cuttingremark | For starkingenuity

There's that paranoia again. Tony can actually feel it seep into him and he has to put his foot down on it. Rogers and Romanoff are SHIELD. Fury is SHIELD. "Not saying no, but there are easier ways to kill me," Tony says. "Pretty sure that would be a dumb move on their part. Kill me, kill you. They already have all of Banner's research and Thor's confirmation on the subject."

And Fury did do his cruel little trick to test their bonded sensitivities--

Which stirs Tony even more as he lifts one hand to Loki's angular, long face. "Are you all right?" He's had the reactor out enough to clean it, to install a new one, and when family members have gotten testy with him. He knows the feeling of having his heart stop. But does Loki? Likely he does now. Tony's other hand presses firmly to the god's chest. "Still with me and everything?"

Tony's not quiet trust does put him at east a bit. There are a million easier ways to kill the human, as Loki is now painfully aware. He can put aside his distrust of the organization for now while still keeping a vigilant eye.

"Me?" Loki almost laughs. "I'm fine, you're the one who fell from the sky and had his heart stop and almost died right here in front of me-" His eyes burn with unshed tears of anxiety and relief. His had goes to Tony's chest to reassure himself he's still there. The new green of the arc reactor shines against his skin.

"I didn't know if it would work, it was all I knew to do. It might not hold forever. Is there a test or a replacement or-" Because what if his magic isn't enough? What if it fails his beloved like it's failed him before?

Beloved?

Shit.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, deep breaths," Tony says as if he's the one trying to coax Loki back to health. He curls his fingers around the other's ear and pulls him in to rest their forehead's together. "I have backups. Not on me...not yet. I'll make sure that's the first thing I do. Once I figure out how to make them undetectable first. Then you can keep one just in case. I'll show you how to change them out."

Would a Faraday cage work? Tony will need to collect samples and, just on the off chance SHIELD is somehow involved, or this is just another of Fury's very annoying tests, he's not going to share this with them.

The missile debris part, at least. Obviously, JARVIS has likely sent them a Mayday. SHIELD is bound to be enroute.

All the more reason to get going. Tony gives Loki a little push back. "I have to get some samples. Can you... Oh. Actually, I feel really great." He smirks and clicks his tongue against his upper pallet. "You task like apples." Perhaps he could have phrased that better. Loki's energy tasted of apples. Likely do to life magic potentially be tied to Idun and the gardens of Asgard.

Loki chuckles at the comment. The taste of magic is something he's so use to, it doesn't even register anymore. It's pleasing, for some reason, to be able to share that with Tony.

"Stay here and try not to die. I will fetch your samples."

He stands, drawing the cloak tight around himself. The cloak turns into a pair of beautiful tawny and gold wing. Leaving his bonded's side after such an ordeal is the last thing he wants to do, but both he and Tony are practical to a fault. They need to gather some of the debris for testing before SHIELD arrives and sweeps it all up.

Opening and closing his mouth, Tony leans back on both hands as Loki's wings make an appearance. And in shades of gold that match his Mark III armor. "I'm sorry, you grew wings?!"

He and Loki are close, but there's a great deal about the other that Tony just hasn't had the time to figure out yet. Like his flying cloak ownership. And his shapeshifting abilities.

As Loki moves out of sight, Tony sighs and bends over the ruined armor. "Time to make the Mark IV," he mutters to himself. "Still with me, J?" No answer. He'll have to wait until he's at a server to uplink again. He really does need to make smaller devices to carry J with him.

And to give to Loki. Then they'll always be connected. He really likes that thought.

Just as Loki returns, a new quinjet will just be touching down with Rogers riding the end of the opened bird. Tony tilts his head at him. "Took you long enough."

"It is mother's. Or was, I suppose. I believe it is a bonding gift." He assumes. It's not like her giving it to him was a super formal thing. Though he would like to know how she gained access to his storage.

Loki gathers several samples of varying size and materials, trying to not make it immediately apparent that any pieces are missing. He returns after having safely stowed them in his pocket dimension just as the Captain jumps out of the quinjet.

"Sorry," Rogers says approaching Stark to offer him a hand up. "Wasn't expecting an attack so soon after the invasion." He looks around at the shredded armor pieces scatters on the ground and raises an eyebrow. "Are the both of you okay?"

Loki keeps the cloak on, just in case, and comes to stand just behind Tony.

"As well as can be expected," the god says.

Though a regular person might not notice, Tony does lean somewhat back towards Loki, turning his shoulders to acknowledge his presence. Steve does notice, just like he notices almost everything, but he keeps his mouth shut. This part isn't his business. Does he trust Loki? No. He's been involved in helping resettle people, tending to the injured, but he is still grateful for the intel he'd brought. It makes Steve more accepting than tolerant.

"We're all right. Armor's shot," Tony says. He's already mostly pulled himself together and while his shirt is ripped, there's enough fabric to cover his chest and the reactor. "Got any of those sweet SHIELD hoodies in there?"

"Matter of fact, we do," Natasha calls from the ramp, tossing a white and black shirt in Tony's direction. It's much too big, and Steve frowns visibly enough for the assassin to smirk. "It's all right, handsome. We'll get you another. Can we give you boys a lift?"

Tony rolls up the arms of the sweatshirt and gestures for Steve to grab the armor. "Bring that with you? Great, thanks," he says, and moves with Loki towards the rescuing quinjet.

Loki thought he would hate seeing Tony in the oversized sweater, the human looks so nice in the tailored clothes he normally sports. He is, as usual, wrong. Not only is he attractive in the hooide that's at least twice his size, it makes Loki want to bundle him up in his arms and whisk him away somewhere safe.

No, no. None of that. Not right now.

With his magic, he could help Steve pick up the armor. Could. Instead he follows Tony into the quinjet, leaving the super soldier to his work. No need to flaunt his abilities to people he doesn't entirely trust.

"Do we know who might be attacking Stark?" He asks to the room in general. He tries to be loud enough to be heard by Rogers, but honestly if anyone had the information it would be the Widow.

“Some idea,” is the redhead’s response, eyes shifting over Loki. The lack of trust is mutual on their parts and she should be forgiven for fantasizing about snapping his neck on the odd occasion. Arms cross loosely over her chest as Tony tries to play off how stiff and pained he is. “The signature given off by your reactor is unique, and you haven’t really tried to keep it private.”

Which is true. Anyone with a bit of tech can scan the frequency Tony gives off when he’s nearby.

“We also caught some movement out of the air as we flew in.” That would be Rogers, putting down the bulk of the Iron Man armor carefully by the back netting. “They jammed our scanners as soon as we got close.”

“Not great but it gives us some sense of where they’re headed. We have STRIKE in position. It looks like they’re headed for the tunnels under Baltimore.”

Loki would very much like to go with this STRIKE and meet the people who did this, but that would mean leaving Tony's side. Even without the distance restriction on them, that is the last thing Loki wants to do at the moment.

"I do hope there is something left when they are done. I would very much like to have a chat with those responsible."

Both Natasha and Steve give Loki a look. He's really trying not to sound like a villain, but they hurt his bonded, only so much restraint can be expected.

"We'll get word as soon as the team has them," Natasha says before turning back to the cockpit. "In the mean time, lets get back to HQ. There's some alien tech for you two to look at."

Tony knows why they’re not being sent to help. Loki’s magic is strong and while Iron Man might be out for the count, he’s notoriously resourceful. The problem comes with the whole huge population of civilians thing, and honestly, Tony doesn’t have his heart in it for a fight right now.

He’s still got those memories floating around his head and they’re bright enough for him not to have grasped just yet that it’s what it must have been like for Loki for that year. Falling through nothing for two minutes had nearly destroyed him.

When it does become clear, they’re headed towards the elevators at the DC office for SHIELD and Tony reaches out to grasp at Loki’s hand. He doesn’t let go either. It’s not just one squeeze. Tony radiates worry and lingering fear and sorrow for Loki to have experienced what he did.

While the bond transfers the emotions Tony is feeling, it doesn't transfer thoughts. Unsure why Tony is suddenly feeling this maelstrom of negative emotions, Loki gives his hand a squeeze and holds on to it for as long as Tony wants, wary looks from SHIELD agents be damned.

Their hands stay interlocked as they land and as they depart the quinjet. Steve and Natasha give it a small glance, but otherwise dutifully ignore the contact as disembark first.

Loki looks down at their hands, then back at Tony. "Are you sure?"

“Later,” is all Tony says, though that doesn’t mean he makes a move to take his hand back. During the entire briefing, and then debriefing, Tony holds onto Loki’s hand as if his life depends upon it. It’s noted by everyone in the room, including Fury and whoever the blond is that Fury reports to. Tony doesn’t notice his name. He doesn’t care that much to deal with more than one person at a time.

The whole of it comes and goes and then Tony and Loki by default are shown to the debris that had been collected from the dead Chitauri that had been left on this side of the portal, their connection to their ships severed.

Once they’re alone, Tony picks through the piles as if it’s just junk. He’d only just released Loki’s hand. His thoughts are elsewhere.

“Hey. Not to rehash bad memories. But I think when I died to saw what you did when you fell from the Bifrost.” He’s under no assumption that he hadn’t died back there, though it’s not quite accurate.

Fortunatly for them both, Loki has centuries of experience pretending to pay attention in long, boring meetings. Especially long boring meetings with a bunch of people who probably hate him. He answers all questions flawlessly, but without giving too much information away. It is the first time SHIELD truly sees the diplomatic son of Odin in action, in his element.

Something about how some of the agents act concerns him. He can't quite put a finger on it, but some of them seem off in a way the average agent doesn't. Perhaps he will inquire into this later, but right now his bonded is in distress and they are finally alone. Well, as alone as one can be at SHIELD HQ when one of you attempted to take over the planet not even a month ago.

Loki doesn't have to ask Tony to explain, the human starts as soon as the door closes. It makes sense: his bonded was in a state of unconsciousness, his body falling and his mind now with access to the sensations and emotions of what plummeting into the void felt like.

"I am sorry you had to experience that," he says. "It is not something I want to repeat, nor something I wish on most. Least of all you."

He frowns, picking up Tony's hand again. "Is that what has been bothering you today? My fall?"

Had anyone else asked this, Tony would have played the entire thing off. He would have rolled his eyes, changed the subject, gotten to work. It’s hard to hide from your feelings when someone else is feeling the whispering edges of them too, though, and when you feel theirs in return. Tony squares his jaw and pulls their once again joined hands up to the bump of the reactor in his chest, just faintly visible beneath the white oversized sweatshirt.

“I’ve been good about not believing in anything. You die and that’s it. There’s nothing. And that was a comfort, you know?” His eyes turn away, downward. He’s not ashamed, though he does feel blindsided by the reality of it. “I felt myself go crazy. You saved me in seconds but it felt like years. And you... I understand why all of that happened. Maybe a little pettiness with Thor and anger over the lies but I would have done anything anyone asked if I was stuck there that long.”

"It felt like eternity." Talking with Thor, piecing together timelines, he could only have been in the void for a month at best. But that was a month with nothing but his thoughts and anger. Without contact or food. Without air.

He pulls Tony into a tight hug if for no other reason to stop his mind from drifting back to that abyss.

"I am glad you understand, but I wish you never experienced anything like that time."

Standing beside Captain America and Black Widow, Fury frowns as they watch the feed on the large screens in front of them. Tony’s arms move around Loki’s narrow waist, hands smoothing out over the back of his suit and cloak. “I’ll be damned.”

This isn’t the Tony Stark he nor Widow have come to know. This vulnerable man, clinging to an enemy, looks almost human.

“This is going to be a problem. Get Rumlow in here as soon as he gets back from the tunnel crawl.” STRIKE hasn’t found anyone yet. It’s worrying.

Tony, though, soaks in the comfort. “Don’t hold this against me,” he tells Loki, “but I’m starting to see the appeal of this soulmate shit.”

Loki lets out a soft chuckle. "Had we met earlier, I suspect it would have started much better for the both of us."

He pulls back, giving Tony a smile before looking directly up into one of the cameras in the corner.

"If you're quite done spying on our private moment," he says to the device and the man he assumes is watching from the other side. "I believe you had technology you needed our expertise on?"

For a moment, Tony thinks about fighting Loki for a longer embrace but that would be a childish and needy and he’s already been vulnerable enough today. Besides, looking at Loki’s chaoticly charming face has a proven track record of calming him down. So, without too much of a fuss, Tony let’s himself be pushed back—

Only to have Loki glance at once of the less obvious cameras in the room.

Shit.

His hands drop immediately and he slips his hands into his pockets. Rookie mistake. “I’d hate to think I was almost killed for nothing,” Tony chips in.

“It’s on its way,” Steve’s voice comes through. He feels bad for the spying but Tony’s relationship with Loki is... absolutely deeper than the last time he’d been with them.

"Hopefully just the items and not, say, a team prepared to take us into custody." Loki doesn't know if it's his general distrust of the organization or of Fury in general, but something feels off. "Because, I would remind the Director, that such an action against a member of the royal family, my bonded included, would been seen as a declaration of war against Asgard."

Diplomatic immunity isn't a concept on Asgard. They don't really need it, after all. Just a promise of what would happen if any of their delegations were harmed.

"He's got a point," Natasha says. Fury glares at her.

"As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, you have nothing to worry about from SHIELD," Steve says into the intercom.

"I trust you believe that, Captain." Loki walks over, placing a hand on the wall to get a better sense of what is outside. Two humans, likely guards. "But we both know there are less honorable men than you running this particular circus."

“Hey now,” Fury grunts. “We would have just picked you both up if this was a set up. It’s not. You’re genuinely here to help out. But we also genuinely don’t trust you.”

Tony glances up at Loki. “I mean, you did try to take over Earth,” he says with a grin. “And they know that they can’t hold us either with that sweet Asgardian teleporting magic.” His eyes slide up to yet another hidden camera. “Right?”

Steve’s hands rest on his hips as he laughs. “Checks and balances. Natasha and I are just waiting for STRIKE to report. We’ll come and help you when they do.”

“How many degrees in physics and mechanics do you have, Cap?” Tony asks. There’s silence for a moment.

“Point taken. But I can bend things?”

Loki lets out a laugh.

"Bending things could be useful." Not that he can't bend things, but he's still keeping all of his abilities as close to his chest as possible.

Switching off the All Speak, he turns to Tony and mutters in Asgardian "Friends are good to have, especially important ones." Obviously if SHIELD really wanted them, nothing would stop them, but Loki feels if they can win over Captain America, the paragon of virtue and dependability, everything else might just fall into place.

Tony makes a small hand gesture for Loki to repeat the last few words, and more slowly, but he gets it on the second go around. His own reply is a little awkward and poorly conjugated but he’s only been at this language for two weeks. That’s an incredibly quick time to pick it up.

“People weirdly acting.” Loki isn’t the only one whose noticed. “All right,” and back to English. “Let’s get cracking.”

The pieces of debris dragged in are very similar to the missiles that were sent at them. Tony frowns.

Loki lets out a laugh and turns to the camera again.

"He said your eyepatch stinks." He winks at Tony, trying to show that he understands and agrees.

"Uh huh." Fury's voice says, clearly not believing them. The fact that he answered seems to indicate that the Captain and the Widow had departed to meet STRIKE. "What language was that, by the way? We don't seem to have it in our database."

"Unsurprising. It is Asgardian." If Loki's trying to not sound smug, it isn't working. "Stark decided to take it up when my mother called us to Asgard weeks ago." He sounds proud of Tony, like a parent bragging about their child's accomplishments.

"It's not some mind language, if that's what you're worried about," Tony says. "But I'm a private person and you haven't given me a choice."

Tony can't even get the words out before Fury starts to laugh, almost as if that was the most amusing thing he'd ever heard. Honestly, that's pretty fair. Tony hasn't really been the sort of person to stay quiet in his shell. His first act as Iron Man, after saving the day of course, was to announce himself as Iron Man.

He has no intention of being anything else.

Banter aside, they get to work on the tech they've found. It's pretty standard fair, but still leaps and bounds beyond Earth technology. Luckily, none of it seems to have a power source. Tony, still the cutting edge of that sort of thing, can;t help but feel better at that. They really don't need legions of cobbled Chitauri tech starting new wars.

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Gosh this is one of those days :(