Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 132

"Ready, Freddy," Clint says.

Natasha gives him a look. "Nobody says that."

"I say that," Clint says defensively.

"That makes you one out of a grand total of one people who do," Natasha says.

Clint just rolls his eyes.

Steve makes his way over to Tony and nudges him gently. "Did we already pack his stuff?"

Tony shakes his head. "Not that I know of."

"He has it," Thor tells them. Apparently they're not as quiet as they thought.

"Oh, good," Tony says, like that makes any sense whatsoever while Loki's walking around empty-handed like this.

After a pause, Steve leans over and whispers, "Pocket dimension."

Tony mouths oh in response. That would make sense. He hadn't thought about that.

"You guys know we can all hear you, right?" Natasha tells them.

"I didn't realize we were saying anything confidential that we couldn't let anyone overhear," Tony says sarcastically. It's not like they're talking shit about Loki behind his back with him ten feet away. They're just talking, for god's sake. They're looking out for him and his stuff. That's a good thing. They're being thoughtful.

"We should go," Bruce says.

"Go we should," Tony agrees. "Everybody say 'goodbye, Avengers Tower."

"We're not saying that," Natasha deadpans.

"That's stupid," Clint mutters.

"You're stupid," Tony shoots back teasingly.

"No, really," Bruce says, "it's pretty stupid."

Tony's not sure, but he thinks he sees Loki smile at that, just a little bit. It's hard to tell when he's staring straight down at the floor, but he'd like to think he's right.

Tony leads them all out to the Helicarrier, parked on the landing just outside. While everyone else goes straight for the jet, he stands by the door, watching them all leave. It's no surprise to him that Thor and Loki are the last to do so. They certainly weren't going to go first.

Tony steps away, giving them their space. This is it. The moment they've been waiting for.

Loki pauses mere inches before he's out of the building. He looks at his brother warily. "And you're sure I can do this."

"I talked to our father," Thor says. "You are free to go anywhere you could possibly imagine for the next 10 minutes or so. Once we've reached the Compound, the spell will be put in place one more."

Loki eyes him skeptically for a few moments, then nods. He steps through the doorway–

And an invisible force holds him back.

Thor furrows his brows, looking between his brother and the Helicarrier questioningly. "He said you could go."

Loki just sighs and shakes his head.

Thor frowns. "I don't understand," he says. "He and Heimdall should be monitoring this. They should know that it's time for us to leave."

Loki crosses his arms, annoyed, but then he pauses, a thoughtful look on his face that quickly turns to one of exasperation. "I know why." He turns to his brother and holds his arms out, palms up and wrists together.

Thor furrows his brows. "What are you...?"

Loki just cocks an eyebrow.

"Oh."