Crisis Mode
Tony hurriedly landed and opened the armour and stepped out of it, rushing to Loki’s side.
Loki caught him deftly, taking Tony’s face in his hands and forcing the inventor to look him in the eye. “Anthony, my love we haven’t any time to discuss this. I will go with him, alright? Thor will provide the chains, I will go with him, everything will be fine. Anthony, we have to, do you understand, I have to go with him.”
Tony gasped, desperately trying to keep the tears and panic at bay, scrabbling at Loki’s arms. “No, no I c-can’t- I can’t- Loki. Don’t make me do this.” He whispered, “I can’t-”
“I know. I know, my love. You don’t have to. I can do this on my own, you need to- Anthony.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Tony’s forehead, refusing to let his own tears escape as he watched the smaller man break down in front of him. “Anthony, you need to focus on our daughter. Make sure she’s safe. Bring her home, darling. I can take care of myself. Be worried for her, not me.”
Loki tore his gaze away from his lover, making eye contact with Thor. The other god nodded solemnly. They had prepared for this day, years ago, when everyone had thought him wholly responsible for the Battle of New York. They had a contingency plan, albeit a very loose one. Thor had power-dampening chains that were equipped for any villain that tried to pick a fight with the Avengers. They had been made with Loki in mind, and indeed, they blocked his magic. He turned toward the man standing still behind the holoscreen, watching the scene unfold with some measure of unholy glee. “If I come to you sooner, will you let her go? Immediately?”
“Oh, of course.” The man simpered at him, arrogantly sure of his control of the situation.
Loki narrowed his eyes. “I want her brought here. I want you to bring her and prove that you will give her to us, and then I will give myself over gladly and without complaint. Do we have an accord?”
The man thought the proposition over for approximately two seconds before shaking his head. “No. You’ll have her, kill me and my two men, and then where does that leave me? No, no, no, that just won’t do.”
Tony’s hands gripped harder at Loki’s clothing, fury and fear clouding his eyes, his whole body trembling to hold back the scream that was building in the back of his throat.
“Come to me, God of Mischief, and she will be dropped off tomorrow morning in Central Park at nine fifty-three. I cannot guaruntee her saftey during any other sort of arrangement you try to conceive.”
Clint growled, hands clenching at his sides so hard he nearly snapped his bow. “You fucker.”
The man tutted, throwing a smirk at the archer. “You’re not the first to express such a statement, Hawkeye, and I doubt you’ll be the last.” He turned his attention back to Loki. “Well? What do you say? Ready to play with me?”
Tony shuddered. “No.” He whispered, unable to even make his own hands unclench from Loki’s tunic. “No, you can’t, Loki, you can’t.”
Loki made eye contact with Thor and nodded, gently prying the inventor from his armour and holding his wrists out to his brother. “If you fuck this up, you enormous oaf, I will escape just to murder you.” He allowed his voice to trembled just slightly, knowing his brother would not judge him for this.
The golden god chuckled darkly. “Brother, if I fail you in this, I would gladly welcome death.” He clinched the cuffs closed and stepped backward, eyes tense, jaw practically glued shut. He nodded once more to Loki before turning fully away, wishing vehemently for his partner, though he was glad the doctor was not in attendance. Seeing Sage like this might break Bruce, and he could not afford the emotional distress having the poor man go into hiding again would cause.
Loki tensed as the cuffs clicked closed, then forced himself to relax slowly, squaring his shoulders and turning to face the man. He walked toward him, head held high, refusing to look at Tony because he knew that if he did, he would never be able to follow through with this. He looked once more at Sage, his daughter, sprawled in that chair, rendered unconscious by that brute employed by the man he would be surrendering his life to, and his jaw clenched once more in anger. He would go with this man, and as soon as he was certain that Sage was safely back with the team once more, he would escape. When he escaped, Norns help any sorry being that stood in the way of him reuniting with his family.
---
Tony was furious. He couldn’t sit still. He could barely breathe. Steve had practically dragged him back to the tower kicking and screaming, and if JARVIS hadn’t shut down the suit, Tony would have gone after the son of a bitch himself. He was pacing on the common floor, unable to force himself to go to his own floor, with Sage kidnaped and Loki gone.
“What the hell do you mean Sage and Loki are gone? What’s going on?! Why didn’t any of you call me?!”
“Bruce. Calm down, my love. There was nothing-”
“The hell there wasn’t! How-”
“Bruce, you have to believe Thor, we honestly-”
“No! I don’t-”
Everyone started talking at once, shouting voices interlapping and overwhelming each other, and rising in pitch and volume, until finally Tony couldn’t-
”ENOUGH!” His voice rose loud enough that everyone jumped, and turned to look at him with concern, but he couldn’t- he couldn’t-
He found himself unable to look a single one of them in the eye. He was pacing back and forth rapidly, the tiny voice at the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Howard warning him that we was going to wear a hole in the damn carpet. His hands were shaking. His mind was moving a thousand miles a minute, but he just couldn’t-
Natasha laid a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, and that’s when everything snapped.
“JARVIS,” he spat, wrenching away from the agent, ignoring the concerned looks from his teammates and standing stock still, looking vaguely upward. He clenched his hands into fists to keep them from shaking and let his eyes fall shut.
“Yes, Sir?” The AI sounded as apprehensive as the team.
“Call Deadpool. I need to talk to him.”
Phil blanched. “Tony, I’m not sure-”
“Phil, no offense, but shut the fuck up, and let me save my family.”
“Friendly Neighborhood Merc with a Mouth, what’s shakin’ bacon? How can I help?”
“Wade. I need a favour.”
The mirth immdediately dropped from the mercenary’s voice. “Stark? What’s going on? Did something happen to Spidey?”
Tony clenched his jaw and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, you imbicile, Spider-Man is fine. Stop. I need something else.”
“Alrighty. Talk to me, Tin Man.”
“It’s about Sage and Loki. Were you watching the battle today?”
“I was a long way off and only using my peepers. What happened?”
“The bastard kidnapped Sage.” He smirked humourlessly at Wade’s sharp intake of breath. It was the only thing he could afford to do right now. Stark men were made of iron. Today would well be the test of that, wouldn’t it? “He took Loki in our power-dampening cuffs and said she’d been in Central tomorrow morning, but I need her back now, Wade. I have no way of knowing that this asswipe will keep his word. I need to know that she’s safe so that I can rain down hell on whoever this shitbag is.”
Wade hummed in response, letting Tony stew for a moment before, “Of course I’ll help. Are you giving me backup, or do I have to scrounge up my own? Do I get tall, dark, and devestatingly handsome?” His voice took on a lecherous tone and Bucky scowled.
“Sure, Phil is always happy to work with you.” If Tony hadn’t felt so gutted, he might’ve laughed at the betrayed look on the agent’s face. As it was, he was two seconds away from curling up in a ball until this goddamn nightmare was over. “Barnes, how do you feel about working with Deadpool for as long as we need you to?”
Bucky met Tony’s gaze steadily, nodding slightly before speaking up. “Anything to bring them home safe.”
The steely grey eyes that bore into Tony’s were nearly all Soldier and if Tony weren’t so desperate, he’d be worried, But he knew what this was. This he was familiar with. Pulling away, distancing himself, pushing down his emotions and letting his training take over to get this over with. He didn’t know that he approved, particularly from Bucky, with all the progress he’d made, but well… He didn’t really have any room to talk right now, did he? They could all commiserate later. Right now, the most important thing was finding this fucker and beating him within an inch of his life.
Wade cheered for a moment. “Alright, Buckaroo. Meet me in twenty. You know the place. Bring all the goodies you can discreetly carry on your person, and a few big ‘uns just for funsies.”
“Bring her home. P- please.” Tony could feel the cracks start to form in his facade, and he needed to be out there, searching, but he couldn’t- he had to-
Bucky nodded at him one more time before locking eyes with Steve. “End of the line, punk. I’ll see you when this is all over.”
The other soldier swallowed hard and nodded, clearly resisting the urge to go to his partner. “Bring her home, Buck.”