The rest of the room seemed to be blurred, the surroundings slipping in and out of focus, various colours slipping and sliding together to represent what he knew to be the same room this person had appeared in before, in another life. But he was much closer, their hatred still venomous, their sides still very different but the smiles of good and evil grinned at each other, smirking at a joke that Tony'd just told. Then, there was a soft hand on his cheek and a whisper in his ear, the breath tickling, it was almost as if he could feel it... And then they pulled away, only to hold a longing glare. The next thing he knew, they were embracing, embracing like they would never let go, Tony gripped him, hard, burying his face into the softness of his shoulder. And then he let go – and Tony felt himself falling backwards, falling downwards into blackness...

For a while, he swam in and out of consciousness, part of him not wanting to believe his dream and part of him desperate to just get back into the dream… He quickly pushed that thought from his mind and gave a small groan. It was one of them dreams that you clung on to and would turn your whole day upside down. The sort of dream that would linger with you and give you a strange feeling.
And it wasn't the first time he'd had one of these dreams. He tried not to think about how it made him feel, about how his heart now ached with the impossibility of it all… And how much he hated himself for even considering it.

Reluctantly, Tony pushed himself out of bed and stumbled over to his en suite.
"Morning, sir," JARVIS said, as Tony splashed his face with freezing cold water. "You're up before your alarm."
"I was aware," Tony muttered, more to himself. "What time is it, JARVIS?"
"Three thirty-two am, sir."
"Ah, crap." Tony ran a hand through his hair. His sleeping pattern was irregular as it was, he didn't need these weird dreams coming along and making things worse. Besides, he had a meeting with the other Avengers and SHIELD in the morning and they'd all be able to tell he wasn't coping by the dark circles that underlined his tired eyes. He tenderly traced the underneath of his eyes as he looked in the mirror, as if somehow hoping that he could brush them away.

"Tony? Hello? Is anyone there?" Bruce Banner's soft voice broke through Tony's thoughts which, of course, had been lingering around that damned dream. He had been staring at a point on the table for about fifteen minutes now whilst the others were discussing something important, although his eyes weren't really focussing on it; he looked worlds away. And, in a way, he was.
Now, however, he sat up straight, quickly jerking himself out of his reverie.
"Yeah – what? Sorry, sorry! I was just…" he trailed off, shaking himself, "What's going on?"
Nick Fury gave him a disapproving look but carried on.
"We've got a problem." He turned to give a look to Thor (who didn't usually show up at these meetings, that should have really been the first clue that something more dramatic was happening). "Loki does not appear to be in his cell in Asgard… That is to say: he's escaped." Tony's eyes widened as a look of disbelief crossed his face and he frowned: Surely this could not be a coincidence.
"You are kidding?" Clint's face was hard set, his jaw locked and his knuckles were white as he clasped onto the table. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony noticed Natasha move her hand to cover Clint's before speaking up.
"When?" she got straight to the point, her voice sharp.
"Last week. He'd been quiet for a while, wouldn't talk to anyone. But it was a façade. He wasn't really there. An illusion. Nothing but a mere illusion and we didn't even notice. No wonder he left." Thor tried to keep the emotion out of his voice, but he was fooling nobody.
"So, without any disrespect, why come to us? Loki's a demigod and, no offence guys, but I doubt he'd come to, as you guys call it, Midgard, unless…?" Bruce directed the question to Thor who nodded understandably.
"I see you've been doing your research, Banner – and you're right. I wouldn't have troubled you all, but we've had a lead, a trace, a signal if you will, a sign that he's here – on Midgard. We're not sure what his intentions are, but I don't doubt that they won't be troublesome, if I know my brother."
Tony ran his hands through his hair. His mind was still fixated on his dream, now more than ever as he desperately tried to push it to the back of his mind and focus on the problem at hand – but how could he do that, when they were the same problem?
The others were now talking about tracking devices and searching and other ways of finding the trickster. Steve had noticed Tony frowning and was shaking his head, saying: "Tony, you really should get more sleep." Tony ignored him, his head starting to ache. He rubbed his forehead causing Natasha and Steve to exchange a look.
"Look, Tony, why don't you take it easy, we've got this covered for now." Tony wished he could believe her, but he couldn't argue with Romanoff, she'd beat him down in seconds and he was beginning to feel a little bit drowsy...
"Yeah, if you're sure, I'll be… You know where to find me if you..." he pushed himself into a standing position and bolted out of the doors before he fell asleep right in front of them. It was lucky that SHIELD had agreed to hold the meeting in the Avengers Tower otherwise Tony would have been taking a kip in some secluded corner of SHIELD's secret base as he only just managed to make it onto his bed before sleep engulfed him and he slipped into a land of dreams...

"Gotcha." The manic laughter was enough to convince Tony that he was back in familiar company. They seemed to be aboard the giant hovercraft this time, in a secluded corridor.
"You escaped," Tony stated and Loki grinned.
"I did, didn't I?" The Norse god was suddenly closer to Stark… And then the scene changed...

Colours and places twisted and changed and then Tony was working in his lab, half of it left in darkness as he worked furiously on some sort of lamp that he was making for Hawkeye. He noticed something move in the shadows and there he was again, smiling and watching and then they were talking with each other, smart and smooth and sweet insults bouncing off each other, Tony standing up and suddenly they were back in the bar room, this time they were circling each other, eyeing each other up, the insults and jibes still on the tips of their tongues as they grew closer. Finally, Tony decided he had had enough and Loki seemed to sense this as he lowered his voice to a growl.
"You're a fool if you think you can resist me, Stark." And their faces were inches from each other, Tony knew that he was pressed up against the bar, trapped.
"Oh, what the hell…" he muttered as he pressed his lips to Loki's, winding an arm around the Trickster's neck and pulling him closer. The demigod responded to the kiss, both becoming more forceful as they fought for domination... And then they were in a shop, full of hammers that much resembled Thor's and Tony was telling Loki that it was okay, he didn't need one it didn't matter really.

Tony knew that he was waking up and he despised the part of him that was wishing that he wasn't. He pulled himself to consciousness, non-the-less, even if he was prepared just to lie there and twist his legs around the covers because his mind was refusing to let go of the dream... His thoughts touched on the kiss and he could feel his chest almost physically hurt. Why though? Why? He knew there'd always been this weird understanding between him and Loki, but he'd just thought that was because they were both excellent trouble makers. Now it was something more.