Chapter 7
It was pure chance that Tony saw the magical killer turned healer a few months later after a mission that had gone spectacularly down hill.
The hits had been vicious enough to get through the suit to his mortal form, snapping a few ribs causing him to bleed internally.
Something Bruce had freaked out about.
Well, the entire team had freaked but it had been Banner that had the clarity of mind to call for a higher power.
Which was how Thor came to crash land next to the injured Iron man at the tail end of the team’s firefight. He wasted no time in asking questions, opting to take Tony into his arms with surprising gentleness before portalling back to where Bruce could only assume was Asgard, leaving the rest of the rest of the team to clean up the mess left behind.
---
Tony awoke to two things: golden strands of magic flitting around him and an obvious lack of pain.
Not that he was complaining.
No pain. No fatigue. No after battle anxiety decompression. Just a bizarre feeling of restedness.
“You've been asleep for half a day.”
The glowing strands slowly rescinded back into the fingertips of the owner.
Loki looked less tired than the last time Tony had seen him.
Less like death. More like… like the lively sharp tongued trickster Thor had told the team stories about.
Perhaps it was the lack of battle armor, replaced instead by simple green and gold robes. Something about him looked far less sinister.
“I was bleeding in the last time I was awake.” he hauled himself up to sitting position, hands going unconsciously to the ark reactor.
Loki sat back, staring amusedly at the man.
“So this is your domain. This is Asgard?”
“It is. The royal healing grounds. We're in the mountains.”
Tony glanced around the large clean space to find that it had indeed been built into the mountain side. The large window at the far end showed the city from a distance. Truly magnificent.
“And you're a doctor? No. A healer?”
Loki quirked a brow.
“Noted. That was a stupid question.”
“How did-” Tony was cut off suddenly by a knock at the ornate door before it opened.
“Thor requests to see you immediately.” The man nodded to Loki.
“He says it is an emergency.”
Loki rolled his eyes before standing.
“Everything is an emergency with him, Heimdall. He has legs. Don't let him push you around.” Heimdall chuckled.
“You should tell him so yourself. I'm sure he'd really listen.” The man jested back.
Loki left swiftly, leaving the heavy door to swing shut.
“Gold eyes. Low key terrifying stance. Let me guess. You're the gatekeeper?” Tony made to stand but paused when Heimdall held up a hand.
“I've been given instructions to make sure you stay resting until Loki returns.”
“I am resting.”
“He emphasized the importance of making sure you're feet stay off the ground.”
Tony quirked a brow.
“Alright then. I'm gonna need you to sit then because you're making me super antsy.”
Heimdall nodded as he strode over to sit next to where Tony sat.
“You are incredibly lucky, man of iron.”
“Tony. Name’s Tony.”
“Stark. Tony Stark. Thor has spoken at great lengths about you.”
“Good things I hope?”
Heimdall chuckled once more.
“Some good. Some bad. Some preposterous.”
“That's good to hear.”
They lapsed into silence for a moment.
“You're the gate keeper. So does that mean you have a special power or Something? All eyes everywhere?”
Heimdall nodded.
“So, are you the only one or…?”
The man sat a moment in silence before responding.
“You are curious about how your son’s situation was known.”
Tony choked.
“Not my son.”
Heimdall stared a moment before smiling.
“Not all children are biological, Stark. Some are connected through universal strings.”
Tony didn't bother to respond.
“As for your question, Loki has a similar power. A sort of curse in its own right.”
Gold eyes met warm browns and in that moment Tony understood the severity of that phrase.
“Part skill and part punishment. He has been cursed to help those in need. Particularly those connected to himself.”
Tony sat, completely engaged.
“The universe has no set time frame. No constructs of time and order. However, it has connected. Everything is connected to something. Nothing is truly all alone. So when Peter was falling, the connection between Loki and your child was strung taut.” Heimdall gazed out the window.
“I'm sure you have seen It, the black markings on his neck.”
Tony nodded.
“When he fails to get to where he needs to go in time, the tautness feeds from his life source. Even gods are mortal. They can die like everyone else.”
“So you're saying he's on a death leash”
“For a lack of better words.
“That's insane.”
Heimdall nodded.
“This incident truly shook him, as much as he hid it. He was plagued for days after. Waking in the middle of the night like he had seen Death himself.”
Tony didn't know what to do with this new information.
“He is truly trying to do right by his past. Even Thor believes the fight for the young Spider’s life was more vicious than Loki had explained.”
“He looked near death when he revived Peter. Like nowhere near what he looked like a few minutes ago.”
“ There was a momentary riff in the very fabric of space in the time Loki found Peter. The elders think that he bartered with Death himself. Or more likely that he stole the young man from Death’s hands.”
Tony paled.
“Be it self preservation or a true want of saving a life, we cannot be certain, but he has changed. A little ways back to his old heart.”
They lapsed back into companionable silence once more leaving Tony to digest the overload of information he had been given.
One thing was for certain.
There would definitely be time for explanations in the future. He would make sure of it.