Chapter Thirty-Eight

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, dudes! I'd hoped to get this chapter out sooner, but I've been working a lot. Hopefully the next chapter will be along sooner.

Enjoy!

Dreamer

'Ms Potts wishes to see you, sir,' JARVIS' voice broke Tony from his thoughts, and the genius groaned.

'Really, J?' He scowled as he fiddled with his cufflinks- not what he normally wore, but Loki was wearing the "Stark" ones so Tony had to wear these. Damn, I'm whipped, Tony mused. But at least he'll be wearing my name on his wrists for the night... worth it!

'Yes, sir,' JARVIS said. 'She wishes to see you on Captain Rogers' floor.'

'What? Why?' Tony checked his watch; nine-ten, goddamn it, they were gonna be late as it was.

'She will not tell my why, Mr Stark.' JARVIS paused, and then; 'Mr Stark, Ms Potts is on her way up.'

Tony cursed but didn't get JARVIS to stop her. If Pepper wanted to see him, she was gonna see him. All Tony could do was run, and she'd just corner him at some point in the next few days. Better to get it over with.

He only had to wait a minute before the elevator doors were opening, admitting Pepper, Romanov and Barton. Tony briefly sent a glare JARVIS' way before turning his attention to his guests.

'As much as I like seeing you all,' he drawled, pretty sure that the SHIELD agents were still pissed off at him, 'I actually have plans.'

'You can be late,' Pepper said dismissively.

Tony raised his eyebrows. 'No, I can't. It took me three weeks to get a reservation at Logan's favourite restaurant. They wouldn't bump anyone! Not even for me!'

Pepper just shrugged a shoulder as she moved closer, then stood before him, arms folded over her chest. Tony waited, but when his CEO remained silent he said, 'What?'

'You need an assistant, Tony,' Pepper stated.

Tony blinked. Huh, it seemed that he wouldn't have to bring it up himself. But he had a part to play, so said, 'Why?'

'Because you missed three appointments yesterday,' Pepper told him. 'According to JARVIS, Clint and Natasha, you were hungover.'

Tony looked over Pepper's shoulder. Clint was smirking and Natasha's face was blank. Of course.

'Yeah, well, you know me,' Tony said. He aimed a charming smile at Pepper. 'I have my vices. And currently Logan's one of my vices. He wanted to go out drinking, I can't say no to his puppy dog eyes, so we went out drinking.'

'How much did you drink?' Pepper asked.

'Not enough that I blanked the entire night,' Tony said, 'but enough that I couldn't remember my own address. I think Logan told the cabbie "that big building with STARK on it". Which works, because this is the only building with my name stamped on it... for now, anyway.'

Pepper was glaring at him; that glare of mixed anger and disappointment. Like Tony had spent his night fucking hookers and killing puppies. He'd never killed a puppy in his life. He was quite fond of hookers, though, especially when he'd been younger and all of his conquests had made it back to Howard's ears.

'Tony!' Pepper snapped her fingers at him and Tony blinked back to himself.

'Sorry, what were we talking about?' Tony asked. ''Cause I'm pretty sure that JARVIS has already filled you in.' He pointed a finger at one of JARVIS' sensors. 'Naughty J.'

'My apologies, Mr Stark,' JARVIS drawled. Stupid AI wasn't sorry in the slightest.

'This behaviour isn't healthy, Tony,' Pepper said. Tony's eyes narrowed, but thankfully Pepper quickly moved on. 'You need an assistant. JARVIS knows your schedule but you just mute him when you're tired or hungover or busy. You need an actual human being who you can't order to shut up.'

'Well, I could,' Tony said, ''cause, you know, they'd work for- okay, okay!' He held his hands up when Pepper's eyes narrowed dangerously, her bright red nails tapping quickly at her arms. 'I'm getting an assistant.'

'When?'

'Soon,' Tony said, adopting her tone of voice. 'Promise. Scout's honour.' Before Pepper could call him a liar- and he was actually telling the truth this time!- Tony swivelled on his heal and shouted, 'Logan!'

'Coming!' Loki replied from the bedroom.

Tony smiled at Pepper, Romanov and Barton as he slowly edged towards the elevator. 'So, as much fun as this was, I have a standing date,' he said.

'Tony-' Pepper tried, but he interrupted her.

'No, don't worry about it! Seriously, Pep, I've got a bunch of interviews lined up for next week.'

Pepper eyed him suspiciously. 'Really?'

'Really,' Tony echoed with a firm nod. 'Logan made me look through all the applications and call the people I liked.'

'How'd he do that?' Romanov mused.

Tony grinned wickedly and Pepper held up a hand while Barton looked disgusted. 'We don't need to hear it,' Pepper said. 'If you're serious about the interviews, then you can go.'

'I am,' Tony said. 'Monday to Wednesday, I'm meeting with about forty people.'

'Where?' Pepper asked just as Loki finally joined them, completely dressed and with his curly blonde hair neatly styled with product.

'My office down on...' Tony frowned, 'uh...'

'Floor 35, Tony,' Pepper sighed.

Tony snapped his fingers. 'Right. Floor 35.'

'Tony,' Loki said, and the genius turned to face him. 'You left your mobile phone on the dresser.' Loki handed him the slim device and Tony took it with a smile.

'Thanks, babe.' He didn't notice the incredulous look on Pepper's face; he was too busy eyeing Loki up and down, appreciating the slim, dark blue suit and crisp white shirt. His tie was striped blue, the colours various shades darker than his suit. 'Looking good,' he said and added a leer for good measure.

Loki just smirked at him and allowed Tony to wrap an arm around his waist, tug him towards the elevator.

'Later!' Tony called over his shoulder.

{oOo}

Pepper was still staring after the couple, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

'Are you okay?' Clint asked, as always the first to notice. Natasha snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Pepper.

'Pepper?' she prodded.

'Did you see that?' Pepper said and rounded on the two agents.

Natasha frowned and Clint said, 'See what?'

'Logan just handed Tony his cellphone,' Pepper said. Natasha and Clint stared at her. 'Seriously?!' Pepper near-shouted. 'Natasha, you remember working for Tony; when you were his assistant.'

Natasha tried not to let her revulsion spread over her face. 'Yes, I do,' she said.

'Did Tony ever let you hand him anything?' Pepper demanded.

Natasha frowned. Now that she thought about it... no. Stark had made a huge deal about being handed something; when Natasha was playing his assistant, she had to hand things to Pepper, or place the item near Stark so that he could pick it up himself.

On further thought, Stark hardly ever let Pepper hand him things. He usually wrinkled his nose and looked at her, and Pepper would put whatever she had in her hand down so that Stark could pick it up himself.

'No, he didn't,' Natasha finally said.

'Yeah, he never lets Bruce hand him anything, either,' Clint said. 'Or Steve. When we eat together we all have to put things near him so he can pick them up.'

Natasha looked at Pepper. 'Why does he do that?'

The other woman shook her head. 'I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but I've always assumed that it has to do with his wealth and status; the media has always assumed that he got everything handed to him. The label followed him when he took over Stark Industries, and he wanted to make a name for himself. So he never lets anyone hand him anything, not even the smallest things.'

She frowned and looked back at the archway, as though she could still see Stark and his boyfriend.

'So...' Clint drawled, 'why did Tony let Logan hand him his phone?'

Pepper shrugged one shoulder helplessly.

'Maybe he trusts Logan more than us,' Natasha murmured.

'No,' Clint said. When Natasha glanced at him he was frowning, thinking about it. 'Not just that...' he continued. 'Tony sees Logan as an equal; he'll take things from him because he trusts Logan, because he sees Logan as being on the same level as him. He trusts him with everything. Which means-'

'Tony's finally off the market,' Natasha interrupted. Clint gave her a look, which Natasha understood immediately; there was no chance in hell that Fury- that SHIELD- would be able to turn Thomas on Stark. If Stark trusted Thomas that much, then Thomas trusted him in equal parts. He wouldn't betray his lover.

'I can't believe this,' Pepper breathed. 'Tony, in a stable, functioning relationship?' She shook her head and turned to smile weakly at Natasha and Clint. 'Maybe this will stabilise him though; make him less likely to throw himself head-first into danger. Maybe Logan can help Tony in ways that I never could.'

Natasha snorted at the thought, and Clint didn't say a word. Neither agent felt comfortable discussing their plans for Stark in the Tower, especially in Stark's penthouse. Coulson could call Pepper and discuss this with her later.

{oOo}

Tony's cell rang halfway through dinner. At least it was on vibrate and didn't disrupt everyone else. Tony growled under his breath and put his fork and knife aside to dig into his jacket pocket. Loki raised his eyebrows but said nothing as Tony checked the caller ID. "Withheld number".

'SHIELD,' he muttered and Loki nodded in understanding. Tony answered the phone, and it was JARVIS who responded; 'Sir, Director Fury is calling. Shall I put him through?'

'Might as well,' Tony said. If he didn't, Fury would just keep ringing.

'Stark!'

'What can I do for you, oh scariest of the Pirate Captains?'

He heard Fury swear before saying, 'Get your ass to the Helicarrier. Emergency Avengers meeting.'

'I'm on a date.'

'I don't care, Stark. Get to the Helicarrier or don't bother showing up for any more meetings.' He hung up after that and Tony glared down at the StarkPhone. On one hand, he wanted to not go; just let himself slip away from the Avengers nice and easy.

On the other hand, they might let something slip. And Tony could check out security, see if Fury had upgraded anything since Tony's last visit. He still had to help Loki sneak through the Helicarrier and download the information they needed.

'I gotta go, babe,' Tony finally said and put his cell away. Loki raised his eyebrows. 'SHIELD meeting.'

'I see,' Loki said. 'Will you take the car?'

'No, I've got the suitcase suit in the trunk. You take the car back to the Tower.'

He stood and Loki followed him. Tony paid for their half-finished meals and escorted Loki out of the restaurant. There were a few paparazzi hanging about, and they got their photo snapped a few times as Tony led Loki to the car. They peeled away after a few seconds, apparently satisfied, and Tony got his suit out of the trunk while Loki unlocked the car.

'This shouldn't take long,' Tony said. Loki was already in the car, seatbelt on, and Tony leaned one arm against the door as he bent down. 'Don't miss me too much, okay?'

'Do what you must,' Loki replied. He gave Tony a long, filthy kiss, winked at him, and then slammed the door shut.

'Asshole,' Tony muttered while Loki waved from behind the window.

{oOo}

Tony only removed his suit when he broke the chair he was sitting on. Bruce was laughing into his hand, while the others mostly rolled their eyes or outright ignored him (or, in Thor's case, offered to battle the chair to the death; Tony declined).

It was good to see Bruce laughing. Tony had only just noticed how tired and... depressed, for lack of a better word, the doctor looked. It couldn't just be because of the Other Guy; sure, Genesis and Loki had been fucking some shit up, but Bruce hadn't fought that often or that long. He'd gotten a better handle on the Hulk since Loki's invasion, so it wasn't that tiring him out.

Tony pondered his team mate while Barton and Romanov discussed something at the front of the room. The Avengers were scattered along the rectangular table, while Thor was investigating whatever was in the cupboards to the left. There was some SHIELD tech sitting beside Steve tapping away at his laptop, but he jumped to attention when Fury, Coulson, and Maria Hill entered the room.

'The trifecta!' Tony shouted when Fury reached his seat. Fury gave him a poisonous look and Tony grinned in response. 'You'll be sorry when I bet on a horse named Mr Fury and it wins me a buttload of money,' Tony said.

'Do you really need any more money?' Barton demanded.

Tony blew him a kiss. 'You can never have enough money, Birdie. Howard taught me that.' Rogers went rigid at Stark Senior's name, but Tony ignored him in favour of eyeing up the suitcase Coulson had planted on the table. 'What's that?'

'Various security footage of Loki and Genesis,' Coulson answered, 'as well as information that we're going to go through as a team.'

Tony groaned, and he wasn't the only one- Thor looked like someone had cancelled his Christmas, while even Bruce sighed. 'Do we have to?' Tony demanded.

'Yes, Stark,' Fury growled- but really, did he have any other setting? 'Loki's reached priority one.' Rogers straightened in his seat, looking all serious with his Boy Scout face on. Tony raised his hand.

Sighing, Coulson said, 'Yes, Mr Stark?'

'Is Priority One code for "Loki's fucked up too much shit and now we really have to catch him, we're super serious here"?'

Fury's good eye twitched and Hill rubbed her forehead. 'Yes,' Coulson said, face blank.

Tony whistled. 'Did you teach Romanov how to make that face? It's uncanny.'

Coulson ignored him and started handing out navy folders, Loki's name and "Priority One" written in red across the glossy front. Tony muttered curses in various languages but flipped the folder open like a good little Avenger. There was a list of Loki's past targets, as well as what bases SHIELD thought Loki would hit next.

Tony's eyebrows climbed. They'd just handed him this information. Tony already had it, of course, but before going into business with Loki had hadn't known where half of SHIELD's bases were. And here they were, a nice, neat list just for him.

'So we're assuming that Loki has this information?' Tony asked.

'At least parts of it,' Coulson said with a nod. 'There are bases that not even SHIELD are aware of.'

'Apart from you, Hill and Fury,' Tony felt the need to point out.

'Some even I don't know about, Stark,' Fury said.

'So bases that the World Security Council personally uses?' That got him looks from everyone in the room, and Tony shrugged. 'What? We need to coordinate, right? That's what this meeting's about! If we can figure out Loki's next target we can wait for him, stop him destroying it, maybe capture him.' He paused and cut his eyes to Thor. 'We are catching him, right? No maiming or killing?'

Barton twitched but Fury agreed readily with Tony. Thor's chest puffed out, even while his eyes stayed on Fury. So Thor wasn't an idiot, then, Tony mused. He knew how the mortals really felt about his brother, and was braced for their possible betrayal. Tony was, too. He very much doubted that Fury, his lackeys, and the Wonder Twins wanted to catch Loki. It was death or nothing, as far as they were concerned.

Tony wasn't going to let that happen. And he had an ally in Thor, at least. Possibly Steve and Bruce, too. Both had very much been against killing all their other enemies, while Tweety and Red Riding Hood were far too trigger happy for even Tony's standards. And Tony's standards were pretty damn low.

'Let's get started, then,' Tony announced, slapping a gauntlet against the table. It creaked beneath his strength and Tony threw Rogers a smile when the Captain sighed at him. 'The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can get out of here. Then we can catch Loki, pack him off to Santa's Christmas Village, and Logan and I can actually party without the Avengers ruining my mood.'

Fury eyed him then, and Tony met his gaze steadily. Even raised an eyebrow when Coulson glanced at him, too. Fury looked away first, followed by Coulson, and Hill turned to man the TV while the other Avengers flipped their folders open.

Seemed Barton and Romanov had discussed their last argument with the head honcho. Tony wondered what their plan was now. They still needed him, otherwise Romanov would have been more vicious during their spat. But what did they want?

'Let's start with the SHIELD bases,' Coulson began after clearing his throat. 'We believe that Loki knows of the bases listed in your files...'

{oOo}

'Later, bitches!' Stark shouted. He was out of the room before Maria had turned the TV off, and the Avengers could hear the suit folding itself around the man as he made his way down the hallway.

'He's, uh...' all eyes turned to Steve, and the Super Soldier shrugged, 'getting better?'

'I hope he is,' Bruce muttered, but didn't seem to be talking to them so much as himself. He left next, Steve and Thor trailing after them. Maria got the SHIELD tech out and locked the door behind her, leaving Fury, Coulson, Natasha and Clint.

'Welll?' Fury demanded immediately.

'He is getting better,' Clint said. He was still in his seat, feet propped on the chair next to him. 'As much as I hate to say it, Thomas has been good for him. Stark doesn't drink nearly as much, and hasn't created any suicidal experiments lately.'

'That we know of,' Natasha huffed. 'He doesn't tell us nearly half of the things he does, Clint.' Clint just shrugged.

'Have you made any more progress on his suit?' Coulson asked.

'A little,' Natasha said. 'He keeps that locked up pretty tight, of course; even from his team mates. But Clint and I have chipped away at his security. There are some loopholes Stark doesn't seem to be aware of.'

'We have a lot more access than anyone else in the Tower,' Clint added. 'With Pepper's codes as well as the Avengers', we've gotten a heap of information.'

'But not enough,' Fury reminded them. 'Our scientists tell me that we're nowhere near building a functioning Iron Man suit. We have zero arc reactor technology, and what we have of the suits isn't enough.'

'Doom's bots didn't help?' Clint asked.

Coulson shook his head. 'Doom's technology was primitive when compared to Tony Stark's. Apart from giving us a vague idea of what fits together, it's relatively useless.'

'So we need more,' Natasha said. She was frowning, and Fury eyed her.

'Romanov?'

'I think he's going to quit the team,' Natasha said, an exhale accompanying her words.

'Why now?' Coulson asked.

'We told you what happened,' Clint said. 'Stark was pissed.'

'And he seemed serious about quitting,' Natasha added. 'I've never seen him like that.'

'It's Thomas,' Clint added. 'Before, Stark only had himself to care about, and his team mates. But we can take care of ourselves. Compared to us, Logan Thomas is useless, and Stark knows that. Loki's targeted him before-'

'He's not going to risk Thomas' life,' Natasha cut in. 'We've seen how they are around each other.'

'So there's no chance of getting Thomas to turn?' Fury asked.

Natasha shook her head. It was Clint who said, 'I'm pretty sure they fucking love each other- if Tony Stark is capable of loving anyone other than himself, it'd be Logan Thomas.'

Fury swore and slid into his seat. Hands pressed together, he surveyed the two Avengers across the table.

'We can't turn them against each other,' Clint said, 'no way.'

'Is that your professional opinion?' Fury asked.

'Professional and personal,' Clint said. 'Every part of me is a hundred percent sure of this, Fury. You approach Thomas, he'll tell Stark, and this whole operation will blow up in our faces. Stark will have us out of the Tower before Loki can attack another base.'

Fury growled at those words and rubbed his good eye. 'Great,' he grunted.

Coulson glanced at his boss before meeting Natasha's eyes. 'Miss Potts tells me that Stark's getting an assistant.'

'Apparently,' Natasha agreed. 'He told Pepper that he's got some interviews lined up for next week.'

'His phone records back that up,' Coulson said. He pulled another folder from his suitcase, this one red, and slid it across the table to Natasha.

She flipped through it briefly before looking up. 'Are these real?'

'As far as we know,' Coulson said. 'And we can never be sure where Stark's concerned. But these seem legitimate.'

'So we could get to the assistant,' Natasha mused.

'Someone who has to work with Stark?' Clint snorted. 'They'll be begging to snitch on him.'

'See to it and keep me updated,' Fury ordered. 'And get me some goddamn blueprints for Stark's suits. The sooner we have them, the sooner we can get rid of him.'

Natasha said, 'Yes, sir,' while Clint just nodded. The two left quickly, Fury staring after them and Coulson cleaning up.

'Not having second thoughts, are you?' Natasha murmured as they walked.

'No,' Clint said. 'But Stark has changed.'

'I won't deny that,' Natasha said, 'but this is for the greater good, Clint.'

'Yeah,' Clint said, but he was frowning.

'Clint?'

'Is it for the greater good?' Clint questioned. 'If Stark gets his shit together- if Thomas actually gives him a reason to stop acting like a fucking super villain- then is it for the greater good?'

'Nobody can change that much, Clint,' Natasha said. 'Yes, Stark's calmed down somewhat since Thomas entered the picture. But he's still unstable, and he's still dangerous. You see every other week what Loki's capable of; Stark's exactly the same. Their stories are the same, their personalities are the same; the only differences are their powers and their heritage. One day soon something's going to go wrong and Stark will be the next super villain SHIELD has to fight.'

'I guess,' Clint mumbled. He shook his head and offered Natasha a smile when the woman clapped a hand to his shoulder. 'No, I get it, Tash; believe me, I do. I just wish...'

'Things were different?' Clint nodded. 'We're assassins, Clint. We don't wish.'

Clint said nothing to that, so Natasha let the conversation drop.

{oOo}

After wandering around the Helicarrier for a good hour- and listening in on the lovely little chat Fury had with the archer and Russian- Tony launched himself off of the flying-boat-hybrid and into the air.

'Play me that techno song that was on when Loki and I went clubbing,' Tony ordered. JARVIS obliged, somehow knowing exactly what Tony was talking about. Tony spun through the late night- or early morning, depending on how you looked at it- air, twisting and flipping and testing various things as he thought.

So SHIELD still needed his suits; they didn't have enough information, and they had nothing on his arc reactor technology. Well, Tony wasn't about to let that go. He'd give them old Iron Man blueprints, he'd give them certain things to keep them thinking they were winning. But his reactor tech was his and his alone. There wasn't a chance in hell that he was letting that, nor the element that powered it, go.

It would be easy to leave some stuff around; to weaken some of JARVIS' servers and let SHIELD in. Give them enough and Tony would be free to destroy some more bases with Loki. By the time they realised that Tony was playing them it'd be too late; Tony and Loki would have won.

Tony grinned at the thought as he dove towards Stark Tower. He landed smoothly and JARVIS dismantled the suit. Tony walked around the balcony and into the penthouse. The lights were off, but the massive flat-screen TV as playing, sound near-muted.

'They think you're gonna hit Washington D.C. next,' Tony announced.

Loki looked away from the TV show he was watching- there was a lot of blood, a lot of gunfire, but Tony didn't bother looking too closely. 'Why?' Loki asked.

'They think you'll see it as a big fuck you to America as a whole,' Tony told him. 'Their next guess is Malibu, but only because I have a house there and they think you hate Logan a whole heap.'

Loki snorted. 'As if I would care unduly for a mortal. Your team mates barely register on my radar.'

'But they do register,' Tony said. He decided to ignore the "team mates" part of that sentence. He was pretty sure that Loki was only calling them that to piss him off. 'Anyway; Washington D.C., Malibu, followed by Chicago.'

'I do not even know where Chicago is,' Loki commented.

'It's one of the largest cities in the US,' Tony said, 'which is why it made the list; I suggested that you'd like the possible civilian damages and casualties.'

'That does sound interesting,' Loki said. He raised his arm when Tony flopped onto the sofa. Groaning, Tony burrowed into Loki's bony chest. It was surprisingly comfortable and he closed his eyes. He felt fingers thread through his hair and sighed again. 'Problems?' Loki questioned.

'Just a headache from all the talking,' Tony grumbled. 'It's already going away.'

'I am glad,' Loki said, 'because we have plans today.'

'We do?'

He felt Loki nod. 'We need to get back to your magical training. It wouldn't do to have your magic make an appearance around your-'

'Don't say it!' Tony interrupted. He raised a hand to waggle a finger at Loki, and heard the older god chuckle.

'Around the Avengers,' he amended.

'That's better,' Tony said. He dropped his hand and rubbed Loki's belly. 'Let me take a little nap, get something to eat; then we'll go, okay?'

Loki hummed.

'JARVIS, time?' Tony asked through a yawn.

'It is 3:16am, sir,' JARVIS responded.

'Stupid SHIELD,' Tony grunted. He burrowed further into Loki's side, sighed when a blanket was suddenly draped over him.

'Sleep, Stark,' Loki said. 'I shall wake you soon.'