A/N: Ooookay so, some explanations. Right, um, I just had this scene in my head and I thought "why not write it?"
I mean, I've got time to spare, nothing to lose, so hey. Here you go. I don't know where it will lead. Well, actually, I do, I've already written a part of the last scene. But hey, I don't know what will come between this prologue and the last chapter. I don't know how long it will be, no nothing. So we will discover this together, I guess.
I hope you're going to enjoy it though.
And I feel like it's important that I tell you that English is not my first language and I don't have any beta. There shouldn't be too many errors but if there are too many of them, feel free to point them out. I will always check my work even after publishing it just in case I'd find stuff to correct.
The story takes place after the events of Avengers (2012). Loki's not sent back to Asgard, he had been banished, and he is kept captive in the Stark Tower.
Tony wondered if it was usual for the Asgardians to do nothing at all all-day long. Maybe it was just because he was captive there, but it seemed that Loki was fine with spending all his time staring at the same wall. Not that he had much more to do to occupy himself. He hadn't even tried to escape, not once.
Tony took a sip of his drink, not realizing that Loki's green eyes were slowly moving in his direction. The tall man had been facing the same wall for a few hours now, hands behind his back, lips forming a thin line. And as often, he had felt Tony Stark's presence in the huge room. Always staying in his dark corner, not wanting to be noticed. Loki didn't know why he was coming down there so often. He didn't exactly mind, the man was not talking to him, he was often leaving after a short hour. But this time was different.
Drinking, Tony had let the ice cubes clatter in his glass and against his teeth, really capturing Loki's attention. But Loki didn't speak, he didn't turn to face Tony, his eyes just slowly drifted on his right as he waited for Tony to make his move.
He did, eventually. Tony slowly walked towards the three steps in the middle of the room before he stopped, not going down. He couldn't go down. The glass was so thin that it was invisible for those not knowing about the cell keeping Loki from leaving this room. Loki still hadn't moved, and Tony took this time to observe him a little bit more. It seemed like Loki was unaffected by his situation, by the place he was in.
He was also very different from Thor. Not because he was calmer and more rational, but because his appearance was also the total opposite of his brother's, except for the height. Loki had long raven hair, green eyes, he was slender, compared to Thor. If no one had told Tony they were related when Loki had come to Earth, he would have never guessed it.
And finally, Loki moved, turning slowly before walking with the same pace towards the steps. He didn't climb them, he stayed right in front of them, looking up at Tony. There were a few seconds of silence before Stark broke it.
"First time I'm able to be taller than one of you demigods," he said before taking another sip of his drink. Loki didn't smile, he actually didn't look amused in the slightest.
Loki finally climbed the steps, his hands still behind his back. For a second, Tony felt a shiver going down his spine as a wave of pure heat went up his body. He had had the same reaction when Loki had tried to control him for the first time, before his scepter met with his reactor. Because for a second, he had really thought Loki could harm him, no matter how confident he was trying to look like. And this time was no different.
As Loki approached more and more, Tony felt like there was no glass between them. Like Loki was really going to face him, like Loki would be able to reach his throat again to throw him across the room. And as he focused on his thought, Tony saw his own reflection in the glass and he felt better already. He blinked, his eyes focusing now on Loki, who had stopped right in front of him.
"Why do you keep visiting me, Stark?" Loki asked, sounding really calm. His voice was also way different from Thor's. It was softer, but also colder. Tony answered quickly.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you really believe this is the first time I sense your presence here?" Tony narrowed his eyes for a second. He couldn't put words on the new glow he could see in Loki's gaze. Was it some kind of amusement? Or was it just arrogance? Tony couldn't tell. "Tell me, Stark, what do you, of all people, want with me?"
"Of all people?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow at Loki's words. A small smile joined the glow in Loki's eyes. He was definitely enjoying this. Probably because he had noticed Tony's feelings had been hurt. Because they were the same, Tony knew it. Their ego could sometimes be bigger than the Stark tower, and Tony hadn't been able to resist asking this.
"Why, the genius, the scientist, of course," Loki said, slowly looking down, his eyes meeting Tony's chest and stopping on the Arc Reactor. "The one I could not control..." He added more quietly. Tony took a deep breath, still staring at Loki's features until the Asgardian met his eyes again. "The one who is most likely to be skeptical about magic."
Now, Loki was smirking. Tony didn't say anything, nor did he look away. He was not about to lose at a staring contest. Besides, if he had to be honest, he found Loki interesting, in a way. In his own really creepy way. Tony couldn't exactly tell why he was coming down there to watch him, sometimes. Maybe because what was interesting was the man's intelligence. Thor had talked about it a few times.
"So tell me, Stark, would you like to see a magic trick?" Loki asked quietly, even though he sounded more threatening now, as he took a step closer to the glass, his nose almost meeting it. Again, Tony breathed deeply and looked a bit tense as he glanced around for a few seconds.
As he met Loki's eyes again, he could see that his expression was full of mischief, now. But his smirk slowly changed to show his amusement once more.
"What were you expecting, exactly? You, your friends and the one calling me his brother keep me captive. I can't do anything," Loki said as he shook his head. Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was way too tense since the events, since the alien attack. Anxious enough to believe Loki had been able to find a way to use his magic despite being locked there. No. If he had found a way to do so, he would have escaped already. Tony sighed.
"Well, what can I say. You did almost kill us all. And you tried to rule Asgard instead of your father, didn't you?" Even if he didn't look annoyed, Loki did lose his smirk when Tony stopped talking. Was it because of the reminder that his plans had failed?
"Are you dead?" Loki asked quite softly as he tilted his head, eyebrows raised, only focusing on Tony's first statement. He almost looked naive. And he sounded naive. Thor had warned the team about Loki's golden tongue, not everyone could enter this room.
Tony chuckled, hiding his free hand deep in his pocket.
"I said almost. One simple guy is not going to do us much harm," he added. He saw the twitch of Loki's eyes and for a second, Tony felt satisfied. But then, the Asgardian turned around and went down the steps again, hands behind his back. Was that it? No one had been able to get one word from Loki in months, not even his brother, and now that he was talking, it was going to stop like that? Tony was too proud to be the one he had talked to first to let him walk away, even if he would not admit it.
But he did wonder why Loki was talking to him. Maybe because he hadn't been able to control him.
"I pictured you differently, you know."
"I do not know. Nor do I care," Loki said calmly as he kept walking around the cell, not looking at Tony.
"I thought you'd look more like Thor," Tony added. Loki stopped walking as his attention was caught. But he kept staring in front of him. "Weirdly enough, I've always heard him speak highly of you despite the fact that you're a prick. I wonder why, you don't seem to be very special. You're the brainy one of the duo, aren't you?"
"That we are not," Loki said coldly as soon as Tony had stopped talking.
"A duo? Didn't you guys used to fight together? I mean, as a team, before you tried to kill everyone."
"Thor and myself? And all his jolly friends?" Loki asked as he grimaced before acknowledging Tony's presence with a glance. "Please, do yourself a favor and stop believing in things you know nothing about."
Tony frowned, crossing his arms as Loki walked once again towards him.
"What happened, then?"
"What do you mean, what happened?" Loki asked as he narrowed his eyes and this time, Tony could clearly hear the irritation in his voice.
"Between you and your family. Something must have happened, for you to become such a bitch." Loki, who was almost reaching the steps, stopped and glared at Tony. The genius was really calm, studying Loki's reactions to his words. "Especially considering how Thor speaks of you. What made you go off your rocker? Why did you betray them this way?"
"I betrayed them?" Loki suddenly asked. Tony didn't hear irritation alone in his voice, this time, but anger too. Real rage as he approached the steps more quickly. Soon enough, his fist met the glass, a glow of light leaving the place Loki's hand was to go through the entire pane and disappearing when it met the walls on each sides of the men. Tony was glad his invention was able to keep Loki locked up. "I BETRAYED THEM?"
Loki's yell didn't echo in the room. It was only followed by a silence. It was heavy, and the two men looked at each other for a moment.
"I told you there would be no scenario with you getting out on top," Tony said more quietly. Loki's features slowly relaxed, his jaw wasn't clenched anymore but no sound came out of his mouth. He unclenched his fist too, his hand resting against the glass. For a moment, Tony thought that he looked desperate.
Tony almost told him that he would see him the next time he would come down there, but he didn't. He drank what was left of his drink, turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Loki alone with his thoughts.