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Loki breathed in sharply, shocked at what he had just heard.
"Repeat that!" Loki demanded from his brother.
"Anthony and Dr. Strange were taken by Rarity Hunters," Thor said angrily. "They traded themselves willingly to free the civilians that the pair had captured and threatened. The young Spider was also caught but they bargained him free as well, arguing that he was too young for whatever they sought. The Rarity Hunters agreed only if both were willing to surrender in his place since the civilians were bait. I did not get there in time to prevent the exchange or stop them from leaving with their prize."
"What are you asking of me?" Loki asked warily.
"Retrieve them however you see fit," Thor ordered. "I can not track them nor retrieve them as safely as you can and I found one of the letters you have been exchanging. Bring these two heroes of Midgard home and I will lift the remaining punishments Odin left in place. What else you happen to do between you three is none of my business unless it threatens our people."
"You have spoken to Frigga about this?" Loki asked shrewdly.
Something unknown had hit a sort of rewind while leaving memories intact after the third snap. It had also brought Frigga back along with a significant portion of Asgardians, all of whom had said they had been asked and chosen to return despite the ability to stay in Valhalla. Odin hadn't been among them.
Of the humans those lost to Thanos' first snap remembered creepy echoes of the Soul Stone holding area. The rest of the universe only knew that Thanos had successfully cut down half of all life in an instant only for it to be undone by humans. The news had caused chaos and celebration in equal measure across the stars for while Earth hadn't regained those who had died as an after effect of Thanos' first snap nearly everyone else who had been destroyed had. Those returned across the universe over recognized the sacrifice of the humans and were grateful. Several human names whispered from vocal apparatus across the cosmos in reverance as an echo of that. Iron Man/Stark, Sorcerer Supreme Strange, Spiderman/the Spiderling, War Machine/Stark's Rhodey...
Loki could only be grateful that the Rogue Avengers hadn't rated having their names whispered across entire worlds. Although, at the moment, he was extremely annoyed that both Stark and Strange were in that category because it was the only reason the Rarity Hunters would have come to Earth.
"I spoke to Mother," Thor agreed. "She was interested to know that you have been writing to both of them. Thankfully it gave weight to my argument that this should be your final test before lifting the rest of the punishment in light of the puppeteering and torture that Thanos used against you. She also said something about expecting grandchildren in the future which I elected to ignore."
"Fine," Loki said testily. "Make sure that Wong is covering for Strange and that Spiderling isn't doing anything stupid. Preferably have Wong check on him regularly or one of the sensible older warriors do it if you can't get one of our mages to check on him."
"The child of your hearts will be checked on, Loki," Thor promised, amused. "Mother has been considering checking on him personally for some time for other reasons. Go and find the two you are courting."
"I'm not courting them," Loki refuted sourly. "They wouldn't welcome my courtship in any case. It is simply a scholarly exchange begun as an apology, nothing more."
Thor's booming laugh followed the trickster as he stalked away. Both of them knew that it might have begun as Loki claimed but the most recent letters had most definitely moved things into a long distance courtship even if the words hadn't been formally said yet. Loki ignored his brother's mirth and focused on his newest task. Regardless of the consequences he would have gone after the two once he had heard what happened.
Loki skywalked from Midgard less than a day later, determined to find both men and drag them back to Earth.
~~~
Stephen woke slowly. Their captors had used them against each other but from their reactions Tony had been more difficult to handle. That didn't really surprise the doctor, not after Titan. They hadn't exactly been allowed to see each other but the area they were kept in was small so it had happened more than once since they had surrendered. Both of them sported bruises but from what Stephen had seen on Tony neither of them were being intentionally harmed, just lightly chastised. That was good since their overall condition would be better but also bad because they were obviously needed in a better condition in the first place.
The door to his "room" slammed open, startling Stephen fully awake as he was dragged to his feet.
"You sure about making them a matched set?" One of the blue alien men dragging him asked the third, green skinned male.
"Yeah, they're cooperating now but without each other it's obvious they'll fight back hard. Easier just to pair 'em up," the green one grunted.
Thus Stephen was only slightly surprised to be literally thrown into Tony's arms less than five minutes later.
"Stephen," Tony exclaimed as he caught the doctor. He was rumpled and missing his suit jacket with the buttons ripped off of his button up shirt far enough down to see the arc reactor but otherwise unharmed. The discrete collars they both wore and the thick silver engraved bracelets on Stephen's wrists were the only things indicating they were prisoners.
"They heal you too?" Stephen asked with a wry laugh. He was still in his robes but he had no idea what they had done to the Cloak of Levitation.
"Yeah, but my arc helps keep the extremis virus in check so they couldn't take it away," Tony admitted. "They used you and going back for the kid to make me disable the armor. What did they fix on you?"
"My hands and the nerve damage, some fractures that hadn't healed from my last fight," Stephen sighed. "I could do surgery again if I had to even if they didn't quite manage to get me back to full capacity in that regard. I'll have to retrain with them no matter what."
"What did they take?" Tony asked quietly, ignoring the suspiciously watching Hunters.
"My sling ring, Levi, and the bracelets seal my magic," Stephen answered just as quietly, letting Tony hold him tight as their foreheads rested against each other in comfort.
Tony nodded and dragged them both over to the wall in the empty room of a cell before lowering them both to sit on the floor together. Tony's cell was smaller than the one Stephen had been put in, fifteen steps max compared to the twenty or so of Stephen's cell. The constant guard inside the cell at the door also told Stephen that Tony had tried inventing his way out, probably by trying to get at whatever innards the walls had in the starship.
"They promised we would be sold together as a set if I stopped trying to crash the ship and stopped attacking the idiots they put in here as guards," Tony warned more than loud enough for the guards to catch.
The guards glared openly at Tony for even bringing it up but Tony ignored them.
"From how often you've destroyed our own people trying similar attempts on you they got off lucky," Stephen remarked ruefully. He dropped his voice before he continued. "You didn't have to do that for me."
"Don't think I didn't figure out what changed on Titan when you looked forwards," Tony said softly, warning. "Our joint little back and forth with Lokes just made it more clear. We already agreed to share our trickster. I had just been planning on getting him to help me snag you in a proper triad. This complicates things but it's not going to stop us. I won't let it. Agreeing to cooperate if we're kept as a set isn't really a bad thing anyway. They got me pretty well contained so I was stuck causing trouble instead of being constructive. We have no idea what our buyers are going to want or how they're going to hold us but at least we'll be kept together."
Stephen sighed, recognizing the inventor was right, but let Tony visibly fuss over him. He had figured that when they were moved off the ship, probably only after they were sold or shown off, was the best time to make a break for it. Getting his sling ring back would get them out almost immediately but they had made him give up everything he had been caught on camera using in combat, sling ring included. The back up sling ring had been found when he'd been stripped for decontamination and then dumped into the hands of some sort of sterile medical bay run by computer and robot arms with restraints. He was knocked out. When he woke up his hands were healing and the bracelets were firmly in place along with the collar. He had been allowed to get dressed again in his cleaned robes under guard before being put into his cell.
Tony's small shake of his shoulder brought Stephen back to the moment to face Tony's very real concern. Stephen's sigh and small shake of the head warned him not to ask but didn't stop the other from worrying. A quiet discussion about Peter and SI and Stephen's time as a neurosurgeon started up, giving them a safe distraction. It took hours talking quietly about inconsequential things and two small meals served to them but the guards eventually relaxed. They fell asleep curled around each other.
~~~
Loki growled in frustration. Even with Thor sending him after the Rarity Hunters within hours he hadn't been able to trace the two humans. It had already been two weeks and he was only just now finding whispers about who had them. Thankfully, they hadn't been put up for auction or offered as a gift or a sale to anyone yet. His own well known knack for mischief and travel as well as his known interest in the rare and the strange was going to play a heavy part in what he was about to do next. Asgard's history of War Prizes was also going to play a part, much to Loki's distaste.
"Ki Mist-strider?" someone asked at his shoulder.
Loki turned in his seat at the bar, neutral in his response beyond a bit of bored curiosity shining through.
"Yes?" Loki drawled. He had been using Ki Mist-strider as an alias for centuries for all that it was one of his newer identities.
The person who had spoken to him was a Denubian. Not a well known species by Earth standards but recognizable as male with green scaly lizard skin but rather humanoid overall. This one had a mohawk ridge of bumps that extended into a soft silicone dark green tentacle that passed for their version of hair.
"Kindle has an offer of a pair of rare pets for you, fresh off of a place you might not have exactly heard of but then maybe you have heard of it. Care to take a look?" the Denubian asked suggestively.
"Might as well," Loki said with a hum of bored interest. "It isn't like I was finding what I was after here in the last day cycle or two after all."
"I'll get your tab then as a courtesy," the Denubian said, all toothy smiles.
Loki let him pay and wondered at what the well known Rarity Hunter Kindle was trying to sell him. It couldn't have been the humans he was after. It hadn't been long enough for even the most basic of training as upsetting as the thought of that potential training was. Unfortunately, he would have to play along with whatever it was and at least look at it if he was going to get the chance to actually find Stark and Strange. If the Rarity Hunters found out he was after only them and for the reason of returning them to Earth? Well, that would turn out badly.
The Denubian took him in a round about route to the ship marked as part of Kindle's group. Loki began to suspect that this particular crew was trying their hand at branching out in preparation of making their own group of hunters. Normally anyone visiting one of Kindle's ships could walk up to the them with nothing to fear but this crewman was taking him a back way to the ship. Something was very wrong here.
"Captain Jormon was very specific that we only offer these pets to Prince Loki first as they have upset him in the past," the Denubian chattered cheerfully as they actually entered the ship. "But hisst's second ensured that the crew recognized your distinguished self should we ever come across you. So you are to have first claim should you like these pets. I'm afraid they aren't yet fully trained but this is a good thing for you! It will allow you to train them specifically to yourself, as your reputation says you enjoy. The only downside is that the higher ups have decreed that they are a permanent set."
"Oh?" Loki asked lightly, his suspicion and hope growing as they passed through compartments and two passageways. "Show them to me."
"This way, distinguished one," the Denubian ushered. "They are in one of the lessons at this hour so please don't mind the training tools."
"I better like what I see," Loki threatened lightly. "I am a busy being."
"Of course, of course!" the Denubian cried as he opened a compartment door.
Loki came to a sudden halt, his breath caught in a gasp as his eyes landed on Stephen and Tony bound kneeling on the floor. They were both dressed in leather pants with various anchor points set up to be tied or connected to something to hold them in position. Their upper torsos were completely bare with a thin black collar around their throats. A twitch of both of them trying to turn towards the unexpectedly opened door revealed black leather straps tying their wrists to their ankles. The flash of silver at Stephen's wrists had Loki's blood boiling even more as he recognized the barest sliver of magic binding cuffs.
"What the hel, Hex?!" the trainer demanded of the Denubian.
"A customer, Jak!" Hex, the Denubian exclaimed. "Remember the Rare Trader that Ymn insisted we memorize? This is him! This is Ki Mist-strider!"
The trainer was a light red verging on pink with yellow undertones and smooth skin as if his species had been water dwellers not too far back. He was also unimpressed. Loki ignored that and strode forwards to check both humans as if he really was going to buy them.
"A Tin Man and a Second Rate Sorcerer, how quaint," Loki murmured low enough that only the two humans heard him while he was looking them over. If the ship sensors and security logs picked up his words it would mean nothing to any of them.
Both Tony and Stephen recognized the references even if they also flinched in shock. They stopped struggling as hard under his exploring hands despite their bonds, trusting Loki not to hurt them without reason. Loki in turn found more than a few injuries of different types but could tell that they were very minor. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he stood back to visually look them over again with a contemplative expression.
"What did you do?" Jak demanded. "I've been trying to get them to ease off on fighting back enough to hurt themselves for ages."
"Nothing, just a very minor docility spell that's already worn off," Loki said with a smirk. "It's easy enough to throw off for just about anyone so it's rarely used more than to offer some calm to an overwrought child. I have found that it does minor wonders when checking new potential pets for suitability. Sometimes I am in the mood for a pet that throws it off completely immediately while other times I want one that submits so much to it that they fall asleep. Hes, was it? Said that they weren't trained yet so I assumed it might be necessary to calm them some first before I decided if I wanted to purchase them."
"Hex, oh distinguished one," Hex corrected carefully. "We hope they are to your liking."
"They are indeed," Loki hummed thoughtfully. "I do hope that you still have whatever they had on them when you captured them. I will need them to replicate more appropriate attire to show their place with me to start with. These two obviously need my more gradual training program if I am to finish teaching them so some things from before you obtained them to allow for a more gentle shift will be necessary."
"The mage had several items that we have in storage, Sir. I'm afraid the clothing from the other got somewhat destroyed but we detected nothing unusual or unique about it so it should be relatively easy to replace," Jak said carefully. His face was blank with politeness after hearing that Loki wanted his charges.
"The silver marked furred one is the mage so the magical suppressors will come with purchase at a slight mark up. The one with the device on his chest unfortunately requires it to hold a primitive retrovirus in check that gives him minor enhancements compared to the mage. Both are extremely clever and have managed to hold their own with Prince Loki of Asgard, the Archmage," Hex jumped in hastily. "They were given a check up and the injuries prior to being acquired were seen too."
"It isn't often brought up but I am also a mage so holding them will be no matter," Loki waved away the brief flash of concern. "By the time I am done with them they won't want to leave me."
The wary looks exchanged by both humans seemed to ease their captors even as it had Loki's eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"We are offering them for three million credits but due to the lack of training and to your well deserved reputation we would like to offer them to you for half of that," Hex said carefully.
"Are you so certain they are worth a million and a half?" Loki demanded with a scowl. He knew they were actually worth something closer to twenty million credits each, at an absolute minimum, but he wasn't going to even remotely suggest such a thing to these imbeciles.
"Considering they come from the same world as those who defeated the Mad Titan most certainly," Jak said curtly.
"Ah," Loki said, his scowl quickly gone. "That does change things. Very well, a million and a half plus another quarter million for what things they had. Even if they don't turn out to be useful as pets there are other uses for them and showing off a pair of well matched humans with the right training will be a treat in the right setting."
"The codex to their collars are obviously a separate purchase," Jak said quickly. "Would you like to include them in the purchase?"
"You're being very agreeable... What's wrong with them? What have I missed?" Loki demanded suspiciously. He had to play this just right.
"They are possibly too clever for their own good, sir," Hex admitted. "You will probably need to keep them exceptionally isolated until they are comfortable enough to avoid causing trouble. There was some talk of... modifications to make them less troublesome and more docile but we recently discovered that if you threaten the one that isn't causing trouble to keep the other in line they are less of a problem."
"Excellent!" Loki said happily. He was going a bit over the top but he still had to be convincing. "I do like a challenge or two. Let's round it out to an even two million credits for the additional challenge but I want them ready to leave with me immediately!"
"Of course, sir," Jak agreed hastily. "Just let me run them through getting cleaned up and into their display..."
"No need for the display clothes or the clean up. You can leave them in what they are in," Loki dismissed the idea immediately. "It will make transport easier until I can get them settled into their new... accomodations. Getting them situated will see them cleaned up more than enough for my liking."
Hex fetched a sealed container box that shook and rattled in his hands as something banged around inside of it.
"The credits go to this account, sir," Jak offered his bracer with the account address on the computer screen.
Loki barely looked at it but used his own similar universal access device on his belt to transfer the credits. When the bracer computer beeped confirmation of receiving the credits both crew relaxed significantly. A hand held remote was handed over and keyed to Loki directly, making small lights on the collar blink briefly in a short pattern. It was only after that when the still rattling and bouncing box was handed over to be slipped into Loki's pocket space while the two human's were untied at wrists and ankles.
"Give me any trouble while we travel and neither of you will enjoy the following fortnight," Loki warned harshly as he visibly cast a spell over them.
"Fine," Tony said shortly.
Stephen murmured a much quieter agreement but he allowed Tony to catch him when he stumbled as Loki turned to leave, obviously expecting them to follow. Loki didn't dare risk checking on them since it would show too much familiarity and care before they got far enough away from the Rarity Hunters for safety reasons. He had a room on the space station they were docked at and had every intention of using this unfortunate scenario to get them both checked and into clothes of his own choosing. The clothing could be seen as a prank if they didn't like them but otherwise it was the best way he could think of to get them to accept such a personal gift.
~~~
Tony breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Loki sealed them into the rooms he had obviously rented and dropped the act. Stephen hadn't fared well on the short trip through the space station. None of them had realized that the bruise left on his leg and the one on his lower back had been deeper than expected. Tony had needed to half carry him at various points and every time it had happened Loki's shoulders had gotten tighter.
Loki took Stephen from Tony, showing off his superior strength compared to the humans, and laid him out on the bed. Stephen complained when he started to strip the Doctor but Tony helped him. They needed to see the damage. The livid dark purple and almost black bruising made Tony swear even as Loki pooled magic in his hands and started to heal the bruises.
"Why didn't you say anything about the bruises?" Tony hissed angrily. "No, I know why. You didn't want to piss them off more than they already were. Why just those two being that bad?"
"I was caught fiddling with the suppressor bracelets. They hadn't confirmed that I would try to protect you the way you tried to protect me so I was given the option of a beating or watching them cripple you. I took the beating. They decided two deep strikes in specific spots was the best option instead," Stephen admitted with a groan of relief as the deep bruises were slowly healed by Loki's magic. "My best guess? If I had picked you getting hurt instead they would have followed through and then separated us because you might have been protecting me but I wouldn't have had the same deterrent. However, I only thought of the reasoning hours later."
"Yeah, that tracks for people who pull this sort of shit," Tony said unhappily. "This also explains why you had so much trouble during that shit they called training."
"We are not back on planet yet," Loki warned carefully. "These quarters are rented. I can only give you so much leeway while we travel though I am gratified that you are more comfortable with me than those I purchased you from."
Both men tensed as they parsed the unspoken portion of his words as Loki finished healing Stephen. Loki saw understanding that they weren't safe yet dawn easily but he couldn't or perhaps wouldn't read the speaking look they exchanged. He stood and pushed Tony on to the bed with Stephen, being careful not to hurt either of them.
"Get some rest, my pets," Loki ordered. "I will have safe, untainted food for you when you wake. You will have some choices to make before we move on but you need to remember that you are mine, bought and paid for in full."
"We didn't complete our training," Tony warned quietly, eyes sharp, despite Loki already being aware of the fact. He was testing the waters both of the probable surveillance and of Loki's stance on whatever was happening.
"And that is part of why I am willing to give you these choices," Loki said carefully. "You may choose to be trained as my personal guards, accept my personal hand in training you both to warm my bed as companions, wait for me to gift you to the Asgard Princelings, be sold on, or choose a trade to be trained in and stay my property while working it. If you choose a trade I am willing to let you work towards your freedom but choosing to be my personal guard or companion will require you to contend with my natural possessiveness. Don't answer me now. Think on it and we will speak on things when you wake."
"What should we call you?" Stephen asked just as carefully. He had picked up on the way they were sharing information while upholding Loki's cover. He appreciated the outline of general options as well, knowing he would have been grumpy if he hadn't been asked what he wanted despite being familiar with Loki through their letter exchange.
"Sir will do until your choice is made," Loki answered with a faint smile, pleased by how they were playing along. "I have some business to conduct while you rest but once you have chosen we will start your training. Choose carefully. You will have to thoroughly dedicate yourself to the training once we have begun."
"Understood," Stephen said softly. Tony gave a grumpy nod for his own agreement.
Loki breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He didn't hide it from them but he did give them a nod and left them alone in the bedroom part of the rooms.
Loki could only hope they cooperated and that he could get them away safely. If anyone realized who they were and that they had been sold to him... Well he would have a hard time defending them against the onslaught of those either trying to rescue them or trying to take them for their own devices.
Shaking himself free of his thoughts Loki logged into the administration sector of the space station network. He quickly logged his purchase of them and paid the appropriate fee for a lack of questions that also firmed his claim on them if they wandered. With the administrative precautions out of the way he logged several orders of food to be delivered along with certain items he had every intention of dropping in a corner to ignore for appearance's sake. Hopefully, Stephen and Tony wouldn't get the wrong idea when they arrived.
Loki could do nothing more so he logged off and sat back to wait for the deliveries.
~~~
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Tony asked carefully, wary about the potential surveillance.
"Maybe," Stephen said with a thoughtful hum. "I think we can both agree that being sold on is out. I suspect he thinks we will choose to be gifted to Prince Thor."
"I kinda like the idea of asking for a mixed cross training," Tony said thoughtfully. "I mean we were considering a third for our potential match up before we were taken. Guard training will come with returning our ability to fight. Companion Training will come with getting closer to our rescuer since he said he would take a personal hand in it. I would just get really bored with those two jobs so hopefully he will let me play with the tech we keep coming across or let me train as a tech repair guy."
"I don't like leaving someone else in that much control of me," Stephen said truthfully. "I am not opposed to those specific choices either but for me I would prefer the job training to be something medical or magical in nature. In any case we don't know how long any of this will last. He might even just change his mind."
"Then we give our all to make sure he doesn't regret buying us," Tony pointed out. "I had to deal with something like this years ago but a lot more hostile and dangerous. Even if this is just tactics to gentle us it could be a lot worse. That's part of how I got the first cobbled together implant. This baby in my chest is a much later model. The bastards might have managed to fix your hands but for me they weren't sure how to fix my rib cage without removing this and the Extremis virus made doing that impossible."
"That's right, I can actually check you over now without them making things worse," Stephen exclaimed as he sat up abruptly and started checking Tony without waiting for permission.
Tony grumbled but allowed the exam and cooperated.
"So? What's the verdict?" Tony asked once Stephen was done.
"They reinforced your ribs and what little sternum you have left. I am not sure what metal was used to brace the existing bone but they did a good job of things," Stephen sighed. "If you wanted to and the virus didn't interfere your reactor could be removed."
"Can't," Tony corrected him. "And the virus... well it's dormant but with how close they held us it's in your system at this point. We both bled and that's one of the ways to pass it along naturally. Maya Hanson was stupid about not putting in a kill switch in the protein chains once introduced to a host. Mine's stabilized so you got a version that won't kill you for going too active but sometimes, in a fight, I need the higher regeneration boost. It was first used to keep me alive during the surgeries I needed to survive Cap crushing my chest with his shield and driving my suit's reactor back into my damaged chest after Germany when I caught up to him in Siberia. I try not to bleed on people for a reason after all."
Stephen groaned but nodded his understanding. He also privately decided that he was going to be a hell of a lot more protective than before. Rogers would face his quickly hidden anger over attacking Tony like that once they got back to Earth.
"So? Companion training? At least to start?" Tony asked cheekily as Stephen laid back down next to him.
"You just want him in bed with us," Stephen pointed out, deeply unimpressed.
"Like you don't want at least one night with him for yourself," Tony teased lightly.
"Not when we can't all relax and actually enjoy the night," Stephen said bluntly. "If anything I agree with you. I don't want him to regret buying us. I am just unsure we can get away with not immediately trying to return home if only because of our duties back home. I think... I need you to choose for both of us. Someone will cover for me back home or they will pick someone new for the position but with the magic involved..."
"Ah, some sort of binding or oath or something right?" Tony surmised with a wince. He hadn't even considered that it might not just be a part of Stephen's job as Sorcerer Supreme but something that came with literal ties he might not be able to get around.
"You could say that," Stephen huffed a laugh. "I didn't understand why my predecessor didn't just retire until I saw the oaths I would have to take. I took them willingly but I was just fresh off of my first major battle. As far as I knew I was never going to have a family, possibly not even a lover, and I was needed. One of the oaths ensures that once you take on the mantle even if someone else takes them while you still live you essentially die in the position. There is no giving it up."
"So how does that work if there's more than one?" Tony asked curiously.
"I presume seniority but I don't actually know. I haven't been part of the Order long enough to find out or ever thought to look it up in the library and archives," Stephen explained.
"Are you actually forbidden from having a lover or a family?" Tony asked carefully.
"No, not as such but my duty as Sorcerer Supreme has to come first," Stephen admitted. "I might be able to step down after one of my own personal students took the oaths but generally the oaths aren't taken until the current Sorcerer Supreme is actually dead. This is partly because of leading the Order and being allowed to break the rules in certain extenuating circumstances. I do answer to the other Masters of the Order but removal after the oaths are taken is, to be blunt, simply execution."
"Damn, that's hard core, Stephanie," Tony said with a shiver.
"It is what it is," Stephen said ruefully. "I won't have a choice but to try to go back and keep doing my duty unless I am detained one way or another. The exception is if I am managing to perform one or more of my duties in the process of being away."
Before Tony could speak again Loki walked in on them, obviously upset.
"The walls are not especially sound proofed, far more sound is coming between the rooms of the suite than I had thought or hoped compared to the noise outside," Loki commented as he approached the pair. "I suppose that's why this is a heavily recommended area for these sorts of transactions."
"How much did you hear?" Stephen asked with a sigh as they both sat up in the bed to face him.
"Enough," Loki said as he did his own second check on both of them. "I understand that the situation isn't ideal for either of you but should you wish for me to avoid touching you without absolute necessity you should choose being gifted or sold on. Otherwise, I am afraid that I have found myself already rather possessive of you both."
"If we were back home I'm afraid you might find our positions rather sharply reversed, sir," Stephen snarked back.
"And if I told you, in all honesty, that staying with me prevents me from harassing your home?" Loki asked with a sharp smile.
Stephen shivered and a tension that none of them had noticed before eased away, allowing him to slump boneless on the bed. Loki blinked in surprise as Tony checked the sorcerer.
"How badly was the magic oath or whatever hurting you?" Tony demanded with a frown.
"It was more a tension and an inability to relax," Stephen admitted, half asleep without meaning to be. "Apparently, even tangentially trying to fulfill my duties or to get back to them helps."
Loki cast a spell that put Stephen in magical chains and bound him to the bed. Stephen, despite Tony's yelp of alarm was out cold in seconds. Loki checked him again and frowned before turning and checking Tony with the same spells.
"What is it?" Tony asked warily.
"They had a mage. The magic in several of his oaths has been twisted," Loki answered Tony absently. "I can't ask him about it either because if he becomes aware of the twisting or is asked to choose the rather inelegant kill switch triggers. At least I, or rather you, can warn him that if he has sex with someone it will evolve the oath into a magical bond that's normally permanent. Right now only you and I qualify for it to change that way but if someone else takes possession of him and takes him by force before someone triggers it he'll be bound ot them instead. It will push to bind both of us to him if we fuck him with absolutely no malice or ill intent against him. This is a real nasty piece of work. I only wish I had thought to check sooner."
"What about me?" Tony asked, carefully neutral.
"Yours shouldn't spontaneously bond with someone unless it's someone else's magic starting the process," Loki informed him. "I can't remove it from either of you. You will have to be exceptionally careful in your choice of bedmates going forwards."
Neither man noticed that Stephen had dragged himself out of his body and was watching everything through his astral form. It created a nice little loophole in the booby trap his own body had become as he listened to Loki dance around what exactly he had found. Stephen checked his own body and noticed that it was the duty oath that was twisted the most. That explained the disparity between past reactions and current ones.
The longing look Loki sent them both had Stephen's astral eyes narrowing in thought. Tony's less well hidden ones were more wistful as if he really didn't expect them to tell him anything beyond hell no if he asked. That wouldn't do at all. Besides, his oaths had more than a little wiggle room to allow for family and clan responsibilities. Claiming them both for himself would easily slot them into those protections. He had been surprised by Tony's words back in that cell together more because his own mind had been wandering in the same direction for months before all of this had happened. So, it was just a matter of turning the tables a little bit and triggering the bond himself.
Sliding back into his body Stephen felt it wake up with a gasp. His eyes flew open and he took in the startled expressions on both their faces. He didn't wait for them to recover as he twisted, catching them in the conjured chains that held him as he pulled them both against him and trapping them at his mercy.
"Unless either of you have an objection to being permanently tied to me I have every intention of making my own claim to you both clear," Stephen threatened with a smirk.
"Bad Pet," Loki scolded playfully, his grin wide with relief as he put the pieces together and understood that Stephen had listened while astral projecting. "I'm the master here. I guess I'll just have to make the choice for you."
"Uh, what? I'm confused," Tony complained.
"Sex, with both of us and all that entails, yes or no?" Stephen asked bluntly.
"Yes, very much yes," Tony said firmly as his brain finally kicked back into gear.
"Not now. No matter how much I want to rush forwards so that no one can take either of you from me this isn't an appropriate venue," Loki said, remembering that they weren't safe and were probably still being spied on. A quick dispelling and recasting of the chains freed him but kept his humans trapped on the bed.
"You're really insistent on us staying put," Tony grumbled. "The chains are a little bit much."
"Or not enough," Loki smirked. "Food should be here in a few hours."
Before either of them could argue or try to stay awake Loki knocked them out with a sleep spell. Getting back on the network and changing his order about the things he had only been going to use as a decoy purchase was simple. They wouldn't be the real quality he wanted for his humans but it would work just fine as a temporary measure.
~~~
Tony cursed as he abruptly woke back up. He frantically checked on Stephen who woke up far more calmly than the inventor had.
"I suspect he's going to be doing that fairly often until we're actually closer to safe," Stephen grumbled as Tony checked him over.
"I don't like it," Tony growled. "It's not as bad as fucking Wanda screwing with my head but he could at least warn us before he does that sort of thing."
"Maximoff used her powers on you? Repeatedly?" Stephen asked, suddenly tense.
"Yeah," Tony grumbled. "I can't get rid of that stupid red haze over everything afterwards either. It goes away after a while but she keeps accidentally hitting me with her powers. I'm paranoid enough as it is thank you very much! I don't need my fears morphed into visions and nightmares that overwhelm my sense of reality on the fucking regular. That's one of the only good things about us getting grabbed before we were bought. Her sticky little red fingers stopped scraping themselves over my brain!"
Stephen cursed, viciously. Tony couldn't understand why his complaining had caused that but stayed close just in case, not that the chains would have let him go far. The magical chains Loki had placed on them were still present but he didn't object when Stephen pulled Tony against his chest protectively.
"Steph? Gonna explain?" Tony asked once the Sorcerer had calmed down.
"Even supposedly temporary effects on the mind can cause serious and long term damage," Stephen said, struggling with his anger again. "Magic of this type is insidious and extremely dangerous. To the best of my knowledge the only barely accepted way of using it is in healing. Any other use is heavily frowned upon, only considered as an emergency measure, or is outright banned. A ban that is often issued with an execution order attached to it. What you just described is... It's a complete violation of you in a way that anyone who even remotely knows you will kill over. We can't keep this from him. For one anything done to you could interact with it. Had that happened we would have never known what had killed you if you had kept silent. As both a Doctor and a Sorcerer I am horrified not only by what she has done, which you have no doubt downplayed drastically, and concerned by how I could have missed it! The thought of you potentially returning to that makes me sick."
"What else?" Tony asked with a sigh.
"He's not the only one with a possessive streak," Stephen growled. "You knowingly agreed to a permanent bond. You aren't the Witch's toy to play with. You're ours and I can practically guarantee he will feel the same way once he hears about this."
"Right, he stepped out or he would have already been in here when we woke up," Tony grimaced. "Referring to him without a name is really annoying. I know that he's used different aliases before but anyone working in less than legal circles with high price tags does that. Calling him Sir would just bring up painful memories for me and my habit of nicknames will just get us in trouble right now."
"I appreciate the efforts to resist your sense of humor on that front," Stephen said dryly. "More seriously we agreed on accepting the companion training from him. However, he was the one to remind us that this isn't an ideal location for private discussions and time getting to know each other, something that's basically required for that kind of training."
"At least he was happy when we agreed that he should keep us," Tony said. He shuddered over what could have happened if it had been someone else who had bought them or if Loki had truly been an enemy.
Stephen's jaw clenched as he visibly fought with himself over something. Tony let him hold him tight and knew that Wanda's semi-regular assault on his mind was for more serious than he had thought. Tony just knew that Stephen was right, Loki was going to be furious.
They fell back asleep waiting for Loki to return.
~~~
Loki grimaced as he turned away from the counter where he had booked them passage on a ship heading towards Vanaheim then possibly on to Alfheim. Getting there was going to be tricky with a number of transfers and waiting between different ships. He was welcomed in both places but getting his humans help with the mages of both those realms was going to engender questions.
It didn't matter what questions Loki would have to answer. What he hadn't told either of them was there was more than just magic from the Rarity Hunters present on both of them. Traces of magic from people that needed to be close to them to have cast it in the first place had been on both Stephen and Tony. It had been plain in how their bodies and natural magics didn't fight them as hard as something newly cast by an enemy. Tony's at least had a tired sort of slow struggling against the chaos magics that had been used on his mind and body. The long term curses he found on Stephen however had to have been applied as a child.
"How are you enjoying your purchase, oh distinguished one?" Hex asked as he passed him in the corridor.
"I am not as yet," Loki bit out angrily. "You sold me cursed goods. Curses that must be removed before I can enjoy them. Even without the proper training I have found they can be reasoned with but I can not follow through, finish training them, or enjoy my purchase until all of the curses are stripped from them! Be grateful I have taken a liking to them for myself or I would have returned to take the difference of value out of you and your crew."
"Oh?!" Hex half squeaked nervously.
"Get out of my sight before I decide to take what repayment for the falsity of your bargaining I can directly from your hide!" Loki snarled.
Hex ran.
Loki was left unmolested in his obvious anger as he returned to his rented rooms only to find his ire cooled by the sight of Stephen wrapped tightly around Tony. Taking a deep calming breath he looked them over again and frowned as he realized Stephen was, in his sleep, protecting Tony. That... wasn't a good thing. Or rather it indicated that something had gone wrong while he was arranging for their passage elsewhere. Skywalking was technically an option as was returning Stephen's focus for his portals but Loki didn't dare allow either possibility without removing the curses. Curses that were safer to transport to the other mages via more mundane methods.
Sighing Loki woke them with quiet murmurs, releasing the spell chains so that they could get up. He sorted them out between the unusual bathroom configuration to the food he served them. It was Tony who figured it out before they were even done their meal.
"Something went wrong," Tony observed. "Something made you angry."
"We can't go straight to Midgard, not with the spell work on you both," Loki warned carefully. "We will need to visit other mages for a consultation at a minimum. I would prefer having the bond established enroute but doing it now with the potential interference of the rest of it could complicate the removal of the undesirable magics. I have booked us passage to Vanaheim and then onwards to Alfheim. The Vanir are well known for their connection to magic and nature. While the Light Elves have different specializations in magic, such as shape shifting. You will need to stay close. Once aboard ship I will leave it up to either of you on if you continue to play being my servants or slaves. In private I refuse to give up either of you as my pets. The collars have to stay, I'm afraid. At least one particularly nasty shock spell is tied into them."
"Maximoff has been fucking with Tony's head on a regular basis since she joined the group," Stephen warned bluntly, making Tony wince. "I found out while you were gone."
Loki froze as he processed that and connected it with what he had already detected. He forced his fists to unclench as he let go of the now mangled utensils. The side trip for de-cursing was even more imperative now.
"Finish your food. From now on neither of you are leaving my sight," Loki half snarled as he failed to keep his temper fully in check.
"A monitoring spell should work fine," Stephen pointed out with a frown.
"Stephen, he said both of us," Tony pointed out. "He must have found other stuff he couldn't tell us about safely. He also must have found at least some of Wanda's handiwork or he would be more surprised."
"I can very well play the villain if need be," Loki reminded them both darkly.
"We already agreed to accept your personal companion training," Tony informed him. "The bond agreement from yesterday is also a thing."
Loki hissed in protective fury as he surged to his feet, his anger at the magics cast on his humans reignited. Both of them pointedly let him be as they obeyed, finishing their food. By the time they were done and things were cleaned up Loki had obviously come to some sort of decision. He cast several spells at them. The first one reshaped their training pants into something one might find on the Jinn or a harem girl from the story of Aladdin. The metal and part of the fabric shifted to form metal soled pointy leather shoes on their previously bare feet. The colors matched their new pants, dark blue and dusky dark red respectively with a paler shade coloring the sash belt part of the pants. A cloak in Loki's signature rich green with golden norse runes embroidered along the edges was conjured for each of them. Loki fastened the cloaks in place personally before checking them over.
"If I could only get those collars off of you both safely I could replace them with one more fitting, preferably ones that wouldn't be booby trapped," Loki grumbled. "Maybe spell them with a recall or summoning enchantment so I could just bring you straight to me when you both get into trouble."
Tony and Stephen exchanged looks at the commentary but didn't say anything.
They were aboard the transport and hidden away in the passenger quarters within the hour with Loki guarding them like a jealous dragon.
~~~
Loki knew that he was being unreasonable. He knew that his quick thinking about the shoes hadn't been quite enough, leaving them both hurting from the shoes. He had padded the transformed fabric turned into shoes with soft leather and made the metal soles segmented to flex with the foot. It had been all that had stopped them from actively damaging his humans.
Loki also knew that Stephen and Tony were starting to worry over him. He had chased away the crew members who had checked in on them more than once. He had kept them protectively with him the way he had threatened on the station. Finally, he had only allowed them to eat the food he had stored in his pocket space from his particular special purchases on the station.
"Gonna keep playing the villain, Lokitty?" Tony asked lowly, his eyes watchful.
"This isn't me playing the villain," Loki scoffed. "If I were playing the villain you would have both been chained to the bed and been thoroughly bedded by now. This is me being paranoid about someone discovering you both this vulnerable along with connecting you to your galactic reputations. To say nothing of the possibility that I missed some sort of tracker on one or both of you. At least if you were obviously injured there would be fewer questions from the curious and I would have something to do other than fret."
"And if we insisted you completed the bond so that it would quit tugging on you? Pushing you to claim us? You know that at the rate this is building it won't stop until we engage in intimacy," Stephen pointed out. "Intimacy we already agreed to. You're the one being stubborn at this point."
"If I start I... we won't be able to stop," Loki warned. "The magics... They would anchor almost immediately. It would be a scramble to stabilize them if there is even a hint of stopping. I don't know how any of it would manifest even if we give in enough to start the bonding. I could hurt you, both of you. Remember, your former captors deal in things like this professionally."
"That's what you're worried about?" Tony asked, surprised. "I can more than take a little rough playtime."
"I can as well," Stephen assured him. "Pain is an old friend."
"That's rather the point. I don't want to hurt you and to properly seal it with the current active magics you would have to resist and I would have to follow through anyway," Loki growled angrily. "Rarity Hunters that deal in living beings are barely better than slavers, flesh traders. The bond that would form would enforce that! It's why I want the magics stripped off of you both before we try to bond. I also refuse to give someone else the chance to force such a bond on either of you."
"What do you mean, properly seal it?" Tony asked suspiciously.
"We discussed it on the station but I didn't exactly elaborate the loophole I found would form if we bond now and someone decides to break the bond," Loki admitted uncomfortably. "If you actually care about the person who bought you and go willingly to their bed then the assumption is that you shouldn't have been sold to them in the first place. It's a precaution in the business to keep family members or spouses from buying the person back. While they threatened to sell you to me as Loki that would be under the assumption that we were still enemies and that I would never release you. There are very few actual workarounds for these sorts of magics."
"So we would fall under captured rivals if anyone asked," Stephen said thoughtfully.
"What if we offered anyway?" Tony asked, sharp-eyed and clearly looking for a way to get Loki to calm down or cooperate on something. "What if we settled into the role? Offered ourselves up to you? Gifted ourselves to you as what they intended us to be?"
"Oh, Norns! Don't do that," Loki groaned, unconsciously reaching out a hand towards them only to snatch it back and rub furiously at his face.
"It would magnify the effect wouldn't it?" Stephen asked, practically pouncing on Loki's reaction. "You wouldn't be able to help yourself. You would take us. The binding would be permanent but you would still do it. You would..."
"Own you both!" Loki snapped, interrupting Stephen's deductions. "Asgardian law would recognize the situation as you both being magically bound slaves to me! If I wanted a slave I would go buy one. If I wanted either of you as actual slaves I would have found a way to isolate you and cast the damned magics myself!"
The silence that followed was deafening.
"So no way to reverse the polarity?" Tony quipped his question after letting the silence linger for a moment. He didn't expect their heads to snap around and stare at him in shock.
"What? Is it something on my face?" Tony snarked.
"Uh, mostly the fact that the magic can equate so well to a circuit that you figured out the polarity trick and we had both completely forgotten about it," Stephen answered, still slightly in shock.
"Not all of it," Loki corrected. "It wouldn't untwist your oaths. Nor will it affect the older magics cast on you both but..."
"The bonding," Stephen said in realization. "We could force it back into a more healthy format. Something that would be closer to one chosen willingly and more equal."
"That would require..." Loki started and trailed off as he turned thoughtful.
"What do I need to do?" Tony asked with rueful wariness. When they looked at him sharply he elaborated. "It's obvious you're both on the same wavelength and just as obvious that if we're forcing things I won't be able to sync up with you to help. I'm not magic like the two of you. Which means you either force it to make me leader or I submit to both of you. Since we're going to healthy and consenting versus the original not consenting it has to have a willing component from each of us if my logic pans out."
"You aren't wrong," Stephen sighed. "Whatever we set up is going to be permanent just based on the fact that we're forcefully altering the initial conditions and requirements."
"Letting you both become my leash instead of letting someone else try to take Shield's place honestly sounds better to me. Even if we all go villain for whatever shit reason is later blamed it's not like it would be boring," Tony smirked. He was apprehensive but it all still fit what he had decided he was going to do back in that cell.
"Oh, precious," Loki practically purred as the two mages shared a look that obviously morphed into some kind of agreement.
Stephen quickly stepped forwards to take a possessive kiss from Tony's lips. Meanwhile, Loki moved them both over to their joint oversized bed, courtesy of Loki's previously cast magic. Tony was manhandled onto the bed as he recovered from the kiss before getting kissed equally deeply by Loki. Tony was groaning with want as the magic washed over all three of them, vanishing their clothes and shoes.
"I, Loki Friggason, claim you both as my consorts," Loki said formally even as he ran possessive hands along Tony's body.
"I, Stephen Vincent Strange, current Sorcerer Supreme, claim you both as my own consorts," Stephen stated. Like Loki he infused his words with magic and full intent to claim even as he started to play with Tony's body.
Tony only managed to gasp out a "Yes, please!" as they played with him. Kneeling on either side of him on the bed they worked on first learning Tony and each other. Another wash of magic drew power up out of each of them. A deep forest green mixed with icy blues from Loki, a bright almost neon green mixed with golden sparks for Stephen, and an arc reactor blue pure and crisp for Tony. The power swirled between them as both mages gently mixed it together before guiding it back inside each of them. Their eyes glowed with their returned power and hints of the power from their new bonded.
"I'm going to enjoy fucking you when we wake back up," Stephen murmured to Tony as he stole another kiss and laid down on their bed with his bondmates. Tony murmured appreciative anticipation while Loki chuckled and drew them together to tangle themselves in one sleepy pile.
~~~
Tony decided that being kissed awake by two possessive mages was something he could get used to. They had woken up quietly together from their magic bonding induced nap and something had felt properly settled in all three of them. Loki had made them all eat before he and Stephen had started teasing Tony again. Tony just settled back and enjoyed the attention even as they all got closer to more.
"I can't wait much longer," Loki eventually growled and sent a wave of magic over and inside Tony, preparing him to be taken.
Tony gasped in surprise at the feeling of being cleaned, stretched, and slicked up. Stephen growled in a mix of warning to be careful at Loki and possessive approval for Tony being ready to be fucked through the mattress. Stephen reached for Tony himself only to be pinned and given the same treatment.
"Lokitty?" Tony asked softly.
"If you think I'm not having both of you immediately then you are sorely mistaken," Loki smirked.
It took three hours for the magic between them to shift from a sticky syrup consistency holding them together into a strong flexible bond of mutual connection and power. They wouldn't survive it's destruction and they were okay with that.
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The End... for now.