Part 1 - Chp 9
Tony isn’t entirely sure where they are. Loki says safe, but Tony’s lost contact with Jarvis, the stars aren’t any he knows, and there doesn’t appear to be any civilization… anywhere.
They are also on an island in space, but his brain keeps shutting down when he tries to approach that thought. It’s just night, that’s all. He did not see a ledge that just fell into space. Not at all.
This is good. They can regroup.
Could regroup, minus that issue with Bucky and Steve going at it. Tony’s been watching them since they got to this strange island, and while both were a bit startled, turns out Hydra programming is pretty great.
“Do you think they’ll get bored any time soon?” Tony asks Loki. He doesn’t look at Loki, doesn’t risk it--the last time he got an eyeful of him, Loki was still scaley, antlered, and wild, twisting so fast between forms that Tony’s shoved it right next to ‘floating island in space.’
“Are you?” Loki asks. Tony is fairly certain if he hadn’t specified he wanted them brought along that Loki wouldn’t have; Loki’s interest in humans seems to extend as far as Barton and Tony then come to a grinding halt.
Tony isn’t sure about outside humanity.
“I’m going to sleep,” Tony says, then proceeds to roll over to do just that. The ground isn’t his favourite place to sleep, but considering some of the benders he’s gone on, it’s also not the worst place either.
There’s quiet for a moment, then a thankfully human hand hesitantly touches his arm.
“Are you…”
Tony waits, but Loki never finishes the question. It hangs there for a few minutes, and Tony almost tells him to finish. Except then Loki is spooning against his back, nosing against nape of Tony’s neck, one arm wrapping around him. Loki’s body at least is distinctly more in the realm of what Tony’s used to, even if he feels miniscule against the vast pressure Loki’s presence is without the chains that were limiting him before.
It’s… nice. Tucked up against Loki, nevermind Loki’s a part of why his brain was gibbering earlier, he feels safe.
“Is this…?”
Loki’s being delicate. He knows—
“Yeah,” Tony says and relaxes into the embrace.
***
When Tony wakes, it’s quiet. He’s not too warm or too cold, he doesn’t feel horribly stiff despite sleeping on the ground, and he almost wants to just keep dozing to the soft beat of the heart under his cheek. All’s well.
Then he remembers what’s happened and jerks upright so hard that he’s probably strained something.
Loki snorts where he’s laying on his back--apparently he’s not so bad as a pillow despite the lanky frame he prefers, good to know--blinking awake to look at Tony with a brow raised. Tony spends a minute just staring at him. The green of his eyes, the soft morning flush to across his cheekbones, the way his hair is mussed around his face and lips half-parted.
He’s beautiful.
“What is it?” Loki asks first; there’s a slightly higher colour in his cheeks, and Tony doesn’t want to say he’s blushing--Loki doesn’t seem the sort to blush--except he kind of is.
“Where are the duo?”
Loki waves a hand.
“They woke me up.”
Tony stares and hopes this does not mean Loki pushed them off the island they’re on. Loki smiles, sly and pleased, like he sees the thought, before laughing.
“I did not kill them, I promise,” Loki says. “I thought that might upset you. I only set them at opposite ends of our haven. I can bring them back.”
“You do that.”
It takes a few minutes--mostly because Loki insists on stretching in almost pornographic ways to finish waking up, and Tony is not staring.
Except he kind of is; he’s only human, as he is so often reminded around Loki. The glimpses of Loki’s stomach with a wisp of treasure trail and the arch of Loki’s spine would make saints reconsider their vows--Loki looks like a god. There’s something innately sexual to him that has Tony’s blood racing more often than not. The stretching sets it in the foreground, but Tony’s been picking up on it since they first met--the flush and slick of Loki’s lips when he bites them, the colour that comes to his skin so readily, the way his eyes tend more towards half-mast and smoldering intensity. It has a resonance like the green of his eyes, the cold that haunts his shadow, and the mirth that touches his lips when teasing.
It’s not that they’re soulmates--it’s that this is simply Loki.
Tony realizes Loki is watching him, a half-smile on his face, and quickly coughs to break the accidental gaze. There’s a touch of amusement in Loki’s eyes, but more awkward for Tony is the underlying adoration beneath; he has no idea what to do with that, only files it away as more insurance that yeah, Loki’s got it just as bad as him.
Maybe worse; Loki, after all, can remember everything while all Tony has is the past few weeks.
“Who shall we retrieve first?” Loki asks, allowing Tony to recover the scraps of his dignity he can find.
“Let’s start with Steve,” Tony says.
***
“And you didn’t think to tell me that you have a… possibly god in your home?”
Tony’s wonders if maybe they shouldn’t have started with Bucky.
“It didn’t seem important,” Tony says. “I mean. It wasn’t.”
Steve crosses his arms.
He looks rough. Super serum recovery rate or no, there’s still dried blood across his broken nose, various burns, and what’s probably a knife wound that thankfully isn’t leaking all over everything. His eyes are the worst--blue and clear, but haunted and unhappy with dark rings underneath.
“Look, if he hadn’t been there we’d probably all be dead. Including Bucky.” That gets Steve to wince a bit; Tony feels like he’s just kicked a puppy while it’s down. “Loki, could you heal him or anything?”
“No,” Loki says calmly. It’s not dismissive, so he’s at least pretending to care. There’s a pause, then he says in a way that makes Tony’s stomach clench, “I could return his memories, if you’d like.”
Steve and Tony are both staring at him now. Loki raises an eyebrow.
“It would be better than all this senseless violence,” Loki adds. “It’s rather tiresome, and I would like a return to sense-ful violence as soon as possible.” He smiles like a dagger--Tony remembers that a crew of people just destroyed his house and tried to kill him.
“What’s the catch?” Steve asks before Tony can.
Loki blinks at them with wide eyes.
“Catch?” he says. “Why would there be a catch?”
***
The catch is simple--Loki goes to Bucky alone. No audience.
“Do you trust him?” Steve asks Tony as soon as Loki vanishes.
“Why didn’t you ask me that before?” Tony asks. “Also, he’s my soulmate.”
Steve snorts.
“That doesn’t mean you trust him.”
And okay, fair point. It seems way too convenient for Bucky to already be out of everyone’s reach except for Loki’s. Loki doesn’t even like people and Bucky was definitely on that list of people who just tried to kill Tony and helped destroy his house. Tony remembers what happened to the people who Loki took an interest in while captive.
So no, Tony doesn’t trust Loki on this. Loki doesn’t give Tony the vibes of altruistic divinity, the kind of god that just gives things away.
If Loki’s offering, there’s a really good chance there’s a price tag--even if he’s not admitting to it.
“He doesn’t lie,” Tony offers at last. “If he says he can give Bucky his memories back, then he can.”
“You sure?”
Tony remembers the hand around his throat and fury in Loki’s eyes.
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
***
“You will wear a hole through the ground,” Loki says, stepping out from the shadow beneath a tree. Tony flips him off before he stops pacing, noticing Bucky not a few steps behind.
If Steve looks rough, Bucky looks worse. Tony wants it to be the smudged racoon paint even though there’s no way it could be. He’s been crying and looks like he can barely stand on his feet.
He also is refusing to look up, already stepping back when Steve steps forward.
Loki smiles, sharp and brilliant as Steve looks at him.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” Loki asks, glee dancing in his voice. “I have helped James recover his memories with minimal fuss. Where shall we go next? You two have discussed this, yes?”
“Lay low or locate the spy duo,” Tony says. “We aren’t sure.”
“I know a guy,” Steve says, then points at Loki. “You aren’t welcome there.”
Loki pouts--honest to god pouts. Tony wants to beat himself up for wanting to bite and suck on Loki’s lower lip despite the current circumstances.
“Loki and I can find Barton and Romanoff, set up somewhere else safe besides some guy’s apartment,” Tony offers. He’d rather not stick around to see the emotional fallout, honestly.
“It is no trouble at all to take you where you wish,” Loki agrees.
Steve nods tersely, then looks at Tony.
“Contact me when you’ve got something.”