Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or even the idea that this came from.
Tony Stark's Flying Circus
Chapter 3: Vanishing Act
"I know it's late and you've been a great audience, but we still have one last act in us if you'd like to stick around to see it!"
The crowd gave a roar as each of the previous performers reentered the ring on horseback for the grand finale, an extra mare trotting in for Tony who was standing in the middle of the large center ring announcing the act. He easily saddled up with a grin and led the fiery red mustang into position to start the trick riding they had all been trained to do by Cap.
Giving Natasha a look across the ring, he pulled his horse to the right and joined Clint, Rhodey, and Steve in walking the outside of the ring. The others, Thor, Natasha, Bruce, and Loki, moved opposite them in a tighter circle and Tony whispered to the woman as she passed on her solid black mare, "Fifth row back, to the East."
A quick smile showed that either she or Clint had already noticed and Tony relaxed a bit into the act, enjoying the crowd's gasps as they all sped up into a canter.
The assassins, Loki, and himself had been keeping a sharp eye out for any suspicious characters both inside and outside the shows, while leaving the others to their own devices (which, unfortunately for Tony, included mothering him to the point of distraction). Other precautions had also been taken, but those would only go in to effect if the kidnapping or theft was actually successful.
Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. All they had to do was find Steve's troupe, finish the tour and go home.
Soon enough the troupes' acrobats started trading horses, jumping between the inner and outer ring, while those with lesser physical abilities started weaving in between each other. Shortly after the crowd was awed by the skills of Steve and the assassins as they performed the craziest stunts while their mares were doing quick sprints across the center of the ring – standing, doing hand stands; Steve even pulled of his signature flip without a hitch, the one that had put him out of commission years prior.
A thunder of applause rattled the stands as they wound the horses back down, Steve coming to a stop in the center as the rest circled him and stopped. They all gave a bow in unison before clearing the ring, Tony slipping from his horse as it followed the rest out.
He wrapped up the show, JARVIS translating through the speakers for the German crowd once more, "And that was our show folks! Thanks so much for coming to see the Stark Spectaculaire! If you're in the US, stop by and see us again!"
Cheers followed the entire troupe and their ringleader out of the big top before the audience began to make their way out of the stands, either filtering out in to the booths set up nearby or starting back towards their homes.
Each of the performers led their steeds back into the airship and groomed their personal horse, putting away the tack and rubbing the dust out of their hair. Unfortunately, thorough washings would have to wait until tomorrow (or at least later; after the people had left).
Steve, of course, was the first to finish having had the most experience with horses and how to handle them. Soon, Tony saw him looking around and almost groaned when Cap clearly noticed that he was working slower than usual.
In truth, the ringmaster just didn't want to have to go mingle with the audience again and was determined to put it off as long as possible. Those drones they'd been finding gave him the creeps and he just knew that Laughy guy was waiting to corner him, judging by his stalking over the past week.
Grimacing at that thought, the ringmaster wasn't surprised to see Cap pulling off the last of the ringmaster's horse's tack and begin cleaning it up so it could be stowed away for the night. The horseman always helped out his fellow performers before heading out on his own, self-imposed quest.
Tony gave a half smile as he picked up the brushes to start grooming his mustang in earnest. Many of the others had Arabians, but he'd found this little beauty in some hick town and she just begged to see the open road. He'd bought her for a large sum of money, but it wasn't even half of what he knew she was worth.
The farmer he'd purchased her from had called her Shelby and that was fine with Tony, but many of the others had simply taken to calling her The Mustang in much the same way that The Jag had earned his name. Pausing in his brushing, Tony took a moment to wonder if the two had ever met, before going back to the monotonous circular strokes with a soft snort. Jungle cats and horses would probably never get along. Then again, he'd thought the same thing about Dummy...
Finished with the tack, Steve moved around the horse to start cleaning its hooves, questioning his boss as he did. "Is something wrong? You seem a little out of it tonight." Looking over in the trick rider's direction, but unable to see him because of the large horse in the way, Tony blinked. "I'm a little tired, I suppose, but nothing big." He went back to brushing out the hindquarters of his beauty. "Why'd you ask?" Steve set the hoof back on the floor and stood to grin at Tony, "You're being quiet."
Tony rolled his eyes. Of course that would be what gave him away: when he shut his damn mouth. "Well, everyone has an off night." He flashed him a grin as he moved around to tend to the other half of his mare, "Even I can't be perfect all the time, Cap." Voice echoing above the stalls, Clint retorted, "Stark isn't perfect most of the time, if ever." Looking up, Tony frowned a bit, wondering if the archer's voice had just echoed from another point in the room or from the vents.
He finally just shrugged because it didn't really matter and he wasn't going to waste his time or energy trying to figure it out. "So, Cap. You hitting the streets for more information again tonight?" Steve still looked hopeful after over a week of nothing but rumors, "Yeah. I really feel good about it this time after hearing that they'd performed in one of the nearby cities last night before we started the acts up." Turning that hopeful gaze to Tony, he asked, "Would you like to come with me?"
Unable to deny the puppy dog look on his face, especially when it meant a bit of company when finally facing the masses, Tony caved, "Sure thing, buddy. I'll be right there with you." It didn't take too long after that for the two to finish settling Shelby in for the night, leaving her chowing down as they closed up the stables for the night. They then headed back down the ramp and in to the slowly thinning crowd that was still milling around the circus area, looking for any familiar faces.
They asked at least three or four people if they'd heard of the Broncos and Caps' excitement went up and down like a sine wave as each one reported hearing about it, but none had actually attended or knew where they might be headed next. The next person they ran in to, a woman literally stumbling in to the rather buff clown as she turned a corner, and she apologized profusely before answering. "Of course! I just saw that Frenchman, Jacques, over by the food stalls on the other side of the circus."
"Really?" Tony was sure that the only other time he could remember Steve getting this excited was when he had first told him that they were going to be traveling over here. The ringmaster smiled at his friend as he looked excitedly back and forth between the nodding woman and his boss, practically bouncing where he stood. Seeing the question in his eyes, Tony waved the trick rider off in the direction the girl had referred to, "Go get him, Cap. I'm heading back to the airship to get some sleep."
As Steve grabbed him in a hug for thanks, Tony whispered, "Tell Loki they're here." The clown gave him a slightly concerned look but couldn't shake his ecstatic joy long enough to really question why the magician needed to know so instead he just gave the ringmaster a nod before jogging off through the crowd. Reaching down to his cufflinks, Tony loosened one before giving the brunette woman a smile. She returned it beautifully, but he found it hard to appreciate with that handgun pointed at him.
It was, of course, tactfully hidden between her body and the tent she had just run out from behind so that the crowd didn't start to panic around them, but it was held confidently even if the woman seemed a little distant as she explained with a now British accent, "Come, Mister Tony Stark. They need to speak with you." Not exactly raising his hands, but opening them to show that he wasn't a threat, Tony asked cautiously, "They?" She motioned for him to follow her with the gun.
"They need to speak with you, Mister Tony Stark." Her tone was exactly the same as it had been the first time she had said it and Tony realized that the drug wasn't just creating mindless drones. Some of them kept at least part of their original personalities it seemed, if Miss Peggy Carter here was anything to go by. Steve may not have recognized her, having only ever seen a couple blurry newspaper photographs, but Tony'd looked in to this more than once and the genius was good with faces.
Following her cautiously back around the corner of the tent, they were greeted by two other troupe members that Tony recognized from his research, Gabe Jones and 'Dum Dum' Dugan were waiting with their own weapons already in hand. They didn't seem to have as much 'freedom' with the drug as Peggy was displaying, though Tony doubted that she was doing anything but simply following commands better rather than fighting the drug. Maybe she was just more susceptible?
The scientific part of his brain longed to ask about it, but the guns kept him from speaking up anything. That didn't stop his wild expressions though; he was highly unimpressed with both their actions and the way they were trying to pull this off. As he was pushed in to a waiting steam-powered carriage, Tony just hoped that either Clint or Natasha had seen the whole thing and that Cap would make good on his promise to tell Loki that they'd come for him. At least JARVIS could still track him.
He pointedly ignored both his spectacles and singular cufflink the entire ride, fiddling with the blue necklace he was wearing instead and successfully distracting the rest of the passengers in the process. Thankful that they had at least thought to put their weapons away when they entered the cab, Tony eyed both Peggy and Dum Dum while Gabe drove the car to their destination. They were both what the images had shown, but no showman or trick rider was ever that expressionless unless forced to be.
Whoever was controlling them had designed the drug to suppress if not take away their emotions and personal reasoning or logical capabilities. They knew how to live, move, and take orders but that was about it. Yet, Peggy's hair was still moderately well-kept and Dum Dum's signature bowler hat was tipped rakishly on his head. Was it because they were still used in performances? Or did they actually come back to themselves every once in a while? Would he have the time to take advantage?
Tony studied them a bit longer, keeping their eyes on the medallion and his fingers, watching as Dum Dum's mouth moved as if whispering the instructions to himself. 'Retrieve Tony Stark. Take medallion. Bring back to Stuttgart base. Retrieve Tony Stark.' Over and over and over. But Stuttgart, if that was what the man really was saying... that was where the company was located according to JARVIS' research. Thinking on all of these things, Tony settled in to wait for their arrival to the base.
Back at the airship, a shrill whistle sounded from the top most floor followed by a cacophony of loud yowls from the cats that had just been roused from their slumber. Hurried footsteps clanked their way down the hall on the floor below before they clambered up the ladder and JARVIS' cameras watched as Bruce emerged from the opening moments later even as furious tapping started down one of the rows of cages. He ran to The Jag's cage where Dummy was clanging his leg against the outside of the bars to get his attention.
Panting slightly, Doctor Banner gave the bot a confused look, "What are you doing?"
The AI, watching remotely from his central location in the lab, deduced that the scientist was probably wondering what all the fuss was about as he had watched the construct get in and out of the cage many times in the past. Not only that, but the jaguar was seemingly content with both his position (sitting primly in the center of the cage) and Dummy's actions, simply giving a small yowl as the doctor looked the cat over.
Now that he was positive that he had the good doctor's attention, Dummy set off a complex series of whistle-clicks and hiss-clunks.
JARVIS looked on smugly a Doctor Banner, not having the experience Tony had with Dummy's pseudo-language, pushed a hand through his messy hair, clearly wondering what to do because he didn't know what the obviously emotional bot was trying to say. The AI knew that this wouldn't be the fastest way to get everyone together for the rescue attempt, they would just have to wait until Miss Romanova arrived with the cufflink.
He was surprised when the doctor brightened slightly as if remembering something. "Come on, bud. Let's go to the lab and see if JARVIS can't help us out a bit here, okay?"
The whistles that followed were ecstatic as the spider like robot sped around the scientist and down the ladder to their destination. JARVIS would have sighed if he were able, knowing that he wasn't going to hear the end of this as he watched the man (who was thankfully more clever than anticipated) take one last moment to look at The Jag. The cat was right next to the bars, surprising the man if his jump was anything to go by, and looking in the direction its friend had run off in before pointedly looking at the man then back to the ladder. The implication was clear, 'Well, what are you waiting here for? Get going.'
Doctor Banner jogged off after the bot who was now angrily whistling from the deck below. With the moderately sized robot urging him to go faster, the scientist made it to the supply-room-turned-lab in nearly no time at all. Turning the three knobs in the correct fashion, the doctor heaved a sigh of relief as the door clicked open. (Tony had a bad habit of changing the locks to mess with Loki without informing the beastmaster first and JARVIS wasn't allowed to open that door unless an 'administrator' to the system instructed him to.)
As the scientist finally made his way in, JARVIS addressed him immediately. "Welcome back, Doctor Banner. I am glad to see Dummy was able to lead you here as promised." The construct gave a taunting whistle that sounded a lot like Tony's 'Told you so' as the man looked between one of the AI's camera's and the robot.
"Why did you need me here?"
His reply was immediate, JARVIS not about to ply around when his creator was on the line. "Because Anthony has been taken, Doctor Banner."
"What?" JARVIS noted a rapid increase in the man's heart rate and breathing pattern before he visibly calmed himself. "By who? And how?"
"It was -" The AI was cut off by Loki as he swept in to the room with a fierce look on his face.
"By all of those we have been looking for, both the good and the bad." Pulling up one of Tony's interfaces, the magician switched it on easily. "Show us where he is, JARVIS."
The light flickered on as the AI readily obeyed. "Of course, Sir."
A map of Germany and the bordering countries appeared on the glass surface, zooming in as two blinking dots joined the one indicating the airship's location. One was close, two points nearly overlapping, but the other was clearly miles away. It pulsed slightly as it drifted further away from their location just to the left of center, near Frankfurt, making its way southwest. "Judging by their current bearings, they seem to be taking him to Stuttgart, Sir."
Bruce's curse was barely picked up by the microphones as he slammed his hands down on the table in front of him. "The Tesser Corporation is located in Stuttgart."
Growling for a moment, the scientist calmed himself and frowned before looking back up to where Loki was rummaging through the workshop's drawers. "What are you doing?"
Loki simply leaned down a bit to get a better look at the inside of the dark container, "Putting together something for the journey."
This clearly wasn't what the doctor was expecting and he sputtered for a moment. "Is this really the best time?"
Not waiting for the European to answer, JARVIS cut in, "He seems to be making me another interface for the search, Doctor."
Shaking his head, Bruce fell back to the earlier conversation. "You said both good and bad. If that was the bad, then the good is...?"
As he looked up to inspect a few of his findings in a better light, Loki answered, "The good, which is also bad, is who exactly took him." Green eyes slid over to Bruce. "And we now know where Bucky's Bucking Broncos went all those years ago."
Eyes widening, the beastmaster stood up straighter in shock, "But, what about Steve? Does he know about this?"
Loki gave him a sharp nod before setting a few of the pieces aside and sifting through the drawer once again, "He was the one who told me that Anthony was taken, though he did not know it at the time." He pulled out a few more seemingly random items as he grumbled, "That foolish, brilliant man. Always trying to speak in riddles and getting in trouble for it."
The doctor clearly grasped the irony of the situation and JARVIS saw him smiling as the magician continued.
"Thankfully, I found Mister Rodgers before he found his old troupe mates. They were waiting with quite the welcome for him," the magician was understating this, as the circus' cameras had seen that the two men who had met them there had greeted them with guns.
JARVIS was grateful that Natasha had been tailing the two of them and that the two men were sleeping it off in some of the great cats' empty cages. Focusing on that feed for a moment, the AI confirmed that Mister Rodgers was still keeping watch over them before he looked to where Miss Romanova was inspecting the area Anthony had been taken from for any further clues, her partner having left with the woman's pitch black horse long before.
Back in the lab, Doctor Banner waited for a moment as Loki picked up a screwdriver and started piecing the scraps together almost randomly. "And where are they now?"
Raising a brow slightly but not looking away from his work, Loki eventually answered after securing another screw in place. "They are now enjoying the upstairs amenities."
That didn't seem to reassure the doctor in the slightest. As if sensing this, the magician continued, "Mister Rodgers is watching them and will administer your 'cure' as soon as he is able, but you are welcome to join him if you do not wish to come with me."
Still looking distractedly up at the ceiling as if he would be able to catch any actions against his animals through the metal, the beastmaster replied, "Yeah, I think I-wait. Come with you where?"
Seemingly not caring that he was once again holding the other man's attention completely, Loki held up his nearly completed invention to the light and then close to his face for inspection before setting back to work. "After Anthony, of course." He paused and JARVIS watched him look over at the shorter man, bristling. "You cannot possibly expect me to stay here while he is clearly in need of my assistance."
Hands up in surrender, Doctor Banner took a step back at the usually composed man's passion. "No, no. That's not what I meant at all. I was just surprised you were heading off by yourself."
Loki turned back to his tinkering with a dignified snort. "Hardly. Thor will no doubt be catching wind of this excursion soon enough and, with the Hawk already out on the trail, the Widow will clearly be intent on following after him. Shortly, Madam Potts, her husband, and Mister Rhodes will all be brought up to speed and, based on their current situation, will most likely stay with the airship. Not to stay here, of course, but to follow us in the air." His lips twitched humorously at the thought.
"Though, they will have the added challenge of trying to keep this rather flamboyant airship hidden in the sky." Loki's hands gave another twist or two at a screw before tapping a loose bit of metal in to the proper shape. "That is even without the help Mister Rodgers or yourself could offer as well." The magician smiled down at his now finished framing and moved to fit the glass inside.
Having been nodding along to the explanations behind the others joining, the doctor frowned as if only just realizing that he was still being offered a place on the rescue team. "Loki, you can't be serious about inviting me along. I might be a good scientist or even good with animals but I am in no way a good fighter or hunter." He shook his head as the other turned to look at him. "No, I'll be more useful here: making more of the antidote, calming my cats, and watching over the afflicted as I worry.
"Besides, I don't think that Steve would head out to help you if no one would be staying behind to watch his friends, especially when it took so long to find them in the first place."
That decided; Bruce nodded at the magician and gave one last look at the satisfied looking robot that had lured him there before leaving the room before heading towards the upper deck once more, leaving Loki to work on his invention.
Jarvis and Dummy watched as Loki nodded absently at the faint 'Good luck' that echoed from down the hall and curled some copper wiring in an almost decorative fashion on the piece in his hands. The magician had mentioned many times that just because something was a quick piece didn't mean that it couldn't be fashionable as well as practical.
The man was almost finished with the last of the longer curves when JARVIS spoke up with some newly received information. "Miss Romanova has finished combing the area and will be bringing the cufflink that Anthony had dropped for us, Sir. She should be arriving shortly."
Another nod acknowledged the notification as Loki finally installed the small power crystals on the sides of his invention, having been scavenged from the shattered remains of one of the prototype fakes that had been fashioned by Tony earlier that week.
The visor glowed green as Natasha slipped silently in to the lab, the magician trying it on to check for fit. Her eyebrow rose as he turned to her expectantly. "How did you get the glass to display green instead of Tony's usual blue?"
The head piece was something the small-time engineer had been discussing with the ringmaster and the AIs of for a few months now, combining parts of Tony's inventions to give the magician something similar to spectacles that the inventor always wore. It was a little more bulky, needing antenna or horn like protrusions to connect to JARVIS' system properly, but Loki didn't seem to mind the design.
He would later admit privately to JARVIS and his inventor that it reminded him of a helm he once owned as a child.
"The hue is determined by the angle that the light hits the glass which is simple enough to manipulate." He tossed her a smirk as he moved his head back and forth, making sure it wouldn't fall off, "It is amazing what one can accomplish when they know how to exploit all the correct angles."
Natasha cracked a smile at the pun, looking rueful as she did. The woman appreciated a more sophisticated type of humor but it was clear that after dealing with Clint for so long she had adjusted to it.
Getting back down to business, she twisted the cufflink through her fingers nimbly and jerked her chin slightly in the direction of the monitor that was still displaying Tony's current location. "Is that still current?"
Happy to finally be of use once more, JARVIS responded in Loki's stead as the magician started running the calibrations on his visor, "Of course, Miss Romanova."
Her eyes flicked over the map for a moment then she commanded, "Bring up a topographical map as well."
A layout of the general terrain overlaid the map and the experienced woman started plotting where her partner was most likely to ride and hide as well as where their enemies might be taking Tony.
Finished with manual calibrations, Loki addressed the AI as well, "How is the connection, JARVIS?"
The glass flashed in front of his eyes as a complicated line of symbols and characters started scrolling while system wrote itself into the visor to JARVIS' satisfaction. "More than adequate and quite suitable for our needs, Sir."
"Excellent." Loki gave a satisfied smile.
"Sir, if you pull down the display, you can activate the proper model as before."
Loki paused and turned a small, flat dial on one side of the eye wear to lower the volume then, as instructed, grabbed the edge of the display that Natasha was still examining. She watched with sharp eyes as the magician pulled it further away from the wall before pushing it flat above the table. A small button on the edge activated one of its more advanced features and the map pulled itself up off the glass to form a three dimensional model of the same size.
Reaching out, the magician used his finger to move the image a bit and show the other how it was supposed to work, before asking, "Who else knows?"
No stranger to multitasking, Natasha continued her examination at different angles as she listed those in the know. "Pepper, who has enlisted both Happy and Rhodey in the effort to pack up early, and Darcy who will no doubt inform Jane at an appropriate moment who will, in turn, let your brother know. He should be here shortly."
Inspecting the map one last time, Loki turned away only to find a small version still hovering in his peripheral vision, information on a quietly watching Dummy popping up, and a compass scrolling along the top of his visor as it moved. The magician turned his head slightly as if trying to get used to the rotation and all of JARVIS' normal displays before grinning as the sound of pounding footsteps from down the hall got louder. "It looks like we will be able to put those plans to good use after all, Lady Romanova."
Thor's steps slowed as he reached the lab, still holding a few of the objects from his strong man booth that he had obviously been packing away when he'd heard of the kidnapping, and caught Natasha's response. "Hopefully not all of them."
The large man made space for the acrobat as she made her way out the door, a bag in her hands, before looking at Loki. There was a proud yet expectant look in his eyes as he asked the tactician, "Brother, where would you have me for this battle?"
Listening to Dummy's hopeful whistles, JARVIS went through his logs and easily found occasions where Thor had relied on Loki to make countless plans, all of which were successful and felt hopeful.
The magician gave a sharp, vengeful smile. "Gather your horse and mine, if you will, Brother. We will be joining the ground team for this excursion. I will go fetch Mister Rodgers to join us." Green eyes lingered on his brother's occupied hand as he advised, "Bring your hammer with you."
Watching them go from his place near the wall, Dummy shifted as if wondering if he would be remembered or included. JARVIS, unimpressed with the bot's behavior, reminded it, "You were not to be included on any rescue missions, DUM-E."
The construct whistled angrily, more at the use of his acronym than out of any true annoyance.
"Do not take that tone with me, Dynamic Universal Movements - Explorer! Anthony would not be happy to see you damaged in any way in his forced absence." JARVIS couldn't let anything happen to the construct and not just because Tony asked him to. What kind of older sibling would he be if he let his younger brother go out into the battle field where he couldn't follow?
A boiling hiss was followed by a mocking set of beeps as Dummy moved to leave the lab, probably to sulk elsewhere in the airship, mood not improved by the repeated notification nor the use of his full designation. The metal door swung shut before he could reach it and the construct angrily stamped his legs in frustration as his optics met JARVIS' main camera.
"No, I do not believe you deserve to spend time with your beau after the way you have been acting. Anthony would be disappointed in you."
The bot seemed to crumple in on itself at the mention of his creator, body nearly touching the ground as it gave a worried whistle-hiss. He curled in on himself for a moment as if trying to block out the world, his six legs folding in until he finally laid his body down with a sigh of his pistons.
Not even JARVIS could be completely unfeeling, especially not when he felt much the same. The doors lock clicked before it opened once more. "Oh, very well. Go take comfort with the one you love."
Standing quickly, Dummy gave the camera another look as he gave a questioning series of beeps.
"Yes, I'm quite sure. You may wish to leave before I change my mind on the matter, however." He wouldn't, but Dummy didn't need to know that.
That was all the warning the robot needed. He was out the door quick as a flash, the drumming of his legs against the hall's grating fading as Dummy ran to The Jag.
Had he been human, JARVIS would have sighed. Instead, he just turned his attention back to the map and the communications network he was building, focusing on getting their creator back.
Tony came out of his silent contemplation and opened his eyes as the carriage rolled to a stop, fingers finally dropping the medallion as he did so. Both of the passengers traveling with him blinked simultaneously and seemed to shake themselves slightly just in time for Gabe to swing open the door, gun in hand.
Raising his hands once more to make it clear that he hadn't changed his mind about coming 'peacefully', Tony carefully stepped out of the transport and on to the rocky ground. He took a good look at the building that they had stopped in front of, turning his head to take it all in.
It wasn't a particularly strange place, obviously a building redesigned from a manor to be used as an office. It was located at the end of a long drive, designed to impress and to deter solicitors and unwanted guests like most structures built on the outskirts of major cities. The miniscule lenses beside the actual lenses of his glasses easily recorded everything, from the landmarks to the insignia on the door.
A prod from a gun barrel had the inventor stumbling in the direction of the door, but he found his feet easily shortly after and strode in like he owned the place, his face a mask of cool disinterest. Just because this backup plan had become the best one available (especially when he couldn't exactly fight back against Cap's mind controlled troupe when the antidote was so readily available) didn't mean that he had to act belligerent or even scared.
He was confident that his crew was on the way.
The interior was much the same as the exterior, an open entryway that held a staircase to the second level and a couple of doors. Everything was familiar in the way that all centralized business locations of the time looked the same, the converted sitting rooms had been made in to offices, trying to be both professional and imposing while still welcoming enough to lure the prospective business partners into a false sense of security.
Tony had seen many places much like this one over the years but, given his current companions and the situation, the inventor started glancing around for anything unusual.
Eyes landing on a large bookshelf that was placed unobtrusively in the back corner of the room, Tony stopped his frown but couldn't help his unimpressed look as he inspected it. His general impression of the group was already low, but this? Didn't they have a bit more imagination? He rolled his eyes but kept quiet as they walked him towards the shelves, gun still at his back.
The clichés kept piling up as they pulled out two of the books, A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. Tony raised a brow as he realized that Mr. Unimaginative was a Dickens fan as well. The engineer couldn't fault the unknown 'inventor' (if copying every mystery novel ever was called inventive) for enjoying the books, but the author had seemed pretty crazy the last time Tony'd met him - kept asking if he'd ever seen any ghosts, mediums, or aliens in his travels.
As expected, the bookshelf swung away from the wall to open a 'secret' passage leading down to a basement level.
Peggy lead the way down the stairs with Tony following shortly behind, Gabe and Dum Dum having stared creepily at him until he proceeded them, not even blinking as he made a face or two at them before complying.
At least two levels down from the main floor, the bewitched woman opened a door to a long barren hall, continuing the clichés as she brought him to an equally boring room.
Just as he was going to walk inside, following Peggy's waving hand, he was stopped. The woman's movements were becoming slightly jerky as if trying to do two very different things at the same time; one hand pushing and pulling at the door as if trying to keep it open and shut it simultaneously while the other patted spastically at the ringleader's chest.
Looking at the gunslinger's face, Tony realized that she was fighting the drug. She was fighting and seemed to be winning. 'So it does wear off.'
"G-get, g-go." The British woman managed to force the two words out before a sharp voice barked an order from within the room.
"Take her back to the cell, Jones. We shall be taking it from here."
Gabe's head rolled forward for a moment before it snapped back up and he grabbed the woman's arm with a new found purpose. He dragged her away even as Dum Dum pushed him in to what was obviously an interrogation room, his two questioners already waiting within.
Never one to take life too seriously, especially when the people who had brought him here obviously wanted to see him shaking in his boots, Tony looked around the gray room and pointedly ignored the singular chair he was clearly meant to sit in. "You know, I thought your decorator upstairs was bad - I mean, really? A bookcase? A four year old could come up with something more interesting than that to use as a secret entrance - but you guys seriously out did yourselves down here."
Turning his gaze to the duo that was standing opposite him, Tony relished the growing annoyance on the smaller man's face, more than happy to tick Laufey off even more than usual. The other wasn't so affected, standing with a calculating look and his hands clasped behind his back, waiting for him to finish. Well, Tony wasn't about to let that happen anytime soon if he could manage it.
"Perhaps you're all just colorblind and didn't notice that there is nothing down here but shades of gray?" He raised both brows and tilted his head to the side, "If that's the case, you might want to see about getting your money back, because it's not as nice as they told you. In fact that was a lie about 'Emperor's New Clothes'-big that they sold you on, because this doesn't even have multiple shades or anything, just a real flat slate look. I've seen military bases with more character than this. Honestly, you must be on the same level as the common dog with this kind of sight impediment."
Finally reaching the end of his short rope, the theater owner snapped, "Sit down, Mister Stark!"
He received a sharp look from his partner and an amused smirk from the man he was ordering around, but neither seemed surprised by his outburst. Seething as both his employer and their captive brushed him off, Laufey stormed forward to grab the engineer's shoulder and pushed him roughly into the chair.
Tony gave him a flat look for his trouble. "Well, you certainly have the patience of a small dog."
Sitting forward, the inventor gave the twitching man a patronizing look of innocent fascination. "Hey, if I throw a ball, do you think you'd go fetch it for me? You do seem like you're used to taking orders from others; like you've been practicing your entire life, even."
A growl answered him as the seedy man reached out to strangle Tony, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, fingers holding him painfully in place as he trembled with rage and a bit of fear.
Tony just raised a brow. "Oh, so that's why your buddy didn't seem the type to play fetch as well. He's not your puppy pal, he's your master! Probably the one who gave you that 'windfall' that you were talking about before. Did he also promise you extra to bring me to him? Cause those looks you started giving me before you left were pretty telling."
Pulling his hireling away from the seated man, the taller man was still cool and collected as he remarked in a German accented English, "Very good, Mister Stark."
If Tony hadn't been expecting something similarly off-putting from the man, he might have shut up, but instead he continued to toe the line. "Well, they don't call me a genius for nothing. How else would I know that you're the shadow power behind the Tesser Corporation, a mysterious man only consistently identified by that strange red skull you have monogrammed on your jackets?"
Releasing Laufey with a push, the taller man walked confidently forward to pick up the medallion at Tony's neck. "It is good to hear that my name is still a secret even from one as nosy as you, Mister Stark." He inspected both the necklace and the faint look of panic that Tony tried to keep hidden before smiling and pulling it further away from the man's body.
Tony winced before he could stop himself, but raised his eyes to look defiantly at the smirking man. "Who says I was trying to find it? You just kept cropping up while I was looking over investment opportunities with the Corporation."
"I see." Gaze becoming a little less smug, the German man waited half a moment before standing up straight once more, pulling the medallion roughly over Tony's head as he did so. The inventor gasped slightly as the other continued inspecting the device more thoroughly as he stepped away.
Pressing his hands to his chest, Tony forced himself to calm down, evening his breathing as the pacemaker in his heart switched to the backup power stored inside of it and his heart started beating regularly.
Ignoring the pained groan from the man behind him and the annoyingly petty chuckles coming from Laufey's direction, the German held the power source up to a light fixture. He turned it in the light, seemingly enjoying the way it glowed or maybe the circular design inlaid on the outside before touching it to the light bulb. It grew impossibly bright before the glass shattered. The jumpy theater owner startled at the noise, but the German just smiled as he brushed the small shards from his skin.
"I'm amazed that even after capturing a few of our men you still wear this so brazenly. But," he turned back to look at Tony who was glaring at him from the metal chair, too weak to think about standing anytime soon. "Perhaps you really can't go more than twelve hours without recharging the battery in your chest for at least an hour or so, as Mister Stane and our other contacts in your country had promised."
The inventor sat up instinctively at the name before slouching forward again in pain.
"And, with those inventions of yours, you had to wear this for the performances." He tried for a pitying look, but Tony found it too smug to be anything close to genuine. "Really, Mister Stark, for being a genius you are very predictable."
Moving towards the door, he opened it to readmit Gabe into the room, a sinister looking needle clutched in his hand. "Which is why I won't even offer to let you join us willingly, for I am sure that you will simply refuse it."
Tony spat on the man's shoes. "You've got that right. I'll never help you, you no-name bast-"
Any further acts of refusal were stopped by a gag at his mouth and a couple of strong hands holding him to the chair. Unable to do much more than glare, Tony narrowed his eyes at the German man as the needle was forced into his arm.
"That is why you were not given a choice in the matter, Mister Stark. Within the next hour you will never think another thought we do not tell you to have and you will answer only to me.
"Because you need to know who you will be taking your orders from for this to work properly, you may address me as Master Schmidt or Fuehrer Schmidt." He then turned to his 'partner' who was still looking gleefully at the man who had insulted him, obviously enjoying his pained expression as he fought against the men still holding him.
A moment of tense silence passed between the kidnappers before Laufey noticed the taller man's gaze, but he somehow missed the frown the other was leveling at him.
"I cannot wait to see Victor's face when he hears that this peasant thought of his bookcase design after he spent so much time gloating about it." Rubbing his hands together, Laufey moved on to the next topic, sounding excited. "Just as planned, yes? Now, for the payment you still owe me."
Eyes narrowing slightly as the corners of his mouth twitched into a horrifying smile, the German man grasped another needle and advanced on the greedy theater owner. "Yes. Let's see what I can do."
Tony watched on, struggles growing fainter as Laufey belatedly realized what was coming. The smarmy man only had enough time to let out a single scream that was quickly silenced, his body hitting the floor moments later.
Wiping his gloved hands off on the fallen man's jacket, Schmidt looked back over as Tony's head rolled forward. The leader directed his next orders at the two holding the engineer in place. "Take him down to the holding cells until he is ready."
Another round of order assimilation followed, both men's heads rolling forward before snapping back up. Hanging loosely in their grip, Tony winced slightly as the two large men grabbed him and practically carried him from the room.
They moved down another flight of stairs, past glassy eyed guards who mumbled about protections as the trio walked through the halls, eventually reaching a small room where Tony thought he saw Peggy before he was thrown to the floor. He closed his eyes and slept.
JARVIS had just informed them of Tony's arrival at his destination and measured them to be under two hours from the location by horseback when Thor moved to break the silence. Glancing down the path behind them to judge Steve's position, the strongman deemed him far enough away to at least politely ignore any parts of the conversation he might overhear.
"It has been a very long time since I have seen you this worked up, Brother." He left it at that, an open invitation for Loki to explain.
Returning the look with a short one of his own, Loki was quick to turn back towards the path. His obvious worry was all that was an answer in itself, but Thor was still hoping that the magician would just come out and tell him. He'd suspected that there was more to the relationship between his brother and their employer than simple friendship, but he wanted to have more than just rumors.
Silence stretched between them as they navigated the dark path before Loki spoke. "He is mine, Thor."
The blond was thankful that his chestnut gold mare was so well trained and more than able to continue down the path without his careful guidance as he released the reins in surprise, taken aback by the passionate ferocity in his brother's voice.
"These men will soon be taught the foolishness of their actions."
Taking a moment to process this, Thor nodded. "And you will have my aid in doing so, Brother, as always. We will bring him back together."
The slightest bit of tension released from Loki's shoulders as he realized, "You knew."
Thor shook his head. "No, though I did suspect. I am not blind to the way you look at him nor he at you, but you have never taken kindly to those who make assumptions about you or your actions towards others. So I waited for you to tell me whether it was true or otherwise." He picked up the reins once more as they hit a rough patch. "If it was important you would inform me of it, of that I have no doubt."
Hanging his head slightly in remembrance of his past deeds, Thor continued a little softer, "I remember my past follies too clearly to so easily believe in suspicion and rumor." It was not an error that the strongman wished to repeat, he had worked far too long and hard to ever lose the trust he'd had to fight to earn back.
As if hearing the pain in his voice, Loki finally turned his eyes away from the path the AI was supposedly displaying on the visor the magician had created to look him in the eye. Thor held that gaze as his brother studied him, their familiarity with horseback riding helping them to move with the horses as they continued at a brisk walk down the dusty country path.
It warmed him slightly to see just how much faith Loki must have in the whole troupe. He was obviously worried about his beloved, but was more than willing to keep in touch with those in the air as well as trust the Widow with the tracking while he addressed his brother.
"He is mine, Thor. And I will have him returned to me by any means necessary." His declaration was a bit softer this time, but it had lost none of its ferocity.
Thor nodded, accepting both the relationship and Loki's warning; nothing was off limits when it came to protecting what was his. Currently that anger was directed at the terrorists, but it would switch to any that might come between them and the elder brother took note as Loki's eyes found the point he was following earlier and smiled.
Clearly seeing that the two brothers had finished their conversation, Steve picked up the pace a bit so that he could ask, "About how much further do we have? I don't like how hard we're pushing the horses."
Eyes flicking to something the rest couldn't see on the inside of his visor, Loki answered, "Just over an hour until we-" The magician cut of abruptly with a frown. He brushed off their worried questions as he addressed the AI that was supposed to be leading them to Tony, "JARVIS?"
"The medallion that was boosting the signal was removed, Sir. I should be able to pick it up once it is within range of your headpiece. The final footage I received made it quite clear that they find him more useful alive then dead, Sir."
Thor knew they all heard the 'for now' that was left unsaid before Loki instructed, "Inform Lady Romanova of this change at her next update."
He then turned to his companions. "My apologies. We will be pushing the horses a little harder, Mister Rodgers."
"Hey."
Tony let his head roll with the small tap the hand at his cheek gave, scrunching his nose slightly as he did.
"Hey, Stark," came the persistent voice once again, as the hand returned to try and prod him in to wakefulness. Well, now was as good a time as any. He gave a small groan before blearily blinking his eyes open to look at the concerned man squatted down next to him.
"Hey, you've been out of it longer than anyone else we've seen get introduced to this stuff. What'd they give you?"
Oh, well. That couldn't be good. He spoke up with a scratchy voice, "Sch-Schmidt."
The man, who Tony now recognized as Bucky, gave a sigh and sat back on his heels. "I should have known that it would have already started having an effect. He's already had it for almost forty-five minutes now."
Tony tried for a little more lucidity this time, "C-can Sc-Schmidt s-see?"
Leaning back in to hear the muttered, stilted question, Bucky just shook his head. "No, he doesn't have to."
It wasn't hard to see the confusion in Tony's pinched brows so the trick rider explained, "All he has to do is ask us if we've done anything harmful or if we're planning anything the next time he puts us under, so there's no need for surveillance past some rather impressive locks and three floors of mindless guards between us and escape."
Hearing this, Tony opened his eyes fully and sat up in with only the slightest of twinges from his chest. "Good, then we can get straight to business."
The others in the cell stopped what they were doing to stare at him in shock, Peggy even letting a startled 'What?' slip past her lips before she could stop it. Tony enjoyed their looks peripherally (and it was good to see that the rest of those in the room didn't seem to be drugged now) as he worked his remaining cufflink off of his shirt, intensely grateful that many of his better inventions had been put together after Stane had tried to kill him, and connected it to his spectacles.
"JARVIS, buddy? Can you hear me?"
The AI sounded slightly relieved over the internal speakers. "Yes, Sir. Loud and clear." Tony grinned even as the rest of them obviously started to question his sanity, the voice not being broadcast to them as well so as to preserve energy. "Though we did lose contact for all time in between the removal of the medallion and your connection to the secondary transmitter to boost the signal, but all relevant data is now being uploaded as we speak."
Rubbing his hands together as the plan finally came together, Tony smirked. "Excellent." Looking around at the five now gathered around him, he identified each of them as the rest of the Broncos troupe, including the leader, the three from earlier and J-something-or-other. "So, is this everybody here or should we be expecting some controlled ones to march in shortly?"
Bucky glanced around at the rest of them before answering, "No, this is it. They only call us when they want to be sneaky."
The engineer picked up on the hesitation and pinned the leader with a narrow-eyed stare, "'When they want to be sneaky', huh? What's so different about you guys?"
Another round of looks passed between the troupe-mates as Tony raised his brows at them like a parent waiting for their children to own up to their misbehavior. His mind paused for a moment at that and he inadvertently made a face at the simile. Eventually, they all seemed to come to a consensus and Peggy started the explanation.
"The reason why they came over to Britain and then further in to Europe was because they had been selected by one of your Colonel's selected them to help us on an undercover mission, where we would use their troupe as an excuse to travel Europe to investigate whatever the United States or Britain would ask us to." She licked her lips slightly before continuing, "Steve Rodgers was one of the main reasons they were selected, but then that terrible accident happened and he had to be left behind."
Surprised more by the choice rather than the revelation itself, Tony interrupted, "Cap? Why him?"
That brought a snicker from some of the troupe members as Bucky asked his own question. "He still wears that thing?" At the ringmaster's nod, the trick rider snorted. "We got him that because we knew we were going to leave the country, then he goes and wears it all over America. That guy..."
Peggy took over once more, answering Tony, "It was a lieutenant's suggestion; an Agent Coulson, I believe."
Tony doubled over on himself as he tried to keep his laughter down to quiet guffaws; the guards might be dumb, but they probably weren't deaf. Pulling himself back together with a few deep breaths, hand on his chest as it stung from holding in his amusement, the inventor shook his head and motioned for her to continue.
"Sorry, I've just met the man before and he- he's just- anyway, continue."
She did as requested after a moment's consideration to who she was speaking to. "Very well."
"During the training, we were all taught to resist mental manipulation, which is the only difference we can find between us and them." At the last she gestured to the door, referring to the rest of those under the drug.
"We keep some of our training even under the influence, which benefits them greatly, but we also fight our way out over time, which makes us a liability. It is also why I am usually chosen first, seeing as I was trained to be an agent years before the rest were even chosen. My tolerance is higher and I am, therefore, more lucid while under their influence, but I also require a guard or two to stop me because it wears off faster. The others outside, on the other hand, can go from dose to dose, never leaving the commands of that contemptible man." She looked furious at the thought.
"So that's why you were having that episode before I went in to the most boring room in all of existence." Tony's brain was already moving on as Peggy cautiously nodded.
The genius was focused on trying to figure out where everyone would most likely be and wondering if Loki had given in and made that link up for himself like they had discussed. He couldn't wait to see what it might look like if the magician had caved.
Giving in to his curiosity and tapping the side of his tinted spectacles to bring up the rather rudimentary interface (the full heads up display could only be accessed with the extra power boost from his medallion), the inventor got to work.
"JARVIS, ETA and status updates. Where is everyone and how long will we have to wait before we can blow this Popsicle stand?" Not waiting for a reply, the genius started rifling through his pockets and tossed a small bottle to the other troupe's leader. "Take one each, it'll help combat any lingering effects of the drug."
As the rest started passing the antidote around, JARVIS reported his findings. "Miss Romanova and Mister Barton are hidden just upstairs, waiting for the others to arrive, Sir."
Tony frowned a bit, "Any particular reason they're waiting? I thought they were trained for this kind of stuff."
The five that were gathered around him traded looks as Gabe handed Bruce's pills back over to Tony, all of them trying to make sense of the one side of the conversation they could hear.
"Miss Romanova does not want to risk setting off any alarms before, quote, 'the big guns get here', end quote. Mister Barton is enjoying himself by scaring all of the above ground workers."
Giving a snort at the Hawk's typically childish pastimes, Tony then prompted, "And Loki?"
"Loki is currently entering radio distance as we speak and will be at the building within the next five to ten minutes, barring any unknown factors."
The engineer was pleasantly surprised by this and smiled a bit fondly. "Patch him through when he gets on property and we can start this shindig off right." He rubbed his goatee as he commented to himself, "Looks like my nap was just long enough."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Nap?"
James Montgomery Falsworth, Tony knew he could remember the name if he had enough time, cut off Dum Dum's incredulous question with his own, "And how exactly are you not one of the mindless drones right now, might I ask?"
Shaking the bottle that he was still holding, Tony explained, "These little beauties. Not only are they an antidote, they were designed to act as a preventative measure. Only side effect is furthered logical thinking, but I've never let that stop me before."
"And why would you even have something like that?" Peggy asked, suspicious.
"Because some of the scientists were too awesome to consider the drug that you've already experienced to be a good thing and decided to jump ship. He came up with this antidote just in case the Tesser Corporation ever finished their project, but really, all he's been using it for before this was to help train his cats better."
That just seemed to confuse them further and Gabe asked, "His... cats?"
"Well," Tony allowed, "They are a bit bigger than the normal house cat, but The Jag is almost smarter than Dummy now, which is saying something."
Seeming to boggle at the thought, Dum Dum tried to get confirmation. "A jaguar?"
Unfortunately for him, it was at that time that JARVIS chimed in. "Sir, Loki is within the property line. Patching him through now."
The inventor grinned and tilted his head to the side as he heard the line switch over to Loki's connection. "Hey, Sunshine."
"Good evening, Monsieur. JARVIS was kind enough to inform me that you were sleeping whilst I was riding across Germany worrying about you. I do hope that you have good reason for it." The voice sounded pleasant enough, but Tony still winced slightly, knowing that Loki was most dangerous when he hid his anger behind that mask.
"Of course! Can't go overthrowing an evil company without some rest. Well, that and the injection of that drug they gave me right before it, but mostly the former."
"Anthony!" Even having a halfway suitable excuse wasn't going to help him this time Tony realized as he heard the group dismount and start making their way to the partially secured building. He sat quietly for a moment before Loki's agitated voice addressed someone on the other end. "This is not the time for games, Hawk."
Rolling his eyes, Tony just hoped that Clint's grunted greeting was also an agreement. It wouldn't end well if he tried to tease the magician in his current mood.
"If you would, Lady." Good, that meant that Natasha had the crazy Hawk in hand if nothing else. Tony's eyes traced the cracks in the floor as the creaking sound of the bookshelf moving out of the way filtered in through his earpiece.
There was a screech of abused metal shortly after and the ringmaster assumed that they had broken the mechanism to make sure it stayed open. Soon, he heard the group start to head down the previously hidden stairwell, hopefully ready for a fight.
"Lady Romanova and her Hawk should reach you shortly with your equipment, Monsieur."
Finally looking up from where he had been staring at the floor, straining his ears to hear what was going on upstairs, Tony flashed a quick smile and nodded to the group that was looking somewhere between annoyed and hopeful. "Great, looks like we'll be getting out of here in no time."
They smiled as Tony pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the door which dominated one of the walls.
A quick twist on the side of each lens on his spectacles released the lock picking tools he had stashed there and Tony set to work on cracking the 'impressive' lock. It was simple enough, though one twist in the middle was viscous, nearly breaking his half diamond pick before he changed the setting to the steeper angle instead of the original shallow he had suspected. But it opened shortly after that, Tony having designed and cracked locks twice as complicated as that while practicing for Loki.
Now with nothing better to do, the engineer started rapping out some of his plans for that night in his own version of Morse code on the open door to help Natasha locate them. The would-be spies behind him had no idea what he was saying, but Loki, who was still listening in from the other end, gave a low chuckle barely heard over the intermittent sounds of fighting (which usually ended in a large 'Oof' as the attacker was knocked out and tied up) as he translated it easily.
"Soon, Monsieur."
Tony was nowhere near finished with his descriptions (and he was going to have fun with the next part) when Natasha appeared in the doorway, stepping out of the nonexistent shadows of the hallway to hand him his bag with a raised brow.
He just gave her a grin as he heard gagging from down the hall, or was that through the air ducts? "Thanks, Tasha. You're a doll! I may just have to invite you to give up that Hawk and join us one night!"
Hearing the echo of Clint's outraged 'Hey! Watch it!' over the communications feed on his spectacles along with Loki's chuckle just made Tony's grin widen. There was a thudding sound of a knife sinking into the wall just beneath that velvety laugh as the magician continued to fight, probably pinning an attacker's clothing to the wall. The clang of the shield Tony'd designed for Cap nearly drowned out Loki's purred response.
"Whatever gave you the idea that I wanted to share you, Monsieur?"
A nearly stifled groan answered magician's question perfectly. Trying to drag his mind (and body) back to the task at hand, Tony opened the bag to find not only his armored gloves and one of his improved power sources (which he quickly slipped on with a sigh of relief), but also the boots that went with them.
The troupe behind him gave him some strange looks as, after handing out the guns he had stashed for any strays he thought he might find, he sat down and started changing. "Is that really necessary?"
"More than you realize, pony boy."
Bucky made a face at the nickname as Tony shrugged in to the now permanently connected gloves before pulling the final wires from the thigh-high metal boots to connect into the chest piece.
Everything in place, he snapped the medallion into its slot before checking the movement in the joints and the charge time on the gloves. There wasn't enough room to fly in here, but a little extra protection for when the bullets started to fly was appreciated. "Alright, let's go."
He stepped out in to the hall as JARVIS brought up the floor plans that Clint was plotting out on his romp through the service halls and ventilation system with the cufflink he'd taken from Natasha. "There seems to be a total of four floors, though only the one you are currently on and the lowest level have anything but a smattering of guards within." The map zoomed in on Tony's current location. "Miss Romanova has been kind enough to clear this half of the floor before moving on. I advise that you use caution as you finish subduing the remaining drones on this floor before heading down to the labs below."
The inventor started making his way down the hall to where the last of the targets would be located, "Alright, set repulsors to stun charge only, JARVIS. And remember," he addressed the group following behind him with a look over his shoulder. "These guys aren't doing it on purpose, so don't shoot to kill. They do eventually snap out of it."
Tony then started making his way through the halls, listening with half an ear as Loki almost silently took out his opponents on the floor above. Judging by the dots that JARVIS had superimposed on top of the floor map, the magician was playing the quick distraction as the two heavy hitters with him took them down in a more nonlethal manner. The ringleader had sparred a few times with his other half a few times over the past months and had quickly learned that Loki was trained to go for the kill.
As he led the group to the next stairwell where Loki's group was going to meet up with theirs, Tony realized that the Widow had cleared out a whole lot more than half of the level that she had admitted to.
They passed another room full of knocked out and secured attackers (making sure they wouldn't be getting up again) covered in bruises and the ringmaster just rolled his eyes. The Bucking Broncos might be put off by the ruthless efficiency of the ex-assassin, but Tony knew she was mothering him.
Tony, for his part was playing it a little more cautiously than he normally would, peeking around corners before leading his ragtag group out into the next hall and checking each room they passed for hostiles, but that was more due to the fact that it had only just occurred to him that he'd never made a helmet go with the rest of his armor. A glaring flaw that he couldn't believe he had missed earlier. It would be rectified as soon as they got out of this... well, maybe the day after.
"This is a hell of a way to start a birthday." Tony mumbled to himself, more than willing to count these small hours of the morning as part of his birthday. It was nothing to that one year that he had claimed an entire week as his own personal party week. 'That was a good year.'
His thoughts almost kept him from spotting the drones that were pacing the hallway next to them mechanically, obviously guarding the path to the stairs. Almost didn't mean completely, though.
Two whining pulses from his hands later and they were down for the count. Tony moved forward, one hand charged and pointing at any potential threats just in case another popped out of the woodwork as the troupe behind him followed with wide eyes and, in some cases, slackened jaws.
As Tony cleared the hall and the rooms that ran off of it, Bucky commented with an impressed tone, "You weren't joking about those, were you."
The inventor gave him a serious look. "I never joke about my creations." He tilted his head slightly as he revised that a bit, "I joke with them, but never about them."
JARVIS used this time to take advantage of the external speakers. "I do recall that one instance when you called Dummy a-"
Quickly cutting his AI off, Tony firmly reminded him, "Hey, we swore we would never speak of that again. For his sake."
The troupe looked between themselves; each of them smiling slightly at the put upon voice spoke up once more. "Of course, Sir. For him."
The next turn had them close enough to the others that the entire group could hear Thor's bellow as he crippled another opponent and they sped up to meet up with them.
"On your six," Tony warned before firing into the fray, taking down an opponent that was trying to sneak up on Steve. It didn't take long for the skirmish to end with the nine of them working to take out the eight drones they'd found.
Relaxing as the last one was taken out, Tony called, "Hey, Cap. You'll never guess who I found."
Steve looked up from where he was automatically restraining one of the drones only to freeze at the sight of his old troupe, mouth opening slightly before transforming into an amazed grin.
"Bucky, Gabe, Dum Dum, James!" He stood and quickly made his way over to hug his old friends, with much back slapping and gentle ribbing and even a blushing introduction for Peggy.
Tony only had a short moment to smile at that before he heard a set of familiar, firm footsteps walking in his direction.
"Don't you just love happy reunions, Sunshine?" Turning to give Loki a grin, Tony finally took in what his magician was wearing, "I'm loving that visor of yours, Dasher. Makes you look-"
He smiled into the kiss as Loki, after pushing his invention back so that it wouldn't interfere, silenced Tony in the engineer's favorite way. Carefully bringing his armored hands up to grip the magician's waist, the two pressed against each other in a mostly chaste kiss, reaffirming that the other was there.
Chaste was thrown out the window as Loki pressed in, wrapping an arm around the other man's shoulders and grabbing some of Tony's sleep mussed hair as leverage to deepen the kiss. Tony found this more than welcome, especially after his little bit of fun using Morse code over the speakers earlier, simply tightening his grip on the other's hips as he took the time to be thankful for this one thing as he turned another year older.
This year had Loki in it and that blew the rest out of the water.
A moment passed before Tony remembered who was watching and pulled back, shooting Loki a curious look before moving his attention to his brother. Loki's very large, hammer wielding, strongman brother who was (Tony breathed a sigh of relief) grinning at them.
Seeing that he had their attention, Thor walked over to clap the ringmaster on the shoulder, "I am happy for the both of you, Son of Howard! But I must warn you that if you harm him, I will be forced to remove your soul from this realm."
The fact that it was all said without that happy expression faltering even once only made the threat scarier; it was a good thing Tony never planned on trying to hurt the European still standing between his hands. Nodding quickly at the blond, the ringleader was happy to see him move away to finish tying up the rest of the men and women lying on the floor. His eyes met Loki's amused green and Tony gave him a knowing look over the rims of his spectacles.
"You knew that was going to happen."
"Suspected that it would happen sometime soon. He questioned me about my attachment to you during the ride." Loki admitted, quietly as the others continued to swap the pertinent details from the last five years.
"And?" Tony had never been one to not indulge his curiosity.
Green eyes flashed possessively. "You are mine and no one will take you from me."
A grin answered the quick reply. "Good, because I feel exactly the same, love." The inventor pulled Loki in for another 'quick' kiss.
They finished just in time to hear a slightly embarrassed cough. Steve stood nearby, obviously trying to get their attention so that they could help the acrobats clear the floor below.
Grudgingly releasing Loki, the captive turned infiltrator began to walk towards the last stairwell. The group was met at the bottom by a completely composed Natasha, the floor filled with restrained people and an expectant look on her face.
"Well, you've certainly been busy." Bucky had a talent for understatement.
Raising a brow at the flirtatious grin that the Broncos leader was shooting her, she clarified with a smile, "Yes. We have."
The man flinched slightly as Hawkeye landed silently behind her from where he had been prowling around above, his face a blank, intimidating mask.
"Oh, uh. Good job, then," Bucky stumbled over his words slightly as the other members of his troupe laughed good-naturedly at his expense, the group still a little high on the thought that they were finally escaping this hell.
The redhead returned her gaze to her employer. "There's just one room left and it's locked up tight. Looks to have a bit of your tech involved, thought you'd like to take a look at it before we broke down the door."
Tony frowned at that. He didn't sell his more technologically heavy locks because that made his own inventions more secure. Giving her a small nod he simply said, "Show me where it is."
Nodding back at him, the acrobat led the way down a random series of halls to a large metal door. Running a gloved hand down the door, Tony leaned over to inspect the lock more closely, thumbing a light on the side of his spectacles as he did. Judging by the glints of light he could see reflected off of the interior, the inventor was almost positive that, even if it wasn't his to begin with, it had been based off of one of his first attempts at a 'better lock'.
The gloves kept him from taking out his picks to try and verify that, so instead he turned to the magician standing behind him.
Loki, who had already been eying the lock himself, caught the look even as Tony's metal clad fingers lightly drummed on the lock before twisting one of his rings off. He ignored the quiet question that one of the Broncos muttered behind the two of them ('Does everyone here have lock picks?') and set to work on not only cracking the lock, but comparing it to Tony's other ones.
It took him barely thirty seconds before the tumblers fell open with a soft snick-click. Looking up at Tony, he nodded. It was definitely based on one of his designs, but someone had tried to 'improve' it with another set of pins and had in the process changed it from a wafer lock (which would require all pins to be in the right position at the same time) to the less complicated pin/tumbler lock.
"Not a very intelligent copy, however."
Tony gave him a smirk in response. "They tried to copy off of me, Sunshine. I wouldn't classify that as smart in any type of situation, would you?"
A slow smile spread across the magician's face, the message of 'I can think of a few' was plain as day to Tony, and the quirk of his brow let Loki know that they'd be trying those ideas out later.
If he'd been paying attention, the ringmaster might have realized that he'd just participated in one of those 'couple's conversations' that he'd been cursing for all these years. Instead, he offered Loki a hand before pulling the door open, ready to be done so he could get back to more important things.
Catching sight of what was awaiting them on the other side, Tony was quick to push Loki out of the doorway even as he threw himself in the other direction.
Steve burst through the rest of the group as he saw the large gun pointed at them, throwing his shield up to catch the blast as he did. It was just in time, the blue tinged energy backfired off of the metal and in to the back of the room where Schmidt didn't even flinch as it hit not a foot to the left of where he was standing.
Unfortunately, it also created a slight vacuum that was just strong enough to pull the door shut once more, the lock clicking back into place as it did. The German man sneered down at the ringmaster as he turned the weapon in his direction once again. "You think you can stop Hydra from rising now that we have your power source?"
Tony had just enough time to charge his boots before he was dodging a couple more quick blasts from the Death Ray, as he had taken to calling it in his head.
"You must be put down like the mad dog-!" The accented ranting cut off suddenly and Tony's increasingly outlandish maneuvers around his side of the room ground to a halt as Schmidt started screaming.
Glancing up at the weapon's wielder, Tony's eyes widened slightly. Flames licked their way up the collar of the insane man's signature coat, his face already blistering in the heat as his gloved fingers ripped the still burning knife from his shoulder and threw it aside.
Though the reinforced leather on his right shoulder still smoldered, Schmidt was able to quickly pat out the worst of the fire that had threatened to engulf him. He turned the high-tech weapon upon his attacker even as Loki ignited another knife with a quick spark from his rings, looking more than willing to try and burn the other man alive for his transgressions against both Tony and himself. The ringmaster, however, wasn't just going to wait idly by as his magician stared death in the face.
Boots charging as he braced his legs, Tony launched himself halfway across the room to tackle the criminal from the side.
Still blinded by pain and rage, Schmidt cried out once more as he was pushed to the ground harshly, the gun swinging up to discharge harmlessly into the thick ceiling. Shoving the odious man behind some useless looking machinery, the inventor rolled the worthless contraption closer to the wall to trap Schmidt while he dealt with dismantling the gun.
Before he did, Tony took a moment to give Loki a quick once-over to check him (out) for wounds. "You okay?"
The magician looked up after cutting away the last of the still burning, accelerant-soaked strips of cloth from his knife and gave him a sharp smile. "Far better than he will ever be again." He didn't sound sorry in the least and, after all that Schmidt had done to (Loki, to Tony, to Steve's troupe) everyone, Tony allowed a darkly amused smile to cross his face in return.
Then, remembering the still primed weapon next to him, the engineer set to work on rewiring the nearly fried connectors as Loki eyed the door for a moment. Tony thought he could see his green eyes narrow for a moment before the magician turned away from the entrance to look over his shoulder as he worked on the unfamiliar technology.
One hand stretched away to safely toy with a throwing knife, Loki leaned his chin on Tony's shoulder as his other hand settled casually at his waist.
Attempting to focus on the machinery in front of him, Tony paused to blink as the object of his distraction leaned in closer, an arm coming forward to work the edge of a knife blade under a loose panel. The metal bent under the assault, the 'V' symbol beneath it becoming clearer as it was removed. Tony inspected it for a moment, trying to remember where he'd seen the symbol, before turning back to the task at hand and leaving the mysterious insignia to his intrigued magician.
He had just finished his last adjustment as the door clicked open once more, Natasha rolling her eyes from her kneeling position in front of the lock as Clint looked particularly huffy.
Hawkeye ignored Loki's amused grin and Tony's questioning brow as he stalked into the room and away from the relieved (and ever so slightly amused) group. Working it out quickly, the inventor taunted with a grin, "Having a bit of trouble with the lock there, Hawk?"
The grumbles in reply only made him laugh.
His amusement didn't last long, however, as the large metal cabinet slammed in to both Loki and him from behind, sending them to the ground. Schmidt rose shakily from where he had thrown it at the pair and made a dash for the Death Ray.
"Hydra will never be stopped! Not with this weapon and the support of V-" The medallion charging the weapon glowed bright blue from the feedback loop Tony had created and the ensuing explosion knocked the ranting man back in to the wall.
Tony looked up from where he was attempting to shield Loki from the blast (made even more difficult by the magician's attempts to do the same for him) and found Clint already restraining the unconscious man as the others rushed in to make sure everyone was alright.
Brushing them off as he accepted the magician's helpful hand up from his position on the floor, Tony took another look at the smoking gun. It hadn't broken to pieces, but the explosion had thoroughly melted the inside.
'Well, that would definitely be enough to make sure no one else would be trying to make this.' Satisfied with that, Tony called out instructions to his AI. "JARVIS, let everyone know that it's all over, then ring up the local police. I'm sure that they would be overjoyed to see where all those missing people have been hiding all these years."
"Yes, Sir. Miss Potts would like me to inform you that Mister Rodgers' friends have woken up in their correct state of mind. She would also like me to inform you that she will be having words with you about your recent lapse in rational decision making."
The engineer, in the middle of shooting a thumbs up to Cap, winced at the reminder of the number of mother hens that he currently had on his payroll. He glowered slightly at Loki's knowing grin, "Hey, she's going to be after you too, Sunshine. Remember whose idea this was in the first place."
The other didn't look as scared as the ringleader thought he should be. Then again, Loki had quite the record for coming out on top.
Tony licked his lips before addressing the others, "Cops are now on their way, so let's start cleaning up."
Running a hand through his hair as Steve give his old troupe-mates some of Bruce's antidote to start passing out to the restrained men, Tony frowned and realized that the grumbling wasn't coming from his tired and disgruntled workers but his stomach.
"Anyone else think that we should pick up breakfast on the way? I've always wanted to try German chocolate rum balls."
A few tiring hours later, Tony was finally where he wanted to be: in his bed with Loki seated to his right as they watched the sun rise over Stuttgart through a few well-placed portholes, a half-eaten plate of rumkugeln resting on a side table nearby.
Well, not completely how he wanted to be, that required fewer clothes and more activity, but he would settle with this for now. Instead, he relaxed against the other man, toying with the strings on his tunic as he blinked sleepily at the view.
"You are not to ever do something like that again," Loki ordered quietly into the engineer's hair.
Rousing himself from the drowsy state his mind had slipped into, Tony tilted his head away to look at him as he tried to get clarification. "Do what, Sunshine?"
Green eyes closed against the brightening sun, the other murmured back, "Let yourself be kidnapped or go off alone where I might not find you." Tony's fingers stilled.
"Loki, you were the one to make this plan in the first place."
Humming his agreement, Loki countered, "It was a foolish plan and I will do well to never create another like it."
The ringmaster sat up a little straighter to look at his magician incredulously. "But it was a complete success! Finding the Bucking Broncos, using my dad's palladium version of the medallion to mess with anything they might be needing it for, shutting down the Tesser activities in Europe, even catching Schmidt who was pulling the strings! Though, I don't know about that V thing t-" He was silenced when long fingers brushed over his lips.
"That does not prevent this from being my most foolish plan to date." Those same fingers then moved to trace the line of his jaw back until it found its place at the back of the inventor's neck. Tony leaned into his touch, allowing his left hand to skim down Loki's chest and loosely grasp the other man's opposite hip as he shifted to face the magician fully.
"Why then? What made this a bad plan if it accomplished nearly all our goals?"
There was a pause as green eyes studied the ringleader's face, Loki's hand slipping away from Tony's neck to trail gracefully down his bare chest to play absently with the medallion that resided there as he debated whether to answer.
Watching as the other glanced down at the inverted triangle on the device, Tony reached up with his right hand to grasp the magicians. "Or, if you'd prefer, why did you set it as the backup and not the main plan if you knew it would be this successful?"
Releasing the power source, Loki let it drop back into place as he turned his hand in the ringleader's and easily changed their grip. Tony let the questions hang, the thumb of his free hand playing with the hem of the other man's tunic even as the magician held his right hand between both of his.
Not looking up from his idle inspection of that callused hand, Loki responded. "The plan was far too risky. There were too many variables, too many ways in which they might harm you, kill you even."
Loki looked upset at the very thought, his narrowed eyes moving over the lines on Tony's hand as if thinking of all the ways the past night could have gone wrong. An upset Loki was not something Tony ever wanted (unless they were teasing one another or pranking each other or arguing just for the hell of it or - well, not over anything this serious at least) and he tried to fix that by rolling slightly to throw his leg over the magician's, shifting so that he was straddling the other man's lap.
Eyes flicking up to Tony's face at the movement, Loki relaxed a little as if only just realizing that the danger he was thinking of had already passed. Holding that gaze, the ringmaster leaned forward ever so slightly.
"But it didn't. I'm still here and everything worked out fine." Fingers tightened around his still captured hand, but Loki didn't look away as Tony pressed further, concerned. "That might be why it was the backup, but why is it currently your worst plan if it came together beautifully?"
The response was almost immediate, as if the magician had been thinking on it or wanting to say it for quite some time.
"Because any plan that puts you in danger is a foolish plan, especially when I am not there to fight alongside you." He freed his left hand from their entangled fingers only to slip them past Tony's jaw, behind his ear into his hair, leaving his thumb to stroke the enraptured man's cheek. "I did not realize it then, but I know now that I would always have you by my side."
Tony's heart thudded in a way that had nothing to do with the abuse it had taken earlier that morning as the genius' mind halted all side projects to focus completely on what Loki had just said to him. If it had been a woman saying those words, the ringleader was sure it would be considered a marriage proposal. If it had been a woman, Tony would have said no. From Loki however, the inventor could only think of one response and it came pouring out as his brain jump-started his mouth.
"Then that's where I'll be. As long as you want me there."
Finally freeing the engineer's hand, Loki grasped Tony's arm even as the magician's left hand took advantage of its fortuitous positioning to pull the other in for a passionate kiss. Tony groaned slightly, opening his mouth for the other as his hands pushed Loki's shirt out of the way to explore Loki's chest once more.
No stranger to multitasking, Loki slowly raked his blunted fingernails down Tony's arm as he tasted the other's palate.
Easily following the planes of the magician's body, Tony leaned in to the kiss as his hands found a few of their favorite places; one pressed against Loki's spine, trailing up and down along the arch of his back, while the other hiked the front of that green tunic up to thumb a sensitive nipple.
With a slightly frustrated groan and a mumble about how he was not going to be undone so easily, Loki pulled roughly at Tony's hair, repositioning the engineer to provide easy access to his neck.
Before moving to start leaving open mouthed kisses as he had many times before in similar situations, Loki paused, mouth next to Tony's ear as he panted ever so slightly. Calming his breaths even as the ringmaster's hands continued moving, he eventually purred his response to the other, voice so low that only Tony (his spectacles discarded near the rum balls) could hear his promise.
"Forever. I would have you by my side forever."
Tony breathed in sharply through his nose at the unrestrained passion he heard there, nearly cracking the other's voice as he spoke the words, and it took him a moment to gather his wits. For once ignoring the tongue that was pressed against his pulse point, Tony abandoned his earlier pursuits and wrapped his arms around Loki, pulling him into a tight hug.
Thankfully, Loki simply arranged his arms around Tony's neck to return the embrace, seemingly understanding Tony's need to not only reassure himself that this was real (it had been a very long day, who's to say he hadn't nodded off?) but also to impress upon the European that the feeling was completely mutual.
Forever seemed like it might just be enough time, but they could always try to negotiate more time later.
For now, though, Tony just breathed in the scent of Loki's still slightly dampened hair, each of them having taken a bath after their rather dusty ordeal earlier that morning, and reversed their earlier actions. Weaving his own fingers through those black strands, the ringleader turned his head to nip gently at the other man's neck even as his other hand followed that graceful spine down, fingertips easily slipping beneath the waistband of Loki's dark casual slacks. He smirked for a moment at the hiss his actions pulled from the other before pulling back slightly to start working on disrobing the man beneath him.
Arching his back slightly with an answering smirk, the magician's fingers trailed playful patterns down Tony's shoulders and Loki chuckled slightly at his frustrated growls as he remembered just how difficult it would be to pull the clothing off in their current position. Hands reaching the engineer's elbows, Loki sat forward to capture Tony's lips with his own once again.
Distracted by that masterful tongue, the ringleader barely noticed the magician's light fingers undoing the ties on his pants. He did notice when the hand returned to his elbow and gripped both of his arms securely. Already knowing where this was going when Loki pulled back with a smirk, Tony tried to shift his weight onto his knees to keep his advantage.
"I may be able to assist you with that, Monsieur." Loki purred, licking his lips slightly.
The preparations did nothing to help as the magician bucked slightly, possibly alluding to something else he might be willing to help with as he rubbed against Tony's manhood provocatively before using his distraction to roll them over. Feeling his back hit the comfortable bed, the ringmaster gave a halfhearted struggle to try and continue the roll, hopefully placing him back on the other's lap, but gave in with a groan as Loki pulled his arms above his head and silenced his protests with a rather filthy, open mouthed kiss.
Tongues still battling for dominance, Tony fought to bring his hands back down, wanting to at least touch the man who was kneeling above him. But the other was even going so far as to keep himself balanced on his elbows while he pinned the inventor's arms down by the elbows and all Tony could reach was Loki's head and possibly his shoulders.
Tony took what he could get, running his fingers through the magician's hair and attempting to guide the kiss while he could. He knew that, if given the chance, his hands would be tied to the nearest bedpost as they had on more than one occasion in the past. Throwing their ties to the other side of the room was now a tactic Tony employed to make sure his hands stayed free more often, not that it always worked.
Still enjoying the almost frantic meeting of tongue and teeth, Tony couldn't think of one reason to not try and press every advantage he might still have and brought one leg up to hook around Loki's waist. He quickly used the other to push himself up and he couldn't keep from smiling at his success even as they both groaned at the contact, each of their still clothed erections rubbing against the other's as Tony pressed his hips upwards. Loki's hips rock forward instinctively at the delicious friction before the magician reined it in.
Giving one last nip at Tony's swollen bottom lip, Loki pushed himself back on to his knees to pull his rather mussed tunic off. Now free from the other's grasp, Tony sat up a bit to lean on his elbows, enjoying the view immensely as the magician tossed his shirt to the other side of the large bed and, green eyes locked with the flushed man beneath him, ran a hand down his now bare chest to start slowly unbuttoning his slacks.
The pace was unbearable, Tony knew there was absolutely no way it usually took that long to undo a simple set of buttons (in fact, he was pretty sure that Loki could probably unfasten each of the inventor's pants in about three seconds flat, if pressed), but distracted himself nicely by sitting up and running first his fingers and then his tongue along the lines of the magician's chest.
Unfortunately, this also distracted the kneeling man as well, slowing the process even further as Loki abandoned the buttons to sit back on his heels, bringing him to Tony's level once again before he tilted the ringmaster's head to one side and plundered his willing mouth once again.
And that was more than alright with Tony. They had all the time they would need for fighting and kissing, for inventions and pranks, for performing and loving. Tony didn't think he could have asked for anything better.
Does ending here make me more or less of a tease than before?
That's the end of this fun little (Ahaha, little! This is the longest story I've ever written!) AU, I hope you've all enjoyed the ride! :D I did leave just a few story lines with a loose end or two for if or when I get the urge to write more in this universe.
Thanks so much for reading, reviewing, and/or leaving a kudos! You are all wonderful!