Walk a Mile

1 Month Later

Anthony is very surprised by this sudden information. So stunned he can't think of anything to say. 'What the hell does that mean?' He thinks wildly. Ideas run rampant in his mind. Loki sits patiently while the information sinks in. Getting up to stretch his stiff limbs. After about 2 minutes and Anthony not saying anything Loki explained a little about his past.
"I had been aware of what went on in the human realm along with what the Aesir and Vanir were doing.  I had never left once. I resided in the underworld of chaos. There I was alive for thousands of years before I was forced/tricked to leave by Odin.  Right after though I ran as far away from him as possible. I ended up in Jotunheim where I lived for a time, hence why I am able to look like one. A while later Odin found me again. Or should I say he sent Thor after me. After that I was forced to live in Asgard." 
"That's cruel..." Anthony paused. "They're so cruel."
"Can't argue that." 
Anthony reached over for his drink on the table and swiftly downed it.  "Maybe I do need the bottle?" He pondered aloud.
"Think I might need one too."  Loki turned his head to look the other in the eye. They laughed at the sheer absurdity of their situation.
In the vent above Clint Barton listened to the duo. He knew he shouldn't have but he did. He had heard them laughing together and had to come look. He watched the two continue to talk about things. Conversations he had never had with someone before. It was a shock to say the least. Loki and Tony were acting like friends. Like they weren't in the other body. Realizing that he really should leave he crawled away. He stopped just above his room. He kicked open the vent and dropped down.
Clint paced in his room as his thoughts circled around him. His thoughts went to the day they basically kidnapped Loki.
'That was really shitty of us.' He shewed on the inside of his cheek. 'We should have never gone after him that day. Or at the very least attack.' He bit down harder. 'Not to mention we could have really hurt the civilians around. We should be thanking Loki for getting them out of the way.'
"He did brainwash me though." Of course Clint was still upset about what happened but it was years ago. He had almost completely forgotten about the incident until he had seen the god.
Being the SHIELD agent that he is, Clint began to look over all his memories of the god. All of them showed how chill the god was. Loki approached them all with respect, even Bruce. He had an appetite that could compete with his own and he thought the food contest they could have would be fun. The man liked to read and observe and fight bad guys. Even if he did kill them he was still doing good.
"He really isn't that bad."
1 month later
Things had become normal and routine at the compound. They'd all wake up and eat breakfast then go off to their own devices. Occasionally Dr.Strange, Daredevil, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Sam and Bucky would all go out and fight crime. But it seemed like crime was taking a break so the hero's could fix their problem.
The Government and SHIELD had tripled their efforts in finding out what the Avengers were up to. Shield had gone even far enough to try to hack into the compound. Anthony had told Loki and had him make a video to send to shield. They were unimpressed and threatened to raise hell if they tried to again. Not like it did much good.
Thor still attempted to talk to Loki even though the trickster avoided him like the Black Plague. He would follow him around like a sad puppy. Begging his brother to talk. Anthony would catch glimpses of this and roll his eyes with disgust. Occasionally swooping in and 'saving' him from Thor. They never talked about why Loki avoided Thor and they didn't need to. Anthony had seen two other memories that didn't show Thor in the best light. Or any light.
Anthony was content to never talk about the memories that were shared. Hell he didn't even expect to talk to the god about such personal matters at all. Until that day. It was April 7, Thursday. The vibranium had finally arrived. There had been some trouble getting it across borders because the government wanted to know what the Avengers needed it for.
Loki and Anthony were in the lab getting everything ready to start making suits.
"Do you know where I sat that wrench?"
"Did you check underneath the table? Or your seat? Remember that one time you put it in the fridge?"
Anthony turned around to face the other man with a hurt expression. "I was extremely tired. You made us stay up till we finished plans."
"Was it not worth it?"
"I guess. Can you check the fridge for me?"
Loki sighed but walked over to the mini fridge tucked into the corner of the room. Inside he found the wrench sitting next to the Mountain Dew he kept there. "Found it."
Anthony let out a puff of air of disbelief. "For real?" He walked back over to his work bench and sat down.
"Here." Loki reached out to give it to him.
"I don't like being handed things."
Loki's brows furrowed. "Why?"
"My father really was an asshole."
Que Loki dropping onto the floor. They had triggered another memory. Anthony knew exactly what the other was seeing.
Loki cursed lowly. They should have seen this coming. The memory ran around him almost dizzily until it slowed down and Loki found himself in another lab. But not the one he knew. This one had dated equipment. But somehow still looked ahead of its time.
"Anthony!" Loki turned fast at the sudden yell. He was face to face with a man who looked to be in his late 50s. Startled, Loki backed up quickly. Like he thought the man would run into him.
"Yes father."
"You're going to be helping me today."
A confused look crossed the young boy's face. Loki couldn't help the awe that he let out. "But I'm supposed to cook with my mother today."
"You'd rather cook like a girl, Anthony?" Loki was a bit surprised with how much venom was in that one sentence. "You're helping me in the lab. Better?"
Little Anthony's eyes lit up with happiness. He had been wanting to help his father in the lab for weeks. Finally his wish was coming true. "Yes father." He said with barely concealed happiness.
Before Loki knew it he found himself backing up. Scared for what would happen.
They walked into the lab and Howard sat Anthony down while he prepared a few things. "What will we be doing today, father?"
"We won't be doing anything. You'll sit there and watch and pass me things." Enthusiasm quickly died on his face. Not completely but he was less excited than before. Seeing the man work was still a marvel. About 30 minutes had passed and even Loki was enthralled with how the man worked. And true to his word Anthony only passed things the man needed.
'I see this is where he gets it from. Good to know.' The memory seemed fed up with how long it was taking to get to the point and ran past Loki again. 
When it stopped Anthony was standing beside his father. Looking up with pure admiration.
'Well, all good things come to an end, I suppose.' Loki prepared himself again for something bad. He knew it was coming.
Howard pointed to something on one of the other tables. "Anthony pass me that." And like a good obedient child he obeyed without question. Howard had still not looked up. He kept his head down facing the thing he was working on.
Loki followed the little Anthony in curiosity. 'Is that metal?' Loki looked back at Howard again. The man hadn't moved. Anthony picked up the metal quickly and turned around. It wasn't until he held it a little longer that he felt how hot it was.
He promptly dropped it on the spot. His tiny hands red from how hot it was.
Loki watched with wide eyes as Howard finally turned around and started to yell at Anthony for dropping the metal. "Pick it back up and bring it here!"
"But father.."
"Bring it here Anthony!"
Loki looked back at the boy no older than seven. 'Please don't do it.' He hoped.
The boy bent over and swiped the metal up off the floor and quickly jogged over. The older man snatched it out of his hands and set to work welding it. Not even bothering to check on the child.
Loki on the other hand rushed to the child's side and looked at his hands. He wanted to heal them but knew he couldn't. Only access the damage already done.  "Why're you still here?" Loki questioned the small child. But he knew the answer. Anthony would've done anything to work by his fathers side. Even endure burning hands.
"Put this over there."
"Is it hot?" Came the innocent reply.
Howard rolled his eyes. "Take this." He pointed at the same table. "And put it over there."
Anthony reached out with shaking hands. Annoyed with Anthonys timidness Howard thrust the piece of metal into his hands.
Loki didn't get to see what happened next because the memory blurred and disappeared. He blinked once and was greeted by his own face.
"You are far too close."
"Well I had to make sure you were okay."
"Whatever." A silence passed between them. "Howard really was an asshole."
Anthony let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. It's a good thing he's dead. Sometimes I feel like thanking Bucky for getting rid of him. Would that be messed up?"
"Why would you thank Bucky?"
"He killed them when he was still under Hydra."
"How sad."
"Extremely. On a happier note, what did you think about me as a kid? I was cute wasn't I?"
"Adorable." Loki couldn't stop himself from thinking that he was sad though. If not miserable at best. 'Adorable, sad and naive.'
"Are you really a germaphobe or was that cover the media?"
"I am. It is. It wasn't like this. It just got worse the longer it went on. Can I ask you a question? A personal one."
Loki knew what he was gonna ask. He knew it was going to be about a memory of his own. Seeing as to how he asked a memory question it was only fair for him to let Anthony ask him one.
He nodded. "Do you use magic to hide the scars on your mouth?" Loki forced himself to breathe. Deep breaths.
He looked the other directly in the eyes and said, "I do."
Nervously Anthony continued. "Will you talk to me?"
Loki looked at him confused. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Will you talk to me about your time in Asgard?" Before Loki could deny this Anthony was quick to add his reasons. "I know you said not to bring it up and I said I wouldn't but I want to understand you. Know you better. And I hate watching those memories and not being able to talk to you after."
Loki looked both confused and offended. "Not to pity you or anything. But just to talk it out. I just want to know you. I'll shut up now." He finished meekly. Loki watched as the genius nervously backed away from him. He honestly couldn't believe it.
"Later?" It came out more like a question than he was hoping. And just like his kid self Anthony beamed at being able to gain some sort of knowledge.
"Okay."
"For now let's call the others and get to work. I'm sure they're just as excited as you."
________
"Iron Butt why would you think a suit that tight would work? I'm a mercenary not an acrobat."
"Well Loki said.."
"And you trusted his judgment? That's rich."
Deadpool and Spider-man were currently in the lab building their suits with the help of Tony and Loki. 
"I take major offense to that."
"Okay and? Tony, dear, if I ever wore something like that I'd be getting cat calls more often."
Behind him he heard snickers. "Who would cat call you?" Loki asked in disbelief.
He turned around and puffed up his chest and confidently said, "Lots of people.""Okay and? Tony, dear, if I were to wear that I would get more cat calls."
Behind him, Loki and Spider-Man snickered. "Who would cat call you?"
"People that have taste." Deadpool said with hands on his hips.
Tony pinched the bridge of nose in annoyance. "Please focus."
Spider-Man piped up and gave a suggestion. "Just smack him. It'll make you feel better and also get him to focus."
"You want him to hurt your body?"
"I've handled worse than that, Loki."
Tony rolled his eyes. "While I do find this entertaining, can we focus on the suits."
"A slap on the head should work." Spider-Man recommended.
An eyebrow raised Loki questioned the Spiderling. "Why would you want him to hurt your body?"
"A slap? Loki, I've been hurt by worse."
"Focus!"
"Scary." The trio spoke in unison.
"Deadpool, you think the suit will be too tight, that's an easy fix."
"Duh! I know that. All you do is loosen the nanobots. Then we have to reprogram them to do what we want. I'm more concerned with how we'll be using the vibranium."
Over on the side Loki and Spider-Man watched with pride. Smug smiles on their faces. Everyone thought that because DP was a mercenary and chronically crazy he wasn't smart. When in fact he is. He wasn't on Tony's level nor was he on Peter's but he understood it enough to take part in the conversations and discussions.
Shaking off the initial surprise Tony continued. "Yeah. As for the vibranium we'll be sewing it into the suit."
"You can sew vibranium?" Deadpool asked in pure awe. Loki and Spider-Man were the same. It appears none of them knew it was possible.
"Yep." Tony said, popping the 'p'. "It'll be hard but we can do it. Once we finish programming the nanotechnology we'll start sewing. It'll be the same with Spider-Man's."
"Then after all that I'll be putting protective spells over them. Along with cooling and heating spells."
"I thought we agreed to just put it in the suit." Tony questioned.
"We did. But that was before I thought about the amount of power that would take up."
"I suppose that makes sense."
Deadpool ran over and threw his arms around Loki. "You're the best Lokes." Kissing his head despite the mask in the way. Loki only smiled at his antics and lightly pushed him off.
"Hurry and finish you oaf." Excitedly Deadpool ran back over to Tony and set to work. Tony was sad to admit that he thought the mercenary was only good for fighting. That he wasn't that skilled when it came to things like this. He was pleasantly surprised when he said he didn't need his help for the time being.
He walked over to his desk. He pulled out a stark pad and scrolled through his notes for a bit before he got bored. There wasn't much to work on for once. Loki had been dragging him away from the lab often so he hadn't had the time to start anything new. 
Officially fed up with his boredom Tony got up and walked over to see what Loki and Spider-Man were doing. They were hunched over, something he knew they would regret later, typing in codes for Spider-Man's suits.
Watching them work was even more boring. He groaned audibly. 'Why is everything so boring?' He found himself wondering. He was about to walk away when he heard Loki muttering in a different language. It caught his attention because he didn't recognize the dialect. 
"Casting spells over there, Loki?"
"Mhm?"
"I heard you speaking in a different tongue. Was just wondering?"
"Oh. It's the language of Chaos. I slip into it sometimes."
"Can Thor speak it too?" Even though he already knew the answer.
"No. He can barely speak English, much less another language."
Dr. Strange and DareDevil choose that time to walk in. "Forever talking shit."
"What are you guys up to?" Stealthily Strange helped DareDevil walk around the lab to a seat. Can't let the Avengers get any inclining that he's blind.
Tony walked over to the two. "They're all working on the new designs. I'm bored as hell."
Daredevil chuckled. "You are more than welcome to join our discussion."
Tony nodded for the man to continue. Strange lightly tapped his shoulder to continue talking. "We were exploring theories on how to switch you back. Got any ideas?"
"Is there the possibility that it could just wear off on its own?"
"That was the first theory. But it died when 1 month passed. We don't know what to think."
Tony pulled up a chair and sat in front of them. "We know Loki can shape shift, so the magic in this situation would be similar, right?"
"That would make sense."
"What do you think Lokes?"
Loki's head popped up from his computer screen. "In theory, yes. But my magic core is smaller now that I'm in a human body. So honestly if I could breakdown the magic I could fix this situation."
"Six people switched. In your own body you were able to switch the bodies of six people so if we were to cut that down..." Dr. Strange grew silent.
"He won't be able to turn them all back to normal." DD finished.
    "Not at the same time. So it would be better to switch himself and Tony back first."
"Couldn't you," Tony pointed to Stephen. "Give him a magic booster, like in Harry Potter?"
"No. Two different magics, two different cores. It would only make matters worse."
The group continued to mull over ideas and theories. The atmosphere is tense but still chill. A sense of comradery hung over the group. An unknown thought passed through all their minds. 'How long will we stay like this?' How long indeed. How long would they get along? Be friends? Would it stop once everything was back to normal?
A little while later Bruce wandered in. He looked lost. Upon seeing one of his bestest friends Tony perked up. He walked out on the conversation with Strange and DareDevil to see what was wrong with Bruce.
"What's up dude? I haven't spoken to you in like forever."
"I have a lot on my mind. Can we talk?"
Everyone wanted to talk. 'Everyone wanted to talk about serious topics today. Why not something fun? Are we all depressed fucks or something?'  Tony thought.
"Sure. About what?" He walked back over to his station and sat down. Bruce sitting down in front of him.
Bruce shot a glance at Loki. Loki was looking at his computer screen. He hadn't even noticed the other man come in. "It's about Thor." He said in a hushed tone.
Immediately Tony thought about the memories he had seen. Bruce had probably seen some of the same ones. If his own views had changed about the resident Aesir then he knew Bruces did too. After all, it goes against all the things they knew about him.
"I can't look at him anymore. It's not the same. And it doesn't help that he's been trying to talk to me about the memories we've both been seeing."
Curiosity won over and Tony asked, "What have you been seeing?" He leaned forward, eyes twinkling with interest.