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Fifteenth Installment: Flight of the Nine

A hand on his shoulder gently shaking woke Tony with a start. Blinking open heavy eyelids, he peered up at Skaði. Her eyes were charcoal gray, and for once they almost looked normal. She gave the man a smile.

"It's morning," she said. "Do you want me to catch something for breakfast? There are some small deer grazing not too far away. I could cook up a nice stew. And maybe Loki would have some, too."

Shifting, Tony now peered down at his love. Loki hadn't moved during the night, he was still tucked against Tony's side. Touching his pale forehead also told his fever hadn't gone down. But his sleep seemed restful, and Tony allowed that to comfort him.

"Sure," he said quietly, pressing his lips to Loki's forehead. "Thanks, princess."

She didn't move for a few moments, prompting Tony to look up at her. She immediately beamed a bright smile. "Don't worry, Tony. He'll be fine. He's only like this because his body is trying to adjust to lower levels of that gold poison. What we did worked, and that shit won't go back into him."

"Whoa!" Tony chuckled. "Such language. Apparently your old man's been a bad influence on you."

The words just made her grin wider. "Do you like playing house with me and Loki, Tony?" she teased.

His mirth mellowed a bit. "More than I should," he freely admitted. "Go catch us some breakfast, princess. I'll wake your mom."

Still giggling, Skaði trotted off. Tony propped himself up on one elbow and gazed down at the sleeping Norse god, feeling a sense of true peace for the first time since all those months ago he'd first thought Loki dead. It felt like they'd made their first real progress toward truly restoring his love.

Then they could get back to how things were. Loki's razor wit, his constant smirk, his arrogant self-confidence, his superior skill with magic. And, of course, Tony was eager to rekindle the physical aspect of their relationship. His desire for Loki had not abated, and he knew it never would.

How could anyone not want the green-eyed god? He was deliciously beautiful.

Loki stirred. Dark lashes lifted off pale cheeks, and emerald met chocolate. Deciding to keep his concern on the back burner, Tony smiled.

"Hey beautiful. I've been thinking about what to call our ship."

For a moment Loki simply looked at him, expression tired but peaceful. Then a corner of his mouth quirked up in a hint of a smile. "It already has a name, you know."

"Yeah, but that's from a billion years ago," Tony dismissed it. "And the ship's ours now, we bargained for it fair and square. The good folks from Vign get some of that shitty gold shit, and we get a ship to troll around the unknown universe."

Loki's eyes shut as he let out a soft laugh. Then he lifted a slim hand and brushed his fingers through Tony's slightly unkempt hair. "I suppose that's true. So what immensely creative name have you dreamed up?"

"It's a good one," Tony said, capturing Loki's hand and dragging it to his mouth so he could feather kisses over every finger. "How about, The Ship."

For a moment, Loki stared at him. Then a slow grin teased over his lips. "Remember when I said you were brilliant?"

"Of course," Tony purred, leaning down and nibbling Loki's ear. "Sexiest thing you've ever said."

Loki gripped Tony's chin and pushed his head back, still wearing that little smirking grin. "I take it back."

Laughing, thinking this was the most like his old self he'd yet seen Loki, Tony leaned down and smooched him. "Fickle ass. I thought about naming it after you, Sexy Devil."

"So suggestive," Loki mused. "Is that truly the best you can do?"

"Or Total Jerk."

Loki smiled. "We could simply call it Iron Man."

Tony shook his head. "I might be the captain, but it will be our ship. And all joking aside, I kind of wanted its name to be a reminder of why we're setting off on Tony and Loki's Excellent Adventure."

Looking even more amused, Loki lightly caressed Tony's cheek. "What, then?"

"Heart of the Nine."

Lowering his hand, looking genuinely surprised, Loki seemed to search Tony's face. What he sought the man didn't know, but then his whole countenance softened. "I like it. In fact, it's perfect." He cupped the back of Tony's neck and slowly pulled him down for a light and fleeting kiss.

Tony ached for more, but he reined in his libido. "How do you feel?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice even and not at all worried.

Loki sighed faintly. "Not well, but not terrible. I'll be fine to return to Vign tomorrow. Then perhaps one more day before I'll be able to do this again but with our ship." A rare smile blossomed. "Heart of the Nine."

Tony absolutely had to lean down and kiss him again, but he kept it gentle. "God I love you."

"Mm, so you've said," Loki murmured. "Sweet fool."

The tenderness in his voice was so audible it almost felt like a physical touch. It was more than that, though. For the first time, he could hear more than fondness or affection. It sounded like Loki was saying, I love you, too.

Tony wondered if hearts could burst with happiness.

"Enough with the 'fool' business," he grumped, not acknowledging it for fear of his lover backing into his icy shell. "I'm brilliant, remember?"

"I suppose," Loki agreed, relaxing back onto the thick blankets Tony had laid down for them last night. "I can sense Skaði returning, Stark. Would you help her, please? I could use a little more sleep."

"Sure thing, babe," Tony whispered, pressing one last kiss to Loki's forehead before extricating himself from their makeshift bed.

The last of his doubts melted away. He didn't need any sort of affirmation of Loki's feelings. Not anymore.

~*o0o 0o0 o0o*~

Never in all his life could Loki ever have imagined feeling grateful that a human—of all things—was so clever. Though Loki had the intelligence to learn the ins and outs of engineering, he didn't have the time or patience to do so. But in the space of about two weeks, Stark repaired, renovated, and rebuilt parts of a ship not even part of his own world.

Not only that, he reverse-engineered it to be compatible with a completely new energy source. Loki would function like the ship's living generator, and the ship's new reactors would use the energy inside him, helping drain him a little more each time.

And after performing the same feat on the ship he'd performed on Stark's smaller containment device, Heart of the Nine was ready to fly.

Director Mae Istalde stood to Loki's right, Stark to his left. The trio looked at the fully functional ship. The woman stirred first.

"This has been quite an educational experience, I must say," she remarked in that cold voice of hers. "You two have provided us with invaluable information and new skills. Loki, we've already begun experimenting with the energy you provided us, and I believe its implementations are limitless. You have more than kept your end of our bargain, so we send you on your way with our blessing. And the hope that one day, you might return to us with all you've seen and learned. Our people have never once considered venturing out into the stars, but now perhaps we will."

Loki gave her a warm smile. "I'm quite certain we will, Madame Director. You've been generous hosts, despite a rather rocky start." He smiled down at Skaði, who gave him a wicked little grin in reply.

Mae didn't acknowledge that last comment. "We built functioning doors up there," she said, pointing to the roof of the underground cavern, "many years ago in case we could ever get this ship ready to fly. Once you've started it up, patch into our communications tower and we'll open them for you."

"Will do," Stark said, holding out a hand to her. "Thanks, Mae. It's been a little weird, but in a good way." He winked.

Mae gripped his hand but ignored the flirting. "Stark. Our engineers have learned much from you, education we will put to good use."

"My pleasure," Stark said, smiling. "It was plenty worth it." She released him, and with a last smile Stark headed to the ship. "C'mon, princess."

When the two were on board, Loki turned expectantly to the Director. He could sense she wanted to speak with him alone, and she at once faced him.

Her whole body suddenly softened, from her posture to her expression. "I sincerely hope you find what you seek out there, Loki," she said, holding out her hand. When he took it, she clasped it between both of hers and gently squeezed. "You have aided us more than you could possibly know, and I will forever be your ally. I know you are unwell, so please return to us when you're healed. I should greatly enjoy getting to know the true Loki."

Unsurprised by her words, Loki turned his wrist so he could lift her hand to his lips and kiss the back of it. "Thank you, Mae," he said in a warm voice. Never had he let such relationships wither, and never would he. "I would enjoy that, as well. You're a strong and capable leader of your people, and if anyone can take them to the stars, it's you."

She visibly hesitated before reaching up and cupping his cheek. "Take care of yourself." Then she turned sharply and strode with purpose to the scaffold leading out of the cavern. She didn't look back, and neither did he.

The smile stayed on his lips as he entered the restored Heart of the Nine for the first time. Stark had repainted the entire thing silver with slashes of green, and the ship's new name had been cut into the hull in large letters. The inside had been cleaned immaculately, and as he entered, the ramp raised and sealed.

In the cockpit, Stark was already beginning the pre-flight sequence. He glanced at Loki with a quick grin. "More devoted followers?"

"Of course," Loki said. "I always cultivate friendships with people who have much to offer. And once I've finally purged this energy, the crystals these people grow could be useful to me."

Stark snorted. "That ice-cold Director was looking at you like you were some sort of god."

"And why should she not?" Loki inquired, lowering himself into the copilot chair.

Stark snorted. "Cocky. Jarvis, how are things looking?"

The AI's disembodied voice replied, "Everything appears to be in order, sir. Shall I patch you to the communications tower?"

"Yep." He reached over and poked a button on the panel in front of him. "How are the reactors looking, princess?"

"Functioning within the acceptable parameters, Captain," Skaði replied, sounding definitely amused.

Loki couldn't help a tiny grin. "Enjoying yourself, dearest?"

"Immensely," she replied with a laugh. "Tony said I could have the title 'chief engine specialist'. Whatever that means!"

After a few more moments of Stark fiddling with things, a soft hum started up around them. Loki sucked in a startled breath at the feel of the engines powering up. The golden energy of Yggdrasil had a very specific feel to it, one with which he was painfully and intimately familiar. But the energy now thrumming through Heart of the Nine was changed. It had a new dimension.

It merged with the life essence of this world. It was an unexpected realization, but it brought powerful relief. The last fear that it would seek him out being in such close proximity died. It wouldn't recognize him anymore. It wouldn't even recognize its own, anymore.

"Tower, this is Heart of the Nine, requesting permission to depart," Stark said, fiddling some more with the various buttons, knobs, and dials on the panel.

"This is Tower," said a voice over the comm speaker. "Pre-flight completed, Heart of the Nine?"

"That'd be an affirmative," Stark said. "All systems go."

"Stand by, Heart of the Nine, while we open bay doors."

Stark turned off the comm and snorted. "Geez these guys are by the book."

"And so are you," Loki pointed out. "Enjoying playing captain?"

"Hey, I'm not playing at anything," Stark protested. "I am the captain. And I'm going to do my job brilliantly."

With a faint smile, Loki looked around the somewhat upgraded cockpit. He rather had a feeling Skaði had picked the color scheme, the walls were painted black with bold slashes of blood red. Garish, but somehow it suited this rather dysfunctional family. Stark had removed the old smooth control panel and replaced it with one that looked like something to be found in Stark Tower.

"Midgardian high technology at its finest," he murmured. "Jarvis, how cleanly is this thing running on its energy source?"

"I've calculated its original output," the AI voice said over the comm, "and performance is up 400%."

"Thank you," Loki said strictly for Stark's benefit. He still thought thanking something not even real was absurd. "Please monitor it at all times. If there are any aberrations, I need to know immediately."

"Of course, sir," Jarvis said. "Mister Stark has already given me specific parameters which indicate peak performance, we'll know if anything malfunctions."

The smile came back, a little wider this time, as Loki rose to his feet. "You do think of everything," he said, leaning down and dropping a kiss on the man's well-sculpted cheek. "While you finish getting her off the ground, I'm going to take myself on a tour."

"Sure, babe," Stark said, glancing up to give him a ridiculously lovesick smile. "Don't take too long, I want you up here with me for the launch."

"Yes, Captain," Loki purred, leaning close so he could brush his lips over Stark's ear before straightening to glide out of the cockpit. He heard the man groan and found himself wanting to grin again.

Perhaps this adventure around the universe, as Stark called it, would be fun for reasons other than healing.

~o0o~

Tony leaned back in the pilot's chair and closed his eyes with a groan. He really, really couldn't handle sweet, flirting Loki. You just drive me crazy, baby. Fuck, I'm so crazy for you.

"Heart of the Nine, this is Comm Tower One," the communications guy buzzed in.

Tony snorted. "Damn, you guys are sure having your fun," he muttered. "You've never even had a job before now." He flipped on the open comm. "This is Nine. We got the green light?"

A slight pause. "What?"

Snorting, Tony shook his head. "Never mind. Bay doors opening?"

"Yes. The opening sequence is begun, I'll patch in when they're fully open. It will only take another two minutes, they're a little rusty."

"Thanks, Tower," Tony said. He turned off the comm. "Jarvis, monitor the bay door. And run a full system diagnostic again."

"Yes, sir," Jarvis said. "I'm certain nothing will have changed from the last diagnostic I completed twenty minutes ago."

"Hey, we're leaving for space for the first time in about five thousand years," Tony said, "and we're carrying the love of my life. There's no such thing as too cautious."

"Yes, sir," Jarvis said again. "If it makes you feel better, of all energy sources we've encountered, researched, or utilized, this is the cleanest and most efficient. Are you sure you don't want to implement the energy recycling program we developed?"

"I'm sure," Tony said. "Not now, anyway. And run the damn diagnostic."

"Already running, sir," Jarvis said. "Bay doors are 50% open, and diagnostic 40% complete. Everything running at peak efficiency."

"Good," Tony said, trying to relax with all the adrenaline rushing through his veins. "When you're done, start it up again. In fact, keep it running at all times."

"Diagnostics are somewhat redundant, sir," Jarvis suggested, "since I have monitoring programs running from the moment the engines turn off to the moment they turn off. Programs you wrote yourself, if I may offer you the comforting reminder."

Chuckling, Tony tried to relax. "Yeah, yeah."

"Heart of the Nine, this is Comm Tower One," fuzzed over the comm. "Bay doors open. You are cleared to proceed. Safe flying, Captain."

"Thanks, Tower," Tony said, palming the comm for a last time. "Jarvis, diagnostic complete?"

"Yes, sir," Jarvis replied. "Everything functioning at peak performance, just as twenty-one minutes ago."

"Good, then let's get this old bucket off the fucking ground." He slapped on the ship-wide speakers. "Attention, crew. This is your captain speaking. Paging one sexy as hell Norse god of mischief and mayhem to get his skinny and hot ass up to the cockpit. Chief engine specialist Skaði, please escort Prince Loki to his captain." Then grinned to himself thinking how much that was going to piss Loki off.

About a minute later, his goddess glided back into the cockpit. With stupidly impossible grace, he melted down into the copilot chair. "Was it really necessary to give Skaði so much free rein with the paint? It looks like a Gothic rave in the engine room."

Tony raised an eyebrow, not at all pleased with this non-reaction. "She likes black and red. Don't you?"

"I have no particular quarrel with them," Loki said in a ridiculously contemplative voice, "but you can't exactly call her painting job a work of art."

"Hey, she's still exploring her creative side," Tony said, folding his arms and frowning.

After a few seconds of silence, Loki finally faced him. Though his lips were smiling, his eyes burned with homicide. "Next time, Anthony, I will cut your tongue out of your mouth and feed it to you piece by tiny piece."

There he is. That's my Loki. Grinning widely, Tony winked at him. "Promises, promises. Now watch as I take you to the stars, babe."

The murder didn't disappear from emerald eyes, but amusement tempered it a little bit. A very little bit. Loki turned his gaze to the view port, and a moment later his expression mellowed. Tony didn't have much to do to fly the ship, Jarvis took care of pretty much everything. He still kept his eyes on the screen readings, vigilant for any abnormal findings.

Heart of the Nine gave a little vibrating hum all around them as the reactors geared into overdrive to generate the necessary lift to get her off the ground. The screens lit up further, a whole new series of stats displaying. Tony scanned them over, pleased to find everything in order. Jarvis sent a message scrolling across the screen. Everything was performing at exactly point zero six percent above the baseline Jarvis termed "perfect".

The ship hovered for a few seconds about a meter off the ground. Tony watched the screens display another set of readouts and Jarvis performed one last quick system diagnostic. Then the hum both deepened and softened, and Heart of the Nine rose steadily up toward the open doors at the roof of the cavern. It took less than sixty seconds, and Tony felt his heart beat harder with renewed excitement.

Here we go, he thought, smoothing his hands over the readout screen. "Jarvis, monitor energy consumption rates. Let's run soft until we reach the lower atmosphere."

"Yes, sir," Jarvis said, and one of the screens started displaying a new set of stats.

"Heart of the Nine," the comm crackled back to life, "this is Comm Tower One. You've near reached the doors. Would you like a beacon to guide you out?"

Tony flipped the comm switch. "Nope," he said. "I got this. One last communication when we've cleared." He palmed it back off. "How we looking, Jarvis?"

"Twenty meters, sir," Jarvis said.

"Run a scan of the surrounding area as soon as we emerge," Tony instructed. "Far as you can. Might as well start developing some geographic charts." He threw Loki a soft smile. "Who knows, we might be back here one day."

Loki didn't look at him, but his beauty did smile faintly.

And then, thirty seconds later, Heart of the Nine reached the doors and rose through them. Tony felt a burst of elation, and immediately the screens started displaying the stats of Jarvis' scan. Grin returning full force, Tony opened communications for a final time.

"Tower, this is Nine," he said. "We're clear. Thanks for everything."

"Good luck, Nine," the communications guy said. "Safe flying out there."

With a last smile, Tony flicked it off. The ship rose higher and higher, banking away from the slopes and trees until it reached open sky. Free of any overhead obstacles, Heart of the Nine accelerated quickly. Tony watched the readouts closely, keeping both eyes on all stats. Everything continued to function brilliantly, and after a minute he looked up.

Dark, clear blue stretched above, a breathtakingly welcome sight.

"Two kilometers until we reach the lower atmosphere, sir," Jarvis said. "All system diagnostics complete, all readings within acceptable parameters."

Acceptable wasn't exactly what Tony wanted to hear, but for Jarvis it meant nigh on perfection. Tony had nothing to do but wait, and fortunately he didn't have to wait long. The ship traveled rapidly into the lower atmosphere. Tony gave the stats on the screen a last look before sitting back in his seat. He didn't relax, and wouldn't until they were clear of the atmosphere. But he calmed a little and trusted Jarvis would inform him immediately if anything was wrong.

Reaching over, he grabbed Loki's hand and squeezed. "We're almost there, babe. Kept my promise, didn't I? Got you off this rock and up into the stars."

Finally, Loki looked at him, and that small and rare smile tugged at his lips. "You've been very useful, Stark." He squeezed Tony's hand back.

The man leaned over and smooched him. "So where shall we go first, hm? We've got a whole universe to explore."

In only a few minutes more, Heart of the Nine rose through the atmosphere and up into the dense black of space. Loki's emerald eyes gazed up into it for a long moment of silence, then they closed.

"You are captain, Anthony."

Tony grinned. "Then let's see what's out there."