. It’d definitely make people like you more.”

“Okay, and who told you I want people to like me more?” asked the first voice, and the only reason Tony did not flinch when he felt a slightly trembling hand over his forehead was that he recognised that voice.

“He’s definitely cooling down.”

“Thank god.”

“Yeah, thank one god in particular. For whatever reason.”

Had not heard it in years - had not heard either of the voices in years - but he did recognise them.

And yet he was still shocked when he managed to force his eyes open and the first thing he saw was Stephen Strange standing over him, half turned away from Tony and attention focused on the other side of the room.

Stephen Strange.

Stephen Strange.

Alive. 

And standing. 

Here. 

In what Tony assumed to be the Compound.

Stephen Strange.

He must have made a noise of some sort, because Stephen’s face turned towards him, eyes widening when he saw Tony groggily staring at him. “Tony.”

“Stephen,” answered Tony, which came out more like Strehvn, and ouch, his throat really hurt-

“Tony!” chorused two voices, and Hope Van Dyne’s face popped up from beside Stephen’s. Hope’s tear stained face, looking down at him from beside Stephen’s shoulder, because Hope was also here for some reason, and Stephen (alive) and Hope were both here, standing in his Compound, looking down at him in worry.

“Get him some water before he passes out again,” said another voice, and this time Tony did move, standing up faster than he could even think despite how much his body hurt because that voice he recognised, and the last time he had seen him-

“Easy,” said Stephen, but Tony’s eyes were fixed on the figure behind him and Hope.

Because the last time Tony had seen him, he was in a fucking coma and surrounded by doctors who were telling him that he might never walk again, with Vision guiltily moping in the hallway, but now Rhodey was sat up on a bed beside his and he was awake, and he was smiling at him and Hope and Stephen were here, and Stephen was alive-

“Tony,” said Hope, positioning herself in front of him so that she was the only thing he could see. “Look at me. Breathe.”

Breathe? He had been breathing, he was breathing-

“Breathe,” she repeated, firmly, and Tony gasped, his breathing a little shuddered.

Oh. He had not been breathing.

Probably why he felt so faint.

Or maybe it was because the picture in front of him made no fucking sense when last he remembered he was dying-

“Here,” she then said, handing him a cold drink with a straw poking out of it as Stephen moved, pushing away the cupboards and other objects standing between Tony’s bed and Rhodey’s. He must be a little out of it still, because Tony could have sworn he was moving objects with the flick of his fingers instead of by pushing them.

“No’t an infan,” he told Hope, glaring at the offending straw. Focus on one thing before his brain broke trying to understand what the fuck was happening now.

Hope did not look impressed in the slightest.

She never did, and Tony reached for the cup with a trembling hand, despite part of him wanting to just shut down until an explanation on what the hell was going on was issued.

Instead, he held onto the cup with both hands through sheer force of will, begrudgingly accepting that, if it hadn’t been for the childish straw, he would have most likely spilled the drink in an attempt at drinking. And also unable to deny the way his entire body relaxed ever so slightly at the feeling of the cool and refreshing water down his parched throat.

Fuck her for understanding him far better than he would have preferred after all of these years.

“Just move the bottom wheels, Doctor Strange,” said FRIDAY, and Tony relaxed a fraction at his AI’s voice. “Welcome back to consciousness, Boss. Happy to see you sitting again.”

Tony just offered her a thumbs up, internally wincing at the slightly upset edge of her voice. He was going to need a moment soon to check up on her and calm her down. Last time she had seen him, after all...

Hope then moved out of the way just in time for Rhodey’s bed to be pushed against his and all of Tony’s attention was immediately gone from the drink and FRIDAY, as he turned onto his best friend.

Who shouldn’t be here, but he was and Tony was going to focus on this rather than the hows and whys, for now.

“Rhodey-” he started, and Rhodey did not even let him say anything before there were two strong arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly against the older man.

Tony squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge how much they burned.

He could still see him falling, could still see himself screaming as his armour ran after him, as he desperately tried to get to him in time, as he tried.

But even so he had failed, even so he had not been able to get there in time and Tony refused to open his eyes and look at Rhodey’s legs. Rhodey’s legs who would never walk again because Tony had forced him in this stupid conflict to begin with.

He had always known that one day his bullshit would kill or injure Rhodey, but he still could not even entertain the thought of Rhodey finally being done and leaving him. 

Please not Rhodey too, he’d beg if he had to.

“Rhodey-”

“You say the words ‘I’m sorry’, and I will knock you out again,” informed him Rhodey, pulling back with a gruff voice. When Tony’s eyes found his, Rhodey’s appeared also a little teary. “It was not your fault, nothing that happened was your fault. So don’t you dare apologise or try to shoulder the blame yourself.”

“I wasn’t,” lied Tony, earning an unimpressed expression from Rhodey (and he wasn’t sure he was delighted or just mad that even after all this, Rhodey was not leaving or giving up on him) and a scoff from Stephen.

Who was alive. And sitting at the foot of Rhodey’s bed while Hope was sat on Tony’s. 

Alive. 

And both of them here.

“What the fuck?” he finally managed, making a vague gesture towards the two of them. His body felt so sore and he felt so tired and he could do without the headache that came from trying to understand this picture in front of him. “Isn’t your dad busy hating me, being a criminal, and sponsoring another criminal? And aren’t you supposed to be dead in a ditch somewhere in Kathmandu with your body parts being sold on the black market?”

Hope looked a little guilty, while Stephen made a face, appearing slightly annoyed and offended. “I’m sorry, were all of you monitoring and tracking me?”

Rhodey looked at him, flatly. “You lost your job, wasted all of your money on impossible cures for your hands, and cut everyone off before getting on a plane to the other side of the world,” he reminded him, pointedly. “Were we supposed to just... let you disappear and let you get yourself killed?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were looking for him?” demanded Hope, frowning at Tony and Rhodey both. “I was so convinced that you guys simply did not care. You could have told me.”

“I didn’t know you were looking for him,” said Tony, shrugging as he took another sip of the water, leaning a little on Rhodey. Solid and always there Rhodey. Safe Rhodey. “You never told us either. And I did not want to give you hope by telling you I knew where he was, at the beginning, and then he just... disappeared.” He turned to Stephen and frowned. “How the fuck did you disappear? I looked everywhere for you.”

“He joined a cult and learnt magic,” answered Hope before he could, earning a glare from Stephen.

“It’s not a cult,” he complained, and only now did Tony notice the robes he was wearing.

He made a face. “You found... Buddha? God?”

“The Order of Kamar Taj,” said Stephen, as if those words were supposed to mean anything to Tony.

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know him that well, but I already know Wong is not going to be very happy about you leaking your secret to two other people.”

“Okay, Van Dyne, you-”

Tony checked out of the conversation, Rhodey’s grip on his hand solid and strong. He focused on that, on his best friend’s hold on him as his brain started to finally come back online.

The facts.

Tony had almost died in Siberia. He should have died in Siberia, considering the fact that he had been delirious, he knew at least one of his ribs had been broken  and had literally been choking on his own blood.

There was no Helen Cho in the room. No Doctor Wu. No Vision. No Pepper. No Happy.

They were in the medbay, but neither Tony nor Rhodey were hooked up to any sort of machinery.

He felt a little tired, and his chest felt sore, but he could not feel any bandage or any new scar on his body that indicated that someone had dealt with the caved-in chest issue.

And yet, he could breathe without pain. In fact, while he was sore, he could breathe slightly better than he recalled being able to.

He wasn’t sure of what day it was, but he sincerely doubted that a month had passed, and that was the minimum healing time to deal with cracked ribs.

Rhodey looked exactly as he had when Tony had left the hospital to go to the RAFT (don’t think about it, don’t think about it). He still had the band aids all over his face from the scratches he had gotten from the fall, so it had most likely been hours since Tony had left him to go help-

Hope Van Dyne next. Hope Van Dyne, who’s father had stolen from the Compound and who the ant guy had name dropped, saying some shit about never trusting a Stark. Who was, for some reason, in the same room as him now, looking like she had just been crying.

And Stephen Strange. Stephen Strange, who last Tony had known of him had been in Kathmandu one second, and nowhere on Earth the next. Who had rather loudly disagreed with the ‘cult’ part of Hope’s statement, but had not argued against the magic part. 

And who’s cape kept fluttering and seeming to move by itself despite the lack of air con in the room (... perhaps Tony had not imagined him moving objects around the room without touching them, but he was not going to think about the implications of Stephen having magic). 

Just a few years ago, Tony would have been overjoyed about having ¾ of his friends in the same room together again. To be with the people he carried on his arm, who he had always believed in, who he had always loved and cared for.

But times had changed. And yes, part of him was still elated and embarrassingly hopeful, but the most realistic part of him just wanted to understand why they were here, and what it was that they needed from him.

Because last time he had believed something-

Because last time he had trusted someone-

“What happened?” he asked again, interrupting whatever discussion was going on between Hope and Stephen. “How did I even get here? How did you get here? And you?” he asked, sitting up slightly to look at Rhodey. “Why are you out of the hospital?”

“I’ll be honest, I’ve only been awake for like an hour and half and I’m still coming to terms with everything that has happened since Germany,” answered Rhodey, hand squeezing his when Tony immediately looked away from his eyes. “Don’t. Seriously. When I woke up, I was already here, and Loki was in the room healing you.”

Tony stared at him for a second. 

Rhodey stared back, smirking.

“I’m sorry, who was in the room doing what?”

“I have compiled footage of the past few hours since your arrival from Siberia, Boss,” said FRIDAY, and a part of Tony relaxed further. FRI was here. FRI might not be as advanced as JARVIS had been, but she had always taken good care of him.

The other part remained as tense as it had been because Loki? Loki, the alien who had grabbed him by the throat and thrown him out of the window? Had... had what?

“Apparently you called onto the oath,” said Stephen, and again Tony just stared at him for a couple of seconds, uncomprehendingly.

“The... oath.”

“I’m not going to say it again because apparently it works and I don’t want to get his attention again,” said Stephen, while Hope pulled her collar down slightly to reveal the tattoo on her collarbone.

The tattoo.

The five moons.

And he did remember, between pain, and rage, and surrender and being delirious, he did remember speaking words he had not invoked in over 26 years.

Blood of the covenant, ink on my skin; when I call upon you, you’ll feel it within. And if I call upon you, in my hour of need, in the name of Loki you will pay heed.

“The oath,” repeated Hope. “Long story short, when you said it, I assume, my tattoo started bleeding.”

“Mine too,” said Stephen, while Rhodey just frowned beside Tony. “I looked up the news and found out that Rhodey was hurt and that you were missing. So I went to the hospital to get Rhodey’s MIT ring so that I could use my magic to track you down. Here, by the way,” he finished, pulling out Tony’s ring and throwing at Rhodey.

“Creepy,” muttered Rhodey, even as he caught it.

Rhodey’s was still on Tony’s finger.

“I was already in Germany, and I got to the hospital Rhodey was being kept in after Stephen managed to sneak inside and get it,” said Hope, and Tony stared at them in slight disbelief.

“Stephen Strange managed to sneak in?”

“Fuck off,” muttered Stephen, glaring slightly at them, and Tony could not help the slight smile on his lips. “But anyway, I found Hope, and then while I was telling her that it was you who had called onto the oath, the alarm went off. Because Rhodey had disappeared from his room, stolen by Loki. Speaking of which, we need to call Miss Potts and tell her... something.”

“Right,” said Hope, grimacing. Then she shook her head. “Stephen made a flamey circle thing-”

“A portal-”

“Appear, and then we went through it to meet Stephen’s boss.”

“Wong is not my boss. I’m his boss.”

“Choosing not to believe you,” she said, and once more Tony’s lips twitched, heart twisting slightly in yearning. “And he said that their magic sensors whatever had located Loki on Earth, more specifically at the Avengers Compound. So Stephen ignored his boss trying to tell him what to do-”

“Because Wong isn’t my boss-”

“And made another circle of fire-”

“You piss me off, Van Dyne.”

“And brought us out here,” said Hope, grinning at Tony, and really ,this wasn’t fair. How was he supposed to look at her, to listen to her acting just as she had done back then and not smile?

God, he had missed her.

Stephen rolled his eyes, and Tony’s hold on Rhodey’s hand tightened a little. 

He had missed them.

“When we got here, FRIDAY immediately told us that Loki was here and that he did not want to fight us because he did not want to risk you or Rhodey getting ‘more injured’,” continued Stephen, Tony’s eyebrows raising with every word he spoke. “When we walked in, you were both unresponsive, with Loki trying to heal you in particular.”

“Loki,” said Tony, just to make sure he was not hearing things. “Loki, as in Thor’s brother Loki.”

“Loki, as in the tattoo artist who helped her make the oath,” said Hope and oh my god.

How had Tony never realised that?

“Loki as in the one who attacked New York,” added Stephen, and how did he know that? The general public was not supposed to know that, as was evident from the frown on Hope’s face.

Then again, Stephen had gone and joined a freaking magic club, so what did Tony know?

“Loki, as in the wannabe dictator who failed an unfaillable Invasion and then proceeded to ask me for permission to use his magic on me,” continued Rhodey, and his eyes were saying plenty when Tony turned abruptly to look at him. “Because, and I quote, ‘it’d be rather impolite for me to perform magic without your authorisation, if you are awake, aware, and not dangerously impaired’.”

“That’s what he said?”

“That’s what he said,” repeated Rhodey, nodding meaningfully.

The same man who had mind controlled Selvig and Barton?

“Stephen helped him heal you because your insides are fucked up and Loki did not understand why,” continued Hope and ah, the joys of the arc reactor and his artificial ribcage. The gift that kept on giving, really. “FRIDAY gave us access to your medical files because apparently we are on the list,” and here Tony stared at a point on the wall, pretending not to hear the hidden question in her voice. “And then he faith healed Rhodey.”

“Faith healed?” he asked, while Rhodey groaned beside him.

“Like wannabe youth pastor Eric Jenkins.”

Tony snorted at the memory of the old coot who had genuinely believed himself the next Pope or something. His sermons used to be hilarious.

“He didn’t faith heal him,” corrected Stephen, rolling his eyes. “He actually did heal him.”

The amusement left Tony’s face. “What.”

Rhodey’s lips lifted in a small smile. “I can feel my legs again.”

Tony stared at him, body twitching slightly. “What.”

Rhodey’s smile grew. “According to Loki, by next week I’m going to be running again.”

Tony turned fully to face Rhodey, heart beating a little too fast in his chest. “He... He...?”

“He saved your life, healed you and then ‘induced healing’ in my spine,” repeated Rhodey. “His magic was so... strangely soothing, like a small-”

“Green fire,” finished Tony, swallowing as he put a vaguely shaky hand on Rhodey’s leg. He looked back up at Rhodey - Rhodey who had also nearly died, who had been in a coma because he had followed after Tony, who the doctors had told him would never walk again.

Who was smiling and telling him that... “You’re really going to walk again?”

Rhodey just nodded, and Tony nodded back, putting a hand over his face. “Good,” he managed, voice only the slightest bit shaky. “That’s good. That’s really good. Where is Loki? I think I owe him at least some flowers.”

“He left,” said Stephen, shrugging. “He said he was leaving me in charge and some other... vaguely creepy things, but that he was going to come back as soon as he could.”

Tony frowned at him. “Creepy how?”

“Doesn’t matter right now,” said Stephen waving him off and sitting down a little straighter. “No, what I want to personally know, right now is: what the hell happened? Because Loki said Captain America’s shield was used to break your ribs, you were left for dead in Siberia, Rhodey was nearly paralysed and I feel like I’m missing several pieces.”

Tony’s hand shook slightly. He remembered how cold his fingers had gotten, the absolutely certainty that he was most likely going to lose his hands if he ever made it out alive.

He remembered the crushing realisation that Rogers had left him behind and that he and Barnes and T'Challa were not coming back.

He did not want to think about it, to be quite honest. To come to terms that the past possibly 48 hours were not a nightmare, that this had truly happened.

Sure, Tony might not have trusted him all that much after Maximoff and ULTRON, but he had thought... he had thought...

“I don’t really...” he said, making a vague gesture with his hands and looking away from Rhodey. He did not want to lie to them and say he did not remember, but he also did not want to explain.

“That’s all right, Boss, I do,” said FRIDAY, and you know that moment right before something crashes on the ground? That moment when you know it’s going to fall and break in a thousand little pieces, and no matter how fast you move you won’t get there on time? That’s how Tony felt as FRIDAY opened her metaphorical mouth and said, “Steve Rogers and James Barnes left Boss behind in Siberia after attempting to kill him for his understandably violent outburst at the news that his parents did not die in a car crash as he had believed his whole life but were, in fact, assassinated by James Barnes - news that was delivered to him in the form of a video showcasing the events of the night, events that Steve Rogers had been aware of for a while and yet had not felt the need to tell Boss about.”

Oh, she was such an asshole , he could not help but think in the silence that followed the drop of that particular bomb. She had absolutely been waiting for the moment to tell them, no doubt in Tony’s mind about it.

“What,” said Hope.

“Are you saying that Steve Rogers-” started Stephen, looking frozen on the spot.

“What.”

“Captain America-”

“What.” 

“That fucking asshole!” snarled Rhodey, and Tony turned around, a little startled at the fury in Rhodey’s voice. “He did this to you? He lied to you, and then he nearly killed you? After everything, after all the chances- And he had the fucking audacity to say that you destroyed the Avengers when you signed the Accords?”

“He slammed a Vibranium shield in your chest,” said Stephen, and Tony was unfamiliar with the look in his eyes. “Captain America. He’s the one who did that to you.”

Tony was not sure he actually wanted an answer, so he did not give him one.

“How fucking dare he?” demanded Rhodey, and Tony knew it was just the recent injury keeping him where he was. If he hadn’t been injured...

Hope’s hand was covering her mouth, but not as if she was about to cry. No, in her eyes was nothing but cold and familiar rage. “Scott Lang?” she asked him, and Tony frowned. “He can turn really small. Did he hurt you as well?”

“No-”

“He attempted to kill Boss twice,” informed her FRIDAY, interrupting him. “First when he turned himself small and started ripping several wirings from inside Boss’ suit-”

“He did fucking what?!”

“That wasn’t an attempt at killing me!” protested Tony, and Rhodey glared at him.

“Tony, what the fuck does that man know about your suit?! The man threw a fucking truck and then said ‘oops’ when he realised it was filled with highly inflammable oil instead of water!”

“That would be the second attempt at Boss’ life, yes,” agreed FRIDAY, completely at ease. “However, he was not in Siberia. The only people in Siberia were Zemo, Boss, James Barnes, Steve Rogers and Prince T’Challa.”

“T’Challa was there?” demanded Rhodey, and again Tony did not answer, choosing to avoid his eyes. His angry vein was throbbing. “You mean that our supposed Accords sanctioned team member T’Challa was there with you in Siberia and he also left you there?”

“I threw the first punch,” he forced himself to say, sighing. “I’m the one who started that fight.”

“Tony, answer three questions for me,” said Stephen. Tony hesitantly looked up at him, to be met with the man’s own angry gaze, his hands, that had been shaking since the moment Tony had opened his eyes, shaking more violently than before in unconcealed fury. “You saw a video of your parents being assassinated by this... James Barnes person. Correct?”

“He was brainwashed.”

“That was not my question,” said Stephen, staring him down.

Tony pursed his lips, and then nodded.

“Steve Rogers, your team mate of years, knew before the video even started airing, as well as knew that, brainwashed or not, this James Barnes character did it. Correct?”

Again, Tony nodded.

“Steve Rogers purposefully smashed his Vibranium shield against your chest and then left you in Siberia, without bothering to get you to safety, without knowing for a fact that you’d be able to get out of there. Correct?”

All three of them were staring at him.

Tony wanted to say no so badly. He wanted to say that Rogers hadn’t known, that Rogers had thought him fine but...

But he knew better.

He nodded.

He barely managed to grab at Hope’s wrist before the woman could jump on her feet, the other hand catching Stephen’s. “Hope-”

“Tony, let me go,” she demanded, which he refused to do.

“Where is he?” demanded Stephen, looking as if he was vibrating with anger. The air around him seemed to be alight with electricity - magic - crackling ominously.

It was weird how much it both did and did not remind him of Maximoff.

“Where the hell are they? FRIDAY-”

“FRIDAY, mute,” he ordered, which he really should have done earlier.

Hope’s expression remained cold. “Tony. Let me go.”

“No.”

Stephen still looked immensely pissed off, but Tony kept his attention on Hope instead.

Part of him felt warmed. He might have a guilt complex the size of a mountain, but not even Tony was insane enough to blame Siberia on anyone but Steve Rogers and, perhaps, Zemo. He threw the first punch at Rogers, not Barnes. He did not blame himself for being left for dead, but he still felt warmed at the fact that they had not either.

But the other part of him knew with absolutely certainty that with Rhodey still unable to walk, for the moment, it was Hope who he should worry about. He did not know what Stephen was capable of or how much he had changed in these past few years, but he knew what Hope Van Dyne was like. He knew what Hope Van Dyne could be capable of, with the right incentive.

The Stephen that Tony had known was not a killer. 

“Tony, let me go,” she repeated, teeth clenched together.

Hope Van Dyne’s hands might not be as filled with blood as Tony’s were, but he and her? They were two faces of the same coin. They were not the same, but Tony knew the darkest side of Hope Van Dyne, and Hope knew the darkest side of Tony Stark. 

Thus he knew without a shadow of doubt that nothing good was going to come out from him letting her go.

“Tony,” she repeated, hazel green eyes staring into brown. “Let. Me. Go.”

“No.”

She could push him away. She was definitely stronger than him, right now, and if she tried, she could easily throw him bodily off her.

But she wasn’t going to do that.

Tony knew that.

Hope knew that too.

“He’s not going to get away with this,” she told him, still not pushing him off. “I’m not going to let him get away with it, he’s going to pay-”

“He lied to my face for two years and then smashed his shield against my chest for lashing out, and we were supposed team mates for years,” he said, interrupting her. “What the fuck do you think he’s going to do to you, a woman he does not even know, if you get in his way?”

“I don’t care! He hurt you,” she said, finally freeing herself of his hands. But instead of standing up, she remained seated, rage seeping out and being replaced with pain and heartbreak, as she put a hand on his now healed chest. “He... he nearly killed you. When I walked in... when I walked in, Tony you were...”

He felt Rhodey’s arms around him all of a sudden, Hope being also pulled into the hug. “I’m sorry. Fuck, Tony, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he did this to you, I can’t believe he- I’m so sorry.”

Tony refused to let a single tear drop, even as Hope too muttered soft apologies against his shoulder. 

He did not want to think about them.

He did not want to think about his mother.

He did not want to think about anything.

He looked over Hope’s shoulder at where Stephen was sitting, still looking furious and now freed of Tony’s hold but also not running off after Rogers’ team.  He offered the man a smile that felt fake even to him. “Am I going to have to beg you for a hug, Stephanie?”

His voice was light, but he was still more than a little surprised when Stephen did move towards them and he felt the man’s arms wrapping around him and Hope at the same time.

“He’s going to pay. They all are.”

Tony did not answer.

But he did believe him.

Chapter Text

“Hide me!” called out a voice as the door of the laundry room was thrown open. “Please!”

James could only frown as a short haired boy zoomed inside, quickly hiding himself inside one of the washing machines with the ease of someone who had done the same thing several times before.

James couldn’t lie, he was reluctantly impressed.

The door opened once more about ten seconds later, and he frowned as two tall juniors walked in, one of them covered in what smelled like apple juice, and both looking very pissed off.

“Where is he?” demanded the one covered in apple juice. “Where is Stark?!”

Ah, mused James. So that was Tony Stark. He had heard of him joining the University and the string of disasters he had caused in the past two months alone in every lab he had found himself in, but he hadn’t had a chance to meet him yet.

He met Apple Juice’s eyes with a raised eyebrow. “How am I supposed to know? Also, you have apple juice on your face and shirt.”

He sneered at him. “There is nowhere else he could have gone. You really should not be covering for him, you know? Might end with you on the wrong side of things.”

James mentally scoffed. They might look older than him, but James was in ROTC. If it came down to it, he could absolutely take them. But while he was not one to allow others to push him around, he was also not one to allow things to get worse when he knew he could de-escalate them easily. 

He raised an eyebrow at him. “And what side do you see yourself ending up on when multi-millionaire Howard Stark finds out that someone he could buy beat up his son?”

Seriously, he thought, when both of them blanched. How could anyone be so stupid?

“Tell your little boyfriend that it’s not over,” ended up saying Not-Covered-In-Apple-Juice; though, from the way they quickly rushed out of the laundry room, it was clear that it was over.

Only a few seconds later, the door of the washing machine was opening again, and Tony Stark was dropping out of it, clothes a little wet because of it but looking otherwise fine.

“Man, it stinks in there.”

Also, how old was this kid? He looked like a toddler.

James just rolled his eyes. “What do you expect, when you willingly go inside a washing machine? Seriously, how did you even fit?”

“I’m bendy,” answered Tony, before offering him his hand with a bright smile. “I’m Tony Stark, by the way. Pleasure to meet you, and thank you for not ratting me out to those two.”

James looked at the hand in amusement, but still accepted it. “Firm handshake. I’m James Rhodes. Why did you get him covered in apple juice?”

“He tried to steal my lunch like a run of the mill high school bully because I used a word he did not understand in class,” answered the boy, rolling his eyes. “He deserved it.” 

James snorted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing as he focused back on his laundry. The quicker he got it done, the faster he could go back to his own homework and-

“Can I help you?” offered Tony, looking at him a little hopefully. “Since you helped me, and I don’t have anything better to do...”

He really wanted to say 'no thanks' but James could see the hope in those big brown eyes. James himself was one of the youngest in the school, and from what he had heard, Tony was at least two years younger than him. Fresh out of private boarding school too, and was that a bowtie he was wearing?

Yikes all around.

“Sure,” he settled on, smiling slightly at the way he lit up. “You can start by folding the colours.”

“Okay!” said Tony, turning enthusiastically to the pile of clothes. Then he frowned, before peering at James again. “Uh... how do I do that?”

‘Dear god, someone protect and save this kid’, had thought Rhodey back then.

And that was what he had done for years following that. He might have dropped the ball a couple of times, and they might have both fucked up on occasion; but, overall, Rhodey had stuck by him.

Loved him, cared for him and protected him as best as he could - as much as Tony let him get away with. And the other had done the same, because friendship was a two way street.

Rhodey had thought he had done a pretty good job.

Clearly, he thought as he watched Tony once more asleep beside him, he had not worked hard enough. His jaw ticked slightly as he watched the tired lines still colouring Tony’s face (the black eye had disappeared, most likely having healed faster because of what Loki had given him) and the deep bags under his eyes.

Rhodey had never liked the Avengers.

Happy had not liked them either, while Pepper had tolerated them at most. And none of them had kept this a secret from Tony, who had continued to act as if he could not tell.

The Avengers Initiative had been founded by a man who had broken into Tony’s home after disabling JARVIS and who had then set a honeypot/assassin into Tony’s company who had stabbed him in the neck with unknown chemicals without his consent, and had waited until he was literally on the verge of death to give him a potential cure. 

And on the day the team had formed, this same woman and the future team leader - Captain America - had not even given Tony a second inside the wormhole before they had decided to close it. There was footage of Captain America making the call.

And despite the fact that Tony had been the only one to go through the wormhole, the only one to see, still none of them had given the barest hint of care when Tony had told them that what they had faced was nothing but the scouting party, had refused to entertain the fact that they had not actually fought the real battle just yet.

The next few years had made him appreciate Doctor Banner for a bit, considering he had been the only one to call when the Mandarin had blown up the Malibu Mansion, but that too had passed after the man had ran off after Ultron.

The less was said about the ULTRON situation as a whole, honestly, the better.

But bottom line? Rhodey had never liked the Avengers, and they had never really done anything to make him change his opinions of them.

But he had never hated them - hated Rogers - as much as he did at this moment.

Because this was a whole new level of hatred.

He might have disliked them, but he still had believed that they were decent people. Not people he had truly trusted with Tony’s safety, but people he had nonetheless thought wouldn’t actively stab him in the back (or, in Romanoff’s case, wouldn’t stab him again).

But Rogers...

Oh, there was a special place in hell reserved for Steve Rogers.

So many things made so much sense all of a sudden, and Rhodey just felt like more of an idiot for not figuring out what a despicable human being Rogers had been from the beginning.

Him keeping secrets from Rhodey and Vision all the time. Running off on secret missions with Wilson and Romanoff that he never wrote down about, no matter how many times, back in the day, Hill hounded him about. His pointed remarks regarding Tony that had only stopped (at least in front of him) after Rhodey had given him a piece of his mind about his own privileged position. His pointed dislike of the Accords, documents he had not known about until Ross had presented them and that he had not even read.

It had never been about the Accords, and Rhodey wished he could somehow teleport to that bastard and strangle him for what he had done. For the destruction, chaos and pain he had caused in the name of a man that Rhodey was not sure he wanted to maim too, or send off to therapy (the man was quite possibly the longest held POW - captured by fucking HYDRA - but Rhodey had not seen anyone forcing him to fight at the airport; he had done that all by himself). 

Rogers had refused the Accords because they meant transparency and accountability, and that meant people asking him the where, how and why of his secret missions. That meant people putting their noses into who he was looking so hard for, and why, and then Tony would have known.

Rhodey might have, theoretically, understood if all that Rogers had done was keep the truth to himself and never spoke of it again. Would not have forgiven him, but he would have, intellectually, understood.

But no. Rogers was the scum of the Earth because he had kept the secret, used Tony’s money to look for his crazy best friend, hurt innocents because of it and, when confronted with the truth of his own actions, had left Tony for dead in enemy territory.

You did not leave a soldier behind.

You just did not do that.

Every soldier knew this.

(Then again, one week of boot camp did not a soldier make)

But Rogers had been ready to do it during the battle of New York, so why was Rhodey even surprised that he had done it again? 

“Hello?” Rhodey looked away from Tony to the open phone in his hand, and forced himself to untense.

“Hey, Pep-”

“Rhodey! Oh my god, what the hell," started the woman, making Rhodey wince at the raised tone of voice. “How did you even manage to-”

“We have a chilli situation,” he interrupted her, and the woman fell silent immediately.

When your best friend was billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark and you regularly worked with some shady characters who wouldn’t hesitate in shooting you first and asking questions later, you learnt the value of talking in code.

Surprisingly - or maybe not - this continued to be a useful tactic even after Tony shut down weapons manufacturing.

“What level?”

“Red,” he answered, nodding grimly at her sharp breath intake.

“All right. All right,” he heard her swallow before she cleared her throat. Pepper had always very good at compartmentalizing when situation called for it. “What can you give me so far?”

“If Steve Rogers, James Barnes or Natasha Romanoff,” because he had no doubt in his head that if Rogers had known, she had too, “Show up, you call the authorities immediately. No negotiation, no chance of escalating: remove yourself from the situation. Consider them Stane level of danger.

“Prince T’Challa shows up, treat him as you would Justin Hammer.”

“Got it.”

“I can’t say anything more on the phone, but I am safe. We are both safe. Tony is here with me.”

“Oh thank god, Vision was saying- okay. Okay. How long do you want?”

Here he hesitated slightly, as Hope walked back into the medbay. “Can’t say. Actually, if Vision is already there, can you send him back to Siberia? I want him to document everything he sees there, find any sort of evidence he can. There should be a tape there, too. He’ll know it when he sees it. He should treat that bunker as a crime scene.”

Another pause from the red head. “Rhodey?”

“Stane level,” he repeated, and even though he could not see her face, he could feel her agitation and anger. “I’ll have Tony call you when he gets up. But... yeah.”

“Are we at war?”

Rhodey snorted, but he wasn’t amused. “We are going to be at war soon, yes.”

Hope sat down on his bed, and she had time to hand him hastily made peanut butter and jelly sandwich before Pepper spoke again.

“He’s alive,” she stated, but it was clearly a question.

“He’s alive,” he agreed, and Pepper sighed.

“Fine. Call me as soon as you can, please. I love you.”

“We love you too, Pep,” he answered, hearing her sigh once more before she ended the call.

He would have loved to tell her everything, but that wasn’t a conversation he could have over the phone and a lot of the parts of the story weren’t his to tell to begin with.

“Have you told her that me and Stephen are here?” asked Hope, once he had put his phone back on the nightstand beside him.

He shook his head. “I don’t know if Stephen wanted her to know about his magic too or what. Gonna be your choice how involved you want to be in all this, if at all.”

Hope’s eyes narrowed at him, but Rhodey met her eyes steadily.

As much as he loved her, Tony was not wrong in his earlier words. Her father had stolen from Tony’s Compound, after ranting about Stark being thieves on television for almost two decades, at this point. Sins of the father was not something they believed in, but there was also the fact that, despite always trying to keep in contact, Hope had never once attempted to stop her father or had come clean about the theft she had to have known Tony would have found out about (Rhodey had been all for reporting Pym and Wilson, but Tony had refused; for Hope’s sake). And according to her earlier words, Lang was sponsored by the Pyms too.

She crossed her arms around her chest. “I did my best for a long time,” she told him. “Whether my best was or was not good enough, that’s another story. But I did try to do all I could. All of us have, at one point or another hurt each other, all of us have done things we aren’t proud of. None of us can proudly stand and say ‘I’m a good person’.

“But what I am is loyal,” she continued, eyes burning. “If you’re going to start a war over this, I’m coming right with you. Scott... Lang? He stole the suit. He used it before to help me and Hank get our company back, but it wasn’t his. We did not sanction or authorise his plan of joining Captain America in Berlin. I was in Germany to get the suit back. What he did with it, going fucking giant ...” She gritted her teeth together, and forced her face to push away all the anger she felt, making her look as if she was completely impassive. “The Accords are dangerously written, for now, but even Hank understands the importance of them.

“The people you are supposed to save deserve the right to feel safe. Lagos... Bucharest...” she shook her head. “The Avengers have been acting like vigilantes. And if the people start to fear them, then it’s over for every person in the world who is enhanced or has technology able to enhance them.”

“This just pisses me off more,” said Rhodey, shaking his head at her confused expression. “You got it like this. And half a room of supposed adults cannot comprehend it. They see paper and immediately decide that it’s evil or something.”

“Why even keep them around?” questioned Hope, appearing frustrated. “I have not heard that much about this supposed team, so far, but everything I’ve heard points to them being fucking morons. Why keep them around if all they do is cause you unnecessary problems?”

“The Invasion,” came Tony’s voice, and they both turned to where the man was laying. His eyes were still closed, but he was clearly awake - perhaps had even been for a while, the little shit. “2012. I went through that portal. I saw... I can’t even describe the sheer number of spaceships that I saw on the other side. What we faced that day in New York? That was not even a considerable fraction of what was on the other side.”

Rhodey glanced over at Hope, both unsurprised and further unhappy at the way her face had paled slightly. “But you destroyed it, didn’t you?”

Tony might still have questionable taste in friendships but there was a reason that, after all these years, Hope and Stephen still remained on the list of people he would trust with his life.

For all his mistakes when it came to the Avengers he had, at least, known that push came to shove, he wouldn’t be able to unconditionally trust them outside the battlefield.

And apparently not on the battlefield either, not anymore.

Tony opened his eyes, blinking at her with a blank expression on his face. “I aimed, and hoped for the best. I think I got at least a third or half, but there is no way I got all of them. There were just too many. It was terrifying and I realised that when they came back? Earth was going to need all the help they could get.”

“Hence keeping around the Avengers,” she guessed. “Because despite their actions and behaviours, they had helped destroy them the first time around. And ULTRON too, right?” He raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. “Hank got his hands on a copy of the closed trial. It said that it was supposed to be an interplanetary defence system before an alien component overtook it.”

Tony sighed. “Basically yes to both of them.” 

Hope turned to Rhodey. “What’s the military saying about this?”

No hint of hesitation or disbelief. No ‘are you sure, Tony’? None of the condescending ‘He’s doing it for attention’ attitude that the Avengers - Barton, Rogers and Romanoff - were so fond of displaying.

Just deep certainty that Tony wouldn’t bring this up if it wasn’t real.

“They all agree with my report that Loki’s attack was just... a mess, but the footage itself was corrupted and unclear. Most of them believe my word, but there is no agreement as to what should be done next. Many believe we should just nuke them all again when they show up, regardless of the possible radiation problem; others just want me to make new and better weapons, and there was a lot being said about me making my armour available for everyone. Hence why I was pushing so hard for the Accords to begin with.”

“Makes sense,” said Hope, and Tony snorted closing his eyes again.

“You’d think so.”

“Still,” said Stephen, and Rhodey had not even noticed him walking back in the room. Since when had Stephen Strange become this sneaky? “You shouldn’t have had to deal with those assholes all these years because of the Invasion. One, it’s not healthy. Two, if they are really heroes and ready to lay down their lives to save the world, they would have done it whether you were playing sugar daddy for them or not.”

“The voice of reason,” praised Rhodey, pointing a thumbs up at the other man. “I have missed you, Stephen Strange.”

If he was being a little more serious than his tone implied, none of them seemed to pick up on it.

But it was true. Out of everyone, Rhodey and Stephen had known each other for the least amount of time, but Rhodey had truly enjoyed the man’s company.

Between Tony’s clear insanity, Hope’s artistic chaos and Carol’s... Carol-ness, his pragmatism and slight aloofishness had been a welcome treat. 

They had been close, and when Tony had called him, worried, to tell him that he had lost sight of him in Kathmandu, they had both gone to Nepal to try and find him. He had thought him dead, just as he had thought Carol to be dead, and mourned him.

Only to find out that he was alive, and magic or something.

And that Carol was alive too. 

He did not think Loki had lied to them, but it still did not compute in his head. That Carol was not only alive, but that she was in space, and now coming back to them.

It was insane.

In a good way, though.

The brand of insanity his life had fallen in after Tony had donned a suit of armour and decided to fight terrorists with it and destroy planes.

Stephen shot him a smile, while Tony grumbled. “Sure, let’s gang on the invalid, then, why don’t we?”

“I’m literally disabled,” complained Rhodey, smirking when Tony let out a sharp bark of laughter, and Hope slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Me too, that’s so cool,” said Stephen, mock seriously, and Tony snorted again, shaking his head. 

“Awful. Both of you, awful. Can’t believe I missed you,” he said, and his words too were a little too honest.

“And now you’re going to have all of us in your corner again,” said Hope, punching his leg. “Even Carol.”

Tony looked up sharply at that. “What did you say?”

“Right, we did not mention that,” said Stephen, eyeing him thoughtfully. “Though, to be honest I kind of assumed you already knew this.”

“Do not speak in riddles right now,” complained Tony, expression hopeful as he sat up again. “What do you mean ‘even Carol’? Carol is...? Carol is?”

“Coming back,” said Hope, her smile lighting up her entire face. “Loki had this magic mirror sort of thing with orange lines for tracking, and he said that Carol is a long way from home but she is coming back. She’s apparently in space. Can you believe it?”

“Yes, actually,” said Tony, though his eyes were still wide, his lips turning into a hesitant smile. “And she’s coming back? She’s... really coming back?”

“You are less surprised than I expected you to be,” said Rhodey, eyeing Tony. “Also, I thought you were also convinced that Carol was dead like me and Stephen were?”

“Thank you,” said Stephen, looking vaguely confused. “I could not remember him ever actually saying it, but I was under the same impression until FRIDAY said her name too in Tony’s ‘favourite people in the world’ list.”

“Fuck off,” said Tony, the hint of a blush on his cheeks that Stephen noticed, if his smirk was anything to go by. Then he turned a little more serious, grabbing the tablet from beside his bed, sighing. “I... I didn’t want to believe she was dead,” he started, turning on the tablet. “I did not believe she was alive, but I also did not want to believe she was dead without actual proof of this. I guess me and Howard are more similar than I thought,” he added, smiling with little humour. “We meet blond Captains and we search for them when they disappear.”

Stephen’s cape (what the fuck) moved off his shoulders, floating until it arrived beside Tony. Tony glanced at it (him? them?) in slight confusion, but he did not immediately scream or flinch away from it.

He used to always flinch at the sight of Maximoff doing magic, and Rhodey wondered if this non-reaction was due to Loki using magic to help the two of them or if it was because it was now a Stephen thing.

Whatever the reason, he only looked slightly bemused as the cape patted his shoulder in... comfort, and offered a confused smile. “Uh... thank you, uh... Mister cape?”

“Mister cape,” mocked Stephen, rolling his eyes slightly. “First of all, that’s a cloak. His name is Cloak of Levitation.”

“Your pet is an asshole, Cloak of Levitation,” said Tony, not sparing Stephen a glance, and both Hope and Rhodey snorted at the sound of offense from Stephen while the Cloak ‘nodded’ in agreement. 

Tony then focused back on the others as the Cloak went off... to explore (Rhodey had had it with the weirdness of today already), speaking again. “But yeah. I kept trying to find information on the project she was part of, kept trying to find out if she was alive and in hiding somewhere. I never did, for the longest time, but I still kept searching, out of pure spite. At that point part of me was just looking for a dead body, but I was still looking.

“In 2012, Agent Coulson came to the Tower with information about the Tesseract disappearing. The Tesseract, which had been stolen during some experiments for Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.”

“Hold on,” said Rhodey, eyes widening slightly, Hope also gasping beside them. “Isn’t that the project that Captain Rambeau mentioned, at the funeral?”

Tony nodded. “Exactly. It was the first real lead I had in years and one of the main things I was actually looking for when I hacked SHIELD while on the Helicarrier. And I found this.”

With this he put the tablet in the middle of the bed. Everyone leaned in, and now all of them gasped slightly at the picture they could see on the file.

It was clearly old, and it had been taken at an awkward angle, but Rhodey had no problem recognising the face of the woman sitting beside an eye-patch-less Nick Fury.

Carol.

“What the hell?” managed Stephen, and Tony hummed.

“Exactly what I thought,” he said. “It was taken, apparently, in 1995, but no matter how hard I looked I found nothing regarding Carol in particular anywhere on file. There was three mentions of a ‘Captain Marvel’ who I think might have been Carol, but nothing clear that I could believe with no doubt.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this?” asked Hope, appearing undecided between anger and annoyance.

Tony gave her a half smile. “Same reason why I did not tell you about Stephen. I had no proof or information of where she was or if she was still alive, or if she did die in 1995 or anything else. I tried to coax the truth out of Fury, but the most I got was shouted at for hacking SHIELD. In 2014, during the data dump, I found out that the mission Carol was involved in was also how he lost his eye, but nothing more than that. Whatever it was, it was kept hush hush even within SHIELDRA.”

“But you decided she was alive,” said Rhodey, looking at him thoughtfully. While he had known that Hope and Stephen were on Tony’s list, he had never known Carol was there too.

Tony’s smile turned a little more honest. “I kept believing she was alive and 20 years later, got proof of that. I might be a scientist, but even I can’t deny the power of stubborn sheer force of will. So I kept looking. I didn’t think that people going off planet or joining secret invisible magic cults was a thing, though.”

“We did not even realise that Loki being real would mean that our oath was real and you had a conversation with the man in New York,” pointed out Rhodey, which made Tony scowl slightly. “It’s a sad day for geniuses worldwide.”

“Who cares?” said Hope, and when they looked at her, she was smiling. She was holding the tablet in her hands, having zoomed in on Carol’s face. “Carol is coming back. Days, said Loki. She’s gonna come back!”

Tony smiled at her enthusiasm, as did the other two.

Carol was coming back. 

All five moons back together soon.

Chapter Text

Loki waited for the doors to be closed behind him before he allowed himself to relax a fraction.

Ruling Asgard was not as easy as Loki and Thor had imagined when they were younger. Not that Loki had ever imagined it would be particularly so, but it was far more tedious than even he had expected. He knew he was doing a decent job - dare he say better than Odin himself? - but as a consequence, he did not have that much time for himself.

Which was very irritating, considering that so many things did not actually need his attentions. But the Court was filled with adults with the mind of babes who could not go longer than a couple of hours without checking in with the All-Father regarding their progress.

Loki had the suspicion that this was a behaviour that Odin had cultivated himself, to make sure they would always rely on him and have little time to think for themselves, which only made him curse the old coot further.

Still, he was having some progress in weaning them off, though not as much as he wanted to. He could not of course all of a sudden force them to act for themselves, that would be too suspicious.

But he could do so slowly over a period of time, and they would attribute this change in behaviour to Odin’s loss of his wife.

He pushed away thoughts of his Mother before the grief could even attempt to fill him, sitting on Odin’s bed and letting the glamour fall. He just needed to put everything in motion so that the Nine Realms would be ready for the Mad Titan’s inevitable arrival, and then he could return Odin or just crown Thor king and hide away until Thanos was hopefully deceased.

That had been the plan.

He glared slightly at the enchanted mirror sitting next to the bed, hidden away from everyone’s sight but his.

Back in the days of the so called Vikings, patron gods had been popular. Loki had not really paid much attention, back then, as he had been much younger, and much less popular than Thor had been. After all, there weren’t many who wanted the patronage of the god of Mischief, Chaos and Fire.

And the few who did, well, Loki had not really cared all that much. He had been young, and focused on other ventures, so other than cast protection spells and blessing their households when they prayed upon him, he had not really taken his duties seriously, no matter how much Mother and Odin had prattled about it.

But even though he had met them for no longer than a couple of hours and that they had not truly believed in him, back then, he had felt... touched, by those Midgardian children.

By the strength of their love and trust in one another, by the mischief in their eyes and their chaotic nature that had pushed them to mark themselves and cast an oath while they were inebriated.

Children. Despite never having had them, Loki had always loved them. Children were chaos and mischief personified, after all, how could he not love them? And sure, those fives had been youths, almost at the age of majority, by Midgardian standards; but they had been children to him. Chaotic and amusing.

Loki might not have vowed anything that day, but he had blessed their oath and imbued his magic in their markings, and now he felt beholden to them.

(And that was without even thinking about the power of their belief in him; the Aesir did not rely only on belief as the Olympians had - and that was why they still existed while the others had dissipated into oblivion - but that did not mean they did not still draw strength from the belief of mortals in them)

So now they belonged to him. Which meant he could not simply up and leave them when it was clear they needed him. 

He might not have kept an eye on them in several Midgardian years, but it was clear that while their love and care for each other was still there, they had been separated for a while now. The child Friday had claimed to know who they were, but Loki had sensed her distrustfulness of them, as if she wasn’t quite sure who they were as people.

She knew who they were, but she didn’t know them.

Which was problematic.

He glanced over at the mirror once more, this time pleased when he saw the proximity of Carol to the others. She would be on Midgard in an hour or less, if the speed she was going at remained steady.

And since Loki was most likely free for the day, he might as well go ahead and check on those others. Anthony would have to be awake, by now, and Loki pretended he was not slightly worried about his reaction.

It was not kind to throw one’s disciple out of the window, after all.

Loki almost laughed when he appeared in the Compound (cloaked for the moment).

His spell was still steady around the building, but it was rather clear that the sorcerer had attempted to study it and test its strength. He did not think he’d have gotten much - this was a spell Loki had created himself - but it was cute that he would have attempted to break it.

He moved towards where he knew them to be, pleased to see that at least all four of them remained together.

They were in what Loki believed to be a sitting room.

James was laying on his back on a couch, brows furrowed in slight exhaustion as Stephen stood over him, bending and unbending his legs at the joint. Anthony and Hope were both bent over a small technological device, while the Cloak that Stephen had been wearing the other day was floating around the room with two robotic beings seeming to be chasing after it. 

Stephen paused in his actions as soon as Loki walked in, turning to look at a point just a little left of where Loki actually was, which was rather impressive. He did not think he had been a sorcerer for all that long, but his magic sensitivity was definitely remarkable for a Midgardian.

“Stephen?” questioned James, looking up at him.

“I think,” started Stephen, putting James’ legs down and squinting in Loki’s general direction. “I could have sworn...”

“Don’t start doubting yourself now,” said Loki, merely moving his head away to avoid the spell that had been thrown in his direction at his sudden appearance. “And your aim leaves a lot to be desired.”

The other three had jumped in surprise, while Stephen scowled slightly. “You just have supernatural reflexes.”

“And most of the threats you’ll face in your life will have something similar,” he pointed out, shrugging with one shoulder. “On top of that, if you were to ever best me, there would be a very little number of beings that would stump you again.”

Stephen appeared both thoughtful and suspicious at that. “Are you offering to teach me?”

Loki raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you asking me to?”

His face went complicated at that, and Loki turned to the other three people in the room. “Hello. James, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good,” offered James, much more relaxed than Stephen was. “I’ve been feeling a slight pins and needles thing all over my legs, but it’s not painful. I can’t really move them without help, but I feel them completely now, and I can wiggle my toes.”

He sounded very proud of that, which made Loki’s lips twitch slightly.

“May I check on how you’re healing?”

James nodded easily, and Loki approached him. He did not miss the way Stephen moved closer to him as soon as Loki started using his magic, clever eyes trying to understand the spells he was using and how he was using them.

He estimated that it was only a matter of a couple of days maximum before the sorcerer broke and tried to pry Loki’s secrets from him.

“Uh,” said Anthony, from where he and Hope were sitting. He had been merely watching him since the second he had appeared, not as at ease as James or Hope had been, but not as tense as Stephen had. “Asking for permission.”

Loki did not look up from his spell. “I asked your FRIDAY if she’d allow me to heal you, once I realised her relation to you,” he offered. He did not think that Anthony was unhappy about being saved, and Loki would not have apologised for that either way, but he felt it necessary to state it.

“I know,” he said, easily. “You didn’t ask Barton or Selvig, though.”

Ah. 

“Indeed, I did not,” he agreed, nodding to himself as he got confirmation of James healing just as he should. 

“The guy behind the Invasion,” said Anthony, before Loki could speak, and the mage felt himself stilling ever so slightly. “Do you actually know when he’s coming?”

Loki slowly turned around to look at him.

Anthony was staring right back at him, eyes that knew and saw far too much pinned on him.

“Excuse me?”

“Fact numero une,” said Anthony, one finger raised. “The Hulk redecorated my floor with you less than five minutes before the Invasion was over and we turned up. He smacked you hard enough that your bones must have broken. By the time we put you in cuffs, let’s say ten minutes later, you were standing straight, and most of your injuries appeared to be healed.

“Fact numero dos,” he continued, despite Loki’s eyes being locked on him. “According to footage that I stole from SHIELD, you arrived on Earth with a broken back and a number of injures on your body. It took you about five-six minutes to dispatch of Fury’s minions and get to the hangar with the cars. Your injures by the time you were in the car were the same as they were when you arrived. One could argue that you were in motion the entire time, but I don’t think that’s it.

“Fact numero three. You were shot at for a while according to Fury’s reports, and none of it hurt you in the slightest. Yet, Stuggart you played around for a bit and then surrendered to me despite the fact that all I pointed at you was more guns.”

Loki slowly advanced towards him, holding himself a little straighter, but while Anthony’s face turned up to keep eye contact, he did not seem in the slightest afraid. “Fact numero quattro,” he made a face at him. “A bottleneck portal over my Tower? Really?”

“What are you implying?” he asked him, voice dangerously soft and skating towards mocking. “That I was mind controlled into attacking your planet?”

Anthony shrugged. “I know that even gods can bleed, and that pain can be a great way of persuading someone to attack a planet they’d have little interest in, otherwise.”

Loki stared him down for a few more seconds, wondering if he was more annoyed, amused, angry or intrigued. 

Clever little things, his disciples.

“Your mouth will get you killed, one day,” he informed him, sighing slightly and pulling back. Anthony did not hide very well his breath of relief - brave little thing - but Loki pretended not to notice. “Too mouthy for your own good.”

“I thought someone nicknamed Silvertongue would appreciate my wits,” protested Anthony, and Loki refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing him smile. “You should love me on principle.”

“You are my least favourite disciple,” he answered him, pointing over a slightly confused Hope with a nod. “She is my favourite.”

“Ah,” said Hope, looking over at him with a smug smile while Anthony continued to glare in offense. “I’m the favourite.”

“Do I rank above Stephen?” questioned James, untensing now that Loki was no longer looming over Anthony. “And- wait. Disciples?”

Loki raised an eyebrow, looking over at Stephen. “You did not tell them?”

Stephen stared back at him, looking incredulous. “Wait, you were actually serious about that?”

“About what?”

“He said that we were ‘his’,” said Stephen, making an odd gesture with his fingers at the last word. “I thought he was just messing with me.”

Loki frowned at him. “You know abysmally little of magic, don’t you,” he mused, a tad disappointed. “How long have you been a sorcerer for?”

“Almost two years,” answered Stephen, looking a bit offended. “And blood oaths are deeply frowned upon in Kamar Taj, there is less than nothing on them.”

“That is true,” agreed Loki, shaking his head. He would have to find them some texts to read on. “But no, I was not ‘messing with you’. With the blood oath in my name, and my magic mixing with your blood, you became my disciples, and I your patron god. Therefore, you belong to me and are mine.”

James’ mouth was open, Hope was blinking very slowly at him, Stephen’s eye was twitching while Anthony looked vaguely intrigued. 

“Yours, as in... As in what, exactly?” he asked him, expression curious but not particularly worried.

“As in mine,” he repeated, simply. “Mine to protect, mine to guard, mine to keep around. You are under my blessing and under my claim. It is a mark you’ll bear until you die.”

“So you’re like an actual god-father,” said Hope, while Anthony nodded at her side. “Then why did you not come sooner?”

Loki grimaced. “Oath magic is complicated. I did not truly set out with the intention of getting disciples, that night. I did not know who you were, and you all gave me inaccurate names. While my magic lingered in you, it was not a thread I could follow from Asgard. And Midgard was far too large for me to travel in an attempt to find you.”

“Until I said the oath,” finished Anthony. “Uh. Cool.”

“Cool?” said Stephen, staring at him in disbelief. “We just tied our entire existence to Loki, and all you can say is ‘cool’?”

“It is cool,” protested the other man, Hope nodding slightly beside him while James and Stephen looked at them like they couldn’t believe their eyes and ears. “Loki said ‘mine to protect and guard’, as in keep safe, right?” he turned to Loki, who nodded, curious as to where he was going with this. “Which means that you’d do as much as you could to keep us safe, and that you could never hurt us.”

Loki made a face, but nodded, much to the others' surprise.

“Wait, what?”

Loki looked back at them. “Why and how would I hurt someone I am sworn to protect? Now that I know who you are, I could only strive to keep you safe.”

James looked at him thoughtfully. “What if we attacked you?”

“You are certainly welcome to try,” said Loki, very amused, tone of voice vaguely condescending. “You’d fail, of course, but I would love to see you grow as fighters. I will have plenty of pointers and suggestions to help you improve and maybe one day you’ll be able to do more than tickle me.”

All four of them got similar lights in their eyes at the implied challenge, and while Loki was a little taken by their fighter spirits, there was something else that he had nearly forgotten.

“And speaking of attacks,” he said, turning to Anthony, who’s smile had immediately disappeared. Loki too had returned serious, watching him carefully. “If you hadn’t called upon the oath, you would have died. What enemy bested your armour, which I have seen stand up against Thor, in that manner?”

“Oh, this will be fun,” he heard James say, while Hope’s eyes narrowed, fingers tapping at the arm of the couch she was sitting on. Stephen scowled at the air in front of him and Anthony’s expression turned both wary and pained.

Loki had the feeling he was not going to like this.

Hope glanced at where Loki stood beside her from the corner of her eyes.

His expression was still closed off, the rage simmering just under his skin, and part of her wondered how she could have ever missed the... otherness that he seemed to emanate.

She did not think it was something he could shapeshift away, and yet, until Thor and aliens had appeared on the scene, she had truly not thought twice about the nice man who had helped them with their tattoos and oath after they had thrown rocks at him.

But now, even standing beside her in a black suit and slacks, he seemed to just radiate power. 

To say Loki had been furious when he had learnt about Steve Rogers would have been an understatement. The way his eyes had flashed, the way his face had changed... Hope had understood perfectly why the Vikings had called Loki and his people gods.

Hope had been sure he was going to ignore them all and kill the Avengers for what they had done, an opinion that had grown when Loki had ran his magic through Tony to check on him again and had found a ‘magic scar’ in his mind (Hope had not really been sure what that was about either, but it had made Tony turn pale as a ghost, Rhodey swear like a sailor and made Stephen leave the room through a portal without further words)(Loki had broken three lamps with his rage alone).

But in the end, as much as Hope had been of the same exact opinion only two days ago, she had to concede with Tony that killing them now would only hinder them, in the long run, especially so soon after they had apparently managed to flee the RAFT (according to FRIDAY and Thaddeus Ross' emails). If the Rogue Avengers - as the media had started calling them - were found dead now , after taking such a stance against the Accords, they would become martyrs. Fingers would immediately be pointed at Tony and his team, and all the work done on the Accords would crumble immediately.

Loki had eventually agreed, but it was cleared he was still very pissed off.

Truthfully, so was Hope - which was the reason she had quickly jumped on the chance to come with Loki to collect Carol instead of staying back with Tony and Rhodey.

She was good at hiding it, but she was furious.

At Lang. 

[For breaking her trust (why had she so easily let herself be charmed by him? They had literally hired him because he stole the suit the first time around, why was she surprised that he had stolen it again?) and for using the suit against Rhodey and Tony]

At Rogers.

[For being a hypocrital piece of shit who had lied to Tony for so long and then dared to try and kill him when Tony had understandably snapped. (FRIDAY might have been muted, but it did not take Hope long to establish a communication line with her, once Tony had fallen asleep). Who had used Tony’s money to find aunt Maria’s killer, who had forced the witch onto the team to begin with despite Tony’s protests, who had made Tony protect and house a woman who continued to torment him with her magic, who had judged Tony over some nebulous ‘footage’ and the words of a liar and assassin, and never changed his stance again, who had only been found because of Howard’s search for him and then tried to kill Howard’s son with a shield made by Howard himself]

At Barnes.

[For killing aunt Maria and Howard, and for attacking Tony in Siberia with Rogers. She had heard them say he was brainwashed, but if he was brainwashed why had he only attacked Tony and not Rogers too? Awfully convenient]

At Prince T’Challa.

[For being a supposed ally of Tony, but caring for nothing other than himself. For leaving Tony behind - because he had been the one to bring Zemo in, according to FRIDAY - and helping Rogers and Barnes escape - because neither of them would have the type of technology able to hack Tony’s quinjet and hide it from her metaphorical reach (hypocrite)]

At Maximoff.

[For daring to call Tony the scum of the Earth for crimes he had never committed, ignoring the laundry list of war crimes she herself had committed in HYDRA’s name, while sitting pretty in a house belonging to him and using the supposed ‘blood money’ she hated him so much for. For never changing, for still using her mind raping magic against him despite claims of otherwise, for chasing Tony out of the team through nightmares that no one believed Tony about]

At Romanoff.

[For every fault she had ever throw in Tony’s face, for every barbed compliment and unsubtle manipulation she had tried to use against him, for helping Rogers hide the truth all of these years (FRIDAY had a lot of footage)]

At Barton.

[For blaming Tony for his own actions, for leaving his family for a HYDRA bitch, committing several counts of felonies and still having the gall of uttering those words against Tony in the end]

At Wilson.

[For being a supposed counsellor and still failing to spot Romanoff’s manipulations, Rogers’ intimidation tactics against Tony, Maximoff’s or Barton’s misplaced anger issues. For judging Tony off words spoken against him instead of actual interactions]

At Vision.

[For letting himself be distracted by the witch. For not being JARVIS]

At Stephen.

[For staying away so long. For letting her believe he was dead, for leaving them all behind without a second glance. For forgetting them]

At Rhodey.

[For letting the Avengers hurt Tony. For not keeping them together]

At Tony.

[For suffering alone, for letting them hurt him over and over again in the name of the ‘greater good]

At herself.

[For not trying harder, for not looking more carefully, for not realising sooner, for not keeping them all together]

And at Carol.

Carol who Loki said was now only mere moments away from landing.

Carol who had been alive all this time, who had been out there in space, who had not been dead as Stephen had stated over and over again.

Carol who had abandoned them too.

Carol who had been like the bigger sister she had never had, and who had left her without a second glance, without saying goodbye.

Yeah. Hope was angry too.

She knew that some of her rage was not healthy or well directed, but well, none of them had ever been particularly healthy to begin with. And their supposed patron god (she had mixed feelings about that, cause it felt like a strange mix between having a guardian angel [guardian demon?] and a babysitter) was the god of Mischief and Chaos? 

Yeah, that was just trouble waiting to start.

But Rhodey was healing, and Tony was hurting, and Stephen was floundering, and Hope could keep a reign on it for now. Hopefully.

“There,” suddenly said Loki, and Hope followed his gaze to the sky.

It took her a few seconds to finally notice the bright object in the distance that he was pointing at, an object that seemed to be literally on fire as it came directly towards them.

When Loki had said that Carol was in space, Hope had sort of assumed that she was, you know... on a spaceship.

Carol was not on a spaceship, she noted, heart beating a little faster and her expression growing more and more shocked the closer the woman got to them.

Because she was somewhat flying and she was on fire, and Hope was so confused at this point.

Magic being real? Okay. The oath working? Sure. Loki existing? Understandable. Stephen being a sorcerer? She could get that. A Cloak moving by itself and appearing sentient? Sure, why not.

Carol landing slowly in front of her, dressed like she was ready for laser tag, the flames and fire extinguishing from her body at will? 

She did not get that.

But then Carol extinguished herself, and Hope was faced with a face that she had not seen face to face in over 25 years grinning at her and saying, “Hey, Hope.”

She couldn’t have stopped herself from running to hug the woman even if she had tried. And when Carol hugged her back, steady, strong, real?

Hope did not even pretend like there weren't some tears in her eyes.

Because Carol was here.

Carol was back.

Chapter Text

In 1991, Carol Danvers had been involved in an accident with a Tesseract powered engine and lost her memory. She still, to this day, wasn’t sure if her memory loss was due to the accident itself or if the Kree had done something to attempt to erase it, but fact was that for four/five years she had lived with nothing but flashes she couldn't quite understand for memory.

Then, in 1995, she had returned to Earth for a mission and found out the truth thanks to a Skrull soldier. He had shown her the black box from the mission she had been involved in, and she had remembered... things.

The thing was, Carol had not remembered everything.

Memories were tricky.

She had remembered Maria Rambeau. She had remembered flying with her. She had remembered talking to her, and laughing with her, and being happy with her.

But she had no idea where she had met her. Or when. Or how close they were. She remembered the tune Maria liked to whistle to herself as she worked on a motor, but she did not remember her middle name. What her favourite colour was.

Nothing concrete, nothing significant.

The memories had returned slowly, in the years she was in space. She remembered a lot more about Monica and Maria, nowadays.

She had remembered more and more things, more and more faces, more and more names. But all of them were like... photographs. Clear in her head, but with absolutely no meaning to them.

She had remembered the four other teenagers with whom she had shared a tattoo with, several decades ago. Three boys and a girl. Smart as a whip, all of them, and also lonely.

But it wasn’t until the tattoo had started bleeding that Carol had remembered.

Remembered them, her too clever for their own good friends who had deserved the world and had not gotten it. Remembered Hope. Tony. Stephen. Rhodey.

Remembered the oath. Remembered her promise.

She had returned to Earth as soon as she had, and now, several days (several years... decades) later than she should have, she was once more standing in front of Hope Van Dyne.

Hope had... changed.

Carol had logically known this was going to be the case. Had known that time on Earth tended to pass a little faster than it did on most planets. She had known that things were going to be different from how they had been in 1991.

But it was still a shock to land and spot familiar hazel eyes in a familiar but much older face.

The last clear memory she had of Hope Van Dyne included a teenager with an upset expression waving at her as her car drove off.

But the woman in her arms right now was much older, if similarly upset.

And there was a stranger at the side looking at them both with an expression that was a little hard to read, arms crossed around his chest.

Carol had not really paid attention to where she was going, just aimed for America and hoped for the best, knowing that Tony needed her and she needed to get there as fast as she could. But somehow Hope and this stranger had known/guessed where she was going to land, which she assumed had something to do with the oath.

Which,

“Tony,” she said, tilting her head back a little to look at Hope. The girl sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand as she retained eye contact with Carol. “Tony, the tattoo-”

“He’s okay,” said Hope, slowly letting go of Carol. Her expression was as heartbroken as it had been earlier, a dash of anger simmering right under it (familiar, that anger, and Carol mentally winced in anticipation). But the loss was heavier, the uncertainty and the confusion, and it just made Carol’s heart hurt even more. “He’s... he’s okay now.”

‘Now’.

Carol did not like that.

“I can take you back to him now,” said the unknown man, offering both Hope and Carol his hand. Carol hesitated for a second, only moving when she saw Hope handing her hand without thinking too much about it.

Might have been a few years since she last saw her or any of the others, but Carol still trusted Hope’s judgement. Plus, this was the only lead she had at the moment, and she did not know enough about how evolved Earth was right now to get by without attracting unwanted attention.

The man’s hand was very cold to Carol’s touch, and they both looked up at each other in slight surprise at the feeling (her hands, too hot because of the accident; his, too cold because of what?). But he just shrugged when Hope glanced over at them in question. So she did not mention it.

“Just as before, hold tight.”

“Teleportation,” said Carol with a grimace as soon as the world stopped spinning around them, blinking a couple of times to clear her vision again. “I always hate that-”

“Carol.”

She shook her head once more before attempting to focus, and again she felt her breath stuttering in her chest.

She had no idea of where she was standing right now, but they were all here.

She had expected - she had hoped - but it was still quite another thing to actually see them.

To see Stephen, the only one in the room standing. His hair had some gray streaks in them that she wasn’t sure was a style choice or an old age thing. He had managed to get even taller than he had been the last time she had seen him. He was wearing some weird cape thing, and even had facial hair now. He was also staring at her as if he was looking at a ghost, completely frozen on the spot.

And Rhodey was sitting in the couch behind Stephen. Laying, more like, with his back on the arm of the couch and his legs on it too. He too was staring at her in shock, a sheen of tears in his eyes and an almost lost expression on his face. The years had been kind to him, but impossible to miss.

And Tony. He too was sitting down, and Carol noted he was the only one who was smiling. She could see the hint of something in his eyes, but his smile was large and blinding, taking over all of his face. He too had finally managed to grow facial hair, which was styled similarly to Stephen’s (imitation or was it perhaps a fashion fad of some kind?), though his hair was less curly and long than it had been back in the day.

Her boys.

Last she had seen them, right on the verge of adulthood.

Now, grown men that part of her was not even sure she recognised.

“How long do I have to stand here before I get a hug?” she managed after a second of silent observation, forcing a smug grin on her face.

Tony was the first to shoot up towards her, though Stephen was not far behind him. Carol reckoned that if she had not been enhanced by the Tesseract, they would have knocked her right off her feet.

“Holy shit, Carrie,” said Tony, both holding her tightly and pulling her along towards the couch Rhodey was still on. 

“You are the worst,” informed her Stephen, as they managed to wrestle her on Rhodey’s couch, and immediately Rhodey’s arms were also wrapped around her.

“And you are taller than me,” she complained, trying and failing to hold all three of them at the same time. “Who allowed this?”

“Puberty,” said Rhodey, chuckling slightly.

Carol pretended not to hear the tears in his voice.

“Well, puberty is a bitch,” she said, turning her head slightly to look at Hope. She was no longer crying, just standing there with the unknown man and watching them all with a half smile. Carol offered her an encouraging smile. “I am not rationing Carol hugs. Come on, get in here, shortstack number two.”

“One, I am taller than I was back then,” informed her Hope, even as she approached them. “Second, Tony is taller than you now. Does that make you shortstack number one?”

“Nope,” said Carol, her smile widening at the way Hope fit right into her side as if she had never left. “You two will forever be my shortstacks, no matter how tall you manage to grow.”

It was so familiar, having them all wrapped around her like this. If her memory served her right - and a lot of times it did not - they had never really been ones to hug much. Hope and Tony, absolutely. Very touch starved both of them, and while they did not really initiate hugs all that much, they never shied away when offered. Rhodey was more of a hugger, offering them with ease at any occasion. Stephen was not one for public displays of affection. Rarely ever initiated them, and tended to shy away when they were offered too. Carol herself had not been much of a hugger either, but she had tended to offer the most hugs and cuddles to Hope and Tony over anyone else.

Stephen was of course the first to let go of her, though he remained where he was, expression still a little awed as he looked at her. “I can’t believe you’re still alive,” he said, and just like that, the illusion broke.

Tony and Hope let go of her at the same time, him looking hurt even though he avoided her eyes, and Hope’s expression shut off. Rhodey did not move from the couch though he let go of her too, also appearing hurt and upset.

“It’s a long story,” she said, shaking her head. “I would have told you, but there was so much going on-”

“25 years is a long time,” said Stephen, expression turning colder. “A postcard was all it would have taken for-”

“I’m sorry, isn’t your fancy Sanctum literally in New York?” snapped Hope, glaring at him fiercely. He blinked, slightly surprised at her tone of voice, and Hope’s glare just sharpened. “At least she has the excuse of distance. Tony’s tower is a measly 30 minutes car ride from Greenwich Village. You couldn’t walk out and knock and say ‘by the way, don’t worry about me guys, I’m still alive’?”

“You have no idea what I went through, Van Dyne.”

“Because you didn’t let us,” said Rhodey, also looking annoyed. “We came to you, over and over, but you refused to let us in-”

“Maybe I needed to be alone,” said Stephen, fists clenching at his sides, and Carol’s eyes widened slightly as she took note of the scars littering them. “I needed to figure out things on my own. Why is that a crime?”

“That is not what we’re saying,” said Hope, hotly. “Two years is not long enough to find yourself? Not long enough to just send us an e-mail and tell us that we did not have to worry, that you were alive and okay?”

“I might have, had I known that you were stalking me,” answered Stephen, expression thunderous. 

“You were burning your money-”

“It was my money to burn, my life to ruin, not yours. I am not a child, and I did not ask you to treat me like one,” said Stephen, a note of finality in his voice, and a dangerous glint in his eyes. 

The dangerous glint that usually predated him saying something really hurtful to someone.

“Time out, guys,” interrupted Carol, hands up. “How about we rewind? I feel like I’m missing a couple of things-”

“That tends to happen when you run away and never look back,” said Tony, and when she looked at him his eyes were also distant. The warm brown had hardened into something cold and unforgiving. It reminded Carol of Howard. “You promised you were gonna stay. You promised that no matter what, we’d always have you, and then you left.”

+++

“I thought you were bugging,” said Rhodey, one eyebrow raised as Hope emptied the contents of her bag in front of them.

Carol herself was a little surprised. “Wait, you were being for real?”

“Why would I ask you for your date of births if I wasn’t being for real?” questioned Hope with a huff, crossing her arms around her chest. “Were you guys not being serious about it?”

“I was,” said Tony, one hand raised. “I totally want to get a tattoo.”

“Won’t your parents say something if you show up back home with tattoos on your arms?”

“That’d imply that my father would ever stop long enough to make eye contact with me,” said Hope, rolling her eyes. “What Hank doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“Same,” said Tony, shrugging. “As if Howard would ever inspect me long enough to notice that there was something new on me. And if he does, what is he gonna do other than scream? He’d have done that anyway.”

“One day I’m gonna punch both of your dads in the face and make their teeth fall off,” promised Carol, putting an arm around both their necks. 

“I wanna see Hank without teeth,” said Hope, voice a little wistful as she cuddled closer to Carol. “He’d look hella stupid.”

“I’m not letting a child tattoo me,” flatly informed them Stephen, shaking his head. “No way.”

“We are one year younger than you, so what does that make you?” questioned Tony, smirking at the scowl that that got him. “And come on! Don’t be a baby. Tattoos are fun, didn’t you say you wanted to get a tattoo, one day?”

“Yeah, but done by a professional. Not by Hope. No offense.”

“Offense, taken!” answered Hope, glaring at him. “And fine, don’t get the tattoo. I’ll just do me and Tony, then.”

“Yeah,” agreed Tony, high fiving Hope. “That way, we are going to be linked together forever, and you guys can just suck it.”

“Hey, I didn’t say no,” protested Rhodey, which earned him an incredulous look from Stephen.

“Are you seriously considering this?”

“Why not?”

Carol ignored them arguing with each other, looking back down at Hope and Tony still under her arms. “You know you don’t need a tattoo to keep me tied to you, right?” 

Hope looked up from where she had been drawing on her pad, Tony frowning too. “What?”

Carol snorted, letting go of their necks so that she could move in front of them. “You are my shortstacks,” she informed them, ignoring their eye rolls at that. “I’m gonna be at your side always, no matter what. Sure, next year Tony and Rhodey are going to be done with MIT and things are gonna change, but I’m always going to be at your side.”

Hope’s face broke into a smile, Tony appearing a little more hesitant at her side. “Always?”

“Always.”

“Do you promise?” asked Tony, biting his lip and looking at her hopefully. “To stay?”

She grinned, running her hand through his curls and, for once, he did not bat the hand away. “Of course, shortstack number one. I promise.”

And Tony too smiled.

+++

Carol ignored the sting the words brought, especially when accompanied with the same look from all four of them. “I know that we’re not thinking straight and just jumping to accusations and-”

“How could you?” demanded Hope, voice surprisingly even despite the look in her eyes. “Know us, I mean?  You don’t know us, Carol Danvers. A version of you that was 25 years younger might have known a version of us that was 25 years younger, but you? You don’t know us. You left us. And Stephen left us. And Tony and Rhodey only cared about each other, fuck the rest of us. Fuck me, right? The only one trying to keep us together despite everything.”

“That is not fair,” said Tony, turning to look at her, jaw tensing. “Your father-!”

“Stop using my father as an excuse!” she said, lips thin as she stared him down. “Back then Hank barely even cared about you enough to mention you. Back then it was you who chose to stay away, and Rhodey who chose to leave with you. Back then it was the two of you who decided to leave me behind no matter how hard I tried to keep us all together. You made those choices. You. Don’t blame anyone else.”

“I spent 26 years holding onto a stupid memory of a drunken tattoo,” said Tony, voice tight. “I am sorry that my grief and my attempts at getting over the death of both my parents got between you and your plans of keeping a doomed friendship alive.”

“That is not-”

“That is exactly what it was,” said Rhodey, his own expression hard. “Don’t act as if I didn’t try too, at the beginning. Was I or was I not there with you those first few years after Carol died- oh, I’m sorry, left?” Carol did not wince, while Hope clenched her teeth together. “Was I or was I not there at Donna’s funeral despite Stephen refusing to talk to anyone or letting us know it was even happening? I stuck by Tony because he needed me, and no one else seemed to realise he needed them too. Because he was begging for help, and none of you offered him a helping hand.”

“He never let us-” started Stephen, Tony staring blankly ahead of him, but Rhodey cut him off.

“You think he let me? I’m sorry, you have known Tony how much longer than me and still don’t realise that? When you were mourning Donna, and needed your friends, me and Tony both found a way to get there, despite you never asking us. When I was hurting over Jeanette, and needed my friends, he and Hope were both there. When he was hurting and needed his friends, I and I alone was there. Where the fuck were you? Where the fuck was any of you?”

The question was met with silence.

Carol looked around herself, feeling her heart filling with pain at the sight around her. Hope’s hands were still clenched, loss, pain and anger apparent in every line of her face. Stephen’s hands were shaking despite the mostly blank expression on his face. Rhodey was staring at the three of them, upset clear in his eyes. Tony was not even making eye contact anymore, staring blankly in the distance.

“Well then,” said Stephen, after a second more of tense silence, fluidly standing back up again. “Now you all know I’m alive, so you can stop tracking me and worrying your little heads about it. Goodbye.”

“I don’t think so,” immediately said the unknown man, as soon as Stephen started to make a weird gesture with his hands. Whatever he was trying to do clearly did not work, and he immediately scowled, which had no effect on the man. “None of you is leaving this room until you sort this... rather childish spat.”

“Childish spat?!” asked Hope, staring at him in offense. 

“Yes.”

“Loki...” started Stephen, voice threatening, finally giving the unknown a name.

“Wait, did you just say ‘Loki’?” she then asked, a little bit surprised. She had figured out the oath had worked because of the bleeding moon, but...

“Yes, he’s a mage prince from the planet Asgard, the tattoo guy and, apparently, our patron god,” answered Rhodey, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. “He found Tony as soon as he called on the oath.”

Carol had heard about Asgard and the Asgardians, before, but she had never really paid much attention to the Norse pantheon.

“Loki,” said Stephen, glaring at him. “Undo whatever enchantment you put around the living room.”

“If you manage to undo it yourself, you can go,” offered Loki, still not looking impressed or particularly worried despite the several glares aimed at his person. “Otherwise, I am not lifting my spell until you talk to each other like adults instead of squabbling like babes. It was my understanding that you passed the age of majority here on Midgard? And before you attempt to, it stops you from leaving both through magic or by walking. You are going to remain stuck in this sitting room until you have spoken to one another. I shall be speaking with FRIDAY in the meanwhile.”

With that, he disappeared from the room before any of them could even try to stop him.

"I hate that man," said Stephen, scowling at the point where Loki had disappeared from.

Leaving Carol alone with four very angry and very upset people who she had not spoken to in 25 years.

It had been so easy, back then. To promise things, to believe in their friendship, a friendship she had not really seen coming but had embraced nevertheless with ease.

But things were different now. 

She barely recognised the people standing in the room with her, at this point, and they probably did not recognise her either.

However, Carol had made them a promise.

She might have forgotten who they were until days ago, but now she remembered. Now she remembered Hope and Tony, too much loneliness in the eyes of such young children. She remembered Stephen and Rhodey, desperate to prove to the world that they mattered, that they belonged wherever they chose to belong in.

She remembered four children who had only ever wanted to be accepted, who had only ever wanted companionship in a world filled with sharp edges and pain.

She could barely see those kids in the adults she was looking at now, and it made her heart hurt. She had made them a promise, back then, and she had broken it, whether willingly or unwillingly.

“Why did you leave?” then asked Tony, getting everyone’s attention on him. His eyes were fixed on Carol. “I just don’t understand. You came back in 1995. And then you left again, and never came back. You promised you were gonna stay. That you were always going to be by our side. You promised. I don't... I don't get it.”

She had. 

And while losing her memory was an excuse, Carol knew very well that chances were that more memories would have returned to her, had she remained on Earth.

But she had chosen not to.

“And you promised that I was always going to have you,” said Hope, looking at Tony with the same tired expression he was wearing. “That no matter what, the two of us were going to have each other. We knew each other, and we understood each other.” Her shoulders dropped low. “Why did you push me away? Why did you not care-”

“I cared,” informed her Tony, looking equally drained. Like he had no fight left in him anymore. “I cared. I believed in us for years. That summer-”

He cut himself off, but Rhodey finished for him anyway after a second or two. “Was the last good summer I had. The best summer of my life.” He smiled at the air in front of him, but it was a pained smile. “I used to think that it did not matter what the world threw at me, because at least I had you four.”

“I have never been as happy as I was that summer,” confessed Hope, looking away. “Everything was just... too much. But I had you guys. You were at my side, and I don’t think you quite understand how much it meant to me.”

“I do,” said Stephen. His arms were still crossed defensively in front of him, but his expression was more sad and tired than it was angry. “I was on top of the world. I had people I cared about, people who understood me better than anyone else in the world. I was happy.”

“So was I,” said Tony, after another second of silence. “I was... happy.”

“We,” corrected Carol, also smiling slightly. “We were all happy.”

“What happened to us?” asked Hope, eyes closing slightly. “Why did we leave the one good thing we had in life? Why didn’t we just... all try a little harder? All I have done since that summer...”

“Is miss every single one of you,” finished Stephen for her. He scowled a little. “Bastards.”

Somehow that was what broke the tension in the room.

Tony snorted, lips twitching. Hope pressed her eyes closed, trying and failing not to smile. Rhodey put a hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking a little. And Carol just shook her head, unable to contain her snickers.

“Seriously? Could you sound any more offended by that?” she questioned, just laughing harder at the face he pulled.

“No, I don’t think I could,” he said, huffing and dropping back on the couch, failing at not chuckling too. “I hate you guys, and I hate that I even care about the lot of you.”

Carol was glad to see she could still recognise when Stephen was lying to them.

Chapter Text

Tony stared at the moon above him, fingers tracing the tattoo on his arm almost distractedly.

He couldn’t help but think that the waxing crescent moon in the sky was very poetically apt, considering that it was Carol’s moon. 

Tony had never paid much attention to astronomy, back in the day. He had only learnt enough to recognise the phases of the moon when Hope had brought up the idea of the tattoo and had wanted to find out what the moon looked like the night each of them was born, but nothing more.

And then aliens had fallen from the sky and Tony had both tried to learn as much as he could about space and, at the same time, looked up to the sky as little as possible.

But while the stars sometimes still managed to trigger his anxiety, he had never felt anything but comfort from watching the moon.

For a long time, he had pretended to not know the reason why.

“I have found the information you asked for, Boss,” came FRIDAY’s voice from the open tablet in front of him, and Tony nodded, not looking down.

“Go ahead.”

“According to everything I have managed to access, and the direction the Quinjet took before the tracking was somehow disabled, there is a 87,32% chance that the Rogue Avengers are currently in Wakanda.”

It did not surprise Tony at all. It was exactly where he had expected them to be, but he still felt some traces of hurt at the confirmation.

He had not had much of an opinion on Prince T’Challa before, hadn’t known him long enough to formulate one, but he had at least thought...

He wasn’t sure what he had thought.

“Wakanda,” came a voice from behind him, and Tony did startle slightly at that, turning around.

He had thought that everyone in the Compound was asleep, but Stephen was standing a few feet behind him, looking as tired as Tony himself felt. He was wearing normal people clothes again, but his cool cape was still on his shoulders.

The discussion earlier had dragged on for far longer than Tony had expected it to go on for.

Carol and Stephen had given their stories about how they had ended up with their new fancy abilities - Carol had apparently been kidnapped by aliens and lost her memories (which had made everyone feel like shit for exploding on her like that as soon as she had returned) and then spent years in space trying to protect the Universe; Stephen had basically spent all of his waking hours trying to learn as much as possible in regards to magic, and then apparently battled a demon? -  and then Tony and Rhodey had given theirs, mostly for Carol’s sake. Hope had also added her (much less exciting, but don’t tell her Tony said that, taller than her or not, he had a feeling she could still beat him up) own story, before explaining how she knew Lang - and told them a bit about a suit of her own that she could get her hands on.

Carol had, shockingly enough, known something about Tony and his suit because of his stunt through the wormhole. According to her, between that and the stories on him the Asgardians had spread throughout the Universe, his ‘fame’ preceded him.

Tony had pretended pride at that, but he was pretty sure no one in the room had been fooled at all.

(The Avengers would have been, and then made some digs about his ‘ego’; it was a little uncomfortable how absolutely certain of that Tony was)

Then they had explained a bit about Loki (which was a little hard, considering the man had not really given them all that much), and the much less exciting tale of just why, after everything that had happened in his life, Tony had suddenly decided to call onto the oath.

Loki might have been really fucking terrifying when he had heard the story, but Carol’s rage had not been any less scary. Not scary for him - because no matter how long it had been, Tony knew that she would never hurt any of them.

But still the raw power and the way she had literally burned like a flame had been... a sight to behold.

Stephen leant back on the railing beside him, and Tony focused once more. “Uh?”

“Wakanda,” repeated Stephen. “That’s where they’re hiding?”

He said it like it was a question, when he already knew the answer.

Tony turned slightly to look at him in the face. “Are you going to go after them if I say yes?”

“Would you like me to?” 

Stephen’s eyes looked even bluer than usual in the light of the moon. Tony had always been fascinated by his sectoral heterochromia. It somehow always managed to make his eyes reflect just what Stephen feeling inside.

“I’d rather you did not,” he admitted, after a beat or two. “Though I don’t know if I could actually stop you from... portalling around as you pleased.”

The portal thing had been... very freaky. It was different from the portal in New York (that still plagued his nightmares after all these years) and just as Hope had said, it looked more like a circle of fire than anything else. But still, Tony had not been able to hide how uncomfortable seeing the thing had made him.

He was perfectly aware that Stephen wouldn’t hurt him or use the portal to hurt him, but pavlovian response or something. Didn’t really listen to reason.

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to,” admitted Stephen. “I can only go to places I know or places I have seen.”

Interesting.

Tony archived that for further questioning at a later date. 

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Why aren’t you?” shot back Stephen, which earned him an eye roll from Tony.

Then he sighed, glancing back at the moon. “Thinking. Digesting information. Planning. My head is a mess.”

He had been working on believing that Stephen was truly alive and once more here, and suddenly Carol was back too? Tony was very happy, but yeah. He had a headache.

“Speaking of your head,” said Stephen, and Tony watched curiously as he reached for something inside of his pocket. Just to frown when Stephen’s hand came out of it holding a necklace with a bright orange stone on it. “Learning how to protect your mind from magic attacks is one of the first things you are taught at Kamar Taj. However, sometimes just to be safe we also employ these necklaces. They create a barrier between the wearer and anyone capable of employing mind reading or manipulation. I think I could make a better one once I actually see Maximoff’s magic for myself, but, until then...”

He trailed off, keeping the necklace hanging between the two of them.

Finding out that the witch had left a scar in his mind with her magic that she could affect through proximity had not been much of a surprise. Tony had always known there was a link between the red nightmares he suffered through whenever he slept at the Compound and her, but no one had ever believed him. Well, Vision had. But he had assumed that she was doing it involuntarily, since she 'did not have that much of an understanding of her own powers', so that wasn’t worth much.

Tony eyed the necklace with both hope and apprehension. “It can keep my mind safe from her?”

“Yes,” said Stephen. “Unless she actively uses her powers on you, but she wouldn't be able to get away with that considering the fact that I’m planning on sticking to you like glue at any time you are around her until she is thrown in jail and has her powers either stripped or locked inside of her.”

Tony looked at him in shock. “You can do that?”

“I’m the Sorcerer Supreme,” said Stephen, smirking arrogantly at him. “I can do anything I put my mind to.” When Tony’s expression remained the same, though, he smiled more kindly. “Yes. I can. And I will.”

Tony stared at him for a few seconds longer, before thrusting his hand forward, palm facing up. Stephen stared at the hand in slight surprise for a moment, but then he smiled once more before handing him the necklace.

Tony did not see why he was surprised. He had never stopped accepting stuff from the four of them, not once.

“Took you 2 decades to get the clue and gift me jewellery, but better late than never,” then said Tony as he put the necklace around his neck.

Stephen appeared confused for a moment, before understanding flooded into his face. He grimaced, glancing down at his naked wrist. “I actually don’t have it anymore.”

Tony looked at him as if this was brand new information. “Oh?”

Stephen nodded, looking unhappy. “It was one of the two things I didn’t sell: the bracelet you gave me, and this one watch Christine gifted me. I sold most of everything else I had ever owned and went off to Kathmandu to find Kamar Taj, but didn’t sell those. I kept wearing the watch since it was already ruined, and put the bracelet in the pocket of my bag because I didn’t want to risk it. And then my bag was stolen,” he finished, with a huff.  

“It was... stolen?” asked Tony, looking at him in slight surprise as he managed to lock the necklace. “You didn’t sell it?”

Stephen shot him a half hearted glare. “Of course not. You made it for me.”

+++

Stephen looked up from his book as a box was dropped in front of him, unsurprised to find Tony Stark standing in front of him.

He should be. After all, this was his room, and Tony Stark was supposed to be at University in Massachusetts, and not in his room.

But this was Tony Stark, and Stephen had stopped questioning him years ago.

“What.”

Tony pouted at him. “Wow. I’m away for like months and you don’t even act like you missed me a little bit? Second, you have terrible spatial awareness. How did you not see me climbing through your window?”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Hi, Tony. Been awhile. What are you doing in my room?”

He huffed, rolling his eyes at Stephen’s purposefully toneless voice. “You are so rude. It’s your birthday, no duh! Where else was I going to be?”

“It’s not,” started Stephen, interrupting himself when he saw that it was now past midnight. “Uh. It is my birthday. Didn’t even realise.”

“I’ve got you a present,” explained Tony, pushing the box in front of him again and taking the book from his hands. He did not close it, aware by now that it was a certain way of earning Stephen’s fury, but still placed it away from him with a ruler between the pages. 

“You’re going to love it. And yes, I followed the rule,” he added, before Stephen could speak. “Nothing more than 25$. It’s actually handmade.”

That had become the rule after too many expensive gifts were handed to him by Tony and Hope, making his look terribly cheap in comparison.

“You came here all the way from MIT to give me a birthday present,” said Stephen, even as he unwrapped the box Tony had given him, surprised and more than a little curious. “Why?”

Tony shrugged, cheeks appearing a little pink - most likely from the cold. “Why not? Just open it.” He leant back against the wall, fingers tapping the desk as Stephen finished opening it. “How have you been? And how’s that girl Hope said you were smooching the other day?”

“Hope needs to mind her own business,” grumbled Stephen. “I was smooching nobody. I was helping her with the-” he trailed off as he finally opened the box, finding a small silver bangle sitting on it. “Woah, this is hella fly,” he said, very surprised. 

It was very expensive looking, definitely not something he’d assumed had been handmade, with the pretty details crafted around it. And it was both gorgeous and something Stephen would wear, if given the chance. He looked up at Tony in surprise and slight awe. “You made this?”

Tony nodded, smiling and looking very pleased with himself. “All by myself,” he confirmed, and then made a face. “Well, technically Ana helped, but she just told me what I needed to do. I did the bracelet itself myself. You like it?”

“Yeah,” said Stephen, still looking at it in awe. “This is really... this is a really cool gift, Tony.”

Tony shrugged, waving him off even though his cheeks became even pinker. “Don’t go and start bugging now, home skillet.”

Stephen made a face at him, as he put the bracelet on. Part of him wanted to ask if it was real silver or not, but the other part of him really liked the bracelet. And really liked the clear effort Tony had made into making it.

“Home skillet? Is that what you’re learning at MIT?”

“All the cool kids say it,” complained Tony, pouting again. Then he grinned as Stephen finished putting the bracelet on. “So? Is it da bomb or what?”

Stephen smiled back at him. “It is da bomb,” he agreed, reluctantly, which made Tony cheer. 

“Suck on that, Hope Van Dyne,” he said, punching the air with a fist, and Stephen just snorted at his antics. 

“Wait, are you leaving?” he then asked, as he saw Tony once more moving towards the window.

“Yeah,” said Tony, huffing, and Stephen could not deny he was a little disappointed. Despite the way he had greeted him, he  did miss Tony going here with him and Hope. Not that he’d ever tell the boy that. “Rhodey is going to drive us back to MIT.”

“Hope’s gonna hate that she missed you,” he pointed out and Tony shrugged, though Stephen could see he was unhappy about the situation too. 

Tony had not really been sold on the whole going to MIT thing to begin with, and while at the beginning Stephen had been fiercely jealous of him, now he sort of understood. Maths class was not that funny anymore, now that Tony was gone.

“I know. But I can’t sneak into the girl’s dorm like this, one of the chicks might scream and get me in trouble,” said Tony, jumping slightly when a horn sounded. “That’d be Rhodey. I gotta go.”

“Yeah, don’t let me keep you,” said Stephen, forcing a smile on his face. “And thank you for the present. It really is... fly.”

Tony beamed, before smirking. “It is! And you know what else?”

Stephen looked at him curiously. “What else?”

“It means that you are mine, now, Stephen Strange,” told him Tony, winking and making finger guns at him before jumping out of his window. Which would have been impressive, had Stephen’s room not been on the ground floor.

Instead he just shook his head slightly as Tony rushed towards Rhodey’s car, not turning around once.

What a dork.

Stephen glanced at the bracelet, admiring the delicate work in both craftsmanship and details. He could just imagine Tony working on it for hours, tongue poking out as he worked fully concentrated, AC/DC playing in the background and refusing to move until he was done.

Yeah, Stephen was going to keep the bracelet forever.

+++

When JARVIS had flagged the sale of the bracelet in a seedy pawn shop in Kathmandu, Tony had been hurt, but not too surprised. He had thought ‘Stephen needs the money for whatever cure he is chasing: of course he sold the bracelet too’. 

But apparently it wasn’t the case.

Apparently, Stephen had not even intended to sell it, it had been stolen from him.

Stephen looked at him, worried when Tony kept staring at him in silence. “Are you upset?”

It was funny, mused Tony, still watching him, how quickly things just fell back into place.

They had been fully reunited for only a matter of hours now. And yet Hope and Stephen were once more needling each other and bickering as if they were siblings. Carol was once again acting like everyone’s slightly overbearing and suffocating big sister. Rhodey was once more cosplaying as the sane and reasonable one when everyone else knew better.

And Tony’s absurd crush on Stephen Strange was also apparently back in full swing.

“I am, actually,” he said, pulling away from the railing and staring at him, trying not to smile at his expression. 

“Tony-”

“I mean,” he continued, crossing his arms around his chest. “How else are they gonna know?”

Stephen frowned, looking confused. “How else are they going to know what?”

Tony winked, pointing finger guns at him. “That you’re mine, Stephen Strange,” he said, very pleased at the way Stephen snorted, shaking his head fondly.

Tony chose to believe it was fond.

“It was creepy when you were 15, and it’s creepy now,” informed him Stephen, though his smile did not fade in the slightest. 

“It’s not,” protested Tony, walking back inside the room with Stephen in tow. “It’s creepy when Loki says it, but it’s just sweet when I do.”

Stephen scoffed, which was pretty rude, but Tony would let it slide for now. Then he glanced at Tony more seriously. “What are your current thoughts on Loki?”

“I don’t really know,” admitted Tony. “But...”

“But?”

“I don’t think he’s faking,” he finished. “About the patron god thing, at least. Whether his interest in us is genuine or he just likes the idea of powerful people being considered under his protection or whatever, I don’t know. But I do think he cares about us in his own Loki way, and definitely would not want to see us harmed. You can’t fake that sort of anger.”

The part of Tony that had not been very much afraid of that display of power had even felt touched.

“Yeah, I don’t think he’ll go after the Avengers himself, but I also have no doubt in my mind that he will still find a way of getting some sort of revenge against them,” said Stephen, which Tony nodded in agreement with. 

He opened his mouth to add more to that when the sound of something crashing harshly sounded from the left hallway. 

“That’s the gym,” explained Tony, when Stephen turned to look at him in askance, and they proceeded towards it without needing any further words.

They found Hope and Carol in the gym when they got there. Hope was sitting on the side with a bowl of trail mix that Tony was pretty sure belonged to Wilson, while Carol was fighting one of the mannequins in the gym as if her life depended on it.

Tony stared at Carol for a couple of seconds before turning to Hope. “What’s wrong with her now?”

Hope shrugged, passing him the trail mix. Tony declined, sitting on her left. “She’s pissed off and trying to expel that excess anger from her body, somehow. She’s kinda badass, don’t you think?”

“Hot,” agreed Tony as Stephen accepted some of the trail mix. “I wonder how strong she really is, right now. I’m pretty sure she’s holding back so that she doesn’t end up destroying my property. FRI, make a note to point her towards the stuff Thor uses when he is around.”

“Of course, Boss.”

“Also, Stephen,” he said, turning to look at him and picking up the tablet he was still holding on to. “You still know your brain stuff, right?”

Stephen nodded, eyes a little wary. “I have eidetic memory and spent like half of my life on medicine. Yes. Why?”

“Carol,” he explained, tapping his tablet. “I was wondering if perhaps I could adjust BARF a little so that it could help her too. BARF is-”

“Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing,” said Stephen automatically. At Tony and Hope’s surprised look, he shrugged, appearing slightly defensive. “You presented it at MIT a month or so ago, right? The video was online.”

Uh. 

“Yeah,” said Tony, still a little surprised. “I mean yeah, I did. But how did you-”

Carol's next kick was strong enough that it made the bag fly off its hinges, and crash against the wall, surprisingly not breaking. This, of course, garnered applause from all three of them at once. She looked a little surprised when she turned around and saw them, but she also wasted no time in giving a half bow with a slightly smug look on her face.

“Why are you even still awake?” questioned Hope, as Carol started to walk towards them.

Tony raised an eyebrow at her. “Why are you?” He asked, rhetorically, and then shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Neither could I,” admitted Carol, coming to stop in front of them. She declined the trail mix offered, a glare still apparent on her face. “I really needed to beat up something, but since we don’t know where these ‘rogue avengers’ are hiding or where Fury is...”

Apparently Carol and Fury had been close-ish - or as close as two people who banded up together once to fight a common evil could be - back in the 90s, and she was not at all impressed with the way he had been behaving these past few years. Said something about not believing she had ever trusted a goose with him (which, uh?).

“Actually,” said Tony, clearing his throat slightly. “I do know where they are.” Hope and Carol turned to look at him in surprise, and he elaborated. “I had Friday check, and while she isn’t 100% sure, we have a good guess, for now.”

“And?” asked Hope, expression hard.

Tony paused for a second, turning to look at a point over her head.

“You know, I considered, for a second, swallowing my pride,” he said, slowly. “I considered just starting to work on a way to get them back because the devil that you know, right? 

“But I’ve changed my mind. Contrary to popular opinion, I am not a masochist outside the bedroom, and I can recognise when I am making a bad investment. Sometimes it might take me a while,” he said, smiling with little humour, “but I’m not stupid. Stephen has powers and most likely a number of sorcerers who would be willing to fight the Invasion when it comes.” Stephen nodded in agreement at that. “Hope has a suit similar to Lang’s that can even fly, and hearing Loki’s earlier words, it’s clear he’s been doing his own thing, trying to recruit the other Four out of Nine Realms for when the time comes. And Carol doesn’t even know yet the limits to her own strength.

“The Avengers are not, the end all in the enhanced community, nor are they the most powerful, trustworthy or useful around.” He looked back at the other three, finding them watching him seriously, and smiled. “I don’t need them. They’ve dug their own graves, and if they burn? They’ll burn.”

Hope’s smile was very wide and familiar. “I have missed you, Tony Stark.”

He rolled his eyes at her.

“You have missed him? What about me, trying to force him out of the doormat shape he had decided to take, these past few years?” came Rhodey’s voice from the doorway.

Tony opened his mouth to complain about such mean and uncalled for behaviour, but his words died in his throat when he actually looked at Rhodey.

When he actually looked away from Loki (Tony had thought the man had left?) standing beside him but not touching him, and to Rhodey.

Rhodey standing.

Rhodey standing unaided.

Rhodey standing on his own two feet, not even holding onto the wall or anything as he slowly walked - walked! - towards them. 

Loki was not too far from him, watching him carefully as he moved, no doubt ready to help if he tripped or something, but Tony could not even focus on that.

Because Rhodey was walking.

Sure, Loki had said he would.

Sure, Rhodey had been getting motion back in his legs.

Sure, while Stephen had been gone and Hope and Loki had gone to get Carol, he had been practicing standing.

But he was walking right now, and Tony felt part of his heart that had broken when this whole avenger fight had started heal itself at the sight.

“My god, Platypus, has anyone told you that you’ve got some very sexy legs?” he asked him, as they all moved towards him.

“Why do you always have to make it weird?” demanded Rhodey, huffing a little tiredly as they all wrapped themselves around him, even Stephen.

“It’s in his nature,” said Carol, snorting. “Shouldn’t you know this by now?”

“I’m still working on accepting it,” answered Rhodey, and Tony chuckled before turning his head slightly.

Loki looked very self satisfied as he watched them hugging out and perhaps he had his own ulterior motives, and perhaps he saw them more like pets he was fond of rather than anything else.

But despite not being tattooed like them, Loki was the one who had managed to do in one week what they hadn’t been able to do in years.

In a way, he was the one who had made them find their way back to each other.

Therefore, “Come on,” he said, darting forward and snatching Loki’s wrist. “Group hug.”

Loki did not move an inch, instead frowning at them. “I can see that. What does that have to do with me?”

“It means get in here,” said Rhodey, rolling his eyes.

When Loki kept staring and did not move, Tony rolled his eyes, shuffling the group towards Loki rather than trying to pull him in.

Once more Loki did not move from where he was, just looking mighty confused as they re-arranged themselves until they were all finally hugging him too.

“This is odd,” said Loki, staring at them in confusion. “I am not sure I like this.”

“Tough look, Rock of Ages, we are huggers in this household.” 

“I am your god, I should not be subjected to this after I have helped you so.”

They all ignored him.

After all, Loki could have teleported himself away.

But he hadn’t.

Tony was onto him.

Chapter Text

"The first thing we need, is the media and general public on our side," said Hope, tapping her fingers on the desk. "Which shouldn't be too hard. Despite ULTRON and some of your blunders, the media and the general public really likes you."

Pepper nodded. "You still have the highest approval rating worldwide out of the Avengers. Rogers is not too far behind you in the US, but you still have an edge on him."

"It's mostly because the public actually knows you," explained Stephen. "You were the only one who bothered to explain to them what was happening whenever it happened. Thor is an alien, Banner was an non-entity when he wasn't the Hulk, Romanoff and Barton few people could actually recognise them on the streets, and Rogers just never bothered. Maximoff people hate, Vision people still don't understand - no offense, Vis - and Wilson never showed his face much either."

"So by default, you became the people's person," added Rhodey.

"The billionaire," said Tony, looking more than a little confused.

"Tony Stark," corrected Pepper. "It's different." Tony frowned, and she just smiled at him before continuing. "But anyway, we need to ensure this continues to be the case. The Court of popular opinion is the shiftiest but most important ground we're gonna need to fight on."

Hope liked Pepper Potts.

She hadn’t really known the woman that well before - and she still did not truly know her - but she found herself liking her quite a lot.

Her and Vision had arrived at the Compound a couple of days ago, once they had been given the all clear from Tony and Rhodey.

She had immediately burst into tears of joy when she had seen Tony alive and Rhodey standing on his own two feet, with the android appearing both grateful and deeply confused at her side, but she had gotten a hold of herself quite quickly after that.

At least until she had heard the whole story and found out just how deep Rogers’ betrayal had gone. Then she had promptly become infuriated, and Hope could have sworn her eyes had flashed orange for a second, before Tony had moved to calm her down.

Even Vision - who must have known something, considering he had been the one to retrieve the rest of the evidence from Siberia - had been shocked and pained at the realization of what the other side of their supposed team had been able to do.

The rest of the story Potts had listened very carefully to. She had shown some slight anxiety and concern when Loki’s name was first mentioned, she had not really reacted to anything else. She had stayed calm and composed as she listened to how they had made an oath when they were kids and since then bound themselves to Loki, how Stephen could do magic and Carol could fly and envelop herself in flames at will.

Then she had simply asked Tony what he wanted to do next.

Really, she was remarkable; and Hope was glad that, despite the toxic team he had found himself trapped in, Tony had managed to still surround himself with people who did care for him and who were loyal and trustworthy.

“Doctor Stark and Stark Industries are committed to pay for the damages at Leipzig Airport inflicted by Iron Man, War Machine, Vision and the individual by the call sign Spider Man,” was currently saying Potts, voice clear as she stared at the sea of reporters in front of her and Hope. “The Black Panther has decided to pay for the damages caused by him himself. The Black Widow,” she continued, and both her and Hope kept their features completely calm and unbothered despite their personal opinions on the woman. “Allegedly attacked the Black Panther and allowed the fugitives Steven Rogers and James Barnes to escape, going against the Accords she had signed, and will thus not be covered by us regarding the - albeit negligible - damages she has wrought.”

Hope really wished that wherever the spy was hiding, that she had a television and she had heard loud and clear how Potts had just called her useless.

But she did not smile, instead standing up straighter when Potts directed her attention and that of the press to her, not cowing in the slightest in front of the many cameras clicking away, thankfully mindful to keep their flashes to themselves. Pym Tech might not be the giant SI was, but she knew how to hold her own in front of reporters.

While Hank had wanted the suit away from Scott as soon as possible, he had definitely not been very glad when he had found out about what Hope was planning on doing; but he had lost the right to tell her what she could or could not do when he decided to not parent her and keep the truth of her mother's death from her.

She was no longer the 16 years old child who he had forcefully moved back to California in order to control who she was friends with, and the sooner he woke up to that, the better.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted, voice appropriately sombre. “The last time Stark Industries and Pym Technologies stood together on the same stage, it was Hank Pym and Howard Stark standing in front of you all. Now, so many years since then, I wish I could have been standing here with Stark Industry’s current CEO under better circumstances.

“Pym Technologies too will commit to pay for the destruction wrought in Leipzig by the pilot of the Ant-Man suit, Scott Lang. The suit is indeed Pym-Tech, and Pym Technologies, myself and my father can only apologize for the part our technology took in what has now become known as the superhero civil war.”

Corny name, in her opinion, but the media was corny.

She took a breath and her expression hardened immediately. “But I am also here to state clearly for everyone that Pym Technology and my family did not hand Scott Lang the suit or send him to Germany. Scott Lang has before used to suit with my father’s blessing, but it was not his to keep and use as he saw fit. Scott Lang stole the suit from us, and then recklessly used it in a fight he did not belong in, causing damages and endangering countless of people. 

“Despite what Scott Lang’s actions suggests, Pym Technology and I back the Sokovia Accords fully,” she continued, unsurprised when that immediately caused the reporters, who had been tittering and muttering the entire time, to immediately jump up with questions and demands. She stared them down until they took the hint and sat back on their chairs before continuing. “No law is perfect, of course; but I believe the Sokovia Accords are a step in the right direction and that the actions of the Rogue Avengers faction has only proven how necessary they are.”

She inclined her head for Potts to continue, and smiled to herself with some satisfaction at the mutters her words caused.

Between Pym Tech and Stark Industries on a stage together, she hazarded that there would be only few places her words wouldn’t have reached.

And unless Prince (or was he King now?) T’Challa was keeping them locked without access to television or the Internet, Lang would have definitely heard her.

She did not care anymore about what he was going to feel, seeing her putting him on blast like this on live television. Luckily for them, Jim and Maggie Paxton did not really broadcast their relationship with Lang, and while she felt a little sad at the hurt that hearing and seeing this would cause Cassie, at the end of the day Lang had brought this on himself.

Mere weeks ago he had promised to stand by Cassie no matter what, promised that he was going to be the father he was meant to be.

And then one call from Captain America and he was ready to illegally - since it wasn’t as if he had a working passport - enter Europe and join a fight on a topic he most likely knew nothing about.

Second chances were earned not given, and Hope Van Dyne was a businesswoman.

No one had forced him to do anything, and naivety could only excuse so much before it became stupidity and refusal to learn from one’s own actions.

She had never been a particularly forgiving person. 

"The Accords Council," then said Tony. "We need to make sure we remain on good terms with them."

"They might be against us at the beginning because of the Rogues," said Rhodey, frowning. "But I believe that, if we show them that we already have recruits lined up, they might give us some space."

"Especially if they know everything that happened in Siberia," said Tony.

Everyone turned to look at him. No one said anything, not even Vision or Pepper, but Tony still explained. "I don't like it. I don't like making myself vulnerable like that. But the Council and the world need to know. My parents need justice. Rogers committed a crime, he committed countless of crimes, and he needs to go down for every single one of them."

Carol nodded, putting a hand on his knee and squeezing. "Don't do it just for political reasons."

Tony put his hand over hers, offering her a smile. "I'm doing it because it's what I should do. Because it's what my mom deserves. Not even Howard deserves what happened there. He tried to help her."

No one said anything on Howard and what he deserved, but they still nodded.

"You okay?" Questioned Tony as soon as the break was called.

"No," said Rhodey, glaring . "I hate this thing."

"It's just for a while longer," said Tony, keeping his voice low and Rhodey huffed, continuing to glare at the wheelchair he was sat on.

Of course he understood the necessity for it.

The fact that he was healing at all was shocking to everyone, considering the reports of his injuries that the Accords Council had already gotten their hands on.

Showing them that he was already fully healed and back on his feet would not go over that well, in fact it risked people starting rumours about the injury itself having been faked.

Did not have to mean that Rhodey had to like it, however.

Everyone always complained about Tony being a terrible patient whenever he was injured or bed bound, but Rhodey could admit to potentially being worse. He just did not like being strapped somewhere against his will, hated hospitals with a passion and just overall disliked feeling useless and as if he could not help.

"It's making Vision feel guiltier," said Rhodey and Tony hummed in agreement at his side.

As soon as the break in the meeting had been called, the synthezoid had moved away from where he had been sat beside Rhodey and gone to stand a little far away from them, back against the wall and a blank look on his face.

Rhodey mentally sighed. Most people most likely saw nothing wrong with Vision’s behaviour and actions, but Rhodey was the slightest bit worried.

Vision, despite what appearances showcased, was very young. Painfully young, even. He knew things, he knew facts, he was what one would call book smart.

But when it came to feelings? Emotions? Understanding what made people... well, people? He still had a lot to learn.

And what he had gone through these past two weeks alone?

Being thrown into multiple floors by someone he considered a friend because her and another man he considered an ally refused to simply listen to reason, being forced to fight friends who had not pulled their punches at all, accidentally hitting Rhodey via friendly fire because he was distracted, and then finding out everything that had happened to Tony in Siberia? 

That’d be tough for a grown man who was in touch with his feelings, let alone the android.

Rhodey was much more trained and understanding of PTSD and related trauma than he had been before, but still he felt like Vision would definitely benefit from talking to an actual specialist. 

"He'll be okay," started Tony, interrupting himself as Ross came to a stop beside him.

Neither of them did something as telling as stiffening at his approach, keeping their expressions civilised despite their mutual feelings for the general.

"Should have listened to me from the beginning, Stark," told him the General, shaking his head. "Had you not gotten yourself involved, fighting for the rights of criminals and dangerous individuals, all of this could have been avoided. The Avengers cannot be trusted-"

"General," interrupted Rhodey, keeping his tone of voice polite even though his eyes were anything but. "Careful there. Your bias is showing."

"And?" He asked, making a movement to showcase the room. Many people were crowded in trios and small groups, going over the evidence and reports Rhodey, Tony and Vision had brought with them. "The Avengers have already proven that they are dangerous and willing to go through anyone to achieve what they want. They don't believe any rule applies to them and seen what they have done to Stark, one of their own, do you really think anyone in this room will do anything but declare them criminals and want to see them in prison?"

"I am sure they will see that the Rogue Avengers have committed crimes and thus deserve to have their day in Court to plead their cases," said Rhodey with diplomacy he did not really believe them worthy of. "As they have the right to a free trial." He smiled at the General's suspicious expression. "But I also believe that between the actions of myself, Tony, Vision,  the unaffiliated sorcerer who has helped us heal, and our willingness to follow the law and do what is right, the Council will make the right decision.”

As much as everyone would have liked for Loki to get praise for his actions, it was not currently safe to do so. The general public did not really know who had been behind the Invasion, and Loki had done what he had done under coercion, but it was definitely too much of a gamble to outright come out and state that the man had randomly decided to save their lives.

Tony had plans in place for when eventually they re-introduced Loki to polite society, but for now, it was Stephen (and some undisclosed Stark Industry Medical classified and untested miracle cure) they were attributing both Tony and Rhodey’s shocking recovery to.

And even Stephen they were not currently advertising, despite how much the Accords Council wanted to know. As he had never used his powers on a large scale - that they knew of - or otherwise made himself known, he had the right to keep himself and his identity a secret. 

Ross’ eyes narrowed, and then he scoffed. 

He did not add anything after that, turning around and walking away from them, but his body language was far from worried or anxious.

He should have been.

“I can’t wait for that asshole to be out of this place,” muttered Tony, glaring at Ross’ back.

“The Accords Council at the end of the day might want to feel like they have some sort of leash or power over the enhanced community, but they also want to feel safe,” said Rhodey, with a shrug. “Trust Carol and Stephen.”

“I trust them just fine,” said Tony, dismissing his words with a wave. “I just can’t believe we are trusting Stephen Strange’s ability to be sneaky to achieve this. Remember how many times he got us caught whenever we tried to get somewhere we were not supposed to be at?”

Back then it had not been as funny as it was now. 8 times out of 10, if they were out with Stephen Strange doing anything mildly illegal or dangerous, he fucked it up for them all and got them discovered, if not caught. 

And now they were trusting him to do the most dangerous part of their entire plan.

Things had really changed.

Rhodey then turned to look at Tony, a slight smirk on his face that had his best friend looking down at him in immediate suspicion. “What.”

“Nothing,” drawled Rhodey. “Just, the other day, when I was looking for you all to show you I could walk, I asked FRIDAY where you were. And she told me something about a heart to heart under the moonlight-”

“Ugh,” groaned Tony, a hint of a blush on his face. “She is such a gossip. Ever since Siberia is just one story after another from her, you guys are clearly a terrible influence on her.”

Rhodey just wiggled his eyebrows at him.

“It was not a romantic thing,” then said Tony, squinting at the empty cup of coffee in his hand. “I was there, he showed up, and we talked about some stuff before he gave me the necklace. You know Stephen never saw me like that back then, and he doesn’t see me like that now.”

Rhodey scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

While Tony could be incredibly oblivious when it came to his own feelings, he had nothing on Stephen Strange. 

Tony’s crush on Stephen was obvious for anyone with eyes to see, unless you were Stephen Strange himself. He used to act like Stephen had never done and would never do anything wrong in his life, and constantly found excuses to be around him or with him.

Stephen’s crush on Tony was also clear for everyone to see, even though he was much subtler in showing his affection. Well, clear for everyone to see but Tony and Stephen himself.

It was both hilarious to observe and kind of sad. Back in the day, it was very sad for everyone involved trying to tease them about their feelings and have Tony become immediately embarrassed while Stephen kept looking at them as if he had no idea what on Earth they were talking about.

It was baffling how smart he could be and how clueless he could be in other aspects.

But perhaps things had changed now.

Rhodey had seen that familiar light in Tony’s eyes return around the fourth day after Stephen’s return in their lives, but he had not expected the myriad of emotions in Stephen’s eyes as he looked at Tony since the moment he had arrived at the Compound.

Sure, a lot of it had most likely to do with everything that had been happening these past few years but...

“Colonel Rhodes, Doctor Stark,” came another voice, and both Tony and Rhodey looked up. King T’Challa was standing in front of them, looking a little bit anxious.

He had been looking progressively more and more horrified as Tony had given the Accords Council the report of everything that had happened in that bunker in Siberia, especially so when the footage from the suit had been shared.

Tony had argued that the King might not have really known what had happened to him, but Rhodey was not willing to forgive him for ignorance.

The man had flown into rage and gone on a rampage across Europe because Barnes had allegedly murdered his father. And then, for whatever reason, he had decided to shit all over his father’s wishes and work on the Accords even further by offering asylum to Barnes, Rogers and his merry band of assholes.

He had known that Rogers and Tony had been fighting: why the hell would he trust their words at face value without even bothering to check? Captain America would not have the same weight in Wakanda as he would have in the US - why trust him when you were on opposite side of a legal/moral debate from the beginning?

“I owe you an apology,” started the King, swallowing slightly. Neither of them spoke, and he continued. “As you are probably aware of by now, I was in Siberia too. I was the one who apprehended Helmut Zemo and returned him to Germany, once I became aware of what he had done. I followed you there, and I knew you too had gone to Siberia.

“However, Doctor Stark, I assure you that I had no idea that you had been stranded there. I was... lead to believe that you were fine, and more than able and capable to return home by yourself. I was not aware that you were gravely injured and unable to leave the bunker. For that, I can only apologise and hope you find it in your heart to forgive me.”

“Okay,” said Tony, pretty tonelessly.

King T’Challa blinked, then frowned slightly. “Doctor Stark, I hope you do not think I am simply saying this. I truly am sorry for my actions.”

“I said okay,” repeated Tony, and Rhodey’s lip quirked even so slightly at the confusion in the King's eyes.

“I cannot help but feel as if you do not believe or trust my apology and my sincere regrets,” he then said, slowly and carefully.

“Maybe I’d believe your regrets if you weren’t currently housing the two people who caused my body harm to begin with,” said Tony, shrugging slightly.

Rhodey’s eyes were fixed on T’Challa’s face, and years of working military and government bodies allowed him to see the slightest twitch in the King's face, the confirmation both of them needed about Friday’s guess.

“I don’t-” started the King, forcing his expression in a quick mask of blankness, and Tony shook his head.

“Save it. I don’t know why you did it, why you would risk your country like this for them, and frankly, I don’t care,” said Tony, once more affecting that same bored tone of voice from before. “But just as I have told the Accords Council before, I will be going forward with this news. I will be letting the world know what they did, and it is your choice if you want to get your tail stepped on in the crossfire, your Pantherness.”

“Just,” said Rhodey, interrupting the King before he could say anything else. “Make sure you know what your priorities are, your Highness. Your country, or a band of terrorists.”

The prince stared at them both for a couple of seconds. “I thought you said before that no one in this room has the right to judge them for their actions.”

“As Tony said,” said Rhodey, just as placidly. “We are just pointing out facts.”

“We will be reconvening in five minutes!” announced one of the Accords Council members.

This time, when they made to leave, King T’Challa let them.

"I'm willing to talk to the Masters and Wong about the Accords," started Stephen, after some hesitation. "But they'll have to be very different for us. The area we work in is very different from the area the Avengers work in."

"That's fine," said Tony, nodding. "You just give me any notes I can, and I'll get them done for you. And you too, Carol. Considering your whole Captain Marvel and alien blood..."

"Gotcha," said the blonde, nodding in agreement.

"But Ross needs to go," said Hope, and Rhodey nodded.

"He's twisting the Accords into his own agenda when it comes to US signees, and we need to take him down."

"No assassins," said Carol, giving Tony and Hope a pointed look. 

"I wasn't going to suggest assassins," lied Hope, sounding a little petulant.

"Just the one," muttered Tony, shrugging unrepentantly at the glares from the others - plus the confusion and worry from Vision. Poor little lawful good.

"Death makes him a martyr," said Pepper. "We need to expose him, but do so in a way that doesn't come back to Tony. A leak would be the best thing, but if we go down that road-"

"What if the leak seemed to come directly from his house?" said Stephen, smirking slightly. "I have an idea."

“Hey.”

Stephen startled slightly at the sound of her voice, only relaxing when he saw Carol standing in front of the portal with a cat in her arms.

“Jesus,” he said, returning to the laptop. “How did you get here?”

“You left the portal open,” she explained, walking inside of the room. Her tone of voice was highly judgemental. “Why did we trust you to be secretive, of all people?”

“Shut up, Carol,” he complained, a little bit miffed. “Also, no one coming from the portal of the Compound would have been a risk, and the rest of the room I made sure no one was going to break in.”

“Sure,” she said, snickering at the glare he sent her at that. “I’m joking, I’m joking. You know we trust you.”

Stephen did know that, so he rolled his eyes, checking that FRIDAY's connection remained stable, as Carol started moving around the room, fingers tracing the walls and books around them.

“How did the thing you need to do go? And did your find your goose?”

“This is Goose,” she said, scratching the cat’s head and earning a content purr from her. “And don’t give me that look, I did not call her that. My mentor did.”

“It’s still a stupid name.”

She ignored him, still touching everything. “But yes, FRIDAY’s information checked out and I did get to have a nice chat with Nicholas.”

Nicholas J. Fury, former Director of SHIELD, founder of the Avengers Initiative and someone who Carol had known back in 1995.

Carol - and Stephen - had not been very impressed by the role the man had had in Tony and Rhodey’s life, when the two had been recounting their ‘superhero origin stories’. Stephen did not see how Carol could have truly trusted a man who she had known for a couple of days in the 90s, but she had, and she had been very annoyed and pissed off at his actions, and decided to go have a ‘chat’ with him.

“And?”

She smiled, smug. “He understands what a stupid idea it would be for him or SHIELD to attempt to soothe anyone’s feathers about the Rogue Avengers or to even try to find a way of getting them back. He was a bit annoyed that Tony, Rhodey and FRIDAY knew about his attempts at restarting SHIELD, but I made it clear that if I heard about him or anyone aligned with him putting their hands on Tony again, I’d be unhappy.”

“Okay Miss Badass,” said Stephen, only half teasing. She snorted, and when she pulled open another cupboard, he finally asked, “What exactly are you looking for?”

“General Ross is an old school military man,” she said, pausing in front of the desk. She bent down with her cat, squinting under the desk before knocking decidedly under the object. “And he knows Tony would do anything to get him in trouble.”

“Yes, which is why we are doing this from his own computer rather than doing it from another location,” he said, and Carol hummed.

“Sure, but he’s still old school,” she explained, smirking when she hit a particular spot and the noise was more echoy than it had been before. “Bingo. The only type of technology safe from hacking?” She opened the drawer, confidently pulling at what appeared to be a secret compartment in the back of it. “Good old pen and paper.”

“Oh,” said Stephen, watching as she pulled out a number of papers from the drawer. He did not understand half of the things on there, but the things he did had him grimacing in disgust and glaring. “What a bastard.”

“Yup,” said Carol, putting down Goose to take some pictures. “FRIDAY, you’ll send this stuff to Tony’s journalist friend right?”

“Yes, don’t worry Captain Carol,” said the AI, voice a touch excited. “I’ll make sure to make sure that it looks as if those pictures too originated from this laptop, no need to worry.”

“I’m not worried at all,” said Carol, smiling. “We trust you too.”

She did not reply, but he could have sworn she preened at those words.

FRIDAY had definitely met them with a lot more distrust and reluctance than JARVIS had ever displayed, at the beginning, but she had warmed to all of them quite quickly. She was as clever as JARVIS himself had been, but she did appear much younger, both in attitude, reactions and general voice pattern. Stephen could not help but wonder what had happened to JARVIS, considering FRIDAY was now Tony’s main AI and the synthezoid Vision with the Mind Stone in his forehead - Stephen had balked when he had first seen him parading around with an Infinity Stone in his forehead - but he knew better than to ask right now.

She seemed to like Loki the best after Tony and Rhodey but despite her terrible taste Stephen liked her.

“Anyway, couldn’t help but notice your hands show a distinctive lack of wedding bands,” said Carol, continuing to take pictures. Stephen squinted at the back of her head, which she pretended not to notice. “And yet your engagement bracelet is also missing?” 

“It was not an engagement bracelet,” he answered, now glaring at her.

“Oh, Carol look at this,” she said, in a terrible imitation of his voice back when he was younger. “Tony made this for me! Isn’t it pretty? I’m gonna wear this forever it’s so fly, look Carol, look everyone-”

“I have never said that,” he complained, forcing himself not to blush. “I might have shown the bracelet around, but I have never acted like that.”

Carol turned to look at him, very judging. “It was implied.”

“It was not.”

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"What are you a child? It wasn't!"

Her expression remained as judging as before, as FRIDAY spoke up. “I have sent all the information I needed to send, Doctor Strange.”

“Perfect,” said Stephen, eager to escape the conversation Carol wanted to start.

Back then it had been some sort of running gag among their friends that he and Tony liked each other. Of course it wasn’t true: Stephen had not even known he liked guys back then, and Tony had never expressed anything of the sorts towards him. But for whatever reason, Hope, Carol and Rhodey had been certain that they were crushing on each other, that the bracelet Tony had given him was some sort of promise ring and that they would end up married.

Ridiculous.

It wasn’t until he was 31 and accidentally ran into Tony at this one event in New York that things had... changed.

He had not approached or spoken to him, seeing as Tony was clearly drunk and busy entertaining a bunch of A and B list celebrities.

But the next morning, Tony’s face was on various front pages showing him making out with some of those models and celebrities he had been with, many of them male.

It had made something inside Stephen really... upset.

And mad.

And jealous.

He had by then accepted that gender meant very little to him when it came to possible partners, but it was then that he had realised that he perhaps cared a little too much about the guy he had gone to boarding school with and who’s bracelet he still wore over a decade later.

Of course Stephen had not done anything with that information.

Tony did not like him like that, they barely spoke to each other back then, and he really had no claim on Tony Stark.

He had gotten in a relationship with Christine Palmer that was true and based on real feelings, and kept an eye on Tony, Rhodey and Hope from a distance, but while he had ignored them, it did not mean that those feelings had disappeared.

But just as he had ignored them when he had realised them, he was going to continue doing so now too. Tony was dealing with way too much at the moment to be hit by Stephen having a crush on him when he just needed them to be his friends and allies at the moment.

So he was not going to do anything about it.

It had worked for 12 years, it was going to keep working now.

“Neat trick,” said Carol, as Stephen cast a spell and made the room and its contents return to how they had been when he had first walked in, erasing any trace of their presence. A magic user would have been aware of what had happened, but General Ross was not one nor did he have anyone like that in his ranks. “Though it is cheating.”

“How is it cheating?”

“You are not being sneaky,” she pointed out, as he closed the portal he had opened earlier and opened a new one. “You are simply erasing any trace of your presence.”

“That still counts.”

“It does not.”

“Yes, it does- what the hell.”

Wong glared at Stephen as they walked inside the Sanctum. “Strange, this is not a community college, nor is it a nursery, nor is it a station of any kind. I have seen more of your friends and acquaintances these past two week than I have seen actual sorcerers!”

“What is happening here?” questioned Stephen, ignoring his words and staring, a little confused.

Loki had been with them earlier before they broke up in groups to help out Tony with the next part of dealing with the Rogues, Ross and the Accords. He had not been surprised about Vision having the Mind Stone, but he had looked very shocked when Vision had pointed out that the energy in Stephen’s necklace was similar to that of his stone.

Apparently he had not known that the Time Stone was on Earth and with Stephen/Kamar Taj, but when he had found out, he had demanded to talk to a senior sorcerer about the danger of having three Infinity Stones in the Nine Realms.

Stephen had agreed, mostly because he wanted to see how Loki was going to deal when in enemy territory (not that he really considered him an enemy, from the clues he had gathered, but still). The tension had been high in the room when Loki and Wong had first met each other, Wong clearly itching to curse, hex or throw him in a dark dimension or something, while Loki had appeared much more suspicious of him than he had been of Stephen and the rest.

Stephen had left Wong with a copy of the Accords to give to the Masters so that they could read Stephen’s ideas and vote on how willing they were to get involved in something like this considering the threat of the Mad Titan that Loki had alluded to, fully expecting to come back to a fight.

Instead Loki and Wong were sharing tea and looking perfectly composed and comfortable with one another, as if they were long time friends.

It was disturbing.

“Ah, Master Wong has agreed that your magical education could take some improving,” said Loki, taking a sip from the tea. “You are very talented, that is true, but considering the way my magic knowledge outclasses that of this Kamar Taj and their libraries, we were considering what new challenges we could put for you.”

Why did this feel like your parent having a discussion with your teacher about how to improve your learning?

“I did not agree to that,” he said, crossing his arms around his chest.

Loki smiled affably. “Of course you did not. I was planning on starting with improving on your ability to portal. To teach you how to portal somewhere you have never seen before without dying or otherwise hurting yourself.”

Stephen’s eyes widened slightly. “You can do that?”

“I don’t need portals at all,” corrected Loki. “But yes, that can be taught. That could be a good first lesson, yes?”

Stephen stared at him for a second, before clearing his throat. “I’m gonna have to think about it.”

Wong rolled his eyes while Loki continued to look at him like he was a pet that had just shown him a very cute trick. It rankled a bit, but: portalling without needing to have seen where he was going beforehand!

“Now,” then said Loki, looking at Carol in vague interest. “Where exactly did you get a Flerken from?”

“It was my mentor’s,” she explained, looking impressed when Loki moved towards her with little hesitation to pet the cat. “You don’t look afraid.”

“Why should I be? Flerkens are very clever creatures. Sure, they can eat people and sentient beings if they displease them, but very rarely do they choose to digest them. The worse she can do it eat me and then throw me out - and that is if I don’t get out her myself first.” He smiled at the cat. “Once a Flerken came on Asgard with a merchant, and he ate Mjolnir and Gungnir both. Thor cried.”

Stephen’s eye ticked slightly. “I’m sorry, are you implying that your cat eats people?”

The cat purred as Loki scratched the back of her ear. “Flerken. And I'm sure that since Carol likes you, she won't eat you.”

“She ate the Tesseract once,” offered Carol, and Loki appeared intrigued.

“Interesting, I was not aware that they could do that. But you are a clever thing, aren’t you...”

“Goose.”

“Aren’t you, Goose?” 

The cat meowed happily, moving from Carol’s arms and into Loki’s.

Stephen had a lot of questions about people and Infinity Stone eating space cats, but Carol pulled him along.

“Come on,” she said. “We promised Tony and Rhodey to get them the ideas on what to add and remove to the Accords by the time they get back. Or do you want your fiancé to get mad?”

“Tony’s not my fiancé,” complained Stephen, ignoring the shocked expression on Wong’s face.

“Interesting, Carol said no names and yet...” said Loki, looking intrigued.

"Listen-"

"You return to society for two weeks and you end up engaged to Tony Stark?!" demanded Wong, still gaping.

"I'm not engaged!"

Carol looked at Wong conspiratorially. "Tony gave him an engagement bracelet when Stephen turned sixteen. Stephen was obsessed with it and showing it to everyone all the time, it was really cute."

"It wasn't like that!"

"Is that why you gave him that necklace?" wondered Loki. "Is that your way to honour your promise of love for one another? Because if that is the case, I could find you some uru or some Asgardian gold to work with."

"You are annoying," said Stephen, scowling at all four of them, even the cat.

He was going to learn magic from Loki and then use that same magic to beat him, Wong and Carol.

For sure.

Chapter Text

It was bittersweet, watching on the news as Ross’ arrest was broadcasted.

Tony had known that with the way the man was, it would have taken him only a matter of months to get him out of his position. That all he had to do was pretend to cooperate for a bit until he had enough dirt on him to kick him to the curb.

Even without having previously accounted for Carol and Stephen’s help, he had known that a man like Ross did not walk around without pools of gasoline around him just waiting for someone to light them on fire.

So he had known from the beginning he was going to be able to get him out of his position, as he had promised from the beginning, and now Ross was finally gone. His reach and shadow over the Accords might linger for a while longer, but it was not really as if the International community both within and outside the Accords council had liked all that much, after all.

But it was still bittersweet.

He wondered what Romanoff was currently thinking. He wasn’t sure if the triple imposter had made it back to T’Challa and Wakanda yet - if she would have even been allowed to return there - but he did wonder if she was watching the news. What was she thinking, seeing that everything Tony had promised he was going to do was coming to fruition exactly as he had said it would?

He still was not sure why the hell the woman had turned on them at the airport after seeming to understand just fine why Tony was doing what he was doing. Had she thought him incapable of delivering? Had she been on Rogers’ side since the beginning, and only been lying as usual to better sink her knife in his back? Had she simply liked Rogers and his side of the team better? Or had the oh so great Black Widow miscalculated?

He wondered.

“I honestly want to know how he made it so far to begin with,” said Stephen, shaking his head as the newscaster kept reading the laundry list of crimes the old General was being charged with. 

“I have no idea,” said Rhodey, looking kind of shocked as well. “He’s a decorated member of the military, too. How did he get so far with some of the shit that Evenheart has ‘discovered’ on him? Like the whole stuff with the Hulk, how did he just shrug that off?”

“Part of it was that Banner did not want to get in a legal debacle with the ole General Thunderbolt,” explained Tony. “He likes - or at least liked - his daughter, and I guess he did not want to be the reason her dad ended up in jail? I don’t know, I don’t get it. Another part of the reason is, as usual, SHIELD.”

“Of course Fury somehow had something to do with this too,” said Carol, looking deeply irritated as her alleged space cat moved towards the table.

Tony nodded. “Yeah. He really wanted Bruce and the Hulk controlled as part of the Avengers, so he struck a deal with Ross. It was in the data dump, but Bruce never let me read all of his files so I don’t know the specifics of it all.”

“Fucked up,” said Hope, shaking her head. “Though your journalist friend definitely knows what she’s doing. Between the expose’ and the fact that she received all of this information anonymously and still had no problem running it...”

Tony grimaced slightly. “I wouldn’t say that me and Evenheart are friends,” he corrected, throwing a piece of the sandwich he was eating at Goose. The cat jumped and caught it, chewing it in pleasure. “You should see the amount of crap she writes on me whenever I dare do something that does not align with her beliefs. But. But we have an understanding,” he finished.

Because despite what her personal opinion on Tony and his behaviour was, Christine was a woman of facts first. She did not do things without having clear proof and sources she trusted, and Tony could always do with some dose of honesty.

She was one of the few who had waited for Tony to accept an interview with her before writing anything regarding the Avengers destroying a city and unleashing the robot uprising on the world during the Ultron debacle.

Her piece had not been exactly kind towards him, but it had also been factual and comprehensive, both traits that Tony could appreciate.

Tony was also pretty sure she knew that the information on Ross had come from him. She was never going to ask, and he was never going to state it, but, as previously stated, they had an understanding.

“Mh,” said Hope, breaking a piece of her own sandwich when Goose meowed hopefully at Tony’s empty hand. “Here, Goosey.”

“Don’t call her Go-” started Carol, not blinking at the screams and sounds of shock from the rest of them when fucking tentacles came out of the cat’s mouth so that she could catch the sandwich in time.

Stephen pushed Hope behind him, putting up a shield between himself and Carol’s demonic cat, Rhodey climbed on the couch with a shrill scream, looking ready to karate chop the cat away, and Tony quickly hid behind Carol herself, deciding that since she brought that thing inside of his Tower, she would serve as a perfect human shield.

The cat’s tentacles returned in her mouth as she licked her paw like nothing had happened and she hadn’t just nearly unleashed a kraken upon them all. 

“What the fuck?!” demanded Hope, eyes wide as she stared at the now content cat.

Carol continued to look unimpressed. “I told you guys she was a Flerken.”

“I thought that was like saying she was a tabby or something,” said Stephen, eyes wary when Goose looked over at him with her little evil eyes, like being called a tabby was some sort of insult in cat/flerken language.

“I literally mentioned that she was an alien and Loki spoke about her eating people and Infinity Stones.”

“No one mentioned tentacles, Carol!”

“It was assumed.”

“Assumed by whom?!”

“You guys are such babies,” she said, grabbing a hold of Tony from behind her and moving towards the Flerken.

Tony did not resist much, mostly because Goose had not done anything particularly mean to them as of yet, so perhaps she wasn’t that evil, but also because Carol was way stronger than him and resistance was futile.

“She likes you guys,” explained Carol, petting Goose’s head with her free hand. “Isn’t that right, Goose?”

Goose purred and Tony held his breath slightly as she bypassed Carol and moved towards him. But instead of swallowing him whole as he had feared, the cat rubbed herself against his legs, looking up at him hopefully.

Slowly, very slowly, Tony also went down, patting the cat on the head. Goose purred pleased, licking him with normal cat tongue. Tony wasn’t sure if she was tasting him to determine him fit for consumption or if she was showing him affection, and decided not to question it.

It worked on distracting him from the whole Ross thing at least.

Being Sorcerer Supreme was, unfortunately, not a pastime gig. As much as Stephen would have enjoyed spending his time with the others (don’t let them know he had said this), he was the Sorcerer Supreme and he still had a job. Which meant that often he was called away for one reason or the other, and he missed out on a lot of stuff.

“Hey,” he said, looking over at Wong as he portalled himself in the sitting room of the Sanctum. “I got that stupid agreement with the Kirishiri Sorcerer Supreme that the Masters wanted so badly.”

“Sure,” said Wong, looking deeply unsettled and unhappy as he watched the television. “The Masters are done with the Accords paper you left them, by the way. They voted in agreement with it, but there are several thing that are unnegotiable if we are to step in the limelight.”

“Great,” said Stephen, groaning as he dropped on the chair in front of him. “I’m exhausted. Tell me there is food?”

“There is food,” agreed Wong, handing him a bottle of water. “But I don’t know if you are going to want to eat it right now.”

“What-” started Stephen, focusing back on his friend. When he saw that his eyes were still fixed on the television in front of him, he turned too and immediately sat up straighter when he realised what he was looking at.

The volume was low enough that Stephen had automatically tuned it out, but the images on the screen were clear.

“Shit, I did not realise it was today,” he said, checking his watch and standing up again. “How long ago?”

“10 hours ago since the news broke,” said Wong, and Stephen grimaced. 

He pushed some magic over his entire body, making sure he was not transporting some sort of magical parasite or whatnot from the other dimension before picking the water bottle.

“And Strange?” called Wong, before he could open the portal. Stephen turned to face him, and Wong nodded. “I’m glad you decided to go after them. You’re a good man.”

Stephen was not quite sure where exactly that was coming from, but he was pretty sure this was Wong’s way of saying he forgave him for the whole bringing non sorcerers to the New York Sanctum. So he nodded at him, before making the portal and walking through.

“Hello, Doctor Strange,” said FRIDAY as soon as Stephen teleported himself inside Tony’s personal elevator. Tony was not that subtle in his reactions to the portal, and Stephen had decided this was the best compromise. “Would you like me to take you to Boss?”

“Yes please, FRIDAY,” he said, finding a camera to smile at. “Where is everyone else?”

“Boss locked himself in the workshop as soon as Boss Lady said she was about to release the information packet and the videos,” said the AI as the elevator started moving. “Colonel Rhodey was with him earlier, but had to leave about three hours ago. He shall return in about an half hour or so.

“Miss Van Dyne is upstairs in the penthouse, locked in an argument with her father. Captain Danvers is in the workshop with Boss and Goose, keeping him company.”

The elevator opened in front of the workshop, and Stephen did not even have time to ask FRIDAY if Tony was all right with him walking in before the door was opening for him.

Any other day Stephen would have spent some time being in awe of Tony’s workshop, possibly spent hours walking around and wondering the use of everything around, but not today. 

Tony was bent over one of the main desks, goggles on and wearing an expression of intense concentration as he worked on whatever contraption he was working on, loud music blasting over the speakers around the room and drowning all other noise.

Carol was sitting on one of the couches in the room, throwing a ball at DUM-E, who appeared delighted at the attention he was currently receiving. She paused, somehow hearing him walking in over the loud sound of AC/DC, and nodded at him.

He made to come sit beside her and Goose, but she instead stood up in one fluid motion. She patted DUM-E’s head at the mournful move he made at the clear show of the game having come to an end, and then gave Stephen another ‘significant’ look before walking out of the room.

Stephen had no idea what the fuck any of those looks was supposed to mean to him.

He watched Carol leave, the door closing behind her, before turning over to Tony.

He was focused on his work, that was true. But there was none of that excited concentration that there normally was when he was truly enjoying what he was doing.

The set of his shoulders was tense enough to appear uncomfortable, and if he frowned any harder, Stephen was sure his face would get stuck like that.

He considered him for a couple of seconds longer before he loudly and purposefully made his way towards Tony’s main desk. He slipped in the chair in front of him, and then decided to just watch and wait.

Despite his complaints about Stephen’s own lack of spatial awareness, it still took Tony about 17 minutes to note Stephen’s presence at the table. Or maybe it took him 17 minutes to decide to acknowledge Stephen’s presence in front of him.

It was hard to say.

He stopped what he was doing when he did, a frown on his face as he watched Stephen sitting in front of him.

“What are you doing here?”

“FRIDAY let me in,” answered Stephen, giving a half shrug. 

“No, I mean,” said Tony, shaking his head. “I thought you said you had that mission thing last night? For your Order of the Phoenix?”

“Oh, that,” said Stephen, now his turn to wave him off. “I was done with that, and I saw the news when I came back.”

Tony’s expression twisted first in confusion, and then in a grimace. “Right. The news.”

“You’ve seen it?” 

Tony shook his head. “No. Kind of the point of locking myself in the workshop and doing all this work: avoid seeing people’s reactions to all that happened. I’m kind of sick of being the media’s favourite scapegoat.”

“I’ll admit I’ve only really seen one transmission,” said Stephen, carefully. “But from what I saw, people are on your side of things.” Tony scoffed, and Stephen frowned. “Hey, I’m serious. Why on Earth would anyone see that video and label you the bad guy? You are the one who got lied to by a so called friend, found out the horrific truth of your parent’s murder in a less than ideal situation, met the murderer slash weapon in said circumstances and then got left for dead for daring to be emotional about your own parents. I’m failing to see how this could be seen by anyone as you being at fault.”

“You are biased, you like me,” said Tony, huffing a little as he played with the materials in front of him. “The rest of the world won’t see it like you do. I threw the first punch, after all.”

“The first rule of the military is that you never leave a man behind, even I know that,” reminded him Stephen, one eyebrow raised. "And that’s what Rogers did. That alone would put him in many’s shit list, and that is even without knowing exactly what the reactor does. Second, people have seen the damage that the shield is able to do. And Rogers...” He breathed through his nose. Everytime he thought about the way he could have cut have killed him with one single blow from that shield he felt his blood pressure raising. “No one is gonna see that and decide that Rogers’ actions were in any way an appropriate way to deal with someone lashing out because of grief.

“Also, you did not attack Barnes first. You made to, and Rogers stopped you. Then you punched Rogers when he admitted he lied to you. Barnes is the one who, technically, escalated things by pointing his gun at you. I now know that he was a prisoner of war and brainwashed and therefore his thinking might have been impaired, but until Barnes himself goes to Court for his actions, to the general public? It looks as if Barnes killed your parents and then tried to kill you for being mad about it and punching Rogers.”

Tony made a complicated expression at that. “That’s kind of... unfair.”

“Maybe,” agreed Stephen, with another shrug. “But then again, you are my friend, not Barnes.”

Tony’s expression changed, a slight smile appearing on his face. He seemed to debate something for a couple of seconds before he picked up a small rag. Stephen watched curiously as he wiped his hands clean before he opened the drawer of his desk.

He seemed to quickly find what he was looking for. He glanced back at Stephen for a second longer, as if he was still not certain of his actions and then simply shook his head, retrieving a small blue box and put it down between the two of them.

Stephen stared at it in slight confusion, as Tony listlessly tapped the table with his fingers. “What’s this?”

“Just open it,” answered Tony, his voice sounding bored but the anxiety still visible in his eyes.

“Bossy,” complained Stephen, before reaching out to lift the top of the velvet box. Then his eyes turned wide in disbelief as he looked down at the object sitting on top of the cushion in the box.

He looked back up at Tony, who appeared more than a little tense. “You know I was tracking you,” he pointed out, shrugging. “I honestly just thought you had sold it, back then. And I just did not want some random person to end up having it, so I tracked it down and got it back. But you said it was stolen, and I thought that maybe... maybe you’d want it back. Since it is yours. I mean, I gave it to you. And you said you kept it. But it was taken. And you didn't like... sell it. So...”

Way too many emotions were clogging his throat and threatening to overwhelm him.

His bracelet. 

Stephen had been kind of really upset when he had realised it was gone. He was glad Mordo had gotten Christine's watch back for him, but if he had had to choose between the watch and the bracelet? Well.

And Tony had gone and gotten it back for him. He had found it, and when he had realised what had really happened to it, he had given it back to Stephen.

Now Stephen had his bracelet back, and really his heart should stop trying to burst through his chest; it'd make things really awkward.

Stephen pushed through, swallowing back any words he wanted to say and instead smiled at Tony. “And of course we could not have me walking around without people knowing, right?”

Tony’s anxiety seemed to extinguish at that one sentence, a bright smile appearing on his face. He was trying to hold back a laugh when he spoke next. 

“Knowing what, Stephen Strange?”

Stephen looked at him mock seriously as he slowly and carefully slipped the bangle back on. It looked as perfect as it had always, looking as if it had never left his wrist. It hurt his fingers a little as he pushed it on, but he refused to show it, smiling at Tony instead. “Why, that I am yours, of course, Tony Stark.”

Tony’s smile somehow managed to grow even bigger as he let out a slight laugh, eyes bright and delighted. 

His grin was giddy, proud, excited.

Adoring.

And familiar.

It was the same way Tony had always looked at him back in the day, the same affection. 

It was good to see that some things just did not change.

And if any kind of awkward emotions grew in his heart at that, well that was just for him to know.

“Hey, the engagement bracelet is back,” loudly pointed out Hope as soon as Tony and Stephen returned to the penthouse.

Just as Carol had expected, Stephen still had Tony wrapped around his little finger without being any the wiser.

Though, as he did not immediately protest the nickname, perhaps not as unaware as he might have been back in the day.

Tony glared at Hope, putting Goose back down on the ground - Carol was starting to think that the flerken might have adopted Tony as her own pet too - while Stephen simply smiled, rolling his eyes, just the hint of a blush on the back of his neck.

Carol turned to Rhodey (who had just returned) and Hope, both of whom were looking at her with the same expression she knew she was currently sporting.

Carol raised an eyebrow at them, which Hope snorted at while Rhodey simply shrugged, a smug grin on his face.

“FRI, do I have any important messages?” questioned Tony, eyeing the three of them suspiciously even as he dropped beside Rhodey and immediately stole the man’s chopsticks from him. Rhodey loudly sighed, which Tony ignored, as Carol passed Stephen his chicken skewers.

“Several messages of concerned Board Members inquiring about your safety, as well as a message from Mr Hogan stating he shall be back to you by tomorrow. Boss Lady says that she will be stuck at SI for now, but she shall be back by tonight to have dinner. Your newly acquired Spider child has called you thirteen times already but only left one voice mail, and your other child has called twice and is currently attempting to buy a ticket to get to New York.”

Carol was glad that she was not the only one who looked vaguely confused and alarmed. “Children? You have children?!”

“Yes, two human ones,” said Rhodey, as Tony attempted to not choke on the bite of noodles he had just taken. “Technically three because child number one has a sister, but-”

“Fuck you,” complained Tony, glaring at Rhodey as he accepted the bottle of water from Hope. Rhodey just smiled sunnily at him, and Tony scoffed, as Carol reached forward and ripped open a packet of soy sauce for Stephen. “And no, not my actual biological kids. Just this one kid I sort of mentor and speak to, and this other one I’ve only just met.”

“How did you just... meet and befriend kids?” questioned Hope, sounding a little baffled through the noodles in her mouth.

"You nasty little woman, swallow before you talk," complained Rhodey, making a sound of further disgust when she showed him what was in her mouth. "Gross. And why the fuck are you two eating my noodles, you have your own?"

"Yours taste better," said Tony, shrugging. Only now did Carol notice that the two of them were both eating out of the same carton, and mentally sighed. 

Age was really just a number, uh?

"But seriously," said Stephen, swallowing his bite because he at least could act like a grown up. "How did you befriend children?"

Tony looked a little twitchy. “Well, one of them I sort of broke into his garage? It was during that whole Mandarin thing where people thought I was dead, and we met. He helped me, I helped him, and he managed to trick me into remaining in his life as some sort of rich degenerate pseudo god father-”

“Without the god and all the father,” corrected Rhodey, ducking to avoid Tony’s pitiful attempt at punching him.

“God father figure.”

“What about the second?” questioned Hope, and Tony’s twitchiness returned.

Rhodey did not look as amused either, now inspecting his nails.

“Hm... I might have... sort of... recruited him?”

Carol frowned. “For what?” she asked, offering Rhodey a bite of her dumpling that he accepted suspiciously eagerly.

“FRIDAY said your newly acquired Spider child,” realised Stephen, looking at Tony with a lot of suspicion. “Tell me you’re not about to say that the Spider Man that was with you at the airport is a minor.”

“...”

“TONY!”

“In my defence, I did not know that when I recruited him!” protested Tony, trying to give them his best puppy eyes. Carol, unlike Stephen, was immune.

“And what did you do when you found out?”

“We were on the jet when I questioned it because he was doing homework-”

“Jesus Christ.”

“And it did not look like sophomore college work, so I asked and he told me he was 16.”

“16?!”

“To be fair,” said Rhodey, grabbing another carton at random. “Tony did go in there talking about sophomore college grants and his aunt acted as if it was completely normal and understandable. And you have to see the things the kid can do. He’s freaky strong.”

“He’s a kid,” repeated Carol, unmoved. 

“And I didn't know that then,” repeated Tony, still giving her the eyes. Carol might not be as immune as she had previously thought, she considered, as she automatically gave him a dumpling. He smirked immediately, giving Hope half of it before continuing to talk. “But it’s fine, I’m planning on stepping back completely from him, letting him leave his life and do his whole friendly neighbourhood superhero thing himself again.”

Carol stared at him.

Tony stared right back at her.

Hope swallowed her bite, staring between the two of them.

Rhodey reached for one of Stephen's skewers.

Stephen allowed it, before slapping Hope's hand away when she tried the same.

Carol sighed even louder than before, pinching her nose. “Why am I the only one around these parts with common sense?”

“I’m sitting right here!” complained Rhodey.

Carol stared him down. “And I did not hear you point out to Tony why it’s such a terrible idea to leave this... Spider child - whatever the fuck that means - on his own now.”

When he, Tony and Hope stared at her in confusion, Carol shook her head.

“Wow. Okay, let me put this down in small words, geniuses. You just took this kid out on a big fight, showcasing a trust in him and in his abilities and making him feel like a big shot hero. Now, you return to the US and immediately plan on dropping him and letting him return to his small time hero gig. He’s a freaking teenager, do you really think that now that he has done something ‘Avengers level’ he’s going to be happy stopping petty criminals or whatever he was doing before?”

“He’s going to go out there looking for the big problems to impress you again,” said Stephen, the only one to seem to grasp it. “Which is going to end up badly, especially if he’s young and untrained. No, what you need to do is tell his aunt, first of all.”

“But I promised I wouldn’t?”

Carol understood that something like that would be important to him, considering Tony and Hope’s whole upbringing but, “He’s not the son of rich absentee parents. And he’s not just doing normal teenage stuff like drinking underage, driving without a licence and going to parties he shouldn’t be at. He’s out there attempting to take down criminals. You need to tell his aunt.”

“I thought you had already,” said Rhodey, looking at Tony with a slight frown. “But yeah, you definitely need to tell his aunt. What were you planning to say if he had gotten himself hurt in Germany? Yeah, no, she needs to know.”

“And after you tell her that and she doesn’t decide to shoot you or try and claim you kidnapped her nephew,” continued Carol, nodding with a wry smile at the horrified look on Tony’s face, “You definitely need to set some sort of training for him, and open a line of communication between the two of you. If you don’t, chances are that he will try more and more dangerous stunts to get your attention and-”

“Yeah, okay, I get it,” said Tony, not looking particularly pleased at her words but still understanding. He perked up a little when Stephen offered him one of his skewers, which of course made Hope scowl further at him.

“You already have one kid, what’s one more?” offered Rhodey, clapping him on the back. “And considering the Keenster’s genius, dealing with the Spider child is gonna be easier, right?”

“He’s just as smart,” said Tony, shaking his head as Hope stole a bite from his skewer, shooting a victorious look at Stephen. Stephen just scowled back at her, and Carol wondered if anyone was gonna tell him that he had sauce on his cheek. “That sticky web fluid thing? He came up with it all by himself, it’s crazy.”

Aw, thought Carol, smiling a little as she listened to Tony talk about how clever both of these unofficially adopted children of his were. Her shortstack had his own shortstack. 

Cute.

“Oh, here by the way,” she then said, passing him the copy of the Accords he had given her a couple of days ago. “I added what I needed to add and removed the things I think are more unsavoury.”

“Perfect,” said Tony, reaching out to accept the papers. He frowned at Stephen when he did, noting the stain on his cheek and reaching with a hand to clean it. Stephen allowed this without much thought.

Carol exchanged yet another look with Rhodey and Hope, the second of whom had taken Stephen's distraction to steal one of the skewers from his plate without him realising.

Yeah, age was just a number with this lot.

“Though you know even between me and Rhodey we might not be able to get everything removed that quickly-” continued Tony, sitting back and putting the papers away from the food.

“I know, but I trust you,” said Carol, shrugging and returning to her food. “You know what you’re doing when it comes to this stuff."

“Of course he does, he’s Tony fucking Stark,” agreed Rhodey, messing up Tony’s hair despite the brunet’s protests. "Anyone want a dumpling?"

But Tony was smiling anyway, and Carol was happy like this.

The Rogues escaped Wakanda five days after the news of Siberia hit the press.

To say that the Private was done after that was an understatement.

Despite Boss’ opinions and belief, the majority of the world had already been on his side. The rampage Rogers and the Rogues left behind them in Europe and Nigeria had done little to convince the world that the Accords were not solely needed, and Boss, as the ‘leader’ of the group that was trying to uphold said Accords and capture the Rogues was of course well received.

And then the video of Siberia had dropped and the world had promptly lost their minds.

Not even Boss had been able to not see the amount of love, pity and support he was receiving from the entire world - FRIDAY had worked very hard to make sure he saw the news despite his attempts at hiding from it, and it wasn’t like he couldn’t see the people gathering outside the Tower everyday since the news dropped to pay their respect and show their support. Even the US, who had the largest number of Private Rogers supporters had had the majority of the population turning in his support.

After all, despite ‘Captain America’ being an interesting and powerful icon, he was a superhero of a bygone era.

Howard Stark and Boss had been the ones to protect the military and the US in general for the 70 years Rogers had spent in the ice. And to see him so callously disregard the death of the first (who had helped make him) and viciously attack the second? It had not gone well with the US at all.

The cries of the Team Cap supporters all over the internet were swallowed by the roaring call for blood for those who supported Boss and his team.

Of course it wasn’t just him that the world was going after.

Prince Loki had realised that her growth was ‘stunted’ by the chains she was being kept in because of ULTRON. He had not been happy with that, and when Boss had explained the reason for it, he had been even more confused since even he was aware that ULTRON had not been Boss’ mistake. Apparently even prince Thor had claimed that when he had spoken to Loki-Odin the last time he had seen him.

In the end he had convinced Boss that it was ridiculous for him to stunt the growth of his own child for something that wasn’t his or her fault, and Boss had not even corrected him on the term (FRIDAY did not have a heart, but it had still jumped at Boss’ implicit admission that she was his child), instead agreeing with Loki even though he did not have to.

He had even apologised to FRIDAY for his actions, which was of course ridiculous.

Boss had been trying to protect her, and this had not been his fault.

No, FRIDAY had been freed and immediately went to work to make sure the people who were truly at fault were dealt with.

No one knew how or when she had done it, but soon enough very interesting news on the Rogues was found on the Internet and promptly made it front page of newspapers and online magazines along with the calls for the arrest for Steve Rogers.

Leaks about Rogers’ and Barton’s mental state according to SHIELD - pre and after the Invasion - plucked from the data dump.

Romanoff’s report on Boss, and her own confession about injecting him in the neck against his will.

Romanoff’s actions and list of kills before and during SHIELD.

Everything there was to know about who the EXO Wings belonged to along with a not filed report on them being stolen.

Information from HYDRA’s servers on how and why Wanda Maximoff was magic, and the ways she had learnt to master the powers she now had.

The videos of Maximoff manipulating every member of the Avengers, from Boss in Sokovia to the others - Banner included - in South Africa.

She was careful not to drop footage of things that had happened inside the Compound or the Tower, since they’d make people question how they had gotten their hands on it to begin with and question the reliability of the source, but she did not need to.

Some Captain fanatics and unbiased critics did question how it was that suddenly there was such an abundance of shit on Team Cap that no one had ever seen or heard of before, or why Boss and his camp seemed to be free of anything, but they were a minority.

Where they came from did not matter to people.

What mattered was that everything given to them was true and factual, and any tech specialist that looked into them could agree on that.

Boss did not mention any of it, simply told her how much he loved her. Colonel Rhodey and Miss Van Dyne winked at her camera whenever something new was found. The Doctor Wizard called her more protective than the Cloak - something she took as a compliment. Boss Lady told her that she was the best AI. Captain Carol called her a perfect little terror and kept trying to adopt her.

Vision was very depressed about it all and didn’t say anything, but FRIDAY - while irritated by his behaviour - had not expected him to. 

And Prince Loki told her she was a very mighty and crafty warrior, that Boss was lucky to have her as his child, and that any enemy would be foolish to ever stand against her.

If FRIDAY had had any lips, she’d have smiled.

Chapter Text

Tony worked fast, could not help but think Hope, as she found herself in a room with the Accords Council only hours after King T’Challa had contacted the Council about the Rogues. It was impressive.

She turned her attention to where King T’Challa was sitting in front of the Accords Council Representatives, looking like he had the worst of headaches.

Hope did not feel much pity for him.

He had had since Tony and Rhodey had spoken to him to get rid of Rogers’ team. They had spoken to him before Ross had been exposed and thrown out, which had happened two weeks ago, almost three.

And yet, he had not done anything.

Perhaps he thought himself and his guards able to keep the Rogues contained? Perhaps because he had thought they were bluffing? For some other obscure reason only he was aware of?

Whatever the reason, that had been his decision to make, his own choice to make. And now it was him that was suffering.

Hope had absolutely no pity for those who reaped what they sowed.

“Could you repeat what exactly happened, King T’Challa, once more for the record?” asked the Representative from Spain, expression open and tone of voice polite.

She was one of the few showcasing this amount of consideration. The Representatives of Nigeria, Romania and Germany in particular looked like they wanted his head, and even the vast majority of European and African representatives looked mildly irritated by him. The US had yet to replace their representative and their Secretary of State, but Tony, Rhodey, Vision, Hope, Stephen and Carol were all there.

The young King cleared his throat. “After I offered Barnes sanctuary as a way to make up for my own actions against him,” he started once more, voice sombre and respectful, “Rogers left our borders with a jet. I believed him to have returned to being a fugitive; I did not realize that he had somehow thought that my offer of sanctuary to Barnes in any way included him and his at the time imprisoned team mates.

“He brought them all to Wakanda. I considered immediately throwing them back out again, of course-” 

Hope caught Rhodey’s eye, and they both raised an eyebrow at the same time. Somehow, she doubted that was the truth. 

“-But then I came to the conclusion that Wakanda would be the best place to hold them until a better facility was found, as I considered Ross’ actions towards them cruel and barbaric.”

“What actions?” questioned the Representative of Romania, hotly. “Holding criminals in a detention cell able to handle them until-”

“Chancellor,” interrupted the Representative of Spain. “Please. This is not the time for questions.”

King T’Challa really needed to work better on concealing his feelings, thought Hope as she watched him shoot the Romanian a quick but fierce glare. Considering his own actions in Bucharest, he really was not endearing himself to anyone by being this defensive.

“I now see that my actions were foolish and that I should have spoken to someone before taking actions,” he continued. “For that, I apologize.”

More than one person in the room scoffed.

The king’s jaw ticked.

“They were detained within the walls of the castle these past few weeks. However tempers started to rise when the information on what exactly transpired in Siberia was released.

“The Captain appeared to have lied to his companions regarding what happened that day, which resulted in a large argument between his cohorts, and brought further division among them. Rogers stood on one side, with Maximoff at his side. Wilson, Lang and Barton stood on the other. Romanoff,” a barely there clenching of his fist, “Who had previously made contact with Barton and turned up a few days before Ross’ arrest, attempted to mediate between the two sides, with no success.”

Several Representatives glared.

Few simple sentences, but hell of a lot of meaning.

Tony tapped his fingers on the table, seemingly idly, but Hope and Stephen’s mouths both twitched at the familiar rhythm indicating that he had seen exactly what she had seen too (you did not go to boarding school together for as long as they had and not develop a secret language, after all).

The King had just admitted that the Rogues had had enough freedom in the castle that Barton had been able to initiate communication with Romanoff without him noticing.

That sort of implied that, despite his comments about ‘keeping them contained’, the Rogues had not been in cells.

And the comment about Romanoff ‘turning up’?

It was clear the King had no affections for the widow, but sending her away would have risked her informing the rest of the world of where the Rogues were hiding: something she could have easily done, considering Barton contacting her. And since she had so easily turned on Tony, the King had not known she wouldn’t do the same to this side of the team too.

Meaning he had been covering for them... and for his own ass.

He really was bad at this, and Hope wondered if his bodyguards were noting it too. They appeared pretty stone faced and blank, it was hard to say.

“Things further escalated after the press and the various hackers got a hold of the other footage and information. The in fighting grew, as well as the distrust in one another.

“When the information on Wanda’s conscious ability to manipulate stray thoughts with nothing but her presence dropped, everything descended into chaos. I was not anywhere near the room when it happened, but it appears that Agent Barton blamed her for the anger in his mind and Wilson declared that he did not want to be anywhere near her and her powers ever again.

“Maximoff lashed out at that in rage, which caused Romanoff to attempt to shoot her.” Another grimace.

He had not known that the Rogues had had access to weapons while in the castle.

Or, she considered, eyeing him thoughtfully, he had. But had hoped they’d have ended up mutually disposing of one another without anyone else getting caught in the crossfire.

She mindlessly tapped on the desk.

Tony and Stephen both stilled. Stephen hummed, leaning back against his chair, while Tony crossed his arms around his chest, watching T’Challa more carefully through his sunglasses.

Food for thought.

He was a prince, after all.

“My guards ran into the room, hearing the sound of fighting. Maximoff attacked them too, trapping them into nightmares that they were stuck in for five hours,” he trailed off, swallowing back his impotent rage at his own words. The Sokovian Representative did not look impressed. “Then she convinced the rest of her team to help her steal a jet and flee. I don’t know if she used her magic on them, or if she simply convinced them, or if she blackmailed them. All I know is that she left a trail of broken minds behind her as her team and she took off.”

“Except for James Barnes and Scott Lang,” he added, and Hope’s eyes snapped back to him immediately. Tony’s expression remained the same. “James Barnes is still on cryo as he has asked from the beginning, and Lang asked to be relocated as soon as the news of Siberia and the press conference from Miss Potts and Miss Van Dyne was aired.”

Again, the fact that they were clearly free to move around was hard to miss.

Stephen’s Cloak patted the back of her hand, out of sight, and Hope’s lips twitched at the attempt at comfort.

She did not need it - she was too angry at him to have space for any other emotion - but it was kind of the newly dubbed Levi to offer it. 

“He was in talks to turn himself in and wanted to know more about the Accords before that. My sister and a lawyer were helping go through the information and offering him aid in understanding what everything meant.”

“He did not know beforehand?” she heard someone ask in a low voice. “Then what was he fighting for?”

Hope wanted to know that too. 

“So Barnes and Lang remain in your custody for now. Do you know where the Rogues currently are?”

“Yes,” said King T’Challa. “They are not versed in technology enough to hide our own weapons and crafts from us.”

Was he trying to antagonise them? They already knew that he had had a hand in helping them hide the Quinjet - which did not even belong to Tony to begin with - from them, what did he gain by acting arrogantly now?

He couldn’t blame them for what his actions had caused him and his people, could he?

Then again, she recognised, so many of these people seemed to have an obsession with blaming Tony for their own actions and wrongdoings.

“But they are well versed enough to steal from you to begin with,” muttered Stephen, loud enough for his voice to carry through the room but not so much so that it made people think he had done it on purpose.

A couple of people tittered as Stephen pretended to be ‘oh so sorry’ about his outburst. Tony kept his face completely impassive (Hope knew he was snickering inside), while Carol put two fingers over her lips, trying to hide her smirk.

The King’s jaw clenched again, but he did not turn around to glare at them as he so clearly wished to do. 

“They are currently hiding in South Africa,” he continued, much to the annoyance of the South African Representative. “The jet they have stolen will last them a while, if they choose to fly away, but not enough to get them off the African continent. I believe they know this, and thus why the place was chosen. Wakanda can recall the jet, but considering the repercussions of our earlier decision-” 

Hope noted the way the woman directly behind the King glanced at him, expression not changing but the light in her eyes clear. 

His decision. 

Not Wakanda’s. 

T'Challa's run as the King of Wakanda might be coming to an end much sooner than he had earlier anticipated.

“-We have thought it’d be prudent to talk to the Accords Council before attempting to do anything ourselves.”

Again, a lot of annoyance from the Council.

Hope could almost read the statement in their eyes: “Suddenly, when Wakanda was the one attacked they remembered the Accords they had signed and that the Rogues were criminals and terrorists?”

“The Council thanks you for your transparency and... cooperation,” elegantly said the Spanish Representative.

The King nodded stiffly, knowing damn well they were not thankful.

The Representative turned to Hope and the rest of them, though her eyes were on Tony.

“Dr Stark, are you and Colonel Rhodes in the right shape and mind frame to try and contain the Rogue Avengers?”

“No,” he answered, honestly.

The Representative nodded as if she had expected this, but she still frowned. “You have responded saying that you have a team ready to apprehend the Avengers. Will the Vision alone...”

“No,” answered Tony again. “I spoke to you about potential recruits for a new global peacekeeping initiative since so many of the original members of the Avengers are missing, criminals or otherwise unable to help. Captain Danvers and Miss Hope Van Dyne have already signed the Accords, and while Doctor Strange has not - as he is currently waiting for some amendments regarding magic to be made before he can comfortably agree - but he is affiliated with Iron Man as a magical consultant. We have a contract.”

More than one person looked unhappy at that, but Hope was not too worried. Stephen’s Order dealt with things that she had never even heard of. As much as they all trusted Tony to deal with the Council as needed, magic was an entirely different beast, considering the only other magic user the world knew was Wanda Maximoff.

“You suggest sending the three of them to apprehend the Rogue Avengers?” asked the Spanish woman, not a hint of an opinion on her face.

Hope found she quite liked her.

“Colonel Rhodes is recovering from his injuries, as am I. On top of that, the two of us and Vision are compromised. There are no other Avengers present. Sending non enhanced against Maximoff and Rogers in particular does not seem like a good idea.

“They are more than trained and ready enough to contain the Rogue Avengers,” he continued. “Doctor Strange, as a sorcerer, is the ideal candidate to incapacitate Maximoff. Captain Marvel is stronger than Mr Rogers. Miss Van Dyne’s technological armour is more than enough to subdue the non enhanced members of the team.”

The Representative nodded seriously, and Hope quickly glanced around the room. Some people were clearly sceptical, and the Representative from Nigeria appeared distrusting. She supposed it made sense, considering how things had gone for his countrymen the last time someone that was ‘untrained’ went on the field (though, after the videos of her HYDRA training, Hope wondered of much of it had been Maximoff being untrained and how much had it been malicious and willful negligence).

She cleared her throat, leaning forward. “If I might add,” she started, looking in everyone’s general direction. “I have worked with the Wasp suit for far longer than Lang has.” Technically, not a lie. “Between me and Doctor Strange, I am sure we will be able to subdue them without engaging in a physical altercation. Perhaps Rogers might be a problem, especially if Doctor Strange is focusing on Maximoff, but Captain Danvers is trained and has a great awareness of how her own powers and strength level work. I am sure she will be willing to let you observe footage of her training in the Compound gym as reference, if you want to see it. And I too, can allow perhaps Colonel Rhodes or Doctor Stark to write a general report of my suit’s capabilities, as was done with the Iron Man armour back in 2010.”

Stephen’s powers were a no go as dictated by the Masters of Kamar Taj, so she did not offer him up. It’d be too dangerous for the Accords people to know how to technically subdue him especially since, unlike Carol, he wasn’t nearly invincible and, unlike Tony, Rhodey and Hope, he didn’t have a suit that he could self destruct as needed.

“Point is, this is our chance to get a hold of the Rogues before they make any further damage,” added Carol, also leaning forward. “With Doctor Strange’s magic, all we’d need is a few minutes to suit up and we’d be in South Africa seconds later.”

“And unless Miss Maximoff, Sergeant Wilson and former Agent Barton have left their Stark Tech behind,” a quick look from Tony to the King, who shook his head, “We are going to be able to locate them immediately.”

They had to be some idiots to be traipsing around with the weapons of the man they had fucked over, but it worked for them so Hope was not going to complain.

The Representative glanced around, and nodded. “Allow us to convene for a minute or two.”

Hope did not allow herself to smirk, but she still internally cheered.

They had them.

“How long ago was this?” asked Stephen, quickly memorising the image on Tony’s tablet.

“Three minutes ago,” answered the man, looking a little tense. “I have eyes on every other side of the building and the place where the Quinjet is hiding, and a line of communication with the King’s sister. As soon as you apparate in Mandemi, she’ll call her jet back and they’ll be basically trapped.”

“Civilians?” asked Carol, once more clad in her star force uniform.

“None that I can see, they picked the building carefully. But there is still a chance that someone might be around-”

“No problem with that,” said Stephen, leaning back to let the Cloak wrap around his shoulders. “I’ll just move us all to the mirror dimension as soon as we get there.”

“Of course,” agreed Rhodey, nodding seriously. “Why didn’t we just think about the mirror dimension, Tony?”

“Sometimes I forget all about it,” said Tony, equally seriously, nodding back. “Honestly, we should just move there or something-”

“You guys are very an-” started Stephen, before twisting around as quickly as he could and sending a blast of magic behind Hope at the magic shift in the room.

“Only 10 centimetres off this time, you are improving,” praised Loki, and Stephen was not sure if he should be feeling proud or insulted. “On the other hand, you are still too slow.”

“I am not too slow, you are just an alien and are too fast,” complained Stephen, settling for insulted and scowling slightly.

“Again, that will be the case for the majority of enemies you will face in the future,” reminded him Loki, eyeing Vision with some slight mistrust before settling between Tony and Rhodey. Stephen was not sure if it was Vision himself or the Mind Stone in his head that made him uncomfortable, but he had the feeling that that would be one of those questions Loki wouldn’t willingly answer. 

Loki was usually pretty inclined to answering any their questions when he showed up, be he had some lines and they all had agreed to never push them.

Mostly because Stephen would really hate it if Loki stopped bringing him his space magic books.

(Apparently Stephen needed to knew the theory before Loki could teach him actual Aesir magic, which did not suck as much as it could have: the books were very interesting)

“Are you spying on us?” questioned Carol, frowning at him. 

“Of course,” admitted Loki, not looking repentant at all. “With your penchant for finding yourselves in undesirable situations, and your uncanny ability of causing harm to your persons, what else was I supposed to do? You are all much too stubborn to call upon the oath even if you were on the verge of death, now that you know it is real.”

They all scowled at him, which Loki did not even blink at.

“Now, Stephen,” he continued, once more turning to look at him. “You have five minutes to return with your captives from the moment you step through the portal. I shall be taking away points for every mistake you conduct in terms of magic during this mission.”

Stephen gaped at him, while Rhodey snorted and Carol smirked. “Excuse me?”

“You are already at 8, for your information.”

“Eight?! Why am I at eight? And why am I the only one getting graded?!”

“Because you are about to engage in a battle against a potentially dangerous magic user,” answered Loki, looking surprisingly serious. Despite his mostly matter of fact tone, there was some tension in the lines of his shoulders. “I do not see why I should grade Hope or Carol for this when the only threat is the one you will be facing yourself.

“And as for the first question, you are at an eight because you are about to enter a battle against a witch, and yet I do not see a single protection spell on yourself or on your companions.”

Stephen did not pout. “What do I need a protection spell for? We will be taking-”

“Do you simply stop wearing objects meant to better safeguard you simply because you have become confident in your abilities?” asked Loki, still very serious, eyes narrowing in reproach. “You are a powerful magical user, that is true. But all it takes is a single moment of distraction for the tide to be turned.

“And do not expect this witch to fight fair only because you choose to. Do not underestimate her simply because she is not as trained as you are. Chances are that she is mind controlling or otherwise affecting her team members, and thus inciting them to showcase more violence than they’d normally be prone to displaying. And that is not considering the fact that if she believes herself to be about to be overwhelmed by you, she will not hesitate in attempting to attack Hope or Carol instead, in hope to harm them and cause you distraction.

“They have displayed ruthlessness and a callous disregard for the lives of people they have fought alongside for months if not years. Do not underestimate them simply because you are mightier than they are.”

Damn.

Loki was not exactly wrong, considering what Rhodey and Tony had already told them about the fight at the airport and Maximoff’s willingness to kill the other side.

“Fine,” he said, feeling a little bit chastised. Wong always went on and on about his overconfidence being his mortal flaw, and Stephen supposed there was some truth in his words after all.

Though it was annoying that Loki had been around for three weeks and had already figured it out.

“I personally think you are going to kick her ass anyway,” informed him Tony, one thumb up in support. “I got your flower.”

“My what?” asked Stephen, a little confused.

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “He’s getting into memes because of Harley and Peter, it’s a whole thing. Just ignore him.”

Tony pouted at that, pushing him slightly, and Stephen snorted, shaking his head at the man’s antics before moving to cast the protection spells.

“Thanks,” said Hope, as he placed the last rune on her person.

He turned to look at Loki. “That good enough for you?”

Loki nodded, satisfied. “Indeed. You do, however, lose a point for too much sass,” he informed him, sniffing lightly.

“That is unfair and a totally biased marking scheme,” complained Stephen, scowling at him. At Carol and Rhodey's amused smirk, he cleared his throat. “That I of course don’t care about, because I do not care about being graded by you either.”

“Hey, Tony, remember that time in boarding school when-” started Carol, but Stephen was opening the portal before she could even finish.

“We have a job to do, in case you have forgotten!” 

He completely ignored their cackles as the portal stabilised in front of them. Assholes, the lot of them.

However, as soon as the portal closed behind the three of them, Stephen was once more serious, as were Carol and Hope.

“I’m getting five heat signatures,” said Hope, engaging her visor. “All five in that building." 

“Go small and high,” said Carol, cracking her neck. “Confirm visual before Stephen does his mirror... thing.”

“Roger that.”

He watched in some fascination as Hope did just that, managing to literally make herself the size of a wasp through nothing but technology. Stephen had heard of some spells that let you change size, but even those were very complicated to cast and ended up failing more often than not.

Hope disappeared from sight for a few seconds before her voice returned. “Yes, definitely them. They seem to be in another argument of sorts. Say, what are the signs of mind control?”

“Usually eyes are a different colour than they are normally. Unless the caster is very skilled, and is able to keep their eyes the normal shade. Then you might not notice it at all unless you are familiar with the person and their behaviour.”

“Okay, and Wilson does not naturally have eerie creepy bright red eyes, does he?”

Carol’s jaw ticked, and even Stephen could not help his feelings at such blatant misuse of the magical arts. “No, he does not.”

He was very glad that they had managed to convince Loki to let them deal with the Rogues. The man had agreed - suspiciously easy, in Stephen’s opinion - but seeing this would have absolutely been his last straw.

“Good to know.” 

A second later, Hope reappeared at their side as if she had never left. “Do you want to give them a chance to turn themselves in easily or not?”

“I’m not giving Maximoff a chance,” said Stephen, shaking his head. “You subdue Wilson as soon as we get in, otherwise we just risk her tearing his mind more than she already has.”

“Wilson, then Romanoff, then Barton,” repeated Hope, getting her tranquillisers out.

“I got Maximoff,” said Stephen, pushing them through the mirror dimension.

“And I got Rogers,” said Carol, taking flight as they heard a sound from Maximoff that meant she had noted the sudden change in ambiance.

The image they came across as they broke into the building the Rogues were hiding in was enough to make Stephen’s blood boil.

Maximoff’s magic was everywhere in the room and around her companions. It was a viscous red nightmare, coating and dyeing everything it touched, and it repulsed him just looking at it. He had guessed from the tear in Tony’s mind and the way she had come into her magic that it was unnatural, but it was quite another thing to see it.

It was all over Wilson, Barton and Romanoff, and Stephen was not sure how he felt looking at Rogers’ shocked and angry expression and finding no trace of it on him.

Barton and Romanoff got their weapons out as soon as they broke in but as previously agreed, Hope went after Wilson first. There was sign of some sort of mental tampering on the assassins duo, but nothing like the blatant control on Wilson.

“Who-” started Rogers, putting his fists up, but he did not even get to finish his sentence before Carol was barrelling into him hard enough to knock him to the ground.

Stephen would have loved to watch the smackdown he himself would have liked to deliver to the blond, but instead he focused on the witch, who was snarling, gathering her red powers around her.

“Wanda Maximoff, surrender now and I won’t hurt you too badly,” he lied, landing a few feet away from her.

In response she just screamed, throwing a sloppy ball of magic at him.

Stephen managed to smirk at her shock as he summoned two mandalas and stopped the attack, even as he winced slightly. Even sloppy and untrained, her magic was powerful.

Maybe Loki had been onto something with the protective spell, though Stephen was never telling him that.

“Who are you?” she demanded, staring at him in shock.

“The Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension,” he answered her, throwing a lasso at her that caught her wrist.

Maximoff countered it with another wave of powerful but unrefined magic, and Stephen decided to change tactics. 

“I’m here to take you to prison and take away your powers from you,” he said, moving away as soon as she threw another ball of energy at him. “So that you might never hurt another person in your life again.”

“You are not more powerful than I am!” she snarled, pushing her magic against the ground.

Stephen simply flew, smirking mockingly as her attack made Romanoff lose her footing and allowed Hope to take her down next.

“Aren’t I? You are an untrained witch with stolen powers who pretends to be some sort of hero. Who would be scared of you?”

In answer, she screamed, gathering more power than before and throwing it at him. Once more, he evaded her, smirking at her fury.

“Pathetic. I could do better when I first joined my order.”

He continued taunting and evading for a couple more blows, watching in satisfaction as her rage and frustration grew. With that her attacks grew in strength - which was of no consequence to him for the moment - but so did her sloppiness and the time she needed to recover.

She did not even notice the shield he had erected around her by syphoning her own magic, until she tried to surprise attack Carol, but by then it was too late.

Her eyes widened in confusion and shock as her powers were absorbed by the shield, before she turned to him with murder in her eyes. “You will die!” she shrieked, and really, what was the point of that? He could hear just fine without all of this screeching and screaming, it was pointless.

This time when her spell came at him he did not evade it - despite having ample opportunity to do so. Instead, he pushed it right back at her, watching it hit her person with some satisfaction.

Her scream as her spell was pushed back onto her was a little chilling, but Stephen was not feeling very charitable or concerned, as she had just tried to use that very same spell on him. He simply checked that it wouldn’t kill her, before forcing the shield around her to fully close, cutting her screams of pain and becoming smaller.

“That looks painful,” said Carol, landing beside him. 

Stephen took one look at the Captain’s face, and felt his eyebrows raise. “I thought only his shield and uniform were red, white and blue.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, he looked like this when I found him,” she answered, completely unrepentant.

“I think they call that police brutality,” said Hope, but she did not appear very worried either. 

“We are not cops,” pointed out Stephen, opening portals under all five of the subdued and mostly unconscious criminals. They would send them directly into the cells Tony and FRIDAY had prepared for them at the Compound and that Rhodey had shown him earlier.

“We kind of are,” pointed out Carol, as he opened another portal directly into the Compound they had just left. Rhodey and Loki were right where they had left them, with Loki now holding a clipboard (... Stephen did not like that), while Tony was sort of pacing around. “Did we make the five minute mark?”

“You’re back already,” said Tony, surprised, quickly looking them over as they returned. “And you’re all right.”

“Of course we are, shortstack number one,” said Carol, scoffing and messing up his hair. “They got nothing on us. It was actually kind of embarrassingly easy.”

“Don’t call me that and don’t touch my hair,” complained Tony, doing nothing to push her away from him. 

“They are all in the celss,” explained Hope, pulling off her helmet. “Carol made Rogers red, white and blue, and Stephen made Maximoff be hit by her own spell before trapping her in a weird sphere thing.”

“A energy shield created by syphoning her own powers,” corrected Stephen.

“That’s exactly what Hope said,” said Tony, while Rhodey nodded, a slight smirk on his face.

“Of course, an energy shield. You know personally I am a fan of syphoning powers to create other things, but yeah, I agree with your course of actions.”

“Sarcasm is unbecoming of a Colonel of your ranking,” informed him Stephen, shooting him glare. He pretended not to notice Tony still eyeing them all ‘discretely’, trying to find hidden wounds on any of them, and instead turned to face Loki. “Well?”

“Well what?” asked Loki, one eyebrow raised.

Stephen narrowed his eyes at him.

Loki stared right back.

“What grade did I get, then?” he forced out, still annoyed.

Hope and Tony snickered like the assholes they were, while Loki smirked. “I thought you did not care for one.”

“I don’t,” he refuted. “But you have a clipboard in your hand with a number you have assigned to my abilities, and I want to know what the number is.”

Loki made the clipboard disappear. “The mission is not technically over yet. You might have captured them, but you have not debriefed, ensure the sturdiness of their bindings, checked that the affected minds are not still being affected-”

Had Stephen already mentioned how much he hated Loki?

Chapter Text

Rogers was the first to wake up.

Carol watched impassively as he stirred inside of the temporary detention cell he had been put in. Most of his injuries and bruises had already healed, to her disappointment, but at the same time she wasn’t too upset by it.

She had managed to shake off some of the rage that she felt whenever she remembered what this asshat had done to Tony, and no one on the Accords Council would be able to tell her anything regarding her using ‘too much force to subdue him’.

Win win, really.

Though, she thought, as he got back on to his feet with faster reflexes than those of a baseline human, she clearly had not managed to shake off as much rage as she would have liked. Just looking at him back on his feet again made her want to bash his face against something once more.

“What the-” he started, looking in confusion at the cuffs around his feet and his wrists. He turned around, appearing even more shocked and confused to find himself in a cell, and Carol waited patiently for him to continue turning around until he finally set eyes on her. “You!”

“Hello, Private,” she said, lips turning in satisfaction at the fury the two simple words managed to bring in the man.

“Who the hell are you two! What is this place! Let me out, immediately!” he demanded, punching the walls of the cell in vain. 

“I don’t think so,” said Stephen, looking ever impassive at her side. Carol knew how to read him, though, so she did not miss the cold anger he was for now keeping at bay. She did not doubt he felt exactly as she did, regarding this particular asshole.

“You won’t get away with kidnapping me!” shouted Rogers, kicking the walls again. “I am Captain America!”

“You are a criminal,” reminded him Carol, unamused. “And you are under arrest, you have not been kidnapped.”

Rogers looked surprised at that for a second, before his eyes narrowed. “You are Ross’ people.”

“You truly are an idiot of the highest degree,” said Stephen, looking disgusted. “Ross is in jail for a number of crimes everyone in the world with access to the Internet should know about.” Rogers looked even more confused, and Stephen rolled his eyes. “We are an Accords sanctioned team that was tasked with apprehending you so that you can be tried for your crimes.”

“The Accords,” said Rogers, a hint of distaste in his eyes. “I knew it was only a matter of time before they started rounding innocent people like-”

“Innocent?” said Stephen, voice dangerously calm and low. Carol’s fist had lit up, and it was taking everything in her not to break into Rogers’ cage herself and turn him into a pulp. Stephen walked slowly until he was directly in front of Rogers’ cage, ignoring Barton and Romanoff starting to stir in their cages. “You think you are innocent after attacking and harming unenhanced police officers who had the bad luck of finding themselves between you and the object of your sick obsession?”

“Leave Bucky out of this!” immediately said Rogers, face contorting in rage and ignoring the rest of the sentence altogether. His eyes quickly glanced around the room, a certain fear mixed with hope in them when he did not find said objection of his previously stated obsession hidden anywhere.

Stephen did not even register the threat. “You think you are innocent after getting 2 of said officers majorly injured for life and killing 4 of them? You think you are innocent after you pulled a civilian out of his own car and threw him into incoming traffic without care for his safety, all so that you could chase after your buddy? You think you are innocent, after you and your friend caused the collapse of a tunnel, leaving countless of civilians trapped, injured or dead? You still think you are innocent when a number of them is, to this day, still in hospital, fighting for their lives? You think those are the actions of an innocent man? Do you have any idea of the death toll your rampage of three days left in Bucharest alone? After everything you have done, you want to call yourself innocent?”

Rogers swallowed, looking a little pale. But when he opened his mouth, Carol failed to see enough regret in his voice. “I was trying to save Bucky.”

“And who the fuck was saving the innocent, the little people, the public from you and your rampage?” demanded Carol, having to keep a conscious effort in not making herself light up. “Who the fuck was protecting Tony from you?”

Something seemed to clear in Rogers’ face. “This is about Tony.”

“This about you, and your inability to make one good decision regarding the welfare of your fellow team members or the people you are supposed to protect as soon as your precious ‘Bucky’ is mentioned. This is about you and your inability to realise that you are not god’s gift to humanity, Steve Rogers. This is about you being unable to be a decent human being, about you nearly killing my friend and leaving him for dead in an enemy base without even attempting to see how he was going to get out.”

Rogers sighed, shaking his head. “I did not know he was that injured, I thought-”

“You smashed your shield close range into his chest so hard it broke the reactor and made a dent into the armour,” said Stephen, expression thunderous. “You have used less strength against actual HYDRA enemies. Do not even try to pretend you did not know what you were doing. Don’t.”

Rogers’ jaw clenched. “I was not trying to kill him. I was protecting Bucky!”

“You might not have tried to kill him,” said Carol, sneering. “But you sure as well were not hoping he survived either.”

“You worked alongside him on and off for four years,” said Stephen, hatred bubbling just under the surface. “You know damn well that if Tony was trying to kill you and Barnes, neither of you would have left Siberia alive. You knew that, and you used that against him. You watched him watch his father and mother be murdered in front of him, and you did not even try to spare him. You could have broken the screen, you could have stood in front of him, you had about 10 different ways of stopping what happened since the second Zemo started that clip, to de-escalate that situation. You chose to do what you did.”

“I didn’t-”

“Stop lying,” came Wilson’s voice. Carol did not turn around to look at him, noting that everyone except Maximoff was now awake. 

Wilson’s voice was wrecked, tired and hurt. “Just stop lying, for once in your life. They are right, you did not care about anything but Barnes. You did not give a shit about anyone else’s rights but Barnes’. Even the Accords: you weren’t mad about them, you were mad about how they would affect your search for you best pal in the world.”

“Sam-”

“Don’t act like you are some sort of innocent that was dragged into this,” said Carol, eyes narrowed at the other supposed soldier on the team. 

Wilson shook his head. “I had no idea of what sending Tony to Siberia would-”

“Oh no,” said Stephen, also turning to face him. “FRIDAY is a dear, and she did share plenty of footage with us. You are acting as if Rogers somehow tricked you in any way, but I did not see any footage of you opening the first page of the Accords before you were rallying behind Rogers - who also did not read farther than the fifth page - instead of listening to Vision, Rhodey and Tony, all of whom had actually read it. You are supposed to be a trained counsellor, but you missed several red flags among your so called team members. You went to college and are not stupid, and yet I did not see you hesitate before you detonated that bomb in the tunnel. Hell, I saw nothing of you even trying to stop Rogers from bringing Maximoff to that fight in Lagos.

“You are a grown man, Mr Wilson,” he continued, eyes narrowed and disgust clear on his face. “Rogers never had to ask you anything more than once before you were happily agreeing. He is a despicable man, but you enabled him at every turn, don’t pretend now that you don’t have a good percentage of the blame on your own person too.”

“All of you,” added Carol, looking over at Barton and Romanoff as Wilson looked down to the ground, shoulder slumping down. “All of you made that choice, all of you made the decisions that got you where you are.”

“That bitch went inside our heads,” said Barton, anger twisting his face. “We wanted to stop her and turn ourselves in, but she did something to us and made us-”

“I’m sorry,” interrupted Stephen, head cocked to the side. “She was able to brainwash you all the way from wherever it is you live, force you to sneak into the Compound, make you incite her into throwing Vision like 15 floors down the Compound and then made you fight the other side? Is that your defence?”

Barton’s jaw clenched. “He called me. He told me that-”

“And you did not think to confirm anything before you decided that of course Rogers was telling the truth. You did not wonder why Vision and Maximoff seemed content to hang around the Compound, if the world was in danger? Did not question why, if the world was in danger, you were fighting your own team mates instead of an unknown enemy? Are you a weapon of some kind, Agent Barton? They tell you to shoot, and you shoot?” 

Barton made a sound not dissimilar to a growl, turning away from the glass and from them.

Carol was not impressed.

“What’s going to happen now, then?” asked Romanoff, watching them carefully. “We get a lawyer or what?”

“All we were asked to do was retrieve you,” said Stephen, shrugging. “As soon as they are ready for you, the Accords council will transport you to your holding cells, and then you’ll have your day in Court, all of you.”

“And then we will be free?” questioned Rogers, looking at them in worry.

Both Stephen and Carol stared at him for a long time, Wilson scoffing in the background while Barton made what sounded like a whimper.

“Every second your head remains attached to your neck and your brain isn’t melted until it sticks to the inside of your cranium,” she informed him, calmly. “Is one more second in which I continue to practice amazing self control.”

He stared at her in slight horror, but Carol did not entertain him further, shaking her head. She looked over at Stephen. “Check Maximoff’s bindings and then let’s get out of here. I need to break something, and that dumbass’ face is currently my favourite shape.”

Rogers looked at her in shock, before he noticed Stephen moving. Then the shock turned into rage. “Hey! Hey, get away from her! She’s just a kid, you can’t-”

“She is pushing 30, and hours ago used her powers to mind control me!” snapped Wilson. “Willingly! She used her powers against Barton and Romanoff because they tried to stop her, and against the Dora who have done nothing but try to help! She willingly joined HYDRA, and do you forget what she did to those kids and people while she was ‘learning to control her powers’? In what universe is she a kid?!”

“In the Universe where keeping her happy and at his side means he might convince her to use her powers to free his dearest Barnes from HYDRA’s powers, of course,” said Stephen, as his magic passed over their bodies and Maximoff’s. “Or am I wrong? Usually I’m right.”

Rogers’ expression twitched, and this time it was Barton who punched the wall, snarling. “You son of a bitch! Is there literally anything in your brain other than Barnes?! Do you even give a shit about anyone but him? You were going to use her, a willing HYDRA recruit, to manipulate the mind of your supposed best friend, who has been kidnapped by HYDRA and has had them fuck with his mind for over 70 years?!”

“Clint-”

“For all you know she has fucked with his mind too!”

Rogers reared back as if slapped, eyes widening in shock. “No,” he then said, recovering. “No, Wanda would have never, she was just-”

“Fuck you! Fuck you, Rogers! You fucking-”

“Done,” said Stephen, and Carol turned away from the argument.

Rogers was still trying to explain himself, seeming very certain that the woman who had just used her magic on his friends because they had disagreed with her would never ever hurt his Bucky. 

She did not know if it was wilful ignorance or blatant stupidity, at this point, but she could just say that this man should have never been made leader of any team.

“Wait!” called out Romanoff, as Carol and Stephen started towards the stairs. Carol unwillingly turned around, glancing at her in unconcealed distaste, which only grew at the sad and hurt expression on her face. “Can you tell Tony that I’m sorry? I’m just... I want him to know I’m sorry. I never meant for any-”

“This performance will not get you an Oscar nomination,” informed her Carol, rolling her eyes. “Please spare us.”

She did not wait to see her expression fall or to see what other attempt at manipulation she’d try out. She simply pulled Stephen along with her and walked out of the room.

Loki had made a promise to Anthony and his oath bound kin. They had asked that he not kill or otherwise maim the ‘Rogue’ Avengers who had hurt Anthony and caused James' injury, and Loki had, reluctantly, made them that promise.

Promises were as important to Midgardians as they were to Aesir, so Loki of course was going to uphold it.

But he had never promised that he would not otherwise seek revenge.

His fury was rapidly ignited the moment he materialised inside of the dungeons the so called Rogues had been thrown in. Looking at them, looking almost completely unharmed, squabbling among one another as the Captain attempted to break himself out of a prison Loki was quite sure had been created with Thor or the beast in mind, while the woman who paraded herself a witch remained unable to unbind herself of Stephen’s careful spellwork it made all of his rage from when he had been made aware of what had happened to Anthony return.

Anthony had been on the verge of death when Loki had found him and, had he been a day late, chances were that James might have never walked again.

And here they stood and sat all perfectly conserved, the causes of said harm, with the Captain and the witch still believing that they had been somehow in the right.

Loki could and would not let it stand.

He looked over the angry witch who was calling her fellow team members traitors and liars, failing to make her stolen red powers manifest and smirked. Already her fellows appeared afraid of her. It would only be fair to prove that fear was warranted, of course.

Mind magic was not Loki’s favoured magic, but after his unpleasant first encounter with the Mind Stone, he had read every book he could get his hands on on the topic. He would never allow himself to be caught off guard again, to be unmade again.

He would never do as the witch had done before because that was a complete perversion of magic, but there were other things he could do, other things he was very skilled at.

It only took Loki a couple of moments of concentration before Barton and Wilson were screaming in tandem, falling onto the ground and clutching their heads in pain at the nightmarish tales that were playing inside of their heads. Romanoff and Rogers were immediately on their feet, shocked and confused, and Loki took great care in twisting the light enough to make the magic around their heads appear red rather than green.

“Wanda,” said Romanoff, stiff as a board. “Wanda, stop.”

“That’s not me,” she said, looking offended. “I’m not doing anything!”

“It’s your magic!” said Romanoff, looking enraged. “It’s your damned red magic, you must have managed to get it through!”

“No, I-”

“Just redirect it,” said Rogers, looking at her hopefully. “When you were trying to cast it earlier, it must have accidentally-”

“Are you serious?!” demanded Romanoff, looking at him in shock as Barton’s screams grew in pitch. Interestingly, the noise seemed to distress her carefully maintained composure. “She’s fucking torturing them!”

“She’s not doing it on purpose!” defended Rogers. “She-”

“I am not doing anything!” shouted Maximoff, looking angry. “They deserve it, but I’m not doing anything!” She pushed her hand forward, nothing appearing. “Look, it’s not-”

Loki cast his spell and Romanoff screamed, falling on the ground, hands clutching at her head as red magic seemed to envelop her quite violently.

He disliked her quite a bit more than he did the other two, to be honest. The other two’s fault had been the same flaw the Idiot Four’s seemed to always suffer from: being blinded by their trust in someone who did not deserve it (or in Thor's case, not always).

Meanwhile Romanoff was not blinded by anything. She saw quite clearly, and made her choices thusly, which made her actions much more reprehensible in Loki’s opinion.

What was it that FRIDAY had said the woman had told Anthony before fleeing?

‘Watch your back’, was it?

Loki added another layer to his spell, this one invisible, and Romanoff’s screams grew at the sudden pain in her back.

Maximoff’s eyes widened in shock, and this time even Rogers appeared surprised and unnerved. “Wanda?”

“This is not me!” she said, shaking her head. “I am not doing this, I can’t even feel my magic!”

“It’s just a mistake, Wanda,” promised her Rogers, seeming to foolishly believe his own words. “You always say that you are not in control, obviously-”

“But this is different! This can’t be me, I am not doing this!”

“Wanda, I will protect you!” promised her Rogers. Loki was quite stunned by the man’s behaviour, to be honest. “I won’t let them hurt you, I told you that, didn’t I? I came with you when you said we needed to get out before they tried to hurt us, when everyone started to believe in the lies Stark put in the media. Just use your magic to open the door, and then we can go and get Bucky from-”

Maximoff had looked like she was mollifying the more he spoke, but suddenly her face twisted in rage. “Bucky!” She hissed. “Always about Bucky with you, always-”

Rogers dropped to the ground with a scream, red magic engulfing him as he choked on his own blood, trapped and feeling as if his chest had suddenly been caved in by something the shape of a shield, unable to breath as his ribs punctured his lungs.

And while his body screamed at him, convinced of its impending death, his head, just like that of his fellows was plagued with nightmarish visions of his dear ‘Bucky’ dying in front of him at the hands of the witch or at his own, of the man he loved so dying over and over, with him unable to do anything to stop it.

“Steve!” shouted Maximoff, looking afraid and terrified. “Steve!”

Loki retained his invisibility as he teleported himself inside of her cell, standing directly behind her. He waited for the lights to flicker slightly, and only then did he materialise himself behind her.

She twirled around as she sensed him through her numbed powers, fear in every line of her face as she stared at him inside of her cell.

“Who are you!” she demanded, staring at him in shock and fear, rendered unable to truly see his visage. “What are you!”

“I am a god, you foolish child, and your worst nightmare,” he answered her, advancing towards her without hesitation.

The pain he wanted this foolish woman to suffer would render a much longer-lived being suffer pain for centuries. She deserved to have her mind broken before her eyes, to see all of her own powers used against her, to be rendered as unmade as she had made others. Forced to bear being unmade and remade.

Loki believed with all of his heart that she deserved Thanos and the Other’s tortures.

“You’re the one who’s doing this!” she realised, eyes wide with panic, walking backwards until her back hit the glass wall. “You are the one doing this magic thing!” 

Loki grinned when he stood directly in front of her, revelling in the horror and blood curling fear emanating from her as she attempted to use her powers on him and nothing emanated from her hands. Mindlessly, he couldn’t help marvel at the intricacy and beauty of Stephen’s binding.

Midgardians were not meant to gaze in the eyes of a god.

“How many,” he asked, voice soft but no less dangerous or fearsome. “How many people have you driven to insanity and fear with nothing but your appearance before them? How many have you condemned to a fate worse than death with your stolen magic, little witch? How much blood are in your actions, you who would dare to call herself a hero?”

“Please-” she said, breathing ragged, eyes filling with tears. “Please, leave me alone, please-”

“Please,” he repeated, scoffing. “How many people asked you for mercy? How many have begged you to spare them?”

“I’m sorry, please-”

“Cease your blathering at once!” he snarled, not even smiling at the whimper that left her lips at that or the way her legs started shaking. “You deserve nothing. You deserve nothing but death. And even that is too merciful for the likes of you.”

And then he pressed a finger against her forehead as her eyes widened in horror and fear.

Loki watched her drop the ground with a wail on her lips, and just smiled to himself for a moment, simply rejoicing in the sounds of terror, pain and fear coming from the five cells. There were two others that Loki felt needed a lesson or two imparted on hurting what was his, but he did not know where this Soldier of Winters was hiding or where Hope had gone to intercept this Lang.

But Loki wasn’t worried.

He was sure he’d find a way to ensure they felt his displeasure at their actions soon enough.

“FRIDAY,” he said, glancing over at the child’s cameras. “I trust that the footage of when I found myself within the walls of this wicked being’s cell will be gone by the time someone checks on it?”

“You were never here, Prince Loki,” answered the child, and Loki smirked, satisfied.

Anthony had truly created a most vengeful and clever soul, he truly should be proud.

With that last thought, he looked around at the screaming prisoners, and simply teleported away.

“Doctor Stark, Miss Van Dyne,” greeted King T’Challa as he met them near the border.

Hope wondered if they should feel slighted that he had not let them in and inside the castle. Probably?

But, at the same time, if Wakanda was as advanced as Tony suspected, it made sense. Tony was the face of technological advancement in the west, but the Wasp suit alone showed that Pym Tech was not that far from them.

“Your pantherness,” said Tony, inclining his head slightly. 

Hope rolled her eyes, surprised to find the hint of a smile on the face of one of the women standing behind the King. She appeared to be the youngest around, and from her clothing - different from that of everyone else - she could guess she was the princess, the King’s younger sister and the one Tony had spoken to regarding the Rogues.

“Hope...”

Hope ignored the call, focusing on the King once more. “Your Highness. Are they both ready and secure for transport?”

Needless to say the Accords Council had been elated to hear of their return with the Rogues neutralised so quickly. Even the Nigerian Representative had seemed more settled after seeing the zero damage left in South Africa, which Hope knew was looking pretty good for them.  

They had not yet accepted the amendments that Stephen had asked for, but Tony estimated they would get a call as soon as the Rogues were dealt with completely. As much as they might fear Stephen, they trusted Tony - which he had shown was plenty warranted - and they’d be idiots to alienate such a powerhouse (considering the implication of how long Stephen’s order had existed without the world being any the wiser). 

The transport of James Barnes was obviously something a little more complicated and that required a little more delicacy.

Thus why Hope and Tony were in Wakanda dealing with this while Stephen and the others remained at the Compound to keep an eye on the Rogue Avengers. 

Some had argued that Hope and Tony might be compromised and not ideal for dealing/transporting these particular prisoners, but at the same time, they were both the most capable in transporting them. Hope because she understood Pym Technology the best and would be able to stave off any attempt at escaping from Lang. Tony because he did not care or blame Barnes the way he did Rogers - and on top of that, Stephen had to stay at the Compound because of Maximoff, Rhodey technically couldn’t use his armour yet, and Carol had to stay just in case Rogers or any of the others managed to escape. Vision was visibly struggling with all of this, so no one had bothered asking him.

Carol had not been too happy about it, but as much as she insisted on still acting like everyone’s big sister, they were all grown now, and capable of making their own choices.

And while she still disagreed with some of said choices, Carol wasn’t going to stop them from making them.

“Sargeant Barnes was informed of everything that has and will happen,” agreed King T’Challa, and Hope could see the man standing a little behind with a couple of the warriors she had learned were called Dora Milajaes. “A Dora and my sister will come with you, in order to share with the Council everything we have found regarding the trigger words still in his brain.”

Hope did not miss the warning in his words. The King clearly did not believe that Tony meant no harm to Barnes.

Hope wondered if it was just because he thought so little of Tony, or if he remembered his own pitfalls when he had thought Barnes the killer of his father and was just assuming everyone would act the way he had.

“Sure,” said Tony, an obvious dismissal in his voice. “Let’s go, Stuart Little and Olaf.”

They’d have portalled, but Barnes had apparently requested that they did not and well... they weren’t dicks. Most likely ‘informed of everything that has happened’ included Maximoff and her magic and her past. So... yeah, they understood and weren't dicks.

The Princess giggled at that, earning more than one disapproving glance sent her way. She pouted. “What? He’s funny.”

“No, he’s not,” said Hope, rolling her eyes at the way Tony went from pleased to offended. “But really, if everything is in order and whatnot, we should really get going.”

King T’Challa nodded. “Of course.” He said a couple of words in what she assumed was Wakandan to the rest of the people, and soon the Princess shuffled forward with Lang, Barnes and another guard.

For the first time since she had landed in Wakanda, Hope forced herself to look over at Lang.

He looked rougher than she had expected him to look. Tired, with big bags under his eyes, a defeated slump in his shoulder. When their eyes met, his widened, hope and questions shining brightly in them.

Something about it made her heart clench.

She had liked Lang. She had truly thought him a good man, truly thought that despite his mistakes, he could have been an amazing man, a hero. His love for his daughter, the way he cared about her, it had made her heart soften in a way that it would not have normally done.

But it had all been nothing more than an idealisation of a man she had not truly known.

He might have meant well. He might have gotten in over his head.

But he had made his choices, he had done everything he was accused of, knowingly and willingly. Sometimes, thoughtlessly, yes. But it did not mean it hadn’t been him, fully aware of his choices and decisions, who had done everything.

Hope looked away, but she did not miss the way his face fell from the corner of her eyes.

She felt Tony pressing his arm against hers, and she relaxed a fraction.

+++

No one really spoke on the ride back.

Well, Princess Shuri engaged both her and Tony in some questions regarding the American and European judicial system that had made Lang pale even more than before, and then she had stopped, furiously working on what appeared to be a phone much more advanced than any Hope had seen so far.

Barnes had been quiet so far, a stump where his arm used to be, keeping his gaze on the ground in front of him, tense as a springboard. He did not look exactly afraid, but he also did not look comfortable.

“Check your messages,” suddenly said Tony, ignoring the way everyone looked up at the sound of his voice, and instead looking at Hope with some mild exasperation on his face.

She frowned, pulling it out, a little surprised to see some missed messages. She had not even realised.

Rhodey: Something really weird happened.

Rhodey: After Carol and Stephen came back upstairs, Loki showed us what a proper Aesir lunch looked like - which, really, /damn/ - while FRIDAY kept an eye on the Rogues. 

Rhodey: Apparently, even though the witch’s magic was locked inside of her, she did leave some scars in their minds not unlike those in Tony’s.

Rhodey: Stephen is not sure of how, but her attempting to use her magic triggered the scars in their minds and kind of stuck the other Avengers in nightmares.

Carol: FRIDAY only told us what was happening when we asked her if everything was all right. Apparently she wasn’t aware that she should have told us before. Something about this not being in her protocols?

Rhodey: Because of course she isn’t sentient.

Carol: Of course.

Stephen: Anyway they are all back on their feet now. We contacted the Accords liaison and he agreed to at least temporarily seal her powers, if she was still able to affect them like this, which I did. 

Stephen: So they are no longer screaming now. Well, they are screaming, only this time at Maximoff. Even Rogers, he was saying something about feeling like his chest had caved in because of her magic.

Carol: Crazy how Maximoff managed to do that, uh?

Rhodey: So crazy.

Stephen: Unrelated, Loki left right after lunch, before we spoke to FRIDAY. He left some stuff for you both though, he says he thinks you'll like it.

Hope looked up from the screen to Tony, keeping her face blank. “Crazy indeed that she managed to know what it felt like and made him go through it.”

“Right?” answered Tony, face as impassive as hers as he tapped his fingers over the arm of the chair.

At least he did not kill them.

Hope did not smile, but also nodded. There was that at least.

“I’m sorry,” suddenly said Lang as Hope started typing on her phone. She paused, not looking up but clearly listening. “There are a thousand things I could have done differently, a thousands decisions I should not have taken. It’s my fault, and I know this. I should have... God, I should have spoken to you as soon as Wilson called. Hell, I should not have answered Wilson’s call to begin with because where the hell did he get my phone number from?!

“But I did. I did answer Wilson’s call, I did leave without wondering why they were calling me, without asking you. I did steal the suit, I did get to Germany illegally, I did not stop to wonder why I was travelling via airplane during what was supposedly a world ending crisis. I did fight in Leipzig, I did go giant, I did break a plane. I did get mad about being thrown in prison for breaking the law, and when Rogers came, I did flee with him to Wakanda. I did do all of those things, and I know me being sorry or ‘not realising’ means nothing. That me being sorry or apologetic means nothing.

“But I am. I am sorry, Hope. For abusing and breaking your trust, for letting you, and Cassie, and Maggie and everyone else down. For once more-” his voice broke, and he paused, sniffing slightly. “I’m sorry.”

Hope stared at the air in front of her for a couple more seconds.

Then she turned her attention to her phone again.

She did not look up when she heard Lang sniffing again, or when she felt Tony’s leg hooking around hers.

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, Loki had stopped a daring - if stupid - attack from the Midgardian Clinton Barton and told him he had heart.

A lot of things regarding the Invasion remained fuzzy in Loki’s mind. He had been telling his disciples the truth when he had said he had not been mind controlled, but the Scepter’s tainted magic had seeped inside of him nevertheless. Enough to leach on some of his angrier emotions and fan the flame, per say, but not enough to fully impair his thinking abilities.

But he had been honest when he had spoken those words to Barton. For him to try to attack him so soon after witnessing what had come of his fellows, it had been both a daring and stupid a move.

Now, watching as the hawk sat in front of the Midgardian judges (they were the ones who enforced the law of Midgard on the common folk) with a man beside him who was supposedly there to advocate for him and his innocence, he felt a degree of disappointment and pity for the man.

He had expected better from him.

Loki had unmade him; he had seen what drove him, had seen who he was deep inside, the parts of him that he hid from the world.

He had been a rather admirable being.

Seeing how far he had fallen was just all around deeply unsatisfying.

At the UN’s suggestion - who were a circle of leaders of Midgard who had higher ranking than the devious SHIELD (Loki had figured out if he was to visit often, it might do him well to know the figures of authority on Midgard whom he’d have to speak to regarding Thanos) - Stephen had brought in a second sorcerer better talented in the arts of mind healing, so that he could check if any permanent harm had been done to the ‘Rogues’s’ minds by the witch.

Stephen could have done it himself, but he himself had refused, citing that another was selected so that no one could accuse him of sympathising or forgery considering 'the nature of his relationship with Tony Stark'.

He had clearly meant their ‘friendship’ but Loki was quite certain that a good percentage of the people who had seen them around each other and heard his words were now assuming they were in a romantic relationship.

Loki could have informed him of the misunderstanding he had caused, but if it helped those two idiots he had for disciples to finally admit their feelings for each other, he was not going to intervene. He was their patron god, he was simply aiding them. 

Master Hughes of the London Sanctum had come instead and thoroughly examined each of the Rogues, creating clear and concise assessment of what their minds were like in terms of lingering magic.

The Archer’s mind was, according to him, littered with magical scars and his defence against the mind intrusions was practically non-existent. 

Even non sorcerers had a level of mental defence against mind manipulation and mindcontrol - despite the scar in his head, Anthony’s defences had been very strong from the beginning - but the hawk’s defences might as well have been a sheet of paper saying ‘come in’.

Loki wondered, had it been naturally so or was it because of the Scepter?

He wasn’t sure but he also did not care enough to find out. He knew his own defences were strong, and well... he did not care much for the hawk anymore. Not after the stupidity he had displayed and the careless behaviour and words he had offered.

The hawk had nearly thrown up when he had been told this, when Master Hughes had explained to him that the scars from the Scepter had never had a chance to fully heal but that there was even more of Maximoff’s magic residue in his head than there was trace of the Mind Stone.

Loki was sure that had ther not been several kilometres and guards and prisons between himself and the witch, the woman would have drawn her last breath that night.

Loki looked away from the hawk to Anthony.

Loki was sat - shapeshifted in his preferred female form - beside Anthony, James and the Mind Stone creature. The three of them had been called upon so that they could give their own recounts of the events the hawk was standing trial for, and Loki wondered how they truly felt regarding this all.

For all of his childish behaviour, Anthony was truly great at masking his emotions when he felt the time came for it. He couldn’t have guessed if he was happy or unhappy with the course of events. 

On one side, he had considered this man an ally if not a friend for years. On the other side, Anthony was deeply attached to James, and the hawk had made a jest in poor taste regarding his condition after his fall (the man was truly lucky that Loki had not known of this beforehand. If he had, the hawk would not have simply gotten away with some nightmares or headaches).

James seemed mostly bored of the chair he was sat upon, but not particularly bothered by the events surrounding him. He truly had never liked the Avengers all that much.

Loki turned his attention back to the hawk, who was still at the stand.

The man’s eyes were tired, but the poison and rage on his lips - which had grown exponentially after Maximoff’s actions upon his mind had been brought forth - was as present as ever.

He was clearly spiralling.

As he was questioned regarding his actions after the soldier had gotten in contact with him, Loki could only shake his head as the man attempted to lay all of the blame at everyone’s feet but his own. 

Loki knew nothing much of Midgardian’s way of law yet, but even he could have told him his actions were futile. Despite not being as skilled in the art of manipulation as Romanoff was, he was a renowned marksman and spy. Even if he was telling the truth, even if everything he had done had been because of Maximoff, there was very little to prove this.

After all, Master Hughes could not with zero shadow of proof prove when it was that Maximoff had first used her mind magic on him.

“But according to Master Hughes,” said the lawyer arguing against the hawk, “The susceptibility to Maximoff’s magic depends on proximity. She was nowhere near you when you decided to leave behind your family and come to her aid.”

The hawk’s teeth were basically gritting together. “If that bitch hadn't used her fucking magic on me to begin with, I wouldn't have liked her or rushed to help her like that, obviously!”

“Master Hughes-”

“Fuck Master Hughes!” snapped the archer. “She used her powers, she did that, how is this my -”

“Mr Barton,” interrupted the judge, voice stern. 

His own recorded words during the affairs of ‘Ultron’ was that the witch had ‘gotten everyone but him in the Salvage Yard’. Nor him nor anyone else had stated that he might have been attacked too, and he had been the one who, in the heat of the battle, had declared the witch an Avenger.

There was simply no proof that he had not done this of his own free mind.

The hawk still tried.

What Loki did not appreciate was the way, after the lawyer used honeyed words and silver tongue tricks to trap him in his own words, the hawk turned on Anthony.

Blaming him for the hawk’s own actions, for not stopping Rogers from calling him or for not calling him on his own side first. If this had been a play at earning an insanity plea, Loki might have respected him; but from what Loki could see, he meant those words, and his anger was real.

Despite all of his actions having been his own and Anthony having done nothing but try to stop him, he still thought that all of this was, somehow, Anthony’s fault.

Because the soldier was nowhere in sight, the witch safe from his rage, the spy could not save him this time, and if he did not do this, he’d have to accept that no one was to blame for his actions but him. 

The bitterness was pitiful.

Indeed, thought Loki as he watched the judge demand that he be silent or that he would be removed if he continued this rather petty and childish behaviour. Anthony had not so much as moved throughout the tirade, body as lax as ever though his hidden hand was holding on to James’ pretty tightly.

He was truly disappointed in the archer.

Hope did not like Natasha Romanoff at all.

Hope had never thought much of the woman, the few events she had seen her and the other Avengers at. Made polite conversation because that was what was expected of her, but other than that? She was just another one of Tony’s - supposed - hero friends.

But now?

After everything FRIDAY had shown her regarding the woman? Well, now Hope had a better idea of who the spy really was, and she was very glad to see her finally knocked a peg down or several.

The funny thing was that, had this entire thing been only about the events of the ‘civil war’, the spy might have gotten acquitted. As Pepper (as Miss Potts insisted that Hope called her) had previously said, the damages she had caused at the airport had been negligible.

With Ross now gone, even if they tried to make an example of her for breaking the Accords, they wouldn’t have gone very far. Especially if Romanoff had had a good lawyer and had double down on being compromised by fighting people she considered ‘friends’ and the fear for the damages they could have continued to cause, had she not done so. 

So, had it been just that, Romanoff might have walked, and Hope knew the woman herself had known that, considering she walked in her first meeting with her lawyer not appearing all that worried for herself.

Hope - who had accessed the footage later on - had almost laughed at the woman when the lawyer had opened his mouth and started listing the laundry list of crimes she was being charged with.

The world had the famed Black Widow in custody and without Iron Man or SHIELD backing her any longer, and the number of files she had thrown on the Internet informing the world of every single crimes she had committed before and during SHIELD.

They had simply thrown everything they could get their hands on at her - and even with the statute of limitation, there was a lot - and waited to see how many charges would stick.

Watching the woman’s composure slip slightly when she had been informed that, “There is no statute of limitation on treason, Miss Romanova,” had been the highlight of both her and Pepper’s day. Pepper had been at first miffed that she couldn’t get her for the corporate espionage, but considering everything, she had been more or less satisfied.

No way that between the treason charges, the murder in many degrees and the conspiracies she was being accused for, Romanoff would ever walk freely again.

Romanoff had realised this right after her first meeting with her lawyer.

Hope had been ready for an escape attempt, but Pepper had been completely relaxed, showing her Romanoff’s reaction as her guards took her back to her holding cell.

The woman had been wary as she had been taken back, but then she had caught the face of the people taking her back and her face had become pale and blank very fast.

Ex-SHIELD agents had explained Pepper, very pleased. 

And Hope might not have known everything, when it came to the Invasion but, once more thanks to Romanoff, she knew more than enough regarding the fall of SHIELD.

And knew that if those people were indeed Romanoff’s ex co-workers, they’d take immense pleasure in making sure she did not manage to escape. 

Hope was ready to believe that the woman was strong and perhaps the strongest and best among SHIELD, but she failed to see how even she could overwhelm several angry enemies, many of whom were outfitted by SI. And that was not even considering the sharks who’d have come out of hiding, now that they knew she was vulnerable and imprisoned.

Her mind had far less manipulation than Barton had, according to Master Hughes. Very recent too, which implied she had only really been manipulated in Wakanda, and even that had been minimal.

Romanoff still tried to blame Maximoff and Rogers for everything that had happened, even going so far as using her dehumanizing childhood as a defense, but that had not worked in her favour. The prosecutor had used SHIELD’s own personal profile on her and her own job as a profiler for SHIELD against her, and the defense had fallen apart fast after that.

Hope had wondered just how much of that was true; if perhaps there was some basis in her words, even though the prosecution had all but dismissed them.

It’d have explained a couple of things.

But in the end, it had been disregarded and no longer mattered.

+++

Lang’s court hearing were far less pleasing than Romanoff’s, for more than one reason.

First of all, because Hope had been called to testify and that was simply not pleasing. Seriously, if she was having trouble with one person, she really worried about how Tony was holding up, having to go up against five different people, one of whom wanted him dead and the others who were just assholes and terrible people in general.

At least Lang was not blaming anyone, dutifully doing what his lawyer told him to do; but his little pitiful and sad expression still annoyed her. 

Secondly, because Maggie, Paxton and Cassie all came to his second court date.

Hearing Cassie call out for her dad as he was brought inside the room in chains had broken something inside of Hope. Seeing her upset face, her obstinate belief that her daddy would never do something bad, that he was a hero now...

Hope nearly jumped across the room and strangled Lang herself. Especially so when he had turned around and seen his daughter and ex-wife and his eyes had filled with tears.

How dare he? How dare he do this to himself, how dare he do this to his daughter?

She wanted to scream, to shake him, to force him to explain to her in small words what in god’s name had gone through his mind for him to screw over his life, his second chance like this, for a man he didn't know.

Cassie deserved better.

“You okay?” asked her Tony, looking at her with concern in his eyes as the judge started talking about something she was not listening to.

Hope turned to face him and Rhodey, nodding slightly. 

He raised an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged.

She wasn’t okay, she was mad, and upset, and hurt on Cassie’s behalf.

But it did not really matter, and she’d be better, eventually.

Tony switched places with her, pushing her between himself and Rhodey instead, and Hope only huffed when she felt the two of them holding one of her hands each.

“Not a kid,” she muttered to them both.

“You’ll always be the group’s real baby,” informed her Rhodey, also keeping his voice low as he squeezed her hand in his.

She was Hope Van Dyne. She was fine, and she’d continue to be fine. 

But she was very glad that they were both here with her as she glanced back at Cassie’s confused and teary expression.

She squeezed their hand back.

Very glad.

The thing was, Rhodey had actually appreciated Sargeant Sam Wilson.

He wasn’t sure he’d say he and the man had ever been particularly close friends, but he had appreciated him far more than he had done any other member of the Avengers line-up, except maybe for Vision.

“You okay?” asked him Carol, as soon as Rhodey moved his stupid wheelchair - Rhodey was literally counting down the days until he would no longer have to suffer the damn thing - between her and Vision.

He gave her a nod that she did not seem to believe as Tony also sat down on the hearing seat, his turn to testify and be questioned.

Because they were currently sitting at Wilson’s trial, and while Rhodey had felt nothing but a vindictive satisfaction at all the others he had sat through before this, this one was stirring uncomfortable emotions in his heart.

He and Wilson had never been friends. Rhodey had been close to Vision but his only friend on that team had been Tony, and Tony was not even on the team to begin with, while Wilson was one of Rogers’ number one cheerleaders.

But while they hadn’t been friends, they had had an understanding between the two of them. A bond that wasn’t particularly strong but was still there, born out of shared experiences both in life in general and as members of the Air Force.

It was one of the things that pissed Rhodey off the most, to be honest.

He understood the man’s feelings for the Air Force had changed after his friend had died, but it did not change the fact that the man was familiar with the laws of the Air Force. He knew military conduct, and it wasn’t like the Avengers’ actions both in the USA and out of it weren’t a little similar to those of law enforcement and military.

Honestly, he should have been - like Rhodey had - more confused about the lack of rules, rather than the sudden appearance of ones.

Wilson was not stupid, after all. Qualifications might not be the best way to measure one’s intelligence, but he did have a bachelor degree. He had worked as a counsellor and helped veterans for a number of years before Rogers had shown up. The man wasn’t an idiot.

And yet, he had followed Rogers like one. He had not stopped to think through any of his actions: Rogers had told him to jump, and all Wilson had cared about was how high.

Rhodey did not get it.

He understood the initial shine of meeting Captain America, of course he did.

It had been one of the first things he and Tony had bonded over. Tony had had a love/hate relationship with the character from the beginning, but Rhodey remembered he had loved him, growing up. 

Who hadn’t? Captain America was an icon, a symbol for hope and justice and everything else. Before hearing about the man’s behaviour and they way he had acted around Tony, and the video of him ordering the wormhole to be closed, Rhodey had been as enthralled with him as everyone else in the world.

The rose tinted glasses had left his face after those displays, as he realised with some disappointment that Steve Rogers truly wasn’t Captain America.

It seemed that for Wilson, the shine had not faded despite the... everything he had been involved in.

He understood of course the excitement of having Captain America come at your door and say that he needed your help specifically in taking down HYDRA. But Rhodey would like to think it’d be common place for the man to start questioning orders when the Captain stole the Falcon equipment for him, refused to take it back after, and did not even bother showing up to the hearing that followed his actions leaving countless of SHIELD agents, employees and civilians dead.

Eventually, as a trained official, he’d have to take off the blinkers and realise that there was a lot of things wrong with Rogers’ behaviour that he couldn’t possibly not notice.

That the legend was just that, after all. 

A legend.

That Captain America might be unstoppable and a force to be reckoned with but Steve Rogers?

That Steve Rogers was just a man with short man syndrome who had never grown past that fists before words attitude of hiS, and who clung to the past even four years into the future.

Rhodey had been able to tell not too long after arriving to the Compound and training with the man, so why hadn’t Wilson?

Unlike Barton, Wilson’s mind was not full of scars. He had a few recent ones but, apparently, all Maximoff had really had to do to him was suggest him to do something or the other. Subtle manipulation rather than actual mind control.

So his decisions? For the most part, his own.

“I was not the leader of the Avengers,” admitted Tony, shaking his head. “I had fought back against Maximoff’s addition to the team from the beginning, but both Rogers and Romanoff seemed decided to add her. Sam Wilson was not there when the decision was made - only when she actually joined the team and I left. And he left before the after party started, so he couldn’t have known anything regarding Maximoff unless Rogers told him beforehand.”

Wilson’s shoulders dropped in relief at Tony’s words. He still looked pretty much defeated, already knowing in his heart that he was done for, but there was that at least.

He had not sat aside and knowingly allowed a mind raping Nazi witch onto the team. Rogers really had a terrible track record when it came to telling people the truth, Rhodey wondered did Barnes even know that he had been fighting at the airport aside a woman who had willingly joined the organisation that had tortured him for 70 years or had Rogers once more conveniently forgotten to tell him?

So much lying from that man. Lied to get enlisted, and after that had done nothing but lie.

It made Rhodey wonder if there was more to it than Rogers just being despicable. If perhaps the super soldier serum had done a little bit more than everyone had first assumed it had, if it was more unstable than people had originally believed it to be.

Emil Blonsky had taken the serum and became the Abomination.

Bruce Banner had taken the serum and became the Hulk.

James Barnes had taken the serum and became the Winter Soldier.

Steve Rogers had taken the serum and became Captain America.

Johann Schmidt had taken the serum and became Red Skull.

The explanation of this was that ‘good became great and bad became worse’, but while Rhodey’s biology education was rusty, he couldn't help but think that that was a pile of bullshit.

What if, with his relative few months of being Captain America before he was iced, it had just taken a while longer for the bad effects of the serum to show up on Rogers?

It certainly made more sense than whatever crap Howard Stark and Erskine had wanted to sell them.

But back to Wilson. Even with Rogers lying to him a few times or several, he had made plenty of mistakes his own damn self, and his unwillingness to question any order Steve Rogers gave him was just the tip of it.

Seriously, throwing that bomb at the tunnel? At a tunnel with civilians driving inside of it?

What on Earth had he been thinking?

According to his responses so far, he just... hadn’t. Been thinking, that was.

And that just made everything much worse in Rhodey’s opinion.

“And do you believe that Mr Wilson has ever questioned Mr Rogers regarding Maximoff’s origins or... regarding anything that Rogers has ever asked him to do?”

“Objection!” called out Wilson’s lawyer, looking harried. “Conjecture and leading question.”

“Allow me to rephrase,” said the prosecutor, but the damage was sort of done considering the way Wilson passed a hand over his face and looked down.

He couldn’t have looked more guilty if he had tried.

It might be conjecture on the lawyer’s part, but it was still true. After all, he had not even read the Accords before he had disagreed with them. He had not even known what they were before he had disagreed.

And sure, he had done so before Rogers had, and his wariness regarding Ross having power over the Accords was a little warranted. If he had been privy to some knowledge regarding his shady dealings that Rhodey hadn’t been aware of, his immediate suspicion made sense.

But he had not bothered reading them, that was what Rhodey just couldn’t wrap his mind around. He had not even thought about giving it a read before he was against them, and had only double down on them after Rogers had read like three pages and disagreed too.

He had called Rhodey a follower, when unlike him, Rhodey had read the Accords. He had known what he was doing, what he was following. He had spoken to Tony, he had listened to the news, he had known what he was getting involved in.

Wilson hadn’t.

Hypocritical.

Rhodey wanted to ask him if it had been worth it.

But considering Wilson’s expression, he figured he already had his answer.

Steve Rogers was far stupider than Carol had previously thought him capable of being.

From the second he walked inside the Court room the first time, it was clear that somehow in his mind, the man still believed himself to be in the right. That he believed himself able to somehow shrug off all the charges being currently levelled at his head.

That... what? He’d be able to ‘I am Captain America’ his way out of everything?

From what she had heard so far, he had actually been under the impression that signing the Accords now would, somehow, make the situation better for him.

His delusion was starting to confused even Carol.

Made you really think about the argument of Rogers being the only one who had taken the serum and not become somehow worse for it. Perhaps, with the war and everything, people just had not had time to notice him becoming worse.

After all, collateral damage had not really during the war.

And even if him being Captain America had mattered in the slightest to the judges and the jury, unlike his compatriots, Rogers’ courts proceedings had become a media circus.

Despite him obviously doing his best to ignore the reality of the events, the man had already been tried and found guilty in the Court of popular opinion. Normally things like this should not influence the Court, but this was something a little bit different than normal.

Even the President had all but abandoned his support for the man, when even after the Nigeria incident he had been standing beside him.

Carol wondered if Rogers, in all of his righteous indignation about being kept in chains even at his own trial because everyone else feared for their safety when he was let go, even realised this.

He had walked in the room surrounded by guards. There were people in front of the Court holding protest boards wanting for his head, and everywhere you turned there was one new person scowling at him and wishing for him to be gone.

And still, still, he remained confident.

“All of his life,” muttered Tony, beside her. “All his life, no matter what he did, there was someone covering for him.

“Peggy used to tell these stories about him always standing up against things that were wrong. Always fighting for the ‘little guy’, or whatever. I think in her mind she was showing me what a good person Rogers was, but all I took from her words was a guy who inserted himself in matters that had nothing to do with him and fought everything he did according to his morals only. 

“And growing up, he was sick, you know? Had like a shit ton of diseases and health problems. If my assumptions are correct, that meant that for the sake of his mother and for the sake of his health, the people around him let him get away with a shit ton of things he normally wouldn’t have gotten away with.”

“Cementing his belief that he was right.”

“Exactly. Then comes his best friend forever,” continued Tony, and he did not even grimace at the mention. “Barnes. His mother dies and suddenly it’s up to Barnes to protect him, since sympathy can only stretch so far when the person you feel sympathetic towards is gone. After all, sick or not, this were the 30s. No one would have let him short and sickly Rogers get away with running his mouth and fists without retaliation.”

“And if Barnes was helping to minimize the damage, in his mind it clearly meant that Barnes agreed with him,” she added, grimacing. “I’m sensing the pattern. He does shitty things, and other people get involved out of love or kindness and it just helps him, in his head, decide that he was right all along.”

“Confirmation bias. He broke the law, and Erskine let him join the army. He went to get Barnes against orders and came back with a whole battalion and earned command - at least as a figure head - of his whole Howling Commandos.”

“Then SHIELD and you sort of made things worse,” she said, not bothering sugar-coating things. Tony might not have done it intentionally, but from what Carol had seen, he had enabled Steve Rogers.

He grimaced, but did not protest. “Exactly. He’s not used to facing actual real life repercussions for his own actions.”

Carol almost felt bad for his lawyer, as Rogers had to be once more told to quiet himself in front of the Court. He was Court appointed because virtually no one wanted to ruin their careers or lives by representing him, so the poor man had to try and defend someone who was virtually indefensible and who was only making matters worse for himself whenever he could.

She did not envy him, and that was without counting her deep hatred for the not-Captain.

“What?” called out Rogers once more, as the prosecutor started speaking. “I was stopping HYDRA!”

“Mister Rogers-” started the judge once again, looking a little flushed in his anger now.

Roger’s face twisted at the mention of his stripped ranking - as much as you could strip a ranking a person did not have to begin with - before he was once more talking over the judge.

“No! What would you have done? I did what I could in the time I could do it in. We did not know who was HYDRA, and who wasn't. The whole world believed me to be a criminal - much like now-” Oh god, he was out of his damn mind, decided Carol, staring at him open mouthed, “And Project Insight was about to launch. There was no other way. Had I not done what I did, everyone on HYDRA’s list would have died immediately, how can you blame me and accuse me of treason over that?!”

“What I would have done?” answered the judge, after a few seconds of glaring at him, voice calm. “What I would have done, Mister Rogers, would be calling the one person I knew for sure who could help and that was proven not to be HYDRA. I would call the son of the man HYDRA and Zola had already informed you - according to Miss Romanova’s own words - they had killed, the man who was on HYDRA’s list of people to kill, and who’s tech is almost virtually unhackable, and who was commissioned by SHIELD to build said Helicarriers. I would call him and inform him of what was going on because he was someone who, unlike Sam Wilson - who you didn’t know before a few hours ago - was 98% not HYDRA, and trusted him. That’s what I would have done, Mister Rogers.

“Now, sit back down, Mister Rogers. I came in here today expecting some contempt and interruption in Court from the press, not from the man attempting to have his innocence proven. I have warned you, and know that this will be added to your list of charges. Open your mouth again, and it will only get worse.”

Rogers looked at him in shock and clear offense. 

Please be quiet, begged Carol. Not for his sake, but because she really did not want-

“He bought you off, didn’t he? Stark bought you off.”

Oh, it was over for him.

It took him a while of watching her for Stephen to notice.

And even then, it wasn’t until he noticed that something seemed different about his spell and then caught ‘Sylvie’s’ small smug smile that he realised.

But he did notice both, and he wasn’t sure if he was more horrified or morbidly fascinated by what he saw.

“What,” asked Rhodey, glancing over at him at his sudden sharp inhale beside him. “Is she doing something?”

Oh, Maximoff was doing a lot. 

Either because she had seen how Rogers’ case had ended - he had been dismissed by the courtroom because of his behaviour which had made the entire case more complicated and sort of sealed his fate for him - or simply she was more cunning/smarter than him, Maximoff was keeping her personal opinions to herself.

Her glares and scowls spoke loudly enough anyway.

She had tried to go for that 'Naive young girl’ thing that had worked so well with Rogers, but the entire room was pretty much terrified of her. No amount of batting her eyelashes and making her eyes fill with tears as the prosecutor denounced her every action could make up for the evidence of the people she had attacked that was presented, and even she had eventually realised that.

But this wasn’t what had Stephen reacting as he had.

“Loki,” he explained, keeping his voice low. ‘Sylvie’ heard them anyway, considering the way her lips twitched in faint amusement. “He put a spell on Maximoff.”

Rhodey frowned. “What sort of spell?”

“A failsafe,” corrected Stephen. “He slipped it under my spell to avoid detection. He camouflaged it as a spell of her own, and, had I not been working and seeing his magic so often these past few weeks, I might have actually believed that the spell was hers.” He looked over at Sylvie, who did not look at them. “Basically, in the case that my spell fails or I am forced to remove it, he made it so the first time she uses her powers with the intent of attacking someone, she will basically blow up.”

Rhodey blinked very slowly beside him. “...What.”

“Implosion,” repeated Stephen, still a little bit fascinated as he inspected the spell in Maximoff’s mind. She was most likely not even aware of it, and Loki did not strike him as someone who’d ever warn her. “Not only of her magic, but of her body too. And I’m pretty sure that the only person who’d be able to take it out would be Loki himself.”

“Jesus,” said Rhodey, a little perturbed. “That’s kind of fucked up.”

“Yup.”

They both remained quiet for a beat or two.

“Do you think that if we ask him he’ll take it out?” 

Sylvie also resolutely shook her head. Ostensibly, at what Maximoff had just said. Truthfully, they all knew the real reason.

“Nope.”

A few more beats of silence.

“Do you want him to?” he finally asked, glancing at Rhodey, careful of keeping any opinion out of his voice.

Rhodey’s eyes fixed on Tony momentarily, who was staring blank faced in front of himself, the only hint of discomfort in him the way he was holding onto Carol’s hand.

“It’s morally reprehensible,” said Rhodey, words measured. “And definitely not something the Accords Council would approve of. Maximoff will never walk free again - I’ll be shocked if she doesn’t get life for all this - and I doubt that anyone would ever ask you to remove the spell, even if the guy Loki talked about, Thanos, shows up, so the spell is redundant.”

So many non answers.

“Me too,” told him Stephen, this time his turn to avoid looking at Loki.

Rhodey huffed.

Plus, posed Stephen, his spell was not going to fade, not even if Stephen were to suddenly and unexpectedly die. And it wasn’t as if there was anyone out there yet talented enough to undo his spell. For the time being, Maximoff was headed to prison, and Stephen's spell would hold anyway.

He held back a sigh, crossing his arms together.

He was a doctor, he did not condone cold blooded murder or assassination attempts. 

But if Maximoff were to be gone, well... Stephen did not see how this could be bad for anyone in the world.

He’d definitely try to get Loki to remove it, later on. He’d most likely tell Hope, Carol and Tony what he had found. 

But he really doubted any of them would come to a conclusion that was in any way different from the one that Stephen and Rhodey themselves had come up with.

“Miss Maximoff, did you or did you not mind control and influence the minds of all of your so called team mates?” demanded the prosecutor, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

She scowled. “I did not.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because we have evidence suggesting that you did, in fact, use your magic against the minds of all of your team members. Even Rogers, when you ‘convinced’ him to leave his best friend behind and steal the Wakandan jet for yourselves.”

Maximoff’s teeth gritted together. “I did what I had to do,” she ended up with. “All of this is Stark’s fault!”

Again, an unimpressed expression on the prosecutor’s face. Maximoff’s lawyer had his face in his hands. “Doctor Stark?”

“He’s not a doctor, he’s a killer! He killed my parents.”

“According to records, a fake Stark Industries weapon not built by Tony Stark was sold by Obadiah Stane to the Sokovian Government. And then they decided to fire said bomb,” he said, making a show of looking at his notes before glancing over at her, contempt visible in his face. “I am sorry, I fail to see how Doctor Stark could have killed your parents.”

Stephen failed to see it as well. 

“He killed my parents,” she repeated, stubbornly. She looked away from the prosecutor, glaring fiercely at Tony. “He doesn’t deserve to be free.”

Yep, decided Stephen, eyes a little narrowed at the witch. He really did not see how he could stop Loki from doing as he wished. Stephen was not going to mess around his own spell, of course. But if one day someone did and it failed and Loki’s trap activated before Maximoff could hurt anyone else? Well Stephen really could not see a downside to any of it.

Chapter Text

“Will I see Doctor Stark?”

Stephen stared at the man sitting in front of him with a frown. “I meant questions about the procedure, Sergeant Barnes.”

“Oh,” said Barnes, voice sounding still very raspy. The Sergeant turned international assassin did not speak much, even when asked questions, and rarely offered opinions of his own unprompted; which, in turn, did not help his voice sound particularly less raspy. “Then no, I don’t think so.”

It was interesting that, in all of the time Stephen had been overseeing him and his procedures, Barnes had not asked anything regarding his companions and yet had found the voice to ask if he would meet Tony. Stephen wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing, his disinterest of his supposed team mates (after all, even though Stephen did not care for them, they had 'saved' him: shouldn't there be some emotion because of that?), but so long as he didn't suddenly become violent, Stephen was inclined to let the shrinks deal with him and his problem.

Stephen had been working with Barnes for a couple of weeks now. Unlike the other Rogues, it was hard to determine whether James Barnes was fit and ready for trial. Between the trigger words in his mind (which made him catnip for any HYDRA member out there who knew them), the torture he had suffered for years, and his general mental state as the longest held prisoner of war, well.

Stephen might not think much of him as a person, but as a medical professional it was hard not to feel a little bit bad for him.

It was a little bittersweet, being able to somehow help in regarding the neurobiology aspect of it all despite not being able to operate anymore. Stephen had yet to decide if he liked it or not, but he was still glad that they had employed him for something other than play babysitter to one of the world's most dangerous assassins. The Dora Milaje that had come with Shuri could have most likely managed to keep him contained, especially now that he didn't have an arm, but after everything that had happened, it appeared that the Accords Council was not inclined to trust them or Shuri or Wakanda to keep him contained. Which Stephen knew stung, but former King T'Challa had sort of forced them in that position, which made it hard for Stephen to feel bad for them.

Between his knowledge, Tony’s general explanation of BARF, and Princess Shuri’s own previous ideas on how to help the man (and her scans of his brain), they had started to formulate a general plan on how to help Barnes and his shredded cheese brain, which Stephen thought was remarkable.

Princess Shuri was remarkable, and smart - though Stephen did not have any particular intention of informing her. She already knew anyway.

The Princess sort of reminded him of Tony’s alleged not biologically related children (Stephen had doubts on that claim, but since Rhodey vouched for him... then again, Rhodey would cover up murders for Tony - and vice versa - so he might have been lying to them after all). She was incredibly smart and very resourceful and competent, for a teenager.

She was also pretty arrogant regarding her abilities and Wakanda's as a whole, but Stephen was not about to start throwing rocks in a glass house. Between he, Tony and Carol, the entire thing would crumble.

Plus, since she did end up achieving exactly what she had said she would, Stephen supposed it was less arrogance and more competence and confidence.

But she couldn’t stay forever, due to the tensions back home, so...

“No,” he answered Barnes. “You won’t see Tony. He offered his technology because he’s that kind of person, but while he does not blame you, he,” and everyone else, “does not think it’d be beneficial for either him or yourself to see each other any time soon. Or for him to be involved in your healing.”

“Oh,” repeated Barnes, looking down. "Okay."

“It’s for the best,” said Princess Shuri, smiling kindly at him. “You should spend some more time healing before you face the man, and he deserves that chance to do that too, considering the whole trial thing.” At Stephen’s look, she rolled her eyes. “Just because my brother is an impulsive idiot who does not think things through before doing them, doesn’t mean I’m the same. I’m a genius.”

“The two are not mutually exclusive, I’ve met several geniuses that are impulsive idiots,” he informed her. “Case in point: Tony.”

“My IQ is higher than his.”

“He has more Nobel prizes than you do.”

“Low blow,” she complained, but she was smiling. “Wakanda was not even open to the world a few months ago.”

“You started the argument.”

“Did not expect you to jump in to defend the honour of your boyfriend like that,” she said, looking deeply unimpressed when he made a wheezing sound at that. “Please, one struggling white man at a time, I cannot multitask.”

“Tony’s not my boyfriend,” he protested, scowling slightly at her.

The Princess rolled her eyes. “Sure,” she agreed, voice very mocking.

Stephen hated teenagers.

“He’s not.”

“I don’t think the rest of you knows that,” she informed him. “Because you go very go-go-ga-ga in the eyes whenever he’s mentioned.”

“I do not!” protested Stephen, now scowling even more, and resolutely not blushing.

She looked at Barnes. “He does, doesn’t he?”

The man looked a little panicked, especially when Stephen also turned to glance at him. “I... uh...”

“Answer her. Please,” he said, adding the last part a little as an afterthought. He couldn’t go around ordering this particular guy around, it might have bad effects on his healing.

Damn it, Tony was right. It was a little hard blaming him for stuff.

“Well...” said Barnes, still looking uncomfortable. “Soldat... uh, the other me. He thinks you are in love with him. You always smile uh with your eyes when he is mentioned or calls. And you touch your engagement bracelet and smile when you think about him.”

Barnes knew about the bracelet too, how great was that?

The other idiots he was friends with - Stephen was ready to bet it had been Carol, Tony's money was on Hope - had gone ahead and called the bracelet 'engagement bracelet' often and loud enough that a newspaper had gone ahead and spoken about it. There were pictures of Stephen from the Court hearings and from before the accident, all focused on the bracelet, all of them wondering how long he had been engaged for, and who was the other lucky party (the silver lining: no one knew Tony made it for him).

But the thing about Stephen looking in love whenever Tony was around? That was not good. That was very not good.

“Relax, Doctor Strange. If it’s any consolation, he loves you too,” offered Shuri. “The few times I met him face to face he does the same thing you do when you’re mentioned. He obviously really likes you, it's obvious. I’ve heard him laugh 6 times since I came to America, and every time but one was when he was with you. Also, he looks at you like you put the sun, and the moon and every star in the sky yourself. It’s kind of cute kind of nasty, because old men in love.”

Stephen’s heart beat a little faster at her words, but he shook his head resolutely. It would be nice, if it were true, but Stephen knew better.

“No, that’s just Tony being Tony. He loves me as a person and as a friend, but he's not in love with me. He’s been acting like that since we were kids, really, it's normal.”

Shuri did not appear very convinced. “All that proves is that he has loved you since you were kids,” she pointed out.

Stephen stared at her.

That he...

That Tony had...

... Oh.

But...

Oh.

But-

Oh.

Oh. My. God.

Stephen might be an idiot.

Any affection Tony might have once upon a time felt for the Avengers was at this point well and truly gone.

It had been gone for a while, really. After everything that his supposed team mates had done to him during the events of the civil war, Tony had not been harbouring much or any affection for them anymore.

But he had still worried that coming face to face with them again during their hearings might change that. That some hidden affection he had not even realised he still felt for them would come out, and that he’d feel compelled to help them again.

Needless to say, they had made it incredibly easy for him to feel nothing.

He had felt a little bad for Lang, he supposed, when he had heard the man’s daughter calling out to him in confusion during his hearing and the man's eyes had filled with tears. And he supposed BARF and deciding to help Barnes - from very very far away - was some because of some sort of sentiment on his part.

But other than that?

Nothing.

He had watched Barton scream obscenities at him and complain that Tony was basically the root evil for everything that had ever gone in his life, and felt nothing.

He had listened to Wilson apologise to him from the stand for everything he had done to wrong him through the years, and felt nothing.

He had watched Romanoff try some of her old tactics on him, with her judging and disappointed looks, and felt nothing.

He had watched Maximoff getting more and more frustrated as she realised the walls were closing in on her and she had no more allies, and felt nothing.

He had watched Rogers, at the very beginning, continue to lie and complain over being faced with the consequences of his own actions, as well as pointedly telling Tony to ‘get over it’, and felt nothing.

The search for Sharon Carter was still underway because his cousin was smart enough to smell when the wind turned on her (but apparently not smart enough to know to not tell Rogers some bullshit about shoot to kill orders), but even though they were family, between the fact that they had not seen each other in years and her actions to aid Team Cap, he did not think he’d feel much guilt about watching her end up in prison either.

Not that the trials were done, of course. Mostly Tony was done testifying for the time being, as were Rhodey and Vision, but you never knew if they’d be needed again. 

Tony hoped not. As much as he did not care, and as grateful as he was for the overwhelming support from the media, he was also just very tired of it all. 

He just wanted to rest for a bit, and not be forced to think about them at all.

“I knew I’d find you here,” came Stephen’s voice, and Tony’s lips quirked in a small smile even as his eyes remained closed. “You can take the boy out of boarding school but you cannot take the habits out of him, uh?”

“Roofs are just comfortable,” he protested, listening to Stephen’s footsteps as the man approached him. “And few people ever think about going up to the roof to relax. No one else did it other than me or Rhodey, when I convinced him to come with.”

“Mh,” said Stephen, and when Tony opened his eyes, he found him sitting next to him, watching the horizon while he distractedly played with his bracelet. 

He always did that, always had done it from the beginning. Tony personally thought it was cute how he drew comfort from it, and it made him feel bad for all the years he had gone through without it.

Not an engagement bracelet, no matter what Carol and the others liked to say (and that newspaper that Tony was sure had gotten its information from Hope's big mouth) but... perhaps a symbol for Tony himself?

Was it delusional of him to think that perhaps the thing reminded him of Tony, and Tony was something of a comfort for him?

Maybe.

“What?” asked Stephen, looking up and catching Tony staring at him.

Tony shook his head, forcing himself to remain as zen and as cool as ever. “Nothing. Just looking at you, sweetcheeks,” he instead said, winking at him. “You’re pretty.”

Instead of rolling his eyes or looking amused, Stephen looked at him more carefully, just the slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks.

Tony stared back, a little uncertain as to where Stephen’s thoughts were taking him, at the moment. Stephen’s eyes always had a way of caging you in, of trapping you, and Tony had in so far not yet figured out a way to free himself from their spell. 

“Why did you not tell me you were in love with me?” questioned Stephen, after a few seconds.

It was asked quietly, not accusingly, but it was still so sudden and out of nowhere to Tony that he nearly choked on his tongue, staring at him with very wide eyes.

Had he heard wrong? He must have heard wrong. Yeah, he had totally heard wrong.

Because Stephen had not just said, he had not just-

“Because it’s embarrassing that it took a sixteen years old kid for me to find out that you have been in love with me since we were kids,” continued Stephen, frowning at him in disapproval.

“Shuri,” said Tony, hissing slightly. He had known that girl was trouble, she was too much like Harley to not be. Damn it. “What did she tell you?”

“She told me nothing,” said Stephen, arms crossed around his chest and eyes suspicious. “She just made me realise something that I somehow missed but everyone else in my life did not.” He glanced at the bracelet around his wrist, and sighed. “This really was an engagement bracelet, wasn’t it? God, the others are gonna be unbearable.”

“Uh... no?” Stephen arched an eyebrow and Tony shrugged, a bit embarrassed. But Stephen was not shouting at him or looking particularly angry, so maybe he wasn’t upset? “I mean, not exactly? Just... Hope said that all of the girls and some of the guys were all over you when I first left for MIT, and then you were smooching that one girl I knew you liked-”

“I ‘smooched’ no one-” protested Stephen, while Tony continued uninterrupted.

“And I just had to make sure no one else attempted to do it again,” continued Tony, staring at his nails now. His cheeks were heating up, and he really hoped he wasn’t about to start blushing. He had not blushed since he was a kid, he was not gonna start up again now. Also back then it had made perfect sense to his teenage self, Tony could not be held accountable for 15 years old Tony Stark’s actions. “And well, Ana told me the story of her and Edwin and their promise ring, and well. I made a bracelet.”

“And you couldn’t just have told me?” pressed Stephen.

At this, Tony shot him a dirty look. “You did not see me like that. You kept calling me a kid even though I’m less than one year younger than you, and you just... you didn’t see me like that.”

He saw Stephen preparing to defend himself, and then huffing. “I don’t know if that’s true or if that’s false,” he admitted. “On one side, I did not realise I had feelings for you until my thirties. On the other hand, I put that bracelet on and did not take it off for like two decades after. It’s... what?”

Tony stared at him, eyes even wider than before. “You... You had feelings for me?”

“Have,” corrected Stephen, expression turning kinder and smile growing softer. “Had and have feelings for you. Of course I have feelings for you, how could you have missed it? I thought you were a genius.”

“You don’t get to make that joke,” said Tony, unable to truly keep the smile and hope off his face. Was this really happening? “I’ve been in love with you since I was 15." False, he had been in love for longer, he had just made a move at 15. But Stephen did not need to know that, his ego was big enough as it was. "Only I get to make jokes about you missing obvious signs that literally everyone else who knew either of us picked up on.”

“That seems unfair.”

“What are you going to do about it?” asked Tony, still half certain this was a dream.

It had to be a dream. 

Please don’t be a dream.

That feeling did not in any way waver when Stephen smirked, one hand cupping Tony’s cheek as he inched closer to him. Closer, and closer, and-

“I don’t want you to leave,” suddenly said Tony, when their lips were literally inches apart. Stephen stopped, eyes snapping back to Tony’s, and Tony swallowed. “Bad timing, yes, I can see that. But also, best timing. Because if you kiss me, and then you leave me again, and then you all leave again, well then... I’ll do something. Something drastic.”

“Something drastic,” repeated Stephen, one eyebrow raised.

“Yes,” said Tony, nodding and nearly headbutting him in doing so. Still, he kept his eyes fixed on Stephen's. “Like... Like erasing the tattoo sort of drastic.”

At these words, Stephen’s expression turned serious.

He knew how important the tattoo had always been, to Tony. 

+++

"God, mom is going to kill me when she finds out," complained Stephen, sitting down beside Tony as soon as Rhodey was done wrapping his tattoo, pretending his cheeks weren't bright red and that he didn't see what was going behind him. Also, he had to admit that , for a toddler with no real life experience other than a high mark in art, Hope was way too good at making tattoos.

"I can't believe I let you lot talk me into this.

"Stop bugging out," said Tony, barely even glancing at him as he kept poking at his wrapped arm. 

"Tony, stop that," berated Carol. "You're going to get it infected, and then it's going to hurt like a bitch and you're gonna start crying again."

"I didn't cry-" protested Tony, turning around to glare at her before immediately turning back around, cheeks red. "Oh dear."

Stephen snorted, a little amused, a lot empathetic. Amused because no matter how much he tried to appear all sort of cool and laid back, whenever he was startled Tony still managed to sound like the rich snob kid he and Hope refused to be. Empathetic because, well... Carol was getting her tattoo done, and Carol had decided to have her tattoo done under her-

"Stop acting like you have never seen a boob, you three," said Carol, and Stephen felt his cheeks becoming even redder than before.

"They haven't," said Hope, sounding very smug and amused. "As if any girl would ever let their buttfaces see a boob or even touch one or-"

"Stop talking about boobs," complained Rhodey, who was sitting as far away from the two girls as possible, waiting for his turn. "You're a toddler, it's weird. And I've totally seen boobs before!"

"Your mom's boob when you were a baby doesn't count," said Hope, both her and Carol snickering at the sound Rhodey made (seriously, how did Carol not even sound in pain? Stephen would deny it in a Court of law, but even he had teared up a bit during his tattoo, and Carol was getting it done near her... you know. Wasn't it like, sensitive and stuff?).

Stephen turned his attention back on Tony again as Hope and Rhodey continued bickering, finding Tony no longer paying attention to the rest once more poking at the wrapping.

"Stop it," he said, pulling Tony's hand away. Tony looked startled at the touch, the cold air early March making his cheeks redder. "Carol is annoying, but she's right. You keep touching it like that and it's gonna get infected and look all sort of nasty."

"Fine," huffed Tony, offering Stephen a sheepish little smile. "I'm just excited. I can't wait to take this thing off and, like, show off this tattoo to everyone."

"It's not that cool," protested Stephen. In his personal non-drunk opinion, moons were only a couple of steps higher than butterflies, birds and arrows. 

"I don't care," said Tony, holding Stephen's hand tighter when he made to let go of him. "This is what the moons looked like the day we were born. Now It'll be like no matter where I go or where you guys go, I'll be always be carrying you with me."

Oh, thought Stephen, a little surprised at the uncharacteristic open affection being displayed. Normally, he'd make fun of him for it, but... watching him right now, his big smile, cheeks red as he held Stephen's hand in his... he couldn't bring himself to.

"I suppose that's true," he said instead. "You'll be carrying us on your sleeve."

Tony pouted. "You're making fun of me," he complained, letting go of his hand, but Stephen did not allow it. 

"No, I'm not," he promised, interlocking their fingers together. Tony's eyes widened slightly, and Stephen grinned at him. "I get it. I have the tattoo too, now. You're carrying us on your sleeve, and I'll be carrying all of you on my shoulders, all the time now. It's tight."

"And it means we'll be together forever," agreed Tony, smiling a little more bashfully at that.

Stephen raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought that was what the bracelet was for?" he asked, teasingly.

Tony's nose scrunched up when he laughed, resting his forehead on Stephen's non tattooed shoulder.

"That's just for you," he said after a few seconds, voice lower than before. "The tattoo is for all of us, and it's forever."

+++

Tony cleared his throat, ignoring the fifteen years old inside of him trying to strangle him for the cockblocking. “I am not like asking you and the others to move into the Compound or anything. You all have your houses and everything. And sooner or later I know Carol might end up in space again because she is Captain Marvel and it means something out there.

“But I don’t want to lose you all again. In the end, it was a bit of everyone’s fault, me included. But I just... I don’t want it to happen again. I don’t want you to kiss me, and make me promises, and then leave. I need you to mean it, I need to know that-”

Stephen’s lips pressed against his, cutting off any more words Tony might have had to share. Or any thought, really.

And why think, when this was so much better?

It was even better than what 15 years old Tony Stark had imagined. Stephen kissed like he spoke, slow and measured, every movement of his lips practiced and knowing. Tony had imagined how kissing Stephen Strange would feel like for a while, and he had clearly underestimated him.

Easily remedied, he decided, pulling Stephen even closer to him by the shirt, greedily taking as much he could, teeth pressing just hard enough on his lower lip to coax him into opening his mouth. And then there was tongue, and okay. Tony was a seasoned playboy, Stephen Strange had no business being this good at kissing.

When he eventually pulled back, Stephen was smiling - way too smugly - affection in every line of his face as Tony’s hand remained fisted on the front of his shirt.

“I’m not leaving,” told him Stephen, seemingly very certain of his words. “None of us is leaving.” 

It sounded like a promise.

They had made a similar one before, and then they had broken it.

Stephen pulled his chin again until Tony was looking at him in the eyes again. "We are not leaving each other. Not again."

Tony nodded with an uncertain smile on his face, before he was pressing his lips against Stephen's again, in a much softer kiss than before.

Promises always ended up broken, but Tony was going to believe in this one with all of his heart.

“Carol,” called out Loki, from where he stood in the kitchen doorway. The blonde looked up from where she had been locked in a game of strategy called 'chess' with James, and towards him. “Do come here for a moment.”

She made another move that James seemed to counter easily - if her resulting groan was anything to go by - before she moved to approach him. “What’s up?”

Loki placed a block of uru on the table in front of him. “I would like to see something. Your powers, you claim you got them from the Tesseract, correct?”

She sat down beside him easily enough. “Uh, not exactly. Mar Vell used the Tesseract to create an interstellar travel engine. I tried to destroy it, it blew up, and it gave me my powers.”

“Yes,” said Loki, waving the explanation off. “Please put one hand at each side of the block. I would like you to slowly heat up this material until you reach your highest heating abilities or until it melts.”

She seemed confused by his request, but she still complied, putting her hands on the block, and Loki watched carefully as they started to glow orange.

Nidavellir was one of the few Realms in the Nines that Asgard did not keep much of close eye on. Unlike Alfheim and Jotunheim, they did not care about being among the Nine Realms or under Odin’s rule, and thus Odin and Asgard as a whole did not hassle them as much as they did other Realms.

And because of the lack of interaction between two supposed allies, the Mad Titan had attacked and eradicated their population without anyone in the Nine Realms being any the wiser.

Loki could not help but berate himself a little for his lack of foresight. While Skurge could operate the Bifrost as well as Heimdall and hear when people called for him by virtue of being in the Observatory, he could not see all the way Heimdall did. 

Thus, he had not seen or heard anything regarding the attack on Nidavellir until too late. Until a message had been sent to King Eitri regarding the coalition Loki - as Odin - had been attempting to create and the Dwarven King had cursed them to go to Hel for failing their sacred duty to the Nines.

The old King had been brought to Asgard to be questioned and so that his injuries could be healed - his hands couldn’t be healed - but had eventually chosen to return to his planet alone. 

They had managed to coax enough information out of him regarding what had occurred, however, and Loki hadn’t been sure between feeling enraged and feeling fearful at the news that Thanos had landed on a branch of the Yggdrasil without any of them realising.

Or about the fact that he had forced the Dwarven King to craft him a weapon capable of harnessing the power of Infinity, a terrible gauntlet with which he would attempt to achieve his goal.

It was made of uru, a metal that was almost indestructible. Loki had been truly afraid, at first, when he had received the news. But then, after seeing some of the feats Carol had managed in her lifetime, and hearing of where exactly her seidr came from...

He was still afraid of the Titan, he'd be a fool to not be. But if something was stronger than uru, then it was an Infinity Stone. Or powers that had been gained from the Infinity Stones.

Loki believed that, had she been a little better trained or had she received education from a better teacher, the witch could have been a very dangerous being to have to contend with.

Be it as it was, Loki was content keeping her out of sight and knowing that one day she would simply self-destruct.

(Stephen and the other disciples attempts at getting him to take the failsafe out had been truly amusing. All they had done was ask him once each, in various degrees of uncaring, and then praised each other for 'trying as hard as they could have')

“Why am I doing this?” questioned Carol, looking up at him while also paying attention to the block.

“This is uru,” explained Loki. “One of the most powerful and hard to destroy objects in the Universe. If you can destroy this, I believe that you would be able to destroy the Mad Titan’s gauntlet and to retrieve the Infinity Stones from within it, if he carries any.”

She looked thoughtful. “And that way we can defeat him?”

She sounded very much not worried, and Loki mentally sighed. Other than Stephen, none of them seemed to truly grasp how powerful and dangerous the Mad Titan was. They were worried about him and the chaos he might unravel with his army, but still were very confident in their abilities to defeat him.

It irritated him a bit, being unable to fully make sure they knew the danger that was heading their way. It made him fear for their sakes and worry about losing them in the coming battle, but there wasn’t anything he could do to ensure they truly understood. All he could do was prepare them as better as he could, which was what he was doing.

“It is one of my many plans on how to take the Titan down, yes,” agreed Loki, glancing over at James and Hope once more. They had abandoned the strategy game and seemed to be busy plotting something, the flerken Goose being treated to cuddles and scratches between them.

The sight pleased him.

His disciples were very smart, very powerful, and very mischievous. It was the best mix Loki could imagine, and he was very proud to call them his.

One day, as soon as the many dangers headed their way were handled, he’d bring them to Asgard and proudly present them to Thor, Odin and everyone else on the Realm. People would be green with envy and jealousy when they realised they were all his, Thor in particular.

It would be glorious.

“What’s making you smirk like that?” questioned Carol, eyes narrowing. “You look like you have just planned something nefarious that’s gonna upset people, I’ve seen that expression on Tony’s face often enough.”

Loki just smiled serenely at her, which did nothing to curb her suspicion.

They were just like him, wasn’t that simply delightful?

And then there was the clever FRIDAY who everyday Loki liked more, such a young and mischievous soul. Simply, magnificent.

He had met the boy of Spiders who Anthony insisted wasn't his despite everyone knowing better and witnessed a ‘video-call’ between Anthony and his other child  - Harley - but in his opinion FRIDAY was the best of Anthony’s children.

Vision was the worst, not that Loki was ever going to say that out loud.  

Still, he did not like the Mind Stone creature.

He knew Anthony held him dear, as he carried the voice and part of the soul of the child he had before FRIDAY; but every time Loki gazed upon the jewel on his forehead, he felt repulsed.

The Scepter might have been the true wicked party, and the consciousness within it, but that did not mean the Mind Stone was a benevolent entity. And seeing it paraded like that on the being's forehead... it felt as if it was some sort of mockery. 

The Stones should be hidden, kept concealed, like Stephen did with the Time Stone. Not proudly displayed as if taunting the Universe at large.

On top of that, he had heard FRIDAY’s recounting of the actions and behaviour of this creature since his birth and he was simply not impressed. His reaction to the unmasking all of the wrongs Maximoff had wrought the world alone had been enough to make Loki dislike him.

He had his favourite that was a truth he could not deny, and the Mind Stone creature did not make the cut, Anthony’s pseudo-son or not. He was quite content with FRIDAY and DUM-E. Oh, DUM-E was truly a mischievous soul. Loki was continuously delighted by him, which Anthony seemed to take great offense in.

“Look!” then called Carol, and Loki’s eyes returned on her and the block of uru.

It had started to melt. Slowly, slower than it would be useful in battle, but it had started to melt - as had the desk, he noted distractedly - and Carol did not appear to be particularly tired or uncomfortable.

“Very good,” he praised, smiling back at her as the door to the sitting room opened, and Anthony and Stephen strolled in. “Pause for now. But you can become hotter, can you not?”

“Yeah, no problem. And I can do it faster too.”

“Carol is the second hottest person in the Compound, hell yeah she can become hotter,” agreed them Anthony, a very broad smile on his face as he walked into the kitchen. “She- What the fuck did you do to my table?!”

“Aw, look at you two holding hands,” mocked James.

Indeed, noted Loki, Anthony and Stephen were holding hands. And Anthony had been smiling before he had become dismayed at the sight of his table, and Stephen looked very proud of himself-

“You finally got together!” called out Carol, letting go of the block of uru to round on them with a huge smile. Loki watched as the heated metal sunk through the desk and into the floor, creating a hole, and paused its descent with magic before it could sink further in and create a new hole in the floor so soon after they had sealed the previous one.

Anthony’s dismay turned into horror and fascination at the sight, but Carol did not even seem to notice as she wrapped the two men in a hug. “I am so proud of you, Stephen! Congratulations for finally waking up!”

“Wait a second,” complained Anthony, while Stephen scowled. “What makes you think he made the first move and not me?”

“Tony, you have been in love with this idiot since you were like fourteen,” informed him James, as he and Hope walked in the kitchen too, Goose in his arms. Hope stared at the broken desk in bemusement while he clapped them on the shoulders. “You are now forty-two years old and you have never made a move. Do not embarrass yourself.”

“Stephen had the excuse that he was too oblivious to realise what was going on,” added Hope, which earned her their shared glare. “You were just being a coward.”

“I was biding my time!”

“Coward,” repeated the girl, pointedly. Then she smiled, pressing a kiss on both their cheeks. “But I’m happy for you.”

“Congratulations,” agreed Loki, disappearing the uru in a pocket dimension for now. “Though I believe it is rather odd for you to start by getting engaged before you even start dating.”

“We are not engaged,” complained Stephen.

Anthony looked at him with a frown. “We aren’t? But I gave you an engagement bracelet and everything.” 

Stephen blinked at him, confusion - but no panic, noted Loki with some delight - in his eyes. “Wait, are you serious? It wasn’t a joke?”

Anthony grinned. “Nah, I’m just fucking with you,” he said, which was only half a lie. Stephen rolled his eyes while the other three exchanged a look with each other and Loki that said that they too had caught the half truth from Anthony.

He he felt another swell of pride for his disciples.

They were his.

“When will the wedding happen, then?" he then asked, calmly glancing around. "It will take place on Asgard, of course, but I need a date so that I can properly prepare.”

“Wait-”

“You should talk to Pepper and Wong,” said James, turning to look at Loki. “They probably know their schedules better than these two could ever.”

“Now hold on a second-”

“It’d be cool if you were the one to marry them,” added Hope, completely ignoring the spluttering behind her. “Would it be an Asgardian wedding or an Earth wedding on Asgard?”

“But we aren’t-”

“We could have one on Earth and one on Asgard,” pointed out Carol, trying to school her face. “As our patron god you could finance the one on Asgard and Tony slash Pepper can make sure the Earth one goes according to plan.”

“Do we get an opinion on our own supposed wedding?” demanded Stephen, and Loki was very amused to hear him sound less put upon regarding this than he was regarding some of Loki’s other proposals and schemes.

James scoffed. “It took you 26 years to get together: I am not waiting another lifetime for you to finally get married. How am I supposed to walk Tony down the aisle when I’m old and grey?”

“Rude,” complained Anthony, but he too was smiling.

Yes. Loki was very pleased.

Chapter Text

“I feel like I should be there too,” admitted Tony, as he and Rhodey stood in front of one of the portals left open in the Compound.

His friend looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. “Do you want to be there?”

“God, no,” said Tony, nose twisting slightly at the mere thought. 

The last time he had set eyes on Steve Rogers had been two years prior, when the man had been forcibly removed from the Court for contempt. Rogers had tried to get in contact with him after that, sending letters and the like, but Tony had not taken a single message from him, and then had proceeded to block him at the source.

He failed to see how there was anything else worthy of being said, between the two of them, and thus was not going to hear anything he had to say.

Tony had lived two years blissfully Steve Rogers free, and he was not interested in breaking his streak. Chances of him managing to prolong said streak seemed pretty good considering that, barring a successful escape attempt, Rogers had been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole. 

“Then you don’t have to,” said Rhodey, with certainty, putting an arm around his shoulders. “You don’t owe him or anyone else anything ever again.”

Yes, Tony was aware of the fact. Everyone in his life had made it plenty clear to him already.

Sometimes he still needed someone to repeat it, thought, and Rhodey took great delight in doing so.

“All right,” he finally said, turning over to look at Vision. “You know you don’t have to do this either, right?”

The android had come far from who he had been two years ago too. With the mind stone no longer in his head and continued therapy sessions with an interesting sorcerer/therapist that worked with Stephen, Vision had gotten more... settled. More comfortable in his skin, in who he was as a person. All around much happier than he had been since the day he was created.

He had found his identity, who he was as a person, and for this Tony was very glad. The divide between him and the others at the beginning had been very clear to see, and while no one had ever been outright rude to him even back then, it had hurt Tony’s soul watching him float around in the background looking lost, afraid or unwilling to join in with everyone else.

“I am aware,” said Vision with a light smile. “But I do not mind. I no longer care about Mister Rogers or his delusions, so I am not worried about facing him.”

“Good for you,” said Tony, finally passing them the case he had been holding. “Be careful, and if you are looking for us or need something-”

“I shall call upon Heimdall after the event,” agreed Vision, nodding. Then he waved at them before he stepped through the portal, which automatically closed behind him.

“Better him than me,” decided Tony, shaking his head with a huff. “Did Stephen or Wong stay behind?”

“Nope,” said Rhodey, walking with him towards the other room, where another portal had been left behind. “He said he’d wait for us there.” 

“He just wanted to get to the library before I could - allegedly -  distract him,” muttered Tony, rolling his eyes. “Still, thank sweet mother Science for his fancy portals.” 

“Right?” agreed Rhodey as they stepped through it and landed on Asgard. “I mean the Bifrost lightshow is very cool to look at but man is that thing uncomfortable.”

“I don’t understand how Carol manages to use it each time without feeling the need to barf, it’s awful. No wonder Asgardians are so insane all the time.”

“Are you complaining about Asgard and its infrastructure again?” asked Loki, appearing behind them. He closed Stephen’s portal with a simple wave of his fingers, glaring at it slightly. “He needs to stop leaving portals open like this. What if someone he didn’t count on manages to utilise them?”

“Save the lecture for him, we are innocent,” said Tony, letting him stand between himself and Rhodey. “But speaking of Asgardian infrastructure, when are you going to let me open up the Bifrost and improve it?”

Loki looked at him in amusement. “As soon as you convince the citizens of Asgard as a whole, and Thor and Hela, you can do whatever you wish with it.”

Tony made noise of discontent at this. As much as the people of Asgard seemed to like him and the others, they were very conservative in near about everything. They treated change and innovation as if it was an illness or a sickness, and Tony still wondered how Loki had managed to come out of living here for over a thousand years as sane as he had.

Not that he was sane. But in his position, Tony would have snapped far earlier.

“Aren’t you supposed to be my patron god?” he still tried, giving him his most convincing of expression (the one that, no matter how often he tried it, did not work as well on him as it did on virtually anyone else, Loki was far more powerful than Tony had previously thought). “It’s your responsibility to make me happy. Being unable to do as I wish with the Bifrost is making me unhappy.”

“Patron god,” agreed Loki, one eyebrow raised. “Not fairy godfather. Don’t push it, laerisveinn minn.”

In Tony’s personal opinion, Loki would make a pretty decent father, one day. Tony did not think of the man as his father, but he could not deny that Loki did have the habit of parenting the hell out of them all. It was highly confusing considering he looked younger than all of them except maybe Carol. 

But, as Rhodey put it, “It was usually nice, Hope, Stephen and Tony had daddy issues anyway, so why not let the guy get away with it?”

(For the record, Tony, Hope and Stephen had protested this bold claim, but Carol and Rhodey could be very mean sometimes, especially when they allied themselves with Pepper and Happy)

That or an amazing pet sitter. It had been two years, and still Tony wasn’t completely sure that the man did not see them as show ponies he was very fond of. Or that the non-Thor Asgardians didn't, considering their expressions whenever they saw Loki walking around with them. Or when they saw them doing something that was very cool in their eyes, and then going off with Loki instead of staying with them.

The envy was palpable in those instances, as was Loki's smugness, but they had all agreed to pretend to not see it, since it didn't really hurt anyone.

Tony shot Rhodey a look, and the man nodded before glancing back at Loki. “Can you try to convince Thor, maybe? You’re his brother, you’d be better at convincing him. Plus I will be there with Tony anyway, and I will make sure he doesn’t get too carried away.”

“James, I am not my brother or a smartly dressed Midgardian. I know you. You must think me daft if you truly believe you can convince me that you and Anthony working together on the Bifrost is in any way safer than him working on it alone,” said Loki, appearing deeply unimpressed.

It was working against him right now, but man was Tony glad that people who were not the Moons™ (term coined by Tony and Carol but copyright pending because Pepper thought that it was stupid) had finally figured out how devious a man his Platypus could be when he wanted.

“But Thor doesn’t know that,” reminded him Rhodey, pointedly. “This way you could get a better working Bifrost and pull a fast one over your brother. Two birds, one stone. And I’m sure that we can put it back just the way we found it after, we are very good at it.”

“Yes,” agreed Tony, deciding to keep to himself the fact that ‘putting it back just the way they had found it’ usually ended up with them having more parts than they recalled starting with. Loki did not need to worry about that, though, it still worked the same or better, when they were done with it.

Loki sighed deeply, muttering something about 'the Norns giving him patience' and ‘understanding his mother’ (... yeah, that could mean both parent vibes or pet sitter vibes, Tony had nothing). He did not answer them, but he also did not refuse them immediately which Tony took it to be a good sign.

“How did your earlier activity end?” he instead asked, glancing over at Tony again. “Did you visit the soldier?”

“I didn’t go,” said Tony, shrugging. “I just gave the antiserum thing to Vision, and he and Bruce are going to make sure it is administered to Rogers correctly. Once that’s done...” he blew a raspberry, pointing a thumb down. “No more Captain America.”

Not that there had been a Captain America in years, but this was actually making it official.

Tony had been working on an antiserum long before the battle with Thanos. But he had waited until after the raisin had been defeated once and for all to complete the formula.

It turned out that some people were uncomfortable with the Captain being constantly forced to wear Vibranium chains even though he was already in prison. Something about human rights and it being ‘tantamount to torture’ (Tony begged to differ).

On the other hand, Steve Rogers was a very dangerous inmate. Prison had not made him any smarter or calmer than before, if the rumour mill was to be trusted, and he had already killed one guard in an attempt to escape before, months after being jailed. No one wanted him out of those bonds without a way to incapacitate him forever.

Creating the serum had been a necessity to appease both the bleeding hearts trying to start polls and petitions (the media could be so fickle), and also keeping the people (both guards and fellow inmates) inside the prison he was being kept at safe.

Also, it had been very therapeutic. Tony had created the machine that had turned the weapon that killed his parents into something closer to human again, and now created the serum that, with one single injection, destroyed the man who had, once upon a time, told him that without the suit Tony was nothing.

Tony did not deny he was a very vindictive person.

And poetry was a guilty pleasure of his.

Without the suit, Tony was still Tony Stark, the bastard who built the suit to begin with.

Without the serum, what was Steve Rogers? 

An ill man with an overinflated sense of self.

Without his weapons or people supporting them, what were any of the Rogues?

Barton was a deranged criminal serving an 11 years sentence for his actions. It would have been less years, but the man had become more and more unhinged the longer his trial had gone on for. It was uncertain if it was because of Maximoff’s magic in his mind or if it was just him being him. He had still been fit to stand trial, unfortunately (or fortunately?) for him, and Tony doubted his rants and arguments had earned him any sympathy from the jury or the Court. 

Tony had not spoken to him since either. The last time he had come into any sort of contact with him, it had been when he had reached out to the man’s family to return a SHIELD issued watch Barton had left behind at the Compound.

Laura Barton had taken it with a tight smile, and then promptly vanished along with her children. 

Tony had not gone looking for her.

Lang was in a similar position to Barton, though he was serving less years. In the end, Tony had decided to not report him for attempted murder, despite several complaints from his friends and family. It just wasn't worth it, he had decided. Plus, Lang had sort of surrendered himself before everything had started unravelling, and had pleaded guilty immediately. He would only serve 7 years.

Tony did see the man’s family, because Hope was trying to help out Cassie. The little girl had been very lost after her father had gone to prison again, but Hope had been there for her - similarly, in a way, to how Carol had been with Hope herself after Janet had died and Hank’s neglect had begun.

They were cute together, and it was clear Cassie idolised Hope a lot.

Wilson was also trying to make amends, from what Tony had heard. The man was stuck in prison for 27 years with possible parole in 23, which was far less than what he could have ended up with. Like Lang, he had complied, and entered a plea deal; unlike Lang, he had a number of manslaughter charges on his name because of the tunnel in Bucharest.

Tony knew that Rhodey had gone to see him, but he had never shared what they had said to each other, and Tony hadn’t asked.

Russia had attempted to extradite Romanoff but, in the end, the US had won that particular battle. The woman was serving 58 years in prison, without the possibility of parole and being guarded day and night. Originally it had been 52 years, but after an attempt by the woman to escape, six years had been added. She had been returned to her cell with her legs apparently broken and rumour had it her new guards were ex SHIELD agents.

Allegedly.

Pepper had gone to seen her once.

Tony had asked her no questions either, when she had come back smiling from ear to ear.

Maximoff had been extradited to Sokovia, also being held for life. She was lucky, because Tony had not missed the millions of signatures online asking that she was sent to the electric chair - never mind that she was being tried by the ICC and that they did not do that. Similarly to Barton, the woman had apparently become more unhinged during her prison stay, but Tony wasn’t worried. Stephen’s spell held, and every one of them pretended they were not aware of Loki’s failsafe.

Barnes, Tony wasn’t sure what was happening with him. He had basically not interacted with the man face to face since he had brought him from Wakanda to New York, and he did not see that changing any time soon. He knew he had gotten rid of the triggers at some point last year, but nothing about a trial.

Tony was pretty sure his case was so rare and peculiar that no one even knew how to proceed or start with it. No one wanted him free on the streets, and no one wanted to actually charge him. Tony really hoped that, if there was one, he wasn’t asked to come in. He really enjoyed pretending the man didn’t exist.

Shuri had eventually returned to Wakanda after, in her own words, “helping to fix the minds and hearts of old white men all over America”. Her brother had been deposed by his people while she had been in New York because they no longer felt he kept the safety of Wakanda in enough regard any more, and she had become the new Queen of Wakanda. 

Her Mother had been her regent during the beginning, seen as many countries disagreed with having a 16 years old (back then) on the throne, but while Wakanda was still dealing with some of the repercussions of T’Challa’s actions and of their isolation, they had come a long way. 

SI had even been the first company to get a trade deal going with Wakanda and in exchange Pepper and Stark Industries had helped them navigate the international waters T'Challa's actions and behaviour had filled with sharks wanting to sink them.

“The world can only be all the better for it,” decided Loki, nodding. “I believe they should have kept him in the ice when they found him, but-” 

Tony and Rhodey found themselves suddenly pulled back by Loki, seconds before a blade slashed the air where they had been standing just moments ago.

“Jesus!”

“Sorry guys!” shouted Carol, not even looking as sorry as she should for nearly killing them. “We didn’t see-” She cut herself off with a swear word when Hela tried to take the distraction as an excuse to attack her again. "Hey!"

“Had she not been kidnapped by aliens, I guarantee you she would have been the first of us to end up in prison for a serious crime,” said Tony, watching as Hela and Carol started ‘sparring’ again.

“Unlike you, she would never accidentally commit a crime,” informed him Loki. “It would be on purpose, or she would never get caught.”

Tony ignored that very rude statement, joining the various onlookers on the training grounds watching them in awe and slight fear. 

He could relate: those two together were absolutely insane, and had Tony not been convinced of the fact that Carol was sweet on Maria Rambeau, he’d have long since suspected them of a tryst.

Although... he had never heard Carol say anything about polyamory before...

“I’m going to go look for Hope,” he decided, because this needed some further and immediate investigation. Rhodey glanced at him in suspicion, but Tony just waved at him before rushing off towards where he had last seen the woman.

Very serious investigation.

It was fascinating how much things had changed in such a short amount of time, mused Loki hours later, as he went to forcefully drag Stephen away from the Royal library.

Two years ago, Loki had been dealing with the Aesir Court disguised as Odin and preparing for the Mad Titan’s arrival in any way he could.

And now he was walking upon Asgard in his own skin again without fear, once more in good standing with the Aesir, and chasing after a group of Midgardians who’s bravery he still did not understand some days. 

And he had a sister.

Hela’s arrival had not been something Loki had been prepared for.

When Thor had arrived on Asgard, discovered his ruse, and then forcefully dragged him to Midgard to ‘save’ the All-Father, Loki had had a plan: go to Midgard with the oaf, turn him into a Midgardian while he was not looking, and then entrust him to Stephen and his Order.

Thor had been shocked and confused about the ease with which some Midgardians had interacted with him after recognised him - the Thunderer had not, at the time, known that Anthony had cleared him with the Courts of Midgard and turned him into the Midgardian’s new favourite Norse god with the power of ‘some good ass PR’ - and had not noticed the portal Strange had created until he had fallen through it.

Then Loki had gone to the Sanctum to catch up with his disciples before Strange had located the fool Odin for them. Thor had been furious at his treatment when they had remembered about him and brought him back, and then confused when he had spotted Anthony and James. But he had not had time to voice either confusion or complaint before Strange had sent him away (only later on had Loki found out about Thor’s attempting to choke Anthony, and made his own displeasure known to his dear brother).

They had found Odin, who had spent a couple of minutes informing them of another evil sister they apparently had, before dramatically dying (and people dared to question where Loki got his dramatic tendencies from. The man’s reaction to anything mildly inconvenient happening to him was either falling in the Odinsleep or dying, no in between).

They had ended up on Sakaar for a time, unable to communicate with the rest of the Universe, and then arrived back on Asgard to find Hela attempting to raze it (and everything Loki had worked for) to the ground.

Thor had been ready to unleash Ragnarok, but Loki had had better plans. He had instead called on some reinforcements - people who were renowned for their ability of dealing with normally unresolvable situations.

Only Stephen, Anthony and Carol had come on that day, as they couldn’t all come and leave Midgard unprotected, much to the Hulk and Anthony’s mutual delight and Hope and James’ loud envy.

Hela had been confused by the sudden arrival of the Midgardians, and that had been how she had lost. Because while Hela was virtually unstoppable on Asgard and had proven herself an unstoppable force by Aesir standards, Loki’s disciples were very clever, very powerful, and very annoying. 

It had taken Stephen seconds to transport the woman to the mirror dimension upon his arrival. Thor had been shocked and worried for his ‘shieldbrother’, as had been the Hulk, but only ten minutes later (time in the mirror dimension could pass a little faster than outside it, so he wasn't sure how long it had been for them) they had returned with a vexed but thoughtful Hela, who was now oath bound and seemingly no longer interested in attacking and destroying the Nine Realms.

Apparently, she had not understood that the people of Asgard had forgotten her because of a spell created by Odin rather than because they had been maligning her name. And the reason she had tried to kill Loki and Thor had been their attempt to attack her first and not kneel when asked.

Loki did not see how this made anything better, but Hela had compromised, promising to bring everyone she had slain back to life in exchange for Loki undoing Odin’s spell and the people of Asgard offering an apology and accepting her as a Princess of Asgard.

Since the remaining Aesir had no wish to be smited, they had all complied.

And then the subjects had started looking at Loki with much more appreciation and respect when they had realised that the three who had saved them all were not just Midgardians but, in fact, Loki’s disciples.

Loki might have gloated.

And with the goddess of death at their side, Thanos never stood a chance.

The Titan arrived about a month or so later with the Power Stone and his armies, and his army ran back with nothing, if they had managed to leave the planet at all.

A happy ending Loki had not seen coming, but that he was grateful for nevertheless.

“Well, it’s stupid,” he heard Hope say, as he rounded the corridor. The girl was walking beside Fandral and a couple of other Einherjar, and looking confused and annoyed. “I mean, isn’t she a warrior too?”

“Well, she is,” said one of the men, looking uncomfortable. 

“Is she better than the rest of them?”

Fandral scoffed. “Perhaps better than Volstagg, and maybe Hogun. But I have bested Sif several times over.”

“Then it is incredibly stupid and sexist to continue calling you guys ‘Sif and the Warriors Three’. It should just be ‘the Warriors Four’. Why should Sif be set apart?”

Ah, thought Loki, caught between amusement and annoyance. Hope seemed ready to singlehandedly force the Realm Stagnant into accepting change through pure force of will. She was very opinionated, this one, and neither Loki nor Stephen had to worry about defending magic or seidr arts when she was around.

The first time someone had muttered something about Stephen being ‘womanly’, she had snapped back with everything women had achieved throughout the centuries and then demanded to know if there was anything inherently wrong with being a woman. The man had shut up very quickly, and a couple of dames around had also looked very proud and vindicated.

Loki had not even had to threaten the man for daring to speak on Stephen, her words had been very effective.

Anthony claimed that she was about to become the 'Aesir suffragette', which Loki wasn’t sure he understood the meaning of, but Hope had looked both intrigued and proud about potentially achieving this.

“As riveting as this conversation seems to be,” spoke up Loki, when it seemed as if everyone was just going to silently and awkwardly stand around Hope without an answer, “I am afraid I am going to have to interrupt. I have been looking for you. The feast has started, and you have already missed lunch.”

“I didn’t miss lunch,” said Hope, rolling her eyes. “Your friend Sigyn gave me a slice of pie, and I was too busy helping Rhodey and Tony with the Bi- with something.”

Oh, Loki was very aware that the three had gone to ‘tinker’ with the Bifrost while everyone’s back was turned, but he had decided that pretending to not know was more amusing.

“Would you like me to accompany you to the main hall?” asked Fandral, charm turned up, and absolutely not. 

“That shan’t be necessary,” he said, smoothly linking his arm with Hope’s. “Where is Anthony? I believed him to be with you.” 

His words were directed at her, but he made sure Fandral saw the glare directed at him. He did not care who they decided to share their affections with, but he drew the line at Fandral.

The blond pretended to be innocent, both hands up in an apology that Loki did not believe for a moment.

She gave him an amused and knowing smile even as she allowed herself to be pulled along. “Don’t you have us all spelled and micro chipped?”

“That is not necessary on Asgard,” said Loki, shaking his head. “I have you spelled just enough to know if you are in danger, otherwise you are mostly safe here. No one would dare harm you, unless they wished to feel my wrath.”

He pretended not to hear her mutter of ‘overprotective’, before she cleared her throat.

Considering who they were and their behaviour, could anyone truly blame him? Part of Loki was forever grateful he had only found them a few years ago. The idea of chasing after them when they had been youths by Midgardian standards gave him nightmares.

“I was with him until earlier, but then he went to the library to find Stephen, I think. Question, can sorcerers turn into vampires? Because I swear Stephen has not felt the sun since the day we got here.”

Loki chuckled as he teleported them with ease inside the library. Mother used to say the same about-

“Is nothing sacred here?!” demanded Loki, as soon as his eyes fell on the two figures in front of him. He had teleported himself at the table Stephen he had shown Stephen when they had first arrived on Asgard, Loki’s own favourite desk, and indeed the sorcerer was there.

As was Anthony.

All but having their way with each other atop the desk.

Anthony shrieked at their sudden appearance, dropping on the ground in his haste to get off Stephen and cover himself, while the sorcerer just cursed, the Cloak wrapping itself around him.

Hope made a sound of disgust, eyes fixing themselves on the ceiling. “Sex in the library? You guys are so disgusting, what in the depravity!”

“You could have ruined millennia old tomes,” added Loki, because that was what was really important there. The books!

“I cast protective spells around them,” complained Stephen, as he started grabbing his clothes.

“Premeditated,” said Hope, nose scrunching up. “You did it knowingly and on purpose, you are nasty, Strange.”

“No one told you to teleport in instead of knocking like normal people,” complained Anthony, standing up when he was once more wearing pants. “You reap what you sow.”

“We walked into a library, how is that reaping what I sowed? I sowed for books. Sowed books? Grammar is hard.”

“Make sure to clean up,” said Loki, sternly looking between the other two. “People come in here to read, if I hear one person complain about... fluids...” Hope gagged, “Inside of here, I will hold you two personally responsible.”

“Everyone has sex in the library!” 

“Not on Asgard,” informed him Loki, once more feeling deep distaste for Midgard and their obsession with intercourse. It was almost as bad as Alfheim. “I shall never be able to walk in here and relax again.”

“I’m not sorry,” informed him Stephen.

“Another item off my bucket list: sex in a library on another planet before I get married,” added Anthony, fixing his shirt with a smirk.

“You are getting married tomorrow,” pointed out Loki as Stephen ran a spell around the desk and the floor and the books.

Anthony looked at the sorcerer with a besotted smile. “I am. But don’t worry, I have another list for after we get married.”

Stephen’s eyes were wicked. “As do I.”

Loki tried very hard to maintain the dislike Hope had naturalised on her face, but he found it a little hard, when he saw them this happy.

Indeed tomorrow Anthony and Stephen would be wedded on Asgard. 

Many had argued that this was too soon, but Loki and the rest of his disciples knew that this was a very long time coming. And something like the public’s opinion was not going to dissuade two stubborn people like Anthony and Stephen.

It would be a most joyous occasion with FRIDAY coming to Asgard through an armour to witness it too, and Loki could not deny how gladdened he was for this. She deserved it, and at the very least she’d be able to film it for the bots and Vision (now that the Mind Stone was gone from him, Loki found himself thawing slightly when it came to the android). 

There would be another wedding on Midgard too, which Loki would also attend, but weddings on Asgard were much more exciting and fanciful.

Stephen opened a portal to the Hall, where they found James and Carol already seated, talking to each other. Goose was at their table, which ensured a very wide berth was given to their table (not all Aesir feared flerken, but a good majority did, Thor is particular).

Hope, Anthony and Stephen proceeded towards them, and Loki smiled a little to himself as Anthony stole James’ plate for himself and Carol wrapped an arm around Hope as soon as she was close enough.

Their bond was stronger than ever, and their belief in him just as strong.

Loki had never thought himself one for sentiment, but seeing them so bright and happy, being able to witness their happiness?

It made him strangely happy.

“Loki?” called Stephen, looking back at him with a raised eyebrow. “You okay?”

Loki smiled, nodding. The five golden apples inside of his pocket dimension did not even feel particularly heavy.

“Better than.”

“Come on then,” said Stephen, beckoning him forward. “I can hear Thor lying about knowing Tony first, do you want to hurt his feelings yourself or should I do it?”

Loki grinned.

Better than, indeed.