So now that it's been like, half a year, I'm back! I've got this little one shot that I had in the works for almost forever. It's a got a little bit of tension in it (for those of you hoping for more fighting). I'm still working on a couple other little ones, so hopefully I can get those done sooner!
As always, read, review, and enjoy!
They hear the pair coming in by their voices. Well really, they hear them arguing and while that isn't strange—they argue constantly—it's what they're arguing about that catches the team's attention.
"Damn it Tony, remain still!" Loki snaps. There's a sound of scuffling, no doubt as Tony tries to pry himself away from his protective boyfriend's grip, but he is apparently unsuccessful.
"I'm fine, Loki," Tony responds, clearly exasperated.
"Mr. Stark and Master Loki are in need of assistance," Jarvis intones over the speakers. Steve sighs and stands up.
"I'll go try and calm the situation," he volunteers, which is good because they all learned long ago to stay out of the couple's way when they argued, but Steve is always a sucker.
"They require the assistance of the whole team, Captain Rogers." Clint can almost hear a frantic note in Jarvis' voice, and in seconds, the whole team is up and moving to the landing dock where, really, the pair should not have been coming in. And they definitely should not be hearing the sound of metal on concrete because Tony had left the tower with his briefcase suit and only because Natasha and Steve absolutely insisted he have it when he went out in public.
The sight they walk into takes a second to sink in. Loki is doing most of the work, holding Tony up who, in turn, is trying desperately to push himself away. The god has a few scratches, some of them still bleeding sluggishly, but Tony…well, Tony has definitely looked better. His suit is demolished, Clint can see that right away. It's dented and scuffed and broken and there's no way that it's not digging into Tony's body. His point is confirmed when he notices the bloody footprints on the cement, and the steady drips of blood that almost blend in with the red of the suit but not quite. His mask is lying behind the pair, probably thrown off by Loki.
"Jesus Christ, Tony, stop moving!" Clint shouts, running forward to help Loki manhandle Tony to the ground. He doesn't make it easy.
"What the hell Clint? I'm fine. It looks worse than it is!" Tony says, trying to pull away, but Steve is there, closely followed by Thor and both of them use their far superior strength to keep Tony on the ground.
"Jarvis, we need to remove the suit," Bruce says, his eyes tracking the blood to where the wounds should be.
"The suit has sustained too much damage to remove mechanically," Jarvis says. "It will have to be removed by hand. I have had Dummy locate the necessary tools, if someone would run down to Mr. Stark's lab."
Natasha leaves without a word and Tony still struggles underneath his teammates' hands. "Tony," Bruce says in a tone that always, somehow, manages to catch Tony's attention. The man stills. "Stop moving. Your leg is broken."
"It's what?" Tony asks, bewildered. Clint doesn't know how Tony can't possibly notice something like a broken bone, let alone the fact that he's pretty sure he can see metal sticking out of the man's body.
"Broken, Tony," Bruce repeats. Natasha appears next to him, a tool bag in her hands.
"He must be in shock," Natasha says. She pulls several screwdrivers from the bag and hands one to Bruce. "Promise to remain still?" she asks Tony.
"I really don't-"
"He will, or I will put him to sleep," Loki says through clenched teeth. Tony tilts his head to look at him and suddenly seems to notice the pain. He hisses and his head flinches into Loki's lap.
"Oh, that definitely doesn't feel right," Tony says.
"What can you feel Tony?" Bruce asks, even as he's listening to Jarvis' careful instructions on how to remove the suit.
"Uh, there might a piece of metal digging into me," Tony says casually, like he's saying the sky is blue.
"You'll have to be a little more specific Tony," Clint says, accepting a screwdriver from Natasha and getting to work on taking off the suit's right arm.
"That is being specific birdboy," Tony says, but the tone is clenched and tight.
"I think the suit was putting enough pressure on all of the wounds but once he started moving…" Bruce says.
"The wounds are starting to bleed more," Natasha finishes.
"There are manual release switches you know," Tony says. His eyes are closed now, his breath short.
"Too risky," Bruce responds. "They would release quickly, and they might dig a piece in deeper. Hold on Tony, we're going to take the leg off of the suit. It's not going to feel…"
"Just do it," Tony grinds out.
"How did this happen?" Steve asked, busy working on the left arm.
"Fucking Magneto," Tony grinds out. His eyes are closed, his head pressed into Loki's hands, which are glowing slightly. It doesn't seem to be helping much.
Clint pauses his work. "You were going out to dinner. How did you find Magneto?"
"Wrong time, wrong place," Tony says.
"Magneto was busy working a heist nearby," Loki explains.
"Why didn't you call us? It's crazy to go after him alone, particularly you Tony," Steve lectures.
"Didn't," Tony says, opening his eyes. Everyone can see the glassy look in his eyes.
"It would be better to say that Magneto put the suit on him," Loki says. His head tilts, a go-to sign that he's concentrating on something else.
"And where were you?" Clint is quick to accuse. Steve shoots him a glare, but Loki barely reacts besides making the guiltiest face Clint's seen in a while.
"Occupied."
"Mystique," Tony says. "And Magneto."
"You should've called us before you confronted him, Tony," Steve says as he pulls the last metal plate off the arm he was working on. It seems to have escaped to the worst damage, a few cuts still bleeding and the bruising indicating a possible sprained wrist.
"We did not confront Magneto," Loki says. "He confronted us."
Tony raises his free arm to tap the arc reactor shakily. "Made of rare metal. Easy to pick out."
"Tony, this is going to be the worst part," Bruce says, hand hovering over the suit. "Are you sure you don't-"
Before Bruce can finish his question, Loki's hands flash and Tony's body goes slack. "Do it," Loki says. "I do not know how long the spell will last."
"You don't usually have that problem," Natasha says.
"The reactor is fighting me. I drained much of my power fighting Mystique and Magneto, and Magneto drained much of the arc reactor's power."
"What do you need Bruce?" Steve asks.
"Hold the leg down, just in case. Loki, are you going to be able to heal this?"
"Not completely. I should be able to at least fix the bone," Loki says, but he's unsure.
"Steve, call in S.H.I.E.L.D. Tell them what happened, but substitute Bruce for Loki. If there's time, Loki can fix what he can," Natasha instructs as she kneels down next to Bruce. While the two of them work on the leg, Clint begins making Bruce look as disheveled as possible. The man hardly notices.
"Ready?" he asks Natasha. She nods grimly and he summons all of his strength to pull the piece out that's lodged deeply in his leg. Tony comes back to consciousness with a choked off scream. "Hold on Tony. Try not to move."
"I can do that," Tony groans. Pain leaks through his words.
"S.H.I.E.L.D will be here in five minutes," Steve says.
"You called S.H.I.E.L.D?" Tony complains. "You guys are the worst."
"Tony, you need medical attention that Loki can't provide," Bruce lectures idly. Tony wonders if he just has these lectures stored in his brain for situations like this. Then he wonders if the concussion he undoubtedly has is making him think strange thoughts. "Jarvis, will you give us warning just before they enter in eye-sight?"
"Of course, Doctor Banner," Jarvis says.
"I can't believe Magneto destroyed another suit," Tony says.
"I can't believe he found you again. It's like he's stalking you," Clint adds helpfully.
"I cannot believe he ignored my warning. He will pay, when he stops hiding behind others," Loki says darkly.
"Not alone, you won't. Promise me," Tony says, and tries to look Loki in the eye but pain makes any movement impossible. Plus the glares every single team member—and Loki—are sending him.
"Sirs, S.H.I.E.L.D will be arriving in less than a minute," Jarvis says.
"Loki, promise me," Tony tries again, but the god only gives him a kiss and promises to be back as soon as possible before he disappears. Tony struggles to get up, catching them unaware, even Steve, who struggles to get the upper hand. Suddenly a beefy arm reaches in and helps Steve gain control back.
"Rest, friend Tony. I will track him. You could say that I have had much practice in this," Thor says with a small smile. Tony relaxes only minutely, but it's enough that Natasha can strike a nerve point that sends Tony into unconsciousness.
o.0.o
Tony wakes up tense and ready to move. There was something he was doing, someone he needed to-
"Relax. He's fine," a female voice in Russian says into his ear. It takes Tony a second to translate it in his half-panic, half-conscious state, but when he does, he relaxes marginally and opens his eyes. Last time he started to relax, the owner of said voice had pinched him unconscious. "Thor and I tracked him down and watched his back."
The redhead is the only one in the room and she's watching him warily, like he'll hop out of bed at any second. Tony forces himself to relax the rest of the way. "That's a story I think I need to hear," he says back to her. She smiles and relaxes as well.
"The short version is that Magneto is now safely located within a government facility. He'll probably escape eventually, but it should keep him off our backs for a while. Also, I'm pretty sure he is now properly terrified to come near you." She pauses, then switches back to Russian, quietly, so anyone listening on S.H.I.E.L.D's security monitors can't hear her. "If they ask, Thor and Clint went after me. It was just the three of us."
Tony looks at her, a picture of innocence. "How could I possibly know what happened? I was unconscious. Thanks for that, by the way," he adds with his usual amount of sarcasm.
"You were going to break one of those finely strained ribs you had with the way you were struggling. Or break your leg. Again."
"How soon until I can get out of here? And where is everyone else?"
"Out on a mission."
"Without you?"
"I'm 'grounded.' Dad decided that if I was going to go out on revenge missions, I couldn't go out on missions at all."
Tony snorted. "Like that's ever stopped you before. Wanna help me break out of here? We can totally get home and have pizza ready for the team by the time they get back."
Natasha smiles as she glances at the door and then the camera. She understands that this is his way of saying thank you. "Jarvis knows what to do?"
Tony looks affronted at her words. "Jarvis always knows what to do, right Jarvis?"
"Of course, sir. I shall see you at home."
o.0.o.
None of the team looks surprised when they come home and find Tony sprawled on the couch with ice packs covering the biggest bruises, while Natasha flips idly through channels on the T.V. Bruce just sighs and grabs a piece of pizza and sits down in the chair next to Tony. Clint makes a grab for the remote and quickly learns that Natasha is not to be messed with when she controls the T.V.
"Friend Tony!" Thor bellows. He holds his fist out for a fistbump—which Tony never regrets teaching him—and beams at him. "You are looking much better on this day! And you have brought us the gift of pizza!"
"Well I wasn't going to let you starve," Tony says. Steve stands by the couch for a second longer before he admits defeat and graces the floor with his presence. Tony gasps as loudly as he can. "What, no lecture?"
"Would you listen to it, if I gave you one?"
"Not a chance," Tony confirms. "Besides, surely Fury called to bitch you out about Nat and I running away."
"Actually, he called both of us," Clint says, finally admitting defeat and grabbing a piece of pizza before leaning back against Natasha's legs. "He thought that I would have more control over making Nat feel bad for risking your life." Natasha saves Tony from risking his ribs in order to snort his amusement by cracking a smile herself, which is almost as good. "When he realized that it wasn't going to work, he called Steve."
"So, giant cats, huh?" Tony asks, referring to the fight that the team was called out on. Clint groans, but Thor beams happily.
"It was a far more amusing fight than last night's," Thor decides as he grabs another piece of pizza. Tony had given up a long time ago and just started order Steve, Thor, and Bruce their own pizzas after fights. Bruce usually only ate a normal amount of food, but after a fight, he had to eat enough to replenish The Hulk and Bruce.
"That's not true," Clint says. "I liked the part last night where Magneto tried to lift Thor's hammer with his mind."
"I thought you were on the Helicarrier!" Steve exclaims, sitting up and finally joining the rest of the group.
Clint suddenly looks shifty-eyed, which he only does when he wants to look like he feels bad for lying, but doesn't actually feel any remorse. "Right. I was…for a while."
"About two seconds after we disappeared around the corner, he left again," Bruce explains. When everyone's eyes turn to him, he shrugs and slinks down in his seat. "I have good hearing. Also, I was actually anticipating it."
Steve looks helplessly at his teammates. "Sorry Cap," Clint says. "We needed someone to stay there and make it look like we totally weren't getting into trouble. Fury only suspects us of breaking orders when you're not around."
"Go back to the part about Magneto trying to lift Thor's hammer, because that sounds like a way better story," Tony says. He tries to sit up a little, but Natasha instantly clamps a hand on his ankle, lightly with a threatening pressure just barely held back, in case Tony thought about ignoring her warning.
"He reached out for it, I mean, you can always tell when he's reaching for a piece of metal, he's usually not very discreet, and you could just see the concentration on his face," Clint says, his face glowing and his hands expressive. "He started narrowing his eyes. Then blood started dripping out of his nose, and then the nose bleed really started to get going. But he would just not give up his attempt. In the end we sat around drinking and waiting for S.H.I.E.L.D to show up while Thor's hammer sat on his chest."
"So how is that you were the only one that got in trouble?" Tony asks the redhead. She shrugs.
"I told Fury I ran off first and Clint followed me. Then Steve sent Thor after both of us."
"You said what?" Steve asks with a groan. It appears he gave up any hope that his team would follow a single rule.
"I'm pretty sure he didn't believe Nat by the fact that he didn't ask you about it," Clint adds.
When Steve continues to look like he's drowing, Tony helpfully adds, "You're an absolutely terrible liar."
"How exactly are you planning on getting up to your room?" Bruce asks, taking pity on Steve. "I'm surprised you didn't injure yourself further by coming home."
"I will take him," Loki's voice says as he appears behind Steve. It startles Steve enough that the forsaken look on his face quickly morphs into surprise.
"Look who decided to join the party." Tony's voice is quiet and dangerous, and tension seems to blanket the room. Loki raises his head defiantly, but continues to move over to the couch.
"Well, this is awkward. I'm off to lick my wounds. Unless you want the honors, Nat," Clint offers as he quickly retreats. Natasha follows him, smacking him upside the head. Steve, being the observant guy that he is, quickly distracts Thor, reminding the god that he promised to show him something in Central Park. Bruce doesn't say anything, just waves a hand and disappears into the elevator.
"You know, I don't think even I've been able to clear a room that fast before," Tony observes.
"We seem to have combined our skills," Loki agrees pleasantly.
Now that Natasha isn't there to stop him, Tony forces his body into a sitting position. Loki, standing behind the couch, leans down to help. "I'm fine," Tony snaps. Loki's face darkens but he retracts his hands. "I've never thought that I'd be allowed to say this, but that was stupid. Even for you," Tony says, anger still clouding his voice.
"I gave a promise to Magneto," Loki responds heatedly. "And I never break a promise. You learned that years ago."
"I wasn't even awake for that promise or I would have told you it was stupid then," Tony says, his hands coming up to express his anger. "And had you waited mere hours, half of the team would have backed you up-"
"Half of the team did back me up," Loki says bitterly.
"-with a plan. Not only did you try to get yourself killed, you risked everybody else's lives!" Loki says nothing in response and Tony takes that as an unapologetic acceptance. "If I don't get to go do my little revenge missions alone, you don't either. I don't even care if you take Clint with you instead of me, but you do not get to do revenge without someone there to back you up!"
"I regret nothing," Loki says, his voice still hard. "I will protect you at all costs."
"Well now you've pulled the team into the middle of it, because you know they'll protect me, and they know I'll go after you every time."
"In the team's defense, we would've gone after him anyway," Clint's voice floats down to them from the air vents.
"Clint!" Tony snaps at the same time Loki's eyes flash and his hands give a slight greenish glow. There's a thump, a muffled curse, and some scuffling.
"Got it, I got it!" Clint says. "I'm just trying to get past the war zone in one piece, Jesus."
"I don't care that the team is willing to follow you or that you feel this highly unneeded desire to protect me," Tony says, ignoring Loki's scoff. "You have to think about the consequences; it's part of working around other people. You're not alone here anymore, Loks. I had to learn this the hard way too. And no, I did not just issue Steve's exact lecture he gave to me. His was way worse. It took like three times before it finally stuck."
Loki considers his words in silence, staring at the still muted TV. "If I promise to consider my actions before undertaking them, will you stop pretending like you are in perfect health?"
Tony wonders if he can push the god's promise a little further, but doubts he'll get much more. Besides, like he said, it took Steve a long time to teach his lesson. He supposes he'll have to give Loki the same amount of tries. He nods once. "Fine. But-"
"But it's not over. We say that every time we argue," Loki says with a roll of his eyes. He moves to the other side of the couch and carefully picks Tony up.
"The living room's all yours, Clint," Tony calls cheerfully up to the vents. Loki's hands glow slightly again and there's a highly undignified squawk as Clint falls from the suddenly open vent. He lands in a heap on the ground. "Should I call Natasha?" Tony asks, all wide eyed and innocent looking. Clint swears and stalks out of the living room as Loki and Tony vanish to the bedroom.