"The Sadness Of Mister Stark"

There was a sound like a whip cracking and a flash of blue light on top of Stark Tower for less than a second. Loki (Norse God of Mischief, Magic, Lies and Chaos) appeared where Tony Stark (genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist) usually landed as Iron Man, then JARVIS (the snarky British-accented AI) would dismantle the suit of red and gold armor as Stark walked into his tower.

Loki threw back his head and breathed a deep sigh. So long it had been since he had taken a breath of fresh air. Being cooped up in an Asgardian prison cell was no easy feat. Nor was enduring the 10,000 years of imprisonment in which The Trickster had been sentenced to. Fed up with said sentence, Loki easily escaped Odin's best guards (rather, who used to be Odin's best guards) and teleported himself back to the Midgardian city he had tried to overthrow.

The god opened his piercing green eyes and scanned the city skyline. For such pathetic creatures as humans were, they did know how exactly to make one feel powerful. Loki now understood why Stark had chosen such a height and location. He must feel positively god-like as he stood over the city or flew over it in his suit of armor. Loki smiled to himself. He, already a god, didn't need such armor or tall buildings to know that feeling. Regardless, as The Trickster looked over the city lights and observed the humans below him, the feeling of a ruler came upon him.

He turned on his heel, black leather coat tails sweeping out regally as he did, and walked through the glass doors of Stark Tower. And when it is said that he walked through the doors, Loki literally walked through them. He cast a spell over himself, making every molecule in his body able to pass right through the solid glass. With a wave of his hand and a feeling like cold water had been poured on his head, Loki became quite invisible. He would have his revenge on Tony Stark. He was really the sole reason for the success of those damned Avengers:

In Stuttgart, it was only because Stark had shown up that the Captain and Agent Romanov had been able to capture Loki in the first place.

On the flying fortress, it was only because Stark was able to restart the engine that the fortress was able to stay in the air. He was also the reason that they were able to find the Tesseract due to his being a better scientist than Banner.

Before the battle began, it was only because of Stark's deduction and understanding of Loki's thinking that they were able to figure out what he was planning and locate the exact place that he would put this plan to use.

During the battle, if Stark hadn't been there to defend, they all would have perished in under hour. They couldn't have hoped to stand against the Chitauri without Stark defending them from the air. He was also the one who won the battle. Had he not placed the bomb into the portal, the city would have been destroyed and Loki would have stood victorious over all of it. Those who stood against him would have crumbled and no one would've stood in his way.

In the end, it was always Stark. Sliding his finger across the blade of one of his throwing knives, Loki let another smile cross his face. Stark would pay the price for destroying Loki's army and sending him to the Asgardian prison. Stark would pay for sending him to Hell.

Via magic, Loki located Stark in a room that wasn't supposed to exist. The Trickster willed his magic once more and ran through the Tower as fluidly as if he were the air blown from a fan. He raced through hallways and doors, jumping along the walls and ceiling to avoid hitting objects and the occasional other human. At last, Loki reached the entrance to the room that wasn't there. Seeing no real reason to use the door or bother with the security codes, Loki willed his magic yet again and passed through the wall entirely.

"Sir, I've detected another life form that has somehow entered the room."

Loki grit his teeth. There seemed to be no way around that damned computer, JARVIS.

"Can it, JARVIS." Stark's voice sounded from the back of the room. He turned from where he sat at a grand piano. "Lights." He muttered. Light flooded the area, revealing a long room with walls adorned with newspaper clippings, photographs, magazine covers and articles as well as several other memoirs of that nature. They all seemed to be related to Stark in some way. Loki suppressed a snort at the risk of being heard. It would figure that Stark would appeal to his own narcissisms in such a way as this. But as Loki got a closer look, he began to notice a woman. Always the same one. A shorter woman with long, curly brown hair, fair skin and blue eyes. She was always with Stark. But the man Loki saw in these pictures was younger by several years. As Loki got closer to the back of the room—to Stark himself—he began to notice how the woman and the Stark in the photographs seemed to get closer and closer, until they were nearly hanging onto one another. Other than Stark's, Loki saw another reoccurring name. 'Kimberly Ilume.'

The real Tony Stark frowned as he looked around the room. "I don't see anyone, JARVIS. You're losin' it."

"Sir, my censors indicate—"

"Your censors are bullshit right now. Mute." And the AI did. Stark turned back to the grand piano and the machines that were stacked on top of it. He began fiddling with the buttons and settings on the machines and tapping the microphone placed near his mouth. The tapping sound emitted from the speakers on the right side of the room. Loki grew tired of these memories and buttons. He was about to turn and kill Stark when one article caught his attention more than any other.

"Testing, testing..." Stark said into the microphone. He placed a pair of headphones over his ears and cleared his throat. "Set recording... piano only... take four."

Loki finished reading the article and turned to look at Stark. He now saw how worn the other man looked as he sat at the piano, playing the opening notes of a song. The notes on the sheet music that was handwritten on the stand built into the piano. After a few seconds of opening bars, Stark began to sing.

"Vacation, holiday
A strange way to save a family
I sat beside this brother's pride
For the last ride

Nosedive, hellfire
My lifeline didn't survive
Blind rage set the stage to say
I'll never love again..."

Loki looked back at the article and reread the title: "STARK PRIVATE JET CRASH." Others around it read similar things. Lines jumped out. "Young titian survives..." "...Kimberly..." "PLANE CRASH HEARTACHE" "...now copes with the death of his longtime girlfriend..." "'LIFE WITHOUT LIGHT,' SAYS STARK" "...Kimberly..." "...planned their life together..." "...'I was truly happy when we were together': Tony Stark's broken heart..." "...Kimberly..."

"Kimberly glides
In the arms of cactus angels
Mayan big shots float around
Guess this is her home now

You mistook me for a man who understands
Things of godless, heartless, pitiful nature
Hell, I just settled in for the winter

Four, five and seventeen
Still struggle with the meaning
It's a straight groove, I'm a man now
Turned out okay, perfect somehow..."

There was a mention of three children. Hers. Who loved and cared for Stark. But they were taken. They were taken from Stark. Given to their other, 'real' family. "STARK DEEMED UNFIT" "...unstable environment for children..." "...cannot care for himself, cannot care for three children..." "...Kimberly..." "...don't belong to him..."

"It's a love-hate in LA-tely
Wanna glide but in a different way today
Drop to knee, pray deep, hope I meet my..."

Stark stopped singing for a moment, unable to finish the line. "...Kimberly..." He left it out and moved on. "...promised her forever..." Didn't go back and fix it. Didn't retake. Moved on. "...Kimberly..."

"Kimmy decides
She is down for a rare reunion
She jets a path north, past the pitiful port
Of sandy sunny San Diego

All those years, out of reach
There's Manhattan Beach now
Ahead on the right now..."

"WHILE STARK VACATIONED IN DEL RAY"

"THE SHOCKING OCCURRENCE"

"PICTURE PROOF"

"Salvation, Holy day
My heart skips, jumps beats, I see a face
Sister God gave me and took away
Floating off my balcony in Del Rey

Good, good God..."

"...called her Kimmy..."

"...wanted to do it..."

"...says he couldn't go on..."

"BROKEN BILLIONAIRE SUICIDE SCARE"

Loki looked at Stark. Tears in his eyes. Streaming down his face. So many tears. So much pain.

"Kimmy just smiles, wants to stay forever..."

"STARK SUICIDE ATTEMPT"

"...Kimberly..."

"...true suffering revealed..."

"STOPPED BY A SPIRIT"

"I'd have her but we know that's just a word
We wish we'd never heard when we're together..."

"...Kimmy..."

"STARK'S SANITY QUESTIONED"

"...dispute about being able to run a company..."

"...unfit for work..."

"...claims he is 'okay'..."

"Says she must return, must return to cactus angels..."

"STARK: 'NOTHING TO WORY ABOUT'"

"CHANGE IS MADE"

"...from suicidal to social climber..." "...cold and calculating Tony Stark..." "...heart of ice..." "...his broken heart fixed by working..." "...steel-plated heart still vulnerable..." "...keeps up appearances..." "...once faithful to one now sleeps with many..." "...can't move on..."

"ALL IS WELL?"

The piano stopped. Loki looked at Stark. The man was hunched over, crying as if he were an infant. It was almost pathetic. No, it was pathetic. Stark was a man. He should be strong, should he not? But instead he was sobbing over something that happened almost ten years ago.

But something else spoke in Loki's mind. "He lost the love of his life... He has a right to feel sorrow for this..."

At a crossroads, Loki contemplated his possibilities:

1) Kill Stark out of revenge and let the good-for-nothing human rot.
2) Kill Stark out of pity and let him rejoin his lost love.
3) Let Stark live out of revenge and let him wallow in his sorrow.

But The Trickster wasn't fond of any of those options for some reason. He thought harder and then came up with a fourth option: Let Stark live out of revenge and pity to let him wallow in his sorrow and then let him kill himself later.

Loki slipped his knife back into its hiding place. He preferred that option. With one last look at the sobbing human, Loki turned on the spot and teleported away with a small pop.

Let him feel the pain. Let him feel that horror. He will recover. With time, with time... He will find happiness again. Whether it be happiness in another love or happiness in death. Loki was unsure of which would grace Stark first, but for some odd reason, he privately wished for the first.

WOW that took longer than I thought. Those headlines and article excerpts were added last minute and to be perfectly honest, I loved the way they worked into the story. If you took notice of this, bravo. But if you didn't, here it is: Kimberly's last name is never said in the song, so I made it Ilume. One of the headlines was "'LIFE WITHOUT LIGHT,' SAYS STARK." Ilume as in illuminate. AKA, light. See? I can be clever if I really want to be.

FUN FACT: I added that last paragraph right before posting. Give Loki a bit more of a good side. A bit. Not much more, but a bit more.

Oh and a side note: if you really were observational, you probably saw that Loki doesn't say a single word this whole story. ^_^

Anywho. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!

Cheers,

M

Disclaimer:

I OWN NOTHING! Except the headlines and lines from the articles I suppose. And maybe the room that doesn't exist, but if it doesn't exist I can't own it. But it does so I do. OR DO I?!

(What the actual fuck...?)

"Kimberly Glide" © Robert Downey, Jr.