Amateur Theatrics

by galaxysoup

Chapter 19

Tony goes for Loki at the exact same time, with the end result that he and Clint crack heads painfully but successfully keep Loki from hitting the ground. Loki blinks woozily up at them.

“Did you teleport?” He asks, clearly impressed.

“Damn near,” Clint mutters, heart (and head) pounding. “Tell me how you’re feeling, kid.”

“A little dizzy,” Loki admits. “My hand feels weird. I don’t like that device.”

Clint takes Loki’s hand in his own - it’s ice cold nearly up to his elbow. “All right, I’m taking you to get checked out,” he says, gathering Loki up.

Loki’s head lolls against his shoulder. “Did it work?”

“Yep. You did good. Give me five.” Loki beams, tangling his fingers in the front of Clint’s shirt, and misses completely when he tries to give Clint five.

Steve, Bruce, and Coulson meet them at the door, Steve and Bruce crowding forward and Coulson hanging back with his hands in his pockets.

“Is he okay?” Bruce asks anxiously.

“Says he’s dizzy. I’m taking him down to medical.”

“Good,” Coulson says. “While they’re checking him out you and I can have a little talk about containment procedures.” Clint rolls his eyes. Coulson gives him one of those looks, the ones that make him wonder if Coulson is secretly related to his long-ago kindergarten teacher. Damn, that woman could glare.

“I turned Tony into a man again,” Loki tells Steve conspiratorially. “I figured it out all by myself.”

Steve hides a laugh. “Say, you must be pretty smart.”

Loki nods. “Mm-hm. You will let me know if it wears off, yes?”

“What?!” Tony yelps from behind them. Loki giggles.

They get Loki settled on a cot next to Thor, and then Clint is persuaded to back off enough for the medical staff to get a look at him. Loki seems bemused but unperturbed by the attention, answering all their questions with a degree of grave seriousness that tells Clint he’s humoring them.

Clint’s just glad he’s answering. Clint’s just glad he’s conscious. When he’d fallen in the containment room...

Well. Clint’s still not sure he actually didn’t teleport. The time between Tony registering concern and Loki blinking up at them is a little bit jumbled in Clint’s mind.

“Hey.” Steve’s hand on his arm jogs him out of his thoughts. “There’s a situation downtown. You and Tony need to go check it out.”

“Now?” Clint demands, poleaxed.

Steve’s expression is sympathetic, but his eyes are commander-cool. He’ll make this an order if he has to. “Yeah. I’m sorry - it looks like it’s another one of those robot things. You and Tony are still the only two active-duty Avengers we’ve got.”

Tony scowls. “We’re not paying SHIELD enough if they haven’t zeroed in on Mister Roboto yet.”

“Technically, they’re paying us,” Bruce points out. “We’ll keep an eye on Loki and we’ll give you updates as soon as we hear anything. I personally promise to be very annoying to the medical staff.”

Clint glances at the bed. They’re taking Loki’s blood pressure, which Loki seems to think is both hilarious and fascinating. It’s a welcome sight after the emotional pyrotechnics of the night before.

“I - okay,” he says reluctantly. Save the world, protect innocents, etc. etc. It’s not like he has a medical degree or anything, he can’t actually technically help here. “As soon as you hear something - “

“We’ll tell you,” Bruce promises again.

“If he gets scared - “

“I’ll tell him it was my fault for sending you away,” Steve says. That hadn’t been exactly what Clint meant but... No. That’s good. Loki should know he hadn’t wanted to leave.

Clint nods, and goes. If he’s focused and on his game, he can be back pretty quickly. And it will be better for the innocent bystanders. That too, of course. Avengers assemble.

Yeah.