Tony and the Neurotoxin
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Tony woke up to a sizeable hangover. He vaguely remembered tossing back a good portion of a bottle of scotch after his prototype proximity barrier failed. Even Bruce shook his head when it didn't work. Something was off with the displacement system.
He also wanted to be good and drunk before Sailor Moon came back, which he could tell would be around late that night based on his speed and trajectory.
The past three days everyone took by themselves, all coming and going because what happened at the Doomsday meeting took a lot of processing.
The Avengers were on board, they just now had to convince, well everyone else. Fun.
He, Bruce, Steve, and Nat had a good time taking bets on 'Where in the world Sesshomaru San Diego' would go next. Bruce won most of the time, which impressed Natasha, which was hard to do. No one knew how Bruce knew that Sesshomaru would go to Bee Cove Falls, South Carolina. Natasha did correctly guess Cape Hatteras. Steve correctly guessed Norfolk. No one guessed Charleston, South Carolina.
He did wonder how Loki would have done if he had participated, but the only interacted with Clint and Thor. Everyone saw him of course, but he never said anything. Which wasn't surprising, he also never walked around without Sailor Moon's sword, N*sync.
Tony wasn't sure what to make of that, Sesshomaru didn't look like the type to share.
Tony had originally expected Doomsday night to be a huge arduous, pain the ass argument over Sailor Moon strategizing a séance, an animal sacrifice, and pentagrams. Yet, he didn't even mention firing heads out of catapults of people he decapitated personally. His strategy, eerily, mirrored Loki's, just instead of a hole in a city wall, a space portal, and instead of a fire attack, a nuclear warhead.
To say that Tony was impressed, was a considerable understatement. This guy was for real.
And then of course they royally pissed off the prissy Demon. Man could that guy take things personally, and in the worst possible way.
Didn't he get Bruce didn't mean it as an insult, but if anything it was a compliment? His version was so spot on that Bruce thought it could have been copied?
Really, Sailor Moon was way too touchy.
Tony remembered the conversations he had with Bruce about the iridium on the helicarrier three years ago and that once he obtained it from Stuttgart he could make the portal as large as he could.
He also recalled how he told Loki that pissing off the Avengers was a bad plan. A terrible plan to succeed with an invasion, but a perfect plan to fail one.
He was also right about Loki being a diva. No one had realized that the whole thing was a play, and they were actors all performing to Loki's script, dancing to his beat. It angered and impressed him. Loki was smart. Almost too smart.
Bruce, however, was right about him being bag-full-of-cats crazy. Loki lost everything, but as they say the show must go on.
And it wasn't like SHIELD wasn't in the wrong. They were the ones who tinkered with the tesseract. Fury wanted to weaponize it. Thor was probably right, if it wasn't Loki who came for the disco cube, it would have been someone else.
'That didn't mean that SHIELD was right about weaponizing the tesseract. No one knows it's capabilities, not even me nor Bruce. Nuclear deterrents aren't the answer here. We need to be smart. We need defense. We need specialized tactical weapons specialized for our enemy.' Tony thrashed under his sheets trying to get comfortable again.
Which, is another reason Loki brought Sailor Moon to the 21st century. He was their literal secret weapon. Just as importantly he was a weapon SHIELD couldn't point and pull the trigger on.
Oh. Yeah.. SHIELD.
Of course they had to let SHIELD know about Reindeer Games and his bestie Sailor Moon. At first on doomsday night Tony figured the Avengers would have to come to some sort of consensus on what to do with Reindeer Games.
Executing him was off the table. Not only because Point Break would bludgeon them and then Sailor Moon would use their bones as toothpicks, but if Loki knew the enemy, they would need his knowledge of Thanos, the Other, their ships, and what other Power Ranger putties they had to worry about.
Tony had been cycling his mind between either creating some sort of containment field for Loki, or just sending him to some sort of SHIELD black site. But it sure sounded like if Azkaban on Asgard couldn't hold him, SHIELD couldn't. And if Tony couldn't get his proximity barrier to expand correctly, there'd be a big delay in creating a whole magic-negating containment field.
Yet, the whole issue on: 'What to do with the super villain who just decided to flip sides and buck his superiors' was moot as soon as Sesshomaru answered Clint's question.
Tony had felt the pressure drop from Thor, and the temperature drop from the Demon Lord instantaneously. Tony knew. He knew exactly what happened. Because the exact same thing happened to him in Afghanistan. Tony sat straight as a board as Sesshomaru dripped his toxin onto his floor, and black and green smoke came out from behind Loki's eyes and ankles.
Loki stood broken, panicked, and on the verge of losing it, and he understood why. The one person he thought he couldn't really have much in common with, and here he was, they could join the same support groups. They could probably swap prescriptions. Loki had been taken apart, tortured, and then sent to do their dirty work.
'I still have the nightmares, the waterboarding, the terror. They aren't called terrorists because they couldn't find something better to call them. PTSD isn't a cute walk through a poppy field.' Tony rolled over in his bed, tangled in sheets, not wanting to get up.
Thor, the poor guy, was just frozen. You could've taken Mjolnir from him and he wouldn't have noticed. Actually, everyone froze except Nat who, freak of nature, probably saw this one coming. She moved for her gun, just in case Loki combusted.
And, it all clicked for Tony at that point. Sesshomaru had had the utmost confidence in Loki. To Sesshomaru, Loki was uncontainable, maybe unbeatable. Sesshomaru looked up to Loki. And that meant Sesshomaru viewed Loki as someone at least on his level in power and intellect.
Which alarmed him. They really had no idea what Bambi nor Sailor Moon were truly capable of, still! Point Break was the closest one, and he apparently had memory gap issues.
Clint that night literally jumped like someone tazed him. This was the same guy who put eight arrows into Reindeer Games, who probably even tried to light him up with the Quinjet's turret gun. Clint had moved up to be noticed by the smoking God. Clint's voice sounded like plea that went unheard by the God and the Demon Lord. He just said one word: 'Loki?'.
Loki's words had darkened the air as he turned into a damn magic tree in the middle of his living room. He so called it on house plants, by the way. Just what had he gotten himself into now?!
Then, poof, he was gone! Tony immediately asked Jarvis where. When Jarvis reported back that he was in substorage room 3-b, Sesshomaru menacingly glared at Thor and all but ordered Thor down there.
'Well, who's kidding who. Sailor Moon did order Point Break down there for what was probably going to be some really awkward, past due, brotherly bonding time. Thank biology I am an only child.' Tony remembered Thor walked past them in a trance, dropping Mjolnir along the way like a forgotten sandwich.
His poor floor. First Sesshomaru's mountain dew goo melting it, then Mjolnir denting it. Maybe he could charge that to Agent.
"Good morning sir. Miss Potts is here. Everyone is currently in the central room with the exception of Sir Sesshomaru and Mr. Barton." Tony groaned, groping his side table for ibuprofen he knew existed. Clint was probably out firing arrows into apples with Fury's face on them.
"...jus callim Lor Sessomu." Tony replied half muffled by his pillow, Sir Sesshomaru just sounded too weird. Tony found his advil and downed three tablets with a gulp of what was water, and thankfully not vodka. Tony still had to get Clint back for that one time he pranked him. Tony rubbed his eyes and got up to enter the bathroom.
"Of course sir. I dropped the temperature in the kitchen to accommodate the crabs, though I do urge they be cooked soon." Jarvis informed Tony as he turned on the shower.
"Good thinking Jarvis, we will have a good ol family reunion. I'll even get the potato salad." As Tony began to shower it all clicked back in mind.
The crabs. Sesshomaru. He actually grabbed him. He caressed his fucking stripe. He asked him if he was going to stay. At least he said yes. Since when did he sound so needy? Tony squirted out way too much shampoo in frustration. What exactly was he thinking? Why did he care if he stayed?!
The past three days he avoided thinking about what Sailor Moon would decide. Tony wanted him to stay. He had gotten used to him. Where would the fun be if he decided to leave? Whose ass would Tony watch, maybe even smack again?! Hopefully do more with… no. Bad. Idea.
And of course what would happen if SHIELD found him and decided they wanted a new guinea pig? Like Tony Stark would let that happen.
"Jarvis remind me never drink and think again. Or touch the Demon Lord. Or any combination of the two." Tony called out, he turned the water cold due to him thinking of a certain testy Demon Lord naked made him hard again.
"Noted sir." Jarvis responded and Tony finished his shower, brushed his teeth and slung a towel around his waist. Throwing some gel in his hair and slipping on jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt he saw it was only 10:39 am. Not bad for a hangover. He spotted the red and gold Japanese outfit hanging out of place in his closet. It wasn't that bad to have variety, right? Tony wasn't sure why he hadn't gotten rid of it yet, or why he hung it up in his main closet, and not in some sort of storage box.
Tony blamed laziness, he wasn't going to touch the real reason why with a yardstick.
He walked out into the main room to see Rin making pincher motions with her hands, everyone seated, some eating, Steve was watching the pregame to a baseball game with Thor. Loki stood next to Rin, looking freshly showered. Pepper stood with her hands on her hips.
"Rin, your father has a lot of explaining to do. How can he sleep in this long? Oh good, Tony you're up. Go get Sesshomaru, he's slept in long enough." Pepper was all business and Loki translated some of it to Rin who chatted back. Why him? Why did he have to get the Demon?
"Rin says that Sesshomaru is not her father, but her Lord, and that Sesshomaru has not slept in over a month which is why he is not present." Loki responded, though Tony heard a hint of something hiding in Loki's voice. Like perhaps that wasn't all what she said. Natasha didn't say anything, or react in any way however. Neither did Point Break.
"I think that breaks your record, Tony." Bruce pointed; Pepper did not look amused. His own record may have been like four days, but then again he was a 'mere human…or mortal' depending on which supernatural being in his tower you asked.
"Lord Sesshomaru does not require as much sleep as humans do! His stamina is unmatched!" Jaken squawked, and Tony couldn't help but smirk at the innuendo. Natasha also picked up on it, seeing the glimmer in her eye. However, not knowing Toady he could have meant it both ways.
"Do not get me started with you, Jack. You are the absolute worst babysitter. I don't even want to know what you fed Rin when Sesshomaru was gone." Pepper glared at Jaken who huffed. "Tony." Just then the man of the hour entered, looking worse for the wear.
Tony definitely didn't remember his shoulder bleeding last night. The right side of his outfit had been singed off, revealing a nasty raw, blistered wound below. He looked around and Rin went up to him and said something and he shook his head.
"What happened to you?" Tony blurted out, noting while Sesshomaru looked as impassive as ever, he looked paler than usual, which meant he was transparent. Everyone turned to Sesshomaru in response. Sesshomaru definitely didn't seem like the type to display wounds, and his youki could heal him, so why hadn't he done it already?
"...a spar." Sesshomaru responded as Rin picked up a flailing crab. Sesshomaru tapped her on the head gently. Rin, laughing, waved it in the air.
Wouldn't Rin care more that Sailor Moon looked like he had gone through a ninja blender? How used to seeing Sesshomaru injured was she?
"Lover's spat. But don't worry 'Sesshoki' are back on. We can post it on Twitter." Natasha took a sip of coffee and Tony pretended not to be pissed at Loki as he went to get his own coffee. So, Loki decided to take out his Post Traumatic Stress on Sailor Moon?
Tony supposed it would make sense. If Loki challenged Thor, he would be basically challenging the Avengers, and not that Loki could hold much of his own in a one on one fight against Thor.
'But picking a fight with Sailor Moon after he got back from what was essentially an "Eat Pray Love triathlon?" Low blow.' Tony's attitude soured, Sesshomaru didn't look like it phased him, but his ears were flat against his head the entire time he had been upstairs. Tony knew that wasn't normal.
"Brother! That is not the way we greet our loved ones on Asgard!" Thor stood from the sofa in an outburst and Steve turned to Loki as well.
"Well we aren't on Asgard are we Thor?!" Loki shot back. Sesshomaru turned from the both of them, looking bored as usual, except Tony saw his eyes didn't seem to be focused on anything really.
"Hey, guys, the game is about to start!" Steve announced, obviously trying to get Thor distracted. Pepper marched up to Sesshomaru.
"You can't leave your daughter spontaneously for three days to go off loafing about. Jaken is a horrible care taker. He even told her not to bathe because he was afraid of the bathtub. And when I took her to the dentist, and the doctor for a work up the dentist said she has had baby teeth knocked out and the doctor said she had fractures, stab wounds, and evidence of concussions. He said he was surprised she was even alive! Care to explain?" Pepper nearly exploded. Sesshomaru's knuckles cracked, Tony even noted his ears lowered.
"...are you implying this Sesshomaru is negligent?" The temperature in the room dropped a good ten degrees. Fuck. Everyone backed up, even Natasha who instinctively went for a paring knife. Well, everyone except Pepper, Jaken and Rin. Rin just tilted her head up at Sesshomaru, obviously she had no idea what got him so pissed, again.
"No. But someone or some Demons obviously did something to her." Pepper stood resolute and Sesshomaru calmed the temperature in the room gradually warmed. Tony let loose a breath he didn't know he was holding, why couldn't they just have a nice, peaceful morning when he had hangover? Why did he have to prepare for defcon-2?
"Rin, do not listen." Sesshomaru advised and Rin put the placing the crab back into the sink and plugged her ears and hummed a song Tony didn't know.
"The humans do not treat orphans well in my time. Rin was no exception. She was attacked by a local wolf tribe and left for dead. This Sesshomaru then took her as a ward." He explained, and tapped Rin who looked back up to him. Pepper stilled. It was hard to remember life five hundred years ago was pretty brutal. Everything now made total sense.
Everyone looked to cheerful little Rin.
"I apologize. Thank you for your explanation. You still can't just go off on your own anymore." Pepper scolded and before Sesshomaru could respond Tony decided to cash in his request.
"Yeah, about that request you owe me. You can't leave New York City without another Avenger. That's my request. And Loki so doesn't count. You guys together are a disaster waiting to happen." Tony smirked triumphantly. Sesshomaru stilled, clearly not liking how Tony decided to use that request.
"…Very well. This Sesshomaru accepts." Just then Clint stormed in with a bag and slammed it down on the counter in front of Sesshomaru. Toady jumped and Sesshomaru's eyes widened a fraction.
"You got those blue crabs right? Straight from Charleston?" Clint asked, looking a little tense and a lot more awkward. He acted like a teenager trying to apologize for taking the family car for joyride and hitting a mailbox.
"..." Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow, as if to say he should already know the answer. He shifted his weight to his left leg, which Tony now saw his right pant leg was burned off, and the skin on his knee looking pink and raw. Loki definitely got the drop on him, Loki didn't have a scratch. Tony took an angry gulp of his coffee, burning his tongue.
"Here, I got this for you. You don't eat crabs right? This butcher is an old friend of mine. This is the best venison in the city." Clint still sounded awkward as hell while boasting. Then it made sense.
The Quinjet, Nat slamming Clint, Sesshomaru blocking them and Loki looking savage as all get out. Clint wanted to attack Sailor Moon, not Loki. Christ, everyone had anger management issues. It's a good thing that Loki and Clint are now taking it out on each other in their 'Fight Club' sessions. Let them beat themselves up over their issues and leave Sailor Moon out of it.
"You appreciate the shellfish?" Sesshomaru asked, sounding a bit innocent while peering into in the bag.
"Like a good bullseye." Clint answered. Sesshomaru smirked slightly, feeling vindicated, looking at both Loki and Tony. Tony took another big sip of coffee. Tony didn't feel guilty for making fun of Sesshomaru. Bringing back a bunch of crabs is weird. Clint is weird.
"This Sesshomaru accepts your barter. You may have first choice of crabs after Rin." Sesshomaru's ears went up and his eyes lit with humor. Clint jacked back his elbow and fisted his hand in victory.
"So not fair. This bartering thing has gotten way out of control." Tony took another gulp of coffee. Bruce shot him a knowing look.
Stupid intelligent Bruce. He should have never had that drunken heart to heart with him last night.
"Tony, Sorry, trying to get a proximity barrier up in running using the juice of a guy who isn't here just isn't panning out well. We should just wait till he comes back." Bruce threw his glasses down in defeat.
"That implies if he actually sticks around. He really took what you said the same way Pepper does when I say things: totally wrong." Tony put down the proximity barrier trigger mechanism in defeat.
"He'll stick around. He just needs time to cool off. He was putting off some pretty nasty vibes, like he was about to go full wolverine on something. The other guy didn't like it." Bruce replied and for once Bruce was the optimist.
"…yeah, Sailor Moon better stay, Reindeer Games has been on edge, and just carries his stupid sword N*sync everywhere." Tony leaned back in his workshop chair, watching the youki bubble and not expand, almost halfway through the bottle of scotch.
"He hasn't been the only one on edge." Bruce looked to Tony pointedly.
"Who me?" Tony leaned forward, taken aback.
"Well, yeah, you. You're fixated. You've either been out of it or showing Rin Japanese subbed Bill Nye the science guy videos, probably to win her over so Sesshomaru won't take off again. You made bets on where he goes, and what music he listens to. Since when do you care so much about stuff like that? You're totally mystified by the guy." Bruce pointed out, taking a sip of his own tumbler of scotch. Tony poured another for himself.
"He's an unpredictable Demon Lord who is harder to read than the Zodiac Killer's notes and he is Loki's bestie. What's not to be mystified by? The bets were to distract everyone from Bambi's psychotic break." Tony took another sip, and another. Bruce wasn't convinced.
"I think it's more than that. You slapped his ass on the helipad and carried him down to your basement, then dressed up like him. Do you even remember the way you botched your 'hear ain'ts' delivery because your jaw was on the floor?" Bruce lifted his glass as if to cheers his own epiphany. Tony rolled his eyes.
"Ok, one, worth it. Two, bet. Three, indecently dressed." Tony explained, rather poorly, the scotch getting the better of him.
"Worth it?" Bruce asked, clearly amused.
"…He's got a good ass. And he still got me ice cream afterwards. What's a Playboy to do?" Tony admitted and Bruce scoffed.
"What will you do if he leaves?" Bruce retorted and Tony rolled his head and his eyes.
"Have Point Break follow him around singing sonnets until he comes back. You know how bad his singing is, and he already gets under Sailor Moon's skin" Tony smirked.
"I'll get biscuits we can all have dinner tonight and strategize for how we are going to get SHIELD on board." Steve piped up. Teacher's pet.
"...you can have the next choice after Barton." Sesshomaru affirmed, Loki looked amused to hell, glancing in Tony's direction for the first time in days.
"I can get shrimp cocktails." Bruce's smile was too damn big. He knew this would send Tony over the edge.
"Can we cool it with the bartering?" Tony groaned, how did this get so out of control? They were just crabs! Crabs! If they wanted seafood so bad he could have gotten some!
He could also call up his butcher. He was probably better than Clint's too. He could get Sailor Moon a way better cut of venison.
"Says the billionaire. I'll make a fruit salad, no strawberries." Natasha chimed in, pointing to Pepper who smiled, Tony grumbled again. He had almost forgotten that one time he got Pepper all those damned strawberries.
"I can have Happy swing by the bakery and get a key lime pie." Pepper offered. Traitor. Loki looked to her direction, smiling in anticipation. He did like lime sherbet! And Pepper was indulging Loki. Loki! What in the name of thermonuclear astrophysics was happening?!
"I shall procure more human spirits! Brother accompany me!" Thor exclaimed, not bothering with his inside voice. Loki rolled his eyes, but didn't say no. That, again, was the most expression Tony had seen the God make since his episode.
By the end of the exchange, there was a damn list, Tony was at the bottom with potato salad. Tony never bottomed.
He did need to get laid. He looked over to Sesshomaru who was still inspecting his steak. Sesshomaru definitely looked like he topped.
Eventually everyone went their separate ways except Sesshomaru, Rin, Jaken, and Tony remained in the kitchen.
"We will depart soon Rin." Sesshomaru murmured and she nodded, continuing to color. Jaken looked irritated.
"Lord Sesshomaru, I can't believe you this Magic God's attack upon you go unpunished! These Gods and humans spell disaster! This realm is not your responsibility. I do not wish to see more harm come to us!" Jaken accused, practically jumping and Sesshomaru frowned slightly.
"Do not doubt this Sesshomaru, Jaken." Sesshomaru reassured half-heartedly, as if he neglected the word 'please'. Tony studied the distracted Demon Lord, he caught the blank look in his eyes, the tremor in his hands.
"You don't look so good, Sailor Moon. Go shower so you don't look like motorcycle crash victim of the Isle of Man TT. Pepper got you new clothes, they're in the closet in the spare room." Sesshomaru looked to Tony and he hated the way his gold eyes seemed so sharp and distant at the same time.
Sesshomaru nodded slowly and Tony also didn't like new found obedience. He wanted Sailor Moon to banter with him like he did the morning of the microwave incident.
"He'd be fine if that damned God didn't use his magic poison on him! It's slowing his healing process!" So that's what's got Toady in a spat. Loki could poison Sesshomaru. Great. Poison! Maybe this was Game of Thrones after all.
Loki had clearly been though a lot, and it's obvious that Sesshomaru was the only one he trusted here. Loki must have had really took it personally when Sailor Moon left. Both of them took everything too damn personally.
'Maybe I should have a chat with Loki about poisoning people in my own Tower.' Tony decided to pour some whiskey in his coffee when he refilled it.
"So does your poison affect Loki the same as his does you?" Sesshomaru turned to Tony, face unreadable. Tony had thought that it would spark some sort of emotion in the Demon, but none surfaced. It was like he was deep within his own mind.
"It is a neurotoxin." Sesshomaru corrected, eyes gazing past him, walked by Tony to the bathroom. Tony remembered the other day when he smiled and this was not even close to the same person.
"That would make more sense if you were like a Snake Demon…since when do Dogs even have venom?" No response from Sailor Moon "So is it the same?" Tony prompted, trying to goad him into giving him more information, more anything than this…zombie.
"With Loki, it tampers with his ability to access his magic temporarily. On him and others depending on the potency and amount, causes extreme pain or death." With that Sesshomaru slipped into the bathroom, sounding as if he was a thousand miles away.
'I guess he isn't feeling chatty, but I got what I needed. If his toxin works that way on as powerful as Loki, it can probably work on the Chitauri, or Thanos and The Other. The magic hampering ability aside, it would be good to have weaponized. Not that I make weapons wholesale anymore, these would just be for Clint, Natasha and I. SHIELD wouldn't be getting access to these.' Tony reassured himself and his brain lit up with possible ways he could use his toxin, perhaps even in the repulsors in his suit.
Specialized, tactical warfare. Better than a nuclear deterrent.
'Thanos. The Other. They have the power to imprison Loki, to turn him inside out and make him say how high when they ask him to jump. They scared Loki into risking his 'better half' to come to the future, to risk his own life. These guys are serious bad news and we need some serious bad news weapons to take them on.' He automatically began to walking up to his workshop where he found Bruce had already started working.
"Sailor Moon says his green goo is actually a neurotoxin that can temporarily block Loki's access to his magic." Tony informed, and Bruce looked up impressed.
"If we can properly synthesize it, we can put it in bullets and on our other weapons. We can get a huge advantage on the Chitauri and their magic." Bruce leaned back, eyes up thinking of all the practical purposes of the toxin.
"Yeah, and remember what Thor said a few days ago? Sesshomaru's youki basically neutralizes magic of a same strength. Sesshomaru is basically a sorcerer's worst nightmare." Tony felt bit less desolate about the world coming to an end. Again.
"More like opposites. Loki did a number on your new crush. It's too soon to say that he is the answer to our prayers here." Bruce ribbed and Tony furrowed his eye brows.
"Tony Stark does not crush. Tony Stark merely observes beauty in many forms, and dabbles in...well most. He is just a form I currently like observing." Tony replied, as non-chalantly as he could, knowing exactly where Sesshomaru was in a shower nude, wet and shimmering.
No. Tony. No. Focus on work.
"So, is that why you were uneasy, bored out of your mind, and drinking like a fish the past few days?" Bruce barbed back, all snark. Tony knew where this conversation was heading.
"Hey, I'm just observing him, nothing more. I'm always bored, and that Demon is weird. I mean crabs? Michael Jackson? And I always drink like a fish." Tony defended, he wasn't lying, he had his special coffee, things rarely kept his attention for long, and really hadn't done anything but observe him, well except the whole wrist thing.
"You're not bored when he's around, you're interested in his youki and toxin, and you haven't expressed the same interest in Loki's magic. Also, your face looked like murder when he came in this morning looking like roadkill." Bruce twirled a screwdriver and Tony fought the urge to smack it out of his hands.
"Temporary interest, if that. Once I figure him out, which won't be long, I'll move on to the next bigger, better thing. You know how fickle I am. And I am not about to ask Loki if I can study his magic when he seems as chill as a tire fire. And this morning I hadn't had my second cup of coffee yet. You know how I am under caffeinated." Tony took a sip of his spiked coffee. It didn't taste as good as he wanted it to.
"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much." Bruce smirked and Tony almost threw a bolt at him.
"Ugh, not you too with Shakespeare in the park. Even if I wanted to act on my impulse to study more of his physique than just his toxin, he's complicated. This whole thing is complicated. Tony Stark doesn't do complicated." Tony spun in his chair a bit, still thinking of how he was going to break it to Rhodey tonight about Loki and Sesshomaru. Guess he could invite him to dinner.
'Oh yeah, Rhodey, come by for dinner! We got a huge dinner party, oh yeah, and that's a Demon Lord, from five hundred years in the past. He has a human daughter and a Toad servant. Oh, and you know who his best friend is? Yeah. Loki! Remember him? Yeah, turns out he is on our side. Oh well, damn Rhodey maybe you shouldn't have shot the both of them. Bullets only piss off the Demon Lord, yeah he can melt bullets…Oh, and Loki? He can turn into a tree and teleport out of prison.' Tony imagined Rhodey shooting both of them before they could even get to dessert.
"He doesn't seem too complicated, just guarded like someone else I know. Also, you do both speak in the third person." Bruce must be feeling particularly funny today. Tony rubbed his beard wondering how integral Bruce was to the proximity barrier project. 'Aka project electric fence.'
Tony twisted his face, beginning to tinker that was another thing he had to get Sesshomaru's opinion on. Maybe he knew how to make it viable. They could make it bigger, disperse into orbit….
"Sir, Lord Sesshomaru requests entry into your workshop." Tony dropped the bolt he was fiddling with and Bruce chuckled. Tony. Fucking. Stark. Get a grip. Literally.
"Uh. Let him in. Let's see what Sailor Moon wants." Tony said as a freshly washed Sesshomaru came in, wearing a white t-shirt and dark wash jeans. He looked less intimidating in normal clothes that's for sure. God, he was crazy, scary good looking, even in just a white T-shirt.
Tony glanced down at the slender wrist he touched and saw it was blistered over in 2nd or 3rd degree burns, same as his right wrist. Did Loki try to tie him up?
A flurry of rage overtook Tony, out of the other wounds Loki dealt, this one inexplicably grated his brain like a soft cheese. He took another deep gulp of his whiskey fueled coffee.
That was it. He was going to give Bambi a piece of his mind. This was his damn tower, yeah Loki may have some serious PTSD but that did not mean he could burn his friend's hands off because he was too pissed to deal.
Tony locked eyes with Sesshomaru and it was if he had said his thoughts out loud because Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed in comprehension
That was…creepy.
"You seem curious of my toxin, and my youki, am I correct?" Sesshomaru's voice, while stoic, sounded almost soft. Tony nodded, trying to ignore the way Bruce's eyes taunted him. Dick.
"We need every advantage we can get, as you can probably imagine these guys aren't going to show up with muskets. Your neurotoxin is one of the strongest corrosive substances I have seen, and your proximity barrier could easily be an early detection relay if we can make it larger." Tony explained, twirling a stylus because he positively needed something to do with his hands.
"I see. You wish to try to use my toxin on weapons to give you a tactical offensive advantage and my youki for defensive purposes." Sesshomaru looked contemplative, focusing on the holograms in front of him.
"That's the gist of it. Except your toxin also eats through everything, well except Steve's shield which is made of vibranium. It would make it exceptionally hard to analyze." Bruce stated, looking at Tony, seeing his expression darken.
Pause.
"I have a barter to propose." Sesshomaru stated, looking directly into Tony's eyes, his gold eyes gleamed to life for the first time. Tony cursed that his treacherous heart skipped a beat, the moody Demon was a huge problem for him.
"Fine. Great. Is it more seafood?" Tony spat back with sarcasm, the best defense mechanism. Sesshomaru caught it.
"I will provide you my toxin and my youki, if you produce a similar ear device to allow Rin to understand what the humans here speak." Tony was blown away. A personal translator? Could he do it? Yeah. He was Tony Stark, master genius. Besides, anything to snap Sailor Moon out of his funk, ahem and of course for his toxin and the 'electric fence'.
"Yeah, I can figure out a 'com'rin'acator' for her. But we can't really study your toxin without it...well corroding everything." Tony responded and his answer was placed immediately in front of him. Sesshomaru's silk outfit.
"This is Spider Demon silk. It is infused with my youki. My own toxin will not corrode through it." He cut off a portion with a sharp talon and out from his talon dripped the acid green toxin. Sure enough the toxin beaded up on the square of silk, like it was hydrophobic.
"Convenient. Wait you're sure you want us to confetti your party dress?" Tony looked up to him, and all he wanted to do was to dominate him. Sesshomaru tossed his hair. Total Priss.
"I can regenerate it if you leave a good portion intact. I have already trimmed of the portions that had been stained with my blood." Sesshomaru informed him, Tony didn't know if he did that so he didn't have a sample of his blood, or out of his previous reaction the morning of the microwave.
He wasn't going to lick his blood again. That was for sure.
"Demon Lord and seamstress. Good to see you don't subscribe to traditional gender roles. But no seriously I'll get on Rin's thing, and this helps. Thanks." Tony groaned. Did he just say thanks? Seamstress? Why was he trying so hard?
"Can we get some more toxin samples before you go?" Bruce asked the smart question and Sesshomaru silently cut off more pieces of his outfit and put more drops of toxin onto them.
"Wait! Who did that ice cream chick give you to listen to a few days ago?" Sesshomaru turned back, ears up.
"Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, and a soundtrack to Queen of the Damned." Sesshomaru answered simply.
"Oooh, Queen of the Damned, Vampire soundtrack for the Demon Lord. You know because you both eat humans." Tony prompted. Sesshomaru eyes glittered in mirth.
"This Sesshomaru will not consume a human in this time." Tony and Bruce leaned back, um. What? Tony had not been serious about that. At. All.
Tony knew he had fangs like he ate people, but did that mean he actually did?! Goddamnit this was something he'd have to ask Thor about, and he better not have memory gap issues.
He had Hannibal fucking Lecter in his Tower!
It was then Sesshomaru revealed a small smirk.
'This impossible Demon is fucking with me. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully. I don't think my liver would pair well with a nice Chianti and fava beans. well, I mean, plenty of people have tasted me just in a completely different way.' Tony finished his spiked coffee.
"Ahem. Ok Silence of the Venison, uh…let's stick to music...which band is your favorite?" Tony would have to have a crush on the most dangerous person on this planet.
"In order of preference, I enjoy Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the soundtrack and lastly The Counting Crows." Sesshomaru listed and Tony fist pumped and twirled in his chair, forgetting the cannibalism.
"Oh, Lord." Bruce groaned and Sesshomaru looked to him. "Oh, not Lord as in you, Tony won the bet on which band you'd like best from the four we knew about." Bruce explained, putting his hands up and Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side.
"Finally! Can't wait to rub it in Nat's and Steve's faces. Sorry Whitney, but you so look like a closet grunge fan." Tony celebrated and Bruce hid a laugh.
"...you are the first to choose correctly." Sesshomaru's ears wiggled a bit. Those. Ears. He wanted to bite the edge of one. He wanted to do more.
"What?! Not even Polly your ice cream side-piece got it right?!" Sesshomaru shook his head and touched his side, it glowed blue and his wrist healed, the skin returning to its usual, unmarred smooth ivory and magenta. He wanted to grab it again, to reclaim it.
"…facinating, my youki is returning. I can now provide you with a youki sample." Sesshomaru's eyes widened, almost surprised at his own youki, then healed his wrists and then put his finger to his folded outfit, and it glowed blue, thrumming as if alive.
"You have assisted this Sesshomaru. I will be off." And with a swish of long hair and a light in his gold eyes he was out the door and Tony was having fun watching him walk away. He really did have a good ass when his hair wasn't in the way.
Pause.
"You are crushing." Bruce carefully picked up one of the silk squares with the toxin. Tony then touched the glowing blue outfit, expecting it to shock or hurt him, but instead some of it streamed up his fingers and wound into his arc reactor.
Tony hadn't predicted that.
"Not factual. He's just a temporary distraction…who I happen to like watching walk away. Jarvis run this toxin will ya?" Tony placed one of the toxin squares on a small imaging platform. He ignored the youki thing, for now.
The platform glowed and whirred to life, instantly images of molecule appeared on the screen. It was a chemical combination Tony didn't recognize, which definitely surprised him considering he knew almost all of them.
"It is a previously unknown chemical compound, however it does have some ancestral roots in what appears to be prehistoric Flora, the closest relative being Dendrocnide moroides. The highly venomous Australian gympie gympie tree whose reputation is 'once stung, never forgotten.' Its toxin has been known to drive some people to suicide the pain is so intense and long-lasting." Jarvis informed and Tony and Bruce looked at each other uneasily.
"Good to know that after I nearly got my leg singed with it." Tony grimaced and Bruce poked at one of the drops with the screwdriver, nearly dropping it as the metal immediately began to melt and corrode.
"The toxin's corrosive properties appear to also be in the same range as Fluoroantimonic Acid, the strongest acid known to human kind." Jarvis reported and Tony immediately moved any water nearby.
"His neurotoxin, unlike fluoroantimonic acid, does not combust from dihydrogen oxide however." Tony still kept the water away. He didn't need another explosion.
Super weapon. Tony called it.
"And he just makes this faster than Starbucks makes their pike roast." Bruce admitted stared at the molecular compound on the screen rotating.
"It's incredible. It's like the best of both worlds. If we could separate these two compounds out, we could have something that could use on inorganic compounds and something to use against organic ones. We could also make them more potent, increase their effectiveness. Hell, I really could put this on the repulsors." Tony zoomed in on some of the more unstable dipolar bonds.
He wasn't sure how exactly he felt about going back into the weapons business, but he was going to make sure only he, and the Avengers had access to it.
If SHIELD could have their secrets, he could have his.
"Clint will love this. Natasha too. Regular bullets and our explosives may not be enough this time around." Bruce conceded, spinning the now ruined screwdriver.
"We can make you some big brass knuckles coated in the stuff, you know, 1930's prohibition style. Steve will probably love it." Tony grinned and Bruce rolled his eyes.
"I think the last thing the other guy needs is the ability to melt people." Bruce put his glasses on and they got to work. Tony had managed to actually make a proper chamber to house the toxin, after studying the spider silk, for his repulsors.
"Sir Miss Natasha Romanoff requests your presence." Tony leaned back, visibly annoyed. They had just gotten a breakthrough on the proximity barrier by siphoning off the youki on the outfit, adding it with the artificial youki, and putting into capsules. They weren't quite ready yet but it was a great improvement.
Bruce had been mostly working on deconstructing the toxin, separating its molecular structure into the two compounds.
Tony got up, mostly because he could use another drink.
"Alright, tell her highness I'll be right out." Tony walked briskly out of the lab only to be immediately confronted by Natasha.
"Tony, not to pull you away from winning the science fair, but I need you to come with me." Natasha sounded more serious than Tony would have liked. Tony sighed, he was on such a roll and whatever this was about was going to be far from what he actually wanted to talk about.
He approached his bar, and poured himself, strangely enough, a Singapore Sling…he was in the mood for gin, maybe that Demon was rubbing off on him since gin was the only thing he had seen Sailor Moon drink.
"I'm not wearing the cosplay outfit again…and if you made a montage of me wearing it and me tangled up in that fur thing to the song of 'Dont Stop til Get Enough' by M.J. you have got another thing comin'." Tony added a lime to his Singapore Sling. Goddamn limes. He couldn't get rid of Sesshoki from his mind.
"Another thing coming? Really Tony like what?" Natasha challenged as she made her way past the living room and surprisingly enough into his own bedroom where Thor stood.
Oh. Kay.
While he could definitely use a good lay, he doubted this would end up less complicated than getting with a certain Demon who he really wanted to drill through his sheets.
"Well…apparently something of the discovery channel variety." Tony, while flattered Natasha and Thor had not only invited themselves into his bedroom, and himself for what could easily be interpreted as threesome, he somehow doubted that was the case.
Natasha snorted. And he took a sip of his drink, gin wasn't that bad.
"As if you could 'playboy'. And no, this is simply the one place where the others can't hear us." Now at this point Tony knew Natasha was fucking with him on purpose.
"Oh, I don't know; Point break has never been known inside voice. And well, me, let's say I'm not bashful." Tony winked and Natasha shook her head. Poor Thor again, looked quite confused. Tony drank for effect.
"I had thought we convened here to discuss my brother and Son of Taisho. If this is meant to be another sort of intimate affair, I will have to—" Tony cut off Thor before he could continue.
"Natasha? Sailor Moon and Bambi? What about them?" Tony became suddenly interested and only half serious. Natasha took that as a cue to shift her weight.
"Last night they got into it, and as I could tell, and still can discern, you aren't happy about it. I witnessed something when they fought right before I broke it off. Tony can you bring up the security video for the elevator and subfloor 3? Aim for about 3:45am to 3:55am." Tony's eyes widened in surprise, he didn't think anyone else was awake then. And Natasha was down there?
Tony took another drink of his Singapore Sling also felt a little sheepish that he hadn't thought of pulling the camera feed himself earlier.
Jarvis replayed the camera feed, he had installed new cameras down there after the steakhouse debacle. Looks like they definitely came in handy.
Tony studied the footage with Thor and really didn't like what he saw. First came the elevator fight where Loki threw Sesshomaru back, who was clearly not expecting an attack. That spiked the temperature in his blood.
Loki fought like Odin was going to marry him off to Thor. He was all reckless fury, and the entire time was shouting something not in English.
"Aye, he held quite a large amount of ire for Son of Taisho for leaving." Thor pointed out, which was convenient because Sesshomaru had responded in a tongue that was not English either. Tony had to assume Natasha didn't know what they were speaking either because she turned to Thor. He drank again.
Tony watched as, from what he could tell, Sesshomaru attempt to deescalate the situation, and get a dagger to the shoulder for the effort. That dagger had to be poisoned because he saw the Demon Lord, for the first time ever, react negatively to an injury.
"That's the gist of what I got from his ambush, but that's not what I wanted you two to look at…here." Natasha pointed and Jarvis froze the video.
Loki had summoned spiked mines, all glittering and black, He had vines all over the hallway that blocked or parried any blow Sesshomaru's toxin whip could land to disrupt his magic. The most disturbing thing was how white his skin looked, and how completely black his eyes were. It was almost as if the black magic had taken him over.
This. This is what Loki was capable of, and he was just amping up. Tony's spine shivered and his arc reactor's temperature may have cooled a degree.
Loki's body language, his black magic, rather than the green magic he was used to seeing when he and Sesshomaru sparred, screamed to Tony that Loki wanted to cripple the Demon Lord.
"I have never seen my brother this way, nor do I know why his magic has taken on a flora theme as of late. I can only say that he reserves his black magic, like Allfather, for powerful spells, like conjuring me to earth three years ago or aggressive attacks." Thor explained and Tony sighed through his nose. Great, Thor was little to no help. He didn't envy Sesshomaru coming back to that welcoming party. Anger jabbed his lungs that he was cornered by Loki like this. He took another quick sip of his drink.
"So I observed, it's not over yet however, check out how Pretty Boy reacts here…" the video continued and he saw Sesshomaru artfully dodge almost what could be described as a cluster fuck of black magic bombs going off, getting knicked by two spikes.
He landed heavy and Tony clenched his glass, he knew that Sailor Moon would end up fine but still. He couldn't logically dampen his frustration; he was glad he was hiding it well from Natasha behind his drink.
Then Loki restrained him. This is what really made Tony's blood simmer, obviously if Sailor Moon was serious about this fight he would have used his Backstreet Boy sword by now. Sesshomaru was holding back.
But Loki wasn't holding back….wait.
"Stop it here Jarvis." Tony was suddenly interested because Sesshomaru's eyes bled fully red, just like how he had seen them after his scry, and his claws were almost wolverine length. He also, noticed the blood from his wounds that had gotten on the floor, strangely pulsed.
But what really caught his attention was his smile. It was cold, sinister, predatory, and his teeth were all sharp, the farthest thing from what he usually saw from when Sailor Moon fought. Not at all the smile he wanted to see again. This version of Sailor Moon could eat someone.
Loki, for being so smart; was a moron. He cornered a pissed off Dog Demon. Tony studied Thor's reaction, he didn't seem shocked but at the same time his face was stony and serious.
He then saw Natasha enter the frame from a ceiling drop and Sailor Moon unleashed an invisible shockwave that rippled through Loki's magic. Loki frowned for a moment, only for his lips to upturn as if in response to a challenge.
Natasha, in the feed took a half-step back and Jarvis paused.
"Tony, you've studied their magic and youki. What was that?" Tony had no idea. He hid behind his drink again, drinking.
"Yeah, not sure about that one. Whatever it was it couldn't have been that powerful, it didn't cancel out any of Loki's magic and we couldn't see it." Tony supplied, just realizing that Sesshomaru hadn't used any youki yet.
"Not powerful in terms of damage, but whatever he did, chilled my bones. Nothing does that. I barely could hold my gun straight and this wasn't even aimed at me. This triggered a response in me just like when the Other Guy comes out. Loki before feared Hulk, he should've backed down but instead it looks like he was about to fully engage. We are beginning to see what they're capable of." Natasha explained. Tony rocked back on his heels.
"Miss Romanoff, I believe what you experienced was Son of Taisho's Killing Intent. His reaction here is his Demon Blood has taken control of his mind." Thor approached.
"So he wanted to kill Loki here? And… just what about his Demon Blood?" Tony started, angling the feed to a different camera for a different, closer viewpoint. He sipped his drink.
"Demons, when serious about a duel, a kill, or intensely provoked will unleash this effect. As for his Demon Blood that is a bit more complicated." Thor seemed to be speaking, with his mind completely elsewhere. Tony and Natasha turned to him, eyebrows raised.
"You see friends, most Aesir thought of Demons as you see here, bloodthirsty, savage and mindless. They did not have a positive opinion of Demons because when left with no other options, their Demon Blood will take over and they revert to a ceaseless bloodlust. Nothing, save exhaustion, their own death, or the death of their target, will stop it." Thor explained, as if sifting to properly explain what he saw before him. The room fell eerily silent.
Yet, despite this, he still had a hard time rectifying what he saw on the screen with the man whose ears twitched when he guessed 'Nirvana' correctly.
"Why did this not escalate further Thor?" Natasha pressed. The video continued and even Tony saw the pulse of green energy at Sesshomaru's hip, the Backstreet Boy sword. After that, and Natasha drawing her glock 17, they all saw the blood erase itself from Sesshomaru's eyes, and Loki followed suit.
"His sword, Bakusaiga, must have helped him see reason. This…behavior from Son of Taisho is quite abnormal. In all my fights against him, or alongside him, he never acted this way…neither did my brother. They are both under much stress here…I feel as though as I must train with Mjolnir after seeing this." Tony noticed Thor shift uneasily.
Thor must obviously felt some sort of responsibility to help them both through this, or at least be the one person to count on to deescalate this sort of situation, not Natasha.
"If you think you couldn't break up a serious fight between those two Thor I'd advise you hit the gym do what you need to until you can. If they can't control themselves, or we can't, SHIELD will. It'd be detrimental to hand them over to SHIELD but I will be given no other choice if this happens again." Natasha was as serious as a car bomb. Tony didn't want that to happen. At all.
"At least Bruce has company in the rage monster department. Oh… and Thor, pop quiz, do Demons eat people!?" Tony pointed to Thor and that caught the golden haired God's attention. Natasha's eyes got wide, even she didn't think about that.
"Aye. Though not all Demons did, some were herbivores." Thor supplied Tony's jaw dropped. Natasha just muttered something to herself inaudibly. Sesshomaru definitely wasn't a vegetarian.
"Of course Loki would have a best friend who eats people." Then Thor caught on.
"Make no mistake my friends, Son of Taisho though he may be what mortals refer to as an apex predator, he sees the consumption of humans as beneath him. He wouldn't feast upon you all." Thor elaborated, putting his hands up. Great, Sailor Moon wasn't going to eat them not because of ethics, but because of his own arrogance.
"I'm insulted." Tony put his hand to his chest in mock offense and Natasha just snorted.
"I won't report to Fury you're jealous you haven't been eaten yet." Natasha admitted and before Thor could respond there was a knock on the bedroom door and Tony shut off the holoscreens. They had to monitor them, he couldn't let SHIELD have Loki and Sesshomaru as test subjects, and realistically Thor wouldn't allow it either.
"Come in and join the fun, Point Break was just about to put on some Barry White." Tony called out and Bruce entered.
"Sorry for interrupting was looks to be a new type of team building exercise." Bruce smiled wanly.
"Exercise with emphasis on cardio, Coach Natasha said I needed to do more." Tony admitted and Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Wouldn't hurt, though I wanted to let you know I separated and began the synthesis of the toxins." Bruce said it to Tony, but was looking at Natasha. They both were thinking the same thing: she couldn't tell Fury.
"You scratch my back I'll scratch yours. A barter." Natasha smirked and Tony groaned. Goddamn impossible Demon Lord started a bartering obsession.
"Fine. I'll adjust the locator to react to changes in his youki intensity and monitor Loki more as long as you don't tell SHIELD about our toxin…damn barter system." With an affirmative look from Natasha, Tony finished his drink and noticed the odd look Bruce gave him for his choice in fruity cocktail.
"Singapore Sling?" Bruce raised his eyebrows and Tony just grinned as they left his room to go back to the lab.
"I think if everyone else in my tower is going fruity I'm allowed to as well." Tony replied mildly, entering the lab to begin work on the 'Com 'rin' acator' and his own suit.
Sorry about the delay in this chapter. It took a lot of tinkering, and it's a building chapter about Tony, and his eventual coming to terms with making weapons again. Also I am I am in the process of moving to Shanghai and starting a new job so I've been quite busy!
Let me know what you think, there may be some grammar issues with this chapter and for that I do apologize.
:) thanks again for reading!
-TL