A/N: It's been a very long time since I updated this story, so long in fact that I've graduated from my undergraduate degree and have just finished my Master's too. My sincerest apologies for not having written any new chapters in so long. It's not that I haven't wanted to continue my stories, but finding time between writing multiple assignments, juggling part-time jobs, doing extra-curricular stuff, and hunting for full-time jobs has made it difficult to fit anything else in. But I handed in my dissertation last week (15,700 words later) and have now finished my MA degree, although thankfully I'm still a student for a little longer. And now that it's all done, I've found myself with much more free time, so I'm getting back to writing. Some of my other stories I want to update and finish (like Uniting Hearts), but others I may take down as my interests have changed since I began them, and I have lots of new ideas I really want to start writing instead. So for now, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter of this story, and hope you don't despise me too much for making you wait so long. ;)

Chapter Six – Tony (Part II)

As Tony stared at the blonde God before him, the only thought he could form was, What have they done to you?

Thor was kneeling in the centre of the room, his head bowed forward in an uncharacteristically passive gesture. Strands of hair had cascaded from his ponytail to veil his face, but could not completely obscure the grimace of pain written there.

Both arms were wrenched above his head, each wrist encased in some sort of steel manacle that glowed with an eerie blue light and electronic wires. Whatever sort of technology these people were using, Tony was willing to bet it wasn't legal. And perhaps not even truly theirs.

The manacles were attached to chains that rose up towards the ceiling and connected to a beam there. Chains also tethered him to the floor and Tony was horrified to see that some of them ended in spikes that were embedded in Thor's flesh. Blood sluggishly seeped from each wound and the engineer felt his breath catch. This was bad.

Worse yet were the narrow tubes and wires running into numerous veins in the God's body. Several appeared to be pumping him with sedatives, but others seemed to be measuring reactions. Reactions to the metal device that was embedded in his upper chest, right below his heart.

Tony felt sick. It was like seeing a horrendous inverse version of the arc reactor, and he was reminded all to vividly of waking up for the first time and feeling something metal in his chest that shouldn't have been there.

"Thor…", he whispered, but even if the Asgardian had been lucid enough to notice his arrival, his words were drowned out by the other soldiers speaking.

"We found this one trying to escape through the north wing, managed to break out of the containment room Commander."

"What do you want us to do with him sir?"

The first voice came from a woman on his right, the second from a man on his left.

The man they were addressing stood in the centre of the room, too close to Thor for Tony's liking. He had his back to them, arms clasped behind his back, but turned to glance over as the voices reached him.

A cold sweat coated Tony's spine. It was the man from earlier who had attempted to get information out of him. Rather brutally.

The officers that gripped each of Tony's arms, seeing their Commander turn his attention on them, threw the billionaire to his knees in front of them as a show of allegiance. Privately Tony didn't know what this accomplished, other than giving him additional bruises, but he was inwardly grateful as it brought him another few paces closer to Thor.

From this level he scrutinised the Asgardian further. The God's eyes were half open but hazy and dulled. The normally piercing blue irises had been reduced to a blurred grey, like a clear sky being covered by ashen clouds. He could also see the metal device better from this closer angle. Oblong in shape, it had four bars of light on the front and two wires running out of each end that trailed across the floor. Tony tracked them with his eyes until they met up with a circuit board further across the room, and several soldiers standing beside it.

Before his mind could make the connection, he realised the Commander was walking towards him. He stopped just in front of Tony, towering over him from his kneeling position.

"You're rather resourceful aren't you? I'd be fascinated to know how you escaped the room you were in?" There was a smooth calmness to the man's voice that immediately signalled danger to Tony, who knew he shouldn't answer. And yet:

"Simple matter of a manufacturing flaw really. Not a particularly fascinating story at all, especially since it makes you look bad and me look good."

It was not the Commander who lashed out, as he'd expected, but one of the soldiers behind him who struck him hard in the head. With his hands cuffed behind his back he had no way of stopping himself as he sprawled on the floor. His head hit the ground, adding to the already-painful concussion and making him momentarily see stars. Rough hands dragged him back to a kneeling position, where the Commander stood impassively over him.

"I see my lessons from earlier did nothing to curb your sharp tongue."

"I think you're confusing lessons with torture."

The Commander spread his hands wide, his mouth curving upwards. "Semantics, semantics. Is the purpose of both not to impart discipline?"

"Not when the one bestowing it doesn't permit the punishment to match the crime."

This earned him another blow from behind, but when he was set back on his knees a second time, the Commander was smirking.

"You're a glutton for punishment."

"Not really", Tony panted "your guys just seem to delight in giving it out at the slightest thing."

"My people are very good at what they do, including giving lessons to those who don't appreciate the hierarchies of power." He paused, eyeing the engineer keenly. "Your friend here didn't appreciate the hierarchies of power either. He was most resistant when we took him. But as you can see, he's agreeably compliant now."

"What have you done to him?" Tony snapped, all verbal sparring and sarcasm gone.

"As I'm sure you gathered from our earlier conversation, he rather inconveniently left the artefact we're interested in behind and refused to call for it. So we had to make our own arrangements to bring it here. It's a beacon and channel for lightning you see, so we're testing to see if heightened amounts of electricity within its master's body will call it here." He waved a hand lazily towards Thor, looking almost bored. "Or if that fails, we'll push his limit for pain until he yields and summons it – willingly or not."

Tony felt as though sharpened shards of iron were lancing through his bloodstream. The device attached to Thor's chest was an electrical charge. They were torturing him with a form of his own power.

The impulsive recklessness in Tony almost won out, and he came all too close to exploding forwards and attacking the Commander, but he bit down sharply on his tongue, drawing blood in an attempt to clear his head.

He had no weapons, and would not be able to save Thor when the time came if he compromised the current situation, which was balancing on a feather's edge as it was. He needed to buy them time - hopefully somehow Fury and the other Avengers would have worked out where they were by now. He'd implanted his suit with a tracking device for emergencies such as this, but the suit was nowhere on board. He only hoped Thor had a similar device on him.

"What do you want from him?" He demanded quietly of the Commander.

"For someone reported to be a genius, your mind moves slowly."

"Sorry, bloodloss tends to do that."

"In any case", the Commander carried on ignoring the jibe, "our earlier chat will have alerted you to the fact that we are interested in the hammer, but further than that our plans do not concern you."

"They do when they involve torturing my friend."

The Commander's eyes bored into his own. "Your fortitude is impressive. Perhaps as a reward I will show you the torture you so desperately seek to stop."

He nodded to the soldier at the control panel across the room, who stood to attention before leaning over the panel.

"Wait!" Tony gasped, surging forward in an attempt to prevent the inevitable, but it was already too late.

The panel hummed louder and the device embedded in Thor's chest lit up, an iridescent blue, as it poured thousands upon thousands of volts of electricity into his body.

Thor's figure jerked upright and began to writhe rigidly as the energy that wasn't his own sang its way through his veins. The Asgardian cried out in pain, an agonising sound that Tony had only heard from him once before, and that jolted him right to the core.

After a minute of watching a scene that would be forever etched in to Tony's mind, the Commander made a signal and the electricity stopped. Thor slumped against his restraints, his eyes closed in pain, and his breathing so ragged that Tony didn't know if he was getting any oxygen at all. His wounds trickled fresh blood from the sudden movements; the skin around the device steadily dripped beads of crimson, adding to the puddle on the floor.

"Quite the sight to behold." The Commander said, his eyes roving over Thor with calculated interest.

"You…" Tony was almost lost for words. Almost. "You son of a bitch." He snarled with venom. "You're killing him. His physiology is different to that of humans, you have no idea what this could be doing to him. And the hammer answers to him alone, you can't force it here with some falsified attempt at electrical resonance. You should stop now and get out of here, because if you're still here when the rest of the Avengers show up you won't make it out with your life."

Tony's outburst had started off as a shout, but his voice was dangerously quiet by the final few words. The Commander, however, seemed nonplussed by his threat.

He stared at Tony for a heartbeat longer before turning to the soldier at the control panel.

"How many volts?"

"650,000, sir."

"Add another hundred thousand."

"Yes sir."

The Commander turned back to Tony.

"His physiology and affinity for lightning mean the amount of electricity that would normally kill a human has little effect on him. This coupled with his advanced healing capabilities mean we've had to move things along a little."

Before Tony could do anything another barrage hit Thor. This one seemed to last longer than the previous, and it was all the genius could do not to look away. The God's body was thrashing so violently that the metal spikes embedded in his body pushed further into each wound. By the time the Asgardian slumped forwards again, the metal manacles around his wrists were smoking lightly from where they had burned his flesh.

The Commander signalled for another round, and this time Tony yelled at him to stop. Yelled with all his might, but he was drowned out by the louder, tormented cries of another.

The billionaire leapt to his feet, determined to do something this time, but was restrained by the soldiers behind him before he'd managed to take even two steps.

He stared down the Commander, eyes raging and desperate, but the other man was watching Thor intently for any signs of a new reaction. Any signs of the hammer. His gaze was impassive, uncaring, and cold. Tony was struck by the realisation that he himself had nothing to bargain with, so the Commander doing this for information. He was making Tony watch this either as a punishment, or out of his own nauseating sense of amusement. The engineer couldn't decide which was worse.

The electricity stopped again for a brief pause and Tony make out a line of blood running from Thor's mouth. He had to do something, now.

As the soldier upped the volts and restarted the machine, Tony stilled. The lock pick. It was still in his pocket. It seemed but a hapless dream to imagine that he could use something so insignificant as a route out of here, but he didn't have any other choice. Thor was going to die if he didn't act now.

While the machine, still pumping electricity, created a cover of noise, Tony thrashed in his captors' grip, hoping to make it seem like he was trying to escape. As his struggles became more frenzied, another soldier grabbed hold of him to restrain his efforts. Eventually the three of them got him under control, but the engineer had what he needed gripped in his left fist.

He remained quiet as the torture continued, hoping not to draw attention to himself as he slid the pick up towards the cuffs at his wrists. Thor's cries of pain made his hands move faster, nimbly coaxing the lock on his right wrist to open.

The Commander was saying something but Tony wasn't listening, his concentration solely on the metal between his fingers. There was only a brief window of time before they would discover what he was attempting.

The lock on his left wrist clicked open and he barely had time to think before his body was moving, twisting out of the grip of one of the surprised soldiers and knocking him over the head with the cuff still attached to his left wrist.

As the man stumbled back in surprise Tony grabbed the gun from his shoulder, wrenching it free of the strap. He used the butt of it to take down several more soldiers before the others, over the sound of the machine and Thor, realised what was happening.

As loathe as he was to do so, Tony took aim and fired multiple shots at the panel of the machine, deliberately aiming away from the few guards stood there. The Commander was bellowing something, and the other soldiers around him were scrambling to disengage the safety of their weapons as several of the shots made contact and the machine made a high-pitched roaring noise.

Tony realised he hadn't really planned this far ahead, so he did the only thing he could and ran for Thor. He felt several shots whizz past him and tried to change direction, making himself a harder target to hit. He was almost at Thor when a bullet grazed the edge of his leg and another sliced through his left shoulder. The momentum of the second shot as it carved through the tendons and muscle in his shoulder and exited the other side made him stumble and hit the ground.

At the same time as Tony crashed to the floor, the machine to the side of him let out a roaring whine and promptly exploded, sending a shockwave of excess energy and heat fanning outwards. The engineer threw himself at Thor in an attempt to shield the wounded Asgardian, and felt heat lick the ends of his hair as he pushed them both down as far as Thor's chains would allow.

Wrenching metal and screams sounded close by, followed by a climactic roar as the energy burnt itself out in an explosion. Moments passed and as the ringing in Tony's ears subsided he rose to his knees, chancing a look around. Devastation greeted him in the form of felled bodies and the charred walls of the room. The doors he had been marched through by the soldiers had been blown clean off their hinges. It seemed that the further the explosion had carried, the stronger the impact had become. The soldiers by the panel seemed relatively unharmed, other than having been knocked out from the force of the energy as it released from the machine. Some of the others didn't seem to have fared so well, and the genius didn't allow himself time to dwell on that, for fear that his guilt might smother him.

His was almost surprised more extensive damage hadn't been done to the aircraft's outer shell, and to himself and Thor. Thor.

Turning to his friend, he saw for the first time how awful the Asgardian looked up close, and for a terrible moment Tony could tell whether he was breathing or not.

"Thor." Tony shook him very gently, mindful of the wires and spikes still embedded in his arms and chest. "Thor can you hear me?" He leant his head close to the blonde's and was flooded with relief when he heard the God draw breath. "We need to get out of here now, it won't be long until these guys get up, and I think my actions may have sharpened their aim slightly."

Tony felt a minute movement beneath his hands, which were on each of Thor's shoulders. The Asgardian raised his head enough to look at Tony with confused, pain-hued eyes.

"S-tark?"

"Yes, it's me."

"W-what happened?" Thor asked shakily, his voice holding only a shadow of its normal grandeur.

"I can't explain right now, we have to get you out of here first. Do you think you can handle it if I take all these out?" He gestured to the wires and spikes.

Thor looked down slowly, absorbing his current state before looking back at the billionaire with something akin to resolve.

"Do it."

Tony needed no more encouragement. With as much care and speed as he could summon he began removing all the wires and tubes from Thor's body. As the tubes containing the sedatives came loose, some of the clarity and light returned to the Asgardian's eyes.

When Tony came to the spikes he paused.

"This is probably going to sting like hell."

"Just do it as fast as you can." Thor said, bracing himself.

Tony grabbed the first two and wrenched them out, hissing when Thor grunted in pain.

"Sorry-".

"Just keep going." The God panted.

The engineer hauled several more from the blonde God's abdomen and then two from his back, before pulling one from his shoulder. As the final few were pulled loose Thor couldn't hold it in anymore and roared in pain. Tony flinched backwards at the sound. It was both primal and otherworldly, but also surprisingly human.

As Thor panted for breath Tony moved in close and began to detach the wires on the device that was lodged in Thor's chest, disconnecting him from the machine. The blue glow had gone dark when the shockwave hit, informing Tony they were in no danger from being accidentally grilled by awry electrical charges.

"Thank you." Thor murmured quietly, gaze locked on the thing in his chest.

"I'll get it out, don't worry. You'll be back to flying the skies as usual before long." Tony reassured him.

Thor gave him a weak nod, and he looked towards the manacles.

"Now all that's left is to get those off and then-". He was cut off by the click of a gun magazine being loaded.

He turned slowly to see the Commander aiming in their direction. The deathly calm in his eyes made Tony step protectively in front of Thor, who was still kneeling defencelessly, to shield him from the other man. He looked across the room at where he'd dropped the gun, wishing he hadn't been so thoughtless as to discard it.

"You know", the billionaire said in his trademark sarcastic tone, glancing back to the Commander "if you do that you'll be even further away from the hammer."

"I only need him for that," the Commander jerked the gun at Thor, "not you. Although at this point I'm not sure how much further our experiment can go without extensive repairs, thanks to your work. Perhaps I should kill him and make you watch… as a show of gratitude?"

Tony knew the situation was becoming precariously dangerous and he took a step back, placing his left hand on Thor's shoulder. Something hummed inside of him as he did so.

"I doubt your bullets could kill a God." He said, raising his right arm behind him slightly in an almost subconscious gesture.

"In his weakened state," the Commander paused his eyes glinting "I think they stand a good chance." He clicked the safety off, taking a step forward. "And shooting through you to get to him will make amends for the damage you've caused."

The hairs on Tony's right arm stood on end. Static seemed to infuse the air around him. The Commander lowered the gun to point it at Thor.

"Pity." Was all he said as the shot rang out. Tony raised his arm higher, jumping in the line of the bullet as Mjolnir came crashing through the side of the aircraft and straight into his hand. The air around him crackled as be brought the hammer round and deflected the bullet off into the opposite wall.

The Commander stared, completely silenced by what just transpired. Wind rushed around them, entering the room from the newly acquired hole. Tony stared at the hammer, not quite believing that it was in his hand. Its balance was flawless, and the gentle shine of the silver metal was inhuman, and nothing short of beautiful.

"So you are worthy." Thor said quietly from behind him, and Tony could hear the smile in his voice.

For once he had no witty retort.

"It's here. You…brought it here." The Commander recovered from his shock, eyes narrowing. "Now I have no need for either of you." He raised the gun again, this time aiming at Tony.

On instinct, Tony drew the hammer back and then thrust it towards the other man, an azure streak of lightning jetting out towards him. As its full force hit him the Commander was thrown back into the far wall, lightning sparking off him before fizzing out. He slumped to the ground and didn't move.

Tony was rooted to the spot in stunned amazement. "Did I just…shoot lightning?"

"Indeed." Thor responded. "It would appear you are more than worthy."

Tony turned to the Asgardian. "Thor…" But before he could finish the sound of several soldiers stirring, and more on their way interrupted him. "OK, now it is definitely time to go."

"You should leave, I would only slow you down." Thor stated, consternation marring his features.

"Not a chance." Tony retorted.

He looked at the hammer once more before swinging his arm in an arc, lightning singing from the weapon and severing the chains holding Thor up. Strange, normally metal would conduct electricity, but Tony had known that he could make it cut the chains instead, almost as if Mjolnir was bending to his will. Perhaps it was something to do with their shared desire to get the Asgardian out of here.

With nothing to hold him up, Thor fell to the ground, managing to brace himself on one elbow.

"Can you fly us out of here?" He asked tensely, grabbing the God under one shoulder and hoisting him up while simultaneously offering the hammer. Thor's wavering gait told him the answer.

"I…I do not think I am strong enough." The Asgardian replied, his face ashen.

Tony looked towards the hole in the aircraft that was steadily widening as the pressure from outside bent and tore at the metal.

"Well, I suppose I'm used to flying."

Thor started at him in surprise, as the engineer began dragging the God towards their exit. As they neared the hole, Tony stopped doubt colouring his features.

"Swing it as fast as you can and then launch yourself forward." Thor raised his voice over the howling wind while leaning heavily against the smaller man. "Once you're in the air let it carry you, but also use your arm to direct it. Think of where you want to go and keep that image in your mind's eye."

Tony's features hardened into resolution as the sound of more soldiers entering the room hit them. He looked Thor dead in the eye, tightening his grip on the Asgardian.

"Stop saying you as if you're not coming with me." And with that he swung his arm and sent them soaring into the sky.

~A~

Tony caught himself wondering if this was all real as he flew through the clouds, the blue abyss that surrounded him almost as mesmerising as the one below. He gripped Thor as hard as he could, worried that he'd somehow let go of his friend, but Thor's arm was wrapped firmly around him, his eyes half closed with a mixture of pain and what appeared to be contentment. The sky was, after all, Thor's domain. He probably felt most at home here.

Regardless of this, Tony was keen to land and get him medical treatment. The device still needed removing from his chest.

The engineer was contemplating how best to land, despite there being no land in sight, and beginning to panic when he spotted something in the distance. Another aircraft, this one strangely familiar. As he closed in on it, he was certain he'd never felt so happy to see S.H.I.E.L.D in his life.

As the outer decks of the helicarrier came up to meet him, he knew this was going to be rough on both of them. Tony tucked the hammer into the crook of his arm to stop their flight and tried to curl in on himself, shouting a warning to Thor as they both crashed into the hard tarmac and rolled to a stop.

The billionaire lay panting for a minute, not even caring as a number of soldiers surrounded them both, guns pointed at them. He had actually done it. Oh, Pepper was going to kill him for this.

"Sir!" He heard one of the soldiers shout. "It's Stark and Thor!"

Tony raised his head enough to see Nick Fury appear in his line of sight.

"Thank you for dropping onto my deck with no warning, I almost fired a missile at you."

"Good to see you to Fury." Tony replied with a half-smile.

"What in hell's name…" Fury trailed off as he saw the hammer in Tony's hand. The engineer followed his line of sight and then jerked upright as he remembered Thor. The Asgardian was lying a few metres to his left, showing no signs of getting up.

Tony launched himself to his feet, almost toppling back down as he did so and uttering: "Thor needs medical treatment, the group who held him captive tortured him and we need to remove the device from his chest. We don't know what damage it may have already done, and he has other wounds too."

"Stark", Fury raised his voice, and only then Tony realised he had been talking too quickly for them to make sense of his words. Slowing down, he briefly explained everything, from being tortured by the Commander himself, to their escape. Having listened and become increasingly sombre, Fury fired off order as soon as Tony was done.

A medical team arrived, placing Thor on a stretcher and carrying him inside. Tony followed without even thinking. Fury was ordering him to a debriefing, but he waved the other man away saying it could wait. The head of S.H.I.E.L.D seemed about to argue with him, but relented when Tony said: "Aren't you always saying that people should come before orders?"

The engineer stood through a tense few hours of surgery, watching as they removed the device from Thor's chest and stitched up the wound. He found his left hand over his arc reactor at one point, the other still firmly clasping Mjolnir. Nobody had come to take it off him, and he wasn't about to give it up to anybody other than its rightful owner.

Hours later when Thor was out of surgery and resting in a medical room, the other Avengers arrived. Tony glanced up as they came in, nodding in acknowledgement to each before turning back to the Asgardian sleeping in the bed before him.

"How's he doing?" Steve asked coming to stand beside him.

"As well as can be expected considering what just happened." There was no malice in Tony's words, just tired relief.

"We were briefed about what happened on arrival." Steve said. "You should get some rest."

"Not until he wakes up." Tony responded. "I need to give this back."

Only then did the other four Avengers notice the silver object gleaming in his hand.

Silence reigned for a moment, a rarity among the six of them.

"Took you long enough." Clint snorted.

"I'm sorry", Tony countered turning to look at the amused archer, "I wasn't aware we were having a race to glory. If I recall correctly, you didn't even come first Barton."

"No, but I wasn't last."

"Well you know what they say about saving the best for last." Tony gloated.

Clint groaned in response.

"From what Fury said, it sounded like what you did was pretty impressive." Steve offered.

"I don't think electrocuting a guy with lightning is particularly impressive." Tony replied dejectedly, slumping slightly.

"No, but saving a life is." Thor added quietly from the bed.

Five pairs of eyes turned to stare at him, and he smiled gently. "Don't look so surprised, it'll take more than a little electricity to make me go down."

Tony rose from his chair and the other four Avengers moved closer, exchanging words with the Asgardian about his wellbeing.

Tony was quiet until the others had all finished. Thor turned to him and a look of understanding passed between them.

"It's not an easy burden to bear." The Asgardian said quietly, and Tony knew the God wasn't just talking about the weapon he held. "If anything you did to save my life is weighing on your conscience then let me be responsible for it."

Tony looked at him with determination. "I'd do it again if it meant saving your life. My conscience is nothing in comparison to that."

Mjolnir seemed to hum with appreciation at this.

"And that selflessness was what made you worthy." Thor said as Tony passed the hammer back into its owner's hands.

As the cool metal left his palm, Tony could have sworn he felt a spark of energy leap back from the handle and into his fingers. But it may have just been his imagination.