Chapter 11: Yelling (Tony Stark POV)

I and the Avengers are in the living room. We are too shocked to talk, however. I am the first to talk.

"So…. Reindeer Games has had an" I clear my throat. "Interesting life"

Natasha looks at me with an exasperated face.

"We need to get him into therapy," Banner says conclusively.

I start laughing and everyone looks at me as if I'm crazy.

"Sorry" I have to control my laughter so I can speak. " What I'm trying to say is, if we hadn't given him the deal to unlock the cuffs then he wouldn't have told us anything. What makes you think he's going to sit in a room and openly talk about his feelings" I say as I start cracking up again.

Banner sighs and says "Then let's try to get to know him so we can do it ourselves."

Now everyone's looking at Banner like he's the crazy one, including me.

"What makes you say he won't betray us!" Barton says.

Before Banner can answer I cut in " He's got nowhere to go."

Banner nods and points at me. Thor has stayed quiet through this entire discussion.

"Fine" Barton says as he sits on a sofa.

"Steve go and get Loki, and ask him if he wants some lunch," Banner says.

Steve nods and goes to Loki's room.

"You guys do know we actually have to talk to him right?" I say looking around the room quickly.

The others nod and look at the approaching Steve and Loki. They walk into the room and Loki takes a seat.

"Evening Reindeer Games," I say.

He glares at me in response. We sit in silence staring.

"Yes?" Loki asks, apparently annoyed by our staring.

"Would you like to talk?" Banner asks apprehensively.

"I've already told you everything if that's what you're asking," Loki says suspiciously.

Banner does not continue. That's probably for the best.

Rogers offers him a salad and he eats a couple of bites before stopping.

"May I go back to the room you put me in?" Loki says, his voice is overly friendly.

Steve nods his head and Loki turns to go to his room.

"So that was awkward, right. Or was that just me?" I ask, trying to break the tension in the room.

"Not just you," Barton says, turning to look at me.

"Of course it was!" Natasha says suddenly looking back and forth from me and Banner.

I look at her inquisitively.

"I'm saying he just relived all of his most traumatic experiences to us. People he barely knows. People that were trying to fight against him not too long ago. So yes of course it was awkward and yes, of course, he wanted to leave. Think about if the roles were reversed." She finishes letting the question hang in the air.

If the roles were reversed I would be.... in a bad state. She's right of course. I look around and everyone is contemplating what she had just said. I look over at Thor who looks like a sad puppy dog.

"Is everything ok?" I ask.

Thor looks up and sees that I'm talking to him.

"Yes. I am just contemplating an argument I recently had with Loki" He says, once again looking sad.

"So that's what that yelling was?" Banner says, looking at Thor.

Thor nods his head and then starts looking at a wall.

"What should we do now? Loki clearly needs help and he's shutting himself in his room" Steve says as he takes a seat on the sofa looking defeated.

I shrug.

"Thor what did you do when Loki shut himself in his room on Asgard?" I ask once again looking at Thor.

"I didn't do anything, I was too busy training to worry myself with it." He says looking uncomfortable.

"Well, that's not helpful!" I say looking away from Thor.

Thor hangs his head shamefully.

"Ok, so we don't know how to draw him out. So why don't I just go to his room and refuse to leave?" I say simply.

Natasha looked at me incredulously.

"I can't tell if you're joking or being serious," Steve says, confused.

"He's serious, and stupid" Natasha says exasperated.

"Yes I'm being serious but I'm telling you it's not a stupid idea!" I say in a hurt tone.

Natasha rolled her eyes and then sat down on the sofa.

"Fine, it's your funeral," She says, rolling her eyes.

"Thor! You agree with me right!" I say pleadingly.

Thor just shook his head.

"You guys just don't realize when a brilliant idea is right in front of you!" I say turning around quickly.

Cap sighed and looked into his arms.

"I'm going!" I say as I start walking towards Loki's room.

I hear sighs from behind me as I walk. I don't turn back however I push forward and knock on Loki's door. I don't hear a response, instead, I hear footsteps pacing back and forth and muttering. I knock on the door again this time a little louder. I hear the muttering stop abruptly. Nobody answers still, so I once again knock on the door. However this time I knock as loud as I can. I hear someone stutter then go quiet. Fine, I'll just let myself in then.

"Coming in!" I yell as I open the door.

I see a quick flash of green before I open the door.

"Did you use your magic?" I say looking around.

I look over to Loki who is calmly reading on his bed. He doesn't answer. I think trying to see what would make him answer.

"If you don't tell me then I will bring Thor in here so he can tell me," I say triumphantly.

"Yes, Yes I did," He says quietly.

"Show me what for," I say looking around.

"I'm not under a spell am I?" I say trying to lighten the mood.

He doesn't say anything, instead a green flashes around the room. I almost gasp. His room is a wreck, everything is either out of place or on the floor and then there's him.

His hair looks tangled and his clothes are wrinkled. He looks around ashamed.

"I am sorry for the mess. I was planning on cleaning it, but….." He trails off looking around.

"I usually pride myself on being clean and neat." He continues glumly.

"Hmh," I say not looking him in the eyes.

"What do you want?" He says after we sat in awkward silence for a while.

"I just wanted to… hang out," I say.

Loki looks incredulous.

"Why would you want to hang out with me? I was the villain! Remember!" He says sadly.

"That's not how I see it. You were under mind control." I say calmly.

Before he can speak again I cut across him and continue.

"Let's continue on a happier note," I say cheerfully.

Loki looks at me doubtfully and then shrugs. I take that as a sign to keep going. I'm just glad he hasn't stabbed me or anything yet.

"So tell me a little about yourself!" I say trying to make conversation.

He doesn't answer me, he just glares.

"Ok, Ok! No need to give me a death stare!" I say, shaking my head.

"I'm so very sorry Mr. Stark," He says sarcastically.

I sigh. I should have known it wasn't going to be this easy.

"Call me Tony," I say.

Loki looks at me questioningly. We sit there awkwardly until an idea struck me.

"Do you want to watch a movie?!" I say, already having one in mind.

"What is a Moo-vee?" He says confused.

"Just trust me. You'll love it" I say.

Loki looks apprehensive.

"Fine," He says finally.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, bring down the tv and put Frozen on!" I say as I get comfy on the bed with Loki.

Loki scooches as far away as possible.

The TV comes out of the ceiling and goes to Frozen and starts playing it. I can tell Loki is automatically entranced with the movie. Slowly he starts scooching over closer to me. At the dramatic parts, he would grab my arm. I honestly didn't know the God of Mischief could act like this. The movie was almost over when I heard sniffling next to me.

"Loki?" I say "Are you ok?."

I see him quickly wipe his eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Sta.. Tony, this movie has just reminded me of something" He says sadly looking down.

"It's fine, so what do you want to watch next!" I say.

"Whatever you think Tony," He says.

I put on Encanto.

Halfway through the movie, I look over at Loki and see he is sleeping on my shoulder. I decide not to wake him, lord knows he doesn't get enough sleep. Then again neither do. Before I turn my head back towards the screen I place a blanket on him.

The movie is near the end when I hear a noise next to me. Loki is whimpering in his sleep. Before I can wake up however he bolts up and conjures a dagger. The next second the dagger is against my neck.

"Woah! Calm down!" I say leaning my head away from the dagger.

Loki's arm is still outstretched and the dagger is still where my neck was. He pauses, his breathing is heavy and his eyes are darting around. His arm slowly falls, his breathing still ragged. He turns away from me and puts his legs off the bed. I can tell he is shaking. He takes a deep breath and then turns to face me. I am still laying against the backboard of the bed.

"I am sorry if I disturbed you," He says getting up.

I start to say something then he cuts across me.

"I am going to the restroom, I will be back," He says shakily.

He comes back and he looks considerably better.

"Do you want to talk about the nightmare?" I ask looking over at him as he sits back down on the bed.

"Who says it was a nightmare?" He asks innocently.

I look at him. Was he crazy?!

"Maybe the fact that when you woke up you almost slit my neck!" I say exasperated.

He shrugs.

I need him to loosen his tongue or else I won't ever be able to talk about his problems! I mean I'm not one to talk. What would I do, if I were him? I would get a drink! That's the answer!

"J.A.R.V.I.S, please bring a bottle of the Asgardian wine Thor gave to us, to Loki's room," I say.

Usually, I would have gotten one for myself but I needed to stay coherent.

"I usually don't drink, not since I fell off the rainbow bridge at least'' He says.

"Well, I figured you could use one" I shrug and a table comes rolling in.

Loki looks scared.

"Don't worry it's automated" I say seeing the look on his face.

Loki takes the bottle off the cart and then a glass.

"Would you like any?" He offers.

It takes all my willpower to shake my head. He pours a considerable amount in his glass. Then he puts the bottle back on the cart. He looks at the glass for a second and then downs it in one gulp.

I must have looked shocked as Loki asks " Is there something wrong?"

"No… I just….um… didn't expect you to drink it that quickly." I say slightly shocked.

Loki shrugs and pours another glass. The bottle is halfway gone now and that's saying a lot as it was a taller bottle. In the span of an hour, he is done with the bottle. I gotta admit I'm honestly a little impressed. But I now noticed that Loki has definitely started getting tipsier with each glass. Until the bottle has finished. I want to take full advantage of this situation and do two things.

The most important: Karaoke with Loki. Oh and uh asking him about that nightmare. Karaoke first though! I tell J.A.R.V.I.S to lower the microphone that I had installed into the ceiling of every room. (It's best not to question it).

"Ok Loki I need you to look at the screen and sing the words that pop up" I say as Loki takes the microphone.

I put Let It Go as the first song. Surprisingly Loki had a pretty good voice (Probably would have been better if he wasn't drunk). I took the next song (Toxic By Britney Spears). Then we alternated after that until finally, we could both say we were tired of singing. I had to say however that this was the most carefree I had ever seen Loki. It made me happy to see him like this. Well, now I'll have to spoil the mood.

"Hey Loki, mind telling me what the nightmare was about," I say conversationally.

Loki looks at me for a second.

"Itttt..wazz, the mad tiiitan, something to do with matches and my iccccy forrm" He says drunkenly, clearly not aware of what he's saying.

I'm horrified, I mean I know that he had been tortured but it was just different hearing exactly what one of them were. A second later Loki's smile drops and he suddenly looks horrified as if he just thought about what he had told me.

"GET OUT!" He yells suddenly.

Deciding not to test fate I leave him alone. As I walk into the main room I hear voices.

"I'm alive!" I announce happily.

"Yes we've been watching on the security cams," Natasha says.

"Nice job with singing Toxic," Barton says barely containing laughter "Good choice, Britney Spears".

I glare at him before saying "Like you could do any better!".

"I bet you I could!" Barton counters.

"Now boys, we can worry about that later," Natasha says "Let's get to the topic at hand".

"What that, Loki is clearly not ok?" I say.

Natasha nods.

"Tony, you do know that you shouldn't have given him wine!" Steve says angrily.

"How else was I supposed to get him to talk?!" I yell getting riled up.

Before Steve replies Bruce cuts in.

"Stop Arguing like an old married couple" Bruce yells.

Steve blushes a bit and opens his mouth like he's about to say something but then closes it instantly. I can feel the heat creeping onto my face.

"Wow betrayed by my own science bro," I say, as nonchalantly as possible but I know I failed miserably.

"That shut them up real quick," Natasha says.

Barton chuckles a bit.

"We're getting off-topic," Steve says quickly.

I sit down on the sofa and look around, this whole Loki situation is wearing me out.