Tony and the Water Demon Part II
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"Can you track Sho's youki or not?" Loki's annoying impatient green eyes sharpened. Oh, he was going to be lovely to deal with if…
'Nope. Not gonna think it. That stupidly reckless Demon was probably the most resilient thing alive. I haven't underestimated him before; I'm not going to start now.' Tony pursed his lips.
And he wasn't about to do what Loki wanted when he wanted it.
"Jarvis bring up the system diagnostics on the Quinjet right before air traffic control lost radar contact." Tony swayed just a bit turning around a bit too quickly, looking for the Sailor Moon tracker. Tony knew he left it around here somewhere…aha. Tony found it under a printout.
"Sir, The Quinjet was at a cruising altitude of 20,000 feet. Systems report no missile lock from either air to air or surface to air projectiles. No reports of ejection nor doors opening. Though at their altitude they could survive skydive with parachutes if one of the doors were opened. Only report logged was by Clint Barton upon take off stating the aircraft wasn't fueled properly." Tony put the locator out to maximum sensitivity and it didn't ping anything.
He didn't think it would, the distance to Iowa was pushing the limit on its area of effectiveness. It was shorter for Sesshomaru after all.
"You hacked the Quinjet? Good thinking Tony." Natasha nodded in approval, as if he was going to let something stay on his tower without hacking it.
"Thanks Jarvis. No dice on the locator, but remember when Sailor Moon left for Charleston for crabs for our Crabocalypse? He had to keep his youki up for us to track him." Tony thanked his lucky stars he was just this shade of tipsy otherwise he'd be super pissed at everyone in the hallway. They were acting like they were already at someone's funeral. No faith.
"Only thing it could be is a bomb." Natasha reasoned and quickly stormed out of the hallway, maybe to get her phone? Gun? Both?
"My Lord is invincible! No human weapon could kill him! He will return with that odd archer as he promised me." Jaken shouted a little too loudly, waddling to Natasha as if to reassure her. Steve shot Tony a dark look.
"I can't believe you got Jaken drunk. I am disappointed you're not sober either Tony. We should always be on our guard when we're split up...are you even taking this seriously?" Steve's voice sounded low and a bolt of anger flashed through Tony's lungs as he inhaled.
"What?! Jaken isn't a kid, he got himself drunk. And sorry, but how was I supposed to predict this? I'm not the one who can scry the future. And on top of that Stars and Stripes, just because I'm not flying off the handle doesn't mean I am not taking this seriously. Don't treat me like some clueless child when you came to me to figure out what happened to the damn Jet." Tony had enough of all of this. Steve was really starting to get under his skin.
"We aren't treating you like that Tony. You just don't seem to be processing what the outcomes of this could be." Steve insisted and Tony laughed darkly, so he was expected to panic? It would be the exact opposite of what Sesshomaru and Clint would want him to do. Panicking is what got him into that mess with the snipers.
"You want me to waste my time to put on my suit and fly out to corn-land Iowa? Oh, better yet, why not ask Reindeer Games over there? He can twitch his nose and probably get to the coordinates before I can say 'Bewitched'!" Tony picked up his scotch bottle and took a swig for effect. Loki began to swirl his green magic.
"Don't think about it Glow Stick. Tony is right. This could be a trap to lure you there, and we don't know what information the spies got from Jarvis. SHIELD agents I trust have heard no chatter on any 'anti Mr. Nirvana' attack plans. However, I've had my suspicions. It started with the snipers on the rooftop lighting up Pretty Boy, you, and Bruce up like Christmas, and the hacking of the tower. I think there aren't just a couple of rogue spies, but a sizable faction within SHIELD that has fractured off. I don't know how many people within SHIELD have their own motives, but the lack of fuel in the Jet confirms this. They probably used a bomb to try to take out Pretty Boy, and there is no way Fury would have authroized that." Natasha typed furiously on her phone, Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder to stop his magic, and Steve paled.
"Only because Fury would rather study him alive, rather than dead. This is why I don't do group projects." Tony audibly groaned, of course it wasn't just one spy. He just had to go and become completely head over heels, or maybe 'helmet over boots' with the one person who attracted more danger than he did.
"Why would our allies do such a thing?!" Point Break blurted out, and Tony was thinking the same thing. He was becoming irritated with all the cloak and dagger crap. He eyed the scotch bottle again, tempted. No. Getting completely slammed wasn't going to help here. He was good. He had this.
"Unconfirmed. I am putting out some usual distress signals, just sent one to Fury. I stated that I believe they are dead and awaiting appropriate response. Glow Stick, how likely do you think it is that Pretty Boy survived?" Natasha put Loki on the spot. He had been unusually silent, then Tony got it. It was probably throwing Steve off that the two people here most likely to lose their shit weren't losing their shit. Steve liked predictability.
"I haven't a clue. We didn't exactly have your Jets back then, nor explosive devices such as these." Loki began to wring his hands and Tony knew he had to get a handle on the situation. Both people that Loki cared about were on the Jet; he had to help get him see reason before he broke down and burned holes in the walls of substorage 3-b again.
"He's fine; they're both fine." Tony stated it like an obvious known fact. Which it was. Everyone gave him a cautious look save Jaken; who had just found Rin. Rin nodded and smiled.
"For….three reasons." Tony continued. He really tried to get his speech to stop slurring because Reindeer Games needed to believe him so he didn't go off and do something more stupid than he usually did. Like turn into a giant lizard or something.
He so didn't need Godzilla in his tower.
"One: he told me he wasn't going to die. Two: I'm so not done with him yet, you win the prize, Thunder Muscles. Three: anyone else remember his youki can literally suppress a space cannon blast with the explosive payload of three AIM-9x Sidewinder missiles?" Tony leaned back against his workshop table, imagining the whole room lit up in shimmering blue youki with a gorgeous, silver-haired Demon beneath him, his mouth in a perfect oval, spelling his name in the air.
"Except, he knew the cannon blast was coming. It sounds like they had no warning this time. And, he did get shot by Natasha's gun in New Mexico." Bruce entered the room, annoyingly not on his side.
"Oh. Holy. Tesla. That's because he didn't know our technology back then. Now he does, you just saw him co-pilot the Quinjet. Do I really need to spell this out for you too, Big Green? His youki acts like infrared light; he can detect trouble before trouble even looks his way. The wavelength of his youki also means this can project farther than Rudolph's magic nose over there." Tony edged out, no one looked convinced. An uncontrollable bubble of rage built up in the base of Tony's throat. A rant was coming on.
"Stark is right! Lord Sesshomaru always comes back, and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to Barton!" Rin smiled and Jaken nodded resolutely next to her.
"Lord Sesshomaru will not be defeated! You have seen him fight!" Tony heard Jaken and that was it.
No one seemed phased.
Tony never more wanted to shake someone. He picked up his scotch glass instead.
Tony had examined his youki, extracted and separated his toxin. Sesshomaru wasn't just a super weapon, he was pretty much the ultimate weapon. Tony couldn't design a better one, and one half of SHIELD wanted it controlled, the other half wanted it destroyed. He knew Sesshomaru. He knew he was alive, and everyone else underestimated and doubted him, even Loki!
"But…." Steve started and Tony shot him a dark, fiery look.
"We have to assume the worst-case scenario Tony. Not all of us can have the liquid confidence you have at this juncture." Natasha's glare could render medusa to stone but he wasn't going to budge.
"I can't believe we are still having his conversation!" Tony slammed his glass down on the table with a solid bang. "He told me his parents bred only for him to be the ultimate weapon. Hell, Natasha you told us his name meant Killing Perfection! I couldn't envision a better weapon than him. His youki not only acts as an early detection system, but also rapidly heals him. His toxin? Best of both worlds. It can corrode through basically anything and the neurotoxin aspect renders most living things dead. Bambi here brought him here to save our planet. I can't believe all you guys think a bomb so simple a fifteen year old could make out of a bag of shit and some spark plugs could bring him down!" Tony knew he sounded drunk, but he didn't care because it didn't mean what he was saying wasn't true.
"He might not be the ultimate warrior like you, Point Break," Tony continued, pointing the holographic readouts to Thor who looked a little surprised.
"Or the ultimate botanist nurse like you, Reindeer Games," He motioned to Loki who furrowed his black eyebrows in abject confusion.
"But, you came to me. Of anyone, you all should trust me. At least on this. I know weapons, and exactly what Sesshomaru is capable of. The ultimate weapon thing, that's not who he is as a person, Demon, whatever, but that is what he has trained to be at his core. We need to weed out who in the hell in SHIELD wants him dead and why! Not sit here like we are already writing their fucking obituaries. I have never underestimated him, and it's bullshit you're all doing it now." Tony officially let out all the anger he had pent up inside of him. He was done.
He took a final swig of his Scotch glass and put the glass down on his workshop table with a final clang. There was scotch everywhere.
"I agree with Stark." Tony looked up to Loki, whose eyes glittered in warmth. Good, he wasn't going to lose his mind when they needed it most. "Our priority should be figuring out who in SHIELD is a part of this faction, and why they want him dead." Loki finished and Tony sighed loudly and drunkenly.
"Fi-nal-ly! To think the first person who trusts what I have to say is the God of fucking Calamity over my friends." Tony rolled his eyes as they all heard the familiar buzz of a cellphone going off. They all checked their phones until Bruce's face lit up in recognition, and confusion.
"It's Polly….the uh tattoo- ice cream girl." Bruce's face grimaced a bit at the wrong timing and Natasha sprang into action.
"Answer it. It's too much of a coincidence." Natasha pretty much ordered. Bruce hastily thumbed up on his phone as Tony motioned to Jarvis to flip the conversation up on hologram to record it.
"Uh, Hello, Polly?" Bruce started and Natasha's blue eyes blazed and immediately grabbed the phone from Bruce's hands.
"Hello! This is Polly with Indigo Dragon Ice Cream shop!" Polly began and immediately Tony saw Rin's face scrunch in confusion.
"That's not the name of her ice cream shop…" Rin started, tilting her head and Natasha quick as a viper stole the phone from Bruce's hand.
"Hi, this is Natasha Romanoff." She crisply stated into the phone, Bruce slumped in faux defeat.
"Oh hello! I am calling to let you know that your Ice Cream cake order for Bedclothes and Storm God is ready for pick up!" Tony's face hit up in smug victory. Only Sesshomaru called Steve and Thor that. They were fine.
"Oh great, I'm glad it's ready." Natasha tapped her foot, a rare display of impatience.
"Yes! Their 'Happy Anniversary' cake is decorated, complete with specialty blue ribbon piping. Marion, Etta, and I would like to congratulate them on such a happy three years of marriage. Unfortunately, we are temporarily out of rocky road ice cream, but the good doctor, informed us that you could supply your own ice cream. If you could come by and pick it up in ten minutes you'll get our super Ultron discount!" Polly sounded a bit stilted on the phone, as if reading certain words with more emphasis than others. Tony had no idea what to make of it but he could see Natasha purse her full lips.
The whole Steve, Thor marriage thing would have been actually pretty funny in any other circumstance. Shame.
"Yes of course. Thank you for having it ready so early." Natasha sounded in her own head as she handed the phone back to Bruce. Tony stilled, the scotch giving him clarity once more.
He had heard or seen one of those words before. Ultron…the hack.
The phrase 'Project Ultron' was embedded in the code he found in Jarvis.
"Natasha, what is going on?" Steve asked first, Tony looked up hazily, he probably shouldn't have taken that last swig of scotch, but the dramatic effect it had was too good to pass up.
"That was Clint. It was a code. Indigo is our safe word. He and Pretty Boy are safe. That's the good news. The bad news is that 'Happy Anniversary' is code for if SHIELD were to ever decide to target one of us. SHIELD was after Clint, not Pretty Boy." Natasha paused and Tony saw Loki's magic flare in anger. Bruce, now holding his phone, looked particularly confused.
'Oh wow, for once Sesshomaru wasn't the trouble magnet. Damn Clint. I know it should have been me going with him….what a waste.' Tony crossed his arms defensively.
"That makes no sense either…why would they target Clint?!" Steve's blue eyes were narrowed in confusion and Natasha shifted her weight.
"They're tying up loose ends, Clint thinks they have a ten minute window before they really close in. The 'good doctor' didn't refer to Bruce, it referred to Selvig. SHIELD has their own codes, Clint and I have ours. The secret code for Selvig is 'Blue Duck'. Someone in SHIELD, not Fury, the nod to 'Rocky Road' which is the ice cream flavor Rin gave him, is making a deal with the Chitauri, the reference to 'blue ribbon'." Natasha took a breath and Tony leaned back, floored.
"Surely you jest, Romanoff. The Mad Titan doesn't make deals. He doesn't want anything you could possibly possess. He wants destruction, and the Tesseract." Loki dramatically swept his hand through the air, green smoke leaving a wake in the air. Fair point.
"Loose ends? Clint and Selvig? What could they possibly have in common…wait Marion..etta." Bruce paused and his eyes caught Tony's.
'Oh no. Not that, ugh Christ. The scepter. The location of the one thing that for the life of me, I couldn't hack SHIELD's servers for. I had a feeling those morons didn't give it back to Point Break.' Tony rubbed the back of his neck and he caught Loki's wide gaze, he turned urgently to Natasha and he closed the distance as if he wanted to grab her.
"Tell me. Tell me you destroyed the scepter. That SHIELD, your governments, Fury, ordered its destruction. It cannot possibly still exist! Thor, tell me you didn't leave it here on Midgard!" Loki panicked, and green magic snaked out. Tony refrained from having Jarvis activate to contain Horns only because he was also curious as to where SHIELD managed to hide the damn thing.
If there was one thing SHIELD definitely shouldn't have, it's the ability to turn anyone into their flying monkeys (Fury's words not his).
And a reference Cap, of course, understood.
And if Tony looked irritated that SHIELD managed to hide of the worst weapons to come out of the Battle of New York, then Loki looked like he was about to strangle then incinerate everyone in a twenty-foot radius.
He knew the 'I am about to snap everyone's neck look' pretty damn well. Too well, just from another source however.
Tony was pulled from his own personal issues, which he was probably a shade too tipsy to deal with anyway, when a spark of green magic flung itself into the wall next to him.
"Brother, I entrusted the magic staff to Midgard's SHIELD. They ensured me—" Thor got cut off by another green-black magic bolt scorching the wall next to Thor's big noggin. He is gonna charge that scorch mark on his fake magic black Amex.
"You colossal, imbecilic fool!" Bambi's magic sparked off of him and Thor grabbed his shoulders, as if to stabilize him. In true diva fashion, he actually managed to shove Thor off. He shoved off a guy who could uproot an oak tree with his teeth. Natasha shifted, appraising everyone.
She definitely knew something. Figured.
"The scepter, 'Marionette' to Clint and I in the message, 'Merlin' to SHIELD, was too important of a weapon to destroy. Since the Attack on New York, The permanent members of the U.N. UK, USA, Russia, France, and China, demanded that the scepter not remain in any one country for more than one year. It has since been moved from one P5 member country to another in a containment safe." Natasha explained, and unfortunately Tony wasn't surprised.
All three of those words were in the code he found: Blue Duck, Merlin, Project Ultron.
'So, US, UK, France, Russia, AND China. Please don't say it's in Russia. Paris! Paris is nice this time of year. I can even do London, Gin is growing on me now thanks to a certain hot Demon. I've always wanted to use a British accent in the Ironman suit.' Tony caught an inappropriately timed grin before it got too big.
"So, Clint is trying to say the spies within SHIELD are attempting to steal the scepter, from SHIELD, to give it to the Chitauri?" Steve concluded and Natasha nodded, expression grim.
"And Fury wants to monitor me? He should start with his own people." Bruce muttered. Morons. SHIELD was infested with morons. Morons who managed to hack Jarvis, he felt insulted. Truly.
"Affirmative. Clint didn't give me any other intel than that. SHIELD wants to take Selvig and Clint out, I suppose in case the Chitauri activate the scepter again and their prior mind control programming comes back online." Natasha shot a knowing look to Thor whose expression paled.
"Jane. She may be in danger! She has been stopping in Kingdom of Unity every month to look after Dr. Selvig. I must go, I cannot allow these turncoats to harm him or Jane if she is there!" Thor had Mjolnir in his hand before you could say 'Storm God'.
'Kingdom of Unity?'he knew at some point Jane had to have taught him the right name for the land of bad teeth and worse weather.
"Go Thor, we can handle things. Inform us when you get everything worked out." Steve nodded and Thor in a gust of wind rushed out an open window. Key word open. Tony secretly thanked his stars something went right today.
"This…this is very….very dire. You fools. Your entire race must crave extinction! I cannot fathom more idiocy and I have met Vokstagg's kin. Of all… how… this. This!" Loki began to pace, running his hand through his hair.
"Just where is the glowstick of destiny? Please don't say Siberia or somewhere worse like, New Jersey." Tony asked, sounding light to try to make Loki less anxious. He was making him anxious, and he had to hold it together here.
Steve gave him 'that' look.
"What? There is no where worse than New Jersey, except that one cult town in Arizonaaaa…wait, don't say it's in New Mexico, that'd be too poetic. You know, everything comes full circle thing?" Tony grasped at straws and Natasha's mouth got the tiniest bit hard.
Oh no.. Fucking Siberia.
"Right now…. Shanghai, China. It is actually due to move in a month. We can get to it, but it needs to be a stealth mission." Natasha flatlined.
Pause.
"China? The country that's allied with North Korea and has eradicated generations of people and bleached its own culture… you gave them a mind control weapon?! Oh geez. If we. IF. We survive this; we need to talk about which dictator we give a mind control weapon to." Cap's face got red and Tony have him props. All of that happened after Cap got freezer burn. He had been doing his homework.
Capcicle even made Natasha cross her arms and look away.
"I never said I agreed to this decision. It was the council's. If we want to stop this it has to be a stealth mission." Nat's head swiveled to both Bruce and Tony. "Which leaves you two out." Tony shrugged. He knew stealth simply wasn't his style. Bruce nodded in agreement.
Natasha, in an uncharacteristic move, abruptly grabbed Loki by his shoulders, forcing him to look her in the eyes. Now kiss?
"You need to focus, Loki." Natasha used his real name. "You are the only one who can do this. You need to disguise Steve and I and teleport us to the Shanghai Pearl Tower. The scepter is a secret vaulted bunker. I can get us in, but we need to move now." Natasha attempted to calm Loki but he only began to sprout black and crackling vines on the floor.
"You don't…you don't understand. I can't get near it, much less touch it. It will unravel my mind! It will glass over everything again!" Loki started to twitch and Natasha let him go.
"You can't touch it, neither of you! Not even you, Stark, with Sho's residual youki, can handle it! Anyone who touches that scepter by now will be fully under the control of the Other! My sealing spell, which had prevented most from hearing its melodic call, would be rendered useless by now. Especially with the Other being in such close proximity to Midgard to embolden the magic! The magic tether of scepter to the Other is too great!" Loki began to implode and Tony swallowed.
"So, what do we do Loki? What options do we have? We can't let them have the scepter to use it against us." Steve insisted and Loki paced, the vines growing and Tony could almost hear Loki's pulse beat erratically from where he stood.
"We have to…somehow interfere with the scepter's magic. We have to find a way to render it inert…." And then, as if they were in a movie, Tony looked up from the spot on the floor he was staring at and into Loki's eyes, both coming to the same realization, at the same time.
Youki. Magic. If of equal strength they negated each other…. Loki's vines disappeared as they both whipped their heads over to Jaken.
"Jaken. You are coming with us." Loki commanded and Jaken, who had up until that point, had been watching the surfing video on Tony's hologram with Rin, jumped up startled.
"Me?! Not a chance! I will await here for my Lord's return. I want nothing to do with your magic and pearl towers!" Jaken backed up.
"Your youki should be strong enough to negate the scepter's magic. You are the only one who can touch it and allow me to get close enough to it to teleport us back here. It is too risky to go find Sho or await his return!" Loki insisted which only made Jaken quiver nervously.
"Jaken. Don't you think your Lord Sesshomaru will praise you for your bravery and reward you for helping us out with such a dangerous quest?" Natasha, clever as can be, sweet talked Little Green and squatted down to his height in her leggings and tank top. Jaken's large yellow eyes caught on and he puffed out his chest.
"She's right. You say you're not useless, but now's the time to prove it." Tony bounced off Natasha flawlessly.
"I'll show you all! I shall bring honor to my Lord and prove myself a mighty Demon! And surely Lord Sesshomaru will reward me!" Jaken hopped on the ground for effect and Rin jumped in excitement.
"You can do it Jaken! You can help out Uncle Loki! Lord Sesshomaru will be so pleased!" Rin cheered, Tony immediately vindicated about giving Jaken the scotch. He was going all the 'liquid courage' he could get.
"If this does not end in complete disaster, I may entertain taking up one of Stark's wagers." Look looked grossly pale. He needed to chill out.
"I'll wear that horrible red and gold silk kimono thing again if Toady does something cool. If he doesn't, you have to tell everyone the Kiki story." Tony couldn't resist. Cobra Commander rose an eyebrow in intrigue.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about. I will agree to your wager." Loki had that glint in his eye that he was scheming something probably super fucking irritating for him.
"Enough pillow talk. Let's go." Natasha was in total assassin mode.
"Right, first rule of stealth is to never let them see you're coming. Rendering you all invisible and teleporting you to the city would use too much of my magic and may trigger SHIELD's detection devices. So, the second rule of stealth, if they do see you, best not be, you." Loki's lips curled up and before Tony could say 'knew it' Natasha, Steve, and Toady were all disguised as tourists.
Chinese tourists. A family. They even had selfie sticks around their necks and 'I 爱 SH' tour guide to shirts. Jaken had on Shanghai Disney T shirt.
There was a Disneyland in Shanghai?
Loki even had one of those flags that tour guides use.
Tony burst out laughing.
"I don't feel comfortable doing this, Nat. Couldn't we just wear a mask?" Cap, now creepily asian looking, was feeling his own face like a blind person. This was great.
"Oh yes and when it comes off you can explain to Midgard's media why their noble Captain America is stealing from another province and SHIELD. Now, quickly gather before I change my mind." Loki, now Yuki, began to make his green smokey magic 'ring around the rosey' again.
He heard Jaken squawk something as they disappeared from sight.
Him, Bruce and Little Miss Sunshine remained. Why did everything suddenly feel really, really awkward?
He hoped Sesshomaru would return soon.
"I don't like this Tony. Loki is still about as stable as an active faultline and I don't believe even Natasha has an accurate idea of what they are about to go face. And Jaken?! What if he can't cancel out the scepter's magic? He hasn't shown he can manipulate his youki like Sesshomaru can. And let's not even get into him." Bruce slumped back against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose like Tony had seen him done a thousand times before.
It made him look like a middle aged soccer mom who forgot the oranges for the halftime snack.
"I was right about him being ok, you know. Loki will be fine; treasure quests are all he practically did growing up. Natasha has probably killed more men with dental floss and a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses than are in that bunker. I am not worried about her, and neither should you be. Oh, fun fact, Toady said Sesshomaru trained him just like he trained you, so you aren't that special." Tony walked out of his lab motioning Bruce to follow him, which of course he did.
"Don't worry Banner, my Lord will return soon and everything will be ok again! Right, Stark?" Rin spun around and Tony had never been more convinced that Rin and Bruce were the most opposite people on this planet.
"Sure thing, Sunshine." Tony now wondered if Sesshomaru coming back would go as smoothly in actuality as he saw it playing out in his head. Tony leaned to no…
But he would be coming back. In one piece. He could trust that Clint would have said something to the effect of 'Oh we survived it, but Fancy Pant's lost a leg! Well, if he did, he could grow it back apparently. He had seen that line on his arm before, the first time they had sex. It was almost indiscernable.
While the Chitauri's rifle rayblast did burn Sesshomaru, as well as his own repulsors and Loki's magic did, Sesshomaru could and had always healed himself. He was constantly evolving.
Everyone else was wrong except him. He was coming back this time. Delivery not Pick up.
Yet, the waiting game was something Tony always inevitably lost. So, with Big Green and Little Miss Sunshine, he decided to go to work. Idle hands equaled idle mind and Tony as rule number one didn't tolerate either.
"Jarvis, let's give good ol' Rhodey a call. It's been too long since we had a good chat." Tony smirked, it was showtime.
Jarvis connected the video call and immediately he saw Rhode with a loose tie slung around his neck like a $300 noose.
"Rhoooooodey how's ki—" Tony started and was predictably and immediately cut off.
"Tony, no. Not today. I'm still putting out fires for you, Loki, and Mr. Nirvana. I also have Atlantic Command breathing down my neck about SHIELD not yet turning over ownership of the IFO 'identified fallen object' that fell into the Hudson, per their agreement SOHO Accords. But I am sure whatever you have to say is going to make this look like a cake walk." Rhode sounded exhausted. He looked like he needed a good massage and a cheeseburger.
And SOHO Accords? He missed something. Probably something boring.
"Well that took all the fun out of that. I need to bring D.E.M.O.N.S. online, speeding up my timeline a bit. I already got the unofficial go ahead from the Vikram space center in India, Svalrak in Norway, the Alcântara space center in Brazil, Woodmere Test Range in Australia, Oh, almost forgot Egypt. I just need one more on the pacific… you still on good terms with Head Honcho Hough at Vandenberg Airforce base right? He could probably call the prez to get this going. That should do it… maybe one more over the Atlantic…" Tony trailed off. No, that should do it.
"Tony, another one?. Have you lost your goddamn mind? How did you even get the green light from those other launch sites?! Is this your idea of a joke?" Rhodey had stopped typing and really looked at him.
"No joke. I just invited some extra people to my Gala, even on short notice they were all able to make it, or at least send some people to speak on their behalf. You should have seen who they sent from Brazil, total kiss ass by the way." Tony rambled, smirking all the way. He could tell when Rhodey was easing over to his side.
"Tony. I can't get the go ahead from Vandenberg. We haven't even fully tested what D.E.M.O.N.S. can do." Rhodey put his head in his hand like he was about to get a migrane.
"Oh, I had no idea that Uncle Sam was being so cautious over preventing not only the extermination of the human species, but also the untimely detonation of our planet. Well in that case I can always just call up JAXA who runs Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Naoki Okumura and I rubbed elbows at a number of events. It would just be a total shame if the United States didn't get in on launching D.E.M.O.N.S.. You know now since our magical space invaders can most likely be cloaked from our traditional means of detection from NASA and Sesshomaru's youki is perfect for detecting astral bodies and threats." Tony knew he had that shit-eating grin on his face because Bruce rolled his eyes.
Hook.
"In fact, Rhodey, let me go ahead and call Okumura. I already sent him the D.E.M.O.N.S. satellite, his pimply intern at my Gala said he was interested." Tony twisted around for Jarvis to pull up the hologram. "It's just now like 7 am in Tokyo, he'll be up."
"Tony, what? How does he already have the satellite to even pull this off?!" Rhodey straightened up in alarm and confusion.
"I'm a man of action. All the launch sites have D.E.M.O.N.S., they just await my activation key and go-ahead codes. In fact, they all arrived before I even met them in the Gala. We need to get ahead of this without SHIELD's interference. Oh, and spill about the SOHO Accords, I haven't done the reading apparently." Tony loved when his plans worked out exactly as he knew they would. Which was of course most of the time.
"Look Tony, I don't know how you managed to get these governments to go behind SHIELD's back and authorize these launches, but the US government's official position is that we have to share intel with SHIELD. I'm not saying that the current administration is…thrilled that they made the unilateral decision to nuke New York, but after the Chitauri came back, UN drafted and had signed the SOHO Accords, which you should…really know about already. The SOHO Accord was to limit SHIELD's power and to force them to give up jurisdiction of the IFO in exchange for intel sharing But we havent gotten the IFO yet. Even if I could convince Colonel Hough this is a good idea, there is no way he can convince our Commander in Chief to allow it. You launching your own D.E.M.O.N.S. from your own tower caused enough of a headache for me. We don't even know if we can trust what Mr. Nirvana can do." Rhodes sounded even more exhausted than he had when he first called him. Tony knew he could wear him down. He had written the book on it.
Though a sour feeling ran through Tony's throat that the US government viewed Sesshomaru as one-time novelty, not someone who had an ability that mission critical to the safety of their planet. And that they took SHIELD more seriously than him. Him!
Tony, offended on two fronts, doubled down and his mouth ran dry.
"Rhodes. I'm not asking for your help, I'm giving you the chance to get in on the action. It's time to shelf the political niceties and get our hands dirty, something big is about to go down. SHIELD just botched something really bad and this time it's not on our turf. Think big wall, badly made products, and even worse tourists." Tony laid his trap and even though he knew that Rhodes knew it was a lure, he knew he would swallow the bait.
Line.
"…China? The PRC and SHIELD have never gotten along, that makes no sense. You can't just say something like this and not—" He cut Rhodey off. Nothing about anything made any sense anymore. Didn't he get it? A titan from another galaxy was about to blow up their planet over a magic blue cube.
"SHIELD blew up their own Quinjet with a fuel line bomb over Iowa, Rhodes. The FAA will hear about it soon I am sure, and maybe SHIELD will claim pilot error or training exercise gone wrong but that's them playing a game of CYA they always win. Clint was piloting it, Sesshomaru was too, and SHIELD knew it and tried to take them out. Oh, that's not even the half of it." Tony just had to reel Rhodes in as he brought up the information about the SOHO accords.
"Jesus Christ Tony. Are they alright? Could they chute out? What…" Rhodes immediately asked then trailed off.
"No recorded chute out, but I'm not worried. Because of this I got confirmed what was embedded in that code that hacker left in Jarvis is bad news. Project Ultron, it's big, it's ugly, and it's about to be an international incident that SHIELD let fester. SHIELD hasn't learned their lesson. They arent going to abide by the SOHO Accords either. They hacked private property, tried to kill their own agents, and tried to kill the hero who saved New York. Get on board. Don't be caught with your fly down when we need your finger on the trigger. We need D.E.M.O.N.S. online, and the permutation I calculated would work 9% better with Vanderberg as a launch point instead of Tanegashima but don't think I won't give them the nod if it will save our ass." Tony stopped pulling his punches. It was true, D.E.M.O.N.S. would work better if they launched from Vandenberg, and he would rather have a backup in Japan than in the US where SHIELD had more direct access.
Sinker.
"Ok goddamn Tony, Point made. I'll get Hough on the line. He still owes me from Vegas a few years ago. Damn, this is going sideways…bombing their own guys on purpose? Give it to me straight, Tony, do you think Clint and Mr. Nirvana made it out?" Rhodes looked like he ate some of Nat's cooking. Never again Nat.
"Yeah, it takes a lot more to take out my boyfriend and a top assassin than that." Now… that sort of slipped out. Tony could have blamed the youki in his arc reactor no longer spinning cold, or the scotch still flowing through his system, or his excitement over the unveiling of D.E.M.O.N.S...but that didn't cause it. It had to be Frogger. Had to be.
He just let it slip that he was in a relationship with a Demon Lord. When he kind of sort of wasn't yet….or was he? Eh. Semantics…. Damn. He just had to say it….
Wasn't it normal for the first person he'd tell to his best friend?
Even if he had no idea about the whole sex thing in the first place?
"…Tony. I can't even begin to explain to you how much of a bad… No. I'm pretty sure you do know much of a bad idea that is and that's why you're doing it. Just for once. Once, can you give yourself, or me or anyone an easy time?" Rhodes really did look like he was about to be sick and Tony fully grinned in victory. Victory over what he wasn't certain sure, but he didn't care.
"Hi Rhodey! It's ok, my Lord likes Stark back!" Rin jumped to his side. To this point she had been relatively quiet, too quiet. If he knew kids, she was probably plotting something.
"See, Kid tested, Pepper approved!" Tony threw a thumbs up and Tony caught Bruce out of the corner of his eye shake his head. So much for bro support.
"…I'm hanging up to call Hough. I'm contemplating never accepting another call from you again." Rhodes announced, unfazed by Rin, hung up. She was a pretty cute kid. One who Natasha was training. So cute and potentially terrifying, like a Honey Badger.
"That went well!" Tony threw up his hand for a high five and Rin smacked it with acceptable gusto.
"Boyfriend? Are you guys going to get promise rings now?" Bruce attempted humor again.
"We're past that stage." Tony winked and Bruce grimaced. "But he already has some matching tattoos...do you think he will let me call them racing stripes?" Tony grabbed his phone and began to type furiously into it and instantly the big wigs from India, Norway, Brazil, Australia, Egypt, and Okumura came on the holos.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I assume you all received your party favors. It's time to activate everyone's but yours Okumura. You're my failsafe. Please input the following activation code into the D.E.M.O.N.S. receiver '2-h-0-t-4-h-e-l-/' then the country code for dialing your country.
The guy from Egypt gave him a foul look. Nice guy.
"Really, Mr. Stark?" The guy from India… Some name of some minor importance asked.
"Passwords are supposed to be fun. Having your name in the history books for helping deter an alien army hell bent on our complete annihilation is what you're here for, so don't mock the hand that feeds you." Tony scolded, half serious.
Everyone wanted their fifteen minutes of fame and their name as a footnote in some dusty history tombe.
He'd give it to them. He had already learned the lesson the fame was only sometimes worth it.
That's when the line came back through… Rhodey, that was quick!
"Rhodey, join the party!" Tony gestured at the rag tag group on the screens.
"Hough is good for launch, I'll feed him the codes. I don't know how he convinced our Commander and Chief. But you know Tony, as well as I do, that once this thing is up, Loki can't be tracked." Rhodey said, and yeah, Tony knew that.
He caught the murmuring and gasping in a few different languages from his screens.
"If SHIELD and I can't track him, then our enemy who wants to hunt Loki down and drag him back to his own personal Horns Hilton can't either. Anyway, who do you trust more: an organization that tried to nuke New York, hack my tower, and keep a spaceship that's in violation of the SOHO Accords, or Thor's brother who hates these aliens so much he is willing to come here to Earth and get the shit kicked out of him to get revenge?" Tony challenged back. He did let slip about SHIELD hacking his tower but did it on purpose.
He was met with utter silence from everyone.
"Thought so. Enough with the foreplay, let's get to the fireworks." Tony with a few clicks sent each site and encrypted key.
The go-ahead codes.
"I just sent the go-ahead goes. They are synchronized to launch when I hit this big button. I didn't have to actually make a big button, but I couldn't resist…You know touch screens can only give you so much tactile satisfaction." Tony held up his button with glee.
It even said 'go'!
No one even cracked a smile, well except Rin. She had that look that kids always give when they want something you want. The puppy dog eyes. The pursed lips and the trembling.
"Yes Little Miss Sunshine, you can push the 'go' button." Tony rolled his eyes and huffed. Obviously, he didn't really mean the attitude.
"You're letting a 6 year old girl launch D.E.M.O.N.S.?" The guy from Australia's mouth dropped open.
"Hey, cool it. Rin's dad is the only reason we have this Early Warning Line in the first place." Rhodey defended. "I met her at a crab bake and she has good manners, unlike her father who melted a fork and ruined my favorite side arm." Rhodes continued and Tony caught the smile in his voice.
"Can I press it now Stark?!" Rin beamed and how could he resist that?
"On one condition, you have to say: 'On your mark, get set, Fury was wrong, Tony was right from the get-go!" Tony gestured Rin just tilted her head to the side.
Pause.
Tough crowd.
"Go master Jaken and Uncle Loki!" Rin pressed the 'go' button and Jarvis simultaneously brought up feed from each missile site.
Alarms, then smoke, then fire, then… lift off. From Norway, India, Egypt, Brazil, Australia, and Cali.
Tony's arc reactor lit up and glowed and he knew he had that stupid little boy face he always had when something he did was about to go so, so right.
Sesshomaru soon would see what he was really capable of. Not just tinkering in a lab on small scale gadgets, but a whole transorbital Early Warning Line to use against Thanos.
He fidgeted with a fork he found on the living room counter. Eureka! What a sight. it actually was all working out!
"They're all flying true. They're all entering the stratosphere in sync. Tony… you did it." Bruce was looking primarily at Egypt whose satellite launched first by a hair.
"Once they hit 200,000km from earth they will each unleash their payload of 90,000 youki capsules to release Sailor Moons super 'Astral-body and infra-red detecting super juice and voila! Big Brother Tony Stark is watching you, Thanos. Your play." Tony voice dipped seriously at the end and the faces of everyone, save Rin, glanced to him gravely.
"We put our trust, our money, and the lives of our countrymen in your hands, Mr. Stark. This was a gamble I—" The man with zero sense of humor from Egypt was cut off when the first signal beeped.
And the intro to Rin Tin Tin k-9 cop TV show started playing. Now!
Tony actually held his breath, though to be honest he swore Bruce did too, as the youki capsules ejected. And like those cheesy synchronized dancers in the Olympics, exploded in style.
Jarvis showed it right, the permutations were right on the money.
The readouts danced in Tony's eyes: D.E.M.O.N.S. was a success.
"I… I and my country are a part of history. We are, not SHIELD nor any organization, holds our fate in our hands. If there is anything you need from us, the Egyptian government owes you an ear Mr. Stark." Tony had even forgotten that the blowhard from Egypt had said anything.
"Yeah, yeah, like I didn't pick you guys for nothing." Tony picked them wisely, they worked for his algorithm and they were big enough players to stand up to SHIELD without being in NATO or any other strong enough military alliance to cause a problem.
"Sir, the permutations have operated better than expected, the entire globe has been ensconced in Lord Sesshomharu's youki." Jarvis announced and without so much as a good bye he closed all communications with the other countries except Rhodey.
"You really think this will work don't you? This isn't some sort of personal thing about SHIELD trying to ice your…boyfriend." Rhodey repeated and Tony's chest flooded with lava.
"Whoa, whoa, I don't want you breathing fire down my neck. As long as this thing works, as long as we can get a heads up on these alien assclowns I'm good." Rhodey must have read the anger that flashed across Tony's face.
"Ass clowns? OK I didn't know we were at a tailgate. Yeah, speaking of him I have to figure out where he is so I'll have to hang up. Rest easy Rhodey, we got this." Tony waved goodbye as an ending before Rhodey could protest about more information on the China SHIELD thing.
"Sir, I have recently picked up a faint reading similar to Lord Sesshomaru's youki in Southwest Pensylvania." Jarvis informed, and come to think of it, he sort felt a tug that direction, like a string in his arc reactor led him that direction. A barely there tingle also itched far away. Jaken?
Pennsylvania? Wasn't he just in Iowa? They were nowhere close to each other. He wasn't that fast.
"The signal seems to be airborne moving at a speed of Mach 2." Jarvis continued.
"Did they find a jet?" Bruce asked. Tony's reactor spun, something was up, but he wasn't feeling any tell-tale anxiety.
"Nothing appears on radar sir, not even something as small as a drone." Jarvis brought up all radar towers. What was this?
"Lord Sesshomaru must be in a hurry if he is flying with Barton all the way back!" Rin was hoping from one colored tile to another. It was easy to forget she was just a kid and didn't have anything to play wi—
Pause.
"Fly!? He can fly?" Tony heard him ask the dumb question before he could stop himself.
"Lord Sesshomaru can do lots of things! He would fly and Jaken and I would ride behind him on Ah-Un, our dragon. I miss Ah-Un, but I am sure he is safe. Maybe he is with Uncle Inuyasha." Rin wasn't paying much attention to either of them, she was too focused on her floor was lava game.
Tony's brain wasn't cooperating. So, if he could fly… then why didn't he do it more? Why bother with piloting the quinjet?
Did he just want to pilot the quinjet to show he could? What an arrogant, prideful, paranoid show-off.
Tony smirked; he bet he was faster. Which should have been second to the thought that he was more than fine if he was flying home at around twice the speed of sound. But Tony never really had the most healthy of thought patterns.
"If he is carrying Clint bridal style I want a visual JARVIS." Tony tapped his fingers against the counter top with the fork he still had in his hand.
Finally he'd get the delivery he wanted.
Bruce finally moved.
He was being weirdly quiet.
"Tony, I think it's a good time to tell you about what Fury said the other day about the space anomaly he and SHIELD recorded in the sky the day of the press conference." Bruce led and Tony wasn't particularly interested. He was busy multitasking between trying to see videos of his boyfriend going full Superman and quadruple checking D.E.M.O.N.S..
"Whatever Fury has is old news." Tony responded confidently, surveying the readouts from the satellite projections. No visuals on Sesshomaru.
"It has to do with your boyfriend, and our initial predictions of his youki abilities." Tony's protectiveness was piqued. Fury only wanted Sesshomaru for his abilities as a weapon. "Fury had that tone in his voice, along with his line of questioning that meant he wanted more out of Sesshomaru." Bruce adjusted his glasses which meant he was nervous.
Maybe this wasn't old news. Maybe Bruce thought Fury was sniffing around trying to use his boyfriend for his own gain.
"Dish then big green. When did you chit chat to Fury anyway?" Tony racked his brain trying to figure out when Bruce had even the chance to talk to him.
"After I uh, 'transformed' as your crush would put it, and nearly killed that SHIELD tactical team. I came to and Sesshomaru found me shortly after that. He wasn't exactly happy I was 'indecently dressed'. Fury came up, saving me from a fashion police lecture and showed us a picture of a space window, or portal." Bruce explained, taking something out of his pocket he had obviously been holding onto.
Tony remembered the initial tests he ran on Sesshomaru's youki. It already felt like eons ago.
"Fury thought that the space window was too small to be a Chitauri portal, and didn't have the same energy signature either. He also said that the star clusters visible didn't match any system we have mapped or seen yet. I tried to recreate it the best I could in my down time, but even I couldn't match any known systems to it." Bruce passed Tony a zip drive. Old school.
'Well, gotta give credit where credit is due, he didn't have access to my lab.' Tony flipped the zip drive in his fingers a few times before he had Jarvis bring it up.
"Those Astral patterns, theoretically, well truly, physically shouldn't exist. They're too many stars and they're too close together to be possible." Tony squinted at the readouts.
"I agree. Remember when we discovered that due to Sesshomaru's youki he could sense infra red and could detect Astral bodies? When Fury brought it up, Sesshomaru knew what he was talking about. He wasn't surprised at all and said we shouldn't be concerned about it." Bruce was leading him and Tony was following.
"Little Green did say he used to open up portals to the Demon Underworld." Bruce gave him a look. "…yeah, I know, let's not let Steve know that he used to make doorways to hell. But Frogger said he couldn't do it anymore. This is gotta be something new he can do, if Loki could do it he would have done it by now, and I definitely think we can rule Thor out. Fury probably figures that Moonie is behind it, too." Tony speculated, he wasn't sure what this meant except that he trusted Sesshomaru that if it wasn't something he should be concerned about, it wasn't anything terrible.
Probably. Unless he was doing something reckless again.
Tony's head began to hurt. They had a lot to talk about. Tony hated 'talks'.
Why was he going through all of this again?
"Sir, I have visual on Lord Sesshomaru, he is approaching the tower now." Jarvis pulled up the visuals.
"Yay! I am going to go show Lord Sesshomaru my target I shot!" Rin shot up and out and Tony scratched his beard.
"Is that….is he a ball of light?" Tony sprinted up to the roof of his tower, for the second time in his life after this stupid Demon. But…he had to see this for himself. He vaguely heard Bruce's less-hurried footsteps behind him.
He squinted but saw it. A dazzling stream of light, white and crackling with energy. This couldn't be Sesshomaru. It wasn't physically possible. Matter couldn't just turn into light.
Especially light that moved this slowly, with this much control. It didn't make sense. It was beautiful and oddly frightening. Like, where did the line between science, magic, and youki stop and start? Was there even a line?
His arc reactor whirled in overdrive. He anxiously fidgeted, maybe this was some sort of trick? Maybe this wasn't Sesshomaru? Either way, he had to confront Sesshomaru and talk about five dozen different subjects and it all began to overwhelm Tony.
Bruce said something, well maybe he did. Maybe he didn't because his eyes were locked onto the ball of light like a targeting system.
He didn't even notice he had stopped breathing really until the ball of light slowed morphed and lowered onto the roof of his Tower.
Clint was a heap, bitching about something Tony couldn't care less about.
Sesshomaru stood in one piece, hair everywhere per usual. Jaken's staff poked out from behind his back.
It had been a long while since he had seen him in his Japanese kimono outfit thing. He definitely looked more imposing, more…aristocrat, something that he couldn't relate to or touch. Which was crap because he was basically treated like royalty, so he shouldn't feel one-upped.
He hated the relief that fluttered up his stomach and into his chest. It didn't make any sense that he would feel this way. He knew he was fine, damnit. He hated that Sesshomaru could just change himself and someone else into light like it wasn't a big deal. He hated that he told Rhodey and Bruce he wanted to commit to him because he infuriated him.
Commitments were too much work. Maybe he should just abandon the idea entirely, Sailor Moon obviously still thought he slept with Christine. Maybe he should keep it that way. Maybe his mouth went too far this time.
Tony's legs went too far when they carried him towards Sesshomaru, his eyes were closed behind those crimson eyelids that matched his suit to a T.
He was holding…daffodils? Tony smiled. He knew who those had to be for. Sap.
"Lord Sesshomaru! I have practiced with the firearm Natasha gave me and I shot the target! See!" Tony saw Rin scamper up like a puppy to Sesshomaru and Tony stopped in his tracks, he didn't want to intrude on their moment.
It was after Sesshomaru slowly opened his eyes, gave the flowers to Rin that suddenly they were close. Really close.
Damn his super speed.
His nostrils were flared, ears were down, and dark circles ringed his wide eyes.
"You haven't showered. You reek of human spirits, sweat, and your usual musk." Sesshomaru spoke lowly and with a touch of curiosity. Tony was thrown, but recovered.
"Ok, reek? Not only is that rude but also untrue. I'll have you know my 'usual musk' was almost made into a cologne." Despite being basically verbally assaulted he couldn't help but a grin to creep to his face. Was this real? "And really this is the conversation we are having?"
Weren't they supposed to be talking about something else? Tony knew he had seen this whole thing go differently in his head.
"You don't still smell of that woman, as you should if you coupled with her." Sesshomaru murmured and that put Tony on his heels. He didn't even have to convince him, so well, that was…easier? Maybe? Fuck it, now he was sort of irritated.
"Maybe because I didn't. Maybe you shouldn't have tried to kill me in my own house after I washed your hair and everything. Maybe I shouldn't haven't have told Rho—" Tony immediately stopped talking when Sesshomaru dove his face down to the crook of his neck. His fangs and lips grazed his neck and he swore heard a deep inhale.
Was he sniffing him? Nuzzling? This had to be awkward because Tony was more than a few good inches shorter than he was.
"Ok, maybe turn about is fair game for me licking the blood off your neck thing, but this might be bad timing." Tony's heart was thudding in his chest. Why was this making his heart pound when they had done a lot much more raunchy manuevers in the past with him?
Why was he fighting a smile? Like a big smile, one that he wasn't going to make in front of just anyone. Especially Bruce. He'd just use it against him. Or runt, she'd say something creepy and sage-like like kids can do at the worst times.
Why did he feel like everything was going to be alright when everything was clearly, clearly not? Loki, Natasha, Cap, and Frogger were neck deep in SHIELD shit and Fury had probably already called the Tower three dozen times and automatically got rerouted to Comcast customer service. Things were not really OK, but that wash of relief kept him sturdy.
He wasn't on the cliff alone anymore.
Sesshomaru's claws had pricked his shoulderd through his shirt, and he knew that stupid boa thing was gonna get fur all over him. Again.
The tremble in Sesshomaru's warm grip and face barely registered with Tony. It resonated through him as a hum, or like someone plucked a guitar string.
"I see. This Sesshomaru has…" Tony could barely hear his whispered voice against his neck and Tony pushed him off gently. His armor wasn't on, maybe it weighed too much? That didn't matter though. He didn't want to hear whatever the hell the Demon Lord was about to say because really, and he hated to admit it: Jaken was right.
"So dramatic, are you taking lessons from Loki? Off. Like now, you're fine. It's fine. In fact, you're making it worse covering me in fur." Tony complained hollowly and Sesshomaru's face remained blank. For a Demon Lord with more pride than he did, he didn't need words to know Sesshomaru knew he fucked up. Whatever. Like he hadn't before countless times too.
They were a trainwreck. There was no way making this official would be a good idea.
Yet…Rhodey too was right, Tony loved a good bad idea.
"Ok. Cute. Glad you two made up or…whatever that was, but for the last time. Where is Loki?" Tony turned to Clint who had finally found his sealegs, or whatever.
Tony gave Bruce a look. The. Look. Tony instead brushed fluff off his shirt.
"Um, Clint, well, he's off with the others, including Jaken believe it or not, to go get the Scepter. So far, we haven't had any contact because it's a stealth mission. Loki had a plan he seemed real confident in though." Bruce sucked his teeth, looking to Tony for assistance. He was such a bad lie-by-omission..er…ever.
Maybe they'd be back soon, they can talk strategy and he would let Sesshomaru fuck his brains out in his bed in a few hours. Lunchtime quickie.
"I can sense Jaken because of the barrier you erected over this entire realm. Impressive, Stark. I never expected to be able to sense another Demonic presence on the opposing side of this world." Sesshomaru curled a finger to his lip. Tony saw the slight upward curl of his lips anyway. Tony wanted to bite his finger. No his lip. No everything. Damnit, Tony focus.
"They're across the planet? Where is the scepter?" Clint fired back quickly, too quickly. Was Clint going to be one of those clingy lovers that demanded Loki to instragram his trip or something?
"Ugh, Shanghai under some architect's worst nightmare of a tower. What a crowded hivemind that gaudy city is. People there have no sense of personal space, and who can really eat that many crayfish and dumplings. Don't get me started on the kareoke." Tony glanced between Sesshomaru and Clint. Clint's jaw dropped and Sesshomaru sighed through his nose, slicing his gaze back to Clint.
"What? What did I say? Was it the Kareoke?" Tony asked, knowing full well he probably didn't really want the answer.
Tony's chest then siezed in a horrible, knot of what he could only relate to a hard radar ping.
Thank you so much for all of your support! I would love to hear your opinions! Are the chapters too long? Too short? I hope you enjoyed it!
Next we hear from our lovely Loki about what could possibly happening.
Thanks again for all of your wonderful reviews :)
-TL