Marvel At What Could've Happened

Chapter 22

Steve looked up from the couch as the elevator doors slid open.

"Loki!" The younger man was standing in the elevator, looking a bit like a lost puppy. He came forwards.

"Hello, Steve," he said.

"I was starting to wonder if you were every coming back."

"I was only gone a week or so," he replied.

"Tony and I had a bet. He thought you'd be right back. I- wasn't so sure," Steve said with a grin. "I thought you might realize how much you missed it. You'd fix things with your family."

"You got part of that right," Loki said sheepishly.

"Tell me about it."

"My mother was sick," Loki told him. "She died a couple days after I arrived. I'm glad I went because of that. But not just because of that." He paused.

"I'm so sorry about your mother," Steve said. "I know how that feels. Tony does, too. It's really hard."

"To be honest, it hasn't sunk in yet," Loki admitted. "And it's been so long since I saw her anyways, I was just glad to have her back once more."

"Understandable. My mom and I were really close. It was just the two of us for most of my life. It was worse than I imagined when she died."

"She'd be so proud of you, Captain," Loki said.

"I hope so," Steve smiled softly. "Sorry. Go on."

"I... also talked things over with my father. He hated that I had come; he barely let me see my mother. However, Thor managed to get me to talk to him after Mother died. He was surprisingly passive, and I made myself control my temper. It was good. We... we both apologized."

"Kid, that's great," Steve said. "Really, that's amazing. So, why didn't you stay?"

"Thor and Odin both gave me the choice to stay or come back to Earth. But they told me not to think of myself, rather to go where others need me," Loki explained. "Since apparently, I'm at a place in my life where people actually like me," he added sarcastically. Steve laughed.

"You are," he agreed.

"Yes, thank you. Anyways. Asgard has Thor. He doesn't want to rule, but neither do I. He said he would if he had to. They have him and they don't really need me. So, I took a chance on coming back to all of you. I didn't know if you were glad to be rid of me, or if you wanted me back. But I'm here, and I'll stay if you'll all have me."

"All I have to say is, we have got to find you something better to do than laying around the tower or the compound every day," Steve said, smirking.

**********

Steve wandered down into the lab a little while later. Loki had gone to his room and Steve wanted to talk to Tony. He headed towards where Tony was working on the computer in the corner. He was down on an office chair and spun to face Tony.

"Loki's back. You win. Technically."

"Yay. You owe me a ten."

"We never agreed on a payment. I thought this was simply for bragging rights."

"We never discussed rewards so I'm making up my own. Ten bucks, when you've got it." He turned in his own chair to face Steve for the first time.

"So, the kid's back. Why?"

"Apparently his mother died. He's on good terms with his father. Thor told him that he could essentially go where he wanted, I think."

"And he wanted to come back here." Steve shrugged.

"Surprised me too."

"He's just a kid. And he's changed a lot."

"You're definitely not wrong."

"He's been through shit. I'm proud of him."

"Me too." Steve sighed. "I'm glad we gave him another chance, brought him around."

"I'm glad you gave him a second chance." Tony looked Steve in the eye. "You did that. Remember how pissed I was that you had even talked to him? I was prepared to let him rot in that room."

"Then good on you, too," Steve grinned. "You've both changed."

"Yeah, well, cheers to us," Tony said dryly.

"I told him he could stay," Steve said thoughtfully.

"Oh, well, thanks for not kicking him out," Tony said.

"We need to give him something productive to do. I don't know what yet. Can't exactly send him into the world to get a job like a normally teenager and SHIELD would never take him on. We've got to make him useful here. If he wants to stay, we should make him earn his keep," Steve said.

"Bring him down here," Tony said. "He has an insane amount of knowledge; things to contribute to research Bruce and I have done. He knows more about space than NASA. He'll be useful here."

"That's actually a great idea," Steve agreed.

"I know it, Cap. The kid's going to put us in the front of the intergalactic space race." Tony's eyes were lit up and his smile was wider than Steve had ever seen.

**********

Author's Note: I don't think I've ever written such a filler chapter tbh.  THIS NOTE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROBABLY THE CHAPTER WAS, PLEASE READ.

I know I've got quiet a few people following this story.  I see all the votes and comments, and I know that every chapter gets a lot of reads really soon after every upload.  I am SO FREAKING GRATEFUL FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

Which is why I pose you all this question:

Should I wrap this story up with a nice little bow, happily ever after with everything essentially how it is as of now,

OR

Do you want me to keep going?  Go into Loki's life with the Avengers beyond all his personal issues?  Maybe take the story in a ScyFi direction (because of what Tony says at the end of this chapter)?

Please comment with what everyone wants to see.  I'll wait until a couple days after Christmas to see what everyone wants and make a decision.