Chapter 9

When Loki finally woke up it was the following day; the sun was setting. Pulling one of the pelts around him, Loki ventured out of his room. It felt cold in the tower as Loki walked the entire floor looking for Tony.
"JARVIS I need some more coffee." Tony stared at his work wide eyed before going around to the other side of the table to check some stats. He felt better now. Who knew all he needed was to stay up all night working?
"Of course. De-cafe?"
"Oh no, leave that bad boy in there." Tony switched a few numbers around on the computer, watching as everything changed before going back to the new creation on the table.  
Having no luck in finding Tony, Loki ventured down to the labs, staying hidden as he saw Tony wide awake and working. He saw the slight shake in his hands; too much of his beloved coffee.
"JARVIS start up the reactors." Tony buzzed from one table to the next before stopping and pressing some buttons on his computers.
"Yes sir. Initiating Reactors, stabilizing at 10%."
"Keep going JARVIS." The brunette quickly put on his goggles and gloves and went over to a large metal container in the middle of the room. He watched as an intense yellow light began to pour out of the gaps.
"40%."
Loki watched Tony move from one spot to the next. Not having a clear view of what the brown eyed man was doing, Loki moved to another window where the lighting was better as he watched. He always did enjoy watching Tony work. How he would start talking about an invention and set out to make it real.
"Please don't let that thing explode." Loki preyed it wouldn't. He knew the glass of the lab could handle anything and he was safe on the other side of it. Perhaps he should call Doctor Banner just in case.
"75%"
Tony felt his blood rush as the percentage rose, the glow before him intensifying. For as smart as he was, it seemed his best ideas came to him when he was exhausted. Exhausted and buzzed. The brunette moved some more things around on his screens then went back over to the metal container.
"90%"
"Please don't explode."
"100%. Stabilizing."
Tony let go of a breath then grinned wide as the intense glow began to die down. He grabbed some other devices and began taking further notes before opening the metal container. Within it sat what looked like the Tessaract but it glowed yellow instead of blue.
"I am a fucking genius."
"All stats stable. Will you be testing it Sir?"
"JARVIS, double check the numbers and make sure the energy waves are continuous."
"Of course Sir."
Loki took the long way back to one of the higher levels. Finding himself in the kitchen he tried to figure out if he was hungry or not. Deciding not, he wandered about until he came to the library.  With a snap of his fingers the fire was burning as He picked up the baby naming book and looked at the list he had made.
"Yet another dream failed."  On that note he threw the book and the list into the fire.
Was it healthy to shake so much? He was just excited, that was it. Tony began running test after test on the square energy block. It certainly didn't come close to what Tony had modeled it from, but it was powerful, at least strong enough to provide energy to the city on its own.
"JARVIS!"
"Yes sir?"
"Continue the tests, I'm going to eat!" Tony grinned and stepped out of his lab, groaning at the sudden burst of natural light. He rubbed his eyes as he walked into the kitchen and the fatigue started clawing at him. His eyes hurt and his head throbbed. But he was so close to something great. Again. Like always. The playboy reached for a soda and downed the entire drink in one gulp.  
Loki hid in the shadows as he watched Tony get something to eat. The man looked rough and sure to pass out any minute.
"I thought you said you were done building weapons?" He didn't come out of hiding.
Tony nearly jumped out of his skin and looked back, his eyes red from exhaustion.
"Babe! Now, I'm not working on weapons. Well, not technically. This, no this is energy, raw, powerful energy. All we would need is one of these little cubes and bam! Power for entire cities! No more coal, no more oil. No more emissions! I am a fucking god!" He grinned, not really sure what he was saying. But at least he wasn't slurring. Tony gobbled down his sandwich and grabbed another soda. His hands trembled and he almost couldn't get the drink open. "I thought, you know, the Tessaract was powerful as hell. I mean powerful. And when you tried to mind control me, it left traces of that energy signature in my reactor. So I copied what was left and started building from there."
Loki knew this was lack of sleep and far too much coffee in the man's system. He'd asked Jarvis how long he'd been working on the machine: somewhere after the 36 cup of coffee.
"You need to sleep. You are not thinking straight." Loki was done with the Tessaract. He wanted nothing more to do with the glowing cube.
"I am thinking just fine! Look at me!" Tony held out his arms and turned, nearly tripping over the couch before trying to go back to his lab. "Now! If I'm right about this, then my little experiment should be ready for use in just a few weeks. I'll start small, probably powering the tower with it. Then the city! Just imagine how that would....?" Tony reached his lab but the doors wouldn't open.
"JARVIS! Open the door!"
"So sorry sir, but Mr. Laufeyson/Odinson has instructed me to keep you out until you've rested."
"JARVIS! I will reprogram you with Hulk's voice!" He tried to pry the doors open, but they wouldn't give. After all, that was kind of the reason he made the doors so strong to begin with. "JARVIS!"
Loki had asked Jarvis for something to hit Tony over the head with that wouldn't leave any lasting damage.
"May I suggest the skillet Sir? And quickly please Mr. Stark is threatening to make me sound like the Hulk. I'd rather not."
Loki came up behind Tony as he was still ranting about how his AI had turned against him.
"Sorry Anthony." Loki cracked him in the back of the head making Tony drop like a rock.
"He'll be fine Sir."
Loki gathered Tony in his arms and carried him up to bed.
Tony groaned and complained in his sleep, his mind a mess of equations and nightmares. What scared him the most was not knowing if he was asleep or stuck in some horrible place. He'd heard stories before of other worlds that were as close to hell as one could get. What if that's where he was? The brunette felt himself walking down an endless hall way, his arc reactor slowly losing its brilliant blue light until he reached the end. There was a door there, with only one word etched into it. ETERNAL. He reached out and opened the door when he felt something hollow in his chest. Tony looked down, and saw the arc reactor was gone. 'Oh. I think I need that...'
He groaned a few more times, his skin feverish as he continued to dream. Tony gripped at his blankets, mumbling something incoherent under his breath. The only real downside to his mad bursts of genius was the intense nightmares he had afterwards. Exhaustion is a powerful thing.  
"Anthony, wake up." Loki whispered. "It is only a nightmare. It is not real, Anthony." Loki called to the man. He’d been kicked awake by his lover as the man started shouting and screaming in his sleep, thrashing about wildly. Loki couldn't wake the man from his feverish dreams and frowned.
"Forgive me for this." He slapped Tony hard across the face waking the inventor up.
"Ah!?" Tony jumped up, his heart racing. He looked at Loki wide-eyed, blinking in confusion for a moment before speaking. "You're not a reindeer?" He gasped and looked between his legs before sighing out relieved. "Oh thank God!" The brunette fell back against his pillows, his hands over his face. "You don't want to know what I dreamed, but I'll tell you anyway. You turned into a reindeer and bit my dick off. Then you kept calling me Howard and JARVIS was a French maid!"
"Might I recommend therapy, sir?" JARVIS spoke up upon hearing his name.  
"I'm not going anywhere near the subject." Loki stated flopping back over to his side of the bed and curling up. "Jarvis dim the lights again please."
"Of course Sir." the room was plunged in darkness.
Loki dragged the fur pelt over himself disappearing under its bulkiness.
Tony stared at Loki, wanting to snuggle up to the god. Of course, after his little tantrum earlier, he wasn't sure how well he'd be received. The brunette bit the inside of his cheek in thought and sighed heavily. "I don't know if you can hear me but I'm sorry. I'd be happy to meet the rest of your family. I was just scared because...." He paused, not trusting his voice to stay steady. "I thought if you went back home, you wouldn't want to come back here with me. Your parents are there, Thor is there, and your sons are there. I don't want you to decide you're better off back home and just leave." He spoke softly; both hoping Loki could hear him and hoping he couldn't. If there was one thing he hated, it was getting mushy, or as Loki referred to it 'acting human'.
Loki shifted under the fur so he was face Tony and pulled it down just enough to look at him.
"If I didn't want to stay here I would have left when I got my powers back. I wouldn't have let you meet my children. Or even consider having them with you. I wouldn't have stayed if I didn't love you. Home doesn't seem like home unless you're there."
Tony looked at Loki then grinned.
"Heh! I'm starting to wonder if you didn't accidentally mind-control yourself into loving me." The playboy lay down next to Loki and took in a deep breath. "You smell nice." He smiled and closed his eyes. "Now, my memory's kinda fuzzy, but did I mention anything about JARVIS and the Hulk?"  
"You did threaten him with a voice change. I saved him of course."
"Thank you again Sir. Your new books are on the way."
Loki chuckled. "You're smelling Fenrir. I took this off his bed after I slept on the roof."
"Mm, no I'm talking about your smell." Tony leaned closer until he was against Loki's neck. "If I could make cologne out of it I would. It'd be called 'Kneel'." The brunette chuckled and started slurring slightly as he began to drift to sleep. "An' the bottle would be green, and tall and slender. Kinda like you. An' it would feel cold. And nobody would...be able to....buy it." Tony passed against Loki's shoulder, his hair in his face.  
Loki wasn't in the mood for being intimate. He was tired and his body hurt. It shouldn't have hurt but it did. The last few days had done that to him. Make him both physically and emotionally drained and he was spent.  
Tony snored lightly as he slept and eventually rolled over when his shoulder began to hurt. He sighed deeply, his dreams much more calm now.
"Sir?"
Oh no, not now. Tony woke up but kept his eyes shut; hoping JARVIS would take the hint. Considering he was just a voice however, he doubted that would happen.
"Sir."
"Mmrgh."
"Sir, I hate to interrupt, but the tests in the lab have completed and you need to shut them down."
The brunette groaned and got up before stumbling into his lab. He didn't remember making most of the mess he saw, but he was glad that he hadn't dreamt it all up.
Loki had woken up at the sound of Jarvis calling to Tony. He just hoped Tony wouldn't continue with what he had started. Loki counted the seconds in his head waiting for Tony to come back. Just as he was about to go retrieve the man Tony entered the room again.
"Make a note: call Bruce, don't call Fury, return Steve's message. Also get me in touch with the city council and the US Secretary of Defense in the morning. I need all the stats organized." Tony flopped over on his bed with a groan and rubbed his temples. "Call Pepper, see if she can get me a meeting with the mayor."
"Anything else sir?"
"Don't wake me up for anything unless it's important. And by important I mean when I decide to wake up." Tony pulled his pillow close and sighed out. His head hurt. Especially near the back, but he couldn't figure out why. It almost felt as if he'd been hit with something.  
"I'm sorry I hit you." Loki suddenly said. He did feel bad for hitting Tony over the head but the man was scaring him slightly. The shake in his hands and glint in his eyes reminded Loki of himself when he'd gotten his hands on the Tessaract. Loki shuffled closer a bit just enough to hold Tony's hand in his own.
He wasn't sure if he was dreaming, but Tony smiled a bit as he heard Loki's voice. It sounded distant, but he liked it.
"Mmf, sskay. I drn't...drn't care...." Tony rubbed his thumb across Loki's hand and yawned loudly.
Loki fell asleep after Tony did. He listened to the sounds of his lover’s breathing. He could hear the hum of the reactor.
What time was it? Tony sighed in his sleep and turned over, his face buried into a pillow. He'd wake up eventually. The playboy felt something cold in his hand and smiled a bit to himself.
Loki was fast asleep next to Tony, features soft and carefree and peaceful as he slept.
A single ray of light hit Tony in the face and he buried his face further into his pillow, trying to ignore it. Unfortunately, for as much as he wanted to stay in bed, he was already awake. He let go of a defeated breath and opened his eyes. Loki was asleep next to him, and the playboy stayed put for a good while. If anybody had seen Loki like this sooner, he was pretty sure they wouldn't have spent so long considering him an enemy.  
Loki felt an arm wrap around him pulling him closer. He reacted before his eyes were even open, pushing away the other form only to open his eyes and find he was pushing away Anthony.
"Sorry. Umm, I'll let you sleep." Tony bit his inner lip and sat up on the bed. It wasn't like this was necessarily new. Loki wasn't exactly one to get as 'emotionally malleable' as he would, whatever that meant. The brunette stretched and shook his head before reaching for some clean clothes. Oh well, if he was awake he might as well get ready for the meeting's he'd stupidly set up for the day.