Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The battle echoed in New-York streets, spreading chaos and destruction. For every Chitauri they took out, two more came out of the portal to take its place. And while the alien’s resources seemed to be inexhaustible, it wasn’t the case of theirs. 

Tony flew around the buildings blasting the aliens one by one, his suit was already out of ammunition even though it was built for sustainable fight like this one. But how could he prepare for this?

He halted next to one of the few buildings that were still upright and looked up to the sky.

‘’We have to close this portal…’’ Tony muttered, more to himself than to his team.

It felt so unreal, space portal, other dimension, aliens and gods… Everything was too much to take in. The most frustrating thing was that he couldn’t figure out what they were facing right now.

But if he could, then he would be able to stop it.

The genius was tore out from his thoughts when one of the Chitauri hit him with its flying vessel, the force of the impact making him whirl around in every direction before regaining some altitude and stabilize. 

Tony cursed before aiming his repulsor towards the creature that just launched onto him. He was thrown backwards when he fired, but managed to hit his target nevertheless.

‘’Sir, the right palm repulsor is out of order.’’ Jarvis said.

He looked down at his flickering repulsor.

“I noticed.’’

While he was at it, he decided to check the rest of the damages taken by the armour.

It wasn’t so good.

‘’Time to prepare the Mark VIII.’’

“Right away, sir.’’

This battle really had to end soon, because this was his last operational armour. Not to mention the exhaustion tugging at every nerves and muscles in his body.

Without wasting time, Iron man flew back to the tower and landed on its roof with a clank.

‘’Stark?’’ Steve called through his earpiece.

‘’Yup?’’

‘’We need Loki’s scepter to shut down the portal. He dropped it during the fight, do you see it from where you are?’’ Captain asked.

‘’Jarvis?’’ A plan of the tower popped up in front of him.

‘’I detect an important source of energy below us, sir.’’ Jarvis said, zooming in on one of the two highest heat level spots on the plan. The other being the Tesseract, which was actually turning his tower into a giant alien airport.

As the spinning wheel removed every part of his armour, the genius skimmed through the various holograms to check the damages the tower endured so far.

The interface was filled with red warning signals.

‘’Oh god…this will keep me busy for a few more years.’’ Tony sighed.

‘’Okay Steve I found it.’’ Tony finally answered, that’s when Thor spoke.

 ‘’We won’t make it if the Chitauris send reinforcement.’’

‘’Don’t worry Point break, I’m on it.’’

And with that, the unarmoured billionaire quickly made his way toward the elevator and jumped in. But before the automatics doors had time to close, a hand shot between them and caught Tony’s throat, making him yelp in surprise.

The automatic doors bumped against the arm and opened fully to reveal an upset yet beaten up god of mischief. Apparently the Hulk wasn’t enough to take him down.

Tony’s eyes widened as the god slammed him against the hard metallic wall; the impact echoed in the tiny space as the paint spread through the back of his head. His earpiece fell in the process and apparently Loki noticed it too, because he heard it crunch under the god’s boots.

It wasn’t a problem; he still could warn Jarvis through the elevator speakers, an easy thing to do when you don't have a hand squeezing your throat like a fucking stress ball!

Tony pulled at Loki’s arm in attempt to make him let go but it was useless.

‘’This sceptre is mine, Stark.’’ His hands were so cold, yet his face was flushed with rage.  

‘’Y’ r not really the sharing type huh?’’ Said Tony with a stifled voice, he gasped when Loki tightened his grip.

The doors of the elevator closed with a soft clank, announcing that now he was officially trapped here with a crazy Asgardian choking him.

When it began its descent, the genius wondered if the god would take more than 1 minute and 40 seconds to kill him. Yeah because, that’s what it would take for the elevator to reach the floor he selected. Where one of the avengers has probably stationed him/herself to save his ass, because that’s what Jarvis probably told them to do...right?

But is 1 minute and 40 seconds enough for any of them to get here? Probably possible if it’s Thor, he can fly, so yeah he would--

The hand squeezed harder, he didn’t know it was possible at this point. Dark spots started dancing in front of him.

The genius grabbed the other man’s arm again, this time trying to lift himself up and ease the pressure, a vain struggle that seemed to amuse the god.

‘’You may have survived the little flight I offered you earlier, but I don’t think you will get that lucky this time.’’ Oh yeah, a great reminded of his last encounter with the god, it wasn’t so long ago when he thought about it.

And nothing really changed since then.

The dark spot in his vision became bigger and bigger, and his movements more and more uncoordinated until his arms went numb at his sides. Loki grinned and released a bit his grip, obviously not wanting Tony to die so quickly.

Good news, 1 min and 5 seconds left.

Tony tried to catch his breath; hot air filled his lungs, offering him enough oxygen to formulate an intelligible answer.

‘’When… when it comes to luck you’re not bad either, how was your chat with the Hulk?’’ He smiled, though it came out as a grimace.

Well, he said intelligible, not judicious.

Loki snarled, the second after, the hand around his throat was replaced with a dagger.

Come on, 45 seconds, why did it take so long?!

‘’So close to death... yet still full of wit… leaving me pondering on whenever you are brave or stupid. ’’ Loki said while tracing his jaw line and throat with the tip of his dagger, not hard, but enough to leave a red stinging scratch on his skin.

The tip of the blade continued its way down until it paused on the Arc Reactor, making Tony’s breath hitch. Loki looked up, and smirked at what he saw on the human’s face.

Fear.

‘’Stupidity is it then.’’ Loki hummed while teasingly taping the arc reactor with his blade.

’’I may take the device in your chest as a souvenir.’’ he purred, that sent chills down his spine.

The inventor closed his eyes and swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat. He felt it go down his stomach, spreading cold dread into his guts.

There was a little moment of silence, as if the god waited for him to answer, well if the fucker expected him to plead he could stick it into his ass. He was too busy fighting the whimper that threatened to leave his mouth anyway….

13 seconds left, or was it 5? Never mind, it didn’t matter anymore.

 ‘’Goodbye Stark.‘’ The trickster finally said.

Tony exhaled trough his nose and braced himself for the blow.

But it never came.

Instead, there was a loud crash, probably coming from outside, and the elevator harshly halted.

He didn’t want to open his eyes, not yet, maybe the god was testing him, or maybe he was already dead…though he didn’t feel any pain.

But a horrible grating noise automatically made him shot his eyes open.

Loki was still here, in front of him, his dagger now centimetres away from his throat. Was he frowning? The man was frowning.

So this wasn’t Loki’s doing.

The grating continued, louder, all around them, as if the whole elevator was screaming under an unknown pressure. For a moment he though it was one of his teammates ready to pry open the steel box and get him out of here.

The lights above them started flickering weirdly, drawing both men attention toward the ceiling.

‘’Wha-‘’ His heart heaved, and he sucked a breath. In one second his body quitted the ground to collide with the ceiling, and so did Loki who yelped in surprise.

It wasn’t so hard to understand what was happening, realize however, was a bit harder, so he said it out loud.

‘’The elevator is hurtling down the tower!’’ He screamed, then looked at the floor counter.

 75…71…66... Too fast, if-- when the elevator will reach the ground, it will flatten, and squash them in the process.

62…59...55...50

Well…squash him for sure, he didn’t know about Loki, but he doubted a crash like this would leave him uninjured.

‘’Jarvis! Block the elevator!’’ He screamed, but doubted his IA would respond.

Loki eyes widened as he seemed to register only now what Tony just said.

‘’Make it stop!’’ The god ordered.

48...45…40…37…35

‘’Kinda counted on you to do that, Harry Potter!’’  Tony yelled.

‘’I can’t use my magic you stupi-‘’ His cursing were shortened when the elevator stopped in his momentum, throwing them back onto the ground.

‘’Ouch’’ Tony huffed. He expected to meet the hard surface, but it didn’t exactly felt like that.

Maybe because he somehow fell onto the god. This-one pushed Tony away violently

‘’Get off-me!!’’

Tony fell backwards, this made the elevator grinding and moving down before stopping again.

‘’Hey, Oh! Calm down ok? Don’t make such abrupt movements!’’ Tony’s heart was beating so fast, he was barely recovering from the frightening fall he just experienced.

Two near death experiences in a row was just too much.

 ‘’Jarvis?’’ He called again, but received no response, with all the damages the tower endured; it didn’t really surprise him. Something else must have stopped the elevator then.

Tony sighed and leaned his head against the wall, wincing in pain when his tender scalp touched the metal.

They both stood here, sitting on the floor, the billionaire started playing with his keys, deep in thought. He had to figure out how to get out of an unstable structure while trying not to get killed by a mad god.

Easy…

For a while only the clinking sound of his keys filled the room, obviously annoying Loki. The silence was also getting quite uncomfortable for him, so he broke it.

‘’Hum, so you really can’t teleport us out of here huh?’’ Tony asked.

‘’I told you, I cannot use my magic, and how could you even think I would teleport you away with me?’’ Loki spat.

‘’True, I almost forgot you were a douchebag.’’ His brain didn’t really filter the words before they got out.

‘’A thing you should not forget is that I still can end you this instant.’’ Loki snapped.

‘’Yeah, well I’m still alive right? Not that I’m complaining.’’ He quickly added.

Loki straightened his position and opened his mouth to answer but was cut out short.

‘’Anyway,’’ Tony almost screamed, holding out his hand.

‘’You’re obviously stuck in here, so am I. In other words we are on the same boat…or elevator, your pick.’’ The billionaire rambled, making Loki roll his eyes.

‘’So I was thinking…’’ This time it’s Loki who cut him off.

‘’Stop talking I get it.’’

‘’Really? Thought it would be much more complicated to convince you. Once again, no complaining.’’ The genius grinned.

‘’Anything to stop spending time here listening to you rambling endlessly.’’ Loki said.

That kind of hurts, but he decided to brush it off and get to business.

‘’Okay…’’ He quickly scanned the ceiling, and found what he was looking for.

‘’See that?’’ Tony said, pointing at the emergency hatch.

‘’This is our exit ticket, it can only be opened from the outside so we’ll have to force it.’’

Problem was that they both were too short to reach the hatch; honestly that’s not really a thing he detailed while designing the tower, because stuck in an elevator during a war, seriously?

Loki stared at him, silently urging him to continue.

''We’ll need your horns for that. You give me a lift, I use them to open the hatch, I climb out and help you do the same. Simple.’’ The genius clasped his hands, satisfied with his plan.

‘’This sounds humiliating.’’ Loki stated.

‘’Less humiliating than getting stuck in a steel box while you’re supposed to lead an army to destroy the Earth. ‘’ Tony didn’t think that was a good idea to remind him of that, even if it kind of felt like the time stopped here, there was still a war outside.

Maybe his teammates got their hands on the sceptre, it’s not like Loki could stop them right now. But then why weren’t they already here to rescue him?

''I do not have any interest in your planet.'' Loki confessed, turning his head away.

The billionaire frowned at that, why was Loki telling him this? How dare he say this to him?

‘’Yeah, tell this to the people who died under your hands.’’ Tony accused.

 ''I offered the earth a chance to kneel without suffering, they decided to fight, and now they just pay the price of their senseless acting.'' Loki says, as if trying to justify himself.

Tony let out a scornful laugh at the words, and then crossed his arms.

 ‘’You seriously want to make me swallow that all of this isn’t your fault? That you didn’t mean to do that? You killed Phil without even blink-‘’

''Enough!'' Loki suddenly stood up.

''You have no idea on my intentions!'' He said, advancing on Tony who also stood up in alert.

He took another step closer to Tony, his voice trembling.

''You don't know what I've been through for all these years and what sacrifices I had to do!''

And another.

''You don't know what it's like to be betrayed,''

And one last step, bringing his face close to Tony's. The billionaire was rapidly shifting his eyes from Loki to the ceiling, fearing the elevator would just give under their combined weight.

''to live in a lie!'' he yelled.

Tony gulped. His brown eyes locked on the green ones.

Weren’t they blue before?

''Trust me, been there, done that, and you know what? I didn’t invade a planet to make me feel better.'' He tried to keep his voice levelled with Loki’s, but somehow couldn’t, as if the hurt in Loki’s eyes sucked all his aggressiveness away, replacing it with pity… or rather compassion.

This guy should really have a messed up life.

‘’I suffered pain you could never imagine, but ending you right now would surely make me feel better.’’ The god threatened, grabbing his front shirt and tugging him forward.

Yup, clearly he had issues, but didn’t he already know that?

He tried to push the god away, not wanting to be chocked again, but the guy didn’t move an inch. His aggressor laughed. Tony stopped struggling and glared at him, tilting his head up to offset the height difference.

''You are nothing without your armour.'' Loki said, lifting him off the ground.

 ‘’You know, when I talked about giving me a lift earlier, it’s not exactly what I had in mind.’’ The genius said hastily, but the other ignored him and continued to spill his venom.

'' You are just a trapped rat, teasing death itself to shorten your suffering.''

He couldn’t talk his way out of this one, Loki seemed eager to finish what he started, but one wrong move and the elevator would do it for him… The genius quickly made the maths though. 

Without much of a warning, he hooked his legs around the god’s neck —Black Widow style -- and pushed himself off the wall to throw the god backward. Loki landed on his back while Tony quickly scrambled to his feet, the whole process making the iron case groan in protest.

Surprisingly, the trickster had trouble getting back up, he wondered how much time it would take him to recover from the Hulk’s smashing.

‘’Maybe you should reconsider killing me, remember, pissing out the Avengers is not a great plan and I doubt you are in shape of facing them all at once.’’

The god laughed softly.

‘’You seem so confident about their victory, they might as well be dead right now.’’

Tony’s eye twitched, but kept his neutral face nevertheless.

‘’You’re not here to lead them, your army.’’

This time Loki grinned.

‘’You think I am the leader of the Chitauri?’’ The god asked as if it was the dumbest thing ever.

‘’My mission was to open the portal and unsure it stays this way, what happen with the army is not up to me, even if you stop me, it will certainly not stop him. He never stops until he get what he wants, your planet is doomed.’’

‘’Him?’’ Tony repeated, Loki should his head in disbelief.

‘’How your race managed to survive this long still confuse me, maybe your ignorance is what kept you safe after all…’’

‘’Get to the point.’’ Tony said, rolling his eyes.

‘’Thanos…’’ Loki’s voice broke, just like his smug expression, but he quickly gained back his composure.

‘’That’s his name, a few dare to pronounce it, and for good reason, he killed people for less than that. He has no pity, no fear, no weaknesses, no sentiment…’’ He stopped again, swallowing.

Loki seemed afraid, as if trapped in painful memories, and the genius kept silent for once, listening to what he had to say even thought he knew it would not please him.

‘’But you’ll never get to see him, all he has to do is watch and take his prize at the end. The Chitauri army is an appetizer, if truly it isn’t enough to conquer the Earth, a whole fleet is already waiting out there.’’

Tony’s eyes widened, worry constricting his throat.

‘’You’re telling me there’s more out there?’’ He managed to get out without having his voice wavering.

Loki just stared at him, his eyes shining with pity.

‘’You cannot win this war, Stark’’

Tony’s breathing quickened, the air suddenly becoming scarce. Saying Earth wasn’t prepared for this was an understatement. Even if they closed the portal, how long did they have until they came back? If only he could warn them…

"I'll help'' the god mumbled, startling Tony out of his thoughts.

''Wh-what?''

''I said I will help'' Loki repeated.

About time.

''Okay, let’s get to work then-‘’

'' But what tells me you will not deliver me to the Avengers once you are up here? '' The trickster cut off.

And here was the arguing again…

‘’I should be the one going up, I am stronger anyway.’’ He continued.

‘’Yeah, and probably heavier, I’m going, end of the question.” Loki opened his mouth to object but the genius had already enough of it.

‘’Are we really going to continue arguing about a hatch or should we actually open it?’’

‘’Offering my help doesn’t mean I suddenly trust you.’’

 ''Don't worry I won’t leave you here'' he tried.

The god just raised an eyebrow, perplexed.

‘’Promise?’’ Tony tried again.

‘’I’m going.’’ Loki said, determined. Which led the human to let out an exasperate sigh.

''Okay...'' He took one of the key he played with earlier from his pocket and offered it to Loki.

''Here, my favourite car's key, I will not leave this place without it.''

Loki scoffed.

''Don't try to fool me, I know how much midgardian wealth you possess, this vessel mean nothing to you.'' Tony tilted his head in a ‘not wrong’ manner.

''Okay so what? My credit card? The laboratory key? I have nothing els-''

''The device in your chest.'' Loki cut him off. Tony froze at the words, he wondered if he didn't get it wrong.

 ''Wh-the Arc Reactor?'' His hand came to rest instinctively on his chest.

 ''That’s the one thing I can’t leave you, sorry.'' Tony was getting worried when he saw the smirk on Loki's face.

 ''See? This object is really important to you, if you leave me that, I will carry you and once we are both up there, I will give it back.''

''And what tells me you will give it back?'' The lack of trust was definitely mutual.

 ''You don’t.''

 ''Is that supposed to convince me?’’ He asked incredulously.

‘’Looks like we reached another impasse, or isn’t it the same since the beginning? We have no choice but to trust each other, I trusted you enough to make a truce, now is your turn to trust me.’’

‘’Remind me what’s your middle name again? God of lies? Hmm…’’ Tony said, faking to consider his offer.

Loki slowly picked up his dagger.

His dagger.

Tony’s eyes narrowed as his brain screamed at him to run away from this imminent threat. But Loki turned it upside down, offering him the daggers handle.

‘’This cannot kill me, but it will certainly slow me down if I try to kill you.’’  Loki explained.

‘’Huh...’’ The genius wasn’t really reassured, even when the god placed the dagger in his hand.

‘’Your turn.’’

‘’Wait I didn’t say I agreed to that.’’ Tony argued.

‘’I could still go up and cancel the trade.’’ Loki offered.

‘’I you could- damnit…’’ He sighed. He didn’t really have the choice, did he?

Tony pulled up his shirt, revealing the glowing circle. Loki leaned closer in pure fascination, its light reflecting in his eyes.

The genius hesitated a long time, and then twisted it until a soft click could be heard. He paused again, he couldn’t believe was he was doing, he didn’t have the choice, that’s what he repeated himself, but…

With a shudder he finally pulled it out. Loki approached his hand to touch it but Tony retrieved it from his reach.

 ‘’What is it?’’ Loki grumbled.

 ‘’One thing, before I give you this.’’ Tony sounded so serious, and he was, because this was his heart they were dealing with.

‘’I need it back in the next 10 minutes, and of course I will give your toy in exchange.’’ Loki raised a questioning eyebrow. The question that followed was totally legitimate.

 ‘’What if I do not give it back to you in time?’’ But he didn’t want to extend on the subject, and he didn’t have the time.

Tony offered him the arc reactor.

 ‘’You will do it that’s all.’’ he stared into Loki’s eyes, searching any sign of trickery.

The god took the hot device and placed it in his pocket, Tony was glad he didn’t ask further question.

 ‘’Now let’s go.’’ Tony gestured to Loki who handed Tony his helmed before allowing him to climb onto his shoulders.

Loki pushed on his heels to haul them up, when tony reached the hatch level, he started hitting the spot where the lock should be located. Despite the fact that Loki supported him effortlessly, he had a hard time to keep his balance on his side, the horns were heavier than they looked, and he couldn’t take too much momentum without falling backward.

He stopped for a second, unconsciously massaging his aching chest.

‘’Keep pausing, I can stay here all day.’’ Loki quipped.

Tony took some more time to catch his breath, this was asking him much more effort that it was supposed to be. He brushed off the sweat from his forehead and got back to work. When he finally got to force it open, a pile of dust escaped through the entrance, forcing him to close his eyes.

Loki took a step back until the dust settled off, then grumbled when Tony added pressure on his head to find his balance. With both hands, the genius held the edge of the hatch while putting his feet on Loki’s shoulders.

Tony could now see the extent of the damages; apparently, the wire which maintained the elevator got cut. He also noticed really big debris that made the shaft narrow, the elevator must have been stopped by one of them. An emergency scale was fixed to the wall.

 ‘’Wow nice, the scale is here!’’ He cheered.

‘’Wonderful. Now could you please hurry?!’’ Loki grumbled, getting tired of waiting like this.

 ‘’Okay.’’ Tony climbed on Loki’s head making him grunt again, and smirked at the noise.

He crawled out of the hatch, with trouble he managed to get his feet under him, but suddenly the uncomfortable tugging sensation in his chest morphed into a sharp and burning pain that caught him off guard. He fell on one knee, gasping.

The scale, he had to get the scale.

He somehow managed to push himself off the floor and unhook the scale, his ears were ringing, his vision swirling, it took him several attempts before managing to slide the scale down the hatch.

This last move sucked all the energy out of him, so he let himself fall backward, the dust clung to his soaked shirt. All he can hear is his muffled and erratic breathing, as if under water, his chest hurt, everything hurts, he needs his arc reactor…Loki.

Loki was supposed to bring his arc reactor back.

No no no no! Loki wanted to kill him in the first place, why would he change his mind now? Tony gasped, though it came out like a splutter, the dagger, he had it, in his pocket, he held onto it, hard… His vision was blurry, he couldn’t pass out now! He had to stay conscious…his ears rang, too much, too much sound, someone’s yelling but he barely can hear it over this high pitched sound.

He didn’t even notice the god approaching him.

Chapter Text

With a loud gasp Tony suddenly sat up, regaining consciousness. He didn’t remember losing it. His eyes wide open, he took long and full breaths. He didn’t even have to look down at his chest to know that his arc reactor was here.

Loki was staring at him with astonishment. Stark blinked.

‘’What?’’ Tony said, still having some trouble breathing ‘’You never saw a dying man?’’

‘’You...can’t live without that thing.’’ Loki stated, eyes glimmering with curiosity. The less he knew, the best it was, so Tony just ignored his questioning look.

He reached for his arc reactor, caressing it. Loki put it back here, he could’ve just let him die, but he didn’t. The god has respected their deal.

Speaking of deal.

Tony struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall for support and dug his hand in his pocket to retrieve the dagger. He offered him to his owner in sign of gratitude, which Loki accepted just as silently. For a second Loki smiled, that expression faltered quickly, though.

‘’And now?’’ the god asked, looking up.

Tony followed his gaze, squinting. He spotted a ladder which roamed all along the shaft, some bars were missing but it seemed to be stable.

 ‘’ Were not out of the woods yet…but if we manage to climb to an automatic door then we should make it’’ he looked down at his feet, reminding him they still were on an unstable platform.

‘’We can’t stay here anyway.’’

Tony headed towards the ladder, shaking it to test its resistance then pointed to a blue light situated about 27 yards above them.

 ‘’This light above us means the automatic door below is still working.’’ Tony explained.

Loki nodded his head in agreement. Without wasting time, he walked to the ladder before climbing on it, followed by Tony.

And the great ascension began.

Whenever debris blocked the way, they had to avoid them by climbing on the large pipe next to the ladder. Tony wondered how the shaft was still upright, everything looked… broken.

That’s when one of the water pipes broke under Loki’s weight, releasing a water geyser.

Loki shouted as he fell down, but Tony caught his wrist in time. The genius struggled to hold onto the bar, the pressure of the water was too high, and Loki was so damn heavy.

They were both plunged under the waterfall. Tony was forced to close his eyes, he lowered his head, preventing the water from getting into his nose and mouth.

‘’Stark!’’ Loki screamed.

He felt Loki’s hand slip, he had to bring him back to the ladder.

‘’Hold on!’’ Tony yelled, his voice muffled by the sound of the water.

He began to swing Loki back and forth, so this one could reach for the ladder with his free hand. Unable to see anything, he just kept swinging, until he felt the weight tugging at his arm ease. He just hoped Loki actually reached the ladder, and didn’t fall down.

The billionaire could now  start climbing with both hands again, he fought against the current, and the water was making the steps really slippery.

When he arrived to the debris, he used another pipe to pass the obstacle. As soon as he was above the waterfall, he looked down.

Loki was still here.

‘’You okay?’’ he asked, breathing heavily.

‘’I’m fine’’ the trickster answered. His hair and clothes as wet as Tony’s, but he looked fine, what he noticed next was less trivial though.

‘’Oh crap.’’ Loki stared in confusion and turned his gaze to the source of Tony’s praying, his mouth parted slightly in surprise.

 ‘’Impossible.’’ They were not finished yet with the water, as the elevator blocked the way, the water couldn’t evacuate properly and started to accumulate, its level rising dangerously.

Big debris fell down the shaft.

 ‘’Watch out!’’ he yelled. A concrete block brushed past them as they backed away, the block bumped into another water pipe which broke and released more water.

‘’Damn it!’’ Tony cried watching the block finish its fall, diving into the water.

Karma, destiny, call it what you want, this was just shit.

‘’We gotta get out of here.’’ he said, and they started climbing again, there was about 7 meters to go before they reach the door.

 ‘’Stark.’’ Loki called.

‘’What is it?’’ the genius answered, still looking up while they were climbing.

 ‘’You saved me…why?’’ The question surprised him.

‘’You really want to talk about this now?’’

‘’This might be the last time we get to talk.’’ Loki answered.

‘’You’re so optimistic.’’ there was a short silence.

He didn’t really know himself why he saved Loki, just as much as he didn’t know why Loki saved him.

‘’I could ask you the same question’’ Tony pointed out.

‘’We made a deal’’ Loki answered.

‘’You could’ve broke the deal, that’s what you do right?’’

Loki chuckled sadly.

‘’I did really go down in your estimation, didn’t I?’’

‘’I huh…I’m still having a hard knowing what to think of someone who’s constantly shifting between shocking and saving me.’’ Loki’s lips thinned, he knew he wasn’t wrong on this point.

‘’I’m grateful for the saving part, by the way.’’ Tony added.

‘’You’re welcome, Man of Iron’’ Loki said with a crooked smile.

They finally arrived at the door level and Tony immediately spotted the red emergency button, but of course it as placed at the opposite side of the door. He placed his feet on the 6 inches space in front of the metallic door, and shuffled in the button’s direction.

Loki stood on the ladder, keeping an eye on the rising water; it was already reaching for his feet.

Tony extended his arm and pushed the red button, but nothing happened, he tried again.

 ‘’C’mon…c’mon!’’

‘’Stark?’’ Loki called ‘’What is going on?’’

The water was reaching their ankles.

‘’It doesn’t want to open!’’ Tony yelled, punching the door angrily.

 He didn’t even notice that Loki has joined him with a metal bar—probably taken from the ladder—in his hands.

‘’Let’s open it manually.’’ the god proposed while placing the bar between the two heavy panels and pushed it in Tony’s direction, the genius helped him by pulling on the bar, the doors departed a little, but the bar yielded. Tony stumbled a bit and caught himself up.

The water was making its way through the narrow opening.

They placed their hands on each door’s edge and pulled at them, trying to create a large enough entrance. But the door stayed blocked despite Loki’s strength.

‘’Let’s go back to the ladder.’’ Tony decided, it’s not like they had another choice.

‘’That might be not possible.’’ Loki whispered.

His eyes widened when he saw it wasn’t here anymore, probably broken by other falling debris, their legs were now fully underwater. They didn’t have enough force to swim and wait for the water to rise at another door level…

He leaned himself back trying to spot any other way out, when he saw another concrete block falling.

 ‘’No…’’ he didn’t have enough time to avoid it and the block collided with him, dragging him down with it.

Blackness.

____________________________________

‘’Stark!’’ Loki cried out, watching the human disappearing under the water without coming back to the surface.

Without thinking, Loki held his breath and dived in; it was so hard to see anything underwater, too much dust, and too much debris.

Luckily he spotted the light emitting from the device in his chest, he followed it, and soon he apperceived Stark, he grabbed the human and brought him back to the surface.

Loki coughed when he emerged out of the water; he had trouble keeping Tony’s head high enough to let him breathe.

‘’Stark! Wake up!’’ The human’s body was completely numb, enough to draw him back under the water whenever he tried to avoid falling debris. He had to get out of the water now.

But how? The elevator door was now out of reach, same for the ladder…why did he plunge to save his enemy? He should have saved his own life.

His body engulfed for the 4rth time underwater because of the debris, although this time, he couldn’t reach the surface again. It felt like all his strength was drained from him, like the water was aspiring him in its depth, darkness surrounded him, he didn’t let go of Stark, though, because he didn’t want to be alone.

Suddenly, there was a muffled explosion, and the water boiled all around him as he felt himself being sucked by the rapid flow of water, just to meet the cold and hard ground.

The asgardian coughed and spluttered, he blinked several times to readjust his vision and saw Stark lying next to him, still unconscious.

They were back.

Loki took a look around him, there was a gaping hole on the wall from where the water was still flowing, filling the pool all around them.

So that how they’ve escaped, but who…

He heard a click and jerked his head to face the rim of Black Widow’s gun. He sighed held both hands in the air in sign of revocation. He did not even bother looking  up because he knew all the avengers were here.

The fact that they were still alive didn’t surprise him that much.

‘’It’s over Loki, we closed the portal.’’ Captain America said, holding the sceptre in his hands.

Indeed… it’s over.

The defeated god glanced down a last time on Stark’s unmoving body, already surrounded by healers, and then followed the team into S.H.I.E.L.D HQ without fighting back. 

Chapter Text

Days passed and Loki has being imprisoned in one of the tiny S.H.I.E.L.D cell. Thor came to visit him every day, bringing news from the asgardian justice.

New-York was starting to build up again, and everyone tried in their way to close the wound the Chitauris left.

Loki sighed and sat up, closing his eyes, trying to catch any sound in this silent and deadly space. He heard footsteps approaching, it wasn’t Thor’s, he opened his eyes, smiling at the figure which stood in front of him.

‘’I am glad to see that you are alive.’’

‘’Thanks to you.’’ Tony smiled. His left arm was wrapped in a cast and the bruises on his face and neck were still visible, but he was fine.

‘’Do they know?’’ Loki asked, talking about the avengers.

Tony shook his head.

‘’Except Thor, no one is allowed to visit you, Jarvis is taking care of the cameras and mic.’’ he leaned himself against the bars, his back facing Loki.

They stood in silence for about 5 minutes, both men deep in thoughts.

 ‘’What will happen…once you will get back to Asgard?’’ Tony suddenly asked.

‘’I will probably have an audience with Odin to discuss the matters of my execution.’’ Loki said.

Tony’s eyes widened and he whirled around to face Loki.

‘’Your own father will sentence you to death?’’ Tony gasped, outraged.

‘’He’s not my father.’’ Loki hissed, glaring at Tony.

His shoulders slumped.

‘’Death would be a blessing given the solemnity of my actions.’’ Loki murmured.

What could be worse than death he tough, but the answer came almost instantly.

‘’They will torture you.’’ He gasped.

‘’Yes Stark, among other things, when you punish a being for his crimes you must make sure he will never do it again.’’ The god huffed as if it was the most evident thing in the world.

 ‘’You know, I still didn’t get what was your purpose in all of this.’’

‘’You don’t want to know Star-‘’

‘’Yes I want to know!’’ Tony cut off. ‘’Something isn’t right, you attacked the earth and then you told me you didn’t have any interest in it. If they…if he made you do this, you should tell me.’’

‘’Is that an interrogation Stark?’’ Loki spat. ‘’Can’t Fury come down and ask his question himself instead of sending me his minions one by one? What makes you think I’ll answer you!’’

‘’This is not about S.H.I.E.L.D or Fury or the Avengers, this is about you! I’m trying to…damn.’’ Tony ran a hand through his hair.

‘’You could have let me die, twice, why didn’t you?! If it was so important for you to destroy the Avengers why did you save me?’’

‘’I do not know why!’’ Loki screamed, standing up.

Again silence, both men stared at each other, unmoving.

‘’Well maybe because you aren’t the bad guy you pretend to be.’’ Tony said quietly.

Loki stilled for a moment and turned his head to the side.

‘’I read the files over and over, I studied every possibilities, the crazy psycho god who attacked New York, this wasn’t really you, right?’’

‘’You seem so certain of what you claim.’’ The god smiled.

‘’I am not, that’s why I came to you.’’ Tony answered.

Loki sighed and sat down.

‘’The Tesseract thrive on your deepest and darkest thoughts, and turn them against you, foolish is the man who think he can control its power.’’

For Tony, this was just what he needed to hear.

‘’Okay.’’ The genius breathed. ‘’This might be one of my worst ideas, so don’t make me regret this reindeer games.’’

He reached for the control panel and unlocked the cell, as soon as the door opened, sirens started screaming loudly.

Loki’s head snapped up, his eyes wide.

‘’What are you doing?’’

‘’You have 2 minutes before they unlock the elevator, I would better start using my mojo and get out of here.’’ When received no reaction, the genius rolled his eyes and stepped inti the lion’s cage.

‘’Come on!’’ He said while grabbing Loki’s arm and dragging him out of the cell.

It was quite unexpected, but the human was offering him a second chance. Despite what he did to his realm, despite Fury’s orders.

‘’This will get you into trouble I presume.’’ Loki said.

‘’I would just have to say you tricked me.’’ Tony grinned and Loki laughed.

‘’Well… Then I guess this has to be convincing.’’ The god placed his thumps on Tony’s forehead, and before the human had time to back off, used a sleeping spell.

‘’What-‘’ Tony slowly drifted into unconsciousness as Loki lowered him to the ground.

‘’Farewell, Tony Stark.’’ Loki smiled fondly at the human’s sleeping figure.

‘’Fuck you.’’ Tony muttered before falling totally unconscious.

And with that, Loki teleported away in a blink of the eye, just before Shield agents bursted into the room.

[THE END/No sequel/Last chapter: Sorry, Feel free to write a sequel if you want I would love to read it :)]