Dog Days

“Good to see that you showed up for once, I thought you forgot about me,” Tony said, trying for nonchalant, but not really succeeding - he was one step away from shitting himself.

“I will always make time to see my favorite mutt,” the God of Mischief spat, crossing his arms as he looked down at Tony with a sneer.

“Ah, glad to know I’m your favorite. Sorry, but if I’m being honest, it’s not a mutual feeling,” Tony shrugged his shoulders as best he could, but ended up stumbling towards Loki. Loki chuckled as he went to pat Tony’s head, but stepped back when Tony snapped his pearly whites at him.

“Oh, that’s not very nice. I would believe that since this has all started, you would’ve become more… obedient. In this form, I expect it would be easy to learn,” Loki smiled as he gestured down at the dog. Tony was sick of him, and it hasn’t even been a minute. But he needed him to stay, as much as he wanted to push him off the edge of the tower.

“Why are you here. Oh wait, to gloat? Well, if you are, I’m really, really, not in the mood,” Tony sat down and stared right past Loki’s head so he wouldn’t have to make eye contact with the son of a bitch.

Loki walked over to one of the ledges and looked over the city, his eyes glistening with the reflection of the city lights, “I’m here to check up, see if you have learnt your lesson.”

“Jesus, don’t you think I’ve learned my lesson by now. This has been literally the worst exper-”

“I’m just going to stop you there,” Loki interrupted, eliciting a groan out of Tony, “If I do say so myself, from what I have observed, it seems as though this might be one of the best experiences in your foul life. So, you’re welcome.”

Tony scoffed, “You’re insane. Insane if you think that I actually enjoyed any moment of this shit show.”

Loki shrugged, “I don’t know. If anything, you’ve seemed to grow quite fond of your so-called team over the past months.” Tony blinked, “I have… not.” He whispered as he tried to look back at what had happened over the past months, and Loki was right. He did become a lot closer to his team.

“Yes… you have. Believe it or not, but this spell of mine has actually went against my original plans. It was intended to impede your relationships with the Avengers, not make them grow stronger,” Loki pursed his lips, obviously not happy that he was wrong.

“Ah, the ol’ backfire. Gotta love those,” Tony rolled his eyes. Loki glared at him, “With that being said, I don’t see any point in keeping you like this.” As Loki gave him a pointed look, his tail started to wag without him giving it permission, and he glared at the extremity.

“So, what are you waiting for? Turn me ba-” A green fog encased him and a squeak originated from him as he felt the physical changes within his small body. His bones started to crack and expand, eliciting more screams, and before he could yell for Loki, his world was encased in black.

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“What the hell,” Clint said as he rubbed the back of his head. He had a major headache and as he looked around, he could see that the rest of the team was in the same state. Steve got up quickly from his seat on the couch, “JARVIS, what just happened? Where’s Tony?”

All eyes looked towards the ceiling as JARVIS spoke, “I’m not sure what has happened, but Sir is currently still out on the balcony, and it is critical that someone goes and retrieves him at this moment.” The team glanced at each other as they all heard the sense of panic within JARVIS’s voice.

Steve ran to the door and peered outside, “Oh my lord. Somebody grab a blanket. Now.” He opened the door and came across Tony’s unconscious - and completely naked - body. He crouched down and placed a finger under Tony’s nose to ensure that he was breathing.

Thor also went out to the balcony, carrying a large blanket, which he threw over Tony’s body. Tony showed no signs of waking up anytime soon, so the super soldier swaddled him up in the blanket as if he was a newborn, and carried him bridal-style back into the tower. The rest of the team remained inside, not wanting to crowd him.

“I’m going to bring him to the bedroom. Banner, please go grab some of your medical equipment to give a full checkup,” Steve instructed. Bruce nodded and quickly moved towards the elevator to head down to his lab.

“How did we miss Loki?” Clint said as he scratched the back of his head. He was constantly checking over his shoulder and around the room, as if ready for said person to suddenly reappear.

“He must’ve placed a spell on us without entering the tower. JARVIS would have let us know if he entered, and we certainly wouldn’t of let him do this to us,” Natasha replied. The team nodded in agreement, but followed Steve into the bedroom. Steve placed Tony on the bed and awkwardly stood there, still in amazement. The team didn’t say anything until Bruce came in through the door with a first aid kit.

Steve stepped aside and allowed Bruce to examine Tony. Bruce listened through his stethoscope as Tony breathed, took his blood pressure and opened Tony’s eyelids with his fingers to shine a flashlight in his eyes. Tony didn’t stir.

“From what I can examine physically, he seems perfectly healthy. So there’s nothing to be concerned with yet,” Bruce nodded, and dug through his kit for a small syringe. He plunged the syringe into Tony’s arm to draw some blood. “Chemically, however, I will have to test this. I’m going to head down to the lab to see if there’s anything out of the ordinary within his bloodstream. I have no idea when he’ll wake up, so someone should be here with him when he does. I’ll be back up in an hour-or-so with any results.”

The team watched as Bruce left and each took a seat around the room. None of them said anything as Natasha grabbed the remote to turn the TV on as they waited for their resident billionaire to wake up. They were watching a reality show when they heard a groan, “Wha’ the hell.”

Tony had his arm hung over his face, and his other arm was used to push himself onto his stomach. He buried his face into the pillow and groaned. Steve rolled his eyes but stood up to grab the pillow from Tony’s grasp, “Five more minutes.”

“Tony, c’mon, give it up,” Steve said as he tugged harder on the pillow, but Tony’s grip didn’t loosen.

“Nooo-” Tony’s complaining abruptly stopped as his face hit the mattress after Steve took the pillow and threw it to the other side of the bed. “There we go,” Natasha said as she turned the TV off.

Tony whined but pushed himself up into a sitting position, using the headboard for support. A confused look washed over his face as he looked down at himself, bringing his hands up in front of his face as if observing them like they were the rarest things on Earth.

“What the hell happened?” Tony looked up from his hands as he peered down at the rest of his body.

Clint piped up from his spot in the corner, “Unfortunately, you’re back to normal. Damn, you’re not cute anymore.”

“Ha ha, very funny. I’ve missed you too,” Tony said, but he couldn’t help the little smirk form at the corner of his mouth, still looking at his hands.

Natasha mumbled something unintelligible under her breath but then spoke loudly for everyone to hear, “It seems as if your friend stopped by and changed you back. We don’t know anything specific, seeing as we were all passed out at the time.”

Tony looked shocked, “Wow, I thought nothing could get past you guys. Good job, I’m proud of you all.”

“And the sarcasm makes an appearance. It’s good to have you back,” Steve said as he smiled down at the now-man.

“Wasn’t gone in the first place, but yeah it’s good to be back back,” Tony said as he stretched his arms over his head, the blanket falling to expose his chest.

“We should probably get you something to wear, and maybe make some dinner or something,” Steve stated, already looking through a drawer full of Tony’s clothes. He picked a band shirt and threw it at the billionaire, who caught it and quickly put it on. Tony was going to get up, but the team wasn’t in the mood to see him nude… again.

“Wait, wait, wait. Let us get out before we have to see that again,” Clint said as he gestured to Tony’s waist. Tony waited for his team to leave before digging through his closet for boxers and a pair of sweatpants, aiming for comfort over style. He took some time to look himself in the mirror, and he looked no different than the last time he looked in the mirror in this form. Tony sighed, trying to wrap his head around what happened over the course of the last few months.

He shook his head as he left the room, heading out to the living area. He could smell something cooking in the kitchen, and his mouth started to water - it would be his first time in a while eating actual human food! The team, except Steve, were gathered on the couch scrolling through a list of movies.

Tony eyed the blanket that designated his “spot” and Bruce, who emerged from the lab, picked it up and placed it on the floor behind the couch. “Good to see you again, well in this form I should say,” Bruce said as he plopped down in his own spot, placing a clipboard on his lap.

“Nice to see you too, Brucie Bear. Whatcha got there?” He gave a pointed look at the clipboard as he sat where the blanket was originally. He groaned to himself, not quite used to being in human form.

“These are your blood tests. Nothing seems to be wrong, and you should be fine. But with that being said, you have to let me know if something isn’t alright. Any headaches, aches, pains, anything, just tell me, okay?” Bruce gave him a serious look, so he held his hands as if surrendering as he nodded, “Fine, alright,” he promised.

Bruce nodded, “Thank you. Now, I can go cook something u-”

“No need,” Steve said as he placed a plate down on Tony’s lap. Tony looked at the hamburger and nearly moaned as he took his first bite. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, chewing slowly so he could savor the taste he missed so much.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” Steve said as he took his seat on the couch. Tony took another bite and hummed his thanks to the captain.

“You don’t understand how much I’ve missed this,” Tony stated in between bites.

“I can’t imagine not being able to eat whatever you want, I think I’d starve,” Clint said. He threw his legs up across Natasha’s lap, who promptly pushed them off within a matter of seconds. He whined, but kept his legs down on the floor.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long as I did,” Stark joked, throwing up his arms to protect his face from the pillow Clint launched at him.

“Children, please settle down,” Natasha said while pinching the bridge of her nose. Tony smiled, not realizing how much he missed all of this. “Yes, I am intrigued by this show. I would appreciate it if you stopped with your Midgardian shenanigans,” Thor piped up from his spot. Tony sighed and joked, “You’re no fun.”

And that was basically how the rest of the night went, the team gathered around the TV watching a comedy movie eating late night snacks, Bruce seemingly forgetting about the documentary they were watching earlier that night. They casually joked, and would casually get hit in the face with pillows and other pieces of decor. Aside from all the projectiles being thrown around, smiles still lit up the room.

Eventually, everyone passed out from exhaustion, and Tony dreamt of how lucky he was to have a team like this.

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Three months later…

Tony had gotten used to living as a human again within the last couple of months, and it was today that he had gotten the green light from Fury to suit up again with the rest of the team.

“Shit!” Tony shouted as he was hit in the back and sent flying across the courtyard.

“Language. Are you okay? Widow, what do you have?”

“Nothing as of yet, Cap. Just that there are currently giant bugs roaming the streets of New York, but I thought that would be common knowledge. Oh, and that Stark just got his ass handed to him. What’s the matter Stark? Suit’s a little rusted?” Steve sighed, but rolled his eyes all the same.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you not gonna criticize her use of profanity? Because when I say one damn thing it’s like all hell breaks loose,” Tony recovered from the blow and blasted the perpetrator to pieces with one repulsor blast.

“Woah! Again, jeez Stark. That’s strike number two, one more and we gotta kick you off the team, sorry,” Clint said into his earpiece, and Tony could actually hear the sarcasm. Tony looked and could see Clint’s relaxed posture even though he was completely surrounded.

“Alright, enough. We still have some bugs heading on Fourth, Stark, go get ‘em. Everyone else, try to contain them within this area,” Tony heard Steve say through the coms. Tony fired up his repulsors and headed towards the AWOL bugs.

He successfully killed all of them before returning to the group, who also killed all of their bugs in the area. He opened his helmet and breathed in some fresh air - well, as fresh as New York air could be. He fistbumped Clint, and walked over to Bruce, whose skin was still a tinted green.

“Good job. Jolly Green sure did his job,” Tony offered his hand and Bruce immediately grabbed onto it to pull himself up.

“Great job everyone, and nice first mission back Stark,” he nodded at Tony, “Let’s head back to the tower to freshen up, then we can head for debrief,” Cap nodded at each of his teammates. Usually, this was when Tony would fire up his repulsors and head to the tower by himself, but he made his way to the quinjet with the rest of the team. He lagged behind to watch the rest of the team.

Clint and Natasha were side-by-side, playfully bumping into each other and trying to trip each other up. Natasha laughed when Clint fell over her foot and landed face first into the ground before him. He groaned but got right back up to resume his usual antics.

Thor was swinging his hammer around as if it weighed nothing, and the usual after-battle gleam was present in his eyes, just like Tony remembered. Bruce was dragging his feet but following right behind Thor - Bruce usually felt guilty after transforming into the Hulk, even though he usually didn’t do anything wrong. Thor was trying to talk animatedly to him, and it was obvious Bruce was not in the mood but was trying to seem interested. Tony chuckled to himself.

Steve held a hand to his ear, talking to what Tony could assume was SHIELD. He was surveying the area to ensure that every last bug was taken care of before the team left. He made eye contact with Tony, and gave a small smile, which Tony quickly returned. Steve returned to talking to the agent on the other end of the earpiece.

Tony smiled to himself. The team had become so close with each other ever since the incident, and Tony couldn’t be more happy if he tried. He was constantly looking back at the last three months, seeing the obvious chemistry the team had obtained through battles and life at the tower. He finally gained the trust he was looking for with each of his teammates, knowing that they would always look out for him.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was grateful for Loki. Grateful that the god had brought the team much closer together, and even if it meant Tony had to sacrifice everything to get and maintain that chemistry, he would go through that all again if he had to.

Tony looked down at his hands, and back up to the team who were all looking at him as if he was crazy. “Are you coming or what? You’ve been standing there for a while and I will not hesitate to leave your ass here,” Clint yelled from the cockpit.

Tony chuckled but jogged up the ramp. As he took his seat, he looked around once more and decided right then and there: Yeah, he would sacrifice anything for his team, and knew they would do the same.