Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 185

Loki doesn't want to talk to anyone.

Every single one of these people are pissing him off, and he's sick of them all.

Unfortunately, every single one of these people is also an idiot and he doesn't trust them to make it to Siberia without murdering each other, so he's stuck going along for the ride – after he feeds Alpine, of course, and then gives Snowflake a snack so she doesn't eat Alpine's lunch.

He keeps himself invisible the whole flight. The only person who knows he's here is Wanda, and she seems very careful not to look at him. It's for the best, for both their sakes.

It's a tense flight. He can usually count on Tony to crack some jokes to keep everyone entertained; instead, the man sits with his arms crossed, silent, barely even looking at anyone. Loki's glad. He wants the guy to be miserable. He wants all of them to be miserable. It's what they deserve for being so goddamn stupid.

He will rather reluctantly admit that he does have some sympathy for the Spider kid. Objectively, he knew when he heard that he was only 14 that he was young. He's roughly Harley's age, and Harley's still a kid, too. But it doesn't really sink in until he takes off his mask that he is really just a kid. He's just a young, tired, confused kid, who really shouldn't be here in the first place.

Bruce sits down next to him, and Peter gives him a tired smile, which the scientist returns with one of his own.

"How're you holding up?' Bruce asks him.

Peter shrugs. "I'm alright."

"Not quite what you were expecting, huh?" Bruce remarks.

Peter huffs. "No, not quite," he admits. With a slight smile, he adds, "Better than homework, though."

"Oh, I would hope so," Bruce says, amused. "You know, if you need an extension on any of your work, I'm sure I can just shoot your teachers an email that you were working on something for me this weekend."

Peter shakes his head. "I don't think they'd believe it."

"If it comes from my official email, they would," Bruce tells him. "Or, when we get back to New York, if you want to come check out the compound, we can take a picture in the lab; that can be your alibi."

Loki glances at Tony instinctively, not that the compound is really his in the same way Avengers Tower was. Tony glances up at the invitation, his expression unreadable, and goes back to looking at his hands.

Peter's eyes light up at that. "That would be awesome, Dr. Banner, thank you!"

Bruce chuckles. "No problem, kid," he says. "You came all the way to Germany to give us a hand. It's the least I can do."

"I haven't really done much yet," Peter remarks.

"You stopped the Black Widow and the Hawkeye," Bruce reminds him. "That's not easy."

"Yeah, I guess," Peter admits, and the corners of his lips turn upward in a slight smile.

Steve seems less sure about this. "If he goes to the compound, there's a good chance he'll run into Loki."

Bruce waves that off. "Loki likes kids. It'll be fine."

"He did threaten to kill every single one of us today," Pietro tells him. "And I think that he was serious."

Bruce stares at him. "He did what?"

"He wasn't serious," Steve says, rolling his eyes. "But he is pissed, and I don't think it's a good idea to introduce him to anyone new right now."