Hi everyone! Yes, I'm completely evil because I had this chapter done over a week ago but delayed posting because I hadn't finished the one after that. I hope everyone enjoys this long chapter. This is again Tony's POV but the next one should be Loki because I wouldn't want him to be left out. I hope everyone enjoys!
Not mine, never mine, usual disclaimers
"Second," Tony started before pausing and spreading his arms and smile for dramatic effect. "Bring them down to our level for a little chat."
The fire extinguisher made a beautiful reappearance.
o~*+*~o
Dummy, in a fit of absolute brilliance, had picked the extinguisher from where he had dropped it and was using it to threaten Loki and Bruce down from their perches to the ground while You and Butterfingers grabbed at Bruce's shirt and Loki's pants legs.
The half-hearted attempts that Loki and Bruce put up in resistance lightened the mood considerably, turning the discussion into a game that it practically was for Tony. The group; human, god, not-human, and AI; all sat in a ragged circle, fitting for ones of their character, making the conversations that sparked up even more relaxed and casual, despite most of them being one sided to Loki and Bruce because they couldn't understand his babies.
It was a beautiful sight; all of the people that he could call friends, or at least people that knew his life story and could relate or at least didn't go running for the hills, all in one place with his most precious inventions and keepers. The only one missing was Rhodey, but he was doing important military stuff so he could be excused.
Loki looked oddly regal sitting next to him on the ground, cross legged and straight backed, while Bruce looked more relaxed and had one hand resting on Dummy, petting him. The robot was purring, or at least doing the robot equivalent, under the attention and Tony knew they would be practically inseparable.
Tony was the complete opposite of the god next to him as he was practically curled over himself in a slouch. His face did not reflect him relaxed position, however, because now was time to spring the actual bad news on Bruce and Loki, the other scientist already knowing part of the problem.
"Okay," Tony started, clapping his hands once to get everyone's attention. "To kick this meeting off, I'm just gonna start by telling you all of the bad things and then tell you my plan."
While Brice nodded his head once in agreement and snatched his classes for cleaning when he dipped his head, Loki arched one of his eyebrows. "Are we going to have any input into this plan of yours?"
"Yes and no," Tony said with a grin in response. "The plan is already in motion but everything after this moment you both will have input in." Loki nodded sharply and Bruce placed his clean glasses back on his nose.
"So, the bad thing is that the rest of the former Avengers are all either planning on or being coerced into living here at the tower and making good on the offer I threw out at the end of the battle. Sometimes I wish I didn't let my mouth run away from me." At the last part, Tony let a wry smile twist his lips but it was mostly fake. 87.97% of the time opening his mouth was the way people underestimated him and got him out of some sticky situations. "Three guesses as to who wants more people in my tower."
"SHIELD," Loki and Bruce both murmured without pause, surprising each other in the quickness. With quick glances at each other out of the corner of their eyes, the two men fidgeted and Tony smiled.
"Got it in one." With the attention back on him and the mood far more somber than before, Tony straightened his spine and adopted the look that had gained him his new label as the toughest CEO Stark Industries has ever seen. It would do good to make it seem like this plan had taken effort when he had plans such as this one in place after revealing to the public he was Iron Man.
"Normally this would not be a problem but this time there is you," Tony pointed his finger at Loki, his finger so close that the god practically went cross-eyed to look at the finger, "and I'm going to need allies." Removing his finger from the irritated mage's proximity, Tony turned his gaze towards Bruce and neatly ignored to fuming man next to him.
"JARVIS has always got my back and so do the others," Tony said as he gestured to his bots with bodies," but Bruce," Tony turned his pleading eyes to the timid scientist, taking care to add just the right amount of shine to convince but not overdo, "you're going to have to be my eyes and ears when I can't be because, even though JARVIS can record any and all conversations anywhere on Earth, er, Midgard, you and Jolly Green are great judges of character."
As much as Tony hated using such an underhanded method to convince Bruce to take a more forward role, he knew that it was also a fantastic opportunity to give the man some confidence that he sorely lacked at the present. Taking the risk and turning his gaze back to the god he had insulted, Tony was met with a glare that convinced the engineer that if Loki had his magic he would be in a world of hurt.
"Those were harsh circumstances and you weren't exactly you at the time," Tony explained, not exactly apologetic but both men knew that neither would feel the apology was genuine.
"Indeed." It was a good thing that being the god of lies and mischief allowed the raven haired man to catch the underlying meaning of his words far quicker and easier than any other being so all it took was a tilt of the head and a nigh on imperceptible nod and everything was back to normal.
"I don't know, Tony," Bruce said as he looked down at his hands in his lap. Refusing to give up on the man because the scientist couldn't see what he saw, Tony turned his best puppy dog eyes on Bruce to see the man's face soften almost immediately.
"You wouldn't have to do it for long, just until Rock of Ages gets his mojo back." Tony paused and watched as Bruce wavered, meeting his eyes before snatching has glasses off of his face and cleaning them with increased vigor.
"How long do you think that will take by the way?" Tony asked as he turned back to Loki and left Bruce to catch his breath and make up his mind. When the coffee brown of Tony"s eyes locked with Loki's emerald green, however, a completely different conversation than the one that was spoken aloud occurred.
The question's that Loki was asking were not things Tony could answer with the company present, or could ever possibly answer, so he was left locked in a stare, unable to reply, while Loki supplied his answer to the spoken question.
"Anywhere from four days to a week. There is also the unknown factor of the salve that you applied. It is possible that I should have recovered enough of my 'mojo' for a spell within another twenty-four hours." With a final look that told Tony that they would be having a talk latter, Loki released the inventor from the stare and turned to stroke You, who was parked beside Loki, completely ignoring that rest of them.
"Fantastic!" Tony exclaimed as he allowed a large grin the stretch across his face. If Loki got his magic back quicker, the plan would be able to run far smoother than it would now.
Magic would allow Loki to stay hidden and safe, keeping the rising pressure off of Bruce, and allow Tony to make the deal that he had been wanting to make with Loki all along. There was also the added bonus of finally getting answers and explanations from the god because the man owed him. Tony resisted the urge to laugh at the thought of having, arguably, the most powerful god in debt to you.
"Wait, I think I'm missing something," Bruce broke in with a sceptical frown turning the corners of his mouth down ever so slightly. "Why are Agents Romanoff and Barton and Captain America all being coerced to come here by SHIELD?"
Tony huffed out a sigh before quickly inserting his own words. "You forgot about the Winter Soldier, Caps frozen friend, but I thought it was obvious." Tony looked back and forth from Bruce to Loki, the latter's face practically inscrutable. "Anyone?" Tony asked sarcastically, spreading his arms wide in invitation.
"They want something you have." Loki's voice was monotone, hinting at nothing and yet everything at the same time, and Tony shied away from all that could be revealed in that voice. Just because he was a cocky genius did not mean that he didn't recognize another with wit and power, it meant that he used a practical diversion to stay the inevitable conversation.
Tony waved off Loki's cryptic comment and chuckled lightly. "Well, yeah, but everyone on Midgard wants something I have. What they want is special." The smile slowly fell from Tony's face and the change caused Loki and Bruce to lean in towards him, drawn into his charismatic aura.
"They are planning on stealing the specs to my suit or reactor and using it to create and Iron Man that I am not piloting." Perhaps it was the softness of his voice, or maybe it was the gentleness with which he spoke the words, but there was a chasm of perfect silence for 2.94 seconds. The pain that Tony felt when he spoke the truth was so strong that he was forced to dip his head till his chin touched his chest to hide his face from sight.
They were planning on taking away the one purpose, the one good thing, that he had left in this world just so that they had better control. The pain was not only because someone dared to take something so precious from him but because he was almost willing to let them do it. Surely there was someone out there with far less questionable morals to fly the suit but the suit and him were one and that had never changed. The people might still see him as two separate entities, Iron Man and Tony Stark, the hero and the failure, but on the inside they were one in the same and that wasn't changing anytime soon. Tony's heart was hardened because he would always protect what was his.
"What in the-" Loki began, confusion written on his sharp features.
"Why would-" Bruce started, empathy and compassion flittering across his face.
"That's not all." Tony softly continued, his calm easily breaking through the storm.
"Because I am so dangerous and know so much, which I do; I have back doors into every system on the planet, including SHIELD, and can monitor or destroy all of them with a single command to JARVIS; they want to do more than just get rid of me as Iron Man." The pain was back and Tony felt pity for Fury, SHIELD and anyone who stood beside them because they would fail.
"They want to discredit me and my company so that Tony Stark falls as well as Iron Man." They would pay for ever thinking that they could outsmart Tony Stark or defeat Iron Man. The fire that burned bright in the depths of Tony's eyes was something that the engineer could see reflected back at him in Loki's unnaturally bright green orbs.
It was a constant reminder that they had both been wronged and both longed for revenge. The only big difference was that Loki was, at the moment, incapable of unleashing his wrath and Tony had years of practice and patience that no one expected him to have in him.
"I'm still not hearing a plan, Stark," Loki's snarky voice cut in through his comparison. Tony had to smile at the similarities that he say that didn't scare him quite so much anymore.
"The plan is quite simple; play the dumb narcissistic genius until I figure out just how SHIELD thought they could take what is mine and then threaten them till they never even think to do this again. All the while keeping you," Tony stuck his pointer finger out towards Bruce who kept a marvelously straight face, "and you," Tony retracted his hand and merely inclined his head towards Loki because there was no reason to make Loki any angrier when they would be sleeping in the same bed together later, "safe and out of the cross-fire."
"You know that I'm practically bulletproof, Tony," Bruce said with a world weary smile, both remembering the angry story of Bruce's failed suicide, and Tony gave Bruce a genuine curl of his lips in response.
"I know," Tony said as he stared into the eyes of a man so innocent for having seen so much damage and destruction, "but just because you can take the pain doesn't mean you should have to take it." Bruce's head dipped down, his eyes squeezed shut, for a moment before he looked back up and grasped Tony's upper arm tightly and nodding once in thanks.
The bright noise of high chirps broke the solemness and Tony turned to Dummy with a lighter smile on his face. "See, even Dummy agrees with me." Tony reached over Loki to pat the bots claw affectionately, the raven haired man having to duck slightly to avoid being hit or leaned on excessively.
"Stark, you are the only one able to understand them," Tony nodded vigorously in response to Loki's statement and his grin stretched wider in amusement as You and Butterfingers chimed in with their own beeps and chirps, "and you are gaining an abnormally large amount of amusement from keeping us in the dark." Tony's grin only stretched wider and he began to laugh.
The infectious ways of laughter soon influenced the other men until everyone was smiling and the bots were making increasingly high pitched chirps and were bouncing their camera's up in down in their own, unique, form of laughter and merriment.
So here we are starting to see the darker and far smarter side of Tony Stark. Soon, I will have the regaining of magic, midnight drinking, and the revelation that Tony can use magic. I know I have been neglecting to give Tony his answers but I think that a midnight drinking session will solve everything. It might take a day or two to get there though.
As always, ideas and helpful tips are welcome. Just remember that this story is completely un-betaed so it's not the best grammatically speaking. No flames.
Please review!