A/N: So this happened because I was listening to "Honor For All" from the game Dishonored, and suddenly this little plot bunny creeped up on me while I was driving, and I started right away. I thought it was fun, there's probably some cliche cheesy moments in here, but I'm happy with the direction it's going. Enjoy! :)
I own nothing, not Marvel, not the Starks, or Loki or Thor, or any of the Avengers or it's fine writing. I have tweeked some names, and history, merging Norse mythology with the Marvel Comic Universe and Cinematic universe.
"I'm in DC tomorrow, I'm working on the zoning for the next three buildings-" Pepper Potts started as Tony neared the tower.
"Pepper you killing the moment, remember, enjoy the moment" Tony reminded her. This was the big moment in his grander plan.
"You think this will work?" His assistant asked as he landed on the balcony, JARVIS starting to take of the Iron Man suit. When Tony returned two weeks after disappearing last year he decided to tell her a trimmed down version of the truth. He didn't tell her that he was one of the first Norse deities, but he tell her that he was like Thor, and that he was working on a plan to get his son back. He was still the same Tony Stark that she knew and she still trusted him, she just thought that he was even more crazy. Tony had just grinned at her.
"Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line," JARVIS informed them.
"I think it might," Tony took the flute of champagne from her. "Tell him I'm not in."
"Level are holding steady," Pepper said as they looked at the charts. "Are you going to be able to do this for more buildings?"
"If this goes according to plan, then it shouldn't be a problem." Tony scanned the power levels. "I should have been able to extract the tesseract from SHIELD by then, and I won't have to synthesize anymore power."
"Sir, the telephone, I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden." Tony grinned at Pepper as the AI spoke before grabbing the phone.
"Stark, we need to talk," Agent Phil Coulson's voice came from the handset.
"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message." He put on his best poker face.
"This is urgent."
"Then leave it urgently." Tony looked up as the elevator opened and he looked at Pepper.
"Security breach, that's on you." Pepper rolled her eyes as she walked over to Coulson first.
"Phil, come in, we're celebrating," she smiled at the Agent.
"That's why he can't stay." Tony followed her. Tony and Coulson eyed each other, Tony never did give him any answers when he was in New Mexico. Coulson held up a black tablet and Tony didn't move. "I don't like to be handed things, it's a thing."
"That's fine, because I love to be handed things, let's trade." Pepper smiled and took the tablet giving Coulson her flute, then she took Tony's flute and put the tablet in his hands. Tony's eyes twitched slightly.
"Official consulting hours are between 8 and 5 every other Thursday." Tony had giggled to himself when he chose Thursday.
"This isn't a consultation." Tony raise an eyebrow and started to walk back towards the desk while Pepper spoke to the Agent. He pulled the tablet out and turned it on. "Miss Potts, can I see you a moment?" He punched in his security code as Pepper walked over.
"This seems serious, Phil is pretty shaken." Tony raised an eyebrow to look at her.
"How would you know?"
"Do you think-"
"I don't know." He flicked his hands out and several screens and movies filled the air in front of them. Pepper looked around, eyes slightly wide, but Tony's locked on one image.
"I'm gonna take the jet to DC tonight," she murmured. "This is too far over my head. Play nice with Phil, don't get into trouble." She gave him a stern look and he rolled his eyes. "Have fun." She turned to head back to Coulson as Tony reached out to grab the hologram of a familiar blue cube. He longed to feel the power running through his hands, to have the familiar glow shining in his eyes. He rolled his neck, letting it crack once. SHIELD had gotten it stolen, and now he had to find it. He looked around the screen and stopped when he saw the image of Who had stolen it.
"JARVIS," Tony cleared his throat a little. "I want scans from every camera looking for Loki. Find. Him." He didn't hear the AI confirm his task but stared at the picture of Loki. His face as pale, dark circles under his eyes, frankly he looked sick. He looked nothing like the boy he last saw on Asgard.
Tony took a moment as he stored the Iron Man suit on board the Hellicarrier. Loki hadn't looked at him when they were on the Quinjet, and he had never seen the Iron Man suit before so he wouldn't have known it was him until he took the helmet off. But he could sense that something was wrong, something was different about Loki, and it wasn't natural.
Before they had left the quinjet Tony had asked Thor not to reveal his identity to anyone else, not just yet. He did hear Thor's profuse apologies for trying to kill his Uncle, and Tony couldn't help but smile a little.
Tony glanced up at the transmission, hearing Loki's voice. It just sounded wrong, it sent a shiver down his spine. He needed to figure out what was wrong. He saw Coulson and followed him as the conversation continued.
"Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share," Tony frowned, "and then to be reminded what real power is."
Tony tried to shake the feeling of wrongness as they headed through a odor to the others. "-they need the iridium for?"
"It's a stabilizing agent," he answered Dr Banner as he walked inside. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD." He walked over to Thor and pat his biceps with the back of his hand still amazed at how much Thor had grown. And still taller than him. "No hard feelings point Break, you've got a mean swing." Thor looked at him, eyebrow lightly raised, and Tony spoke so only Thor could hear next. "You've been working out." Tony looked back up and looked between Coulson and Maria Hill. "What are my chances of getting in to maybe, have a few words with the crazy one? Maybe get an idea of what the plan is."
"None, Stark," Fury made his presence known as he directed his answer to Tony. "I don't need two unstable personalities in the same room.'
"Don't trust me?" Tony shot a grin towards Fury as he started to work on a plan to get in to the holding cell.
Turned out that Tony would have to chase Loki back to his own tower to talk to him. He wondered if Loki had done it on purpose, his name Was plastered on the side of the tower. He locked eyes with his wayward son and walked inside. If there was ever a time that he needed a drink, this was it.
"Please tell me you're going appeal to my humanity." Loki hefted the scepter in his hand and Tony watched it. The power of his tesseract, manipulated by the bastard named Thanos, and now manipulating his son. He saw it in his unnatural blue eyes.
"No, I already know that won't work. Drink?" He held up a glass and Loki just looked at him. "It's good for times like these. Not the best that Midgard can come up with, but it works." He slipped the ID bracelets on when Loki turned his head and took a drink, walking closer to the taller man. "Loki, you gotta let us help you, let me help you. I know that's not you in there."
"I thought you weren't going to beg," Loki smirked a little, but it wasn't natural. Tony set the glass down.
'I'm not begging, I'm talking to my son." Tony moved closer an put his hands on Loki's face, looking into his eyes. "I know you're in there. If you don't stop then the others will come, and they will come for you."
Loki pushed his arms down and scowled. "How will they have time for me, when they'll be too busy fighting you?" The scepter glowed and he pushed it against the reactor. Tony had a brief moment of panic.
"You can't use a corrupted power against the source, Loki. The power of the teseract is still my own, it won't turn against it's creator," Tony frowned watching him. Loki scowled then grabbed Tony's jaw and lifted him up, throwing him to the side.
Tony blinked rapidly before starting to push himself up. He heard Loki walking towards him and rolled to the side, hearing the scepter clank against the ground. If Tony didn't focus on the fact that he was about to fight his own son, maybe he could get through this without calling the suit, and maybe he could get the tesseract back.
He got to his feet and quickly held up an arm, blocking another hit from the scepter. He saw the blue flash a little in Loki's eyes and he growled. "Alright, listen up you bastard. You let my son go, because if you don't-" Tony let out a puff of air and blocked a swing from Loki's other arm, "you're going to wish that you had killed me back in Asgard." Loki kicked Tony's knee and backhanded him to send him flying over the round table, scattering everything on it, and into the couch.
"I might be too old for this," Tony shook his head a little and pushed himself up. A pulse of energy through the building stopped both men and Loki smirked. The tesseract had opened the portal. Tony was rapidly running out of time. He liked Midgard and wanted to keep it in one piece.
"Oph!" Tony's eyes widened slightly when Loki grabbed his leg and pulled him off the couch and threw him to the floor. He groaned but didn't move as Loki walked closer to him.
"Tony! We're here!" He winced when Natasha spoke in his ear and Loki smirked hearing it.
"Great, get to work! Stop the Chitau-" his words were cut off when Loki had grabbed him around the throat, lifting him up. Tony grabbed Loki's wrist with one hand, and reached out grabbing the scepter with the other. Loki tried to pull it back but Tony just gripped it tighter, but only for a few more seconds. Loki had tightened the hand around his throat and Tony felt the lack of oxygen in his body. His vision swam, getting blurry and his grip faltered. He tried to wheeze in just the tiniest bit of air before he passed out.
Groaning, Tony reached up to rub his head and blinked trying to clear up his vision. He could feel a breeze and the winced when he turned a little and the sun hit his eyes. He put his hands on the ground and pulled back when he felt glass under his hand. Finally able to see straight he noticed that he was still in the Tower, but most of the glass windows were broken and lying around him. Turning he plopped on his butt and looked outside, taking in the outside surroundings.
"The Chitauri are here, battling your Avengers." Tony didn't turn when he heard Loki talking behind him. The city was full of them, full of the invaders, the buildings were smoking, some on fire. The city was a mess, his city.
"Loki, where's the tesseract? We can still stop this." He pushed himself up and turned to look at Loki. The man was looking out the window, his expression unreadable. He walked over, noting that he must have hit the floor pretty hard, it felt like he had pulled a muscle in his hip. Loki turned his head to look at him and Tony reached up a hand. Loki grabbed his wrist, stopping it from touching his face.
"Loki, I know you're in there, I know you can hear me," Tony took a step closer to him. "All you have to do it let go of my wrist, that's all you have to do." They stood there, both not moving, Tony hoping that it would work, hoping for that one opening. He could feel his arc reactor warming in his chest, calling on his power. Loki's grip lessened just enough that Tony Moved his hand and put it on Loki's forehead. He channeled the power in his chest up to his fingers and pushed into Loki's mind.
He could see a swirling blue light, moving like a storm, whipping around Tony. As he moved closer he could feel a third presence, one that was trying to push back Loki's. Thanos.
"Ninir," a voice hissed and Tony looked around. It wasn't the same voice that spoke to him a year ago, though. "I was told that you might come for him. Are you sure that you still want him? You see his mind now-"
"You'll leave his mind, you'll let him go," Tony growled out. "You'll give me my son back now!" His hands started to glow, he started to pull the blue energy towards him. "And when you leave you tell Thanos that I'm coming for him. He can hide, but I'll find him, I always keep my promises." He heard a snarl and saw a figure stepping towards him. "Leave!" He shouted and pushed his hands out, the power slamming into the figure throwing him back.
The blue was gone and Tony walked forward seeing a dim green glow. As he got closer he saw it was a person, no a child, huddled into a ball. Tony leaned down in front of the boy and put a hand on his arm. The little head popped up and Tony saw green eyes look up at him.
"Nin?" Tony wrapped his arms around the little boy and hugged him close to his body. "I've been looking for you Nin, I couldn't find you. It was scary, and there were these things that I didn't know, and they wanted me to do things, but I said no." The younger Loki was gripping Tony's shirt, talking fast and trying not to cry. "They wanted me to find the thing that you made, and they wanted to use it, and I told them no but they made me do it anyway. They made me hurt you, they made me hurt other people, and I know you like Midgard, and I didn't want to-"
"Shhhh," Tony ran his hand through Loki's hair, holding him, rocking slightly. "It's alright, everything will be alright now. Nin is here, and I'm not going to let you go again. I've got you, my boy." Tony took a deep breath, resting his head on Loki's. "I've got you, you're going to stay with me, but I need you to help me. We have to stop the other bad guys, and I need you. Nin needs you." Little green eyes looked up at him, sparkling a little, and nodded. Tony kissed his forehead and smiled.
Tony blinked and saw clear green eyes looking back at him. Loki smiled at him and Tony pat his cheek once before he stumbled into Loki's arms "Nin," Loki caught him and moved him to sit on a table. Tony glanced down and saw that the arc reactor was dimmer.
"It's alright," Tony said taking a deep breath. "It's running out of power, but the tesseract is on the roof. We can stop it."
"We?" Loki raised an eyebrow, moving to help Tony stand up when it was clear that he wasn't going to stay sitting.
"You are of my blood, and I created the tesseract," Tony pat Loki's cheek. "Use that elevator over there, if all the power hasn't been cut off yet. Even if the power can't be cut we can still get close to it, it'll recognize us." Loki nodded a little as they got into the smaller elevator, Tony resting against the wall as it moved. "JARVIS, what's the status of the others?"
"I am unable to get you accurate locations, but vitals signs are still strong, if not injured," the AI spoke up and Loki raised an eyebrow, looking at Tony for a moment. "Shall I inform them that you are responsive? They have been trying to reach you."
"Just turn on the comm, I'll tell them myself." Tony tapped the ear piece as it crackled to life, the elevator opening to give them access to the roof. They both glanced up and saw the portal above and Tony licked his lips. "I take a little nap and you guys throw a kegger. Who's going to clean this mess up before mom and dad get home?"
"Stark!" Steve was the first to respond the others chiming in at the same time. "Are you alright? Where's Loki?"
"I'm fine, Stars and Stripes. Loki's with me, long story, but he's not the enemy anymore." Loki glanced over at him as they walked to the tesseract. "I think we can turn it off, close the portal."
"Do it!" Rogers was the first to answer. Tony rubbed his hands together and took a breath. He motioned for Loki's hand and took it, making Loki's fingers start to glow.
"I've given you some of the energy of the tesseract, the cube will shut down with it's own power," Tony said to Loki. "I'll need your help, I don't have enough power to do it myself. We just-"
"Stark, you hearing me?" Tony stopped when he heard Fury talking to him. Worried. "We have a missile headed straight for the city." Tony paled and Loki looked at him.
"How long?" Tony asked, looking down at the ID bracelets on his wrists.
"Three minutes, at best." Tony cursed and took a breath.
"J, get the Mark VII ready." Loki raised an eyebrow. "I need it now. Loki," he turned to look at him. "I need you to shut this down."
"But-" Tony took his hands and the glow brightened a little.
"Remember when I said that mortals could be frightening? This is one of those things, and I need to stop it. I'm going to send this missile through the portal, and when it goes up there, you close the portal. I know you can do it."
"Stark, these thing are still coming!" Steve called out. "Can you close the portal or not?"
"I got a nuke coming in," Tony called out, walking to the edge of the building. "It's gonna blow in less than a minute." He put his arms out and Loki watched as the suit wrapped around Tony's body and he started to hover up in the air. "And I know just where to put it."
"Sir, the arc reactor is only at 15% power," JARVIS informed his creator.
"Save the rest for the turn, J."
"Stark you know that's a one way trip." Tony thought that Steve actually sounded concerned. Tony took off, JARVIS tracking the missile.
"JARVIS, patch this in to the tower, so that Loki can hear." Tony took a breath as he swung around, gripping the bottom of the nuke, guiding it around.
"Shall I try Miss Potts?" JARVIS actually sounded sad. Maybe Tony shouldn't have made him so intuitive.
"Might as well."
"Nin?" Loki didn't like where this was headed.
"Loki?" That was Thor, and Tony almost rolled his eyes.
"Yes, that's Loki, he's not going to kill anyone anymore, in fact he's going to close the portal once I get rid of this nuke." Tony grunted as he angled the nuke up. "Loki, listen. You can do this, you can shut it down, don't wait, we have to save Midgard. Promise me."
"You're going to come back to help, I'll not be picking up all of your slack, Nin." Tony was happy that he had picked up some of his wit. "I've been doing that for the past three centuries."
"Didn't you hear, children are supposed to look after their parents, it's what we did when you were little." Tony smiled, eyes misting up as he saw the portal. Pepper still hadn't picked up, and he could only hope that they wouldn't go too hard on Loki, and Thor would help.
"Then hear me out old man, I'll find you. This is my promise to you." Tony found it a little hard to swallow as he shot through the portal, all communications cutting off.
Loki looked behind him when he heard feet hit the gravel. Romanoff. Looking over the edge he saw the scepter and put his hand out, calling it to himself. He walked over and put the scepter in her hand before she could pull out her weapon. "Thor," he called out, looking over to where he thought he saw the blonde god. "Quickly, I need you to bring me to the portal." He looked at his still glowing hands then back to the Agent. "Penetrate the barrier with that and it will close."
"Exactly what are you going to do?" She watched him warily.
"I'm going to save that crazy man," he said simply and jumped off the edge, Thor grabbing his arm as the hammer lifted them up.
"What is your plan?" Thor asked, not sure if he should be trusting Loki or not.
"You are going to throw me in the portal so that I may grab Antonin. I'll not be letting him make another sacrifice on my behalf, this is my mess," Loki said, staring up. "I shall clean it up like all the others. I still need him..." Thor looked at his brother and nodded. As they got closer Loki put a foot on Thor's knee, pushing off when Thor threw him up. He took a breath as he entered the portal and saw him.
It was cold, too cold, but his chest was on fire. It wasn't the oxygen deprivation, he wasn't mortal, and this place was too reminiscent of the Void. No, the power was nearly out in the reactor, the latent spells and poison were on the move. This was how he was going to die, watching a Chitauri ship explosion, he wasn't even going to be able to kill Thanos. At least he knew that he had crippled his forces, and freed his son. He slowly closed his eyes, coming to terms with what he had accomplished.
Loki wrapped an arm around Tony's waist, falling back with his momentum, taking them back towards the portal. Looking back he could see that it was starting to close, time was limited. He pulled Tony down pushing him around so that Tony would fall through the portal first, then put a hand on his chest, over the dim reactor. He closed his eyes an took a breath as the air changed, the roar in his ears, the sudden pop of the portal closing, and then suddenly they were falling. He kept a hold on Tony and started to mutter a spell quickly, fingers glowing.
There was a rough jerk and a large arm wrapping around the two and slowing their descent. He never once strayed from the spell on his lips though, he couldn't, Loki needed to do this. He felt that they were put on solid ground an Loki was now kneeling over Tony. A hand grabbed onto hi arm but the hand not over the reactor gripped onto Tony. They couldn't do it, they couldn't pull him away, not yet!
He let out a yelp when he was suddenly pulled away, mind deeply concentrated on his spell. His fingers were sparking blue and he saw that it had been Rogers that had pulled him away an Thor was hurrying over to them. Tony wasn't moving and he tried to lean up, Rogers' hand was tight around his arm.
"What did you do to him?" Steve barked at him, eyes hard.
"I was trying to save him you fool!" He barked back. The beast let out a roar and Loki winced at the sound. There was a sudden gasp for air and he looked over to see Tony was awake, breathing heavily, eyes wide.
"Please tell me no one kissed me." Loki snorted at Tony' knee jerk reaction to waking up. Tony winced and put a hand on his chest. "Someone can tell me who was tap dancing on my chest, though."
Thor frowned watching him. "You're chest is in pain?"
"I did not have a lot of power to transfer into the reactor," Loki spoke up an Thor looked over at him while Steve frowned now. "The tesseract is still up there.'
"We're not going to let you near it again," Steve started.
"Then he will die! I can help him live." Loki growled.
"And why should we trust you?"
"Because he's my son," Tony wheeze out, hand on his chest as his other hand was working at the manual releases of his suit. "Thor, little help, pull the chest piece off." Thor blinked but helped his Uncle pull off some of the Iron Man suit. "I know that doesn't mean much, but I can vouch for his sincerity."
"He did save you from the portal," Thor agreed, speaking up.
"Thor, can you take me back up there?" Thor nodded standing up. Rogers ha still not let go of Loki until said god looked up at him. "Your woman is still up there, and Thor shall be with me. If you can get your beast-"
"Bruce," Tony interrupted, taking deep breaths as he slowly took off the gauntlets. "His name is Bruce." The Hulk looked down at Tony and Tony just smiled back at him through his pain.
"-can take him up there, have it done quickly." Loki continued. "That should be enough of an insurance policy, don't you think, Captain?" Thor walked over and Steve looked at Loki then back up at the blonde god. He let go and Loki stood up.
"I'm going to get Barton, and we'll meet you up there," Steve said to Thor who ha taken Loki's arm. "Don't let him do anything."
"I do not think that is something we have to worry about," Thor nodded, then started to swing his hammer before shooting off.
"We're all going to have to have a long conversation when this is over," Steve said to Tony as the Hulk seemed to pick him up a little more delicately.
"Didn't think you'd have it any other way," Tony gave him a weak smile, then pat Hulk's arm. "Away my chariot! Follow the crazy man!"
Tony could feel as they got closer to the tesseract, he could feel the energy calling to him, feel it juts a little more than the burning pain in his chest. Whatever Loki had given him was working for the moment, but it wouldn't last long, he was feeling it start to fail in his reactor already.
The Hulk started to climb the tower and Tony winced at each window broken and the holes put in the side of the building. So much was going to have to be fixed. He reached the roof and slid down to his feet, holding onto the Hulk for a second to get his balance. "Thanks Brucey, exhilarating ride." He looked up to see that Loki was slowly reaching in to take the tesseract, hesitating just centimeters away from it.
"You can do it," Tony told him, moving closer slowly. "It won't harm you, not like it would to anyone else." He grunted and fell to his knee. "I know you can do this. No rush, no pressure."
Loki huffed a little. "Why don't I believe that?" He took a breath and closed his hands around the cube, letting his magic come to his hands to lift it without actually touching it. He stood up with it gently then walked over carefully to Tony. Bending his knee he held out the tesseract and Tony seemed to let out a breath of relief.
"It has been much too long," Tony breathed out then put his hands out. Loki gently let the cube drop into his hands and was glad to see the reactor start to glow in response. Tony held it close to his chest and closed his eyes, letting it just rest against his reactor for a second.
The energies seem to swirl around the cube, then Tony' hands, and finally growling to circle around Tony's chest. The energy was being absorbed into his reactor and everyone watched carefully. Bruce was no longer the Hulk, resting against a generator, and Steve and Barton had just walked out onto the roof. Tony took a deep breath but Loki started to frown when the energies did not stop. There was too much, it was going to overload.
Tony's eyes shot open as he gasped, hands falling away, but the tesseract didn't move. "Nin," Loki moved and pulled Tony's head into his lap, ever aware of the other Avengers closing in around them. Tony's eyelids fluttered and his eyes started to glow blue with the tesseract. Loki held down his shoulders and Thor moved closer to help. "I don't know how to help, I don't know how to help him."
"We can take him to Asgard-" Thor started but was stopped by the others on the roof.
"No way, he's staying right here where we can help and watch," Barton was the first to speak.
"He's one of ours," Rogers was right next to him. Only a second later there was a quinjet coming towards their location. "If we can get him back to the quinjet we can monitor him and figure it out."
Loki grit his teeth. They didn't know anything about the teseract, they didn't know what Tony was, the didn't know how to help him, but they also weren't going to give him any other choice. Loki stayed with Tony as they got onto the quinjet and flew up quickly. He wasn't exactly happy to see the Hellicarrier again, but this time he wasn't in chains. Yet.
His eyes practically lit with fire when he saw the guards coming towards him as they put Tony on a stretcher. His hands had gripped the bars of the stretcher as they move, refusing to let go, growling at the guards, who actually had the decency to pause in their step.
"I will monitor my brothers action," Thor told the men as the small group never stopped moving. Tony was their first concern.
Tony's eyes fluttered and he groaned out. Taking a deep breath he manage to keep his eyes open and blinked. It was dark, he felt cold, and he knew he wasn't alone. "I did not expect that this would happen, but I'm not disappointed." Tony froze at the voice.
"What did you do," Tony growled. He wasn't asking he was demanding. The purple titan appeared in his eyesight, grinning.
"Left a little bit of influence on your precious creation." He moved closer to Tony, but Tony stood his ground, glare firmly on his face, back straight. "I need a way onto Earth, to Asgard really. I used your boy, but it's obvious his heart wasn't into it. But now that you're here...' Tony felt a tingle run down his spine. "No one else needs to use the tesseract like you do. And now that you've tapped into it-'
"You put a trap in my tesseract?" Tony blinked then turned to face Thanos, blinking when he wasn't there. He tensed at the large hand that was suddenly on his shoulder from behind.
"And you walked right into it better than I thought." He could practically feel the grin on the titan. "This is a crucial moment, an important spot. I will take over the functions of your small body to find my way up to Asgard. Who would think to question the actions of the once great protector of the Royal family. The brother of Bor, one of the creators."
Tony growled and moved, lashing his arm out but hitting nothing as he turned. "You think I'm going to let you just take control? This is My creation, I made this power, I know it better than you do."
"But just how strong are you to use it?" Thanos was suddenly there, inches away from his face, grinning. Tony stiffened when a hand was placed over the reactor. "Your chest still burns with the claws of Death, her talons bearing down on your fragile heart, ripping you up from the inside." His hand gripped Tony's shirt and threw him across the darkness. Tony let out a surprised huff as he landed. "I will tear that out of your chest when I'm done with your body, return you back to your mind as you die, slowly, painfully, and with utterly no hope." Thanos grabbed Tony's arm and lifted him up, feet leaving the ground. "And I will make you watch your son die as your body betrays you.'
Tony growled, his hands glowing with power. "We'll see how far you get. I'm not letting you leave here, not in one piece."
Loki watched as Dr Banner looked at the scans they had taken of Tony while Thor fought with their one eyed leader. Bruce frowned a little, ignoring the argument going on behind him.
"He is of Asgard! No mortal healers will be able to help him," Thor told Fury again. "He is not afflicted with a sickness."
"And I'm telling you that he's not leaving earth," Fury shot back, an edge in his voice. "I agreed that you could take the teseract and the criminal back, for a trial, but I did not agree to you taking back one of mine."
"He is older than your planet," Loki droned out. That seemed to catch some attention. "He is not one of yours, if you wanted to argue semantics you could say that you are one of his. He created the planet that you live on an destroy." Banner glanced over at him eyebrow raised. "I am merely stating the facts, I care not for mortal feelings at the moment."
"Why isn't he gagged and in chains?" Fury asked. Again.
"I agree that that is a valid question," Loki answered and Thor turned his head. "Because until Antonin is awake, I still pose a threat, for I will do any manner of things to make sure he is alright."
Banner walked over with the scan in his hand and held it up for Loki to see. This was one piece of Midgard technology that actually impressed him. "This is obviously the shrapnel in his body, headed towards his heart," Banner said as he pointed to several dots. "Do you know what this is? This has never showed up in his scans before." Bruce circled his fingers around what looked like a mist, something that clouded the area around the pieces of metal and his heart.
"He has likely concealed its presence before, but that is a physical manifestation of the spells attached to the shrapnel, spells of poison and harm that also seem to want to kill him," Loki said, still staring at the image. He was unaware of just how close it had been moving towards his heart. It didn't comfort him.
He stilled when Tony's chest moved with a sharp intake of breath, his back arching up slightly before his body relaxed. "Nin?" Tony's eyes started to flutter a little before opening slowly. He locked eyes with Loki briefly before blinking rapidly and attempting to sit up. Loki put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "You still need to rest." Tony gripped one of Loki's hands, but didn't say anything. Loki couldn't help the feeling of unease tingling in the back of his mind.