Archive of Our Own ^beta

If Tony got nothing else out of the dreary meeting, he would at least have another trademarked Steve Rogers Frown™ to add to the list. Nothing else of note had happened– no explosions, no assassinations, and perhaps most tragically, no inappropriate flirting.

It was a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. He’d gone in expecting the rendezvous with Loki to be an absolute hoot, but the god had remained civil with only hints of distaste as Steve took over the negotiations. Tony had hoped he’d be able to talk - he’d done such a good job of dealing with the Trickster before, after all - but the rest of the team had vetoed it. Steve, said literally everyone, was the better choice. (Although, to give credit where credit is due Natasha did point out that he had the most experience out of all of them when it came to making deals where the other person had little to gain. Unfortunately, her words remained unheeded.)

Well, in all honesty, Tony supposed he couldn’t blame them. After all, throwing him into a conversation on a topic such as this probably wouldn’t end well.

Quite simply, the purpose of the meeting came down to one indisputable fact: the unfortunate thing with heroes is that they tend to attract opposition. For, as the protagonist of JARVIS’ second favourite animated movie questions– what is a villain without a hero to oppose him? The moment it became known that New York was under the constant supervision of its resident band of heroes, villains began travelling from far and wide to pitch their challenge. And while they were generally beaten down and arrested easily, the sheer volume of them threatened to overwhelm. (In lesser news, Clint’s whiteboard which tallied the number of takedowns by each member of the team was becoming cluttered, and Tony had to fork out for a new, much larger one.)

Luckily the Avengers had a secret weapon in their back pocket, the one thing that villains never seem to expect. Tony Stark may be Iron Man but he’s also a hell of a thinker– after all, in this case, it certainly wasn’t the suit that made the hero. And while none of the Avengers (not even Steve) can claim a flawless moral compass, only Tony possesses that perfect combination of intelligence and a willingness to get things done required to solve a problem of such magnitude.

But of course, the qualities that had Tony concluding that their best option was to team up with Loki were exactly the very same qualities that had the other Avengers worrying that Tony might, well… actually team up with Loki.

However, as time went on and nothing changed, not one of the Avengers could deny the need to do something. The number of times the Avengers were called out was getting ridiculous, and even sleeping in shifts they were all exhausted– Tony more so than the others, unable to keep up with the needed repairs to his suits as well as those required by other members of the team. They needed a break, and they needed it soon, or they all ran the risk of burning out. SHIELD, of course, offered absolutely no help, and the X-men were all either children who needed to go to school or adults tasked with running said school.

Tony’s idea was the only shot they had, and so it was that the Avengers agreed to implement it. Thor used some kind of magical artefact to send an invitation to the penthouse, they elected Steve to do the talking, and Tony was told that he was allowed to go along as moral support so long as he behaved.

An hour and half in and Tony was counting the marks on the ceiling of his lounge room, wishing with all his being that he had declined the offer.

“All we need you to do is scare off some second rate villains,” Steve stressed for the sixteenth time. “You could do that in your sleep!”

“But why should I?” Loki repeated, sounding impossibly bored. “You aren’t giving me any compelling reason to aid you, Captain.”

“I am offering you a favour—“

“A conditional favour,” Loki interrupted. “You and your Avengers are never going to give me anything truly useful.”

“We are offering you the opportunity to start with a clean slate.”

“With the condition that the slate be a pure white.” Loki’s tone was carefully blank, but Tony knew he wasn’t imagining the bite in the words. “You’ll allow me to begin again so long as I dance to your tune, is that it?”

“You know I can’t promise you amnesty if you continue as you are,” Steve said cautiously.

Loki laughed darkly. “Please. We both know that even if I were capable of changing my ways, I would never be granted a truly blank slate.”

Steve paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. “It’s the best I can offer.”

“Well then, Captain,” said Loki, crossing his arms and leaning back against his chair, a perfect picture of arrogance. “It seems we remain at an impasse. If you desire my help you are going to have to try an awful lot harder than that.”

As Steve sighed, Tony found himself huffing in annoyance. Loki and Steve had been dancing around like this the whole time, moving in circles but never truly getting anywhere. And Tony could see the problem, because Loki was leaving openings, and though they were small, they were there. Tony knew how to exploit that, and the kicker– Loki was just waiting for someone to do so. If he were truly uninterested Loki would have already left, but he was humouring them, which could only mean that there was something he wanted. Steve was just missing it in his attempts to keep the ball in his court. As natural a diplomat as Steve was, he lacked experience, and he had yet to learn that in order to get, you had to give a little.

Steve was strong and firm, and he certainly didn’t bend.

Tony, on the other hand, had learned that lesson a very long time ago.

“Oh come on,” Tony growled, interrupting Steve’s renewed attempts to convince Loki to work for them. “You both need to just stop dragging your feet and focus on the issue at hand, here. We all know how this is going to go.”

“Do we?” asked Loki, interest flashing across his face for just a moment before the mask returned. “Why not enlighten us, Stark?”

“Tony, don’t,” Steve said warily, but Tony waved him a dismissive hand.

“We need your help,” Tony said, causing Steve to groan. “Yeah, I know what you’re both thinking– stupid to admit it, right? But we all know it’s the truth, so why beat around the bush? We need your help, Reindeer Games, and you’re going to give it to us because not only will you enjoy having something to hold over our heads, but also because you know that it’s in your best interests to have us in your debt.”

Steve had the look of a person who knew they were about to witness a train wreck and could do nothing to stop it, but Tony didn’t spare him a glance, instead choosing to keep his attention on the god in front of him. Loki was leaning forward over the coffee table now, his eyes narrowing in thought.

“And will you be in my debt?”

“Yes,” said Tony unabashedly, totally blocking out Steve’s protest. Loki, too, ignored the Captain, his gaze now resting unequivocally on Tony.

“And how will I collect on it?”

Tony flashed Loki a grin. “Well, I would say in whichever way you chose, except I think Cap would ground me for at least a week for that.”

“Damn straight,” growled Steve.

“So what will you accept?” Loki asked, the amusement in his voice just as genuine as his curiosity. And Tony smirked in victory, because after all the fights and the banter on the battlefield he felt like he knew Loki, and he knew that curiosity was the way to this man’s heart. Or, well, his temporary allegiance, anyway.

“I thought we’d been over this, darling,” Tony drawled. “What I would accept and what the team would approve are two entirely different things.”

Loki grinned wolfishly, Steve cursed loudly, and Tony leaned forward, matching Loki’s posture with a lazy smile.

“But I don’t think that’s what you care about right now,” Tony continued. “I think the real question here should be- what is it that you want to get out of our… partnership?”

“Oh, there are a great many things I could say to that,” Loki purred, and Tony shuddered. Because this was how he’d both imagined and hoped the meeting would go. But then Loki sat back and grinned again, before stating quickly, “I think that a promise from the Avengers to abstain from fighting to capture me for the duration of the arrangement would be sufficient.”

“What?” said Steve in surprise, and despite the whiplash from Loki’s change in tone Tony found himself holding back a laugh.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Obviously I am not going to give up my own schemes for the sake of this arrangement, and obviously you will not simply leave me be. However, if I am to do you this favour, you must fight only to stop me, not to capture. Or kill.”

The final word was added on like an afterthought, as if the Avengers trying to kill the god was of no consequence. And honestly, that just made Tony all the more intrigued, because it just screamed of a confidence that could only come from knowledge and power that Tony and his team had yet to unveil.

“Well I think that’s perfectly reasonable,” said Tony, glancing at Steve.

“Of course, I will reserve the right to a personal favour,” said Loki, his nonchalant tone at total odds with the fire in his eyes. “A personal favour from you, Stark, so that it will matter not whether you have the approval of your teammates.”

Now, Tony is not dull. Quite the opposite, in fact, and he knows very well that in situations such as these caution is key. But while Tony is one of the most obsessive people in the world when it comes to security, he is also incredibly impulsive, especially about things that catch his curiosity– something he and the god have in common. And fuck but he was curious about Loki.

“Deal.”

Loki’s smile widened, teeth flashing in the artificial light that streamed in through the penthouse windows. “Deal.”

“Hold on a minute,” said Steve, but Tony shook his head.

“I was the one who made the deal, here, Cap,” said Tony. “Besides, you know as well as I do that we discussed beforehand that agreeing not to capture - or kill - Loki during the course of our agreement would be an acceptable price, especially since doing either of those things would be counterproductive to what we need. And whatever else Loki wants is not going to affect the Avengers. You heard what he said.”

“Tony, you are an Avenger,” said Steve, speaking through gritted teeth.

“And yet I am still my own person, capable of making my own decisions,” said Tony, tilting his head in mock confusion. “Ain’t that funny?”

Steve moved as if to continue the argument, but Tony turned back to Loki.

“So we’re agreed then?” Tony asked. “You’ll help us keep a lid on the number of villains around the place by claiming the city as your own territory, and getting rid of those we are too busy to deal with under the guise of protecting your turf. And, when you get up to mischief yourself, we will keep up appearances and will try to stop you, but we will not attempt to capture or kill you.”

Loki nodded, for once the tight set of his lips dead serious. “I believe that is correct.”

“Do you want it in writing?” asked Tony, already reaching for a pen.

“Writing just leaves a trail,” Loki replied, halting Tony’s movement. “Be content with the knowledge of what I will do to you should you renege on our deal. Make sure you remember what I am capable of.”

Tony returned the taunting smile. “Just as long as you remember the same.”

“Trust me, Stark,” said Loki, his sharp smile making a reappearance. “There will be no cause to doubt me in that.”

—x|x—

“I have to admit, Tony,” said Natasha a week later when the Avengers actually had the time to sit down for a proper meal. Three villains had been brought in that afternoon, and the numbers in the city had been steadily dropping since Loki had started his crusade. “This is certainly one of your better ideas.”

“Definitely,” Clint agreed, slightly muffled by the food he had crammed into his mouth.

“I am still worried about what Loki will want in the long run,” said Bruce. “I mean. He’s not doing this just for us to go easy, he’s run circles around us every time we’ve faced him.”

“Almost every time,” said Clint pointedly.

“He must be getting something else out of this,” Thor agreed.

“Maybe he just wants to help,” said Natasha.

There was a dramatic pause, and then, on cue, they all burst into guffaws.

“Nice one,” chuckled Tony.

“Come on, guys,” said Steve, “You should take this seriously. He’s up to something.”

“Obviously,” said Tony. “But come on, you have to admit that this is working.”

And it did work, for a while. Loki would take down villains that appeared while the Avengers were busy elsewhere. The team no longer had to go solo or even pair up– in fact, they never had to split into more than two groups. Ever since Loki had claimed New York for his own in a remarkable show of power against some bottom feeders named the ‘Wrecking Crew,’ the number of villains who wanted to measure up against the heroes had been dwindling. Not only did the Avengers have time for meals, they were all getting at least six hours of sleep. It was still stressful, still hard, but it was manageable.

But then the god got a little overzealous. Loki had been given his own column on Clint’s whiteboard, and his score was steadily, annoyingly, growing. He started arriving on the scene first, before the Avengers had even received an alert. He took down villains so quickly he could go from one to the next, yet somehow still making big statements about how the city was his– on one memorable occasion, for example, he had bound a group calling themselves the 'Serpent Society' into horribly contorted positions so that their battered bodies spelt out his name. He began tacking notes to the villains he left trussed up for the authorities or (more and more often) the late Avengers to find, which alternately demanded that all would-be-villains stay off his turf and detailed insults claiming the authorities or (more often) the Avengers were not doing their jobs properly.

And that was when things started to get a little strained.

Tony thought back to one of the themes explored by Clint’s new favourite animated movie (and damn him, because Tony knew exactly why it was his favourite)– what is a hero without a villain?

Villains, after all, don’t need heroes, not really. They can achieve their goals better without opposition, and while their lives would become increasingly dull, they’d still have something to do. Heroes, on the other hand– well. Tony might be perfectly happy with the extra hours to finally catch up on fixing the suits, but if Thor destroyed the training room one more time out of sheer boredom then it certainly wouldn't be his brother he’d need to be watching over his shoulder for.

“This is getting ridiculous!” Clint exclaimed the fourth time in a row that they’d arrived to a reported incident only to find the villain chained to a fire hydrant with a note tacked to his forehead. “Loki’s putting us out of a job!”

Tony sighed. “Maybe I can—“

“No,” said Steve. Damn, Tony forgot Steve had been there when he had given Loki the cell phone at the end of their previous ‘conversation’. “I’ll call him. I’m sure we’ll be able to work this out.”

“I bet he’s doing it on purpose,” Clint grumbled. “Seems like something he’d do, just to annoy us.”

“Nay.” Thor smiled in a way that could only be described as fond. “It is more likely that my brother is simply enjoying himself too much to leave any of the fun for us.”

As it turned out, both Clint and Thor were correct.

“Clint’s afraid that you’re going to leave us all unemployed,” Tony announced by way of greeting when the god popped into the penthouse for their scheduled meeting two hours later, and Loki was already smiling straight off the bat. Nice.

“Tony,” said Steve, warningly. Then he turned to Loki. “Sorry for him. He’s a little excited.”

But Loki didn’t even glance in Steve’s direction. Instead, he took a step toward Tony, slow but purposeful.

“Oh, but they make it so easy,” Loki drawled, his expression practically glowing with, well, mischief.

“True,” Tony shrugged, speaking over Steve’s annoyed splutter. “They can be fun to play with, in moderation.”

“Moderation is difficult to achieve when one is having that much fun,” Loki replied.

“Don’t lie,” said Tony, rolling his eyes. “You enjoy the annoyance it’s causing us just as much as actually beating down on the thugs.”

Loki smirked, green eyes flashing with that same curiosity that Tony had noticed last time. “I’ll bet you miss it.”

“Oh for sure,” Tony replied, holding in a laugh at Loki’s teasing words. “I definitely miss not sleeping, and chasing after villains all by myself - sometimes two at once - and handing them off to SHIELD and having no idea what happens to them after that because I have to go straight after the next one. Yeah, I definitely miss that game of freaking whack-a-mole.”

Tony wasn’t sure what he was hoping Loki’s reaction would be. Irritation perhaps, for being beaten at his own game, or maybe frustration at Tony’s refusal to back down. What he didn’t expect was for Loki’s whole face to brighten, his lips parting in what could only be enjoyment.

Interesting.

“Quit playing around, Tony,” said Steve, and the fondness that took the place of the expected annoyance was also a surprise. Perhaps Steve was just happy Tony had managed to get Loki to loosen up a bit. “Loki, this is a serious matter. You are helping, I will admit that much, but you need to calm down.”

“Did you seriously just tell the literal god of chaos to calm down?” Tony asked with a snort.

“That is a mistranslation, I think,” said Loki, causing Steve to let out a huff. “The Norsemen believed I was the father of chaos.”

Tony tried to hold in the laughter. He tried, but pretty soon tears were streaming and it just slipped out.

Loki rolled his eyes, like he knew exactly which legend Tony was thinking about. “Please. You try living this long and then we’ll see what sort of stories they come up with about you.”

“Is that an invitation?” Tony asked, wiping his eyes and still chuckling. “Cause it sure sounded like one.”

Loki leered at him. “Do you want it to be?”

“Hmm.” Tony winked. “Give me a little while longer, maybe I’ll have an answer for you.”

“Tony,” Steve said, his voice strained.

“Sorry Cap,” Tony grinned. “Please, continue with your interrogation.”

“This isn’t an interrogation,” said Loki. “He was telling me to calm down.”

Tony inclined his head. “Ah. So he was.”

Steve’s jaw visibly tightened, but Tony thought he hid his impatience well, all things considered.

“Loki,” Steve said, turning to face the god. “We agreed that you would scare villains off by being possessive. Not that you would fight every single one yourself.”

“There’s no pleasing some people,” Loki sighed. Tony tried unsuccessfully to hide yet another snort, and Loki glanced at him before adding, “You asked for my help, but now you say I am helping too much? I must admit I haven’t encountered this problem before.”

From the minute change in the set to Loki’s shoulders Tony knew that was most likely a lie, but he also knew better than to simply bring it up under the circumstances.

“That’s not what I meant,” Steve said firmly. “You are helping, as I said before, and we are… grateful. But people are starting to talk.”

“Yes,” Loki agreed. “I have heard that people are beginning to respect my power a little more. I suppose I should thank you for that.”

“Actually,” Tony piped up, “this whole thing was my idea so if there’s any thanking happening—“

“This was not what we agreed upon,” Steve snapped. “We agreed that you would dissuade those who wish to challenge us by claiming New York as your territory. We did not agree that you would tie up every single criminal, gravely injure them, staple notes to their heads—“

“You never said I couldn’t,” Loki countered.

“Surely it was implied!”

“Oh you sweet summer child,” Tony muttered under his breath.

“Besides, I don’t know what you have against the leaving of notes,” Loki continued as if neither of them had spoken. “I was inspired by your web slinger.”

Steve looked to Tony pleadingly, and Tony just knew that admitting he kind of agreed with Loki on this one was not the best way to go.

“To be fair,” Tony said instead, “Spidey uses Scotch tape.”

Steve didn’t seem to think that response was much better. Loki, on the other hand, let out a laugh.

“Ah yes, that would be more in line with the hero guise. And I suppose I can see the appeal– less messy.” He turned to Steve. “So what is it you would have me do, then? Agree to new terms? If that is the case, then you are going to have to offer something on top of what you already have.”

“Not a new agreement,” said Steve. “The same one, just with clearer boundaries.”

“I think we can turn this to benefit all of us,” Tony said before Loki could respond. “Also, why is it that in all these conversations I end up being the mediator?” He shot Steve a sly look. “Oh, wait.”

Steve sighed. “All right, Tony. Go for it.”

“Okay, Reindeer Games,” said Tony, “Tell us, once again. What is it going to take?”

“Not much,” Loki replied, shrugging. “You are correct, of course; I do recognise how this is beneficial to me. However, I will require something else this time.”

“And what is that?” asked Steve.

“An announcement from Thor, publically stating that Asgard has ceased their attempts in capturing me– which they have.”

Steve looked baffled. “Why?”

“Because many people in the… underground, shall we say? - are not willing to work with me when they believe it is likely the Einherjar will show up at any given moment.”

“I didn’t take you for the teamwork type,” Tony commented.

“Not usually,” Loki admitted, “but there are some services I desire which require either the attention of a specialist, or time that I do not have.”

“What sort of thing?” Steve asked curiously.

Loki snorted. “Nice try, Captain. Have Thor make the announcement, and I will pull myself back from actively capturing miscreants and will simply continue scaring them.” He paused. “However, you will not call me back here simply because you believe I am not following your vague instructions.”

"Then what do you suggest we do if you start acting up again?” Steve asked, his words ringing with sarcasm.

“Mitigate by giving stricter instructions,” Loki replied, matching Steve’s tone. Then he turned to Tony, his lips twisting into a smirk. “I’ll see you around, Stark.”

Tony grinned widely. “Catch ya later, Rock of Ages.”

Then with one final roll of his eyes, Loki was gone.

“Well,” said Tony, clapping his hands together. “I think that went well.”

Steve stared.

“What?” asked Tony, tilting his head.

“You call that going well?” Steve asked.

“Well, yeah. We got what we wanted, didn’t we?”

“Only if we can get Thor to announce that Asgard is no longer hunting Loki,” Steve groaned. "He’ll never go for that!”

“Yeah he will,” said Tony, shrugging his shoulders and heading for the elevator. “We’ve just got to spin this right.”

—x|x—

“I don’t believe this,” whispered Steve, watching Thor command the press conference with wide eyes. It had never been more obvious that Thor was raised a prince– he was really good at dealing with the leeches.

“Told you he’d do it if we reminded him that it would help him get back into Loki’s good books,” Tony hissed back. “Now shush, I want to watch Thor take on the chick from Vanity Fair. It’s going to be hilarious.”

—x|x—

Thor’s press conference seemed to be the solution that they all needed. Loki calmed considerably, only showing up occasionally to scare a few villains while the Avengers did most of the work. Still, though, the numbers of would-be reprobates dwindled as many realised that not only would they have no chance against the newly energised team, but that they would also still be likely to face the wrath of an insane deity.

Tony was highly amused during one fight with a man who called himself Night-Dodger, a guy whose power involved running only slightly faster than the average human with considerably less than the average coordination. He seemed perfectly entertained dancing around the Avengers, only able to stay ahead of Natasha and Steve through the unpredictability of his truly enjoyable tumbles– that is, until the street lit up with a bright green glow and the god of dramatic entrances appeared in the middle of their ‘battle’, wearing the ridiculous helmet and raising his arms in a powerful display of theatrics.

Night Dodger had turned and sprinted away with a high pitched yelp and such speed that he lost control in his most spectacular blunder yet, careening into the reinforced window of a bank and knocking himself unconscious.

“Oh,” said Loki, lowering his hands. “Well. That was easy.”

“I can't blame him," said Clint, casually aiming his arrow toward the god. "I would have run from that outfit, too.” 

“Excuse me?” asked Loki, insulted.

“Well, that’s the only explanation, isn’t it?” Clint replied. “He couldn’t have been running because he was more afraid of you, after all. The six of us are far more intimidating than the one of you.”

“Funny,” said Loki. He strode forward and raised a dagger, using it to gesture between the team. “I only count the four.”

And yes, Thor was off informing his father of what he had done during the press conference and Bruce had elected to stay behind, but Tony disliked the implication that he and the other three Avengers were not a force to be reckoned with.

“Now, now, ladies,” said Tony, moving between them, lowering his helmet and raising his own hands in a gesture that he hoped came across as placating. “There’s no need to measure up here. It was teamwork.”

“What was that you called them, Stark?” asked Natasha, taking a step forward herself.

“I think it’s time to head back to the tower,” said Tony quickly.

“I second that,” said Clint.

“Wait,” said Steve, “We have to take the Night Dodger—“

“Looks like it’s down to you and me, Steve,” said Natasha as Tony grabbed Clint and flew away. “You don’t happen to have any duct tape on you, do you?”

Things continued in the same pattern for a while, and soon they were only chasing half-rate villains every other week. But then a new problem occurred, because.

Well.

“Crap,” said Clint, his eyes glued to the screen that JARVIS had suddenly switched from a James Bond movie to a news channel.

The broadcast displayed Doctor Doom standing atop the Belvedere Castle in Central Park, shouting loudly enough in his mechanised voice for the news crew in the circling helicopter to pick up his words loud and clear.

“If this is your territory, Loki of Asgard,” the Latverian shreiked, “then you should come out and defend it!”

“I’m thinking words that are a little worse than ‘crap’,” Tony admitted. “Quick, someone cover Cap’s ears.”

“We cannot afford two villains who actually know what they are doing to have a turf war in the middle of Central Park,” Steve snarled. “Everyone, suit up.”

“Did Steve just imply that Doom knows what he’s doing?” Clint asked Tony.

“Don’t question it,” Tony replied. “I don’t think pissing Steve off is a good plan right now.”

Honestly, Tony should have been able to predict this. If a band of heroes claiming a place as their home invited challenge, then a villain claiming a city as his territory invited bloodshed. He should have realised that by asking Loki to do what they had, Loki was essentially stating that he deserved New York because he was the best at what he did, and no other villain would ever be able to stand for that.

Feeling slightly ill, Tony pushed his suit to the limit on the way to the Park, arriving before the Quinjet.

“Hey, your highness!” Tony shouted, hovering above the castle. “I’m no Loki, but I’m happy to claim this city as mine and take his place. Fancy a powwow?”

Doom snarled and raised a gauntleted hand. “You’re not welcome here, Stark!” he shouted, and Tony dodged the blast of green energy, darker in colour and hotter than the magic Tony was more familiar with.

“Now, you see, going into places where I’m not welcome is one of my specialties,” Tony replied, charging a repulsor and firing off a blast of his own. Doom yelled in rage and raised both his arms, and all of a sudden the air was full of Doom duplicates.

“Still with the Doombots?” Tony taunted as JARVIS immediately began relaying data on them. “You realise how self-absorbed those make you seem, right?”

“That is inconsequential compared to their efficiency,” Doom replied with a laugh, and the Doombots surged forward.

“Here we go, J,” Tony said. “Pause and evade?”

“A good plan, sir.”

Tony waited the perfect amount of time before cutting the power to his boots, leaving himself a window to get out but not enough warning for the bots to change course. Tony dropped away while the bots collided, and he regained his momentum to gracefully arc around the bright fireworks the crash made in the sky.

But it wasn’t enough; three of the bots were down, but at least twenty were left entirely operational. They were trailing behind Tony, lacking the speed to do much else, but he knew that he was vastly outnumbered.

He smiled, however, when he felt the tell-tale crackle of static in the air, and made sure to put on an extra burst of speed to increase the gap before the lightning struck and destroyed another few.

“You took your time,” Tony called, landing on the ground beside his teammate.

“And you started without me,” Thor complained.

“Sorry,” Tony shrugged. “It’s just too much fun.”

The quinjet arrived just as Tony and Thor were working together to destroy a few more of the bots, and then the rest of the Avengers - including the Hulk - were joining the fray. But with the added opposition the Doombots retreated, pulling back to the castle.

“This is not why I am here,” Doom snarled. “Doom has no quarrel with you, Avengers. Leave now, and I shall not pursue.”

“Fat chance,” Clint yelled back, loosing an arrow and taking down another bot when the shaft pierced its head.

“You are not the foes that Doom seeks.”

“Loki isn’t even coming,” Tony taunted, certain that he was right. “He doesn’t see you as enough of a threat to be worth bothering with.” Or, more likely, he just enjoyed pissing people off.

Doom screeched in anger, and bots flew down once more.

“Fantastic,” said Thor, swinging Mjölnir with a grin. “I have been eager for a decent fight these past weeks!”

“The likes of Leap Frog and the Shrike-inator not enough for you buddy?” asked Clint with a laugh, firing off arrows left and right. Then he added, “Iron Man, get me to some higher ground, dude.”

“Sure thing, Katniss.” Tony grabbed Clint by the waist (yes, superheroing is often oh so dignified) and flew him over to the quinjet. “Widow, you want to get this thing in the air?”

“You take away all my fun,” she sighed, kicking a bot in the head one final time before sprinting to the jet.

“And here I thought you enjoyed shooting bad guys with giant guns,” Tony said.

“It lacks my usual finesse.”

Natasha made short work of starting up the quinjet, and Clint steadied himself on the top of it while she rose slowly.

“Doom,” Natasha’s voice sounded from the speaker while arrows once again began to fly, and the jet’s impressive array of weapons aimed upon the castle where Doom was a safe distance away from the fighting Avengers. “If you do not stand down, I will not hesitate to fire.”

“Yes, you will,” said Doom.

“I assure you that I won’t.”

The mask on Doom’s face made it impossible to see whether or not he was smiling, but his voice made it clear. In fact, the amount of depraved joy conveyed through just one word had Tony almost impressed. Almost.

“Attack!”

The Doombots flew forward as one but from all directions, bypassing the group on the ground and heading straight for the quinjet. Hulk leapt into the air and managed to grab three, Steve got one with his shield, and Natasha was able to redirect the weapons and managed to take out a few, but the swarm was too many.

“I’ve got this,” said Thor, and the air began to crackle.

“No,” said Steve sharply. “You’ll hit Hawkeye.”

Tony rose into the air and Thor followed, readying his hammer for closer combat. But they were too slow, and by the time Tony had fired his first repulsors the bots were already on their way back to the castle, Clint held tightly amoungst them.

“Guys,” Clint called, his voice impressively steady. “I’m going to need a little help.”

“This is not good,” said Natasha.

Tony froze in the air. He knew Natasha’s hands were tied– if she tried to fire, Clint would be hit. On the ground Steve was trying to talk Hulk down, clearly making the point that if Hulk smashed, Hawkeye would be squished. Steve probably had the best chance of success out of all of them, but the Doombot had taken Clint over to Doom prime, and it would take Steve too long to get to the top of the castle.

“Thor, buddy,” said Tony, thinking fast. “I’m going to need a distraction.”

Thor, to his credit, did not question the riskiness of creating a distraction when Doom’s hand was on Clint’s throat. Instead, he simply nodded firmly, his face a picture of seriousness. “Will you give a signal?”

“Just start as soon as I’m gone,” Tony instructed, and then he shot off around the other side of the castle.

“DOOM!” Thor shouted. “You will release our compatriot!”

The air was full of electricity once again but Tony paid it no mind, powering up his repulsors and flying closer. Thor was yelling about honour and Doom was clamouring about bots and gods and lightning and Clint was shouting back to Thor to strike without worrying and Hulk was roaring over Steve’s worried calls. With all the noise, there was no way Doom was going to hear the whirr of the repulsors behind him, and his first warning of Tony’s presence was the blast to his back. Doom spun in response just in time to meet Tony’s tackle, Clint thrown away reflexively.

“Iron Man!” Steve shouted, recognising the danger as the Doombots closed in once again. But Tony knew he had given Clint the time to get to the quinjet Natasha had brought closer. Perhaps he could have done it in a less self-destructive manner, but it had been effective.

In no time Tony was pinned, the bots piling atop him as Doom slipped away. Tony’s boot repulsors fired and he shot out from under the bots, blasting with his hands as he went and taking out a few more. But he was vastly outnumbered and although he could see a few fall prey to electricity and a few more to arrows, he knew without a doubt that Doom had more bots in reserve. After all, the Avengers had not been his intended target. Doom would not have used up all of his forces before the main event.

Sure enough, more bots appeared, hitting harder and holding tighter, and Tony was locked down under the sheer weight of metal. He was finding it difficult to breathe, and he could hear Steve shouting in his ear but that wasn’t helping.

And then Tony heard the sound of a guardian angel. Well, that is, if guardian angels wear stupid helmets, speak in a British accent and make fantastic partners when tag-teaming star spangled war heroes.

“And here I thought you were waiting for me,” said Loki, and Tony couldn't see him but he could practically hear the smirk. 

As one, the Doombots paused in their assault. They did not get off the armour, but just the halting of their movements was enough for Tony to shake one arm free and activate his laser. The bots were sliced to ribbons in moments and Tony was spiralling up and away from the castle without pursuit. He paused in the air and glanced down in time to see Doom laugh.

“Finally,” the monarch declared. “A worthy opponent.”

“Oi!” shouted Clint from near the newly landed jet, but he was quickly knocked over the head by Natasha.

“Iron Man, are you all right?” she asked over the coms, actually sounding concerned.

“A little banged up, but I’m fine,” Tony told them. “Honestly. The suit took the worst of it.”

Down on the castle, the bots had closed in on their new target, surrounding Loki in an unbroken circle of metal. But the god looked perfectly at ease, his empty hands by his sides as he stood straight and proud.

“Why did you call?” he asked, and Tony smiled. Because Loki’s voice might sound to be slow and calm, but Tony recognised it as that of a predator manoeuvring their prey into a trap.

“You have claimed this city as your own,” Doom said loudly. “But you are no match for Doom!”

Loki laughed. “Oh, please. You may be the ruler of your own pathetic nation, but your minions, while numerous, are basic, powered by such rudimentary magic it is a wonder of itself how they remain upright.”

“You call Doom’s power rudimentary?”

“I call it weak,” Loki spat.

“You will fall before Doom!” The doctor raised his arms and gave the command, but Loki merely chuckled.

“I think not,” he said, and then as quick as a snake his own hands snapped up, daggers which certainly had not been in existence a moment before flashing amongst the metal of the bots.

“Should we… help?” asked Clint, and Tony shook his head as he finally touched down beside his teammates.

“I don’t think he needs it,” Tony replied. And okay, that stung a little, that Loki was able to slice through the bots that had taken Tony down so easily. But Tony had lost his advantage of surprise when he’d saved Clint, and besides, he’d got most of them with his laser. Loki was up against a depleted force. Tony would keep keep telling himself that. To keep his dignity.

“Well I, for one, am not going to let my brother have all the glory,” said Thor, throwing himself into the fray. Natasha followed with a sharp grin, and Steve sighed.

“All right,” he said, hefting his shield. “Let’s go.”

Hulk roared, and bounded to the castle in two long strides.

There was a squeal that was distinctly non-metalic when the Hulk joined the fight, and Tony jumped out of his skin as Loki materialised beside him.

“I would not have come had I known that the beast would be here,” Loki declared, his voice slightly panicky.

“Watch it, Bruce is my friend,” Tony warned. “But why did you come here, anyway? I thought you were planning on making Doom feel small by ignoring him.”

Loki glanced at Tony out of the corner of his eye. “It is disconcerting how well you know me.”

“Don’t avoid the question.”

“Brilliant,” said Loki suddenly, turning to the castle. “The Captain has captured Doom.”

Tony swears he only turned to look for a second, but by the time he’d turned back Loki was gone again. And Steve was taking on three bots at once, nowhere near where Doom was still perched on top of the tower, screeching orders and managing not to see Natasha as she climbed up the wall below him.

Tony leapt into the air, ready to get back into the fray, but paused when Loki reappeared before Doom, his whole being glowing with green energy.

“You prove how weak you are by allowing these heroes to fight your battles,” Doom said quickly, wasting no time.

“No, that is merely efficient,” Loki countered. “But if you want a show of power…”

“Oh, here we go.” Thor’s sigh was clearly audible over the coms.

Loki twisted a wrist and a flicked a few fingers, and apparently that was all it took to rend a hole in the fabric of the universe. For behind Doom the sky literally ripped, bright white light bleeding from the wound and illuminating a new world of fire visible through the tear.

“Muspelheim,” said Thor, shocked. “Loki—“

“I hope you enjoy your trip,” Loki said cheerfully. “Do tell anyone on the other side what awaits them if they try to attack the city of New York.”

Then with one final thrust of his arm Loki propelled Doom through the tear in the sky, which snapped shut behind him.

“I shall leave you to deal with the remaining robots,” Loki called down to Steve.

“Loki, wait,” said Thor, and Loki did actually pause.

“Thank you, Thor, for your announcement regarding the cessation of my manhunt,” Loki sneered. “It is gratifying to learn that you care at least enough to let the world know that I am no longer being hunted like a dog by my own family.”

Clint whistled lowly. “Harsh, man.”

“But true.” Thor inclined his head. “I am sorry, Loki.”

Loki gave his brother one last sneer before vanishing into nothing, leaving only a few angry bots and a green afterglow in his wake.

—x|x—

After the disappearance of their creator, the last of the Doombots had lacked direction and had been very easy to clean up. Nonetheless, Tony was exhausted by the time they returned to the Tower and he had walked straight past his teammates to the elevator, ignoring Steve’s demands for a debrief entirely.

But despite how tired he felt, the moment he entered his penthouse Tony paused, because leaning against his bar was a person that really shouldn’t have been there.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Tony asked cautiously, but moved toward the bar nonetheless.

“I believe you have an outstanding debt,” said Loki, and Tony froze.

“Already?” he asked, wary of the fact that after the way Loki had left the Park earlier that evening, it would almost certainly be something he didn’t like.

But Loki’s laugh was lighthearted. “Stark,” he chuckled. “You promised me a drink, once. I am here to collect.”

“Oh,” said Tony. Then he grinned. “Yeah sure, why not. We’re pals, now, after all.”

“Are we?” Loki’s words were soft, but his gaze was sharp and despite the suddenness Tony knew that his answer to this question would likely have a larger impact than anything he had said to Loki yet.

“Yes,” he said firmly. “We are. Now, what’ll you have?”

The smile that worked its way across Loki’s face was both sad and content. It was the sort of smile that let Tony know that, for once, he had said exactly the right thing, and he suddenly had a funny feeling that it wouldn’t be the last time Loki would be showing up in his penthouse.

The evening grew into something simple, comfortable, and fun, just two friends hanging out. Tony found the banter as enjoyable as always and he realised, about halfway through, that the only other people he had ever felt at ease around were Rhodey and Pepper. There was something significant in that, but, as he always did with things that were probably Very Important, Tony shoved it to the back of his mind and simply poured himself (and Loki) another drink.

—x|x—

One week passed and Loki showed up at an Avengers’ fight again. AIM had attacked the Roxon facility in New Hampshire and the Avengers had been doing fine until MODOK had arrived with a fucking EMP. Tony had long since adapted his suits to withstand such things, of course, but it took out the security systems of the facility and several extremely volatile machines had begun to overload. Steve had managed to oversee the evacuation of the facility, Clint and Natasha had taken out most of the goons and Thor and the Hulk had worked together to reduce MODOK to a quivering pile of flesh and robotics. Tony, meanwhile, was left to deal with the overloads with very little time.

It hadn’t gone well.

In fact, if Loki hadn’t shown up with his (literally) magical ice cube then Tony reckons the whole thing probably would have gone up in flames and taken both him and half of New Hampshire with it.

He blames the stress of the whole situation for the first words out of his mouth.

“This isn’t New York.”

“No,” said Loki, tilting his head. “It is not.”

“I just mean...” Tony gaped for a moment at the piles of ice Loki had turned the machines into before turning back to the god.

“You’re… blue.”

Then Loki (figuratively) froze, before glancing down to his blue hands.

“Oh,” he said, and disappeared.

“Man, you have got to stop doing that,” Tony shouted to the empty room.

“Stop doing what?” asked Thor, coming around the corner. Then his eyes widened as he spotted the state of the room. “Oh,” he said, in a totally different tone to his brother.

Tony was saved from trying to explain through the fortunate fact that Thor seemed to know exactly what had happened, which left the Avengers with the difficult task of trying to work out what the hell Loki had been doing there in the first place. As Tony had initially noted, the facility was not located in New York, so Loki really didn’t have to come under the conditions of their agreement.

“Maybe there was something here he wanted to steal for himself?” Natasha suggested.

“You mean… perhaps it was just a coincidence?” asked Steve.

The looks shared between the team were enough to evidence the contempt they all held for so called coincidences. But what other option was there?

—x|x—

That night, Loki turned up again in the tower, sitting at the bar with two glasses already poured, his hands in tight fists.

“Evening,” said Tony, settling beside his friend.

Loki tensed, but returned the greeting.

“So I’ve been wondering,” Tony started when it was clear that Loki would not be saying anything else, “how did you open that portal last week to send Doom to… where was it? Must-heem-what? And can you do that all the time? Could we like, go on a day trip to the land of the elves or something?”

The tension in Loki’s shoulders eased the more Tony prattled, and by the end of the final question he was smiling fondly. “Actually,” he said, “I didn’t open a portal at all. The opening was simply an illusion - of Muspelheim - all I did was transport him to the Southern Pole of your planet.”

“You sent him to Antarctica?” Tony exclaimed with glee. “Wow, that’s even more awesome than a fire planet. Can you imagine Doom surrounded by penguins?”

Loki’s smile widened as he watched Tony cackle. “I could have sent him to Muspelheim,” Loki said proudly. “But it does require an awful lot of energy. I am glad that you enjoy my alternative.”

“Enjoy?” Tony giggled, wiping his eyes. “Lokes, you are the best.”

That’s just the way things went between them. Sure, straying away from the Big Issues was probably not the healthiest of routes for them to take, but it was just so comfortable. Loki kept visiting, at first only after battles where Tony had been in danger as if he were checking up, but then Loki simply started to visit seemingly just because he could. It wasn’t long before the visits every odd week turned into more, developing first into a pattern and then into a habit, and soon Tony and Loki were spending evenings together more often than not.

Steve, meanwhile, believed that he had spotted a pattern of his own.

“It’s about Tony,” he said one afternoon, announcing his theory slap bang in the middle of Thor’s choice of movie.

“Oh come on, man,” Clint complained. “Couldn’t you have waited until after Yoda destroyed Dooku?”

“I would not worry,” said Thor. “This movie is dreadfully inaccurate.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Clint exclaimed. “Thor. Buddy. It’s a movie.”

“I’m still waiting to find out what’s all about me,” Tony interrupted.

“Isn’t everything?” finished Bruce, and the two shared a laugh.

“It’s Loki,” said Steve, shooting them a disapproving glare.

Natasha frowned thoughtfully. “He does seem to focus on you, Tony,” she agreed.

Tony shrugged, keeping it casual. “Does he?”

“My brother does obsess over things,” Thor said, his own brow furrowed. “If he has chosen to obsess over you then it would be best that you remain cautious.”

“Guys,” said Tony, rolling his eyes. “I’m fine.”

“But he has taken a liking to you,” Steve continued. “You have to admit that every time he’s showed up since we told him to calm down—“

“Since you told him to calm down,” Tony muttered.

“—it’s been when you’re in trouble. There’s a pattern, Tony.”

And Tony paused, because, huh. Steve had a point.

“It’s almost like he’s trying to protect you,” said Bruce worriedly. “Perhaps this is a good thing.”

“Or maybe he’s just buttering Tony up for something else,” Clint said ominously.

“Either way,” said Natasha, “The way things are now… it does look like Loki is watching Tony’s back.”

And yeah, it seemed sound, Tony had to admit that, but they had absolutely nothing to support the theory. Well, nothing other than coincidence and suspicion, and Tony was grateful for that fact, because to be honest the mere possibility of the theory being true freaked him out a little. Because if it were true, then it meant that Loki actually cared about him, and if that were true, then Tony would have to actually think about the thing that rested between them. If there was one thing Tony was bad at it was emotions, so yeah, he was glad that what the Avengers had was nothing more than a theory.

Of course, then Loki had to go and fucking validate it.

“Iron Man is my nemesis,” Loki snarled as his magic slowly pulled a screaming Molecule Man to shreds atop a billboard in Times Square, taking no heed of the Avengers clamouring below him as Thor helped an injured and armourless Tony back upright. “If anyone else tries to take him out they will suffer a pain like this world has yet to even conceive.”

After that, it was no surprise to anyone that Steve decided to call Loki in for another meeting.

—x|x—

This time, Steve didn’t even let Tony go with him, just left him there at the breakfast table with only the two assassins for company.

“What if I promise not to flirt with him again?” Tony shouted to Steve’s retreating back.

“I don’t trust that you’d be able to keep that promise,” Steve replied, turning just as the elevator doors shut so that Tony could see the teasing grin on his face.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with him,” said Natasha, popping a grape into her mouth.

Tony pouted. “I so could if I wanted to.”

“No," she countered. “You really couldn’t.”

“Maybe,” Tony allowed. “That doesn’t mean I couldn’t hold a civil conversation, though.”

“I think that when both you and Loki are involved, that’s exactly what that means.” Natasha smirked. “I’ve seen the two of you flirting from the opposite ends of a battlefield. I pity Steve for having to listen to a… ‘civil conversation’? Is that what you called it?”

Between Natasha’s smug look and Clint’s laughter, Tony had difficulty deciding where to aim his glare.

Luckily it turned out that whether or not ‘civil conversation’ would be a good idea was a moot point anyway, since Steve returned in under ten minutes.

“He says he’ll only deal with Iron Man,” Steve complained, throwing himself into a chair and closing his eyes like he had a headache.

Tony snorted. “Not that I’m not flattered, but I am curious— what’d you do to piss him off?”

“Nothing,” Steve said, his voice annoyed but unsurprised. “He wouldn’t even let me talk, just sneered and asked where you were, and when I said that you weren’t going to be dealing with him anymore he just up and left. JARVIS says he thinks he’ll come back if you go up there.”

“Well, JARVIS is usually right,” said Tony, getting to his feet and moving his hands in a sweeping gesture across himself. “After all, who wouldn’t want to spend time with all this?”

“I could name a few people.”

“Fuck off, Clint.”

When Tony stepped out of the elevator on his floor, Loki was standing by the window, looking out over the city.

“Penny for your thoughts?” said Tony, moving to stand beside him.

“I thought these talks were supposed to go the other way around,” Loki said blandly, not shifting his gaze.

“Oh, come on,” Tony replied. “I know something’s up, and you know exactly what I’m going to ask.”

Loki’s shoulders hunched as his arms curled around his middle, and Tony exhaled a deep sigh. He recognised that stance as one he had taken himself many times over the years, and he knew how that self-depreciating twist in the stomach could make a person feel like they were being ripped apart from the inside.

“How about we make a deal,” Tony said, stepping around and sliding between Loki and the window. There wasn’t much room, enough to stand without touching, but they were very close. Tony banked on Loki’s pride to keep him in that spot, and was pleased when it paid off. He wanted Loki to know how serious he was, and he thought the closeness might help with that.

“What are you proposing this time?” Loki asked cautiously, and the open vulnerability in his expression told Tony that yes, Loki really did get it.

“I propose that we make a promise to each other, right here, right now.” Tony kept his gaze locked with Loki’s, eyes soft in contrast to the hard tone. “A promise that we will never lie to one another.”

A crease formed between Loki’s eyes. “Those are steep words,” he whispered.

“Never is a long time, I guess,” said Tony. “Well. Sort of.”

“A very long time.” Loki tilted his head, and Tony knew he was thinking about it. “You realise what this would mean?”

“The truth always hurts,” Tony said, swallowing hard. “I know that, and I also know that we aren’t always going to be on the same side. We aren’t even on the same side now. But I also know that, for some reason, we’re linked right here and right now, and that’s not going to go away any time soon.”

Loki smiled. “I like that,” he whispered. “Linked.”

“I do, too.” Tony slowly lifted his hand and touched his fingers to the back of Loki’s. “I’m glad you see it that way as well.”

“It’s hard to see it any other way.” Loki turned his hand to catch Tony’s in his grasp, his eyes locked on his own movements as he entwined their fingers. “I don’t understand this,” he said, "but I do know that whatever it is, it is stronger than anything I have felt in a very long time.”

And whoa, okay, Loki was getting deep. But somehow, Tony felt nothing of his usual inclination to lean away from anything that smelt of emotion, and instead felt only a desire to hold Loki’s hand tighter.

“I’ll swear to you that I won’t lie,” Loki said suddenly. “I may not always reveal everything, I can promise you that everything I do say will be the truth.”

“Honesty,” Tony said simply.

“Yes,” agreed Loki. “Honesty. I can promise you that.”

“And you’ll have the same from me.” Tony cast his gaze down for a moment to steel his resolve before catching Loki’s eyes once more. “This is going to require trust.”

“Oh, Anthony,” Loki said, and Tony found that somehow, he didn’t mind the name. “Didn’t we pass that point a long time ago?”

Tony nodded slowly. “You’ve saved my life more times than anyone else, I think. Except probably Pepper.”

“It’s more than that.” This time, it was Loki who averted his gaze. “You saw me,” he said, his words little more than a soft exhale. “You saw me, and yet you’ve told no one.”

It took Tony a moment.

“Oh,” he said. “You mean back at Roxon.”

It was a moment that Tony had to admit had sat heavily between them, but he had known better than to bring it up. It was clearly a sore subject, and Tony was clever enough to be able to link the blue skin and red eyes to Thor’s callous reference to an adoption on the Helicarrier way back when everything had just begun.

“You haven’t said anything,” Loki continued. “Not to Thor, not to your other teammates, not to me. You’ve kept your questions to yourself and have given me time to come to grips with the fact that you know.”

“I’m going to have to be frank, here,” said Tony, causing Loki to pause. “I don’t actually know what it is that you're so worried about.”

So it was that Tony received an explanation about Asgardians and their systematic loathing of the Frost Giants, how Asgardian children are raised to hate. How Loki, after believing he had been part of a family for over a millennia had learned not only that he was adopted, but that he was the monster he had feared as a child and vowed to kill as an adult.

“I don’t blame you for wanting to hide,” said Tony after it was clear that Loki could say no more, gripping tightly onto Loki’s arm when the god flinched. “No, listen. I don’t blame you, but not for the reasons you’re stressing about right now. Lo, I don’t think that you’re a monster. I know for a fact that you’re not. But while I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through I can understand why you would want to take steps in order to avoid being treated as something you’re not. Because you’re not a monster, Loki. You’re one of the best people that I have ever met.”

“You haven’t known me for long,” Loki started, but Tony cut him off.

“No, you don’t get to do that. Because I do know you, and I am not just saying these things to make you feel better.” Tony gave him a soft smile. “Or did you forget about the promise we made only a few minutes ago?”

Unshed tears shone in Loki’s bright eyes. “Thank you,” he said, his voice choked.

“But if you don’t mind my asking… did you know, when you used that box thing, that it would remove your illusion?”

“It’s not an illusion,” Loki said. “I am a natural shape shifter– I have actually changed my skin on the physical plane, not through an illusion.” His gaze focused, his expression conveying some deep emotion that Tony was afraid to understand. “I didn’t think about it consciously. I knew that using the Casket of Ancient Winters would have that result, as it did when I used it in the past. However, all I thought of at that moment was that you were going to die unless I did something, and so I did the first thing that I thought of.”

The words rang through Tony’s mind like lightning, crackling brightly and painfully and leaving not a single thought untouched. He wondered if this was the feeling that he had heard described as ‘fireworks’ by more romantic sorts, though he doubted it– while it definitely felt like something inside his brain was exploding, he wasn’t sure that he could possibly describe the sensation as anything remotely close to pleasant. Except that somehow, impossibly, it was, because Loki had just told Tony that he’d cared enough, that he'd cared so much that he’d sacrificed the security of the most hidden part of himself to save Tony’s life– and this before they had even properly become friends.

Tony’s brain might have been in crisis, but he had never been more acutely aware of his surroundings as he was in that moment. The air was charged with something powerful, and the small distance between he and Loki suddenly seemed to close. He didn’t feel claustrophobic, though– as he looked up and met Loki’s earnest gaze he realised that he felt safe, safer than he had in a very long time. And when Loki leaned down to press a soft kiss on Tony’s lips, he realised that he had been expecting it.

The kiss only lasted a fraction of a second before Loki was pulling back, but that brief contact was all that Tony needed to ascertain that it was the best fraction of a second of his life. Loki’s eyes were wide and full of uncertainty, shining a bright green in the dim light of the penthouse. That Loki was worried when all Tony could feel was utter contentment seemed like the worst kind of injustice, and he was about to pull Loki down for the best kind of reassurance when the god began to speak.

“Was that all right?” Loki asked, his voice softer than Tony had heard yet.

And Tony was tempted to go through with the whole ‘not sure, you’ll have to do it again’ spiel that he knew Loki would find amusing, except he also knew that those words, if only for the slightest of moments, would give Loki cause to doubt. And Tony knew that was something by which he could not abide.

“You could do that for the rest of eternity and I wouldn’t complain,” Tony whispered instead, and Loki’s lips turned up at the corners.

“Sap,” he said.

Instead of retorting, Tony stood up on his toes and pressed their lips back together, humming in pleasure as that feeling of completeness returned. He really could just stay there forever, he thought, held tightly against Loki as the god’s arms snaked around his waist, his own arms hooked over Loki’s shoulders. They fumbled a little at first, each with years of experience regarding the movements but never with something that meant anything so powerful. Tony knew he, at least, had never poured quite so much feeling into such a simple physical act, and he knew from Loki’s hesitance that he felt the same.

But to Tony, the stumbles simply made it all the more flawless, adding a layer of genuineness that they both needed. He knew that the nervousness would fade as they grew to know each other better, and that was something that Tony looked forward to with all his being.

Tony smiled sweetly against Loki’s lips. “I suppose I know why you declared me as your nemesis,” he said.

“I am possessive,” Loki agreed, his eyes remaining closed as he ran a hand softly along the curve of Tony’s spine. And then, as if to prove his point, Loki tightened his grip and claimed Tony’s lips once more, moving faster and deeper and surer than before. This kiss wasn’t sweet, and nor was it soft– it was the coming together of something a long time in the making, lips and teeth and tongues battling just as surely as Loki and Tony had for as long as they’d known each other. It was harsh and it was perfect, and Tony couldn’t hold back a soft sigh of contentment.

Of course, it was only afterwards, when Tony was sitting down to dinner and Natasha asked how the chat went that he realised he and Loki had never actually addressed the problem.

—x|x—

“Fucking Loki,” Clint snapped when the god’s score on the whiteboard began sneaking back up to first place. “Tony, can’t you just tell him that you can take care of yourself?”

“I’m afraid that if Sir were to do so, he would be breaking his agreement with Mr Liesmith,” said JARVIS, sparing Tony from answering. The AI was such a good friend– Wait. Was JARVIS implying that Tony couldn’t look after himself?

He was.

“Traitor,” Tony grumbled.

“As always, I live to serve you, Sir.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Clint asked. When he received no response, he threw his arms up into the air. “Whatever. But Tony, seriously, please do something.”

Tony refused to feel bad, because while he knew exactly what was happening he was fairly sure that the Avengers wouldn’t forgive him. They might be able to laugh about a bit of flirting but this was something real, and Tony wasn’t going to trivialise it for the sake of a tally on a whiteboard. So instead of giving an answer at all, he simply stood and headed down to his workshop where he knew he could vent about his issues to someone supportive. Dummy, after all, was a brilliant listener. Tony didn’t even respond to the taunts Clint shot at him as he left, claiming that maybe the reason why he didn’t tell Loki to stop was because he liked having a knight in shining armour.

In fact, he had to hold in a laugh at that one, because Tony wasn’t always the damsel of the story. There was one particularly memorable time when Loki had got in a scuffle with Doctor Strange in lower Manhattan and Tony had to intervene, taking a page out of Loki’s book and informing the ex-surgeon that if he ever touched Tony’s nemesis again, he’d be taken off the list of Avengers' contacts and would stop receiving the honestly ludicrous consultation fees.

“He was trying to steal an Infinity Stone!” Strange had protested. “Surely I was within my rights to defend it!”

Tony held up one gauntleted finger and stepped closer to the sorcerer than he would have been comfortable with had Strange not been tied to a chair with his own (struggling) cloak.

“You’ll not touch him again,” Tony threatened, and for some reason Strange had only responded to the threat by rolling his eyes. Magicians.

“I had that,” Loki complained later that night.

“Of course you did, honey bunch,” Tony said.

“I did. He was cheating. That cloak of his should count as a second adversary.”

“Of course it should.”

“I’ll know what to expect next time.”

“Of course you will.”

“Anthony, are you patronising me? I am a god.”

“Oh yes,” Tony had smirked. “Trust me, I am well aware of that.”

Of course, the best way to deal with Loki in this state was always to shut him up by occupying his lips with something far more enjoyable, and Loki never seemed to mind. In fact, it almost became a game between them, with even Tony occasionally starting off a few such evenings by complaining about how Loki had interrupted another Avengers’ scuffle when Tony had been in danger of little more than a scratch.

“So you wouldn’t have minded, then?” Loki asked once, stepping outside their usual routine.

“Minded what?”

“If I had not intervened.” Loki was uncharacteristically fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt, so Tony took the god’s hands in his.

“Why do you ask?” he questioned, catching Loki’s gaze.

“We always do this dance,” said Loki, his lips quirking up. “We always come back here to complain to each other, but I just need to make sure that we are on the same page.”

“I don’t think either of us are obliged to help each other,” said Tony, frowning. “I’ve never thought that. I can’t speak for you, but know that the times I have helped you out it wasn’t because I felt like I had to, or even because I thought that you needed it.”

“It was because you wanted to,” Loki breathed. “Anthony, I know that.“

“Then why the doubt?” Tony asked.

Loki looked away. “Habit, I suppose,” he said.

Tony’s protective instincts flared, and made sure that his next words were heavy with truth.

“I won't say that I would be disappointed if you didn't save me, because I would never diminish what you have done for me like that."

"It wouldn't diminish it," Loki started, but Tony held up a hand. 

"Let me finish." He waited for Loki's nod before continuing. "While I will promise to never take your help for granted,” Tony said, “I am mature enough to consider the situation in reverse. And in regard to how I would feel if you went off and fought someone and then didn’t let me help you when you needed it…”

Loki leaned in, his lips parting and his eyes wide, and Tony smiled as he released their hands to curl his fingers around the back of Loki’s neck.

"In conclusion, yes,” Tony finished, drawing him down for a deep, lazy kiss that Loki responded to eagerly. “I most certainly would have minded.”

—x|x—

When you care about a person so deeply that every moment with them feels like a gift, the happiness flowing through your body becomes increasingly easy to spot. The closer you become, the more difficult the affection is to conceal, and Tony and Loki had grown remarkably close. They were friends, they were in love, and they were both too clever to even consider hiding it. On the battlefield they bantered and chatted like they always did, and people, as people tend to do, began to take notice.

It was amusing, watching different people try to muddle it all out. Twitter was sure that Loki was purely in it for the territory, like Loki had claimed, but most of Tumblr was arguing that Loki was doing the Avengers a favour in order to patch things up with his brother. The terribly-easy-to-hack villain chat forum, on the other hand, seemed under the impression that Loki was infiltrating the team in order to take them down from the inside. 

“Ah yes,” Loki giggled when Tony showed him the threads. “I did hear about this. To be totally honest, it’s making my life far easier. They all think I’m playing you, and they all want in on the scheme. Makes them awfully easy to manipulate.”

The conversation in the Avengers’ quinjet the day that Natasha noticed Tony had been flying out to help Loki in his own fights, however, was an interesting one, though Tony did think he handled it quite well.

Not that I’m only returning a favour seemed to blow over well with Natasha who had continued with the evilly amused smirk, but Steve had looked suitably sympathetic when he’d asked Tony if the favour he was returning was the one of 'personal nature' he’d promised back in the beginning.

Well. Tony had forgotten all about that.

And when he asked Loki what he wanted during a quiet moment as they held each other on Tony’s bed later that night, Loki had only smiled.

“You could promise to actually keep yourself safe,” he said fondly. “That would do.”

Tony pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I can promise to try.”

Of course, promising to try and stay safe means absolutely nothing when you’re encased in a metal suit of armour and fucking Magneto turns up.

The only good thing about the situation was that, after the last time they’d faced the guy, Thor had gone to Asgard and had some extra fancy spells weaved into Mjölnir to prevent Magneto from stealing it. It didn’t, however, prevent the mutant from taking Cap’s shield, Clint’s weapons, Natasha’s stingers, or Tony’s whole freaking body. Hulk had remained unhindered - at least until the metal supports of an entire fucking building wrapped their way around his limbs. And despite his retention of his weapon, Thor was unable to use his lightning for fear of harming Tony, leaving Magneto free to begin slowly crushing the armour, contorting Tony’s limbs into torturous and unnatural shapes.

“Where the hell are the X-Men?” Tony could hear Steve yelling, but he knew they were too far away. There was someone else though, someone else who could help, and then Natasha’s voice came over the coms.

“Someone needs to get hold of Loki.”

“No,” Tony managed to gasp through his screams, because Loki wore armour too and Tony wouldn’t be able to cope if—

“Yes,” Magneto snarled, pressing down on the armour harder. “You are not going to get out of this, Iron Man. To have the gall to continue to wear a suit of metal and claim that you and your friends reign over this city– you deserve to be shown the truth of the matter!“

Magneto curled his hand and Tony’s arm twisted, and bile rose up his already raw throat along with a screech as he heard the bone crack.

“Now is not the time to worry about your pride, Tony,” Natasha snapped. “Thor, contact him now.”

“I have his number,” said Steve. “Usually he'd be here, what's taking so long? Hawkeye, go back to the quinjet and get those plastic arrows!”

But the noise went unnoticed by Tony, and he felt another howl tear through his throat as something stabbed him in the side– a plate of armour pushed beyond its limits.

“Your armour will not protect you now, Stark,” Magneto cackled. “Perhaps now you will learn to keep your arrogance in check.”

Suddenly, Magneto stopped, his gaze caught on something over Tony’s shoulder. And despite the fact that his own screams were blocking out even JARVIS’ panicked words and the roars of the Hulk, Tony still managed hear a crisp British accent speak clearly and dangerously calmly through the clamour.

“What do you think you are doing, mutant?”

“Oh, I forgot,” Magneto drawled, and Tony sobbed as the pressure on his body ceased increasing. “You’ve claimed Iron Man as your nemesis, haven’t you?” He let out a harsh laugh. “You don’t have to keep up the charade here; they won’t be breathing much longer, after all.”

Loki’s response was not verbal; he surged forward with a cold and deadly blast of magic, knocking Tony away from Magneto and onto a nearby rooftop. Tony whimpered as the landing jostled the metal and pushed shards of the suit further into his skin, and for a moment his vision went white.

“JARVIS,” Tony croaked, doing his best to ignore the fight happening above. “Release the suit.”

“I do not believe that is a good idea, Sir,” JARVIS said worriedly. “Parts of the suit have pierced several significant blood vessels, and I fear that removing them would result in blood loss too rapid to be halted without professional medical intervention.”

JARVIS must have been broadcasting, because Tony definitely heard Steve swear. No way he could have imagined such a thing.

“Stay where you are, Tony,” said Clint. “I’m in the jet, and I think it’s safe now to bring it in. Looks like Loki’s got Magneto distracted enough.”

“Don’t,” snapped Loki, and Steve swore again.

“How are you on our coms?” Steve demanded.

“Magic,” said Thor.

“Never mind that,” Loki grunted, the exertion of the fight bleeding through in his words. “Don’t worry about the jet, just get yourselves to Anthony’s location and keep him alive long enough for me to get there.”

It was a testament to how dire the situation was that the Avengers did not argue.

While he waited, Tony tried to focus his breathing, trying to keep it steady despite the fact that every movement of his chest was excruciating. He’d been through worse before, he told himself. He’d survived.

“We’re almost there, Tony,” said Natasha, her voice deadly calm. “Stay awake, we’re almost there.”

“Oh I don’t think so,” shouted Magneto, and Tony was suddenly lifted in the air once again. The movement agitated everywhere that metal touched his skin and Tony cried out with the pain.

But he forced his eyes to remain open, and as he came to a stop beside Magneto he could see Loki, face paler than Tony had ever seen it before.

“This is why you’re here, is it not?” asked the mutant, a feral grin on his face as he jostled Tony side to side. “This is nothing to do with the city or pissing on your territory; this is something else. Everyone else is wrong– you aren’t tricking the Avengers, you are truly on their side!”

Loki didn’t try to deny it. “You will regret what you have done to him,” he snarled, eyes flashing as he raised his daggers. And Tony was hit with a sudden thought– how was it that Loki remained free from Magneto’s control? His armour, while mostly leather, was accentuated with metal and that should have left him vulnerable.

Then Loki spread his arms in sudden move, and a bubble of energy exploded outward as he did so. It looked remarkably like a force field, and Tony was struck with the realisation that perhaps this was how Loki was managing to subvert Magneto's power - some kind of shield, perhaps, something similar to what Thor had on Mjölnir? But there was no time to ponder as Magneto and Tony both dropped to the ground as the energy hit them, clearly messing with the mutant’s ability. Loki caught Tony with his magic and lowered him to the street gently but Magneto was not so lucky, and he fell twenty stories and hit the ground hard.

“Are you all right, Anthony?” Loki asked, his focus never straying from the mess of flesh and fabric on the ground.

“No,” Tony admitted. “But I think I’ll live.”

Loki gave one short nod, and then strode over to the broken mutant. Magneto, amazingly, was still alive, and he groaned as Loki turned him over with his foot.

“Do you regret it, yet?” Loki asked pleasantly.

“Go to hell,” Magneto spat.

Loki’s face screwed up in rage, and raw power slammed into Magneto’s chest pushing him hard against the tarmac.

“You will,” Loki snarled, and Tony watched in equal measures of fascination and horror as Magneto’s clothes burned away and flesh began to peel from bone. The mutant was screaming but Loki kept pushing forward with his assault, his eyes burning with a need to cause pain.

“Brother!” Thor shouted, his feet hammering against the ground as he ran up to the macabre group. “You must stop this!”

Loki took no notice, but the noise jerked Tony out of his pain fuelled haze.

“Hey, Reindeer Games,” he said after finally convincing JARVIS to remove the helmet. “I could use a hand, actually.”

Tony knew his voice was weak and croaky, and he knew that he must look horribly pathetic lying prone and twisted in the middle of the battered street. But Loki turned anyway, his magic ceasing, and when he saw Tony, his eyes widened.

“Go, brother,” said Thor, touching Loki gently on the shoulder and gesturing to the other Avengers who were just arriving on the scene. “We’ll finish taking care of the mutant.”

Loki glanced back to his sobbing victim.

“Do you think you could get this suit off?” Tony prompted faintly, and then Loki was hovering right above him.

“Where is the damage, JARVIS?” Loki asked, fingers already making quick work of some of the looser pieces of metal.

“There is a shard of metal lodged below Sir’s left ribs,” JARVIS said, using the suit’s speaker. “Another in his left thigh, and there are multiple lacerations on his right calf. His left arm is broken, as are four ribs, and his blood flow has been severely restricted all across his body.”

“Not to mention it’s getting a little difficult to breathe,” Tony tacked on.

Loki’s eyes had darkened during the explanation and Tony wondered if the god would head back over to Magneto for another round of vengeance, but instead he merely got back to work, his hands glowing softly. He paused only briefly when Bruce, looking worse for wear and lacking a shirt approached slowly, asking if there was anything he could do. But when Loki’s only response was a glare, Bruce held up his hands and backed away.

“So what’s the verdict?" Tony asked, and Loki sighed.

“I’ll be able to fix this,” he said. “But healing is not my specialty. This is going to hurt.”

Well. They had promised not to lie to one another, and if anything, Loki’s words were a definite understatement.

—x|x—

“I think we broke Twitter,” said Tony, staring at the image of a cartoon whale that, only moments before, had replaced photographs of Loki leaning over Tony in the middle of a broken New York street. “Again.”

“Man, we haven’t done that since Bruce transformed in jeans last year,” said Clint.

“I don’t think that’s the issue we should be focusing on,” said Bruce, but he was quickly interrupted by Tony.

“Of course it’s the issue we should be focusing on! I want to know what everyone is saying about our sordid affair!”

“Oh, it’s sordid now, is it?” asked Natasha.

“Well I don’t know, do I?” Tony retorted. “I can’t get on Twitter to find out.”

Loki snorted. “Surely you could fix it?”

“Tragically not,” Tony sighed. “I tried, but Pepper said the SI shareholders wouldn’t like it if I bought the website.”

“She’s a very smart woman,” said Natasha.

“And you’re looking mighty chipper for someone who was dying half an hour ago,” Steve interjected, grabbing Tony’s shoulders and forcing him to sit down on the couch. “Will you stop moving for five minutes?”

“I wasn’t dying,” Tony complained. And actually, after the pain had faded, the aftereffects of the healing magic had left him positively energised. “Loki, tell him.”

Loki rolled his eyes, but dutifully recited: “Anthony was not dying.”

“Thank you,” said Tony. “Now come here.” Loki was standing too far from the couch for Tony’s grabbing hand to reach, but he moved close enough of his own accord for Tony to clasp his fingers around Loki’s wrist and pull him down onto the couch. “That’s better,” Tony sighed in relief, leaning into Loki’s side and resting his head on his shoulder.

“Okay,” said Clint, sitting down on the couch beside Tony and staring at the pair intensely. “I know this isn’t exactly sudden, but I can’t be the only one of us wondering what is going to happen next.”

“I would like to know as well,” said Thor, perching on Clint’s armrest and forcing the archer to lean forward to avoid being cuddled up to him. “Brother, are you redeemed?”

Loki raised a disbelieving eyebrow, but Tony started giggling.

“What?” Loki asked warily.

“Well, you have to admit,” Tony said, turning his head awkwardly to look Loki in the eye. “You kind of are.”

“Uh, Tony,” said Bruce, slowly sitting down on the armchair opposite. “You saw what Loki did to Magneto, right? He was in shreds.”

“He’s still alive, though,” Tony pointed out.

“Barely,” muttered Clint.

“No less so than Molecule Man,” Natasha pointed out, shifting to lean against Bruce’s chair, “Though that guy did literally have to be scraped off the sidewalk.”

“You’re missing the point,” Tony said, lifting his head from Loki’s shoulder and turning to face them all square on. “Ok, so Loki’s still not the most moral guy in the world, but newsflash - none of us are, we all know that.”

“We don’t go around melting people,” Steve pointed out, and Tony glared at the interruption, even if he did sort of agree with the words.

“No. But what we do is go around stopping people who are risking the lives of innocent people. And remind me, what is it that Loki has been doing more than anything these past few months?”

Clint raised his hand with a short laugh. “He’s been going around stopping bad guys?”

“Ten points to Hufflepuff,” Tony nodded, and Clint grinned.

“So what are you saying?” asked Natasha, her lips quirked. “Loki should join the team?”

Tony raised his brows. “I think Loki should do whatever he wants to, and I think we should stop persecuting him for it.” A pause. “Unless, of course, he does actually start killing people.”

When Tony turned, he was unsurprised to see that Loki was staring at him in shock, his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted.

“You would have me join your team?”

“Like I said.” Tony wrapped an arm around Loki’s waist and smiled. “Only if it’s something you want. From what I did see of Twitter, I don’t think there would be too much of a backlash. People have noticed a pattern– you’ve helped us a lot recently, and besides, you’ve never really caused that much damage.”

“Except for that one time,” Clint pointed out. “But I mean, after Thor’s announcement, most people get that it wasn’t your idea.”

“We all know it could have been a lot worse,” said Natasha.

“So you agree as well?” Loki asked them. 

“No,” Steve replied. He had remained quiet for most of the conversation, preferring to watch them from the side with his arms crossed. “I do believe that you’ve changed, Loki, and I know that Tony has been a huge part of that. But this much? I don’t believe it possible.”

Clint and Natasha looked like they might have agreed, and Bruce shifted in his seat and wouldn’t meet Tony’s eyes. And then—

“Maybe we could start our own group,” said Thor, and Loki turned his surprised gaze to his brother. “Iron Man and the Asgardian princes.”

“Oh come on,” said Tony. “I demand a better name than that.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “You’d leave over this?”

“No,” Tony said with a short laugh. “I mean, would I if it were that or losing Loki? Yes. But it’s not, so I won’t.”

“Tony,” started Steve, but Tony shook his head.

“Nuh-uh, Steve. Going by your standards, we’re all bad people. We’ve all had our melting people moments.”

“Some of us more than others,” said Natasha, inclining her head.

“Exactly," Tony smiled. "So. Can we move on, now?"

“Tony,” Steve sighed. “I just don’t think—“

“You just don’t think I’m being genuine,” Loki cut in. “It’s all right, Captain, I do understand. But I think that you have misread me.”

“My brother is being true in this,” Thor said, gesturing grandly with his hands. “I know that my track record of uncovering his intentions is not the best—“

“Far from it,” said Loki.

“—but I do know him. And I know that if there were one thing Loki would never lie about, it is—“

Thor’s words were cut off by a sudden snap. During his budding speech he had grown a little exuberant, and had hit the couch with his fist with just a little bit too much force.

“Ah,” he said, sheepishly getting to his feet. “Stark. Your furniture appears to have broken.”

Tony eyed the chunk of armrest on the ground. “So it has.”

Thor’s kicked puppy expression was hilarious, and Clint broke first, exploding into guffaws.

“Man, and another comfy couch bites the dust,” he giggled.

“Come on guys,” Steve sighed, though his stance was significantly more relaxed than before. Thor, it would seem, really had helped in lightening the mood.

“So what’re you thinking, Loki?” asked Clint, his own expression more open though his words were still wary. “Going to come over to the light side? Trust me, we have the best cookies.”

“What,” Loki replied, amusement colouring his tone, “you’re not still afraid that I’ll steal your job?”

Clint shrugged. “If you join us, you’ll technically be sharing our job, right?”

Loki smiled and leaned closer to Tony, his lips almost brushing against Tony’s cheek. “What do you think?"

“To be totally honest, at this point,” Tony laughed, “you’re already more of an Avenger than the rest of us put together. You’ve just got a little issue with authority.”

Loki grinned devilishly, all teeth and dark amusement. “Don’t we all?”

Tony’s smile grew as he recognised the glint in Loki’s eye, and was entirely unsurprised when Loki wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist and pulled him closer. Tony moved willingly, eagerly, and his own hands tangled in Loki’s hair as he tilted up his chin to meet Loki half way. There were no fumbles this time, no nervous mistakes; their lips pressed together with the ease of perfect comfort, for there was no need to be wary when they had reached the point where both knew that neither would ever find cause for regret. The kiss remained chaste, aware as they were of the whole team in the room, but that did not limit the affection that they poured into it.

And maybe it was Tony’s words that had done the trick, or maybe it was the undeniable emotion and practiced intimacy with which Loki and Tony held each other. Or maybe the team had simply used the intervening quiet to think it through by themselves, but when he and Loki eventually disentangled, it was to find the Avengers watching them with acceptance etched across their faces.

“All right, Tony,” sighed Steve, and Tony smiled. “All right.”

The silence that followed was nice, and comfortable. But, as with most comfortable things in the Avengers’ lives (looking at you, Thor), it was soon broken.

“Iron Man sucks,” Clint’s pocket chirped in the voice of Batman.

“You did not,” Tony growled, shooting Loki a glare when all the god did in response was snicker along with the others. “You did not set that as your message tone.”

“What?” asked Clint, not even looking up as he pulled out his phone. “It’s such a good movie.”

“Clint,” said Tony, his voice deadly calm. “If you don’t want your quiver to start exploding spontaneously, you’d better remember who it is that designs and builds all your gear.”

“Oh look,” said Clint as he gestured to the alert he’d received on his phone, his words far too nonchalant to be anything other than a deliberate subject change. “SHIELD’s removed Loki from their Active Threat list.”

“THEY’VE WHAT?” Loki screeched, reaching over Tony and swiping at Clint. “Give me that, Barton!”

Clint clutched his phone protectively, but it only took a flash of green for the archer to be gripping nothing at all.

“Hey!” Clint exclaimed.

Tony (being, in his opinion, the far more tactful half of the relationship) held in his laughter as he watched Loki pour morosely over Clint’s phone, reading all about how the world had come to the conclusion that Loki had switched sides.

“My reputation,” Loki moaned. “They all think I’ve gone soft.”

“Hey,” Tony said, wrapping a comforting arm around Loki’s shoulders. “Just think of it this way. Now that they think you’re an Avenger and have taken you off the Threat list, they’re never going to see you coming.”

“Damn you, Stark,” groaned Steve.

But in Tony’s opinion, the evilly wide grin that brightened Loki’s face made any future destruction worth it.

After all, he had to admit– watching Loki do what he did best was goddamn fun.