Chapter Text
The call to report to headquarters came in just as Steve returned from his morning run. Upon receiving the summons, the Soldier removed his sodden sweatshirt, dropped it into a nearby chair and immediately headed for the shower. Fifteen minutes later, Steve was clean, in his uniform, and focused. When he stepped into the elevator whistling a jazz tune from his own time, JARVIS responded by queuing up the actual song. Stormy Weather by Duke Ellington. It seemed that the AI was not without a sense of nostalgia. Steve smiled.
The elevator stopped on Natasha's floor, the doors opened and the red haired assassin stepped in. She raised an artfully groomed eyebrow at the music but said nothing as she took her place against the opposite wall. Natasha smelled like leather and gardenias. It was a nice smell. Steve inhaled it with as much subtlety as he could as the elevator continued it's descent.
When they reached the garage Tony and Bruce were already there. The large black SUV that would take them to S.H.I.E.L.D. stood idling nearby, but the two scientists had opted to wait for Steve and Natasha's arrival before getting inside. Tony was looking a little rough around the edges and the Soldier wondered if his condition had anything to do with the three women he'd seen him stumble in with the night before. There had been lots of giggling and drunken cavorting and someone's panties had ended up on Tony's head. That was all Steve had needed to see before he'd packed up his sketchbook and beat a hasty retreat to the untainted solitude of his own floor.
Steve's eyes moved to Bruce Banner. If the scientist looked a little rough this morning it was because he always did. A holdover from spending a good chunk of your life waking up naked in strange places, Steve supposed. Bruce acknowledged him and Natasha with a small smile and nod of his head and Steve returned the smile with one of his own.
“So,” inquired Steve. “Anyone know what this is all about?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Bruce who then took a cautious sip from his travel mug.
Tony rubbed his eyes beneath his sunglasses. “Whatever it is,” he said tiredly, “it better not take long. I need to be back in bed before my head goes all Scanner.
Natasha smirked as she took in Tony's worn out demeanor. “Late night, Stark?”
“You could say that,” grumbled Tony. He climbed into the SUV, followed by Bruce. As usual, Steve took the wheel and Natasha rode shotgun.
When the group of heroes arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Coulson was waiting for them. He stood just beyond the main doors with a thick stack of papers in hand and a tired expression on his average looking face. He gave the Avengers a polite nod and when Steve inquired as to what the situation was, the agent only shook his head and told him that Director Fury would fill them in on all the details once they were inside.
Tony moved closer to the man, peering at him over the top of his sunglasses. “Everything okay Phil? You look a little stressed.”
Coulson sighed. “Its just been a long morning,” he replied, leaving it at that. He turned and began walking towards the interior of the building. “If you all would follow me please.”
The heroes trailed the agent down the main corridor. When he came to a stop in front of the conference room, the Avengers did as well. The door to the room was currently closed but the sound of Clint's yelling could be heard clear through the other side.
“This is Bullshit and you know it, Fury!”
The heroes all cast each other worried looks. Coulson sighed again and opened the door.
Steve looked at his fellow Avengers, none of whom seemed to be in a hurry to follow the agent into the room. The Soldier sighed. Well, you are their Captain, he thought ruefully. And being the first one into the fray was nothing new for Steve. So after bracing himself for the worst, he opened the door and entered the conference room, followed by Natasha, then Tony, with Bruce bringing up the rear.
The sight of Thor standing in the room surprised Steve but the sight of Loki lounging in a nearby chair just about floored him.
“Umm, what the hell is going on here?” This from Tony, who, in the presence of the god of Mischief, suddenly looked much more alert.
Fury gave them one of his trademark smiles that weren't actually smiles and gestured to the conference table. “Gentleman,” he inclined his head to Natasha. “And Lady. If you all would please have a seat, I can explain to you what's going to happen here.”
The heroes took their respective seats, all the while keeping a wary eye on Loki who watched them passively, a small smirk playing over his lips.
The Director sat down at the head of the table and crossed his hands in front of himself. He was sure to eye each one of the Avengers squarely before he began. “Now, in accordance with a peace treaty that has recently been forged between The United States and the realm of Asgard, Mr. Laufeyson here will be paying off his debt to society by working for us here at S.H.I.E.L.D.”
At that point, the room erupted into chaos.
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” asked Tony. “This is the same psycho who blew up half of New York not even three years ago, and now you're telling me we have to work with him?”
“The Avengers wouldn't be working with Loki directly,” said Fury. “He's here in a very specialized capacity and would be mostly working alone, under the supervision of one of our top agents.”
“And what capacity would that be?” asked Steve. The Soldier had a bad feeling about all this and the fact that Loki was watching him so intently wasn't helping with his growing sense of unease.
The Director looked askance to Thor, who had been silent up to that point. An indecipherable expression painted the Thunder god's ruggedly handsome face as he regarded his teammates. Steve didn't envy his position. His and Loki's was a complicated relationship that often led to Thor having to inevitably choose sides. “Thor, would you care to explain to your teammates about the current situation?”
Thor cleared his throat. He looked to his brother who still looked far too amused and then back at the others. “Loki will be here serving as Bolverk,” he said quietly.
“What the hell is a Bolverk?” asked Tony.
“It literally means 'Evil Doer',” said Clint. The distaste was evident in his tone. He looked at Loki with cold eyes but the god remained impassive, staring back at him with an almost bored expression.
Steve turned his attention to the Director. “So what, Loki is here to do S.H.I.E.L.D. wetwork now? Don't you think that's a little risky considering his past actions?”
“Not to mention disgusting,” said Bruce. The scientist looked irritated and Tony began rubbing his friend's shoulder in what looked to be a soothing gesture. Strangely enough, it seemed to be having the desired effect, although Bruce did continue to scowl.
Fury-perhaps erring on the side of caution-chose to address Steve's concern as opposed to Bruce's ire. “We've taken the necessary precautions to ensure that Loki doesn't do anything stupid while here on earth,” he said. “He's been equipped with a special collar that helps to insure that he's on his best behavior, giving him just enough magic to get the job done. Odin has also assured us that should Heimdall lose sight of him, we'll be informed immediately.”
“So that's it? We're supposed to just blindly accept all this and make a space for him at our table?” Tony narrowed his eyes at Loki. “Bad news, Raven Waves. You can't sit with us.”
Loki rolled his eyes but wisely said nothing.
Fury, on the other hand, was quite vocal on the matter. “Oh yes he can sit with you, Stark. Because starting tonight, Loki is going to be spending the bulk of his time over at Avengers Tower.”
“Over my dead body he is,” snapped Tony.
“Hopefully that won't be necessary,” said the director, unaffected by the man's indignation. “As it stands, you're the only one with surveillance sophisticated enough to monitor Loki properly. Besides, who better to watch over him than the people who stopped him in the first place.”
Tony didn't look convinced but in the end he'd relented. After throwing up his hands in defeat, he called Pepper to inform her that they would be having a special guest for the foreseeable future. When the billionaire told her who, the rest of the room could easily hear the barrage of curse words that came from the other end of the line. Tony held the phone away from his ear as he gave Nick Fury a withering look.
After a minute, Tony attempted to get a word in edgewise. “Yes, Pepper, I know. I said the same thing.” The voice on the other end showed no signs stopping. “Pepper, if you could just.....Look if you could get the....Pepper please. Okay, fine. You can order three of them. Just get the security wing ready, okay. Thank you, Pepper.” Tony hung up the phone and sighed. When he turned back to the rest of the room, a fake smile was plastered across his face. “Pepper's on board!" he said brightly. "She's getting the security wing prepared as we speak.”
“Excellent!” said the Director with matching enthusiasm. He walked over to Steve who was still trying to process these new developments. All traces of amusement were gone from his voice when he said, “Captain, I hope that I can count on you to help your team make this transition smoothly.”
Steve didn’t know how to respond to that. On one hand, he believed that people were entitled to a second chance if they truly sought redemption. On the other hand, Loki was a damned maniac, and the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. was willing to bring him on board made him think a little less of the agency. Steve could feel the beginnings of a headache working it's way up the back of his skull. This was going to happen whether they liked it or not. Loki was back in their lives and it would be up to him to sell the rest of the team on the concept. Well that was just dandy. “I'll do what I can, Sir. But you have to know you're asking a lot of us. I mean....it's Loki.”
Fury nodded. “I realize that, Captain and I wouldn't ask if I didn’t truly believe that in the end it was worth it.”
There must have been someone S.H.I.E.L.D. reeeeally wanted out of the way and traditional means were proving ineffective. Steve gestured to where Coulson stood staring out the window. The agent was as far away from Loki as the room would allow, which was understandable considering what happened the last time the two encountered one another. “And where does he stand on all this?” Steve asked.
“Agent Coulson will adjust, as will we all,” said Fury. “This isn't a permanent thing, just a small experiment to see if the alien can prove himself useful.”
“Through state sanctioned murder and mayhem?”
Fury smiled. “Why not let a monster do what he does best. Plus this way we can study him up close. See what his weaknesses are. Loki won't get the drop on us again.”
Steve wasn't so sure he believed that but nodded anyway. He rejoined the rest of the team while Fury went to speak with Loki and Thor.
Tony looked at him, his eyes pleading. “Cap, you aren’t seriously falling for this shit, are you? I mean, look at him. Does he look even a little bit rehabilitated to you?”
Steve chanced a glance over his shoulder and was unnerved to find Loki watching him again. That maddening ghost of a smile was still in place and the Soldier quickly turned back, hoping to God that his face wasn't as red as it felt.
“He looks....less insane than he did the day of the invasion,” Natasha admitted and was met with a dirty look from Clint.
“Looks can be deceiving,” said the Archer. “Loki is a menace and the fact that Fury is bringing him on board makes me wonder if our Director hasn’t begun to lose his shit. Has anyone checked to see if he's being controlled?”
“As far as I can tell, the big, inscrutable eye is just as brown as it's always been,” said Bruce. “That's one of the first things I checked.”
Clint didn't look convinced. “Yeah, well I still think Loki is up to something and I won't rest easy until he's back in an Asgardian prison where he belongs.”
After the meeting, most of the Avengers headed back to the tower, with Clint choosing to remain at S.H.I.E.L.D. and use the quarters he maintained there for the duration of Loki's stay. He wanted nothing to do with the Trickster and Steve didn't really blame him. Natasha had lingered as well, mostly to make sure Clint was alright, but had promised that she would return in a few hours.
Loki, having no desire to sit beside Thor, rode up front with Steve while Tony and Bruce took the middle and the Thunder god had the third row to himself. Steve tried not to think about the presence beside him but it was hard not to with Loki so close. He risked a glance right and found the man in question staring out his window at the passing city. Loki's aristocratic features were relaxed and for the first time, Steve noticed how attractive he was. Without mania marring his features, a sharp, angular beauty was made visible and the artist in Steve suddenly wondered if he could properly render it on paper. Would he be able to get the line of the nose just right? Did he have anything that could truly capture the midnight darkness that was Loki's hair?
“Perhaps you would do better by keeping your eyes on the road,” said Loki softly. His eyes swung around to meet Steve's and his expression was one of amusement. Steve had been caught staring and he was enjoying the fact. Face burning, the Soldier returned his attention ahead and did not look Loki's way again.
Once they arrived at the tower, Tony ordered a ridiculous amount of Thai food for lunch. The parameters were still being set on the security floor so, much to Tony's consternation, Loki was forced to join them.
“At least we can keep an eye on him this way,” said Steve, desperately searching for a bright side.
The food arrived promptly and while the heroes sat around, picking from this and sampling that, Loki sat with his arms crossed over his chest and a sour expression on his face.
Steve took the only seat available, which happened to be next to Loki. Thor was on his other side but was far too engrossed in his meal to pay his brother any mind. When Steve saw that Loki wasn't eating, he leaned in just close enough to catch a hint of some strange cologne. The Soldier thought it nice but stamped the feeling down immediately as he didn't want to associate Loki with anything pleasant. “Aren't you hungry?” he asked.
“I have no desire to ingest the detritus that you mortals call food,” sneered Loki.
Steve looked down at his plate. He actually thought Thai food was pretty good. “Well I wouldn't exactly call it detritus,” he said slowly. “I don’t know what you're used to in Asgard but Earth food isn't so bad. Granted, it took me a little while to get used to the amazing variety of things available in this time period, but I've managed to find a few favorites. If you don't want any of this I could make you something.”
Loki gave him an odd look. After a moment, he sighed. “I suppose I would be willing to try something light.”
Steve chose not to acknowledge the small sense of victory he felt when Loki had agreed to eat. Instead, he focused on making him a large salad that consisted of several types of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, red onions, mushrooms and sprouts. He topped the salad with seared tuna from the previous night and some crumbled bacon leftover from breakfast. Once he was pleased with it's overall appearance, Steve sat the bowl in front of Loki, along with several bottles of dressing.
“If you want, you can sample all of them to see which one you prefer. I'm a Thousand Island man, myself but whatever floats your boat.” Steve returned to his seat and resumed eating his lunch. He looked up to find Tony and Bruce watching him curiously. “What?”
“You've never made me a salad,” Tony pouted.
Steve rolled his eyes. “Did you want one?”
“No, no,” said Tony, waving his hand dismissively “I prefer my fruits and veggies liquified. Still...” The billionaire narrowed his eyes toward Loki who was currently tasting his way through the dressings. He ended up choosing a bottle of balsamic vinaigrette.
Lunch ended and Tony and Bruce retreated to the former's labs to continue a series of tests that they were conducting on the latest Ironman suit. During the meal, word had come through that the security floor was ready so Thor took Loki down to get settled while Steve went to his private floor. He stepped off the elevator and headed straight for his desk, gathering several charcoal pencils and a heavy, leather bound sketchbook. It was the nicest sketchbook that Steve had ever owned and already he'd christened it with images from his past. There were pictures of Bucky, pictures of the Howling Commandos and pictures of Peggy with her dark curls and lovely smile. Drawing those he cared for made them seem more real to the soldier and less like figments of his imagination.
Steve sat down on the sofa and turned to a fresh page. As the drawing began to take shape, he realized with a small amount of horror that he was putting a picture of Loki in his sketchbook. Inscrutable eyes gazed at him over a salad bowl and Steve found himself wondering about the kinds of secrets they held. This was a being from beyond the stars who had lived long enough to see empires rise and fall. Loki was also a master of illusion, something that had fascinated Steve ever since he was a small boy. He could remember going with Bucky to Coney Island to see the men in black tuxedos, complete with cape and top hat. The stylishly dressed magicians would perform all sorts of tricks that dazzled the crowd and left them wondering how the heck they'd managed to pull it off. Steve and Bucky would argue the whole way home with each boy professing to know the secrets of their craft. No doubt Loki knew all sorts of amazing tricks, possessing skills those boardwalk magicians would have probably sold their souls for. Knowing Loki, he would have made them an offer.
Steve set his pencil on the cushion beside him and stared down at his latest creation. Memories of fighting Loki in Stuttgart were still vivid. Could he have really changed all that much in the time since? Steve had his doubts but he was determined to do his part to keep the peace. He didn't have to like Loki, he just had to keep him out of trouble while he was at the tower. While at S.H.I.E.L.D. he would be someone else's problem. Sighing, Steve set the sketchbook aside and stood. There was a line of tension running down his spine and the soldier was fully intent on ridding himself of it, no matter how many heavy bags it took.