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….
And Tony was still ready to accept this, even having prepared a couple of moves to painfully and loudly slap everyone's hands, but… the worst thing surfaced here. Something he hadn't accounted for.
The attempt to negotiate with Ivan amicably failed. And not through the fault of Tony himself, who for once truly tried to behave decently and with respect for his interlocutor.
He even offered Vanko a percentage of the company's shares, public acknowledgment of the injustice of his father's accusation, and… In short, he tried to restore justice! Honestly! No fooling!
And left feeling spat upon…
And it didn't matter how they tried to buy Ivan now, it was crystal clear that he would sell himself not even for money, but only to spite Stark. It was his idée fixe. Impenetrable…
Which was especially annoying! There were thousands of people in the world whom Tony had hurt, insulted, and humiliated in his life, but it just had to happen that the very person into whose glass he never spat would turn out to be the only one who maniacally and disinterestedly wished to kill him just for his surname!
Tony couldn't have predicted such a turn of events! Anything but such nonsense!
Even Hammer didn't treat him like that, although it would seem there was no one in the world who wished Tony dead more than Hammer.
But Stark could negotiate with Hammer, whereas with Vanko, no.
And now… it only remained to wait for Iron Man technology to enter the public domain, and…
"And how soon will these technologies fall into the wrong hands, Rhodey? Six months? A year? How soon will a dozen fighters in Suits level entire cities 'for the glory of the Taliban' or 'Al-Qaeda'?" Stark saw the solution to this problem, but… he didn't like it.
Ultimately, his guts turned out to be as thin as his father's. He couldn't kill Ivan. Tony took another swig from the bottle.
"…" Rhodey pursed his lips.
Of course, he could say something, assure that such a thing wouldn't happen, but… practice showed that weapons samples kept surfacing with terrorists time and time again, sometimes ones that even the regular army didn't have yet.
And they could only get them by buying from someone sitting very high up.
"Based on the dialogue…" a voice familiar to Tony rang out from the door, "you couldn't reach an agreement with Vanya."
"With whom?" finding Loki with his gaze (simultaneously with Rhodey frantically turning toward the sound), Stark asked again.
"Diminutive-affectionate form of the name 'Ivan' in Russian," the brunet in a pea coat explained, approaching closer. "So, what is the main problem?"
"He wants my death," Tony answered exhaustively, applying himself to the bottle again.
"Completely dead set on it?" the new guest raised his right eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Extreme option?.." now both of the brunet's eyebrows were raised.
"Don't want to…" Stark grimaced.
"Tear out his tongue?" the ancient Norse god moved his index finger in the air in a businesslike manner.
Tony's answer appeared on his face before his slightly alcohol-fogged brain could fully process the suggestion.
"Ah yes, wrong era," Loki caught himself, understanding everything from just the facial expression.
"Then we postpone limb amputation, bone crushing, and gouging out eyes too… How you humans love to complicate life for yourselves and those around you!" the guest shook his head with annoyance and clear reproach addressed to him and Rhodey.
"Hey! I don't want to hear such reproaches from someone who suggests tearing out the tongue and gouging out the eyes of a guy who just…" Stark's indignant speech cut off, stumbling upon a lack of the right words.
"Tried to kill you?" this grinning bastard prompted tactfully.
"Yes, but…" the damned alcohol started interfering with thinking precisely when it was required!
"Hey, Tony, maybe you'll explain to me who this is and what he's doing in your workshop?" Rhodey reminded of himself, shifting his surprised gaze from one interlocutor to the other.
"U-um…" at the mere thought of how he would explain something he didn't really understand himself yet, the billionaire got a headache. "Maybe you?.." he looked hopefully at Loki.
"Fine," he shrugged lightly. "How should I answer: so you'll believe me, or the truth?" he turned his whole body toward Rhodey.
"I'd like the truth," the Air Force colonel replied cautiously, casting a wary glance at Stark.
"I am a God. Tony and I have drinks sometimes…"
"Ahem!" said Tony inwardly rejoiced that he wasn't taking a new sip at that moment, but he hastened to mask the smile climbing onto his lips with a cough.
"You want me to believe such nonsense?" seeing his friend's reaction, Rhodey began to look at everything happening even more suspiciously.
"Then I am his delirium tremens. Or the green fairy, whichever you prefer," Loki grinned brazenly, saluting the man with a glass of absinthe that appeared in a shimmer of yellow-green light.
"That I believe more…" blinking a couple of times, the colonel admitted.
"Oh come on, relax. Here, sit down right here," Loki pointed to the nearest small sofa. "There are things better taken sitting down. I'll show you everything now."
"Are you sure?" James Rhodes was in no hurry to lower the intensity of suspicious glares from his current interlocutor to Tony and back.
"Yes, it's a long story. However, if you're not interested…" the brunet with green eyes portrayed a readiness to stop giving any explanations with his posture.
"Okay, I'm sitting," Rhodey quickly complied with the requirement. "What next?"
"As I said, I am a God," the guest saluted with the glass once more. "Thanks for participating. Say hi to Morpheus if you see him."
After which he made some tricky gesture, and Tony's friend rolled his eyes and immediately collapsed onto the sofa unconscious.
"What was that?" the master of the mansion demanded an answer, pointing the hand holding the bottle at Rhodey's body.
"Standard sleep spell," Loki shrugged, dispelling the glass in his hand as easily as he had created it recently. "He might be a decent person, but talking in front of him would be a bit stressful."
….
Bonus Chapter on every 500 power stones;
If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters from here you can visit my Patre-on.
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