Together (A Loki/Avengers Fanfiction)

XII.

"Fine", Stark sighed, "Looks like the number of people we have to care for grows steadily."
"I just want to mention whose fault this is." Banner talked more to himself than to the others.

They had decided to leave Loki in the operating room and went to the meeting room to have a drink to calm down a bit. Meanwhile Rogers had joined them, too, and they had told him what happened.

As they entered the meeting room the light was already on.
And at the head of the long table Fury sat.
He didn't look very happy.

"Oh... Mr. Fury...", Thor said and tried to smile. "We... um..."
"Yeah? You what? You just wanted to tell me that you let Loki escape and instead of bringing him to Asgard as you found him you kept him here?!
The news are full of Stark, Loki and you, Thor. Do you even know how many calls I got since y'all came back? No?"
Embarrassed silence laid over them, until Stark started talking. "It was my fault. I provoked him and... well... shot him..."
Fury lifted an eyebrow, but he remained silent.
"I know you want to send him back to Asgard, but this is not a good idea, believe me. We think he got tortured there and probably has some bad mental issues... If we send him back now he will either die or go completely cuckoo."
Now Fury sat up in his chair. "So you are telling me we should rather risk him escaping again and killing people than bringing him somewhere where he has to pay for his crimes?"

"First: If he is really mentally ill it isn't completely his fault what happened... Second: Do you really think torturing someone for the rest of his life, which would be in his case around 4,000 years, would be appropriate? You hadn't seen him, he was a bloody mess and was afraid of a simple syringe." After a little pause Stark continued talking. "You know, Sir, I was never really fond of the whole idea of keeping him here. But I do have some humanity left in me, and even if he committed crimes he should get the chance to change."

"He got a chance. And the result of that is what? Every news channel in America was talking about him. The people are scared, and I am scared to lose my job."
"You can't change a person overnight. Sometimes it takes years to overcome -"

"It's okay, Mr. Stark", a voice behind them said. Everyone turned around, just to see Loki standing in the doorway. His hair looked messy, his eyes were numb. And his upper body was still bare. Fury stood up and wanted to say something, but Loki interrupted him. "I am very thankful to you. But you don't need to defend me, Mr. Stark. Only I am responsible for my actions... But I have one last wish: Kill me. Don't send me back there..."

"So you are not going to hide behind lies this time?", Fury asked.
"No. I don't want him", he pointed at Stark, "to be punished for what I did. I deserve death, my birthright was to die. I always thought I could be king, but in fact I am not worthy. I learned from my mistakes, and now I want to pay for all the lives I took." Now he talked to his brother. "Brother... I wish to be executed by you."