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Chapter 23
The Palm staff had been skeptical, but when someone calls speaking in terms of a five figure dinner party, even asking for half the restaurant to blocked out because 'frankly we're going to need a lot of the kitchen going', they tended not to argue. The hostess did a good job of being unflappable, keeping her gape down to a wide eyed stare as she escorted the group across the restaurant. They pushed tables together and got arranged, ignoring the other patrons who stared across the establishment at them. There was a ring of empty tables around them, and that was probably for the best. They were not exactly a low-key group, a fact which Steve felt the need to apologize to the rest of the patrons for, going up to tables and introducing himself as Captain America cheerfully.
"It amazes me that he can get away with that." Tony remarked, accepting his single drink from the waitress, having settled on a glass of wine.
"Steve is blessed with being supernaturally likable." Bruce replied, then looked up and froze.
Tony looked up and followed his gaze, seeing two figures coming into the restaurant, Fury walking toward them trailing an Agent, he saw the suit but Fury's bulk was hiding who it was from his angle. "Fury! So glad you could join us. You'll have to order drinks, who did you…"
Then Agent Phil Coulson was stepping out from around Fury, folding his hands together and looking at them, smiling in that way he could. "Terribly sorry about my long absence, everyone."
The table went dead silent, even the visiting Asgardians catching on that something dramatic had just happened. Then Clint and Natasha were out of their chairs and had pounced on Agent Coulson like two large enthusiastic dogs instead of the assassins they were, and all three of them were laughing, English quickly dissolving into a three way conversation in Russian. Phil had been taken to the ground and he didn't seem like he even cared, he had an arm around each of them, in their hair, holding them close as they chattered. Thor was laughing, eyes wide and wondering, Steve was stunned silent, Bruce with a hand to his face, gaping.
Tony was watching this with a rueful smile because, seriously, it was perfect. Suddenly everything made sense. Fury's willingness to let Loki stay with them, the eyes on them in the helicarrier, it all made sense. Of course it had been Coulson. Of course Coulson was alive. The only real question was what the hell had taken him so long, now that it was very obvious that there had been an empty space following Clint and Natasha around for so long that had suddenly neatly been filled, a piece of the puzzle slamming in with total confidence. Tony glanced sideways then paused, because Loki had gone still and silent, pale and trembling slightly, looking back at Tony with eyes split between red and green.
"Hey, it's okay." Tony murmured.
"I killed that man." Loki replied, voice equally quiet.
"I think you'll find you didn't." Phil was standing again, straightening his suit, the fifteen or twenty seconds of total joyful abandon over. Then there was a burst of activity as everyone moved to accommodate two more chairs in the seating arrangement, Coulson getting wedged between Clint and Natasha without protest.
"You were the one watching us in the helicarrier." Tony said, pointing his wine glass at Phil.
"Of course I was." Phil smiled at him.
"And you made the call about Loki." He continued, Loki startling next to him, looking at him then at Phil.
"Every raid party needs a spell caster." The Agent was totally at ease, looking up at the waitress when she reappeared and ordering himself tequila.
He barely blinked because oddly enough, that did seem like Coulson logic.
"Son of Coul, how did you survive? Fury told us…" Thor said.
"I lied." Fury said, going for vodka when the waitress got to him. "I do that from time to time."
"Not cool." Steve said, so utterly flat that a few others at the table snickered. "Director…"
"We all did what was necessary." Phil said, interrupting. "Can we agree on that?"
"Did you MEAN for that to happen?" Bruce said, staring at him.
"No, but it worked out. Thank you for sticking around, Dr. Banner."
"Oh, I uh. I got a good deal."
"I'm aware. As for how I survived, that's a story I would really rather not get into right now. This is a victory celebration, let's not linger on past pains." He looked right at Loki while he said that, lifting an eyebrow. Loki could only nod slowly once. "Besides, you have other guests that I need to be introduced to."
Thor jumped in at this not-subtle hint, happily introducing Coulson to the other visiting Asgardians, and the conversation moved on, neatly folding the new arrivals into the chatter. Fury never seemed like one for small talk, mostly listening and observing, and Coulson made every word he said count, which didn't entirely surprise Tony.
"Hey. You coming back to New York with us?" He finally asked, waving a glass of soda to get attention. Food had already arrived on the tables once and it had been proven once again that Asgardians had truly terrifying appetites. Which was why he'd bought out half the restaurant, of course.
"I beg your pardon?" Phil wanted to know, blinking at Tony.
"New York. Avengers Tower. Empty apartments I still have which I'm sure you're quite aware of. Come on, don't pretend to be behind in this exchange because I know for a fact you're half a dozen steps ahead of us."
That made Phil just barely smirk. "What makes you think I even want to be in New York?"
"Uh, hello, because THEY are in New York." Tony pointed at Clint and Natasha and totally ignored the glares of death he got from them for pointing out the obvious. "And because I already know where this is going."
"Do you now."
Fury was watching this exchange and half smiling.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do. Fury's tired of our shit. He's got enough to deal with. You, on the other hand, are long used to us."
Bruce blinked once, then laughed low. "Oh. Yeah, that is pretty much perfect. What took you so long, Coulson?"
"I died. Took a while to get back."
"Well that's some curious wording." Loki said, blinking.
"I shall leave you to wonder." Phil replied, smiling, elbows propped on the table and hands laced together. He was on his third round of tequila and was by all appearances stone sober.
Tony took a picture of him with his phone, sending it to Pepper with a simple 'look who's back!' caption.
"Do you MIND, Stark?"
"Nope. Welcome back to the family, Phil, I'm sure we'll drive you completely mad within the year."
"You could be gracious about it, you know." Steve remarked to him.
"Please. He's known me longer than the rest of you. If I was nice to him he'd think I was up to something." When that made Phil smile again, Tony gestured at him and looked at Steve. "See?"
"You're impossible."
"Yep. Now what should we do after we eat the restaurant into near bankruptcy? Because my wallet and I are both open to suggestions."

They spent the evening confusing the hell out of the Miami nightlife. It was in the wee hours of the morning when the visiting Asgardians left, taking Thor with them once he'd said some proper goodbyes to everyone. Loki actually returned the hug this time, after they'd stepped aside and talked for a few moments. Later, Loki would look back and realize that it hadn't even entirely mattered what had been said, it was just that they could talk, sincerely, and that he could look at Thor and see his brother, not a threat.
They all stayed in a hotel that night, and Loki ended up sitting up until sunrise on the balcony, staring out over the ocean and letting his mind roll over the past, what he'd done and just how Thor had gone about fighting him during his power-driven insane scheme. Thor had never really fought him, just tried to contain him, tried to reason with him, even when Loki had been stabbing him.
Guilt and shame never came easily to Loki, and he'd been made aware that it was part of the issues he had. Cluster B, inability to feel guilt or learn from punishment, among many other … colorful issues.
But sitting on the balcony, bone tired and sore and watching the sun come up, he felt pretty fucking guilty.
Strangely more so when the balcony door eased open and Tony was leaning there, rubbing his eyes and asking if Loki had any intent to get any sleep before they had to go back to New York. And his boyfriend (and that was still so strange, so strange and so amazing to think let alone attempt to say) had looked so tired and spent that he'd let himself get pulled up and back into the hotel room, passing out nearly the moment he hit the bed.

A STARK plane was waiting for the group when they finally straggled into Miami's airport, and this time Agent Couslon was leading them, no coordinated shirts or Tony getting out his ID. No, Coulson just walked ahead of them, making a come-on gesture, and they hadn't even bothered getting fully unarmed. Loki was wearing his jacket with Fenrir riding on his back, Natasha still had a gun in a holster, Steve had his shield. No one was in uniform, it was just no one cared anymore. They still hadn't caught up on rest, still sore from the battle.
The airport watched them go by, and when the TSA showed up, Coulson just smiled and held up a badge. Which was when everyone found out that SHIELD trumped TSA, because just that fast they skipped security, carrying what little luggage they had, cutting through the terminals and getting onto the airplane in record time, no one surprised when the little private jet got to cut in line for takeoff.
The flight back was happy but quiet, considering. Bruce went back to sleep, stretched out on one of the couches. Steve and Phil got into a long conversation, quiet enough everyone else left them alone. Loki took the time to talk to Clint and Natasha about how the glasses had worked out, borrowing Tony's laptop and opening the glasses up to run diagnostics, and reboot both his and Clint's because both had had software crashes toward the end. Tony had wandered into the back and claimed the other couch, half asleep and texting with Pepper.
"Phil scares you doesn't he." Natasha remarked, watching Loki change the batteries on her glasses then look through them enough to access the menus, one of his hands flashing through the air as he checked over everything.
"No, it's just perfectly normal to see a Midgardian apparently come back from the dead." Loki replied, focused on what he's doing and not surprised when Clint snickered. "It's obviously not a bad thing. Since my first visit here it's been made abundantly clear that the worst damage I did, as far as you were concerned, was his death. Nevermind that I had no idea and still have no idea who he is. But, I am his murderer and if the roles were reversed the walls would already be red with blood."
"He'll probably take it up with you later." Clint said.
"Yes, that makes me feel so much better." He wove a hand in midair to dismiss the menus and passed Natasha's glasses back, focusing back on Clint's. "Does he ever get upset?"
"Not in any way that you'd want to see." Natasha smiled just a bit.
He paused and looked at them. "You two know him very well, don't you?" Their expressions were enough, especially combined with how they'd greeted him in the restaurant, like old friends, like something far more than old friends but he honestly wasn't sure what. "So. Tell me about him." He focused back on the computer screen, long used to Tony's strange keyboards.
"You should probably just ask him." Clint quirked an eyebrow.
"Mm. No. Because if I ask you I'll also get to understand just how important he is. To you, to everyone else." He glanced across the airplane, where Phil and Steve still were talking, sitting across from each other, paying rapt attention to each other's words. He was quickly concluding that the Agent was damn near impossible to read.
There was a long pause, then Natasha nodded. "Okay. You want to start, Clint?"
"I guess." He paused, then gave Loki a funny look. "It's occurring to me that I told you quite a lot already."
"Yes. I was compelling you. Even if you had no choice but to be honest, that's different. I have made attempts to dismiss the information I gained during that time. I can't make myself forget, but I consider it ill-gotten intel." He closed Clint's glasses up and changed the batteries, passing them back.
Clint accepted them back, putting them on to hang around his neck from the lanyard strap that secured them in combat. "I'm considering us even at this point."
That made him pause, looking up from the laptop. "Thank you. I rather figured that would be a lifelong debt."
"You saved my life. We're even." Clint was quiet for a long moment, then began to talk.
And Loki listened to a story of spying, and killers, ones that worked for a government and some that didn't, and second chances. Eventually Natasha was talking as well, and he wasn't even working on the glasses anymore, just listening with rapt attention as he realized that this man, this Agent Phil Coulson was the thread that had bound Clint and Natasha together. And as Natasha kept talking, he realized that Coulson was the thread that bound them all together. Coulson had been directly involved with all of them before the Avengers.
Somehow, when something spectacular had happened, this strange somewhat unimpressive looking man had been there. He'd been in Arizona, when Thor had first come to Midgard, he'd been in and out of Tony's life since the trial by fire, keeping an eye on him. He'd been there when Steve had been found and come to in a different time. He was a consistent, a constant variable. One that Loki had ran through with a spear, and seemed none the worse for wear from it. Hell, he seemed amused by it.
Loki looked at him across the airplane (less than a dozen paces between them) and wondered who and what Phil Coulson was. For now, though, he'd already had to accept that the man in the suit was part of this strange piece meal family that the Avengers were. He had no part in this decision, and didn't feel like arguing it in the first place. He'd caused these people more than enough pain, he wasn't going to argue the central gear returning to the clockwork.
Even if he had the funny feeling retribution was coming his way later, but that was fine. Loki would have honestly been disturbed if it wasn't.

Pepper was waiting for them when they got back to the Tower. She threw an arm around Tony and Loki both, reeled them and stood there for a few moments in a three way hug that they returned, still alive, still whole, safely home. Only then did she greet the others, tossing her arms in a glad hug around Phil.
"You indestructible jerk. What took you so long, Phil?"
"His name is Agent." Tony said with a snerk. "He's sticking around, I suspect, you okay with that Pep?"
She gave him a look, having already let Coulson go. "Of course I am."
"Guess we all agree then."
"Do I get a say in this?" Phil wanted to know, looking amused, which is to say he looked like he was considering smiling.
Tony gave him a look. "Stop."
"Like I'm going to readily admit you're right about anything, Stark."
"You're going to fit in just fine here." Steve laughed.

Bruce, Tony, and Loki were back in the labs within an hour of coming back to the Tower, tearing apart what was left of the Wardenclyffe and trying to figure out how to prevent future failures. The production levels were already working on fabricating most of Tony's next suit, some parts of it were on standby for adjustments and upgrades that had already been on the drawing board.
And just that fast, normal life resumed in the Tower. Pepper clung to them harder that night, and they clung back, because the battle had felt far too close. Then life just seemed to… recover, and they all moved on. The Tower was a happy place, Loki had come to realize. No one was letting it be a center for bad memories, this was the place to recover and laugh. There was a lot of laughter in the rumpus room.
And Phil Coulson joined in neatly, fit in like a puzzle piece that no one had really noticed was missing, taking one of the empty apartments, and an office (he actually ended up with Tony's long abandoned, long unused office, as Tony basically lived in the labs). He took over dealing with the media (because yes, it was noticed by many that the navy had tried to blow the hell out of a section of Florida everglades), what else he did in his office was a mystery to everyone, and he wasn't telling.
He left Loki alone for over a week, which was basically just long enough to lull him into a false sense of security. Loki was in his part of the lab, working on the redesign of the Wardenclyffe. Tony had worked out the math then left the fabrication to him because he was caught up with something to do with the suit, something about thrust angles and rocketry and Loki had lost track about thirty seconds into his rant. Not that he minded, he was long used to it now, and he was holding a vibranium ring up to the light when he looked through it and saw Phil standing patiently in the doorway, arms crossed and leaning on the doorjamb.
Phil quirked an eyebrow when Loki jumped out of his skin, the ring suddenly twirling slowly in midair as it fell and Loki abruptly on the other side of the room. "Wow, Mr. Laufeyson. Try decaf."
"You scared the fucking shit out of me." Loki replied, hand on his chest as the vibranium ring clattered to the floor and ended up somewhere under one of his work tables. "Loki is fine. Fucking hell are you always so quiet?"
"Yes." Phil just looked at him.
Loki blew out a breath, getting his heart rate back down and walking back to his stool, not sitting back down though. "So…"
"You killed me, and I'd like to talk about it."
"You do cut to the chase, don't you?" He sighed. "I rather figured you might want to discuss it…"
That was as far as he got before Phil was across the room and his fist was connecting with Loki's jaw, hard enough it sent him to the floor. He hadn't even had time to react, and he ended up sprawling on the cold tile clutching his jaw, wondering how the hell a human had moved that fast let alone hit him that hard.
"I had more than that coming to me." Loki finally said, once he was confident his jaw was not in fact broken.
"Agreed." Phil said, offering the same hand down to him to help him up. "But, seeing as how you didn't actually manage to kill me, and since you saved Clint and possibly the rest of the world… I'm willing to call us even."
He hesitated for a moment before accepting the hand up, still rubbing his jaw. "That's it?"
"Somewhat. I was obviously quite put out with you, but given what you've done for everyone, particularly for Tony, Pepper, Natasha, and Clint… Mostly forgiven. But, being run through was a particularly painful experience, so I couldn't just let it go completely."
Loki was agog, because Phil could have been discussing the weather for all his voice tone gave away. Only a somewhat intense stare let Loki know how serious the man was. "Why do I get the impression that you don't talk this much? To anyone?"
Phil smiled, just a little.
He canted his head, then had to grin. "Ohhh. I do like you."
"Good, because I don't think I'm leaving anytime soon." He nodded and moved to step out the door, pausing and looking over his shoulder. "You seem to have found your conviction."
Loki froze for a split second, mind reeling back to the helicarrier, and the man in front of him on the ground, dying and not even concerned about the fact. "I suppose I did." He finally said, staring.
Phil nodded again. "Good." Then he was gone, back down the hallway.
Loki sat down heavily, rubbing his jaw again in wonder. He'd had the rug yanked out of him by yet another Midgardian. But, even as he got down on his hands and knees and looked under the work table to figure out where the hell that vibranium ring had gotten off to, he found himself oddly okay with that. He was surrounded by spectacular people, and he'd be crazy to not appreciate it.
But then, as he stood back up and put the vibranium ring back on the table, he was kind of crazy. Even as he thought that one of his work screens brought up a flashing clock, Jarvis giving him a silent reminder, and he reached for the pill bottle automatically.
"Hey."
He looked up, and smiled when he saw Tony there. "Hey."
"I saw Phil pass through. Everything okay?"
He tapped one of the pills into his palm. "I may have a bruise tomorrow but everything's fine."
To his credit, Tony barely blinked. "Alright then. Sushi for dinner?"
Loki grinned. "Yeah, sure." He watched the other man walk back down the hallway yelling at Bruce about something, and took his meds, smiling.
Life in the Tower moved on, and Loki Laufeyson, neither Asgard nor Jotun nor Midgardian, had somehow become part of it. And he was damned if he was going to change that.

Description
Chapter 23
The Palm staff had been skeptical, but when someone calls speaking in terms of a five figure dinner party, even asking for half the restaurant to blocked out because 'frankly we're going to need a lot of the kitchen going', they tended not to argue. The hostess did a good job of being unflappable, keeping her gape down to a wide eyed stare as she escorted the group across the restaurant. They pushed tables together and got arranged, ignoring the other patrons who stared across the establishment at them. There was a ring of empty tables around them, and that was probably for the best. They were not exactly a low-key group, a fact which Steve felt the need to apologize to the rest of the patrons for, going up to tables and introducing himself as Captain America cheerfully.
"It amazes me that he can get away with that." Tony remarked, accepting his single drink from the waitress, having settled on a glass of wine.
"Steve is blessed with being supernaturally likable." Bruce replied, then looked up and froze.
Tony looked up and followed his gaze, seeing two figures coming into the restaurant, Fury walking toward them trailing an Agent, he saw the suit but Fury's bulk was hiding who it was from his angle. "Fury! So glad you could join us. You'll have to order drinks, who did you…"
Then Agent Phil Coulson was stepping out from around Fury, folding his hands together and looking at them, smiling in that way he could. "Terribly sorry about my long absence, everyone."
The table went dead silent, even the visiting Asgardians catching on that something dramatic had just happened. Then Clint and Natasha were out of their chairs and had pounced on Agent Coulson like two large enthusiastic dogs instead of the assassins they were, and all three of them were laughing, English quickly dissolving into a three way conversation in Russian. Phil had been taken to the ground and he didn't seem like he even cared, he had an arm around each of them, in their hair, holding them close as they chattered. Thor was laughing, eyes wide and wondering, Steve was stunned silent, Bruce with a hand to his face, gaping.
Tony was watching this with a rueful smile because, seriously, it was perfect. Suddenly everything made sense. Fury's willingness to let Loki stay with them, the eyes on them in the helicarrier, it all made sense. Of course it had been Coulson. Of course Coulson was alive. The only real question was what the hell had taken him so long, now that it was very obvious that there had been an empty space following Clint and Natasha around for so long that had suddenly neatly been filled, a piece of the puzzle slamming in with total confidence. Tony glanced sideways then paused, because Loki had gone still and silent, pale and trembling slightly, looking back at Tony with eyes split between red and green.
"Hey, it's okay." Tony murmured.
"I killed that man." Loki replied, voice equally quiet.
"I think you'll find you didn't." Phil was standing again, straightening his suit, the fifteen or twenty seconds of total joyful abandon over. Then there was a burst of activity as everyone moved to accommodate two more chairs in the seating arrangement, Coulson getting wedged between Clint and Natasha without protest.
"You were the one watching us in the helicarrier." Tony said, pointing his wine glass at Phil.
"Of course I was." Phil smiled at him.
"And you made the call about Loki." He continued, Loki startling next to him, looking at him then at Phil.
"Every raid party needs a spell caster." The Agent was totally at ease, looking up at the waitress when she reappeared and ordering himself tequila.
He barely blinked because oddly enough, that did seem like Coulson logic.
"Son of Coul, how did you survive? Fury told us…" Thor said.
"I lied." Fury said, going for vodka when the waitress got to him. "I do that from time to time."
"Not cool." Steve said, so utterly flat that a few others at the table snickered. "Director…"
"We all did what was necessary." Phil said, interrupting. "Can we agree on that?"
"Did you MEAN for that to happen?" Bruce said, staring at him.
"No, but it worked out. Thank you for sticking around, Dr. Banner."
"Oh, I uh. I got a good deal."
"I'm aware. As for how I survived, that's a story I would really rather not get into right now. This is a victory celebration, let's not linger on past pains." He looked right at Loki while he said that, lifting an eyebrow. Loki could only nod slowly once. "Besides, you have other guests that I need to be introduced to."
Thor jumped in at this not-subtle hint, happily introducing Coulson to the other visiting Asgardians, and the conversation moved on, neatly folding the new arrivals into the chatter. Fury never seemed like one for small talk, mostly listening and observing, and Coulson made every word he said count, which didn't entirely surprise Tony.
"Hey. You coming back to New York with us?" He finally asked, waving a glass of soda to get attention. Food had already arrived on the tables once and it had been proven once again that Asgardians had truly terrifying appetites. Which was why he'd bought out half the restaurant, of course.
"I beg your pardon?" Phil wanted to know, blinking at Tony.
"New York. Avengers Tower. Empty apartments I still have which I'm sure you're quite aware of. Come on, don't pretend to be behind in this exchange because I know for a fact you're half a dozen steps ahead of us."
That made Phil just barely smirk. "What makes you think I even want to be in New York?"
"Uh, hello, because THEY are in New York." Tony pointed at Clint and Natasha and totally ignored the glares of death he got from them for pointing out the obvious. "And because I already know where this is going."
"Do you now."
Fury was watching this exchange and half smiling.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do. Fury's tired of our shit. He's got enough to deal with. You, on the other hand, are long used to us."
Bruce blinked once, then laughed low. "Oh. Yeah, that is pretty much perfect. What took you so long, Coulson?"
"I died. Took a while to get back."
"Well that's some curious wording." Loki said, blinking.
"I shall leave you to wonder." Phil replied, smiling, elbows propped on the table and hands laced together. He was on his third round of tequila and was by all appearances stone sober.
Tony took a picture of him with his phone, sending it to Pepper with a simple 'look who's back!' caption.
"Do you MIND, Stark?"
"Nope. Welcome back to the family, Phil, I'm sure we'll drive you completely mad within the year."
"You could be gracious about it, you know." Steve remarked to him.
"Please. He's known me longer than the rest of you. If I was nice to him he'd think I was up to something." When that made Phil smile again, Tony gestured at him and looked at Steve. "See?"
"You're impossible."
"Yep. Now what should we do after we eat the restaurant into near bankruptcy? Because my wallet and I are both open to suggestions."

They spent the evening confusing the hell out of the Miami nightlife. It was in the wee hours of the morning when the visiting Asgardians left, taking Thor with them once he'd said some proper goodbyes to everyone. Loki actually returned the hug this time, after they'd stepped aside and talked for a few moments. Later, Loki would look back and realize that it hadn't even entirely mattered what had been said, it was just that they could talk, sincerely, and that he could look at Thor and see his brother, not a threat.
They all stayed in a hotel that night, and Loki ended up sitting up until sunrise on the balcony, staring out over the ocean and letting his mind roll over the past, what he'd done and just how Thor had gone about fighting him during his power-driven insane scheme. Thor had never really fought him, just tried to contain him, tried to reason with him, even when Loki had been stabbing him.
Guilt and shame never came easily to Loki, and he'd been made aware that it was part of the issues he had. Cluster B, inability to feel guilt or learn from punishment, among many other … colorful issues.
But sitting on the balcony, bone tired and sore and watching the sun come up, he felt pretty fucking guilty.
Strangely more so when the balcony door eased open and Tony was leaning there, rubbing his eyes and asking if Loki had any intent to get any sleep before they had to go back to New York. And his boyfriend (and that was still so strange, so strange and so amazing to think let alone attempt to say) had looked so tired and spent that he'd let himself get pulled up and back into the hotel room, passing out nearly the moment he hit the bed.

A STARK plane was waiting for the group when they finally straggled into Miami's airport, and this time Agent Couslon was leading them, no coordinated shirts or Tony getting out his ID. No, Coulson just walked ahead of them, making a come-on gesture, and they hadn't even bothered getting fully unarmed. Loki was wearing his jacket with Fenrir riding on his back, Natasha still had a gun in a holster, Steve had his shield. No one was in uniform, it was just no one cared anymore. They still hadn't caught up on rest, still sore from the battle.
The airport watched them go by, and when the TSA showed up, Coulson just smiled and held up a badge. Which was when everyone found out that SHIELD trumped TSA, because just that fast they skipped security, carrying what little luggage they had, cutting through the terminals and getting onto the airplane in record time, no one surprised when the little private jet got to cut in line for takeoff.
The flight back was happy but quiet, considering. Bruce went back to sleep, stretched out on one of the couches. Steve and Phil got into a long conversation, quiet enough everyone else left them alone. Loki took the time to talk to Clint and Natasha about how the glasses had worked out, borrowing Tony's laptop and opening the glasses up to run diagnostics, and reboot both his and Clint's because both had had software crashes toward the end. Tony had wandered into the back and claimed the other couch, half asleep and texting with Pepper.
"Phil scares you doesn't he." Natasha remarked, watching Loki change the batteries on her glasses then look through them enough to access the menus, one of his hands flashing through the air as he checked over everything.
"No, it's just perfectly normal to see a Midgardian apparently come back from the dead." Loki replied, focused on what he's doing and not surprised when Clint snickered. "It's obviously not a bad thing. Since my first visit here it's been made abundantly clear that the worst damage I did, as far as you were concerned, was his death. Nevermind that I had no idea and still have no idea who he is. But, I am his murderer and if the roles were reversed the walls would already be red with blood."
"He'll probably take it up with you later." Clint said.
"Yes, that makes me feel so much better." He wove a hand in midair to dismiss the menus and passed Natasha's glasses back, focusing back on Clint's. "Does he ever get upset?"
"Not in any way that you'd want to see." Natasha smiled just a bit.
He paused and looked at them. "You two know him very well, don't you?" Their expressions were enough, especially combined with how they'd greeted him in the restaurant, like old friends, like something far more than old friends but he honestly wasn't sure what. "So. Tell me about him." He focused back on the computer screen, long used to Tony's strange keyboards.
"You should probably just ask him." Clint quirked an eyebrow.
"Mm. No. Because if I ask you I'll also get to understand just how important he is. To you, to everyone else." He glanced across the airplane, where Phil and Steve still were talking, sitting across from each other, paying rapt attention to each other's words. He was quickly concluding that the Agent was damn near impossible to read.
There was a long pause, then Natasha nodded. "Okay. You want to start, Clint?"
"I guess." He paused, then gave Loki a funny look. "It's occurring to me that I told you quite a lot already."
"Yes. I was compelling you. Even if you had no choice but to be honest, that's different. I have made attempts to dismiss the information I gained during that time. I can't make myself forget, but I consider it ill-gotten intel." He closed Clint's glasses up and changed the batteries, passing them back.
Clint accepted them back, putting them on to hang around his neck from the lanyard strap that secured them in combat. "I'm considering us even at this point."
That made him pause, looking up from the laptop. "Thank you. I rather figured that would be a lifelong debt."
"You saved my life. We're even." Clint was quiet for a long moment, then began to talk.
And Loki listened to a story of spying, and killers, ones that worked for a government and some that didn't, and second chances. Eventually Natasha was talking as well, and he wasn't even working on the glasses anymore, just listening with rapt attention as he realized that this man, this Agent Phil Coulson was the thread that had bound Clint and Natasha together. And as Natasha kept talking, he realized that Coulson was the thread that bound them all together. Coulson had been directly involved with all of them before the Avengers.
Somehow, when something spectacular had happened, this strange somewhat unimpressive looking man had been there. He'd been in Arizona, when Thor had first come to Midgard, he'd been in and out of Tony's life since the trial by fire, keeping an eye on him. He'd been there when Steve had been found and come to in a different time. He was a consistent, a constant variable. One that Loki had ran through with a spear, and seemed none the worse for wear from it. Hell, he seemed amused by it.
Loki looked at him across the airplane (less than a dozen paces between them) and wondered who and what Phil Coulson was. For now, though, he'd already had to accept that the man in the suit was part of this strange piece meal family that the Avengers were. He had no part in this decision, and didn't feel like arguing it in the first place. He'd caused these people more than enough pain, he wasn't going to argue the central gear returning to the clockwork.
Even if he had the funny feeling retribution was coming his way later, but that was fine. Loki would have honestly been disturbed if it wasn't.

Pepper was waiting for them when they got back to the Tower. She threw an arm around Tony and Loki both, reeled them and stood there for a few moments in a three way hug that they returned, still alive, still whole, safely home. Only then did she greet the others, tossing her arms in a glad hug around Phil.
"You indestructible jerk. What took you so long, Phil?"
"His name is Agent." Tony said with a snerk. "He's sticking around, I suspect, you okay with that Pep?"
She gave him a look, having already let Coulson go. "Of course I am."
"Guess we all agree then."
"Do I get a say in this?" Phil wanted to know, looking amused, which is to say he looked like he was considering smiling.
Tony gave him a look. "Stop."
"Like I'm going to readily admit you're right about anything, Stark."
"You're going to fit in just fine here." Steve laughed.

Bruce, Tony, and Loki were back in the labs within an hour of coming back to the Tower, tearing apart what was left of the Wardenclyffe and trying to figure out how to prevent future failures. The production levels were already working on fabricating most of Tony's next suit, some parts of it were on standby for adjustments and upgrades that had already been on the drawing board.
And just that fast, normal life resumed in the Tower. Pepper clung to them harder that night, and they clung back, because the battle had felt far too close. Then life just seemed to… recover, and they all moved on. The Tower was a happy place, Loki had come to realize. No one was letting it be a center for bad memories, this was the place to recover and laugh. There was a lot of laughter in the rumpus room.
And Phil Coulson joined in neatly, fit in like a puzzle piece that no one had really noticed was missing, taking one of the empty apartments, and an office (he actually ended up with Tony's long abandoned, long unused office, as Tony basically lived in the labs). He took over dealing with the media (because yes, it was noticed by many that the navy had tried to blow the hell out of a section of Florida everglades), what else he did in his office was a mystery to everyone, and he wasn't telling.
He left Loki alone for over a week, which was basically just long enough to lull him into a false sense of security. Loki was in his part of the lab, working on the redesign of the Wardenclyffe. Tony had worked out the math then left the fabrication to him because he was caught up with something to do with the suit, something about thrust angles and rocketry and Loki had lost track about thirty seconds into his rant. Not that he minded, he was long used to it now, and he was holding a vibranium ring up to the light when he looked through it and saw Phil standing patiently in the doorway, arms crossed and leaning on the doorjamb.
Phil quirked an eyebrow when Loki jumped out of his skin, the ring suddenly twirling slowly in midair as it fell and Loki abruptly on the other side of the room. "Wow, Mr. Laufeyson. Try decaf."
"You scared the fucking shit out of me." Loki replied, hand on his chest as the vibranium ring clattered to the floor and ended up somewhere under one of his work tables. "Loki is fine. Fucking hell are you always so quiet?"
"Yes." Phil just looked at him.
Loki blew out a breath, getting his heart rate back down and walking back to his stool, not sitting back down though. "So…"
"You killed me, and I'd like to talk about it."
"You do cut to the chase, don't you?" He sighed. "I rather figured you might want to discuss it…"
That was as far as he got before Phil was across the room and his fist was connecting with Loki's jaw, hard enough it sent him to the floor. He hadn't even had time to react, and he ended up sprawling on the cold tile clutching his jaw, wondering how the hell a human had moved that fast let alone hit him that hard.
"I had more than that coming to me." Loki finally said, once he was confident his jaw was not in fact broken.
"Agreed." Phil said, offering the same hand down to him to help him up. "But, seeing as how you didn't actually manage to kill me, and since you saved Clint and possibly the rest of the world… I'm willing to call us even."
He hesitated for a moment before accepting the hand up, still rubbing his jaw. "That's it?"
"Somewhat. I was obviously quite put out with you, but given what you've done for everyone, particularly for Tony, Pepper, Natasha, and Clint… Mostly forgiven. But, being run through was a particularly painful experience, so I couldn't just let it go completely."
Loki was agog, because Phil could have been discussing the weather for all his voice tone gave away. Only a somewhat intense stare let Loki know how serious the man was. "Why do I get the impression that you don't talk this much? To anyone?"
Phil smiled, just a little.
He canted his head, then had to grin. "Ohhh. I do like you."
"Good, because I don't think I'm leaving anytime soon." He nodded and moved to step out the door, pausing and looking over his shoulder. "You seem to have found your conviction."
Loki froze for a split second, mind reeling back to the helicarrier, and the man in front of him on the ground, dying and not even concerned about the fact. "I suppose I did." He finally said, staring.
Phil nodded again. "Good." Then he was gone, back down the hallway.
Loki sat down heavily, rubbing his jaw again in wonder. He'd had the rug yanked out of him by yet another Midgardian. But, even as he got down on his hands and knees and looked under the work table to figure out where the hell that vibranium ring had gotten off to, he found himself oddly okay with that. He was surrounded by spectacular people, and he'd be crazy to not appreciate it.
But then, as he stood back up and put the vibranium ring back on the table, he was kind of crazy. Even as he thought that one of his work screens brought up a flashing clock, Jarvis giving him a silent reminder, and he reached for the pill bottle automatically.
"Hey."
He looked up, and smiled when he saw Tony there. "Hey."
"I saw Phil pass through. Everything okay?"
He tapped one of the pills into his palm. "I may have a bruise tomorrow but everything's fine."
To his credit, Tony barely blinked. "Alright then. Sushi for dinner?"
Loki grinned. "Yeah, sure." He watched the other man walk back down the hallway yelling at Bruce about something, and took his meds, smiling.
Life in the Tower moved on, and Loki Laufeyson, neither Asgard nor Jotun nor Midgardian, had somehow become part of it. And he was damned if he was going to change that.