Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Loki slowly wandered around the different rooms of the mansion, no real destination in mind, not really knowing what he was hoping to find. He was just restless somehow. Tony had been gone for some days already and hadn’t even had his men relay some message to him or god forbid call him even once. It was times like these, that Loki was made painfully aware how his Master truly was his only real social contact, his only chance for regular human interaction. Sure, his men greeted him when he went by or answered most of the time he tried to ask them questions, but the guards were mostly belittling of him and stayed on short answers, and the inner circle, while more often engaging in a little bit more of something akin to real conversation, mostly didn’t really want to take any more time out of their busy schedules to talk to Tony’s whore . At least, that was what Loki thought they must think, because they always found one excuse or the other to hurry away from him after some mere minutes of talking. 

Loneliness , that’s what the feeling inside Loki’s aching heart was, he realized. 

Maybe Stark had ordered them to be so short with him, he mused, because it was one hell of an effective tool to make sure that Loki craved his Master’s return. He had been told it would be some time today , yet only the man himself knew when exactly that would be, so he just continued down the halls, trying to occupy himself, when he more saw then heard the pool of men in guard-attire, standing in a half circle around Sergeant Barnes who was gruffly explaining something to them. Loki watched them with growing interest for some minutes from his vantage point up on the stairs. 

They had to be new recruits because he had never seen any of them before - and Loki knew many of the mansion’s guards by name, and most, if not all, at least by face. His first instinct was to stay hidden, to not bother them and get in the way of Barnes’ instructive session. Then, though, he reminded himself that he had been given run of the premises and was actually allowed to go where he wanted, as long as it didn’t go against any of Tony’s immediate orders, and if he wanted to make sure that the newbies knew that they were not allowed to tell him what to do or restrict his movements - only Master could do that, after all! - then better to show them right from the start where they stood compared to him. After all, as long as Loki had been in Stark’s possession, there had always been problems with the guards. While his Master’s Inner Circle knew exactly how special he was to his Master, the mostly-nameless guards never really got the hang of what his position as Stark’s pet really meant and what sort of powers actually came with it. All they saw were all the times when he was beaten or punished or assaulted and Loki felt as if they thought they were so much better than him because of it. 

Morons , the whole lot of them. If Loki truly wanted them gone, he could just whisper some well-placed little lies in his Master’s ears, place some strategic tears, fake some bruises, and then he would get a front row seat of the feared mobster slashing through whomever he thought had touched his precious little princess. Because Tony Stark was possessive if nothing else and while most of the time Loki felt truly lonely because of it, it also meant that Master would never stand for anyone else touching his pet without his express permission and that was an angle Loki had learned to play in the right moments.

So he decided to pass the time until Master’s return and show the newbies his standing right now (hoping to get rid of the absolute boredom he had been feeling for days without any stimulation now) and sauntered into the living room as if he owned the place. (It also helped that Barnes was with them, because Loki knew the Chief of Security would rather shoot himself than allow anyone else to lay hands on Loki.)

He didn’t need to wait for long because the Sergeant, ever the good soldier, was acutely aware of his surroundings and noticed Loki’s presence right away, stopping his monologue instantly to greet him with a respectful nod. Loki liked the man, he was always civil, never more cruel or violent than necessary and quick to defend Loki’s honour against anyone, except his Master of course.

“Alright guys, quick interruption, this is Loki, the Boss’ special pet. Let me assure you, the big man is real possessive about him, so you better try and stay on his good side if you don’t want him complaining about you to Mr. Stark.”

Loki liked that bit and was thankful Barnes had included it. Most of the guards just saw him as nothing more than a stupid whore, so those words coming from the head of security might maybe show the new guys that he wasn’t to be messed with. Yet by looking around he already spotted a group of hotshots changing looks with each other, smirking and obviously having opinions about Loki already. Without ever having spoken to them, Loki decided then and there to put them on his shitlist. They would learn soon enough what it meant to underestimate him. He might not be free to leave or do anything really, without Master’s permission, yet in so many things Loki held so much more power than anyone else just by having Stark’s ear.

“Always keep an eye out for him, especially in high risk situations: Loki will always be your number two priority, directly after keeping Mr. Stark alive. So be aware of his whereabouts, always.”

Loki knew this was an important rule and surely, Master would tell the new guys the same on many more occasions. People who wanted to get the upper hand on Tony tended to try and go for his pet, thinking that by abducting and threatening his well being, they could get the mobster to do their bidding. They always tended to meet a very painful end, even just for daring to try and take what wasn’t theirs.

“And abso-fucking-lutely no touching him without express instruction from the bossman. I mean it. You wanna find yourself on the receiving end of his torturing skills? That’s how you do it. You see anyone else getting frisky with him? Report it immediately to myself or any of the Inner Circle. Might be a serious misconduct from someone who needs to be taught a lesson, might be a test to see your reaction, might just be someone acting with the Boss’ permission. Thing is, you don’t know that, so report it and it won’t be your problem anymore. Am I clear about that?”

Loki smiled to himself, liking how fiercely Barnes stressed the point of not touching him. He knew he should loathe this restriction on his own bodily autonomy, but he also felt strangely protected by Master’s possessiveness. He was untouchable, as long as he stayed in the other man’s good graces. The guards could mock him all they wanted, yet Loki knew they wouldn’t dare go against their Boss’ orders. There was safety in knowing that.

Not a man of many words, Barnes' instruction session on Loki seemed to draw to an end. He nodded once more in his direction which Loki reciprocated with a sweet smile, before one of the newbies asked him a question that Barnes then turned to answer in a more silent voice.

Loki’s attention immediately zoomed back into the group of guys that still threw him belittling looks from the side, thinking he wouldn’t notice their leering. He hated them, wanted nothing more than to just go up to them, take out the foldable pocket knife he had been given to protect himself with some months ago, and stab one after the other into their eyes. And while Tony might even appreciate the violent aspect of it, he surely wouldn’t appreciate Loki decimating some of his new people just on the basis of not liking them, so Loki knew he had to be more clever about it. And wasn’t that something that played right into his field of expertise? If he had nothing else left from his previous life, he still had his cunning wit and predilection for mischief. He would get them where he wanted them - out of his orbit - even if it took weeks or months to do so. Loki was nothing if not patient enough to play the long game. After all, this was the only way to get what he wanted without drawing suspicion to himself.

Loki knew exactly what they were thinking of him as he sauntered over to their little circle that had formed right after Barnes had stopped his little instructive session to answer some questions. He could see it on their faces, how they thought him to be beneath them, how they looked at him and all they saw was how he was only good for sucking cock and being used. Oh how he loathed them already.

“Hi.”, he greeted the group he had seen snickering between them at Barnes’ introduction sweetly. 

Loki wanted nothing more than to just watch his Master take every single one of those assholes apart limb by limb. But he needed patience for that. So he just let them muster him with looks that lingered way too long on the fading bruises around his throat and betrayed clearly their disgust for him.

“Oh honey, you just wait until it's us left in charge of you, then you won't keep that arrogant grin on your cocksucker lips any longer. You're nothing but a wet hole on legs, I heard all kinds of stories about you and what you're good for from the other guys. Don't expect to get any coddling and better know your place. It's waaay below us, in case you forgot.”

The blatant disrespect in his voice and the insulting words had Loki seething with anger. How dare this no-one speak to him like that. Rage pulsed through his every vein.

“A word of advice, honey, I exclusively suck the cock of the man that can end your life with a single snap of his fingers, so maybe don’t go around telling me about knowing my place. Seems to me like you’re the one who needs reminding on that.”

Pure hatred burned in Loki’s eyes as he stared viciously in the rookie’s. He still couldn’t believe the audacity of the other man - or maybe the stupidity? - to actually talk to him like that!

At this moment, Loki heard a collective intake of breath, rustling as the men all changed their posture to stand at attention and before fully turning around, he already knew that Master had finally returned. If he had to describe the feeling at the sight of the man he loathed and loved equally, it would be a confusing mix of relief, anxiety, happiness scrambled together with the indispensable urge to be as near as possible to him without ever letting him out of his sight ever again. Abandoning every thought of his petty vendetta against those few guards for the time being, Loki turned fully and hurried over to the entrance where the mobster stood as regal as a king, as if being physically separated for another second would bodily hurt him. While he wanted to throw himself on his knees as quickly as possible to show his eagerness for Master’s affection, Loki had been trained far too long to give into this urge. Instead, he gracefully let himself drop onto his knees in front of the man and greeted him sweetly by starting to place soft kisses on Master’s knees and up his inner thighs until finally, finally , nuzzling into the other man’s crotch. Loki didn’t even care what it must look like to the onlookers standing all around them, all he cared about in this moment was being close to Master again, earning his approval and touch. Showing the man in charge how much he had missed him and how grateful he was now to be back in his presence. This was the sure way to receiving the good kind of touches and soft caresses and Loki was starved for any kind of affection right about now.

Tony almost automatically lifted his hand to pet Loki’s perfectly styled hair. “Why hello there, princess. Someone missed his Master, hm?”

Loki made a high-pitched whining sound, almost melting at the first human touch in over a week (no one had even just casually touched him in passing, there were very clear rules about that), causing his Master to chuckle. “I take that as a yes, kitten, hm?”

Loki just pressed his face closer into the soft fabric of Master’s pants, nodding into the clothing and mumbling something incomprehensible. The relief of the other man finally being back again too overwhelming for him to form proper words.

A playful eyeroll passed Tony’s face at his pet’s antics. Indulging Loki’s need for comfort a little further, he allowed for the close pressed body contact to continue. While Loki was just content to breathe in his Master’s presence once more, the other man turned his attention onto his Chief of security who had greeted him with a respectful nod of his head and a lazy salutation upon his arrival. 

“Everything alright here, Buck? How’s it going along? Any problems in my absence?” 

Bucky walked the couple of steps over to the boss and started to brief him shortly over the process of initiating the new guards, explaining their training routine and schedules. Loki let the words wash over him, knowing they weren’t meant for him anyways and was content for the next few minutes to just press himself as close as humanly possible to his Master’s legs. He really had missed the other man.

It took some more moments of Master talking to Barnes until Loki was finally ready to acknowledge the world around them once more. When he realized he didn’t even have his Master’s attention on himself, he started whining a little bit at being ignored. Probably feeling very indulgent after the long separation from his pet, Tony affectionately ruffled Loki’s hair, bringing the kneeling man further back into the moment. The overwhelming emotions at Tony’s return had finally gone down to a normal level again and Loki knelt back up, raising his head a little to look up to watch Tony’s sharp, handsome face.

Master spared a quick look around the room to take in the new guards that had awkwardly started to silently talk between each other in little groups, not wanting to seem like they were eavesdropping on the Boss, yet not wanting to make a loud commotion to draw his attention either.

“And I see they’ve already met my darling pet.” Tony commented with a half grin, glancing down at Loki before flitting his eyes back up to his Chief of security.

At those words, the ugly insults some of the newbies had hauled at him just some mere minutes ago came rushing back to Loki. He had been right on par to provoke them into doing something stupid right in front of Barnes’ watchful eyes, when Tony had come back and interrupted his baiting, after all. Another idea started to rise in his mind. He had been ignored for days after all and one of his favorite pastimes when not getting enough attention was playing with stupid guards. It was amusing seeing them stumble and getting the punishment they deserved, and after all, most of them always thought themselves so much better than Loki, so really it was a win win.

“He just came down like a minute ago, I made a brief introduction, reminded them about the important rules, but they should already know from their initial briefing who he is.”, Barnes replied matter-of-factly. 

Tony chuckled once more. “From my experience, it can never hurt to remind them as often as possible where they stand in regard to my pet.”

Loki saw this as the opening statement to get his own act going and took the opportunity to set big, teary eyes on Tony. “Some of them were really mean to me and said some pretty rude things, Master.” 

The trembling of his pouting lips was truly masterful. “Th-they aren't allowed to touch me, are they, Master? O-only you own me, right? That won’t change, now that they are here?”, he whispered fearfully, indicating that someone had dared to imply the opposite. 

The little stutter made the act so much better, because in a split second Tony's expression shifted from bemused neutrality to a stormy anger, as his eyes snapped upwards from his precious pet’s trembling mouth to glare at the men in front of him, at the implication in Loki’s words. 

Bucky, to the side, had to suppress an eyeroll at Loki's expertly acting. Smart move to appeal to Tony's possessiveness and imply a challenge of his complete ownership over Loki. Of course the boss wouldn't stand for an implication like that. A fine smile stole itself on Bucky's lips. Loki truly had come a long way from that scared young man he had brought to his boss all those months and years ago to having made the best of a truly impossible situation and navigating his new life to still exert a whole damn lot of power, whenever he played his cards right. And damn, Tony sometimes was easy to string along for Loki. While in a professional context no one could manipulate him into doing anything he didn't damn well please, the little minx had managed to do exactly that just by letting some tears fall at the right moment. Smart boy. 

“Who.”, Tony said flatly, eyes two slits. All playfulness had left his body. As long as Loki was sweet and pliant, Tony felt justified torturing anyone who his pet even thought had looked at him wrong. Because while Tony quite liked that everyone wanted to have his pet, he was also very adamant about the fact that no one could have him. And people who conveniently seemed to forget that fact were obliterated without any second thought.

Loki made a show of shuffling around before slowly making his way over to where the group of his victims was standing. Crawling with elegant movements that he had learned through painful sessions, back when he had still been angry and frightened and hopeful to leave again some day. If he was being honest, he had become so very resigned and complacent that he hadn't truly thought about leaving in a long time. Too distant seemed the memory of his life as a free person, too unrealistic the chance of actually getting away. Too clear was the fact, that Stark would come after him and find him, no matter where Loki would try to hide.

So he crawled over to the instigator, knowing full well his Master’s eyes would be glued to his ass. In front of his target, Loki knelt up and lifted his chin some more, to daringly lick a stripe up the side of the other man’s hand, of the man who had insulted him just mere minutes ago. Startled by the sudden warm wetness on his fingers, the new guard reflexively pulled his hand away. 

“This one?”, he heard his Master’s voice from behind him and to confirm once more instead of talking, just because he felt playful and daring and actually wanted to see the other man burn for what he had dared to say to him, Loki chased after his hand and started to lick it all over once more. 

It was probably more an instinctive reaction, more like one would bat away an annoying fly, than an actual intention to hurt or hit Loki, yet this didn’t make any difference to his Master and Loki couldn’t have planned for any better reaction even if he had wished to. At feeling the warm, wet tongue of Loki once more on his hand, the guard became more annoyed and pushed at Loki’s head somewhat, to get his point of not licking at him anymore across more forcefully.

This was exactly the wrong thing to do, though. The guard had barely gotten out a “What the fuck-”, when suddenly the ringing of a gunshot being fired in closed quarters, quickly followed by screams of pain and the loud thud of a body half-falling-half-sinking to the floor hollowed through the room. All eyes were suddenly glued to them. The room had become eerily silent, only the pained groaning from the ground and heavy breathing breaking it.

While every other armed man in the room’s first reaction had been to instinctively grab for their own guns, as soon as they saw it had been Mr. Stark, their boss , who had fired on one of their own men, they hesitantly kept their guns holstered and wearily watched for what would happen next, no one daring to make a move lest they draw Stark’s attention onto themselves.

While inwardly, Loki felt some sort of sadistic satisfaction at seeing the asshole being shot point blank into the leg by his Master and now hearing his wails of pain ( music to his ears, really ), his bodily reaction still showed the indicators of shock that were to be expected from someone who had always loathed guns and never hurt another person in his whole life. Big, watery, green eyes turned to meet his Master’s stormy gaze, lower lip quivering and hands shaking. The shot had been fired right next to him, had found his target only mere inches away from his own body, the loud noise still ringing in his ears.

“Come to your Master, Lolo. I’m gonna take care of this.”

Tony’s voice was almost soft and Loki hurried back to his side, once more pressing his face into the fabric of his dress pants, hiding his face from the room. Hiding a smirk from the room. 

(Fools, all of them.)

“So listen up.”, suddenly, Master’s voice meant business once more. “I’m gonna say this one time and one time only, consider yourself lucky to get this warning. Lolo here is my precious little princess . No one touches him but me. And I mean absolutely no one . He’s mine. If you need to make bodily contact with him for whatever reason, you fucking ask my permission first. When I decide to knock him down a few, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s still fucking off limits for any of you filth. So if tomorrow I fuck him bloody and leave him in the hall for everyone to see, still doesn’t mean you get to touch him . Am I making myself clear?”

Loki really didn't like the implication and how off-handedly the other man talked about his sexual abuse. The whole point of his scheming against them had been so that they wouldn't just see him as nothing more than a useless fucktoy. However he also knew when to pick his battles, and disrespecting Master in front of those new underlings, just because he didn't appreciate the crass words the other man had used - that was a sure way to get royally fucked so-to-speak. Punishments for disrespect and insubordination were always relentless.

“Yes, Sir!” came the hasty replies, which Tony ignored altogether in favor of stroking with a possessive hand through the mop of black hair on Loki’s head, while turning to Bucky next. 

“Barnes.”, he barked.

“Boss?”

“Make sure this doesn’t happen again. I’m fucking serious. I come back from a week without my pet and the first thing I see is him being hit by a fucking rookie ? This is your mess, too. Clean it up.”

Master’s voice was absolutely livid and Loki absolutely loved it.

“Yes, Sir. I will.”

“Come, princess. You’ve been so good, you’ve earned to suck my dick for a bit, hm?”

With those words, he tucked Loki to his feet, spun them around and left the room, sure that the bleeding man on the floor would get some medical attention but really not finding it in himself to care either way.

Chapter Text

“Listen up.”

Bucky’s voice was eerily calm, yet his expression was grim and meant business. He knew he had a reputation, he knew that even the newest recruit had heard the horror stories of the Winter Soldier , of Stark’s top enforcer and while some of it was pure exaggeration, most of it wasn’t and Bucky knew this reputation meant he never had to raise his voice to be obeyed.

Eight pairs of eyes snapped away from the whimpering mess on the floor and back to him.

“You heard the boss. Loki’s off limits. This right here? Johnson? You can count yourself lucky, only getting shot in the leg. The boss has done much worse for much less perceived offense against the boy.”

As Bucky slowly, dangerously, walked (stalked) closer to the shot guard on the floor, Johnson slowly lifted his gaze up to him. He saw the injured man’s eyes widen in realization seconds before Bucky’s heavy combat boot lifted and pressed down on the bleeding gunshot wound. The screams intensified again and only turned into pitiful sobs once he released some of the pressure again.

“Word of advice, don’t be like Johnson here. Don’t be stupid. We have no use for stupid . We need alert and smart and observant . You should have known from your briefings alone that Loki needs to be treated with the utmost caution. Don’t disappoint again, next time will be the last.”

Absolute silence greeted him in response. Good . At least they took him seriously now.

“Oh, and if you’re too slow to read the room, you’ll be out quicker than you know.”

Bucky made a dramatic pause, taking the time to look around and keep several seconds of unpleasantly intensive eye contact with each of the still standing rookies. 

“And let me tell you this for free. Reading the room includes realizing that while Loki may be a whore, he isn’t and never will be your whore. And don’t mistake his submission and timidness for weakness. If he finds that he doesn’t like the way you look at him or how you told him good morning or maybe even just the way you dress, he will have you eviscerated from existence if he so desires. The boss doesn’t take too kindly to others disrespecting his things. So maybe try not to get on Loki’s shit list, hm? Unless, of course, you wanna end like Johnson here?”

For good measure, Bucky once again stepped back down on the leg with full force, ending his little speech with the injured man’s screams of pain.

If the rookies didn’t get it now, how Loki was able to make their lives miserable if he so pleased, then they deserved whatever he had in store for them, once they got on the raven haired’s bad side, he supposed.

Despite the foul mood the fuckup had put him in - because goddammit , if he couldn’t trust the rookies with their own people, with obeying the most base ground rules, how should he ever give them an actual task? They weren’t here for decorative purposes, after all.

However, Bucky had to suppress a grin, thinking of how expertly Loki had planted his seeds and gotten what he wanted so quickly. He had seen the looks Johnson and his little friends had given Loki during the introduction and he had known right away that Loki had started scheming the second he had realized how they thought of him. While he didn’t like the fact that the rookie had fucked up mere minutes after Bucky had clearly instructed them to refrain from touching Loki (because what kind of light did that shine on his level of authority, after all? Maybe he needed to start teaching more hands-on lessons again), he could appreciate the masterful way Loki had used his available means to make Tony play exactly to his tune. Bucky was really glad to see he had adjusted so well. In the beginning, he had had his doubts, when for weeks and months there had been no real progress, when the young man had not really adapted and every time he had seen him, the green eyes had been dull and lifeless, his body bruised and beaten and fear of more bodily harm had been the only way to get him to do anything , really. Oh, how his heart had silently bled for the poor boy and sometimes, deep deep down, he had wished that he had just killed him instead of bringing him in to the boss, when he had found him that one fateful day.

However, looking at Loki now, seeing the spirit back in his eyes, seeing how well he had adapted to his new life, how he had finally managed to accept his fate and make the best of it - because there was no possibility to ever change it, after all - seeing all that made Bucky feel warm all over.

He was happy for the boss, of course. Because Tony really did deserve to have a nice and pliant body beneath him whenever he wished so. The boss had done a lot for all of them, especially for Bucky and Bucky would bring him a hundred more young men like Loki, if it meant to keep him as happy and content as he seemed these days, whenever the pale young man sauntered into the room.

Yet he was also happy for Loki. All the suffering and all the pain from the beginning had finally led to him accepting his place and making the best out of it. So Bucky was really glad to see that somewhere along the way the other man had become more opportunistic and learned to be able to live a somewhat content life in his position now.

Loki had come a long way indeed, from that scared little boy he had taken to the boss, confusion and fear written all over his face as he had thrown him on the floor in front of Tony. That day, he had looked like a scared little kitten, skittish and afraid, crying and begging. 

If you looked at him now, Bucky was almost a little proud of him and how far he had come.