For usedupshiver's prompt of a "meeting in prison AU". It was kind of (REALLY) hard to resist. Originally posted on my Tumblr ( ).
Mentions of blood, violence, murders, and general not caring about committing said crimes. Nothing graphic.
Of all the things that didn't go according to how Tony planned it, getting himself landed in prison was number four on the growing list of fuck ups. Not disabling the cameras before sneaking into his god father's place and shooting Obie where he slept? That was number two on the list.
On the upside, after his second year, he was transferred to another high security prison and set up in a sweet semi-private cell in B block, where "semi-private" actually translates to "I've got this cell to myself because my cellmate got thrown into solitary for shanking a giant in the face the day I got here" but that's a mouthful to say. The guards pointed Loki out as Tony's cellmate, making their first unofficial meeting mostly Tony watching as some tall as fuck asshole with someone else's blood matting his inky black hair and soaking his clothes getting hauled away, laughing a croaking caw of delight while his "victim" was lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the cell block. "Victim" also being a shortened version of something much more complicated, Tony is immediately sure.
Loki spent three days in solitary and got out just as Tony was put in. Also not Tony's fault when that wannabe king of the block kid seemed so smug about knowing who Tony was, but didn't seem to remember "weapons designer" being a big part of Tony's life outside. One quick castration later, and the kid was going to remember. Tony gets out of solitary, Loki is put back in again, the cycle continued back to the start, and Tony starts to wonder if he's going to have his own cell for his entire sentence here. The idea isn't unappealing, honestly.
Two weeks in, the question is answered in the form of a guy - and let's be honest, even Tony, the highly reputed womanizer, isn't immune to how easy on the eyes this guy is - slumping onto the bench across from Tony in the cafeteria.
"So you're my illusive cell mate." Loki drawls, gemstone green eyes pinning Tony to his side of the table. He looks just as good clean as he did covered in blood.
"Damn, I was hoping I'd get my own room for a little while longer."
"There's time in the day yet to start another fight." Loki's eyes flickered with morbid hope, and the edge of his mouth turned up slightly. One might almost call it a smile.
"So you can have my room? Thanks, but I'll save myself the trouble for now." Tony starts picking at his food again and swears he hears a soft laugh when he isn't looking.
"I get top bunk." Loki states after a second.
"Then you've been sleeping in my bed because I get top bunk."
"Then I suppose we'll have to share." Tony glances up just in time to see Loki looking him up and down. "You're compact enough for us both to fit. I thought you'd be taller, honestly."
Years of being called short, Tony doesn't so much as flinch at the remark. "This isn't going to devolve into a 'who's the bitch now' argument, is it? Solitary is worth it if I get to make you a eunuch first."
Loki laughs again, while Tony is watching, but it's still unbelievable. This was the guy he'd heard was such a jerk? Tony's pretty perceptive, if he can say so of himself, and Loki isn't reading how the other inmates have been leading Tony to believe.
"That won't be necessary." The other smiles, more amusement now and less malice. "Life imprisonment is dull enough, I'd rather not spend it having the same argument."
"Yeah, it'd be too much like trial again."
"I heard yours was a feat for the papers."
"Apparently juries don't fall for the 'he started it first' self defense argument after killing a liar and a traitor, sparkling father figure though he was in the public eye." Apparently it was "inhuman" to shoot someone twice in the chest and again in the face and "authorities should have been notified upon discovery of Obadiah involvement in Tony's assassination attempt" and "vigilantism wasn't tolerated in civil society" and prosecuting attorneys didn't like it when you laughed in their faces and called their society uncivil. So Tony got charged with first degree murder and life imprisonment without parole.
Tony nods to Loki. "Heard your body count was impressive." As were the petty misdemeanors and various felonies he racked up first. Pleading insanity and coercion only lowered Loki's sentence enough that he could bail himself out and add on a number of murder charges.
"I'm not fond of traitors myself. They deserved every second of agony from the first cut to the last." The look on Loki's face isn't unfamiliar - Tony saw it that first day too. And he saw it on his own reflection every time he thought of killing Obadiah. Anyone else would call it sadistic delight, but Tony knew better. It was vindication. And who were the victims in Tony and Loki's crimes? By the time they were done, everyone was. From first to last.
"That I do believe."
Loki smiles a bit more genuinely. "I do think we're going to enjoy our time together, Mr. Stark."
Tony finds himself matching the grin as his brain conjures up all the kinds of mischief he can see calling to him from the 6'2" god sitting across from him. There could be worse people to spend a lifetime with. "Please, it's Tony."
Loki extends his hand over their trays of food. "Loki, then."
His skin is warm and long fingers clasp around the edges of Tony's palm. "Nice to meet you, Loki."