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FIC: Learning How to Trust ~ Thor/Loki ~ Almost Human crossover ~ Explicit

Title: Learning How to Trust Fandom: Marvel (movie 'verse) & Almost Human Author: Batsutousai Beta: Runic Rating: Explicit Pairings: Loki/Thor, off-screen Loki/others & Thor/others Warnings: Crossover, Human/Android AU, sexbots, burglary, prostitution, Loki does what he wants, rough sex, questionable consent Summary: Loki is one of the best burglars-for-hire in the whole of the city, able to keep even the cop who's always got an eye on him from knowing when he's up to no good. But when he meets the gorgeous Thor, a pleasure bot, he leaves all of that behind for a slightly more respectable past time.

Disclaim Her: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel and Warner Bros, etc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: For the most awesome and fantastic Sin/tothetwelve, who wanted Thorki in the Almost Human world, with Thor as an android and Loki as a human. And my brain supplied 'burglar or pimp' for Loki (which Sin approved of), which it then turned into 'burglar AND pimp'. Which may or may not turn out brilliant. XD

Sci-fi, as much as I love it, has never been my forte when it comes to creating. So I apologise in advance if things are...special. (In my defence, we haven't really seen enough of this world, at the time of my writing this, to judge what is and isn't possible. XD) I also apologise for the lack of Detective Kennex and Dorian, but their speciality didn't really work with what I was doing.

Uhm, for anyone unfamiliar with the show, it takes place in a futuristic America, where androids are common and every cop has one as a partner. I'm pretty sure you do not need to be familiar with the show to read this, because my beta only has a passing knowledge of it, but she managed fine. So, by all means, have at. ;)

You can also read this at Archive of Our Own or LiveJournal.

It was the thrill that first drew Loki to burglary. The ability to outsmart other humans – to outsmart androids – had been almost too much for him. Being able to out-technology them made his job easier, certainly, but his first gig had involved no technology, only hard work and a quick mind.

Now, though, it was almost too easy. He no longer had to act the innocent to get in the front door – which was good, because he wasn't a child any more – or study every blueprint of the building for two weeks before he made his play. (Which wasn't to say he didn't – he'd learned the hard way that trusting in technology was a good way to get caught – only that he no longer had to.)

He hummed into the silencer keeping his breathing from registering with the security system, dodging the old fashioned trip lasers with a bit of acrobatics that would have won him a gold at the Olympics, had he ever bothered to drum up enough interest to compete. Laufey would have loved it, would have sold his prosthetic leg and arm for one of his sons to have the chance he'd never had. But Loki hadn't been interested in fame, Helblindi'd had the wrong body-type entirely, and Býleistr's lazy eye, while certainly repairable, would have seen him disqualified for 'technological modifications'.

Loki executed a perfect landing on the far side of the lasers, then froze as the motion detector swept over his sector. He waited two cautious breaths after his headset said it had moved on, then shot his grappling hook up to an exposed steel beam in the ceiling – he loved it when people thought that stupid, early-2000s industrial look was cool – and let it draw him up and over the area the motion detector covered. He could have managed the floor just fine, and had planned on doing so, but since the detector didn't reach up to the ceiling....well.

Stupid of the designer.

He pulled himself up onto the bar, collapsed his grappling hook away, then pulled out his magnetic wires. One end he attached to the metal ceiling above his head, the other he shot across the gap to the next steel beam. He tugged on it once it was in place and, deciding it was steady enough, tossed the other wire over it, attached it to itself, and let himself drop.

God, the thrill of zipping through the air, only a couple of wires saving him from falling to his death, was the best thing on this Earth.

Just before he reached that other steel beam, he hit the release on wrist-launcher the other end of the wire was attached to. It dropped him down, arcing him gently until he touched the ground just past the motion detector.

He smirked to himself as he sent the command through the wires to retract them both. He had a different exit strategy, and it wouldn't do for him to leave his equipment behind so people knew how he got past their little play traps.

From here, he needed only worry about the android patrol, and that particular hurdle was a speciality of his.

He strode down the hall to the room the diamond he'd been sent to collect was in. He didn't bother stopping to stare in awe at the stone – he'd found a nice 3D image of it to study two days ago, to inure himself to it – simply slipped it from its pedestal, then flattened himself against the wall to await the android.

Two minutes later, he heard the steady fall of one's feet. A quick twist of the ring he wore shut the android off before it could see him, then he darted out, pulling out his tablet as he moved. It didn't take him but a moment to find the android's access port, and only two breaths to connect the lead from his tablet to the android. Another two beats of his heart had his override program in place, then he disconnected everything and restarted the android.

The security android – one of the very models Loki had once worked on, back when he'd worked for the company that still held the monopoly on the market – turned so it wouldn't see Loki at all, following its new programming, paused to keep up the fallacy that its round had been uneventful, then started trudging back towards the main security desk of the building.

Just out of sight of the security desk and the numerous cameras and two humans there, the android deviated from its pre-programmed path to unlock and push open the heavy metal fire door that Loki would escape through.

Loki gave no thanks, knowing it wouldn't be heard past his silencer, simply caught the door before it could close, then waited for the android to turn away before slipping out.

On the street, he paused long enough to take his silencer off and stuff it away, then started walking towards the front of the building. There, he considered the announcement about the very diamond he'd just stolen, made a point of checking his 'personal funds' – well, the dummy account he used for just this form of reverse psychology; no 'proper' burglar would ever let his face be caught on cameras anywhere in the vicinity of the heist he'd just pulled off – then sighed at the limited balance and continued down the street to a coffee shop he'd frequented a few times in the past week.

He would return here again a couple more times before no longer bothering with this side of town. The coffee wasn't terrible, but he missed the coffee shop a block from his flat. In his opinion, they made the best brew in the entire city, and he'd bought that particular flat for the shop. But he'd discovered, over the years, that the more common your face was to an area, the rarer it was for the cops to look at you suspiciously, whether you had a juvenile record or not.

He sat for a bit with his coffee, chatting with the barista – she'd gone to see the diamond that afternoon, and was more than happy to tell him all about how gorgeous it was, and sympathise with his lack of funds keeping him from seeing it himself – then stopped at the grocery two shops over for some necessities he actually needed, and headed for the spot he was to drop the diamond off at. Then he could go home and hopefully get some sleep before his favourite cop came banging on his door.

-0-

Loki opened the door with a scowl, hair a mess from three hours of sleep and breath smelling like something died in his mouth. He took a moment to stare at the blond-haired, blue-eyed man who'd been pounding on his door, then snapped, "I didn't fucking do whatever the fuck you think I did," and tried slamming the door in his face.

Officer Rogers sighed and caught the door. "Come on, Loki. You know the drill."

"I've been sleeping. I got in at... God, I don't know. Three? Four? Check the door logs. And then I went to bed. Because I'm supposed to be up in four hours for that stupid fucking community bullshit–"

"Yes, yes, I know how you feel about the community centre," Rogers interrupted with a fond smile. "You know, if you weren't so good with the kids, they wouldn't keep extending your service contract."

Loki stared at him. "So....what? Stop showing the little fucks how to vandalise city property without getting caught?"

"I would appreciate that," Rogers agreed.

Loki snorted and pointedly attempted to close his door again. "Not likely if you keep waking me up at arse o'clock–"

"It's almost ten."

"Arse. Oh. Clock," Loki insisted. "I'm going back to bed. Stop hanging childhood thievery over my head already."

Rogers sighed and pulled away from the door. "Stop being so suspicious, then."

"Pot, kettle," Loki returned before slamming the door in the cop's face.

He didn't bother with a victory dance; Rogers would be back.

-0-

"Imagine finding you over here," Rogers said from out of nowhere.

Loki let himself startle – sometimes, it was a good idea to let cops know when they got the drop on you, so they'd underestimate you, and overestimate themselves – and turned to Rogers with wide eyes. "Holy fuck. Are you stalking me?"

Rogers' knowing look faltered for a moment before he crossed his arms over his chest and demanded, "What are you doing on the opposite side of town from your usual haunting grounds?"

"Am I a ghost, now?" Loki wondered drily.

"Answer the question."

"Loki!" the barista called out.

"Coffee," Loki informed the cop before leaving him to collect his order. He grinned at the barista as he accepted his order, only for his smile to fall as he took in her strained look. "Hey, what's wrong, Leslie?"

She sighed and shook her head. "You know that diamond you've been wanting to go see?"

"The one on display across the street?" Loki asked. "Yeah, sure. You said it was awesome." He set his coffee and cake down on the counter so he could motion emphatically as he quoted, " 'It's just so beautiful! All the sparkles and the way they have the lights positioned–' "

"Oh dear God," Rogers moaned from behind him.

Leslie shook her head again, a tired smile turning her mouth up slightly. "It was stolen this morning."

Loki blinked. "The diamond?"

She nodded, while Rogers snorted and tapped Loki's shoulder. "What are you doing over here, Loki?"

Loki snatched his bag of cake off the counter and waved it in Rogers' face. "Brittney told me – you know Brittney, she works at the centre – she told me they make the best lemon cakes over here. And you know me. My sweet tooth can rival–"

"The amount of trouble you get into in a day?" Rogers suggested drily.

Loki huffed and picked up his coffee. "Now that is completely unfair. I obviously favour my trouble-making bone."

Rogers rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Don't I know it," he muttered.

Leslie leaned over the counter and nudged Loki's arm with her shoulder. "Who's tall, butch, and blond?"

Loki muffled a snicker into his coffee. "Officer Steve Rogers. He thinks he's my nanny."

Leslie pulled back a bit and looked him over. "Aren't you a little old for a nanny? You look at least twenty."

Loki held up four fingers, then pushed away from the counter and stepped into Rogers' space, holding his cake in the officer's face. "Want a bite?"

Rogers flinched back, an instinctive reaction to anything Loki or any other possible-criminal offered him. "No. No, thank you."

Loki shrugged and took a large bite as he ducked around the cop and dropped into one of the mismatched chair-and-table sets scattered across the space of floor in front of the windows. "Are you going to ban me from this shop, too?" he wondered as Rogers followed after him, looking a bit like a lost puppy.

"If you'd stop picking new favourite haunts near burglaries–" Rogers started before his partner poked his – its, judging by the flicker of red circuits across its forehead and down its cheek – head into the shop. "Yeah?"

"Public disturbance. Two blocks west."

Rogers sighed and tugged on Loki's ponytail, not reacting to the scowl Loki shot up at him in response. "Have Brittney bring you the lemon cakes for the next week or so, will you? Not every member of the precinct is as unwilling to drag you in for questioning as I am."

"You'd rather stalk me," Loki called after him as Rogers followed his partner out of the shop.

Rogers pointed at him. "Stay out of trouble. And for God's sake, stop vandalising our building." Then he was gone.

Behind the counter, Leslie nodded. "Definitely thinks he's your nanny. What did you do to catch his eye?"

"Picked his pocket when he was off duty," Loki lied smoothly. "Not like he had any money." He rolled his eyes while Leslie laughed.

As he left shortly after Rogers, he made a mental note to ask Brittney to bring him lemon cakes for a while. They weren't terrible, honestly, so it wasn't a strain to continue the fallacy. (Especially if he could go back to his coffee shop while doing so.)

-0-

The money was deposited in his secret accounts by the time he got home that night. It ended up being almost twice the agreed-upon amount, and he eyed the extra distrustfully for a long moment before he set it up to transfer the money for his rent over to his normal account. Technically, he didn't make enough money doing the odd jobs he picked up between his community work and his heists to afford his current flat, but his landlord didn't care where the money came from, so long as it came on time and from the account Loki'd registered with him, and Rogers never stuck around long enough to check on Loki's finances. (Something for which Loki could never be too grateful.)

With his rent seen to, Loki pulled up the web page he and like-minded souls used to find those looking to steal something rare and valuable. He found his last communication with the client who had wanted the diamond and sent back a question about the extra money.

He didn't have to wait long for a response:

'Impressed with your ability to get me the diamond before anyone noticed it was missing. The price you asked wasn't worth your skill. Buy your girl or guy something nice. Or buy yourself someone for a night.'

Loki stared at the message for a long moment before laughing a bit hysterically. Buy someone? Oh, as though he couldn't have anyone he wanted by just batting his eyes at them. Why would he want a sexbot when he could have a real person? Never mind Rogers' reaction if he somehow got wind of Loki buying sex.

He paused to envision the expression his favourite cop would make before laughing so hard tears sprung to his eyes.

Still, he figured once he'd calmed down, going out and finding someone for a quick fuck wasn't a terrible idea. And if he planned everything right, it would be someone who could serve him in some future heist.

-0-

Loki's next two jobs were boring, run-of-the-mill things. One case of bloody pick-pocketing – he'd been bored, and it was always good to keep his skills fresh – the other thieving a 1990s era painting from the house of someone who didn't bother with more than the most basic of security.

His next job after those came from the same client who'd overpaid him last time.

'I need the best,' the client's message said, 'and that seems to be you. I need someone to switch the master emotions chip of a particular seller of synthetic bodies with one I will provide. The chip in question will be leaving the country in five days, so this job requires some speed. The pay should be more than sufficient for the rush, however.'

The amount of money the client was offering was enough to pay Loki's rent for a little over a year. Half of it upfront, to pay for any expenses, which he needn't return if he failed. (If he failed, Loki knew, that would be the end of his career.) The pick-up spot for the chip was the same spot as where he'd dropped off the diamond, and the shop where the chip would be found was easily within Loki's usual neighbourhood.

He didn't like taking rush jobs, but the challenge intrigued him. And a small part of him did still want to see Rogers' face when he found out Loki'd bought sex. So he sent back an agreement and settled in to await the confirmation that the replacement chip was in place for him to pick up and the money was en route to his account.

-0-

The shop in question was relatively classy, as prostitution shops went. Or, well, as far as Loki's experience with such shops went. Either way, it made it a little easier for him to look awed and a little out of place when he stepped in.

"Hello," a voice breathed in his ear before a hand that felt nothing like a human's brushed over his cheek.

"Holy fuck," Loki hissed, jerking back. God. He knew synthetic flesh was going to feel a little off, but this was... Ugh. There went any of his thoughts about actually fucking one of them.

The android that had approached him was a female, relatively tall, as women went, and so perfectly proportioned, it was obvious she was fake under the lingerie she'd been dressed in. Her hair was dark brown, eyes a murky grey, and skin surprisingly dark, given her eye colour. (Though, it wasn't like any of these creatures were real, Loki reminded himself. Except the proprietor, wherever he or she was.)

The android put on a sad, demure look. "I apologise for startling you, sir," she murmured, ducking her head.

Loki made a show of swallowing and looking around at the other bodies on display. "I–" He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I, uhm, a f-friend gave me some money and your address and told me to go have some...fun?" He smiled a bit helplessly. "She didn't quite tell me what she was getting me into."

The grey eyes peeked up at him. "That was rude of her," she said, still keeping her voice gentle.

Oh, God. Sexbots. Masters of changing their personality to suite your supposed needs.

"Thank you, Lori," a cheerful voice ordered. Loki turned to look and found himself looking down into bright brown eyes.

The female sexbot let out a huff and flipped her hair as she turned to leave them.

Loki only barely noticed her leaving, distracted by the male. He was wearing only trousers, which suggested he was a sexbot, but he wasn't changing his demeanour the way the woman had, only looking smug as he caught Loki eyeing him. "Like what you see?" he asked, wagging both his eyebrows and doing a ridiculous little spin.

Loki stared at him for a moment before he burst out laughing, unable to help himself.

The man smiled and relaxed. "Welcome to the Sex Emporium," he offered, holding out a hand. "Sorry for Lori; I think someone left a little too much room in her processor for sexual desperation."

Loki took a moment to calm himself, then accepted the hand to shake. Definitely synthetic skin. "One would expect that particular deficiency better found in a male synthetic," he remarked a bit drily.

The male's eyebrows rose. "Don't like androids?" he asked.

Loki realised he'd let his guard drop, charmed by the man – sexbot, he forcefully reminded himself – in front of him. When he tried to draw his hand away and return to the uncertain persona he'd come in with, however, the other wouldn't let him go for a moment, eyes as sharp as Rogers' when the man thought he'd caught Loki making trouble. "If you would, please," Loki requested, looking down at their hands.

The android followed his gaze, his eyes going wide with surprise. "Oh! Sorry. I hadn't even realised," he apologised, letting Loki's hand go at last. "Synthetic skin," he explained, waving his hand for Loki to see. "Can't always feel everything."

Loki opened his mouth to snarl a response before noticing the gleam of amusement in the brown eyes. Calm washed over him with the knowledge that he was being played. "Oh, very clever," he returned, dropping his act of uncertainty entirely, since it was clear this sexbot had already seen through him. "You should probably have your owner take you in for repairs if your neural net is compromised, you know." He snorted. "Admittedly, not a terrible malfunction for most bots, but rather a problem in your...profession."

The android's eyebrows raised. "Ouch." He gave Loki a once-over. "If you hate the idea of sleeping with an android that much, you can always turn around and leave."

"And spend the next four months working my arse off to pay off my betting partner?" Loki lied, the words rolling smoothly off his tongue. "Fuck no."

"Hm." The android eyed Loki for a moment, then glanced over the bodies on display. "Man or woman?" he asked.

Loki blinked. "Excuse me?"

The android looked back at him. "Your preference."

Loki honestly didn't care one way or another, usually, but given how perfectly fake all the females looked, he was more inclined towards a male, as they at least looked human, from what he could see of them in the female-dominated room. "Male," he announced, then added, "Taller than me, if that's at all possible," because he really didn't care for male lovers who were shorter than him. Rogers knew his preferences – used that knowledge to keep himself calm when Loki pretended to come on to him just for shits – and would be suspicious to discover Loki had deviated.

The android considered that for a moment, then nodded. "Right. I know just the guy. This way." He motioned for Loki to follow, then stepped confidently around the raised platforms other androids were standing on, eyeing Loki hungrily as he walked by. It wasn't a completely unfamiliar sensation, but it made his skin crawl all the same.

The android led Loki through a door and into a back room. The sexbots back here weren't on pedestals, but it was clear they were still on display. The women looked a little less perfect, but they still looked fake to Loki. God, it was a wonder any humans were still being born, if this was what men looked for in a woman.

The male Loki's guide led him to was probably a little over an inch taller than him, with stunning blue eyes, blond hair to his shoulders, and muscles that Loki would have given up pretty much anything to have when he was younger. (He was a bit more resigned to the hand genetics had dealt him, now.)

He was absolutely Loki's type. Damn.

"This is Thor," Loki's guide offered, smacking the sexbot's arm in a friendly way.

Loki did a double-take. "Thor," he repeated disbelievingly. Because he knew where his own name had come from, of course, and the mythology surrounding it. (His mother had had a sick sense of humour.)

The android looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Thor. God of Thunder." He reached out and squeezed the impressive bulge in the other android's shorts, grinning when Thor let out an irritated rumble. "He looks like a god, doesn't he?" he asked Loki.

"Tony," Thor growled, firmly removing the hand on his crotch. "Kindly cease in your molestation of my person."

Loki's guide put on a pathetic face. "You don't love me, buddy?"

Thor was unmoved, instead turning his attention to where Loki was still staring at him. "Greetings..." he murmured, voice a deep purr as he trailed off expectedly.

Loki firmly reminded himself Thor was a sexbot and he was there on a job, not to give in to hormones. (Not that his body was interested in listening to him.) "Loki," he offered, then swallowed and held out a hand to shake, as his guide – Tony? – had done. "I'm Loki."

Tony's eyebrows went up, but Thor gave no reaction beyond catching Loki's hand and bringing it up to kiss the back, his eyes glinting with something that looked like want. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Loki," he rumbled. His skin had a subtle warmth to it, which actually managed to distract Loki from the too-smooth texture of his skin for a moment. It certainly managed to trick his body, which had never been so misled by an android before.

Okay, so maybe he could enjoy a quick fuck with Thor while he was here. But only a quick one, since he still had a job to do.

"Approval? Yes?" Tony teased, getting between them. "Payment up front. And you can take him home or use one of the rooms upstairs, your choice." He leaned in slightly as Loki held out his chip, whispering, "Better here, though. You don't look like you'll make it home."

"Fuck off," Loki hissed.

Tony wagged his eyebrows as he accepted the chip. Light sparked across his temple as he read the information, then his eyes went wide. "Holy shit," he breathed. "Your name is actually Loki."

Tony was suddenly picked up and set out of the way by an unimpressed Thor. "Finish the transaction and give him back his chip before I tell the master you're in need of repair. Again," he threatened.

Tony's eyes darkened. "What does he even care any more?" he spat before putting on a smile as he turned back to Loki, holding out his chip. "There you are, sir. The money is paid and you have Thor for the next two hours. If you want him longer, he can handle that transaction." He wagged his eyebrows again.

Loki tried not to frown as he slipped his chip away, mind turning Tony's comment over and analysing it even though he didn't care. "Show me to the rooms here," he said to Thor, and if it came out sounding like an order, well. Thor was an android.

Thor wrapped an arm around Loki's waist, eyes dancing when Loki couldn't help but breathe out a gasp, but didn't try pulling away. "This way," Thor rumbled – God, his voice was doing terrible, terrible things to Loki's control over his libido – and pulled Loki back out to the main room and towards a set of stairs tucked away to one side.

Doors lined the hallway upstairs, before it turned sharply to the left. Loki knew, from studying the blueprints, that that turn led to the main office, where the chip was kept. He didn't know the owner's schedule, and hadn't seen him downstairs, which made him nervous, but he'd chosen to come by during the most common hour for dinner in hopes that the man would be out. (Given how self-sufficient his androids seemed to be, it wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility for him to not bother coming on site unless he was needed for something.)

When Thor reached for the first door on the right, Loki shook his head and insisted, "One of the back rooms."

Thor made no complaint, only led Loki to the very last room on the right. Loki glanced back down the hallway behind him as Thor opened the door, catching sight of the locking system holding it shut. He would have to get closer to know which model it was, but at least he knew he had the right equipment to get in. Helpful.

Almost before the door was closed behind them, Thor had Loki on the bed, hovering over him for a breath before leaning down to lock their mouths together while pulling Loki's shirt up and slipping thick hands underneath to trace over his skin.

Loki groaned and bucked up against Thor, unable to help himself, especially since his mind apparently went on holiday as soon as his back hit the bed. For a long moment, all he could do was feel the hands slowly pushing his shirt up while tracing over exposed skin, the mouth hungrily devouring his, the hot erection pressing against his thigh between layers of fabric.

Thor pulled his mouth away, kissing along Loki's jaw and giving him the chance to breathe. His brain reengaged and he wrapped his arms around Thor's back so he could reach the twist for his ring, then turned it.

Thor faltered but didn't stop, instead lifting his head to meet Loki's wide eyes. "That won't work on me," he rumbled.

Loki's mind stuttered, then went into overdrive. "What won't work–" he started, buying himself time to come up with a good excuse.

"The ring you're wearing," Thor returned, eyes going hard. "It's a technician's ring, to force my systems to shut down. But it won't work on me."

Loki closed his eyes, defeated. It wasn't common for an android to know what his ring was, since most technicians preferred having a malfunctioning android come down to their lab and shut themselves off to be repaired, rather than going to the android, freezing it in place, and fixing the problem wherever they happened to be.

And of course Loki would end up needing to steal from one of the few people who put extra protections on their androids, afraid of them being stolen or tampered with or...whatever this guy's issue was. An extra day or two of looking up information about his target would have uncovered that particular issue, and he could have come in better prepared, but with a limited timeline...

This was why he never took rush jobs.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the police right now and report you for tampering with someone else's property," Thor ordered.

'In for a penny, in for a pound,' Laufey used to say when he was still trying to get Loki to take his gymnastics talent to the Olympics.

Loki couldn't overpower an android, and it was unlikely he could outsmart one already on its guard. With no believable lies coming to mind, he settled on the truth: "I was contracted to switch a master emotion chip your owner has on the premises." If he was lucky, the owner would be more interested in dealing with Loki himself, hoping to catch the real thief through him, than in turning him in to the police.

If he wasn't lucky, well. His life as a thief-for-hire was pretty much over anyway, since he'd botched this mission. A few years in prison would at least mean a warm place to sleep and three meals a day.

Thor was silent and still for a long moment before saying, "You're here to steal the emotion chip."

Loki opened his eyes and took in the unreadable expression on the android's face. "Switch it," he corrected. "Your owner was never supposed to know it was gone."

Thor gave a slow nod before reaching down with one hand to cup Loki's cock through his trousers. He'd softened from the fear of being caught, but the firm grip woke it right back up and tore a moan from Loki's throat. Thor leaned down until their noses were nearly brushing, his blue eyes burning with a fury that, oddly, didn't seem to be aimed at Loki. "I know the chip," he hissed, voice laced with the same fury that burned in his eyes. "Master is selling it because he's tired of running this establishment." He tugged Loki's flies open and wrapped his hand around his cock, giving it a rough pump.

Loki's mind went a little hazy and he grabbed for Thor's wrist to stop him, gasping out, "Why are you telling me this?"

Thor leaned down and whispered in Loki's ear, "When my master leaves, I and everyone else in this shop will be sent to clean the sewers or be used for scrap parts." He shook Loki's hand off and reached between his legs to push one suddenly-slicked finger against his entrance.

Loki sucked in a breath, unable to keep from pushing down against that finger. "Unfortunat–" he managed, the word choking off as Thor breeched him to the second knuckle in a swift motion. He whined as Thor's other hand clamped down around his hip hard enough to bruise, forcing him to remain as still as the finger inside of him had become.

The forced stillness gave him a moment to breathe, however, and his thoughts coalesced into the most important question: "What does this have to do with me?"

"Master hasn't advertised, so no one knows to ask for us. You convince other owners to come to him with offers by Monday, I won't tell him you've switched his chip before he sends it off."

It was a good deal. Loki didn't have much to do with the various sex establishments of the city, but he knew plenty of people who frequented them. Getting the word out in three days would be challenging, certainly, but far from impossible. And Loki wouldn't lose his standing among the thieving community, nor would he end up in jail, if he managed to pull it off.

"Agreed," he replied, only for Thor to shove his finger the rest of the way into him. Loki grunted and grabbed for the android's shoulders, needing something to fucking hold on to because Thor was clearly a rough lover.

Not that Loki was complaining.

Thor made quick work of preparing him, only pausing to kick Loki's trousers away after he'd found and teased his prostate, leading to Loki hitting him and snarling, "Trousers, you synthe– OhGodnomoreinsulting..." he finished with a whimper when Thor bit his shoulder hard enough that Loki could feel it through his shirt in retaliation. He did remove Loki's trousers so he could spread his legs, though, so Loki kept from insulting him again.

When Thor shifted back to pull off his own shorts, leaving Loki's passage stretched and wanting, Loki took the chance to pull off his shirt, dropping it over the side of the bed as he looked back towards Thor. The android was watching him, stroking his – admittedly impressive – cock, covering it with the lube that seemed to magically appear on his fingers. (Likely secreted through his 'pores', drawn from a reservoir hidden somewhere easily accessible, like his stomach or chest.)

Loki watched Thor watch him for a heartbeat before he slid his own hands down his body, smirking to see Thor watching them hungrily. He let his thumbs brush along the sides of his cock as he passed, not bothering to hold back his gasp of pleasure at the touch, then down past his scrotum to where his hole trembled, the outer edge slick with lube. Loki brought his legs up on either side of himself, giving Thor a clear view, then raised an eyebrow at the android. "Am I to fuck myself?"

Before Loki could draw another breath, Thor had knocked his hands out of the way and was pushing into him quick enough that the stretch burned. Loki bit back a cry, grabbing a handful of blond hair to drag the android down on top of him, punishing him, but also showing he wanted more. (He wasn't sure he could trust his voice right then, honestly.)

Thor set a punishing pace, one that Loki would be feeling for days, even with a steady supply of unregulated painkillers. He swallowed the first few moans and grunts Loki let out, then moved his mouth down to mark the hell out of Loki's throat and clavicle. Loki returned the favour by clawing across Thor's back, forgetting, for a moment, that the man fucking him was an android. Thor reacted appropriately, gasping against Loki's skin and arching away from his nails, but Loki could feel no marks in the synthetic skin when he brushed his hands back over where they should have been.

What was almost a splash of cold reality, turned into little more than a blip when Thor's hand wrapped around Loki's cock, distracting him from pretty much everything but his own, fast-approaching orgasm.

And, God, what an orgasm it was. It wasn't often Loki found a lover both willing to be a little rough with him and read him well enough to know when he needed to be distracted from his own mind.

He felt lazy as Thor pulled out and brushed their lips together. When Thor got out of the bed, though, Loki was reminded about why he'd come in the first place and quickly sat up, wincing at the spike of pain that shot up his spine.

Thor pushed him back down, smiling apologetically. "We've something for the pain in the back room," he offered, blue eyes gleaming when Loki's own eyes narrowed. The android leaned in closer and murmured, "You'll just have to trust me to make the switch."

Loki tangled his hand in the blond hair and pulled hard enough that he felt some of the strands give. Thor winced, programmed to react to the pain. "If you fuck this up, synthetic," Loki hissed, "I will make you watch as I take you apart piece-by-piece and smash each one with a mallet before binning you. And then you will be of no use to anyone."

Thor leaned in and nipped at Loki's bottom lip. "Wouldn't dream of it," he promised. "Where's the chip?"

Loki sighed and dropped his hand back to the bed; he didn't really have a choice, dammit. "Trousers, front left pocket. Slipped it inside the case of my mobile."

Thor pulled away and went rooting around in the pile of clothing on the floor. He pulled out Loki's mobile – it was sort of an ancient model, but it served him for the very few calls and texts he received on it, and its age tended to make people less likely to try stealing it – and pulled the hard plastic case off to show where the chip had been stuck to the back of the mobile with some non-corrosive tack. "Clever," he said as he gently pulled the chip off.

"In my business, you have to be," Loki muttered, closing his eyes. God, he was never taking a rush job again.

The door unlatched, then closed again after a breath, the lock reengaging. Loki lifted his head to eye it, then shook his head and started inching himself up the bed so he could rest on the pillows heaped there. It was a comfortable room, compared to what he would have expected of a sexbot shop's private rooms. Clean, too. It could use some paint, maybe.

When the fuck had Loki become an interior designer?

"This job is going to kill me," he muttered to the empty room.

Thor returned after another five minutes or so, a small plastic tub held in one hand. He let the door lock behind him, then revealed the chip he'd hidden in his palm, under the tub. "Back with your mobile?" he enquired.

Loki forced himself up on one elbow, body aching far more than it had before, and held out a hand. "Give it here," he ordered. As an afterthought, when Thor leaned forward to place it in his hand, Loki added, "And my mobile too, I suppose. Best not to lose it on the bed."

"That would be unfortunate," Thor agreed as he leant down and picked up Loki's mobile.

Loki eyed the chip critically. Emotion chips weren't something he'd ever worked with, since they weren't needed for security androids, but he knew enough about android mechanics to have an opinion. Not that he could figure out a lot without something to plug it in to, given, but he could check it for damage.

Thor climbed on to the bed next to him, dangling his mobile between his nose and the chip. "I need you to turn over so I can apply this."

Loki took the mobile with a sigh and gently pressed it against the tack before slipping the cover back into place. It had a stupid design on it that Loki sort of hated sometimes, but which hid the presence of anything hidden underneath, since it already had a few oddly placed lumps. He made do.

Setting his mobile beside him, Loki gritted his teeth, then turned over. Thor was immediately there to help, easing him back down to the bed, then soothing a hand covered in some sort of oil or cream against the small of Loki's back. As he rubbed it into his skin, an unnatural coldness pushed away the pain, and Loki found himself relaxing against the mattress and pillows, sighing gratefully.

"Why do you hate androids?" Thor asked as he rubbed the soothing agent over Loki's tailbone.

Loki sighed again, this time with a hint of irritation, before groaning when Thor's strong hands moved up his spine, the oil/cream/whatever easing muscles tensed because of how many times this particular heist had almost failed. "I don't hate androids," he muttered into the pillow.

Thor paused for a moment before continuing, covering Loki's entire back with the soothing agent. "So you just insult us and act like you hate us for...fun?"

Loki let his eyes slip closed. "I don't trust your kind," he admitted. "Too easy to change your programming." He raised the hand with his ring on it, wiggling his fingers.

The fingers of Thor's hand slipped between Loki's, his palm hiding the ring from view. "Not all of us are so easily turned," he pointed out. "And humans are easy enough to buy off."

Loki snorted. "Please don't think I trust humans any more than I trust androids."

Thor's hand squeezed his. "Do you trust anyone?" he asked, and the question sounded like it hurt him.

"I trust myself."

"You can't just rely on yourself," Thor insisted. "Everyone needs someone there to help them when they can't help themselves."

Loki raised his head and glanced back at the android. "Yeah? You put trust in your owner, I'll bet. How's that going for you?"

Thor's expression tightened. "One broken trust doesn't prove anything."

Loki snorted and laid his head back down, eyes sliding closed.

"I'm trusting you," Thor pointed out quietly.

"You're a fool," Loki retorted, tugging his hand from Thor's and getting it under him to push himself up. "I have better things to do than–"

The bed shook as Thor smoothly straddled Loki's thighs, hands heavy as they rubbed up Loki's back. "You paid for another forty-nine minutes. Lay down."

"Get. Off. Me," Loki bit out, trying to buck his hips to unseat the android and getting nowhere.

Thor slid down Loki's legs enough that he could press a finger against Loki's entrance. "Do you know what happens when this particular cream is applied internally?"

Loki froze. "You are making my point for me, synthetic," he hissed, using the hated term in hopes that it would be more likely to make Thor leave.

"How can I break trust I've yet to earn?" Thor asked before pushing his finger past the ring of Loki's still-relaxed sphincter.

Coolness spread through Loki's lower body, relaxing him completely. He had a moment to worry what that meant for his bladder, then Thor's finger was pushing hard against his prostate.

Completely contrary to what Loki would have expected, arousal shot through him, waking his cock back up before he could even let out a moan. "Oh my God," Loki gasped as Thor pulled his finger out and pushed Loki's legs open for him to sit comfortably between them. "I'll scream rape," he threatened.

Thor slipped a hand under Loki's hips, pulling them up to make the angle more comfortable, then wrapped his fingers around Loki's weeping cock lightly. "Do it," he returned, teasing Loki's entrance with the head of his thick cock. "They'll turn me into scrap faster than I can make an excuse for myself." He leaned down so his lips were brushing Loki's ear. "No one will ever know what you've done. You'll have no debt to repay, no reason to save anyone in this shop." He licked the shell of Loki's ear, causing Loki to shudder. "Do it."

Loki snarled and pushed back into the android. "Damn you."

Thor slid in smoothly, Loki's lower body still impossibly relaxed, despite his arousal. "It seems," he breathed in Loki's ear, "that my trust in you isn't misplaced." And then he started fucking Loki with slow, hard thrusts, degenerating the curses he wanted to spit back into broken pleas and whimpers for harder and faster.

If nothing else could be said of sexbots, Loki thought hazily when Thor finally let him come almost twenty minutes later, they were definitely masters of prolonging the best torture known to humanity.

-0-

Loki made a point to walk past the Sex Emporium multiple times over the next couple days, having sent out his long-reaching fingers almost as soon as Thor had finally released him to find the sexbots their new homes. He saw groups of androids leaving the building with men and women a few times, but the number of androids in the windows never seemed to diminish.

It took him an embarrassingly long time to recall that there was an entire room of sexbots that could be used to replenish the window display.

Once he'd recalled that, he started paying more attention to who was in the window. It had definitely turned into something of a revolving door, though some androids remained there almost constantly. The first male android Loki had met, Tony, would wave at him every time he walked by, grin wide and unbothered. Loki never acknowledged him, but he always saw him, marked him as one of the last ones to go.

Thor never made it to the window, and Loki assumed he'd been bought right off. It didn't surprise him; Thor had been unfairly gorgeous, for all that he was disgustingly optimistic.

Loki was paid for the stolen chip Sunday night, and he celebrated by going out and getting just drunk enough that he could pretend the muscled idiot who propositioned him at the bar was blond and blue-eyed and not nearly as stupid as it turned out he was, once morning came around.

Okay, so maybe Loki had a tiny problem.

When he went by the Sex Emporium that morning – nursing one hell of a hangover and not sure he was honestly in the mood to deal with the little fucks he essentially babysat all afternoon at the centre – he almost didn't notice the new line-up in the window. He had, in fact, gone past another two windows before the familiar blond hair and beard registered.

He high-tailed it back to the shop.

Sure enough, Thor was standing next to a grinning Tony. The blond was smiling, but there was a well of sadness in his eyes for reasons Loki wasn't sure he was awake enough to understand.

Which was about when the sewer transport pulled up to the kerb.

Tony's smile became a little more forced and Thor's vanished entirely. Along the stretch of the windows, the other sexbots – mostly the less-than-perfect ones – all shifted uncertainly.

And Loki got a really, really stupid idea.

He reached the door just before the sewer men did, making a point to slam the door in their faces with a smile that was all teeth. The one in the lead blinked at him, surprised, but the one behind him narrowed his eyes. (Clearly, he was the more intelligent of the two.)

Loki didn't wait to see them open the door, instead searching for the owner.

There was a stout man sitting behind a desk against the back wall, which hadn't been there last time Loki'd visited. He was frowning at Loki. "Sir, perhaps you didn't see the sign, but I'm closed," he announced.

Loki hadn't seen the sign, honestly, but he didn't really care, either. "How much for the rest of your androids?" he demanded as the door behind him fell shut behind the sewer men.

There was a moment's stillness, human and android alike holding their breath.

"Oh my God," someone breathed; Loki thought it might have been Tony.

The owner slowly stood from his chair, balancing his weight against the desk. "You can't afford them, boy," he intoned.

"How. Much," Loki returned, unmoved.

Before the owner could spit out some ridiculously high number, someone came to stand next to Loki, saying, "He's been getting about nine hundred for each of us." Loki looked over – and then slightly up – to find Thor staring at him, eyebrows drawn together. "With two dozen of us left..."

Loki nodded and turned back to the owner; that would be more than half of the money he'd made from the emotion chip heist, and he'd only have enough rent money for about four months. But people were always telling him he needed to get a respectable job before he was too old. Given, being a pimp was hardly respectable, but it was far more legal than the heists he did in his free time.

"Twenty-five thousand for the androids and the building."

One of the sewer men behind him whistled. "Ain't no way you have that kind of money, kid," he said.

Loki reached into his pocket and pulled out the chip attached to the account that wasn't in his name, the one all of his heist money went into. He held it out to Thor, smirking. "I don't know, do I have that much money in the bank?"

Thor took the chip a little uncertainly. Gold light crawled across his temple, then his eyes went wide. "You do," he breathed, clearly surprised.

But, then again, hungover and dressed in his most worn jeans and a t-shirt that insulted anyone who looked at it, he was hardly the image of a rich man.

"I'd take it," the helpful sewer man called, his partner failing to shush him. "Ain't gonna get a better deal for all this scrap." Thor tensed next to Loki. "Probably holds true for this building, too."

The owner sneered. "Fine. If you want this black hole, boy, it's yours. I'll even throw in all the furniture for free." He waved at Thor. "You, whatever your designation is, make the transaction."

"No new labourers for us today," the talkative sewer man said while his partner sighed.

"The money has been transferred," Thor announced as the shop door closed behind the sewer men.

The owner limped around the desk, revealing a synthetic leg. There was clearly something wrong with it, since it wasn't flesh coloured and he was having trouble walking on it, but Loki was familiar enough with synthetic limbs that he didn't spare it more than a glance. "This place is your problem now, boy," he spat at Loki as he hobbled past.

Loki gave him no response, instead slipping the chip Thor had returned to him away.

Thor barely waited for the door to close before seizing Loki and kissing him hard. Loki clung to him, head throbbing at the sudden movement and not sure he cared in the least. "Do you still think I'm a fool for trusting you?" Thor breathed against Loki's lips when he pulled back enough to let Loki gasp for breath, the strong arms around his waist the only thing keeping him standing.

"Absolutely," he rasped.

Thor beamed at him.

"You do realise the first rule of being a pimp is that you don't fuck the merchandise, right?" Tony asked from Loki's elbow. He was smiling nearly as widely as Thor.

Loki hummed and dropped his head to Thor's chest. "And what are the rules about my merchandise fucking me, I wonder."

"Second rule," Tony informed him.

Thor's chest rumbled with a laugh. "What use has the God of Mischief for petty rules?"

Loki smiled and closed his eyes. "What use indeed," he murmured before sighing and forcing himself to pull away from Thor. "I need to call the centre to let them know I'm not coming in, then someone should probably show me how things are supposed to work around here." He glanced towards where the rest of the androids had huddled barely three feet away, looking uncertain. "And introductions, I suppose, or I'll have to start referring to everyone by the colour of their...undergarments? That sounds crass."

"Says the man who likes to refer to us as 'synthetics'," Thor commented, the sparkle in his eyes suggesting he meant that as a joke.

"I promise to only use that term when you're pissing me off," Loki returned.

"Fuck him a lot," Tony suggested to Thor. "Humans like it when they're fucked, right?"

Loki rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the group of sexbots he'd yet to meet.

-0-

Rogers found him two days later, when he was fighting with the outdated unlocking mechanism outside the shop's front door. "Do I want to know why you're up at, what was it again? Ass o'clock?"

"Arse," Loki corrected absently as he finally got the keypad to open. "I'm English, do recall."

"How could I possibly forget that?" Rogers muttered as Loki started stabbing the numbers hard enough to almost break them. "Why are you breaking in to a sex shop?"

The door was yanked open, revealing Tony, who was wearing nothing more than a wide grin.

Loki raised an unimpressed eyebrow while Rogers sputtered. "I've seen bigger. Move."

"Thor has completely ruined you," Tony complained as he let Loki in. He started to close the door to stop Rogers, but Loki caught the edge and held it open.

"Might as well let Officer Rogers in, or he'll stand outside and scare customers away," Loki commented drily as the cop slipped past him. "And I'm not 'breaking in'," he added to Rogers as he let Tony close the door. "I own this place now."

"Bullshit," Rogers deadpanned.

"Got it for a steal," Loki returned with a flash of a smile that he knew would put his favourite cop on edge.

A pair of pants went flying past Loki's head, smacking Tony in the face. "I tried," Thor rumbled apologetically as he came up next to Loki.

"He's just trying to replace you as my favourite," Loki murmured, turning his head up for the kiss he knew was coming.

Thor didn't disappoint, leaning in and pressing into Loki's mouth like an invading army set to conquer. As much as Loki wanted to see Rogers' reaction, Thor had a way of stealing every minuscule bit of his attention. (It had led to Tony forcing Thor out of the room at least three times over the past few days, so he could be assured of Loki's attention while he taught him about running a prostitution business.)

"Boss, I think your officer is jealous," Tony reported as Thor finally pulled back, ever smug at having forced Loki to clutch at him dizzily.

"Officer?" Thor asked, his smile fading.

Loki glanced back at Rogers, taking in the bright red colour his face and throat had turned and the way his eyes had widened, showing off blown pupils. Loki smirked and pulled away from Thor to stalk closer to Rogers. "We're not officially open for another four days, but I can always cut my favourite officer a deal if he needs some help with his little–" Loki trailed his eyes down to where there was definitely a tent in Rogers' trousers "–problem."

Rogers narrowed his eyes. "Dammit, Loki," he hissed, reaching out to grab Loki's arm.

Another hand intercepted Rogers', and both he and Loki looked up to find Thor glaring at the cop. "Don't touch him," Thor rumbled, voice sounding strangely like thunder in that moment.

"Thor," Loki said, frowning at the android.

Thor considered his expression for a moment before letting go of Rogers' wrist. His temple flickered with gold as he looked back at Rogers. "Officer Steven Grant Rogers, Twenty-third Precinct." Surprise flickered in his eyes and he looked back at Loki. "He arrested you for arson nine years ago."

Loki shrugged. "I had an accident."

"With a blow torch," Rogers reminded him, recovering rapidly at the reminder of their history. "And you shouldn't even have access to those files," he added to Thor.

Loki let out an innocent little whistle and leaned up to kiss Thor's cheek. "You're my favourite," he promised. "Did you finish with the inventory after I went home last night?"

"We had to take a break after your first break to fix the bed you two broke," Tony called before Thor could reply.

Thor sighed and shook his head while Rogers let out a sputter. "We didn't, no. You said end of the week."

"I did, and you can certainly keep to that," Loki agreed with a smile. "But you are not going to stand here and glare like my jealous boyfriend while I get chewed out."

Thor let out an irritated noise, but took the order for what it was and turned away. "Tony," he called over his shoulder.

"One moment," Loki requested, grabbing Tony's arm and dragging him close enough that Loki could whisper into his ear, "If you didn't record Rogers' reactions, I will downgrade your intelligence chip."

Tony flashed him a smile that would have put Rogers' teeth on edge if he'd been able to see the android's face. "I turned on the security recording system before opening the front door."

"Good," Loki murmured, breathing purposefully hot against the shell of his ear, just to feel Tony respond with a shiver. Then he pushed the smaller android after Thor, pleased to see him stumble for a moment in surprise. "Now piss off, both of you."

Tony saluted while Thor dragged him towards the stairs, a scowl marring his ridiculously handsome face.

"Loki," Rogers hissed, eyes narrowed. He didn't, Loki couldn't help but notice, try to touch him again.

Loki tapped a finger against his chin twice, tilting his head to one side with an innocently thoughtful expression. "What was it you told me? 'Kid, you need a real job before I'm forced to toss you in the slammer for good', right?"

"This is not what I meant."

Loki raised his eyebrows and spread his arms. "Because you can really see me in a cubicle, taking orders from someone in a suit," he returned.

Rogers deflated, reaching up to rub at his eyes, as though he could rub away the sight of Loki in the centre of the shop, clearly friendly with a couple of sexbots. "No," he admitted helplessly, "I can't. But this?" He motioned around him, encompassing every damning centimetre of the building.

Loki folded his arms in front of his chest, knowing it was defensive and not sure he cared. "What, the Centre?"

"You're good with the kids," Rogers insisted, and the comment didn't catch in his throat the way Loki would have expected, given how often he led the little buggers to the precinct with paint. "But, no. You could be a real asset in the police–"

Loki laughed, and the sound was a little too brittle, too telling.

Roger's eyes narrowed.

A radio crackled to life, a stiff voice listing off a police code – not one of the few Loki was familiar with – and an address nearby.

"We're not done," Rogers warned, even as he turned and headed for the door.

Loki stared after him, didn't move until the lock had clicked back into place, loud in the silence of an empty display floor. "Yes," he whispered, letting his arms drop and turning to hunt down his two awake androids, "we are."

-0-

The day Loki reopened the Sex Emporium, he changed his status on the thieving forums to inactive. He would have completely deleted his account, but one never knew when he might need to make a little extra cash on the side, and the easiest way to get the best jobs was to have history.

Still, he had a business to think about, now, and "employees" who depended on him. The less thieving he did, the better off they'd all be.

"At least you know you'll keep in shape, what with the amount of sex you and Thor engage in," Tony teased from the doorway of Loki's office.

Loki raised an eyebrow, taking in the trousers and vest his second favourite android was wearing. "Is the door open?" he asked.

"Yup."

"Why are you not on the floor?"

Tony's smile tightened a little. "Your ex and Thor are having a staring contest."

Rogers, Loki knew. "I'm not in."

"Lunch run, got it. I'll make your excuses." The door clicked shut behind him.

Loki hummed; there was something to be said for having the absolute loyalty of everyone who slept in this building.

-0-

Two months after the official opening, Loki got a message from the client who'd given him his last job and, inadvertently, led him to his new life:

'I have another job for you.'

"I thought you had got rid of that account," Thor murmured against Loki's ear, curled against his back and falsely drowsy. (Loki suspected the android was using his weakness for post-sex cuddles to keep him in the building; he honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd gone back to his own apartment. He really needed to tell Thor to stop, because he didn't want to live in the shop, and time spent lulling Loki to sleep was time not spent charging, which God knew Thor needed to do more of.)

Loki huffed as he squinted through drowsy eyes to type, 'I'm out of the biz. You'll have to find the next-best.' He shoved the mobile away and turned towards Thor. "Just in case," he murmured before licking along the too-perfect stubble along Thor's jaw. "I should head home."

Thor let out a possessive growl and moved to blanket Loki with his body, keeping him in place. "I'm not through with you yet," he murmured, the words both a threat and a promise.

"Mmm... Workplace sexual harassment. My favourite," Loki teased as he spread his legs, letting the muscled android settle comfortably between them. "Talk dirty to me."

Thor rumbled a laugh as he slipped a hand under Loki's arse, raising him just enough that Thor could slip easily into his already-loose entrance. "Shall I tell you all of the terrible things I have in store for you in the broom closet?" he breathed as Loki gasped and arched into the intrusion. "The lube hidden behind the cleaning supplies, on the top shelf. How impossibly smooth I've sanded the handle of the broom to?"

Loki let out a breathless laugh as he grabbed for Thor's shoulders, holding on tight for the rough fuck he always got. "You are not buggering me with a bloody broom handle."

Thor breathed against his lips, falsely hot and damp. "I'll have you begging for it," he promised before laying into Loki, rough and fast and wonderful.

Loki suspected that, if anyone could talk him into sex with a broom, it would be Thor.

-0-

They were waiting for him when he got back from picking up a coffee and a light breakfast a week later. Two squad cars, bearing four hard-faced officers of the law.

"May I ask what this is about?" Loki requested as one of the androids stepped forward, handcuffs held obviously between his hands.

"You're under arrest for the murder and robbery of Brian Braddock last night," one of the human officers informed him coolly.

Loki raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that, even as he allowed the android to cuff him; resisting never worked out well, in his experience. "Interesting. I've been in there–" he nodded to the Sex Emporium, the door of which had opened to show Tony and Thor frowning towards him "–pretty much since I opened yesterday." He raised his breakfast. "This was the first time I've left."

"Do you have a human that can confirm that?" the officer demanded, snatching Loki's food and coffee away from him.

Loki narrowed his eyes, holding tight to anger because the panic clawing at his chest wouldn't help him here. "Do I need one? My shop's cameras roll twenty-four seven," he said, refusing to let his voice shake.

"Yes," the officer agreed, eyes glinting. "Your shop." He took a large bite of Loki's breakfast. "Put him in the car."

"Loki–" Thor started, stepping out past the doorway.

"Get back inside!" Loki snapped, because he needed Thor here, safe and keeping an eye on the other androids with Tony, not trying to speak in his defence to men who, if they wouldn't accept camera surveillance as evidence, wouldn't accept an android's testimony.

"And have someone sent down here to board up this eyesore," the officer added as Loki was shoved into the back of the police car.

Ah, Loki thought faintly as the car door slammed shut, that's where you got to, bad luck.

-0-

They didn't even bother giving himself a chance to speak for himself, just threw him in a cell and told him the date of his trial. It wasn't until he got to speak to his shop lawyer, Matt Murdock, that he found out how truly screwed he was:

"They have video surveillance of you entering the premises, an eye witness account, and your fingerprints in multiple places."

"It wasn't me," Loki insisted, clutching at the edge of the table to keep from screaming. Or crying, more likely. "I was at the Sex Emporium all night."

"There's no one that can confirm that," Matt replied, shaking his head. His fingers were moving restlessly over the braille risen out of his tablet.

"Thor can," Loki whispered, an admittance that could well destroy him, given his profession. Assuming this whole mess didn't end with him facing the death penalty.

Matt shook his head. "Loki, Thor is an android, and you spent almost two years working as a technician. He's going to be as credible a witness as your shop's surveillance system."

Loki wanted to say he couldn't get past Thor's security systems, but that wasn't, necessarily, true any more. Just because he'd never bothered trying, didn't mean he couldn't.

Matt sighed, his hands falling still. "I can try and get my hands on Thor's processor, use it as proof that his memories of you staying all night haven't been fabricated–"

A sick feeling filled Loki's stomach at the thought of someone taking Thor apart, of violating him that way, but–

"–but I don't know if I can. He wasn't in the shop when it was cleaned out."

Ice shot through Loki's veins and he swore his heart stopped. "What?" he breathed with what felt like his last gasp of air.

Matt's mouth thinned into a hard line and he didn't move for a long moment before stiffly announcing, "Thor and Tony have both disappeared."

Trust.

"Take me back to my cell," Loki demanded of the nearest guard.

"I'll keep trying," Matt promised quietly under the sound of clinking metal.

"Don't bother," Loki replied, voice gone cold as ice filled in the cracks in the protective wall he'd built up around his heart before he'd come to America. Damn Thor for making him vulnerable.

Bitterly, Loki wondered if this lesson had been learned for the final time too late.

-0-

Rogers came the morning of his trial, two hours before his escort was due.

"Come for one last volley?" Loki asked, smiling wide and cruel to hide how terrified he was. "Shall we make a bet about how hard I need to make you blush before you pass out and I can swipe the keys of whoever drags you away?"

Rogers sighed and shook his head before holding up a key ring. "No need," he returned before unlocking his cell door and very obviously stepping to one side, motioning Loki out.

Loki clasped his hands together, wrists feeling painfully bare. "What game is this?" he demanded.

"No game," Rogers promised. "You're free to go."

"What?"

Suspicion warred with disbelief as Loki cautiously stepped from his cell. Rogers didn't move to stop him, and neither did the two guards within easy reach. He eyed them each in turn for a moment, before determinedly starting towards the exit.

Rogers reached around him as he stopped in front of the electronic security door, unlocking it to let them out. "We caught the real culprit."

" 'We'?" Loki bit out, voice sharp to hide a rising tide of relief. "Don't tell me you got a promotion while I was cooling my heels."

"I didn't," Rogers admitted, helplessly amused. "But I was convinced to take some vacation time and a couple of new partners to dig a little deeper."

"New partners?" Loki asked just before they rounded the corner into the desk farm that marked the main part of the precinct.

There, standing next to what Loki knew was Rogers' desk, were Tony and Thor. He froze, heart thudding too loudly in his ears.

Tony saw him first, his whole face lighting up before he elbowed Thor hard enough to have broken his ribs, had the taller android actually had any. Thor looked up, blue eyes bright with hope and victory. 'Loki,' he mouthed, voice lost in the noises of the station.

"They were quite determined I help them," Rogers informed him, and Loki didn't need to look to know the man was smiling, wide and pleased.

Loki felt his eyes watering, chest aching with mending trust and the shattering of the icy wall so hastily re-erected only a couple days before.

And when Thor crossed the floor to them, concern writ across his face, Loki wasted no time in curling into his embrace, whispering, "You fool," against Thor's throat.

Thor's arms tightened around him and he pressed a kiss to Loki's hair. "Yes," he whispered back, "you are."

Loki didn't even pretend to deny it.

.

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