I own absolutely nothing. Inspired by a prompt over at NorseKink~

Tony Stark is many things. He's one of the richest, if not the richest, men in the world. He's a playboy of proportions that could potentially make Hugh Heffner jealous. He's a genius of nearly unparalleled intellect. He'd successfully privatized world peace at one point. He's developed the worlds first and only clean energy source. He's Iron Man and works along side some of the greatest, if not the greatest, heroes in the world including a Norse God. It's safe to say that it takes a lot to surprise Tony Stark.

Storming HYRDA's newest base of operations isn't a surprise, neither are the young men serving as the newest cronies. What is a surprise is when the hall around them begins to evaporate, which would have been bad enough if they weren't underground. But no dirt begins to rain down on them, not as a bone chilling cold rolls over them and Thor bristles knowingly.

"Be wary my friends." The Thunderer warns gravely, his grip on Molnijr tightening as he raises the hammer defensively. "These are the icy winds of Jotenheim."

No one is thrilled by the announcement, each of them tensing and ready for whatever frost giant is going to come at them, they've all heard enough of Thor's drunken tales of home to know that if a Jotun is coming for them the battle will be long and bloody. But what appears at the end of the hall, enveloped in a storm of chaos and cold rageisn't one of the blue giants that the god has rambled about so many times.

Tony swallows hard as Loki takes a step towards them, one of his hands holding the ankle of a young man, dragging him along like a broken doll. And how broken he is, judging from the deep, bloody streak he leaves with each slow step the trickster takes, and how desperately Tony is trying to ignore the way that it's just fucking disappearingbehind him like the building around them.

"Brother?" Thor booms in surprise and Tony wishes that he would shut up. They've all seen Loki angry, each of them has been at the brunt of it at least once, but none of them have ever seen him like this. Not this cold, not so deceptively calm that it makes even Steve shudder a little and when the god turns those sharp green eyes to Tony he suddenly feels so very small and young. He feels as if Loki is looking through the suit straight into him, like those ageless eyes are going to tease his soul from his body and then crush it, just to prove that he can.

"Brother, what is this madness?" Thor demands and Tony isn't sure whether he wants to weep in relief to have the tricksters attention drawn away from himself or if he wants to hit the Thunderer and drag him off. Every alarm in his head is screaming, demanding that he run, that he flee this dangerous creature that is staring at god like he's nothing more than a toy to play with until it breaks and thrown away.

It takes a moment for Tony's brain to catch up, to analyze the scene before him, and really, it should not have taken nearly so long for him to realize that the God of Mischief and Lies is all but naked before them, with only a few scraps of leather clinging to him and it does absolutely nothing to preserve Loki's modesty. He's holding the HYDRA agent in one hand but the other is curled tight around a scrap of metal, twisted and warped in his fist with a little light still blinking feebly in the storm of magic and rage that is still eating away at their surroundings.

When Loki looks at them, fully gives them his attention, his eyes are no longer green, but white, pure energy and madness roiling off the god. He doesn't even open his mouth and Tony feels something in his brain break when Loki's voice echoes in his head. "Run little mortal."

Just like that he's gone, taking off out of the base and his sensors are telling him Clint isn't far behind, the archer favoring distance over close ranged fighting and no doubt he remembers enough of his first encounter with the mad god well enough that he does not want to stick around any longer. Steve and Natasha last half a second longer than either he or Clint did before they also make a break for it.

There's no dramatic explosion behind them, no implosion of dirt and wind and dangerous chemicals. The building just ceases to be. One moment it's there and the next it's gone and so is the landscape that had surrounded it, the mountain that had been hiding it now sheared cleanly into a plateau. Thor is still there, staring at his brother in what Tony assumes is sadness and between one blink and the next Loki is just gone, like the building, like the mountain, he's just no longer there with no fanfare or warning. The body is still there though, left on the stones like it just wasn't worth being taken any further.

When they get back to the tower no one speaks, the trip back had been equally silent, no one knows what to make of what had happened, a routine event had turned into something completely unexpected. Even Thor seems unnerved by it.

This is a side of Loki none of the mortal Avengers had seen before. Sure they've seen the trickster stand toe to toe with the Hulk once or twice but he'd never come out of those situations the victor. After what they'd just borne witness to though, it give Tony the feeling that the god has been playing with them the entire time, like he could have swatted them out of his way long ago if he'd really wanted to but instead they had amused him and so he had let them stay to watch his toys dance a little longer before he finally broke them.

It's hours before any speaks, and it's no surprise when it's Thor that starts them off.

"Something troubles my brother." He announces and Tony is fighting the urge to roll his eyes unsuccessfully.

"Really, big guy?" He demands incredulously as he gets up to fix himself another drink. "What was your first hint? When he made a building disappear? Or when he was dragging around a dead body like a little girl with her favorite doll? Maybe it was when he cut off the top of a mountain, that was my favorite part!" Tony will firmly deny there's something hysterical creeping into his voice, and if there is, well, it's the scotches fault because he hasn't stopped drinking since they got back and he's not planning on stopping until his body forces him to.

Thor is frowning deeply at him and Tony will be damned if he's going to apologize because he's more than a few sheets to the wind by now and fuck, he almost got killed by a god today, may as well go two-for-two and make it a matching set. "I have not seen my brother in such a state since the death of his son." The words are heavy and quiet, and shit if they don't terrify Tony. Because if it takes his kid getting killed to make Loki go that nuts he sure as hell doesn't want to know what HYDRA did to him.

He wants to comment, but something in the back of his mouth tastes suspiciously like bile and scotch and Thor is opening his mouth to continue, to explain further. Tony isn't sure he really wants to know any more than he already does and is thankful when a pale hand seizes the Thunderer's jaw and forces it shut. Too bad that pale hand is connected to one God of Mischief.