Title: No Light, No Light (In Your Cold Green Eyes).
Pairing: Tony/Loki, Tony/Pepper.
Rating: Explicit.
Warnings: Darkfic. This story contains violence, dub-con (could be considered non-con by some) and stockholm syndrome.
Summary: It doesn't take long for Stark to crack. Within a week, Loki returns to ask again if Stark will comply. The answer is yes.
A/N: This is not a happy story. Please read the warnings if you have any triggers!
::
The laboratory is lit up with a soft blue glow.
A man hunches over the table responsible for the source of blue light. His body tremors with frustration. He takes a deep breath and slowly places a spanner on the table's metal surface.
"Is it ready?" a voice inquires behind him. The man freezes before he slowly turns around. His eyes are blue, unfocused.
"I'm having trouble tapping into the power of the tesseract," he admits carefully. "It's something I've never seen before… Jane was more familiar with energy sources like this."
"Foster can't be found."
The man blinks and gestures weakly behind him. "It's beyond me. Despite all the knowledge you have gifted me with. It is going to take me months to get up to standard with Jane. You need someone else with a better understanding."
There comes no response, except for the slam of a door.
::
The redhead was not hard to find. On route from a business meeting at Stark Tower, the car she is travelling in hits another, skidding on the road before the front catches a traffic post and screeches to a halt.
Someone is screaming in the background as he yanks the dented passenger door open. He finds Pepper Potts holding a hand to her face, blood smeared underneath her palm as she sits surrounded by broken glass.
He is dressed like policeman. Relief spills across her face.
"It will be alright," he says reaching into the wrecked car to touch her shoulder. "The ambulance is on its way." He feels her body shake under his palm. Encouraged, he moves and unpins her security tag gently as he repeats his words.
She doesn't notice.
Five minutes later, Loki rides up the elevator of Stark Tower dressed as the splitting image of Pepper. The security tag is pinned carefully to his coat.
The elevator finally pings open on Stark's level and he steps inside, looking around cautiously. Stark jumps up from the couch, a surprised smile on his face.
"Pepper!" he cries and stumbles over to Loki. The mortal pulls him into an embrace. Loki stares at the ceiling, face blank, as Stark whispers how grateful he is to see her. He soon finds himself being dragged to the couch, then onto Stark's lap. Loki grabs the couch suddenly to keep balance, as he finds himself face to face with Stark. The mortal pulls him into a short kiss, wet and warm. As Loki moves away, he sees confusion reflected back at him.
"Pep, are you wearing contacts?" Stark asks, brow furrowed. His eyes trace along Loki's face.
Loki says nothing. Instead, he kisses Stark again to distract him. Loki deepens the kiss, one arm hooked around Stark's neck to keep him in place, while the other summons his staff.
He feels the man's desire between his legs. Loki breaks the kiss and pulls back. One arm is gripping the man's shoulder while the other moves the staff towards his chest.
Stark jerks away with alarm. Loki concentrates and feels magic spill from his body, down his arm and to his fingertips, but the blue flow that emerges from the end of the staff falls to penetrate Stark's skin. It disappears into the air instead.
Confused brown eyes look back at him.
Loki growls with frustration and teleports them out of there.
::
Stark says nothing from where he is huddled on the floor. He just returns Loki's gaze with goddamn expressive brown eyes. Eyes that reveal everything. Discomfort. Fear. Anger. His eyes burn with anger.
Loki remains at the door, smiling, with his face pressed against the cool metal of the frame. He feels excitement thrum through his body. He will need to break Stark. He can feel it. The mortal is most unusual.
"Mr. Stark. I have in my control an artifact that can be used to harness energy. I need your assistance, given your… vast knowledge in alternative energy sources…" He says slowly and watches amused as Stark's jaw hardens in displeasure. "If you were to help me, I would deign to let you have your freedom once you have accomplished what I have asked. Do you accept?"
Stark says nothing but moves further backwards on the floor to rest his back against the frame of the bed.
"You reject my offer?" Loki asks, pulling away from the doorway and further into the room.
Stark shrinks away from him slightly but his eyes remain hard.
"Yes," he replies shortly.
The door slams shut, leaving the mortal alone in his new prison.
::
It doesn't take long for Stark to crack.
His disappearance makes the news. Iron Man. America's favorite superhero. Missing.
Loki collects the newspapers and keeps them piled up in one of the spare rooms. He pours over the tearful pleas from Stark's red-headed girlfriend, government concerns about his safety and wellbeing, and all those articles decrying the terrorist who took him.
But they never use his name. Just a grainy picture of his face, his green eyes not even clear.
He throws the articles into Stark's room alongside his meals. After a week, he returns to ask again if Stark will comply.
The answer is yes.
::
Loki leaves Stark for three days before he collects him from his room. The man walks the halls for the first time, under Loki's heavy gaze, twisting their way down levels until they reach the laboratory.
Stark is uncomfortable. He watches Erik Selvig move around the lab, face pained whenever the scientist's unfocused gaze looks back at him. The only questions Selvig has been able to answer so far disappointed Stark. The old man doesn't understand how he got here or how to escape. His mind has been twisted and controlled, attention focused only on the tesseract. Everything else fades at the corners.
::
Somewhere, a man with blond shoulder length hair lands in a barren desert, a hammer cradled beside him like a lifeline.
His eyes are blue, filled with both sorrow and determination.
It only takes five days for Thor's appearance to get back to Loki.
::
For the first time in a month, progress on the tesseract has begun. Stark finally relaxes and seems to look forward to returning to the lab every morning when Loki goes to collect him.
The engineer talks incessantly about any topic under the sun. Selvig's mind is too broken to feel irritation, so he remains quiet through the long winded monologues.
However, it sets Loki's teeth on edge and he slams the door of the lab open one day and grabs Stark around the throat, shaking him and demanding that he shut up and return to work. Stark wisely falls silent, rubbing his throat carefully when Loki leaves the room.
But the chatter starts again. This time, Loki pays closer attention to the flow of one-sided conversation and finds himself a little impressed by the man's mind.
::
Tony Stark is an enigma.
He lacks the sickening goodness that makes Thor and others so weak.
"The Merchant of Death they used to call me," says Stark one day to Selvig.
Loki thinks it suits him.
::
His dreams are filled with a man whose face is cloaked. Only his teeth are visible, stained red rust. His limbs are twisted, body shaking with every movement but he towers over Loki when he leans in to speak.
"You know what awaits you if you fail," he murmurs. "He will make you long for something as sweet as pain."
Loki wakes with a jerk.
::
Loki's desperation makes it hard to find sleep. The progress on the tesseract is too slow. The mortal is falling to live up to his promise.
He drags Stark away from his work one evening, and brings him to the room he spends most of his time. It's filled with books and other trinkets, old worn couches and an expensive wooden table that holds Stark's attention the most. Stark seems unable to stop running his hands along the edges, admiring its craftsmanship.
But it's not until Loki brings out some human beverages does Stark's attention shift back to him.
Loki passes the bottle over and watches silently as Stark opens the cap, looking carefully at it before taking a swig.
"You are too slow," Loki says. "If I do not start to see faster progress, I may need to take other actions. I'm sure you don't want to find out what those are."
It's a threat. Stark can't miss it. The game has just stepped up a notch. Loki finds brown eyes looking at him.
"I suspect you understand," Loki adds finally, before leaning back in his chair and letting his body relax against the pillows. He watches lazily as the mortal takes another swig, his mouth lingering at the bottle head, lips red and wet. Loki's stare intensifies.
The look that suddenly crosses Stark's face is of surprise.
::
Stark approaches him outside the lab the next day.
"I need a certain type of metal. The tesseract keeps melting what you've provided."
He hands over a crumpled scrap of paper with a name and details where Loki would be likely to find it.
Loki traces his thumb over the word. Iridium.
::
As Barton and a few of the other contractors pack their bags to head to Germany, Loki catches Stark watching them from the window of the lab.
Stark quickly returns to his work once he realizes he's been caught, but Loki lingers after the others have left. He makes his way to the lab and ignores Selvig's incessant talk about iridium.
"How about I explain this to you in simpler terms," suggests Stark, cutting off the other scientist. "I know you read our notes but I should fill in any gaps you don't understand."
Loki knows the mortal is just faking concern, but his hands itch with something he can't explain.
::
Fifteen minutes later finds them back in Loki's rooms, with Stark straddling his hips, shirt gone and body warm against his. Loki finds himself responding, deepening the kiss and drawing a moan out of the man.
"Loki…" Stark sighs, eyes falling shut.
Loki feels desire flood through him that he hasn't felt in a while. He wants to tear Stark apart with his bare hands, hear the screams in his ears as he breaks skin and rips muscle from bone, turning the sheets of their bed red with blood. He wants to smash the man's head into the floor over and over and over again until he hears bone break.
Stark's eyes flicker open and he smiles, coy, seductive.
He presses himself up against Loki, wets his lips and whispers, "Fuck me."
::
The sheets are tangled between them. Loki is awake while Stark sleeps through the early morning.
He had taken him last night, pushed him against the mattress and penetrated him. He fucked him like an Asgardian whore, the man down on his knees like a dog, face pressed against the mattress.
He had grasped Stark's cock halfway through to find the man soft in his palm.
When he pulled away, minutes later, his come trickled down the man's legs, streaked with red.
Stark had just rolled on his back and pulled the sheets up.
::
It happens again days later, but this time Stark has his mouth wrapped around his dick, bobbing his head as Loki's hands find themselves tangled in his hair.
He comes with a sigh and finds drops of his seed afterwards in the man's goatee.
Loki doesn't reciprocate.
::
It becomes regular after that. He seeks Stark out most nights, brings the man to his own rooms and pulls him into bed.
The fourth time he penetrates Stark, he takes his time, tries to make it better for the mortal. He draws out cries from Stark, fucking him with more care. He watches how brown eyes widen as he draws closer, how they roll back into his head and fall shut as his body becomes taunt and arches beneath him. Stark gasps for air and groans as he spurts between them, crying out Loki's name.
Loki is transfixed.
But it's the change after sex which moves him the most. They lay together, legs tangled, sweat cooling on their bodies, as they listen to each other's heartbeats and trade kisses and smiles.
Stark becomes Tony somewhere between his sheets.
::
"I can weave magic into this to make it stronger, more precise," explains Loki, as he holds up a piece of iridium that has been molded into the outer casing for the tesseract.
Tony watches in interest. "Really? Can you do this to the other pieces I've got?"
"Yes," he says and passes the piece over. He sits quietly as he watches Tony look at itin contemplation.
Maybe, just maybe, Loki won't let him go after all of this.
A man like him is wasted tinkering away on metal suits.
He'd keep Tony beside him as he yanks open a portal for Thanos's forces. Together, they would watch cities burn. Then he'd whisk Tony away from this godforsaken place, to a far removed corner of the nine realms, and they would mix magic and science, create new inventions that would keep both their minds engaged.
And in the evenings, he would pull Tony to bed and press his mouth against the mortal's, and let their sighs of pleasure fill the quiet of the night.
::
"We need to move the tessaract to New York as quickly as possible," comments Barton, looking closely at the map rolled out on the table.
"Why?" questions Loki, curious.
Barton grimaces. "SHIELD are getting closer to finding this base. I know your brother was exploring some abandoned buildings about an hour drive from here."
"Then we leave in three days."
::
"You'll let me use your tower, won't you?" asks Loki later in bed, with Tony curled up in his arms.
Brown eyes look carefully up at him, soft and honest. "Of course."
::
Loki glances at one of the molds for the tesseract and frowns at its unusual shape. Almost like a blade. Just as he picks it up, he hears Tony let out a cry from the other side of the room. He spins around to see the man clutching his hand, fingers red with blood.
"Sorry," he gasped. "The saw slipped."
Loki puts down the mold and approaches Tony, pulling the bleeding hand towards him. He lifts the fingers closer and presses a kiss against them, eyes closing, as he pours his body's energy into healing the cuts. He finally opens his eyes to meet Tony's gaze.
"You fool," Loki murmurs softly. "What am I going to do with you in New York?"
"Protect me," Tony responds with a smile and moves to kiss him. Loki grips Tony's waist tightly as he kisses him back.
Selvig remains quiet.
::
Frigga smiles down at her nine year old son and runs her hands through the short black strands of his hair.
"One day Loki, you'll learn love is merely just another madness."
::
Loki opens the door to Tony's room and slips inside.
The mortal is still awake. It's near morning.
Momentary surprise flickers in Tony's eyes before being replaced with warmth. Loki moves closer and Tony reaches out to pull him into his bed, their lips meeting in a sweet kiss. Loki winds his arms around Tony's neck and buries his hands in the mortal's hair. Beautiful. Dark like his own.
Tony sighs and breaks the kiss, leaving Loki to stare in warm brown eyes.
"Missed you," murmurs Tony and presses a kiss just under Loki's jaw. His lips linger for a moment before he slides his body back and pulls Loki between his arms. Loki's back is pressed tightly against Tony's chest, with arms wound around his waist.
Loki lets out a content sigh as he relaxes back into Tony's embrace but suddenly stills as something catches his eye.
A small torn photo lies crumpled on the sheets, next to Tony's pillow, nudged from its hiding spot by their movements. It's of Pepper Potts. Ripped out from one of the many articles he had left for Tony in the early days.
Loki feels like he has been punched in the stomach. Tony moves his head to the side and follows Loki's gaze.
There is a sudden movement and before Loki can react, something sharp and silver is pressed against the side of his neck. Iridium.
Loki can taste the betrayal before he feels his lover's arm move abruptly, the knife causing skin and muscle to break.
His breath rattles, caught in his throat, as he watches Tony run from the room.
::
Selvig blinks up from his work, head spinning. Black spots appear in his vision as he shuts his eyes and tries to gain control over the wave of nausea that just hit him.
As it fades, he hears yelling in the corridor.
He looks around the laboratory and wonders where he is.
Fin.