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The stars of Asgard, Loki once tells him, can be seen during night and day.
Tony looks up at his own clear sky, where the stars are obscured by Earth's own bright lights. One day, he says, one day I'll take you to the stars.
Loki smiles.
* * * * *
They are under siege, and they are losing.
The Chitauri are back with many more Hives and portals, and one missile is not enough to destroy them all. Cities all over the world have been razed to the ground - London, Tokyo, Berlin, Copenhagen, Moscow - Manhattan is left standing, but only barely. Tony hits the machine one more time out of pure frustration - he is sending the distress signal to whoever is left to receive it, but everyone is fighting their own battle or have already lost. Even the villains have been decimated - Thanos does not care for alliances, only his Mistress.
He closes his eyes and calculates their odds once more, JARVIS is out of commission to do it for him. Thor is back in Asgard, pleading for help from his Father. Bruce is in India when he was ambushed, and is probably fighting it out, that tough bugger, he. Natasha and Clint are outside dealing with waves after waves of Chitauri, but Clint is at a disadvantage with his arrows running dangerously low. Tony would have fashioned him some out of scrap iron if not for the delicate balance arrows require, and even the great Hawkeye is unable to shoot straight if the arrow cannot.
Tony is unable to join the fray alongside the good Captain America - they had cut the first generator for Stark Tower, and its backup is barely enough to hold together its defences. The Iron Man suit piles in a corner, useless without an energy supply that Tony had exhausted over and over - he would have repaired it too, but Steve had insisted for him to send the distress signal. He can handle it, he says, so here Tony is, sitting on his ass doing nothing worthwhile at all.
Their odds are low. But surely they can make it, they are relying on Thor, on the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, anyone at all.
"I received your distress signal," someone says, "I apologise for my tardiness."
He opens his eyes he was not aware he had closed and there Loki stands, hair dishevelled and slightly bloody. He had seen neither hide nor hair of him ever since the Siege, and Tony had almost thought that Loki was yet again the cause of this mess until Thor grimly reassured him that the Chitauri are also after Loki's blood for his failure and his turncoat ways. Tony gets up, striding over to him, "what took you so long," and Loki offers him a weary smile.
"I had some business with the other Hives," he flexes his fingers and Loki is Loki once more, appearance impeccable and perfect. "I'm afraid you won't be hearing from them anytime soon." This is Loki's way of saying 'I did this for myself, don't you dare thank me' but Tony does anyway by laughing.
"You better have some of that magic left for this one," he looks up at the ceiling where the portal looms directly above them. Loki merely nods.
"I do," he says, and he winks out of existence.
* * * * *
It is a week, and they are barely holding on.
Tony still fiddles with the machine and his armour when he thinks Steve is not looking. Thor is not back, and at this rate Tony almost thinks he never will be. Why defend Earth when there is Asgard to care for? There is bitterness on his tongue which he swallows down, because Thor is not like that, Thor will never abandon them. Steve has not given up yet, he cannot let the old geezer out perform him.
There is a flash of green and someone lands in front of him in a crumpled heap. Tony jerks back, holding out a wrench for good measure until the groan alerts him that this is Loki, and there is more blood than there should be. He quickly crouches down and moves him into a suitable position, assessing what he can see under the back up power's soft blue light.
"Stark," Loki rasps, and suddenly Yinsen is there and smiling at him and no .
"You look like Thanos wants to marry you," Tony says instead. He is calm, far too calm, and he wonders how. Loki draws in a ragged breath, a mockey of a laugh; then spits out something that smelled vaguely like blood.
"I'll be sure to invite you to our wedding then," and Loki says this after a good ten minutes or so.
"Can you heal yourself?"
Yes.
"No. I require assistance, and soon."
His eyes are tired, pale green and Tony realises that Loki had overused his magic, and surely that was a miscalculation when he said 'I do' and now the cost is taking its toll on his body.
"I lied, Stark," he is now saying, "I did not have enough. But you must understand, I always repay my debts." He looks at Tony, and Tony nods, go on . "To the Man of Spiders, and to Victor."
To you.
Loki's hand lands on his arm, light and warm. His fingers curl above Tony's elbow, and Tony shifts closer, as if he is protecting Loki from anyone and everyone else. His eyes are now half-lidded, like as if he would drop off to sleep any moment now, and Tony can pretend that the blood on the side of his head is not smeared onto both of their skins, marking, he is dying, about to die .
"I'll see you soon," Loki is now murmuring. A half-contented smile plays about his face, and the bastard is content to die, really.
"Yeah, when you wake up to my face in the hospital ward. Hold on, Reindeer Games. Your brother should come anytime now."
* * * * *
Thor comes too late.
Loki's grip tightens, falters, and drops away.
* * * * *
It is six months later, and the Chitauri are defeated.
With the Hive above New York destroyed, the Avengers quickly move onto other portals, assisting fellow superheroes and the occasional super villain. Iron Man Mark VII is back in action, JARVIS directing him quickly and efficiently. They face Thanos at the very last portal, the combined forces of Earth's superheroes and the vengeful supervillain. It is a hard-earned success.
I'll see you soon, Loki says again in his head. I'll see you soon.
Tony wonders.
The streets of Paris are mostly untouched, whether due to the French's extraordinary luck or otherwise Tony is unsure. Life here is mostly the same as before for the locals, and business is booming with the surge in tourism, those who wants to escape the ravages and reminders back from wherever they hailed from, those who want to pretend. Tony is one of them.
Loki's body had been prised gently from his grasp as Thor's tear-stained face whispers to his fallen brother. Tony did not listen to the words of love, pleases and sorrys, watching blankly as they took Loki back to Asgard and Thor took to the skies, carving his bloody revenge into the ranks of the Chitauri. Tony Stark does not cry.
Pepper and Rhodey had stood before him, had offered him a tight hug, and Tony tells himself, Tony Stark does not cry.
I'll see you soon.
As Tony turns around to return to his hotel, to return back to New York where the Avenger's Tower still stood tall in the rebuilding Manhattan, he misses the crowd gathering about a child performing the deftest of magic tricks. He misses the smirk, the tilt of the head, the deception about to occur.
I'll see you soon. The child flashes his cards for all to see. I'll see you soon.
(And they'll meet again.)
* * * * *
The stars of Asgard, Loki says again, are much brighter than your Midgardian lights.
You haven't seen them up close, Tony throws back at him. Just wait until you see it.
Is that a promise?
Yes.