Archive of Our Own

When Loki Lockhart had first gotten the job of being Tony Stark’s personal assistant, he’d been ecstatic. High pay and working in one of the best known companies in the world, that’d look damn good on a resumé, if he ever even wanted to leave. This seemed like a job that he could stay in forever, especially since he had to practically fight for it, he certainly wasn’t the only one to want this job.

When they first met a week later, it took Loki a full ten seconds to decide that he didn’t like the man, without counting the thirty minutes he was late for their meeting. Loki had continually told himself that Mr. Stark had just been running late, that he’d been caught up somewhere or had an emergency, but those thoughts were obliterated when the head of Stark Industries sauntered up with a bed head and a cheeseburger from Burger King.
Tony had taken a last bite, wadding up the wrapper and tossing it carelessly behind him before stating, "Damn, you look more like a model than a Harvard graduate." His dark eyes roved over Loki’s body like he was more of an item than person, causing the taller man’s eye to twitch slightly.
　
　
"I assure you Mr. Stark I did not get this position for my appearance, I have the credentials for it," Loki replied as coolly as he could, part of his mind already worrying over what this would be like. Of course he’d been fully aware of Stark’s known arrogance, but Loki had hoped the man would show some common decency to his own employee.

The CEO simply hummed in response, turning on his heel and strutting towards his office, waving Loki along without actually looking back. Oh this was going to end in catastrophe. Most likely with someone being thrown out a window, preferably Stark (Hey no one ever said Loki was known for keeping his cool).

He stood quietly near the door while Mr. Stark reclined in his chair, reading over Loki’s resumé. He would glance up at him every once in awhile as he read, making Loki think that he didn’t really care all too much and that this was his first time actually looking over the damn thing. Another minute passed before the CEO finally looked up, tossing the folder aside and crossing his arms, "So your name is Loki Lockhart, you’re 23, you have a degree in Literary Arts and a minor in psychology from Cambridge. Why are you here?"

"I’ve wanted to work at Stark Industries for quite some time, I’ve always admired your work-"

"Cut the interview crap, why are you here?"

Loki narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, deciding to speak boldly in his annoyance, "I’m here because Stark Industries can get me anywhere, and a man can’t really depend on his writing when he isn’t well known." Mr. Stark had stared at Loki a moment, lightly tapping a pen against his desk before his mouth curved and he looked honestly impressed.

"That’s your real reasoning?"

"Yes," Loki raised a brow, "Does this mean I’m fired due to my selfish reasoning?"

"Not selfish, intelligent," he pointed at Loki, now sitting up to rest his elbows on the desk, "You, you I like. Welcome to Stark Industries and more importantly; my life."
It was that simple too, being blunt gained him Stark’s favor and made it sure that it’d be stuck with the obnoxious billionaire and playboy for a long while.

Even after ten years later Loki is still in Stark Industries, soon turning thirty-two and having one of the most stress-filled work lives possible. He’s positive he’s experienced things an employee, or anyone really, should have to experience. What’s worse is that he can’t even really complain about it due to the kindness of the other workers, especially Stark’s chauffeur, Happy Hogan, and even Stark’s best friend Colonel James Rhodes (though Loki wouldn’t be surprised if it were out of pity). Loki is treated well and has more than enough in each paycheck, the only problems being the often absent or drunk boss that he’s walked in on doing many things, which constitutes for all the stress he receives from the work environment. It didn’t help that Tony laughed to joke, or mock as Loki prefered to call it, his assistant. A prime example was over Loki’s middle name and initials.

"Why didn’t you write your middle name on your application?" Tony had asked with that infuriating smile of his that said he knew something that you either didn’t or didn’t want him to know. The former was a ridiculous thing to think though, since this was Tony Stark we were talking about, he would be able to find out anything.

"Because that name is not required to apply for a job and it is an unneeded part of a name," Loki then responded, organizing a stack of papers that needed to be signed.

"Yeah, but I feel like I deserve to know, especially when it’s funny as hell."

Loki had twitched and raised a brow at his employer, "I don’t understand the amusement over the name Orpheus."

"Well for one it’s a funny name," Tony was grinning, walking around his desk while twirling a pen in his fingers, "and two, it makes your initials L-O-L."

"And what does that have to do with my job, Mr. Stark?"

"It finally gives me something to laugh at, you’re too good to be able to keep your sanity, one thing goes wrong and you’ll lose your shit."

"I’ll just have to work harder to make sure nothing goes wrong then."

Tony’s smile had gone even wider before Loki shoved the documents at his boss.

Loki checked himself once more in the mirror, making sure that he looked professional, before heading towards the Stark Malibu mansion. It was a familiar thing to do, but even after so long Loki still became nervous when entering. He never knew what awaited him in the "dream house." And from having to pick up someone’s, obviously female, dry-cleaning so early, he knew it’d be an interesting sight.

"Jesus!" A woman’s voice cried out in surprise as Loki made his way inside, soon finding a blonde only in one of Tony’s shirts. Taking a deep breath Loki put on his most charming fake smile and stepped closer to her.

"I apologize but you’re not allowed to access that area, as Mr. Stark’s AI Jarvis informed you," he presented the dry cleaning bag to her, "I have your clothes here, clean and pressed, and once you are dress there is a car waiting outside for you. It’ll take you anywhere you wish." It was an average day really, the speech now memorized and not needing much thought. But then something unusual happened. The blonde smiled, a condescending expression, as she approached him, stating quietly,

"You must be the famous Loki Lockhart."

"That I am."

"And even after all these years Tony still has you doing things like picking up dry-cleaning?"

Loki continued to smile as charmingly as he could, giving a slight nod, "I am his personal assistant. It’s my job to do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires me to do, including the occasional disposal of trash from his home. Now is that all?" He punctuated his question by holding up the bag once more, the woman grabbing it quickly before heading out, visibly seething. His work there was done.

Heading down the stairs to the workshop Loki called to the AI, "Jarvis, would you be a dear and turn off that dreadful music of Mr. Stark’s? I need to speak with him."

Of course, Mr. Lockhart.

Loki smiled and typed in his access code for the shop, and the moment he opened the door he was bombarded with an annoyed command, "Don’t turn down my music."

"I won’t turn off your racket when you actually do what you’re supposed to. You were supposed to be on your jet hours ago."

"That’s the nice thing about it being a private jet, I decided when it leaves. So is she gone?"

Loki sighed, opening his briefcase as he responded, "Yes. I dealt with her like the others. She seemed extremely interested in your house and knew who I was."

"Everyone who knows me knows you. I can’t be surprised either, she was a reporter."

"You allowed a nosy reporter into the mansion?"

"She wanted to talk to me and I took the opportunity."

"An opportunity for someone to create a scathing story about you?"

"She won’t, just relax about it, Loki," Tony replied as he finally stood completely up from the car he’d been working on, wiping his greasy hands on a nearby rag.
Loki rolled his eyes, mumbling about how he wasn’t paid nearly enough to be worth all the stress he was given on a daily basis. Tony simply grinned while his assistant pulled out a manilla envelope with a pen hooked onto it, knowing that was just Loki’s way of worrying.
"Luckily I know you well enough to foresee you not leaving yet, so sign this," Loki held out the envelope. Tony grabbed the pen and quickly wrote his signature across the line, smiling at Loki as he asked,

"Is there anything else you need, Mr. Lockhart?"

"No, that is all I needed to tell you. I’ll be leaving now."

"Leaving? Why?" Tony furrowed his brow. This was actually to be expected from the billionaire, because really, what else did Loki have in his life besides Stark Industries? "Got somewhere to be?"

"I do actually," Loki replied, putting away the file he’d brought and making sure everything was in order in his briefcase. All while doing his best to not look his boss in the face. He didn’t need those big brown eyes trying to peel every fact about what he was doing out of him.

"Why do you have plans? You never have plans. I thought you were the type to just...work." It was slightly surprising for Tony to actually bring up that assumption, but not entirely shocking.

"I’m afraid not, Mr. Stark, I do have a life outside of your own. And I happen to have plans because it’s my birthday."

"It’s your birthday?"

"As a matter of fact yes. Amazing isn’t it, how they come around every year at the same time?" Tony’s mouth quirked up, a smile that Loki always seemed to bring out with his sarcasm,

"Yeah. Get yourself something nice on me."

"That’s already been taken care of actually."

"I can’t say I’m surprised, being the best boss in the world and everything."

"Of course, now get to your plane, I don’t need another disgruntled call from Colonel Rhodes." Loki then gave an actual smile to his boss, adding, "Have a nice trip, Mr. Stark."
　

"Thank you, Mr. Lockhart." Loki gave a slight nod before leaving the workshop.

"Make sure Mr. Stark arrives at his destination safely," Loki told Happy as he walked out the front door, seeing the chauffeur standing dutifully by one of Tony's cars.

"Will do, Mr. Lockhart, you can count on me."

Loki smiled and patted the man's shoulder, "We'd be lost with you in our services, Mr. Hogan." The driver smiled in return, giving Loki a nod of gratitude before the assistant headed toward his own car, having always refused being driven around.

"You have a nice birthday too!" Happy called after him as he started his car, making Loki look up in surprise. At least someone had remembered. He said his thanks before driving away, hoping to enjoy the rest of his day off.

It would be a blatant lie for Loki to say he wasn't nervous as he straightened his tie, once again in front of mirror. This time it wasn't for business though, it was preparing for his date, who was also his boyfriend of just over a year now; Fandral. Besides celebrating Loki's 32nd birthday, they were celebrating their anniversary that had been a week ago, Loki only being able to get the day off for his birthday at this time of the year.

The fact that they had lasted so long in their relationship was nothing short of a miracle, Loki always being caught up in work and Fandral having to share his boyfriend with the Tony Stark. Even when Loki had first applied for the job he was warned not to date if he got the job, which was an entertaining idea to say the least since most of the applicants were women trying to get into Mr. Stark's bed. All of this was the major reason as to why Loki was nervous as well, thoughts and minor conversations of marriage coming up more and more often between the two lovers and a birthday dinner in an extremely overpriced restaurant did seem like the perfect time to propose.

Before Loki could get even further lost in his anxiety ridden mind the doorbell chimed loudly throughout his apartment. With a shaky breath he looked over himself once more in the mirror then walked towards the front door. "Happy Birthday!" Fandral shouted joyously the second the door opened, grinning as always and offering a bouquet of lilies, Loki's favorite.

"Thank you," Loki replied quietly, taking the bundle with a small smile.

"Are you ready to go?" The blonde asked, a little too excitedly to calm Loki down any. With his heart pounding, Loki nodded, taking his boyfriend's outstretched hand and following him out to the apartment complex's elevator and down to the Camry Fandral drove.

"So, how's work been, love?" Fandral began conversationally, working a napkin into his shirt collar. Fandral was the only one Loki had ever known, besides his father, to do this when eating, which still caused Loki to begin wondering about why he was so attracted to his boyfriend, and that was never a very good mental road to travel down.

"Chaotic and stressful, as always," he replied with a quirk of his lips, fingers tapping lightly against his glass of wine.

"Well thank the gods you have me to keep you sane," Fandral joked, sipping his own wine, Loki soon mimicking the movement in an attempt to relax.

“So true,” Loki finally spoke up, eyes moving to take in the entire room. They were mostly secluded, Fandral luckily always having known that Loki didn’t enjoy massive crowds. Or people in general.

One nerve wracking hour later, Fandral cleared his throat, suddenly matching Loki’s feelings the entire time and offering an anxiety-ridden smile his way. He ran a hand through his blonde locks and began rifling around in his coat pocket, soon pulling out a little black velvet box, causing Loki to suck in a surprised breath. The blonde smiled crookedly and dropped down onto one knee, speaking quietly, “Don’t look so surprised, Loks.”

“I am not surprised, excited is more fitting,” Loki replied with a half smile, a part of his mind hissing liar at him. I mean, he had to be excited right? Most people anticipated these moments, dreamt of them, so surely Loki wasn’t different in that aspect.

“I was hoping you’d be excited, just as I am hoping you’ll say yes. Will you marry me Loki Lockhart?” Fandral gave one of his most charming smiles, opening the box with snap and showing off the gold band and polished diamond. And that was it, there was no big speech, no fumbling over words, just a cocky and simple questions. It was like most of the two’s relationship, simple, almost convenient. But that was just another road Loki prefered to not go down.

Without much hesitation Loki nodded and gave a small smile to Fandral, extending his left hand for the ring. Once the band was on his finger, Fandral pulled Loki down a bit for a soft kiss, hand immediately going into his black hair. It was quick and ended with Fandral smiling and whispering “Thank you” against Loki’s slightly parted lips. The rest of dinner was shared in a comfortable silence, a few more glasses of red wine shared, food eaten, before Fandral paid and they headed to Loki’s apartment, all the while everything stayed quite normal for the two. This was Loki’s life, and he wouldn’t have it any different.

Loki hadn’t expected it, not at all, in an instant it had taken a hammer to Loki’s shield of normality, shattered it like glass. But then again, it did the same for everyone, no one had been expecting such a turn of events. He hadn’t been surprised when he was woken up in bed by his phone ringing, Fandral groaning softly next to him at the sudden noise. Hadn’t been surprised to see it was work calling, Loki never truly had a day off. The unexpected part was when he heard a shaky voice, one that was hard to identify until he truly listened, come over the line. Colonel Rhodes, doing his best to maintain his composure, military training and all that, stating something that caused a cold sweat to break out on Loki’s skin, facts that made his stomach drop. “What?” the assistant had croaked out, needing to hear it again, because it was just too unbelievable.

“Tony’s been kidnapped.”

“Then keep looking! I don’t care if the trail’s gone cold, we need Tony back!” Loki had shouted at the phone that he held in an iron-fisted grip. It was as if Loki was a broken record, constantly shouting at others to just keep looking. It’d only been four days since the Billionaire had been taken, there was no reason for them to give up. Tony was a genius, there wouldn’t be much reason for a terrorist group to just kill him. Surely they would keep him alive at least for a while to try and negotiate with him, and he was the type to smooth talk his way into better situations. Tony needed to survive.
Loki was an absolute mess . He couldn’t sleep or eat well, getting constant headaches and having his health decline, because everything was just about getting Tony home safe and sound. Rhodey, who was doing his best to keep searches going for the captured billionaire when Loki lost his pull, was even urging the assistant to try and relax, to at least take some Nyquil to get some rest after three weeks of sleeplessness. But none of it helped, it only made him worry more, his mind immediately supplying scenarios of if Tony was found (negative or positive use of found, it all depending on Loki’s mindset at the time), if Tony somehow was able to get ahold of him to call for help as crazy as that sounded. Though crazy really didn’t fit in the same world as Tony Stark, because he was the Tony Stark: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He could do anything, he could save himself from the Ten Rings, Tony would be okay, he’d find some way to blast out of his situation. Such ideas were Loki’s most favoured trains of thought in the hectic world during it all. They granted him something rare in his life; hope.

A cell phone buzzed loudly, nearly falling off the nightstand with the force of the vibrations. Green eyes snapped open and strained against the darkness pressing against them, the owner of them soon rolling over to see the only two sources of light in the entire room: the phone screen and the bedside clock, both showing a bright 2:38 A.M. He slid his hand over the top of the wooden table to grab at the phone, bringing it closer to his face to see who’d disturbed his sleep. The screen showed the contact name Mr. Stark and the only non-ridiculous picture he’d ever gotten of his boss, one where he was shuffling through the papers on his desk with a smile, having just laughed over how his employee had needed a contact photo for him. But memories weren't important at the moment, what was important was the fact that Tony was calling him.
With quick fingers he typed in the passcode and held the phone to his ear, asking in a desperate tone and not caring over how awful his voice sounded at the moment, “Hello?”

“Loki? You sound like shit,” there was strained laughter, “But you sound like great shit.”

“Mr. Stark this is no time for jokes, do you have any idea where you are!?”

“In a fucking cave in Afghanistan, somewhere, I don’t know the name but I’m getting coordinates now.”

“How?”

“Computers! Can you believe it? Idiots gave me tech,” there was more laughter and it made Loki’s heart absolutely ache. “You got a way to write this down?”

“Yes, now tell me the coordinates! We’ll get you out of there as soon as possible,” Loki frantically reassured, now having a pencil and notepad in his hand.

“All right, here they are,” before Tony could continue a shout sounded in the background of the call and the sound of something metal being thrown against something. The line went dead just as a cry of pain belong to Tony rang out across it.

Loki woke up in a cold sweat, shaking and panting from the nightmare still horribly fresh in his mind. The rest of the night had been spent curled up in the covers, silent tears dripping down Loki’s pale face and Fandral’s hand tiredly patting his back.

It’d taken two and a half months for shit to finally hit the fan in Loki’s personal life and for his mental state to worsen all thanks to these nightmares. It was surprising that it’d taken this long actually, especially with the lack of sleep and worrying he’d dealt with the entire time.

Loki was shaking again, sitting on his bed and absentmindedly twisting the engagement ring on his finger, which had become a nervous habit of his. His leg was jittering as Fandral walked in, his fiance straightening his tie before getting looking at him, immediately turning his head away and putting his hand over his mouth, other hand on his hip. Loki glanced up, taking in the posture and knowing it was a pose filled with annoyance and stress, something Loki was getting used to seeing. The mess of a man knew he was on thin ice, knew that he was driving Fandral up the wall, but he couldn’t stop himself from quietly stating, “I had a nightmare.”

“Oh for the gods’ sake, Loki,” Fandral groaned, running his hand down his mouth in a gesture to calm himself as he turned to look at him once more, “You are acting ridiculous.”

“It’s not on purpose!” Loki snapped, combing his fingers through his hair, “you are the one that told me to try and rest when I didn’t want to.”

“That’s because I don’t want to explain in a dinner meeting why my date is a fucking train wreck!” He shot back, both arms crossed tightly over his chest, “For someone who’s just working for this idiot, you sure are panicking over this situation.”

“He is not an idiot, Fandral! He’s brilliant! One of the most brilliant men the world has ever known, and how can I not worry for Tony-”

“Oh, so he’s Tony now?” Fandral growled, bringing it to Loki’s attention that he hadn’t called his boss Mr. Stark. How could he have done that? It’d always been Mr. Stark, even when the CEO had so often asked to be called Tony.

“It was just a slip of the tongue, I assure you it means nothing.”

“Just like how being this obsessed with the guy means absolutely nothing?”

“Yes!”

“Really? Then tell me something, tell me that he is nothing more than your boss, that Tony Stark is just the man you work for, that you’d have no problem quitting and finally starting what you’d wanted to do when you interviewed for the damn position. Can you do that for me?” Anger and accusation filled Fandral’s words, making Loki angry himself. It made him want to scream those things at Fandral, made Loki want to demand why he would think that there was anything more between him and Tony than worker and employee!

So he decided he would, his mouth opened and his eyes narrowed, so very prepared to shout-but, nothing...Nothing came out, no eloquent and rage-filled speech over Fandral’s stupidity, not even a sound. That’s because if he did say those things it would be the worst and largest lie past his lips in his lifetime, and if he somehow used his silver-tongue to make Fandral believe it was all true, he’d have to live a lie. The fact of the matter was, Loki wasn’t just some name or number in the long list of Stark Industries workers, he was actually someone important to Tony, and Tony was the most important person in Loki’s life. Not because he was the genius, billionaire, playboy, but because he gave Loki new experiences, made his life worth continuing. Over the years- all ten of them- with the massive amounts of stress, the ridiculous workload, and constantly having to clean up after Tony metaphorically and literally, Loki had loved every second of it. Loki adored the adventure of it all, almost perversely enjoyed seeing Tony Stark in ways no one else but maybe Rhodey had, loved the corny jokes Tony would tell, loved the way Tony always called him for advice or help (which was usually when the engineer was drunk), and had grown affectionate of the man, Loki had....Loki had fallen in love with Tony Stark. At some point annoyed affection had become a deep rooted love for billionaire.

The revelation caused Loki’s jaw to snap shut, and his eyebrows to raise in surprise and concern. A lot of things suddenly made more sense, most of all was Loki and Fandral’s relationship and the major feeling of convenience that came with it. Fandral had been nothing more than a person he’d known since childhood, someone who was a viable distraction from much more complicated things because of his enamorment with Loki. It was an explanation of the assistant’s constant dislike of Tony’s playboy ways, the answer to that burning feeling which overcame him the few times when Tony actually had someone he cared for at his side, they were all caused by that pitiful thing called jealousy.

“I-I can’t,” Loki finally stated, gripping his knees and looking up at the angered blonde, “I’m sorry, Fandral.”

His, most certainly, soon to be ex-fiance looked at him in disbelief for a long moment, eyes soon narrowing and cheeks flushing from the building anger. “So that’s your answer? After all we’ve been through you care more about a job!?”

“That’s not what matters, Fandral!”

“Then what does matter?” He snarled, angrier than Loki had seen him in their entire lives, “What is more important than you and I?”

“Fandral-”

“And don’t you dare say Tony fucking Stark is what’s important!”

“Then I can’t say anything,” Loki replied, just as calm as ever, sending the blonde into another fit.

“Bloody hell, Loki! Do you not care about me that much!?”

“I do care about you,” Loki stated, standing up and holding his hands in a placating gesture, “But...”

“But what?”

“But not in the sense you desire.”

Fandral looked baffled for a moment, having obviously been just throwing a temper tantrum, not thinking that something serious would happen between the two, but once the initial shock dissipated it was clear that he understand what Loki meant. From either embarrassment or anger, maybe a combination of the two, his face reddened further. He’d bitten his lip tightly before asking in a shaking voice, “So you led me on?”

“No, I...” Loki bit his own lip, furrowing his brow and wondering if it was possible to make this sound any better. His silver tongue failed him, and all he could do was respond with a curt nod, yes, he had led Fandral on.

“You whore!” Loki jolted at the raised tone and insult, the assistant soon feeling a heat prickle across his skin. Even as the anger burned in his chest and made his heart pound, he replied as calmly as he could,

“Fandral, you’re upset.”

“Of course I’m fucking upset! If you didn’t care about me in a romantic way why did you ever go through with all of this? Why?”

Loki looked away, staring at the too-white wall as he quietly pleaded, “Please don’t make me answer that Fandral.”

“No, tell me, tell me now!”

“Fine! Because you were there!” Loki finally raised his voice with his reply, and the moment the words entered the air he regretted it, and if the sharp intake of air from Fandral was anything to go by, he regretted ever demanding an answer.

“That was it?” He finally questioned, fists clenched and eyes pointed towards the ground, “Because I happen to be around?”

“Yes, I’m sorry-”

“I don’t want to hear anymore, I don’t want to hear anything from you again,” Fandral nearly growled, grabbing ahold of Loki’s hand and roughly pulling the ring off, “You know this is actually a good thing,” he’d started with a bitter laugh, ring held tightly in hand, “I’d found somebody else anyway.”

Even after all the heated words exchanged, Loki’s stomach still dropped, “What?”

“I found someone that actually cared about me, someone who actually paid attention to me,” Fandral admitted with his hands on his hips, making his angered insult rather redundant.

“Why?”

“Because I was sick of being ignored by an arrogant, stoic ass like you,” with that final cutting statement Fandral stormed out of the room. Loki flinched with every stomp of his feet and curled in on himself when he heard the door slam, marking Fandral’s leaving for the final time.

Loki was filled with a strong sense of abandonment when Fandral left, and he wondered why. Was it the fact that he’d been cheated on? That he’d just lost a lifelong friend due to his heart? Or was it simply that Loki had lied to himself and had been a major force behind what must have been one of the worst break-ups of the decade. Though it seems that when the world appears bleak, something brightens it.

The familiar buzzing of Loki’s had taken him out of a half-sleep and caused him to roll over and stare at the beacon of light on the nightstand. He brought it over and felt his stomach drop and his body break out in a cold sweat at the contact: Colonel Rhodes. Loki’s mind had raced with many ideas of what Rhodey could possibly be calling for, the scenarios ranging from asking about Loki’s health to telling him that they’d found Tony’s body or finally given up the search. With a shaky breath he unlocked and answered the call, bringing it to his ear, “Hello?”

“Loki! Thank God you answered!” Colonel Rhodes sounded...happy. Why? “We found him!”

Loki’s heart seemed to completely still in his chest as he quietly asked, “What?”

“We found Tony, Loki, he’s alive and doing fine.” The sound of crying soon filled the air from both Loki and the Colonel, tears of relief crashing through the dark reality and mentality Loki had become accustomed to.

“That’s so....wonderful,” Loki managed to get out through soft sniffles, the back of his hand pressed to his eyes to make sure this wasn’t a sick dream. “Thank you, Rhodey.”

“Why are you thanking me?” He’d laughed and sniffled at the same time, making Loki smile softly.

“Just for everything.” Another laugh came from Tony’s best friend, one of understanding and the uncontainable joy of the moment.

Loki stood on the runway, trembling as he watched Tony walk from the plane door. He had a few cuts on his face, his arm was in a sling and with each step there was a slight limp, but he was alive and that’s what was most important. Even after everything he still walked up with that smile, the one Loki had grown so accustomed to, but there was a difference to him that even the smile couldn’t disguise, because it showed in his eyes that he had changed along the way. Dark circles, dark eyes, fake grin. Something Loki wasn’t used to, but he didn’t say a word, simply forced a smile and tried to keep the tears that had welled in his eyes at bay.

“You’ve got bloodshot eyes, Mr. Lockhart, tears for your long lost boss?” Of course, what else would they be for?

“They are tears of joy, Mr. Stark. Do you have any idea how difficult job hunting is?” he asked, mentally scolding himself when his voice cracked a bit.

“No, I don’t, either way let’s go, your vacation is over,” Tony replied, heading towards the waiting car, Happy standing dutifully by it as always, only smiling this time.

“Where to, sir?” Happy asked after all the doors to the car had shut, looking in the rearview mirror.

“Please take us to the hospital, Happy, Mr. Stark needs to be checked-”

“No, absolutely not,” Tony cut Loki off, looking at his assistant with a serious expression.

“You need to be examined, what if there are complications we don’t know about?”

“I already know everything about my ‘condition’ and I don’t need to do anything. All I want is two things after three months in captivity, an American cheeseburger is the first, and the other is-”

Loki gave him a disbelieving look, a pang of anger striking his heart, “None of that, Anthony.”

“It’s not what you think, Loki. I want you to call a press conference for me.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now. Are you losing your touch, Mr. Lockhart? I thought you always knew what I was up to,” Tony had smirked a bit, making blood rush to Loki’s cheeks.

“I assure you I haven’t,” he quickly replied, pressing back his hair as he began making calls, all while watching Tony from the corner of his eye. Loki couldn’t help but wonder what’d happened to his boss. “May I ask why you want a press conference?”

“You’ll see, just know that it’s important.” Loki simply nodded and continued making the calls.

Obadiah Stane was there to greet Tony when they arrived, offering the CEO a strange smile and barely giving a glance to Loki. Loki had never much liked Obadiah, he’d always seemed like someone who was hiding something, and if the twitching of his hand was anything to say he was annoyed by something. Perhaps annoyance over Tony already acting what could be construed as reckless with not wanting to have his health checked. But even with his initial dislike of the second in command, Loki respected him for so willingly taking control of the company and doing so well with it while Tony was gone.

“Mr. Lockhart?” A soft but serious voice asked from behind Loki, causing the assistant to turn around. It was a shorter man with a high hairline stood in a black suit, calculating eyes trained on Loki’s face.

“Yes that would be me.”

“Great, I’d like to speak with you for a moment if I may?”

“I am not actually a part of this press conference I’m sure any questions you have will be answered by Mr. Stark in just a few moments. “

“Oh no, you misunderstand me, I’m not a reporter.”

“Then what are you?” Loki raised a brow and turned back to the man, honestly curious now.

“I’m Agent Phil Coulson,” he said pleasantly, “from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”

“My, that is quite a name.”

The agent had a look on his face that meant this wasn’t the first time someone had told him that, “Yes, we’re working on it at the moment.”

“Well I wish you luck in that endeavor, but please understand that we’ve already been approached by people from the FBI, the DOD, as well as the CIA, we don’t really need-”

“We are aware Mr. Lockhart, but we’re a separate division with a very specific focus. It’s important that we debrief Mr. Stark on the circumstances of his escape.”

Escape? Well that was right, somehow Tony had gotten away, presumably on his own too. They hadn’t told Loki much on what had happened, even being a personal assistant of ten years didn’t get you access to everything. Hopefully through this Agent Coulson Loki might actually get an idea of what happened.

“I see your point, I’ll put an appointment in the books, is that okay?”

“Yes, thank you.” They briefly exchanged similar, thin smiles before Tony called attention from everyone of the room. Even now he was a showman, he belonged on a stage and in the public eye.

“Would it be all right if everyone sat down?” Was what he began with, he himself, dropping to the ground and leaning against the podium that’d been set up for him, “Why don’t you all just sit down? That way you can see me, and I can....it’s a little less formal.” While this happened confused murmurs went through the room like a wave, all wondering what he was up to, Loki included.

“I never got to say goodbye to my dad,” Loki frowned at the words as he seated himself next to the agent. Where could Tony be taking this? He rarely spoke of Howard and when he did, it was never pleasant. “I never got to say goodbye to my father, and there’s questions, a lot of them, I would have asked him. One specifically I would have asked would be about what he felt this company did. If he was conflicted over it, or if he ever had doubts. Or maybe if he was the same as the man we all remember from the newsreels.
“I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I had created,” Tony continued, looking around the room with the most serious expression they had ever seen on him, “weapons to defend and protect them. With that, I realized that I’d become a part of a system that’s comfortable with zero accountability.”

“Mr. Stark!” a young and often seen reporter shouted all of a sudden, desperate for more answers.

“Hey, Ben.”

“What happened over there?”

“I had my eyes opened, and it occurred to me that I have more to offer the world than just making things that blow up. That is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International.”

A strong sense of shock and disbelief overcame Loki's body as Tony made the announcement. The overwhelming feeling was soon joined with a sort of curiosity and terror cocktail in the pit of his stomach. The mixture intoxicated him in such a way that he wasn't even aware of his surroundings until his boss was calling for him to hurry along, they needed to get out of there fast. The bustling of bodies and shouted questions filled the room and Loki's mind, the reporters like a stampede behind him. By a miracle they got away, for whatever reason the billionaire not wanting to answer any questions, and they find themselves back in the car.

"Take him home, Happy, I've got some business to attend to at the Arc Reactor plant." Loki shooked his head briefly before turning to Tony, his talking so close finally bringing the assistant back. It took another minute before he finally found his voice, it being quiet but still there,
"Tony what are you thinking?"
　

"That's just it, I am thinking. I'm thinking for myself," the CEO replied, an inspired smile on his face, one that Loki had never witnessed before. It was dazzling and genuine, the kind of look that only came with a glorious epiphany.
　

"What do you mean?"
　

"I'm not doing what's expected of me, I'm not some five year old in oversized clothes, trying to be his father."
　

"Mr. Stark this is no time to be 'finding yourself' this is serious!"
　

"I'm aware of that," Tony actually laughed, finally turning to Loki, "you just need to trust me. I'm doing the right thing."

He'd opened his mouth once more, ready to demand, but the words died in Loki's throat as he remembered it: Tony Stark was different now. He wasn't the same man and the glint in his eyes that somehow displayed a haunted but excited expression made it obvious. The CEO that Loki had ended up falling for had changed a drastic amount and all he could wonder what it had been like to experience the horrors Tony had.

Loki chewed his lower lip as he watched on the large flatscreen what the muted laptop in his hands also showed. He flinched at the sound of porcelain mugs smashing as the stock expert shouted about the charts of the company he presented on screen. This wasn’t good. Half of Stark Industries’ stocks were in the toilet, they were being blatantly laughed at on national television and Tony was nowhere to be seen. The engineer had been locked away in his workshop for quite a while, not helping ease Loki’s worries and causing the poor assistant to pop Aspirins. And it had only been a day.
“Hey, Loki, how small are your hands?” the question suddenly came through the intercom, shaking the assistant out of his own mind, which had mostly consisted of questioning his life choices.

“Excuse me?”

“Just come down to the workshop will you?”

“Fine, we need to discuss some very important matters anyhow.”

“Yeah, yeah, just get down here,” Tony replied, cocky grin apparent in the way he spoke. Loki sighed and began his descent down the stairs, already formulating the angry speech he needed to give Tony on what was happening in Stark Industries.
"This is a complete disaster, the entire country is mocking..." Loki's words cut off as he saw Tony in a chair similar to those in a dentist's office, without his shirt on and looking at him with expectant eyes. "What is this?"

"I need your help with something extremely important," he gave a smile that was supposed to be charming, but only worried Loki.

"And what is this task?"

"First come over here and answer my earlier question: how small are your hands?" Loki could only show his hands in confusion as he took the few steps to Tony, who nodded slightly and Loki's appendages, "They'll do. Now you see this?" He motioned at the arc reactor in his chest.

"Yes, I'm not blind," Loki tried to make himself sound as annoyed as possible, to sound normal even though he could feel his heart trying to burst from his body like in that Alien movie Tony had forced him to watch. Tony had smiled a bit, looking slightly nervous as well which only worsened Loki's state. Tony never second guessed himself, but then again that was before. And now he was staring down at the glowing device that kept his boss alive, the device he seemed to have to do something with.

"I need to switch this out with another, more advanced reactor," he pointed at Loki, "And I need your help with that. I can't do it by myself." He offered another awkward smile at Loki's wide eyed, and obviously objecting look,

"You want me to remove the device that grants you life?" He quirked his head to the left before nodding,

"Pretty much. Now I'm going to do most of the work and I'll talk you through the rest, got it?"

"I don't seem to have much choice in the manner, but yes, I understand," Loki chewed his lip as he took hold of the reactor when Tony popped it out, doing his best to be careful.

"Just pull it out, and then I'm going to need you to reach in."

"What? Why?"

"The reason I'm replacing it, there's an exposed wire making contact with the socket wall, which was causing a slight short in device, and gently lift the wire out."
Loki swallowed thickly and nodded, slowly reaching in, thankful for his smaller hands at the moment, before his fingers entered something. "What is that?"

"It's not pus if that’s what you’re thinking, it’s just an inorganic discharge from the device, don't you throw up on me."

"I will not vomit!"

"Good, great, now like I said gently lift it out, don't let it touch the sides," his voice strained for a moment and there was loud beep through the workshop, causing an upset noise to erupt from the back of Loki's throat.

"What was that? Are you alright!?"

"Yeah, yeah, just fine, keep going, keep ahold of that copper wire."

"I have it, I have it in my hand!"

"Great, keep getting it out. don't pull out-"

"I got it-why is there a magnet at the end of it? Anthony why is there a magnet?"

"That was what I was trying to tell you not to pull out."

"Do I put it back in, do you need it!?"

“No, just forget it, set it down,” Tony’s voice was becoming more and more strained, brows slightly furrowed but he somehow continued to stay calm. Loki really needed to know the man’s secret.

"What now, what do you need me to do? Are you doing well?"

"Yeah, just going into cardiac arrest."

"Oh by the gods! Do I call an ambulance!? JARVIS!"

"Loki, stop, just calm down and put the old one the table, you should have done that earlier, pick up the new one and-" Tony couldn't even finish his sentence before Loki grabbed the replacement and was holding it up to the gaping hole in his chest.

"What do I do?"

"J-just attach the wiring to the base plate and slide it in.”

“Okay, okay I am going to make everything right,” Loki practically shouted, trying to sound reassuring as he figured out which way to put it in quickly.

“Great, but not too-" Tony jolted as Loki shoved wire into its rightful place and the reactor into its new home and dropped himself down to sit on the edge of a table, "well."

Loki covered his face, breathing slightly heavy as his boss sat up. "I swear to the gods, Stark if you ever make me do that again, I'll murder you in your sleep," he says through his hands, shaking lightly and trying not to let any stress induced (there was no fear for his Tony, don't even think that) tears fall. In response-Tony of course-laughed, like he hadn't just almost gotten killed by his assistant.

"Relax, everything went fine."

"It most certainly did not!" Loki practically screeched, standing up and shaking his head as he moved toward the door, "I swear it would be less stressful to work with my father!"

"Oh come on," Tony laughed, following after Loki, "After all this excitement, your life can never go back to normal." He reached out and gently placed his hand on Loki's shoulder, turning him around so they could look at each other again, "Let's just forget this for a while, yeah? How about I buy something to make you feel better?"

"You're ridiculous."

"You're using conjunctions again, fantastic!"

"Excuse me?" Loki raised a brow, desperately fighting off his own amused smile.

"When you're upset or stressed out you go full Shakespeare, saying "You're" means that you calmed down. So how about that thing that I know you want." Loki laughed softly, following Tony out of the workshop while glancing back at the old arc reactor.

“But what of the old reactor?”

“Loki, you know better than anyone else that I have been called many things, nostalgic never being one of them. Incinerate it, throw it away, I don’t care what you do with it.”

“Where exactly are you taking me, Mr. Stark?” Loki questioned, running his fingers over the door of the disgustingly expensive vehicle he was seated in at the moment.

“Back to formalities now? I thought we were finally over that with how much you were calling me Tony back in the shop.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, now please answer my question.”

“I’m just taking you out to dinner is all, nothing big.”

“Tony Stark taking his assistant out on a date is quite big, and I thought you said you were getting me something I wanted.”

“A decent meal looks like something you want, sorry to be blunt but you haven’t looked the best lately.”

“I was too busy to care for myself decently,” Loki replied, looking at his hands in his lap.

“Too busy weeping for me?” It was meant to be a joke and Loki laughed it off as such, but it only reminded Loki of the fact that he’d done just that. Tony being back had improved his health, but he still wasn’t 100 percent at the moment.

“Where are we dining tonight, if I may ask?”

“That one Italian place you constantly send me on business dinners that I don’t really go to.”

“Ah, Giardino Paradiso,” Loki replied, extremely familiar with the places Tony showed up late too most often.

“Yeah, that’s the one,”

“So what was the point exactly of taking me out?”

“Maybe I just wanted to spend more time than usual with that beautiful face of yours?” Tony replied cheekily, looking over the menu and only glancing up when he felt Loki’s eyes intently on him. “I just thought I should, you’ve been through more shit than usual lately, and I’m pretty sure I fucked up your birthday.”

“You did,” Loki replied, “but it was doomed any how.”

“Shit that’s depressing, so let’s change the subject, I actually got you something for once, it’s late but…” Tony trailed off, sliding a sleek black box across the table to Loki. Loki raised a brow at his boss, soon picking it up and flipping it open. A custom stainless steel bracelet sat inside with the letters L-O-L elegantly carved into it. “For my constantly suffering assistant, in case he gets so stressed he forgets his name.”

Loki tried his damndest to glare at Tony, only to crack a smile instead, whispering, “bastard man.” Tony gladly returned the smile, holding up his glass in a salute before taking a drink, Loki soon mimicking it. He was in a fantastic mood with Tony, one that he’d never been in before, or perhaps it was because he was suddenly smiling so easily after months of so much sadness. Or maybe Tony just knew how to add a little joy to Loki’s often grey life, hopefully it was both.

“Thank you,” Loki finally said quietly,fastening the silver bracelet around his wrist, only to laugh softly and shake his head at the ridiculousness of it all.
But then a voice that was so horrifyingly familiar sounded behind them, causing Loki to whip his head around to meet the gaze of someone he hadn’t seen in ten years: his brother, Thor. “Loki? Brother, is it truly you?”

Loki’s mind could barely process the situation, his eyes soon darting back and forth between Tony’s and Thor’s faces, one curious while the other was ecstatic.
“Wh-what is your reasoning for being here, Thor?” Loki finally responded, annoyed at himself for stuttering and sounding so petrified of their meeting.

“I came to California to do business for father and the company, I just finished a dinner meeting. What of you?” He smiled brightly, soon looking to Tony, “is this a friend of yours?”

“Yes-”

“No-” Loki interrupted Tony, feeling his hackles rise just from being near his brother, “this is my boss, Tony Stark of Stark Industries.”

“The Tony Stark? You do business with Lockhart Corp. do you not?” Thor asked Tony, idiotic grin still firmly in place and making Loki want to bash his head in with the china plate on his side of the table.

“We do, it’s great to meet the heir of the Lockhart empire,” Tony replied, immediately slipping into his “doing business” facade, having an expression of feigned interest that always amused his assistant.

“I am proud to meet the man behind Stark Industries as well!” Thor bellowed, stealing Loki’s joy in an instant, always being as noisy as possible.

Most of their time in the restaurant became talk between Tony and Thor, stressing Loki out. It only became better when Thor finally left (first happily demanding that he and Loki have drinks together and catch up in a better setting), having another engagement, and leaving Tony and Loki to awkwardly eat dessert. It mostly became awkward though because Loki kept his eyes on the table as Tony watched him. Loki only spoke up again to quietly thank Tony for taking him out to a sort of birthday dinner, which caused Tony to gain a genuine smile once more.

“So, your brother,” Tony began with a barely contained laugh as they both entered the car, wanting to try and start another conversation, most likely hoping to make Loki happy with a bit of mockery at his brother’s expense, “he’s a little stra-”

“I do not want to talk about my family, Mr. Stark, in fact I never want to” Loki snapped, angrily staring ahead, out the windshield.

“Why?”

“We’ve never quite seen eye to eye.”

“There a specific reason for that?

“My adoption perhaps, but anyhow I do not mention them and have not spoken to them for a long while for a reason, let’s leave it at that.”

“Fine,” Tony replied, beginning to drive down the now dark roads, only illuminated with the few headlights that passed. “But can I ask why you kept their last name?”

Loki couldn’t help but smile despite himself as he replied, “for my mother. She’d be disappointed if I changed it.”

“Is she the only person you actually like in the family?”

“Yes, now can we please just cease speaking about this?” Loki asked, much more quietly now, the memory of his mother filling him with a mix of fondness and sadness, aching over their lost connection. He had always feared that if he called Frigga, Odin would be there to answer instead and lead to another heated argument, like they always had. Perhaps he should try calling her.

And he did the moment he got back to his apartment, and his mother cried, so did he. Then they laughed and talked and Loki was forced to promise that they’d speak again soon. Loki was honestly even happier once speak to the elderly, lovely woman that was Frigga. Even after so long she’d still be kind and understanding, even wished him luck in what he was doing. She gave him two things that were so rare now; self-confidence and the feeling of being loved. Was it possible that things were beginning to get better? That life was becoming right and that even Thor’s expected appearance could be labeled a good thing? Loki sincerely hoped that was the case, that maybe the universe was finally allowing them to cash in all the points it owed them after the Hell they’d all been through.

Loki opened the door to the workshop, holding a sort of present for Tony (something he’d roll his eyes at and tell Loki how he wasn’t sentimental, but it was more of a gift for them both, a reminder of how human Tony could truly be, that he wasn’t just the billionaire.) and a cup of coffee he’d prepared minutes before, immediately narrowing his eyes at the scene before him. His boss was aiming what looked like some kind of futuristic gun attached to his arm. “I thought you were done creating weapons, Mr. Stark,” the formality came naturally with Loki’s worry.

“Believe me I am, this is a flight stabilizer. It’s absolutely harmless,” Tony replied with a smile, crying out when it suddenly shot something similar to a laser and fell back, Loki flinching as Tony skidded across the workshop floor. “I didn’t expect that.”

“Neither did I,” Loki responded quietly, walking over and helping the mad engineer up after placing down the box and coffee, “Obadiah is upstairs, he wants to speak with you.”

“He is? Why didn’t you tell me.”

“I buzzed you for a good four minutes before coming down myself,” Loki smiled thinly, trying to stay composed even as his worries expanded at the new objects littering the lab, “Is everything all right? Do you wish for me to tell him you’re busy?”

“No, everything’s fine and I’ll see what he wants, it’s gotta be important,” Tony gave Loki’s hand that was still in his a light squeeze (intimate) before jogging up the stairs. He watched the entire way before looking around once more and asking JARVIS,

“Is there anything I should know about that’s going on?”

There is a large project in progress as of now Mr. Lockhart, but I assure you that Mr. Stark is doing well.

Loki nodded a bit, squeezing one of the tables in an act to anchor himself, then turned and headed up the stairs.

Obadiah was playing the piano, in the middle of saying to Tony that just because he’d brought pizza didn’t mean the meeting had gone poorly. Loki seated himself and opened his Stark laptop, returning some of his earlier work of sorting through the dozens of emails Tony received daily about projects and business plans, most of which were ignored because they were either ‘nobodies’ or pleads for weapons.

“Uh huh, sure doesn’t. Oh boy,” Tony smiled briefly, taking a bite of the pizza and closing his eyes for a moment to enjoy it. It was obvious that he hadn’t eaten for most of the day, forgetting the need for sustenance while tinkering.

“You know, it would have gone much better if you were there.”

“Hey, don’t pin this on me, you told me to lay low, and that’s what I’ve been doing,” Tony said around another bite of pizza, Loki now quietly watching while he typed. There was something...off about Obadiah Stane, the former CEO having a strange glint in his eyes as he spoke to the young Stark. It was a kind of look that he’d been carrying around since the return of Tony, or perhaps it’d always been there. Either way it caused a coil of fear to form in the pit of Loki’s stomach. “You’re supposed to take care of everything while I do that.”

“Hey now, that’s for public, with the press, not for meetings. Especially when it’s one with the board of directors.”

“This was a board of directors meeting? Why wasn’t I told?” Tony glanced at Loki who could only respond with a slight shrug. He hadn’t been informed of anything either. Strange.

“The board is claiming that you’re suffering from posttraumatic stress,” Obadiah urged on, hands coming to his hips, “they’re filing an injunction against you.”

“A what?”

“They want to lock you out, Tony.”

“Lock me out? Why? Because the stocks dipped forty damn points? We knew that was gonna happen.”

“Fifty-six and half actually,” Loki corrected, understanding the severity of what was happening. This only gained an annoyed look from Tony and the exasperated statement of,
“That doesn’t matter though! We own the controlling interest in the company.”

“The board has rights too, Tony, and they’re using them to make a case against you. They’re stating that you and your new direction isn’t in the company’s best interest.”

“I’m being responsible for once! It’s a new direction for me-for the company,” he stuttered at the look Obadiah gave him, a smile that seemed to say I knew it glancing at Loki again for some kind of support then returned his gaze to Obie, “I mean, me, on the company’s behalf, being responsible for the way that...this is great. I’ll be in the shop,” he made a beeline for the stairs, Obadiah immediately standing and following after him,
“Oh come on.Tony, Tony look at me and listen. I’m trying to turn this whole thing around, clean up the mess, I just need you to give me something, something to pitch them.” Tony instinctively moved back when Obadiah moved his hand towards the reactor, “Just let me have the engineers analyze that. You know, so we can draw up some specs.” Loki and Tony were both watching him with narrowed eyes now, each for their own reasons and Loki’s being out of suspicion and a strong protectiveness towards his boss.

“No, absolutely not,” Tony quickly responded, hand over the glowing blue in his chest, “This stays with me.”

“Come on! It’ll give me a bone to throw to the boys in New York!”

“It stays with me. That’s final, so forget it, Obie.”

“All right, but then this stays with me,” was the older man’s response, picking up the pizza box from the coffee table, only to open it again, “Go on, you can have a piece though. Take two even.”

“Thank you,” Tony replied, grabbing two slices and heading down the stairs while taking a bite of both.

“Can I at least come down and see what you’re doing in that workshop of yours?”

“Goodnight, Obie!”

Obadiah sighed and placed the box back down, soon turning to look at Loki who was now trying to focus on the inbox on his screen. He didn’t want to worsen the already strong tension filling the room. “Can’t you talk to him? He needs some sense in his head.”

“I have no control over what Mr. Stark does, Mr. Stane,” Loki responded, offering his best fake smile, “If this is what he wants to do, it is my job to simply make sure it is done correctly and is organized well.”

Obadiah sighed heavily and nodded, “Fine. Just make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“I try to ensure that every day, Mr. Stane.”

“Great,” he sighed once more, taking his coat from the piano bench and finally leaving the mansion.

Loki quietly drank tea by the large window in his apartment, trying to relax the best he could. He thought that once Tony was back he wouldn’t be so on edge, but it seemed like things were only getting worse. A man who had usually been extremely blunt was closing off and it was, quite honestly, terrifying to see. Loki did and didn’t miss the old Stark, the Merchant of Death had been easier to read, Mr. Stark was understandable, but Tony, the man who was simply Tony was the most delightfully and horrifyingly complex man in the world. With a sigh Loki directed his attention to the city outside his window, finger tapping gently in thought against the ceramic mug in his hand as he watched a ferris wheel turn in the distance. He watched for so long that his sight began to blur and the lights seem to expand to further out, one even flying away from the structure...wait. That didn’t make much sense at all, now did it?

Loki blinked hard and sat forward in his chair, watching as the stream of light, much like a comet, streaked across the inky sky, soon turning and zooming past Loki’s window before going up. It looked like a suit of armor, a robot maybe. Gasping in shock and wonder, Loki ran out onto the balcony, watching the amazing light dance about high in the air, going further, further, until it vanished in the clouds.In amazement he waited out there for a good minute or so, wanting to see what had happened, but saw nothing more. He could’ve sworn he heard a shout in a voice like Tony’s as he headed back in and cleaned up his spilled mug. Clearly he was losing his mind more every day. Soon enough he’d be agreeing to every crazy plan Tony threw out.

It had been nearly noon when Loki finally got up the next day, having had the day mostly off due to the night’s charity event. The Fireman’s Ball, an annual party thrown by Stark Industries that always went well, mostly due to Tony, but Tony wasn’t supposed to be at this one. Obadiah had thought it best Tony kept resting, which was ridiculous because there was no way Tony was resting, especially if what Loki had seen in the workshop was anything to go by.
Loki felt awkward as he finished dressing, wearing a black suit and dark green scarf he’d bought (his birthday present to himself from Tony, he’d needed new formal wear), thinking about how this was his first time out since Fandral. First time wearing his hair down too, it was hanging curly around his sharp face, making him feel rather feminine. He wondered if Tony would make fun of him or tell him how he looked pretty, like some girl he’d fucked in college (it’d happened before when Loki had found him drunk for the first time). A deep sigh came from Loki, rolling his eyes at himself for even thinking about how his boss, the Tony Stark, would be feeling about his looks. This ridiculousness needed to stop, hopefully the party would allow him to only think about those around him.

Elegant music was playing around the room as people conversed, drank, and ate, Loki only trying to settle down the elderly men he dealt with daily now. Every conversation and phone call was on whether or not Stark Industries was still a good investment, if Tony was going to do something about the dropping stocks, and it was absolutely exhausting.

“I can assure you that Mr. Stark is working on many projects as we speak that will make up for the closing of the weapon manufacturing division, everything will be fine, just give him a little more time.” Loki offered them is patented Don’t-Worry-I’m-Fixing-Everything smile that began to come naturally to him once he’d worked for Tony a good three weeks.

“Is that you, Mr. Lockhart?” Loki heard a voice ask over the music, causing him to sigh and turn towards what he was sure would be another ten minute conversation about stocks. Instead Tony greeted him, his old cheeky, playboy smile was firmly in place.

“Why are you here?” the question came off as rather rude, but Loki really didn’t have time for pleasantries at the moment, if Obadiah so Tony here there was a high chance he’d be pissed and Loki really did not want to deal with another grumpy elder/

“Isn’t it only right to show up to your own event?” he jerked his chin towards one of the many objects that said Third Annual Stark Industries’ Fireman’s Ball.

“Obadiah-no, I want you to rest, Tony, you need to get back to full health.”

“Loki, I’m healthier than I’ve been in months,” he replied, throwing back the rest of the drink he’d been carrying since the conversation, or more argument, began, “let me enjoy myself.”

“Fine, I see no point in arguing with you any longer,” Loki sighed, hiding his own smile as Tony flashed one at his victory.
“So how about a dance?” Tony then asked, setting his empty glass on a passing waitress’ tray before turning to grin at Loki.

“No,” Loki immediately declined, shaking his head briefly. Even with his feelings Loki knew it wasn't the best of ideas, no matter how much Tony made his heart pound, he worked for the man. Looking like a fool in front of the men he often dealt with at these events and at meetings wasn’t on his to-do list.

They moved well together, hands positioned correctly and their bodies moving in unison. It felt right, and they both knew it, and Tony was loving it with that bright glimmer in his chocolate eyes. “I never knew you could dance.”

“You never took the time to ask,” Loki replied quietly, trying not to smile too noticeably as he looked down at the marble floor beneath their feet.

“Should I apologize for that?” Tony asked, trying to sound playful but coming off as genuinely guilty.

“No, no, it’s perfectly fine, your life has many more important things than me in it,” Loki glanced up briefly into Tony’s face once again, only to look down again.

“Don’t talk like that,” his tanned hand moved down to gently squeeze Loki’s wrist, stopping to tug up the sleeve of his jacket, “is that the bracelet I got you?”

Heat rose to Loki’s cheeks as he nodded briefly, focusing on the elegant initials on the silver band before raising them back to Tony’s now much brighter eyes, “It went well with the outfit I’d chosen for tonight.”

“Good to know,” the reply was teasing and soft, telling Loki that he’d seen right through Loki’s try at nonchalance. It wasn’t very surprising really, Tony had the habit of destroying a large chunk of Loki’s composure just by interacting him, whether it was from stress or amusement or like right now, affection.

“How is this useful information to you, Mr. Stark?”

“I don’t know, but it might come in handy,” he grinned, “so are you having fun?”

“Yes, I’ve always loved dancing in front of all the people I work with with my boss while not wearing deodorant in a too flashy outfit.”

“Relax, just focus on me, and you look fantastic, Loki. Especially the hair.” Loki felt a heat wash over him, from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, making him feel all the more foolish while still feeling rather right in his skin at the moment. So he began to focus on Tony as they moved again, dark emeralds staring into light chocolate.
But soon enough quiet waves of laughter filtered through the room and Loki pinched his eyes shut, stomach dropping as his fears came true. He looked like an idiot, Tony was meaning to be kind and it only came off as mocking. Soon enough Loki had to pull away and hurry from the ballroom, detesting himself for ever saying yes to the dance, angered too that he ever even let himself be swept up in the typhoon that was Tony Stark.

Loki grasped the stone rail of the balcony he now stood on, breathing heavily and feeling his face burn with shame. There was no doubt that it had to be red by now. He tried to regulate his breathing as he heard Tony approach, footfall light and unsure, obviously trying to come off as non-threatening. It didn’t help in the slightest, not with the laughter just now fading behind him. It’d be awkward and confused laughter, people guessing that Tony was just acting foolish to be entertaining, because why would Tony Stark ever give a second-glance to a male individual?

“What are you doing?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Tony,” he replied shakily, white knuckled grip still on the balcony.

“You just need to relax-”

“I can’t! I’m your employee for gods’ sake!”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of this?” Tony asked, gesturing to the room behind them as he leaned on the balcony railing, trying to get a better look at Loki as they spoke. “It was just a dance, so what if you work for me?”

“You don’t understand this, Tony, you cannot comprehend the extent of what I must go through without experiencing it yourself!” Loki took a deep breath, trying to calm himself enough to not shout again. He was thankful for the noise coming from within the party at the moment. Before Tony could speak, Loki turned himself to stare out at the cityscape, “this job is one of the most stressful things on the planet. You can’t realize what that’s like, you can be with anyone you want, you can do whatever you want, all that is required of you is a charming smile and smartass comment, then you’re set. Me one the other hand? It could never be that simple. I’m the bitch that keeps you in control, I’m the one that sweeps all that dark dust under the rug to keep you looking as presentable as possible.” Loki was shaking now as he turned to Tony, feeling a sting in his eyes as he continued, “And this is the most important thing I have ever done, Mr. Stark. I was never the one that shined, you met my brother and I’m sure you can see why he was the star, while I was always in the shadows. I was his shadow, and now I’m yours. It is where I belong and there is nothing more to that. Being a shadow has its restrictions as well as its advantages, but the former is the one that most definitely has the most in it, because no one trusts someone in the dark. Especially if that person steps out into the light for a split second, doing something such as dancing with their boss, they are hit with criticism and glared upon until they disappear again.
“I am nothing special, I just know how to keep books and handle someone with an affinity to parties and women due to my background. So I apologize, but I don’t believe we could ever do more than dance for the amusement of people like them,” Loki waved his hand behind them, “please do not try to change my mind or tell me to ignore them because that is something I cannot do. I need to pay attention to everything I possibly can as your assistant.”

“You could always quit,” Tony’s voice was softer than ever, the billionaire only having a sliver of a smile on his face. It wasn’t a look Loki was familiar with, leading to the man to only feel less in-touch with his boss, like he was failing at the one thing he was good at. This was so much harder than so many things Loki had been through, spending time with Tony at a restaurant had been wonderful too, but this was completely different. People who only looked at them were back there and ready to mock Loki, and it’d be a lie if he said it wasn’t painful.

“You know I couldn’t do that,” he smiled himself, turning fully to Tony now, “we both know you’d drive anyone else who got this job absolutely mad. I’m the only one that can handle this, and don’t you dare try to take this away from me.” Loki couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, just as he couldn’t stop the few tears rolling down his cheeks. Damn, he was feeling like a child again.

“Well, how about I get you a drink? Something you want?”

“Yes, yes,” he replied as he turned back to the city, quickly wiping at his eyes and regaining some of his professionalism, “a vodka martini please.”

“You got it.”

“Very dry too, with...a lot of olives, at least three olives.”

“Understood, dry martini, minimum of three olives, I’ll take care of it,” Tony brushed his hand over Loki’s before heading back into the crowded room, it being the last Loki saw of him that night. The man lied to himself and said he was more disappointed in not getting his drink than being left alone on a cold balcony, feeling even more useless.

~~~~~
Tony hadn’t meant to leave Loki, not at all, in fact he’d hurried to the bar in hopes of getting back to him quickly. But it was as soon as he’d ordered two drinks for Loki and himself, Christine Everheart appeared. She had that I-Know-More-Than-You-Do look (which, for the record was an extremely false idea to carry about) that she always did, causing Tony to mentally brace himself for whatever she was about to spout at him. With the barrier he of course had to throw out a quick vocal punch,
“Oh hey, if it isn’t Carrie. Fancy seeing you here.”

“It’s Christine,” she replied, not bothering with a fake smile this time.

“Oh that’s right, Christine.”

“You know, you’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here tonight.” Tony raised a brow, sipping at one of the drinks he ordered as she continued, “Can I at least get a reaction from you?” I myself would say panic. Panic is my reaction, because I was talking about your company’s involvement in this latest atrocity.”

“Well they did put my name on the invitation, so I really don’t know what to tell you.”

She rolled her eyes, soon beginning to rummage around in her purse and producing photographs, “I can’t believe I almost fell for it too, hook, line and sinker.”

“I was out of town for a few months if you weren’t aware,” Tony was trying to talk his way out of the situation now, a cold sweat beginning to form on his body. But before he could try to do anything, the pictures were shoved into his hands with the question,

“Is this what you call accountability, Mr. Stark?” A shaky gasp made it past Tony’s lips as he flipped through the pictures: missiles. More of them, with his name painted on the side. “It’s a town called Gulmira, ever heard of it?” Yinsen.

“When were these taken?”

“Yesterday.”

“I never approved of any shipments.”

“Well someone in your company did.”

“And I’m not my company,” he replied, anger apparent in the tone of his voice.

Taking quick steps Tony headed outside, soon finding Obie smiling and talking to the photographers and reporters outside the building. “Please, do you mind?” Tony said urgently, tugging the older man away from the crowd slightly and offering a quick smile to the cameras before continuing, “Have you seen these pictures? What’s happening in Gulmira?”

“Tony, Tony,” Obie had shook his head and chuckled, only looking briefly at the photos before smiling down at Tony, “You can’t afford to be this naive.” The pity in the older man’s voice made him want to scream. “You know what? I was naive before, when they said “Here’s the line, don’t cross it. This is how we do business.” if we’re dealing under the table-”

“Are we?” Tony urged for an answer, trying to keep himself from shaking out of pure anger.

“Hey, let’s take a picture. Come on, Tony, smile, picture time!” Obadiah steered him towards the camera, speaking with quietly with a smile, almost directly in Tony’s ear, “Tony. Who do you think locked you out? I was the one that filed the junction against you, it was the only way, the only thing I could to protect you.” He squeezed Tony’s shoulder before walking away, smiling and talking to the crowd of people while Tony still stood there. The billionaire was shaking on his legs, sweat on his brow, and a strong heat filling his entire body. He felt like he was about to faint, as well as cry, but did everything he could not to.
The only thing that came to Tony’s mind was to get home, and soon enough he was walking away from Christine who was still standing on the steps and getting into his car. Get away, I need to get away. Everything will make sense when I’m home.
~~~~~~~
A hand flew to Loki’s mouth as he walked into the workshop, looking at his boss in shock as the CEO struggled in what appeared to be a suit of armor. Rhodey was still speaking on the TV, Tony playing what was already upstairs, the colonel talking about a training exercise of some sort. It was a lie and that was apparent to Loki, he knew what was true and false from what Rhodey said after so many years of hearing it.

“What is happening?” Loki demanded after a moment of watching Tony argue with Jarvis as robotic arms tried to tug the suit off of him. The billionaire looked over and smiled a bit, responding in his usual cheeky manner,

“Let’s be honest Loki, this is not the worst you’ve seen or found me doing.” True Loki had caught him in many of sticky situations, such as hanging onto a balcony with only a shirt on after a party, as well as finding him chained to a bed with a pillow covering his delicate parts. The second memory was still one of Loki’s favorites due to the pure hilarity of it all, especially when his boss had stated that ‘the key for his release was beneath the pillow’. But even so, this had to be the worst Loki had seen him in, especially when the taller man took notice of the breaks in the armor. Bullet holes?

“Were you the one that caused the training accident that Colonel Rhodes was speaking about?” Loki asked desperately as he walked forward, debating whether or not he should touch the damaged armor, “And are these bullet wounds?”

“Relax, the armor stopped them, I’m not hurt,” Tony replied, sighing with relief as the armor finally began to unhinge before he looked at Loki, “and you really do catch on quick.”

“So it was you! What were you thinking? What if you had been killed? This is one of the most idiotic things you have ever done! First flying around the city-”

“You saw that?”

“Yes, you made me ruin part of my carpeting with spilt tea after nearly giving me a heart attack.”

Tony actually grinned at that, stepping down from the platform he’d been getting the suit removed at, “I can fix that. How about I get you a whole new apartment?”

“That’s not the point I was making!” Loki snapped, quickly bringing his hands over his eyes to try and calm himself, something he’d been doing since he was a child, “I worry for you, constantly, an even greater amount than before, Anthony Stark. And all I can ask, is if you know what you are doing?”

“I do, I do Loki,” it was a lie, certainly, but it meant that he was trying his best and learning as he went. It was good enough for now for Loki. “But now, I need to ask you a favor of you, Mr. Lockhart.” That meant a business favor.

“What is it you need, Mr. Stark?” Loki questioned, hands dropping away from his face so he could look into the eyes of Tony.

“I need you to go to my office and hack into the mainframe-”

“I cannot hack, though.”

“That’s fine, you’ll be taking this,” Tony walked over to one of the tables in the workshop and holding up what looked like a USB, “this is a lock chip. It’ll get you in, do all the hacking for you and open up everything. I’ll need you to find out everything on the recent shipping manifests. It’s probably under Executive Files, if not, it’s on a ghost drive, and if that’s the case you’ll need to look for the lowest numeric heading.”

“And what will happen if I’m able to retrieve the data you desire?”

“Same drill as what just happened, they’ve been dealing under the table and I’m going to put a stop to it completely. I’ll find all my weapons and I’ll destroy them.”

Loki closed his eyes briefly, inhaling deeply before he said quietly, “I’m unsure if I can do this, Mr. Stark.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is not part of my job, I never signed on for any of this,” he whispered, silently scolding himself for the cracking of his voice, “you know I’d help you with anything I could, but I’m not sure if I can help you with this. I can’t watch you start this all over again, I can’t watch you knowing that you’ll just keep throwing yourself into this and dying.”

“Loki, there isn’t anything else but this. There’s no benefit, there’s nothing to sign, this isn’t an art gallery, this is the next mission and that’s all.”

“Then I regret to inform you, that I must resign,” Loki began to walk away, only to have Tony grab his arm and turn him back around, staring up at him with a burning gaze that Loki tried to avoid at all costs. Tony was wrong, this was the worst thing he’d caught him doing, because Loki had absolutely no control of this situation. Loki was barely hanging onto Tony by a string, Tony was slipping away into something greater and more dangerous than himself and it was terrifying to watch. No amount of sex or drugs or idiotic stunts with political figures’ daughters could make this whole situation pale in comparison.

“Loki, you’ve stood beside me, all this years without batting an eye as I reaped the benefits of destruction and death. But now that I’m doing what’s right, now that I’m finally fixing all the mistakes I’ve made and protecting the people that I put in harm’s way!” his voice began to become softer again, “you’re leaving? That’s it?”

Loki didn’t care as a few stray tears slid silently down his pale cheeks, “You’re going to get yourself killed, Tony. If I do this I’ll be a part of it I can’t let that happen, I can’t stand by knowing I am unable to stop you from going into danger like this.”

Tony’s hands slid down to Loki’s squeezing them gently, “Please, Loki, I’m not crazy. This is me, finally knowing what I need to do, what I was meant to do. I know I shouldn’t be alive, I didn’t deserve it, but for some reason I was given a second chance and I’m not going to waste it. I know in my heart, that this is right.”

Loki stared at their hands for a while, chest aching as he replied, “You know, you’re all I have to.”

Tony breathed a laugh and nodded, gently slipping the lock chip into Loki’s hand, “Thank you. I know you can do this, Loki, you’re helping a lot of people too.”

He nodded himself and slipped the piece of tech into his pocket before leaving the workshop and house entirely. Hopefully Tony would be right, and he would be able to do this.

With quick steps Loki moved through the Stark Industries buildings, trying to look like he was doing something that was only the normal amount of important, and it luckily paid off. No one bothered him or even questioned the assistant walking into the office that Tony used to occupy, it simply looked like regular duties.
He slid into the chair behind the large oak desk, exhaling quietly as he turned on the computer, a password screen soon appearing. Loki quickly pulled out the little device Tony has given him and inserted it into the USB drive, access almost immediately being granted. Thank the Gods for Tony’s genius.
Eight files appeared on screen, Loki rolling the mouse over them, and finding one that had to have something inside it: Sector 16. “What are you up to, Obadiah?” He whispered, clicking on it and finding blueprints of a suit, similar to Tony’s. But before Loki could look over it any more a video appeared on the screen, one with four standing men and another in a chair with a bag of his head. The apparent leader of the small group began angrily speaking in a Middle Eastern dialect, forcing Loki to have it translated.

Static filled English began to filter through the speakers, causing Loki’s stomach to drop as he fully understood the words. “your deception and lies will cost you dearly. The price to kill Tony Stark has just gone up. So what are you going to do about it?” The bag was torn from the seated man’s head, showing Tony, who blinked and squinted in the bright lights that were aimed directly at him. It was an atrocious thing to watch, so Loki instead focussed his attention on muting it and beginning to copy the files, smiling briefly at the quickness of the transfers, this was going well.

“So, what are we going to do about this?” Obadiah’s voice suddenly came from the door, causing Loki to gasp softly and look up with a fast and awkward movement. Shit.

The man walked slowly around the room, moving in a curved path towards the desk that was absolutely terrifying. Even more so when he began to speak, “I know what you’re going through, Loki.” It was meant to sound sincere but only came off as dangerous, spiking up Loki’s already growing anxiety at the fact that the files weren’t loading fast enough. He needed to get out of there as soon as possible, he had to help Tony.

As Loki tried to look as composed as possible, Obadiah moved to the bottle of scotch at the end of Tony’s desk, smiling briefly and fakely before pouring himself a glass, “Tony always did get the best stuff, didn’t he?” Loki gave a quick nod and soft laugh, using the distraction of the drink to quietly push the newspaper next to the computer over the USB. And as he began to move once more, a barely contained anger glinting in Obie’s eyes, Loki switched the monitor to the screensaver, silently congratulating himself for not being a shaking mess.

“I was so…” Obadiah seemed to try and search for the right word as he rounded Loki, eyes locked on the many car pictures cycling through on the monitor, “happy when Tony came home, you know. It was like getting him back from the dead. But then again,” he rested his hands on Loki’s shoulders, sending a wave of fear down his back, “we never really did get Tony back, did we? He never really came home. Tony left a part of himself in that cave, and it absolutely breaks my heart.”

“Tony is quite the complicated person,” Loki finally spoke, voice surprisingly even, “he’s been through many things, so I believe he’ll pull through this. He always does.” With those words Loki broke away from Obadiah, gathering the paper and pulling out the drive quickly with it. “Now please excuse me, I have an appointment.”

“Wait,” the command was rather fierce and had Loki’s stomach dropping as he obeyed, turning slightly towards the elder man. “Is that today’s paper? Do you mind?”

“Yes, it is and I don’t,” Loki replied, slipping the drive into his hand as he passed the paper to Obadiah, smiling briefly, fakely, “it’s all yours.”

He nodded and gave Loki a malice filled smile, cocking his head to the side as he took in the entirety of the assistant, “You know, you are one of a kind, a rare man. Tony is lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stane, I hope Tony agrees. Excuse me,” he turned on his heel and went out the door as casually as he could, but quickening his pace the second it clicked behind him.
It only took a few steps for Loki to be completely down the stairs, but as soon as he was on the ground floor, Agent Coulson appeared next to him, “Hello Mr. Lockhart, we had an appointment, did you forget about it?”

“No, of course not, we’re having it right now. Follow me.”

“We’re having it now?”

“Yes, we are, just keep walking with me.”

“Okay.”

“Get ready for the meeting of your life, your office,” Loki told the agent, giving him a nervous smile when Coulson raised a brow in confusion at the situation. “I’ve got a lot to inform you of, agent.”

Coulson had believed every word and Loki was immensely grateful for that, even more so when he stated that they would bring a team of agents to Sector 16 if Loki would show them to it. Loki gladly agreed and soon enough they were in a car heading to Stark Industries, Loki quickly dialing Rhodey’s phone when reaching the suddenly intimidating building after having reached only silence when he’d called Tony. A rock of anxiety had dropped into his stomach, it only becoming slightly lighter when Rhodey finally answered,

“Loki? What is it-”

“I apologize for interrupting,James but you must listen to me carefully, Obadiah has built a suit, like Tony’s, don’t play coy I know he told you about that damned thing, and I’m worried for Tony.”

“Wait why would Obadiah be building a suit?”

“Because he wants to kill Tony! He wasn’t able to get rid of him in Afghanistan-”

“Why would Obie want to kill Tony?”

“James, please!” Loki’s voice came out in a shrill shout, “I do not mean to be bothersome, but please, please, go check on Anthony, I fear for his safety.”

“Don’t worry, I will, i’ll make sure he’s all right,” Rhodey promised and Loki let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, thank you. Call me as soon as possible, or better yet, tell Tony to call me, I need to scream at him.”

There was a soft laugh over the line, followed by an affirmative, “I’ll make sure to yell at him a bit first.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

It was a tension filled scene as Loki led the agents through the warehouse, heart thumping in his chest in nervousness. Obadiah could be there, waiting to try and kill them, and that was not a good mindset to have when planning to do something that most would call stupid. But really, was it so surprising that after so long of being around Tony Stark that Loki wouldn’t do something idiotic himself? And Loki really had nothing to lose at the moment, all he truly cared about now was taking down Obadiah.

They were walking with quick steps, soon arriving at the Sector 16 four-inch thick metal door, Loki typing the code that was meant to work for all the sectors in the entire building, only to receive a bright red NOT VALID across the keypad screen.

“Shit, I don’t-”

“Allow me,” Coulson smiled at him politely, pushing past and pressed a little circle of metal onto the keypad, “Please stand back.”

“What is that? Is it going to hack into the system?” Loki questioned, watching it closely, only to have Coulson gently shove him back a bit as it soon exploded. “Oh.”

“Let’s go,” Coulson said to the other agents, all of them filtering in at once and spreading about the dark, tech-filled room. Loki did the same, heart thudding in his chest as he looked about for any sign of Obadiah, soon finding only the soldered together pieces of what appeared to be a nearly tech-less suit.

“I thought it’d be different, bigger, this doesn’t even have a power source,” Loki murmured in confusion. Nothing was adding up, Obadiah wouldn’t use something that would not stand a chance against Tony’s own suit. But the confusion was immediately cleared up as he heard a series of loud mechanical sounds behind him, and as he turned around Loki could barely breathe, eyes meeting the emotionless metallic face that was now towering above him. With the little sense Loki had left in his head, he ran as fast as he possibly could.

He couldn’t keep himself from screaming in absolute terror as the much larger and crueler looking version of Tony’s suit began rampaging after him, treating everything as if it was made of children’s playthings, including the poor agents that’d come to help. Before he could think, he was running from the beast behind him, leaping over debris and calling Tony through his headset for one last time in desperation,
“Loki?”

“Tony! Tony are you doing all right? I thought you dead!”

“Well I’m not, what about you-”

“That’s unimportant at the moment! Obadiah has gone absolutely insane! He’s built a suit!”

“I know, I know. You need to get the hell out of there, I’m on my way and I’m going to handle this!”

“Are you sure?” Loki asked, forever the one to help as much as he could. It was going to kill him one day, he was sure of it, had been since two years of working for Tony had passed.

“Yeah, I’m sure, if I need your help I’ll tell you, just get out of there!”

Loki had just made it out of the door when Tony rocketed in, tackling the other armor the best to his ability, and sending them through one of the walls.
~~~~~~~
“Stane! Stop this!” Tony shouted once they landed, standing a distance away and already preparing everything he had.

“I love this suit!” Obadiah laughed, grabbing onto a car that’d nearly run into them, lighting it like nothing. Terrifying the woman driving and her children in the car seemed to be the funniest damn joke he’d ever heard, sickening Tony even further over the fact that he had trusted this man.

“Put them down, now, Stane!”

“Collateral damage Tony, accidents happen,” he actually cackled at that, throwing it carelssly and causing Tony to run forward for it. As he did it, Obadiah blew up a nearby wall and part of an abandoned bus, revelling in the chaos. Often so long of being second in command, he was obviously enjoying the ability to be the one giving the orders and deciding what was to happen.
Power has been reduced to nineteen percent. As Jarvis spoke Tony grabbed onto the front of the thrown vehicle, keeping it from tipping over and beginning to steady it, while still keeping Obadiah in his sights.

“Lady! Don’t!” Tony spoke through the suit, trying to get the woman to calm down, but as soon as he had the car set on the ground, she drove, running him over and allowing Obie to grab him as they sped away. “No no no no!”

“For thirty long years I’ve been holding you up,” Obadiah growled, “I’ve built this company up from nothing! And I won’t let anything stand in my way, least of all you!” Tony shot Obie away, moving the best he could from the monster and up into the sky. “Oh I see you’ve made upgrades to your armor, very impressive, but I’ve made just as many to mine!” Shockingly enough the walking tank was now a flying one too, Obadiah trailing after him.
Sir, it appears that his suit can fly.

“Yeah, I got that. Take me to maximum altitude.”

With only fifteen percent power the odds of reaching that height-

“I know, I’ve done the math! Just go!”

Yes sir. The AI began putting all the power to the thrusters, helping Tony climb higher and higher, but still reminding him that this would most likely fail with his percentage updates. Thirteen percent power sir.

“Climb!”

Eleven percent power, sir.

“Keep going!”

Seven percent power.
“I know, just leave it on the screen!” Tony hissed at Jarvis, not needing to be reminded that he was most likely going to die soon. Obadiah was gaining on them, soon enough being right in Tony’s face and grabbing him.

“You have a great idea, Tony, but my suit is far more advanced in every way,” Obadiah stated, arrogance radiating from the metal monger that gripped Tony by the throat. Though now, Tony couldn’t help but smirk as he saw the ice crystals forming across the body of it as they went higher.

“Really? So how’d you fix the icing problem?”

“Icing problem?” was the confused response before the intimidating lights of the HUD’s head flickered out.

“Yeah you might want to look into that,” the billionaire chuckled before lightly tapping on its head and watching it begin to fall.

Two percent, sir. We are now running on emergency back up power.

“Shit,” Tony cursed before connecting to Loki again and chasing after Obadiah’s falling suit, because there was no way with Tony’s luck that he’d be dead from it, “Lockhart!”

“Oh by the gods, Tony, you are okay!” there was slight relief on Loki’s end, the assistant obviously having been fighting back tears. So he was fine for the moment too, good.

“I’m almost out of power, I’ve got to get out of this thing. I’ll be right there.” It was his way of trying to calm Loki down, even though he was sure it was failing miserably.

As he landed he saw Obadiah beginning to stand, chuckling a “Nice try” while he moved, like this was some sort of game.

“Jarv, what’s the status on weapons?”

Repulsors and missiles are offline, sir.

“What about flares?”

Full functioning.

“Great, fire them.” The shots went off and covered the roof in smoke, allowing Tony to go and hide. Tony hid behind a wall on the rooftop, being as quiet as he possibly could while connecting with Loki through the suit’s HUD. He flinched slightly at Obadiah laughing and shouting about how clever he was in a mocking way. “Lockhart, you there?”

“Yes, Tony, what is it?”

“Listen, this isn’t working, we need to overload the systems of the reactor,” he whispered in a calm but serious way, “and then it’ll blast the roof.”

“But how are you going to do that?”

“I’m not, you are. You need to go to the central console and open up all of the circuits. When I get off the roof, I’ll let you know, and then you pull the trigger by pushing the master bypass button. It’ll fry everything up here.”

“I understand, I’m going in now.” Tony had to give them man credit, even in such a stressed situation Loki would still go forward and do his best.

“I’ll buy you some time while you do it, just wait for me to get off the roof,” Tony replied before running and leaping onto the monster of metal’s back, tugging out a mess of wires with the shout of “This looks important!”

Obadiah seemed to laugh at what Tony was doing, simply grabbing him and throwing him across the roof like an unwanted toy, which was all Tony really was to the bastard. The traitor soon opened up his suit, a sadistic smile firmly in place as he spoke, “You know, I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I have to admit, I’m enjoying the suit immensely. It’s obvious that you’ve finally outdone yourself! You’ve made your father proud!” Tony’s chest tightened with anger at the statement. How dare this man, this sick, twisted, traitor say such things? Even Howard Stark would be appalled at what was happening, knowing that he’d been played so well, the same as Tony had.
“Tony! The button is ready to press, you need to get off the roof! Tony please!” Loki’s voice was desperate from below Tony, the sound of it adding to the billionaire’s preexisting fear of not getting away or Loki getting hurt in the process of what was happening.

“How ironic, Tony,” Obadiah chuckled, eyes full of madness, “Trying to rid the world of weapons, only to create its best one yet!”

“Loki!” Tony screamed down to the shaking assistant, doing his best to avoid the Iron Monger stalking towards him.

“And now, I’m gonna kill you with it! Shame it’ll take so long, because you ripped out my targeting system.”

“It’s time to press the button, Loki!” Tony shouted again, this time in shock as the glass was shot out from under him and he was now clinging to one of the panes.

“I can’t! You’ll die Tony!”

“Just do it!”

There was a loud, choked sob in response along with the slam of the button. The surge of electricity knocked Tony to the side, it shooting high into the sky and being the last thing Tony saw. His last thought though was a simply Be okay, Loki.
~~~~~~
“You’ve all received official statements of what happened last night at Stark Industries,” Agent Coulson told Loki and Tony in the room near the press conference area that they were all currently in. Tony was seated and looking over the day’s newspaper, the headline bold and asking Who Is Iron Man? while Loki gently touched up the billionaire’s cut up face with makeup. “There have been confirmed reports of a robotic prototype malfunction occurred and caused copious amounts of damage to the arc reactor. Fortunately a member of Mr. Stark’s personal security staff went-”

“Iron Man. You know that’s kind of catchy, it’s got a nice ring to it,” Tony suddenly said with a half smile, talking over whatever the agent had been saying . His eyes flicked up to Loki who was still working on gently moving a thin makeup brush over one of Tony’s bruises, “I mean it isn’t technically accurate since the suit is made from a gold-titanium alloy, but it’s kind of evocative, the imagery at least.” Loki raised a brow at him, giving his boss an amused look, which caused Tony to grin. It was actually quite astounding that Loki hadn’t demanded to be released from his contract of being Tony’s assistant after such an ordeal, but somehow even after all that there was a strong sense of loyalty and affection towards the billionaire.

“Here, this is your alibi,” Agent Coulson interrupted their staring by handing Tony a stack of cuecards, “You were an your yacht when everything happened.”

“Yeah, great,” Tony replied in a slightly bored tone, flipping through them.

“We have port papers that put you in Avalon all night, along with sworn statements from fifty of your guests.”

“See, I was thinking that maybe it could have just been Loki and me, alone on the island,” he suggested with a playful smirk, eyes moving up to Loki’s face again as they stood and the assistant began straightening his tie. Loki focussed on the work at hand, not wanting to look into those chocolate eyes and have his mind filled with images of such a scene. Tony watched him intently for a bit before turning towards the agent and messing up his tie from the grip Loki had had on it. “Why isn’t there anything about Stane in the speech?”

“That has already been covered sir, he’s on vacation. Small aircrafts have such a poor safety record,” there was a slight smile at the corners of the agents mouth. He was certainly an interesting man.

Tony wasn’t amused for the moment, continuing with another serious question, “But what about this whole bodyguard cover story? I mean, is that...it’s a bit of a flimsy story, don’t you think?” He made a face, as if it was such a horrible idea that he’d have such a bodyguard, even with Happy Hogan being one in the past.

“Trust me, Mr. Stark, this isn’t my first rodeo. Just stick to the official statement and soon enough this will all be behind you. You’ve got ninety seconds,” he began to leave the room only to be stopped by Loki’s hand on his arm.

“Agent Coulson? I just wanted to say thank you...for everything. You’ve been a great help to us and we’re all grateful for it,” he stated sincerely, returning Coulson’s kinder look when it was given.

“It’s just what we do, Mr. Lockhart, you’ll be hearing from us.”

“From the Strategic Homeland Intervention-”

“Please, just call us S.H.I.E.L.D., it’s less of a mouthful.”

“Right, of course, excellent choice,” Loki nodded with a soft laugh, the agent heading out the door with the statement of

“Let’s get this show on the road.”

“You know it’s actually not that bad when you think about it,” Tony suddenly said, walking to Loki after the door shut, “Even I don’t think I’m Iron Man.”

“That’s because you aren’t Iron Man,” Loki replied, hands going back to fixing his boss’ tie.

“I am too.”

“No, no you’re not.”

“All right, fine, suit yourself,” he looked up into Loki’s eyes as he spoke again, “but you know, if I were Iron Man, I’d have a special someone, that would be the only one to know my true identity. They’d be an absolute wreck, of course,” Tony’s hand came up to brush over Loki’s long fingers, “because they’d constantly be worrying about me, if I’d die or not, but they’d be so proud of the man I’d become too. It’d make them so conflicted, but that would only make them, all the more crazy about me.” Loki’s heart was beating faster, banging against his ribs, like a bird desperate to get out of its cage, it so obvious for anyone listening that Tony Stark had meant him. “Don’t tell me you never think about that night.”

“What night?” Loki asked quietly, giving Tony’s chest a light pat to show he was finished fussing.

“Come on, Lokes,” Loki prayed he wasn’t blushing at the nickname, “you know.”

“Ah, you mean the night where we went up on the balcony, after we danced, and I spoke about my past for a moment, then you went to get me a drink and never came back? Leaving me all alone with the anxiety of facing a crowd of people who’d just given me dirty looks? Was that the night you were talking about?” Loki raised a brow and tried to hide his smile at the slightly guilty look Tony gave him, “so that was the night you meant, I thought so. Now will that be all, Mr. Stark?”

“Yes, that’ll be all Mr. Lockhart, thank you.” Loki gave another nod, exiting with the billionaire and going separate ways afterwards, Tony to his rightful place at the podium and Loki advising from the back.

“And now Mr. Stark has prepared a statement for you all, he will not be taking any questions for this. Thank you,” Colonel Rhodes stated, looking relieved to finally have his friend walking up, before he stepped off the stage and headed off to his own corner to observe.

“Been awhile since I was in front of all of you, and I think I’ll stick to the cards this time,” Tony smiled, forever the showman. The crowd had a few quiet laughs before he went on, “There has been a lot of speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred last night on the freeway and the rooftop-”

Before he could go on the reporter from the past, Christine Everhart, interrupted with a slightly raised hand, “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you really expect us all to believe that this was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you weren’t even apparently in the city?” Loki could hear the arrogance in the way she spoke, her expression most likely displaying the same thing.

“I know it’s a bit confusing, but it’s one thing to question an official story, and an entirely different thing to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I could be a superhero.”

“I never said that you were a superhero,” Christine replied, crossing her arms.

“You didn’t? Well, good, because I’m just not the hero type, which is clear. With the laundry list of character defects, and all the mistakes I’ve made widely public.”

“Just stick to the cards, man,” Rhodey said rather urgently from the side, Tony glancing over before nodding.

“Yeah, okay, yeah,” he took a quick breath, “the truth is,” Tony looked at his cards, looking prepared to go against his first statement, because apparently for the good of the populis no one could know, but then he lowered his hand. “The truth is, I am Iron Man.”

Loki’s hand flew to his mouth in complete shock, eyes trained on the site before him as questions erupted from the crowd of reporters at his feet. “Tony what are you doing,” he asked to no one, due to Agent Coulson already making calls behind him. It appeared that Tony had just opened a can of worms, that turned out to actually be snakes. It also seemed that Loki’s job just got more difficult.
______________________________________________________________________________

The Stark Expo was going off without a hitch, thousands of people filtering through the stalls and showcases every moments, and Tony acting like the star he always was. Six months later and it all seemed to be the same on the outside, but so much had changed that it was actually a tad awkward to try and go with as usual. Loki was still dutiful as ever though, and stood behind a curtain as women in little red and gold outfits danced about while Tony landed in the center of them all. He soon began a speech about how he’d brought upon a sort of World Peace and how he was the mythical bird, the Phoenix. It sounded arrogant to many, Loki was sure, but it was so incredibly true, it made him smile. Tony Stark was like the magnificent phoenix, coming back again and again after each deathly experience, as beautiful and determined as ever. The image only strengthened too with Tony’s signature colors being red and gold. But there was something different about the showman, a change that went beyond the glowing blue light within his chest (which Loki might add was a beautiful a light, one he loved dearly, because as long as it was there it meant that he was alive and with Loki). A sudden distance seemed to be forming between them and it made Loki’s heart feel like a stone, cracking against his chest like a cruel reminder that even after everything, he and Tony would never be on the same level. But that was all right, wasn’t it? The right hand man was never meant to surpass or be equal to the king, he was only meant to be loyal for the entirety of it all. Though even as Loki watched in slight awe of Tony’s showmanship, he desired as well as worried for the future of them both, because good things don't last forever, especially when the two of them are involved.

It only took a week later for them to find themselves in a rather uncomfortable spot, at least for Loki that is. Sitting in a stuffy courtroom before congressmen in Washington D.C. was most certainly not one of Loki’s favorite things to do. It didn’t help that Tony was so damn cocky as he sat down at one of the desks at the front, looking like he was absolutely prepared to take on the world if he must. Tony Stark would do anything for his suit to stay his and out of hands he found untrustworthy, that much was obvious. It’d be admirable if it weren’t such a nuisance to deal with.

“Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark may I have your attention?” Senator Stern was banging his gavel, becoming frustrated with Tony just as Loki was, the CEO paying more attention to his assistant and asking if Happy would be able to get them some of the chilidogs sold nearby. Loki annoyedly waved him away, making Tony grin and spin around to face the disgruntled senator, answering him with,
“Yes dear?”

“Hello, Mr. Lockhart,” a familiar voice then sounded beside Loki as Tony sassed the senator, causing him to look over and see a welcomed face in his mind, “Agent Coulson, of S.H.I.E.L.D if you remember me.”

“Of course I remember you,” Loki smiled genuinely, gesturing for the quiet agent to seat himself, “It’s great to see you in good health.”

“Same to you, Mr. Lockhart.”

“Please, call me Loki, there’s no need to be so formal between us.” The agent seemed to be a bit surprised for a moment before nodding and turning his attention to the beginning fight at the front of the room. The senators demanding Tony’s suit along with the weasel shit known as Justin Hammer. Oh Loki remembered him well. A bastard that’d attended MIT with Tony, being the most arrogant man they’d both had the displeasure of knowing. At least Tony’s cockiness could be endearing at points while Justin simply thought he was immediately better than anyone around him, as he did so he always tried to impress Tony, only to fail miserably.

A heated anger bubbled in Loki’s stomach as the man began to ramble on about how Tony was no hero, how no one should trust a man like the Stark with such a powerful object, beady eyes behind large glasses glinting with jealousy. Hammer had never enjoyed not getting what he wanted, so now his goal was to just keep Tony from keeping what was so dear to him already. The anger soon became a rage though as Colonel Rhodes was called to the stand, being forced to only read off a piece of the report that could be damning to Tony.They even had him begin reading off details of war-like situations that weren’t even proven yet. Luckily enough the genius wasn’t one to play nice either and began working with quick hands on his phone, JARVIS’ screen taking over all those in the court.
“Mind if I take your screens? I need them for a sec. Now let’s show the transparency,” Tony’s lips quirked up briefly as the videos of failed Iron Man suits began to play across all the monitors before slipping into a serious demeanor, “I believe this is North Korea.”

“Turn that off, get it off now,” Senator Stern began to demand, Justin scrambling to get up as Tony showed Iran’s failed attempt next.

“Oh is that Hammer? Smile Justin you’re on TV,” some amusement slipped into Tony’s tone along with sheer annoyance, the other CEO pulling at chords and aggressively cursing. “I’d like to say that other countries are about five, ten years away, while Hammer Industries? About twenty years away.” Loki had to cover his mouth to keep his large grin hidden from the flashing cameras. The man was just too brilliant for Loki at times.

“I’ll have you know that that test-pilot in fact survived!” Just announced, desperate to try and continue to look good as the senator began to announce that they were closing the meeting, having the gall to say Tony had no point to what he was showing them.

“The point? The point is: you’re welcome. I’m your nuclear deterrent and I’m keeping this country safe, it works, that’s all that matters. You want my property? You can’t have it!” Tony slapped his hand on the table and stood, turning to the already applauding crowd, “So you’re welcome for the world peace! What more could you possibly want!? I played ball with these assclowns and I won!” Tony blew kisses to the enraged men behind him, Stern having fire in his eyes as he told the genius to go fuck himself.

Loki could only continue to sit with the agent, smiling quietly over his shoulder at Tony while he went on with a speech, of course bringing sexual innuendo into the script. “He does know how to work a crowd,” Coulson spoke again, scribbling down a few things in a notebook he suddenly had in his hand, much like a reporter.

“Of course, he’s Anthony Stark,” Loki responded to the agent, standing soon after and heading towards the crowds of people to return to his boss’ side.

“As amusing as you were, Mr. Stark, I don’t believe it was the best move to act so arrogantly towards those officials,” Loki began speaking as soona s he had the workshop door open, heading towards his boss with a serious expression. The enjoyment of the speech and moment had left soon after leaving the court, Loki realizing that things would begin to become even more complicated. It certainly didn’t help that Tony didn’t seem to give a damn and was acting rather foolishly, all of sudden reports of him giving things away appearing before Loki’s desk at work. “May I ask what you’re thinking? If you’re thinking at all?”

“I am, I’m thinking I’m busy, that they deserved it, and that you’re angry about something else,” Tony replied, spinning around and beginning to walk away from his trailing assistant.

“You truly are a genius,” Loki’s sarcasm was so apparent a roll of the eyes wasn’t even needed, “You donated our entire modern art collection to,” he began to shuffle through the pages on his tablet.

“Yeah, I did, to the Boy Scouts of America.”

“The Boy Scouts of America?”

“Yes, I just signed off on the crates but I did donate it, and it’s not our collection it’s my collection of modern art.”

“No, I think I am perfectly justified in saying ours, due to the time, ten years, I spent obtaining all of that artwork!”

“It was a tax right-off I needed it.”

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose as he followed Tony, this only adding onto the headache he already had, “This is just one of the eight thousand and one things I need to speak with you about.” He cut Tony off and looked into his eyes, “The expo is a complete waste of time.”

Tony turned him a bit, squeezing Loki’s shoulders gently, “I’m going to need you to wear a surgical mask until you’re feeling better because I know you have the sniffles right now.”

“That is rude and not the subject of our conversation.”

“Seems more like your conversation and that you’re trying to take away any say I have in my own company. The expo isn’t a waste of time, it’s the most important thing to me right now.”

“The Stark Expo is just a chance for your ego to go crazy-”

“Would you look at that? Now that’s modern art,” the almost manic man said, pulling up a red and blue painting of the Iron Man. “This is going on the wall.”

“Oh yes, that is a true work of art,” Loki drawled, following after him once again, “Tony you need to listen to me! Stark Industries is in complete disarray!”

“Our stocks have never been higher.”

“Yes from a managerial standpoint but that is not what the problem is!” They began to bicker even more, words seeming to bounce off each other and cause a lot of undefinable noise. The only words being spoken after a few more steps being on a completely different topic, “No no no! You are not taking down the Bardont Newman for that atrocity!”

“It’s my workshop I can hang what I want,” Tony dropped the horribly expensive painting to the side, almost joyfully placing his likeness up in its place.

“All right, fine, but my point is that we’ve already awarded contracts to the wind farm people-”

“Don’t say wind farm, I’m already feeling gassy.” Loki had to breathe in deeply before trying to speak again,

“Tony these people are on the payroll as of now, going off of your ideas-”

“Everything was my idea, but I don’t care about the liberal agenda anymore! It’s just boring, boring, boring.” He hopped down and looked up into his assistant’s worried green eyes, “Tell you what, why don’t you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Just be CEO of Stark Industries then, that’s an excellent idea, I just figured it all out. Let me make you the boss.”

“Wh-what?” Loki had to stop in his tracks, furrowing his brow in confusion at the ridiculous suggestion before shaking his head. “I’m trying to run the company at this moment in time, I am already doing everything!”

“No you’re not listening to me! Let me make you CEO why aren’t you letting me?”

Loki looked at him in a shocked silence, it taking a long moment to recover from it, “Why would you want me to take over Stark Industries?”

“Well you obviously actually care about this garbage, not sure why but you do, you’re actually good at it, and you have a lot of great ideas. You’d be fantastic for it, and I trust you,” Tony squeezed Loki’s upper arms once more, smiling up at the assistant who was now chewing his lower lip, “What do you say?”

“I say you must be drunk,” Loki spoke softly, tendrils of worry wrapping about his mind as he watched Tony’s actions.

“I’m not, I promise, so from this day forward, I, Anthony Edward Stark, hereby make you, Loki Orpheus Lockhart, the new CEO and chairman of Stark Industries. So it’s done deal,” he smiled and began to stroll over to DUM-E as the robot approached with champagne and two flutes. “Honestly I have been thinking about a good successor for the company, and I kept wracking my brain for the answer, until I realized that you are by far the best candidate for the job.” He popped the cork and smiled, in the saddest most affectionate way loki had ever seen, soon pouring the liquid into the two glasses. “It’s always been you, always. I’d worried about the legal issues, but then found out I could just appoint my successor,” he began to walk over to Loki, who’d taken a seat at the nearby table in his state of astonishment. “Congratulations Mr. Lockhart.”

A smile broke out on Loki’s face against his will as he took the glasses, honestly ecstatic at the opportunity, enough to make him believe that this was a reasoning behind Tony’s strange behavior as of late: to help Loki. “I just don’t know what to think,” he finally spoke, looking over to his all of a sudden former boss, who only smiled again and sat close.

“Don’t think then, just drink.” Tony brought their glasses together before putting it to his lips, Loki laughing softly as he did the same.

A week later Loki walked into the personal gym of the mansion, calling out to Tony during his boxing match with Happy, “The notary is here, could you please finish your scuffle to sign the transfer paperwork?” Loki laughed softly as a quiet verbal fight began to break out between Happy and Tony, checking over the plans in his phone before turning to his own personal assistant, Natalie Rushman, who walked in with the binder full of the documents. “I promise you this will be the only time I ask you to sign over your company.”

“I’ll need you to initial here and here,” she pointed it out with delicate fingers, Loki doing so with an almost child-like zeal. It quickly left him though as Tony pointed at the pretty red head,

“You, your name.”

“Rushman, Natalie Rushman.”

“Okay Rushman, front and center. Come into the church,” he motioned to the ring around him, stepping back.

“You can’t be serious, Tony.”

“I am, if it pleases the court.”

“I apologize, he is a very...eccentric man,” Loki spoke to Natalie, who only offered a small smile in return as she made her way into the ring. Like a lightning bolt, jealousy burned through Loki’s system as Tony gazed at the lovely woman before him.

“She is a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you continue to oggle the poor girl like that,” Loki spoke bitterly as he gazed down at his phone once again, Tony dropping down next to him in a nearby chair. “Just please sign the documents and you will be free of the responsibilities you seem to be allergic to,” Loki motioned to the binder, not paying much attention to the boxing lesson Tony had instructed Happy to give Natalie.

Tony completely ignored him, the the shock of jealousy having become a wildfire in Loki’s gut as the man spoke to her again, “Natalie, how do I spell your name?” He clapped and the table next to them lit up, Tony quickly going through the young woman’s credentials with a smile, “Very, very impressive. Fluent in French, Italian, Russian and Latin. Latin? Who speaks Latin?”

“No one speaks, Latin, Tony, it’s a dead language,” Loki sighed, “It’s a dead language. You can read or write Latin, but you can’t speak it.”

Tony makes a noise of appreciation and interrupts Loki, “Did you know she modeled? She modeled in Tokyo.” Loki looks over to see a large and aggravatingly beautiful picture of Natalie modeling lingerie in a magazine.

“Well, no.”

“She seems to have everything,” Tony says in a terribly pleased tone that makes Loki tighten his grip on his phone. It doesn’t help that Natalie is now looking at them. But that quickly changes as Happy smiles and begins to speak in a I’m-a-big-tough-guy tone, reaching out to her,

“Rule number one, never take your eyes off your opponent.” The man begins a rather playful punch towards the redhead, only to have her grasp his hand and twist it, soon wrapping around the man’s arm. In an impossibly elegant show of skill Natalie takes the man down, legs tight around his neck and smacking him harshly to the ring floor.

“Good gods!” Loki can’t help but shout, quickly standing up rushing to Happy’s side as Natalie walks away, “Happy! Are you all right?”

“Now that's what I’m talking about. Looks like a TKO to me,” Tony is extremely amused by the entire situation, hitting the nearby bell to signify the end of the apparent match. Natalie then walks to him, smiling and speaking softly,

“I’m going to need your impression.”

“Well quite honestly I found you-”

She giggled, giggled, and interrupted in a somehow polite fashion, “I meant your fingerprint, Mr. Stark.”

“Ah, right,” he nodded and slipped one of his uncovered thumb into the ink, soon pressing it against the already signed sheet of paper.

“So how is everything fairing?” Loki asked, walking up to the two of them with a slight smile, getting a perverse pleasure from the sudden awkwardness between Natalie and Tony.

“Everything is great. You’re the boss now, it’s official,” Tony looked at Loki, a look of relief in his brown eyes. Relief for no longer having to deal with what he found foolish Loki was sure, and he in turn was relieved to finally be able to fix things, so he repeated softly,

“I’m the boss.”

“Now will that be all, Mr. Stark?”

“Yes, that is all, thank you so much Ms. Rushman,” Loki cut Tony off before he could say anything else. Natalie nodded and closed the binder, smiling politely at the both of them before exiting.
“I want one,” Tony said with a cheeky grin to Loki after she had completely gone from the room, the words strangely making Loki’s heartache. Which was foolish, he had been an assistant, and now Tony no longer had one, of course he’d want one. Tony honestly seemed to enjoy having someone to keep a tight hold on him...but that was Loki’s job, his, no one elses.

“No, you are no longer a CEO so you no longer need a personal assistant to help manage your schedule,” Loki surprised himself with how calmly he spoke, giving Tony a thin smile in return. It was a lie, Loki had already been looking over decent candidates for personal assistants for his former boss, but couldn’t go through with it, none would know Tony like he did, none would be able to do what he did. Which sounded horribly arrogant no matter what way you looked at it, but it was true, there were no other Lokis on the planet, and only Loki could do this job well enough for Tony.

“Now we need to hurry to catch your plane, one of our cars is racing.”

“The Monaco one? The Grand Prix De?”

“Yes, and no, you can’t go off on your own, we are having lunch and watching the race, that is all,” Loki through a much more triumphant smile at Tony over his shoulder and walked up the steps of the gym, “Get ready. We’re leaving in an hour.” By the gods did Loki love being in charge.

The crowd cheered loudly the second Tony exited the black car they’d taken to the Hotel, Tony giving them a peace sign as he headed into the building with Loki and Happy, who was holding a briefcase/suit, trailing behind him. Loki used his long legs to his advantage to catch up with Tony as soon as possible, wanting to keep a rein on him out of habit and past experience.

“Whatever happens in the next five minutes, just go with it, all right?” Tony said quietly to Loki as they headed into the seating area for the race car owners, both of them flashing smiles to the nearby photographers.

“Just go with what, Tony?”

“Whatever happens,” he responded, grabbing a drink from a nearby waiter and smiling as Natalie Rushman approached them.

“Mr. Stark. Hello, how was your flight?”

“It was excellent, and it’s excellent to see you as well.” His smile dimmed a bit as Natalie took his drink and set it back on the tray, allowing Loki to gain one. He’d always hated Tony’s habit of immediately consuming alcohol. But Loki was slightly confused as to what happening around him, something was off.

“We have a photographer from the ACM if you don’t mind.”

“When did this happen?” Loki glanced to Natalie, the woman supposed to be back in Malibu, not here with them.

“You made me do this,” Tony replied through tight smiling teeth.

“I made you do this?”

“Yes, now smile,” they both did, Loki hissing through his teeth,

“You are so predictable that’s the amazing thing. I knew you were going to plan something like this.” Loki immediately taking a drink for himself afterwards while Tony began to walk away with Natalie, ignoring Loki, and complementing Natalie on her look for the day. Loki sighed softly and brought the glass to his lips, gulping away half of it in an impolite fashion before following again, feeling like the assistant once again.

Tony claimed a table for them and Loki went to try and look more professional, wanting to feel like the CEO he’d become and began to speak with another, “Mr. Musk, how are you?” The man replied in Swedish, brightly smiling as he complimented Loki in a charming way.

“Thank you so much, it is lovely to see you as well.” Before anything else could become of the conversation Tony herded Loki away, speaking quickly to the other man and taking them towards the bar.

“Do you want a massage? You seem tense.”

“That’s because working with you is more stressful than anything else, but no, I do not want a massage.”

“Are you sure, I don’t want you to be tense,” Tony kept pushing Loki forward, hand on the small of his back. “I could get Natalie-”

“No thank you, I don’t want Natalie-”

“Envy green is not your best color.”

“Anthony! Is that you?” The obnoxious voice of Justin Hammer interrupted the two’s bickering, Tony immediately stiffening.

“Oh look, my least favorite person in the world: Justin Hammer,” he spoke as the approaching man rambled on about how he'd thought it was Tony.

“Remember, you’re not the only rich guy here with a fancy car,” Justin went on, arrogance and an aura of Please-Be-Impressed-By-Me radiating off of him, “and this is the lovely reporter, Christine Everhart, from Vanity Fair. You guys know each other?”

“We do, hello Christine,” Loki smiled for a moment at her before grinning at Tony who looked like he was prepared to kill Justin after just a few minutes with the man.

“B-T-W Christine, big story right here,” Justin motioned to Loki, “this is the new CEO of Stark Industries, congratulations.”

“I know, and my boss will kill me if I don’t get a profile on the new CEO, so may I?” Christine asked in a charming way, eyes bright like every reporter that got their hands on a story that could possibly bring out something damaging to another.

“Of course, I’d be glad to,” Loki replied, glancing over to Justin who was ready to try and boast again,

“Christine is actually doing a big spread on me for Vanity Fair. on my success and everything-”

“Oh really? Yes, she did quite the spread for Tony last year.”

“She did, and she wrote a story about me.”

“It was quite impressive, very well done,” Loki went on to say, thoroughly enjoying the look of aggravation across Hammer’s face, realizing he wasn’t the one ‘winning’. Christine thanked Loki for his compliment, the man nodding slightly before leaving the group, not wanting to be in the tension filled scene any longer than he really needed to be. He supposed that was the beauty of not being Tony’s assistant, being able to walk away without worrying about how sarcastic he got.
Loki was sitting at the table Tony had decided was theirs, quietly looking over the menu in a rather relaxing way. The peace was kept for just a split second longer before Loki looked up, hearing Tony’s voice come out through one of the nearby televisions. He stood in a racing suit, STARK written in proud white letters across it as he proudly spoke,
“I just thought, what was the point of owning a race car and never driving it?” Loki’s heart nearly stopped at the sight, images of Tony crashing filling his mind. He desperately looked for Natalie, calling out to her and waving her over rather frantically,

“Natalie, did you know about?”

“This is my first time hearing of it, sir.”

“Th-this...we cannot let this happen!”

“Absolutely how can I help you?”

“Tell me where Happy is.”

“He’s waiting outside.”

“Great I need you to get him for me.” Natalie nodded quickly and rushed off to do so, Loki’s hands shaking as he tried to wait for the trusty chauffeur. Worry turned to absolute horror as a man walked out onto the racetrack, electrical whips of some sort in his hands, a weapon he used to cut a car clean in half. A bullet of relief hit Loki as he turned to look in the doorway, Happy standing there with the suit/briefcase in hand,
“Let’s go.”

Loki bolted from his chair, knocking it over and running out with Happy, both jumping into the car. With in seconds Happy was going full speed down the streets, breaking through one of the entrance gate of the track with a shout of “Hang on!” to Loki, who was now falling about in the backseat. Happy then took them backwards along the track, cars zooming past them in the opposite direction as they tried to get to Tony as fast as they could. All that played in Loki’s head were the frightened words of ‘Tony’s in danger!’

“Give me the case!” Loki suddenly cried from the back, fumbling for the red and gold briefcase as Happy handed it back to him while still driving, “Where’s the key!?”

“It’s in my pocket!”

“Get it for-watch out car!” Happy narrowly avoided another car, throwing the key back to Loki as he founded another corner. Loki took it and quickly got the case free from Happy’s wrist, holding it tightly to his chest as he continued to be thrown around.

“By the gods,” Loki whispered in panic as he sat up once again as they rounded the final corner, the psycho standing above Tony, prepared to slice him to pieces with the seemingly arc reactor powered weapon. Happy took the opportunity of the man having his back turned to slam him into the retaining wall and fence with the car. He went limp and Loki began to have a panic attack, breathing heavily and sweating while Happy asked Tony if he was all right. He was, which was good, because Loki wanted to kill the genius idiot himself.

“Are you out of your bloody mind!?” He finally screeched once he had enough air in his lungs, Tony prepared to try and defend his actions, “NO! Get in the car!” Every word Tony tried to respond with Loki interrupted with another shout, desperate to get away from the entire ordeal at hand.

“God, this is so embarrassing!” Tony finally began to walk around the other side of the car, more childish than a soon to be thirty-nine year old should ever be. But before he could get into the safety of the vehicle the crazed bastard against the wall lifted himself up once more, throwing the whip and slicing the door in half. Loki and Happy both screamed, the driver slamming the car into reverse.

“Hit him again! Hit him again!” Loki commanded, Happy repeatedly slamming the man into the wall, but it wasn’t enough so far. “Take it! Take the case!”

“I will if you give me the case!” Tony shouted back as the car hit the whip carrying man a third time, airbags going off and Happy no longer able to drive. That gave the man the damning opening to whip through the center of the car, Loki screaming again in fear as he threw the case to Tony, terror taking hold of him as the car was continuously cut to pieces.

Luckily for them once Tony had the suit crawl over him he kicked the car a few feet down the road and began to fight back. Loki covered his face in fear as Tony was thrown around, not uncovering it until the crazed man was defeated, soon drug off with the laughter filled shout of,

“You lose!”

Ambulances soon arrived, Tony refusing one, but talking Loki and Happy into getting at least an oxygen mask. “I need to check this out, okay? I’ll be safe, nothing else is going to happen.” Loki could only nod in response, tears burning in his eyes as he walked the man walk away. Tony was just a dot when Loki fell back into the ambulance, blacking out.

A week later they were finally back on the Stark jet, Loki having spent the entire time in the hotel hiding away from aggressive reporters as Tony found out as many details as he could about the situation. Loki never heard a word of it though, and could only silently watch as people began to turn against Tony. Even having stopped the man and there being no deaths, people were still petrified of the prospect of another having a functioning reactor that powered a dangerous weapon. It was understandable, but still upsetting to watch.

Loki sighed heavily as he watched an interview of Senator Stern on the television in the jet, “I had even been at one of these conferences where Tony Stark had been adamant on telling us that nowhere else in the world had access to this technology, these suits. He stated that these suits existed nowhere else, that they never would be anywhere else, but would you look at that? We’re in Monaco and they’re here, right now.”

“Mute,” Tony spoke up, walking into the seating area of the jet as the TV went silent. He walked over to Loki, gently setting down a food tray he had in hand, “He should be giving me a medal. He’s a jackass.”

“He is,” Loki agreed softly, eyes going to the tray as Tony set down silverware and a napkin, “What’s this?”

“Your inflight meal,” he took the lid off in a movement that meant ‘tada’ looking a bit proud of himself as he unveiled the yellow, black, and slightly green blob on the plate. Loki believed it was meant to be an omelette.

“Where...did you just make that?”

“Yeah, where do you think I’ve been for the last three hours?” Loki looked down at the mess of food for a long moment before returning his gaze to Tony, who was now staring out the window,
“Tony?” When had that become such a familiar name on his lips? He returned Loki’s eye contact, “What aren’t you telling me? What are you hiding from me?” They held each other’s sad gaze for a too quiet minute until Tony finally spoke up,

“I don’t want to go home...at all,” there was a broken feeling to the way Tony held himself in that moment, broken open. “Let’s just cancel my birthday party, and we can go somewhere. Let’s go to Venice, you like Venice, it’s a great place to be...healthy.”

“I don’t think this is the right time for such a trip, we’re...we’re in a bit of a mess at the moment.”

“Well that makes it the best time, doesn’t it?”

“I think as the CEO now means that I should actually show up.”

“I think as CEO you are entitled to have the ability to leave.”

“I can’t leave.”

“Yes you can, this is the perfect opportunity to do something that’ll recharge our batteries.”

“Not everyone runs on batteries, Tony,” Loki said quietly, the two exchanging melancholy smiles. Tony gave a slight nod of his head, and they stayed silent for the rest of the flight. It was the same sort of quiet that was painful, the kind of silence that grips you tight and begins to suffocate you because you’re trying to ignore a problem, one that you can’t solve but you want to try to anyway. Somehow trying and failing at something you knew you couldn’t do, was more comforting than never trying at all.
A few nights later Loki was seated in the living room of the Malibu mansion, speaking on the phone to upset businessmen in a way that was frighteningly similar to the Obadiah Stane incident for him. “I assure you that the fundamentals of the company are still very, very strong even after the events in Monaco. Nothing is changing,” he slipped the phone away from his mouth to speak with Natalie who was next to him, asking her to quietly fax some documents.

“Is Tony here?” Colonel Rhodes asked, practically materializing next to Loki, eyes full of purpose and worry.

“He asked not to be disturbed,” Natalie responded, but Loki ignored that, talking to Rhodey would do Tony some good. Locking himself away with old cars didn’t help him at all.

“He’s downstairs in the workshop, the code is the same.” Loki returned to the phone, a reporter asking if Tony could truly still protect them all, “Of course. Tony has never stopped protecting us, he stopped the man, Ivan Vanko, on the track and he can stop others. There’s nothing to worry about.” He glanced over his shoulder as Rhodey desceded the stairs, hoping quietly that something could be done about Tony’s current state. The soldier had been there before Loki had, so he put more hope in him than any one else.

The stone heart from what seemed like so long ago returned to Loki’s chest as he gazed up at the rampaging party occurring at the mansion, only this time it broke free of Loki’s ribcage and tore through him until it dropped into the pit of his stomach. It’d been over a year now since Loki had dealt with this behavior from Tony and it was frightening to see it beginning all over again. But should Loki even be surprised about what’s happening? He just recently dealt with Tony being even more destructive than usual, speeding through Monaco in a race and boldly standing up to a maniac with arc reactor powered whips. The initial shock was most likely due to the new CEO’s desperate hope that this was all just a quick phase, birthday jitters perhaps, but of course it wasn’t, because life seemed to especially enjoy throwing difficulties down for the two.

With a shaky breath he got out of his car, a part of him wanting to just panic over the fact that Tony was back to this, but he composed himself, as he always did, and headed towards the open doors. The blaring music seemed to shake the entire house as Loki did his best to maneuver through it, though it could also be blamed upon the hundreds of bodies dancing with the pulsing sound. All of it just brought back memories of Tony drinking until he was poisoned by the alcohol with Loki calling for an ambulance, only to never be thanked or apologized too. The younger Stark had only ever grinned and cracked jokes, his one concern always being if he’d spilled any of the expensive liquor. It was truly a wonder how Loki hadn’t quit after the first incident.

“Loki, how’s it going?” Rhodey asked as he walked in soon after Loki, both standing in the entranceway to the bar area.

“Atrociously. I don’t know what to do.” Rhodey followed Loki’s gaze to Tony, who was drunkenly falling around in the Iron Man suit, giggling foolishly at his own antics.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m going to call someone!”

“No, no, you can’t, please,” Loki grabbed Rhodey’s wrist, the Colonel spinning around to look at him furiously,

“This is ridiculous Loki! I just stuck my neck out for this guy!” He aggressively pointed to Tony. Loki patted Rhodey’s heaving chest, hoping to keep him there,

“I know, I know. I completely understand, please allow me to try and handle this, don’t call.”

“I won’t, just...just deal with.”

“I’ll try,” Loki assured him, quickly walking over towards Tony who was giving a speech about his suit.

“You know, the question I get asked most often is: Tony how do you go to the bathroom in the suit? The answer is,” he stopped talking for a moment, closing his eyes and looking rather happy, “that’s how.” The crowd erupted into laughter, Loki playing along and smiling at the man who was now lurching over in his own fit of amusement.

“That is amazing, doesn’t Tony know how to throw a great party?” He placed a hand on Tony’s armored back, speaking into the mic Tony had previously held.

“I love you,” Tony had drunkenly said into the mic, grinning toothily into his former assistant’s face, too out of it or too uncaring to see the flash of pain in Loki’s eyes at seeing him like this.

“We all love you as well, Tony,” he spoke up, voice cracking at the beginning of his sentence. Loki then turned to the massive crowd of people, giving them his most charming smile while steadying Tony with his hand on his shoulder now, “But I think it’s time that the party ended! Iron Man needs his rest. We all thank you for such a wonderful night,” as he spoke Tony was getting closer, nuzzling softly into Loki’s hair and sending alcohol doused breath against his ear. But he soon pulled away once Loki finished speaking, pleading quietly,

“No, baby,” (where had that come from?) “We can’t end it now, w-we need the cake, gotta blow out the candles and open presents.”

“Tony, please, just trust me on this,” Loki pleaded now, gazing into Tony’s glassy eyes, both about the same height now that he was in the suit. “You’re out of control.”

“I’m prefectly in control, Loki, I’ve got everything handled,” he lurched forward once again, their faces close, “gimme a little kiss for how in control I am.” Loki thought he might die in that moment, stress and emotional pain attacking him and filling his chest as he shook his head and whispered no.

“You aren’t, Tony, you aren’t, you just peed in your suit.”

“It has filtration system, you could drink that water.”

“The party is over,” Loki stated with a sense of finality, “it’s time we sent everyone home, it’s for the best. I’ll take this, all right? You make the announcement.” He took the bottle of champagne from Tony’s hand and returned the mic to him, gripping the neck of it tightly as he watched Tony.

“Loki Lockhart everybody! And he’s right, it’s over,” Tony slurred, taking the mic from the taller man and destroying his hope the next second, “But really this party’s been dead for like an hour and a half, which means it’s time for the after-party! And if anyone-Loki- doesn’t like it, there’s a door!” He threw his hand out to motion towards it, instead firing a repulsor blast and shattering the glass wall with the waterfall against it. The crowd screamed in excitement and Tony cheered for himself, the house getting louder than ever. Loki covered his face with one hand in shame and upset as everything around him began again, praying for some sort of solution to the chaos that seemed to be trying to suffocate him. James Rhodes answered his prayers, shouting in a commanding tone as he walked forward in a silver suit: the Mark II.

“I’m only going to say this once. Get out,” the faceplate snapped back into place as the people in the room filtered out quickly, Loki beginning to leave as well, but keeping his eyes trained on the two, “Tony you need to stop this, now. You don’t deserve to wear one of these!”

“Come on! It’s my birthday!”

“I can’t just let you use a powerful weapon like this so childishly!” the fury in Rhodey’s tone did nothing to soothe Loki, it only made the fear of what was going to happen next grow inside the new CEO.

“So what are you gonna do about it?”

“If you don’t stop on your own I’m going to make you.”

Tony had stared quietly at the colonel for a moment before slipping into a fit of giggles and turning to the cowering DJ inside his booth against the window, “Hey Goldstein, play me a sick beat,” he laughed harder, “to kick my best buddies ass to!”

The next moment the two armored men were attacking each other, the genius treating it like a game at first until Rhodey took him through a wall. That was the same moment the guests began to move out of the house, seeing that it wasn’t so playful any longer. The next moment Natalie was running up to him,
“Mr. Lockhart!”

“Don’t Mr. Lockhart me! You are one of the reasons this is happening! You’re sending him back to his old ways and shoving him towards an alcohol induced death!”Loki spun on his heel to face the worried redhead, fury in his bright emerald eyes. It was true that Natalie had continuously encouraged Tony’s behavior, but they both knew it was wrong for Loki to be screaming at her when she had quite honestly been a perfect assistant. Jealousy and anger and every bit of stress was finally breaking through Loki’s usually concrete demeanor, and she just happened to be the closest one for him to blame, she was the first to try and speak. And it was far too late to cease fire.

“I assure you,” she began so calmly it drove Loki even further up the wall, upset to see another human being so composed in what had to be one of the worst times in Loki’s life.

“No! I do not want any excuses I want you-” before the one-sided argument could continue, Tony and Rhodey broke through the ceiling.

“Loki! We gotta get out of here!” Happy called from the side, grasping Loki’s arm and hurrying him from the line of fire, but Loki pulled away before Loki could lose sight of the brawl.

“If you want it so bad, why don’t you just take it!?” Tony roared at Rhodey, both punching each other, metal clanging against metal. He then grasped his best friend by the armor covered neck, slamming him through a bar before Tony shakily turned towards the guests who’d gathered fearfully outside, pressed close as if he would attack them next. A broken scream erupted from the billionaire and everyone rushed away, scrambling to get to the saftey of their cars. Rhodey stood back up then, knocking Tony into the nearby fireplace, most likely hoping for it to end there, for the billionaire to finally give up. But Tony got back up and took aim then, the Colonel soon mimicking the movement,
“You don’t need to do this, Tony. Put your hand down.”

“You think you’ve got what it takes to wear that suit?”

“This isn’t necessary!”

“You wanna be the war machine then take your shot!”

“Put it down!”

“You gonna take the shot!?”

“Stop it, Tony!”

“No! Take the shot!” The repulsors hummed with power, lighting up brightly before the beams collided, blasting the men apart and causing Loki to run out off. The next time he checked, Rhodey was gone, having blasted away into the night, leaving the genius alone in the destroyed room. Loki tried to think of something to say as he approached Tony, who was still against where he’d landed, simply staring ahead. Before he could form any decent thoughts the man before him whispered, voice broken even with the robotic sound echoing through it, “Go, just fucking go.” Loki felt obligated to follow the command, even though he wanted to pull off the helmet and look into those dark, sad eyes, and tell him everything was alright. He regretted exiting the ruined house, hands in tight fists as he did so, regret already pooling in his stomach.

“I don’t believe you were given clearance to come into my office,” Loki said, barely glancing up from the documents he was going over as Tony walked in, days later, with a carton of something under his arm, the secretary from the front desperately trying to explain why this happened: Tony wouldn’t listen. With a sigh Loki motioned for her to leave, picking up the phone as it rang and turning to the side to ignore Tony for the moment. It seemed every ten minutes he was having to explain what had happened at the party.It didn’t help that the nearby TV was insulting Loki as the CEO, demanding to know what qualifications he could possibly have to run the company.

“Hello Bert, yes, I know. How can you possibly say that we have the best lawyers and then tell me that we can’t pursue this?” Loki asked aggravatedly to the man over the phone, stress levels going even higher as he was told once again that they couldn’t do anything about Rhodey giving the suit over to the army. “Fine, fine. I understand. We can talk more at the Expo tomorrow, Hammer is giving a presentation of some sort there. Will Tony Stark be there?” He glanced at the billionaire wandering around the office, taking in all the changes Loki had already made, “No, he won’t be. Yes, thank you, Bert.” Loki breathed in deeply through his nose in annoyance, setting the phone back on its hook and turning in his chair to finally give Tony his full attention.
“I thought I’d be welcomed by my past assistant in my old office,” he smiled briefly, in an almost pained way as he dropped down in the seat that sat in front of the large black, metal desk. Loki stared at the sheets sitting there for a moment longer to compose himself, knowing that he might end up breaking down in front of Tony if he didn’t. As angry as Loki was at how Tony was obviously hiding things from him and as much as he wanted to continue being distant as a form of punishment, he missed his former boss. He hated the not knowing that was so opposite of their past relationship where they told one another as much as they possibly could. Tony had been so open, so naturally so with Loki, and now it was gone and it hurt horribly. But even with his strong desire to have Tony back, Loki allowed his anger to still fuel his every action, because for once in his life Loki felt justified in letting himself live off such a ferocious rage. “I just need thirty seconds.” Loki made a show of looking at his watch and beginning to count, Tony then scrambling to speak,
“Look I was just driving over here, and I was thinking I was coming over here to apologize, but I’m not-

“So you did not come here to apologize after everything you’ve done?”

“Well that goes without saying, and I’m working on that, I promise. I haven’t been completely upfront with you and I want to-can I just make this stop? It’s crazy and I don’t like it,” Tony grabbed the modern windmill on Loki’s desk, giving it a look as if it had personally offended him.

“No you can’t.”

“Whatever,” he rolled to the other end of Loki’s desk, setting his elbows on it and resting the box he’d previously brought in on the desk: raspberries. “Do you know how short life is? And if I never got to express- and by the way this is somewhat revelatory to me, I mean I care, it’d be nice...look here’s what I’m trying to say-”

“Look why don’t I stop you right here, because if you say ‘I’ or ‘me’ one more time I’m kicking you out of my office and I might literally hurl something at you. I am desperately trying to run this company, do you have any idea what that’s like? Of course not, because you never actually did it. Now people are relying on you to be Iron Man, to save the world, and you’re not doing anything about it, I have to take the heat and put out every fire you’ve started. And I would allow you in here without a thought if you had actual important matters to discuss and you were not here to simply bribe me.”

Tony’s mouth quirked ruefully, seem to feel guilty for doing just that, looking down at the box he had before setting it on the table, “They’re fresh though.”

Loki sighed and looked into the box to make sure it was what it was, immediately drawing back and rubbing his forehead, “Anthony, I do appreciate the sentiment, believe me I do, but what is the one thing I am allergic to?”

“From how you’re acting I’m guessing the correct answer is raspberries.”

“Yes, I am extremely allergic to raspberries. I thought that was clear when I had a severe allergic reaction to a cheesecake that had raspberry sauce on it,” after stating that he looked to the door, smiling thinly up at Natalie as she headed in, and he glanced back at Tony just to add, “You know, the one you gave me for my twenty-ninth birthday. So I think I need you-”

“I need you too, Loki-”

“To leave. Right now.”

Loki took the folder Natalie handed him, flipping it open and quickly signing what needed to be, having already known what they were about, unlike Tony who’d always relied on Loki to know. It wasn’t much different from the start of it all. And it was all becoming natural to him, which was strange, Loki had been sure that being a CEO would be even more back-breaking than being Tony’s assistant. He’d clearly been wrong, which was just as unusual If Loki were asked for an honest answer, he’d have to say he in fact enjoyed running Stark Industries. Perhaps it was because he was the one finally getting coffee handed to him, such as the mug just placed on his desk, and the fact that people were actually listening to him. Natalie had even become a fantastic perk, the secretive seeming woman having apparently started respecting him (or maybe pitying would be more accurate) after the party.
“Happy is ready to take you in twenty-five minutes.”

“Great, thank you.”

“Is that all you’ll be needing, boss?” Happy had asked, both Tony and Loki responding with a,

“Yes, that’s all.” An awkward silence filled the room, Tony of course trying to make it better by joking around,

“I lost both kids in the divorce!” He cleared his throat, “So, Natalie, are you blending in well at Stark Industries? That is your name, right, Natalie? You two are friends now? I thought you two didn’t like each other.” Loki glanced up at Tony as he sipped from the black mug, seeing his former boss trying to mask a form of a jealousy while he motioned between Natalie and the new CEO. “Or is it just me you have a problem with?” The affection between Tony and Natalie and surprising died rather quickly after the party as well, and Tony had even started to dislike her. Or respect. It was often a combination of the two when it came to Tony.

“It’s just you, I’m sure,” he stood and handed the folder back to the red head, “now, as you can see I’m extremely busy running your company, so I’ll be going to my next engagement, but before I need to handle one final thing. Ms. Rushman will escort you out.” With that as his goodbye, Loki exited the room, hurrying down the hall and going out one of the side doors of the upper floors.

Loki had lied about the final preparation, instead using it as a chance to just get away from Tony. Which was why he was now pressed against a metal door, outside, on a balcony and breathing harshly. The usual steady beat of his heart was slamming against his ribs, as if it were trying to break out and return to Tony. But that was a foolish thought, even more so than his previous delusions of them being together, because it was obvious that they were further apart than ever. It was so horribly painful too, to see the distance that’d grown larger than ever before, lies and broken smiles making it a mountainous thing to try and get over.

As Loki finally began to regain his senses he prepared to head back inside and go to and head down to the car, there had to be one engagement Happy needed to take him too, but while doing so he saw a Tony heading home…with the old Stark Expo table design in the passenger side of his car. Annoyance and curiosity filled Loki as he watched him speed away, wondering what on earth he could possibly be doing with the old dusty map. Tony must have an idea, Loki thought, he always has an idea, but he can’t figure out when I’m upset with him. Fantastic. Loki rubbed at his eyes once more, breathing in deeply through his nose to compose himself before slipping back inside.

That night Loki and Natalie arrived at the expo, everything lit and thousands of people filtering in, all wanting to hear the grand announcement. “I’ll keep the car down here just in case,” Happy told them as they began walk in.

“Thank you, Happy.” Loki gave him a small wave and appreciative smile before he and his assistant headed in, finding seats near the middle five rows back from the stage and began waiting for whatever Justin Hammer was ready to show them.

Both of them immediately became annoyed as the other CEO danced his way onto stage, arrogance and pride filling the air around him. He laughed and grinned, trying to be the same sort of showman as Tony was, but was failing in Loki’s eyes. Tony only ever danced so foolishly when he was drunk.

“Ladies and gentlemen, for too long,” Justin began, ceasing his dancing when he reached the clear podium in the center of the front of the stage, “we’ve put our people in harms way to defend our country. And then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought we were done, that what we’d always wanted accomplished was accomplished! But then he failed us too, he kept the technology to keep lives safe out of reach, which wasn’t fair. Not at all. But we no longer have that injustice.”

“Good gods,” Loki sighed, irritated all ready by the man.

“That’s because we’ve begun this innovation that’s taken the world’s headlines, and now I can announce the reporter’s new problem: They are about to run out of ink!” The spectators applauded softly, Justin stepping back and having the podium taken away as he went on, “Today my fellow people, I present to you the new face of the United States Military: The Hammer Drone!” He spun around to face the back of the stage, motioning in excitement the bleachers that rose up, “Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines! Yeah!” The crowd was cheering now, sans Natalie and Loki who were looking on with suspicious eyes, wondering what exactly was happening. Even then Hammer felt the need to speak more, “I can tell you now that this is a hell of alot better than some cheerleaders let me tell you! And as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be the need for a man to be present it the enter of war. So ladies and gentlemen I am proud to present the first ever of the response battle suits and its pilot Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!”

“What!?” Loki hissed in shock, sitting up straighter to see the new Iron Man suit Rhodey wore rising from below the stage, it covered in weaponry and thicker armor. Rhodey saluted, Hammer and the drones behind him mimicking the movement.

“I speak for America and all its allies as I say Hammer Industries is reporting for du-”

A jet like sound cut the speech short, all heads turning to the man windows of the dome, seeing the true Iron man flying down and dropping to the stage in front of them all. Tony waved to the crowd before beginning to speak with Hammer, Loki now standing and glaring with all his might at the CEO. There was something horribly wrong, he was almost positive of it now. His suspicions were then made concrete, Rhodey shouting that he didn’t know what was happening as the turret on his back began to ready itself at Tony, drones behind him following suit. “You need to get out of here!”

People all began to push each other, making a mad rush for the exits as the drones began to attack. Glass shattered, falling from above and causing people to scream all while Loki and Natalie tried to navigate through the crowd to the computer stations in the back, needing to find out what was happening.

They ran up just as a worker complained about someone, a he, locking them out of the mainframe. “What are you talking about? Who has locked you out?”

“None of your business, please go away,” Hammer shooed the two of them, trying to keep them a few feet from the station, “I’ve got this all handled!”

“Have you? Have you got this handled?”

“Yes, I do! In fact this is on you, if you’re guy hadn’t shown up none of this would be happening! So if you would please just go away!” He turned around and began to whisper frantically to the men, only to have Natalie twist his arms behind his back and pin him down, growling in his ear,

“Tell us who’s behind this right now!”

“Ivan, Ivan Vanko,” Hammer hissed in pain through gritted teeth.

“Where is he?”

“He’s at my facility.” Natalie rushed off then and Loki took the chance of Hammer composing himself to dial the police,

“Hello, I need the NYPD down at the Stark Expo now, the main building, right now.”

“Please don’t do that guy, there’s no reason to.” Loki rolled his eyes and ended the call,

“Step aside Hammer, move now.” The CEO grumbled, accepting defeat as he moved from Loki’s path and allowed him to begin reading over the computer screens. “Tell me everything you now, go.”

The situation was explained in detail to Loki, the workers going from what Hammer had done and what was going on at the moment. The drones had been compromised and they didn’t know what to do, everything they tried was being blocked by Vanko. “Each set of drones is communicating in their own unique viable code.”

“Then choose one and decode it,” Loki snapped, gripping the back of a seat tightly and keeping his eyes locked on the screen.

“Have you tried Russian? Try Russian,” Hammer spoke from behind them, angry and pacing, most likely feeling as useless as he truly was. They ignored him for the most part, caring more about the video feed that had suddenly begun, what appeared to be Natalie in a catsuit speaking to Tony.

“You’ve got your best friend back.”

“Thank you, Agent Romanov,” (who?) Tony replied.

“I’m also getting readings from your chest, there is a significantly lower palladium level.”

“Yes, at the moment I’m not dying.” Loki tensed at that, unable to keep himself from speaking up,

“What did you say? You were dying?”

“Is that you Loki?”

“Why didn’t you inform me that you were dying? Were you truly?”

“Loki, I was going to tell you about it-”

“You were going to tell me? What stopped you? If you were dying you should have told me!”

“I was going to make you an omelette and tell you about it!

“Save it for the honeymoon you two,” ‘Natalie’ interrupted, “Tony you’ve got drones coming towards your position, looks like the fight’s about to start.”

“I got it. Loki?”

“Are you alright now? Are you better?”

“For the most part yes, I will formally apologize later just don’t be mad-”

“I’m already furious, Tony.”

“Just cut me some slack okay, I’m currently fending off a Hammer-roid attack.”

“Fine!”

“Hey, you could have been in Venice.”

“Oh, please,” Loki huffed, crossing his arms, “that wouldn’t have helped.”

“I know, I’ll see you in a bit. Just gotta finish cleaning up.”

“Do your best, save the world.”

“I always do.” Communications were cut then and Loki had to wait for what was to happen next. At least while they were waiting to hear word from Tony the police came placing Hammer under arrest.

“Excuse me? I’m the one trying to help here!” He stated angrily as he was placed in handcuffs, looking at the officers in disbelief before chuckling and shaking his head. “Oh, I see how it is,” he looked at Loki, “you’re going to try and pin this all on me. That’s good, that’s great really, you’re finally starting to think like a CEO, Lockhart. Taking out all the competition, I like that.” Justin practically purred the last part at Loki as he was escorted away. “But don’t worry, you make a problem for me, I’ll make a problem for you, you’ll be seeing me. You’ll be seeing me real soon!” Loki didn’t heed his warning, instead walking out with the rest of the officers, giving them quick instructions,

“When the rest of the authorities get here I think you should station most at the SouthWest exits.”

“We’ve already had that area shut down.”

“Then get city busses to fairey people out. We need to get them out of harms away.”

“Understood,” one of the officers replied, looking up at Loki as he headed down cracked steps, “You coming with us?”

“No, I’m going to stay until the park is clear, I need to make sure everything has settled down.” The officer nodded and left with the others, leaving Loki to stand and watch from the top of the stairs.
A nearby dome suddenly shattered, Loki looking at in shock, knowing Tony must be there. He took out his phone once more to call Tony’s suit, attention being taken though as one of the defeated drones that was lying nearby began to beep and flash red. It began to speed up soon, the sound unable to mean anything even remotely good was to come of it. “What on-”

“Loki!” A sudden shout from above came, Loki not even having time to see what was coming towards him before he was enveloped in metal arms and being carried off into the sky, explosions going off all across the ground, one where he’d just been standing. Loki gripped onto the suit tightly, hanging on until they landed onto the safety of a rooftop, promptly pushing the Iron Man away.

“I-I cannot do this any longer!” Loki shouted, covering his face with his hands as he breathed heavily, legs shaking despite how he tried to always stay grounded.

“You can’t take this any more? Look at me!”

“Tony this is not the time to argue with me! My body can literally not take this stress, any longer! I will die if this continues! I never know if you’re going to kill yourself or destroy the entire company!”

“Hey, I thought I did pretty well!”

“I quite! I am resigning, this is my final resignation, right here! That’s it.”

“What did you just say?” Tony asked, beginning to walk towards Loki, suit sparking occasionally, “Did you say that you’re done? I’m mean it’s not that surprising, but you don’t have to make any excuses-”

“I’m not making excuses,” Loki defended, stepping forward himself.

“You are you’re-”

“No, I believe I am extremely justified in this situation, it’s not an excuse.”

“You’re right,” Tony spoke after a moment, “You deserve better. You’ve really taken such good care of me...it’s unfair to you. You’ve been in a tough spot for a long time in your life, right?”

“Thank you,” Loki nodded, looking at Tony’s face, “for understanding.”

“Of course, now let’s talk clean up. We need to get ready for the press, we need to be prepared for what’s next, all the time it’ll take.”

“Well with you it’s like dog years, like being the president, it will last forever and be absolutely exhausting and-”

Before Loki could go on with his rant, Tony tugged him close, crushing their mouths together, armored arms around Loki’s thin frame and making him feel so very safe in that moment of destruction. It didn’t take much or very long for Loki to fervently return the kiss, tongues meeting as hands grasped in the most desperate fashion imaginable. Then Loki’s heart was beginning to create a steadily quick rhythm, similar to a war drum, a beat that made him dizzy and unable to focus on anything but the open mouth sliding against his own. It’s what his ancestors would have labeled Valhalla, this feeling, but apparently paradise was not a permanent thing, because a voice was interrupting the two’s explosion of sexual frustrations.

“You two look like you’re trying to breathe each other, it’s freaky,” Colonel Rhodes voice was near them, amusement apparent in his tone as he spoke. It was quite possible that he was finally glad that they were admitting their desires for one another in a way. “You two should get a roof.”

“Technically this is my roof, I own this place,” Tony chuckled, left hand absently stroking down Loki’s back as the taller man quietly caught his breath. “You’re the one that should get your own building.”

“Whatever man, I just wanted to tell you that my car got blown up by your enemies, so I think I’m gonna have to take the suit home.”

“What no-”

“That wasn’t a question,” Rhodey laughed, faceplate snapping into place before he took off into the night sky, the streak of light resembling a comet before it finally disappeared.

After that, Loki cleared his throat and smiled a bit awkwardly at Tony, smoothing back his mussed up hair, “So, my ride home is no longer here, and I have no other means of transport” It was a blatant self-invitation, especially after what they’d just done to one another, “I’ll be needing a means of getting home. If you would be so kind-”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll get you there safe,” Tony looked over Loki, as if he were trying to see if this was really happening or not. So Loki took the chance to step up to him again, one hand coming to rest on his right armored shoulder while the other gently wiped away some of the dirty and blood on Tony’s cheek,
“We should hurry.”

The Malibu mansion was still under reconstruction, but luckily for them the bedroom hadn’t been damaged one bit, so the second Tony was once again only in his undersuit, Loki was dragging him to it. This was finally happening, everything had settled down, they were inching their way towards normality (or what they would have previously called normality), and they were becoming intimate for the first time, unless you counted the dance from so long ago.

Tony smiled up at Loki, a lovely, genuine thing that drove him mad and caused him to kiss Tony as fiercely as he could. He threaded his fingers into Tony’s thick hair, smiling briefly as the engineer wrapped his arms around his assistant’s waist, pushing him back onto the bed and soon slipping the buttons of his dress shirt out of their holes. Loki’s breath stutters, mind fogging over as Tony’s hand makes contact with his bare chest, it settling over the thumping within his chest. Glazed over green eyes met beautifully bright brown and Loki couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hear anything over the wardrum beat his heart began.

“You’re really here, right? I didn’t get blown up right and this isn’t my punishment? Getting you into my bed and then nothing happening?” Loki couldn’t stifle his laugh, soon bringing Tony in for the sweetest kiss he’d probably ever given, and whispering to him,

“I’m here, I promise, and I’m not leaving.” There’s some wetness on Loki’s cheeks, unable to keep all his emotion locked in like he used to be able to, and he can’t help but feel a bit pathetic crying during sex (or more accurately foreplay). But that feeling dissipates when Tony kisses the tears away and hurriedly undones the suddenly too-many buttons on Loki’s shirt. Loki rushes to follow Tony’s example, fingers desperately grasping for the way to open Tony’s bodysuit,

“Bloody hell, how do I get this devilish suit off you?” Tony laughs against Loki’s cheek, moving to kiss him once again while taking Loki’s hand and bringing it to the back of the neck to the zipper. “Finally,” Loki sighed in relief, unzipping it in a hurry and then pulling it down past Tony’s strong chest, exposing the soft light of the arc reactor, which Loki can’t help but press his lips to.

The loveliest gasp escapes from between Tony’s bruised lips, his eyes fluttering shut as Loki begins to kiss and lick at the delightfully sensitive skin around his second heart. “Get up here,” was Tony’s soft command after a moment, the genius pulling Loki in for another kiss, this time making sure to focus completely on their mouths.

Tony’s skilled tongue slipped between Loki’s slightly parted lips, meeting Loki’s own shy one. It didn’t take long for them to deepen, even more sexual tension being released in the lock of their lips, it turning into a wildly passionate affair that fogged Loki’s mind over completely, where he could only think of the feeling of tongues, teeth, and affectionately bruised lips.He only began to notice more when a high pitched sound filled the air, it embarrassingly enough coming from Loki’s own throat, the noise similar to an animal in heat (which Loki was probably close to at this point in his neediness for Tony Stark).

“You’re perfect,” Tony had murmured against Loki’s lips, blindly reaching over for a bottle of lube from his dresser, quickly snapping it open and coating his fingers in the liquid. Loki bit his lower lip as he watched, hurrying out of his dress slacks, socks, and underwear. “Lie back,” Tony spoke in a soft and commanding tone, a voice that Loki was glad to obey, even spreading his long legs in his anticipation. It’d been so long since he’d received such physical contact and he was finally going to fulfill his desires with Tony. He couldn’t help but worry that he in fact had died like the genius had asked and that this was his punishment, to never truly have Tony, but then cool, slicked up fingers were pressing against his tight entrance, shocking him out of his thoughts. Soft cry after soft cry falls from Loki’s red lips as Tony begins to press him open, careful as he would be with one of his machines, not wanting to do anything that would hurt Loki and it drives the lankier man to madness with how it fills him with warmth. He’s never felt so very precious to another. The feeling gave him such a high you could almost believe it should be illegal, along with the absolutely glorious feeling of Tony’s three fingers spreading him apart, thrusting in and making him see stars. They were stars that were much closer and far more attainable than anything he’d ever found in the sky.

And then Tony’s sucking along Loki’s pale throat and jaw, slicking himself up and pressing against Loki’s entrance. The entirety of Loki seems to be humming with excitement, breath coming in quicker intakes and he can’t keep the high cry of relief and pleasure that he releases the moment Tony pushed in. The taller man arches high off the bed, fingers tangling in the sheets as Tony begins a strong and steady pace, gruning and moaning against Loki’s skin.

“Tony!” the whine of the other man’s name earns Loki another strong kiss, tongues only meeting briefly before they’re just moaning against each other’s lips.

“Loki, shit,” the genius curses, now pressing their bodies together against the bed, hips rocking in unison with one another. It feels heavenly, better than anything else Loki had ever experience and twice as meaningful. Even more so when Tony finds that special spot within Loki with his cock instead of his fingers as before, a cry of shock and bliss coming from the man. Tony grins at that, a large hand sliding down to grip Loki’s hip and keep him in place as he quickens his thrusts, making sure to hit that bundle of nerves every time. And it isn’t long before Loki is honest to god sobbing at how good it feelings, body covered in sweat and only able to breathe through pants, chest heaving and heart pounding. Tony is panting and sweating just the same at this point, eyes tightly shut as he concentrates on the task at hand, soon murmuring soft commands for Loki to let go, “Come on, baby just come, I know you want to.”

“Mmm,” Loki shakes and arches into Tony further, muscles tensing and his cock covered in a mess of precum at this point. He is close, he’s standing on the edge ready to jump, but there’s one final thing he needs, so he reaches out and takes it. He brings their lips together once more, gripping Tony’s free hand and soon lacing their fingers together, Loki’s own other hand pressed against the new reactor. The act causes Tony to make the loveliest of sounds, one almost as high as Loki’s and just as blissful. Then they’re both over the edge, falling from reality into a state of beautiful numbness. The only thing that brings them back is their own soft murmuring words of affection and the cold cum now between them from Loki.

“Think you can take a shower?” Tony finally asks after they regain their sense entirely, Loki laughing softly and whispering an affirmative.

Loki stared quietly at the blue light shining between his fingers as he rested his head on Tony’s chest, enjoying the look of it and the soft humming that came from its power. He was just beginning to drift into sleep when Tony ran his fingers through Loki’s tussled hair, quietly asking,

“You’re staying for the night, right?”

“Is that what you want?” Was Loki’s quiet response, lifting his head to look into Tony’s half-lidded eyes.

Tony seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding, once, twice, then quirking the corner of his mouth up, “Yeah, it is.”

Loki doesn’t have time to bite his tongue before he’s asking in a softer voice than before, “Just the night?”

“No,” Tony shifts over, caging Loki against his strong chest with a surprisingly tight grip. Delightfully possessive.

He settles entirely against the genius, shutting his eyes and focussing on the sounds of Tony and the soft sheets tangled about them. “All right.”

--

Rain pitter-pattered against the room and glass of the mansion the next morning, Loki quietly watching the windows from the bed. He was still in the nude from the night before, as was Tony who still slept soundly next to him, most likely exhausted from all that had happened. In Loki’s own mind the rain could easily signify a clean slate for them both, the start of something new, something better in their lives, and by the gods did Loki hope it was them that was the great beginning. It was fitting too, due to the fact that Loki had always loved the rain, the sound, the clouds it brought along, everything, except for the thunder.

He slipped from the bed and picked up his dress shirt and underwear from the night before, going against his cleanliness code and pulling them on to fight against the soft chill of the room. With the most silent steps he could produce he walked to the window, breath gently caressing the glass with fog as he got close. It was a wonder that JARVIS hadn’t started the heater for the room, or it was just a tactic of Tony’s to keep particular guests in bed where it was delightfully warm. But it was no matter, as long as he was clothed to a certain extent he would be fine to just stare out at the grey sky and watch the ocean dance to the sounds the sky created. Though the peace only lasted a few moments, Loki unable to glance back over to Tony, who was just beginning to stir. “What time is it?”

9:23 in the AM, sir.

He made a noise in response to JARVIS, stretching briefly and rolling back into the covers and pillows. The man’s eyes soon opened though as he realized there was something missing from his bed. “What are you doing all the way over there?” Tony asked groggily, voice partially muffled as he looked at Loki with his half of his face buried in one of the pillows.

“Right now I’m being quietly thankful that you and Rhodey didn’t trash the bedroom with your squabble. Otherwise we’d be quite wet and cold.”

“You look good when you’re wet though, especially in my shower,” Tony smiled cheekily, already flirting and not even fully awake. Loki laughed softly and turned to face the large windows, feeling a heat rise to his cheeks at the comment. “But really, what are you doing not in bed?”

“I was just watching the rain, it woke me.”

“Yeah, it’ll do that.”

“Tony?” Loki asked quietly after a beat of silence, feeling the engineer’s eyes on him the entire time he’d been watching the weather.

“Yeah, babe?” Loki’s chest filled with warmth at the petname, soon turning around to look at the now fully awake Tony,

“What are we?”

“Homo sapiens.”

“You know what I mean.”

“We’re whatever you want us to be.” The quiet and so horribly sincere statement made Loki’s universe shake as he realized that Tony was making sure that Loki was comfortable in whatever was happening. It’d been horribly obvious before that Tony had wanted something with Loki, especially after the Obadiah Stane incident, but out of his own lack of self-worth and worry of ending up just another one night stand, he’d stopped the opportunity. Of course Loki had thought about rolling about in the sheets with Tony Stark many times, even done foolishly high school-esque things such as wonder what they’d be like as a couple, but he’d never taken that extra step until the night before when Tony had kissed him senseless. Loki absently licked his lower lip, thinking of it all over again, soon gazing up at the man on the bed once more.

“You would be all right with whatever I said?”

Tony nodded but verbally spoke in affirmation as well, “I’d be fine with what you said. I don’t think it’d be a very good thank you to you to deny you what you wanted.”

The Stark had always slipped into the habit of promising whoever he was with for the night anything they desired, naturally being taught to flash his money about, as if Loki had never loved Tony and getting whatever he desired would make him feel so.

“Then I want for us to be just that; us.”

“What does that mean?” Tony questioned, for once not having a complete understanding after the time hearing something.

“It means, yes, Tony Stark. That is, if you’d allow me to take the spot of being the worrying spouse while you are a hero.”

Tony’s face gained the most affectionate expression Loki had ever seen, causing the former assistant to walk back to the bed and wrap the genius tightly in his arms.

“Fucking finally,” he laughed, pulling Loki in for another kiss, without a second thought towards their morning breath. “Did my dick make you realize what you’d been missing this entire time?”

“No, that foolishly sincere way of yours when you’ve just woken up convinced me,” Loki pressed their foreheads together, a nagging part in the back of his mind scolding him for the amount of sentiment and affection pouring from him. He ignored it in favor of affectionately tangling his fingers in Tony’s messy locks, “Along with the fact that I cared about you far too much to not desire this the moment you truly smiled at me.”

“I didn’t know you were the sentimental type, Lokes,” Tony murmured, hands slipping up Loki’s back to keep him close.

“You’d be surprised how little you honestly know about me.”

“Yeah? Give me a comparison.”

“What I know of you is Stark Industries, while what you know of me is Hammer Industries.” A beautifully bright and genuine laugh burst from Tony then, the genius tugging Loki down into the sheets once again,

“You little shit. How is that even fair?”

“Because it was my job for ten years to know every little thing about you, even the smallest details, such as the little scar on your ass when you sat, naked, on a shard of a broken bottle while drunk.”

“That’s pretty creepy, Loki, you sound like a stalker,” Tony snorted, nuzzling into Loki’s neck, “When do I get to learn about you? You know, from you, not just having JARVIS search through every database to find minute details about you.”

“Whenever you desire to know. But not right now.”

“That’s redundant, babe.”

“Hush, it’s for an important reasoning.”

“Oh really? What’s the reasoning?” Mischief burned in both their eyes as Loki pressed Tony into the bed, leaning close and brushing their lips together as he spoke,

“That I want you again.”

“That is important,” Tony crushed their mouths together again and tugged the sheets over the both of them, lighting a fire that would grow into something so much larger in the pits of both their stomachs.

______________________________________________________________________________

Loki was smiling as he poured two glasses of champagne for he and Tony, waiting to hear from his lover. The tablet next to him soon showed the Iron Man's face, a triumphant grin plastered there, causing Loki to laugh softly. "Stark Tower is officially running on nothing but clean energy, congratulate my genius."

"Congratulations, Mr. Stark for being born intelligent," there was a snort in response, leading Loki to ask the question he really wanted to, "How does it look?"

"Like Christmas, but with more me."

"Do you feel like you've outdone the holiday?"

"A little bit."

"I'm so happy for you," Loki replied, sarcasm apparent in his voice before he urged, "hurry back if you want a drink."

With that he cut communications, gladly waiting to see the suit drop down on the landing pad specially built for his former boss to walk into his new home in style. Even after everything they'd been through so far he was still the great showman, Tony Stark. Loki looked up as he heard the soft clank of the metal boots outsides, the suit quickly disassembling around him while he walked and talked with JARVIS.

“Miss me?” He asked with a grin, arm immediately extending to reach for one of the flutes.

“Always, I’m lost without you, Mr. Stark.” Loki smiled at the playful eye roll he received from Tony, “so is it everything you’d hoped for?”

“It is, and it’s all thanks to you,” Tony gently patted Loki’s hips, making him smile even more and shake his head.

“No, no, it’s all because of this,” he poked the arc reactor that shined through the deliciously thin undersuit Tony wore. “Your genius, darling.”

“Come on, Stark Tower is your baby! Give yourself...twelve percent of the credit.”

“Twelve percent? Of my “baby”? Anthony you can’t be serious,” he replied in shock, Tony finally retrieving one of the champagne glasses from Loki’s hand and beginning to walk away.

“We can negotiate for fifteen.”

“Well if that’s the case then I suppose I’ll only be giving you twelve to fifteen percent of my days. That seems fair, right?”

“How much is sex?” Tony inquired as he followed Loki’s movements to the couch, “Is that fifteen?” “No, no, darling, that’s at least twenty,” he suppressed laughter as much as possible as a call rang through on Tony’s StarkPhone. JARVIS soon spoke up about it,

Sorry to interrupt, sir, but Agent Coulson is being persistent.

Tony sighed heavily and went through to the call, staring directly into it as he spoke, “You’ve reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message-” Before Tony was able to finish the elevator dinged, the agent stepping out with the phone to his ear, looking stressed and just about done with the day. “You’re not supposed to be up here!”

“Hello, Philip, it’s wonderful to see you again, what is it you need?” Loki asked with a smile, walking over to the agent as Tony made an upset noise behind him and followed.

“Excuse me, but his name is agent.” Loki ignored him and smiled affectionately at the man, who responded to the earlier question,

“I have important documents to disclose with, Mr. Stark.”

“Ah, the Avengers initiative, which I know absolutely nothing about,” Loki smiled briefly at Coulson who was now holding the technology towards Tony, who responded in his usual manner.

“Sorry, I don’t really like to be handed things.”

“That’s fine, because I love to be handed things,” Loki stated, taking the ‘document’ and soon forcing Tony to trade his champagne glass for it. "I thought I didn't qualify for the Avengers Initiative, I was to volatile and self-obsessed, I don't play well with others."

"You've been reconsidered."

"Well then, I suppose Tony's got a lot of work to do."

“Come on, we were having a moment!”

“We were? I couldn’t really tell, I’d already used my percentage after all,” Loki smirked at his victory as Tony’s mouth dropped a bit in egotistical outrage. Before he could throw a tantrum, Loki smiled at Agent Coulson, “It was absolutely wonderful to see you again Philip, but I suppose I should go so Anthony can begin his homework.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” the agent agreed, Tony immediately going after Loki when he began to head out the lounge door.

“Come on, Lokes, don’t leave, I can my work finish early.”

“Early means not doing it at all, Anthony darling, and I can’t let that happen,” he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Tony’s cheek, close to his ear so he could then whisper to him, “but do hurry, if you’re all done by the time I get back from the meeting, I’ll give you a special reward.”

“What’s the reward?” Tony asked with bated breath, excited just by a word. Loki adored how he had that effect on the man.

“Let’s say...I’ll have you fuck me against those windows by the bar, hard and relentless, and just when you’re about to lose yourself, you’ll pull out, and come on me.

“Aren’t you a naughty thing? A dirty boy,” Tony murmured, watching Loki with pupil blown eyes.

“I am, enjoy your work, I’ll be waiting for you to finish,” Loki purred, bringing their mouths together for a brief moment before turning away and exiting the room. “Good luck with saving the world!”

“Don’t I always?” was Tony’s disgruntled question, it being the last of their conversation.