When You Know, You Know.

The Enemy

Stark Tower
5:27am, May 5th, 2012.

"Do you truly think it's best for me to see your friends this way?" Loki asked, staring out at the rising sun as the elevator took him and Thor further down the levels of Stark Tower. "I gather they won't be all that pleased with my company."

"Excellent deduction skills, brother." Thor muttered, and Loki glanced irritably over at him. "You always were the smart one."

Loki rolled his eyes to the roof as he sighed, twisting his hands nervously in his handcuffs, and Thor was smiling as he continued.

"They were aware of the deal I gave you. In fact, it was Barton's idea."

Loki stared over at him in shock, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he said,

"He trusted me with a task like that?"

As the elevator came to a smooth stop, Thor chuckled, shaking his head as the doors slowly began to slide open and he glanced over his shoulder as he said,

"No. He simply made the case that if she reacted poorly to your company, he wouldn't mind if you died first."

Loki scoffed before following his brother off the elevator, and as soon as his feet hit the floor, the sounds of weapons unsheathing met his ears, causing him to smirk as he looked up at the other Avengers, their eyes all dark with distrust.

"Surprise." He remarked coolly as he kept close behind Thor, and Clint slowly lowered his bow as they passed, moving towards Tony, who was seated at the kitchen island, idly stirring his coffee as electronic images flashed up before his face.

"Ah, finally." Tony said as the two Asgardians stepped up next to him, turning to smile at them, his expression one of feigned excitement. "Point Break and Houdini."

Thor sighed even as a smile pulled at the corners of his lips, and he gestured for Loki to take a seat as he walked further into the kitchen.

Loki looked over his shoulder at the others, at Bruce's harsh grip on a teaspoon, at the Captain's judgmental gaze, and his shoulders tensed as he sat down a few feet from Stark, their hateful glares seeming to burn through his armour.

"So, I watched the footage from your discussion with our lovely new visitor; Raya, is it?" Tony said, flicking up a video onto the hologram before him, and Loki nodded slowly, watching in awe as pictures from a million different outlets flickered to life on the screen. "Well, I've made the executive decision to believe she isn't one of your little clones, or someone else you've manipulated into helping you with your war."

Loki, who had momentarily been distracted by the words on the screen, met the man's eyes, and said, barely able to hide the disdain in his tone,

"I am ever so grateful. How have you reached such a brilliant conclusion?"

Thor made an annoyed noise in his throat, but Tony simply raised his hand to the screen, smiling as he flicked up a video.

"I'm so glad you asked." Tony murmured, clicking his fingers as he pressed play on the video, and Loki watched a smaller version of himself fade into the corner of Raya's room.

Of course Stark had cameras everywhere. How could he have forgotten about that?

He heard the whispers behind him stop, and his chest constricted as Thor leant against the kitchen island, staring intently as the video version of Loki placed a small box on the edge of the table, taking a seat as a choked scream came from the bathroom mere metres from him.

"Now, if I'm not mistaken, I thought gods as high and mighty as yourself didn't fear anything, especially not your own creations." Tony continued, and Loki pulled at his handcuffs as he shifted awkwardly, his eyes following the camera as it zoomed in on his face. "But you look afraid; horrified even."