Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

75 hours. 27 minutes. 43 seconds.

44...

45...

46...

47...

This is starting to be too much for Loki. Little over three days on this giant cargo spaceship with Thor, Brunnhilde, Bruce and what’s left of Asgard’s population, and Loki has enough. The ship is big enough for this many people, but not big enough for Loki to stay as far from people as he would like.

It’s not that he wants to be away from his people, (he’s still surprised that he came to terms with himself that *yes*, these indeed are his people, and he is their prince) it’s just that he is so used to people being cold to him and suspicious of him, that he is still startled every time some Asgardian comes to him and thanks him for saving them from Hela.

So, he tries to keep away but make enough appearance, as Thor asked him to be his advisor.

Right now, it’s supposed to be early morning, and Loki haven’t slept for the past 27 hours. The ship has 24-hour light and dark cycle, making the ships lights turn off for 12 hours and turn on the other 16. Extremely similar to Midgard’s day and night cycle, which is weird for an extraterrestrial spaceship, but no one complied about it, so there is no problem.

There is no sound to hear as Loki quickly walks to the ship’s control room, his footsteps those of a ghost. There is no one in the control room, the ship is set on autopilot for now and while the room is also used as makeshift throne room, it’s too early for anyone to be there.

Loki walks to the giant windows, looking at the never ending and still expanding universe. The sight makes him shiver even though it’s different than his memory of the pure darkness of the void, this part of universe is too bright and colorful with different galaxies and nebulas. The fear of the unknown and dark parts of the universe is engraved into Loki’s brain and is there to stay till the end of his miserable life.

He tries not to think about these traumatic memories, but only other thing that comes to his mind that helps him get distracted isn’t the best either. The ship is headed to a certain part of universe, certain part of Milkyway Galaxy, certain solar system and certain damned planet. One he knew would be the best for Thor and their people, but probably unpleasant or even dangerous for him.

Midgard. Earth. Terra. Whatever you want to call it. Last time Loki was there, it was a complete shitshow, as some Midgardians would say. The control Thanos and the corrupted Mind stone had over him made him do horrible things.

Yes, Loki might be petty and at times maybe even malicious, but that was something he would never do. He is still angry at Thor for not realizing that until he told him, Bruce and Brunnhilde about it and all about Thanos. It was a hard and painful talk, but he finally realized that with right people and trust they might be able to stop Thanos. And with three Infinity stones being situated on Earth they could have great advantage or speed up Thanos success by a lot.

Loki doesn’t know yet if he likes that scenario. But it’s even questionable if he will be staying on the Midgard. While he wants to be there for Thor and help him with ruling so he doesn’t make himself look like an oaf, he won’t be staying there for long if the Red-White-and-Blue and his team decide to just throw him into prison.

He hopes that at least someone from the Avengers will see the reason and see that he’s now more trustworthy, other than Thor and surprisingly Bruce who now seem to trust him.

But the chances of that are pretty low. Captain Steve Rogers is to ‘righteous’ and full of hero and most likely god complex to realize that Loki is one of the best ways for them to successfully beat the Thanos.

Clint Barton is a direct victim of Loki’s actions, and after being mind-controlled Loki really doubts if he will forgive him even if he knows that Loki too was mind-controlled. And Natasha Romanoff is cold to ever sympathize with him about being mind-controlled, and too stubborn and attached to Barton to ever forgive him if Clint doesn’t forgive him first.

From what Thor and Bruce talked there should be some new members to the team of heroes. They didn’t personally fought against him back then, but they must have seen the damage he done, and decided to hate his guts too.

So, Loki’s only saving grace is most likely Antony Edward Stark himself, and Loki isn’t too upset about it. Stark is in fact genius, and besides that a well-known and liked public figure, who could very well help Loki not get thrown into a prison right upon landing on Midgard.

The man is passionate and wears his heart on his sleeve even while holding up that perfectly made facade in the public. He’s smart and very hard working, helping the world with what he can, but he’s also funny and dramatic, full-on diva like Loki. Loki thinks that if they met under different circumstances, they would become a great friends.

Loki is roused from his thoughts, quickly replacing his tiny smile with more neutral frown, as he hears soft yet still hearable footsteps. He doesn’t turn around, after only three days he already learned differences between some people's footsteps. He just waits and stays quiet as Bruce stops next to him, looking at the beautiful yet terrifying sight of the universe.

After few moments of quiet Bruce breaks the silence. “The space is so beautiful, but I doubt that that’s why you are here.” It’s a silent invitation for Loki to talk about what’s on his mind. Just a month ago Loki would pull up his brave and snarky facade, and laughed at Banner for even thinking that Loki would ever tell him something so personal.

But it’s not one month ago, and no matter how bizarre it is, him and Bruce came to same conclusion that the other isn’t so bad and started to talk about science and magic stuff, forming a decent camaraderie. While Loki still thinks it’s too soon for him to talk with Bruce about such personal things, he also knows that stewing in his own mind without telling someone about it is not the best either.

He came a long way, didn’t he? Trying to actually take care of himself and his mental health. So, after few more long moments of silence, when Loki is starting to think that Bruce might leave and won’t push him, he finally says.

“I’m thinking about how the Midgard will take my return... While I do know that my actions should put me to prison, I can’t have that now with Thanos becoming more of a threat. We need to plan and prepare, and I’ll be damned if I’m not part of that.” The words are quiet, tone almost neutral, but if you listen closely, you can hear the anger and almost desperation. The need to make Thanos pay for what he done to Loki and what he made him do.

Bruce looks up at Loki, eyes showing no joy at seeing Loki so desperate or the amusement at Loki’s rage. His eyes show something Loki isn’t really used to. Sympathy. But the emotion is soon joined and almost overcome by different one, determination.

“Yeah, the welcoming committee won’t be very warm and polite when they see you. But we will be in Solar system soon, and with that we should be able to contact Tony with this ship’s communication device. We will warn them about the incoming Asgardians so they can prepare a place for us to land. We will also tell Tony about you and with me and Thor vouching for you, and with Tony’s personality, he will be intrigued and will arrange for you to not be arrested or even killed right on the spot.”

Bruce’s words do assure Loki a little bit, but he is still a bit unsure. Well, no other way then to wait and see. But Loki does hope that everything will end up at least somehow good.

It’s just 6 hours 12 minutes and 48 seconds after that conversation when they are passing the Jupiter’s orbit. Bruce with Loki’s help started up the communication device and also somehow made it possible for them to contact Stark’s satellite with audiovisual form.

When the space videocall finally connected, the display showed very tired and concerningly pale Tony Stark. Stark’s face slightly lit up at seeing Bruce and Thor. “Brucie! Point Break!” His beaming makes both Avengers smile, yet they still look concerned about Tony’s state.

“Where have you guys been? You missed so m-” Tony’s line of speech is suddenly stopped by Tony himself as he finally notices the third person in the videocall. He is quiet for total of maybe 4 seconds before he almost screeches.

“What is Reindeer Games doing there?!”

Chapter Text

For the past almost a year Tony’s mornings weren’t pleasant. But being woken up at ass o’clock by a signal from a satellite he made to foresee any more alien invasions must be one of the worst mornings.

The past 11 months after the so-called Civil War were rough and painfully long for Tony. After waking up two and half weeks in a hospital bed, high on a painkillers, and then 7 months of waking up with nightmares and pain in his chest from the new smaller version of arc reactor, he thought he won’t have any worse mornings in long time.

The pain and the nightmares didn’t stop but it became more manageable. That and the fact that he got hyper focused on other things like focusing for a while on SI, trying to search for new members for Avengers and making sure that the Rouges won’t return to states for a while.

Many people might say that he’s being petty, but Steve rammed his shield into Tony’s chest with enough force to ruin his chest so much they had to again use the arc reactor to support his ribs. Yeah, Tony took that fucking personally.

The physical and mental therapy after that shitshow made Tony realize that Avengers were never really a team. They were more like a primary school class, for lack of better comparison, splitting into groups. Steve with Clint and Natasha as one group, him with Bruce another group, while Thor was that golden retriever classmate that is friends with everyone.

The realization made Tony start working on few different projects. First being the New Avengers. People with proper background checks, tested both mentally and physically. No more backstabbing people or people with mental problems they refuse to fix.

Second project was making and later perfecting Rhodey’s leg braces. Tony still feels responsible for that even after all the times Rhodey told him that it’s not his fault. Third project was repairing and expanding the compound and making few new rules, like no permanent housing in compound and after properly agreeing to the Accords, making few adjustments to them and making it so the Avengers get an actual pay for their job.

The fourth project is the one that makes him have this dreadful morning.

No matter how much the old Avengers didn’t believe him and dismissed him on the idea of there being a bigger galactic threat coming at them, he knew that it was coming and fast. After many months of overthinking and planning and later building, SI launched their own impossibly advanced satellite. SI already had few advanced satellites orbiting the Earth but this one should alert them of something entering their solar system, the range being big enough to reach Pluto.

So, when Tony got the alert that something big crossed Pluto’s orbit and is rapidly advancing to Earth, he feared the worst. While he already had some new Avengers full on job, it was still too little, and even if the flying object, most likely a spaceship, was much smaller than the Chitauri ship he saw through the wormhole, it was still big as a football field and could be a real problem if hostile.

Even though Tony was scared that it’s just false alarm, he wakes up only other people who for now stay in the compound: Rhodey, Vision, Hope Van Dyne and surprisingly Jane Foster with Darcy Lewis. The last two while not being full on Avengers were essential to have near and they accepted the offer for the new scientific and PR part of Avengers.

After explaining what is happening, they all look much more aware and awake. They decide that for now him and Jane will try calculating how long they have until the spaceship enters Earth atmosphere, and others get ready for what could come.

The calculations are quick, simple. Tony didn’t even really need Jane to help him, but he was glad that at least someone was with him right now, because he felt like he could explode if he thought about all the what-ifs.

They calculate that the ship should arrive in 3 to 4 hours. It’s around hour later, when Tony gets the signal of the ship trying to communicate. But now, hour later he’s alone in the lab, with nothing but the theories of what could happen to occupy his brain. So, like a reasonable adult that he is, he does the right thing to do. He accepts the space videocall all by himself, not letting anyone know of what’s happening.

...Yeah, his not really a reasonable or even really sane adult.

As Tony accepts the call his body shivers but he’s covered in sweat. Anxiety and adrenaline rushing through his veins like ice and fire. But none of this stops him from putting on his calm and collected facade. The videocall connects and everything is still and quit for few moments, before Tony’s tired and overworked brain recognizes who is shown on the screen.

“Brucie! Point Break!” Tony has never felt so lost and yet full of joy like now. It was such a long time since he saw either of them.

Thor left Earth shortly after the Ultron and Sokovia happened, saying he needed to do something on different planets and that he would return soon enough with possible info on the supposed Infinity stone in Vision’s forehead. It was little over two years since then, and two and a half weeks since Doctor Strange (not Avenger yet, but Tony will talk him into it one day) informed him that Thor came to Earth, looking for his dad with Loki, who was allegedly dead after the whole thing with Dark Elves.

Bruce supposedly disappeared from the Earth’s surface right before they finished Ultron. Tony at first thought he just went to hiding for some time. But after not being able to find him after few months of searching, Tony knew that Bruce must have somehow end up leaving the Earth entirely and he didn’t know how to feel about that.

No matter, they are now coming back home on giant spaceship somehow, and Tony is excited to have them back and reviled that the supposed hostile ship is someone they know.

“Where have you guys been? You missed so m-” Tony start talking excited and also trying to joke about all the traumatic stuff that happened since they left. But his word screech to halt when he recognizes the third person on the videocall.

His brain works overtime. Questioning why is the Asgard’s emo prince present one the call, how is Bruce not going all Green Jolly on his ass and since when is Loki so sexy when he looks like he actually takes care of himself. Also, since when does Loki have such intense and beautiful green eyes. But his mouth is able to only ask the first question for now.

“What is Reindeer Games doing there?!”

The mix between smug and somehow sheepish smile (which, how is that even possible) Loki gives him makes Tony think he somehow got teleported into alternative universe without him noticing.

Bruce chuckles and rubs back of his neck, a nervous habit Tony remembers, as he looks at Thor and then Loki (who gives him friendly smile, what the actual fuck is happening) before he looks back at Tony and answers him question with only.

“Yeaaah, that’s for long story. Do you have time for it right now?” Bruce definitely knows that even if Tony didn’t have time, he would listen to the whole story. The question is more of a polite thing to do, but Tony decides to answer anyway.

“Yeah, I have time. It’s 4 something am, and I was up since like around 3am when I was awoken by a warning that there is a big spaceship approaching our solar system. I was scared shitless for an hour thinking that we will have another invasion on our hands that we are not prepared for.”

Bruce at least looks sorry about that, remembering how paranoid Tony became after invasion in New York. But it’s Thor who smiles widely, brightly, with his perfect pearly whites and says something.

“Tony, my friend, Avengers did it once, and they could do it again. We even had some new people when I was leaving.” Thor sounds sure and joyful as always, but Tony can sense that there is something different about the Thunderer. Something other than the short hair and missing eye, don’t worry, Tony noticed but he will comment on it later.

Tony sighs and looks away from the screen, flashes of Steve lowering the shield to his chest running through his brain as he regretfully says. “Not anymore. Some stuff happened, bad stuff. But we can talk about that later.” Tony tries to put on carefree facade, Bruce and Thor, while hesitant, they seem to believe it. But Tony is worried about how Loki looks at him, like he’s looking right through him and his facade right to his broken heart.

“Now, tell me the whole story. Why are the three of you traveling in a giant spaceship? Did Loki make you arrive to Earth in big stylish spaceship to make the grand entrance as the diva he is?” Tony jokes and feels proud at Loki’s small, amused smile, which is still weird to see.

“Like you aren’t one, Stark.” The dark-haired god says almost fondly, which again is very weird. Is this even the real Loki from 2012? Bruce then finally decides to start talking again.

“Let’s start with the most important stuff first...”

Chapter Text

“What is Reindeer Games doing there?!”

Even though Loki is a God of Mischief and Lies, lying is something he tries to do only if it’s really beneficial for him. So, when Loki says that Stark looks as bad, if not even worse, as Loki looked thorough out the Invasion, he is definitely not lying.

Stark’s skin was pale and almost glossy like Vanaheim’s best porcelain vase, the dark circles under his eyes tell a story of little to no hours of sleep. His cheeks look hollow, and his cheek bones more pronounce than they were all those years ago, almost as if he lost some weight. Loki looks at Thor and Bruce, their faces show poorly hidden concern, so he’s not the only one who noticed the change.

He decides to not mention the change for now and rather smiles at Stark’s question. The question doesn’t sound like Stark’s angry, more like he’s confused and intrigued which calm Loki down tiny bit. The hope for Loki to be able to normally arrive to Midgard seems bigger with each passing second.

Loki considers saying something but decides that letting Bruce and Thor talk for now would be the best. The smaller man looks nervous, not really knowing what to say and where to start. As he looks at both of the gods, Loki tries to give Bruce what he hopes is a reassuring smile, before he answers Stark.

“Yeaaah, that’s for long story. Do you have time for it right now?” The whole thing sounds nervous and anxious to Loki. He knows that even though Bruce reassured him that he will be able to make it work for all of them, Bruce still doubts himself and he hadn’t full thought about how he is going to explain all this to Stark.

The response they get from Stark makes them all feel sorry for scaring him, but deep down Loki curses himself and Thanos for the whole Invasion and for what they all had to go through because of him.

“Yeah, I have time. It’s 4 something am, and I was up since like around 3am when I was awoken by a warning that there is a big spaceship approaching our solar system. I was scared shitless for an hour thinking that we will have another invasion on our hands that we are not prepared for.”

Loki and most likely the other two with him are confused at the last part. He knows that while there are some alien species that the Avengers wouldn’t be able to beat, they won against the Chitauri so they would be able to win against many other aliens who would decide to attack Earth. So, the fact that Stark thinks they aren’t prepared for next invasion sound bad to them all. It’s Thor who tries to be optimistic.

“Tony, my friend, Avengers did it once, and they could do it again. We even had some new people when I was leaving.” Loki knows Thor very well, even though he still can’t believe that he agrees to it, they are brothers. They grew up together for centuries, so Loki knows that even though the blond sounds sure about his statement to other people, he isn’t really so convinced. Which doesn’t sound good to Loki.

The reaction from Stark isn’t good either. Even though Stark looks away they all can see the haunted look that flashes across his face, but it’s quickly hidden behind a perfectly made facade of Stark’s supposed carefree personality. “Not anymore. Some stuff happened, bad stuff. But we can talk about that later.”

While not totally convinced, the two Avengers next to Loki seem to believe to Stark’s mask to some degree. But Loki knows a mask, a facade made to protect oneself. He can see through Stark just enough to know that he’s anything but carefree at this moment. And it seems that Stark can sense that Loki is looking through his mask as the man seems to avoid Loki’s eyes.

“Now, tell me the whole story. Why are the three of you traveling in a giant spaceship? Did Loki make you arrive to Earth in big stylish spaceship to make the grand entrance as the diva he is?”

While Loki still tries to figure out what exactly happened to Stark is the few years that Thor and Bruce were away, he can hear the genuine curiosity and harmless joking in his voice. He smiles at the small jab at his dramatic side of personality. The God of Mischief can’t really deny that he like to be the center of everyone’s attention and that he likes a bit of dramatic flair to almost everything he does. And he knows he is not the only one.

“Like you aren’t one, Stark.” Loki says with a small, amused smile. Stark being a fellow diva is one of the reasons why Loki thinks they would be great friends had they met in a different way, and it’s also one of the reasons why he hopes Stark will trust him and they could strike a friendship now.

While Bruce also looks amused, he starts to explain how they even got here. “Let’s start with the most important stuff first...” The scientist’s whole behavior changes to be serious and professional, ready to get the business done.

“First things first, it’s not just us on this giant cargo spaceship. We have around 300 Asgardians on the ship. Sadly, the Asgard was destroyed, and we evacuated who we could. They need to stay somewhere, and Earth was our best bet.”

The loss of Asgard is a still big thing for Thor and Loki. It was their home, even if Loki would most likely deny it if asked, and now they had nowhere to go. It was probably too much to ask Midgard for asylum for them and their people, but they had no other option. At the information Stark looked shocked but it quickly turned to determination as he realized what will be needed.

“So, place for landing and for people to stay will be needed. Gotcha. Also, food, clothes and temporary housing. Okay, that’s something I can arrange with the world's politicians. What else?” Stark sound ready to help any way he can, his need to help people showing beautifully.

“You were right about someone much bigger and more powerful coming at us. There is a Mad Titan traveling through the universe killing and terrorizing people, he will come to Earth eventually and we need to get prepared... That’s why we need Loki to help us with him.” Bruce looks at Loki, and Loki knows that even if it’s uncomfortable for him he will have to explain all that happened to Stark.

Stark looks even more pale now, the fact his worst nightmare is becoming true is making him freeze in fear. He is quiet for some time, all the three men starting to get concerned with his silence before his also becomes serious.

“So, Loki knows this guy and knows how to possibly stop him. But why do you believe him, and how can you know he won’t turn his back on us if it fits him? You know that I’m all about giving people a second chance, but I also need some evidence that he is on our side that I can tell the world leaders, so they won’t shoot him on the sight.”

The fact that Stark is even considering trusting Loki is making Loki excited and hopeful. He lets Bruce and Thor say their part first before he tries to defend his place on Avengers side.

“My brother helped us defeat our evil older sister who wanted to concur the whole universe and was the one who evacuated the remaining Asgardians. He had many great opportunities to turn his back on us or just flee the fight, but he decided to help us to the very end and warn us about the Mad Titan. I think that he is worth your trust, Tony.”

The God of Thunder’s voice is unusually serious, it’s evident that the loss of his home, his father and many of his people changed him, and made him more mature. Even though Loki knows that Thor too is scared that Loki could flee at any time, he believes that his younger brother also had a change of heart and won’t do anything of that kind.

Loki from two months ago wouldn’t even hesitate on running away if there was chance of him dying, but Loki of now knows that there is no way he would leave Thor now when they both lost so much and finally started repairing their relationship. Loki could only stare at Thor with a happy sparkle in his eyes, happy about Thor’s trust in him.

Tony hummed and nodded at Thor’s words, and while he seemed to believe him, it still wouldn’t be enough for the politicians and later public to trust Loki. It was now Bruce’s time to add more facts.

“Tony, Loki wasn’t fully conscious through the Invasion. Remember how you commented that the whole plan was pretty bad for a cunning God. That’s because it was deliberately made for Loki to lose.”

When Loki told the two Avengers about Thanos, he also told them about how he was under mind-control yet aware enough to plan a backup plan. How he wanted for the Avengers to for to later on stop Thanos and how he wanted to lose to they could help him out of the Thanos’s control. Bruce didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Hulk’s beating was an effective way of getting Loki rid of Thanos’s control.

Stark’s eyes widen at that, and you can almost see how the pieces of puzzle connect in his brain as he puts everything together in that brilliant brain of his.

“The icy blue eyes now green, the dumb plan, the change of personality after Hulk smashing him into my tower’s floor....” Tony looks Loki in the eye and the dark-haired man can already tell that Tony believes him.

“You were mind-controlled too, weren’t you Bambi?”

Chapter Text

“Let’s start with the most important stuff first...”

The change in Bruce’s voice and behavior from nervous to serious definitely meant that what they are about to talk about won’t be any fun. Tony prepares himself for many things to come out of Bruce’s mouth but what he does says still shocks Tony.

“First things first, it’s not just us on this giant cargo spaceship. We have around 300 Asgardians on the ship. Sadly, the Asgard was destroyed, and we evacuated who we could. They need to stay somewhere, and Earth was our best bet.”

...Yeaaah, that’s definitely not good. Tony is shocked and confused. Asgard was supposed to be a powerful realm, more advanced than Earth, how could this happen. But Tony also knows that these questions are for later, and he knows what a ship full of people without homes means. Immigrants. Extraterrestrial immigrants, but still.

“So, place for landing and for people to stay will be needed. Gotcha. Also, food, clothes and temporary housing. Okay, that’s something I can arrange with the world's politicians. What else?” Aliens or not, Tony is ready to help any innocent people who lost their homes and is already thinking about calling Pepper to let her know to get the SI immigrant fonds ready.

The fonds were first made after the fight with Ultron for the people of Sokovia who lost their homes, but Tony kept them active so if something similar happened they would have money deliberately left for that purpose. Now he’s happy that he did it.

Next thing that comes from Bruce is something that Tony feared for five years now.

“You were right about someone much bigger and more powerful coming at us. There is a Mad Titan traveling through the universe killing and terrorizing people, he will come to Earth eventually and we need to get prepared... That’s why we need Loki to help us with him.”

Tony freezes, all blood leaving his face, his heart speeds up greatly and his already bad and irregular breathing becomes more erratic. His chest starts to hurt, the new arc reactor pushing against his ribs, not letting him breathe deeply enough. His vision blackens and then all he sees is all the Avengers dead, big wormhole behind them, Steve saying ‘You could’ve saved us’ and then Steve on top of him, ramming the shield into his chest.

It takes Tony few moments before he somehow calms himself down from a panic attack, but he stays quiet for few more as he thinks about the new information. Loki knows about this Titan and most likely knew about him since the Invasion if the Titan didn’t have something to do with the Invasion itself. This means that the God has the needed information to possibly beating the said alien psycho.

While Tony is intrigued about this new version of Loki even more than he was all those years ago, he can’t just blindly believe that his on their side. He also needs something to prove the world that the God of Mischief is just that and not a psycho who wants to rule the world like they thought before.

“So, Loki knows this guy and knows how to possibly stop him. But why do you believe him, and how can you know he won’t turn his back on us if it fits him? You know that I’m all about giving people a second chance, but I also need some evidence that he is on our side that I can tell the world leaders, so they won’t shoot him on the sight.”

Tony can see the hope shine in Loki’s eyes but he doesn’t let that fool him just yet and is happy that Thor starts to talk before Loki could possibly try some lies.

“My brother helped us defeat our evil older sister who wanted to concur the whole universe and was the one who evacuated the remaining Asgardians. He had many great opportunities to turn his back on us or just flee the fight, but he decided to help us to the very end and warn us about the Mad Titan. I think that he is worth your trust, Tony.”

Okay that sounds truthful enough. Tony thinks that he never saw Thor so serious about something, and from what little Tony knows about Loki he would think he would already run away, but he is still here so that must mean *something*. And while Tony would be able to believe him from only that, cause he’s too trusting for his own good, and it would sway public in Loki’s favor, it’s not enough for the world’s leaders.

Well, it’s good that Bruce says that could help Loki with the politicians. “Tony, Loki wasn’t fully conscious through the Invasion. Remember how you commented that the whole plan was pretty bad for a cunning God. That’s because it was deliberately made for Loki to lose.”

At that Tony’s brain halts to stop again. Damn, it’s happening a lot today, isn’t it?

Tony remembers how he kept thinking about the whole Invasion even half a year later, how the whole plan had so many holes in it. For instance, while Loki is dramatic diva he also is a cunning, centuries old God who lived through enough battles to know that starting an invasion on the most obvious place is a certain way to lose. Yet Loki did it anyway.

There is also the thing with the different colored eyes. Tony noticed from the start that the tall, attractive man had icy blue eyes similar to Barton’s when he was under Loki’s control, but he did think much about it at first. But then at the end of the battle when Avengers surrounded Loki in his little crater, he also noticed that there was now some green in his previously pure blue eyes.

“The icy blue eyes now green, the dumb plan, the change of personality after Hulk smashing him into my tower’s floor....”

Tony looks at the said God and he again can see some hope in his now beautiful green eyes. He never seen green eyes so saturated and seeing Loki so soft and tidied up compared to how pale, skinny and greasy he looked back then, he can say that yeah, there was something up with Loki through the Invasion.

“You were mind-controlled too, weren’t you Bambi?”

Tony is almost shocked at how soft the question comes out, but he always had a soft spot for misfits and strays like Loki. The others do look shocked but thankfully don’t say anything about it. Loki just gives him a sad smile and with strained voice, like it’s painful to talk about it, he says.

“Yes. Before I was sent to Midgard Thanos used the Scepter on me and then gave it to me. While I wasn’t so fully under its control like others, most of the things I did were against my will. I was however able to change the plan to make it easier for you to defeat me. I hope you will be able to forgive me for all that I have done one day.”

Loki’s sad smile then turns more amused as he jokes little bit to lighten the mood. “I am also sorry for using your tower as the center of the Invasion, but it was a perfect extravagant place for grand entrance of a God like me.”

A diva as always. Tony chuckles and shakes his head in slight amusement. Yeah, this version of Loki that isn’t under mind-control of some psycho is very interesting to Tony and he is excited to learn about it more.

“If you really help us against this Thanos guy and won’t fuck off in middle of it, consider yourself forgiven. And I’m happy that my humble tower was worthy of a God like you.” Tony jokes back, pretending not to see how Bruce looks at him with a small smirk.

Loki lets out a delightful laugh and Tony has to manually make himself breath again. Since when is this man so beautiful in every way possible? It’s hard but Tony wills himself into thinking about the urgent things and not handsome Gods.

“Okay. I think I can convince the politicians into letting you be with all that, Reindeer Games. But now back to the Asgardians problem. I won’t ask how exactly the powerful Asgard fell just yet, but I will need the full story later. Now I need an exact number of the Asgardians that are arriving on the Earth, and it would be great if I had a list of how many men, women, and children there are so I can order some clean clothes for them and you guys too.”

Then Tony finally realized that while he is calmly talking with the trio, the others in the compound are still fully ready for a possible invasion. Tony just hopes that FRIDAY alerted others that it was a false alarm, but he will need to go explain it to them.

“Oh, Thor! I know you guys broke up, but I can call in Jane if you want to talk with her.” Tony offers. Jane told him how they broke up cause the long distance wasn’t working for them, but they still should be on a good terms.

Thor smiles at that and nods. “That would be excellent, Tony. Thank you.” At that Tony asks FRIDAY to call Jane to the lab. While they wait for her to come, Loki stands up.

“I’ll go count the people and get the precise list ready for you. I’ll see you soon, Stark.”

Chapter Text

The last few hours Loki spends counting the remaining Asgardians, precisely taking notes of how many people of what sizes there are. He is still not sure how he should feel about calling them *his* people, but he took care of them when he posed as Odin and he will take a good care of them now. After finishing the list he returns to the main hall where Thor is somehow still on call with Jane, Bruce sitting next to him looking at Thor almost fondly. Loki will have to keep an eye on that, not because he dislikes Bruce, quite the opposite, to make sure that Thor doesn’t break poor Dr. Banner’s heart.

“Here is the list of all the people on the ship. You will be able to somehow send it to Stark, right?” Loki asks Bruce as the doctor turns to him when he notices him. The smaller man nods, “Yes, I’ll do that right away.” Bruce takes the list from Loki and turns to the computer, and with fast fingers inputs the information. While he does that Loki walks to the giant window overlooking their current path to Earth. The blue and green planet slowly but surely getting bigger as they approach it.

Without looking up from the computer’s screen Bruce again talks at Loki. “We are s little bit over an hour away from Earth. I think it would be best if we all go and prepare ourselves and others for the landing.” He then stops typing after hitting send on hangs up the videocall after Thor and Jane say bye to each other. The doctor looks up at Loki and with amusement adds. “There might be press waiting to take the best picture of reformed God of Mischief, and you want to look good for that, don’t you Loki?”

The God huffs in amusement at that and nods. “Why yes I do. I’ll go get ready then.” He turns from the giant window walks out of the control room. His walk to his room is quick. When he arrives he just stands there for a bit, thinking what to wear for this upcoming moment. His armor is out of question. Even though he changed it quite a bit since the Invasion it’s still an armor, and it will invoke unwanted emotions from people. So something more neutral.

After a few moment of looking through his clothes in his pocket dimension he settles on comfortable black leather pants, dark green tunic and dark leather booths. Wearing only that would be okay, but Loki then remember that even though he’s not very liked on Earth and doesn’t want to stir up trouble, he still is a prince. A prince and King’s advisor. So to look like his part he puts on dark green, almost black, satin cape and very simple and small golden version of his horned helm. It’s quite minimalistic, the horns are small and it’s more of a crown or a circlet than a helm.

Liking how he looks Loki starts walking to control room again. Bruce and Brunnhilde already standing there, Thor nowhere in site. Loki comes up to stand by them looking as they near the Earth’s atmosphere. Brunn looks up at him and whistles with a big smirk. “Well I’ll be damned. You can actually dress up as a prince without looking like a pompous ass. You trynna impress someone?” Loki rolls his eyes, trying not to smile or chuckle as Brunn punches his arm.

Bruce smirks too as he looks over Loki. “If my hunch is correct, he’s trying to impress a certain billionaire besides trying to make a good second impression with the rest of the world.” The valkyrie laughs at that, knowing which billionaire Bruce means after few stories he and Thor shared with her. The dark haired god just grumbles a bit at them teasing him. The laughing stops when Thor appears in the room.

He looks like a proper King. He is in brown leather pants, a pale blue almost white tunic. On top of the tunic is his silver armor. Gold was always seen as a king’s color, but with Thor the silver seemed even more royal than any gold accessory he could have worn. He also had his satin red cape and on his almost shaven head was a silver circlet with his iconic small wings behind his ears. Loki also noticed that his damaged eye was now covered in silver eye patch with no strings. Loki doesn’t know where Thor found it, but it looks good on him and it completes his look tastefully.

Brunnhilde again whistles and catcalls when she sees Thor’s outfit, but Loki doesn’t pay her any mind, his eyes focused on the rapidly approaching Earth. After the warrior woman calms down, Bruce sends out an alarm through the ship, letting everyone know to sit down and brace themselves as they will soon breach the atmosphere. They too sit down and buckle up as the ship rapidly descends to the surface, specifically a big patch of green field in Norway.

Through the window Loki can already see a big mob of people waiting just outside of the spaceships landing zone. He hopes those are just journalists and not soldiers ready to apprehend him right on site.

The ship lands smoothly and after it shuts down, they all start unbuckling and standing up. Brunn goes to the remaining Asgardians, promising to not let them out until they are hundred percent sure that they can stay on Earth without problem. The three men walk to the ships exit, the exit ramp already lowering. The walk down the ramp is nerve wrecking for Loki, but the first thing he sees outside standing before the spaceship is Tony. And he is not in his Ironman suit, he is in tastefully fitting dark gray suit with pristine white button-up shirt with no tie. Of course, his iconic sunglasses sit on his nose and a pleasant smile radiating on his face. All over, he looks more put together than he looked on the videocall.

But before Loki can take in more of Tony’s charm, they are all blinded by a flurry of flashes from eager photographers.