Innocence Found

Chapter Six

Natasha and Steve were animatedly chatting whilst walking to the living room. Bruce had asked them this morning if they could stop by and Natasha's curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had told Bruce she was training with Steve during the day but they would both stop by in the afternoon. Natasha's original plan was to go to lunch with Darcy but she hadn't seen the intern since yesterday so she guessed she had taken a couple of days off. Natasha stopped in her tracks. "Steve, listen. Can you hear that?" Steve stopped alongside her and tried to listen to the happenings down the hall. He wasn't quite sure how to place the sounds but Natasha seemed to be familiar with them. "It sounds like a sword fight, there's metal clangs."

Steve wasn't sure how to take this news. Tony was away for the day and he didn't like talking to the man that lived in every ceiling of the room but he was ready to spring into action if the occasion called for it. Natasha had told Steve, during their training session, that she hadn't seen Darcy in a while and Steve began to worry then and now his level of apprehension rose to an impossible high when he heard Bruce shout Darcy's name and it followed by Pepper running out of the living room, not even stopping to talk to them, just rushing straight past them. Steve grabbed Natasha's shoulder and nodded towards the doorway. Natasha crouched down and signalled for Steve to follow. They slowly entered the room and saw Bruce sitting in the middle of a sofa, attempting to sort through various piles of books around him. Once Steve was sure that Bruce was in no danger he went through the room searching for any sign of a struggle to signal where Darcy was. Steve began his way to the adjoining kitchen, motioning for Natasha to back him up. The broad blonde found himself staring at a young girl, sitting on the table, apparently singing whilst another young child was on the floor banging on pots, seemingly along to the tune that the young girl was 'singing' Natasha cracked a smirk at the scene in front of her and smiled at Steve. "Even as unfeeling as I can be. That shit's adorable." Steve continued to look baffled between the children and Natasha. He called through to the next room.

"Bruce. Who are these children?"

Bruce laughed to himself. He guessed it was time for show and tell. "Darcy! Loki! Come in here at once!" Bruce raised his voice, hoping that the children would pay attention to the tone and hear him. Loki stood from his make shit drum kit and held his hand out to help Darcy off of the table, onto a chair and then finally onto the floor where the scurried into the living room

Steve followed the children into the next room, his mouth hanging slightly open in shock. "Surely, Bruce, you're pulling my leg. These children are not…" Steve looked closer at the little girl and noticed the same look in her eyes that Darcy has when she's been caught doing something she shouldn't be. Which was a look Steve often saw in her face. "Wow. And is this little guy the trickster?"

Loki stood stiffly, glaring at the man that would not stop staring at Darcy. "What did you call me, sir!?"

Steve knelt down in front of the boy. He found him quite endearing, a lot more so than when he was adult-sized. Steve chucked Loki on the chin and laughed. "I called you a trickster little man. Is that not what you are?"

Loki remembered Fandral making a joke up about Loki and he thought back to being teased and ridiculed in the palace of Odin and it made Loki scowl with anger at this large brute who thought it fun to make sport of him.

"My name is Loki Odinson and you would do well not to forget it, mortal."

Loki did not raise his voice nor yell at the older man, he simply spoke in a low tone but the thing that caused Steve to fall back in shock was the darkening green colour of the iris' of the young boys eyes. The only other time Steve had seen that colour was in Germany, when he first came in contact with Loki. The, much large, Loki. Natasha stood back in the doorway watching Steve cower in the wake of a 4 year old. If Loki went for Steve Natasha was content in the fact she could move fast enough to separate the two but she was confident in the fact that Loki would calm down soon enough. Children's emotions were very volatile. Bruce was certain that Loki was not aware of just how strong his magik already was, even at such a young age, but he knew Loki would not want to cause harm to this stranger. It was clear that emotion brought out the inner demon in Loki. Bruce had also noticed Loki's fingertips tinging a sky blue but it faded almost as soon as it appeared.

Annoyed that her playtime had been halted and that Loki was feeling upset because of the mean man picking on him Darcy stomped over to Steve and pinched his leg. Hard. Steve yelped and looked Darcy in the eye, a disbelieving look on his face. "Pick on some-one your own size buster!"

Natasha cringed for Steve. It had to hurt having a child call you out and that child being Darcy to boot. She knew Steve had been taking Darcy out in the evenings and he had expressed his want to 'court' Miss Lewis so having her jump to a baby Loki's rescue had to be damaging his ego.

Steve guessed that his best course of action would be an apology. He prided himself on being a gentleman first and gentleman definitely did not argue with children. "Please accept my apologies Miss Lewis and Loki, I apologise for calling you a name. It was not right of me." He extended his right hand as a kind of peace offering to the children. Both of them looked at Bruce, who nodded, and warily shook Steve's hand.

Loki sat back on the floor. Refusing to look at another. He did not enjoy being teased and it had not happened in this new place as of yet and it reminded him of playtime at home and it first of all made him miss his mother even more so and secondly he thought he had made friends here. He smiled slightly at Lady Darcy coming to his rescue. He was certainly glad that when Bruce found her new clothes she requested green socks. He looked up at his friend "Lady Darcy. My fingers tingle." For some reason he thought she might know the cause of them. She seemed very smart so far and she had fixed his problems since he had arrived on 'Earth'

Sure enough Darcy looked into his eyes and ran her fingers over his cheekbones. "I think you're magical. Your eyes are all sparkly."

"I'm not magical! Not yet. I have to be taught."

"A cloud follows you 'round too Loki."

"No!"

"Well wizards aren't real anyway so maybe you're just weird!"

"I am not weird!"

Natasha knelt down in front of the little girl, waiting for her to acknowledge her. "Yes, Darce, wizards aren't real but magiks are real, and Loki is very magical. A little boy with sparkling green magiks. Very tough and manly."

Loki thought about what the red haired lady was telling Darcy for a minute, then cocked his head to the side. "I'm tough and manly?"

Steve shook his head in affirmation.

"Oh! Joy. Soon I might join brother on his lessons. He will be so proud of me!"

"C'mon, you scary wizard. Let's go back in the kitchen and make more music. I'm bored." Darcy dragged Loki back in by the arm and soon the two started banging the pots and pans around again.

When they were out of earshot, Steve's curiosity got the better of him. "So the fountain of youth isn't just a myth? It creates a small brigade of children"
"It's the orange substance, most likely. The cells tell me it's some kind of blood. I just don't know if it was created for this specific purpose or if it was an accident." Bruce sighed.

"Just one question, Bruce. Why was Pep in such a hurry to leave here? She was very flustered." Natasha cocked an eyebrow toward the scientist, waiting for an answer.

"Think, Natasha." Bruce looked up from his piles of books. "Being cooped up in the house with two small children, one being a God at that, that have no real outlet for their overabundant stores of energy thanks to the daylight — and four year olds, to boot. They would have tried the patience of a saint. Frankly, after dinner, I'm counting on you and Steve to take them shopping for some additional clothing and taking them out for a run in the park to get them out of my hair." He raked a rueful hand across his scalp. "What there is left of it after today, that is."

****************************************************************************

The trip to the local mall was uneventful, mainly because Steve stayed in the car with Loki, answering all his questions about the vehicle and the scenery around them, and Natasha kept Darcy firmly belted into the shopping cart. Half an hour later they were the proud owners of several new outfits for each child, sneakers for Darcy… and specifically several packages of small, green, socks. Both for boys and for girls. At Darcy's request . Also the essentials: toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, soap, shampoo and de-tangling spray. Keeping Darcy's long hair tangle free was no easy task.

By the time the car pulled into the parking lot, both children were practically vibrating in their seats. Natasha gave them firm instructions. No climbing over the park's fencing, no running out of sight and of course, being extra careful of any other children that might still be in the park.

Darcy and Loki whooped, and entered into a rousing game of tag, with their 'protectors' in full pursuit. It wasn't long before first Natasha, and then Steve admitted defeat and sat out on the benches, sweating and panting hard.

"Look, Loki," Darcy shouted from across the park. "We beated the old folks."

The little boy stared at the exhausted adults for a moment, before slipping into a fake angry glare and tearing across the park at breakneck speed, Darcy, putting on a false-scream, in hot pursuit.

Steve had a sour expression on his face. "Is it just me, Natasha?" he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "or is it not strange to see a small Loki, even pretending, to terrorise a small Miss Lewis."

"Get off it." Natasha smacked him on the shoulder. "You've never liked Loki… even though it's a given that you have reasons. So do I, but that little one doesn't look like he would harm a fly. And he seems to adore Darcy. She's totally safe."

The elder Avengers sat and watched as the little ones ran wild. Up and down the slide, balancing on the teeter totters, and in general just running their new sneakers into the ground in laps around the park.

Loki suddenly veered off, heading straight for the monkeybars. He reached the top in seconds, balancing on the uppermost rung, daring Darcy to climb up and catch him. She just stood her ground, daring him to jump back down.

Stalemate — neither child giving in. Suddenly, Loki began to sway in an alarming manner. The little girl instinctively knew she wasn't big enough to catch him, or fast enough to get up there before he fell. "Hold on," she screamed, running for the bench.

Steve had heard her distress, however, and was already heading for the monkeybars. He was mere seconds too late, and saw it close up as Loki lost his balance and fell backwards, striking his head on the top bar as he fell heavily to the ground.

"Shit!" Steve cursed, unlike him, in a fit of panic. He knew you weren't supposed to move an accident victim, for fear of unsettling broken bones and other internal injuries, but that was for humans. When he noticed a small pool of blood forming under the boy's head, he made up his mind, sliding his arms under Loki's knees and neck, heading for the car, followed by Natasha, who carried a sobbing Darcy in her arms.

Natasha drove as quickly as she dared, hurrying to get them back to Bruce for whatever medical assistance you could offer a God. At the very least he'd have some cold water in the fridge, She'd seen Loki drink it by the bucketful when he was researching. Ten minutes later, Steve was sprinting from the car with Loki in his arms.

Steve kicked the door in, not giving Natasha time to knock or see if it was unlocked… Darcy was screaming, "Fix him, fix him!" at Bruce the moment she saw him.

"Oh dear Lord, Steve. What happened?" Bruce cleared the couch, of the foyer in Stark Tower, immediately, grabbing a towel to put under the boy's head.

Darcy spoke up, pushing her way to the head of the couch. "We was running and Loki climbed on the monkeybars and stood on the top bar and he wouldn't come down and he started to shake and he fell."
The breathless little girl pulled at Bruce's arm, almost wrenching his shoulder from the socket. "Please, mister… make him wake up. Wizards are s'posed to get better real fast."

"God, Darcy. Loki is a god. Not a wizard," he said, absently. "and I'll do the best I can. I promise." The man brought over a bowl of warm water and antiseptic cream, and examined the lump on the back of Loki's head. He found a knot the size of a walnut, which had already stopped bleeding.

He gently cleansed the area, removing as much blood as possible from Loki's hair, leaving it with a darker tint compared to the rest of his black hair. Not a sound, movement or breath from the boy. He was deeply unconscious.

"Well then, I believe I've done all I can do at the moment." Bruce tried to reconcile the little unmoving God with the one who'd been driving him insane earlier in the day, and failed, miserably. "Loki's going to have to pull through on his own. The best news I can give you is as long as you see him, he's got a chance. God's heal better than anything. With the exception of Logan, of course."

He carried the boy carefully upstairs to the guestroom, taking a new pair of pajamas from Natasha and undressing and redressing Loki — taking the opportunity to check his body for other injuries.

"There is one more avenue of action open to us, and I'll only use it if Loki hasn't awoken by morning." Bruce took a deep breath before he continued. "And that will be to call Thor… part of Loki's childhood."