III


Author's Note: I don't know what this story is. Like most of my stories, I'm letting my muse lead. If he comes up with any sort of plot at any time I'll let you know.

Enjoy?

Dreamer


No words were exchanged as they made their way to the platform. Well, not platform so much as nicely tiled area. Thor had wanted to take Loki from SHIELD custody back to Tony's Tower; to activate the Tesseract and take Loki back to Asgard.

Hell no, had been the kindest thing Tony could say. He remembered Loki staring at him as he said it. Could picture the little smirk on his pretty mouth.

How about "fuck off"? Loki would say. More apt, yes?

Tony glared at the god the entire walk. Of course Loki noticed. And of course Loki smirked- well, raised his eyebrow. Same thing.

Loki stared at him whenever possible, even when Tony was behind him and walking by Bruce's side. Bruce mentioned nothing of the Trickster's odd behaviour. Neither did Thor. Then again, Thor looked like he'd just found out his favourite puppy had been kicked. All broody and sorrowful. Loki found that amusing, too. Tony could tell.

They walked across tile and Tony shoved his hands into his pockets. Romanov and Barton were side-by-side and Barton was glaring daggers into Loki through his glasses. Loki raised an eyebrow at him and Tony heard the laughter.

Romanov whispered something to Barton. The archer huffed in amusement.

Loki turned away and, of course, his eyes found Tony's. Then again, Tony was staring at the dude.

Loki held the gaze. Tony felt his breath catch in his chest but made no outward appearance of that fact. He saw Loki's cheek twitch and an eyebrow inched up before settling once more.

Oh, Loki noticed. Loki liked it.

His eyes were such a startling shade of green.

Tony shifted on his feet. He wanted to run a hand through his hair, fiddle with his glasses, but remained still.

Thor had the Tesseract in one hand, trapped in a case that Tony had sped his way through making. It had a handle each end and Thor lifted it. His free hand curled tight around Loki's cuffs.

Loki finally looked away from Tony and met his adopted brother's gaze. There was a brief moment of hesitation, of anger in Loki's eyes, but then it was gone. He was blank as he took the other handle and held tight.

They were engulfed in light and Tony almost stepped back. Almost. He stared at Loki, even when the Trickster became nothing but various shades of bright blue light. Then white. Then he and Thor were gone.

Tony shook Rogers' hand. He invited Bruce to live with him. Bruce blinked in shock before politely declining, but offered to visit. Still, he wasn't leaving for a while; SHIELD were going to pay him for what he'd done and Bruce was waiting around for the cheque. Tony'd pay Bruce himself if he had to.

He took the doctor back to the Tower. Pepper wasn't going to be back for a few days. Tony had to have the Tower inspected, see what was structurally sound and what wasn't. Until then he and Bruce were on their own.

Bruce retired to the guest room in Tony's penthouse.

Tony went to the bar and poured himself a drink.

He tilted the glass and watched ice tumble over more ice. He swirled again and took a sip before setting the glass down. His eyes strayed to the stool he had sat on only two days earlier. He had to lean over the bar to stare at it. He could picture himself backed into it, butt barely grazing the surface before Loki captured his mouth...

Loki had kissed him. For some reason. And for some reason Tony had kissed back. Yes, Loki was hot; breathtakingly so.

He was also a maniac. A murderer. A mass-murderer who'd tried to kill Coulson (Tony still wasn't okay with Fury's lies, even if he did understand them).

Tony was in a relationship... sort of... mostly... he did love Pepper.

He was pretty sure he loved Pepper.

But Loki was... Loki.

Tony frowned. He thought about Loki, standing on the tiles, chained and gagged and not fighting one bit.

Loki's eyes were green.