Chapter Text
The day was old, and while the costumed crusaders had emerged from the New York battle victorious, they knew that the true fight was far from over. They were tired and weary though, and had concurred to a night of rest before starting a search anew.
The heroes could be found strewn across the roof of Stark’s tower. They sat watching the fire in the sky as it touched the horizon, hoping to forget the fires on the streets from just hours before. Newly minted as the Avengers, they could barely be called a team. Few of them had known another for more than a day, and their lack of cohesion reflected such. They were spirited, though, and had made up for their unsteady teamwork with their stubbornness and dedication.
The group was quiet; subdued, but not silent. It was doubtful that Stark or Thor were truly capable of holding a silence, but they were conscious enough to not be loud or brash when the time called for it. Now was one such time, and the air lay thick upon the roof with the weight of their missing ally.
There were no deaths nor major injuries within the heroes, and while some of their enemies had truly been allies whose minds were not their own, most were recovered with nothing more than minor scrapes and headaches. However, their ally, the wizard, had vanished while the battle transpired.
He had appeared suddenly in their time of need; providing information and a unique ability to affect the Mad Titan’s control on ill-gotten servants. He had done his job in the end; removing the minds of their Midgard-bound enemies from the hive-like network that had been forcing them together, but he was no longer present by the battle’s conclusion. Reveling in their victory had not felt right with a shield-brother lost to the wind.
The recordings taken from within the flying base had been reviewed soon after the fighting had ceased. They saw as the wizard delved into the mind of a servant still connected to the Mad Titan’s network. Saw as a blue light surround the wizard, almost emulating from within him. The pale blue of the Titan’s power—pale blue as Loki will not forget for centuries—took the wizard from within the flying base in a quick flash.
There were so many questions left behind and no answers to be got. Had the wizard been in league with the Mad Titan? Was he captured? Was he still alive? Was his mind still his own?
And perhaps, most confoundingly, it was noted that it was after his disappearance—after—when the Mad Titan’s network was severed. As such it couldn’t even be said with certainty if it was in fact their ally who had defeated the network. But if not the wizard, then whom?
Sitting in the sunset, surrounded by almost-teammates, Loki felt hollow.
Here was yet another person that he interacted with, cared for, whose life had been destroyed by Loki.
Perhaps the only emotion he could identify at this point was his now ever-present fear. Even without their missing wizard to worry over, the Mad Titan was still out there. The battle may be won, but the war was far from over and the next move uncertain.
It was surprisingly Thor who was the first to note the additional presence upon the rooftop.
He tensed at Loki’s side. The small movement causing a wave of battle preparedness to ripple through the group, for while exhausted, they were still strung tight from the day’s events and ready as ever to defend themselves.
Thor stood with a ceremonial air—an interesting fact to note—and addressed the shadowed wall. Loki and the other heroes all stood as well, preparing to better receive a threat.
“What brings you to us, Child of Death?” Thor inquired.
Ah, that explained much. Loki could now see the humanoid outline within the shadow, but did not let himself relax. The skill of walking through shadows was unique to only the offspring of Death, but being sought out by such beings was most always cause for alarm.
The shadow was still for a moment, perhaps hesitating, not truly meaning to have been noticed. It would not be the first time such an occurrence happened around Loki. His position as the father of one of Death’s Lieutenants meant its children would oft spy on him in innocent curiosity.
Loki waited, hoping that the this was one such occurrence and the shadow outline would soon leave and take the child with it, but instead the shape grew darker, coalescing into a solid form. The shadows parted, revealing, with great surprise, their lost ally. A wary excitement flew through the collected heroes. Was he here as returned ally, or as a new enemy? The possibility was there for either, for regardless of the wizard’s desire, he could now be Thanos’ new servant, here to finish what Loki did not.
The wizard—Harry—moved forward. His head was bowed, eyes even further downcast, and he stopped not far from the wall, visibly curling in on himself as if it pained him to attempt coming any closer.
Loki took a step towards him, but aborted the move when he got any even better look at the child. Traces of blood had dried around his mouth, drips of it stained into his shirt. His pallor was death-like, which reminded him, “Are you truly a Child of Death? Were you not born a wizard—a human?”
It was something—anything to talk about. He was trying to provoke a reaction, to get information on what occurred, to see whose side Harry stands with now.
Harry’s eyes flicked up briefly—thankfully still green, though they seemed muted somehow—and the barest ghost of a smirk flitted across his lips, “Guess you can say I was adopted.”
If his eyes were still green, then the Mad Titan must have little, if any control over him. Was he voluntarily on the Titan’s side? Bribed or threatened to be there? Or was he still against the Titan? Did he manage to get away? Was his disappearance even connected to the Mad Titan at all?
“Adopted?” Loki returned more jovially, hiding his inner analysis. He let his eyes crinkle and a playful smile touch his lips, trying to get the child to open up to him some more.
Harry looked up more steadily this time, “I was an experiment. Death was attempting to see if they could create a child who was still alive.”
“Did they succeed?” He truly wanted to know the answer.
“Yes,” was replied as Harry’s mouth formed a self-deprecating smile. He turned his head, looking out across the roof. He swallowed, gaze flicking back to Loki then down, “I killed him,” he muttered.
There was rushing in Loki’s ears. There was no way…
“Who?” his voice shook.
“Thanos,” Harry whispered back.
There were gasps from behind him, but Loki himself couldn’t breathe. He could feel the truth in the statement. He was so full of relief and giddy joy that he couldn’t get his body to accept it, instead standing frozen in shock. It was Harry, though, looking as if he might break; looking so small, like a gust might blow him right off the tower, that broke through Loki’s reverie. He strode up, pulled Harry’s head into his chest and held him there. He offered a grounding point for the child. He offered a return of the comfort Harry had given him this morning, a lifetime ago, before the battle.
Behind him, Loki heard his team moving about. He heard the door opening and Tony and Steve murmuring as the team shuffled back into the tower. Enough answers were had now to be able to rejoice, to know of their safety, of their battle’s end. They would eventually need more information for true clarity, but for now, they let Loki support Harry here on the top of this tower. There was no rush.
They gave their privacy and support, and let the two exist here, together, on the top of the world.