Tony knew that Natasha wasn't supposed to go in and talk to Loki. His little bugs in SHIELD's system had given him a brief overview of her sparse file, which had revealed her Fury-imposed restrictions to everything green and godly. Loki was too close to Agent Barton. She was too close to Barton.
Tony, on the other hand, didn't have those restrictions. He didn't give two damns about SHIELD's favorite archer. He wanted him back, sure, but not beyond the scope of the mission. No one had any expectations for him to go above and beyond for anyone here.
He flipped his keycard between his fingers. They stood outside the door to the Hulk Tank's hanger as Natasha leaned against the wall opposite him.
"Why would he have a reason to follow you?"
Tony shrugged.
"Isn't that what we're trying to figure out?"
As Natalie Rushman, Natasha hadn't been oblivious to Tony's stalker. But the man hadn't made himself a problem at the time, and she had been distracted with more important things. Namely, keeping Tony alive. Palladium poisoning wasn't a joke.
"And if he's manipulating you? Those appearances could have been calculated. Maybe he planned this."
Tony shrugged. "Then manipulate him back. Isn't that what you do?"
She turned to the window, where a hint of the prison could be seen below flights of metal stairs and machinery. Her expression was perfectly composed. There wasn't an eyelash out of place or a hair that dared to go astray. Even makeup was afraid to cross Agent Romanoff.
"You're not telling me everything."
"Nope." He slid his keycard through the sensor and the lock released. "Just a little payback, right?"
She rolled her eyes at him.
"This isn't going to work."
"Yes it is, Rushman." Tony said. "And if it doesn't, we didn't lose anything."
In the time it took her to sigh, she was gone. The door slid shut behind her and Tony pulled out his phone, tapping away until SHIELD's security feeds were compromised. His best guess said that Mr. Galaga wouldn't notice anything in the next half-hour. Looped feeds were rudimentary, but effective in a cinch.
Tony got the real feed running on his phone after he was sure his sunglasses were firmly in place.
"...After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend. As a balm. And I would cooperate."
Torture was a nasty thing. Tony scratched at the seam of his arc reactor, peering through the door's glass down to the obscured scene below. Green and red shifted beneath the layers of metal stairs.
"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton."
"I'd say I've expanded his mind."
Smartass.
"And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?"
It was then that Tony got the distinct feeling that the only reason Agent Romanoff did anything with SHIELD was because Clint Barton had asked her to. Her loyalty was with him, not with them.
"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"
Well, at least he and Loki were on the same page.
"Love is for children. I owe him a debt."
"Tell me."
Tony tucked his phone into his pocket and slid his keycard again. Stepping into the holding bay, he made sure to keep his footfalls quiet as he descended the stairs. Both assassin and God were too busy in conversation to pay him any mind.
"...He made a different call." Natasha was saying.
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"
"Not let you out."
"I know, but I like this." He smiled, leaning forward. "Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"
"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that; I'm Russian. Or, I was."
Looked like Tony was right about Natasha's loyalties.
"And what are you now?" Loki asked, curious.
"Does it matter?" Tony cut in, hopping down the last few steps. His footsteps reverberated in the small space. Loki's eyes narrowed as he straightened up, his gaze remaining on Natasha despite the interruption. Tony could see a million thoughts flickering in those green depths. "Oh, but where are my manners? Name's Tony Stark. This is my sidekick." He gave his best billionaire smile. "We're here to make a deal."
That warranted his attention. But the recoil was almost immediate; Loki made eye contact and immediately turned his head away, taking in a sharp breath like someone had dumped ice water over him. Natasha stood from her seat as Tony made his way to the glass door, folding his arms over his chest.
"Oh, please tell me you're getting all this colors of the wind bullshit, too."
It was worse now that they were so close together. When Loki had been a nameless reporter in the back of the room there had always been a sea of people between them. Tony hadn't really been paying attention when he'd been a bystander to his battles. But now, face-to-face, the colors were searing. It only added insult to injury when pain bloomed in his chest, burning like the arc reactor had sparked against his heart. He did his best not to cringe as the heat festered. Talk about heartburn.
There was silence as Loki gathered himself, a hand hovering over his face as his shoulders hunched forward.
Quiet, dry laughter echoed in the Hulk Tank as Loki straightened himself and stood. He didn't shy away from eye contact now. He met Tony's gaze with a wry smile and approached. There was clearly nothing between them, but there was something hanging in the empty air, entirely imagined and impossible to explain. It pulled at the strings of Tony's anxiety. Drew him nearer, even. Loki cleared the distance between them and stopped short only a breath away from the glass.
"At long last." His eyes swept over Tony, from from head to toe. "We meet again."
"Uh, Again?" Tony's eyebrows shot up, amused and disturbed all at once. "I don't think you've ever properly introduced yourself, 'cept for, y'know, stalking me."
Loki's face turned skeptical, some glimmer of curiosity in his eyes. For a moment it seemed they had both forgotten about all this Tesseract nonsense.
"Stalking?"
Tony pulled out his phone, projecting images on the glass. He flicked through each candid shot of Loki at various Stark Industries events and press conferences. There was a particularly good one of him standing in a crowd as everyone else ran away from danger. The God's eyes followed one image to the next, his lips curled into a thin smile.
"I see." He turned his attention away from the slideshow, looking at Tony instead. "...Then let us begin. What do you want of me, Anthony Stark?"
Somehow, those words seemed heavy with deeper meaning.
"Tony." He corrected. Brushing away any feelings of foreboding, he took Natasha's chair, spun it a full one-eighty, and sat in it backwards. "Or Mr. Stark, People's 'Sexiest Man Alive' twice-running, maybe Your Majesty. Take your pick."
"Hm." Loki sat back down as well, his full attention on the odd duo before him. "You're hardly majestic."
Tony splayed a hand over his heart. "You wound me."
"If I had, there would be far more blood."
He barked out a laugh as he rubbed his eyes, careful to put the sunglasses back in place.
"All right, you crazy asshole. I want answers. She wants her partner back."
"I'm inclined to give you neither." Loki's smile was almost diplomatic.
"Well, I hear your allies gave you an army. Some creepy alien shit. But you-" he pointed at Loki for emphasis. "-don't want the cube. They do."
"And for it, I will be given this world."
"Maybe. Maybe you'll win, and maybe you'll get your fifteen minutes. But there's no throne here. Never was, never will be."
Natasha folded her arms, standing at Tony's side. "Regimes fall. Worlds don't."
Loki watched them both, folding his hands in his lap. His eyes moved between Natasha and Tony before he issued a challenge with a voice of silk and a clever grin.
"Persuade me."
Persuasion didn't last long. Clint Barton decided to blow one of the helicarrier's engines to kingdom come and their unauthorized chat with Loki ended in a little bit of code red and a lot of code green.
"It seems your monster has been unleashed." Loki's voice was masked. He took care to examine his nails. "You've run out of time to bargain with me."
"Don't know about that." Tony tried to fight away the urge to run to his suit.
Loki smirked, standing. He folded his hands behind his back, leveling his gaze on Natasha.
"These forces are led by your precious Agent Barton, Agent Romanov." He reminded with ease. "Perhaps your attentions are best directed elsewhere."
She stood like a statue. If she wanted to run off to go save him, it didn't show. Tony waved her off.
"I'll be fine with green-and-crazy, here. Go."
Her questioning gaze said she thought otherwise, so he insisted again.
"Go, Nat'."
Tony stood, pushing his chair aside. Natasha didn't need to be pressed again. She was out the door and down the hall by the time Tony reached the hanger controls. The helicarrier rocked with a tremor.
"The war has already started, Stark." Loki said, watching him. "No matter who you are, there is little that will sway my loyalties."
"You want an army, huh?" Tony tapped the screen and the floor opened below Loki, letting the wind rush up to meet them. His hair was whipped into an impressive mess in seconds. "Tell you what, shortcake. I'll give you something better than army to fight off these bastards once you double cross them."
Loki gave the open air below him a cautious glance before answering.
"Oh? And why would I-"
Tony held up a hand. "I'm not done. You'll double-cross them, you'll hand over the Tesseract, and you'll give me back Barton. Selvig, too. Alive."
Loki's patience thinned. His eyes narrowed.
"You've yet to earn my loyalty."
"Politics." Tony dismissed. "You'll do it because if you don't, you're going to end up in a cell. Or dead. And you can't exactly take over Asgard from either of those places, can you?"
Loki's eyes widened fractionally.
"I told you, there's no throne here." Tony added, just for emphasis. "Thor helped us fill in your file."
There was silence for a long moment and then the helicarrier was rocked with another explosion. The Hulk roared in the distance.
"Stark!" Steve's voice followed over the intercoms, worried and angry all at once. "What are you doing?!"
"Three seconds, big guy." Tony decided, flipping open the plastic cover on the red drop button. "Three."
Loki expression moved from curious to calculating.
"Two."
"Stark?!" Nick Fury's voice echoed out this time. " What do you think you are doing?! Don't even- God dammit, Coulson, get down there. Hill, restrict his access, lock down the hangers- I want him in his suit-!"
"Free me and I'll consider your bargain." Loki interrupted.
Tony made a face. "Consideration ain't going to cut it."
"It's all I'm prepared to give."
Red lights started flashing and the hanger doors began to close as overrides took effect. They were running out of time. It was the perfect opportunity to make a reckless decision.
"Then this is all I'm prepared to give, you slippery son of a bitch."
He promptly pressed the big red button of doom and the Hulk Tank detached. Loki dropped out of the sky like a brick, gone from Tony's life as quickly as he had arrived.
"See you around, asshole."