10: Across the Universe

Awkward didn't even begin to cover the next day. Tony stewed in his resentment, and Thor certainly noticed that Tony and Loki were no longer talking to each other, and soon had Tony telling him about the hacking incident. Tony neglected to mention the, uh, other details. That was not a conversation he was in the mood to have.

The evening's party, if you could call it that, actually helped to take Tony's mind off things pretty well. He resolved to steadily get blind drunk, because why the hell not? As it was a party, no one noticed just how many glasses he was knocking back, how he was making progressively less sense. The only person who did perhaps notice was the guest of honour – the guy who had fallen foul of Loki's forcefield. He had his arm in a sling and couldn't drink a lot, and found the whole thing hilarious. Well good for him.

Several people from SHIELD arrived, including, slightly surprisingly, Clint Barton. "Legolas!" Tony smiled, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Stark," Clint smiled back at him. "Long time no see."

Tony spent most of his time talking to Clint, catching up with him. Of course, Clint didn't talk too much about the details of his life – it was secret after all. But Tony knew one way to get him to react. "Have you seen Natasha lately?"

Clint blinked, and there was a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth, as if he wanted to smile. "Not much," he replied coyly. "Why?"

Just as Tony was getting somewhere, Director Fury appeared beside him, wanting a word.

"I heard that you and Loki had a spat," Fury said wryly.

Tony rolled his eyes. "No different from any other day. Except that he hacked into the computer network–"

"And how the hell did he do that?"

"'Cause he's some kind of genius, obviously. More the point," Tony moved on quickly, "how do you know about all this?"

"Everyone knows," Fury said, flatly. Uh oh. "When you ordered that Loki not use a computer anymore, when the system protocols were updated and strengthened – it's not hard to put two and two together."

"That sounds more like a rumour," Tony said, dismissively, spinning his drink around in the glass. "People will forget all about it."

"It doesn't matter if it's a rumour. Dammit, Stark, think ahead. Every small thing that Loki does gets picked up on, rumours spread. And the consequences can spiral out of control in ways you can't foresee, and I have to clean up the mess. I have a bad feeling about this. You two are dangerous together. I know consequences are generally not among your interests..."

"Consequences – okay, Mace Windu, I get it." Tony yawned and took a sip of his drink.

"Well I'm sorry for boring you," Fury replied, sarcastically.

"I'm just tired," Tony said, and that, at least, was true. He had been so angry the previous night that he had gone for an exhilarating and completely unnecessary flight in his suit in the middle of the night.

The room suddenly dimmed, lights flickering. Tony wasn't sure whether he just imagined it until Clint asked him, "Problems with the arc reactor?"

Tony scoffed. "No, we never have problems with the arc reactor. I mean, I built it." He downed the last of his drink and set it down on a table nearby, succeeding on the second attempt. "I'll go check on Loki. Check if he did that."

"Stark," Fury said strictly, "you can't leave."

"I'll be five minutes," Tony grumbled. Thor was watching all of this closely, and Tony exchanged a glance with him before leaving, though Tony had drank too much to really understand what it meant.

It was only when he was alone in the corridor that Tony actually realised just how drunk he was. Somehow the lack of distractions such as other people and music made it glaringly obvious to him that all the walls seemed to be at the wrong angles and he hardly knew where the hell he was going.

He passed the SHIELD agents on the way into the secure apartment and went over to Loki's room, staring at the closed door. You bastard. This would probably not be a lot of fun. This was really unnecessary too. Thor could have come down here. Why had he ever thought this was a good idea?

Tony went over to the door of Loki's room and pushed it open, but did not immediately see him. Lying there casually on the bed there was a woman: incredibly tall and wrapped in a tight black dress with green decoration, with legs that went on forever, long black hair... and of course, this was Loki. And hell, he was not kidding when he said he could make himself into a woman.

"Hello, Stark," Loki spoke in a voice low, sultry and distinctly feminine – and Tony felt himself melt a little at the sound of it. Gorgeous voice as a man, gorgeous voice as a woman too...

"What the hell are you doing?"

Loki grinned and twisted a strand of long, black hair around his – or her – finger. "I was bored. And I have, as you might say, a peeve about not being invited to things."

"What was that, with the lights?"

"Nothing damaging," Loki said dismissively. She appeared bored with this line of conversation, and her eyes wandered down Tony's body. Loki just wanted attention. Flicking her eyes back up to his, she commanded, "Come here."

Tony shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Sorry, rocky horror picture show, no can do. If I'm gone too long your brother will come looking for me – and I don't know how he'd feel seeing that his brother is now his sister."

Loki laughed. "It would not be the first time." Loki got up gracefully, and crossed the room to stand in front of Tony. She was slightly shorter than Tony was used to, around the same height as himself now. Her jaw line was softer, her hands smaller, but she was still recognisable. She had the same blue-green eyes, the same mischievous smirk. It was, nevertheless, an incredible transformation, and Tony could not stop himself from telling Loki so.

Loki smiled, and said, "If the people knew that I was a shape-shifter, that I could send off illusory copies of myself, it would greatly increase their fear of me." Tony nodded, and Loki looked at him quizzically. "Do you fear me?"

Tony took a deep breath, wondering how many times Loki was going to ask him that. "No," he answered.

Loki stepped nearer, wrapping her arms around Tony's neck, pulling him closer. "I really do think you should," she said, sweetly.

Tony could feel his pulse quicken, his body responding to the beautiful woman against him. "I'm still mad at you," he told Loki, and yet he felt his arms slide around Loki's slim waist, and did not resist when Loki moved closer, planting a kiss on Tony's lips. Damn, he had terrible impulse control...

This kiss was different, somehow. Physically, Loki's lips were fuller, her skin softer, and she even smelled slightly different; sweeter. But beyond that, she was also somehow more submissive, more gentle, and Tony wondered whether there was an extent to which changes to Loki's form changed his character.

Loki broke the kiss, trailing her fingers through Tony's hair, pulling him closer to whisper in his ear. "I wish to have you while I am in this form," she said simply, and Tony's heart leapt, his groin throbbed. He forgot all about the argument of the day before, and his earlier refusal to get to know the female Loki on the basis that it would be weird; Tony could probably get past that right now-

But suddenly – the moment and the glass in the window was shattered.

Loki swiftly stepped away and with a glow of golden light, instantly changed himself back to his male form, complete with Asgardian armour and horned helmet, looking every inch a warrior.

Tony could hear alarms ringing out throughout the building as four Chitauri crawled in through the window like spiders, with more following, one speaking with a snarl. "We have come for you both," his voice rattled, "how convenient that you are in the same place." And with that, they all sprang on the pair. There was little that Tony could do without his suit or a weapon, and he was not entirely convinced that any of this was really happening. Loki drew throwing knives from nowhere and attacked – and in the flurry of confused activity in the darkened room he apparently took out two of them. But it wasn't enough.

Tony felt himself picked up by one of them, and attacked it with everything he had, striking it hard in the neck. The creature buckled and Tony was dropped hard on the floor. He sprang for the door, but another Chitauri was on him immediately. He caught a glimpse of Loki, struggling in the grip of three of them, before Tony was hurled roughly out of the window and into some kind of pitch black, featureless box. His stomach turned, as he could not see out, could not work out which way was up and which was down.

The next second, he heard Loki land next to him, and was somehow conscious of them both being sealed in this disorienting environment. The walls of the box felt like steel, and Tony scrambled to his knees, shouting wordlessly and slamming his fists against the walls furiously, trying in vain to free himself.

"Stark," Loki's tried to get his attention, with no success. "Stark," he insisted, somehow finding Tony in the dark, grabbing hold of him, pulling him back. Neither of them could see a thing; the darkness was so consuming and intense. "I have been in this place before," Loki said evenly. "There is no escape. Do not hurt yourself."

Tony gave up his struggle and fell back against Loki, who knelt behind him and wrapped his arms around him. They took a moment to catch their breath, and Tony asked, "Where the hell did they come from?"

Loki sighed. "They do have other means of inter-world travel, and they are skilled in finding themselves powerful allies." He paused for a moment holding Tony more tightly. "I am sorry, Stark. I knew that they would come for me." After a pause he added, "It is well that we are together. We are more powerful together than we would be alone."

Tony took in a deep breath. "You'll forgive me if that doesn't fill me with confidence."

"Tony," Loki said, his voice soft, reassuring, "I can talk my way out of just about anything. I talked my way out of the clutches of these people before, and I believe I can do so again." Tony smiled weakly in the pitch blackness. Loki kissed him on the cheek and added, "Trust me."

Seemingly only a few moments later Tony and Loki were hauled out before a crowd of Chitauri in utterly alien and unfamiliar surroundings. The main thing Tony wanted to know was how the hell they had apparently travelled to some other point in space, how they were on a rocky surface, a night sky blanketed thickly with stars overhead.

Loki seemed to adapt instantly, standing up straight, speaking with confidence. "If you harm me, the deal is off!"

A Chitauri soldier hesitated. "Deal?" he repeated, "What is this deal of which you speak?"

Loki growled menacingly through gritted teeth. "Clearly, you are ignorant. I need to speak to your superior."

Loki glanced at Tony. "And the same goes for the human," he said, authoritatively. "If any harm comes to him, any at all, you will live to regret it."

With that, Loki was led away, out of Tony's sight. Presumably Loki was bluffing – and doing it like a boss...

Tony was held by two Chitauri guards, who glanced at each other, and then at him, and Tony recognised that look. Despite them being aliens, he had seen that look before, on his captors in Afghanistan. It was some combination of a primitive lust for inflicting pain on another, of vengeance, and of a deep sense of hurt. However much Tony might hate these things – these people – they hated him right back. Tony had delivered a nuclear weapon to their base, he had surely wiped out thousands of them, maybe tens of thousands – Tony had no idea. He had never wanted to do that, just like he had never wanted all those people in the warzones of Earth to die from his weapons. But still, he had done it. He was responsible for their pain, he was responsible for their anger, and if they hurt him, he felt that there was a sense in which he was responsible for that too.

Loki was dragged before the Other, leader of these Chitauri, and thrown roughly to the ground, though he quickly got back to his feet. "So good to see you again," Loki told them, dryly. "Where is Thanos?"

"You failed us." The Other said, bitterly, ignoring Loki's question.

"You failed me," Loki argued back. "Your army failed to take Earth. When the mother ship was destroyed, they all became useless. Your procedures are absurd."

"Our ship was destroyed," the Other growled, "by the other prisoner. Stark. We will have justice."

"No," Loki said quickly. "I will not let you kill him."

"That is well," the Other replied smoothly. "We intend to torture him for as long as he survives."

"You cannot. He is part of my back-up plan." He let that sink in for a moment, letting the Other and the Chitauri exchange glances. "Our assault on Earth was not successful. But we can still win. You must be patient, you must allow me more time."

"You are out of time," the Other retorted. "You made us a promise, you failed, and you lost the Tesseract. Why should we ally ourselves to you again? You have nothing else we want."

"Extremis." Loki paused as if they should know what that was, and then went on to explain it, and how they might use it – the fact that it could re-write the structure of the body of any animal, either as a weapon, or a means of improvement. "All I need from you now, is to let us go, unharmed. It is that simple."

The Other walked up to Loki and stood excessively close in front of him. "And you have this... Extremis?"

"I can get it–"

The Other struck Loki hard on the shoulder and forced him to his knees. Loki bit his lip hard, tasting blood, but would not give them the satisfaction of crying out, or letting them know that they had hurt him. The Other said, "You expect make bargains with that which you do not possess, trickster?"

Loki took a deep breath, and tried to keep his voice steady. "I did not have the Tesseract when–"

"And you do not have the Tesseract now! You stole it only to lose it again."

"I will get Extremis!" Loki shouted back. "Give me a month, and I will get it."

"You have one half of a month," The Other retorted, "two of their Earth weeks." Loki had expected that; if he had started by saying two weeks, the Other would have knocked it down to one. The Other continued, "How do you mean to acquire this device?"

"Stark will get it for me," Loki assured them. "I can make him trust me. When his guard is down, he will do as I say."

The Other seemed unconvinced. "Do not fail us again. And Stark, the human, he knows nothing of your plans?"

"Of course not," Loki said, derisively. "It would not work if he did. He has no idea of his part in this."

The Chitauri glanced at one another, the Other speaking again. "Then we will return you to him. Say whatever it is you need to say to maintain your hold over him. We will consider what you have said."

Loki looked between them. "Where is Thanos?" he asked again.

"Thanos has no further interest in you," The Other spat. "You failed him. You disappoint him. You bore him."

Loki let his head drop as he was led away, hiding from them the shadow of a smirk that crept over his face.

The stone cell did not have a bed, exactly, merely a padded sort of cloth atop a table against the wall. Tony sat on it, in the corner, facing the door, hugging his knees. It was not warm and it was pretty dark in there, too, lit only by four very small, dim lights, one in each corner of the ceiling, which gave everything a sickly, yellow glow.

In the past hour or so, since getting flung in there, Tony had already searched the room thoroughly for some possible way out – but there was not even a window, and no chance of tunnelling out through solid rock. There was an outlet for waste in the corner, but that was far too narrow for either of them to get through – unless Loki could shape-shift or something. There was also nothing that he could possibly use as a weapon to attack a guard, not a screw, not a stone – nothing. The room was utterly bare.

He had sobered up a little bit, though he still hoped that this was some terrible nightmare. He had been given water in a bottle that felt similar to plastic, but the main thing on his mind was that he could really do with a burger right now.

The heavy metal door clanged open, and Loki was thrown through it, stumbling but catching himself against the wall to stop himself falling. He did not look directly at Tony, so Tony spoke first as they were sealed inside, together. "What happened? What did they say?"

Loki sighed. "They will think about it."

"Think about what?"

Loki met his eyes through the gloom, and Tony's blood ran cold at the fear and sadness he saw there. Loki looked at the floor of the cell. "I tried." appeared to be all that he could say. He leaned against the wall and slid down, to sit on the floor.

Tony got up and went over to him, putting an arm around him, though Loki could probably not really feel it through the solid black armour pieces he was wearing, as he had elected to re-clothe himself much as he had last time he had been on Earth, last time he had been in a cage. Loki took in a ragged breath, and rested his head on Tony's shoulder. "I do not know what will happen," Loki said weakly. "I fear I may have over-stated my powers of persuasion."

Tony rested a hand on Loki's arm and squeezed. "Hey, . We're still alive. There's always a way out."

Loki said nothing.