Prompt:
Loki went missing from his punishment in Asgard and two years later The Avengers find him, beaten and almost dead
beta'd by Nev
No one talked about Loki for months. He was out of the Avenger's hair. As they say, 'out of sight, out of mind'. The few times Thor came to Earth, he never brought it up and no one asked. That is, until Loki vanished from his prison on Asgard.
That's when Thor finally broke down and told them the conditions of Loki's punishment. He spoke bitterly of his brother's trial, his gaze growing distant with every word. He explained how had been Loki was imprisoned, touching briefly on the sort of things that happened down there. The group listened in absolute silence, biting back any comments they had as Thor went on. When Steve had heard enough about the torture, withholding food, and forcing Loki's magic away; he shared a few sharp words and abruptly left.
"Don't worry about it, Point Break," Tony said, seemingly unfazed. "Rogers is all American, all the way. Things like oppression and torture don't fit his morals."
"They should not fit anyone, Stark," Thor replied irritably.
"No, they really shouldn't. I would know, having been on the less 'fun' side of torture before."
Thor gave him a curious look before glancing at the remaining Avengers. Over all, they looked unimpressed. Whether it was over Asgard's methods, or simply lack of sympathy for his bother, Thor did not know. Clint muttered something and ended up with an elbow in the rib from Natasha. He cast a half hearted glare at her and joined the captain, clearly finished with the conversation.
"I know that you're worried about him, Thor," Agent Romanoff started, leaning forward on the couch. "But our main concern is his current motives. Do you think he will return here to finish what he started?"
Thor smiled weakly and stood to leave. "I almost wish he would. That way, at least we would know where he is and I could return him to Asgard with ease."
Tony snorted and lounged back into the couch like he owned the place. Well, he did actually. It had originally been his tower. So what if the Avengers, sort of, commandeered it.
"You make it sound like we did it so easily last time. You and I remember New York very differently, Thor."
"That was a different time," Thor replied quietly. His face closed off as he fidgeted with his hammer. "There is little left to my brother now. He is no longer the giant you remember. He is weak. He is… small."
One year later, Thor stopped coming to Earth. According to Fury, there was some political drama going on that needed his attention. Tony briefly wondered if Thor even bothered to let his girlfriend know before he ran off. Speaking of girlfriends, he and Pepper were going through this thing. He didn't have a word for it, because it wasn't a break up. It was a thing.
"Why do you cut me out like that?" Pepper asked for the hundredth time. She had been asking a lot of questions like this lately.
Why don't you take your sleep medication?
Why do you think that's funny?
Why can't you remember my birthday?
Why are you so selfish?
That last one really hurt. Considering how much Tony liked to give her, it seemed unfair. He gave up a lot of work, tons of Avengers missions, and a good chunk of control over his company. He took her out to operas and for dinners. He spent time with her going over paper work. I mean, that alone should be recognized as a wholly unselfish move. He hated paper work almost as much as a certain terrorist group.
So he had trouble sleeping, that was nothing new. So what if he woke up in the middle of night having a panic attack and had to leave the room. He let her sleep, wasn't that generous?
"Why do you keep asking me these things about my personality?" Tony snapped back, his patience finally waning.
"You've changed, Tony. Into what, I don't know. But I don't like it."
Tony glared at her over his now cold cup of coffee. "No, you know what? I haven't changed. Someone once told me to never change for another person, and trust me when I say I haven't. I'm the same sarcastic, genius, bastard I've always been. It's you who can't seem to deal with that anymore."
"Tony," she started, her voice softening into that pitying tone he had started to hate.
"Don't. Don't start. You want something you can't have. I don't know where you got this idea that I'm supposed to cater to you and only you, but it's officially gone too far."
"I have shit to do, Peps," he said, standing up and dumping the coffee into the sink. "I think I've put it off long enough while I tried to please you. Let me know if you remember the man you loved, not this idealistic hero you seem to think I am."
So, that was the thing. It turned into a break up very soon after, leaving Tony both confused and hurt. He didn't do very well for the next year, seeing as he wasn't used to either of the emotions. He drank, of course. He went out on missions piss-drunk and, luckily, hadn't killed anyone. Yet.
He built twelve new suits with completely unique functions. He was still fidgeting with the invisibility one when the tower exploded. Well, it didn't really explode, part of it did.
"Someone please tell me that wasn't Bruce going 'Hulk Smash' in the lab," he grumbled into the intercom. "I could feel that all the way down in the basement."
"Stark, get up here now."
"Will do. Once I know where the hell 'here' is."
"Penthouse. Top floor. NOW!"
"Jesus Steve, you get so whiny when there's trouble. I'll be right there."
He wiped off his hands on his already ruined jeans and headed for the elevator. Rogers would have told him if his suit was needed. So what ever it was, it sounded like a domestic dispute.
Tony hummed to himself, once again considering putting in a speaker for elevator music. Maybe a little AC/DC.
He sauntered out as the doors opened, immediately greeted by a cloud of dust.
"God dammit, Steve!" He yelled out. "You said he didn't Hulk out!"
"I didn't," came a quiet voice to his left. Tony jumped and looked at Bruce curiously. The scientist was leaning against the wall next to the elevator as if preparing to flee.
"Bruce," Tony said with a frown. "If you're here, why does it look like someone destroyed my home?"
"Because someone did. Go look for yourself."
"Aren't you going to join me?"
"I'm still trying not to throw up," he replied, shaking his head a little. "I can't… I can't look at that again yet."
Tony arched an eyebrow and headed to where most of the dust and rubble was. He stepped up to Steve, nodding his head in acknowledgement. Both agents were nowhere to be seen, but what was very visible was a lump in the middle of the floor. That and the massive hole in his roof.
"For fucks sake. I swear more of my shit gets broken than is theoretically possible."
"What I don't understand," Steve said in a tight, angry voice. "Is what he's doing here."
"Who?"
Steve gave him a pointed look and turned away, leaving Tony to stare down at the lump. As the dust cleared, it became apparent that the lump was not actually a lump, but a person.
"Who the…" Tony stopped, his breath catching in his chest.
"Loki."
Tony remembered Thor's words as soon as he recognized the figure.
'Small' was one word for it. Broken beyond recognition was another. Mutilated worked too.
"Now I get Bruce's reaction," Tony said quietly, crouching down to get a better look. Loki was in one layer of his leather armor. It was in surprisingly good condition, considering that Loki's body was torn to shreds. Someone, or something had gone after the god's face again and again. Layers of cuts and half healed scars covered his cheeks, neck, shoulders. Everywhere.
"This," Tony started, swallowing the bile that threatened to rise. "This can't be from Asgard. It's been two years. Where the fuck has he been?"
"I don't know," Steve said with a frown. "All I know is, we need to contact Thor right away. Either he has some explaining to do, or we have an enemy worse than Loki out there."
"I'd say both. Let's get him out of this hole." Tony stood and glared up at the ceiling. "I'm gonna need something for my new skylight here."
"Clint and Agent Romanoff are taking care of that. They want nothing to do with Loki."
"Yeah, there's a surprise." Tony stretched and frowned down at the bloody mess called Loki. They were going to have to be extremely careful when the moved him. "Hang on," he said. "Do we know if he's even alive?"
"I'm not going to find out."
"Pull that stick out from your ass and help me lift the mass murderer out of the god damned creator in my living room."
Steve wasted a moment to glare at Tony in his usual disapproving way before sliding down to help. Tony slipped one arm under Loki's back and hoisted him up. Steve, being stronger, ended up pulling Loki right out of Tony's arms with a single jerk.
"Oh," Tony said quietly, letting go. "I think you got this."
"I don't want to have this," Steve replied testily. "But your stature doesn't exactly make you the best candidate to carry him."
"Gee, thanks," Tony snapped, crawling out of the hole in front of him. "Don't think I haven't looked at your file, buddy. I know how small and weasely you were before you drank the mojo juice."
"That has nothing to with any of this. If you don't mind, I just want to put him somewhere and go talk to Fury."
Tony followed in silence as the solider passed him and walked down the hall, every so often making faces at the back of Rogers' head. When he tried to complain about the fact that Steve was using his bed for the bloody body dump, the soldier just gave him a pitying look and left.
"Seriously?" Tony asked the closed door. "Not everyone's so self sacrificing as you, you fucking golden retriever."
He turned and eyed his beautiful king size bed, now filled with icky god. "Well, first things first. Let's see if the bastard is even alive."
Tony snuck closer to the bed carefully and jabbed a finger at Loki's neck to check for his pulse. He got the next best thing, Loki woke up screaming.
"Oh shit!" He exclaimed, snatching his hand away and falling backwards. Loki took a breath and uttered a softer, more whimpering scream. His back arched away from the bed as if the mere contact of it was killing him. Tony jumped up and came closer, unsure if he should touch him or not.
"Loki? Uh, Reindeer Games?"
No response except for the soft keening sounds he was making while he continued to writhe in pain.
"Okay, listen to me," Tony said, pushing the god down into the blankets. "Wriggling around is not going to help you!"
Loki's eyes snapped open and focused on him immediately. What Tony saw in them completely surprised him.
Fear.
Paralyzing, irrational, painful
Fear.
A minute passed where Tony thought the god might lash out at him. But he didn't, and the fear ease out of Loki's eyes. He nearly smiled as he spoke.
"Ah, at last," he croaked weakly. "Someone to kill me."
Loki passed out again immediately after dropping the bomb. Tony sat there gaping at him for twenty minutes or so until Loki's eyes snapped open again.
"For fucks sake!" Tony jumped again, slithering further away from him. Loki stared up at the ceiling, letting out a bitter laugh.
"Why am I not dead yet?"
"Good question," Tony agreed, scooting closer again to lean over him. He was looking a little better. Slightly less like a corpse. "You looked pretty dead when you uh… arrived in my tower."
"By arrived, I mean you smashed through my ceiling," he continued with a frown.
Loki scoffed and rolled his eyes to the heavens.
"I care not for your phallic symbol of a tower. Just kill me and let it be over with."
"Did you just call my tower… a penis?"
Loki sat up and hissed in pain, his eyes growing dangerously dark again. "Enough!" He snapped, curling closer to Stark. "Kill me, or shut up."
"I'm not here for you to yell at me," Tony replied calmly, tilting his head to the side. "Also, not killing you. So stop."
Loki froze, a lost, hopeless expression forming on his face. He continued to gaze at Tony as if he had just shared the worst news in the world with him.
"Please…"
Tony paled, his mouth dropping open in disbelief. "Excuse me?!"
Loki swallowed and continued to stare into Tony's eyes. "Please kill me."
"Uh, no," Tony said quietly, shifting forward to look him up and down. Only the older scars seemed to be healing, the fresh ones were still bloody and raw. "Care to explain all this? I mean, Thor said you were being treated like shit… But that was two years ago."
Loki choked. "Only two years?!" He laughed, a dry painful sound lacking any humor. "It was much more than that, Stark."
"It's two years since you left Asgard," Tony said patently. "Nice trick, by the way. How'd you do that?"
"I didn't. I was removed by force."
"Okaaaay… I assume by those assholes who did this to you," Tony said, gestering to Loki's body.
"Yes. But It was not two years."
Tony grumbled and nodded his head. "Okay," he agreed. "Explain it a little better."
Loki scoffed and pulled his knees up to his chest with a painful wheeze. "I do not answer to you. Leave me be until one who is willing to kill me arrives."
"No one is fucking killing you! You got that?"
Loki sneered over his knees and closed his eyes. "Why do you care, Stark?" He asked nastily. "I never thought you a sentimental man."
"I'm not," Tony replied with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. He frowned and looked at it, realizing he had just smeared Loki's blood in it. "Look, I'm not letting anyone kill you. By the looks of it, you got what you deserved and then some." He smiled faintly at the god, trying to sound reassuring.
"So, how about you get cleaned up and then we figure out what to do with you."
"I refuse to return to Asgard. I cannot…" Loki frowned and opened his eye to look at Stark once more. Again, they showed fear. "I cannot bare their punishments after what I have gone through. I would rather die."
"No one said anything about sending you back there. A lot of us here actually have morals." Tony paused and snorted. "Okay, so mostly Captain Spangles. But none of is agree with the whole torture thing. Me more than anyone."
That seemed to get a reaction out of him. An eyebrow raised in question. "You of all people? Why?"
"I've been there. That's all," Tony replied shortly, standing up and grumbling. "Go get in the shower if you can. I'll find some clothes or…" He paused as Loki shimmered in a wash of gold, reappearing dressed in a loose fitting tunic and leather pants. He was still heavily bruised and bloodied, but he had somehow cleaned off most of the mess.
"Okay, so apparently you own a magic washing machine-shower combo."
That earned him another glare. Hey, at least the guy was responding now.
"Loki," Tony started, looking at him seriously. "I know why you want to die, but I think I have a better plan. Okay?"
Loki snarled, "You presume to understand my feelings, you pathetic―"
Tony stuck a finger over Loki's mouth roughly. Whatever the god had expected him to do, it wasn't that. "Shut up. I do get it, to an extent. My understanding is just about as much as you're gonna get around here. No one else is going to be as nice. Got it?"
Loki's glare softened, replaced with a curious look. He nodded. Tony kept his finger there and continued, "I want you to tell them what happened. Who did this to you, and for how long. Bury that damn pride of yours and let them know you suffered." He sighed and jabbed Loki's lips with the finger before leaning back. "If you want this all to stop, they need to know that you suffered enough already."
Loki continued to stare at him, tilting his head a little to the side. "Why do you care?"
"Because I'm not a hero and I don't believe in justice. I believe in people changing. I believe in learning by suffering," he said, his voice growing softer. "I believe in these things because I changed only because I suffered."
Loki laughed a small, quiet laugh. It wasn't a bitter laugh, or a bag-of-cats crazy laugh. It was almost a giggle. It was almost charming.
"I see. I think I understand you a little more," Loki said with a smile. "Stark."
"Yeah well, I think I understand you a lot more."
"Indeed, it seems you do." Loki paused, a flash of irritation at his own words. "Only a little."
"Oh, don't ruin the moment. We were having a moment there."
Loki scowled. "We were NOT having a moment!"
"We so were." Tony flashed a grin and offered a hand to the god. "It's ruined now, thanks Rock of Ages."
Loki looked at the hand and back at him in confusion.
"Come on," Tony urged. "Move your ass."
"Where are we going?"
"To make things right," Tony said, reaching down and grabbing Loki's hand. "Let's go suffer for the sake of freedom."
