A.N. I am now a published author (woooooo) so updates on this will be infrequent at best. If you are interested in buying my little fantasy book, please head to the link in my bio! It's only £3.99 :)
"Are you sure this is safe?" asked Bruce, clearly petrified.
Tony scoffed.
"Of course it's safe."
"Just because you and Rhodey both have suits," Steve reprimanded. "The rest of us don't spend our lives flying."
They were on a plane, flying high above the Caribbean. Loki, in all his profound wisdom, had decided that skydiving, without parachutes, would be fun. Bruce disagreed but everyone else: Tony, Rhodey, Steve, Natasha, Clint, even Hill, were taking part.
"If I Hulk out on you, I'm not apologising," Bruce shouted over the roar of the wind.
"Fair enough, Loki shrugged. "Everybody ready?"
He was pleased to see that Natasha and Clint, at least, seemed to be enjoying themselves. The two had spent the larger part of the journey whispering excitedly to each other and their eagerness was even starting to get to Hill.
Of course, this required quite a large amount of concentration on Loki's part. He had to catch them all - with magic - before they hit the ground. But it had been his idea and, if he had no problem with it, it was fine.
"Okay!" He shouted. "3, 2, 1!"
Everybody dropped out of the plane at the same time, with the exception of Bruce, who was pushed by Tony when it looked like he wouldn't move. This action incurred a scream from the scientist. Clint, embracing the child within him, whooped with joy at falling through the air.
Loki wondered idly, while falling, whether the others knew how much effort it was to use magic. They had, of course, seen him save two buildings from imminent collapse, resulting in his own collapse from exhaustion, but the others seemed to think it took nothing.
He supposed the collapse after saving the World Trade Center had occurred after years of practising very little magic. Every Asgardian had some magic inside them but it took so much energy to tame and utilise that the majority had taken to the barbarian act of fighting with swords and axes. Loki had spent years building his magic, learning from the best - both his mother and teachers in Alfheim - and was now at the stage of no turning back. His magic was now a part of him. He would die if his magic was stripped from him and that was why it tired him out so much when it waned.
They were now nearing the Caribbean sea below so Loki quickly conjured a large blue shield which engulfed the others. When they hit the water, they bounced and then landed, with a small splash, in the water.
"Did you enjoy that?" Loki asked, hovering above the water, arms crossed.
There were cheers from Tony, Rhodey and Clint. Natasha and Hill even looked surprisingly thrilled and Steve kept gazing up the cruising plane above as if measuring the distance they had fallen. Bruce lay on his back, breathing in and out heavily.
"Was that so bad, Bruce?" Loki questioned the man as Tony and Clint soon instigated a water fight between the others.
A boat was slowly approaching, given that they had landed in the middle of the ocean and that everyone minus Loki was currently paddling the water.
"No," Bruce sighed, staring up at the floating god. "No, it wasn't so bad. Thanks for catching us."
Loki grinned wryly.
"You're welcome. I obviously don't want to be charged for the massacre of the Avengers on Midgard."
"Tony's going to get his revenge for pushing me, though," Bruce vowed, glaring at the billionaire who was currently splashing Clint with childish glee.
"Let me know if you need any help," Loki said. "I'm always happy to assist in mischief and troublemaking."
"We need to come up with something suitably humiliating," Bruce proposed.
Loki, about to answer, closed his mouth again when Tony paddled over to them.
"Why are you missing out on the fun, science bros?"
He splashed Bruce.
"Hey!" The scientist exclaimed. "I'm trying not to turn green here!"
"He has a point," Loki pointed out demurely.
Tony mock glared at him.
"And you're no fun either!"
He gestured to Loki's floating form.
"Allow yourself to be submerged in water."
"You sound like one of those therapists who try hypnotism," Loki commented.
"Or a priest baptising someone," Bruce commented, floating peacefully on his back. "Just as a side note, therapists don't just 'try' hypnotism, they practise it, and it's usually meant to work."
"I enchanted a therapist who tried on me," Loki reported, sounding smug. "I think he enjoyed it; I made him picture the Bahamas. Then I paid for him to go there and retire. He was a rubbish therapist."
"Always the kind one," Tony said, sounding amused.
The boat picked them all up and the crew gazed, dumbstruck, at the Avengers before them, but accepted that it had been a sort of team-building exercise of some sort and let it pass. Every career needed team-building to survive, so why should the Avengers be any different? They all had their quirks.
"Would Fury call this malpractice, I wonder?" Rhodey questioned. "A waste of expenses?"
"Given that I paid for the plane, perhaps not," Loki replied, grinning. "No S.H.I.E.L.D money has been wasted in this endeavour."
"It wouldn't have been wasted," Clint said, struggling to keep a straight face. "This has been a valuable team exercise, and we have both learnt a lot about ourselves and each other."
"Speak for yourself," Tony answered. "I haven't learnt anything about Nat."
"Romanoff to you," Natasha pointed out with a sweet smile.
Tony just shuddered.
They all knew, or guessed, what Romanoff could or would do to her enemies. None of them particularly wanted to see her revenge in action. Waking up to the sight of one special red-haired Russian spy was the last thing on the wish-list for many criminals, mafia bosses, dodgy businessmen and even genocidal maniacs. She could provoke nightmares in the bravest of men and scare the greatest of gods.
Loki knew that for a fact.
*****
A.N. I'm back!!! Sorry for the long wait, but I hope it will be worth it. A lot of this is already written, so I'm going to make good use of Wattpad's new scheduling option and get this all out to you guys by the end of the summer!
Thank you for reading and please comment!
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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.
