Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 46

Obviously, eleven-year-old Harley is not allowed in the local bar, so he waits outside while Tony goes in to talk to Chad Davis's mother. Loki also isn't allowed in the bar — not because he's young; just because he's a war criminal — but he shields himself from view and follows Tony inside anyway. He's not actually sure Tony knows he's there, but given that he was neither told to follow Tony or stay with Harley, he decides the smart thing to do is to follow the guy getting the information.

It goes fairly well at first.

Then Tony gets his head slammed into a table by a Homeland Security officer.

Then that Homeland Security officer's hands begin to glow and she burns the sheriff's face, steals his gun, and shoots him.

And things aren't going well anymore.

Tony takes off running, his hands cuffed behind his back. The woman, Ellen Brandt, follows him at a more leisurely pace, a sharp contrast from the chaos of the bar.

"Hey, hot wings, you wanna party?" Tony says. "C'mon, you and me, let's go."

"Stark!" Loki hisses. "You are not in a position to be taunting anyone!"

"Yeah, but it's fun," Tony says with a shrug before he takes off down the street.

Tony only makes it a few feet before he stops, faced with yet another glowing person with a gun. This one is a man, his eyes and face glowing a bright orange as he steps out of his car. The man raises his coffee cup in a cheers motion, a smirk on his face, and Tony runs the other way.

It doesn't do him much good. The man (Eric Savin, for those who remember character names, which Loki cannot relate to) tosses his cup aside and raises his gun. Loki wishes more than anything that he could step in. He could take a bullet. He wouldn't even have to take a bullet. He's a sorcerer; he could just fling the bullets away if only he'd had his magic. But he can't, and it's killing him to be this helpless.

Savin fires off a pair of shots, but neither hit Tony, likely because he's distracted by the snowball that Harley throws at his face.

Shit.

Harley.

Savin turns to look at him, a smirk on his face, and Loki decides he has to step in. There's nothing he can really do, but maybe he can at least provide a distraction. He's not letting anyone hurt Harley. That kid has no place in this fight. Loki will do whatever he can to make sure he walks out of it alive.

Loki appears between them, blocking Savin's view of the kid. He keeps his gaze firmly on Savin's face, but his words are directed only to the boy. "Go home, Harley."

"But —"

"This is not a negotiation!" Loki hisses.

Savin just looks at them, an amused smirk on his face. Loki does his best to ignore that.

"But Tony needs me!" Harley insists.

"I assure you, he does not," Loki says. "Not here. Now go."

"Run back to Mommy, kid," Savin says mockingly.

Loki looks over his shoulder and shoots Harley a glare until the kid finally takes off running. Loki turns back to Savin, just as the man fires off a handful of shots at him. Loki looks down at his chest as the bullets fly through him, glowing green as they reach him. He listens carefully to the commotion behind him, but Harley doesn't cry out so they probably don't hit him. Loki tries not to worry about that. All Savin saw was that his bullets can't hurt Loki. He wants to use that to his advantage.