"What were you two gossiping about?" Tony asked casually.

"Oh, everything and nothing," Loki replied with equal flippancy. "Steve wants a job and an apartment and I said that one of us would end up footing the bill. End of story."

"Ah," was all Tony said.

"What did you want, Tony?"

"I wanted to apologise and thank you."

"I wasn't expecting that," Loki joked.

Tony ignored him.

"I tore into you about Rogers when you weren't feeling your best and then you saved my life."

"Indirectly," Loki pointed out. "I did the ground work and you made the element. But you were feeling far less your best than I was."

"You asked Coulson for a favour when you didn't even know he would be able to help," Tony said.

"The favour was you," Loki commented. "I wasn't going out of my way by any means."

"Stop trying to dismiss it," Tony insisted. "You made a decision and your judgement, as always, was unfailing. I want to thank you and apologise."

"So you've said."

"And?"

"And what?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "Tony, you saved your own life; you owe me nothing. As for the apology, how were you to know that Steve is perfectly fine?"

"How was I to know that he wasn't?" Tony retorted. "I shouldn't always assume the worst of everyone."

"I do," Loki replied cheerfully. "I just don't tell people that."

Tony shook his head, amused.

"I thought I should mention," added Loki, "That I told Steve we could put him up at the tower. As such, it might be a wise idea to actually build this hypothetical tower so that we can house the homeless who come knocking on our door."

"Way ahead of you," grinned Tony. "Planning permission was approved today and I sent a list of materials to a building company. Together with the R&D department they should have a tower high in the sky in a month or two."

"That's optimistic."

"You don't know how much I'm spending on this tower, Alden."

"I think I could guess," Loki replied with humour. "Otherwise, do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

"Anyway, we should go to this reunion," Loki stated. "You said we were all required to attend."

"About that..."

Loki gave Tony a sharp look. He knew at once what was up.

"You hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D, didn't you?"

"Only a teensy weensy bit," Tony wheedled.

Loki stared at him.

"Fine, a lot," he admitted. "But I wanted to know their plans for the Tesseract."

"And?"

*

"S.H.I.E.L.D are making weapons," Tony announced cheerfully, walking into the room.

The others were already gathered at the table: Steve and Bruce sitting, and Natasha, Clint, Hill, Coulson and Fury standing. At Tony's announcement, both Steve and Bruce started. Neither Natasha nor Clint blinked. Chances were they'd already known.

"Why can't you leave the Tesseract alone?" Steve asked. "You're going to end up killing a lot of people."

The agents remained unmoved. That was what they did on a day-to-day basis anyway.

"Steve is right," added Loki. "The Tesseract is an unparalleled energy source. You could easily destroy this entire Helicarrier with it if you're not careful."

"I'm struggling to see where you're coming from," admitted Fury. "With all due respect, Walker, you graduated with a Classics and History degree. You then became a surgeon, with falsified documents, might I add, and now you head the biggest company on earth, working among engineers and businessmen. So you'll excuse me if I wonder what sort of knowledge you could possibly possess which would be relevant here."

Loki stared coolly at him.

"You could say I'm an all-rounder," he replied in a blasé tone. "Tony and I both read the file before our first meeting. I know what the Tesseract is, its potential and I know its history in Tønsberg. Humans did invent Google for a reason, you know."

Fury bristled but said nothing.

"Perhaps you could take a look at the Tesseract, then," said Coulson in his usual nondescript way. "Perhaps all of you," he added, waving a hand round at the entire party.

"It would be our genuine pleasure," grinned Tony.

*

But, a few minutes later, Loki wasn't sure it was their pleasure. The Tesseract glowed unnaturally and it called out to Loki with songs of death and defeat. Loki remembered, from history books back on Asgard, that the Tesseract contained the space stone, one of six Infinity stones. That alone signalled its wealth of power.

"It's pretty," Tony admitted, "But weird."

Loki scanned the power readings on a screen close to him. Bruce joined him.

"These readings are off the charts," Bruce whispered.

"This really isn't very safe, to keep this here," Loki agreed. "We're a flying death trap."

"But S.H.I.E.L.D wants ultimate control," Tony said, making them both jump. "They couldn't bear someone else possessing a weapon of this calibre."

"It's not meant to be a weapon," said Loki, shaking his head. "It's just an energy source, albeit a hugely powerful one. It could've stayed undisturbed beneath the ocean for centuries. The only thing that might have provoked it is an earthquake or tsunami, or someone directly harnessing it, and that would have had to be done through direct contact."

For humans, at least. Loki could reach out to the Tesseract with his magic but he wasn't about to risk destroying the Helicarrier and killing everyone on board.

"So your opinion is that we're the enemy here," Coulson said, appearing before the three of them.

"Until proven otherwise," Loki replied neutrally.

Coulson nodded.

"Be that as it may, Stark has agreed to help us. That is part of the favour we granted you, Dr Walker."

The words were cunning and decidedly cold for the seemingly amicable agent. The mention of Loki's title as doctor, too, by both Fury and Coulson, showed that S.H.I.E.L.D were keeping tabs on them. Few remembered that Loki had been a doctor and the reminder seemed to be to ensure Loki would keep his word as a respectable citizen.

"Me," Tony remarked, "Not Alden."

Loki admired his friend's courage but it wasn't worth it against so indestructible a foe.

Coulson gave Loki a cool look.

"We may still call on you again."

"Of course you may," replied Loki diplomatically. "But, for now, I fear I should be going. Duty calls."

Duties which did not extend to S.H.I.E.L.D, he left unsaid.

"I'll be in Malibu," Loki said now to Tony, although he was aware that Coulson was likely listening.

"I'll be along soon," Tony answered. "Don't get too bored without me."

Loki smiled.

"I'll try my best."

*****

A.N. S.H.I.E.L.D aren't as trustworthy as they appear......

Thank you for reading!