Energy

Christie walked slowly behind Stark, spotting Loki across the large room. She hadn’t wanted to follow Iron Man, but she was the closest Agent and he had insisted he had back up. The two men exchanged banter as Christie’s stomach turned into knots. Why was Stark willingly threatening the powerful god Loki? It didn’t make any sense! Christie had no more time to ponder Tony’s intentions as the Asgardian had thrown him to the ground. She gasped and froze with wide eyes.

“Deploy!” Stark was repeating quietly as Loki choked him. Christie couldn’t decide what action to take. Her feet appeared glued to the spot as she watched on with horror. With such force, Loki hurled Tony into the large window, sending him plummeting to his inevitable death.

“No!” Christie shouted with shock, almost taking a step forwards. Her gut instinct was to rush out and try to catch the falling man, but Loki stood in her way. His head whipped around at her outburst and he glared at her. A red and gold large bullet shot out of the wall, narrowly missing Loki, but neither her nor him took much notice. Their eyes were locked in a stare, Christie still shocked by how effortlessly Loki had killed Stark.

“And why are you here?” Loki questioned her with such authority that she stayed still, afraid to move an inch. Christie’s lips couldn’t form words and Loki aimed his sceptre at her. “Answer me!” With his yell, a jolt of power slammed into Christie’s chest. She crashed into the wall not far behind her with a yelp of pain, her energy shield not activating quick enough. Christie stood slowly, not taking her eyes off Loki as she summoned her defensive energy barrier.

“I will gladly throw myself out that window and leave you alone,” she told the Asgardian, gradually raising her hands to a surrender position.

“What a pathetic mortal you are,” Loki spat as he strode across the room to her. Christie shivered with how defenceless she felt. Loki picked her up by her throat, similar to how he had picked up Tony moments ago. “Kneel before me. I am your king.”

“No,” Christie replied breathlessly. Again, Loki tossed her onto the ground, but this time Christie didn’t feel it because her shield protected her. Quickly back on her feet, she flung a ball of energy at him, but he deflected it with a wave of his wrist. With his sceptre, Loki attacked her with his own power, breaking the shield and cutting her skin all over her body. Christie fell to the floor in pain, screaming as her barricade was broken for the first time. She heard Loki’s boots thudding on the hard floor as he came back to her. Worry flooded her as she realised something was wrong. This wasn’t how it had happened. Christie seemed to become more aware of her surroundings and she looked at the broken window. Iron Man wasn’t there. He wasn’t telling Loki that he had pissed someone else off. Tony wasn’t alive in her nightmare. He had fallen to his death.

“He’s not coming back,” Loki’s voice dripped with poison. Christie’s head snapped around to look at him and his evil smirk as he pointed the sceptre.

“No! No!” she pleaded. Loki didn’t listen and fired. Her abdomen crumpled with pain, and then her left leg. Christie didn’t know what hurt more: the fact that Tony was dead, or that Loki’s power was repeatedly striking her. She cried, trying to put up a shield but failing, and only feeling agony. A hand grabbed her right arm, causing her to spark.

The jolt brought Christie out of her nightmare. To her right she saw Tony hissing and gripping his hand. She huffed heavily, incredibly relieved to be out of the terrifying dream.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a frown. She reached out to touch him, but he flinched away, eyes filled with panic.

“You zapped me,” Tony remarked, his voice full of disbelief. Christie didn’t know what to say. “What the hell was happening? Were you dreaming about not being able to save me again?”

“No.” She shook her head and then rolled more onto her right side for a better view of him. “This time Loki was attacking me.”

“Oh…” Tony breathed, remembering what she had told him about Loki being the only one to break through her energy force. He could still clearly remember returning to the broken window and seeing her on the floor in pain. The way she had glared at him as she hurriedly flew away was a look he’d never forget. “You’re safe now, baby, I promise.” Christie smiled weakly and rubbed sweat from her brow.

“It always seems so real… And it’s always about you- you always die,” she stumbled over her words as her heart continued to race. Tony shifted from his crouch on the floor to sitting on her bed. He leaned over Christie and embraced her tightly, doing his best to provide the comfort he knew she needed.

“Well I’m safe too. You don’t need to worry,” he told her soothingly before kissing her forehead, Christie detecting the alcohol on his breath. She returned the hug and breathed in his scent, soon stopping.

“What is that smell? Oil?” she questioned as she pulled away. Christie reached over to the bedside table and turned on the lamp to see that Tony’s face had streaks of black across it. His shirt was covered in it too, and there was even a burnt hole over his stomach. “What have you been doing?” Christie couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of him.

“I’ve been working,” he shrugged, sitting up straight. “Had a bit of a malfunction.”

“Working on what?”

“On my suits,” Tony replied casually as Christie checked the alarm clock.

“It’s four in the morning, and you’re awake, drinking and making Iron Man suits?” she clarified slowly. That couldn’t be normal. Tony’s face fell grim and he diverted his gaze for a moment to find the courage to tell her the truth.

“I can’t sleep anymore.”

“Since when?” Christie asked gently, placing her hand atop his grubby one. All of her worries about silly nightmares seemed to disappear. At least she could still fall asleep.

“Since Loki tried to take over the world,” Tony admitted. “Only get a few hours a night, if I’m lucky.”

“Really? This whole time…” Christie sighed. It must have been awful for him. She had no idea how he had managed to keep it together and appear normal.

“Drinking helps, working gives me something to do… I’m sure I’m fine. It’s probably a normal side effect from saving the world and everything…” Tony muttered, dismissing it with a shake of his head.

“Just like my nightmares,” Christie murmured with a small grin. They were going through the same thing, which made it easier for her to comprehend and deal with. Tony nodded and squeezed her hand. “How did you know I was having a nightmare?”

“Jarvis told me you were screaming and not responding to him,” Tony answered before running a hand over his exhausted face. The shadows cast from the low light of the lamp made him seem even older and Christie felt a rush of empathy. He was so kind to her, so now she had to look after him too.

“Hey, go and wash up,” she whispered.

“I should get back to work,” Tony countered and Christie raised her eyebrows. “What? It’s not even five thirty. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep yet.”

“Go,” Christie ordered, pointing towards the en-suite’s door. Tony hesitated, considering disobeying, but decided to play along. He shuffled across the room, feeling heavy and weary yet not sufficiently fatigued to fall asleep. He used a facecloth to scrub most of the oil and grime off his face and arms before walking back into Christie’s room, seeing she was now sitting on the edge of her bed. Tony came to a stop in front of her and she stood, pulling off his burnt and greasy shirt and tossing it on the floor. Christie’s hands went to his belt buckle next and Tony’s hands automatically and smoothly rested on her waist.

“Well, you could have just said so,” he uttered, intrigued by her actions.

“You’re not wearing those filthy jeans to bed,” Christie told him, a wide grin on her lips from his tone as well as the thought. She’d be lying if she tried to deny that it had been on her mind recently. After carefully undoing the zip, Christie pushed the jeans to the floor and Tony stepped out of them, crawling onto the bed and going under the covers. Christie followed and switched off the light before shuffling over and cuddling Tony. He held her close and kissed her forehead.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep,” Tony admitted in a hushed voice.

“Just try,” Christie mumbled, already falling back into a slumber. Once her breathing became regular, Tony listened to the rhythm and found it soothing. Alongside of her warmth and presence, his eyes started to droop and he was soon sleeping too.