Snowflake

The warehouse would not have been his first choice, as far as hideouts went.

Some villains could pull it off. Tony had his doubts, that Loki was the warehouse type. The abandoned villa type, maybe. Church type even, be it for the irony alone. The castle type, most definitely. But they did not have many of those around here, and he just couldn't picture Loki breaking into Disney World to take over a pink and white paper mesh construct.

As amusing a thought as that might be...



Back to the warehouses of this world. Some could be quite impressive. Old factories with their industrial charm and broken down structures, certainly. He might even imagine the demigod in such a setting. Hopelessly out of place, but the overall atmosphere would suit him at least.

Now this particular warehouse was none of the above. It was abandoned, but not due to its age or a certain degree of decay. It looked new enough. Boring. Almost clean, a lot of grey surfaces. No rusted steel beams and rubble on the floor. No. Boring, plain old warehouse. Just.. well, not used.



Tony, being all about style, as Rogers had assessed so fittingly the day before, could not help but be offended by that.

He tried to shake the feeling and take a look. There was still the possibility of a magically changed interior. Again, flashes of castle's great halls in all their medieval glory. But no such luck.



He did find magic inside, it was just not the kind he had hoped to see. A big shimmer, roughly the shape of a person or two, a tall person. Let's face it, it was door-shaped, and Tony did not like it.

It didn't even have any pretty, magical colours. No fireball-red, no Loki-green. Nothing. It was just shimmering. Like gasoline or hot air over heated asphalt.

Well, he could always turn around, report his findings. There was nothing else here. The warehouse one big ass open space. Nowhere to hide. That unnerved him in particular. It was so not Loki.

His curiosity got the better of him though. Again. And he slowly walked closer to the flickering form that hovered in the air.



Should he have taken his suit?

Hell yes he should have taken the fucking suit and the one in the suitcase and some grenades for good measure.

'You are to negotiate with him. At least that's what we want him to think. So suck it up and go as you are! If he is as drained as you say-'

Fury's voice echoed in his mind and Tony felt like picking up the phone just to give him a piece of his mind. He was going to hell anyway, might as well give the guy a bad conscience.

If such a creature existed. We are talking about Fury here.



He edged closer, slowly. He realized he was sneaking, avoiding all sound.

It was probably a trap. Definitely. What else could it be?

Anthony, you turn around and make that call now!

Well, Anthony did not listen to his own babbling, as usual.



Hell.

He was Iron Man for god's sake.

With this final push of courage and/or insanity he entered the door-shaped shimmer.

He could have sworn an airy voice inside his head called out his name, as he stepped through. The lurch in his stomach was not as bad as the one that had taken him out of his bed and into a freaking jet, but it was close.

'Teleport' had been his best case scenario, along with magical shower/regeneration thing or something of the sort, so he had been half-prepared to be hauled off through magical dimensions or whatever this was.



He found himself in another open space, but this one did meet his expectations.

"A... abandoned theater!"

It was eerie, hearing ones own voice disturb the dusty silence that had this place under its spell for who-knows how long.

That disturbing feeling was gone, however, as he registered the faint movement on the stage, where an old-fashioned arm chair stood, the only prop evident on the scene, and in it, the lanky frame of Loki himself, now jerked upright from the sprawl he had been in and tense, as he watched the man he had invited come closer, slowly, climbing up and taking the last few steps until he towered over him with a trademark grin on his face.

'Here I am' it said. 'Rock you like a hurricane'., another might have heard added in that smile, but not Loki, for obvious reasons.



The god struggled to keep the mask of indifference plastered to his face, but the faint widening of bloodshot eyes betrayed him and he tried to cover with a smile instead.



"So you have decided to join me."



The drawl was not the usual display of arrogance and indifference. The voice sounded nothing but exhausted, the snotty tint to it nothing but a doomed attempt to fake his usual tone.



It did not go by unnoticed and Tony slipped a hand in his pocket to retrieve his Stark design, state of the art cell phone and regarded it with mock thoughtfulness.



"And what exactly is to hinder me from calling Fury right now and have him track me here to pick you up?"



The reply was a snarl, a flash of rage and a golden shimmer that flickered over the tired form that was Loki.

Flickered, and faded again, a dusky blue taking its place, as the god slid back into the chair with a small sound of desperation, his eyes changed to a deep blood red, then rolled into the back of his head and fluttered shut.

What. The. Hell.

The magical shimmer of the shape shift was gone and let Tony examine the whole extent of the change he had just witnessed.

His shape was not shifted per se, just his colour was different and there were lines standing out from the skin in his face.

And then there was the cold.

It radiated from the body like it was made from pure liquid nitrogen, ready to shock freeze anything that came too close.

Tony was not going to.



"Okay, you are drained alright."



But could he trust that? He hadn't even meant to test if the god was as powerless as he seemed. All he had wanted was an actual reason not to call Fury. More dirt on the guy, there had to be something. Loki would never expect him to seriously form an alliance with him, based on minor trust issues between the director and him.

Let's face it, between the demigod and Fury, in whom would Tony rather lay his trust?

The latter was easy enough to monitor and if he was caught doing so, it would earn him a clap on his fingers, suspension at best. If he actually found something, he could always confront the man.

With Loki however, he was completely and utterly out of his league.



And he did not actually consider this, did he?

No. No way in hell. Then why had his thumb hovered over the call button for the last minute or so, his eyes twitching between the helpless god and the display, that said 'Yarr, there be pirates'?



He tried to blame curiosity, as he went off stage and returned soon after, a chair in hand.

He put it down in front of Loki and sat. Waiting, watching.



"I don't trust you."



He stated the obvious.



"I don't even think you are really unconscious."



Now that just sounded silly. And pointless.



"Should I call Thor to put his little brother to bed?", he cooed.



Nothing. Not even the shadow of a snarl, not even a twitch.



That was pointless. If the Trickster wanted to trick him, he would succeed in doing so.



"The question is not, whether or not I trust you. Because I don't, but we both already know that. There are plenty reasons for me to give you to Fury right here and now."



The rest left unsaid. He was looking for reasons to stay, besides his borderline suicidal curiosity.



For one, the Chitauri were coming. They needed info on them. More, than Thor was able to give. Then again, the weak spots Loki hinted at might be a ploy to make himself seem useful to them. After all, Thor seemed pretty set on the whole invincibility thing.



Then there was the simple fact that even if the God of Lies would not be able to give them more intell on the Chitauri, they could need a fighter of his strength. No way in hell that Fury would just set him free for him to help them in the fight. If he were to become S.H.I.E.L.D's prisoner, then he would stay that way. Unless he had more flying monkeys up his sleeve. No, they needed him free, if he were to help them. If the Chitauri truly were after him, like he and Thor had said, he would fight them. If they were truly that able to destroy everything they set their mind on, then he would not hide, probably, but fight them out in the open to begin with.

Unless-

Unless he never meant to cross them and all of this was his way to infiltrate the Avengers. Great.



Tony had no other choice but come to the conclusion, that he had no idea, what Loki's true endgame might be. (And why the hell he was blue.)

All he knew was that the man before him was helpless and that he did not want to hand him over to Fury. No way in hell.

'... we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned.'

Fury had already asked Thor, if he could run some tests on him.

Learn what makes an Asgardian tick.

Unthinkable what he might do to an Asgardian prisoner, a mage at that.



He should call Thor. Have him handle this. The guy belonged to Asgard, in an Asgardian prison. They all knew of the New Mexico incident. Loki had much to answer for to begin with.

But then again, the Thunderer was never one for rational decisions.

Would he chose his brother's safety over his Midgard when it came down to it?

Because, let's face it, if the Chitauri were coming and what Loki had said was true, they would not stand a chance without his help and the intell he was offering.

What call would he make?

Right. Earth. Chitauri. And there we were again. Could Loki really help?

It did not matter, what Thor decided. They were screwed. Either the chance to defeat the alien invasion taken from them, or Loki in the hands of Fury, a ticking timebomb, godly guinea pig.



His eyes wandered over the deep shadows under his bruised eyes, visible even on the darker skin tone.

His eyes were closed now, his body in a state of peaceful slumber.

He had slipped from unconsciousness to sleep, it seemed. His breath a soft rattle in his chest, but evenly paced now.



"Blue. Freaking blue."



Tony shook his head. This intrigued him, more than he cared to admit.



The options he had all sucked, he concluded.

So Tony Stark did something, he had never done before. He did nothing and waited for this to play out.





"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"





Hours went by and nothing happened. Nothing except the soft but insistent vibration of his cell phone.

He did not need to check it, to know who was calling.



When the god in front of him finally stirred the sun had already risen outside, nothing but a few tendrils of light found their way through what seemed to be a couple of cracks in the richly decorated ceiling, painting intricate, ever changing patterns on the stage they were on.

This did not seem to be the most solid piece of classical architecture, Tony worried.



Murderous red revealed itself, as Loki finally opened his eyes. His gaze unfocussed, his mind clearly disoriented.

When he fully came to, the memory of their encounter the night before hit him with full force. He jerked upright with a snarl, but fell back instantly, his faced scrunched up in a look of pain.



"Good morning, sunshine.", Tony beamed, willing away the trace of fear in his voice.



Loki shifted, uncomfortably. Then his glance found the blue hand, that had embedded its talon like fingers in the black leather of the arm rest, and his eyes widened in genuine shock.

Some seconds passed and neither of them dared to move.

The god then drew in a deep, shaky breath and with a considerable amount of strain clearly visible on his features, his skin regained the usual pale complexion and the blood red faded from his eyes, leaving only the pale blue Tony knew.



"And I had just thought up all these awesome smurf-related jokes.", he stated and ignored the confused look it got him.

 Who cared if the god didn't understand a word he said. He was funny and he knew it.



"Why."



The voice sounded raw and broken.

Tony regarded him with a long look.



"Seriously? I have no idea. The other options all didn't do much for me."



"Other options? It was to call him or not to call him. What other options were there?"



"There was the option of calling your brother and have your ass shipped back to Asgard. But that would not help us with the Chitauri. Even though I'm not sure, if you could actually be of any help with that."



"I spoke truth, I can help you."



"You can't do shit right now, apparently."



"I do not need your pity."



"Not pitying, just stating a fact. And while we're at it. What the hell was that?"



Loki huffed, unamused.



"What. You trying to kill me you mean?"



Stark threw him a bemused look.



"I was just asking for a reason not to call Fury. As little as I like the guy, but that does not equal killing you."



"Making me use more power than I had did."



"That's what happened?"



"I tried to teleport, of course. I thought I had that covered in the teleport spell that brought you here, it was to read your intent and teleport you accordingly. It had worked after all, it seems. But I could have been wrong. My concentration is slightly off in this... state."



"So.. It could have killed you, trying to use magic?"



Oh god, Thor would have killed him.



"I do not need your mercy."



If looks could kill.



"I am not worried for your life here, Sleeping Beauty."



"Go on.", he added after the look of pure irritation Loki gave him.



"Well.. yes, it could have killed me. If there is no energy left to use, magic eats away at life itself. It does not need to take a huge bite and my immortality does not do me any good, if it sinks its teeth in the wrong part. Gladly, all I did was faint, apparently."



"And turn into the aforementioned smurf."



...



"Blue", he added and was rewarded with a hiss and a glare, that rivaled the murderous blood red from before.



"Never speak of this again, I warn you."



Tony did not need to be warned twice, he recognized murderous intent when he saw it. And this was it.





"Well... anyway. We need that intell on the Chitauri and we might need your firepower along with it. Thing is, Fury will not want you walking around S.H.I.E.L.D territory, which in his mind covers the whole planet earth, so you might want to stay in here for now. At least until you have recovered enough to be able to avoid running into him. If you actually are capable of stealth, unlike Stuttgart. Don't give me a second Stuttgart, understood?"



Loki regarded him with a long look. One of bewilderment. One that said 'Why do you trust me? You know you shouldn't', as if anyone seriously needed to remind Tony of that.



"What will you do then? Go back to your companions and hope they don't ask?"



It was then, that the realization truly hit him.



He couldn't go back now.

It was either give up Loki or stand on his side, completely.

He shivered at the sudden thought of what Fury would do, to find Loki. If he had the information he wanted, the old pirate would stop at nothing to get to it.

Well, fuck.



Stark Tower came to mind and was easily dismissed. Coulson had breached his security protocol just to deliver a couple of notes. As of now, JARVIS would not be able to keep Fury out. Not for long anyway. And if S.H.I.E.L.D truly wanted to, they could get anyone on their side. Government, military.

Suddenly the room had gotten really, really cold and the air around him did not seem as breathable as it had been moments ago.

Rubbing his face with both hands he tried to at least attempt an answer to Loki's question. If he just started talking, maybe he would find one, eventually. That usually worked fine for him, when he had no idea what the hell he was doing. Smiling and Waving. And talking.



He had barely opened his mouth before Loki's head jerked to the side and a wicked grin spread across his face.

Yup, colder and colder.



"What's wrong?"



"The teleportation spell. Your Black Widow just tried to get in."



Tony looked around, but part of him already knew where this was headed.



"Where is she? What happened to her?"



"Oh, I think she will like the Antarctic."



Ooooooh crap, crap, crap, crap...



Positions of science stations and the like shot through Tony's head. Harbors, Settlements.. if it could be called that. Places of touristic interest.

The Widow was great at surviving. But he didn't know much about her survival skills regarding icy desert regions.

He tried to tell himself she would be fine, but it did nothing to help the clump of guilt, that started to form in his stomach.



"Oh, and I take it you will be staying here with me?"



Bastard.



What the hell has he gotten himself into.



He should get out, now. Give the guy up and have it done with. He did not seem to have regained his full power yet. If there was still a way out, now or never.

Then he thought about his very own surviving skills and of icy deserts and eating penguins.

And he stayed.

 

 

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Woohoo, longer chapter!  :D

Also this: http://i.imgur.com/mQmEb.gif