Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 61

Tony, Steve, Bruce, and Clint are all sitting around the living room when the elevator dings. Tony looks over his shoulder. Who's it going to be? He knows Natasha's off on a mission, but she could be coming back now. It could be Thor, too; god only knows where he is, but he never mentioned he was heading back to Asgard. It could even be Loki, as unlikely as that is. He doesn't frequently come out just for the sake of being out, but recently, he's begun to hang around a bit more. Usually, it's following a meal when he has a reason to be out and about to begin with, but that's not to say he can't come by abruptly.

But it's not Loki, nor is it his brother. It seems Natasha's returned, and she didn't do so alone, because when the elevator doors open, the first person Tony's gaze lands on is none other than Nick Fury. Natasha stands by his side, donning her Black Widow catsuit that says she just came from a mission. Tony looks at her and raises an eyebrow, and Natasha gives a minute shake of her head. He really hopes that's a good sign, but he's not sure how to read it.

"Whoops, sorry," Tony says, pushing himself to his feet. "Avengers Tower has reached capacity. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Stark..." Natasha gives him a really? look, but her tone isn't entirely serious, which bodes well for them. He hopes.

"I'm not here to stay," Fury tells him. "Believe me, I do not want to live with you."

Tony slaps a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "Wow."

"I'm here to talk about Loki," Fury says.

Tony raises his brows. "Okay. Want me to go get him?"

"I said talk about Loki, not to him," Fury says. "Not yet."

"Ah, so we're not debriefing; we're gossiping like high school cheerleaders." Tony nods slowly. "Got it."

"My understanding is that you're never gonna say a good thing about him in front of him and Rogers is never going to say a bad thing," Fury says. "I don't want to know how you treat Loki; I want to know what he's up to."

Steve frowns. "With all due respect, sir, you really don't have to worry about him. He's not 'up to' anything — nothing bad, at least. You heard that he helped Stark with that Mandarin thing a few weeks ago."

"Believe me, I did," Fury deadpans. "Got an earful from the president about that."

"And then I got an earful from you," Tony adds. "Very full-circle, isn't it?"

Fury ignores that. "First of all, what are the odds that Loki's going to walk into this conversation in the middle of it?"

"Like, 50-50," Tony guesses.

"Only if he hears you," Steve says. "And I don't think he will; he's pretty content just listening to his music."

Tony snorts. "I got him that new Taylor Swift CD as a joke. He loves it. It's all you ever hear in his room."

That actually earns an amused smile from him, which Tony hadn't expected in the least, no that he's complaining. "You got Loki listening to Taylor Swift?"

"I sure did," Tony says with pride, as if that was the goal all along and he didn't just give Loki that CD so he and the other Avengers could have a quick laugh with the expectation that it would be forgotten within a few days.

"Does he know that she makes music for teenage girls?" Fury asks.

"He does not," Tony says.

"No, he does," Steve says. "He asked JARVIS. He just doesn't care."