Walk a Mile

"Didn't we say tomorrow?"

Well that was quick."
"Why are you guys back so soon?" The trio fell onto the couch groaning. Stephan gave the duo a 'what do you think' look.
"We were against the plan from the start. Who goes to the enemy in the morning. No one likes mornings!" Wade grabbed Peter from in between the others and looked him over in worry.
"He's fine, you big baby. They wouldn't hurt him."
"Lokes, The Avengers literally went to war. After years of knowing each other. They've known Peter for what two years? They would definitely hurt him if they saw fit." The sorcerer and daredevil nodded along to Deadpool.
"So what are you planning to do now?"
"The same thing. We're giving them sometime to chill the fuck out."
"Someones mad. I love it when your mad, baby boy. SO sexy." The group rolled their eyes at Wade. He's always flirting with Spidey.
"Tell us who threw the first punch."
"Cap threw one of- Wilson get off me!"
"Hawkeye's arrows. " Daredevil finished. The Trickster and Mercenary hummed in acknowledgement.
"Can I go? Maybe I can help?" Strange looked skeptical.
"Help how? They want you in chains."
Finally getting Deadpool off of him Peter spoke again. "Wouldn't that just make the situation worse. I mean, like wouldn't they be more inclined to attack. Picture us all suited up going to their base. Wouldn't that seem threatening?"
Loki looked thoughtful for a second before nodding along. Coming to a conclusion that his idea was stupid he let the others continue talking. Though it sounded more like scheming.
"Who's gonna start the conversation?" Daredevil and Dr.Strange looked at each other. Though most of the looking was done by the doctor.
"We figured Spiderman would. Seeing as to how he's the least threatening out of us."
Loki coming out of his room heard the conversation and decided to speak. "Can you take DP with you this time?" Deadpool responded with a hearty laugh.
"Nope."
"Not happening."
"Hell no."
Loki instantly glared at the three. He wanted to read and Deadpool was about to start training. Which by no means was quiet. Loki begged them to take the mercenary but none of them agreed.
"What will they think when we walk into their home with the Infamous Deadpool. They'll think we actually game to fight." Spider-Man said. Though truthfully he didn't want Wade to go because he was... Wade.
"Fine! Be like that. I see how much you all really care." All of them looked at Loki with pursed lips and an eyebrow raised. Though Wade didn't have any hair on his body.
Loki disregarded their looks and turned to Deadpool. "Keep it down while you're training. Or I will shoot you with your own guns."
"Don't you mean gun?"
"No, because if I hear anything I will use all of them to shoot you down. Don't try me, Wade Wilson." And he menacingly stalked out the room.
Thr group rolled their eyes. Loki was high strung but he wouldn't admit so his irritation levels were higher than normal. Six eyes turned to Deadpool.
"We're gonna go. And we better come back to you alive with no holes."
"Or god help us all."
"Don't be so dramatic Petey Pie. I won't even practice today," He lifted three fingers. "Scouts honor."
"Deadpool."He said in a warning tone. Spider-Man was getting ready to hop on the ceiling when he saw the merc getting closer. But the trio were pulled into a portal.
"Thanks Strange." The former doctor nodded. "Think they're better now?"
"Nope." DareDevil and Dr. Strange said together.
"But no one is here. Any idea where everyones at?"
"We can just ask Jarvis. Hey J?"
"Spider-Man. What do you need?"
"Can you tell the team we're back and in the commons?"
"Of course Spider-Man." About five minutes went by before people came rushing in. And Clint dropped from the vents surprising Daredevil.
"They really are back. A pity."
"It shouldn't be this easy to get into my compound. Maybe I should...... but then that would mess with the.......maybe if I.... nope that straight up wouldn't work. What do you think, Bruce?" Tony continued to mumble to himself about the security of the compound trying to get input from Bruce but he couldn't keep up.
"We are here to discuss Loki." This time Strange had an invisible force field around them. That way none of them knew. So if they tried to attack they knew they could fight without guilt.
"What's there to discuss?"
Spider-Man shrugged. "Everything and nothing." He walked away toward the kitchen. Opened the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water and a banana. All the while the gathered Avengers were staring him down. He walked back over to his partners and handed the water to DareDevil and the banana to Strange.They said thank you and continued on speaking.
"Will you leave Loki alone?" The group of heroes looked at one another.
"No." The Loki Protection Squad as Spider-Man has been calling it, jaws dropped to the floor. They trio recovered quickly and got into fighting stances.
"Calm down." Though you couldn't see Spider-Man and DareDevil's eyes they glared hard. They were also deathly calm. "We only need to take him to SHIELD."
"We don't think so." Dr. Strange powered up then. "You won't even get close to him."
"Thought you said you were here to talk?"
"We are." It was quiet for several minutes before anyone said or did anything. Though in the end neither group got the chance to do anything because a body dropped from the ceiling.
"I told you guys I would do it. He didn't listen. Now he's your problem." Loki yelled from the portal. Deadpool was groaning and failing to stand up. Mumbling under his breath. Probably to the boxes.
The Loki Protection Squad looked up at the would-be god and shook their heads.
"Loki, please just take him back. We're kinda trying to help you here."
"Yeah, tie him up or something but don't leave him here." The sorcerer tried to levitate the immortal merc into the portal but Loki had flipped them off and closed it. Cursing he dropped Deadpool back on the ground. They all stood and mumbled to themselves for a minute or two before remembering they weren't alone.
"Get up DP." Spider-Man walked over, put one arm around his shoulder and took him to the others. With the main force field Dr. Strange healed some of Deadpools bullet wounds.
"I'm feeling much better. Thank you strange ass doctor." Spider-Man rolled his eyes and let go of his arm. He didn't completely fall on his face.
"Okay, back to the situation at hand. Loki needs to come with us."
"He doesn't need to. You just want to lock him up in a cell to feel like you accomplished something." Deadpool stated from his position on the floor. Now sitting criss crossed. You could see the tinge of red cross the Captain's face.
"I don't know what he's talking about. Cause I thought we had all come to the silent decision to leave him alone."
"No Tony we didn't. Can't you see that would be reckless."
"Can't be more reckless than not checking if he was actually dead." Spider-Man pointed out.
"We need to tell Fury."
"To hell we do. Old Pirate face will lock him up quicker than we ever would. Besides, if you just want to ask him questions I'm sure if we ask nicely this time he'll come."
"We doubt that. The closest you'll get to him is being in the same state."
"That seems a bit extreme." Natasha spoke.
"Is it? Cause I remember the Hulk hijacking a plane once and flying away." Natasha glared at the archer. He backed away and hid in the vents. Natasha then saw an opportunity. She signed to Clint to crawl above them and listen to them if they started scheming.He was a bit conflicted but still did it.
"A facetime then. Just to answer some questions."
"Questions like what Stark? If you want to 'study' his mind, I'll tell you right now it'll never happen."
"Do his parents know he's here?Why did he decide to stay?Why was he helping elderly across the road?"
"All good questions Tony. Especially that last one. Helping the elderly cross the roads is so random."
"Probably. Odin is the Allfather and then there's Heimdall. I hope they are proud of him. He's come far." Daredevil said.
"When we first met he said he wanted to help humans." A bitter laugh left Stephens lips. "Loki does community service for fun and he cleans the parks."
"Bruce, I help people across the road. He picked it up from me. Believe us when we say he's not a threat."
"Any more questions?" Deadpool sounded bored out of his mind as he rolled around on the floor.
"Why are you at his side?"
"Because why not? Lokes is cool." The mercenary was kicked by his three teammates. "And of course because he... um... he's come super far. "
"Captain, with no respect at all, that's a dumbass question." The door burst open to show The Winter Soldier and Falcon.
"Did I just hear Spider-Man curse?" Sam said.
"Deadpool's here too? Hell must have frozen over."
"I can confirm it hasn't." A loud slap filled the air.
"Don't encourage them DP. " Daredevil scolded.
"What's goin' on in here? Looks like we walked in on something intense?"
"Loki's on earth." The falcon looked over at his partner with a raised brow. Bucky instantly pulled the man from the room.
Disregarding the interruption the conversation continued.
"We're his partners because we see him."
"And what does that mean?" When Natasha stepped toward Spider-Man, Deadpool sprung up from his spot on the floor and pulled out his swords.
"Step back Widow." His expression is dark even through the mask.
"I'm just saying. He could be an illusion." The Loki Protection Squad along with some of the Avengers rolled their eyes. Loki didn't have his staff and all the evidence stacked up to prove he wasn't.
Strange pulled his friends into a tight circle. "Do you think Loki would want to facetime?"
"I didn't mention it earlier when I dropped in but he was super worried about how he hadn't apologized to them yet. He might want to see them in person."
"What would happen if they attacked again?"
"Well they've been civil this entire time. So I say we bring Loki. If he's up for it."
"With how some of the Avengers are seeing the situation I don't think there's much to worry about either. What do you think, Spider-Man?"
"How many force fields can you make, Doctor Strange?"
"Three. But I could just use one. I don't think even Thor would be able to break it."
"Then we need to speak to Loki."
They all nodded before turning back to the other heroes. Stephen quietly opened a portal underneath wherever Loki was. The god landed elegantly despite being disoriented. He lifted his head quickly to check his surroundings.
"Dudes. What the actual hell?" Once he finally realised where he was. Stephen pulled the god into the circle and put up a silencing barrier.
"Would you want to speak with the Avengers again?"
"Isn't it a little late for that? You already have me here."
"It's not. Just because you are here doesn't mean you have to go with it. You have a choice Loki?"
Loki looked around the room. Tony sat next to Bruce, Natasha stood next to Steve Rogers and Clint was right above them in a vent. All their eyes were on them.
"Can we do it in two days? I was getting new books when I was so rudely interrupted."
"Of course," Spider-Man looked him up and down. "I'm guessing you went out and not to the sanctum."
"Guilty as charged."
"Of murder, theft and mischeif." Peter gasped.
"Deadpool!"And slapped his arm. Though Deadpool was busy laughing with Loki. They said their goodbyes before Strange opened the portal for him to leave.
"We'll be back in two days. Loki has a lot to buy and read."
"Loki has a job?" Bruce and Tony asked surprised.
Deadpool rolled his eyes. "He works with me. And occasionally works with Strange." Before they could bombard them with more questions Stephen got them the hell out of dodge.
"Just had to drop that big ass bomb, uh Wilson?" Wade sheepishly rubbed the back of neck. He didn't think it was that big of a deal.
"Lets not overthink. They've been working together for sometime now and they have yet to come after them."
"They didn't know Loki was helping him though Matthew. They could use that as a reason to lock him up."
"They wouldn't."
"Wouldn't they." Peter said. They sat in tense silence. Deadpool at some point had walked back to his room and came back out in Loki's red silk night pants and shirt. His anti-hero gear was already lost in the mess of his apartment.
"This place is a hazard to all." Murmured Murdock. He had almost fallen over trying to walk to the kitchen. He could never memorize how to navigate their house because the messes kept changing.
"Peter, help me?"
"Of course. What do you need?" He told Peter what he wanted from the kitchen and the teen set to work.
"Deadpool go and tell Loki to come here and clean this mess. " Matt ordered.
"Lokes isn't here." Said Deadpool from the couch.
Matt groaned. "Steph, can you go and get Loki?" He got up from where he was and opened a portal to the Sanctum. Thinking that was where their friend was. This was proven to be extremely wrong when he checked every room and the god was still nowhere to be seen.
"Hey Wong. Have you seen Loki?"
"He came by earlier then left. Said the books here 'really are parlor tricks.' "
"Do you know where he went?"
"No. Wait. Did you lose Loki?" Wong bent over at the waist and laughed. Extremely tickled by the fact they lost the god. "Have fun searching for him." He shook his head and walked into another part of the sanctum.
Stephen quickly opened a portal back to the apartment to inform his teammates that their neighborhood friendly god was currently exploring the neighborhood.
"So we lost Loki?" Cackled the mercenary. "How the hell did you not notice that before? You literally opened the portal for him!"
The sorcerer blushed a little at that. "I opened the portal to his last location. I thought that he would've actually stayed here."
"You think Loki would listen to you?" Peter spoke.
"Good point, young one. Loki does what he likes, no one can stop that man."
"Sooooooo, do we wait for him to come back orrr are we going to go look for him?"
"Peter, that man could be in Alaska for all we know. Of course we're gonna go look for him." Matt said. Deadpool got up from the couch and went to his room to change. Though that all depended on him finding his suit. He walked back out with his suit on minus some of his weapons. After all, this was just a recon "mission"."
"Let's start with the Barnes and Nobles. And then we go to his favorite local spots." Matthew said.
"We better find him quickly. He's not using glamour so anyone could tell the Avengers where he's at."
"That's such a good thought we should have said. Good job DP."
"That's mean Spider-Man." With that the group disbanded to the four winds.
On the west side of New York Spider-Man was stopped numerous times by people that wanted to say hi, get an autograph and interview. It was hard to blow them off without seeming rude. But then again it wasn't like he became a hero for the recognition.
By the time he made it to the first Barnes and Noble the others were also getting to theirs. As soon as they walked through, heads turned. Spider-Man, Dr.Strange and Daredevil were all swarmed. Deadpool though was left alone for obvious reasons. He putted as he walked around the store looking for Loki.
"So he's not here." He left the store as quietly as he entered and went to the next. His other friends didn't find him at the first store either. About two hours had passed and no one had heard or seen Loki.
"I don't know why you didn't do this before but just portal him to us."
"Deadpool, you more than anyone should know why I didn't." Deadpool just shrugged to show he honestly didn't know. Stephen sighed before answering. "I haven't done it because he would kill me if I interrupted him again. Especially if he's okay."
"Does everyone know where they're going?" DareDevil asked. His teammates said yes and the call ended. They were all headed to the local bookstores Loki liked. If he wasn't at any of them he had to either be home or kidnapped. They were all hoping he was safe.
"Have you seen....?"
"Oh my god Spider-Man. Spider-Man's in my shop! What can I get for you?Ask for anything I'm sure we have it."
"Oh um... I'm looking for a friend. He's a regular here. He's tall with dark hair and usually dressed in black and shades of green."
"Luca? He came in earlier. Did something happen? Is he on the run?"
"No no. Like I said he's a friend. Thank you though." He waved goodbye to the lady and left. As soon as he walked out he called his team.
"Listen up y'all. Apparently Loki goes by Luca. And the shopkeeper still doesn't know his real identity."
"Think SHIELD covered it up?"
"Knowing them, probably..... Wait, surprisingly they didn't. It's all over the news. And everyones pretty conflicted on how they feel about him."
"Sooooo does that mean we can stop looking."
"Deadpool!"The team gasped.
"What?! I'm just asking. If nobody knows then we can go home!"
"We'll each hit up two more shops then we can head home." Deadpool celebrated on the other line and the others could hear how he picked up speed. They hung up and continued their search.
Loki was curled up in an armchair in the back of Steams, a local bookstore in New York, reading a book. Oblivious to his friends running around all of new york searching for him. Also unbeknownst to him is the fact that everyone is staring at him. He was completely at peace. The smell of coffee in the air, the warm lighting and gentle murmur of voices. Yes he was completely at peace.
"I wonder how many pages are left?" He thought out loud. There weren't that many. He read faster than most so he wasn't that surprised. He marked his place and got up to pick another book. Steams was a good place to look for books that were more deeper in nature and outcast. He always left with a deeper outlook and his thoughts swirling.
"Hi." Loki turned to the voice.
"Hello." He said tentatively. "Can I help you?"
"I was just wonderin' if you were single?" 'Straightforward little human.' Loki thought as he looked at the fair skinned woman dressed in trousers. He looked behind her to see three other girls staring at them. 'Must be her friends.' He thought.
"I'm not." Loki lied straight through his teeth. Smoothly as always.
"Are you sure?" One of her friends appeared at her side. She subtly wiggled her breasts in front of him.
"Quite."He said. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the situation and tried to walk away. Until another one of her friends stopped him.
"You'll have to excuse them. You're just the cutest nerd we've seen."
"I beg your pardon." Loki was beyond taken aback. How brash. He was then grabbed on the shoulder and turned back around.
"Ah, Luca, it's so nice to see you. Is there anything I can help you find?" Asked the owner. Trying his best to be polite Loki answered no. "Well if you change your mind, I'm over there." He pointed in the direction of the autobiography section. Loki nodded and continued walking toward the science fiction section.
He's looking for a book that the internet had recommended him because of his previous purchases. The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work Of Spencer Black. The fictional work of a mad man.
He scanned the many shelves of the science fiction section and couldn't find it. 'It should be here!' He thought angrily. Loki was sure he had seen it here before. His pride almost, almost got in the way of him asking the shopkeeper if they carried it.
"Turns out I do need to ask you something."
"You must be looking for something specific. What is it?" Loki blushed a little bit before showing the owner the book. "We don't but I know a spot that does. If you'd like, I can give you the address." He nodded and the owner wrote it down and handed it to him.
Loki thanked the man and left the little shop. On his way out he stopped at a nearby Starbucks to get a Caramel Frappuccino before he went to the next store. It wasn't far but there wasn't a cafe or anything near it. As he was walking out Tony Stark was walking in.
Loki stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't want to be seen by anyone important. Especially an avenger. He turned around and sat at a nearby table. He watched as the billionaire walked to the front of the line and ordered. Loki's nose scrunched up in disgust. 'He's a billionaire! Does he really need to cut in line like a child? And no ones gonna step in because he's a billionaire. Why would he take advantage of that for such a silly reason?'
He shook the anger away and got up to leave. No need to stay longer than needed and get caught. No way was he about to set himself up like that. As he got closer to the door Tony turned his head. Seeing that out of his peripheral Loki sped up. In his haste out the door he slammed into someone coming in. He stuttered out an apology to the stranger and continued on his way.
Thor watched as the blacked haired man rushed off.
"Point break! What are you doin? We're supposed to be looking for your brother." Tony approached the lightning god with his black coffee lips pressed in a line.
"I know. I thought that man.... He looked like Loki." Tony looked around. There was no one around who resembled the god. "Follow me. There's a bookstore over there."