Chapter Text
Steve did make it back in time for Pepper’s birthday, but that is entirely another story. More pertinent here, he made the meeting. For the first time ever, Tony was the first person to arrive. He set up the video screen and, when Steve arrived next, had him skype Jane. The two chatted as the just of the group showed up. Tony stowed his briefcase with the duplicate file next to the chair he’d claimed. Fury was the last person to arrive.
“Stark, why are you wasting my time?”
Before Tony could respond, however, The video-feed crackled. “My friends, I have some very dire news.” Thor boomed once it was stable and Jane stepped away. “My brother has escaped his bonds and vanished.”
Tony went from perfectly calm to pissed beyond tolerance in two seconds flat. He spun and sneered at the screen. “So you finally noticed he was gone, did you? What? Send in one of the Fabulous Four to beat him to within an inch of his life? Were they disappointed that their toy was missing?”
Thor frowned deeply. “No. That has not happened. The Lady Sif was sent down with the powder that was developed to help him maintain a healthy body.”
“Oh really?” Tony felt a spark of alarm in the back of his mind, but pushed it away. “Either you are a bald-faced liar, Thor. Or you have no idea what’s happening in your court or even with your inner circle.”
“How dare you imply—“
“Oh, I dare a whole fucking lot, you bastard!”
“Man of Iron, you needs tread softly. You are trying my patience and I am able to snap you in two with ease. You would do well to remember.”
Tony’s eyes narrowed and he look a slow step toward the screen. “If you think I give a shit that you can kill me, you’re sadly mistaken. I fly around in a tin can fighting supervillians, for fuck’s sake. What I do remember is that the day Loki arrive on Asgard, his sentence was passed with no trial and no investigation into his supposed crimes. What I remember is that you, yourself, sewed his mouth shut and bound his magic, with no questions asked. What I remember is that you had him stripped naked and thrown into a cell, where he has not been given anything to eat or drink for five and a half fucking months while your merry band of fuckwits have been literally peeling the skin from his bones and beating him bloody as retribution for supposed wrongs. What I remember is that in all that time you never once went to check on your brother, who you claim to love. I remember that Loki used the last of his magic in a desperate attempt to get free from that hell and could have ended up anywhere, naked and helpless and bleeding. But what I remember most of all. What you had better remember for the rest of your fucking life. Is that Loki is innocent.”
Tony was panting, his fingers digging into the back of the chair that he’d latched onto. Thor looked like he’d been slapped and the room was deadly silent. Even Steve was gaping at him. “Tony, I know you identify with him and I know you’ve grown to like him but—“ He was half-out of his chair, worry deep in his eyes.
Fury cleared his throat. “Stark? I think a little explanation is needed here.”
Tony waved Steve back into his seat. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’ve been doing research into that damn scepter since the day you gave it to me, Nick. I called this meeting today, because I finally have the last piece of proof I think I’ll need to convince you. The scepter, as Bruce discovered in the Helicarrier that first day, gives off the same gamma-radiation as the Tesseract. We all saw that it behaves the same way as the Tesseract and, after questioning Dr. Selvig, I know that it connects the mind of anyone controlled by it to the Tesseract. I figured, if that’s true, logically it follows that the scepter must be connected to the Tesseract. If it is connected, which I now know it is, than why could it not behave like the Tesseract, act on its own? I did tests to see the extent of the influence it had on the ones it took under its control, or those the wielder took under its control. I noticed that the scepter seemed also to influence the wielder. So I tested that as well. The scepter has the ability to control its wielder if that is the wish of the Tesseract, and in turn those who hold the Tesseract and know how to use it.
“I reviewed the security footage from the moments before the portal collapsed and destroyed the compound. One of the computers managed to upload it to the server before everything blew. I finally saw what Loki looked like when he arrived. When I was able to watch the footage without being in immediate danger and with the hindsight knowledge of what Loki actually looks like, I noticed something odd.”
Steve was leaning forward. “What’s that, Tony?”
Tony smiled at him tightly. “Jarvis?”
“Right away, sir.”
Thor’s face disappeared and two pictures replaced it. “Thor is seeing this as well and can hear me just fine, the bastard. These are pictures of the two people who we have definite confirmation were under the power of the scepter and therefore the Tesseract. Look at their eyes.” Tony pulled out a laser pointer and indicated the deep circles around Clint’s eyes and then Dr. Selvig’s. He also indicated the blue film that seemed to cover their entire eye, blocking out the iris. “This does not look natural. The circles weren’t there before they were brainwashed and they are not there now. Neither was the odd blue haze. Ergo, they are a result of the Tesseract’s control.” He clicked a button. A picture of Loki, from the security footage appeared. “Look. Same dark circles, which we all know aren’t there normally. And look at his irises. Loki has green eyes, naturally. Here his eyes are the same color as the Tesseract.”
Clint sneered. “Maybe the fucker was tired. Too busy planning world domination. And he is a shape shifter.”
Tony shrugged. “Maybe. But that struck me as odd. Why shift just your eye color? At this point, I’d been studying the scepter for well over a month and a half. If any of you have any idea how long a month and a half is for me to study something, and still have more to learn, just ask Steve about any puzzle he’s ever given me.”
Steve snorted. “Two days at absolutely max. And I’ve only seen one…no, two puzzles you couldn’t solve. One was because it didn’t have a solution, though.”
Tony scowled. “Lewis Carroll is fucking mental. Why is a raven like a writing desk? Really? Whatever.” He shook his head. “Sorry. Not on topic. Anyway, I knew by then that the person, who controlled the Tesseract, either one because there are two of them, could control the scepter, as I said earlier. Well, the Chitauri had one and we had the other. We didn’t know how to use it that way and the Chitauri certainly weren’t going to tell Loki how to do it. As long as he was in contact with the scepter, he was in contact with the Tesseract and therefore under the control of the person holding it. When I was testing this, I noticed that the barer of the scepter could be controlled by the cube, but in a subtler way than when the scepter was used to directly control someone. The barer was affected in a way that it made it impossible for the effected person to realize they were being affected. They could still put people in their thrall, but they in turn were in the thrall of the Tesseract. Loki was under the control of the Chitauri and Thanos, not his own power.”
Tony took a deep breath. “Bruce, Natasha, guys, I’m giving you fair warning. You are not going to be pleased with this next slide. Not in the least bit. Just…remember that you were never in any danger, yeah? And things aren’t always as they seem.” He pressed a button.
Bruce went chalk white and Natasha was up and out of her chair in a heartbeat. She had her hand around Tony’s neck. “The fuck, Stark?”
“Yeah, that’s Loki. He shifted.” He wheezed. She squeezed harder. Steve stood and pulled her away, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her from the floor. She struggled and kicked, but couldn’t break free of his hold. Tony took a deep, rasping breath. “Loki appeared in my workshop several days ago. I cut the threads that sewed his lips shut and got the story form him. He’d been given some kind of truth potion and couldn’t lie, which I’m sure Thor can confirm. Pepper and Steve will attest to it and I have the security footage too. The second night he was here, almost completely without magic by the way. All he can do is shift at the moment…and dry things. Um…yeah, that second night, he shifted and I took him for food, for the first time in five and a half months. I told him my theory. This is what happened.”
Tony hit play.
It was clear from the angle and from the man’s lack of attention that Loki did not realize there was a camera aimed at him. Tony’s voice was chattering about the Tesseract and the scepter from somewhere above the camera, which was clearly part of his Starkphone. He mentioned Loki’s idiotic announcement and the Norse God’s eyes went blue. Not like blue eyes are blue or even like his eyes were when he first appeared, but in the same way Clint’s eyes had been blue under the Tesseract’s control, all frosted-over with the iris only a faint whisper in the background. His head bobbed forward a little and he jerked once to the left. He didn’t seem to realize he was moving or that anything was amiss. Tony continued to talk in the background.
“Can you feel the difference?” Tony’s voice asked and Loki jerked again. He blinked hard and the blue slowly receded from his eyes, leaving them normal. Literally normal, not the blue of his shift, but the vibrant green they usually were. The God stumbled over his words and thanked Tony for making a difference that he claimed he could feel.
Tony turned the video off and Thor’s face came back into view. He looked sick. Tony grinned savagely and bowed. “There you have it, Ladies and Gentleman. Proof positive that Loki was not in fact acting under his own power. Like our dear Hawk here, his own personality was multiplied and distilled into what the Tesseract and the Chitauri needed of it and suggestions were whispered into his ear in such a way that he believed them to be his own thoughts. He is no more guilty for the things he did than Clint is.”
Fury looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I’m sensing an and here.”
Tony grinned again, more normally this time. “There is an and, Director. There is also more evidence in my notes for those who are skeptical.” Tony pulled a thick folder out of his briefcase. The folder was four or five inches thick. “This is all the information I complied on the Tesseract and the scepter. All of the information on the scepter, which is more than half what is here, supports my conclusion. Bruce can look it over and confirm, if anyone wants.”
Clint sneered. “We can’t do it ourselves?”
Tony shot him an incredulous look. “Sure, you can. Become an conversant in gamma radiation, astrophysics, and five or ten other fields and then you can look it all over yourselves.”
Natasha snorted. She’d relaxed into the chair Steve had pinned her to during Tony’s video and was not gazing at him sardonically. “You fucker. I ate something that that crazy bastard cooked.”
“Yes, and you’re still alive. As am I. So are Pepper and Bruce. Clearly that says something about Loki’s intent, doesn’t it?”
Fury stood and paced at the end of the room. “This is a bit of a disaster.”
Clint shuddered. “I spoke with that fucker and had no idea. Stark, I fucking hate you.”
Tony flipped him off and watched the rest of them. Steve seemed to accept it at face value, but he’d warmed up to Loki anyway. Bruce never really cared one way or another about Loki to begin with. Tasha seemed to be taking it as well as could be expected. Tony didn’t really care how Clint was taking it. “He’s upstairs in my quarters and he’s agreed to come down an answers questions about anything and everything you could ask him. He swore to answer truthfully or not answer at all. His only stipulation is that Thor is not allowed to speak to him.” Tony turned a vicious smile on the video screen. “If he does, I will cut the feed and call Jane to tell her all about what her lover-boy allowed to happen to his brother.” Thor paled and stayed resolutely silent. “Good boy.”
Tony leaned against the wall to watch Fury and the gang take in what he’d said. Natasha leaned forward to talk to Fury and Clint sat up to listen. Bruce pulled the file to himself and started flipping through it. Steve stood and came to stand beside Tony. “Do you think this was a wise move? It seems very sudden.” He shot Tony a significant look.
Tony chuckled softly. “Think back over the course of the past few months, Cap. Think.”
Steve furrowed his brow and his eyes went out of focus. He thought back over the time since Loki had been taken back to Asgard. Each time he recalled Loki coming up in conversation, it was Tony who has mentioned him. Each time there was some discussion or at least the hint of brainwashing. He remembered Tony talking about the power of the scepter. He wasn’t surprised when Tony had said the scepter could control its barer and now he realized that it was because Tony had been talking them all around to this for months, but none of them seemed to realize. Even Clint was taking it much better than anyone should expect. Steve turned wide eyes on Tony. “You…Jeez. You’re a genius.”
Tony grinned. “I’ve been telling you this, Capsicle, for months.”
Steve laughed, full and deep, which caught everyone’s attention. Bruce shut the folder.
Fury glanced at Natasha and Clint, who shrugged. “If you’re done you’re your little lovefest in the corner, Stark, you can bring the bastard in.”
Tony narrowed his eyes at that and his lip curled up. Steve, who had retaken his seat, watched him warily. “One more thing before Loki comes in. I saw him when he appeared. I know exactly what they did to him and how badly fucked up he is. I realize the idea of his innocence is going to take a little time to…acclimatize for some of you. But if one fucking person in this room does a single goddamn thing to mentally or emotionally destabilize Loki, to hit him where it hurts, and I know you all know his hot-buttons. You will answer to me.” His voice was flat and his eyes were blazing. Bruce shifted uncomfortably.
Natasha looked vaguely impressed. “Didn’t know you had it in you, Tony.”
He leered at her and the tension broke. Fury rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Yeah. Don’t poke your pet with a stick. We get it.”
Tony snapped back to fight mode fast enough to give everyone whiplash. “Do not call him my pet, Director Fury.” Fury’s single eye went wide and he held up both hands. Tony pinned him with a cold stare for another moment. “Jarvis, could you ask Loki to come here please?”
“Sir, he has been…hovering in the hallway for most of the duration of this meeting.”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Has he? Well, then. Tell him to come in. Thank you, Jarv.”
The door opened hesitantly and Loki slipped in. He made a beeline for Tony, who offered him a small smile. “You good there, Mulan?”
The entire room turned to gape at Tony, which was exactly why he’d said it. He and Loki’d spent the previous day watching many of the Disney classics. Loki smirked. “I reserve the right to be Scar, if we must assign Disney characters.”
Tony scoffed. “Been there, done that. So yesterday. Today, you’re Mulan.”
Loki raised an eyebrow. “What does that make you?”
“Shang, of course.”
Loki narrowed his eyes appraisingly. “Hm. Methinks not. Perhaps the cricket is a better fit.”
Tony looked affronted. “Well, at least I’m lucky.”
Loki’s mouth curled into a half-smile. “You are certainly that, Mr. Stark.”
Tony leered at him in the lewdest way he could. “I am lucky or I get lucky.”
Loki raised an eyebrow. “I really wouldn’t know.”
Steve sighed. “If you two are quite finished?”
Natasha poked him. “Let the lovers argue. They’re outing themselves as a real couple, instead of a TV couple, and entertaining the rest of us.”
Fury was glaring at them. Tony blinked and turned to look around. Loki was much closer than he realized, leaning invitingly against the wall. “Er…sorry. What?”
Natasha snorted. “You’re fucking Loki.”
Tony blinked. “Actually, I’m not.”
Loki smirked. “Not yet.”
“Point.” Tony smirked back and shot a glance at the video screen where Thor looked positively murderous. It was a glorious thing.
Natasha frowned. Steve frowned. Actually, now that Tony looked, everyone was frowning at him. “What?”
Surprisingly, Bruce spoke up first. “Tony…According to the news you’ve been on two dates so far, which I’ve never seen you do before except with Pepper. He’s obviously been living in your quarters for the past week-ish. You’ve got the whole…banter/foreplay thing going. But you haven’t slept together yet? Are you feeling well?”
Tony flushed a dark red and pinned Bruce with his gaze. “Do you realize how incredibly offensive that question is? I honestly don’t think anyone does. Really. I remember my life. There is no need to throw the fact that I’m a whore in my face again and a-fucking-gain. I get it. I sleep around. I’m dirty and slutty and apparently no one cares to actually stay with me. I know. I was there.” Tony pushed out a sharp breath through his nose. Bruce looked stricken and Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Loki beat him to it.
The Norse god reached out a hand and snagged Tony’s. Tony turned and looked at him, a scowl on his face. “Stark. Value, worth, and beauty. I’m not the only one who’s damaged. You’re looking into a broken mirror too.”
Tony swallowed around the lump that formed in his throat and shrugged helplessly. Loki let go of his hand and smirked. Tony turned back to the room, a little more composed, to see several sets of wide eyes. Fury looked mildly ill and Clint looked like he was going to kill someone.
Natasha actually raised a hand to her mouth and whispered, “Oh!”
Tony rolled his eyes. “God. What now?”
She looked back and forth between the two and shook her head. “Nope. Nothing. Not a single thing. You two are too adorable. All of my questions just got significantly less important.”
Bruce smiled. “Mine too. Tony, I’m really sorry. It’s just…besides Pepper we’ve never seen you in an actual relationship…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that. I don’t think anything like that about you. I really don’t.”
Tony smirked, self-deprecatingly. “Hey, Bruce, babe. I created the reputation, so I know how big of a man-slut I am. It’s fine. I shouldn’t have blown up at you.”
Loki glanced around the room and determinedly stepped forward, closer to Tony. He wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist from behind, like he’d done at the restaurant, glaring at everyone in defiance. “Stark, shut up. I am the only one allowed to say horrible things about you.”
Tony raised an eyebrow and looked at Loki from the corner of his eye. “Is that so? Huh. Tell that to the media.”
Loki smirked, and it edged very close to the smirk he wore in the glass cell. “Don’t worry. I already have. So has Pepper.”
Tony turned sharply in Loki’s arms, forgetting the rest of the Avengers, completely focused on Loki. “What did you do? Loki, what did you do? Am I going to have to major damage control tomorrow? Is Pepper going to kill me? What did you do?”
Loki smirked, but stayed silent. Tony groaned and his head dropped back so he could stare at the ceiling. “Oh god. Pepper is going to kill me. You haven’t figured out how to magic my computer yet, have you?” He glanced down. Loki’s smirk widened. “Fuck. You have. You didn’t create pictures of that journalist and leak them to the media, did you? Or…Oh lord…worst case scenarios…tell me you didn’t dig up or fabricate something terrible about them? You didn’t, right? We’re not going to get sued when they trace it back to my computer, are we?”
The Avengers and Fury all took careful note that the things that Tony was coming up with were all non-violent. They were more mischievous than dangerous. Which made sense in a way, Loki was the God of Mischief.
Loki’s smirk pushed into an all-out grin. “Jarvis assured me that there was no way to trace anything back to your computer or system, whatever that means. And Pepper is not going to kill you. She told me I had a lot of raw talent for computer work.”
Tony actually broke away and dropped to the floor. “You’re conspiring with Jarvis. And Pepper…I’m going to die. I’m doomed. Completely and utterly doomed.” He turned his head and looked at all the now smirking Avengers. “They can write that on my headstone. Loki, Pepper, and Jarvis Conspired. Tony died.”
Steve laughed and Natasha tsked. “You’re going to love every minute of it, Stark. Face it.”
Tony looked up from his spot on the floor to Loki, who was standing over him and smiling. His green eyes were bright and filled with laughter. Tony could see all his teeth in the wideness of his smile. His shoulders were relaxed and his fingers and lips didn’t twitch anymore (something Tony had tried to ignore since the god appeared). Tony smiled at him. “Yes. Yes, I will.”