Chapter Text
The next morning when Tony woke, he was alone in the bed again. He rolled over, eyes opening blearily until he could see Loki sitting in a chair beside the bed. He was reading a thick book, too engrossed in the pages to notice that Tony was awake. He took a moment to stare at him. His green eyes flicked carefully over each sentence, intent on the words. He looked soft like this. Tony had seen him soft before, of course, even so recently as yesterday, but there was something special about the way his face relaxed while he read; it made Tony smile, the gentlest upturn of his lips.
“Good morning,” he said, nearly a whisper. He loathed breaking the moment.
Loki looked up at him. “Good morning, Tony. How did you sleep?”
“Really well, actually.” He sat up with a yawn. “I don't think I dreamed at all.”
“I'm glad.”
He put down his book. Tony took a look at the cover, but it was indecipherable. It seemed the Allspeak didn't translate to written text. Loki sat down beside him on the bed, reaching over to run a careful hand through his hair.
“We need to go today.”
The last of the sleepiness fled from Tony's mind at that. “Why? Is the Other here?”
Loki shook his head. “No, not yet. But I had... a visitor during the night.”
“A visitor? Your informant?”
Loki sighed. “No, not as such. It was Frigga.”
“Your mother?” Tony called out with surprise. He wasn't aware that the two of them were on speaking terms.
Loki closed his eyes and visibly swallowed. “She... Yes. My mother.”
It obviously hurt him to say it, but Tony didn't understand the nuances in the word. It seemed so complicated, the adoption thing, and he knew it wasn't something they had time to get into at the moment, so he pretended not to notice.
“Okay. Where are we going next?”
He mentally sifted through the realms he was familiar with. He still hadn't had a chance to use the headband Loki had bought him that was supposed to let him explore the realms. He made a note to himself to ask how to use it as soon as they got the chance.
“Midgard,” Loki answered.
That snapped Tony's attention back to him. “Midgard?”
That was dangerous. His friends were there, and JARVIS, but so was SHIELD, and Loki couldn't afford to be caught by them right now. He needed to be free to move around, to escape quickly if the Other came around. Tony would have his bots and his tower, but he wasn't sure that that would be enough to protect both of them from the might of all of SHIELD.
“Are you sure that's the best idea?”
“No,” Loki admitted. “But it was what my mother advised.”
“I would have thought you were the type to make your own choices.”
It wasn't meant to be a barb, but he was pretty sure it had come across as one, but Loki didn't seem to mind.
“I am. But Frigga has the gift of a seer. It is more important to heed her advice than most.”
“Oh? And what is it she saw?”
Loki shook his head. “She didn't tell me. She never does. I think that's a rule from the Norns themselves. She can never speak directly of the future. She can only offer vague advice, and those she offers it to have the choice of whether or not to take it. I choose to do so.”
“Okay. When do we leave?”
“It doesn't have to be immediately. You have time for a bath if you wish for one.”
“That would be nice.”
He hadn't had a chance to bathe yesterday, and while he had certainly gone far longer without it, it wasn't his preference. Baths had always soothed him, as long as his head didn't have to go under the water.
“You'll find everything you need already in there,” Loki said with a gesture toward the bathroom.
“You won't be joining me?” That was vaguely disappointing.
“No. I've already had a bath this morning, and I have a few things I need to take care of on this realm before we leave.”
Tony wasn't sure what that meant, but it didn't sound like he wanted to discuss the details, so he just nodded in acceptance and went to get clean.
When he got out of the bath some indeterminate amount of time later (because he might have spent quite a bit of time just enjoying the steam and the warm water against his muscles, which were always sore these days), he walked back into the bedroom to find clothes waiting for him. They were typical Earth clothes – jeans and a band tee. Wait, were those clothes from his own closet? Upon closer inspection, they were. He smiled to himself while he put them on. Loki was so thoughtful.
Thoughtful and not here. Once he was dressed, he sat in the same chair Loki had been reading in earlier. It was comfortable, and he found himself relaxing into it. He let his mind drift to what he would
do when they got back to Earth. Would he be able to speak to his friends, to Pepper? It might not be a good idea if they were trying to stay off SHIELD's radar. Did that mean he couldn't go back to his tower at all? He desperately missed JARVIS. But he couldn't really make any plans of his own until he figured out what Loki needed to do there.
Which led to a new train of thought. Where was Loki? He had said he had some business to conclude on this realm, but Tony didn't know what that meant or how long it might take. Would he be stuck in this room for a while? He was left with nothing but the book Loki had been reading earlier, which was sitting on the table beside him.
He picked it up carefully and leafed through it, trying to see if there was anything he could understand. The words were all foreign, just like the title, but the pictures inside seemed like something he could almost understand. It was just beyond his grasp. Was it science? Or magic? Or maybe they were the same thing. He traced his finger over one of the symbols, an intricate shape with swirling curves and sharp jagged lines interspersed with thick dots.
The door slid open and Loki came back in, his eyes following Tony's hand.
“Ah, I see you found my book. Interesting that you choose that sigil. It's generally used as a symbol for technology.”
Tony closed the book. “You have technology on Asgard?”
Loki nodded. “Not in the same way you do on Midgard, but we do have something similar.”
“Maybe you can show me one day.”
Loki hummed, but he looked uncomfortable. “Maybe.”
Tony chose not to comment further. “Have you finished your stuff here?”
“Yes. We can head back to Midgard now.”
“So what's the plan?” he asked, standing. “Are we still hiding from SHIELD? That probably means we shouldn't go back to my tower. I have a house in Malibu but honestly, they've probably overtaken that too. I have a couple of other places, but I don't stay there very often so they won't be well equipped.”
“It's fine. We will go back to your tower. I can keep prying eyes away from us. There are things we need to do there.”
“Okay.”
He really was excited to see his bots again, even if he couldn't contact any of his friends. Maybe there would be time for that later. He hoped there would be. He cared deeply for Loki, but he cared deeply for several people on Earth as well, and he didn't want to lose them permanently, even if it meant getting to keep Loki. If he had to choose, he wasn't sure what choice he would make. He pushed the thought aside.
“I'm ready.”
Loki nodded and took his hand. His palm was warm against Tony's. He blinked, and then they were suddenly back in the tower, in his lab. The temperature was immediately much cooler, as though they had gone from South America up to the Arctic. He shivered for a moment while his body adjusted to the change.
“Welcome back, sir.”
He grinned wide. “Hey, JARVIS. I missed you, buddy.”
“I missed you too, sir. Are you well?”
“Yeah. I'm good. Is SHIELD still in the building?”
“No, sir. They left about a week ago.”
His eyebrows rose. “A week? How long have I been gone?”
“12 days, 14 hours, 17 minutes, and 23 seconds.”
It didn't seem like it had been that long. Inter-realm travel had obviously really messed up his sense of time.
“Okay. What have I missed?”
“You have 39 missed calls, 498 missed e-mails, and you were not present for 3 meetings. Miss Potts has cleared your schedule for the foreseeable future.”
He groaned. “Pepper. How's she doing?”
“She's been worried, sir.” He hesitated. “Shall I contact her?”
He turned to Loki in a silent question, but he didn't answer.
“No, not for now. You haven't told anyone else I'm here, have you?”
“No, sir. My protocol is to keep your location secure unless you give me specific permission to share it.”
“Good.” He really had done a good job programming him. He turned back to Loki. “What now?”
“Actually, I need JARVIS' help. I wanted to see if he could be integrated into your newest suit along with my magic.”
“That's a great idea.”
He moved quickly, pulling up a holoscreen to begin working on it before Loki even pulled the suit out.
“JARVIS, load a scan of Mark VII.”
The two suits were built differently, but it was easier to start with the most recent version than to start from scratch. Once it was up on the screen he began tweaking it, pulling bits aside here and there and adding things in other places. He flicked his hand to open the display and changed the parts inside as well.
“As for materials...” He turned around to see Loki lounging against a worktable, playing with Dum-E. The sight made him smile. “Loki?”
“Hm?” He turned.
“Can you give me a piece of the sarblone? I don't need much. I just need JARVIS to be able to analyze it so I can give him a good idea of what this suit's really about.”
“Of course.”
He handed a piece to Tony, who sat it down on the table. “JARVIS, go ahead and scan that. Tell me what you see.”
“Scanning now.”
It was quiet for just a moment before Loki spoke up. “Do you think you'll be able to integrate them?”
“Hard to tell at this point. The sarblone is such a foreign thing, not to mention the magic you put into the suit. I have no idea how my technology is going to react. I'm going to give it my best shot though.” He thought for a moment. “I really like the idea of having JARVIS in here, though. He's been in every suit I've built, not counting Mark I.”
“I hope it works,” Loki agreed. “Beyond it being a familiar comfort for you, it is my hope that JARVIS will offer you an extra layer of protection should you need it.”
“Scan complete.”
“What've you got for me, J?”
“The material is unlike anything I've ever seen. Where did you get it?”
“In Alfheim. It's this cool place where... Nevermind. I don't think I have time to explain everything right now. I will eventually. What else can you tell me about it?”
“It's strong, stronger even than vibranium. It's nearly weightless, this sample coming in at only 11 micrograms. It seems that it would be incredibly moldable, but I would need to see it moved before I can be sure. Would you like me to do further testing through touch?”
He shook his head. “No, not right now. I already know exactly how moldable it is. There's something else I want you to scan. Loki?”
“Yes, my love?”
“Can you bring out the full suit? JARVIS being able to scan the sarblone is a start, but the whole thing is hopeless if he can't get a read on your magic.”
Loki wordlessly pulled the suit out, letting it hover gently above the ground through the repulsors in its boots.
“JARVIS?”
“Yes, sir.”
“He won't be able to understand it,” Loki warned.
“If any computer can, it will be JARVIS. And if he can't, given enough time, I'll be able to.”
“That I believe. But I'm afraid time is not something we have an overabundance of.”
Tony turned to face him again. “Why? Where are we going after here?”
“I have to retrieve something from this realm before we move on.”
“Yeah, where is it?”
“I'm not entirely sure. It's been shielded from me by a mage. But he is nowhere close to my caliber, and I know just the spell to find out its hiding place.”
“Okay. So what is it?”
Loki frowned. “It's better if you don't know that.”
Tony hadn't really expected him to answer, but it had been worth a shot. He began to ask another question, but was interrupted by JARVIS.
“Scan complete. It seems that the sarblone is just as flexible as I imagined it would be if you've managed to make an entire suit out of it. But of course, I had faith in you, sir.”
“Yeah, I know about the sarblone. What I really want to know about is Loki's magic.”
“It seems to be a form of energy that we have yet to harness on Earth. It's a bit like electricity, but thicker. I do not have the terms to explain it properly.”
“That's okay,” he assured. “What I really need to know is if you can work with it.”
“I think so. Would you like me to try?”
“Go for it.”
They sat in silence while JARVIS worked. The robotic arms that normally made his suits at this point came out to examine it further, pulling apart the pieces. Finally, they all snapped back into place and the eyes lit up blue.
“Integration successful, sir,” the suit's speaker said.
He whooped for joy. “It worked. I knew it would! Okay, so I didn't know, but I was pretty sure. There's very little my technology can't do, even if there's magic involved.”
Loki smiled at him. “That does seem to be true. Would you like to test it to see how the two work together?”
“Fuck yeah. JARVIS, lay it on me.”
The suit broke apart only to reform around him. The suit didn't pinch at all, and he was glad to know that he was still skilled enough at building the armor by hand that he had the measurements right. The faceplate slid down and he was caught in a whirl of blue.
“Woah.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Loki asked.
“No. It's just... weird.” His normal HUD was there, but the suit felt strange. “JARV, is this running on the arc reactor?”
“No, sir. The suit is running on whatever energy it was using before I became a part of it. I believe you called it magic?”
That term was still weird to him, but he let it go. “Yeah. Okay. So what changes have you made now that you're connected?”
“It would be more accurate to ask what changes the magic has made to my operating system. This suit has much better energy efficiency, as well as aiming, offensive, defense, and emergency protocols. Basically, if it could be improved upon, it has been.”
“Awesome.”
He did a small, controlled spin, getting a feel for the new sensation of the suit around him.
“This is so cool. I wish I could test it further, but I would have to go outside for that.”
“You may experiment with it while I go retrieve the stone, so long as you don't let anyone know you're here. I won't be gone long.”
“Uh, I think someone is going to notice if I just go flying around. Pretty sure my airspace clearance has been revoked, considering, you know, everything.”
Loki smiled. “I can shield you.”
“Hah. Shield me from SHIELD.”
“I will be back as soon as I can,” he promised. “You're free to go out and do what you will.”
With that Loki disappeared.
“Okay, JARVIS. Open up and let's see how this thing does.”
The ceiling opened and he shot up through it, twirling in mid-air then doing a few flips before speeding off. It was nice to fly like this again. He did a few tricky maneuvers, getting a feel for this new, lighter suit. He had just gotten the hang of it when something hit him hard and he spun out of control. The HUD lit up with warnings and the alarm went off.
“Wha-”
He got his bearings around him long enough to look up and see a large Chitauri ship coming out through a hole in the sky.
“Well, fuck.”