"Hold on," said Steve. "They're not coming."
Doctor Strange, Peter, Sam, Wanda and Pietro had followed the Avengers out of the room as they went to get ready for battle. There were reports of robots filling the streets. Despite being locked away after their last encounter with the crazed scientist, Loki would bet precious money on it being Doctor Doom's fault.
"We have no idea how they work," he continued. "I'm not allowing innocent civilians to get in the way."
"We're not civilians!" Peter protested.
"We're not innocent," Pietro pointed out.
Wanda glared at her brother.
"Steve has a point," Loki said. "We know how we work. We need time to adapt to other people."
"Isn't adaptation key to working as a team?" Strange asked.
Loki appraised him.
"Yes, but ideally after more than an afternoon of pleasantries."
"Fair enough," Strange replied, "but I would like to be given a chance."
Loki nodded.
"That's admirable. Doctor Strange and Sam, if he would like, can join us this time. Teenagers are not to be placed in the line of fire."
"I don't even know what Fury was thinking," Steve said, staring at the three angry teenagers.
"That's unfair!" Wanda exclaimed. "We were recruited for a reason!"
Loki gave her a hard look.
"She's a liability. She can't control her powers."
Wanda reached out with crimson tendrils but Loki simply snatched them from the air. They had seen briefly what all five recruits could do during dinner and Loki had been unnerved by Wanda and Pietro's inhuman abilities.
"As I said, she's a liability," he commented, as if discussing the weather. "Stay here," he ordered. "Let the adults take over from here."
"You're hardly an adult," Wanda scoffed, "and you're letting them go!"
She pointed to Dr Strange and Sam.
Aunt May and Pepper had come outside to see what was going on.
"You are not going," May told Peter. "I'm not losing you too."
"The only other person who's lived for over a thousand years can speak up now," Loki stated. "Oh, wait, there isn't anybody else. I'm the only one. If and when Thor arrives, I am the only one with that much experience so just shut up and listen. Strange and Sam are adults; they can take some percentage of responsibility for their actions. You are not an adult, Miss Maximoff, and as such cannot take responsibility for your actions."
He strode away angrily but Tony caught up with him.
"What's the matter with you, Loki? That was uncharacteristically harsh of you."
"I thought I was always harsh."
Tony caught something in his tone for he put his hand on Loki's shoulder, forcing him to stop.
"What is it?" He asked, concerned.
"It's nothing," Loki said, barely attempting to shrug off Tony's hand.
Tony knew he wasn't trying though, for he kept his hand there. If Loki was really trying he could throw Tony half a street away.
"Loki, I know you. It's not nothing."
"I'll tell you later."
Tony gave him a sharp look.
"Make sure you do."
*
Loki knew he was being unfair. He should not take his anger out on Wanda, a child, and she hadn't been wrong. That was the thing which grated on him. When he had been tortured by Thanos and fallen to Earth, he had been roughly seventeen in human years. He, too, had been a child. He had gone through far more than she had at that age and he and Thor had both fought in countless battles long before they came of age.
He and Doctor Strange joined Natasha, Steve and Bucky on the ground. Sam and Clint took to the roofs to get a better vantage point, and Tony and Rhodey roamed the skies. Doctor Strange's abilities were very unusual, even to Loki, and he found it interesting adapting to the other sorcerer in order to take on double as many robots.
It seemed to be a feeble attempt made by Doom, presumably initiated by either a substandard lackey or a sentient but dim-witted robot, and so the battle was over in a mere hour. As they had the previous time, the Avengers all began clearing up, as the biggest complaint from civilians was that they never helped to clear up their mess.
Loki could have cleared up a good majority of the mess with one wave of his hand, and this was a fact Tony, at the very least, knew well. Instead, he let Steve and Bucky begin piling up scraps of robot.
"What are you doing, Loki?" Tony asked quietly, coming towards him. "You know you could clear this easily."
"Well, perhaps I don't want to. Perhaps I'm tired," he snapped. "Get the teenagers to help out. They want to help, so let them help."
And he turned on his heel and vanished.
*****
A.N. Oooooooh why is Loki angry at Wanda?
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Starting Over #2 - Loki
Fanfiction[SEQUEL] Loki has found his place among the Avengers, but when will his luck run out? The sequel to Starting Over.
