“Two days,” Tony complained. He held up two fingers as an unnecessary point of emphasis. “Two. And Loki has already stirred up enough chaos to rival the Chitauri invasion.”
“I hardly think a flock of pigeons is comparable to the Chitauri,” Loki countered dryly.
“The way those kids were screaming they did,” Tony retorted, grabbing up a glass and a bottle of Jack Daniels. He waved it in Thor’s direction. “And I don’t know what ‘keeping an eye on Loki’ means to you, but it certainly does not mean taking him for a walk in Central Park for all of New York to see.”
Thor raised his voice in protest but Tony drowned him out with a shot, then two.
“What I want to know is why you failed to mention to us that you brought him here knowing he can still use magic,” Coulson interjected.
“Very minor magic, I assure you,” Loki droned, hinting to his wrist where on a flat and narrow metal cuff, black in color, sat snug against his skin.
“Unless the All Father where to take away his magic and make Loki human, he would still have use of magic no matter what measures were put in place. The bracelet hampers larger spells, but even on Asgard there are no foolproof devices that can completely prevent the use of magic,” Thor fervently explained.
“First things first— no more magic. Even if it’s just turning pigeons into moths or mayflies or whatever it was. Even if it’s Halloween. Even if it’s April Fools. Even Stark gives you the slightest reason, no magic, or we’ll have to put Loki in solitary confinement,” Coulson ruled. “Second—”
“Woah, woah, wait a minute,” Tony gaped. “Isn’t that what you were going to do anyway?”
“Second,” Coulson continued, “Director Fury has ordered Loki remain in Stark Tower under whatever supervision Mr. Stark deems necessary along with frequent visitations from SHIELD agents in order to make certain that Loki behaves himself, and for SHIELD protocol in monitoring past and potential threats.”
“No,” Stark refused. “Absolutely not. He cannot stay here.”
“Where else do you want us to put him?” Coulson inquired. “SHEILD currently does not have a sufficient holding space for him and even if we did, our security systems are under constant fire from outside sources. He’d be better monitored here.”
“Tony, please,” Thor stepped in. “I do not believe that Loki can learn anything of Midgard or its people or have any inkling of the damage he’s caused if he’s locked in a cell. On my word, I will personally remove Loki from your abode if he causes any harm to you or Miss Potts.”
Tony threw back another shot.
“You should send him out with that investigation crew SHIELD threw together,” Tony mused. “If he’s supposed to see the damage he’s caused…”
“SOMU isn’t a team related to the New York incident,” Coulson corrected.
“Technically it is,” Tony said. “I’ve been talking with Selvig. I have to say it’s pretty clear that Loki’s use of the Tesseract helped stir things up. Speaking of which, I hear you’re looking for your dead niece.”
Coulson folded his arms. “I wasn’t surprised when Agent Barton knew that. But I have to wonder where you got that information.”
“Barton,” Tony shrugged. “He delivered Loki and Thor here, you know. We talked for a little while. Did you ever stop to think that maybe the girl you saw was one of those shadowy-things that possess people?”
“You could just say ghosts,” Coulson said, an almost unreadable smug smile pulling at his lips. “Or demons, if that sounds more professional. That’s what everyone else is calling them.”
“I’d sooner believe that it were aliens,” Tony said. “I’ve at least met aliens. Aliens I can handle.”
“Well, if it puts your mind at ease, I’ve been doing research on her. She coincidentally has a direct relation to Ronne, which is convenient and concerning and frankly hasn’t given us any answers so far,” Coulson said. “That would be confidential information, but since it seems that this is a no-secret zone, I hope you’ll appreciate that I saved you the trouble of hacking SHIELD’s database later.”
“Perhaps Thor and I should leave the room if you two plan on sharing delicate information,” Loki said with a cheerful voice that rang thick with sarcasm.
Thor looked from his brother to Coulson. “We admittedly have heard you’re looking for a family member presumed deceased, and in relation to the death of a man wanted by SHIELD.”
“That about sums it up,” Coulson shrugged.
“Have you tried Missing posters?” Tony suggested. “You know, like people put up for lost pets.”
“I’m not even going to answer that,” Coulson glared.
“Why not? It seems reasonable enough,” Thor questioned. “If no one else sees her, then at the very least she might know you are looking for her.”
“I think that might be the problem,” Loki said to Thor.
A sigh. Coulson kept an even tone, but it was a struggle.
“She’s a potential threat. She killed a man, a dangerous man, and seems to be purposefully avoiding detection. Posting any kind of notice to the public would alert her and backfire on our search.”
“Well, I assume SHIELD has released her image to law enforcement. How come I haven’t seen a picture of you yet?” Tony asked. “I mean, I probably have just as good a chance at finding her as SHIELD does.”
He was right. If anything he’d have a better chance of locating Denny, Coulson told himself. Stark didn’t have to follow the same rules set out for SHIELD agents. But Coulson prickled at the idea of involving Stark in this case. It was too personal, and besides, his patience ran on dangerously low levels around the billionaire.
“Because as I said before, this is actually confidential information. If we’ve released any information to law enforcement, it was with the utmost care as to ensure not a word was breathed to anyone else,” Coulson said. “Officially speaking, we still don’t have any idea who killed Gorman.”
“And technically speaking, you’re sure that it’s your dead niece.”
“Missing. There was never a body found.”
“Same difference. Come on, you’ve got to have a better picture of her than that grainy security camera shot,” Tony persisted.
Coulson was annoyed. He looked it, he exuded it. And he reached into his pocket (while wondering why he was always the agent left to deal with Stark) to produce Denny’s picture.
“The most recent picture I have of her was when she was five or six,” he said, handing Tony the picture.
Tony held the picture by opposite corners and furrowed his brow studiously.
“Kids grow up so fast,” he sighed. “One day they’re smiling for their school portrait and the next they’re burning criminals alive.”
Coulson, tight-lipped, snatched back the picture.
“May I see?” Thor requested. He held the picture with much more reverence than Tony had, but wore the same contemplative expression. The more he looked at it the deeper his expression became, until he finally looked to Coulson with a frown.
“How old would she be now?” he asked.
“Early twenties,” Coulson shrugged. “A young woman.”
“I’ve seen her,” Thor said quietly, looking back to the picture. Coulson straightened and Loki leaned in for a look.
“Yes, you ran into her quite literally a few days ago, didn’t you?” he observed.
“She had the same smile,” Thor said as he returned the photograph. “But her eyes didn’t show it like they do there. There was an emptiness in her eyes I can’t explain. But I would know her if I saw her again.”
“Where exactly did you see her?” Coulson was quick to ask. Thor shook his head, looking at Loki for support. He received none.
“I do not recall. We were with Jane and Darcy, and where headed to meet Selvig. I ran into her somewhere between the Stag of Stars and our destination.”
“See, look at that. A lead already.” Tony poured himself another drink.
“Thank you, we’ll look into it,” Coulson directed to Thor. He stashed Denny’s picture. Made for the elevator.
“Good day to you too,” Tony called after him.

---

Coulson exhaled as he exited Stark Tower. There were some things he really, really hated about his job. He cranked Lola up and pulled into the traffic. Whether it was his shades or his thoughts distracting him, he didn’t see Denny standing across the street.

Notes