Our Underlying Darkness

Settling In

"Suprise."

Loki transforms back to his original form and Kiora facepalms.

Bruce backs away, Clint looks for something to grab and Steve instinctively gets into a battle position. The others watch in surprise. This is not how Kiora wanted things to go, they were supposed to explain, ease them into it slowly. Yet here they are, diving into the deep end. She remembers Fury's words and her eyes drift to the biggest threat to Loki at the moment.

"Peter come here now." Tony's words are rushed and humorless, panic is evident in his eyes.

Peter walks next to Loki and gestures with both hands towards him. "Mr. Stark it's okay, he's not how he was before, remember what Mr. Thor said, he was being controlled."

Tony stands unmoving. His patience is wearing thin. The sight of Peter so close to someone who could and would kill him in an instant is setting off all kinds of manic signals in his head. "Peter get over here now!" The teenager doesn't move.

Steve turns the attention of the room. "Fury what's going on?"

The one-eyed man speaks up. He gives Kiora a look. "Loki is clear of the attack on New York. He will, however, be monitored consistently and put on house arrest until his new resolve is proven, for lack of better words, not evil." Fury pauses gauging the responses and preparing for the reactions of his next statement. "He will be staying here."

Bruce, Steve, Natasha, and Clint all yell "what!" simultaneously in surprise. Fury's not worried about them, he knows they'll cave. Bruce knows what it's like not to be in control. Steve is all for justice and will know this is the right thing to do. Natasha and Clint will trust his opinion. Wanda, Vision, and Bucky weren't around for the attack on New York, so they shouldn't be too hard to persuade. Tony, however...

"Absolutely not!"

"Tony listen-"

"No, you listen to me." The billionaire strides towards Fury. "I don't care if he wasn't in control, it doesn't change the fact that he's a loose cannon. We can't control him. How do we know he won't wake up and decide to murder one of us in our sleep. Why make him stay here?"

Fury raises an eyebrow. "Would you trust him to stay anywhere else?"

Thor's burly voice echos behind Tony.

"Stark I can assure you, my brother has changed, he will bring no harm to anyone on Earth."

Tony turns around. "Your assurance isn't exactly enough point break," he spins back to Fury, "and neither is yours."

"Tell me, who's gonna keep him in line hmm? Thor's been tricked a thousand times and the rest of us aren't going to put our necks out to save a 'decent-person-in-training.'"

Even without verbally saying it, Fury knows the rest of the team agrees. Stark makes a valid point, but Fury's no idiot. He thought of all the different ways this could go on his way over and has an answer that benefits them both.

He gives a shit-eating grin and points to Kiora. "She is."

The woman does a double-take before her grin disappears entirely.

"Excuse me?"

"You are willing to do anything to help him right?"

"I thought you wanted me isolated."

"I changed my mind."

"Fury..."

"Kiora you're never going to stop being afraid of your powers if you never use them." That shuts her up. "Besides," he gestures to Wanda who's watching intently from the corner of the couch "you have someone who knows what it's like."