You heard the metallic clicking as the manacle around your wrist locked into place. You looked down at it and saw the gear-like mechanism turn as it locked. These were far fancier than police handcuffs, especially when they were etched in Asgardian runes.

Your eyes were drawn to the runes. They were glowing gold as the metal gears turned. They dulled to black as the manacles finished locking in place. Of course, you couldn't read what they said, Loki hadn't taught you to read runes yet, but it didn't really matter what the runes said. Not at that moment anyway.

You looked up to Loki, glanced up and saw the shock and surprise on his face, then glanced back down at the manacle on your wrist, at the matching one on Loki's. There were only a few links of chain between the two cuffs.

And they were locked on.

They were locked.

Fuck

Shit

Damn

Your breathing hitched and you could feel your heart speed at the sight of the metal encircling your wrist. You looked up at Loki again, knowing your eyes were full of panic and at that moment not giving a single solitary fuck. You had to get this fixed.

Now

"Loki!?!? What did you do??" You demanded, placing all of the blame firmly on the god of mischief's shoulders. It was generally fair to blame Loki when things went wrong. Especially since it was generally his fault or some trick or prank that had gone wrong.

This time it was definitely his scheme that had gone wrong. Going into Stark's lab was his idea and you'd just had to babysit him. It was entirely his fault.

"This was not me!" Loki protested as his own gaze went down to the manacle on his wrist. "I'm all for chains, but only when I choose them..." he added as if that made anything better. It did knock you out of your shock for a second to stare up at him wondering if he'd just admitted what you thought he'd just admitted.

Then came the unbidden thought: did he prefer to be wearing the chains or putting them on his lover.

That was not a helpful thought at any point, but definitely not at the moment.

You needed to get the handcuffs off. Magic handcuffs. Why the fuck was Stark messing with magic handcuffs?

You shook that thought from your mind as well. That was neither here nor there. First thing first: get the handcuffs off.

Then find out if Loki liked wearing the chains.

No, brain, that was not on the agenda.

You still had to tell him you liked him before you could think of going anywhere near that subject.

Handcuffs off. You had to focus on getting the handcuffs off. Panic did stupid things to your brain, apparently. Like make you think about Loki in chains instead of getting the fucking handcuffs off.

Key. There had to be a key somewhere. You looked around the table the handcuffs had been on. Logically, the best place for the key to the cuffs was on the table that they were originally sitting on.

Right? Right?

You moved papers and knickknacks and Jarvis screens and other stuff around on the table looking for anything that could be remotely key-shaped.

"Love? Calm down," Loki tried to soothe.

You kept looking on the table, ignoring him for the moment.

There was no sign of anything remotely key-shaped on the table or near the table.

Wrong.

Fuck.

Now what?

You looked up at Loki. "How can I be calm? We're handcuffed together and there's no sign of any key anywhere!" You could hear your voice rising in pitch as you spoke and you hated that your emotions were being betrayed so easily.

Loki reached with his free hand to cup your cheek, his fingers positioned in such a way that he forced you to look up into his eyes. His gaze softened, gentled. "We will figure it out together, love," he soothed, his voice like melted honey. "But we must remain calm to think things through and find the solution. Now breathe in," his voice had shifted to a command that you followed automatically. There was no denying that voice, that presence, that order. "Good, now hold it... and breathe out," he kept speaking, kept counting breaths until your breathing had eased, until the panic had subsided enough for you to think and function again. You gave him a grateful look and he gave you a soft smile in return. "Good, now, there's clearly no sign of a key..." he commented. "So we must find an alternative-"

That gave you an idea. "Jarvis?" You asked, hoping he would listen to you, even in Stark's lab.

"Yes, Miss?" You could tell by the snark in his voice that he was grumpy at you for being illegally in Tony's lab. He would just have to get over it.

"Where's the key for Tony's handcuffs?" You asked, lifting your cuffed wrist in emphasis.

Jarvis hesitated a long moment and you felt your hope grow that this would be over shortly. Finally, he replied: "There is no key, Miss. Mr. Stark has yet to develop one,"

Fuck!

Your hope shattered and your panic threatened to return. You focused on your breathing and on Loki next to you to keep from panicking and being useless.

Plan C, then.

You looked up at Loki and held up your bound wrists. "No key. Looks like you're up witch," you teased him a little, trying to ease the tension and the mood.

Loki rolled his eyes so hard you could practically hear them rattle around before he nodded. He looked at your joined hands and his eyes glowed green as he gathered his magic. He frowned, his brows furrowing in concentration as the seconds, then minutes ticked by.

And still the cuffs remained.

"Loki?" You asked, fear in your voice.

Loki blinked and his eyes returned to normal. He shook his head. "It's as if they repel my magic," he was clearly looking for words to explain to a muggle. "I cannot remove them or teleport out of them or any of the other countless spells I've tried. They're well and truly stuck,"