Chapter 1:
It was a quiet night in New York, as Tony slowly made his way home from Bruce's house. Or, as it should be said, morning, considering it was 2am. It was quite the party. As he unlocked the main door to his mansion and headed upstairs, he thought vaguely of his plans for the next day; do a meet n' greet with some South African generals, lunch with Pepper, a visit with Nick; just another day in the life. As he ascended the final step on the staircase, he heard a quiet, metallic, p-ting and tripped forward over a previously-unseen thin metal wire. "Unmh!" he grunted, catching his fall with his forearms. Then, he heard a low chuckle from above him.
He looked up suddenly, and before him stood none other than the greatest enemy the Avengers ever faced – Loki. "You." Tony growled. "Indeed," the trickster god said with a smirk. "What the fuck, man?" he asked incredulously. "What?" Loki asked. "I'm just paying you a visit. It's so hard to get you alone, considering how much time you spend with Pepper." he mused. "You're getting quite close to her….it'd be a shame if something were to….happen to her." he insinuated. "Leave her out of this! And get the fuck out of here!" roared Tony. "Oh?" asked Loki, using his staff to gesture at himself; "Make me." With that taunt, Stark took a running start and launched himself at the green-eyed man, who attempted to dodge out of the way. However, Tony's right hand hooked his shirt, tearing the fabric slightly but also dragging him off-balance. They both crashed to the ground, but Loki quickly darted away from the shorter man and scrambled to his feet. Staff raised, he advanced on him. Tony could feel the fear rising up in him at the sight of the sharp, glowing weapon pointed at his arc reactor, but he swallowed hard and forced it back down.
"Alright now Loki, don't do anything you might regret, I might have to call Bruce to pound on you again…." he said weakly. Loki kept advancing; "Oh, don't worry Stark, I have –" he started, before Tony made a grab for the staff. His green eyes blazed with fury and as he brought the weapon up to impale him, Stark twisted out of the way and knocked it out of his hand with a sharp kick. "You BASTARD!" He bellowed, leaving the staff on the floor and lunging straight at Stark. Taken by surprise, Tony dashed backwards only to roughly hit a wall. Loki pinned his wrists to his sides, his face mere inches from Stark's. "Ah, well, my father was actually married to my mother for a short time, so I'm not sure if that's true or not" quipped Stark, his voice faltering as he realized how badly disadvantaged he was at the moment. Loki, as if sensing his thoughts, spoke up. "Look at you; no suit, no AI, no guards, and….no friends. You're all alone this time, Stark. And you're all mine," he breathed.
With that statement, he violently dragged Stark's arms above his head. "Uh….heh…what are you gonna do, tickle me, reindeer games?" said Stark, with a high voice. At the mention of Tony's nickname for him, Loki's green eyes angrily flashed. "Don't CALL ME THAT!" He boomed, and Tony had just enough time to see the punch headed for his stomach to tense up. "Augh!" he grunted, as he felt the pain radiating through him, along with a surge of adrenaline. "Enough with the games," he muttered, and kicked himself off the wall with his feet. The taller man staggered back, unable to support the weight without bracing himself, and collapsed onto his back. Tony wasted no time in straddling the dark-haired man and grabbed both wrists. "What games?" Loki asked with a look of false innocence in his eyes. Stark merely grunted in reply and wrapped his legs around the god's when he felt him attempt to snake his way out. Taking a moment to scrutinize his surroundings, Tony looked back down at Loki and chuckled. "Looks like you're the one who's mine," he said gruffly, leaning towards him, their faces inches apart. "Not this time!" the god declared, and grabbed the staff previously forgotten about. Before Tony could say a word, a blue flash covered everything and then it all went dark.