Chapter 9
“Agent Romanov, you miss me?”
Tony found himself landing roughly on the sidewalk, not exactly prepared to be flying in his suit after his meeting with the infinity stones.
When he looked up he found Loki frowning at his scepter. Steve had his shield out, as if he was about to swing it at the god while he was distracted.
“Hey Lokes, how about you come on in with us. There’s really no need for a fight this time around if you get my meaning.”
Loki looked up at him and Tony noted that his eyes were green rather than the bright, crazed blue they had been all those years ago.
Loki’s frown morphed into a smirk within the blink of an eye. “Are you offering me a drink Mr. Stark? How forward.”
Tony leered behind his mask. “Maybe… that depends on you. Are you coming in?”
“Invasions are so very plebeian.”
Loki waved his hands and his horned helmet disappeared in a shimmer of sparkles. Asgardian fashion sense left much to be desired. Though the leather really complimented Loki’s thin frame and—nope not going there. You have a wife, Tony!
Roger’s stepped forward, even as his face portrayed his confusion, and placed the SHIELD mandated cuffs around the god’s wrists.
Tony then grabbed the chain, under the guise of taking the prisoner in, and dragged Loki behind him till they were far enough away that even Steve’s enhanced hearing couldn’t pick up what they said.
“You good?”
Loki nodded, tracing his finger down the bridge of his nose with a wince.
“My head aches, but otherwise I am well.”
“You have a headache? I don’t. I thought Asgardians were supposed to be superior in every way.”
“Ah—it’s not from our—-” Loki paused, eyebrows drawing together, “—journey. It’s because-—urgh.”
Loki stumbled, his hands flying up to press against his eyes.
“That bad? Huh. I’ll sneak you some advil when you’re secure honey-muffin.”
Loki nodded, frowning at the ground. Tony watched him for a little longer before passing off the god to Steve.
Now it was time to deal with JARVIS.
“Sir? May I ask why you muted me?”
Tony paused at Jarvis’s voice, blinking away tears. He had seen the corpse of Jarvis’s digital body—a graveyard of fractured code and lost data. But he could not spare time for a tearful reunion. There were things to be done.
“I know that this is gonna sound crazy. In fact I can hardly believe it myself. But J, I’m gonna need you to trust me.”
“Sir, I was programmed to believe you above all else. And we have just discovered the existence of magic. Our very definition of reality may have to be changed.”
“Well then… No point delaying the inevitable. I’m from the future J. And so is Loki. It’s too long a story to tell, but in short, he’s my ally. You just have to trust me on this one J.”
There was a pause. Tony felt his forehead bead with sweat. What if Jarvis didn’t believe him? What if he thought that Tony had finally gone off the deep end? What if—
“I understand Sir. Whatever you need I shall execute without fail.”
Tony let out a sigh of relief. He should have known. Jarvis was loyal. He had no reason to believe Tony and yet he still did. Tony missed that implicit trust—nobody else had ever given Tony that level of blind faith before—not even Pepper.
“God I missed you J.”
“I know sir. But it is only natural, you couldn’t survive without me.”
Tony sniffed back tears yet again, even so he knew the thickness was still audible.
“Is that sass I hear Jarvis?”
“Oh, hardly sir.”
———o0o———
Loki was roughly shoved down into his seat on the contraption that Stark had led him too. Even though the scepter had been taken away, he could still feel The Other pressing upon his mental barriers, though the feeling had been toned down exponentially.
Rubbing his forehead, Loki noticed the tension in Stark’s shoulders. Instead of the banter he would have expected from the man, Stark was unusually silent. It also seemed that Loki was not the only one who noticed this as the Widow herself looked back every now and again, her face an unreadable mask—but one could not hide from the god of lies.
After a good five minutes, it was actually the Captain who broke the silence. In a whisper that Loki was obviously not meant to catch (he was a god, of course he had better hearing that of a mere mortal), Rogers murmured towards Stark, “I don’t like this.”
“What? The Rock of Ages giving up so easily?”
“I don’t remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop.”
Stark was silent, his eyes cloudy. “I suppose he does. Not much we can do about it now though.”
Roger’s face twisted slightly. “So you’re just gonna give up like that?”
Stark sighed, murmuring something Loki could not pick up as it was drowned out by a boom of thunder. Thor had arrived—dramatic, as always. Still he could not help but flinch.
“What’s the matter? Scared of a little lightning?”
Loki winced towards the Captain. “I’m not overly fond of what follows.”
Through a rather hazy memory, Loki could vaguely recall being grabbed around the neck and ripped away from the aircraft. It had been rather painful, and with his seidr spread as thin as it was, he hardly wished to repeat the experience. Stark, following his line of thought, retrieved his helmet and prepared for the crown prince just as a clang was heard on the ceiling.
“Take us down Romanov.” Stark said, his voice abnormally flat. “I’m pretty sure that’s another one of those Asgardians and I don’t really want him ripping apart the ship to get to pretty boy over here.”
As if in synch, Thor started to bang upon the metal ceiling, leaving fist shaped indentations in the metal.
As Romanov maneuvered the shuttle, Loki raised his hands non-threateningly and stood up. Even so the good Captain raised his shield as if preparing to let loose. Luckily, Stark came through for the save. “Hey, let him up. He won’t try anything—not with us and the asgardian here together.”
Rogers paused, “...I don’t think it’s a good idea to let him up.”
Loki cut in, “Please, allow me to deal with my brother. He has a history of being rather rash.”
“The same could be said for you.” Romanov hissed, turning around as the shuttle landed itself upon fresh Earth. “Sit back down. We’ll deal with your brother ourselves.”
“Then on your head so be it.” Loki murmured with a shrug. It wasn’t his fault if any of them got hurt, he had done what he could.
With a rather heavy breath, Stark opened the doors. Almost immediately Thor rushed in, his face contorted with rage. Loki felt his pulse quicken, his already strained body shuddering under the force of the glare he received. Just as Thor reached out, hands groping for his neck, Stark intervened.
“Calm down man. Your brother over here is in our custody—” Stark stepped between Thor’s outreached hand and Loki’s neck, “—and is that really how you treat a fellow ally?”
Thor hesitated, no doubt thinking of how his dear Jane would view his actions. After a moment, the thunder god’s muscles relaxed and he withdrew his palm. “I apologize for my behavior. My brother has been known for his tricks. I believed him to be dead, and to see him here now, committing such an atrocity… I was overtaken by rage.”
Loki snorted bitterly. He was the one committing an atrocity? Did Thor conveniently forget about all the realms he invaded? The millions he slaughtered in Asgards name? Of course he did. After all, it was only natural for Loki to do evil—never to be given the benefit of the doubt. Thor was a hypocrite and his self-imposed obliviousness made Loki’s blood boil with fury.
“Understandable.” Tony continued, “But instead of fighting, as your brother no doubt wants, we should instead try and work together.”
Thor nodded, a charismatic smile splitting his face in two. Loki really wanted to stab him.
“Of course.”
Thor walked into the shuttlecraft and sat down next to Loki. “I see you have not yet bound his tongue. Loki is known throughout the realms for his ability to lie and manipulate others with only his words as weaponry.”
Loki pressed his lips together tightly to prevent the stream of expletives he ached to let loose. Even now his head continued pounding—The Otherwas nothing if not persistent.
“We’ll gag him if we find it necessary.” The widow interjected, “But not yet. On our planet, binding one’s voice is inhumane.”
Loki winced, his head really was hurting.
“Nevertheless I implore you—Loki is not one you wish to underestimate, trust me as I have been on the receiving end of his cutting words often enough.”
There were black spots in his vision now. Loki tried to blink them away but they remained, concealing his surroundings. The widow was talking and yet he could not hear the words that left her treacherous mouth. His head felt like somebody had attempted to cleave it in two, only to fail and instead wave around the knife inside the vulnerable brain matter of his skull. A moan slipped through his lips, and he lowered his head to his palm.
Inside his mind, he could feel The Other gain ground.
Now there were hands on his shoulders. Then they were on his forehead. As if through a fog he heard Stark say, “He’s burning up… what the hell…”
The Other’s mental presence rammed into his shields. Loki felt them tremble under the force before facturing violently. When did my mental barriers become so weak?
The Other scrambled through his mind, leaving behind trails of bloody thoughts and memories. In a flash of remembrance, Loki found himself back on the Chitauri homeworld, his shields having been ripped apart. They had branded him, tortured him, beaten him and broken him. It had been pain, pain and more pain. Never ending. Never stopping. A constant haze of blood and gore and so much pain.How could I have forgotten—?
In a move of desperation, Loki ripped his eyes open and pushed away Stark’s concerned hands. He could not lose control, not now.
H-help me.
But there was nobody to do so. Nobody who could do so.
I will have to take matters into my own hands.
Loki settled himself. Focusing his eyes on Stark’s concerned face, Loki sent a fleeting thought his way.
Find Stephen. No time to explain. He can help me.
Tony’s eyes widened, but there was no time for further explanation. Loki sent him a grim final message: I will be fine. Find Stephen. Then, without further hesitation, Loki proceeded to bash his head against the shuttle wall. His skull, already under immense pressure, gave way like wet sand. The pain driving The Other from his mind far more effectively than his already compromised shields.
A moment later, Loki fell unconscious.