Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 107

When Loki wakes up, all she can think about is the pounding in her head. It sucks — of course it sucks — but for the briefest moment, she's lucky. Because, for that brief, groggy, barely conscious moment, she forgets where it came from. She forgets what led to it. She forgets about the party; the scepter; Ultron.

But then that moment ends.

And that rage begins to bubble up inside of her once more.

They used the scepter.

They used the scepter.

They made a robot out of the Mind Stone — a robot powered by the Mind Stone. A robot that runs on fear and anger and hatred.

A robot that's still out there somewhere.

Shit.

Loki changes forms, and by the time he's jumped to his feet, he's back to his male body. He doesn't know what difference it will make. He hardly remembers what was going on around him, but he recalls Thor saying his name — his real name. The Avengers doubtlessly already know that he is the mysterious Sylvie, but that's a confrontation for another time — a time that likely will not come, because if the Mind Stone personified is still out in the world, there won't be a world much longer.

He marches through the halls, his leather overcoat flowing behind him. He hears the voices down the hall before he sees them. He doesn't slow down to eavesdrop – there's no time for that – but he still overhears a fair bit.

"Ultron killed Strucker," Steve is saying.

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene just for us," Tony quips.

"This is a smokescreen," Natasha says. "Why send a message when you've just given a—"

The moment Loki steps into view, Natasha clamps her mouth shut. He's met with glares from nearly everyone in the room. It stings a little to see how wary Darcy looks of him. It stings a lot more to see the same look on Steve's face. But he doesn't look angry. He looks... upset. Disappointed, maybe; uncomfortable. But not angry. Honestly, that hurts more than his anger ever could.

"Out," Tony says immediately.

"Stark—"

"Out!"

"You've more than worn out your welcome, brother," Thor says. "Go back to your room."

Loki scoffs. "I'm sorry, did I steal the scepter and create a murderous robot or was that Stark?"

"I didn't steal the scepter, dumbass," Tony says. "Everybody knew we had it. We got it together. That was the mission we wouldn't tell you about."

Loki scoffs again, crossing his arms. "You've been searching for the scepter for months, and you did not tell me?"

"No shit, we never told you!" Tony practically yells. "Are you kidding me? What, you think we're supposed to trust you?"

Loki clenches his jaw, but he bites his tongue.

"Has it ever occurred to you," Tony says, fuming much the same way Loki is, "that the reason no one trusts you is that every time something doesn't go your way, you turn right back into that violent monster we met the first time?"

Loki finds himself glancing over at Thor, like Thor would defend him, like Thor has ever defended him from the verbal abuse he bears witness to so often. Needless to say, he doesn't.

"If you want to parade about like a pretty little lady, hitting on everybody in sight because actual relationships are a joke to you, that's fine," Tony says, his voice full of sarcasm, "but this? This is where I draw the line. You don't attack people. That's not how you fix things."