Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Loki entered the gala, handing his invitation to the attendants at the door. It was an illusion, of course, as was his face. He was here for peaceful entertainment tonight. Although who knew how the evening might end. These affairs tended to be quite tedious on the surface, but Loki had centuries of experience finding the hidden emotions underneath: encouraging or exposing cheating spouses, relighting old grudges, and discovering who was eager to feel slighted or insulted and start new rivalries and enmities. Once he was done, this night would be remembered for years.

That it was Stark hosting the affair only made it better. The man was a remarkable enemy to have. He was creative, persistent, and perceptive. Loki kept ahead of him easily enough, but only because he had a millennium's worth of tricks and experience to draw on. Only once had he made the mistake of repeating a gambit against the man. Stark had not only evaded the trap but had almost caught Loki in turn. It was only his superior strength that let Loki escape, and he hated resorting to unplanned brute force.

Loki spotted Stark flirting with a woman near one of the bars, and resolved to avoid the man for the evening. He wanted the night to be memorable but not traceable, and if anyone could recognize a disguised Loki it would be Stark. Instead, Loki began circulating in the other half of the room, picking out potential targets, subtly directing a jealous husband's attention to where his wife flirted with a different man, flattering and encouraging another man who was just drunk enough to listen to insinuations that a rival planned to make a move against him, and more. With all the seeds he would sow this evening, at least a few should come to public words before the night was over, and perhaps to blows if he was lucky. It was an enjoyable past-time, and he made it a challenge by refraining from using any magic beyond his disguised features.

After a while, Loki made his way to a bar. One where Stark was not lingering. He ordered a drink, and glanced around as he waited. His attention was caught by a framed photo on the corner of the bar.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"It's Maria Stark," answered the bartender. "Since the party's in her honor, Mr. Stark likes to have her picture scattered around, rather than just at the central display."

"Very fitting," Loki said. Privately he wondered if the placement at the bar was deliberate. The woman he remembered would have split her time equally between the bar and the dance floor, but it was hard to put a respectful, discrete image on a dance floor.

Although from what he'd seen of Stark, the man would not be worried about subtlety. Perhaps he considered it disrespectful to lay out a giant picture of his mother for people to dance on.

Loki thought back to Maria. She might have drunk too much at parties like this, but she was nearly as good as he was at spotting couples in trouble. While he delighted in exposing fights, she was a romantic who loved to bring people together. He hadn't realized his Maria Stark was also Tony Stark's mother. Since this gala was in her honor, perhaps he would honor her by limiting himself to mischief in the form of romance, and see if he couldn't bring a few couples together. Both unexpected couples, and unexpected ways. He smiled as he took his drink and walked away, leading off his new plan by whispering to a young woman alone that he had noticed the bartender admiring her.

Several hours and many conversations later, Loki went home laughing. He had been so angry these last few years he had forgotten how much chaos could result from bringing lovers together, and how much joy could be taken from bringing joy to others.

One man stormed out with his mistress when his wife openly called him out for dancing with the other woman. A young couple snuck out to find a justice of the peace after being encouraged to disregard their disapproving parents, while another such couple had not been quite so fortunate, and got caught together by an angry father. A very vocally angry father who publicly humiliated the whole group with the scene he caused. An abusive spouse had been exposed (and discretely arrested) after knocking his wife and her dance partner down on in a fight on the dance floor. Loki had not reached his crowning goal of persuading a couple to copulate openly on the dance floor, but by the end of the evening, it was impossible to find an unoccupied private corner, and there were a great many laughs, moans, and evocative noises emanating from them.

And this was just what had come to a head in a single evening. Many more of his seeds would germinate in the coming weeks, spiking marriages, breakups, and makeups among everyone who had attended the gala. This was among the most entertaining evenings he had had since his last visit to earth, when Maria was a young woman. His duties had kept him mostly in Asgard in recent decades, before the events culminating in the Chitauri invasion. And in Asgard, people were too wary of him to allow this kind of easy success. Loki went to bed with a smile still on his lips, and for once, dreamt of happy memories.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Loki resolved to look more closely into Stark's background. Barton's information on the potential Avengers had mentioned that Stark took after his well known father and that the man had inherited and increased the family's wealth and power, but hadn't mentioned his mother at all. Clearly an oversight. Maria had been a very intelligent, perceptive woman who was happy to carry on a discrete affair in Europe while her older husband focused on his business in America. She could use that perceptiveness as a weapon when she chose, and manipulated the society around her like a conductor in front of an orchestra.

Had Loki realized Stark was her son, he would have been more prepared for Stark's verbal attack in the tower that day, and perhaps held on to his temper long enough to work around the ward in the man's chest, rather than simply tossing him through the window. After all, people who visit glass houses shouldn't throw hosts. But that was done with, and now Loki needed to simply make use of his new knowledge to better understand and predict Stark.

The internet was Loki's favorite Midgardian invention. That much information, restricted only by the skill of the person searching for it, was incredibly dangerous, and provided a wonderful means of disseminating contrary opinions. Odin would never have tolerated it, but Loki loved it.

He googled Tony and Maria Stark, but quickly eliminated Tony from the terms. Everything that came up was about last night's gala, described as a huge financial success, and the most ...dramatic... high society party any of the reporters had attended in years. Loki laughed at some of the descriptions and portrayals, but he really wanted information from 20 or 30 years ago, when Maria was alive, and Tony Stark was a child.

Maybe there would be a hint as to who Tony's father had actually been. Part of the reason Maria was having an affair was that her husband was infertile, and mostly impotent. She wanted to give the man a child and an heir, and at the time, Loki had looked enough like the man to be a relation. Loki had no interest in fathering another child, but she was pleasant company, so he never mentioned that humans and Aesir were infertile together without strong magical intervention, which Loki did not intend to provide.

Loki began at Maria's Wikipedia page, and got his first shock. Her son was well into in his fifth decade, not beginning his fourth as Loki had assumed. Loki quickly looked up pictures of other people of Stark's age. Perhaps he was simply misremembering what people looked like at a given age. It was so hard to keep track when an Aesir reached full adulthood at the age a Midgardian would be dying of old age. But no, Stark looked a decade or more younger than most others of his age. This would put Stark's birth within a few years of the time Loki had been on earth.

Loki thought back to that period, tried to remember what had been going on in the world at the time. That slick American whose deceptive abilities Loki admired had recently been elected President of America. There had been a big fuss over a man walking on the moon a month or so before Loki left. He remembered wondering what all the excitement was about. He'd been up there before, and the moon held nothing of interest. A little more use of Google told him that Stark had been born the year after those events. Loki frowned. A woman like Maria might be unfaithful to her husband, but probably not with multiple men at once. It would increase her chance of getting noticed or caught too greatly, and her culture looked highly on monogamous relationships.

It hadn't occurred to him before that Tony might be his, but now it looked like a possibility, however faint. Loki continued his research, but only found the information that Stark had been a highly precocious child and was sent away from home young, that his mother seemed to spend a great deal of time away from her husband and child, and that Stark's father had been famous, abrasive, and frequently drunk. Not a recipe for a happy childhood, but not unexpected from a family headed by a husband who couldn't satisfy his younger wife, especially if he also believed that his son wasn't his own. Both Howard and Maria Stark had been killed when Tony was 17, still a child even under Midgardian law.

Loki sat back and considered what he had learned. His suspicions were just that, suspicions. It might be Howard wasn't as infertile as Maria believed, or that Maria found another man right after Loki disappeared. But now that the possibility had been raised, he couldn't just let it sit. And the more he considered, the more Loki realized it was a real possibility. Loki had seen Stark's abilities as a natural enchanter in his embedded ward (an arc reactor he called it), and in his suit. He had put it down to a hint of Alfheim blood, which was reasonably common among mortals. But given this new information, there might be more to it.

All Alfheimers used magic in at least a limited way even before they were old enough to receive training. And in centuries past it had been considered quite the fashionable thing for young men to go to Midgard to expend youthful energy without bothering anyone at home. And Alfheimers were fertile with any of the races of the nine realms, so some of these passing liaisons resulted in children. A few were raised on Alfheim, most left on Midgard. The mixed race children tended to be longer lived than their human parents, but only by a century or two. They often had a little talent in magic, but were almost never trained in it. Eventually, one of these children who had been raised in Alfheim started a rebellion against the throne, and the practice of sending youths to Midgard was deemed too risky to continue. All the half-bloods either swore loyalty to Lord Freyr of Alfheim and were restricted to that realm, or were killed, as were their children and grandchildren. But traces of Alfheim blood still lingered in Midgard, and occasionally someone like Stark would appear, who could use magic despite having no training in it, or even knowledge of his ability.

Loki had assumed this was where Stark's talent came from. But Stark's power would be considered exceptional even in a pure blooded Alfheimer. The protective ward embedded in Stark's chest had stopped Loki's spell completely. This was the result he would expect from a  fully trained Alfheimer wardsmith, not a Midgardian with a distant non-human ancestor.

While Loki had been using speculated Alfheimer blood to explain Stark’s magic, it could just as easily explain how Maria could have conceived from Loki’s seed. It was all very unlikely, but not impossible. But this whole supposition was built on a series of faint possibilities and idle speculation. Loki had to find out for certain if Tony was his son.

Chapter Text

It was just past midnight when Tony heard the Avengers' alarm. He had been idly tinkering down in the tower workshop, waiting for Pepper to finish her videoconferenced meeting with the Shanghai office.

"What have you got for me, Jarv?" Even as he asked, Tony was walking to the elevator. Jarvis opened the doors, and walked Tony's newest suit into the elevator beside him. Tony knocked on its shoulder and it turned around for him to step in.

"Captain Rogers says Loki has been spotted at Grand Central Terminal. All the clocks there are running backwards, and the statuary have been animated to stop anyone who approaches them. Thus far, no one has been harmed, but when asked what would happen when the clocks reach the end, Loki's response has been described as 'ominous cackling'. The captain would like you to head in first, as the station is next door to the tower. He also requests that you stay back and only try to engage Loki if Loki begins actively threatening civilians." As Jarvis finished, the elevator doors opened, and the wall to the flight deck lowered.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll avoid starting a firefight in the busy building that's older than he is. But seriously, I'd be laughing too if some idiot asked me about a clock reaching the end. I'm more interested in finding out what he's waiting for. He usually goes straight into the destruction and mayhem. Tell Cap I'll be over there in a few seconds. I mean, it's basically straight down from here.

"Very good, Sir. Most of the other Avengers were in bed, but will be on scene in about twenty minutes."

"Great." Tony blasted out of his tower and shot downwards to Grand Central Station.

As Tony flew through the door and hovered in place, he saw it was devoid of people, except for Loki balancing on a gigantic four sided golden clock in the center of the hall. Which was running backwards at a rate of about an hour a minute. And a bunch of weirdly animated statues, both human and animal, prowling around the room. He supposed they could be guarding, but they didn't seem to be doing much. At least Loki hadn't stopped the civilians from leaving, even if the question remained of what the fuck the Asgardian was doing. Only one way to find out.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Counter-Clock? You’re usually more of an outdoorsy, daytime sort of villain.”

Loki didn't visibly respond, but Tony felt a sudden weight attach itself to the front of the suit

“FUCK!” Had the bastard just teleported into mid-air?

The illusion Loki on the clock disappeared, and the one clinging to Tony’s chest became visible as the off-balance suit careened to the right, where Loki was restraining Tony's arm. Loki’s other arm was assaulting the faceplate, and Tony started pounding Loki s helmet with his free gauntlet.

"Hey, Cuddles, there are better ways to get a hug, you know!"

Tony powered the repulsor on his free hand, but before it could fully charge, Tony felt something in his helmet shift. Loki must have forced a blade into the seam at the edge of the faceplate. Tony saw a crack of light at the edge of the HUD, and uselessly wrenched his head backwards. Loki was unphased as he used the gap to pry off the entire faceplate, throwing it across the room.

Damn. That meant Tony was fighting almost blind, with no HUD, no eyes in the back of his head, and no peripheral vision. And anything Jarvis or Tony said, Loki would be able to hear.

Tony had to get Loki off before the suit took any more damage. He fired the repulsor into Loki's shoulder, but the guy didn't even shift. The chest repulsor would certainly work, but that was controlled by voice, so the villain would know it was coming.

Tony saw the granite ticket counter in front of him, and slammed his passenger's back into it. Not only did Loki not fall off, but his face slammed into Tony’s. Wow did that hurt. Tony felt like his nose was broken.

"Jarvis, chest repulsor at 30%." Tony didn't care if Loki knew it was coming, he just needed to get the god off. But before the chest beam charged or Tony could try anything else, Loki let go. As the he fell, his sleeve painfully brushed Tony's face.

Stark shot back up, doing evasive maneuvers to avoid letting the villain catch him that way again. But when he looked back down, Loki had disappeared. "Jarvis, do you see anything?"

"No, Sir. As far as my sensors can tell, Loki has truly left the scene.”

“Huh.” Tony refrained from saying anything else in case Loki was still hanging around somewhere listening. But now that he looked, he could see the clocks had stopped spinning backwards too. And the statues had stopped moving. Tony was pretty sure they were not in their original locations. It's not like he ever used public transit, but some of the statues looked very awkwardly placed. And over there was a pair of lions that looked a lot like the ones that usually lay in front of the library, except now they were standing in front of a ticket window.

With Tony flying three-quarters blind and one glove off so he could try to stem the blood still flowing from his nose, it felt like an hour before the rest of the team showed up. The only good thing about that time was that Loki didn't reappear. Finally, Thor ran through the door with Black Widow and Captain America right behind. Bruce would have chosen to sit this one out, while Hawkeye would be finding a high point with good sight lines.

“Loki! Where are you?” bellowed Thor.

Tony flew over and landed.“Yeah, he seems to have left a little while back. How long’s it been, Jarvis?”

“It is 8 minutes and 37 seconds since Loki disappeared from my sensors, Sir.”

“That’s all?”

“Ironman!” Captain America exclaimed. “Are you okay? You’re covered in blood! What happened?”

“No big deal, Cap. I just got his face connected to mine. But this was definitely one of the odder encounters I’ve had with him, and for a guy whose goals routinely make less sense than a tin foil hat on mannequin, that’s saying something. He jumped me, ripped off my face mask, and just as I was about to shoot him off, he disappeared. No idea what he wanted. He seemed kind of off, too. He didn’t insult me even once. Never said a word, in fact. Like I said, very strange.”

“Stark, you sound like shit. Please stop talking until you get your nose fixed.” said Steve, calmer now that he was sure Tony was OK.

The Black Widow frowned. “He didn't say anything? Normally he can't keep his mouth shut once either of you start flinging insults around.”

“Indeed,” said Thor. “I am concerned now that there is something wrong, that he would miss a chance to flyte with you. Widow, will you come examine the station with me?”

“Yeah, let's get to it,” Natasha replied.

“Good idea Thor, make sure he hasn't left any booby traps or anything,” said Rogers. “Ironman, you head back to the mansion, where Bruce can take a look at your face. Pepper called on our way over that she had finished up her meeting, and would go to the mansion to meet you when you were done fighting. You might even beat her there. None of us thought the fight would already be over so fast.” The captain smiled. “Not that I’m complaining. It looks like there’s minimum cleanup, so we can handle it without your help. Make it a thanks for taking on the whole fight.”

Tony considered arguing just for the hell of it, but decided not to. His face really hurt, he sounded ridiculous, and there was a chance he would succeed in persuading the captain to let him stick around. “Sounds good, Cap. I’ll see you later, or possibly tomorrow.”

“Just go, Stark.”

Tony went, after a short run to find his faceplate. In the suit, it took him 36 seconds longer to reach the mansion than the tower. He flew in through the dedicated Ironman tunnel to his lab, and stepped out of the suit. “Jarvis, is Pepper here yet?”

“No, Sir. She decided to take a cab over, which will be dropping her off in approximately eight minutes. I'd strongly recommend you use the intervening time to visit Dr. Banner.”

“In medical, I assume?”

“Actually, Sir, he decided he'd rather not risk you becoming distracted before he saw you, so he will be reaching the lab about now.” As Jarvis finished speaking, the lab door opened, and Bruce walked in.

Tony rolled his eyes. Ouch, apparently something was bruised there too. “Thanks for the advance warning, Jarvis. Hey Brucey. How fast can you look me over? Pep's only a few minutes out, and I'd like to be as not-injured looking as possible when she sees me.”

“Not that fast. Come up to medical, so I can get started. That nose looks pretty bad, and I suspect you'll have two black eyes by morning.”

“Don't forget the loose front tooth.”

“Lovely. If you lose it, maybe the tooth fairy will give you a quarter. Let's go.” They headed to the medical suite.

Once there, Bruce first tested Tony for concussion symptoms, then x-rayed his nose. He and Jarvis agreed it was not broken, just severely bruised. Tony got a bag of ice to rest on his face. He lay down, and let the cold do its job. It was just numbing him properly when he heard the door open. He looked, and saw Pepper.

“Don't get up, Tony. Jarvis says you're just bruised, so you don't have to show off that you're not hurt,” she said.

“Good, because this is really, really painful, and I'm going to be spending an hour with the make-up artists every time I want to go out in public. This is terrible, Pep! I don't have an extra hour to waste every time I want to leave the house. And it could last for weeks!”

“Yes, Tony. Because we all know you won't be spending 90% of that time in the workshop, using your face as an excuse to avoid a certain upcoming board meeting.”

Oh good. If Pepper was being sarcastic at him, she really wasn't too concerned.

“Bruce, is he good to head upstairs yet?”

“Let's give the ice another 10 minutes, then certainly. If he's still awake in an hour, you can repeat the ice, but sleep would be better. He really is just fine.”

Tony felt he had to say something. “I'm right here, and as you said, just fine. What if I want to head to the lab for a few hours?”

Pepper smiled, and sat on the bed beside him. “You certainly can, Tony.” She leaned closer, and whispered, low and seductive in his ear. “But I, for one, am definitely going upstairs.”

Tony blinked, distracted from his moment of rebellion. Pepper was very good at that. “Good idea. Has it been 10 minutes, yet, Bruce?”

“No, but go ahead anyway. Just take the ice with you. I don't need to see where this is going.”

Pepper walked beside him as they headed to their bedroom. The short walk was enough to set Tony's head to pounding again, the pain radiating out from his nose.

“Damn, I hate to be such a stereotype, but honey, I've got a headache. I really do think I just need to sleep tonight.”

She smiled sympathetically. “I thought you might, but I figured you'd at least appreciate the suggestion. Lay back down, and leave the ice for a few more minutes.”

He did, and Pepper lay beside him, an arm around his shoulders. He was vaguely aware of her taking the ice off his face a little later, and then rejoining him in bed, but that was all until morning.

Chapter Text

Loki appeared in his living room, Stark’s blood coating his hair and his shirt sleeve. The encounter had gone perfectly. By choosing a location closer to Stark than the other Avengers, Loki had ensured that Ironman could be first on the scene by at least a few minutes. All Loki had needed was a sample of Stark’s living tissue, such as fresh blood. Or a few minutes with Stark sitting cooperatively still while Loki worked, but considering their relationship, Loki had thought the blood would be easier to get.

Loki sat down, and took a deep breath to clear his mind. He pulled out a dagger, and made a shallow cut on his arm. Murmuring under his breathe, he brushed his fingers through his own blood, and turned the drops on his hand white. Then he brushed them over Stark's blood on his sleeve and waited. Within a minute, his own blood mingled completely with Stark's. Damn. If they weren't related, the two blood samples would have repelled each other. Tony could still be his brother, or possibly his cousin, but given the circumstances, his son was far more likely.

By the shit of Hugin and Munin! Why could Loki's affairs never be simple and straightforward. Not one of his children had he been allowed to raise in peace. They were all stolen from him, sometimes at birth, sometimes later, but always Loki was doomed to miss years of their lives. His anger rose. Sleipnir, who he gave up to Odin at birth when he was only a child himself, and still trusted the man. Nari and Vali, who followed their mother Sigyn when she could no longer tolerate her marriage to Loki. Hela and Fenrir, exiled as children for not being Aesir enough. And now Tony, become a man and Loki's enemy before Loki even learned of his birth.

The Norns conspired against him, and all the world fell to the beating of their loom. Had Maria not been so damnably fertile, Stark could never have been conceived. Had Thor not chosen to go venturing, had Odin not agreed that Loki must be called back to accompany him, he would have known Maria was pregnant, and taken his son back when he was born. Had all the affairs of the last few years not happened, he could have lived forever in blissful ignorance of Stark's existence!

Well. Perhaps that last was not fair. However painful, he would prefer the chance know Stark while the man was alive and young, and there was still time to make things right.

But now that he calmed a bit, he realized he was disgustingly sticky. And the thought of the source of that stickiness was increasingly disturbing. What had he been thinking? Yes, a fight was the easiest way to obtain Tony's blood, but this route would only have increased the Avenger's animosity towards Loki! As he undressed and stepped under the shower, Loki considered his next actions. And for the first time in the years since he had learned of his true heritage, his protective instincts grew stronger than his anger.

With water pouring over him, red from his son's blood in his hair, Loki realized that in recent years, the greatest threat to Tony had been Loki himself. Tonight, with his foolish, stupid plan was only the latest idiocy. During their first meeting when Thor pulled Loki out of the jet, Loki had sat back and laughed at the mortal stupid enough to try standing up to Thor’s hammer. He had been surprised and impressed that the mortal was still standing after several minutes against Thor, but looking back, all he could think was that he had thought that his own son’s bloody death at his uncle’s hand was a good joke. The only thing worse was their second meeting, when it was Loki who Stark had to save himself from.

And then all the meetings since. Loki usually aimed to hurt or humiliate Thor, but he certainly hadn’t been concerned that the other Avengers might be damaged as a result of his games and fights. And Stark had often been injured, sometimes seriously. It was a testament to his son's skill and abilities that he hadn't been killed.

That first fight Loki could almost excuse himself of. He had been unbalanced by Thanos’s influence and was not completely in control of his actions. But he could not excuse his later actions so easily. After enduring Odin’s beatings and completing his impossible tasks, Odin had decreed that the final part of Loki’s punishment would be an exile from Asgard, to be rescinded if Odin felt so merciful, or to be converted to death should Loki again aid the “enemies of Asgard.” Loki chose Midgard because Odin considered it inconsequential and Thor loved it. But Odin's actions had left Loki with nothing but anger, and hurting Thor at least let Loki feel something.

But if Loki truly wanted revenge on Thor, he would have targeted Odin's son precisely and untraceably. Enemies mysteriously strengthened, visions to distract him at key moments, his woman made uninterested and neglectful. Loki had done it in Asgard's court often enough, to people who slighted him or hurt Thor. Loki considered himself to be better than Thor, but how could he be when he had spent the last two years mindlessly brawling Thor and his companions? And finally, there was this latest encounter. Loki had spent hours planning the attack, and preparing the spells to animate the statues. But not once had it had occurred to him to think on the consequences of attacking a man he suspected to be his own flesh and blood.

Loki punched the tiled stall, breaking through to the bedroom on the other side, and screamed his frustration and rage. His whole life had led him to this point, to a world that held nothing for him but contempt and hatred. And yet he still longed for something better, for fate to change his threads and just once, give him joy instead of misery. He knew this would yet again end with him hurt and cursing the world, but he still had to try for something better. But how could he change his path enough to know Tony as a son rather than an enemy? It was surely impossible.

Loki stepped out of the shower and dressed for bed, but he found his steps taking him to his library instead. He chose a book, but did not open it. He simply held it in his lap as he tried to find a way out of this mess.

Chapter Text

Tony shifted when Pepper got up, and pulled her back down into an embrace. She hugged him back for a moment before pulling away. “I've got to get into the office now, Tony, but I'll see you tonight.”

“But Pepper,” he murmured, more than half asleep.

“No buts, Tony. I need to work. I'll still be in town until tonight, I promise,” Pepper said.

She showered and dressed. By the time she finished, Tony had fallen back asleep. She stepped into the hallway, and said “Jarvis, let him know that I'd like to have dinner together. I don't want to wake him, but after last night, I really need to spend some time with him.”

“I will, Ms. Potts. Will you have breakfast now, or shall I call you a car to the office?

“Call a driver. I'll grab something to eat on my way. Thank you.”

Tony woke about three hours later to Jarvis's usual morning summary of the weather, news highlights, and Tony's schedule. (And it wasn't quite noon, so it really was a morning routine). Then Jarvis finished up with “And Dr. Banner is currently in the kitchen cooking lunch for the team. It will be served in about one hour.”

Tony sat up. “That actually sounds worth getting up for. Thanks, J. Coffee ready?”

“Of course, Sir.”

Tony took the deepest breathe the reactor would allow, and rolled out of bed, crossing the bedroom to the coffee machine. He poured a mug, and gulped the hot liquid down. Now that he was up and moving, he became more aware of the pain in his nose. “Hey Jarvis, did Bruce leave painkillers?”

“No, Sir. He said to tell you that Advil would likely be sufficient, and if it wasn't you would have to see a medical doctor for something stronger.”

“He's no fun.” Tony headed to the bathroom where he took his legal pain medication, and started getting ready for the day.

Forty-five minutes later, he sauntered into the kitchen. As Jarvis had said, Bruce was there, standing over the stove tasting from a pot. “Bruce my moose, proton to my neutron, polymerase to my nucleic acid, tell me that is ready to be eaten. I'm starving!”

“Morning, Tony. Please never call me that again.” Bruce said. “This needs a few more minutes.” He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bowl of vegetables, and another of some sort of dip. Yogurt, probably. He put it on the table, next to a stack of bread slices. “Feel free to snack. If you ruin your appetite, you've got only yourself to blame.”

Tony smiled and sat at the table. Usually he'd serve himself, but if Bruce was letting him be lazy, Tony would take full advantage. He snagged a tablet someone had left at the table (probably himself), and pulled up some R&D proposals he had promised to take a look at.

Some time later, he felt a hand ruffle his hair, and he swatted at it as he looked up to see Steve laughing at him.

Then Tony heard Clint. “Aww. I was hoping we could get through the whole meal without him noticing we were here.” The archer winced, which probably meant Natasha had kicked him, not that Tony saw her move. The other Avengers were seated around the table, watching him. They all had food on their plates, and Thor was ready to go for seconds.

Apparently Tony had been more distracted than he realized. “I hope you saved some for me, while you assholes were so busy watching me earn the money that pays your keep.” He filled his plate.

“Actually, I figured that with all of us here, we could discuss the fight last night,” said Steve said with a smile. “If you want the food, I get the debrief.”

“My fight, you mean, Captain Blackmail. By the time you all showed up, it was over and done with. I'd've left earlier, but I figured you'd all miss my shining presence if I wasn't there.” Debriefs were never fun, but at least Steve was willing to meet him halfway: good food and no Fury.

“But seriously, Tony, you said last night that Loki never said a word. What did happen?"

“He had an illusion of himself sitting on the clocks, so I threw out an insult at him. Next thing I knew, he was hanging onto my chest, prying my face plate off. He got it off, I slammed him into one of the ticket counters, and he hit me in the face with his forehead. I was about to hit him with the chest repulsor, but he dropped off and by the time I could look, he was gone. The whole thing took maybe a minute. Maybe he was just extra pissed that I got the last word in last time we fought, and this was his way of getting revenge.”

Thor shook his head. “I do not think so, Man of Iron. If it was something so simple, he would surely have returned your insults, and left you far more humiliated than simply taking your mask. I mislike that he gave no hint of his goals.”

Clint suggested “Maybe he wanted something to do with the statues? Some of them came quite a distance. It's certainly the most complicated but of whatever he did.”

“Maybe,” said Natasha, “but he just abandoned them. I don't think we've got enough evidence to conclude that the statues were his goal. It's just as likely that something happened to make him abandon a scheme before it really got going.”

“Well, let's look at that,” said Steve. “What's in Grand Central he might want? Or the buildings the statues came from? Maybe he took those lions from the library for a reason.”

The conversation continued, with more requests for details from Tony, and more random speculation about Loki's motives. Finally, when Tony had eaten his fill and couldn't take any more of the talk, he interrupted.

“This has been informative and all, but I've got a suit to fix. Pep's in town until tomorrow, but I'll come around some time later. Good chatting with you and all.” He got up and headed down to the mansion lab to fix the face mask, ignoring Steve's protest and waving at Thor's loud goodbye. Flying without the face mask meant picking bugs out of his hair and off of his teeth. Plus he couldn't even get close to Mach 1 with exposed skin.

The mask was easily repaired, and soon he was flying home. He gave a whoop as he accelerated straight up the side of Stark Tower, nearly skimming the glass. He did love the Avengers, but he also liked being able to escape to his tower. It had been Pepper who pushed for it, but he had quickly realized how much he appreciated a living space free from persistent captains and nosy spies. Especially because while Pepper was quite creative in bed, she was not an exhibitionist, so she was a hell of a lot more fun when she wasn't worried about being watched. He spent a few nights a week at the mansion when Pepper was out and he had late night play sessions with Bruce, but the tower was home.

And after the first time one of Fury's grunts bugged the mansion, Tony had protested loudly, and upped his security quietly, including moving his main lab back into the tower. These days, his mansion lab was reserved for small projects and high explosives. Even Tony could admit that large explosions and downtown New York were a bad combination.

As he landed on the flight deck, a pigeon landed in front of him, dropped an envelope from its beak, and squawked. What the hell? “Jarvis, did a rat bird really just drop an envelope at my feet, or did Bruce put some special spices in the curry this time?"

“I can confirm that my cameras show that a pigeon placed a piece of paper at your feet, and is now attempting to slide it towards you. It does appear to be addressed to you,” Jarvis replied.

“OK. This is just weird.” Tony bent down and picked up the envelope, and the bird immediately flew away. Jarvis was right. Tony Stark was written in a neat script in the center of the envelope. He walked inside, and stepped out of the suit, just leaving on the gauntlet holding the page. Something like this had Loki written all over it, and Tony wanted to have all his lab equipment available before he tried handling or opening whatever it was.

Down in the lab, Tony scanned the envelope using any non-destructive test he could think of. An hour later, all he knew was that it was a thick, high quality linen paper, probably of earth origin but brand unknown, and did a remarkable job of shielding the contents.

“Screw this. I want to know what's inside.” Tony took out a razor blade and sliced the envelope open. Inside were two pieces of paper. He pulled them out and unfolded them. He'd been right about it being from Loki, at least. The sorcerer had signed it. One page was a short note requesting a meeting as soon as possible, at a time and place of Tony's choice. Apparently, Loki has some personal information he was only willing to let only Tony know. Tony could reply by writing on the second, blank sheet of paper Loki had enclosed.

“Here, Jarvis. Run all the same tests on these. I'll get to the destructive ones after I've decided what to do about the message.” Tony put the sheets on Jarvis's main scanning bed. “So the big question now is what does he mean by 'personal information?' I mean, normally, that'd sound like blackmail, but pretty much all my dirt laundry is available on youtube from age 15 onwards. Maybe something SI related?”

“I couldn't say, Sir. He is certainly extremely vague in the letter.”

“I guess if I really want to know, I'll have to meet him. I think the penthouse would be the best location. It's secure, well defended, and he's been there before, so he wouldn't be seeing anything new. Definitely need to do it when Pepper's out of town, though. Don't want to risk her in the blast zone if something goes wrong. When's her next trip?”

“Ms. Potts is scheduled to spend the next week in California, departing on Starkjet 2 tomorrow at 10 AM,” replied Jarvis.

“OK. Where's Steve? Is he available?”

“At the moment he is, Sir. He's on his way to his usual cafe on West 43^rd St.”

“Right, where his crush he refuses to ask out works. Good. He'd rather talk with her, so I'll get off easy. Call him up, and keep it ringing until he answers. I don't want him missing my call because he's still doesn't know how to use a cell phone.”

It took a solid ten rings, but eventually Steve answered. “Hi Tony. What's up?”

“Hey Steve. You'll never guess what I found when I got back to the tower.”

“What, Loki showed up to apologize for last night's misunderstanding?” asked Steve.

“Close, but no cigar. He gave me a message,” said Tony.

“Wait, you talked with Loki? Why didn't you send out an alarm?”

Winding Steve up was way too easy, thought Tony. “No, Loki's carrier pigeon delivered a note. You know, bird who carries a piece of paper around with a message on it? They had those back in the 40s, right? I know they had paper, it was kind of needed back before they came up with screens. I mean, this one was probably enchanted somehow, since there's no way a pigeon could fly with an envelope that size, but it's still a bird with a piece of paper in it's mouth, pretty low tech.”

“Okay, okay, so Loki sent a message. What did it say?” Steve asked, clearly annoyed now.

“He wants to meet with me. I think it's a good idea to at least find out the reason.” Tony was hoping Steve would be thinking to hard about his waitress to dwell on the risks here.

“Tony, he attacked you just last night, and now he wants to meet? He's got to be up to something more. If you go in alone, he could kill you, kidnap you, anything before we could get there,” said Steve, the concern evident in his voice.

Damn. Cap was clearly not distracted enough. “That's just it, Steve, he attacked me last night, and then disappeared after doing hardly any damage. It's very strange behavior, and I want to know why,” said Tony. “Now he's offering to show up and talk. There's a chance that it's a trap, but if he wanted to hurt me or kidnap me, he'd have put more effort into it last night. I didn't have the HUD, I didn't have any of my glance-based controls, and anything I said to Jarvis, Loki could overhear. And instead of pressing his advantage, Loki took off as soon as I threatened him with the uni-beam.”

Tony got up and started pacing. “Now he does something else out of character. What's changed? Why have I suddenly got his interest in a less-violent-than-usual way? If I meet up, I might find out what's going on. He says he wants it to be peaceful, and he's letting me choose when and where. Yeah, he might be lying. But then, if I say no, maybe he'll give up, maybe he'll go back to his usual destruction, maybe he'll decide he wants to talk so much that he'll up and kidnap me tomorrow. So I think this is my best chance. I'll take precautions, Cap. But refusing to go won't solve anything.”

“Then bring the rest of us, or at least Bruce or Thor. They're both strong enough to slow him down if he gets violent,” said Steve.

“He very clearly specified alone,” responded Tony. Tony would have been a lot more comfortable if Bruce or even Cap were along, but he didn't think he could conceal them well enough to hide their presence from Loki. “He won't show if I'm not alone. And Thor, seriously? You know there's no faster way to piss off the lovely Lady Nimue than putting his brother within earshot. But I do get to choose time and place.

“If time and place are your choice, how about the mansion? I'd suggest the helicarrier, but I don't think either you or Loki would actually show up in that case,” said Steve. Oh good. Cap was weakening fast if he'd already given in on Tony meeting Loki alone. He must almost be to the diner.

“I thought about the mansion, but I'm not sure he'd believe I was alone if I met him there. I know I wouldn't believe it. And as a team, we've managed to beat him up a few times, and the mansion would kind of be rubbing his face in it. Plus I don't think he's ever been there, and I'm not eager to give him information about how we live.”

“Well, what's your suggestion?”

“I'm thinking the penthouse. It's nearly as well defended as the mansion, plus Jarvis can let you know the moment anything goes south there.”

“And you want to show off your renovations. Especially your fish pond and the plaque commemorating Bruce.”

“The thought may have crossed my mind,” Tony answered with a grin. “Jarvis will be on alert and the penthouse defenses will be fully armed. I'll have the suit in the room with me. I'm not going into this blind or unprepared.”

“And Pepper?” was Steve's next protest. Excellent. The man had all but folded.

“She's flying to California first thing tomorrow, so she'll be well out of the way if anything happens,” said Tony.

“And I could spend the next hour talking at you without you budging, huh?”

“Sometimes you've just gotta take a risk, Cap.” Tony wouldn't gloat until the deal was done. At least not out loud.

“Fine then.” Steve gave in. “But keep me posted as much as possible. We'll be on alert, with the quinjet ready to go. That's less than five minutes out. So if you get yourself into trouble, make sure you give us that much lead time.”

“Will do. Thanks Cap. Now go enjoy your food, and offer the nice young lady a good time, already!”

“Thanks, Tony. Keep me updated.” Steve hung up.

With Cap convinced, Tony just had to write his response. He wondered if it had to be handwritten, or if he could just put it in the printer. Maybe he could just ask Loki tomorrow. Assuming his arguments to Steve actually played out and Tony didn't end up killed or kidnapped. He'd put his own money on the kidnapping. If Loki had suddenly decided he wanted Tony dead, he really could have done it last night, much as Tony hated to admit it.

“Jarvis, have I got a pen around here?” Tony asked.

“Yes Sir, next to the documents Ms. Potts left on the workbench by the door,” said Jarvis. “Speaking of Ms. Potts, would you prefer to inform her about tomorrow's meeting, or should I?

“Come on, Jarv, I know we agreed I'd warn if I was planning anything unusually dangerous as Ironman, but does this really count? Loki and I are just going to talk. I probably won't even need the armor.” Pepper accepted that Tony needed to be Ironman, but after the Battle of New York, there had been a major fight. They'd ended up with an agreement enforced by Jarvis: she wouldn't fight with Tony over life-threatening situations as long as he or Jarvis kept her in the loop about what was happening, and how he was mitigating the risk. She said she worried less when she didn't have to hear about it on TV.

When Tony was tempted protect her by not telling her things, Jarvis was authorized to intervene. Shield had kicked up a fuss about a civilian being told about top secret plans, but they shut up pretty fast when both Tony and Pepper told them to suck it. More diplomatically phrased, on Pepper's part.

“Sir, you are meeting with a person who most recently assaulted you less than 24 hours ago, and has a long history of violence and destruction. The suit will be seconds from deployment at all times, and the other Avengers will be on high alert. Under the terms of your agreement, Ms. Potts has the right to be notified of your intended course of action. May I suggest informing her sooner, rather than later?”

“Fine, Fine. Give her a heads up that I'll be telling her about Ironman business over dinner, and that she'll definitely need to be out of town as planned.” Pepper had made it clear that the worst thing he could do was give her more “I was dying, and now I'm not” surprises. Apparently, it made her worry all the time, while if he kept her in the know, she could schedule her concern more efficiently.

Tony grabbed the pen and scribbled out a reply to Loki, that he'd meet at 2 pm in the penthouse tomorrow. Loki was welcome to show up at the balcony door. Then he rewrote it more slowly, making sure the words were actually legible. It would be a shame to go to all this trouble, then have Loki not show because he couldn't figure out when or where. Or worse, show up in the wrong place, or when Tony wasn't ready.

“Now that that's done, let's get to work on the defenses. I want everything perfect working order, and as much extra firepower as I can manage. This is not a battle subtlety can win.” He got started reinforcing and updating Jarvis's already formidable armaments.