Chapter Text
It started in a bunker.
Or maybe it started years earlier with a foiled invasion and an offer for a drink.
One way or another, it changed when dark black boots entered Tony’s field of vision before the God of Mischief was bending down and looking at him with eyes that burned and a vicious smirk. “My, my, Stark, how the mighty have fallen.”
Tony had been broken, dying, angry so deeply, incredibly angry as he’d spat, “Here to finish the job?”
“Oh no,” Loki told him, shaking his head softly. “Rather, I come to extend an offer, but we will need a change of scenery for that.”
The demi-god extended his hand and placed it over Tony Stark’s damaged armour, and a moment later the ruined remains of Tony Stark and the trickster god who had found him had disappeared.
It took a few days for anyone to realise that Tony Stark was missing.
It took almost two years for Thor to realise that his brother had ascended the throne of Asgard.
When Thor’s pitiful attempt to sneak onto Asgard was felt, the Gatekeeper came to Loki immediately, standing beside the throne and whispering the words into Loki’s ear. The mage had stiffened under his guise before sending away all who were in the room but his loyal Gatekeeper.
On another day, Loki would have laughed at Thor’s attempt at subtlety, but the thunderer still held considerable sway over Asgard’s people. He was the loud voice that could rally the Aesir to his call and reveal Loki’s illusion, shattering all the mages plans in a single act.
No, he couldn’t allow that... but, there were benefits to consider. Thor couldn’t be stopped, but manipulated? That was always a possibility.
He allowed Thor’s attempts to continue in the end, dismissing the Gatekeeper with swift words and the beginning of a plan as he let Thor and his little group descend on the palace and slam open the doors of the great hall with dramatic ceremony.
Loki found both familiar faces and weapons aimed at him as well as those he could not recall from his last encounter with the Midgardians warriors.
Thor pointed his hammer at Loki, glaring. “Remove your illusion, brother. We know of who we face.”
Loki debated for all of a moment before letting the disguise drift away as he lounged in his own form on the throne. “You face the King of Asgard.”
“You are not King,” Thor spat.
“Ah, but Odin sleeps, Frigga is dead and the heir has refused the throne,” Loki smirked. “I do believe I as the second son of Odin, have rightfully inherited.” He flicked his fingers over Gungnir, feeling the power of the magic flowing through his veins. “And, the law and magic of Asgard agree with me, brother.”
Thor gritted his teeth but didn’t lower his hammer and his compatriots also remained tense and ready to attack.
“The laws also states,” Loki continued darkly, “that mortals brought to Asgard without permission from the King should be killed.” Loki couldn’t stop himself from pitching his next words to carry to the dark, shadowed corners of the hall, his head tilting ever so slightly to the side, “Shall I kill them?”
“What makes you think you’ll manage this time?” Loki’s former servant demanded, his bow never faltering but his eyes burning with hate.
Loki let out a soft chuckle. “Before, little Hawk, I wanted you alive. But now,” and while Loki’s voice didn’t change, all good humour, all pleasantry slipped from his face to leave nothing but cold, dark malice, “I would rather have your agony.”
“You will have nothing but a cell,” Thor growled, taking hostile steps closer, the Avengers flanking him even as Loki made no move to defend or protect himself.
“I? The saviour of Asgard? The one who dragged it from the ruinous mess that was left in the wake of the Dark Elves? I brought order, I brought peace. I formed a council that will bring Asgard to prosperity once more. But you? Where were you, Thor Odinson?” Loki’s words were sharp by the end and he had lent forward slightly, glaring at his adopted brother before skimming his eyes over the mortals. “With your little pets? The ones who fight amongst themselves and kill their supposed shield-brothers? What brave and loyal allies you have surrounded yourself with.”
“And who do you have, Loki?” Thor demanded. “A council who knows not the face they deal with! But, a battle and a disagreement? There is honour to be had in a war, there is-”
The dark, low laughter that came from behind the throne made Thor stop. It also made half of the Avengers readjust their stance to account for an additional enemy.
“Take my word for it, Point Break,” a new voice, a familiar voice spoke, making each Avenger’s eyes widen as Tony came from behind the throne, a hand resting on the back of the chair by Loki’s shoulder. “There’s nothing good in a war.”
He stood at Loki’s right side--his right hand--his clothing that of red, gold and brown Aesir finery and his back straighter, his head held higher. The wrinkles in his face and the grey in his hair seemed to have disappeared but the part that stood out the most, the part that no one but Thor could understand were his eyes; they were orange and glowed like a galaxy.
“Where... Where is Heimdall?” Thor asked roughly.
“He did not wish to obey his King and was tried for treason,” Loki’s mouth curled upwards. “A new Gatekeeper was sought.”
“Stark cannot be...” Thor was shaking his head. “He is not Aesir, he is-”
“Well, there are these things called golden apples,” Tony interrupted with a smirk.
Thor was still attempting to deny it. “But he holds no post at the bifrost-”
“Well I would hardly be useful if I was tethered there all day,” his eyes flicked to Loki and held the mage’s gaze with a devious curl of his lips, “and all night.” Tony’s hand moved on his words, dropping to Loki’s neck and squeezing lightly before rubbing over the skin affectionately with his thumb. Tony then turned back to the stunned people before him. “So we worked a way around that.”
Captain America exchanged a glance with Black Widow, his mouth a thin line before he murmured, his voice soft but still carrying to the King of the realm and the Gatekeeper with eyes that saw to the very corners of the universe. “Loki’s done something to him. Mind control?”
“The Gatekeeper cannot be controlled. His sight is too clear to be fooled,” Thor answered the Captain and the words made Tony smile with teeth.
It also made satisfaction curl low in Loki’s chest; the pleasure of a well calculated move and an accepted offer. Loki had gifted Tony the freedom to leave his world yet remain a protector of it. He had granted him an escape from bitter foes and painful memories. Where mental manipulations had once triggered his worst fears they now could no longer touch him.
Working with Loki, being his council; it had seemed a small price for Tony to pay to gain his immortality, and yet, in the year that had passed, they had grown to share something closer, something darker; two burning, furious hearts desperate to be understood and chosen by another. The sating of their lust, that had almost been predictable... but the rekindling of love within their hearts? Neither of them had expected that to occur.
And where some people, some romances brought out the best in both partners, sometimes, they only drew out the worst.
While Tony was still kind and still cared for the innocent - he was also ruthless in his pursuit of his goals and had no time for those who would stand in his way. (Tony protected the realms and the people within them, but he despised his betrayers and the rusted legacy he had attempted to carve as Iron Man. He watched the universe form and remake in front of the Gatekeeper’s eyes and he almost shuddered with the sheer insignificance of his own actions when placed up against it all. He also pressed himself against Loki in the dark of night as they lay in bed, refusing to let his lover go, desperate to keep a hold of a new anchor in a harsh and battering storm.)
Where Loki still loved with everything in his heart and mercilessly protected the ones that he called his own; he now meticulously picked the ones who deserved his attention and held no interest in the lives of all others. (Loki cared for Asgard in memory of his mother and for the addictive power that ruling gave him. He cared for Tony; his dark, deadly and intelligent Gatekeeper. He pressed Tony into the bed and warned the once-mortal that if he ever tried to leave, Loki would take his sweet time killing him. He hid his desperation and need to never be alone again, to lose the thread of sanity in a world near slipping out of his grasp.)
The anger, the pain, the revenge; it was a dark and bitter flame that the presence of the other man and their touches fanned into an inferno inside them.
And perhaps in another world, another time, when being a hero was more palpable to Tony they might have formed a different alliance. They might have both been heroes together.
But this was not such a reality.
The Avengers were still watching them with dubious and confused eyes, Tony took the lull in conversation to perch himself on the arm of the throne, his arm moving to casually drape over Loki’s shoulders. Loki simply leant back against the warm, firm weight of his lover.
The change of position seemed to incite the Avengers to react.
“How could you side with him?” Hawkeye spat, glaring daggers at Tony as the aim of his bow turned further from Loki to point more directly at the new Gatekeeper of Asgard.
“Well,” Tony remarked, his voice painfully dry, “when one is lying alone and nearly dead in Siberia thanks to a vibranium shield being shoved halfway through your chest cavity, one tends to revaluate who is an ‘enemy’.”
Thor was the only one who seemed shocked, snapping his head to look at Steve with wide, confused eyes. The Captain’s gaze was on the ground, having fallen away in guilt and shame. “I’m sorry, Tony.” He drew his eyes back up to look at the former mortal. “It never should have gone that far. We did look for you after you disappeared. We spent months trying to find you.”
Loki flicked his attention to the man at his side, curious as to his response to the words, but Tony was completely indifferent, watching Rogers with a very faint head tilt and a small downward curve to his mouth that hinted towards how unimpressed he was by the words.
The Black Widow tried next once guilt and repentance had gained little effect. “Stark, this isn’t like you. You’re siding with someone you can’t trust. He found you when you were half dead and betrayed. Whatever perks he might have given you, it’s nothing on how he’s manipulated his way into your good graces.” She also tried to needle him and incite a reaction. “How many times has he made you turn a blind eye to what he’s up to?”
There was no reaction and her jaw clenched slightly at her ploy having failed.
“This isn’t like you,” Rogers tried again, his voice imploring. “You were never a villain, Tony.”
Thor even made an attempt. “Do not let his honeyed words sway you, Stark. Side with us now and I will be kind to you during your trial for crimes against Asgard.”
That made Tony bite down on an amused smile. It certainly had Loki tempted to laugh. He didn’t, rather, the mage leant in close and asked his lover, “What would you like us to do with them?”
Tony shifted to better face him and smiled at the other man. “What one does to those who are captured invading Asgard, my King; imprisonment while they await their fate.”
Loki laughed loudly and slammed Gungnir against the floor. He also threw out the magic granted to him as ruler of Asgard before anyone could react, his voice booming with power, “Thor Odinson, you have brought mortals to this realm and planned treason against the rightful King of Asgard.” The next words felt sweet and delicious on Loki’s tongue, as did the shock and horror on Thor’s face as he pointed Gungnir at his adopted brother. “I hereby take from you your powers,” Mjolnir fell from Thor’s suddenly mortal hand as the immortality and power of the Aesir was plucked from him, “and cast you out of Asgard!”
Loki felt the magic roar out of Gungnir as it did its job and teleported Thor to the sight of the bifrost while Tony’s eyes brightened and flared with power as his mastery of technology and his new skill with magic allowed him to activate and use the bifrost from anywhere on Asgard.
Loki didn’t know which realm Tony had chosen to send Thor to and he didn’t much care. The power and glee of banishing his adopted brother was rushing through Loki and making him want to laugh madly.
He barely contained it as he let the illusion of Odin form back around him, a shield of magic coming up to protect him and Anthony from the attacks of the Avengers as he called for the guards. They flooded into the room and had little difficulty capturing the mortals while Tony had shifted to stand before ‘Odin’ posing as a defender of the King.
The Asgardians were quick to disarm the mortals and put them on their knees where they were glaring up at Loki and Tony trying, in vain, to convince the Aesir of the truth.
“Send them to the cells,” Loki commanded and was instantly obeyed. The Avengers were dragged out shouting and still attempting to break the hold of the guards.
It was almost anticlimactic, but what had he expected? When he was sitting on the throne, holding the power of Asgard while his loyal Gatekeeper stood by his side, Loki felt near invincible.
It was only when they were once again alone that Loki let himself laugh with the thrill and power of it before dropping back against the throne, his illusion melting away as he watched his handsome Gatekeeper walking slowly up to the throne.
“Did you enjoy that, my dear?” Loki enquired as Tony swaggered forward, their eyes locked and filled with mutual success and desire.
“I did, my King,” Tony replied with a purr, not stopping until he placed a knee on the seat of the throne, encouraging Loki to make just enough room for Tony to straddle the mage.
Tony’s arms then came to loop around Loki’s neck while the trickster’s hand came to Tony’s lower back. The Gatekeeper bent down and pressed his mouth against Loki’s, drawing him into a slow, deep kiss that Loki hungrily responded to. His hand slowly sliding up the other man’s back before resting at the brunet’s neck, cupping it softly.
When they eventually pulled apart, Tony remained close and Loki trailed his mouth over Tony’s jawline before asking curiously, “Shall we execute them?”
Tony hummed thoughtfully before eventually giving a small shake of his head. “Earth needs them. We’ll keep them here for a few days, make them suffer a little before tossing them back down.”
Loki sighed a little, but despite his chastisement he pressed a soft kiss to Tony’s cheek. “You are too lenient.”
“Says the man who only banished Thor,” Tony riposted, following it up by moving his mouth to Loki’s neck, sucking softly on the spot he knew his lover adored. It made Loki arch into the touch and let out a shaky breath.
It even took Loki a moment to devise his reply, his hand threading into Tony’s hair and tugging lightly. “He will be needed when we grow tired of this throne.”
“It will get boring here,” Tony agreed. “And you did promise to take me to that planet I found; lots of chaos, lots of fun.”
“Mm,” Loki hummed, “that I did.”
Pulling back only when he’d made a delightful red mark on Loki’s neck, Tony moved to rest their foreheads together, his smile sharp and dangerous. “I suppose until then, my King; I will be your loyal Gatekeeper, in all your hilarious mischief and delightful chaos.”
In sickness and in health, until death do they part.
With fire and rage and a passion that would yet burn them alive as they enjoyed every moment of the slow spiral downwards.
They kissed again with desperation and the sharp tang of blood on their tongues. They loved like the dying and laughed like the mad; they would rock the very foundations of the galaxy and only destroy one another in the end.
But for now, they were alive, they were each other’s and in the depths of their corrupted, broken, angry hearts; they were happy.