When Loki heard he would finally have the tower to himself, he thought it was going to be great. Tony and Pepper are off in Malibu for the holidays; Steve, Clint, and Natasha were all called into work by SHIELD for god-only-knows-how-long (though Loki has a sneaking suspicion that Clint and Natasha are really going to the Bartons' residence), Bruce is at a series of conferences, and Thor has to sort out some sort of drama among the Nine Realms. It sounded like the makings of a fantastic week.
It's been two days and Loki is already bored out of his mind.
Part of him wants to do something he knows he'll get in trouble for. They were hesitant to leave him here alone to begin with. Tony was the first to leave, and when he heard everyone else was doing the same, he nearly came back right then. If Loki starts causing problems — breaking things, maybe; he does enjoy breaking things — he's sure they wouldn't leave him alone again.
But he also doesn't want to lose their trust. It took a lot for them to get to this point, and he doesn't want to throw that all away just so he doesn't have to be alone. He doesn't expect this to become a frequent occurrence. It's not worth undoing all the progress they've made.
So he stays in the tower, alone, bored beyond belief and desperate for something to do.
He finds himself back in the so-called man cave for the third time today, with no real desire to watch anything on TV but no better option, either. He plops down on the couch and turns on the TV. He'll skim through what's on cable first, and then probably end up watching one of Tony's many, many DVDs instead.
Loki finds himself on the news channel, and he doesn't think much of it — why should he care what's going on in a world he'll really never get to see? — until he reads the chyron.
"Tony Stark mansion attacked; Stark presumed dead."
Loki freezes. No way. There's no way this is true. Loki just saw him a week ago. They were arguing over the phone just a couple days ago. He can't be gone now. He knows human lives are fleeting, but this... It just can't be real.
Loki turns the volume up and the subtitles on, but he still can't focus on the words coming out of the newscasters' mouths. He catches little pieces here and there. It was a few hours ago. Suspected terrorism. The Mandarin. It's just so surreal, the impermanence of humanity.
But then the newscaster says that the rescue efforts are still underway. They haven't found a body yet. He might still be alive. Loki feels an inexplicable wave of relief wash over him at that. He doesn't like Tony. He never has and he never will. But he's not ready to hear that he's dead, so if there's still a chance he's not...
Loki turns off the TV. That's enough of that. He can get his answers himself, both quicker and more accurately than the news could give them. He crosses his legs on the couch and closes his eyes. Here goes nothing.
When Loki opens his eyes, he finds himself in a snowy field, and, in any other situation, he might have taken a moment to admire the snow falling from the sky, but that's far from his top priority now. He scans the field, but there's nothing in sight except for trees... and a man.
He's a ways away, this man, but even from this distance, Loki can place him immediately. It's unmistakable Tony -- not just because he'd recognize the man anywhere, nor because he was using his magic specifically to find him, but because of the very familiar metal suit he's dragging behind him.
With every step Tony takes, he gets further away, so Loki quickly follows after him. He can't for the life of him figure out what's going on, but god, he wishes he could. This is weird. He's not sure what to think right now.
Loki cocks his head to the side. "Stark?"
Tony drops the Iron Man suit to the ground and whips around to look at him. "Holy sh—" He slaps a hand over his chest and lolls his head back, taking in a face full of falling snow before he returns his gaze to Loki. "What the hell?"
"What are you doing?" Loki asks.
"What am I doing?" Tony scoffs. "What are you doing? How did you get here?"
"I'm not here," Loki says.
"The hell are you talking about?" Tony gestures to him. "You're right there!"
Loki fights the urge to roll his eyes. They've been over this. "Would you care to throw something through me again so we can move past this?"
Tony throws his hands up. "Oh, that's just great. Your dad won't let you on the balcony but he'll let you freakin' astral project all over everything."
This time, Loki can't help but roll his eyes. "I'm sorry my restrictive life-long imprisonment isn't harsh enough for your liking."
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tony demands.
"Looking for you," Loki says. "The news said you were dead. I wanted to verify that before I started celebrating."
Tony's brows shoot up. "They think I'm dead?"
"So I've heard," Loki says.
"Good."
Loki stares at him. "What?"
"If he thinks I'm dead, he might not look for me," Tony says. "It should buy me some time, at least."
"What are you talking about?" Loki asks. "Stark, what is happening right now?"
"I may or may not have pissed off a terrorist and now he may or may not be trying to kill me."
Loki scoffs. "Why would you do that?" God, he's an idiot! An egotistical, over-confident idiot! If he really does get killed over this, it's his own damn fault.
"Because he hurt Happy," Tony says. "And nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it."
Oh.
Okay, maybe he can be a little sympathetic (even if this still is entirely Tony's own fault).
"Where is Happy now?" Loki asks. He's never actually met the man, but he's heard of him. He's caught a glimpse of him outside once or twice — which is one of the only ways he ever finds out that Pepper is in New York; Happy tends to come with her. He seems like a decent guy. Loki would like to think Tony got him out of harm's way after that.
"The hospital," Tony says. "He still hasn't woken up. They, uh..." He takes a deep breath. "They're not sure when he will. If he will."
Oh.
That puts things in perspective a little bit. If Loki was in his shoes, he probably would have pissed that terrorist off, too. It serves him right, whoever he is.
Tony grabs hold of the Iron Man suit and begins walking again. Loki stays by his side, not quite ready to leave this conversation behind yet.
"What do you plan to do now?" Loki asks him.
"I don't know."
Loki scoffs. "You don't know?"
Tony shakes his head. "Nope."
"Stark!"
Tony looks over at him. "Alright, wise guy, what's your brilliant plan? My suit's dead, I have no phone, I'm freezing, and I'm hundreds of miles from Malibu and from Manhattan so I have nowhere to go. What do you think I should do now?"
Loki pauses, processing all of that. He definitely sees the problem, but... "I thought you were in Malibu. Why are you...?"
"Because JARVIS is an idiot; that's why," Tony says irritably.
Loki raises an eyebrow. He's fairly sure there has to be more to it — JARVIS is far from an idiot — but he doesn't expect to get more of an answer than that.
"So your plan should be to fix your suit first," Loki says slowly. He doesn't want to jump to conclusions, but it seems like the logical course of action to him.
"My plan is to find shelter first," Tony says. "Preferably before my hands fall off."
Loki raises an eyebrow. "Do human hands do that?"
Tony throws his head back, exasperated. "No, Loki, my hands are not literally going to fall off. But it's freezing out here -- it's below freezing -- and I'm walking around in jeans and a t-shirt, and that can kill a person."
Loki nods slowly. "Then, yes, you should probably find shelter." He looks around, but it's difficult to see much in this weather. He decides to cheat a little bit.
He astral projects ahead a few thousand feet, just to see if Tony's wasting his time going this way. He still finds himself in this empty tree-lined field, but, squinting his eyes, he does see a building off in the distance. He astral projects over to it. It's a lot easier than walking. It gives him a great view of the place in a fraction of the time.
Loki's not quite sure what he's looking at, but he does know that it's a building, and right now, he has a feeling that's good enough for Tony. He eyes it briefly, taking in the sight. Texaco. Whatever that means. His attention is immediately drawn to the lights, and when he looks inside, he does see someone in there. He's not sure whether this is the type of place a random stranger could usually just walk into, but hopefully that stranger inside will feel bad enough to let Tony in.
Loki returns to Tony's side. "No more than half a mile ahead, you will find a building. I suspect you can take shelter there."
"Oh, thank god," Tony mutters. "That's, what, ten, twenty minutes? I think I can..." He lets out a long breath, and a small cloud of foggy air comes out of his mouth. "God, that's so far away." He looks over at Loki. "I don't suppose you could get me there any faster?"
Loki just shakes his head.
"Could you at least help with the suit?" Tony asks.
"I can't," Loki says. "At this distance, my powers are negligible." He holds a hand out in front of him and tries to form just a simple ball of green energy, which, unsurprisingly, does not work. "Nothing."
"Great," Tony mutters. "The one time I want your help, and you're absolutely useless."
Loki lets that slide because he can tell Tony's having an understandably bad day. "Is Ms. Potts okay?"
"She should be," Tony says. "She was there when the Mandarin attacked, but JARVIS said she got out. I'd call and check, but..." He gestures helplessly to his suit. "Kinda can't do that."
"Would you like me to look in on her?" Loki asks.
Tony hesitates. "She really doesn't like you."
"I assume she also doesn't like thinking you're dead," Loki says.
Tony sighs. "Yeah, no, I guess... " He waves him off. "She should be with an old kind-of-friend of mine, Maya Hansen. If you can find her, just make sure they're somewhere safe, tell them I'm still alive."
Loki nods, and then he vanishes from the field. He finds himself in the ruins of Tony's Malibu mansion, and the footage on the news truly didn't do it justice. This place is a death trap. If he'd been here in a corporeal form, he wouldn't be able to move without the constant fear of tripping over the debris.
There are people everywhere, so Loki only remains visible for a second before he shields himself from view. He doesn't need anyone thinking he's responsible for this. He wanders around for a few minutes, taking in the sight. And he thought he caused a lot of damage. The Chitauri were nothing compared to whatever did this. Midgardian weaponry is formidable; he'll give it that.
It doesn't take Loki long to locate Pepper, but she's speaking to a couple of cops, and that's the last thing Loki would want to get involved with. He waits until she's alone before he approaches her. She's oblivious to his presence, and Loki tries to find the least alarming way to make himself known.
"Ms. Potts?" Loki says hesitantly.
Pepper looks around frantically. God, it's like the Halloween party all over again -- except this time he doesn't actually want to make anyone uncomfortable.
"Stop looking for me," he says. "It will just draw attention to us, and I would rather avoid that if I can. I suspect you would, too."
Pepper swallows hard and gives a small nod, every muscle in her body tensing. Loki tries not to let it get to him. He's doing his best to be polite and respectful, but he should really accept now that she's never not going to be terrified of him.
"I spoke to Stark," Loki says. "He's asked me to tell you that he's okay."
Pepper's jaw drops, a smile growing on her face. "He is? How?"
"He's a cockroach," Loki says. "He doesn't know how to die."
Pepper covers her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god," she whispers. "He's okay. He's -- Where is he?"
"Far away," Loki says. "I cannot help much more than that. I know nothing of Midgardian geography. But he would like you to go someplace safe, and I suspect the site of a targeted terrorist attack is not that."
"No, I know," Pepper says. "I was waiting to hear if anyone could find him, and then the cops wanted to talk to me, and it's just been a very busy day."
"I understand that, but you should leave," Loki says, trying his best to stay patient. He just wants her to get out of here so he can go back and check on Tony. He can only be in two places at once, and, unfortunately, one of those places has to be Stark Tower. "Stark said you would be with his friend. Are they still here?"
She nods. "She should be. Let me just..." Pepper cranes her neck to look around. Finally, she catches sight of this woman, and Loki follows as she heads toward her.
This "old friend" of Tony's is another young woman, probably roughly Pepper's age. Unlike Pepper, though, she looks pretty beaten up -- worse than Tony, even, much to his surprise. The scrapes on her face make him think she must have been here when the building collapsed. It would explain why Tony assumed they'd be together, though if Tony threatened a terrorist, Loki does find himself wondering why he let anyone into his house, and why anyone would willingly choose to be there.
The first words out of Pepper's mouth are a rushed, "Tony's okay!"
Maya furrows her brows. "He is?"
She nods. "He's far away, but he's okay."
"How do you know that?"
Pepper hesitates. "That's... hard to explain."
"How is that hard to explain?" Maya asks. "It's a simple question. How do you know Tony's okay? Are you sure?"
"I am," she says. "I just don't know how to explain it."
"How do you not know how to explain it?"
Instead of letting this back-and-forth go on for the next five minutes, Loki reveals himself. Hopefully he doesn't draw too much attention to himself in the process.
Maya gasps, slapping a hand over her mouth. "Loki," she whispers, eyes wide.
Loki plasters a smile on his face, an expression he's gotten very good at faking over the last few centuries. "Ms. Hansen, I presume?"
She stares at him. "How do you know my name?"
Usually Loki would choose an ominous response -- a silent smile, perhaps -- but he doesn't really want to rock the boat right now, so he just says, "Stark told me I would find you here."
Her eyebrows shoot up. "You're talking to Tony?"
"I was," he says. "Though I ask that we keep that between us." With a small smile, he says, "I have a reputation to uphold, and playing carrier pigeon for an Avenger would be rather counter-intuitive."
Pepper shakes her head to herself and tells Maya, "He kind of lives at Stark Tower now. It's a whole thing."
Maya looks between the two of them, dumbfounded. "He what?"
"It's complicated," Loki says. It's really not that complicated; he just knows that every time anyone talks about him being stuck in the tower, it goes something like his dad put him in timeout and he doesn't want to deal with that right now.
"Don't even worry about it," Pepper adds, which is hilarious, coming from the one person who's always worried about it.
Maya looks between the two of them. "Okay...?"
Back on topic, Loki says, "Stark wants you to go somewhere safe."
"Where is safe?" Pepper asks, incredulous. "Did he tell you what he did? He threatened a terrorist! I mean, who does that?"
"Yes, he did tell me that," Loki says. He's not sure why that surprises her. Tony threatened him in the height of his violent madness, too. This is what he does — he's cocky and arrogant and somehow it always works out for him. "I know nothing of Midgard so I cannot tell you where you would be safe, but I can say with a fair amount of certainty that if you would like to not be safe, you are in the right place."
"I'll take her to my hotel," Maya volunteers. "That's probably as safe as we can get."
"Good," Loki says. "I am going to tell Stark, and I assume he will send me back to look in on you again soon."
"Wait, before you go," Pepper says quickly.
Loki raises an eyebrow and looks down at her expectantly.
"Just..." She shrugs helplessly. "Tell him to be careful."
Loki nods once. This is good. He accomplished what he came here for. Pepper and Maya are going to get somewhere safe, and he can go back to check on Tony and stop him from doing anything stupider than he already has.
But he finds himself hesitating, his gaze lingering on Pepper's face a little longer than it should. She's so obviously afraid; terrified of what might happen. He can't blame her. It's hard to see this working out in their favor.
But he still fakes a smile, and, with as much fake sincerity he can muster, he says, "It will be okay. He will do everything in his power to ensure he lives to see you again."
Pepper sighs. "I just hope that's enough."
"It will be," Loki says. "Do not lose hope. You will see him again. He will make sure of it."