In the late 900s, the Jotuns won the war, and the Earth. Humans are kept in secured districts, or taken as personal slaves. In the present, Tony Stark is finally selected as a slave, and given to a runt Jotun prince. A prince who has never been fond of slavery, and might be the key to ending it. It won't be an easy journey, though, for any of them.
Fill for a kink meme prompt. Normally I don't start posting those types of fics here until I'm all done (well, my previous fandom's kink meme was anonymous only, so I didn't have a choice), but I couldn't wait anymore.
So just a warning. While there is no actual noncon in this story, there are various mentions of past noncon, due to the crapsack nature of this world.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tony leaned against the immense wall, arms folded. He looked up at the woman attempting to scale it, a scrawny young thing in rags, just a teenager really. Then he quickly averted his eyes. "And if you do want to climb over the wall, at least wear underwear.."
"Can't afford any," the girl said, glaring down. She did a double-take as she realized to whom she was speaking. "Not like you."
"Yeah, I have underwear," Tony said casually. "I'll lend you some. Get down here."
"No." She looked back up, toward the top of the wall, her destination. "I'll take my chances. You know what's waiting for me in here?" She snorted. "Of course you do, though you don't have to worry about it yourself..."
"Maybe, maybe not." Tony had lasted this long without being selected as a slave for the same reason he had more money than the average human. He was brilliant, and he made things for their Jotun masters. Mainly weapons. "But out there is certain death. If the Jotuns don't kill you for escaping, an animal will, or one of the bands of wild men." Everyone knew the humans that managed to survive out in the wild, on their own, hiding from the Jotuns, were not much better than the wild animals. "If you seek death, just get it over with and end your life in here."
"You ran," she accused.
"Yeah, and we all know how well that turned out." Tony smirked up at her, tapping his chest. "The group of us that escaped was attacked by wild men, attacked with weapons that I probably built for the Jotuns. I was the only survivor, badly wounded, and they took me, and..." He trailed off with a shrug. "Well, you know. Long story, everybody's familiar with it. Now I have this keeping me alive." He gestured to the glowing circle in his chest again, the arc reactor he had built from parts of weapons the wild men had foolishly not hidden from him. "I was lucky. Do you think you will be?"
"I'm the only one left..." the girl said, sagging against the wall, her voice sounding exhausted and much too old. It was enough to tug at one's heartstrings, if one hadn't heard the same story a thousand times over. It was everybody's story. "My parents a long time ago, then my brother. Now they've taken my sister."
She must have an attractive family, then. Looking up at her again, Tony figured she'd be quite cute if she cleaned herself up, put on a little weight. "I know," he said. "They've taken everything from me, too. From all of us. It's the fate of humans." He could still picture it so clearly in his mind, the day they had come for Pepper. Years later it still gave him nightmares. He tried hard not to think about her anymore; once his mind started going down the path of wondering where she was now...
"Just get down," Tony said, finally stepping away from the wall that encircled their city, Five Oh Two. "Out there is death. Life sucks, but it's the only one we've got." He walked away without bothering to look back and see if the girl was climbing down, or continuing her suicidal journey. He supposed it didn't really matter.
Five Oh Two looked almost identical to the other cities Tony had seen. He doubted there was much variety in any of the enclosed, guarded districts around the world. Small, drab gray buildings that housed as many families as possible, dirty streets, children rummaging around in garbage cans for some food, the air dismal and smoky from the factories they were forced to work in. It was common for people to assume that other cities were nicer, but Tony was one of the few who had seen more than one in his day. He knew the truth. It was the same, the world over. Far in the distance, beyond the wall, were the spires of a Jotun city, barely visible through the smog.
Tony resumed his tasks from before he was interrupted by escapee wannabes. He walked through the crowded streets, past other humans going about their pointless lives. A couple children were harvesting vegetables from a meager garden, which might have been a happy sight if not for the Frost Giants waiting nearby to collect. Even worse, not far from there was an attractive young man being dragged from his home in chains. An older woman was collapsed against the front door, sobbing. It was hard to just walk on by when a lady was crying, so Tony headed that way.
She barely glanced at him as Tony sat down beside her. But she didn't tell him to leave. Tony really had no idea why people looked up to him, why they turned to him. By all rights they should hate him for having more than them.
"My boy..." she finally said, drawing in a shuddering breath. Tony looked at her, noting that her face was scarred. That likely explained why she had never been taken as a slave.
"Only child?" Tony asked, and she shook her head.
"Two others." She stared down at a spot on the ground, eyes faraway. "But they're twins. The Frost Giants have always found that fascinating, they were taken young..."
"Oh." There really wasn't any comfort he could offer, so he just sat there, willing to listen to whatever she might want to get off her chest.
"They'll tear him apart..." she whispered.
Tony blinked. "What?"
"When they... you know." She gestured vaguely. "He's being given to a male. They're so much bigger than we are. When they... you know..."
"Oh." Tony grimaced. "That." He smirked. "Never seen a Frost Giant naked, have you?"
"No," she said with a frown. "You have?"
"Yep." He leaned back, head thudding against the door. "I'm not a slave. But with my work, I deal with them a lot. They've occasionally used me for their pleasure, too." He said it matter-of-factly, though she still shuddered. "Yeah, they'll be all, 'Why thank you for the delivery, Mr. Stark, these missiles are excellent. The Jotuns in Europe have been eyeing us funny, we might just use these on them. Oh, and I'm in the mood, and your ass is looking nice, go bend over that table'. And see, I'm obviously in one piece." The woman was staring at him, eyes wide. "To our eyes, proportionately, the Frost Giants aren't very well hung. They're a little bigger than a human male is all."
"Oh." Her voice was very small. "Okay."
So at least that was one thing Tony could offer her. She could never have her family back, but at least her son wasn't going to be ripped open the first time he was used as a sex toy. Really, humans had been Jotun slaves for a millennium, Tony was kind of surprised people still thought their bodies were incompatible.
"You shouldn't say things like that about them," she said after several long moments. "They might hear. They'd punish you."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Tony said with a wry smile. His back ached in phantom pain at the memory. "Take my advice. Never make a crude joke about the missile you're delivering..." She didn't seem to find the humor in that, simply shuddering, and Tony shrugged.
Unable to find much other comfort to offer, he left the grieving woman and finished his chores, then finally returned home. Tony was one of the only people in Five Oh Two that had the luxury of living alone. It was a small, cramped, single room home, but still a luxury. Tony set down his purchases – mostly metal to be used in new weapons – and started in on dinner. He heated up some beans, and added a couple tomatoes to the side from a small plant the Jotuns hadn't noticed yet. After eating, he worked a bit on some weapons that were supposed to be delivered next week, and then it was time for bed. Technically. Tony usually put off sleeping as long as possible; sleep meant dreams and dreams meant remembering the faces of loved ones being dragged away to a life of slavery and never seen again. Even his robotic companions had been taken from him.
So Tony kept himself busy, working on missiles and guns, or reading, or doodling sketches for possible future projects he thought their masters might appreciate, until he finally dropped from exhaustion into a happily dreamless sleep.
The morning brought a stiff neck from the odd position he had fallen asleep in. Tony rubbed it with a grimace, standing up from the floor and looking mournfully at the small bed in the corner. He really needed to remember to at least drag himself over there before falling asleep.
He pulled on a clean shirt and pair of jeans, mentally plotting out his day. It wasn't much different than most days, the only interesting thing that happened anymore was when he made home deliveries. And that was never interesting in a good way.
He had just finished a piece of toast when a knock came at the door. Tony double-checked his calendar to make sure he had nothing planned, then shrugged and went to answer it. His guts tied into knots at the sight of two Jotuns.
"Uh, hey, guys." He forced a broad smile. He was good at that, feigning cheeriness and charm. Charm oozed out of his pores. "I thought the delivery date was next week?"
"It was," said one of them. "Your services as a weapon builder are no longer required."
Of all the things Tony had expected him to say, that was not one of them. He swallowed, mouth dry. "What? Who are you going to go to, Hammer? You know I'm the best." If he didn't make shiny toys for them, he had nothing.
"You have done plenty for us. We will find somebody else."
Tony just stared at them, heart hammering. Frozen in shock, all he could think was What did I do? And What do I do now?
The Frost Giant that hadn't spoken lunged forward then, grabbing Tony and holding him steady, and Tony was too shocked to struggle. The touch was cold, sending a shiver through him, but not the frostbite-causing chill they were capable of.
The other one clamped a set of manacles around his wrists, and that was when fear really set in. Tony struggled futilely against them in a blind panic, easily subdued by the muscular giants. He stared up at them, barely able to breathe, wondering why this was happening to him now. His numbed mind could only process No, no, no, no...
There was a huge crowd of wide-eyed people gathered around to watch as Tony was led away in chains.