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Thor materialized at the most distant edge of the Bifröst, touting Mjölnir in his left hand and the Tesseract in his right. But most important of all, still gagged, bound, and glaring viscously, was his brother-yes, brother. Even after bringing an entire race to the brink of extinction, after attempting to subjugate a planet, and after providing the key to unlimited power to an army hellbent on destruction, Thor loved him. Even after the countless times Loki had pushed him away-each time with increasing violence-Thor would always return with open arms and an accepting heart.As Thor began the long walk down the Bifröst to the palace, spiteful prisoner in tow, the thunder god's thoughts turned to his brother's fate. Thor had compromised the security of two realms in inciting war between Asgard and Jotunheim, and Odin had exiled him to Earth. Loki, on the other hand, had compromised the security of all nine realms in placing the Tesseract in the hands of the Chitauri. A sense of dread began to gather in the pit of Thor's stomach at the prospect of what the allfather would be willing to do to Loki, who had finally proved himself a force nearly impossible to control. But just as quickly as this dread surfaced, it was shoved back down; Thor would bring Loki to Odin because it was demanded by Asgardian law and therefore had to be done.
Upon finally reaching the end of the Bifröst, Thor stepped through the already-open doors of the palace and into the throne room, where nearly a hundred Asgardians were already assembled, hissing and booing in anticipation of the disgraced prince's return. Their derisions increased in volume and vehemence as soon as Loki came into their lines of vision, but neither Loki nor Thor batted so much as an eyelid at the jeers, Thor's attention focused instead on his father, and Loki's attention focused somewhere else entirely. Odin was unreadable, looking anywhere from being on the cusp of the most profound sorrow to a barely-controlled rage. Or perhaps it was simply both.
Thor took a final step toward his father, then stopped. But just as he opened his mouth to speak, a panicked gasp overtook the spectators, peppered with one or two frightened screams. Utterly confounded, Thor looked to his left, then to his... He froze. Loki was gone. Thor sagged as he suddenly recalled words spoken to him by his brother only a week prior: Will you ever not fall for that?
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Tony Stark slowly opened his eyes to the dull light of midmorning, careful to not move a single muscle until he remembered precisely what on his body was hurt and where. He cautiously tweaked his fingers, toes, wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, shoulders, and finally hips, but aside from some very nasty cuts and bruises, everything was fine. As he took a deep breath to give a sigh of relief, however, he gagged as a horrendous pain shot up his spine. Right, ribs.
"JARVIS, how many ribs did I injure?"
"You have three broken ribs, one rib with a hairline fracture, and two bruised ribs, sir."
Tony grimaced. He vaguely remembered brushing off a very red-faced Pepper as she demanded that he go to the hospital, instead crawling into his bed to fall into unconsciousness. As much as he would love a good dose of painkillers right now, doctors poking at and prodding him was simply not an attractive prospect, something Pepper didn't seem to understand. Besides, you couldn't even set a fractured rib. Gingerly propping himself up with his elbows, Tony glanced around the room to find a bottle of liquor only to find a sight much less comforting: Pepper asleep on the couch in the far corner of Tony's room.
"JARVIS," Tony hissed, keeping his voice to a whisper, "just what is she doing in my room?"
JARVIS lowered its output volume so as to match its creator's hushed tone. "Miss Potts intends to escort you to a hospital when she wakes, sir."
"And why, JARVIS, was I not alerted that she spent the night in my room?"
"She has spent the night in your room many times, sir, and you never seemed to have any qualms about it."
Scowling at the AI's impudence, Tony hoisted himself from bed, picking up from the floor and pulling on the rumpled T-shirt and jeans that he'd worn the day before. His closet was much too close to the sleeping Pepper for comfort, and besides, the T-shirt only had a tiny smudge of blood on it. He smoothed his hair to the best of his ability, slipped on a pair of sneakers near him on the floor, and grabbed the overcoat hanging on his bedpost, making his way towards the door near his bed that led to his balcony and an elevator.
"JARVIS, when Pepper awakens, tell her I've been called away on an urgent mission by S.H.I.E.L.D., and that I won't be back for a while. Encourage her to take a jet back home."
"All this to avoid the hospital, sir?"
"Yes, JARVIS; it's a terrible place. Besides, it's been a while since Pepper saw her family-she needs to go back every once in a while."
"Sir, she's been at Stark Tower for 3 days."
Tony closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. The day was just beginning and already he wanted to go back to bed. "Just do it, JARVIS."
"Very well, sir. Considering you weakened state, I shall arrange for a security detai-"
Tony cut the AI off. "Absolutely not, JARVIS. I will not have guards tailing me on what should be a day off. The Chitauri are dead, Loki is in chains in Asgard, and all the common criminals are too busy taking advantage of the fact that Manhattan was nearly leveled yesterday. I'll be fine."
"Of course, sir."
Tony sighed as he walked into the elevator. Since when were machines supposed to challenge their creator's decisions? When he found the time, some reprogramming was certainly in order. After about a minute, the doors of the elevator opened to reveal the rather small side street that flanked one side of the Stark Tower. He stepped off the elevator and into the street, hearing the elevator doors smoothly slide to a close behind him. Arbitrarily deciding to turn to his left, he slowly made his way down the street, idly wondering if there were a liquor store anywhere in the vicinity. He figured if he meandered around Midtown Manhattan for an hour or so, Pepper would be gone by the time he returned and he could get back to tinkering in his lab, or whatever else he felt like doing at that point. Tony wandered down a few more side-streets, growing progressively more bored and lamenting the fact that the phone he'd assumed was in his coat pocket had apparently fallen out somewhere in his room.
However, at that precise moment and very much to Tony Stark's surprise, a high-pitched and piercing meow sounded near his feet. He watched as a lanky cat ghosted past him and quickly made its way in the direction Tony was walking, disappearing into a dilapidated apartment building at the end of the street. From what he could see of the cat, it had sleek sand-colored fur and a tall build, leaving it looking a bit like a miniature lioness. He paused, thinking. Pepper had been nagging at Tony for months to get a pet, but she rejected his offers to buy one, saying that she didn't want to support animal mills. So the scruffy-looking cat he had just seen could very well be the answer for which he'd been looking. Plus, if, on the off-chance that he returned to Stark Tower before Pepper left, walking in with a cat in his arms was bound to get him some points.
So, the billionaire followed the cat into the dilapidated apartment at as quick a pace as his rib would allow. The front door into which the cat had gone was slightly ajar, and Tony shoved past it, finding himself then in what he would have guessed used to be the lobby. It wasn't very well-lit, so he paused, listening for where the cat might be. His eyes fixated on the far left corner of the room as he heard the faint thud of something being jumped upon. He slowly felt his way towards the supposed location of the cat, with each step questioning more and more why in the hell he was going through so much trouble for a damned cat. He could barely see his hand in front of his face, which made him nearly positive that he was going to step on some rust nail and contract tetanus. Speaking of which, he might be overdue for a tetanus booster-
Tony stopped mid-thought as he rammed face-first into a pile of boxes and a beam of light streamed in from the window they had apparently been covering. Wincing, he rubbed his abused nose. At least, though, he could now see, and he could see the cat now; though most of the corner was still shrouded in shadow, the cat was sitting just out of the shadows, about four inches away from... a leg? Tony grimaced; had the cat found some starved hobo to chew on? Though, the leg was clothed in some sleek black fabric that looked much more expensive than any derelict could ever hope to afford-maybe it was a murder victim? Just as the thought flew through his head, however, the leg twitched, and Tony jumped back defensively, before hissing in pain as he felt his ribs shift. He saw a flash of green as the leg's owner opened its eyes. Tony could hear the faint whirr of his arc reactor working harder to compensate for his spiking heart rate. Barely able to breathe, he took a single step back, allowing the light from the window to fall on the figure in the corner.
The brilliant green eyes of the God of Mischief stared back at him, the god's hands unbound and fingers working deftly on the metal gag around his mouth. After a few more seconds of prying, the gag fell to the ground, and Loki's jaw snapped open and closed in a feral show of appreciation at his newfound freedom.
The god snarled a menacing grin at Tony, whose arc reactor was now making quite a fuss. He reached into his pocket to push the panic button on his pho- Oh yeah, that thing he didn't have. Suddenly, just a single thought was circling around and around in his head: Die. I'm going to die. And all because of a damned cat. He could just see the headlines now: IRONMAN DIES SUITLESS; REMAINS FOUND SMEARED ACROSS WALLS OF ABANDONED BUILDING.
"I must say Stark, you're looking quite sallow. Have you been feeling well?" Loki questioned callously. "I've been feeling a little under-the-weather, myself, but my day seems to have suddenly perked up immensely." He flashed a luminously white sneer, turning his attentions downward to the cat, delicately holding up the finger of his outstretched hand for the cat to nose. "I can't say I'm entirely sure why this small furred creature feels so at ease near me, but I have to admit, I've grown a bit fond of it and its comings and goings. Especially now, since its coming brought along someone I've been dying to see."
Tony's nervousness dissipated at the seething hostility, replaced by his usual cocky abrasiveness. "Well if it isn't Reindeer Games. I would have never pegged you for a cat lover, but we all have our weaknesses, don't we? Especially gods, as it turned out." At this, Loki's sneer only deepened. "But I suppose the real question is, why aren't you back on your fluffy white clouds with Point Break? Or did they rescind their invitation after all?"
Loki's sneer fell into a look of disdain at the pet names. "Oh no, I am still very much wanted in Asgard, I assure you. It simply didn't seem to be in my best interest to take advantage of their kind invitation."
The billionaire's face was drawn in pensive lines. "I didn't know you had a choice in the matter."
Loki's snide grin returned in full force. "It was a choice not handed to me, but thieved. Do you remember the moment when your green brute placed the Tesseract within the teleportation device? The single moment when everyone's eyes turned away from me and towards that cube? It was a moment, but it was enough to ensure that my time on Midgard was extended by at least a few days."
"And what exactly are you planning to do here with just a few days?"
"My initial stratagem was to remain hidden whilst I directed the 'me' I left in Asgard's care and removed that gods-forsaken gag. Then I would begin my search for each Avenger, though in what order I still haven't worked out. At first I considered basing if off of who I hated the most, but that was much too hard to determine. Then I thought about killing them alphabetically, to reduce the bias." Loki tilted his head back and stroked his chin, pretending to fall deeply into thought.
For each word the god spoke to him, Tony's sense of dread increased tenfold. But, since when had fear ever slowed Tony Stark down? "You know what, while we're at it, one more question. Why exactly are you telling me all this?"
Loki's head remained tilted back, but Tony could see the corners of his mouth curve upwards in a grin. "Because I suspect that in a few minutes, your body will be lying cold and lifeless on the ground. And I hear that it's very difficult for mortals to, say, warn their comrades of impending doom when they're dead."
Tony could feel his arc reactor whirring louder again. Running would get him shot down by some magic green bolt, and fighting wasn't going to be happening any time soon, what with his broken ribs and lack of suit. So, maybe...talking? "You know that you're going to be found. And sooner, rather than later. The more people you hurt the harsher your punishment will be. If you valued your own life-"
"Oh, but you'll find that that's a weakness from which I do not suffer." Loki's face fell into an unreadable mask.
Tony expression froze. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looked like he had a suicidal god on his hands.
Loki slowly rose to his feet, the terrible glow of his eyes brightening. "But that's enough talk, my metallic mortal. Though, I suppose you're not very metallic now." His face stretched once again into an absolutely sinister grin as he began to take leisurely steps towards Tony.
Tony was on the verge of visible panic, now. "Exactly. Exactly, I'm not metallic right now, so it wouldn't even be fun for you. You could just come back after you kill Hawkeye or the Black Widow or someone. A powerful god like you deserves a challenge, not some incapacitated little guy like me."
"Well," Loki drawled, clearly enjoying sight of the now visibly squirming billionaire in front of him, "you aren't wrong, but a challenge takes time. And time is something that I, unfortunately, do not have. So let's begin, shall we?" The god closed his eyes and lifted his hands slightly away from his thighs and began to...crackle? Tony wasn't sure exactly how to describe it.
Tony noticed with dismay that as soon Loki began doing his glowy thing, the cat that'd been directly in front of him scampered off. The damn cat was the entire reason he had been caught by an evil god without his suit on. Now he wouldn't even get to take the furry bastard down with him. He was snapped out of his thoughts as the crackling around Loki grew louder and more furious. The god's eyes were open now, narrowed in a cruel look of glee and glowing a brighter green than Tony had ever seen them. The billionaire's arc reactor was whirring so fast that he was almost certain that it would fly from his chest.
Seeing a final flash of the god's emerald eyes, Tony made a split-second decision. Because if Tony Stark was going to die, it would be Tony-Stark-style. Screaming "FUCK YOU", he rushed forward and body-slammed the God of Mischief. He just barely heard the sickening crunch of his ribcage and the deafening boom as Loki released his deathblow before Tony blacked out.
To Tony's immense surprise, he awoke what seemed to be just a few seconds later, as the room was still sizzling and Loki was sitting, legs splayed in front of him, squeezing his eyes shut and cradling his head with one hand. But more importantly...why wasn't he dead? And why-he took a deep breath to make sure-were his ribs not still broken? But getting over the immediate shock of not being dead, he realized that he felt a little...different? Hands flying immediately to his chest to check that something hadn't happened to his arc reactor, he noticed something odd about the soft glow coming through his T-shirt. Its light was the same icy blue it had always been, but every few heart beats, Tony thought he saw a faint flicker of...green?
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A/N: I'm still debating where this story should go. I'm not sure if I want Loki to return to Asgard, and if he does, if Tony should go to Asgard with him (that's technically possible, right?). I also don't know what kind of powers (if any? I'm kind of leaning towards this giving Tony some sort of ability) his blue/green arc reactor should afford him. Should it be just a buffer to Loki's magic, or should Tony be given his own tiny bit of magic (based off of Loki's magic, or course)? I'm definitely up for any suggestions or comments that you guys want to give me. But the bottom line is, if anyone actually wants me to continue this (and readers of A Singular Partnership, I promise I'll continue with the KaZe goodness either way!) please do tell me, because at this point I'm thinking I won't. So...
Reviews, please?