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Thor came back to Earth after the weird crossover in England was fully dealt with, claiming Loki was a hero at the end; dying to save Jane and Thor on Svartalfheim. The Avengers have a tough time believing Loki could turn over a new leaf like that but believed Thor’s grief and helped honor his brother’s memory. The Avengers went on as usual, fighting those that attacked innocents, or themselves.
Loki did in fact die. He arrived at the Gates of the Dead, but he was denied entrance. He was sent back. So, he returned to Asgard and cloaked himself as Odin…for a bit. It got tedious and boring so eventually, Loki followed his brother to Earth. Once there, Loki would monitor the fights the Avengers engaged in. He quickly found he could not sit by and watch these idiots make such dangerous mistakes without aid. So that is how Loki started helping the Avengers, only when they needed and absolutely without their knowledge.
That could last only so long with the Avengers under the watchful gaze of Hawkeye. It was only the third battle Loki had actually aided the Avengers in and he suddenly found an arrow sticking out of the building not two inches in front of his face with a note unrolling…’We need to talk! Café Romerez, 3 hours after battle ends.’ Loki rolled his eyes but decided it would be best if he showed, rather then set the Avengers on his trail; plus, he may or may not feel like he owes Agent Barton an explanation at the least. Which is how he found himself at the appointed café with a coffee sitting in front of him waiting for its recipient as he sipped tea.
“So, you seem to have recovered rather well from your fatal stab would on dark elf land.” Clint opens while sliding into the seat across from Loki wrapping his hands around the coffee waiting for him.
“Yes, well, I am apparently not wanted in the lands of the dead yet. I was told I had not yet filled my purpose with the living, so was sent back.” Loki replied drolly.
“…Ok, let’s start there—WHAT?!”
Loki sighed. “I did die on Svartalfheim, but when I arrived at the Gates of the Dead, I was denied entry and found myself waking alone on that accursed world. I assume you will next ask what I have gotten up to because you will assume I have been on Midga—excuse me, Earth—this whole time. I was not. I…tried my hand at ruling Asgard. I did well, the land and people prospered, I grew board. So, about a month ago I arrived on Earth and, because my brother never did know how to guard his back, I have watched the battles you and your friends engage in and decided to help when one or more of you are being particularly stupid and are liable to get yourselves or each other killed.”
“…You tried your hand at—you know, never mind. Is Odin dead?” Clint decided to focus on Earth issues for the sake of his sanity.
“No, he may be slightly confused at the happenings of the past 2 months, though.”
“Ok, not my problem! I get you were bored but why help us?” Clint asked.
“Because I want to.”
“What do you get out of it?”
“…If you would take the chance to notice, Hawkeye, my eyes are not as blue as you should remember them. I realize you have no reason to trust me and what I say but I told Stark the truth…the plan was always to bring together a force to be reckoned with, when I arrived on Earth. You gave me the information I needed to learn how. The mind stone wanted more which is why I was compelled to use it on you and Dr. Selvig. I do apologize for that. I doubt you will forgive me, but I have said my piece I will not scrounge for forgiveness. Odin never cared for me beyond his desire to use me, Mother is dead, Thor is all I have and as I have spent these past 1000 years keeping that oaf and his friends alive…well, at least I was rarely board while doing so.” Loki explained flippantly.
“Yeah, I actually did notice your eyes. Why didn’t Thor pick up on that during the battle?” Clint asked.
“…I think I made it so he never saw them properly. I don’t really know, but it is something I also wonder.” Loki sounded just shy of forlorn.
“Why don’t you show yourself to him now? He would be happy to see you. He was pretty broken up about you dying.” Clint tried.
“Yes, so broken up he did not even come home to see if my body had been retrieved. If he had he may have questioned why there was no burial or funeral pyre.” Loki took a calming breath to steady his voice and bring the volume back down. “Thor may be all I have, but I, as ever, take a back position to all that he has. Not to mention that I have tricked him so many times in the past he will think my death was a lie. He was never good at seeing me, though I had hoped that more recent events had allowed him to see the truth.”
“So, you don’t want Thor to know your alive because you think that will lower you in his esteem? Buddy, I think that ship sailed. But if you want to breakup your boredom by watching our backs, I don’t see a problem with that. As long as it stays at that! You—” Clint starts to threaten.
“Yes, threats, intimidation, lack of trust. Consider me dually warned.” Loki rolled his eyes. “…and will you get Stark to stop trying to perform that ridiculous stunt. That will never work, and if I am not there he will kill himself performing it!”
Clint shook his head, looking at his empty coffee, knowing exactly which stunt Loki was referring to. When he looked up the trickster was gone with a small tip on the table. Clint looked around trying to see where Loki had gotten to, he sensed the younger Asgardian was lonely. Not seeing a trace of him Clint wondered if he had been talking with an illusion, then he poked the money to make sure that, at least, was real before getting up and leaving as well.
Over the next 4 months Loki aided the Avengers, wherever they were but only when necessary. Clint noticed that they all started ending battles much less battered. He still talked to Cap about keeping up training, so they wouldn't get sloppy. Who knows how Loki tracks them but if he misses a battle and they start slacking they could end up seriously injured. Steve agreed. It wasn’t until the middle of the fifth month when Clint noticed Loki’s lack of presence.
With the Avengers being called out near every other day for anything from wannabe super villains to bank robbers, Clint was seeing Loki regularly, even getting the god to get coffee with him after a few battles. Clint was finding Loki to be decent company, when Loki was being himself and not trying to cater to what he thought those around him wanted. The guy obviously had major self-worth issues. One missed battle Clint let slide, the second one, being large enough to have warranted some help, had Clint looking for Loki in his off time.
He became really attuned to the lack of Loki when Tony again tried his fancy maneuver. Clint saw it coming and knew this time it would mean Tony’s death. So, Clint intervened, getting severely injured in the process. During debrief, in med bay to accommodate Clint being treated, Clint and Steve started laying into Tony for trying that same stunt again. They had told him every time that it was dangerous and he needed to stop it.
“It never works when you try it in training, Tony, that is why we told you to stop putting yourself in that kind of danger!” Steve yelled.
“It has NEVER failed in the field until—”
“Until Loki wasn’t there to hold your damn hand through it, you dumbass!” Clint was too pissed and a little too drugged to keep a lid on the secret.
“Loki? Why would you bring my brother into this?” Thor asked.
“Ok, maybe you were right, Legolas obviously hit his melon way too hard on this one.” Tony replied a bit nervously.
“Ummmm…. No, my head is the one thing I didn’t hit this time. Loki’s here, on Earth, alive. Though he swears he did die, Thor. Said something about not being admitted into the gates of the dead or some weird shit like that.” Clint answered.
“Clint…?” Bruce hesitated.
“Yeah, he’s been here like half a year.” Clint continued.
“And you didn’t think to tell us?!” Steve practically imploded!
“It wasn’t an issue. I was keeping on top of the situation and would have notified you all had it become relevant. We were continuing the necessary training to not grow lax with the extra help and he wasn’t causing any trouble. There was no issue!” Clint defended.
“And what is your reasoning for not telling me? What is Loki’s for being here and ‘helping’ us in the first place? Did you think to ask?” Thor demanded.
“Obviously! The dude fucked with my head…well the mind stone fucking with his head ‘compelled’ him to fuck with mine, and you don’t think I’m gonna demand answers?” Clint thundered back.
“…The mind stone? It was affecting Loki?” Thor asked tentatively.
“…Yeah, decided I’d ask you if this ever came up. What color are your brother’s eyes?”
“He has blueish eyes.” Tony interrupted.
“No, Loki’s eyes are a bright emerald green. They can almost glow with a green light depending on his mood.” Thor corrected automatically.
“Ummm…no! I was up close and personal with him as he threw me out the window—holy shit! Your eyes went weird blue from the staff—or mind stone. Loki’s eyes were blue.” Tony put the pieces together.
“No, his eyes…I fought him on this very tower. I would have…How did I not see his eyes were the wrong color?” Thor sounded dismayed.
“Yeah. Well, he said you wouldn’t believe he hadn’t tried to trick you about being dead. By the way he’s pretty damn hurt you never even checked if his body was recovered, never asked about a burial or pyre. He said he woke alone on elf world, got back to Asgard where he did something to Odin and played King Odin for a few months, grew bored so put real Odin back on the throne and Loki followed you here. Said ruling was boring and he was rarely bored looking after you and your friends.” Clint said.
“Loki always did grow bored easily. As did I. That was why I was always out adventuring. Even when Loki seemed busy doing other things, he would always accompany me. My brother has always watched my back in battle, with the few exceptions when I was fighting him….” Thor mused.
“So, Loki has helped us a few times when he’s bored. And this was the first time he didn’t make it to the fight when Tony was being a dip-shit?” Natasha asked.
“…Not quite…. From April until the first week of September, Loki has been to all of our fights. He started helping just when it looked dire, it slowly became he would just help because he was there. But the last two weeks he hasn’t been to anything! I’ve been looking for him in my down time, but he’s just not anywhere.”
“…He may have again grown bored and left this realm. Loki has secret passages between realms, so he can easily traverse them.” Thor sounded down.
“I don’t think he’d leave. Not with you still being here.” Clint reasoned.
“And why not? Loki was always going off on his own, wandering the realms.” Thor defended.
“Yeah, and you had your mom and dad cautioning you, Heimdall there to bring you back to Asgard when things got out of hand, plus four other Asgardian warriors watching your back. I’d bet even when Loki was wandering around he always made it back to accompany you on your more dangerous adventures.”
“Well, yes. I do suppose that is true, but now I have you five, The Avengers!” Thor tried to defend.
“Yes, I’m sure your brother thinks very highly of us puny mortals watching your back.” Steve added dryly.
“It’s more than that. He said with your mom gone, you are all he has. You have others but he only has you. Honestly, dude is really lonely, but I get the feeling he’s so used to it he doesn’t even realize what it is he’s feeling. As much as he came here the first time shouting about his godhood and right to rule, your little brother has some serious self-worth issues, pal.” Clint explained.
“He still has Father, and I’m sure if he apologized to our friends they would—” Thor started.
“He acts like he’s never had a real friend. He sees what those around him want from him and he emulates that. And are you really going to try and convince me Odin shows he cares?” Clint asked skeptically.
With Thor spluttering to answer without lying, the discussion fizzled out from there. The next few fights the Avengers left with more injuries then what had become regular. That convinced them that maybe they have had some outside help. So, Tony started looking up footage of past fights and found a few that showed Loki intervening. When Loki acted, the person he helped didn’t even notice there was danger that had just been avoided, except Clint but he knew he had an extra person watching his back, so could ignore those threats. Seeing this finally got the rest of the team into helping Clint look for where Loki may be. Clint was adamant that Loki wouldn’t leave Earth without Thor leaving. He also secretly hoped that Loki wouldn’t have left without at least some kind of note letting him know.
The Avengers were called to investigate an artifact that was throwing off serious power surges. Upon arriving at the scene Tony scoffed looking at the five by three by three-inch box. Until they watched the sides shift. The walls pressed in and wavered like they are trying to collapse in. There were odd markings on a few of the sides.
“These symbols look like magic runes. If I am correct this one means ‘compress’…and this one ‘fill the space’. This last one has to do with containing, but I do not remember it exactly.” Thor indicated each mark as he translated.
“’Magic runes?’ As in Loki is messing with us? He’s decided to throw us a magic box to show his face and relieve his boredom?” Tony questioned.
“I do not know.” Thor admitted.
“The way the box shifts, it’s like there’s something inside pushing at the walls to keep them from closing in.” Steve observed. “Dr. Banner, Stark are you getting any readings off that thing?”
“It has power but not really sure what kind.” Tony mumbled while Bruce cautiously approached it. Once within reach he slowly started tipping the box on its side, to see if there was anything, either under it, or marked on the underside. Once on its side a hissing emanated from within the box. Bruce instantly backed away at the same time Clint loosed an exploding arrow at it.
The box broke apart and a black thing streaked toward Thor. It moved so quickly no one had time to react. Once it climbed to somehow hide under Thor’s cape Steve turned toward Clint.
“What was that?! You could have seriously hurt—”
“Who? Hulk? We saw the walls shifting in with magic runes saying to ‘fill’, ‘compress’ and ‘contain’…contain what? Perhaps a magical being that can shapeshift? That happens to run directly to Thor for protection…?” Clint explained.
“LOKI?!” Thor bellowed, then danced on the spot trying to get at the thing under his cape. It hissed at his frantic movement.
“Hold still!” Natasha came up and detangled a juvenile black cat with startling green eyes from Thor’s cape. “Here.” She gently handed the trembling thing to Thor. Once in his cupped hands the cat collapsed, tremors running through his entire body.
“Loki? Can you shift back?” Thor asked.
“Has he been keeping those walls from crushing him the whole time he’s been missing? Cuz I’m betting that would take some serious muscle.” Tony threw out.
“Loki?” Thor whispered to the trembling cat before carefully petting the length of his body. It opened one green eye, enough to look at Thor. “Loki, do you have the power to return to your Aesir form? Do not bother with clothes if you cannot, my cape will do you well enough for now.” Thor reassured, knowing his brother’s modesty might be why he did not wish to leave his current form. He got a small meow and the lid falling closed over the tired eye. “Rest brother. I have you now. You are safe!” Thor got a halfhearted purr for his reassurances before the cat was out.
Tony, after seeing that is was a cat that left the box, carefully collected the remains. “Gotta say: easy solution to get the Lokitty out of the box. Not the best plan if someone else put him there.”
“’Lokitty?’” Steve shook his head. “It worked well enough before it put off enough power to land on Shield’s radar. If it was kept near a power plant or energy hub would we have even been alerted of its existence? And if not, then how long until Loki’s strength gave out and the box crushed him? I don’t think his captor was expecting anyone to know that Loki was still alive, let alone back on Earth.” Steve reasoned.
“Touché. And while he’s a cat, we are definitely calling him Lokitty! It’s perfect!” Tony said.
They all trouped back to the jet. Tony carefully examined the box while he walked. Thor carefully cradled his brother. Once back in the air on the way back to the tower Natasha raised a few good questions.
“Thor why is he so small?”
“My brother’s forms all match the age his lifespan reflects. As Loki and I are but young gods his other forms reflect such.” Thor answered.
“How ‘young’ are you guys? This cat looks like its not even an adult.” Bruce replied.
“Well Loki does still have yet to reach the collection of years. If we were to go to war, he would not yet be allowed to lead an Aesir army, not for at least 50 more years.” Thor responded.
“’The collection of years’ that sounds like the crossover into adulthood.” Steve surmised.
“Yes, by our standards it is.” Thor affirmed.
“Are you saying your kid brother is still considered a kid on Asgard? Loki tried to take over a planet for his teenage rebellion?!” Bruce asked.
“…Truthfully, I do not think it all that rebellious an act. I grant that most just wish to war and fight with the locals, but Loki has always aspired to greatness. And he always had an affinity to take in and better different species. So, it makes sense that he would prefer to rule you, thinking it better to prevent humans warring amongst themselves. But yes, Loki is still young. It is why I do not think he really thought through his alignment with the—oh. Perhaps the mind stone was the only reason Loki attempted to lead an army in the first place.” Thor tried to explained.
“Great! So, your little brother just likes killing things!” Tony mused.
“Nay! Loki has slain very few. On our adventures he is typically more concerned with keeping our friends and us from injury. That is why the kill generally goes to Lady Sif or myself!” Seeing the distressed looks from the other Avengers Thor hurried to explain. “I would never come to Earth looking for battle. Humans would not stand a chance. The Warriors Three and I would much prefer to travel to Vanaheim and battle the trolls! And with Loki’s attack on Earth I suppose he is now near the rest of us. There were many casualties in his attack. And since my banishment to Earth I seek battle very little. Now I am more called to it than trying to create it.” Thor said.
“Thor, stop! I don’t think we realized the first time around just how different Asgard is from Earth. Honestly, I’m not sure my brain can process that Loki is a cat right now, has yet to reach adulthood, and is the closest to a passivist in your group of Asgardian friends all at once. Immediately, Loki is a cat! That is what I’m going with…and he was probably abducted.” Steve almost pleaded.
“Yes, that brings me to another pressing question: How are we going to get Lo…kitty checked out once we’re back home? Are we calling in a magic expert, a doctor, or a veterinarian? Do we have a magic expert? Or a veterinarian?” Nat asked.
“What is a veterinarian?” Thor asked confused, still carefully stroking the unconscious cat, cradled in his other hand.
“It’s a doctor for animals.” Bruce quickly explained.
“Ahh. Then call a veterinarian! For when Loki transforms, he becomes that species. The brain function may still be his own but in health and diet, he must follow the requirements of the species he chooses to portray!” Thor smiled at his friends, glad to again be of help.
“Of course, he does! I know a good vet in the city. I’ll give her a call.” Clint added.
They got back to New York and Loki to Clint’s vet friend. Clint and Thor brought Loki in; Clint to make sure the information was understood and could be implemented, Thor because he refused to be away from his brother.
“Well, he’s dehydrated, slightly malnourished and appears to be suffering exhaustion, which I didn’t know cats could suffer from but that is the best explanation from my reference. So, we’ll give him some fluids here, it’ll just be subcutaneous, so he’ll have a bump between his shoulders where the water is sitting until his body absorbs it all. Then once he’s awake get him fed. Keep him on a high calorie protein diet for the next three days with either ad libitum feeding or multiple meals a day depending on how you normally feed him. Keep him from overexerting himself for the next few days as well. He probably won’t be as lively, a bit lethargic while he gets his strength back. Don’t let that worry you.”
Once back at the tower Clint explained the recuperation instructions to the rest of the team. Thor, decided to keep Loki close at all times, but wanted his hands free, so slung Loki over his shoulder and tucked into his cape. No one commented.
“So, what’s with the collar? Your brother always change with a show of ownership?” Tony quipped after everyone had settled in from returning from collecting Loki.
“I am unsure why he wears it. Typically, he is unadorned as an animal. Perhaps he has found a way to change his clothes with his body, he has always been modest, so hides during the transformation back to his Aesir body.” Thor explained. So, everyone thinking the collar to be his clothes they left it be.
Loki didn’t wake until the next morning. He found himself curled up on Thor’s chest. He would prefer to still sleep, but his hunger became insistent. Once he noticed his location, he had a moment of panic.
‘What if Thor is angry at me? Will he cast me away? Does he know it’s me?’ Loki didn’t realize in his panic he was convulsively extending and retracting his claws. The sharp pinpricks were enough to wake Thor. Thor, knowing his brother well, guessed it was the cat manifestation of Loki clenching his fists in uncertainty.
“Loki, your claws. They dig into my skin when you extend them.” Loki started at being addressed, then sat on Thor’s chest, frozen, unsure how he should react. “Brother? It is ok, you are safe, now. The veterinarian said you were undernourished, though and you have slept the better part of the last day. Come lets us get you some food!” Thor carefully scooped his brother from his chest and onto his shoulder. Loki relaxed at Thor’s words and just lay over his shoulder. When Thor gently scratched at his head Loki purred softly. “I am happy you did not die, Brother. Or rather that you did not stay dead, Barton did not explain that very well. Know that I am not angry at you, though. Just happy you live and fight beside me once again.” Loki looked up at Thor then nuzzled his head into Thor’s neck as a sort of thank you.
In the kitchen, Natasha and Steve were already awake and preparing breakfast. Natasha, seeing Loki awake, smiled at him and scratched his head as Thor passed heading for the coffee. Loki, who had shrunk away, looked back at the assassin in surprise at the kind gesture.
“Well, look who’s finally awake. I’m making eggs and bacon for you. I read cats need a purely protein-based diet and the doc said you need a lot of hearty calories to regain your strength.” Steve said addressing the cat, who looked at him like he had sprouted another head. Steve chuckled. “Thor said you can still understand us. I want to thank you for helping to look after my friends and me. I’m sorry we didn’t recognize you were under distress last time we met.”
“Merow” Loki intoned while moving a paw toward the captain. It sounded somehow questioning while also accepting.
“Barton has told us everything, Brother. I am deeply disturbed I had not noticed the physical changes set upon you while I wrongly attributed the mental changes. And I could not bear to return home to see you burned or buried. Heimdall told me your body was recovered, though from Barton’s explanation that was likely an illusion?” Thor asked while eyeing his brother. Loki looked away trying for nonchalant before meowing again noncommittally. Thor chuckled and pet the trickster who arched into it.
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re an attention whore type of cat!” Tony bustled into the kitchen. “Lokitty, glad you aren’t dead, I guess.” Tony nodded at the cat. Loki jerked his head back at being called ‘Lokitty’.
“Sorry, it kinda already stuck.” Steve explained apologetically while setting a plate piled with eggs and bacon in front of Thor and subsequently Loki. Loki ate ravenously, pausing only slightly to give ‘hello’ nods and meows to both Clint and Bruce.
The rest of the day Loki lounged about on shoulders, constantly trying new shoulders deciding which he preferred. The only time he spent any measurable amount of time awake was when he was eating. The next day was much the same. Loki was a bit more vocal at times but largely just slept and ate. The third day Thor awoke to Loki bapping at his nose.
“Yes, Brother? Is there something you want?” Loki gave a high whining meow and then looked toward the ceiling. Thor looked at the cat perplexed and waited. When nothing more was forthcoming Thor sighed. “Well, you at least are livelier today. Come, let us get food!” Thor quickly grabbed the cat off his chest and plopped him on his shoulder, to which Loki gave an indignant cry. During the walk to the kitchen, Loki kept pawing at Thor, who just sighed again. “Brother, if you wish to tell me something you must revert back to a form which can communicate properly. Is your magic not yet restored enough to change shape?” Lokitty huffed then jumped onto Steve’s shoulder as soon as it was within range.
“Good morning. You seem better today. Are you still a cat because it’s fun? Or funny? You know we’ll accept you in your human form too.” Steve greeted the cat. In response the cat gently placed a paw on the captain’s cheek and looked toward the ceiling. “Ummm, sorry, I’m not sure what your trying to communicate. Do you need Heimdall or Odin?” Loki hissed and leaned as far back as the shoulder would allow. “Ok, well I only see Thor looking toward the sky when calling to Heimdall or Odin.” Loki gave a forlorn meow and slumped down on Steve’s shoulder.
Loki was much livelier that day, which meant that everyone kept almost falling over, trying not to step on the cat underfoot. His appetite had calmed some as well, so everyone assumed he stayed in cat form to cause trouble. Each Avenger received the same odd behavior of the cat gaining their full attention only to look up at the ceiling. None understood, nor did they discuss it so were ignorant of others having gotten the same behavior.
Loki, resigning himself that no one was understanding his request to have the collar removed, decided he could have fun as a cat. Thor was mostly correct that Loki retained his mental self, but didn’t realize that behavior of the animal also transferd to a degree. So, when Loki saw a light dancing on a wall, he became transfixed before attempting to catch it. Natasha and Clint watched then looked around for the reflected light, which happen to be Bruce’s glasses as he looked over paperwork at the table. The two looked at each other and decided to test how catlike Loki had become.
After Loki became bored with not catching the light, he decided to get some attention. Bruce was still doing paperwork, Thor had fallen asleep watching some TV show, Steve and Tony were not in the room and Clint and Natasha were sitting quietly together. Obviously, Bruce would be the best choice for attention. So, Loki walked into the kitchen area nonchalantly then pawed at Bruce’s leg meowing pathetically. Bruce ignored him. So, Loki jumped onto Bruce’s lap, squishing himself from under the table and poking his head out. Bruce still ignored him. Loki stood on his hind legs with his front paws on Bruce’s chest and meowed again, right in the scientist’s face.
“Sorry, Loki. Not now, I’m busy.”
“Meow….” Loki pawed at Bruce’s face. Bruce sighed before picking the cat up and putting him on the ground. Loki’s paws barely touched the ground before he was in Bruce’s lap again. This time with the scientist not hunched over the table, Loki was able to get from lap to tabletop and sat right on the papers meowing again.
“I’m busy. Why don’t you wake up Thor? Or go see what Clint and Natasha are cooking up over there.” In response Loki rolled onto his back and looked up at Bruce upside down meowing again. “I have to get this done, Loki.” Loki’s eyes got bigger and his ears sank before he meowed again. Bruce sighed. “Don’t look at me like that! Look, I can pet you while I work. …If you just move off my papers….” Loki decided he would roll around on the papers some more, sending the top two pages across the table then meowed again. “You’re doing this on purpose. Thor said you still understand us.” Bruce was definitely complaining now. Loki, with ears drooping and green eyes big, and forlorn looked down like he was ashamed. “No, come on, that’s not fair! Don’t make that face….” With a mighty sigh, Bruce gave up and gave Loki his undivided attention. Off to the side, Clint and Natasha were smirking. Loki decided they should be his next victims…he just had to plan this so as not to get hurt!
The next morning Natasha was reciting the scene from yesterday to Steve as they made breakfast. Loki had managed to get out of Thor’s room without waking him—a feet none ever figured out his method to—and entered the kitchen unnoticed. Loki quickly darted to Natasha’s feet and wove around her legs meowing loudly demanding attention.
“Oh, no! I’m not falling for that! I know what you’re up to.” Loki looked at her expectantly for a moment before she went back to her cooking. So, Loki started weaving around her legs again. If she had had anything less than perfect balance Nat would have ended up on the floor. Steve was no help! He guessed that they would each get their turn with Lokitty terrorizing them. He just hoped the trickster knew what he was doing messing with Nat.
After Nat actually stumbled, she decided enough was enough. “Loki!” The cat stretched up her leg, trying to get closer looking up expectantly, and meowed. “Fine! But you stay on the shoulder!” Loki’s response was to stretch before being picked up.
Once up on Nat’s shoulder, the cat observed confidently and quietly for a time before he started venturing onto the counter when Nat stayed close enough for Loki to step off.
“No, we don’t even allow human feet and asses on the counter!” She gathered him back up to her shoulder. He sat patiently for roughly two minutes before he started head-butting her and trying to get at whatever she happened to have in her hands. “Loki, don’t be a pain! If you can’t sit still, then you’re off the shoulder and out of the kitchen.” Loki slunk back onto her shoulder, looking cowed. Now Steve was concerned.
“You don’t think his mind slips, the longer he’s in another form, do you?”
Nat snorted. “No! I think he knows exactly what he’s doing—causing chaos and trouble. Which is exactly what he’s supposedly the god of, right?” Nat asked Steve, lifting an imperious eyebrow. Loki acted like he didn’t understand their conversation. After a few more minutes of being a good shoulder cat, he started getting adventurous again. Just little things that didn’t actually hinder Natasha, but slowed her down. She was almost done setting up a fruit salad to accompany the pancakes Steve was frying up.
Loki was still being a pain but was gearing up for his finale as he sensed Nat’s shortening fuse. As soon as Tony entered, yawing loudly, Natasha started yelling for Loki to ‘sit still’. Loki acted like a frightened cat, jumping to the counter and bolting away to hide. His escape was aided by the bowl of fruit being knocked to the floor. Natasha stared at the now mostly empty bowl and fruit littering the ground trying to figure out if Loki did that on purpose or if she really had scared him that badly.
No one commented on the pile of fruit on the floor being cleaned by a Roomba. Thor and Clint asked where Loki was, but neither got an answer. Loki wasn’t seen for the rest of the day—furthering Nat’s belief that she had actually scared him that badly and now he feared retribution—though the food dish they kept for him did empty, so they at least knew he wasn’t starving. To Thor’s relief, Loki did find his way back to his brother’s room that night for bed.
An unusually long—lately—stretch of quiet after finding Loki, allowed the Avengers and their new house guest to acclimate to the situation for just over a week before the city blew up again. As the Avengers were leaving, Thor had to dislodge Loki from his person three times before he was able to get away with the cat safely inside. No one stayed behind, Loki decided retribution was in order!
With the battle over, the Avengers returned home a bit more bruised and tired then when they left. What they found was the living room covered in toilet paper—upon inspection there were no intact rolls on any of the residency floors, they never found out how Loki got between floors. Arrows, unfinished robotics and ammunition covered the floor—some of the items where difficult to figure out how Loki had acquired them, let alone been able to scatter them around the room. Papers were in tatters on the table—after looking through them, Bruce found they had all been uploaded to Jarvis already, he guessed Lokitty didn’t want to deal with the Other Guy. Thor’s more embarrassingly designed under things were proudly on display from the chandelier and there was a cute little kitty, napping in the sun, comfortable in one of Captain America’s extra helmets.
Loki had exhausted himself implementing his revenge as a cat without magic. Even he was not entirely sure how he managed to get Thor’s unmentionables up there.
“Jarvis! HOW DID HE DO ALL THIS? AND WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP HIM!” Tony demanded.
“I am sorry, sir. He didn’t seem to understand me or was just choosing to ignore me. I am unsure how he managed some of his feats as he never changed form, nor did he use magic. I became a tad entertained in following his antics which caused me to neglect my duties in informing you.” Jarvis explained.
“’ Without magic and as a cat’?” Steve asked carefully picking up his helmet to transfer the kitty from its depths to cradle against his own chest. “But my extra gear is in the armory…locked up”
“So were most of these arrows.” The rest of the team looked to Hawkeye who was busy picking up and inspecting the various arrows. “What, you think I leave dangerous weapons around when a trickster in the form of a cat comes to live with us…? Bad idea for everyone’s safety!”
“I want to know why he only grabbed a spare helmet of Steve’s. Everyone else had property either damaged, destroyed, or embarrassingly displayed. By the way, Thor, I appreciate the Hulk shorts.” Bruce said while gathering his papers.
“They were a jest gift from Jane. I do not actually wear them!” Thor defended.
“Yeah, sure,” Clint added.
“My guess is Steve is the best at actually taking care of Loki—namely feeding him,” Natasha answered Bruce.
“And he will get all the little treats if it means my stuff largely gets left alone.” Steve semi-jokingly cooed at the sleeping cat. “Dang, he really wore himself out doing all this.”
“Don’t sympathize with the little shit! He—”
“Got bored and was upset he was left behind. He used to do similar things—though with his magic this is nothing—when we were younger, and I left him behind while I went adventuring. I quickly learned to at least ask if he wished to join.” Thor said.
“So, you’re saying that one of us needs to stay behind to watch him when there are people blowing things up?” Steve asked skeptically.
“…That or find a companion. Perhaps Jane would like a vacation? Or Darcy? Ohhh we should get an intern. That is what Darcy is for Jane and she does many things for Jane!”
“We could ask Fury.” Clint put in, petting the sleeping fur ball in Steve’s hands. Everyone looked at Clint like he’d lost his mind. When the silence reigned Clint looked up at everyone. “What? Fury used to have a cat…kinda. He likes cats.”
“But this is Loki! How will he react to the cat he’s watching being an alien?” Tony asked sarcastically.
“Better than you might think. His last cat just went home. Maybe if we convince Fury Loki thinks he’s a cat then Fury won’t hold it against him that it’s Loki. He’s still a little on the fence about him even with the whole mind stone thing.”
“…’ His last cat just went home’…? What the hell does that mean?!” Tony demanded.
“Idontknow. It’s hard to explain!” Clint walked off with the bundle of arrows to put back away. Natasha got a broom to sweep up her ammunition—pointedly sweeping around Tony’s strewn toys. Bruce set to cleaning up his papers while Thor attempted to get his shorts down.
Loki later found himself still with Steve. Loki was unsure if he was going to hold a grudge or forgive the Avengers now that he’d had his vengeance. He shifted, prompting Steve to scratch his head which caused him to purr—Loki guessed he could forgive, as long as they had learned their lesson. Before dinner, he demanded apology pets from everyone, before going back to normal routines.
The next day there was a callout, again. Loki started arching his back looking like he was going to hiss at them all, when Tony picked him up—while wearing full Ironman armor. Loki looked around at him, offering a confused meow. Tony chuckled and then stood up when the elevator dinged and Pepper walked out.
“Hey, Pep. Thanks for coming over.”
“I was able to cut the most ridiculous meeting short—after four hours—to say I had official Avengers business to attend to. Hello, Lokitty. How are you today?” Pepper began petting and gently picked Loki out of Tony’s arms. Loki was purring before he was fully away from Tony.
“He never purrs for me! What is that about?!”
“How often do you actually pet him? And not just a pat as you walk by?” Pepper asked imperiously.
“I was just holding him!”
“With your clunky metal suit on. Cats like closer contact.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Don’t you have avenging to go do?” With that, Tony flew out to join the others. “I do have one request for you, mister.” Loki lazily opened an eye to look at Pepper. “Next time you destroy all the toilet paper, can you leave one roll hidden somewhere for me, please? Tony never looks in my closet under my suits.”
Loki considered a moment before giving an imperious meow, and bumping his nose against her other hand. Pepper took that for agreement and went to relax on the couch with the resident god-turned-cat.
After some time relaxing, Pepper returned to her home office and did some work with Loki lounging on her shoulder. She spoke to him and would pet him as she read or thought through something, so he never had a desire to interrupt her work. At one point, Pepper had to take a phone call and started fidgeting with her pen and not paying Loki any attention. Loki focused in on the quick erratic movements of the pen. He lunged for it, surprising Pepper. She got it out of harm’s way, quickly enough, but then started playing keep-away with it while on the phone.
The Avengers were ecstatic to find the tower in proper form upon returning. They hadn’t been sure how leaving Loki with a sitter would work out.
“See, I told you Pepper could keep the little monster in check,” Tony stated.
“My brother is not a monster.” Thor angrily defended.
“Relax, Hammer Time, I meant it with love. Hey J. Where are the lovely Miss Potts and the chaotic Lokitty?” Tony asked.
“In her office, Sir. Would you like the video feed?” If Jarvis was asking, then it was sure to be something they wanted to see.
“…YES!” The Avengers watched as Pepper expertly maneuvered through the negotiations she had going on over the phone while keeping the pen away from Loki, but keeping him engaged with the game still. Loki looked like an actual kitten playing, Tony cooed, though he later denied it!
“What interest does Loki have in the object that he chases it so?” Thor asked perplexed.
“You don’t understand Loki’s magic much, do you?” Clint asked, Thor looked affronted. “Pretty sure he has cat mannerisms right now. I don’t think he’s turning into a cat, so much as he just takes on the personality of the animal he currently is. Like you said he needs to be fed the diet of whatever animal he portrays, I just think it goes farther than that.” Clint hurried to explain, Thor did not like the implication that he did not understand his little brother—though he generally didn’t.
“It does explain a lot.” Natasha put in.
“So, when Loki is getting bored, I can play with him like you have shown me on the youTube?” Thor asked with excitement in his eyes. He already imagined the rest of the world seeing how fabulous and loveable his little brother could be.
“I think so,” Natasha said.
“Ok, Jarvis from now on always record that little black fluff.” Tony decided.
“I have been already, sir.”
Thor then left to collect his brother. Even if he did not wish to test the theory now, he still decided he wished to spend time with Lokitty. When Thor quietly entered the office, trying not to disrupt Pepper, he was surprised when Loki playfully jumped onto him. Thor needed to actually catch the small cat, but he kept batting at Thor’s braid causing Thor to chuckle.
“You know, Brother, perhaps you should always remain in this form. You are much more—ow!” Loki bit him. Then he squirmed to be released. “No, Loki, please, I am sorry. It was meant in jest. You know I accept you in any form you take.” Lokitty glared at Thor for a bit longer before meowing and then looking at the ceiling. Thor sighed, then started petting Loki, that odd behavior had Thor worried, as did Loki’s reluctance to return to his Aesir form.
The next two days were quiet. Loki displayed some of his more catlike qualities to everyone's delight. Pepper was around more, she decided Tony needed to get her a cat. Then the alarm sounded. At the time Loki had been napping out of sight so, no one really thought of it when they left the tower to answer the summons leaving Pepper, and they thought, the cat behind.
It took until Clint was running down the ramp to find a better rooftop that he realized there was extra weight to his quiver. He started inspecting it as the quinjet took off to drop the others where they needed to be. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary so continued on. Not long after he disembarked from the quinjet he found himself a good vantage point and reached for an arrow to be at the ready with. But the arrow stuck in the quiver. He gave another tug which resulted in a disgruntled meow.
“Oh, fuck!” Clint shined a light into his quiver and found two large, sleep-muddled, green eyes looking at him. “Lokitty! What are you doing in my quiver?! It’s dangerous in there! You know pointy ends and all?!” Clint berated as he carefully dug Loki out of his quiver. “Oh, shit! I have Thor’s little brother, in the form of a cat, out on a rooftop, while some idiot is blowing things up!” Clint was having a mild panic attack while Loki was still struggling to wake up. It wasn’t until the little kitty shivered that Clint calmed down enough to think things through. “Ok, this isn’t ideal, Lokitty, but how would you like to snuggle in my armor top during the fight? You can even poke your head out of the neck?”
Loki thought it over, his shivering getting more intense. There was a big explosion that caused him to jump and served to fully wake him up. “Merow” Loki answered taking a tentative step up Clint’s arm. Clint, wanting the vulnerable cat under cover as soon as possible, gently grabbed Lokitty and shoved him down his shirt front. It was a bit tight and Loki grumbled some but the two figured it out and got to work.
Twice Loki warned Clint about an attack coming from blind areas by smelling the attacker. Clint, though grateful for the help, knew he was fighting distracted with the cat there and this added stress was going to kill him! When the fight was over almost everyone was confused as to why Tony took off like a shot toward the tower not waiting. Clint guessed that Jarvis and/or Pepper contacted him about a certain missing cat. A cat who was currently squirming after having to stay still for so long. Clint decided to prevent the inventor from having to deal with the stress he’d just been suffering and hailed Tony privately.
“Busy Barton!” Tony shot quickly across the comm.
“Loki was in my quiver when we left. I’ve got him, he’s safe.” Clint whisper-yelled.
“WHAT!?!?! Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why didn’t you—“ Tony started freaking out more.
“I didn’t know he was there until I was grabbing an arrow. If whoever had grabbed my quiver had checked why it was so heavy while packing it this could have been avoided!” Merow? “Oh, this is your fault too! Why did you think sleeping in my quiver was ok? And I get it, I should have checked my gear before running off the jet…Thor is going to kill me!”
“Calm down, Barton! You said Lokitty is safe, is he hurt?” Tony was able to calm when his teammate stated freaking out.
“No.” Clint breathed out.
“Ok, then hide him until you get back to the tower. No one else needs to know about this!” Tony advised.
“…This is a bad idea!” Just then Thor appeared to collect Clint from his perch.
“Hawkeye, we are victorious! I have—is that my brother!?!”
“Thor…” Thor ignored the archer and quickly advanced on him grabbing for the cat who dove fully under the armored shirt. “Loki…stop squirming!” Clint yelled.
“WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT MY BROTHER, UNDEFENDED, TO A BATTLEFIELD?!!?” Thor bellowed.
“I didn’t mean to! Loki, come on, please come out. Thor will quiet down if he knows you're safe!” Clint tried to cajole.
“I WILL NOT—“ The cat hesitantly made a reappearance, eying Thor suspectly.
“Loki, Brother…come. I must get you to safety.” Thor got a derisive meow before Loki disappeared back under Clint’s shirt.
“Ummm…maybe once we’re all back in the jet he’ll come out…?” Thor grumbled and grabbed Clint before flying off. Loki, not expecting the sudden acceleration latched onto Clint too, unfortunately for Clint, his undershirt wasn’t thick enough to protect from kitty claws.
Back at the tower, it took Loki refusing to leave Clint’s shirt and both Steve and Tony, in the armor, holding Thor back for Clint to be able to explain the situation to Thor. Thor, who was quiet while listening to the explanation was relieved to see Lokitty poke his head out of Clint’s armor top and try to squeeze out. This more than anything calmed Thor down enough to get past this situation.
“Brother, will you come here?” Thor reached out his hand. Loki looked at him questioningly. “Merow.” Thor sighed, “Is that a yes?” Loki dawdled then slowly approached Thor, preparing himself for some rough handling. He was greatly surprised by Thor carefully picking him up. Thor then held Lokitty out at arm’s length, causing Lokitty to give an annoyed meow. “Why would you think to sleep in a quiver, Brother? You know the dangers of weapons and how they should be treated properly for safety. Sleeping in an armory is not a smart move. Have you decided it was time I was considered the smart brother?” Lokitty gave an affronted meow and scratched at Thor’s hand, which he had been anticipating. “That will not work this time, Brother. Swear to me you will not do something so foolish again and I shall release you.”
Lokitty had been looking down to the left avoiding Thor’s eyes until one of Thor’s fingers tapped him on the head.
“Do not pout, Brother. I only think of your safety, as well as that of our friends.” Lokitty looked up at Thor, nodded and meowed. Thor smiled, then quickly brought the cat in for a kiss on the head which caused the cat to wheal his arms trying to smack Thor and thrash his hind legs trying to escape. Thor chuckled and released Loki who ran to Pepper, only to look back at Thor disdainfully.
The rest of the night passed quietly with Lokitty preferring to stay nearer Pepper who was good at multitasking, so got done whatever task she had, while also paying attention to Loki.
The next few days passed quietly. No call-outs, and routines realigned for the Avengers in their off time. Lokitty spent time with everyone; demanding attention, distracting from tasks, and showing his cute kitten side whether he planned to or not. Except for Tony, who had locked himself away in his lab for the past three days.
Loki listened to the others try to persuade Tony to come out and their worries. Loki decided to take action…plus he hadn’t really trolled Tony yet. So, on Tony’s fourth day locked in his lab, Loki got himself in. Jarvis did nothing to stop, hinder, or in any way prevent Loki from entering the lab. Tony turned to a different workbench to find a black kitten playing with some equipment on it.
“How did you get in here?! Jarvis! There is a Lokitty in my lab.” Tony stated confused.
“Yes, sir.” Jarvis answered.
“Why is there a Lokitty in my lab?” Tony asked.
“I believe sir, because he wants to be in your lab.” Jarvis answered drily.
“Mrow” Loki called.
“Don’t ‘mrow’ me. I’m busy! Go bother Captain Tight Ass.” Tony groused.
“Mrow.” Loki meowed innocently.
“Yeah, no on buys that act. Come on, get out.” Tony tried shooing Lokitty away only to have Lokitty jump onto his lap and sit, looking up at him expectantly. “No, this is the opposite of ‘get out.’”
Lokitty jumped up onto Tony’s shoulder and then leaned down to bap at the ark reactor.
“NO!” Tony tried to grab the cat but found him already on another work bench. As Lokitty walked along the bench he knocked things away and off. “Oh, come on! You and I both know you could easily walk that bench without even touching any of that stuff. STOP!”
Lokitty turned to look at Tony and plopped down on the schematics displacing it all and throwing gibberish commands into the system.
“No no no no no…. Jarvis get Pepper! Get anyone to come collect this menace!” Lokitty glared at Tony who instantly regretted calling Loki a menace.
“I’m sorry, sir. Everyone appears to be rather too busy to come collect Mr. Lokitty.” What Jarvis didn’t say was everyone was too busy watching Tony freak out while Lokitty terrorized him to come to stop any of it.
Loki immediately shot off towards DumbE and his fire extinguisher. The foam got shot at the advancing cat who dodged causing Tony’s work area to be covered in the fire retardant. Then Lokitty was climbing DumbE who was swinging its arm around trying to grab the cat. Loki made a quick bid for safety from the flailing arm, then crashed into one of the work benches, sending material all over the place. Loki landed on Tony’s back, who was bent over trying to clean off equipment and save his schematics. He felt the cat land and stood straight up, dislodging the cat who landed on the rolling chair sending it spinning away with the cat yowling on it. Tony chased after the cat and chair, both to protect the cat and eject him from the lab. The chair toppled over after ramming another work area and Lokitty shot for the door that was opening. Tony, yelling madly, chased after the cat.
Lokitty led Tony to the dining room where Thor leaned down to collect his brother and Steve grabbed a charging Tony to force him into a chair for dinner. Everyone was in a state of hiding their laughter. Which caused Tony to splutter even more. Thor looked into his brother’s eyes and saw no fear, only joyful mischief.
“It’s good to have you out of the lab, Tony. We were all starting to get really worried. Hope everything is going well down there.” Steve said with complete sincerity.
Tony stared at him in disbelief. “IT IS NOT ALRIGHT! THAT CAT JUST DESTROYED MY LAB!”
“It can all be fixed and cleaned, Tony. Besides you promised no longer than 4 days in the lab together and there was no end in sight for whatever useless thing you were working on.” Pepper intoned.
“Thank you, Lokitty for getting Tony up here to eat.”
The ‘meow’ Lokitty gave sounded so smug it was almost unbearable. Tony pouted through dinner until Bruce coaxed him to talk shop which led to him just generally socializing. Loki watched smugly.
“Do not get overconfident, Brother,” Thor whispered to the cat on his shoulder. “I would watch for retribution from Tony, were I you.” Loki bumped his head into Thor’s jaw to signal he understood. Then he bapped Thor on the cheek and looked toward the ceiling. Thor sighed, pet the cat’s head, and returned to the conversation.
With cleanup happening in his lab, Tony was forced to be more social for the next few days. At one point, he fell asleep on the couch with the latest scientific magazine on the floor below his drooping hand. Loki decided this was the perfect time for him to see how warm that ark reactor got and snuggled down on it. When Tony woke to find a purring Lokitty sleeping on his ark reactor he quietly asked Jarvis to turn on the TV and gently pet the cat.
Later Loki found himself in the kitchen with Tony gently but firmly holding him against the reactor still, as he searched for a snack. Loki licked Tony’s finger to let him know he was awake, so Tony set him down, but before walking way Loki sat on his shoe. When Tony looked at him with a raised eyebrow, Loki just angled his head back farther exposing his neck.
“Still doing that, huh? Yeah, you have a very pretty collar, we’re all jealous.” Tony went back to making his sandwich. So, Loki, annoyed, left to find someone else to entertain him.
One level down Loki found Steve on his belly looking out the window and drawing a lizard that braved the tower. Being Loki, and a cat, he plopped right in front of the lizard, but not on Steve’s drawing.
“Hello, Loki. How was your ark nap?” Steve continued drawing from memory. Loki meowed in response. “I’m glad you and Tony are still getting along after that lab incident. I was worried he would hold a grudge.” Loki just started licking his paw. “Well, then you better stay a cat until his lab is back to normal at least.” Loki put his paw down, tilted his head and just looked at Steve. Steve’s response was to turn the page and start drawing Lokitty. After nearly an hour Steve had the cat sketched out to his satisfaction. “Ok, you can move.”
Loki was immediately up on Steve’s back looking down at the sketch.
“What do you think?” Loki purred. “Thanks. That’s quite the compliment, though I must give my model some credit.” Steve teased petting Loki who purred louder. As it was near dinner Loki decided to find Thor and see what he was making tonight. Steve stayed with his drawing for a little longer sketching the outline of a man as the cat’s shadow.
The next day there was another callout. Pepper was back in Malibu, so Fury and Hill came to cat sit. They may or may not have been hearing some fantastic things about Lokitty. For the first 10 minutes after the Avengers left, the two agents had a stare-down with the cat, who was determined to win. Maria’s phone started to ring, so she decided to break the ice for all of them.
“You aren’t allowed to be in the same room as us while we work and we are always working which is why it takes two SHIELD agents to watch you, while Pepper can do it on her own.” Then she answered her phone and stepped out. Loki accepted this and looked away to lick his paw.
“You know the last time I had dealings with a cat that wasn’t a cat, I lost an eye. So, let’s get one thing straight here: those claws stay in their sheaths and you get all the scratches you decide to demand.” Loki, a bit shocked by such a proposal, snapped his head up to Fury. He took a moment to assess the validity of this deal before slowly approaching. Loki intentionally raised his paw with claws out, and staring Fury right in the eye, retracted them. “Good.”
Fury immediately knelt and started scratching and petting the cat, who instantly loved it. Loki didn’t even realize he had flopped onto the floor purring up a storm, until Fury picked him up and cradled him.
Maria came back to Fury watching TV with Lokitty sprawled on his lab, purring loudly. She smirked. Not many people were privy to the Flurkin truth, but she was and knows the worry of another Flurkin is the only thing keeping Fury from getting a cat himself. She joined her boss watching Tv and petting the cat. The three spent a relaxing time just watching TV. Loki changed laps only when a phone rang and given the level of proper scratching he got, he was inclined to forgive the interrupting calls.
Once the Avengers signaled that they were done, Maria left to get some face-to-face work done. Fury and Loki staid on the couch until they heard the jet land. Then, by unspoken agreement, they both got up and returned to were they had been when the team left, to stare each other down, again. Fury had already blocked Jarvis from monitoring their activities for the day. So, when the team got back to the common floor, it looked like the only difference to the scene they left was that Maria was no longer there.
“Did the two of you make Hill combust with all this staring?” Clint knew more than many about the Flurkin. Fury and Loki continued their stare down until Steve gave a hesitant ‘sir,’ then both looked away at the same time. Loki trotted to his Brother and Fury addressed Clint.
“Agent Hill had to get back to work. Once you gave your all clear I decided I could hold off any calls I got until after you all came back.” Fury swished toward the elevator. “Stark, upgrade your security. It’s getting so that anyone can block your signal.” And Fury was gone.
“Did you two really do nothing but stare at each other for the time we were fighting, Brother?” Thor looked to Loki worried. Clint snorted as he made his way to his floor for a shower. Loki just hopped onto Thor’s shoulder and looked at him expectantly. So, Thor took Loki up to their floor. While Thor showered Loki started getting into mischief. He was a bit restless after having had such a lazy, relaxing day.
When Thor exited the shower, he saw the trouble that having apparently done nothing but sit for hours had made Loki very restless…and playful! Thor’s eyes lit up and he devised a plan to play with his brother.
“Brother, Tony gifted me this device to maneuver this small vehicle. Shall we test it out together?” Thor showed a small handheld controller and an RC truck. He set both on the floor for Loki to inspect. Loki circled the blue truck, bapping it and sniffing it, then the controller. Once satisfied, he looked to Thor and meowed his approval of the plan. Thor smiled and took up the controller. He turned on the truck and started it going. It was away for scant seconds before Loki shot after it. With lights on the top of the toy, dancing from one end to the other, Loki couldn’t help but chase after it.
Thor maneuvered the truck all over the rooms with Loki hot on its trail. During one turn Loki made a daring leap and landed in the bed of the truck. He now put all his effort into staying on the racing toy, and perhaps attempting the remove the lights. Thor was long past trying to hold in his laughter. Loki, finding this very fun and happy to see his brother so carefree and joyous decided to get Thor a bit more involved. When the toy neared his brother, Loki made another daring leap and latched to Thor’s pants then carefully climbed. Thor continued to laugh but was now trying to grab hold of his brother.
Thor was hopping around the room as Loki jumped from Thor to the furniture trying to evade his brother’s grabbing hands.
They ended up crashing through one of the walls which caused Loki to still long enough for Thor to snatch him. Thor, still laughing, and Loki, purring madly, the two settled down. After that they played a bit more, just nothing so vigorous before joining the team for dinner…and an explanation of the crash—that wasn’t really needed. Jarvis, the good AI, had alerted the rest of the team and provided video the minute Thor set the RC Truck going. It was a very enjoyable scene and it made the other Avengers happy to see Thor getting this time with Loki.
The team enjoyed a week of quiet before there was another callout. Darcy was the only one available on such short notice this time but was not able to get there until the Avengers had already left. After half an hour of Darcy still not being there, Loki was starting to get impatient when there was a concussive boom and the building shook. Avengers Tower was under attack and Loki was alone. Loki decided he was not ok with people invading his new home and attempted to go on the offensive. The problem was that the tower was not so much being invaded but simply destroyed from the outside. Loki started scampering around to find a safe place. If he was a paranoid sort of trickster god, he would think the bombs were following him.
Then one went off right in his face and he’s smart enough to know it’s not paranoia if it’s true. Loki landed hard, dazing him. He knew he had to get up and move, but he couldn’t focus enough for that. The large standing vase he ended up next to, was tipping and would crush him under its weight. Suddenly there was a shield wedged between him and the heavy pot, creating a sort of shelter. The pot’s tipping dislodged the shield which fell covering the little cat, protecting him, yes, but also holding him prisoner. Then the shield and cat were roughly picked up and Loki felt the warmth of the ark reactor on one side and the cold of the shield on the other of his body. Ironman had him and the rest of the Avengers were destroying the helicopter that had been attacking their home.
Loki had been in the uppermost floors so only those were destroyed. It meant that Thor and Clint’s floors had been destroyed, but everyone else was willing to share space until everything was fixed. Loki was quite shaken. There had been nothing for him to do but run and attempt to evade. He was lucky the callout was a minor distraction and Loki had been the real target. The Avengers weren’t kept properly distracted and the second Jarvis reported an attack on the tower, the team split to finish with the minor crisis and get back to their trickster kitty who was in danger.
Loki was thankful that the Avengers now thought of him as a priority, but he needed to be able to defend himself. It was time to get this damn collar off so he could revert to his proper self and access his magic! The team took it pretty hard that their cat was the target of such a heartfelt attack, so Loki was rarely set down. He used this to try to get someone to wise up and remove the collar.
It was a couple of days later that Clint and Natasha were talking, while on their way to the entertainment room for team movie night.
“Hey, Loki ever do this weird ‘get your attention only to look at the ceiling’ thing with you?” Clint asks. Natasha eyed Clint.
“…Yes, he has, since he first started getting well enough to pester everyone. I guess he does it to you too?”
“Yeah. Got any idea what it’s about?” Clint continued.
“I assumed it was just another way to annoy us. Thor says the collar is a manifestation of his clothes.”
“Are we really gonna go off of what Thor says with this. Not that I’d ever insinuate to his face, again, but he’s not the most observant when it comes to his brother.” Clint hedged. Natasha shrugged as the two entered the room, dropping the subject for now. Everyone had just assumed Loki was staying in the cat form because he didn’t believe he would be accepted in his regular form, despite all the assurances that he would be.
It was the middle of the movie, and Lokitty had found his way to Clint’s lap. Clint was diligently petting and scratching the restfully purring cat in his lap, when he started fiddling with the collar. Loki didn’t react so Clint decided to remove it to have a closer look, maybe there were some clues actually on the collar. So, carefully, as not to disturb the cat in his lap, Clint gently removed the collar; and was promptly rewarded with a very naked, Asgardian Loki, dozing in his lap.
The sudden change from cat to humanoid was dramatic enough that it got everyone's attention, Thor shouted his elation. The sudden shout startled Loki awake, who no longer had claws to dig in, but he did have his magic, so instead found daggers in his hands, that got dangerously close to ending up in Clint. Luckily for Clint, his reflexes kicked in and he restrained Loki’s hands, while Loki came to terms with the situation he suddenly found himself in. Steve was already handing him his jacket to cover himself with.
Loki left to get some clothes and returned rather hesitantly, but he heard the talking from the entertainment room, a movie long forgotten. As soon as he entered the room everyone went silent and stared at him until Thor got up and hugged him properly.
“Brother, not saying that was not very dramatic, but why did you wait until then to revert to your proper form?”
“I think that’s rather obvious,” Clint answered holding up the collar. “What I’d like to know is how you got in the whole ‘cat in a collapsing box’ situation in the first place?”
“…First off can I just express how utterly stupid you all are?! For months now I have been drawing your attention to that heinous collar and all you ever do is ask if I want Heimdall or Odin! NO! I wanted the block on my powers removed so that I might be able to stop being your pet! …In answer to how I ended up in the situation I was in: I sensed a signal similar to Mjolnir so decided to see what Thor had gotten himself into. When I arrived, I found myself in a dastardly brilliant rune configuration that bound my magic and left me unconscious. When I awoke, I was in my small feline form wearing the damn collar and fighting to not be crushed. You, Barton, I am not sure if I should strangle or thank you for blowing up that box, you singed my fur…. I was under the impression that I was being captured for transport to a buyer but then those who held me wanted more money. I am not sure how I ended up where you found me.”
“I am sorry, Brother. I thought you had found a way to change your clothes with your form and that was where the collar came in.”
“And you told everyone else your brilliant theory. No wonder you all ignored it.” Loki scoffed.
“How long were you in the box before I blew it up?” Clint asked.
“I have no frame of reference for that. I do not even know how long I was unconscious before I was turned into a cat. It felt like half an eternity. I do not know how much longer I could have held the sides at bay.”
“We’re glad we were able to find you when we did then! And I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for helping us in battle beforehand. You saved a lot of lives.” Steve said, clapping a hand on Loki’s shoulder. Loki looked up at him surprised.
“Don’t think that just because you’re not a cat we’re kicking you out, now either! I’m adding another floor above this one. Replacing Thor’s and Clint’s and making you one.” Tony stated. Not even a lie, he assumed eventually Loki would revert back and then he would need his own floor, cuz he was an Avenger now.
“I—I am truly flattered.” Loki blinked at Tony.
“You didn’t think we’d toss you out, did you? We told you, you are one of us now.” Bruce commented.
“Though Fury will miss cat you.” Natasha put in, smirking.
“Yes…where did that man encounter a Flurkin? And how did he get close enough for it to claw his eye and not eat him?” Loki looked to the two agents for an answer. Both smirked mysteriously, grabbed Loki by an arm and settled down to finish the movie with their trickster between them.
Loki found it quite annoying there attention that he seemed to earn from on Dr. Doom and could only assume he was the original buyer. Sadly for Doom gods don’t pay strict attention to international law and ridiculous things like diplomatic immunity.