Avengers 1. Prologue

**Please let me know if there are any spelling mistakes etc. This is written on my phone as my laptop is broken so it is quite hard to read through it all. Enjoy, favourite and most of all review! Reviews are to me what crazy is to Loki, can't live without it!**

**Prologue**

He looked down at the broken man in front of him and felt the anger and fear disapate slightly. A twinge of pity tugged at him and he let his thrusters cool down.

All the fear, all the worry, the pain, it was over. Yet he couldn't feel relieved, just lost. He felt as if something inside him had been taken away, the arrogance, the mirth. The things that made him who he was, stripped away from him by the harrowing fight that had just taken place.

The man sat up stiffly, his limbs nearly shaking with the effort. The man lifted his gaze and locked eyes with him.

'If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now.' He tried not to let it become a gasp.

Tony felt the side of his mouth twitch, he felt the smirk as he stared back at the man.

Loki, so powerful, unhinged, dangerous. Even in the face of defeat, his cool demeanour was still there. You had to admire that.

Loki did not miss the smirk, he liked the metal man, his courage and heart was almost, almost, endearing. He had felt the fear coming off him in waves when they confronted each other. Unlike the rest, Stark was not a soldier, a fighter. He was the least experienced and possibly the weakest member, but, his genius and tactician's brain made up for that and made him deadly. He had ignored the paralysing fear and made a good show. Loki had been wanting to utilise him, that raw talent for escaping danger, but his blue heart had stopped him.

He would find a way, he wanted that mind for his own arsenal. Had he had that man to help with using the Tesseract he felt sure he would have had a better outcome, and he knew the monster would not have gone through Stark to get to him. That was one encounter he could have done without. Sentiment, what a pleasing defect in normal races.

Stark passed a glass to him, much to the scrutinizing gaze of his comrades.

'What, can't refuse a man his last request. Can I call you a man?'

Loki narrowed his eyes at him, his lips curled at the edges as he sipped the bitter liquid. One thing could be said for mortals, their beverages were much more tasteful than those on Asgard. He kept his eyes on Stark, letting a plan form.


	2. Chapter 1 - Loose Ends

**Chapter 1 - Loose Ends**

Tony Stark paced the ruins of his tower as he gestured avidly whilst talking into a bluetooth headset.

'I mean it, take a vacation, when was the last time you had one. Go now before someone else tries to take over the world.'

'I can't Tony, you need me here, you are going to have so much press on top of everything else after what happened' Pepper's voice crackled on the other end.

'I can handle it, you, on the other hand cannot.'

'What do you mean by that?'

Tony's eyes wandered over his tower apartment and swallowed. Pepper had managed so dilligently to help him repair it, but she became so distant, so quiet now everytime she stepped foot in here. He understood why, he felt the same thing as he wandered about. The air was tainted in this city with the acrid tang of death, especially in this area, and it permeated the walls and floors of the building. Tony had not noticed it at first, he was just happy to be alive. But then days become weeks and it became hard to breathe sometimes, flashbacks would run through his mind and his chest would tighten. Thanks to constant meetings, Pepper spent alot of time away and he had been able to avoid letting her see. But because of that he was distancing himself from her and was at a loss to how to stop himself.

'Tony? Are you still there?'

'Mmm, oh yeah sorry, I was miles away.'

'I'm not going on vacation.'

'Baby, please.' He could hear the weakness in his voice and he didn't like it.

'Tony don't.'

'Don't what.'

'Don't call me that and act like this.'

'Act like what?'

'You know very well Tony, I think it is you who needs the vacation.'

'No, I am fine, but I hate seeing you here, where it all happened, I know what it does to you.'

'Me?' She sounded exasperated. 'What about you? Tony you nearly died there, you need a break.'

'So do you.'

'Then lets take a break together, at the very least.'

'No.' He said a little too quickly. 'I mean...'

Pepper's voice went cold. 'What's happening to us?'

'Nothing, I mean, I don't know, what?'

'Tony stop it, listen, if you want some time alone I understand, but please just talk to me.'

'I can't honey, I just can't.'

'I see. I hate seeing you like this Tony, you need time to heal, I'm not coming home until you figure this one out, please, take a break. Call me when you're ready to talk.'

'Pepper I love-' But she had already hung up.

He sighed and let his arms fall loosely to his sides, what on earth was he doing. He went over to the bar and gripped the sides, he could feel it coming, his arms were shaking, his knuckles white. His chest constricted like a snake was coiled around his lungs and heart. A snake with a green cape and a stupid helmet. He laughed at the thought, but it came out a gasping sob and he felt his knees start to buckle. He shut his eyes tight and begged anyone, anything, to not let him have an attack.

'Jarvis, do something, talk to me quick.' He shouted. No answer.

'Jarvis? Ahh!' He clutched at his reactor embedded in his chest. 'Oh god oh god oh god.'

'Yes?' Came a soft, purring voice from across the room and Tony stopped breathing. He sucked in his breath and buried his head into the wood of the bar. 'Oh god please, it's not real it's not real.'

'I assure you, it is real.'

The voice was closer now and Tony felt himself sliding off the bar, he tried to grab hold of it but his hands didn't respond. His legs buckled and he fell.

Something caught his arm, a cold hand tightened around him and lifted him onto his feet with inhuman strength.

'Still think you are imagining things, Iron Man?' The voice was like sharp flint and Tony felt the breath leave his body as he was slammed back into the wall.

'You do not look so good mortal.' Hard eyes bored into his and his breathing became rapid, he could feel his heart slamming against his ribcage and he struggled to speak as he grabbed at the wrist pinning him up by his neck.

'You don't look so hot yourself Rocky Horror.' He almost cried out as he spoke.

'Ever the comedian, even now. I wonder how long that pretty little heart of yours would last against my magic.'

'Jarvis!' He spat the words out past the constricting of his throat.

'Your technology cannot help you now, I have disabled it.'

'How.'

'Magic, dear mortal.'

He felt the grip around his throat slacken and then he was sliding to the floor. He rubbed the skin around his neck and took a deep breath as his head swam and his eyes blurred from lack of oxygen.

He suddenly felt a tingling sensation come over his body, like sea water on a hot day lapping at you on the beach. The tightness in his chest disappeared.

He looked up at Loki and saw him smile.

'What did you do?' He coughed.

'I have need of you, metal man, so cannot have your anxiety stop me from my purpose.'

'You need, what?'

Loki twirled his fingers and the pain on Tony's neck receded and his mind became clearer.

'If you 'have need of me', why did you just try to strangle me.'

'A small revenge on my part.' He smirked and walked away from Tony and took a glass delicately off the bar behind him. He placed it down and unstoppered the glass bottle of whiskey, pouring a small amout into it. He pressed his fingers against the glass and frowned, then a pulse of light shimmered down his fingers and onto the glass. Ice crawled down the glass and and then he picked it up. He handed it to Tony, who was too bewildered to refuse, and as he looked at Loki he could have sworn his eyes were red.

He took a quick sip and shuddered.

'Christ that's cold.'

'Drink.' He stated icily before picking up another glass, he repeated the procedure before turning to Tony, bringing the glass to his lips and ignoring the ice climbing down it.

Tony took another small sip and tried to pull himself up shakily, he had to attempt twice before his legs held. Loki pulled the glass from his grip and waited, before returning it to him and walking away.

Tony stared after him and tried to think of something to say, when nothing witty came to him he opted for the obvious.

'Why are you here?'

'Like I said, I have need of you.' Loki continued to face away from him and drink.

'Yeah we American's are a little on the slow side so would you mind not being so cryptic?'

Loki sighed as if it was causing him a large amount of effort to be polite and turned to him.

'You are I are about to be united in a common cause.'

'We are?' Tony raised an eyebrow.

'Unfortunately, yes, after you decided to detonate a nuclear weapon upon my army I had hoped I would be free of The Other and his kind, but-'

'Hold up, explain?'

Another sigh, Loki pinched the bridge of his nose slightly. Tony thought he looked thinner than when they last met, and tired.

'The Other was who I was using to get the Tesseract, he gave me the army I unleashed here on Midgard. I had hoped you and your 'Avengers',' he smirked at the word, 'would destroy him for me so I would not have too, but there was no such luck.'

'Destroy him? But he gave you an army?'

'Yes, against my will.'

Tony had to stopped himself cocking his head like a confused puppy, he busied himself with his drink instead, which had not even warmed up fractionally.

'When I fell from the Bifrost,' he paused.

'Oh yeah I know what that is, your sparkly ga- rainbow bridge.'

Loki narrowed his eyes, but continued.

'When I fell, I expected to meet my untimely end, but instead I found myself trapped and alone on a distant world. My magic helped me to travel, I saw things no god should ever see. I was regularly brutally attacked, tortured and had to flee from many places I tried to rest at. Finally I was found by them, too weak to fight back. They wanted to kill me, but The Other stopped them, he knew I was an Aesir, an Asgardian, and when he found out exactly who I was he gave me an offer. They wanted a galaxy to rule and had found the perfect one. They were connected to Midgard through the Tesseract, but they needed someone to lead them, someone who knew Midgard, who could hold off its forces. If I would lead their army, I could have my revenge on the Aesir, on my brother, and rule Midgard. If I would not, they would kill me. What choice did I have, I was too weak to use my magic or fight them, I had no weapons. I was desperate.'

'Don't you mean unhinged?'

Loki shot him a venomous glare.

'But you wanted to fight, you wanted this, to cause your brother pain.'

'No, Midgard does not interest me like it does my brother. What I wanted was revenge on the Aesir, on Odin Allfather. I wanted Asgard, and I realised that if I brought the Chitauri to Midgard, the Aesir would respond. What I had not planned on were the bunch of misfits your Director Fury decided to bring into the equation, I would have thought Odin would have brought a force down to here, but instead he sent the oaf Thor to go blundering about and ruining everything.'

'So this whole thing, all the lives lost, all the fighting, it was all just so you could get back to your planet?!' Tony tried to hold ithe anger from his voice.

Loki studied his nails as if bored. 'Yes, what on earth would I want with your pitiful planet. It was just a bit of fun. Collateral Damage and all that.'

'A bit of fun! Hundreds of people lost their lives!'

'Don't exaggerate.'

'You call Hulk the monster, but the only monster I see is you.' Toni kept his voice calm, stated it as if it were a regular fact.

There was a crack as Loki crushed the glass in his hand, the shards scattering on the floor.

'I am a God! And you would do well to learn your place mortal!' He spun and advanced on Tony who felt his chest tighten again.

'Oh no, not this time mortal.' Loki waved his hand at Tony's chest as he covered the space between them in long legged strides. He was alot taller than Tony, and though Tony was broader, the man's presence made Tony's own quail in comparison.

'Touch a nerve did I?' Tony wasn't about to let Loki frighten him again, he had had enough sleepless nights to last him a lifetime.

Loki stopped, almost as if he sensed a change in him, and smiled, a predatory, chiding smile.

'How easy it would be to kill you,' he purred and brought a hand to Tony's neck, mimicking crushing it, the way Loki spoke was mesmerizing, even when he was threatening someone. He was like a lion, majestic, sure of himself and his power, dangerous but captivating, you want to run when it starts to growl, but you stay to hear the roar. His words were like that of someone trying to seduce you, regardless of what context they spoke. What was it Thor had called him once? 'Silver tongued', accurate, Tony's thought trailed off as Loki took his eyes away from his own, 'though, I fear it would be a shame to destroy you before I can use you.'

His hand trailed down to the arc reactor in Tony's chest, fingers hovering a few centimetres away. He stared at it for a moment.

'My sceptre was the most powerful object on your pitiful planet, laced with my magic and the energy of the Tesseract. Yet faced with your blue heart it was useless, why?' He looked up at Stark, eyes blazing, demanding an answer.

'Oh no, you still have not told me what you want.'

'Isn't it obvious?'

Tony considered the information he had been given, then it came to him.

'They want to kill you, don't they?'

Loki gritted his teeth, but did not answer.

'And now, even though they didn't want Earth, that was your thing, because we pissed them off they want to destroy us too?'

'Your powers of deduction are incredulous.'

'Why thank you, never refuse a compliment, sarcasm or no I always say.'

Loki almost smirked at that.

Tony knew the chances of getting anymore information before Loki spoke again where slim, so changed subjects until he could think of a way to get him to spill.

'How did you get here? And don't just say magic Harry Potter because it is getting old.'

'Harry Potter?' Loki seemed amused.

'Yeah, Harry the teen wizard who fights bad guys and stuff with magic. Great book series, you'd love it. They have this bad guy, Voldemort, real creepy, you'd like him. Oh and this crazy freaky chick, err, Bellatrix yeah, you'd totally hit that she might be more nuts than y-'

Loki silenced him with a glare.

'Ok geez, you keep coming to my planet remember? Either get the references or get out. Are you not meant to be in prison? Chained up, locked away somewhere deep and dark never to see the sun again?'

'I was, but I escaped easily enough, the old man was foolish enough to believe I could not escape so was not overly cautious, it was always his downfall. They have not even noticed I am gone.'

'So no big brother swooping in to save me then, shame I was looking forward to being scooped up in his big strong arms.' There he went again, deliberately poking the bristling creature infront of him. How did Bruce put up with him?!

'Thankfully no, not yet. I shall leave you and your Avengers to get him. Now, do we understand each other?'

'Not exactly, let me see. You fucked up, fell out of sparkleland and ended up captured and who knows what. You lead said captors to us for a party, you fuck up AGAIN and end up in jail, only to be pursued by your captors who are really pissed off at you, and at us, so, you come to the one place they'll also be coming too instead of skedaddling outta there.'

'There is nowhere I can run to escape them, I have tried.' He drew himself up to Stark and pierced his gaze with his eyes. 'I do not wish to run anymore.'

Tony suddenly became sidetracked.

'Your little glowstick, did it make your eyes go blue? Because they are very very green now.'

Loki faltered before replying, just what was this man doing. He couldn't tell if he was an genius masquerading as a idiot or the other way round, or just an idiot. 'Yes, the Tesseract could control people's minds, but in doing so had to connect to the one seeking control. It was, difficult.' He looked away.

'So that's why you looked like shit?' Tony threw his hands up in mock salute. 'I mean, not that you do now, um, little thinner maybe, little tired, but, not like you're hopped up on meth at least, your hairs longer, it's a good look.' He spluttered out quickly, trying not to snark a would be Tony murderer.

Loki growled, actually growled Jesus Christ thought Tony.

'It was straining my mind to keep control instead of letting it control me, but by the time we met in battle I had gotten over that particular issue. I think the Chitauri were hoping to gain me as a pawn by indirectly damaging my mind.'

'Too late for that.' Tony coughed into his hand and Loki's head snapped up to him, eyes burning.

'Right back on target,' Tony clapped his hands and sidestepped Loki before he could decide to just kill him and be done with it. 'So, the Chitauri are coming to Earth to kill us, you don't want to die so have come here to warn us?'

'Without the fine details,' he glowered as if he meant 'no you're completely wrong, but I am sick of talking to you, 'now can we stop going in circles?'

'Don't answer a question with another question it is rude, one thing still bothers me though. We, I nuked your army, I nuked the mothership and every one of them dropped dead. Surely they need to recon and get some forces first.'

'Finally an intelligent question, naive and foolish, but intelligent none the less. You really thought you could destroy their army, even with a weapon such as that? I was given a mere handful, an expendable resource for my take over. You could not even begin to imagine the forces The Other has behind him, Chitauri and many, many more. You had but scratched the surface with your gallant attempt at self sacrifice.'

Tony's eyes widened, but the fear that usually constricts his chest could no longer manifest. He looked down to his heart.

'I left a trace of the magic on you, I would like to stay alive and that means I need your mind to be clear.'

'Darling, I didn't think you cared.' Tony held his hand in his heart in what he hoped was a lovestruck, girlish impression.

Loki sneered and stepped away from him. He picked Tony's drink up from the bar and downed it as though it were water, making Tony's throat tighten, smooth bastard, and then turned to him.

'I will return once I gather more information, speak to your Avengers.' He said, without a hint of malice Tony was waiting for. Before he could reply Loki was gone, just empty air and the failing light. Tony slumped down where he stood and stared at the spot. Wondering what the hell just happened, and what the hell he was supposed to do about it...

'Jarvis, talk to me baby are you back yet?'

'Sir, yes, I think so, I feel strange.'

'That would be magic, what happened?'

'I felt a change in the air pressure, recognising it as the same pressure that came when the criminal Loki Laufeyson took over Stark Tower, as I went to warn you my systems just disappeared. I could do nothing but watch on. Now I know how a security camera feels.'

Tony smiled at the slight comedic tone to Jarvis's voice, if he were real he was sure they would be best friends.

'Ok powderpuff, if your headache is better could you please get me Director Fury?'

'Already patching you through sir.'

'Good dog.'

He pushed himself up and grabbed his tablet off the coffee table and tapped the screen. There was the face of Nick Fury staring back at him, looking exactly the same as always, like a disgruntled goat.

'Stark, what do you want.'

'I just got probed by an alien.'

'Stark, what, is that a handprint on your neck?'

'Possibly, I haven't checked, it was alot worse though.'

'What is going on?'

Tony began to explain and had Jarvis send the video surveillance footage, thankfully part of the system that could exist withoug. Jarvis and was not connected to him, he could just access them. By the end Fury had turned from goat to bear and was screaming at people around him to contact the others.

'How do we get to Thor?'

'We can't but I know someone who can, only problem is she and I do not get on and she likes to threaten my agents.'

'She?'

'Dr Jane Foster, Dr Selveig's once companion and Thor's, how do I put this, girlfriend? Dr Selveig is on temporary leave to recover and I am not thinking it would be a good idea to call him back yet.'

'Is she the girl Thor was pestering you about?'

'The very same.'

'Ok, I see where this is going, I guess I could drop in on her. Where is she right now?'

'London, England.'

'England?! Oh jeez come on can't you phone her?'

'We tried Stark, or I wouldn't be asking.'

'You're not asking, you are heavily implying, hinting, to me, to make me say it and think it was my idea so you don't have to ask and make it look like you are relying on others.'

'Just find the girl Stark, Jarvis will have her file now.'

'You son of a, Jarvis?'

'It is transferring onto my system as we speak sir, they are getting better at getting close to my system.'

'Problematic, hmm, ok Fury, I'll get the girl. You do the rest.'

The screen went blank without so much as a goodbye and Tony put it down.

'Well, I am not going to sleep now and a flight to England seems to be in order, what do you say Jarvis? Shall we go visit the Queen?'

'I am sure she would be delighted sir, I hear she is a fan.'

'Shut up, sometimes I think I made you too smart.' He grinned before running to the elevator and hitting the button for the workshop.


	3. Chapter 2 - Recon

**Chapter 2 - Recon**

The journey to England was a cinch in the suit, though the toilet breaks were less than pleasant, but it was nothing compared to flying back to Afghanistan. He touched down in London shortly after dawn, Jarvis had directed him so of course he landed right by the London Eye and suddenly there were people screaming and pointing and camera phones were taken out. He stayed in his suit and watched the crowd converge upon him chanting Iron Man over and over.

'Official business here people, no need to get excited or frightened, the world is safe I am just dropping by to see a friend.

'Tony Stark has friends in the UK!' One of them screamed excitedly.

'Err, actually she is American.' He winced.

He saw a flash of light and froze. 'Shit, papparazi. Gotta run kids!' He took off and hung low in the air, cursing Jarvis for thinking he should break first and go to Jane's after due to the timezone. 'Jarvis, Dr Foster's house stat!'

'Yes sir, calculating coordinates now.'

'Never land me in a tourist spot again ok?' He chided.

'Anything you say sir, now please follow my directions.'

Tony set off the way Jarvis directed her, still grumbling.

'It's 5am what the hell are so many people doing awake, do the English enjoy lack of sleep or what? No one should be out at this time.' Lost in thought and flying almost on autopilot, confident Jarvis's directions would mean he would not hit a building, he dropped lower as he neared his destination. He was flying along a road when suddenly he heard a shout and looked down.

'Woah shit a horse!' He cried out and banked left. He almost flew right over the top of it and it showed its disgust by standing up on two legs and its rider, who had the large words 'POLICE' stamped across the back of his bright jacket. 'SORRY! We don't have you guys in LA!' He yelled back and returned to his muttering. 'Jesus it is 5 fucking am and someone is riding a horse, what the actual hell. Seriously people don't come out of their house in NY unless it is to go to work.'

He finally descended to the apartment Dr Foster was renting out and suddenly wondered how to approach this. Turning up in full suit was probably not the best idea. He opted for taking his helmet off and giving what he hoped was a calm expression as he walked up to the flight of stairs and knocked on the correct door.

No answer, so he hammered on the door and waited until he heard footsteps.

A dark haired woman with bouncing curls answered the door, Darcy Lewis, Tony thought to himself as he recognised her from Jane's file.

She was scowling and half dressed in a robe and tshirt and looked like she was about to let hell rip when she looked at Tony and stopped dead.

'Oh fuck, oh fuck oh fuck oh holy crap JANE JANE WAKE THE FUCK UP IRON MAN IS AT THE FUCKING DOOR GET UP NOW!'

'Hi there, I'm Tony Stark.' He offered a gaunleted hand.

'Oh shit Mr Stark, can I call you that? I am a huge fan.' She took his hand and wrung the life out of it, Tony was glad it was covered in metal. Before he could break the handshake she pulled him inside.

'Mr Stark,' 'call me Tony,' 'Tony, right, um, Mr Tony, um. Are we in trouble? Because seriously the stuff that disappeared from SHIELD had nothing to do with us.'

Tony frowned at her but decided to ignore the remark, from what he had found out, SHIELD probably deserved it. Scratch that, definately deserved it.

'No, you're not in trouble, I need to speak to Dr Foster Miss Lewis,'

'OH MY GOD you know my name?! Wait did you read my file? Seriously most of it was a huge misunderstanding I mean-'

'It is fine Miss Lewis,' 'Darcy,' 'Darcy, I found it hilarious, loved the part about you tasering Thor, there have been more than a few times I wished I could do that myself.'

Darcy blushed in embarassment and then a door creaking signalled the entrance of Dr Foster. Tony turned round and beamed as Jane came out with hair like a haystack.

'Holy crap Darcy you weren't kidding, I thought you were fucking with me to get me awake.'

'Nice to meet you too Dr Foster.'

'Oh shit sorry hi, I'm Jane and you're well, you.' She looked at him in undisguised awe.

'Tony Stark at your service.' He took her offered hand and shook it firmly.

'Are we in trouble?'

'I was just telling your friend here you are not. I actually need your help, so far as we know, you are the only one who can contact Thor. We really, really need him.'

'Thor, right, what time is it in Asgard I have no idea. Ok well it is easy enough to contact him.'

'It is?'

'Yeah come outside.'

Tony followed Jane in confusion with Darcy trailing after him like a puppy. Jane went out onto the streets and stood in the middle of the *thankfully* deserted road.

'Heimdall! Heimdall! I need you, please hear me! SHIELD needs Thor to come back to Earth, we're,' she turned to Tony, 'are we in danger?'

'Shitloads.'

'We're in serious danger Heimdall and we need Thor's help.'

Jane took a breath and moved out of the road.

'So...' Tony started.

'Heimdall is the gatekeeper of the Bifrost on Asgard. He can see and hear everything in the 9 realms, so if you call to him he'll hear you.'

'Well that... Is interesting...' Tony stared at the sky in confused acceptance that everything was weird and he just had to roll with it.

The minutes ticked by and they eventually sat down, each tried to invoke some idle chatter, but it was strained and did not last.

All of a sudden the skies began to darken and Jane's head snapped up, there it was, the distinct sound of thunder clashing over head. She leaped to her feet as a very bright beam of light hit the ground with immeasurable force and out of it stepped Thor.

'Jane, my love, what news?' He let her jump into his arms and pulled her close, kissing her so passionately Tony felt he should be looking away. But instead he thought, why can't all the Asgardians, what was it Loki called them? Aesir? Be so unprejudiced, sure he didn't want them all kissing but, if Thor could love a mortal after all he was brought up to know, why couldn't his father be a little less stuck up and a bit more helpful. Not going to get started on his brother though. Bag and cats spring to mind.

When Thor finally tore himself away from Jane he looked over to see Tony and smiled wide.

'Tony Stark, it is good to see you, though it is darkened by the circumstances we must meet under.' He walked over and clasped Tony's hand before pulling him off his feet into a rib crushing embrace, again he was glad to be in his suit.

'Woah ok Hercules, breach of personal space here, what is it with Aesir and that?'

'How do you come to know that term?'

'Not important, what is important is getting you all up to speed with what is going on. Jarvis, tell Fury we have the big guy.'

'Fury? Oh no he is not coming here.'

Wind was buffeted in their direction as a jet came over the tops of the buildings around them.

'I'm afraid I'm already hear.' Came a voice projected from the carrier as it landed.

Once the dust settled down the back of the jet came down and Fury stepped out onto the concrete.

'Stark, we brought you a ride.'

'Oh how thoughtful of you after it took ALL NIGHT for me to fly here by myself.'

'We had to hang back incase our dear Dr Foster decided to be difficult.' He looked over at her and nodded and she promptly turned away.

'Why a jet, surely big guns here and I could have flown back ourselves, I was looking forward to seeing what he was made of actually.'

'Because we need Dr Foster aswell, and I doubt she would enjoy being carried over an ocean.'

'Well there is that.'

'What need do you have of Jane?' Thor pushed her behind him protectively.

'Her mind is what I need, she may prove useful to us.'

'It's ok I'll just stay here whilst you go save the world.' Darcy said sarcastically.

'If I go, Darcy goes.' Jane replied without looking at Fury.

'Does that mean you will cooperate?'

'Maybe, I haven't decided.'

'Good, now please step aboard the carrier and lets get back to New York.'

Fury turned in a flourish of black trench coat and walked back inside the carrier before Thor, Jane and Darcy marched in behind him. Tony followed quietly, wondering what Fury's plan would be this time.

As they sat and stood inside the plane Fury showed them the footage from Tony's encounter with Loki, much to Thor's outrage.

'I have been played for a fool! I told Father he must take precautions but he told me no one could escape such a cell. I told him if Loki can use his magic in it he could get out but my Father said it was contained.' He gritted his teeth and looked like he was trying very hard to stop himself punching something.

'Where Loki is concerned we have all been played, and played very well.' Fury started. 'No one could have guessed any of this would happen.' He finished in a tone that suggested the Aesir should have known damned well it would.

Thor looked up from where he was trying to burn through the floor with his eyes and let out a deel breath.

'I am sorry my brother has done, what he has done all for the sake of getting home. It was alot easier to justify before this information.'

'Yes because at first we put it down to him being mentally unhinged, but now we see he is mentally unhinged and smart as fuck. A bad combination.'

'I understand your feelings Stark but please remember of whom you speak.'

'I remember well, seeing as I still have a handprint on my neck where he pinned me against a wall and strangled me last night.'

Thor looked at him before sighing resignedly.

'So what do you need Jane for exactly?' Darcy piped up as silence fell.

'We don't have enough information to know that yet but Dr Selveig is on leave until he recovers, so you are our best hope in any matters concerning Thor's kind.'

Thor threw him a dirty look but said nothing and went to sit next to Jane, wrapping her tiny hand in his giant mit.

'The others are waiting at base for us and have been debriefed.' Fury said nonchalantly.

'Please tell me this base does not float.' Tony growled.

'No, we have a new headquarters now, very much on the ground.'

'Thank the gods.' Tony threw his hands up in mock prayer.

Now it was Fury's turn to throw a dirty look.

The rest of the ride consisted of discussing possible ways this new threat could come about and figuring out exactly how screwed they were.

When they got to the base even Tony was impressed. It was a good size and not conspicuos for once.

They were led through a series of rooms, stopping briefly for Tony to get out of his suit and put it in an alcove in the armoury, next to Steve's partiotic spangle suit, until they came to a large room with a curved table inside of it.

'This is where all debriefing and meetings will take place, the others will be here shortly.' Fury gestured to them to sit down.

Tony took his seat, he knew it was his seat as it had his name on it. 'Stark, T', thank god they didn't try to use his real name.

He looked at Thor swivelling the padde chair round in undisguised elation and watched Jane and Darcy awkwardly take up unmarked seats at the edge.

Captain Rogers was the first to enter, clasping hands firmly with Thor and before clapping Tony on the shoulder. Tony grabbed his hand and shook it heartily before enquiring after him. Ever since New York he had come to like Steve greatly and they had met up with the others to eat a few times since.

Black Widow and Hawkeye entered shortly after, both looking out of breath and Hawkeye sporting some fresh bruises on his arm.

'Natasha don't tell me you finally gave into his advances.' Stark cheered in way of greeting.

'No, he just lost to me 5 times in a row in a fist fight in the gym.'

'Wouldn't be right to hurt a woman.' Clint called over as he shook Thor's hand and greeted Jane and Darcy, who then had their hands kissed by Steve as he introduced themselves. Darcy looked as though she were about to faint and Tony smirked.

Clint came over to Natasha and pulled Tony up into a rough embrace whilst Natasha stood with her arms folded and a faint smile on her lips.

'I had to let her win, would only be right.'

Natasha stomped on his foot. 'Either conceed that you lost or we fight here and now and they will announce the victor.'

Clint howled and hopped away from Tony.

'God I forgot how vicious you are Romanoff, I love it!' Tony laughed.

'Man up Clint.' She smiled at him before greeting the rest and going to sit down on her chair. Each chair had a little insignia underneath, Fury had really gone all out with the room. His had a mask, Thor's a hammer, Natasha's a spider, Clint's an arrow, Steve's a shield and Banner's a green face. God he must have loved that. Though granted, since New York Bruce seemed to have found inner peace with his demons, he had dropped by often to come and poke around in Tony's workshops and labratories.

Dr Banner scuttled in last, still slightly nervy but Tony noted with joy that he seemed alot more confident in himself.

'Bruce Banner my favourite Avenger!' Tony cried out, and Hawkeye made an offended noise behind him.

'Tony, how're you doing. You really need to stop getting manhandled by gods, it's becoming a habit.'

'Hey between getting manhandled by Capsicle and manhandled by the Asgardians I'd say I should feel priveledged. Not everyday you get molested by the stuff of legends. He put his hand on Bruce's shoulder and walked to their chairs together, he was overjoyed to have seen Bruce was situated to his right and Steve to his left. He could provoke on one side and discuss science on the other. Fabulous.

'Don't you guys just love these chairs? I mean wow Fury I feel spoilt.' He exclaimed loudly once everyone was settled, purposefully as Fury opened his mouth to speak.

Fury glared at him through his good eye for a split second before pointing a remote to a large screen opposite them. It flashed up with a still screen of Tony being strangled up against a wall by Loki.

'Not my most flattering photo I'll give you that.' He offered, hoping to hide his embarrassment.

'Gentlemen, and ladies. We have a serious issue on our hands, had anyone else come into contact with Loki?'

'It seems to be just Stark.' Steve replied.

'We need to know why?' Fury turned to Thor.

'I do not know Director, I could hazard a guess or two. Either Loki sees Stark as the weakest threat to him, something I do not believe. Or my brother has interest in him. Maybe for his weaponry.'

'He did seem very interested in my arc reactor?' Tony raised his eyebrows at Thor.

'Your arc reactor rendered his sceptre useless to mind control, it is only natural Loki should develop an interest in it.'

'Peachy, I'm not telling him a damned thing about it. I value my life too greatly.'

'Don't be too hasty Stark, Loki has information to give and it is clear he will need some persuading to go into detail about any of it. We could use information that he wants to barter for information.'

'Um, hello? No, I do not want him knowing how to kill me easily. Nor do I want him knowing anything about the arc reactor. So far as we could figure out he didn't actually figure out exactly what it is, though he obviously wants to know. I do not like the idea of a war criminal knowing about the power of that. Especially seeing how easily he wielded the Tesseract.'

'What we need is to know more about this, we need information. What kind of forces are we up against, what kind of weaponry, how many, how long do we have, can we counter them?'

'My brother may not know all of this.' Thor suggested meekly.

'You can bet your ass he does,' countered Tony, 'and, he is not going to tell us without fucking with us first.'

'So, we have two ways we can do this,' came Natasha's voice from beside Bruce, 'either, we can try and make him tell us, and we all know how well that turned out lasr time, plus we have no idea where he is and he is not about to show himself like he did in Stuttgart. Or we can bargain with him, I'd say try to reason with him-'

'But there's no reasoning with Loki.' Steve cut in. 'First thing we need to do is find him, Thor, can you contact him?'

'The only one who could find him is Heimdall, and if Heimdall has not realised he is free then he cannot see him on Midgard. Loki will not be found unless he wants to be.'

'Heimdall?' Clint asked curiously.

'Gatekeeper of Asgard, wears a sparkly gold suit, big guy. Can see everyone and everything in the 9 realms.'

Everyone stared at Tony.

'What, I had to talk to Dr Foster about something whilst waiting for Thor. I like to be in the know.'

'So what you're saying is we have to wait for him to show up again?' Clint asked.

'He'll show up again, he made that pretty clear in the footage.' Natasha answered for them.

'I have an idea but Stark, you might not like it.'

Crap.

'I want to send you back to Stark Tower, I don't think Loki will show if he knows Thor is around.'

'And what if he doesn't, or just plain kills me.'

'He will not kill you Tony Stark.' Thor said, almost angrily. 'He says he needs you, until your usefulness runs out you will not be in danger from him.'

'My throat says otherwise.' He reached a hand and rubbed the skin, but it was no longer sore.

'That was but a warning not to trifle with him, you know he hasa foul temper.'

'So what, you want me to tiptoe around him?'

'No, I think he finds your brashness amusing, otherwise he would have put you through the wall instead of onto it.'

'Oh wonderful and I was beginning to worry that he didn't like me.'

'It's your own fault, you gave him that drink when we caught him.' Clint's amusement rippled through to the rest.

'I will not let that bite me in the ass, I offered him a drink and he accepted. I was only stalling so he wouldn't kill me, I just didn't expect him to accept after he tried to kill me.'

'Still your own fault.'

'Oh I'm sorry who gave up all the information on us Barton?'

'Hey I was brainwashed don't you dare!'

'Stark that was uncalled for!' Romanoff spat at him.

Thor merely glared at him and he put his hands up to them.

'Ok sorry, you're right, that was out of order Clint I'm sorry. I am just a littled rattled at being turned into Loki's punching bag for Fury's amusement.' He narrowed his eyes at Fury who had an amused look on his face.

'Yeah no, sorry I shouldn't be fucking with you on this one.'

'No, no you're right, I made myself less of a threat.'

'No Stark, I think Loki is very threatened by you. Loki is not interested in the weak, you are an anomaly to him. He cannot figure you out like the rest of us.'

'Great, just great. Always me.'

'Stark, will you do this? I could make you.'

'I'd say you and what army, but we ARE your army Fury so your threats don't hold much ground .' He looked from one face to the other and sighed.

'I'll do it, but so help me god if he tries to turn me into a pulp I am blasting his ass until he never walks again, information or no information.'

'Deal, ok, Stark go home. The rest of you get some rest, we will meet back here in 5 days, with or without Loki's intel. You're dismissed.'

They all got up and went to set about their business when Fury called to Jane.

'Dr Foster, we have a labratory set up for you, well, we have a very large underground labratory and part of it is set up for you, any tools you need can be gotten from where ever it is they are, just tell us. You'll be sharing with Dr Banner and eventually Stark if that is ok?'

'Oh really wow yeah that, that's great. She glanced over at Banner and he smiled.

'Don't worry, there will be no more incidents from me in the forseeable future.'

Jane looked relieved before grabbing Darcy and following him with Thor looking slightly lost trailing after her.

'No awesome sleepovers without me ok!' Tony yelled after them and then waited until everyone had left but him and Fury.

'Loki can override my system, I suggest, for now, you install a second system, seperate from Jarvis's interface incase he figures out how to disable my cameras and security. But, try and hack my system and I will break yours into a million pieces and enjoy watching you running with no security systems.'

'Duly noted Stark, consider it done.' Fury nodded to him and Tony went off to get his suit and go back to the tower. Home. Not that it felt like it.


	4. Chapter 3 - Bargains

**Chapter 3 - Bargains**

Four days had passed since the recon at SHIELD HQ and Tony was beginning to wonder if they had all been wrong and maybe Loki wasn't going to show. Maybe he just wanted to fuck with them and scare them, maybe he was bored.

He had taken to pacing the rooms when not in the workshop, he had been working on Jarvis so that now hopefully Jarvis could alert him of Loki's pressure signature even if Loki tried to disable him. He would have liked to make it so Loki could not disable him but magic was well beyond his skills.

He finally settled down to watch mindless tv with a drink.

'He was right about it being too warm' Tony thought to himself before getting up to the fridge and grabbing some ice.

He was a few minutes into a show about housewives when he got sick and flipped channels, he paused, his hand frozen on the remote as he came across the sci fi channel. Spaceships battled and ray guns fired and he felt the familiar tightening of his chest. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, waiting. But nothing happened. The fear was still there, the shortness of breath, but he could breathe and his mind was clear. It was just ordinary fear.

He breathed a sigh of relief and managed to coax his fingers to turn the tv off. He flipped the bird at the blank screen and went back to his drink, contemplating ordering pizza, when there was a beep from Jarvis.

'Jarvis, what was that?'

'Sir, I have picked up the signature of Loki, he will be here in seconds.'

'Feel strange at all?'

'No sir, nothing out of the ordinary.'

'I felt no need to disable your machine this time, being that you are expecting me.' Came Loki's silky voice as he appeared in front of Tony, his body shimmering with magic.

'You took your time.'

'I had better things to do.' He said non commitally.

'Right, so, the Avengers have been summoned and now we are awaiting your next move.' Tony tried not to meet his gaze, the blazing eyes burned him everytime.

'I have come with a deal for you.'

'And that is?'

'Protection.'

'I knew you were going to say that, bit off a bit more than you can chew have you?'

'You know not what you speak of Stark. If you even had but an idea of what you are up against you would not take me for a coward.'

'No one called you a coward.'

'I can see into your mind Stark, you think I am just one mistake after the other. You are wrong.'

'And you are desperate.' Tony pointed out.

'Desperate? No, caught in a corner, yes. You have not seen me desperate, pray you never do.'

'You've come to ask your mortal enemies to help you, the same people you were intent on blowing up with your glowstick last time we met.'

'I will use my resources to my every advantage. I am not too proud to recognise others talents and their use to me.' He looked down his nose at Tony before going over to the bar and yet again helping himself to a drink.

'You know that is very expensive whiskey right?'

'You are rich, are you not?'

'Yes, well.'

'So you can just buy more, for all Asgard's delicacies, their drinks are not as satisfactory as those on this planet.'

'What can I say, we have good taste.' 'Perhaps, but your food leaves little to be desired.'

'Your brother seems to like it.' It was like an electric shock ran up Loki's spine at the mention of his brother, like always.

'Thor would eat his own faeces if he was hungry enough.'

'Not a nice mental image, cheers.'

A ghost of a smile appeared on Loki's lips before it was gone and he continued to speak.

'The offer I propose to you.'

'Proposing so soon?' Tony took a slightly too large gulp of his drink, cursing his big mouth.

Loki merely glared at him for a moment before continuing.

'I offer information in exhange for your protection, I also offer my help in defeating The Other and his forces.'

'You, want to help us?'

'The enemy of my enemy is my friend, is that not how the saying goes.'

'I thought it went 'the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy and kind of crazy', or something like that. Who says we need your help?'

'The fact that you did as I ask makes it very plain. You could try to win this war on your own Stark, but it will not be as easy as taking my sceptre and closing a portal, nor will all the enemies fall so easy if their leader is destroyed. You are no match for this alone, I will help you. All I ask is for your cooperation.'

Tony was silent, no witty comeback sprang to mind.

'I need rid of The Other just as much as you do, and I cannot take him down alone, his power alone is not greater than mine, but he answers to another.'

'And who is that?'

'Thanos, probably the most deadly creature Midgard will ever cross paths with.'

'Really? I thought that was you, after two seperate attacks devastated our continent.'

'You flatter me Stark, Thanos is brilliant, deadly and unfaltering in his quest, he has more forces than all of Midgard combined I expect. His lust for power exceeds even my own and he has many, many ways of making you cooperate with him against your will.'

'You sound like you know first hand.'

'I do, for it was he who captured me, The Other was under his orders, he who tortured me-'

'They tortured you?'

Loki was taken off guard by this question and looked at Tony strangely.

'Yes, viciously.'

Tony stared blankly at Loki, trying to process this new information. After his ordeal in Afghanistan he would never wish torture or cruel captivity on anyone, not even someone as twisted as Loki.

'Why are you looking at me like that?'

'I, uh, carry on.'

Loki watched him, almost thoughtfully.

'He who gave me the sceptre and the Tesseract and my army. The Other is but his servant. This is not a battle that can be one by sheer force, it needs to be dealt with quickly and by going straight to the ones who command the armies. No doubt they will not attack all at once, they do not want your dull planet, they just want their vengance.'

'And you.'

Green eyes glowered at him.

'So why don't you high tail it to the other end of the universe? Give them a nice distraction, maybe they'll forget about us.'

'I am too self preserving,' so modest, 'and as I have said before, I do not wish to run anymore. There is nowhere left to hide, not here, not in another galaxy.'

'If you had told me, a few days ago that I would be talking to you in my apartment, bargaining to protect you, I would probably have shot you.'

'Isn't it good that I did not tell you then.'

'Still deciding that one, so far, I have not been manhandled or maimed so I guess today is a good day.'

'I am sure I can find some time to maim you inbetween plotting Thanos's demise.'

'Oh wonderful, hooray for me.'

'Sarcasm aside, do you accept my offer?'

'Here's the thing, much as you have chosen me to be your go to guy, flattered as I am, I cannot make such a call.'

'Surely your Director Fury can, I know he will be watching us right now, along with your friends.'

'He could, but he will need to talk it over, preferably, and I use the term lightly here, with you, big fella.'

'I'm not interested in conversing with your fellow Avengers or your leader.'

'Then I can't really help you, you can either speak to them, or we go back to playing cat and mouse until you decide to stop being difficult and talk, or we catch you. Seeing as you don't leave us much choice here I leave it up to you to make the call.'

Loki looked at him incredulously for a moment, he was not used to not getting his own way. He narrowed his eyes at Tony and for a minute he thought he was going to be put into a wall again, instead, Loki took a large gulp of the drink and stepped right up to him. Tony tried to keep what he hoped was a calm expression and met his gaze.

'You want me to speak to your Avengers, fine, but first, you do something for me.'

'Err that is not how a deal works, you've already made your offer.'

'I am the one making the deal here Stark, I will barter as I wish.'

It was Tony's turn to look incredulous, and then he sighed.

'Ok, what do you want?'

'Tell me what this,' he leant down and touched his fingers to the arc reactor in Tony's chest, Tony barely managed not to flinch away, 'does.'

'I'd rather not, why do you want to know.'

'I have already told you, it foiled my plan to use you against your own friends. I want to know why.'

Tony took another sip of his drink and ended up draining the glass, wincing as the liquid slid down his throat, and then tried to figure out exactly what to do.

'So, if I answer your question, you will speak to Fury?'

'Yes, you give me something, I give you something, this will be how our little game works.'

'Just an FYI, I don't like this game.'

'Good, that was the point.'

'Right, great, fantastic. So um, take a seat?'

'I'd prefer to stand.' He replied with a bored expression and straightened up, moving away, but Tony could see his eyes lighting up, son of a bitch.

'Suit yourself.'

Tony put down the glass now he could move without entering Loki's personal space.

'So, seeing as you did your homework on all of us during our brief interactions a few months back, what do you know about me?'

'I am the one asking the questions.' Loki replied coldly.

'I am trying to figure out where to start just answer it.'

'Anthony Stark, ex weapons expert and technician. Produced some of the most dangerous weapons mankind ever used. Your father died leaving you to take over the corporation very young. You are supposed to be a genius, though you have yet to prove it,' he smiled dryly at Tony, 'kidnapped by men after your weaponry, to make a weapon for them. Held in captivity until you managed to create a suit of iron and kill your captors. Once you escaped and were found, you came back and stopped creating weapons, opting instead become Iron Man and try to create clean energy. A touching tale.'

'Right, well, that was unexpected, uh huh. So...'

He looked around wishing he could get out of his predicament.

'Ok, when I was kidnapped, I was in a military vehicle that was ambushed with my own weaponry, which had been sold to them by my best friend and father figure Obadiah Stane, in the hopes they would kill me and he would get his hands on my company.' Painful images swam in his head and he wished he had another drink. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then flinched when he heard a noise behind him. A glass was pressed into his hand and he opened his eyes to see Loki standing over him with his glass filled up. More ice crawled down the glass.

'Uh, thanks, ok.'

Loki stayed silent and moved away again.

'I managed to escape the convoy and as I was staggering about I stumbled upon a bomb with my name on it, literally, Stark Industries, I was so shocked I didn't manage to get away in time as it exploded. I was flung against a rock with pain searing through my chest. The shrapnel from the bomb had gone straight through my body armour and that was it. I was going to die right there. But instead the men found me and dragged me back go their lair, realising who I was they opted not to kill me and instead use me to create a Jericho bomb for them. There was a scientist there, already captured, his name was Yinsen.' More pain, he took a shaky gulp of his drink. 'Yinsen created a magnetised piece of metal rigged up to a car battery and put it into my chest when he found that the shrapnel was making its way towards my heart. That was the only thing that kept me alive. When I recovered enough to start work I managed to find a spot where the cameras could not watch me and design a suit of armour so I could blast my way out of there, into the suit I made a small magnetised reactor to replace the car battery hook up currently keeping me alive. We then blasted our way out once they figured out what we were up to and Yinsen.' Oh god Yinsen. 'Yinsen was killed and I escaped, killing all but a few captors and flying into the desert where I was found by my friend Colonel Rhodes. When I got back to civilisation I started work on replacing my reactor with a self sustaning energy source called an arc reactor. It's why it glows blue, kinda like a non magical version of the Tesseract. I then made my suit, using the reactor in my chest to power it and start killing bad guys.'

Loki looked him over, searching his face for something and Tony closed his eyes again. He wasn't interested in the mocking gaze or burning eyes as visions of Afghanistan wheeled through his mind.

'Thank you, man of iron.' Tony looked up, raising his eyebrows in surprise. 'I will speak to your leader, I will return in a few days.'

With that he disappeared, leaving Tony confused and slightly shell shocked. That man had the worst case of bipolar he had ever seen.

'Uhhh, Fury did you get all that.'

'Yes Stark, well done, get some rest and we'll bring you in in the morning. Gather anything you need to bring with you.'

'Sure thing Director.' Jarvis, sever the connection Fury has to my cameras.

'Yes sir.'

Tony let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and put the glass down, dropping his head into his hands. How on earth was he going to sleep now? His hand fell to his mobile in his pocket. Pepper. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose hard, trying not to feel too thankful to the creepy super villain for stopping his anxiety attacks. But it didn't stop the nightmares.

He went down to his workshop and tinkered with Jarvis's system until first light, then gathered his suits and anything else he felt he might need/want and waited for Fury.


	5. Chapter 4 - Acceptance

**Chapter 4 - Acceptance**

A few days passed and Loki did not return, in between gaming/movie marathons (in which Clint was determined to teach Thor how to use an Xbox) and eating junk food, Tony spent his time with Banner in the lab, usually shadowed by Darcy who was desperate to know everything they did. Despite her ditzy demeanour she was actually very intelligent and they often found themselves collaborating with her and Jane, Thor was always hovering so they used his scant knowledge of Thanos and the Chituari to try to figure out if Jarvis could detect portals and energy signatures from them.

Days passed this way, with occasional sparring matches in the gym, so far he had had his ass kicked by everyone but he was pleased to find out that he could hold his own in hand to hand combat for a fair while with Clint and Steve. There was no chance against Thor even without his hammer and Natasha was as deadly as her nickname, she could sweep the legs out from under anyone, even Thor.

Bruce refused to participate, instead sitting on the sidelines placing bets with Darcy and Jane on the outcomes of the matches.

It was on one such evening, about a week and a half after his last encounter that he was flat on his backside staring into Natasha's eyes as she placed a heel on his chest and smirked.

'Game, set and match to Black Widow!' Darcy called excitedly.

'You all knew that was gonna happen! Come on my body is not what I use to fight. I have managed to outsmart everyone except Natasha and Thor and I think that is pretty good going!'

Natasha just stepped back and offered him a hand, which he toom grudgingly and pulled himself to his feet, dusting himself off as the others laughed.

'Shut up Barton you haven't beat her either.'

'She has the distinct advantage over me where she knows every move I will make before I make it.'

Clint walked over to Tony and clapped a hand on his back.

'Better luck next time dud-'

And with that Tony kicked his legs out from underneath him, grabbing his hand and flipping him onto his back.

'That was for laughing at me.'

'Foul! Foul! Someone give him a red card or whatever it is they do in sports.'

Tony chuckled and stooped down to pull Clint off the ground.

'For a guy named Hawkeye you sure didn't see that coming.' He laughed and rested himself on his shoulder.

They were all laughing together now when Jarvis's voice sounded from the intercom.

'Sir, I am detecting a change in pressure similar to the signature of one Loki Laufeyson.'

'Similar, what do you mean similar?' He straightened up and everyone went quiet.

'It is very weak sir, almost untraceable.'

'Where is it?'

'It is coming from your room sir, whoever it is will be there in seconds.'

'Everyone grab your weapons and meet me at my room.' Tony yelled and legged it from the room. They ran to the armoury and he grabbed a gauntlet, pulling it on and firing it up, not waiting for the others to follow him. Rogers grabbed his shield, Barton his quiver, Natasha grabbed a gun and Thor (thankfully) already had Mjolnir so no walls would lose their life today. Bruce just followed behind, rolling his shirt sleeves up and steeling himself.

When they reached the door, Thor kept Jane and Darcy, who had point blank refused to be left behind, back from the door. Tony took the handle in his free hand and let his thruster fire up, ready to blow whatever it was to pieces. As he turned the handle Fury came running up, out of breath and one hand on his gun.

Tony pushed the door open and dropped back until it swung open fully, before entering. He checked left and right and advanced, he looked back to Steve and pointed him left, Thor and Barton right and Natasha to follow him.

'Jarvis,' Tony hissed, 'is the signature still here?'

'Yes sir.'

'Turn on all lights.'

Jarvis did as asked and Tony blinked in the sudden brightness before moving around his lounge. He looked over to the kitchen where Barton shook his head and then advanced on the sitting area. As he trod lightly as he could along the carpet he heard a noise behind one of the sofas. He looked back to Natasha who had heard the same and she went round one end whilst he took the other. He thrust his hand forwards and got ready to fire as he ran round the back of the sofa.

'Stark?' Came a weak, familiar voice and Tony skidded to a stop to see Loki face down on the carpet, trying to push himself up on his hands.

Forgetting himself, he reached forwards to help him up, only to earn himself a hiss through Loki's gritted teeth.

He managed to push himself up and lean back against the sofa as Thor came round and dropped to his knees at the sight of his brother.

'Loki.' His deep voice shook as he took in his brother's haggard appearance.

'They're coming.' He breathed quietly.

'They?'

'Sir, I am detecting another energy source, about 100 yards away from the head quarters.'

'Who are they Loki?' Tony asked hurriedly.

'Chitauri, they'll be here any second.' He seemed to regain some energy and staggered to his feet. 'They don't know exactly where you are, so go, we must get outside before they find your base.'

'We?'

'You will need me to close the portal.'

'Can you walk?'

'Yes, I can walk, they caught me off guard is all, I took a bad blow. I am fine now get outside, all of you.'

'Jarvis, coordinates!' Tony yelled before turning his back to Loki and running to the armoury, where his suit was already coming apart to allow him to step inside. Steve was already there, pulling his mask over his face and then chucking a wrist guard at Barton, who had opened his bow from its folded state. They ran down the corridor and on the second floor, Barton yanked open a window and threw a rope out, attaching it to a pipe coming out of the wall. He slid down as Tony, Thor and Steve leapt down, Tony stayed off the ground and flew to the coordinates where he could already see figures escaping onto the grass from a shimmering hole.

He fired off a shot, feeling the familiar recoil and letting his adrenaline surge. A blur of silver flashed past him as Mjolnir connected with a figure in front of him and two fell to the ground with arrows protruding from the head and one from the neck.

Natasha fell behind a tree, Darcy and Jane next to her, it looked like she was giving them each a gun and pointing at the Chitauri's heads. Tony fired off a couple more rounds as Steve's shield knocked an energy gun from one of the creatures hands before kicking it to the floor and catching his shield in one swift movement.

The portal had stopped shimmering now and more figures were coming out of it, Tony fired off a few missiles from his shoulder blasters and watched them connect with their targets as he took out some more with blasts from his palms. For each one they took down three seemed to replace it and Tony looked for a green cape in the swarm of purple and grey Chitauri, would Loki hold to his word and close the portal or would he disappear again. As he tried to blast a few more a worry crept over him, what if Loki had led them here and it was all part of a bigger scheme. It made more sense to him than Loki actually wanting to help. Distracted by the thought he took a blast to his abdomen and flew backwards into the tree Natasha and the others were crouched behind.

'Ahh shit.' He gasped as the wind was knocked out of him.

'Tony are you ok?' Natasha nudged him and he jumped upright.

'Let me know if you see Loki, I don' t trust that son of a bitch farther than I can throw him.'

Natasha nodded and he hurled himself back into the fray with added vigour.

'We've gotta close this portal, Stark can Jarvis do it?' Steve shouted through his ear piece.

'I don't think so.' Tony watched as a rather large green creature tore a Chitauri apart and smiled, Dr Banner.

'We need Loki, where is he?' Hawkeye replied to them both as he loosed arrow after arrow into the creatures.

Tony circled up high, loosing shots at anything he could as he looked for Loki. Nothing, they had been double crossed. Tony swept in closer as a fresh wave of Chitauri piled through the portal, only to be struck down by a bolt of lightning.

He watched the battle from overhead, despite the battle tipping in their favour, the amount of enemies pouring through was endless and eventually they would tire, the Chitauri were expendable, they would just keep coming.

Tony pushed the thought aside and landed back down, punching in the face of one of the creatures. Screw it, he thought, not going to let them win.

As his heart pounded and his arm ached from the continuous recoil he fought his way to the portal.

'Jarvis, talk to me.'

'The portal is different to the one created using the Tesseract sir.'

'How?'

'The energy signatures point to some for of magical energy from the other side, something is holding it open.'

'Is the signature familiar?'

'If you mean does it match Loki's sir, I cannot say.'

'Right, so if we want this thing to close it has got to be done from inside the portal?'

'Again sir, I cannot say, it is beyond my technology.'

'Great, I hate magic.' He fought his way ever closer to the portal as a lapse in pouring enemies gave him a chance to look at it better. Around 20ft high and wide it was slightly shimmering and it moved like waves on a beach. The shimmering grew brighter each time the Chitauri came through.

'Thor, can you light this up for me, give me a chance to try and get through.'

'What do you mean Tony Stark?' Came his reply.

'I mean, create a distraction so I can get inside and try to find out who is holding the portal open.'

'That is beyond your power!' He cried.

'You don't know that!'

'You are not like to survive the trip, just as you almost lost your life the last time.' A grunt came through as something hit into Thor's side, he really needed to learn to use the earpiece and walk at the same time.

'This is nothing like last time I was carrying a nuke and low on power.' Tony argued, trying to convince himself more than Thor.

A pause, no sound, then.

'I will do this for you Tony, but if I feel you are taking too long I am coming in there to get you.'

'Fine, deal, now light these bastards up!'

Tony flew right up to the edge of the portal and looked into the cavernous landscape beyond. Draped in darkness he could make out nothing except the glowing energy of the Chitauri's guns.

'On my word Thor, 3, 2-'

'Not today Man of Iron!' Came a growl behind him just as Natasha's voice came over the earpiece.

'Tony you said to tell you...'

'I heard him Black Widow thank you.' He turned round to face Loki, who was kitted out in battle gear and holding a rather decorated staff.

'Finally decided to show up?'

'I had something to do first.'

'That was?'

'None of your business now out of my way.' He leapt straight into the portal before Tony could stop him.

'Thor, no lightning, I'm following Loki.'

A grunt came in reply and Tony stepped through the portal, holding his breath as if he were diving underwater as he felt a freezing cold seep through his suit to his skin.

He dropped onto a rocky expanse, dust and dirt flying up wherever he touched and looked around into the gloom. Behind him the portal was a few feet off the floor and he could see the battle raging on behind it.

He looked out infront of him and could see nothing, but he could hear noises up ahead.

A flash of light came across his vision and took out a shadowed figure to his left, then again and again and he realised it must be Loki. He powered forwards and shot down two of the Chitauri so he could land next to Loki.

'What's the plan?'

'The plan was for me to break The Other's concentration so the portal would close whilst you and the rest of your team distracted the Chitauri!' Loki hissed through gritted teeth.

'Well you see,' he loosed off another shot, 'I don't trust you so that plan is void. How about I distract these bastards from here and you go do whatever it is you've got to do?'

Loki looked at him quickly before backing off and disappearing, leaving Tony to deal with the Chitauri.

'You'd better hurry up,' he said, exasperated. For the billionth time he felt a trickle of fear at the idea that this could be Loki's scheme to get him and the others killed and he has just made himself an easy target. He hoped he was wrong and turned his mind back to the Chitauri, more were approaching now and he knew he could not keep this up for long. 'Fuck I am so screwed.'

He continued to blast his way through the Chitauri, but soon he was taking almost as many hits as he was giving and it just kept on coming.

'Hey Thor can you hear me?'

A crackle, then silence.

'Thor, if you can hear me, can you shoot some lightning into the left hand side of the portal?' He prayed Thor had heard him and backed off from the advancing Chitauri. A few seconds later an almighty sound roared up as a bolt of lightning hit a Chitauri manning one of the small vehicles that looked like a floating jet ski and sent it up in smoke, the lightning branching off and hitting others surrounding it as if they conducted it.

'Neat, cheers big guy.' He caught his breath in the split second lapse before the Chitauri converged again.

'Sir we are losing power rapidly, this suit was not made for such atmospheres.'

'Not helping Jarvis, how long do I have left?'

'Less than 10 minutes if my calculations are correct, less if you need to use the suit to escape.'

'Wonderful, exactly what I wanted to hear. Come on you alien bastard close the portal.'

Opting to try and prolong his suit he wrestled a gun off an advancing Chitauri and let loose on them with it, but they were gaining in numbers and Tony was being pushed back, he cursed Loki and himself for being so stupid as Jarvis indicated that his power was now in the red zone. He now had two choices, continue fighting and hope Loki proves good on his word, or high tail it out of there. He wanted to do the latter, but he couldn't just leave Loki behind in the highly unlikely scenario that he actually was helping them.

'Shit, Jarvis put power into the thrusters, get me to a vantage point quick.'

'Yes sir.' Even Jarvis's voice sounded strained.

He powered up and got himself to the nearest large overhang of rock and tried to spot Loki. His breath was coming in gasps and sweat trickled down his face. He could see the massing Chitauri in the far distance and a glow that said something was going on above it on an outcrop of rock much like the one he was on. He knew the Chitauri were below him and they were almost upon the rockface but he didn't take his eyes off the mass in the distance, he was searching for a flash of green, a beam of light, anything to indicate Loki being there. Then it happened, a glint of gold helmet, a flash of bright light and an almighty explosion that stopped the Chitauri in their tracks.

'Stark can you hear me?'

'Loki?! Yes I, where are you?'

'I am speaking through your mind, get to the portal, it is closing.'

'Right ok, Jarvis you heard E.T., time to phone home.'

'Sir...'

'I don't want your pessimism Jarvis just do what I say.'

He felt his thrusters flare up and blasted off the rockface as the Chitauri broke ranks, some tried to go after him but most tried to get back to their base in the distance, which seemed to be on fire.

Red lights flashed inside his suit and he gritted his teeth.

'Almost there!' He groaned from the strain his suit was coming under.

As he came upon the portal he nearly let himself take a breath in relief, but instead searing pain lanced up his back as something hit him from behind and knocked him out of the air. He hit down hard underneath the portal, that was decreasing in size rapidly. He turned over onto his back, glad he had no breath to be knocked out of him and gulped in air. A small group of Chitauri were standing over him, one lifted their gun and fired it at his chest, warning signals flared through his suit and his navigation system and screens inside his mask started to flicker.

'Argh!' He cried as he shot backwards into the dirt from the force of the blast, he lifted up a hand and tried to shoot, but his thrusters merely started up and died.

'Jarvis, Jarvis come on, we are so close.'

No reply came and he uttered a gut wrenching cry as an armoured foot stamped down on the hand he was using to prop himself up.

Gutteral laughter rippled through the group, a choking, hacking and feral sound. Tony steeled himself and went to grab the foot but the creature had already raised it's gun and shot him in the wrist, the force of the blow flung him backwards once more and he heard a crack as his armour shattered, and another as his wrist connected with the ground. He tried to hold back a scream but it had already escaped him.

Another Chitauri placed its gun against his leg and fired, at such close range and with no shields to protect him his armour shattered, then they flipped the gun round and drove what could only be the barrel straight into his exposed leg. A sickening crunch could be heard and he felt the blood drain from his face and black dots appeared in his field of vision as pain lanced through his body. Ribs, wrist, leg, what next.

Before he could finish his thought he felt the foot come off his hand. Flexing his fingers he lashed out, only for something to connect viciously with his head. His mask flew off and more laughter echoed around him. He dropped back to the floor, fighting against the pain to stay concious until another blow, from a foot he guessed, connected with his head. He blacked out for a few seconds, but pain in his leg and wrist brought him back and he looked up to see the portal close. He felt a hand grab his unbroken wrist roughly and start dragging him away before he blacked out again.

He didn't know how long he was out, seconds, minutes? But he was jolted into conciousness when he was dropped roughly to the floor, a thud next to him signalled something else dropping and he tried to see what it was, some kind of figure was slumped next to him. Then something heavy and solid landed on his leg and he was out again.

'Must I do everything myself.' Snarled a voice, he couldn't tell if it was in his mind and he was still out of it, or if he was awake again. Something grabbed him, gentler than before and he was pulled up in one swift movement. He was pulled onto something, shoulders, maybe. Was he being carried off to the burning base? He was held in place as whatever was carrying him stood up and he felt a rush of cold come over him, like water, before he lost conciousness once more.


	6. Chapter 5 - Debts

**Shit, long chapter is long, might split this into two oops enjoy!**

**Chapter 5 - Debts**

Stark? Stark can you hear me?!' Steve shouted into his earpiece. 'Damn it!' He kicked a dead Chitauri on the ground. 'How long ago did they go through?'

'It was not too long ago Captain.' Thor answered unhelpfully.

'I spotted Loki about 15 minutes ago Cap, then they both disappeared through the portal shortly after.' Natasha said as she picked her way across the body strewn battlefield with Jane and Darcy in tow.

Steve turned to Banner, who was back normal size now and clutching ripped pants around his waist.

'How long can his suit last out of Earth's atmosphere?'

'Not long, even powered up as it was compared to Manhattan.' He looked down at the ground as he spoke.

'What are we going to do now the portal's closed?' Clint was pulling arrows out of corpses.

Steve turned to Thor, 'is there anything we can do?'

Thor shook his head and knelt down on the ground, closing his eyes. Jane made her way over and rested a hand on his shoulder, which he covered with his own.

'Please tell me you did not let Stark go after Loki into outer space.' Fury strode over with a handful of SHIELD agents kitted out in body armour, guns slung over their shoulders.

'I should have tried harder to stop him, but I was surrounded by enemies.' Thor straightened up and let out a deep, shuddering breath.

'This is no one's fault.' Steve cut in. 'Stark is capable of making his own choices and very capable of being too bull headed to stop himself doing it.' Steve sighed and picked his shield up off the ground, at a loss for what to do.

'Captain Rogers.' Came a voice from his earpiece.

'Jarvis?' Steve spun round and walked away from the ground, touching a hand to the comm.

'Yes sir, my systems have had to reboot, Stark's suit lost power about 5 minutes ago, he is unreachable. Just before it happened Loki managed to destroy the base and told Tony to make his way back to the portal, but he was attacked before he could reach it.'

Steve turned back round and relayed the information to the others.

'So what you're saying is Stark is dead in the water on a hostile planet with only an alien war criminal as an ally?' Fury seemed to grow a few inches in anger. 'Don't answer that was a rhetorical question. What the hell are we going to do about this. Assuming he is still alive, he could be captured, killed or dropped off a planet. And as for Loki, I don't like this one bit, it has worked out a little too well, Stark seperated with no power and us blind to what is going on. What if he is picking us off one by one? What if this is all part of a plot he has hatched with his friends the Chitauri to try and take over the Earth again. It seems to me we have been double crossed.'

'Director Fury, you wound me with your words.' Came a breathless purr from behind them. They all spun round and Steve flung Fury out of the way to get to the voice. Loki appeared on the grass, staggering to keep upright with Tony's bulk draped over his shoulder. Steve grabbed Tony as Loki stumbled, barely managing to keep on his feet. When Tony was safely off of him he collapsed into the grass, pulling off his helmet and letting his hair fall around his face.

'Many of his bones are broken and he is unconcious.' Loki gasped.

'What happened!' Fury demanded.

'I suggest you see to your friend first, I did not have time to see if his injuries were life threatening.'

'Thor, help me put Tony down, watch his leg, it looks pretty mangled.' Steve called out.

Thor helped him to angle Tony's body down gently onto the ground and then looked him over, Fury shouted to the agents to get a stretcher to get him inside. One came up and handed him what looked like a small tablet and he held it over him.

'God damn it I can't see anything through his suit, we may have to chance taking it off.'

'Wait.' Loki put a hand up and pushed himself onto his knees. He pulled himself over to Tony and placed a hand over his chest.

'What are you-' Fury started, but Thor quieted him. 'Loki knows what he is doing.'

Fury folded his arms and grunted.

A trickle of green light came from Loki's palm and went through Tony's suit, rippling across his chest. Loki closed his eyes and everyone fell silent.

'A fractured skull, 4 broken ribs, countless bruised, a cracked sternum, 3rd degree burns to the chest, shattered wrist and his leg broken in two places. No internal bleeding or life threatening injuries.'

'Can we put him on the stretcher now?' Fury spat impatiently.

'No, let me work.'

Green light coursed from Loki's arm into Tony's chest and Tony's body seemed to come off the floor slightly. Light pooled out from beneath his suit and the others watched on as the exposed skin knitted itself back together as the light grew ever brighter, changing from a dark green to white.

After a couple of minutes Loki slumped back into the grass, flexing his wrist and fingers.

'Now you may move him.' His voice was ragged and breathless.

'What did you do?' Steve's voice was full of disbelief.

'I healed him, what did it look like!' Loki growled, meeting Steve's gaze with unfaltering rage.

Steve looked away and back to Tony who was being placed on the stretcher and carried away. They followed sedately leaving Loki in the grass. He eventually got up, grabbing his staff and helmet which dematerialized in his hands and following in silence.

Tony was taken through to the infirmary where under Jarvis's instruction his suit was removed, everyone was ushered out to wait in one of the lounges, all except Fury and Loki, who made it very clear anyone who came near him would be reduced to ashes. He stood back from them and watched them work.

'Director, he is completely healed.' One of the surgeons said quietly. Loki didn't miss the trace of relief in the voice, as if they had expected Stark to be a mess of internal organs and blood underneath his healed skin. Loki smirked, good. He did not want their trust.

Tony awoke with a jolt and groaned out loud as pain lanced through his head, he touched his fingers to it gently and felt the pull of tubes. He squinted in the gloom to see an IV needle in his hand. He felt his face and could feel more tubes up his nose. He looked into the darkness and seeing no one, he pulled the tubes out, choking slightly as they brushed his throat. He then pulled the IV out and cursed as he nicked the skin.

'Can you try not to damage yourself after the energy I expended to heal you?' Came a dark voice from the shadows and Tony jumped.

'Jarvis, lights!' He called out hoarsely and almost gagged as his throat was so dry. The lights flickered on to reveal Loki leaning upright against the wall by his bed and Tony pushed himself up as his heart hammered in his chest. He looked down to see his arc reactor safely in his chest before looking back to Loki.

'Why are you here?'

'I am unwelcome anywhere else.' He stated dryly.

'Why am I here?'

'Because I hauled your lifeless body back from outer space.'

'You, wait what?' Tony looked around, fumbling with his hands until he found a glass of water, he choked on it as he tried to drink it until finally he stopped sputtering and managed to down it all. His limbs felt heavy and unresponsive and he looked up at his IV. Morphine, of course.

'Are you done trying to drown yourself?'

'Yes, I am thanks for your concern, now would you mind explaining to me what happened?'

'You were shot out of the air when you reached the portal, then pounded into a pulp by the Chitauri.'

'I remember that, where do you come in?'

'I managed to commandeer a vehicle from the Chitauri I had just blown up and was racing back to the portal when I saw you being dragged back to the base, so I slew the few who surrounded you and as the portal had then closed, teleported us back to Midgard.'

'I seem to recall many grievious injuries, how long have I been out.' He panicked, suddenly thinking about 6 weeks being unconcious whilst his body healed.

'2 days.'

'2 days, but my wrist, my leg?' He moved each on in turn, stiff but not broken.

'I used magic to heal you once we were back on Midgard.'

'So... Not only did you save my life, but you healed me aswell?'

'Try not to get overly emotional, leaving you behind would have caused me more grief than it was worth.'

'Could have just told them I was dead.'

'And then be incarcerated and charged with your murder, I think not.'

'Well being that you can easily escape what should it matter?'

'I came here to seek aid, not start another war.'

'Ok, but why use up all your energy to heal me?'

Loki fell silent and Tony felt cold under his glare. After a couple of minutes Loki took a breath.

'It seemed the proper thing to do.'

'Since when do you abide by proper?'

'Since you distracted The Other's forces long enough for me to get close enough to destroy the base.'

'Did you kill him?'

'No, but I managed to take away his powers, so he will not be opening portals for the forseeable future.'

'You what?'

'Too complicated for a mortal mind to understand.' Loki waved his fingers through the air and looked away.

Tony's first thought was to argue, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

'Thank you.'

Loki turned his cold gaze back to Tony and narrowed his eyes.

'For saving my life, unbusting my busted ass and for stopping my anxiety attacks, something I should have thanked you for ages ago.'

Loki just watched him incredulously and Tony wondered when the last time anyone had ever thanked him was, and when he had given anyone reason too.

A few heartbeats later Loki pushed himself off the wall and sank down into a chair so he could face Tony.

'I still don't understand what is going on in that unhinged head of yours, but, still. Thanks.'

Loki pursed his lips and looked away, back to brooding.

'I do not want your thanks, it was all to serve a higher purpose.' He did not look at Tony as he spoke.

'The correct answer is 'it's fine, or no problem.'

Loki looked back to him slowly.

'Just try it? No. Problem.'

Green eyes narrowed.

'Come on, be friendly, just this once, look I am lying in a hospital bed and,' he picked up the covers. 'Oh god someone has given me a sponge bath, please tell me the nurses were female?!'

Loki tried to keep his eyes narrowed, but Tony's petrified face caused him to let a laugh escape, it was a musical, gentle sound that made Tony smile.

'See, that is more like it.'

Loki composed himself and went back to watching Tony with calculating eyes. Tony stared back, Loki's dark hair was out of its usual slicked back style and instead fell messily around his face, framing his narrow cheekbones and causing a stark contrast between his pale skin and hollow green eyes, his eyes had dark red bruises underneath them as if he had not slept properly in a while. His armour was forgone in the stead of his usual leather attire, but without the overcoat and cape, he almost looked casual, in a renaissance fair kind of way.

'You look like shit.' Tony tried to sound light hearted.

'So do you.' Loki replied quietly.

Tony's next words were drowned out by a mass of footsteps sounding down the hall. Loki stiffened and looked towards the door.

'Don't go.' Tony said weakly, but Loki merely looked at him before he disappeared into thin air.

At the same time the door burst open and all the Avengers, alongside Jane and Darcy, filed into the room in a raucourus symphony.

'Tony Stark! You are awake!' Thor cheered through a mouthful of what looked like hot dog. He was the first to reach him and hold out a hand.

'Screw the handshake give me the hot dog.' Tony laughed and snatched it, stuffing it into his mouth before Thor could react.

'That was mine!'

'Sharing ishf caring bith guy.' He said through a mouthful of bun and sausage.

Thor broke into a wide grin and sat down on the end of the bed. Steve came round the other side and pulled up the chair Loki had been sitting in, if he noticed it was still warm he said nothing.

'We asked Jarvis to notify us as soon as you were awake, but Thor here was too busy hounding down food with Barton and Romanoff.'

'And no one thought to bring me any?'

'You've been out of it two days, you need something more substancial than hot dogs and pizza.'

'There is nothing more substancial than hot dogs and pizza!' He cried in mock disbelief. He shook hands with Steve and pulled himself up to clasp Banner's arm and clap Barton on the side. Natasha came down and in a rare lapse of judgement kissed him on the cheek.

'Wow, you all really thought I was de- done for huh.' He touched his hand to where Natasha's lips had touched his skin and felt almost humbled by the faces around him. 'Surely you know by now you can't get rid of me that easy.' He laughed, trying to stop the tension mounting between them all.

'We feared the worst at one point.' Fury came striding in and stopped beside his bed as the other's moved aside for him.

'Welcome back soldier.' He wrung his hand hard. 'For a moment there you had us fooled, you and Loki both. We all thought he'd taken you out for the count.'

'For a moment so did I, but I was wrong and I am very glad I was. I was really screwed back there, they were dragging me back to their master when Loki found me.'

The others looked away and Fury said nothing, obviously no one would give up their hatred for Loki that easily. Was that what he had done? He searched himself, he was frightened by Loki, yes, more than a little unnerved and creeped out, yes, he pitied him a bit, not that he would ever let Loki know that, and he was grateful. He didn't trust him, but he didn't hate him, infact he couldn't remember ever hating him. Now he knew how Thor must feel, if on a stupidly smaller scale, he knew he should hate him, he wanted to hate him, but he couldn't.

'Oh-kaay silence over came someone please give me some clothes and I want to make it very clear that no one is EVER to let a nurse sponge bath me again, am I understood?' A chorus of laughter broke out and he was handed a pile of clothes by a hovering doctor. 'Ok go on everyone shoo, I mean it. No free show today.' He waited until everyone left before climbing out of bed and dressing stiffly, his limbs starting to regain their usefulness. He sat on the bed a while, wondering what the hell to do with himself before he finally managed to make himself leave and go find the lounge. He was lucky enough that a lift was nearby as all the rooms the Avengers used were on the 6th and 7th story, top story for bedrooms, second to top had commodities. Each floor had its own useage, bottom floor was labs, workshops and medical rooms and that was where he was at now. He went up in the lift and came out on the 6th floor to the smell of pizza drifting down the corridor and his mouth watered. He stopped himself sprinting the short distance to food and as he approached the door he could hear laughter and banging.

He walked in to find Thor with Clint in a headlock, Steve and Banner sitting at a counter watching, Jane and Darcy on the sofa cheering and Natasha sitting cross legged on the floor putting a game into the Xbox.

'I swear we left kindergarden years ago.' Tony laughed and they all turned to face him.

'Clint has been teaching me how to use your technology box and now has resorted to cheating because I am winning.' Thor grinned as Clint struggled uselessly against him.

Tony looked from him to Natasha.

'They're busy so I want to play my game now.' She smiled before turning back to a first person shooter. He waved to Jane and Darcy before walking over to Steve and Bruce.

'I see they have resorted to a childlike state due to crisis.' He pointed over at the others and chuckled.

'Aren't they always like this?' Banner lifted his eyebrows as Clint finally got free and slumped on the sofa nursing his pride.

'I seem to be missing a good party, give me some pizza Rogers.' He motioned with his hands and Steve passed him the box, he smelt it tentatively and upon smelling pepperoni he whipped it open and grabbed a slice. As he put the box down and went to take a bite.

'Tony, has Loki spoken to you?'

'Uh uh, can't talk, eating.' Tony took a large bite of the pizza and took his time on it.

'Stark.' Steve warned.

'Oh can I at least eat first before you interrogate me?' Tony said, swallowing his bite and wincing as the lump slid down his throat.

'It's important.'

'And my health isn't?'

'Just answer the question.' Steve pulled his eyebrows together and waited.

'Ok, fine.' He pulled up a bar stool and sat down. 'Yes, he was there when I woke up, he told me what happened then disappeared when you lot came blaring in, that's it.'

'He never left the room you were in according to the doctors.'

'He said he was unwelcome anywhere else.'

Steve furrowed his brow.

'What do you expect, everyone hates the guy he isn't going to come in and be glared at, I expect he gets enough of that on Asgard.'

'You sound like your defending him.' Bruce remarked pointedly.

'I guess I am, a little. I don't trust him, but he has saved our backsides and my life in one night. It doesn't make up for what he did but it's a start.'

Silence. Great, you and your big mouth Stark, just pretend to share everyone else's view and be done with it, he isn't there to be liked.

'Do you know where he is now?' Steve finally looked up.

'No, like I said he disappeared.'

'Can Jarvis find him?'

'He could, but maybe he doesn't want to be found?' Tony offered.

'We need to hear his information, he said he would speak to Fury.'

'He did, and it is getting late, can they not speak tomorrow?'

Steve sighed and pushed the pizza box towards Tony.

'There you go, that is better.' Tony gushed mockingly and started to eat. 'I will cooperate better once I have some food I am starving.'

'You'd better, we can have a mass murderer floating around our building unattended.'

'He probably isn't even here, more than likely is in one of his temperal space bolt holes he seems to disappear into alot.'

'Space holes?'

'A guess, he has to hide somewhere and sometimes Jarvis doesn't think it is on Earth and it sure as hell isn't on Asgard. I think he has lots of little crevices in dark corners of the universe that he can hide for short periods of time.'

Steve just nodded, so did Bruce.

'Makes sense I guess.' Bruce said thoughtfully.

'So, instead of badgering, you're just going to have to be patient, this guy is like a coiled snake, provoke him and he strikes you, or slithers away. Wait him out and he'll eventually lose interest or relax.'

'We don't have time to wait him out.'

'We're going to have to if we want his information.' Tony picked up the pizza box and dropped himself onto the sofa next to Clint.

They continued to watch people play, play games themselves, talk and joke well into the night.

When everyone finally started getting up and going to bed, only Tony and Natasha were left. She bid him goodnight and left him to his thoughts. He had a lukewarm beer still in his hand which he didn't really feel like drinking, he got up and went over to the fridge by the kitchen area and looked inside. Ready meals, candy, beer, soda, plastic containers of cooked food marked with days of the week, vegetables and various tins. He opted for a Hershey bar, wishing he had grabbed some chocolate on his stop in at the UK, American chocolate sucked.

He sat back down and swirled the contents of his can around.

'Jarvis, can you detect where Loki is?'

'No sir.'

'I knew it I knew it.' He took a gulp of his beer and instantly regretted it.

'Eugh warm piss. Why do they make drinks that turn to piss when they gets warm.' He shoved the rest of the chocolate bar in his mouth and put the drink aside.

He sat there quietly for a few minutes and then Jarvis made a beeping noise, he recognised it from the other night.

'Jarvis?'

'I have detected Loki's signature sir.'

'And?'

'You may not like this, it is heading for this room using teleportation.'

'Shit, no sleep for me.' He turned around and looked over the back of the sofa, waiting for the tell tale shimmer of magic.

'Do you even know what a door is?'

'I do.' He heard the silky voice before he saw him appear on the tile floor before him.

'Where have you been hiding?'

'That is none of your concern.'

'It kinda is seeing as you said you'd talk to Fury.'

'And I will.'

'Not if you keep disappearing to your bolt holes.'

Loki looked at him cooly.

'They no longer exist, there are no safe places for me anymore. The last time I used one of my 'bolt holes' as you put it I was attacked and ended up here.'

'So then where have you been?'

Loki sighed.

'On the roof, mostly.'

'Isn't it really cold out there?'

'I do not feel the cold like most.'

Feeling the conversation thinning, Tony grasped for a subject.

'Is it nice, on Asgard?'

Loki turned to Tony, his expression unreadable and Tony wondered if he had said the wrong thing.

'It is beautiful.'

'What is it like?'

Loki crossed the gap between them in a few long strides and came to stand near the sofa, his hands clasped behind his back.

'There is a great, golden palace above the sea, the citadel stretches almost as far as the eye can see around and behind. Magical fires light up cobbled and paved streets worn smooth by horses and people. Beyond the citadel are meadows, criss crossed with rivers that stem from the mountains beyond. Bountiful woodlands border the mountains and the air is always warm in the summer and cool in the winter, the winds blow off the mountains and keep the heat at bay during the hottest times. It is peaceful, the courtyards full of people selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Young soldiers practice fighting together inside the castle grounds and everyone is free to come and go as they please, there is no great divide between the King and his people.'

'Sounds like a great place, we don't have anything like that here, Kings, castles. All that stuff we read about as kids. Sure they do over in Europe, but we have the wild west and presidents. Not alot of magic in that.'

Loki looked at him curiously.

'You know, it still weirds me out that I can go to my local library, get a book about mythology and find you in it.'

Loki smirked half heartedly and looked away.

'It's pretty cool, weird, but cool. I used to read about the Norse Gods as a kid, not alot, to into my science and my dad wanted me to learn about weapons, but still.'

Loki didn't look back.

'I'm trying to keep a conversation going here but I need your help with that.'

'I have nothing to say.'

'Then think of something, you come here to give us help, you're no help to us shutting yourself away or disappearing and only resurfacing when you need something. You say you are unwelcome, then make an effort. You have burned alot of bridges, not just burned, you exploded them into tiny pieces. It isn't going to be forgotten in a hurry, it won't be forgotten at all without you trying.'

'Then why do you speak to me, you haven't forgotten.'

'Because you saved my life, and I can tell you're a pretty lonely guy,' Loki went to speak and Tony put a hand up to stop him, 'don't try to deny it. I don't think you're all bad news, unhinged, borderline psychotic and a total bastard yes, evil, no.'

'I did not come here to be psychologically assessed.' Loki growled half heartedly.

'Why did you come here then, and don't say to me you're unwelcome anywhere else as you could have stayed on the roof.'

'I do not know, to see if you are still alive maybe?'

'Very kind of you, as you can see for now I am still in one piece.'

'How fortunate for you.'

'Back to square one with you again, you know if you dropped the condescending tone when you spoke to people you might turn out to be a likeable guy.'

Eyes narrowed at him and Tony shrugged at him. 'Just a suggestion.'

'I do not wish to be likeable.'

'And why is that?'

'Friendship is a useless thing that brings sentiment, sentiment is a useless bi product of feelings and keeps one from reaching full potential.'

'Spoken like someone who has no friends. By full potential you mean mass murder and intergalactic war? Doesn't seem like such a good thing anymore does it?'

No reply.

'I know the sound of my voice probably irritates the hell out of you, I know I am annoying at the best of times but I am trying here, can't you? Do you have anyone you could call a friend?'

Loki turned away from him, Tony could almost feel him seething.

'I take that as a no, not even on Asgard?'

'No one, once I had my family, but no more.'

'You have issues, I get it, but so does everyone. Mass murder is generally not the option, psychiatrists are.'

A cold look, tinged with confusion.

'A psychiatrist is someone you talk about your problems too, someone who is qualified to help you through them.'

'You mortals tell your problems to strangers and hope they will fix them?'

'See when you put it that way it doesn't sound so good, but, they help. Talking about it helps.' Tony felt a guilty tug at his heart as he said that and thought of Pepper, who he had so carelessly shut out, who was he to be giving life lessons?

Loki watched him curiously now and Tony raised his eyebrows in concern.

'What, is there something on my face?'

'You say talking about your problems is good, yet you and I are not so different in that aspect. You have shut your heart away too and do not let people help you.'

'Difference is I do not go around starting wars.'

'No, you kill the mortals you call the 'bad guys'. People's perspectives of right and wrong differ, even between your own Avengers. Who is to say you are right in how you handle your situation in adverse to how I handle mine?'

'Because I help people, and you ruin people's lives?'

'For all you know the people my army killed were murderers, killers pretending to be normal people.'

'Or they could have been decent human beings trying to live a good life.'

'But there is the question, right there, how do you know?'

'If you want to play that game, what about Coulson?' Tony barely stopped his breath hitching when he felt the pain of losing him hit anew and he looked away.'

Loki stiffened before replying.

'He was going to shoot me.'

'You're a God, that hit did nothing to you.'

'I did not know it would, the weapon was untested. Had. I not had the Tesseract's protection I expect it could have killed me, being that it harnesses the same power as Asgard's Destroyer, which can kill anything.'

'But you had the Tesseract.'

'I did not know if it's protection would work against it.'

'Were you scared?'

'No. I had nothing to fear.'

'You're a really bad liar.'

'What do you want Stark? I do not feel remourse for my actions, I do not want retribution. Did I enjoy what happened? Yes, would I do it again if I needed too? Yes, I do what I must to survive and if it means killing people I will do it. Do you know how many people your Agent Romanoff has killed? How many innocents.' He hissed.

'Don't make this about someone else, she has decided to change, she made the leap to make herself a better person and regrets her actions. You could do it too, it's called learning and very easy to do. Staying on the path your on will just get you killed, you know that or you wouldn't be here right now.'

Tony expected an arguement, or anger, or a sarcastic reply. Instead Loki walked over to the other sofa and sat down on it, as he did his body shimmered and his leather clothing disappeared, in place appeared a green v necked shirt of some very soft material and fitted cotton trousers. He was barefoot and stretched out on the couch as if he had not known comfort in some time.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and squeezed his eyes shut as if battling some internal battle and did not speak again.

Tony waited, he could play this game. After a few minutes he got up and went to the counter, grabbing a bottle of his favourite whiskey he had stashed in one of the drawers. He pulled out two glasses and poured them both a drink and walked over to Loki. He stopped infront of him and the god looked up.

'Here.' He passed him the glass, which Loki took delicately. 'Would you mind?' He brought the other glass closer to Loki. With his free hand Loki touched a finger to the glass, ice crystals fanned out from his finger and stopped mere millimetres away from Tony's fingers on the top of the glass. 'Cheers, neat trick, I suppose magic isn't all that bad.'

He sat down on the other sofa and positioned himself so he could watch Loki and raised his glass.

'To awkward aquaintances, or whatever you would call us.' He brought the glass down to his lips and drank, shuddering as the ice cold liquid hit his throat. Loki merely watched him with narrowed eyes, but eventually took a sip after icing his own glass.

'If we're going to sit here in silence I am going to put on a movie.' He grabbed the remote and turned on the obscenely large flatscreen tv that was more like a small cinema system and flicked through netflix until he found the one he wanted.

He glanced over to see Loki watching the screen curiously.

'Tvs are a god send, I don't know how you live without them!'

Loki looked away, seething and took another sip. 'We prefer pursuits that challenge our minds and bodies.'

'That is all well and good, but you always need an escape from the real world.'

'You see Stark, on Asgard there are these things called books.'

'That's what this is!'

Loki glared at him.

'This brings books to life, using real people or animation to tell the story so you can see it with your own eyes, imagining is great, but this is something else.'

Music started up from the tv and Loki looked back at it, the music became more powerful as the movie started.

'What is this?' Loki asked, then looked away horrified that he had.

'You'll see, and. I bet you'll like it too.' Tony replied smugly.

They watched in silence as the scenes unfolded infront of them and Tony couldn't help smirking. Loki watched with mock boredom as a cat turned into a woman with a pointy hat.

'This is what you mentioned to me the other day is it not?'

'Yep, Harry Potter, you like magic so watch it and don't complain.'

'So they can choose any form they wish yet the woman chooses to shapeshift into a cat...'

'She likes cats ok.'

'But out of everything?'

'I suppose you could do better.' Tony looked over at him, expecting a curt reply but instead Loki shimmered. Oh shit, he paused the tv and winced.

Before the transformation had finished Loki leapt into the air and landed on the other sofa, Tony pulled his legs out of the way as the creature advanced on him.

Green eyes tinged with gold bored into his as sharp canines glinted in the dim light. Tony watched the wolf in frightened awe, pitch black and alot larger than a regular wolf, it panted and bared its teeth before releasing a low growl.

'Ok ok I get it point taken you're better than the people on the tv. Please put the fangs away.'

The wolf, or should he say Loki merely cocked its head in a puppy like fashion.

'Don't act cute or I'll pet you.'

That earned him another threatening snarl and he backed into the sofa as much as he could.

'Point taken, you can go back to your own sofa now!'

Loki growled once more before backing away and stepping lightly off the sofa, he looked back at Tony and shimmered again, Tony let out a sigh of relief but stopped halfway as the figure infront of him turned blue.

Red, white and blue in fact.

'Does this more suit you Stark?' Came the undiguisable voice of Captain Rogers.

'Ok now that is creepy, can you change into anything you want?'

'Shapeshifting is my speciality.' He shimmered again and this time became Natasha.

'Anything, any creature, any gender, anything I want.'

'Weirding me out now.'

'You challenged.' The voice changed halfway through into a male voice, HIS voice. Tony looked back at himself incredulously.

'Do I really look like that? God I'm short.'

Lokitony smirked and walked away, back to the other sofa, he dropped down into it and by the time he was stretched out again he was back to his normal self.

'Er, thanks for the show, you enjoyed that way too much.'

'I like using magic.'

'You don't say. Right, lets get back to the movie before I pass out.'

They continued to watch in silence, Tony expected Loki to ask questions constantly, but, apart from pointing out that wands were too fragile in a real battle and a true sorcerer should not need one, he watched quietly.

When the first film was over Tony asked if he wanted to see the second one, but put it on before he could give an answer saying 'we're watching it anyway.' Loki scowled but said nothing and Tony had to wonder if he was actually enjoying himself but too proud to admit it. He had gone from being stretched out on the sofa to curled up against one arm, even though he was all legs it made him look very small and alot less threatening. Here was the guy behind the leather and bravado, quiet and broody, the mass murderer curled up on the sofa watching Harry Potter with a guy he tried to kill more than once. Go figure. The world works in seriously mysterious ways.


End file.

Avengers, Adventure, Sci-Fi