Chapter Text
This was not going as planned. The Avengers had been on a routine call out, some asshole with delusions of grandeur and some colourful spandex monologuing to scared tourists in central park, no big deal. Then Loki showed up.
One minute it’d been “You will pay for foiling my plans!” from A-hole In Spandex - seriously ‘foiling,’ the kid had obviously overdosed on Scooby Doo. The next there was a flash of green light and Loki was there. He’d done a complicated wave of his hands and flashed a smirk that couldn’t mean anything good. And that’s when the screaming really started.
Those who had waited around to see the action were swarmed with thousands of snakes.
A-hole in Spandex shrieked, tripping over his elaborate outfit and fell back into a pile of cobras. Tony winched inside his helmet. That had to hurt.
“We gotta start evac now” Steve called to his team “Hawkeye?” There were going to be at a disadvantage today with Banner at a conference across the country and Thor back in Asgard.
“I got him” Clint sighed and barrelled forward to grab the idiot, pulling him sharply away from the mess of hissing snakes and into the arms of a couple of waiting SHEILD agents who made themselves scarce pretty quickly.
Natasha held her position next to Steve, gun trained on Loki’s head.
“Earth’s mightiest heroes” Loki sneered. He was perched high from the carnage in a tree, looking as regal and fucking irritating as ever.
“Don’t you have better things to be doing today, Princess” Tony called flipping up his visor to make eye contact with the insane Norse God “Or did your therapist cancel on you again?”
Loki grinned and gracefully dropped the 20ft to the ground, snakes parting themselves smoothly to accommodate him.
“I think this is an adequate use of my time.” Loki drawled and before Tony had time to fire back a retort, Loki had blasted a jet of energy at him. Tony took flight instantly, the bolt of energy setting a tree behind him on fire.
“And now there’s that guy” Tony mumbled, visor locking back into place and readying the repulsors.
***
They’d been fighting for hours and everyone’s patience was wearing thin. Loki didn’t seem to be in the mood to let up. They’d gone from central park, leaving the snakes to be cleared by SHIELD, to fighting next to the Public Library, to above Stark Tower and finally on top of Grand Central station. Every time it looked like Loki had teleported back to wherever the hell he spent his down time, he was spotted in another part of the city. They were exhausted.
“Iron Man, Widow’s got a clear shot but only if he’s distracted. Can you get up there?” Steve directed to Tony.
“Yeah yeah, I got the bag of cats” Tony quipped and shot up to where Loki was standing.
“Are you gonna be this annoying every time your brother goes back to Asgard?” Tony called as he landed.
“He is not my brother” Loki scowled and paused turning around just in time to freeze the gas canister Natasha had just hurled with an elegant wave of his hand. Loki plucked the frozen grenade out of the air, tossing it up and catching it again, he began to move closer to Tony.
“Now Stark, you’ll have to do better than that”
“Keep him talking Tony, SHIELD’s trying to get a lock on his energy signature but we need him to hold” Steve buzzed through on his com.
Tony held his ground as Loki prowled, still throwing up and catching the grenade. “So what’s gonna happen now Reindeer Games? Do I need to threaten you again? I know Hulk wouldn’t mind making another Loki shaped hole in the ground.”
“I’m sure he would be so inclined. But you seem to be one beast short today” Loki said, holding his arms out to indicate the lack of the enormous green rage monster.
“True. But that doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass. I mean all I’ve seen from you all day is weak ass party tricks and puffs of smoke. You really as hot as you think you are?”
Loki smirked and with a wave of his hand set a row of parked cars on the street below ablaze.
“Cute” Tony deadpanned.
“Hot enough for you Stark?” Loki laughed, eyes gleaming.
“Thought Ice was more your style, Frosty” Tony jeered and Loki dropped all sense of humour. Tony wondered briefly if he’s pushed the God too far then realised he definitely had.
“Enough!” Loki fumed and finally threw the grenade at him. Tony dodged to the left missing the hit but wasn’t quick enough to miss the two shots of magic Loki blasted at him in quick succession, barrelling him straight in the chest. Tony grunted as the force of Loki’s blasts threw him off the top of the station and back through an office block window. He hit the ground hard and let his head drop back against the carpet.
“Iron Man, you hurt?” Steve’s voice split through the com.
“I’m just peachy, Cap gimme a minute’ Tony grumbled.
“He’s gone Tony, let’s just hope he stays that way” Tony groaned and let his muscles relax, the adrenaline leeching out of him. Tony tried to sit up and became aware of the metal rod sticking out of his stomach, straight through his suit. Shit.
“Er Cap, where’s the closest med team from here?” Tony tried to focus on his breathing and not the sound of blood dripping through the cracks in his suit.
“Medical help ETA 5 minutes. What’s going on Tony?” his voice was strained.
“I’ll let you know” the pain was starting to register on his shocked nervous system “JARVIS assess the damage.”
“Puncture wound seems to have caused a minor gastrointestinal perforation, Sir. I would recommend immediate medical attention.” The crisp English accent intoned.
“Geez, you think so Jay? Broadcast to whoever’s closest” Tony hissed and dropped his head back against the floor.
“Hang in there Tony” Natasha responded through the com “We’ll be there soon. Looks like Loki’s given up”
“Fucking Loki” Tony muttered before passing out.
***
Several hours of surgery, clucking from Steve and a good deal of cursing at SHEILD officials later Tony was finally allowed back to Stark tower at nearly 4 in the morning. Steve had wanted him to stay in the hospital overnight “You just had major surgery Tony, don’t be a jackass” but he was having none of it. He rode the elevator up to the pent house; the only noise was his fingers rhythmically tapping the arc reactor. Tony sighed as the doors pinged open.
“Welcome back Sir, I trust you enjoyed your long stay in hospital” JARVIS greeted him.
“Mute” Tony could have sworn he didn't program his AI to be that sarcastic.
“Stop all notifications JARVIS, I gotta date with some Laphroaig and my couch”
JARVIS’s silence confirmed his order. As promised, Tony grabbed a bottle from the bar and headed straight to the leather sofa, dropping the bag of medical goodies on the coffee table as he went.
Tony took a generous swig of the scotch before delicately lowering himself onto the couch, setting the bottle down to the floor. He sunk into the cushions and groped for the bottle of meds on the table, but it seemed his brilliant luck of the day was still working its magic as he just managed to knock it onto the floor.
“Oh my God” Tony hissed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You called” Tony looked up to find Loki staring down at him, smirking as usual, but looking a little contrite. He wasn’t in his battle gear anymore, only a green tunic and the leather trousers remained. He looked softer but still pretty deadly. Asgardians really didn’t do sweatpants.
Tony huffed out a laugh “You may have gone a bit overboard with the show Lokes” Loki kneeled down next to him and made to lift his shirt. He stopped just short and shot Tony a questioning glance. Tony nodded “You might as well; it was your fault this time.”
“I was trying to be convincing, it would have looked strange if I had had the opportunity to harm you and neglected it” Loki replied tersely. He pulled at the hem of the shirt and revealed the mess of bandages lining Tony’s abdomen. He frowned “I was not aware you were this damaged.”
“You threw me through a window again” Loki smiled slightly “You gotta get a new move babe, this one’s getting old real fast” Tony winced as Loki shifted the bandages out of the way revealing jagged lines of stiches.
“Defenestration never loses its charm” Loki retorted and sat back on his heels “Now be still.”
“Technically you threw me into a building this time so does that still count or wha—Ah Fuck!” Tony was cut off as Loki applied his hand to the wound. It burned, as his organs fully healed and his stitches dissolved. Tony made to shove Loki away, he’d take the natural route with a healthy side of scotch thanks a fucking lot, but Loki was already done. He brought his hand up and away from his side and carded his fingers through Tony’s hair.
“So fragile” Loki mumbled eyes focused on the newly healed pink skin “so breakable” Tony rolled his eyes.
“I get it Shakespeare, puny mortal I can squish with my Godly Norse boot” Tony grumbled but pushed his head against Loki’s cool hand. Loki’s particular brand of healing magic always seemed to make him slightly lethargic, his body completely relaxing under his care. The pain had gone as fast as it had overwhelmed him and all that was left was a pleasant tingling where the stiches had been.
Loki paused, his hand still in Tony’s hair and looked away from him.
“I would notice your absence if you died” he said in a low voice, eyes determinedly fixed on the vast Manhattan skyline. Tony looked at the floor.
“Yeah, I er… would notice if you died too” This seemed to be all the confirmation Loki needed as he half crawled onto Tony’s lap, long legs partially dangling over the edge of the couch and settled his head on Tony’s chest, arms wrapping around him. Tony looked down at the mess of sprawled God, his lips quirking briefly and brought his arms up to match Loki’s gesture. Loki closed his eyes, completely at ease while Tony rubbed small circles into his back.
Tony’s mind wouldn’t shut off as he pondered how the fuck they had got here and the changes in their er, relationship. It wasn’t that they hadn’t done this before. No one could have guessed but Loki was seriously into snuggling after sex and who the fuck was Tony to say no to a God. And sure they had spent time together without fucking, a lot of time now that Tony thought about it. But they rarely did this. It was fucking or bickering or showing off. Not this relaxed contact without intent. Tony hadn’t spent time just being with someone like this since Pepper and that had ended in flames far too easily.
It had been hard for him after New York, his world getting infinitely bigger than he thought possible. He’d dream of falling and would be forced awake by the darkness of his own head. Pepper, sweet Pepper, he’d loved her and she’d returned it but it just wasn’t enough in the end. There was too much distance so they’d called it quits. Her world had gotten bigger too but she could cut those parts of her world out of her life and that came down to Tony. She still ran the show at Stark Industries and he still turned up to smile for the cameras and make shiny tech for the company. Just like old times.
Tony had never planned to end up in a quasi-stable relationship with one of the world’s most wanted super criminals. But then Loki had shown up, already drunk and looking for a fight that never happened. Tony had offered him another drink and that time, he’d said yes. That was nearly two years ago, but after that first night Loki would show up every couple of weeks. Maybe Loki had been looking for a distraction. Tony sure had.
They’d come up with their arrangement one morning when Tony had woken up and Loki was still there. His arms still firmly wrapped around his torso and holding him close, no cold and empty bed that usually greeted Tony after their nights together. They needed ground rules. Loki would continue to wreak minor havoc to stop the others getting suspicious and to stop himself dying of boredom (he was still the God of Mischief after all) and Tony would pretend to fight him. As long as Loki didn’t actually kill anyone it was all good, funny even, especially that time he’d turned the whole of SHIELD HQ pink, including Fury. That had been about 6 months ago.
Tony laughed softly at the memory of Fury in his hot pink trench coat and tried again to shut his mind off, focusing instead on the warm weight of Loki pressing into him. His eyes drifted shut, the booze and residual magic sending him into a dreamless sleep.
***
The sound of a gun being taken off the safety was what woke Tony several hours later. Shit. He opened his eyes and was brought face to face with three furious looking Avengers, Natasha’s gun trained on Loki’s head.
Loki’s body was still firmly pressed to his but the God was awake, muscles tense above him. Tony uncoiled himself from around Loki and put his hands up in a placating gesture.
“Agent Romanov” Loki said in a low voice “Lovely to see you again”
“Shut it Loki, Stark what the hell is going on?” She snapped, eyes not leaving Loki’s face.
“Er, did I not mention I’m dating Loki? You know I could have sworn I sent a memo, or a fax? You guys should check that” Tony babbled nervously, fingers tapping against the arc reactor. “Maybe dating isn’t the word, we don’t really go to the movies do we Lokes? And come to think of it I don’t think I’ve used a fax since the late 90s”
“Shut up Stark” Loki and Natasha said in unison.
“See, you guys aren’t so different. Already ganging up on me” Tony tried to stop, he really did but this was worse than any scenario he could have thought of. Luckily for him, Loki pinched him and he fell silent.
“On your feet” Steve called. Tony took in the Captain’s expression, his jaw was tight but he looked more sad than angry, perhaps he could be reasoned with. How the hell he was going to do that was another issue.
Without seeing another option Tony and Loki separated and with measured movements got to their feet. The ticked off Avengers held their positions.
“You’ve got about 30 seconds to explain what you did to him before I shoot you in the eye” Clint growled, his arrow pointed at Loki “whatever fuckin’ magic mojo shit you did, undo it now.”
Loki stared at the archer, Tony could see him calculating, finding the angle to use. He straightened to his full height
“I have not used any magic on Tony Stark” Loki said calmly “he is not under my control” Ah, going with the truth. Tony felt his insides clench at the expressions on his friends faces -clearly Loki had shattered their first assumptions.
“Bullshit, try again psycho” Clint snapped, he was losing any semblance of control he’d had “10 seconds”
“I don’t have an answer that will satisfy you Hawk, that is the truth, whether you choose to believe it or not.”
“Wrong answer” Clint bit and all hell broke loose. Clint fired but Loki had known it was coming, he sprang out the way. Natasha started firing her gun at him.
“Fuck!” Tony yelled and barrelled into her, trying to push the gun from her hands. It was all he could do; he was almost useless in close combat without his suit. Natasha snarled and pushed back against him and they fell to the floor. Tony twisted in her grasp and managed to throw the gun away from her.
Natasha was up quick as lightning, delivering a swift and hard kick to Tony’s ribs, he felt something crack. He cried out and Steve pulled him to his feet, holding his arms behind his back. He struggled against the hold but it was no good. Steve wasn’t letting go. He couldn’t do anything but watch the fight unfold in front of him.
Loki was throwing up shields to protect himself from the arrows and sending back low power pulses of magic, doing all he could to dispel Clint without actually hurting him.
“I need a direct channel to Director Fury. Now!” Tony heard Natasha shout, he turned to her. She held a finger up to her ear, activating the coms.
“Look, Tasha can’t we leave SHEILD out of this?” Tony snapped at her, still straining against Steve’s hold. She stared him down, pulled her other gun from her holster and pointed it at him. “I know I fucked up. I should have told you, but he’s changed”
“Where you not there today?” Steve exclaimed “That doesn’t look like change to me”
“No one got hurt, doesn’t that seem a little strange to you?” Tony tried again
“How can you say that Tony, he threw you through a building! We foun¬¬d you in a puddle of your own blood!” Steve shouted, the grip on his hands tightening.
“That was an accident!” Tony shouted back and swore “I know how it looks, but you have to trust me”
“We can’t” Natasha said “Not like this” Tony sagged slightly in Steve’s grip. What the fuck was he supposed to do now?
Tony heard glass shattering and the distinct crackling sound of Loki teleporting away. Oh. Yeah, Tony thought I’m fucked.
“You can’t trust him Tony” Steve started “he’s –“ but Steve didn’t get a chance to finish, Loki materialised in front of them and using Steve’s momentary shock pulled Tony out of his grasp. The momentum pulled them back towards the windows and there they all stood. Fighting paused and staring at each other.
Loki looked at Tony and very deliberately held out his hand.
It seemed to get very quiet. Natasha pulled her hand away from her comm and focused entirely on the pair. Tony was clutching his ribs, breathing shallow and eyes wide, he looked from Loki’s outstretched hand to the group of people he could almost call family.
“Think about what you’re doing Tony” Steve said softly. “You can’t come back from this.” His face was sad but hard. Tony knew he wasn’t lying. “If you go with him there isn’t anything I can do to help you, you’ll be completely compromised”
Tony looked around the group. Natasha so fiercely neutral in her expression, her gun still raised, ever the perfectly professional assassin. But Clint wouldn’t meet his eyes, just kept his bow trained on Loki.
“I think we’re past compromised Cap” Tony said and firmly grabbed Loki’s hand. They were gone in less than a second, but still enough time to hear a gunshot echo after them.