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Coming through the portal to Earth via the Tesseract was not what Loki would call a “comfortable” experience. It was more like his atoms had been compressed and then stretched out into a single atom’s width, traveling on a beam of light that felt like a very small pipe, and then spit out the end in a clump, hoping everything would come together in the right place.
The journey was also long, longer than he had expected from travel via Infinity Stone. Then again, the void was, magically at least, quite far away from, well, anything.
Being compressed hurt, it hurt a lot, but being hurt was nothing new to Loki. The past year had been nothing but hurt. Despite the risks, he had finally decided to magically kill his own pain receptors, just to maintain his sanity. Did it mean he was in for an amount of pain that may cause a mental break when he regrew them? Yes, but it was worth it for the tiny corner of his mind he could keep safe from Thanos. And, as Thor’s friends had always taunted him, he was an excellent actor.
Shooting up the branches of Yggdrasil as a single atom beam of light with no pain receptors allowed Loki time to reflect, time to filter through the information he had quietly pulled from the minds of the Other about Midgard’s most dangerous inhabitants. Asgardian warriors they were not, but Loki was hardly one either. The safety of the universe lay in the balance, and he'd have to make do with what he had.
And what he had was a tiny glimmer of hope.
Anthony Stark, Tony to everyone around him, his character sparked something in Loki. A sense of familiarity, a common, barely held back darkness behind his eyes. Discarded, dismissed, diminishing himself to remain palatable to those around him. They would surely fear him if they knew what he was really capable of.
Loki knew, Loki knew what Anthony Stark was capable of. The Other may be a gifted torturer and information gatherer, but he had no scientific understanding. The brief flashes of equations and calculations Loki saw were more than enough to impress him.
The plan went thus: If Loki got very, very lucky, he could piss off all of Midgard’s “heroes” at the same time and hopefully Stark would be interested enough to join them. It was a miniscule chance, but Loki wasn’t the God of Chaos for nothing.
Behind the oppressive weight of the Mind Stone, he was overjoyed to see the obnoxious gold and red of Stark’s suit land before him in Stuttgart. The series of events that followed in the next few days were unadulterated Chaos. Thor falling from the flying boat the Midgardians constructed. The Green Beast being unleashed. The addled scientist in his underwear building human technology around the Tesseract. If not for the instability of the scientist’s mind, Loki would have considered him as an ally.
But the Mind Stone was not for the weak and collusion with Loki would destroy the man’s mind further. The best resistance to the mental control of someone else was a strong sense of self. It was what had made Loki so vulnerable to it when he first fell to Sanctuary. He needed someone who knew exactly what they were.
It had to be Stark. Seeing the other “Avengers” argue and fight only made Loki more convinced of his choice.
Loki was disappointed he couldn’t get Stark alone before the portal opened, but choosing Stark’s home as its origin point was just the reckless choice he needed to find that opportunity.
Loki observed the Midgardian’s home with casual interest, noting the clean lines and strict division of space. The Midgardian was flyting with him, but that was of no consequence, Loki was too busy preparing, drawing upon the Chaos he’d saved up from the past few days and the streams of it coming from outside as the Chitauri attacked.
Loki paced closer and closer, amazed with each step how the Midgardian, armor-less, stood, unafraid. In his deep brown eyes Loki saw an inappropriate joy.
Loki’s advanced ears could hear the human’s heart beating, fast as lightning. But that didn’t make him move, didn’t make him run. The fear, the destruction, it was abhorrent to the Midgardian, but his body didn’t lie, he was enjoying himself.
Loki had only seen that look on one other person: himself. When he discovered a spell that had a high chance of killing him or faced off against an opponent much stronger. It was the addictive high of the edge of death, of uncertainty, of Chaos.
Loki extended the staff with the Mind Stone until it clinked against the metal circle shining from the Midgardian’s chest. And he pushed. Mentally, not physically. With a Herculean effort he forced Thanos’ agenda and the Other’s influence to the back of his mind, yanking his untouched consciousness to the forefront.
He sent it into the Mind Stone’s stream of magic as it reached with greedy fingers for Stark’s mind. The Mind Stone connected first, cracking the natural barrier around Stark’s consciousness, and Loki slipped in, shoring up the hole behind him with pure Chaos. Time stood still.
STARK!
Who the fuck?! What is thi—I hate this fuck fuck fuck fuck who are you-what?!
STARK!
Jesus! What?
Stark this is Loki, I’m speaking directly into your mind, we don’t have a lot of time.
What the fuck, get out of my head! Is this what Barton has to deal with?
STARK we don’t have time, can you shut up?!
Can’t, it’s a terminal condition, everyone says. Despite himself Loki felt the edges of the lips of his physical body curl up.
STARK you have to listen to me! I am not responsible for this invasion, it’s a plot hatched by a very evil creature who wants to destroy the universe. I’ve kept him out of your mind for now, but I won’t be able to hold off much longer. The staff is the key, you need to get it from me and stab the barrier around the portal with it. It’s the only way to close it. Do it quickly or the motherships will start coming through and then we’ll all wish we were dead!
That’s quite the theory Lokes, got any evidence to back it up?
By the Norns Stark! Park your ego! You have to trust me.
No I don’t, I have absolutely no reason to. Loki felt a pressure. He looked down with his physical eyes. Stark had extended a hand, now resting on Loki’s chest.
What are you doing Stark?
That’s not me that’s you, I didn’t move! Panic curled up the edges of Stark’s mind like wisps of smoke. Loki ignored it, reaching for whatever had taken control of Stark’s arm. Was his defense not enough? Had the Mind Stone gotten through? He prodded around. Then suddenly there was a flash of light, brilliant, blue, electric.
It flooded Loki, surrounded his mental push, not even repulsing him but slipping over and through him, like a wave in the ocean. He couldn’t move, couldn’t act. And yet it was glorious. It was magic, pure magic, embracing Loki as an old friend, flowing in an endless charge, filling him up incidentally, taking up all of Stark’s mind space, smoothing over the hole the Mind Stone had made in the barrier like it had never been there.
Loki could hear his physical body gasping. The barrier expanded, pushing the Mind Stone away, shoving it back towards Loki’s body. Then it went further, pushing into Loki’s mind like his barrier was nothing. Loki tensed, terrified, but the blue wave didn’t hurt him, instead it sought out the hooks the Mind Stone had left in his brain and plucked them out. There was a sense of pain, like pulling a thorn out of one’s skin, but more than that was the relief, Loki’s mind was his own again.
He sagged against the arm Stark had braced against his chest. Stark’s consciousness was still panicking.
STARK!
Christ would you stop yelling?!
What is that?
What?
The blue, the magic inside of you.
I have magic inside of me?! Get it out!
Loki chuckled. Stark, it’s your magic. It comes from you.
Don’t be ridiculous I’m not a mage.
Maybe not yet, Loki thought. I can’t explain it to you right now. What matters is that we have a mental link now. Here, you can see my memories, you know I’m not lying, this isn’t me, we have to get the staff to the roof. The sensation of Stark rifling through Loki’s memories was uncomfortable, like he was being frisked from the inside. But it was nothing for the joy of hearing Stark say I trust you. Now, throw me out the window.
Loki cocked a brow. Won’t you die?
Stark grinned. You have a lot to learn about me.
Loki grabbed Stark’s throat, responding to his quip insulting Loki’s manhood. The chaotic joy had lit up Stark’s eyes again. Loki barely resisted grinning back.
“I hope your friends enjoy fighting you!” Then he threw Stark out the window.
The Midgardian fell like a stone, Loki had to resist checking to make sure he was alright. Something whizzed past him. It was a piece of metal, coming from behind him, others in their wake. Loki ducked. Ten seconds later he heard Stark’s triumphant yell in his mind. The Midgardian’s suit went shooting upwards, blasting Loki into the bar.
Loki let go of the staff, crouching. “What are you doing you fool! Fight them!” He pointed out the window.
The Iron Man suit nodded. Then it scooped up the staff Loki had dropped, holding it in an offensive stance. Loki pretended to reach for it, but the suit took off before he could.
Stark flew in dizzying circles around the Chitauri ships, aiming for the Avengers arrayed on the ground. They went to fight him, but he made a hairpin turn and scooped up the Captain. Then he was flying up past the broken window Loki was leaning out of. Through Stark’s eyes Loki saw him toss the Captain roughly onto the roof. The man yelled, urging Stark to snap out of it but Stark instead advanced on him, rearing back to swing the staff. The Captain retaliated with his shield and a fight ensued.
Slowly Stark lost ground, moving closer and closer to the portal generator. There was a split second and Stark reared back, the propulsion in his boots firing. He took a massive swing towards the Captain, who deflected it off his shield, straight into the portal device. Combined with the momentum of Stark’s boots, the staff ripped through the barrier and knocked the Tesseract out of its housing.
The Chitauri roared as the portal began to close. Loki could have laughed for joy. But they weren’t out of the woods until the portal closed. It was still far too wide. Keep fighting! We won’t be clear until the portal closes!
Stark went to respond but his transceiver crackled. There was something being said about an explosive device, set to detonate the entire city. Stark’s mind was a mess of panic and horrifying images of skin melting off of faces. Loki was so caught up in it he barely managed to dodge the Green Beast flying towards him. As it was, the creature clipped his leg, breaking it badly.
Loki sent a desperate sleep spell towards it and thankfully the beast dropped where it had landed. Then Loki began climbing the outside of the tower. Dragging his leg was painful; Stark’s subconscious cleanse of Loki’s brain had sped up the regrowth of his pain receptors. Every foot Loki advanced, a new part of his body began to hurt. But if what he was receiving from Stark was correct, the device could not be allowed to enter the area.
Even without the Tesseract, the blast would damage the area badly enough that Thanos could scoop up the Tesseract with any of his subjugated races on nearby planets. Previously he hadn’t done so because Asgard declared Midgard under their protection but if that device went off, Thor would die, and Asgard would be in no state to defend even their own realm.
Finally Loki crested the edge of the roof. He dragged his broken body across the gravel, inching closer and closer to the Tesseract. The Captain, still fighting Stark, noticed, and began to advance, forcing Stark’s concentration to go into preventing this. It was up to Loki now. Loki’s hand slapped onto the Tesseract’s surface.
Immediately the Infinity Stone’s power overwhelmed him, disrupting his place in space and whispering to him of the barriers between realms shattered, instantaneous travel to everywhere that had ever existed. His focus split, panicking, Stark was forced back until he tripped over Loki. The minute his back made contact with Loki’s, the blue wave swept through again, giving Loki just enough energy to push away the Tesseract’s lures.
He focused on the shape in the distance, flying through the air and moving closer. Stark’s mind identified it as the explosive. With a magical push, Loki grabbed hold of it in space and sent it into the empty space beyond the atmosphere of Midgard. Stark breathed a sigh of relief.
This came all too soon, as the Captain’s shield slammed into both him and Loki, sending them tumbling off the roof. They hit the landing pad hard. Loki narrowly maintained his grip on the Tesseract. Time stopped as his mind melded with Stark’s again.
We won the battle, but the war isn’t over is it?
No. As long as Thanos lives, the universe is in danger. Do you think he’d accept a strategic retreat?
No, but he’ll expect it.
Loki sensed what Stark was going to say next. Stark I cannot ask this of you.
Come on Lokes, you should know by now I don’t do anything I don’t want to. A threat to the universe is a threat to everyone, including me, and you can always count on me to look out for me.
Stark rolled over, slapped his hand on the Tesseract next to Loki’s, and with that they were gone, off to Sanctuary. Loki’s last thought was hope, just like he had arrived with, again because of Stark. He didn’t have his adoptive mother’s gift of future sight, but something told him that this alliance would be more than Thanos was prepared for.