Masking Loki

Dirt and Roses

AN: Hello MARVELous readers! I would like to give a shout out to the amazing Akahana77! This chapter is dedicated to you, my friend. I hope everyone enjoys! Don't forget to check out my beta, KTGB33!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

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Dirt and Roses

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***STEVE POV***

"Loki, come out please. You know we won't let them hurt you," I plead, watching the trembling figure hiding under the cupboard. How did he even fit in there? Everything had been going alright, Loki was nervous, yes, but manageable. Then, JARVIS had to go and inform us that Hawkeye was going to be permanently staying in the Tower to keep an eye on him. Loki immediately had a full-blown panic attack, which ended in a table being flipped over and him cowering under the sink in a small cupboard.

"Where is he?" Clint storms into the lab, bow drawn and nocked.

"Clint, please, just calm down," pleads Natasha, grabbing Hawkeye's arm.

"No, not until I'm sure that he is himself," snarls Clint, and Natasha freezes for a moment, trying to process what he said. Seizing the advantage, Clint loads nocks his bow and aims it at Tony, who has just entered the lab.

"Whoa there, birdbrain. Watch where you're pointing that thing," shouts Tony, raising his hands in surrender.

"Shut up, Stark," orders Hawkeye, and Tony immediately shuts his mouth, for once in his life. "Loki, I know you can hear me," announces Clint, and I watch as the poor trickster immediately tenses up.

"Clint, what is the meaning of this?" I finally state, jumping to my feet. I'm so confused.

"Stay out of this, Cap," warns Barton. I edge forward, intending to rip the bow from him by force if I have to. "Back off, or I'll shoot Stark through the head," growls Hawkeye, and I immediately freeze. I mean, sure, Clint and Tony didn't always get along, but they were like brothers! Not Thor-and-Loki-kill-each-other-violently-brothers, but, you know, REGULAR family brothers. "Loki, if you don't want an arrow to end up in Stark's head, get out right now," orders Clint, and Loki meekly crawls out, head bowed and eyes screwed shut. "Open your eyes," orders Clint, and Loki immediately opens his emerald green eyes and stares up at Clint from his kneeling position on the floor.

Clint immediately lowers his bow and offers a hand to help Loki up. Grabbing it, the fallen prince shakily lifts himself to his feet, stumbling slightly. "You okay?" questions Clint, and Loki gives a quick nod.

"Hold on, I am confused," speaks up Romanoff, and both Tony and I nod in agreement.

"It's a long story," begins Clint, glancing at Loki. "There are a lot of details abut my time under Loki's influence that only him, myself, and Director Fury know. Even you barely know anything, Tasha." Hawkeye sighs as he sets his bow down on a counter and hops onto the metal surface.

"Then you had better start talking, Barton," snaps Tony, his face and voice strangely lacking emotion.

"The reason why I've never given any information away to you guys about my treatment under Loki's watch was because both the Director and Loki himself didn't want me to. I don't know what you've imagined, but it was actually a bit better than working for SHIELD. Loki never let anyone do anything too dangerous, and always made sure we were well taken care of. He gave us anything we wanted or needed, and offered us protection during check-ins," begins Barton, and Loki screws his eyes shut and curls known himself at the last statement.

"Check-ins? Who was checking in, and on what?" interrogates Stark, crossing his arms.

"You should switch your nouns, Stark. It wasn't someone checking in on something, it was something checking in on us and Loki," explains Barton hesitantly. "Loki wasn't in charge of the invasion. He was constantly having meetings with someone he told me was called "the Other." The Other worked for someone a hundred times more powerful, known as Thanos. Loki always had meetings with them, using his magic to transport his spirit to a barren moon, many miles away. Each time he would come back weaker and with new wounds. So one time, I hijacked his magic and went with. There, I discovered that Loki was being controlled by something called the Mind Gem. The Mind Gem, Power Gem, and Space Gem combined formed the Tesseract, which was why Thanos wanted it. He hoped that the Tesseract would lead him to the other two Gems."

"Wait, hold up. What are these 'Gems,' and if Loki was under this Thanos' control, why was he being hurt?" I cut in. Tis is all too much. I mean, this is the God of Lies we're dealing with. I trust Loki now, but not the Loki he was. Confusing, perhaps, but something has obviously changed.

"Loki's mind and heart are protected by his magic and will. The only way Thanos could control it was if Loki was being blackmailed and weaker than normal. Just to get an initial hold on him, it was revealed to me that the monster had tortured Loki for abut two years," backtracks Clint, and I feel rage boil up inside of me. Torture? Loki escaped from two years of torture, only to be captured and tortured again. "The Gems are extremely powerful sources of specialized energy that power the ultimate weapon, known as the Infinity Gauntlet. The Six gems that power it are known as the Infinity Gems. If all six Gems are gathered and activate the Gauntlet, then the Gauntlet can destroy or create anything and anyone."

"Ad let me guess, they're still out there somewhere," sighs Banner, leaning back into a swivel chair and swinging his legs into the counter with his arms crossed behind his head.

"You're correct. Director Fury and I have actually been attempting to free Loki and request his assistance since we discovered that he had not left earth," agrees Clint, and Tony chokes on his scotch. That alcohol will be the death of him....

"So wait, you guys didn't order it?"

"Heck no! The Council went above our heads again," snarls Clint, his hands clenching into fists. Tony lets loose a string of expletives, and I barely refrain from joining him. Curse them! They're the reason I don't work for SHIELD, they have more blood on their hands than Fury and Loki combined! I can feel the metal from the table begin to bend beneath my fingers, but I'm too upset to care.

"We have to do something about them," I snarl, and the others nod in agreement.

"First we have to help Loki recover," reminds Bruce, and again we all nod in agreement.

"So all that upstairs was an act?" mentions Tony, and Clint shrugs.

"Well, I can't speak for Tasha, but Fury and I had it all planned out. I honestly don't know about Coulson, though," informs Clint, and Tony hums thoughtfully.

"Hey, Reindeer Games, do you think Coulson's alive?" asks Tony, and Loki immediately nods. "Well, I guess that's our answer."

"Mr. Stark, Thor Odinson is on the roof," informs JARVIS, and everyone groans.

"You have GOT to be kidding me."