A/N: Firstly, I need to apologise for the wait. I never intended to keep you guys waiting so long D: I hope some of you are still committed to reading this. Anyway, this is the next to last chapter, the last will be posted in a few days. Thank you to everyone who's been reading this! It means a lot :)
Chapter seventeen) Redemption
The next morning they awoke with a start, for Jarvis spoke without having been talked to. Tony recognised it, however, to be the call he'd asked for to wake him right up. He hadn't wanted to be woken up from this slumber, though. He had Loki; the God of Mischief, at his side, naked and exhausted by what had happened, exhausted by the rough sex that had taken place right here only hours ago. He knew everything he needed to know about the God, because it was so simple: He loved Loki, more than anything.
"Wake up, rise and shine," Tony spoke about ten minutes later, when he had forced himself to open his eyes and look at Loki, spread kisses all over him. Only a grunt he got in return and he kissed Loki on the forehead, who, like many, couldn't get up in the mornings, not even a little. He found it sweet, but highly inconvenient most times. Finally he awoke and the first thing that happened was that a small smile spread over Loki's face, reaching all the way up into his eyes. Soon, they were out of bed. They got dressed, had breakfast and headed towards Fury, ready to get to whatever they needed to. Tony, at least, looked at the world in a different light, he hoped Loki did the same.
"You are all aware of the plan, I presume?"
"I fly up with Loki, we send backup in and let Loki drop into the ship and do all the talking for everyone else," Tony spoke, which Fury confirmed, though probably would have worded it quite differently... "Not hard, nor easy, now; let's go, Loki?" he asked, turning towards the God. "You ready?"
Loki looked around, then nodded and they were off, on the mission. Now he just hoped that the mission wasn't going to fail like the last one did, sort of. Especially not now failing could mean losing Loki, which was the last thing Tony should be thinking about right now, but it was the worry most prominent on his mind. The silver-tongued God of Mischief could lie and deceive once more, but it wouldn't necessarily be his redemption and was it not Loki's redemption that Tony secretly hoped for?
Without his magic Loki hardly had any means of protecting himself, yet he seemed willing to comply to the terms. It was only when Loki and Tony shared their last moment alone, before the mission started, that Loki actually explained why.
"All the time while I was imprisoned at SHIELD, I thought of you. Not because I wanted to be with you, per se, but because I knew that if you'd do something stupid there was no one there more willing to risk everything than I would be to save you."
And Tony was flabbergasted, he was amazed by the God's words and had no idea that Loki thought so... highly of him. He wanted to kiss him and smother him in the love he felt for the God in return, but there was no time.
"Try to think of yourself, too, though, hm?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Loki didn't respond, which made it clear. Tony couldn't expect him to no longer be willing to take his own life. Loki didn't want to live, but he didn't want to see Tony go. "Just know that I'll break, would you die," he added, which meant quite the same to Loki's own words. Tony just didn't speak them so clearly.
Hopefully, Tony was worrying about something that wasn't worth worrying about. Sure, Loki had a life and he was risking it, but Thor would not in any circumstance let his brother die, despite the fact that he is the king of Asgard and that Loki is a wrongdoer in all eyes. Loki is also someone incredibly important to him, and he wouldn't let Loki die, just to show his Kingdom that they would not forgive the wrong in one's heart.
"Let's go," Tony then spoke, squeezing Loki's shoulder firmly before heading towards the helicopter. There they met Romanov, Fury and Rogers. It was strange to be without Banner and Barton, but they were just going to have to make sure that they'd get them back. "I fly Loki up, right? For precision purposes..." Tony spoke, to which Fury nodded.
"Yes, Tony..." Fury spoke. "I thought you were one to remember plans like the back of your own hand... Anyway, we must get going. Stark, Loki, set off. We will follow shortly," Fury spoke. Tony activated his thrusters, grabbed hold of Loki and was off.
"Well, here we go," he spoke, feeling Loki's arms wrap around him firmly, holding himself tightly against the metal. Again, they approached from the dead corner, though they knew the crew would be more cautious this time. Tony then shot underneath the ship, waiting for a missile to get launched and he flew up quickly, then heading down, holding Loki to him tightly, who must be getting a little bit sick by all this flying. He flew straight for the surface of the ship, the missile tailing him. Then just before he hit it, he pulled up and skimmed the surface, while putting more energy in the thrusters. The missile blasted straight through the ship where it needed to be.
"Well done!" he heard through their communicative wavelength that was being streamed in his helmet.
Tony circled, before lowering to the wrecked havoc. Crew members were gathering and soon Tony threw Loki to the side as he landed himself and made sure to immediately start blasting. There was little Loki could do, but try to manoeuvre cleverly through the crowd. He wasn't so bad at it either, especially considering the fact he was wounded badly. He seemed to have a knack for ignoring pain. Tony made sure that whoever came near Loki would certainly regret it and soon they found themselves rushing through a quieter hallway. Ah, it was only quiet as everyone had gathered in the main space. There wasn't much left of those that had fought them and those that hadn't were clever enough not to follow them. It did mean, however, that the ship would be alerted.
"Down here," Tony said and soon they were rushing towards where they knew the Silver Demon would be, who would certainly expect another attempt on his life. Hopefully it would at the least be surprising. "Oeh, that's gruesome," Tony spoke as he looked at the 'statues' of Hawkeye and the Hulk that were set before the entrance to the Demon's quarters. Loki ignored it, although certainly it would have been somewhat fearful for his own fate. "Just don't think on it too much," he said.
"Stark," he heard through the communication device. "You weren't supposed to go all the way with him. Are you alright?"
"Yes, fine, actually," he replied. "I figured ensuring Loki to actually get where he needed to be wouldn't be such a bad thought."
"Alright, fine, but we're going to need ya," Romanov spoke.
"I know, I'll be there," he spoke, though his attention soon turned to Loki who was his primary concern for the moment, as much as that still was a thought he didn't like to admit. Loki knew it now, however. There was no point in hiding it. In fact, seeing as they were facing quite the danger it might just be all the more reason to be honest.
"You better not do anything stupid," Loki spoke, his expression quite blank, those his eyes giving away some of the seriousness behind the request.
"Hey, I'm a genius!" Tony replied. "I never do anything stupid." He grinned behind his helmet, before looking at the doors ahead. "Go on, distract him. I don't care how many lies you tell, as long as you survive to tell me that one truth you've never quite put to words."
"What truth?" Loki asked, eyes narrowing.
"You know." And with that Tony was off, rushing back through the hallway to leave the ship and team up with the rest to find another way inside for their surprise attack. Loki vaguely wondered whether he was supposedly the best 'distraction method'. Sure, he'd managed to pull off quite some stunts in the past, but he'd always had his magic to fall back on should his words come short. Now, however, he hardly had anything.
He stepped forwards, nonetheless and soon found himself sneaking into the part of the ship that they'd all been warned about. It wasn't as heavily guarded as one might think, which was the only reason Loki managed to come eye to eye with the Silver Demon without too much sneaking around.
Immediately Loki stood tall, wiping whatever expression he might've carried off his face and green eyes shooting up to look upon the mask the other was wearing to cover his face. Ah, cowardice. "It is said that you were taller than this," Loki said, matter-of-factly, unable to stop the remarks, despite knowing how they might only lead to angering his opponent. "It's also said that you were intimidating," he said with a shrug. "Some believed you were on fire."
"Are the Avengers truly so desperate that they call upon their enemy to defend them?" the Silver Demon chuckled. His voice was low and daunting and certainly too calm to be anything but played.
"Yes," Loki replied, looking away for a moment as if this was nothing but a casual talk. "You better watch out before they try to convert you too." So far so good, he thought, though knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Silver Demon would have enough of his talk. Better insure the story got more interesting, so he'd think twice before killing him off.
"I certainly have more class than that," the Demon spoke and it was the perfect opener.
"Ah, you call it class, I call it stupidity. You see; the Avengers are strong and powerful and a difficult team to undo, except for those within. To not concede would merely be to let a perfect opportunity slip. For what reason? Morale?" He let out a chuckle at that. "Is morale not only troublesome to those who succumb to it? Certainly one of your greatness would not."
"You seek to betray them," the Silver Demon stated, "yet you have come before me as pray."
"No," Loki spoke, grinning wickedly for a moment as the plans were stringing together so well. He could do this, he was sure of it. "Not as pray, but as ally. You see..." he said, doing a step closer to the Demon, his voice lowering as he told the secret: "they mean to overthrow you and they are capable. You know not their plan, while I do. You would be wise to let me come to your side. My game with them is over."
"You are powerless," the Demon spoke. "Why would I want you by my side?"
"It is not magic you want me for, it's information. I know exactly where they will come and what they will try. They might not succeed, but they might be able to pull it off, like they have done so many times before. They are not to be underestimated. It would be a waste for another good one, like yourself, to fall."
"You are offering their plan in exchange that I spare you."
"Yes, for now anyway. What you do afterwards I care little for," he replied, figuring he might as well try to make this deal sound as good as any. "You should hurry, for I assure you they like to get things over with."
"So, what is the plan?" the Silver Demon asked, to which Loki grinned.
"It is a deal, then," he spoke and stepped towards the Demon. "They will come in from all sides, two very obvious: Iron Man and Captain America," he told the Demon, which was the truth. "Now there is one trick that they will pull and that has to do with the Black Widow, the only woman in the Avengers. She is the rogue of the group, attractive and sensual, capable in distracting anyone," he pushed. "She will fight her way through the hallways, right under your nose and when she lets herself be known, it is the plan that you will try to attack her. That is when Iron Man and Captain America come in and take you down," Loki spoke, his eyes narrowing. "Do you understand that it is crucial to keep your senses sharp?"
A loud sound echoed through the ship and he grinned a little. Ah, Tony and Rogers had landed, and so had Romanov. It was not long until the Widow would meet them.
The Silver Demon nodded. "The plan is too simple. They know that I am strong enough to take them on. Where do you come in," he asked.
"Oh, well, they're assuming that I'll be a distraction for long enough, but will either get encased in silver like those two down there, or will be locked away in some other cell, or, of course, killed," he spoke. "Though I don't think the latter will be so good, because enraged Avengers are worse than the normal ones..." he spoke. "I stay out of the picture, mostly."
"I though you were their enemy, why would they be enraged by your death, especially when expected?" the Silver Demon questioned.
"Because one of them has an eye for the bad guy..." he spoke, meaning himself. It was the truth and he grinned, despite how it made him nervous. He hoped the Silver Demon's thoughts went back to how he'd spoken of Romanov.
"The woman," the Silver Demon said and Loki cracked a grin. "Do you love her?"
Loki stayed silent for a while and you could see, if you looked closely, that his eyes narrowed just a little more. "Yes..." Now the curse had lifted, he could play so much more, he could toy with the minds of the people around. He could twist their thoughts whichever way he wanted...
"You would never want to see her go, would you?" the Silver Demon asked, this time threatening Loki as he stepped closer, having discovered a 'weakness'. Loki went along with it, letting out a sigh, acting his defeat. He shook his head. "I will spare her, if she will not fight," he spoke, grinning, "if you make her fight alongside myself."
"She is stubborn, but she will not fight me," he spoke, "she must fight with us."
"Good," the Silver Demon spoke, his silver covered arms crossing before him. Loki grinned a little, knowing that the Avengers had heard all his words, though unsure whether they had heard the Silver Demon's. Hopefully they were perceptive enough to understand what would need to happen and soon, Romanov appeared out of the shadows, her eyes flicking to Loki's quickly, before moving to the Silver Demon.
"Loki?" she asked, stepping back from the Silver Demon. Ah, yes, it was a good act.
"Natasha, come to me," he spoke. "There is no use in fighting, for you are alone. The others have not yet come. Join me, for I will not have you dead," he spoke, having stepped towards her, his voice lowered. His eyes showed a certain form of faked compassion, but deep down he felt how his innards were turning, twisting and screaming out how much he hated this woman.
"I won't surrender to him! Why did you?" she asked, her eyes moving to the Silver Demon, who faced her, his arms crossed. He would not do anything, for he trusted Loki's judgement. Now here was to hoping Romanov trusted Loki enough to understand that she had to play along, despite how it would put her at the risk of being over powered by the Silver Demon and Loki, if his choice to join the Demon hadn't been a lie induced to help the Avengers at all.
"I had no choice, I am so sorry," he spoke. "He will spare us, he will," he spoke, his hand moving to her face. The Silver Demon then jolted and the way he moved showed that he was listening to something. They were coming. His hand moved out and his suit revealed a series of weapons that appeared out of the metal casing. He moved his arms towards the noise and Loki's heart was racing, waiting for Tony to appear, like the Silver Demon himself was.
He shared another look with Romanov, who took on a defenseless position as she stepped to Loki's side, looking at where no doubtfully Tony would appear. Her eyes shifted momentarily to the Silver Demon and back to Loki, who she of course didn't trust fully. Loki tried to tell her - with a roll of his eyes - that she should stop being so petty and simply do as she was told. This way they could step closer to the Silver Demon, after all, as he wouldn't expect a straight on attack now they had 'surrendered'.
One thing was more important than the act of backstabbing the Silver Demon, and that was ensuring Tony's safety. He may die, but it was fine, for he wanted to anyway. Tony must live, he must go on. Like Loki had said; he was only there to ensure that somebody would jump to spare Tony from dying. And he would jump in the stream of fire should it be necessary to save the Engineer that had stolen his heart.
The second Tony's suit came crashing through the window, the sound of the weapons being activated sounded through the shattering of the glass. Tony landed on his feet, legs bent and leaning on one hand, but he hadn't exactly expected this to come. His suit revealed weapons like the Silver Demon had, but it was way too late, as instead of the previous plan in which the Silver Demon would be too preoccupied with fighting Romanov, he had his full attention on blasting Tony. Ah, the perfect opportunity for Romanov to do her thing. Yet, as Loki watched the scene play out he saw the blast firing towards Tony, way before the other had so much as steadied himself. Loki's heart jumped painfully and he was about to rush forward, when Tony pushed up and was up in the air again right before the crash would've impacted. Loki let out a sigh of relief, though did so silently as he didn't yet want to alert the Silver Demon of their act. Romanov kept awfully quiet too.
The Silver Demon moved to take another shot, though Tony was quick to move out of the way once more. But surely he couldn't keep doing this forever. Soon, he landed not too far behind Loki and Romanov, letting out quite a believable "what are you guys doing?!" before he stepped back from them. Romanov moved out of the way as the Silver Demon was ready to point his weapons Tony's way once more, which meant they were in the way and would have to lay bare their act should they keep put. Loki, however, took a while longer before he stepped away, giving Tony the opportunity to ready his weaponry and return quite a powerful blast. They collided in mid air and all present were blasted several ways due to the impact of the collision. Loki was soon to scramble to his feet, taking in the scene. The Silver Demon stepped towards Tony, who only now was getting up. Romanov suddenly rushed forward, figuring that they had little time to spare. They needed to make a move against the Silver Demon. Loki heard her give the code, indicating that Captain America needed to join in now and it took him about two seconds to come into the broken window that Tony had left. Ah, so far so good, was it not for the fact that BLAST the shot was fired straight towards Tony, who seemed awfully disorientated by the former hit.
Loki jolted - the slight grin that had been playing on his lips immediately wiped away - and jumped, his body catching the blow that Tony should have. It hurt, it hurt his entire body, his heart, his mind, his soul. He was amazed he wasn't dead by the time he hit the floor, but it wouldn't surprise him if it wouldn't take much longer. He coughed, though that caused intense pain to shoot through his chest, that seemed to go cold and warm at the same time. Ah... he was bleeding from old wounds, not such a good idea...
"Loki!" multiple voices sounded through the room and this time, Tony was on time to blast the Silver Demon back. He could sense Tony's need to come to him. Yes, an angry Avenger was much stronger than one that wasn't... The pain flooded through his body, blood seeping out of him through his clothes. He was going to die and there was no stopping it, whatsoever. He sought for acceptance, that he'd had for death over the past few weeks, but couldn't find it and it had him in a panic. He wanted to die, did he not? No... No, he just wanted Tony.
Many bones had broken, parts of him crushed by the blow and the hit to the ground. The pain was becoming almost absent as it was too much to bear. Yet, he had felt worse. It wasn't the pain that terrified him, it was death. He wasn't even screaming, for he didn't have the power to do so. He blinked, but there was no Tony, for Tony was fighting. Loki's death wasn't for nothing and he tried to find comfort in that. Blood seeped out of his mouth then and he didn't even try to spit and get rid of it, as he didn't have the energy to do so. His wounds bled heavily too, blood seeping through his entire body, for it was wrecked, broken. His world turned hazy, hazier, then his view started to narrow until all turned black. But he so wasn't ready to go. He so wasn't ready to give in to never kissing Tony's lips again.
The aggression in the room was intense and Tony would not stop, blow after blow knocking the Silver Demon to the ground, but there was little stopping. His armour was resistant to almost anything and they could not get through it. Not even the three of them, but Tony wouldn't stop, for if he couldn't have stopped Loki from dying, he would avenge him, like he'd told Loki the first time they stood properly eye to eye. He was crying behind his mask, silent tears running over his face which was carved with anger, a deep frown and sneer plastered on his face, but nothing he did truly wore the Silver Demon out. And the same went for Romanov, who'd come too close to being blasted like Loki a few times. Captain America had his shield that sufficiently blocked the attacks, but he could hardly deal any of himself as he was too occupied trying to hide Romanov from the worst of blasts. Like this they would never get him down, Tony was certain.
Until...
"You puny mortal," Loki's voice sounded suddenly, bemusedly so, jokingly so, and as Tony turned to look at him, he saw how the wounds on his face were healing, how the magic rushed through him, giving him a brightness he hadn't seen in a long, long time. Loki let out a groan, eyes closing for a moment, before he opened them once more, probably needing to get accustomed to the feel of having his magic again. Loki's posture was no longer saddened, Tony noted, but almost proud and definitely mighty. A grin then formed on his face, but still, he was unarmed and Tony wondered how he was going to resolve that problem.
Loki then held out his hand beside his body, wiggling his fingers a little and the golden sceptre appeared in his grip. He grinned again, holding it up, stepping towards the Silver Demon, raising his sceptre and giving him one hard blast, the blue hitting the metal around him and shoving him backwards. "You may have made calculations for the strength of Midgardian weaponry when you constructed your armour, but you have forgotten one very important... detail:" Loki spoke, the grin Tony hadn't seen in a very long time spreading across the beautiful God's face, "I am Loki, the God of mischief and lies. And you are wrong to believe you could come here and ask for obedience," he continued. "You were wrong to think you wouldn't be stopped." He blast another time and Tony heard the God say, almost as an afterthought: "just like I was."
For the first time in Loki's entire existence he took someone down for all the right reasons. He brought the evildoer right to the ground, with the help of the other Avengers, who immediately jumped in when realizing this was their chance. They brought him down, but not to his death, for he deserved the hell that Loki'd had to endure at SHIELD too. Silvester Shaw, the man behind the mask, gone from an American civilian in Asia where he knew people would obey, to a lone, imprisoned man where nobody would ever take his word again. Proud of his actions, Loki was, though incapable of not feeling pity for the Silver Demon.