Forty Four
The water was cold when we were finally forced from the shower. I was freezing and Loki wrapped me in a towel. The cold water didn't seem to bother him, I was going to ask, but remembered his heritage. The dark blue whorls barely visible on his skin. I reached out to touch, but they faded away. He pulled me into bed and deep under the covers to keep me warm. I was loving the feeling of our skin touching. I never wanted to leave this bed.
"Love you." Loki mumbled into my hair. Or at least that's what I thought he said.
"Hmmm?" I murmured snuggling into his chest. He cupped my face and brought my lips to his.
"I said, I love you." His lips brushing mine as he said it.
"I love you too." I murmured, pressing my lips to his. "Where do we go from here?"
"What do you mean?" Loki asked, nuzzling my cheek.
"I mean, we were enemies and now we're supposed allies. I have a call to make to Spangles and get everyone in here. We agreed to make this the Avengers headquarters." I explained.
"I know, I heard."
"Do I want to know how?"
"No."
"Anyway. I know you do not want to see Thor, and I don't think I want Thor finding out I'm fucking his little brother." I cringed at the thought.
"I don't want to see Thor. I believe he'll take me back to Asgard to finish out my sentence."
"Yeah, never thought of it that way."
"What he'll do to you, I don't want to imagine. And I am not going back to prison. I couldn't sneak you in." He smiled, kissing me once again. I snuggled into his chest again. One of his protective hands placed over the reactor.
"That takes care of one of the Avengers, how about the rest? We agreed to start preparing for this Thanos threat."
"I'll just be here when needed."
"But you're needed all the time." I protested. "I need you."
"We'll figure this out." He said kissing my head. "As much as I'd love to stay here cuddling you, there's a list of Hydra agents waiting for us. And you have phone calls to make." Loki snuggled me closer.
"Mmm…Hydra can wait. Tell more about this…" I fondled his now present manhood.
"You saw, didn't you?" He sounded ashamed.
"Yes."
"I look horrible, don't I?" He buried his face in my hair.
"No, no you don't. You're beautiful. Scars and all." I snuggled deeper into him. "Am I no less beautiful because I have a magnet stuck in my chest?"
"No. I think it makes you quite dashing."
"But it means we both have violent pasts. I told you what it does. I don't think I told you how I got it."
"No. I just thought it powered the suit and kept the metal in your chest from killing you. But you never told me how the metal got there."
"Forget the Hydra list and stay here and hold me. I'll tell you." I sighed. "After my parents died, I inherited my fathers company. Stark industries made and sold weapons for the United States military. Because I was only seventeen when they died, I had no experience running a muti-billion dollar a year company. I left one of my fathers good friends in charge until I felt like I had the hang of it. When I turned twenty one, I took the reigns, but kept Obadiah Stane, my fathers friend, as a business partner. I built spectacular weapons for government contracts making billions more. I was the merchant of death.
"I built a weapon called the Jericho. It was a missile that would take out any opposing military force. I was giving a demonstration of the Jericho to squadron in Afghanistan. After the demonstration, I was being transported back to the plane when a terrorist group attacked us. I tried to hide. I'd never been in a fire fight before. A grenade landed near me and I didn't get away in time." I felt Loki petting the back of my head, comforting me. I hadn't realized tears were streaming down my face.
"I awoke in a dark, dingy cave. The pain in my chest was incredible. I was tethered to a car battery. A man named Ho Yinsen had removed most of the metal and created and installed the first electromagnet in my chest to keep the shrapnel from my heart. A car battery was powering it and I had to carry it everywhere during my captivity. I vaguely remember the surgery to remove the metal. I remember screaming in pain." I paused.
"The terrorist leaders demanded I build them a Jericho missile, in return for my release. I refused. They tortured me until I agreed. I was given very rudimentary tools and a crate of my own weapons. I later found out Obadiah had sold them to the terrorist group the Ten Rings. Instead of building the weapon, I built the first Arc Reactor, so I no longer had to carry the car battery.
"Yinsen and I agreed they weren't letting us go alive. I set to work on an iron suit that ensure our escape. Yinsen… Yinsen died to ensure I could escape." I stopped. I'd never told anyone that he sacrificed his life for me. Not even Pepper. Loki took a corner of the blanket and wiped my face.
"And what of your father's friend?" He said, kissing my lips gently.
"He tried to have me killed. And when they failed, he tried killing me himself. He stole my Arc technology, he pulled it from my paralyzed body and was going to build suits and sell them to terrorists all over the world. When he attacked me, I had no choice. I killed him." I finished and fell silent against Loki's chest.
We laid holding each other in silence for a long while.
"Tony, I had no idea." Loki finally broke the silence.
"Forget it. Old wounds." I sniffed and sat to get up. He pulled me back down and into his lap.
"I won't forget it. It's part of what makes you. If you think about it, if our violent pasts never happened, we wouldn't be here today." He rested his forehead against mine and cupped my face. "If you hadn't become the Ironman and if I didn't try to rule Midgard, this wouldn't be happening, would it?"
"No." I shook my head.
"When we spoke of our pasts many months ago, never did I realize we were this similar. Two broken souls trying to find peace in each other."
Again we sat in silence. My fingers working their way into his long hair. We held each other, sharing in the same breath. We sat for what seemed like hours until the only light in the room was the soft blue glow of my Arc Reactor. I closed the distance, kissing him tenderly.
"Loki, we've wasted an entire day and neither of have eaten since this morning." I laughed. "Ever had Thai food?"