Chapter XXII
"Former foes can be allies too"
Loki skywalked Rhodes and Banner back to Stark Tower. He needed to come up with a perfect plan as to how to find his beloved. Tony should not go into space without him. He's a mortal, for Norns' sake! Loki knew he was a powerful mortal, that was without a question. But against Thanos… there was hardly a person who could win. Not without proper tools. As much as Loki trusted Tony's technology and the blessings from the Norns themselves, he feared for his lover. Tony didn't have an upper hand in this battle. Loki was certain that when it comes to the final deciding, Strange will sacrifice his beloved and the child too, to keep the stone for himself.
Loki needed to figure it out quickly before it's too late.
"Don't even think about it," suddenly James was standing before him, observing him with a pointed look. "I know this face. Tony wears it too when he thinks about some stupid idea to sacrifice himself for the greater good or something. Don't think about it."
"I have to find him," Loki explained to both men. "I need to get to him."
"Ok," Banner interrupted. "And how do you want to do it, huh? Let's be honest here, Loki. You are a powerful mage, but you said yourself back on the ship, You can only skywalk to places where you have been before, otherwise, you may end up in the void. And as far as I'm concerned, we have no idea where Tony may be at this very moment. We know where he potentially may be. But what if he's not there? What if Maw's ship wasn't flying to Titan, but somewhere else? Besides, as I recall, you were kept in a cage in Titan, right? And then Thanos ordered you to open skywalk to Earth, right?"
Loki nodded in confirmation. He was shocked that Banner remembered that much from what Loki and Tony said to his green alter ego.
"Then you don't really know where exactly Titan is, do you?"
"Not precisely, doctor Banner, but I am certain I could find it."
"Yeah," Rhodey pointed out. "Let's not dangle neither yours nor Tony's life for that matter, ok? First of all, I know Tony better than he knows himself. When he spots you on Titan, he will try to protect you, which will definitely distract him. And from Bruce said earlier, I bet you'd do everything to protect Tony either. You will be the easiest target for this Thanos. You both end up dead before you could even begin."
"So, what should I do?" Loki asked them, sitting down on the couch in the lounging room.
His eyes landed on the fluffy cream carpet that was soft to touch. Loki remembered fondly how they kissed on it, slowly learning their bodies. Then he spotted something shiny near behind the leg of the small coffee table. He instantly reached for the item only to choke on his tears, when he realized what it was. The necklace he made for Tony to communicate with him. Loki didn't remember Tony taking it off, and the Trickster enchanted it so only Tony would be able to remove it. Did Anthony take it off before? Did he have it, when Loki popped out of his dimensional pocket? Loki couldn't remember well.
"Boss was frustrated with you, Mr. Odinson," Friday explained quickly. "When he couldn't contact you through the necklace, he ripped it off his neck and threw on the floor. It is why it's broken."
"I see," Loki waved his hand and let his seidr repair the necklace. Perhaps, when he's back, Tony will wear it again.
"Am I assume well, that Boss's current location and status is unknown?" the AI inquired.
"Yes," Rhodey stepped out of his armor and sat across Loki on the couch.
"I activate the Frosty protocol this instant," the three men looked at the ceiling in a question. "According to Boss's latest adjustments to his last will, everything that belongs to Anthony Edward Stark, son of Howard Anthony Stark, now belongs to Mr. Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard, and the rightful king of Jotunheim. Mrs. Virginia Hogan, the current CEO of Starks Industries was notified of the change. You now may promote another CEO…"
"Wait, wait," Loki stopped her, rising a hand to his face. It was too much for him. "What are you implying, Friday?"
"Everything that Mr. Stark owns is now yours. He marked you in his will as his spouse, seeing as doctor Strange explained to him that binding souls with a magical being is practically a marriage."
"You're married?!" Banner exclaimed, looking shocked.
"Technically, we've been bonded before the time started," Loki slowly started. "What Friday says is true. A soul bond is stronger than any other known binding. So yes, in the eyes of the Norns and other cosmic beings, Anthony and I are married from the second we activated the bond. From the moment we both witnessed how our threads combined. So, we're married…"
"Since 2016, Mr. Odinson, or shall I address you Mr. Stark now?"
"Odinson," the Silvertongue replied. "Anthony and I still have many things to discuss regarding this."
"Ok, cool," Bruce sat down in front of them on the floor. "Aside from this, we need…"
"Incoming call from the compound, Mr. Odinson," the AI interrupted Banner.
"Who is this?"
"The Traitors," Loki raised his eyebrow in a silent question. "Captain Rogers, Agent Romanova, Scarlett Witch, and Vision. They're waiting in front of the gate."
"Let them in, Friday," Rhodey ordered her.
"I'm sorry, Colonel Rhodes, but I can let them in only if Mr. Odinson agrees with it," she answered swiftly. "The compound belongs to him too. The ownership of the compound was never given to the SHIELD, it still names Mr. Stark as the owner, and now Mr. Odinson in a correlation. So, the decision belongs to Mr. Odinson."
"Let them in, Friday," Loki agreed. "We shall be there in a moment."
"They are inside and will wait in the main lounge on the first floor, other floors are currently occupied by Aesirs."
Ah yes, Loki completely forgot that he and Heimdall sent many Aesir women and children to the compound before Thanos stepped onto their ship. He should see them and learn how they fare. But first, Loki needed to take something from here.
"Friday, where did Tony dispose the Tesseract?"
"In the vault," she quickly replied. "I will take you there, Mr. Odinson. Only you."
Before he got up from the couch, the elevator was waiting opened for him. The ride downstairs didn't take long. Before he knew, Loki stepped out of it in front of the entrance to the workshop. Friday ordered him to press his palm towards the scanner and after confirmation of his identity, she slid the door open.
Loki stepped into the sanctuary of his lover. He was immediately hit with the familiar scent of oil, a bit of human sweat, and a sandalwood shampoo. The scent of his beloved mortal. Loki bit down on his cheek to not cry. He needed to believe that Tony will survive the encounter with Thanos, or at least that he stays alive until Loki will figure it out, how to bring him back here.
Hmm… maybe he could use the Tesseract to bait Thanos to Midgard quicker. Maybe this way he will leave Tony and Peter unharmed? No. Loki couldn't do it. Tony would never forgive him if he endangered the lives of millions of mortals just to save him and the child. Tony would be cross with him until his death. Hel, he would probably find a way to haunt Loki with this in Tony's afterlife.
That is unless Loki will find a way to prolong the mortal's life. The bond between them was a start. Loki must look more into it, after this mission. Idunn's apples were out of the question now, but maybe Loki could find another way. He was a skilled mage after all. Yes, that was a pleasant idea for the future.
If they live to have it.
Friday light up a path to the front wall, where the portrait of the Iron Man hung. She ordered him to place his palm up to the arc reactor on the painting. Loki did so and after a moment, he saw green light moving up and down his palm, like on the scanner on the front door. Then, Friday asked him to look closely into Iron Man's eyes. The eyes on the portrait lit up in blue like usually and soon Loki heard a click. Advised by Friday he took a step back and observed.
The portrait opened itself in the middle like a door. Behind it was a door made of some metal, could be the same that Tony made his suit of. There was a panel with Midgardian numbers on it.
"The code is the date of Mr. Stark's parents' death," Friday helped him out. "Do you need help…"
"I know the date," Loki focused.
There were eight small lines. Eight marks. So a complete date. Tony looked up at the wooden calendar that Tony got in Kamar-Taj. It was just a simple wooden panel with engraved numbers. Midgardian calendar had twelve months and Loki recalled that Tony's parents died a few days before Christmas. And that was in the last month of the year. Loki started to press numbers on the keyboard. 16121991. The small screen was pulsing with red light until it changed into green. Soon Loki heard the sound of a working mechanism and before he knew the vault opened itself, revealing its contents.
There were some papers inside, the book Tony had gotten from Frigga, some black metal boxes and a wooden crest. Immediately Loki heard the soft buzzing, like a song coming from the wooden crest. He could feel the power of the cube before he even opened it. Once it was opened the blue light of the cube blinded him for a second. Loki pulled it out and closed his eyes.
Yes. The power was incredible. It touched every fiber of his body, stroking it like an old lover. It was tempting to take it and flee once again as he did so many years ago after the Avengers defeated him. But Loki couldn't. He couldn't disappoint his Anthony. Anthony trusted him with guard it and the mind stone and Loki would do his best to fulfill this task. Even though he yearned to use it to find Tony.
Loki disposed the Tesseract in his dimensional pocket and skywalked back to the lounging room. He found James and Bruce still on the couch. He monitored them to get up and grabbed their hands. A blink later they stood in the middle of the lounging room on the first floor of the former Avengers' compound.
Rogers, Romanova, Scarlet Witch and Vision were standing by the window. Vision leaning more or less on Rogers' shoulder. He was wounded. A quick scan of Loki's seidr told him that he was attacked by the Black Order's weapon.
"Loki?!" Rogers addressed him. "We were supposed to meet…"
"With the owner of the compound," Friday helped him up. "Mr. Odinson is the owner of every property under Tony Stark's name. Prince Loki is Mr. Stark's spouse."
They were only blinking stupidly in their direction.
"Things aside, we've met here to form a plan," Loki moved towards Vision. "I'm Loki of Asgard, a powerful mage. I understand you are the Vision. My brother let you keep the mind stone, but I will need it back now."
"I will be happy to give it to you if you have an idea of how to take it out."
"You are partly humanoid, correct?"
"I was made with a material that can replace human tissue and skin, so if you think I am partly humanoid, then yes," Vision coughed loudly and the redhead was quickly by his side. Loki moved his eyes on her. She must be the witch that mess with Anthony's head. She wasn't Freya though. Her powers were coming from the mind stone, like Vision's but they were different. "Can you remove it?"
"I can operate with humanoid parts but the technology…"
"We need someone who knows how it works," Banner interrupted, walking close to them. "I can't do it on my own. Without Tony… I don't know anyone else that can help us."
"But I do," Steve pointed out. "I know a genius that can help us. But do you have a plan, Bruce?"
"We must follow Loki's plans and decisions," Rhodey joined them as well. "He and Tony knows how to kill this guy off, or at least how to win with him. It's all magic and shit… but we have to trust them… we have to trust Loki."
"Yes, Captain Rogers," Loki regarded him and held out his hand. "As much as I don't like it, we must work together to save Midgard and other realms. We must work together to bring Tony home and to stop Thanos once and for all."
"So, what's your plan?" Steve shook Loki's hand in a so-called truce and looked him in the eye. "How are we going to do it?"
"We cannot let him get the last two stones. I have the Tesseract and once we remove the mind stone, I will channel their powers and use it against Thanos or if possible… I destroy the stones before he comes here. The stones can be destroyed only by something powerful, so I must use one stone on another. And then I will do my best to destroy the last one. You have my word for this, Captain Rogers. I will not stop before I defeat Thanos and bring Tony home."
"Good… then let's get going. We have a long road to Wakanda."
"Wakanda?" Loki asked.
"A place where we find some more allies, Loki. A place where we have a chance to win with this bastard."