Fixated

As Tony flew towards Manhattan his heart was about to beat out of his chest. He had never been so nervous before. Of course, no one had kidnapped Edie before either.

He knew he had to push away his anxiety and fear regarding Edie and concentrate on getting the suit fixed and Loki fired up. For the most part, Edie knew how to take care of herself. Tony just had to hope she could keep herself safe for a little while longer.

Tony landed very ungracefully on the platform, the revolving metal circle removing his armor and stowing it where it would be tuned up. His eyes connected with Loki’s and he took a deep breath. Edie’s safety required him to be calm and collected, something he was normally very good at.

“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity,” Loki greeted with a scoff.

“Uh… actually, I’m planning to threaten you,” Tony smirked.

“You should have left your armor on for that,” Loki retorted.

“Yeah, it’s seen a bit of mileage and you’ve got the blue stick of destiny as well as my niece. Would you like a drink?” Tony asked. If he had to admit it to himself, the whiskey would be medicinal as well as a distraction.

“Stalling me won’t change anything,” Loki said, attempting to see through Tony’s guise.

“No, no, no! Threatening. No drink? You sure? I’m having one,” he shrugged and walked towards the bar.

“The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?” Loki smirked.

“The Avengers,” Tony answered with a cocky shrug, “It’s what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ type of thing.”

“Yes, I’ve met them,” Loki scoffed.

“Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one,” Tony nodded. “But, let’s do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”

“That was the plan,” Loki said, turning to look out at the Manhattan skyline. Tony took advantage of the moment and slipped on his suit homing bracelets.

“Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they’ll come for you,” Tony warned.

“I have an army,” Loki challenged.

“We have a Hulk,” Tony retorted.

“I thought the beast had wandered off,” Loki said.

“You’re missing the point,” Tony began, stepping out from behind the bar. “There’s no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we’ll avenge it,” he finished.

“How will your friends have time for me, when they’re so busy fighting you?” Loki asked, stepping forward and hitting Tony in the chest with his scepter. The metal tapped the glass of Tony’s reactor and it’s power failed.

“It should work!” Loki exclaimed angrily.

“Well, performance issues. You know?” Tony smirked. Loki angrily grabbed Tony by the throat and threw him across the room.

“Jarvis, anytime now,” Tony muttered as Loki once again made his way towards him.

Loki once again grabbed Tony by the throat and said forcefully, “You will all fall before me.” Loki flung Stark from the tower and waited eagerly to see him hit the ground.

[***]

Edie had successfully trashed her guest room. She dug through every piece of furniture in the room and only managed to find a sports bra and sweat pants. That would have to do, because Edie needed to get out of that room.

She moved to the bathroom and searched through the drawers under the sink. She squealed happily when she managed to find several bobby pins that were hiding. She sprinted across the room and knelt in front of the door, working on trying to pick the lock. Unfortunately Tony had installed the kind of doors that had a keyhole on either side.

Edie thought about what had happened just a few minutes earlier and felt slightly disgusted with herself. She hated that she stooped to the level she did, but she felt it was necessary to at least try. Anything that could have given the Avengers more time would have been worth it.

As she successfully destroyed the first bobby pin, she continued to think about Loki. Edie wasn’t entirely sure of what happened the night before, but because there was no pain between her legs she figured they didn’t hit home base. It had been six months since she had sex, if anything happened in that region she would have been feeling it that morning.

“Fuck,” Edie muttered. There went bobby pin number two. She only had two left.

But Edie felt confused. She was lying there naked and he didn’t try to have sex with her. It was obvious from the first moment they laid eyes on each other that there was a raw sexual chemistry between them. Why didn’t he go for it? If Edie concentrated really hard, she could remember intensely making out with him and lying with him in the bed. It was very fuzzy with only a few moments of clarity. It was as if she had been very, very drunk the night before.

“Ow,” she exclaimed, sticking her finger in her mouth. She had managed to accidentally pinch herself, but the door was showing no signs of being unlocked.

If Edie had to subject herself to having sex with Loki, she believed it wouldn’t have been too bad. The kiss they shared was intense to say the least, and she knew he would know what he was doing just by the way he touched her. She sighed heavily, If only he wasn’t a power-hungry lunatic.

Edie finally took one of the bobby pins she broke and shoved it in there with her last remaining one. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she wedged them in the keyhole, stirring them around hopefully. She heard a satisfying click and cried out in joy. She jumped to her feet and pulled open the door, freedom waiting on the other side.

A loud crash echoed from above and Edie knew there was trouble upstairs. She sprinted down the hall to the elevator and frantically pushed the button. She bounced up and down nervously as the elevator slowly made its way up.

Edie sprinted out of the elevator in time to see Loki holding her Uncle Tony by the throat. She watched in horror as Loki flung her last living relative off of the tower, no flying armor adorning his body.

“No!” she cried out and threw herself at Loki. Tears streamed down her face as she frantically threw punches at his chest.

Loki forcefully seized her wrists and shook her to a stop. Edie collapsed to her knees and sobbed. “He was all I had left,” she whimpered pathetically.

Loki’s eyes softened as he looked down at the broken girl before him. The woman he so craved affection from was overcome with anguish. He had taken everything from her. She would never love him.

The sound of jets made the both of them turn to look out the stunning views of Stark Tower. Edie’s face lit up when she saw the Iron Man suit flying safely. She wasn’t sure how her brilliant uncle managed to pull a suit out of his ass, all she knew was she was incredibly thankful he did.

“And there’s one other person you pissed off! His name is Phil,” Tony said before blasting Loki into the wall behind them.

Edie grinned and pulled herself to her feet. Tony landed on the floor in front of her and she tackled him in a hug. Tony’s mechanical arms wrapped around her and his facemask pulled back.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, kid,” he sighed.

“Me too,” she grinned.

“Did he touch you?” Tony asked worriedly. Edie immediately knew the meaning behind his words. Edie also knew she could never break his heart like that.

“Nah, I’m alright,” she smiled.

“Thank God,” Tony sighed, hugging her tight again. “C’mon, let’s get you home before you get yourself into more trouble,” he added. Tony scooped her up in his arms and Edie wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

Tony flew away just as Loki pulled himself out of the rubble. Eden turned her head to look back at him and briefly wondered what his fate would be. But the battle was beginning, and despite her confused feelings for him Edie still hoped with everything she had that the Avengers would be victorious.