Chapter 6: Panic and Plans
It took a few seconds for the genius brain of billionaire Anthony Edward Stark to reboot and re-evaluate the events that just transpired.
Breathing heavily and on the verge of a panic attack, Tony blocked out the robotic voice of his AI asking, "Sir, are you alright?" as his brain analysed the situation in fragmentised thoughts.
Loki has escaped.
Loki has Pepper hostage.
Loki took down a dozen agents, and Natasha.
Loki can hurt others.
Loki can kill!
With that last notion hitting him like a cattle prod, Tony looked up, determined, and powered his stabilisers flying out of the SHIELD building. He barely registered the voices behind him yelling at him to "stop" or asking "where are you going?"
"JARVIS" he commended as he soared into the sky searching the cityscape below.
"Yes sir?" The computer replied immediately.
"Scan the area for any trace of Loki, or Pepper."
"Any particular areas Sir?"
"No." He replied curtly. And that was the problem wasn't it? He had no idea where Loki and Pepper could possibly be; but he would start with New York.
The first thing Pepper noticed once her feet returned to solid ground was the release of a forceful grip around her neck, only for it to be replaced with a much worse physical strain from the inability to breath. She gasped desperately attempting to inhale air, but could find none to give her relief. She fell to the ground, which was hard, cold and colourless, and as her eyes began to blur she knew she was about to die.
Then, like someone had removed a blockage in her throat, Pepper caught her breath and began inhaling frantically. Her eyesight returning, she could see a green mist flowing towards her and disappearing inside her mouth.
Following the trail of green vapour she observed that the strange substance had flowed from Loki, a pale faced regular looking Loki. Loki meanwhile, did not direct his eyes to the woman laying confounded on the ground beside him, but up towards a set of stairs that ascended above them.
It was then Pepper realised to her astonishment that wherever Loki had taken her, it definitely was not in New York. In fact, she was convinced she was no longer even on Earth. Beyond her, she could see the encapsulating brightness of stars engulfed in the darkness of space. She examined the ground where she her hands laid, it was cold and smooth. As insane as it sounded, even in her own thoughts, somehow she was in outer space. And even stranger, she could breath and had as yet refrained from freezing to death.
"Loki!" A voice hollered. A shudder ran down Pepper's spine at the sound of someone, or something, who she deduced by voice alone to be dangerous. Presuming the origin of the call, Pepper followed Loki's line of sight realising the Aesir was already waiting in anticipation for that someone to appear from around the bends of the stairs.
Mustering all her willpower, she returned to her feet and stood beside Loki, pushing aside the part of her that wanted to stay on the ground and quiver. Ironically enough, right now the safest place to stand was in the vicinity of Loki. Loki gave the woman no heed, his gaze fixated on the winding corners of the rock formed staircase. The god's lack of enthusiasm at the man, Pepper demised, calling his name was unsettling. If this man caused Loki, a god, tension - what then, Pepper contemplated, should she feel. Utterly petrified she decided.
"You disappoint me Loki." The voice continued, and Pepper could hear thunderous footsteps growing louder approaching her and Loki.
Pepper looked over her shoulder to see that they weren't alone. There was someone, or again something, standing behind them keeping its distance. The onlooker gripped tightly to a jagged edged staff and was clothed in dark ragged garments covering its face and body.
Pepper was now beside herself with fear and against her own will demanding her to stay steadfast, she began to tremble and found herself inching closer to Loki until she was practically shoulder to shoulder with the bastard who had put her into this terrifying situation.
The sudden touch of the human beside him made Loki slightly startle. She was faintly shivering he noticed. Not from the cold of space, since his magic was keeping her breathing and warm, but evidently she was afraid. He almost took pity on her, but since she was an added burden he wished he didn't have to deal with right now, he threw off any notion of pity. He had bigger issues to deal with right now and although he did know a good spell that required three drops of blood from a red-haired woman, he would prefer her absence.
Loki's calculated mind had demised his next move, and not a moment too soon as a colossal person came into their sights; descending thunderously down the stairs, loud but swift, with his large strides. Quickly, Loki rose his hand and hovered next to Pepper's head uttering words in a foreign language. The spell taking hold, Pepper fell to the floor beside, utterly incapable of fighting the command of the magic to succumb helplessly to a deep sleep.
Loki held his tongue until the gold cloaked, red faced warlord stood before him, his large muscular body towering over the slender frame of the Aesir god.
"My Lord" Loki greeted offering the titan a respective bow. The man bellowed a condescending laugh before replying, "You think I a fool fallen god of Asgard?" Loki raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
"Surely you must..." he continued, "for you think I would not notice your return to Midgard?"
Loki stared up into the red eyes criticising him, "An unsolicited and unwelcome return I'd clarify. It was not me who concocted the idea to return to that pitiful realm."
"And yet you put everything at risk by attacking the humans." Patronising tone, eyes glaring down at the small Aesir.
"I was defending myself," Loki snapped back harshly.
"I tire of your excuses!" the loud piercing yell of the titan made Loki grimace under its force.
"Tire or not, I forewarned that Odin would not be swift in his forgiving. I have done all within my power to maintain this charade."
"Then intensify your efforts!"
"Easier said than done, especially after this abduction is surely going to be interpreted by my adversaries as an escape."
The goliath let an evil smirk spread across his face, "Do not worry about this interruption, it will be handled in a suitable fashion to not disturb your development. But heed my word, fallen god, if results are not satisfactorily achieved soon, then I you can consider our agreement terminated."
Loki flinched, not in fear of the threat, but from the implication and doubt that he would not succeed where he said he could, "I will not fail! I can handle my idiot brother, and sentimental fool of a father, I just need sufficient time."
"You'd better." With that, the man waved his hand, dismissing Loki from his presence.
Loki bent down and picked up Pepper in his arms, turning away from the red faced mammoth and towards the creature behind him Loki knew to be The Other. He waited patiently for The Other to transport him back to earth.
But The Other did not move. Not even a flinch.
It took a few disconcerting seconds for Loki to realise that his hijackers were not finished with him yet.
Finally breaking the unsettling silence, the titan stated "Before you leave, I shall assist you one last time ."
Unnerved by the statement, Loki turned in hesitation to see that behind him now appeared several claw-drawn alien creatures approaching him. They were not Chitauri, moving more beast than man with their thin boned frames, hunched postures and three fingered claws for hands.
"We must make your abduction appear believable." Loki cringed as the warlord bellowed in laugher. Against his pulsating urge to fight back, he submitted, he placed Pepper slowly on the ground gently and stood silent as sharp pincers began to tear at his flesh.
It was night time before Tony returned to Stark Tower. He had pushed himself, with the assistance of JARVIS, and just about scanned the entire state of New York before he gave up. No! Not gave up Tony cursed to himself. Just need to reassess and restrategize. I'll never give up on you Pepper!
He had ignored the incoming phone calls all day. He could care less what any of the callers had to say. Every time a prompt appeared on his HUD of a call or a message the bitter taste of bile rose in his throat and he mentally cursed the sender to hell. So far, the whole Avengers team and Nick Fury was damned to Hell, three or four times.
Landing on the Tower balcony, still broken courtesy of Thor, Tony walked still suited inside his penthouse apartment noticing immediately that he wasn't alone.
Sitting on his couches waiting in silence was a melancholic looking Thor, Steve, Clint and Natasha. He didn't bother to lift his Iron Man mask to greet them. Instead he strode over to his bar, keeping his back to them, and searched his alcohol collection for which bottle he would empty tonight first.
Tony chose a strong variety of scotch, reaching for a glass, taking care not to crush the glass under the power of his suit, and poured. Opening his mask he took a big swig before he looked at the people in his penthouse eyeing him in silence and said with a resentful frown, "Get out."
"Tony" Steve uttered getting to his feet.
"I said get the fuck out!" Tony hallowed back throwing his half full glass across the room. The sound of the glass smashing against the tiles made everyone except Tony cringe.
Clint and Natasha stood up, eyeing Tony hesitantly, before turning away and walking towards the elevator to leave.
"Wait" Steve called out to them.
Tony was ready to punch Steve in the throat.
The soldier turned back to the hostile Iron Man with a pleading look on his face, "Tony you need to calm down."
It was all Tony needed. Trudging over to the casual dressed soldier and reaching him in mere strides, Tony put all the force he could muster and socked Steve right in the left jaw. The punch sent Steve flailing back onto the couch.
Tony moved to lay into Steve once more, but he was thwarted by two arms squeezing around his chest. Thor had grabbed him from behind, and was holding him with all his might to stop him from pounding Steve into a bloody pulp. Natasha and Clint had dashed across the room and now each of them was holding onto the determined Iron Man, one on each arm, detaining him from Steve who was sprawled out half dazed on the couch.
Tony let out a brutal growl as he tried pushing forward out of the holds of the three people restraining him.
"Tony!" Thor yelled into his ear, "We are not your enemies." But Thor's call fell on deaf ears.
Minutes passed of Tony trying to break away and his restrainers holding and puling and adjusting their grips until Tony's knees buckled in exhaustion and he slumped onto the ground. Breathing heavily, Thor arms still holding tightly around his chest, Tony felt numb and cold as beads of sweat ran down his face. Sanity returning, he looked up to see Clint, Natasha and Steve hovering over him cautiously.
"Ok," He submitted in defeat, "I'm done. Let me go get changed."
Thor released his hold on Tony cautiously wary if it was just a ploy, but against the suspicion Tony just sighed, and left the room ins silence keeping his eyes to the floor as he went.
It was almost half an hour until Tony returned to the living area less one Iron Man suit. Before joining the others on the couches he eagerly retrieved his bottle of scotch and a new glass from the kitchen.
Not looking directly into the faces of anyone around him, Tony slumped in his chair, left hand holding his filled glass, right hand gripping the bottle, and waited for someone to start while sipping unemotionally at his drink.
"Tony," Steve began, and Tony now noticed the decently sized blue discoloration appearing on the side of his jaw, "I know you must be so pissed at us but please give me a chance to explain."
Taking a swig of his drink, finishing the glass, then pouring himself another, Tony hissed, "How about I summarise it for you. You three," he scowled moving his eyes to Steve, Clint and Natasha, "were just following orders. Like good little dogs. Director asshat said apprehend Loki. Catch him off guard. And it was strategically decided to keep me and Thor in the dark." Another gulp. "Great plan!" no attempt at hiding the disdain.
"I wasn't involved." Steve replied.
"You sent me the messages."
"I was asked to."
Tony snorted, "I don't believe you."
Steve frowned, "Well, it's the truth. The minute I got back to SHIELD headquarters I went straight to Fury and explained the situation. It took me hours to convince him that Loki was here diplomatically, and he agreed to let it pan out the way Thor suggested. Or so I thought."
Steve's face was shrouded in emotional ache, like a kicked puppy, as he lowered his gaze to the floor. Tony believed him. He couldn't bring himself to consider Steve would be deceptive enough to have played a role in the ambush. It just wasn't the Captain. Plus, it explained why he wasn't suited up, was missing one shield, and looked shell shocked during the whole thing.
"And you two?" Tony snarled eyeing Clint and Natasha who sat side by side on their own couch.
"Following orders." Clint replied uncomfortably.
Another gulp and a refill required.
"We fucked up Tony," Clint continued, "We should of told you." The frown on Tony's face intensified as he eyed his drink.
Natasha stepped in, "Fury ordered us to keep you and Thor out. Thor, obviously, because of his emotional attachment to Loki..." Thor shifted in his seat and hissed, the first movement and sound he had made since Tony rejoined them, "and you because you were compromised."
Tony's hand gripped too tightly around his glass, "Compromised!?"
Natasha softened her tone, "Tony, it's Loki. He doesn't do anything unless he wants to. He wanted to get all us all gathered together. He was up to something and we couldn't risk losing the element of surprise. Can't you see that?"
Thor stomped his foot at Natasha, gripping at the armchair slightly tearing the leather at the seams, "You are wrong! This was not Loki's plan!"
"Really Thor?" Clint interjected, "Then whose was it? Yours? Did you plan the entire thing without any input from Loki?"
Thor hesitated before he responded, "Loki did not plan to have his magic bound. He did not plan to admit repentance at SHIELD."
"But he did want all the Avengers present yes?" Natasha added.
"Yes." Thor admitted morbidly, suspicion and doubt forming in his mind.
"And you also thought he couldn't harm anyone." Tony perked at Natasha's point. Thor had told them Loki was unable to harm anyone, then he remembered blue skin, and magic, and a force thrusting agents painfully across the room.
Tony dropped his bottle. The anger he felt when he first returned to the Tower was back in full force. Leaping to his feat he faced Thor with an accusing finger, "You said Loki had a binding spell. That he couldn't physically harm anyone! I don't know what classifies harm on Asgard, but throwing people across the room looked like it hurt."
Thor sat unintimidated by Tony's physical stance over him, "It was his Jotun form," he admitted solemnly.
"His what?" Three voices asked simultaneously.
Thor leant forward, leaning his elbows on his knees as he began what he knew would be a lengthy explanation.
"I have previously informed you all of Loki's past," as Thor spoke Tony returned to his seat, his anger subsiding, and nodded with Clint and Natasha, "that Loki is half Aesir, half Jotun. The Jotun are a abhorrent race in Asgard which is why the Allfather kept Loki's parentage a secret, even from me.
"When we first lost Loki to the abyss of space, Father enlightened me how Loki uncovered the truth... I knew then that Loki's fate was by my own doing. "
Thor took a deep breath, intertwining his fingers together anxiously.
"I took my brother and my friends with me to Jotunheim to confront their King. Asgard had been infiltrated by Jotuns who attempted to steal a powerful artefact from the vault. The Casket of Ancient Winters. They did not succeed, but I was so full of rage that I disobeyed the Allfathers direct orders not to push the matter any further.
"I sought answers from Laufrey, the King of Jotunheim, but when one of his court offended me, I engaged his army in battle."
Thor was running his hands through his hair sighing deeply, his face contorted with regret.
"After that, I was banished for my transgressions. During my exile Loki ventured to the vault. Father told of how Loki was grasping the Casket, his eyes terrified at the sight of his skin turning into that of a Jotun at the touch of the artefact. Somehow, Loki knew he wasn't a pure Aesir and that the cold frost revealed his true self. I do not doubt that something must have transpired during our venture to Jotunheim which arose Loki's suspicion.
"I have always had a problem with my anger friends. Even today, when I attacked one of my most respected and beloved allies by mere speculation that I had been betrayed."
Thor looked ill as he spoke, his shoulders slumping heavy and his eyes faintly misting on the surface.
"So, no one ever told Loki? He found out on his own?" Natasha asked, Thor giving her a sombre nod.
"That's fucked." Clint responded.
Tony cursed under his breath, "No, what's fucked is that that sociopath uses this as an excuse to shit over everyone and everything around him! I had a rough childhood, but do I go around killing and kidnapping people!?"
Natasha bit her tongue, holding back a remark about the 'killing' testimonial. Tony was not in the right state to accept that building weapons was an indirect method to killing.
"What you saw today was Loki's Jotun form. I did not know he could change by will power alone. Something he must have mastered in the time after his decent." Thor let the other draw their own conclusions.
"It interrupted the binding spell." Clint stating the obvious.
"Indeed." Thor agreed.
A few seconds passed in uncomfortable silence.
"Now." Tony declared, putting down his almost finished bottle of scotch and empty glass, "If we are all done with talking of why everything went to shit, I'd like to discuss a strategy of tracking down Loki."
The room was thick with hesitation before Clint answered, "That, may be a problem Tony."
Tony frowned irately, his eyes narrowing into slits, "Why?"
Thor turned his body to Tony to address him personally, "I have already explained to our friends the likelihood that we may be unable to trace Loki."
"What!" Tony yelled almost chocking on his own tongue.
"The magic used to teleport Loki this morning was not his own..."
"How the hell do you know that!" Tony roared loudly over Thor.
"Every sorcerer I have encountered has their own... magic signature, would be the simplest way to describe it. Loki's signature is well known to me. He has used his magic many times in my presence. I did not recognise the magic that removed my brother, and your lady Potts."
Tony collected himself, his heart pounding against his chest in panic, "So he had help" Natasha Noted. Thor just nodded in agreement.
"So..." Clint began, "What can we do?"
Thor looked at his friend firmly, determined and unfaltering eyes promising them, "I will request the aid of Heimdell to keep his eyes on all the nine realms for any trace of Loki, or lady Potts."
"Wait," Tony panicked, "The nine realms"
"He could be anywhere my friend."
"Holy fuck!" Tony's head spun. He needed another drink.
2 Weeks Later
Tony had been staring at the screen of his computer for hours. Most of his days had started to meld together into the same depressed unhealthy routine. He would wake up startled from his sleep from a vivid nightmare, covered in sweat, and instantly reach for painkillers or an alcoholic drink to calm him down.
He would clean and dress himself, ignore for the most part any request of his body for food, and venture down to his lab to work.
In the past weeks, Tony had been enhancing the portal detection technology, adding the energy readings that JARVIS was able to scan when Loki disappeared that day at SHIELD headquarters. Tony barely left his computers, or Stark Tower for that matter, hoping that the device would pick up the same readings somewhere on earth.
So far, not even a whisper of the energy, or any portal, was detected. Not since Thor returned to Asgard a week ago to expand his search for Loki. Thor vowed to return if he even got a hint of a trace of Loki.
With each day that passed Tony by, the hope that the portal detector would soon alert Tony of an incoming gateway transporting his Pepper home and safe diminished and it had taken all his strength and willpower to not succumb to grief. He kept in touch with his team, informing them that he had no new information. They kept calling him, Steve and Bruce mostly, requesting an update. Tony started to suspect it was only to check up on him rather than actually calling for information. It was irritating.
He declined their invitations to visit. Explained he had important work to do. He even avoided Bruce and the doctor's own dedicated lab in Stark Tower, each day retreating to his own lab. If Bruce did venture the extra floors up, he hardly spoke to him offering quick words such as "Hi, how are you,", "Nothing new","Yeah, I am fine." He wasn't fine, he was anything but fine, but he would rather close in on himself and subdue any anguish with alcohol than bleed his feelings all over the floor.
Stark Industries meanwhile was offhanded to temporary external management. Any major decisions were contracted to be run pass Tony, but those had stopped all together with the owner and sole shareholders informing the company staff that if anyone valued their jobs they would not contact him unless the company was about to collapse. Major decisions were thus put on hold and general management of the current operations put into place for the time being.
In the midst of the silence of his lab and how closed in on himself to the world Tony currently was, for a few seconds he didn't even register the blaring of the alarm from the screen in front of him. Realisation hitting like punch to the face, Tony fumbled in his chair almost tipping over as he sat up and looked at the data streaming across the monitor. His eyes devoured the information, and he reacted like a madman sprinting out of his lab and to the elevator.
"JARVIS" he commanded, "Bring me the elevator and prepare my suit."
"Yes, Sir"
He had never complained about it before, but in the minutes it took the elevator to reach the floor of the Tower with his suits, and the machines to attach each component to his body, Tony criticised the preparation time as way too long and he would see to it that the turnover time be decreased dramatically.
The second his HUD palette came to life on the inside of his suit, Tony directed JARVIS to transfer all incoming data from the portal detector to his HUD and open his exit doorway. The wall adjacent to Tony's suit capsules shifted with the sound of gears as the not-wall gave way to the outside of New York City.
Iron Man soared across the New York sky following the path the HUD was feeding him to origin of the energy identified by the portal detector. Tony tried to hope that he had finally found what he had been searching for for the past weeks, but the infuriating voice from the logical side of his brain was flooding him with the uncertainty that after two weeks he might not like what he finds.
Eventually he found himself on the outskirts of New York city near an abandoned industrial complex. The HUD was being annoyingly inaccurate as to a precise location of the foreign energy, so Tony circled the area looking for a sign of... anything. Then something caught his eye and he adjusted his flight path descending straight into the ground.
Two bodies lay disturbingly still on the grey cement of the ground. One a woman laid curled up, he face buried under her red hair, and the other Tony could see, even through the deep gashes and blood covering his face, was Loki.
Tony's heart stopped and he ran to the woman, taking her in his arms. He held his breath as he turned her face towards him, dreading the wounds he would soon see upon her, dreading that the woman would not be Pepper, dreading that the woman would be dead.
Turning her over, Tony could not form the words of overwhelming relief when he saw Pepper's face. Her beautiful unscathed face. Iron Man's helmet retracted revealing the concerned face of Tony Stark, "Pepper, Pepper wake up." He called shaking the woman gently in his arms, patting her face and holding her close. JARVIS had already been busy at work, "Scans reveal she is alive Sir. No external, or internal, injuries detected. She just appears to be unconscious"
Tony smiled in disbelief. He had her back. He had Pepper in his arms.
He picked her up and lowered his mask once more. The emotionless face of Iron Man turned to the other body laying lifeless on the ground and Tony then noticed the pool of blood gathering on the ground. Loki laid on his back, eyes closed, clothes and visible skin had been torn to shreds like someone had attacked the bastard with wolverine's claws.
Although not asked to, JARVIS turned his scanners to Loki and presented Tony with his observations, "Loki appears to have sustained deep wounds and muscle trauma to 84% of his body. No bone fractures and internal organs appear intact. Recommend immediate medical attention to avoid further blood loss or infection, or possible death."
Tony hesitated, conflicted.
Twenty minutes ago he would have revelled in choking the life out of Loki himself. This is what he wanted, Pepper safe in his arms and Loki suffering in torment.
Against the darker side of his disposition, he looked up towards the sky and screamed loudly at the clouds, "Thor! If you can hear me, then you better get your ass down here and save your goddamned brother! If not, then even better!"
With that Iron Man engaged his stabilisers and took to the sky, Pepper held tightly in his arms. He was miles away and out of sight of the industrial area when the dark unnatural clouds began to form.
A/N Hello again readers.
First off: " three drops of blood from a red-haired woman" is an idea belonging to user "Potkanka". An amazing reviewer and I had to pop this somewhere in this chapter!
This was my longest chapter yet! But you all deserved it for being so supportive. I hope this uncovered some of the questions you guys were asking in the previous chapter, of course this chapter also raises NEW questions, but they are pivotal to the plot which will develop later ;).
Reviews are always VERY much appreciated. I also love when people surmise where the story might go. it really helps develop the plot into what people actually want to happen, or ways to twist it, or even to answer some questions that I may not even realise I had raised. Until next time then!