And it's back! I'm going to level with you. I never planned to make a sequel. But so many of y'all wanted more that I figured "eh, what the heck?" Wait, that came out wrong. Inspiration struck me as well. This isn't a pointless fic, I swear.

I don't own any of the Avengers, and I'm not near smart enough to build my own J.A.R.V.I.S.

"You are so going down, Stark!"

"Not if I can help it, Barton!"

The taunts and jibes thrown between the two men might be considered violent out of context. (What with the "I totally just knocked you out!" And the "I'm thinking of a million ways to strangle you right now.") But in reality, they were just playing boxing on the Wii. It probably looked funny seeing two grown men, Avengers at that, holding remotes and punching thin air. Not to mention they both had a team.

"You're perspiring too much, Tony," Bruce chided, trying to get a bottle of water in his friend's hand. "You need water."

"No time," Tony insisted, shaking his head. "Hit me."

Bruce sighed, spurting some water into Tony's mouth. In his opinion, his friends got way too involved with these games.

"Can you hit me, too, Nat?" Clint asked, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I'm getting pretty thirsty myself."

"Sure," Natasha said sweetly, getting up from her perch on the couch. "I can hit you."

"Great, tha-" Barton broke off when his legs were suddenly sliding out from underneath him due to a flawlessly executed move from the Black Widow.

Tony was unable to finish the boxing match, for he was laughing too hard. "She one hundred percent nailed you, Legolas."

"Yup," Clint said shortly, his breath having whooshed from his lungs because of his tumble. "Noticed."

"Only so I could do this," Natasha interrupted, moving down to straddle Clint. She bent over to give him a kiss that seemed impossibly gentle for the likes of a deadly assassin.

Tony and Bruce exchanged looks before chorusing, "Ew, gross!"

Honestly, it didn't surprise any of the Avengers when Hawkeye and Black Widow announced they were dating a few weeks ago. It had only been a matter of time.

Natasha flipped her short red hair out of her eyes, shooting the two standing men a death glare. It was no secret that she loved making the others feel uncomfortable. "If you don't like it, you can get a room."

"Why don't you get a room?" Tony returned even as he switched off the TV and headed for the kitchen. Why not leave the assassins to it?

Banner followed him, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the couple was out of earshot before whispering, "How are you doing?"

Tony frowned at him, pulling an iced coffee out of the fridge. "You ask me that every day, Banner."

"I know. But I'm a doctor."

"I thought you said you weren't that kind of doctor."

"I'm not. But as your friend, it's my job to make sure you're not experiencing...repercussions."

"You don't have to dance around the subject, you know," Tony commented, taking a swig of his drink. "I know you're all worried about the Loki incident."

"Of course, we are!" Bruce exclaimed, his voice raising slightly. "No one comes out of something like that unscathed."

"Barton seems fine."

"Barton had Natasha and an alien invasion insisting he be fine."

Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look. I'm okay. Reindeer Games is gone. I shook him off."

Banner arched an eyebrow. "And how exactly did you do that? It still doesn't make sense."

"I saw the rest of you in danger," Tony returned, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "We've been over this. Like Barton, I had to be fine. So I was."

He watched Bruce's eyes scan him, a skeptical look in them. Tony inwardly crossed his fingers that his science bro would get off his back. It was getting tiring, this routine they'd invented. Every day was the same. Banner would ask how he was doing, Tony would answer with fine. But there were days like this where the conversation escalated. Tony hated these days.

"Okay," Bruce said eventually, nodding slowly. "I believe you."

"Good," Tony deadpanned. "Same time tomorrow?"

Banner managed a small smile at that. "Same time tomorrow."

"I'm hitting the showers, then," Tony said, leaving his science bro in the kitchen. Thank goodness Banner didn't protest anymore.

The truth was...Tony wasn't fine. He hadn't told anyone, not even Pepper, that he suspected something was wrong with him. He often heard a voice coming from someone that wasn't there. A voice that sounded distinctly snotty and British. Maybe Loki had lost control over his body, but Tony suspected the trickster god still had a slight hold on his mind.

Then there were the dreams. Just like when Loki had been the ruler of his being, Tony dreamt about him. But they weren't normal dreams. No, they were so much more. They were real. Well, as real as they could be. (Tony still couldn't figure out how to punch the god in the nose without having his hand pass right through it.)

Conversations is what these dreams were. Conversations about how pointless his heroic act was. What was the point of being a big, strong hero when everyone looked at you like you needed psychotic attention?

No. Tony wasn't a hero. He was a very capable man in a suit of armor, yes. But he wasn't a hero. In fact, why had he become Iron Man in the first place? Not to become a hero. No, he became Iron Man in order to escape captivity. So, really, Iron Man was just a cocoon Tony used to escape the responsibilities of life. (Loki's words, not Tony Stark's. Though maybe he had a point...)

Tony didn't want to accept help, but part of him considered contacting Thor who had returned to Asgard after the Loki incident. Maybe the thunder god could lend a hand. Maybe he could zap Tony's brain to eradicate Loki or something. But one, Tony hated admitting his weaknesses. And two, he wasn't sure how he would contact Thor in the first place.

So that idea was out the window. It was easier to put up walls and pretend he was perfectly fine. It had become an art Tony had mastered over the years. It was second nature by now. If he wanted to admit it, he still didn't completely trust the Avengers. He didn't trust them enough to share about Loki anyway. After the Loki crap, everything had pretty much gone back to normal with Tony being an annoying jerk, and the other Avengers getting on his nerves.

"Stark?" a commanding-in-a-way-that-he-couldn't-help voice asked, snapping Tony out of his thoughts. "You all right? I'm not sure you can win a staring contest with a wall."

Great. It was the I-pretend-to-be-concerned-but-Tony-doesn't-believe-it Captain America. The man was like Banner. He couldn't get off of Tony's back about Loki.

"Don't do sarcasm, Cap. You can't pull it off. It's like watching a clown trying to be morbid."

He could practically hear Steve rolling his eyes. "Dually noted. But seriously. What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Tony snapped, whirling on the Captain. "God, what is it with you and Banner? Why can't you just leave me the heck alone?"

Rogers arched both eyebrows. "Because we worry about you."

"I'm not a little kid, Rogers. I don't need babysitting."

"I never said you did."

That voice. Tony hated that voice. It was the voice Cap used when he was trying to make Tony feel better about himself while defending his own position. Okay, so maybe that's not how Steve meant it to sound, but that was how Tony interpreted it.

"Whatever. In answer to your question, for the thirtieth time, I'm fine."

For his credit, Rogers didn't look as skeptical as Banner had. No, he had that stoic look on his face that Tony wanted to slap off so bad. He thought that he and the Captain had connected over the Loki problem, but after it was over, Rogers went back to being the most aggravating man on the planet. Everything about him irked Tony. He didn't know if that was just because, or if Loki had a hand in it. And, quite frankly, Tony didn't care. Loki or no Loki, Captain America was a pain in the butt.

"Good," Steve said, nodding once. "Just checking."

He started off down the hall in the direction he'd apparently been going when he had stumbled upon the not-quite-there billionaire. "But you might want to hit the showers."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Tony called after him, mock saluting. He mentally stomped his foot when he didn't get a reaction out of Rogers. He lived to annoy that man as much as he annoyed Tony.

As he was about to enter his room, Tony was stopped by Clint and Natasha.

"Hey, Stark," Barton said. "How do you feel-"

"I'm fine!" Tony shouted, pressing his hands against his temples in frustration. "Why can't any of you leave me alone?!"

Natasha arched a delicate eyebrow (why was everyone arching eyebrows at him today?). "Clint was trying to ask you how you felt about a rematch."

"Oh," Tony said, letting his hands slip back down to his sides. Both agents were looking at him in a slightly bewildered way. "Right. Maybe later."

Barton shrugged, beginning to lead Romanoff back to where they came. "Suit yourself."

After watching them go, Tony darted into his room before anyone else could stop him. He leaned against the door he'd slammed behind him, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He was fine. He was just having one of those days. Everyone had days where every little thing irked them, right? It wasn't Loki.

"Sir, are you all right?"

"Not you, too, J.A.R.V.I.S," Tony groaned, punching a wall as if that would hurt the A.I.

"I apologize, but I noticed your accelerated breathing and heart rate. I was concerned for your health."

Tony hesitated, his fist still resting against the wall. "So...it has nothing to do with my mental health?"

"Of course not, sir. You talk to yourself all the time. How have these past weeks been any different?"

"Oh, I don't know. Because I'm talking to Loki? The highly dangerous Asgardian god of mischief?"

J.A.R.V.I.S was quiet for a moment before answering. "I may be slightly worried, but I have learned to, as you say, 'keep my mouth shut'."

That actually drew a low chuckle out of Tony, and he moved his hand to pat the wall. "Sometimes you're the only one I can talk to, J."

"I would not say that is a good thing. I am, after all, your 'computerized butler'."

Tony shook his head, stepping through his bathroom door. "Yeah, you're probably right. It's not healthy to keep only an artificial intelligence for company."

J.A.R.V.I.S, having nothing more to say after that, went silent as Tony undressed and stepped into the shower, wishing that the warm water could wash away all his problems.