IMPORTANT! Loki has been released from his torturous punishment on Asgard and returned to Earth to escape everyone's scrutiny. Tony is tired of his routine life and is having relationship problems with Pepper and has self-medicated with alcohol.

Tony's POV

I had taken to flying around in my Iron Man suit. Especially when Pepper locked away my alcohol. We had a horrible fight about it earlier today.

"Sir, I am detecting a peculiar energy source nearby," Jarvis interrupted.

"What do you mean, what kind?" I asked impatiently, not about to spend my free time investigating suspicious energies.

"It appears to have common readings with what I gathered from Loki." Well, this was different. I thought about calling the team, but kind of wanted to pick on the god myself. Besides, the Asgardians seemed to trust him enough to allow him to come down here and give off energy or whatever. But what was he doing here?

"Take me to him," I instructed. We made a sharp turn and flew about a mile to an apartment complex. I landed on a top floor balcony and peeked into a crack in the heavy drapes that were closed over the sliding glass doors. From what I could tell, it was poorly furnished and dark. The door was locked, no surprise there, but with a strong tug in my suit, the lock broke and it slid open.

Sneaking wasn't really on the list of the suit's best qualities, but I tried to snoop around quietly. All that was there was an old couch with a table and lamp beside it, a TV and some video games, and a small dish of cat food and water. I was starting to think this wasn't actually the evil god's apartment, until I found the bedroom.

Loki was asleep in the middle of a double bed, the sheets wrapped around him haphazardly. His brow was furrowed, and he kept twitching and making little distressed noises.

"Loki, wake up!" I said loudly, opening the visor on my helmet. His body jolted when I said his name, but he rolled over and put a pillow over his head.

"Leave me alone, Thor!" he said, the sound muffled by the pillow. So, Thor knew he was here.

"I feel like I should be insulted by that," I said. He froze, then jumped up and scramble to squish as far away from me as he could while still on the bed, and still trapped in the mess of sheets.

"St-Stark!" He huffed in terror, staring at me like I had fangs. I couldn't help laughing as he watched me sit next to him on the bed. "How did you find me?" he asked, still breathing heavily. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Relax, I'm too drunk to do anything bad," I teased. "So, what brings you to Midgard, and whatever happened to being punished on Asgard.

"Thor rescued me and hid me here. He will protect me! And I have my magic to defend myself!"

"Geez, will you cool your jets? I told you I'm not going to do anything! Ugh, I'm not drunk enough for this. You got anything to drink?"

"Just water . . ." he muttered cautiously. It suddenly occurred to me that he should be screaming and throwing green balls of rage at me like the crazy demon he is. I also noticed that this realization meant I was losing the small buzz I had.

"Why so serious?"

"Maybe . . . I should call Thor . . ."

"Don't call Thor, he's probably asleep! Besides, I've got a few more questions. Are you going to answer them, or should I just arrest you?"

"I-I'll answer them," he stuttered.

"Good. So, what the hell is wrong with you? You're not all . . . crazy like you usually are."

"What makes you an authority on how I 'usually' am?" he asked coolly. I looked at him sharply, and his eyes widened and he pressed himself further against the wall. "I-I mean, I'm just tired . . ."

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting."

"For what?"

"A few Midgardian lifetimes, perhaps, when everyone has forgotten what I've done, and it's safe to come out of hiding."

"That's a long time. What if things don't work out?"

"Well, we do have several backup plans, and Thor . . . Thor promised he wouldn't ever give up." I was shocked at the emotion in his voice. He always seemed like an unfeeling lunatic to me. I didn't know why, but I was sympathizing with him, and I didn't like it.

"Well," I said suddenly, making him jump, as I stood up. "Seeing as you're not terrorizing anyone, I'll be on my way." And yet . . . I wanted to stay. I dreaded the thought of returning home to Pepper and sinking back into my every day routine. Sure, things had spiced up when the other Avengers moved in to Avenger's Tower, but they had easily made their own routines, and the only break from them was when we had a super villain to fight. "But, I'd better check up on you sometimes, so don't try anything." And I left.