I just want to say that the lyrics are not mine, nor are the characters. I helped my friend write this by Beta-ing it, and she has said I can post this on my account as well as hers. Marvel owns the rights to the characters, but they are OOC, as they will be in the rest of these chapters following this story. Just a warning.
Safe and Sound
I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, I'll never let you go
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, Don't leave me here alone
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
Loki caressed Tony's face as the others features finally relaxed in sleep. There were still traces of tears on his face, and Loki slowly wiped them away, heart clenching over the events of the night they had just survived, if only barely scraping by. He had almost lost his mortal, the one he had chained his sanity to. He closed his eyes, remembering.
"Tony, no!" Loki felt his scream vibrate up his throat as he saw Tony blasted by one of the Dark Elves, flying up into the air before falling slowly back to Earth, and hitting the ground hard. Loki dispatched the offending Dark Elf he was fighting, stabbing him in the lungs with a dagger, and twisting mercilessly before teleporting to Tony's side, ripping the iron mask off frantically. Tony's face was lax, eyes closed as if he were asleep, his breath was also very shallow, barely there.
"Tony! Tony, wake up! Please, wake up for me!" Loki begged, voice cracking. The team was busy, not able to assist him or their fallen comrade. Waving a hand, Loki summoned his magic, causing a green glow to surround him and hissed as Tony's injuries were revealed. Several cracked ribs, a broken leg, hairline fracture in his skull, punctured lung, along with a long cut across the man's stomach were all the major injuries that had Loki immediately on edge. The suit prevented Loki from being able to heal him, as well as the fact that he was low on magic from the fight.
Loki gritted his teeth. The arc reactor was still shining brightly, Tony wouldn't die. He couldn't. Not while Loki was alive and still held onto some vestige of sanity. Sanity that he only held because of the man alive, but unconscious in front of him.
He turned, cold and quiet, crouching protectively over Tony when footsteps sounded behind him.
"Malekith," He hissed in recognition as the leader of the Dark Elves stepped into the light.
"Loki... so good to see you after all these years." The Elf purred.
"I can't say the same," Loki snarled, ice curled from his feet, cracking out along the sidewalk as the summer heat made steam rise from the protector's body.
The Elf's eyes alighted on the form Loki stood over. "And just what do we have here? I've never known you to stand up for others, Loki. Introduce us."
"So sorry, afraid that's not going to happen. Not now, and never is sounding increasingly appealing as well." Loki said darkly, threat heavy in his voice.
The Elf's eyes light up. "Ahhh. He's that important to you, is he? Your mortal lover... funny, I don't recall any of the others inspiring this response from you."
"Tony is one of a kind," Loki said dryly.
"He is mortal. Your lover is weak, Loki." Malekith sneered. "He's dying as well, with every breath he takes, he's one step closer to dying. The shards near his heart aren't helping him out that much either. Tell me Loki, what will you do when he dies? Will you cry you vengence into the skies and proclaim Ragnarok? Will you stay with him, huddled in the darkness, hoping he comes back? I can tell you now, he won't come back. He's too weak. Humans only live to die."
The weak shadows formed by street lamps flickered against the walls and buildings as Loki eyed them warily, still standing over Tony's still unconscious form. He was willing to guard it until he himself no longer walked any of the realms. The light of the arc reactor cast a blue tinged glow over him, helping him breathe easier at the thought of his lover being kept alive by the small machine.
Distracted by his thoughts, he didn't see Malekith lunge, but his instincts helped spare him any grievous injuries. They danced back and forth, two killers on a tightrope with only one way off. Loki snarled at that thought, sensing something was wrong. Malekith wasn't putting any effort into it. His eyes smirked at Loki with a knowing glint that almost drove the god over the edge. Loki finally pushed him back long enough to scan his surroundings. It was dark. Too dark.
"What have you done, Malekith?" He snarled.
The Elf chuckled, sounding far too pleased with himself. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it? I think it'll be more fun to see your reaction from afar... farewell Loki. We'll meet again someday, I'm sure."
With those parting words, the Dark Elf faded away into a dark mist. Everything about it felt wrong, and laughter echoed as it floated away.
Loki turned back to Tony only to feel his heart stop beating. The arc reactor no longer gave off a bright reassuring light. He was at the humans side in an instant. "Tony... Tony, don't you dare die without my permission! You don't have it, do you hear me? You can't die on me like this!"
Loki was frantic, fingers scrabbling over the chest plate peeling it off carelessly and searching for a pulse. He felt its weak beat once.. twice.. and then there was nothing. He whimpered, ice spreading out from where his body had contact with the ground, whispering into the shadows, and crying out silently into the air, turning the night foggy. Loki shuddered as the temperature dropped, not knowing it was himself causing the fluctuation until he heard a crack of thunder. Relief made him weak, but he scrambled to his feet and scanned the air for the cause.
"Thor! I have urgent need of you!" He screamed at the lightning speckled sky. There was another loud clap of thunder and Thor sailed out of the sky, Mjolnir whirling in his hand.
"What is the cause of your distress, brother?" Thor asked anxiously. He had never seen his brother in a state like this.
"Thor, I need you to electrocute Tony. Please! Just listen to me!" Loki begged. The chest plate was off, arc reactor revealed and Thor's eyes widened at the sight of it, dark and forbidding.
"Brother-"
"THOR!" Loki bellowed at him. "Now is not the time! Call up your lightning and direct it to Tony! Not too strong, or you'll make it worse!"
Thor grunted, shocked speechless at his brothers words. He whirled Mjolnir, and called a thin strand of lightning, directing it to his fallen comrade. With a wince, he brought it down on the mortal.
Tony's eyes shot open, gasping for breath. Blood still made wet sounds in his lungs, but his eyes were open, and the arc reactor flickering, but getting steadier and steadier until it shown pure and strong.
A sound escaped from Loki's throat, half sob, half whimper, relief overwhelming him. He was at his lover's side in an instant. Tony's eyes flickered to him, lighting with recognition. Subconsciously he heard the sound of Thor flying off after staring at them for a moment, giving the two men time together, knowing everything would be explained in the debriefing.
Tony's hand trembled as he lifted it to brush Loki's face. "I thought you had left me." Loki whispered.
"Loki... please don't leave me here alone." Tony gagged and coughed up blood. Loki clenched his hands as Tony's fingers made their way up his face, cupping his cheeks. Without any hesitation Loki reciprocated the movements pulling Tony's face into his hands, touching their foreheads together.
"I'll never let you go." He said softly. Tony's face twisted with pain before tears trailed out of his eyes, even as his face relaxed at Loki's words. Loki watched as his breathing slowed and his body relaxed into unconsciousness. Loki felt something cold trail down his face and lifted up a hand to wipe it away, feeling a wetness come away. He looked at it and saw a clear drop of water. Tears? He scoffed, but looked down at Tony nonetheless, face softening.
There was a scuff of a boot, and he sprang up, a snarl on his face. It was Natasha, eying Loki warily and looking towards Tony with concern.
"Thor told us Tony was injured. He probably needs to get to a hospital, I'm going to call it in." Natasha kept an eye on Loki, who slowly relaxed before going back to Tony's side and sitting next to him protectively and pulling the injured mortal's head into his lap. She lifted an eyebrow, but the god ignored it and Natasha didn't say anything.
Moments later, the medical team arrived by helicopter, and soon Tony was in surgery. Loki paced outside anxiously, until one of the braver doctors came to tell him that Tony was out of surgery and would need a while to recover, but he would live. There was no show of it on his face, but Loki felt indescribable relief. The depths that he would go to for Tony no longer surprised him, but faced with his mortality, Loki paused to think what would happen if he were to die. A dark expression took over his face until he had a thought. He turned it around in his mind before slowly smiling and striding off.
Don't you dare look out your window,
darling everything's on fire..
the war outside our door keeps raging on.
Tony groaned, slowly waking up. Everything hurt, even his eyes. As he opened them, everything was blurry, until he blinked a couple times and found his focus on Loki, who was looking at him anxiously, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Loki? Wha' happened? Why am I at home?" He slurred.
Loki reached out a hand and touched his cheek as if to reassure himself before replying softly. "Dark Elves invaded the city. One got you and you hit the ground hard. Your injuries were pretty bad, you almost died on me." The gods voice went quiet as he spoke the last bit.
"I'm fine now. It hurts, but I'm still here with you." Tony tried to reassure the man who went quiet and pensive even as he winced in pain from shifting.
There was a bang, and sirens wailed outside. Tony looked out the window before Loki sharply ordered the curtains closed. They did so silently, and Tony glared.
"Why'd you do that? Something's happening outside and I wanted to see!" He whined.
"There is no need. Your team will take care of it. You do not want to see the damage the Elves inflicted. The team and S.H.I.E.L.D. are still putting out the fires, and rounding up the rest of them." Loki's voice went dark and quiet as he talked about the Elves. Tony looked up at him in concern, opening his mouth to ask a question before he was interrupted.
"How are you feeling, aside from sore?" Loki asked smoothly.
"I would love some pain meds and a drink, but I'm all here. I think." Tony grunted as he pulled himself up.
Loki shook his head before pulling something from behind his back. Tony looked at the apple and then the god, lifting an eyebrow.
"Those must be expensive to grow," He remarked, impressed at the sheen on the golden apple.
Loki smirked. "You could say that. This will help you heal, so go ahead and eat it."
There was a glint there that Tony had seen before. Never malicious or harmful, but.. there was always something else at hand than what it appeared to be. Loki held the apple out to him and he took it slowly before examining it.
"I haven't poisoned it, Stark." Loki said sharply. Tony smiled. "I know. Just wondering how much these would sell for."
The god bit out a laugh. "Oh, they're worth much, much more than you can even imagine. Just eat it Tony, before it becomes an issue."
Tony lifted an eyebrow, both at the first name and wondering if that was a light threat. "What would you do if I didn't?" He asked jokingly, wiggling his eyebrows. The stare Loki gave him persuaded him though, and he hastily took a bite of the apple.
"Well. If we could grow apples like this, perhaps we wouldn't need to send doctors, just apples, to foreign countries. This is amazing, I'm feeling better already... where did you say these came from?" Tony asked suspiciously.
"I didn't say where they came from," Loki said smoothly.
"Well, the only place I can think of is Asgard, Earth can't have something like this without me knowing about it. You guys eat fruit to heal?" Tony rambled on, and Loki just sat back and watched as the apple disappeared, and Tony began to emit a slight glow, something no mortal could see. He felt something that had been clenched around his heart ever since he realized how easily Tony could die ease up and let off some of the pressure. With a deep sigh he lay on the bed and curled up to Tony, who was just finishing the apple.
No part of it was wasted, Loki noted in satisfaction. He tugged Tony closer, grabbed the hand that had held the apple, and sucked the juices off his fingers. The look on Tony's face bespoke much fun to be had, and Loki smirked as he tangled his hands in Tony's hair. He wouldn't regret this decision as long as they both lived.