Chapter Text
"Loki!?" Steve exclaimed incredulously. "That's who you came to save?" He demanded.
"I can explain." Nickie promised quietly as they held him up, letting his body fall slack against their side.
"Oh, you can explain that too, can you!?" Steve retorted incredulously. "And how am I supposed to know you're not just gonna lie about that too?" He scoffed.
Nickie held Steve's gaze as confidently as they could before giving their calculated answer. "...he's my friend."
Steve nearly cursed under his breath as they echoed his words from earlier. He looked away and stared at the ground as Nickie tried to reason with him
"Listen, I don't know who that guy is to you, but I know for a fact he tried to take me out. Whatever he used to be, HYDRA manipulated or used or changed him somehow. You're gonna need someone who knows firsthand what HYDRA are capable of to help you defend him to the others." They said as Steve glared at them through the gaps in his helmet. "If you help me protect Loki... I'll help you protect...?"
"Bucky." Steve answered as he adjusted his hold on the frozen soldier.
"Bucky." Nickie nodded as Steve sighed again, grinding his teeth.
"Are you really blackmailing me?" He asked Nickie. "For his sake?" He added more incredulously. "Nick, he tried to kill you."
"So did Stark." Nickie retorted.
"That was different." Steve protested.
"Different how?" Nickie demanded before softening their voice again. "Please, Steve. They were torturing him... because of me."
Steve forced himself to meet Nickie's gaze and his heart betrayed him, aching at their clear desperation.
Nickie adjusted Loki again, letting him rest his head on their shoulder as he groaned softly. Nickie checked him over again and turned their gaze back to Steve, imploring him to agree.
Steve still hesitated, struggling to reconcile this limp, fragile boy hanging from Nickie's arms with the dangerous warlord he'd fought a year and a half ago.
"...he killed almost a hundred people, Nick." He reminded them.
Nickie bit their lip and took a gamble. "If Bucky hasn't killed the same number, you can lock him up in a S.H.I.E.L.D facility." They negotiated.
Steve sighed and held Bucky's wrists together to rebalance him, the real, gloved one and the frozen metal one. He glanced at his friend's head hanging down against his chest as he weighed up his options.
He had to save Bucky... but he couldn't save Loki...
But he had to save Bucky.
Finally he sighed and shook his head as he looked over at Nickie again. "...you think he's worth saving?" He asked.
Loki groaned pathetically again and slumped, falling from Nickie's shoulder into the snow. Nickie grimaced and looked back up at Steve.
"I know this isn't exactly his strongest moment, but yes. Yes, I do." They assured him.
Steve shook his head one last time and muttered. "I swear, Nick, you make me regret this..."
"-if he betrays the team, I'll kill him before he even has a chance to laugh about it." Nickie interrupted sincerely. Loki groaned again from their feet as he weakly tried to get up.
"Stay down." Steve told him. Loki didn't need to hear it twice, immediately going limp on the ground again, trying to catch his breath. Steve frowned and looked at Nickie. "What's wrong with him?" He asked.
Nickie tilted their head this way and that. "Two parts torture, one part drama queen." They admitted with a shrug. "But he might have information. On HYDRA." They added.
Steve looked down at Loki, who was still grimacing and panting. "Do you?" He demanded. Loki didn't reply for a moment and Steve kicked his side gently. Loki hissed in pain and recoiled into the fetal position on his side as Nickie reacted.
"Hey!" They protested, stepping forward and putting their hands out.
"Yes! I have information!" Loki agreed in a cracked and wounded voice. "Strucker's men, names and codes, some-something about Insight! I have -" a cough cut him off as he started hacking up his lungs again.
Nickie swore under their breath and knelt at his side in the snow. "It's okay." They murmured, rubbing his back as he groaned and gasped for air again, shivering weakly as he went on.
"I can help you." He promised, nodding his head vehemently against the icy ground.
Nickie looked up at Steve pleadingly as they kept their arms out over Loki's fragile body. Steve sighed and looked away as he nodded and fixed Bucky's weight over his shoulder again.
"Fine." He sighed. "He can come back to the Tower."
Nickie grinned widely and nodded once as they replied sincerely. "Thank you, Steve."
"Don't thank me yet." Steve murmured as Nickie pulled Loki back up, groaning dramatically. "I can't promise the others will play nice. You'll have a time convincing Barton." He pointed out.
Nickie paused for a moment then shrugged as they pulled Loki's arms around their shoulders. "We'll figure it out. Right?" They asked.
"Hnngggh." Loki moaned, pressing his face into Nickie's shoulder.
Nick scoffed a short laugh and smiled. "Idiot." They murmured warmly before starting to move again, dragging Loki's long, thin frame through the snow behind them as they followed Steve back towards the Quinjet.
"Where are they?" Natasha sighed, frowning as she crouched at Banner's side, rubbing his arm through the thick blanket.
"Don't worry, they'll be here." Barton assured her, not looking up from his controls.
Natasha glanced back at Bruce, who still looked a little green, and sighed heavily, turning her gazeback to the vast expanse of white, her eyes narrow.
"...There they are!" She said, perking up slightly as she saw the two figures in the distance.
"Yeah?" Barton asked. "The lying bastard too?"
"Clint." Nat chided gently.
"I don't like being betrayed." Barton cut her off, shaking his head. "That little punk gets away with murder." He scoffed.
Nat rolled her eyes. Barton could be very single-minded sometimes.
Steve and Nickie trudged closer through the snow as Nat tapped her comm.
"Stark, return to exit, Frosty and the Freak are inbound."
Tony's audio was a little shaky as he replied. "...Roger that. Shi-!" And he cut out again.
Natasha frowned then looked up as something exploded in midair.
Barton shifted around in his seat. "Was that Stark?" He asked, almost sounding worried.
Nat's piercing eyes scanned the sky and saw Tony's suit gli ting in the light as he turned around.
"Negative. He's fine." She confirmed.
Barton exhaled softly, almost sounding relieved as he turned and sat back properly in his chair. "Booting engines now. Let's make a quit exit."
Natasha nodded in agreement and looked back down at Bruce again. "Hey..." She murmured softly, brushing her hand over his cheek to turn his face gently. "...how you doing?"
Bruce groaned and shuddered dramatically, pulling his blanket around him tighter as he tried to clear his throat.
"...What happened?" He asked, frowning.
Nat smiled kindly and shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She replied, assuring him as she rubbed his arm again.
She turned her head and looked up again as Steve and Nickie walked up the ramp, their pace slow and lumbering as Natasha suddenly stood, her guard up.
They were carrying two bodies, both hanging limply off their shoulders.
"Cap?" Nat asked hesitantly.
Steve grunted quietly as he pushed his person onto the seat next to Banner. "Romanoff." He acknowledged quietly without explaining as he started strapping the man in.
Natasha's blood ran cold as she recognised his face. It couldn't be... could it?
"Steve, what the hell is going on?" She demanded. "Who are these people?"
Tony landed on the ramp with a loud clang of metal, punctuating her question as he opened his helmet and frowned. "That's Loki." He said almost accusingly as he saw Nickie strapping Loki into a seat as well, trying to push his head up straight.
Their gaze whipped around at Stark's tone. "...Tony-"
"That's why you risked Banner?" He demanded angrily, interrupting them. "For him!?"
"I didn't know what else to do." Nickie protested as Tony kept talking over them.
"What you do is you don't turn in your friend to save a monster!"
"They'd have taken Banner anyway!"
"You don't know that!
"He's my friend!"
"He killed eighty-four people!"
"Hey!" Steve interrupted, shutting them both up. "That's enough! We'll fight later."
Nickie and Stark fumed at each other as Loki bit his tongue and glanced at Steve vulnerably. Nat watched Steve as well, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Right now what matters is getting Banner back to base. So let's move." He ordered.
Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes, mutting as Steve nodded at Barton.
"Aye aye, Cap." Clint agreed reluctantly, shaking his head as well as he closed the jet door. "Everybody hold on to something."
Nat sunk into the seat next to Banner as Nickie strapped in next to Loki. Tony stayed standing to glare at Steve passive aggressively as they each held the handles in the slightly slanted roof for balance.
Barton pulled the jet up into the air and they flew up past the trees. The jet was almost silent, tense and uncomfortable as everyone glared at each other.
Nickie sighed guiltily and took Loki's hand to reassure themself. The small motion made Loki's whole body slump to the side, leaning against Nickie as he finally gave in to the pain, exhaustion and fear, that was coursing through his body.
Nickie gasped softly as his head fell on their shoulder but they didn't push him away, letting him slip into a half asleep state as they kept holding his hand.
Tony's bad mood curdled at the sight, but for once Natasha didn't notice. She was watching Banner, a protective sense of concern filling her chest as she watched him shivering in his seat.
Steve just sighed, lost in thought as he shook his head and tried to figure out a way to explain this to the team. Bucky had been a war hero. Regardless of what had happened since, he'd served time for his country, risked his life in its service. Trying to get him rehabilitated after whatever HYDRA had done to him probably wouldn't be too hard... but Loki!? How could he rationalise saving an alien warlord?
But he'd promised Nickie. He wasn't gonna let them down. He knew he had no good reason to trust them, but... he couldn't betray them. Even now. They could deserved a second chance. He still believed that.
But why the hell did they have to go and save Loki!?
Epilogue
Across the atlantic, in London, Jane Foster got into the passenger seat of Darcy Lewis's car. They were parked outside a fancy restaurant, the site of Jane's latest romantic embarrassment.
"And I hate you." Jane sighed as she strapped in, deciding to blame the failure of the date on Darcy's intrusion rather than the fact that she still wasn't over a certain Thunder God.
"What!?" Darcy protested incredulously. "I said he was cute." She pointed out.
"Just shut up and drive." Jane shook her head as she leant back and rested her hand on her temple.
Darcy clicked her tongue and nodded, starting the engine as she pulled out into the road, taking Jane to the site of the phenomena.