Now I See

Loki soon regretted ever letting go of Gungnir. He could still see the faces of his supposed father and brother hanging over him. Thor's eyes were pleading and his face was awash with both worry and hope. Hope that maybe life could go back to being what it was like before his almost coronation. The Trickster only scoffed at that, realizing that was not possible, he was beyond hurt, and so he let go.

He fell from the broken Bi Frost and into the blackness. After a while he stopped trying to remember how much time had passed, it did not really matter anymore. There was absolutely nothing around him and it was driving him insane. It was if time existed but simultaneously did not exist. Nothing made sense. Then again, he was a Jotun raised to believe he was of Asgardian royalty. Loki grit his teeth, his true visage disgusted him, it was the face of a monster.

The God of Mischief had resigned himself to his fate when his body suddenly lurched downwards at an alarming speed. Everything rushed past him in a blur and Loki barely had time to register that he was indeed falling, before he crashed into the ground. Hard.

"HOLY SHIT!"

Oh look, he could hear again.

Loki tried to push himself to his feet, but soon found that he did not have the strength to even open his eyes to see where he was.

"Are you okay? Where in the hell did you come from buddy?"

There was that voice again.

The god clenched his teeth. "Where am I?"

The voice said nothing at first. "Malibu. California? The United States? Earth? Ring any bells there?"

Ah, Midgard, that explains the annoying voice in front of him.

"Midgard," Loki said softly. He had landed in the realm of humans.

"Mid- what?"

"Midgard," Loki snapped as he opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. "It's what you hum-" He stopped abruptly. There was nothing. Wait, that couldn't be right. He heard that voice, so there must be a body to go with it. So, where was it? Loki knew it had been a while since he's been to Midgard, but he knew that it still existed.

"Hey, buddy, I have to get you to a hospital." The voice said has he laid a hand on the god's shoulder.

Loki blinked rapidly.

He couldn't see.

He couldn't SEE.

"I can't see," Loki gasped.

Fear gripped his chest and refused to lessen its hold. It was like the void, absolute darkness.

He was blind.

"If you won't let me take to a hospital, at least let me get you out of the road before we both die." The Midgardian voice said.

Luckily, the god landed in the middle of the highway at three o'clock in the morning and there was no traffic to flatten him.

A motorcycle suddenly flew by and its driver shouted an expletive followed by the finger.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't totally deserted.

Loki allowed the human to help him into his vehicle, all the while saying absolutely nothing. What could he say? Hi, I'm the God of Mischief and I can't see, nice to meet you. He cringed at the thought. Loki knew enough that it had been years since anyone has regarded his race as gods.

After a short ride, Loki felt the metal contraption slow to a halt. The human came around and opened the door to help him out.

It's like I'm a child again, Loki thought bitterly.

"Home sweet home," the human said and showed his guest inside. "Jarvis, lights please."

"Certainly, sir."

Loki narrowed his eyes and whirled his head around. What sort of magic was this? He was not aware that humans possessed such talent.

"Whoa, whoa there!" The human said, and rushed to Loki's side. "That's Jarvis, my computer. He runs my house basically."

"Indeed I do," the robotic voice said a bit smugly. Can robots even sound smug?

Loki was still distrustful.

"Hey," the human said as he helped Loki settle into one of the recliners in his living room. "I never introduced myself. I'm Anthony Stark. But you can call me Tony."

"Tony?" Loki said slowly.

"You don't know me? Huh, you must not be from this planet," Stark joked.

Loki smirked. How right this human was.

"So what may I call the person who almost landed on the hood of my very expensive sports car?"

There was a pause.

"Loki."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Loki, are you deaf mortal?" The god said evenly.

Tony blinked, and then blinked again. Loki… Loki… I've heard that name before…think Stark. All those years of stupid general education could be useful right about now.

Loki was growing bored and weary, but mostly weary. It had been a long time since he had last slept.

"Wait, you're telling me that you are the Norse god, Loki?" Tony said incredulously. "Because that is just not happening."

Loki smiled tiredly. "I assure you, that I am completely sane when I tell you that I am in fact that Loki."

Okay, so maybe not completely sane.

Stark rubbed his temples. "So you're Loki. I'm gonna have to google you, because I don't think I remember anything from Freshman English class. Anyway, I'll help you to one of the many spare rooms."

Several things popped into Loki's mind, such as: "What does 'google' mean?" and "What in the nine realms is a 'Freshman'?

He allowed himself to be escorted to one of the spare rooms that Stark was talking about. The lack of sight was extremely annoying. He had to completely rely on the human to direct him. It was a weakness Loki was not accustomed to, and he did not welcome it.

"There you are," Stark said, as he helped Loki onto the nearby bed. "Get some rest, and I'll have a doctor check you out tomorrow."

Loki settled down onto the soft bed and Tony turned the lights off. He actually felt kind of stupid turning off the lights for a blind guy, but he pushed the thought aside.

"Just ask Jarvis if you need anything."

Loki nodded. "Thank you, Tony," he said quietly.

Stark smiled a bit and wished him a good night.

As soon as the human had left, Loki checked himself over for any serious injuries. There were a few bruises and perhaps a cracked bone or two, nothing life threatening at the moment. But it seemed that his magic had been drained, when he went to mend his bones his magic barely flickered. Loki frowned, the void was the most logical answer.

He sighed and closed his sightless eyes, and drifted off to sleep after what seemed like centuries.

Loki awoke to the heat of the sun on his face. Slowly lifting himself up, he carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed. He winced when he remembered just what had transpired a few hours ago.

I fell to Midgard of all places, and was found by a human. An annoying one at that, Loki thought to himself. He tried moving a bit more, but his battered body protested loudly. Nope, not doing that yet. What was the name of that computer Tony mentioned?

"Jarvis?" He tried.

"At your service Mr. Loki."

Loki was a bit lost for words, what a shock.

"Where is Tony?" He asked after a beat.

"He's currently in his workshop. Shall I fetch him for you?" Came the robotic British voice.

"If you would please."

"Right away, sir."

Loki decided to lie back down to avoid anymore unnecessary pain. He curled his hand into a fist and cursed his current state. Oh so far has he has fallen. The once proud Prince of Asgard, reduced to being helped by a mere mortal. But he wasn't a prince, not of Asgard anyway. He was a Frost Giant, the very monster that scared children into listening to their parents.

"It's good to have you back. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to destroy Jotunheim!"

"I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal!"

"I could have done it, Father! I could have done it! For you! For all of us!"

The god bit back a growl. He had tried to erase his "kind" from existence, maybe then he could forget what he was. All his life he had tried to gain his father's approval, only to be pushed aside for his older brother. And yet, despite his efforts, he was never rewarded. Now he understood why, why, Odin never seemed to care.

"When I am king, I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all! Just as you did, Father."

Monster.

His brother's words rang through his mind, over and over again. Even though they had been uttered when Thor was but a child, they still hurt.

Monster.

Loki slammed his head back against the pillows, trying to push the sudden chill from his skin.

Of course Tony Stark chose that exact moment to dramatically walk through the bedroom door.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" He announced, then stopped dead in his tracks. "Uh, dude, you're blue."

Loki turned in the direction of the voice and widened his crimson eyes in surprise.

"Don't worry about it," Tony said dismissively. "We found this guy who had been frozen in ice for seventy years, he was pretty blue too."

"You are not afraid of me?" Loki said slowly. It was a new feeling. Tony had no idea what a Frost Giant was, but he still wasn't afraid.

At least in this condition, I won't have to look at myself in this form.

Tony shrugged. "I'm used to freaky stuff."

"I see."

Tony paled. "Not that you're freaky!" He said quickly. "I like blue, blue is good. Though I prefer red and gold, but hey, that's me. Anyway, doctor, yes a doctor would be a good thing. Wait, since you're not human a doctor would be pointless, so scratch that. Are you in any pain? Of course you are. Um, you hungry? I am. I could go for some waffles or something. God, Tony stop talking."

Loki did not know that humans did not need air in order to talk. He was waiting for Tony to draw a breath somewhere during his tirade.

"Okay, you know what, let's start over."

Loki blinked.

Tony extended his hand in front of Loki. "My name is Tony Stark. This is the part where you take my hand."

The Jotun blue slowly began to recede as Loki mimicked Tony's movement, clasping the other's hand firmly after a bit of confusion as to where the human's hand actually was.

"I'm Loki," he said. "Laufeyson." He added after a thought. Odinson did not seem appropriate anymore, but then again, neither did Laufeyson. "No, forget that."

Tony raised an eyebrow and released his grip.

"Just, Loki."

The genius smirked. "Okay, Loki, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Loki answered, and surprisingly he meant it.

"C'mon, I'll have Jarvis make us breakfast."

Tony helped Loki stand and walk down the hall. The god was still not used to his lack of sight. It was frustrating to say the least. Though, Tony was a great guide. He never ran into anything like he was expecting. Soon he found himself in a chair with the scent of something that smelled delicious wafting through the air.

It took a second after Tony had set a plate in front of him to become comfortable with eating. After a few tries, Loki got the hang of it, and was able to eat well enough.

"So did you really do it with a horse?"

Loki made a noise and almost choked on his food.

"I'd rather not discuss that with you," Loki muttered.

Tony laughed into his waffle. "All right, are any of the stories true?"

"Some."

"Which ones?"

Loki smiled. "That is a story for a different time."

"Sir, Miss Potts is here."

Tony jumped up. "Right on time."

Loki paid him no mind as he finished his breakfast. He did look up when he heard someone besides Tony walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, hello."

A woman's voice.

"Loki," Tony said as he came around to stand next to the god. "This is Pepper. Pepper, Loki."

"Is he the one that I brought clothes for then?" Pepper said as she reached into the bag she was holding.

"Yup, meet our resident Norse deity." Tony said proudly.

"Right. Well I hope these fit. Hopefully he's not too picky."

"I assure you Lady Potts, whatever you have is fine. I can't see it either way, so it really does not matter," Loki replied.

Pepper blushed. "I'm so sorry, I forgot."

"It's quite all right."

She handed a pair of dark gray jeans and a thin green hoodie from the bag and handed them to Tony.

"Can you stand up for a minute, Loki?" Pepper asked.

The Norse god nodded.

She held the jeans up to his waist and then the hoodie to his torso.

"I think it'll work," Pepper announced. "Am I great or what? Though you look to be a bit on the skinny side. Do you ever eat?"

Loki chuckled. His mother used to say the same thing to him. Sometimes he would lock himself in his chambers with his books and read for days. Frigga was always trying to get him to come out and eat once in a while, but he was too busy with his spell books.

Frigga.

What was she to him now? After all, she was the only one who paid any sort of attention to him growing up. Odin was always distant, and Thor was there, but he was busy with his friends most of the time. They were never his friends to begin with. But Frigga was always there and it occurred to him that she must have known, and yet she still loved him like he was really her own son. She showed him more affection than she did Thor.

"My mother would say the same thing, Lady Potts."

Loki finally settled the debate in his mind. Frigga is, and will always be his mother.

"She must be a wise woman," Pepper smiled.

Loki nodded. "She is. You remind me of her."

Tony groaned. "Don't tell her she reminds you of your mother, a Norse god. Now I'll have to pay her more."

Pepper smacked him lightly on the arm. "I do deserve a raise."

"Yes," Tony confessed. "yes you do."

A little while later, Loki was sitting in the gym listening to Tony and a man that had been introduced to him as Steve Rogers, spar. Actually Tony had said his name was "Capsicle" before the other man shoved him and told the god his real name.

The good captain reminded him of Thor, by what Tony described, blond hair and blue eyes and a love for fighting, but also his personality. Steve was kind and protective of his friends, much like his brother. And it seemed that both Steve and Thor commanded respect even though they didn't realize it.

Loki smiled sadly. He missed Thor. He supposes, like his mother, he still considers Thor his older brother. They had spent millennia together as such. The image of his brother's face as he fell from the bridge is seared into his brain. He wishes he could apologize, but the bridge is broken and his magic depleted. Unless Thor found an alternate way to Earth, he couldn't ever say those words to his brother.

"Hey there."

Loki just about jumped out of his seat.

"Clint," a female voice said icily.

"Sorry man, forgot. You know, about your, you know."

Loki stared wide eyed ahead at the direction he thought the voice was coming from.

"Loki," Tony said as he jogged over. "This idiot is Clint or Hawkeye."

He shook Clint's hand. "Why do they call you Hawkeye?"

Clint puffed out his chest. "Because I'm the best archer in the world, and I see better from a distance."

"Of course." Though that just reminded Loki of how he couldn't.

"Modest much?" A woman's voice said. "My name is Natasha."

Loki nodded. He felt overwhelmed by the number of people near him. "Loki," he replied.

"So you're the Norse god we've heard Stark ramble on about." Clint smirked.

"I do not ramble!"

"Sure, sure," Clint admonished, before turning back to Loki. "So you're magic is gone?"

Loki played with the end of his sleeve awkwardly. "Not gone, just depleted. It will return in time."

"That's good. What will you do?" The archer asked.

"That is a good question."

Tony snorted. "You could always join our Super Secret Boy Band, plus Natasha."

Loki looked confused.

"Stark," Black Widow said in almost a growl. "That is classified."

Tony shrugged. "He's a god, who's he gonna tell? Like he actually cares."

It was true. Who would Loki tell?

"I will think about it," Loki said. "If you would excuse me, I'd like to rest a bit."

Two weeks had passed, and Loki's magic still had not returned. He was beginning to worry if it would return at all. Tony had reassured him that it would be all right, but the god was not convinced. The human knew nothing about magic, though he did know a great deal about science.

Loki mostly passed the time by sitting in Tony's workshop listening to him tinker with his machines. It was oddly calming.

He finally gathered enough courage to ask the mortal one question.

"What is that on your chest, Tony?"

Tony looked up, surprised. "Can you see now?" He asked happily.

Loki shook his head. "No, I felt its energy the first moment I met you."

There was silence.

"It's keeping me alive."

Loki cocked his head. "How so?"

Tony put down the screwdriver he was holding and sighed. "It's a long story."

"I have the time," Loki assured him.

"Well," Tony said, a hand running though his dark brown hair. "I used to be a weapons maker. They called me 'The Merchant of Death', awful nickname. When I went to Afghanistan to show off one of my new creations, I was blown up by one of my own bombs that had fallen into terrorists hands."

Loki listened, fascinated.

"I was held and tortured for months because when they found out who I really was, they wanted me to build them a weapon. I eventually broke out only to find out that the man who I thought was a father figure to me ordered the hit in the first place." Tony said bitterly. "The man I trusted for years betrayed and tried to have me killed. Maybe he was never the man I thought I knew."

Loki knew the feeling all too well.

"The shrapnel embedded in my heart is kept still by the arc reactor in my chest. It will hold the metal there so it doesn't shred my insides."

Without thinking, Loki brought his hand up and rested it on the device. Tony sucked in a breath and sat still. The god's long, pale fingers traced the cold, metal reactor and stopped. He could feel the energy radiating off of it.

"Impressive," Loki whispered.

Tony laughed. "I'll say."

"Thank you. I feel as if I owe you an explanation in return."

"Only if you want to."

Loki nodded. "It is only fair."

The engineer wasn't going to complain. How often does one hear a story from a Norse god? Exactly.

"I grew up in Asgard, one of the Nine Realms," the god started. "The man who I thought was my father stole me from another place when I was just a baby. I was under the impression that I was the Prince of Asgard, along with my older brother, Thor. But it was all a lie. He took me for a purpose, and claimed that he loved me, even though he loved my brother more."

Loki paused.

"Thor was always with the Warriors Three and Lady Sif. They tolerated me, but only because Thor was there. I was not as strong or fast as them, so I was looked down upon as weak. I played pranks in order for someone to notice me. That's how I earned my title: The God of Lies and Mischief." Loki smirked, he actually was proud of that.

"Thor never noticed?" Tony asked slowly.

Loki smiled sadly. "Thor loved me, of that I am certain. It wasn't his fault. He tried." The god's fingers played with his raven colored hair. "Mother was the only one who saw me for what I really was and still loved me despite the fact."

The billionaire stood. "We both have pretty crappy fathers, huh?"

Loki stared.

"My father never had time for me. He was always working or too busy. It felt like I was never good enough for him, no matter what I accomplished. It was always, 'Tony don't touch that', 'go play upstairs' or 'find your mother.' You know, he never once told me that he loved me." Tony said, his voice low.

He reached over and grabbed two glasses and a bottle of scotch and poured it. Tony placed one glass in Loki's hand and clinked them together.

"To fathers," Tony mumbled and downed his.

The Norse god hesitated, then drank the liquid like Tony.

It was three months later and still no magic. Loki was still worried, but he had settled living at the mansion with Tony, Steve, Natasha and Clint. He had yet to meet this Bruce Banner, but was told that he was off saving lives in remote countries.

He had become adept at finding his way around unaccompanied with only Jarvis as occasional help. It seemed he had fallen into a routine with the rest of the "Avengers" as they called themselves. Every morning he would wake and then eat with the team. Steve would try to teach him basic defensive moves, even though Loki told him he had been a prince and was trained in hand to hand combat. Steve didn't believe him until Loki had grappled and threw him to the mat.

Clint laughed uncontrollably until his sides hurt and Natasha had to hide a grin.

"Okay, I believe you," Rogers said.

Since he was proficient in the art of archery, he and Clint had a lot to talk about. Clint would pester him about technique and Loki had promised to show him once his eyesight returned. Tony found them one evening examining Clint's arrow collection. Well, Clint was explaining while Loki ran his fingers up and down the arrows, memorizing every curve and point.

Natasha and he would talk about different things. She was normally a quiet, reserved person, like Loki, so they got along well. She had made him hot chocolate one morning and suddenly she was his new best friend. Perhaps they did not have chocolate on Asgard.

But his favorite times were still listening to Tony work. He would sit in the lab for hours and talk with the engineer about a totally array of subjects. Loki believed that he had actually found his intellectual equal on Midgard, which was something he could not even do on Asgard. Tony was far too smart to be a human.

He was enjoying their conversation about how magic and science was the same but different, when an alarm went off.

"That's my cue," Tony muttered and dropped what he was working on. "Avengers assemble and all that jazz."

He went over to his suit and waited as Jarvis pieced it together. Tony pointed a finger at Loki.

"I know, I know," Loki smirked. "Stay in the tower. Yes, you've said it a million times."

"That's right," Stark nodded as his faceplate came down. "I don't need to come back and find out that you were hit by a bus trying to cross the street, even if it wouldn't kill you."

Loki crossed his arms.

"Be back in a few," Tony said as he blasted off into the sky.

Loki waited and waited. This was the longest mission that the Avengers had been called out on since he had been here. By Midgardian time, it has been well over two hours since Tony had left. The god waited on the upstairs couch for them to return.

Then he felt it. The energy signature that he had come to associate Tony with, dropped suddenly. Loki gasped and turned to a window as if he could see out it.

That was not a good idea in hindsight.

The window exploded, showering the room with bits of glass. Loki fell backwards, shielding his face from the worst of the blast. He pushed himself to his feet, unsure of what to do.

"Well what do we have here?" A deep, booming voice mocked. "You must be Loki. My name is Victor von Doom"

Loki growled.

"I've done some research about you," the man continued. "Why not join me? We could rule the world together."

The God of Lies scoffed. "No thanks."

Doom narrowed his eyes. "You're content with being Stark's pet?" He sneered. "We could be invincible together."

Loki backed away a bit. "I'm no one's pet," he spat the last word out as if it had left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Have it your way then." Doom smiled.

Loki had no warning when Doom backhanded him and he flew back into the wall. Correction, through the damn wall. Dust filled his lungs as he struggled to breathe properly. He was trapped, he had no magic and no way of knowing where the other man was. The god swore, feeling the taste of copper filling his mouth.

"One last chance, little god." Victor taunted.

Loki spat out a mouthful of blood. "Go to Hel. I'm sure my daughter would be thrilled to see you."

"Very well." Doom sighed, and grabbed Loki around the throat. "Perhaps you would like to see her yourself, Trickster."

He tightened his grip as Loki tried desperately to take a breath. The world spun as Doom forcibly threw him back. Loki felt the thin glass window give under his weight and suddenly he was falling.

Granted Loki was used to falling, he would fly around Asgard as children with Thor and see who could out do the other. This time however, Thor was not here and he had no way of stopping himself. He knew Tony's tower was several stories tall, and he was sure from this height that it would most likely kill him. What was that Midgardian phrase that the engineer had shouted when they first met? Oh right.

"Shit,"

He silently bit farewell to Thor and Frigga and waited for the impact.

Only it never came. His ears were filled with a roar of engines and he felt two metal arms wrap around his torso as he fell. Using Loki's momentum, Tony steered them clear of the concrete as many people gasped and ran for cover.

"Tony!"

"Hey there Lokes," Tony grinned. "Nice of you to drop in."

"Not the time," Loki muttered.

They landed amidst the other Avengers. The Doombots were either destroyed or they had already retreated. Tony flew back up the tower to kick Doom's ass, but when he arrived, the room was vacant. Iron Man frowned, we had been looking forward to grinding Doom's head into the pavement.

"He's gone," Tony said bitterly as he touched down. "Damn."

Clint clasped Loki on the shoulder. "Oh, man!" he shouted. "I thought we were going to have to scrape you off the road! Don't ever scare us like that again."

"My apologizes," Loki smirked. "I will try to refrain from being thrown from tall buildings from now on."

"Good," Clint barked. "because I nearly had a heart attack!"

The Avengers had moved into another floor while Tony's crew worked on repairing the damage that Doom had inflicted. They had led a protesting Loki to the medical bay, who kept insisting that he was fine, and he didn't need them smothering him.

Tony wasn't having any of it.

"Sit down, or I'll strap you down," he warned.

Loki smirked.

Iron Man fixed him with his "I'm-not-going-to-let-you-leave-so-sit-still-mister" look, and that was the end of that conversation.

A couple hours later, the team was in the living room relaxing with a movie. Tony had said that they could do something else for Loki's sake, but the god only shook his head. He knew movie nights were a tradition after vanquishing an enemy.

"It's fine, Tony," Loki said. "I can listen to it perfectly. I'm blind, not deaf."

By the time the second movie had ended, it was completely dark. Loki stood next to a window, pretending to stare out into the night. Clint was snoring on one of the couches and Steve was quietly reading by the lamp. Natasha must have retired a little while ago, but she as so silent that Loki had not noticed.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a lightning storm lit the sky followed by a crack of thunder. Next to him, Tony jumped a bit, but he would never admit it. The lightning flashed again and again overhead, illuminating the night. After the lightning as usual came the rolling thunder. Underneath the Avenger's feet, they felt the tower quake almost in fear.

"Wow, that was sudden," Tony said. "Freak storm."

Loki smiled sadly. "He's searching."

Tony and Steve turned their heads.

"Who's searching?" Tony asked.

Loki stared ahead, his emerald eyes flashing with the lightning. Even though The All Father must have told Thor what he really was, his brother was still looking all over the nine realms for him. A lump had formed in the god's throat. Thor still considered him his little brother, and loved him. The thunder that followed sounded almost like Thor's boisterous laugh to Loki's ears.

"My brother."

This may end up with another chapter depending on feedback. It'll have Thor coming to Earth and meeting Loki and the Avengers.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Nicholls