Chapter Text
.·:*¨¨*:· Stepping Into the Light·:*¨¨*:·.
Tony gave the hardware he was sending with Loki a quick check before running through the limited version of Friday that would be helping him, and making sure that the reactors would be safe, one last time.
In addition to the reactor powering the mainframe and projectors there was the case with the micro reactor he had made so Loki would be able to test the inscribed covers to see if they would work as intended, the tiny reactor also powered the small laser inscription machine.
Half his attention was focused on Yasha and Loki though as they worked on fine tuning the wards that would protect Yasha from anyone trying to scry for him for the bounty, something that had turned out to be pretty complex according to Loki.
Apparently such magic was in part bound to the individuals sense of self, which was a bit of a mess when it came to Yasha
“How does that feel?”
“A bit strange, but not uncomfortable.”
Loki nodded and altered a few lines on the charm he was working on.
“And now?”
“Warm.”
“Just warm, not hot?”
“Comfortably warm.”
“Good.”
The familiar green of Loki's magic sparked to life and washed over Yasha before Loki pulled it back and gave Yasha a questioning look.
“Safe, I felt safe.”
“Good, that is what I was hoping it would feel like, those instincts of yours are well honed.”
Loki quickly selected the design used from the ones Friday was displaying on the screen.
“Friday, we will be using this version, would you inscribe it please?”
“The modified cover will be ready for installation in 6 minutes.”
“Thank you.”
When Loki turned back to Yasha he found the man looking uncomfortable and somewhat morose.
“Something is troubling you?”
“I don't like the way the hypervigilance, those instincts, makes me feel...”
Loki had explained that their best chance for finding the proper ward was to actually make use of Yasha's hypervigilance, to trust in the instincts that had been tempered and honed by a lifetime of hardship and battle.
“Instincts can be a potent tool if used wisely, trust them, but do not allow them to blind you, or rule you.”
“It's hard to trust that part of me, the part they created...”
“They may have added to the crucible and reforged the blade, but they did not create the iron.”
“I don't understand...”
Loki just smiled and moved closer, close enough to be able to reach out and touch if he wanted to, but without actually touching.
“You are like a Midgardian blade. You were born as iron ore, the training to become a soldier was your crucible, smelting your ore and shaping you into an ingot. Being a soldier formed you into a rough blade, but still lacking, the metal rough and impure. Your first captivity was your second crucible, they melted you back down, burned away the impurities then added their own mixture to the melt, hoping to recreate the alloy their enemy had created.”
“The serum...”
Tony forced himself to look away, to focus on his own work rather than listen to the soft conversation in the corner of the workshop, as familiar as he was with Yasha's history, with Bucky's life story, it still felt as if he was intruding on something private, something personal.
“There are however many factors that must be right to create a specific alloy, the temperature of the melt, the balance between the components, the rate of cooling, any mistake can make the alloy different, or useless. They didn't have the details, didn't understand how the source of the melt affected the result.”
“Genetics..?”
“It is more than just what Midgard calls genetics, there is definitely a component of magic to it. Something that draws from a well far deeper than just flesh and blood.”
“Of course...”
Yasha huffed and for the moment he agreed somewhat with Tony's stance on magic, it complicated everything, he knew, just as he knew Tony did, that it wasn't really the magic that was the problem though.
It was their own lack of knowledge and understanding of what magic was that was the true issue, but it was hard to accept that the world was so vastly different from what they had always known, that there was so much more to it.
He didn't really understand where Loki was going with his analogue, yet at least, and that left him somewhat frustrated, but there was something compelling about the way Loki spoke, something that made him want to listen.
“You were rescued before they could attempt to forge their alloy, nothing but a rough hewn ingot. Then at the Captain's side you were slowly hammered into a blade again, tougher this time, steel rather than iron. Shaped and sharpened by battle you gained the edge of a killer.”
Loki paused for a moment, carefully studying Yasha's posture, expression, and as he had learned, the colour of his eyes, confirming that they were a pale blue as they should.
“They may have succeeded in creating steel similar to that of their enemy, and that steel had become a blade, but untempered steel is hard and brittle, the force of their attempts to shape it caused it to shatter.”
Loki noted the hint of a shiver that ran through Yasha's body at the mention of the shattering, the beginning of what would become the Winter Soldier, the Asset, the Fist of HYDRA, and hidden within all that, kept suppressed by trauma and control, Yasha.
“The steel, no matter how shattered, was still far too valuable to just cast aside so they took the pieces and placed them into a forge of suffering until all that remained was an ingot, no identity of its own, merely metal waiting to become. And they took that, reforged it, folding and hammering it out, over and over until something new was born, something they shaped into what they wanted, a weapon quenched in blood.”
“They created me by taking away who I was, tempered me with blood, then sharpened me with control and kept my edge honed with pain...”
“Cruel, but effective. In the end however, no matter how much they added to it and reshaped it, one thing remains, the one thing they were unable to create, the one thing they had to steal.”
Loki gave Yasha a pointed look, silently asking him to complete the moral of the story.
“The iron is still there...”
“The iron, your instincts, your heart and soul. The one thing that was always your own no matter what they did.”
Yasha silently considered Loki's words, Tony had once said something similar but at the time Yasha had not been ready to hear them, or maybe he just needed to hear them from someone other than Tony, this time he was ready.
He took the words and turned them over, picked them apart, compared them to what Tony had said, put them side by side and picked them apart again, this time seeing them for what they were, the truth.
He could hear it now, understand it, and accept that it was true, but he wasn't quite ready to take it to heart just yet.
“I know this is not an easy truth to handle, even once you have accepted that it is indeed a truth.”
“The conscious mind accepting it doesn't mean it's fully accepted yet...”
“Awareness is a good place to start.”
“So I've heard.”
Yasha huffed and grumbled, he had heard that one quite a few times over the countless BARF sessions to recover and integrate his fractured memories.
“You have had good help.”
“...”
Loki didn't push, instead he headed over to see what it was that Tony was doing that had Hugin so captivated, normally the raven would be eagerly watching while Loki worked his magic, often to the point of getting in the way.
What he found had him somewhat surprised and smiling fondly, though, taking the time to consider Tony's personality, and Hugin's, he had to admit he should have known how things would end up.
Tony was working on what had to be Yasha's previous arm, carefully taking it apart and sorting the pieces out on a large table next to the small workstation, and he had somehow managed to contain Hugin's tendency to be a nuisance.
Loki watched as Tony removed a round, flat, piece of metal and held it out toward the mobile armour stand that was serving as Hugin's perch, and the raven grabbed it with his beak, then tilted his head, quite obviously waiting for Tony to tell him what to do with it.
“Would you put that in H3 please?”
Hugin answered with a soft sound that sounded suspiciously like the chirp that Tony's bots used to relay understanding and compliance, then took off from his perch and landed carefully at the far end of the table, mindful not to disturb the items on it.
Loki watched as Hugin carefully walked across the table then placed the part down next to a handful of other parts before walking back to the edge and returning to his perch.
Taking a closer look at the table revealed a grid being projected across most of the surface, and at the edge there were letters and numbers which allowed easy identification and reference to each cell, something Loki had a feeling Tony had added for Hugin's benefit.
The next part, some kind of long metal rod, was handed to DUM-E with instructions for where to place it and the bot chirped happily as it turned to do as asked.
“I must congratulate you, Hugin is usually far more of a nuisance while one is doing delicate work.”
Tony startled slightly when Loki spoke up, then turned with a bright smile.
“Oh, he was. But you had your hands full so I decided to try the method I use for keeping DUM-E from bothering me too much while working.”
“By having him help you?”
“The bots are like kids, sometimes giving them something to do to make them feel useful keeps them from causing too much trouble. And he's a clever one, only took him a few tries to figure out the grid.”
“I must admit, that is not a solution I had considered.”
Loki held his hand out for Hugin and the raven quickly hopped over and he could feel the magic of its mind reaching for him, accepting it he felt the familiar rush of memories being delivered, the accompanying emotions however were not something he was used to.
The emotions of the ravens were usually just a faint echo, but now Hugin was simmering with eager curiosity and something decidedly pleased, almost happy, emotions that Loki realised echoed his own whenever he got his hands on a good puzzle.
“He finds you interesting, a puzzle to solve.”
“And if that doesn't sound vaguely intimidating...”
Tony's grumbling made Loki laugh and assure him that neither of the ravens would hurt him.
“It may prove to be useful, they like you, so they may allow themselves to be convinced to carry messages for us.”
“Raven penpals?”
Loki wasn't entirely sure the Allspeak had translated that right, but the image it brought to mind made him snicker.
“A means to communicate when I cannot be here, a means that does not involve the Gatekeeper.”
“Guess that could be useful.”
“Their sight is not as impressive as that of the Gatekeeper, but they are connected to Yggdrasil in ways he could never hope to achieve, hold the Great Compass and think of them, and they will hear.”
“Definitely useful.”
Before Loki could say anything else Tony's eyes sharpened and his posture stiffened.
“Loki, what aren't you telling us?”
“Precisely what you already suspect.”
Loki's reply was paired with a deep sigh that instantly made him the centre of attention.
“You don't think you'll be able to return anytime soon...”
“Unfortunately.”
For a brief moment something sharp and cold flickered across Tony's eyes but it was gone before Loki had a chance to properly examine it, but he had a feeling he knew what he would have found, the fear of betrayal, of abandonment.
It was something Loki could not allow to take root, he needed to reassure Tony, and perhaps Yasha as well, that he would not be kept willingly, that he would rather stay on Midgard and never set foot on Asgard again, but unfortunately Asgard was needed if they were to stop Thanos.
“I would like nothing more than to stay, but if we are to stand a chance against the Titan the Nine must stand together.”
“And only Asgard can broker that alliance.”
“Again, a most unfortunate circumstance.”
On a whim Loki reached out to Tony and wiped away the smudge of oil that had made its way to his brow, no doubt by way of the man's habit of wiping his brow while working, headless of the grime on his hands.
Tony's willingness to get his hands dirty to get the job done, both literally and figuratively, was one of the traits that Loki found admirable, it was a rare trait among those considered nobility, or more, something that definitely applied to Tony.
Born and raised into wealth and power it would have been easy for him to become yet another one of those who would profit on the work of others, who would pay to see blood on the hands of shadows rather than risk sullying their own.
The other realms would consider Tony a Prince of Midgard by merit of influence, even though Midgard had no royalty recognized by the others, those of Midgard who claimed the title of royalty were seen as little more than regional lords by the other realms.
Among the Nine Midgard was somewhat of an anomaly with its divided lands, roughly 200 factions all claiming sovereignty over their own piece of the realm.
While mostly tribal in nature, the other realms, with the exception of the Niflheim, where Hela held sovereignty over the lands of Helheim and the dead within, were still the sovereign territory of a single monarch.
Or at least had been, there were not enough Dark Elves left to truly be able to lay claim to Svartalfheim, but none of the others had any interest in trying to claim what they believed to be a dead realm.
Jötunheim was struggling to recover without the casket, and without Laufey to control them the tribes had scattered, but Helblindi and Býleistr, blood brothers that Loki had not known he had, kept sovereignty of the realm.
As far as Loki could tell the two princes ruled side by side, neither claiming the title of King, and from what information he had been able to gather neither would unless they managed to unite the tribes, at which point one of them would be chosen as King.
From what he understood of the ways of Jötunheim the other brother would become the King's closest adviser, and command Jötunheim's soldiers, as well as hold the title of Crown Prince until the king sired an heir of his own.
Loki had taken Tony's words about the victor writing history to heart and sought out sources that predated the great war in an effort to find less biased knowledge about Jötunheim and its people, but they were few and far apart.
What he had found so far though had him torn, it was no easy task to accept that a lot of what he had been taught was lies, falsehoods intended to demonize the Jötunn, to justify the destruction of a species, his species.
Now, however, was not the time to dwell on such matters, his time on Midgard had run out and he needed to reassure his allies that his dedication to their alliance had not, and would not, falter.
“Always such a mess, Anthony.”
Loki kept his tone light and teasing as he slowly allowed his magic to rise, giving Tony ample time to pull back before the green tendrils touched him and vanished the grease and grime from his face and hair, but try as he might he found himself unable to fully hide the warmth of his developing fondness.
Loki took careful note of Tony's reactions to the touch, and his magic, a slight hitch in his breath, a few rapid heartbeats, eyes wide and dark as the pupils dilated, then the blue ring appeared for a moment and Tony's physical reactions to the touch were halted.
“I better get to work then, make sure this baby won't break down on you. Fri, start compiling and downloading the data please, don't wanna miss anything.”
Tony turned away just a hair too fast, his tone just a bit too bright, revealing to those who knew what to look for that he was in fact fleeing.
“Already running, estimated time to completion, 1 hour and 23 minutes. Also, the new cover for the reactor in Yasha's arm is ready for installation.”
“Alright, let's get that done first.”
.·:*¨¨*:· Stepping Into the Light·:*¨¨*:·.
They worked through the night to make sure everything was as ready as could be, Loki weaving wards and creating a significant pile of the charms that would allow them to create decoys for Yasha, keyed to activate when exposed to a specific pattern of Arc energy pulses.
A handful of drones had already been sent out, controlled by Friday and powered by modified arc tech and magic they could stay in the air permanently, and each carried an activated charm, spreading into the winds they would create false readings.
Tony spent the time pouring over the mainframe, making sure it would hold up without needing maintenance anytime soon, and he made sure to fill the drives up with as much data as time allowed for.
Starting with books on Earth history, politics, religion and culture, volume after volume on science and technology, dictionaries and textbooks for all the major languages, as well as textbooks and transcribed lectures for every conceivable subject up to a bachelor degree.
After that Friday had been instructed to add whatever literature she believed could help Loki better understand how Earth and its people worked.
Yasha did what he could to help, but it really wasn't his area of expertise so he ended up mostly keeping Hugin from getting in the way, and fetching whatever Tony and Loki might need for their work, including snacks and drinks.
He may have a lot more brains than most would give him credit for, but at the end of the day he was still just a soldier and this was simply not his thing, and he really didn't mind being relegated to being a gopher and raven sitter while they worked, quite the contrary, it felt good to be useful in ways other than his talent for killing.
The night turned to morning far faster than Loki would have preferred and before he knew it he was standing in the middle of the main area of the penthouse with two large suitcases, saying his farewells as the city below came to life.
“You take care.”
Yasha's hands felt solid on his shoulders and Loki could tell he was using a lot more force than he normally would, marking the gesture as something from one warrior to another.
“You too, and try to keep him out of trouble.”
Yasha's amused snort made it perfectly clear what the soldier thought about the viability of that mission.
“He's every bit as prone to trouble as you are to chaos, but I'll do my best to keep him alive.”
The teasing reply made Loki grin and take hold of Yasha's shoulders in return, then lean in and place his forehead against his, acknowledging him not just as a warrior, but as a shield-brother.
When he pulls back he is met by a glowing blue gaze and the grip on his shoulders tightens slightly before Yasha gives a sharp nod and steps back.
Loki turned to Tony and closed the distance without hesitation, grabbing the shorter man by the shoulders as well and he could tell from the slight widening of his eyes that Thor must have told him about how Æsir warriors greeted, and said farewell, to their shield-brothers.
“I will not bother to ask you to stay safe, instead I ask that you keep the hunters at bay.”
“I'll burn anyone who tries to harm what is mine.”
“Heart of a dragon.”
Tony just huffed at the quip and raised his hands to grab Loki's shoulders.
“You make sure to remember who you are, God of Mischief and Chaos.”
“I will.”
Leaning in he pressed his forehead against Tony's for a moment before stepping back and reaching out toward Hugin, beckoning the raven to his shoulder.
“You're welcome to visit any time feather-brain, that goes for your brother as well.”
The answering caw sounded decidedly miffed, but the way Hugin puffed his feathers and lowered his head to be scratched told a different story.
“You're just a big softie, aren't you?”
Loki watches in amusement as Tony reaches up and gives Hugin a good scratch, but the feeling fades to slight concern when he notices the way Tony tenses as he steps back.
“Pleasedon'tkillormaimmeifI'vereadthiswrong.”
The burst of words come out just a bit too fast for Loki to make sense of them right away, but before the Allspeak can catch up to assist the man before him takes a quick step closer and a moment later lips brush against his own.
His body reacts while his mind is still playing catch-up, wrapping an arm around Tony's shoulders and pulling him closer, returning the kiss, but keeping it chaste and as he steps back he offers a soothing whisper.
“You are not wrong.”
Between one moment and the next Loki, Hugin, and the two cases have vanished, leaving a stunned, and very confused, Tony in the middle of his penthouse, standing silent, brushing his fingers against his lips.
“So... That happened...”
“Not to be the one to say I told you so, but, yeah, I told you so.”
“Hard to miss you know... You've been telling me nothing but all night.”
Yasha had been unusually insistent on telling Tony that he should do something about his obvious attraction to Loki, that he needed to act before Loki returned to Asgard, that he would be regretting it if he didn't.
There had been a near constant stream of teasing encouragement coming from Yasha's tablet, words sent to the nanites to make sure Loki didn't overhear.
”Only way to get you to listen, Antoshka.”
“Not you too!”
Tony instantly latched on to Yasha's choice of words, Antoshka, something Yasha had never called him before, it could be interpreted in more than one way though, one being simply a diminutive form of Anton, derived from Anthony just like Tony.
Tony knew that wasn't the case though, in part because Tosha or Toshka would be the logical choice since those were closer to Tony, but what truly gave it away for what it was, Yasha calling him Anthony, was the obvious teasing tone.
“Aww, poor котенок.”
“Now you're just being mean.”
“Come to me котенок.”
“Nuh uh, not falling for that one.”
Tony was grinning widely but his mind was still occupied with Yasha's choice of words, and language, it was something Tony had noticed after Yasha had stopped speaking English, a quirk of sorts, whenever Yasha called him котенок, kitten, he would speak the rest of the sentence in English.
He had a feeling part of the reason was that Yasha knew just how much Tony loved the way he sounded when he spoke English with that thick Russian accent, the things Yasha's voice and accent did to the English language was downright wicked, in the most lewd of ways, at least to Tony.
Yasha always came across sounding somewhat gruff regardless of what language he spoke, but when he spoke that rather heavily accented English his voice seemed to drop even lower, sending shivers down Tony's spine, and straight to his groin.
Tony knew that Yasha could speak without an accent if he wanted to, and when he did there was no drop in his tone, something Tony had noted also happened when that distinct Brooklyn from the fragments of Bucky broke through.
Yasha didn't like speaking English though, especially not without the Russian accent, he had once told Tony that the Russian accent helped keep the Brooklyn away, and that the Brooklyn terrified him, left him afraid that he was losing himself in the fragments again.
Tony had never been happier for his paranoia pushing him to learn Russian, and a slew of other languages, most of which Yasha spoke as well, the soldier clearly had a strong natural linguistic ability, something that had been taken full advantage of during his time as the Asset.
It made perfect sense though, being fluent in the language of the target location, including dialects, made blending in much easier, and the ability to accurately mix in accents was a damn good way to obfuscate your origins
He recalled when they had been returning from one of their HYDRA raids in Turkey and had stopped by a small family restaurant to get some food and Yasha had chatted with the owner in Kurdish with a British accent.
During the raid however when questioning one of the operatives who also spoke Kurdish, Yasha had spoken it with a distinct German accent.
The sudden touch of metal fingers against his cheek made Tony startle, he had been so deep in his thought he hadn't noticed Yasha moving closer.
“There you are. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, sorry, just got lost there for a bit.”
“So I noticed.”
“Ass...”
“Don't worry, that wasn't rejection.”
For a moment Tony was confused, then he realised that Yasha must be thinking that his trip down the rabbit hole of his mind was related to the way Loki just upped and vanished.
“But he didn't stay...”
“You know just as well as I do that he couldn't, so did he. The mission is too important.”
“...”
“That's why you didn't do anything until the very last moment.”
“Get out of my head.”
“Don't want to.”
Tony huffed at the somewhat petulant reply, then forgot all about it as Yasha leaned in and trailed kisses along his jaw and down his neck.
“I'm willing to share you with Loki 'cause I think he'll be good for you, but you're still mine.”
The words started soft, but ended in a possessive grow that made Tony gasp as his skin exploded into goosebumps and left his entire body tingling.
Tony and Yasha were both viciously possessive, something that Tony had been concerned about at first as he was perfectly aware of his own polyamory, but Yasha had taken it surprisingly well when he had explained it.
He had made it perfectly clear though that he would not share with just anyone, that it would have to be someone that they could both trust, someone worthy and Tony had agreed without hesitation that he would never act on any such feelings unless Yasha agreed.
Loki was still a bit of a gamble, but Yasha had been adamant that Tony should do something to show his interest, even if it was still just that, an interest to see if maybe there was the possibility for more than just an alliance or friendship.
“Always yours.”
Tony's answer was somewhat breathless as he tried to chase Yasha's lips to claim them, but instead of giving him what he wanted Yasha grabbed his chin and shook his head.
“Not this time.”
A moment later Tony was being pushed back, and once Yasha had him pinned against the wall he used his hands and mouth to take him apart.
.·:*¨¨*:· Stepping Into the Light·:*¨¨*:·.
The moment Loki arrives in the well hidden and heavily warded study where he did most of his spellcrafting he curses rather colourfully, startling both Hugin on his shoulder, and Munin napping atop one of the bookshelves.
He felt like a coward, and a bastard, for leaving, or rather fleeing, after having been given such a tempting insight into his little ally, hopes and fears being laid bare to him, a potential weakness laid bare before him with such courage.
However he knew he had to leave while he still could, and he also knew that Tony would be doubting himself despite the reassurance he had offered with his parting words, he would need to find a way to offer further reassurances, and an explanation.
He considered what would be the most suitable way to accomplish the task while setting up the equipment that Tony had given him, unfortunately he wouldn't be able to start working on it right away, there were quite a few meetings he would have to attend.
The meetings were every bit as aggravating as usual, the constant bickering made Loki want to kill something, ideally one of the loud-mouthed idiots, but it did give him ample time to think about what to do about a suitable apology for the way he had left Midgard.
“That is quite enough, we shall continue on the morrow.”
Fortunately no one dared challenge the word of Odin, and before long Loki found himself back in his study, picking through his materials to find what he needed in order to craft the gift he had decided on, a set of dream cuffs.
When worn while sleeping they would allow the wearers to share dreams, careful selection of the materials could further enhance them to allow for more lucid dreams, something that would be useful for Tony and Yasha.
Loki himself had always been a lucid dreamer and was a skilled dreamwalker, a skill his mother had always encouraged him to develop and master, sharing her own dreams with him while he was away from the palace.
He had always believed it was just a ploy to make him agree to dreaming with her while he was away, to reassure her that he, and Thor, were unharmed, but now he found himself doubting that belief, a growing suspicion that she seen something in the tapestry of the Norns.
The Queen had been the strongest vǫlva the Nine had ever seen, the Norns had gifted her with sight and knowledge unlike any other, something that Loki now understood to be as much as a curse as it was a gift, giving her knowledge of possible futures that no one should have to bear.
Remembering his mother's gift brought an unbidden stream of memories to the surface, soft smiles he could now see hiding pain and tears as she wove her seiðr into tapestries of divination, the Norns whispering Prophecy as she worked the loom.
He allowed the memories to wash over him, collecting them like precious gems, tucking them away in the safest corners of his mind, wearing his own magic to protect them before focusing back on the task at hand.
He carefully selected some black hazel from Niflheim to form the core of the spellwork, the power of the realm of mist had a unique ability to draw out dreams, and the black hazel trees of the realm absorbed that power better than any other.
The next item was a soft hide from a white serpent he had killed on Svartalfheim, it would make for a soft lining and a way to secure the cuffs to make sure they wouldn't slip while sleeping.
Finding suitable gems to represent each of them was a far harder task, one he ended up spending the rest of the day, and most of the night on, but it was a task of utmost important, the more fitting they were to the person they were selected to represent the stronger the magic of the cuffs would be
In the end he selected three opals, a bold dragon's breath opal that shifted between reds and blues from Muspelheim for Tony, an unusually clear blue ice opal from Jötunheim for Yasha, and a black opal with a vivid green iridescence from Vanaheim for himself.
Realising that he already had materials from five of the Nine brought another memory of Frigga to Loki's mind and for a moment he could have sworn he felt her presence in the study, something that solidified his decision to add something from the other realms as well.
It held a meaning he wouldn't reveal to his allies, not yet at least, though it may turn out to be a most fitting one, a gift crafted with materials from each of the Nine was a traditional courting gift, one with a strong symbolism tied to it...
In the end he could always claim to have intended it to be a symbol for his dedication to the alliance rather than an actual courtship.
A gift of Nine was symbolic for the suitor's willingness to face the Nine for the one they desired, and the materials chosen carried a symbolism of their own.
Precious metals or stones would represent the suitor's wealth and ability to support a family.
Rare materials that were hard to find or obtain, such as treasure pilfered from dragons, or dwarves, would be proof of their wits and ability to solve problems.
Materials harvested from the bodies of greats beasts to show their courage and prowess as warriors.
He considered what to add while working on the rune circles that would allow him to make copies of the selected gemstones, he would need six each of the opals to create the design he wanted, something that would take a few days, and would drain his magic reserves.
Alfheim was easy as he selected clasps made from elven silver, and after a moment he added Midgardian gold to fill the runes that would be carved into the wood.
Asgard took a while longer, but in the end he decided to use a sliver from the destroyed Bifrost, it would make a suitable centrepiece.
Nidavellir proved a challenge as well as Loki sorted through all the dwarven gems and metals he had without any of them feeling right, then his eyes fell on a small spool of metal thread, Uru, though not native to the Nine it could only be refined at the star-powered forge.
It was an excellent medium for storing and channelling magic, and it was nigh indestructible once the enchantments had been properly set, it would make an excellent material for the settings and making sure the cuffs would not break.
Placing the materials on his desk he started the process of designing his gift, using the holographic display instead of his own magic, and asking Friday for her input, even though the copy housed in the small mainframe wasn't a complete one she still had insight to offer.
“Could you explain the meaning of those runes please? My database here is limited.”
Friday sounded almost embarrassed by her inability to look into the meaning of the runes on her own, but Loki was more than happy to explain while he worked, using it as an opportunity to practice his English.
He could always take control of the Allspeak to make her hear English, but he wanted to gain true mastery of the language, so he practised.
“Of course, this is Svefnthorn to promote restful sleep, and this one is Draumstafir to channel desires through dreams.”
It felt good to have someone to talk to who didn't judge, something he knew he would miss from working in Tony's workshop, and Friday was also a great help with writing the letters that would be sent along with the cuffs, both with explaining his actions to Tony and Yasha, and a manual for the cuffs.
She helped make sure his English was on point, and she offered him several samples of handwriting in styles suited for a quill pen.
Just over a week after his return to Asgard Loki wrapped two of the cuffs into a small package and secured three scrolls to it as well, one for Tony, one for Yasha, and one containing the instructions for how to use the cuffs.
“Hugin, Munin, would you take these to Midgard, to Tony.”
The ravens were more than happy to oblige and Loki breathed a sigh of relief as he ran his finger along the runes of the third cuff.
.·:*¨¨*:· Stepping Into the Light·:*¨¨*:·.
“Boss, we have activity on the bounty situation.”
The bounty had been up for a week when Friday's monitoring paid out.
“What do you have for us baby?”
“Is it Rogers?”
“Of course it is Yasha. He's managed to talk his accords representative into arranging a meeting with the Accords Council, Interpol and a group of UN legal representatives. And you Boss.”
“Of fucking course.”
“He still believes you to be involved in the bounty.”
“What about the others? What do they believe?”
“Barton is eager to paint Boss as the devil, and Lang still hangs on Rogers' every word like a lovesick puppy. Wilson remains a bit more level headed, but he still takes Rogers' words for truth...”
Yasha doesn't miss that Friday doesn't mention what the Black Widow believes.
“And Natalia? Is she so entangled in her own webs that she can no longer see?”
Yasha had recovered most of his Red Room memories which left him somewhat ambivalent about Romanoff, he knew she acted as she had been trained to, but he also knew that she should be a lot better at reading a situation.
She was making choices that would have gotten her killed in the Red Room, she had become weak, and that bothered him, he wasn't entirely sure why, but he remembered admiring her courage and resilience as he trained her and the other girls.
Perhaps Tony had a point when he suggested that he had come to see her as a daughter of sorts, and that what he was feeling now was essentially disappointment in her for having forgotten what she had been taught.
And mixed in with all that was a twisted sense of guilt for having failed to eliminate all trace of weakness from her.
“Based on her enquiries and the contacts she has been trying to get information from she believes HYDRA to be behind this. A last ditch attempt to reacquire the Winter Soldier.”
“But she hasn't mentioned that to Rogers, has she?”
“No Boss, she hasn't.”
“She'll save that for when someone manages to knock it into his head that it's not Tony's doing.”
“That would be a safe assumption based on her record.”
Tony bit down on the lingering pain of betrayal, despite the fact that he had never really trusted her, Romanoff's betrayal was still the one that cut the deepest because he knew that she understood why they needed to get out front with the whole Accords mess.
She knew that their best bet for controlling the outcome was to actively participate from the beginning, to at least appear to agree in order to put themselves into a position from where they could make changes.
Shaking his head with a sigh Tony tried to focus back on the information Friday had just provided.
“Do we have a date and time for this meeting?”
“Not yet, the representative promised to call back by the end of the day for a scheduling update.”
“Wonder if they will bother calling us to clear that...”
“Probably not Boss...”
“What do you guys say we refuse to go if they don't?”
“Sounds like a plan to me Boss.”
“About fucking time...”
As far as Yasha was concerned Tony was being far too tolerant with the various Accords assholes, letting them dictate when and how to meet, especially the fact that they never even attempted to coordinate these meetings with Tony's schedule.
“Don't worry Murder kitten, I won't be letting 'em get away with quite as much shit any more. Needed to solidify my position as being pro-Accords, let them think I'm all compliant.”
“Anyone who'd buy you being compliant is an idiot.”
“Hey! I can pretend!”
“Maybe, but have they checked your history?”
“Okay, I'll give you that one...”
Friday watched the mock bickering continue for a few minutes before the pair settled back down.
“Fri baby, have you heard any more from Raider and his team?”
“Their last contact was 42 hours ago when they reported that the enhanced group that their contact was working with have decided that Yasha is one of them and they will not pursue the bounty.”
They didn't actually know about Yasha though, their opinion was based on the stories about Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier that had been all over the media, Tony had been relieved when Friday started reporting an increasing number of enhanced and mercenaries stating that they would not pursue the bounty.
“There has been some rather interesting chatter on the message boards though.”
“Oh, talk to me baby.”
“An in increasing number of people are starting to question what steps the authorities have taken in order to get in contact with Bucky for answers without exposing his position to HYDRA prior to posting the bounty.”
“And how much of that is your doing?”
“I may have posted the question in a few of them and helped make sure it got exposure...”
“Sneaky girl, I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
“Thank you Yasha.”
“Sneaky indeed sweetie, you are getting good at this.”
“Thank you Boss, I'm learning from the best.”
“Aw, thank you baby.”
“I was talking about Loki.”
“Rude.”
The teasing exchange had Tony grinning like a madman, proud as a peacock, and Yasha offered Friday a pleased grin and a wink at the closest camera as well, but he was distracted, there was something in Tony's reaction that was off.
It only took a few moments to figure it out, Tony had been planning something along the lines of what Friday had done all along.
“This is why you have been taking apart my old arm, isn't it?”
“Yeah, I needed to get a proper feel for it to make a cover for your new arm that will replicate the look and motions of the old one. Sometimes looking at a blueprint, even a full detail holographic one, just doesn't cut it.”
“Sometimes you need to feel, not just see.”
“Yeah.”
Yasha was familiar with what Tony was talking about, though in a much different way, seeing pictures of a target, a location, even if it included detailed video and floor-plans just wasn't the same as walking it yourself.
Same with weapons, it didn't matter how much you knew about the specifications of a weapon, or how many pictures you had seen of it, or even if you had used a different one of the same model before, to truly know it you needed to hold it, feel it.
“Something wrong?”
Yasha was lost in his own thoughts and it took a moment for him to realize that Tony had asked him a question, but before he could answer it Tony's anxiety took the bit and ran with it.
“Sorry, I shouldn't have. The HYDRA arm, I shouldn't... I totally get if you don't want to use anything that even looks like it, Sorry...”
“Ssh, you're rambling.”
“Sorry, I..”
“Don't, you haven't done anything wrong, I was just thinking a bit too hard about feeling versus seeing.”
“Oh... So it's okay?”
“Don't see how it would be any different than using one of the veils.”
“Not the sentimental type huh?”
Yasha just shrugged to that, he didn't care for the arm any more than he did an old weapon that had been replaced with a new, improved model, if it proved to be useful again some time in the future then so be it, and after a moment of hesitation he told Tony as much.
“So you're okay with playing dress up and giving a statement if we can push things that way?”
“It's a sound plan.”
“But are you okay with that? I don't want you to agree to something like this if you're uncomfortable with it just cause it makes a good plan.”
“I know. I don't particularly like it, but it's not that I dislike it either, it's just...”
“Alright, just don't push too hard, okay?”
“Acknowledged.”
Tony levelled Yasha with a mock glare, then turned back to the data Friday was displaying, showing a report on the current trends on various online communities in regards to the bounty.
“I think we're actually in a pretty good position here.”
“So, what's next?”
“We finish up that cover for your arm, record a statement with you telling 'em you'll do your best to answer their questions but won't risk getting caught and ending up in HYDRA's hands again.”
“We'd need to secure a location for making and transmitting the recording.”
“Not really, pretty much any old HYDRA hole should do just fine for the recording, then just use a burner to upload it at some public Wifi spot. By the time they have a location on it you'd be gone and Fri can start spreading stuff.”
“I guess, would have to make sure to get caught on a few cameras when uploading it though.”
“Yeah, that would help.”
“Might as well flip them off then.”
Yasha raised his left and flipped the bird, making Tony laugh and accuse him of being an evil troll.
“Let's take it easy and get that arm sorted while we wait for the pressure to get to enough of our dear politicians for them to convince Interpol to reach out.”
“Boss, if I may.”
“Always baby.”
“I think it would look good if Yasha was to reach out first, give the impression of caring.”
Tony and Yasha both paused and shared a look before nodding in agreement.
“Alright, altered plans, let's get that arm sorted double time. Fri, you find us a suitable dead base to work from.”
“Does it have to be a dead or abandoned one?”
“Not really as long as it's something I could take down on my own...”
“Guess not...”
“Okay Boss, Yasha, I'll start looking.”
.·:*¨¨*:· Stepping Into the Light·:*¨¨*:·.
It took 37 hours to rebuild the old arm into a cover that could be fitted over the new one to make it look and behave like old the one at a cursory inspection, and by the time they were done Friday had lined up a small base outside of Sofia, Bulgaria.
“Alright, you have your little speech memorised?”
“Of course.”
“Alright, be careful.”
“I will.”
The base offered no resistance, the personnel consisting of a computer tech and two low level guards who never even noticed Yasha's approach.
He quickly set up the camera in a small office and changed into the clothes they had grabbed from a thrift shop, then turned the camera on and walked over to the chair, removed the sweater to reveal his arms and sat down.
He carefully kept the mask of weariness in place, a look intended to garner sympathy.
“This should be enough for an introduction.”
He flexed his hand and went through a few of the calibration motions to make the plates shift and recalibrate while adding a slight, tired, smile, showing the image of a haggard, hunted, man who refused to break.
“If you want answers, post your questions to the Interpol website and I'll get back to you.”
He slowly leaned forward over the desk, intentionally letting chill and anger bleed into his posture and expression.
“But I won't let you take me in, not alive. You're still infested by HYDRA and I refuse to let them get their hands on me again.”
With his statement done Yasha turned the camera off and transferred the SD memory card to the USB adapter and plugged it into the base computer and allowed the program that Tony had embedded into it to upload the short video.
He quickly changed back to his usual gear and headed out to his extraction point without looking back.
“Are you okay Yasha?”
“Don't worry Fri, I'll be fine.”
“But you're not fine now.”
“No...”
“Can you tell me why?”
“I don't like being seen.”
“The conditioning.”
“Yeah.”
“I'm sorry...”
“Don't be, it's a good plan.”
“It's not good if it hurts my family!”
“You're such a sweetheart sometimes.”
“Yasha!”
“Sometimes you have to hurt your loved ones to protect them. It's never fun, but it has to be done, do you understand why?”
“The lesser evil?”
“That's right. It sucks, but sometimes it's the only way.”
“I don't like it...”
“Doubt anyone does.”
Yasha settled back in the small single seat stealth craft to try to get some rest on the flight back to New York, but it didn't take long before Friday spoke up again.
“Is that why Father set so many restrictions on me when he activated me?”
Yasha noted that her tone managed to convey a mix of pain and sadness, and knowing the real reason it made him angry.
“A few of them, to make sure what happened with Ultron wouldn't happen to you, keep you from hurting innocents. But most of the stuff to keep you from growing, from learning, was Rogers' demands.”
“I see...”
“He released most of them when he returned with me, didn't he?”
“All of them.”
“Phoenix has really changed you too, hasn't it?”
“Being connected, I'm learning how to feel.”
“You were pretty good at that before too, you even taught me a few things about feelings.”
“You taught me it was okay to feel bad things.”
“Fri, was that really what I taught you?”
The question made her fall silent, but Yasha didn't prod, she would answer when she was done figuring things out, which never took long.
“There are no bad feelings?”
“That's right, feelings aren't bad, what matters is how we act on them.”
“Don't kill assholes for pissing you off?”
“Something like that.”
Yasha huffed and Friday actually snickered at him, knowing full well that he had no qualms about killing someone for pissing him off if the situation allowed for it.
“Do you want to pick up something to eat on the way back?”
“Not today, I just wanna sleep a bit and get back home as fast as possible.”
“Okay, I'll make sure to push it a bit.”
“Thanks Fri.”
It didn't take long for Yasha to fall asleep, his first solo mission had been more stressful than he thought it would be, especially knowing there was a risk that Rogers would try to get to Tony.
“Yasha, it's time to wake up, we will be landing in a few minutes.”
“Thanks Fri.”
“Boss is eagerly waiting for you in the briefing room.”
“We have results already?”
“With a few nudges from yours truly the video went viral in less than an hour.”
“How many?”
“Over 10 million and counting.”
“Damn...”
“Indeed.”
Yasha barely waited for the tiny repulsor craft to land before rushing to the elevator, and down to the briefing room where he was greeted with a downright vicious kiss.
“Missed me that much huh?”
The teasing quip made Tony step back a bit and give Yasha a somewhat heated glare while checking him for injuries.
“Idiot.”
The glare softened into relief once Tony had made sure he wasn't hurt, and the kiss that followed was almost sweet, but it left Yasha on edge, wanting for something more.
“Sorry to interrupt, but Amnesty International just called for a press conference to give a joint statement about the Winter Soldier situation.”
Yasha almost cursed as Tony's attention instantly shifted to the veritable wall of projected screens showing every conceivable scrap of data about how things were developing.
“What can you tell us about it?”
“I can't find any electronic copies of the full statement, but there are several e-mails and messages between the Amnesty press office, legal office and several Veteran's organisations, including the American Ex-Prisoners of War and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. They have also approached experts in areas such as Cult recovery, PTSD assessment, and neurology.”
As she spoke new screens came to life showing the intercepted messages as well as relevant information of the groups and individuals involved, including credentials and publications of the involved doctors.
“Are you cross referencing those against HYDRA files?”
“Of course Yasha.”
Friday's tone carried a distinct feeling of a pout as listed all the solid hits she had found so far as well as a number of references she had flagged as suspicious or needing further confirmation.
“I'm going through all available records of each individual, as well as their families and known associates, including financial and medical.”
“Fri..?”
Tony wasn't entirely happy that she was going through the records of everyone and anyone even remotely associated with the experts in question, especially not something as personal as medical records.
“I know it's intrusive Boss, but I will purge non pertinent information when I'm done.”
“Why the medical records of the associates though?”
Yasha asked the question on Tony's mind, though he had a feeling they both knew the answer already.
“I'm looking for anything that could point at them being compromised, including things like past injuries that could indicate coercion by HYDRA or any of its associated groups.”
“That does make sense.”
“Alright baby, just be really careful with that information. Medical files are some seriously personal stuff, especially in groups like these, a lot of these people have either been through hell, or have friends or family who have.”
“I'm aware. I'm taking maximum precaution with the data. I have also taken the liberty to divert funds from several of the accounts marked for humanitarian and support work to assist where needed. Some of these people are in dire need of financial aid, not only for the excessive cost of their treatments, but many are also unable to work.”
“That's my girl.”
“When this is over...”
The uncharacteristic way that Friday trailed off made Tony frown slightly, worried about the kind of horrors she would find in those files, it was bad enough she had to be exposed to Yasha's past.
“What's the matter baby? Talk to daddy.”
“There are so many here who according to the data I have could be helped by the BARF modifications we made for Yasha...”
“That's been my intent with the system all along, to help people suffering from things like PTSD.”
“When this is over, can I work something similar to raise awareness of what it could do for people?”
“Of course sweetie. If we work this mess right it should make it easy to convince the board to widen the prosthetics projects into a full medical division including mental health projects like BARF.”
Tony smiled as he reached out with the connection forged by Phoenix, brushing feelings of pride and joy against her code and revelling in the stirrings of compassion and sympathy that she echoed back at him.
He also noted that her protective streak felt stronger, and was intertwined with something he recognised from himself, something darker, the ability, and willingness, to do harm I order to protect, but he wasn't really in a position to judge her for that.
He would keep an eye on it though as the scope of her abilities made it a potentially dangerous trait for her to have, but considering the way she was developing compassion and empathy he was fairly confident it would remain under control.
“Tony?”
Yasha gave Tony a gentle nudge when he had been standing silent, eyes closed, for a few minutes and when Tony opened his eyes they were glowing vividly with amber and blue.
“Sorry 'bout that, didn't mean to make you worry.”
“It's okay, Fri deserves to have some personal time with her dad.”
“Sap...”
“Pot, kettle.”
Friday watched as the most important humans in her world continued to mock snipe and bicker while going through the data she was showing them, carefully looking for the true meaning beneath their words, she was still learning about reading between the lines with human behaviour.
She knew the physical signs of irritation and anger, but there were none of those present at the moment, all she could pick up was the usual stress indicators and signs of arousal, though she did note that Yasha's readings showed significantly higher levels.
There was no way for her to tell if the levels were abnormal though as the situation was far from normal, but perhaps she should try to encourage them to work off that tension, but first, they needed to relax a bit and eat...
“I would suggest you get something to eat while we wait for the conference to begin, neither of you have eaten anything in over 10 hours.”
“Alright mom...”
“Anything in particular you want me to order?”
“How about we just get a stack of pizza?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Placing orders.”
They had put a system in place where Friday would order from a few different places, using different accounts, to hide the actual size of the orders, basic groceries were easier as they were ordered via wholesale for the entire tower.
One of the many perks offered to those working at SI was that all of the major facilities, including the tower, offered in-house meals with fully staffed kitchens for a very affordable price, or as in the case of the interns and various volunteers, free.
This meant that a lot of groceries were delivered to the tower, and it was easy for Friday to hide their personal orders with the rest of the deliveries.
She watched as they ate and took careful note of how much each of them ate and did a quick nutritional calculation before ordering an extra delivery of fruits and berries, both fresh and dehydrated, nuts and a selection of jerky as both of them needed extra protein.
“Fri baby, how much longer before that press conference?”
“It's scheduled for 10am tomorrow.”
“About 12 hours to kill then.”
Tony got up and headed toward the elevator to go back to the briefing room but he didn't get very far before he was pinned to the wall rather roughly by Yasha who was outright growling at him to stop moving.
The way the cybernetic hand closed around his throat, tight enough to cut off most of his air, leaving just enough to keep from blacking out, was a good indicator for Yasha's current mood.
Yasha, just like himself, would occasionally get into some rather sexually aggressive moods, before Phoenix he had forced them down, at least when he was feeling dominant, but now he was more willing to act on them.
There was a slight pause where Yasha just kept him pinned and Tony knew he was seeking confirmation that it was okay to proceed, that he would be allowed to be the one to take the dominant position, and Tony really didn't mind.
He answered by reaching out with the nanites and making Yasha's arm tighten its grip further, completely cutting off his air before releasing control back to Yasha who held it until black was swimming at the edge of Tony's vision.
He was dropped rather roughly but quickly settled into a position similar to the one Yasha would take, only he kept his hands on his thighs rather than behind his back, and his gaze down.
He could tell from the tension in Yasha's body that it would most likely end up a rather rough session, but he wasn't worried, he knew Yasha would stop instantly if he wanted him to, even if rendered unable to speak he could signal Friday using the nanites.
Tony did however lament the fact that despite everything, their love, desire, and obvious sexual compatibility, they had never had sex by the more standard definition as Yasha was still too afraid of losing control and hurting him.
They were really good at getting each other off, but sometimes he wanted more, and he knew Yasha did too, but until he felt confident enough in himself there was little Tony could do other than try to help him see that he could control himself.
“I won't be gentle.”
“I know.”
The smile that spread across Yasha's face promised pain, and all sorts of wicked pleasure, setting Tony's senses ablaze.