Beneath The Bitter Masks

Chapter 3

Loki woke up with a start drenched in a cold sweat. He kept having nightmares. They never ended. They were different. Always different. Sometimes he was back in his cell on Titan and other times he was in Asgard. But they all centered on one thing, his pain. Loki was scared now. He didn't know what the avengers would do to him, whether they would come sooner or later -stop thinking about it. But he couldn't stop those words,

"Worthless runt"

"Monster"

"This is no less than what you deserve, Jotun scum."

Loki drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself. The memories kept coming, never stopping. He barely registered the voice, "-sistance?"

"What?" Loki looked towards the ceiling.

"Mr. Laufeyson, your breathing patterns are irregular. I would suggest taking deeps breaths. Would you like for me to call one of the Avengers?"

Out of all that Jarvis had said only one thing registered in his exhausted mind, "Can you please not call me that. I am not Laufey's son."

"Then Mr. Odinson."

"No, ju-just call me Loki. Just Loki."

"Very well then Just Loki." This caused Loki to crack a smile. Barton had told him about Stark's creation. The closest humans had to artificial intelligence. Though listening to him one would think the computer had a personality of his own.

"Will you be alright then Mr. Loki?"

"I will be fine."

"Very well then. Goodnight."

The last comment made Loki laugh. A laugh that was bereft of any mirth. He hadn't had a good night ever since he fell into the void. He merely wanted to end his life but instead he landed in the clutches of the mad titan. He gave a weary sigh, more resigned than anything else. He knew sleep had eluded him. He just hoped he would die soon.
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Clint woke up. He remembered something. And if he was right everything would change. But he had to be sure. He quickly got dressed and went to veiw the security footage.

Tony had been up all night though oblivious to the small talk between Jarvis and Loki. He had been looking through the footage four months prior. He figured that there might be a clue at the start of everything.

He noticed a few things like how sickly Loki looked when he first came through the potal. The dude was stumbling for crying out loud. And his blue eyes looked shifty, scared almost. Wait. Blue eyes? "Jarvis show me the feed of the Hulk smash. The one in which Reindeer Games was pummeled."

Jarvis played the full clip. "Alright Jarv, play it one more time." It played. "And pause. Zoom in on his eyes and play." There. He saw it. His eyes were green. The blue from his eyes faded like a mist.

Looking at the footage only one word came to mind, "Shit." He had some talking to do.

In the security room Clint had veiwed the same footage and knew that he had to talk to Loki. He got up and went to where Loki's room was. He and Tony were so lost in their own thoughts that they didn't notice each other until they were face to face in front of Loki's room.

"What are you doing here?" they asked in unsion.

"Me, what about you?" Tony frowned, "Spill Legolas." Tony was worried. Clint wasn't here to take revenge on Loki or something was he?

Clint, on the other hand, was having an internal debate on wether or not to tell Tony about his discovery. In one case scenario Tony could believe he was under Loki's influence again and not hear a word but, maybe, if he showed him the proof he found, Tony might. Clint knew he could make Tony see logic.

"Fine, come with me." Clint led Tony in the security room.

"So mind telling me what's going on?" Tony was growing impatient. Clint signaled him to come near. Curious he moved closer to see what Clint wanted to show him.

It was the same video Tony had just watched. And then it clicked. He knew. Clint knew. Before Clint could even start his explanation Tony said two words
"I know."

Clint was startled. He wasn't expecting that. "What do you mean?"

"I saw the video Clint. I saw his eyes too."

"Good. So you saw last nights footage?" Clint looked a little uncomfortable.

Jarvis decided to intervene, "Sir, Mr. Loki also suffered from a panic attack after waking up from a nightmare."

"What -when the hell did he have a panic attack? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was after both you and Mr. Barton went to sleep. And for your second question you had instructed me to keep an eye on Mr. Loki. I did just that sir."

Clint snorted. "He's got a point you know."

"Be quite before I kill you Merida. Besides what do we do now? Rudolph was clearly not in charge of the attack on New York.

"Why couldn't things just stay as black and white. Where good guys were good and bad guys were bad." Tony muttered the last part to himself and then sighed. He needed a drink. Badly.

"I think we should tell the team. If I can be convinced that Loki's not all bad then it will be easier to convince the others too right?"

"Actually, after talking to Loki I was gonna tell them about my little discovery. I thought convincing you would be the hardest part. Apparently I won't have to. Also I need a drink. Jarvis call all the guys in the lounge and keep the videos ready."
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Steve was surprised when Jarvis told him that Clint and Tony were calling for a meeting. He still jumped whenever Jarvis spoke up. It was still hard for the frozen super soldier to become accustomed to modern technology. He got up and found that he was the last one there. Clint and Tony were standing near the bar drinking.

"Welcome Cap, glad you could join us. Now that everyone's here we should talk about the why. Well it concerns our resident alien who has a thing for horns."

At this a few pictures of Loki before and after the battle came up. "Now you guys will play spot the difference." Tony announced. Clint still hadn't said a word and was nursing a glass of wine, looking forlorn.

"Tony what's going on?", Bruce asked. Natasha and Thor were looking at the pictures curiously so Steve decided to have a look. What did Tony say? We need to spot the difference. He went over the two pictures, the sound of Bruce and Tony arguing in the background. He focused on the background. After finding nothing different he focused on Loki and he saw it. The eyes. Thor looked confused and Natasha had a blank face. Apparently she reached the same conclusion.

Before either of them could say anything Thor spoke up, "Man of Iron. Why is one of your pictures displaying blue eyes on Loki? He has green eyes. Is there something wrong with it?"

Bruce turned around and rushed here to look at the pictures. "Oh God.... "

"This is what we wanted you to see." Clint took a deep breath, "Loki wasn't behind the attack in New York."

"Are you telling me that my brother was also under the control of the sceptre? That he had no intentions of attacking Earth?"

"...yes."
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Well then here's the third chapter. The whole team knows. They didn't want to keep it secret.

And seriously though I already said it and I will say it again. I can't see him as evil.

And after all that he's been through I want to give him a place where he finds acceptance.

Anyways tell me what you think. Thank you for reading. Sorry if you were disappointed. I will try and do better.

Your sincerely,
YeranJ.