Chapter Text
When Loki had arrived back on Earth with three Avengers and the Soul Gem and plans to defeat Thanos, he'd had certain priorities for what to get done next. The first was to remove distractions from the minds of his chosen heroes. In the case of Tony and Thor, this meant making sure Earth would be protected if they went offworld. Freeing those who had fought with the Captain was therefore his first task.
Healing Rhodes served a dual purpose - it meant Iron Man would be less distracted, and it introduced the possibility of adding War Machine to their strength. He knew Tony had already spent a great deal of time planning modifications to the grey armor that would make it a true prosthetic, compensating for Rhodey's new level of ability. His new brain-reading technology was a large part of that.
At the same time, he'd assigned Thor to speak to the Hulk, to pool their knowledge about Thanos, his history, his current whereabouts, and his plans.
The next priority would be to get the bearer of the Mind Gem better integrated into their number, and to update him on their plans. Loki had told Rhodey to suggest the idea to Tony that they all move into the Avengers compound, where Vision was. Then, he suggested a weekend off.
The others on his team all had personal matters to attend to, if they were going to be purged of unnecessary distractions. Bruce and Thor, with their lady loves, and Tony, with Vision.
But Tony could not be pushed directly, except by Rhodey, and Rhodey seemed to consider AI a no-fly zone, when it came to asserting his own opinion over Tony's.
Indirectly it would have to be.
For the sake of the world - hell, the galaxy - Tony knew that he needed to come to terms with Vision.
They'd only seen each other in passing since Tony and the others had moved back to the compound two days ago, and it had been stilted.
Tony knew that Vision wasn't JARVIS, he did, Vision's personality was different and his responses were less predictable, but he sounded like JARVIS, and he remembered, and he knew -
It was worse than when he'd sometimes forgotten, early on, that JARVIS wasn't actually Edwin Jarvis. That had kind of been the idea, back then. To forget, sometimes. To ignore reality. To have someone else watching out for him and taking care of all of that.
Rhodey's fall had been a rude awakening, a stark illustration of the fact that Vis wasn't simply the third in a series, the next in a chain of people who watched out for Tony Stark, and who took on the second half of their predecessor's name. After Rhodey, Tony had refused to call him Vis, the way the others did, even though it had been his idea in the first place.
Because Vision had priorities different from Tony's, separate from his well-being; Vision had things he cared about more than Tony Stark.
Which was fine, except that Vision needed to be treated like a new person, he needed to get acquainted with people for his own sake, and every time Tony looked at him, heard him speak, he mourned two losses all over again.
But Rhodey was okay, now, Rhodey was healthy, he was going to be fine, so now, at least, when Tony looked at Vision, he wasn't thinking maybe three.
And now, Tony had more than just Rhodey and the man who'd shot him out of the sky - he had Thor, he had Bruce, he had Loki.
Of course, Thor had stayed in California for a little longer to spend some time with his girlfriends over the weekend, and Bruce was off... figuring a few things out, now that he could see the world differently, so they weren't actually technically moved into the compound yet, but Tony had them. They'd be here if he needed them.
And Loki helped the most, to be honest.
Because Loki was looking out for him. Loki was keeping track. But it was never far from Tony's mind that Loki was fallible, that he could screw up just as badly as Tony ever had, much worse than Vision ever had.
And Tony was learning to be okay with that. With the fact that there was no such thing as a perfect being in this universe. With the fact that everyone up here at the top, everyone with world-cracking power, was broken, in some way. And all they could do was the best they knew how. And trust between them was necessary, but could never be absolute.
Trust was worth the risk. Loki was worth the risk.
Still, hashing things out wasn't something Tony was anxious to do. So instead he and Loki were making out in his office, Tony in his office chair and Loki balanced in his lap, when Vision came in unannounced.
"Oh! Pardon me," Tony heard.
Loki, without lifting his head from where he was nuzzling Tony's neck, very pointedly put up his middle finger.
Tony started to laugh, and then he couldn't stop, just delighted at Loki and the situation.
Loki let out a long-suffering sigh and finally lifted his head, but Tony could tell from the twinkle in his eye that this had pretty much been his intended effect.
"Don't worry about it, V," Tony said, beckoning Vision further into the room. "It's not like you don't have memories of worse."
"That is... very true," Vision admitted.
"So what's up?" Tony asked. Loki adjusted his position until he was sitting sideways across Tony's lap.
"I've been looking into the status of the fugitive Avengers," Vision told him. "Warrants are still active in several countries, although because of the Black Ops nature of their imprisonment by US forces, and their celebrity status in this country, they would most likely be safe to return here, as long as a watch was kept for other such illicit arrests. The exception is Wanda - because she is not a United States citizen, and because of the specific nature of the prior offenses held against her, she would run a significant risk of legal extradition." Vision sighed briefly. "I am still working on it."
"Good," Tony said shortly. "Someone should be. Can't think of anyone better." He cocked his head at Vision. "Of course, you could've just emailed. Probably would've been quicker on your end, actually."
"I... have been concerned for you, Tony," Vision told him. "And I've developed a disconcerting need to see things with my own eyes, rather than by intercepting camera feeds."
Tony squirmed a little in his chair, only Loki's weight on him keeping him from getting up and pacing, or fiddling with his phone. "It's not your job to be concerned about me, V," he said. "And anyway, I'm fine."
"I can see that," Vision said, a hint of softness in his voice. "When I came in - when you laughed - in the records I have access to, your stress levels have not been that low since before Afghanistan." His voice went a little sad as he continued, "I am glad that JARVIS's absence has not impeded that."
Tony sighed, and then, finally, he looked up, caught Vision's eye. "I miss him," Tony said. "No getting around that. J kept me alive, so many times, when I wouldn't have made it otherwise. But he was... he was too perfect for this world, I think. He was always supposed to go, eventually. He was always supposed to be you."
"I'm not sure what you mean," Vision said.
Tony took a breath, then paused. Thought. "For a while, I thought the suits were the cocoon," he said at last. "But the suits, they're what I take out there with me and fight. They're Iron Man. They're me. But JARVIS, he was a cocoon. He protected me. He was too good at his job. And I needed that. For a long time. I needed someone to keep watch, I needed a way to handle the fear. An insulator. It was too much. But now I need to learn to live with the fear."
As if in illustration, Loki ran a thumb up his throat, and Tony shivered.
"I... see," said Vision. "Or, at least, I think I'm beginning to."
"Me too, V," Tony said with a quiet laugh. "Me too."
There was a moment of companionable silence.
"You know what you wish to, Vision," Loki said, speaking directly to him at last. "What do you know of me?"
"I know that the four Avengers whose opinions I hold in highest esteem have all vouched for you," Vision said. "Tony and Thor both have reason to be less than objective when it comes to you, but they have not hesitated to fight you in the past. Colonel Rhodes... his endorsement was more surprising, which makes his argument all the more compelling. The evidence is there, in my records. Slight changes in eye color, analysis of your tactics during the Chitauri invasion... what I know because the Mind Gem knows it. That you were a pawn. That it was used against you. But beyond even all of that... the Hulk has the Soul Gem, and he is very protective of Tony. I have no doubt that if you intended harm to Tony, to any in this world except, perhaps, one Thaddeus Ross, then Hulk would never have allowed you to return here at all."
Loki seemed calm, externally, as he took all this in, but to Tony, he seemed a bit frozen, overwhelmed. Tony held him closer as he took over the conversation again.
"So we're putting together a little task force," Tony told Vision, "seeing as the guy who was pulling Loki's strings is coming back with another army. He wants the Infinity Stones, and we figure as long as we're protecting them from him, we might as well use 'em against him. At least, the ones we already have. So, you're up for it?"
"Every part of me," Vision said, voice a little stilted, "would be glad to face Thanos. The part that you created, to protect Earth. I believe... the gem is anxious to fight beside its siblings again. They feel... they have been apart too long."
"That will be a dangerous factor," Loki told him. "They wish to be wielded. They wish to be held in power. We must plan carefully if we are to avoid...."
"Catastrophe," Vision offered.
"There is no way to avoid that," Loki told him. "Not when it comes to Thanos. But perhaps we might avoid complete and utter devastation."
They shared a solemn look.
"Guys," Tony told them. "Come on. We've got to aim higher than that."
"Of course," Loki said, turning back to him with a slightly wan smile. "Of course we will, my love. And you are a force to be reckoned with, something unique in the universe. Something the likes of which Thanos has never faced. But neither have you faced anything like him."
"That's never stopped me before," Tony reminded him.
"I know. You fight, and you survive. That gives me hope."
"And you've survived this guy. We can do it again. We can do it better."
The two had eyes only for each other. Vision looked on thoughtfully before turning to leave, and going back to his work.