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Tony wasn't sure what he had in mind as he landed on the top of Stark Tower.
Loki stood on the mezzanine, waiting for him, with spear in hand. Tony worked to size up the situation as JARVIS peeled off the damaged layers of the Mark VI suit.
Psychological factors such as body language, eye contact, the shape of Loki's mouth-- even the deliberation in his stride were all converted into mathematical equations as the super-computer that was Tony's brain prioritized goals and determined the most effective course of action.
click click click
His brain was still processing the first dozen variables when Loki spoke. "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."
Loki's smile was teasing. Humor was added to the equation.
click click
"Actually I'm planning to threaten you." His strategy was incomplete at best, too soon to make a move, but he couldn't resist contradicting the deity. It was in the next few seconds of their almost-friendly banter that the pieces in Tony’s brain began to fall into place like tumblers in a lock.
Offer Loki hospitality before the threat. He is a guest in your home after all.
Hospitality rejected-- insecurity.
click click
Loki jumps the gun and threatens first-- fear.
click click
Probe for weakness... Thor's relationship strikes a chord-- inadequacy.
click click
Sibling rivalry... Thor is king-- jealousy.
click click click
"You're missing the point."
Take a jab at his insecurity.
"There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top."
Straight to the fear.
"Maybe your army comes, and maybe it's too much for us."
Inadequacy right to the jaw.
"But it's all on you."
Fear.
Tony finds himself just outside range of physical engagement with Loki closing the gap as he speaks, the arrogance in his eyes turns to fierce vindictiveness.
"How will your friends have time for me--"
A burning cold shuts down every processor and synapse in Tony's brain as he realizes what is about to happen.
"--when they're so busy fighting you?"
Everything slows to a painful crawl, sounds become muffled, and the room darkens around the edges as Tony's vision focuses too sharply on his antagonist, his anathema. Tony has squared up with a damned god with no armor, no suit, nothing; and he isn’t entirely sure it was accidental.
In that brief moment Tony’s life is a series of snapshots before his eyes.
A childhood with a father who was unable to show him love.
A young man forever shunned by his peers as a silver-spooned inheritance, or an intellectual pariah. Life must be nurtured or it withers; love returned in kind or it grows cold.
His ears hum with the resonant power building in the spear; its sickening blue light brightens.
A man who was always defending himself. The small minded always want to see great men fall. Walls of stone and metal where his heart used to be.
His eyes fall to the spear despite his best efforts.
"You may not be a threat, but you'd better stop pretending to be a hero."
The whole room is open behind him, and he can’t make his feet move to take a step back.
A self-obsessed man who bought his way into the hero club.
His heart is pounding as the spear rises to his chest, and he realizes that he did this on purpose. He wanted Loki to test him; he needed the proof. Had his heart died quietly in it's iron casket? Was he just the machine now, using his crusade as a convenient substitute for morals?
Tink
The sound echoes deafeningly loud in Tony's head, and his mind clears.
Tink
The turbulence that has been building in his chest is abruptly silenced. Machines can’t be brainwashed or corrupted; he is safe after all. Safely cocooned in his metal skin; servos and circuits humming, ever-present and reassuring.
I am Iron Man.
"Performance issues." Tony shrugged. “Four out of five’s not bad...”
Shattering glass briefly enveloped him as he was forcibly ejected from Stark Tower back into the fray.
“JARVIS! I’m out of time!” Tony was no longer afraid, even as he plummeted toward the pavement. The cold metal of the Mark VII joined with the metal inside, wrapping around him, completing the circuit.
He even fought like a machine; coldly twisting and weaving through the fog of battle. Each hit took its toll on him. He hardly needed the readout these days, he could hear the difference in the steady thrum of his suit, feel the reduction in his augmented strength as his power levels dropped. Everywhere he looked the bastards just kept coming. He targeted the big ships; it was the most efficient utilization of resources. Natasha, Clint, and Cap could take care of the shock troops.
Tony’s ongoing assessment of the battle grew steadily more grim. He was searching for a new factor to improve the prognosis when he heard Fury break in on the tac channel.
“Stark, you’ve got a nuke on the way, two minutes.” There was no droll sarcasm in his voice this time, he was all business. This was the new factor Tony was looking for; the game changer.
Tony could feel the heat of the missile’s engine bristling across his calves, even through the suit. He ignored the itching that preceded the second degree burns.
“That’s it. Save the rest for the turn.” This machine was wearing out. Tony could hear the frequency of the his repulsers modulate down, and feel the sluggish response every time he corrected his position. He fired his main thrusters and lower repulsers, and strained to change the trajectory of the missile. He bounced off of Stark tower and saw his target. All he could make out was a dark void inside a ring of blue. Sweat stung his eyes, and his jaw was clenched hard enough to make his teeth hurt.
“Shall I try Miss Potts?” JARVIS’ calm voice reminded him of why he was doing this.
“Why not...”
Tony blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the blackness of space after the blinding energy of the Tesseract had washed out his vision. It was beautiful. His audio sensors couldn’t pick up a sound, or they had already gone offline, he wasn’t sure. The next thing he lost was movement in his legs. He wrote off his lower body and pushed all remaining power through his thrusters. One by one his systems began to fail. The steady electronic hum inside his head faded and was suddenly gone as his HUD blinked and shut off.
For a few seconds the silence was startling. There was nothing left. No Stark Industries, no Pepper, not even the comforting presence of JARVIS. He remembered to breathe and was surprised to hear the steady, unrelenting, rhythmic beat of his own heart. He listened to that incredible sound, and stared in wonder at the stars spreading endlessly in every direction. The machine inside may protect him, but it went only as deep as Pepper could reach with her small hands. Beyond that, behind that, it was his heart that still drove him on. His mouth hung open as he watched the beautiful, deadly silence that he had delivered expand, and envelope the alien fleet that was earth’s would-be doom. The machine could take him anywhere, through the gates of death itself, but it was his heart that would always bring him back home. Tony closed his eyes, or perhaps it was the darkness that closed around him, and there was nothing except the beating of his heart. He fell.
Pain shot through his head straight to his chest, and his eyes focused on the massive green form standing over him. This level of disorientation was something new for Tony.
“What happened?” he half yelled, gasping, adrenaline pulsing through him. “Did we win?” he asked as his breathing began to slow. He couldn’t move, but he could feel his muscles strain against the weight of the suit. He couldn’t hear JARVIS, but he could still hear his own heart. He didn’t have a heads-up-display feeding him information, but he could see the faces of his friends gathered around him. Eventually all machines will fail and cease to function, but the heart keeps beating even after it is broken.
“Shawarma?”