Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Post-Movie: The Avengers (2012), Dreams, Dreams vs. Reality, Sexual Content, Enemies to Lovers, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Shared Dreams
Summary: Steve Rogers never imagined that after the Avengers apprehended Loki after the Chitauri attack that Loki would ask him the one question that would lead Steve to dream about the trickster god. As Steve and Loki's shared dreams bring them closer to one another than either had anticipated, Steve begins to realize that there's more to Loki than what meets the eye in ways that neither he nor the team picked up on before Loki was taken into custody. Will Steve's new connection to Loki prove to be the key to Loki's redemption or to Steve's downfall as Steve finds himself incredibly drawn to temptation as far as Loki is concerned?
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65660632
Word Count: 9785
Notes: This story was written to the following prompt given to me by @mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea from the prompt list up at here.
Going to bed at night – 6 (Loki/Your Choice), "Will you dream of me?"
Stoki Whumptober Day 25: I think I’ll just collapse right here, thanks.
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The time for the stone to recharge from a smaller jump was lesser, thank goodness. It meant that after a mildly cold night, spent sharing a corner of their host’s family tent, they were ready to move on in the morning-- first away from other people, and then forward in time. Their hosts insisted on feeding them first, and Loki was grateful for at least knowing where some food would come from that day, given they had no idea when they might end up.
During breakfast Loki, keeping her silence, tried not to think about sleeping in Steve’s arms, this time with other people around, who thought them partners and saw nothing wrong with it. It was… an oddly heady feeling, and that was without doubt the best sleep she’d had in years.
No doubt helped along by the relative comfort of not rough-shod camping in mid-winter, and the exhaustion of the traveling the day before.
Once they were a good way away from the family, she changed back to himself and dropped the illusions on Steve’s clothing.
“How are you doing today?” Steve asked, almost immediately.
Loki smiled.
“My voice feels better.” He said, and though the words came out, there was still a rough edge to them. He winced.
“I shall try to speak sparingly.” He added.
Steve huffed.
“Yeah, that’s fair. Are you sure you don’t want to wait another day before jumping forward again?”
Loki shook his head.
“I would rather move us towards modern showers, food, and heat.” He gave Steve a reassuring smile, pulled out the stone, and offered him his hand.
“Shall we?”
Steve took his hand and squeezed it.
“Yeah, ready if you are.”
Loki nodded and shaped his seidhr first, this time, forming a shield around his hand and the stone before reaching within it, creating a way to trap the stone’s power and separate it from his own.
Even still, as the power woke and began to surge, hitting the shield and becoming agitated, bumping around, he knew it would not hold.
Carefully, he opened the shield away from himself and pointed the power before them, hoping to create the opening they needed and allow them to walk through.
The stone refused, surging backwards, washing over his hand, up his arm. He bit his lip to hold in the sounds, to keep from destroying his throat further, and he felt Steve hold tighter to his hand as the stone’s power surrounded them both.
He could feel the stone reaching into him, tapping into his seidhr again, and he could feel it pulling power from him-- unnecessary, but at least he had enough presence of mind to shape the power, to drive them where he needed them to go.
There was no physical step necessary this time; instead they felt like they had been ripped through something impenetrable. It felt like being thrown through brick walls, tugged through them via a line wrapped around his brain.
The power receded, all at once, and Loki’s knees gave out and he crumpled.
“Loki!” Steve used his grip on his hand to keep him upright, then knelt with him and gathered him close, keeping Loki’s face from meeting the ground.
Loki’s vision swam, several copies of concerned blue eyes staring down into his face.
“‘M alright.” Loki said, though he could feel his head pounding and his words slurred.
Steve snorted. “Clearly not. You haven’t even tried to get up.”
Loki blinked, then turned his head.
They were surrounded by people, both those who looked like their hosts from the night prior and those who looked like Steve.
“Englishman, does your friend need help?” Loki heard someone ask in Steve’s tongue. Steve looked up, surprised.
“I-- he’s just exhausted from traveling. Is there a… a hotel? Somewhere I can rent a bed?”
With what money, Loki wondered. But he didn’t interrupt, closing his eyes instead. He didn’t know where or when they were, but at least Steve seemed to speak the language and could manage himself.
Loki took a deep breath and tried to focus on the places Steve’s hands were touching him, on the warmth of him seeping through Loki’s clothing. Narrowing his focus that much allowed him to better catalogue his ills.
He was shaky and disoriented, his thoughts vibrating nearly as much as his body, his ears ringing and his eyes unable to focus fully when he did open them. He felt like a gong that had been rung and was now left to stop shaking on his own, hollow echoes of what came before pulsing through him.
It felt as if the stone was laughing at him.
He pulled the hand holding the stone in close to his chest, lest anyone else see it.
“You have yourself a deal.” Steve was saying. Loki let him guide him to his feet, but he was unsteady on them, and nearly fell again.
He heard a few voices cry out at that, and then felt Steve lifting him, pulling him close to his chest.
“I’ve got you.” Steve’s voice rumbled through him, a grounding counterpoint to his empty vibrations, and Loki smiled faintly.
He let the darkness of sleep swallow him up, though regretfully. He hoped Steve would be alright, but there was nothing he could do to be of help at present.
When he woke again, he was in a bed. Not a very comfortable one, but a bed just the same. In a room with walls. There were sounds outside-- life happening around him. But Steve wasn’t there.
He had no other grounding points, and still felt ill, but sat up just the same.
There were too many people around.
The thought drove through his brain like a spike, and left a wave of panic behind it.
Who knew what effects their presence would have?
He struggled to his feet, then to the door, catching himself on the wall.
“Steve?” He called, hating how weak he sounded, then again, “Steve!”
He heard the sounds of things being set down, and then Steve appeared, looking worried for him but otherwise perfectly fine.
“Hey, it’s okay. I got us a room, we’re alright.”
“Too many people, Steve, too many changes…”
Steve shook his head.
“It’s fine. It will be fine. This is a port town, people come in and out all the time, weird folks, from all over the place. No one will think twice about us. And you need the rest.”
Loki shook his head.
“We should go.”
“No.” Steve firmed his voice, sounding every bit the Captain. “You should go back to bed. You can’t walk, and I am not going to carry you, and I’m certainly not letting you use the stone again until you’re solidly back on your feet.”
“But--”
“No.” Steve insisted. “It keeps hurting you. I hate that I can’t help, and I hate that we have to do it, but at the very least, you can take the time to take care of yourself-- or let me take care of you. I mean, reasonably speaking, we have all the time in the world, right?”
Loki stared at him, at the little smile that played around his lips and the open concern in his eyes, alongside the stubborn slant of his jaw.
He was beautiful.
Loki closed his eyes.
“We will travel again tomorrow. Find out the year, if you can.”
“It’s 1660. We’re in New Amsterdam colony. And the next time we jump, we’ll need to be careful to avoid landing in the Revolutionary War.”
Steve lowered his voice for the last part.
Loki nodded.
“Tell me how many years before it is safe, and I will find a way to get us to then.” He mumbled.
“Alright, that’s enough of that.” Steve said, and steered him back into the room, back to the bed. He helped Loki take a drink of water.
“I’ll wake you for supper. For now-- just rest.”
Loki nodded, eyes still closed, and let himself drift again.
Do you ever feel like you just read some heavy shit stuff, story, and it actually makes your chest feels something, hurt, and you need time to recuperate, because your head is still spinning with unnecessary frustration and helplessness and you find yourself in foul mood for the next few minutes/hours, until you can find you equilibrium back or you find something else to read that actually cheers you up. I'm talking about fandom here people, not some good books about humanity.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
So uh, I haven’t touched this one in a hot minute.
Sorry bout that.
This is an AU in which Loki acquires HYDRA's favorite Asset, and James Barnes-- Captain America-- discovers that his best friend didn't die in the war after all.
Stoki Whumptober Day 28: Such Wow. Many Normal. Very Oops.
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Loki didn’t make it very far; he had nowhere to go, really, and so ended up hiding elsewhere in the park they had landed in-- near enough that he could see the tower, where everyone on Earth who knew him was no doubt huddled to discuss what to make of him now that they had parted ways.
It was nearing morning, and though it was chilly, it was nowhere near so cold as it had been in those woods. He kept walking, retreading the steps he’d been taking since he saw Steve walk away.
It was ridiculous, he knew. He needed to make a decision, choose where to go next, what to do with himself next.
He’d had plans, for the stone. He’d been an idiot to give it up like that. But then, he had no idea how much of history their little jaunt had changed here on Midgard. He had no real idea how much his plans to bring Frigga back would have changed, on Asgard.
But there was part of him that wanted to stick around-- to lay low while keeping an eye on Steve to be sure he didn’t suffer any ill effects from having spent so much time with Loki. To be sure his friends didn’t suspect or reject him, and to give Thor time to go back home, after Loki didn’t immediately do anything overtly evil and eye catching.
And so, with that goal in mind, he was skulking in the shadow of Avengers tower when he caught wind of trouble.
Trouble, in this case, appeared to be three men with other means of time distortion, who were interested in the stone for themselves.
Loki mentally slapped himself.
He’d used the stone, without Steve’s understanding or consent, to make a huge leap, and there had been immediate consequences in the form of shutting down power. Of course there would be those who could determine the source, and of course they would come looking for the stone.
The stone that Loki had handed Steve in a fit of self loathing.
And now he was unprepared and these three were after him, and who knew who else might be on their way or already here.
But at least, Loki thought, he was surrounded by his friends, the heroes-- it meant he was safer than he would be alone.
Only, when Loki made his way invisibly up to the floors he’d been accustomed to visiting, he found himself pinned to the wall with Barnes’s metal arm.
“Show yourself.” He snarled, followed, almost immediately by, “What the hell did you do with Steve? Where is he?”
Loki raised his hands, showing he meant not to fight back.
“I thought he returned to you last night. I came looking for him myself-- to warn him. He has the stone, and he’s being hunted.”
Barnes let go of his hold on Loki’s throat and stepped back, watching him wearily.
“JARVIS, is Steve in the building?” Barnes asked, eyes not leaving Loki’s.
“No sir. Captain Rogers has been missing since the attack two nights ago.”
Loki frowned.
“We returned last night-- the power outage. We have to find him.” Loki turned around and walked back the way he’d come, and Barnes stumbled to keep up.
“I am going to follow those who are tracking the stone. With any luck it will lead me to him. You gather your friends; I will be in touch in the event that we need backup. I’ll see him returned safely; I swear it.” Loki said, giving Barnes no time to interrupt or try to stop him.
“Got it.” He ground out, surprising Loki almost into stopping. But Barnes was already reversing course and talking to the AI about summoning the others, so Loki left it be.
He had more important things to focus on.
Like where Steve had gone, the night before, after Loki had left him.
Loki located the three men he’d noticed before with relative ease, and he studied their devices invisibly-- Steve was still, and close, and they were on their way to him.
Loki wouldn’t have it, and made short work of the men, before they could think to react, a knife in each of the first two’s backs, and a growled question in the ear of the third with a knife at his neck:
“Who sent you? Are there more?”
“The Collector. It’s-- it’s just us!”
Loki considered letting him go, sending back a message to the Collector, but he was familiar with the man-- ancient and powerful and stubborn. If he was told not to do something, it would make him go after it all the harder.
And so Loki slit his throat and let him fall, hoping the Collector might forget or lose interest, if he simply never heard back.
Loki recovered their tracker and followed it to an alley.
“You know, when I said you had better options, this wasn’t what I had in mind.” Loki drawled, to hide his nervousness.
He found Steve with his back to the wall, sitting down, head hanging. Immediately, he dropped the act.
“Steve?”
Steve looked up, his face exhausted and bruised. But he saw Loki, and smiled.
Then immediately winced at the pain it caused.
“Good t’see you.” He said, and Loki realized his lip was swollen as well.
“It looks like someone really did a number on you.” Loki said, kneeling to get on a level with him.
“Y’should see the other guy.”
Loki shook his head.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t think. They’re after the stone, again.”
“Yeah, figured that out m’self.”
“Why did you not call for your friends, your team?” Loki felt like he was whining, trying to make sense of it.
“I was looking for you, didn’t think you’d let me find you if I had them with me.”
Loki had to concede he might have been right, but that didn’t make it any better. He felt guilt worming through his gut.
“Well, I went to them this morning, looking for you when I discovered several men searching for the stone.”
Steve looked up, alarmed, and his eyes flicked behind Loki, towards the mouth of the alley.
“It’s alright. I saw to them already. But we should get you back to the tower. They were worried enough when we disappeared. When I returned without you…” He trailed off, and Steve winced again.
“Yeah, alright.” Steve spoke as he began to stand, then sucked in a pained gasp, and Loki caught him before he could fall back down, fully.
“I will carry you.” Loki said firmly, and when Steve opened his mouth to object, Loki shook his head. “Those are ribs, Steve, and your healing can only do so much. Come, let’s get you back.”
He lifted Steve and got him into a bride’s carry.
“Have you your phone?” Loki asked.
Steve patted at his pocket.
“Good. Let them know we are coming. I don’t want to be attacked for the state of you.”
Steve sighed, but fished the phone out, and Loki turned all eyes away from them as he made his way back, once more, into the den of his former enemies, for this man.
I understand that it’s not the best representation of Loki either...
An image I have been working on for a couple days. It even inspired a tiny story! Basically Steve knits Loki a scarf and Loki has problems expressing his feels.
Excerpt:
It was a beautiful gift, and Loki felt heat in his cheeks for the second time that day. Gods do not blush, and certainly not the God of Mischief. And yet, a simple blue-eyed mortal can bring such color to his cheeks.
"Please do not tell me that you are breaking my poor little Steve's heart over a scarf."
