Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 56

"No, it's not," Tony says. "I have a bad history with terrorists and it was really starting to get to me, but I didn't have to take that out on you."

Loki raises an eyebrow. "Interesting way of apologizing."

Tony huffs a laugh. "No, not you. Earth terrorists. You were a whole different deal."

Oh. He was dead wrong with that assumption, then — though it must not have been an unreasonable assumption if Tony knew what he meant. "You've dealt with terrorists before? Is this a common problem on Midgard?"

"Uh, no, I just have really bad luck, I guess," Tony says with a shrug.

"Ah." Loki nods slowly. "May I ask what happened, or is that...?" This is undoubtedly the most genuine conversation they've ever had, but he doesn't want to push it too far.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Tony says. "God, it's weird. I haven't really had to tell anyone about it before; it was all over the news so everyone knew what happened when I got back."

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's uncomfortable, so Loki says, "If you would rather not talk about it..."

"No, no, it's fine," Tony assures him. "It's just, a few years ago, someone hired a group of terrorists to kill me."

Loki's brows shoot up.

Wow.

"When they realized who I was, they changed their minds," Tony continues. He lowers his gaze to his hands, clasped together in his lap. "They wanted me to build them a missile. So they locked me up until I did."

Loki nods sympathetically. "How long, if you do not mind me asking?"

"Three months," Tony says. "Which I'm sure doesn't sound like a lot to a god, but it was really..." He shakes his head. "It was hell."

"I understand," Loki assures him. "Three months can be a long time. You can lose yourself in a matter of days, in the wrong hands."

Tony raises his gaze to meet Loki's. "You're speaking from experience."

Loki shakes his head, not so much to deny it as to show that they're reaching a subject he'd like to avoid.

"That guy that you're so afraid of," Tony says slowly, "he did the same thing, didn't he?"

"Stark..." Loki says, his tone a warning.

"What did he want from you?" Tony asks. "He must've wanted something."

"It doesn't matter," Loki says. "He didn't get it."

Tony raises his brows. "Whatever he did to you still haunts you, but it wasn't enough for you to do what he wanted?"

Loki closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He will remain composed. He doesn't care how much just the thought of this bothers him. He's not going to let himself fall apart over it. Not over a series of questions, and certainly not in front of Tony Stark.

He opens his eyes and does his best to keep his tone level. "I told you that if you did not want to tell me your story, I would not pressure you to. I would appreciate it if you would afford me the same respect."

Tony hesitates, but, ultimately, he concedes. "Alright," he says. "I won't push."

"Thank you."

He gives a single nod in response, then changes the subject, much to Loki's relief. "But yeah, that was my big run-in with terrorists. I got kidnapped for a few months. It's where I built my first Iron Man suit."