A/N Hello to all those who are reading! Two updates in two days? Yeah, it happened. Comments? Suggestions? Flaming piles of hate to sling at me? Let me know with a review if, you know, that's what you would like to do. :)

The plot shall move forward soon (yes, yes, there actually is a plot)...I'm just having fun playing with these fine, fine characters at the moment.

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No one moved. A moment ticked by followed by a second which stretched into a third. Finally, after several mouth's opened and closed, four pairs of eyes widened and then blinked in disbelief, and one very angry Thunder God let spill a torrent of curses in old Norse that would make sailors blush had they spoken the language, Tony cleared his throat and motioned to the center of the room. "Was he able to do that when, well, when he was that age before? Seems a little advance for a toddler."

"My brother possessed the ability to travel small distances at this age but I know not where he would travel in this realm. He knows no one outside of myself and even then, I fear he does not recognize me." Thor shook his head sadly, the anger having drained out of him almost entirely.

"Sir, If I may..."

"Not now, Jarvis. Thor, can you think of anywhere he might go? Anything he might be partial to?"

"I can not. He has always enjoyed books but I know not if he knows where the local book keep may be located. I fear he may be lost to me once again." Thor's head remained bowed in sadness as Clint placed a comforting head on his shoulder.

"Great. So now on top of all this other shit, we have a crazed, miniaturized super-villain running around the city?" Fury choked down the childish urge to stomp his foot in frustration, "Daniels, I hold you directly responsible for this! What were you thinking?"

"It's Loki! Chances are that psycho is the one behind this whole mess to begin with!" The agent stood and raged at Fury.

"I warned you, Daniels!" Thor pointed his hammer at Daniels and took a step forward. "You dare harm a Prince of Asgard and expect to live? You shall pay dearly for..."

"Sir, I really must insist." The AI spoke up again, actually sounding annoyed this time.

"Jarvis, we're a little busy at the..."

"Loki is currently on the forth floor, the third bedroom located on the right past the elevator."

"Thank you, Jarvis!" Tony clapped his hands together in delight. "Good news, no one has to die in my lounge!"

"Daniels, you and I will be having a talk once we get to base." Fury pointed in the man's face and Daniels had the good grace to look ashamed and nervous.

"Right, so, why don't we go calm down the kid and try to figure this out before anything else unfortunate happens..." Clint replaced his arrow into the quiver and then moved out of the room, not looking back to ensure the others were following but knowing just the same that they were.

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"Brother?" Thor questioned as he entered the dimly lit bedroom. "Are you here?"

There was no answer.

"Jarvis?" Tony piped in from the doorway. Clint and Fury remained in the hallway.

"Under the bed, sir."

"Brother, you have no reason to remain hidden. Daniels has been taken care of and can no longer injure you. Will you not come out and face me?" Thor tried to quiet his voice and make it more soothing but some how, the attempt didn't work in the slightest.

No answer.

"Brother, I do not want to have to pull you from beneath the bed but I will if you do not emerge on your own!"

An almost inaudible voice piped up from beneath the bed, "You are not my brother."

Thor's eyes widened in shock. It was one thing to here an angry, adult Loki shout those words during battle but it was another thing to hear them from such a young voice, spoken with such conviction. Thor said nothing as he walked out of the room, but disappointment was clearly etched into every line on his face.

Tony sighed as he watched Thor go, contemplating if he should follow the disappointed immortal or try his luck with the boy under the bed. Clint spun on his heel and quickly followed after Thor, virtually making up Tony's mind for him...one on one it was. He spared a glance for Fury, "I'll try my luck with him. You staying here?"

"I'm not going anywhere, Stark. If I hear anything I don't like, I'm busting the door down."

You break it, you bought it. He tried to choke out the words but it wasn't happening. He settled on a wry smile as he quietly closed the door between them. He turned slowly and regarded the bed. "Loki?"

No answer. Why would there be?

He moved next to the bed and slowly sank down so that he was sitting beside it, "I'll sit here all day. I really don't have anything else to do right now." Except, maybe, figuring out how to reverse the work of a mental sorceress...and getting completely pissed drunk.

Minutes stretched into nearly an hour. Tony's ass was starting to get cramped and his eyes were starting to feel heavy but he'd be damned if he was going to be outwitted by a little kid.

His under-utilized patience paid off.

"Why does the warrior refer to himself as my brother?" The small voice was more cultured than it had any right to be.

Tony smiled softly at his small victory over the boy. "Because he is your brother."

"Thor is my brother."

"Yes, he is. The warrior is Thor." Tony shot back, kind of glad that he would get to tell the Thunder God that the kid actually did think of him as a brother...he just didn't relate his current form to that of the Thor he was familiar with.

A small, dark head poked out from under the bed and looked up at Tony. "Thor is close to my own age. The man is telling you lies if he claims to be my brother."

Tony reached out and grabbed the boy by the arms and hauled him out from beneath the bed before he could struggle. "Easy there, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. Can we talk?" He paused while the big eyes regarded him. Slowly, the boy nodded. "Good. My name is Tony, by the way."

"I am Loki, son of Odin." The boy placed his fist against his chest and bowed slightly. "Are you a warrior?"

"Not exactly. We'll talk about that later." He inhaled as deeply as he could and then blew the air out slowly as he prepared to launch into the story. "There was a woman...a sorceress. This woman, I don't know why she did this but, she decided she'd come down here and cause a little havoc. This morning, you were a grown man. She transformed you back into a child..."

"Forgive my interruption. Why would she do such a thing? Where is here? What realm is this?" His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, a trait he apparently kept until adulthood.

"I think...she said something about how you weren't happy as adult and she wanted to send you back to a time that you were. She cast a number of spells on several...uh...fine warriors. As for where we are, I believe you call it Midgard. New York City to be exact."

"Why was I not happy as an adult? Is that the reason those men were angry with me?" His face returned to a blank mask. That in and of itself, struck a bit of sadness into Tony's own heart. The mannerisms of the adult Loki were very clear in this boy already. What reason would a kid so small have to hide his emotions?

"We don't need to talk about that just yet, I don't think. Do you understand what I am telling you though?"

"Of course, Tony Stark." He smiled slightly and then continued, "Now, may I have an audience with my mother and father?"

"um...they aren't here. You and Thor were here on your own." Tony didn't like where this was going.

"May we contact Heimdall and open the Bifrost?" His voice was hopeful but his face remained blank.

"uh...I don't...maybe we should discuss this with Thor." Pass the buck, Stark, pass it and don't ask for change.

"I think I shall like to speak with him and see what sort of warrior my brother has grown into. Am I a warrior as well, Tony Stark?" The boy stood and Tony finally got a decent look at him. He was thin and tall, just like his adult form. His face however, didn't hold the malicious anger and malcontent that it would as an adult. His green eyes were large and inquisitive, searching for knowledge. Tony could relate to that. When he himself were this age, everything was a puzzle that needed to be solved.

"You were...yes, you were a warrior. You wielded magic as well as many weapons in the battles I saw you fight." We won't discuss the fact that I fought against you in those battles. Not the time or the place, mini-Reindeer Games.

"And what weapons do you wield in battle, Tony St-"

Tony interrupted him with a slightly raised hand, "Tony, is fine. Would you like to see my weapon?"

The boy's face spread into a toothy smile, "I should like that very much, Tony. Shall we speak with my brother first?"

The smile was infectious and Tony returned it, "Yes, yes, I think we shall."

The Thunder God would soon be pleased.