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batsutousaiTitle: The Lightning Strike
Fandom: Marvel (movie 'verse)
Author: Batsutousai
Betas: Runic, SharaLunison, Nimohtar
Rating: Mature
Pairings: Loki/Tony Stark, Phil Coulson/Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Thor/Jane Foster
Warnings: Alpha/Beta/Omega trope (to an extent), actual wolf pack dynamics, intersexual Jötnar, sexism, suggestion of previous dub-/non-con, mating, hurt/comfort, Loki just needs some love, Bruce really wants to go Hulk on Odin, Tony is confused about everything (but not as much as Steve), Clint is an absolute ass (& drags Natasha and Phil along for the ride), Pepper is kinda a BAMF
Summary: Pack dynamics are confusing enough for the Avengers without adding the complete mess that Thor and Loki grew up with, but they aren't given much choice when Loki goes into heat in the middle of a battle and Tony's alpha instincts tell him he has to take care of his pack, enemy or no.
Disclaim Her: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Marvel. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Whereupon Bats decides she wants to try her hand at the Alpha/Beta/Omega trope.
I did some research on actual wolves for this, which involved some tears, because the reality of wolf packs is nothing like the trope. (Whoops.)
SO! Fair warning, the human faction tends not to be anything like the trope, but the Æsir and Jötnar are, in a slightly complicated way that only ends poorly for Loki. *shifty*
Title comes from Snow Patrol's song of the same name. (The three-part, sixteen minute version, not the single.) I realised, while struggling for a title, that the three movements followed with the movements of this fic, and the 'chapter' titles follow that.
Super awesome gigantic props and adoration to Runic, who let me bounce ideas off her and helped me spot a couple of stupids before they ended up on the screen. (She's also the one who talked me into using this for the FrostIron Bang on tumblr and kept me going when scenes got stuck.)
Additional shout-outs to SharaLunison and Nimohtar, my lovely long-time betas, who gave this insanity a couple more glances before any of my 'I haven't slept in over twenty hours' errors could get me into trouble.
Final shout-out to my artist, wnnb_darklord, who put together an awesome playlist for this fic, which includes the title songs speckled throughout, and a gifset for a scene in the first movement. The playlist can be found on this tumblr post, the link to the gifset is within the text, or in the A/N at the end of this chapter.
Tony had always been comfortable as a beta. Given, he had all the ear-marks of an alpha, especially when he went toe-to-toe with someone who thought it was a good idea to insult him, but he didn't like being in charge of things, didn't like being responsible.
And he really, really didn't like that nagging rush of fury that came when he caught Phil and Clint curled up together on the couch in front of the TV.
I am stronger than my instincts, Tony reminded himself as he walked away from the problem. He knew Clint and Phil couldn't help it, that they and Natasha were in this weird, completely inexplicable three-way mate-bond and they felt safe in the tower, and safety meant touching. He also knew – hell, they all knew – that the moment the team had agreed he was the alpha of their home, he would have trouble dealing with a mated pair.
Tony had tried insisting that Steve would make a better alpha, since he pretty much was, on the field, calling the shots in a way that none of the rest of them could usually manage; or even Phil, since he was part of the only mate-bond and was their direct contact with Fury; but everyone had refused him.
'You're paying for the roof over our head, the clothing on our backs, and the food in our bellies,' Bruce had calmly pointed out. 'Tony, no matter how you look at it, inside these walls, you are our alpha.'
The only person that had ever fought Tony's status was Thor, and that, it turned out, was because things were very different in Asgard.
'We do not trade our greatness to others,' Thor had explained to a curious Bruce, while the others watched on with no small trepidation behind Tony; he'd tried to get Bruce behind him, too, but the doctor hadn't been interested in listening to his alpha, something which they'd later argued over, because Tony's instincts couldn't let him leave a member of his pack in the crossfire, no matter how invulnerable they might be. 'All men are born alpha, and all women are beta. Alphas claim betas. That is the way of the Realms.'
'Not this realm,' Bruce had calmly returned. 'On Earth, our roles change from pack to pack. Right now, here, I'm a beta – we're all betas under Tony, or Steve in the field – but before I had you guys, I was an omega. Always.'
Thor had frowned. 'You are a breeder?'
Oh, inter-Realm societal dynamics was one headache Tony was quite glad to leave to Bruce, to be honest. If he never had to sit through another explanation of the fucked up pack dynamics Thor and Loki had coded into their genes, it would be too soon.
"Sir," JARVIS called just before Tony typed in the code for his lab.
Tony sighed and gently leaned his forehead against the glass wall the keypad appeared on. "What is it?" He just wanted to get some work done in his shop. Maybe finally fix Dummy's squeaky wheel, assuming the idiotic bot would hold still long enough.
(The best thing about robots was their absolute lack of interest in categorising themselves or others. In his lab, Tony was always just Tony. He may have created them, sobbed and bled over their spare parts and useless code, but they would never call him their alpha, because the term had no meaning for them.
Also, there was a lack of sexual intent, which was always super nice.)
"Miss Potts has requested your presence in her office," JARVIS replied.
Pepper, Tony could deal with. She was his uncontested alpha, had been since the first time she'd slapped a pile of papers and a pen in front of him and ordered him to sign them all, not flinching from his appreciative stare.
He really wished a mate-bond had formed between them, if only because it might have helped soothe his instincts some. But one or both of them hadn't been ready, and not even a thorough fuck-session during her last heat had done it, though it was nearly impossible for a couple to go through a heat and not form a mate-bond. She'd called them off after that, and Tony would never go against her decisions, no matter how much it killed him to follow them.
Still. Mate-bond or no, the presence of his alpha would soothe his ruffled instincts, and Tony turned and ran for the stairs to avoid any of the other Avengers.
Pepper, it turned out, had called him down because he'd missed another board meeting and, "When are you going to learn to take some responsibility, Tony?"
Nothing ever made Tony feel more like himself than Pepper laying into him about his inability to be a responsible adult.
It was only after Tony had settled on the couch in her office, cup of coffee – de-caf, because she and Bruce were attempting to wean him off caffeine, with mixed results – warm between his hands, that she met his eyes with that same immovable calm that she always used to hide how worried she was about him and asked, "What's happened?"
Tony almost told her 'Nothing!' but he'd already given himself away by coming to her when she called, rather than making her come to him. So he sighed and thumbed the lip of his cup and allowed, "Avengers stuff."
Either she'd known him for too long, or she could smell the truth on him, because she replied, "Clint and Natasha again?"
Tony rolled his eyes, because it had been them the last four times, and Tony had been beginning to think they were doing it to him on purpose; now he figured it was all Clint, using his mates to drive Tony spare. "Clint and Phil," he admitted.
Pepper shook her head. "You need to talk to them, Tony."
Tony hung his head and lowered his hands between his knees, coffee nearly slipping from his fingers. "It's not like they don't know, Pep. And I have talked to them," he added before she could chastise him, and he had, so it wasn't even a lie, for once. "But it's their home, their safe space; I can't tell them they aren't allowed to be mates."
Pepper sighed, but she had nothing to say about that; she was plenty familiar with having a beta who she was forever catching in sexual acts, but couldn't tell off because it was his home. (And Tony was usually too drunk to listen, anyway. At least he'd usually been with it enough to keep anything more than a bit of light pawing out of his alpha's sight.)
"Perhaps if you sleep with someone..." Pepper suggested.
Tony shot her a disbelieving look. "Who are you, and what have you done with Virginia Potts?"
Pepper rolled her eyes. "What's my policy, Tony?"
Tony grinned. "If you don't see it, you don't care?"
"If I don't see it, I won't rip her head off," Pepper corrected.
Okay, that was new. But Pepper and he hadn't tried sleeping together the last time he went looking for a fuck-buddy.
Things were different, now.
He turned his gaze down towards his coffee cup, tightening his grip on it as he realised how precarious it was. "Can I stay in here?"
"Are you going to sign paperwork for me?" Pepper returned.
Tony considered that for a moment, then gave a slow nod.
Pepper sighed and scratched long nails through his hair in a way that was far too comfortable when they weren't sleeping together any more. "I'll check to see if there's a party you can crash," she allowed, getting up and moving over towards her desk.
"You're the best."
"Am I?"
A pile of papers at least two fingers tall dropped onto the coffee table in front of Tony.
Tony glanced up at her, taking in the fond curve of her smile, the easy way her hand rested against one hip, the wisp of hair she was forever blowing out of her eyes when she got distracted by something. "Yeah," he said.
Her smile widened, glinted with a hint of cruel amusement, and she leaned forward to place a pen on top of the pile of papers. "If you finish this in under three hours, you're doing it all again."
Tony's groan may or may not have been all for show.
"Where have you been?" Steve demanded as soon as Tony stepped off the elevator.
Tony just raised one unimpressed eyebrow.
"Wow," Clint interrupted, peering around the Captain, eyes comically wide. "How many women did you sleep with, Stark?"
Tony smirked. "How many did I fuck, or how many was I in the bedroom with?"
"Oh my God," Steve moaned and covered his eyes.
"I am so unbelievably jealous right now," Clint announced as Steve pushed past him, back towards the quiet sounds of the TV.
"No, you're not."
"No, I'm not," Clint agreed and flashed Tony an inappropriate little smile. "So, how handsy can I get wi–"
Tony didn't even realise he was growling until Clint had snapped his mouth closed, hands held up and throat bared in submission. Tony clenched his eyes shut and took a ragged breath. "Barton, you need to leave. Right now."
Clint scrambled out of sight, the same direction Steve had gone, and Tony moved quickly in the other direction, towards his lab, because Clint's smell was raising his hackles right now and just–
"Fuck," he muttered, the lazy contentment completely vanished. Well, he should have known Clint would test his patience too far, first chance he got. Tony just really, really needed to break something. Like maybe that gun SHIELD had sent hi–
The alarms screamed over his head, and Tony jumped the last four stairs and shoved past the fire door. "JARVIS!" he called as he scrabbled for the keypad to get into his lab.
"Preparing your suit, Sir," JARVIS replied, calm as ever.
"Avengers," Fury said, voice crackling through the building's speaker system like lightning in a storm, "we've got a Loki sighting in Central Park."
"I thought that fucker was locked up in Asgard!" Clint snarled.
Stuck somewhere between the mind-sets of alpha and beta, Tony stumbled at the sound of his pack-mate's voice, the instinctive anger still coursing through him, muted as it was. But he shook himself and kept going; get in the suit and Clint would stop bothering him entirely. And he could blow some shit up to feel better.
"He is, but he may have escaped," Thor admitted, resignation heavy in his voice. "It may also be no more than a projection, though I was led to believe he would not be able to do such in his current prison."
"We're headed up to the quinjet," Natasha announced, voice hard and controlled. "Iron Man, Thor, we'll meet you in Central Park."
"Understood, Lady Widow," Thor agreed.
Tony smiled, cold and a little violent, as his suit's HUD lit up around him. "Watch out for pigeons, kids," he called as he activated his thrusters and dove out the opening in the side of the workshop that JARVIS had opened for him.
"Cute, Stark," Clint muttered.
"Shut up, Hawkeye," Steve ordered, and Tony spared a brief wonder for how much his alpha knew about what had occurred after he'd left Tony and Clint in the hallway. Knowing how observant Steve was when it came to body language and his inability to let strife fester between pack-mates, Tony had a feeling the Captain knew everything. Which was....actually kind of reassuring, at the moment.
Loki was cackling when Thor and Tony landed in the middle of his army of...
"Are those Ents?!" Clint demanded, a hint of horrified disbelief in his voice.
"Right. Who told reindeer-boy about The Lord of the Rings?" Tony muttered as he blasted one of the walking trees. "If I see any giant eyeballs, I'm outta here."
Clint's laughter was just a little bit hysterical.
"Who is this...lord of rings? Did he help my brother escape?" Thor asked in his usual confused way. (He'd been in Asgard when they were covering that particular niche of human popular culture with Steve.)
"Just get rid of the trees, Thor," Steve suggested, a hint of amusement under the steel of his commanding voice.
"Aye, Captain, I shall," Thor agreed and lightning flickered around him, causing three of the bastards to explode at once.
The Hulk let out a roar as he hit the ground next to Tony, grabbing an Ent that had been reaching for Tony and using it to beat a line of them into submission. Behind his mask, Tony allowed himself a fond smile, even as he blasted back another Ent that was aiming to jump on the giant's back.
Steve joined Thor, while Phil and Natasha kept the quinjet in the air, one of them manning the guns, and Clint stood by the open back door, taking down Ents with arrows designed to melt through metal armour or explode.
Tony knew a couple of hits – arrows and guns – were aimed at Loki, based on the cursing that came over the line every time the Trickster dodged. Or, well, Tony assumed the god was dodging; it could just as easily have been projections, given that he wasn't actually watching him.
"LOKI!" Thor roared and the ground vibrated with the impact of his hammer. A number of the Ents stumbled and fell against each other, giving Tony his first unobstructed view of the Trickster since he'd started fighting the tree-people.
Loki was grinning like a mad man, dancing just out of reach of Thor's hammer. But, Tony realised when his display zoomed in, the horn-bearing god was sweating up a storm, and his smile looked just a little too forced.
And then one of Thor's swings connected and Loki was thrown into an inanimate tree. All the Ents vanished – "I hate illusions," Clint muttered. "Waste of arrows." – and they all took a moment to just breathe, Tony popping his face plate open while the quinjet carefully landed in the clearing.
Thor tensed and dropped Mjölnir. Even with the twenty or so feet between them, Tony could smell the shift in pheromones – Thor had scented someone in heat. But the area should have been cleared of all women, save Natasha, and they all knew her cycle–
The scent hit Tony then, too sweet to be a human in heat, and his eyes darted to where Loki lay, breathing hard and soaked in his own sweat. "Thor, no!" Tony shouted, using his thrusters to get him to Thor faster.
Steve's face was a mask of confusion, what Tony could see of it. "Tony, what's– What's going on?" he asked, voice quiet and lost like a small child over the comms.
"Loki's in heat," Natasha explained as Tony grabbed Thor's arm and tried to pull the Asgardian away from his brother. "Remember what Thor said? All Frost Giants are omegas. Their sort of omega."
'Loki's a breeder,' she didn't say, because not a one of them liked that word.
Hulk's strong arms grabbed Thor and held him fast, giving Tony the chance to get between the brothers. "Thor, buddy, come on, man. He's your brother."
"Get out of the way, Man of Iron," Thor rumbled, something dark and violent in his eyes. "The omega is mine."
"The fuck he is," Tony snarled, a growl clawing at his throat. "I'm the alpha of this pack, and I won't have you fucking around like fucking Cli–"
"I'm Alpha!" Thor roared.
Tony's hand was around Thor's throat before he'd even thought to move, his growl low and deadly between them. "I. Am. Alpha," Tony repeated, tightening his grip with each word.
"Hulk, get him out of here," Steve ordered, carefully pulling Tony's hand from Thor's throat.
Tony turned angry eyes on his pack-mate and Steve immediately showed his throat, deferring to Tony. Tony felt himself calming at the blatant show of submission, coupled with the retreat of Thor's scent. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to choke at the, frankly delicious, scent of Loki's heat. For once, he was almost jealous of the disability that kept Steve from smelling pheromones – or whatever it was that kept the super soldier from picking up those social cues; Bruce had explained it, but Tony just hadn't cared – Tony could have used the clear head.
"Take him back to the tower," Steve ordered the others over the comms, and Tony took a moment to let the familiar tones of his sometimes-alpha centre him.
Then he stepped back from Steve and turned to Loki, who had curled in on himself, the horns of his helmet pressing hard enough against his thighs that it had to hurt, quiet whimpers slipping between his lips.
"What do you want to do?" Steve asked quietly. "We can call in SHIELD to lock him up, since he's down. Send word to Asgard after his heat's passed."
Loki had always been complicated, because he was Thor's brother, which automatically made him part of their pack, but he was their enemy, which usually meant he was the farthest thing from pack. Tony's mind categorised him as an omega – pack, but largely unwanted – but he was still pack. And, omega or no, Tony couldn't just hand a member of his pack over to a group he knew had no compunctions about torturing him, especially since Loki was already suffering his heat.
"We can't give him to SHIELD, not like this," he finally decided.
"This is the weakest he's ever been," Steve pointed out. "They'd be able to hold him for–"
Tony was already shaking his head; it was only his long-knowledge of Steve's disability that kept him from shouting, "Anyone who's alpha in their home-pack will try to rape him. And at least one of them will succeed."
'And Loki won't be able to stop them, not in heat,' Tony didn't need to say.
The sound of Steve's teeth clacking together was loud in the following silence.
Tony glanced at the hard line of the other's jaw. "Be glad you can't smell him."
Steve let out a sharp breath and closed his eyes. "Then what? We can't take him back to the tower, not with Thor staying there."
Tony chewed on his tongue for a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "JARVIS, call Pepper," he requested of his AI. To Steve, he explained, "Stark Industries has apartments rented outside of the tower for employees that are hard-up. It's not the most secure place we could put him, but at least Thor won't know where he is."
"What do you need, Tony?" Pepper asked tiredly as Steve nodded his understanding.
"I'm in the northeast corner of Central Park. What's the nearest employee residence with an empty apartment?" Tony requested. He could have had JARVIS look it up, but she'd end up calling him as soon as the building logged him entering it. It was easier to just let her in on his misdeeds ahead of time, he'd discovered.
There was a moment's silence as Pepper checked. She rattled off the address once she had it, then asked, "Who are you hiding from?"
"Not me, Loki," Tony admitted and braced himself for the screaming.
"He's got my approval," Steve was quick to add.
Pepper let out a choked breath, cutting her angry tirade off before she could start it. "Dammit, Tony."
He grinned at Steve, because he knew that tone.
"You had better be in my office when I get in in the morning."
"Yes, Pepper."
She sighed, loud and resigned over the connection. "Good night, Tony. Captain Rogers."
"Night, Pep," Tony replied cheerfully as Steve politely offered, "Good night, Miss Potts."
Tony sighed and looked over towards Loki. "This should be fun," he muttered.
Steve let out a choked laugh. "Buckets filled."
Tony silently reminded himself that he was ignoring Steve's attempts at colloquialisms and moved forward until he could kneel next to Loki. The god had managed to silence his whimpering at some point, but he was still curled into something approaching a foetal position. "Hey, Reindeer Games."
"Get away from me, Stark," Loki managed through gritted teeth.
"And leave you here for some wanna-be alpha to have their way with you? Fuck, no."
"No, you would have me in their stead." Loki peeked one eye at him, terror and fury battling in the bright green.
"I don't sleep with people in heat," Tony replied, tone hard, but words entirely honest.
Loki let out a sound that was more disbelieving than afraid, but the fear was still there. "No one can fight their instincts, Stark," he commented with the wisdom of ages.
"Different biology, different instincts. Can you get up?"
Loki stared at him for a moment, expression inscrutable behind the muted fear and anger still battling in his eyes. At last, he attempted to push himself up, but his arms shook and his legs wouldn't take his weight when he finally got them under himself.
"We've got you, Loki," Steve murmured as he and Tony caught the god between them.
Loki whimpered, eyes falling closed and body sagging.
"Come on," Tony ordered and, together with Steve, they managed to get Loki to the nearest apartment building. Getting Loki into the apartment was a bit more difficult, as the building was lacking an elevator, but some careful use of Tony's thrusters got them up the stairs with only minor trouble.
All of the Stark Industries owned buildings had been rewired to give JARVIS full access to every function of the building. While he couldn't open the door of the apartment, he did unlock it. He also turned on lights – so they could see enough to get the god to the pre-furnished bedroom – and the air conditioning – because it was damn hot out, and it wasn't uncommon for someone in heat to get overheated easily.
Loki curled up in the centre of the bed when Steve and Tony let go, watching them with trepidation bright in his eyes.
Loki didn't look even the slightest bit comfortable, and Tony fought with himself for a bit before he motioned to retract the gloves of his suit. "I'm taking off your helmet," he warned before reaching forward and taking hold of it. Loki kept his eyes on Tony's hands, suspicious and afraid, but didn't fight him when the human carefully slipped it off. He held it back to Steve, who took it without a word to put on the dresser, then gently smoothed down the hair that had been upset by the helmet's removal.
Loki let out a quiet sound of misery and closed his eyes. His head tilted up, seeking firmer contact.
Tony snatched his hand away as though burned. No, no, bad. Loki's in heat and not Tony's partner. No. Touching. "Sorry," he whispered and stepped back, metal encasing his fingers again.
Loki's eyes opened, confusion and relief clear as day in them.
And, God, there was no way Loki was enjoying this.
"Keep an eye on him," Tony requested of Steve as he turned to look at the captain.
Steve nodded and clapped a hand against Tony's shoulder plate. "Send Bruce if you need my help with the others."
Tony flashed him a smirk that was, perhaps, a bit too sharp. "Are you suggesting I can't keep control of my own pack, Captain Rogers?"
Steve smiled back, calm and without a hint of contention. "I have every faith in you, Tony."
Tony quickly closed his helmet to hide the well of pleasure that comment incited, then turned and left. He trusted that Steve could handle Loki if the god tried something, and his inability to smell the heat made him the best person in their pack to keep watch. Tony would bring by some clothing and necessities for the soldier after his meeting with Pepper in the morning.
For the moment, he needed to make sure Thor would stay the fuck away from their compromised pack-mate.
Thor was, by turns, horrified at his actions, and furious at Tony for getting in the way. "He is mine!" he snarled at one point, expression contorted with fury and disgust.
"He belongs to no one," Tony snarled back. He'd made sure there was a couch and a table between himself and Thor, and Natasha and Phil stood bracketing him on either side, keeping him from trying to attack the god, since he'd never survive it without his suit. Bruce stood just at the corner of Thor's vision, a silent reminder that Thor needed to stay in his seat and not attack their alpha, lest he wished to provoke the Hulk. Clint was crouched up in an air duct, ready to shoot a syringe filled with a concoction certain to knock Thor out for six hours, should such become necessary. (Tony would have preferred just knocking Thor out, honestly, and not dealing with this issue until they'd all got some sleep, but he'd told Steve he could handle it. And he would. Immediately. No matter how much that sucked.)
"He is pack," Tony snapped, cutting the blond off and grabbing for the couch to steady himself against the need to rip Thor apart for suggesting someone in their pack was good for nothing more than carrying children. "And everyone in this pack has a use, a real use."
"He would sooner see you dead than call you pack!" Thor roared, muscles bunching like he might jump to his feet. But Bruce shifted and Thor immediately slumped back, his fury melting away to lay bare the horror hidden under his instincts. "Oh, oh Norns," he moaned and hid his face in his hands.
Tony took a deep breath and glanced down at where his fingers were digging holes in the fabric of the couch. Shouting was getting them nowhere, and he could see the signs of exhaustion in the stances of his human pack-mates. Logic didn't always get through to Thor, Tony had learned, but logic laced with lies... "Tell me about Loki," he requested, quiet and soothing.
Natasha shot him a sharp look, questioning his words, but Tony just shook his head at her.
Thor shuddered and shook his head.
"You've always said he's brilliant, far more clever than anyone else you've ever known, save your father," Tony said, keeping his voice even and soothing. "You said he's saved your life more times than you can count, can ever hope to repay."
Thor shuddered again. "This is truth," he managed, voice tight.
Tony nodded. "Tell me about omegas."
"Oh," Natasha breathed, and Clint shifted behind the vent opening just above her.
Thor peered up at him from behind his fingers, forehead creased with confusion.
"Are they smart?" Tony wondered.
Thor shook his head. "No, they are–"
"Are they capable enough to protect an alpha?"
Thor shook his head again, swallowing loudly.
"Is it possible Loki was hit with a spell that has forced him into a false heat, as though he was an omega?"
Thor's expression smoothed over. "It– A-aye. It's possible."
"Your brother's already suffering something unnatural," Tony murmured, holding Thor's gaze. "Something utterly wrong. He's probably miserable, not to mention scared. You treating him like a real omega won't help anything, will only hurt both of you in the long run."
"Don't add to the list of things you need to beg forgiveness for," Bruce added quietly.
Thor flinched, then hung his head. "Aye. I have almost made a most grievous error." He met Tony's eyes, then, helpless and sad. "I apologise, Alpha," he intoned.
"I forgive you," Tony replied, hoping that was the correct response. Sometimes, he really didn't get Asgardian pack customs.
"I should return to Asgard, to see if there might be a cure," Thor suggested hopefully.
"I don't think letting Asgard know your brother is in trouble is a good idea," Phil commented drily.
"We'll wait until he's feeling better," Bruce offered with a careful smile. "Maybe he can tell us more about the curse. Or Tony and I can find a way to defeat it, right?" He turned to Tony with wide, uncertain eyes, silently asking, 'Are you sure about this?'
"Absolutely," Tony agreed, responding to both questions at once.
Thor smiled between them, eyes shining with gratitude and tears. "I shall leave these troubles in your hands, then."
"Maybe you should think about visiting Jane" Clint suggested from the ducts. "Let everything blow over a bit?"
"I–" Thor took a moment to consider that, then gave a great nod. "Yes. That is a most excellent idea, Clint. I shall go immediately."
"It's late, even in New Mexico," Phil cut in before Thor could call Mjölnir. "This evening's been rough on everyone. Why don't you wait until morning?"
"One of us will fly you out there," Clint agreed. "Remember what happened last time you showed up out of nowhere with a storm?"
Thor grimaced; Jane Foster had been running an experiment at the time, and his storm had completely ruined it. According to the SHIELD flunkies running around the complex, she'd banished him to the nearest town for a week. Thor had been in kicked puppy mode for almost a month. Which, while hysterical to watch around the tower, was a liability on the battlefield.
Tony left it for the rest of his pack to discuss travel plans and walked over to the nearest cabinet of booze to pour himself a large drink.
"You don't think Loki is under a spell," Natasha murmured, grabbing Tony's best vodka.
He flashed her a tired smile. "I think there's something rotten in the state of Asgard."
Natasha rolled her eyes.
Tony glanced back at where Bruce and Clint were ushering Thor from the room. "Thor said Loki's a beta, but he's clearly not. I suspect there's hocus pocus involved, but I'm not sure why or how."
"Curiosity killed the cat, Stark," Natasha cautioned.
Tony flashed her his most shit-eating grin. "Good thing I'm not a cat, then." He tossed back the last swallow of his drink. "Good night, Natasha."
"Good night, Alpha," she murmured in response.
Tony rolled his eyes and stalked off, mentally cursing Thor for rubbing his weird customs off on Tony's pack.
Pepper listened to the whole story in stony silence. When Tony finally fell silent, she was quiet for a moment more, then said, "This can go so wrong, so fast."
"I know."
"You're playing with fire."
"Ice, actu–"
"Tony."
Tony swallowed and looked down at his hands, folded in his lap like a boy sent to the principal's office. "I know," he whispered, shaking his head. He glanced up at her, then, tired and determined and silently asking for her approval. "He's pack."
Pepper closed her eyes, one hand coming up to massage her temple. "Promise me something?"
Tony raised an eyebrow, refusing to make a promise before he knew what she was asking.
Her mouth curled; she'd clearly expected his silence. "Be careful." She opened her eyes and matched his gaze.
"I'll try," he offered.
Pepper sighed and her smile was resigned. "If he harms you, I'll rip out his spleen."
Tony laughed, then, loud and relieved, because that, from his alpha, was approval. "I'll make sure he's warned."
Pepper nodded and waved a hand at him. "Now, get out of my office. Unless you want to sign some more pap–"
"Thanks, Pep!" Tony shouted, scrambling for the exit.
Her laughter followed him out the door, a little too sharp, but soothing none the less.
The Lightning Strike ~ ChaptersMovement I ~ What If This Storm Ends | Movement II ~ The Sunlight Through the Flags | Movement III ~ Daylight
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Date: 10/9/13 09:57 (UTC)I tried to get to part 2 of Movement I but the link doesn't seem to be working... I'm hoping you will be able to fix it as this fic got a great start and I really want to read more of it.
Thanks in advance!
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Date: 10/9/13 10:02 (UTC)Alternately, you could have just clicked the fic's tag. ^.^"
no subject
Date: 10/9/13 10:11 (UTC)Must be my unlucky day but it's still doesn't work for me.
I've got a denied acces page for Movement I part 2...
I can go on Movement II and Movement III with no problem but not Movement I part 2...
Do you by chance post your fic at any other place?
no subject
Date: 10/9/13 10:13 (UTC)It is also posted on Archive of Our Own, Fanfiction.net, and it'll be finished posting on tumblr directly. If those are to your preference.
no subject
Date: 10/9/13 10:19 (UTC)