- Chapter 18 -
As Tony took the mask and solidified his will, Loki watched nervously. She hoped that he would understand her hint. It was as obvious as she could make it and still have the victory be his. When he fell to the floor, she stopped herself from going to him. When he began to thrash, a small whine worked its way out of her throat without her permission. When he began to pound on the floor Loki almost gave up on counting. It'd only been 18 seconds, and she already wanted to take the mask back. It was at 20 seconds that she noticed what Tony was doing. A broad smile came to her face as she relaxed. Tony was rhythmically pounding on the floor. He understood what she said. Loki continued counting, assured that he was fine.
.-.-.-.
Well done, Anthony. Frey smiled as he watched Anthony pound on the floor.
"Clever boy, Tony. Very clever," Clint chuckled. He was beginning to feel better. A thought and a feeling had taken root in his mind and begun to grow rapidly. It doesn't matter how I got to feeling better, it only matters that I can do the job again. The mission is what matters.
"What do you mean Clint? Stark is clearly in trouble," Thor looked worriedly at the screen. His shield-brother looked to be in trouble, but he couldn't do anything about it. Even with the more complicated situation with Stark, he was still uncomfortable simply watching Stark struggle instead of getting up to do something about it.
A frown touched Frey's lips then was aimed at his nephew again. The boy's lack of a proper education had always been grating. It was always such a disappointment to see how blind and foolish Thor was. It was an embarrassment that the Crown Prince of any realm should be so unknowledgeable. More than his disappointment in Thor was his disappointment in his beloved sister. Frigga knew better. He sighed miserably to himself. He couldn't be disappointed in her for very long. It wasn't her fault. It was his own. It was his own terrible choice that was the cause of it. He was the one who handed over the gilded sword pin and she made the best of it. What he wanted was a few bottles of his own ale while he was watching this. Frey smirked at his own foolish desires. Frigga would never know about that. Drinking them in front of her would only give himself away. He wasn't going to be the one to do that.
"He has to keep it on for a minute and Loki told him how to do it, he's fine," Clint looked back over his shoulder to speak to Thor. It was a very 'Tony Stark' thing to do, but the entire thing was confusing. Half of him was surprised that Loki would offer any help. The other half of him was surprised that Lilith hadn't just told him exactly what he needed to do, and then shown him how to do it. Lilith babied Tony a little too often. Loki was a murdering psychopath. That Loki was wearing Lilith's face, or Lilith was harboring Loki, was unsettling him.
Thor motioned to the screen, "How can you say this is fine?"
Clint began to pound on the table with his fist, in time with Tony's hitting the floor. He hit the table twice, "One, one thousand." He hit the table again in time with Tony, "Two, one thousand." He hit the table a third time and was pleased when Thor's eyes widened in understanding.
"I understand," Thor said with a new smile. How clever of you, Stark.
"Yeah, and Loki told him how to do it," Clint said quietly.
How so? Prince Loki offered no aid at all. Volstagg kept quiet after what happened with Fandral. Staying silent while they praised Prince Loki for being intelligent while he tortured a mortal seemed immoral, but he didn't want to be subject to either of the Lords' wrath. Lord Odin was displeased with Fandral. As a Captain in the Royal Guard, that was very bad for his friend. Since he was a Captain in the Royal Guard as well it wasn't something he wanted for himself. Watching Thor go after Fandral was close enough for him.
Well done, Anthony. Frey smiled at Anthony. He knew he could convince Loki to train him with it as well. He would enjoy being challenged again. More than that, he would enjoy meeting the woman who taught Loki. That was what he wanted most.
It must have been luck. Frigga's eyes narrowed some as she watched Stark. Him understanding the assistance that was given was pure luck and nothing else. She still wanted to know why her son was humoring such a foolish mortal. At least she hoped that Stark was mortal. It was already clear that he was a fool.
So, he's a clever fool. Odin was honestly surprised by Stark's understanding what Loki told him. Stark was still a fool with no business being near Loki. That he put hands on Loki was agitating. That Stark had married Loki without his consent was angering.
.-.-.-.
58, 59, 60, and done! Loki went to Tony's side and pulled him up into her lap so she could pop the latches. She pulled the mask from his head and surrounded him with her seidr. Once again, his own responded without hesitation. Orange flames flared from his skin. More silver sparks ignited before a shimmering golden radiance filled the air around them.
It took less time for Tony to recover. It was another minute later when his eyes finally came into focus and he looked up to see her smiling. He knew that look. He loved that look. "I did it, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did. I'm so proud of you, my Love," Loki leaned down to kiss his forehead.
When Tony sat up he paused instantly. The room spun violently then stopped just as quickly. "Whoa, that's a rush," he said.
Gripping the mask with her seidr let Loki dismiss it to the interdimensional pocket she carried around with her. She stood up and said, "Let's get you something to eat. Having a little something in your stomach will help."
Yeah food sounds good. I want some onion rings. Tony stood, stopped, remembered the original reason he'd come down there. The tablet was still squatting on the bench, glaring silently at him. "Oh, shit," he whispered. Loki was walking towards the door.
She stopped and turned around, "Coming, Love?"
"Yeah, I'm just, I'm a little," he looked down, suddenly at a loss for words. Tony preferred going back into the mask than talking to her about this.
Coming back, Loki leaned up to quickly kiss him. "Come on, I'll make you a strawberry smoothie. How does that sound?"
"Yeah," Tony smiled at her, "that sounds great." He snatched the tablet off the bench as he followed after her. Not this again.
.-.-.-.
The recording cut suddenly to Tony and Loki in their kitchen.
"Corporal McCorrmick, did you edit these?" Director Fury turned sharply as he spoke.
Shaking his head slightly McCorrmick replied, "No, sir. I decrypted them, ordered them by date and reconstructed any files that needed it. I didn't edit or otherwise alter the content of any file. All of the content came as is." The blurry image of two men standing behind Skuld drifted through his thoughts again. Who they were was still as much of a mystery as why he kept seeing them.
He frowned slightly. Director Fury turned back to the screen. He wanted to know what Stark was editing out of the files. Being shown only selected things wasn't enough. His ability to handle the situation was going to hinge on him seeing it all.
.-.-.-.
Moving around the kitchen briskly Loki was assembling what was needed to make a smoothie. She munched on the occasional strawberry as she put everything together. Tony sat at the island bar watching her as she worked. He looked down at the tablet from time to time, growing more anxious by the minute. By the time she placed a finished smoothie in front of him, Tony wasn't able to hide his nervousness. It was oozing out through his seidr alongside his ever-present rage.
After Loki pushed the smoothie across the counter, she put one last strawberry in her mouth. She loved strawberries. "Here you go, Love. Just for you." She'd noticed him looking nervously at her then the tablet, then back again. His seidr was drawing increasingly more attention to it. He only ever got that look on his face for one thing. She took a deep breath and looked squarely at him. "Well, let's do this then."
The smoothie was excellent, just like everything his wife made. Tony sipped at it. His fingers traced over the tablet. He didn't look at her when he started speaking. "I was looking over some old files, organizing things as I transfer them to the new server. I was looking over the first file," he gave her a pointed look, "I found something that I thought was a little odd. I didn't notice it at first, but when I was looking at it earlier, it stood out. It really stood out."
"Loki, you've never lied to me, have you?" Tony was upset as he spoke.
