Chapter Text
Helblindi didn't have a free appointment for him right away, which worked out because Tony really wanted to bring Natasha with him and she needed a couple more days for her headache to ease.
In the meantime he and Steve were called to meet with the President, which was always a nice feeling; less nice was that partway into it Ellis started the same line from the debriefings about Loki's involvement. Had the Avengers asked him to come? Had they known how easily he could 'break out' of jail?
"Look," Tony said, reining in his more dickish impulses because this was the President of the United States. "If anything, this proves his goodwill. He could have popped out for a stroll anytime he wanted and he's been sitting there in his cell like a good boy--"
"Reports from the warden don't exactly describe him that way--"
"Like a good boy," Tony repeated firmly, "minding his Ps and Qs."
Ellis stared at him. "Nobody says that."
"Evidently, someone does." Tony leaned back in his chair and nearly laced his fingers behind his head but Steve was already vibrating with repressed incredulity at his 'attitude'. "Did you want to get hung up on one ambiguously contained defector or did you want to talk about the alien invasion?"
"The alien invasion has been dealt with," the President said, frowning. "Your 'ambiguously contained' Asgardian--" he used his fingers to make the quote marks, "not so much. And he's proved he's still dangerous."
Tony straightened up and Steve cut in smoothly. "I think what Tony's trying to say, sir, is that if Loki is choosing to be contained, he's been doing it for a while now and he wouldn't want all that to go to waste. He's in there for the long haul."
"Barring any more planetary emergencies," Tony couldn't help but add, and they all grimaced at the thought.
"I understand that, Captain," Ellis said gravely. "But he's not been known for his predictability in the past."
"That was different--" Tony started.
Steve cut in again, obviously not trusting what he might say. "That's fair, sir. I think we're all aware of Loki's history here. No one wants a repeat of New York, or the Georgetown Massacre, or--"
"You don't need to list them," Tony muttered, rubbing his shoulder where it had taken the dagger, back when Loki was... angrier.
"But there's an explanation for that," Steve continued, glancing at Tony. "And you can't deny, he has helped us."
Ellis sighed. "I don't like it," he said. "But I'll defer to your judgement, Captain. For now," he added, raising a finger in warning.
"Thank you, sir," Steve said seriously.
The meeting didn't last much longer. Tony figured that there was political pressure on Nepal to give up the Power Stone, but if so Ellis didn't mention it. Nepal would have trouble getting it off the mystic monks, anyway.
Ellis made some pretty noises thanking them for their efforts saving the world - again - and dismissed them.
--
When it was time to go to Jotunheim, they went via the Stark Industries inter-realm import/export facility (the landline, Tony kept calling it, and ignored Natasha's snort of disdain) because Loki couldn't take them himself. The workers there stared; they'd never seen anyone travel to Jotunheim before. All rugged up in insulated suits, Tony's red and gold and Natasha's white, venturing boldly forth into the great unknown.
Well. Unknown to your average S.I. employee, anyway. By now, Tony was getting more familiar with the place.
At the other end a pair of frost giants waited for them, and Tony grinned inside his suit.
"Take me to your leader," he intoned. He could hear Natasha's dry huff. The frost giants looked at him blankly and he switched to Allspeak. 'We're here to see Helblindi.'
'This way,' said one of them, slightly taller and younger-looking than the other. He sounded young, too; maybe the equivalent of a teenager? Tony wasn't entirely sure, but he didn't think he'd met either of them before.
It felt weird to be on Jotunheim without Loki's constant, wary presence. Up until now, Tony had always had a dedicated shadow, overly paranoid about his safety. But the fact that Loki had let Jotunheim have the Casket of Extreme Arctic Bullshit said... something. Tony hoped that it said Loki had come to be a little less suspicious of Jotunheim, but it could just as easily speak to how desperate their situation with Thanos had been.
'So, what do you do when you're not on escort duty?' he asked.
'Study the fish stocks and help maintain ecosystem stability,' the younger Jotun said. The other one didn't answer, eyeing Tony with a dubious expression.
The connotations that came through the Allspeak were a hazy mixture of farmer and biologist; it felt like there was some sort of prestige to the job. Tony made an interested noise. 'I'll be honest, not what I expected. Do you normally {play/work} messenger?'
The Jotun smirked a little. 'Sometimes. On special occasions.'
'This is a special occasion?' Natasha asked.
'You're very good trading partners,' he answered her, with a mostly straight face and a twinkle in his eye.
Tony had the feeling he was missing something, and he didn't much like that. 'So, we've not been introduced. Tony Stark, son of Howard, son of Walter, etcetera. This is my ambassador, Natasha Romanoff.'
'Greetings to your ancestors,' said the Jotun mildly.
Tony paused and tilted the head of the armor pointedly. 'And you are?'
'{Metaphor:as a fish to a shoal}' the unnamed Jotun said. The other one, the older-looking one, rolled his eyes.
'He's called Gusir.'
'Right. Thank you. Pleased to meet you, Gusir.' Tony didn't know if it was a weird cultural thing going on or just a game of 'let's fuck with the outsiders' but if he had to bet he'd put his money on the latter.
'It's not much further,' Gusir said.
They were still under the surface, travelling through icy tunnels. Tony hummed acknowledgement, recognizing that there were runes carved into the walls even if he didn't know what those particular runes meant. He wondered if Natasha knew, if her lessons had progressed that far.
Finally they came out into the open air, the sky above them dark. There was a shadowy figure nearby that came into focus as Helblindi as Tony's eyes adjusted to the drop in light levels. Helblindi was staring out at the horizon but turned to face them, looking solemn.
'Helblindi,' Tony greeted him. 'Thanks for coming to {metaphor:rescue our bacon} the other day.'
'You may leave us, Gusir,' Helblindi said. The two escorts bowed and both went back into the tunnel, although Helblindi had only addressed one of them. When they were gone, he looked at Tony. 'Is that your reason to meet?'
'Not entirely,' Tony admitted. 'You're a smart guy, let's not {metaphor:beat around the bush}. Loki--'
'Will not return here.'
Tony grimaced inside his helmet. 'See, I was hoping for a little flexibility, some room for negotiation.'
Helblindi blinked slow like a cat. Tony didn't think it meant the same thing as when a cat did it. 'He has done enough damage to this place.'
Yeah, that... was true. Tony grimaced again. Natasha was silent, just watching, taking it all in. She hadn't given him any signals yet. 'Come on, Helblindi, he was making progress. He even started learning how to make ice.'
'He did? Helblindi said in surprise, then quickly shook his head. 'Be that as it may. What Asgard has turned him into - he does not belong here, and our people deserve better than to have him here.'
Time for the impassioned, inspiring speech. Steve was so much better at that sort of thing. Tony took a breath and reminded himself who he was. Everything he'd achieved. 'I get it, I do. Loki attacked our world, more than once. And we spent so much time fighting him. It wasn't until we put the weapons down that we saw anything different out of him. He's changed, Helblindi. He's still changing. Growing. I know that he's got a lot to make up for, but he can't do that if you don't even let him--'
'You speak of the value of forgiveness,' Helblindi said. 'You might be surprised, Tony Stark, to learn that we value forgiveness highly. That is why it cannot be commanded. There is a time for forgiveness, and it is not before the wound is healed. Jotunheim's wound is not healed and nor is that blood-traitor's.'
'You don't have to forgive him,' Tony said uncomfortably. 'Just give him a chance to put things right.'
'The people of this realm do not deserve to be betrayed by their king,' Helblindi said firmly. 'The answer is no.'
'What if--'
'If you press this matter, Helblindi said calmly, 'you will not be welcomed here, and there will be no more trade between our kingdoms.'
Tony took another breath, but Natasha said his name quietly. She shook her head, looking grim inside her clear helmet.
Dammit. Goddammit. Tony closed his eyes, cursing silently. Loki had warned him this would be the outcome, but he'd been so sure he could talk Helblindi around. He was Tony Stark, for crying out loud.
'I understand,' he said reluctantly. That didn't mean he had to give up. He just needed to find the right leverage.
--
They came back through the landline and then returned to the Tower. Natasha waited until they were alone in the elevator, then said, "I know what you're thinking--"
"Then you know it's X-rated," Tony said flippantly, not wanting to talk about this.
"He was serious, Tony. This is a dealbreaker."
Tony clenched his teeth briefly and gave a curt nod. "Message received, loud and clear."
Natasha gave a small sigh but didn't push him. She got out on the common floor; Tony went to Loki's.
'I did tell you,' was the first thing Loki said to him.
"Can we just... not. Please." Tony rubbed his eyes. "I had to try." He wasn't giving up, he couldn't give up.
'Why is this so important to you?' Loki asked him.
Tony paused. That... was a really good question. Loki banned from Jotunheim meant more time together, after all. But he couldn't help feeling that it was good for Loki, to learn more about where he'd come from. Who he was.
Maybe not good for the rest of Jotunheim, according to Helblindi, but if they just tried, like Tony had tried, looked deeper--
'You cannot force them to accept me,' Loki said softly.
"I know that." Tony scrubbed a hand through his hair in frustration. Some part of him wanted to argue. He was doing it on Midg-- Earth, after all. If he could rehabilitate Loki's image here, why couldn't he do it on Jotunheim? Just make them see--
Loki sighed and came to clasp the side of his neck. Little king. You are not used to things not going your way, are you?
"I'm Tony Stark," Tony said resentfully. "If I can't do it, it probably can't be done."
'Then perhaps--'
Tony held a hand up, willing Loki not to finish that sentence. "I promised to look after you," he said unhappily.
'You are. You do.' Loki kissed him gently. 'Come, let us not dwell on this. Watch something with me.'
There was a pit in Tony's stomach, but he made himself nod, and followed Loki to the nearest room with a screen. He let Loki pick out a documentary and curled up with him, but his heart wasn't in it.
At one point he blurted, "He said the people of his realm didn't deserve to be betrayed by their king."
Loki made an acknowledging noise, looking distant. 'I suppose I am fortunate the people of this realm are not so lucky.'
Tony sat up straight, staring at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Loki gave him a somewhat pitying look. 'Tony. You can't pretend you have Midgard's interests at heart, when it comes to my presence here.'
"First of all, you're an absolute asset to Midgard, and you proved that by kicking that ugly purple guy's butt the other day. Second of all, I am not betraying Earth--" Tony choked on the words, feeling them like a punch to the gut.
'Oh, Glowheart,' Loki said, gathering him close. 'I did not mean-- I just meant, you show me favoritism.'
Sure. Right. Tony bit his tongue, not trusting what words might come out of his mouth. Finally he said, "You're right. Let's just watch the documentary."
'Alright,' Loki said doubtfully, but kept glancing at him with a worried look on his face for some time after that.
--
Rhodey had returned to base, and didn't pick up when Tony called the next day; probably stuck in debriefing hell with every five-star general under the sun. Tony thought about calling Pepper but he knew she wouldn't appreciate him whining to her about Loki-related problems.
He could talk to Bruce, but he still remembered Bruce telling him that Loki standing trial was the fair thing to do. He could talk to Thor, but Thor had a shitty view of Jotunheim. The list went on. No one seemed quite right to turn to. Even Barnes - Tony didn't think he had the emotional fortitude at the moment for a deep conversation with Barnes about forgiving those who'd wronged you.
Instead he did what he knew best; he buried it under a flashy smile and a cocksure swagger and cracked jokes until his friends were all groaning. He played in his workshop, he went to his meetings, he kept himself busy so he could keep his mind busy so it didn't go places he didn't want it to go. By now, not thinking about things was basically his other superpower.
Rhodey called back in the evening, after dinner. Tony excused himself from Loki's side, in the lounge, and ducked into one of the private meeting rooms. "Tootsie Roll, I missed you," he said brightly.
"Don't tell me you've gotten into trouble already," Rhodey teased back. "It's only been a few days."
"One, I don't get into trouble, trouble is irresistably attracted to me, much like everyone else on this planet." Tony adjusted the hologram of Rhodey's face. "Two, I actually haven't, so there."
"I'm impressed."
"You should be."
Rhodey glanced at something off to the side, then back at him. "So you just missed my dulcet tones?"
Tony hesitated. "I went to Jotunheim," he said.
"Yeah?" Rhodey was still distracted by something, but sounded like he was paying attention. "Got some more industry-breaking trades lined up?"
"I asked Helblindi to let Loki keep working there," Tony said, and chewed on his lip.
Rhodey focussed on him, looking serious. "And he said no."
"And he said no," Tony agreed, feeling that ill-at-ease pit reopen in his stomach.
"What is it you want me to say?" Rhodey asked, not unkindly. "It's, you can see where he's coming from."
Tell me I'm not betraying Earth, Tony wanted to say, but he didn't. "He said that the wounds are still fresh. It's been, I don't know, years--"
"It's been a while since the Battle of New York," Rhodey said. "You sleeping any better?"
Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much, but that wasn't the point. Tony made a frustrated sound. "Would it really be so awful for them to just let him visit?"
Rhodey gave him a piercing look. "What are you asking me, Tony?"
Jotunheim. Earth. Our people deserve better than to have him here. The parallels were obvious. Rhodey was giving him that look, the one that usually made Tony want to be a better person, but he didn't want to be a better person, he wanted to be selfish, he wanted Loki.
"It's not like anyone here could actually banish him, anyway," he said resentfully.
Maybe the mystic club in Kathmandu. He regretted thinking that the moment the thought crossed his mind.
"Well, then," said Rhodey, "I guess there's nothing for you to worry about, is there?"
That one was a little unkind, and Tony glared at Rhodey's image. "He helped us, you saw him. He's making up for--"
"Who are you trying to convince?" Rhodey challenged him, and Tony flinched.
Fine... fine. So he had some lingering guilt. So what. It wasn't going to stop him from doing what he wanted.
Tony sighed, all the resentful energy draining out of him. It wasn't Rhodey's fault. And picking a fight wasn't going to make it any better. "It's a bit messed up, huh?"
"A bit," Rhodey said, watching him.
"We are very cute though."
Rhodey grimaced. "Unfortunately."
Ha. Tony smirked. "How's the debriefing going?"
"We resume at 0800 hours," Rhodey said with a neutral tone that spoke of volumes of frustration.
"Well, have fun with that," Tony said, as cheerfully as he could. Not for the first time he was pleased with his choice not to actually join the military himself. He'd seen what Rhodey put up with and he wasn't impressed.
"Thanks," Rhodey said sarcastically.
Tony waved and cut the connection. He lowered his head to his hands and sighed. Alright, so he had a vested interest in Loki's relationship with Jotunheim because he felt bad about inflicting Loki on Earth. Well, tough cookies. Earth was home and so was Loki, so the two were just going to have to get along.
Against his will, he remembered Paul Keeley, the man who'd tried to drive a car into him in the street. Some people were going to carry grudges and... much as he hated to admit it, Bruce was right. He couldn't expect everyone who'd lost loved ones to welcome Loki in with open arms.
And why should he? Being an Avenger had gone to his head, he was too used to being loved these days. There was a time when 'notorious' had been more up his alley. Hadn't Loki even commented on it, early on? That Tony did what he wanted and let the media go to hell?
Tony groaned, shaking his head in his hands. He'd gotten soft, that's what. Soft and comfortable.
He stayed in the room for a few more minutes, getting himself back to normal. Everything was fine. He was going to go back out there and look Loki in the eye and smile.
It probably shouldn't be so easy to do.
--