-stares at the number of reviews- Y-you guys are amazing. Seriously. Let me love you all. -sobs-
Also, I find it interesting that only two people mentioned Hammer. XD I was so nervous about making the villain into a known character but I guess you guys don't mind?
Here's the video that inspired this, btw:
add youtube dot com /watch?v=9k3GiyEXqu8
Warnings; torture, flashbacks, talk of non-con,
~~~~Line Breaker~~~~~
Tony remembered when he had first come home with his Arc Reactor, he had locked himself up to work on his Iron Man suite for weeks. He hadn't slept much, hadn't drank much, because both things led to the horrible nightmares he was plagued by; both meant he'd have to sleep. Even now, most nights, he was forced awake after watching Yensin die all over again.
Briefly, he thought maybe he was in the middle of one of his nightmares; his skin was freezing and every part of him ached. Forcing his eyes open, he realized that he wasn't dreaming.
"Son of a bitch..."
He was laying on the stone floor, soaking wet and noticing that the tub was knocked over. There weren't anyone around to guard him, so he forced himself to his feet, groaning in agony. All his muscles were stiff, the cold really not helping from laying on a stone floor.
He stiffened when the door opened, revealing his two new armed friends. Without a word, they cuffed him again, shoving him forward towards the door. He stumbled, hitting his knees hard on the ground before being yanked up and back into his cell.
"You look horrible." Loki greeted him, raising an eyebrow at his appearance.
Tony tried to glare at him but couldn't muster up the strength. He didn't even argue when he was thrown inside the cell, groaning when his shoulder connected with the wall as he was shackled back up. He thought about spitting on the guy but decided he'd had enough torture for the day. He just crumpled, shivering and finally noticing that his teeth were chattering.
"You really do look badly," Loki went on, either not noticing the trembling or ignoring it. "I could hear you screaming from here."
"S-sorry, I'll try to keep it down next time..." Tony hissed, brown eyes flashing. "Hope I didn't interrupt your beauty sleep, you look like you need all the help you can get."
Loki grinned. "They managed to get under your skin already, Man of Iron?"
The human man scuffed, rubbing his arms to try and keep warm. "Last time I didn't have fucking flashbacks the whole time...I can't tell if I'm fighting real people or nightmares."
He was surprised at the oddly concerned look on the god's face, though it was gone before he could double-check it existed at all; he chalked it up to delusions. "They kept you in the water? The whole time?"
"Well, they let me up to breathe briefly." Tony muttered. "When I went unconscious, they left me there to freeze for awhile."
The liesmith looked him over, rolling his eyes and moved closer. He then extended a hand, which Tony looked over wearily.
"I'm not holding your hand."
Loki chuckled. "Just give me your hand, Stark. I'm trying to make sure you don't freeze to death."
"...Why?" Tony asked, still hesitating.
"Look at it this way: if you are alive, then there's a chance of escaping between the two of us. For a mortal, you are smart. Also," The god smirked. "while you live, the Avengers will be looking for you, and I doubt my dear brother would leave me to die."
"Sneaky."
He finally took Loki's hand, surprised by how callouse they were. Then again, he used a staff to fight. Thor had also mentioned knives. He might use magic, but he definitely knew how to fight. Tony had some scars to prove it.
"So, is this where you tap your heels and we both say there's no place like home?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.
He didn't get a response. Instead, suddenly, he felt all the cold leave him, like it was being sucked away. He shuddered, his cloths still wet but at least he wasn't feeling sleepy anymore.
"W-what the hell?" He gaped. "I thought you didn't have your magic?"
"This is part of my heritage." Loki said dryly, looking annoyed.
"What, of being an ice fairy?" Tony asked, blinking. He felt the hand tighten threateningly. "Okay, nerve, sorry."
They sat there in silence, waiting slowly for Tony's cloths to dry and keeping the cold away. The billionaire noticed that the hand he was holding was turning a light blue, but didn't mention it. Whatever 'heritage' Loki was, it wasn't a topic of discusion.
"How long you think it'll take before they give up on us?"
The god looked at him in amusement. "'Us'?"
Tony shrugged. "I feel generous. Thought to include you. You look like you'd be someone to be picked last in dodge ball."
He tensed when the hand tightened again warningly, but he shot him a smile. He got an eye-roll in response. "I give it a week at most. This... 'Justin', seems to really dislike you."
"He tried to get in on my money, then tried to rip me off." He shrugged. "Hammer can't invent a car radio, much less one of my suites. He tried and failed horribly."
"So now he wants to steal that carrier you tried to keep me in?" Loki asked, back to being amused again. "You humans are...interesting."
"One way to put it." Tony muttered. "I'd say greedy assholes, but interesting's...okay."
Silence. Feeling vaguely warm and numb at the same time, he placed his head against the wall and felt his eyes begin drooping without his permission. The last thing he he heard was an annoyed sigh before he finally fell asleep.
~~~~~~Line Breaker~~~~~~
He came to when he heard the jail-door opening.
He didn't open his eyes, listening carefully. He heard no one talking, just scrapping of feet and then the wood door closing. After the footsteps faded, he finally looked to see what had happened.
There was a plate of food on the ground in front of him. It certainly didn't look appitizing, a slab of almost raw meat and some soggy bread with a bowl of water. He frowned, seeing that he had curled up on the floor, and from the warm feeling in his hand, was still holding on to Loki.
"How long was I asleep?" he asked groggily, deciding that he really didn't care that he was clutching the god's hand like a lifeline; he was too dazed, too sore.
"Couple hours. They brought that for you." Loki motioned to the food, making a disgusted look. "Though if you eat it, you might want to inform me what flowers to bring to your funeral process."
Tony laughed, pulling himself up. He allowed the hand to pull away, grinning when the god muttered under his breath and wiped it on his pants. "What, nothing for you?"
"Not that I would eat that," Loki muttered. "But I do not need sustence the way you do."
The billionaire raised an eyebrow, curious. "How long can you go without it?"
He got a bemused look, to which he shrugged. Talking was much better than sitting in silence, waiting for whatever would happen to them. Maybe they were judging Loki's power restrictions? He voiced that, causing the God of Michief to look interested.
"It would make sense...though I still wonder why they are keeping me here..." He frowned, green eyes unfocused as he thought.
"Insurance?" Tony asked, poking at the food he decided he wasn't eating. "They can offer you to Shield so they can be let off, then give up me once they're far enough."
He was surprised when he saw Loki's eyes harden, a dark look crossing his face. His hands were clenched, shoulders tensed. Had Loki gone through something similar? It might explain why he was so casual about being kidnapped despite being a god.
"So, have you gone through anything like this before?" He almost flinched when he was glared at. "Just asking. I have, besides the cave thing I mentioned. Got kidnapped once, when I was in High School. But that...that had been different then the Ten Rings..."
Why was he doing this to himself? He felt his stomach lurch at the mere mention of both incidents, but he wanted Loki to talk to him. It made forgetting easier when he could focus on the others voice. Made him forget that they were both sitting in a cell, maybe waiting to be killed.
"Something...similar."
Tony looked over, surprised that he was getting an answer at all. The god frowned, eyes far away. "Wha...what happened?"
He looked uncomfortable, nothing something anyone was used to seeing on the trickster's face. Hell, besides Thor, no one could ever really get him angry either. He was always mocking and dignified, always posing as something better.
"I do not think this information needs to be shared." Loki muttered, something else entering his eyes.
"Make you a deal." Tony offered. "I'll, uh...tell you something, you tell me something. Fair, right? So if you think I'll use anything learned here for something 'untoward', you've got dirt on me too."
The trickster eyed him, before nodding. "I can agree to that."
"Good." Tony cleared his throat a bit, feeling nervous. "So, uh...I was on my way home from High School, walking because I had detention, and I got grabbed off the streets by some guys. They had me locked up in a warehouse and called my Dad for a ransom in return for my safety."
Loki frowned, hearing the waver in his voice and seeing the trembling in his hands. "What did they do?"
The billionaire gave a broken laugh. "Beat the fucking shit out of me. My Dad told them he didn't deal with petty thugs. So, after nearly bleeding out, couple ribs broken, torn tendon in my leg, asI crawled outside and got found by some passing pedestrian. My Dad visited me in the hospital, and said that I better not get detention again after this."
Another odd emotion passed through the god's eyes; something akin to sympathy or finding someone relatable, with what looked like anger. It was a slightly horrifying thought, being relatable to a well-known super villain. But he decided he didn't care at that moment, waiting for the liesmith to say something.
"I have been...on the opposite side." Loki finally muttered darkly. "When my Father-...When Odin learned that I would bring about Ragnorak, he took away my children, promising their return when I could be...presentable."
"Your children?" Tony gaped at him. "You have kids?"
"Four." Was the short response, though his face lightened at the mere mention of them. It was endearing. "But the Allfather hid them from me, but one; Sleipnir was forced to be his own stallion."
Again, he felt his thoughts just freeze. A stallion? What? Loki must have noticed because he laughed at him.
"He is an eight-legged horse, fastest stead in the Nine Realms and son of a god." came the dry response. "My daughter, Hel, became the Goddess of Death in Nifilheim."
"Oh, okay..." Tony smiled, both amazed and oddly touched at the way the god spoke of his kids. It slipped off though, remembering what Loki had said about Odin keeping them away from him in some kind of century-long ransom. "That...that sucks...which I know is a vast understatement, but, damn, Loki..."
Loki grinned, something haunted still in his smile. "I have done things for Odin to see them again, but...at most, I get to see him degrade my son by riding him around like a common mule. But after trying so hard to earn Asgard's respect to see them again, after knowing nothing I did would ever allow them to be free, I stopped trying..."
"That just makes you a good Dad." Tony muttered. "Much better than my Dad. The only time I ever heard him say he liked me was when he was way dead in a video he left me-"
They both stopped, hearing footsteps again in the hall. The billionaire sighed, knowing that he would be forced back into torture again. His hands began shaking again. Focus, Tony. He could do this. After all, if nothing else, at least he had these odd little talks to get him through.
"This will not break you, Tony Stark."
He froze, staring at Loki in confusion. "W-what?"
The god's eyes narrowed, staring at the door as the footsteps came closer. "It will not. No opponent of mine is going to be broken by a mortal before I get a chance at you."
That was...oddly assuring. Before he could respond, the men entered and had him on his feet, unshackled and marched out, shoving him a few times when his muscles seized up and caused him to slow down.
He was brought to the same room. The tub was there, full again, giving off a chill that sent him into panic-mode. But that's not where he was brought. They forced him into an unnoticed operating table, straping him in and leaving him cuffed.
No.
No, no, no, no.
They pulled out a scaple. Then a wrench. One of them put his hands a little far up his thigh, making him snarl like a caged animal. He had to say, Hammer certainly hired the right men for getting information; except, he was Tony fucking Stark and he'd never spill anything despite the way they tore at his shirt, leaving his reactor unguarded and open.
Please. I can't do this again.
He tried to break free; everything was immobile, he could barely lift up his head at this point. But then they uncuffed his hands, one man gripping his wrist and splaying the fingers across the table tightly as another grabbed the wrench.
"Not much of an inventor if he can't invent."
Before he could respond or argue or even begin to fathom what they were trying to do, the wrench came down on his pointer finger.
Tony couldn't help it; he screamed.
"Let it sink in." one of them muttered.
"Fuck that, the piece of shit's been nothing but trouble."
Name calling, real mature.
He was totally going insane. It wouldn't matter if Shield or the team were looking for him now. He'd be gone long before they showed up, he suddenly hated his teammates. Why was he the only one without super powers? Couldn't the bastards at least give him some anti-pain pill for situations like this? He had to admit, kidnapping seems to happen a lot to him.
No. I can't do this. Call it off. It's only going to get worse, they're only going to keep going and who knows if I'll want to be alive by the time I get out of here?
This will not break you, Tony Stark.
The wrench came down on his middle finger. He wheezed and cried, feeling it again and again, and finally they smashed his thumb and he was too much of a coward to look and see what would remain of his right hand. An inventor that couldn't invent...he felt sick.
"Get his legs too. Won't have to worry about him running away."
He bit his tongue, not caring that he was tasting blood and it didn't help the feeling of sickness that was settling in his stomach. His vision blurred slightly. The men in masks were quickly forming into men in robes and scarves and he couldn't tell if he was still awake or not anymore. He could only beg them to stop and scream and yell when he felt his femur shatter in one strike.
He was stronger than this, dammit. He was a Hero, he was Tony Stark, he was a genius, he could handle this. Like last time. If he could survive the Ten Rings, he could certainly survive Hammer.
He choked when they dumped the freezing cold water on him. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, pain, dirt, agony, why wasn't there anyone trying to get him out of here-
He was shoved off the table, landing in a gasping, choking heap. One of them kicked him in the side, to which he could only lay there and whine in agony. He spit up the blood, stomach lurching but there wasn't anything to throw up.
"Soak him again."
Tony tensed, gasping when he was again kicked and sprawled on to his back. He curled into himself, wrapping his undamaged hand around his torso only to choke on more water that they dumped on him. He was shivering and aching, trying to force himself to breathe.
The billionaire was hardly aware of his surroundings when they dragged him back to his cell. His leg burned and dragged after him at an odd angle that he didn't even want to think about. He barely came to when he found himself all but leaning on Loki, the armed guards gone and his not broken leg shackled.
"I-I can't...do this." He heard himself mutter, still gasping, still writhing in pain and agony and memories. "I can't, not again, no more..."
"Come on, Stark, quit your simpering." Loki hissed, eyes narrowing when the human barely managed to pull himself up against the wall.
Tony shook his head, finally forcing himself to look at the bloody, shredding remains of his fingers. "Even if I manage to get out of this place today, this...this isn't something I can just fix."
He let out a totally manly yelp when Loki grabbed his wrist, looking over the damage. His green eyes stared, looking over the blood and mangled flesh. The god gently released it, then taking his other hand and again draining all the cold and chill from the genius's body.
Tony sighed in slight relief, not caring when he did lean on the liesmith's shoulder, ignoring the way his armor digged into his skin but it was nothing to the other pain he was feeling. If the world could at least grant him this moment of weakness, maybe he could get through the rest of this torture.
He felt and heard Loki sigh. "Sleep, Stark."
"I'm only gonna wake up to nightmares and still be fucking stuck here." he said even as his eyes slide shut.
"Consider yourself lucky to be waking up at all." the God of Mischief replied. "Under any other circumstance, I would definitely have to kill you horribly for drooling on me."
Tony gave a mix between a chuckle and a scuff. "M'not drooling."
He heard the other snort before he was suddenly asleep, silently thanking the god for his reassuring presence in this nightmare. He couldn't begin to image any of this without Loki to, ironically, keep him sane.
This was going to make being enemies much more difficult...
~~~~~Line Breaker~~~~~~~~~~
There! I hope it doesn't seem rushed...writing damaged!Tony is hard. O.o But I'mma trying my best, just for you guys!
MRIMO