Chapter Text
Tony didn’t know what time it was. He only knew that it had taken the better part of 72 hours for him to become exhausted enough to collapse into bed with any real hope of sleep. And now said sleep was being interrupted. By none other than Thor fucking Odinson.
JARVIS had barely had time to alert him—to warn him—before a crash of thunder that sounded far too much like an explosion shook The Tower.
Even knowing it was Thor did nothing to stave off the cold panic that ran through his veins, or the way his heart hammered painfully against his chest, or the way he had to struggle to remind himself that he was still at home. Still safe.
A minute or so passed before he was able to get his breathing back under control and venture out of his bedroom. He didn’t bother with pulling on anything over his boxers. If Thor was going to show up unannounced (or barely announced, as the case might be) he could just deal with whatever state of undress Tony happened to be in.
Except that Thor wasn’t alone. Or, he was pretty sure that he was looking at Thor, at least. Gone was his long hair, his hammer, and, judging by the eyepatch, possibly one of his eyes.
He recognized Bruce though. He was standing there in what Tony was pretty sure was actually his own clothes, looking apologetic.
There was also a woman with them, she was clad in leather and metal—Asgardian armor, Tony guessed—and her dark hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.
More concerning than the rest, however, was who was standing at the back of the group, looking thoroughly displeased with his lot in life: Loki. Loki was in his living room. Glaring at him. While similarly decked out in leather armor. (At least the horns weren’t making an appearance this time.)
“What the fuck?” Tony finally asked, spreading his arms out to both sides.
“Anthony!” Thor strode forward and threw his arms open in greeting, and for one stunned moment, Tony just let him hug him.
After that moment, his brain kicked back online and he jerked away from Thor’s touch. A torrent of questions buzzed through his mind and when Thor took a step back, Tony managed to find his voice. “Thor… I… what the hell is going on?”
“Aww, Tony, how’d you know that’s my favorite way to be greeted after being off-world?” God bless Bruce. He always did know how to help Tony’s brain focus when it was trying to split off into a million tangents.
“Bruce. You’re here. You’re ok.” Relief. Bruce wasn’t dead.
“Yeah. Things were a bit touch and go for a bit, but, you know. They worked out.”
Tony let out a high pitched laugh. Sleep deprivation was doing nothing to help prepare him for… whatever this was.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“I’m afraid that’s a story for another time, Anthony,” Thor interrupted.
“Like hell it is!” Tony snapped. “You—” he pointed at Thor, “—showed up two years ago, kidnapped my friend—”
“I went with him willingly, Tony—”
“No one knew what had happened to him. Or you! Complete fucking radio silence. You were both dead, as far as anyone knew. You don’t get to just show up and tell me when—or if—I’m getting answers!”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Loki’s amused smirk. It vanished as soon as Loki realized he’d been seen. The son of a bitch returned to idly glancing around his surroundings, as though it was simply a new curiosity for him to explore.
“We don’t have time for your petty quarrels,” the woman spoke. “We’re only here to drop something off, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Tony bristled and returned his attention to Thor. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“He is the All-Father, and you will treat him with respect!” The woman snapped and Thor looked almost sheepish at her announcement.
He returned her glare with one of his own. “Sorry, who are you again? Why do I care what you have to say?”
“I am a Valkyrie and if you don’t still your tongue I’ll cut it from your mouth.”
Tony was halfway through debating how quickly he could get suited up when Bruce broke in between them.
“Guys!” Tony bit back his retort after catching the green invading Bruce’s eyes. “Ok. Val, back off, you’re not helping.”
She huffed at his request.
“Tony. Look, I’m sorry that we showed up out of nowhere on you, but we need to ask you for a favor.”
His eyes flicked back to Loki. “What kind of favor?”
Thor opened his mouth, but Bruce held up a hand. “Since it’s the middle of the night, I’m just gonna give you the really short version, ok?”
“Maybe. What’s the really short version?”
“The Asgardians have come to Earth, seeking asylum,” Bruce began. “And because… well, for a lot of reasons, honestly, we think it might be in everyone’s best interest if Loki’s not with them.”
Tony didn’t like the way this conversation was going. “Fair enough. And? What does that have to do with me?” He crossed his arms. “If you don’t want him here, we sure as hell don’t. Send him back to Asgard.”
“That’s not possible,” Thor said quietly. “Asgard is—we can’t send him back there.”
“So, what? You brought him here instead? Why?”
“Because here at The Tower, he can be monitored. Watched over.”
Tony laughed. He couldn’t not laugh. There was no way they were serious. “No. Absolutely not. Fuck off.”
“Anthony—”
“Tony—”
“No! No chance in hell is he staying here!”
“I told you this would be a waste of time,” Loki drawled. “I’m not a child who needs to be minded. I’ll be perfectly fine on my own.”
Tony suppressed the shudder that hearing Loki’s voice sent through him. “Or, and I’m just spitballing here. But given that Loki is a fucking psychopath and a murderer; maybe we should consider something beyond imprisonment. Like execution.” The words left an awful taste on his tongue, but he couldn’t take them back. And maybe it would be enough to make this shit show just stop.
Loki met his gaze and smiled as Thor took a step forward. The energy in the room shifted, and static sparked brightly across the god’s body.
He retreated back a step and held his hands up. There was no way he could call his armor in time—assuming that his armor could even withstand the force of… whatever it was that Thor was summoning.
“Come now, Brother, maybe Stark is right,” Loki taunted. “Maybe I’m too dangerous to just be locked away. Maybe you should execute me.”
“Loki, for once in your life, be quiet,” Bruce hissed. Then he turned and, in a moment of either incredible courage, or incredible stupidity, placed himself in Thor’s path. “We’re not killing him.”
The crackles of electricity subsided at Bruce’s assurance. “It’s a long story, but try to trust me when I say that Loki isn’t going to cause any more problems.”
“Trust?!” Loki and Tony snapped at once.
“I don’t need his trust! Nor his mercy!”
“How could I possibly trust anything involving him?”
“Look, he helped us escape Sakaar,” Bruce glanced between Loki and Tony.
“I helped myself escape.”
“And he fought alongside us against Hela and her undead army.”
“For all the good that did.” Loki’s jaw tightened. He was on edge, and that was putting Tony on edge.
“He risked his life to resurrect Surtur,” Thor added. “And he stood proudly by my side as I was crowned King of Asgard.”
Tony just stared at them for another long moment. He only knew what the last part might mean. What in the fuck had happened during Bruce’s joyride through space? How could he bear to defend Loki?
“And… and what? You think this little diva is ok with being back in his big bro’s shadow?”
Loki took a step forward—the first time he’d moved since arriving—and paid no obvious attention to the way that Val tensed. “Stark, if you think for an instant that I’m in Thor’s shadow—”
“Without him, the whole of Asgard would have been killed.”
For the moment, Loki's attention shifted to Thor. “Exactly. I’ve done nothing wrong. I don’t deserve to be imprisoned.”
Thor sighed and gave Loki a beseeching look. “Loki, this is for your own safety—”
“Excuse me?” Tony interrupted. “Fuck his safety! You remember that this lunatic threw me out a window, right?” He jerked his thumb towards said offending window. “That one, in fact.”
“I remember it.” Loki’s green eyes held his and his mouth twisted into a wolfish grin. “And I can’t promise that there won’t be a repeat performance of that little show if I’m left here. I am quite curious to see if Stark has perfected unaided flight yet. Or perhaps my second attempt will be more successful.”
Val moved then. In the next instant, she was beside Loki, gripping his arm tightly and whispering something in his ear. The bastard’s eyes went wide and Tony watched as the blood drained from his face. When she pulled back Loki stared at her, looking far more subdued than he had a moment before.
Thor narrowed his eye at the exchange. “Val, what did you do?”
She shrugged and shoved Loki away from her, causing him to stumble. “Convinced him to behave.”
Tony could see the rage and fear warring in Loki’s eyes. He was rapidly clenching and unclenching his fists, tiny green sparks of magic arcing off his fingertips. He was shaking and his breathing had gone uneven. Tony could recognize an anxiety attack when he saw one. Whatever Loki had been threatened with—and it was a threat—he was afraid.
He knew Loki didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be caged in. He hated the idea and hated everyone in this room. But whatever Val had suggested was worse.
Part of Tony was glad; Loki should suffer, after all the harm and mayhem he had caused. All the death and destruction.
But another part, a part that he couldn’t convince to quiet down, hated seeing anyone look like that.
Fuck. “Fine!” He surprised even himself. “Fucking, fine. JARVIS, pick out an unoccupied floor. Far away from everyone else. Monitor everything Loki does. I want hourly reports.”
“Right away, Sir.”
Loki looked… Tony wasn’t sure how to describe it. Angry. Defeated. Hurt.
“Val,” Thor’s tone commanded their attention. “What did you say to my brother?”
When she pulled a small silver disk from a pouch on her hip, the other three men in the room stiffened. “I just reminded him who was in charge around here.” She took several measured strides forward and pressed the disk into Tony’s hand. Then she retrieved a small black remote and handed that over as well.
Loki’s eyes didn’t stray from the device that now sat seemingly innocently in Tony’s hand.
“C’mon, man,” Bruce spoke quietly, gently leading Loki towards the elevator. Tony didn’t miss the disgusted look he shot towards Val.
“See. He’s all docile now. Like a little lamb,” she crooned.
Thor stayed conspicuously silent as Val turned and left as well.
“Thor. What am I holding?”
“The Grandmaster called them Obedience Disks.”
Who, or what, was The Grandmaster? He was too tired for this. Nevermind that he’d never get back to sleep now. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “What does it do?”
“It’s a torture device that shocks its victims with electricity.”
“Oh.” He looked down at the unassuming bit of metal. “Would it work?”
When Thor stopped in front of him, Tony realized just how tired he looked.
“Anthony, I need you to understand something,” he said quietly. Tony nodded. “We are shield brothers, and I love you as my own blood.”
“Oh. Uh. Thanks?”
“But if you so much as threaten to place that device on my brother, I will never forgive you.”
Tony swallowed. “So, if I actually used it?” Not that he could see himself using it. He was a lot of things. And had done a lot of questionable things. But torture wasn't one of them.
“I suspect Loki would kill you long before I’d have a chance.”
He held the devices out towards Thor. “Take it, then. I don’t want it.” He also didn't like the idea of anyone else getting a hold of it. He didn't want the responsibility.
Thor crushed them in his hand. The god was obviously exhausted. He had to be running on the last dregs of his energy. Tony hoped he might be able to rest after this. “I’m going to go see that Loki is able to get settled.”
“You mean you’re gonna go protect him from Val?”
“Perhaps both.”
Tony let out a sigh. “Hey, Thor?”
“Yes?”
“You owe me.”
For the next few days, the idea of sleep—or even rest—became an increasingly foreign concept to Tony. He poured every bit of energy he had into updating The Tower’s infrastructure, and security, and then found more energy to start fast-tracking upgrades to his Suit.
Bucky started staying down in the lab with him, and would periodically remind him to eat and drink. He seemed to have some issue with Tony drinking “too much” caffeine, though, and so Tony had threatened to bar him from the lab more than once because of it.
In the months since Steve and Nat had found and rescued Bucky, the two of them had become good friends. He hadn’t grown up hearing nearly as many stories about Bucky as he had Steve, and that was probably a good thing. It turned out he was almost as much of a science nerd as Tony, so they rarely ran short of things to talk about.
Unfortunately, at the moment, it also meant that Bucky was going to try to look out for his “best interests”.
“Tony, I get it, I do, but you need to slee—”
“No. You don’t.” Tony didn’t even look up from the wireframes he was manipulating. “If you did, you and Steve would both be far, far, away from here.” He paused. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Look, I own a few places in California and—”
“We’re not leaving, Tony. If he’s so dangerous, why aren't you running away then?”
“Because he’s my responsibility!”
“He’s not even fuckin’ doing anything!”
Tony paused in his work to glare at Bucky. Or to glare at the fact that, as far as anyone could tell, he was right. JARVIS’s reports had been largely the same the entire time Loki had been there. He wasn’t doing anything.
He had a journal that he would write in occasionally—not in a language JARVIS had been able to decipher—and he had a few books he seemed to be reading. He had even turned on the TV a couple of times. Loki seemed to eat, drink, and piss roughly as much as any human might. The only thing of note was that he seemed to function perfectly fine on even less sleep than Tony usually managed.
“Maybe he hasn’t yet,” Tony muttered. “But just wait. He’s gonna fuck everything up.”