TITLE: Adamanteus

AUTHOR: Wynter Ravenheart

ARTIST: dumb-ways-to-live

PAIRING: A little bit of Steve/Tony and a lot of Loki/Tony

WARNING: Liberal use of Superhusbands [Steve/Tony] as a stepping stone for Frostiron, Hurt/Comfort

SUMMARY: Adamanteus: of hard steel, iron, not to be broken. After his exile from Asgard - temporary as it may be - the last place Loki expected to find any of the Avengers is Amsterdam, granted the last thing Tony wanted after his unexpected break up with Steve was to find out that Loki was still alive and kicking, and hosting a radio show. It's not surprising they would have similar tastes, neither that they would be intimately aware of each other's issues. Some people have got to find out that some bonds you just can't break.

A/N: Some people named inside are actually real. No harm or disrespect is meant to them, the only intent is to show this as a version of our world.

SUPER thanks to the following people: Qwanderer for beta-ing the first 2 parts [I'm horrible, horrible, no good writer and I didn't send the rest to her!] Hedwig-dordt for checking out my failed Dutch, I owe you something big! I've no idea what, but I do! Songofcatharsis for letting me pick up her brain for songs!

Speaking of which, if you want to check out the playlist for this fic, you can check out my Spotify: Adamanteus

Part V: In-between Days

The thing about the puppy dog eyes, that very few people seemed to realize, was that the more you care about them, the more their sad eyes affect you, so whereas Loki's sad eyes only had an effect on Thor a few years ago. Well now it seemed the sad eyes the trickster was giving him was literally pulling at his heart strings. Damn him.

"You know I can't." Tony sighed, rubbing his temples, all to escape those eyes. He thanked his luck that over time he had built immunity to Pepper's look, that woman could manipulate him easily when she wanted to.

"But-" Loki tried again, eyes wider, staring at Tony, his lower lip trembling slightly, green eyes and eyelashes wet.

"I- Loki-" he handed his phone to the Trickster, he puppy-dog look disappearing instantly only to be replaced by a look of unholy glee.

Yes, well, there went his Plants vs Zombies high score.

(~o~)

"So, Loki's hosting a 'radio' show?" Amora asked, her fingers making the quotation marks with a doubtful look. She had requested to be quest away from Thor, and Natasha had reluctantly agreed, keeping the Thunderer in a 2-mile ratio from them. So what would a spy show the would-be-conqueror's best friend? Why he part where he willingly worked for them, of course. Call it Natasha's revenge.

It had been about a week now since they had gotten Amora back in SHIELD, back in Malibu to be precise. Something about the air, the sand and the sea seemed to calm down the Æsir as a whole. In that time they had all heard what Loki had pulled with Steve and Clint, and Fury had banned Loki from going anywhere near the men. The only reason he could still walk a free man was because he couldn't arrest Loki for being a dipshit.

So yes, a little revenge for that stunt would actually appease Natasha, and she knew - after a week babysitting Amora - that the Periwinkle has a vicious sense of humor, especially when it came to Loki. Her reasoning had been that her best friend could take it, and Natasha believed her.

So by 10pm that night Natasha turned on her laptop, quickly finding Loki's station and tuned in listen. The 8-hour difference between them was more than worth it, listening to Loki, who was making the program live from Tony's stolen studio and was probably loaded with caffeine had the feeling of perverse satisfaction from Natasha.

Hello and welcome to another day! My name's Lukke Walker and you're listening to our Memory Kiss! Hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday morning, today we're facing a sunny day with a max of 17°C, lowest will be at 11°C with little to no chance of rain,-

As Loki continued with the forecast and traffic, Natasha glanced at Amora from the corner of her eye, only to see the woman holding back laughter. She turned to her fully, frowning in question.

"How he got himself a job as a master spy I'll never know, Loki can be so obvious sometimes it's painful," she said, her voice tingled with laughter, "Lukke? I mean really? Even that idiot Volstagg would be able to put it together who it is!"

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked, though she had an inkling what it meant. She did the same thing, using names similar to her own so she wouldn't be caught up by surprise when someone called a name expecting her to answer.

"I think you know what I mean," she smirked, a tilt to her head and a sincerely amused smile on her lips. "It's so obvious."

Natasha blinked at her, opening another tap on her browser and searching Germanic translations to 'lock', 'close' and 'shut.' Before sending a quick message to Loki on her phone.

She really hopped Loki didn't have any Hungarian listeners.

And that was The Rolling Stones with Paint it Black, then we had Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears For Fears, now this is an song one of my friends is particularly fond of, Johnny Rivers with Secret Agent Man. This is for you Natalie.

Amora just laughed at her when she heard the lyrics.

(~o~)

Loki sighed, tired. He loved working for the radio but the demands of being Lukke and being Loki was exhausting. When he had to be both at the same time it was even more so. If he could just use magic to leave a copy in the studio it would've been easier, but the punishment for such a thing was too much to chance some rest. This was punishment after all.

The penthouse was dark, it was almost 4:30 in the morning and he needed something to eat or drink before he could rest. Despite the Captain's word and the ban from Fury he had to try something to get Banner blood and skin, if not saliva and tears. He had no hope of semen, mostly because he was sure Barton would find a way to kill him if he touched Banner sexually. That was the trouble with broken bridges, you had to find other ways to get what you wanted or needed.

It was such a pity he had to do what he had to do, but he couldn't go through the sort of betrayal Natasha, Tony and Fury were capable off.

He looked around, scanning for the needed ingredients and grabbing milk and chocolate. If anything it would kick in a few hours and give him the needed energy. He was just adding the chocolate when the soft footsteps coming from the elevator. Right, Anthony had had a function to go to that day, fundraising about something or other. He was always amazed at how humans could take care of their own and, at the same time, allow such poverty and disgrace on their own back yard.

"Loki?" Tony's voice came from the living room, approaching the kitchen quietly. He waited until his eyes adjusted to the dark to finally see Loki. As usual he was in his pajamas, green and black and barefoot. It warmed him up to see Loki like that, acting as if the place was his, acting as if he belonged there.

He loved the sight.

He was in trouble, he was in so much trouble. For once it wasn't just his own fault, oh no, he had noticed the looks Loki had been giving him, he had even tried to ignore the way his stomach contracted and the fluttering of butterflies.

It hasn't worked, of course it hadn't worked, not when Loki was so close to him, not when the Trickster matched him in wit and showmanship, but he had seen Loki close all the walls around him and burn all the bridges he possibly could, he knew his time would come up sooner or later, but he would fight the Trickster if he had to. He was screwed.

"What are you doing snowflake?" He murmured, this time of night, the company, all of it demanded quiet. He let a hand slip to the others hip, just holding on. The warmth of Loki's body almost against his, almost but not quite.

"Snowflake?" Loki asked, his eyes almost sliding shut from tiredness and the proximity with Tony. He needed to distance himself, Tony was dangerous. He made no move to get out of the half brace thought.

"It fits you," Tony shrugged, watching the beverage being made. He was still smelling of perfume from others, cigars, smoke and drinks, while Loki was scrubbed clean smelling faintly of something fruity from soap. "Wait for me? I need to change from the suit." He waited for Loki to think about it. Think and nod before dashing to his room and putting on his own version of PJs: a black tank top and loose flannel pants.

When he entered the kitchen again, half afraid that Loki was no longer there, he saw Loki was sitting quietly on the counter, the hot chocolate held in his hands as he stared at the night outside. The kitchen had a wonderful view of the living room with its floor to ceiling windows, courtesy of Pepper.

He hopped on the counter next to Loki, his fingers touching the man's thigh. He couldn't just stop touching Loki right then. He didn't want to, but Loki was stiff beneath his fingers.

"Why do you always do that?" He asked, putting no inflection in his voice.

"Do what?" He replied quietly.

"Whenever I touch you, you're uncomfortable, you're stiff, and not in the way I'd like you to be." Tony said quietly, the shadows played games with his vision, making him see Loki smile wishfully at him. But that couldn't be real, not really.

"I'm not used to being wanted, Tony." Loki sighed, staring down. He wanted, by the nine he wanted, but he couldn't have Tony, not really.

"We want you," it was safer that way, as much as he was aware that Loki did really want him as much as he wanted the Trickster, but if something was holding him back.

"No realm wants me, Stark." Loki said quietly, the cup of hot chocolate on his hand a focal point, "it's something I eventually came to terms with. I decided that I'm better off alone."

"That's bullshit." Tony said, sitting on the counter next to Loki, the kitchen was dark, only the artificial light from outside. He wanted to say he wanted him, that he was more than welcome to crash and burn in Tony's penthouse for the rest of his life, but he knew Loki wouldn't accept even a tenth of what he was offering.

As if confronting a small, frightened animal, Tony put his arm on Loki's shoulders, drawing him nearer, until the Trickster could rest his head on Tony's shoulder.

"This is nice," Loki said, taking careful sips of his hot drink.

"Yeah, it is," Tony agreed, petting Loki's short hair.

"I mean it when I say no realm wants me, you know?" Loki whispered, wanting to seek comfort, but not wanting too much of it, least the human also think he was taking too much. "Asgard... well you know what happened with Asgard."

"Punishment, and then you disowned them?"

"That's the basic. I was tired of just being their scapegoat, I was the excuse if something went wrong, even Frigga – "

"That was your former mother, right?" It was still odd to call someone a former parent, but it seemed to calm Loki down somewhat. "What about that other place you talked about? Yote-something? Thor told us a while ago that you came from there."

Loki snorted, a small smile playing on his lips, "Jotunheimr. They never wanted me in the first place."

"Says who?" Tony whispered back, unable to imagine any who wouldn't want Loki. His friend was brilliant, witty, and sarcastic. Loki could be a little shit but he could also be downright adorable, with a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity that was parallel to Tony's own, if not Bruce's. Alright so he was entirely bias when it came to Loki being adorable, but who could blame him?

"I do. The same ritual I performed with my former family? Was performed by the Jotünn, that's how I knew it existed in the first place." Loki shrugged, using it more as an excuse to snuggle with the human next to him.

"That's fucked up, why?" Tony asked in horrified wonder, his questions more of horror and disbelief, he wasn't expecting an answer.

"Because I failed in my purpose to Jotunheimr," Loki said and Tony could recognize that hollow voice, the one where Loki tried to shut down all his feelings in a tight ball and spoke despite it choking him. It was incredibly familiar. "I found it interesting when I first visited, after my parentage became known throughout the realms that they have a custom in Jotunheimr." Meaning that whatever had happened Loki had expected different, had built his hope to something that didn't happen.

"In times of war they choose the weakest babes, the ones that held no promise of magic, the bastards from the main line of Jotunheimr, and offer them up in sacrifice to the land, to strengthen their shields against enemies."

"You were one of them." Tony said quietly, the sheer horror of it making him want to throw up.

"I was, I failed." A statement, a fact. If Tony could hurt the ones that had put that deep sense of worthlessness in Loki he would

"You were an infant! How could you have failed?" Tony managed to get out between gritted teeth.

"The shield consumes the lives of the babes with the help of the Casket, apparently I would not let myself be consumed of something." Loki shrugged as if apologetic.

"You failed because you have inane self-preservation?" Tony asked turning to the trickster. Loki just shrugged, helpless, as if what had happened had been an accident and not his own willpower to live.

"That's not how it goes Snowflake," Tony said, dislodging Loki from his shoulder and turning to him, holding the Trickster face with his hands, "we don't discard people because they were too badass too conform to the role originally given to them," he rubbed Loki's cheeks, moving closer, foreheads touching. "You don't throw people away because they're not the way you imagined them to be, because they don't follow the path laid out for them. You love them, you treasure them, and you're important, too damn important."

"No, I'm not, Anthony, I told you that." Loki denied, avoiding Tony's eyes.

"Yeah, you spoke of realms, Snowflake, but you don't have to be important to an entire planet to be important." Tony grinned at him, bumping their foreheads, the trickster scowling at him. "You're important to me, and to Nat, but in not the same way."

"What?" Loki asked, confused, this whole conversation making him uncomfortable and not up to his usual standards.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Tony sighed, but he was smiling.

"Just this once?" He asked, almost begging, eyes down on the now lukewarm cup resting in his leg.

"You're like a whirlwind, you know?" Tony said, raising the trickster's face, "you show up, wreck everything, you put my very being on fire and I just can't stop looking at you, to see what you're going to do next, how you're going to capture my heart next. You're one of the smartest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and you know I don't say that lightly." He closed the inch or two between them, tasting Loki's lips, the taste of chocolate making him suck lightly on Loki's lower lip. "Light of my mind, fire of my loins." He quoted* between kisses. "Deity of my wanking fantasies."

Loki snickered against Tony's lips, giving in and kissing him over and over again, something he had craved for a while now. They kissed like they talked, curious, intense, with sharp bites and warm caresses, inquisitive, questioning tongues and soothing answers.

They parted like they did everything else, lingering, quietly, smiling.

"I want to show you just how important you are," Tony said, putting the cup away. "Can I?"

"Tony – " Loki started, only to be silenced by the tip of Tony's fingers.

"Not sex, that's not what I want from you, just, sleep, please?" He was left feeling like an idiot, fantasizing not only with an impossible deity, but just of holding his close. They were idiots, infatuated idiots.

It was as they were getting themselves comfortable that Loki was reminded of his plans. He couldn't remain here, he couldn't remain with Tony, he wanted, but it would be better for both of them if he just let Tony go.

"Whatever you're thinking about, let it go, snowflake." Tony whispered, stealing another kiss. He wouldn't get tired of tasting him.

"Make me forget, then, because I can't." He whispered against Tony's lips, silently begging the inventor to claim him.

(~o~)

Amora sighed, counting the seconds. Romanoff was asleep in her room and there was nothing to do but count the time.

They had to time this perfectly.

One-two-three

One-two-three

One-two-three

Loki should be asleep now, it was after 5am in New York, where he was staying with Stark, and in that form it would be easy to use his magic, bound as it was. She only hoped Loki would find it in him to forgive her, but desperate times did call for desperate measures.

"Regardless of what happens, I'm sorry."

(~o~)

Ezequiel Stane stood in front of the tower, the breaking dawn of the new day making him smile.

The woman – the Enchantress – had promised him Stark Industries, had promised him the revenge against Stark himself, all in exchange of her friend.

That had been easy to accomplish, especially considering the codes she had given him. A tweak and Extremis had been invincible. It had beaten Stark, the giant green monster, and the rest of the Avengers. Easy.

Now all he had to do was wait for the right time, for them to all to sleep.

It wasn't even about revenge, Ezequiel had never liked his father much. This was all to see if he could do it, if he could surpass Stark and take his rightful legacy.

It had been pitifully easy to do it.

(~o~)

Tony had made him forget, at least for a while. The scorching kisses, the heated touches, the way their bodies fit with each other. He could still feel Tony inside him, still hear the litany of prayer his mortal had uttered in the high of passion, it was connection he had missed.

He turned around, the light of dawn was making the room brighter, making it easier to see Tony. He dropped a kiss on his head, lingering, feather light. "Is it wrong that my heart belongs to you, so soon? Is it even too soon? We move too fast, you and I." He whispered to himself.

It was probably reckless of him to try, but he had to, if he would tear down the bridge with Tony, he wanted to have a connection still, faint though it would be.

The nicked his thumb open with a nail, doing the same with Tony's and pushing the bloodied prints together. It would be a connection to Tony, the last one Loki would ever make.

(~o~)

"So, what's the plan?" Ezequiel asked, arms crossed.

"I know you're rather big on the whole bloodshed thing," Amora said wrinkling her nose. "But this requires an Áss' delicate touch. They'll disappear, into Loki's mindscape, he'll be the one to bare the fallout, if he ever wakes up." She Stepped to the place Loki was in, smirking at the entwined limbs of the two men. Well at least Loki would have nice dreams!

She snapped her finger, the scuttling noise of tiny scabbed feet making her close her eyes.

She didn't notice Loki turning around to look at her, eyes wide in horror.

She didn't notice drops of blood on Loki's hand.

She didn't notice him uttering words of Power and some of the black tattoos on his arms flaring with light even as he tightened his hold on Tony's hand.

She only heard the snapping of powerful jaws and when she opened her eyes Loki was alone in bed, the form that had once been Tony Stark disappearing as if it had never been.

Across the world the rest of its protectors slowly disappeared as well.

Steve and Sharon, snuggling on the bed, had only left a dent.

On Bruce's hospital room the machine started to beep in distress as it no longer picked up any heartbeat, once the staff checked, both the sick man and his companion had disappeared.

Thor, who had been resting on a SHIELD safehouse left only the messed up sheets for the next agent to pick up, Mjolnir wouldn't budge from the table he had left her on.

Natasha gave one last sigh as she turned on her bed.

Nicholas Fury leaned back and closed his eyes, he had been enjoying a cup of bourbon. The cup fell on the floor once there was no one left to hold it.

"It's done." Amora whispered. Now all she had to do was pick up her payment from the boy and she could get her deepest wishes, easy.

~End of Part I~

End notes:
1 - De Laatse Kruimel, in Amsterdam, never been to myself, but I read it's absolutely sinful!
2 - Eugène is a real person! So kudos to him for leading the UNSC!
3 - European Organization for Nuclear Research, awesome, awesome place!
4 - Cuprum Fire: Copper fire, copper sulphate emits green flames. Catharantus is a type of flower commonly known as Periwinkle.
5 - For those of you unfamiliar with electricity: think of Voltage (watts) as a tangible thing, like a car or a pinball. The Ampere is the speed that unit travels. At 1mili ampere (that's 0,0001amp) the pinball would be lodged into your skull, and you wouldn't even know there was a ball coming your way to begin with.
6 - "Lolita: Light of my life, fire of my loins." - Lolita (1955)

Yes this is really the end, yes I am ending this in a cliffhanger. Why? Because it was too freaking long for the bang! D: