Chapter1:

Kidnapping

Normally Tony wouldn't give a damn about a big flailing crowed standing in front of Stark Towers. Usually Pepper planed something that he was blissfully unaware of, due to the fact that she shoved documents in his face every time they met up, a date was never just a date with her. The Battle of New York lead to more controversy over the ironman technology being made public than ever before. He was declining offers and making security improvements left and right. Pepper kept him on top of things, telling him what to sign and having him reading him every last word in the fine print prove why he should sign the agreements, or in some cases, restraining orders. After a while, he stopped listening and just signed the damned papers. He could have just sold her his soul for all he knew. He missed the life before the avengers, he might not be the only hero around anymore, but he was the only one who couldn't really disappear from the public eye.

The escorts took him slowly through the swarm of reporters, shouts of discontent and unanswerable questions fogging his mind. Just get home, then some peace, quiet and scotch lots of scotch. He thought, his migraine making him unable to distinguish any individual from the blob that surrounded him.

But, through the sea of camera flashes and microphones, a set of jade green eyes glaring above a pair of dark shades caught the irritated billionaire's eye and nearly stopped his heart. He knew those eyes. They had once bore menacingly into his, trying to rip him from his own control.

From all the demanding pushy shouts came a low menacing voice, almost a whisper, loud as if in his ear.

"The man of iron, we meet again." His thin lips smiled as he pushed up his glasses. The faux microphone, oddly pointed towards his chest rather than his face, gleamed gold and blue as it shimmered into the familiar dagger point of a scepter. The crowd of reporters gasped and screamed, the smart ones running, leaving only the desperate to record the unveiling of the shrouded villain.

His neat civilian attire disappeared to reveal the unforgettable leather and metal armor. Pushing his glasses up into his long inky hair they too shifted to that familiar - and as Tony remembered - rather ridiculous golden horned helmet. Before Tony could even gather his wits as to what was happening, Loki seized his throat with one hand, and a swarm of emerald light engulfed them. Struggling to breathe, Tony only caught on that they were teleporting when his ears popped and the glow cleared to eerie darkness.

Tony couldn't see a thing, the air was thin, and a cold gust of wind lashed at his face sending tendrils of Loki's hair in all directions making his presence all the more freighting. The sorcerer dangled him off the ground by his neck. Well isn't this familiar? Fully aware that without his suit he was no match for the Demigod, Tony didn't struggle... much. Loki set him down with a thud onto the cold dirt and rock. Wait, dirt and rock? Where the hell were they? Whirling around frantically he realized they stood on a cliff in the middle of a forest, God knows where. He leaned against a large jutting rock, trying to catch his breath from the startling change in altitude and the stress of being a kidnapping victim.

"WHERE - HOW DID YO- WHAT DO Y-" he was hysterical, which Loki found rather amusing.

"Don't tell me you don't remember the night we met." He chuckled, admiring the blade of his scepter. Looking off the edge of the cliff Tony could make out a clearing in the dense woods, where several trees lied blasted down at the trunk, splintered chaotically in a large circle.

Oh. Tony thought. The height alone reminding him of how utterly vulnerable he was.

"W-What do you want?" he stammered.

All amusement spent Loki replied, "As- embarrassing as it sounds, I am in need of your assistance Mr. Stark." He lowered his gaze to his feet.

"You need my help!?" Tony he shot back in disbelief. "You're an escaped convict from fucking outer space and you need MY HELP?"

Loki looked up and raised a brow. Did I stutter?

"HOW DID YOU EVEN GET HERE?!" Tony was yelling now.

"That is not important."

"NOT IMPORT-"

"STARK!" He interjected, sick of being shouted at. He pinned Tony hard against the boulder lifting him to eye level, his facade of amusement completely vanished. "LISTEN YOU VAINGLORIOUS, NESCIENT OAF, ASGARD IS IN CRISIS, MY BROTHER'S LIFE IS AT RISK, AND I NEED YOUR HELP! WEATHER YOU COME YOURSELF OR I TAKE YOU!" his blade ripped through Tony's shirt, and scraped the arc reactor with a deafening screech, sending a spasm of pain through his rib cage.

"You can't control me remember?" It was a feeble response and he knew it.

"I wouldn't hesitate to rip this apparatus from your chest if it meant saving Asgard." His green eyes flickered with promise in the exposed light of the reactor.

"Funny, I didn't think you were much of the hero type." Loki's hold around his neck strengthened.

"I am still the right full king," Tony would have rolled his eyes were it not for choking death grip. "And I don't take kindly to some barbarians seizing my throne." Loki spat, as if it were obvious.

There were so many things wrong with that statement. Tony wasn't even going to bother arguing the shortsighted insanity. "Why do you need me?" He gasped, struggling to breathe under the demigod's grip.

Releasing his hold and setting him down smoothly, Loki's resentment turned to grief.

"It is my fault. I let him down and now he's come for me and the tessaract, no matter the cost."

"Who?"

"Thanos." Loki whispered his voice harsh and low as if it hurt to speak. "He gave me this scepter, and with it the ability to conquer. And I failed him." Tony mulled this over for a few moments. He thought Loki had done it on his own. Loki was deep in thought, inside a painful memory. He flinched a little before starting again. "He is strong, destroying everything in his path. And my kingdom is next." Tony was going to ignore the possessive tone. He was still unsure how to respond to such an outright confession. Was it a ruse? It sure as hell was a convincing one if that was the case.

"What makes you think I can help you?" Tony decided if he was going to unmask the truth, he had better play along. Not without being a hard-ass about it of course.

"You and that - beast - are the only two beings I know that are clever enough to help me." And, aren't quite strong enough to destroy me. "And I didn't think it the wisest course of action to visit the man who got me well acquainted with your floor the last time we met."

Tony struggled not to let his snicker escape through pursed lips. That was a great day.

"Well, why did you bring me here?" He questioned again, attempting poorly to hide the pleasure that he was the only person in the galaxy who could help him... besides Banner, but Loki's hesitation there was understandable.

"I couldn't take the risk of you calling for backup now could I? And plus, my memories of this place are actually rather fond ones." He smiled down at shattered clearing of trees absently forgetting his urgency. The pieces slowly became whole in Tony's his mind.

"So you pick on the only Avenger who can't fight back?"

"I do not want a battle with you, any of you. I come requesting your aid."

"Requesting or demanding?"

"Take your pick." Loki offered, admiring the lethal blade in his hands once more. Tony had the smart-ass impulse to ask 'what if I say no?', but he really wasn't in the mood for any more death threats at the moment.

"What's in it for me?" He posed instead.

"If my plan works, you will be known as the man who single handedly captured the 'god of mischief' along with a few others... but only if you comply." If Tony wasn't already baffled by the notorious liesmith's true intentions, he was now.

"Fine." Tony replied, taking Loki by surprise.

"You will agree?" he asked.

"For Thor, not for you." Tony was still highly suspicious, he would really be doing some research when he got home, unless... "But you have to prove it too me." Was that really disbelief he saw on Loki's face? "The god of lies wants my help? Just right out of the blue, no apologies, not even a please, and I'm supposed to believe you? Uh-uh, I need some proof." Loki looked like he wanted to carve a second hole in Tony's chest.

"Alright." He answered bitterly.

"Alright?" Wow, he must really be desperate.

"On one condition, you do as I say. You stay silent unless I say so. If we get caught because of your idiocy, I will be sure they slaughter you first." Loki held out a long fingered hand.

Shit. What had Tony gotten himself into?