Still Holding On

Chapter 37

"Loki, I'm going to apologize right now for how the next half-hour of your life is going to go."

Loki picks Edward up from beside himself and hugs him tight. "I don't know what this is about, but I think I'm going to need him," he jokes.

He's probably right.

Tony looks at the god across the breakfast table, where Loki had been very contently eating waffles until a moment ago. Even now, he looks rather content, still hugging his bear to his chest with a small smile on his face. It's been such a nice morning. He hates knowing that that's about to change.

"You remember Natasha Romanoff, right?" Tony asks.

Even just the mention of her name causes Loki's smile to falter. "Is she coming back?"

"No, not quite," Tony says. "You know how I said that she's a spy?"

Loki nods slowly. "I do."

"Her boss is coming over."

Loki puts Edward on his lap, looking down at the bear with a frown. Tony watches him uncertainly. Should he keep talking? Or does Loki need a minute to process that?

After a long pause, Loki looks up at him again. "I can stay in our bedroom while you talk to him."

Tony shakes his head. "He wants to talk to you."

"Why?"

And that's the question he was afraid of. He knew it was coming, though, so he has his lie preplanned. "He wasn't happy to hear that someone he's never met was flying one of my Iron Man suits."

Loki furrows his brows. "But they're your suits."

"And you'd think that'd be the end of it, right?" Tony agrees, absolutely lying through his teeth as he does. "He likes to overstep his bounds. I'm sure you'll see that."

Loki hugs Edward to his chest again. "Exciting," he says monotonously.

"I know," Tony says. "It sucks. But he just wants to get a feel for who you are as a person, and if he's a dick about it, just know that it's nothing personal, okay?"

Loki sighs. "When is he coming?"

"Any minute now."

Loki nods, reluctantly accepting that. "So all I have to do is make a good first impression?"

Not your first impression. If it was his first impression, this would be a lot easier.

But still, Tony says, "That's pretty much it, yeah. Just be nice to him, even if he pushes your buttons."

"What does he want me to be?" Loki asks. "Or, I suppose, what does he not want me to be? What kind of first impression should I strive for?"

Tony shakes his head. "Don't even worry about that," he says. "Just be yourself." That's all he wants is for Fury to see what he's been seeing for the last couple of weeks. Loki doesn't have to pretend to be something he's not when what he is is already perfect.

"Are you sure?" Loki asks warily.

"I'm sure," Tony says. "He's going to love you – even if he pretends he doesn't."

It's going to be very weird if Fury actually listens to Tony's rules the way Natasha didn't. He doesn't expect Fury to outright tell Loki what he did – and Tony would stop him if he tried. But he also doesn't expect Fury to play nice, and he wants Loki to be prepared for that. He just doesn't want to over-prepare him for it if Fury's going to plaster on a smile and pretend this is the first they've ever met like he's supposed to.