Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tony Stark was in a good mood. The city was still being rebuilt after the attack of the mad god, but lately everything has been more or less calm.

There had been no news from Asgard for a couple of months, Tony hoped that Loki was served with all 5 stars in their local prison.

It wasn't boring in the tower, about a month ago the rest of the avengers moved into rooms specially prepared for them.

Steve was in the gym most of the time, working out or sparring with someone from the Avengers. It is he who is responsible for cooking, because, as it turned out, the rest, including Stark himself, could hardly cook fried eggs without frying them to a crisp black crust, and for some reason everyone refused a personal chef. Apparently, it was an easy way for Rogers to relax and get rid of his own dark thoughts, judging by the amount of food that appears in the morning after a particularly stressful day in the tower. Tony knows that each of them suffers from their own nightmares, and even the great Captain America is not immune from this, but it seems that he has found a wonderful hobby for the soul.

Bruce spends most of his time in the lab, where he works with Tony almost every day. Of course, both have their own private rooms, but it seems they both enjoy having fun together on a new project. The main minds of the team quickly became friends, which, in fact, not everyone was happy about. All their conversations were usually filled with professional terms that seem meaningless to ignorant people, which, of course, gets in the way if someone else from the team joins them, but they frankly don't give a damn.

Natasha often spends time at the gym with Steve or chatting with Clint. Tony doesn't really have much to say about Romanov, although they've all grown closer over the past month, but it's still difficult to figure out some of them, especially experienced agents like Nat. What he can definitely notice is that she is always monitoring the situation, more often remaining a silent observer. Her sharp gaze looks at everything and everyone in the room where she is. Sometimes it scares Tony, but lately he's gotten used to Nat's powers of observation.

Clint vanishes the devil understand where most of the time, although Jarvis confirms every time that he is still in the tower. Tony suspects that the noise in the ventilation is not the wind or rats at all. When Stark actually sees Barton, he is either in the kitchen, busy eating with both cheeks, or working out at the gym or at the shooting range. They don't talk in private as much as they do with Bruce, but it's still nice to have someone as sarcastic as Tony himself as a friend.

Although they still didn't get along very well with each other, but together with these guys, everyday life in the tower became much more fun. Weekends were often accompanied by a movie night together or a game of board games, and Tony was really glad to have such friends, and he hoped that nothing would change in the near future.

***

Apparently, just hoping wasn't enough, Tony should have gone to church and lit a candle for his future well-being., although he thinks no one would have been prepared for such news.

Just a couple of minutes ago, the rainbow trail of a unicorn or whatever it's called stuck into the roof of his tower, and Thor appeared on the helipad, dressed in his shiny armor with this fluttering bright red cape on the back. However, their alien friend was not alone.

"Why is Rudolph here?" Stark pointed his finger at the chained mad god standing next to his brother. This time, he looked a little more normal than the last time they met. The bruises under his eyes hadn't completely gone away, but they were less noticeable, her hair was neatly slicked back, and her light blue eyes were now sparkling forest green. The outfit was different from what it was before, although it was similar. A green tunic adorned the god's torso, and the skin on his long legs sparkled in the sun.

"This is my father's order," Thor gripped the handle of the hammer with his fingers and glanced at his brother, who was standing next to him, "Loki... He'll be trapped in your tower for a while," he looked straight into Tony's eyes again.

"Tell your father that we disagree," Stark came closer to the god of thunder, crossing his arms over his chest, covering the light glow of the reactor passing through the fabric of the T-shirt of another musical group. "If you haven't forgotten, this is my tower, and I'll decide who gets locked up here."

"It's not up to me, it's not up to you to decide here," Thor assumed a menacing look, but fatigue and sadness were visible through this mask, "Loki will be imprisoned in the tower, and I will stay here to look after him."

"As if I need to be looked after..." The god of mischief finally spoke for the first time in the entire conversation, interrupting his brother. His voice was too hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time. Well, it would be better to stay that way for many more years. The failed conqueror's eyes also rolled back, showing annoyance.

"Don't say anything at all," Tony quickly barked, wagging his finger at him.

"How dare you, a mere mortal, shut me up..."

"Brother," A menacing voice echoed through the air, making him even more tense than before, but it seemed to have finally silenced Loki, so Tony couldn't complain. "I'm sorry, but you really can't do anything about it, friend," and so Thor turned to him again.

Stark fell silent, just staring into the blue eyes of the god opposite. They were strikingly bright, as if they could light up the whole world. And after that, Tony sighed, "You will live in adjacent rooms on the floor below the common one, objections are not accepted."

"No objections, friend!" Thor smiled brightly, realizing that he had won, even though the outcome was already predicted.

Tony didn't even want to think about how the other team members would react to this statement, and what would come of it in the end.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

"Hey, Point Break," Tony sipped his coffee, resting his hip on the countertop, "So where are Reindeer games?"

Everyone in the kitchen suddenly froze. No one dared to bring up Thor's crazy brother since Thor and Stark announced Odin's decision to imprison him in the tower. Almost all the Avengers were glad that they hadn't seen him yet. 

"I..." The Thunderer hesitated for a couple of moments, "I do not know... He hasn't left the room since we arrived here," Thor could be seen worrying about his younger brother.

"So he hasn't been out for 3 days?" Natasha's voice came from the couch, to which Clint, sitting next to her, muttered faintly: "Let it stay that way"

"Doesn't he need to eat or drink?" Steve asked, straightening up after just putting the lasagna in the oven.

"Wouldn't it be better for us if he starved to death?" - Clint was the one who had the hardest time knowing that Loki was in the tower. This was not a surprise to anyone. Barton really suffered a lot from this alien bastard.

Thor stood up from the bar stool he was sitting on and glared at Clint, "Friend Falcon, I understand your hatred for my brother, but he's still my brother."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy, big guy!"- Stark put his hand on Thor's torso, detaining him, -"He's not serious. Isn't that right, Barton?" He turned his head to the couch to see Barton nodding reluctantly.

Thunderer looked at Tony once more, but still sat back down. "Answering your question, Captain, Aces can go without eating for more than a week without severe consequences," he hesitated slightly and added, "But Loki is not an Ace, I'm not sure what the norm is for him..."

Cap nodded, slightly lowering his head, clearly thinking about something, "Can you bring him lasagna, just in case, when it's ready? And maybe he'll talk to you after all."

Thor's face lit up as he turned to Rogers, "That's a great idea!"

***

Loki slowly opened his eyes. The eyelashes stuck together, and they raised their hand, still with the metal hoops around it, to rub their eyes. The water in the tub was surprisingly cold, having cooled down a long time ago, and a shiver ran through their body.

They tried to get up, but they felt a sudden heaviness all over their bodies, as if they hadn't moved for a long time, and Loki wondered how long they had been lying there, lost in sleep. 

They slowly straightened and stretched each leg, trying to make the following actions less unpleasant. 

Loki got up and slowly got out of the tub, feeling some of their wounds bleeding. They wiped off a short trail of blood from a chest wound and looked around the bathroom, trying to find something that could help them at the moment. 

They noticed a drawer under the sink and were happy to find a small first-aid kit when they opened the door. Inside were bandages, alcohol, and apparently some kind of medicine in the form of small flat circles. They didn't know what was being used and for what purpose, so they decided to postpone small packages, taking only the most necessary at the moment. 

Loki opened a bottle of alcohol and carefully poured some directly onto the wound on his chest. Feeling the burning sensation and the increased pain, they shut their eyes sharply, hissing softly.

Of course, this wasn't the first time they had treated their wound, but right now their seidr was almost completely suppressed, making healing much slower than they would ever want. Although their innate healing factor hadn't disappeared, the handcuffs made them look more like weak Midgardians than Aces or even Frost Giants.

Loki opened his eyes slightly as he poured alcohol on the rest of his wounds. With slightly trembling hands, they wrapped a bandage around their torso, after which everything fell out of their hands, and they exhaled with relief, which was more like a sniff. 

And yet, after a while, they had to get up. They didn't want to fall asleep on the bathroom floor among the trash and small pools of blood. Although it really wasn't the worst place they'd had to sleep in lately. 

They thought of their cell in the Sanctuary, where there wasn't an inch that wasn't covered in their own blood and vomit. They shuddered violently from the memories.

Loki slowly got up from the floor and picked up clean clothes. It was difficult and painful to pull it on my body, which was wounded and wet not only from water, but also from sweat, but it was nothing compared to the tortures of Ebony Mo or Asgard... 

They noted that the clothes hung on their skinny body, hiding most of it. Not that they liked it very much, but it allowed them not to see themselves, so they were happy. 

Loki slowly opened the bedroom door. Strangely enough, nothing has changed. They didn't know what to expect, but the fact that he hadn't been disturbed for at least a few hours was a bit strange and disturbing. 

They walked over to the bed with great effort and fell on the sheets, ignoring the multiple wounds on their bodies. How long had it been since they'd slept in a real bed? How long have they had to settle for a hard floor? 

They exhaled blissfully when they felt the soft mattress. Even though they had only recently woken up, it felt like Loki could fall asleep at any moment. 

Loki closed his eyes, trying not to think about being held captive. They'll only take a nap for a couple of minutes. A couple of minutes... A couple of... Minutes...

***

A sudden knock on the door snapped Loki out of his sleep. They jumped up, groaning from the sharp pain. 

"Brother? Loki?" Thor kept banging on the door, breaking the silence of their cell, but they just squeezed their eyes shut, trying to distance themselves from it.

There was silence, and Loki thought their brother had left, but then he spoke again, "I brought you lasagna. Friend Steve had already prepared this once for me and our shield brothers and sisters. It's quite delicious, you should try it. "

Lasagna... It actually didn't even sound like something edible, and they wouldn't believe that some friend of Thor's actually cooked it himself. A man? Did cook? The Aces were too petty about their "courage" not to consider cooking a shameful occupation for a man. And no matter how much they want to believe that Thor is different from the rest of the Asgardians, they just... Could not. Not now. 

After another couple of minutes of silence, Thor's voice was heard again from outside the door, "Brother, you haven't left the room for several days, you need to eat," his voice suddenly became serious. 

Days? But as far as Loki could tell, they had arrived on Midgard only a few hours ago, a day at most, but several days... They really thought about exactly how long they had been sleeping. 

"Brother? Brother, are you here?!" Thor suddenly started pounding on the door with his fists, –Loki! Loki, by the Norns, if you've escaped, I'll..."

"I'm here, stop knocking!" Loki's voice was hoarse when they finally spoke. 

"Loki, I..." anger could be heard in their brother's voice, but suddenly the words stopped. "I'll just leave the plate in front of the door. If you don't eat it, I'll force-feed you next time." There was a clink and retreating footsteps, signaling Thor's departure to his room. 

Loki exhaled convulsively, they didn't even notice that they were holding their breath. They leaned back, lying on their backs, and suddenly realized that their body was in pain. They hissed as they felt the bandages rubbing against the wounds. 

After a couple of minutes, the pain didn't stop, but Loki was able to get used to it a little. They opened their eyes and heard their stomach rumble, expressing their dissatisfaction with the fact that they had not eaten for many months. 

Maybe the lasagna didn't sound delicious, but they didn't really have any more options, and Loki wasn't going to starve on purpose. 

They sat down slowly, trying not to bother the wounds under the bandages any more. His legs felt wobbly and felt like they couldn't hold them in a standing position for even a second, but Loki decided it was worth a try. 

They gradually stood up, clutching the edges of the bedside table to keep from falling. Their legs were shaking when they finally stood up. 

They took a deep breath and took a small step towards the door. 

Thank the Norns, the Loki did not fall even once and were able to successfully reach the front door. They opened it a crack and looked around the corridor for Thor or any Midgardians. Fortunately, there was no one there. Loki didn't know if their brother had gone to his new friends or returned to his room, but they didn't really care right now.

They lowered their eyes and frowned when they saw the contents of the plate. Norns, was that really food? It looked ridiculous, like a strange mix of different foods. 

They bent over slowly, trying not to accidentally whimper in pain in such an unusual place. Picking up the plate, they disappeared into their cell as quickly as they could. 

Loki locked the door and sat down heavily on the floor, looking at the food. When was the last time they ate? God, they didn't remember. Was this before Thor's coronation? No, no, they remembered having a light snack during their invasion of Midgard. They didn't remember exactly what it was, but it seemed to be something mealy... But several months have already passed since that moment. God, even this "lasagna" has been a blessing.

They took a spoon from the plate and slowly cut off a piece of the dish. They brought a spoon to their mouths and put a piece of lasagna on their tongue. Their eyes opened so wide when they tasted it that it seemed like they would fall out. 

Loki was quickly spooned up with more food, immediately shoving it into his mouth. They didn't even have time to chew before they put it back in. They did not notice how tears began to flow down his cheeks, turning from ordinary crying into sobs. They ate and ate until the plate was empty. How long did they finish?

"It must have been too fast," Loki thought when they felt their stomach turn out.