The sunlight, very soft and quite filtered by the just barely opened curtains of Loki's room, is what ultimately rises Tony from a dreamless sleep. The process of awakening by natural human causes is so foreign to him that it takes Tony several long seconds of drowsy confusion to realize where he is. He can't remember the last time he has awoken in peace and not some form of panic, whether it be the ghostly horrors of his nightmares or his seemingly undefeatable case of insomnia disturbing his slumber. With that knowledge, Tony lets out a little sigh and relaxes into the pillows, a tension he hadn't realized he'd been holding draining from his body.
In all honesty, there was a large part of him that had not expected Loki to stay, or perhaps, was simply bracing himself for the possibility of an empty bed and cold sheets. Tony would like to think that he wouldn't have cared much at all, or rather, wouldn't have been hurt if Loki had left sometime during the night. But deep down he knows that isn't true; he would have cared. It feels like it's taken so long for Loki to finally start to really open up, but he is now. He's beginning to heal. Tony can't help but feel like they're closer somehow. If not for Loki opening up a bit and confessing painful parts of his past, then from their ghostly kiss still sending little tingles of bliss across Tony's lips.
Or really most of all, from how Loki had let Tony cradle his shaking body to his chest in a time of pure vulnerability. They're closer, Tony can feel it.
But, Tony also knows that Loki might not realize that at first. Or ever. He knows what it feels like, the raw, naked feeling of exposure. Of someone else knowing your deepest darkest secrets. The fear and risk of laying yourself out as who you are, letting someone in, all with the possibility that they might turn their back on you at any given second; and leave you even more broken than before. Tony himself hasn't even defeated that fear. So if Loki had run, Tony might have been hurt, but he would have understood.
But he hadn't run. Loki's skinny frame is still pressed up against Tony's own, his raven black hair falling like an angelic halo around his face, tucked into the crook of Tony's arm. He really does look like an angel, but especially when he's sleeping. His eyes are shut softly, his expression devoid of the harsh creases of anxiety or the persistent sadness it seems to always carry. He just looks peaceful.
"Shh," Tony murmurs, brushing his fingers through Loki's hair very gently when the god stirs slightly. He can't get enough of Loki's long hair, how soft it feels in his fingers, how it frames his face just perfectly, how it defines the sharpness of his cheekbones when it's braided up. Loki shifts, turning his head to the side and blinking owlishly up at Tony's face.
"Morning, Snowflake," Tony murmurs, giving the sleepy god a soft smile.
"Morning?" Loki asks, confusion painting his slightly hoarse voice.
"Yeah, slept through the night. Weird to you too, eh?" Loki nods.
"Very. I-I can't remember the last time I have slept in peace."
"Me neither," Tony murmurs, continuing to brush Loki's hair with his fingers. Loki closes his eyes, pressing his face into Tony's arm a bit further.
"Can we just stay here? For a little bit?" He whispers, an almost pleading tone to his words. "I-I feel...safe."
"Yeah, yeah of course we can, sugar," Tony whispers back.
When he opens his eyes again, the sunlight is a bit brighter, and Loki looks slightly more alert than before. There are still shaded shadows under his eyes, which are less droopy but still exhausted-looking, but his face isn't so pale and there's a bit of spark to his green orbs. He stares back at Tony.
"Morning," this time it's Loki who speaks, a slight quirk to his lips. Tony grins in full-force.
"Dork. I'm hungry, are you hungry? I'm thinking pancakes? But whatever you want, princess, don't want ya to get sick of pancakes. That would be a crime." Loki rises, albeit slightly reluctantly, from his curled-up position against Tony's side, rubbing his eyes and attempting to push stubborn hair back from his eyes. Tony chuckles and takes the dark locks in his hands, pulling them back into a messy bun tied low on his head.
"Thanks," Loki murmurs, tugging at the bandages on his wrists that were beginning to peel off. The white fabric gave away easily, revealing not the neat lines of stitches but simply shiny, bright red scars on each wrist. Tony took his hands in his own, inspecting them carefully, before laying a feather-light kiss on each wrist.
"Looks like your magic kicked in," he whispers against Loki's right wrist, marveling in the way the god shivers.
"Healing, but yes." Loki corrects, voice slightly higher-pitched. Tony gathers the old bandages in his hands and swings his legs off the bed. Loki follows suit to the kitchen, settling himself in his spot in the nook while Tony disposed of the bandages.
"I don't think you'll need fresh ones," Tony says, taking two mugs out from the cabinet, "they look pretty good and you should let wounds air out a bit too." Loki hums, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers against the table as he watches Tony start the coffee pot, taking the kettle from off the stove, filling it with water before replacing it on a burner, swaying his hips as he does.
"Are you dancing?" a chuckle from Loki and Tony smirks, doing a dramatic twirl, coming to lean up against the table and winking at the amused god.
"See something you like?" he asks innocently, batting his eyelashes. Instead of the usual blush, though, Loki simply rakes his gaze up and down Tony's body slowly, running his tongue across his lips very slightly. It's Tony who blushes when Loki's gaze returns to his own, eyes dark.
"I see many somethings, Anthony, and your kettle is shrieking." It is, and Tony takes the opportunity to hide his burning face by busing himself with Loki's hot chocolate, though Loki seems all too aware.
"What are those?" Loki asks, pointing to the small white bits of fluff bobbing around his steaming drink when Tony sets his mug down in front of him, settling himself at his own side with a steaming mug of coffee.
"They're called marshmallows. No one really knows what they are, but they're delicious so who cares? Most people roast them at campfires. We should do that sometime. Only without the camping. I hate camping." Loki squints at the marshmallows, but trusts Tony enough that he makes no comment until he tries one, in which his face lights up, "Oh Norns, these are delicious!"
"Yeah," Tony says dreamily, returning to the kitchen island to grab the bag of miniature marshmallows, setting it down between them, and shoveling a handful into his mouth. Loki reaches for a marshmallow, rolling it between his fingers, shrugging, and popping it into his mouth.
"Sir," JARVIS's voice cuts into their marshmallow-high, starling Loki slightly, "an incoming video call from SHIELD Headquarters. Urgent."
It's a split-second, a glitch in the matrix, a moment of paranoia where Tony's stomach drops in fear before he blinks and everything was fine. He can see Loki staring at him with raised brows and wonders if whatever the fuck that feeling was had been evident on his face.
"Tell 'em I'm busy," Tony shrugs, waving a hand dismissively in a random direction and taking a gulp of his coffee for something to do. His leg bounces underneath the table.
"My apologizes, Sir, but the caller is insistent and requests that I inform you of the urgency of their call."
"What the fuck could possibly be that important? Who's calling?"
"Unknown, Sir. The caller is presented as anonymous through various encryption and firewalls. They say if you do not answer their call they will be forced to send a team to Stark Tower immediately. Would you like me to engage in breaking these encryptions?" JARVIS asks.
"No, no need. Tell them to give me a minute, will ya?"
"Certainly, Sir." Tony looks up to Loki, who has gone slightly rigid. The god stares back.
"I-apologizes if this sounds somewhat childish, but I feel uneasy of this." Loki frowns, setting down his mug. "Your brothers in arms at SHIELD do not seem to like me much, especially the man with one eye, Son of Fury. I sensed...something when your ghost alerted you of this contact." Tony exhales sharply through his nose and chugs the last of his coffee.
"Yeah, I feel it too, bud. Do me a favor and stay in the living room? It's probably just Fury being an overdramatic ass, but I don't want him to see you just in case." Loki nods, rising to his feet with much more grace than previously, perching on the couch as Tony gives the signal for JARVIS to let the call through. As he'd expected, the scowling face of Nick Fury comes to life in front of him.
"Stark," he growls as the inventor leans up against the breakfast nook casually, hiding Loki's mug from view with his body.
"Fury! Always a fucking pleasure, what's so important that you had to threaten JARVIS to get my attention? Need a good eye surgeon referral? 'Cos I'm afraid I can't help ya there." Tony quips, resisting the urge to look in Loki's direction lest he reveals that he isn't alone.
"This ain't a courtesy call, Stark. We need to talk about a war criminal you're holding up there. Don't think I don't know about that." Tony splutters. Come again?
"Don't think you...what the fuck, Fury? War criminal? You were there for the briefing. You're well aware that Loki is innocent and with me." Fury doesn't even blink.
"I'm aware of no such thing." Tony openly gapes.
"Oh, come on, Nick don't play that game."
"I don't play games, Stark. That piece of shit thinks it can get away with trying to take over my planet without repercussions? No, it's SHEILD property now."
"You know he's innocent!" Tony barks, waving his hands wildly, "You saw exactly what I saw, what the rest of the fucking team saw. What the hell are you trying to do here?"
"My agents are keeping intel. They reported that you and the prisoner have grown...close. This is already dangerous enough and I don't want a maniac with fairy powers out on the loose, especially with the threat of retaliation from whatever or whoever is behind it. You turn it in when my agents come to pick it up in one hour, or we will take it from you by force. Your choice, Stark."
"If you think for one second that I'll-"
"Don't think about fucking with me here, Stark, or there will be serious repercussions. Give us the prisoner, and we'll pretend nothing ever happened, alright?" Fury's voice is suddenly sickly sweet, a wild glint in his eyes. Tony wants to scream.
"Understood, Sir."
"That's what I thought." The video message cuts out, the holo-screen rising back up into the ceiling. Instead of Fury's less-than-pleasant face, Tony is met with Loki's wide green eyes staring back at him. When they made eye-contact, Loki shakes his head slowly back and forth, backing up.
"P-please don't, I'm sorry," Loki whispers, voice trembling along with his hands. Tony shakes his head.
"Like hell, I would. They're not touching you." He reaches for Loki's hand and grasps it, cold and sweaty. "We don't have much time. We have to go now." Tony's voice, firm but soothing, pulls Loki from the tendrils of whatever panic-induced haze he was falling into. The god blinks before allowing Tony to tug him in the right direction. Tony pulls him towards the elevator, slipping a pair of blue-tinted glasses from his pocket onto his face and pausing several meters away to press his fingertips into the wall at an odd angle. The wall unfolds, revealing a silver safe-like cabinet hidden behind it.
"JARVIS," Tony prompts, and the safe door opens, revealing a thick Starkpad which Tony quickly retrieves. The wall smooths over the safe as though it had never existed, and Loki watches in barely restrained awe.
"I'd assumed only magic could do such things," he said, and Tony forces a grim smile.
"I'm magical too, baby. Come on," he replies, leading Loki to the elevator. The doors open without prompting and Loki moves to the buttons.
"Don't need em," Tony stops him, "JARVIS, initiate code Iron Fist."
"Certainly, Sir." Nothing seems to happen, but Tony sets his jaw. He swipes his fingers across the Starkpad and the back walls of the elevator collapse in on themselves, revealing a slightly smaller, silver elevator without the typical buttons and polished floors. Once he and Loki had both stepped inside, the wall closed back up, seemingly swallowing them whole.
"My lab," Tony instructs, a slight tremor to his voice. He reaches for Loki's hand, who provides it happily but raises an eyebrow when Tony squeezes it, hard.
"Claustrophic. A little." Tony pants airily to Loki's puzzled expression. The god's face smoothes in understanding, and he squeezedsTony's hand back, coming to stand in front of the inventor.
"Distract yourself, darling," he murmurs, green eyes soft and captivating. "Talk to me, what is your plan?" his voice is delicate and gentle, and Tony is awarded a small smile when his eyes focus on Loki's own.
"I've never trusted SHEILD. They're not as pure and do-good as they claim to be. I've hacked their systems numerous times, and I know their secrets. Think...think of me like Batman..er, though you probably don't know who Batman is. He's this crime-fighting dude but is really careful with who he trusts and has a backup plan just in case they betray him. Like, he has kryptonite for Superman because it's the only thing that will hurt Superman. But you probably don't know who Superman is either. So, I've got backup plans, just in case I need to go against SHEILD."
"Your brothers in arms will come for you," Loki mumbles. He looks to the floor and then back to Tony, running his tongue across his lips. "You have shown me great kindness, Tony, and I shall never forget it. But you don't need to do this."
"What, you're just willing to have them take you away? They'll torture you again, you know that, right?" Tony exclaims, searching Loki's face for any kind of explanation.
"No. I'd rather you kill me instead."
"Loki," Tony growls, "No one is going to kill you, no one is going to hurt you, and no one is going to take you away from me. I swear to you that. I don't care if this fucking Thanos dude himself comes looking, cos I researched that piece of shit, you know?" Loki flinches at the mention of Thanos, who he only seems to refer to as "The Titan", his eyes darting around as though the monster might be in the very room with them. "I will kill him. I swear. No one is going to hurt you again. They'll have to kill me first."
"He is not easy to kill. I tried." Loki whispers.
"I know, I know. I don't mean it like that. I have a shit ton of resources, and you were weak when he found you. I mean that you're not alone, honey. Not anymore. I promise."
"Besides," Tony adds as the secret elevator comes to a halt, the doors opening to a small hallway, "I've always wanted to show SHIELD who's the fucking boss here." At those words, Loki allows a small smirk to grace his lips, following Tony out of the elevator and to the end of the hallway, where Tony presses the side of his glasses and then his fingers to the wall.
"The glasses show me where all the scanners I embedded in here are," Tony explains as a hidden door opens, revealing the back room of Tony's lab. They step inside, heading for the center of the lab.
"Fascinating," Loki remarks and he meant it.
"Hey Tony, hey Loki," comes Bruce's sudden voice, starting the both of them. Tony curses under his breath. He'd forgotten Bruce was there, but luckily the scientist seemed absorbed enough in whatever he was doing that he didn't notice their odd entry point; already hidden away from view.
While Bruce might not have noticed their entrance, he certainly notices their silence. He looks up from his experiment and frowns at their tense positions.
"What's wrong?"
"Sir, I must remind you that you have forty-five minutes left of time." JARVIS interrupts vaguely.
"Forty-five minutes? Until what? What's going on guys?" Bruce frowns, pulling off the gloves he was wearing and coming to join them in the center of the lab.
"I can't tell you yet, and you're not going to stand in my way," Tony says simply. "JARVIS, initiate Order 66."
"Order 66 initiating."
"What? You can't tell me what? I'm your best friend, Tony! What the hell is going on?" Tony sighs.
"SHEILD is coming to take Loki away. Fury denied ever knowing that Loki is innocent or allowing us to take him in. Fury said Loki was his 'property' and 'needed to be contained' since supposedly he's a threat, and by 'take away', they mean torture." Bruce's eyes flash green.
"But why now? Loki's been here for a month now." Tony sighs again, rubbing the bridge of his nose as the pieces of his suit begin to attach themselves to him.
"I don't know. He's pretending that he doesn't have any insight into our decisions. Maybe he changed his mind? Was trying to get our guard down? Fuck, I don't know. Looking back, it's stupid how quickly I fell for their act. They let Loki go too easily, and you know Fury. He always needs to pin the blame to someone." Loki's gaze drops to the floor.
"I'm sorry for being a trouble," he whispers. Tony shook his head as the center of the lab began to fold under, revealing a sleek black stealth jet.
"You're not a trouble, SHEILD is a trouble, and they're in deep shit for messing with me. JARVIS, initiate Mothership."
"Certainly, Sir. Order 66 has reached phase 4, halting all progress until you and Mr. Laufreyson have vacated the premises."
"Tony," Bruce says quietly, "I know they're wrong, but you can't fight against SHIELD. You'll lose." The back wall of the lab begins to open, the metal sliding up into the ceiling and revealing open-air, high enough for the jet to escape. Tony lets out a little maniac giggle, taking Loki's hand who smiles tightly.
"Oh watch me, baby. They're gonna regret everything they've ever done."